South Africa: Call to aid victims of Eastern Cape storm

Human Settlements Deputy Minister, Pamela Tshwete, has directed a team to work with the Eastern Cape provincial department to provide urgent relief to the victims of a storm that destroyed housing structures in various wards of Mhlontlo and King Sabata Local Municipalities.

Hundreds of families were left destitute and six people reported dead after houses collapsed on them during severe storm.

About 19 people were also left injured and were transferred to hospital for treatment.

Tshwete said the disaster assessment has thus far revealed that the affected families need assistance with temporary shelter, food, clothes and blankets.

She called on all South Africans and the business community to extend a helping hand and partner with government in its efforts to provide relief to the affected households.

The Deputy Minister together with Eastern Cape Premier Oscar Mabuyane and Human Settlements MEC, Nonceba Kontsiwe visited Xhongorha and Sigubudwini Villages on Monday to assess the extent of the damage following the storm.

We are deploying national and provincial teams to urgently assess the damage so that necessary programmes in response to this disaster can take place. We want to bring normality to the lives of people of these areas as quickly as possible, Tshwete said.

She sent her deepest condolences to the families of the deceased.

Losing a family member or loved ones always leave a lifetime mark and a wound that takes time to heal. We are a government that cares and will do everything in [our] power to reach those families that need us the most at this time, Tshwete said.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2021-12-14. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
South Africa: Prioritise miners' lives, Parly urges

The Portfolio Committee on Mineral Resources and Energy says the safety and health of mineworkers should be made more of a priority by the sector.

This after another miner died at the Kusasalethu Operation of Harmony Gold mine in Gautengs West Rand.

According to the committee, this brings the total mine related fatalities in the country to five in the past 11 days alone.

Committee chairperson Sahlulele Luzipo expressed condolences to the family of the miners.

News of this nature is always regrettable because as far as the committee is concerned, the health and safety of mine workers should be a priority in all mining operations.

We are worried that fatalities in the mining sector continue to increase on the one hand, while on the other hand, the country is battling with the COVID-19 pandemic, Luzipo said.

Luzipho said the committee should make time in its 2022 first quarter programme for a briefing by the Mining Health and Safety Council on the number of mining fatalities in 2021, and to get clarity on the Mine Health and Safety Amendment Bill.

Last week, the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy, the Minerals Council of South Africa and other industry stakeholders committed to the attainment of zero fatalities in mines.

This after deaths in the mining industry continued to rise from 51 in 2019; 48 in 2020 to 69 this year.  SAnews.gov.za

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Hong Kong: HK students triumph at int'l contest

A team of eight Hong Kong students has achieved the best ever results in the sixth International Olympiad of Metropolises (IOM) by winning four gold and two silver medals, one bronze medal as well as a silver medal in the team competition.

The IOM is an international competition covering informatics, mathematics, physics and chemistry.

Cheng Yat-long from Raimondi College and Lam Chung-wang from St Paul's Co-educational College each won a gold medal in the physics competition, while Yeung Man-tsung from Pui Ching Middle School and Xie Lingrui from La Salle College took home gold and silver in the informatics one.

Chu Cheuk-hei from St Paul's Co-educational College and Timothy Yau from Ying Wa College also bagged gold and silver in the mathematics competition, and Chan Yat-long from Po Leung Kuk Centenary Li Shiu Chung Memorial College got a bronze medal in the chemistry contest.

Secretary for Education Kevin Yeung congratulated the Hong Kong team on its outstanding performance.

He said: "I am proud of the remarkable results of the Hong Kong team this year, which is testimony to the hard work and high ability of our students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education."

Mr Yeung noted that the Education Bureau, in keeping with its goal of continuously promoting STEM education, is looking to strengthen its collaboration with different stakeholders in organising quality student learning activities.

Such activities include the STEM Education Fair to be held next year. The fair will provide an opportunity for students to showcase their learning achievements in STEM-related areas and for teachers to exchange teaching strategies in implementing STEM education.

The bureau also encourages schools to support the development of STEM education by arranging more out-of-classroom experiential learning activities so that students can apply what they have learned, Mr Yeung added.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this year's IOM was held online from December 6 to 13, with around 260 contestants from 33 cities taking part.

Visit the bureau's e-Gallery website to learn more about the excellent achievements of Hong Kong students in STEM and other areas, as well as their attainments in whole-person development.

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Hong Kong: Travel resumption plans on track

The Government has adopted stringent measures to prevent the Omicron COVID-19 variant from spreading in the community as it continues its preparation work on the resumption of quarantine-free travel between the Mainland and Hong Kong.

Chief Executive Carrie Lam made the remarks ahead of this mornings Executive Council meeting and noted that the city has worked hard to combat the spread of the coronavirus.

In the case of Hong Kong, of course, we are particularly alert because we have basically attained zero infections in the local situation, and we are right at the moment preparing to resume some normal travel into the Mainland, which is the number one priority of many people in society.

So we have to adopt very stringent measures to prevent Omicron from spreading into the community.

Mrs Lam emphasised that Hong Kong has to date accomplished its zero infection goal and added that a delegation led by Chief Secretary John Lee will meet with Mainland officials to discuss preparations for the resumption of quarantine-free travel.

So far, I would say that we are successful. All the seven confirmed cases of Omicron were detected during the test and hold at the Hong Kong International Airport or during the mandatory quarantine period. At this moment, I do not see the change to what we are doing in terms of resumption of normal travel into the Mainland as a result of Omicron.

But because this variant and the whole situation could be changing very rapidly, I could provide no absolute guarantee.

But it is gratifying for me to say that negotiations or discussions between the two sides, that is between the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government as well as the Mainland authorities, are still going on.

Today, the Chief Secretary for Administration is leading a Hong Kong SAR Government delegation to meet with Guangdong officials and other relevant officials in Shenzhen to take forward the preparatory work.

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Hong Kong: Vote counting changes explained

The Electoral Affairs Commission has made several changes to the Legislative Council General Election vote counting arrangements to speed up the whole process with a view to declare the election result sooner.

The commission's chairman Barnabas Fung made the statement at a media session after his visit to a mock polling station at North Point Community Hall today.

After the close of polls, polling stations, except for small polling stations at which less than 500 electors are assigned to vote, dedicated polling stations, the Election Committee constituency polling station and the polling station at the Penny's Bay Quarantine Centre will be designated as counting stations for the counting of the geographical constituency votes.

The ballot boxes of all functional constituencies and the Election Committee constituency will be delivered to the central counting station at the Convention & Exhibition Centre for counting.

Mr Fung said flexibility counts in the vote counting procedures.

In the past, there were quite elaborate rules as to vote counting, as to what sort of documents, what sort of ballot account reconciliations that the staff have to do before the vote counting starts. That was to ensure that everyone follows the same rules. But I think sometimes, flexibility is what is called for.

Firstly, we will proceed to the vote counting once the basic documents, the basic accounts are in. If there are other discrepancies, they can be dealt with later.

Secondly, we are going to send the functional constituency ballot boxes to the central counting station straight away without waiting for the misplaced functional constituency votes in the geographical constituencies ballot boxes.

And if there were misplaced functional constituency votes in the geographical constituencies ballot boxes upon counting of the geographical constituencies votes, those will then be sealed and sent to the central counting station.

Thirdly, we have instructed the supervisors to look at the entire situation. Even if some rules were not met in strict compliance, and if the situation warrants, then we will continue with the voting. And we will deal with these discrepancies with reconciliations later.

As for the boundary control point polling stations, Mr Fung said it will adopt closed-loop management. To enhance the openness and transparency of the counting process there, Independent Commission Against Corruption officers will monitor the process and the Registration & Electoral Office is making arrangements to make live broadcasts of the vote counting, he added.

A total of 153 candidates will run for 90 seats on election day on December 19.

About 630 ordinary polling stations and not more than 24 dedicated polling stations will be open on polling day for over 4.47 million registered electors to cast their votes.

The polling hours for the ordinary polling stations will be from 8.30am to 10.30pm.

Mr Fung reminded electors to carry their Hong Kong identity card to the designated polling station as specified on their poll card to vote.

This story has been published on: 2021-12-14. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
South Africa: Department to take over water services in uMkhanyakude

Water and Sanitation Minister Senzo Mchunu has announced that the department intends to take over the water and sanitation administration in uMkhanyakude District Municipality, KwaZulu-Natal.

Joined by Deputy Minister David Mahlobo, Mchunu returned to the province on Monday to lead the provincial working sessions and engage with various districts and stakeholders within the water sector, following an earlier ministerial working session in the province.

uMkhanyakude becomes the second municipality to have its services placed under the departments guidance after the Minister made the decision to remove such powers in Tshwane, following recommendations by the South African Human Rights Commission.

uMhlathuze Water Board made a presentation that painted a bleak picture of the districts services, including an unstable and dysfunctional system that needs a complete overhaul.

The municipality is already under administration.

In his address, Mchunu acknowledged that some work has been done, but said the slow pace in progress meant there was nothing to show for it, compared to the rise in demand.

I am uncomfortable with the report given. What is clear is that the municipality does not have the stability or capacity to carry out water related tasks. We have to act, and act now, Mchunu said.

He said the decision to have the department run water and sanitation services in the district is so that the municipality can get its affairs in order.

We will meet each other halfway. You ensure stability in your office, while we make sure people get water. Otherwise, people will be waiting to get their constitutional right while you fix things.

Lets work together to ensure people have water. This will give you time to find solutions to the problems you are facing, Mchunu said while addressing municipal officials.

Mchunu said government cannot afford to let down the people of uMkhanyakude anymore, emphasising that a lot of work needs to be done at a very quick pace, as people have waited long enough.

These people have been patient. We must make them feel like they are part of South Africa, the Minister said.

He said Mhlathuze Water Board will be an implementing agency in the district for the period, and the paperwork to formally appoint the water board - as the implementing agent - will be done within the next few days.

Sinthumule Kutama Bulk Water Supply project

Meanwhile, Water and Sanitation Deputy Minister Dikeledi Magadzi has strongly condemned the hold-up which resulted in hindrances towards the completion of Sinthumule Kutama Bulk Water Supply project in Limpopo.

Magadzi visited the bulk water supply project under Vhembe District Municipality on Monday, where she evaluated the projects progress.

The bulk water supply project was initiated to resolve water shortages in approximately 39 villages in Sinthumule Kutama area under Makhado Local Municipality.

The project scope includes the construction of a 16.7 km gravity pipeline from Valdesia Pump station, which currently stands at 98%; the construction of a 7.5 mega-litre reservoir, which is at 90% completion, and the raising of a 13.6 km rising main pipeline to Mowkop reservoir in Makhado, which is at 91% completion.

The construction of the project commenced in October 2014, with an initial completion date of November 2017. However, due to operational challenges, the completion of the project was delayed, and it is expected to be completed in April 2022.

Magadzi stressed the need to move with speed to ensure the completion of the project.

She reiterated a warning to workers on site that she expects to see considerable improvements when she comes back to visit the area unannounced.

This is long overdue [and] our wish is that by June 2022, the majority of our villages should be getting water. I am happy about the progress made so far, but we can do better.

Let us work faster and smarter so that we can fulfil the promise we made to our people, which is ensuring adequate water supply, the Deputy Minister said.  SAnews.gov.za

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South Africa: Negotiated, unconditional settlement can end Middle Eastern conflict

The South African government believes that for sustainable peace to thrive in the Middle East, Israel must unconditionally end its occupation of Palestinian territories through a negotiated settlement.

This is according to International Relations and Cooperation Minister Naledi Pandor, who was addressing the media on Tuesday.

The only way to bring about lasting peace in the Middle East is to have a comprehensive and unconditional negotiated settlement to end the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories and Israels continued blockade of Gaza. The ongoing delay in achieving such a settlement leads to an unending cycle of violence, she said.

The Minister said the continuing violence in the region made the African Unions decision to grant Israel observer status of the AU inexplicable.

In the context of Israels continuing violations of its international law obligations this came as a shock, given that the decision was made at a time when the oppressed people of Palestine were hounded by destructive bombardments and continued illegal settlements of their land, the Minister said.

According to Pandor, Israels unjust actions committed against Palestine are an offence on the charter of the African Union.

The AU embodies the aspirations of all Africans and reflects their confidence that it can lead the continent through the practical expression of the goals of the charter, especially on issues relating to self-determination and decolonisation.

The decision by the AU Commission in this context remains inexplicable. We look forward to the 35th Ordinary Summit of the African Union where the Heads of State will discuss this matter.

International relations

Turning to other matters of international importance, Pandor said South Africa continues to be a proud member of the world of community of nations while participating in various world bodies.

South Africa participated in the United Nations 76th Session of the General Assembly (UNGA76) in September 2021. In the G20 held in Rome, Italy, South Africa joined other countries in discussions aimed at forging a common global recovery effort from the COVID-19 crisis and enable sustainable and inclusive growth.

South Africa is currently the host of the BRICS Vaccine Research Centre and the research on the Omicron variant will form part of the centres initiatives, she said.  SAnews.gov.za

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Hong Kong: Eighth Omicron case identified

The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) today said it is investigating five additional imported COVID-19 cases, three of which involve the L452R mutant strain while the other two carry the N501Y mutant strain.

Meanwhile, an imported case announced earlier is confirmed with the Omicron variant, bringing the number of cases involving that variant in Hong Kong to eight.

The newly reported cases concern two men and three women arriving in the city from high-risk places.

One of them is a foreign domestic helper. She arrived in Hong Kong on November 17 from the Philippines by flight 5J272. The specimen collected upon arrival at the airport tested negative for COVID-19 and the results of the six tests conducted during the compulsory quarantine period at the Penny's Bay Quarantine Centre were also negative.

Upon completion of the compulsory quarantine on December 8, she stayed at Winland 800 Hotel in Tsing Yi. She underwent a test at a community testing centre on December 12 and the result was preliminarily positive with low viral load. Her specimen carried the N501Y mutant strain.

Preliminary testing showed that the case has a high probability of carrying the Alpha variant. The whole genome sequencing conducted by the Government's Public Health Laboratory Services Branch is continuing, so as to exclude the possibility of the Omicron variant.

The patient tested negative upon admission to hospital while her antibody test was positive. Based on the epidemiological and laboratory findings, the case is compatible with a re-positive case.

She is asymptomatic and received one dose of Janssen vaccination on July 29 in the Philippines.

As a prudent measure, the places where she resided and visited in Hong Kong during the incubation period have been included in a compulsory testing notice. Those who were present at these venues at specified periods need to undergo compulsory testing on or before December 15.

A total of 60 cases have been reported in the past 14 days and all of them are imported cases.

Separately, the CHP provided an update of its investigations into an imported case announced yesterday involving a 50-year-old male patient.

He arrived in Hong Kong from Tanzania, South Africa and Kenya by flight QR818 via Qatar on December 10 and tested positive during the compulsory quarantine at the Penny's Bay Quarantine Centre.

He developed symptoms on December 12. The cycle threshold (Ct) value for the test after admission to hospital on the same day was less than 20 and he tested positive for antibodies.

The whole genome sequencing conducted by the Public Health Laboratory Services Branch confirmed that the case carries the Omicron variant. The man received two doses of BioNTech vaccination in Hong Kong on April 16 and May 7.

There are so far eight cases involving Omicron in the city. Of the seven cases reported earlier, two cases each are related to South Africa, Nigeria and the UK while the remaining case is related to the US.

Noting that the eight cases involving Omicron were detected at the airport restricted area, a designated quarantine facility or a designated quarantine hotel, the CHP said there has not been any spread of the variant in the community.

The centre added that it will adopt the most stringent prevention and control measures to prevent the strain from entering the local community.

For information and health advice on COVID-19, visit the Government's dedicated webpage.

This story has been published on: 2021-12-14. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Hong Kong: Travel resumption meeting held

Chief Secretary John Lee today met Vice-Governor of Guangdong Zhang Xin and representatives of relevant departments and municipal governments of the Mainland to discuss arrangements on the orderly resumption of quarantine-free travel.

Mr Lee led representatives of relevant bureaus and departments of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government to take part in the meeting in Shenzhen.

He thanked the People's Government of Guangdong Province, the General Administration of Customs as well as the municipal governments of Shenzhen and Zhuhai for their support and efforts to push forward the arrangement for resumption of quarantine-free travel between Hong Kong and the Mainland and to ensure a smooth, orderly and safe process.

Mr Lee said that with continuing efforts in guarding against the importation of cases and the resurgence of local infection as well as the goal of dynamic zero infection, the Hong Kong SAR Government is fully prepared for the implementation of orderly resumption of quarantine-free travel.

At the meeting on November 25 concerning the anti-epidemic work of Hong Kong and the Mainland, both sides agreed to set up task forces to study the management and co-operation at boundary control points and joint efforts in disease prevention and control, as well as the interface of the health code systems of the two places.

For the task force on boundary control points, todays meeting focused on matters including the quarantine procedures, crowd control, operational flow and contingency arrangements, which are of utmost importance as there will be a gradual increase in the flow of people arising from the resumption of travel with the Mainland.

Both sides will also continue to discuss the implementation details of different stages with effective and mutual co-operation.

As regards the task force on the alignment of health codes, representatives from Hong Kong reported the progress on the launching of the Hong Kong Health Code.

Since its inception on December 10, over 460,000 users have registered for the health code. Both sides agreed on details concerning code conversion and mutual assistance, and will conduct further system interface tests.

This story has been published on: 2021-12-14. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Hong Kong: Election mail concern addressed

The Government today said it is following up on reports that some functional constituency electors had received electoral mail from the Government and found the letters English translation did not correspond to their constituency.

An initial investigation revealed that when preparing the electoral mails delivery, the contractor hired by the Government mistakenly inserted the English translation of the letter, which did not belong to the corresponding functional constituency, into the mail. The Chinese letters are all found in order.

It is estimated that less than 200 electors are affected. Arrangement is being made to send the correct English version of the letter to these electors as soon as possible.

The Government apologised to electors concerned for the inconvenience caused.

Click here for information about the election. For enquiries, call 2891 1001.

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Thousands of container trucks stuck at northern border

Around 4,000 container trucks carrying Vietnamese farm produce for export to China have been stranded at the northern province of Lang Son's border gates.



The delays are due to Chinas tighter inspections on imports as a Covid-19 prevention measure.

Around 4,000 container trucks carrying Vietnamese farm produce for export to China have been stranded at Lang Son border gates





Le Thanh Hoa, deputy head of the Department of Processing and Trade for Agro-Forestry-Fisheries said that the customs clearance at Huu Nghi, Tan Thanh and Chi Ma border gates in Lang Son have fallen by half to just 220 container trucks per day.



It takes trucks transporting dragon fruit, jackfruit and other fruits up to 10-14 days to get customs clearance at Tan Thanh Border Gate. To date, 2,228 trucks are still waiting for customs clearance procedures at the gate.



As of the morning of December 11, around 800 trucks carrying frozen seafood and 300 trucks transporting fruit were stranded at Mong Cai Border Gate in Quang Ninh Province. Just 40-50 containers trucks get customs clearance every day at Mong Cai Border Gate.



More trucks have brought dragon fruits to Lang Son after border gates in Lao Cai and Ha Giang were no longer able to process goods by China. This has resulted in severe congestion for border gates in Lang Son.



It costs each container truck around a parking fee of VND400,000 (USD17.39) per day at border gates while waiting for customs.



China has been strengthening inspections and disinfection of goods and means of transport and drivers from Vietnam, slowing down customs clearance.
First National Conference on Foreign Affairs opens

The National Conference on Foreign Affairs opened in both in-person and virtual forms on December 14, under the chair of Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong.













The National Conference on Foreign Affairs opened in both in-person and virtual forms on December 14 (Photo: baoquocte.vn)

This is the first national foreign affairs conference organised by the Politburo and the Secretariat of the Party Central Committe to discuss foreign affairs of the Party, the State's diplomatic activities, and people-to-people diplomacy.



It also aims to thoroughly popularise the Resolution of the 13th National Party Congress, especially policies, guidelines and orientations regarding foreign affairs of the Party, people and army.



The 13th National Party Congress has devised targets, orientations and national development tasks for the 2025-2030 period, with a vision to 2045.



Earlier, delegates attended an exhibition which highlights Vietnams foreign relations achievements through various periods.
Germany donates over 2.5 million Moderna doses to Vietnam

The German Government has supported Vietnam with a further 2,558,000 doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine as part of its contribution to the countrys ongoing vaccination drive.













The shipment of 2,558,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine arrives in Hanoi



The vaccine donation has been made through the COVAX Facility in close co-ordination with both UNICEF and WHO Vietnam.



In line with this, the shipment of 2,558,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine arrived in Hanoi on December 10.



German Ambassador to Vietnam Dr. Guido Hildner said "Germany has already supplied Vietnam with vaccines and medical equipment this year. With this new delivery of over 2.5 million doses of vaccine through COVAX, Germany reaffirms its solidarity with Vietnam in combating and overcoming the COVID-19 pandemic.



Current developments show that the pandemic is far from being defeated. Germany will provide further vaccines to Vietnam through the international vaccine platform COVAX. We can only defeat the pandemic if it is brought under control everywhere. Therefore, Germany and the EU support the COVAX vaccination campaign for fair and transparent access to COVID-19 vaccines worldwide," he added.



"On behalf of the UN family, we thank the Government and people of Germany for sharing these life-saving vaccine doses with the Vietnamese people. We seek to ensure vaccines reach to every corner of this country and the world, equitably. The Governments who have supported and continue to support COVAX, including through financial support and donations of vaccine are the change makers in the fight against the spread of this pandemic, stressed Rana Flowers, UN Coordinator and representative of UNICEF in Vietnam.



Moving forward, Germany is expected to grant additional vaccine doses to the Vietnamese side, bringing the total donations given by the European country up to over 10 million doses.



Following the latest delivery of vaccines donated by the German Government, Vietnam has now received a total of 45,197,910 of COVID-19 vaccine doses through the COVAX international vaccine platform.
More rare wild animals rescued

Cuc Phuong National Park and Save Vietnam's Wildlife jointly rescued seven rare wild animals from five localities between December 9-12.



The animals include three big-headed turtles handed over by Dien Bien Phu Provinces police, one sunda pangolin rescued by by Kon Tum Provinces Chu Mom Ray National Park, one monkey transferred by a resident in Hung Yen Province and a molurus python handed over by the forest management board in Ninh Binh Provinces Tam Diep City.









One of the three three rescued big-headed turtles



The animals are all on Vietnam's list of endangered rare animals which need to be protected.



Among the seven, the sunda pangolin had an injured tongue and belly. The other animals were in good health.



Trinh Van Nguyen from Save Vietnam's Wildlife said that the animal rescue at five different localities within just four days was a good result for his agency and Cuc Phuong National Park and Save Vietnam's Wildlife, particularly given the complicated situation regarding the pandemic. He hoped people would have better awareness of wild animal protection.
First Omicron death confirmed in UK: PM

Xinhua) 08:23, December 14, 2021

People walk past signs for a COVID-19 testing clinic in London, Britain, on Dec. 9, 2021. (Photo by Stephen Chung/Xinhua)

Another 1,576 Omicron cases have been found in Britain, the biggest daily increase since the COVID-19 variant was detected in the country, taking the total cases found in the country to 4,713, the UKHSA confirmed Monday.

LONDON, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) -- At least one person has died with the Omicron variant in Britain, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson confirmed Monday.

"Omicron is producing hospitalizations and sadly at least one patient has been confirmed to have died with Omicron," the prime minister said during a visit to a vaccine clinic in Paddington, west London.

Earlier, British Health Secretary Sajid Javid said there were 10 people in hospital in England with Omicron, but warned that cases, hospital admissions and deaths will rise. According to the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), their ages range between 18 and 85.

The British health secretary has also warned the Omicron variant is "spreading at a phenomenal rate" and infections are continuing to double every two to three days. The rate of its spread is "something we've never seen before", he told Sky News.

"It's pretty clear that the world can expect a tidal wave of new infections. How much of that translates into hospitalizations and mortality is still unknown. It seems that it's either milder or the existing levels of protection do give some protection. But just the sheer number of infections is highly concerning," Rasmus Bech Hansen, the chief executive of London-based Airfinity, a global health intelligence and analytics provider, told Xinhua in an online interview.

Another 1,576 Omicron cases have been found in Britain, the biggest daily increase since the COVID-19 variant was detected in the country, taking the total cases found in the country to 4,713, the UKHSA confirmed Monday.

People walk past a COVID-19 notice board at the entrance of the National Gallery in London, Britain, Dec. 12, 2021. (Xinhua/Li Ying)

Britain reported 54,661 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 10,873,468, according to official figures released Monday.

The country also reported a further 38 coronavirus-related deaths. The total number of coronavirus-related deaths in Britain now stands at 146,477, with 7,372 COVID-19 patients still in hospital.

Long queues are forming at COVID vaccination centers on Monday and there are widespread reports of the National Health Service (NHS) booking site crashing as people scramble to get their booster jabs ahead of Christmas.

The prime minister launched Sunday night a "national mission" called Omicron Emergency Boost. The health secretary has urged people to get their booster jab as soon as possible, warning that "two doses are not enough, but three doses provide excellent protection against symptomatic infection."

The UK COVID alert level has been raised from Level 3 to Level 4, the second highest level, "in light of the rapid increase in Omicron cases", the four British chief medical officers said in a joint statement Sunday.

More than 89 percent of people aged 12 and over in Britain have had their first dose of vaccine and more than 81 percent have received both doses, according to the latest figures. More than 41 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.

A man wearing a mask walks in London, Britain, Dec. 12, 2021. (Xinhua/Li Ying)

(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun)
Xinjiang workers condemn "forced labor" slur

Xinhua) 08:44, December 14, 2021

URUMQI, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) -- Workers from different industries in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region denounced lies of "forced labor" in the region and shared their experiences at a press conference Monday.

Elikimjan Elet, a native of Gulbag Township, Yuli County, graduated from Hefei University of Technology in 2019 and worked at a science and technology company in Hefei, capital of east China's Anhui Province, after graduation. When returning home for the Spring Festival, China's lunar new year, Elikimjan Elet was amazed by his ever-changing hometown and chose to stay there.

In March 2020, Elikimjan Elet started work at a farmers' cooperative in the county and was appointed the manager of the online sales department last May. He then taught himself about cattle and sheep breeding technology, accounting and e-commerce, and passed the accounting qualification examination this year.

"The work has not only brought me an abundant and happy life, but also a sense of self-worth," he said.

Haltan Ibrayim, head of the front desk clerks at a hot spring hotel in Fukang City, Hui Autonomous Prefecture of Changji, said she began work there in 2018 after being referred by a friend.

"At first, I was a cashier and did not know how to use the equipment. I then followed my colleagues to learn about computers, bill printing and other skills," she said. "Gradually, I became the head of the front desk clerks."

Haltan Ibrayim's husband is a barbecue chef at the restaurant in the hotel. The couple can earn more than 8,000 yuan (about 1,257.6 U.S. dollars) a month. Their 4-year-old daughter now attends kindergarten for free in the city.

"Knowledge changes fate and hard work creates wealth. By continuously improving myself, I chose a job I love," she said, adding that many of her relatives and friends have found satisfying jobs through continuous learning, and some have even started their own business.

(Web editor: Shi Xi, Liang Jun)
China, France vow to strengthen economic and financial cooperation

Xinhua) 08:52, December 14, 2021

Chinese Vice Premier Hu Chunhua and French Economy and Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire attend the closing ceremony of the fourth meeting of the Chinese-French council of entrepreneurs after co-chairing the eighth China-France High-Level Economic and Financial Dialogue via video link on Dec. 13, 2021. (Xinhua/Pang Xinglei)

BEIJING, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice Premier Hu Chunhua and French Economy and Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire co-chaired the eighth China-France High-Level Economic and Financial Dialogue on Monday via video link.

Hu said that, under the guidance of the two heads of state, practical cooperation between China and France has made new and positive progress, bilateral trade has reached a record high, two-way investment has grown rapidly, agricultural cooperation has achieved remarkable results and cooperation in emerging areas has made steady progress.

China stands ready to work together with the French side to implement the consensus reached by the two heads of state, strengthen cooperation on international and multilateral affairs in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, and deepen mutually beneficial cooperation in key areas, said Hu.

The two countries should consolidate and expand cooperation on major projects, and strive to create a good environment for trade and investment to push China-France cooperation to a higher level and inject new momentum into their bilateral comprehensive strategic partnership, said the vice-premier.

Le Maire, for his part, said that France attaches great importance to the bilateral ties, and is willing to work with China to further deepen economic and financial cooperation.

France is ready to strengthen communication and coordination with China on multilateral issues including the response to climate change, biodiversity protection and the WTO reform, said the French minister.

France is hoping to deepen cooperation with China on agriculture, finance and the third-party market, and promote bilateral pragmatic cooperation to achieve additional positive results, he added.

The dialogue reached 54 items of agreement.

Chinese Vice Premier Hu Chunhua and French Economy and Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire co-chair the eighth China-France High-Level Economic and Financial Dialogue via video link on Dec. 13, 2021. (Xinhua/Pang Xinglei)

(Web editor: Shi Xi, Liang Jun)
Xi-Putin meeting expected to draw up 2022 plan for bilateral ties, break rumors sowing discord

By Xu Keyue and Wan Hengyi (Global Times) 09:00, December 14, 2021

Chinese President Xi Jinping will have a virtual meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday, during which the two leaders will review bilateral relations and cooperation achievements over the year, draw up top-level design for the development of bilateral ties for next year and exchange views on major international and regional issues of common concern, the Chinese Foreign Ministry announced on Monday.

Analysts and officials believe that the meeting is significant and timely as it will not only solidify the mutual political trust of the two countries, chart the course for already close communication and cooperation in politics, economy, military and people-to-people exchanges for next year amid reckless US crackdowns and smears.

It is also seen as a response to doubts in the West over China-Russia relations as the US seeks to align its allies to confront both and even attempt to drive a wedge to split their ties following Putins recent talks with US President Joe Biden, analysts said.

Speaking at Mondays press conference, Wang Wenbin, a spokesperson of the Chinese Foreign Ministry said the meeting between the top leaders of China and Russia is expected to further enhance high-level mutual trust, vigorously promote close strategic coordination and the robust development of all-round practical cooperation between China and Russia, and inject more stability and positive energy into the turbulent and intertwined international situation.

After Russia held leadership meetings with the US and India and is likely to have another with the US, the meeting with China will break rumors aimed at sowing discord between the two countries, said Yang Jin, an associate research fellow at the Eastern European and Central Asian Studies Center of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

CNN on Sunday reported that Putin told US President Joe Biden he would "really like" to meet for more talks, citing a video clip released by Russian state TV on Sunday from the leaders' virtual call last week.

Putin and Biden spoke in a video call on December 7 as tensions between the US and Russia escalate. Ukraine tensions were one of the focuses during the call.

Given that Russia is in a critical period of making power arrangements as Putin's presidency is scheduled to expire in 2024, a stable internal and external environment is of urgent need, Cui Heng, a post-doctorate researcher from the Center for Russian Studies of East China Normal University, told the Global Times on Monday.

China and Russia can support each other in sticking to their own paths of development, serve as the backbone for each other's political legitimacy, and jointly oppose the West's incitement of color revolutions and stigmatization against the two countries, Cui said.

It is also hoped that the situation in Ukraine remains peaceful and stable, and disputes and conflicts should be resolved within the framework of dialogue and consultations, Yang said.

During the upcoming Xi-Putin meeting, the two will not only discuss the anti-pandemic and energy cooperation, but also Russias support for Chinas hosting of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games, more cooperation in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization under the Belt and Road Initiative, and Central Asia issues, Yang predicted.

The meeting could also cover the situation in Afghanistan and other regional issues, he said.

The meeting is of great significance for global stability, economic recovery and reconstruction in the post-pandemic era and the further consolidation of the strategic partnership between the two countries, Yang told the Global Times on Monday.

In recent years, Beijing and Moscow have stepped up cooperation on many fronts, be they military, trade or people-to-people exchanges. The frequent interactions between the top leaders of the two countries also help cement bilateral ties and lend stability and positive energy to the international situation.

The two sent congratulatory letters to the closing ceremony of the China-Russia Year of Scientific and Technological Innovation in late November. Putin has "gladly accepted Chinas invitation" to attend the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games in February and the two countries are in close communication on Putin's trip.

The two top leaders also talked over phone in August, during which they stressed strengthening coordination on Afghanistan, which analysts said showed that the two major powers are acting as responsible countries in helping address the chaos in Afghanistan and maintain the international order.

They also jointly announced the extension of the China-Russia Treaty of Good-Neighborliness and Friendly Cooperation in June via video link, three days ahead of the centennial of the Communist Party of China (CPC), while Putin congratulated Xi on the CPC's centenary and expressed hopes for enhanced China-Russia inter-party exchanges.

Citing the recent democracy summit initiated by the US, Cui said it exposed Bidens wishful thinking to build a camp with the Cold War mentality against China, Russia and other countries by ideological divisions. Only by joining hands can China and Russia counter the attack from the US-led clique and avoid falling into passivity, Cui stressed.

As the epidemic has been at its peak since mid-September in Russia, cooperation in the fight against the COVID-19 outbreaks is imperative, Cui said, noting that helping Russia can also consolidate Chinas achievements in preventing and controlling imported infections, Cui said.

During the reconstruction of the value chain, the two countries should further deepen industrial cooperation, Cui said. In addition to large-scale trade, there is still broad space for bilateral cooperation in the formation of industrial chains in agriculture, biomedicine, machinery, shipbuilding, and other fields, Cui said.

(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun)
U.S. should stop its human rights slandering game

09:01, December 14, 2021 By Zhong Sheng ( People's Daily

The so-called Summit for Democracy recently hosted by the U.S. was nothing about democracy, but merely a script that advocated suppressing other countries and dividing the world.

It was just ridiculous for the U.S. to give the floor to those who are opposed to China and attempt to destabilize Hong Kong and allowed the representatives of Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) to issue a so-called "state declaration" that challenged the "one-China" principle. The U.S. even launched a new round of sanctions against China in the name of "human rights" on Human Rights Day.

Such gross interference in China's domestic affairs and practices to contain China, which came under the disguise of the so-called "democracy" and "human rights," was exactly a piece of hard evidence of Washington taking democracy and human rights as tools and weapons.

Those who are opposed to China and attempt to destabilize Hong Kong, and the Taiwan separatists, will only be remembered by history as a shame for what they have done at the so-called Summit for Democracy as political puppets of the U.S.

Fugitive former Hong Kong lawmaker Nathan Law Kwun-chung, who's now wanted by the Hong Kong police, arbitrarily attacked the national security law in Hong Kong in total disregard of facts and once again begged external forces to meddle in Hong Kong affairs and contend against China. The people and history will condemn him for leaving his heritage and motherland behind.

At the Summit for Democracy, DPP representatives dreamed on about the so-called "Taiwan independence" and blatantly catered to the plot of the U.S. to confront China ideologically, fooling the people in Taiwan that Taiwan's international space has been expanded. They are not ashamed of it at all. On the contrary, they take it as a pride.

The collusion between the U.S. and the DPP and their provocative practices once again proved Taiwan authorities' attempt to look for U.S. support for their independence agenda, as well as the intention of some Americans to use Taiwan to contain China. This is exactly the root cause for the current new round of tensions in the Taiwan Straits.

Washington has drained its brain to push these political puppets onto the front stage and show support for them, to challenge the "one China" principle and interfere in China's domestic affairs. It fully indicated that the so-called summit aimed to suppress other countries in the name of "democracy."

"The organization of the Summit is part of a multi-faceted campaign by the U.S. to put China in a negative light," said former Singaporean Foreign Minister George Yeo Yong-Boon.

Facing such blatant provocation from the U.S., China is safeguarding its legitimate rights and interests with powerful actions and resolutely opposes the actions and remarks of the U.S. to interfere in its domestic affairs and undermine its sovereignty and territorial integrity. China is also sending a voice of justice to the international society so as to expose the U.S. conspiracy to abuse, violate, and destroy democracy.

Democracy is not privatized by American hegemony, and the U.S. has no right to monopolize how it shall be defined. Justice will always prevail. Whether a country is democratic should be judged by its people, and whether a country is acting democratically in the world should be acknowledged by the international community. The orderly development of the democratic practices in Hong Kong is the best response to the slandering remarks.

On Oct. 10, Nicaragua resumed diplomatic ties with China, becoming the 181st country to have diplomatic ties with China. It once again proved that it's a trend to establish and develop diplomatic relations with China, which any force cannot stop.

The sanctions once again placed by the U.S. are totally meaningless. They can never intimidate China and the Chinese people. The unilateral sanctions imposed by Washington against China in recent years have never worked, but only made China more resolute in doing its things well and united the Chinese people more closely to build a stronger China.

Thick mountains could not stop the river from flowing into the sea. China does the right conducts and upholds justice. No matter what the U.S. tries to slander China, it is doomed to fail. The so-called Summit for Democracy hosted by the U.S. against the trend of history has received wide criticism from the international society and is inevitable to face dismal results.

As the world is going through a pandemic and profound changes unseen in a century, the international society needs solidarity and cooperation more than ever. The U.S. should immediately correct its wrongs and meet China halfway, bring China-U.S. ties back to the right track of healthy and stable development, and do something beneficial for the people in the two countries and in the rest of the world.

(Zhong Sheng is a pen name often used by People's Daily to express its views on foreign policy and international affairs.)

(Web editor: Hongyu, Liang Jun)
Pirate code has significant influence on development of American democracy

09:04, December 14, 2021 By Zhang Mengxu ( People's Daily

Pirate organizations and piratical activities in the American history have exerted a strong influence on the formation of the countrys democratic system, said Marcus Rediker, a distinguished professor of Atlantic history at the University of Pittsburgh, in a recent interview with Peoples Daily.

From emphasizing the freedom and equality of each individual pirate to developing the earliest forms of representative democracy and the mechanism of checks and balances for better management, the operation mechanism of pirate organizations has promoted the emergence and evolution of the early American democratic system, Rediker explained.

Democracy is a concrete phenomenon that is constantly evolving. Each countrys democracy is rooted in its own history, culture and tradition.

There have been many theories about the formation of the American democratic system in the countrys academic circles in recent years, among which the ones focusing on the role of pirate code have attracted wide attention.

In the 17th and 18th centuries, many local people in Massachusetts chose the career as pirates. They would hold up passing merchant ships carrying gold, silver and other commodities in the Caribbean Sea in winter and in coastal waters around New England in summer.

The New England Pirate Museum located in Salem, Massachusetts houses different versions of pirate code in history, restored pirate ships and pirate treasures that have been unearthed.

In the 17th century, sea-robbers in the West Indies signed articles of agreement with one another, based on which the pirate code was formulated to regulate the operation of pirate organizations.

According to the pirate code, every man has equal title to an equal share of the fresh food and strong liquors after a successful robbery; the captain and quartermaster shall be elected by all; and the captain and quartermaster can receive two shares of a prize, other officers one and a quarter to one and a half shares, and the rest one share each.

Bartholomew Roberts, a famous pirate from Wales, plundered over 400 ships in his life. The 11-article pirate code he created has been the most widely circulated one among all versions of such documents.

The pirate code in the 18th century showed the earliest signs of the right to vote checks and balances representative democracy and spoils system, which can be considered as the embryo of American democracy, as some American experts and scholars pointed out.

An article published on the website of History News Network of the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences, George Washington University, analyzed the relations between pirate organizations and the American democratic system.

Pirates made a significant contribution to the development of American democracy, according to the article.

The first rule of one particular pirate code reads, Every man has a vote in affairs of moment, securing, at the start, a mans right to participate in the selection of the captain and other officials, said the article.

Besides, pirate organizations had a system of checks and balances and booty distribution, which, though radical for its time, formed a balance of order among a group of pirates, according to the article.

Pirates, in effect, were pioneers in democracy, said the article.

Pirate governance created sufficient order and cooperation to make pirates one of the most sophisticated and successful criminal organizations in history, said Peter Leeson, an economics professor at the George Mason University in the U.S., in his published paper titled The Law and Economics of Pirate Organization.

A sample of 700 pirates active in the Caribbean between 1715 and 1725 reveals that over a half of these pirates were English and American, according to the paper. To effectively organize their banditry, pirates needed mechanisms to prevent internal predation, minimize crew conflict, and maximize piratical profit. By devising election system, piratical checks and balances and spoils system, they guaranteed order on ships and improved the efficiency of piracy, suggested the paper.

Leeson believes that the systems employed in pirate governance are very similar to the modern democratic political system of the U.S.

Although there is no definite evidence that the American democratic system has its origins in the pirate code, it can be inferred from the timeline and extremely high similarity of relevant content that the founding fathers of the U.S. used the democracy system of checks and balances from pirate organizations when creating the U.S. government, Leeson said in an interview with Peoples Daily.

James Madison and other founding fathers of the U.S. may have borrowed the institutional design in pirate code, which is why democratic decentralization was mentioned in the Federalist Papers, Leeson said, adding that from this perspective, pirates were the initiator of the democratic governance system of the U.S.

The pirate code has exerted a direct influence on the U.S. Declaration of Independence and the institutional design of the early American government; piratical activities were of great significance for the prosperity of then British colonies in the U.S., laying economic foundation to some extent for Americas independence from Britain, according to an academic paper titled Piracys Influence in the Atlantic World collected by the University of Florida.

(Web editor: Hongyu, Liang Jun)
Shenzhou-13 crew gives first science class from Chinas space station

09:08, December 14, 2021 By Yu Jianbin, Feng Hua ( People's Daily

On Dec. 9, crew members of Chinas Shenzhou-13 manned spaceflight mission, Chinese astronauts Zhai Zhigang, Wang Yaping, and Ye Guangfu, delivered a wonderful 60-minute science class 400 kilometers above Earth at Chinas Tiangong space station to elementary and middle school students.

Students at an elementary school in Yuquan district, Hohhot city, north Chinas Inner Mongolia autonomous region watch a livestreamed science lecture given by crew members of Chinas Shenzhou-13 manned spaceflight mission from the countrys space station, Dec. 9, 2021. (Peoples Daily Online/Ding Genhou)

The livestreamed lecture was the first lecture conducted by Chinese astronauts from space in eight years since the last space class was given in 2013, and also the first lecture given from Chinas space station.

At the main classroom set at the China Science and Technology Museum, students interacted with their space teachers in real time via a large screen.

As the live scene on the screen shifted from the space station orbiting the blue Earth to the roomy and uncluttered core module of the space station, a spinning yellow top appeared on the screen, which was followed by an introduction to the lecture made by Wang.

There is no end for space exploration. As the top spins continuously, we have moved from the Shenzhou-10 mission to the construction of Chinas space station. Welcome to the Tiangong Class, said Wang, greeting students attending the class in different cities of the country. She then introduced to students her crewmates, Zhai and Ye, who also said hello to the whole class.

Wang gave students a virtual tour of the brightly lit core module of the Tiangong space station. The sleeping zone of the core module is equipped with three bedrooms. With photos of her family and some little ornaments, Wangs bedroom looked warm and sweet. The porthole in the bedroom gave a splendid view of the universe and Earth.

Photo taken on Dec. 9, 2021 shows students at an elementary school in Korla city, northwest Chinas Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region watching a livestreamed science lecture given by crew members of Chinas Shenzhou-13 manned spaceflight mission from the countrys space station. (Peoples Daily Online/Yang Kun)

In zero-gravity environment, our blood distribution is different from that on Earth. Blood in the lower part of our body flows upward, so we look a little chubby and puffy. It can affect our health. Therefore we need to counter the physiological effects of weightlessness through a lot of exercise methods, Wang said. She showed students how to use treadmill and spin bike in space.

In the kitchen of the core module, which is equipped with devices like microwave, water dispenser and refrigerator, Wang took out a fresh apple from the refrigerator.

The water dispenser is used to draw water for drinking and cooking, according to Wang, who said that with technological advances, the space station has realized regeneration of water for drinking and cooking and that every drop of water is made full use of in the space station.

Ye and Zhai demonstrated to students how they resist the physiological effects of weightlessness in space during the class.

Besides exercise equipment, astronauts also have a secret weapon that can help prevent muscular atrophy caused by weightlessness, said Zhai, referring to the penguin jump suit Ye was wearing during the class.

Students of an elementary school in Changxing county, Huzhou city, east Chinas Zhejiang province watch a science lecture delivered by crew members of Chinas Shenzhou-13 manned spaceflight mission from the countrys space station, Dec. 9, 2021. (Peoples Daily Online/Zhou Hongfeng)

It has multiple elastic bands inside to help the astronauts maintain their muscle strength, said Zhai, who considers the suit a valuable fruit of the ingenuity of space science and technology experts.

During the class, students in the classrooms on Earth put a ping-pong ball in a glass of water and the ball floated. When Wang did the same thing in the space station, the ball stayed in water. The reason is that buoyancy almost disappears in zero-gravity environment, Wang explained.

Can we send an e-mail to you? a student attending the class from a classroom in Chinas Macao Special Administrative Region asked.

We can communicate with the ground control by e-mail and video call from the core module. In our spare time, we are able to watch movies, read novels and listen to music. We also have a lot of TV channels here. We can also have two-way phone calls with our family during the weekend break. Currently, since our e-mail to the ground team requires special handling, we cant receive your e-mail now. But you can leave messages for us online, and we are looking forward to your comments, Ye answered.

(Web editor: Hongyu, Liang Jun)
China's manned deep-sea submersible finishes 21 dives of over 10,000 meters in oceans

09:17, December 14, 2021 By Liu Yao ( People's Daily

The scientific research ship Tansuo-1 retrieves the manned submersible Fendouzhe. (Photo courtesy of China State Shipbuilding Corporation Limited)

China's manned submersible Fendouzhe (Striver) has completed 21 dives with a depth of over 10,000 meters, carrying 27 scientists to the deepest parts of oceans. Both the figures are the highest in the world.

The submersible has just recently returned to a port in the city of Sanya, south China's Hainan province from a 53-day expedition, carried by the scientific research ship Tansuo-1. It marked that the submersible has completed its second stage of sea trials of 2021.

During this expedition, which was joined by over 60 researchers from 10 organizations, Fendouzhe finished 23 dives, six of which exceeded a depth of 10,000 meters. It has successfully landed on the Challenger Deep, the deepest known point of the seabed at the southern end of the Mariana Trench.

Photo shows the manned submersible Fendouzhe. (Photo courtesy of China State Shipbuilding Corporation Limited)

The Challenger Deep has a depth of more than 10,900 meters at its deepest point. As a key channel in the deep sea and a mysterious region that sees active geological activities, it is considered one of the frontiers of marine science.

During the second stage of sea trials, a series of deep-sea instruments were tested in a depth of over 10,000 meters, including full-ocean depth autonomous underwater vehicle Wukong and an acoustic release transponder.

Besides, as a submersible that is able to dive deep and work with a high precision, Fendouzhe obtained a batch of valuable samples, including water, sediment, rocks and micro-organisms. It has accumulated valuable data for use in comparative studies of environments, geological structures and life forms in different trenches.

It is worth mentioning that after the expedition, the 67-year-old scientist Wang Jian became the first man in China that has joined surveys to the North and South Poles, topped the Qomolangma and dived into the waters over 10,000 below the sea surface. He is also the oldest person in the world with such an accomplishment.

During the second stage of sea trials, the Mariana Consensus was initiated by participating scientists, which calls for the establishment of a standardized system for deep-sea expeditions to realize the long-term preservation and sharing of deep-sea scientific samples and data. The Consensus adopts a volunteer cooperation and sample sharing mechanism.

A woman takes her child to watch a model of the manned submersible Fendouzhe exhibited at the China Science and Technology Museum, Feb. 6, 2021. (People's Daily Online/Chen Xiaogen)

Besides, the expedition also launched the Mariana Trench Environment and Ecology Research Project (MEER). The project will invite experts and scholars from both China and abroad, so as to tackle major scientific issues together, such as the origins of life and environmental adaptation, biodiversity and climate change, among others.

In recent years, China has actively launched international cooperation on manned deep-sea exploration. Ye Cong, chief designer of Fendouzhe said the Chinese submersible will be open to global scientists under certain rules. China hopes to further enhance mankind's understanding of the deep ocean through relevant science plans and international cooperation.

Chen Chuanxu, chief scientist of the second stage of sea trials, introduced that Fendouzhe completed 51 dives this year, and three of them were made in five days. These dives have made the launching and retrieval of the submersible adaptable to a wider scope of sea state, and trained more oceanauts, which has made it possible for Fendouzhe to carry more scientists across the world to the deepest areas of the world.

(Web editor: Hongyu, Liang Jun)
Ming Dynasty pottery figurines returned to China

Xinhua) 09:25, December 14, 2021

BEIJING, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) -- Two pottery figurines dating back to the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) have been returned to China from overseas, to be placed in the Shanghai Museum's collection.

A ceremony to mark the event was held Tuesday by the National Cultural Heritage Administration.

Ms. Suzanne Fratus from the United Sates donated the figurines through the Chinese Consulate General in San Francisco in April.

"It is not through money or politics that these figures have come home to you. They were returned through the power of love and respect for you the Chinese people," Fratus said.

The figurines were identified as funerary objects with important collection value.

(Web editor: Shi Xi, Liang Jun)
Afghanistan receives second batch of China-donated winter supplies

Xinhua) 09:29, December 14, 2021

Chinese Ambassador to Afghanistan Wang Yu (R) and Afghan deputy minister of refugees and repatriation affairs of the caretaker government Arsala Kharoti (L) attend the handover ceremony of China-donated winter supplies in Kabul, capital of Afghanistan, Dec. 13, 2021. The second batch of winter supplies donated by China has arrived in Kabul. (Photo by Saifurahman Safi/Xinhua)

KABUL, Dec. 14 (Xinhua) -- The second batch of winter supplies donated by China has arrived in Kabul, capital of Afghanistan.

Afghan deputy minister of refugees and repatriation affairs of the caretaker government Arsala Kharoti and Chinese Ambassador to Afghanistan Wang Yu attended the handover ceremony on Monday in a depot of the ministry in Kabul.

This batch of winter supplies include more than 70,000 blankets and more than 40,000 down coats. At this critical moment, the aid brings warmth from the Chinese people to the Afghan people, the Chinese ambassador said while addressing the ceremony.

Wang said that China would continue to donate other aid including food to Afghanistan.

As a good neighbor of Afghanistan, China is ready to help Afghanistan overcome the current difficulties, Wang said.

Officials from the ministry of refugees and repatriation affairs received the supplies.

Kharoti thanked China for providing the emergency supplies as many Afghan people are experiencing a difficult time.

These aid supplies will be distributed to eligible people around the country, he added.

The second batch of winter supplies donated by China arrives in Kabul, capital of Afghanistan, Dec. 13, 2021. (Photo by Saifurahman Safi/Xinhua)

The second batch of winter supplies donated by China arrives in Kabul, capital of Afghanistan, Dec. 13, 2021. (Photo by Saifurahman Safi/Xinhua)

(Web editor: Shi Xi, Liang Jun)
US should look in the mirror before lecturing on democracy

10:33, December 14, 2021 By Md Enamul Hassan ( People's Daily Online

Just the other day, I was listening to some high-profile speakers at the Dialogue on Democracy held in Beijing, which shed light on the definition of democracy and the competing narratives behind it.

The dialogue featured Le Yucheng, Chinas Vice Foreign Minister, and many renowned scholars such as Eric Li S. M and Zhang Weiwei from China, Kishore Mahbubani from Singapore, and Martin Jacques and John Ross from the UK.

They said that US-style democracy is not the only model for democracy in the world. They called on the US not to push any other country to follow it, as freedom of choice is one of the core values of democracy itself. They expected the US to respect other competing narratives on democracy, as it is a common value shared by all of humanity.

In his remarks, Vice Foreign Minister Le Yucheng said that some countries are using democracy as a cover, twisting its essence, and wilfully setting its standards. They even use democracy as a political tool for selfish gains and build small blocs to create division and confrontation in the world. This obviously runs against the spirit of democracy. Some in the West claim that there seems to be no democracy in China, and that the Communist Party of China is just authoritarian and autocratic. In their eyes, although China has created many miracles of long-term stability, rapid development and poverty reduction, and the government has the universal support of the Chinese people, it is still a country without democracy or human rights. This actually reveals their hostile mindset and intentions, namely, that democracy is just a tool used to repress anyone who disagrees with them and to contain the development of other countries.

The dialogue was held at a time when the US prepared to hold its much-hyped virtual Summit for Democracy, the first of its kind, held from December 9 to 10. The three themes of the summit are defending against authoritarianism, addressing and fighting corruption, and advancing respect for human rights. In reference to the themes, I would like to say that the US has already brought controversy to its initiative even before it began by inviting Taiwan to the summit.

As a result, the true motives of the US for holding the summit have been exposed and the international community is barely showing any interest in it. The world can see that it is nothing but a political farce designed to spread anti-China rhetoric and propaganda in the name of democracy and human rights.

Analysts see the summit as a desperate attempt by the US to rally some countries behind it to prove that the already-collapsed superpower has reclaimed its lost position in the global arena. Many think it will do nothing to help the US pull off its objectives, but will only further divide the world during a devastating pandemic when unity is more important for mankind than ever before. Therefore, the summit is being seen as an old Cold War strategy by many international scholars.

While listening to the panelists at the dialogue in Beijing online, I began thinking about what the US and its allies have so far done to establish US-style democracy in the world. They first made the Iraqi people dream of freedom and democracy. Then they invaded Iraq, where troops from the US and its allies fought battles that tore the country apart. After paying a high price, Iraqis now want their country to return to the way things were before the invasion.

In the name of freedom and democracy, the US and its allies razed Afghanistan and Libya to the ground. The same happened in Libya, which has been struggling to end its raging civil war since 2011.

Apart from them, successive US governments have participated and interfered, both overtly and covertly, in the replacement of foreign governments around the world. Their major operations included the 1953 Iranian coup d'etat, the 1961 Bay of Pigs Invasion targeting Cuba, and support for the overthrow of Sukarno by General Suharto in Indonesia.

The US has also interfered in countries national elections, including Italy in 1948, the Philippines in 1953, and Japan in the 1950s and 1960s as well as Lebanon in 1957. According to one study, the US performed at least 81 overt and covert known interventions in foreign elections from 1946 to 2000. Another study found that the US engaged in 64 covert and six overt attempts at regime change during the Cold War.

In the last year, the US has blocked the International Criminal Court (ICC) from investigating alleged human rights violations and crimes against humanity respectively by its forces in Afghanistan and by Israeli Forces in Gaza, Palestine, which showed the world the US true colors once again.

The Economist Intelligence Unit downgraded the US to a flawed democracy for the first time ever in its 2016 Democracy Index. Several factors contributed to the demotion, the Economist Intelligence Unit argued. First and foremost, Americans have lost confidence in their political process. According to the Pew Research Centre, public trust in government has been on a steady downward trend since shortly after the September 11th attacks in 2001.

To show the world the real conditions of democracy in the US, Chinas Ministry of Foreign Affairs recently released a report titled The State of Democracy in the United States. The report said that American-style democracy is more like a meticulously set up scene in a Hollywood movie where a bunch of well-heeled characters publicly pledge commitment to the people but actually busy themselves with behind-the-scenes deals. Political infighting, money politics, and veto-cracy make it virtually impossible for quality governance to be delivered as desired by the general public. Americans are becoming increasingly disillusioned with US politics and pessimistic about American-style democracy.

The report mentioned that a Gallup survey in October 2020 shows that only 19 percent of the Americans surveyed are very confident about the presidential election, a record low since the survey was first conducted in 2004. In November 2020, an online Wall Street Journal report argued that the 2020 general election can be seen as the culmination of a two-decade decline in faith in democracy in the US. According to a poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, only 16 percent of Americans say democracy is working well or extremely well; 45 percent think democracy isnt functioning properly, while another 38 percent say its working only somewhat well. A Pew Research Center survey finds that just 20 percent of Americans say they trust the federal government just about always or most of the time. Another Pew survey shows that 72 percent of Americans believe that democracy in the US has not been a good example for others to follow in recent years.

The report by Chinas MFA precisely observed that the assault on Capitol Hill earlier this year has undermined the three major bedrocks of the American-style democracy--democracy in the US is not democratic as it claims, freedom in the US is not free as it claims, and the rule of law in the US is not bound by the law as it claims. The assault on the Capitol sent shock waves throughout the international community. While condemning the violence, many people, including British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, French President Emmanuel Macron, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, and former Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, also expressed disappointment in the US.

Faced with these heinous acts of subjugating freedom, democracy and human rights by the US at home and abroad, the world is right to be scared of the so-called democracy summit  once bitten, twice shy. They are strongly against the US strategy to victimize any other country in the name of democracy once again.

Analysts are of the view that the US has no moral grounds or right to sermonize on human rights and democracy until it cleans up its own home and brings American human rights violators to justice. They expect the US to look in the mirror before lecturing others on democracy and human rights.

Source: Bangladesh Post

Md Enamul Hassan is a news editor at China Media Group (CMG), Beijing, China.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Peoples Daily Online.

(Web editor: Hongyu, Liang Jun)
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Japan Vietnam Medical Instrument Joint Stock Company announces the Resolution of Annual General Meeting 2021 dated December 10, 2021 with the following contents:

1) The AGM approved the BOD, The Senior management and the Supervisory Board activities report in 2020, 2021.

2) The AGM approved the audited financial statements in 2020.

3) The AGM approved profit distribution plan for 2020:

- The profit after tax in 2021: -VND59 billion

- The 2020 dividend payment: none.

4) The AGM approved the plan to pay remuneration to the members of BOD and Supervisory Board in 2020: VND470,230,000.

5) The AGM approved the plan to pay remuneration to the members of BOD and Supervisory Board in 2021: VND408,000,000.

6) The AGM approved the selection of the auditor for the financial statements in 2021.

7) The AGM approved the amendment and supplement of the Companys business lines.

8) The AGM approved the amendment and supplement of the Companys charter.

9) The AGM approved private placement of shares.

10) The AGM approved to change of the legal representative.

11) The AGM approved to change company name.

12) . The AGM approved the additional election of members of BOD for the term 2021  2026, including:

- Nguyen Thi Hanh;

- Le Minh Chung;

- Nguyen Thi Phuong;

- Pham Thanh Nam;

- Vu Hoang Viet.

11. The AGM approved the additional election of members of Supervisory Board for the term 2021  2026, including:

- Nguyen Van Sy;

- Dang Thi Ha Giang;

- Nguyen Thi Tien Chi.
Vietjet Aviation Joint Stock Company (HOSE: VJC) has released its Q3/2021 financial statements, reporting air transport revenue of more than VND1,365 billion (approx. US$59.17 million) following its huge efforts to break even. Accumulated revenue reached more than VND6,384 billion (approx. US$276.73 million) while gross profit was more than VND44.5 billion (approx. US$1.93 million) for the first nine months of 2021.

In its consolidated financial report, Vietjet has posted its Q3/2021 revenue at VND2,654 billion (approx. US$115.14 million) and accumulated revenue for the first nine months of 2021 at VND10,210 billion (approx. US$442.96 million).

Vietjets assets totaled more than VND50,949 billion (approx. US$2.21 billion) by the end of September 2021. Its debt-to-equity ratio stayed at as low as 0.8 while the liquidity ratio was at 1.06 - all were within the safety margin and considered good indicators in the aviation industry.

Vietjet has transported about 6.4 million passengers on nearly 37,000 flights over the first nine months of the year, retaining its highest quality service with the OTP rate reaching 99.7%. All of Vietjet flights have strictly followed disease-prevention regulations.

The airline has carried out many flights to airlift tens of thousands of medical staff, soldiers and police officers and millions of vaccine jabs and medical equipment to aid the outbreak-stricken localities.

Vietjet has also celebrated the first anniversary of the Vietjet Ground Services Center (VJGS) which served up to 4.5 million passengers on 25,217 flights and transported 64,031 tons of cargo. As a result, ancillary revenue reached 112.43% of its planned target. VJGS has well proved its capability in performing ground services and would serve as a big step forward to complete Vietjets aviation supply chain services in order to level up service quality while optimizing costs.

The airline has vigorously pushed for technology adaptation and digital transformation, renovated and upgraded system operations protocols while enhancing cost and fuel-saving management in Q3/2021.

The Vietjet Aviation Academy (VJAA) has increased its e-learning activities to save costs and ensure disease-protection efforts. There have been hundreds of courses for over 5,700 learners, including courses for pilots, cabin crew, flight dispatchers, engineers and ground services employees.

The airline has reached an agreement with its strategic partner of Airbus on the delivery of 119 ordered aircrafts by the end of 2028. They would also work together to develop Vietjets wide-body aircraft fleet in addition to substantial post-pandemic support in maintenance and pilot training.

Vietjet now has resumed all of its routes connecting Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City with other localities to meet the peoples demand of traveling fast and safely. The airline is ready to reopen regular commercial international flights in the coming time.

Vietjet has planned to operate 3 direct flight routes since mid-2022 connecting Ha Noi, Ho Chi Minh City and Nha Trang with Moscow, Russia by the Airbus modern A330-300 aircrafts. This is the first step in realizing Vietjets ambition to enter the European market, fulfilling the travelling demand between Vietnam and the world and contributing to the countrys economic development.

(source: https://ir.vietjetair.com/)
When she arrived on the mainland three years ago to start her business, Hong Kong entrepreneur Annie Leung never expected to be named the "March 8th Red Flag Bearer of Guangdong Province" by the Guangdong Women's Federation. She was given the honor earlier this year for her outstanding poverty alleviation work. Leung, 30, and her team have made great achievements in assisting villagers in Guizhou province's Hezhang county since 2018. By the end of 2020, Leung had helped more than 500 poor householdsabout 3,000 peopleearn more than 6 million yuan ($942,000) by planting flowers and developing commercial scents and fragrances. Leung, who is general manager of Guangzhou Ganghua Agricultural Technology Co, established an innovation and entrepreneurship poverty alleviation demonstration base in Hezhang to help residents rise out of poverty. She hopes that through her efforts and experiences she will be able to help more colleagues and friends from Hong Kong and Macao understand the development taking place on the mainland and what is being done to help them integrate to take advantage of the opportunities on offer. Leung is not alone. With the introduction of preferential policies by the central and local governments, a growing number of young people from the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions have come to the mainland to start businesses, work or study. According to Tian Xuejun, vice-minister of education, around 16,000 Hong Kong students and 7,320 Macao students are now studying at universities and colleges across the mainland. They enjoy the same tuition, accommodation and medical care policies as their mainland counterparts. They are also eligible for the same employment guidance as their mainland compatriots and for scholarships set up by the central government for students from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, he said. The central government has also issued a series of policies to actively support mainland colleges and universities in recruiting students from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan. Wong King-hei, a postgraduate student majoring in geophysics at the University of Science and Technology of China in Hefei, Anhui province, said the mainland's vast territory means there are plenty of geological phenomena to study. "In this field, the mainland's research system is in the same echelon as Europe," Wong said. Leung Chun-ying, vice-chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and a former chief executive of Hong Kong, said the mainland is now seeing rapid economic growth, and young adults from Hong Kong should seize the opportunities available. "The motherland is so big, I hope more Hong Kong young adults can go and have a look," Leung told a conference in the city earlier this year. "If Hong Kong people could visit the mainland and see its many modern factories, they would be more interested in starting businesses or taking jobs there," Leung said. Zhang Guangnan, a professor at Sun Yat-sen University's Institute of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao Development Studies, said the Pearl River Delta cities adjacent to Hong Kong and Macao, which have similar cultural characteristics, are traditionally the priority choices for young adults from the two cities. But with the advancement of cooperation and exchanges driven by infrastructure connectivity, more young people from the cities have chosen to start businesses in inland areas, where special projects have been introduced to draw talent and investment from Hong Kong and Macao, Zhang said. Liu Jiangning, a researcher at the Research Institute of Globalization and China's Modernization at the University of International Business and Economics, said the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Areaan important strategic cluster for the countryhas now become one of China's most dynamic, innovative and open areas. "The Greater Bay Area has advanced manufacturing industries and service industries," she said. "And it has introduced a series of preferential policies to attract talent from Hong Kong and Macao in recent years." Many cities in Guangdong have offered loans for entrepreneurs, as well as living allowances to young adults from Hong Kong and Macao. The Greater Bay Area includes nine Guangdong cities, plus Hong Kong and Macao. It generated GDP of about 11.5 trillion yuan ($1.8 trillion) last year, more than 10 percent of the country's total, Liu said, adding that the prosperous Pearl River Delta has more than 300 distinct industrial clusters that are providing myriad entrepreneurial opportunities.


By Hu Bo

US Secretary of State Blinken arrived in Indonesias capital Jakarta on December 13, where he is expected to give a speech on Americas Indo-Pacific strategy. His first Southeastern Asian trip after taking office will also take him to Malaysia and Thailand.

Southeast Asia has become increasingly important in the strategic contention between the US and China, reported some media. The reason is simple. In addition to maintaining its political, economic and military clout, the US takes containing and curbing China on the sea as a key consideration.

From Americas point of view, the South China Sea and its surrounding regions are extremely important both for its Indo-Pacific strategy and the Return to Sea Control policy. But since the end of the Cold War, Southeast Asia has been a weak link in Americas military strategy and maritime strategy in Asia Pacific, as manifested in the seriously inadequate forward military presence, lack of reliable strategic pivot, and absence of a powerful alliance system. Therefore, amid the chant and narrative of major country competition and China threat, the US has spared no effort in stressing Southeast Asias position in its strategy.

However, what the US has done in the past ten-plus years falls far short of its official fancy promises as all the progress is concentrated in military security. Washington has markedly increased its military presence in the South China Sea and Southeast Asia, with ever more frequent close-in reconnaissance, cruise and deterrence in the South China Sea. It has also intensified interaction and cooperation with Southeast Asian countries in military exercise, training and arms deals.

But not much has been done in diplomatic, economic and other fields. For one thing, America is only interested in military security while diplomatic engagement and economic aid and cooperation are just candies to lure in the Southeast Asian countries. For another, America is incapable of doing things on all fronts in parallel. With the change of administrations, its policies are never consistent, its economic strength and influence are falling, and its soft power is waning, all of which have taken a serious toll on the implementation of its strategies and policies.

In the meantime, most Southeast Asian countries are disgruntled by Americas regional and maritime strategies. First, the US takes Southeast Asia as the main battlefield of its so-called major-country competition and is trying more overtly to rally regional countries to form a reinforced front against China. But most regional countries dont want to take sides between the two powers. Even if some of them that have maritime disputes with China hope the US can curb so-called Chinas expansion on the sea, they are in no way willing to serve as cannon fodder in the China-US competition or even conflict.

Second, the US is half-hearted in helping Southeast Asia and often stops at paying lip service. The US is the most unreliable major power in all ASEANs cooperation mechanisms, worse than countries such as China, Japan, ROK, Australia and Russia in terms of policy continuity. The US also lags far behind China and Japan in regional economic development and cooperation and infrastructure upgrade.

Third, Americas tricks of forging small multilateralism and clique will impair ASEANs much-valued central position in East Asian cooperation. ASEAN countries are obviously not key members in Americas Indo-Pacific strategy. There is a strategic mismatch between the US and ASEAN because the former is so bent on major-country competition that it has neither the ability nor the will to provide more public products in other areas, whereas Southeast Asian countries are still focused on socio-economic development, and the protection, hedging and containment provided by the US, important as they are, are not that essential or indispensable.

No matter how sounding Washingtons diplomatic rhetoric is, its fundamental purpose in strengthening the engagement with Southeast Asia is for countries in the region to arm themselves at their own expenses and join its anti-China regiment. To put it blankly, it wants to use others capital, resources and space to shore up its own strategic weakness.

Editor's note: This article is originally published on huanqiu.com, 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.
Kentucky's governor says the death toll remains at 64 from the devasting tornadoes that hit the midwestern U.S. state late Friday and early Saturday, but said the number is likely to rise, with final totals perhaps not be known for weeks.

Speaking to reporters from the state capital, Frankfort, Andy Beshear began a Monday briefing by saying, "I know, like the folks in western Kentucky, I am not doing so well today."

He said officials are responding to the worst tornado event in the history of the state, which was hit by at least four tornadoes, one of which stayed on the ground for at least 321 kilometers in the western part of the Kentucky, devastating everything in its path. He said thousands of homes were damaged, if not destroyed.

Kentucky's governor said 64 was the most accurate death they had as of Monday, with 18 victims still unidentified. At least 105 people are still missing. Among those killed were employees of a candle factory in the city of Mayfield.


National Intelligence Service Director Park Jie-won, a staunch loyalist of President Moon Jae-in, told the annual Global Intelligence Summit in Seoul on Monday, "The North has no vaccination plans and is rejecting even COVAX vaccines. Momentum could be created to bring the North back to the dialogue table if the U.S. makes a bolder COVID-19 vaccine support proposal."

South Korea's spy chief on Monday urged the U.S. to offer coronavirus vaccines to North Korea in order to foster dialogue.

"Pyongyang has closed all borders due to the pandemic. It's difficult to have dialogue with officials, much less meet them. Borders are so tightly closed that not even an ant can get through," he admitted.

The North has already rejected 2.97 million doses of Sinovac's vaccine and some 6.73 million doses of the AstraZeneca's vaccine offered by COVAX, which suggests that the government's hopes of engaging it are a pipe dream.

But Park added, "Pyongyang can't keep its doors closed indefinitely. It needs to solve the current situation through cooperation with the international community."

"North Korean leader Kim Jong-un may be dissatisfied because his country has received nothing from the U.S. despite its moratorium on nuclear weapons testing, including suspending tests of intercontinental ballistic missiles over the past four years," he said.

"If the U.S. shows an interest in lifting sanctions on livelihood essentials which the North demanded in return for dismantling the Yongbyon nuclear facility, including imports of refined oil and daily necessities and exports of coal and minerals, it could spark the resumption of dialogue for the peace on the Korean Peninsula."

Park urged Pyongyang to "come to the dialogue table now with an open mind to discuss matters of major concerns, including a declaration to formally end the Korean War, which both Seoul and Washington are reviewing."

In fact the U.S. has politely rebuffed Moons quixotic proposal to declare an end to the Korean War before his term ends and insisted the North must take verifiable steps toward denuclearization first. North Korea has restarted the Yongbyon nuclear facility and is expanding uranium enrichment facilities.

A government official here claimed the North only rejected the vaccine donations because it is holding out for a better vaccine. "We understand that the North wants the Moderna vaccine because it can be kept at a relatively higher temperature than Pfizer," he said.
Korean babies born 50 years from now will have the longest life expectancy in the world, according to a projection by Statistics Korea on Monday.

It said Koreans born between 2065 and 2070 are expected to live 90.9 years on average, the longest among the 38 OECD member states, followed by Norway (90.2 years), Finland (89.4 years), and Japan and Canada (89.3 years). Koreans will live 8.9 years longer than the Irish who will have the shortest life expectancy in the rich countries' club.

Korea's life expectancy has increased by a whopping 21.2 years over the past 50 years, from just 62.3 years in 1970 to 83.5 years last year.

The financial burden is growing apace as the economically active population declines due to the record-low birthrate.

At this rate Korea will become the only country in the OECD whose productive population aged 15-64 will take up less than 50 percent of the total population by 2070 at only 46.1 percent. Even in super-aged Japan the rate is expected to be 50.5 percent.

Korea will also top the list in terms of the proportion of the dependency rate as every 100 working adults have to support 116.8 elderly people.
Hollywood last Saturday celebrated its plentiful Asian talent with a gala and awards ceremony that brought together such stars as Sandra Oh, Simu Liu and John Cho. The theme of the night at the 19th Annual Unforgettable Gala in Beverly Hills, California was "RISE," and red carpet guests spoke about challenges facing America's Asian community in the coronavirus pandemic, including a perceived surge in racism.

Daniel Dae Kim, the star of the ABC hit series "Lost," spoke of the "need for the community to rise together as one," while Argentine-born actor Leonardo Nam called for "rising to channel the anger into compassion... and giving peace a chance."

Hosted by comedian and actress Sherry Cola, the gala celebrated achievements such as Marvel's first Asian hero Shang Chi, Korea's hit Netflix series "Squid Game," director Bong Joon-ho's "Parasite," and K-Pop sensation Bangtan Boys, also known as BTS, that are re-shaping the dynamics of how people perceive and consume Asian content. At the award ceremony, Chinese-born Canadian actor Simu Liu delivered a speech recalling that best director laureate Destin Daniel Cretton taught him the lifetime lesson to "lean into vulnerability, to be flawed, imperfect." He ended the speech with full embrace of his identity: "it is an honor to be Asian unapologetically Asian."

Sandra Oh said she "wants to see changes happen" in the industry and support younger talent. Oh last made a splash early this year by appearing at a "Stop Asian Hate" rally in Oakland with a megaphone, imploring the community to "reach out and hold each other" without fear.

The Gala also gave the word to sponsors and to Character Media, initially founded as a magazine for Korean Americans by James Ryu. Having matured into one of the leading media companies for Asian talents over the years, the company "will become a foundation to serve many more global communities in the future to create positive changes," Ryu said.
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Alejandro Roubian, NJ2AS President and Managing Editor, recently received information from a Trenton insider that proposed legislation will make the gun industry accountable for crime guns under public nuisance laws.

Unsure of the validity, we waited to confirm this tip. At this time, NJ2AS can report that a bill (A6218) sponsored by Assemblyman John McKeon (D-27) was proposed and introduced to the Judiciary Committee yesterday. It will be heard on Monday.

The proposed legislation specifically targets gun retailers, manufacturers, NJ2AS, and YOU. Specifically, it allows the Attorney General to bring cause of action for certain public nuisance violations arising from sale or marketing of firearms, according to the bills synopsis.

The term marketing is not defined, but anyone discussing firearms should be greatly concerned. Is a Facebook post discussing your new favorite gun, ammo, or accessory considered marketing? Based on how the proposed law is written, it would be  and you could become legally responsible for criminal activity!

According to the bill, Gun industry member means a person, firm, corporation, company, partnership, society, joint stock company, or any other entity or association engaged in the sale, manufacturing, distribution, importing or marketing of firearms, ammunition, ammunition magazines, or firearm accessories.

You read that correctly It specifically lists society as a member of the gun industry. To make matters worse, it also states a person  meaning, you, the average person who wants to discuss firearms and exercise their First Amendment right could be charged under the marketing aspect of the legislation.

Any person boasting or bragging about how they love XYZ brand of guns, ammunition, magazines, OR accessories would now be responsible if a criminal uses the aforementioned items in a crime. You and others listed in their gun industry member definition would be changed by the state Attorney General under New Jerseys public nuisance laws. .....
Press Release

December 14, 2021 De Lima slams PhilHealth, DOH failure to release payments to hospitals, healthcare workers Opposition Senator Leila M. de Lima bewailed continued failure by the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) and the Department of Health (DOH) to release payments to accredited hospitals and healthcare workers. De Lima, a social justice and human rights champion, reiterated the need for the Congress to investigate the recurring and longstanding issue which poses threats to DOH and PhilHealth's capacity to provide essential health services to the public. "What's wrong with DOH and PhilHealth? Are they that callous or inept in their continued failure to provide legally-mandated payments to HCWs and hospitals?" stated De Lima on her Twitter account. "We cannot ignore serious allegations of mismanagement which affects hospitals and healthcare professionals, which are relied upon by our country as we continue to battle a pandemic," she added in a separate statement. Recently, seven hospitals in Iloilo City reportedly said they will not renew their accreditation with the PhilHealth starting Jan. 1 next year over unpaid reimbursement claims, saying such claims amounted to a "staggering" P545,094,532.45 as of Aug. 31. "Unfortunately, our hospitals cannot continue to operate with depleted financial resources caused by non-payment of our claims by PhilHealth," the advisory from the hospitals said. What is more alarming, De Lima said, is that more hospitals are reportedly eyeing disengagement from PhilHealth too. "If this happens, more members of PhilHealth who need assistance from the agency will be adversely affected. If left unaddressed, this can ultimately affect the overall service delivery of the health sector," she said. "Hindi pwedeng sa panahon ng pandemya, na magdadalawang taon nang lubusang nakakaapekto sa atin, ay pinuputakti pa rin ng anomalya at palyadong sistema ang gobyerno lalo na sa sektor ng kalusugan, kabilang na itong usapin sa pondo ng PhilHealth na marami nating kababayan ang umaasa," she added. Notably, Private Hospitals Association of the Philippines Inc. (PHAPi) president Jose Rene de Grano said more hospitals in General Santos, Quezon province, Isabela and Metro Manila are expected to disengage from PhilHealth. It may be recalled that as early as October 24, 2019, PHAPi revealed PhilHealth's failure to settle its financial obligations to its members and notified the government that these hospitals may cut off their PhilHealth accreditation due to unpaid financial obligations of the state's firm. Last year, De Lima filed Proposed Senate Resolution (SR) No. 461 urging her colleagues to investigate the alleged failure of the PhilHealth to release insurance claims to its accredited hospitals. In August this year, she also filed Proposed SR No. 859 urging Congress to investigate the "very concerning" findings of the Commission on Audit (COA) on the DOH's mismanagement of the budget for COVID-19 response, to ensure that those responsible be held accountable.
Press Release

December 14, 2021 Senate moves to solve franchise woes, says Drilon The Senate passed on second reading Senate Bill No. 1530, authored by Senate Minority Leader Franklin M. Drilon, which seeks to provide an immediate solution to dilemmas being faced by franchise applicants whose renewal of legislative franchises have been filed but remained pending in Congress. SBN 1530 seeks the non-expiration of legislative franchises that are pending in Congress by amending Section 18, Book VII, Chapter 3 of Revised Administrative Code, Drilon explained. The Revised Administrative Code provides for the non-expiration of a license where the licensee has filed a timely and sufficient application for renewal, until a final determination by the agency is made. Drilon's amendment simply expands the provision to also include franchises granted by Congress. The bill provides that where a licensee or franchisee has made a timely and sufficient application for renewal of a franchise or license, the same shall not expire until after a final determination by the department, agency or branch of government. The amendments, according to Drilon, also hope to address the unfair and iniquitous closure of their operations due to the issuance of cease and desist orders, after the expiration of a franchise pending renewal, which in turn result in job losses in the telecommunications and broadcast industries. "It is acknowledged that there is a gap in the law in cases as exhibited in cases where a franchisee, having taken all the steps to renew its franchise, is unable to do so not due to its own fault, but due to Congress' failure to act on the application. As the principle of equity has been deemed insufficient to fill that gap, the timely passage of this measure is in order," Drilon said. Congress has applied considerations of equity in previous similar situations and the measure seeks to institutionalize that practice, he noted. "The amendment we propose would require the concerned agency or branch of government to act decisively on an application for renewal, and to express its decision in clear, unmistakable terms, to ensure that the applicant is not punished for the authority's indecision or inaction," Drilon said. "SBN 1530 can save jobs and prevent and fix franchise woes caused by the inability of the grantee, in this case Congress, to act on an application for renewal in a timely manner," Drilon said. "It will prevent the repeat of what happened to broadcast network ABS-CBN, a pillar of our media industry and pioneer of many innovations, whose franchise remained in limbo prior to the denial by a House of Representatives panel, in the meantime causing premature loss of 11,000 jobs. It is meant to protect both small and big franchise holders in the event that their franchise is not acted upon immediately," Drilon said. When the bill was tackled in the committee, various sectors including the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (KBP) threw its support behind the measure. "This bill addresses the unfortunate situation where renewal for franchise applications are filed before expiration but are not acted upon in time," said KBP President Ruperto S. Nicdao Jr. No less than the Department of Justice, in its official position paper, said that there is "nothing legally objectionable in the passage of a law of general application which allows the grantee of a franchise to operate while its application for renewal is being deliberated by Congress, it being an adjunct of its franchising, power which, in turn, is an adjunct of its legislative power".
Press Release

December 14, 2021 Villar, Filipino-French NGO forge ties to boost Las Pinas-Paranaque Wetland Park protection SENATOR Cynthia A.Villar and "Together Ensemble Foundation" have agreed to work together to further maintain and preserve the Las Pinas-Paranaque Wetland Park (LPPWP), which was listed in the Ramsar Convention as Wetland of International Importance. In her remarks during the "Meet and Greet" event between the LPPWP- Protected Area Management Board and French Ambassaor to the Philippines Michele Baccoz and the Together Ensemble Foundation led by its President Hubert d'Aboville and Vice President Ramon Moreno, Villar said they are happy and honored that they visited and toured Las Pinas-Paranaque Wetland Park, a protected area, which is located in her hometown in Las Pinas City and Paranaque City. She thanked the French ambassador and the Foundation for showing interest in putting up worthy projects at LPPWP that will augment their protection strategies in the area. Ambassador Baccoz who described the Las Pinas Paranaque Wetland Park as magnificent and fantastic nature protection initiative related that, "we need to build one or more concrete actions next year to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of the Together Ensemble Foundation, which will be part of the calendar of the major events of the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Philippines and the France to be celebrated from July to December 2022." "Fifteen days ago, we mentioned the symbolic planting of 75,000 trees on the site to commemorate the 75th anniversary, or perhaps building a monument symbolizing Franco-Filipino cooperation to mark the two anniversaries. This meeting will allow us to further expound on these good ideas or even come up with new proposals," added Ambassador Baccoz. She also noted that agricultural sector plays a major role in the development of France and the Philippines. "I am confident that we will able to build further on this through the ideas we will be keen to share as the basis for one or more events for the second half of next year," the French ambassador also told Villar, who sits as chairperson of the Senate Agriculture and Food Committee and the Senate Committee on Environment and Natural Resources. Villar said they poured in time, resources, and continuously take pains to protect this sanctuary and make it as it is today. She said it is constantly exposed to threats, particularly reclamation. She took potshots at entities unmindful of the environment benefits of Las Pinas-Paranaque Wetland Park, which she describes as a "valuable" piece of real estate. "We are also opposing these reclamation projects on this side of Manila Bay because it will impede the free flow of water of the 6 rivers in the area- Paranaque River, Las Pinas river. The Zapote River, Molino River, Bacoor River and the Imus River. If that will happen along with the phenomenon of climate change, disastrous flooding will result in the vicinity in case of torrential rains and that will definitely cause suffering and misery to the two million of people living in three cities," warned Villar, who heads the Senate Committee on Environment and Natural Resources. Villar authored and passed in Congress Republic Act 11038 or the Expanded NPAS Act declaring the Las Pinas-Paranaque Wetland Park a legislated protected area, joining other 106 legislated protected areas in the country. As one of their initiatives, they are setting an appropriate area of Manila Bay as buffer zone to add an extra layer of protection to Las Pinas-Paranaque Wetland Park . Along with DENR, the Wild Bird Club of the Philippines, the Society for the Conservation of Philippine Wetlands and the Villar SIPAG Foundation that built the Visitors' Center and the Wetland Center, the senator vowed to continue to take the forefront in fighting to protect the LPPWP , the last natural bastion in Metro Manila. Villar, Filipino-French NGO, nag-alyansa para palakasin ang Las Pinas-Paranaque Wetland Park protection NAGKAISA sina Sen. Cynthia A. Villar at ang "Together Ensemble Foundation" para patuloy na mapangalagaan ang Las Pinas-Paranaque Wetland Park (LPPWP) na itinalaga na Wetland of International Importance sa Ramsar Convention. Sa "Meet and Greet" event sa pagitan ng LPPWP- Protected Area Management Board (PAMB) at ng French Ambassador to the Philippines Michele Baccoz at Together Ensemble Foundation sa pangunguna nina Hubert d'Aboville at Ramon Moreno, President at Vice President ng naturang NGO, sinabi ni Villar na masaya sila sa pagbisita ng mga ito sa Las Pinas-Paranaque Wetland Park, protected area na nasa kanyang hometown sa Las Pinas City at Paranaque City. Pinasalamatan niya ang French ambassador at foundation sa kanilang interes na magtayo ng kapa-pakinabang na mga proyekto sa Las Pinas-Paranaque Wetland Park, na makakapagpaigting sa protection strategies sa lugar. Ipinahayag ni Ambassador Bacozz na inilawan ang Las Pinas-Paranaque Wetland Park na isang magnificent and fantastic nature protection initiative na, "we need to build one or more concrete actions next year to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of the Together Ensemble Foundation, which will be part of the calendar of the major events of the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Philippines and the France to be celebrated from July to December 2022." "Fifteen days ago, we mentioned the symbolic planting of 75,000 trees on the site to commemorate the 75th anniversary, or perhaps building a monument symbolizing Franco-Filipino cooperation to mark the two anniversaries. This meeting will allow us to further expound on these good ideas, or even come up with new proposals," dagdag pa ni Ambassador Bacozz. Binigyan diin din niya na malaki ang papel ng agricultural sector sa pag-unlad ng France at Philippines "I am confident that we will able to build further on this through the ideas we will be keen to share as the basis for one or more events for the second half of next year," sabi pa ng French ambassador kay Villar, chairperson ng Senate Agriculture and Food committee. Sinabi rin ni Villar na marami silang ginugol na oras, resources at patuloy silang nakikipaglaban para protektahan ang sanktuwaryong ito. Aniya, palagian itong nalalagay sa mga pagbabanta partikular ang reklamasyon. Pinasaringan niya ang mga walang pakialam sa "environment benefits" ng Las Pinas-Paranaque Wetland Park, na kinokonsidera niyang "a valuable piece of real estate." "We are also opposing these reclamation projects on this side of Manila Bay because it will impede the free flow of water of the 6 rivers in the area- Paranaque River, Las Pinas river,The Zapote River, Molino River, Bacoor River and the Imus River. If that will happen along with the phenomenon of climate change, disastrous flooding will result in the vicinity in case of torrential rains and that will definitely cause suffering and misery to the two million of people living in three cities," babala ni Villar na chairperson din ng Senate committee on Environment and Natural Resources. Nilagdaan ni Villar at naipasa sa Kongreso ang Republic Act 11038 o ang Expanded NPAS Act na nagdedeklara sa Las Pinas-Paranaque Wetland Park, bilang legislated protected area, kasama ang 106 pang legislated protected areas sa bansa. Kabilang sa kanilang inisiyatibo ang pagtatayo ng buffer zone sa Manila Bay area para sa karagdagang proteksyon ng Las Pinas-Paranaque Wetland Park,. Kasama ang DENR, the Wild Bird Club of the Philippines, Society for the Conservation of Philippine Wetlands at Villar SIPAG Foundation na nagpatayo ng Visitors' Center and the Wetland Center, tiniyak ng senador na mananatili siyang nangunguna para pangalagaan ang Las Pinas-Paranaque Wetland Park,, "The Last Natural Bastion in Metro Manila."
Saudi Arabia and Egypt have agreed to enhance cooperation against corruption, exchange experiences and information related to corruption crimes, and strengthen both countries institutional capacity in this field, Arab News reports.

Both countries signed a memorandum of understanding for the cooperation. The signing came in the framework of implementing the Saudi national strategy to protect integrity and combat corruption, and to contribute to efforts to promote, develop and document regional, Arab and international cooperation in this regard, the Saudi media notes.

The agreement reportedly was signed prior to the start of the ninth session of the Conference of the States Parties to the UN Convention against Corruption, which began on Monday in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt. 160 countries are taking part in the conference.
New popular demonstrations against the military coup took place this Monday, December 13, in Sudan, for the eighth time since October 25. The street is not letting up on the pressure on Abdallah Hamdok, who has been kept in his post as head of government by the military. A Prime Minister, who despite the protests and the close supervision of the army, continues to try to govern.

Abdallah Hamdok is not a career politician. But he knows the weight of strong gestures in politics, such as the replacement he ordered on Sunday of all governors appointed since the coup by the military.

The Prime Minister intends to show that he is in charge and that he has room to manoeuvre. In November, he had already dismissed the police chief and his deputy after the violent repression of peaceful demonstrations, and frozen or cancelled appointments in the administration of former President Omar al-Bashirs loyalists.

However, he has still not formed the government of technocrats provided for in the agreement signed with the coup plotters. And his entourage continues to indicate that he could resign if it fails.

On Monday, December 13, tens of thousands of people once again marched in the streets of the country to denounce the October 25 coup and to reject the agreement signed a few weeks later by Abdullah Hamdok with the coup generals. The mobilization continues, a few days before the third anniversary of the revolt that led to the fall of Omar al-Bashir.
Mustafa Sentop, speaker of the Turkish parliament, Monday charged the West for being patron of international terrorism, reports say.

Sentop made the comments while speaking to a panel on Islamophobia in Europe being held in the capital, Ankara, Middle East Monitor (MEMO) reports, citing Anadolu news agency.

In order to create Islamophobia, it was necessary to present a picture of terrorism by Muslims in the West. This doesnt occur on its own. Islam doesnt allow such a thing, anyway. Its impossible for normal Muslims to do such a thing (terrorism), he said.

The Turkish state man also claimed that the West invented the model of the Muslim terrorist and added that it also supports this model financially and militarily.

Therefore, the Western world, which invented Islamophobia, is actually the patron of international terrorism, he said. We object to the disregard of basic human rights when it comes to Muslims, he added. Turkey has been a very critical of Europe that it accuses promoting Islamophobia.
For more information about the Emory Interfaith Center project, visit the Office of Spiritual and Religious Life website.

We all have to live together, so we might as well live together happily.  His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Presidential Distinguished Professor at Emory University

Living together at Emory, since 1836, has included spiritual life. And as the student body has grown and diversified to include students from all backgrounds and all around the world, Emory has sought to welcome and support the spiritual and religious lives of all.

But as the number of spiritual communities and activities has expanded and the desire for interaction has increased, where to gather has become a growing question, and a significant answer is now in preparation: a new Emory Interfaith Center at 1707 North Decatur Road.

Interfaith centers have been established on many U.S. campuses in recent years to be homes for weekly programs, special events, holiday gatherings and ongoing interactions that encourage deep interfaith engagement by students of all faiths and none, says the Rev. Dr. Gregory W. McGonigle, Emorys dean of religious life and university chaplain.

Expected to open in December 2022, the new Emory Interfaith Center will invite students to practice their traditions and learn about one anothers, while collaborating through dialogue and service and social justice work, he says. When there are times of inter-religious or political tensions and challenges, the need for a space to come together has been felt, and students and alumni have expressed a strong desire for such a space at Emory for several decades.

With the support of Emory President Gregory L. Fenves, the Interfaith Center project received funding to join donations from alumni and others in order to renovate the property for its new function.

This renovation echoes the Emory Identity Spaces Project recently undertaken in the Alumni Memorial University Center, which has improved the feel, functionality and visibility of the Emory Black Student Union, Centro Latinx, Center for Women, Center for LGBT Life and a new identity space for Asian Pacific Islander Desi American students.

One of Emorys strengths is bringing students from different backgrounds together to learn from one another and share their experiences and perspectives, Fenves says. The Emory Interfaith Center will be a community hub for dialogue and understanding  empowering students to explore faith and religious traditions that can inspire them in their lives.

A need for common space

Among those voicing a need for an interfaith center was Mariam Hassoun 20C, who in her time on campus was a leader in the Muslim community and the founder of an Emory Interfaith Dinner Series. Its a great thing that we have such a diversity of religious organizations on campus, but they so rarely interact, she says. I think Emory would stand to gain a lot from having an interfaith center on campus.

Jonna Austin 23C, a Christian student at Emory and member of the Voices of Inner Strength Gospel Choir, agrees.

Even within the Christian community there are still divides, she notes. Everyone's group is kind of just doing their own thing, and there's not really any connection.

The need is real, says Akshar Patel 19C, a recent alumnus who was active in the Hindu Students Association and in the Emory Inter-Religious Council. A new space will allow students of all Hindu, Sikh, Jain and Buddhist backgrounds to really be able to celebrate all the diversity in their own traditions, which may not be possible right now.

McGonigle leads the Emory Office of Spiritual and Religious Life (OSRL), which currently has an office in Cannon Chapel  the most active religious space on the Atlanta campus. Built in 1981, the chapel has been renovated to better serve non-Christian groups, such as the addition of Muslim ablution areas and a Hindu puja cabinet. Each week the chapel hosts some 25 prayer services and gatherings of diverse religious and spiritual communities, and it is also shared for worship and academic purposes by the Candler School of Theology.

But the chapel does not accomplish the gathering space, the study space, the eating space that is really integral to many faith traditions, and when those faith traditions gather together jointly, explains the Rev. Dr. Susan Henry-Crowe 76T, Emory dean emerita of religious life and general secretary of the General Board of Church and Society of the United Methodist Church.

The interfaith center will provide adjacent office and program space for Emorys chaplains, who represent Hindu, Buddhist, Jewish, Christian and Muslim faiths. Formerly a residence, the three-story building is like a treehouse, with beautiful sunlight in the third-floor prayer spaces, McGonigle says.

With input gathered through a student survey and five campus listening sessions, the architects are now designing the center, which will feature a large conference room and kitchen as well as several program spaces and student lounges. The grounds will also be used for outdoor meals and gatherings, and the interior color palette of earth tones will make connections to the Living Mandala outside Cannon Chapel.

Connecting to community

The new center will be located near the Bread Coffeehouse campus ministry and the University Catholic Center, and will also allow neighborhood connections with the Marcus Hillel Center, the Chabad House and other religious spaces. It is located behind the Goizuetta Business School and across from the School of Law, which will allow it to offer convenient prayer spaces for those schools.

We tend to be siloed at Emory sometimes, says David Kulp 20C, a recent Jewish alumnus and a member of Hillel Internationals board of directors. The interfaith center, he says, will respond to a persistent question: How can we de-silo all of our silos and come together?

In addition, the center will help Emory better connect to local spiritual resources.

We have monks and visitors from the Drepung Loseling Monastery and from the Atlanta Soto Zen Center that lead us, says Meha Srivastava 22C, president of the Emory Buddhist Club. I can see so much more opportunity for such connections in an interfaith center.

The idea of an interfaith center for Emory is not new, McGonigle points out.

This idea has been explored since the late 1990s, when the increasing religious diversity of our campus especially from traditions beyond Christianity and Judaism began to suggest that a new space might be needed for prayers and meditations for multiple traditions, he says.

The center signals Emorys commitment to supporting interfaith work, according to Isam Vaid, OSRLs Muslim Religious Scholar and co-founder of the Emory Muslim Student Association 30 years ago.

You think about [other universities], where people have been engaging with interfaith centers and benefiting from them, as our world needs interfaith dialogue and cooperation around so many issues, he says. We need a space like that for our gold and our blue.
Emory College of Arts and Sciences has been awarded a $225,000 grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to lead a yearlong examination of the histories of slavery in the Black Atlantic, as well as the struggles against it, in order to better understand current social justice efforts.

Co-organized by Emory College professors Bayo Holsey and Walter C. Rucker, an anthropologist and historian, respectively, Visions of Slavery will explore how slavery in the Black Atlantic has been archived, memorialized and interpreted both historically and more recently.

As part of the Mellons 2022-2023 Sawyer Seminar series, the symposium will unite Emory faculty across the humanities and social sciences with scholars from other metro Atlanta universities.

The support of the Mellon Foundation is a vote of confidence in our faculty as scholarly leaders advancing questions that are critical to the future of the humanities and our society, says Michael A. Elliott, dean of Emory College of Arts and Sciences. Seminars like this one are invaluable opportunities for scholars to collaborate and imagine ambitious directions for future research.

The working group planning the seminars, which also includes faculty from Emory Colleges departments of English and religion, is planning a kickoff event for late spring that will feature a discussion of the links and tropes between historical slavery and forced labor, Rucker says.

Technically, what we call modern-day slavery is a vast array of forms of forced labor, so there is a conversation to be had about the larger framework of what constitutes unfreedom, he says. We can have useful dialogue about these topics with a focus on bringing those conversations to a broader public.

An additional public talk will be held next fall, with a closing symposium for spring 2023. The grant includes funding for a Sawyer Seminar postdoctoral fellow to help coordinate events and conduct research to support the broader theme.

Students from Emorys Laney Graduate School also will work on the seminar next semester. In the coming year, Emory College and Oxford College students may have the opportunity for independent research or be able to enroll in various courses based on the seminar.

Holsey, for instance, plans to interrogate how the history of slavery complicated the identities of people living in western Africa as well as the collective memory in those areas.

In the long term, that sort of research may become the groundwork for a center for the study of slavery at Emory. Such a facility would provide undergraduates with training and research opportunities and elevate the public history of slavery and unfreedom across Georgia and the American South.

From the rich history of African Americans and activism in Atlanta and all of the Black colleges, museums and historical sites here, to the archival and curated resources on campus, Emory is the perfect location for these kinds of discussions, Holsey says.
[December 14, 2021]

Epiq Expands Partnership with Am Law 100 firm, Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP, to provide Office Services & Records Management Support

NEW YORK, Dec. 14, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Epiq, a global leader in the legal services industry, has announced their expanded partnership with Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP, an Am Law 100 firm.

Epiqs Global Business Transformation Solutions (GBTS) division began its partnership with the firm in 2006, and over the years has provided Office Services support to their Washington D.C., New York, Dallas, Los Angeles, and Century City office locations.

In 2021, Epiq expanded its partnership with the firm by providing Records Management support nationally to all of their office locations. Additionally, Epiq now supports the firms Chicago Office Services thus providing an integrated solution for the firm in all of their offices.

Epiq is thrilled to expand our partnership with Katten Muchin Rosenman, said Michelle Deichmeister, President and General Manager of the Global Business Transformation Solutions business at Epiq. The foundation of our strategic partnership s built on a commitment to operational innovation as the way we work continues to evolve.

By expanding our partnership with Epiq, the firm has access to industry expertise and operational best practices that are unique to Epiq, said Daphne Pendleton, Chief Administrative Officer at Katten Muchin Rosenman. We are then able to scale that expertise firm-wide resulting in increased efficiencies and value over time.

About Epiq

Epiq, a global technology-enabled services leader to the legal industry and corporations, takes on large-scale, increasingly complex tasks for corporate counsel, law firms, and business professionals with efficiency, clarity, and confidence. Clients rely on Epiq to streamline the administration of business operations, class action and mass tort, court reporting, eDiscovery, regulatory, compliance, restructuring, and bankruptcy matters. Epiq subject-matter experts and technologies create efficiency through expertise and deliver confidence to high-performing clients around the world. Learn more at www.epiqglobal.com.

Press Contact

Angela Hoidas

Epiq

Angela.Hoidas@epiqglobal.com
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Research projects across Alabama, including three at Auburn University, will benefit from more than $1.2 million in funding from the Breast Cancer Research Foundation of Alabama.

Using money from donations, government and sales of specialty license plates, the foundation will administer grants to 20 breast cancer research projects at Auburn, the University of Alabama at Birmingham, University of South Alabama, University of Alabama, CerFlux, Southern Research and the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology.

As the largest Alabama-based funder of breast cancer research across the state, the Breast Cancer Research Foundation of Alabama has seen the undeniable power of research in accelerating the progress of treatments and outcomes for patients facing the disease, said Beth Bradner Davis, the foundations executive director. We are proud that this historic investmentour largest everwill continue to fuel breakthroughs and advance our mission to save lives.

Foundation dollars often function as seed funding for developing studies, allowing researchers to generate data needed to attract major national funding. Many foundation-funded projects have later received national grants from the National Institute of Health and others.

The projects receiving foundation funding at Auburn are as follows:

Integrating bioengineering tools, genome-wide genetic screens and in vivo models to discover new determinants of triple negative breast cancer cell invasion

Panagiotis Mistriotis, assistant professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering in the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering, is the principal investigator on the project with Assistant Professor Amit Mitra and Professor Robert Arnold from the Harrison School of Pharmacys Department of Drug Discovery and Development.

The goal is to identify novel determinants associated with the migration and metastatic potential of triple-negative human breast cancer cells. Mistriotis has developed a microfluidic platform that can be used as a mimetic of capillary beds that can be used to gain insights into the effect of various physicochemical and mechanical stresses on the metastatic potential of tumor cells. Using this system, he has shown that differences in pressure influence the migration of triple-negative breast cancer.

Mitra will seek to apply -omics-based approaches to identify molecular mechanisms responsible for this observation, and Arnold will investigate its effect on metastatic spread using an established in vivo model.

Improving breast cancer survival in AlabamaThe role of medications

Jingjing Qian, an associate professor in pharmacys Department of Health Outcomes Research and Policy, claims evidence has shown that a few medications, including selective estrogen receptor modulators, such as tamoxifen and raloxifene, and aromatase inhibitors, such as anastrozole and exemestane, might help lower breast cancer risk, especially for women who are at high risk.

However, potential disparities in utilization of these medication treatments exist between Alabamian women and women in other geographic regions. This study analyzes existing data to understand whether and how the use of these medication treatments might impact overall survival among women with breast cancer in Alabama.

A novel -Catenin blocker that activates antitumor immunity for breast cancer

Gary Piazza, the head of the Department of Drug Discovery and Development and the W.W. Walker Professor, is collaborating with Don Buchsbaum, professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, or UAB, and senior scientist at the ONeal Comprehensive Cancer Center at UAB, on this project.

Funding will establish a new research collaboration between Auburn and UAB to determine efficacy of an experimental anticancer compound, ADT-030, for the treatment of triple-negative breast cancer using a high aggressive mouse model of metastasis.

ADT-030 acts by a novel mechanism to inhibit an enzyme, phosphodiesterase 10A, that drives Wnt/-catenin transcription of proteins essential for cancer cell proliferation and survival. The research will also determine if ADT-030 can activate mechanisms of antitumor immunity to enhance or broaden chemotherapy or immunotherapy.

Assisting Piazza and Buchsbaum as co-principal investigators are colleagues from Auburns Department of Drug Discovery and Development: Yulia Maxuitenko, associate research professor; Adam Keeton, assistant research professor; and Xi Chen, assistant research professor; as well as Jeremy Foote, assistant professor of microbiology at UAB.

By funding critical early-stage projects, the Breast Cancer Research Foundation of Alabama is driving local discoveries that have a critical impact on breast cancer prevention, detection and treatment in the state of Alabama and beyond, said Dr. Barry P. Sleckman, director of the ONeal Comprehensive Cancer Center at UAB.

This years grant awards increase the foundations lifetime investment to over $12 million since 1996.
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CRI: We noticed that on December 12, the ground-breaking ceremony of China-assisted livelihood projects including the drilling of wells in the compound of the Ministry of Justice of the interim government in Afghanistan was held. On December 13, the handover ceremony of the delivery of the second batch of winter supplies donated by the Chinese government as part of the emergency humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan was held in Kabul. Can you tell us more about the relevant situation? What measures will China take to further help Afghanistan rebuild its economy and nurture home-grown development?

Wang Wenbin: As Afghanistans friendly neighbor and sincere friend, China has been offering support for peace, reconstruction and economic development in Afghanistan to the best of its capability. The livelihood projects you mentioned will make it easier for local people to access water and improve their living conditions. In less than two months, the projects have moved from the stage of proposal to actual construction. This demonstrates Chinas belief in honoring its commitment and keeping its word as well as our friendly sentiments for the Afghan people. In the meantime, the Chinese side has also coordinated governmental, sub-national and private actors to provide a series of humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan. Shipments of tens of thousands of tonnes of food, daily necessities, medical and winter supplies, COVID-19 vaccines, among other items, have been flowing into Afghanistan. The supplies delivered on December 13 are part of them. China will continue to provide emergency humanitarian assistance and help the Afghan people tide over the temporary difficulties with concrete actions.

Besides, China has been helping the Afghan people by expanding bilateral trade. Over the past two months or so, over 1,000 tonnes of pine nuts from Afghanistan have been sold to China via the air corridor of pine nuts. It is a concrete contribution to Afghanistans efforts to stabilize social order and revive its economy. China is ready to explore cooperation in the economic reconstruction area once the situation in Afghanistan is stabilized and security conditions are ripe. This will support Afghanistan in capitalizing on its geographical strength as the Heart of Asia to enhance regional connectivity and boost the countrys capability for endogenous development.

AFP: US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken has urged China to cease what he calls aggressive actions in the Indo-Pacific. What is the foreign ministrys reaction to his comments?

Wang Wenbin: I noted media reports on Secretary Blinkens remarks during his visit to Asian countries. I want to point out that while trumpeting the so-called China threat, the US says it does not want conflict with China. Such a self-contradictory approach is not in keeping with the spirit of the meeting between Chinese and US heads of state and will hardly be recognized by countries in the region.

If the US really wants to play a constructive role in promoting peace and development in the Asia-Pacific region as it claims, it should earnestly respect the ASEAN-centered regional cooperation architecture, instead of drawing the ideological lines, creating small cliques and inciting bloc confrontation. It should respect the efforts made by China and ASEAN countries to maintain peace and stability in the South China Sea, instead of frequently sending vessels and aircraft to the South China Sea to flex muscle and provoke trouble. It should be a promoter of dialogue and cooperation in the region, instead of a saboteur that drives wedges between regional countries and undermines regional solidarity and cooperation.

What the US did to incite division, estrangement and confrontation is not welcome in the world, nor will it work in the Asia-Pacific region.

Hubei Media Group: The 2021 China-Africa Innovation Cooperation Conference opened on December 12 in Wuhan, Hubei Province. Do you have more information on that? And could you talk about the outcomes in China-Africa scientific and technological innovation cooperation in recent years?

Wang Wenbin: The 2021 China-Africa Innovation Cooperation Conference opened on December 12 in Wuhan, Hubei Province. Under the theme of embracing a brighter future through innovation cooperation, the event is a step to implement the spirit of President Xi Jinpings important speech on building a China-Africa community with a shared future in the new era at the opening ceremony of the eighth Ministerial Conference of FOCAC. This innovation conference has seen a total of 15 international scientific and technological cooperation projects with Africa inked. A series of activities have also been held, including a China-Africa innovation cooperation forum, a China-Africa innovation cooperation outcomes exhibition, and a visit to Hubei on scientific and technological innovation by African diplomats based in China. All these serve to help China and Africa better share international innovation resources.

China and Africa have always been good brothers and partners sharing weal and woe. The spirit of the long-standing and steadfast China-Africa friendship and cooperation is the source of strength for our practical cooperation, including in the field of scientific and technological innovation. In recent years, China-Africa scientific and technological innovation has been flourishing. China has been working actively to carry out the Belt and Road Science, Technology and Innovation Cooperation Action Plan, implement the China-Africa Science and Technology Partnership Plan, share with African countries our progress in science and technology as well as experience in innovation development, and help African countries develop their economy, improve peoples livelihood, enhance social governance and strengthen environmental protection. So far, China has signed inter-government science and technology cooperation agreements and launched science and technology cooperation mechanisms with 16 African countries. China has developed joint research platforms together with many African countries in such areas as agriculture, light industry and new energy, which have supported over 130 bilateral research projects during the past decade. The Talented Young Scientist Program of Chinas Ministry of Science and Technology has supported the research of over 300 African young scientists in China. Chinas technical training courses for developing countries have offered training opportunities in China for nearly 2,000 technicians and government officials from 47 African countries. We have also conducted more than 30 science and technology assistance programs in Africa, giving a strong boost to African countries technological progress and industrial development.

Many African countries have spoken highly of this. Government officials including Egypts Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, South Africas Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation, and Kenyas Deputy Minister of Education, as well as ambassadors of Gabon, Tanzania, Benin and Mali to China, all expressed at the opening ceremony or in interviews on site their hope of further strengthening China-Africa cooperation in digital, ecology, AI, cultural exchange, innovation, entrepreneurship and other areas, so as to benefit more African people with Chinas innovation outcomes.

In the face of global challenges like the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change, we need to pool wisdom for innovation and share outcomes in science and technology around the globe. China stands ready to work hand in hand with African countries to advance the implementation of the science and technology outcomes of the eighth Ministerial Conference of FOCAC, and make greater contributions to building a China-Africa community with a shared future in the new era to deliver more benefits to our people.

Xinhua News Agency: Artificial intelligence is an emerging technology that is attracting great attention worldwide. A few days ago, China submitted its first Position Paper on Regulating Military Applications of Artificial Intelligence at the Sixth Review Conference of the Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons Which May Be Deemed to Be Excessively Injurious or to Have Indiscriminate Effects (CCW). Can you share with us the background?

Wang Wenbin: The world is undergoing a new around of technological revolution. Artificial intelligence (AI), as a widely applied emerging technology, is shaping human society and life in a profound way. Military applications of AI technologies are, in particular, raising concern in the international community. It is increasingly clear that, with AIs development, more attention must be paid to the potential security risks and challenges, prospective prevention and guidance must be strengthened and risks must lowered to the maximum extent to ensure the security, reliability and manageability of AIs development.

China attaches great importance to the security risks generated by military applications of AI technologies. We call on all countries to embrace a vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable global security, build consensus on regulating military applications of AI through dialogue and cooperation and establish a universal international mechanism.

AI technologies are highly relevant to the discussions of lethal autonomous weapon systems under the CCW framework. In this vein and with a sense of responsibility, China submitted the Position Paper on Regulating Military Applications of Artificial Intelligence at the Sixth Review Conference of the CCW. By doing so, we are advocating the principle of AI for good, and encouraging all countries to develop and apply AI technologies in the military sphere in a responsible manner.

As an active builder of world peace and a staunch defender of multilateralism, China is ready to step up exchanges and cooperation with all parties to properly address risks and challenges posed by military applications of AI and to deliver AIs benefits to people of all countries.

CCTV: The Foreign Ministry of Venezuela released a statement to express its rejection of the US manipulative move of not sending government officials to attend the Beijing Winter Olympics. The statement says that this is part of the attack and smear campaign undertaken by a small group of countries against the development of China. The Cuban Olympic Committee also condemned relevant countries orchestrated efforts to interfere with the Beijing Winter Olympic Games. Do you have any comment?

Wang Wenbin: It is the common aspiration of the international community, especially national Olympic committees and athletes from across the world, to respect the political neutrality of the Olympic Movement and avoid politicizing sports. Besides Venezuela and Cuba that you mentioned, leaders and government officials in many countries recently said that the Olympic Movement should not be politicized and they support the smooth hosting of the Beijing Winter Games. The 10th Olympic Summit recently held by the IOC released a declaration stressing that the summit stands firmly against any politicization of the Olympic Games and sport. We appreciate this position held by relevant countries and the IOC.

As pointed out in the Olympic Charter, the practice of sport is a human right. Politicization of the Olympics not only undermines the human right of athletes, but also constitutes an affront to the Olympic spirit and runs counter to the trend of the times for solidarity and cooperation. It is believed that under the concerted efforts of all parties, the Beijing Winter Olympics will be a splendid platform to practice the Olympic motto of Faster, Higher, Stronger - Together and encourage 300 million people to go in for winter sports. It will contribute to efforts to build a peaceful and better world.

Bloomberg: If we can just go back to Anthony Blinkens comments again, while he did criticize Chinas actions in Asia as aggressive, he also said the Biden administration doesnt want conflict in Asia and would ensure competition with China doesnt veer into a "catastrophic" conflict. Do you have any remarks on that bit of it?

Wang Wenbin: I have elaborated on Chinas position on this issue. I would like to reiterate that it is completely self-contradictory for the US to say it does not seek a new Cold War or make other countries pick a side between China and the US on the one hand, while sticking to the Cold War, zero-sum mentality and stoking bloc confrontation in the Asia-Pacific on the other. We hope the US side can follow through on the spirit of the leaders summit to realize mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation with China, instead of saying one thing while doing the opposite.

CNR: The 8th China-France High Level Economic and Financial Dialogue has been successfully held via videoconference on December 13. Could you offer more information on the outcomes achieved at the dialogue?

Wang Wenbin: Yesterday, Vice Premier Hu Chunhua and French Minister of the Economy, Finance and the Recovery Bruno Le Maire co-chaired the 8th China-France High Level Economic and Financial Dialogue via videoconference. We have released a press release on the event. Id like to stress that holding this dialogue is an important consensus reached by the Chinese and French heads of state during their 7th phone call since the outbreak of COVID-19. It is of great significance to preparing for China-France high-level exchange in the next stage and realizing greater development in bilateral relations after withstanding the test of COVID-19.

The dialogue produced positive outcomes in the following areas: First, the two sides had in-depth exchange of views on such issues as promoting international and multilateral cooperation on global economic recovery in the post-COVID era and deepening practical bilateral cooperation. This has enhanced mutual understanding and strengthened mutual political trust. Second, the two sides reached 54 cooperation outcomes in international macroeconomic policy coordination, especially bilateral cooperation in key areas and major projects. These outcomes cover areas including economy and trade, agriculture, aerospace, civil nuclear energy, scientific and technological innovation, finance and third market. This demonstrates the two sides strong consensus of growing and deepening bilateral economic and financial relations. Third, the two sides stressed the need to enhance global development partnership for sustainable development goals, support the critical role of the G20 in improving global economic governance and oppose all forms of protectionism. Together, the two sides sent a positive message of China-France solidarity in addressing global challenges such as COVID-19 and climate change, and of concerted efforts to uphold multilateralism, keep industrial and supply chains stable and functioning and build an open world economy.

This dialogue has demonstrated the immense potential in China-France cooperation. We stand ready to work together with the French side to deepen cooperation in various sectors, and maintain close communication and coordination on major international issues such as upholding and practicing multilateralism, promoting international anti-epidemic cooperation and post-COVID economic recovery, and improving global governance. We will constantly bring bilateral relations to new heights, and make our due contributions to safeguarding world peace, stability and development.

Beijing Daily: The Chinese Chamber of Commerce in Germany released a study on December 13, showing that Chinese businesses in Germany have made positive contribution to the German economy in terms of employment, investment and fulfillment of social responsibilities. What is Chinas comment?

Wang Wenbin: I noted this study. It shows that locals make up 93% of the employees of Chinese businesses. The 350 Chinese companies in Germany studied this time alone have created 50,000 jobs. More than 70% of Chinese companies plan to invest more in Germany in the next three to five years. More than 90% of Chinese companies have included social responsibilities into their agenda.

China-Germany cooperation is mutually beneficial in nature and directly benefits the two peoples. Despite the impact of COVID-19, trade between the two countries bucked the trend to register growth last year and increased by 15.9% year-on-year in the first 11 months of this year. This fully shows the high level, great resilience and immense potential of China-Germany economic and trade cooperation. The more than 2,000 Chinese companies now in Germany and the more than 7,000 German companies in China are the backbone of the bilateral cooperation. Both sides should stay committed to two-way opening up. China welcomes all foreign companies, including those from Germany, to invest and develop in China, and share opportunities created by Chinas development for win-win and all-win results. We also hope the German side can continue to provide a fair and non-discriminatory business environment for Chinese companies, and work with China to promote steady and sound development of China-Germany economic and trade cooperation, and jointly contribute to post-COVID world economic recovery.

Shenzhen TV: On December 13 EST, the New York Times cited a senior Pentagon official as saying that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has approved two senior commanders recommendations that no US military personnel will be punished over the drone strike in Kabul that killed 10 civilians. Do you have any comment?

Wang Wenbin: The US troops atrocity of killing civilians in Afghanistan is unacceptable. It is all the more outrageous that the US exonerates the perpetrators with impunity on various grounds.

While the US talked about democracy and human rights at the Summit for Democracy, the innocent Afghan people who were gunned down by the US military were brushed aside and their families had no place to complain about their grievances. This is the harsh reality brought to the world by the so-called democracy and human rights advocated by the US.

We condemn the brutal military intervention by the US in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria in the name of democracy and human rights. We call on the international community to look into the US militarys war crimes of killing innocent civilians around the world and hold it accountable.

Justice may be delayed, but it will not be denied. The era in which the US acted arbitrarily in the world under the pretext of so-called democracy and human rights is over. The day of reckoning will eventually come for the US military who committed the crimes of killing innocent civilians in many countries.

Anadolu Agency: President of South Korea Moon Jae-in during his visit to Australia said that North and South Korea along with US and China agreed to declare the end of Korean War, but talks are yet to begin. Whats the position of China on this matter?

Wang Wenbin: Ending the war state on the Korean Peninsula and replacing the armistice with a peace treaty are an important part of the political settlement of the Korean Peninsula issue and the shared aspiration of the international community. As a signatory to the Korean War Armistice Agreement, China is maintaining communication and coordination with relevant parties on the Peninsula issue and will continue to play a constructive role in this regard.
Researchers have conducted a 16-year long experiment to challenge Einsteins theory of general relativity. The international team looked to the stars - a pair of extreme stars called pulsars to be precise  through seven radio telescopes across the globe. CREDIT Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy

Researchers at the University of East Anglia and the University of Manchester have helped conduct a 16-year long experiment to challenge Einstein's theory of general relativity.

The international team looked to the stars - a pair of extreme stars called pulsars to be precise - through seven radio telescopes across the globe.

And they used them to challenge Einstein's most famous theory with some of the most rigorous tests yet.

The study, published today in the journal Physical Review X, reveals new relativistic effects that, although expected, have now been observed for the first time.

Dr Robert Ferdman, from UEA's School of Physics, said: "As spectacularly successful as Einstein's theory of general relativity has proven to be, we know that is not the final word in gravitational theory.

"More than 100 years later, scientists around the world continue their efforts to find flaws in his theory.

"General relativity is not compatible with the other fundamental forces, described by quantum mechanics. It is therefore important to continue to place the most stringent tests upon general relativity as possible, to discover how and when the theory breaks down.

"Finding any deviation from general relativity would constitute a major discovery that would open a window on new physics beyond our current theoretical understanding of the Universe.

"And it may help us toward eventually discovering a unified theory of the fundamental forces of nature."

Led by Michael Kramer from the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy in Bonn, Germany, the international team of researchers from ten countries, put Einstein's theory to the most rigorous tests yet.

Dr Ferdman said: "A pulsar is a highly magnetised rotating compact star that emits beams of electromagnetic radiation out of its magnetic poles.

"They weigh more than our sun but they are only about 15 miles across - so they are incredibly dense objects that produce radio beams that sweep the sky like a lighthouse.

"We studied a double pulsar, which was discovered by members of the team in 2003 and presents the most precise laboratory we currently have to test Einstein's theory. Of course, his theory was conceived when neither these types of extreme stars, nor the techniques used to study them, could be imagined."

The double pulsar consists of two pulsars which orbit each other in just 147 minutes with velocities of about 1 million km/h. One pulsar is spinning very fast, about 44 times a second. The companion is young and has a rotation period of 2.8 seconds. It is their motion around each other which can be used as a near perfect gravity laboratory.

Seven sensitive radio telescopes were used to observe this double pulsar - in Australia, the US, France, Germany, the Netherlands and in the UK (the Lovell Radio Telescope).

Prof Kramer said: "We studied a system of compact stars that is an unrivalled laboratory to test gravity theories in the presence of very strong gravitational fields.

"To our delight we were able to test a cornerstone of Einstein's theory, the energy carried by gravitational waves, with a precision that is 25 times better than with the Nobel-Prize winning Hulse-Taylor pulsar, and 1000 times better than currently possible with gravitational wave detectors."

He explained that the observations are not only in agreement with the theory, "but we were also able to see effects that could not be studied before''.

Prof Benjamin Stappers, from the University of Manchester, said: "The discovery of the double pulsar system was made as part of a survey co-led from the University of Manchester and presented us with the only known instance of two cosmic clocks which allow precise measurement of the structure and evolution of an intense gravitational field.

"The Lovell Telescope at the Jodrell Bank Observatory has been monitoring it every couple of weeks since then. This long baseline of high quality and frequent observations provided an excellent data set to be combined with those from observatories around the world."

Prof Ingrid Stairs from the University of British Columbia at Vancouver, said: "We follow the propagation of radio photons emitted from a cosmic lighthouse, a pulsar, and track their motion in the strong gravitational field of a companion pulsar.

"We see for the first time how the light is not only delayed due to a strong curvature of spacetime around the companion, but also that the light is deflected by a small angle of 0.04 degrees that we can detect. Never before has such an experiment been conducted at such a high spacetime curvature."

Prof Dick Manchester from Australia's national science agency, CSIRO, said: "Such fast orbital motion of compact objects like these - they are about 30 per cent more massive than the Sun but only about 24 km across - allows us to test many different predictions of general relativity - seven in total!

"Apart from gravitational waves and light propagation, our precision allows us also to measure the effect of "time dilation" that makes clocks run slower in gravitational fields.

"We even need to take Einstein's famous equation E = mc2 into account when considering the effect of the electromagnetic radiation emitted by the fast-spinning pulsar on the orbital motion.

"This radiation corresponds to a mass loss of 8 million tonnes per second! While this seems a lot, it is only a tiny fraction - 3 parts in a thousand billion billion(!) - of the mass of the pulsar per second."

The researchers also measured - with a precision of 1 part in a million(!) - that the orbit changes its orientation, a relativistic effect also well known from the orbit of Mercury, but here 140,000 times stronger.

They realised that at this level of precision they also need to consider the impact of the pulsar's rotation on the surrounding spacetime, which is "dragged along" with the spinning pulsar.

Dr Norbert Wex from the MPIfR, another main author of the study, said: "Physicists call this the Lense-Thirring effect or frame-dragging. In our experiment it means that we need to consider the internal structure of a pulsar as a neutron star.

"Hence, our measurements allow us for the first time to use the precision tracking of the rotations of the neutron star, a technique that we call pulsar timing to provide constraints on the extension of a neutron star."

The technique of pulsar timing was combined with careful interferometric measurements of the system to determine its distance with high resolution imaging, resulting in a value of 2400 light years with only 8 per cent error margin.

Team member Prof Adam Deller, from Swinburne University in Australia and responsible for this part of the experiment, said: "It is the combination of different complementary observing techniques that adds to the extreme value of the experiment. In the past similar studies were often hampered by the limited knowledge of the distance of such systems."

This is not the case here, where in addition to pulsar timing and interferometry also the information gained from effects due to the interstellar medium were carefully taken into account.

Prof Bill Coles from the University of California San Diego agrees: "We gathered all possible information on the system and we derived a perfectly consistent picture, involving physics from many different areas, such as nuclear physics, gravity, interstellar medium, plasma physics and more. This is quite extraordinary."

Paulo Freire, also from MPIfR, said: "Our results are nicely complementary to other experimental studies which test gravity in other conditions or see different effects, like gravitational wave detectors or the Event Horizon Telescope.

"They also complement other pulsar experiments, like our timing experiment with the pulsar in a stellar triple system, which has provided an independent and superb test of the universality of free fall."

Prof Kramer added: "We have reached a level of precision that is unprecedented. Future experiments with even bigger telescopes can and will go still further.

"Our work has shown the way such experiments need to be conducted and which subtle effects now need to be taken into account. And, maybe, we will find a deviation from general relativity one day."

"Strong-field Gravity Tests with the Double Pulsar" is published in Physical Review X on December 13, 2021.



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In June of 2018, telescopes around the world picked up a brilliant blue flash from the spiral arm of a galaxy 200 million light years away.

The powerful burst appeared at first to be a supernova, though it was much faster and far brighter than any stellar explosion scientists had yet seen. The signal, procedurally labeled AT2018cow, has since been dubbed simply "the Cow," and astronomers have catalogued it as a fast blue optical transient, or FBOT -- a bright, short-lived event of unknown origin.

Now an MIT-led team has found strong evidence for the signal's source. In addition to a bright optical flash, the scientists detected a strobe-like pulse of high-energy X-rays. They traced hundreds of millions of such X-ray pulses back to the Cow, and found the pulses occurred like clockwork, every 4.4 milliseconds, over a span of 60 days.

Based on the frequency of the pulses , the team calculated that the X-rays must have come from an object measuring no more than 1,000 kilometers wide, with a mass smaller than 800 suns. By astrophysical standards, such an object would be considered compact, much like a small black hole or a neutron star.

Their findings, published today in the journal Nature Astronomy, strongly suggest that AT2018cow was likely a product of a dying star that, in collapsing, gave birth to a compact object in the form of a black hole or neutron star. The newborn object continued to devour surrounding material, eating the star from the inside -- a process that released an enormous burst of energy.

"We have likely discovered the birth of a compact object in a supernova," says lead author Dheeraj "DJ" Pasham, a research scientist in MIT's Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research. "This happens in normal supernovae, but we haven't seen it before because it's such a messy process. We think this new evidence opens possibilities for finding baby black holes or baby neutron stars."

"The core of the Cow"

AT2018cow is one of many "astronomical transients" discovered in 2018. The "cow" in its name is a random coincidence of the astronomical naming process (for instance, "aaa" refers to the very first astronomical transient discovered in 2018). The signal is among a few dozen known FBOTs, and it is one of only a few such signals that have been observed in real-time. Its powerful flash -- up to 100 times brighter than a typical supernova -- was detected by a survey in Hawaii, which immediately sent out alerts to observatories around the world.

"It was exciting because loads of data started piling up," Pasham says. "The amount of energy was orders of magnitude more than the typical core collapse supernova. And the question was, what could produce this additional source of energy?"

Astronomers have proposed various scenarios to explain the super-bright signal. For instance, it could have been a product of a black hole born in a supernova. Or it could have resulted from a middle-weight black hole stripping away material from a passing star. However, the data collected by optical telescopes haven't resolved the source of the signal in any definitive way. Pasham wondered whether an answer could be found in X-ray data.

"This signal was close and also bright in X-rays, which is what got my attention," Pasham says. "To me, the first thing that comes to mind is, some really energetic phenomenon is going on to generate X-rays. So, I wanted to test out the idea that there is a black hole or compact object at the core of the Cow."

Finding a pulse

The team looked to X-ray data collected by NASA's Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER), an X-ray-monitoring telescope aboard the International Space Station. NICER started observing the Cow about five days after its initial detection by optical telescopes, monitoring the signal over the next 60 days. This data was recorded in a publicly available archive, which Pasham and his colleagues downloaded and analyzed.

The team looked through the data to identify X-ray signals emanating near AT2018cow, and confirmed that the emissions were not from other sources such as instrument noise or cosmic background phenomena. They focused on the X-rays and found that the Cow appeared to be giving off bursts at a frequency of 225 hertz, or once every 4.4 milliseconds.

Pasham seized on this pulse, recognizing that its frequency could be used to directly calculate the size of whatever was pulsing. In this case, the size of the pulsing object cannot be larger than the distance that the speed of light can cover in 4.4 milliseconds. By this reasoning, he calculated that the size of the object must be no larger than 1.3x108 centimeters, or roughly 1,000 kilometers wide.

"The only thing that can be that small is a compact object -- either a neutron star or black hole," Pasham says.

The team further calculated that, based on the energy emitted by AT2018cow, it must amount to no more than 800 solar masses.

"This rules out the idea that the signal is from an intermediate black hole," Pasham says.

Apart from pinning down the source for this particular signal, Pasham says the study demonstrates that X-ray analyses of FBOTs and other ultrabright phenomena could be a new tool for studying infant black holes.

"Whenever there's a new phenomenon, there's excitement that it could tell something new about the universe," Pasham says. "For FBOTs, we have shown we can study their pulsations in detail, in a way that's not possible in the optical. So, this is a new way to understand these newborn compact objects."

This research was supported, in part, by NASA.



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Two Russian spaceships and a new docking module are pictured attached to the International Space Station.

The Soyuz MS-19 crew ship docked to the Rassvet module in the foreground. Behind the Soyuz is the Progress delivery craft attached to the new Prichal docking module now parked on the Nauka multipurpose laboratory module.

8iss066e083565 (Nov. 26, 2021) - Larger image

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Clear Blue Waters Off The Coast Of The Bahamas

The shallow, clear blue waters off the coast of the Bahamas are pictured from the International Space Station as it orbited 260 miles above of the Atlantic Ocean.

iss065e144117 (June 23, 2021) - Larger image



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Fresh off a breakthrough 2020 campaign in which he won the O'Brien Future Star Award, Austin Sorrie had a successful follow-up as the 22-year-old driver continued to rise to new heights with his first million-dollar season in 2021.

The Prince Edward Island native, who made the move to Ontario for 2019, was just shy of the million-dollar mark last year even with an abbreviated racing season due to the COVID-19 shutdowns in the province. But Sorrie soared over the money mark this year, driving winners of nearly $1.5 million in purses and cracking the top 10 leaderboard for earnings in Canada through December 13.

Sorrie also topped the 200-win mark for the first time, climbing to sixth in the driver standings for wins nation-wide with 204. He's been a force on the Ontario B tracks, ranking in the top five at Flamboro Downs, The Raceway at Western Fair District, Grand River Raceway, Georgian Downs and Hanover Raceway.

Driving in Ontario is one of those things I wanted to do and said, Ill give it a shot, Sorrie, the son of Montague, P.E.I. horseman Wade Sorrie, was quoted as saying in a recent Saltwire article by Nicholas Oakes. I didnt really want to be working another job and doing horses like Id have to if I stayed home.

With support from fellow Island native Patrick Shepherd in Ontario, Sorrie was able to prove his talents and began garnering the attention of more and more trainers while seeing his driving opportunities increase.

He gave me the odd drive here and there and got me started, said Sorrie of Shepherd. Being second choice for him at the start made a big difference.

I was with Patrick a year, then worked for Blake MacIntosh for a few months and since then Ive just been driving. Once the trainers know youre there and youre doing good, you start picking up the good horses to drive.

Sorrie's success took off and he racked up 10 wins at Woodbine Mohawk Park this year.

I never thought it would take off like this, said Sorrie. "Its not like Im going there with a stable to drive for; Im getting listed by everybody. I didnt plan on going to Mohawk when I did, but everyone was gone to the Breeders Crown at The Meadowlands for a couple weeks the end of October.

Then Doug [McNair] was heading out west for a Thursday, so I went and got drives. Then everyone came back and I kept most of my drives.

The dedicated reinsman will look to continue his winning momentum at Ontario's premier racetrack and other ovals across the province in 2022.

(With quotes from Saltwire)
NEWS PROVIDED BY

Catholic League

Dec. 14, 2021

NEW YORK, Dec. 14, 2021 /Standard Newswire/ -- Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on the latest wave of lies told by the fans of abortion:

Given the prominence of abortion cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, the subject is weighing heavily on the minds of those on both sides of this issue.

If there is one thing that everyone should insist on it is honesty. Regrettably, the pro-abortion side is jam packed with those who have a hard time telling the truth. Here are three examples, all from December, and the month is only half over.

Yesterday, Whoopi Goldberg said on "The View" that "I, too, am pro-life. No one I know [who] has had an abortion went willingly or happily. They went because they had to go, because they didn't have a choice."

They didn't have a choice? What does this say about the "pro-choice" movement? Is it based on a lie? Moreover, it is disingenuous for Whoopi to say she is "pro-life": it is reported that she had six or seven abortions by the age of 25.

Barbara R. Casper is a retired professor of medicine at the University of Louisville, and the author of a recent op-ed in the Courier Journal on this subject. Taking the pro-abortion side, she said, "I am not pro-abortion. In fact, I dare say no one is actually pro-abortion."

She is wrong. On September 30, 2021, Dr. Ghazaleh Moayedi testified before the House Oversight Committee on abortion. She told the panel that "for thousands of people I've cared for, abortion is a blessing, abortion is an act of love, abortion is freedom."

On December 2, 2021, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi defended Roe v. Wade, which effectively sanctions abortion-on-demand. She expressed grave concern over the prospect that the Supreme Court might overturn this decision. "It's really scaryand I say that as a practicing Catholic."

The Catholic Church regards abortion to be "intrinsically evil." By contrast, Pelosi is not only an enthusiast of partial-birth abortion, she wants to force the taxpayers to pay for them. Practicing Catholics don't endorse the killing of babies who are 80 percent born, and they do want the public to fund these abominable procedures.

One of the great things about being pro-life is that our side doesn't have to lie.
By Trend

The topical problems of the audit were discussed and the corresponding decisions were made at a video conference meeting in Azerbaijan on December 13, 2021, Trend reports referring to the Azerbaijani Chamber of Auditors.

The members of the Council of the Chamber of Auditors and chairmen of the committee under the Council of the Chamber of Auditors participated in the meeting.

According to the message, the following nine questions have been discussed:

1. On approval of the work plan of the Council of the Chamber of Auditors of the Republic of Azerbaijan for 2022;

2. Regular implementation of measures to increase the value of the audit;

3. On improving the system of measures of responsibility of auditors for unfair and illegal actions in the market of audit services;

4. On methodological manuals for quality control of work in micro, small and medium-sized audit organizations and independent auditors;

5. On approval of the "Plan-schedule for 2022 for monitoring the quality of audit carried out by audit organizations and independent auditors";

6. Recommendations for countering dumping in the audit service;

7. On informing the public about the activity of the Chamber of Auditors through the media;

8. On the reception of citizens, public control, the activity of the appeal commission, consideration of applications and complaints;

9. On the consideration of the received applications and complaints about the quality of the inspection.
By Trend

A meeting of the Supervisory Board of the State Oil Fund of the Republic of Azerbaijan (SOFAZ) has been held in Azerbaijan, Trend reports.

SOFAZs draft budget for 2022, its investment policy, and other issues were discussed at the meeting held on December 13 under the chairmanship of Azerbaijani Prime Minister, Chairman of the SOFAZ Supervisory Board Ali Asadov.

A corresponding decision was made to submit SOFAZs draft budget for 2022 to the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev.
By Azernews

By Ayya Lmahamad

Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey have signed five memorandums and agreements on cooperation as part of the trilateral business forum held in Baku.

The memorandums were signed on December 14 by the heads of the Azerbaijan Export and Investment Promotion Foundation (AZPROMO) and the Georgian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Azerbaijan Chamber of Commerce and the Georgian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, as well as representatives of the Small and Medium Business Development Agency of Azerbaijan, the Coordination Center of the IV Industrial Revolution and the Turkish Metallurgical Industry, Azerbaijan's AzSeker and Bayburt Grup.

Free trade agreements between the three countries are already creating comfortable conditions for the business sector development, Georgia's Economy and Sustainable Development Minister Natela Turnava said.

She stated that today Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey are jointly going through economic recovery as they overcome the COVID-19 pandemic consequences.

"I would like to note that since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the period of trade between our countries has not stopped, which demonstrated how strong our countries are together," she said.

Turnava added that Azerbaijan and Turkey have been the largest partners of Georgia for many years, in terms of trade and investments attraction.

"Georgia creates an attractive investment climate and supports mechanisms for its partners, such as financing programs, a more simplified tax system," she said.

Cooperation in Karabakh's restoration

The acting head of Azerbaijan's Export and Investment Promotion Foundation, Yusif Abdullayev, said that the foundation will broadly discuss the possibilities of companies from Turkey and Georgia to restore Karabakh.

We hope that this platform will contribute to the maximum use of the economic potential of our countries. In addition, during the B2B meeting, which will be held today, we will widely discuss the possibilities and potential of companies from Turkey and Georgia in the restoration of Karabakh," he said.

Abdullayev added that the foundation's activities are aimed at developing the export of non-oil products and increasing investments in this sector. Abdullayev noted that exports in this sector have grown by 45 percent since the beginning of 2021.

Speaking at the event, Azerbaijan's Economy Minister Mikayil Jabbarov said that the liberation of Azerbaijani territories had created new opportunities for economic cooperation with Turkey and Georgia. He noted that despite the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic "today we see at the forum not only the heads of the economy and trade ministries of Georgia and Turkey but also businessmen from these countries".

"In 2020, as you know, Azerbaijan liberated its territories from occupation. This created new opportunities for economic cooperation between our countries. This format will contribute to the development of bilateral and multilateral cooperation," he said.

Jabbarov stated that Azerbaijan had received 921 requests regarding participation in the reconstruction of liberated lands. He stressed that the liberation of Azerbaijani lands opened up new realities and opportunities not only for business but also for regional development as a whole.

"We are implementing large-scale projects in Karabakh based on smart technologies. Our friends help us implement these projects. We have 921 requests for restoration work. Among them are many Turkish companies, as well as Georgian ones. And these requests continue to come," he said.

Zangazur corridor

Jabbarov underlined that Azerbaijan expects the opening of the Zangazur corridor.

"This will contribute to the connection of the main part of Azerbaijan with Nakhchivan, as well as create alternative routes in the direction of Turkey, Iran, Russia and some other countries. Other promising routes are also being created," he said.

Head of Turkey's Organization for Foreign Economic Relations Nayil Olpak said that the corridor will open new alternatives of logistics and trade.

Noting that the trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Turkey amounted to $2.5 billion, he stressed the need to strengthen cooperation in the agriculture, infrastructure and mining fields.

"On the other hand, as much as the process of restoration of the liberated territories is important for Azerbaijan, it is so important for all of us. We think we can support it with our projects. Along with investment projects, there is also the issue of financing. Turkey has extensive experience in this field, so we believe that its application will be fruitful in both Azerbaijan and Georgia," he said.

Investments, non-oil exports

Jabbarov added that foreign investments in Azerbaijan's economy reached $57 million in the first 11 months of 2021. He said that Azerbaijan's investments in the economies of other countries are also growing.

"Investments in the non-oil sector make up about 25 percent of the total investment. Azerbaijan's GDP growth in 11 months amounted to 5.3 percent, and the growth of the non-oil sector of the economy exceeded 6 percent," he said.

The minister stressed that the government's goal is to turn Azerbaijan into a transport, investment and IT hub of the region.

Noting that Azerbaijan's investments in Turkey exceeded $19 billion, Jabbarov recalled that a number of agreements on investments in Azerbaijan were signed between Baku and Ankara in 2021.

The minister added that Azerbaijani-Georgian strategic cooperation had expanded recently, despite the coronavirus pandemic. He added that Azerbaijan's investments in Georgia amounted to $3.3 billion.

"We are interested in more investments in the economies of Georgia, Turkey and our other partners. Besides, Azerbaijani companies in Georgia are large taxpayers, which also contributes to the growth of the economy of this country, he said.

Jabbarov added that the procedure for cargo transportation between the countries had also been simplified.

"The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan, the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum pipelines and the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway also testify to the success of our cooperation. In addition, we have great potential in the transport sector, including maritime transport," he said.

Additionally, Yusif Abdullayev noted that Azerbaijan's non-oil exports increased by 45 percent as of December 10.

He stressed that the results of nine months of 2021 give ground to talk about approaching the indicators of 2019. Abdullayev added that the purpose of the business forum is to increase non-oil exports and attract direct foreign investment into Azerbaijan.

Trade turnover

Turkish Trade Minister Mehmet Mus has said that the trade turnover between Turkey and Azerbaijan increased by 6.5 percent since early 2021 and reached $4.5 billion. He also noted that the trade turnover between Turkey and Georgia increased by 20 percent and amounted to $1.9 billion.

"Turkey, Azerbaijan and Georgia are the intersections of the world logistics route. It is necessary to strengthen trilateral cooperation and to fully use the potential of our countries," he said.

The minister also emphasized that Turkey is ready to take all necessary steps to bring trade relations with Azerbaijan and Georgia to the highest level.

At the same time, Mikayil Jabbarov stated that Azerbaijan's trade mission in Istanbul will start to work fully soon. He noted that the activity of the Turkish businessmen in Azerbaijan today will give a bigger impetus to the economic relations between the two countries.

"We plan to bring the bilateral trade turnover up to $15 billion in 2023," he said.
By Azernews

By Laman Ismayilova

Azerbaijan has been represented at first digital exhibition of European Council.

The pandemic prompted artists to explore new directions in their creativity and look for new tools to reach their audiences, including the virtual one.

That is why, at the end of 2020, the Council of Europe Steering Committee for Culture, Heritage and Landscape developed the concept of the digital exhibition "Free to create - Create to be free".

The exhibition features Faig Ahmads art work "DNA" and Rashad Mehdiyevs painting "Glance - Eternity of the Soul".

Faig Ahmad is an Azerbaijani contemporary visual artist who is best known for his surrealist weavings which integrate visual distortions into traditional oriental rugs.

The artisr creates surrealist sculptural textiles, which apply optical illusions to the rugs. The textiles are manufactured by a group of skilled weavers who follow Ahmad's designs paying a great attention to traditional Azerbaijani weaving techniques.

Rashad Mehdiyev inherited his love for art from his father, a prominent artist Rafik Mehdiyev. He spent a lot of time watching his father's works.

The artist has held more than 20 solo exhibitions abroad and participated in various international symposiums and festivals

He is the first Azerbaijani artist whose exhibition took place in the European Office of the UN in Vienna (2006).

The artist's works are stored in private collections. His paintings have been successfully showcased in many European countries.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has arrived in Brussels, the capital city of the Kingdom of Belgium for a working visit to attend the 6th Eastern Partnership Summit of the European Union, Azertag reported on December 13.

Azerbaijanis living in Europe welcomed President, Victorious Commander-in-Chief Ilham Aliyev in Brussels. They held placards in French and English "Mr. President, welcome!", "European Azerbaijanis greet you!", "Azerbaijan respects common values!", as well as the flags of Azerbaijan and the European Union.






















By Trend

"Azerbaijan has opened the door for sustainable peace in the South Caucasus." This is the title of an article written by the parliamentarian Konul Nurullayeva, which was published in the influential media organs of Arabic countries.

The article was broadcasted by 8 influential media outlets, including 4 in Egypt, 2 in Morocco, 1 in Algeria, and 1 in Iraq. This is also the first article published about Azerbaijan in the influential Moroccan newspaper Atayar.

Recalling the 44-day Patriotic War ended with the victory of Azerbaijan last year, the author advocates that a new reality of development has emerged in the South Caucasus region.

The projects implemented by Azerbaijan to improve prosperity in the region are appreciated by all the partners. Because each of these steps will support the normalization efforts in the region: Azerbaijan itself has implemented four resolutions adopted by the UN Security Council in 1993, demanding the immediate, complete, and unconditional withdrawal of Armenian Armed Forces from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan.

Thus, Karabakh and Eastern Zangazur, which have been under Armenian occupation for approximately 30 years, are finally liberated, and a new era of development has begun in this region. Azerbaijan has declared its readiness to make cooperation with Armenia in the new phase of peace. In other words, there is a historic chance emerged in the region for sustainable peace, integration, and cooperation. The positive development of this reality, which was formed after the Second Karabakh War, requires constructiveness from all the parties, especially from Armenia.

Furthermore, the parliamentarian reminds that during the occupation, all cities and villages, including monuments of cultural and religious heritage were destroyed in the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan.

She emphasizes that mosques have been destroyed and insulted on the grounds of hatred against all Muslims, as well as used as pig and cow stables. Now, Azerbaijan is reviving devastated Karabakh and Eastern Zangazur: Immediately after the liberation of the territories, the large-scale reconstruction work has begun and there are already preliminary results. Azerbaijan is building new cities and villages with its own financial resources. Azerbaijan is overcoming the disastrous consequences of urbicides, culturcide, and ecocides committed in Karabakh.

This year, $ 1.3 billion has been allocated from the state budget for this purpose. In 2022, at least the same amount of money will be allocated for this work. The master plans of the liberated cities have been approved.

Touching upon the economic and political significance of Zangazur corridor, K. Nurullayeva recalled that the parties agreed to accelerate the delimitation and demarcation of borders during the meeting held between President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan in Sochi on November 26 with the mediation of Russian President.

In this context, she highlights the establishment of the bilateral commission on the delimitation and demarcation of the Azerbaijani-Armenian state border. "The main purpose here is to define the Azerbaijani-Armenian borders as soon as possible and sign a final peace agreement.

At the Summit of the Economic Cooperation Organization held in Ashgabat on November 27, the President of Azerbaijan declared that new opportunities have emerged for the member states in the South Caucasus region. Thus, an irresistible process has already begun in the region that matches the realities defined by Azerbaijan and meets the interests of all parties.

This process will bring peace to the region and prosperity to the peoples. The victory pulled off by Azerbaijan within 44 days is the triumph of the Islamic World as well. Because several attempts have been made to destroy Islamic values ??in the lands belonging to Azerbaijan for almost 30 years.

Azerbaijan also prevented this dangerous process. It is no coincidence that Shusha city, the pearl of Karabakh, preserves its image as the cultural capital of both Azerbaijan and the Islamic World. New mosques are being built, the sound of adhan is coming from Karabakh again, and no force will be able to stop this sound.
By Trend





In Brussels, Azerbaijani patriots took to the streets to meet the President of Azerbaijan, Supreme Commander-in-Chief Ilham Aliyev, Trend reports.

They carried posters with the words "Mr. President, welcome!", "Azerbaijanis of Europe welcome you!", "Azerbaijan respects common values!", as well as flags of Azerbaijan and the European Union.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev arrived Brussels on December 13. During the visit, the head of state is expected to take part in a NATO meeting.
By Azernews

By Ayya Lmahamad

The Center for Computer Emergency Response Team of Azerbaijan has appealed to international cybercrime combat organizations over attacks by three Armenian cyber groups, Trend has reported.

The chief information security officer at the State Service for Special Communications and Information Security, Tural Mammadov, made the remarks at an online conference on Cyber fraud in Azerbaijan during the pandemic.

He recalled that back in summer 2020, Azerbaijani users received emails from a suspicious email address on behalf of certain Fuad Musayev.

Musayev stressed that the results of the investigation showed that this cyber attack was organized by the Armenian Security LLC company.

Thus, we found out that the attacks were carried out by the employees of this company, Armen Gnuni, Iranian Armenian Ara Babahani and Ashot Mnatsakanyan, he said.

Having collected a sufficient database, we appealed to international structures to access this crime, he added.

Earlier, talking about the external cyberattacks during the 44-day war, Tural Mammadov stated that the attacks mainly targeted Azerbaijan's Central Bank. He added that there were also cyber attacks on Azerbaijan's banking structures.

Mammadov stressed that all these cyberattacks were successfully eliminated, noting that there were no failures in the Bank's systems.

"In addition, there were DDoS attacks. We blocked them. Moreover, we activated a system that prevents this type of cyberattacks," he said.

He also noted phishing attacks by Armenian hackers.

"For example, emails were sent on behalf of the management of banks and the Association of Banks of Azerbaijan. Our service monitored all these frauds, and information about them was transmitted to special departments. There was also fake information spread about allegedly hacking and obtaining data from Azerbaijani banks and government agencies, which we refuted," he said.

Cybersecurity has become the most pressing problem in the world, including in Azerbaijan.

The country has set as a priority task to train domestic experts in this area and improve their professional skills.

The working environment created at the Digital Development and Transport Ministry's Information and Computing Center plays an important role in training relevant cybersecurity experts.

The mentorship and work environment created in the cyberattack simulation lab will play an important role in the training of cybersecurity professionals. In addition, during the internship program, participants can share knowledge with each other, the ministry earlier stated.
By Trend

A meeting between President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan will take place within the framework of the upcoming summit of the Eastern Partnership countries in Brussels on December 15.

The Azerbaijani side is always open to political dialogue and welcomes such contacts. The position of Azerbaijan, considering the realities of the post-Karabakh conflict period, has been repeatedly voiced by the head of state and on international platforms. In this context, the Brussels Summit and the meeting to be held within its framework will create additional opportunities.

According to former US Ambassador to Azerbaijan Matthew Bryza, one of the important issues to be resolved within the framework of negotiations between President Ilham Aliyev and Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in Brussels is border demarcation between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

It is so important to define that border, because until that happens, I think were going to see continuing clashes between Armenia and Azerbaijani soldiers along an ambiguous border, which will lead to a loss of life and instability. Yes, Russian President Vladimir Putin has now taken a role to help the two sides define their border. I wish this was a joint commitment by the entire OSCE Minsk Group and may be in the end, it will be, because I think a very important role for the Minsk Group is to help define that international border, he said.

According to Bryza, Russia, the US and France should be working together to stabilize the situation.

I also look forward to the upcoming meeting now in Brussels that will involve EU mediation and at the end of the day, I think it is important that the EU plays some role perhaps instead of France in the mediation process. Because the EU brings so much more diplomatic weight to the negotiating table, meaning all of its members rather than just a membership of France, especially France that has previously, in fact, on November 10, 2020 clearly expressed its support for Armenia, Bryza said.

Meanwhile, according to Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor of the Department of International Relations in the Post-Soviet Space of St. Petersburg State University Niyazi Niyazov, Pashinyan will most likely try to somehow neutralize the agreements that were reached in Sochi with the mediation of Russian President Vladimir Putin and will try to use the experience and sympathy of the European Union to bring the discussions of the existing interstate problems between Armenia and Azerbaijan to the international level.

Today, the Armenian leadership is trying its best to reanimate the OSCE Minsk Group. From this point of view, it really needs the EU's support. Probably, some humanitarian issues will be discussed, perhaps the parties will undertake obligations related to resolving issues in this area, Niyazov said.

In his opinion, the Armenian side will try the agreements that were reached earlier, if not torpedo, then at least slow down.

But the Armenian doesnt have a lot of choices here. It is either to meet the wishes of the leading countries, to actively participate in the "3+3" process, to achieve the opening of communications, to get out of geo-economic isolation, to start developing as a normal state. Or, submitting to the revanchist demands, to engage in new confrontation with Azerbaijan. But taking into account the realities that exist today, this path will be completely disastrous for the Armenian side, the Armenian statehood. As we have seen, 30 years of such a policy ultimately did not lead to anything good in Armenia, the professor said.

The economic and political situation in Armenia is difficult, the geo-economic and geopolitical situation for the country also remains extremely difficult. And therefore, years of confrontation, if all communications are not opened, will be a disastrous scenario for the development of events for Armenia, he added.

Niyazov also noted that lasting peace in the region can be established after, as repeatedly stated by the Azerbaijani political leadership, delimitation and demarcation of the state border between Azerbaijan and Armenia takes place.

Any efforts aimed at normalizing Armenian-Azerbaijani relations are welcomed. It is important to ensure the continuation of regular contacts between the leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia, and it is expected that following the meeting of the leaders of the two states, which is scheduled for December 15 in Brussels, the commitment to the implementation of the trilateral agreements will be reaffirmed.
By Azernews

By Vugar Khalilov

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan will meet in Brussels, Belgium on December 14, Trend has reported.

The meeting between the two leaders will be held on the sidelines of the 6th Eastern Partnership Summit of the EU with the participation of European Council President Charles Michel, the report added.

Before the abovementioned trilateral meeting on December 14, Aliyev and Michel will have a bilateral meeting.

President Aliyev is also to meet NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg on December 14.

Aliyev will join the meeting of the North Atlantic Council, the supreme body of the Alliance, in the "NATO + Azerbaijan" format.

On December 13, Aliyev left for a working visit to Brussels to participate in the 6th summit of the 6th Eastern Partnership Summit of the European Union.

On November 26, a trilateral meeting was held among Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in Sochi.

In the statement signed as a result of the trilateral meeting, the sides stressed the speedy implementation of projects aimed at revealing the economic potential of the region, including the opening of railways and highways.
By Azernews

By Vugar Khalilov

Azerbaijans State Border Service has launched a new border commandants office in liberated Zangilan, the service reported on December 14.

The deputy chief of the Service, Lt-Gen Ilham Mehdiyev, attended the opening ceremony of the military unit and familiarized himself with the conditions created there, the report added.

The military unit has been provided with facilities such as barracks and study rooms for personnel, a dining room, a bathroom-laundry-boiler complex, as well as weapons and supply warehouses.

Furthermore, electric generators were installed to supply electricity, as well as a line was laid to provide uninterrupted water to the military unit. A number of squares have been created in the area, landscaping works have been carried out and trees have been planted.

Addressing the opening ceremony, Mehdiyev conveyed the congratulations of State Border Service Chief Col-Gen Elchin Guliyev on the launch of the new military unit to the personnel.

He noted that after the restoration of its territorial integrity, Azerbaijan continues to create the necessary border defence and security infrastructure in the liberated lands. In 2021, some 19 new military units and 104 border checkpoints were launched in these areas, he underlined.

Mehdiyev stressed that it is a great honor and pride for every Azerbaijani border guard to serve in the liberated lands.

At the end of the event, he wished success to the personnel in their combat activities and awarded distinguished servicemen.

After liberating its lands from Armenia's occupation in a 44-day war in 2020, Azerbaijan restored control over the 132-km section of the Azerbaijan-Iran border.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, who is on a working visit to Brussels, met with European Council President Charles Michel on December 14.

President of the European Council Charles Michel welcomed President Ilham Aliyev.

They then posed for photographs.

The sides hailed the successful development of relations between the European Union and Azerbaijan. They recalled Charles Michel's visit to the Republic of Azerbaijan. The EU's support for the normalization of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan was pointed out at the meeting.

President Ilham Aliyev thanked Charles Michel for his contribution to these issues.

They also exchanged views on the trilateral meeting to be held today between the European Union, Azerbaijan and Armenia.

The sides also discussed the issues related to the delimitation and demarcation of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border. They held a broad exchange of views on the opening of communications, humanitarian issues and other topics.




By Azernews

By Vugar Khalilov

President Ilham Aliyev has said that Azerbaijan is a reliable partner of NATO, Azertag reported on December 14.

Aliyev made the remarks at his meeting with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg at the Alliance's headquarters in Brussels on December, the report added.

Underlining the dynamics of bilateral relations between Azerbaijan and NATO, Aliyev stressed that this was already his seventh visit to the Alliance's headquarters. He added that Azerbaijani servicemen served in Afghanistan from 2002 to late August 2021.

At the meeting, Stoltenberg described Azerbaijan as a valuable partner for the Alliance by appreciating the Azerbaijani military personnel's service in the Resolute Support operation in Afghanistan. He reminded that Azerbaijani peacekeepers were the last servicemen to leave Afghanistan, having contributed to the evacuation of over 120,000 people through the Kabul airport. He thanked President Aliyev for this contribution.

The sides also exchanged views on regional issues that emerged in the post-conflict period, noting Azerbaijans readiness to negotiate a peace agreement with Armenia. Security issues in the region were discussed as well.

Aliyev highlighted that Azerbaijan has close friendly ties and strategic partnerships with NATO member states, as well as strategic alliance relations with Turkey, which is considered one of the leading member states of the Alliance.

The parties also stressed the importance of Azerbaijan's partnership with NATO's Partnership for Peace program since 1994. In this context, it was noted that Azerbaijan actively participates in NATO's Individual Partnership Action Plan and other programs, and operational military coordination between the Azerbaijani Armed Forces and NATO troops is developing. At the same time, the sides exchanged views on Azerbaijan's participation in NATO drills and drills between Turkey and Azerbaijan on a bilateral basis.

Azerbaijans important role in Europe's energy security was also noted during the meeting. The contribution of Azerbaijan as a regional transport and logistical center in the implementation of NATO's Resolute Support Mission was also praised.

It should be noted that Azerbaijan's cooperation with NATO began in 1994 under the Partnership for Peace framework document.

President Ilham Aliyev has seven times been to the NATO headquarters and NATO secretary generals have visited Azerbaijan three times. Aliyev also attended seven NATO Summits (Istanbul 2004, Bucharest 2008, Lisbon 2010, Chicago 2012, Cardiff 2014, Warsaw 2016, and Brussels 2018).

NATO has always supported Azerbaijans sovereignty and territorial integrity. In the ninth NATO Summit, the final documents of the event expressed support for Azerbaijan's independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity. The documents stressed the importance of resolving the conflicts in the South Caucasus, including the former Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict, in line with norms and principles of international law.

During the 44-day war in 2020, NATO repeatedly called on Azerbaijan and Armenia to maintain the ceasefire and continue negotiations. In October 2020, during a press conference with Armenian President Armen Sargsyan, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg reminded the Armenian president that NATO is not engaged in this conflict.

In the post-conflict period, the new reality created by Azerbaijan as a result of the historic victory over Armenia was also accepted by NATO, and a paragraph referring to the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict was removed from the final text of the NATO Summit in Brussels in June 2021.

The main areas of practical cooperation between Azerbaijan and NATO include reforms in the defence and security sector, participation in international operations, emergency readiness, scientific and environmental issues related to security and public diplomacy.

Azerbaijan has taken serious steps to bring its armed forces in line with NATO standards. Since 2002, more than 30 Azerbaijani officers have served at NATO headquarters and agencies.

Practical projects between Azerbaijan and NATO, such as the Saloglu and Jeyranchol projects on mine clearance have been successfully implemented.

Azerbaijan has actively participated in NATO missions in Afghanistan since 2002. From 2015 to August 2021, Azerbaijan participated in the NATO Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan. A total of 120 Azerbaijani servicemen served at Kabul International Airport during the Taliban takeover of Kabul. The Azerbaijani military has made a significant contribution to ensuring security at the airport and organizing the safe evacuation of the population. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg thanked Azerbaijan for its services in ensuring security at the airport in August 2021.

Furthermore, in 2017-2020, Azerbaijan hosted seven meetings of high-ranking NATO-Russia and the United States-Russia military officials.
By Trend

The opening of the Zangazur corridor will define new priorities in the tourism sector and new challenges, the Chairman of the Labor and Social Policy Committee of Azerbaijans Parliament Musa Guliyev said during the discussion of the new draft law "on tourism" at the plenary session of the parliament, Trend reports.

According to Guliyev, before the COVID-19 pandemic, tourism in Azerbaijan was one of the fastest-growing areas.

"Thanks to the effective use of the tourism potential, the number of tourists visiting Azerbaijan has significantly increased in 2019. And the funds spent by them in the country amounted to three billion manats ($1.8 billion)," Guliyev said.
Saudi Arabias Ports Development Company (PDC), the owner and developer of King Abdullah Port, has signed an agreement with Al Salem Johnson Controls (York), a leader in HVAC-R, fire, safety and security and building management systems.



The memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed at in King Abdullah Economic City sets out the general principles and modalities of cooperation between the two parties to develop the capabilities of marine services at King Abdullah Port in line with Vision 2030.



The main objectives of the memorandum are to support the development of local content and the National Industrial Development and Logistics Program (NIDLP) and provide technical support for establishing a marine office and the required facilities to offer vessel maintenance and repair services at King Abdullah Port.



The agreement also includes the provision to strengthen the cooperation between both parties to provide the necessary solutions to facilitate the comprehensive diversification of the services at King Abdullah Port.



The MoU was signed by Jay New, the Chief Executive Officer of King Abdullah Port representing PDC, and Dr Mohanad Al Shaikh, the Chief Executive Officer of Al Salem Johnson Controls (York).



Jay New stated: The agreement reflects the keen interest of the leadership of Saudi Arabia to develop the Kingdom's ports. In addition, it aims to achieve the objectives of the vision of HRH the Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman by leveraging Saudi Arabia's unique geographical location on the Red Sea through which 13% of world trade passes, and develop the Kingdom as a major center of international trade and a hub connecting three continents.



"The memorandum comes as part of the kingdoms efforts to achieve the objectives of NIDLP, one of the largest and most ambitious programs under the Saudi Vision 2030 that aims to enhance the competitiveness of the economy and transform the Kingdom into a leading global logistics center. This is an objective we are always seeking to achieve through our various initiatives that contribute to enhancing the operational performance of King Abdullah Port, he added.



Dr Mohanad Al Shaikh said: "The signing of the memorandum of understanding reflects the keenness of the two parties to establish a strategic partnership to support the national economy and to take advantage of potential opportunities. The Ports Development Company is a leading global company in providing repair services.



It aims to further develop the commercial capacity of King Abdullah Port by establishing facilities for vessel maintenance and repair services. The agreement is particularly significant as King Abdullah Port is the first commercial port in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East owned and financed entirely by the private sector.



The partnership is an extension of Johnson Controls International's global success and leadership in offering solutions for marine applications through its subsidiaries around the world, serving more than 10,000 marine vessels globally. One in every five commercial vessels in the United States of America adopts York Cooling Solutions for its cooling systems, while one in four commercial vessels in the USA relies on the fire safety systems produced by Tyco, one of its subsidiaries.



The two parties stressed that the memorandum of understanding reflects King Abdullah Port's vision to achieve sustainability and provide added value to its partners, enabling it to gain superior business efficiency in the long run.



The port delivers integrated services to its customers by taking advantage of its strategic location along the coast of King Abdullah Economic City, which is considered one of the most advanced cities that support businesses and investments and delivers high-quality services of international standards through the latest technologies and qualified professionals.  TradeArabia News Service
Indias Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Chemicals and Fertilisers, Dr Mansukh Mandaviya has invited global investors to invest and strengthen the Make-in-India programme.

India is leading in the development and production of Covid vaccine and helping the world in the fight against Corona Dr Mandaviya said at the India Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai.

The Minister said: Investors have tremendous opportunities in India because it is a strong democratic country, ease of doing business is a big facilitator, and under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the pace of development has increased. The middle class is expanding, and their consumption power is rising. The Prime Minister has invited the global investors to come to the country and invest to strengthen Make-in-India.

On Indias fightback against Corona, the Health Minister said: India is a world leader in vaccine manufacturing sector. Two Indian companies have not only done the R&D but manufacturing of the vaccines also in the country. Our vaccine manufacturing capacity is 310 million doses per month and 86% of the population have got first dose of the vaccine while 55% of the population above 18 years of age have got the second dose. This is Indias strength.

We are providing India-made, India-researched vaccines world over and helping everybody in getting protected against Covid, he added.

On the India Pavilion, Dr Mandaviya said: The Pavilion showcases Indias rich culture and its 75 years of journey and provides detailed information on its industries and development. With its theme of a New and Self-reliant India, the Pavilion truly showcases the principle of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (the world is one family) and rich cultural heritage of India.

Dr Mandaviya also met Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Group Chairman and CEO, DP World and visited the pavilions of the UAE, the US and Saudi Arabia at Expo 2020.-- TradeArabia News Service
In line with its commitment to continuously expand strategic partnerships, Ajman Free Zone (AFZ) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Dubai National Insurance and Reinsurance PSC.

Eng Ali AlSuwaidi, Director General of AFZ, and Abdulla Al Nuaimi, CEO of Dubai Insurance and Reinsurance, inked the agreement in a ceremony attended by several officials from both sides.

The MoU reflects the free zones approach to grow its offered value-added solutions and build a unified platform for investors and companies to have easy access to various service providers. Through this platform, investors and businesses in the free zone can quickly apply for licensing, visa, insurance, and many others at more competitive rates. AFZ has already established a wide network of partnerships from the government and private sectors to make these services available to its business community.

Eng Ali AlSuwaidi said that the latest MoU focuses on offering comprehensive insurance solutions, which are an essential part of human resources functions and the operations of any business establishment. Al Suwaidi explained that the agreement is a testament to the AFZs resolve to provide its business partners with the needed support to help them comply with the regulations and enable them to focus on their growth and expansion plans.

Dubai National Insurance and Reinsurance is a prominent player in its sector. Our MoU is the latest in our string of partnerships forged to raise the competitiveness of our services and attract more companies and investors to AFZ and Ajman. Through this strategic direction, we seek to demonstrate how we can contribute to our business partners growth by expanding the scope of our facilities and incentives and making the free zone a leading incubator for businesses and investments. We are delighted with this new agreement, and we will continue to join forces with more relevant entities from across industries to sustain an optimal business and trade environment within AFZ and attract more regional and international investments. We can support the sustainable development and diversification of the economies of Ajman and the UAE through this commitment, said AlSuwaidi.

Commenting on the agreement, Al Nuaimi remarked: This strategic partnership enables us to support the commendable efforts of Ajman Free Zone in its commitment in providing exceptional value added protection to its investors, business entities and individuals. DNIs wide product offering has a clear focus on providing powerful and tailor-made insurance solutions based on a comprehensive understanding of our customers protection needs. We look forward to working hand in hand with Ajman Free Zone in attaining sustainable relationship built upon trust and confidence to amplify success.

The agreement is the latest in AFZs string of partnerships with government and private sector entities and service providers. It is in step with the free zones goals to build a more competitive and attractive business system, offer innovative and integrated services and facilities, and widen its network of partnerships to facilitate and accelerate the process of establishing and doing business within its community.TradeArabia News Service
Agthia Group, one of the regions leading food and beverage companies, has announced the completion of its strategic acquisition of a 100% stake in BMB Group, a leading regional healthy snacks and food company with a growing global footprint.

The acquisition bolsters Agthias position in the fast-growing snacking and healthy food segment, building on its acquisition of date company Al Foah and Al Faysal bakery in January.

For nearly 15 years, BMB has been pioneering confectionery and healthy food products with over 2,000 SKUs in more than 23 countries worldwide.

The list includes UAE, Saudi Arabia, and the US, where BMB supplies some of the biggest retailers such as Walmart, Sams Club and Costco.

On the strategic acquisition, Agthia Group Chairman Khalifa Sultan Al Suwaidi said: "This transaction supports our 2025 growth strategy focused on the acquisition, integration and scaling of new businesses in value-add categories. The acquisition of BMB will create immediate value accretion for our shareholders, with significant growth prospects across Agthias product portfolio, geographical footprint, human capital and R&D capabilities."

CEO Alan Smith said: "This is an exciting and significant acquisition that will expand our footprint in the confectionery and healthy snacking verticals, delivering immediate growth through established brands distributed across key regional and global markets."

"Together we will take these brands to new markets, as well as utilize BMBs distribution network to widen the reach of Agthias product portfolio in exciting markets such as the United States and Canada," noted Smith.

Agthia has acquired 100% of BMB from its founders and Co-CEOs Bilal Ballout and Mohamad Khachab, and an investment vehicle controlled by The Panarae Partnership, a privately held holding company.

"In the longer term, this acquisition will see us at the forefront of new consumer trends. With our shared passion for innovation, BMBs experience and our strong balance sheet, we will become market leaders in healthy snacking and venture into exciting verticals such as plant-based foods," he added.

Dubbing it as an exciting time for BMB, Ballout and Khachab, said through its partnership with Agthia, the group will scale up business across the snacking and healthy food segment and develop and invest in foods of the future.

BMB began its journey in 2007 as a small warehouse in Sharjah. Today it manufactures and distributes a wide variety of chocolate, Mediterranean sweets, bakery ingredients and healthy snacks and food for its own brands and partners.

It has two manufacturing facilities stretching over a combined total of 150,000 sq ft area in its headquarters Dubai. With nearly 1,000 staff, BMB's portfolio includes popular confectionery and healthy food brands such as Asateer, Al Qamar, Freakin Healthy and Benoit.

"Our focus will continue to be on product innovation and expanding our markets as we continue to evolve into a truly global foods conglomerate," he added.-TradeArabia News Service
Element Materials Technology has bolstered its service offering with Plastometrexs novel metal testing system, the Indentation Plastometer.

Element is using the technology to offer failure analysis and complex-part-testing services to its large and diverse customer base.

Element is a global leader in testing, inspection and certification services. The mechanical testing of metallic materials forms an important part of Elements business and the company offers a full suite of mechanical testing services to clients in the aerospace, automotive, construction, and energy markets, amongst others.

In order to extend the companys capability in this critical space, Element recently integrated Plastometrexs novel mechanical testing technology - the Indentation Plastometer - into its core service offering.

Born out of a decades worth of published research from The University of Cambridge, Plastometrexs technology utilises a new testing method (called PIP), that combines bespoke testing hardware with advanced numerical methods and optimisation algorithms. The PIP method can extract gold-standard mechanical property data (stress-strain curves) from an automated indentation test in under three minutes, without the need to machine standard tensile testing coupons. The technology can also test very small samples sizes, enabling users to generate data on samples that they couldnt otherwise test.

Dr Manfred Feyer, General Manager at Elements Hamburg laboratory, said: The Indentation Plastometer enables us to offer an entirely new method for determining the strength of metallic materials and metallic components. This technology has a number of attributes that will allow us to offer new material insights into the properties of difficult-to-test parts, while also supporting failure analysis investigations across a wide range of industries.

The integration of Plastometrexs technology into Elements service business has helped to strengthen the ties between the two companies, following Elements investment into Plastometrex in July 2020.

Dr James Dean, CEO of Plastometrex, said: Element continues to be a strong and supportive partner of Plastometrex and our technologies, and we are delighted to be working with them first as an investor and now as a customer. We will be supporting the team at Element by helping them to deploy our technology in ways that bring value to its diverse customer base.-- TradeArabia News Service
The shifting patterns in consumer behaviour as a response to increased digital consumption and the importance of innovative solutions to ensure a sustainable future were focused at Canons annual Partners Conference.

Canon Middle East, the official printing and imaging provider of Expo 2020 Dubai, had hosted the conference for the Middle East and Turkey region at the Expo 2020 site.

The 2021 edition themed ' New customers, new world, concluded recently, highlighting the importance of adopting digitalisation to stay relevant among e-citizens and consumers of the modern era.

In the first face to face event held after two years, Canon celebrated its partners in the region who joined in-person or virtually, for being resilient, agile, and maintaining business continuity amid the global challenges posed by the pandemic in 2020.

The event also provided a platform to discuss and explore the business opportunities and prospects for future collaborations emerging with digital disruption, hybrid work model, and initiatives for sustainability, among others, as well as appreciate the efforts of Canons business partners.

It also underlined the upward trend in online sales, different brand engagement initiatives for delivering exceptional customer experience, and changes in the shopping trends among customers.

The annual partner conference additionally highlighted CMETs vision Lifetime Imaging Partner and its mission to strengthen the brand portfolio of Canon while providing value-added services to customers. Canons regional management also shed light on the brand's strategies and roadmap for 2022, and discussed the initiatives planned for the region aimed at defining the brands path forward in the post-pandemic era.

VenkataSubramanian Hariharan, Managing Director, CMET, stated: The pandemic has remarkably changed consumer behavior, and we are keen on implementing innovative initiatives and fostering collaborations that will better serve the requirements of the consumers in the digital era. In line with reimagining our business to deliver a positive customer-centric experience, we intend to focus on further developing our partnerships, deepening customer relationships. We also seek to boost brand awareness, and identify new routes to the market, as we expand our brand portfolio in 2022.

CMET is also committed to implementing its growth strategy to address the dynamic digital market landscape and consumers of the digital age, engage closely with customers in the region and address their rapidly changing requirements while remaining adaptable and flexible, he added.

The discussion held at the hybrid conference was joined by a panel of experts including Nayla Al Khaja, first female film director in the UAE; Maha Moussa, creative video producer at TikTok and Sunil Pandita, Director-Production at United Printing & Publishing. The session was moderated by Jessy El Murr, an independent communications consultant, Senior Journalist & Host and Certified Media Trainer.

The panelists shared insights on new-age digital tools; creative industries in the digital age; consumers of the digital era; the emergence of e-learning and virtual conferencing solutions; remote work models and the multiple ways in which the pandemic accelerated the digital transformation in various sectors.

-- TradeArabia News Service
Tenable, the Cyber Exposure company, has appointed cloud industry veteran Brian Goldfarb as its chief marketing officer (CMO).

Goldfarb will spearhead Tenables global marketing organisation, positioning the company for its next phase of growth across all areas of its portfolio, especially cloud security, risk analytics, OT, and identity.

Goldfarb is a widely respected industry veteran who has held senior executive roles at some of the most important category-defining companies in the world including Splunk, Salesforce, Google and Microsoft.

He joins Tenable from Amperity, the worlds number one enterprise customer data platform. Goldfarb was CMO and senior vice president of business development at Chef Software, which was sold to Progress Software. He led Splunk through a major digital marketing transformation, serving as chief marketing officer for critical years in the companys growth.

Prior to Splunk, he was senior vice president of marketing for Salesforce, leading a global marketing team responsible for generating more than $1 billion in revenue. He earlier served as head of marketing of Google Cloud Platform and spent nearly 10 years at Microsoft.

Brian has a history of developing marketing strategies that drive extraordinary growth and widespread brand awareness, said Amit Yoran, chairman and chief executive officer, Tenable. His experience will be critical as Tenable continues to aggressively differentiate its core VM capabilities while bringing new products to market in some of the most exciting segments of the security space, especially cloud and infrastructure as code (IaC).

Understanding and proactively managing cyber risk is a critical and foundational need for every business in a cloud-first, digital economy and whats clear is that many of the worlds top enterprises rely on Tenable to help secure their businesses, said Goldfarb. Im thrilled to join the team and excited to help customers solve their most complex security challenges, from cloud infrastructure to ransomware to Zero Trust.-- TradeArabia News Service
The Saudi Authority for Intellectual Property (SAIP) has signed a memorandum of co-operation with Bahrain's Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism to strengthen the strategic partnership in the field of the intellectual property between the two sides, during the work of the Saudi-Bahraini Co-ordination Council, on the sidelines of the official visit of Saudi Crown Prince, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz to the Kingdom of Bahrain.

The two sides intend to enhance the joint work, co-ordination, exchange consultation and experiences to develop strategies and exchange intellectual property information and data, Saudi Press Agency SPA reported.

The memorandum also aims to build capacities, train and develop human resources, and enhance respect and enforcement of intellectual property, in addition to sharing patent examination work and developing intellectual property processes and procedures.
Lifting the hood on a rapidly transforming and maturing sector where digitisation is the new driver, the 18th edition of Automechnika Dubai, the Middle Easts largest international trade show for the automotive aftermarket industry, opened today.

The show, which runs at Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) until Thursday was officially opened by Mattar Al Tayer, Director General, Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) & Commissioner General for Infrastructure, Urban Planning and Well-Being.

Organised by Messe Frankfurt Middle East, the event has exhibitors from 47 countries and 12 national pavilions all demonstrating just how far the sector has come in its technological transformation and signaling more change ahead.

Technology advances are impacting all segments of the industry and are in evidence across all the shows six sectors, explained Mahmut Gazi Bilikozen, Show Director of Automechanika Dubai.

This represents a seismic shift in the regional industry, which is advancing rapidly in terms of service provision, product innovation and professional standards. This is an industry which has now come of age.

Compared to 2019, we have seen a 40% increase in senior management and an 18% increase in procurement and purchasing personnel pre-registering for the show  another signal of increased business activity and interest in finding new partners, added Bilikozen.

Visitors have also pre-registered from 143 countries, so were expecting plenty of activity over the next three days.

Spread across eight DWTC halls, Automechanika Dubai features six sectors: tyres & batteries; car wash, care & reconditioning, repair & maintenance; parts & components; electronics &systems as well as accessories & customisation.

For the first time, the show will feature a comprehensive awards ceremony recognising excellence in products, services, personnel and training within the regional industry and a Tools & Skills Challenge - an action-packed live stage where workshop specialists can demonstrate their skills in tyre changing, tyre mounting and smart dent removal.

A GREENER INDUSTRY

The scale of transformation impacting the sector has been summed up by Romanian show newcomer Wemzer Industries, which says the sector is now increasingly aware of its need to contribute to global greener world endeavours.

With Wemzer now producing OEM specified standard ceramic and carbon-free products, the companys Managing Director Amin Uz Zaman identified additive manufacturing, remanufacturing, e-commerce, hybrid / electric drive trains and mobility as a service as the new sector drivers.

The automotive aftermarket is undergoing big disruption, he said. With electrification and digitisation driving change, we are reshaping the way customers, automotive suppliers, and industry stakeholders think of cars and driving and how business in the automotive aftermarket is conducted and value is created.

The massive penetration of internet connections and smartphones has driven the customers expectation for a seamless, comfortable, and most importantly a transparent shopping experience. The automotive industry was probably delayed in embracing this transformation, but the pandemic accelerated the process and now we are witnessing a massive digitisation of the industry.

UNPRECEDENTED GROWTH EXPECTED

Despite setbacks due to the impact of the Covid 19 pandemic, Wemzer Industries believes the aftermarket is poised for unprecedented growth.

There may be challenges related to supply chain, but we have positive indications for economic recovery across our target markets. The automotive aftermarket revenue is anticipated to record $800 billion by 2027, according to the most recent study by Global Market Insights Inc. It is a well-known fact that the global automotive industry is dynamically expanding, said Zaman.

Digitalisation has recently taken an exponential pace. There are certainly dimensions that are yet to be revealed. It is a revolutionary transformation of the business and its value chain, requiring the integration of new layers and partnerships with new enablers to complete the transformation that goes beyond offering a seamless omnichannel shopping experience.

And with industry analysts forecasting the GCCs automotive parts retail revenue will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 5.8% to $6.84 billion in 2025, theres much at stake for industry players facing greater than ever competition.

Keys to success are being outlined at the Automechanika Dubai Academy where experts are probing the industrys region outlook, the impact of electrification within the GCC, digital trends, sector diversification and fourth industrial revolution outcomes.-- TradeArabia News Service
Ducab Group, one of the UAE's largest industrial manufacturing businesses and solution providers, has been awarded the contract to supply overhead conductors for a 288 KM OHL (overhead line) project as part of a GE Renewable Energys Grid Solutions business electrification project in Iraq.

The project complements Iraqs larger energy transition plan, moving the nation into a regional energy hub through smart and sustainable grid infrastructure.

The building of advanced and reliable power supplies across the country will also support various other sectors as part of Iraqs overall economic development strategy, with the World Bank currently estimating Iraq's economy to expand 6.3% over the next two years, said the statement from Ducab.

Ducab participated in the GE Renewable Energys Grid Solutions business tender for the design, supply, installation, testing, and commissioning of 400kV overhead transmission line interconnecting Jordan and Qaim area in Iraq.

This is being done in connection with a re-enforcement programme for engineering, procurement and construction (EPC), and the supply of substations and transmission lines (132 kV/400 kV) turnkey projects.

On the contract win, CEO Mohammad A Almutawa said: "Our products and services have a direct impact on communities, industries and nations. By supplying energy solutions to the Iraq power project, Ducab can help ensure a reliable power supply to Iraq and aim to support the country in achieving its socio-economic objectives."

"Being picked for this strategic project further demonstrates the exemplary quality of Ducab products in the global marketplace. We are confident this will build on a long and mutually beneficial relationship with the Iraqi energy sector," he added.

Iraq has in the recent past faced challenges matching electricity supply with demand. In 2019, for example, analysts have estimated that peak demand was 26 GW, 58% higher than generation capacity.

GE Renewable Energys Grid Solutions business signed a contract with the Ministry of Electricity in Iraq to support these shortcomings, bringing in Ducab as a key supplier on the project.

Johan Bindele, Senior Executive Director of GE Renewable Energys Grid Solutions, said: "Ducab Groups extensive experience in manufacturing high-quality cable solutions, and deep understanding of the Middle East energy landscape, were instrumental in enabling the transmission infrastructures in Iraq."

"We are excited to work on this mega project with Ducab and provide sustainable and effective solutions to some of the countrys most demanding needs," he stated.

According to him, the association with Ducab for this strategic project is further promoting its products and the strength of the "Make it in the Emirates" brand.

"Working with a global industry leader such as GE Renewable Energys Grid Solutions business in such a complex project further advances Ducab's standing in the international energy sector, and its position as a global energy solutions supplier for cable systems providing Energy for change that generates positive economic, social, and environmental impact," added Bindele.
Line Investments & Property has bagged four awards at the recent MECS+R Retail Congress Mena Awards, organised by The Middle East Council of Shopping Centres and Retailers in partnership with Dubai Association Centre (DAC) and the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry, thus bringing together retail professionals globally for a conference, exhibition, dealmaking, networking and awards celebration.

Line Investments & Property is the shopping mall development and management arm of the Abu Dhabi based Lulu Group International, which oversees the mall operations across the Middle East and India.

The Line Investments & Property team walked away with a Gold Award for the futuristic Architectural Design for its new development, Silicon Central, Dubai.

Silicon Central also received a Silver Award for Operational Efficiencies & Cost saving Efforts.

Silicon Central is considered a new landmark in Dubai, strategically positioned 12 km from the city-centre and 15 km from Dubai Airport in Dubai Silicon Oasis, the first eco sustainable district in Dubai focused on low carbon footprint, AI, and technology, said the statement from the company.

Another Gold Award was received by Khalidiyah Mall, Abu Dhabi for Design & Development of Gymnation under New Developments category while Al Wahda Mall, Abu Dhabi received a Silver Award for enhancing its customer experience with the latest addition of IKEA to the Mall under NOI Enhancement- Leasing category.

Salim MA, Director Lulu Group said: "Retail Congress Mena Awards recognises Industry Excellence and uplifts the spirit of retail community positively. Being part of the event this year as a sponsor and winning four awards stamps our commitment to enhance the customer experience through design, sustainability initiatives and impactful campaigns. We applaud MECS+R for putting up a successful congress this year."

Line Investments & Property was shortlisted for all the entries submitted which also included functional use of open roof space by opening Gymnation at Khalidiyah Mall, the 'Be Our Guest' by the Line Investments & Property Northern Emirates Malls and the Covid Test and Vaccination Drive by Lulu Mall Fujairah, he added.-TradeArabia News Service
Capital Experience, part of Tourism 365, owned by the Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions Company (Adnec), has been appointed as ground handler by leading global cruise line, MSC Cruises.



The strategic agreement sees Capital Experience manage the ground handling, sightseeing, excursions, tours and attractions experiences of the cruise ships passengers for the upcoming cruise season.



Starting in November and running until March 2022, Capital Experience will provide up to 4,600 tourists the opportunity to experience Abu Dhabis Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, Louvre Abu Dhabi, Ferrari World Abu Dhabi, F1 Yas Marina Circuit, desert safari experiences and more.



MSC Cruises ships, including flagship MSC Virtuosa, will dock at Zayed Port and Sir Bani Yas Island, providing passengers with a chance to experience Abu Dhabi from different viewpoints.



Roula Jouny, Executive Director of Tourism 365, commented: We are thrilled to have been appointed by MSC Cruises to lead and manage the cruise season in Abu Dhabi. This partnership solidifies our strategic role in strengthening Abu Dhabis position as a destination and bolstering the incredible efforts of the UAEs wider tourism industry.



As part of our vision to become the number one choice for travel and tourism professionals, we look forward to highlighting Abu Dhabi to tourists from far and wide, whilst also showcasing the unmissable offerings of the Emirates.



Powered by the UAEs state-of-the-art ports and unique weather, cruise guests and partners can enjoy seamless travel experiences created by Capital Experience all year round.



By providing guests with tailored itineraries, the companys team of experienced travel professionals enables tourists to discover UAE with a fresh approach suited to their interests.



Launched under Tourism 365, under the Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions Company (Adnec), earlier this year, the company offers unique travel opportunities for tourists coming to Abu Dhabi, enhancing the emirates regional and global positioning in the wider tourism industry.



Capital Experience works with key stakeholders across each emirate, partnering with key entities including hotels across the nation.  TradeArabia News Service
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Members from the Centre for Development Policy and Practice (CDPP) and the Dua Foundation met on December 9 in Aurangabad, Maharashtra to discuss the requirement of educational reservations for the underprivileged sector of the Muslim community.

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Ansab Amir | TwoCircles.net

MAHARASHTRA  Several expert groups and organizations from Maharashtra have proposed a 4% educational reservation for fifty marginalized castes amongst Muslims, drawing upon statistics from various research and findings.

Members from the Centre for Development Policy and Practice (CDPP) and the Dua Foundation met on December 9 in Aurangabad, Maharashtra to discuss the requirement of educational reservations for the underprivileged sector of the Muslim community.

Prime Minister Modis dream of India becoming a 5 trillion economy will not be accomplished if women, constituting over 49% of the Indian population, and Muslims, who comprise 14% of the population, are not included in the mainstream, Amir Ullah Khan, an economist and the director of CDPP said during the meeting.

Professor Shaban of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), who attended the meeting from Paris, summarised the findings of various committees and commissions surveys and insisted that the Mahmood-ur-Rehman Committee recommendations be put in place, including a 33% reservation for Muslim women, a minimum of 8% reservation in state services and education, the incorporation of Dalit Muslims into scheduled caste, and the subsequent expansion of the Other Backward Classes list.

Dr Mahmood-ur-Rehman was appointed to investigate and provide solutions for the backwardness of Muslims in Maharashtra in 2008 by the then-Chief Minister, Villasrao Deshmukh, whose recommendations were subsequently called the Rehman committee recommendations. The primary recommendation of the report was to have a minimum of 8% reservation of Muslims in state government services, educational institutions, and the housing sector (with an internal one-third reservation for women). Some of its other recommendations were the inclusion of marginalized castes of Muslims in the scheduled caste category, and the immediate implementation of the cultural diversity index, and to investigate reasons behind the disproportionate share of Muslims in state jails, among others.

Sagheer Khan, a high court advocate who spoke about the socioeconomic conditions of Muslims in Maharashtra, remarked that 47-57% of Muslims, Dalits, and scheduled tribes were denied bail, whereas the upper classes and influential individuals were exonerated and had a bail rate of 97 % for similar crimes.

According to experts and various surveys and commissions, 83.2% of Muslims in the state do not have agricultural land, 56% of the Muslim population in Maharashtra does not own any assets, while only 0.7% of Muslim families garner something beyond Rs 3.6 lakh per year, while every third person in jail is a Muslim.

The meeting is critical in the light of recent statements about Muslim reservation by the Member of Parliament from Aurangabad, and member of the All India Majlis Ittehad Ul Muslimeen (AIMIM), Imtiaz Jaleel.

On Monday, he said that his party would not contest upcoming polls to the local bodies in Maharashtra if the NCP-Shiv Sena-Congress alliance government gives 5% reservation to Muslims, and return the 93,000 acres of land belonging to Waqf Board.

Two days after taking out a Tiranga rally and holding a demonstration in Mumbai, Jaleel demanded a special bill to be brought during the Winter Session of the parliament, for the legislature of Muslim reservation.

Every time we raise our voice for the Muslims, it is called a political gimmick. Hence, we are giving an open challenge to the Maharashtra government, that we (AIMIM) will not contest in any upcoming local polls in Maharashtra if it gives reservations to Muslims, Jaleel said.

Jaleel, who was participating in the meeting, said that its the first stage in assimilating the community into the mainstream and moving towards the overall growth of the country. We will not be afraid to take to the streets to obtain what Muslims deserve, he stated.

Ansab Amir is an intern with TwoCircles.net. He tweets at @ansab_amir.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks at a press conference at the Fairmont Hotel in Jakarta, Indonesia, Dec 14, 2021. [Photo/Agencies]

US officials seem to have a predilection for doing rubber chicken circuits in Southeast Asia. There is little pause between one speak-and-eat arrival and the next. Secretary of State Antony Blinken being the latest, arriving in Indonesia for the start of a three-nation tour to Southeast Asia on Monday.

Even before he set foot on Asian soil, speculation was rife that apart from strengthening the US' engagement with the region, Blinken also intended to use the occasion to keep hammering at the wedge the US is trying to drive between China and countries in the region.

On Tuesday, he delivered a speech in which he pledged, among other things, that the US will develop a comprehensive Indo-Pacific economic framework, answer the region's calls for more direct foreign investment and donate 1.2 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses to the region by the end of the next year. And yes, China did feature prominently in his speech.

The US promises, though beneficial to the region if they are honored, were woven into a deliberately crafted US narrative scapegoating and smearing China, with Blinken promising that "the US, other countries and South China Sea claimants will continue to push back on unlawful behavior", with the alleged goal of defending the rules-based order.

There were more blatant accusations intended to defame China, such as "China's aggressive actions in the South China Sea threaten the movement of $3 trillion of trade each year". This assertion being made despite the fact that China has never hindered trade and the only threats to commercial shipping come from the lax naval discipline and wayward navigation of US vessels, which have been responsible for a number of fatal accidents in recent years.

As such, there is good reason for countries in the region and beyond to deride the US' hypocrisy as its top diplomat said that the US does not want conflict in the Indo-Pacific and that "it is not about a contest between a US-centric region or a China-centric region".

Since the Barack Obama administration implemented a "pivot to Asia" policy to contain China, Southeast Asia has assumed greater prominence in the US' geopolitical playbook.

Its successor, the Donald Trump administration, instigated fiercer confrontation and competition to counter China's influence in Southeast Asia, due to its geographical proximity to the South China Sea and the Taiwan Straits, and the Joe Biden administration has intensified that approach.

This provides a lens with which to see that however artful the talk of the whistle-stopping US visitors, it does not change the fact that China, for decades, has remained a good neighbor and trustworthy and reliable partner for Southeast Asian countries through thick and thin.

In contrast, the pork barrel promises of the US come with strings and hooks attached as they are simply bait with which the US is fishing for its own interests in the region.
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While the political aspects of reforms in Kazakhstan have gained considerable attention, economic reforms are an equally strong focus of President Kassym-Jomart Tokayevs policy agenda. Building on the initiatives developed by his predecessor, President Tokayev has implemented plans that serve to diversify Kazakhstans economy. Key measures include the development of agriculture, as well as the strengthening of manufacturing, in order to make Kazakhstan a bread-basket of Central Asia as well as a producer of household goods.

BACKGROUND: Economic reform has long been the cornerstone of Kazakhstans reform agenda. Under First President Nursultan Nazarbayev, the government followed an explicit policy that prioritized economic reforms, leaving political matters to a later day. For two decades, the countrys economic agenda was led by oil and gas exploration, which provided Kazakhstan with the funds needed to modernize its economy at a time when the country had few other marketable resources. But the volatility of oil prices, and the global shift away from fossil fuels, led to a growing realization that diversification was necessary.

In 2012, Nazarbayev launched the Kazakhstan-2050 Strategy, which committed to making the economy immune to global commodity price fluctuation. Key economic points of the strategy included the development of infrastructure, of industry, and of agriculture; the increase of foreign investment; the management of natural resources and state-owned assets; and the support of small to medium-sized enterprises, among other points. The end goal of this vision was a Kazakhstani economy that is stable, diversified, and competitive throughout the 21st century  an economy that would ideally land among the top 30 most developed economies in the world by 2050.

President Tokayevs reform efforts continue and accelerate the reform strategies set out by Nazarbayev. In his first address as President, Tokayev emphasized the need to increase returns from state-owned assets; provide support to small business entrepreneurs; increase FDI in a variety of sectors; develop the countrys agricultural industry; and abandon the raw material-based mentality in favor of a diversified, knowledge-based economy. But there are areas where he brings new initiatives to the table. Tokayev introduced two new strategic priorities: modernizing the tax system to ensure equitable distribution of national income, and reducing the role that state-owned enterprises (SOE) play in the Kazakhstan economy. Tokayev also provided more granular detail than his predecessor regarding the implementation of previously announced initiatives. For example, Tokayev set clear steps towards developing Kazakhstans agricultural industry: increase the amount of irrigated land; grow agricultural production 4.5 times by 2030; ban the sale of agricultural land to foreign entities; and seize land that goes unused.

Tokayevs state of the nation addresses in 2020 and 2021 do more to discuss progress on these initiatives and to announce plans for next steps towards their implementation than they do to discuss the pandemic or to announce new strategic priorities. Surprisingly, the COVID-19 pandemic did not do much to force Tokayevs focus away from his long-term reforms, despite the billions of dollars spent on income assistance and other anti-crisis packages. Part of this might be owed to the fact that the pandemic coincided with the initiation of a compulsory health insurance program announced in 2018 and implemented in January 2020. In his 2020 address, Tokayev identified seven basic principles that should govern a new diversified, technological economy; announced the need for a law On Industrial Policy to define the role of the manufacturing industry; and initiated a National Project for the Development of the Agro-Industrial Complex, among several other initiatives.

Likewise, in Tokayevs 2021 address, the two issues in the realm of economic policy that received the most attention were development of the agro-industrial complex and digitalization of the economy. In each of these areas, he identified specific challenges that affect reform progress, and announced specific efforts to alleviate them.

The National Development Plan, announced in March 2021, identified specific priorities leading up to 2025. Three key priorities included building a diversified and innovative economy; active development of economic and trade diplomacy; and balanced territorial development. Towards this end, the plan highlights the central role that the Astana International Finance Center will play in privatizing business and attracting foreign investment. There was also emphasis on several other areas to support diversification, including changes to regulatory mechanisms and the adoption of seven ecosystems within the agricultural sector. Finally, goals were set for the development of economic and trade diplomacy to increase investments and for the growth of non-commodity exports.

IMPLICATIONS: President Tokayevs strategy for economic diversification primarily involves building up the countrys agricultural and manufacturing sectors. For the former, a National Project on the Agro-Industrial Complex seeks to establish seven large ecosystems for production, including meat, fruits, vegetables, sugar, cereals, oilseeds, and dairy products. The end goal is to attract investment in the sector, double productivity, provide for domestic food demand, and increase food exports. In a 2017 speech, Nazarbayev envisioned Kazakhstan as a bread basket of Central Asia with an established brand of Made in Kazakhstan.

In his 2019 address to the nation, President Tokayev outlined specific goals for agriculture: increase the amount of irrigated land to 3 million hectares by 2030; grow agricultural production 4.5 times in that same time frame; ensure a ban on foreign ownership of Kazakh land; seize land that is inefficiently used; and provide better quality of life for rural populations. Tokayev has also begun to address the issue of agricultural subsidies, and to tackle the fraudulent exploitation of these subsidies, an issue previously identified by the OECD.

The efforts appear to be bearing fruit: In 2020, crop production increased by 7.8%, livestock production increased by 3%, investments in agriculture increased by 15%, and food production increased by 13.5%. Furthermore, Kazakhstan has inked investment deals with Dutch and American companies to manufacture advanced farm technologies and develop sustainable agriculture. These deals are centered on the exchange of agricultural technologies such as irrigation plants, artificial intelligence and cloud computing.

Similarly, reform efforts towards manufacturing are based on the concept of building an economy of simple things  focusing on low tech, household goods. These products can be easily manufactured using the raw materials that are otherwise exported out of the country. Just as with food production, Tokayev aims to fill domestic demand for these goods, thereby decreasing dependence on foreign imports and increasing the share of manufactured goods in Kazakhstans exports.

The bigger, and more long-term efforts towards diversification involve implementing a separate strategy known as Digital Kazakhstan, which seeks to develop a knowledge-based economy where the systems driving private sector and public sector functions are entirely digitized. Kazakhstan has already invested significantly in an e-government platform that has improved administrative efficiency, decreased administrative costs, and reduced opportunities for corruption in human-to-human interactions. Additionally, the country is looking to invest heavily in technologies like 5G, fiber optics, big data, AI, and smart city technology. All the while, officials hope to promote a culture supporting tech start ups and entrepreneurship. Toward this end, the Astana International Financial Centre, located in the countrys capital, serves as an innovation and investment hub aiming to attract foreign and domestic private investments in the tech industry. The Centre also serves as a separate judicial system that will adjudicate regulatory and civil disputes among business leaders in order to increase investors confidence in Kazakhstans business environment.

Underpinning this diversification are broader efforts to support growth of the economy and of entrepreneurship. First, Tokayev invested billions of dollars into the Auyl - El Besigi project  a nationwide project seeking to modernize rural infrastructure. This will be a critical component to supporting growth in the production and exportation of agricultural and manufactured goods.

Additionally, Kazakhstan has long sought to establish a favorable regulatory environment. The country ranks 25th in the World Banks Doing Business 2020 report, which ranks the worlds economies based on their regulatory environments and the ease with which entrepreneurs can conduct business therewithin.

CONCLUSIONS: A key challenge for Kazakhstan is to diversify its economy while overcoming the geographic constraints of being a landlocked country. The difficulty of diversifying an oil-dependent economy have long been well-known, and this challenge in itself is a considerable one to overcome. As was seen in Kazakhstans negotiations to join the WTO, the countrys leaders are also acutely aware of the distance tax that landlockedness imposes on the country, by adding a markup on its export goods that make them more difficult to market.

Kazakhstans strategies for economic reform should be seen against this background: the development of agriculture, an economy of simple things, and a big bet on digitalization are all economic strategies congruent with Kazakhstans geographic constraints. Their success will be dependent, in part, on whether Kazakhstans political reforms gain traction. Most important, the efforts to combat corruption will be key to make Kazakhstan an attractive target of foreign investment, and to reduce the burden on Kazakh entrepreneurs trying to compete in foreign markets.
Ive always believed that if youre in a position to help somebody, you should do it, Gates said in a statement. He said the new group will continue to learn from each other and find new ways to maximize the positive impact of our philanthropy.
Make no mistake: Vaccine mandates like the one United is attempting to impose here present a crisis of conscience for many people of faith, the judge wrote. It forces them to choose between the two most profound obligations they will ever assume  holding true to their religious commitments and feeding and housing their children.
Each year, members of the public can suggest their own nominees via the Library of Congress website. The films must be at least 10 years old. A Library of Congress announcement this week cited rabid online support for Return of the Jedi, which even the Library of Congress noted was perhaps not quite up to the lofty standards of its two predecessors, and for The Fellowship of the Ring, part of director Peter Jacksons hugely popular Lord of the Rings trilogy.
If "Chroma" is an interesting place to visit, "Four Corners" is where I want to live. In contrast to the verticality, interiority and blasting light of "Chroma," Brown's choreography scuds close to the floor in an environment like a cloudy sky at twilight. The movement is deeply influenced by African dance, not only in its shapes but in its hypnotic rhythms: suspension, then release on the beat with a serpentine undulation.
He was drawn to The Wonder Years both as a fan but also because I was very aware that I didnt see myself reflected in the (original) show, said Hill. There were certain things that I could relate to because I grew up in the suburbs too, but I didnt see myself in the show, so it also felt like a story outside of me. So when the opportunity came up to play the father in the re-imagining of it, I jumped at it. Black people in this country have nostalgia too. We created our very own wonder years as well that we can share, of regular American families, and this is one step in that direction of the unique and diverse stories that America has to share about herself.
The contempt vote is coming after more than two months of negotiations with Meadows and his lawyer and as the panel has also struggled to obtain information from some of Trumps other top aides, such as his longtime ally Steve Bannon. The House voted to recommend charges against Bannon in October, and the Justice Department indicted him on two counts of contempt last month.
State and local officials say the company told them that all other workers have been accounted for. Initially, authorities feared a much higher death toll at the factory because dozens of employees were working late to make candles for holiday orders. But Louisville Emergency Management Director E.J. Meiman said late Monday that authorities now have a high level of confidence that nobody is left in this building.
Over recent years, the prevalence of the nones in the U.S. has been roughly comparable to Western Europe -- but overall, Americans remain more religious, with higher rates of daily prayer and belief in God as described in the Bible. According to a 2018 Pew survey, about two-thirds of U.S. Christians prayed daily, compared to 6% in Britain and 9% in Germany
For other areas affected by the storms that still may not get financial support from the federal government, Pritzker has directed the Illinois Emergency Management Agency to work with those jurisdictions and look at all other options for support. Pritzker said local, state and federal officials are continuing to work together to ensure Illinois communities have everything they need to recover.
Lets say a (transgender) boy wants to use a boys bathroom, but maybe adults in the building see them as a girl physically, right? Sometimes those students get blocked from using a bathroom that affirms them because of transphobia, because of prejudice. What this signage does is makes it really explicit for our young people that they know that they can use the bathroom that aligns with their gender identity.
The agreement concludes nearly 10 years of litigation and will result in the creation and distribution of a settlement fund to benefit those staff members affected by the turnarounds, the CTU statement read. Resolving this matter is in CPS students best interest and will allow the District to move forward while the impacted teachers and staff will receive some compensation for the harm that was done to them. As a union, we have fought for increased funding for schools, adequate staffing and fair treatment of all teachers, regardless of race.
The relatively minor charges he was indicted on, however, made no mention of the ComEd bribery or Madigan. His plea agreement reached with prosecutors on Tuesday also does not contain any deal to cooperate in the ComEd investigation.
Today, Im sitting in the hot seat. And you may like me, you may hate me. But your decision will definitely reflect the precedent when you are sitting in the hot seat tomorrow. This is a complete overstep of our office. This is a complete overstep of what our ward wants.
If youre on a boat, you want everybody rowing in the same direction. Were going to support people and we expect them to row in the same direction, Preckwinkle said. If youre not prepared to work with other people that are on the slate, you shouldnt ask for slating.
Our work for the people of Illinois is just beginning. While we love this great state we all know Springfield is broken. Its so self evidently true that its almost not worth arguing the details, she said. We need to get the woke left political agenda out of our classrooms for once and for all. Its time to teach our kids to chase their dreams, not to be a victim or hate one another.
We believe the waiver deadline was originally determined under the assumption that the pandemic would likely be over and that the economy and state governments would be in recovery mode, they wrote in a letter Tuesday to Yellen. However, it is quite plain to see that this public health crisis is not over, and the benefit provided by this interest waiver is still necessary.
He had a big heart. He was a good soul. He wouldve done anything for anybody, and he loved his family and his friends, Carla Cope said of her son. It wouldve been in his nature to tell people, to not get himself to safety, until he made sure everyone else was where they needed to be.
Several hours before the shooting, Reed and Hearns, 31, had a brief but heated encounter at a tavern in Kenosha, authorities said. Reed is alleged to have gone later to Hearns apartment building, police said, and fired several rounds into Hearns apartment from the lawn, according to reports.
This is the second incident involving alleged gun threats at a Niles school in about a week. On Monday, police announced that they are also seeking disorderly conduct charges in juvenile court against a 12-year-old Gemini Middle School student after she was identified as sending out a disturbing message over SnapChat on Tuesday, Dec. 7.
Earlier, Felton told sex crimes detectives she was at the Ameristar Casino in East Chicago with a friend when Shearer approached her outside the front turnstile. He appeared to back off when she grabbed her cellphone. He told her not to call the police, according to charging documents. Felton told him she didnt want to talk to him.
A third car was heading east on Willow Road at the time of impact with debris from both cars striking the third car. That driver did not sustain any injuries, OConnell said.
You are here: Arts

Two pottery figurines dating back to the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) have been returned to China from overseas, to be placed in the Shanghai Museum's collection.

A ceremony to mark the event was held on Monday by the National Cultural Heritage Administration.

Ms. Suzanne Fratus from the United Sates donated the figurines through the Chinese Consulate General in San Francisco in April.

"It is not through money or politics that these figures have come home to you. They were returned through the power of love and respect for you the Chinese people," Fratus said.

The figurines were identified as funerary objects with important collection value.
Editor's note: An original dance drama about a great Chinese composer, an animated story set to classical music for kids, as well as a murder mystery play which has been in theaters for almost seven decades  here are three events you won't want to miss this week.

1, Original dance drama  'Xian Xinghai'

Jointly produced by the National Center for the Performing Arts (NCPA) and Ningbo Performance & Arts Group, the contemporary dance drama "Xian Xinghai" focuses on the characters' emotions and inner lives, through five chapters: "Preface," "Sea," "Torrent," "Homeland" and "Stars." From musician to revolutionary, composer Xian Xinghai devoted his life to unswervingly serving his country. With his uniquely Chinese works, he has left behind a precious artistic wealth for the Chinese nation.

Dates: Dec. 16-22

Venue: National Center for the Performing Arts (NCPA), Beijing

2, Original animated musical story for kids  'The Waltz Kingdom'

During his lifetime, Austrian composer Johann Strauss was known as the "Waltz King," and was largely responsible for popularizing the waltz in 19th century Vienna. In this concert combining music and videos, children and their parents can enjoy animated stories accompanied by the melodies of "The Waltz Kingdom" produced by the Four Seasons Chamber Orchestra.

Dates: 10:30 a.m., Dec. 18

Venue: National Library Arts Center, Beijing

3, Original Chinese adaption  'The Mousetrap'

A Chinese-language version of "The Mousetrap," a murder mystery play by Agatha Christie that is also the world's longest-running play, will be staged in Shanghai. For almost 70 years since its premiere in 1952, the play has kept millions of people around the globe on the edge of their seats.

Dates: Dec. 16-26

Venue: Huangpu Theatre, Shanghai

Cultural events of the week: Dec. 6-12
A freight train loaded with 100 containers departed from Guangzhou Port in south China's Guangdong Province for Alma Ata in Kazakhstan on Saturday.

The train, carrying goods worth 1.7 million U.S. dollars which include household appliances, hardware products and daily necessities, is scheduled to arrive at the Horgos Port, bordering Kazakhstan, in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in seven days. It will take another seven days for the train to reach destinations in Central Asia.

This train is expected to improve the efficiency of international cargo transportation, reduce transportation costs, and broaden the westward logistics transport channel from Guangzhou to Central Asia.

Since the launch of the China-Europe freight train service from Guangzhou Port in April this year, 10 international cargo train services -- nine China-Europe freight trains and one to Central Asia -- have been launched so far, delivering more than 1,000 TEUs of goods.

The range of goods has expanded from electronic products to industrial raw materials, clothing and household appliances.
A total of 82 companies had listed on the Beijing Stock Exchange by Dec. 8, covering 25 sectors of the national economy with accumulative transactions at 43.02 billion yuan ($6.76 billion), an average increase of 101.49 percent, the People's Daily reported on Monday.



The new bourse has put more small and medium-sized enterprises in the spotlight of the capital market, and eased their financing difficulties to further spur innovative vitality.

Beijing Tri-Prime Gene Pharmaceutical Co Ltd, a biomedicine company that moved to the BSE from NEEQ Select - the highest tier of the National Equities Exchange and Quotations system, is revving up production of the interferon drugs at its smart factory.

"Listing on the Beijing bourse is like 'putting an accelerator' for innovation'," said Cheng Yongqing, chairman of Tri-Prime Gene.

"A company's innovation capability requires large amount of fund support... but SMEs are commonly weak in financing due to the lack of adequate mortgage and guarantee," Cheng added.

Tri-Prime Gene quickly build its name after the BSE listing, with corporate financing channels broadening greatly, which gave a strong impetus to the ongoing research and development projects.

Yang Peng, president secretary of the Shaanxi Tonly Heavy Industries Co Ltd, said the listing helped the company to raise money for building an automobile factory in Xi'an, with equipment added and R&D teams expanded.

"After listing on BSE, the program is expected to be put into operation one year earlier," he said.

Yang was also impressed by the continuous financing system that Beijing bourse tailored for innovative SMEs.

According to BSE guidelines, a company can refinance after six months of going public, with diversified issuing mechanism and financing tools offered, such as common stock, preferred stock as well as convertible bond.

"Beijing bourse serves for companies that are in early stage of development, with relatively small business scale but strong innovative capability. About 80 percent of listed firm are from advanced manufacturing, high-tech services and strategic emerging industries," said Li Xudong, managing director of China Securities.

Liu Xiaoliang, president secretary of Nutrichem, an agrochemical company based in Beijing, said the BSE lowered the cost and difficulty of listing for SMEs.

It gave a chance for those firms with relatively weak finance capability to raise money, he said, and the time for reviewing the listing materials has been shortened to about two months.

Tian Xuan, an associate dean and a professor of finance at the PBC School of Finance, Tsinghua University, highlighted the differentiation should be further expanded between BSE, ChiNext and the STAR market, in issuance conditions, trading mode and governance mechanism.

According to the BSE, the bourse will improve inclusiveness for more SMEs and continuously optimize its listing access conditions. It will also guide private and public funds to increase investment, and encourage long-term funds such as insurance funds and social security funds to enter the exchange.
You are here: Business

China has become a major services trade partner for Ireland, according to data released by Ireland's Central Statistics Office (CSO) on Monday.



In 2020, the combined value of the trade in services between the two countries was 11.99 billion euros (about 13.54 billion U.S. dollars), up nearly 14 percent compared with 2019.

In that year, Ireland imported 5.01 billion euros worth of services from China, up 23 percent when compared with 2019. This means China was the sixth largest source of imported services for Ireland.

Meanwhile, it exported 6.98 billion euros worth of services to China, up nearly 8 percent year-on-year, making China the eighth largest market of Ireland's exported services.

The services trade surplus that Ireland enjoyed over China in 2020 stood at 1.97 billion euros, a decrease of 427 million euros when compared with 2019.

In 2020, Ireland's total exports of services were valued at 244.1 billion euros, up 6.1 percent year-on-year, while its total imports of services amounted to 306 billion euros, up 8.9 percent.

Last year, Ireland also exported 10.32 billion euros worth of goods to China, while its goods imports from China were valued at 6.55 billion euros, according to the CSO figures.

China was the fifth largest goods trade partner of Ireland both in terms of imports and exports in 2020, showed the CSO figures. (1 euro=1.13 U.S. dollars)
Workers from different industries in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region denounced lies of "forced labor" in the region and shared their experiences at a press conference Monday.

Elikimjan Elet, a native of Gulbag Township, Yuli County, graduated from Hefei University of Technology in 2019 and worked at a science and technology company in Hefei, capital of east China's Anhui Province, after graduation. When returning home for the Spring Festival, China's lunar new year, Elikimjan Elet was amazed by his ever-changing hometown and chose to stay there.

In March 2020, Elikimjan Elet started work at a farmers' cooperative in the county and was appointed the manager of the online sales department last May. He then taught himself about cattle and sheep breeding technology, accounting and e-commerce, and passed the accounting qualification examination this year.

"The work has not only brought me an abundant and happy life, but also a sense of self-worth," he said.

Haltan Ibrayim, head of the front desk clerks at a hot spring hotel in Fukang City, Hui Autonomous Prefecture of Changji, said she began work there in 2018 after being referred by a friend.

"At first, I was a cashier and did not know how to use the equipment. I then followed my colleagues to learn about computers, bill printing and other skills," she said. "Gradually, I became the head of the front desk clerks."

Haltan Ibrayim's husband is a barbecue chef at the restaurant in the hotel. The couple can earn more than 8,000 yuan (about 1,257.6 U.S. dollars) a month. Their 4-year-old daughter now attends kindergarten for free in the city.

"Knowledge changes fate and hard work creates wealth. By continuously improving myself, I chose a job I love," she said, adding that many of her relatives and friends have found satisfying jobs through continuous learning, and some have even started their own business.
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The Chinese Embassy in Britain on Monday expressed grave concern about and strong opposition to the Group of Seven (G7)'s irresponsible remarks on China and its interference in China's internal affairs.

A chair's statement, issued on Sunday at the end of the G7 Foreign and Development Ministers' Meeting in the British city of Liverpool, said that their discussion covered a range of China-related issues, such as the situation in Hong Kong and Xinjiang, in the East and South China Seas and across the Taiwan Strait, and expressed concern about the "coercive economic policies" of China.

The spokesperson said the affairs relating to Taiwan, Hong Kong and Xinjiang are purely China's internal affairs and brook no external interference.

"No one should underestimate the strong resolve, will and capability of the Chinese people in defending their country's territorial sovereignty," the spokesperson said.

On the East and South China Seas, China remains unwavering in its resolve to safeguard its sovereignty and maritime rights and interests, the spokesperson said. "We stand ready to handle differences properly with the relevant countries through consultation and negotiation."

Any interference in the situation of the East and South China Seas by any external force under any pretext would bring unnecessary disruptions to the peace and tranquility in the region and would not be in line with the interests of the countries in the region, the spokesperson added.

The accusation that China has implemented "coercive economic policies" is totally groundless, the spokesperson said.

"Speaking of 'coercive economic policies,' who imposed economic embargo and blockades on China in the 1950s and 1960s, and who waged a trade war against China and mounted pressure and restrictions on Chinese companies in recent years? The relevant country should answer these questions first and stop putting the blame on the victim," the spokesperson said.
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At least one person has died with the Omicron variant in Britain, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson confirmed Monday.

"Omicron is producing hospitalizations and sadly at least one patient has been confirmed to have died with Omicron," the prime minister said during a visit to a vaccine clinic in Paddington, west London.

Earlier, British Health Secretary Sajid Javid said there were 10 people in hospital in England with Omicron, but warned that cases, hospital admissions and deaths will rise. According to the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), their ages range between 18 and 85.

The British health secretary has also warned the Omicron variant is "spreading at a phenomenal rate" and infections are continuing to double every two to three days. The rate of its spread is "something we've never seen before", he told Sky News.

"It's pretty clear that the world can expect a tidal wave of new infections. How much of that translates into hospitalizations and mortality is still unknown. It seems that it's either milder or the existing levels of protection do give some protection. But just the sheer number of infections is highly concerning," Rasmus Bech Hansen, the chief executive of London-based Airfinity, a global health intelligence and analytics provider, told Xinhua in an online interview.

Another 1,576 Omicron cases have been found in Britain, the biggest daily increase since the COVID-19 variant was detected in the country, taking the total cases found in the country to 4,713, the UKHSA confirmed Monday.

Britain reported 54,661 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 10,873,468, according to official figures released Monday.

The country also reported a further 38 coronavirus-related deaths. The total number of coronavirus-related deaths in Britain now stands at 146,477, with 7,372 COVID-19 patients still in hospital.

Long queues are forming at COVID vaccination centers on Monday and there are widespread reports of the National Health Service (NHS) booking site crashing as people scramble to get their booster jabs ahead of Christmas.

The prime minister launched Sunday night a "national mission" called Omicron Emergency Boost. The health secretary has urged people to get their booster jab as soon as possible, warning that "two doses are not enough, but three doses provide excellent protection against symptomatic infection."

The UK COVID alert level has been raised from Level 3 to Level 4, the second highest level, "in light of the rapid increase in Omicron cases", the four British chief medical officers said in a joint statement Sunday.

More than 89 percent of people aged 12 and over in Britain have had their first dose of vaccine and more than 81 percent have received both doses, according to the latest figures. More than 41 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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The second batch of winter supplies donated by China has arrived in Kabul, capital of Afghanistan.

Afghan deputy minister of refugees and repatriation affairs of the caretaker government Arsala Kharoti and Chinese Ambassador to Afghanistan Wang Yu attended the handover ceremony on Monday in a depot of the ministry in Kabul.

This batch of winter supplies include more than 70,000 blankets and more than 40,000 down coats. At this critical moment, the aid brings warmth from the Chinese people to the Afghan people, the Chinese ambassador said while addressing the ceremony.

Wang said that China would continue to donate other aid including food to Afghanistan.

As a good neighbor of Afghanistan, China is ready to help Afghanistan overcome the current difficulties, Wang said.

Officials from the ministry of refugees and repatriation affairs received the supplies.

Kharoti thanked China for providing the emergency supplies as many Afghan people are experiencing a difficult time.

These aid supplies will be distributed to eligible people around the country, he added.
The last month has been like a whirlwind and it seems like I have packed a whole year of big events into the last month. They say that among the 6 big stresses of life is moving house, changing jobs, illness, death, injury, increasing financial obligations and Divorce. These areas are what cause the most stress in a person's life and is often the source of someone going into a downward spiral.

Lifes stressful things

I may not have had all of them in the past month, but over the course of 2021 I have experienced a job loss due to Covids impact. I have had the surprise news that I have to move again and be out before a looming December. I have started a new job and learnt new skills, finished most of my uni degree and found a house with just 3 weeks left on our lease. Along with that I battled a bit of depression and still have been in the waiting zone for so many of Gods promises, yet to be fulfilled.

Im no superhero

This is not to say I am some super hero, but actually the opposite. There are all things we battle and bring stress in our life that can either make us or break us. It's not to say we always get to making parts without a bit of breaking.

I am reminded at this point of Pauls words in 2 Corinthians chapter 12 verse 9

But he said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christs power may rest on me.

World ways of handling life stresses

I think its in these situations the thing to do is just to tough it out, be stronger, and just grit it out. This is often how the world teaches us to handle these stresses in life. I see so many quotes about this topic and they generally are summarised as you can do it in your strength. While this may be the truth to some extent, I believe that the sustainability of self driven strength is very much limited and the result is weariness.

What is Gods way?

How should we take on these challenges in life as followers of Jesus and his teachings?

As is often the case, the Kingdoms ways are the reverse of the world's ways. His teachings always confound the wise, yet they are the answer.

In the above piece of scripture we hear the words that Gods power is only made manifest in our weakness. Not what you think you would hear in lifes stressful situations. This method even sounds like nonsense at first hearing. It actually takes an active faith filled mind to even apply such an approach. But what happens if we do take that faith step is quite amazing and my past month is testament to this.

Along with the knowledge that my weakness allows his strength to come through, I also took into my spirit the words I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. (Philippians Chapter 4 verse 13).

Once again this is not at all about the I part but rather to the end part of the verse, in which the truth is Christ is the one who gives us the strength to overcome any of those stressful life scenarios.

I remember in this past month that I often found myself being strengthened by these words and this truth. I reminded myself when I was waning and losing faith that these lessons would carry me through what I was facing.

HE is faithful

Now as I write this article I sit here post the challenges reflecting on those words of scripture as truth. All that was required of me was a little bit of mustard seed faith and to trust Christ that he would enable me and strengthen me through each step.

I encourage all of you in this season and a world of increased stress and uncertainty to hand over your strength in favour of His and to trust that He will do the all things through you, not by you. I leave you with a piece of scripture that tells us the truth of the God we are in relationship with and he knows all things.

As the heavens are higher than the earth,

so are my ways higher than your ways

and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Isaiah 55:9
The global blood plasma derivatives market is growing mainly due to the increasing demand for plasma derived products. According to a recent study report published by the Market Research Future, The global blood plasma derivatives market is booming and expected to gain prominence over the forecast period. The market is forecasted to demonstrate a spectacular growth by 2023, surpassing its previous growth records in terms of value with a striking CAGR during the anticipated period (2017 - 2023).

Blood Plasma Derivatives Market Projected to Grow Radiantly by 2023; Asserts MRFR Unleashing Industry Forecast

Plasma is a fluid part of the blood that contains blood cells, and protein responsible for blood clotting. Plasma derivatives are obtained from specific plasma proteins by the process of fractionation. The derivatives are then solvent detergent-treated or heat-treated to kill certain viruses. The most common plasma derivative includes factor IX concentrate, factor VIII concentrate, anti-inhibitor coagulation complex (AICC), anti-thrombin III concentrate, immune globulins, Alpha 1-Proteinase inhibitor concentrate, albumin, and anti-thrombin III concentrate. Blood plasma derivative widely used clinically to treat various conditions such as hemophilia A, hemophilia B, HIV, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, thrombocytosis, and others.

Inquire for Sample Research Report https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/1325

Global Blood Plasma Derivatives Market  Competitive Analysis

Grigols (Spain), Baxter International Inc. (US), Octapharma AG (Switzerland), CSL Limited (Australia), Kedrion S.p.A (Italy), Bain Capital, LLC (US), Biotest AG (Germany), Fusion Healthcare (India), SK Plasma Co., Ltd. (South Korea) are some of the prominent players at the forefront of competition in the blood plasma derivatives market and are profiled in MRFR Analysis.

Global Blood Plasma Derivatives Market is currently dominated by few players.

Grigols is one of them by holding a strong share in the market. The companys stronghold is largely attributed to its innovative and sustainable products. Grigols aoperates in three major divisions i.e. Bioscience, Diagnostic and Hospital. On November 17, 2017 Grigols received FDA approval for a new genetic test used to detect alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency. On November 11, 2013, Grifols acquired blood transfusion testing unit of Novartis AG for USD 1.68 billion. In the year 2016, Grifols has also acquired NAT (Nucleic Acid Testing) donor screening unit of Hologic for USD 1,850 million.

Baxter is also one of the leading player in Blood Plasma Derivatives Market Demand. Baxter International Inc., the US based biopharmaceutical company, operates in two major segments, i.e. Hospital Products and Renal. Baxters product Bebulin (Factor IX Complex) is specifically used for the prevention, of hemorrhagic episodes in case of hemophilia B. Bebulin may carry a risk of transmitting infectious agents, such as viruses and, CreutzfeldtJakob disease (CJD) agent.

On July 27, 2017, Baxter International Inc. completed the acquisition of Claris Injectables Limited for approximately USD 625 million. The main motive of acquisition is the expansion of generic pharmaceuticals.

On June 06, 2017, ADMA Biologics, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, has acquired therapy business unit of Biotest Pharmaceuticals. As a result of this, ADMA acquired two FDA approved products ie Nabi-HB , and and BIVIGAM .

Browse Complete Premium Research Report https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/blood-plasma-derivatives-market-1325

Regional Analysis of Blood Plasma Derivatives Market:

Globally, Blood Plasma Derivatives market consists of four regions North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and Middle East and Africa.

North America is the largest market for syringe and needle. The North American market for Blood Plasma Derivatives is expected to grow at a CAGR of 4.25% which is expected to reach at US $ 35.50 billion from US $ 20 billion in 2016 by the end of the forecasted period.

Awareness regarding use of plasma derivatives for patients suffering from infectious diseases drive this market in North America. Europe is the second-largest market for Blood Plasma Derivatives which is expected to grow at a CAGR of 3.8%. Extensive research on safe blood transfusion in healthcare organizations and research laboratories favor the growth of this market in Europe.

Whereas Asia Pacific is expected to be the fastest growing market for Blood Plasma Derivatives market. India is expected to be the emerging and fastest growing market. Demand for plasma derivatives for inactivation of HIV favor the demand of plasma derivatives in Asia-Pacific. The market shows steady growth in Middle East and Africa.

About Market Research Future: MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. In order to stay updated with technology and work process of the industry, MRFR often plans & conducts meet with the industry experts and industrial visits for its research analyst members.
Global leader in eyewear solutions partners with Centric Software to reclaim design time, empower sales teams and support sustainability

CAMPBELL, Calif., December 14, 2021  INSPECS Limited, a leading designer, marketer, manufacturer and distributor of brand and OEM eyewear has selected Centric Softwares Product Lifecycle Management (PLM).

Centric Software provides the most innovative enterprise solutions to plan, design, develop, source and sell products such as apparel, footwear, sporting goods, furniture, home decor, cosmetics, food & beverage and luxury to achieve strategic and operational digital transformation goals.

Founded in 1988, INSPECS experienced rapid growth through acquisition and is one of the largest eyewear companies in the world. They own their supply chain from sourcing to distribution, distribute in more than 80 countries, have four manufacturing sites and 30,000 global points of sale. INSPECS cycles two seasons per year and produces over 500 new SKUs for licences, brands and private label brands each year. Their goal is to be the go-to platform for eyewear solutions.

Eyewear is classified as a medical device and is subject to rigorous compliance standards, which along with a complicated manufacturing process, slows time to market. The average time to market can be nine months and operating during COVID has put additional pressure on timelines.

When Adam Loewy, Creative Director at INSPECS joined the team, he saw an enormous opportunity to streamline processes, speed time to market and drive the companys success.

When I joined INSPECS, I had this question mark, says Loewy. We had the ability and a fantastic team. But we didnt design as many collections, and for as many brands as I thought we could.

Loewy could see that teams were losing valuable time with multiple layers of processes, by relying on outdated tools like Excel, and searching for information stored in disparate locations. Thus, he began his search for a solution to drive efficiencies, streamline operations and centralize information.

We were very keen to work with a partner who had experience, had delivered for multiple brands, and was on a scale that would ensure theyd be around for the long term, shares Loewy.

In their search for a PLM solution, Loewy and his team evaluated several PLM vendors, and Centric Software stood out for several reasons. Outstanding customer references, Centrics work with INSPECS brands, and a clear roadmap of the development process and ROI gave INSPECS the confidence to select Centric Software as their PLM partner.

User experience was also a deciding factor. When youve got to try to persuade teams to move from a system they are familiar with, like Excel, that new system has to have a better interface and be a much more positive experience, Loewy explains. That was massively clear the first time we looked at Centric.

Designers are expected to reclaim nearly 20% of their time to vision-critical functions with PLM. Currently the ratio of time spent on design to development is 20% and 80% respectively. According to Loewy, to be a leader in their market, they must spend significantly more time on design, and PLM will enable that.

The marketing team will save time by using Centrics single version of the truth to develop detailed product line lists that support the sales teams. Its really about creating a digital catalogue because well have that information in one location, says Loewy. Its the database that is the really powerful tool for us.

PLM will also bolster their sustainability efforts by empowering teams to share factories, deliveries, material developments and sample creation. From an employee perspective, reducing time wasted on redundant tasks will support a sustainable and balanced corporate culture.

Chris Groves, President and CEO of Centric Software says, We are thrilled that INSPECS has chosen Centric as a partner in their digital transformation journey. Their company is growing rapidly and we are proud to be a part of an industry that is providing such a critical medical device.

Request a Demo

INSPECS (www.inspecs.com)

INSPECS is a leading designer, manufacturer and distributor of brand and OEM eyewear to global retail chains. With owned factories in Vietnam, China, Italy and London, they offer the complete eyewear design-manufacture-distribution solution. Their in-house award-winning creative design studios in Bath UK, Lisbon and Hong Kong offer specialist eyewear design and innovation, 3D design, graphics, photography and marketing services.

INSPECS partners with brands under license across the globe to bring the eyewear category to life. They also proudly own the prestigious British-made Savile Row eyewear brand, crafted by hand from luxurious materials at our British and Italian factories. INSPECS sales offices are based in Bath, Lisbon, Scandinavia, Florida and HK.

Centric Software (www.centricsoftware.com)

From its headquarters in Silicon Valley, Centric Software provides a Product Concept to Consumer Digital Transformation Platform for fashion, retail, footwear, luxury, outdoor, consumer electronics and consumer goods including cosmetics and personal care and food and beverage. Centrics flagship Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) platform, Centric PLMTM, delivers enterprise-class merchandise planning, product development, sourcing, quality and product portfolio optimization innovations specifically for fast-moving consumer industries. Centric Visual Innovation Platform (CVIP) offers highly visual digital board experiences for collaboration and decision-making. Centric Retail Planning is an innovative, cloud-native solution powered by Armonica Retail S.R.L., that delivers an end-to-end retail planning process designed to maximize retail business performance. Centric Software pioneered mobility, introducing the first mobile apps for PLM, and is widely known for connectivity to dozens of other enterprise systems including ERP, DAM, PIM, e-com, planning and more as well as creative tools such as Adobe Illustrator and a host of 3D CAD connectors. Centrics innovations are 100% market-driven with the highest user adoption rate and fastest time to value in the industry. All Centric innovations shorten time to market, boost product innovation and reduce costs.

Centric Software is majority-owned by Dassault Systemes (Euronext Paris: #13065, DSY.PA), the world leader in 3D design software, 3D digital mock-up and PLM solutions.

Centric Software has received multiple industry awards and recognition, including being named by Red Herring to its Top 100 Global list in 2013, 2015 and 2016. Centric also received various excellence awards from Frost & Sullivan in 2012, 2016, 2018 and 2021.

Centric Software is a registered trademark of Centric Software Inc. All other brands and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

Media Contacts:

Centric Software



Americas: Jennifer Forsythe, jforsythe@centricsoftware.com

EMEA: Kristen Salaun-Batby, ksalaun-batby@centricsoftware.com

APAC: Lily Dong, lily.dong@centricsoftware.com
On October 19, an inter-state drug peddler, Vanapalli Naga Sai, was nabbed in a joint operation involving north zone task force and Afzalgunj police. They seized 40 kilos of marijuana from Sai, the main supplier of narcotics in the city. He was wanted in two cases under NDPS Act.  Representational image/DC

Hyderabad: The taken for granted subordinates in inter-state drug trade are stepping up efforts to push marijuana into Hyderabad city following the spiraling demand for banned substances ahead of new year celebrations. With the availability of ganja taking a big hit in the state because of intensified police crackdown, the contraband is reaching its consumers in newer ways, albeit at a premium.

Truck drivers and cleaners, who help transport huge consignments, are reportedly stealing small portions to make a fast buck. Two such cases were reported in the city and one person was nabbed by a north zone task force team recently.

On December 9, Nampally railway police arrested members of a gang, including a minor, involved in smuggling cannabis. Police seized 336 kgs of cannabis worth Rs 67 lakh from their possession.

Meanwhile, even as cops are training their guns on the main dealers, the second channel started operations via the transporters.

On October 19, an inter-state drug peddler, Vanapalli Naga Sai, was nabbed in a joint operation involving north zone task force and Afzalgunj police. They seized 40 kilos of marijuana from Sai, the main supplier of narcotics in the city. He was wanted in two cases under NDPS Act.

In another case reported in October, a marijuana consignment of 300 kilos headed for Maharashtra from Visakhapatnam district was intercepted and seized from two inter-state peddlers, Vilas Bhausaheb Dhokane and Dnyaneshwar Mohite.

Officials seized 10 bags of ganja which was concealed in an empty plastic tray surface in a goods carriage near Moosarambagh crossroads, where they were apprehended.

Meanwhile, it was revealed during an investigation that some drivers working for agents in Zaheerabad were stealing small quantities of the drug from trucks and began supplying them in Hyderabad. This was noticed by cops, who traced and nabbed one Hardik, a resident of Amberpet.
The session of the Tamil Nadu Assembly for the year 2022 will be held from January 5. (Photo: PTI/File)

Chennai: The session of the Tamil Nadu Assembly for the year 2022 will be held from January 5, an official notification of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly said on Monday.

The assembly session will witness a customary address of Governor R N Ravi, added the notification.

"In exercise of the powers conferred upon me by clause (1) of Article 174 of the Constitution of India, I R N Ravi, Governor of Tamil Nadu, hereby summon the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly to meet at 10.00 am on Wednesday, January 5, 2022, in the Assembly Chamber, Secretariat, Chennai," said the notification.
A health workers conducts thermal screening of a passenger at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International airport amid concern over 'Omicron' variant of coronavirus, in Ahmedabad (Photo: PTI/File)

New Delhi: Delhi's first patient of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, a 37-year-old man, has been discharged from the Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan (LNJP) hospital, officials said on Tuesday.

The man, a resident of Ranchi, had travelled from Tanzania to Doha and from there, to Delhi on a Qatar Airways flight on December 2. He stayed in Johannesburg in South Africa for a week and had mild symptoms.

The LNJP hospital has been designated for treating patients infected with the new Omicron variant of COVID-19.

A 35-year-old man with travel history to Zimbabwe and South Africa has also tested positive for Omicron, becoming the second patient in the national capital to get infected with the new variant of the coronavirus.
The Kerala High Court, during the hearing, said that in most countries when building roads they look to atleast 25 years in future and here the state was only being asked to look to minimum two years in the future. (PTI Photo)

Kochi: If the state government was going ahead with major projects, which cost hundreds and thousands of crores of rupees, then how can it claim lack of funds for widening a 14 kilometre stretch of road, the Kerala High Court asked the Left government on Tuesday.

Justice Devan Ramachandran said the state government's stand appeared to be that due to financial constraints it was going to make roads which were only as wide as pavements.

The court said if the state takes such a stand, tomorrow people will seek reduction in width of roads to save portions of their properties from being taken over for construction of roads.

The state government said that an additional Rs 150 crore would be required to construct the road in question -- from Nadukani to Parappanangadi -- with a width of 12-15 metres as was initially proposed by the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB).

The state said that now KIIFB has suggested a reduction in road width to 10 metres due to lack of funds.

"Tell me, are you still going ahead with the major projects? Are you still going ahead with the projects which cost hundreds and thousands times more than this? This is a small project by comparison," the judge said.

The court was hearing a plea in which it has been claimed that only a 14 km stretch of the project -- from Tirurangadi to Parappanagadi -- was being constructed with a reduced width citing financial constraints.

The petition has sought that the road width as initially proposed should be maintained for the entire project.

The state government claimed in the court that the plea was "politically motivated".

The court, during the hearing, said that in most countries when building roads they look to atleast 25 years in future and here the state was only being asked to look to minimum two years in the future.

The court said that when a road is constructed, the competent authorities must keep an eye on the future by taking into account the rapid increase in traffic and also the constraints of increasing population density.

Roads cannot be left as "relics of the past", it added.

The court further said that reduced width of roads could also lead to accidents.

It also said that if what the petitioner said -- that only a 14 km stretch of the road was being proposed to be constructed at a reduced width -- was true, then the court would not be willing to accept the government stand.

The court had earlier also said that roads should be constructed with an eye on the future and not as relics of the past.

It had also said that financial crunch cannot be a reason for the state government to reduce the width of a road.
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address farmers during the valedictory session of the National Summit on Agro and Food Processing on December 16 in Anand, Gujarat via video-conferencing, the PMO said on Tuesday.

The summit brings in focus on natural farming and farmers will be provided with all requisite information detailing its benefits, it said.

The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said the government has been driven by Modi's vision for farmers' welfare.

"It has been committed towards ensuring an increase in productivity so that farmers are able to maximise their agri-potential. The government has initiated several measures to transform agriculture and increase farmers' income," it said.

Efforts are underway to promote and support initiatives leading to sustainability of the system, cost reduction, market access and better value realization to farmers.

The PMO said "zero budget natural farming" is a promising tool to minimise the dependence of farmers on purchased inputs and reduces the cost of agriculture by relying on traditional field-based technologies which lead to improved soil health.

Desi cow, its dung and urine play an important role from which various inputs are made on the farm and provide necessary nutrients to soil.

Other traditional practices such as mulching the soil with biomass or keeping the soil covered with green cover round the year, even in the very low water availability situations, ensure sustained productivity even from the first year of adoption, it said.

To emphasise on such strategies and to deliver the message to farmers across the country, the Gujarat government is organising the National Summit on Agro and Food Processing, with focus on natural farming. The three-day summit is being organised from December 14 to 16.

It is being attended by over 5,000 farmers who will be present in the summit, in addition to the farmers connecting live through central institutes of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), Krishi Vigyan Kendras and ATMA (Agricultural Technology Management Agency) network in states.
Apart from the Novavax vaccine that it has already exported to countries such as Indonesia, SII also makes the AstraZeneca (AZN.L) and Sputnik shots. (Representational image: AP)

New Delhi: The Serum Institute of India (SII) plans to launch the Novavax (NVAX.O) COVID-19 vaccine for children in the country in six months, its CEO said on Tuesday, adding global vaccine supplies were outstripping the absorption capacity of many countries.

The Novavaxshot, which the world's largest producer of vaccines calls Covovax, has shown good results in trials in children aged three and older, Adar Poonawalla told a virtual conference organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry.

"Our vaccine will be launched in six months," he said. "It is under trial and has shown excellent data all the way down to the age group of 3."

Apart from the Novavax vaccine that it has already exported to countries such as Indonesia, SII also makes the AstraZeneca (AZN.L) and Sputnik shots.

SII's monthly output of the AstraZeneca vaccine has nearly quadrupled since April to 250 million doses, and it has announced plans to temporarily halve that production due to weak demand. read more

Poonawalla said current global vaccine supply was far bigger than what many countries could consume despite them inoculating only a fraction of their population, mainly due to infrastructure shortages. read more

"Globally, including in India, the supply has outmatched the demand," he said. "Certain countries have only vaccinated to the tune of 10% or 15% of the population, they really need to go to 60-70%."
Hyderabad: The rush of Allu Arjuns fans to catch a glimpse of the actor at two promotional events for his upcoming movie Pushpa, was such that Jubilee Hills and Madhapur police booked cases against event management companies Mythri media and Shreyas media.

Jubilee Hills police booked a case against Mythri media for causing inconvenience to the public by allowing more than 10,000 people to gather against the nod given for accommodating 5,000 people at the Pushpa pre-release event in special police battalion grounds at Yousufguda.

Inspector S. Rajashekar Reddy said that the presence of a massive crowd created traffic jams and caused inconvenience to the general public.

Following a complaint, cases were booked under Section 143, 341, 336 and 209 of the IPC.

Meanwhile, Madhapur police booked a case against Shreyas media and Mythri media for organising a photo-shoot with the films actors for 200 fans. The shoot was later cancelled as 2,000 individuals showed up at the convention centre, where the event was scheduled.
Kurnool Bar Association president Subbaiah said the laying of the foundation stone for a new court complex at Nelapadu is a clear indication that the High Court will not be shifted to Kurnool.  DC Image/C. Narayana Rao

KURNOOL: Even as the Chief Justice of the Andhra Pradesh High Court was laying a foundation stone for an additional block of courts in Amaravati, a consortium of 45 peoples organisations working for the cause of Rayalaseema held a one-day protest at Dharna Chowk in Vijayawada, demanding the relocation of the High Court to Kurnool.

Rayalaseema Saguneeti Sadhana Samithi (RSSS) president Bojja Dasarath Reddy, who led the protest, said the Rayalaseema region has been neglected by successive governments and the implementation of the Sri Bagh Pact was relegated to the dustbin. While welcoming AP Chief Ministers resolve to implement the Sri Bagh Pact which envisages the setting up of the High Court in Kurnool, Dasarath Reddy demanded the establishment of the Krishna River Board Management (KRMB) offices in Kurnool.

A large number of advocates, farmers associations, and environmentalists attended the meet.

Advocates, who attended the Dharma Deeksha, were miffed at the expansion of the High Court complex in Amaravati despite their demand for shifting the High Court to Kurnool.

Kurnool Bar Association president Subbaiah said the laying of the foundation stone for a new court complex at Nelapadu is a clear indication that the High Court will not be shifted to Kurnool. While the Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy himself backed the demand for the relocation of the High Court, we were surprised as to why he was not stopping the construction of new buildings. He said we will take up dharnas in front of the houses of district MLAs and two ministers.

Advocate Naga Lakshmi, who spoke at the protest site, said leaders and MLAs from the Rayalaseema region are not taking interest in the High Court issue. We will chalk out a plan of action to give a new lease of life to our demand, she reiterated.

Another advocate said at least N Chandrababu Naidu, former CM, agreed to establish a High Court bench in Kurnool. Now as things stand today, the shift of High Court appears a distant dream.
Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao called on his Tamil Nadu counterpart M.K. Stalin here at his residence for over half an hour on Tuesday. (Photo:DC)

CHENNAI: Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao called on his Tamil Nadu counterpart M.K. Stalin here at his residence for over half an hour on Tuesday. He was accompanied by his wife Shobha. Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) working president and minister K.T. Rama Rao, his wife and two children were also present on the occasion.

Chandrashekar Rao, along with his family members, was on a visit to the Sriranganathaswamy temple in Srirangam where the annual Vaikunta Ekadasi festival is going on.

Though the meeting was termed as a courtesy call by Rao, it is rumoured the two Chief Ministers are planning to fight against the BJP in the 2024 elections together and are taking steps to form a coalition government after the elections.

The meeting triggered speculations about the formation of a grand alliance ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections with the view to preventing the BJP from returning to power.

An attempt by Rao to garner support from the DMK to form a non-Congress and non-BJP government in New Delhi in 2019 was not reciprocated favourably by Stalin as his party had contested the elections as an ally of the Congress and he too had projected Rahul Gandhi as the prime ministerial candidate.

Earlier, in 2018, when Stalin was the working president of the DMK, Rao called on him at his residence in preparation for the 2019 elections. In that meeting over lunch, Rao and Stalin even called Trinamul Congress president Mamata Banerjee over phone and had a conversation with her.

But this time, the meeting assumes more significance since Rao is said to be more serious about bringing all political forces opposed to the BJP under one umbrella and putting up a united electoral fight against the BJP.

With just over two years left for the next Lok Sabha polls, many political leaders are getting ready to defeat the BJP by striking alliances with various regional parties across the country and forming a front at the national level and Rao is one of them.

Rao, who is reportedly feeling intimidated by the BJPs political foray in Telangana, which was considered as the fortress of his Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS), is now said to be more determined to bring every party under a single umbrella in what he perceives as a do or die battle. But it is not clear if he is still keen on keeping the Congress out of the alliance or not. Perhaps he does not mind joining hands with the Congress at the national level though at his home turf the TRS and Congress are opposed to each other.

Meanwhile, sources said the two Chief Ministers also had other things to discuss during the short meeting. Issues like linking of rivers the Godavari and the Cauvery and formulating a future strategy to demand more rights for states also figured in the meeting, they said.
New Delhi: After two days of smooth functioning, the Rajya Sabha was disrupted on Monday. The Zero Hour and the question hour were washed out as opposition members demanded that the suspension of twelve members be revoked. As the house began on Monday after the customary laying of papers and statements Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge alleged in the Rajya Sabha that by not considering revoking the suspension of the 12 MPs, the government is forcing the opposition to disrupt the House. He said, "The government is not considering its decision, and as you (chairman) is the custodian of the House, we request that the suspension be revoked. The adamant view of the government is to force the opposition to disrupt the House, so we decide to walk out." Chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu adjourned the House till 12 noon and said both sides should resolve the matter.

As the House convened for the question hour union Commerce Minister and the Leader of the House Piyush Goyal charged the suspended members for not showing any remorse. He even urged the opposition members to not create a ruckus as Monday was a pious day as Kashi Complex was being inaugurated. The opposition members stuck to their demand that the suspensions should be revoked. In the din, the Chair adjourned the proceedings of the house.

The Parliament has been witnessing protests since November 30, the second day of the Winter Session, as 12 members of Rajya Sabha were suspended the day prior by the chair for alleged unruly in the Monsoon Session in August, when marshals were called after Opposition members stormed the Well of the House.

The suspended MPs include Elamrajya sabhaaram Kareem (CPM), Phulo Devi Netam, Chhaya Verma, R Bora, Rajamani Patel, Syed Nasir Hussain and Akhilesh Prasad Singh of the Congress, Binoy Viswam of CPI, Dola Sen and Shanta Chhetri of Trinamool Congress, Priyanka Chaturvedi and Anil Desai of Shiv Sena. Since their suspension, they sit on a Dharna in front of the Gandhi statue in the parliament complex. Several opposition leaders also join them to show solidarity. They will march from Vijay Chowk to Parliament on Tuesday along with many opposition leaders
HYDERABAD: Nalgonda MP N. Uttam Kumar Reddy demanded that the BJP-led NDA government consider withdrawing privatising the four coal blocks in Telangana.

Speaking during the zero hour in the Lok Sabha on Monday, he condemned the Central governments move to privatise government companies and resources. Reddy said Telangana had four coal blocks including Kothagudem block, Sattupally block, Sravanavali block and Kalyanakhani block, adding that the Central government was trying to privatise all these four coal blocks in Telangana.

The employees have begun protests against the government stand on privatising Singareni coal blocks and disrupted regular activity. If the government is indulged in privatising four coal blocks in Telangana, it will badly impact the employees and workers, Reddy said.
Chakravarti Rajagopalachari (Born 9 Decem-ber 1878; Died 25 December 1972) was a man who is today more remembered for his elegant and simple rendering in English of the Mahabharata (1951) and Ramayana (1957). He also served as general secretary of the Congress Party in 1921, was elected as the premier of the Madras Presidency in 1937, governor of West Bengal (1947-48), succeeded Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel as home minister in December 1950, and once again became the chief minister of Madras in 1952. There were two sides to him. We remember him mostly for the negatives attributed to him, but his foresight went largely forgotten.

During his tenure as Madras premier in 1937 he made Hindi compulsory in all schools, a move that led to the first anti-Hindi agitation. This also established the anti-Brahmanism of the Justice Party and the Dravida Kazhagam (DK), the forerunner of the DMK and AIADMK. The governor, Lord Erskine, withdrew this unpopular law in 1940.

The long shadow of this was felt when it came to the adoption of an official language for the Indian Republic. Hindi was adopted as the official language of India with English continuing as an associate official language for a period of 15 years, after which Hindi would be the sole official language. Efforts by the Indian government to make Hindi the sole official language after 1965 were not acceptable to many non-Hindi Indian states, who wanted the continued use of English. To allay their fears, Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru enacted the Official Languages Act in 1963 to ensure the continuing use of English beyond 1965. It was only after this the DMK dropped its demand for separation. It was during Rajagopalacharis tenure as Union home minister that he first differed with Nehru.

While Nehru perceived the Hindu Mahasabha as the greatest threat to the nascent republic, Rajagopalachari held the opinion that the Communists posed the greatest danger. Their differences came to the fore and after being persistently overruled by Nehru on critical matters, Rajagopalachari submitted his resignation on the grounds of ill-health and returned to Madras.

As things would have it, the Congress Partys poor performance in the 1952 elections opened another opportunity for him. The Communists were in a position to form a government but Nehru played his Rajaji card and got Kamaraj to propose him for CM. The party cobbled together a majority. During this tenure he introduced two measures that made him hugely unpopular with the public and the party.

On June 7, 1952, Rajagopalachari ended the procurement policy and food rationing in the state, abolishing all price and quota controls. This was a rejection of a planned economy in favour of a free market economy.

In July 1953, he introduced a new education scheme known as the Modified Scheme of Elementary Education 1953, which reduced schooling for elementary school students from five hours to three hours per day and suggested that boys should learn the family crafts from their father and girls housekeeping from their mothers. It cemented his image as anti-poor, pro-Hindi, pro-Brahmin leader.

Yet the Congress government awarded him the Bharat Ratna in 1954.

The 70th session of the Indian National Congress held in February 1955 was an historic session as it charted a philosophical and economic course for India. The Avadi session represented the Congress distinct shift towards socialism. The Congress declared the socialist pattern of society to be its goal. The party resolution also stated that planning must take place with a view towards the establishment of such a society.

Rajaji differed from this, and he parted ways with the Congress. In his short essay Our Democracy, Rajagopalachari explained the necessity for a right-wing alternative to the Congress, saying: Since the Congress Party has swung to the Left, what is wanted is not an ultra or outer-Left [such as CPI or Praja Socialist Party], but a strong and articulate Right. He went on in 1957 to found the Swatantra Party with a ragtag bunch of Congress malcontents, former maharajas and openly pro-American lobbies. Nevertheless, he should be known today as the first one to sound the warning against a state-controlled and centrally planned economy, and naive notions of Fabian socialism.

The Swatantra Party stood opposed to government control over the private sector. Rajagopalachari sharply criticised the bureaucracy and coined the term licence-permit raj to the bureaucratic labyrinth that often involved approval by as many as 80 agencies, before a licence could be granted to produce; with the state deciding what to produce, how to produce and how much to produce using state prescribed sources of capital and often even the selling price. Profits leading to capital formation and investment were never a consideration.

The licence-permit raj, rather than creating a more equitable society, actually created a hugely corrupt and inefficient system that created oligarchies and huge inequalities, not just between people but also between regions.

Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao took the first steps to dismantle the licence-permit raj in 1991 when his government effectively dustbinned the Industrial Licensing Policy 1956 and ushered in what has generally come to be known as economic reforms. This is still a work in progress.

All major economies that have grown rapidly have a high level of fixed investment. Only 21 countries have achieved eight per cent growth a year sustained over a 20-year period since the Second World War. The first eight are Asian economies  China, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, North Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Hong Kong. Their systems varied, but they had one essential commonality. All of them had, during their periods of rapid growth, very high percentages of Gross Domestic Fixed Capital Formation in GDP, between 30-50 per cent.

Indias capital formation languished in the lower two-digit numbers for the first three decades after Independence. It began to increase from 17.9 per cent of GDP in 1991 to 22.7 per cent of GDP in 2000, and to peak at 37.6 per cent of GDP in 2008, due to the loosening of constricting state controls. Indias GDP growth kept pace with this and rose from 5.2 per cent in the decade 1980-90, to over 6.0 per cent during 1990-2000 and to 7.8 per cent during 2000-10.

If Rajajis rejection of Fabian socialist notions of economic and social development had been the policy in the late 1950s, it would have given India a head start in capital formation, industrialisation and faster economic growth. But better late than never.
In 2021, social media companies and platforms related to them were in public discussion across the country. Once again with appointment of Parag Aggrawal, an Indian-American as Twitters CEO the focus on this topic has revived. This time not just Indian but even international media is debating Parags appointment. Parag has replaced Jack Dorsey, the ex-CEO of Twitter. This is not the first time Dorsey has resigned, he had done this once before.

Why only Parag Agrawal?

Everyone knows that Facebook and Google are the largest social media companies in the world. On the other hand, Twitter is far behind in the race. Still there are 1.75 crore twitter users in India. If one looks at global figures, its clear that after America, Twitter has second highest user base in India. In this situation, it is well understood by Twitter that to plough such a big farm it will be beneficial to employee a native farmer.

At the same time, the other aspect is that Twitter now probably does not want to take any direct fight with the Indian government under any circumstances. Because of the ongoing stand-off with the government from last one year, there is an increasing negative sentiment towards Twitter amongst a large section of India. Keeping aside sentiments of common Indians, Twitter has given prominence to topics which can damage Indias image globally. Whether it was the case of toolkit in farmer protests or blocking accounts of Isckon for voicing about attacks on Hindu temples in Bangladesh. This infact, is considered by right wing nationalists as bias against Hindu community itself. All these issues have forced Indian users to wonder whether this is being done under the influence of a particular ideology. To a large extent, it can be said that an Indian face has been prominently put forward to deal with all these issues.

Where did the controversy begin?

Earlier this year i.e. in the month of February, the Ministry of Information Technology, Government of India implemented the IT Rules 2021. The main purpose of which was to make all the big tech companies like Twitter and Facebook more accountable. The government said that these companies will have to appoint a nodal officer, who will be responsible for ensuring compliance with these rules. Reasoning behind bringing these rules, the Government of India had said that these rules will make these companies more liable for the content published on their platforms. While the government called it an issue related to digital sovereignty, the companies argue that such steps violate fundamental rights of freedom of expression.

This isnt an issue exclusive to Indian government, big tech companies like Facebook and Twitter are caught in such controversies in many countries. Many countries are trying to regulated these platforms or rather we can say that the need for these rules has come to the fore today.

Expectation from the new CEO!

Recently, there was a petition filed in Supreme Court regarding anti-India tweets allegedly spreading violence and hatred on Twitter. The petition has sought a legal draft for the social media platform to examine the advertisements and paid content of hate and sedition available on Twitter.

Ideally the platforms themselves should have removed such content which promotes violent politics and treason. However, Twitter has not done much in this direction. There is no mechanism for curbing fake news. Still, Twitter's system has not proved to be effective in removing hate content. In view of these circumstances, Parag, who was made the CEO of Twitter, will now have the dual responsibility of handling and resolving the issues related to politics.

However, his past interviews suggested that he believes in the platform choosing what it's users should see, what is morally right and promotes healthy discourse. The question is what are the parameters for morally right and healthy discourse. Only time will show if Parags appointment will bring any transparency in Twitters policies or not.

Ankit Jain is a social media influencer. Known for his interests in politics and policy, his account @IndianTweeter is followed by over 135000 people on Twitter and his tweets have received millions of engagements on the social media platform.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. -- Michael Sweeney remembers plenty about Saratoga Race Course in the 1920s and 1930s.

The lifelong horse racing fan worked at the storied track as a water boy for three years in the 1920s. He was at the race course every day and got to know every horse in competition there.

But there was one horse the 88-year-old retired judge doesn't remember seeing or hearing about: Seabiscuit.

The horse, the subject of a popular book and movie, beat Triple Crown winner War Admiral in 1938, making him a hero to race fans across the country. At Saratoga in 1935 and 1936, though, he had a mostly forgettable record.

"His performance wasn't very good at all and he didn't win races," said Tom Gilcoyne, 87, a volunteer historian at the National Museum of Racing.

Gilcoyne traveled to New York City and Boston to see Seabiscuit, but never sought out the horse at Saratoga.

Few did.

"He was a very much overlooked horse in his Saratoga career," Gilcoyne said.

Charles S. Howard was lucky enough -- or had a sharp enough eye -- not to overlook the horse at Saratoga. Howard was at Saratoga in August 1936 to bid on yearling sales on behalf of Bing Crosby, and the small, homely horse caught his eye by winning a pair of races.

He bought the unproven horse for about $8,000.

Seabiscuit went on to become a success, and his popularity extended even to those who didn't know -- or care -- much about horse racing. The hoopla surrounding the match race with War Admiral is something Gilcoyne and Sweeney remember well.

"Everybody talked about it, everybody was interested and it became a very, very important race," Sweeney said. "(Samuel) Riddle, who owned War Admiral, was against the race and he said, `This horse is the nothing horse, Seabiscuit is from the West Coast and he's a nothing."'

The "nothing horse" won and became an instant celebrity.

By 2001, Seabiscuit was again in relative obscurity.

Knowing a book about the horse would soon be released, the staff at the National Museum of Racing, located across Union Avenue from the track, began preparing an exhibit.

Artifacts from the exhibit on display include the Howard family's scrapbook, a brace jockey Red Pollard fashioned for himself so he could ride again after an injury, and a program from the race with War Admiral.

Staff members and others bought other more obscure items -- a horse racing game and playing cards -- relatively cheaply. An orange crate from California bearing Seabiscuit's name and likeness was donated by a volunteer who found it in his basement.

"Five years ago, this stuff wasn't worth anything," curator Kate Cravens said.

But Laura Hillenbrand's book "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" changed that. Visitors to the museum suddenly wanted to see anything that had to do with Seabiscuit; an out-of-town book club held a meeting on the museum's lawn next to the Seabiscuit sculpture.

"Oh, Seabiscuit stuff!" Debbie Wein cried as she stepped into the gallery recently. "It's great to see the hands-on stuff after reading the book and seeing the movie."

Recently, an anonymous donor lent the museum the "lucky" kangaroo-hide saddle jockey George Woolf used in Seabiscuit's victory over War Admiral.

Saratoga is well-represented in the movie.

The race course, the Oklahoma training track across the street, the stables and the historic Canfield Casino in nearby Congress Park, are among locations used in the movie, said Linda Toohey of the Saratoga County Chamber of Congress. They were changed only slightly to match the period of the movie.

"When they have been restored or expanded, the structures and the buildings have been done with historical integrity," she said "So, short of taking some television monitors out, there was very little they had to do."

Toohey said there has been a "huge" interest in Seabiscuit related sites in Saratoga. And Sweeney said some of that interest may have to do with another underdog getting a lot of attention this summer-- New York-bred Funny Cide, winner of the Kentucky Derby and Preakness.

"Take Secretariat, he was the top horse from the start," he said. "But these horses weren't and they came on and beat the great horses. And just like anybody that starts out as nothing and comes up to the top, he's admired by everybody."
This blog covers software patent news and issues with a particular focus on wireless, mobile devices (smartphones, tablet computers, connected cars) as well as select antitrust matters surrounding those devices.
US President Joe Biden blindsided his EU partners after the teleconference with Russian President Vladimir Putin. He even met with EU leaders before to consult, but that is left to be seen.

The US president gave EU leaders a new curveball to deal with, and it seems Europe will not get it, and Moscow will have a reprieve. For NATO and the EU, it should not be happening to give the Kremlin quarter to maneuver.

Biden urges Putin to lessen tension

After stressing to the White House that Vladimir Putin's actions on all fronts in the Ukraine and Polish border have impacted the European Union with a gas crisis, after the virtual summit, the US leader affirmed Russia's rights to defend its borders, reported the Express UK.

Last December 7, the two heads of state talked about Russian presence on the South border shared with Ukraine. Urging the Russian leader to lessen tensions, but it seems Kiev's membership sought in NATO might be doomed. Putin pointed out that Ukraine membership is an issue he won't let go of.

The teleconference stated that Politico is the set up for the White House to by Friday have plans for more talks about what Russian is concerned about, not what concerns the alliance, noted Politico.

According to the source, the talks will explore how the eastern front and tensions can be lessened.

Read Also: Putin Deploys 700 Russian Sharp Shooters to Four Border Locations in Ukraine, Sparks WW3 Fears

As predicted by some experts, Washington begged off committing its forces to confront Russia with its allies. If Moscow decides to roll over the border, the US will leave NATO to its own devices.

Mr. Biden mentioned article 5 of the NATO charter and said it would do so for an ally, adding that Ukraine is not an extension. Essentially Putin won one round against the west in this exchange.

NATO members react to Ukraine's membership

The Eastern European NATO members weren't confident after that announcement, which heightened fears that EU security would suffer.

But the White House got in a consolation that the Kremlin head would be warned of the severest economic sanctions than in 2014. One source said that Ukraine was not the target.

An update to the teleconference from Washington remarked the concerns for those who supported Ukraine's membership in NATO.

Support for Ukraine's sovereignty and territory and the need for more diplomatic initiatives to lessen tensions in the region.

The pronouncement from the US says it will not support military action in support of Kyiv. Despite the tough-talking, Moscow has won a grievance and justified its actions.

A reference to the annexation of Crimea by Moscow that fell in 2014 was mentioned. Jake Sullivan, National Security adviser, said that the US would do things differently, cited BBC.

While in the conference, the Russian leader said the armed force was an option and answered Biden that it's all about defending Russian territory and security.

Putin said that if NATO membership were given to Kiev, military action against Russia would be a strong possibility. The Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called the conference a positive start for Eastside countries of NATO.It seemed that Joe Biden blindsided his EU partners to address Putin's concern, and the Kremlin knows the US will not fully support Ukraine is a victory.

Related Article: Expert Predicts Joe Biden's Failure To Stop a Ukraine Invasion As West Hesitates After Russian Weapon Demo

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Russia gave a dire warning to passenger planes to be on the watch for US spy planes making more transits that coincide with commercial air travel flight paths.

The Kremlin said the tensions over the Black Sea and Ukraine had made a turn for the worst as western planes are more reckless.

Too many planes outside of borders that don't acknowledge radio hail and unsafe flying practices is a ticking time bomb.

Allies are panicking over the border buildup

The west says that Russian President Vladimir Putin looming orders to see forces roll over the border added more overflights to monitor Russian forces. Intelligence is crucial to gain on drill close to the south Russia border with Ukraine, reported the Express UK.

Russia sent the recent detection of a US Air Force RC-135, American CL-600, and a French Mirage 2000 headlong to the borders. It's normal for NATO to send monitoring aircraft towards Russian borders, but it is not the same due to Kiev accusations.

The Russian Federal Air Transport Agency is more alarmed by the frequency of flights in the same airspace shared by commercial aviation in the Black Sea.

To stress the dangerous situation, the agency released a statement that NATO is conducting unsafe operations near Russian Federation territory. It's clear the allies are neglecting the safety of passenger jets, cited Brinkwire.

Military aircraft neglects to avoid the common flight paths of passenger planes that happen earlier.

The near collision incident

One report by the Russian Federal Air Transport Agency recalled the recent near collision that happened over the Black Sea due to one of the reckless US spy planes.

Read Also: Expert Predicts Joe Biden's Failure To Stop a Ukraine Invasion As West Hesitates After Russian Weapon Demo

On December 3, 2021, the incident occurred at precisely 9:53 AM over the Black Sea, which was covered by the morning's Russian air traffic services monitoring radar. A NATO CL-600 reconnaissance aircraft was lowering altitude from 9,200 meters that intersected a commercial flight path, noted Jaun News.

Operators were concerned that the US military plane had ignored directed at it. But, sent instructions to the passenger get for immediate course correction to avoid a collision.

Due to the reckless flight and not answering hails from control, the Russians will send a diplomatic protest that the NATO plane had ignored international rules and did not answer legal hails. The agency says it is not beneficial for the Black Sea region.

Russian Aeroflot civilian flight

Last Friday, a Russian Aeroflot civilian flight coming from Tel Aviv and lands at Moscow was nearly in the path of the US Artemis spy plane.

The flight crew of the civilian aircraft had to get urgent corrections from control fast to alter the current flight path that was intersecting the military plane. Course corrections by the Russian air traffic controllers are vital to safe flights over the Black Sea.

The Russian air agency is concerned over the activity of allied planes that requires more attention than usual; if lapsed will end in disaster.

A Malaysian Airlines Boeing 777 got shot down by a missile over eastern Ukraine. All 283 got killed with the 15 crew on board.

Russia is concerned about how much activity that US spy planes will incur; how it could impact civilian flight over these areas concerned.

Related Article: US Recon Plane Almost Collided With Civilian Airbus A330 Over Black Sea Due to Unsafe Operations

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In the early 1940s, the Nazi Germany made the strategic error of declaring war on the allies. The Pearl Harbor attack was successful after Japan steamrolled the US navy in Hawaii.

Adolf Hitler thought the attack was important to side with Imperial Japan which is the turning point that seal his fate by 1944.

One action will lead to utter defeat

In 1941, wartime Germany had two crucial actions which should have been avoided. It was this era that echoes change even up to now, reported the Daily Star.

On June 22, 1941, the German force rolled into Russia and fired the first shots of the war. Ironically, a treaty was signed with Russia earlier.

This is called Operation Barbarossa which was Hitler's opening salvo in Blitzkrieg War to conquer the Russians and a new country in eastern Europe. This turned out to be terrible blow to the German invasion, cited History.

He gave the order to annihilate all Soviet troops that became one of the worst war crimes that forgone the Geneva convention. It became a bitterly fought conflict that would take a toll on both armies.

White and red on the snow

The Soviets had a body count of twenty-six million people (non-combatants) and nine million soldiers as casualties. Nazi Germany was on a roll but the declaration of the war after the Pearl Harbor attack was a regretful move.

Read Also: Uranium Cubes That Are Suspected Component of Hitler's 1945 Nuclear Bomb Now Under Study

It was a cold war on the Eastern Front, that is seen in the push of President Vladimir Putin's trust in modern times, noted Mondial News.

Events were churning on the other side of the Atlantic as the Nazis were regretting the Russian Invasion. The support for Japan is bringing in the reluctant United States that led to a global war, and Hitler's bane.

Pacific Fleet obliterated by Imperial Japan

It was on December 7 when hordes of Japanese planes fell upon Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. These attacked all hardware to destroy one of the most powerful navies. At the end of the savage assault, about 2,403 were dead with 1,178 injured.

It was the start of the Great Pacific War between Japan and the United States.

The Allied powers were tight and the hardware going to the Pacific and the other end of the Atlantic showed close ties. Compared to the Axis powers, Germany, Japan, and Italy were weak and end badly for them.

A bad call for the Fuhrer when a direct assault on Japan would need intervention. The Nazi leader's actions brought the US to Europe's doorstep.

According to Historian Ian Kershaw, Hitler's declaration of war on the US was perplexing, mentioned History Extra.

Joachim von Ribbentrop, Nazi Minister of Foreign Affairs proceeded to the US embassy in Berlin. He told Leland B. Morris, America's top diplomat that its war, but the US had not considered Germany an adversary.

In World War II, it is the industrial and economic wars that doomed Berlin. The Fuhrer was ecstatic at the Pearl Harbor attack in Hawaii.

This sealed Nazi Germany's fate that led to the fall of Adolf Hitler and the rise of America and Russia as world powers until now. But the rise of China is the new Pacific power.

Related article: Vengeance Weapon Found? Nazi V-2 Superweapon Discovered Lying Underground for 77-years in Kent Field

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Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky is facing backlash over his course reversal regarding the federal disaster aid for his home state after previously opposing the aid for other regions that have struggled to recover from other disasters.

Over the weekend, various tornadoes rocked several Midwestern states, including Kentucky. The storms had destroyed the majority of towns and left as many as 70 people believed to have been killed in Western Kentucky.

Federal Disaster Aid

Sen. Paul shared a photo of the letter that he sent to the Biden administration where he was requesting "expeditious approval" of a request for federal disaster aid. The letter was a previous request made by Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear.

While these kinds of requests are common, wherein senators in states who are struggling with natural disasters, Paul is facing backlash because he previously opposed federal disaster relief for several affected regions throughout his Senate career, ABC News reported.

Sen. Paul's letter to United States President Joe Biden's administration wrote that the Republican was fully supporting the requests of the Governor of the Commonwealth. But in 2013, the Kentucky senator opposed a disaster relief measure meant for the Northeast after Superstorm Sandy's devastating events.

Read Also: Former Vice President Mike Pence's Cryptic Message Fuels 2024 Presidential Bid Rumors

At the time, the Kentucky senator said that he was willing to give the area $9 billion and work out on getting the money somewhere else. He said that he would have taken it from foreign aid, citing that he would have decided to reduce funds for Egypt or Pakistan in that year due to the dire need of the Northeast.

In 2017, Paul also voted against relief funds meant for victims of Hurricane Harvey, which devastated Louisiana and Texas. However, the Senate later voted against an amendment by the Kentucky senator that would have used previously allocated money for foreign aid to fund the Harvey relief efforts, CNN reported.

Opposition to Relief Efforts

Paul's efforts in 2017 also included the opposition of a $36.5 billion disaster aid bill that aimed to support victims of hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria and various wildfires in California. At the time, the Kentucky senator argued that some people claimed they had compassion for their fellow countrymen and were trying to use someone else's money.

In addition to opposing nearly every single federal disaster aid in the last ten years, Paul has also been opposed to coronavirus relief measures. This includes the first pandemic response act, which was passed in March 2020 with a majority of 96-1 vote, the only one to vote no.

Paul also opposed a 2020 bill that sought to support first responders that were still struggling from the effects of the Sep.9, 2011, terrorist attack. Earlier this year, the Kentucky senator blocked accelerated passage of the Gulf Coast Hurricane Aid Act that aimed to aid victims of various storms in Louisiana, leaving it still pending.

But despite his selective opposition to various spending efforts, he voted in favor of the 2017 tax cuts, which was one of the largest budget-busting measures in recent history. Yahoo Finance reported that it passed in the Senate without a single Republican voting in opposition or a single Democrat voting in favor.

Related Article: Rhode Island Gov. Announces New Mandates Effective Until Jan. 8 To Help Stop the Spread of COVID-19

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Former President Donald J. Trump's lawyer asked a federal appeals court on Monday to overturn a congressional subpoena seeking years of financial records from his accounting firm, arguing that the demand is too broad and could open the door for lawmakers to routinely harass and intimidate future presidents.

However, Douglas Letter, a lawyer representing the House of Representatives, requested the appeals court to sustain the subpoena, including lifting the restrictions imposed by a district court judge in August. He said that the subpoena was completely within Congress's power, especially because the House reissued it after Trump left office, The New York Times reported.

US appeals court hears Trump financial case

Those opposing viewpoints in the long-running case, which reached the Supreme Court in 2020 before being returned to lower courts to be heard again under a stricter legal standard, were on display on Monday during a nearly two-hour oral argument before a three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.

The judges' questions - Ketanji Brown Jackson, Judith W. Rogers, and Sri Srinivasan - offered no indication that they were inclined to overturn the subpoena. However, the judges spent a significant amount of time determining if there was a basis to reduce the scope of the subpoena, such as the lowering some of the years of papers sought by Congress; and if so, the question on where to draw the line still remains unknown.

Per The Hill, the Supreme Court overturned a string of lower-court victories for the committee last year, declaring that such interbranch legal issues over access to a president's personal information should be considered more carefully by courts.

Trump and the House committee have filed appeals against various aspects of Mehta's decision. Trump's attorneys argue that the subpoena is politically motivated and has no genuine legislative purpose and that enforcing it will disrupt the government's balance of powers.

Meanwhile, the committee is still looking for records that Mehta ruled which should be excluded from the scope of the subpoena, such as Trump's personal financial records from before he became president, arguing that they are needed to inform legislation that could help prevent conflicts of interest in the White House.

Read Also: Joe Manchin Signals Major Changes To Win His Support on Joe Biden's Build Back Better Bill; Senator Sounds Inflation Alarm

Appeals court questions scope of House request for Trump's financial records

On Monday, the appeals court panel looked unsure about how to weigh legislators' legislative need for the documents against the requirement for secrecy, if any, that a former president maintains after leaving office.

Allowing the House to demand financial documents from previous presidents and disclose them "to the whole world," according to Donald Trump's lawyer, would give Congress too much clout over the executive, upsetting the balance of power.

Trump and House Democrats both filed appeals in August, after a district court ordered the former president's accountants at Mazars USA to turn over some of his financial documents while protecting others from exposure. It's one of numerous high-stakes fights between Democrats and Trump, who is considering a presidential candidacy in 2024.

Appeals Court Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson questioned Trump's allegation that the House was only looking for leverage. The House claims to be investigating whether its procedure for assessing presidents' possible conflicts of interest needs to be improved. Lawmakers addressed the matter when the Trump Organization leased the Old Post Office federal facility in Washington, DC, and transformed it into a luxury hotel, as per Bloomberg.

Related Article: Donald Trump's Social Media Venture Held Under Scrutiny as US Financial Regulators Investigate Former President's New Deal

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A historic court ruling reveals how China has utilized espionage to achieve a military and economic advantage over the United States and the rest of the globe.

US counterintelligence authorities were successful in luring Yanjun Xu, a top Chinese intelligence officer, out of China in 2018 and obtaining his extradition to the US to stand trial for attempting to steal advanced military technology.

This is only the latest in a long line of Chinese espionage operations aimed at stealing industrial and military secrets from the United States, its allies and partners, and even Russia - thievery that has allowed China's military to swiftly build up its arsenals of modern weapons.

China continues to exploit US universities

On November 5, a federal jury found Xu, the deputy division director of the Sixth Bureau of the Jiangsu Province Ministry of State Security (MSS), the Chinese Communist Party's primary intelligence agency, guilty of "conspiring to and attempting to commit economic espionage and theft of trade secrets."

The Chinese intelligence official was orchestrating an attempt to acquire access to a General Electric Aviation composite aircraft engine fan, a piece of technology no other corporation has been able to reproduce, as per Business Insider.

A Chinese university professor invited David Zheng, a GE Aviation employee, in 2017 to make a lecture at the Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics. The attempt was made using LinkedIn, which has become a popular way for Chinese intelligence to discover international targets, including Americans.

According to the report, 34 US universities continue to collaborate with Confucius Institutes (CI), which are CCP-sponsored organizations that aim to foster educational and cultural linkages throughout the world.

Four American universities, including Stanford University, the University of California, Santa Barbara, the University of Utah, and Pacific Lutheran University in Washington, have open partnerships with Chinese universities that have been identified as allegedly supporting China's nuclear program.

The University of Utah will conclude its cooperation with the Confucius Institute in June 2023, when its contract expires, according to a spokesperson. "We haven't had any worries about the U's institution becoming a center for espionage or propaganda," he continued, Fox News reported.

Between 2018 and 2021, the number of institutions in the United States that allowed CI programs decreased as Congress approved laws prohibiting universities from receiving certain forms of Department of Defense (DOD) funding if they hosted CCP-sponsored institutes. Seventy-nine CI programs were closed as a result of the legislative change.

Read Also: UK Raises COVID-19 Alert Level to 4 Amid Rapid Increase of Omicron Variant Cases; Boris Johnson Unveils New Jab Plan

US universities continue collaborating with Chinese universities

CI programs are not unlawful, and universities who continue to collaborate with their "sister" programs can do so since they were not affected by the DOD budget cuts. However, the report's author, Craig Singleton, believes that further measures are needed to protect information that the United States does not consider sensitive.

According to the report, several universities have links to Chinese entities involved in nuclear weapons research. The University of California, Santa Barbara has maintained a cooperation with Shandong University, which works on China's nuclear weapons development, since 2014.

Congress has cut Defense Department research funding for institutions that house Confucius Institutes. According to the research, the law and increased scrutiny from legislators resulted in the closure of dozens of institutes, with the number falling from 113 to 34 since 2018.

However, of the 78 colleges that announced the closure of their Confucius Institutes, 28 have retained or extended their affiliations with Chinese sister universities, including those with ties to China's defense sector.

Purdue University closed its Confucius Institute in 2019 but maintained its academic collaboration with Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU). According to the article, the Chinese university has three defense laboratories, a collaborative military research agreement with the Chinese military's college of military science, and the dean and head professor of its school of information security formerly worked for the Chinese military.

However, 28 of the 78 institutions that announced the closure of their Confucius Institutes have kept or expanded their ties with Chinese sister universities, including some with ties to China's defense sector.

Per NBC News, Purdue University's Confucius Institute dissolved in 2019, however the university's academic relationship with Shanghai Jiao Tong University continued (SJTU). The Chinese institution has three defense laboratories, a joint military research agreement with the Chinese military's college of military science, and the dean and head professor of its school of information security formerly worked for the Chinese military.

Related Article: US-Japan Hold Military Drills Amid Escalating Tensions Against China, Russia; Tokyo Voices Support for Taiwan

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Six months after it was abolished, New York's mask law returns to interior settings. The mandate comes as officials are dealing with an increase in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations. Governor Kathy Hochul reinstated the law on Friday, stating that masks are necessary in all indoor public locations unless the companies or venues provide evidence of immunization.

Per Newsweek via MSN, violators might face criminal and civil consequences, such as a $1,000 fine. The requirement will be in place until January 15, with local counties in charge of implementation.

New York mask mandate now in effect

Republicans in several counties, including Putnam County Executive MaryEllen Odell, Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro, and Rockland County Executive Ed Day, have stated that they will not dedicate local health department resources to the mandate's implementation.

Hochul, on the other hand, stated on Monday that she wants and expects the mandate to be implemented by the majority of local health departments. She requested assistance from disgruntled county leaders who are demanding assistance from the state due to an increase in hospitalizations.

"It's a very simple temporary measure driven by our need to get things under control," Hochul explained. According to NBC New York, state COVID-19 hospitalizations have reached 3,600 for the first time since April 20.

COVID-19 admissions have increased by 92 percent in the previous month, and daily death counts surpassed 60 on Sunday for the first time in almost a year. It dropped down to the mid-40s on Monday. T he state claims that wearing masks can cut the chance of COVID-19 infection by up to 70%.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio stated that the mandate will be implemented in a "cooperative manner," with a focus on educating and collaborating with business owners.ources than enforcing a mask mandate. New York enacted a mask mandate at the beginning of the pandemic in April 2020 that ended in June 2021 for vaccinated individuals.

The Supreme Court rejected on Monday to overturn New York's vaccine mandate for health-care employees, which allows for medical exemptions but not religious concerns.

The judge dismissed a request for a temporary restraining order to prevent the rule from being enforced while cases were pending. The request was refused in a single statement with no explanation, as is customary when such a request is declined, NBC News reported.

Conservative Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Neil Gorsuch thought the court should have issued an injunction to prevent the requirement from going into effect. Exemptions for medical and religious reasons were offered in New York's announcement of the mandate in August. However, the state eventually altered legislation to remove religious exemptions.

Read Also: 7-Year-Old Boy, Three Others Among Dead in Milwaukee, Wisconsin Shooting; Gruesome Crime Discovered After Welfare Check

What NY's new mandate implies to New Jersey residents?

Going to New York City to enjoy the lights and sights is a holiday season ritual for many New Jersey families. But, before crossing the Hudson, New Jersey residents should be aware of New York's newest COVID-19 regulations.

On New Jersey Transit trains and buses, masks are compulsory. In addition, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has reintroduced the requirement for indoor masks. She has stated that it is up to the citizens to enforce the law.

Certain New York City establishments, like as pubs and restaurants, will also need documentation of a COVID-19 vaccine. The restrictions may be restrictive. But it isn't stopped some New Yorkers from celebrating the holidays, as per News12.

Related Article: New York State of Emergency: What To Know About Gov. Kathy Hochul's Declaration as Preventive Measure Against Omicron Variant

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Ghislaine Maxwell is expected to go on the offensive in her sex trafficking trial, aided by a lineup of 35 witnesses. According to court documents, the British socialite's defense might outnumber the prosecution case, which had 24 witnesses over the course of two weeks.

They included four women who accused the 59-year-old of sexually assaulting them as adolescents or "serving them up" to her pedophile associate Jeffrey Epstein. Maxwell's attorneys stunned onlookers by stating they anticipated to hear all 35 witnesses in two or three days before the defense arguments began on Thursday.

Jeffrey Epstein's "little black book" contains high-profile contacts

Per Daily Mail, some of the witnesses are coming from abroad, and three may refuse to testify unless the New York court keeps their names hidden. Because of the fast-paced nature of the defense case - with perhaps more than ten witnesses crammed into each court day - Maxwell will almost probably not testify.

If she did, she would be subjected to days of cross-examination about her lavish lifestyle with financier Epstein. Instead, the jury will most certainly hear from Maxwell's friends and even relatives.

Meanwhile, just a portion of Maxwell's "little black book," which contains contact information for thousands of people, including Prince Andrew, will be made public. The case involves only a few pages, and the prosecution agreed that the book can be used "for a restricted purpose," as per The Sun.

Maxwell, 59, denies six accusations related to the sex trafficking operation of late millionaire pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. Her trial in Manhattan is expected to resume on Thursday. It is alleged to include the names and addresses of around 2,000 world leaders, celebrities, and businesses, including Prince Andrew and former US Presidents Donald Trump and Bill Clinton.

The Duke of York has categorically rejected any involvement in sexual assault. Gawker, an online news outlet, released pages from the book in 2015, although many of the connections were redacted.

On Friday, the prosecution rested its case, accusing Maxwell of being a dangerous sexual predator. She denies obtaining schoolgirls for Epstein and herself to abuse. The alleged crimes occurred at his property in Palm Beach, Florida, called the "house of sin," as well as at other locations.

Miss Sternheim, her lawyer, told the jury that women have been blamed for men's faults. Her brother, Ian Maxwell, stated over the weekend that she feels Epstein, who died in a Manhattan jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial, was most likely killed. He also stated that his late father, millionaire publisher Robert Maxwell, was killed at sea, according to his sister. In 1991, his body was discovered off the coast of the Canary Islands.

The trial of Jeffrey Epstein's former lover and suspected pimp, Ghislaine Maxwell, has revealed an unexpected tidbit about the British socialite's personal life: she is supposedly married. For years, rumors swirled that Maxwell, who is accused of grooming and recruiting young girls for Epstein to sexually assault, was secretly married. She has disputed all of the accusations leveled against her.

Read Also: Prince Andrew To Miss Royal Family Christmas Tradition; Duke Spotted Looking Anxious as Ghislaine Maxwell Trial Continues

Who is Ghislaine Maxwell's rumored husband?

Scott Borgerson, 44, is a millionaire tech CEO and former US Coast Guard officer who is claimed to be "highly connected" to the former Trump administration. Details of their marriage were revealed last year when Maxwell informed court clerks she attempted to file for divorce to keep her spouse out of the proceedings.

The British socialite has kept her husband's name hidden, and Borgerson has denied dating Maxwell, stating that they are merely old acquaintances and that she is a "wonderful and loving" person who has had no involvement in Epstein's crimes. Maxwell, on the other hand, submitted court papers as part of a bail application in 2020, suggesting that she had put all of her assets into a trust that Borgerson controls. Friends of Maxwell who spoke to The New York Times on the condition of anonymity backed up rumors that the two were married.

Related Article: Ghislaine Maxwell Became Pregnant with Jeffrey Epstein's Lovechild? Accuser Claims She Saw Proof of Their Close Relationship

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Candle factory employees in Kentucky were allegedly threatened that they could lose their jobs if they were to leave their shifts early due to the nearing tornado in the area that has forced officials to sound sirens as warnings for residents.

As word of the coming storm continued to spread among employees, as many as 15 workers begged managers to allow them to go home and take shelter from the natural disaster. However, they said that their requests were simply denied.

Not Allowed To Go Home

When more and more people feared for their safety, some employees decided to leave their shifts early despite the possible repercussions. The Mayfield Consumer Products factory, which manufactures scented candles, reported at least eight people who have died.

The storm later hit the facility, leveling structures, leaving nothing but rubble, with photographs and videos showing the widespread devastation left by the storm. On Monday, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear reported that officials confirmed 74 people have died within the region, NBC News reported.

In an interview, Mayfield Consumer Products worker McKayla Emery, 21 years old, said that employees questioned whether they should go home or not. The staff member said that they heard with their own ears that they could be fired if they left their shifts early.

Another worker, Haley Conder, said that she heard managers tell the crew that they were not allowed to leave and that they should stay and continue their work. The employee said that the situation within the factory was bad and caused everyone inside to be uncomfortable.

Read Also: Joe Manchin Signals Major Changes To Win His Support on Joe Biden's Build Back Better Bill; Senator Sounds Inflation Alarm

Emery said that they heard a loud noise and the next thing they knew, they were stuck under a cement wall. The worker said they were unable to move and not strong enough to push anything, leaving them stuck under the rubble, the New York Post reported.

While some workers of Mayfield Consumer Products decided to leave despite the threats, the ones who chose to stay tried to take shelter in the bathrooms and inside hallways, bracing for the tornado. Even after the initial danger had passed, many workers continued to request the chance to go home and take shelter.

Denial of Allegations

The spokesperson for the company, Bob Ferguson, later denied the allegations of the employees in a statement, arguing that managers and team leaders had previously undergone a series of emergency drills. The exercises allegedly followed guidelines of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FMEA) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

"We've had a policy in place since COVID began. Employees can leave anytime they want to leave and they can come back the next day. Those protocols are in place and were followed," said Ferguson, The Hill reported.

The devastating storm also ravaged other areas and killed dozens of other people across Arkansas, Missouri, Tennessee, and Illinois. Some employees were also left trapped in an Amazon warehouse when it collapsed, causing the death of six people.

Mark Saxton, a 37-year-old forklift operator, said that he believed workers should have been able to leave the premises. He said that the first warning about the storm caused managers to get employees to gather in the hallway. However, after the initial warning, staff were told to go back to work and did not offer them the option to go home.



Related Article: Former Vice President Mike Pence's Cryptic Message Fuels 2024 Presidential Bid Rumors

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Another Capitol rioter will be sentenced on Friday, and he could face five years in prison because of his involvement in the demonstrations.

According to reports, Robert Scott Palmer was arrested in March after he was identified by one publication. Months after his arrest, he pleaded guilty to spraying officers with a fire extinguisher and then chucking it at the police line.

Eagle-eyed netizens didn't have a hard time identifying Palmer because he was wearing an American flag jacket with Donald Trump's name on it while at the riot.

US District Judge Tanya Chutkan, a former public defender who has sentenced other Jan 6 Capitol riot defendants, will also be the one to sentence Palmer on Friday.

Robert Scott Palmer's letter released

Palmer wrote a letter to Chutkan saying that he had now realized that Trump wasn't telling the truth when he alleged that there was election fraud last year. He also noted that those acting on Trump's behalf also lied to him and the other Republicans that flocked to the Capitol earlier this year.

"They kept spitting out the false narrative about a stolen election and how it was our duty to stand up to tyranny. Little did I realize that they were the tyrannical ones desperate to hold on to power at any cost even by creating the chaos they knew would happen with such rhetoric," Palmer wrote via the Huffington Post.

Palmer isn't the only Capitol rioter who realized that Trump lied to them.

Read Also: Chris Christie Blames Donald Trump for Jan 6 Capitol Riot, Says Insurrection Happened Because Ex-POTUS Refused To Concede

Two Capitol rioters realized Donald Trump lied to them

Danny Rodriguez previously lambasted himself for believing Trump's lies to the point that he drove a stun gun into the neck of one of the police officers at the riot.

During his interview with the FBI, Rodriguez said that he was convinced that demonstrating would save the country, but that's not what happened. Instead, some officers were killed or injured, and hundreds of demonstrators were sent to prison.

On the other hand, Trump is still free and able to spread more lies about the election and what happened during the Jan 6 Capitol riot.

Donald Trump continues to lie about the Capitol riot

He recently told Fox News that he wasn't involved in the demonstrations. He also denied the allegations that he encouraged Republicans to flock to the Capitol so that their voices could be heard, according to Rolling Stone.

But clips of the ex-POTUS from the Stop the Steal rally on Jan 5 show him urging his supporters to get what's rightfully theirs.

Trump's former chief of staff, Mark Meadows, could also be held in contempt due to his involvement in the riot and his refusal to cooperate in the ongoing investigations.

According to CNBC, Trump's son, Donald Trump Jr., sent a text message to Meadows urging him to instruct the ex-president to stop the invasion.

Select committee chair Bennie Thompson acknowledged Meadows' efforts to share thousands of documents with the investigating panel. However, he also said that when there are questions regarding the contents of the documents, Meadows should've been there to give them answers.

However, Meadows asked the House select committee to grant his executive privilege because the riot occurred while he was still working for Trump. Unfortunately, his request wasn't approved.

Related Article: Donald Trump Maintains Innocence Regarding Jan 6 Capitol Riot; Email Reveals Plans To Declare National Security Emergency

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Jim Bob Duggar hopes to get a Senate seat in Arkansas after Republican Sen. Lance Eads resigned.

According to reports, voters in northwest Arkansas have yet to decide who they will nominate for a seat in the Senate in a special primary election. According to US News, polls will be open from 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, December 14, 2021.

Jim Bob Duggar releases statement

In his statement announcing his candidacy, Duggar said that he would be an unwavering conservative voice representing the Little Rock community if he got elected. Duggar also mentioned his son, Josh Duggar, in his statement.

"As a father, I am heartbroken over the entire situation regarding my son, all who have been affected by it in any way, and those who have been harmed through CSAM. As an American, I respect our legal system and am thankful for those who serve in it. As a Christian, I put all my trust in Christ in both the joyful and difficult moments of life," he said via In Touch Weekly.

Jim Bob Duggar criticized for his political ambitions

However, some people criticized the "19 Kids and Counting" star for promoting his political aspirations even after his son was found guilty of receiving and possessing child pornography.

One person that read Duggar's statement urged the patriarch to stop talking. Another person called him a monster and said that he sits on a throne of lies.

Duggar's other critics also said that it's wrong timing for him to run for a seat in Senate after his son was convicted on multiple charges.

Read Also: Josh Duggar Controversy Timeline: From '19 Kids and Counting' Scandal to 2021 Arrest

'19 Kids and Counting' star slams cancel culture

But despite the criticisms that he received, Duggar said that he wouldn't back down in his campaign. He also fired back at the haters and accused them of engaging in cancel culture.

Duggar said that he and his family are committed to doing their part and making a difference for their children and grandchildren. He also said that America's most important battle is currently taking place, according to The Sun.

Josh Duggar, Jana Duggar faces charges

Earlier this month, an Arkansas jury convicted Josh of one count of receipt of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography. The former reality TV star is in custody while awaiting his sentencing.

According to E! News, Josh could face up to 40 years in prison. And he could be fined a total of $500,000 for the two charges he's facing.

Josh's siblings have mixed reactions to his conviction. Jinger Duggar and her husband, Jeremy Vuolo, sided with the victims and said they were saddened by what they had to go through because of Josh.

The couple also called Josh a hypocrite for claiming to be a Christian and engaging in such cruel acts. According to reports, Jinger and Vuolo are estranged from Duggar and his wife, Michelle.

On top of this, Jana Duggar was also charged with endangering the welfare of a minor and was cited with a misdemeanor following an incident that took place on September 9.

Related Article: Joe Biden Calls Recent Calamity 'One of the Largest Tornado Outbreaks' in America, Promises To Provide Necessary Supplies to Affected Families

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Spanish residents are struggling amid the volcanic eruption in the country's Canary Islands that has lasted for 85 days and shows no signs of stopping as it continues to become the island of La Palma's longest eruption on record on Sunday.

The volcano first started spewing lava on Sept. 19 and has since destroyed nearly 3,000 local buildings. The threat of the volcano has also forced authorities to urge residents near the area to abandon their homes in fear of their safety.

Long-Running Volcanic Eruption

The Cumbre Vieja volcano had several days of low-level activity until Sunday where it suddenly started to come back to life once again. At the time, the volcano started making loud explosions and blowing a vast cloud of ash high into the sky over the region.

Several scientists said that volcanic eruptions are unpredictable and Spanish experts initially anticipated that the La Palma eruption could last up to three months. The island's senior government official, Mariano Hernandez, has described the volcano as "stable" in the last few days, Komo News reported.

Recently, Spanish authorities have ordered more than 30,000 residents to shelter in their homes after the volcano spewed toxic fumes. The Canary Islands regional government ordered people in three municipalities to lockdown inside their homes after the discovery of high levels of sulfur dioxide in the air.

The government's warning said that residents should close their doors, windows, shutters, and prevent any outside air from coming indoors. Authorities added that people in the area should confine themselves, if possible, in the rooms that are located furthest inside their houses.

Read Also: Joe Manchin Signals Major Changes To Win His Support on Joe Biden's Build Back Better Bill; Senator Sounds Inflation Alarm

Additionally, local officials told residents to turn their air conditioning and heating systems off for the time being and seal off their doors and windows using tape. Authorities said that if people found themselves going outside, they should be aware that a car is not a safe place to shut themselves in and to locate the nearest building to take shelter in, The Hill reported.

Widespread Damage

The affected people numbered more than 30,000 across three municipalities equating to about 38% of the island's population, based on data from the national statistics institute INE. Authorities have also evacuated more than 7,000 residents from their homes since the start of the horrific volcanic eruption.

Despite the massive damage caused by the volcanic eruption across the region, authorities have not reported any casualties. Officials recorded this disaster as the longest eruption in history while also being the third to occur within the last century, the first two happening in 1949 and 1971 respectively, CBS News reported.

Hernandez said that he ordered experts to continue their measure of the number and magnitude of earthquakes in the area as well as the levels of sulfur dioxide in local areas. Officials recorded 24 tremors from Saturday to Sunday, none of which were felt by local residents.

The majority of the affected region that has been covered by rivers of lava and molten rock is farmland. Amid the catastrophic phenomenon, life has continued unhindered in most areas across La Palma.



Related Article: Former Vice President Mike Pence's Cryptic Message Fuels 2024 Presidential Bid Rumors

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The United Kingdom is the first to announce an Omicron-related death across the globe.

Earlier this week, Prime Minister Boris Johnson shared the devastating news during a press conference. He also said that the deadly virus has been affecting more and more Britons recently.

Omicron cases continue to increase in the UK

Johnson imposed stricter restrictions last week after health officials saw that the infection rates doubled every two to three days. But despite these restrictions, more people are still contracting the virus.

"Sadly at least one patient has now been confirmed to have died with Omicron. So, I think the idea that this is somehow a milder version of the virus - I think that's something we need to set (to) one side - and just recognize the sheer pace at which it accelerates through the population," Johnson said via Reuters.

Health Secretary Sajid Javid previously confirmed that 44 percent of COVID-19 cases in the United Kingdom are Omicron. And within the next 48 hours, Omicron will become the dominant strain in the country.

Javid also said that there are currently 4,713 confirmed cases of Omicron in the United Kingdom. But the number of daily infections is estimated at 200,000.

He also told reporters that Omicron has been spreading at a phenomenal rate, and it's something that they've never seen before.

Since Sunday, the country has been accelerating its rollout of booster jabs to help prevent the further spread of the deadly virus, according to CNN.

Read Also: United Kingdom Detects New COVID-19 Variant With 30 Mutations, Bans Flights From 6 South African Countries Where Virus Was Found

Britons encouraged to get booster shots this month

Johnson also said that a new target for the boosters is at the end of the month. The prime minister acknowledged that two doses of vaccine are not enough to protect the public from COVID-19. He added that scientists are confident that the third dose will help bring everyone's protection level back up.

According to The Indian Express, Johnson visited a vaccination center in London this week to congratulate those getting booster shots. He also handed out stickers before sharing the devastating news about one Briton dying from Omicron.

Boris Johnson faces backlash

But despite the prime minister's efforts to encourage the public to get vaccinated or get their boosters, Johnson's critics still haven't gotten over the fact that he didn't adhere to safety protocols last year.

A video of Johnson partying with a large group of people surfaced online earlier this month. But when he was asked to comment on his deed, Johnson refused to release a statement.

Instead, the prime minister encouraged the public to focus on the present-day and not on things that happened a year ago.

Johnson's senior staff members were also criticized for joking about their Christmas party and saying they didn't know how to explain the gathering to the public.

According to DW, one staff member already resigned following the backlash. Allegra Stratton, who was heard making jokes in the viral video, said she would resign as Johnson's adviser. She also apologized to those that she offended with her words.

Related Article: United Kingdom's Omicron Cases Reach 246; Travel Restrictions, Red List Countries Updated

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Authorities reported that three people died in an apparent double murder-suicide on Saturday and spanned across Baltimore City to Howard County. All victims were identified to be nurse anesthetists at area hospitals.

Police later identified the suspect, 44-year-old Rajaee Shareef Black, who fatally shot his ex-girlfriend, 41-year-old Tara Labang, inside a home in South Baltimore. The shooter then proceeded to travel to Columbia towards the home of his ex-wife, 42-year-old Wendy Natalie Black, while confessing the killing and planned attack on Facebook Live.

Chilling Facebook Live

During Rajaee's stream, he confessed to doing "something crazy" when he shot Labang in the head, saying it "felt like a dream." The suspect also revealed his plans of killing his ex-wife Black and himself afterward. Ascension Saint Agnes Hospital confirmed that Labang worked there as a certified registered nurse anesthetist on Monday afternoon.

"We are shocked and saddened by this news, and our thoughts and prayers are with Tara's family. Tara will be greatly missed in her community and by all of Ascension Saint Agnes," said a statement released by hospital spokesman Bradley Cardwell, Baltimore Sun reported.

Read Also: Joe Manchin Signals Major Changes To Win His Support on Joe Biden's Build Back Better Bill; Senator Sounds Inflation Alarm

On Sunday, Police Commissioner Michael S. Harrison told reporters that officers responded to a 911 call at the first home where they discovered the body of a female victim, later identified to be Labang, with gunshot wounds. Law enforcement personnel arrived at around 1:30 p.m. and found that the rear door was kicked in.

Harrison said that after officers and detectives had arrived at the first crime scene, they received information regarding the suspect that he was traveling to another jurisdiction out of the county to commit another crime and potentially suicide. The police commissioner said they confirmed Rajaee committed the second crime at Howard County.

Double Murder-Suicide

During his Facebook live video, the suspect said that he was thankful for everyone who had supported him and knew everything that had happened. In the chilling 90-second clip, Rajaee said he was struggling amid a custody battle and faced allegations of molesting his children by his ex-wife. Rajaee said the last three years he has been fighting were "real crazy," Too Fab reported.

Shortly before ending the Facebook live feed, Rajaee turned the camera to his ex-wife's front porch and showed him opening the door and going inside. He could also be heard saying "today's the day" before ending the recording.

Afterward, police officers discovered the bodies of the suspect and the second victim inside the home. They also found the children of the two individuals safely inside the suspect's grey SUV parked outside of the house.

Authorities did not reveal how old the children of the suspect and victim were and said they believe Rajaee put them inside the vehicle before killing his ex-wife. The suspect revealed that he was fired earlier this year, arguing that the University of Maryland Medical System unfairly terminated his career after he blew the whistle on a doctor who stashed drugs inside his locker. Rajaee claimed that after the incident, no one wanted to work with him and had no choice but to "risk his life" and work as a frontline medical professional amid the coronavirus pandemic, Daily Mail reported.

Related Article: Former Vice President Mike Pence's Cryptic Message Fuels 2024 Presidential Bid Rumors

@ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Elon Musk proves he is the hands-down "Dogefather" in his latest push for the meme cryptocurrency.

The Tesla and SpaceX CEO emphasized that Dogecoin has a distinct advantage over other digital tokens, including Bitcoin. That is, DOGE is better than other cryptocurrencies for use in mainstream transactions.

After being named TIME's 2021 Person of the Year, Musk told TIME Magazine that Bitcoin is "not a good substitute for transactional currency." He further pointed out that while Dogecoin was first conceptualized as a "silly joke," it is "better suited for transactions."

Dogecoin Price Prediction: DOGE Encourages People to Spend, Not Hoard as Store of Value

Musk explained his assertion, saying that the "transaction volume of Bitcoin is low," while "the cost per transaction is high." The billionaire mogul added that Bitcoin is better suited as a "store of value," which is the reason why investors retain their holdings and not sell them--much less use them for transactions.

In contrast, Musk said Dogecoin is a token that "encourages people to spend" and not hoard it as a store of value.

Despite Musk's continued show of support for Dogecoin, DOGE traded lower on Monday, dropping 6.21 percent to $0.158461, as per CoinDesk's real-time tracker. Bulls, however, are expected to shore up Dogecoin prices by the next few months, possibly hitting $0.30 early next year or a 100 percent increase.

Read Also: TIME Magazine's Person of the Year 2021: Elon Musk's Impact on Space, Earth, and Metaverse

In challenging this point of view, Bitcoin advocates insist that aside from being a store of value, the world's largest cryptocurrency is also destined as a peer-to-peer financial system, thereby usable in financial transactions, CNBC reported. They assert that even El Salvador has used Bitcoin as legal tender.

While he has always been bullish on cryptocurrencies, Musk hesitated on stating that digital tokens will ever replace fiat currencies, such as the U.S. dollar. He said he is "not a huge hater of fiat currencies" like most participants in the crypto space.

Musk, however, noted that crypto has advantages relative to fiat, which he said gets diluted by the government that issues it. He said it "ends up being a pernicious tax on people," particularly those people having cash savings "with dilution of the money supply."

For financial experts, on the other hand, cryptocurrencies are volatile, risky and speculative assets. A common advice to cryptocurrency investors is to merely invest on these digital tokens what they can afford to lose.

TIME Magazine Recognizes Elon Musk As "Richest Example" of Massive Societal Shift

TIME chose Musk as its 2021 Person of the Year not only because he has emerged as the world's richest, but also being "the richest example of a massive shift in our society."

Indeed, 2021 has been tremendous for Musk, who had in recent months became the world's wealthiest due to the skyrocketing stock price of Tesla, which sprung up after car rental company Hertz ordered 100,000 Tesla Model 3 cars for its fleet. As CEO of SpaceX, Musk pioneered space tourism, sending a crew of only plain tourists and not professional astronauts to orbit the Earth.

TIME editor-in-chief Edward Felsenthal said Musk has had incredible influence on "life on Earth, and potentially life off Earth, too." He added, however, that his "persona" was a "blunt instrument" that would "revel in division and aggressive mockery," which is evident in his passionate use of Twitter.

Related Article: Stressed Out? Elon Musk Thinking of 'Quitting Jobs,' Becoming an Influencer
Many on the internet probably recognize Elon Musk as one of the richest men on Earth. However, not all of them know that Musk is a talented entrepreneur who specializes in risky investments. Ironically, his unconventional business plans earned him over $250 billion and the recognition as TIME Person of the Year.

When talking about Musk, the titles "CEO of Tesla" or "CEO of SpaceX" usually follow the train of thought. However, more recently, he also gained the honor of being TIME magazine's "2021 Person of the Year," being one of the most successful businessmen in the industry.



Elon Musk Net Worth After TIME Person of the Year Award 2021

Forbes gave out a quick highlight of why Musk was selected for the honor. Experts pointed out that Musk is revolutionizing transportation on both Earth and space, thanks to his electric car company (Tesla) and space rocket manufacturer company (SpaceX). Note that these are only some of Musk's contributions to the current age of technology.

Musk is also the founder and major investor of PayPal, The Boring Company, SolarCity, OpenAI and Neuralink. These all contributed to his massive fortune.

Read Also: Elizabeth Holmes Net Worth 2021: Theranos Founder Falls to 0 After Reaching More Than $4.5 Billion

Elon Musk Net Worth 2021: Did it Increase?

According to TIME, Musk earned his money a bit differently compared to other famous billionaires. They noticed that Musk had several radical ideas. However, "there was a method to his madness." Musk notably took a risk with each project by putting his finances at stake in each new business model. In the end, some of those bets made Musk the richest private citizen on the planet up to date.

After dropping out of grad school, Musk and his brother Kimbal founded the online business directory called Zip2. It was later sold to Compaq in 1999, where Musk netted at least $22 million.

Later he invested the money in an online banking startup called X.com. After meeting with Peter Thiel, the co-founder of a payment startup called Confinity, they combined their efforts together and eventually formed the online platform PayPal. When it sold to eBay for $1.5 billion in 2002, Musk netted a $180 million fortune.

Not one to take a break, Musk invested the money to his aerospace company SpaceX in 2002. He also allocated a portion of it to the electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla. Both companies nearly ended bankrupt in their starting years. However, Musk never gave up. Eventually, his investments started to pay off. Up to date, SpaceX is currently valued somewhere at $100 billion, while Tesla and its dominance in the industry is estimated at $1.02 trillion.

TIME also posted a photo comparing Musk's earnings in 2020 to this year. Back then, Musk had earned a respectable $25 billion net worth. However, the number is more than doubled, because Musk's current earnings are estimated at $266 billion.

At the time of writing, Forbes listed Musk at exactly $253.8 billion with a 4.39 percent downward growth. Nonetheless, it still made Musk the richest man on Earth in the real-time billionaires' list.

Related Article: Mark Cuban Anticipates New Crypto Apps in 2022, Eyeing More Smart Contracts Including Monetized Carbon Offsets
Salvador Dali's "Napoleon's Nose, Transformed into a Pregnant Woman, Strolling His Shadow with Melancholia amongst Original Ruins" (1945) / Courtesy of Salvador Dali, Fundacio Gala-Salvador Dali, SACK, 2021



By Park Han-sol





Artist Salvador Dali / Courtesy of Robert Whitaker, Fundacio Gala-Salvador Dali, Figueres, 2021

A string of memorable modifiers always seems to follow Salvador Dali (1904-89). Known as a Surrealist icon who defined the 20th century, he was the eccentric genius behind his dreamlike, often downright nonsensical, landscapes, featuring optical illusions, melting clocks and elephants with spindly legs.



But while Dali's Surrealist works from the 1920s and '30s conjured up some of his most imaginative explorations into the subconscious, in the end, they shed light on just a single chapter of his life.



This is where "Salvador Dali: Imagination & Reality"  the largest retrospective of the artist to date in Korea  comes in.



Hosted at Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) in central Seoul in partnership with the Gala-Salvador Dali Foundation, a cultural institution founded by Dali himself to promote his oeuvre, the show brings in over 140 pieces  from oil paintings and illustrations to installations  spanning seven decades of his versatile artistic career.



The collection itself comes from the two museums dedicated to the artist  the Dali Theatre-Museum in Spain and Salvador Dali Museum in the United States  as well as the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia in Madrid.



From early on, Dali, who was born into an elite family in the town of Figueres, Spain, was able to develop a tremendous level of intellectual self-confidence and creative talent, according to Juan Manuel Sevillano Campalans, the managing director of the Gala-Salvador Dali Foundation.



"He felt safe enough to explore classicism, philosophy, science, different styles of painting  which creates a tremendously eclectic creator," he told The Korea Times.



"He's exploring all the time. While he's exploring ideologies, he's also exploring the power of mass media. That cooks a personality that becomes probably one of the most powerful driving forces of 20th century art."



Carme Ruiz Gonzalez, the foundation's senior curator, added that the exhibition shows "this evolution of an artist  a mixture of his knowledge in each field."



The show accordingly begins with Dali's early forays into Impressionism, the Renaissance masters and Cubism, until his fateful encounter with Sigmund Freud's "The Interpretation of Dreams" (1899).



Finding dreams and the subconscious to be the key to his visual language, he joined the Surrealist Group in 1929. His recurring motifs from this period  including ants, crutches, melting clocks, Cypress trees and two peasants from Jean-Francois Millet's "The Angelus"  gave birth to notable works like the 1933 painting, "Sugar Sphinx," and the 1929 short film, "Un Chien Andalou," co-directed with Luis Bunuel.



His fascination with the two farmers from Millet's painting is quite noteworthy. This representative work of religious devotion and spiritual peace, in fact, haunted the artist for years. Beneath surface serenity, it hid messages of distress and sexual repression, he insisted.









"This painting produced in me an obscure anguish, so poignant that the memory of those two motionless silhouettes pursued me for several years with the constant uneasiness provoked by their continual and ambiguous presence," he later wrote in his autobiography, "The Secret Life of Salvador Dali."





Dali's "Bust of Voltaire" (1941) / Courtesy of Salvador Dali, Fundacio Gala-Salvador Dali, SACK, 2021



Beyond the popular automatist practice adopted by the Surrealists  or the performance of actions free from conscious thought  he began developing his own techniques to portray dreamlike and delirious states through what he called, "the paranoiac-critical method."



Adopting optical illusions like the double image, he painted multiple layers of images that are perceived differently depending on the viewer's relative position to the canvas. "Bust of Voltaire" (1941), which simultaneously depicts a slave market and the face of French writer Voltaire, is one example.



While his Surrealist achievements and techniques are the most widely studied parts of Dali's work, the exhibition goes on to show his continuous artistic search for different styles, media, genres and subjects to further visualize his fascination with the modern world.



After the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, in 1945, his interest in science and technological developments grew, with him eventually combining the field of physics and science with classical and religious mysticism, hence his "Nuclear Mysticism."





Dali's "The Warrior or 'Los Embozados'" (1982) / Courtesy of Salvador Dali, Fundacio Gala-Salvador Dali, SACK, 2021



One of the lesser known aspects of the artist's life was his later return to classicism, influenced by Renaissance masters such as Velazquez, Raphael and Michelangelo. On view is his 1982 painting of "The Warrior or 'Los Embozados,'" in homage to the Tomb of Lorenzo de' Medici, borne from the hands of Michelangelo.



But at the same time, he wasn't afraid to "assess" the skills of these masters himself, daringly grading them in his own chart in terms of composition, originality and expression. He awarded excellent points to himself, along with Leonardo da Vinci, Velazquez and Raphael  a reflection of his flamboyant personality  while giving failing grades to figures like Manet and Mondrian.



The artist also dabbled freely in commercial fields like film, theater and fashion, erasing the strict boundary between art and commerce to build himself as a brand  a territory that still hadn't been traversed well at the time.



He collaborated with film director Alfred Hitchcock for the peculiar dream sequence in the 1945 psychological thriller, "Spellbound," as well as with Walt Disney for the posthumously released short animated film, "Destino" (2003).



"He not only used mass media as a canvas to create, but he understood that it is a tool he needs to master to build his brand and his public image," Sevillano said. "'Dali' is a brand. He's a name that fills up museums 30 years after his death  that people want to own, possess and investigate. He built that. And he knew he was doing that until the day he died."





Recreation of Dali's "Mae West Room" / Courtesy of Salvador Dali, Fundacio Gala-Salvador Dali, SACK, 2021
Quarantine officials check the travelers at Incheon International Airport, Dec. 9. Yonhap



South Korea has extended its special advisory against overseas travel for another month due to the global spread of the new Omicron variant of COVID-19, the foreign ministry said Tuesday.



In the advisory, the ministry recommended citizens to cancel or postpone non-essential trips abroad until Jan. 13, while asking those overseas to take measures to prevent exposure to the virus, such as refraining from going to large-scale events.






President Moon Jae-in, left, and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison attend a signing ceremony at Parliament House in Canberra, Dec. 13. AP-Yonhap



President Moon Jae-in and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison pledged to enhance cooperation in security and pandemic response during their summit in Canberra this week, a joint statement showed Tuesday.



During their summit on Monday, the two leaders also agreed to upgrade the bilateral relationship to a comprehensive strategic partnership on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of formal diplomatic relations this year.



The statement notes the comprehensive strategic partnership will be underpinned by cooperation under three pillars  strategic and security; economic, innovation and technology; and people-to-people exchange.



In the strategic and security realm, Moon and Morrison "agreed to extend bilateral cooperation across security and defense, cyber and critical technologies, health, border protection, and development cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region," the text reads.



The security of both countries "is tied to the stability, openness, and prosperity of the Indo-Pacific and a rules-based international order that protects the rights and sovereignty of states regardless of size or power," it says.



The two countries also recognize the response to the COVID-19 pandemic is a global health and economic challenge for the Indo-Pacific, according to the statement.






Romain poses with his camera and makeshift tripod on the slope of Mount Samseong, in the spot where he has been making his "Pines on cliff" photo series. / Courtesy of Romain



By Jon Dunbar



French photographer Romain found inspiration high up the slope of Mount Samseong, a 481-meter mountain standing in southwestern Seoul and Anyang, Gyeonggi Province. His muse? Two pine trees growing out of a rocky cliff, viewable from a vantage point about 20 meters off a not very well traveled path.



They're the subject of his "Pines on cliff" photo exhibition, now being held at Donum Solis Winehouse near Hoegi Station in northeastern Seoul until Jan. 30.





Five images from Romain's "Pines on cliff" photo series / Courtesy of Romain



The project started back in June 2020. "I was in Mount Samseong during a heavy summer rain, looking for compositions," Romain, who had previously made a name for himself photographing cityscapes from high-up rooftops, told The Korea Times. "I was stepping off the trail every opportunity I got hoping to find gold. I found myself on a super windy ridge when I spotted two pines sticking out of an opposite ridge. I decided to try and find them. It took me a couple of hours to reach that other ridge. I searched for an extra hour without success when I saw a big rock down under thick trees and bushes. I crossed the off-trail dense vegetation to reach it and that's when I first saw my pines. I still remember so vividly that moment: I knew I had found the composition that would change my life."



As he left, he noted the way back to this elusive spot, intending to return for a sunset shot some other time. He returned, but then he kept coming back, trying to photograph the two trees in all seasons and weather conditions.



"I kept coming back for basically almost two years to try to see them in all circumstances," he said. "I fell in love with them."



To shoot them, he uses a mirrorless, full-frame Nikon Z 6 camera. In order to obtain a high enough vantage point, he places it on a tall light stand with a tripod ball head mounted on top.





Romain's mirrorless, full-frame Nikon Z 6 camera is seen atop a tripod overlooking the two trees on a cliff on Mount Samseong in Anyang, Gyeonggi Province, for his "Pines on cliff" photo series. / Courtesy of Romain



He estimates he's been up to see the trees about 50 times. "It's hard to put a number on it but 50 seems in the correct range," he said. "To the summit maybe 5 times only. Just hiking in Mount Samseong I'd say a little less than 100 times. I also like the north part of Mount Samseongsan called Hoamsan  there is an amazing cliff there!"



While ascending to take his "in the clouds" shot on a rainy day, he almost lost his shoe on a fairly steep rocky patch. "I had to run after it barefoot back down the rocky patch for a few seconds but I got it back," he said.



And when he reached his vantage spot for viewing the trees, the mountain was shrouded in a low cloud cover. He waited, shivering and wet, for an hour and a half to be rewarded with only about 10 to 15 seconds during which it was clear enough for him to take his shot.



He's also encountered dogs, one time running into a pack of four wild dogs that kept trying to escape him by running ahead for half the trail. "I was quite scared at first, but after a while, I wished I had brought some food to give them  they looked really thin," he said. "Another time a dog from a nearby temple followed me around, always at a distance, and startled a pheasant, which made me jump even more because it started flying towards me before adapting its escape route!"



He said his favorite season for hiking Korean mountains is autumn, which should come as no surprise, but his favorite weather condition to go hiking is during snowfall. "I cannot help but love the peace and quietness I experience while being in a snow cloud," he said. "It is the snowfall version [of my pictures] that I turn to in times of stress to calm down."



At Donum Solis, visitors can see six of his one-meter-tall prints, depicting the trees in all four seasons, including under snow and fog and with lichens on the rocks. The pictures are vertical like portraits rather than horizontal, as is typical with landscape photography, which helps emphasize what Romain refers to as "nature portraits," with his intimate take on the trees having more in common with portraiture than purely landscape photography.





Romain's "Pines on cliff" photo exhibition is ongoing at Donum Solis Winehouse in northeastern Seoul. / Courtesy of Romain




An appeals court has raised the prison sentence to 12 years for a former civil servant convicted of raping a co-worker and using a video of the crime to blackmail her into having sex with him against her will for 20 months, officials said Tuesday.







The 27-year-old had been sentenced to nine years in prison, but the Gwangju High Court upped the sentence by three years, saying he "maliciously made the victim suffer to fulfill his sadistic and perverted sexual desires."







According to court records, the man lured the married co-worker to his house and raped her in August 2019. He was found to have recorded the incident and blackmailed her to film more nude photos and sex videos with him on 29 occasions for about 20 months since then.







He threatened to share the materials with the victim's husband and family whenever she rejected to meet him and blackmailed her into having sex with him. He even forced her to sign a "sexual slavery pledge" stipulating what she needs to do during sex.







Under extreme mental distress, the victim reportedly attempted to take her own life.







"The court is sincerely worried whether the victim will be able to live a proper life with her mind and body severely damaged (in the crime)," the court said. (Yonhap)


The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency identified the suspect as 25-year-old Lee Seok-joon and disclosed a photo of his face and other personal information following a police committee's decision in the afternoon.





Lee was only arrested Friday after allegedly killing his former girlfriend's mother and seriously injuring her younger brother at their home in southern Seoul.





The alleged murder was the latest in a series of recent violent crimes that have shaken the country while also revealing loopholes in adequate police response.





In late November, police drew fire for their bungled responses in connection with the death of a stalking victim under police protection and an alleged dereliction of duty by two Incheon officers accused of failing to properly handle a knife attack.







(Yonhap)






In this screenshot from a video on the YouTube channel of Josh, "the Korean Englishman," a British high school student tries to solve a question from the English part of Korea's College Scholastic Ability Test.



By Yoon Ja-young



An education expert who previously administered the country's annual college entrance exam said that that test should be scrapped, as it now only has excessively tricky questions that go beyond what's taught in high school classes.






Yoon Suk-yeol, the presidential candidate of main opposition People Power Party, and his wife Kim Keon-hee / Yonhap



The wife of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP)'s presidential candidate, Yoon Suk-yeol, refuted allegations that she falsified her resume to land a teaching post at a college during a media interview aired Tuesday.



Cable news channel YTN reported Kim Keon-hee presented false or exaggerated career achievements in a CV submitted to apply for a teaching job at Suwon Women's University in 2007.



They included false claims that she had the top award from the Seoul International Cartoon & Animation Festival in 2004 and served as an executive at the Korea Association of Game Industry for three years since 2002, according to the report.



Kim eventually earned the position and worked for a year.



Kim ambiguously sidestepped the allegations, saying they were the result of her "greed to stand out." "If that can be called a crime, that will be a crime," she said.



Kim refuted the falsification allegation over her claimed job experience at the association.



"What is the matter when I did not use the award record for admission to a school," she said, adding that "should I be subject to this kind of scrutiny" for things done before marriage with Yoon.



Yoon's election camp also rebutted the report in a press release, saying Kim mistook the years of her term at the association, but the job experience is real.



"YTN categorically reported (Kim's CV descriptions) as fabricated job experiences and false award records, but that is different from the truth," a camp spokesperson said.



Appearing on a radio program, PPP Chairman Lee Jun-seok came to the defense of Kim.



"It should be considered that the affairs took place well before the marriage of the candidate and his spouse," Lee said.



"There can be a degree of possibilities of criticism if a presidential candidate as a public official fails to stop his wife's misdeeds after their marriage, but it would be too excessive to blame the candidate for things that happened before his marriage," he noted.



In an event with senior journalists later in the day, Yoon again disputed the allegations, noting, "I am not sure in terms of details, but overall they are not false career achievements."



He also refuted plagiarism allegations raised over his wife's doctoral thesis with Kookmin University.



"Dealing with digital 3D technology and related experiments, the thesis is not something writable by copying another thesis," Yoon said, adding his wife may return the thesis if it is found to be plagiarized. (Yonhap)






President Moon Jae-in met with Australian business leaders on Tuesday and called for greater cooperation in securing stable supply chains.







The meeting was held in Sydney as part of the president's ongoing four-day state visit to the country and brought together people from Australia's critical minerals industry.







"If South Korea and Australia trust each other and firmly hold hands, we will contribute greatly to stabilizing supply chains and accelerating carbon neutrality," Moon said.







Moon noted that Australia is critical in the global supply chain as the sixth most resource-rich nation in the world, while South Korea is another pillar in the chain as a competitive manufacturer of secondary batteries and electric vehicle semiconductors.







The president added that South Korea is the third-biggest importer of Australian minerals, while South Korea imports half of its minerals from Australia.







Simon Crean, chair of the Australia-Korea Business Council, said the council's members are encouraged by the two countries' cooperation and hope to become South Korea's chosen partner in overcoming common challenges in supply chains.







Earlier Tuesday, Moon met with Australia's opposition leader Anthony Albanese and asked for the country's continued support for Seoul's efforts to bring lasting peace to the Korean Peninsula.







Moon mentioned that he and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison agreed the previous day to elevate the bilateral relationship to a comprehensive strategic partnership and expressed hope for strengthened cooperation in future high-tech industries, among other areas.







He also asked that Albanese's Australian Labor Party take an interest in and support the Korean community's settlement and growth in the country.







Welcoming Moon, Albanese pledged to actively cooperate to further develop the two countries' relations based on their shared values of democracy and a market economy.







He conveyed Australia's respect for Seoul's efforts until now to foster peace on the Korean Peninsula and expressed his enthusiastic support for the campaign for denuclearization and peace. (Yonhap)


By William R. Jones





The recent Korea Times article "'No Professor Zone' bar in Busan instigates debate on discrimination" exposes the hubristic nature of many professors and physicians. The manner in which that behavior can be approached is by knowledge and understanding.



Another way to look at it is to think: "You may have this position of status, but you missed something along the lines of unassuming humbleness. Too, you have forgotten that once you were in beginning learning stages. Thus, in my opinion, you are an idiot to make arrogant, pompous, boastful statements about yourself. Especially, if you are attempting to show that you are better than someone else."



Now, those in certain positions need to understand that it is all about economics. What I mean is that you are just a spoke in the hub of a wheel. The great machine so to speak. Did you not know that aside from being privileged that you are a professor or a physician by means of economic control by organizations overseen by government? What I am saying here is that you have been quite lucky to get a seat in the higher tax bracket market. If I have learned anything in all my years, it is that everyone is expendable.



Were I in that bar when you announced yourself, your field of expertise would not matter, physicist or surgeon, I would have challenged your so-called expertise. However, if your metier is computers, then you would make a fool of me. There are a few other professions of which I have little knowledge and understanding, but on that I'll keep my mouth shut. What I wish to emphasize is that whatever one's sustained activity may be, one needs to be careful because there is always someone who knows more than you know. Besides, everybody knows something that somebody else does not know.



Now, to address the hierarchical abuse, disparities, relationships, and in-house activities at universities: I think Kim Je-nam of Korea's University Professors Union explained it quite well. It is a shame that there are military-like circumstances and conditions at universities. However, that comes about as a result of leadership. The mentioned sources of distress and causes of concern occur at my university as well.



However, it needs to be known that there are many professors and physicians who would never behave in the same manner as those mentioned in that particular bar. In fact, they probably would good-naturedly ask in both directions: Am I as smart as your are?



Of course, the owner cannot put his establishment off limits to any particular social group. But, he made his amusing point very well. You know, you just couldn't get away with such rudeness in an American bar. Were you of the male gender, you would be put in your place in no time and possibly get knocked on your postpositive intensive monkey's arse.



It is my opinion that the media arm of Pusan National University should come up with a special letter and send to its faculty and staff encouraging their representatives not, especially, to keep a low profile, but to continue visiting the said bar and simply adjust their attitudes.





The author (wrjones@vsu.edu) published the novella, "Beyond Harvard," and presently teaches English as a second language.


By Martin Schram





In his quest to make his country the undisputed leader of the global economy, China's President Xi Jinping can learn a lot from his next-door neighbor, Russia's President Vladimir Putin.







Not about what to do, but about what not to do.







Except Xi just doesn't seem to get it.







As we speak, Putin has been putting on a cram course of a clinic that you would think would be helping his nominally still-communist neighbor figure out how to out-capitalist the capitalists. Someday in the not-far-off future, Xi's China could prove capable of capturing the global economy's statistically figurative golden cup.







Yet a number of times, in recent years and especially this year, Xi has seemed as if he is imitating Putin's mindset and mistakes, not learning from them. China seems determined to showcase itself as the bully in the 'hood  and maybe even much worse.







So today let's take a close look at the conduct and choices made by Putin and then by Xi. We'll see parallels that undoubtedly have pleased Russia's dapper despot  but should have caused Xi to hit rewind and rethink.







First, let's rewind and rethink Putin: Success in the global economy must start with at least the appearance of a Good Neighbor Policy. But Putin has been willing to massively invade or mysteriously kidnap and poison to get what he wants. Also, we recall Putin's planned Sochi Two Step of 2014: To showcase Russia's global economy potential, Putin planned to host the Sochi Winter Olympics  and then host the G-8 economic summit in Sochi.







But in between, Ukraine sought new economic ties with Europe  and Putin exploded at having the world see Ukraine rejecting Russia. So he invaded and captured Crimea  causing the G8 to cancel its Sochi summit and kick Russia out, making it the group of seven (G7).







Today, Putin has amassed some 100,000 troops along Russia's border with Ukraine. He did it either to invade and conquer his neighbor that was once part of the Soviet Union, or just as a foolhardy way to get the United States and Europe to pledge Ukraine will never be admitted into NATO. President Joe Biden last week warned Putin if he invades Ukraine, Russia will suffer economic repercussions "like ones he's never seen." Russia will become an economic shell of its already Potemkin economic self.







Of course, there is a world of difference between Putin's Russia and Xi's China. Putin's Russia is a nuclear superpower, otherwise just borderline above much of the Third World  and often seems unable to fend for itself. Overwhelmed by COVID-19, Russia reportedly suffers more than 1,000 deaths and 35,000 new infections a day. Russian independent journalist Alexey Kovalev wrote in The New York Times that "only 41 percent of the country's people are fully vaccinated, a lower number than in Laos or Cape Verde."







In contrast, China swiftly protected and vaccinated itself  after its global sin of initially covering up while COVID-19 generated and spread. And last September, The Economist reported the success story that means most to Xi's China: "Is China already the world's most dominant economy? By one measure, yes."







One expert's statistical analysis of countries' "economic dominance" showed that China surpassed the United States and became the world's dominant economy in 2020. Other analyses show the U.S. still has a narrow lead.







Now let's rewind and rethink Xi: First, China used a Summer Olympics in 2008 to introduce its sparkling new high-tech self to the world. Now it is about to host the Winter Olympics. But Xi's China has shamed itself by what the United States has called its "genocide" and abuses against the Uyghur Muslims. Also by its crackdown on democracy in Hong Kong and its recent military harassment flights in the skies around Taiwan.







Does Xi plan to invade Taiwan someday? Or is he just bullying and menacing, Putin-style, to get the West's attention? Xi must ask himself: Does atrocious conduct mean more to me than seeing China emerge from the economic backwaters that Richard Nixon first saw to lead the world's economy?







Because that's what he is ultimately risking. The international corporations, global markets and the politicians who front for the global economy have pocketed huge profits and meekly overlooked all the above inhumanity that was "Made in China."







But they, too, bend and inevitably buckle under the demands of a greater power. And that power is you  and all the decent consumers throughout the world.







When you "Just say No!" and refuse to buy anything bearing the badge of proven genocidal criminals and humanity's bullies  well, that is the one power that can buckle and even break the dominance of both China's abusive rulers and capitalism's maxi-profit moralists who have too long served as China's silent collaborators.











Martin Schram ( martin.schram@gmail.com ), an op-ed columnist for Tribune News Service, is a veteran Washington journalist, author and TV documentary executive. This article was distributed by Tribune Content Agency.
By Song Kyung-jin





A tectonic shift is taking place around the world. Making more profits is no longer seen as the only prime purpose of businesses. Environment, social and governance (ESG) is a global standard by which businesses determine their activities to be responsible and sustainable. Most businesses firmly believe that an ESG strategy is directly linked to corporate growth, competitiveness and survival. The global race has already kicked off.



When Apple announced its carbon neutrality (or net zero) goal for 2030, not just its competitors but business partners in the value chain could not turn a blind eye but had to follow suit for their survival. A retail giant like Walmart is determined to extend financial support to small and medium companies in the value chain to achieve "Scope 3" emissions, or value chain emissions.



I would argue that Korea with its globalized economy and companies is well-positioned to become a global leader in ESG once you think outside the box.



First, there is a high national interest in ESG spreading like wildfire. Finding every Tom, Dick and Harry (I could not find a gender-neutral version!) murmuring ESG in conversation is commonplace. People's cohesiveness gets strong when a common cause is presented.



Second, Korea's economic structure with strong manufacturing base (accounting for 30 percent of gross domestic product) and a high trade dependency and externalities are often said to be unfavorable and vulnerable to ESG standards. However, being a manufacturing power with high externalities is in fact providing Korea with a golden opportunity to become a global leader in ESG, although highly challenging.



When you cannot opt out of the ESG rules for growth, competitiveness and survival, adapt to and internalize them. Globalized Korean companies have firmly established their places in the global supply chains of their own or other global companies. The timely driving force is coming from both inside and outside. Most importantly, they know well that their survival depends on implementing ESG rules including carbon emissions reduction, labor standards and human rights.



Third, while still insufficient, the nation is committed to playing a role in the global endeavor to reach carbon neutrality. Of the multitude of ESG factors, the E factors, especially the carbon emissions reduction, are at the forefront of the ESG strategy.



The Korean government announced an upgraded nationally determined contribution (NDC) emissions target at COP26 last month in Glasgow. It pledged to reduce carbon emissions by 40 percent below 2018 levels by 2030. The Framework Act on Carbon Neutrality and Green Growth sets the carbon neutrality target by 2050. Korea announced, in April 2021, an immediate end to public financing of overseas coal-fired power plants.



The most important in the path to carbon neutrality is the phasing out of coal use in power plants. In 2020, however, 35.6 percent of power in Korea came from coal-fired power plants, while 29 percent was generated from nuclear plants and 6.6 percent from renewables.



Given the carbon-neutrality target and an excessively ambitious renewables share of 60 percent to 70 percent of the national energy mix by 2050, the nation must be clear on the energy path it will take so as not to waste time and have to retract its overly audacious scheme. France's recent plan to shift to small modular reactors is a good case in point, to closely follow up for reference.



Fourth, Korea is improving considerably in energy innovation. According to the Global Energy Innovation Index 2021 from the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, Korea ranked 5th for knowledge development and diffusion. A chronic weakness stood out again in entrepreneurial experimentation and market formation as well as social legitimation and international collaboration. It is particularly weak in international collaboration, ranking 32nd of the 34 countries surveyed. In this regard, KAIST's plan to open a campus in New York for more international competition and collaboration is timely commendable.



Financial institutions world over are quickly expanding ESG financing. A recent survey by an American insurance company found that 80 percent of respondents in the financial services sector ranked climate change and ESG as either an important, or the most important, issue for their operations. Shinhan Financial Group declared at the Glasgow COP26 its intention to go net zero by 2050.



It was the first of its kind among East Asian financial institutions. Sales of its green financial products are on a sharp rise. For instance, its green car loans jumped almost 40 times this year from last year. It is also introducing Scope 3 emissions loans to large companies and partner companies. Such experiences when accumulated can play the role of a benchmark for follower financial institutions at home and abroad.



The above strengths will excel only when a well-designed, targeted, ambitious and yet realistic national policy framework is in place and only when a public-private partnership is firmly consolidated. It makes economic sense when the economy needs stronger demand. So, let's get started.





Dr. Song Kyung-jin (kj_song@hotmail.com) led the Institute for Global Economics (IGE), based in Seoul, and served as special adviser to the chairman of the Presidential Committee for the Seoul G20 Summit in the Office of the President. Now, she chairs the international cooperation committee called the Innovative Economy Forum.
By Steven L. Shields





As we reach the end of the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic, most are wondering, hoping, waiting for the time when we can begin to feel normal. Just as things started looking up, the Omicron variant appears. Before it we got the Delta variant, and who knows what is next. That is the nature of viruses.



They constantly mutate, change. The bubonic plague that tore through the world in the 1340s and 1350s ran for seven years before finally burning itself out. That pandemic killed twenty times more people than COVID-19 has, so far.



While some authorities are telling us not to panic, many governments are back in full lock-down mode. Panic is the watchword for too many. Of course, we should be concerned. Of course, we should mask up and wash our hands often. Of course, more people will get infected despite all that. Vaccines may be helpful; everyone should get vaccinated. But vaccines are not a panacea. No vaccine has ever been 100 percent effective. Those of us who get annual flu shots know that. Our doctors always tell us the efficacy of this year's vaccine.



All have experienced loss this year. We experience loss every year. Like the virus that constantly mutates, life continues its cycle. Births and deaths, joy, and sadness. We can only depend on change. Change is the only constant. The life cycle is dependable. Sometimes we wish it were not so. Most of the time we wish it were not so dependable.



This year alone, I have lost several close friends. One friend, Kim, although safe, was forced to close his business of six years. He lives far away. Social distancing restrictions and a change in office workers staying home to work created a negative economic environment.



Despite government assistance to small business owners, Kim still did not have enough customers to pay the rent on his shop space, let alone all the other needs of his business. For the past many years, his shop has been my "living room." It was a place to sit in a comfortable chair and read books, to meet others from the neighborhood, and to watch passers-by. Businesses come and go. It is part of the cycle.



Another friend, Peter, died suddenly in May from congestive heart failure. For the previous year or so he had been working exclusively from home, taking every precaution against COVID-19. He held business meetings online, with European customers, in the wee hours of the mornings.



They could no longer visit Korea to take care of business with Korea-based suppliers and customers. As the pandemic wore on, Peter's stress levels unfortunately increased. Peter used to call me at night when we would have great chats about Korean history and our shared experiences of having lived in and been engaged with Korea for about 50 years.



Baek, a life-long coin and stamp dealer in Myeong-dong, died suddenly of a stroke in late summer. I have known Baek for about 15 years. He taught me everything I know about Korean coins and paper money. He helped me put together a nice, but inexpensive, collection of Korean banknotes dating to the early 20th century. The stories he knew could fill a book. He was only 78 years old and had his shop in the same location for more than 40 years.



He was a treasure, a walking encyclopedia of history. I visited him several times a year, and we would have a cup of instant coffee and sit in the small chairs squeezed into the back of the tiny shop. He would teach me, and I would buy a couple of items or add to my growing wish list. When I returned from visiting my grandkids in September and went to his shop. It was closed. A sign in the window said, "Due to personal circumstances we are closed." I went across the hall to one of his colleagues and got the sad news. That cycle, again.



Many people of faith (regardless of whether it is Buddhist, Christian, Jewish, or Muslim) are lulled into a fantasy-like ideal that "if only" we had stronger faith, "if only" we prayed harder or longer, that Supreme Being would change things to how we want them. The truth is our prayers are often taking the wrong approach. We pray that "god" will take away the pandemic, for example. Or we pray that our loved ones will not become infected or die. Or we pray for a miracle to cure a loved one from disease. The list goes on. We are the problem, not "god."



For what, then, should we be praying? I pray that I can be more loving, more forgiving, more compassionate. Like many, I get frustrated and pop off with angry words sometimes. It is not a pretty sight and I want to be calmer. That is what I can pray for. I can pray for friends who have lost family members that, somehow, I might be able to comfort them by sharing a kind word, by being there to listen.



From a daily practical standpoint, I can support local businesspeople, and spend my money at their businesses. My small purchases may not be enough to eventually save their businesses from closure, but I will have done what I can do.



Loss is ever-present in life. With the only constant being change, we can change ourselves, our perspectives, our interaction with others, and become forces for good change. That alone might make a difference in even one person's life. That would be good.





Steven L. Shields (slshields@gmail.com) has lived in Korea for many years, beginning in the 1970s. He served as copy editor of The Korea Times in 1977. He is a retired clergyman and president of the Royal Asiatic Society Korea.






By Baek Byung-yeul







LG CNS has launched a helpdesk support team Tuesday to help customers respond to a security flaw with Log4j, a logging utility for internet servers reported recently to have serious vulnerabilities.







The IT service company said it has already responded by distributing guides to customers explaining how to block suspicious IP addresses, install software updates for Log4j and set up a firewall.







Log4j, developed by non-profit organization Apache Software Foundation, is a Java-based utility for logging and storing information generated by using a computer.







This software has recently been named as the "single biggest, most critical vulnerability of the last decade," as it has been observed that cyberattackers can take control of a user's computer remotely by entering a specific message through the program. Government agencies, companies and financial firms using it are vulnerable to devastating cyberattacks. A cyberattacker exploiting a related vulnerability could inject malicious code to compromise an entire computer system or network.







Due to the Log4j-related vulnerabilities, the ICT ministry has recommended companies update their cybersecurity systems and urgently take security measures in accordance with the guide of the Korea Internet & Security Agency.







LG CNS's Log4j helpdesk provides a detailed description of the response guide and answers customer inquiries. The company said its helpdesk team is comprised of specialists in a variety of areas including cybersecurity and cloud computing. Additionally, relevant experts have been tasked with addressing key areas including software development and infrastructure.







The company added it is also considering offering its experts to other organizations in need, even if they are not their customers, if the Log4j issue spreads to become a national disaster.







"We have been preemptively providing integrated support measures to our customers so that they can operate their IT systems without worrying about Log4j," said Bae Min, vice president of LG CNS's security unit.


A Starbucks logo is pictured on the door of the Green Apron Delivery Service at the Empire State Building in the Manhattan borough of New York, U.S. in this June 1, 2016, file photo. Reuters-Yonhap



U.S. coffee chain Starbucks said on Monday it had shut two outlets in China and was conducting an investigation after a state-backed newspaper reported that they used expired ingredients to make drinks, violating food safety rules.



The Beijing News newspaper, in what it described as an undercover investigation, said the incidents occurred at two stores in the eastern Chinese city of Wuxi.



"We take what was reported by local media very seriously, and have immediately closed the two stores in question to conduct a thorough investigation," a Starbucks spokesperson said.



"Since entering the Chinese mainland market 22 years ago, we have been committed to implementing strict food safety standards and adopt a 'zero tolerance' policy towards food safety issues. We welcome the continued supervision of members of the media and the public."



The company did not comment on the specifics of the report. The newspaper later said that local Wuxi authorities were probing the stores.



The incident became a trending topic on China's Twitter-like Weibo social media site after the report was published.



Chinese consumers and media have become more aggressive about protecting customer rights and monitoring the behavior of big brands, especially from overseas.



Some targets, such as Canadian winterwear brand Canada Goose which drew complaints over its refund policies, have been subjected to government reprimands, while Chinese brands such as milk tea chain Nayuki have also drawn public attention.



China is the largest market for Starbucks outside the United States with 5,360 stores as of Oct. 3, the firm's latest earnings report showed.



The Beijing News report said one of the Starbucks stores used expired matcha liquid to make lattes, while another had put pastries up for sale that were meant to be thrown away.



As of Monday afternoon, the topic of Starbucks' response to the Beijing News report had received more than 50 million views on Weibo. Commenters expressed both disappointment and worries over more widespread problems.



"If Starbucks is like this, the other shops really worry me," said one Weibo user named Revario. "They suffer the scrutiny because it is a foreign brand." (Reuters)






Park Moon-young, executive vice president of Hyundai Heavy Industries, left, and Kim Wang-kyung, vice president of Huneed Technologies pose for a commemorative photo after signing an MOU to construct smart ships, Nov. 20. Courtesy of Huneed Technologies
People wearing face masks to protect against the coronavirus walk through the Wangfujing shopping district in Beijing, Dec. 12. AP-Yonhap





At the height of the pandemic in 2020, Park Kyung-su, a 22-year-old student at China's Zhejiang University, was considering finishing off her remaining three years of school from her home in South Korea - completely online.



Under this plan, Park would have been able to earn her degree without ever having to return to China, where she had only spent a single semester physically at school. In December 2019, she returned home to South Korea from Hangzhou for her first winter break, but the rapid emergence of the coronavirus made remote online classes her only option.



When she finally returned to Hangzhou last month, it had been almost two years since she left China. And she is already a junior.



"In the end, I decided to go back to school because one day I suddenly felt like I was missing out on the quintessential college experience," Park reasoned.



"When I talked to friends who were already in Hangzhou, they told me that their lives had normalized, in terms of living with Covid-19. That's when I decided that I wanted to go back."



Park is one of the few international students who have been allowed to return to China during the pandemic.



China stopped issuing student visas to international students in March 2020, as part of its restrictive zero-coronavirus policy that left many international students stranded abroad.



But in July 2020, South Korean students were granted an exemption as the Chinese and Korean governments made a special arrangement to reinstate the issuance of visas. Since then, South Korean students have returned to their schools in China, but it is unclear exactly how many.



And some say they have faced new challenges as Chinese universities remain extra cautious.



Park Seon-yeong, 20, another South Korean student at Zhejiang University, had initially planned to return to Hangzhou in August, just in time for the new semester. She had spent three semesters taking classes online from South Korea.



Although Park Seon-yeong's visa was approved, she said the school repeatedly told her that it was not the best time to come back, and her return to campus was delayed until last month.



"They told us that, since a lot of domestic students were returning to campus in August from different cities across China, it would be better if we international students could return later - after the school could make sure that everything was sorted out and settled," she said.



Park Kyung-su also said she received the same messages from the school when she was preparing her return around the same time.



Zhejiang University's hesitancy in welcoming back international students this fall came as neighbouring Jiangsu province had been hit hard by the coronavirus Delta variant.



Another South Korean student at Zhejiang University, Kim Eo-jin, 20, who returned to China much earlier than the two Parks, in November 2020, said he understood why the school was wary of the South Korean students returning.



"I think it's absolutely reasonable that the school asked us not to come back. Of course the school would be cautious about it," Kim said, adding that the school had communicated similarly with him when he notified administrators that he wished to return during the 2020 fall semester.





Women wearing face masks to protect against COVID-19 look at a display board as they stand in a plaza at a shopping and office complex in Beijing,Dec. 10. AP-Yonhap
Sodexo Corporate Services is looking for a Unit Safety Manager 2 - Food to join our team at team at our high- profile account BMW in Greenville SC!

The Unit Safety Manager 2 role is to ensure a safe work environment at client sites by providing HS&E and/or Quality Assurance consultation. This role drives the food safety culture at the site level. This position is responsible for ensuring the implementation and compliance with North American and client safety guidelines. Ensures legal compliance to all Federal (Provincial), State and Local regulations. Other duties can include but not limited to:

Up to date on all relevant food safety codes and regulations that are applicable to the operation

Monitoring all food handlers to make sure that all food handling tasks are properly and safely carried out

Knowing how to recognize, prevent and alleviate food safety hazards in the operation

Ensuring that food handlers maintain safe personal hygiene

Training all food handlers in Sodexo's Food Safety Requirements

ServSafe Instructor/Proctor credentials

Performing Food Safety Audits on a regular basis, but one per month at a minimum

Ensuring that the operation's food safety management system is implemented and accurately maintained

Performing food sampling duties per BMW requirements

Assisting laboratory partner in Environmental Monitoring Program, as needed

Follow up on health department inspections, as well as EcoSure third party audits and BMW food safety audits.

This position offers a traditional Business & Industry, Predominately M-F scheduled. Accrue 3 weeks of paid vacation per year (first year pro-rated based on date of hire). Medical Benefits beginning date of hire, and 401K with company match eligible.
At the dawn of 2022, the cries of Happy New Year have an empty ring for most people, because most people are not happy at all. In the past, in troubled times, they looked for consolation in religion. But nowadays, the churches stand empty. Instead, people have tended to take refuge in their local pub, or perhaps in the cinema, which have become something like a modern opium of the people. But given that many of these are closed, many have nowhere else to seek comfort than in their television set.
Cassava Technologies, Africas first integrated tech company of continental scale, hais announced that it has entered into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Mitsui & Co., Ltd (Mitsui), one of Japans largest global conglomerates.

Cassava Technologies and Mitsui share a common vision of facilitating digital transformation across Africa. The partnership will bring together the technology, expertise and networks of both organizations to accelerate that vision.

Mitsui has extensive global experience developing, investing in and operating businesses in the digital, infrastructure and energy sectors, and through this partnership, will further expand its business activities in Africa. Mitsui will assist Cassava Technologies by providing access to Mitsuis global network, advanced technologies and helping to identify potential sources of financing to support future growth and investment. The parties will collaborate in the development of digital infrastructure across Africa with a particular focus on data centres.

Hardy Pemhiwa, President & CEO of Cassava Technologies said: This MOU accelerates our shared objectives to foster digital transformation across the African continent. The partnership with Mitsui allows Cassava Technologies to access Mitsuis deep global experience in developing digital infrastructure. With Mitsuis global network and experience, paired with our local market knowledge across Africa, we will work together to accelerate innovation and expand access to digital services for enterprises and consumers.

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Une question et 17 motions a lagenda de la derniere seance du parlement en 2021 soit la 39e pour bien terminer lannee.

1. Announcements

2. Papers

3. Question

4. Private Members Motion

(No. 1) Honourable Third Member for Port Louis North and Montagne Longue (Ms Tour)

This Assembly resolves that Government should continue its efforts to encourage the use of electric vehicles in Mauritius.

(No. 2) The Honourable Second Member for Vacoas and Floreal (Mr Bodha)

This Assembly resolves that, a National Crisis Committee be set up with the participation of experts to design a new roadmap for the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic in the face of the emergence of new variants and in the light of the experience gathered since the outbreak of the pandemic in Mauritius in March 2020.

(No. 3) The Honourable Third Member for Mahebourg and Plaine Magnien (Mr Doolub)

This Assembly welcomes the reopening of our borders to international travelers and supports measures taken by Government to relaunch tourism and resolves that it will continue to protect employment and safeguard livelihood in the travel and hospitality sector.

(No. 4) The Honourable Second Member for Port Louis Maritime and Port Louis East (Mr Abbas Mamode)

This Assembly resolves that, in the prevailing context, opinion leaders should refrain from making statements such as to undermine trust in the democratic institutions of the Republic of Mauritius and tarnish the countrys image and reputation abroad.

(No. 5) The Honourable First Member for Port Louis Maritime and Port Louis East (Mr Shakeel Mohamed) (Under suspension pursuant to Standing Orders 48 and 49 of the Standing Orders and Rules of the National Assembly (1995))

This Assembly resolves that, the Ministry of Health and Wellness, headed by the Minister, has completely mismanaged the COVID-19 pandemic since last year and, as such, the Minister should take full responsibility for same and step down as Minister.

(No. 6) The Honourable First Member for La Caverne and Phoenix (Mr Lobine)

This Assembly resolves that, in view of the prevailing COVID-19 pandemic situation, a Select Committee be set up to be chaired by the Honourable Leader of the Opposition, to be known as the Cross-Party COVID-19 Pandemic Response Committee, consisting of eleven members, six of whom shall be members from the Opposition, to consider, inquire and report to the House on matters relating to Governments management and response to the COVID-19 pandemic and other matters related thereto.

(No. 7) The Honourable Third Member for Port Louis South and Port Louis Central (Dr Aumeer)

This Assembly resolves that, in view of the prevailing COVID-19 pandemic situation since its outbreak in Mauritius in March 2020 and the high COVID-19 death toll among Mauritian Citizens, a Fact-Finding Committee be set up to look into the whole preparedness, response and management of the said pandemic in Mauritius.

(No. 8) The Honourable Fourth Member for Port Louis Maritime and Port Louis East (Mr Juman)

This Assembly resolves that, in view of the alleged mismanagement of public funds under Emergency Procurement since the first confinement in March 2020 to date which necessitate emergency supply of medical equipment and drugs to cater for the intensifying COVID-19 pandemic, a Commission of Inquiry be set up to inquire therein and on matters related thereto.

(No. 9) The Honourable Third Member for Flacq and Bon Accueil (Mr Nuckcheddy)

This Assembly resolves that, in the light of the implementation of the Road Master Plan announced by Government and of the Light Rail Project connecting Port Louis to Curepipe, which is being extended to other parts of the country, the Road Decongestion Programme should be implemented through one single blueprint using a holistic approach.

(No. 10) The Honourable Third Member for Vieux Grand Port and Rose Belle (Ms Ramyad)

This Assembly is of opinion that, in the light of the Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice of 25 February 2019 on the legal consequences of the separation of the Chagos Archipelago from Mauritius in 1965, the United Nations General Assembly Resolution 73/295 of 22 May 2019 and of the judgment of the Special Chamber of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea of 28 January 2021, the Government of Mauritius should pursue its efforts to ensure that the United Kingdom complies with the international law and terminates its unlawful administration of the Chagos Archipelago to allow the complete decolonisation of the Republic of Mauritius.

(No. 11) The Honourable Third Member for Vacoas and Floreal (Mr Ittoo)

This Assembly is of opinion that, digitalisation and innovation being key for Mauritius to step up to the next level of development, a Task Force comprising of stakeholders in the Information and Communications Technology industry from the public and private sectors should be set up to come up with recommendations and a roadmap to allow Mauritius position itself as a regional Information and Communications Technology hub.

(No. 12) The Honourable Third Member for Vieux Grand Port and Rose Belle (Ms Ramyad)

This Assembly resolves that, since the COVID-19 pandemic may have a lasting impact on the socio-economic conditions of developing countries, in particular, vulnerable countries, including the Small Islands Developing States, our diplomacy should continue to advocate for a fair, transparent and equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines, tests and treatments worldwide to ensure their prompt socio-economic recovery.

(No. 13) The Honourable Third Member for Curepipe and Midlands (Mr Dhunoo)

This Assembly resolves that, in the light of the recent trade agreements signed by the Republic of Mauritius, including, the African Continental Free Trade Area (AFCTA), the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Partnership Agreement (CECPA) with the Republic of India and the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the Peoples Republic of China, Government should create the appropriate environment and synergies with a view to providing enhanced opportunities for the business community in Mauritius to be able to take maximum advantage thereof, together with their counterparts in the relevant countries.

(No. 14) The Honourable Second Member for Savanne and Black River (Mrs Mayotte)

This House is of opinion that, following the removal of Mauritius by the Financial Action Task Force from its list of jurisdictions under increased monitoring, the Assembly resolves that the Government of Mauritius should pursue its sustained effort to strengthen its position as an international financial center of repute by further implementing Anti-money Laundering/Combating Terrorist Financing measures.

(No. 15) The Honourable Second Member for Grand Baie and Poudre dOr (Dr Gungapersad)

This Assembly resolves that, in view of the mayhem caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the rise in the COVID-19 death toll and casualties among the population, a Commission of Inquiry be set up to inquire into the management of the COVID-19 pandemic and related issues since its outbreak in Mauritius.

(No. 16) The Honourable Second Member for Port Louis North and Montagne Longue (Mrs Luchmun Roy)

This Assembly resolves that Government should carry out an assessment of the demand for social housing in Mauritius and embark upon an accelerated programme of construction thereof to meet same.

(No. 17) The Honourable Third Member for Grand River North West and Port Louis West (Mr Armance)

That this Assembly resolves that, in view of the intensifying COVID-19 pandemic and the clear and present damage facing our citizens, a Select Committee be appointed to consider all matters relating thereto, including the quality of the information provided to the public, the state of our health services, latest medicines and medical treatment available, social distancing measures and border control.

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After media threaten boycott, Mnp CEO seeks co-operation

Correspondent IMPHAL, Dec 14 | Publish Date: 12/14/2021 12:46:23 PM IST

Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Manipur Rajesh Agrawal on Tuesday sought support of the media fraternity for conduct of upcoming elections in the state in a free and fair manner.

The CEO further appealed to media persons to verify any election related information with the concerned officers and officials prior to dissemination to avoid any misinformation.

Addressing a press conference, the CEO highlighted various activities taken up by the office of the CEO, Manipur for smooth conduct of the forthcoming elections.

He informed that the period for filing claims and objections for Special Summary Revision (SSR) of Photo Electoral Rolls with reference to 01.01.2022 has been completed.

Over 1.4 lakh forms have been received during the SSR period and disposal of forms is going on and will be completed by December 20, 2021, he added.

He said that the list of additions/deletions during Continuous updation has been made available on the CEOs website. As per schedule fixed by Election Commission of India, final electoral rolls will be published on January 5, 2022.

Copies of final electoral rolls will be made available free of cost to all recognized political parties. The electoral rolls will also be uploaded at the website of CEO, he said.

He added that the first level checking of M3-EVMs was completed for all the districts on November 10 last.

An additional 1000 VVPATs have been received from Assam and distributed to all districts. FLC of these machines was scheduled to start from December 21, he said.

Agrawal informed that EVM demonstration centres were set up in all offices of District Election Officers (DEOs) and Returning Officers (ROs) to make voters familiarize with the functioning of EVMs.

Demonstration vans will also be launched and travel around the polling stations across the state, he added.

He informed that three rounds of meetings have been held with recognized national and state political parties functioning in Manipur.

The political parties have been extending full cooperation during the revision period and in the run up to the conduct of the ensuing general election by giving valuable feedback and suggestions, he claimed.

On the other hand, the CEO said that six assembly constituencies have been identified as expenditure sensitive constituencies.

The constituencies were Andro, Wangoi, Mayang Imphal, Thanga, Lilong and Churachandpur (ST reserved), he said.

Flying squad, static surveillance team, video surveillance team, video viewing team, accounting team have been appointed and trained.

All these teams will be activated immediately on announcement of elections, he said.

The CEO office also started work to identify vulnerable polling stations, for this, sector officers and sector police officers have been appointed and trained.

They were currently conducting spot visits to each polling station to identify vulnerable locations and voter segments.

Steps also have been taken to identify history sheeters, trouble mongers and persons causing vulnerability and were bound down under CrPC.

As a measure to curb pre poll violence, 8648 licensed arms have been deposited to the nearest police stations out of 25,299 till date, he informed.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-12-13 22:04:16|Editor: huaxia

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Nonny Wright, the 32-year-old owner of a commercial farming business called Lopey Inc, is seen at Sereledi farm in Polokabatho, 7 km outside Maun, Botswana, Nov. 12, 2021. "During the 2019 drought, I lost 85 percent of my dairy cows," reveals Wright. (Photo by Sharon Tshipa/Xinhua)

GABORONE, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) -- There is no questioning that droughts are synonymous with Botswana, a semi-arid country that has since proved itself to be a hotspot of heatwave activity on the African continent, as now worsened by climate change.

When citizens jest, they say the sun is manufactured in Botswana. The furnace of which is sometimes purported to be located in the tourism capital of Maun in northwest Botswana. A town that is home to Nonny Wright's cattle farm, and milk products processing plant.

"During the 2019 drought, I lost 85 percent of my dairy cows," reveals Wright, the 32-year-old owner of a commercial farming business called Lopey Inc.

Other than a dairy processing plant that supplied schools, among other institutions, with products such as fresh milk, sour milk, yogurt and ghee while encouraging the growth of the informal sector, Lopey Inc prides itself with two farms.

One being Yabarati, a farm located 10 km away from Maun in a village called Chanoga, and Sereledi, a farm that is over 100 hectares which is located in Polokabatho, just 7 km outside Maun.

"COVID-19 has not helped our business situation at all as well. But, even though we are left with 25 cows, we are now doing what we can to ensure that we get back on track, and realize the vision that we had when we first got into the dairy business," she said.

Given the fact that Botswana has been battling the socio-economic impacts of droughts year in and year out, the worst over the last decade being the 2019 drought, Wright is determined to learn from her experience and implement adaptation measures that will ensure her business stays afloat should history repeat itself.

"My first solution to the tragedy that had me depressed for a very long time, so much that I had to get counselling and was on medication, as I kept getting dizzy spells and collapsing, was to apply for a land extension of the 2 hectare farm in Chanoga so I move my cattle to where there is water that is much more drinkable unlike the water here at Sereledi," shared Wright.

Wright has since drilled a borehole in Chanoga. From it, she also intends to irrigate the feeds she ploughs for her animals.

"I have since changed the type of crops that I plant, because at first, between 2015 and 2017, I was ploughing maize. The thing with maize is that when there is little rain, or if there is too much rain it doesn't grow well. So now I opt for sweet sorghum and millet as they are more resistant," she explained.

Other than planting the right varieties of fodder crops that are fast growing and adaptable to the local climate, Wright said she plans on ploughing in December this year, as she has realized that even with the unpredictable seasons change, February rains have been flooding crops.

"Buying feeds is not always a good idea because Maun is too far from South Africa. Hence, we tend to receive low quality feeds at the highest prices," she said. To solve this issue, Maun farmers are trying to come together and expand the produce of fodder such as lucerne in their community.

Currently, Wright is doing all she can to realize her vision of being a leading dairy brand in the country. Daily, she drives to her farm with the aim of growing her herd to 200 by 2023. With the financial aid she plans on applying for from the government, she believes this is possible.

"We will also employ the use of female sex semen for artificial insemination, which will give us a 95 percent chance of getting replacement heifers, ensuring an expanded production of quality value-added products at the processing plant," she said, adding that she will see it become a household brand that is competitive in the market.

Other than creating employment and positively impacting other people's livelihoods, Nonny Wright is motivated by the desire to reduce Botswana's skyrocketing import bill.

"Once done I will support other local farmers to go into dairy cattle rearing so that the production of dairy products can be increased in Botswana," she added. Enditem

Nonny Wright, the 32-year-old owner of a commercial farming business called Lopey Inc, is seen at Sereledi farm in Polokabatho, 7 km outside Maun, Botswana, Nov. 12, 2021. "During the 2019 drought, I lost 85 percent of my dairy cows," reveals Wright. (Photo by Sharon Tshipa/Xinhua)
Source: Xinhua| 2021-12-14 01:48:46|Editor: huaxia

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Video: Search and rescue teams in western Kentucky and nearby states have been combing through rubble for survivors after a series of tornadoes ripped through the region over the weekend, killing at least dozens. (Xinhua)



The unusual warmth in the north that preceded the outbreak was one of the main ingredients that drove it to occur. It's typically not so warm this time of year for that region, so outbreaks are usually unable to form.



NEW YORK, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) -- The tornadoes that ripped through six U.S. states, namely Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri and Tennessee, over the weekend have killed scores of people, leveled entire towns and left recovery teams facing weeks of clearing rubble, while scientists are assessing the once-in-a-century levels of destruction on a swath extending 250 miles, according to U.S. media.

"The storm may also end up as one of the deadliest in U.S. history," The Wall Street Journal reported Monday. In one town of 2,700 people, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear told NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday, the list of residents who were unaccounted for was eight pages long. At least 56,000 people in Kentucky were without power, and houses in many places were missing roofs, doors and windows, according to the governor.

In all, the National Weather Service received reports of 37 tornadoes across these six states. Though it may take several more days before scientists can officially assign severity rankings to the tornadoes, they said debris might have been hurled as high as 30,000 feet into the air, the cruising altitude of many passenger jets. Meanwhile, the total fatality is yet to top 100 and may end up less than initially feared.

A bulldozer clears debris in Mayfield, Kentucky, the United States, on Dec. 12, 2021. (Photo by Angie Yu/Xinhua)

RELIEF REACTION

U.S. President Joe Biden approved federal funding over the weekend to help parts of Kentucky hammered by the deadly tornadoes, with a disaster declaration for the state following a request from its governor. The spate of tornadoes that struck six states included one that hit Kentucky the hardest. Beshear said "the storm event was the longest tornado track on record and the largest in Kentucky history."

The declaration makes federal funding available for storm victims in the western Kentucky counties of Caldwell, Fulton, Graves, Hopkins, Marshall, Muhlenberg, Taylor and Warren, as well as for state and "eligible local governments and certain private nonprofit organizations on a cost-sharing basis for emergency work" there, a White House news release said on Sunday.

The assistance available to residents affected by the storm includes "grants for temporary housing and home repairs" and "low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses." Biden also ordered federal aid to supplement recovery efforts. He said on Saturday that his administration is "ready to do the same for the governors of the other states" affected by the storm if they request an emergency declaration.

Photo taken on Dec. 11, 2021 shows a tree toppled in tornadoes in Mayfield, Kentucky, the United States. (Photo by Caromirna Sanchez/Xinhua)

UNPRECEDENTED INTENSITY

A combination of the main tornado's enormous path as it tore from Arkansas to Kentucky, its sheer power and the high number of smaller whirlwinds that accompanied it made for an overwhelming force that left devastated communities in its wake. December tornadoes are uncommon but not unheard of, but the explosion of twisters across the states over the weekend might be unprecedented, reported USA Today on Monday.

"Tornadoes do happen at this time of year, but the number in which they happened and the intensity in which they happened Friday night is what is rare," Dan DePodwin, director of forecast operations for weather forecasting services provider AccuWeather, was quoted as saying. "On average, in December, there are roughly two dozen tornadoes (nationwide). We're going to surpass that just on the one night Friday."

A three-year average of 47 tornadoes has been reported in the United States during the month of December, according to the Storm Prediction Center. The multi-state outbreak is shaping up to be unusual, especially in how much farther north than usual it occurred. In addition, the number of fatalities that the outbreak may have caused is exceptionally rare, as the month of December rarely sees tornado fatalities at all.

Photo taken on Dec. 11, 2021 shows houses damaged in tornadoes in Mayfield, Kentucky, the United States. (Photo by Caromirna Sanchez/Xinhua)

FORMATIVE ATMOSPHERE

"The unusual warmth in the north that preceded the outbreak was one of the main ingredients that drove it to occur. It's typically not so warm this time of year for that region, so outbreaks are usually unable to form," reported AccuWeather on Sunday, while quoting DePodwin as saying that "I think the warm December certainly played a role. We haven't had a lot of cold fronts make their way all the way down into the Gulf of Mexico yet."

The Gulf of Mexico being at or above normal this time of year can further aid in the transport of warmer air northward, which is what helped fuel the multi-state outbreak. As the warmer air from the Gulf moved north, a very strong low pressure area was moving out of the Rockies and into the Great Lakes region. This pulled the warm and moist air even farther northward, said AccuWeather.

Four main ingredients needed for severe weather were prevalent to ignite the outbreak, explained DePodwin, adding that "you need moisture, which we had from the Gulf of Mexico. You need instability, rising air. You need colder air aloft, we had that. You need some type of lifting mechanism, a cold front in this case. And then you need some type of turning in the atmosphere or wind shear, as we call it." 
Source: Xinhua| 2021-12-14 02:20:19|Editor: huaxia

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People walk past signs for a COVID-19 testing clinic in London, Britain, on Dec. 9, 2021. (Photo by Stephen Chung/Xinhua)

Another 1,576 Omicron cases have been found in Britain, the biggest daily increase since the COVID-19 variant was detected in the country, taking the total cases found in the country to 4,713, the UKHSA confirmed Monday.

LONDON, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) -- At least one person has died with the Omicron variant in Britain, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson confirmed Monday.

"Omicron is producing hospitalizations and sadly at least one patient has been confirmed to have died with Omicron," the prime minister said during a visit to a vaccine clinic in Paddington, west London.

Earlier, British Health Secretary Sajid Javid said there were 10 people in hospital in England with Omicron, but warned that cases, hospital admissions and deaths will rise. According to the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), their ages range between 18 and 85.

The British health secretary has also warned the Omicron variant is "spreading at a phenomenal rate" and infections are continuing to double every two to three days. The rate of its spread is "something we've never seen before", he told Sky News.

"It's pretty clear that the world can expect a tidal wave of new infections. How much of that translates into hospitalizations and mortality is still unknown. It seems that it's either milder or the existing levels of protection do give some protection. But just the sheer number of infections is highly concerning," Rasmus Bech Hansen, the chief executive of London-based Airfinity, a global health intelligence and analytics provider, told Xinhua in an online interview.

Another 1,576 Omicron cases have been found in Britain, the biggest daily increase since the COVID-19 variant was detected in the country, taking the total cases found in the country to 4,713, the UKHSA confirmed Monday.

People walk past a COVID-19 notice board at the entrance of the National Gallery in London, Britain, Dec. 12, 2021. (Xinhua/Li Ying)

Britain reported 54,661 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 10,873,468, according to official figures released Monday.

The country also reported a further 38 coronavirus-related deaths. The total number of coronavirus-related deaths in Britain now stands at 146,477, with 7,372 COVID-19 patients still in hospital.

Long queues are forming at COVID vaccination centers on Monday and there are widespread reports of the National Health Service (NHS) booking site crashing as people scramble to get their booster jabs ahead of Christmas.

The prime minister launched Sunday night a "national mission" called Omicron Emergency Boost. The health secretary has urged people to get their booster jab as soon as possible, warning that "two doses are not enough, but three doses provide excellent protection against symptomatic infection."

The UK COVID alert level has been raised from Level 3 to Level 4, the second highest level, "in light of the rapid increase in Omicron cases", the four British chief medical officers said in a joint statement Sunday.

More than 89 percent of people aged 12 and over in Britain have had their first dose of vaccine and more than 81 percent have received both doses, according to the latest figures. More than 41 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.





A man wearing a mask walks in London, Britain, Dec. 12, 2021. (Xinhua/Li Ying)




Source: Xinhua| 2021-12-14 05:07:34|Editor: huaxia

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A chef makes food during the Food Africa exhibition in Cairo, Egypt, on Dec. 13, 2021. The sixth edition of Food Africa, a major international exhibition for the agro-food industry in the African region, opened on Monday in Egypt's capital Cairo, attracting over 400 exhibitors from various countries. (Xinhua/Ahmed Gomaa)

CAIRO, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) -- The sixth edition of Food Africa, a major international exhibition for the agro-food industry in the African region, opened on Monday in Egypt's capital Cairo, attracting over 400 exhibitors from various countries.

Held at the International Exhibition Center, the three-day fair is expected to welcome some 21,000 professionals seeking business opportunities.

"The exhibition is a promising platform where we can meet new customers from different countries ... It helps us find new markets outside Egypt," Mahmoud Shabana, director of exports at an Egyptian tea company, told Xinhua.

"The expo also helps us build relationships with public and private entities to expand our business, exchange experiences and share know-how with industry stakeholders as well as connecting with new and existing suppliers and dealers," he added.

The exhibition also includes the Hosted Buyers Program, a platform meant to facilitate B2B business undertakings and maximize return on investment for participants.

Last year, the program presented industry professionals the opportunity to meet with 476 selected buyers from Egypt and the region.

For buyers seeking business opportunities, the fair allows them to source new goods and product lines from exhibitors on the spot and helps them negotiate contracts and sign agency and distribution agreements.

"The exhibition and the program help us learn about the latest innovations, network at an array of events and benefit from pre-scheduled meetings with exhibitors of our choice," Ahmed Abdel-Gawwad, owner of an Egyptian food distribution company, told Xinhua.

Saad al-Zoghby from a local beverage company, said he visited the fair to explore the wide selection of food and speciality products from local, regional, and international suppliers.

"It is a major exhibition and I am always keen to visit it ... I can find most of the companies working in the food industry at one place which makes it easier for me to sort and select the items I want to buy," he added. Enditem

People visit the Food Africa exhibition in Cairo, Egypt, on Dec. 13, 2021. The sixth edition of Food Africa, a major international exhibition for the agro-food industry in the African region, opened on Monday in Egypt's capital Cairo, attracting over 400 exhibitors from various countries. (Xinhua/Ahmed Gomaa)

An exhibitor shows dessert during the Food Africa exhibition in Cairo, Egypt, on Dec. 13, 2021. The sixth edition of Food Africa, a major international exhibition for the agro-food industry in the African region, opened on Monday in Egypt's capital Cairo, attracting over 400 exhibitors from various countries. (Xinhua/Ahmed Gomaa)

Visitors taste food during the Food Africa exhibition in Cairo, Egypt, on Dec. 13, 2021. The sixth edition of Food Africa, a major international exhibition for the agro-food industry in the African region, opened on Monday in Egypt's capital Cairo, attracting over 400 exhibitors from various countries. (Xinhua/Ahmed Gomaa)

People visit a kitchen food booth during the Food Africa exhibition in Cairo, Egypt, on Dec. 13, 2021. The sixth edition of Food Africa, a major international exhibition for the agro-food industry in the African region, opened on Monday in Egypt's capital Cairo, attracting over 400 exhibitors from various countries. (Xinhua/Ahmed Gomaa)

An exhibitor shows bread during the Food Africa exhibition in Cairo, Egypt, on Dec. 13, 2021. The sixth edition of Food Africa, a major international exhibition for the agro-food industry in the African region, opened on Monday in Egypt's capital Cairo, attracting over 400 exhibitors from various countries. (Xinhua/Ahmed Gomaa)
Source: Xinhua| 2021-12-14 15:30:56|Editor: huaxia

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A bipartisan group of members of U.S. Congress participate in a moment of silence for the 500,000 American lives lost to COVID-19 on the steps of the Capitol in Washington D.C., the United States on Feb. 23, 2021. (Photo by Ting Shen/Xinhua)

BEIJING, Dec. 14 (Xinhua) -- The so-called "Summit for Democracy" finally ended up amid waves of criticism and doubts from both within and without the United States.

In the name of reviving democracy, the United States handpicked participants for the political farce based on its own interests and preferences. Yet it has not only failed to fool the global community, but actually further exposed Washington's discordance with its allies.

A flaw of Washington's approach is "the presumption that all democracies think alike based on their shared commitment to democratic values," argued an opinion piece in The Washington Post.

In fact, the summit once again laid bare the fissures within the so-called U.S.-led alliance.

First, conflicting interests. Guided by the "America First" doctrine, the self-centered Washington has, over the past years, waged tariff wars against many of its allies on cheese, red wine, as well as steel and aluminum products, and spatted with them over aircraft subsidies and digital service taxes. As a result, the alliance suffered a serious setback.

Although the current White House has declared that "America is back," and promised to mend fences with its allies, yet that pledge was reduced to a joke when the United States stabbed France in the back on a huge submarine contract with Australia.

Even more ironic is that while Washington is manipulating Melbourne as a pawn in its anti-China geopolitical game, America's businesses, along with companies of some other countries, are taking over Australia's lost trade share in the Chinese market.

The United States and its allies are also witnessing growing divergences in their respective strategies.

In the face of an ever self-serving Washington, it seems that America's European allies now harbor a growing doubt over whether they can rely on the so-called "Transatlantic Alliance" for their security. Calls in Europe are thus multiplying to ensure its "strategic autonomy."

"The classic example is exactly their (Group of Seven members) attitude towards China," observed Martin Jacques, a senior fellow at Cambridge University.

Indeed. Despite Washington's unremitted attempt to woo its European allies to join a strategic competition with Russia and China, most of them reject "decoupling" with China.

"It's very important that we don't ... bias our relationship with China," French President Emmanuel Macron told a NATO summit in Brussels in June, calling for cooperation with China on global issues.

Decaying trust is also eroding the U.S. alliance system.

Seeking global domination, the United States has blatantly enraged its European allies by preying on European leaders such as former German Chancellor Angela Merkel with an empire of mass surveillance and espionage it has covertly built over the past years.

And when the United States decided to pull out from Afghanistan earlier this year, it barely consulted with those allies. A British official even asked: "Is America back or has it turned its back?"

"Just as the United States has not been above browbeating its partners, so too has the U.S. often changed its 'friends' for the sake of larger interests," said an article on U.S. news portal Politico.

And as much as one hates to admit it, Washington merely takes its allies as a bunch of servants for its global supremacy. Such a lopsided relationship is not only against the trend of the times, but also can hardly be sustainable in the long run. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-12-14 19:18:41|Editor: huaxia

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-- The total number of COVID-19 cases in the United States has surpassed 50 million on Monday.

-- Experts said the high caseload and death toll are the result of low vaccination rates, colder weather that forces more people indoors, and a still-divided political response to combatting the virus.

-- There is a "very disconcerting" politically partisan divide over science in the United States, which has hampered the nation's response to the COVID pandemic.

by Xinhua writer Tan Jingjing

WASHINGTON, Dec. 14 (Xinhua) -- The total number of COVID-19 cases in the United States has surpassed 50 million on Monday, while the death toll from the disease is approaching 800,000, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

The United States remains the country worst hit by the pandemic, with the world's most cases and deaths. The new Omicron variant has reached more than half of the U.S. states and the dominant Delta variant continues to run rampant around the nation.

Experts said the high caseload and death toll are the result of a confluence of factors: low vaccination rates, colder weather that forces more people indoors, and a still-divided political response to combatting the virus.





SURGING COVID-19 INDICATORS

The rising COVID-19 cases are driven partly by the Delta and the Omicron variants which have been spreading rapidly across the United States.

People wait for COVID-19 testing at the Times Square in New York, the United States, Dec. 13, 2021. (Xinhua/Wang Ying)

The current seven-day daily average of COVID-19 cases is about 118,500, a 37-percent jump from the previous week, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The seven-day average of daily deaths is about 1,100, up 28 percent from the prior week, the CDC said.

Currently, the United States is witnessing about 7,400 new hospital admissions each day, a 16-percent increase from the previous week, the data showed.

The Omicron variant, which is possibly more contagious than the Delta variant, has been found in at least 29 U.S. states as of Monday, since the country's first confirmed case of the Omicron COVID-19 variant was identified in the state of California on Dec. 1.

The number reflected the potentially heightened transmissibility of the Omicron strain and complexity in taming the pandemic, health experts said.

Mutations in Omicron might increase transmissibility, confer resistance to therapeutics, or partially escape infection or vaccine-induced immunity, according to the CDC.





ANOTHER DIFFICULT WINTER

The United States had suffered a miserable winter, with 300,000 daily COVID-19 cases reported in early January this year.

Medical workers carry a patient to a hospital in New York, the United States, Dec. 13, 2021. (Xinhua/Wang Ying)

The number and growth of daily cases, deaths, hospital admissions continued to set new records at the time. COVID-19 cases around the country have surged from 21.8 million in early January to over 50 million in December.

Carlos del Rio, executive associate dean of the Emory School of Medicine and Grady Health System in Georgia, told Xinhua that the main reasons for the recent surge were increasing transmissibility of new variants, seasonality of the pandemic which sees the number of cases increasing in colder weather, and the number of the unvaccinated.

In most places in the country where key COVID-19 indicators are rising, cases, hospitalizations and deaths are mostly among the unvaccinated, del Rio said in an email interview with Xinhua.

About 202.2 million Americans, or 60.9 percent of the population, have been fully vaccinated as of Sunday. About 54.4 million fully-vaccinated people have received a booster dose, according to CDC data.

Yet nearly 40 percent of the U.S. population has not been fully vaccinated.

CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said earlier that COVID-19 has become "a pandemic of the unvaccinated."

A COVID-19 testing site is seen at the Times Square in New York, the United States, Dec. 13, 2021. (Xinhua/Wang Ying)

Del Rio said the United States may witness another difficult winter next year. "Getting more people vaccinated through mandates and requirements, providing boosting and making rapid testing readily available are the priorities," he told Xinhua.





POLITICAL TUSSLE CONTINUES

There is a "very disconcerting" politically partisan divide over science in the United States, which has hampered the nation's response to the COVID pandemic, top U.S. infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci said in a recent interview with U.S. business broadcaster CNBC.

Fauci said he requires protection from federal agents following a number of death threats simply because of his science-based recommendations to wear masks and get vaccinated.

The politicization of vaccines and hesitancy of many Americans to get the shots keep the pandemic alive, with deadly results, many experts have said.

In September, U.S. President Joe Biden announced vaccine mandates which requires businesses with 100 or more employees to vaccinate their workers or have them undergo weekly testing for COVID-19.

The new rules set to take effect on Jan. 4 have prompted lawsuits from Republican-led states and private employers.

A pedestrian walks past the entrance of an emergency room of a hospital in New York, the United States, Dec. 13, 2021. (Xinhua/Wang Ying)

"Politicization regarding COVID and vaccination is rampant," former Indiana State Department of Health Commissioner Richard Feldman wrote in a signed article published on Friday.



Millions believe information from non-credible internet and social media sites, politicians and some in the right-wing media rather than information provided by public-health professionals and officials and their own trusted health care providers, Feldman said.

"Vaccine mandates are a rational last-resort public-health measure to achieve herd immunity of 85 percent to 90 percent vaccinated. No one wants mandates, but it's the only path forward out of this crisis," said the article. (Video reporter: Zhang Mocheng; video editors: Liu Yuting, Cao Ying)
Source: Xinhua| 2021-12-14 20:46:42|Editor: huaxia

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A staff member transports cargos containing Sinovac vaccines donated by the Chinese government in Pasay City, the Philippines, Dec. 14, 2021. The Philippines received on Tuesday an additional batch of Sinovac vaccines donated by the Chinese government to help the Southeast Asian country recover quickly from the COVID-19 pandemic. (Xinhua/Rouelle Umali)



MANILA, Dec. 14 (Xinhua) -- The Philippines received on Tuesday an additional batch of Sinovac vaccines donated by the Chinese government to help the Southeast Asian country recover quickly from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Carlito Galvez, the chief implementer of the government's measures to combat COVID-19, thanked the Chinese government for the donation.

"Majority of these vaccines will be distributed to far-flung areas," Galvez told reporters at the airport in Manila, adding many Filipinos are considering taking the Chinese vaccine as a booster shot.

China's Ambassador to the Philippines Huang Xilian expressed hope that the newly delivered COVID-19 vaccines will contribute to "healthy, safe" year-end holidays in the Philippines and boost the country's national vaccination program and recovery from the pandemic.

"Some countries might be interested in vaccine diplomacy, but China has been doing just everything we can to help in the spirit of Bayanihan (a Tagalog word which means the spirit of communal cooperation) and in the spirit of a fine tradition of supporting each other," he told reporters.

"We will continue to do our best to help until the final victory against the pandemic," Huang added.

The Chinese envoy said the economic cooperation between China and the Philippines boomed this year. "All this is contributing to the country's economic recovery. We are happy to see that our cooperation has become the driving force of the economic recovery in this country," Huang added.

China has sustained its COVID-19 vaccine supply to the Philippines since the first delivery on Feb. 28, allowing the country to kick off its vaccination drive on March 1.

The Philippines has administered more than 97 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines as of Monday. Nearly 38 million people have been fully vaccinated.

To date, the Philippines has received more than 158.5 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines from different vaccine makers, with China being its biggest vaccine supplier.

The Philippines has so far reported more than 2.8 million confirmed cases of COVID-19, including more than 50,000 deaths. Enditem

A staff member transports cargos containing Sinovac vaccines donated by the Chinese government in Pasay City, the Philippines, Dec. 14, 2021. The Philippines received on Tuesday an additional batch of Sinovac vaccines donated by the Chinese government to help the Southeast Asian country recover quickly from the COVID-19 pandemic. (Xinhua/Rouelle Umali)

Staff members transport cargos containing Sinovac vaccines donated by the Chinese government in Pasay City, the Philippines, Dec. 14, 2021. The Philippines received on Tuesday an additional batch of Sinovac vaccines donated by the Chinese government to help the Southeast Asian country recover quickly from the COVID-19 pandemic. (Xinhua/Rouelle Umali)

Staff members transport cargos containing Sinovac vaccines donated by the Chinese government in Pasay City, the Philippines, Dec. 14, 2021. The Philippines received on Tuesday an additional batch of Sinovac vaccines donated by the Chinese government to help the Southeast Asian country recover quickly from the COVID-19 pandemic. (Xinhua/Rouelle Umali)

A staff member walks past cargos containing Sinovac vaccines donated by the Chinese government in Pasay City, the Philippines, Dec. 14, 2021. The Philippines received on Tuesday an additional batch of Sinovac vaccines donated by the Chinese government to help the Southeast Asian country recover quickly from the COVID-19 pandemic. (Xinhua/Rouelle Umali)

Staff members unload cargos containing Sinovac vaccines donated by the Chinese government from a plane in Pasay City, the Philippines, Dec. 14, 2021. The Philippines received on Tuesday an additional batch of Sinovac vaccines donated by the Chinese government to help the Southeast Asian country recover quickly from the COVID-19 pandemic. (Xinhua/Rouelle Umali)

Staff members transport cargos containing Sinovac vaccines donated by the Chinese government in Pasay City, the Philippines, Dec. 14, 2021. The Philippines received on Tuesday an additional batch of Sinovac vaccines donated by the Chinese government to help the Southeast Asian country recover quickly from the COVID-19 pandemic. (Xinhua/Rouelle Umali)
Source: Xinhua| 2021-12-14 21:35:58|Editor: huaxia

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Staff members check passengers' tickets at Vientiane Railway Station in Vientiane, Laos, Dec. 12, 2021. The China-Laos Railway created more than 110,000 jobs for Lao people during its construction. Since the railway's construction was launched, the project has drawn the interest of numerous local young talents who pursued their professional career on the railway, and many of them have grown into railway engineering masters. (Photo by Kaikeo Saiyasane/Xinhua)



Staff members check passengers' tickets at Vientiane Railway Station in Vientiane, Laos, Dec. 12, 2021. The China-Laos Railway created more than 110,000 jobs for Lao people during its construction. Since the railway's construction was launched, the project has drawn the interest of numerous local young talents who pursued their professional career on the railway, and many of them have grown into railway engineering masters. (Photo by Kaikeo Saiyasane/Xinhua)

A staff member checks passengers' tickets at Vientiane Railway Station in Vientiane, Laos, Dec. 12, 2021. The China-Laos Railway created more than 110,000 jobs for Lao people during its construction. Since the railway's construction was launched, the project has drawn the interest of numerous local young talents who pursued their professional career on the railway, and many of them have grown into railway engineering masters. (Photo by Kaikeo Saiyasane/Xinhua)

Lao railway staff welcome passengers of the China-Laos Railway at Vientiane Railway Station in Vientiane, Laos, Dec. 3, 2021. The China-Laos Railway created more than 110,000 jobs for Lao people during its construction. Since the railway's construction was launched, the project has drawn the interest of numerous local young talents who pursued their professional career on the railway, and many of them have grown into railway engineering masters. (Photo by Kaikeo Saiyasane/Xinhua)

Lao railway staff welcome passengers to board Lane Xang electric multiple unit (EMU) train of the China-Laos Railway at Vientiane Railway Station in Vientiane, Laos, Dec. 3, 2021. The China-Laos Railway created more than 110,000 jobs for Lao people during its construction. Since the railway's construction was launched, the project has drawn the interest of numerous local young talents who pursued their professional career on the railway, and many of them have grown into railway engineering masters. (Photo by Li Huan/Xinhua)

Lao railway staff prepare to welcome passengers of the China-Laos Railway at Vientiane Railway Station in Vientiane, Laos, Dec. 3, 2021. The China-Laos Railway created more than 110,000 jobs for Lao people during its construction. Since the railway's construction was launched, the project has drawn the interest of numerous local young talents who pursued their professional career on the railway, and many of them have grown into railway engineering masters. (Photo by Kaikeo Saiyasane/Xinhua)

A Lao railway staff member welcomes passengers to board Lane Xang electric multiple unit (EMU) train of the China-Laos Railway at Vientiane Railway Station in Vientiane, Laos, Dec. 3, 2021. The China-Laos Railway created more than 110,000 jobs for Lao people during its construction. Since the railway's construction was launched, the project has drawn the interest of numerous local young talents who pursued their professional career on the railway, and many of them have grown into railway engineering masters. (Photo by Kaikeo Saiyasane/Xinhua)

Sida Phengphongsawanh, a trainee driver, gets trained on Lane Xang electric multiple unit (EMU) train of the China-Laos Railway in Laos, Nov. 30, 2021. The China-Laos Railway created more than 110,000 jobs for Lao people during its construction. Since the railway's construction was launched, the project has drawn the interest of numerous local young talents who pursued their professional career on the railway, and many of them have grown into railway engineering masters. (Photo by Li Huan/Xinhua)
Source: Xinhua| 2021-12-14 21:32:16|Editor: huaxia

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MEXICO CITY, Dec. 14 (Xinhua) -- More than 40 people died and dozens were injured after a fuel truck exploded in northern Haiti, media and officials said on Tuesday.

The blast occurred in Haiti's northern port city of Cap-Haitien, Prime Minister Ariel Henry tweeted, extending his condolences on behalf of the government and the Haitian people.

He also announced a three-day national mourning to commemorate the victims.

Haiti's former prime minister Claude Joseph tweeted Tuesday that he was "shattered" by the news, saying that he shares the "pain and sorrow of all the people." Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-12-14 21:50:37|Editor: huaxia

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MOSCOW, Dec. 14 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin via video link on Wednesday, another virtual conference this year following the one in June.

Since the beginning of this year, China and Russia have taken the celebration of the 20th anniversary of the signing of the China-Russia Treaty of Good-neighborliness and Friendly Cooperation as a new starting point to promote strategic coordination and comprehensive practical cooperation between the two countries.

A series of new achievements have been made in the fields of politics, economy and trade, science and technology, energy and the military.

The heads of state have maintained frequent and close contacts in 2021. In May, Xi and Putin witnessed the ground-breaking ceremony of a bilateral nuclear energy cooperation project via video link.

In June, the presidents met via video link to jointly announce the extension of the China-Russia Treaty of Good-Neighborliness and Friendly Cooperation.

In July, Xi sent a message of condolence to Putin over the crash of a Russian passenger plane. In August, the leaders held a phone conversation to discuss bilateral ties and the Afghan situation.

With China being Russia's top trading partner for many consecutive years, their bilateral trade exceeded 100 billion U.S. dollars in 2018 for the first time and has maintained the momentum despite the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the first 10 months of this year, China-Russia trade in goods reached a record of 115.6 billion dollars, topping the whole-year volume of 2020, official statistics showed.

In March, China and Russia signed a memorandum of understanding on jointly establishing an international scientific research station on the moon.

The China-Russia Year of Scientific and Technological Innovation concluded last month, which saw more than 1,000 events for exchanges on scientific innovation and cooperation.

The No. 7 and No. 8 units of the Tianwan nuclear power plant and the No. 3 and No. 4 units of the Xudapu nuclear power plant started construction in May, which are the biggest China-Russia joint project in the field of nuclear energy.

A joint military exercise between China and Russia, named ZAPAD/INTERACTION-2021, was carried out in northwest China. The two navies conducted their first joint maritime cruise, and the two air forces carried out their third joint strategic aerial patrol.

The two militaries strengthened coordination via participating in the "Peace Mission 2021" counter-terrorism military drill of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization member states and the International Army Games 2021.

As comprehensive strategic partners of coordination for a new era, China and Russia firmly support each other on major issues concerning each other's core interests, coordinate closely on international affairs, and play a pivotal role in maintaining global peace and stability, Chinese Ambassador to Russia Zhang Hanhui has said. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-12-15 00:03:33|Editor: huaxia

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Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, delivers an important speech at the opening ceremony of the 11th National Congress of China Federation of Literary and Art Circles and the 10th National Congress of China Writers Association at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Dec. 14, 2021. (Xinhua/Rao Aimin)

BEIJING, Dec. 14 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday called on Chinese artists and writers to boost their awareness of and confidence in Chinese culture, create new prospects for Chinese literature and art, and add new luster to Chinese culture.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks at the opening ceremony of the 11th National Congress of China Federation of Literary and Art Circles and the 10th National Congress of China Writers Association.

Over the past 100 years, the Party has led the literary and art front to blaze a path of development that is guided by Marxism, suited to China's national conditions and cultural traditions, and holds high the people-centered nature, Xi said.

Noting that contemporary China has great prospects, Xi said this era has provided an unprecedented broad stage for literature and art to bloom. He urged people of the sector to shoulder the responsibility to develop a great socialist culture in China, saying that they can accomplish a great deal.

Xi said those on the literary and art front should adhere to serving the people and socialism, follow the policy of "letting a hundred flowers bloom and a hundred schools of thought contend," push for creative transformation and development, and rise up to their tasks and missions.

All these efforts will help present a new look of China's literature and art and add new luster to Chinese culture, thus contributing to realizing the Chinese Dream of national rejuvenation, Xi added.

Also attending Tuesday's meeting were Li Keqiang, Li Zhanshu, Wang Yang, Wang Huning, Zhao Leji, and Han Zheng, who are all members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee.

On behalf of the CPC Central Committee, Xi extended greetings to representatives at the meeting as well as all writers and artists across the country.

Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC in 2012, China's literature and art have been flourishing with great diversity and full vigor, Xi said, taking note of progress in the spheres of literature, drama, film, television, music, dance, fine arts, photography, calligraphy, folk art, acrobatics, literary criticism, mass art, and art education.

He expressed his hope that the writers and artists will bear in mind the national rejuvenation and the people, make innovations on the basis of tradition, better tell China's stories to the world, and stick to both moral integrity and artistic competence.

Xi pointed out that artists and writers should firmly grasp the contemporary theme of national rejuvenation and closely integrate the pursuit of their artistic life with the future of China, the destiny of the Chinese nation and the aspirations of the Chinese people.

Artists and writers must promote a national spirit that is based on patriotism and a contemporary spirit that is based on reform and innovation, Xi said.

He said the fundamental position of socialist literature and art is from the people, for the people and of the people. This is also the driving force for the prosperity of socialist literature and art, Xi added.

Xi said writers and artists should take a people-centered approach and produce more works that meet the people's cultural needs and enhance people's spiritual strength.

He said writers and artists should not only let the people play the lead in their works, but also integrate their ideological tendencies and emotions with the people.

Noting that the value of writers and artists is represented by their creations, Xi called on Chinese writers and artists to strengthen their efforts in producing high-quality literary and artistic works.

He urged blending the values of Chinese culture with artistic creativity and combining the Chinese and contemporary aesthetics to revitalize Chinese culture.

Regarding the relationship between inheritance and innovation, Xi said that fine traditional Chinese culture can become an important source of inspiration for literary and artistic innovation.

Stressing that contemporary Chinese literature and art should look beyond China, Xi called for producing literary and artistic works that convey modern Chinese values and notions and also reflect the common values and pursuits of all humanity.

He urged the creation of more globally recognizable cultural images of China that can help present a lively and multi-dimensional China for the world.

Xi highlighted the importance of preserving the stance of Chinese culture and establishing a distinctive Chinese style and demeanor in world literature and art.

Literature and art should be down-to-earth, centered around life, be innovative and pursue economic returns, but should not be vulgar, spread unhealthy influence, be grotesque or succumb to the market, Xi said.

Those working in literature and art should treasure their social influence, because if they misbehave, they will not be accepted by the people and will be against the times, he said, demanding that they nourish integrity and promote truthfulness, kindness and beauty, and speak against hypocrisy, villainy and ugliness.

Xi noted that to make socialist literature and art prosper, literature and art workers who are patriotic and eager to contribute should be widely united under the leadership of the Party.

He called for more guidance for new forms of literary and art organizations and groups, more support for grassroots literature and art workers, and more encouragement for the younger generation, so as to produce more contemporary Chinese writers and artists, and make the Chinese literature and art circle star-studded.

Around 3,000 people attended Tuesday's meeting. Enditem

Xi Jinping, Li Keqiang, Li Zhanshu, Wang Yang, Wang Huning, Zhao Leji and Han Zheng attend the opening ceremony of the 11th National Congress of China Federation of Literary and Art Circles and the 10th National Congress of China Writers Association at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Dec. 14, 2021. (Xinhua/Li Xueren)

The 11th National Congress of China Federation of Literary and Art Circles and the 10th National Congress of China Writers Association open at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Dec. 14, 2021. (Xinhua/Rao Aimin)
Source: Xinhua| 2021-12-14 18:23:03|Editor: huaxia

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A worker polishes the sculpture titled "Into the third wave" made by David Ngwerume, one of Zimbabwe's most decorated artists, who is known for his pandemic-inspired art, in Harare, Zimbabwe, Dec. 8, 2021. Two of Zimbabwe's renowned stone sculptors will showcase their talent at the 9th Beijing International Art Biennale which will start next month. The Beijing International Art Biennale, which has taken place since 2002, promotes global harmony through contemporary artwork exhibitions. (Photo by Shaun Jusa/Xinhua)

by Tafara Mugwara

HARARE, Dec. 14 (Xinhua) -- Two of Zimbabwe's renowned stone sculptors will showcase their talent at the 9th Beijing International Arts Biennale which will start next month.

The Beijing International Art Biennale, which has taken place since 2002, promotes global harmony through contemporary artwork exhibitions.

More than 114 countries will be represented at the Biennale, with more than 5,000 artists showcasing their visual artworks.

David Ngwerume, one of Zimbabwe's most decorated artists, who is known for his pandemic-inspired art, will showcase one of his sculptures at the Biennale.

The piece, titled "Into the third wave" depicts a woman receiving a COVID-19 jab against a wave symbolizing the pandemic currently ravaging the world.

Ngwerume said art transcends culture and speaks directly to our common humanity, which makes it a perfect medium and in raising public awareness.

"It can depict the past, the present, and the future, hence in this COVID-19 pandemic, as an artist, I found it so plausible to the effect that I should produce something which gives an alternative message besides the advertising, the digital media and everything else," Ngwerume said.

Since the beginning of this year, Ngwerume -- who is also an attorney -- has used much of his time carving pandemic prevention messages on stone.

"Art captures the moment, it gives a sensation unto everything, and it gives a deeper message than anything else in messages of awareness," he said.

The renowned artist said by hammering anti-pandemic messages on stone, his art has managed to resonate well with the public.

The artist is adamant that participating in the Biennale will enable him to penetrate into the Chinese market.

"I am looking so much forward, and I am very positive that my art is going to make waves in China. It is going to be seen far and wide, and it presents a different message with a different tone around any other sculptures that have come from Zimbabwe, so I am so grateful to be welcomed by China through this sculpture piece," he said.

Dominic Benhura, another renowned stone sculpture who has been in the industry for nearly four decades, will also showcase his piece of a mother and a child titled "Proud Mother".

"This piece basically celebrates life, which is part of the Biennale captions which we were supposed to bring out because they want to promote innovation and creativity, and also the theme was light and life," he said.

Benhura, who has showcased his art in China, is also looking forward to boosting his footprint in the Asian country through the exhibition.

"Having an opportunity again to showcase in China, especially at this level, where about 100 countries will be exhibiting there gives me a much wide audience to see my work, and the work from Zimbabwe, so I am really excited about it," he said.

Benhura's work has been included in many major exhibitions both in Zimbabwe and internationally. He is widely known for his exceptional ability to portray human feelings through form rather than facial expression.

Zimbabwe's Acting Minister of Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation Sekai Nzenza said the Beijing Biennale creates a platform where Zimbabwe's image becomes known because of its unique art.

"So really this opens doors for Zimbabwean artists so that we as a country also recognize the value of art, and art as business, and art as an expression of our identity, so it really encourages Zimbabweans to reach out to the Chinese market and also the Chinese market to begin, if they haven't started already, to recognize the uniqueness of Zimbabwean art," she told Xinhua.

Nicholas Moyo, Executive Director at the National Arts Council of Zimbabwe, said art is media, hence its importance in raising public awareness.

"It is a tool of communicating and transmitting information, whatever information it is, and the artist becomes the conduit of particular socio-economic issues that may be relevant at a given time. And in the time where we are, it has become necessary that as societies we come together in the fight against the pandemic," he said.

Zimbabwe is widely known for its stone sculpture. Stone artists use basic tools to carve expressive art into blocks of mostly serpentine stone into realist and abstract forms conveying emotions and struggles of everyday life. Enditem

David Ngwerume, one of Zimbabwe's most decorated artists, who is known for his pandemic-inspired art, shows his artwork to Zimbabwe's Acting Minister of Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation Sekai Nzenza at his studio in Harare, Zimbabwe, Dec. 9, 2021. Two of Zimbabwe's renowned stone sculptors will showcase their talent at the 9th Beijing International Art Biennale which will start next month. The Beijing International Art Biennale, which has taken place since 2002, promotes global harmony through contemporary artwork exhibitions. (Photo by Shaun Jusa/Xinhua)

A piece of artwork made by David Ngwerume, one of Zimbabwe's most decorated artists, who is known for his pandemic-inspired art, is seen at his studio in Harare, Zimbabwe, Dec. 9, 2021. Two of Zimbabwe's renowned stone sculptors will showcase their talent at the 9th Beijing International Art Biennale which will start next month. The Beijing International Art Biennale, which has taken place since 2002, promotes global harmony through contemporary artwork exhibitions. (Photo by Shaun Jusa/Xinhua)
Source: Xinhua| 2021-12-14 20:49:48|Editor: huaxia

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WINDHOEK, Dec. 14 (Xinhua) -- Namibia's Statistics Agency on Tuesday released the country's first ever 'Namibia Preliminary Urban Land Statistics Bulletin.

Statistician General and CEO of Namibia Statistics Agency, Alex Shimuafeni indicated Namibia can broadly be divided into three land classes of state land, communal and commercial agriculture land. State land can further be subdivided into broad classes of parks, restricted areas and urban land.

"The country has experienced rapid urbanization that has exerted pressure on the availability of urban land and services. The provision of land and basic services, inadequate housing, lack of land tenure security resulting in mushrooming of informal settlements, and inadequate basic urban infrastructure capacity are some of the challenges," said Shimuafeni.

The Bulletin is divided into two parts and provides a summary of available urban zoned land in nine out of the 14 regions of the country.

The bulletin provides summaries of the number of serviced plots in all the proclaimed urban areas of the following regions: Erongo, Kunene, Omusati, Oshana, Oshikoto, Ohangwena, Kavango West, Kavango East and Zambezi.

The emphasis of the publication is mainly on residential land while also accounting for other urban land uses. The bulletin also delivers a comparison of the size of zoned urban land as a proportion to the remaining townland in each urban locality.

In 2018, it was estimated that urban land, excluding the expanded city boundary of Windhoek, accounted for about 1 percent of the total land mass or 795,244 hectares. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-12-14 21:53:00|Editor: huaxia

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WINDHOEK, Dec. 14 (Xinhua) -- Namibia will become home to the Africa Millimeter Telescope (AMT), which will be the first radio telescope in Africa that is sensitive to millimeter wavelength radiation, the University of Namibia (UNAM) announced on Tuesday.

It is part of a large collaborative project between Radboud University in the Netherlands, the UNAM and various international partners.

The AMT will help shoot better images and videos of the black hole at the center of our galaxy, and enable us to further test our theories on black holes and understand how they generate gigantic amounts of energy, said Heino Falcke, a professor with Radboud University, who is the principal researcher behind the project.

"We can understand astrophysical objects such as black holes better, when we observe them at the same time with different types of telescopes," said Michael Backes, who is with the UNAM and co-principal researcher of the project.

The telescope, which will have a diameter of 15 meters, will be built according to a tried-out design and will be equipped with instruments featuring the most recent technology.

The AMT shall be powered in a sustainable manner, by using solar power, wind energy and possibly hydrogen, said the UNAM. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-12-15 00:24:44|Editor: huaxia

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ADDIS ABABA, Dec. 14 (Xinhua) -- The Eighth Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), held in late November in Senegal, was beneficial and successful in strengthening China-Africa ties, an Ethiopian government official has said.

Dina Mufti, a spokesperson for Ethiopia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, when addressing journalists in his periodic briefing on Tuesday, said Ethiopia can, in particular, benefit from the major outcomes of the meeting, which include opening "green lanes" for African agricultural exports to China and setting up an earmarked fund for financing imports from Africa.

"Ethiopia is among countries on the forefront to strongly benefit from any support by China to the African continent, including through the FOCAC mechanism or other platforms," Mufti said.

The spokesperson further recognized China's resolve in maintaining its solidarity with the East African country.

According to Mufti, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who met with Ethiopian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Demeke Mekonnen in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa earlier this month, reiterated China's continued support and solidarity to Ethiopia. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-12-14 09:52:43|Editor: huaxia

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CANBERRA, Dec. 14 (Xinhua) -- Australia's national science agency has developed a new model for predicting the spread of bushfires.

The Vesta Mark 2 Model, which was launched by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) on Tuesday, is Australia's most advanced model for predicting the speed and behavior of a eucalypt forest fire.

Eucalypts make up more than 70 percent of Australia's forests and account for the country's two most extreme fire events of the 21st century: the 2009 Black Saturday fires and the 2019/20 Black Summer fires.

Andrew Sullivan, a CSIRO bushfire behavior researcher, said while much of the country was expecting a wet summer, bushfires remained an ever-present threat.

"Forests have critical ecological and socio-economic roles, and often connect to areas where large numbers of Australians live," he said in a media release.

"Critically, this model can accurately predict the speed that a fire front will advance across a landscape, which is essential to enable authorities to efficiently identify threats, issue bushfire warning messages, signal evacuations, and plan fire suppression actions."

The model relies on weather forecasts and wind information from the Bureau of Meteorology as well as historical data on fires dating back 40 years and fuel load information from vegetation databases.

A landmark CSIRO report published in November found that the average area of forest burned annually in Australia was 800 percent higher between 2002 and 2019 than from 1988 to 2001.

Of the four mega fires in Australia since 1930, defined as a bushfire that burned more than 1 million hectares of land, three have occurred since 2000.

Kyle Stewart, deputy commissioner for preparedness and capability at the New South Wales (NSW) Rural Fire Service (RFS), said the new model would be a key weapon in the fight against fires.

"Knowing with confidence where a bushfire will be ahead of time is critical to the safe and effective deployment of our fire crews and the safety of our communities," he said. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-12-14 10:22:42|Editor: huaxia

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SYDNEY, Dec. 14 (Xinhua) -- As COVID-19 cases in the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW) began to resurge and outbreaks of the Omicron variant littered the state, authorities have remained adamant on their course to reopening.

On Tuesday, daily new cases in NSW jumped to a 10-week high of 804 cases, a jump from 536 cases on Monday, and almost four times as many cases as was being reported daily last week.

NSW's chief health officer Dr. Kerry Chant said NSW Health was attributing the increase in case numbers to the spread of the Omicron variant.

There was one reported death in the 24 hours to 8:00 p.m. Monday night, but unlike previous waves, hospitalizations remain steady, with 168 COVID-19 patients in hospital compared with 155 at the same time last week.

And despite the upward trend in cases, the state remains on track to continue opening up.

From Wednesday, mask wearing in NSW will no longer be mandatory in indoor settings, only on public transport. Further to this, non-essential retail venues such as restaurants and retail shops, would open to the unvaccinated from that day.

NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard said the state would not "backflip" on its path to opening up, but urged citizens to get a booster shot as cases surge, and warned of dangers to the unvaccinated.

"New South Wales is not planning on any snap lockdowns; what we are planning on is making sure the community understands the need to be vaccinated and the need to have boosters," Hazzard said on Tuesday.

"You (unvaccinated people) might be out and about now, but you are very vulnerable to what is a rapidly increasing number of COVID cases."

The fully vaccination rate for the state's over-16 population sits at 93.2, with 94.8 percent having received at least one dose.

Australia also remains on track to open its national borders from Wednesday to international students and skilled workers.

The nation was originally due to open to the two groups from Dec. 1, however, this was delayed following the emergence of the Omicron variant.

From Dec. 13, the state of Queensland opened its borders to the rest of Australia, however, Western Australia (WA) announced on Monday that it would not open its border to domestic travellers until Feb. 5.

"I am confident that this is the right time and the right way to take this important step," said WA Premier Mark McGowan on Monday. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-12-14 14:06:33|Editor: huaxia

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ISLAMABAD, Dec. 14 (Xinhua) -- A soldier was killed in a check post attack along the Pakistan-Iran border in Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan province, a military statement said on Tuesday.

The incident happened when a group of terrorists targeted the check post where an unknown number of soldiers were deployed for security duty, the military's media wing Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in the statement.

The soldier was killed during a heavy exchange of fire, and losses were also inflicted on the fleeing terrorists in a retaliatory attack by the check post staff.

Terrorist attacks on civilians have notably decreased over the few years due to extensive operations against terrorists in Balochistan and northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

However, the terrorists keep on launching sporadic attacks on security forces along with border areas of Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Earlier last month, two soldiers were killed when terrorists targeted a security check post in Kech district located along the border with Iran. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-12-14 14:12:41|Editor: huaxia

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WELLINGTON, Dec. 14 (Xinhua) -- Updated environmental indicators show indigenous marine and land species are struggling against extinction, and wetland area continues to be lost, New Zealand's statistics department Stats NZ said on Tuesday.

The indicators "extinction threat to indigenous marine species" and "extinction threat to indigenous land species" show the population trends of particular indigenous marine and land species, and how close to losing them altogether.

"Environmental indicators are essential for building the bigger picture of what's happening in our environment. They help us track changes and support decision-making," environmental reporting manager Angela Seaton said in a statement.

According to the indicators, 90 percent of seabird species, 82 percent of shorebird species, and 94 percent of reptile species are either threatened with extinction or at risk of becoming threatened. In addition, the populations of many of New Zealand's indigenous species are expected to decline.

A further published indicator "wetland area" shows an ongoing pattern of net loss. New Zealand's (including the Chatham Islands) freshwater wetland area decreased by almost 1,500 hectares between 2012 and 2018, Seaton said. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-12-14 15:01:35|Editor: huaxia

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ISLAMABAD, Dec. 14 (Xinhua) -- A policeman was killed and two others were injured in a firing incident in Rawalpindi district of Pakistan's east Punjab province, a police official said Tuesday.

Unknown gunmen riding on motorcycles opened indiscriminate fire at a police party performing patrolling duty in the Pir Wadhai area of Rawalpindi district late Monday night, Assistant Superintendent of Police in Rawalpindi Beenish Fatima told Xinhua.

The gunmen fled the scene after the attacking, the official said, adding that the two critically injured policemen have been rushed to a hospital in the district.

A heavy contingent of police force reached the site to investigate the matter, and a search operation was launched to arrest the attackers.

No group or individual has claimed the attack yet. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-12-14 15:12:20|Editor: huaxia

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HANOI, Dec. 14 (Xinhua) -- Nearly 38,700 units of automobile were sold in the Vietnamese market in November, up 30 percent against October and 6 percent on year, according to the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers Association on Tuesday.

People's demand is increasing at the end of the year with maintained promotion programs and new policy on registration fee reduction coming into force, leading to better sales of automobile in November, local experts said.

In the first 11 months of this year, Vietnam's total automobile sales stood at 257,390 units, posting a year-on-year rise of 3 percent, according to the manufacturers association.

Specifically, sales of domestically assembled automobiles went down 10 percent, while those of imported ones rose 26 percent on year, said the association.

Between January and November, Vietnam spent over 7.6 billion U.S. dollars on importing completely-built automobiles and components for assembly, posting a year-on-year surge of 38.1 percent, according to the country's General Statistics Office. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-12-14 16:48:07|Editor: huaxia

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MANILA, Dec. 14 (Xinhua) -- The Philippines' Department of Health (DOH) reported 235 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, marking the lowest daily caseload since May 23, 2020 and bringing the total tally to 2,836,868.

The DOH also reported 10 more deaths from COVID-19 complications, bringing the overall coronavirus death toll to 50,351.

The number of active cases in the Southeast Asian country stands currently at 10,526.

The DOH said eight laboratories failed to submit data, while four are not operational.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday night thanked China for sustaining a supply of COVID-19 vaccines to the Philippines.

"I'd like to remind everybody that when everything was down for us, it was China (that helped us)," he said in a televised public address.

Duterte said the Philippines and China are "good friends." "Whatever they say about the relations of the Philippines and China, I would maintain that we are good friends, and they were the first one to give us the vaccines," he noted.

The Philippines has administered more than 97 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines as of Monday, with nearly 38 million people being fully vaccinated.

The government plans to vaccinate around 54 million people this year. The DOH has been reporting below 1,000 daily cases since Nov. 24, compared to the record high 26,303 cases on Sept. 11.

The Philippines, which has around 110 million population, has tested more than 23 million people for COVID-19 since the pandemic. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-12-14 19:26:22|Editor: huaxia

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Buddhist monks attend the event of "Angkor Thanksgiving" in Angkor Wat in Siem Reap province, Cambodia, Dec. 14, 2021. Cambodia on Tuesday held a religious ceremony in front of the famed Angkor Wat in northwestern Siem Reap province to officially begin the event of "Angkor Thanksgiving". (Photo by Ly Lay/Xinhua)

Buddhist monks attend the event of "Angkor Thanksgiving" in Angkor Wat in Siem Reap province, Cambodia, Dec. 14, 2021. Cambodia on Tuesday held a religious ceremony in front of the famed Angkor Wat in northwestern Siem Reap province to officially begin the event of "Angkor Thanksgiving". (Photo by Ly Lay/Xinhua)
Source: Xinhua| 2021-12-14 20:30:15|Editor: huaxia

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KUNDUZ, Afghanistan, Dec. 14 (Xinhua) -- Afghanistan after 10 years of halt has resumed importing goods via the Shir Khan dry port in the northern Kunduz province.

On Monday night, the first import via border town in a decade -- 60 tons of fuel arrived in the provincial capital Kunduz, provincial government official Matiullah Rohani said Tuesday.

The Shir Khan dry port connecting Kunduz province to the neighboring Tajikistan had been closed due to security problems. Its reuse came amid continuously rising fuel prices and devaluation of the Afghan national currency against the U.S. dollar.

The price of petrol was 78 afghani per liter on Monday and 105 afghani on Tuesday, with the exchange rate rising from 1 U.S. dollar versus 104 afghani on Monday to 120 afghani on Tuesday.

Rohani said he hoped the petrol and diesel prices would drop following the resumption of trade activities via the Shir Khan dry port. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-12-14 20:57:40|Editor: huaxia

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ISLAMABAD, Dec. 14 (Xinhua) -- The China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) will bring prosperity for people across the world through generating global integration, Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said on Tuesday.

Addressing the Margalla Dialogue 2021 organized by the Islamabad Policy Research Institute, an Islamabad-based think tank, Qureshi said the BRI, with the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor as a flagship project, utilizes the economic geography and enhances the connectivity of Asia, Europe and Africa.

Highlighting Pakistan's strategic pivot from geopolitics to geo-economics, the foreign minister said a country like Pakistan situated on the crossroad of South, Central and West Asia will remain accessible to all and reach out to all.

He said diplomacy needs a multi-faceted outlook to go beyond the traditional way in the 21st century and a post-COVID-19 world.

Talking about the situation in Afghanistan, Qureshi said there is a dire humanitarian crisis looming which has consequences not only for the people of Afghanistan but also the region and beyond. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-12-14 19:19:27|Editor: huaxia

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Josep Borrell, the EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, is seen before a meeting of the EU foreign ministers in Brussels, Belgium, Dec. 13, 2021. A meeting of the EU foreign ministers was held on Monday in Brussels. (European Union/Handout via Xinhua)

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (2nd R, front) attends a meeting of the EU foreign ministers in Brussels, Belgium, Dec. 13, 2021. A meeting of the EU foreign ministers was held on Monday in Brussels. (European Union/Handout via Xinhua)

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian (1st L, front) talks with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock before a meeting of the EU foreign ministers in Brussels, Belgium, Dec. 13, 2021. A meeting of the EU foreign ministers was held on Monday in Brussels. (European Union/Handout via Xinhua)

Photo taken on Dec. 13, 2021 shows a meeting of the EU foreign ministers in Brussels, Belgium. A meeting of the EU foreign ministers was held on Monday in Brussels. (European Union/Handout via Xinhua)
Source: Xinhua| 2021-12-14 19:19:01|Editor: huaxia

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ISTANBUL, Dec. 14 (Xinhua) -- Four foreign children were killed and two people wounded when a fire erupted in the wee hours of Tuesday at an apartment building in Turkey's biggest city Istanbul, the Governor's office announced.

The office said in a statement that the fire broke out at around 2:50 a.m. local time (2350 GMT on Monday) in the basement of a five-story building in the Esenyurt district located on the European side of the city.

Four children with foreign nationality lost their lives to the blaze, while their mother and another kid were rescued and rushed to a nearby hospital, it added.

"A judicial and administrative investigation has been initiated regarding the issue," the statement noted, without revealing further details. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-12-15 00:48:17|Editor: huaxia

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NICOSIA, Dec. 14 (Xinhua) -- Following their meeting here on Tuesday, the foreign ministers of Cyprus and Egypt called for peaceful cooperation in line with international law in the eastern Mediterranean.

Cypriot Foreign Minister Nikos Christodoulides said relations and cooperation between Cyprus and Egypt were at their highest point ever.

He added that multilateral cooperation agreements, which involve Cyprus, Egypt, Greece, Israel, Lebanon, Jordan, France and the United States, are becoming strategic.

Christodoulides said that Cyprus is concerned over what he called Turkey's "revisionist and destabilizing policies" in the wider region of the eastern Mediterranean.

He also expressed concern over Turkey's claims on sea areas of Cyprus' Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) demarcated under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said that the challenges in the region must be handled with respect to international law, the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the countries of the region, and without expansionist policies and aggressive actions.

Shoukry said that cooperation between Cyprus and Egypt on a bilateral basis and with Greece within the framework of a trilateral cooperation agreement contributes to the stability of the region.

Egypt was the first country to conclude an agreement with Cyprus demarcating the EEZs of the two countries.

Turkey disputes the demarcation, arguing that large swathes of the eastern Mediterranean close to the western shores of Cyprus lie within the Turkish continental shelf. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-12-14 07:33:05|Editor: huaxia

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by Matthew Rusling

WASHINGTON, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) -- Smash-and-grab robberies are headed toward crisis levels in some U.S. cities, with gangs of thugs rampaging unchecked through stores and grabbing anything in site. City officials are accused of implementing policies that encourage such lawlessness.

On Saturday, two thieves walked into a Chicago store wielding hammers and a gun, smashing through display cases and stealing several watches valued at 2 million U.S. dollars, U.S. media reported.

A security guard was shot and killed last month during a smash-and-grab robbery in Oakland, near San Francisco, California. He was protecting a local news crew while they covered the uptick of looting in the city.

Outside Chicago, thugs recently stampeded through a Louis Vuitton store, filling large plastic bags with merchandise worth over 120,000 U.S. dollars, media reported.

A string of violent robberies took place all in one weekend in the San Francisco Bay Area. Those included an incident whereby thieves with hammers ransacked several clothing, jewelry and sunglasses stores.

On the same weekend, as many as 80 bandits carrying crowbars hit a Nordstrom department store outside San Francisco, attacking one employee with pepper spray and stealing as much merchandise as they could get their hands on. The group fled via waiting getaway cars, U.S. media reported.

The same weekend saw roving groups of criminals carrying crowbars and hammers attack multiple retailers, including Burberry, Louis Vuitton and Bloomingdale's, all around San Francisco's Union Square, media reported.

The recent surge in online shopping, due to the pandemic, has given criminals a vast marketplace in which to sell stolen goods.

Senior executive vice president for public affairs at the Retail Industry Leaders Association Michael Hanson said, "Criminals saw that [increase in online shopping] and said, 'Oh, my gosh. More people are shopping online. Let's go get more and more product to sell on marketplaces because we can make a lot of money,'" as reported by The Hill, a U.S. political newspaper.

CONTROVERSIAL OFFICIALS

Critics said radical city officials are responsible for implementing policies that encourage smash-and-grab robberies. Those include downgrading offenses from felonies to misdemeanors.

According to the New York Post, over a dozen suspected looters in Los Angeles were arrested but rapidly released due to zero-bail policies that allow suspects to go free after arrest.

The 14 arrests followed a "rash" of 11 "flash-mob type" raids in which nearly 350,000 U.S. dollars in goods was swiped in just 10 days last month in Los Angeles, with the most recent on Nov. 28, city Police Chief Michel Moore said, as reported in the New York Post.

"All of the suspects taken into custody are out of custody," Moore said, blaming "zero-bail criteria" for the alleged criminals' rapid release.

California last year implemented a no bail policy for what the state called misdemeanors and lower-level felonies, in a bid to tamp down the prison population during the pandemic.

While the policy was supposed to be rescinded, it was kept in place in Los Angeles County.

City residents and police officers point to a recent surge in the number of local prosecutors and council members who openly state they want to shake up the system. That starts with dramatically reducing sentences and even refusing to prosecute suspects for myriad offenses -- even violent crimes, critics said.

U.S. President Joe Biden's approval rating on crime has fallen off a cliff amid the smash-and-grab crisis.

Around 36 percent of Americans support how the president has handled crime, according to a poll taken by ABC/IPSOS and published Sunday. That's down dramatically from an already paltry 43 percent that the polling group published in October.

Brookings Institution Senior Fellow Darrell West told Xinhua, "Crime is a difficult issue for Democrats because Republicans love to portray them as soft on crime."

"There has been a significant increase in crime in many urban areas and that definitely will be an issue the GOP uses against Democrats. This issue probably won't be as important as COVID and the economy in the election, but it is one Democrats should take seriously given their political exposure on this issue."

Paula Soloman, a housewife in the D.C. area in her 40s, told Xinhua she worries that smash and grab robberies could come to her area, and frets over whether she'll be caught in the middle and injured while shopping.

Shane Lucas, a fitness instructor in her 40s in the D.C. area, told Xinhua she refuses to drive into D.C. at night, for fear of the generally rising crime there. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-12-14 13:38:46|Editor: huaxia

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by Xu Chi

GENEVA, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. request to extradite WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange from Britain is politically motivated, Stella Moris, the famous whistle-blower's fiancee, has said of his recent extradition ruling.

Britain's high court on Friday ruled that Assange can be extradited to the United States to face espionage charges, overturning a lower court ruling earlier this year.

In an exclusive interview with Xinhua, Moris, an attorney herself, said Assange's legal team would appeal the decision.

"It's very clear that this is a politically motivated prosecution, and it's an extraordinary prosecution as well," she said, noting the extra-territorial nature of the extradition case against Assange, who is an Australian citizen living on British soil.

Assange, 50, is wanted in the United States on allegations of disclosing national defense information following WikiLeaks's publication of hundreds of thousands of leaked military documents relating to the Afghanistan and Iraq wars a decade ago, which included an Apache helicopter video footage documenting the U.S. military gunning down Reuters journalists and children in Baghdad's streets in 2007.

The U.S. extradition request for Assange is retaliation in disguise, and this constitutes yet another example of the United States encroaching on other countries' sovereignty, Moris said.

"The United States is abusing its real power, its ability to get others to do what it wants because of its might, in order to silence him, because he has embarrassed parts of the United States," Moris said.

"WikiLeaks and Julian have been extraordinarily effective in exposing war crimes ... in exposing what goes on behind closed doors with the United States," she added.

In September, a Yahoo news article revealed that the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency plotted to kidnap or assassinate Assange in 2017 prior to the U.S. indictments against him, following his disclosure of CIA's mass surveillance and espionage activities.

The Yahoo report confirmed the danger her family was in, and that "Julian's life is really at risk," Moris said, worried that if extradited Assange would not receive a fair trial and his life would be in danger.

The United States hatched a plot to indict against Assange to create the image of a judicial process, said Moris, describing it as "a farce."

Assange has been detained since April 2019 at Britain's high-security Belmarsh Prison, which recently granted him the right to espouse his fiancee.

Looking ahead, Moris said that "Now we're still in the middle of it ... The case is so outrageous, and it's so clearly abusive, and the U.S. has behaved criminally in not just one way, but in many."

"I have to tell my children that we will win this, and I really do think that we will win this," she told Xinhua. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-12-14 14:35:21|Editor: huaxia

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LOS ANGELES, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Navy nuclear-powered attack submarine USS Connecticut (SSN-22), which hit a sea mount in the South China Sea in October, pulled into San Diego Sunday morning after transiting from Guam, U.S. media reported Monday.

The Navy Times reported that Navy officials declined to explain why the SSN-22 is in Southern California, what damage the stealthy boat sustained and when it will head north to Washington's Puget Sound Naval Shipyard for repairs.

In response to several questions regarding Connecticut, Submarine Force Pacific spokeswoman Cmdr. Cynthia Fields would only confirm that the vessel was in San Diego and that "the submarine remains in a safe and stable condition," the report said.

Fields declined to answer questions in connection to media reports that Connecticut had to transit to San Diego at the surface "because the collision damage had impeded its ability to safely travel underwater."

USNI News, the U.S. Naval Institute's online news and analysis portal, reported Sunday that the submarine "transited the Pacific Ocean entirely on the surface" due to damage from the collision.

The vessel's sonar dome "became inoperable" as a result of the collision, making it unsafe to travel underwater, reported USNI News.

Ship spotter WarshipCam first posted a photo of the submarine pulling into the San Diego harbor early Sunday, and tweeted that there is "obvious damage to bow."

The vessel was damaged in the underwater collision on Oct. 2, and 11 sailors sustained minor injuries, said The Navy Times, adding that it made its way to Guam for damage assessment, and the command triad was relieved in November. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-12-14 20:48:15|Editor: huaxia

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TEHRAN, Dec. 14 (Xinhua) -- The head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) slammed Tuesday some anti-Iran accusations by the United States and Israel as "psywar," the official news agency IRNA reported.

Mohammad Eslami made the remarks on the sidelines of a ceremony in Tehran, saying "we are facing a campaign that is, in no way, willing to see Iran's scientific and technological progress."

He further stressed that all parties to the nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), are required to fulfill their commitments, adding the nuclear deal is a treaty, under which the signatories have made pledges and Iran has also accepted its commitments.

In a meeting with Israeli Foreign Minister Benny Gantz on Thursday, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Iran had failed to offer constructive diplomatic engagement in the talks that U.S. President Joe Biden had hoped would revive

Austin said Biden was "prepared to turn to other options" if the current American policy on Iran fails.

For his part, Gantz described Iran as "the biggest threat to the global and regional peace and stability."

The JCPOA was signed between Iran and the P5+1 in July 2015, based on which the former accepted to make some adjustments to its peaceful nuclear program while the latter promised to lift international sanctions on Tehran in return.

In May 2018, however, former U.S. President Donald Trump, expressing dissatisfaction with the JCPOA, pulled the country out of the deal and reimposed Washington's unilateral sanctions on Tehran.

Since April, a diplomatic process has started in the Austrian capital to revive the JCPOA, as part of which several rounds of talks have been held between Iran and the remaining parties to the deal, namely China, Russia, Britain, France and Germany. Enditem
Former Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) president Mr Peter Mutasa has been dragged to the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) for prejudicing the union, in cahoots with his accomplices, of thousands of dollars when he was at the helm of the organization.

According to a statement that was recorded at ZACC recently, and made by a member of the union Mr Thomas Masvingwe, the ZCTU in 2014 received US$500 000 from the Southern African Clothing and Textiles Union for the purpose of purchasing properties.

I am employed as the Secretary General of National Energy Workers Union of Zimbabwe, an affiliate of the ZCTU since 2006. I am also the Deputy General of the ZCTU since 2016. 3) The accused persons in this matter are (1) Japhet Moyo who is the Secretary General of the ZCTU, (2) Peter Mutasa who was the chairman of the investment committee, (3) George Nkiwani who was the president of the ZCTU at the material time.

Sometime in 2014 the secretary general advised the general council that the ZCTU had received five hundred thousand United States dollars ($500 000) from a South African union (Southern African Clothing and Textile Workers Union) for the purpose of acquiring property to be used in securing ZCTU self-sustenance and that they had identified properties in Prospect Park and Mazvikadei for purchase, said Mr Masvingwe in his statement.

ZACC confirmed receiving the complaint.

Although Mr Masvingwe raised objections over the proposed deal, citing a glaring absence of due diligence, his misgivings were disregarded.

He only discovered that the ZCTU leaders had unbeknown to some of the committee members purchased properties in Mazvikadei and Prospect, Harare.

On inquiry I realized that the value of the properties purchased was less than half the purchase price. I also noticed that the estate agent was paid a hundred thousand United States dollars ($100 000) which was excessive. I could not get any cogent explanation from accused 1. 2 and 3. I reasonably suspect that the accused persons set out or connived to prejudice ZCTU, Wherefore I request that this matter is investigated and that remedial is taken, read the statement in part that was made to ZACC.

ZACC spokesperson, Commissioner John Makamure, yesterday said the commission will consider the matter and take appropriate action.

If the matter is reported, the commission in line with section 265 of the constitution which guides its mandate will consider the matter and take appropriate action, he said.

Efforts to obtain a comment from Mr Mutasa hit a brick wall as his mobile phone continuously went unreachable, while Mr Moyo confirmed receipt of the donation but said it went through a different channel. Herald
The High Court has pardoned six Zimbabwe National Army members, who were fired in 2019 for allegedly stealing State property.

The six include Collen Chiba, Charles Mhuri, Bothwell Gorekore, Hillary Mubariki, Democracy Murambadoro and Gibson Madzinga.

Chiba and others had approached the High Court on review after a suitability board had dismissed them even after they were cleared of all wrongdoing by a court martial.

Commander Defence Forces Philip Valerio Sibanda and Defence and War Veterans Minister Oppah Muchingura were cited as respondents.

The six had based their arguments on the view that the decision to discharge them was irregular and un-procedural.

They were charged with theft of State property in terms of the Defence Act [Chapter 11:02] and were brought before a court martial for trial.

A judge advocate (Squadron Leader Timothy Kambudzi) had presided over the sixs trial before clearing the crew claiming the State had failed to prove a prima facie case against them.

However, according to the application, the six claimed they were dismissed without due process.

The soldiers said that they were neither afforded the opportunity to give evidence nor cross examine witnesses or interrogate documents relied on by the board.

Their case was that they were not heard before they were discharged.

However, while this may be so, them having been found not guilty of theft, the ZDF Commander could not insist that he was relying on theft and past conduct for the discharge, ruled Justice Chinamora.

The judge went on to set aside the decision to dismiss the six from duty.

In the result, the decision of the ZDF Commander discharging the six from ZNA service communicated on February 7, 2019 be and is hereby set aside.

The six be and hereby reinstated to their positions without loss of benefits.

The respondents shall pay costs of suit, jointly and severally, the one paying the other to be absolved, ruled the Judge. H Metro
President Mnangagwa yesterday said the country has enough Covid-19 jabs for everyone who wants to be vaccinated, including those who want a third dose in the wake of the new Omicron variant.

Most of the vaccines, said the President, were bought using local resources unlike other African countries that got financial support from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), among other multilateral financial institutions.

He said this while addressing hundreds of people who had gathered to witness the official opening of a US$$1,6 million Kudzanayi Long Distance Bus Terminus in Gweru yesterday.

When this virus was first detected, other countries received funding from World Bank and IMF while we did not get anything.

We, however, managed to pool our own resources because we said whether they like us or not, our health and the health of the majority Zimbabweans was supreme and out of all odds, we managed to buy enough vaccines, he said.

President Mnangagwa said Zimbabwe was one of the top five African countries to have enough vaccines for its citizens.

The recent discovery of the Omicron variant, said the President, had seen a surge in new infections in the country.

Before the new variant, Covid-19 new infections in the country had gone down. This virus had gone down in terms of new infections, but there has been a surge following the discovery of Omicron, he said.

The President urged citizens to go for booster jabs in their numbers to boost their immunity so that in the event of being hit by the virus, it will not result in hospitalisation.

Zimbabwe started administering Covid-19 booster shots to frontline workers, people with chronic diseases, and the elderly from the beginning of December.

The President added that the new variant, according to experts was mild, with those who have received their first and second jabs unlikely to be severely attacked Herald
The opposition MDC Alliance has accused Zanu PF of plotting to block its voter registration campaign in Bulawayo ahead of the 2022 by-elections.

MDC Alliance yesterday recently launched a voter registration campaign in Sizinda suburb, and is expected to spread to other areas amid revelations that the ruling party was mooting plans to block the exercise.

The party is targeting 500 000 voters in Bulawayo during the 21-day Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) registration window period.

MDC Alliance sources told Southern Eye that they were aware of Zanu PF plans to block their activities.

We are launching a voter registration campaign in Sizinda today (yesterday) but it looks like our counterparts Zanu PF are not happy.

They are mobilising each other to block all our activities in Bulawayo, the source said.

A social media message, purportedly circulated by Zanu PF members on Monday evening stated that they would not allow the MDC Alliance campaigns to continue.

Good evening comrades. The idiotic and sanctions devils advocate (MDC Alliance leader Nelson Chamisa) will attempt to do a door to door campaign in our province tomorrow (Tuesday) starting with Sizinda. May we mobilise to thwart that move as early as 8am in Sizinda in our regalia, the message read.

Also put everyone in our districts on alert in case he starts somewhere else in any of our districts.

May our security secretariats be activated, dont be found wanting in defending the revolution. KoBulawayo ayisiyo playground ka Chamisa. Phansi lo Chamisa (Bulawayo is not Chamisas playground, down with Chamisa).

MDC Alliance secretary for labour and social security, Gideon Shoko confirmed receiving the threatening messages from Zanu PF members.

We just received the information that Zanu PF was planning to block our campaign.

We do not know whether it was intimidation or they are yet to come. But we are saying, using threats and blocking us from campaigning when they (Zanu PF) go all over campaigning without being stopped is wrong and paints a bad picture about our country to the world.

Zanu PF Bulawayo chairman Obert Msindo yesterday said he was not aware of the alleged plot to disrupt opposition activities.

I am not aware of that at the moment. I am away in Harare and I will find out about that, Msindo said. Newsday
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RAWA News, November 30, 2021

After the infamous Doha agreement between the United States and the Taliban led by Zalmai Zalilzad, we witnessed that most parts of Afghanistan were handed over to the Taliban within a few weeks and all of Herats districts were no exception, including Qala-e-Islam port. The illusional war and the governments delusive pretense of the so-called defense, lasted only two weeks in the outskirts of the city. The warlord Ismail Khan was leading the war, which was nothing but deception of the people, and on the day of Herats fall, according to the previous plan, everyone fled and the city was captured with the least resistance and no war in a few hours.



Those who were deceived by such images of Ismail Khan on social media thought the Taliban would be retreated. Those who were deceived by such images of Ismail Khan on social media thought the Taliban would be retreated.

A few days after the Taliban took control, when I went to the city, I found out that most of Ismail Khan's fighters were unemployed, hired laborers who had been told to fight for 5,000 Afghanis (60-70 dollars), and that whatever booty you found was yours. Before fleeing, all those laborers who had already expired and useless were disarmed and told to return to their homes.

A resident of the city says about the situation in Herat in those days:

"The number of Taliban fighters was very small and most of them were recruited from the refugees of Ghor and Badghis provinces who lived in the Shaydayi area. A week later, when I went inside the city, you could not find any Talib. There were only a few people in government offices and the city was empty. If 500 troops were equipped, they could have captured the city, but it was the US wish to return the power to the Taliban."

Another person from Tobarian village of Injil district says:

"In the days when the war started in Panjshir, the Taliban district governor came to our mosque and ordered that you should provide us 20 young people every month to send to the Panjshir war to wage jihad. In those days, we heard that the Pakistan government, at the behest of the United States, had bombed Panjshir in the dark of night which caused a massacre of the people. It was clear that the corrupt and looting leaders of the so-called Resistance Front were alive and well, but the poor people suffered the loss of life and property."

After capturing Panjshir, and Amrullah Saleh and Ahmad Massoud fleeing to Tajikistan, the number of Taliban in Herat also increased, and within a few days all the heads of government departments were replaced by mullahs, none of whom were even acquainted with the principles of administration.

All over the country, with the entry of the Taliban into the cities, all government and banking systems collapsed and the country went into crisis, and the city of Herat, which is one of the commercial cities of Afghanistan, also fell. Since Herat has been the cradle of civilization and culture and has always nurtured countless scientists and cultural figures in its arms, the people of this city, with the initiative and resistance of women, protested and held several demonstrations in front of the provincial capital to defend their rights and raise their voice. Since the Taliban did not want the protesters to be heard, they started to arrest and beat the protesters and confiscated their video recording cameras. At a rally near the provincial capital, the Taliban opened fire on a crowd of protesters and went over some with their vehicles, killing several people and wounding several others. But to prevent the news from spreading, they collected all the mobile phones of the people, including the local shopkeepers, and deleted the videos.

On September 8, 2021, the Taliban opened fire on a teachers protest, killing Bashir Ahmad Afsari and Omid Sharifi, and wounded several others. But they passed by this crime so coldly that it seemed as if they had killed some insects.

In the so-called "peace" talks in Doha, Fawzia Kofi and other stagy women argued that "the Taliban has changed and do not possess the ideas of the past," but on the contrary, since the Taliban is a mercenary and dependent force, it simply acts on its master's command.

During the first days, several individuals were accused on charges of theft and displayed on the streets with blackened faces, and then four people were hanged under the name of "abductors" inside the city in four different places (Mustoofiat Square, Gulha Square, Malik Gate and Kandahar Gate) and the people seeing this were horrified and convinced that the disasters of the first period rule of these criminals were on their way. A tricycle driver in Herat, Feroz Agha, who witnessed the scene, stated:

"I am just terrified that in the 21st century there is still a country where such terrors are happening. We have been driven back centuries and it will take years for our country to be emancipated again. Seeing the behavior of the Taliban, I have become convinced that this Stone Age group has never been reformed or changed and that they would maintain their reign by creating fear and fright among the people."

Although our people suffered from poverty and unemployment during the corrupt and puppet regime of Ghani-Abdullah, but with the rise of the Taliban, the country's economy collapsed and most government and private employees lost their jobs. With the huge number of unemployment and the increasing poverty and high prices, theft and armed robberies have also increased. The queue of the unemployed people is getting longer every day, and when you enter the city, it seems that as the city has lost its soul and there are starving, wandering and hopeless people sitting on both sides of all the streets, so that if a passerby bestows a loaf of bread!

Ahmad Shah, a daily wager, talks about the difficulties of his life:

"There are eight of us in the family, our house is in Nawabad and every morning with my wheelbarrow I come to Qul-e-Urdu area that if someone has something for me to move somewhere and every night around 7 or 8 oclock I return home, on foot which is a two hours distance, and mostly I never find any work and return empty-handed and we all fall asleep hungry, our house rent which is 500 Afghanis, it has been eight months that I wasnt able to pay it, and the owner of the house, when assured we have absolutely nothing to eat, never asked again, bless him."

Abdul Hakim, a day laborer on the street, speaks of his days:

"My job is to fill cars with gravel, but at the moment no one is building a house that would need that. We sit on the street day to night and wait for someone to come and buy gravel so we could fill it, but there is no one. Today, after many days, we filled a car and they gave me 100 Afghanis, but I wonder what urgent necessities I can buy at this price with 100 Afghanis, not even dry bread."

The dramatic rise in food prices in the country has doubled poverty. If we take a look at the prices of some basic items in the city of Herat, we find that the people are in a miserable situation: gas used to be 40 Afghanis per kilo, now 90 Afghanis; petrol per liter used to be 30 Afghanis, currently 80 Afghanis; a 50-kilogram bag of flour used to be 1,600 Afghanis, currently 2,300 Afghanis; a barrel of 3-kilogram cooking oil was 190 and now sold for 530 Afghanis; while no one is responsible and only the people bear this burden.

I asked Rasool, who sells chicken, about his sales these days:

"Believe me, I used to sell about 80-100 kilos of chicken a day, but now, because no one can afford to buy chicken, I sell 20-30 kilos of chicken a day, which doesnt even meet our shops rent. We also have to close our shop, but what else can we do? There is nothing else to do. May god destroy and annihilate the Taliban who made us more devastated and miserable."

Another serious problem which is an ominous legacy of twenty years of US and NATO occupation and mafia rule is the large number of addicts, whose numbers are increasing as poverty and unemployment escalate. All the streets of the city are filled with addicts and of course the Taliban have no solution for this social disease. In some cases, they are beaten and transferred to various centers and tortured. A friend said to me that the Taliban have told addicts to either quit or die!

With the ending of foreign aid, which after the looting of donors and government authorities, a small part of which was spent on the health and treatment of the people of Herat, the health sector suffered an irreparable damage and most private clinics were closed. Hundreds of doctors and nurses have lost their jobs and turned to peddling and daily laborers due to unpaid salaries. Since private clinics are either closed or short on personnel or people cannot afford to pay the fee, all patients rush to public hospitals, where patients do not have a place to stay, spending days and nights in the hospital yard.

As the backbone of a society is an educated generation that raises awareness among the people and plays a vital role in the development of the society, the Taliban, these servants of the United States and Pakistan are trying to paralyze the country's education system and completely change the curriculum of schools and universities. More importantly, they want to deprive half of the country's population, which is women, of education, because they know that if women become aware of a society and rise up, no force can stop their progress and growth. While in the same short period of time, the brave protests of women that has robbed Taliban of their sleep, they used force and pressure against them and imposed restrictions on initiating demonstrations.

The Taliban have decided to turn schools into brainwashing and suicide attacks centers just like Pakistani dormitories, so they have closed girls' schools and there are no classes for boys. A number of teachers were forced to peddling in the city markets due to lack of salaries, and some fled to Iran. The situation of Tobarian High School, which is located in one of the villages of Injil District, shows this situation. This school has 8 teachers, most of whom are mullahs and teach religious studies and the Qur'an, so it is clear that there is no sign of natural sciences and scientific subjects. Most children drop out of school after the fourth or fifth year and move on to other jobs. In the first grade, 40 to 50 students enroll, but in the twelfth grade, 5 to 8 students graduate. When I asked the reason for this, Ehsan, one of the tenth-grade students, said:

"In our village, they are not interested in education because of the students do not have good and professional teachers, and the parents of the students, after five or six years, when they see that their children have not learned anything, remove them from school and tell them to at least work and help with household expenses. Most 13- to 15-year-old boys immigrate to Iran and work as laborers, many of whom have recently returned from Iran addicted."

It is obvious that universities are not in a better position. The Taliban did not allow the reopening of the universities, so a large number of professors and academic staff fled the university due to unrest and, more importantly, opposition to the system and the way of governing of the Taliban. In addition, most students at Herat University have dropped out and are no longer interested in studying under the medieval Taliban because they see no hope for a future in Taliban rule. "N", a fourth-year student of Herat University Administration and Policy, states with disappointment:

"It was two months left for my graduation that these savage Taliban arrived. Before that, I had dreamed of finding a job for myself and living my life after graduation, but now, despite my misery and wretchedness, there is no hope for life. From now on, there is no place for us to work and currently there isnt even labor work. I wonder what to do?"

The Iranian government, which has been active in the cultural sector and has trained a variety of cheap servants, is currently welcoming the Taliban and making huge profits from the situation in Afghanistan. The smallest and simplest example of these is the reflow of Afghan rivers towards Iran soil. Although all embassies and consulates of other countries are closed, the Iranian consulate has been active and collecting the young generation and sending them to Iran. In this regard, Hamed, one of the first-year students of Herat University, said:

"Iran provides all Afghan students in public or private universities with the opportunity to study in Iran at any university they want, and even a student can take his family with him and settle down. Worker visas are valid for several months, but student visas are available much sooner and for longer stays.

Most of the students at Herat University who have the financial means have now obtained Iranian student visas and are going there, where they mostly study for 200 dollars a semester, which is a great torture for the people of Afghanistan."

In addition, a huge number of families have migrated to Iran. People sell all their belongings and property and give a lot of money to the smugglers and go to Iran out of compulsion to at least survive and inevitably accept any humiliation and insult from the Iranian officers and smugglers.

Abdul Hakim, a 70-year-old worker who spent much of his life migrating and working in Iran and is an eyewitness to the massacre of Afghan refugees in the Safed Sang camp in Iran, claims:

"I am currently sitting on the Qul-e-Urdu road from 5 am to 5 pm, filling the dirt in cars. Today I filled a dirt car and worked for 100 Afghanis. Some days are good, but most days there is nothing to do and I am unemployed. Again, immigration to Iran is the worst mistake. If we die of starvation in our homeland, it would be better for us than to immigrate to Iran and suffer the pain of humiliation."



On November 25, 2021, the Taliban shot and killed Dr. Amruddin in his car. On November 25, 2021, the Taliban shot and killed Dr. Amruddin in his car.

This year, in addition to the Talib calamity, natural disasters have also plagued our people. Drought in most parts of Afghanistan has multiplied poverty and food prices. A large number of people from Ghor and Badghis have migrated to Herat, with depressed and distressed faces, with no place to take refuge, and are looking for a piece of bread and a pair of clothing. These unfortunate people, who have been displaced from their homes, spend their nights in poverty and misery in every part of the city, along the public road and four-walled houses with no roof.

Bibi Mahro, an immigrant woman from Ghor, says:

"We have been wandering in Herat for weeks. We sleep in one street for a few nights and in another street for another few nights and beg for a few days for dry bread to give to our children, but if we do not find shelter by winter, we will surely lose our children due to the cold."

Rasool, another immigrant, said:

"I planted wheat this year, but it didn't work out because of the drought, and when we wanted to harvest the wheat, I rented it to someone else for 60 mun (5/7 kgs). When I grinded the wheat by the cow and weighed it, It became 61 mun, and after a year of hard work, only one mun of wheat was what I earned. Finally, we were forced to come to Herat out of hunger, so that we might survive on begging or daily wages."

These are brief examples of the current situation in the city of Herat. Perhaps this is an example from all over Afghanistan, which is still in the grip of insecurity, poverty and uncertainty, and is being held captive by creatures of the middle ages and foreign mercenaries whose main concerns are the hijab of women, the beards of men, and opposition to science and truth. They cannot expect the slightest change in the direction of economic growth and welfare of the people.
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AIADMK's expelled interim General Secretary V.K. Sasikala has expressed concern over the rising prices of potash and called upon the Central and state governments to take steps to reduce them.

In a statement on Monday, the former aide of late Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa said that paddy has been sown in over around 10 lakh acres of farmland during the Samba- Thaladi season in Tamil Nadu and the rising prices of potash is affecting its cultivation.

Generally one bag was applied per one acre of paddy cultivation and with the rising prices and shortage, the application of potash has gone down in farms across Tamil Nadu, she said.

Sasikala, who is trying hard to come back to the AIADMK, has used the rising price of potash as a major issue to get support of the farming community of Tamil Nadu.

AIADMK leader and former Chief Minister K. Palaniswami and his close associates had come out against her strongly, but there were reports of Sasikala gaining the support of several AIADMK leaders of south Tamil Nadu with the silent blessings of AIADMK Chief Coordinator and former Chief Minister, O. Panneerselvam.

Panneerselvam and Sasikala are from the powerful - and predominantly agrarian - Thevar community, and to connect with it, she has hit on this issue.
Gujarat on Monday detected its fourth Omicron case in 'Diamond City' Surat.

A 42-year-old diamond trader from the gem hub of Ashwani Kumar Road tested positive for the new variant following his long travel history in South Africa.

"The 42-year-old male patient is into diamond business since years and a frequent traveller to South Africa. He returned from the country to Surat on December 2 and was reported Covid-19 positive on December 8. We sent his samples on that day for genome sequencing and today it showed him to Omicron positive," Deputy Municipal Commissioner, Health, Ashish Nayak told IANS.

"The patient is asymptomatic and he was initially admitted in the hospital for three days but thereafter we have placed him in home isolation," he added.

"He has three kids and wife, all of whom were Covid-19 negative on December 8, but once again, we will have them tested. The entire family has been kept in isolation and closely monitored. The area where he lives has been marked as micro containment zone. His four fellow travellers were also tested for Covid-19, but all were negative," Nayak added.

Sources said that the diamond trader also visited Kenya and the UAE before flying back to Surat, via Delhi.

The Surat Health Department has been put on an alert following the entry of the Omicron.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a high-level meeting on Tuesday at the BLW Guest house in Varanasi, apparently to discuss the 2022 state Assembly elections.

The participants of the meeting included BJP President J.P. Nadda, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, state in charge Dharmendra Pradhan and state party President Swatantra Dev Singh.

According to sources, the Prime Minister discussed issues dominating the state elections and also the ground realities related to various welfare projects initiated by the BJP governments.

After this, the Prime Minister will preside over a four-hour meeting with the chief ministers of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

The agenda of the meeting will be 'good governance', said party sources.
Northbrook, IL -- (SBWIRE) -- 12/14/2021 -- According to the new market research report "Enteral Feeding Devices Market by Type (Feeding Tube (Gastrostomy, Jejunostomy), Feeding Pump, Giving Set), Age Group (Adult, Pediatric), Application (Diabetes, Neurological Disorder, Cancer), End User (Hospital, ACS, Home Care) - Global Forecast to 2026", published by MarketsandMarkets, is projected to reach USD 4.9 billion by 2026 from USD 3.5 billion in 2021, growing at a CAGR of 6.6% during the forecast period.



Browse and in-depth TOC on "Enteral Feeding Devices Market"

386 - Tables

57 - Figures

389 - Pages



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the Factors such as rising healthcare costs; a surge in the number of preterm births; growth in the aging population; rising prevalence of chronic diseases such as diabetes, cancer, gastrointestinal diseases, and neurological disorders; growing awareness of enteral nutrition; and rapid improvements in healthcare facilities in emerging countries are expected to further drive the market during the forecast period. Moreover, the shift from parenteral nutrition to enteral nutrition and growing adoption of and demand for enteral feeding devices in home and ambulatory care settings are also expected to drive the market in the coming years. However, patient safety risks; rising cases of feeding and medication errors; and the complications associated with enteral feeding tubes such as misconnections, tube dislodgement, and infections are restricting the growth of this market to a certain extent. In addition, insufficient or lack of reimbursements in some developing and underdeveloped countries and a dearth of trained physicians, endoscopists, and nurses across the globe pose significant challenges for the growth of this market.



Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, major sections of the medical devices industryimaging devices, dental care devices, surgical products, and medical supplies (contributing 6075% to the overall medical devices market)registered a stagnant or deep fall in the growth rate in 2020 and the first quarter of 2021. A new USD 57 billion market opportunity (by 2021) is opening up in the medical devices industry, including critical care medical devices.



This pandemic has increased demand of enteral feeding devices to provide nutritional support in critically ill COVID positive patients. Moreover, the increasing demand for enteral feeding devices in the home care sector, along with the shift from parenteral to enteral feeding, is aiding market growth during this period.



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The enteral feeding tubes segment holds the largest market share during the forecast period.



Based on type, the Enteral Feeding Devices Market is segmented into enteral feeding tubes, administration sets, enteral syringes, enteral feeding pumps, and consumables. In 2020, the enteral feeding tubes segment accounted for the largest share of the Enteral Feeding Devices Market, followed by administration sets. The administration sets segment is expected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period. The shift towards enteral feeding from parental feeding and increasing cases of cancer are expected to increase the adoption of enteral feeding devices, which, in turn, will increase the demand for administration sets across the globe.



The adult patients segment holds the largest market share during the forecast period



Based on age group, the Enteral Feeding Devices Market is segmented into adult patients (18 years and over) and pediatric patients (neonates under 1 month, infants between 1 month and 2 years of age, children between 2 and 12 years, and adolescents between 12 and 16 years). In 2020, adult patients accounted for the largest market share. This can be attributed to the growing incidence of chronic diseases and disorders resulting in malnutrition and the rapid increase in the geriatric population.



In the end user segment, hospital segment is expected to grow at the largest share in the Enteral Feeding Devices Market



Hospitals, home care settings, and ambulatory care settings are the major end users in the Enteral Feeding Devices Market. The hospitals segment accounted for the largest market share in 2020. The development of technologically advanced enteral feeding devices and the shift from parenteral nutrition to enteral nutrition are supporting the growth of the hospitals segment.



The home care settings segment is expected to register the highest growth during the forecast period. The increasing pressure on hospitals to curtail soaring healthcare costs, the development and availability of user-friendly feeding devices, and the favorable reimbursement policies for home enteral nutrition (HEN) are some of the key factors supporting the growth of this end-user segment.



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Oncology segment is expected to account for the largest share in the Enteral Feeding Devices Market



In 2020, the oncology segment accounted for the largest share of the Enteral Feeding Devices Market, followed by gastrointestinal diseases, neurological disorders diabetes, hypermetabolism, and other applications. The oncology segment will continue to dominate the market by 2026, growing at a CAGR during the forecast period. The increase in the prevalence of various types of cancersespecially head & neck cancers, cancers of the gastrointestinal system, lung cancer, and liver canceris expected to play a major role in the higher adoption of enteral feeding devices used to provide clinical nutrition to cancer patients.



APAC is expected to grow at the highest growth rate in 2020



During the forecast period, the Asia Pacific is estimated to be the fastest-growing regional market for enteral feeding devices. Factors such as the increasing number of preterm births, rising geriatric population, growing awareness of enteral nutrition, and the rapid development of healthcare facilities in several APAC countries are driving the growth of this market. Key players have shifted their focus to emerging economies in these regions and are focusing on expansions and acquisitions to garner a greater market share in the coming years.



Key players in the Enteral Feeding Devices Market



The prominent players in the Enteral Feeding Devices Market are Becton, Dickinson and Company (US), Danone S.A. (France), CONMED Corporation (US), Cardinal Health Inc. (US), Cook Medical (US), Moog Inc. (US), Fresenius Kabi (Germany), Boston Scientific Corporation (US), Vygon Group (France), Nestle S.A. (Switzerland), B. Braun Melsungen AG (Germany), Avanos Medical Inc. (US), and Baxter International Inc. (US). Other players in the Enteral Feeding Devices Market are Applied Medical Technology (US), Amsino International Inc. (US), Omex Medical Technology (India), Danumed Medizintechnik (Germany), Medline Industries, Inc. (US), Fuji Systems Corporation (Japan), Kentec Medical Inc. (US), Vesco Medical LLC (US), Dynarex Corporation (US), Medela Inc. (Switzerland), Alcor Scientific (US), and Romsons Group of Industries (India).
Northbrook, IL -- (SBWIRE) -- 12/14/2021 -- According to a new market research report "North America IT Services Market with COVID-19 Impact Analysis, by Service Type (Professional Services, Managed Services, and Telecom Services), Organization Size, Deployment Type, Business Function, and Vertical - Forecast to 2026" published by MarketsandMarkets, the North America IT Services Market size expected to grow from USD 459.2 billion in 2021 to USD 660.9 billion by 2026, at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 7.6% during the forecast period.



The flexibility and agility of IT Services models would support the IT service needs of enterprises. The leading CSPs/hyperscalersIBM, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Accenture, CISCO, and Wiproare expected to increase their CAPEX primarily for data center expansion to support the increasing workload for their internal and external stakeholders. The increasing volume of data generation in websites and mobile apps, rising focus on delivering customer-centric applications for driving customer satisfaction, and growing need to control and reduce Capital Expenditure (CAPEX) and Operational Expenditure (OPEX) are a few factors driving the growth of the emerging technologies. The emerging technologies, such as big data, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Machine Learning (ML), are gaining traction which is ultimately leading to the growth of the cloud computing market, globally.



Browse 111 market data Tables and 55 Figures spread through 191 Pages and in-depth TOC on "North America IT Services Market"



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Growth of Professional services to be driven by increasing need of Small and Medium-sized Businesses (SMBs) to distribute or manage enterprise workloads



The key features of Professional services include provision of System Integration, increasing demand for Consulting services, Training and Education sector. These services are generally required by enterprises to effectively deploy new applications and solutions in the existing IT infrastructure. The ever-changing business environment and customer demands encourage enterprises to increase their focus on their core business operations. IaaS enables enterprises to leverage their IT infrastructure without paying for the construction of the physical infrastructure. Moreover, it provides flexibility, mobility, easy, and scalable access to applications, and enhanced collaboration to help enterprises focus on their core businesses.



US to dominate the IT Services market in 2021



North America is a mature market in terms of IT Service offerings adoption, owing to a large presence of enterprises with advanced IT infrastructure and the availability of technical expertise. The US (majorly) and Canada are the top countries contributing to the growth of IT Services market in North America. Healthcare, followed by Government and Defense verticals have the largest market share in the market. As the benefits of adopting IT services are becoming more evident, more companies are expected to implement IT services and provide effective and enhanced support.



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The report also studies various growth strategies, such as mergers and acquisitions, partnerships and collaborations, and developments, adopted by the major players to expand their presence in the global cloud computing market. The IT Services market includes major vendors, such as IBM (US), Hewlett Packard Enterprise (US), Accenture (Ireland), CISCO (US), Wipro (India), HCL Technologies (India), Cognizant (US), Infosys (India), Rackspace (US), Tata Consultancy Services (India), Fujitsu (Japan), Capgemini (France), Ericsson (Sweden), Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. (China), Nokia Networks (Finland), GTT Communications (US), SAP (Germany), DXC (US), NTT DATA (Japan), NEC (Japan), Deloitte (UK), Virtuestream (US), DigitalOcean (US), Bluelock (US), Navisite (US), CenturyLink (US), Infor (US), Opentext (Canada), Citrix (US), IFS (Sweden).



About MarketsandMarkets

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Our 850 fulltime analyst and SMEs at MarketsandMarkets are tracking global high growth markets following the "Growth Engagement Model  GEM". The GEM aims at proactive collaboration with the clients to identify new opportunities, identify most important customers, write "Attack, avoid and defend" strategies, identify sources of incremental revenues for both the company and its competitors. MarketsandMarkets now coming up with 1,500 MicroQuadrants (Positioning top players across leaders, emerging companies, innovators, strategic players) annually in high growth emerging segments. MarketsandMarkets is determined to benefit more than 10,000 companies this year for their revenue planning and help them take their innovations/disruptions early to the market by providing them research ahead of the curve.



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Edison, NJ -- (SBWIRE) -- 12/14/2021 -- Advance Market Analytics published a new research publication on "Retirement Home Services Market" with 232 pages and enriched with self-explained Tables and charts in a presentable format. In the Study, you will find new evolving Trends, Drivers, Restraints, Opportunities generated by targeting market-associated stakeholders. The growth of the Retirement Home Services market was mainly driven by the increasing R&D spending across the world.



Some of the key players profiled in the study are:

Brookdale Senior Living Solutions (United States),Erickson Living (United States),Holiday Retirement (United States),Life Care Services (United States),Five Star Senior Living (United States),Sunrise Senior Living (United States),Atria Senior Living (United States),Senior Lifestyle (United States),Capital Senior Living (United States),Affinity Living Group (United States),



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Brief Snapshot of Retirement Home Services:

The companies operating in this sector are highly focusing more on efficient growth, improvement, and the addition of new services, achieving high safety standards, and focus on maintaining sustainable development.



Retirement Home Services Market Trends:

Increasing Number of New Market Entrants



Opportunities:

Development in Services

High Investment in Small Towns



Market Drivers:

The Rise Ratio of Elderly Age People in Asia Pacific Regions



The titled segments and sub-section of the market are illuminated below:

by Type (Independent Living Service, Companion Care Services, Live-in Care Services, Nursing Service, Assisted Living Service, Others), Application (Elderly People, Disabled People, Others), Cities (Tier 1 cities, Tier 2 Cities, Tier 3 Cities), Gender (M



Have Any Questions Regarding Global Retirement Home Services Market Report, Ask Our Experts@ https://www.advancemarketanalytics.com/enquiry-before-buy/32334-global-retirement-home-services-market



Region Included are: North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Oceania, South America, Middle East & Africa

Country Level Break-Up: United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Chile, South Africa, Nigeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Germany, United Kingdom (UK), the Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Austria, Turkey, Russia, France, Poland, Israel, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, China, Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore, India, Australia, and New Zealand, etc.



Points Covered in Table of Content of Global Retirement Home Services Market:

Chapter 01  Retirement Home Services Executive Summary

Chapter 02  Market Overview

Chapter 03  Key Success Factors

Chapter 04  Covid-19 Crisis Analysis on Global Retirement Home Services Market

Chapter 05  Global Retirement Home Services Market - Pricing Analysis

Chapter 06  Global Retirement Home Services Market Background

Chapter 07 -- Global Retirement Home Services Market Segmentation

Chapter 08  Key and Emerging Countries Analysis in Global Retirement Home Services Market

Chapter 09  Global Retirement Home Services Market Structure Analysis

Chapter 10  Global Retirement Home Services Market Competitive Analysis

Chapter 11  Assumptions and Acronyms

Chapter 12  Retirement Home Services Market Research Methodology



Read Detailed Index of full Research Study at @ https://www.advancemarketanalytics.com/reports/32334-global-retirement-home-services-market



Key questions answered

- Who are the Leading key players and what are their Key Business plans in the Global Retirement Home Services market?

- What are the key concerns of the five forces analysis of the Global Retirement Home Services market?

- What are the different prospects and threats faced by the dealers in the Global Retirement Home Services market?

- What are the strengths and weaknesses of the key vendors?
A team of materials scientists from RMIT University and CSIRO has designed and fabricated a micro-nano copper structure and demonstrated its exceptional bactericidal efficacy against the common and deadly Staphylococcus aureus bacteria. The researchers believe there could be a huge range of applications for the new material once further developed, including antimicrobial doorhandles and other touch surfaces in schools, hospitals, homes and public transport, as well as filters in antimicrobial respirators or air ventilation systems, and in face masks.

Conventional copper has long been used to fight different strains of bacteria, including the commonly found Staphylococcus aureus, because the ions released from the metals surface are toxic to bacterial cells.

But this process is slow when standard copper is used and significant efforts are underway by researchers worldwide to speed it up.

A standard copper surface will kill about 97% of golden staph within four hours, said Professor Ma Qian, a researcher in the School of Engineering at RMIT University.

Incredibly, when we placed golden staph bacteria on our specially-designed copper surface, it destroyed more than 99.99% of the cells in just two minutes. So not only is it more effective, its 120 times faster.

The coppers unique porous structure was key to its effectiveness as a rapid bacteria killer.

Professor Qian and colleagues used a special copper mould casting process to arrange copper and manganese atoms into specific formations.

The manganese atoms were then removed from the alloy using a cheap and scalable chemical process called dealloying, leaving pure copper full of tiny microscale and nanoscale cavities in its surface.

Our copper is composed of comb-like microscale cavities and within each tooth of that comb structure are much smaller nanoscale cavities; it has a massive active surface area, said Dr. Jackson Leigh Smith, a researcher in the School of Engineering at RMIT University and CSIRO.

The pattern also makes the surface super hydrophilic, or water-loving, so that water lies on it as a flat film rather than as droplets.

The hydrophilic effect means bacterial cells struggle to hold their form as they are stretched by the surface nanostructure, while the porous pattern allows copper ions to release faster.

These combined effects not only cause structural degradation of bacterial cells, making them more vulnerable to the poisonous copper ions, but also facilitates uptake of copper ions into the bacterial cells.

Its that combination of effects that results in greatly accelerated elimination of bacteria.

The teams work was published in the journal Biomaterials.

_____

J.L. Smith et al. 2022. Robust bulk micro-nano hierarchical copper structures possessing exceptional bactericidal efficacy. Biomaterials 280: 121271; doi: 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2021.121271
Page Content

The Immigration and Border Protection Services Mobile Control Unit have received newly designed work uniforms on Monday, December 6th. The uniform change, which carries the organizational logo, were as a result of the decision taken to place the Border Protection and Mobile Unit under the leadership of IBPS and brand the division with its own identity. This initiative forms part of Minister of Justice Anna E. Richardsons goal to enhance the Ministry and its respective departments.





For quite some time, Ive been content with the design of the new uniforms. As such, I congratulate the Management Team of IBPS for seeing my vision through as we continue to enhance the ministry step by step, stated Minister Richardson.





Within the next coming weeks, the workers at St. Maarten border points will receive new standard uniforms as the Ministry was already awaiting an order placed, however, these will be for a temporary period. In 2022, Minister Richardson intends to implement one standard uniform design for the entire IBPS division. The purchase of the newly designed uniforms was possible via funds received from the standing agreement between the governments of St. Maarten and the Netherlands on strengthening border control.
Bangladesh High Commission in Colombo in association with the Palliative Care Trust and Cancer Care Association of Sri Lanka celebrated the Birth Centenary of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the Golden Jubilee of the Independence of Bangladesh on 12 December 2021 at the Institute of Palliative Care Medicine in Matara, Sri Lanka. At the event, Bangladesh High Commission awarded "Bangabandhu Memorial Grant for Palliative Care" to the Palliative Care Trust (PCT) of Sri Lanka and "Golden Jubilee Scholarships for Blooming Flowers" to the Cancer Care Association (CCA) of Sri Lanka. The Bangabandhu Memorial grant was distributed among 100 cancer patients and their family members. The Golden Jubilee scholarships were given to 50 children of cancer victims from around the country.

Foreign Minister of Bangladesh Dr. A K Abdul Momen graced the programme as the chief guest through a video message where he highlighted the humanism and political ideals of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman which motivated Bangladesh to uphold his legacy and to work for the cause of humanity at large. He also recognized the programme as a fitting tribute to Bangabandhu and a remarkable demonstration of warmth and depth of Bangladesh-Sri Lanka bilateral relations. Bangladesh High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Tareq Md Ariful Islam in his remarks appreciated the noble humanitarian endevours of Cancer Care Association and Palliative Care Trust of Sri Lanka. He stated that in pursuit of Bangabandhu's ideals, Bangladesh High Commission to Sri Lanka would continue its humanitarian efforts to further strengthen Bangladesh- Sri Lanka relations.




EQS-Ad-hoc: BEACONSMIND AG / Key word(s): Capital Increase

beaconsmind AG (ISIN: CH0451123589, EURONEXT: MLBMD, VIENNA: BMD) raises new equity and undertakes changes in its listing venues



14-Dec-2021 / 19:00 CET/CEST

Disclosure of an inside information acc. to Article 17 MAR of the Regulation (EU) No 596/2014, transmitted by EQS - a service of EQS Group AG.

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.





Publication of inside information / beaconsmind AG (ISIN: CH0451123589, EURONEXT: MLBMD, VIENNA: BMD) raises CHF 5.8M to reposition itself for strong international growth



Zurich, Switzerland - December 14, 2021, 6:30 pm CET - beaconsmind (ISIN: CH0451123589 - Ticker: MLBMD), a SaaS provider in Location-Based Marketing (LBM) for retail chains announces an equity raise of CHF 5.8 million from an international institutional investor to support the implementation of the company's global growth strategy in the post COVID era.

Accelerated growth through new client wins, roll-outs and international focus in 2021

beaconsmind has contracted 5 major new clients year to date 2021. Driven by the addition of these new clients, beaconsmind expects to expand into 750 new stores and after roll-out conversion, expects to generate a total of CHF 626 thousand of one-time hardware and installation revenue and an estimated run-rate annual recurring software revenue (ARR) of CHF 1.25 million.

In 2021, the company has increased installing capacity more than 3x to at least 100 per week, compared to less than 30 per week at the beginning of the year. This increase in installing capacity is enabling the company to fulfil global project orders in a record time.

Within the last three months, the company has increased store roll-outs by at least 59% and year to date 2021 has installed more than 178 stores. Contracted major clients include Depot, a leading home furniture specialist with over 500 stores in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, Roberto Cavalli, the haute couture fashion brand opeRating retail locations in more than 20 countries and Maison-B-More, the company's first UAE fashion retail department store chain.

beaconsmind is executing its international roll-out strategy to anchor clients in 25 countries and new markets in Asia Pacific (APAC) such as Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines. This track record demonstrates beaconsmind's international expansion blueprint and strong installation program in new regions such as the Middle East and APAC.

During 2021, beaconsmind has executed several milestones in the company's Middle East expansion strategy. Key to the company's international growth strategy has been the foundation of beaconsmind MENA Data LLC, the company's UAE subsidiary, and a partnership with Seed Group, a company of The Private Office of Sheikh Saeed Bin Ahmed Al Maktoum. This partnership is a key element of beaconsmind's Middle East strategy to roll-out location-based marketing software and solutions for retail chains in the Middle East region. Partnership with Seed Group will give beaconsmind direct access to business contacts and companies of the royal family of Dubai, such as Emirates Airlines and the Jumeirah Group. This enhanced international client network gives beaconsmind access to additional large-scale clients in the hospitality and retail segment across the Middle East, Europe and Asia.



Strong renewed growth and USD +125 billion end market opportunity in Location-Based Marketing Services

Amid the COVID19 pandemic, the global market for Location-Based Marketing Services was estimated at USD 38 billion in 2020. Based on current projections, this market is expected to grow annually at around 20% and to reach a size of USD 134.5 billion by 2027.

New institutional anchor investor

beaconsmind today announces a raise of CHF 5.8 million of growth capital through the placement of shares to a strategic and growth focused, institutional investor. This fresh capital will enable beaconsmind to accelerate its roll-out plan and implement its long-term strategic targets. This institutional investor will serve as a long-term anchor investor of beaconsmind. Max Weiland, CEO & Founder of beaconsmind AG, will remain one of the largest shareholders in the company with approx. 18.6% in share ownership.



Use of proceeds of new capital increase

With this growth capital, the company is able to push its sales capabilities and expansion plans to new markets such as Asia and Americas as well as support the faster roll-out of existing clients store infrastructures. The company intends to strengthen its growth strategy with the opening of new sales offices internationally and by focusing on international joint ventures and business collaborations. The company also plans to increase further its number of employees in sales, product development and client success management. The financing is also intended to accelerate expansion in the Middle East by enabling broadening of the local team, strengthening of the partnership with The Private Office of Sheikh Saeed Bin Ahmed Al Maktoum and establishment of further strategic partnerships to drive acquisition of new high-profile clients from retail and other segments. All of these elements are expected to increase significantly beaconsmind's sales growth.

Streamlining of capital markets positioning with listing in Frankfurt Stock Exchange

As part of the growth financing, the company intends to list its shares on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange in the Scale segment and to revoke the current listing on the Vienna MTF of Vienna Stock Exchange (direct market plus.) This step will lead to a simplified listing structure and broaden the scope of potential investors in the company's securities in a new home market.

With the reorganised listing in the Scale segment of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, two leading German banks, Hauck & Aufhauser and Baader Bank, will provide ongoing research coverage. In addition, Edison Group, an award-winning investment research and investor relations consulting firm, will prepare an independent research coverage report in connection with the company's initial public offering in Frankfurt.

An updated version of the company presentation has been uploaded to the company's website www.beaconsmind.com.



About beaconsmind

Founded in 2015 in Switzerland, beaconsmind is a pioneer in the field of location-based marketing (LBM) software for retail chains. beaconsmind helps retailers run successful location-based marketing campaigns. By fitting stores with bluetooth beacons that precisely locate and identify customers, and by integrating its Software Suite, beaconsmind opens a brand-new channel for retailers to interact with their customers, fundamentally transforming the shopping experience. Thanks to its solution, retailers can converge digital and physical shopping and address the convenience gaps of each.

For more information, please visit www.beaconsmind.com

Please download the company presentation via this link: beaconsmind Public Company Presentation

Contacts:
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MANZINI  Its time to answer fire with fire, but spiritually, says Bishop Mpendulo Nkambule.

To do this, the Swaziland Liberation Movement (SWALIMO) will host an end-of-year prayer at the Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT) Centre on Saturday and it will start at 10am. This was announced by the leadership of SWALIMO during a press conference held at SNAT Centre yesterday afternoon.

During the press conference, the bishop was given a task to explain the significance of the planned national prayer.

Prayer

He said the country needed a prayer and he urged emaSwati to attend in numbers. He said they would pray for genuine peace, not silence. He said emaSwati had been silent for too long, but that did not mean they were living in peace. It is such prayers that will ensure that the oppression does not last forever, the bishop said. He added that they needed to use their spiritual weapons to win the struggle against all sorts of wickedness. He said they should pray until something happened; like taking the economy back to the people. In fact, he said emaSwati should take the planned prayer as a spiritual struggle. It is time to answer fire with fire in the spiritual warfare. Prayer is a strong weapon. When the people pray, the foundation of wickedness is shaken, the bishop said.

When he was asked to clarify what he meant by answering fire with fire spiritually, the bishop said he meant that they would be repeating what the regime wants but in Jesuss name. On another note, the bishop told members of the Swaziland Massacre Victims and Survivors Association (SWAVISA) and all the people who were shot or tortured during the political unrest in June/July 2021, that they had paid a great price for the struggle. Thereafter, he said the price they paid was not in vain.

Meanwhile, SWALIMO Deputy Secretary General (DSG) Gift Dlamini said during the prayer session, they would also pray against fatigue because their plan was not to stop fighting until they got the liberation. Again, the Swaziland Peoples Liberation Movements (SPLM) Vikimphi Nhlabatsi said in their manifesto, there was a clause which said; In God we trust. In that regard, he said they believed that they would win the struggle through prayer, just like the story of David who defeated Goliath in the Bible.

Once more, SWAVISA Chairman Madzabudzabu Kunene urged all organisations which were fighting for political reforms to unite, instead of being divided, as that was working against them. The leaders of SWALIMO said offerings which would be collected during the planned prayer service would be taken to SWAVISA to support the unrest victims and survivors. They added that transport arrangements would be made and emaSwati would know about them by Friday. When they were asked about the COVD-19 guidelines, the leaders of SWALIMO said they would do their best to ensure that peoples lives were safe. They said social distancing would be observed, people would be sanitised and the wearing of face masks would be compulsory for all attendees.
MBABANE  An expert failed to retrieve any information from the cellphone that was taken from MP Mduduzi Bacede Mabuza when he was arrested.

The phone was seized from the Member of Parliament (MP) when he was arrested on July 25, 2021. The expert did not find any texts or WhatsApp messages that the prosecution could use against Mabuza in the phone, which now forms part of the Crowns evidence against him. The handset is currently being kept by the police after obtaining an order to keep same pending finalisation of the criminal trial. The failure to retrieve anything from Mabuzas phone is reflected in the formal admission he made with his co- accused, MP Mthandeni Dube, in the evidence presented by the Crown.

They made the formal admission in terms of Section 272 of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act No.67 of 1939. Section 272(1) provides that: In any criminal proceedings, the accused or his representative in his presence may admit any fact relevant on the issue and any such admission shall be sufficient evidence of such.

Exhibit

Mabuza admitted that his cellphone was taken by the police after his arrest on July 25, 2021 and nothing was retrieved from it. Dube, on the other hand, admitted that his cellphone was also taken by the police and various messages set out in exhibit five were recovered from his phone. They agreed that exhibit five could be handed to court. As part of its evidence, the prosecution provided about 244 WhatsApp messages between Mabuza and Dube. The messages, which are contained in a 72-page document, were retrieved from Dubes cellphone, which was also seized from him when he was arrested on July 25, 2021. In one of the messages sent on July 21, 2021, Mabuza told Dube that things were getting serious and they must consider leaving the country. This was four days before they were arrested and charged with, among other charges, inciting members of the public to revolt against a constitutionally established government and bringing hatred to His Majesty King Mswati III.

Military

On the same day, Mabuza sent another message to Dube expressing his support for the idea of military training services. In one of the messages, Dube purportedly told Mabuza that he could not wait for military training. They also confirmed that they had sight of the post-mortem reports relating to the deceased mentioned in the indictment in count two and three, Thando Shongwe and Siphosethu Mtshali. They further attested to that the cause of death as described in the post-mortem report was that the deceased suffered fatal injuries on June 29, 2021at Hilltop, Mbabane in a motor vehicle accident.

They agreed that the two post- mortem reports relating to the deceased mentioned in count two and three may be handed in as exhibits six and seven. Among other documents, the Crown handed over as part of its evidence, was the post-mortem reports of the two people who died in the accident at Hilltop involving a motor vehicle from Sincephetelo Motor Vehicle Accidents Fund (SMVAF). The prosecution further gave them statements of six witnesses as well as a police report with an accident sketch and a vehicle inspection report.

In one of the alternative charges contained in the amended indictment, the MPs are alleged to have murdered Siphosethu Mtshali and Thando Shongwe on June 29, 2021. According to the post-mortem reports, which now form part of the evidence, Mtshali and Shongwe died due to multiple injuries. Another charge in the amended indictment was that the MPs allegedly committed a terrorist act by encouraging people in public statements to disobey the lawful banning by the Government of Eswatini of the delivery of petitions and to reject the appointment of the then Acting Prime Minister, Themba Masuku.

Disobedience

It is alleged that by so doing, they encouraged civil disobedience, which had one or more of the following intentions or consequences; death or bodily injury, serious damage to property, serious risk to the health of the public or the section of the public and endangering the lives of the people and was designed or intended to disrupt the provision of essential emergency services such as police, civil defence and medical services. As a consequence of the alleged conduct of the accused persons, according to indictment, there were riots in all regions of the country which resulted in loss life, bodily injuries to people and destruction of private and public property.

As a first and second alternative to the count of allegedly encouraging people to disobey the banning of delivery of petitions, Mabuza and Dube, on June 24, 2021 at or near Summerfield, allegedly committed seditious acts by encouraging people in public statements to disobey the lawful banning order by government and to reject the appointment of the then acting prime minister.

Dissatisfaction

By so doing, according to the charge, they allegedly caused hatred against the King and government, raised dissatisfaction among the Kings subjects or inhabitants of Eswatini, disaffection against the administration of justice and promoted feelings of ill-will and hostility between different classes of the population of Eswatini. The MPs trial was postponed to next year but they are expected to be in court on December 20,2021, for the hearing of the application where they are seeking an order compelling the Supreme Court registrar and the chief justice to enrol their urgent bail appeal.
MBABANE  Head teachers and the Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT) are not seeing eye-to-eye regarding the non-closure of certain schools.

While some head teachers are of the view that there is nothing wrong with certain schools continuing to conduct lessons, SNAT sees it as defiance to the Ministry of Education and Training. At least 50 schools have not closed and continue to teach learners, especially those in completing classes. These are solely public schools which have been hit hard by the constant closures this year due to COVID-19 and the political unrest. Eswatini has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to schools closing between March 2020 and March 2021. There was a brief, short-lived period when schools reopened in March 2021, before closing again in July following the political unrest in the country.

Confirmed

In an interview with some of the head teachers, they confirmed that they were continuing with lessons, adding that they would be winding up at the end of the week. They stated that teachers were teaching to try and catch up for the lost time. According to the head teachers, no agreement had been made with the parents for their children to attend classes, but pupils who were interested were attending lessons. It is not a must for the learners to attend school, they stated.

However, when questioned on the attendance, the head teachers mentioned that it was encouraging as most of the pupils wanted to show up.

Most parents were of the view that this was a good decision. Other parents noted that government created confusion as they had first announced that schools would be closed on December 23. However, they noted that while all other sectors were opened, it did not make sense for government to close schools considering that learners had lost so much time. Swaziland Association of Schools Administrators (SASA) Secretary General (SG) Siphasha Dlamini said they were not expecting government to close schools early as the calendar they had issued before indicated that they would close on December 23, 2021.

Dlamini said they did not understand governments decision to open schools for two weeks and again order that they close. This just threw everybody to a cloud of confusion, said the SG. Regarding the schools that have resolved to continue with lessons, Dlamini said she believed that the learners in the schools were showing that they wanted to continue learning. She said when the minister of Education and Training, Lady Mabuza, announced the closure of schools, pupils were being motivated to take up the challenge and get ready for their academic year.

Minister Mabuza said in as much as they were not encouraging schools to continue operating, they were aware of the fact that some were winding up their mock examinations. Mabuza said it would not make sense to abandoned the examinations, adding that they were hoping they would be finished by the end of the week.

Meanwhile, SNAT has strongly warned their members to respect the Education Ministrys political decision in closing schools as government will not be held liable should anything happen in their respective schools.

SNAT Secretary General (SG) Sikelela Dlamini made this firm warning yesterday when asked what the organisations position was regarding that there were some schools which resumed lessons yesterday. Government closed schools last week Friday and they are expected to reopen on January 11. SNAT, on its Facebook page, also requested members to share the list of the schools that resumed lessons yesterday. It is a serious matter because we didnt know that there were schools that could resume lessons much against the decision of government. Once one goes against that decision, the ministry or government will not be held liable should anything happen to the teachers as we put respect first in such decisions and see no reason why should we defy a political decision, the secretary general said.

Encouraged

Dlamini said as an organisation, they encouraged the respect of protocol and political directive of government and saw no reason of defying that decision. The SG said those schools that resumed lessons yesterday did that in their own accord and decision without informing the association. He further advised their members not to go to schools because they were closed. Lubombo Regional Education Officer (REO) Richard Dlamini said there were some schools that resumed practical lessons in subjects like Consumer Science yesterday.

Dlamini, who, however, made it clear that nothing was communicated to his office regarding the resumption of lessons by some schools; confirmed that he saw some pupils going to their respective schools yesterday morning, particularly in the Manzini Region. To be honest, my office did not receive any reports about some schools having lessons. I am made to believe that these were arrangements between the schools and parents as some pupils are doing practicals in Agriculture and Consumer Science subjects, he said. His counterpart in Manzini, Sizwe Kunene, said some of the schools that resumed lessons yesterday were winding up their syllabuses, but they had not officially informed his office.

Decision

It is their own decision as they did not bring it to our attention. I believe they engaged parents in this arrangement. Maybe, we are still to receive reports in this regard, he said. Meanwhile, Hhohho REO Thulile Langwenya said her office had not been informed about the schools resuming lessons, but she was aware that some pupils were vaccinating for the COVID-19 pandemic at their respective schools. The vaccination schedule goes beyond the Christmas holidays and pupils were given schedules when schools closed last week Friday, unless teachers had an arrangement with their pupils to continue with lessons, she said.
The country is facing a possible education crisis brought about mainly by the COVID-19 pandemic and partly due to political challenges which have taken our children away from their classrooms for many months.

Hope of salvaging the little time left of this academic year was rekindled when schools reopened recently, but this was short-lived when the Ministry of Education and Training announced the closure of schools two weeks later. The pupils have been away from class for about three months and 20 days of learning for external grades, according to teachers. Under normal circumstances, they should have attended about 197 days, which is seven months and 13 days. For the other grades, it is worse. They have missed approximately 10 months of learning.

However, there are teachers who have realised that this generation of children cannot afford any more disruptions and availed themselves to continue with classes this week. Kudos to them! These are teachers who fully comprehend that the right to go to school and learn is central to every childs development and well-being. Yes, the country was and still is experiencing challenges, but these should not be allowed to jeopardise the academic future of pupils.

closures

The cost of school closures on their learning, health and well-being has been devastating. The repercussions for every child, their families, their communities and the country will be felt for years to come. Many children will never catch up. While some pupils were able to access remote learning during school closures, many of them struggled due to a lack of support; the kind of support demonstrated by the teachers who have now availed themselves despite schools being officially closed. They are further committed to ensuring that all health regulations meant to curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic are observed. The relevant stakeholders are urged to prioritise the undisturbed process of learning in a safe and healthy environment as opposed to scoring political points at the detriment of innocent souls.

We are aware of the backlash and threats that these dedicated teachers and school heads have received for their good deed. Everyone is entitled to their views and opinions, but the debate should be engaged outside of schools while our teachers concentrate on how best to educate our children in times of crisis. We have already witnessed how the school lay-offs can diminish a childs prospects of proper education and career opportunities through drug abuse, teenage pregnancies and crime.The school closures have also increased the vulnerability of those who are less likely to receive the support and extra services they need, rendering the gap between pupils who experience additional barriers and those who do not, a whole lot wider. This is not the Eswatini we want.

stakeholders

Education stakeholders should see the current situation not only as highly challenging, but also as an opportunity to place a stronger focus on reducing existing educational gaps by implementing initiatives to foster equity and inclusion for vulnerable pupil groups who might be the most impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and political challenges faced by the country. So lets commend and support those who have begun this process; not condemn them. For its part, the Ministry of Education and Training should see to it that these dedicated teachers are not frustrated by the failure to provide the necessary funding and the requisite teachers to make their effort worthwhile for all.
Colombia hosted at its Expo 2020 pavilion a high-level conference featuring Colombian Minister of Sciences Tito Crissien, Vice Minister of Digital Transformation Ivan Duran, and representatives of Innpulsa, the countrys entrepreneurship and innovation agency.



During the forum, Innpulsas spokesperson tackled Colombias projects and programs focusing on innovation, trade, entrepreneurship, and information and communications technology (ICT). The discussions are also expected to center on new partnership opportunities between the South American nation and the UAE in these sectors.



Innpulsa particularly maximized the event to build cooperation agreements and exchange knowledge with Emirati government entities concerned with agribusiness, technology, and health.



As part of Expo 2020, the delegates desire to establish close ties with the world at large in order to achieve Colombia's objectives and ensure continual innovation and digitalization. They expect that by implementing this agenda, they will be able to open up new development opportunities and boost entrepreneurship, paving the path for rapid sustainable growth at national level. Given that Expo 2020, the world's largest exposition, is the focal point for bringing unique and creative solutions from all across the globe, Colombia has envisaged the conference as one of the events to display its innovative initiatives.



As per the experts, in 2022, Colombia will ramp up its efforts to establish a digital society that stands out in Latin America and the world. In this modern society, all citizens in urban and rural communities will be connected and sustainability will be the way of life. The nation expects the deployment of more modern ICT tools and digital services by next year, which will further increase its productivity, stimulate innovation, and raise global competitiveness.



Together with Colombias Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism, Innpulsa supports high-potential ventures and innovative and financing processes that allow the countrys companies to scale in order to generate more economic development, equity, and opportunities for all Colombians.



Colombias conference highlighted innovation and technology in line with the objectives of its ICT Sector Modernization Law. The law aims to bridge the digital gap in the country by boosting the ICT sector, supporting digitalization and modernization, and implementing next-generation technologies.  TradeArabia News Service
Gulf Capital, a leading thematic alternative investment firm investing across the GCC and Asia, has made record profitability for its private equity portfolio over the last twelve months (LTM) ending Q3 2021.

The fair value of Gulf Capitals $750-million GC Equity Partners III (Fund III) soared by 67% in the last twelve months, fuelled by the record profitability of its underlying portfolio companies.

Gulf Capital also announced expansion plans across Asia and the establishment of a new office in Singapore to cover its Southeast Asia and Indian investments.

This strong performance is a direct result of Gulf Capital adopting a thematic investment approach in 2015 and investing early in the sectors of the future, namely technology, fintech, healthtech, healthcare, business services, and sustainability.

This thematic investment approach is yielding strong dividends with Fund III portfolio companies reporting, on average, revenue growth of 28% over the last year and a remarkable surge in profitability (EBITDA) of 83% year on year.

Ranked by sectoral performance, the fastest growing investments were those in the fintech sector (with EBITDA profitability up 109% year on year), healthcare (up 74%), technology (up 54%), sustainability (up 31%) and business services (up 23%) respectively. Most portfolio companies have exceeded their pre-pandemic 2019 profitability and, in fact, are accelerating their growth in the current environment.

Long-term secular trends like the change in consumer behaviour, the shift to online ecommerce, the rise of telemedicine and the boom in digital payments during the pandemic are benefitting Gulf Capitals portfolio companies, resulting in a surge in revenues and profitability.

Dr Karim El Solh, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Gulf Capital, said: Our switch to thematic investing, as early as 2015, is yielding real dividends with our private equity portfolio seeing all time high record profitability. Our early bets over the last six years on companies operating in the fintech, healthtech, online auctions, healthcare and sustainability sectors are paying off and we are gratified to see an average increase in Fund III portfolio companies profitability of 83% year on year.

Not only have our portfolio companies recovered nicely from the pandemic but they are, in fact, accelerating their growth and beating established budgets. We expect these long-term secular trends to remain for the foreseeable future and for our portfolio companies to continue to benefit from them. Going forward, Gulf Capital is continuously refining and updating its sectoral mapping exercises and evaluating the nascent sectors of the future. Identifying long term trends early on and thematic investing is at the core of everything we do at Gulf Capital.

The firm is currently hiring a deep bench of Asian private equity and operating experts to effectively connect the Gulf region with the rest of Asia across this fast-growing East-West Asian corridor, named Ascending Asia.

Dr El Solh added: Asia has been at the heart of our cross-border expansion strategy for our portfolio companies for the last 15 years. We have closed to date over 14 bolt-on acquisitions, joint ventures and new organic expansions across Asia. As a rule, we encourage all of our portfolio companies to expand across Asia, which is the fastest growing region in the world.

The unprecedented growth opportunities presented by the emergence of Ascending Asia have never been greater. Data shows us that Ascending Asia is the engine of global growth over the next 30 years, with the regions GDP projected to grow at more than 2.5x the growth rate of European GDP and 2x the growth rate of US GDP over the next 30 years. It is clear to us and to our global investors that when it comes to long term growth, Ascending Asia is the region to be in. -- TradeArabia News Service
The Dubai Maritime City Authority (DMCA) and the Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport, Sharjah Branch (AASTS) will cooperate in education, training and research studies in the maritime sector.

An MoU to this effect was signed by Sheikh Saeed bin Ahmed bin Khalifa Al Maktoum, Executive Director of Dubai Maritime City Authority, and Dr Ismail Abdel Ghaffar Ismail Farag, President of the Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport. Officials from DMCA and AASTS were present during the signing ceremony, which took place during the UAE Maritime Week 2021, where both sides are participating.

According to the MoU, the two sides will cooperate in different areas including recognising AASTS as an accredited body to provide training in maritime inspections and safety, maritime education and training to certify seafarers to operate vessels as per international conventions and treaties.

They will make use of the Academys capabilities in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Internet of Things (IoT) to build a smart and advanced system of sensors that monitor all the indicators to get a comprehensive picture of the state of the marine environment in the UAE. This will support efforts to develop blue economy and environmental sustainability.

Sheikh Saeed said: At Dubai Maritime City Authority, we work in line with the vision and directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to improve the competitiveness, attractiveness and capacity of the maritime sector as well as enhance the global leading position of Dubai and the UAE. This is achieved according to a methodology based on developing regulations, legislatives and initiatives that support government efforts to create a vibrant and safe maritime sector in Dubai, as well as consolidate its position as an attractive environment for prominent international maritime companies in order to support the blue economy. To achieve these goals, we cooperate with public and private sector partners who share the same vision with us. We cooperate with the Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport, as a knowledge partner in education, training and research and development in the maritime sector, given its extensive expertise in this area. As one of the most prominent maritime academic institutions in the region, it provides Arab economies with the best competencies in maritime scientific and academic research.

He added: "Here comes our complementary part, which we call blue jobs, to prepare the largest possible number of Emirati professionals in the maritime sector to lead this vital sector and empower it as a key contributor to the economy, with a special focus on graduating women professionals. The maritime sector needs creative women capabilities as they will give new dimensions to professional performance, accelerating blue economy development.

Dr Farag said: In line with our vision to prepare Emiratis to lead the UAEs maritime sector, we cooperate with leading maritime organisations such as the Dubai Maritime City Authority. DMCA plays a significant role in enhancing Dubais global leadership in the maritime sector by keeping pace with the latest developments in maritime training and research and development in this key sector. Our cooperation in training and research and development will provide the national maritime economy with competencies and capabilities that support investments in the maritime sector. This is in line with the role of AASTS as a house of expertise in education and training for maritime organisations in the Arab region. We have an extensive expertise in designing educational and training courses based on the needs of our partners, making use of the Academys advanced capabilities and specialised staff who graduated many leaders in the maritime sector across the Arab World according to the highest international standards.

Dr Farag added: Recognising the importance of research and development as a starting point towards developing the blue economy, we have strategic partnerships with major academic and research institutions in the European Union, in addition to our national partnerships in the UAE. Through these partnerships, we seek to strengthen the maritime sector and prepare the largest number of qualified Emiratis in the maritime sector to lead this vital sector which is a major contributor to supporting the economy. This is achieved by developing more smart solutions and applications that consolidates our position as an incubator of innovation and digital economy.-- TradeArabia News Service
Fat (Fresh. Authentic. Tasty.) Brands, parent company of Fatburger, Johnny Rockets, and 13 other restaurant concepts, has announced a new deal to enter Libya with 10 new franchised restaurants.

The new stores will be made up of five co-branded Johnny Rockets and Hurricane Grill & Wings locations and five co-branded Fatburger and Buffalos Express restaurants, which are slated to open over the next three years.

Franchisee Al Majmoua Al Moutakamila is spearheading the 10-store deal which will also mark the first co-branded Johnny Rockets and Hurricane Grill & Wings location to date in the region.

On the heels of recently announced expansion plans in UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, and Kuwait, the Libya development deal further reinforces Fat Brands commitment to growing in the Middle East.

The Middle East is an important growth area for Fat Brands, said Fat Brands CEO Andy Wiederhorn. With a growing appreciation for quick-service restaurants in the region, we look forward to bringing our beloved burger and wing brands to Libya. Similarly, we are excited to unveil the first co-branded Johnny Rockets and Hurricane Grill & Wings location in the region. We saw tremendous success when we co-branded Fatburger and Buffalos Express and expect to see the same with this burger and wing pairing with locals.-- TradeArabia News Service
DP World signed a framework agreement with Uzbekistan that will enable it to expand its presence in the country, boosting global trade flow and supporting the development of digital infrastructure.

The agreement was signed under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoumm, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai by Shukhrat Vafaev, Deputy Minister of Investments and Foreign Trade, Republic of Uzbekistan DP Worlds Chairman, Sultan bin Ahmed Sulayem, in the presence of Sardor Umurzakov, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Investments and Foreign Trade of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

The agreement covers a broad areas of cooperation, all which will boost Uzbekistans trade networks, and position DP World as a strategic partner in boosting international trade. Prioritising the flow of trade in the country, the agreements include the establishment of a new inland logistics network, supporting the expansion of the Navoi Free Economic Zone (FEZ), and the cargo terminal at Navoi International Airport, launching new consumer e-commerce and fintech platforms in the country, and streamlining customs operations.

DP World will also deploy its advanced Port Community System by CARGOES, to provide stakeholders in trade and logistics with seamless, paperless access to services including dry ports, logistics parks, ICDs, railway stations and depots.

Sultan bin Ahmed Sulayem, Group Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of DP World, said: "DP World is committed to being a strategic partner for Uzbekistan enabling trade. Our agreements signed today will help design and shape a world-class trading ecosystem in the country. The Uzbekistan economy continues to grow at a strong pace, making it an attractive destination for long-term investments."

"We look forward to working with the Ministry of Investments and Foreign Trade to promote economic growth and prosperity for the people of Uzbekistan, leveraging our capabilities across trading, logistics, infrastructure and digital technology."

The World Bank is predicting that Uzbekistans economy will grow by 5.6% in 2022. The country is Central Asias largest consumer market, and a leading exporter of cotton and textile, automotive, fruits and vegetables. With its growing economy driving domestic consumption complemented by demand for exports, the countrys trading ecosystem is set to unlock numerous benefits.

Sardor Umurzakov, Deputy Prime-Minister, Minister of Investments and Foreign Trade of Uzbekistan, said: "Uzbekistan is keen to cooperate with DP World on facilitating the development of logistics sector of the country through implementation of portfolio of projects in key regions of the country.

DP World is a world class ports and free zones operator. Combination of DP Worlds experience and capacity with Uzbekistans unique geographical location and favorable business environment will boost regional trade and contribute to further improvement of regional connectivity".

Developing new trade infrastructure

DP World will establish a state-of-the-art, rail-linked and road-linked, inland logistics network offering customers efficient solutions across all major distribution and consumption centers in and around Tashkent. The company will develop a 100-hectare road-and-rail linked greenfield site in Uzbekistans recently established Special Economic Zones.

The agreement will see DP World becoming a strategic partner for the growing Navoi FEZ and the connectivity of the Navoi air cargo terminal linking it to major international hubs, leveraging the companys expertise in developing, owning, and operating the Jebel Ali Free Zone (JAFZA), the worlds largest free zone, in Dubai.

Additionally, DP World will advise and facilitate Uzbekistan Customs streamline processes with its proven expertise and next generation digital solutions to reform and modernize processes, supporting digital transformation of the overall trade facilitation.

New consumer e-commerce and fintech platforms

The MIFT and DP World also agreed for the company to facilitate the development of a consumer e-commerce platform, leveraging its experience from launching DUBUY.com, an e-commerce platform empowering SMEs and microbusinesses to expand their business and penetrate new markets. The company aims to build the most preferred online shopping destination of the region powered by DP Worlds cutting-edge technology.

The new e-commerce platform will be complemented with a consumer fintech platform, giving consumers access to finance and banking solutions through their mobile phones. aims to be the payment option of choice for consumers, helping to facilitate faster, cheaper, and reliable P2P payment and lending opportunities. DP Worlds investment in a fintech platform for Uzbekistan in cooperation with Abu Dhabi Uzbek Investment.

World Logistics Passport

Uzbekistan had previously joined the WLP as a Gateway earlier this year to boost global trade networks and partnerships. The WLP will bring increased traffic and revenues for Uzbekistani traders, will increase visibility of Uzbekistan to the WLP global network and will boost global connectivity. MIFT will also be on hand to facilitate and support traders in Uzbekistan to register as WLP members.

As a Gateway, Uzbekistan will be able to access the benefits of the WLP when trading via the UAE, where it joins a network of 24 Hub countries and many other Gateways that span Latin America, Asia, the Middle East and Africa. Other countries that are part of the WLP network include India, Kazakhstan, Thailand, Brazil, Senegal, South Africa, the UAE, amongst others.TradeArabia News Service
Belgiums Acotec and Sap & Kaps Petroleum Services (SKPS), UAE, have signed a deal for the distribution of Acotecs brands and products, including Humidur and Humidur Char, in the emirates. Business operations will start immediately.

In the presence of the Belgian Ambassador to the UAE, Peter Claes, an agreement was signed between Khaldoun A. Afifi, Managing Director of SKPS and Gary Hill, Global Business Development Director, Acotec.

The official signing of the accord had taken place at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre during Adipec.

Besides providing more opportunities for trade between the two companies, the collaboration between SKPS and Acotec also promises to increase the level of skill sharing and knowledge of the products and services in the region.

Acotecs Corrosion Knowledge Centre has more than 35 years of experience in the development and production of sustainable anti-corrosion and passive fire protection coatings, and is world-renowned as a top provider of environment-friendly solutions and technical expertise.

SKPS offers a fresh and innovative approach to the business in UAE, as their goal is to exceed client expectations with outstanding customer service, increased flexibility, and greater value, thereby optimising system functionality and improving operational efficiency.

Wim Schalley, Acotec CEO sees this new partnership as a stepping stone towards more business in the region. This is clearly a new era for the distribution, storing and technical support of Acotecs corrosion protection and passive fire protection products in the UAE. We look forward to working with SKPS in the future.

Khaldoun A Afifi, Managing Director of SKPS said: People safety, asset protection and continuity of operation is what SKPS look and strive for. Acotec will contribute to this, especially with the introduction of Humidur and Humidur Char to our market.-- TradeArabia News Service
Harnaaz Sandhu of India was crowned Miss Universe 2021 today (December 13) at the 70th Miss Universe beauty pageant in the Israeli port city of Eilat.

The pageant was held in the resort city of Eilat, with 80 women from around the world competing for the crown. Sunday night was the last day of the competition, with eliminations narrowing down the number of finalists until the last two remained.

The coveted Miss Universe title has finally returned home - after 21 years - screamed headlines in Indian media as the 130-billion strong nation celebrated Chandigarh-born beauty's win at the gala event.

Harnaaz, who started modelling at a young age, gradually made her way to beauty pageants and won her first pageant  Miss Chandigarh 2017 followed by Miss Diva Universe 2021 title that paved her way to the Miss Universe 2021 pageant.

Nadia Ferreira of Paraguay and Lalela Mswane of South Africa were the first and second runners-up, respectively, reported CNN.

An actor by profession, Harnaaz said she was inspired by actor and Miss World 2000 Priyanka Chopra and her body of work. She is now a strong advocate for womens empowerment, particularly their constitutional rights to education, careers, and their freedom of choice.

"In her spare time, Harnaaz enjoys the company of friends, loves yoga, dancing, cooking, horse riding, and playing chess. She is a water baby and never misses a chance to jump into a pool to rejuvenate herself. She believes in the saying  Great things happen to those who dont stop believing, trying, learning, and being grateful, reads her delegate bio.

In a speech on stage during the pageant, Sandhu urged young people to "know that you are unique and that's what makes you beautiful, stop comparing yourself to others.

"I believed in myself, and that's why I'm standing here today," she added, to loud applause from the audience.

After her win was announced, she celebrated with other contestants on stage, shouting to a camera, "Chak de Phatte India," a Punjabi exclamation similar in meaning to "Let's do this, India!"

Former Miss Universe Lara Dutta congratulated her on the win.

Congratulations @HarnaazSandhu03 !!!! Welcome to the club!!! Weve waited 21 long years for this!!! You make us SO SO proud!!! A billion dreams come true!!! she tweeted.

This year's competition marks the second Covid-era Miss Universe pageant. Israel's borders were set to open to vaccinated tourists ahead of the main event this year, which would have allowed thousands of fans to attend.

But with the emergence of the new Omicron variant, the Israeli government shut its borders to foreigners two weeks before the competition, throwing travel plans and preparations into chaos. One contestant, Miss France, tested positive for the virus upon landing in Israel and had to quarantine -- getting out just in time for the preliminary competition on Friday.
Deepening its investment in the region, Promofix, a subsidiary and digital arm of UAE-based JGroup, announced the opening of its new office in Doha, Qatar.

With the launch of its new office, Promofix aims to elevate its regional and global footprint by connecting brands in Qatar to the right audience through access to quality network, unique advertisement placements and generating ad impressions, ultimately enabling brands to meet user demands.

Qatar is an important country in the Middle East with a big growth potential in the digital industry. The number of internet users in Qatar increased by 29,000 between 2020 and 2021, according to a report by DataReportal .

The report showcases the growing digital userbase in Qatar and encourages advertisers to accelerate and expand their multi-platform distribution initiatives. Promofixs operations in Qatar will provide brands and advertisers with access to the companys innovative range of technologies including FoxPush and Blis Media.

The opening of our new offices in Qatar is the latest step in the strengthening our regional foothold. At Promofix, we aim at offering our strong regional network to enable brands to grow locally and globally. With the support of global brand partners like Snapchat, we progress towards providing consolidating our position at the forefront of regional media, innovation and recognition when it comes to advertising, said Imad Jomaa, Founder and President of JGroup.

Alain David, General Manager at Promofix said: We are glad to have the opportunity to provide Promofixs innovative solutions to brands and advertisers in Qatar. Promofix continues to provide an unparalleled experience to the advertisers across the Middle East. We strive towards creating a resourceful environment for advertisers to easily and seamlessly target the right audience through best-in-class technology solutions, data strategy and platforms.

Promofix offers opportunity for brands and advertisers to serve their assets across its exclusive channels and publishers under different verticals maximising a brands revenue and performance by reaching the right target audience. This will increase brands' market share and promote their services and products regionally and internationally.

The company serves as the exclusive sales partner for Snapchat in Qatar and represents several key brands in the region, such as beIN Sports, PFX Network, IconPeak, RichAds, Freewheel and many others.-- TradeArabia News Service
thyssenkrupp Uhde Chlorine Engineers, a key provider of engineering, procurement and construction services for electrochemical plants, said it has won a contract from leading industrial gases company Air Products to instal a more than 2 GW electrolysis plant for one of the worlds largest green hydrogen projects at Neom in Saudi Arabia.

A joint venture with Industrie De Nora, thyssenkrupp Uhde Chlorine Engineers is a world leader in technologies and comprehensive solutions for large-scale electrolysis plants.

Under this contract, thyssenkrupp will engineer, procure and fabricate the plant based on their large-scale 20 megawatt (MW) alkaline water electrolysis module.

Upon commissioning, Neom Green Hydrogen Company - which has Neom, Acwa Power and Air Products as the project partners - will operate the facility.

The company will produce hydrogen to be synthesised into carbon-free ammonia for export exclusively by Air Products for global markets.

Engineering and procurement activities have been initiated, and the start of production is scheduled for 2026, it added.

In July 2020, Air Products, together with Acwa Power and Neom, had signed an agreement for world-scale green hydrogen-based ammonia production facility powered by renewable energy.

thyssenkrupp was selected by its strategic partner Air Products early in the project as technology supplier and has worked intensively on early engineering and project development.

The signing of the project contract is a key milestone of both companies joint effort over the past year to use their complementary technology, engineering and project execution strengths to develop green hydrogen production facilities.

The realisation of the project leverages thyssenkrupps large-scale technology supporting Air Products development of green hydrogen for sustainable transportation, chemicals and power generation.

Dr Samir J Serhan, Chief Operating Officer at Air Products, said: "This project milestone with thyssenkrupp furthers our strong progress at Neom to deliver carbon-free hydrogen on a massive-scale in the kingdom and for the world."

"The development and execution of this innovative megaproject is one of many required to drive a successful energy transition, and we look forward to continuing to develop, build, own and operate facilities that help address the worlds significant energy and environmental challenges. This project is the kickoff to become a frontrunner in the green hydrogen economy," he added.

Denis Krude, CEO of thyssenkrupp Uhde Chlorine Engineers, said: "As a world market leader in electrolysis we bring in two decisive factors to realise such gigawatt projects: With our large-scale standard module size and gigawatt cell manufacturing capacity per year together with our Joint Venture partner De Nora we are able to deliver large capacity projects today."

"With this gigawatt project, we are committed to invest into ramping up our manufacturing capacities further. We also aim for a strong local set-up which is key to delivering customised service solutions throughout the entire plant life-cycle and enables our strategic partner in their vision to become a global decarbonization pioneer," he added.
As part of its network expansion plans, low-cost Oman airline SalamAir has announced the launch of flights to Bishkek and Osh in Kyrgyzstan. The Muscat-Bishkek and Muscat-Osh direct routes mark the airlines first entry into the Kyrgyzstan market.

The low-cost carrier will operate one flight a week to Osh every Monday, departing Muscat at 08:25 local time and arriving at the destination at 14:20 local time. The flight will depart Osh on Friday at 15:05 local time arriving in Muscat at 17:35 local time.

The flight to Bishkek will leave every Tuesday from Muscat at 18.00 local time arriving at the destination at 0:10 local time. The flight will depart Bishkek on Wednesday at 0:55 local time arriving in Muscat at 3:35 local time.

Both routes will have two flights a week starting January 1.

CEO Captain Mohamed Ahmed said, We look forward to serving customers travelling to Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, and Osh, the oldest city in Kyrgyzstan. We have been operating to Osh as a charter flight for the past two months and now we see the opportunity to increase the frequencies and make it a scheduled flight.

"We will market Oman as a winter destination in Kyrgystan to attract tourist and business opportunities with direct flights, further we plan to supplement the route with the export and import of cargo. The network expansion is in line with our vision to expand our footprint in strategic markets and to grow our business and meet Oman Vision 2040.

"We are delighted to announce these new routes which allow us to offer our customers a wider range of destinations to visit. We expect the new routes to help attract more visitors and business travellers to the capital Muscat and to other destinations within our network.

With a population of over 6.5 million Kyrgyzstan has a growing adventure travel and eco-tourism sector. The country is well known for its white peaks, green grasslands, flowing mountain rivers, and tranquil lakes. By far the biggest city and as well as the capital Bishkek is famous for its architecture and the stunning setting of the Tian Shan mountains.

Osh, the second-largest city, is estimated to be over 3,000 years old. Situated in Southern Kyrgyzstan's fertile Fergana Valley, it has operated for three millennia as an important city in Central Asia welcoming travellers from across the world. From its time as a Silk Road trading hub, Osh has matured into a lively, multicultural city with over 80 ethnicities.

SalamAir flies to domestic destinations including Muscat, Salalah, Suhar and international destinations Dubai, Doha, Riyadh, Jeddah, Shiraz, Istanbul, Alexandria, Khartoum, Multan, Sialkot, Karachi, Dhaka, Chattogram, Calicut, Jaipur, Trivandrum, and Lucknow.-TradeArabia News Service
UW LAMP Educators, Mentors Present Projects at National Conference

Five Learning Actively Mentoring Program (LAMP) educators and two University of Wyoming mentors recently presented projects at the Original Lilly Conference on College Teaching at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.

LAMP, part of the UW Science Initiative, is a comprehensive, sustained mentoring and professional development program. LAMP emphasizes how to best adopt active-learning strategies in large-scale active-learning classrooms at UW. The Original Lilly Conference on College Teaching is one of the nations most renowned conferences presenting the scholarship of teaching and learning.

Through LAMP, the educators all completed 2019-2020 yearlong training and then became a part of an educator learning community that gathered regularly for more than a year, says Rachel Watson, LAMP director. All of the educators completed a scholarship of teaching and learning project that they presented either orally or via poster at the Lilly Conference.

These instructors expanded their knowledge of active, inclusive, student-centered pedagogies, Watson says. Miami University is the cradle of the scholarship of teaching and learning, and the conference organizers are the preeminent authorities on both (that science) and faculty learning communities.

Presenting at the conference were:

-- Deepthi Amarasuriya, of Northwest College, presented a poster centering on a novel active-learning strategy that she implemented for her physics courses. She calls this method the layered approach, which is an inclusive pedagogy allowing students to learn in different ways using different resources and metacognitive and small-group approaches.

-- LAMP mentors Christi Boggs, director of UW digital teaching and learning, and Watson presented a poster showing increased connectivity in the social network after yearlong LAMP training and the subsequent educator learning community. This corresponds with educators decreased feelings of isolation, increased feelings of confidence and pedagogical knowledge. The social network analysis also reveals a disproportionate increase in advice-giving for several community members after the second year in the program. They say this may indicate either the need for multiyear development or educator learning community-style cohorts when helping educators become campus opinion leaders and change agents.

-- Tawfik Elshehabi, of UWs Department of Petroleum Engineering, led conference attendees through an interactive investigation of teaching philosophy construction. Attendees were invited to engage in written, visual and multimodal versions of his philosophy and were given time to generate these formats of their own philosophies to share with their students.

-- McKensie Phillips, of UWs Department of Animal Science, was the last of the LAMP members to present her work on knowledge surveys. Phillips' research shows that students knowledge and confidence are, on average, greater at the end of the semester than after a one-course unit. LAMP data analyst Ella DeWolf, from Laramie, supported Phillips' statistical analysis and data visualization.

-- Phillips and Reshmi Singh, of UWs School of Pharmacy, presented on a study titled Exploring Multidisciplinary and International Engagement by a Faculty Cohort. This study used qualitative and quantitative research methodologies to inquire into the multidisciplinary teaching, research and scholarship of educators at UW and Wyomings community colleges.

-- Amy Rhoad, of UWs Department of Veterinary Sciences, presented her use of case studies in a large undergraduate medical microbiology course. She used a critical thought assessment strategy to explore the impact of varying case study approaches. During her session, she immersed conference attendees in a mock food poisoning case study titled A Case of the Conference Blues.

This class of LAMP members follows in the footsteps of the inaugural class of graduates. Educators in the inaugural class also presented their own projects at a previous Lilly Conference in areas ranging from agricultural economics to physics and astronomy education.

For more information, email Watson at rwatson@uwyo.edu.


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Source: Xinhua| 2021-06-07 05:40:58|Editor: huaxia

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TIRANA, June 6 (Xinhua) -- Albania has officially opened up the borders to international tourists and Albanian nationals living abroad. They are no longer required to present a negative COVID-19 test, show proof of vaccination, or undertake self-quarantine upon entry.

One day after the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs announced these measures, Xinhua reporters witnessed on Sunday a continuous flow of both foreign and national passengers at Tirana International Airport, the country's only international airport.

Jagdeep Sing, a 26-year-old Indian national, told Xinhua that this was his first visit to Albania.

"A friend of mine will pick me up and first I plan to visit the capital city Tirana, the National Historical Museum and Art Gallery," Sing said.

A 30-year-old man from Switzerland was to leave Albania after attending UNUM Festival, an open-air electronic music festival held in Shengjin, northwestern Albania. "I liked it a lot here, even though it was a very short visit," he said.

Responding to the Albanian government's decision to remove restrictions on foreign tourists, he said: "it feels great, we don't need to wear a mask, and this is a very smart decision."

Jemmy, 33, a tourist from Thailand, echoed. "The decision to allow foreigners to visit here is a very good one in order to boost the economy and get everything back to normal," she said, adding that she was impressed with "the people, the food, places, literally everything here."

A couple with two boys from Egypt, who were waiting to depart from the airport after a 12-day visit to Albania, told Xinhua that they were happy with no visa entry requirement by the Albanian government and no restrictions for entry either.

"We are taking a COVID-19 test now because authorities in our country (Egypt) still ask for this, but we were happy your country did not have this requirement and we could visit freely," said Rina, the mother of two.

Alison and Rupert, mother and son from South Africa, who had just landed at Tirana International Airport from London, told Xinhua that they have heard from their friends that Albania is "absolutely" beautiful.

Rupert, a property broker, said that during their 11-night stay here, they plan to visit the capital city Tirana and then the cities of Berat, Gjirokastra, Saranda, all UNESCO-designated world heritage sites, as well as the coastline.

"Only a few countries accept South African tourists at the moment without vaccination," Rupert said.

"This makes it very attractive for South Africans certainly, in a time when across the world, due to COVID-19, many places are closed and not making any money," Alison, his mother, added.

According to the latest report of the National Institute of Statistics (INSTAT), during the first four months this year, the number of foreign national arrivals in Albania was 754,796, compared to 585,911 in the same period last year. It's expected that the removal of travel restrictions will prompt a significant rise in the number of foreign tourists as the summer season has started across the country. Enditem
Regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, they reaffirmed the call for action to ensure universal access to vaccines, thus turning them into global public goods necessary for social and economic recovery around the world.

Likewise, they agreed on the need to promote capacities for autonomous production of drugs and vaccines by countries such as Peru.

Ambassador Maurtua expressed satisfaction with the auspicious meeting held in Rome with senior executives of ten of the main Italian companies with projects in Peru.

On that occasion, the top executives confirmed that Peru is a safe destination for Italian investments, due to its favorable legislation, fiscal solvency, important international reserves, as well as efficient economic and regulatory management and legal stability.

For her part, Sereni welcomed the efforts made by Peru to move steadily towards the adoption of good practices and high standards of OECD membership.

During the meeting, the diplomat thanked Italy for its valuable cooperation in technical assistance and training aimed at the Peruvian Army in humanitarian demining activities taking place on the Peru-Ecuador border.

Titular de Torre Tagle destaco la importancia del apoyo italiano a la aspiracion peruana para ingresar a la OCDE, y recalco que esta meta peruana constituye una politica de Estado, tal y como fuera ratificado recientemente por el presidente de la Republica, Pedro Castillo. pic.twitter.com/gIlu7tmdEj
?El presidente @PedroCastilloTe encabezo la graduacion de oficiales de la Marina Mercante. ???? pic.twitter.com/qgtxGFxrcO
" " The long-haired Texel guinea pig is very popular, and looks almost like a walking wig. Life On White/Getty Images

They're small. They're social. They're as furry as furry gets. They make happy noises that sound like wheek! And when they're really excited, they bounce and leap around in ways some people call "popcorning." They kind of look like Tribbles from the old "Star Trek"series. What are these adorable-sounding creatures? They're the walking wigs known as guinea pigs.

Scientific types call them Cavia porcellus, which is why they're sometimes known as cavies. The American Cavy Breeders Association recognizes 11 breeds, but the most common variety is the American Cavy. That's the one you'll likely see at most large pet stores. But for the best hairstyles, check out breeds like the long-haired Texel or the Abyssinian, which seems to be made entirely of cowlicks.

Could a cavy be your new best friend? In truth, probably yes. They are a delight. Let's look at how to care for these happy little furballs.

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Guinea Pigs as Starter Pets

Compared to a lot of pets, guinea pigs are pretty easy to care for. The shorter-hair breeds do a pretty good job of grooming themselves. They only require an occasional session with a brush and baths only if they get into something they shouldn't. They don't need to be walked twice a day, and no one has to scoop poop out of a litter box.

But they do need more care than you might expect. Like many cavy fans, Jake Sherlock at the Oregon Humane Society doesn't recommend guinea pigs as a first pet for small kids. "I make sure parents understand that they'll have to help with care," he says.

The thing is, unlike lots of other animals, guinea pigs don't keep a strict separation between where they eat, sleep, and ... evacuate. OK, pee and poop. They're not careful poopers. So their bedding needs to be changed out pretty frequently to keep them healthy.

Guinea pigs tend to live to be 7 or 8 years old. How long they live can depend on how they're cared for, as well as genetic factors, so be sure to give your new furry friend the best chance at a long life.

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Guinea Pigs Are, Well, Pigs

Guinea pigs aren't related to the kinds of pigs with snouts that go "oink," but they eat like pigs. Cavies are vegetarian, so they don't eat meat or dairy. But they will eat, and eat, and eat ... it's not uncommon for a guinea pig to be fat as well as fluffy.

The main source of nutrition for cavies is Timothy hay, which is also their bedding. Remember what we said about care: Hay is their food, their bed and their bathroom. Now you can see why cleaning the cage often and replacing the hay is so crucial.

In addition to hay, give your new friend guinea pig pellets. They've have been formulated to give pigs the range of nutrients they need. Because they're so nutrient dense, though, pellets can make guinea pigs obese. If your pig takes a nap without finishing the pellets in their bowl, you can remove the pellets and replace it with a few fruits or veggies.

Guinea pigs love fresh food. They will even develop favorites and wheek their little faces off when they see you bringing, say, blueberries or kiwi slices. Guinea pigs cannot make vitamin C, so foods high in this vitamin are great choices. Sherlock also notes that you can give them one vitamin C tablet (not a multivitamin) a day.

Guinea pig teeth grow always and forever. They need to grind their front teeth down, so there are loads of cute toothy toys for this purpose. Just avoid any chew toys made of cedar, as this wood is toxic to guinea pigs.

" " Guinea pigs like friends, and do best in same-sex pairs. Wayne Shipley/Getty Images

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Building Your Guinea Pig Palace

Most pet stores sell cages that say right on the box that they're for guinea pigs. And most of them are fine, as long as there's about 7.5 square feet (0.69 square meters) for one pig or 10.5 square feet (0.97 square meters) total for two pigs. The cage should be kept out of direct sunlight so the pigs don't overheat.

But many guinea pig people build their own cages. There are entire websites devoted to plans and tips and examples of the cages people have built, both simple and elaborate. Sherlock says that in his experience, guinea pig people are artist types who love being creative with their cages.

Guinea pigs can't really jump, so as long as you don't have any other animals that might bother them, your cage doesn't need a lid. This makes it easier to clean out the old Timothy hay. It also makes it easier to lift your little friend out of the cage for playing and snuggles.

Sherlock recommends about 30 minutes a day of pig playtime. They can learn their names, and they definitely learn to recognize you. Wheek! Cavies have few behavioral issues, but if they do seem nervous or shy, playtime every day can help with these issues.

Remember that, like hamsters, cavies are prey animals, so they can work themselves into a panic pretty quickly. They'll need time to get used to you, but Sherlock says they're very confident once they're comfortable in their environment.

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One Pig or Two?

If you plan on being a devoted, stay-at-home pig parent, you might be able to get by with just one. But they really do better in same-sex pairs. (Putting a male and female together means having many more guinea pigs than you probably intended to have.)

Sherlock says that littermates are not guaranteed to get along. You may have noticed this in your own life as a human sibling. If your two pigs were living happily together at the pet store or rescue, they'll be fine together at your house. If you're introducing new pigs, you can put two separate cages next to each other until they get used to each other. After a while, they'll be friendly, and you can put the two into one large cage to be one happy guinea pig family.

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Now That's Awesome Guinea pigs are such social creatures that in Switzerland, it's illegal to own one lonely little cavy. (You also cannot own one parrot.) Having one guinea pig is considered to be bad for their health.
YEREVAN, DECEMBER 14, ARMENPRESS. NATO supports the process of normalization of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan for the sake of ensuring a peaceful future for the peoples, ARMENPRESS reports NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced during the joint press conference with Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev.

Security and stability in the South Caucasus are important for all of us. To ensure a peaceful future for all peoples, we support the normalization of relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia, both of which are important partners for the NATO, Stoltenberg said.
YEREVAN, DECEMBER 14, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan, who is in Brussels on a working visit, had a private conversation with the President of the European Council Charles Michel.

As ARMENPRESS was informed from the Office of the Prime Minister, Nikol Pashinyan thanked Charles Michel for the consistent efforts aimed at solving the problems caused by the 44-day war.

The interlocutors referred to the upcoming trilateral meeting between the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan, the President of the European Council Charles Michel and the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev scheduled for today, attaching importance to the continuity and strengthening of the dialogue. The parties expressed hope for effective negotiations, which will contribute to stability and a comprehensive settlement of the issues.

Nikol Pashinyan and Charles Michel also touched upon the agenda and issues for discussion at the sixth summit of the Eastern Partnership to be held in Brussels on December 15. The parties highlighted the development of Armenia-EU cooperation and the effective implementation of programs within the framework of the Eastern Partnership for the benefit of the implementation of institutional reforms and the strengthening of democracy in our country.

The sides stressed the importance of the reforms launched in Armenia during the last three years and the steps taken by the Armenian Government in that direction. In this context, the President of the European Council stressed the readiness of the EU to further deepen and expand the partnership for the implementation of the priorities of the Government of the Republic of Armenia.

The Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia and Charles Michel also referred to the developments taking place in the South Caucasus.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and South Korean President Moon Jae-in have signed a defense deal worth 1 billion Australian dollars as the two countries mark 60 years of diplomatic relations, DW reports.

December 14, 2021, 12:34 Australia, South Korea sign historic defense agreement

STEPANAKERT, DECEMBER 14, ARTSAKHPRESS: South Korea and Australia have signed a nearly $700 million defense deal on Monday during South Korean President Moon Jae-in's visit to the country. Under the agreement, South Korean defense company Hanwha will provide the Australian army with equipment like artillery weapons, supply vehicles and radar.

The deal, worth 1 billion Australian dollars ($717 million, 635 million), is the largest defense contract between Australia and an Asian nation, local media reported.
Armenia will be provided with a new batch of vaccine against COVID-19 on the sidelines of the vaccine delivery process to the countries of the Eastern Partnership, the European Commission said, presenting the statement by Oliver Varhelyi, the Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement.

December 14, 2021, 16:55 COVID-19: Portugal to donate 400 thousand doses of Pfizer vaccine to Armenia

STEPANAKERT, DECEMBER 14, ARTSAKHPRESS-ARMENPRESS: According to the statement, the first delivery under this arrangement will be 400 thousand vaccines from Pfizer/BioNTech, from Portugal to Armenia.

Each new wave of the COVID pandemic increases the urgency to step up the vaccination rate. This is no different with the newest variant, Omicron. It is only the vaccination that can save us all. And we are talking about our Eastern Partner countries, where the vaccination average rate is only 28%. So it is high time to help them to speed up the vaccination rate and get everybody fully vaccinated, the Commissioner said.
According to reports, the draft resolution was also vetoed by Russia

In the 'explanation of vote', Indias ambassador and permanent representative to the United Nations in New York, T.S. Tirumurti, said that India is second to none when it comes to climate action and climate justice but the UNSC is not the place to discuss either issue. (Twitter)

New delhi: India late on Monday evening voted against a UN Security Council (UNSC) draft resolution on climate change and security co-authored by Ireland and Niger that sought to link climate change and security. According to reports, the draft resolution was also vetoed by Russia. New Delhi argued that the draft resolution sought to put the responsibility on combating climate change on the UNSC when commitments already exists under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), adding that the motive was so that decisions can be taken without involvement of most developing countries without recognising consensus and that a few states will have a free hand in deciding on all climate-related issues. It also demanded that developed countries must provide climate finance of $1 trillion at the earliest and that it is necessary that climate finance be tracked with the same diligence as climate mitigation.

The draft resolution said that the adverse effects of climate change can lead to social tensions exacerbating, prolonging, or contributing to the risk of future conflicts and instability and posing a key risk to global peace, security, and stability.

In the explanation of vote, Indias ambassador and permanent representative to the United Nations in New York, T.S. Tirumurti, said, India is second to none when it comes to climate action and climate justice but the UNSC is not the place to discuss either issue. In fact, the attempt to do so appears to be motivated by a desire to evade responsibility in the appropriate forum and divert the worlds attention from an unwillingness to deliver where it counts... India understands the challenge of fellow developing countries and shares them fully and will continue to voice their concerns... To move forward decisively, access to climate finance has become critical. Developed countries must provide climate finance of $1 trillion at the earliest. It is necessary that climate finance be tracked with the same diligence as climate mitigation. The developed countries have fallen well short of their promises.

Mr Tirumurti added, It is important to recognise this because todays attempt to link climate with security really seeks to obfuscate lack of progress on critical issues in the UNFCCC process. We are concerned about the manner in which this issue has been brought before the UNSC... Why is it that one needs a UNSC resolution to take action against climate change when we have commitments under UNFCCC towards concrete climate action. The honest answer is that there is no real requirement for this resolution except for bringing climate change under the ambit of the UNSC. The reason is that decisions can be taken without involvement of most developing countries without recognising consensus. And all this can be done in the name of preserving international peace and security.

Mr Tirumurti further said, If the UNSC takes over responsibility on this issue, a few states will have a free hand in deciding on all climate-related issues. This is clearly neither desirable nor acceptable. Todays UNSC draft resolution appears to undermine the hard-won consensus which we reached in Glasgow. This draft resolution will only sow the seeds of discord among the larger UN membership. It sends a wrong message to developing countries... India had no option but to vote against (the draft resolution).

According to reports, the co-penholders (Ireland and Niger) convened a read-through of the zero draft with all Council members on 30 September and then held one round of negotiations on 11 October. It seems that during the 11 October meeting, deep Council divisions on the issue became evident: Twelve members  Estonia, France, Ireland, Kenya, Mexico, Niger, Norway, Tunisia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, the UK, the US, and Vietnam  expressed support for a more systematic integration of climate-related security risks into the Councils work, requesting only minor adjustments to the zero draft. China, India and Russia, however, apparently expressed deep skepticism about the need for Council engagement on this issue. It seems that China voiced strong reservations about the need for such a resolution and Russia said that it would not engage any further on the text.

Reports further said ahead of the voting that India and Russia also apparently highlighted concerns about a securitised approach to the issue, conveying apprehension that the Council could pursue coercive measures to address the challenges posed by climate change... The co-penholders then placed a draft of the text under silence procedure on 29 November. China, India and Russia subsequently broke silence, disseminating to Council members nearly identical letters that objected to the draft resolution, arguing that there is no clear scientific background for equating climate change with security concerns.
Christmas dinner  it seems to be a tradition for almost everyone. Whether you celebrate it on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, whether your holiday plans mean a simple meal at home with the family or tracking down an elegant holiday feast at the fanciest restaurant in town, chances are youre planning to celebrate in some form. And if you dont celebrate, somehow there are STILL traditions to be adhered to  Chinese food anyone?

With all the options at play this season, we have put together a list of some of our favorite spots to enjoy Christmas dinner, from simple to fancy, a la carte to prix fixe, any of these would make a fine choice. And as with all holiday dining, advanced reservations are strongly suggested. Happy holidays!

Girasole

Easily one of Atlantic Citys most elegant noncasino establishments, a holiday meal at Girasole is sure to be an unforgettable experience. The space is visually enchanting from the moment you enter, with its large, pillowy chairs and striking tones of gold and blue. Christmas Eve dinner is $75 per person for the traditional Italian Feast of the Seven Fishes, which will feature a variety of fresh seafood courses leading up to the main course, grilled branzino and sushi-grade wild salmon prepared with cucumber, apple, lemon, thyme, garlic and capers. The regular menu will also be available.

Christmas Day dinner consists of a four-course, prix-fixe meal which starts with minestra maritata, an escarole soup with celery and baby meatballs; the second course will be melanzane e zucchine, a baked eggplant and zucchini parmigiano; followed by a third course of paccheri con ragu napoletano, large rigatoni with slow cooked ragu of Italian sausage, beef braciole, veal ossobuco, in a homemade tomato sauce. The night caps off with an assortment of homemade desserts. Christmas Day dinner is available for $65 per person. Girasole is located at 3108 Pacific Ave., Atlantic City. Go to MyGirasole.com.
The consumer watchdog is set to have its first female leader after the federal government announced it will recommend lawyer Gina Cass-Gottlieb for the role.

Ms Cass-Gottlieb has more than 25 years' experience in competition and regulation and is one of Australia's pre-eminent competition lawyers.

As a senior partner she has advised on some of the largest and most complex competition matters in Australia and New Zealand.

She was appointed a member of the Reserve Bank of Australia Payment Systems Board in 2013, and a member of the Financial Regulator Assessment Authority in September 2021.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said in a statement Ms Cass-Gottlieb will be the government's proposed head of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission for five years, commencing in March 2022.

The proposal will need the support of the states and territories before being recommended to the governor-general for appointment.

Mr Frydenberg thanked outgoing chairman Rod Sims who has been in the role for the past 10 years.

He said Mr Sims had helped advance "world leading" reforms, including in relation to digital platforms.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has confirmed Australias border will reopen to temporary visa holders on Wednesday despite rising Covid transmission in the country.

From tomorrow, skilled migrants, international students and working holidaymakers will be able to re-enter Australia and a travel bubble with Japan, Singapore and South Korea will be able to go ahead.

"Tomorrow, we will begin welcoming students to Australia again, skilled migrants, working holidaymakers, under those visa programs," the prime minister said.

"From tomorrow, Korea, as I announced yesterday with the President and Japan, also join with Singapore and New Zealand."

To enter Australia, visa holders will need to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19.

Australia will move ahead with reopening borders on Wednesday. Source: AAP

The plans for Australia's international reopening on December 1 were pushed back due to concerns about the Omicron variant.

"We had a pause on the opening that starts tomorrow and we did that because we were waiting for the picture to emerge a bit more clearly before taking that next step, and now we feel confident to take that next step," Mr Morrison said on Tuesday.

The prime minister added due to "one of the highest vaccination rates in the world" Australia is able to open up in time for Christmas.

"We've got a long way to go but I tell you, we're better prepared than almost any other country in the world to deal with this and continue to stare this virus in the face and live with it," he said.

The pause on the reopening of borders to South Korea and Japan was announced on November 29, days before the December 1 initial reopening date.

In Australia, over 89 per cent of people aged 16 and over are now fully vaccinated against Covid-19.

The changes to international borders comes after Australia updated its advice on booster shots.

Story continues

Australians can now get a booster shot five months after the second jab, as Moderna is approved to join Pfizer as a booster option.

Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt was encouraged by evidence showing Omicron led to a milder illness despite being more transmissible.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison believes Australia is in a good position due to its high vaccination rate. Source: AAP

Doherty Institute director Sharon Lewin stressed booster shots made a significant difference in protection against Omicron.

"All of that information that's coming in is suggesting that Omicron looks milder, but people that have been vaccinated with just two doses are less protected than they were from Delta," she told ABC radio on Monday.

On Tuesday Victoria recorded 1189 new Covid cases while NSW reported 804 new cases, a drastic jump from Monday's 536.

Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com.

You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Twitter and download the Yahoo News app from the App Store or Google Play.
NSW could be recording 25,000 COVID-19 cases a day by the end of next month, Health Minister Brad Hazzard has warned, after a dramatic escalation in the number of new infections.

Some 1360 new cases were detected in the 24 hours to 8pm on Tuesday, an increase of 556 on the 804 the previous day.

Infections have more than quadrupled in a week and it is the first time in months the state has recorded more than one thousand new cases in a single day.

Health authorities believe the Omicron variant is causing the rapid surge in cases.

On Wednesday, restrictions on eight southern African countries were eased, bringing all arrivals from overseas under the same rules.

Arrivals who had been in South Africa, Lesotho, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Namibia, Eswatini and Malawi had previously been placed in quarantine for a fortnight.

With Omicron cases coming in from other countries as well as transmission occurring in the community, Australia's chief medical officer Paul Kelly says "international border bans are no longer a proportionate or effective means to contain the spread of Omicron".

Fully vaccinated international arrivals into NSW have to isolate for 72 hours, avoid high risk settings until after day seven and have a PCR test in the first 24 hours and on day six after arrival.

While only 110 cases have been officially confirmed, due to testing limitations, data indicates Omicron cases are rising in Sydney and the variant has "predominance" in Newcastle.

The Hunter region remains the biggest headache for authorities, with the district accounting for about one-third of new cases on Tuesday thanks to super-spreader events in Newcastle.

Mr Hazzard said cases in NSW are bound to surge further, with experts warning the "concerning" reproduction rate of the variant could climb above 1.5.

"What they're telling us is that by the end of January, we could be looking at 25,000 cases of the virus every single day," he said on Wednesday.

Story continues

While it seems the new variant is more transmissible but causes less severe illness, Mr Hazzard said those number should compel people to get their vaccine boosters as soon as they are eligible.

Many are heeding that message, with 9000 booster doses handed out across the state on Tuesday.

Researchers from UNSW's Kirby Institute on Wednesday also stressed the importance of booster shots.

While two doses of any vaccines had little to no effect on the transmissibility of the Omicron variant, protections against severe disease - particularly with a booster shot - remained.

The explosion in NSW cases coincides with an easing of restrictions, with unvaccinated people now allowed to mingle with the fully jabbed at shops and hospitality venues for the first time in three months.

QR code check-ins have also been scaled back and masks are only required in high-risk settings such as public transport and planes.

There are no limits on visitors to homes, hospitality venues, or outdoor gatherings.

But while masks are no longer required, Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant says her "clear advice" is for people in indoor settings to keep wearing them.

Premier Dominic Perrottet defended the decision to ease restrictions as planned, and urged people not to focus on rising case numbers but rather ICU presentations and hospitalisations.

The last time NSW had a higher daily infection caseload was on September 11, when 1599 new cases were detected.

But the number of hospitalisations and deaths in NSW are a fraction of what they were then.

There was one death on Tuesday, while 166 people are in hospital with the virus, including 24 in intensive care and seven ventilated.

While hospitalisations generally lag infection spikes, Mr Perrottet has "complete confidence" the hospital system will cope thanks to the state's 93 per cent vaccination coverage.

He rejected suggestions his government was sending confusing messages by warning cases could climb and urging caution, while at the same time easing restrictions and encouraging people to "enjoy the best that NSW has to offer".

"It is all about instilling confidence and ensuring everyone has a safe Christmas," he said.
As some New York counties say they won't enforce a new mask mandate that took effect Monday, Gov. Kathy Hochul hopes they will take action to abide by the statewide directive.

Hochul announced on Friday that individuals ages 2 and older must wear masks in indoor public settings unless the venue requires proof of vaccination. The policy will remain in effect until Jan. 15.

The new mask requirements are in response to a surge in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations across New York. There were 8,993 new positive cases in New York and 3,683 hospitalizations.

Statewide, the average seven-day positivity rate is 4.62%. But in some regions, it's higher. Central New York has a 7.61% positivity rate.

Hochul told reporters on Monday that some county executives requested the statewide order "so they have what I would call air cover." She said leaders across the state are "grateful" for the policy.

"There's a difference of opinion," she said. "I do have faith in New Yorkers. I believe that the vast majority want to do what's right. They want to put this pandemic behind us."

In response to a follow-up question about enforcement, Hochul said that it's up to the counties to enforce the mask mandate.

"We hope that counties will enforce it," she said. "We expect that they will. We hope that they will. It's in the best interest of public health."

In Onondaga County, the local governments won't enforce the mask order. Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon wants businesses to understand the new rules first before there is any enforcement of the mandate.

It's unknown whether Cayuga County will enforce the mandate. Cayuga County Legislature Chairwoman Aileen McNabb-Coleman and Kathleen Cuddy, the county's public health director, did not respond to The Citizen's request for comment.

When there was a statewide mask mandate in place until earlier this year, the Cayuga County Health Department was tasked with enforcing the requirements. More than 30 businesses were fined, some more than once, for violating the mask order.

Cayuga County COVID-19 update

 The county reported 105 new COVID-19 cases in three days. Active cases decreased to 312 after surging over 400 last week.

Hospitalizations increased slightly, from nine to 11, over the weekend. There was one death, a woman in her 70s.

 A COVID-19 vaccination clinic will be held from noon to 3 p.m. Friday at the Fingerlakes Mall Event Center. Moderna and Pfizer booster shots will be available for individuals ages 18 and older.

Attendees are asked to enter through the back of the mall near the movie theater. The clinic can't be accessed from inside the mall.

Registration is required. To register, go to cayugacounty.us/health and click on COVID-19 vaccine clinics.

Online producer Robert Harding can be reached at (315) 282-2220 or robert.harding@lee.net. Follow him on Twitter @robertharding.

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New York Republicans, including U.S. Rep. John Katko, hope to cut off funding for governments and organizations that open supervised heroin injection facilities.

A bill proposed by U.S. Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, a Staten Island Republican, is a response to two New York City organizations, New York Harm Reduction Educators and Washington Heights Corner Project, that are partnering to operate two injection facilities. Both organizations have received funding from the federal government  New York Harm Reduction Educators got $1.1 million from the Department of Health and Human Services in 2019. Both entities received six-figure grants from the Small Business Administration.

The main argument against the operation of these facilities is that they violate the federal Controlled Substances Act. An appeals court ruled in January that it's a federal crime to "open a supervised injection site or 'consumption room' for illegal drug use." That ruling was in response to an attempt to open supervised injection sites in Philadelphia.

The goal of the injection sites is to allow individuals to use drugs under medical supervision. But critics, including Katko, believe that there are better solutions to address opioid overdoses.

"If Democrats were serious about combating the opioid epidemic, they would focus on securing our southern border to reduce the flow of illicit drugs and take responsible steps to expand access to treatment options," said Katko, who is the ranking Republican member on the House Homeland Security Committee.

He continued, "Instead, Democratic politicians are supporting the proliferation of substance use by endorsing injection sites. These facilities are subverting federal law, and since they opened in New York City, we have already seen numerous overdoses."

Other New York members of Congress are supporting the bill, including U.S. Reps. Andrew Garbarino and Claudia Tenney. U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin, who is the presumptive Republican nominee for governor, is also a cosponsor.

Malliotakis has asked state Attorney General Letitia James to intervene and shut down the supervised injection sites. She has also urged President Joe Biden's administration to halt the operation of the facilities since they are in violation of federal law.

If the Biden administration doesn't act, Malliotakis hopes her bill will advance to cut off funding to the New York City injection sites.

"Gifting money to heroin shooting galleries that only encourage drug use and deteriorate our quality of life is an egregious abuse of taxpayer dollars," she said.

Online producer Robert Harding can be reached at (315) 282-2220 or robert.harding@lee.net. Follow him on Twitter @robertharding.

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Despite his new responsibilities as Senate majority leader and the ongoing pandemic, U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer continued his annual tradition of visiting each of New York's 62 counties.

Schumer, D-N.Y., made 93 visits to upstate New York and Long Island, according to his office. His cross-state trips included 10 stops in central New York and 14 in the Rochester-Finger Lakes region.

One of his swings through central New York brought him to Cayuga County. Schumer visited Auburn in September to highlight a $1 trillion infrastructure package that includes $65 billion for broadband expansion. President Joe Biden signed the infrastructure bill in November.

"Twenty-three years ago when I made the promise to visit every county every year, never in my wildest dreams did I imagine doing it as majority leader, let alone in the midst of a global health and economic pandemic," Schumer said. "Although I've gained a new title as majority leader this year, my favorite two remain: New York senator, and more importantly, New Yorker."

The yearly statewide tour began after Schumer was elected U.S. senator in 1998. During the campaign, his opponent  Alfonse D'Amato  ran a TV ad urging voters to send a message to Schumer and show him that "there's more to New York state than just Brooklyn."

In 1999, Schumer's first year in office, he visited every county. He has continued the tours every year, even as he ascended to the top leadership post within the Senate Democratic Caucus.

As majority leader, Schumer said the visits to every corner of New York motivated him to help New Yorkers amid the COVID-19 pandemic. He touted the American Rescue Plan, a $1.9 trillion relief bill that delivered aid to individuals and businesses. He also mentioned the $1 trillion infrastructure package that will bring significant funding to New York for bridge and road repairs, water system upgrades, broadband expansion and mass transit improvements.

For Schumer, the tours also allow him to meet New Yorkers up close.

"At the close of 23 years, my beliefs are as clear as ever: 'Senators who stay in Washington and never return home are simply not doing their job,'" he said. "That's why I bike the streets and go to all of the parades, graduations, and occasionally crash a neighbor's block party for a plate. Whether I'm at the state fair in Syracuse or wearing my 'Ithaca is Gorges' mask, New York is always on my mind and I'm always learning more about New York directly from my constituents."

Online producer Robert Harding can be reached at (315) 282-2220 or robert.harding@lee.net. Follow him on Twitter @robertharding.

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ALBANY  A month after retroactively rescinding its approval of a controversial book deal ex-Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo signed in 2020, a state ethics agency Tuesday went a step further: It has given the OK for the state attorney general to claw back all $5.1 million in proceeds Cuomo got from his publisher.

The former governor was accused last month both by the Joint Commission on Public Ethics as well as the Assembly Judiciary Committee of misusing government resources  chiefly by using state workers to help him write the project about the early stages of the COVID pandemic.

Now, Cuomo has been given 30 days by the ethics agency, called JCOPE, to turn all the proceeds to the office of state Attorney General Letitia James.

Cuomos lawyer, in response Tuesday afternoon, said thats not going to happen.

JCOPEs actions today are unconstitutional, exceed its own authority and appear to be driven by political interests rather than the facts and the law, said Jim McGuire, Cuomo's lawyer.

Should they seek to enforce this action, well see them in court, he said.

The JCOPE board last month voted to reverse a staff counsels decision in 2020 giving Cuomo the green light to moonlight as an author, penning a glowing re-telling of his handling of the early months of the COVID pandemic, a time when New York State led the nation in COVID deaths.

The book  American Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic  was permitted so long as Cuomo followed a number of rules, including not using any state workers or state property to write, research or promote the book. The ex-governor also agreed that the book would be unrelated to his official duties as governor.

Crown Publishing halted promotion and the printing of additional copies earlier this year following sexual harassment allegations made against Cuomo by a number of female state government workers. Cuomo resigned in August following the publication of a report by James about the allegations and threats of impeachment by state lawmakers.

The November vote by the JCOPE board rescinded the 2020 ethics agency staff approval  which Assembly investigators said came after much of the book was already written  and Cuomo was permitted to apply again now for the ethics approval. If he did not, the board in November opened the door to trying to get back the book profits Cuomo made.

The Assembly Judiciary Committee last month released a 60-page investigation on a number of scandals involving Cuomo, including the book deal. It said he used state resources to further his personal gain during the pandemic.

The Assembly panel said senior aides, on state time, helped Cuomo with research and writing, and even met with agents and publishers. The report said one senior Cuomo official sent more than 1,000 emails about Cuomos book during a six-month period in 2020.

Among the most damaging allegations, one Cuomo staffer said the book work was taking time away from his COVID response duties. The report said Cuomos agent talked with a publisher about writing the book, 10 days before Cuomo was cleared by the ethics agency  and after hed already had 70,000 words of the book written.

A JCOPE spokesman Tuesday afternoon could not immediately provide a copy of the resolution passed by the agencys board telling Cuomo to repay the $5.1 million.

Cuomo has said he placed $1 million from the book deal into trusts for his daughters and that he donated $500,000.

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Tesla Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk has been picked by Time magazine as its Person of the Year for 2021. The recognition for Musk comes in a year that saw his electric car manufacturing company become the most valuable carmaker in the world as his own net worth surged making him the richest person in the world.

Making the announcement today, Edward Felsenthal, Editor-in-Chief of Time magazine, said, "For creating solutions to an existential crisis, for embodying the possibilities and the perils of the age of tech titans, for driving society's most daring and disruptive transformations, Elon Musk is TIME's 2021 Person of the Year."

Elon Musk, who is also the founder and CEO of SpaceX and leads brain-chip startup Neuralink and infrastructure firm The Boring Company, has now joined the elite company which also includes Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. Last year, US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were named as the Person of the Year by Time magazine.

"Even Elon Musk's spacefaring adventures are a direct line from the very first Person of the Year, Charles Lindbergh, whom the editors selected in 1927 to commemorate his historic first solo transatlantic airplane flight over the Atlantic," Felsenthal added.

Tesla has seen a bull-run in the auto industry this year. The US-based EV-maker saw its market value soar to more than $1 trillion, making it more valuable than Ford Motor and General Motors combined.

Elon Musk soon reacted to the recognition he received from the Time magazine. During an interview, which was released with the Person of the Year announcement, Musk told Time, "Our intent with Tesla was always that we would serve as an example to the car industry, and hope that they also make electric cars so that we can accelerate the transition to sustainable energy."

Tesla, which is the world's largest manufacturer of electric cars, has its core market in the US, China and Europe. It also plans to enter India soon with its . models. Tesla's meteoric rise has been, to a certain extent, instrumental for other legacy carmakers to shift focus and switch to electric car production.
Shanghai (Gasgoo)- XPeng Inc. officially apologized on Tuesday for its Shanghai sales shops' illegal collection of human face photos which raise the public's concerns about personal data security.

The apology came after a local media channel reported that Shanghai XPeng Motor Sales Service Co.,Ltd. was fined 100,000 yuan ($15,720) by the Xuhui District Administration for Market Regulation for buying cameras and installing them in sales outlets to gather human facial recognition data.

According to the report, XPeng's Shanghai sales shops collected a total of 431,623 human facial photos between Jan. and Jun. without receiving consumers' consent.

The startup said its Shanghai sales shops intend to better serve consumers by collecting and analyzing the showroom traffic and other data. The purchase and misuse of the cameras resulted from the branch's unfamiliarity with relevant laws and regulations.

XPeng expressed its thorough obedience to the administrative penalty and said it had removed all data collection devices before the authority came to shops for supervision on March 18. In addition, the facial recognition data collected and analyzed by the third-party software supplier ulucu have already been deleted, the company said.



Meanwhile, XPeng emphasized that it has never leaked or illegally used consumers' personal information. It only wanted to take reference to such numerical data as shop traffic volume to analyze operation performance.
Beijing (Gasgoo)- BAIC Bluepark, the holding company of the premium EV brand, ARCFOX, stated that the companys co-developed Robotaxi with Baidus Apollo has completed technical development and started mass-production.

ARCFOX Apollo Moon; photo credit: Baidu

The said Robotaxi is Baidus 5th generation of autonomous mass-produced vehicle, the Apollo Moon, built on the premium ARCFOXs T battery-electric model.

The said vehicle adopted Baidus ANP-Robotaxi architecture, making it lightweight and capable of sharing intelligent driving vehicle data with other vehicles. Each vehicle is equipped with 13 cameras, 5 millimeter-wave radars, and 2 LiDARs. Its computing power reaches 800TOPS, adding its corresponding unmanned redundancy functions, the car can realize a fully driverless autonomy.

According to the company, the production cost of the Apollo Moon-powered ARCFOX vehicles is reduced to RMB 480,000 ($74,736), only one-third of the industry average. Moreover, compared to the previous generation of Baidus autonomous vehicle , the ARCFOX version offers ten-fold performance, 99.99% of the successful delivery rate, and up to 20,000 hours of service time (roughly five years).

Early on, Baidu has also inked a strategic partnership with ARCFOX for unmanned Robotaxi application. In three years, the partners plan to launch 1,000 unmanned Robotaxis in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chongqing, and other cities.

In October, the driverless ARCFOX Apollo Moon vehicles have started operation at Shougang Park in Beijing, offering fully autonomous ride-hailing services to the public.
Shanghai (Gasgoo)- Solid-state batteries used for new energy vehicles (NEVs) are expected to advance into industrialization process in 2023, according to a report released by Chinese automotive think tank, Automotive Data of China Co.,Ltd. (ADC), on Dec. 14.



Ganfeng Lithium's solid-state lithium metal battery; photo credit: Ganfeng Lithium



Quite a few companies are vigorously making layouts in solid-state battery business, and some of them have made major achievements. Earlier this month, Ganfeng Lithium launched its semi-solid-state battery which uses both oxide-based solid and liquid electrolytes, and revealed the development of its second-generation solid-state battery is underway.

Additionally, BAIC BJEV said this week it has completed the development of its second-generation solid-state battery cell, the bench testing and validation of the battery system, as well as the validation of the battery installation in complete vehicle model, namely, the ARCFOX T.

In terms of installed capacity, the share of power batteries with energy density below 140Wh/kg and above 160Wh/kg has significantly risen in China, according to the report.

As for technical routes based on battery materials, ternary-lithium battery features higher costs as it contains rare metals of lithium, cobalt or nickel, while the development of new technologies like low-cobalt and cobalt-free batteries makes cost reduction possible. Thanks to a more stable crystal structure, the lithium iron phosphate material enables a longer theoretical service life for batteries, the report said.

The report also notes that lithium, cobalt and nickel are currently main metals used in power batteries, while developing sustainable raw material supply solutions is of great significant to future energy supply.
MONTREALDisruptive Films, the new gay studio, will release Failed Inspection on Christmas Eve, Dec. 24. The featurette will be available online at DisruptiveFilms.com.

The new production follows the story of Ty and Joe (Brian Bonds and Casey Everett), who are construction workers who need their latest project to pass inspection. When unsuspecting courier Andre (Deep Dicc) arrives on site, Ty and Joe offer to do whatever it takes to get their work approved by the inspector they assume he is.

Producer/director Bree Mills said, I had a great experience working with these talented actors and our crew to bring Failed Inspection to life!

Disruptive Films was launched in September with debut title The Last Course along with its website which features 18 original shorts that also include subsidiary brands Taboo Men, True Male and Deep Inside.

For more information and updates on other upcoming Disruptive Films titles, visit DisruptiveFilms.com and follow on YouTube and on Twitter @filmsdisruptive.
PHOENIX -- The Independent Redistricting Commission is moving to give Republicans an edge in electing members of Congress for the coming decade.

The panel, which has a Dec. 22 deadline to adopt final maps, is looking at changes sought by David Mehl, a Republican on the commission, that could have political implications.

One is putting Flagstaff into LD 6, the legislative district that includes the Navajo and Hopi reservations, rather than have the tribes in an area that now includes communities in the White Mountains. Mehl argued that the tribes have more in common with Flagstaff.

"The Native Americans, they do their shopping in Flagstaff, they attend school in Flagstaff," he said. "Flagstaff's a more diverse community with a younger population. They share tourism and resources."

By contrast, he said, the communities in the White Mountains "have nothing in common with Flag," arguing that their positions on issues like water are in direct opposition with those of Native Americans.

The tribes, however, have made it clear they're not interested in that configuration amid concerns that adding those Flagstaff voters would make it more difficult for them to elect a legislator of their choice, as they have been able to do for the past few years. Commissioner Shereen Lerner, a Democrat, said their concerns make sense even though it is not a partisan thing.

"Part of why we did not want to put Flagstaff in with the Navajo Nation is actually what we've heard what might happen with (Democratic) primaries, which is why we think they need to be separate and be placed into LD 7," she said, the one with the White Mountain communities.

That question on the ability of tribal members to have a say in the biennial legislative elections, in turn, could raise legal issues as the Voting Rights Act prohibits changes in election laws and procedures -- including district boundaries -- that dilute minority voting strength.

Commissioners appear sensitive to potential legal challenges like this. In fact, they got a closed-door briefing from their attorneys on a lawsuit the U.S. Department of Justice just filed against Texas over the fact that the Republican-controlled legislature there, which draws the lines, found ways to make both of its two new congressional seats largely Anglo -- and Republican -- even though more than 95% of the population growth of the past decade is attributable to minorities.

But any lawsuits there or here may have a hurdle.

While federal law precludes drawing lines to discriminate against minorities, courts have not been willing to extend those protections when districts are crafted for partisan advantage. That means anyone challenging changes would have to show that the real reason for any changes are racial or ethnic and not for political reasons.

Mehl acknowledged that, at least for the past decade, the reservation has been in a district that includes the White Mountains. And Flagstaff, by contrast, was in a district with Sedona, Cottonwood and Camp Verde.

The result has generally been there are two state representatives and one senator from tribal lands. But Mehl said there's nothing magic about that, saying the lines drawn 20 years ago created a different result.

"It's my opinion, a pretty strong opinion, that the White Mountains are a better fit with the valley down through Payson and with the other district" than with the reservation, he said.

But it's far beyond Payson, with that proposed district stretching as far as Florence and San Manuel and Oracle.

Tucson changes

Another change pushed by Mehl is for the area in and around Tucson. Those changes could help Juan Ciscomani win the seat in what would become CD 6, an area roughly comparable with the one that has been occupied for the past four years by Democrat Ann Kirkpatrick, who is retiring.

Mehl's plan would move many Democrats out of CD 6 and into CD 7. That is the district proposed to run from midtown Tucson west to Yuma and north into the largely Latino areas on the western edge of Phoenix.

That is the area that, generally speaking, is currently represented by Raul Grijalva. And there already is little danger to Grijalva -- or any other Democrat -- as draft maps show that voter registration and historical voting patterns would give Democrats a 2-1 edge.

Mehl would push the boundary between the two districts all the way to Alvernon Way in Tucson.

That runs contrary to the wishes of Tucson Mayor Regina Romero, a Democrat.

Responding to her earlier concerns about dividing downtown from the University of Arizona, commissioners agreed to move the line to Campbell Avenue.

Mehl, however, said that's not far enough, calling Alvernon Way "midtown." Anyway, he said, all that area east of the campus, all the way out to Alvernon Way, should also be considered part of the university community.

That alteration, however, changes the political balance, giving CD 6 more of a Republican edge than if the line is on Campbell Avenue.

So does the change that Mehl wants south of Tucson, pushing Sahaurita from CD 6 to CD 7.

Mehl said that community has a large Hispanic population, making it a better fit with CD 7. But CD 6 then would have to pick up population elsewhere, likely from Republican areas.

Shifting lines

There is a link between Mehl and Ciscomani, who used to be a political adviser to Gov. Doug Ducey.

The candidate's wife, Laura, sits on the Commission on Appellate Court Appointments. That is the panel which selected Mehl as a nominee for the Independent Redistricting Commission. And the campaign finance reports for Ciscomani list $5,800 in donations from Jonah Carson Mehl, David's son, who also is a vice president for Cottonwood Properties, the firm owned by his father.

Mehl does not dispute the partisan nature of some of what he is proposing. But he sniffed at the idea that there is a link between how he is drawing the lines and the support for Ciscomani by his son.

"We don't have any business interests in this," the elder Mehl told Capitol Media Services.

Like whether Republicans control Congress?

"I was appointed as a Republican appointee," he responded. The 2000 voter-approved law creating the Independent Redistricting Commission requires two Republicans and two Democrats, with those four choosing someone to chair the panel who is not affiliated with either party.

"Our family's contributed to candidates for 30 years, 40 years," Mehl said. "My sons are free to do whatever they want. They're their own people."

Romero aide Nate Sigal would not comment on motives.

"Folks can draw their own conclusions," he told Capitol Media Services. Sigal said "anybody could tell" that the moves are designed to give Republicans an advantage.

Partisan politics aside, Sigal said the changes also would dilute the influence of Tucson.

"It is in the city's best interest to have two congressional districts that are anchored in the city of Tucson," he said. "I think by pushing it all the way to Alvernon that increases the district's share of population elsewhere."

And that "elsewhere" in the map for CD 6 runs up to the edge of Casa Grande and out to Safford in one corner and Douglas in the other.

Mehl, for his part, defended his plan.

"If you're trying to divide Tucson into two major districts, which is what we are, dividing it into the middle of the city is a pretty logical place to be dividing it," he said. And Mehl called Romero's concern about losing Tucson influence "incorrect."

This isn't Mehl's first foray into redrawing lines with political implications.

He is the one who insisted on crafting a legislative district that runs from Marana around the far northern suburbs of Tucson to Tanque Verde and Vail. That would create a safe district for GOP candidates, compared with earlier proposals which would have combined the Marana area with Casas Adobes in what would have been a politically competitive district.

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Another winter storm is in store for Flagstaff with high winds and up to 6 inches of snow expected to pummel the area over the course of just a few hours starting Tuesday.

A strong cold front is expected to move in starting Tuesday night, according to Megan Taylor, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service - Flagstaff.

Its going to pack quite a punch with winds and snow, Taylor said.

A High Wind Watch is in effect starting 2 p.m. Tuesday as much of the northern portion of the state could see southerly winds ranging from 30 to 40 mph with potentially-damaging wind gusts up to 70 mph.

The storm could start as early as 5 p.m. Tuesday with conditions quickly deteriorating soon after. The most intense period is expected between 10 p.m. and 3 a.m. Some areas could receive 1 to 2 inches per hour during these five hours alone and anywhere from 2 to 6 inches total by 5 a.m. Wednesday, according to Taylor.

Taylor warned this intense period of snowfall is expected to be accompanied by wind gusts as high as 65 mph, resulting in dangerous, near white-out conditions for several hours. Strong winds over 35 mph coupled with blowing snow can reduce visibility to less than a quarter mile, making interstate and highway driving potentially incredibly dangerous  especially for high-profile vehicles.

Taylor urged drivers to stay off the road. The high rate of snow can also make it difficult for snowplows to keep up with deteriorating road conditions, especially on Interstates 17 and 40.

This is not a storm to mess with, she said. Its best to stay home and not travel until Wednesday.

Ryan Harding, a spokesperson for the Arizona Department of Transportation, said snowplows continuously plow the interstates to help keep them open for traffic. Any closure is typically due to traffic incidents, such as crashes and slide-offs.

ADOT will work with DPS to close the highway if its blocked due to these types of incidents, Harding said. We will then work to open the highway as soon as possible.

Harding urged drivers to check road conditions ahead of time and wait out the storm. If driving cant be avoided, be prepared for longer travel times and pack an emergency kit with warm blankets, extra clothes, medications, food, water and a fully-charged cell phone

The San Francisco Peaks should also see a dumping of snow, with 10 to 14 inches expected during that same 12-hour period.

But it wont last. The cold temperatures should stick around with a high of 32 Wednesday and temperatures lingering into the weekend, Thomas said. These below-freezing highs are actually well below the December average of 43 degrees.

After that, theres no telling when the next storm will hit. Early forecasts show the cold, dry and breezy conditions will likely be the norm well into next week and possibly through the Christmas holiday.

Reporter Bree Burkitt can be reached at bburkitt@azdailysun.com or on Twitter at @breeburkitt.

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Red-crowned cranes are found by photographers around Laixi Lake in Qingdao, Shandong province. [Photo by Yun Lin/For chinadaily.com.cn]



A rare scene of seven red-crowned cranes at lakeside was observed recently in Laixi, a county-level city in Qingdao, Shandong province.

Photographers captured pictures of the cranes foraging and resting leisurely in late November around Laixi Lake, one of migratory destinations for wild birds in China.

Red-crowned cranes are under first-class State protection. Their appearance at the lake is believed to be a result of improved environmental conditions.

Yun Lin, a photographer and bird lover, said the cranes stayed for at least five days. There seemed to be two families, one with four members and one with three.

The city of Laixi has made great efforts to improve the local environment in recent years. Measures include water damage restoration, storage of clean water, closed-loop management of wetlands and bird monitoring and treatment.

The number of migratory birds observed in Laixi, including several endangered species, has been on the rise, according to local authorities.

Red-crowned cranes are found by photographers around Laixi Lake in Qingdao, Shandong province. [Photo by Yun Lin/For chinadaily.com.cn]










Colorful lights brighten up the Liangma River International Style Waterfront in Chaoyang District, Beijing, capital of China, Dec.7, 2021. (Photo: China News Service/Hou Yu)

The Liangma International-style Cruise, which travels from Yansha pier to Chaoyang Park, was officially opened in late July this year. The 1.8-kilometer-long cruise runs day and night from March 15 to November 15 every year.












ELLIOTT, Iowa  A coalition of California restaurants and grocery stores has filed a lawsuit to block implementation of a new farm animal welfare law, adding to uncertainty about whether bacon and other fresh pork products will be much more expensive or in short supply in the state when the new rules take effect on New Year's Day.

The lawsuit is the latest step in a tumultuous three-year process of enacting rules overwhelmingly approved by voters but that remain in question even as the law is set to begin. Since voters approved Proposition 12 by a 2-to-1 ratio in November 2018, state officials have missed deadlines for releasing specific regulations covering the humane treatment of animals that provide meat for the California market.

Most hog producers haven't made changes to comply with the law. And now a coalition of business owners is seeking more than a two-year delay.

Were saying this is not going to work, said Nate Rose, a spokesman for the California Grocers Association.

While groups are working to delay the measure, the state has eased the transition to the new system. It has allowed pork processed under the old rules and held in cold storage to be sold in California in 2022, which could prevent shortages for weeks or even months.

As Josh Balk, who leads farm animal protection efforts at the Humane Society of the United States, put it, California residents need not fear pork industry claims of the apocalypse."

Put simply, the law requires that breeding pigs, egg-laying chickens and veal calves be given enough space to stand and turn around. For pigs, that means they no longer can be kept in narrow "gestation crates" and must have 24 square feet of usable space.

Producers of eggs and veal appear able to meet the new law, but hog farmers argued the changes would be too expensive and couldnt be carried out until the state approved final regulations for the new standards. An estimate from North Carolina State University found the new standard would cost about 15% more per animal for a farm with 1,000 breeding pigs.

The National Pork Producers Council has challenged California's right to impose standards on businesses in other states, but so far those efforts have failed.

California is the nations largest market for pork, and producers in major hog states like Iowa provide more than 80% of the roughly 255 million pounds that Californias restaurants and groceries use each month, according to Rabobank, a global food and agriculture financial services company.

Without that supply, its unclear if a state that consumes about 13% of the nation's pork supply will have all the meat it demands. The North American Meat Institute, an industry group, said packers and processors will do their best to serve the California market."

What will happen in California? I dont know, said Michael Formica, the general counsel for the National Pork Producers Council. One thing we know is there will be finite supplies to sell there.

Adding to the uncertainty is the lawsuit filed last month in Sacramento County by the California Grocers Association, California Restaurant Association, California Hispanic Chambers of Commerce, California Retailers Association and Kruse & Sons, a meat processor. The suit seeks a 28-month delay until final regulations for enforcement of the rules are officially adopted.

California's agriculture and health departments have said the voter-backed measure didn't give them enough time to approve final regulations. The agencies were still accepting public comments for revisions in December. That means it could be months before final rules are approved.

Given that delay, the groups claim in the lawsuit that they can't be sure they're complying and could be subject to penalties stipulated in the law.

Our concern is the uncertainty, said Rose, of the grocers association. He said a judge has scheduled a hearing for March, but the group is pushing for an earlier date.

If the law takes effect Jan. 1, its possible the state could avoid immediate shortages or steep price increases because the industry has about 466 million pounds (211 million kilograms) of pork in storage. Not all of that meat can be sent to California, of course, but when combined with new supplies from processors that meet the new standards, it should meet at least some of the demand.

If there is a disruption, it would be significantly smoothed, said Daniel Sumner, a professor at the University of California-Davis, who teamed with colleagues to study the price and supply implications of Proposition 12.

While an earlier study projected bacon prices soaring by up to 60% in California, a UC-Davis report estimated that the uncooked pork prices rising eventually by a more manageable 8% in California.

Massachusetts has approved a similar animal welfare law that takes effect next month, but state lawmakers are considering a one-year delay because of supply concerns.

The accuracy of the California estimates could depend on how many farmers adopt the new standards and how long the transition takes.

Iowa farmer Ron Mardesen already meets the California standards, and for much of the year gives sows free rein to roam through large areas of his farm about 100 miles southwest of Des Moines.

With so much room, Theyre like a bunch of big, old sisters, he said. You can tell theyre happy. No one is squealing or crying.

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The Beatrice Public Schools Board of Education voted to recommend a partnership with BCDM Architects to design the district's new elementary school at a meeting on Monday, Dec. 13.

That recommendation must go before the Southeast Nebraska Education Agency, or SNEA, at next weeks Monday meeting to be finalized.

Since the SNEA will actually be the owner of the building and the revenue from the bond proceeds will be in their name holding in the bank and they will actually be responsible for paying the expenditures  the SNEA agency will hold that contract with the architect, Jason Alexander, BPS superintendent said.

The decision, approved by all present members, moves the board closer to its plan to build a new elementary school in the coming years.

Board members shared reasons for their desire to partner with BCDM over DLR Group, both of which presented at the last School Board Committee of the Whole meeting.

Board member Janet Byars said shes looking forward to the newness of BCDMs involvement in the district.

One of the things I really liked is that we have a fresh set of eyes looking at our district, Byars said. We have worked with DLR numerous times, and I think its really good to have another organization come in and take a look at what we had. And they talked so much about student needs, and I thought that was really important.

Board member Erin Chadwick said BCDM will fit the districts needs well.

The presentation for BCDM that we had at our last meeting was just very tailored to our district, Erin said. I loved that they focused on relationships. They truly want to create a relationship with our district.

One member of the public, Joseph Brewer, criticized the new elementary plans during public comment, saying the high amount of spending wont necessarily fix the problems in the school district.

In other business:

The School Board approved of Alexanders evaluation and contract, which includes a 2.97% compensation increase. Alexander's current salary for the 2021-2022 is $173,105.

Byars presented findings based on 22 schools in Nebraska, comparing superintendent compensation. Beatrice ranked 17 out of the 22 in overall compensation.

Based on those findings, we suggested that we go with an overall packages of 2.97% as an increase, Byars said. That does include insurance . To move him up into more of a midpoint is one of the goals the committee looked at.

The School Board approved the 2022-23 academic calendar as presented by Jackie Nielsen, assistant superintendent.

The board also approved and adopted a resolution regarding the Little Blue Natural Resources District and Lower Big Blue Natural Resources District Hazard Mitigation Plan. Alexander said the resolution follows months of planning with several area agencies.

During that entire process, we developed a plan that helps obviously try and mitigate the loss of life during a natural disaster situation, he said. As we can see by the events of just this week, its very important to have a plan in place. Part of that plan includes tornado shelters.  We will be planning for that.

The next regular meeting of the BPS School Board will be Monday, Jan. 10 at 7 p.m. in the BPS Administration Building.

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In most of the state, that governing body is either the board of county commissioners or commissioners and city council members in places with a city-county arrangement.

In Yellowstone County, with its interlocal agreement, it means the public health office is overseen by a county and three cities  more than two dozen people who, theoretically, would have to sign off on any kind of order from the public health office.

In practice, Felton wants to know what that will look like. Does authorization mean a majority of the four governing entities have to sign off on an order, or a just a majority of the members who make up the four governing entities?

Maybe the four governing entities create a smaller, single group of its members that would exercise that authority.

"The question is, what is that governing body that House Bill 121 brings into play," Felton said.

The question is on commissioners' minds as well, said commissioner Don Jones. As a commissioner Jones also serves on the public health board.
Recreational marijuana goes on sale in Yellowstone County in three weeks but it could end as soon as this summer.

County commissioners will hold a public hearing Tuesday morning as they weigh whether to go to county voters in June with a ballot question asking if all business related to recreational marijuana in Yellowstone County should be banned.

Commissioners debated in August about going back to voters with the question of a ban. At the time, only two of the three commissioners were present at the meeting and the motion to take the question back to voters failed on a tie vote.

Montana voters in 2020 overwhelmingly approved legalizing recreational marijuana; in Yellowstone County the vote was more narrow, 50.7% to 49.3% in favor, a difference of roughly 1,100 votes. Still, it was enough to make the cultivation, production and sale of recreational marijuana legal in the county.
Matt Stroud, chairman of committee searching for a new executive director, said Ruhle will bring strong vision and leadership to the YAM.

Jessica is a true professional that we believe has the experience, background, and leadership skills to lead the YAM into the future, Stroud said. We also believe Jessica has a unique way of listening, observing, and leading that will bring everyone together.

Ruhle said she applied for the position because of the YAMs focus on contemporary art, which is a passion of hers. She was also impressed with the programs in place and the community engagement she saw when she visited Billings in November and met with the Board, staff, and some cultural leaders. Two aspects of the art museum that most impressed her were the Visible Vault and the YAMs Permanent Collection.

Its so rare to make behind-the-scenes spaces accessible in the way that the YAM has, Ruhle said. Its not only storage, but I think it is absolutely one of the best features at the museum.

Search committee member Larry Martin, who has long been associated with the YAM as a board member, said Ruhle will bring energy, organizational skills and ideas to the museum.
LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP)  Alison Lundergan Grimes has denied ethics commission allegations that she improperly used her former position as Kentuckys secretary of state for personal and political reasons, the Lexington Herald-Leader reported.

Documents obtained by the newspaper through Kentuckys open records law show the prominent Democrat and her former assistant, Erica Galyon, filed their responses last week to charges from the Executive Branch Ethics Commission.

The commission accused Grimes in an order last month of using her position to benefit Democratic candidates ahead of the 2016 election and using the state voter registration system for a personal, private purpose. Galyon rejected a claim she improperly withheld records from the news media.
JOHANNESBURG (AP)  A two-dose Pfizer/BioNTech vaccination provides just 33% protection against infection by the omicron variant of the coronavirus, but 70% protection against hospitalization, according to a large-scale analysis in South Africa released Tuesday.

The first large-scale analysis of vaccine effectiveness in the region where the new variant was discovered appears to support early indications that omicron is more easily transmissible and that the Pfizer shot isn't as effective in protecting against infection as it was against the delta variant.

***

Jan. 6 panel votes for contempt charges against Mark Meadows

WASHINGTON (AP)  The House panel investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection has voted to recommend contempt charges against former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows as lawmakers revealed a series of frantic texts he received as the attack was underway.

The texts, provided by Meadows before he ceased cooperating with the committee, revealed that members of Congress, Fox News anchors and even President Donald Trumps own son were urging Meadows to push Trump to act quickly to stop the siege by his supporters.
Dressed in a light green prison uniform, Martinelli Linares repeated, Yes, your honor to questions posed to him during Tuesday's court proceeding by U.S. District Judge Raymond Dearie.

Both brothers are being held without bail.

Prosecutors said that an earlier attempt to finalize a plea bargain fell apart in June 2020 when the brothers slipped across the U.S. border, traveled to the Bahamas by boat, and then boarded a private jet in an attempt to return to Panama.

When the plane was turned away due to COVID-19 travel restrictions, they ended up in several Central American countries before entering Guatemala on invalid diplomatic credentials. They were arrested there, on an arrest warrant issued out of New York, when they attempted to board a private family jet, set to fly to Panama.

They spent more than a year in a Guatemalan prison, before being extradited to the U.S.

An attorney for Luis Enrique Martinelli Linares, 39, said last month that the brothers fled because the U.S. government did not provide them with protection from deportation while they were negotiating a plea bargain.
The first proposal came at the request of landowner Tom Patterson, who said last year there were two close calls between jet boats and recreationists using the Boulder River in the summer of 2020. The landowners also said the narrow river has blind corners and is home to irrigation pumps, other nonmotorized boaters, anglers, swimmers, innertubers and livestock that present hazards to upstream powerboats.

Opponents had decried the petition as a way for landowners to restrict use of the river, chipping away at the states stream access law.

Phil Kilbreath of Fish, Wildlife & Parks enforcement division, told the commission in April that collisions between boats are more likely to occur on lakes. The main safety issue on rivers is people without life jackets falling out of boats. As a result, such petitions tend to be more of a social issue, Kilbreath added.

The Boulder is a narrow, rocky stream that drains from the Beartooth and Absaroka mountains. The waterway is a tributary to the Yellowstone River, entering near Big Timber.
A month later, Hicks received an unrelated email from Steven Bray, a former statehouse candidate Hicks apparently thought the email came from Troy Bray and responded to that effect.

Please remove me from your email list," Hicks wrote. "Given your past history of obscenity laced unwanted attacks on members of the legislature there is absolutely nothing of any value that you have to say that I am interested in hearing, I do not represent you and I sure as hell do not have any respect for your past despicable behavior."

While Hicks' email appeared to be a case of mistaken identity, it prompted criticism from a fellow state senator.

Sen. Anthony Bouchard, R-Cheyenne, shared a screenshot of Hicks email with the entire Legislature in which he asked, Is this the new norm in politics, to tattle tale?

This victim mentality can spread like a cancer. Its weak sauce at best, Bouchard wrote. And this is what happens when the first thought is to react as a victim. Definitely not a good look.

Following a recommendation from the state GOP to handle the matter, the Carbon County GOP found that no actual basis for concern, condemnation, or disciplinary action exists.
The Crater Ridge fire is officially out.

Although the northern Wyoming blaze has been fully contained since mid-October, it was only last week that fire officials declared the wildfire extinguished.

However, an area that was closed around the fire will remain that way through this winter and into next summer, according to the U.S. Forest Service.

Dozer lines and temporary roads need (to be) rehabilitated and hazard trees along open roads need (to be) cut down, Brandon Houck, Medicine Wheel District ranger, said in a statement. Remains of the burned cow camp may also be a danger to the public and need to be removed.

Crews might not be done with the work until sometime next summer. Once its complete, the closure can be lifted.

The Crater Ridge fire burned more than 7,600 acres in the Bighorn Mountains between Lovell and Sheridan.

Lightning ignited the blaze in July. A month later, it jumped in size amid hot, dry and windy conditions, destroying a cabin and small barn in the process. Both were administered by the Forest Service.
The rules lawmakers approved Monday will require outdoor grow operations to remain at the same size. Providers are not permitted, per HB 701, to develop new outdoor grow facilities, although outdoor sites that were in place before the 2020 election have been grandfathered in.

Lawmakers on Monday also eliminated a proposed rule to allow providers to label their products as "cannabis." Ellsworth last week argued that while cannabis may be the scientific term, children may not recognize the term and might not be deterred from consuming the product. The department had initially been willing to allow providers to use cannabis in labeling products because some providers felt marijuana is a pejorative term.

J.D. "Pepper" Petersen, president of the trade group Montana Cannabis Guild, applauded the changes made Tuesday, particularly those that affect the tribes. Only four or five tribal governments are interested in participating in the new cannabis market, he told the committee, and he hopes to see more engage.

"We want to see the tribes participate and we want to see an even playing field so that the folks that may have been impacted heavily by this could benefit from this as well, instead of just a subsect of our society," he said.

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There was one final debate. Republican Jeff Essmann, of Billings, proposed giving the designation District 1 to the East, explaining that he was doing so for personal preference. Democrats called the request absurd, given that Americans read left to right. They accused Essmann of trying to give current at-large Rep. Matt Rosendale the distinction of representing the No. 1 district. Rosendale, a Republican, is running in the East.

I have not spoken with Congressman Rosendale at all, or even once throughout this entire redistricting process. It's simply I reside in the East and I think in just simply fairness it would be nice for the Eastern District to be labeled No. 1 at this point. So how's that for a reason, Essmann said.

Democrat Commissioner Joe Lamson wasnt buying it.

Calling one the first district does not make it the first district. The Western district has always been the first district and I am confident that it will remain that, whichever label you happen to give some weird perceived advantage to one of the worst congressmen this state has ever seen, Lamson said.

Smith then sided with Democrats and established the West as District 1.

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Thirty more Wyomingites have died from COVID-19, the Wyoming Department of Health reported Tuesday. That number represents the COVID deaths confirmed in the last week.

There have now been 1,502 coronavirus-caused deaths in Wyoming since the pandemic arrived here in March 2020. This fall has been among the most deadly periods for COVID-19 related illnesses since the pandemic arrived in Wyoming.

The latest deaths include four people each from Natrona, Campbell and Laramie counties, three each from Park and Sweetwater counties and two each from Fremont and Lincoln counties. The state also reported one death each in Albany, Carbon, Converse, Crooke, Goshen, Johnson, Sheridan and Washakie counties.

Twenty four of the 30 people had been hospitalized prior to their deaths.

The state does not include a death in its COVID-19 count unless the virus is listed on the patients death certificate as either the cause of death or a contributing factor. There is often a lag between when deaths occur and when deaths are reported because of the time it takes for death certificates to be processed.
PIERRE, S.D. (AP)  Gov. Kristi Noem says she has drafted legislation to create a moment of silence at the beginning of each day in South Dakota public schools, a move she said would restore protections for prayer in the classroom.

A draft of the bill said it will provide students and teachers with a reprieve from the frenzy of daily life and set a tone of decorum conducive to learning. Students and teachers can can engage in voluntary prayer, reflection, meditation or other quiet, respectful activity during the minute of silence, the bill states.

Every student deserves the opportunity to begin their day with a calm, silent moment, Noem said in a statement. I hope students will take this opportunity to say a quick prayer or reflect on their upcoming day. However they choose to take advantage of this time, it will be beneficial to students and teachers alike.

School employees would not be able to dictate the action to be taken by students or teachers during the moment of silence, and no student may interfere with how other classmates are engaged in the minute.

The bill's draft said the moment of silence should not be construed as a religious exercise.

The bill isnt Noems first attempt to introduce religion-inspired ideas into public schools.

In 2019, she successfully required the national motto In God We Trust be displayed in all public schools, sparking a national debate and drawing criticism from groups like Freedom From Religion Foundation. The Madison, Wisconsin-based foundation argued it would lead to more onerous things.

South Dakota's legislative session starts Jan. 11.

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The company responsible for the largest oil field spill in North Dakota history has reported a leak from a pipeline about 1  miles away.

The latest spill leaked saltwater onto agricultural land very close to the creek contaminated by the record spill reported in 2015 north of Williston, said Bill Suess, spill investigation program manager with the North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality.

Pipeline operator Summit Midstream Partners and the state are monitoring the waterway known as Blacktail Creek for signs that the saltwater has reached it. They had not found any as of Tuesday morning, Suess said.

Summit notified the state of the spill on Dec. 5 and estimated its volume at 10 barrels or 420 gallons. Summit offered a revised figure to the state on Monday of 176 barrels or about 7,400 gallons based on calculations from its pipeline leak detection system.

Its not uncommon for the volume of oil field spills to be revised in such a way after more data becomes available or an analysis takes place. A lack of transparency regarding spill volume, however, was at the heart of criminal and civil cases brought against Summit by federal and state prosecutors following the 2015 incident.

Summit failed to immediately notify authorities of that spill, which began in 2014. When it did so the following year, the pipeline had been leaking for five months. Summit reported an initial volume of 70,000 barrels or about 3 million gallons, but the actual volume was 10 times that amount. Summit knew of the true size around the time it disclosed the spill, according to court documents.

Suess said he believes the 176-barrel volume for the latest spill is accurate, based on observations from state environmental officials who have visited the site this month.

Summit told the state that an equipment failure caused the latest spill, but no additional details were immediately available Tuesday. The company has shut down the pipeline and is working to remove contaminated soil. A boom and sump are in place to recover the wastewater.

Saltwater is known as produced water or brine in the oil fields. It comes up alongside oil and gas at well sites and is typically disposed of through underground injection. It needs to be transported via pipeline or truck to a disposal site.

The wastewater can render land infertile when it leaks. When some reached Blacktail Creek in 2014 and 2015, studies showed that the fish survival rate downstream was significantly below that of a site upstream. The leak contaminated 2,700 acres around the creek, whose water eventually flows into the Missouri River.

Although prosecutors could not say with certainty that the record spill was the result of negligent pipeline installation, they pointed to shortcomings in the process Summit used and said that could have led to the leak. That pipeline was made of Fiberspar LinePipe, a fiberglass-reinforced material that can be problematic when installed incorrectly, according to a report from the University of North Dakota's Energy & Environmental Research Center.

Its unclear what material makes up the line involved in the spill reported this month. Suess did not know and said the company was not required to replace its Fiberspar lines with a different kind of material after the record spill occurred. Summit did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The company has said its spent $75 million since 2015 on spill cleanup and improvements to its systems.

A year after the spill reported in 2015, a different leak from a Summit pipeline in the same area was discovered immediately by a leak detection system the company had installed, Suess said. He believes the spill reported this month was discovered right away as well. He called the companys investigation of the latest spill very thorough.

Two court proceedings surrounding the record spill recently wrapped up, with a federal judge accepting a plea agreement and sentencing Summit earlier this month in the criminal case. The company has been ordered to pay $35 million in criminal and civil penalties; North Dakota will get $10 million of that.

Reach Amy R. Sisk at 701-250-8252 or amy.sisk@bismarcktribune.com.

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American journalism has taken a hit over the past decade or so.

Its strange but true.

In the information era, when there are hundreds of ways to share information and millions of people sharing it, journalism has declined. Because, you see, theres a clear difference between journalism and sharing information.

Journalism is reporting that is multi-sourced, vetted, and includes a variety of perspectives. It could be a report on something that has happened, such as a car accident or a school board meeting or a candidate debate.

It could also be original reporting, such as investigating changing property taxes or detailing the effects of drought on a state or community.

In any case, it is based on facts. Facts can include different viewpoints on an issue or a situation, and they can reflect various interpretations of their importance. Journalism, therefore, can provide the fact of what the Legislature did on tax relief, but also what the governor, the Republicans and the Democrats all think about what the Legislature did and how it will affect citizens.

So why in the information age has journalism taken a hit?

Because practicing journalism is expensive, and the information age has resulted in many of the revenues to those who practice it -- such as newspapers -- being diverted to information providers that dont -- such as Google and Facebook and Twitter.

Theres a move on in North Dakota to replace some of the journalism that has been lost. A group of journalism advocates, including bankers and businessmen and educators and newspaper operators, has formed the nonprofit North Dakota News Cooperative.

As a nonprofit, this group is already raising funds through tax deductible gifts from foundations and trusts and corporations and people. The money will be used to pay journalists to create original journalistic reporting that will be made available for publication by local newspapers and other media in the state.

It is just now beginning the process of hiring a managing editor who will do original reporting while also providing some of the management of the reporting process.

So why is journalism important to bankers and businessmen and educators and newspaper operators?

The first reason can be found in what we have learned from academic studies that were conducted to try understand the impacts of declining journalism.

Because of those studies, we know that several things have happened in communities that have lost their local newspaper, and none of them is good.

One of them is a noticeable decline in civic engagement. Fewer people vote, fewer people run for public office, and fewer people keep up with whats happening at city hall or the courthouse.

Another is that the cost of local government increases. Because there is no watchdog keeping an eye on local officials, the chance for official shenanigans increases. As a result, bids for professional services can increase, bonding costs can go up and taxes can increase to pay for those new costs.

Theres also a loss of community, that intrinsic quality that brings people together for the good of a group and its members, that unites people in common goals and values.

The news co-op will not provide local reporting on local communities, but it will provide stories of statewide significance that will be contextualized, and when appropriate, in-depth. The hope is that these stories will be as important to people in Crosby and Tioga as they are to residents of Bismarck and Fargo.

A second purpose of the news co-op will be to advance understanding of news literacy. That will be done by helping readers understand what went into reporting a story.

For example, people will see that the reporter called a source four times before making contact, that the source turned the reporter on to four other sources who each required four callbacks, that a couple of internet searches revealed pertinent information and resulted in calling a few other sources, and so on, and so on and so on.

Thats what vetted and multi-sourced means, and its important to differentiate that process and the veracity of the information it provides from information that someone shares on social media without checking any sources or verifying that it contains anything resembling truth.

The co-op anticipates providing news literacy education to both young students and aging adults.

With new journalism and enhanced understanding of news literacy, bankers and businessmen and educators and newspaper operators believe that only good things will result for the people of North Dakota.

Steve Andrist, Bismarck, is co-chair of the North Dakota News Cooperative and former executive director of the North Dakota Newspaper Association.

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Presidential summits tend to focus on PR rather than substance. The Biden administrations Summit for Democracy looks no different.

Its objectives were worthy. As the State Department explained it, President Joe Biden planned to 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. However, most of the topics probably have been covered by recent Washington think tank webinars, just without the global media attention.

Unfortunately, opened by the president and televised for the public, the gathering of 110 countriesmore than half the United Nations membershipwas almost guaranteed to avoid practical action. A series of smaller and unpublicized meetings covering narrower subjects in greater detail would have been more helpful.

In any case, the focus on democracy was problematic. Occasionally holding elections and counting votes accurately is good behavior. But a free society such actions do not make, as is evident from the list of participants. Although free societies require democracy, democracy is not enough to make societies free. And autocrats often use the trappings of democracy to disguise their misrule.

Consider the presidents 110 democratic participants. ThreeAngola, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Iraqare rated not free by Freedom House. Another 31 conferees, including Fiji, Georgia, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Ukraine, are judged partly free. Reasonably free elections are important, but these nations problems go much deeper.

Still, even foreign dictators have demonstrated that they want to be part of any club that purports to be exclusive. Chinas Xi Jinping and Russias Vladimir Putin were particularly upset at being excluded. Their ambassadors to America, Qin Gang and Anatoly Antonov, respectively, penned an article explaining the unfairness of leaving their countries outside looking in.

Qin and Antonov were outraged that the Biden administration chose to define which countries were democratic: An evident product of its Cold-War mentality, this will stoke up ideological confrontation and a rift in the world, creating new dividing lines. Of course, Russia and China never engage in any activity that divides countries!

There also is the definition of democracy. It depends on what is is, as President Bill Clinton once explained. And democracy doesnt have much to do with voting for ones leaders. Wrote the ambassadors: Democracy is not a prerogative of a certain country or a group of countries, but a universal right of all peoples. It can be realized in multiple ways, and no model can fit all countries.

Within the China and Russia models, democracy doesnt require counting votes accurately or even holding a poll. For them, voting appears to be the least relevant act in democracy. Wrote Qin and Antonov: If the people are only awakened when casting their votes and sent back to hibernation when the voting is over, if they are served with sweet-sounding slogans in campaigns but have no say after the election, if they are wooed during canvassing but left out in the cold after that, this is not a genuine democracy.

No doubt there is some truth to this analysis. However, if one has no say over who is elected, then he or she is certainly going to be left out in the cold. Democracies can be more or less effective. But they are not real democracies if officials are not chosen in competitive elections.

Nevertheless, Qin and Antonov contend that their nations are real democracies. Antonov has the easier time, writing: Russia is a democratic federative law-governed state with a republican form of government. Democracy is the fundamental principle of its political system. The democratic institutions were further strengthened by the amendments to the Constitution adopted through a referendum in 2020. Which is true. Unfortunately, none of that matters, since Russian electoral campaigns are rigged and vote counts are fraudulent.

Explains Freedom House, which rates Russia not free: Power in Russias authoritarian political system is concentrated in the hands of President Vladimir Putin. With loyalist security forces, a subservient judiciary, a controlled media environment, and a legislature consisting of a ruling party and pliable opposition factions, the Kremlin is able to manipulate elections and suppress genuine dissent.

Xi Jinping has a tougher time selling his nation as a democracy. Popular elections played no role in his selection as Chinese Communist Party (CCP) general secretary or Chinas president (the first position actually is more powerful). Party bodies, such as the Central Committee, sometimes weigh in, but they also are not chosen by the people.

So Qin simply asserted that the issue is unimportant and not desired by the Chinese people:

What China has is an extensive, whole-process socialist democracy. It reflects the peoples will, suits the countrys realities, and enjoys strong support from the people. In China, the people have the right to elections, and they can get deeply involved in national governance, exercising their power through the Peoples Congresses at the national and other levels. China has eight non-Communist parties participating in governance, as well as a unique system and corresponding institutions of political consultation. On matters concerning peoples keen interests, there are broad-based and sufficient consultations and discussions before any decision is made.

The Peoples Republic of China presents an impressive facade. Despite the regimes dismissal of Western-style democracy, the CCP craves acknowledgment as democratic. The party insists that it embodies the will of the people, who have a right to elections but are happy and therefore dont request free votes. Incredibly, those consulted always seem to agree with their rulers proposals.

However, Freedom House describes Chinese reality a little differently:

Chinas authoritarian regime has become increasingly repressive in recent years. The ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is tightening its control over the state bureaucracy, the media, online speech, religious groups, universities, businesses, and civil society associations, and it has undermined its own already modest rule-of-law reforms. The CCP leader and state president, Xi Jinping, has consolidated personal power to a degree not seen in China for decades.

China and Russia are charmingly defensive about democracy when it comes to outside pressure. They assert: Interfering in other countries internal affairsunder the pretext of fighting corruption, promoting democratic values, or protecting human rights  go against the UN Charter and other basic norms of international law and are obviously anti-democratic. There are good prudential arguments against promiscuous intervention in other nations affairs. However, while seeking to undermine an undemocratic state might be imprudent, it is hardly undemocratic.

Speaking of democratic, consider the response of Hong Kongs Erick Tsang, secretary for constitutional and mainland affairs, to criticism by the Wall Street Journal of the territorys recent electoral crackdown. Despite an onslaught of restrictions and prosecutions, Tsang insisted that basic freedoms would be protected, but any manipulation to sabotage an election will not be tolerated, such as holding a primary and criticizing the government. Tsang closed with a warning: Please be advised that inciting another person not to vote, or to cast an invalid vote, by activity in public during an election period is an offense under section 27A of the Elections (Corrupt and Illegal Conduct) Ordinance, irrespective whether the incitement is made in Hong Kong or abroad. We reserve the right to take necessary action. Remember the fate of Apple Daily, hint, hint?

China and Russia are right to cite governance as well as elections. Results matter. However, these governments protest too much when they dismiss the essential role of elections and ignore the larger issue of liberty. When Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin risk their jobs in a fair political fight, they can call their nations democratic. Until then, they will remain just two more tinpot dictators, deserving to be ousted from office.
ITAI

An IHop in Wasilla, Arkansas can't attract enough workers, forcing it to reduce its hours of operation. So an employee put a sign up in the window, explaining the situation by incorrectly placing the blame on President Biden.

"Due to the fact that Biden gave out way to [sic] much free money and nobody wants to work anymore. We are forced to reduce our hours during the week."

Of course the much needed "free money" actually came in 2020 during the early days of the pandemic, when Trump happened to be in office. And IHOP was more than happy to accept government cash via the government's Paycheck Protection Program at the time.

Maybe IHOP should pay workers a living wage. pic.twitter.com/rXFatsOBHi  hilltop34 (@hilltop3407) December 11, 2021

The restaurant did take the sign down right away, according to Daily Dot. To be fair, headquarters can't always stop what an uninformed MAGA employee (sorry for the redundancy) decides to do. But that didn't stop #BoycottIHOP from trending on Twitter. Here is what a few posts had to say:

#BoycottIHOP

They took nearly 50 PPP loans and are posting signs blaming the Biden administration for understaffing their locations. How about this sign as an alternative: pic.twitter.com/QoA51CNi8i  Get.Your.Boost.On (@MusicReviewer7) December 12, 2021

These bold MFer's free money? You mean the public got public funding?? Worker wages have stagnated decades & now workers are fed up. Pay fair wages, SIMPLE! Nobody wants to risk their life for starvation wages. @IHOP is trash for treating their workers like trash! #BoycottIHOP pic.twitter.com/PyilrCwBXf  Marisa #Strikesmas (@OzbatRisa) December 12, 2021

IHOP received 43 government tax-payer loans they NEVER have to pay  back.



43

43

43#BoycottIHOP pic.twitter.com/Pn0yOiXLL3  Sports Plus (@PrepSportsPlus) December 12, 2021

IHOP won't have to worry about their lack of staff after today. Good luck. #BoycottIHOP pic.twitter.com/WfAxZG8HuX  Frank Giugliano (@nyccookies) December 12, 2021
The Sarco assisted euthanasia pod first started making waves around 2017. Created by Dutch doctor Philip Nitschke of Exit International, it's a coffin-like pod that's meant to help deliver people to the end of their lives without pain. Once an individual has entered the pod, they are presented with a series of questions; eventually, they are given control of a button which, once pressed, slowly releases nitrogen into the pod and reducing the oxygen level until death occurs by hypoxia and hypocapnia. According to Dr. Nitschke, there is "no panic, no choking feeling," and it in fact creates a somewhat euphoric feeling as the individual loses consciousness.

Of course, there have often been legal complications around the issue of euthanasia. But Exit International has nearly navigated the bureaucracy, and claims that the 3D-printed Sarco will likely be available in Switzerland starting in 2022 (although there's no official launch date yet). From Gizmodo:

Switzerland has few legal barriers to physician-assisted suicide and it has become an accepted practice, with hundreds of people (most often those with a terminal illness) choosing to end their lives via that method each year. Several other European countries, including Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands have similar policies in place, while some of their neighbors accept other practices such as passive euthanasia or withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment in certain circumstances. [] In 2020, the Daily Beast wrote, some 1,300 assisted suicides were carried out in Switzerland. According to Business Insider, statistics show that from 2019 to 2020 in the Netherlands, euthanasia rates increased by 9% to 6,938 procedures. Regional Euthanasia Review Committees chair Jeroen Recourt told Dutch paper Trouw such figures were "part of a larger development. More and more generations see euthanasia as a solution for unbearable suffering. But the thought that euthanasia is an option in the case of hopeless suffering is very reassuring."

There are of course valid reasons why someone might choose euthanasia. But if you or someone you know are contemplating death by suicide, I would ask you to please reach out to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255. You can also text the Crisis Text Line at 741-741. There are groups such as the Samaritans that can offer some counsel as well.

Exit International

Controversial Assisted Suicide Pod Cleared for Use in Switzerland [Tom McKay / Gizmodo]

Sarco suicide capsule hopes to enter Switzerland [Clare O'Dea / SwissInfo]

Maker of suicide pod plans to launch in Switzerland [Jane Wakefield / BBC News]

Controversial 'suicide pod' that 'kills peacefully' gets go-ahead in Switzerland [Jamie Harris / The Sun]
Roblox's success goes mostly unnoticed. Minecraft was sold to Microsoft for about $2bn and is estimated to generate about $500m a year in revenue. Roblox's market cap, however, is $65bn. Why? Because it has an internal app store that puts its young player base to work making virtual stuff and selling it for scrip or peanuts while the company pockets the profits. It even promotes the far-right personalities and groups using it to recruit. It is a ruthless money machine that embodies the perverse incentives of social media, aimed directly at children and operated by amoral reptiles.

Last year, People Make Games released a thorough expose of the company's practices. Roblox "pressured us to delete it", says presenter Quintin Smith. So they dug deeper, talking to employees and others, and today published a follow-up report.

Note that since the original report, Roblox has grown from a $45bn company to a $65bn one. Reminds me vaguely of this old Dan Hodgets tweet, in that the point where you notice how bad things have gotten is not the point where it ends, it's the point where the people doing the bad thing take off the mask and say "fuck your children" and you realize there's not an awful lot you can do about it.
One evening in 2019 over a dozen Chicago police officers bashed down the door of the wrong house and found an innocent unclothed black woman standing inside. They immediately handcuffed her but didn't bother to cover her with a blanket, choosing instead to either ignore her or gawk at her as they screamed in her face and menacingly waved their guns. The distraught woman told the cops 43 times they had the wrong house. After 20 minutes, the cops realized they had the wrong house, removed her handcuffs, and walked out broken door.

When the City of Chicago learned that CBS 2 had bodycam footage of the botched raid, they tried to stop the channel from broadcasting it. CBS 2 played the tape anyway.

Yesterday, after learning that CBS 2 had obtained the footage and was planning on airing it that night, the city of Chicago filed a motion to enjoin CBS 2 from running it, arguing it would violate the confidentiality order. The federal judge in Young's case rejected the motion on the grounds that CBS 2 was not a party to the case and not subject to the order. CBS 2's investigation shows that the raid on Young's home was completely avoidable if Chicago police had done the bare minimum to vet the information on the search warrant. The warrant was based on a tip from a confidential informant, who had provided the wrong address for a man suspected of having an illegal gun. The suspect lived next door to Young.

The woman hired a lawyer. He said that if the cops had raided the wrong house in one of Chicago's affluent neighborhoods and found a naked white woman inside, the bodycam footage would have told a much different story.

Fortunately for the woman, city officials today voted to pay her $2.9 million. Unfortunately for the taxpayers who must shell out the money for the cops' sociopathic abuse of the victim, the officer in charge of the botched raid, Sergeant Alex Wolinski, still has his job and won't have to pay a cent. Wolinski has 11 complaints against him, including 10 Use of Force reports (more than 83% of other officers in the Chicago Police Department).
Among the most damaging allegations, one Cuomo staffer said the book work was taking time away from his Covid response duties. The report said Cuomos agent talked with a publisher about writing the book, 10 days before Cuomo was cleared by the ethics agency  and after hed already had 70,000 words of the book written.

Richard Azzopardi, a Cuomo spokesman, said the Assembly Judiciary report noted that top Cuomo aides involved in helping with the book project took time off on their official submitted time sheets for the hours in which they helped the former governor with his book.

He said the Assembly committee report then suggested a new standard, which does not exist in state law, that that state workers could not work on side projects, such as Cuomo's book, even if on their own time. Cuomo allies have noted that lawmakers, and statewide officials over the years, have relied upon government employees  on their own time  to volunteer on campaign-related activities.
A court hearing to consider new evidence that could exonerate two men convicted in the 1993 murder of a City of Tonawanda woman opened Monday with testimony from a former prosecutor who concluded they did not kill her, based on his investigation of the case earlier this year when he was still employed by the Erie County District Attorney's Office.

"They were not involved in the murder," David Heraty said of Brian S. Lorenzo and James Pugh, both convicted of murdering Deborah Meindl. She was discovered by her 10-year-old daughter on the afternoon of Feb. 17, 1993, in her home. She was handcuffed, stabbed 11 times and strangled with a necktie.

Judge grants hearing on bid to vacate convictions in 1993 slaying of City of Tonawanda mother An attorney for Brian Scott Lorenzo said new DNA evidence excludes both Lorenzo and James Pugh from the crime scene.

Lorenzo remains incarcerated at Auburn Correctional Facility, while his co-defendant, James Pugh, is out on parole.

Their lawyers sought to admit as evidence in the hearing an unredacted report prepared by Heraty  then a prosecutor in the Appeals Bureau for the District Attorney's Office  about the integrity of the conviction for his superiors.

Lorenzo's attorney, Ilaan Maazel, called Heraty's report a "reliable record."

Pointing finger at infamous inmate, pair convicted in 1993 murder say DNA tests prove they're innocent Lawyers allege that the real murderer of Deborah Meindl may be Richard W. Matt, the convicted killer who famously escaped from prison in 2015.
Molinaro, who ran for governor in 2018 and is running for Congress in 2022, said the Hochul mask policy is massively broader than what was characterized to county leaders Friday.

Effectively, he said, its a vaccine mandate with an escape hatch: masks. Molinaro said state officials made that very point Friday during briefings with county executives.

The Hochul order requires everyone over the age of 2 to wear a mask in every indoor setting, except private residences. But if a business or other entity has in place a proof of vaccination policy in which anyone entering a facility is fully vaccinated, the mask mandate does not apply.

From Erie County to New York City, local officials Monday were not rushing out to issue fines to businesses based on the new Hochul order. In part, thats because health agencies are stretched thin  and have been since the pandemics appearance in March 2020 in New York State  and simply dont have the staff to take up a mask enforcement effort.

The association representing health departments said Monday that localities are focused on working with businesses to support their efforts to implement the mask mandate.

Hochul focuses on Covid defenses in the face of a new variant and fears of a winter surge The Omicron variant of Covid-19 has not yet arrived in New York State, but officials expect its just a matter of when and not if.
Rep. Thomas R. Suozzi of Nassau County will attempt to make key upstate inroads in his campaign for governor Wednesday night with a "tele-town hall" meeting aimed at Democrats expected to vote in their party's June primary.

Seeking to carve out a niche in the Democratic field following last week's withdrawal by Attorney General Letitia James, Suozzi also hopes to counter the candidacy of incumbent Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Buffalo resident staking her own claim to the upstate vote. Campaign sources say he will target about 100,000 "prime" Democratic voters in Tuesday calls to identify those interested in joining the telephone conference Wednesday, and he is hoping for at least a few hundred participants.

Suozzi charts 'up the middle' course in campaign for governor "I'm not far left and I'm not far right. I'm about trying to find answers to the problems we face," Rep. Thomas R. Suozzi told reporters Monday during a virtual news conference.

Suozzi said the event will concentrate on Western New York and Southern Tier Democrats to make the candidate better known outside his downstate base.

"It's a great opportunity for me to introduce myself to people who don't know me," Suozzi told The Buffalo News Tuesday, "and an opportunity to hear directly from residents about what's important to them in their next governor."
As for the 1,974 BMHA households that are currently in arrears for $3.2 million, Brown said he has little way of knowing to what degree their household incomes were impacted by the pandemic, because few tenants filled out paperwork documenting income changes prior to stopping their rental payments.

BMHA manages a total of about 4,300 rental units that house nearly 10,000 people.

Many people suffered financially due to the pandemic, but Brown said he cant simply wipe out the debts of tenants who havent been paying.

What about all the other tenants who simply paid their rent? he said.

Among those who paid is Jacqueline Taylor, who borrowed against her life insurance the past two months to pay $963 per month in rent on a four-bedroom apartment in Shaffer Village.

"There's a lot of people out here not paying rent, but I'm not going to follow them," Taylor said. "My parents always taught us, 'You pay where you live. You pay your way.' "

But Taylor said she has been trying for months to get BMHA to lower the rent. Just a few years ago, she was paying $433 per month, according to receipts she provided to The News.
We tried very had to maintain the majority of the Native consensus map but deal with issues of pairing and deal with issues of drastic changes to our seats, Stewart told a Senate panel.

Native American leaders emerged Monday from an hourslong meeting with several senators to say the tribes remain steadfast in their recommendations.

The easiest solution is to support the tribal consensus plan, said Casey Douma, a Laguna Pueblo tribal member and co-leader of a redistricting alliance of 19 Indigenous pueblos and the Jicarilla Apache Tribe. To undo that in a very short time, negates months of work.

Indigenous leaders say their recommendations emerged from several months of painstaking conversations aimed at preserve communities of common interest and ensuring minority voters have a fair shot at electing candidates of their choice.

Those conversations did not give weight to incumbent politicians and whether they are paired in future elections, noted Acoma Pueblo Gov. Brian Vallo.

State Sen. Harold Pope of Albuquerque urged colleagues Sunday not to tamper with the Native American blueprint for redistricting.
SAN DIEGO (AP)  Navy prosecutors alleged Monday that a sailor charged with setting the fire that destroyed the USS Bonhomme Richard last year was disgruntled after dropping out of Navy SEAL training, while his defense lawyers said there was no physical evidence connecting him to the blaze.

Prosecutor Cmdr. Richard Federico told the court that text messages show Seaman Apprentice Ryan Sawyer Mays lied to family, friends and investigators about why he left SEAL training and that he was angry about being reassigned to the Bonhomme Richard. They also said he used foul language with a superior days before the blaze.

Mays denied igniting the amphibious assault ship that burned for nearly five days and injured dozens aboard.

Defense attorneys said fellow sailors considered Mays arrogant" because he had come from SEAL training. They disputed that Mays hated the Navy more than any other sailor assigned to deck duty like he was, which involves cleaning the ship.

The junior sailor was charged with aggravated arson and the willful hazarding of a vessel.

The fire that was the worst noncombat Navy warship blaze in recent memory.
Married to the former Irene Lacz  a secretary and a licensed practical nurse  in 1948, he earned a degree in mechanical engineering by attending night school at the University of Buffalo.

He worked for Davis Refrigeration, a division of Joseph Davis Co., a major construction contractor, and retired in 1985 as a senior vice president, a director and chief operating officer of Davis Refrigeration.

He designed and built several low-temperature chlorine liquefaction refrigeration systems for major chemical corporations and other systems used in the manufacture of catalysts for the plastics industry. He also designed and installed several constant temperature and constant humidity rooms for laboratories and large production facilities.

He produced the heating and cooling systems for six wind tunnels at Harrison Radiator in Lockport and blast freezing plants for meat and fruit processors and for the worlds largest bagel bakery.

He also conducted tours of refrigeration facilities and gave lectures on refrigeration, heating and air conditioning.

In retirement, he was a consultant for Joseph Davis Inc., and returned often to the General Motors plant in Lockport for work on the wind tunnels.
Recent media event held in partnership with community leaders and partners to celebrate the milestone

NEWNAN, Ga., December 14, 2021--(BUSINESS WIRE)--HelloFresh, the worlds leading meal kit company, and its community partners in Georgia, Second Helpings of Atlanta and Pratt Industries, celebrated the donation of one million pounds of food from its Newnan, Georgia, Distribution Center, to benefit at-risk communities. At an event that included Uwe Voss, CEO of HelloFresh US, Pat Wilson, Commissioner of the Georgia Dept. of Economic Development, Michael Julian Bond, Councilmember of the City of Atlanta, and Andrea Jaron, Executive Director of Second Helpings Atlanta, HelloFresh marked this milestone that reinforces its partnership with the State of Georgia and its commitment to making an impact in the communities it serves.

"We want to thank our partners in Georgia for joining us today to celebrate this important milestone," said Uwe Voss, CEO of HelloFresh US. "At HelloFresh, we work hard to support the communities we operate in with the help of local organizations like Second Helpings Atlanta, Pratt Industries, and community leaders."

HelloFreshs "Beyond the Box" program advances its mission of changing the way people eat, forever. By targeting broken food systems and ensuring that fresh food is available and accessible to those experiencing food insecurity, HelloFresh has been able to provide food for Atlanta community members in need. Each box provided through the "Beyond the Box" program includes fresh ingredients to make healthy, delicious and protein rich meals.

"This is an amazing milestone to reach and we could not have accomplished this without the support and donations from our partner, HelloFresh," said Andrea Jaron, Executive Director of Second Helpings Atlanta. "By using surplus food from the distribution center, we have been able to reduce food waste in our community and provide food to those who need it."

Story continues

The media event included a tour of HelloFreshs state-of-the art facility in Newnan, Georgia, as well as remarks made by leaders in attendance.

"Thanks to the HelloFresh team for all that they do. One of the best parts of my job is seeing Georgians giving back to Georgia," said Pat Wilson, Commissioner of the Georgia Department of Economic Development (GDEcD). "The Newnan HelloFresh team has become a fabric of the community."

"HelloFresh is doing amazing work to combat food insecurity in at-risk communities in Georgia," said Michael Julian Bond, Atlanta City Council, Post 1 At-Large. "Donating one million pounds of fresh food is an incredible milestone to reach, and Im honored to be a part of it because I know how much it is helping those in need. For the past 19 weeks, weve seen people line up in their cars, sometimes two hours early, to receive these wonderful meal kits. We know that Atlantans have been hit hard by Covid, and this extra help goes a long way. Great job to HelloFresh for making this program a reality."

To learn more about HelloFreshs social impact initiatives through its Beyond the Box program, visit: https://www.hellofresh.com/pages/beyond-the-box.

About HelloFresh

HelloFresh SE is a global food solutions group and the world's leading meal kit company. The HelloFresh Group consists of six brands that provide customers with high quality food and recipes for different meal occasions. The company was founded in Berlin in November 2011 and operates in the USA, the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Australia, Austria, Switzerland, Canada, New Zealand, Sweden, France, Denmark, Norway and Italy. In Q3 2021 HelloFresh delivered 227 million meals and reached 6.94 million active customers. HelloFresh went public on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange in November 2017 and has been traded on the DAX (German Stock Market Index) since September 2021. HelloFresh has offices in New York, Berlin, London, Amsterdam, Sydney, Toronto, Auckland, Paris, Copenhagen and Milan.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211214006168/en/

Contacts

Kim Kornfeld

PRUSA@HelloFresh.com
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, December 14)  BDO Unibank Inc. is already processing the reimbursement of nearly 700 clients hit by recent online fraudulent transactions, it announced Tuesday.

"We have requested our clients to go to their branch of account and submit documentation to get the refund. The bank will shoulder the losses perpetrated by this cybercrime incident," it said in a statement.

BDO also assured it is working closely with authorities, including the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, to prevent similar occurrences.

Customers of the Sy-led bank earlier aired out their grievances online, posting screenshots of unauthorized fund transfers to a certain Mark Nagoyo.

Meanwhile, the Bankers Association of the Philippines called on the public to do their part and protect themselves from cyberscams.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines)  With the goal of encouraging more Las Pineros to get their COVID-19 shots, the "May Bahay sa Bakuna" vaccine incentive program finally named its house and lot winner on Dec. 7.

House Deputy Speaker and Las Pinas Rep. Camille Villar, who heads the initiative, awarded the brand new house and lot worth 1.5 million from Bria Homes to Otelia Soriano of Barangay CAA during the final draw of her program.

Contacted via video messaging app, Soriano could not contain her excitement as she was informed she won the top prize in the vaccine raffle bonanza. She also thanked the lawmaker for the program.

Two residents also won brand new automatic Honda motorcycles while 10 others won 5,000 worth of grocery goods - perfect for the upcoming Holiday season.

Tablets and smartphones were also given away as minor prizes.

Over 40 "pangkabuhayan showcase" were given during the duration of the program, which started as early as June.

Despite the end of the raffle, Villar encouraged other residents who have yet to be inoculated against COVID-19.

"Hindi lang sarili ang mapo-proteksyunan natin kundi ang ating pamilya, komunidad at ang buong Las Pinas," she said, adding that the local government continues with its massive vaccination drive for first, second, and booster doses, and for minors.

[Translation: We are not only protecting ourselves but also our family, community, and the whole Las Pinas.]

Latest data showed that more than a million shots have been administered in Las Pinas - with 466,984 now fully vaccinated and some 529,000 already receiving their first dose.

"We have achieved more than 100% of our target population that is why we have some sort of herd immunity," Villar said.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, December 14)  The Filipino designer behind the winning national costume of Nigeria in the 70th Miss Universe aspires to work with the countrys future bets in the pageant.

"Syempre po pangarap kong gawan ang isang Filipina candidate ng Miss Universe o kaya ibang international pageant bastat Pilipinas po ang irerepresent," Kennedy Gasper told CNN Philippines' The Source on Tuesday.

[Translation: Of course, I won't choose any other candidate. It is my dream to design for a Filipina candidate of Miss Universe or other international pageants as long as she will represent the Philippines.]

Miss Nigeria Maristella Okpala won the Best National Costume award with a head-turning, three-foot tribal mask with an ancient cape during the pageant in Eilat, Israel.

Gasper said the costume, which weighed around 21 kilograms, was made from locally-sourced beads, rhinestones, and husks. It drew inspiration from "Mmanwa," a traditional masquerade of a southeastern tribe in Nigeria.

The 20-year-old fashion design student said Okpala and her team only reached out to him via Instagram and WhatsApp, and their interaction was purely virtual from the brainstorming to the fitting of the final version of the piece.

"Si Miss Nigeria po, nagbigay siya ng concept sa'kin. And ako po bilang designer, nagsketch ako ng design, pinakita ko sa kanya. Luckily po nagustuhan niya ang design ko at pinush na naming gawin 'to to real life po," he added.

[Translation: Miss Nigeria gave me a concept. As a designer, I sketched a design and I showed it to her. Luckily she liked it and we already pushed through with giving it life.]

Gasper said Okpala may have recognized him as the designer of Miss Universe Cameroon Angele Kossinda's national costume during the 69th run of the international pageant earlier this year.

RELATED: Isabela student creates Miss Cameroons national costume for Miss Universe
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, December 14) President Rodrigo Duterte has dropped out of the 2022 senatorial elections.

Duterte filed his certificate of withdrawal before the Commission on Elections on Tuesday afternoon  just hours after his ally and longtime aide Senator Bong Go officially withdrew from the presidential race.

Last month, the chief executive backtracked on his initial plan to retire from politics and filed his candidacy to rejoin Congress under the Pederalismo ng Dugong Dakilang Samahan (PDDS).

PDDS is an allied party of the PDP-Laban faction which he is a part of.

With this development, Malacanang said Duterte's retirement goal will push through next year.

"After over four decades in public service, the President plans to retire from government to spend more time with his family when his term ends in June 2022," acting spokesperson Karlo Nograles said in a statement.

Duterte's withdrawal from the Senate race would also allow him to focus on COVID-19 response efforts, Nograles added.

"He likewise views this as an opportunity to concentrate on efforts to ensure transparent, impartial, orderly and peaceful elections in May," the Cabinet secretary also said.

'Personal decision'

The President's loved ones and allies said they support his decision.

"The filing of candidacy and withdrawal is a personal decision. We can only support that decision," his daughter, vice presidential aspirant and Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte said.

Go, for his part, admitted he was saddened by the turn of events, but also urged the public to respect the President's choice. He said Duterte will also focus on ensuring a smooth transition for the country's next leaders.

Go and Duterte were earlier nominated by the ruling PDP-Laban party as standard bearers for the upcoming elections.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, December 14) - The Senate has unanimously approved on final reading a bill that would create a department specifically addressing the needs and concerns of overseas Filipino workers.

Voting 20-0-0, the upper chamber on Tuesday passed Senate Bill No. 2234, or the proposed Department of Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act.

One of its proponents, Senator Joel Villanueva, said the department will serve as the go-to agency for all OFWs' concerns, including on recruitment, red tape, regulation, emergency response, repatriation, and reintegration.

He added the proposed law will fast-track not just the applications of migrant workers, but also cases filed against illegal recruiters.

Previously, lawmakers have raised questions on the necessity of creating a separate agency and pointed out the huge amount needed to set it up. The minimum amount required is estimated at over 1.1 billion, and this only covers the personal services, maintenance and operating expenses, as well as capital outlay, according to the Budget department.

The measure had been certified as urgent by President Rodrigo Duterte.

The House of Representatives also passed a similar bill on final reading in March last year.
(CNN)  South Korean actress Park So-dam, who shot to fame at home and abroad thanks to her role in the Oscar-winning movie "Parasite," has been diagnosed with papillary thyroid cancer.

Park, aged 30, was diagnosed during a regular health check and has undergone surgery, her agency, ArtistCompany, said in a statement sent to CNN on Monday.

Papillary thyroid cancer is the most common type of thyroid cancer, according to the UK's National Health Service (NHS).

It normally affects people under 40 years of age, particularly women, and tends to be easier to treat than other types of thyroid cancer, the NHS says.

"Around 9 in every 10 people are alive 5 years after a diagnosis of thyroid cancer," the NHS says on its website. "Many of these are cured and will have a normal lifespan."

Park's illness has disrupted plans to promote her next movie, "Special Delivery," leaving her "very disappointed," according to ArtistCompany's statement.

"The company would like to once again thank all the people for showing support for 'Special Delivery' and actress Park So Dam, as well as the actors and crew of 'Special Delivery' overcoming this difficult time together," the agency said.

"Actor Park So Dam will focus on her recovery so that she can see you all healthy in the future, and ArtistCompany will also do our best to help the actor recover her health," it added.

Park appeared in a number of South Korean movies and TV series, including "The Priests" (2015) and "The Silenced" (2015), but her breakout performance came in the 2019 global hit "Parasite."

The movie, directed by Bong Joon Ho, became both the first non-English-language film and the first South Korean film to win Best Picture at the Academy Awards in February 2020.

Park plays Kim Ki Jung, a young woman from a poor family who pretends to be an art therapist in order to get a job teaching the children of a wealthy family.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, December 14)  Beatrice Luigi Gomez slayed the Miss Universe stage during the pageant's coronation night as she walked in a Pintados-inspired evening gown after making it to the Top 10.

Fashion designer Francis Libiran, who created the bejeweled golden dress, told CNN Philippines' The Source on Tuesday that he was happy with the chosen design because he wanted the Philippines' bet to really stand out on stage.

RELATED: PH's Beatrice Gomez wows in Pintados-inspired coronation gown

"I wanted her to shine in gold because her skin tone looks really good in that color," Libiran said. "If youve noticed theres not one single tone. When she walked up the stage, you can see the different tribal prints of tattoos of the Visayas."

"To me that's very meaningful because Bea is a fighter. And that's very symbolic for me because thats a sign of courage and a fighter. I'm so happy the team chose this gold gown for the final night," he added.

He also deliberately chose not to hide Gomez's tattoo, since that was part of her personality.

Libiran shared that after he was offered by Miss Universe Philippines Creative Director Jonas Gaffud to design a gown for Gomez, he sketched 25 designs but ended up creating seven for the Cebuana beauty. He noted that he did not have a difficult time working with Gomez due to her quiet and reserved personality.

"That's her beauty and her charm, I think. While sketching something for her, she has this inner killer instinct," he added. "She's very quiet, shes not opinionated, but shes just observing. That's what really helped me a lot in designing something for Bea."

Libiran also created Gomez's red gown which she wore during the preliminary round. He said he kept the design simple with "a little bit of a drama by putting a tassel-like draping on one side."

Designing for a Miss Universe candidate was a first for Libiran, and he said the experience was something he could finally add to his list of achievements, after having created the winning gowns of Miss World 2013 Megan Young and Miss International 2016 Kylie Verzosa.

Gomez bowed out of the competition held in Eilat, Israel after entering the Top 5 round.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, December 13)  Five residents from General Santos City filed a complaint against some members of the Inter-Agency Task Force over a policy that requires onsite workers to get the COVID-19 vaccine.

The complainants said IATF officials resorted to coercion for issuing a resolution that requires employees to get vaccinated or undergo regular RT-PCR test at their expense. They added that employees must decide whether or not to get vaccinated.

The person should have legal capacity to give consent; should be situated as to be able to exercise free power of choice, without the intervention on any element of force, fraud, deceit, duress, overreaching or other ulterior form of constraint or coercion, the complaint read.

The respondents in the complaint filed with the Office of the Ombudsman are Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, Health Undersecretary Charade Mercado-Grande, and IATF co-chairperson Karlo Nograles.

Under IATF Resolution 148-B, all establishments and employers in the public and private sectors shall require their onsite workers to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

The IATF explained that although being unvaccinated shall not be a reason for termination, employees shall undergo RT-PCR tests regularly at their own expense whenever they need to work onsite.

The complainants added that the requirement also forces workers to resign from their jobs since paying for regular RT-PCR test is costly.

Nograles earlier said the IATF resolution does not state that vaccination is mandatory or a basis for termination. He added that all resolutions they issue are legal and constitutional.

https://cnnphilippines.com/news/2021/12/8/Mandatory-vaccination-IATF.html

CNN Philippines is trying to reach out to the respondents for comment.

CNN Philippines correspondent AC Nicholls contributed to this report
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, Devember 14)  The country is set to receive COVID-19 vaccines totaling 24 million doses this week.

Vaccination czar Carlito Galvez, Jr. says the deliveries are unprecedented, as previous weekly shipments only averaged 7 million doses.

"Twenty four million (doses) ang darating ngayong week... Unprecedented po 'yon dahil kasi normally seven million ang average per week, ngayon 24 million," he said during President Rodrigo Duterte's weekly briefing.

[Translation: Twenty four million doses will arrive this week... This is unprecedented because we normally receive seven million on average per week, now it's 24 million.]

Broken down, the country is expected to receive:

- 9,319,800 J&J Janssen vaccine doses

- 4,984,200 Pfizer vaccine doses

- 5,208,900 Moderna vaccine doses

- 2,000,000 Sinovac vaccine doses

- 2,969,900 AstraZeneca vaccine doses

The shipments will be a mix of donated and procured vaccines.

Galvez said the vaccines arriving now will be for use next year, adding this would mean the next administration would benefit from it.

"Ito po nag-a-assure na pwede na nating i-expand ang ating boosters, at the same time...nakumpleto na po yung ating vaccine up to the middle of the year of 2022. Ibig sabihin 'yung ating procurement and other donations, yung incoming president wala nang problema sa vaccine kasi...yung ating ginagamit na vaccine, yung dini-deliver ngayon, para next year na 'yon," he explained.

[Translation: This assures that we can expand the booster doses, at the same time we have enough vaccines up to the middle of 2022. This means with the procurements and donations, the incoming president will have no problem with vaccines anymore because the vaccines that will be delivered will be for next year.]

Galvez said the country has breached its target deliveries with 158 million doses so far. Some 108 million doses were needed this year and the remaining supply would be used in 2022.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, December 14)  Some presidential aspirants respect President Rodrigo Duterte's decision to drop his 2022 senatorial bid.

Duterte withdrew his candidacy just hours after his longtime aide - Senator Bong Go - officially canceled his candidacy for president.

Senator Manny Pacquiao said the decision should be respected while Senator Panfilo Lacson wished both Duterte and Go well, saying they have chosen peace as their path.

Manila Mayor Isko Moreno said he was surprised by Duterte's decision but he respects it and encouraged the public to do the same. He also hopes the President would support his candidacy.

As for former senator Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr., he said he is saddened with Duterte's move, and has assured that he will continue Dutertes legacy programs if elected president.

On the other hand, labor leader Leodigario "Ka Leody" De Guzman cautioned the public against being fooled by this "telenovela."

Go said the President will focus on the government's COVID-19 pandemic response during the remaining months of his term, and ensure a smooth transition to the next administration.

Meanwhile, sociologist Nicole Curato said she believes Duterte's withdrawal would hardly make any difference in the senatorial race.

"If we look at the frontrunners in the Senate, these are still old names. So even if President Duterte drops out of the race, even if he is not a contender anymore, it's not as if him dropping out will open up space for new voices. If anything, it will be the same Senate composition and to that extent, we can't really expect that much change," she told CNN Philippines.
(CNN)  The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention added three nations to its highest-risk category for travel on Monday, including tourist favorite Italy.

In its weekly update of coronavirus travel advisories, the CDC also included giant, frigid Greenland and the tiny, tropical East African island nation of Mauritius to its "Level 4: COVID-19 Very High" category.

Typically, the CDC places a destination at Level 4 when more than 500 cases per 100,000 residents are registered in the past 28 days.

All three nations moved up from Level 3.

Last week, the CDC put Italy's neighbor, France, at Level 4, along with six other destinations. France remains at Level 4 this week.

European surge and Omicron

Italy's move to Level 4 comes as Europe continue to grapple with another surge in COVID-19 cases.

The United Kingdom is facing a "tidal wave" of infections from the new Omicron coronavirus variant, ministers have warned, noting rapid transmission rates in London and across the country. Germany is also grappling with its fourth wave on the pandemic and a sharp rise in deaths. Both of those nations are also on the CDC's Level 4 list.

Some Christmas markets in Europe are still planning to operate, but others, including the Munich market, have been canceled.

Meanwhile, the entire world continues to monitor Omicron.

First announced by South African health authorities in late November, the variant has prompted various travel bans on nations in southern Africa. The CDC moved seven southern African nations to Level 4 on November 27 specifically because of Omicron. (An eighth nation, Botswana, was already at Level 4). All of those nations remained at Level 4 on Monday.

And the United States implemented tighter travel rules on December 6 because of concern about the variant.

Other nations on Level 4

While Europe is being hard hit, it isn't the only region with popular tourist destinations on Level 4. Among the other places also considered at "very high" risk for travel are:

 Barbados

 Belize

 Cayman Islands

 Jordan

 Seychelles Islands

 Turkey

In all, more than 80 countries were rated Level 4 as of December 13.

You can view the CDC's risk levels for global destinations on its travel recommendations page.

Happening on Level 3

The Level 3 category  which applies to destinations that have had between 100 and 500 cases per 100,000 residents in the past 28 days  just saw one new addition on Monday.

For Malaysia, the move to Level 3 was good news as it had been residing at Level 4 since June 2021.

Quite a few Caribbean nations popular with Americans seeking warmer climes are currently on Level 3. They include, among others:

 Aruba

 Dominican Republic

 Granada

 Saint Kitts and Nevis

Also notable: The CDC puts cruise ships, whether at sea or in rivers, at Level 3.

Travelers with international plans have a lot consider here at the holidays, CNN Medical Analyst Dr. Leana Wen recently told CNN Travel.

"This is a very dynamic situation, and travelers should consider how important the trip is to them and have a plan B and a plan C," said Wen, an emergency physician and professor of health policy and management at the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health.

"They should think through all the scenarios for what could happen. Let's say that they end up in a country that is now going to implement a mandatory quarantine on arrival. How will they cope with that? Is it worth going?"

US embassies provide country-specific information for American citizens, including whether tests in a particular destination are reliably available within the one-day period required for their return.

Level 2, Level 1, and unknowns

Destinations carrying the "Level 2: COVID-19 Moderate" designation have seen 50 to 99 cases per 100,000 residents in the past 28 days. Three nations moved there Monday. They are:

 Jamaica

 Philippines

 Republic of Congo

This was an improvement for all three nations, which had previously been at Level 3.

In the category of "Level 1: COVID-19 Low" destinations, fewer than 50 new cases per 100,000 residents have been logged over the past 28 days. Only one new nation joined this level on Monday  that of the small African nation of Equatorial Guinea. It previously had been on Level 2.

Finally, there are destinations for which the CDC has an "unknown" risk because of a lack of information. As of December 13, some of those places included:

 Cambodia

 Canary Islands

 Gibraltar

 Nicaragua

 Tanzania

The CDC cautions even fully vaccinated travelers about venturing to destinations with no reliable statistics about the current COVID-19 situation.

In its broader travel guidance, the CDC has recommended avoiding all international travel until you are fully vaccinated.

"Fully vaccinated travelers are less likely to get and spread COVID-19. However, international travel poses additional risks, and even fully vaccinated travelers might be at increased risk for getting and possibly spreading some variants," the agency said.

This story was first published on CNN.com "Italy and 2 other nations now at 'very high' travel risk for Covid-19, CDC warns"
(CNN)  US President Joe Biden on Tuesday marked nine years since the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School by pointing to his administration's efforts to combat gun violence as Democratic-led efforts to pass tougher gun laws have repeatedly failed in Congress.

"Twenty precious first graders, six heroic educators, a lone gunman. In an unconscionable act of violence, everything changed that morning for you, and the nation was shocked," Biden said in a video released Tuesday.

The President said it was "one of the saddest days" of the Obama administration.

"We came close to legislation, but we came up short," Biden said of the push to enact stricter gun laws in the immediate aftermath of the shooting in Newtown, Connecticut.

He continued: "It was so darn frustrating, and it's still frustrating now for you and me and so many others in Parkland, Florida; and Oxford, Michigan; and communities across the country -- these horrific shootings make national headlines and embarrass us as a nation."

The President called on the Senate to pass three bills -- one on background checks, one aimed at keeping guns out of the hands of abusers and the Build Back Better Act, which includes programs for community violence intervention.

"We owe all of these families more than our prayers. We owe them action," Biden said of those affected by gun violence.

Earlier this year, Biden unveiled a set of executive actions aimed at taking certain guns out of the hands of criminals and pouring resources into community violence prevention.

These actions included expanding background checks for certain types of guns, regulating stabilizing braces built for pistols, restricting weapons known as "ghost guns" that can be built using parts and instructions purchased online, making new investments in intervention programs for violence-prone communities and creating model "red flag" legislation for states to pass.

But the limited scope of the President's actions underscores the challenge he faces in getting legislation passed on guns in an evenly split and starkly divided United States Senate.

"Certainly, none of the executive actions alone are enough to fully solve this problem, which is why the President is calling on Congress to act," a senior White House official told reporters Tuesday.

Bipartisan talks on gun reform in the Senate floundered earlier this year. In the aftermath of the Michigan school shooting earlier this month, Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut, who represented the Sandy Hook families and has made gun safety a centerpiece of his time in the Senate, told CNN that he was hopeful that negotiations could resume in the coming weeks to produce some bipartisan reform.

Going forward, the White House plans to identify new ways to use existing authorities, the senior official said, and Biden can be expected to continue to call on Congress pass legislation.

The administration has also been hampered by the lack of a permanent director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Without 60 votes for confirmation in the Senate, the White House withdrew the nomination of David Chipman in September, placing blame on Republicans for the inability to get Chipman confirmed despite concerns among some moderate Democrats over his past record on gun control.

"We are working to identify another highly qualified nominee to be director of ATF," the senior official said, calling Chipman an "incredible" candidate.

The official added: "We definitely know and need a new ATF director to continue the work on gun violence prevention. But we have shown that even without an ATF director, we will do everything we can to reduce gun violence."

This story was first published on CNN.com, "Biden marks 9 years since Sandy Hook shooting with renewed call for tougher gun laws."
(CNN)  The United Kingdom's COVID-19 response was under pressure on Tuesday, with the National Health Service (NHS) website crashing due to demand for booster appointments, lateral flow test kits no longer available online and long queues at vaccination walk-in centers.

In the run-up to a holiday season that the British government promised would return to normality after last year's heavily restricted affair, a weary nation is instead being wracked by a new crisis: Omicron.

The scramble for booster shots and tests comes just days after UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced a slew of new Covid-19 measures in the face of an incoming "tidal wave" of infections from the Omicron variant.

Omicron has left one person dead in the UK and prompted warnings it could surpass the Delta variant to become dominant in the country by Christmas. Johnson has told people to "set aside" the idea that the variant is mild.

Britain's beleaguered leader faces a major test of his authority on Tuesday, with members of his own Conservative party preparing to rebel against measures on working from home, Covid passports and mask-wearing in a vote in Parliament. He will be forced to rely on support from the opposition Labour Party to pass the new restrictions, which are a significant departure from the government's pandemic response in recent months. Johnson lifted all Covid-19 rules on "freedom day" in July and has until now resisted the more robust mitigation measures imposed in parts of Europe, like vaccine passports and mask mandates.

The Prime Minister is also embroiled in a scandal over reports that Downing Street held a number of staff holiday parties last winter, when the rest of the UK was living under strict rules banning social mixing. He has been forced to deny that he fast-tracked "Plan B" Covid rules in order to distract from his political woes.

Opening the debate in Parliament on the new Covid regulations Tuesday, UK Health Secretary Sajid Javid said that though the measures were not ones he would like to put in place, the situation demanded them. "As we look ahead to a winter with Omicron in the midst, the measures before the House [of Commons] today will fortify our natural defenses and guard the gains that we've all made against this deadly virus," Javid said.

Scientists have never seen a variant that can spread so quickly and the growth in cases of Omicron in the UK is now mirroring the rapid increase in South Africa, Javid said, warning that the observed doubling time was two days. Until recently, ministers had said that cases were doubling every two to three days.

So far, 10 people in England have been hospitalized with the variant, the health secretary said, warning that even if Omicron turned out to be less severe overall than the Delta variant, its greater transmissibility risks overwhelming the health service, which is already stretched to its limits.

The health secretary added that there may now be as many as 200,000 Omicron infections a day -- a figure that the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said was based on modeling -- with the strain accounting for 20% of cases in England.

Recent analysis by the UKHSA has shown that two doses of AstraZeneca and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines provided lower levels of protection against symptomatic infection from Omicron when compared with the Delta variant, but effectiveness rose considerably in the period after a booster dose -- 70% to 75% protection against mild disease.

Javid described the "national mission" to get as many people vaccinated as quickly as possible, calling it "a race between the virus and the vaccine."

The British government has insisted that its new booster drive, which aims to deliver third doses to every adult by the end of December -- a month earlier than planned -- is the best way to stop the spread of cases and avoid imposing further restrictions.

NHS staff are being redeployed to accelerate the booster vaccination effort, postponing some urgent appointments and elective surgeries until the new year to prioritize third shots.

More than 500,000 booster and third doses were deployed on Monday, according to government data. Around 45% of people aged 18 and over are now estimated to have received a third dose, according to analysis by the PA Media news agency.

But on the same day, the NHS booking system did not appear to be coping with the huge surge in demand for appointments. More than 100,000 people in England booked booster doses overnight, chief executive of NHS England Amanda Pritchard said on Monday. Responding to reports of the website crashing Monday morning, Pritchard acknowledged there had been "some glitches on the system."

But Pritchard asked members of the public to keep trying, stressing that "more slots are going on all the time." She also asked those living close to walk-in clinics to make use of this facility if possible, despite people reporting having to queue up in the street for up to five hours.

The British Medical Association (BMA) has also warned that the vaccination campaign will not be enough to stop the spread of Omicron, with an estimated one in four people not eligible for boosters due to being unvaccinated or only partially vaccinated. The BMA has called for a return of face masks to pubs and restaurants, as well as 2-meter social distancing in all indoor settings.

"Despite describing the current situation as an 'emergency' with a 'tidal wave' of infections on the horizon, the Government's response relying entirely on the vaccine booster programme is missing the wider measures required to control the spread of Omicron," Dr Chaand Nagpaul, BMA council chair, said in a statement on Monday.

Other measures debated Tuesday included government plans to introduce Covid passes to enter large venues such as nightclubs. The government has shifted the proposal to allow for the inclusion of a negative lateral flow test, in an attempt to assuage potential rebels.

Javid said that there would always be an option for lateral flow tests, and he would not support a vaccine-only Covid pass system.

The government has also advised fully vaccinated contacts of a Covid-19 case to take daily lateral flow tests for seven days to slow the spread of the virus.

But the UK's supply of home testing kits -- usually available to be ordered from the government's website -- also appeared to run dry on Monday. Users in England logging on on Monday received a message saying "sorry there are no more tests available," asking them to "try again later."

This story was first published on CNN.com, "UK scrambles for booster shots and tests amid fears of Omicron 'tidal wave'."
The Nebraska Public Power District (NPPD) has adopted a carbon emissions reduction goal, several years in the making.

During a Dec. 9 meeting held at NPPD Headquarters, 1414 15th St. in Columbus, the NPPD Board of Directors adopted a carbon emissions goal of achieving "net zero" carbon emissions by 2050.

The board has been working toward adoption of the policy for a while.

"This is a process that we've been doing for about three years," Subdivision 8 Director Gary Thompson said at the meeting. "...When we first did the (goal) language, there was quite a bit of committee input and discussion before we finally even put out the (draft goal)."

However, Thompson said the final version of the goal was also informed by public input. On Dec. 9, Subdivision 4 Director Bill Hoyt and Subdivision 6 Director Ed Schrock voted against adoption of the goal, with the nine other NPPD board members voting in favor.

"In the beginning I was adamantly opposed to this because of the date in there," Subdivision 10 Director Bill Johnson said at the meeting. "But reading into there now, it's a goal."

The policy also comes with some caveats, including language allowing the board to reconsider the goal "if it is determined that meeting or progressing toward the goal will adversely impact...reliability...or cost competitiveness."

In polls conducted at six informational forums NPPD held earlier this year, attendees overwhelmingly prioritized reliability and affordability above environmental impacts. At all six of the forums, attendees indicated the greatest amount of support for re-evaluation of the carbon emissions reduction goal every one to five years.

"(NPPD's carbon emissions goal) will be achieved by continuing the use of proven, reliable generation until alternative, reliable sources of generation are developed and by using certified offsets, energy efficiency projects, lower or zero carbon emission generation resources, beneficial electrification projects, or other economic and practical technologies that help NPPD meet the adopted goal at costs that are equal to, or lower than, then-current resources," the strategic directive said.

NPPD's biggest carbon-emitting generation resources are its two coal-fired power plants, Gerald Gentleman Station near Sutherland and Sheldon Station by Hallam. Ongoing research is looking into how to address and curb CO2 emissions from coal combustion, including technologies that allow for 'cleaner' coal-powered energy production.

According to data published by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), CO2 emissions related to coal-powered energy generation have gone down in the U.S. over the last decade. At the Dec. 9 NPPD board meeting, Plattsmouth native and University of Nebraska-Lincoln economics and natural resource economics major Kat Woerner encouraged the board to adopt the emissions reduction goal.

"Two consultants hired by NPPD came out with two reports advising that NPPD transition away from fossil fuels and towards clean energy," Woerner said. "...(One report) specifically says, 'The economics suggest NPPD should make significant new investments in renewable energy and flexible resources for integration and reliability.'"

Molly Hunter is a reporter for The Columbus Telegram. Reach her via email at molly.hunter@lee.net.

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The 3rd Annual Winter Wonderland shopping event at the Carlisle Expo Center this weekend will double as a fundraiser for the Salvation Army of Carlisle.

TriState Event Planning is hosting the event, which will take place from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday at the Carlisle Expo Center at 100 K St., Carlisle.

The event features more than 100 vendors selling wares for Christmas shopping, and food trucks will also be on-site, which includes Dough & Arrows, Dougies BBQ and Sauces, Funnel N Around, Ragged Edge Roasting Co., Sweet Rollers and Race to Taste Curbside Grill.

Santa will also be at the event and available for photos for a $5 fee, which also includes ornament crafts and a ticket for hot cocoa from the snack bar. The Shippensburg Blaskapelle German Band will be at the event from 1 to 3 p.m. both days to play Christmas music.

And while the event offers a way for last-minute shoppers to purchase their gifts  as well as take part in raffle baskets and door prizes  TriState Events said that, for the first year, it will also collect items for the Salvation Army.

In addition to collecting new, unwrapped toys, as well as clothes, jackets, coats and shoes, the company also hopes to collect donations of much-needed items, including toilet paper, trash bags, bathroom cleaners, spaghetti sauce, salad dressing, mayonnaise, Knorr rice and noodle sides, egg noodles, canned vegetables, air fresheners, body lotion, stamps, socks and slippers.

TriState Events said it is also looking for gift cards in the $5 to $10 amounts that can be offered as bingo prizes and at senior center parties throughout the year.

The items can be brought to the event, and items will be donated to the Salvation Army the Monday after the event.

For more information, email TriState Events at events@tristateevents.org or call 717-262-8839.

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Five counties in the southcentral region had more than 100 new cases each of COVID-19 in the latest update from the state Department of Health, with all five located in the Midstate.

Cumberland County had 156 new cases in Tuesday's report, with Lebanon County seeing 117 new cases, Dauphin County 166, York County 306, and Franklin County 205 new cases  a far cry from the 45 new cases reported Monday.

Judging by just the number of confirmed cases in Cumberland County (113), and the number of negative tests reported (108), the county saw about 51.1% of its cases come back positive.

The region, and again the Midstate in particular, also saw new deaths associated with COVID-19. Cumberland County had two deaths in Tuesday's update, while Dauphin had three, Lebanon two, Perry two and York three deaths.

Cumberland County hospitalizations also rose slightly in Tuesday's update. As of Monday evening, the county has 134 patients in the hospital with COVID-19, an increase of six from Monday. There are only 21 patients in the ICU and 16 on ventilators, a decrease of four patients each from Monday. Of the 116 currently staffed ICU beds, nine were still available in the county.

Dauphin County also saw a slight increase in hospitalizations, rising from 157 Monday to 160 in Tuesday's update. Of those patients, 45 are in the ICU (up from 41 Monday) and 27 are on ventilators (up from 26). Of the currently staffed 198 ICU beds, 20 were still available in the county.

Franklin County saw a larger increase in patients, rising by 11 to 119 patients Tuesday. Of those patients, 18 were in the ICU (up from 17 Monday) and 14 were on ventilators (also an increase of a single patient). Of the 34 currently staffed ICU beds in the county, seven were still available.

School-age children

In its weekly update for the 15th week of the school year, the department reported 126 cases among children aged 5-18 in Cumberland County during the week of Dec. 1-7, the same number of cases that had been reported the previous week. The total number of cases in Cumberland County for this school year is 2,017.

Statewide, the number of cases among 5- to 18-year-olds saw its largest increase of the school year with 9,214 cases reported during the week of Dec. 1-7, compared to 6,574 during the previous week. The state said the total number of cases in that age group for the school year is 103,485.

Early Warning Dashboard

Cumberland County saw a decrease in its in percent positivity and its incidence rate per 100,000 people in the Health Department's weekly update to its Early Warning Monitoring System Dashboard Friday. Its percent positivity decreased to 14.9% for the week of Dec. 3-9, down from 18.2% the previous week. The incidence rate per 100,000 people decreased to 239.2, down from 256.1 the previous week.

In the southeast region, Lebanon County featured significant increases in the Health Department update Friday, with its percent positivity jumping to 25.9% (up from 21.5% the previous week)  the second highest percent positivity in the state for the week behind Potter County (28.5%). Lebanon's incidence rate jumped to 458.4 (up from 345.6 the previous week). Sullivan County featured the highest incidence rate per 100,000 people for the week at 692.4.

Philadelphia County, which includes the city of Philadelphia, had the lowest percent positivity in the state for the week of Dec. 3-9 at 7.1%. Cameron County had the lowest incidence rate per 100,000 people in the state at 239.2.

Penn State Health update (Dec. 13)

Penn State Health lists a COVID-19 dashboard on its website tracking cases at each of its acute care hospitals  Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, Penn State Health Holy Spirit Medical Center, Hampden Medical Center and Penn State Health St. Joseph Medical Center. The dashboard will be updated every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

Monday's update shows 164 total cases (161 adults, 3 pediatrics) in the health systems four hospitals, an increase of nine cases since Friday. Thirty-two are fully vaccinated (19.5%) with six in an ICU and four on ventilators; 110 are nonvaccinated (67%) with 27 adults in an ICU and 17 adults on a ventilator, and 21 are unknown status patients. Two unvaccinated children are hospitalized with no one in an ICU and no one on a ventilator.

Holy Spirit Medical Center in Camp Hill has 38 COVID patients. Ten are fully vaccinated adults (one in ICU and no one on a ventilator) and 28 are unvaccinated adults (four in an ICU and two on a ventilator).

Hampden Medical Center has eight COVID patients, seven of them unvaccinated (no one in an ICU, no one on a ventilator) and one fully vaccinated.

Vaccinations

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention labels Cumberland County as having "high" transmission of the virus  the highest level, which is the transmission level for every county in the state. Community transmission is determined by the number of new cases per 100,000 people in the last seven days and the positivity rate over the last seven days, so the classification could vary from day to day based on those numbers.

In data updated Saturday evening, the CDC says Cumberland County has seen 59.3% of its total population of 253,370 become fully vaccinated. For the county's population of people ages 12 and older, 67.5% have been fully vaccinated. For the county's population of people ages 5 and older, 62.8% have been fully vaccinated.

County numbers in the southcentral region (for Dec. 14):

Adams County (pop. 103,009): 55 new cases; 15,642 total cases (12,602 confirmed, 3,040 probable); 45,347 negatives; 254 deaths; 49.5% of county population vaccinated

55 new cases; 15,642 total cases (12,602 confirmed, 3,040 probable); 45,347 negatives; 254 deaths; 49.5% of county population vaccinated Bedford County (pop. 47,888): 28 new cases; 8,227 total cases (5,583 confirmed, 2,644 probable); 13,076 negatives; 202 deaths; 35.9% of county population vaccinated

28 new cases; 8,227 total cases (5,583 confirmed, 2,644 probable); 13,076 negatives; 202 deaths; 35.9% of county population vaccinated Blair County (pop. 121,829): 66 new cases; 22,047 total cases (17,413 confirmed, 4,634 probable); 48,688 negatives; 459 deaths (+2); 47.2% of county population vaccinated

66 new cases; 22,047 total cases (17,413 confirmed, 4,634 probable); 48,688 negatives; 459 deaths (+2); 47.2% of county population vaccinated Cumberland County (pop. 253,370): 156 new cases; 33,647 total cases (25,922 confirmed, 7,725 probable); 106,985 negatives; 681 deaths (+2); 59.4% of county population vaccinated

156 new cases; 33,647 total cases (25,922 confirmed, 7,725 probable); 106,985 negatives; 681 deaths (+2); 59.4% of county population vaccinated Dauphin County (pop. 278,299): 166 new cases; 40,332 total cases (34,151 confirmed, 6,181 probable); 133,339 negatives; 724 deaths (+3); 55.6% of county population vaccinated

166 new cases; 40,332 total cases (34,151 confirmed, 6,181 probable); 133,339 negatives; 724 deaths (+3); 55.6% of county population vaccinated Franklin County (pop. 155,027): 205 new cases; 25,691 total cases (20,391 confirmed, 5,300 probable); 65,627 negatives; 511 deaths; 44.8% of county population vaccinated

205 new cases; 25,691 total cases (20,391 confirmed, 5,300 probable); 65,627 negatives; 511 deaths; 44.8% of county population vaccinated Fulton County (pop. 14,530): 30 new cases; 2,896 total cases (1,378 confirmed, 1,518 probable); 5,138 negatives; 40 deaths; 33.3% of county population vaccinated

30 new cases; 2,896 total cases (1,378 confirmed, 1,518 probable); 5,138 negatives; 40 deaths; 33.3% of county population vaccinated Huntingdon County (pop. 45,144): 26 new cases; 8,068 total cases (6,588 confirmed, 1,480 probable); 21,912 negatives; 191 deaths; 47.4% of county population vaccinated

26 new cases; 8,068 total cases (6,588 confirmed, 1,480 probable); 21,912 negatives; 191 deaths; 47.4% of county population vaccinated Juniata County (pop. 24,763): 4 new cases; 3,596 total cases (3,283 confirmed, 313 probable); 6,888 negatives; 137 deaths; 37.2% of county population vaccinated

4 new cases; 3,596 total cases (3,283 confirmed, 313 probable); 6,888 negatives; 137 deaths; 37.2% of county population vaccinated Lebanon County (pop. 141,793): 117 new cases; 24,615 total cases (20,988 confirmed, 3,627 probable); 64,868 negatives; 369 deaths (+2); 49.4% of county population vaccinated

117 new cases; 24,615 total cases (20,988 confirmed, 3,627 probable); 64,868 negatives; 369 deaths (+2); 49.4% of county population vaccinated Mifflin County (pop. 46,138): 15 new cases; 8,680 total cases (8,211 confirmed, 469 probable); 18,153 negatives; 231 deaths; 45.5% of county population vaccinated

15 new cases; 8,680 total cases (8,211 confirmed, 469 probable); 18,153 negatives; 231 deaths; 45.5% of county population vaccinated Perry County (pop. 46,272): 33 new cases; 6,407 total cases (4,987 confirmed, 1,420 probable); 14,016 negatives; 139 deaths (+2); 42.6% of county population vaccinated

33 new cases; 6,407 total cases (4,987 confirmed, 1,420 probable); 14,016 negatives; 139 deaths (+2); 42.6% of county population vaccinated York County (pop. 449,058): 306 new cases; 75,757 total cases (61,301 confirmed; 14,456 probable); 200,396 negatives; 1,112 deaths (+3); 52.8% of county population vaccinated

ZIP code-level counts (updated Dec. 14):

17013: 3,964 positives, 16,488 negatives - +91 since Dec. 10

17015: 2,396 positives, 8,105 negatives - +74 since Dec. 10

17050: 3,787 positives, 17,257 negatives - +78 since Dec. 10

17055: 4,231 positives, 19,114 negatives - +103 since Dec. 10

17011: 3,834 positives, 15,827 negatives - +67 since Dec. 10

17007: 588 positives, 2,108 negatives - +19 since Dec. 10

17065: 434 positives, 1,434 negatives - +29 since Dec. 10

17324: 467 positives, 1,440 negatives - +22 since Dec. 10

17241: 1,083 positives, 3,544 negatives - +31 since Dec. 10

17257: 2,655 positives, 7,971 negatives - +53 since Dec. 10

17240: 272 positives, 718 negatives - +7 since Dec. 10

17025: 1,809 positives, 6,599 negatives - +33 since Dec. 10

17070: 1,709 positives, 6,179 negatives - +47 since Dec. 10

17043: 579 positives, 2,367 negatives - +14 since Dec. 10

17019: 2,074 positives, 6,267 negatives - +46 since Dec. 10

17266: 38 positives, 147 negatives - +1 since Dec. 10

School district and college case counts (updated Dec. 10)

The Sentinel's case counts for Cumberland County school districts and colleges or universities are updated Fridays. The policy for each school districts reporting is noted in the list below.

Big Spring School District (reports active cases in past 14 days with school exposure): 10 student cases and 2 staff cases being monitored as of Dec. 10.

(reports active cases in past 14 days with school exposure): 10 student cases and 2 staff cases being monitored as of Dec. 10. Camp Hill School District (posts chart that includes total case count): 2 new student cases and no new staff cases since Dec. 3; 107 student cases and 9 staff cases this school year (started Aug. 25.) Chart last updated on Dec. 10.

(posts chart that includes total case count): 2 new student cases and no new staff cases since Dec. 3; 107 student cases and 9 staff cases this school year (started Aug. 25.) Chart last updated on Dec. 10. Carlisle Area School District (reports cases as they occur and updates a chart): 17 new cases since Nov. 23; 239 cases this school year (started Aug. 25) according to the charts last update on Dec. 3.

(reports cases as they occur and updates a chart): 17 new cases since Nov. 23; 239 cases this school year (started Aug. 25) according to the charts last update on Dec. 3. Cumberland Valley School District (reports weekly and total number of cases with school exposure): 37 cases since Dec. 3; 392 cases this school year (started Aug. 31) as of the charts last update on Dec. 10.

(reports weekly and total number of cases with school exposure): 37 cases since Dec. 3; 392 cases this school year (started Aug. 31) as of the charts last update on Dec. 10. Mechanicsburg Area School District (chart lists total cases actively being monitored, updated Tuesday and Friday): 30 positive and presumed positive cases being monitored as of Dec. 10.

(chart lists total cases actively being monitored, updated Tuesday and Friday): 30 positive and presumed positive cases being monitored as of Dec. 10. Shippensburg Area School District (reports weekly and total confirmed case counts involving school exposure): 13 new cases since Dec. 3; 240 cases this school year (started Aug. 19) as of charts last update on Dec. 8.

(reports weekly and total confirmed case counts involving school exposure): 13 new cases since Dec. 3; 240 cases this school year (started Aug. 19) as of charts last update on Dec. 8. South Middleton School District (posts notices as cases occur, updates table of case counts weekly on Fridays): 103 cases this school year (started Aug. 25) as of the charts last update on Dec. 3.

(posts notices as cases occur, updates table of case counts weekly on Fridays): 103 cases this school year (started Aug. 25) as of the charts last update on Dec. 3. West Shore School District (reports active cases with school exposure within past 14 days): 48 student cases and 7 staff cases being monitored as of Dec. 10.

(reports active cases with school exposure within past 14 days): 48 student cases and 7 staff cases being monitored as of Dec. 10. Dickinson College : 2 new student cases and 1 employee case since Dec. 3; 57 student cases and 32 employee cases this semester (started Aug. 30.) Chart last updated on Dec. 10.

: 2 new student cases and 1 employee case since Dec. 3; 57 student cases and 32 employee cases this semester (started Aug. 30.) Chart last updated on Dec. 10. Messiah University : 22 new student cases and 5 new staff cases since Dec. 3; 127 student cases and 52 employee cases this semester (started Aug. 7.) Chart last updated Dec. 10.

: 22 new student cases and 5 new staff cases since Dec. 3; 127 student cases and 52 employee cases this semester (started Aug. 7.) Chart last updated Dec. 10. Shippensburg University: 23 new student cases and 1 new staff case since Nov. 19; 232 student cases and 29 employee cases this semester (started Aug. 1). Chart last updated on Dec. 6.

(Counties with a percent positivity above 5% in a week go on the Department of Health's watch list)

Pennsylvania: Percent Positivity - 14.4% last 7 days (15.2% previous 7 days) Incidence Rate per 100,000 people last 7 days - 321.4 (290.8 previous 7 days)

Adams County: Percent Positivity - 20.5% last 7 days (18.3% previous 7 days) Incidence Rate per 100,000 people last 7 days - 330.1 (255.3 previous 7 days)

Cumberland County: Percent Positivity - 14.9% last 7 days (18.2% previous 7 days) Incidence Rate per 100,000 people last 7 days - 239.2 (256.1 previous 7 days)

Dauphin County: Percent Positivity - 15.9% last 7 days (16.4% previous 7 days) Incidence Rate per 100,000 people last 7 days - 276.3 (230.7 previous 7 days)

Franklin County: Percent Positivity - 20.7% last 7 days (22.8% previous 7 days) Incidence Rate per 100,000 people last 7 days - 341.9 (294.8 previous 7 days)

Lebanon County: Percent Positivity - 25.9% last 7 days (21.5% previous 7 days) Incidence Rate per 100,000 people last 7 days - 458.4 (345.6 previous 7 days)

Perry County: Percent Positivity - 23.5% last 7 days (30.1% previous 7 days) Incidence Rate per 100,000 people last 7 days - 354.4 (412.8 previous 7 days)

York County:

Percent Positivity - 21.5% last 7 days (23.8% previous 7 days)

last 7 days (23.8% previous 7 days)

Incidence Rate per 100,000 people last 7 days - 405.3 (384.1 previous 7 days)
The Pennsylvania Game Commission issued a warning Monday for a possible rabid fox roaming in Hampden Township.

Commission officials said one person was bitten and three dogs were treated at veterinary clinics after tangling with a fox in three incidents within a 24-hour period on Friday. The incidents took place within 0.4 miles of each other in Hampden Township, according to the news release.

Game Commission officials said the public can call the Southcentral Regional Office at (814) 643-1831 if they see a fox on their property behaving abnormally. According to the news release, PGC officials said it isnt necessarily concerning to see a fox during the day, or even uncommon for foxes to be curious and possibly observe humans or animals from a distance when healthy.

But when one is sick, it does behave differently and poses a health concern to the public.

Though diseases such as rabies affect individual animals differently, there are some abnormal behaviors an infected animal commonly might exhibit, the news release reads. Some animals act aggressively for no apparent reason, whereas others may act lethargic and very tame. An animal may stagger or circle in one area, or they may have partial paralysis or salivate uncontrollably.

In wildlife, rabies is an always fatal disease and once clinical signs occur, an infected animal typically dies within seven days.

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Although most studies have focused on white-tailed deer and white-footed mice as carriers of the blacklegged tick  the main contributor of Lyme disease among humans  a new study from Penn States College of Agricultural Sciences shows that black bears also carry the parasites.

A research team from the college started looking at black bears in central Pennsylvania  from the New York border to the Maryland line  with 278 examined between June 2018 and December 2019. The team chose black bears to study because the state has seen a population increase in that species, which coincided with tick-borne diseases nearly tripling between 2004 and 2017.

To date, most wildlife studies of blacklegged ticks have looked at two species  the white-tailed deer and the white-footed mouse, said lead researcher Hannah Tiffin, doctoral candidate in entomology. As a result, theres a lack of research on other animal species in terms of their role in tick dispersal, their suitability as hosts and their status as reservoirs of disease pathogens.

According to the college, the only time black bears had been studied were when they were called in as nuisance bears or were killed by vehicle collisions or hunters, which the college said limited the observations of the bears to specific times of years.

Black bears also travel long distances, potentially more than 100 miles when establishing a new territory, which could mean more dispersal of ticks and tick-borne diseases, according to the college.

In its research with coordination with the Pennsylvania Game Commission, the college found that nearly 71% of bears had ticks present, all of which were blacklegged ticks. The research team said the bears head had the highest percentage of tick presence, with 39% found by the ear and 36% by the muzzle. All three life stages of tick were also found on bears during the study.

To our knowledge, this is the first report of larval blacklegged ticks being found on black bears, Tiffin said. Immature blacklegged ticks typically have been thought to feed primarily on small and medium-sized mammals, but our results show that immatures of this species feed on large mammal hosts as well.

Researchers found that the highest number of ticks found on bears occurred in the spring, with the next highest in the summer. The lowest number of ticks on bears was during the fall.

This likely relates to the blacklegged ticks life cycle in the Northeast, with nymphs most active and abundant in the spring, larvae in the summer, and adults in the fall, said study co-author Erika Machtinger, who directs the colleges Veterinary Entomology Laboratory.

Wildlife species can be used as sentinel hosts for tick surveillance, Tiffin said. The role of understudied tick hosts like black bears in the ecology and spread of ticks warrants additional research as human cases of Lyme disease and other tick-borne diseases continue to rise in the United States.

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Arguably one of the most unique businesses in the Parkland area, The Magic Shop recently opened in its new location in downtown Park Hills.

The Magic Shop, with the Park Hills-Leadington Chamber of Commerce, held a ribbon cutting at 323 West Main Street last week. Of course, it wasn't your typical ribbon cutting. Edwards levitated his daughter, Moriah, as she cut the ribbon.

The shop is a blast from the past and brings to life the era in which Harry Houdini once performed his death-defying escapes and illusions.

The shop is also the home of the world-famous Ickle Pickle Magic Products, which manufactures magic props and supplies and serves customers in countries all over the world.

Owner and magician D.J. Edwards said the Ickle Pickle brand was started by Steve Bender, who began working in magic at the age of 17 as Kedso the Clown for the Keds Shoe Company. By the peak of Bender's performance career, Edwards explained that the Ickle Pickle company was putting on more than 900 shows a year, and the demand for his high-quality magic props was growing.

"It spread like wildfire because of the quality of the props that he was making," said Edwards. "He actually started making them for his own show. Then, other magicians started catching on, and they wanted these props. And so the company blew up into a world-famous situation, and he was shipping magic all over the world.

"If you go into any magic shop in the world -- if you go into a magic shop in China, if you go to Italy, anywhere you go in the world -- you will find our products that we're now making right here in Park Hills, which is pretty neat," Edwards remarked.

As a professional magician for more than 28 years, Edwards bought and used Ickle Pickle products for nearly three decades.

When Bender retired in February 2020, Edwards bought the company and relocated it first to East Main Street.

"One month later, the pandemic hit, and magicians all around the world were not performing," Edwards recalled. "And so nobody was buying any magic, and it almost destroyed this half-century-old company.

"So we said, 'let's open a storefront,' which we did up the street, and now we're moving here," he explained. "So this is actually kind of like a 'save the magic' project to keep this half-century-old empire alive."

The Magic Shop has more than 5,000 magic tricks in its inventory ranging from beginner to professional skill levels. Edwards said not all of the items they sell at the shop are made by Ickle Pickle. The shop often trades products with other magic manufacturers to sell at the location.

The Magic Shop includes a mini-theater where magicians from all over gather on the third Thursday of each month at 7 p.m.

"Some of [magicians] come from St. Louis, and some of them come from Illinois, and we've had magicians here from Springfield and other magicians passing through the area," Edwards mentioned. "They get our newsletters three times a week in their email all around the world really. So they see what's going on, and when they're coming through, they stop."

He said different magicians perform for each other, share secrets, new ideas, and discuss magic at the monthly meetings.

Magicians also frequent the shop for show supplies, perusing the wide variety of various raw materials and items to build their own designs.

From fun pocket tricks, pranks, and starter kits to the world-class spun aluminum, hand-crafted wood items, and even custom Ickle Pickle fragrances and candles, The Magic Shop appears to have something for all magic enthusiasts learning or perfecting the craft.

The Magic Shop is open Tuesday through Friday from noon to 6 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. For more information, contact The Magic Shop at 314-500-1999, or visit the Ickle Pickle website at www.icklepicklemagic.com.

Bobby Radford is a reporter for the Daily Journal. He can be reached at bradford@dailyjournalonline.com

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The Leadwood Board of Aldermen met last week and discussed matters pertaining to water, businesses around town, and the possibility of putting a 1% sales tax on the April 5 ballot to raise money for the police department.

According to the meetings minutes, a citizen voiced her support of the tax which would help Leadwood retain police personnel. The small city has seen a revolving door of police chiefs during the past three years, and the pay is not competitive even with the smaller towns in the surrounding areas.

Currently, there are only two full-time employees in the police department, Chief Jason Jarvis and Officer Emily Portell.

The minutes indicate there was a brief disagreement between Alderman Charlie Lewis and Water Department Supervisor Kevin Brooks, who also has a two-man department that serves the citys water and sewer needs.

Brooks expressed concern that perhaps, given the small resources of Leadwood city government, the purchase of police uniforms and badges could have waited. Lewis said he thought the same could be said of Brooks department, referring to a grinder pump that was requested months ago and that had not yet been installed.

Lewis acknowledged that pay needs to be increased in all the city departments, but said the water and sewer department seemed to be doing pretty well at this time, in his opinion.

In phone interviews with both men Wednesday morning, Lewis said he was making a point that all departments need more money than the city has, and accusations could be leveled at any department as to how its money is spent. He said he thought part of recruiting and retaining police officers would be easier if they had official badges and uniforms.

He acknowledged that Brooks had been down an employee recently so the supervisor might not have had the time or manpower to install it.

Brooks said he did ask for a new grinder pump, but then found installing it would require additional steps he hasnt had the time to complete.

Now as it turns out, I have to dig part of the plumbing around that station up and replace them in order to put (the grinder pump) in, he said. And I've never got the chance to get it done. Oftentimes, I've had to work this department by myself because we had trouble keeping employees and I just have not gotten it done.

Brooks acknowledged that, when a small town like Leadwood has little revenue and a lot of expensive, necessary departments to maintain, its difficult not to have concerns when city money is spent.

City Clerk Kendra Boyer, who took the minutes of the meeting, disagreed with Lewis that sign-on bonuses for the police department needed to happen. She said it was unfair to all the other city employees who are underpaid, and stressed that the citys money is extremely tight right now.

Alderman Randy Howard said the town is just barely hanging on, due to the high cost of living.

No vote was taken to put the initiative on the ballot, but it was reported the four aldermen and Mayor Ed Austin expressed support for doing so.

Brooks gave an update on how the water and sewer issues around town were proceeding. He said an engineer hired by the citys insurance company visited the well house to look at the well and pop-off valve and photographed everything for a report to the insurance company. Brooks is waiting to hear word.

He said a sewer panel that had shorted earlier this year could not yet be repaired, since the wrong parts were sent. The right part has been reordered and will arrive soon. Another repair that will have to be made is on private property, where a house fire had broken out a few days ago. The meeting minutes indicate Brooks said that property will need a new water meter, cap and line installed if its sold to new owners. From all the water leaks and repairs, the streets are in bad repair, and Lewis proposed buying a new load of asphalt, which his fellow aldermen approved.

The yearly fee the city pays to the state for water, the primacy fee, will increase from $3.24 to $5.28, which the board approved. The pound fee for dogs is increasing from $10 to $25 and the daily charge for dogs will increase from $2 to $5. The board declined to entertain the possibility of buying a new animal control truck.

In other Leadwood news:

Two seats on the board will be up for election in April. Theyre currently held by Randy Howard and Aaron Penberthy. Filing began Tuesday, and will be taken at the city hall during normal business hours until Dec. 28.

The board approved a bid from Bartons Auto Salvage for a manlift.

The city granted a business license for the new owners of Roys Store, the gas station and convenience store in town across the street from Dollar General.

Weed-eater bids were tabled after Lewis requested two more bids.

The next Leadwood Board of Alderman meeting will be 6 p.m., Dec. 27.

Sarah Haas is the assistant editor for the Daily Journal. She can be reached at 573-518-3617 or at shaas@dailyjournalonline.com.

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Washington County Ambulance District (WCAD) received the Missouri Community College Associations Distinguished Business and Industry Partner Award during the organizations annual convention, held Nov. 10-12 in Branson.

The award is presented to individuals and/or businesses that have engaged in significant partnerships with their local community college to stimulate economic activity and support community college students and programs. It is one of the most prestigious honors the association presents.

Mineral Area College Provost Roger McMillian said the award honors the partnership between WCAD and MAC to provide quality emergency medical services (EMS) education at MAC.

In 2019, MACs Emergency Medical Technician & Paramedic programs were on hiatus during the search for a new program director, McMillian said. Washington County Ambulance District, understanding the importance and demand for high-quality EMS professionals, approached the college about continuing the program through a partnership agreement.

Through this partnership, Washington County Ambulance District provides a program director and a paramedic instructor, both highly qualified individuals with extensive experience in the field. Since then, MACs EMS programs have been revitalized, including substantial updates to degree and certificate programs to better align with state and national accreditation standards.

WCAD is one of the few ambulance districts to provide Critical Care Transport educational programs. A benefit of this partnership is that these programs are now being offered on MACs campus to provide convenient access to professional development for the regions healthcare workers.

This is a well-deserved honor for WCAD, said McMillian. They have embraced the mission of MAC, working with EMS/ambulance districts throughout the colleges service region, while staying true to their own mission to ensure access to quality emergency medical services.

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The Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission, which covers five of the counties involved in the project and Charlottesville, was the lead applicant for the project and will serve as the grant administrator.

For the RISE project, Rappahannock Electric Cooperative will own a fiber network where it delivers electricity in Louisa, Albemarle, Goochland and Greene and Firefly will serve as the internet service provider. Under an agreement with Dominion Energy, Firefly will lease middle-mile fiber installed by Dominion Energy in the companys electric service area. Firefly will also work with American Electric Power/Appalachian Power to provide service in those areas.

Dominion Energy will need to get State Corporation Commission approval, which it plans to seek in early 2022, to build about 650 miles of fiber in some areas, Wood said.

We will start in multiple areas, and the different partners will all start in different ways, he said. Well be announcing as we move into an area that were here now were gonna do this area. Well tend to do it the way weve done our work, which is a portion of a county at a time, almost by substation where the electric lines run.
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Events

Tuesday

Christmas Storybook Land, 6:30 to 8 p.m., Linn County Fairgrounds, 3700 Knox Butte Road E., Albany. Free family event. This childrens day is open to everyone this year. CSL is offering an indoor and outdoor drive-through experience from the comfort and safety of your vehicle. Relive your favorite childhood nursery rhymes, fairy tales and family movies in a magical forest. Canned food donations for Fish of Albany accepted. Volunteers to help with CSL are needed. Information: christmasstorybookland.org.

Advent Recital Series, noon, online. First Presbyterian Church in Corvallis will offer the second in its annual series. The program, "Joy... Look for the Silver Living," will feature classics from the baroque to Tin Pan Alley, played by Steve Matthes, clarinet, and Dow Yeh, piano. View at www.1stpres.org or www.facebook.com/1stprescorvallis.

Dinner and program, 6 p.m., Mas Restaurant, 2416 S. Santiam Highway in Lebanon. The event, open to all women, is sponsored by After 5 Connection, affiliated with Stonecroft. The theme of the event is "Hang Your Stockings with Care." A singalong of Christmas carols is planned, along with a creative Christmas story with audience participation. Those attending are asked to bring a wrapped pair of fun socks for a gift exchange. Laura Loffaredo will give a dramatic presentation on Mary's reaction upon learning she is to become the mother of the Messiah. Loffaredo is a retired Chicago bed and breakfast owner who has hosted more than 20,000 people in her home. She loves to entertain and believes in accomplishing as much in one day as possible. Cost is $15, inclusive. The group is not credit-card ready. Reservations are available from Nancy at 541-259-1396 or NancyPinzino@comcast.net.

Wednesday

Christmas Storybook Land, 6:30 to 8 p.m., Linn County Fairgrounds, 3700 Knox Butte Road E., Albany. See Tuesday listing for details.

Midweek Advent service, 7 p.m., Grace Lutheran Church, 435 NW 21st St., Corvallis. The service will use Holden Evening Prayer. Further information is available at grace97330.org.

Midweek Advent worship, 7 p.m., Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran Church, 2650 NW Highland Drive, Corvallis. The service is available in person or via online streaming, accessible at www.svlccorvallis.org and facebook.com/shepherdcorvallis. This weeks theme will be Participating in the Return of Jesus Christ.

The Emerald City Jazz Kings present "All Is Bright: A Jazz Kings Christmas 2021," 7:30 p.m., LaSells Stewart Center, 875 SW 26th St., Corvallis. Featuring Shirley Andress, Marisa Frantz and Vicki Brabham on classics including "Silent Night," "I'll Be Home for Christmas," "Winter Wonderland" and more. Tickets: $19.50 to $30 at https://tickets.theshedd.org/7809/7621. Face coverings, proof of vaccination or a recent negative COVID-19 test are required for admission.

Thursday

Christmas Storybook Land, 6:30 to 8 p.m., Linn County Fairgrounds, 3700 Knox Butte Road E., Albany. See Tuesday listing for details.

Friday

Winterland Bazaar, noon to 6 p.m., Riverside Community Hall, 35293 Riverside Drive, Albany. Free admission. Fionnghal will perform from noon to 2 p.m. Corvallis Waldorf School students will also perform. Waldorf-inspired crafting, food and baked goods, local artisans, student vendors, face painting, horse-drawn carriage rides. Information: www.winterlandbazaar.com.

Christmas Storybook Land, 6:30 to 8 p.m., Linn County Fairgrounds, 3700 Knox Butte Road E., Albany. See Tuesday listing for details.

The Baltimore Consort, 7:30 p.m., First Presbyterian Church, 114 SW Eighth St., Corvallis. Chamber Music Corvallis presents this early music ensemble in a program of Christmas music ranging from the 16th century to the early 20th century. Tickets: www.ChamberMusicCorvallis.org/tickets and at Grass Roots Books & Music, 227 SW Second St., Corvallis. Tickets may also be available at the door, but seating will be limited to 100. All COVID-19 protocols apply, and seating will be distanced.

"Choose Your Own Carol," 7:30 p.m., main stage, Majestic Theatre, 115 SW Second St., Corvallis. Now that Zoom has become part of our lives, its ripe for parody. What better way to do that than to bring last years "Choose Your Own Carol" to the stage? The Majestic is keeping all the best parts of the show; the audience will still get to decide the ending. It will be the Zoomiest in-person live theater production ever, complete with green screens, vanishing props and costumes that stop at the waist (shorts and/or pajama bottoms encouraged). Ebenezer Scrooge is the CEO of a successful web-based company, but that success comes at the price of the well-being of his employees, his community and his soul. One fateful Christmas Eve, he is visited by the ghost of his former partner, Jacob Marley. Can Marley and the Three Spirits of Christmas change Scrooges heart with their visions of Past, Present and Future? Will the story end as tradition dictates, with the redemption of Ebenezer Scrooge, the triumph of the spirit of Christmas and a happy ending? Or will the spirit of "Bah, humbug" reign supreme after his night of visitations fails to change Scrooges heart, resulting in a tale of tragedy and revenge? The audience will decide. Preshow and intermission telethon content featuring Majestic Theatre celebrity cameos, patented Jimbo Ivy patter and live musical performances. The festivities will wrap up the 2021 Holiday Donation Drive, and the donation numbers will determine which ending of "Choose Your Own Carol" is performed as the official fate of Ebenezer Scrooge. Tickets: "Pick What You Pay," $11, $16 or $21 at https://app.arts-people.com/index.php?ticketing=maj. Vaccine verification or a recent negative COVID-19 test will be required for patrons age 12 or over to attend. Masks required.

Ongoing

CASA of Linn County, Young Roots Oregon, Jackson Street Youth Services and SafeHaven Humane Society are sponsoring Battle of the Nonprofits: Gingerbread House Edition. The event is a friendly competition among nonprofit agencies. Each of the agencies is decorating a gingerbread house. On Friday, the houses will be delivered to SafeHaven for public viewing and voting. Community members can vote one time for the house of their choosing, either at SafeHaven or through CASA's Facebook page or Instagram. Voting will end Friday, and awards will be presented on Dec. 20. There will be a Peoples Choice award. Rod and Denise Bigner, owners of the Pix Theater in Albany, will choose Best in Show.

Pastega Christmas Display, 5 to 10 p.m. daily through Dec. 31, Benton County Fairgrounds, 110 SW 53rd St., Corvallis; enter off Reservoir Avenue and exit on 53rd. The drive-through event has returned after being canceled last year due to COVID-19. Admission: donation of packaged food items for local food items. Organizers are seeking volunteers to assist with taking down the display after Dec. 31; information is available at https://www.pastegachristmasdisplay.com (click on the "Volunteer" button).

Fourth Annual Ornament Hunt and Sweepstakes, through Jan. 1, non-wilderness trails, Willamette National Forest and Umpqua National Forest. The Willamette Valley Visitors Association is sponsoring the hunt, which encourages locals and travelers to connect with public lands and increase outdoor recreation activities. Two hundred wooden ornaments featuring the Willamette Valley will be hidden along non-wilderness trails not affected by wildfires. Each ornament includes a Willamette Valley leather patch and instructions on how to register to win a prize of an adventure and overnight stay in the Willamette Valley. The visitors association website, https://willamettevalley.org/ornament, will serve as the hub for contest winners to claim their prizes throughout the contest. You can also find trail information and hints throughout December on this page. Once the contest closes, all remaining ornaments will be picked up by U.S. Forest Service professionals. The Willamette National Forest provides recreational opportunities, fishing, hunting, foraging, firewood, minerals, wood products and Christmas trees. Christmas tree permits are available at https://www.recreation.gov/tree-permits.

Albany Visitors Association's 34th Annual Nighttime Magic Holiday Light Contest. Community judging runs through Sunday; winners will be announced by Dec. 21. Pictures of entries will be posted on the AVA Facebook page and addresses will be included for people to drive by, or you can pick up a list of participants at the AVA, 110 Third Ave. SE, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays. The addresses will also be posted on the Albany Explorer App. Community members can vote for their favorites via Facebook or at info@albanyvisitors.com. Participants' lights will be on from 5 to 10 p.m. now through Jan. 1, or longer.

Holiday light string collection; drop off lights at the Republic Services office, 1214 SE Montgomery St., Albany. Through Jan. 3.

Giving opportunities

ABC House is holding a drive to benefit children who have been impacted by abuse or neglect. The community is invited to donate unwrapped items for themed gift drives by Friday: youth and teen clothing, art supplies, reusable water bottles, board games, individually wrapped snacks. ABC House is unable to accept toys and stuffed animals due to limited storage. Participants can also host a drive or adopt a family trying to celebrate the holiday season on a tight budget. Information: coordinator@abchouse.org or https://www.abchouse.org/wishlist.

Albany American Legion Post 10 is conducting a fundraiser for the Linn County Sheriff's Office Animal Control. A collection box will be at the front register of North Albany IGA, 621 Hickory Street NW till Friday. Food, supplies and monetary donations are accepted on an ongoing basis at Post 10, 1215 Pacific Blvd. SE, phone 541-926-0127.

The Arc Giving Tree, a tradition of 17 years, will soon be ready for action at the Arc Thrift Store, 928 NW Beca Ave. in Corvallis. Stop by to select a gift tag from the tree. Requests for gifts to be purchased are specifically for people in the community with developmental disabilities who might not otherwise receive a gift this holiday season. Detailed purchasing guidelines are provided on each tree tag. No need to gift wrap  the Arc has elves for that. Gifts need to be dropped off by Wednesday.

Jackson Street Youth Services is asking the community's help in supporting youth ages 10 to 24 experiencing or at risk of homelessness. Community members can donate generously, adopt a specific youth's wish list or organize a drive to collect needed items. Gift drop-off will take place through Dec. 23 at approved locations. Information: 541-360-0867, 541-745-4553, elijah.stucki@jacksonstreet.org or hannah.miller@jacksonstreet.org.

Linn County Animal Rescue is a nonprofit sanctuary that rescues neglected, abandoned and abused horses, and hospice dogs. In existence for 14 years, the agency, based in Waterloo, is 100% volunteer-run and provides Healing Hearts with Horses events for developmentally disabled/handicapped individuals and those with post-traumatic stress disorder. Donations of the following items are needed: gift certificates/cash donations, cleaning supplies, senior horse grain, and small blankets, beds and pee pads for dogs. For more information about ongoing fundraisers (Bottle Drop and Points for Profit) or volunteering at the rescue, call 541-258-3422 or visit www.lcarhorse.org.

Vina Moses Center is holding a Giving Tree drive for gifts for children from birth through age 18 and low-income seniors via partner agencies. All households receive a gift card for a holiday meal. The program is open to Benton County residents; to register your family to benefit from the program, call 541-753-1420 and make an appointment for a time before Thursday. Donations of new, unwrapped gifts will be accepted through Monday. For details, visit vinamoses.org, or get a Vina Moses gift tag from a local business; a list of businesses is available at https://www.vinamoses.org/giving-tree-business-locations. Further information is available at 541-753-1420 or info@vinamoses.org.

Real estate brokers throughout Oregon and Southwest Washington are participating Windermere Real Estates annual Share the Warmth campaign. Through Friday, Windermere brokers are collecting winter necessities for community members in need. In the Mid-Willamette Valley area, the donations will benefit Community Outreach, Inc., in Corvallis; Helping Hands Albany; and River Center, Lebanon. The organizations are asking specifically for coats, blankets, gloves and hats. All donations in the area can be dropped between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. weekdays at the Windermere office at 987 NW Circle Blvd. in Corvallis. Information: windermere.com.

Other opportunities

It's the time of year to visit the Siuslaw National Forest or the Willamette National Forest and find the perfect Christmas tree for your home. Christmas tree permits are primarily being sold online at www.recreation.gov and can also be obtained in person from local vendors or via the telephone from a ranger district. Permits allow the holder to cut one tree in designated areas. Each household can purchase up to a maximum of five permits. Permits are $5 each with an additional $2.50 registration fee when purchasing online. Additionally, fourth-graders with Every Kid Outdoors passes are eligible for a free Christmas tree permit through their local national forest; they can apply through Recreation.gov by entering their voucher or pass number when prompted. A $2.50 registration fee will also be applied for this transaction.

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State

Key Texas abortion opponent sees Supreme Court decision as validation to keep fighting

Shelby Tauber/For the Texas Tribune Mark Lee Dickson bows his head as pastor Scott Beard prays during a worship service Sunday at the FountainGate Fellowship church in Abilene.

ABILENE  Mark Lee Dickson bounded on stage at FountainGate Fellowship in this West Texas town Sunday as the worship band wrapped up their first song.

We had a very important day on Friday, Dickson said to the rapt crowd, referring to the U.S. Supreme Court ruling on Texas ban on abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy. He let the suspense hang for a moment.

But Im here to tell you  the Texas Heartbeat Act is still in effect.

The congregation exploded into cheers and applause as Dickson grinned.

Lets praise God for that, he said.

Across the auditorium, arms went up and eyes closed, dozens of people offering their gratitude that abortions would continue to be largely inaccessible in the second largest state in the country.

This long-awaited moment for abortion opponents is due in large part to Dickson, an early advocate for the laws unique enforcement mechanism, which deputizes private citizens to sue anyone who aids or abets in an abortion after an embryos cardiac activity is detected, usually around six weeks of pregnancy.

Abortion providers challenged the law, arguing it violates the constitutional protections for abortion enshrined in Roe v. Wade and subsequent rulings. On Friday, the Supreme Court allowed some of those challenges to proceed  but also left the law in place.

While the high court didnt explicitly uphold the enforcement provision, a majority of justices declined to block it while the case returns to a lower court to be reargued. That decision shocked abortion providers and splintered the justices, who seemed caught in what Justice Elana Kagan called the procedural morass of the private enforcement mechanism, which is designed to evade judicial review.

The justices all agreed, however, to dismiss a challenge against the lone private individual named on the suit: Mark Lee Dickson.

On stage at FountainGate, Dickson threw his arms wide and grinned.

Its not every day that all nine justices agree with Mark Lee Dickson, he said.

The crowd cheered and clapped. As the lights went down and the worship music swelled, Dickson slipped out the back, heading to another church across town. His work  and his victory lap  wasnt done yet.

Shelby Tauber/For the Texas Tribune An attendee of New Hope Church in Abilene signs the Project Destiny Abilene petition to add the abortion ban ordinance on the ballot in the next election.

Local success spurred state law

Dickson, who lives in the Longview area, has been involved in anti-abortion activism since he was a kid, protesting at clinics and leading Right to Life of East Texas. But it was another Supreme Court case, in 2019, that really mobilized him.

June Medical Services v. Russo challenged a Louisiana law requiring abortion providers to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals. The Supreme Court eventually struck down the law, relying mostly on a Texas case, Whole Womans Health v. Hellerstedt, as precedent.

But while that case was proceeding through the justice system, Dickson started to get worried. One of Louisianas last remaining abortion clinics was just over the border from Texas, in Shreveport.

Dickson reached out to the mayor of Waskom, Texas, concerned that the clinic might cross the border. This chatter, as he called it, stemmed mostly from a newspaper article from the early 1990s that, he says, indicated the clinic had previously considered moving into Waskom to evade Louisianas abortion restrictions.

Waskom did not want to be the mecca for abortions in that area, he said. These clinics draw from hundreds of miles. Thats not what they wanted to be known for in Waskom.

Dickson got the mayor and City Council on board to pass an ordinance banning abortion within city limits. He was worried about legal challenges, though, so state Sen. Bryan Hughes, R-Mineola, connected him with Jonathan Mitchell, the former solicitor general of Texas.

Thats when Mitchell proposed adding a private enforcement mechanism, empowering individual citizens to bring civil lawsuits against violators of the law. This unique workaround makes it very hard to challenge the law on the grounds that the city is violating the constitutional protection for abortion.

At first, it was just small towns that passed these ordinances. None of them even had abortion providers within city limits. These so-called sanctuary cities for the unborn faced legal challenges but were largely allowed to keep the ordinances on the books.

But in May 2021, less than a year after a Planned Parenthood opened in Lubbock, the city of 250,000 voted to make abortion illegal within city limits. After a judge threw out Planned Parenthoods lawsuit challenging the ordinance, the clinic stopped providing abortions.

That same month, Gov. Greg Abbott signed Senate Bill 8 into law, empowering anyone to bring a lawsuit against anyone who aids or abets in an abortion in Texas after cardiac activity is detected. Thats typically around six weeks of pregnancy, a point at which many patients dont yet know theyre pregnant. The bill is called the Texas Heartbeat Act, even though medical experts say that name is misleading because the activity measured on an ultrasound in early gestation is electrical impulses, not a true heartbeat.

The law has no exception for rape or incest and allows anyone, whether or not they even know the pregnant patient, to bring a suit. The state law was decried across the country as unconstitutional, exploiting a legal loophole that many believed would soon be closed by the courts. But Dickson wasnt worried.

Having seen the success, that it worked in cities, and that cities had survived challenges, it gave me greater confidence that the states heartbeat law would survive legal challenges as well, said Dickson. And thats what weve seen.

Legal challenges leave law in place

Since the Supreme Court ruled on Roe v. Wade in 1973, its been unconstitutional to institute bans on abortion before viability  the point at which a fetus is likely to survive outside the womb, usually around 24 weeks.

And yet, since Sept. 1, Texas has managed to ban abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy. A study from the University of Texas at Austin showed abortions plummeted by half in the first month after the law went into effect, but providers say the drop is far greater  theyre serving a small fraction of their previous caseloads.

The U.S. Supreme Court declined to block the law before it went into effect, but called for an expedited hearing on Nov. 1. The question before the court was largely procedural: If the government isnt enforcing the law, who can providers bring a legal challenge against?

Lawyers for the providers argued that there were several possible avenues: the judges who hear the cases, the court clerks who docket them, state licensing agencies, the Texas attorney general and even Mark Lee Dickson himself.

In a long-awaited ruling Friday, the court threw out most of those challenges, including the one against Dickson, but allowed a narrow challenge to continue. The court declined to grant an injunction to block the law and returned it down to a lower court to be argued again.

In a separate case, a state judge ruled Thursday that the law violated the Texas Constitution but also didnt stop it from being enforced.

Fridays ruling was initially hailed as a victory by abortion providers, but within a few hours, the tone had shifted.

It was our hope this morning that we could tell our hotline callers that this law was not going to prevent them from getting the care they need, that the court affirms that our reproductive decisions are worthy of respect, compassion and care, said Amanda Williams, the executive director of the Lilith Fund. But thats simply not what this ruling means.

Amy Hagstrom Miller, the president and CEO of Whole Womans Health, which runs four abortion clinics in Texas, said on a press call that they would not be able to remain open indefinitely if these restrictions remained in place.

Todays decision is not OK, she said. It is unjust, cruel and inhumane.

The fight continues

When Dickson heard that the Supreme Court had dismissed the challenges against him and allowed the law to remain in effect, he was happy. He was also very sleepy.

Hed driven 15 hours overnight from Nebraska, he said, where he is working with towns to pass similar ordinances banning abortions in city limits. He went back to sleep after he got the news, and when he woke up, he hit the road again, this time to San Angelo and Abilene, his latest targets in Texas.

So its business as usual, he said. Theres still work to be done. But it is encouraging to see good laws survive.

This was his message on Sunday morning as he visited churches in Abilene. Hes working with churches across the city to collect enough signatures to get the abortion ban ordinance on the City Councils agenda. If the city doesnt pass it directly, Dickson said theyre prepared to get a referendum on the ballot during the next election.

At New Hope Church in Abilene, he stood on the stage, flanked by Christmas trees.

Theres coming a day here in Abilene that were going to see Abilene become a sanctuary city for the unborn, he said. There are going to be a lot of unborn children leaping in their mothers wombs at that decision.

He explained that Fridays Supreme Court ruling, though procedural, was an important step in reassuring city leadership, in Abilene and across the country, that these sorts of laws hold up in court.

If youre pregnant right now and you felt a little kick on Friday, that might have been because of the great news we heard from the Supreme Court of the United States, he said, the crowd cheering him on.

In an interview afterward, he said he saw the ruling as a green light to take this sort of ordinances across the country.

Wherever we go, whether that be in Texas or Nebraska or Ohio or Kentucky or Florida  we can go anywhere now and say, look, this enforcement mechanism has survived before the Supreme Court of the United States, he said. Its been tested, and it stands.
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Auroras City Council will hold a special study session Wednesday night to hear from the police chief and other community leaders on youth violence prevention.

The council will hear presentations from Christina Amparan of Auroras Youth Violence Prevention Program, Kathie Snell of Aurora Mental Health, Aurora Public Schools Director of Security Greg Cazzell, student Guadalupe Flores and Police Chief Vanessa Wilson.

Over the past month, a spate of shootings involving teenage victims and suspects has rocked the city.

A shooting at Nome Park across from Aurora Central High School on Nov. 15 wounded six teenagers. Later the same week, three teenagers were shot and wounded in the parking lot of Hinkley High School. On the night before Thanksgiving, an armed teenager was fatally shot by a man in an apparent road-rage incident. And at the end of November, five people  four teenagers and a 20-year-old  were shot and wounded at a party near East Colfax Avenue and North Dayton Street.

Authorities have said they havent found links between the attacks.

Police confirmed the Hinkley shooting had a gang connection. But Amparan previously told The Denver Gazette that the focus of Auroras Youth Violence Prevention Program is broader than just gang violence, focusing on big-picture risk factors for violent behavior such as poverty, substance use and domestic violence.

State Rep. Iman Jodeh, a Democrat from Aurora, said in an interview she believes addressing root causes of crime is crucial for curbing spikes in violence so future generations of kids dont feel like they have to carry weapons to defend themselves.

Wednesdays meeting will start at 6:30 p.m. and will air on cable channels 8 and 880 in Aurora and on AuroraTV.org.
At the beginning of the pandemic, when "COVID-19" had barely entered the public lexicon, there was a howling vacuum of information. The medical and public health communities puzzled over masks, effective treatments, spread, risk factors.

In those early days and weeks, in the absence of certainty, providers thought about COVID-19's impact on pregnant women in the context of other viral illnesses. Flu could be more severe for moms-to-be, said Anna Euser, a maternal-fetal medicine specialist at UCHealth's University of Colorado Hospital. Maybe COVID-19 would be, too. But early signs were promising.

"For a period of time, the initial data said, 'We don't think pregnant women are at higher risk,'" said Euser, who also teaches at CU's School of Medicine.

"The early data, particularly out of China, was telling us that this was going to be not like what we've seen with others  H1N1 influenza was horrible in pregnant women," added Meredith Alston, an OB-GYN for Denver Health. "We weren't expecting anything terrible (with COVID-19)."

As the months wore on, though, the true image came into focus. By the end of summer 2020, it became clear that pregnancy was a significant risk factor for worse COVID-19 outcomes. Several providers who spoke to The Denver Gazette said even now, 21 months later, they were increasingly concerned about what they were seeing in unvaccinated pregnant patients. That population is large: In late September, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention wrote that just 31% of pregnant women were fully vaccinated  35 percentage points below the rest of the adult population.

"I'm very concerned," Euser said. "I'm very concerned because the story has now become: Every time someone gets admitted to the hospital, they're unvaccinated, and potentially its something we couldve prevented."

"We've had no pregnant patients who've been ill enough to require hospitalizations who were vaccinated," said Bronwen Kahn, a maternal fetal medicine specialist at Presbyterian/St. Lukes. "Zero."

The hesitancy, providers said, makes sense: Pregnant women were not included in vaccine trials, for ethical reasons. Mixed messages from regulators and the media fueled early concerns about fertility and side effects. Pregnant women have not only their own health to worry about but that of their unborn child. But vaccines have been flowing for a year, experts said, and research has demonstrated that inoculations are safe, for the pregnant and nonpregnant alike. Every provider said they recommended each of their patients be vaccinated.

Meanwhile, studies and research showing the dangers that COVID-19 poses to pregnant women continue to pile up: In September, the CDC wrote that pregnant women with symptomatic COVID-19 cases are twice as likely to be hospitalized and 70% more likely to die as nonpregnant women with the disease. Research has shown infected pregnant women are more at risk for pre-term births and pre-eclampsia, experts said. Women who are so ill they need to be placed on ventilators may have to give birth via surgery while sedated.

"That's a worst-case scenario, to my mind," said Mary Clare Weber, a Presbyterian/St. Lukes nurse who works with high-risk pregnant patients. She is pregnant and received her booster dose in September, when she was about 23 weeks along. "It is something we've seen multiple times."

A limited but landmark report published by the agency last month found increased likelihood for stillbirth by pregnant women who'd had COVID-19, particularly in the months since the delta variant has become dominant. Several providers  and the CDC itself  said the results were limited but support what physicians are seeing in real time.

Stillbirth remains rare, even in pregnant women with COVID-19, Alston stressed. But it's significant enough now that, in the past week, her team has changed how it monitors pregnancies "that have been COVID-impacted, where we are evaluating for acute risk of fetal demise."

"This is not doctrine," she said, "but there is significantly increased risk. And I will tell you we are clinically seeing that. Pregnant women make us extremely nervous when they have COVID in pregnancy. ... The risk of (fetal demise) is really alarming to us, and we're clinically seeing it."

When it arrived in June, the delta variant was a "game changer," added Saskia Thompson, an OB-GYN with Banner Health. The clinic saw new cases daily, and low-risk pregnant patients infected with COVID-19 started needing ventilators.

"It was also the time when we started experiencing stillbirths from COVID, with no other indication of stillbirth," she said.

Kahn's practice, the Obstetrix Medical Group of Colorado, has experienced a more troubling, but exceedingly rare, spurt of incidents recently.

"In the last month, we have seen a new manifestation, a new twist on COVID in pregnancy," she said. "We thought we had a good handle on it."

Four pregnant women, all unvaccinated and with "relatively mild" cases of COVID-19, expressed concerns about their fetuses. Their heart rates were "very, very abnormal," Kahn said of the fetuses. They were hypoxic  meaning they had low oxygen levels. Three of the babies were successfully delivered via emergency c-sections. The fourth was stillborn.

She and her partners had not seen anything like those cases. The first arrived at the end of October. The most recent patient was being moved into the operating room as Kahn spoke Tuesday.

She stressed again the rarity of these events: Four cases in her practice, perhaps a dozen nationwide that she's aware of. None of the other providers who spoke to The Denver Gazette for this story said they'd seen anything similar. Kahn said she wasn't trying to fear monger. But she wanted to raise awareness about the myriad risks COVID-19 poses for pregnant women, particularly those who are unvaccinated.

Other providers also said they weren't trying to scare unvaccinated women. They all said they understood patients' hesitancy, given the natural concerns mothers have for their children.

"It makes people uncomfortable," Denver Health's Alston said of the vaccine's recent arrival. "And I do believe it comes from a place of patients trying to do the right thing. But we really do believe that women who get vaccinated will do better if they get COVID. "

"These are women who want nothing more than the health of their future children," agreed Thompson, of Banner Health. "Or women struggling with infertility  they want to make sure they're doing the right thing. The general public is getting a lot of information from the media and wondering, 'Is this the safe thing to do?' For the general public, it seemed very new and very fast. It was. And because there wasnt a lot of data, it just left people with unanswered questions."

But those fears, the providers stressed, have been addressed by the research, which shows the safety and efficacy of the vaccine.

"I want them to understand that like everybody else, I don't know whos going to get a severe case of COVID or not," said Euser of UCHealth, "but the risks of COVID could be much greater to them than someone else and could change the risks of their pregnancies from their babies standpoint. Since the vaccine, we now have a way to dramatically decrease those risks by getting vaccinated."

Euser was pregnant last year and received her first dose at 32 weeks. When it appeared pregnant women would not be approved to receive vaccines early on, she was "all hot and agitated and writing a statement" in protest. When she was inoculated in the early days of distribution, she was "giddy."

Jamie Haak found out she was pregnant with her third child in fall 2020, shortly before the vaccine became available. She was a little concerned about getting inoculated, she said, but she had friends who worked at the bedside of COVID-19 patients and told her about the risks of the virus. That helped.

"I've just heard too many horror stories now from friends in health care about pregnant women not doing good at all," she said.

Mahala Chumaceiro was a little nervous, too. She'd relocated from Sacramento to Colorado Springs with her husband, who's in the Air Force. They'd been trying to get pregnant when she got her first dose last spring, and the couple consulted a doctor beforehand.

"As soon as she told us, 'It's a really good idea to get it, it's safe, we're not seeing any more side effects with pregnant women than we are with anyone else'  that really helped reassure us," she said. She got her booster dose Wednesday, and the couple's first child is due "any day now."

After being assuaged by her friends, Haak's anxiety went up a bit as she got closer to actually getting her vaccine. Ultimately, though, she wanted to protect not just herself but her three kids  the two out in the world and the third waiting to join them. She got her first dose in March, when she was near the end of her second trimester, and her second in April. Seamus, her second son, was born in June.

"He's a happy, healthy little guy," she said. "He's growing, he likes to eat, he's very smiley. I think he seems about as normal as they come."

Correction: Anna Euser is a maternal-fetal medicine specialist at UCHealth's University of Colorado Hospital. A previous version of this story misspelled her first name.
Omantel, the leading integrated telecom services provider in Oman, has selected the JUPITER System from Hughes Network Systems, a major name in satellite and multi-transport technologies and networks, to extend its mobile networks.

Omantel will deploy satellite backhaul of cellular network traffic using JUPITER System equipment, including a gateway hub and hundreds of remote terminals.

The operator points out that its aim is to connect more subscribers in more places throughout the sultanate, and satellite backhaul helps it to expand its network into areas where terrestrial backhaul is onerous or cost-prohibitive.

The JUPITER System is the next-generation very small aperture terminal (VSAT) platform from Hughes for broadband services over both high-throughput and conventional satellites.

In use at more than 12,000 cellular sites across Africa, Asia and Latin America, the JUPITER System offers, says Hughes, a low-cost and effective means of interconnecting cellular base stations, regardless of distance, infrastructure or terrain.

It's been quite a busy few months for the JUPITER system. Among recent inroads into major markets, Indonesian operator DTP plans to use the platform in deploying satellite connectivity across 1,400 rural locations.

In addition Egypts state-owned National Company for Telecommunications Services (NCTS) has selected the Hughes JUPITER System Series 3 to meet the ground segment requirements for the operation of the Ka-band TIBA-1 satellite.
As the debate over whether a single wholesale 5G network will be rolled out in Malaysia rumbles on, it seems that some of the countrys operators are now arguing for a second 5G provider.

The call for a second 5G service to be set up comes ahead of next months cabinet decision on whether to go ahead with a plan for a single, shared wholesale network.

The feeling on the part of some industry players seems to be that a single state-run network could hamper competition. In the light of which, representatives from the country's six mobile operators apparently met ministry officials recently to discuss the issues.

Reuters says that four operators  Celcom, DiGi.com, Maxis and U Mobile  recommended that the government allow two wholesale 5G networks, each to be built and operated by a consortium of carriers. The idea seems to be that work would start on both networks in parallel next year in order that deployment can be accelerated. They can then be separated from 2023, becoming competing networks.

Of the other operators involved, YTL Communications is said to have expressed support for a single 5G network, while Telekom Malaysia plans to back any government decision.

Reuters adds that the carriers would be open to proposals that would allow them to own equity in Digital Nasional Berhad (DNB), the state agency tasked with deploying 5G. They also asked for greater inclusion in the government's rollout plans.

DNB plans to launch an initial 5G rollout in three central areas this week. Even so, theres no doubt still time for more proposals and rumours ahead of January when the cabinet will decide whether or not to allow multiple 5G providers.
Explanation of Vote - Climate and Security

Statement

Mr. President,

Ireland is deeply disappointed that the Security Council has failed to adopt the draft resolution on Climate and Security.

We regret the decision of certain countries to use their veto to block the adoption of this ground-breaking Resolution. We believed the weight of evidence and clarity of argument would bring the Council to consensus.

However, despite months of consultations - this I must underline - and the strong support of the majority of UN Member States, this was sadly not the case.

Today couldhave represented a point of inflection. Today shouldhave represented a point of inflection. Today was an opportunity for the Council to recognise for the first time the reality of the world we are living in. That climate change is compounding insecurity and creating instability. That it is a real and present threat to the maintenance of international peace and security.

We could have met our responsibility to accept this reality in our work. Adopting this draft resolution would have been a modest first step  enabling the Council and the Secretariat to understand more clearly the impact of climate related security risks, to start asking the right questions and seeking to identify answers.

Instead, we have missed the opportunity for action; and we look away from the realities of the world we are living in.

Irelands view is clear - the veto is an anachronism. We regret the use of the veto in all circumstances, and we very much regret its use today. That the majority of the UN membership, 113 countries, have cosponsored the draft resolution that this Council has now rejected, is telling.

Today is another reminder, as if we needed one, that this is a Security Council which sorely needs reform.

Ireland, with our co-penholder Niger, did not set out on this process thinking that we would see a veto. We believed that the weight of evidence would bring this Council to consensus. We worked tirelessly, tirelessly to deliver on that. Sadly, despite months of discussion, we did not achieve the result that we, and 113 other UN Member States, wanted to see.

We continue to believe that bringing forward this draft resolution was the right thing to do. Discussions on this topic have been ongoing for over fourteen years, but today is the first time a draft thematic resolution has been tabled for adoption.

Today was the first opportunity for the Council to show to the international community that it is ready to take on its responsibilities. As we have worked with partner countries both inside and outside the Council in the last year, we have become more convinced than ever that the United Nations must understand and take action on the security implications of climate change.

The support of 113 UN member states who have co-sponsored this resolution demonstrates the expectation among the majority of the UN member states that the Security Council should factor the security risks of climate change into its decision-making processes.

Through the process that brought us to this point today, we have consolidated support at the UN, and can galvanise work to focus on this issue in the future. For our part, we remain undaunted.

Despite the result today, let us be clear.

Climate change is already firmly on the Security Councils agenda. The Council has recognised its impacts on peace and security in a number of country and regional contexts. The Council can and must continue to build on this to ensure that climate related security risks are addressed as part of the Councils work.

Ireland will continue to press for a strong and robust approach to Climate and Security across the entire Council agenda.

Thank you, Mr. President.

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Introductory Statement - Climate and Security

Statement

Mr President.

I take the floor on behalf of Ireland and Niger, the co-penholders for the draft resolution before this Council for its consideration this morning. Many months of effort have gone into bringing this text to the Council table today. However, as we all know, it has taken years of leadership and engagement by many countries to reach this point. I thank colleagues around the table for their engagement and support.

Mr President,

Today, we come to the Council to ask it to take the modest first steps to strengthen the ability of this Council to begin to assume its own responsibility on the defining issue of this generation: Climate Change.

The draft Resolution is aimed at responding to the climate related security risks affecting the conflicts on this Councils agenda. No more, no less. We have no doubt as to the appropriateness of the Council considering this topic. It is argued, by some, that the Council is not the right forum, that in addressing climate change and its impacts, the Council would establish a separate process to the UNFCCC. We respectfully but resolutely disagree. This resolution is about enabling the UN Security Council to address climate change with the tools it has within its mandate.

The Council has already taken steps to integrate climate related security risks into some of its mandated operations. However, we must go further. It is long overdue that the principal organ of the UN dealing with international security, takes responsibility for integrating climate related security risks across its conflict resolution, prevention and mediation work.

It could not be clearer from discussions at COP26 that we are facing a climate crisis. It is a crisis of today, not only of tomorrow. The Glasgow Pact, adopted by consensus last month, is clear: as temperatures rise, impacts from climate and weather extremes as well as slow onset events will pose an ever-greater social, economic and environmental threat.

Glasgow recognises the importance of coherent action to respond to the scale of needs caused by the adverse impacts of climate change.

This coherent action, which the international community collectively has called for, must include the work of this important body. It is inconceivable that this Council look away. Today, 113 members of this organisation have joined in co-sponsoring this draft resolution. Council engagement on this issue would reflect the will of the majority of UN member states. As an elected member who is here to represent the interests of all UN member states, we see it as our responsibility to bring this Resolution to the table today.

We have heard first-hand the voices of those living the reality of climate related insecurity around this table, many times now. Not least from the President of Niger, representing a country tragically impacted. It has been suggested that there is no clear scientific basis for linking climate change with international peace and security. We refute this  the data is there and it is compelling. What the Council needs is a framework to enable the capture and consideration of this evidence.

We need to better understand this link. Ignoring or rejecting the facts, wont achieve that.

This is not an issue facing only one region or only one country. We need to look at it globally as well as in regional and country contexts. Regional action is of course important. Many organisations recognise the importance of addressing the security implications of climate change, including the African Union, the OSCE, the Pacific Islands Forum, the League of Arab States, ASEAN, and the EU. Every one of us here today has a role in one or other of those regional organisations, and is part of the work underway there. It is now time that the United Nations Security Council also steps up.

Finally, Mr. President,

Ireland and Niger are firmly of the view that consideration of this draft resolution must proceed this morning. Time is not on our side in any aspect of the climate issue. We cannot afford to delay in addressing the ways in which climate related security risks are undermining international peace and security. Doing so would leave this Council weakened in its ability to deal with this issue.

Over one hundred and thirteen member states have co-sponsored this resolution today - a clear majority of the countries of the world, sharing our collective determination to take this important step and adopt this draft resolution. Not all Security Council Members share all of the same views on this question but we hope that we can recognise the common ground in our positions, and allow this resolution to be adopted. Our plea, a plea backed by a majority of the Members of the General Assembly, is for all Security Council members to support this text.

Thank you, Mr. President.

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Stakeout following Vote on the Climate and Security Resolution

Statement

Stakeout  English

Good morning. I will read a statement on behalf of Ireland and Niger on the outcome of the vote on the Climate and Security Council draft resolution and my colleague Ambassador Abarry from Niger will deliver the remarks also in French. Ireland and Niger are extremely disappointed that the Security Council today failed to adopt the resolution on Climate and Security. We know very well that this resolution would have been a historic and an important, not to mention necessary, move for the Council at a critical point in time.

This resolution is about looking at the Security Councils role in our current world. Research and evidence on the ground show clearly that climate change is creating insecurity and instability. This Council will never live up to its mandate for international peace and security if it does not adapt. It must reflect the moment we are now living in, the threats to international peace and security which we now face.

We did not seek a veto. We engaged carefully with all delegations in an effort to find a balanced text which we hoped the Council would adopt.

Let me be clear - the veto is an anachronism. This is a Security Council which sorely needs reform. We regret the use of the veto in all circumstances, and we absolutely regret its use today. Its use is a stain on the legacy of the Council.

The large number of cosponsors of this resolution from across the General Assembly is a clear sign of where the world stands on the issue of climate and security.

It remains vital that the Security Council incorporates climate related security risks into its work. It remains vital that we seek to understand the implications of climate change on the relevant parts of our agenda. And it remains vital that the use of a veto does not hold us back from the responsibility entrusted to us.

Stakeout  French

Merci, L'Irlande et le Niger sont extremement decus que le Conseil de securite n'ait pas adopte aujourd'hui la resolution sur le climat et la securite. Nous savons tres bien que cette resolution aurait ete un geste historique et important, pour ne pas dire necessaire, pour le Conseil a un moment critique.

Cette resolution vise a examiner le role du Conseil de securite dans notre monde actuel. Les recherches et les preuves sur le terrain montrent clairement que le changement climatique est un facteur d'insecurite et d'instabilite.

Ce Conseil ne sera jamais a la hauteur de son mandat pour la paix et la securite internationales s'il ne s'adapte pas. Il doit refleter le moment dans lequel nous vivons actuellement, les menaces a la paix et a la securite internationales auxquelles nous sommes confrontes.

Nous n'avons pas cherche a obtenir un veto. Nous nous sommes engages avec un esprit douverture et beaucoup de patience avec toutes les delegations afin dobtenir un texte equilibre que nous esperions voir adopte par le Conseil.

Permettez-moi d'etre clair : le veto est un anachronisme. C'est un Conseil de securite qui a cruellement besoin d'etre reforme. Nous regrettons l'utilisation du veto en toutes circonstances, et nous regrettons absolument son utilisation aujourd'hui. Son utilisation est une tache sur l'heritage de ce Conseil.

Le grand nombre de coparrains de cette resolution provenant de toute l'Assemblee generale est un signe clair de la position du monde sur la question du climat et de la securite. Le fort soutien de douze membres sur les quinze du Conseil de Securite en est une autre illustration de ce soutien.

Il demeure essentiel que le Conseil de securite integre dans ses travaux les risques securitaires lies au climat. Il reste egalement crucial que nous cherchions a comprendre les implications du changement climatique sur les point pertinents a lagenda du Conseil. Et il demeure tout aussi essentiel que l'utilisation du droit de veto ne nous detourne pas de la responsabilite qui nous est confiee.

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Statement by Ambassador Byrne Nason at the UNSC Briefing on UNITAMS - Sudan

Statement

Mr. President,

Thank you to SRSG Perthes for your briefing and for the valiant and tireless work you are doing in difficult circumstances.

When we last gathered in this Chamber to speak about Sudan, Sudans democratic transition had received a huge blow. Since then there has been a welcome step back from the brink, in particular as a result of the 21 November agreement between Prime Minister Hamdok and General Burhan. Most civilian leadersbut not allhave been released, and the Prime Minister has been reinstalled.

The reality, however, is that the agreement does not entirely reverse the steps taken since 25 October to dismantle the transitional framework and institutions.

The future of the transitionand stability in Sudan still therefore hangs very much in the balance. As you said, the next steps will be crucial.

We need to see a return to constitutional order as soon as possible. To get there, we now need to rebuild trust and create an enabling environment for a genuine political settlement. To achieve this, we see the following steps as critical in the short term:

First, the state of emergency should be lifted;

Second, Prime Minister Hamdok should be allowed to freely exercise his powers;

Third, we need to see the release of all political detainees and a halt to the campaign of arrests;

Fourth, there needs to be respect for human rights, an end to the communication blockade, and full respect for the right to freedom of assembly and peaceful protest;

Fifth, the violence against civilians which we have seen escalate across Sudan since the coup, including against peaceful protestors, something we have to highlight, cannot continue. Accountability for this violence is needed. Attacks on hospitals, the wounded, and on doctors by the security forces really must cease;

Ultimately, we need to see a return to the Constitutional order. The people of Sudan have made clear, time and again, their desire for an open and free political environment.

To get there we will need a broadening of political consultation on the future of the transition and a truly inclusive political settlement. The voice of the people is at the heart of the transition. They should be fully heard in future negotiations. Crucially, women should be involved at all levels and in particular in high-level decision-making. Women have been at the core of the transition in Sudan and they are vital to its eventual success. They should be in the room and at the table.

In the longer term, we also need to see decisive security sector reform, a framework for effective transitional justice, and the holding of inclusive and democratic elections. This is in Sudans own interest, and certainly, in the interest of the people of Sudan.

The current political violence is also taking place in the context of a new wave of violence and mass displacement in Darfur, including very worrying reports of dozens killed just this month, and rising humanitarian need across the country. Promises made on the Protection of Civilians in Darfur cannot be forgotten. The National Plan for Civilian Protection should be implemented as a matter of utmost urgency.

The Juba Peace Agreement remains vital to building peace and addressing the underlying causes of conflict in Darfur and throughout Sudan. The undertaking of the parties to the Agreement to extend full and unlimited cooperation to the ICC is particularly critical.

We have seen recent reports of renewed border clashes in Al-Fashaga with numerous deaths. At a delicate time for the region, the last thing we need is for an intensification of Ethiopia-Sudan tensions. Cool heads should now prevail for the benefit of the people of both Sudan and Ethiopia and for regional stability.

Ireland stands fully behind UNITAMS, and most importantly the Sudanese people, in the task of restoring the democratic transition in Sudan.

This Council should be ready to use the tools at our disposal to create the space needed to achieve this. We will continue to monitor progress in the coming months.

Thank you, Mr. President.

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He comes across as gruff, McColl says. He comes across as abrupt. And then you get to know him and you get past that and you find out what a good person he is  somebody who will give you the shirt off his back (and) who will do anything to make an extra dollar for this tree sale.

Over the years, Vacarella has used his business contacts to get such local companies as CraneWorks/RentalWorks, Alabama Rentals and United States Sprinkler to donate thousands of dollars in equipment and supplies needed for the sale, including light towers, generators, forklifts and cranes.

If we need something, McColl says, he will find somebody to donate it.

The Vestavia Hills lot opens the Saturday before Thanksgiving each year, and it doesnt close until the last tree is sold. This year, as fast as trees are going, that might be as early as mid-December, Vacarella says.

When they start running low on trees and wreaths, though, Vacarella will drive all over Birmingham looking for more.

If we run out of trees, I will go find more trees, he says. Nothing bothers me more than a customer walking up and wanting a Christmas tree and not being able to get it.
I have jokingly said I want to be the last bottom-rung lawyer to hold this position, Davenport said. I want the compensation to be such that quality lawyers will want to seek this office.

Commissioners unanimously approved the request and the local legislation now has to be advertised.

In other business, Monday:

- Commissioners awarded a bid for the lease of 40 acres of cultivatable farm land located within the countys distribution park on State Line Road. The county will lease the farm land for five years at $60 an acre. Language in the lease allows the county to terminate the lease with a notice of 30 days.

- The commission approved a request from the Houston County Probate Office to lease a storage facility to house election equipment, which has been stored at the Houston County Farm Center. The storage facility will cost $4,000 a month with the money paid by the probate office. The commission had to approve the lease for insurance purposes.

- Commissioners also designated Chief Administrative Officer Peter Covert as the program director for projects funded with the countys American Rescue Plan Act recovery funds and approved several resolutions regarding those funds  an agreement to participate in a joint bidding program, using funds for direct administrative personnel costs, and to reimburse the county for expenses paid toward COVID-19 related leave.

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Its about reinforcing our strengths so we can keep the peace, as we have done in the region for decades, he said. He did not elaborate further but the administration made waves earlier this year by agreeing to a pact that will see Australia produce nuclear-powered submarines.

Blinken insisted that the U.S. is not trying to force countries to choose between the United States and China, or seeking conflict with China. But he laid out a litany of complaints about Beijing's aggressive actions from Northeast Asia to Southeast Asia and from the Mekong River to the Pacific Islands."

At a daily briefing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said Blinken's latest comments showed the U.S. was contradicting itself by playing up the so-called China threat on the one hand while claiming that it has no intention to seek conflict with China on the other.

Wang criticized the U.S. for frequently sending ships and aircraft to the the area to flex muscles and stir up trouble."
Dong Hoi Airport in the central province of Quang Binh. Photo courtesy of DHA

The Transport Ministry has proposed that the Dong Hoi domestic airport in the central province of Quang Binh be upgraded into an international one.

The proposal is part of the ministrys draft plan on developing airports nationwide for the 2021-2030 period with vision until 2050, the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam said Monday.

The upgrade is expected to boost Quang Binhs socioeconomic development, the tourism industry in particular.

The Dong Hoi airports apron is being expanded and a new terminal built to increase its service capacity to three million from the current 500,000 passengers per year.

At present, the airport serves five local airlines that operate three domestic routes to Hanoi, HCMC and the northern city of Hai Phong, and one international route to Thailands Chiang Mai.

According to the draft plan, by 2030, Vietnam will have 28 airports, including 14 international ones.
Germany handed over 2,558,000 Moderna vaccine doses via the Covax facility in Hanoi today, promising to take total donations to more than 10 million doses.

The latest batch, which arrived in the country December 10, was delivered to National Institute of Hygiene and epidemiology, according to a German Embassy press release.

Germany will provide Vietnam with even more vaccine doses, bringing the total number of vaccines delivered to more than 10 million doses, the release said.

Guido Hildner, German Ambassador to Vietnam, (L) at the handover ceremony in Hanoi, Dec. 14, 2021 Photo courtesy of German Embassy

Guido Hildner, German Ambassador to Vietnam, said that the new delivery was a reaffirmation of Germanys solidarity with Vietnam in combating and overcoming the Covid-19 pandemic.

Current developments show that the virus is far from being defeated, he noted, adding that this can be done only if the pandemic is brought under control everywhere. Therefore, Germany and the European Union support the Covax vaccination campaign for fair and transparent access to Covid-19 vaccines worldwide.

In September, Germany provided 3.45 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine to Vietnam. Last month, it gifted medical equipment worth $1 million.

The country is the biggest vaccine donor among EU member nations to Vietnam.

As of Tuesday, 58 million people in Vietnam, or 60 percent of the population, have been fully vaccinated.
A medic holds a vial containing doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine in HCMC, October 2021. Photo by VnExpress/Nhu Quynh

Seven more Pfizer vaccine batches in Vietnam have had their expiration dates extended from six to nine months, the national epidemiology institute announced.

In a document sent to local Centers for Disease Control (CDC) on Monday, the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology announced seven more batches of vaccines have had their expiration dates extended, totaling nine batches so far.

It has not been confirmed exactly how many doses are contained within the nine batches, but two of the batches contained over 2.9 million doses. The institute also haven't announced where the batches would end up.

On Oct. 22, the Drug Administration of Vietnam allowed the extension of expiration dates on imported Pfizer vaccines in accordance with recommendations from Pfizer. Batches manufactured from August would see their expiration dates extended by another three months, under cold storage between minus 90 and minus 60 degrees Celsius.

"There are absolutely no changes to the vaccine in order to extend its use period. Therefore, its safety and effectiveness remains intact," according to a representative for Pfizer Vietnam.

Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long said Vietnam extends the expiration dates of vaccine batches in accordance with international regulations, and that all vaccine imports have been approved in accordance with WHO standards.

Earlier this month, Hanoi suspended the use of two Pfizer vaccine batches after parents informed the municipal Department of Health they had their expiration dates extended.
The road leading to Van Tien and Tien Yen No. 1 bridges is under construction. This road cuts through a mountain. Work on Van Don  Mong Cai Expressway started in April, 2019 at a total investment of VND11.195 trillion ($486.6 million).

It is 80.23 kilometers long, 25.25 meters wide and has four lanes. The route is currently the longest interprovincial expressway in Vietnam and is expected to shorten the travel time from Van Don District to Mong Cai Town near the Vietnam  China border gate from two hours to 50 minutes.
Following the large pro-democracy protests throughout Cuba on July 11, activists planned a second island wide protest on November 15. But the Cuban regime banned the protests and demonstrators were prevented from ever leaving their homes by police and security agents. About 87 people were arrested and 11 are still detained. The groups most visible leader, play write Yunior Garcia Aguilera, went into exile in Spain.

In the wake of the Cuban regimes targeting of peaceful demonstrators, the Department of State has imposed visa restrictions on nine Cuban officials implicated in silencing the voices of the Cuban people through repression and unjust detentions. The Department implemented these targeted actions pursuant to Presidential Proclamation 5377, which suspends nonimmigrant entry into the United States of officers and employees of the Cuban government. These nine officials include high-ranking members of the Ministries of the Interior and the Revolutionary Armed Forces.

In the days preceding November 15, the Cuban regime bullied activists with government-sponsored mobs, confined journalists and opposition members to their homes, revoked journalists credentials to suppress freedom of the press, and arbitrarily detained Cuban citizens who attempted to peacefully protest. The designated individuals took action to deny Cubans their universal rights to free expression and peaceful assembly, declared Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

These visa restrictions advance our goal of supporting the Cuban people and promoting accountability not only for regime leaders but also for officials who enable the regimes assaults on democracy and human rights, said Secretary Blinken in a statement. The United States continues to use all our diplomatic and economic tools to push for the release of political prisoners and to support the Cuban peoples call for greater freedoms and accountability.
TORONTO  Barrick Gold Corp. has published a Human Rights Report outlining the companys revised policies and standards and their implementation since the 2019 merger with Randgold Resources. Nevada Gold Mines efforts are included.

Our policy, simply put, is to respect the human rights of all individuals impacted by our operations, including employees, contractors and external stakeholders, said Barricks president and chief executive officer, Mark Bristow.

Wherever we operate, we seek to avoid causing or contributing to human rights violations and to facilitate remedial action. The policy is guided by our philosophy of building mutually beneficial relationships with our local communities, he said in the Dec. 10 announcement.

Barricks report states that Nevada Gold Mines established a Native American Community Development Committee in 2020, and NGM provided emergency food distribution and personal protection equipment to tribes during the COVID-19 pandemic and has continued investment in scholarships through the Western Shoshone Scholarship Founding.

NGM also established the I-80 Fund with a $5 million investment to support small businesses, including Native Americans but for any small business, and Barrick states that it renewed focus on strategic partnerships and community investment aimed at the long-term sustainability of Native American partner communities.

NGM is a joint venture of Barrick and Newmont Corp. Barrick holds 61.5% and is the operator, and Newmont holds the remaining 38.5%.

Worldwide, Barrick updated several standards in 2020, including the Use of Force Standard and developed a new Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights Standard. It also revised, updated, and restarted its human rights program, in which every operation conducts a human rights assessment on a two- to three-year cycle.

The company reported that to date, all high- and medium-risk sites have been assessed, with Kibali in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Loulo-Gounkoto in Mali completing theirs during 2021.

Barrick trained its employees and contractors in these updated standards and policies and worked with independent human rights experts, Avanzar, to develop online modules to ensure that human rights training was not hampered by Covid-19 related travel and social distancing restrictions.

Barrick stated that it also developed train the trainer programs in 2020 to empower its site security leadership with the knowledge and skills to deliver long-term training to their teams and local public security forces.

These programs were successfully implemented at the North Mara and Bulyanhulu operations in Tanzania during 2021.

The policy is codified in Barricks stand-alone human rights policy and informed by the expectations of the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises.

The report also provides an insight into Barricks key human rights issues such as non-discrimination in the workplace, health, and safety, working conditions, resettlement, security, water, and the rights of indigenous people.

The company stated that it also reflects on Barricks legacy human rights challenges, as well as the actions the company has taken to remedy these.

The Dec. 10 publication of the report coincides with the United Nations Human Rights Day, which commemorates the day, in 1948, when the UN General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

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Wyo-Ben Inc. is marking its 70th anniversary as a bentonite producer in Wyoming, where the company has processing operations at Greybull, Thermopolis and Lovell. Headquarters are in Billings, Montana.

We mine all our bentonite in the Big Horn Basin, which sits mostly in Wyoming and a little in Montana, said the family-owned companys president and chief executive officer, David Brown. He said his father Keith came on the scene in 1951, and that is when Wyo-Ben really existed.

His grandfather, Rockford, saw the potential for bentonite back in the 30s and 40s, and he generated some sales, but the company sees Jan. 1, 1952, as the real starting date of Wyo-Ben, Brown said.

The first plant was built in Greybull for oil and gas drilling and development, and the operations grew from there, mining and processing sodium bentonite that has many uses, but the best seller now is cat litter.

Brown said he worked at the company while in college and came on full-time with my brand new MBA in the late 1970s.

He worked in many aspects of the business, such as trucking and marketing, before becoming president in the mid-1990s. His brother Richard is a scientist with Wyo-Ben and manages and oversees bentonite resources. His uncle, Rockwood Brown Jr., is vice president, legal counsel and board chairman, still active at age 93.

The sodium bentonite that Wyo-Ben mines is very unique and highest quality found in Wyoming, western South Dakota, and southern Montana. What makes it unique is that it has the ability to take on water, Brown said. That ability, called adsorption, not absorption, is the distinguishing factor. In adsorption, individual molecules, atoms or ions adhere to a surface of the adsorbent.

Bentonite uses

The sodium bentonite can be used as a drilling fluid for oil, gas and water wells, construction of pipelines for oil, gas, internet fiber and more, in the foundry industry for metal capping, in animal feeds as a binder and as a sealant in the construction industry.

Bentonite also can be used to bottom-seal a pond or lake, at landfills as a liner and cap, in pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and iron ore pellets.

Bentonite is naturally pure and organic, Brown said. Its a clay of 1,000 uses. The primary use is cat litter like Tidy Cats.

Major retailers may use their own brands for the cat litter but it all comes from Wyoming, he said.

Wyo-Ben employs 140 people, but the mining of the industrial mineral is done by contractors, which adds another 60 jobs. Operations go on 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Were a vital part of the economies of these communities, and we pay a good chunk in taxes, Brown said.

The company also pays a royalty on bentonite taken from state lands and has arrangements with private landowners when mining goes onto private property, but 90% of the mining claims are on land managed by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.

Wyo-Bens plant at Greybull is primarily for packaging, and Brown said it is automated, with robots. The Thermopolis plant is a bulk plant that ships by rail or truck. The plant at Lovell is what we call our specialty products plant, that produces water treatment product, for example. Bentonite can separate dangerous components out of the liquid stream. That product is called Cleartreat.

Brown said the cat litter can be shipped in bulk, but Wyo-Ben also has a fairly new, finished product facility in Billings. This is Wyo-Bens first foray into packaging, and we fully expect to expand packing into other parts of the country.

Mining is open pit but much different than gold, silver, or copper mining. A pit is typically 6 feet thick, 400 feet wide and 1,000 feet long, and the thin deposit will run for miles and miles, Brown said.

Contract operators remove the overburden to expose the clay to mine, then return the overburden to the pit. Mining is done by dozers, scrappers and excavators, and the bentonite is hauled from mining sites in belly dump trucks.

Brown said there is continuous reclamation and seeding of native plants, and, in most cases, the reclamation improves the lands ability to grow vegetation. The work also can include habitat for animals and watering holes.

Reclamation

We are tremendous stewards of the environments and awards are testimony to that. We put things back in better condition than when we touched it, Brown said.

The Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality awarded its 2021 Excellence in Mining Reclamation Award for non-coal earlier this year to Wyo-Ben for its work reclaiming a bentonite pit near Thermopolis.

According to DEQ, Wyo-Ben finished most of the pit in 2013 and completed additional vegetation seeding to the area in 2015 and 2016.

One of the reclamation goals was to establish sagebrush to provide habitat for sage grouse, as an active lek is located in close proximity to the site, Matt Kunze, DEQs natural resources program supervisor, said in a news release from the agency.

Brown said Wyo-Ben also works with the BLM.

Because these pits are relatively small, we have many, many to plan for, and he was disappointed the environmental assessment for the most recent BLM permit near Thermopolis took seven years.

There is one deposit the company has pledged to never mine, however. This is a very, very unique deposit that has been called pie pans and is an easily visible example of bentonite, Brown said. There are 250,000 tons sitting there, and the company often uses pictures of the site.

Because of the many uses for bentonite, the industrial minerals pricing varies tremendously, Brown said. Pricing for certain uses is around $60 a ton, but the grades for pharmaceuticals or paint additives that are sold by the ounce are much more costly.

Wyo-Ben history

According to the Wyo-Ben history put together for the 70th anniversary, Wyo-Ben started with a partnership of Keith, Rockwood and Neal Brown, together with Barbara Brown Bixby and R.E. Dansby. They acquired mill property at Greybull and bentonite claims.

The demand for its bentonite for drilling grew, and in 1954 the company supplied carloads of bentonite to a pilot plant in Aurora, Minn., that was developing a process for concentrating and pelletizing taconite iron ore. The technology was later adopted by the iron ore industry.

In 1963, after a number of large-scale taconite pelletizing plants had been developed in the U.S. and Canada, Wyo-Ben negotiated a bentonite supply agreement with a large pellet plant in Quebec and pioneered methods of shipping semi-crude bentonite to markets requiring water transportation, according to the history.

Bentonite mud shipping grew, and the company built the second processing plant in Lovell, designed at that time to produce a semi-crude bentonite for the taconite pelletizing industry.

In 1980, the company built the plant in Thermopolis after acquiring large bentonite reserves near the town and because of the increasing demand for taconite pelletizing, and the company also supported its own and other oilfield service companies through a network of 45 warehouses.

That division suffered a downturn with the oil industry in the later 1980s, however, and both oil-well drilling and iron pelletizing dropped dramatically. Wyo-Ben redirected sales efforts and the companys character after suffering hardships, the history outline on the companys website states.

One of the markets Wyo-Ben moved into was that of groundwater. The company developed a new product that would create a better method of abandoning seismic shot holes, called Enviroplug, the first commercially produced bentonite chip. The use grew to other industries, including water wells.

Wyo-Ben then moved into other industries in the 1990s and introduced Cleartreat in 1995. 

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The U.S. Geological Survey has announced that the public comment period on a draft revised list of critical minerals has been extended to Jan. 10, 2022.

In 2018, the Department of the Interior worked in consultation with other cabinet agencies to develop the nations first list of critical minerals in response to Executive Order 13817.

Under the Energy Act of 2020, at least every three years the Interior Department is required to review and update the list of critical minerals, update the methodology used to identify potential critical minerals, take interagency feedback and public comment through the Federal Register, and ultimately finalize the list.

After two years, working with the National Science and Technology Councils Critical Minerals Subcommittee, the USGS published a report describing the updated methodology for assessing critical minerals for the list and the latest results. This report formed the basis for the draft 2021 critical minerals list.

When the first list was published in 2018, the Nevada Mining Association released a statement saying, Dubbing some minerals as critical insinuates that others are not. Rather than trying to rank one mineral ahead of another, the administration should embrace policies that boost domestic exploration and production of all minerals. The Nevada Mining Association encourages the Department of Interior to reconsider this proposed list and carefully contemplate the unintended consequences that may result in the years ahead.

The USGS report on their updated methodology for assessing critical minerals says, Each commodity is important to the specific applications in which it is used. The removal of any commodity from the critical minerals list should therefore not be viewed as a lack of its importance.

In the current analysis, the attempt has been made to focus on categorizing and prioritizing commodities based on their supply risk to the United States, which includes but is not limited to a commoditys importance to the U.S. economy.

The USGS report says, The United States is highly reliant on imports for a large and growing number of mineral commodities whose production is concentrated in a few countries. This high degree of import reliance exposes the United States to potential foreign supply disruptions to which domestic manufacturing industries may be vulnerable.

Using a risk-modeling framework, these factors were evaluated quantitatively and, in certain cases qualitatively, to determine which mineral commodity supply chains posed the greatest supply risk to the United States.

The USGSs critical minerals list provides vital information for industry, policymakers, economists and scientists on the most important minerals when it comes to U.S. supply chains, said Tanya Trujillo, assistant secretary of the Interior for water and science.

Under the Energy Act of 2020, a critical mineral is defined as a non-fuel mineral or mineral material essential to the economic or national security of the U.S., as well as the supply chain, which is vulnerable to disruption. Critical minerals are also characterized as serving an essential function in the manufacturing of a product, the absence of which would have significant consequences for the economic or national security.

The 2021 draft critical minerals list includes two commodities, nickel and zinc, which were not on the 2018 list. Four commodities which were on the 2018 list have been removed from the 2021 draft list: helium, potash, rhenium and strontium.

Three commodities on the critical minerals list  lithium, barite and magnesium  are actively produced in Nevada. Nevada is currently home to the only lithium production in the United States, and several companies are working on developing new lithium mines in the state.

To comment on the new critical minerals list, submit written comments online at http://www.regulations.gov by entering DOI-2021-0013 in the search bar and clicking Search, or mail comments to Draft List of Critical Minerals, MS-102, U.S. Geological Survey, 12201 Sunrise Valley Dr., Reston, VA 20192.

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ELKO  Sixteen years after Elko Countys public health office closed its doors, locals are seeking to revive it.

A $500,000 CDC Workforce Grant could be the key to exploring how to establish an Elko County health department or district within the next 18 months. Elko County Commissioners will review the grant on Wednesday.

If approved, it would fund two employees to research the steps and logistics of forming a public health office and use the information to plan its implementation.

Elko County Transit Coordinator Abby Wheeler assisted the County with its response to the Covid-19 pandemic. She explained that it would take baby steps to relaunch the public health office, beginning with Elko County Commissions green-lighting a CDC grant to start the ball rolling.

The CDC Workforce Grant would allow us staffing which would be dedicated to researching the next steps for public health, she said. This would not be public health right out of the chute. It would be the baby steps into figuring out how were going to get and fund public health. How big it would be, what services would be included and how we would partner with our existing agencies.

Dr. John Packham, associate dean in the Office of Statewide Initiatives for the University of Nevada, Renos School of Medicine, said he hoped a conversation would start about bringing public health services due to the grant, particularly for rural Nevada.

Urban areas of the state have well-established health departments with a long history, Packham said. Most public health services provided in rural communities, such as Elko, are provided out of Carson City. The idea is to generate a discussion of bringing those public health services localities and making public health local.

The goal of a workshop on Dec. 8, including presentations from Wheeler and Packham, was intended to explain the opportunity and scope of public health, along with what exactly public health is, said Terri Clark, director of growth and outreach at Northeastern Nevada Regional Hospital.

There is a lot of misunderstanding around what public health is. In fact, some people believe we have a public health department already, Clark said.

If the department is formed, it would allow the County to track its own data for disease reporting and investigating; develop procedures, plans, cost models and response efforts based on local needs; and focus on primary prevention, Wheeler said.

Dr. David Hogle, who has practiced medicine in Elko for 41 years, attended the workshop to learn more about the project and the opportunity for Elko.

We used to have a community public health nurse, Hogle said. It was a loss to the community because she provided care for kids, pregnant women, immunizations, things that otherwise arent being done. We can restore that.

In 2005, state public health offices were absorbed by local hospitals, eliminating the position of Elko Countys public health nurse.

At the time, the Elko Family Medical and Dental Center, which Nevada Health Centers oversaw, entered into a financial arrangement to provide local health services instead of the state health department.

Elko County started paying for costs incurred for indigent care and environmental health services in 2011. That lead to a cost-neutral program for the state, but increased the fiscal burden on the county, according to information provided by the County.

Wheeler explained tax revenues are already in place. If the County reforms the health district, the state will continue its partnership with the County. It would retain supreme authority on certain matters, which is based in state law, but we would have greater authority over our own local health decisions.

Carrie Power, the former owner of Morning Star Health Center, attended the workshop. She was a public health nurse for 10 years and said she supports the current efforts to resume a public health district.

I think we need a public health department, she said. You never know what disease might be coming, and that is your local agency to deal with infectious disease. That is my biggest concern is some new disease or pandemic.

Dr. Fred Fricke was also in support of establishing a public health department, considering how rural counties throughout northern Nevada have doctors scattered all over the place, he said. We [need to] pool our assets, and we should function together.

If a public health office had been in Elko County during the pandemic, Power said, you would not be calling a number in Carson City with your question, and its already overwhelmed, and nobody answers. You could call the local one or drive down and ask them a question.

We would have supplies, the latest information available, Power added.

From her experience helping the County through the pandemic, Wheeler said all that is missing is the control tower, which is the county health department, because local partners are in place.

She said it was also apparent from the health crisis that Elko must be their own cavalry.

We cannot expect the state to come to our rescue, Wheeler said. They are simply too far away.

Packham said the pandemic brought attention to the differences of a community with and without a health department.

I think the stars are aligning for communities like Elko, Churchill, White Pine and others that are seriously exploring it, he said.

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ELKO  Elko High Schools Groom Room thanked the community for their support of the first annual Pet Photos with Santa event.

The students of the Elko High School Groom Room would like to thank everyone who supported the Pet Photos with Santa event on Dec. 4, said adviser and CTE teacher Heather Steel. They met and exceeded the goal that they had set for the event.

The students were able to purchase gifts for several students on the EHS Student Council Giving Tree, and supply approximately $200 in food items to Communities in Schools, Steel continued.

We would like to say thank you to everyone that came and supported our event and donated to our cause, said senior Monse Orozco. This event was important to me, because at one point, I was a student in need at Christmas, so I know how it feels to receive these gifts.

The students would especially like to thank Santa who took time out of his overwhelmingly busy schedule to spend time supporting the cause, including hearing the wishes of dogs, cats, ferrets, guinea pigs, and some children who attended, Steel added.

Steel praised her students for their enthusiasm and their thoughtfulness to others less fortunate.

The event was a lot of fun, we had a lot of laughs, enjoyed meeting so many special animals. For me, it was special, because my students worked so hard and gave up their weekend to give back to the kids in our community, Steel said.

These kids have been through a lot in the past couple of years, and to see them plan and execute an event like this should make their families and community very proud of them, she continued. Even this morning, the students were having a discussion on how to make next years event bigger and better.

The students also wanted to express their gratitude and thank all those that came out and supported them during the event, and those who were unable to attend, but still made generous donations, Steel said.

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A lawsuit filed Dec. 9 by WildEarth Guardians and Western Watersheds Project aims to reign in the wildlife killing programs managed by the U.S. Department of Agricultures Wildlife Services in Nevada.

While society has evolved to understand the importance of native species as a key part of ecosystems and the need for coexistence with wildlife, Wildlife Services continues to rely on antiquated practices in the name of managing conflicts with wildlife, said Lindsay Larris, wildlife program director at WildEarth Guardians. Wildlife Services continually ignores the science about the efficacy of lethal management as well as the serious environmental impacts of its killing program. We demand better from the federal government.

A spokesperson for the USDA said they are unable to comment on pending litigation.

In 2012 WildEarth Guardians filed a lawsuit against Wildlife Services in Nevada on the grounds that it failed to comply with NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) and the Wilderness Act in relying on a woefully outdated 1994 Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement  according to the current lawsuit. That 2012 lawsuit wound its way through the courts, and in 2016 Wildlife Services agreed to suspend operations and stop killing wild animals on six million acres of public land in Nevada while it updated the analysis of its program.

WildEarth Guardians said in a press release that its new lawsuit comes in response to a July 2020 decision that Wildlife Services predator damage management program, involving aerial gunning, trapping, and poisoning native wildlife posed no significant impact to the environment.

The lawsuit alleges that the agencys analysis is deficient in multiple respects and that the indiscriminate killing of native carnivores and other wildlife does, in fact, cause a slew of negative impacts that warrant a much harder look from the government, the press release said.

The lawsuit says that in 2020 the wildlife killed by Wildlife Services in Nevada included 29 mountain lions, one bobcat, two black bears, five foxes and 3,662 adult coyotes. Between 2015 and 2020, the lawsuit says, Wildlife Services in Nevada killed 14,855 coyotes on Bureau of Land Management lands. Of this number, 10,897 were in White Pine, Eureka, Elko and Humboldt counties.

The lawsuit also faults Wildlife Services for failing to acknowledge the futility of lethal control of wildlife for the perceived purpose of protecting domestic livestock that the Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service  also named defendants in the case  allow to graze federal public lands, including within Wilderness Areas, the WildEarth Guardians press release said. The groups maintain that these federal agencies must revise their analyses of the predator damage management program to also carefully assess science-backed, non-lethal approaches for avoiding conflicts between livestock and wildlife.

Lawsuits similar to the new WildEarth Guardians vs. Wildlife Services lawsuit in Nevada resulted in settlements in New Mexico and in Montana in the past couple of years, according to the WildEarth Guardians website. The settlements included a list of ways in which Wildlife Services will limit its wildlife management program in the state.

For example, in New Mexico, the list includes no wildlife killing/damage control in Wilderness Areas, Areas of Critical Environmental Concern, Wild & Scenic River corridors, National Park Service Lands, National Wildlife Refuges, National Monuments, and several Wilderness Study Areas; no more Compound 1080 or gas cartridges to kill denning wildlife like coyotes, fox, and prairie dogs on all federal lands; and no more using foot snares for targeting coyotes; along with increased public transparency.

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Some days, its the little things, the small absurdities in the news that make a person wonder if theres any real hope for American democracy.

Consider, for example, the Christmas greeting sent out by Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, featuring the congressman and his entire family brandishing semi-automatic rifles and grinning into the camera like some latter-day Bonnie and Clyde. Or Yall Qaeda, as somebody derisively dubbed the happy family on Twitter.

Theres a Christmas tree in the background, and a cheery holiday message: Merry Christmas! ps. Santa, please bring ammo.

Ho, ho, ho!

This only a few days after a disturbed 15-year-old in Michigan murdered four high school classmates with a semi-automatic handgun that his parents gave him as an early Christmas gift.

Oh yeah, this too: Massie himself appears to be fondling an actual machine gun, presumably to let everybody know whos the head honcho of this hardy brood of crackpots. None of whom, you can bet your own personal Colt .45, has ever heard a shot fired in anger, nor  prayerfully  ever will.

Somebody who has experienced actual combat, Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., an Iraq War veteran, put it this way: Im pro Second Amendment, but this isnt supporting the right to keep and bear arms, this is a gun fetish.

My sentiments exactly. Current right-wing idolatry of firearms as totemic objects, it seems to me, signifies arrested development in those like Massie who make a spectacle of brandishing them. You cant hunt or go target-shooting with a heavy-caliber automatic weapon. Theyre useless for self-defense or for anything other than military purposes. In civilian hands, theyre essentially masturbatory.

Speaking of arrested development, you may not be astonished to learn that Massies Facebook page identifies him as a Libertarian  that is, as somebody whose intellectual development stalled at the Youre not the boss of me stage of early adolescence. The congressman, whose district stretches along the Ohio River in rural northern Kentucky, has made rather a specialty of solitary grandstanding.

Back in 2013, Massie was the only congressman to vote against the Undetectable Firearms Act, a bill to prevent non-metallic weapons from being smuggled aboard airplanes. (Or into the U.S. Capitol, for that matter.) His was the only vote against the Stolen Valor Act punishing people falsely posing as war heroes. In 2017, he cast the lone vote against sanctioning North Korea. Hes also provided solitary votes against helping to build Israels Iron Dome missile defense system and against supporting Hong Kongs democracy.

Trained as a mechanical engineer at MIT  just to show you  he derides climatology as pseudoscience and rejects all efforts to do anything about it. Regarding the COVID plague, he has argued fiercely against mask mandates. He and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, to give readers an idea of the company he keeps, have sued Speaker Nancy Pelosi after being fined for refusing to wear masks on the House floor.

Like Greene, he has compared vaccination mandates to the Holocaust, trivializing the gravest crime in living memory. There is no authority in the Constitution that authorizes the government to stick a needle in you against your will, [or] force you to wear a face mask, he once tweeted. Can you imagine the signers of the Declaration of Independence submitting to any of these things?!

Better-informed critics quickly cited Constitutional Law 101: Congress shall have power to ... provide for the common defence and general welfare of the United States. Others noted that in 1776, Gen. George Washington inoculated his army against smallpox at Valley Forge. Putting down the epidemic proved decisive in the Revolutionary War.

Me, I wondered if Rep. Massie thinks laws requiring him to wear pants constitute government tyranny? Indeed, no less an authority than Donald J. Trump  irritated by a move in March 2020 in which Massie demanded an in-person floor vote, delaying a COVID relief bill that had passed 96-0 in the Senate  called him a third-rate grandstander who should be drummed out of the Republican Party. Former Sen. John Kerry commented that Massie had tested positive for being an ***hole.

And yet, the five-term congressman endures, an experienced vaudeville performer and firm fixture in the GOP Clown Caucus, along with such worthies as Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., and noted cartoon assassin Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Colo. Me, Im just glad hes not from Arkansas, where I live, although we have a couple of districts where his slack-jawed comedy stylings  filing bills to abolish the U.S. Department of Education and the Environmental Protection Agency, for example  would definitely play.

Hed have to make up with Trump, however, although abject flattery is all thats really necessary to win the great mans favor.

Youd like to think Massies grotesque parody of a Christmas card would finish him politically. But then youd like to think a lot of things.

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During the cold winter holiday season, trudging in from the snow after the sun sets and the clock only says 4:30, who can resist a nip of blackberry brandy just before dinnertime to put a warm smile on ones face? Even better, pouring the same alcohol into a settled layer with eggnog gives the right visual balance and a noticeably warmer smile.

Knowing this, and not fully devoid of the spirit of the time, I usually sneak a bottle and carton of such holiday products into the shopping cart, buried and camouflaged hoping we roll into the checkout unnoticed before wife Mira has an open chance to object. She will tell you without hesitation, there have been years Ive tippled a little too much in making merry, and at my age and position Im afraid it was a little more than allowed.

I first came across eggnog when working at a drive-through Dairy Barn store on Long Island, back in my high school years. Someone brought out a leaking gallon from the back cooler and we all took full cups while working in the exhaust fumes and ice as the endless multitude of cars drove in and out placing their curbside orders. Hey, this stuff is great we all agreed and it became a cherished delight at this time of year, a ritual more or less, something like watching the old black and white Christmas Carol with Alastair Sim and the ghosts of Christmas haunting him. But seriously, up until now, I always had wondered, what exactly is eggnog?

Wikipedia says plainly that eggnog is a rich, chilled, sweetened, dairy-based beverage traditionally made with milk, cream, sugar, whipped egg whites, and egg yolks. Add in plenty of spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves, and you have a decadent treat that has been warming us up for centuries. Even George Washington, when he took time out from being our first president, had his own boozy recipe for his and Marthas Mount Vernon guests.

Throughout the English speaking world, eggnog is traditionally consumed over the Christmas season and is available from late October until after the New Year. The cartons are usually nestled somewhere in the dairy section, off to the side, however, so people dont confuse them with cream or half and half.

The origins of the word eggnog are somewhat debated and according to Merriam-Webster, a nog was a kind of strong beer brewed in Norfolk, England, but that doesnt seem like it would fit exactly for what we are describing. Although words and thoughts change over time, the noun nog may stem from noggin, a Middle English term for a small, carved wooden mug used to serve alcohol.

Babson College professor Frederick Douglass Opie once wrote the term is a combination of two old slang words  rum was referred to as grog and bartenders served it in small wooden mugs called noggins. The drink first became known as egg-n-grog and later as eggnog. Still, some argue that eggnog is an American term first appearing in a poem written in 1775, by Maryland clergyman, historian and philologist Jonathan Boucher. Although a Tory, Boucher was a good friend of George Washingtons and you can see already the connection to Mount Vernon mentioned above.

So how is homemade eggnog produced? Traditional recipes use the standard milk or cream, sugar, raw eggs, and spices such as cinnamon or nutmeg. Some recipes found online call for the eggs to be separated so that the egg whites can be whipped until they are a thick, foamy consistency. You may say that this is technically just a custard made of milk and egg but some recipes may use vanilla ice cream blended into the beverage.

When you buy eggnog from the store it has all of the above ingredients but the large manufacturers usually add gelatin and other thickeners as a cost-saving measure that enables them to produce a thick beverage while using less egg and cream. In the US, FDA regulations only require that 1 percent of a products final weight be made up of egg yolk solids for it to bear the eggnog name. But the mixture sold as eggnog can contain besides those 1 percent eggs, large amounts of glucose-fructose, water, carrageenan (the extract from a red seaweed used in fast food milk shakes), guar gum (another thickening agent extracted from guar beans), natural and artificial flavorings, spices, monoglycerides, and colorings, just to name a few items.

A word of caution however to those making their own. Most homemade eggnog recipes have historically included raw eggs. Its usually not a good idea to eat raw eggs because of the possibility of salmonella poisoning so heating the mixture gently, without boiling, until it thickens enough to cover the back of a spoon is usually sufficient to make the drink safe. Probably better to buy the eggnog from a store if you dont mind seaweed.

Spiked eggnog is usually served with small appetizers rather than with dinner, and it can also double as an adult dessert. Thats my favorite because the dairy world pairs perfectly with brandy, bourbon, or dark rum and naturally gives the taste of an intoxicating milkshake. One interesting thing I found online was by TIME magazines Tristan Stephenson who stated that eggnog is popular because it checks every single one of the guilt/pleasure boxes, on account of it being little more than fat, sugar, and alcohol.

Gary Hanington is Professor Emeritus of physical science at Great Basin College and Vice President of Engineering at AHV. He can be reached at garyh@ahv.com or gary.hanington@gbcnv.edu.

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A session of the UNSC (Illustrative photo: VNA)



He also showed support for the Mechanism to complete judicial activities and functions on schedule.



The diplomat emphasised that states hold top responsibility in prosecuting and judging serious international crimes, therefore, assistance for countries to improve judicial capacity is necessary.



At the final meeting of Vietnam on this issue as a non-member member of the UNSC for 2020-2021 and Chairman of the Informal Working Group on International Courts, Ambassador Anh affirmed that Vietnam is committed to promoting compliance with the UN Charter and international law in maintaining peace and international security.



Vietnam hopes that the UNSC will maintain consensus and solidarity in supporting the Mechanism, he added.



UNSC member countries spoke highly of contributions made by Vietnam as Chairman of the Informal Working Group on International Courts over the past two years, especially its efforts to boost collaboration between the UNSC and the Mechanism./.
Gaziantep Governor Davut Gul was pleased to welcome the ASEAN Ambassadors, especially Vietnamese Ambassador Tran Quang Tuyen, who was paying his second visit to Gaziantep province.

He emphasized that Gaziantep is a province with strengths in both agriculture and industry, Mr. Davut Gul desired the Ambassadors to be a bridge to promote the province's potentials and strengths with partners of each country.

The Gaziantep Governor receives ASEAN Ambassadors (Photo: baoquocte.vn)

Thanking the Governor for the warm welcome, Ambassador Tran Quang Tuyen expressed his pleasure to return to Gaziantep - an important trade center since ancient times, one of the major manufacturing zones of Turkey and a place rich in history and culture.

At the same time, Ambassador Tuyen hoped that the cooperation between Vietnam and Turkey in general, and with Gaziantep province in particular, would be promoted in the post-COVID-19 period.

At the meeting with the Ambassadors, Ms. Fatma Sahin, Mayor of Gaziantep city (capital of Gaziantep province), said that Gaziantep province has great potential with many famous agricultural products, so Gaziantep province wishes to seek cooperation, investment and business opportunities with ASEAN countries.

For Vietnam, she hopes to boost trade promotion activities to introduce potentials and strengths for cooperation between Gaziantep province and Vietnamese localities.

Ms. Fatma Sahin wanted the Embassy to introduce and connect so that Gaziantep province can strengthen cooperation with Vietnamese partners.

Also during the business trip, Ambassador Tran Quang Tuyen attended the meeting between the ASEAN Ambassadors and the Gaziantep Provincial Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

At the meeting, the President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry said that this visit was a meaningful and practical activity to give Turkish businesses the opportunity to learn about the investment and business environment in ASEAN in general and Vietnam in particular.

On this occasion, the Vietnamese Ambassador introduced the cooperation situation between Vietnam and Turkey in the fields of politics, economy, culture and tourism.

The COVID-19 pandemic has greatly impacted bilateral cooperation in all fields, but there has been positive sign in the relations between the two countries, especially economic and trade cooperation, including Vietnamese business imports of material from Gaziantep province to produce face masks for the COVID-19 pandemic prevention.

Ambassador Tuyen affirmed that the Vietnamese Embassy in Turkey is ready to be a bridge to support Turkish businesses in general and businesses in Gaziantep province in particular to cooperate, invest and seek partners in Vietnam./.
Jean Pierre Archambault, General Secretary of the France-Vietnam Friendship Association (AAFV) (Photo: VNA)



Commenting on Vietnam's efforts in international integration and people-to-people diplomacy development, Archambault said Vietnam won two wars, making a hallmark in the world history of the 20th century - the Dien Bien Phu victory that ended the struggle against the French colonialists in 1954 and the victory in the resistance war against US imperialism in 1975.



These victories showed Vietnams success in struggling and mobilising international support and solidarity, and its integration into the anti-oppression movement of peoples around the world, he said.



After 1975, Vietnam helped Cambodia to overthrow the Pol Pot genocidal regime and struggled for the lifting of the trade embargo of the US and Western countries that lasted until 1994.



Archambault affirmed that all of these have forged Vietnam's strong political will to fully integrate into the international community.



The most convincing evidence of this success is that at the 73rd United Nations General Assembly (UN), Vietnam was elected as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for the 2020-2021 term with 192 out of 193 votes, he noted.



Regarding people-to-people diplomacy, Vietnam has also received great support from friendship and solidarity associations around the world, including AAFV.



Vietnamese Ambassador to France Dinh Toan Thang (Photo: VNA)



Established in 1961, AAFV has continuously developed cooperative relations with friendship associations with Vietnam to carry out solidarity activities with the Vietnamese people, such as providing material and spiritual support for Vietnamese victims of Agent Orange/dioxin, and support of AAFVs chapters for disadvantaged Vietnamese people.



AAFV has also organised seminars and published the Perspective magazine to help the French people understand more about Vietnam, contributing to developing dynamic and effective cooperation models between the two countries.

According to Vietnamese Ambassador to France Dinh Toan Thang, along with the Party and State's policies on diplomacy, people-to-people diplomacy plays a role as a guideline for the embassy's activities.



The patriotic movement of overseas Vietnamese in France founded by President Ho Chi Minh over 100 years ago, has been supported by the embassy, contributing significantly to the national defence and construction in the homeland, he said.



In the coming time, the embassy will gather resources to support friendship and solidarity associations with Vietnam in France, considering this one of the leading and core factors for maintaining the friendship and partnership with the European country, thus mobilising more resources to support socio-economic development and perform diplomatic goals of the country, the ambassador said./.
Mu Cang Chai terraced fields (Photo: VNA)

Located about 300km from Hanoi, Mu Cang Chai is famous for its terraced fields that attract domestic and foreign tourists.

The AFP describes "spectacular terraced fields" in Mu Cang Chai located more than 1,000 meters above the sea level, mainly cultivated by the Mong ethnic group. Mu Cang Chai terraced fields are the most beautiful in September and October, when ripening rice overwhelms the region. At that time, Mu Cang Chai often welcomes a lot of tourists, bringing great benefits to the local people.

According to the AFP, before the COVID-19 pandemic, Hmong women in Mu Cang Chai often rented unique traditional costumes to tourists, while men earned about 600,000 - 700,000 VND per day from driving motorbikes carrying tourists to go sightseeing and explore the village. At present, however, not many tourists come to Mu Cang Chai.

Ms. Loan, a local person, told AFP: "We used to welcome a lot of tourists, but this year there are no people because of the restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Our only wish is to return to normal life," said Loan, a local person.

The French press also emphasized that Vietnam has recently opened its doors to international tourists. From November, international tourists have come to Phu Quoc Island and some other localities./.
Students take part in a candlelight vigil in commemoration of victims of the Nanjing Massacre on the occasion of the eighth National Memorial Day at the Memorial Hall of the Victims of the Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders in Nanjing, capital of east China's Jiangsu Province, Dec. 13, 2021. The Nanjing Massacre took place after the Japanese troops captured the city on Dec. 13, 1937. Over six weeks, they killed about 300,000 Chinese civilians and unarmed soldiers in one of the most barbaric episodes of World War II. (Xinhua/Li Bo)

NANJING, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) -- In front of the darkly-dressed crowd, China's national flag flew at half-mast as the country held its eighth national memorial ceremony Monday for the victims of the Nanjing Massacre.

Despite the winter chill, about 3,000 people who observed epidemic prevention protocols attended the ceremony in Nanjing, in east China's Jiangsu Province, with white flowers on their lapels conveying condolences.

At exactly 10:01 a.m., sirens started to blare and the city came to a halt. Drivers in the downtown area stopped their cars and honked; pedestrians paused for a minute of silence in remembrance of the victims.

Teenagers read out a declaration of peace and citizen representatives struck the Bell of Peace. White doves, symbolizing peace, were released over the square of the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders.

As a representative of the survivors' families attending the ceremony, Zhang Xueping was immersed in memories. On the morning of Dec. 13, 1937, a group of Japanese soldiers broke into her mother's home and killed seven of her nine family members.

"Mom has been very upset these two days, and I know she must be missing her loved ones," Zhang said.

People from all walks of life gathered voluntarily at a dozen burial sites for Nanjing Massacre victims across the city. Zang Qiong, a teacher at the Nanjing Vocational Institute of Mechatronic Technology, was dressed in black and held chrysanthemums in her hand at the city's Zhongshan Pier mass grave.

"I want more young people to remember the Nanjing Massacre and draw strength from it," Zang said. She has been bringing her students to attend the ceremony for many years.

In subway stations, people stopped to watch the ceremony live on television, some holding newspapers with front pages in black and white. The homepages of Chinese websites were also in black and white.

The Nanjing Massacre took place when Japanese troops captured the city on Dec. 13, 1937. Over six weeks, they killed more than 300,000 Chinese civilians and unarmed soldiers in one of the most barbaric episodes of World War II.

In 2014, China's top legislature designated Dec. 13 as the national memorial day for the victims of the Nanjing Massacre.

Eleven victims of the massacre have passed away this year, reducing the total number of registered survivors to 61.

People take part in a candlelight vigil in commemoration of victims of the Nanjing Massacre on the occasion of the eighth National Memorial Day at the Memorial Hall of the Victims of the Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders in Nanjing, capital of east China's Jiangsu Province, Dec. 13, 2021. The Nanjing Massacre took place after the Japanese troops captured the city on Dec. 13, 1937. Over six weeks, they killed about 300,000 Chinese civilians and unarmed soldiers in one of the most barbaric episodes of World War II. (Xinhua/Li Bo)

A medical worker speaks at a candlelight vigil in commemoration of victims of the Nanjing Massacre on the occasion of the eighth National Memorial Day at the Memorial Hall of the Victims of the Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders in Nanjing, capital of east China's Jiangsu Province, Dec. 13, 2021. The Nanjing Massacre took place after the Japanese troops captured the city on Dec. 13, 1937. Over six weeks, they killed about 300,000 Chinese civilians and unarmed soldiers in one of the most barbaric episodes of World War II. (Xinhua/Li Bo)

Students take part in a candlelight vigil in commemoration of victims of the Nanjing Massacre on the occasion of the eighth National Memorial Day at the Memorial Hall of the Victims of the Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders in Nanjing, capital of east China's Jiangsu Province, Dec. 13, 2021. The Nanjing Massacre took place after the Japanese troops captured the city on Dec. 13, 1937. Over six weeks, they killed about 300,000 Chinese civilians and unarmed soldiers in one of the most barbaric episodes of World War II. (Xinhua/Li Bo)

Editor: WXY
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang attends a virtual meeting with the president of the World Bank Group David Malpass in Beijing, capital of China, Dec. 13, 2021. (Xinhua/Yin Bogu)

BEIJING, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said Monday that China could achieve significant annual economic targets. It stands ready to work with the World Bank to enhance cooperation in capital and knowledge to support multilateralism and global development causes.

Li made the remarks in a virtual meeting with the president of the World Bank Group, David Malpass, in Beijing.

Noting the just-concluded annual Central Economic Work Conference, Li said as the world's largest developing country, China's economic work next year will prioritize stability while pursuing progress.

Facing downward economic pressure, China will prioritize growth, coordinating steady economic growth while archiving structural adjustment and promoting reform, said Li.

Li said China would simultaneously strengthen its confidence and face difficulties. Briefing on China's economic policy, Li underlined that actions would safeguard macroeconomic stability and implement proactive fiscal policies for precision and sustainability.

Prudent monetary policies should be flexible and appropriate, and liquidity should be at a reasonable and ample level, said Li.

China will also continue deploying macro policies in direct response to market entities to stimulate the vitality of market entities and enhance the internal driving force of development, said the Premier.

China will scale up inclusive financial services to help market entities, particularly micro, small, medium-sized firms and household businesses, and increase the resilience and confidence of the Chinese economy, Li said.

Noting that the World Bank Group is a vital multilateral institution in global development causes, Li said the relationship between China and the World Bank Group maintained a healthy development.

China supports the negotiations on the 20th replenishment process of the International Development Association (IDA), said Li, adding that China would play an active and constructive role.

Malpass spoke highly of China's stable economic development and commended the sound relationship between the World Bank Group and China.

Malpass said the World Bank Group stands ready for sustained cooperation with China in mortgages, poverty alleviation, and climate change response.

Malpass expressed his gratitude for China's support for the IDA replenishment negotiations.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang attends a virtual meeting with the president of the World Bank Group David Malpass in Beijing, capital of China, Dec. 13, 2021. (Xinhua/Xie Huanchi)

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang attends a virtual meeting with the president of the World Bank Group David Malpass in Beijing, capital of China, Dec. 13, 2021. (Xinhua/Xie Huanchi)

Editor: WXY
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, French President Emmanuel Macron, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Slovak Prime Minister Eduard Heger and Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis (From L to R, rear) attend a joint press conference after their meeting in Budapest, Hungary, on Dec. 13, 2021. The issues of immigration, the rule of law, the Western Balkans, energy, including nuclear energy, were mainly discussed at the meeting between visiting French President Emmanuel Macron and prime ministers of the Visegrad Group (V4) countries here on Monday. (Photo by Attila Volgyi/Xinhua)

BUDAPEST, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) -- The issues of immigration, the rule of law, the Western Balkans, energy, including nuclear energy, were mainly discussed at the meeting between visiting French President Emmanuel Macron and prime ministers of the Visegrad Group (V4) countries here on Monday.

"We spoke thoroughly and exhaustively about migration ... about the question of the rule of law ... about the Western Balkans ... about energy, especially about nuclear energy and its ETS (Emissions Trading System) energy billing system," Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban told a joint press conference after the meeting.

Macron arrived in Budapest earlier on Monday. Orban had a bilateral meeting with Macron earlier in the afternoon.

"We will agree with President Macron on the issue of patriotism, the strengthening of Europe and European strategic autonomy," Orban said. Hungary assumes the current presidency of the V4 Group, which includes Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

"Hungary was the only one that said that if necessary, the EU border should be protected with physical force, and thus not only Hungary but the whole of Europe would be protected," he said.

"We didn't get a single good word, and we even had to suffer the harshest attacks when we defended Europe's borders, we were regularly shot in the back from Brussels and some European capitals," he said.

Macron said that he saw a European partner in Orban despite their differences and said that the basics for moving forward were "media plurality, rule of law and the respect of fundamental rights."

He said that the common areas of understanding between Budapest and Paris were nuclear energy, agriculture and a common European defense policy.

Poland and Hungary were both involved in a long-lasting conflict with the EU over democratic values like rule of law, judicial and press freedom, and human rights.

The European Commission has launched several procedures against both countries, including a new "conditionality" mechanism that ties funding to the rule of law and anti-corruption criteria, and that has held up the release of coronavirus recovery funds to Budapest and Warsaw.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said that his country managed to "defend" its borders, which are also the borders of the EU.

Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis said his government was ready to send soldiers to either the Polish frontiers or to the Balkans.

Slovakia's Prime Minister Eduard Heger underlined that it was important for the V4 countries to state very clearly that despite all the conflicts and disputes, the EU was the only source of development and wealth these countries could count on.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, French President Emmanuel Macron, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Slovak Prime Minister Eduard Heger and Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis (From L to R) attend a joint press conference after their meeting in Budapest, Hungary, on Dec. 13, 2021. The issues of immigration, the rule of law, the Western Balkans, energy, including nuclear energy, were mainly discussed at the meeting between visiting French President Emmanuel Macron and prime ministers of the Visegrad Group (V4) countries here on Monday. (Photo by Attila Volgyi/Xinhua)

French President Emmanuel Macron (L) and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban attend a joint press conference in Budapest, Hungary, on Dec. 13, 2021. The issues of immigration, the rule of law, the Western Balkans, energy, including nuclear energy, were mainly discussed at the meeting between visiting French President Emmanuel Macron and prime ministers of the Visegrad Group (V4) countries here on Monday. (Photo by Attila Volgyi/Xinhua)

French President Emmanuel Macron speaks at a joint press conference with prime ministers of the Visegrad Group countries after their meeting in Budapest, Hungary, on Dec. 13, 2021. The issues of immigration, the rule of law, the Western Balkans, energy, including nuclear energy, were mainly discussed at the meeting between visiting French President Emmanuel Macron and prime ministers of the Visegrad Group (V4) countries here on Monday. (Photo by Attila Volgyi/Xinhua)

Editor: WXY
KABUL, Dec. 14 (Xinhua) -- The second batch of winter supplies donated by China has arrived in Kabul, capital of Afghanistan.

Afghan deputy minister of refugees and repatriation affairs of the caretaker government Arsala Kharoti and Chinese Ambassador to Afghanistan Wang Yu attended the handover ceremony on Monday in a depot of the ministry in Kabul.

This batch of winter supplies include more than 70,000 blankets and more than 40,000 down coats. At this critical moment, the aid brings warmth from the Chinese people to the Afghan people, the Chinese ambassador said while addressing the ceremony.

Wang said that China would continue to donate other aid including food to Afghanistan.

As a good neighbor of Afghanistan, China is ready to help Afghanistan overcome the current difficulties, Wang said.

Officials from the ministry of refugees and repatriation affairs received the supplies.

Kharoti thanked China for providing the emergency supplies as many Afghan people are experiencing a difficult time.

These aid supplies will be distributed to eligible people around the country, he added.

Editor: WPY
The Verkhovna Rada at second reading adopted bill No.5376 on amendments to the Tax Code of Ukraine regarding stimulating the development of the digital economy in Ukraine, which regulates the tax conditions of the Diia City special legal mode.

Some 285 MPs voted for the relevant document at a meeting on Tuesday.

The law introduces special conditions for taxation of companies-residents of Diia City, the income of their employees and involved gig-specialists. In particular, residents of the special mode will be able, at their discretion, to choose which corporate tax to pay: tax on withdrawn capital in the amount of 9% or income tax (18%).

In order to stimulate investment in the IT industry, income of individuals in the form of dividends accrued by a resident company will be exempt from taxation, provided that they are paid no more than once every two years, in order to encourage companies to reinvest funds in their development.

There will also be a tax rebate for individuals when buying a stake in a startup company that is a resident of Diia City.

The following tax rates will apply to the income of employees and gig-specialists of Diia City residents: personal income tax some 5%, unified social tax some 22% of the minimum wage, military tax some 1.5% (from the employee's salary or gig-employee remuneration). If a specialist earns more than EUR 240,000 per year, then all income above this limit will be taxed at 18% personal income tax.

Taxation of sole proprietors who will cooperate with residents of the special mode will remain at the level of the current rates.

From 2024, the expenses of resident companies on single tax payers (including sole proprietorship of three groups) should not exceed 50%, and from 2025 some 20%.

Residents who will pay income tax and whose annual income does not exceed UAH 40 million will be able to work with an individual entrepreneur without restrictions for the entire period of their residence.

Amounts in excess of the withdrawn capital tax limit will be taxed at 9%. Income tax payers will have to include all expenses on sole proprietorship in excess of the permitted 20% in the financial result.

However, resident companies that will pay income tax with an annual income of not more than UAH 40 million will cooperate with an individual entrepreneur without restrictions for the entire period of residence.

The Diia City conditions will be valid for 25 years and will be extended to all employees of the resident companies.
The Ministry of Infrastructure is studying the possibility of purchasing the first five An-158 aircraft from the state-owned enterprise Antonov (Kyiv), which is part of Ukroboronprom, for the needs of the Ukrainian National Airlines (UNA), the Ministry of Infrastructure has reported on Facebook.

The signing of the relevant contracts is expected in the first or second quarter of next year.

"For Ukrainian National Airlines, the sole owner of which is the state, different classes of aircraft are needed. For regional and medium-haul flights, we are considering the An-158, which is ideal for flights around the country," Minister of Infrastructure Oleksandr Kubrakov is quoted as saying.

Antonov enterprise expects that the contracts will be signed directly between the State Enterprise and JSC Ukrainian National Airlines.

"The An-158 is an excellent plane with 99 seats. We are ready to build five such planes within the next three years by order of the Ministry of Infrastructure and the National Air Carrier. The first plane will be launched within the first year," Yuriy Husev, Director General of Ukroboronprom, said.

Ukrainian National Airlines was established in November 2021 on behalf of President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky. Its main task is to develop domestic air transportation, expand the geography of flights for Ukrainians, protect the strategic interests of the state and turn Ukraine into a major European air hub.
Nova Poshta opens over 20,000 collection and delivery points, plans to open another 1,000 branches in 2022

In December 2021, the Nova Poshta Group of Companies increased the number of parcel collection and delivery points to more than 20,000.

"In 2021 alone, we opened 1,600 new branches and installed more than 9,000 parcel terminals. When opening branches, we always follow our strategy  high speed of delivery, availability and quality service," Oleksandr Bulba, CEO of Nova Poshta, was quoted as saying in a company's message on Tuesday.

As of mid-December 2021, Nova Poshta has over 9,300 branches, 7,000 of which are located in villages.

Most of the branches in 2021 were opened in Lviv, Ternopil, Vinnytsia, Khmelnytsky and Ivano-Frankivsk regions.

The company has already installed over 11,000 parcel terminals in different cities of Ukraine.

"In 2022, Nova Poshta plans to open 1,000 new branches in new settlements, as well as launch a new format  business branches to serve corporate clients," the message says.

In such branches, a full range of services will be provided for business clients: sending and receiving parcels and goods, packaging of parcels, financial services.

In December 2021, the first pilot business branch opens in Cherkasy.

In 2022, Nova Poshta plans to open such branches in at least every regional center.
The United States, in addition to European countries, is directly engaged in a dialogue with Russia and Ukraine in order to resolve the differences between Moscow and Kyiv through diplomatic means, White House Spokesperson Jen Psaki has said on Monday, December 13.

"Day by day, what we are working to do here is have  keep the lines of diplomatic engagement open; have those conversations with Europeans, but also directly with the Ukrainians and the Russians; and continue to look and pursue a path  a diplomatic path forward," the official said.

Psaki said that at the moment U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Karen Donfried is in Kiyiv, who then, on Tuesday, will go to Moscow for talks with Russian officials. According to Psaki, during the visit, Donfried will discuss the buildup of Russian troops near the border with Ukraine and will pledge Washington's commitment to Ukraine's sovereignty.

After the trip to Russia, she said that Donfried will go to Brussels to discuss the situation with NATO Allies and EU partners, which has been kind of how we have approached this to date.

She said the U.S. national security team is also working with European partners.
Pentagon is in constant dialogue with Kyiv on necessary assistance  Kirby

Washington is constantly discussing with Kyiv ways to provide assistance, Pentagon Spokesperson John Kirby has said at a briefing on Monday.

"The United States is committed and this is across the administrations committed to assisting Ukraine with their self-defense needs. This is also the subject of constant dialogue with our Ukrainian counterparts about what they need and about what we can provide to help them with that," he said, noting that a $60 million package were just completed.

The shipments included small arms and ammunition, patrol boats, and Javelin missiles, Kirby said.
The launch of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline under the Baltic Sea will mean a complete cessation of the transit of Russian gas through Ukraine and will lead to security breakdown for Eastern and Central Europe, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said.

"The very fact that Nord Stream 2 can hypothetically be put into operation is extremely destabilizing for our region," Zelensky said in an interview with the Italian newspaper La Repubblica, answering the question whether it is not enough to endanger the launch of the gas pipeline to put pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"Russia is investing in various levers of pressure on European countries in order for this gas pipeline to operate, which means the end of gas transportation through the territory of Ukraine. If this happens, the security of Eastern and Central Europe will come crashing down at once," the head of state said.
Zelensky: it is strange for Russia to demand guarantees of NATO's non-expansion when it has broken so many promises

The Russian side cannot demand any guarantees from Ukraine after violating its own promises, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview with the La Repubblica Italian newspaper, the text of which is posted on the website of the head of state.

Commenting on the demands of Russian President Vladimir Putin to provide written guarantees that Ukraine will not join NATO, Zelensky said that Ukraine had previously received security guarantees from Russia.

"Our state gave its part of the Soviet nuclear arsenal, the third largest in the world, and in return received, including from Russia, an assurance to respect our borders and our security. All this was thrown into the trash. Therefore, it is surprising to hear requests from the Russian side about any guarantees, when so many promises have already been violated by the Russian side itself," the President of Ukraine said.
The European Commission for Democracy through Law (Venice Commission) supported the decision of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine on the swearing-in of judges appointed by President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky following the termination of the powers of judges appointed in 2013 to 2018.

According to the statement on the Constitutional Court's website on Tuesday "this is stated in the Synopsis (summary report) of December 13, 2021 following the results of the 129th plenary meeting of the Venice Commission, which took place on December 10 and 11 of this year."
Ukraine is ready for any scenarios of the development of a conflict with Russia, but the same cannot be said about all European countries, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview with the La Repubblica Italian newspaper, the text of which is posted on the presidential website.

"What are the troops gathered near our border used for? This is the potential for blackmail. And, above all, against western states. ... Ukraine sees no surprises in what is happening on our eastern borders. Russia started this war in 2014, and since then we are ready for any scenario. Unfortunately, this cannot be said about all European countries," the president said.

In particular, Zelensky said that Germany interfered with NATO supplies of anti-drone rifles and anti-sniper systems to Ukraine.

"Do we really have no right to them in the eighth year of the war? Obviously, we do. Any democratic state that defends itself against aggression should have the right to acquire such defense tools. But in some capitals fear still prevails," the president said.
Ambassador Korniychuk informed the Knesset speaker about the aggravation of the situation with security in Ukraine

Interparliamentary cooperation between Ukraine and Israel, as well as the security situation in eastern Ukraine, in particular on the Ukrainian-Russian border, were the subject of a meeting between Ukrainian Ambassador Yevhen Korniychuk and Speaker of the Knesset of Israel Mickey Levy. The Embassy of Ukraine to the State of Israel reported this at Facebook.

The parties discussed inter-parliamentary cooperation between Ukraine and Israel, noting its active dynamics. The Ambassador extended an invitation to Mickey Levy to visit Ukraine, as well as to exchange visits of parliamentary friendship groups, - the statement reads.

The Embassy notes that, among other things, the issue of an intergovernmental agreement on social security was discussed.

The Ambassador also informed his interlocutor about the aggravation of the situation near the Ukrainian-Russian border and potential security threats, - the statement said.
Within the Ukraine at MIPIM event (a project for participation and promotion of the Ukrainian real estate market at the exhibition), the main projects were presented that will represent the country at the international investment exhibition MIPIM 2022.

"For five years now we have been gathering key players on one site, Ukraine at MIPIM. This is an example of uniting real estate players in order to adequately present the Ukrainian market and the Ukrainian brand in general on the international arena. Our task as organizers is to follow global trends, the focus of international companies, to maintain communication with foreign players in the real estate market and to adapt the Ukrainian program to MIPIM," Head of the Invest in Projects agency, co-organizer of Ukraine at MIPIM Anna Nestulia said during the presentation of projects.

According to her, the current key trends that are observed in global markets are the transformation and digitalization of offices and the urban environment, the development of logistics real estate, as well as the growth and diversification of the housing market. In addition, the topics of ESG (ecology, social responsibility and governance) and sustainable development remain a separate powerful focus for foreign companies, in particular investors.

"In Ukraine, we also see confirmation of this trend. The companies presented at our meeting are already developing their projects in accordance with world standards," Nestulia said.

According to the organizers of Ukraine at MIPIM, Promprylad.Renovation from Ivano-Frankivsk, capital renovation projects of Arsenal and Bilshovyk by Q Partners, multifunctional complex Metropole by Altis Holding, and Lviv Tech City by UDP will be presented at MIPIM 2022.

Dragon Capital, Intergal Bud and STOIC Group will also present their projects at the exhibition.

MIPIM representative in Ukraine Dmytro Dopiro recalled that MIPIM in French is an international fair of real estate professionals (Le Marche International des Professionnels de l'immobilier).

"In 2022, the main theme of the exhibition will be Driving Urban Change. The fight for clean air, solving transport problems, comfortable living, working and labor conditions for citizens  all this will be discussed at numerous conferences at the exhibition. MIPIM 2022 will take place from March 15 to March 18, and we invite everyone to join the collective stand of Ukrainian companies at MIPIM," Dopiro said.

Participation in MIPIM 22 has already been confirmed by Promprylad.Renovation, Toronto-Kyiv, Toronto Property Management, Q Partners, UDP, Altis Holding, Dragon Capital, Intergal Bud, Midland Development, Delta, STRIX, Masnavi Capital, Mandarin Plaza Group, Creator City, STOIC Group, CBM Forum, and Arricano.

Ukraine's participation is also supported by the EBA, the Canada-Ukraine Chamber of Commerce, the Ukrainian Real Estate Club, the Ukrainian Embassy in France, Kyiv City State Administration, and relevant ministries.

First held in 1990 as an event for investors and developers, today MIPIM has become the main event of the year among real estate professionals, where global issues, trends and innovations in the industry are discussed.

Kyiv and Ukrainian developers have been participating in the event since 2004. In recent years, the Kyiv delegation was headed by mayor Vitali Klitschko. His participation attracted additional attention of the MIPIM participants.
On Friday, December 17, at 12.00, the press center of the Interfax-Ukraine news agency will host a roundtable conference of the Green Deal project entitled "What to know about EU-Ukrainian dialogue on Green Deal?" with the support of the EU Delegation to Ukraine under the Boosting Green Potential Together communication campaign. Participants include Deputy Director-General for Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations at the European Commission, Head of the Support Group for Ukraine Katarina Mathernova; Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Olha Stefanishyna; Deputy Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine Iryna Stavchuk; coordinator of the European Business Association's Committee for Industrial Ecology and Sustainable Development Olha Boiko. Moderator is head of the Green Deal project Serhiy Shestak (8/5a Reitarska Street). The broadcast will be available on the YouTube channel of Interfax-Ukraine. Due to quarantine restrictions, the number of places in the press center is limited, the presence of a PCR test or a certificate of vaccination is required. Admission of journalists requires registration on the spot. Details at: shestak@interfax.kiev.ua.
On December 8, a presentation of the British health-tech company Bioniq took place at the Queen Kyiv restaurant complex. The international startup announced that it had signed an agreement with a local partner to promote the brand on the Ukrainian market. The company's products were presented by Vadim Fedotov, the CEO and co-founder of Bioniq, and Oleksandr Orlov, the founder of the Bulldozer Group Ukraine restaurant holding, the general partner of Bioniq in Ukraine.

The British health-tech company Bioniq is dedicated to personalized smart health tracking solutions. The company was founded in 2019 and is headquartered in London. Bioniq currently operates in the UK, Europe, the United Arab Emirates and now in Ukraine, offering its clients individual solutions to optimize their health.

"The task of Bioniq is to make health accessible and provide personalized solutions for everyone. Entering the Ukrainian market with the partner Bulldozer Group Ukraine allows us to expand access to the health monitoring platform for another country and give the citizens of Ukraine the opportunity to learn more about themselves and receive solutions to optimize their health. For a long time, we have heard about the demand of the Ukrainian market in terms of creating a need for the launch of Bioniq. And we are happy to finally announce that in the near future the company's products will become available to Ukrainians," Vadim Fedotov, the CEO of Bioniq, said.

During the presentation, two cutting edge Bioniq products were introduced to the guests. Bioniq LIFE is a concierge service that has already established itself among the advocates of a healthy lifestyle in the UK and the UAE. The product allows you to get rid of vitamin deficiencies on the basis of a blood test. The service works in a subscription format, the program also includes support from a personal manager and recommendations from health experts.

Simultaneously with the release of Bioniq in Ukraine, the launch of a new product - Bioniq GO  was announced at the event. The level of its personalization is 200,000 times higher than analogues on the market. The product is selected individually after passing a non-contact test thanks to the company's database, now the service has performed more than 50,000 blood tests and prepared personalized solutions for 30,000 customers on three continents.

As part of the presentation of Bioniq Ukraine, the guests of the event had the opportunity to be among the first in Ukraine to feel the innovativeness and individual approach of Bioniq, so the first checkups were carried out immediately at the location. After a detailed study of a blood test for more than fifty parameters, Bioniq creates personalized solutions that allow optimizing vitamin and nutrient deficiencies in the body, and therefore optimizing one's health in the face of daily stress and rush.

Learn more about Bioniq Ukraine:

bioniq.com/ua

instagram.com/bioniqukr

067 444 00 33
Egypt's foreign ministry affirmed 'the need to build on this step to enhance joint Arab work and enhance relations between Arab nations, based on goodwill and non-interference in the Arab countries domestic affairs'

Egypt Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry signed the al-Ula agreement for Arab reconciliation with Qatar, which was signed by Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member states during the 41st GCC summit held on Tuesday in Saudi Arabia.

This comes within the framework of Egypts constant keenness to [achieve] solidarity among the Arab quartet states and in their orientation towards consolidating ranks, and removing any disagreements among brotherly Arab nations, the foreign ministry said in a statement.

Saudi Arabia led a coalition of an Arab quartet including the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt that cut ties and transport links with Qatar in June 2017, charging that it was too close to Iran and backed terrorist groups -- allegations Doha has always denied.

Egypt signed the agreement also to enhance Arab joint work in the face of the significant challenges the region is witnessing, the ministry said.

The statement affirmed the need to build on this step to enhance joint Arab work and enhance relations between Arab nations, based on goodwill and non-interference in the Arab countries domestic affairs.

Egypt values all honest efforts made over the past years, especially by Kuwait, to achieve reconciliation between the countries of the Arab Quartet and Qatar.

Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman announced on Tuesday at the GCC summit that the Gulf states had signed an agreement on regional "solidarity and stability" aimed at resolving a three-year embargo against Qatar.

Leaders of the six-member GCC signed two documents, the Al-Ula declaration, named after the Saudi city where the summit was held, and a final communique.

The contents of the declaration and the communique were expected to be released to the press later.

"An agreement has been reached to open airspace and land and sea borders between Saudi Arabia and Qatar as of this evening," Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Ahmad Nasser al-Sabah said Monday on Kuwait TV ahead of the summit.

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In a statement late on Saturday, the ministry slammed the Israeli occupation's brutal suppression against the Palestinians who stage peaceful rallies against the settlement

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry called on the International Criminal Court to rapidly launch investigations into crimes committed by the Israeli occupation and settlers.

In a statement late on Saturday, the ministry slammed the Israeli occupation's brutal suppression against the Palestinians who stage peaceful rallies against settlements.

It also condemned the demolition of Palestinian houses in Jerusalem.

It urged the international community, topped by the UN Security Council, to press the Israeli government to stop building settlements in Mount Sabih, calling on the UNHCR to hold Israel accountable for its crimes against the Palestinians.

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Fakhry El-Fiqi, chairman of the House's Budget Committee, said customs tariffs should change every now and then to reflect economic developments at both international and local levels and serve local productive projects.

"In fact, custom tariffs should be used to secure a balance between the objective of activating productive and commercial life at both the local and international level, and the necessity of imposing reasonable customs tariffs on imported goods at the same time," said El-Fiqi, adding that "changing customs tariffs and systems should come in a way that serves new economic realities and help make the investment climate in Egypt more attractive."

El-Fiqi revealed that many Egyptian industrial companies have lately lodged a number of complaints with the Ministry of Finance, asking it to impose custom taxes on some imported products to make the investment climate more attractive, tackle custom distortions, and protect local industries.

"As a result, the Ministry of Finance-affiliated Technical Secretariat of the Higher Council of Custom Tariffs and representatives from the two ministries of Industry and Trade have reviewed the proposed changes put down by these companies and come up with the new changes," said El-Fiqi, indicating that "the new customs tariffs aim to encourage local industries, and generate more revenues for the state budget." "We agree that some imported goods negatively impact the competitive edge of local industries at the internal and external markets and that customs taxes should be imposed to protect local industries from such unfair competition," said El-Fiqi.

El-Fiqi indicated that the presidential decree states that there will be a ten percent customs tax on the cost of imported mobile phones.

The new tax applies to all phones sold in Egypt except for those assembled by local electronics outfit Sico.

Accordingly, phone prices could increase 10-14% on the back of the new tax.

El-Fiqi also said there will be a five percent tax on imported optical fibers. "Besides, there will be a 2 percent and 20 percent tax on two kinds of imported marble (mainly used in producing ceramics). The 20 per cent tax will be on fully manufactured marble products, while a 2 percent custom tax will remain effective on imported raw marble.

Some MPs said though the above move will raise prices of imported mobile phones on the local market, it could help customers buy Egypt's locally produced mobile phone "SICO".

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Egypt received on Thursday 1.27 million doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine from Spain via the COVAX initiative, the Spanish embassy in Cairo announced.

According to the Spanish embassy in Cairo, Egypt received on Thursday a shipment of 1,273,600 doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine.

The embassy added that this shipment comes as part of a COVID-19 vaccine grant, which was announced by Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez during his official visit to Egypt in early December.

Sanchez announced that Egypt would receive a total of 4.48 million doses from Spain.

Of this total, Spain delivered 204,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine on 24 November and 3.24 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine on 28 November, the Spanish embassy stated.

Spain is among the top COVID-19 vaccine donor countries to Egypt, the Spanish embassy said.

Egypt has been supplied with around 98.4 million doses of different coronavirus vaccines, whether wholly made or in the form of raw materials, since the start of the pandemic according to Acting Health Minister Khaled Abdel Ghaffar earlier this week.

Around 51 million doses are ready for use, and about 48 million single doses have been administered, Abdel-Ghaffar said.

Since the beginning of its vaccination campaign early this year, Egypt has imported doses of the Sinopharm, Sinovac, AstraZeneca, Sputnik V, Moderna, Pfizer, and Johnson & Johnson vaccines.

Egypt has also locally produced millions of doses of the Chinese Sinovac vaccine.

The Egyptian government has set a goal to vaccinate 40 million people by the end of 2021.

Thus far, Egypt has had a total of 366,534 infections and 20,919 fatalities since the outbreak in February 2020.

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The prosecution ordered on Monday the referral of Karim El-Hawary  the son of renowned Egyptian businessman Mohamed El-Hawary  to the criminal court on several charges, including manslaughter, after he got into a car crash that killed four people, three of which were children, while driving under the influence in Sheikh Zayed.

In an official statement, the prosecutor-general said that the defendant is also charged with driving recklessly under the influence of alcohol and drugs, exceeding the maximum speed limit, breaking road laws, and possessing cocaine for personal use.

Related Prosecution detains son of Egyptian businessman after killing 4 in DUI crash

Footage on social media showed a vehicle driving way over the speed limit on a highway in the city on Friday before violently rear-ending another car.

The defendant, who fled the scene after the rear-ended car flipped over, was detained on Saturday, and on Sunday the prosecution ordered his detention for four days pending investigation.

The prosecution announced on Monday that it has built a case around the testimonies it obtained, including two eyewitnesses, two videos recording the accident, two policemen  one of which was notified of the crash and the other carried out the investigations  and finally the coroner who examined the blood sample taken from the defendant.

Manslaughter is punishable with a fine ranging from EGP 100 to EGP 500 or by up to 10 years in prison according to Egyptian law.

According to article 238 of the Egyptian penal code, manslaughter due to negligence and recklessness is punishable by a fine of up to EGP 200 or at least six months in prison.

In the event the defendant committed the crime under the influence, the penalty can range from up to five years in prison or a fine of EGP 500 at most.

If the defendant caused the death of more than three people, they could face a one-to-seven-year-long prison sentence. In the event the perpetrator was under the influence, they could serve a one-to-10-year-long prison sentence.

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Egyptian president Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi asserted on Tuesday the state's keenness on upgrading the governmental universities in parallel with establishing new universities across the country.

Egypt's approach depends on providing education and training to qualify graduates for the current and future labor market, El-Sisi said during a visit to Kafr El-Sheikh University campus on Tuesday, where he had breakfast with students, faculty and staff and listened to their views, said Presidential Spokesman Bassam Rady.

El-Sisi reiterated the importance of increasing students' awareness and understanding of the rapid changes and current challenges on the domestic or foreign fronts.

He also stressed the need for developing student's scientific and academic levels and potentials to cope up with the current and future needs of the labor market, according to Rady.

El-Sisi also attended a musical performance conducted by a choir from the Faculty of Music Education at Helwan University, as part of his visit to Kafr el Sheikh University.

The president expressed thanks to the university's students who gave what he described as a wonderful and elite artistic performance.

Following the performance, El-Sisi urged universities to nurture students talents and artistic activities, asserting that Egyptian universities are filled with wonderful talents.

Higher Education Minister Khaled Abdel-Ghaffar, who accompanied the president, said the importance the political leadership attaches to education has led to a ten-fold increase in the budget allocated for developing it, compared to that allocated four years ago.

Abdel-Ghaffar said the education and health sectors in the governorate have seen great development, highlighting the new specialisations introduced at the Kafr el Sheikh University, including the faculties of artificial intelligence, Nanotechnology and sciences and farm fishing.

The university hospital has been opened in the governorate since 2018 to offer health services in accordance with the international standards, he said, adding that it includes 434 beds, 13 surgery rooms (O.Rs) operating with the capsules system.

Work is underway to complete the construction of a huge emergency hospital, he said, noting that 50 percent of its buildings have been finalized.

He noted that 60 percent of works of an oncology hospital were also completed.

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Ghana's President Nana Akufo-Addo warned EU lawmakers Tuesday that the bloc's drive to deliver Covid booster jabs could hamper inoculations in Africa, as he slammed travel bans over the Omicron variant.

"The unsavoury politics of vaccine nationalism we're witnessing could potentially derail global efforts made (to contain) the pandemic to date," Akufo-Addo said in a speech at the European Parliament.

"We, like the World Health Organization, are worried that the phenomenon of hoarding vaccines will worsen even further, as countries begin to administer booster shots."

The Ghanaian leader said the vaccination rate in Africa was lagging at under 10 percent and that countries were still not able to get vaccines in the "requisite numbers".

Richer nations, including EU members, the United States and Britain, are scrambling to administer booster doses after the discovery of the Omicron variant.

Experts say a third dose of Covid vaccines offer better protection against Omicron.

The Ghanaian leader also blasted "the decision taken by countries, including those in the EU, to single out African countries for the imposition of travel bans on a variant that has been discovered in over 40 countries".

Several countries, along with the 27-nation European Union, have imposed travel curbs on countries, mainly in southern Africa, after Omicron was first detected in South Africa.

"The world should be grateful to the South African scientists whose knowledge and expertise in genomic sequencing, enabled them to identify the new variant," Akufo-Addo said.

"Plaudits, not the condemnation of their peoples, should have been their portion."

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A group of Egyptian students in Canada has raised $80,000 (EGP 1 million) in three weeks for Egypts Decent Life presidential initiative, the Egyptian Ministry of Emigration said in a statement on Tuesday.

In a Zoom meeting with a group of students and Phoebe Wasfi, Principal of Philopateer School in Canada, the first Egyptian-run school in Ontario, Minister of Emigration and Egyptian Expatriate Affairs Nabila Makram expressed appreciation for the students support for the Decent Life initiative.

The Decent Life national project (Hayah Karima in Arabic) was launched experimentally in 2019 by President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi and its first phase was officially launched in July 2021. The project aims to improve standards of living, infrastructure, and basic services including healthcare across the Egyptian countryside.

The project covers 4,658 villages across the country, which are home to 58 percent of Egypts 102-million population, with an estimated budget of EGP 700 billion (about $44.6 billion).

Makram said the initiative taken by the students at the Philopateer School was incredible and reflected the sense of belonging these students have for their homeland despite being brought up abroad.

Wasfi, who was behind the fundraising campaign, said that the students participated in the campaign despite the difficult conditions brought about by COVID-19, and they were keen on participating especially after learning that the initiative aims to raise the standard of living for millions of Egyptians.

Wasfi explained that the Egyptian students had initially set a goal of collecting $60,000 within three weeks, and meeting this goal raised their enthusiasm, so they decided to increase the target to $80,000 so as to be the equivalent to EGP 1 million.

"I can honestly convey to you the strong feelings and deep love that these students have for their homeland Egypt, despite their young age and their distance from their country, but this did not affect Egypt's place in the hearts of its children," the ministry quoted Wasfi as saying.

The students who participated in the virtual meeting said that they had not been aware of the Decent Life initiative, but that when they learned about it, they were overwhelmed with a sense of pride in the efforts by the state to improve the lives of Egyptians.

Shana Masoud, Director of External Relations at the Decent Life Foundation, said that these students were 'the best ambassadors for the initiative', calling on them to continue to play this role by introducing the Canadian community to the national project.

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A new Paris exhibition adds to Lebanons position as a major modern and contemporary art centre of the Arab world while another, at the Giacometti Foundation in Paris, drew connections between the Swiss artist and ancient Egypt.

The last major international show of modern and contemporary Lebanese art took place in London in 1989, according to the notes accompanying a new survey exhibition of art from Lebanon that opened at the Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris in September and runs until January next year.

That being so, as the notes also say, it is high time that there was another one, perhaps particularly because of everything that has happened in Lebanon in the interim, from the end of the Lebanese Civil War with the Taif Accord in 1989, the countrys economic and political reconstruction, and then last years Beirut Port explosions and the ongoing political and economic crisis.

Lebanon has changed almost beyond recognition from what it was in 1989, when some 15 years of civil war had reduced much of the capital Beirut to a burnt-out shell and much of the population was living in exile. And where better for a major retrospective of modern and contemporary Lebanese art to take place than in Paris? The close links between France and Lebanon go back centuries, and France is perhaps still the most important destination for Lebanons extensive diaspora.

Opening on 21 September, Lumieres du Liban  Light from Lebanon  brings together more than 100 works by some 55 artists representing the countrys artistic scene from 1950 to the present. They are drawn from the Institut du Monde Arabes own collection of modern and contemporary Arab art, the largest in Europe, as well as from a recent private bequest. Taken together, they provide an intriguing and thought-provoking introduction to the last 50 years of Lebanese art for European audiences.

The exhibition is arranged in reverse chronological order, with the final section, art from the period between 2005 and the present, opening the presentation. The Instituts basement exhibition spaces provide a neutral background, mostly beige in raw and polished concrete, and wall texts by the curatorial team led by Nathalie Bondil of the Instituts own exhibitions department are illustrated by reproductions of front pages from LOrient-Le Jour, Lebanons leading French-language newspaper, providing historical context.

Entering the exhibition, visitors come face to face with Yazan Halwanis 2020 canvas Aeroport, Femme Dans lAttente (Woman Waiting in the Airport) presenting a single, anxious-looking woman seated in an airport departures lounge. It thematises one of the most salient aspects of Lebanese experience since the formation of the modern state at the beginning of the last century and even before in the shape of either temporary or permanent expatriation.

Born in 1993, and working on street murals since his early teens, Halwani has turned to acrylic on canvas in this impressive work in order to deconstruct the myth of the Lebanese exception focused on the idea of the successful expatriate who will contribute to the well-being of the society and economy at home, as the notes to the exhibition put it.

Elsewhere in this opening section of the exhibition other artists illustrate or comment on the character of that society, some of them touching on the history of violence and political or economic instability that may have caused many Lebanese to live abroad.

Abdul-Rahman Katanani, born in 1983 and like Helwani working first in street art before studying at the Lebanese University and then at the Cite Internationale des Arts in Paris, provides a graphic reminder of some of that history in his Tornade (Tornado), a swirling mass of barbed wire that may recall his childhood spent in the Sabra Palestinian Refugee Camp in Beirut. Taghreed Darghouth, born in 1979 in the Lebanese coastal city of Saida (Sidon), is represented by her painting LAbime Apelle lAbime (The Abyss Calls the Abyss), a series of images of the craters left by exploded artillery shells.

Hala Ezzeddine, born in 1989, and another of the many women artists included in the exhibition, shows her large painting Beyrouth 1, also in acrylic, presenting a chaotic-looking take on the cityscape of contemporary Beirut.

In what may be a painting drawing directly on his own experience, Serwan Baran, born in Baghdad in 1968 and living in Lebanon since 2013, is represented by what seem to be three militia men, each holding a snarling dog, in his painting Sans Titre (Untitled) from 2021, once again using the qualities of acrylic to create smears of paint on the canvas and adding to an atmosphere of violent menace.

WAR AND BEFORE: These paintings all come from the last 20 years or so of Lebanons history and so were produced at a time when the country as a whole was going through a period of sometimes feverish economic expansion.

With this expansion came the arrival of new sources of finance in the arts and the expansion of the Lebanese gallery scene to meet the needs of the many new Lebanese and foreign collectors taking an interest in the countrys artists. However, as French art historian Thierry Savatier writes in the material accompanying the exhibition, this expansion has probably not been enough to restore the position the country occupied before the Civil War when Beirut was the capital of contemporary art in the Middle East in much the same way that Paris was the capital of modern Western art at the beginning of the 20th century.

The number of new actors in the arts has still been few when compared to the forces wanting to find expression, he writes. As a result, more and more Lebanese and foreign collectors, for whom Beirut was once an automatic port of call, have been looking towards the Gulf, the home of many ambitious new art projects. The Beirut Port explosions in August 2020 and the economic and political crisis in Lebanon have also affected the private gallery scene, with many artists now thinking of a new period of exile, notably in Europe.

While many of the pieces in this part of the exhibition refer to Lebanons history and the legacy of the Civil War, paradoxically this may be less true of the work contained in the previous section, produced between 1975 and 2000 and thus for the most part made during the years of lead themselves. Savatier says that the members of todays young Lebanese art scene have not had the luxury of choosing either to treat the earthquakes going on all around them in their work or to put this off until later. For the most part born during the Civil War, they have always only known chaos, with the return of peace offering them no guarantee for the future, aside from uncertainty, he adds.

For their elders, working during the war years themselves, there may have been a different attitude, what the exhibition describes as a desire to collect documents and to gather testimony from the destruction going on around them, while at the same time doing their best to keep forms of creativity and exhibition alive in the hope of better days to come. After 1975, most art spaces no longer existed, the notes to the exhibition say, and many artists had either left the country or died.

The Lebanese theatre director Roger Assaf, denied the use of conventional theatre spaces, created a form of popular theatre, hakawati, that showed events from everyday life. A March 1978 art exhibition at the Beirut Arab University in solidarity with the Palestinians later became a kind of museum in exile, while 105 paintings were loaded onto planes for London three days before the closure of Beirut Airport in time for the London exhibition of Lebanese art in 1989.

There is less drama in the artworks from this period shown in the present exhibition, with their artists perhaps focusing most on keeping the value of art alive. Khaled Takreti (born in 1964) is represented by his Baluchons 3, explained in the notes as referring to the objects Lebanese emigrants might take with them when they went abroad. Like Takreti, who lives in Paris, Zena Assi, born in 1974, is also a member of the Lebanese diaspora, this time living in London, and contributes two short expressionist animations, made with Amandine Brenan and Patrick Sfeir, effectively thematising emigration and displacement.

However, perhaps the overall tone of the exhibition, and certainly its title, is set not by these two sections, but instead is provided by the earliest section, the last in the presentation, which contains pieces by artists born or working in what the exhibition describes as Lebanons golden age between 1943, the date of the countrys independence from France, and the outbreak of the Civil War in 1975. This was the period when the Lebanese arts scene was unique, international and dynamic, in the words of curator Nathalie Bondil, bearing witness to the particular complexity of Lebanon itself, being at once historical and political as well as inter-cultural and inter-confessional.

Beirut incarnated an artistic and cultural climate made up of rich and often energetic debates between the different ideas of the period, among them various forms of nationalism, pan-Arabism and socialism, writes the Syrian poet Adonis in the exhibition material. There was a particular interest in language and in heritage, he adds, the view that we have of it, the ways in which we understand it and gain inspiration from it, and its relationship to the Arabic language, to Arab culture and to the culture of America and Europe.

In the paintings exhibited from this period, there is a certain amount of reportage, with a reproduction of the front page of LOrient-Le Jour for 14 April 1975 included in a wall text in the exhibition, sounding the knell of this period of Lebanese history by reporting the killing of Palestinians in Ain Al-Remmaneh that is often considered to be one of the triggers of the Civil War. Paintings by the Lebanese-Armenian painter Paul Guiragossian (died 1993) such as La Fete and La Longue Marche, large works in oil on canvas, thematise the condition of Palestinian and other refugees.

However, more often the paintings from this period are masses of light and colour that seem to reference Lebanons Mediterranean climate, seen for example in Fatima El-Hajjs Promenade, a painting that seems inspired by the south of France and that celebrates an ideal world of youth, art and the beauty of nature, as the exhibition notes put it. Light and colour are also supplied by the many canvases by Shafic Abboud (died 2004), among them the late work LAube (Dawn), described as the artists aesthetic and spiritual testament, a celebration of the pleasures of the senses and a manifesto for freedom, light and colour.

These works along with a series of lithographs by Mouna Sehnaoui, born in Egypt in 1945 but working in Lebanon, are reminiscent of the Mediterranean traditions of a certain strand of French painting, perhaps again referencing the close links between the two countries, in this case through design and vocabulary echoing work by Matisse.

Lumieres du Liban, Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris, until 2 January.

The Swiss artist Alberto Giacometti had to wait until the last decade or so of his working life for international fame, but when it finally descended after World War II his trademark sculptures of emaciated human figures became widely recognised worldwide.

These strangely elongated statues, their stick-like limbs exaggeratedly extended, are typically presented alone, often striding purposefully forwards. They are made in Giacomettis favourite medium of coarsely knotted white-washed plaster moulded around a wire frame from which they are sometimes also cast in bronze. They look much like the matchstick figures drawn by children transported into three dimensions, apart from the emphasis given to the plasters gouged and riven surface.

At first glance, there might seem to be little connection between these sculptures and those that have come down to us from ancient Egypt. Whereas Giacomettis sculptures pay no regard to the modelling of human flesh, replacing prestige materials like marble and granite with wire and plaster, ancient Egyptian sculpture is all about solid volumes. The idealised bodies of the pharaohs are heavily realised and thickly muscled when transported into stone.

Ancient Egyptian statues were also very often used to project human or divine power in human or animal forms, whereas Giacomettis sculptures do not seem to have any public function  they certainly do not commemorate gods or kings  and though they can sometimes lay claim to impressive amounts of space, they scarcely occupy much of it by way of volume.

While some of them are tiny, rather like ancient Egyptian ushabti figurines, few of them are monumental in the manner of much ancient Egyptian sculpture. It is hard to imagine Giacomettis sculptures being used to project the power of a governing regime  a standard use of ancient Egyptian sculpture  partly because of their fragility but also because of their anonymity. They seem to be intended as human figures in the abstract and not as representations of particular individuals.

However, according to an intriguing mini-exhibition at the Giacometti Foundation in Paris there are nevertheless important connections to be made between Giacomettis emaciated modern sculptures, most of them made between the late 1940s and the artists death in 1966, and the much more corpulent, even stolid, sculptures of ancient Egypt made 2,500 to 3,500 years before.

Sometimes this has to do with particular postures, with the exhibition making much of the similarities between Giacomettis often striding figures, one leg stretched out ahead of the other, and a similar posture adopted by some ancient Egyptian sculptures. There is also the kneeling position adopted by some of Giacomettis figures, apparently one of the artists favourites since he used it in the sculpture that eventually adorned his tomb, which recalls ancient Egyptian statues of seated scribes.

Sometimes it has to do with the treatment Giacometti reserved for the faces of his sculptures or the way in which their heads are set on their bodies, often jutting forward or somehow out of sync in their apparent desire for movement with the anonymity of the stripped-down bodily form. The exhibition is particularly suggestive on this aspect of Giacomettis work, tracing aspects of his formal practice back to the ancient Egyptian sculptors who worked on the Amarna period statues of the monotheistic pharaoh Akhenaten when the usual conventions of ancient Egyptian royal and public sculpture were temporarily overthrown.

Mostly, however, Giacomettis debts to ancient Egyptian sculpture seem to have been to do with the special atmosphere he wanted his work to create, as if his sculptures, like many of those that have survived from ancient Egypt, were not intended for human purposes at all. Instead, he may have wanted them to look as if they had somehow been retrieved from underground, as if they had been buried long ago in some ancient tomb.

Many ancient Egyptian sculptures, among them those found in the tomb of the Pharoah Tutankhamun, were never intended to be seen by human viewers. It is something like this sense of enormous distance between statue and viewer, the exhibition suggests, that Giacometti hoped to produce in his other-worldly human figures, always somehow linked with human circumstances but necessarily abstracting from them and pointing to some other world beyond.

EGYPTIAN INSPIRATION: Even if ancient Egypt does not immediately come to mind when viewing Giacomettis sculptures, the exhibition reveals that the artist himself had a life-long interest in ancient Egyptian art and civilisation.

According to Director of the Giacometti Foundation Catherine Grenier writing in the exhibition catalogue, Giacometti early on made a habit of visiting both the departments of ancient and non-European art at the Louvre Museum and the Museum of Ethnography in Paris in search of different ways of rendering particularly the human figure to those available from European sculptural traditions.

In this respect, he was similar to many other artists working in Paris in the early decades of the last century, she says, among them painters like Pablo Picasso and Andre Derain and sculptors like Constantin Brancusi and Ossip Zadkine. However, unlike them, Giacometti was particularly drawn to the arts of ancient Egypt, copying forms and images into his sketchbooks as part of an ongoing search to learn how to see.

Whereas many other such interests disappeared over the course of Giacomettis career, Grenier says, Egypt remained his primary passion. Ancient Egyptian sculptures were fully realised down to the smallest details, not a single shadow being too strong or too weak and not a single line being out of place, he wrote. While Giacomettis first introduction to ancient Egyptian sculpture seems to have come from photographs in books, this was enough to intrigue him even without seeing them in three-dimensional space. In fact, as French critic Thierry Pautot writes in the catalogue, Giacomettis main source for the study and practice of copying from Egyptian models remained above all else books.

There are many such books in the exhibition, or rather leaves or pages torn out from them, very often with sketches by Giacometti in the margins or even overflowing across the text. The exhibition has tracked down surviving pages from Giacomettis copies of works such as German archaeologist Ludwig Curtiuss Agypten und Vorderasien (Egypt and the Middle East), acquired by the artist in 1923, and the Encyclopedie photographique de lArt, a guidebook series in monthly parts published in 1935, exhibiting leaves from them with Giacomettis sketches, often simply doodles, filling in areas of blank space.

Giacometti, one surmises, must have been a librarians nightmare, or a nightmare to anyone foolhardy enough to lend him books, as in all likelihood they would have served not so much as reading material as supports for an ongoing visual dialogue between the artist and any images the books contained. The exhibition solemnly displays pages torn out from the Encyclopedie photographique de lArt with doodles appearing beneath the images or cheekily popping up in the margins. Giacometti most often drew in pencil, but he also favoured blue ballpoint pen, this seemingly allowing him to achieve the dense masses of squiggled lines he liked to use to suggest human features in his drawings.

Many commentators, both during Giacomettis lifetime and afterwards, have commented on the aura of distance and antiquity surrounding his sculptures, the exhibition notes, with these inhuman qualities connecting them particularly to the tomb art of ancient Egypt.

Some of these commentators were also probably in large part responsible for the recognition Giacometti received in the last decades of his life, with his sculptures attracting the attention particularly of major French intellectual figures from the post-war decades such as the novelist and philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre and the novelist Jean Genet. It was they, particularly the former, who draped the sculptures in a sometimes rather heavy-handed philosophical vocabulary, connecting them to the existentialist preoccupations of much of continental Europe at the time.

Sartre says that Giacometti, by accepting relativity, has found the absolute. He shifts the responsibility for breathing life into these inert simulacra [the sculptures] on the viewer; this seeker of the absolute ends up having his work depend on the relativity of the viewpoints from which it is seen. However, he also comments on the great sense of distance and autonomy that many people find in Giacomettis sculptures. They can only be viewed from a respectful distance, he says. Each imparts to us the truth that man is not there primarily in order subsequently to be seen but is the being whose essence it is to exist for others.

For Genet, visiting Giacomettis Paris studio in 1957, the sculptures seem to emerge from the surrounding dust as if coming up for air from beneath the ground and invested with some mysterious life of their own. I came across the most beautiful statue by Giacometti underneath a table when I was bending down to pick up a cigarette end off the floor. It was hidden in the dust, a careless visitor could have trodden on it, he wrote. Not only do the statues come at you as if from far away, but they also place themselves in such a way that however you find yourself positioned in relation to them, they make you feel as if you were somehow looking up at them from below.

Whatever one makes of such comments, very redolent of their time, in drawing connections between Giacomettis sculptures and the art of ancient Egypt, the exhibition successfully invites the visitor to look at both anew. The air of eternity, of distance and remoteness, surrounding Giacomettis sculptures is related to the artists interest in the idea of immortality, French art critic Romain Perrin writes in the exhibition catalogue, also a special interest of the ancient Egyptians.

In drawing inspiration from ancient Egyptian sculpture, in however roundabout a way, Giacometti was seeking to create modern work that was not made to be contemplated from the perspective of enjoyment, Perrin says, probably one of the aims of at least some sculpture, but that could play a part in some funerary rite.

Giacometti et lEgypte Antique, Fondation Giacometti, Paris, closed on 10 October 2021.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 16 December, 2021 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly.

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Egypt last week celebrated the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, an opportunity to remind society of the abilities and needs of the differently-abled, now 11 million in the country, according to General Supervisor of the Egyptian National Council for Persons with Disabilities (NCPD) Ashraf Marai.

On the occasion, Egypts President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi announced a package of executive measures targeting the welfare of people with special needs, including drafting legislation that would allow donations to the Differently-Abled Fund, in addition to directing the government to include Egyptians with special needs under the umbrella of the Decent Life national campaign.

The welfare of people with special needs, according to Marai, would only be realised by enacting laws governing their rights such as Law 10/2018. This is in addition to making their inclusion in society easier by, for example, upgrading transportation for more accessibility.

The Maadi district has revamped 28 sidewalks to make it friendlier for people using wheelchairs by building slopes and lowering pavements. We are looking forward to seeing such initiatives in all Egyptian governorates, according to Marai.

The president did not only call for more specialised training for teachers working with children with special education needs, but he also directed preparing training programmes and workshops for Egyptians with special needs to help them qualify for job opportunities.

The NCPD recently published a book specialised in the management of persons with special needs that we expect to be distributed and taught in all schools nationwide, Marai said.

Also, the NCPD has held many workshops to train and teach sign language for teachers in certain departments of the Ministry of Education to enable them to deal with deaf students, according to Marai.

Out of the belief of the importance of full inclusion of people with special needs in society and the labour market, the NCPD held several workshops for people with special needs, including one linked with the German Hans Seidel Foundation and other organisations to develop self-employment skills and teach how to manage small and medium-sized projects.

Another important step on this path is the newly passed legislative amendment that toughens penalties against bullying people with special needs, which was proposed by MP Mohamed Mustafa Al-Sallab and approved by parliament in October.

The new article states that those convicted of bullying a differently-abled person will be sentenced to one year in prison and fined from LE50,000 to LE100,000. According to Al-Sallab, if bullying is committed by one of the victims relatives, one of those responsible for his care or upbringing, or those who have authority over him, the penalty can be increased to up to two years in prison and the fine raised from between LE100,000 to LE200,000. If the action is repeated, the penalties can be doubled.

Lately, I have noticed an increase in cases of bullying people with special needs. Several videos of this kind have been disseminated on social media networks, a matter that really requires urgent legislative intervention to stop this phenomenon, Al-Sallab told Al-Ahram Weekly.

Although the tightening of penalties is important for the law to be more deterrent, no law can tackle on its own a phenomenon that often has societal reasons and aspects, Al-Sallab said, adding, its necessary to rely on other means such as awareness campaigns.

Norhan Al-Sheikh, a writer with special needs, said she notices the initiatives aimed at making the life of people with special needs better but added this will be all useless if they are still discriminated against by society in day-to-day interactions.

Our goal is not to put them in jail or to get compensation, but in fact we want respect and that the society itself treats us in an equal way.

Al-Sheikh called on employers to give people with special needs work-from-home jobs to make use of their capabilities.

She said obligating employers to include a certain percentage of their payroll to people with special needs should be enacted. I myself suffered a lot from this problem until I lost hope in being hired, Al-Sheikh told the Weekly.

It is necessary to work on the awareness of society against the unacceptable actions which contradict laws, human principles, and all international charters on human rights ratified by Egypt, Al-Sallab said.

Awareness is the responsibility of all the country, civil society, religious and educational institutions, and the media, MP Al-Sallab said. It is also necessary to raise awareness of the people with special needs themselves of their right to denounce this kind of inhumane action and defend their rights.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 16 December, 2021 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly.

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There have been few indications of preparations for next years Arab Summit in Algeria apart from among the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council, writes Hussein Haridy

In a period of rapid and uncertain regional changes, the Arab world is bracing for the next regular Arab Summit meeting in Algeria in March next year to see whether the decisions and positions of the Arab heads of state and government will translate into a common and practical vision for moving forwards and away from tedious resolutions that are almost always copied from precedents.

The list of inter-Arab and inter-regional changes is as varied as it is challenging. Needless to say, the secretariat of the Arab League is working on a proposed agenda and is drafting draft resolutions for the Arab Ministerial Meeting that precedes the summit. Once approved, these will be submitted to the summit meeting for approval.

The upcoming Arab Summit will take place as the decade since the 2011 Arab Spring comes to a close. This has been a difficult decade, and some would say that the outcome has not been easy to perceive in terms of inter-Arab relations. For example, will the Arab governments elaborate a common position on Syria? Or will their divisions persist?

Thus far, there are no indications that governments across the Arab world are working closely to prepare for the post-Arab Spring era with what this entails for inter-Arab relations and changes across the larger Middle East and in the international system in the light of the new realignment of forces between democracy and authoritarianism  in other words, between the West, divided as it is on specifics, and Russia and China.

However, there has been one unmistakable exception to this perception of a lack of preparation in the shape of the member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).

As part of a whirlwind tour, the crown-prince of Saudi Arabia visited all the member states of this regional organisation from 7 to 10 December in preparation for the summit meeting of the GCC that Saudi Arabia is hosting this week. The tour took him to Oman, the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain and finally Kuwait, in chronological order.

The declared objectives of the tour encompassed three major questions, namely inter-Gulf relations and how to advance the further consolidation of the GCC in the military cooperation, defence, economic and commercial fields and to coordinate the positions of its member countries with regard to Arab, regional and international questions.

Saudi Foreign Minister Sheikh Faisal Al-Farhan tweeted on 10 December that the tour aimed to stress the importance of Gulf solidarity, the promotion of economic cooperation among its member states, the coordination of Gulf positions regarding regional and international questions, and, most importantly in the point of view of this writer, the preparation for the Gulf Summit.

Whatever this summit adopts will, unsurprisingly, be the common denominator for the Gulf countries at the next Arab Summit meeting in Algeria. Differences among the GCC member states on, for example, how to deal with Iran and its nuclear programme, the war in Yemen, the Lebanese situation, and Syria will be papered over momentarily to reflect overarching Saudi positions.

There is nothing against coordination among the GCC states in the field of Arab politics, but the question is whether there will be a different approach by the other Arab countries so that the Arab Summit in Algeria will be a launching pad for forward-looking positions on how to deal with the uncertainties and expected changes in the Arab world in the post-Arab Spring era.

Going over the joint statements released after every stop of the Saudi crown-prince in the cities he visited on his tour last week, it is difficult to see any perceptible changes in the already known positions of the Saudi government concerning the most urgent and important questions that will be discussed at the Arab Summit.

Yet, if this is the case, then the Arab world will remain in the confines of the status quo, that is, in traditional positions that could have suited a certain era in Arab politics that is coming to an end, but that are no longer responsive to the strategic and political necessities of tomorrow.

For the next Arab Summit meeting to be really meaningful, there must be wider coordination among the Arab countries, including the GCC member states, on finding new solutions to old and persistent challenges. It goes without saying that such coordination is badly needed in the light of the not-so-secret talks going on between some Gulf countries and Iran as well as the recent contacts between some of these monarchies with both Turkey and Iran.

Another question that calls for a new approach is the Palestinian issue and Arab-Israeli relations. Since the last Arab Summit meeting two years ago, there have been radical changes in the equation thanks to the Abraham Accords inspired by former US president Donald Trump under which four Arab countries, two of them Gulf monarchies, have normalised their relations with Israel. These countries are the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan.

Thus far, the accords have not had any significant bearing on the prospects for peace in the Middle East, let alone the much-hoped for resumption of peace talks between the Palestinian Authority and Israel.

In the light of the above considerations, and in the absence, at least for now, of inter-Arab coordination on the conclusions of the Arab Summit next year, the chances of a summit meeting that will set the stage for new ideas and new approaches  in sum for a new departure in Arab relations with the surrounding strategic environment  are slim.

The summit meeting will convene as diplomatic relations between Algeria and Morocco remain severed, as Israel is deepening its relations and security presence in Morocco with the implications of this for security and stability in North Africa, and as the highly fluid domestic political situation in Tunisia, Libya and Sudan continues.

Egypt will stand to gain if it is able to work with all the Arab countries, and closely with Algeria as the host country of the summit meeting, to come up with a forward-looking Arab roadmap to the near and more distant future in the Middle East and North Africa region, as well as, no less importantly, with a roadmap setting out Arab relations with Israel and their linkage with the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and the larger question of Arab-Israeli peace including in Syria.

* The writer is former assistant foreign minister.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 16 December, 2021 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly.

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I have visited China twice. The first time was in the aftermath of the Asian economic crisis, after India and Pakistan conducted their first nuclear tests. These two earth-shattering events led the Al Ahram editor-in-chief to organise an investigatory tour to east and southeast Asia, taking in Pakistan, India, Singapore, Indonesia and, lastly, China. The second time was in 2002. Some months earlier, the US had invaded Afghanistan, bringing US troops next door to China. I had imagined that this would trouble Beijing, but to my surprise China appeared to almost welcome that development. Their thinking seemed to go: if the US wants to lighten the terrorist burden on us, so be it. The Chinese seemed to be allured by the proximity of US troops, given that the US mainland was out of reach.

My impression on my first visit was that China had not yet emerged from the Third World. To me Beijing in 1974 felt like Cairo. My second visit, which included Beijing, Shanghai and other cities in the south east, was another matter entirely. I had the impression then that China was on the threshold of superpower status. It was a huge industrial workshop during which I counted no less than 26 cranes in the space of less than one kilometre. Since then, Ive kept my eye on China.

While writing last weeks column, which was basically a critical analysis of Washingtons discourse on China as it prepares for its Democracy Summit, I did not imagine that Beijing would have the slightest interest in locking horns with the US over ideology. At most, I thought, China would respond with curt references to the principle of non-intervention in the domestic affairs of other states. As it turned out, it had much more to say. Rather than turning to the Red Book for which Mao Zedong supporters reached during the Cultural Revolution, it took an original initiative that might set in motion a global debate over the type of government system most effective in managing the affairs of humankind. For the first time, to my knowledge, China has unveiled a document on the ideological framework of the Chinese state, presenting it as a framework for success.

On 4 December, the Global Times, a publication of Chinas Peoples Daily newspaper group, announced that the State Council Information Office had released a white paper with the title China: Democracy that Works. Its philosophy is laid out in five chapters: Whole-Process Peoples Democracy Under CPC Leadership; A Sound Institutional Framework; Concrete and Pragmatic Practices; Democracy that Works; A New Model of Democracy

The general thrust of these chapters can be divided into two basic themes: a critique of the Western political and economic system as epitomised by the US, and a noble defence of the Chinese political and economic alternative resting its case on a comparison between the results and outputs of both systems.

The white paper does not reference conventional Marxist tenets about the distribution of surplus value and class conflict. It proceeds from a common ground and frame of reference: the shared value of democracy. However, in the Chinese view, there is not one type of democracy. Rather, it can be shaped by the particular circumstances of a country and must meet the test of efficacy in responding to the actual needs and aspirations of the people, a principle that is fundamental to the very concept.

The origins of the Chinese system are painful, but the point of the white paper is not so much to dwell on an unpleasant past but rather to stress that different environments and historical circumstances give rise to systems of government suited to these conditions. It reminds us of the evolution of the American model, which began as a democracy of slaveowners and an elite minority that only gradually expanded to realise the principle of One Person, One Vote.

Even then, due to social divisions and polarisations, ordinary people do not have the power to turn their votes into a mechanism to safeguard and promote their actual interests. Government is an abstract, disassociated from their day-to-day lives. Members of the US House of Representatives and Senate are constantly bickering and grandstanding while the federal government might totally ignore criticism and even rebuke the press (this is a reference to Trump and his harangues against the media). As result, even the press loses its ability to influence policy.

The white paper does mention some positive aspects of Western democracy, above all, the rule of law and the role of the justice system. However, it also sharply criticises the American experience for its inefficacy, after more than two centuries of excessive consumerism, at solving the most salient problems in the country. Democracy there has been hollowed out and reduced to the electoral rounds, and winning has become the highest aim of political parties and politicians. Moreover, to them, solving problems is increasingly viewed as uneconomical. It has now become smarter to pretend to solve problems and then berate political opponents for failing to address the issues and abusing the trust of voters.

Those politicians can make random promises for the sake of elections, but they seldom fulfil their promises after being elected. Superficially they accept voters supervision, but in fact as long as they are elected, the voters have no option but to wait for the next election. They are only awakened during voting but become dormant after voting, said Tian Peiyan, deputy director of the Policy Research Office of the CPC Central Committee, in a press conference on 4 December.

Efficacy and achievement are the main criteria informing the Chinese criticism of the American experience and the positive assessment of Chinas own. The facts speak for themselves, as they point out. A major test was the handling of the Covid-19 pandemic which has caused more than 700,000 deaths in the US. Yet, the federal government in Washington does not need to assume responsibility and, indeed, the president can shirk his duty to counter the anti-mask and anti-vax trends.

In sharp contrast to the American experience, the whole-process peoples democracy does, indeed, pose a challenge, especially on the basis of its ability to realise the highest possible prosperity for the people. As one official put it, it was designed democratically to address the problems of the real world, from poverty and air pollution to epidemics and energy shortages. China was the first country to be hit by the Covid-19 pandemic and it was the first country to emerge from the crisis by effectively organising the treatment of infections and, simultaneously, the research and development needed to produce vaccines.

In all events, the US-Chinese debate is on.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 16 December, 2021 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly.

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Elections are due to be held in Libya on 24 December, but with only a week left now it is likely that voting will be postponed. The High National Election Commission (HNEC), the body overseeing the vote, said on Saturday it was unable to announce the final approved candidates because of continued legal doubts.

Since the HNEC opened the door for candidates to run for presidential elections, the first ever in Libyan history, the process has been undermined by bitter divisions over the legal basis for the process, its dates and who should be allowed to run, with a string of controversial figures stepping forward.

After the Election Commissions announcement, the inevitable consequence of the latest procedural delay is the postponement of polling day. The first round of the presidential election cannot take place on December 24 because the candidates have the right to two weeks of official campaigning after the publication of the final list of candidates. To complicate matters further, the HNEC has not yet set a new date for issuing the final list.

Rules governing the ballot stipulate that the commission should publish the list of candidates two weeks after the relevant court rulings and appeals are resolved. On 2 December a Libyan court reinstated Seif Al-Islam Gaddafi, the son of Libyas 40-year ruler Muammar Al-Gaddafi, as a candidate. His candidacy was a key source of divisions among Libyans, and cast doubts that the upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections could help to heal the bitter divisions that have overtaken the country since Gaddafis forced removal in a popular revolt 10 years ago. On Sunday, the International Criminal Court again confirmed its request for the arrest of Seif Al-Islam for alleged war crimes he committed to suppress the revolt against his late father.

Yet, Seif Al-Islam was not the only divisive figure. Current Prime Minister Abdel-Hamid Debeiba, whose cabinet in Tripoli and is known for his close ties to Turkey, also caused controversy when he announced his candidacy since he had pledged not to run for the post as part of the arrangements that preceded his appointment as interim premier a year ago.

After nearly seven years of military confrontation between Tripolis government and the Eastern parts controlled by commander of Libyas army Khalifa Haftar, the decision by Haftar to run for president also angered his opponents in the West, who vowed that they would never accept him as president.

Elections for both president and parliament were meant, primarily, to restore the stability and territorial integrity of Libya. With the current, complicated differences over who has the right to run, the fear is that violence could easily flare up again, whether the elections are postponed or the victory of a given candidate ends up not being accepted by the vast majority of Libyans.

Yet, considering the renewed commitment by key regional and international parties involved in Libya, postponing elections for a short period of time should not necessarily lead to renewed fighting. The appointment of the dynamic former US diplomat, Stephanie Williams, as the UN secretary-generals special adviser on Libya could be a sign that the international community will continue to work on holding elections in Libya.

Williams was the key player behind the deal that allowed the creation of a new interim government in Tripoli to prepare the country for elections. There will never be a perfect deal to make all Libyans happy, but if all key world and regional players, the United States, Russia, Egypt, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, back up Williams in her difficult mission, there is a fair chance that elections will still be held.

The parliamentary elections, which were also due to be held on 24 December, according to the roadmap mediated by Williams a year ago, had already been postponed and are now scheduled for February. Considering that it has already been 10 years since Libya has practically been divided into two, if not three, parts, a delay that would allow both presidential and parliamentary elections to be held in February is not to be a bad arrangement. What matters is a clear commitment from all Libyan parties, especially candidates for the presidency, that they will accept the outcome and work with other parties to reunite the country.

Regional and world countries that maintain a military presence in Libya in order to support one rival faction against another must also pull out their troops from the oil-rich nation if Libyas future is to be stable. Claiming that Turkeys military presence, for example, was based on an agreement signed with an earlier Libyan government can no longer be sustained. The government in Tripoli with which Ankara signed a military agreement was never accepted by all Libyans, nor approved by its parliament. Thus, if Turkey is serious about helping Libya and maintaining its interests with any future government there, it must withdraw its troops and other mercenaries it brought in from Syria, mainly belonging to alleged terrorist organisations close to Al-Qaeda and ISIS.

Most important at present is that the overall momentum towards holding elections in Libya should not dissipate. The most immediate task among Libyan, international and UN officials is to agree on extending the mandate of the current interim government in order to fill the political vacuum, continue preparing for elections and prevent a return to civil war.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 16 December, 2021 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly.

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The Supreme Council of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) voiced its rejection of any 'act or measure that harms the Egyptian and Sudanese rights in the River Nile', urging a fair and binding solution to the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) file.

The remarks came in a final communique on Tuesday after the 42nd meeting of the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) summit held in Riyadh.

Egypt and Sudan have been negotiating with Ethiopia for a decade now to reach a comprehensive and legally binding agreement over GERD, which would secure their water interests and rights and end their related concerns over the impact of the dam on the quantity of water reaching the two countries.

Ethiopia, however, has resisted efforts to reach a binding GERD solution and enforced two phases of dam filling over the past two years unilaterally and against the will of the two downstream countries.

"The Supreme Council [of the GCC] affirmed that the water security of the Republic of the Sudan and the Arab Republic of Egypt is an integral part of the Arab national security," the communique read.

The GCC Supreme Council also reiterated suppot to all endeavours that contribute to resolving the GERD file while taking into account the interests of all parties.

The council called for the resumption of negotiations between the three parties to reach a fair and binding solution to the GERD issue in accordance with international laws and standards.

On Sunday, foreign ministers of Egypt and GCC countries held the first edition of the political consultation mechanism in Riyadh with the participation of the GCC's Secretary General Nayef bin Falah Al-Hajraf.

During the meeting, the GCC expressed its support for the Egyptian national security, including its water rights, stressing that Egypt plays a "pivotal" role in supporting security and stability in the region, Egypts foreign ministry stated on Sunday.

The outcome of the joint ministerial meeting held in Riyadh between the GCC and Egypt will contribute to fostering their relations in all fields, the Supreme Council affirmed, according to the communique.

The council reiterated support to Egypt's security and stability, hailing the country's role in enhancing the Arab national security as well as security and peace in the region.

The council also hailed Egypt's efforts to counter terrorism and enhance development and prosperity for the Egyptian people.

The GCC summit covered a number of topics in the region, including the Palestinian cause, tensions with Iran, the war in Yemen, the crisis in Syria, and stability in Lebanon, besides counterterrorism efforts, according to the communique.

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Egyptian and Cypriot officials discussed on Tuesday a number of potential joint projects, including a power grid venture to exchange electricity between the two countries.

The discussions were held in a meeting in Nicosia on Tuesday between Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades.

In October, Egypt, which is looking to become a regional energy hub, and Cyprus signed a memorandum of understanding on power linkage. The step was followed by a three-way MoU on power connectivity that also included Greece to establish power pipelines linking Africa with Europe.

Egypt, Cyprus, and Greece are part of the East Mediterranean Gas Forum (EMGF), a Cairo-based international organisation that aims to establish a regional gas market in the Eastern Mediterranean and enhance trade relations among member states. The three countries recently held their ninth trilateral summit focusing on energy and boosting trilateral cooperation.

During his meeting with Shoukry on Tuesday, Cypriot President Anastasiades expressed his country's interest in furthering cooperation with Egypt and putting the proposed ventures into practice.

Shoukry congratulated the Cypriot side on assuming the presidency of the EMGF from Egypt at the beginning of 2022, a statement by the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said. He also underscored the significant role the forum plays in supporting regional cooperation in energy.

The meeting also addressed other projects, including in transport and agricultural, and ways to promote cooperation in investment and trade exchange.

The two countries established in September the higher Egyptian-Cypriot committee to push forward economic and political cooperation.

Shoukry also met separately with his Cypriot counterpart, Nikos Christodoulides, during which they signed an MoU for the exchange of training programs between the two sides.

They discussed issues of mutual concern, including developments in the Palestinian cause, Libya, and Syria, and highlighted the necessity of maintaining stability in the Middle East.

Shoukry stressed the need for cooperation to face climate change and Egypt's aspiration for joint work to make the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27), scheduled for 2022 in Egypt, a success.

They tackled cooperation in health, energy, agriculture, transportation, culture, and consular topics, as well as the investments and trade exchange between the two countries, the Foreign Ministry's statement added.

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A delegation of US congressional aides visiting Cairo has expressed aspiration for cooperation with Egypt at bilateral levels and through international events to support regional security, stability, and peace efforts.

The delegation made the remarks in a meeting on Monday with Heba Zaki, Egypt's assitant foreign minister for North America affairs.

During the meeting, Zaki and the congressional delegation addressed Egypt's vision toward the most prominent regional and international issues of mutual concern, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.

The meeting also addressed Egypt's comprehensive vision on the human rights field and couterterrorism effforts, as well as nonproliferation topics and the developments regarding the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) file.

Washinton has reapeatedly voiced support to a negotiated deal on the decade-long GERD dispute between Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia that will address the interest of all parties including Egypt's water needs.

In a phone call in May, US President Joe Biden told Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi that the US understands the extreme importance of the GERD issue to the Egyptian people, indicating that more efforts will be exerted to ensure Egypt's water security.

During Monday's meeting, Zaki and the congressional aides also discussed issues of environment and climate change as well as Egypt's planned hosting of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP27) in 2022.

The meeting reviewed Egypt's efforts in the Arab region and the active Egyptian efforts alongside the African countries within the framework of the African Union.

The congressional delegation voiced appreciation of Egypt's role in achieving stability in the Arab and African region.

In November, Washington hosted the US-Egypt Strategic Dialogue between Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and Secretary of State Antony Blinken for the first time since 2015.

Shoukry and Blinken discussed deepening bilateral and regional cooperation in fields including human rights, defence and security, justice and law enforcement, economy, education, culture, and consular affairs.

The top diplomats also agreed on the need for holding the US-Egypt Strategic Dialogue on a regular basis, according to a joint statement.

During the dialogue, the US welcomed Egypts launch of its National Human Rights Strategy in September and national plans to advance human rights in cooperation with civil society.

The two sides agreed to continue dialogue on human rights, according to the statement.

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AstraZeneca has signed a procurement agreement with the Egyptian Authority for Unified Procurement, Medical Supply, and Technology Management (UPA) for the recently authorized long-acting antibody (LAAB) combination, Evusheld, a statement by the company announced on Monday.

AstraZenecas Evusheld, which is a combination of two monoclonal antibodies, tixagevimab and cilgavimab, was granted the first emergency use authorization by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on 8 December.

Evusheld is for the pre-exposure prevention of COVID-19 in certain adults and pediatric individuals aged 12 and above and weighing at least 40 kg, according to the FDA.

The agreement makes Egypt the second country in the Middle East, and one of the first in the world to acquire Evusheld for immunocompromised patients, the company's statement added.

"Today's [Monday] signing highlights our unwavering commitment to delivering uninterrupted, innovative medical solutions to Egypt and the Middle East region We are proud to join the Egyptian Ministry of Health and Population in stepping up the fight against COVID-19 by supporting the unmet needs of vulnerable patient and ensuring all Egyptians can be protected from the virus," Dr. Hatem El-Werdany, CEO of AstraZeneca International in Egypt, said.

The AstraZenecas statement said that the product is intended to protect vulnerable populations who may be unable to mount an adequate immune response following COVID-19 vaccination, and to help prevent progression to severe disease if individuals do become infected.

According to the FDA, one dose of Evusheld, administered as two separate consecutive intramuscular injections in immediate succession, can provide protection for up to six months.

While vaccines work by inducing healthy immune systems to generate the necessary antibodies, Evusheld depends on providing the body with lab-made antibodies that will protect it from infection.

Pre-exposure prevention with Evusheld, however, is not a substitute for vaccination in individuals for whom COVID-19 vaccination is recommended, the FDA noted.

The FDAs emergency use authorization of the Evusheld earlier in December comes after positive results from two phase 3 trials, where AstraZenecas drug was able to reduce the risk of symptomatic COVID-19 by 83% compared to placebo over six months in one of the trials.

Evusheld is not the first AstraZeneca product Egypt has acquired, as the country has received tens of millions of AstaZeneca COVID-19 vaccine over the course of the last two years which contributed to providing the citizens with more than 45 million doses of different vaccines.

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Gunmen linked to eastern Libya exchanged artillery and small arms fire overnight with forces in the main southern city of Sebha, authorities and Libyan media said Tuesday.

The clashes come a week before the war-torn North African country is due to hold a presidential election that observers fear could trigger a return to conflict after a year-long ceasefire.

"A militia armed with heavy weaponry and armoured vehicles, stole 11 four-wheel-drive vehicles from Sebha in an armed robbery," Sebha's police force said.

It identified the attackers as members of a group commanded by Mabruk Sahban and affiliated with Haftar, who is a candidate in the December 24 polls and whose forces control much of Libya's south.

The stolen vehicles had been sent to Sabha by the interior ministry in Tripoli to help secure the election, the police statement said.

Sahban's forces had attacked a police convoy and forced officers to drive the vehicles to Brak airbase, south of Sebha, it added.

Sebha security forces and pro-Haftar gunmen later clashed in central Sabha, local media reported.

Footage online apparently showed night-time clashes with small arms in the city centre.

There was no immediate report of casualties.

The Sebha police department said the attack aimed to destabilise the country's southern provinces.

Haftar had in 2019 seized much of southern Libya including oil infrastructure, military sites and the southwestern city of Sebha, before launching a blistering assault on capital Tripoli, 650 kilometres (400 miles) to the north.

Western Libyan forces pushed him back to his eastern stronghold a year later, but he retained an armed presence in the south.

A ceasefire formally signed in October 2020 paved the way for a UN-led political process to bring in an interim unity government tasked with leading Libya until the elections -- in which Haftar is a candidate.

Libya has been attempting to extract itself from a decade of conflict since the 2011 revolt that toppled and killed dictator Moamer Gaddafi.

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Human Rights Watch accused Israeli police on Tuesday of using "excessive force" against Arab protesters in the mixed city of Lod during May unrest, while treating Jewish rioters more favorably.

The violence in Lod, in central Israel, came as tensions surged in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem, where Palestinian protesters facing eviction clashed with security forces, and fighting flared between Israel occupation troops and Hamas.

The rioting in Lod between May 10 and May 14 was carried out by both Arab and Jewish residents, according to multiple officials and witnesses, with both Jewish and Muslim places of worship vandalised.

But HRW said: "The police appeared to act half-heartedly and unevenly to violence against Palestinian citizens of Israel committed by Jewish ultra-nationalists."

The group's report cited instances where police "failed to act in a timely manner to protect Palestinian residents of Lod" from violent Jewish groups.

It also cited instances in which "Israeli law enforcement agencies used excessive force to disperse peaceful protests by Palestinians."

Israeli police rejected allegations of unfair treatment, telling AFP that officers "worked day and night during the riots that took place in Lod last May to restore peace and security for the inhabitants of the city".

Investigations and arrests linked to the unrest were carried out "regardless of the religion or identity of the perpetrators," a police spokesperson said.

Human Rights Watch has accused Israel of committing crimes of apartheid against Palestinians in Gaza, the occupied West Bank and inside Israel.

Israel firmly rejects those allegations and accuses the group of having a bias against the Jewish state.

HRW's Israel and Palestine director, Omar Shakir, was expelled by Israel in 2019 over allegations that he previously supported the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, which seeks to isolate Israel over what it calls the mistreatment of Palestinians.

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The Pentagon said Monday that no US troops or officials would face disciplinary action for a drone strike in Kabul in August that killed 10 Afghan civilians, including seven children.

Spokesman John Kirby said Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin had received a high-level review of the strike that made no recommendation of accountability.

"There was not a strong enough case to be made for personal accountability," Kirby said.

Aimal Ahmadi, 32, who lost his three-year-old daughter, his brother and six nephews and nieces in the strike, expressed anger at the decision on Tuesday.

"God will take revenge," Ahmadi said, adding "what if the US had lost a child? What would the reaction have been?"

The Taliban urged Washington to reverse the decision, with a spokesman saying the US should punish the culprits and compensate the victims".

The August 29 drone strike took place in the final days of the US-led evacuation of Kabul after the Taliban seized control of the country.

US officials said they had intelligence of a possible Islamic State attack on the evacuation operations at Kabul airport, and launched a missile from a drone at a target that was thought to be a car laden with munitions.

In fact, they struck a family that included an Afghan man who worked for a US aid group and seven children.

In early November, an initial report carried out by the US Air Force inspector general, Lieutenant General Sami Said, called the strike tragic, but "an honest mistake."

The review by Central Command head General Kenneth McKenzie Jr. and Special Operations Command chief General Richard Clarke made use of Said's report and detailed recommendations on procedures for future drone strikes.

But it made no call for anyone to be punished for the mistake.

"What we saw here was a breakdown in process, in execution and procedural events, not the result of negligence, not the result of misconduct, not the result of poor leadership," said Kirby.

If Austin "believed... that accountability was warranted, he would certainly support those kinds of efforts," Kirby added.

Compensation payments

The strike killed Zemari Ahmadi, an employee of US-based Nutrition and Education International, and nine members of his family.

Last month, NEI founder and president Steve Kwon called the Pentagon's investigation into the incident "deeply disappointing and inadequate."

The Pentagon promised to pay compensation and also to help relocate family members and Afghans working for NEI overseas, but that remains stuck on determining just who qualifies, according to officials.

Kirby said they are still discussing arrangements with Kwon.

"We are working very hard with him and his organization to effect the relocation of the family members," Kirby said.

"We want to make sure we do it in the most safe and responsible way, so that we know it's getting to the right people and only to the right people."

Afghanistan's Taliban government Tuesday urged the US to reverse its decision not to punish personnel.

"If there is any justice and regard for human rights and respect for human dignity, then it's their responsibility to punish the culprits and compensate the victims," said spokesman Bilal Karimi.

Kirby refused to comment on a New York Times story Monday that detailed a secret US military unit that launched drone strikes on Islamic State targets in Syria and had a callous attitude toward civilian deaths.

"We take issues of civilian harm very seriously," Kirby said.

"And when we don't get it right, we want those mistakes investigated."

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At least 62 people were killed when a gas tanker truck exploded in the Haitian city of Cap-Haitien on Tuesday morning, a local official said, with overwhelmed medics saying the toll was set to rise.

The blast is the latest disaster to hit the poverty-wracked Caribbean nation, riven by gang violence, political paralysis, and acute fuel shortages.

Related Desperate Haitians suffocate under growing power of gangs

"We have now counted 62 deaths," Deputy Mayor Patrick Almonor said, adding that authorities were still searching for victims amid the charred debris in Cap-Haitien, Haiti's second-largest city located on the northern coast.

Almonor earlier described a horrific scene at the blast site, saying he had seen more than 50 people "burned alive" and that it was "impossible to identify them."

Scores of people were injured, and Prime Minister Ariel Henry said he was heading to the scene along with extra doctors and health workers.

According to Almonor, the truck is believed to have flipped over after the driver lost control while swerving to avoid a motorcycle taxi.

Fuel spilled onto the road and pedestrians apparently rushed to collect the tanker's gas, a precious commodity as Haiti grapples with a severe fuel shortage caused by the tightening grip of criminal gangs on the capital Port-au-Prince.

Almonor said around 40 houses in the area were also set ablaze, but that no details were yet available on possible victim numbers inside the homes.

Nearby Justinien University Hospital was overwhelmed with patients as the injured were transported to the facility.

"We don't have the ability to treat the number of seriously burned people," a nurse told AFP.

"I'm afraid we won't be able to save them all," she said.

A doctor at the hospital told local radio station Magik9 that two people had died there and that 40 other patients were seriously injured.

"The people are burned on more than 60 percent of their body," he said.

Prime Minister Henry said in a tweet he would visit the injured and "take this opportunity to express my solidarity with the grieving families."

He earlier promised field hospitals would be rapidly deployed to help care for the blast victims.

Henry -- who has led the country since July after president Jovenel Moise was assassinated in a still-mysterious plot -- declared a period of national mourning following the explosion.

National Fuel Crisis

Haiti has never produced enough electricity to meet the needs of its population. Even in well-off parts of the capital, the state-run Haiti electric utility only provides, at most, a few hours of power a day.

Those who can afford it rely on pricey generators, which are no help in the face of the fuel shortage caused by gangs blocking access to the country's oil terminals in the capital and its outskirts.

In recent months, more than a dozen vehicles transporting fuel have been attacked by gangs demanding ransoms for the drivers' release.

Demonstrators took the streets as recently as Monday protesting the rise in gasoline prices.

The lack of fuel is also hitting water access, in a country where many people rely on private companies to deliver water by truck to at-home systems.

And with no guarantee of steady power or water supply, health care providers have been forced to drastically cut back their services.

Chronically-unstable Haiti was also plunged into a new political crisis with the assassination of president Moise.

Four senior Haitian law enforcement officials have been detained and several dozen arrested in connection with the investigation. But five months after the assassination, doubts remain over who ordered the attack.

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Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid was in Cairo on an official visit on Thursday during which he met President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi and Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukri. Before arriving in Cairo, Lapid tweeted, strengthening and deepening Israeli-Egyptian relations in political, security and economic realms is in the vital interests of Israel.

Cairo has no problems developing relations with Israel in principle, as can be seen by the exchange of visits between the two sides. Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett met President Al-Sisi in Sharm El-Sheikh three months ago, which paved the way for a historic amendment to the Egyptian-Israeli peace accord, permitting an increase in the number of Egyptian forces and their level of equipment along the borders in the Sinai. The result was a qualitative forward step in Egypts deployment and logistics capacities and a boost for Egyptian national security.

However, to Cairo, the most crucial consideration in these meetings is making progress on the Palestinian question. This is a priority in Egyptian foreign policy in general and in this bilateral relationship, in particular. The statement released by the Egyptian presidency upon Lapids visit made a point of alluding to the framework of international legitimacy governing the peace process that Egypt hopes to revive as soon as possible on the basis of the two-state solution. The Foreign Ministry similarly stated that Cairo will continue its efforts and communications with all parties to create a climate conducive to reviving the desired political process. Lapid, however, touted the formula of the Israeli right: economy for security. Egypt has long since made clear that this is not a recipe for a durable solution and it has consistently condemned Israeli settlement expansion policies that obstruct the realisation of a viable peace (on the eve of Lapids visit, Israel announced a decision to advance plans for the creation of a Jewish neighbourhood called Givat Shaked, to be located in an area in East Jerusalem that was at the centre of an international controversy over a quarter of a century ago).

Also on the agenda in Cairo was the question of Gazas reconstruction. Before Lapids visit, news sources in Gaza cited claims attributed to unidentified leaders in Hamas that Cairo was to blame for delaying reconstruction operations. In fact, a couple of days after Lapids visit, Cairo inaugurated the second phase of the reconstruction in a conference, in Gaza, attended by numerous Palestinian governmental and political delegations. The Egyptian Committee for Gaza Reconstruction stated, The reconstruction projects are carried out in accordance with the instructions of President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi. The Egyptian engineering teams working to rebuild the destroyed areas have opened opportunities for local Palestinian firms to take part in the reconstruction.

If there is a link between Lapids visit and the beginning of the second phase of reconstruction, it is Cairos determination to forestall renewed escalation between the Palestinian factions in Gaza and Israel. President Al-Sisi stressed this point in his meeting with Lapid, saying that Egypt is sustaining its efforts to prevent a resurgence of tensions between the Palestinians and Israelis. In other words, Egypts actions, as evidenced in the Gaza conference, are designed to keep both sides on track with the ceasefire that Cairo brokered to end the fourth Gaza war.

Lapid had first announced his two-phased plan for Gaza in September, according to the Times of Israel. The first stage would entail rehabilitating infrastructure in the Strip in exchange for tight international oversight  as well as quiet from Hamas. In the second stage of Lapids plan, the two sides would see the realisation of more ambitious projects. An artificial island would be built off the coast of the enclave  a long-proposed plan to see a port built in Gaza  and the West Bank and Gaza would be linked by infrastructure projects, the newspaper reported.

Also during his visit, Lapid presented his countrys view on the Iranian question which takes priority with Israel. He said that Israel was preparing a military strike against Iran, a plan that Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz presented to US officials during his visit to Washington over the weekend. The recently resumed negotiations in Vienna, which have entered a seventh round, have yet to make significant progress toward reviving the nuclear agreement between Iran and the P5+1 (the US, UK, France, China, Russia and Germany). Israel seems set on another military strike regardless of the prospects of a renewed deal and it appears that Cairo does not approve of this approach. The Egyptian statement merely noted that the discussions dealt with developments on the regional and international arenas. Analysts here say that Egypt does not want a new regional war and that Cairos calculations on the Iranian question do not match Israels.

As a gesture to demonstrate Israels desire to strengthen bilateral ties with Egypt, the foreign minister returned 95 ancient Egyptian artefacts that had been smuggled into Israel and seized by Israeli authorities in 2013. The items include fragments of hieroglyphic tablets, a part of a wooden sarcophagus with Pharaonic inscriptions, papyri, and figurines of ancient Egyptian deities. Four of the artefacts were confiscated from a smuggler by Israeli customs, while 91 others were seized from an antiques dealer in Jerusalem. The Israeli government and Israeli antiquities authority decided to return the items to Egypt as a gesture of goodwill, an Israeli Foreign Ministry statement said, adding that Israeli authorities are interested in working in concert with the Egyptian authorities to protect archaeological treasures that belong to humanitys culture.

Israeli reports said that Lapid also broached the question of an Egyptian-mediated prisoner swap. Israel seeks the return of Israeli POWs or soldiers bodies held by Hamas which, in return, seeks the release of Palestinian leaders in Israeli jails. The available sources mention no news of progress on this file.

Egyptian-Israeli relations continue in their customary bilateral framework as laid out in the peace treaty between them. From recent developments it appears that Israel wants to introduce a dynamic that would attune this relationship to the Abraham Accords which is Israels new map for charting its way in the Middle East. Cairo believes that its current map best serves its strategic purposes.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 16 December, 2021 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly.

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The Egyptian and Russian navies concluded joint Bridge of Friendship drills on Saturday 11 December.

A statement by the Egyptian army said the joint training came as part of the distinguished relations between Egypt and Russia, with the aim of enhancing cooperation and exchanging experiences between the armed forces of both countries.

The statement said the training started with a reception ceremony for the Russian forces participating in the drills which were conducted at the Alexandria naval base of Ras Al-Tin. A number of naval units, frigates, rocket launchers, auxiliary supply ships and divisions of the special navy forces from both sides took part in the drill, according to the statement.

The final stage of the drill was attended by commander of the Egyptian Naval Forces Vice Admiral Ahmed Khaled, Deputy Commander of the Black Sea Fleet Vice Admiral Arkady Romanov, the Russian ambassador in Cairo, and military commanders from the two countries.

The joint military drills between Egypt and Russia were not the first. The two countries kicked off their first Bridge of Friendship naval drill in 2015. Since then there have been joint military exercises between the armies of the two countries every year. In 2021 the two armies conducted two military exercises, the first  the Protectors of Friendship 5  was in October. The second, the Bridge of Friendship, was between the navies of Egypt and Russia last week.

General Mohamed Zaki, Egypts commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces and Minister of Defence and Military Production, and his Russian counterpart Sergey Shoygu signed a cooperation protocol that took Egyptian-Russian military relations to new heights. Zaki said Egypt wishes to take military cooperation with Russia to a new level, and the progress in our military cooperation achieved over a short period of time confirms that we are on the right track. We greatly desire to continue boosting military cooperation between our two countries in all directions, and in the spirit of mutual trust between us.

Shoygu said the growing military relations between Moscow and Cairo reflect the strong friendship and the mutual trust between the leaders of the two countries Vladimir Putin and Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi. He said the cooperation protocol means stronger military bonds between Egypt and Russia in military exercises and modern armaments.

Presidents Putin and Al-Sisi talked by phone a month ago in which they discussed means of boosting Egyptian-Russian military, economic, business, industrial and energy cooperation.

Presidential Spokesman Bassam Radi said the two presidents tackled the importance of military relations between their countries, as well as the latest developments regarding the Dabaa nuclear power plant, Egypts first nuclear plant, near Marsa Matrouh, east of Alexandria.

The plant, which is being implemented by the Russian nuclear energy corporation Rosatom under an agreement signed between Egypt and Russia in 2015, is expected to begin producing power in 2028.

Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouli said the Dabaa project reflects the current strong and strategic relations between Egypt and Russia. Egypt and Russia now have strategic relations and these reflect the political coordination between the two countries at the highest levels, Madbouli said.

Madboulis statement came on the heels of the Egyptian-Russian Nuclear Forum which concluded on 7 December. Madbouli said Russia has always been a reliable partner to Egypt. When the Soviet Union was there, Russia helped Egypt build its first nuclear reactor in Anshas in the 1960s, adding that it seems that history repeats itself as Egypts political leadership decided to choose Russia again to take charge of building the countrys new national project  Dabaa nuclear plant  the first of its kind for generating electric power.

Madbouli said nuclear power is a major source of clean energy that is free from carbon emissions which cause pollution on a wide scale. It is part of our long-term development plan to resort to nuclear power and other clean energy sources, and we believe that Russia is the best partner in this respect because of its high experience and skill in this field, Madbouli said.

Anatoly Kovtunov, the director of the construction of Dabaa, confirmed that work on the plant is progressing. Despite the coronavirus pandemic, work on Dabaa has never stopped, and the plants first reactor will go into operation in 2028 as scheduled.

Grigory Sonsnin, director-general of the Dabaa nuclear plant project, indicated that the four nuclear reactors which form Dabaa plant will be of the third generation, considered the latest, best, and safest in the world and in line with the most up-to-date international standards.

Sonsnin said the Dabaa will be the cornerstone of strategic relations between Egypt and Russia for many years to come. This project, which aims to improve the standards of living in Egypt, will be as historical as the High Dam which Russia helped Egypt build in the 1960s, Sonsnin said.

Minister of Electricity Mohamed Shaker said the Dabaa project will take Egyptian-Russian relations to new heights, and that it will mean a lot for development in Egypt as not only will it reinforce the countrys clean energy potential but will contribute to improving the level of Egyptian industry.

Shaker said the objective of the Egyptian-Russian Nuclear Forum was to review progress in implementing the Dabaa. There is close coordination between Egypts Authority of Nuclear Power Stations and the Rosatom corporation to remove obstacles that might stand in the way of implementing the national project of the Dabaa, Shaker said.

Kovtunov said the Dabaa currently provides jobs to 1,000 workers  Egyptians and Russians  and that by the end of 2022, the total number of workers at the plant will reach 5,000, and that by 2028 the project will generate 30,000 job opportunities, 70 per cent of whom are Egyptians.

The phone call between Al-Sisi and Putin last month also saw the two leaders exchanging views on the latest developments concerning the establishment of the Russian industrial zone in eastern Port Said.

In July, Russian authorities and Egypts Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZone) signed a preliminary agreement to expand the Russian industrial zone in the Suez Canal.

The Russian zone, under the agreement, will be extended to eastern Port Said and Ain Sokhna over an area of five million square metres.

Russias First Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Vasily Osmakov said at a Russian trade forum this week that Russia will start financing the construction of its Russian Zone (RIZ) next year. Construction was originally expected to begin in 2020 but was delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic. But we are serious that construction will begin in 2022.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 16 December, 2021 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly.

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Two years ago, NI Capital, a leading Egyptian financial services company, began the initial public offering (IPO) of Egypts national charitable education fund.

The fund, named the Education for Life Fund, is modelled after Islamic charitable endowments, or wawf, Ghada El-Nashar, its executive director, told Al-Ahram Weekly, adding that it is a national, non-profit fund that aims at the sustainable development of education in Egypt.

With subscriptions worth LE100 million by banks, companies, and leading businessmen, it kickstarted its work in 2021.

The subscribers are investors and partners in the development of education, El-Nashar said, explaining that investments in the fund remain in the names of their owners, though they relinquish returns either forever or for a specific period of time, with these being invested in projects in the education sector.

NI Capital manages the investment, and the funds operations are supervised by the Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority (EFSA).

Many projects start strong and then falter because of the sustainability of financing. But the new fund tries to overcome this by relying solely on revenues and keeping the seed money intact while being invested for further returns, El-Nashar said.

The fund targets the upgrading of all aspects of education from school premises to curricula. It can build new schools and revamp run-down ones and provide for shortages in school furniture, equipment, or educational tools. It can also train teachers, buy copyrights, and fund scholarships for excelling students. It can support schools for special-needs students.

Focus in its first year of operations has been on technical schools and vocational training. There are 2,500 technical schools affiliated to the Ministry of Education and Technical Education in Egypt covering various specialisations, with technical education being a substitute for the high-school diploma the Thanaweya Amma. Students enrol in technical education after the ninth grade.

The schools include training in trade, agriculture, industry, and hospitality. The fund is upgrading three of these schools in the tracks of the Applied Technology Schools (ATS) already implemented by the Ministry of Education in cooperation with the private sector. These schools focus on training qualified technicians in various specialisations.

One of the schools overseen by the fund is the ElectroMisr School, which is being developed with Schneider Electric Egypt and the European Institute for Cooperation and Development (IECD).

Two more agriculture-centred vocational training schools are being developed by the fund in Minya, one in partnership with Nahr Al-Khair for Development and Agricultural Investment and Environmental Services, an Egyptian company. The other is being revamped in partnership with the Al-Anani Foundation for Development, the development arm of the Daqahliya Agricultural Group.

The ATS schools are designed to address the skills gap in Egypt, El-Nashar said, explaining that they seek to find out what the private sector needs in terms of graduates and then design the curriculum accordingly.

Investors provide the equipment in the schools and give the students the opportunity to train at factory premises, while the fund usually finances the academic partner, explained El-Nashar. The Ministry of Education provides the premises and covers running costs, she added.

The academic partner runs the schools alongside managers from the Ministry of Education. The school team is interviewed by the academic partner to make sure it will be able to work within the new system. If found unsuitable, its members are retrained or transferred to another school working under the old system. More teachers are hired if needed.

The academic partner also provides the international accreditation for certificates earned by students, thus enabling them to work around the world. This also helps to prevent illegal migration, since instead of travelling illegally, graduates can apply for decent jobs with their certificates, El-Nashar said.

The fund also aims to empower girls through its work with technical schools, she said. Girls are accepted in all specialisations, she noted, pointing out that they are already enrolled in ATS schools for construction services and automobiles, areas often viewed as solely for men.

Cultural skills are tackled in the schools, El-Nashar said, through their teaching students not merely technical skills, but also discipline and precision.

The model has proven its efficiency in schools implemented previously by the Ministry of Education with other private-sector partners, including ones specialising in jewelry, telecommunications, retail, automobiles, construction, and home appliances. Students are clamouring to enter these successful schools, noted El-Nashar, because they can land jobs in factories owned by private investors or be recruited quickly by other factories looking for skilled labour.

The students also have the option to enroll in Egypts newly created vocational technology universities, she added. The government plans to create eight of these, three of which are already operational and five are in the making. Another option is for students to apply to the Egyptian Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises Development Agency (MSMEDA) for financing to set up their own projects.

El-Nashar said the fund plans to expand its activities through more fundraising in the future. Among its priorities will be developing digital educational platforms, which can represent huge investments in technology and content. The fund also plans to pay greater attention to nursing education, given that the Covid-19 pandemic has proved that Egypt suffers from a shortage of nursing staff, she said.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 16 December, 2021 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly.

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Chair of the Chamber of Engineering Industries at the Federation of Egyptian Industries Mohamed Al-Mohandess explains what Egypt is doing to advance the localisation of its engineering industry to Al-Ahram Weekly.

Egypts industrial sector is increasing the percentage of local components used in final products, with engineering industries succeeding in localising between 50 per cent and 70 per cent of their components over the past five years, said Mohamed Al-Mohandess, chair of the Chamber of Engineering Industries at the Federation of Egyptian Industries, in an interview with Al-Ahram Weekly.

Restrictions associated with the Covid-19 pandemic had turned out to be a blessing in disguise, Al-Mohandess said, adding that they had encouraged the engineering industries to rely on local components, pinpoint deficiencies in the sector, resolve associated challenges, and benefit from the experiences of leading industrial countries sharing similar conditions.

Egypts engineering exports in the first nine months of 2021 grew by 43 per cent to record $2.28 billion, up from $1.59 billion in the same period of 2020, according to Egypts Engineering Export Council.

Localising industry contributes to increasing employment, raising exports, relieving pressure on foreign currency holdings, and reducing imports, Al-Mohandess said. The improvements have been felt particularly in household appliances, and there is still a way to go in increasing the percentage of local components used in heavy industry, currently standing at less than 40 per cent.

The localisation had been done in collaboration between the government and the private sector, Al-Mohandess said. The government has targeted increasing Egypts non-petroleum exports to $100 billion a year over the coming five years while raising the percentage of local components used in industry, he added.

People can see for themselves the improvements in the engineering industries through the increased availability of high-quality household appliances that can easily compete with imported products, Al-Mohandess said.

Egypt adopted European import standards in September to ensure the quality of imported products and protect Egyptian factories from competing with low-quality products at cheap prices, he added.

The step is critical to protecting and developing local industry, Al-Mohandess said, adding that cheap and low-quality imported products are harmful to Egyptian industry and consumers.

The improvements in the engineering industries sector have been reflected in the increase in the membership of the Chamber of Engineering Industries from 4,000 to 12,000 members over the past four years, he said.

Al-Mohandess did not reveal the number of factories that had stopped production during the Covid-19 pandemic, but he said the chamber was conducting field visits to identify problems. The main challenges are financial or technical. Some have to do with an inability to develop or buy new equipment. We try to solve these problems, especially those of smaller companies founded by younger people, he added.

The banking sector is a partner of the industrial sector, and we sit together with the banks to explain and resolve any problems that arise with the ultimate aim of growing the Egyptian economy, Al-Mohandess said, urging the banks to look into each case individually and to take into consideration the impacts of the pandemic on the local and global economy.

Regarding the initiative to manufacture electronic equipment in Egypt that was launched in 2018, Al-Mohandess said that the field was important yet complicated and the country has some way to go in it.

People have got used to importing electronic products, but today we are manufacturing them. This is a difficult phase that requires a lot of time and effort and needs to benefit from others experiences, he said.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 16 December, 2021 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly.

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Iraq will finish paying compensation to Kuwait for Saddams invasion of the country in January, but a lot remains to be seen if that will heal the wounds of history, writes Salah Nasrawi

One major milestone in Iraqs efforts to shed the yoke of the UN sanctions imposed after former Iraqi dictator Saddam Husseins invasion of Kuwait in 1990 comes next month, when Iraq should pay the last dollar of war reparations to its southern neighbour.

Under UN Security Council Resolution 1958 of 2010, Iraq is required to pay five per cent of its oil income to Kuwait in reparations stemming from the invasion. The money is deposited in a US Federal Reserve account and automatically transmitted to a compensation fund run by the UN.

Iraqs Central Bank announced on 9 December that it has reached an agreement with the Federal Reserve to terminate the account, opened to channel deductions from its revenues from oil exports to the neighbouring emirate.

When the account is closed, Iraq should be declared in full compliance with the UN Security Council Resolutions related to the invasion, and the world body should clear the country from the burdens of the punitive measures that have outlasted Saddam.

Abdul-Bassit Turki, the senior Iraqi official in charge of a government committee coordinating with the UN, said Iraqs Central Bank would pay the full amount of the remaining compensation before the end of 2021 to end the matter.

Once everything has been paid, the UN should act immediately to terminate the sanctions, Turki told the London-based Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper on Thursday. He said Iraqs Foreign Ministry should call for a UN Security Council meeting to draft a new resolution removing the punitive measures against Iraq under Article VII of the UN Charter.

Baghdad has paid around $52 billion in reparations to Kuwait over the last three decades. The amount was decided to pay claims against Iraq submitted on behalf of Kuwaiti individuals, corporations and government for damage arising directly from Iraqs invasion and occupation of the oil-rich emirate.

In theory, the final payment of the reparations to Kuwait will turn an important page in Iraqs troubled history. The measure closes a painful chapter that rather than punishing Saddam in fact penalised the Iraqi people.

After the US-led invasion on Iraq in 2003, the UN lifted most of the crippling sanctions against the country. In 2015, the UN Security Council eased the embargo against Iraq, but left the Kuwait reparations and other measures related to stolen property and missing Kuwaiti persons under Article VII of the UN Charter to be resolved by diplomatic means.

After more than 31 years of punitive measures put in place under the UN Resolutions, Iraq should soon now clear the way to have full sovereignty over its oil revenues. But it is not yet clear how the Security Council will act to relieve Iraq from its other obligations towards Kuwait and eventually help the two nations to turn away from the invasions legacy.

Taking a broader view, the UN Resolutions relevant to Iraqs invasion of Kuwait have had major regional implications as the world powers have continued to use the issue to shape a new regional system or force adjustments to the current one in order to advance various interests and preferences.

One of the mechanisms created by the Security Council is UNAMI, or the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq, which was given a broad mandate including ensuring Iraqs compliance with resolutions related to Kuwait.

Subsequent resolutions since 2003 have given UNAMI the power to force Iraqs compliance with punitive measures since 1990 regarding the repatriation or return of Kuwaiti and third-country nationals or their remains and the return of all Kuwaiti property, including archives, seized by Iraq.

In resolution after resolution, the council has called on the head of UNAMI to promote, support and facilitate efforts regarding compliance with these measures. One resolution even requested that the UN designate a deputy chief of UNAMI with the responsibility for overseeing these issues.

Over the last two decades, the mission, which has been receiving huge funds from Kuwait, has been part of the emirates playbook in regard to its relationship with Iraq and to a larger extent a foreign policy tool in Iraq for key council members.

Relieving Iraq from its obligations under Article VII of the UN Charter will not only be crucial to the future of UNAMI, but will also be a defining moment in Iraqi-Kuwaiti relations. While successive post-Saddam governments in Iraq have worked to comply with the obligations, many Iraqis have seen the reparations as a national humiliation.

But like Germans reactions to the punitive measures imposed on Germany after World War II, a broad Iraqi popular narrative about the Kuwait crisis could take decades to emerge, especially as Iraq has remained embroiled in its own existential problems.

As much as it provokes memories, this new milestone in Iraqi-Kuwaiti relations raises questions for many Iraqis about whether post-Saddam Iraq should pay for the former dictators wars and about the whole punitive approach to Iraq.

Historically, Iraq has always had issues with its southern neighbour, and successive Iraqi regimes since the modern state of Iraq came into being a century ago have been reluctant to accept Kuwaits British-drawn borders that established it as a separate sheikhdom.

Some Iraqis also claim that Kuwait itself belongs to Iraq.

The Kuwaitis have always challenged this Iraqi version of history, saying that their country has never been part of Iraq. However, they have remained haunted by Iraqs claims and fear that their powerful northern neighbour could move to annex their tiny nation.

When Saddam finally invaded Kuwait in 1990 after accusing it of encroachments on Iraqs border and unlawfully drilling oil wells in its southern oil fields, he used a historic argument to justify his annexation of the emirate.

An international alliance led by the US succeeded in driving Iraqi troops out of Kuwait and helped the Kuwaitis to restore their independence, but the cost for Iraq was huge. Thirteen years of isolation and UN sanctions followed by bombings, two wars, occupation and a prolonged conflict have cost the country dearly in terms of human lives lost and material destruction.

The long shadow of the conflict has continued to haunt the two neighbours despite efforts to boost relations between Kuwait and the post-Saddam regime in Iraq. The demarcation of the Iraqi border with Kuwait under UN guidelines after Saddams ouster has also led to verbal echoes in Iraq.

In September 2019, relations between the two countries hit problems when the Iraqi envoy to the United Nations submitted an official letter of complaint to the organisation accusing Kuwait of attempts to change the maritime borders between the two countries.

The move sparked anger and defiance from Kuwait.

The escalation was followed by a storm of outrage by Iraqi lawmakers, militia leaders and commentators, who called on the government to revoke UN-sponsored peace deals, including one establishing the border between Iraq and Kuwait.

Iraqi anger also mounted over Kuwaits construction of a major port on Boubyan Island in the Khor Abdullah Waterway, the only strategic access to the sea for Iraq. Many in Iraqs political elite saw the move as part of Kuwaiti efforts to strangle Iraqi ports on the Arabian Gulf.

Iraq fears that Kuwaits Mubarak Al-Kabeer Port could be turned into a financial and trade hub at the expense of Iraqi plans to develop a giant new port on the Al-Faw Peninsula, a little more than one km from the new Kuwaiti shipping centre.

Overall, many Iraqis feel that their country has been punished for what Saddam did to Kuwait and that they have paid dearly for his invasion of the emirate and for the crimes his regime perpetrated against them over three decades.

This is why there has been a strong sense of history present in the announcement that Iraq has finished paying more than $52 billion in compensation to Kuwait because it casts a shadow over prevailing mindsets and emotional considerations in the two countries, including whether it is possible to reach a lasting solution.

In such a dispute of historical and geopolitical magnitude, there is always the risk that leaving wounds unhealed may raise tensions and may even amplify xenophobia in the two countries, leaving deep scars on their long-term relations.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 16 December, 2021 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly.

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The current military and political stalemate in Ethiopia leaves the population vulnerable to one of the worlds worst man-made famines, reports Al-Ahram Weekly

Ethiopias historical town of Lalibela is back under the control of the Tigray Peoples Liberation Front (TPLF), only days after it was captured by forces loyal to the government, adding more fuel to the fire that has engulfed the country for more than a year.

Situated in the Amhara region, Lalibela is a UNESCO World Heritage Site with 11 mediaeval monolithic churches carved out of rock. It is a Mecca for Ethiopian Orthodox Christians and an attraction for local and global tourists.

The TPLF had seized Lalibela in August, before the government recaptured it in early December.

From June to October, the TPLF made several advances, taking over a number of towns and cities in the neighbouring Amhara region to the west and southwest.

The front that has been engaged in conflict with the government since November 2020 took over the highway connecting Mekele, Tigrays capital, and Addis Ababa as well as the towns and cities of Waldia, Kombolcha and Disi, where the 1983-1984 famine that paved the way to the overthrow of the regime of Communist Colonel Mengistu Hailemariam took place.

In October, a coalition of armed opposition movements announced the possibility of advancing towards the capital, Addis Ababa. The government responded by declaring a state of emergency and calling on residents of the capital to register their weapons in preparation for the defence of the city of five million residents.

It is no secret that marching on the Ethiopian capital at present would be extremely complicated. The majority of Addis Ababas inhabitants hail from the Amhara. They are loyal to Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and will volunteer to fight alongside local militias in the war against the Tigray.

In November, Ahmed declared his intention to lead the troops on the battleground. Days after he arrived at the battlefield the state-owned television aired videos of Ahmed in military uniform announcing the government has retrieved a number of cities and towns from the TFLP.

By the end of the first week of December, Ahmeds office declared he was back to his usual tasks after achieving victories.

However, when the TFLP took over Lalibela from the militias loyal to the government, Ahmeds office tweeted that he was back on the frontline, where he said his forces took back towns and cities on the way to Mikele in the north, while the TFLP announced it took over several towns and cities in the course of its advance south to Addis Ababa.

Before Lalibela returned to the hands of the TFLP, the government had made a statement to activate the National Dialogue Committee, an initiative launched in August to counter the Tigrays advances. The work of the committee had been frozen since its formation in October.

Ali Mohsen, a professor of the Amharic language, told Al-Ahram Weekly that it is difficult to activate the committee following the devastating war and hostile statements.

More than 40,000 people died in the past year due to the war, while two million people fled their homes. There is systematic starvation, rendering the current famine man-made, in the words of a report issued by the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University in the US.

Facebook has removed a post by Ethiopias prime minister for inciting violence. Ahmed had said at the militarys headquarters in Addis Ababa: The pit which is dug will be very deep, it will be where the enemy is buried, not where Ethiopia disintegrates We will bury this enemy with our blood and bones.

Immediately after Ahmeds statement, his media attempted to justify his words, saying he was speaking about the TPLF, not the Tigray ethnic group. Rights groups, however, say that the government arrested hundreds, if not thousands, of Tigrayans living in the capital. The government has repeatedly denied the claim.

Ethiopias humanitarian conditions are plummeting, especially in Tigray. UN bodies reported that more than nine million Ethiopians are in need of humanitarian aid.

UN reports say the deteriorating situation in Ethiopia, the second most populous country in Africa with 110 million people, could endanger the country with the largest famine in the world, reminiscent of the early 1970s famines that toppled emperor Haile Selassie and the 1983-1984 famine.

Ethiopia has seen many other famines on a smaller scale, such as in 2003 when 13 million people suffered from hunger due to drought. In the past few years, the country has been attacked by swarms of locusts that destroyed the crops and heavy rains led to the depletion of harvests, severely affecting the countrys fragile food security situation.

The country looks to be on the threshold of a military standstill; the forces loyal to the government will not be able to storm the barricaded Tigray region and its capital Mekele.

Tigray is the region that suffered all of Ethiopias famines in the past decades. It resisted the first Italian attempt to occupy the country in Adwa, north Tigray, said Mohsen.

The Tigrayans are the group that contributed the most to fighting the fascist Italian occupation in the 1930s and they rebelled against the emperor despite the famine and then against Hailemariam until his overthrow in 1991, said Mohsen.

On the other hand, it is difficult for the TFLP to take Addis Ababa as it did in May 1991.

At present, the front is fighting against the Amhara, Afar, and Oromo, not against the countrys army which collapsed when the Tigrayan officers, who constituted one-third of the officers in the line, were fired. Now these officers are fighting alongside the armed opposition, according to Alex de Waal, professor of East African Studies at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.

Moreover, Ahmed is popular among the Amhara who have volunteered to fight against the Tigrayans and on the side of the Afar and the Oromo despite their fragile alliance due to fears on the part of other ethnicities of a return of full control to the Amhara, as was the case prior to 1991.

The Tigrayans are the only force capable of fighting against the government and its allies. The Oromos, despite being the largest ethnic group, are divided between Muslims and Christians, and people loyal to Ahmed  who has Oromo father and an Amharic mother  and the opposition.

Also remaining is the Eritrean factor. Eritrea stood by the Tigrayans side in the 1970s and 1980s but now they are archenemies, said Mohsen.

This stalemate increases the threats of famine and the involvement of neighbouring countries in the conflict, spreading more concerns about the Civil War turning into a regional conflict.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 16 December, 2021 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly.

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The dream of a return to normal life after Covid-19 may be just that  a dream.

Undoubtedly, most of us harbour a wish, a hope, a desire that life will be back again to what it used to be.

The sooner we realise that it shall not, the better for our psyche.

Consciously, unconsciously, or subconsciously, the winds of change are always blowing.

However, we have already changed drastically during the past two years. We do not even look the same. With our masks, we hardly recognise each other.

A hidden fear has added tiny lines to our faces and souls. Do we shudder each time we hear of a life lost?

While we long for normalcy, it has eluded us that we find it quite normal now to keep our distance, constantly wash our hands, no hugging, no kissing, no shaking hands either. We follow certain rules and restrictions out of fear. How frail and vulnerable man is.

Change is inevitable, but in this case it has been harshly expedited by the sudden onslaught of an unexpected, unwanted imposter, wearing an imperial crown to affirm its omnipotence. It has done that and more, leaving the human population in a state of crisis, and its scientists ineffectual and unable to assess when or whether it will end.

We dwell on the past out of necessity. We need our memories. Researchers have shown that remembering your past is fundamental to being human. Memories give us our identity, continuity, guidance and allow us to reflect on what we have gained from our experiences. When feeling sad, memories can improve our mood, lift our spirit and put a smile on our faces. Those personal memories should fundamentally be a positive contribution of our past.

When we stress negative personal memories, dwelling on an unpleasant past experiences, they play an entirely different role.

An excessive repetition of cheerlessness cannot generate helpful solutions to our hapless condition. In effect, it can create multiple problems such as ill health, depression, anxiety and stress.

How often we forget that we cannot bring back the past, alter it, revise it or modify it. We must differentiate between recalling personal memories of people, places or events, evoked by a picture a song or an occasion. Recollecting unpleasant struggles with our past leaves us bitter and depleted.

According to Dr Eckert Tolle, we are more comfortable with the known and fear the unknown. In disturbed relationships, we will often choose suffering over an uncertain future.

Focusing too much on the past can keep us stuck there. Dr Rebekah Bell refers to it as playing the if-only game with no winners. It is a losers game causing discontent. We convince ourselves things would have been different if only, yet we do not know that. It is just a fancy.

It is far more fruitful to transform our present.

What is the past? It is a set of events that occurred before a given point in time. It is contrasted and defined by the present and the future.

The concept is derived from the linear fashion in which human observers experience time and is accessed through memory or recollection.

Human beings have recorded the past since the advent of written languages. And what are we without our past?

It has been the subject of study in such fields as history, archaeology, anthropology, cosmology, etymology, palaeontology and on and on, preserving our cultural heritage.

The legacy of our ancestors is both tangible and intangible. Among the tangibles are the pyramids, magnificent cathedrals, amazing monuments, literature, art and artefacts. The intangibles are traditions, folklore, language, knowledge and a host of cultural, national treasures.

Preserving them is our duty, our identity, for future generations. None can diminish the role that the past has played in forming who we are.

However, on a personal level we cannot drown ourselves in a river of memories. We must be mindful of the present before we are dragged into a state of depression. Neither are we to live in the future, worrying about what might happen, and it never does.

There are infinite reasons as to why we choose to dwell on the past. Psychologists report that it is mostly trouble in the past or in the present. By repeating troublesome events over and over we remain mentally, spiritually and emotionally fixated on them.

Mastering them is a choice.

Yes, we choose. Some choose to be embittered by past experiences. Some others choose to move on with their lives. Where do you belong?

Does dwelling on the past produce any results? Does it improve the quality of your life? Does telling the same story over and over change it?

Forget it. The present has more potential. The future is where our goals lie.

Some financial institutions forecast a rosy future. A full economic global recovery and a return to normal conditions. We view that with some scepticism.

Change is constant and would occur with or without Covid.

Undoubtedly, the pandemic has negatively affected us. It has destroyed many aspects of our normal lives.

Will the shop at the corner owned by Papa and Mama ever open again? No, the past will never return, regardless of the financial reports.

Is there a bright side? There must be.

Remember the saying: Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift.

Enjoy today.

There is nothing permanent except change.

Heraclitus (c 560-480 BC)

*A version of this article appears in print in the 16 December, 2021 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly.

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If you want to get a dog, you have to get a German Shepherd dog. Theyre exquisitely raised to be professional at any task, said Yasser Al-Maghrabi, vice-president of the German Shepherd Dog Club of Egypt (GSDCE).

Known for their strong and noble bearing and as one of the longest-living breeds of dog, German Shepherd dogs (GSDs) rank near the top ten worldwide in popularity. Not only are GSDs popular for their scenting ability, which equips them for detection jobs, but they also have the flexibility to perform any task they are assigned.

For example, one of their character traits is that of a good companion to individuals who need someone beside them for whatever reason.

My GSD gives me joy when it welcomes me home after a long working day. It cheers me up even more than it does my children, said 48-year-old Khaled Al-Ghamry, a Cairo dog owner.

Al-Ghamry has been raising dogs for 18 years. Throughout these years, he has been the owner of four types of dogs, including German Shepherds. His love for them has made it difficult to part with them, since for him dogs are like humans. They have their own characters and personalities regardless of their breed. They need care, love and huge responsibility from their owners.

Dog food is a serious issue as human food can be poisonous to dogs. Al-Ghamry prepares special food for his dogs to make sure they eat what is best for them.

Its a crime to abandon a dog in the streets, Al-Ghamry said. They will wonder what they have done to their owners to make them be thrown out like this. They may even die of depression and the agony of abandonment.

Because of their character traits, GSDs are very popular in Egypt. The GSDCE has hosted events specifically for GSDs twice a year since 2015, including international ones. Although the club was established in 2007, competitions only started to take place eight years later.

It took a long time to spread awareness about the club, which was established specifically for GSD lovers, Ashraf Selim, secretary-general of the GSDCE, said.

A national competition was held in October, and an international one called the Sieger will be held in March 2022 in Egypt with international participants. The date of the competitions is decided by the German Shepherd Association in Germany.

To join the competition, a dog should have special traits equipping it to pass various challenges, Al-Maghrabi said. The dog should be fit and active in order to participate in competitions. It should breathe well and have undergone obedience training.

People owning GSDs are classified into two types: the owners who buy them and the breeders who produce them. Most of the participants in the competition this year are breeders, and almost half of the dogs have been bred locally.

For dog lovers, it is important that there are dog shows and competitions as they help to preserve the bloodlines of specific types of dogs. Judges evaluate the dogs bloodlines as well as their character traits.

For children who suffer from autism, some GSDs with specific character traits are chosen for special training to accompany them, Hussein Al-Amin, head of training at the GSDCE, said.

He explained that the dogs are trained to act calmly and not aggressively if an autistic child acts in an unpredictable way. For people who suffer from trauma, dogs with emotional character traits can make excellent pets. For the elderly who need companions, there are also dogs that can support and entertain them.

Regarding obedience training, the dogs are trained before the competition to understand any demands made of them in it. The principle of obedience training is that a dog should act in a friendly way if instructed by its owner. Dogs can be a burden on their owners if they have not received the proper training, Al-Amin said.

Before competition, the dogs should undergo training qualifying them to participate. They are assessed to decide whether they are eligible to enter, and if the answer is yes, they are trained for a whole month by a trainer. Assessment criteria used by the judges include tracking, obedience and protection.

Through the commands in the competition, a dogs behaviour and character are inspected to make sure it understands the lifestyle of its owner, Al-Amin said. He added that a dogs participation can also enable it to breed, as the competition is overseen from Germany.

The competitions do not have financial prizes, and the winning dogs receive medals according to the levels won. The real benefit we get from participating is more moral than financial, Galal Tolba, a breeder, said. It is a hobby that we enjoy participating in.

One of Tolbas dogs has won the first level three times and the second level once in competition. He trains his dogs for months to compete, even though this may cost him financially.

Al-Maghrabi said that a dogs participation can increase its value among breeders, also increasing the value of its offspring.

In comparison with competitions abroad, the only difference is the venue as everything is organised under the umbrella of the German Association in Germany. Having a GSD as a pet is increasing in popularity worldwide, and more and more dogs are entering competitions.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 16 December, 2021 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly.

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Ice and Snow World in Changchun, northeast China's Jilin Province welcomes its first tourists on Dec. 12, 2021, with more than 160 ice and snow sculptures decorated with multi-colored neon lights. [Photo: CNSPHOTO]

Ice and Snow World in Changchun, northeast China's Jilin Province welcomes its first tourists on Dec. 12, 2021, with more than 160 ice and snow sculptures decorated with multi-colored neon lights. [Photo: CNSPHOTO]

Ice and Snow World in Changchun, northeast China's Jilin Province welcomes its first tourists on Dec. 12, 2021, with more than 160 ice and snow sculptures decorated with multi-colored neon lights. [Photo: CNSPHOTO]
Fishing is forbidden in Jingjiang City on the northern banks of the Yangtze River in east China's Jiangsu to conserve local wetlands and water resources while promoting biodiversity. This is part of a broader national campaign to protect the Yangtze. The city is now seeing flora and fauna flourish and has become a haven for migratory birds, which nest and breed there, living in harmony with local residents. [File Photo: Xuexi.cn]

Fishing is forbidden in Jingjiang City on the northern banks of the Yangtze River in east China's Jiangsu to conserve local wetlands and water resources while promoting biodiversity. This is part of a broader national campaign to protect the Yangtze. The city is now seeing flora and fauna flourish and has become a haven for migratory birds, which nest and breed there, living in harmony with local residents. [File Photo: Xuexi.cn]

Fishing is forbidden in Jingjiang City on the northern banks of the Yangtze River in east China's Jiangsu to conserve local wetlands and water resources while promoting biodiversity. This is part of a broader national campaign to protect the Yangtze. The city is now seeing flora and fauna flourish and has become a haven for migratory birds, which nest and breed there, living in harmony with local residents. [File Photo: Xuexi.cn]
KYODO NEWS - Dec 14, 2021 - 12:32 | All, Japan, World

Japan's top government spokesman said Tuesday it is too early to comment on the prospect of South Korea joining the 11-member Trans-Pacific Partnership until it becomes clear whether the country can fully meet the high standards of the free trade pact.

South Korea expressed its willingness to join the pact the previous day. Britain, China and Taiwan have already applied for membership to the pact, which does not include the United States following its abrupt withdrawal from negotiations in 2017.

"What we need to do first is to see if an economy that seeks to join the pact is fully prepared to reach the high levels of the TPP 11," Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told a press conference.

"We will continue to follow developments related to economies with interest in joining the pact and respond by taking into account our strategic standpoint and public understanding," he said.

The pact, formally known as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, entered into force in 2018, cutting tariffs and setting high-standard rules for e-commerce, intellectual property and state-owned enterprises.

South Korean finance minister Hong Nam Ki said Monday that Seoul will begin the process of joining the TPP. Approval from the current 11 members is necessary.

Japan's relations with South Korea remain chilled over issues stemming from wartime history, embroiled in a dispute over wartime labor compensation.

Japan has welcomed the envisaged accession to the TPP by Britain and Taiwan but has taken a cautious stance on China.

Farm minister Genjiro Kaneko refrained from commenting on how the Japanese government views South Korea's potential accession, telling reporters that no formal application has been filed.

The TPP's 11 members are Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.

Related coverage:

South Korea to apply for trans-Pacific free trade pact membership
KYODO NEWS - Dec 14, 2021 - 10:11 | All, World

The United States and Lithuania on Monday agreed to beef up their defense ties by facilitating arms acquisitions, as the European country faces growing pressure from what it views as the authoritarian governments of Russia and China.

Calling Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping "dictators," Lithuanian Defense Minister Arvydas Anusauskas told his U.S. counterpart Lloyd Austin near Washington, "We shall not shy away from answering these threats with strength."

Lithuania has been feeling threatened by Russia, whose military buildup near the Ukraine border has triggered fears of further aggression against Kiev, while its deepening ties with Taiwan, a self-ruled democratic island which China claims as its own, has upset Beijing.

"I commend your government for its firm policy regarding China and we know that you have faced reprisals for your principled decisions," Austin told the Lithuanian defense minister, according to the Pentagon.

The U.S. secretary of defense also assured Lithuania, a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, that it will not face challenges from Russia and China alone and pledged to "keep working together to strengthen the Lithuanian Armed Forces."

Anusauskas said the U.S. military presence on his country's soil is "crucial" against any possible aggressors, especially when seeing Russia amassing its troops on the Ukraine border.

The two announced the signing of a reciprocal defense procurement agreement to improve conditions for the acquisition of defense items and to increase interoperability between their militaries.

The Biden administration has been reinforcing its ties with the Baltic state, calling it a "beacon of democracy," as part of efforts to bring allies and partners together in countering what it says is the challenge posed by autocracies to an open international order.

Lithuania agreed with Taiwan in July to allow the island to open a representative office in the capital Vilnius, leading China to downgrade bilateral diplomatic ties. The European country has also said it is facing "economic pressure" from Beijing in apparent retaliation for deepening ties with Taiwan.

China and Taiwan have been governed separately since they split in 1949 as the result of a civil war. Beijing regards the island as a renegade province to be reunified with the mainland, by force if necessary.

Related coverage:

China downgrades diplomatic ties with Lithuania over Taiwan's office
KYODO NEWS - Dec 14, 2021 - 21:21 | All, Japan

Visitors and returnees to Japan will be able to go through simpler customs, immigration and quarantine procedures by using an application software from next week, the country's Digital Agency said Tuesday.

Travelers will not have to submit CIQ paper documents if they register themselves for the "Visit Japan Web" service, scheduled to be launched on Monday, via smartphone and other devices beforehand.

Digitalization of the procedures is expected to help reduce the risk of infection and burden on officials at airport CIQ facilities, which have been facing a shortage of staff.

Travelers who registered quarantine questionnaires and customs declarations, among others, containing their names, addresses, health conditions and other information via the app will just be asked to show their smartphones or other devices to officials upon their arrival.

Officials get travelers' information by scanning a QR code on their smartphones or other devices. The new service is expected to shorten the time of entry procedures.

The app will initially be available in English and Japanese, and the government will consider adding other languages later.

Japan, like other countries, has tightened its border controls amid the spread of the Omicron variant of coronavirus, believed to be more transmissible than previous strains and able to evade immunity provided by vaccines.

Related coverage:

Japan to simplify entry process for wealthy travelers

Japan expands tougher quarantine rules to India, Greece, Romania

Japan drops blanket halt of inbound flight bookings after criticism
KYODO NEWS - Dec 14, 2021 - 19:21 | World, All

The United States will work with allies and partners to bolster security in the Indo-Pacific and ensure it remains open and accessible, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a speech Tuesday in Indonesia, citing calls from across the region for China's assertive behavior to be addressed.

"We all have a stake in ensuring that the world's most dynamic region is free from coercion and accessible to all," Blinken said, pointing to Beijing's concerning actions including engaging in economic practices considered to be unfair and taking punitive economic action against countries with which it disagrees.

"Countries across the region want this behavior to change. We do, too," he said in the speech delivered in the Indonesian capital Jakarta.

The top U.S. diplomat also criticized Beijing's maritime assertiveness in the South China Sea -- a strategic waterway through which more than one-third of global trade passes -- saying it threatens the movement of more than $3 trillion worth of commerce annually.

Having rapidly built artificial islets with military infrastructure, Beijing claims sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea. Its territorial claims there overlap with four of the 10 members that make up the Association of Southeast Asian Nations -- Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam -- as well as Taiwan.

Touching on a 2016 international tribunal ruling that rejected China's "unlawful" maritime claims as inconsistent with international law, Blinken said, "We and other countries, including South China Sea claimants, will continue to push back on such behavior."

In the defense realm, Blinken said the United States will adopt an "integrated deterrence" strategy that "more closely weaves together all our instruments of national power -- diplomacy, military, intelligence -- with those of our allies and our partners."

Blinken emphasized the United States has no desire to spark conflict in the Indo-Pacific and that is why it is trying to manage the increasing competition with China while pursuing diplomacy with North Korea to address its nuclear threat.

"It's not about a contest between a U.S.-centric region or a China-centric region. The Indo-Pacific is its own region," the secretary of state said.

The Chinese Communist-led government urged the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden not to seek a "new Cold War" and force other countries to choose whether they should side with Beijing or Washington.

"The practice of the United States in stirring up separatism and estrangement and inciting confrontation is unpopular in the world and even in the Asia-Pacific region," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told reporters in Beijing.

Blinken is in Indonesia on the first leg of his trip to Southeast Asia, a region with which the United States seeks closer engagement amid its intensifying rivalry with China.

He will also travel to Malaysia and Thailand, which along with Indonesia, are the "essential components" of the Biden administration's Indo-Pacific strategy, according to a senior State Department official.

Related coverage:

China raps G-7 interference in internal affairs, "Cold War mentality"

Japan, U.S. vow to boost alliance capabilities to counter China

Countries rally behind democracy in U.S.-led summit amid China's rise
KYODO NEWS - Dec 14, 2021 - 15:08 | All, Japan

Anti-base protesters took to canoes and boats Tuesday in waters off Okinawa to show their opposition to the planned relocation of a U.S. air base, exactly three years after full-blown offshore landfill work for the transfer began.

Holding signs that read "Stop landfilling operation" and "Protect our beautiful sea," protesters in around 30 canoes paddled out to the site, calling for the halt of work for the transfer of U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma to the Henoko district, both in the southern island prefecture.

Frustrated with the noise, crime and accidents linked to the U.S military presence, many local residents remain opposed to the relocation plan as they want the base moved out of the prefecture, which hosts the bulk of U.S. military facilities in Japan.

Under the plan to transfer the functions of the Futenma airfield in a crowded residential area in Ginowan to the new site adjacent to the Marines' Camp Schwab, the central government is scheduled to construct V-shaped runways after reclaiming land in waters off the less densely populated Henoko area in Nago.

During the demonstration, around 20 canoes breached the containment boom that divided the landfilling area from the ocean, prompting Japan Coast Guard officials on duty to rush out to block them and causing a brief scuffle.

Protesters yelled in chorus "Stop illegal construction" and "Don't kill the coral," as sand-carrying ships and dump trucks came and went from the area.

Some of the protesters also gathered in front of a gate of the Camp Schwab.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno stressed the central government's position in a press conference on Monday, saying the Futenma base relocation to Henoko is "the only solution."

Okinawa Prefecture led by anti-base Gov. Denny Tamaki has been in a legal battle with the central government over the base relocation issue, but many courts have ruled in favor of the state.

In November this year, Tamaki refused to accept the central government's planned design change for the Futenma base relocation to address weak ground found earlier in the planned reclamation area, hindering the construction process and likely triggering a fresh legal battle.

Even if the design change is accepted, it is still expected to be at least another 12 years before the new base is fully operational.

The relocation plan dates back to a 1996 Japan-U.S. accord on the return of the land occupied by the Futenma base, struck amid public outrage over the 1995 gang rape of a 12-year-old schoolgirl in Okinawa by three U.S. servicemen.
New Delhi:

The WBJEE JELET Results 2019 have been declared today. The WB JELET exam was held to select candidates for admission to 3rd semester or 2nd year B.Tech or B.E Programmes. The candidates who appeared for the lateral entry exam for the Engineering courses in West Bengal can now check their selection status on the official website i.e. wbjeeb.nic.in.

Step-wise procedure to check WB JELET Result 2019 online

Candidates who want to check the WB JELET Result for lateral entry to B.Tech programs in West Bengal can log onto the official website of WBJEE Board, and follow the below mentioned steps:

Step 1: Visit the official website and click on the JELET 2019 Exam tab

Step 2: Then click on the Login Window

Step 3: Enter the respective Application Number

Step 4: Enter the Password

Step 5: Enter the Security Pin

Step 6: Check JELET Result 2019 and download it for future reference
New Delhi:

The Congress Working Committee (CWC) is holding a meeting for the second time on Saturday evening to take a final call on the new party president after a number of leaders, including state chiefs and MPs, backed Rahul Gandhi to continue on the post despite his refusal to reconsider his resignation.

Sources said during the process of consultation with state PCC chiefs, Congress legislature party leaders and party MPs, there was a consensus on Rahul Gandhi continuing as party chief. However, Gandhi had in the morning asserted that he would not take back his resignation, after CWC members unanimously urged him to reconsider.

During the wider consultation process, only a few suggested other names while a majority of them said the party will face desertions if Rahul Gandhi does not remain the leader. Some even told Priyanka Gandhi Vadra to prevail upon Rahul to reconsider his May 25 resignation.

The party's top decision-making body will reconvene at 8 pm to discuss reports of five groups, formed earlier in the day, to scrutinise names of potential successor to Rahul Gandhi.

#Delhi: UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra arrive at All India Congress Committee (AICC) office for Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting. pic.twitter.com/iTKsqHtTaP  ANI (@ANI) August 10, 2019

UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi recused themselves from the consultation process saying they cannot be part of it as they have been Congress presidents in the past and would not like the opinion of the party leaders to be influenced in any manner.

"There is process of consultation and naturally Rahul ji and myself, we cannot be part of that consultation," Sonia Gandhi told reporters.

Asked how their names were in the sub-groups for consultations, she said, "That's obviously a mistake, because we cannot be in that."

At 11 am, the Congress' top brass, including ex-prime minister Manmohan Singh, party general secretaries Priyanka Gandhi, Ahmed Patel, A K Antony, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Mallikarjun Kharge and P Chidambaram, went into a huddle at the All India Congress Committee headquarters here.

The CWC decided to have consultations with leaders from across the country and it was divided into five groups for different regions -- northeast, east, north, west and south.

#Delhi: Rahul Gandhi arrives for Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting underway at All India Congress Committee (AICC) office. pic.twitter.com/iZU57sxZLn  ANI (@ANI) August 10, 2019

The CWC group for the northeast region included top party leaders such as Ahmed Patel, Ambika Soni and former Uttarakhand chief minister Harish Rawat. The group for eastern region included AICC general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal, ex-Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi and former Union minister Kumari Selja.

The northern region group included Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Jyotiraditya Scindia and P Chidambaram. The western region group has leaders such as Ghulam Nabi Azad, Mallikarjun Kharge, AK Antony and Motilal Vora. The group for the southern region included Manmohan Singh, Anand Sharma and Mukul Wasnik.

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, his deputy Sachin Pilot, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel and Puducherry CM V Narayanasamy were also part of the consultation process.

Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said several leaders who could not make it to New Delhi have been consulted over phone. The five groups will place their final report before the CWC at 8 pm.

The CWC, which is yet to accept Rahul Gandhi's resignation, began its meeting by urging him to continue as party chief in the wake of the BJP's "onslaught on democracy and dissent", Surjewala said.

Narayanasamy told reporters, "I told them that Rahul Gandhi should continue as AICC president. They asked me for an alternative, but I said there is none. We have to persuade him to withdraw his resignation because he is the only leader who can carry the party forward and strengthen it."

Rahul Gandhi has already said the next party chief should be a non-Gandhi, making the task of Congress leaders difficult. He said that he will spend the next two days in his constituency Wayanad in flood-hit Kerala.

Clarity on the issue is expected by tonight, with Surjewala saying, "There is a sense that this impasse should end as soon as possible, which is why the CWC will meet again at 8 pm to take a call."

He said Rahul Gandhi, while refusing to continue as party chief, asked the CWC to broad-base the consultation process and engage state chiefs, CLP leaders, MPs, and AICC secretaries.

A number of partymen have expressed their opinion in public that the delay in selecting the new Congress chief is harming the party.

As the Congress began the process of finding Rahul Gandhi's successor, senior party leader Shashi Tharoor said on Saturday the new chief should be a person who can energise the party's organisation and inspire the voters, asserting that the Congress cannot afford "business as usual".

"For those following the #CWC meet to decide on a new @INCIndia President: My position remains what I first articulated more than a month ago: CWC should choose an Interim President asap (as soon as possible), then resign & announce open elections for both President & CWC," Tharoor tweeted.

The party has also been grappling with a series of desertions by leaders in Karnataka and Maharashtra, the latest being that by ex-Congress Rajya Sabha chief whip Bhubaneswar Kalita and MP Sanjay Singh.

With elections in Maharashtra, Jharkhand and Haryana coming up, the party is hoping to resolve the leadership issue quickly and move forward.

(With PTI inputs)

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New Delhi:

Many of you might not be knowing that Earth had a close encounter with a giant asteroid named as 2006 QQ23. Yes, you read it right. Classified as potentially hazardous by NASA, asteroid 2006 QQ23 was reportedly bigger than the Empire State Building zip past the Earth on Saturday. Going by the size, the space rock was 1,454 feet tall. Asteroid 2006 QQ23 could have hit with a force 500 times that of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima. Well, we were lucky enough.

Many deadly asteroids have approached towards the Earth in recent times, but did not collide with our planet. Yes, we are very lucky in this case. Importantly, asteroids can bring tsunamis, shock waves and flattening winds that could be catastrophic. Asteroids are small, rocky objects that orbit the Sun. The space rocks (asteroid) approach towards the Earth due to the gravitational forces that affect them. According to a report published by spacetelescope.org, there are more than 7 lakh asteroids that have been found in space. Asteroids are mainly found in an area called the main belt, between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.

Also Read: Is Earth near extinction? 7 asteroids heading towards our planet THIS August, may hit us

Scientists have so far identified over 5000 near-Earth asteroids of more than 300 m diameters. NASA, however, says that the Earth is safe from any significant space threat for at least a century. The maximum number of near-Earth asteroids (over 10,000) are of less than 100 m diameters. Even if these asteroids enter the Earths atmosphere, such space rocks will disintegrate into smaller parts without posing any significant danger.

Well, asteroid 2006 QQ23, bigger than a 100 storey building was tracked by NASA as it zoom past Earth on Saturday, highlighted the threat posed towards our planet by space rocks.

NASAS CNEOS estimated that the space rock came within about 4.55 million miles of the Earth and whizzed past at 10,400 miles per hour. It is worth mentioning here that the distance may seem like theres no risk at all but any fast moving space object that comes within around 4.65 million miles is considered to be "potentially hazardous" by the space organisations.

Asteroid 2006 QQ23 hasn't got this close to Earth since 2001. However, the space rock is expected to come near our planet again on February 15, 2022.

Also Read: Asteroid triggered mega-tsunami on Mars 3.7 billion years ago? Find out here

Danica Remy, president of the non-profit organisation B612 Foundation, works to protect the planet from asteroids. She said, Its 100 per cent certain that were going to get hit, but were not 100 percent certain when. "The real issue is that we need to have an inventory of all the asteroids," she added.

Fortunately, NASA has not yet discovered such an asteroid, estimating that at least 95 percent of asteroids 1km (3,280 feet) or larger have been recorded, with none posing a threat to the planet. According to NASA, asteroids as large as 2006 QQ23, however, would wipe out an entire city and wreak widespread destruction in a direct collision.

A simulation from NASA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and other agencies in May demonstrated the impact of an object such as 2006 QQ23 would kill 1.3million people.

Kelly Fast, manager of NASAs Near Earth Object Observation program, said, The whole point is to be able to find all of these asteroids and to catalog their orbits precisely and to calculate them into the future. So, you know if it is going to pass 19 lunar distances away like 2006 QQ23, Kelly added.

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New Delhi:

Security forces have reportedly shifted around 70 pro-Pakistan separatists and terrorists to Agra central jail on Thursday. The move was taken after observing their activities for over the last few days. All the pro-Pakistan activities were flown out in a special Air Force plane, said a senior official told India Today.

The group consists of mainly "potential stone pelters" who have a history of trouble-making. They are alleged to be active members of separatist groups in Kashmir Valley. They were taken in a special IAF plane to Uttar Pradesh and lodged in Agra Central Jail.

The government has imposed strict restrictions in Jammu and Kashmir after the constitutional provisions that accorded the state special status were abrogated and it was divided into two union territories.

In a video, which is going viral, Kashmiri separatist leader and women activist Tanveer Fatima has exposed how top Pakistani officials and many prominent Hurriyat leaders brainwashed locals in order to create instability in India, assuring freedom from India.

Watch the video below:

Fatima herself has been associated with Kashmiri separatists.

In the 57-second video, Fatima named Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani, separatist leader Yasin Malik and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, saying that these people mislead children. They showed them dreams of freedom that led to the path of stone-pelting. These leaders use children only for their own selfishness, she alleged.

Fatima, however, alleged that her video was edited by Indian agencies. "Indian agencies have edited my facebook live vidio & picked a short line where i spoke against hurriyat, isnt it moral degradation of a country to defame a women," she said.

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New Delhi:

A station house officer of a Gurgaon police station has been arrested for allegedly raping and then blackmailing a woman by making her obscene video, police said on Sunday.

The accused SHO of Sadar police station Dalbir Singh, who was set to retire next year, was arrested on Saturday after a complaint was lodged on Friday.

He was arrested after an internal inquiry found him guilty, a police officer said.

Singh is charged for raping a woman on various occasions and threatening her to circulate a MMS of his crime that he had made when she got unconscious.

The traumatized victim, a resident of district Jind, had loged a complaint against Singh on Friday following which a internal inquiry was set up to probe the case.

According to the complaint, the victim felt helpless and even tried to commit suicide in a lake located in Jind but a cop saw him and persuaded her to file the complaint against the accused.

The woman stated in her complaint that she had got married to a man from Uddana in Jind in November 2017. After few months of the marriage, differences cropped up between the couple, she said.

She approached police against her husband and the case was transferred to all woman police station in Gurgaon where she met Singh at a police station, a senior police officer said.

As Singh also belongs to the same district, I trusted on him and shared my contact number, the victim said in the complaint.

Singh used to regularly called her over phone and even got her placement in a restaurant, it said.

She said on July 10, while she was waiting for a bus to go Gurgaon from Jind, Singh came in car and offered to drop her, the police officer said

After crossing the Pindara bypass, Singh drove his car at a deserted place where he sexually assaulted her in car. He later dropped her to Gurgaon, the officer added.

Singh next day asked me to meet him in his quarters. When I came to confront him. He tried to pacify me and gave me drink laced with sedatives. After I fell unconscious, he raped me and recorded the crime in his mobile phone, the victim said in her complaint.

Singh regularly threatened the victim to circulate the clip if she didnt comply with his demands. The victim under depression decided to commit suicide, the officer added.

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Oslo:

The shooting at a mosque near Oslo is being treated as an "attempted act of terror", Norwegian police said Sunday, with the suspect appearing to harbour far-right, anti-immigrant views.

"We are looking at an attempted act of terror," acting chief of the police operation Rune Skjold told a press conference after Saturday's incident left one man injured.

Skjold said the investigation had shown that the man appeared to hold "far-right" and "anti-immigrant" views.

The suspect, armed with multiple weapons, opened fire in the mosque in Baerum, a suburb of Oslo, on Saturday afternoon, before being overpowered by a man who suffered "minor injuries" in the process.

Norway was the scene of one of the worst-ever attacks by a right-wing extremist in July 2011, when 77 people were killed by Anders Behring Breivik.

Hours after the attack on Saturday, the body of a young woman related to the suspect was found in a home also in Baerum.

Investigators are treating her death as suspicious and have opened a murder probe.

Police said earlier Sunday they had tried to question the suspect, described as a "young man" with a "Norwegian background" who was living in the vicinity but he did not want to "give an explanation to police".

The man had been known to police before the incident but according to Skjold he could not be described as someone with a "criminal background".

On Saturday, Norwegian media reported that the suspect was believed to have put up a post to an online forum hours before the attack where he seemingly praised the assailant in the attacks on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand in March, when 51 people where killed.

The suspect in the Christchurch killings wrote a hate-filled manifesto in which he said he was influenced by far-right ideologues including Breivik.

Breivik detonated a massive bomb in Oslo that killed eight people and then opened fire on a gathering of the Labour Party's youth wing on the island of Utoya, killing another 69 people, most of them teenagers.

Local Norwegian paper Budstikka said it had contacted the mosque in Baerum in March after the Christchurch massacre and that officials there had said security would be tightened.

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New Delhi:

An employee of the Delhi Metro allegedly committed suicide on Sunday by hanging himself at his rented house in New Delhi and streamed it live on Facebook, the police said. The victim, Shubhankar Chakraborty (27), hailed from Palta in North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal, they said.

No suicide note was found from his house in east Delhi's Shahdara where he was found hanging from a hook in the ceiling with a plastic wire around his neck, the police said. However, before taking his life, Chakraborty updated the cover photo of his purported Facebook profile that said "I quit".

He had a fight with his father who visited him two days ago and it is being probed if he took the extreme step due to the fight. No one has raised any suspicion on the death, the police said.

The Facebook live stream purportedly showed him climbing atop a cooler, wearing Delhi Metro's uniform. He looked into the camera a couple of times and kissed his company identity card twice before taking his life.

A mobile phone kept buzzing in the background as he allegedly hung himself.

"He had joined the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation in June and was a staffer in the Electrical and Maintenance Department," a source said.

Suryakant Das, a friend of Chakraborty, informed Farsh Bazar police station around 9.05 am about the incident, according to the police.

In his statement to the police, Das said his friend Akash informed him around 8 am that he had seen a live video of Shubhankar, in which he was seen hanging himself from the ceiling fan hook of the room.

Das then informed about it to his other friend Rajender Ojha, and when they reached his house, the room was found to be shut from inside. Then Das peeped into the room through a window and he noticed that Shubhankar was hanging from the ceiling, the statement said.

The family has been informed and the body has been shifted to Subzi Mandi mortuary, the police said. He has a sister who is married. His wife lives in West Bengal and his mother died 16 years back, they added.
New Delhi:

Pakistan Peoples Party leader and former Pakistan president Asif Ali Zardari has made a sensational claim that Indira Gandhi (former prime minister of India) negotiated land deal with Islamabad (involving large swathes of Pakistani land that had been lost to India) after the war between India and Pakistan in 1971. Zardari made the claim in the Pakistani Parliament during a debate on the recent developments in Kashmir.

We must also realise how Zulfikar Ali Bhutto took back the land after 1971 war. The Pakistan peoples party was formed for the cause of Kashmir. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, after negotiation took back the land from Indira Gandhi, Dawn quoted Zardari as saying in the joint session of Pakistan Parliament.

Zardari alleged that Indira Gandhi, consequently, received the intelligence inputs that Bhutto was under too much pressure to ensure the rescue of soldiers and would be interested in no other exchange as much as he was likely to seek the soldiers' release. Zardari says that when ZA Bhutto met Indira Gandhi, who was the Indian Prime Minister then, the latter proposed the former to either take back the land or the soldiers.

The PPP leader also said that the Indias decision to abrogate Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir was as serious as the East Pakistan Tragedy. The Kashmir issue is the second major incident after the separation of East Pakistan, Zardari said. During this speech, Zardari even referred to Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan as 'Select' (Selected and not elected PM) and slammed his failure to garner diplomatic support for Pakistan. He also slammed 'Imran's dealing with the IMF at the cost of China's honour'.

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New Delhi:

The ABVP-led Delhi University Students Union on Monday demanded that the DUSU office be named after freedom fighter Veer Savarkar.

DUSU president Shakti Singh demanded this during the staging of play Hey Mrituanjay, which is based on the time spent by Savarkar in the Andaman jail.

He said the DUSU office should be named Veer Savarkar Bhawan.

Addressing students at the beginning of the play, Ranjit Savarkar, the grandson of Veer Savarkar, said, A nation which forgets its history is not safe. In the early few years of independent India, the ruling elites of the country tried to make people forget the contribution of many revolutionaries, including Veer Savarkars. But this effort has been failed by the people of India.

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad will soon launch an awareness campaign among students with similar programmes, the body said.
Mumbai:

The Maharashtra government said on Friday evening that it had released Rs 154 crore to district collectors for disbursal of aid to flood-affected people in western Maharashtra and elsehwere. Chief secretary Ajoy Mehta said if there was paucity of funds, district collectors have been authorized to do negative debit from the treasury to draw more funds.

Flood-affected families will get Rs 10,000 each in rural areas and Rs 15,000 in urban areas, he said. Adequate stocks of medicines have been rushed to Sangli and Kolhapur districts to deal with leptospirosis cases, he stated. Maharashtra received 782 mm of rain between June to August, 109 per cent of the average rainfall in this period, the chief secretary added.

Since August 4, Kolhapur received 124 per cent of average rainfall, while Sangli received 224 per cent of average rainfall. In Satara district, the rainfall was 181 per cent. A total of 12 tehsils, eight in Kolhapur and four in Sangli, have been affected.

READ | Two lakh people displaced due to floods in Western Maharashtra

As many as 329 villages, 239 in Kolhapur and 90 in Sangli, are grappling with floods. So far, 2,52,813 people have been rescued. Seventy medical teams are working in the flood-affected areas, the chief secretary said. Forty teams are working to restore electricity supply, he said.

The death toll due to rain-related incidents in the state since the onset of monsoon was 144. According to preliminary estimates, crops over one lakh hectares have been lost, he said.
New Delhi:

The Jammu and Kashmir Police on Saturday night said the situation in the state was peaceful and no untoward incident has been reported in last one week. "There has been no untoward incident barring minor stone-pelting which was dealt with on the spot and was nipped in the bud," Director General of Police Dilbagh Singh told news agency PTI.

He was asked about the situation in the state after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi told mediapersons in New Delhi that situation was "very wrong".

Minutes after Gandhi made the statement, the Srinagar Police also tweeted that the situation was peaceful. "Situation in valley has remained normal today. No untoward incident has been reported. At selective locations restriction was lifted temporarily," the tweet said.

The government also issued a statement, saying the DGP and Chief Secretary BVR Subrahmanyam have requested people not to believe fabricated and motivated news regarding incidents of firing in the Valley.

It said no firing incident has taken place in Kashmir in the past six days, adding the situation is calm and people are cooperative and restrictions are being relaxed to ease the situation.

On Saturday, Srinagar and other towns witnessed good traffic for Eid shopping, it said.

Earlier in the day, the Union Home Ministry said that there have been a few stray protests in the Kashmir Valley in the past few days against the scrapping of special status of Jammu and Kashmir, and none of these involved a crowd of more than 20 people.

"There have been a few stray protests in Srinagar/Baramulla and none of these involved a crowd of more than 20 people," a ministry spokesperson said.

The spokesperson also dismissed a media report about a protest by about 10,000 people in Kashmir as "fabricated and incorrect".

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New Delhi:

A day after the Union Home Ministry dismissed a report about a protest by about 10,000 people in Kashmir as fabricated and incorrect, reports are emerging that the government is contemplating legal action against media outlets for reporting baseless news relating to developments in Jammu and Kashmir. According to a news report in IANS, Ministry of Home Affairs may serve legal notices to such news organisations if they are prima facie found projecting "fabricated and provocative" stories leading to law and order situation in the sensitive Valley region of Jammu and Kashmir.

The development comes after some media outlets claimed, attributing facts to foreign news agencies, that Valley has been witness to a large scale protest and violence on Friday. Reuters had reported that police used tear gas and pellets to fight back at least 10,000 people protesting Delhi's withdrawal of special rights for Jammu and Kashmir in its main city of Srinagar on Friday.

ALSO READ | Situation in J-K peaceful, no untoward incident reported in last one week: Police

Following which the Union Home Ministry said that there have been a few stray protests in the Kashmir Valley in the past few days against the scrapping of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir, and none of these involved a crowd of more than 20 people.

"There have been a few stray protests in Srinagar/Baramulla and none of these involved a crowd of more than 20 people," a ministry spokesperson said.

The Jammu and Kashmir Police has also said that the situation in the state was peaceful and no untoward incident has been reported in last one week. "There has been no untoward incident barring minor stone-pelting which was dealt with on the spot and was nipped in the bud," Director General of Police Dilbagh Singh told news agency PTI.

The government also issued a statement, saying the DGP and Chief Secretary BVR Subrahmanyam have requested people not to believe fabricated and motivated news regarding incidents of firing in the Valley.

It said no firing incident has taken place in Kashmir in the past six days, adding the situation is calm and people are cooperative and restrictions are being relaxed to ease the situation.

On Saturday, Srinagar and other towns witnessed good traffic for Eid shopping, it said.

Modi government has scrapped Article 370 of the Constitution that accorded special status to Jammu and Kashmir and divided it into two Union Territories - Jammu and Kashmir with a legislature, and Ladakh without a legislature.

President Ram Nath Kovind had on Saturday given assent to the legislation on Jammu and Kashmir's bifurcation and the new Union Territories will come into existence on October 31.

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New Delhi:

A fortnight has passed since the BJP seized the power in Karnataka and BS Yediyurappa became the chief minister but the state is still waiting for governance in the absence of council of ministers, let alone the "good governance". Now the state is reeling under severe floods, the Opposition says relief works have been hampered in the absence of a full-fledged government with dedicated ministers.

So far, 31 people have been killed and over 3 lakh rendered homeless due to the devastating floods in Karnataka. According to an official assessment, 21,431 houses and crops in 4.16 lakh hectares had been damaged in the deluge, pegging the total losses to 6,000 crores.

While Yediyurappa confronted the criticism over his failure to form a Cabinet, saying that every MLA is a minister, former chief minister and senior Congress leader Siddaramaiah has ridiculed his statement. "Its an irresponsible statement that MLAs are working like ministers as they can't take on the spot decisions."

Siddaramaiah feels if there were district in-charge ministers, revenue minister, finance minister, agriculture minister, cooperation minister and various other ministers, it would have been convenient for the people of the state. "I dont know how a single man can handle so much. It is humanly impossible," he added.

Leaders in the Opposition parties are questioning the BJPs lacklustre approach towards providing governance comparing the saffron partys hustle attitude during the recent political crisis in the state. Yediyurappa and his MLAs had sat on an overnight protest in the Assembly when the Kumaraswamy government delayed the trust vote.

"The dedication he had shown to topple the coalition government of Congress and the JD(S) is missing with respect to forming the government," the former chief minister said taking a dig.

Before swearing-in as chief minister, Yediyurappa had said that the decision on members to be inducted into the ministry will be taken after through discussions with BJP president Amit Shah. However, even after more than two weeks, the BJP is yet to reach on a decision to form the Cabinet and given the present situation of the state, a council of ministers is the need of the hour in Karnataka.

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New Delhi:

Actor-turned-politician Rajinikanth on Sunday lauded Union Home Minister Amit Shah for abrogating Article 370 of the Indian constitution, which gave special status to the region of Jammu and Kashmir, and described the Narendra Modi-Amit Shah duo as Krishna and Arjuna. "My heartfelt congratulations to Amit Shah for Mission Kashmir. Hats off," the veteran actor said at the launch of a book chronicling the two years of Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu in office.

Rajinikanth, who is fondly known as Thalaiva, said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah were like Lord Krishna and Arjuna.

However, "we don't know who is Krishna and who is Arjuna," added the actor at the event which was also attended by the Amit Shah. He also praised Shah for his speech in Parliament on the Kashmir issue.

ALSO READ | Scrapping of Article 370 will end terrorism in Kashmir: Home Minister Amit Shah

'Your speech delivered in Parliament, especially on Kashmir fantastic sir fantastic...Hats off to you Sir', Rajinikanth added.

The Krishna-Arjuna combination is credited with playing a key role in the Pandavas winning the Mahabharata battle against the Kauravas.

Speaking at the same event, Shah asserted that abrogation of Article 370 of the Indian constitution will lead to the end of terrorism and progress of the region. Shah reiterated that Article 370 should've been removed long ago as it was not beneficial to the country.

As a legislator, I firmly believe Article 370 should've been removed long ago. As a Home Minister, there was no confusion in my mind about the consequences of removing Article 370. I'm confident terrorism in Kashmir will finish and it'll move ahead on the path of development now, the Union Home Minister said at the launch of a book on Vice President M Venkiah Naidu.

The Centre has last week revoked Jammu and Kashmir's special status and announced it would be split it into two union territories - Ladakh, and Jammu and Kashmir.

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Durgapur (WB):

The West Bengal unit of the BJP has decided to set up screening committees in various districts to conduct a background check of leaders of other parties joining the saffron fold. The state BJP leadership, following its two-day Chintan Baithak that concluded here on Sunday, also said it will urge the Centre to review awards it bestowed on different departments of the state government, as the TMC bagged them by providing incorrect data.

Induction of leaders from other parties has turned into a major issue. So, it has been decided that we wont stop this induction process, but there would be screening committees at various district units to do a background check.

We also need to take the old-timers on board before inducting anyone, a senior state BJP leader said.

Since its improved performance in the Lok Sabha polls in the state, a number of leaders from other parties have joined the BJP, which has led to dissent within the saffron party at several places.

On Sunday, two groups of BJP workers clashed in Durgapur area of Pashchim Bardhaman district, after it was announced that the cousin of TMC MLA from Barabani Bidhan Upadhyay, Moloy, would be joining the saffron party.

Old-timers within the party started shouting slogans against Moloy and the BJP leadership, which led to the clash.

The decision to constitute the screening committees also comes at a time when TMC councillors of six civic bodies, who had switched over to the BJP post the Lok Sabha polls, returned to the states ruling party, except the Bhatpara municipal councillors.

This has sent out a wrong message... The central leadership wants us to have a check and balance mechanism to avoid such an embarrassing situation. At first it was decided to form a committee constituting senior leaders of the state unit... Now, such committees will be set up at district levels, too, the BJP leader said.

According to another leader of the saffron party, it was also decided at the meeting to appeal to the central government for re-evaluation of the awards given to various departments of the state government.

In most cases, the TMC in order to win those awards, forged figures and presented a completely different picture. It needs to be corrected, and the Centre should immediately review such awards, he said.

The state BJP would also undertake mass outreach programmes to inform the people about the Centres decision to abolish provisions of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcate the state, a party source said.

The move on Article 370 was the demand of Jan Sangh founder Syama Prasad Mookherjee, who is the son of Bengal, so it is high time we make people aware of it, the source added.

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New Delhi:

Days after offering to mediate on Kashmir issues, US President Donald Trump has now made it clear that the offer is not on the table anymore, Indias Ambassador to the US, Harsh Vardhan Shringla said on Monday. He said that Americas decades-old policy on Kashmir has been no mediation but to encourage India and Pakistan to resolve their differences bilaterally.

President Trump has made it very clear that his offer to mediate on Jammu and Kashmir is dependent on both India and Pakistan accepting it. Since India has not accepted the offer of mediation, he has made it clear that this is not on the table anymore, Shringla told Fox News, the favourite news channel of the US president.

On July 22, during his joint media appearance with Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan at the White House, President Trump stunned India by saying that Prime Minister Narendra Modi sought his mediation/arbitration on the Kashmir issue, a claim that was seen by many as outlandish and carrying little credibility.

India asserted that no such request was made by Prime Minister Modi to the US president and all issues will have to be resolved with Islamabad bilaterally.

A week later, Trump climbed down from his previous statement, saying it was up to India and Pakistan to resolve the Kashmir issue but he was ready to assist if the two South Asian neighbours wanted him to help in resolving the issue.

He said India made it clear to America that any discussion on the issue, if at all warranted, will only be with Pakistan and only bilaterally, which has long been Indias stated position.

Shringla said that Americas policy on Kashmir has been no mediation but to encourage the two South Asian neighbours to resolve their differences bilaterally including on Kashmir, the pace and scope of which would be chosen by New Delhi and Islamabad.

That has been the United States longstanding policy, he said in response to a question referring to Americas decades-old policy.

Shringla said UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres was also very clear on the issue.

He says, this issue has to be resolved bilaterally between India and Pakistan in keeping with the agreements that the two countries have signed: the Simla Agreement and the Lahore Declaration, he said.

So, this is not an issue that is to be settled with, third parties. I think that was something that President Trump clarified and made clear, Shringla said.

State Department Spokesperson Morgan Ortagus last week said that there is no change in its policy on Kashmir as it called on India and Pakistan to maintain restraint and hold direct dialogue to resolve their differences.

Responding to a question, Shringla said that the measures taken by the Indian government in Kashmir are temporary and preventive in nature.

When the decision was announced, the possibilities of cross border infiltration and terrorism, we know that there would be incitement to violence. We have simply taken preventive steps, he said.

The restrictions in Kashmir are being eased even as we speak. Tens of thousands of people came out to celebrate the festival of Eid. They went to mosque, they prayed, the shops are open. Theres even traffic jams in several cities. And we are progressively easing on the restrictions, Shringla said.

With PTI Inputs

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Seoul:

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un personally oversaw the latest in a series of missile launches, which was the test-fire of a new weapon, the countrys official Korean Central News Agency reported Sunday.

The KCNA report did not specify the nature of the weapon tested in Saturdays launch. But a second statement from the North Korean foreign ministry called it a test for developing the conventional weapons.

The missile launchesSaturdays test was the fifth in two weeksare in protest at regular US-South Korean war games already in progress, which have longed angered Pyongyang.

Kim mounted the observation post and guided the test-fire, KCNA said of Saturdays launch, adding that he expressed great satisfaction with the result.

Defence officials in Seoul said what appeared to be two short-range ballistic missiles were fired at daybreak Saturday from near the northeastern city of Hamhung, flying 400 kilometres (250 miles) before splashing down in the sea between the Korean peninsula and Japan.

Kim had ordered that the test be carried out immediately after getting a report on the development of the new weapon, KCNA said.

The detailed analysis of the test-fire result proved that the new weapon systems advantageous and powerful demand of the design was perfectly met, it added.

In the separate foreign ministry statement carried by KCNA, Pyongyang said Seoul had defiantly staged an aggressive war exercise against us.

Any future talks will be held strictly between the DPRK and the US, not between the north and the south, it said.

On Friday, US President Donald Trump said he agreed with Kims opposition to the war gamesalbeit for financial rather than military reasonsand indicated the missile launches were not important.

Then on Saturday, Trump said Kim had expressed willingness to meet and resume negotiations once the US-South Korean exercises are over.

Kim also offered a small apology for testing the short range missiles, the US leader noted.

The North Korean foreign ministry said Trumps comment in effect recognizes the self-defensive rights of a sovereign state, saying that it is a small missile test which a lot of countries do.

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New Delhi:

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday asserted that abrogation of Article 370 of the Indian constitution, that gave special status to the region of Jammu and Kashmir, will lead to the end of terrorism and progress of the region. Shah reiterated that Article 370 should've been removed long ago as it was not beneficial to the country.

As a legislator, I firmly believe Article 370 should've been removed long ago. As a Home Minister, there was no confusion in my mind about the consequences of removing Article 370. I'm confident terrorism in Kashmir will finish and it'll move ahead on the path of development now, the Union Home Minister said at the launch of a book on Vice President M Venkiah Naidu.

The BJP-led government's move to revoke the special status of Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcate the border state into two Union territories secured Parliament's approval on Tuesday with the Lok Sabha passing the new measures with an over two-thirds majority. The Rajya Sabha gave its approval to the resolution on Monday.

The government had announced the removal of some provisions of Article 370 to take away Jammu and Kashmir's special status and proposed bifurcation of the state into two Union territories - Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh - a far-reaching decision that seeks to redraw the map and future of a region at the centre of protracted militancy.

Meanwhile, Ministry of Home Affairs is reportedly planning to serve legal notices to news organisations if they are prima facie found projecting "fabricated and provocative" stories leading to law and order situation in the sensitive Valley region of Jammu and Kashmir.



The development comes after some media outlets claimed, attributing facts to foreign news agencies, that Valley has been witness to a large scale protest and violence on Friday. Reuters had reported that police used tear gas and pellets to fight back at least 10,000 people protesting Delhi's withdrawal of special rights for Jammu and Kashmir in its main city of Srinagar on Friday.



The Jammu and Kashmir Police has also said that the situation in the state was peaceful and no untoward incident has been reported in last one week. "There has been no untoward incident barring minor stone-pelting which was dealt with on the spot and was nipped in the bud," Director General of Police Dilbagh Singh told news agency PTI.

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New Delhi:

The death toll from floods in southern and western states of the country including Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra and Gujarat has risen to 178. Due to the monsoon fury, at least 68 people were killed in Kerala while 110 others killed in Karnataka, Maharashtra and Gujarat. Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday undertook an aerial survey of the flood-affected areas of Karnataka and Maharashtra including Belagavi, Sangli and Kolhapur.

Karnataka

All rivers continue to be in the spate in Karnataka where the UNESCO world heritage site in Hampi, on the banks of the Tungabhadra River in Ballari, was inundated after more than 1.70 lakh cusec water was released from a reservoir on Sunday morning. However, officials stated that all the tourists in Hampi were shifted to safer places. In the meantime, the Ballari district administration has asked people living along the river banks to move to safer places as all 33 gates of the Tungabhadra Dam were opened in the wake of incessant rains.

Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa said that the estimate of flood-related loss in the state was Rs 10,000 crore and urged the Centre to release Rs 3,000 crore as immediate aid. The heavy monsoon since last week has left 31 people dead and displaced four lakh people in 80 talukas of 17 districts in Karnataka.

Kerala

In the southern state of Kerala, the death toll due to flood has gone up to 72 while 58 others are missing. Over 2.51 lakh people have taken shelter in 1,639 relief camps. On the other hand, the IMD has issued a red alert for Kannur, Kasaragod and Wayanad in view of heavy rain forecast.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that water levels in major dams are not a cause of worry as of now.The Army, Navy, Coast Guard, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), police force, volunteers and fishermen are involved in the rescue operation in various places.

In the meantime, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi visited Wayanad and spoke to the people sheltered in the relief camp. According to the Southern Railway a number of trains, including the Jamnagar Express, Nizamuddin-Ernakulam Duronto and Kochuveli-Amritsar Express, have been cancelled so far.

Maharashtra

At least 35 people have been killed in a week in rain-related incidents in five districts, including 17 who drowned after a boat capsized near Brahmanal village in Sangli on Thursday. Four lakh people have so far been moved to safer areas. It is worth mentioning here that 761 villages in 69 tehsils are affected due to the monsoon fury.

Rains pounded Kolhapur, Sangli, Satara, Thane, Pune, Nashik, Palghar, Ratnagiri, Raigad and Sindhudurg districts in the state in the last one week. "The NDRF has deployed 29 teams, the SDRF three, Coast Guard 16, Navy 41 and Army 21 in these 10 districts," an official said.

Gujarat

In Gujarat, the death in the rain-related incidents has risen to 31, including 12 deaths were reported from Saurashtra region since Saturday. Parts of central Gujarat and Saurashtra and Kutch regions have been receiving heavy rains for the last three days. Since Saturday, Nakhatrana taluka in Kutch district received 321 mm of rains, Tankara in Morbi district gauged 268 mm of rainfall, while Dhrangadhra taluka in Surendranagar recorded 209 mm of rains.

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New Delhi:

The Delhi Police on Monday night received a hoax bomb threat call for Terminal-2, which affected flight operations between 8.50 pm and 10 pm. Soon after receiving the information, the departure area was evacuated and all passengers were moved to gate no-4 at the departure level, while arriving passengers were on hold inside planes. After detailed search operation for about an hour by the BDS and the CISF, it was found to be a hoax. At 10 pm, normalcy at the terminal operations were restored.

The police later identified the man and detained him. "A person called up Delhi airport terminal-2 and said he had placed a bomb at the airport. He later denied when police identified him. The police are still carrying out a search as a precautionary measure," said DCP (Airport) Sanjay Bhatia.

Sanjay Bhatia, DCP (Airport): A person called up Delhi airport terminal-2 and said he had placed a bomb at the airport. He later denied when police identified him. Police is still carrying out a search as a precautionary measure. pic.twitter.com/Z251d90sC3  ANI (@ANI) August 12, 2019

Earlier in the day, an anonymous call to police claiming that a bomb had been planted in a popular mall in Chandigarh sent security agencies into a tizzy as people were swiftly evacuated and extensive searches carried out in the building, but it turned out to be hoax.

"Chandigarh Police control room received a call on Monday afternoon that a bomb could have been placed in the Elante Mall premises. A four-hour search was conducted on each of the four floors and every shop inside was checked, but no explosive was found," Deputy Superintendent of Police (East) Dilsher Singh said.

Earlier, panic gripped the people and many started rushing out of the premises, leading to chaos for a while, after mall authorities and the police used loudspeakers to ask them to leave the shopping complex.

After the people were swiftly evacuated, local police units, anti-sabotage check team along with bomb disposal squad carried out searches in the mall, which had been teeming with shoppers on account of Eid holiday.

Police said that efforts were on to trace the caller, who had used voice over internet protocol.

The DSP said Chandigarh Police's Cyber Cell was investigating the case. A case has been registered under relevant provisions of the law, he said.

"Search operation ended in the evening and the mall was thrown open to public, he said. Besides the mall, the adjoining buildings too were searched. Authorities have been on high alert across the country ahead of Independence Day and in view of developments related to Jammu and Kashmir.
New Delhi:

A businessman stayed in a luxury suite of a five-star hotel in Hyderabad for over 100 days and then fled without paying the Rs 12.34 lakh bill, the police said. According to reports, the matter came to light when the management of Taj Banjara hotel lodged a complaint with police. A case of cheating and criminal breach of trust against has been registered against the man identified as A Shankar Narayan.

According to police, Narayana  who hails from Visakhapatnam - checked into the hotel and expressed his intention to stay for a long period of time. He was given a suite at a discounted tariff by the hotel management and the man stayed in it for 102 days. After paying Rs 13.62 lakh out of his total bill of Rs. 25.96 lakh, he allegedly left the hotel in April this year without informing anyone.

When hotel staff contacted Narayana, he promised to clear the remaining bill. However, he later switched off his phone. "We have registered a case on the complaint by the hotel management and launched investigations," Sub-Inspector P. Ravi told IANS.

Police said that they are investigating the matter. Meanwhile, the businessman has reportedly claimed that he had checked out of the hotel after settling the bill. Alleging that his reputation was being tarnished, Narayan said that he was contemplating legal action against the hotel, reported IANS.
New Delhi:

The Delhi Police has been put on alert after security agencies provided it inputs about a possible attack on the Red Fort in Old Delhi ahead of Independence Day on August 15, according to a report.

India Today, quoting security agencies, reported that a terrorist attack may take place within 3 kilometres radius of the Red Fort. Around 17 places in the national capital have been rendered as sensitive. A security alert has also been issued at all the airports in the country, including those in Delhi, the report added.

The report added that two-four terrorists may enter with Afghanistan passport. Delhis neighbouring states have also been asked to take a strict vigil at all the bus stands en-route to Delhi.

Meanwhile, the Gujarat government has asked the police to remain alert and enhance security to thwart any unwarranted situation in the state during the Eid and Independence Day celebrations next week, officials said.

The move comes days after the Parliament approved a resolution abrogating special status to Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 of the Constitution and a bill for splitting the state into two union territories.

While Eid-ul-Adha will be celebrated on August 12, the Independence Day is celebrated on August 15. Gujarat Chief Secretary JN Singh along with state DGP Shivanand Jha on Friday held a video-conference session with top police officials, including police commissioners, district SPs and Range IGs, of the state to brief them about various security measures they are required to take during the upcoming festivals.

A senior police official said the focus of the video-conference was to increase vigil and keep a close watch on the movements near the border.

While most of the instructions were meant for the entire state, some of them were also given to the SPs and Range IGs of those districts which are along the coastline and near the Indo-Pak border.

"Bordering districts as well as those along the coastline were asked to remain extra alert as drug peddlers use those routes to smuggle narcotics into the state.

"To get first-hand information about the suspicious movements in the sea, police have been asked to remain in touch with the fishermen," the officer said on the condition of anonymity.

(With PTI inputs)

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Mumbai: A total of 41 cases of this variant have now reached 41 in the country after a passenger who arrived in Gujarat from South Africa was infected with the Omicron variant. However, Maharashtra still remains the hotspot of Omicron. The person found infected with Omicron in Gujarat reached Delhi via Kenya and Abu Dhabi on December 3, although his corona report was negative. In the second Test on December 4, the man's report was negative, though he was then hospitalized for isolation.

On December 8, the man was again diagnosed with corona testing and was found infected with the Omicron variant. The man is said to be undergoing treatment at home and all his relatives, four fellow passengers, whose reports have been found negative, were also examined. Two new cases of omicron variants have also been reported in Maharashtra last Monday. Both the patients reportedly have a travel history in Dubai.

The Omicron variant of Corona has so far been found in six States of the country - Maharashtra (20), Rajasthan (9), Karnataka (3), Gujarat (4), Kerala (1) and Andhra Pradesh (1), and two Union Territories - Delhi (2) and Chandigarh (1). In view of the rapid spread of the variant, the government has asked the people not to relax corona rules. The omicron variant of the corona was first found in South Africa and now the variant has spread to about 70 countries.

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The UN Population Fund (UNFPA) has launched a USD835 million appeal to help individuals in crisis. The goal is to reach more than 54 million women, girls, and young people in 61 nations, with the Covid-19 epidemic and other challenges, as per reports.

"It's crucial to understand that sexual and reproductive health treatments aren't just supplemental to other types of emergency care; they're lifesaving. They are more important than ever now, as the world grapples with many overlapping disasters "According to the UN organisation. According to the UNFPA's annual humanitarian report, Yemen has the biggest need for aid for the third year in a row, requiring roughly USD100 million in immediate assistance.

According to estimates, a woman dies in delivery every two hours, and 1 million pregnant and lactating women are severely malnourished. Gender-based violence protection and response, as well as critical commodities such as dignity kits containing menstrual pads, soap, and warm winter clothing, will cost more than 68 million dollars. The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan, Afghanistan, Nigeria, Venezuela, Haiti, Bangladesh, and Lebanon round out the top ten list of nations with the biggest humanitarian financial needs.

Afghanistan receives 3rd batch of World Bank's cash assistance

Intl donors agreed to release USD 280 million in aid to Afghanistan

pakistan wants to starve afghanistan ? 50 MT of wheat sent by India stuck
Home  Just In  Democracy on the decline: Nepal police personnel breach the law and moral values in containing protests

On November 11, the scene outside the Supreme Court was disturbing. At its gates were police officers from the Armed Police Force (APF) with self-loading rifles (SLRs) in hand. A few hours before their arrival, Nepal Polices special task force (STF) was guarding the apex court where agitating lawyers were due to protest, demanding Chief Justice Cholendra Shamsher Rana resign from his position.

Once the lawyers arrived, the Supreme Court looked like a war zone with a standoff taking place. Nepal Bar Association vice-president Ishwari Prasad Bhattarai condemned the deployment of the APF. Theyve turned the apex court into a war zone. Why do they need guns? This is wrong on so many levels, he said at a press conference on November 18.

And, he is right. Lethal weapons are rarely used to disperse crowds. Even in Nepal, police normally use batons, shields and water cannons to control crowds. When things get really out of hand, they have been using tear gas to disperse the crowd. But, the use of automatic lethal weapons is a new phenomenon, and it is illegal, according to stakeholders. But, lethal weapons is not the only concern. The personnel, mostly undertrained to contain protests, recruited in Nepal Police, which itself is underresourced, have breached laws and moral values in forcefully dispersing crowds, and it should stop, stakeholders say.

Illegal acts continue

Police stand guard outside the Supreme Court to top agitating lawyers from entering the court premises. Photo: Aryan Dhimal

The use of SLRs to disperse crowds is wrong internationally. But, to do that at the Supreme Court is wrong on so many levels. What was the Home Ministry and the Supreme Court thinking, questions senior advocate Satish Krishna Kharel.

But, this is not the only case.

On October 10, things got well out of hand in Rupandehi, the home district of Home Minister Bal Krishna Khand. Four people died after police fired shots to disperse squatters who were protesting.

The scene around the Motipur industrial area in the district was horrifying, says local Yam Lal Bhusal. The squatters had built temporary houses in the area. It was the eve of Dashain and they could have destroyed it after Dashain. But, the police used excessive force needlessly and people died, says Bhusal.

People injured during the Motipur incident.

What makes things interesting is the Local Administration Act, 1971, only allows security personnel to use firearms when everything else fails. Even when they do, police officials have to give prior warnings to the crowd. Even when they do fire, the act states they can only fire below the knee. But, locals from Rupandehi say that no prior warning was issued before shots were fired as they say that the deceased people were shot in the head and chest.

There are so many cases of police using excessive force. Ever since the APF was formed during the Maoist insurgency, there have been many cases where people have been injured, or worse died, due to the negligence of the police force. Even though there are so many examples, this still continues even today.

A recent example of Birgunj is proof of this. On November 29, students from Gajendra Raj Joshi School were protesting because there was no teacher. After complaints, police arrived at the scene and used batons and tear gas to disperse the crowd.

Why to beat them when they were protesting for a valid reason, says Milan Dharel, the executive director of the National Child Rights Council. The law gives them the right to protest.

In 2018, Dr Govinda KC was staging a fast-unto-death for the betterment of medical education in Jumla. The state asked him to stop his hunger strike, but KC refused, and the KP Sharma Oli-led government forcefully brought KC back to Kathmandu.

In doing so, the police force had a small tussle with KCs aides who say they were beaten with sticks inside the hospital. The police also lied. To lure KC out of the hospital, they announced that a police officer had died in the tussle. KC, not wanting any more problems, said he would go to Kathmandu but when he arrived in Kathmandu, he learnt that the police had lied to him.

Morality out the window

Police use excessive force during the Enough is Enough protest in Baluwatar in July 2020. Photo: Chandra Bahadur Ale

The Local Administration Act, 1971, gives the chief district officers the permission to deploy force to control a situation if it affects the peace of the district. But before excessive force is used, the law clearly states that the CDO or people who work under him/her need to go to the incident site.

But, according to sources close to the Home Ministry, CDOs or their staff rarely go to these places.

There was a time when CDOs would go to the field with us and monitor the situation. Now, there is no one from the district administration office, says former Nepal Police DIG Madhav Thapa. When they dont get there, rational dialogues dont take place and anger takes over.

It is not that they do not get information about it. The District Administration Office is one of the first places to get information about an incident.

But, they dont want to come and talk with the protestors. Only when the incident reaches a tipping point do they come. If they come forward before it starts, things can be handled smoothly, says an official at the Home Ministry.

That is what happened during the incident in Rupandehi. The districts CDO Rishi Ram Tiwari called a meeting only after people died and said he would talk to the government regarding relocating the squatters who were living in the industrial area.

The locals say that if the local government had decided that earlier, four people would not have died needlessly.

Because there is hardly any investigation regarding these cases of using excessive force or even guns, the Nepal Police personnel hardly think twice about using force, says a senior international legal advisor of International Commission of Jurists, Mandira Sharma. Unless there is a law that punishes the police, nothing is going to change.

Lack of resources

Sources say that Nepals police force doesnt have modern weapons to disperse crowds.

But, former Nepal Police DIG Hemanta Malla Thakuri says the police force does not have adequate resources to deal with crowds. He says even the batons they have are not ideal to control crowds.

When the police deal with the crowd, we need to think about the safety of both the crowd and the police force. But, due to poor resources, we cant do that, says Thakur.

He says police should avoid hitting people on the head or bones, but lately, he has not been seeing the police being sensitive towards this as people have been injured on the head too.

Former DIG Thapa recalls an incident that took place in the 1990s, which he says Nepal Police should always keep in mind while dealing with crowds.

That time, Man Mohan Adhikari, Madhav Kumar Nepal along with 92 other MPs entered the Singha Durbars restricted zone. The situation was getting tense.

I was present there and had I started debating with the crowd, there would have been chaos. But I brought in 50 shells of tear gas and fired those. Soon, there was no one in the area, he says.

But now, security forces in Nepal do not have enough tear gas. The shells that were bought in 2006 are still in operation, says Thapa, adding there have also been examples of police using tear gas past expiry dates. Health officials say using these expired shells is very harmful to the human body.

Nepal Police spokesperson Basanta Bahadur Kunwar says as the personnel seldom use tear gas, things like that happen. But, according to officials, expired tear gas has been fired in Kathmandu too.

Even a 2016 report submitted by the Human Rights Commission states Nepal Police had used expired tear gas during the protest in Terai, where locals were demanding equal rights for Madhesis.

Defences and limitations

Nepal Police mostly uses water cannons to disperse crowds. Photo: Chandra Bahadur Ale

Since the Maoist insurgency, 19 people have died due to tussles with the police. The number is low because we didnt use dangerous weapons. Had we used dangerous weapons, they would be higher, says Thapa.

Thakuri says that for a long time, Nepal Police only used rubber bullets. He says many people did not die during the 2006 movement due to the use of rubber bullets and baton charge.

We fired rubber bullets even when the crowd injured one of our own, but hitting them on the head, says Thapa. We used to remain calm even amidst chaos because this was a job.

But like tear gas, police do not have enough rubber bullets. A police officer says that as a result, they have to use SLR guns.

We dont have an alternative, says the officer. We dont have non-lethal weapons for these tense situations.

But, a former National Human Rights Commission member Mohna Ansari says that the defences police give when accused of killing are quite weird.

One Nepal Police officer said he accidentally shot a person in the head after his bullet ricocheted off the ground, and hit the person on the head, says Ansari.

A senior police officer says the Nepal Police has also not been able to train its people to shoot people below the knee. Rubber bullets are quite expensive and we havent been able to afford them for training, he says.

Internationally, non-lethal weapons like tasers, pepper sprays and nets are used to control crowds. But, Nepal does not have these tools. We dont have anything, says APF spokesperson Mandip Shrestha.

Nepal does have water cannons, but they have not been used as efficiently as it should. We dont have enough water cannons. Ideally, it would be great to have one in each province, but sadly that isnt the case, says an APF official.

Nepal Police spokesperson Kunwar says it has bought five state-of-the-art water cannons to curb this. We will purchase more when there is need, he says.

But, another Nepal Police official says Nepals demographic is not ideal for these water cannons.

Lack of training

Ansari says Nepal Police personnel think all protesters are criminals. They dont know how to make do with limited resources and that is a major problem, she says.

But, former DIG Thapa says this depends on who is leading the force. He says that if there is a good commander in charge, things rarely go out of hand.

If I was at the Supreme Court, Id use civil police to solve the issue because when people see police with guns, things can go bad, says Thapa.

How poor leadership from police worsens the situation is evident from the Tikapur incident of 2015. Eight police officials, including an SSP, died in the tussle with the protesting Tharus. Investigation proved that the incident got out of hand due to the poor leadership of SP Laxman Bahadur Singh.

Nepal Police officials were ahead of officers from the Armed Police Force. The first fault lies there, says an official who was a part of the investigation team. When Nepal Polices SSP died, the commander wasnt even present there.

Unaccountable CDOs

Even though the CDO must be one of the first people on the scene, they rarely show up during unrest.

The CDOs should be the first commander, believe various stakeholders. In the past, a command post would be set up near the conflict area, after which the CDOs would deploy security personnel.

The CDOs had to undergo similar training that the police went through. Because they were well trained, they had the know-how to lead the police force during times of conflict on the streets, says former home secretary Dwarika Nath Dhungel. But, the CDOs that are appointed today are not trained and dont know how to act during these troubled times.

Even though the law states that the first respondents to these conflicts should be Nepal Police, the CDOs time and again deploy the APF.

This creates more tension as people will feel that the APF personnel are there to attack them. Only if Nepal Police fails, the APF should be deployed, says an official at Nepal Police.

Even though the Armed Police Force Act does state that high-ranking officials can deploy them during protest and tension, it was for a short time period. But, using that law, the CDOs have been deploying APF officers as they choose.

A senior officer at the APF says that officials are misusing the force. He says the APF should only be used during crises or when Nepal Police cannot deal with a situation.

In India, when the special task force is called, people are traumatised because they know that the STF means bullets. If we were used like that, we would be able to deal with situations in a better manner, he says.

But in Nepal, the APF is taken for granted as the personnel are deployed by anyone and at any time.

This is why senior advocate Satish Krishna Kharel wants the Local Administration Act amended. He says that the act is too archaic and at a time when technology is peaking, the act just does not make sense.

At a time when we should be using tasers, were using age-old guns used to guard the border. Its quite sad, says Kharel.
Home  Just In  Smart Dhobi Nepal: Just a call away, this startup gets your laundry done affordably

After completing all other procedures in Kathmandu, Sujan Chaulagain arrived in Delhi for his interview to go to Poland. In the interview, he found that he would earn only Rs 50,000 a month there. For someone who had gone for the interview thinking he would earn Rs 150,000, this was a real shock.

He was 24 at the time. His income from running an electronic shop in Nepal was also good. But he thought of going abroad, thinking it would be easier to earn and save a lot of money. After his interview, he decided not to go abroad, but he adopted a new idea, started earning three times more money in Nepal and made himself self-reliant.

Even after his interview, he stayed in Delhi for about two months. There, as he had already thought of doing something in Nepal, he spend the time thinking about what to do and what holds more benefits.

One day, he came across a modern laundry business: going house to house and carrying laundry. He thought the business can be good in Nepal, with less investment and more profit. And, he returned to Nepal with the same plan. This is how Smart Dhobi Nepal was born as a startup.

Respect for labour

When he came to Nepal and surveyed the market on his own, he did not see many laundries that were operating commercially. Then, he finally decided to start the business.

But in the early days, many questions popped up before him. Meanwhile, the family and friends ridiculed him for demoting himself from the status of a shopkeeper to a laundryman. Yet, he did not deviate from his plan and started Smart Dhobi Nepal.

Chaulagain says, During my stay in Delhi, I realised that no work is small or big. I think any work done in a professional way can result in more money, which is why I am engaged in this business.

He came to Kathmandu at the age of eight, and here, he had gained experience from a young age, sometimes working in marketing and sometimes in his own electronic shop.

Smart Dhobi Nepal assures the customers of giving quality service at an affordable rate.

He got addicted to making money, and it was the reason why he started Smart Dhobi Nepal. Thinking that he could earn a lot of money at once, he had left his business and started his process to go abroad. Money is something that is never enough, we want to always earn more. Since there was no saving, I wanted to go abroad. But, I today think that I was destined to work in my own country.

After returning to Nepal from New Delhi, he initially rented some land in Nayabasti of Bouddha. He made a makeshift hut with two washing machines in it and opened the Smart Dhobi Nepal office next to it. When he finished setting up, he found he had spent Rs 800,000.

Now, the business has expanded and his investment has been more than Rs two million.

The investment was made, but there was a problem in finding a market for Smart Dhobi Nepal. He says, If someone orders washing, money will come. But, since it was a new job, finding new customers wasnt easy. He then created a Facebook page, kept his own number and started taking orders from it.

First, it was difficult to get new customers. Second, it is difficult to create an environment where visitors get reminded of the business. Therefore, we decided to provide services all within the Kathmandu valley. After that, the number of service seekers started increasing.

The process of seeking service

Besides washing and drying, Smart Dhobi Nepal also provides you with ironing services.

At present, there are two ways to call for the services of Smart Dhobi Nepal. Orders can be placed either by texting the Smart Dhobi Nepal Facebook page or by calling the number on the page. Chaulagain says that there is no charge for collecting or delivering clothes, anywhere in the valley.

After getting in touch with the users, we arrange the appropriate time for the service seekers and go to pick the clothes up as per their convenience, he says, adding, As per their need, we do clean and dry, dry wash or clean and iron. And, within the next two days, we will deliver the clothes to their house.

There is a charge of Rs 130 per kg for washing and drying, and Rs 200 per kg for ironing. But, in the case of partywear that needs more care, the fees are a bit higher.

Chaulagain says Smart Dhobi Nepal only takes the fees only after the service seekers check and are satisfied with their services.

So what is the difference between traditional laundry and digital laundry? In reply, Chaulagain of Smart Dhobi Nepal says, Both of them are doing laundry. But, this is a more systematic and professional laundry service. It has some different features.

But, Chaulagain assures that there is no need to doubt the quality of detergent as they make it themselves and the clothes are cleaned with clean drinking water.
Accused Oxford High School gunman Ethan Crumbley is video-conferenced in to the 52-3 District Courtroom of Judge Nancy Carniak in Rochester Monday, Dec. 13, 2021, for a probable cause hearing in his case. Crumbley was represented by attorney Paulette Michel Loftin.

The defense team for Oxford High School shooting suspect Ethan Crumbley argued in court Monday that an adult jail is not the right place for their teenage client and sought to have him moved to a juvenile facility pending the outcome of his case.

The defense expressed concerns that Crumbley can hear the adult prisoners in nearby cells, which is a violation of a federal statute, and argued that the teen's mental and emotional wellbeing may be harmed in that environment. A juvenile facility is more fitting, where he could go to school and get more help with what he's going through, they argued.

"This is someone who has never been in trouble before. This is not someone who has a history of assaulting kids, or any other negative contact with his peers. This one isolated incident is all that we are looking at here today," Crumbley's lawyer Paulette Loftin argued to the court, adding: "There are other juveniles housed at Childrens Village charged with murder. This would not be the first time."

But the prosecution objected, saying Ethan Crumbley is where he belongs given what happened.

"This was a mass murder at a school, judge. It was planned. It was premediated. ... He targeted juveniles," said Oakland County Assistant Prosecutor Marc Keast, who scoffed at the defense lawyer's characterization of the shooting.

"This cannot be compared to any other case that this court or any court in this county has seen before," Keast said. "And calling this an isolated incident, frankly, does not do it justice."

Oxford High School was the scene of a mass shooting on Nov. 30, 2021. The shooting suspect Ethan Crumbley, 15, was charged as an adult and is being housed in the Oakland County Jail.

District Judge Nancy Carniak concluded that Ethan Crumbley, who has been charged as an adult, belongs in jail pending the outcome of his case.

"His conduct could be a menace to other juveniles. I think his placement is appropriate," said Carniak, who did, however, take into account the defense's concerns that Crumbley can hear other adult prisoners.

Under federal law, juveniles placed in adult jails or prisons are not allowed to be within sight or sound of adult inmates.

Deborah McKelvy, a guardian ad litem assigned to Crumbley, raised this issue in court, telling the judge: "Im not sure that he is fully away from the sounds of the adult inmates. I understand the severity of what occurred. I think everybody does, including Mr. Crumbley."

But, McKelvy added: "I do have concerns for him and his mental and emotional wellbeing. ... The jail is not conducive, not designed for juveniles."

McKelvy urged the judge to consider sending him to Children's Village in Pontiac where he could attend school and have "more human services to help him through this."

"Im imploring you," McKelvy asked the judge, "he should be allowed to go back to the village."

Accused Oxford High School gunman Ethan Crumbley is video-conferenced in to the 52-3 District Courtroom of Judge Nancy Carniak in Rochester Monday, Dec. 13, 2021, for a probable cause hearing in his case. Crumbley was represented by attorney Paulette Michel Loftin.

The judge disagreed.

This debate over Crumbley's incarceration occurred during a probable cause conference, though both sides agreed to adjourn it until Jan. 7 due to the large amount of evidence in the case.

During the livestreamed hearing, Crumbley sat quietly in front of a video camera at the Oakland County Jail, with his face covered in a white mask. He now has a second lawyer, Amy Hopp, appointed to his case, which involves hundreds of interviews, video surveillance, social media posts and text messages.

A protective order has been entered in the case preventing evidence from being disclosed to people not authorized to review it.

More than a dozen journalists attended the hearing Monday afternoon.

Attorneys in the case appeared via Zoom on a television screen hung on the wall on Carniaks courtroom in 52-3 District Court in Rochester Hills. The hearing lasted about 15 minutes.

Booking photograph of Ethan Crumbley, arrested and charged as an adult in the Oxford High School shooting on November 30, 2021.

Crumbley, 15, has been charged with first-degree murder and terrorism causing death stemming from the Nov. 30 Oxford High School shooting that left four students dead and seven others injured, including a teacher.

The high school sophomore is accused of fatally shooting four people  Hana St. Juliana, 14; Tate Myre, 16; Madisyn Baldwin, 17; and Justin Shilling, 17  and injuring seven others during the rampage. According to police and prosecutors, Crumbley shot up his school using a gun that his parents had bought him four days earlier as a Christmas present.

More: New details emerge about family at center of Oxford school shooting

Ethan Crumbley is being housed in the Oakland County Jail along with his parents, Jennifer Crumbley, 43, and James Crumbley, 45.

Jennifer and James Crumbley each have been charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter and are scheduled to appear in court at 1:15 p.m. Tuesday in the same courthouse. Involuntary manslaughter is punishable by up to 15 years in prison. According to prosecutors, the parents did not have the gun properly secured.

All three Crumbleys have pleaded not guilty.

Separately, a civil lawsuit seeking $100 million has been filed against the school district on behalf of a student who was shot in the neck and survived, and her younger sister who watched her sibling get shot.

Contact Tresa Baldas: tbaldas@freepress.com

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Defense lawyer asks to move Ethan Crumbley out of adult jail
ZURICH, Switzerland, December 14, 2021--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Regulatory News:

beaconsmind AG (the "Company") (Paris:MLBMD) announces an equity raise of EUR 5.51 million from an international institutional investor to support the implementation of the companys global growth strategy in the post COVID area (the "Investor"). The transaction shall take place via a capital increase from authorized capital under exclusion of the subscription rights of the current shareholders. The respective equity raise is subject to the ordinary general shareholder meeting of the Company on December 16, 2021 resolving on a respective authorized capital for the Company. The Board of Directors of the Company is expected to resolve on the capital increase from authorized capital on December 16, 2021.

Following the transaction, the Investor is expected to serve as a long-term anchor investor of the Company with a participation of 21.6%. Max Weiland, CEO & Founder of the Company, will remain one of the largest shareholders in the Company with a participation of 18.6%.

The equity raise shall serve the purpose of improving the capital base of the Company. The company intends to use proceeds for strengthening its growth strategy with the opening of new sales offices internationally and by focusing on international joint ventures and business collaborations. For such purpose, the Company intends to increase further its number of employees in sales, product, development and client success management.

As part of the growth financing, the company intends to list its shares on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange in the Scale segment and to revoke the current listing on the Vienna MTF of Vienna Stock Exchange (direct market plus) within the next months. This step will lead to a simplified listing structure and broaden the scope of potential investors in the companys securities in a new home market.

With the reorganised listing in the Scale segment of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, two leading German banks, Hauck & Aufhauser and Baader Bank, are expected to provide ongoing research coverage.

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About beaconsmind

Founded in 2015 in Switzerland, beaconsmind is a pioneer in the field of location-based marketing (LBM) software for retail chains. beaconsmind helps retailers run successful location-based marketing campaigns. By fitting stores with bluetooth beacons that precisely locate and identify customers, and by integrating its Software Suite, beaconsmind opens a brand-new channel for retailers to interact with their customers, fundamentally transforming the shopping experience. Thanks to its solution, retailers can converge digital and physical shopping and address the convenience gaps of each.

For more information, please visit www.beaconsmind.com

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211214006116/en/

Contacts

Beaconsmind

Max Weiland, Founder & CEO

maxweiland@beaconsmind.com

Tel.: +41 44 380 73-73

Media Relations

Nicolas Merigeau

NewCap

nmerigeau@newcap.fr

Investor Relations/Strategic Communication

Louis-Victor Delouvrier

NewCap

lvdelouvrier@newcap.fr
There are already a number of ways to gift cryptocurrencies, but today Cash App will make doing so simpler with a new feature rolling out to its peer-to-peer payments app. The app, owned by Block (the company formerly known as Square) will now allow users in the U.S. to send bitcoin, as well as traditional stocks, as gifts to other U.S. Cash App users.

While services like Stockpile and Coinbase allow users to gift stocks and cryptocurrencies, respectively, Cash App notes this is the first time such features have been offered in a peer-to-peer payments app.

The feature builds on prior functionality Cash App offered that allows users to send bitcoin to any $Cashtag on the app for free. What makes this new "gifting" feature different is that now, users can send bitcoin using their Cash App USD balance or debit card, not just their existing bitcoin balance. That means users don't have to actually own any bitcoin -- or any stock, for that matter -- on the Cash App mobile app in order to send it as a gift.

Image Credits: Cash App

To make this feature work, users will actually be sending the fiat value of the stock or the bitcoin from either their Cash App balance or a linked debit card, the company explains. While the earlier feature of sending bitcoin was accessed from the investing tab, the new feature is available both from the app's payment tab or from a new "gift box" button on the investing tab.

The recipient will then receive the market value of the asset at the time they accept the gift. But if they'd rather not take the stock or bitcoin "gift," they can instead choose to receive the gift in USD.

Of course, the launch arrives just in time for Cash App to capitalize on holiday gift-giving and could make for an easy last-minute gift. But the company notes users can now also choose to split bills and pay back friends by sending them stocks or bitcoin, not just cash.

More importantly, perhaps, the feature may serve as a way for existing users to encourage newcomers to investing to get started with stock ownership or bitcoin via Cash App, as opposed to a competitor's app.

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Image Credits: Cash App

Cash App isn't the only peer-to-peer app that has expanded into the investing or crytpo market -- its top rivals, PayPal and Venmo -- also both offer the ability to buy, hold and sell cryptocurrencies.

Plus, Venmo this year added the ability for credit card users to buy cryptocurrency with their cash back, as another means of pushing users to invest through its app. It had positioned the feature as a way for newcomers to enter the market without having to worry about the process of making cryptocurrency purchases.

Similarly, Cash App's gifting feature could help draw in other new investors who wouldn't have necessarily sought out bitcoin investments on their own, but were invited to do so by a friend or family member.

The new feature is launching today for Cash App users located in the U.S.
Companys record exploration investment continues to deliver significant results at key assets in Nevada

CHICAGO, December 14, 2021--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Coeur Mining, Inc. ("Coeur" or the "Company") (NYSE: CDE) today provided an update on its 2021 exploration programs at its Rochester operation in northern Nevada and the Crown exploration project in southern Nevada. Collectively, Coeur has drilled just over one million feet (307,925 meters) from up to 27 active rigs at six different locations through the first ten months of 2021, reflecting a year-over-year increase of roughly 50%. The Company plans to invest an all-time record of approximately $70 million1 in exploration this year, nearly 48% more than last years record exploration investment.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211214005122/en/

Rochester - Land Position (Graphic: Business Wire)

Key Highlights2,3

Rochester delivers promising new expansion drill intercepts  Core and reverse circulation drilling commenced in the second quarter of 2021 with four rigs. A newly-restructured team is delivering excellent results and continuing to build an enhanced understanding of the Rochester geologic model with the goal of bringing forward higher-grade gold production over a potentially longer mine life to further enhance the economics of the ongoing expansion at Rochester. Key highlights include:

Nevada Packard (located roughly 2.0 miles (3.2 kilometers) southwest of the Rochester pit)  Expansion

Hole ROCR21-1011 returned 15 feet (4.6 meters) of 0.218 ounces per ton ("oz/t") (7.5 grams per tonne ("g/t")) gold and 1.9 oz/t (65.9 g/t) silver

Hole ROCR21-1042 returned 140 feet (42.7 meters) of 1.7 oz/t (56.9 g/t) silver

Hole ROCR21-1044 returned 105 feet (32.0 meters) of 1.5 oz/t (51.4 g/t) silver

Hole ROCR21-1045 returned 125 feet (38.1 meters) of 0.003 oz/t (0.1 g/t) gold and 3.6 oz/t (121.8 g/t) silver

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South Rochester (located roughly 0.8 miles (1.3 kilometers) south of the Rochester pit)  Expansion

Hole ROCR21-1027 returned 35 feet (10.7 meters) of 1.9 oz/t (64.9 g/t) silver

Hole ROCR21-1038 returned 25 feet (7.6 meters) of 0.040 oz/t (1.4 g/t) gold and 0.1 oz/t (3.4 g/t) silver

Hole ROCC21-1036 returned 165 feet (50.3 meters) of 0.003 oz/t (0.1 g/t) gold and 0.4 oz/t (13.7 g/t) silver

Lincoln Hill Resource (located roughly 3.0 miles (4.8 kilometers) west of the Rochester pit)  Expansion

Hole LHR21-001 returned 285 feet (86.9 meters) of 0.003 oz/t (0.1 g/t) gold and 1.0 oz/t (33.4 g/t) silver

Hole LHR21-002 returned 80 feet (24.4 meters) of 0.019 oz/t (0.7 g/t) gold and 0.4 oz/t (14.1 g/t) silver

Drilling at the Crown Block project continues to demonstrate excellent growth potential in the heart of one of the most active exploration districts in Nevada  Drilling in early 2021 from up to four drill rigs focused on the new C-Horst discovery before transitioning to drilling greenfield and expansion targets in the second half of the year at Daisy, Secret Pass and SNA  all part of the original Crown Block resource package. Notable assay results include:

C-Horst  Greenfield

Hole CH21-C009 returned 165 feet (50.3 meters) of 0.019 oz/t (0.7 g/t) gold and 57 feet (17.4 meters) of 0.013 oz/t (0.4 g/t) gold

Hole CH21-082 returned 140 feet (42.7 meters) of 0.019 oz/t (0.7 g/t) gold

Hole CH21-089 returned 115 feet (35.1 meters) of 0.031 oz/t (1.1 g/t) gold

Daisy  Expansion

Hole D21-057 returned 35 feet (10.7 meters) of 0.103 oz/t (3.5 g/t) gold and 45 feet (13.7 meters) of 0.015 oz/t (0.5 g/t) gold starting at 265 feet (80.8 meters)

Hole D21-061 returned 20 feet (6.1 meters) of 0.028 oz/t (1.0 g/t) gold

Hole EM21-006 returned 60 feet (18.3 meters) of 0.072 oz/t (2.5 g/t) gold

Secret Pass  Expansion

Hole SP21-032 returned 75 feet (22.9 meters) of 0.015 oz/t (0.5 g/t) gold and 70 feet (21.3 meters) of 0.044 oz/t (1.5 g/t) gold

Hole SP21-049 returned 70 feet (21.3 meters) of 0.048 oz/t (1.7 g/t) gold

"The recent reorganization of our Nevada-based exploration team has led to the development of a clear and aggressive blueprint to further unlock exploration potential at both our Rochester operation and in Southern Nevada, supported by strong new drill results," said Hans J. Rasmussen, Coeurs Senior Vice President of Exploration. "Mapping, sampling and geophysical surveys are driving a focused drilling program over a much larger footprint than Coeur has previously undertaken at Rochester. Recent drill results also highlight promising upside potential in the land package acquired in 2018 now referred to as West Rochester. This area has strong potential as a source of future higher-grade gold resources and to provide Coeur more optionality for processing material from the larger Rochester district.

"At the Crown Block project area near Beatty, Nevada, the new team has maintained three active reverse circulation rigs for most of the year and added two core rigs in late November to accelerate metallurgy and engineering studies. Initially, drilling was focused within the small five-acre permitted footprint at C-Horst before shifting focus to expansion drilling within a 300-acre Plan of Operation covering the Daisy, Secret Pass and SNA targets, which returned promising results. Our organic, cutting-edge exploration program continues to focus on unlocking tremendous potential at Crown and to position Coeur as a key participant within this emerging and very active gold district."

For a complete table of all drill results, please refer to the following link: https://www.coeur.com/_resources/pdfs/2021-12-14-Exploration-Update-Appendix-Final.pdf. Please see the "Cautionary Statements" section for additional information regarding drill results.

Rochester

Coeur has drilled a total of approximately 91,100 feet (27,800 meters) in 74 holes from up to four drill rigs mainly focused in the Rochester and Nevada ("NV") Packard areas through the first ten months of 2021, compared to roughly 46,100 feet (14,050 meters) during the same period in 2020.

The focus of Rochesters exploration program in 2021 has been on resource growth near the Rochester pit as well as expansion at NV Packard located approximately two miles southwest of the main Rochester pit. More recently, the focus shifted to the land package of Lincoln Hill, Independence Hill and Gold Ridge (collectively referred to as "West Rochester) which was acquired in late 2018 from Alio Gold for $18 million. The land package is located immediately west of the expanded infrastructure currently under construction as part of the POA11 expansion project. One core rig and one reverse circulation rig recently began drilling at Lincoln Hill and Gold Ridge, respectively.

West Rochester is geologically different from the Rochester Mine as it is endowed with higher-grade gold. Lincoln Hills current resource contains approximately four times the gold grade compared to the Rochester Mine reserves. Lincoln Hill and Independence Hill mineralization is hosted in the Triassic Rochester Formation, similar to the Rochester Mine while Gold Ridge is hosted in the Prida Formation limestone and andesite flows that overlies the Rochester Formation.

Key highlights from the 2021 exploration program include:

Rochester (East, South and North)

Drilling in the area was affected by drill rig availability in the first half of 2021

Up to four active rigs (two reverse circulation and two core)

South Rochester drilling successfully encountered southern extensions of known mineralized faults as highlighted in holes ROCR21-1027, ROCR21-1038 and ROCR21-1036

NV Packard

Infill drilling was completed late in the summer and focused on validating and upgrading the resource model

Expansion targets were tested west and east as well as along the Packard access road with excellent results noted in the highlights above

A new geologic interpretation has led to the discovery of significant silver mineralization as highlighted in holes ROCR21-1042 and ROCR21-1045 above, confirming excellent upside potential along and to the northeast of the Packard pit

Due to winter conditions, follow-up drilling in this part of Packard will be delayed until Q2 2022

Most recently, at West Rochester, a regional surface exploration program was launched consisting of geochemistry, geophysics and geologic mapping. The results of this program have assisted in focusing on new targets for drilling in 2022. For the remainder of 2021, Coeur plans to transition its focus to West Rochester, specifically the Gold Ridge zone and lower portions of the Lincoln Hill zone. There are six approved drill pads on the upper portion of Lincoln Hill and 16 approved pads at Gold Ridge, which is at lower elevation and less susceptible to snow-related delays.

The Company expects to receive approval for a 250-acre drilling Plan of Operations in the West Rochester target areas in early 2022 that will open up new areas for drilling in the Gold Ridge, Lincoln Hill and Independence Hill zones. Gold Ridge has not been drilled since 2015 but has significant upside potential based on new structural geology and stratigraphic interpretations that corroborate new geophysical data over the zone. Similarly, Independence Hill has multiple geochemical anomalies from soil samples that have not been drill-tested. The geochemical results correlate well to gold-silver mineralization alteration collected from outcrop samples. A significant portion of the sample soil geochemistry program was designated to test for trends of these outcropping gold-mineralized zones.

Crown Block

The 2021 Crown exploration program started the year with three reverse circulation rigs and one diamond core rig focused on resource growth from the four known mineralized zones (Daisy, Secret Pass, SNA and C-Horst). Building on the highlights from the first half of the year published by Coeur in June 2021, the Company has continued on pace and currently has two reverse circulation rigs focused on resource expansion and two diamond core rigs focused on infill. Through the first ten months of 2021, Coeur drilled approximately 167,700 feet (51,125 meters) in 202 holes at Crown compared to roughly 74,500 feet (22,700 meters) in 63 holes during the same period in 2020.

The target mineralization style at Crown continues to be disseminated oxide gold hosted in both Cambrian sedimentary and Tertiary felsic volcanic rocks. Each known mineralized resource at Crown has shown a component of oxide mineralization in shallow portions of the drill holes. At Secret Pass, mineralization is near-surface oxide with deeper sulfidic mineralization in proximity to the east-west trending Fluorspar Canyon Fault and continues for roughly 10 miles to the west through the historic Bullfrog Mine. The fault is considered to be one of the most important controls of gold mineralization in the district.

At C-Horst, the Company has discovered that deeper mineralization becomes more oxidized by a phenomenon termed "hypogene" oxidation, which may support the potential for improved leach characteristics at depth over the entire mineralized section. After drilling in the first half of 2021 targeting depths of less than 1,200 feet, Coeur plans to begin testing for feeder structures in deeper portions beneath C-Horst for the remainder of the year. The Company believes the deeper feeder structures have the potential to lead to higher gold grades.

At Daisy, drilling has focused on resource expansion around zones that were drilled in 2018 and 2019 where gold is hosted in the Cambrian Carrara and overlaying Bonanza King Formations. The area is severely faulted by thrusts and high angle normal faults while undergoing widespread dissolution, a process that locally produced gold bearing breccias. The complicated structural environment creates an opportunity for more discoveries with additional drilling and re-interpretation. As shown on the graphic with holes EM21-006 and D21-057, gold grades can also be higher along specific faults or fault intersections, which can also lead to significant upside results in the expansion drill holes.

In October, approximately 3,600 feet (1,100 meters) and eight drill holes were completed at the Mary-Goldspar prospect located about two miles north of the Sterling Mine with assays still pending. The prospect is a historic fluorite producer with associated gold and felsic intrusive dikes. The association of fluorite, felsic dikes and gold is well-documented in the entire Bare Mountains area from the Sterling and Daisy mines. The association of fluorite with the felsic dikes is also well-documented from Sterling to SNA, so it is believed the tertiary gold mineralization event has a direct association with the felsic magmatism and is localized along north-south faults.

Two diamond core rigs were mobilized to site in late November to accelerate metallurgy and engineering studies for all four resource zones at Crown. These rigs will be directed to infill drill the resource shapes as well as to drill deeper beneath each zone, specifically at C-Horst, to test for higher grade mineralization feeder structures.

In late 2021 and into 2022, Coeur plans to (i) receive its amended 300-acre Plan of Operations to focus on C-Horst expansion and greenfield targets between SNA and C-Horst, (ii) continue expansion drilling around the Daisy and Secret Pass resources and (iii) continue with the two new diamond core rigs added in early December to focus on metallurgy and engineering studies on all four Crown resources.

Ongoing industry-wide supply and labor disruptions have impacted drill rig availability and resulted in longer-than-normal assay laboratory turnaround times. Coeur has elected to defer completion of study work and an initial economic assessment for the Crown Block until these conditions improve.

About Coeur

Coeur Mining, Inc. is a U.S.-based, well-diversified, growing precious metals producer with five wholly-owned operations: the Palmarejo gold-silver complex in Mexico, the Rochester silver-gold mine in Nevada, the Kensington gold mine in Alaska, the Wharf gold mine in South Dakota, and the Silvertip silver-zinc-lead mine in British Columbia. In addition, the Company has interests in several precious metals exploration projects throughout North America.

Cautionary Statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of securities legislation in the United States and Canada, including statements regarding exploration efforts and plans, timing of receipt of permits, exploration expenditures, drill results, investments, resource delineation, expansion, upgrade or conversion. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause Coeurs actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Such factors include, among others, the risk that anticipated additions or upgrades to reserves and resources are not attained, the risk that planned drilling programs may be curtailed or canceled due to budget constraints or other reasons, the risks and hazards inherent in the mining business (including risks inherent in developing large-scale mining projects, environmental hazards, industrial accidents, weather or geologically related conditions), changes in the market prices of gold, silver, zinc and lead and a sustained lower price environment, the uncertainties inherent in Coeurs production, exploratory and developmental activities, including risks relating to permitting and regulatory delays (including the impact of government shutdowns), ground conditions, grade variability, any future labor disputes or work stoppages, the uncertainties inherent in the estimation of mineral reserves, the potential effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, including impacts to the availability of our workforce, continued access to financing sources, government orders that may require temporary suspension of operations at one or more of our sites and effects on our suppliers or the refiners and smelters to whom the Company markets its production, changes that could result from Coeurs future acquisition of new mining properties or businesses, the loss of any third-party smelter to which Coeur markets its production, the effects of environmental and other governmental regulations, the risks inherent in the ownership or operation of or investment in mining properties or businesses in foreign countries, Coeurs ability to raise additional financing necessary to conduct its business, make payments or refinance its debt, as well as other uncertainties and risk factors set out in filings made from time to time with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Canadian securities regulators, including, without limitation, Coeurs most recent reports on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q. Actual results, developments and timetables could vary significantly from the estimates presented. Readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Coeur disclaims any intent or obligation to update publicly such forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Additionally, Coeur undertakes no obligation to comment on analyses, expectations or statements made by third parties in respect of Coeur, its financial or operating results or its securities.

Christopher Pascoe, Coeurs Director, Technical Services and a qualified person under Canadian National Instrument 43-101, approved the scientific and technical information concerning Coeurs mineral projects in this news release. For a description of the key assumptions, parameters and methods used to estimate mineral reserves and resources, as well as data verification procedures and a general discussion of the extent to which the estimates may be affected by any known environmental, permitting, legal, title, taxation, socio-political, marketing or other relevant factors, Canadian investors should refer to the Technical Reports for each of Coeurs properties as filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

Notes

The potential quantity and grade for the deposits described herein are conceptual in nature. There is insufficient exploratory work to define a mineral resource and it is uncertain if further exploration will result in the applicable target being delineated as a mineral resource.

Reflects midpoint of guidance as published by Coeur on October 28, 2021 of $65-$75 million. For a complete table of all drill results included in this release, please refer to the following link:

https://www.coeur.com/_resources/pdfs/2021-12-14-Exploration-Update-Appendix-Final.pdf Rounding of grades, to significant figures, may result in apparent differences.

Conversion Table

1 short ton = 0.907185 metric tons 1 troy ounce = 31.10348 grams

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211214005122/en/

Contacts

Coeur Mining, Inc.

104 S. Michigan Avenue, Suite 900

Chicago, Illinois 60603

Attention: Jeff Wilhoit, Director, Investor Relations

Phone: (312) 489-5800

www.coeur.com
NEW YORK, December 14, 2021--(BUSINESS WIRE)--American International Group (NYSE: AIG) today announced that Constance Hunter will join the company as Executive Vice President, Global Head of Strategy & ESG in early 2022. Ms. Hunter will report to Peter Zaffino, President & Chief Executive Officer, and will join AIGs Executive Leadership Team.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211214006239/en/

Constance Hunter (Photo: Business Wire)

Mr. Zaffino said: "I am very pleased to add someone of Constances caliber to our leadership team. She brings a data-driven mindset and deep economic insights informed by a broad view that will enhance our ability to anticipate and analyze market trends, capitalize on strategic opportunities, and continue to drive profitable growth. Constance has a unique understanding of the critical role corporations like ours play in the global economic and environmental ecosystem, particularly in addressing climate change by advising businesses as they transition to sustainable energy solutions."

Ms. Hunter said: "I am excited to join AIG at such a pivotal time and to contribute to a transformation that is building focused, profitable growth for the company and delivering sustainable value to its stakeholders. I share AIGs commitment to transparent ESG leadership and to being an agent of change in our global communities."

Ms. Hunter joins AIG from KPMG, where she has served as Chief Economist since 2013 and as a member of the Growth and Strategy leadership team since 2020. Prior to that, she served as Deputy Chief Investment Officer at AXA Investment Managers, where she helped lead the management of over $500 billion in fixed income assets. She is an expert in macroeconomic and industry analysis and is recognized for being among the first economists to forecast pivotal economic events, including the impacts of COVID-19 on U.S. and other global economies, the 2007 real estate and credit crisis and the 2001 burst of the Dotcom bubble. She holds a BA in Economics and Sociology from New York University, a masters degree from Columbia Universitys School of International and Public Affairs and the Certified Business Economist designation.

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About AIG

American International Group, Inc. (AIG) is a leading global insurance organization. AIG member companies provide a wide range of property casualty insurance, life insurance, retirement solutions, and other financial services to customers in approximately 80 countries and jurisdictions. These diverse offerings include products and services that help businesses and individuals protect their assets, manage risks and provide for retirement security. AIG common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

Additional information about AIG can be found at www.aig.com | YouTube: www.youtube.com/aig | Twitter: @AIGinsurance www.twitter.com/AIGinsurance | LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/aig. These references with additional information about AIG have been provided as a convenience, and the information contained on such websites is not incorporated by reference into this press release.

AIG is the marketing name for the worldwide property-casualty, life and retirement, and general insurance operations of American International Group, Inc. For additional information, please visit our website at www.aig.com. All products and services are written or provided by subsidiaries or affiliates of American International Group, Inc. Products or services may not be available in all countries and jurisdictions, and coverage is subject to underwriting requirements and actual policy language. Non-insurance products and services may be provided by independent third parties. Certain property-casualty coverages may be provided by a surplus lines insurer. Surplus lines insurers do not generally participate in state guaranty funds, and insureds are therefore not protected by such funds.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211214006239/en/

Contacts

Quentin McMillan (Investors): quentin.mcmillan@aig.com

Dana Ripley (Media): dana.ripley@aig.com
BOULDER, Colo., Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- As the effects of Hurricane Ida and COVID-19 continue to impact lives throughout the Louisiana Bayou, a team of crisis counselors skilled in the

Somatic Experiencing (SE) method of trauma healing and resolution has arrived in south Louisiana to serve local organizations involved in helping both individuals and the community recover from the lingering effects of the trauma associated with Hurricane Ida.

The team is led by Amie Leigh, director of public health initiatives for Somatic Experiencing International (SEI), a U.S.-based organization that has been providing access to advanced wellness skills in trauma resolution for over 26 years by educating therapists and mental health practitioners. Across the globe, Somatic Experiencing has come to be considered a leading edge neurobiological therapy for trauma response and resolution, with a community of nearly 140,000 trained professionals in SE principles. The SE therapeutic model incorporates a bodily response to the healing process rather than relying solely on thoughts or emotions associated with a stressful event or lifelong trauma.

Seven professionals trained in the SE method are providing SE-informed crisis intervention and crisis stabilization in south Louisiana, together with several local massage therapists and SE students. These trained professionals are therapists, mental health counselors, and experienced disaster response professionals from across the United States. All are volunteering their time for this effort.

"Serving in emergency situations has been part of our culture for decades," said Paul Beverly, director of business development and fundraising. "The Somatic Experiencing method has been used to help bring those in crisis to a place of reconnection and re-engagement with the present. Our Crisis Stabilization and Safety (CSS) program is designed to equip responders with the SE therapeutic tools they need to help others feel secure in both a physical and communal way. Our team of trained mental health practitioners is providing mobile crisis counseling, as well as crisis stabilization and safety resourcing sessions for the community."

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"There has never been a more important time in human history for us to reach beyond our therapeutic clinical settings and get out into the world, in the field, in the trenches, where people are directly experiencing crisis and distress at a critical moment," said Leigh. "We are all about making a tactical and practical real difference for real people."

The team will be on-site in various communities December 10-15.

About Somatic Experiencing International:

Somatic Experiencing International is the leading authority on the SE method and is a major provider of training and educational programs. SE is a body-oriented therapeutic model that helps heal trauma and other stress disorders. Developed by Peter Levine, Ph.D., it is the result of the multidisciplinary study of neuroscience, stress physiology, psychology, ethology, biology, indigenous healing practices, and medical biophysics, with more than 45 years of successful clinical application. SE International is a 50l(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 1994. It is based in Boulder, Colorado, with trained Somatic Experiencing Practitioners (SEPs) in 40 countries.

Cision

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/crisis-counselors-from-somatic-experiencing-international-arrive-in-south-louisiana-to-aid-with-individual-and-community-recovery-from-hurricane-ida-301444637.html

SOURCE Somatic Experiencing Trauma Institute
The clinical-stage biotech CytoImmune Therapeutics welcomes Puerto Rico native and biochemistry and molecular biology expert Jose Eduardo Vidal, Ph.D., to lead the cellular and virus manufacturing capabilities.

Jose Vidal

Jose Vidal

Jose Vidal

TOA BAJA, Puerto Rico, Dec. 14, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CytoImmune Therapeutics , a clinical-stage cell immunotherapy company developing novel natural killer (NK) cell therapies to fight cancer, appoints Jose Eduardo Vidal, Ph.D. as its Chief Operating Officer.

"Jose is a tremendous addition to the team at CytoImmune and will lead the manufacturing capabilities here in Puerto Rico. This enables us to generate ample cells for all of our planned clinical trials. Given his experience with allogeneic cell therapies and his leadership in the field, we expect to rely heavily on his expertise in our mission to provide novel cellular medicines for patients battling metastatic solid tumors and refractory hematologic malignancies," said CytoImmune CEO Christina Coughlin, MD, Ph.D.

Dr. Vidal joins CytoImmune from Atara Bio, where he led the Chemistry, Manufacturing, and Controls (CMC) and was instrumental in the development of Atara's allogeneic T-cell therapy. He was responsible for Global Quality Assurance Operations, functionality and compliance, and Process Sciences. Moreover, he was in charge of the product manufacturing processes development from the preclinical stage to commercialization.

Prior to Atara, Dr. Vidal was Vice President of Global Product Process Development and Vice President of Drug Substance Operations at Amgen. He supervised over 1,000 employees and oversaw a budget of half a billion dollars while managing its worldwide product development network.

Before holding several senior and executive roles in pharmaceutical companies such as Wyeth, Pfizer, and prominent startups, including Biovail, Dr. Vidal earned a bachelor's degree in biology from the University of Puerto Rico and a Ph.D. in cellular molecular biology.

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With over two decades in developing biopharmaceuticals worldwide, Dr. Vidal will manage CytoImmune's cell and virus manufacturing and lead the operations team in Puerto Rico in its mission against cancer.

"I feel humbled and incredibly fortunate for the opportunity to join Dr. Caliguiri and the team at CytoImmune as we begin clinical studies," said Jose Eduardo Vidal, Ph.D. "I also welcome an opportunity to return home to Puerto Rico and contribute to the island's R&D clinical cell therapy footprint."

CytoImmune Therapeutics formed a Puerto Rico subsidiary in 2020 and has hired 40 employees to support its cell therapy manufacturing activities in Toja Baja, Puerto Rico.

About CytoImmune Therapeutics, Inc.

CytoImmune Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biotechnology company founded by Michael Caligiuri, M.D., and Jianhua Yu, Ph.D., in 2017. It focuses on developing a portfolio of natural killer (NK) cell-based immunotherapies designed to utilize the power of a patient's own immune system to eliminate cancer cells. CytoImmune is moving towards filing Investigational New Drug (IND) applications for novel immunotherapy programs in hematological and solid malignancies.

CONTACT

Name: Emily Trujillo

Email: emily@publicize.co

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EnforceAir automatically detected and mitigated a do-it-yourself (DIY) drone in the airspace approaching the outdoor crowd, took control of it and sent it back to its takeoff position

RA'ANANA, Israel and MCLEAN, Va., Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- D-Fend Solutions , the leader in radio frequency (RF), cyber-based, counter-drone takeover technology, today announced that its flagship product, EnforceAir , helped safeguard Pope Francis, 90 bishops, 500 priests and an estimated crowd of 60,000 worshippers during Holy Mass in Slovakia.

D-Fend Solutions Logo

The Ministry of Interior of Slovakia cooperated with D-Fend Solutions to protect the Pope, his retinue and attendees from the threat of rogue drones throughout multiple events in Slovakia from September 12-15, 2021, culminating in an open-air Mass in Sastin, a town that is home to the National Marian Shrine.

EnforceAir was deployed with its Ground-Level Tactical kit, to provide 360-degree coverage.

In addition to the overflowing crowd, there were several counter-drone security challenges, including many antennas and communications systems in the area, with an associated high radio frequency (RF) interference environment. Several drones were identified near the event, but the local police immediately identified them as authorized and "friendly." EnforceAir recognizes and permits authorized drones to operate in the airspace, even while mitigating rogue drones.

A previously unseen do-it-yourself drone was detected by EnforceAir during the Mass. The police decided to mitigate the potential threat and considered using a jammer-based solution. They quickly decided against it, as jammers could potentially disrupt communications systems operating in the area and they were concerned about halting media transmissions surrounding the Pope's address during the Mass, as well as disrupting security base stations, which could be a security risk.

EnforceAir fended off the rogue drone, sending it back to its original takeoff position, far away from the large crowd.

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"Protecting such a high-profile event is of the utmost importance, so we wanted to utilize a counter-drone technology that is best suited for crowded events and sensitive situations," said a representative of the office responsible for the Pope's protection during his stay in Slovakia. "EnforceAir took control of the rogue drone that threatened the potential safety of the Pope, the crowd and the VIPs in attendance, quickly and easily."

"It is an honor to be trusted with safeguarding such important events and to assist our homeland security and law enforcement customers," said Zohar Halachmi, D-Fend's Chairman and CEO. "The best practices we have learned from having clients use our technology to protect VIPs at massive events worldwide have been incorporated into EnforceAir, facilitating a seamless, end-to-end drone incident lifecycle."

About D-Fend Solutions

D-Fend Solutions is the leading counter-drone takeover technology provider, enabling full control, safety and continuity during rogue drone incidents across complex and sensitive environments, to overcome both current and emerging drone threats. With hundreds of deployments worldwide, EnforceAir, the company's flagship offering, focuses on the most dangerous drone threats in military, public safety, airport, prison, major event and critical infrastructure environments. D-Fend Solutions' technology has been chosen as best-in-class and is in deployment at high-tier U.S. government agencies  including with U.S. military, federal law enforcement and homeland security bodies  as well as major international airports globally. EnforceAir autonomously executes RF, cyber-takeovers of rogue drones for a safe landing and outcome, ensuring the smooth flow of communications, commerce, transportation, and everyday life.

Media Contact

Paul Bilardo

PR@D-FendSolutions.com





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SOURCE D-Fend Solutions
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. and STRONGSVILLE, Ohio, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Encompass Health Corp. (NYSE: EHC) today announced plans to build a freestanding, 40-bed inpatient rehabilitation hospital near Cleveland, Ohio.

(PRNewsfoto/Encompass Health Corporation)

The hospital will be located at 19156 Pearl Road in Strongsville, Ohio. The construction start date and hospital opening timeline will be announced at a later date.

"We are excited to bring our rehabilitation services to Northeast Ohio, and we look forward to being a part of the leading healthcare continuum in the region," said Troy DeDecker, president of Encompass Health's Central region. "The new freestanding hospital will improve patient access to rehabilitation services in the Cleveland area through coordinated and connected care that meets patients where they are in their healthcare journeys and makes a positive difference in their lives."

Complementing local acute care services, this inpatient rehabilitation hospital will serve patients recovering from debilitating illnesses and injuries, including strokes and other neurological disorders, brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, amputations and complex orthopedic conditions. In addition to 24hour nursing care, this hospital will offer physical, occupational and speech therapies to restore functional ability and quality of life. Care will be provided by highly specialized nurses, therapists and physicians.

The hospital will feature all private patient rooms, a spacious therapy gym with advanced rehabilitation technologies and an activities of daily living suite, cafeteria, dining room, pharmacy and therapy courtyard.

The planned hospital will become part of Encompass Health's national network of inpatient rehabilitation hospitals and home health and hospice agencies. The Company's Ohio footprint currently includes four inpatient rehabilitation hospitals and one home health location.

About Encompass Health

As a national leader in integrated healthcare services, Encompass Health (NYSE: EHC) offers both facilitybased and homebased patient care through its network of inpatient rehabilitation hospitals, home health agencies and hospice agencies. With a national footprint that includes 145 hospitals, 249 home health locations, and 95 hospice locations in 42 states and Puerto Rico, the Company provides highquality, cost-effective integrated healthcare. Encompass Health is ranked as one of Fortune's 100 Best Companies to Work For. For more information, visit encompasshealth.com, or follow us on our newsroom, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

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FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENT

Statements contained in this press release which are not historical facts, such as those relating to the likelihood, timing and effects of the completion of this project, are forward-looking statements. In addition, Encompass Health may from time to time make forward-looking public statements concerning the matters described herein. All such estimates, projections, and forward-looking information speak only as of the date hereof, and Encompass Health undertakes no duty to publicly update or revise such forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. Such forward-looking statements are necessarily estimates based upon current information and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Encompass Health's actual results or events may differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of a variety of factors. While it is impossible to identify all such factors, factors which could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those anticipated include, but are not limited to, the regulatory review and approval process, any adverse outcome of various lawsuits, claims, and legal or regulatory proceedings that may be brought by or against Encompass Health; the possibility this project will experience unexpected delays; the ability to successfully complete and integrate this project consistent with Encompass Health's growth strategy, including realization of anticipated revenues and avoidance of unforeseen exposure to liabilities; the continued spread of COVID-19, including the speed, depth, geographic reach and duration of the spread; the actions to be taken by Encompass Health in response to the COVID-19 pandemic; changes in the regulation of the healthcare industry at either or both of the federal and state levels; competitive pressures in the healthcare industry and Encompass Health's response thereto; the hospital's ability to maintain proper local, state and federal licensing; potential disruptions, breaches, or other incidents affecting the proper operation, availability, or security of Encompass Health's information systems; Encompass Health's ability to attract and retain nurses, therapists, and other healthcare professionals in a highly competitive environment with often severe staffing shortages and the impact on Encompass Health's labor expenses from potential union activity and staffing shortages; changes, delays in (including in connection with resolution of Medicare payment reviews or appeals), or suspension of reimbursement for Encompass Health's services by governmental or private payors; general conditions in the economy and capital markets; and other factors which may be identified from time to time in Encompass Health's SEC filings and other public announcements, including Encompass Health's Form 10-K for the year ended Dec. 31, 2020 and Forms 10-Q for the quarters ended Mar. 31, 2021, June 30, 2021 and Sept. 30, 2021.

Media contact: Casey Winger | 205-970-5912

casey.winger@encompasshealth.com

Investor Relations contact: Mark Miller | 205-970-5860

mark.miller@encompasshealth.com

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SOURCE Encompass Health Corp.
OTTAWA, ON, Dec. 14, 2021 /CNW/ - The governments of Canada and British Columbia, along with First Nations, are working together to ensure effective response and recovery following the impacts of severe weather experienced in British Columbia, while also enhancing climate adaptation and response measures.

Yesterday, the Committee of British Columbia and Federal Ministers on Disaster Response and Climate Resilience (the Committee) held an initial meeting to build on efforts already undertaken by the province, First Nations and the federal government. In addition to ministers, the Committee includes Regional Chief Terry Teegee (British Columbia Assembly of First Nations). Robert Phillips (First Nations Summit) attended on behalf of Regional Chief Teegee.

Co-chaired by the Honourable Bill Blair, President of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada and Minister of Emergency Preparedness, and the Honourable Mike Farnworth, Deputy Premier and Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General, the meeting focused on joint efforts to respond, recover and rebuild.

The Committee considered a number of priorities:

Interim housing: Housing needs will remain a focus for the near term and, in some cases, will affect families for an extended period of time. The Committee encouraged continued support for the Canadian Red Cross fund-matching campaign and agreed to ensure the funding is prioritized to provide support to evacuees for short-term housing needs.





Indigenous emergency management: The Committee acknowledged the need to align building back better with climate adaptation and mitigation, as well as culture, economic reconciliation and the principles of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The Committee will continue to work with First Nations representatives to implement the trilateral memorandum of understanding between Canada, British Columbia and the First Nations Leadership Council for priority delivery of emergency management services to First Nations communities. The Committee will also work with treaty partners to ensure ongoing collaboration on all aspects of emergency management and climate adaptation and mitigation.





Infrastructure: Members committed to aligning federal, provincial and First Nations infrastructure strategies, with the intention of increasing infrastructure resiliency in the face of future climate events. As the assessment of impacts continues, the Committee will work to determine the most pressing infrastructure needs, with the initial focus on supporting public safety, followed by economic recovery. At its next meeting, the Committee will receive an update on priorities and strategies to address those priorities. Members discussed the importance of supply chain resilience and concerns about transportation costs and reliability. The province is home to two of Canada's busiest cargo ports and a critical component of the national and continental supply chain. Ministers emphasized the need to continue collaborative work to address immediate transportation issues, including increasing the supply of fuel in the province, and will work to strengthen the regional supply chain over the long term. They endorsed asking the joint Canada-B.C. Supply Chain Recovery Working Group to continue its work through the recovery period to ensure local needs continue to be met and to explore options for using rail and marine shipping to ease pressure on road infrastructure.





Agriculture: The Government of British Columbia is working to ensure farmers have the feed supply they need for their animals, and the two governments are developing an agricultural support package to help British Columbian livestock and crop farmers resume production. The Committee agreed to continue working collaboratively to ensure that the impact on the agricultural sector is fully assessed, and that emergency response programming will be delivered in as timely a manner as possible.

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Ministers Blair and Farnworth recognized the resilience and strength of the people of British Columbia, who have endured and continue to endure difficult circumstances. They also commended the strong federal-provincial-First Nations partnerships that enabled a rapid response to the developing situation after the Committee received a status update on how events have impacted First Nations communities in the province.

Future work will focus on building back from these extreme weather events in a way that better protects British Columbians, creates cleaner and healthier communities, and supports Canada's efforts to reach our climate goals and net-zero emissions targets. The next meeting of the Committee will take place in early 2022.

Quotes

"It has been remarkable to witness the incredible strength of British Columbians during these very difficult times. First responders, search and rescue volunteers, community volunteers, and neighbours have helped with everything from clean-up and recovery to feeding, clothing and caring for those left unhoused. This committee will build on that work and take action on several fronts, including emergency housing and help for farmers, and priority delivery of emergency management services to First Nations communities. This collaboration will help those impacted communities bounce back from this disaster as quickly as possible."

The Honourable Bill Blair, President of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada and Minister of Emergency Preparedness

"Our Government will continue to work collaboratively with our provincial partners to ensure fast, coordinated action in support of those affected by severe weather in British Columbia. We will continue to be there for British Columbians and encourage all Canadians to support the Canadian Red Cross fund-matching campaign."

The Honourable Dominic LeBlanc, Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, Infrastructure and Communities

"Our province has been through a lot this year, from severe wildfires to the deadly heat dome, and now this devastating flooding. Our priority right now is helping British Columbians to build back their communities and their livelihoods in a better and more resilient way, and we are grateful to the federal government for their support, including the life-saving work of the Canadian Armed Forces and the promised supports to our hard-hit farmers and communities. I look forward to our continued collaboration in facing this challenge head-on."

The Honourable Mike Farnworth, B.C.'s Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General

"First Nations in B.C. have been the most affected by climate change and the emergencies of the past year. We commend the work of first responders  they are tired from fires, COVID-19, heat domes, residential school findings and now flooding. We are all in this together and must jointly develop climate emergency management, mitigation, response and recovery measures that include First Nations values and knowledge. While we look forward to working with our federal and provincial partners on this important work, the priority right now must be to ensure all First Nations communities and citizens impacted by the floods and wildfires in B.C. are provided with the necessary financial resources for flood recovery."

Robert Phillips, First Nations Summit

Quick Facts

Emergency management responsibility in Canada is shared by federal, provincial and territorial governments and their partners, including First Nations and treaty nations.

The Committee of British Columbia and Federal Ministers on Disaster Response and Climate Resilience, announced by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Premier John Horgan, builds on the Supply Chain Recovery Working Group. The working group was established to ensure critical supplies and goods can begin to flow again, and that the supply chain is rebuilt as quickly and as resiliently as possible.

Canadians wishing to make a financial donation to the Canadian Red Cross to help those impacted by the floods in British Columbia can do so online at redcross.ca, by calling 1-800-418-1111, or by texting BCFLOODS to 30333.

Related Product

Backgrounder: Committee of British Columbia and Federal Ministers on Disaster Response and Climate Resilience membership

Associated Links

BACKGROUNDER

Committee of British Columbia and Federal Ministers on Disaster Response and Climate Resilience membership

Federal representatives:

The Honourable Bill Blair, President of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada and Minister of Emergency Preparedness

The Honourable Marie-Claude Bibeau, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food;

The Honourable Omar Alghabra, Minister of Transport

The Honourable Patty Hajdu, Minister of Indigenous Services

The Honourable Dominic LeBlanc, Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, Infrastructure and Communities

The Honourable Carla Qualtrough, Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion

The Honourable Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Environment and Climate Change

The Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Natural Resources;

The Honourable Harjit Sajjan, Minister of International Development and Minister responsible for the Pacific Economic Development Agency of Canada

The Honourable Joyce Murray, Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard

British Columbia representatives:

The Honourable Mike Farnworth (co-chair), Deputy Premier and Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General

The Honourable Rob Fleming, Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure

The Honourable Lana Popham, Minister of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries

The Honourable Murray Rankin, Minister of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation

The Honourable Josie Osborne, Minister of Municipal Affairs

The Honourable Ravi Kahlon, Minister of Jobs, Economic Recovery and Innovation

The Honourable George Heyman, Minister of Environment and Climate Change Strategy

The Honourable Katrine Conroy, Minister of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development

The Honourable Bruce Ralston, Minister of Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation

The Honourable Bowinn Ma, Minister of State for Infrastructure

First Nations representatives:

Regional Chief Terry Teegee, British Columbia Assembly of First Nations

SOURCE Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs

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The Voice Of Canada's Pet Industry Publishes Free eBook Explaining the Important

Family Role Specialty Pets Play And How They Are Regulated in Canada

OTTAWA, ON, Dec. 14, 2021 /CNW/ - PIJAC Canada, the voice of Canada's Pet Industry, has published a free white paper to shine a light on specialty pets in Canada. It explains their role in Canadian families and how they are regulated in Canada.

PIJAC Canada Logo (CNW Group/PIJAC Canada)

"Of the 28 million pets currently living in Canadians' homes, 45 percent are specialty pets," explains PIJAC President and CEO Christine Carriere. "People with specialty pets love them as much as some people love puppies and kittens."

Examples of specialty pets include species of birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish and small mammals such as guinea pigs, rabbits and hamsters.

Canada's pet industry adds over $9 billion to the nation's economy and pet retailers are seeing a notable increase in demand for specialty pets.

The new white paper entitled "Canada Loves Specialty Pets" explains:

what specialty pets are,

why they're becoming increasingly popular,

how they are regulated, and

the important role they play in pet families.

It is available for download here.

PIJAC Canada has an Exotic Animal Policy, a wide network of animal experts, and a reputation for collaboration and commitment to animal welfare with a motto that 'Animal Welfare is Everyone's Business'.

Notes to editors: As the Voice of Canada's Pet Industry, PIJAC Canada's mission is to offer guidance and resources to pet businesses and help advance the well being of Canada's animals. As a not for profit, it represents more than 1,500 members coast to coast to coast and believe working together is the key to positive pet experiences and successful pet businesses.

SOURCE PIJAC Canada

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Gemini is looking for a new Singapore office lead, according to a LinkedIn job opening from last week. The search comes after former APAC chief Jeremy Ng left the company in recent weeks, according to two sources with direct knowledge.

Ng was with the exchange for less than two years and was appointed to lead Singapore operations just five months ago. As CoinDesk reported at the time, the exchange was pursuing an expansion across Asia.

Those aspirations seem to have run into regulatory bottlenecks: Gemini is still waiting for its digital payment token license to be approved by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), along with another 70 companies.

Read more: Gemini Exchange to Expand Asia-Pacific Operations in a Bid to Capture Growth

Competence in liaising with regulators across jurisdictions is a key component of the job, the latest LinkedIn post says.

Singapore enacted the Payment Services Act in January 2020, which allows crypto firms, including exchanges, to be licensed and operate in the city-state.

But only four licenses have been issued to date, while the list of companies that have been rejected or withdrawn their applications has piled up to 100.

A Gemini spokesperson declined to comment on the personnel change, adding that its commitment to Asia hasnt changed.

We trust that the regulator will move forward with our application, as well as other firms who meet their criteria, in due course, the spokesperson said when asked about the DPT license.

The exchanges Singapore office has grown moderately since July; back then, Gemini said it counted 30 staff. The new LinkedIn post says the APAC leader will oversee upwards of 40 employees in Singapore.

Falling in place

In recent weeks, crypto exchanges like Huobi and Binance seem to have been crystallizing their plans for the city-state, in part nudged by the regulator. Global companies are not allowed to offer services to Singaporeans but some exchanges are looking for local carve-outs.

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Binance has decided to withdraw both its global and local business. MAS issued a warning to Binance.com in early September, and the worlds largest exchange moved to limit its offerings for Singaporean users just days later.

On Dec. 13, Binances Singapore crypto trading platform, operated by Binance Asia Services Ltd., announced it would drop its DPT license application and stop offering services in Singapore.

Read more: Binance Singapore Drops Crypto License Plans in City-State

Meanwhile, Huobi Global tapped Singapore for its regional headquarters on Nov. 30, weeks after it announced it would expel all its local users.

At the same time, Huobi has set up a local entity that has applied for the DPT license.

The company will launch its Singapore trading platform in private pilot mode once it is done with an update that will ensure compliance with new MAS anti-money laundering requirements, Edward Chen, CEO of Huobi Singapore, told CoinDesk.

The pilot is planned to start at the end of the year, the CEO said. Huobis platform will be fully launched once the company has secured its license from MAS, Chen said.

Huobi Singapore operates under FEU International, which is a subsidiary of Huobi Tech, a Hong Kong-listed company that is independent from Huobi Group. Huobi Group owns the crypto exchange Huobi Global, and shares two co-founders with Huobi Tech; Leon Li and Du Jun.

UPDATE (Dec. 14, 6:30 UTC): Adds Gemini statement on license and more details about Huobi Singapores platform.
FILE PHOTO: Philippe Donnet, CEO of the Italian insurance company Generali, is seen before shareholders meeting in Trieste

By Gianluca Semeraro and Claudia Cristoferi

MILAN (Reuters) - Philippe Donnet, chief executive of Italy's largest insurer Generali, will on Wednesday outline a new company strategy to try to fend off a leadership challenge brought by two billionaire investors.

Construction magnate Francesco Gaetano Caltagirone and Leonardo Del Vecchio, founder of eyewear giant Luxottica, have opposed the reappointment of Donnet, 61, whose mandate ends in April.

Donnet is set to meet his previous plan's targets, but is caught in a clash between the two tycoons, respectively Generali's no. 2 and no.3 shareholders, and Mediobanca, the biggest Generali investor with a 13% stake.

A good market reception on Wednesday for Donnet's strategy would make it harder for Caltagirone, 78, and Del Vecchio, 86, to unseat the French manager who has led Generali since 2016.

The pair are set to propose their own CEO candidate early next year ahead of a general meeting in April to appoint a new board.

"It looks like we're headed for a proxy fight at the April meeting," said Massimo Belcredi, a finance professor at Milan's Cattolica University and head of its FIN-GOV corporate governance research centre.

"The list supported by the board is set to clash with the list backed by two shareholders with a storied past as entrepreneurs who are still firmly at the helm of the companies they founded."

Belcredi said Generali was one of only a dozen Italian companies that had embraced what is standard practice abroad, whereby directors pick their replacements for shareholders to vote on. In Italy leading shareholders normally submit board lists.

"The Generali case makes it clear that shareholders want to have a say," he said.

SNUB

Caltagirone began his offensive in April when he snubbed a meeting to approve Generali's results. In September, he struck a consultation pact with Del Vecchio over a combined 15.6% Generali stake including also smaller investor CRT.

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To reduce their influence, Mediobanca borrowed shares to reach a 17% voting stake.

Caltagirone and Del Vecchio have criticised Generali for failing to expand boldly through acquisitions, which they blame on Mediobanca.

In response, Generali pointed to returns exceeding that of its peers under Donnet. Refinitiv data put Generali's total shareholder return at 118% since late 2016, compared with 69% for Allianz and 48% for AXA.

Piling pressure on Mediobanca CEO Alberto Nagel, Caltagirone has built a 3% stake in the Milanese bank, while Del Vecchio became its biggest shareholder since 2019 with nearly 20%.

The new plan will target further "disciplined acquisitions" in Asia and Europe, a person close to the matter said on condition of anonymity.

Asia is a high-growth market but also Europe has significant potential in segments like health and non-motor property and casualty, including cyber risks, the person said.

The plan will also bet on asset management, possibly through acquisitions, and digital investments.

Under the 2019-2021 plan, Donnet has spent three quarters of a 4 billion euro ($4.52 billion) M&A warchest. The largest deal was a 1 billion euro purchase of domestic rival Cattolica.

Generali last month entered talks with Credit Agricole to buy health insurance unit La Medicale. It is also pursuing a bigger stake in two Indian insurance businesses, sources have said.

($1 = 0.8852 euros)

(Additional reporting and writing by Valentina Za; editing by Barbara Lewis)
GEI Logo (CNW Group/Gibson Energy Inc.)

CALGARY, AB, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - US Development Group, LLC (through a wholly-owned affiliate, collectively USD) and Gibson Energy Inc. (Gibson) (TSX: GEI) announced the diluent recovery unit (DRU) has been declared fully operational and the shipment of DRUbit by Rail (DBR) has commenced. The DBR network creates a first-of-its-kind separation technology and network that safely and sustainably moves heavy Canadian crude oil, also known as bitumen, from Canada to the U.S. Gulf Coast at a cost that is competitive with pipeline alternatives.

The DRU is located at the Hardisty Energy Terminal (HET) near Hardisty, Alberta and is a 50%/50% joint venture between USD and Gibson. HET is located adjacent to USD's existing Hardisty Rail Terminal, which is the origination terminal for transloading the DRUbit onto railcars for shipment. The current destination terminal for the DRUbit is the USD-owned and operated Port Arthur Terminal (PAT) in Port Arthur, Texas. The DRUbit is owned by ConocoPhillips. This DBR network is highly scalable and is well-positioned for future commercial expansions. USD and Gibson continue to pursue commercial discussions with current and potential producer and refiner customers to secure additional long-term agreements to support future expansions at both the DRU and the PAT.

USD's patented DRU technology separates the diluent that has been added to the raw bitumen in the production process, which meets two important market needs. It creates DRUbit, a proprietary heavy Canadian crude oil or bitumen that ships by rail and does not meet any of the defined categories of hazardous materials by U.S. DOT Hazardous Materials regulations and Canada's Transport of Dangerous Goods regulations, creating safety and environmental benefits. Additionally, it returns the recovered diluent to ConocoPhillips at HET for reuse in the Western Canadian market, which reduces delivered costs for diluent. The DBR network provides meaningful safety, economic and environmental benefits relative to conventional crude by rail.

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The DRU at HET is operating at or above its nameplate capacity of 50,000 barrels per day of inlet bitumen blend, which the DRU separates into DRUbit and diluent. Transporting DRUbit by Rail is projected to reduce carbon emissions nearly 20% relative to dilbit by rail alternatives and approximately 30% compared to dilbit by pipeline alternatives.

The DBR network is supported by Canadian Pacific (CP) (TSX: CP, NYSE: CP) and Kansas City Southern Railway Company (KCS). As the initial destination terminal, PAT is unloading DRUbit, blending it to customers' specifications, and delivering it downstream through pipe or barge at or above current contractual requirements. PAT has significant marine, pipeline, rail and tank expansion capabilities and it is pipeline connected to Phillips 66's Beaumont Terminal, providing customers access to a large network of refining and marine facilities. PAT has the infrastructure and ability to support growth, including allowing for efficient rail movements along mainlines from Canada and into the growing Mexico market.

Quotes

The Honorable Jason Kenney, Premier of Alberta

"Alberta's government is obsessed with creating the best environment for job creation in Canada. We know that is the best way to attract innovators and entrepreneurs, who will help kick-start Alberta's recovery. Not only will this vote of confidence in Alberta's economy help to create jobs, it helps to tell our story about our energy industry, and how it constantly strives to lead the world in innovation and emissions reductions. Thank you to CP, Gibson Energy, US Development Group, ConocoPhillips, and Kansas City Southern for helping to ensure the strength and sustainability of Alberta's energy sector."

ConocoPhillips Canada

"Using the DRU separation technology and DRUbit by Rail network improves netbacks and overall returns as we move our bitumen production to high-value North American markets," said Bij Agarwal, President, ConocoPhillips Canada. "An innovative solution, the DRU separation technology and DRUbit by Rail network  which provide transportation safety and environmental benefits  will also create jobs along the rail routes and help to address constrained market access, for the benefit of all Canadians."

USD

"Our DRU separation technology and DRUbit by Rail network create a first-of-its-kind infrastructure to move heavy Canadian crude throughout North America in a way that is safe, environmentally beneficial and economically advantaged to current pipeline alternatives," said USD CEO, Dan Borgen. "The project stands to strengthen communities with long-term, high quality jobs along the current and future rail routes. We are thrilled to work with ConocoPhillips Canada, Gibson, CP, and KCS to deliver this industry solution that we believe will positively impact our existing and future producer and refiner customers."

Gibson

"We were pleased to see the Hardisty Energy Terminal fully operational in-line with budgeted capital cost," said Steve Spaulding, Gibson's President and Chief Executive Officer. "We consider DRUs to be a cost-effective, scalable, environmentally attractive long-term egress solution for the basin, and we remain in commercial discussions for potential additional phases at the Hardisty Energy Terminal. Importantly, we believe that this and future phases will improve netbacks for producers, driving increased oilfield and related business activity, creating new jobs and helping revive communities."

CP

"The launch of DRUbit by Rail over the CP network helps us to achieve key sustainability goals while creating new efficiencies for customers," said Keith Creel, CP's President and Chief Executive Officer. "CP is proud to work with USD and Gibson to make this innovative terminal a success."

KCS

"KCS is pleased to be a strategic partner in this innovative solution to improve the safety and economics of moving crude oil," said KCS President and Chief Executive Officer Patrick J. Ottensmeyer. "It's also a great opportunity to grow our business in the Gulf Coast area and further develop our strategic presence in the Port Arthur market."

Investor & Media Contacts

Gibson Investor Relations

Mark Chyc-Cies

Vice President, Strategy, Planning & IR

403-776- 3146

mark.chyc-cies@gibsonenergy.com Gibson Media

Wendy Robinson

Director, Communications & Brand

403-827-6057

Wendy.robinson@gibsonenergy.com USD Group

Mary Ellen Kilpatrick

713-412-1545

maryellen@goodengroup.com



About USD

USD and its affiliates are engaged in designing, developing, owning, and managing large-scale multi-modal logistics centers and energy-related infrastructure across North America. USD solutions create flexible market access for customers in significant growth areas and key demand centers, including Western Canada, the U.S. Gulf Coast and Mexico. Among other projects, USD is currently pursuing the development of a premier energy logistics terminal on the Houston Ship Channel with capacity for substantial tank storage, multiple docks (including barge and deepwater), inbound and outbound pipeline connectivity, as well as a rail terminal with unit train capabilities. For additional information, please visit www.usdg.com. DRUbit and DRUbit by Rail are trademarks of DRU Assets LLC, a subsidiary of USD, and are used by permission. All rights reserved.

About Gibson

Gibson is a Canadian-based oil infrastructure company with its principal businesses consisting of the storage, optimization, processing, and gathering of crude oil and refined products. Headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Gibson's operations are focused around its core terminal assets located at Hardisty and Edmonton, Alberta, and also include the Moose Jaw Facility and an infrastructure position in the U.S. Gibson shares trade under the symbol GEI and are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange. For more information regarding Gibson as well as the DRU project visit www.gibsonenergy.com and Gibson's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

About ConocoPhillips Headquartered in Houston, Texas, ConocoPhillips had operations and activities in 15 countries, $84 billion of total assets, and approximately 10,300 employees at March 31, 2021. Production excluding Libya averaged 1,488 MBOED for the three months ended March 31, 2021, and proved reserves were 4.5 BBOE as of Dec. 31, 2020. Its Canadian operations are focused on developing its world-class portfolio including the ConocoPhillips-operated Surmont Joint Venture with TOTAL E&P Canada in the Athabasca region of northeast Alberta and exciting opportunities in the liquids-rich Montney play in northeast British Columbia. For more information, go to www.conocophillips.ca.

About Canadian Pacific

Canadian Pacific (CP) is a transcontinental railway in Canada and the United States with direct links to major ports on the west and east coasts. CP provides North American customers a competitive rail service with access to key markets in every corner of the globe. CP is growing with its customers, offering a suite of freight transportation services, logistics solutions and supply chain expertise. Visit www.cpr.ca to see the rail advantages of CP.

About the Kansas City Southern Railway Company

Headquartered in Kansas City, Mo., Kansas City Southern (KCS) is a transportation holding company that has railroad investments in the U.S., Mexico and Panama. Its primary U.S. holding is The Kansas City Southern Railway Company, serving the central and south central U.S. Its international holdings include Kansas City Southern de Mexico, S.A. de C.V., serving northeastern and central Mexico and the port cities of Lazaro Cardenas, Tampico and Veracruz, and a 50 percent interest in Panama Canal Railway Company, providing ocean-to-ocean freight and passenger service along the Panama Canal. KCS' North American rail holdings and strategic alliances with other North American rail partners are primary components of a unique railway system, linking the commercial and industrial centers of the U.S., Mexico and Canada. More information about KCS can be found at www.kcsouthern.com.

About DRUbit

USD's patented DRU technology separates the diluent that has been added to the raw bitumen in the production process which meets two important market needs  it returns the recovered diluent for reuse in the Alberta market, reducing delivered costs for diluent, and it creates DRUbit, a proprietary heavy Canadian crude oil specifically designed for rail transportation. DRUbit is crude oil or bitumen that has been returned to a more concentrated, viscous state that creates safety and environmental benefits when transported by rail in Canada and the U.S. DRUbit is a market access solution that will satisfy demand for heavy Canadian crude oil on the U.S. Gulf Coast and in other markets at a cost that is economically competitive to the crude oil that is transported by pipeline today.

Information on websites referenced in this press release are not part of this press release.

Forward Looking Statements

Certain statements contained in this press release constitute forward-looking information and statements (collectively, forward-looking statements) including, but not limited to, statements concerning the anticipated benefits, opportunities, operations and sustainability of the DRU and DRUbit, oil field and related business activities, market participants, local communities and governments, carbon emissions reduction, the methods of transportation of DRUbit and contribution of the DRU to the improvement of market access for oil producers, operation of USD's Port Arthur terminal and growth plans for such terminal, improved industry economics associated with the DRU and transportation of DRUbit, the safety features of the transportation of DRUbit and expectations with respect to the business and financial prospects and opportunities related to the DRU and DRUbit transportation.

These statements relate to future events or future performance. All statements other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements. The use of any of the words "anticipate", "plan", "aim", "target", "contemplate", "continue", "estimate", "expect", "intend", "propose", "might", "may", "will", "shall", "project", "should", "could", "would", "believe", "predict", "forecast", "pursue", "potential" and "capable" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. The forward looking statements reflect the project participant's beliefs and assumptions with respect to, among other things, the continued fully operational status of the DRU, continued market demand, general economic trends, industry trends, commodity prices, capital markets, the governmental, regulatory and legal environment in the various jurisdictions in which they individually, or collectively, conduct and will conduct their respective business, ability to obtain qualified personnel and equipment in a timely and cost-efficient manner, ability to generate sufficient cash to meet its current and future obligations, the successful and timely implementation of capital projects in a manner consistent with financial expectations and the other business activities of the participants, and other assumptions inherent in management's expectations of future operating and financial results and other forward-looking statements identified herein.

Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results or events to differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements. Although the project participants believe these statements to be reasonable, no assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be correct and such forward-looking statements included in this press release should not be unduly relied upon. Actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward looking statements as a result of, among other things, risks inherent in the businesses conducted by each of the project participants, ability for Gibson and USD to secure additional long-term, take-or-pay agreements with other producer and refiner customers to fully underpin the economics of the project, conditions associated with the DRU and its operation, the ability of customers to discover and market reserves, regulatory decisions, competitive factors in the industries in which the project participants operate, prevailing economic conditions, carbon emissions reduction capabilities, world-wide demand for crude oil and petroleum products, volatility of commodity prices, currency and interest rates fluctuations, product supply and demand (including demand for DRUbit), changes in credit ratings applicable to any of the participants, operating costs and the accuracy of cost estimates, exposure to counterparties and partners, future capital expenditures, ability to maintain necessary regulatory approvals for the DRU and USD's Port Arthur terminal, the availability, costs, terms and timing of or execution of, and competition for, required regulatory approvals, rail capacity and terminal access, changes to any of the project participants' business plans or strategy, ability to access various sources of debt and equity capital, generally, and on terms acceptable to the respective participant, changes in government policies, laws and regulations, including environmental and tax laws and regulations, competition for employees and other personnel, equipment, material and services related thereto, the availability and cost of employees and other personnel, equipment, materials and services, weather, including its impact on product demand, exploration, production and transportation, inherent risks associated with the exploration, development, production and transportation of bitumen, the timing and extent of changes in foreign currency exchange rates, interest rates, inflation rates, global and domestic financial market conditions and global and domestic general economic conditions, political developments around the world, including the areas in which the project participants individually, or collectively, operate, many of which are beyond the control of any of the project participants. Readers are cautioned that the foregoing lists are not exhaustive. For a full discussion of the material risk factors please refer to those included in Gibson's Annual Information Form dated February 22, 2021 as filed on SEDAR and available on the Gibson website at www.gibsonenergy.com, the more detailed information about factors that could affect future events may be found in filings by ConocoPhillips with the Securities and Exchange Commission including ConocoPhillips' Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020 and subsequent reports, those detailed from time to time in reports filed by CP with securities regulators in Canada and the United States under "Risk Factors" and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations - Forward-Looking Information" in CP's annual and interim reports on Form 10-K and 10-Q, and the more detailed information about factors that could affect future events may be found in filings by KCS with the Securities and Exchange Commission including KCS' Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020 and subsequent reports.

USD Logo (CNW Group/Gibson Energy Inc.)

HET Logo (CNW Group/Gibson Energy Inc.)

PDF for link in release (CNW Group/Gibson Energy Inc.)

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SOURCE Gibson Energy Inc.
Canadian manufacturer signs MOU with the leading hydrogen-electric innovator for joint line-fit and retrofit program

Demonstrator aircraft will be jointly developed

De Havilland Canada to be issued options to purchase 50 ZeroAvia engines

Images relating to this release can be found at https://dehavilland.com/en/media

KEMBLE, England and HOLLISTER, Calif and TORONTO, Dec. 14, 2021 /CNW/ - ZeroAvia, the leading innovator in zero-emission aviation powertrains, and De Havilland Aircraft of Canada Limited ("De Havilland Canada") today announced that they have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to develop a line-fit and retrofit program for De Havilland Canada's aircraft models, using hydrogen-electric propulsion in both new and in-service aircraft.

Image of Dash 8-400 aircraft in De Havilland Canada and ZeroAvia livery. (CNW Group/De Havilland Aircraft of Canada)

As part of the MOU, De Havilland Canada will be issued options to purchase 50 ZeroAvia hydrogen-electric engines. These options will be confirmed once a definitive agreement has been completed between De Havilland Canada and ZeroAvia.

The companies intend to work together on a service bulletin for the Dash 8-400 type certificate offering ZeroAvia's hydrogen-electric engine as a line-fit option for new aircraft, as well as developing an OEM-approved retrofit program for in-service aircraft. This program will target the use of ZeroAvia's 2MW+ powertrain (ZA2000) for Dash 8-400 aircraft. The Dash 8-400 is one of the world's most reliable turboprop aircraft with more than 625 delivered to customers. The global fleet of Dash 8-400 aircraft has logged over 11 million flight hours and transported more than 550 million passengers.

As part of the program, ZeroAvia will develop a flight demonstrator, with De Havilland Canada's support, using a Dash 8-400 aircraft to aid certification and showcase the operational and commercial potential of the engine. The intention is to identify a suitable existing route utilising the aircraft and aim for entry into service within the next five years. ZeroAvia and De Havilland Canada intend to jointly market aircraft powered by the hydrogen-electric engines to operators with power-by-the-hour (PBH) support.

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In October, ZeroAvia announced a development collaboration with Alaska Air Group, the parent company of Alaska Airlines, for a hydrogen-electric powertrain capable of flying 76-seat regional aircraft in excess of 500 nautical miles, starting with initial deployment into a full-size Dash 8-400 aircraft.

ZeroAvia expects to fly a 19-seat aircraft using its ZA600 powertrain in the coming weeks in a hybrid configuration (one conventional engine, one hydrogen-electric) before flying the same aircraft using only hydrogen-electric engines in 2022 and building to certification by 2024. On its ZA2000 program, ZeroAvia aims to have full thrust ground demonstrations of its 1.8MW engine variant by the end of 2022. From there, the company plans certification of its ZA2000 powertrain to support 40-80 seat aircraft with a potential range in excess of 700 nautical miles  about the distance from Toronto to Atlanta  by 2026, and eventually extending into aircraft up to 90 seats by 2027.

Val Miftakhov, Chief Executive Officer and Founder, ZeroAvia, said: "De Havilland Canada have made significant strides on emission reductions and shown a big commitment to greener aviation, and the next step is to go to true zero-emission using hydrogen-electric engines. Partnering with De Havilland Canada puts ZeroAvia on a defined pathway to line-fitting into new airframes and signals OEM appetite to make the switch to certified, zero-emission propulsion as soon as possible."

Dave Riggs, Chief Transformation Officer, De Havilland Aircraft of Canada, said: "De Havilland Canada has a strong belief in hydrogen-electric technology as a viable solution for de-carbonizing aviation. We are extremely pleased to be collaborating with ZeroAvia in developing climate-friendly propulsion as an option for our customers around the globe."

About ZeroAvia

ZeroAvia is a leader in zero-emission aviation, focused on hydrogen-electric aviation solutions to address a variety of markets, initially targeting 500-mile range in 10-20 and 40-80 seat aircraft used for commercial passenger transport, cargo, agriculture, and more. Based in the UK and USA, ZeroAvia has already secured experimental certificates for two prototype aircraft from the CAA and FAA, passed significant flight test milestones, and is on track for initial commercial operations of its technology in 2024. The company's expanding UK operations are supported by grants from UK's Aerospace Technology Institute and Innovate UK, and ZeroAvia is part of the UK Prime Minister's Jet Zero Council. For more, please visit ZeroAvia.com, follow @ZeroAvia on Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

About De Havilland Canada

De Havilland Canada's portfolio includes support to the worldwide fleet of Dash 8-100/200/300/400 aircraft, as well as production and sales of the Dash 8-400 aircraft. With its low carbon footprint and operating costs, industry-leading passenger experience and jet-like performance, the Dash 8-400 aircraft, which seats up to 90 passengers, is the environmentally responsible choice for operators seeking optimal performance on regional routes. https://dehavilland.com

De Havilland Aircraft of Canada Limited logo (CNW Group/De Havilland Aircraft of Canada)

SOURCE De Havilland Aircraft of Canada

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Hyundai Help for Kids, Hyundai Australia's charitable arm, has now donated an incredible $10 million to charities around the country that help children in need

SYDNEY, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Hyundai Help for Kids, a charitable program that provides support to children in need and their families, through various partners around Australia, has hit an incredible milestone with its fundraising efforts, passing the $10 million mark this week.

HHFK Helping Hands

The figure comes just seven years after Hyundai Help for Kids, the Australian extension of Hyundai's global Corporate Social Responsibility program, was established as the charitable arm of Hyundai Motor Company Australia. This means Hyundai Help for Kids has managed to average more than $1.4 million raised every year, despite two recent incredibly difficult years for fundraising - and for charities in general - during the global pandemic.

First established in January 2014, Hyundai Help for Kids has provided grants totaling $10,011,738 so far to a range of organisations dedicated to helping Australian children and their families in times of need - including household names like Ronald McDonald House Charities Australia and Make-A-Wish Australia.

The program is a collaboration between Hyundai Motor Company Australia and the 163 strong Hyundai National Dealer Network, with funds being raised for Hyundai Help for Kids every time a new Hyundai is sold anywhere in Australia.

Effectively, every Hyundai buyer in the country has helped to raise that $10m for worthy causes, and Hyundai's strong sales have also been a boon for the charity community.

CSR Committee Member since inception and Hyundai Dealer Shaun Swift said the program had far exceeded everyone's expectations.

"Reaching the figure of $10 million raised for these incredible children's charities is certainly cause for celebration, particularly considering how difficult times have been for all charitable organisations over the past two years, with their normal fund-raising efforts heavily impacted by lockdowns," Mr. Swift said.

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"The amount of money raised by this initiative is truly remarkable, but what really makes us proud at Hyundai Australia and across the Hyundai dealer network - and touches the hearts of all the people in our organisations - is the amazing work being done with those donations.

"To hear stories of critically ill children having their dreams made real by the people at Make-A-Wish Australia, or to see the inspiring work done by the Clown Doctors for kids in hospital, it's just something we're all so proud, and thankful, to be a part of."

The family tree of charitable organisations aided by Hyundai Help for Kids currently numbers 10 and includes:

Assistance Dogs Australia

Australian Cervical Cancer Foundation

Bear Cottage and Kids Research Institute (Sydney Children's Hospitals Foundation)

Little Wings

Make-A-Wish Australia

NextSense

The Humour Foundation's Clown Doctors

The Stephen Walter Children's Cancer Foundation

Ronald McDonald House Charities Australia

As well as raising money with each car sold, Hyundai Help for Kids provides Hyundai vehicles to charities to aid them in their work - driving sick kids to and from the free medical flights provided by Little Wings, ferrying Clown Doctors to hospitals and providing the vans for transporting Assistance Dogs.

Just in the last month, Hyundai Help for Kids helped strongman Troy Conley to raise tens of thousands of dollars for kids' charities by providing him with 16 Hyundai Konas that he towed with his burly body to break a Guinness World Record, followed by another Record the same day, when he pulled five Konas using his teeth.

Over the seven years, Hyundai Help for Kids has also helped to provide children with magical experiences, one of the most notable being the Hyundai Help for Kids iView Suite at the Brisbane Lions home ground where children and their families are able to enjoy a game in luxury surrounds before meeting and mixing with Lions players.

All of the charities in the Hyundai Help for Kids family were keen to say a big thank you, and congratulations, on the $10m milestone.

Barbara Ryan, CEO of RHMCA, said her organisation had calculated that the total value of cash and donated goods for its charity alone has reached more than $2.8 million.

She thanked Hyundai Help for Kids for its "incredible support', since 2014, including the vehicles it supplied for use at Ronald McDonald Houses, and others to be auctioned for fundraising, as well as the incredible, money-can't-buy experiences it has provided for families.

"You have truly made an incredible difference to not just hundreds but thousands of families with really ill children who are better off because of what you've been able to do," Ms. Ryan said.

"For them to be able to come somewhere and know the that they are loved and cared for means so much and we can't be more grateful."

NextSense, which helps children with hearing and vision loss, said Hyundai Help for Kids had helped 3,321 of its clients to be supported through its Connected Services, and enabled 400 in-person consultations for families across Australia through the provision of vehicles.

"Hyundai has been pivotal in the development and delivery of programs and services for children with hearing or vision loss, helping them to redefine what's possible," Chris Rehn, Chief Executive of NextSense, said.

Sally Bateman, the CEO of Make a Wish Australia, said that Hyundai Help for Kids had helped grant 38 wishes for children with critical illnesses, including nine family holidays, four gaming computers, two puppies, a cubby house and opportunities to meet sporting heroes and other celebrities  as well as providing three Wishforce Hyundai Tucson SUVs, which have racked up more than 63,000km delivering good deeds around the country.

More than $238,000 in contributions had "helped power our Wish program and given families and sick children hope and joy when they need it most," Ms. Bateman said.

"From traveling on The Ghan to flying to the moon, when a Wish is realised, a child discovers that, despite their situation, anything is possible. The real magic Hyundai Help for Kids brings to our partnership is the team's passion and commitment to enhancing every Wish they support."

Tony Warner, CEO of The Humour Foundation, which runs the Clown Doctors program, also acknowledged the organisation's efforts.

"It's a huge achievement in what has been a fraught year for all of us, but the highlight of my year was finally getting to drive the Hyundai i30 N, here's to the next $10 million" he said.

Hyundai Help for Kids family of partners give thanks in this commemorative video.

About Hyundai Help for Kids

An initiative of Hyundai and Hyundai Dealers to lend a helping hand to young Australians and their families.

A dedicated communications and resource hub for the Hyundai Help for Kids program, including a suite of social media outlets, offers connectivity points with the organisation, its partners and their ongoing work.

For further information about Hyundai Motor Company's Corporate Social Responsibility and for all information related to the Hyundai Help for Kids initiative visit:

Website www.HyundaiHelpforKids.com.au

Facebook https://www.Facebook.com/HyundaiHelpForKids

Twitter https://Twitter.com/HMCAHelpForKids

Instagram http://instagram.com/hyundaihelpforkids

LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/hyundaihelpforkids/

About Hyundai Motor Company

Established in 1967, Hyundai Motor Company is present in over 200 countries with more than 120,000 employees dedicated to tackling real-world mobility challenges around the globe. Based on the brand vision 'Progress for Humanity,' Hyundai Motor is accelerating its transformation into a Smart Mobility Solution Provider. The company invests in advanced technologies such as robotics and Urban Air Mobility (UAM) to bring about revolutionary mobility solutions, while pursuing open innovation to introduce future mobility services. In pursuit of sustainable future for the world, Hyundai will continue its efforts to introduce zero emission vehicles equipped with industry-leading hydrogen fuel cell and EV technologies.

More information about Hyundai Motor and its products can be found at: http://worldwide.hyundai.com

Hyundai Motor Company Australia Pty Ltd (HMCA) was established on December 1st, 2003 as a wholly owned subsidiary of Hyundai Motor Company. The award-winning range of Hyundai vehicles continues to set segment and industry benchmarks in value, quality and safety, including Australia's first five-year warranty with unlimited kilometres. For more information visit: www.hyundai.com.au

SOURCE Hyundai Help For Kids
Contribution aims to tackle educational inequality to create long-term, sustainable societal impact

SINGAPORE and LONDON, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- IG Group (LON:IGG), a global leader in online trading, today announced that for each year from 2022 to 2025, it will pledge the equivalent of 1% of the prior financial year's post-tax profits to charitable causes. This will take the form of a Board approved payment into IG's charitable 'Brighter Future Fund' and will also include employee time spent volunteering. These contributions aim to empower through education, with a focus on financial literacy, as well as science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) subjects.

IG Group logo

"At IG we're passionate about playing our role in supporting people with ambition. Empowering our clients through knowledge has always been at the heart of what we do. We believe that growing their understanding of all aspects of self-directed trading allows them to trade with confidence. We also bring our desire to support people with ambition to those living in the communities in which we operate," said June Felix, Global CEO, IG Group.

She continued, "This new pledge is part of our ongoing commitment to play a part in helping improve the futures of young people around the world - to inspire them to explore the possibilities, and reach their potential in life, through learning."

The new pledge is an evolution of the Company's Brighter Future Fund, which was established in April 2020 to improve educational opportunities for the least privileged young people in our global communities, and to offer immediate assistance to those that have been hardest hit by the Covid-19 pandemic. It is embedded in IG Group's environmental, social, and governance (ESG) strategy  the Brighter Future framework  that brings together IG's ESG work around the globe and is an expression of the company's long-term commitment to sustainability and social responsibility. The 1% pledge will be allocated in line with the principles underpinning the framework.

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IG has a strong track record of partnering with education charities to tackle educational inequality around the world. Key initiatives include:

2 million commitment to Teach For All's UK network partner Teach First , an education charity fighting to make the education system work for every child

2 million commitment to Teach For All and their network partners around the globe, including Teach The Nation, and Teach For Poland, both recently established to tackle educational inequality in South Africa and Poland, respectively

A long-term partnership with Code First Girls, a charity dedicated to transforming tech by providing the skills, space, and inspiration for women to become developers and future leaders

"The global wealth gap, which had been widening steadily for years, was accelerated by the pandemic," said Jon Noble, Chief Operating Officer, IG Group. "By supporting philanthropic programs  especially in the area of financial literacy - IG is aiming to help level the playing field, specifically for traditionally under-represented groups, to enable them access to greater financial and professional opportunities."

About IG

IG Group has been at the forefront of trading innovation since 1974. Since then, we've evolved into a global fintech company incorporating the IG, tastytrade, IG Prime, Spectrum, Nadex and DailyFX brands, with a presence in Europe, North America, Africa, Asia-Pacific and the Middle East. Our award-winning products and platforms empower ambitious people the world over to unlock opportunities around the clock, giving them access to over 19,000 financial markets. Today, more than 400,000 clients call IG Group home.

IG Group Holdings plc is an established member of the FTSE 250 and holds a long-term investment grade credit rating of BBB- with a stable outlook from Fitch Rating.

https://www.iggroup.com/

SOURCE IG Group
New Inductees to Receive Award Honoring Individuals Who Have Made Outstanding Contributions to the Development of the Internet Globally

RESTON, Va., Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Internet Hall of Fame announced today the names of 21 pioneers and visionaries from 11 countries who have made outstanding contributions to the Internet's global growth, reach, security, and scale. The new inductees will be honored at a virtual ceremony today which can be viewed via Livestream , starting at 14:00 UTC (9 a.m. ET).

Internet Society (PRNewsfoto/The Internet Society)

Hailing from around the world, this year's inductees were crucial to the design, development, operation, and advancement of the earliest networks, and were responsible for advocating and expanding those networks in regions across the globe, including Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Asia Pacific, and Latin America.

The Internet Hall of Fame recognizes individuals worldwide who have played an extraordinary role in the conceptualization, building, and development of the global Internet and recognizes those who have made crucial, behind-the-scenes contributions.

Among the contributions of the new inductees are: the creation of protocols that enabled early networks to work faster and more effectively, and allowed them to scale; the creation of Internet policies and processes that helped democratize the network and expand access; the facilitation of training and education that enabled a new generation of network stewards; and the identification and resolution of network shortfalls that compromised critical safety and security.

The 2021 Inductees

Carlos Afonso (Brazil/Canada) advanced Internet development and democratized access in Brazil and other Latin American countries through his role as a founder and leader of several key organizations, including the Association for Progressive Communications.

Dr. Robert (Rob) Blokijl (The Netherlands) played a significant role in advancing Internet development and use in Europe, the Middle East, and Central Asia as a founder and leader of Reseaux IP Europeens (RIPE) and the RIPE NCC, and as a contributor to other influential international networking organizations.

Hans-Werner Braun (United States) was instrumental in the design, development, and operation of the National Science Foundation Network, NSFNET, and the network's subsequent growth in speed, coverage and reliability, which served as a model for Internet networks around the world and paved the way for large-scale routing.

Frode Greisen (Denmark) helped found the European Internet backbone Ebone, considered Europe's original Internet, and played an important role in the expansion of the network across Western and Eastern Europe, North Africa, and Iran.

Jan Gruntorad (Czech Republic) was an early champion of international networking for research and development in Czechoslovakia, initiating the country's connection to the European Academic and Research Network (EARN) in the first half of 1990 and, shortly after, establishing CESNET, the Czech Education and Scientific Network.

Dr. Saul Hahn (United States) was instrumental in connecting many Caribbean and several Latin American countries to the Internet.

Kim Hubbard's (United States) creation and stewardship of a fair and sustainable system for allocating IP addresses helped fundamentally safeguard the Internet's development as a member-driven, self-governing network.

Rafael (Lito) Ibarra (El Salvador) connected El Salvador to the Internet and worked to improve early systems for access nationwide.

Dan Kaminsky (United States) fostered the adoption of a more secure Domain Naming System (DNS) through his 2008 discovery and repair of a critical flaw in the Internet, now known as the Kaminsky Bug.

DaeYoung Kim (South Korea) played a key role in advancing Asia-Pacific regional network infrastructure and created many of the techniques required to share compressed and uncompressed video online.

Kenneth J. Klingenstein (United States) helped lead the expansion of the Internet in the American West and played an early and important role in the development of the Internet's identity and trust layers.

Dr. Xing Li (China) pioneered Internet development in China, beginning with his work in the 1990s to connect Chinese academic and research institutions and continuing with his contributions to IPv6 development and deployment in that country and worldwide.

Yngvar G. Lundh (Norway) advanced the Internet in Europe by connecting networks between the Norwegian and U.S. defense departments, helping to found the first ARPANET connection outside the U.S., in Norway, and helping secure .no as the first domain outside the U.S.

Alejandro Pisanty (Mexico) played a significant role in influencing policy to support the growth and improvement of the Internet in Mexico and throughout Latin America.

Yakov Rekhter (United States) helped develop the first Border Gateway Protocol (BGP), a technology essential to scaling the Internet, and played a key role in evolving BGP through subsequent versions.

Philip Smith (Australia) advanced the growth of the Internet in the Asia Pacific region, Africa, and the Middle East through his leadership roles in influential network organizations and his help codifying best practices for engineering processes and protocols, especially Border Gateway Protocols (BGP).

Pal Spilling (Norway) was a key contributor to the establishment of the first ARPANET node outside the United States in 1973, and then helped extend that connection to a second overseas node, paving the way for a global network.

Liane Tarouco (Brazil) played a key role in the design and implementation of Brazil's first Internet backbone and helped educate a generation of engineers and network specialists in Brazil and beyond.

Virginia Strazisar Travers (United States) designed and wrote the software that created Internet gateways, the precursor to routers and the core component that allows dissimilar networks to connect.

George Varghese (United States) made significant contributions to the usability of the Internet by inventing algorithms that increase its speed, chronicling these concepts in the 2004 field-defining textbook, "Network Algorithmics: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Designing Fast Networked Devices."

Dr. Lixia Zhang's (United States) design of the highly influential Resource Reservation Protocol (RSVP), which has served as the foundation of Internet Traffic Engineering by most major network operators, has helped enable the effective management and growth of the Internet's backbone networks for over two decades.

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More details on the 2021 cohort, including biographies and photos, can be found at www.internethalloffame.org .

"These are people who had the vision to understand, even in the earliest stages of network development, the power and potential the Internet posed to our world," noted Internet Society President Andrew Sullivan. "They were moved to act  to originate ideas, conceptualize probabilities, develop solutions, and enable outcomes that grew and strengthened the Internet.

Their contributions made it possible for us to look forward to our future, inextricably tied to the open, globally-connected, secure, and trustworthy Internet, and its ability to connect us reliably and consistently."

About the Internet Hall of Fame

Founded in 2012, the Internet Hall of Fame is an ongoing awards program established by the Internet Society to recognize a distinguished and select group of leaders and luminaries who have made significant contributions to the development and advancement of the global open Internet. More information on the program can be found at http://www.internethalloffame.org/

About the Internet Society

Founded in 1992 by Internet pioneers, the Internet Society is a global non-profit organization working to ensure the Internet remains a force for good for everyone. Through its community of members, special interest groups, and 120+ chapters around the world, the organization defends and promotes Internet policies, standards, and protocols that keep the Internet open, globally connected, and secure. For more information, please visit: internetsociety.org .

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SOURCE The Internet Society
Entrants Have a Chance to Own Original Artwork by Rising Japanese Contemporary Art Star, Jenny Kaori, or by Renowned Artist, Hiro Sugiyama

Tangle (2016) by Hiro Sugiyama

JAPAN HOUSE Los Angeles will giveaway a lucky sweepstakes winner "Tangle" - original artwork by WAVE exhibition curator, Hiro Sugiyama, whose prolific output includes figurative and abstract painting, superrealistic portraiture, prints, photography, and collage. Sugiyama was one of the 55 Japanese contemporary artists that were spotlighted in the now-closed exhibition.

JAPAN HOUSE Los Angeles will giveaway a lucky sweepstakes winner "Tangle" - original artwork by WAVE exhibition curator, Hiro Sugiyama, whose prolific output includes figurative and abstract painting, superrealistic portraiture, prints, photography, and collage. Sugiyama was one of the 55 Japanese contemporary artists that were spotlighted in the now-closed exhibition.

LOS ANGELES, Dec. 14, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- To celebrate the recent Los Angeles debut of the dynamic international touring exhibition WAVE | New Currents in Japanese Graphic Arts, JAPAN HOUSE Los Angeles , a Japanese cultural destination in the heart of Hollywood, today announces it will extend a sweepstakes giveaway of artwork by two of the exhibitions featured artists. One lucky entrant will win Resolution Matryoshka No.006 (2021)  a new, original piece by Jenny Kaori, a rising star contemporary artist known for her colorful riffs on pop culture. A second winner will receive Tangle (2016)  an original piece by exhibition curator, Hiro Sugiyama, whose prolific output includes figurative and abstract painting, superrealistic portraiture, prints, photography, and collage.



Kaori and Sugiyama are two of 55 Japanese contemporary artists that were spotlighted in the now closed exhibition  based on the popular art exhibition WAVE, held annually at Arts Chiyoda in Tokyo  many of whom are showing their work outside Japan for the first time. The traveling exhibition introduces a diverse array of artists, from established to emerging, showing how their creations in books, magazines, comics, animation, posters, and other media extend far beyond the well-known manga and anime styles and represent the full spectrum of Japanese graphic art today.

Kaori works in animation, character design, and apparel, using vivid colors and a predominantly pink color palette to create strong, mischievous female figures transcending gender boundaries and challenging stereotypes of femininity and girlishness. In much of his work, Sugiyama explores points of intersection between dualities  life and death, reality and unreality, abstract and concrete, digital and analog  expressing the narrow space where opposites meet.

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There are two ways to enter the sweepstakes:

Enter on Facebook by liking and following JAPAN HOUSE Los Angeles , liking the sweepstakes announcement post, and tagging two friends with their social media handle in a comment on the sweepstakes announcement post. Enter via mail by mailing a postcard with your name, address, phone number, and email address with a note referencing the WAVE Sweepstakes, to: JAPAN HOUSE Los Angeles, Attn: PR & Marketing Department, 6801 Hollywood Blvd., Suite 167, Los Angeles, CA 90028. Upon receipt of the mail-in entry, you will receive one (1) entry into the sweepstakes. All mail-in entries must be hand-printed.

The sweepstakes began on Monday, November 15 at 12:01 a.m. PST and ends on Wednesday, December 22 at 11:59 p.m. PST. The sweepstakes is open only to legal residents of the U.S. and the District of Columbia, 18 years of age or older; or legal residents of Japan, 20 years of age or older. There is no limit on the number of entries per person, but there may only be one entry per day. For the complete official rules, including detailed entry instructions and prize details, visit https://www.japanh o usela.com/events/wave-exhibition-sweepstakes/ .

WAVE  New Currents in Japanese Graphic Arts was on display at JAPAN HOUSE Los Angeles through November 28, 2021. The exhibition introduced work by artists ranging from veteran professional illustrators, such as Teruhiko Yumura, Akira Uno, and Keiichi Tanaami, to young artists like Kaori, as well as Masanori Ushiki, Yusuke Hanai, Jun Oson, and Mayu Yukishita. Styles of the drawings, paintings, and prints vary widely, from Tanaamis vibrant, detailed fantasies, Ayako Ishiguros Japanese folklore-inspired characters, and Hiroshi Nagais bright summer landscapes to Yukishitas dark realism and Masaru Shichinohes haunting portraits.

For more information, visit the JAPAN HOUSE Los Angeles website and social channels: Facebook , Instagram , Twitter , YouTube and LinkedIn .

ABOUT JAPAN HOUSE

JAPAN HOUSE is an innovative, worldwide project with three hubs  London, Los Angeles and Sao Paulo  conceived by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan. It seeks to nurture a deeper understanding and appreciation of Japan in the international community. Occupying two floors at Hollywood & Highland, JAPAN HOUSE Los Angeles offers a place of new discovery that transcends physical and conceptual boundaries creating experiences that reflect the best of Japan through its spaces and diverse programs.

Location: 6801 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90028

Website: www.japanhousela.com

ABOUT JENNY KAORI

Self-taught artist Jenny Kaori (b. 1987) works in animation, character design, and apparel. She typically depicts the young people who inhabit Japans sub- and mainstream cultures. She uses vivid colors  and a predominantly pink color palette  to create strong, mischievous female figures who transcend gender boundaries and challenge stereotypes of femininity and girlishness. Though typically rendered using a playful, cute aesthetic, the girls in her illustrations overflow with attitude. Kaori has worked with Shibuya-based fashion brand, galaxxxy, and has collaborated with Betty Boop, FLCL, Adobe & FUJIFILM. She has also worked with the k-pop group EXID, and in 2020 she created four bold new designs for adidas. She has exhibited her work in WAVE 2019 and WAVE 2020 in Tokyo, and her work has been published in ILLUSTRATION 2016 (Shoeisha, 2016), Fashion illustration: Outfit of the Day (PIE Creators' File Series, 2020) (Japanese Edition), New Retro Illustration (Pie International, 2020) and Roller Derby / Girl Gang: An Art Anthology (Schiffer, 2020).

ABOUT HIRO SUGIYAMA

One of the organizers and curators of the Tokyo WAVE exhibition and this JAPAN HOUSE touring exhibition, Hiro Sugiyama (b. 1962) is a Tokyo-based artist whose prolific output has included figurative and abstract painting, superrealistic portraiture, prints, photography, and collage. In much of his work, he explores points of intersection between dualities  life and death, reality and unreality, abstract and concrete, digital and analog  expressing the narrow space where opposites meet. Over the past decade, Sugiyama has held regular solo exhibitions in Tokyo galleries including Hiromi Yoshii Roppongi, AD Gallery, and WATOWA Gallery. He has also been featured in solo and group exhibitions in Shanghai, London, Italy, Germany, and South Korea, and he was one of 19 Japanese artists spotlighted in the 2001 Superflat exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles. He has also published numerous books including Abstract Portrait (2011), Vision Quest (2005) and Out of Science (2002).

Media Contacts:

Nerissa Silao | 310-874-9230 | nerissas@ca.rr.com

Lisa Nakanouchi | 323-904-9298 | lnakanouchi@japanhousela.com

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/4b896cbe-04d9-4d68-9e90-275940dabf47




ASEAN Lead Acid Battery Market  Scope of Report The analysts recent report on the lead acid battery market, with the help of a comprehensive outlook, provides readers with an assessment of the ASEAN market landscape.

New York, Dec. 14, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Lead Acid Battery Market - ASEAN Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast, 2021-2031" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p06190146/?utm_source=GNW

This study on the lead acid battery market analyzes the scenario for the period of 2021 to 2031, wherein, 2020 is the base year and 2017 to 2019 covers historical data.



This report enables readers to make important decisions with regard to their business, with the help of a wealth of information enclosed in the study.



This study on the lead acid battery market also provides data on the developments made by important players and stakeholders in the market, along with a competitive analysis.The report also provides an understanding of the strengths, weaknesses, threats, and opportunities, along with the trends and restraints in the landscape.



Presented in a clear sanctioned manner, this report on the lead acid battery market gives readers an individual understanding of the market.



Key Questions Answered in this Report on the Lead Acid Battery Market

How much value will the lead acid battery market generate by the end of the forecast period?

Which segment of the market is likely to have the maximum market share by 2031?

What are the impact factors and there effects on the lead acid battery market?

What regions currently contribute the maximum share to the overall lead acid battery market?

What are the indicators expected to drive the lead acid battery market?

What country is likely to be a lucrative market during the forecast period?

What are the essential strategies by key stakeholders in the lead acid battery market to expand their geographic presence?

What are the major advancements witnessed in the lead acid battery market?

How regulatory norms affected the lead acid battery market?

This report answers these questions and more about the lead acid battery market, aiding major stakeholders and key players in making the right decisions and strategizing for the advancement of their business.



ASEAN Lead Acid Battery Market  Research Methodology

This report on the lead acid battery market is based on a complete and comprehensive evaluation of the market, backed by secondary and primary sources.Market volume is determined by country wise model mapping of vehicle through internal & external proprietary databases, and relevant patent and regulatory databases.



The competitive scenario of the lead acid battery market is supported by an assessment of the different factors that influence the market on a minute and granular level. By thoroughly analyzing the historical data, current trends and announcement by the key players, researchers of the lead acid battery market arrive at predictions and estimations, and calculate the forecast for the market.



This report uses an analytical triangulation method to estimate the numbers and figures of the lead acid battery market, with both a bottom-up and top-down approach.



This detailed assessment of the lead acid battery market, along with an overview of the landscape, is provided based on a careful examination of the avenues related to this industry. Analysts conclusions on how the lead acid battery market is estimated to expand are based on carefully vetted primary and secondary sources.

Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p06190146/?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.



__________________________

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CONTACT: Clare: clare@reportlinker.com US: (339)-368-6001 Intl: +1 339-368-6001




VANCOUVER, BC, Dec. 14, 2021 /CNW/ - MAS Gold Corp. ("MAS Gold") (TSXV: MAS) and Comstock Metals Ltd. ("Comstock"  TSX-V: CSL) are pleased to announce the signing of a non-binding letter of intent under which Comstock has agreed to sell 100% of its interest in its Preview SW gold deposit and property ("Preview SW Property") to MAS Gold in consideration of the issuance of 30,000,000 common shares in MAS Gold (the "Proposed Transaction").

Comstock's 843 hectare Preview SW Property is contiguous with MAS Gold's Preview-North Property in the La Ronge Gold Belt of northeastern Saskatchewan (see Figure 1). The Preview SW Property and portions of the Preview-North properties are located within the Mineral Exploration Zone of Lac La Ronge Provincial Park.

The addition of the Preview SW Property is synergistic with MAS Gold's deposits, significantly expanding MAS Gold's mineral asset base in the La Ronge Gold Belt.

The Preview SW Property's gold deposit hosts historical resources, at a 0.50 gram/tonne gold (g/t Au) cut-off grade (Technical Report, Simpson 2016 1):

An historical Indicated Mineral Resource containing 158,300 ounces of gold (2.61 million tonnes grading 1.89 g/t Au); and

An historical Inferred Mineral Resource containing 270,800 ounces of gold (5.70 million tonnes grading 1.48 g/t Au).

Upon the closing of the Proposed Transaction Comstock will have the right to appoint one director for a minimum of two years. Comstock will also provide additional funding in the amount of $200,000, to be spent in Q1 2022 in conjunction with input from MAS Gold, exploring its Preview SW Property prior to closing of the Proposed Transaction. A definitive agreement will be signed prior to January 15th,2022 and closing is anticipated in March, 2022 after both companies' AGM and shareholder vote anticipated to take place in late February, 2022.

Jim Engdahl, MAS Gold's President and CEO remarked, "We are very excited with the friendly acquisition of the Preview SW Property's gold deposit located within 10 kilometres of MAS Gold's North Lake gold deposit, the recently acquired former Contact Lake gold mine and Point gold deposit. Upon completion of the Proposed Transaction this high-quality asset combined with MAS Gold's mineral portfolio, which includes the recently updated North Lake and Greywacke North mineral resources announced December 6, 2021 and December 9, 2021, respectively, MAS Gold will become one of Saskatchewan's biggest gold developers."

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Jim added, "Under the terms of the Proposed Transaction Steven Goldman, the President and CEO of Comstock will join the MAS Gold. We look forward to working with him."

Mr. Goldman, President commented, "On behalf of Comstock, I believe the Proposed Transaction will be highly advantageous and synergistic for both Comstock's and MAS Gold's shareholders. We are delighted to have the opportunity to pass Comstock's Preview SW gold project to MAS Gold where we believe the combination of gold resources, MAS Gold's experienced management team, and technical mining talent, will quickly accelerate the creation of a significant gold deposit in the La Ronge Gold Belt. Ultimately we believe that the Proposed Transaction will help create significant shareholder value in the years to come for both Comstock's and MAS Gold's shareholders."

Historical Preview SW Mineral Resource Summary (CNW Group/MAS Gold Corp)

For the purposes of this News Release and MAS Gold, the 2016 Simpson Technical Report is treated as historical. A Qualified Person has not done sufficient work to classify the historical estimate as a current mineral resource and MAS gold is not treating this historical estimate as current mineral resources.

MAS Gold and Comstock consider the Preview SW historical mineral resource estimate to be relevant and reliable. The Preview SW estimate was constrained by 3D wireframes representing zones of high shear intensity and grade continuity. The drill database comprised 162 core holes totaling 26,250 m drilled between 1985 and 2013. Drill hole data was composited on 1 metre intervals and composites were capped at 50 g/t Au. Final gold grades were estimated using the inverse distance method to the 3rd power (ID3). Bulk density values were assigned to blocks according to lithology based on specific gravity field measurements. A block model was created in Gemcom-Surpac Vision software using a block size 5 x 5 x 5 metres. Mineral resources amenable to open pit mining methods were constrained using a Lerchs-Grossmann optimized pit. Assumptions include US$1,300/oz Au, 90% Au recovery, US$2.50/tonne mining cost, US$15.50/tonne process, and G&A cost. No allowances have been made for mining losses and dilution. Pit slope angle of 45.

The Preview SW estimate was classified using the definitions set out in CIM Definition Standards for Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves (2010), which was superseded by CIM (2014). Similarly, the Preview SW estimate predates CIM Estimation of Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves Best Practice Guidelines (2019). To verify the historical estimate as a current mineral resource a Qualified Person would need to prepare an updated mineral resource estimate and NI 43-101 technical report with respect to the Preview SW Property that incorporates additional drilling completed since the since 2013, which includes 24 holes totaling 4,700 metres targeting the Preview North zone and Preview SW during 2017 and 2018 (7 holes totalling 1,850 m at the Preview SW).

MAS Gold Mineral Resource Summary (CNW Group/MAS Gold Corp)

Qualifying Statements and Mineral Resources

The contained gold ounces are in situ. No assurance can be given that the estimated quantities will be produced. All figures have been rounded to reflect accuracy and to comply with securities regulatory requirements. Summations within the tables may not agree due to rounding.

Mineral Resources, which are not Mineral Reserves, do not have demonstrated economic viability. The estimate of Mineral Resources may be materially affected by gold price, environmental, permitting, legal, title, taxation, socio-political, marketing or other relevant issues.

The following Technical Reports are available on SEDAR:

1. 43-101 Technical Report, Preview SW Gold Project, La Ronge, Saskatchewan, prepared for Comstock Metals Ltd. by Ronald G. Simpson, P.Geo., Geosim Services Inc. Effective date September 27, 2016.



2. A Technical Report will be issued within 45 days of MAS Gold's December 09, 2021 news release about the North Lake Mineral Resource update and will cover both the North Lake and Greywacke North Mineral Resource updates. The principal author and QP will be Stephen Godden, C.Eng. FIMMM, an Independent Mining Consultant; both David Thomas, P. Geo., and David Tupper, P. Geo., Vice President, Exploration of MAS Gold, will be co-authors (each being a QP).





The December 9, 2021 announced North Lake Mineral Resource Estimate updates the March 1, 2020 Technical Report on the 2020 Mineral Resource Estimate, North Lake Project by S. Godden, D. Thomas and D. Tupper.



3. A Technical Report will be issued within 45 days of Mas Gold's December 06, 2021 news release about the Greywacke North Mineral Resource update. It will cover both the North Lake and Greywacke North Mineral Resource updates. The principal author and QP will be Stephen Godden, C.Eng. FIMMM, an Independent Mining Consultant; both David Thomas, P. Geo., and David Tupper, P. Geo., Vice President, Exploration of MAS Gold, will be co-authors (each being a QP). All three QPs are responsible for the preparation of this news release; they have read and approved its technical aspects.





The December 6, 2021 news release announced Greywacke North Mineral Resource Estimate updates the June 1, 2016, 43-101 Technical Report and Resource Update, Greywacke Lake Project, Saskatchewan, Canada by F. Hrdy, E. Puritch, and M. Yakimchuk.

Completion of the Proposed Transaction is subject to a number of conditions, including but not limited to, execution of a binding definitive agreement relating to the Proposed Transaction, TSX Venture Exchange acceptance and shareholder approval. There can be no assurance that the Proposed Transaction will be completed as proposed or at all.

About MAS Gold Corp.

MAS Gold Corp. is a Canadian mineral exploration company focused on gold exploration projects in the prospective La Ronge Gold Belt of Saskatchewan. In the belt, MAS Gold operates four properties including the Preview-North, Greywacke Lake, Elizabeth Lake and Henry Lake Properties that extend along segments totaling roughly 60 kilometres of the geologically prospective La Ronge, Kisseynew and Glennie Domains that make up the La Ronge Gold Belt (see Figure 1).

MAS Gold's holdings include the North Lake, Greywacke North, Bakos (Contact Lake) and Point gold deposits and the historically defined Elizabeth Lake copper-gold volcanic-hosted massive sulphide deposit within four properties totalling 34,703.4 hectares (85,753.8 acres).

The North Lake deposit located at the Preview-North Property is estimated to contain an Inferred Mineral Resource of 18,100,000 t grading 0.85 g/t Au, hence 494,000 contained ounces of gold. The Technical Report about the updated Mineral Resource estimate will be filed in January, 2022 (see MAS Gold news release dated December 9, 2021).

The Greywacke North deposit, which hosts multiple known stratabound, high-grade gold-bearing zones, has an updated, combined openpit and underground Indicated Mineral Resource of 645,000 t averaging 4.90 g/t Au for 101,000 insitu ounces of gold (600,000 t at 4.89 g/t Au, and 45,000t at 5.03 g/t Au, respectively), plus a combined openpit and underground Inferred Mineral Resource of 410,000 t averaging 4.12 g/t Au for 55,000 insitu ounces of gold (35,000 t at 1.97 g/t Au, and 375,000 t at 4.33 g/t Au, respectively). The Indicated and Inferred Mineral Resources were estimated using openpit and underground cut-off grades of 0.65 g/t Au and 1.75 g/t Au, respectively. The Technical Report about the updated Mineral Resource estimate will be filed in January, 2022 (see MAS Gold news release dated December 6, 2021).

The Bakos deposit, located on the former Contact Lake Mine holding, was first identified by Saskatchewan Mining Development Corporation (SMDC; later Cameco Corporation) exploration field crews in 1984. Operations were conducted from December 1994 until closure in December 1998. Historical production and recovery values for the entire operation included 188,185 ounces gold produced from 1,006,673 tonnes processed with a head grade of 6.16 g/t Au at a recovery rate o 95% (Leniuk, G., B. Bharadwaj, G. Alderman & R. Wyka: Cameco Corporation Contact Lake Operation, Final Report, January, 1999). The mine was shut down during low metals prices, reportedly leaving undeveloped material in place.(see MAS Gold news release dated September 13, 2021).

The Point deposit has been the subject of multiple drill campaigns dating to the 1980's when Saskatchewan Mining and Development Corporation (SMDC; later Cameco) drilled 43 core holes. MAS gold completed 13 additional holes in 2019, intersecting multiple high-grade intercepts including 7.0 metres grading 14.99 g/t Au from 20.0 to 27.0 metres (see MAS Gold news release dated June 25, 2019).

About Comstock Metals Ltd.

Comstock Metals has been advancing the Preview SW Gold Project, a resource-stage gold project in the La Ronge district of Saskatchewan (see Figure 1). The Preview SW deposit hosts an Indicated Mineral Resource containing 158,300 ounces of gold (2.61 million tonnes grading 1.89 g/t Au) and an Inferred Mineral Resource containing 270,800 ounces of gold (5.70 million tonnes grading 1.48 g/t Au), both based on a 0.50 g/t Au cut-off grade. During 2017 and 2018, Comstock completed diamond drilling campaigns targeting the Preview North zone and the Preview SW deposit comprising 24 holes totaling 4,700 metres. Several additional, relatively untested targets remain on the Property, including the A, B, C, and Clearwater zones (see Figure 2).

Comstock has filed on SEDAR the 43-101 Technical Report, Preview SW Gold Project, La Ronge, Saskatchewan, prepared for Comstock Metals Ltd. by Ronald G. Simpson, P.Geo., Geosim Services Inc. Effective date September 27, 2016.

Red Cloud Securities Inc. is acting as financial advisor to Comstock with Fogler, Rubinoff LLP acting as legal advisor.

Qualified Persons

The scientific and technical information contained in this news release has been prepared, reviewed and approved by David Tupper, P.Geo. (British Columbia), MAS Gold's VP Exploration and Kristopher J. Raffle, P. Geo.(British Columbia) Principal and Consultant of APEX Geoscience Ltd. of Edmonton, AB, on behalf of Comstock Metals, both Qualified Persons (QP) within the context of Canadian Securities Administrators' National Instrument 43-101; Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects (NI 43-101).

MAS Gold Corp.

Jim Engdahl

Director & CEO

Suite 420 - 789 West Pender Street

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, V6C 1H2

t: 604-685-8592

www.masgoldcorp.com

For further information about Comstock Metals Ltd. visit www.comstock-metals.com.

Caution Regarding Forward Looking Information and Statements

Information set forth in this news release contains forward-looking statements that are based on assumptions as of the date of this news release. These statements reflect management's current estimates, beliefs, intentions and expectations. They are not guarantees of future performance. MAS Gold and Comstock caution that all forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain and that actual performance may be affected by a number of material factors, many of which are beyond their respective control. Such factors include, among other things: the failure to satisfy the conditions to completion of the Proposed Transaction set forth above, risks and uncertainties relating to MAS Gold's limited operating history, the need to comply with environmental and governmental regulations, results of exploration programs on their projects and those risks and uncertainties identified in each of their annual and interim financial statements and management discussion and analysis. Accordingly, actual and future events, conditions and results may differ materially from the estimates, beliefs, intentions and expectations expressed or implied in the forward-looking information.

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 Mas Gold and Comstock. As a result, Mas Gold and Comstock cannot guarantee that the Proposed Transaction will be completed on the terms and within the time disclosed herein or at all. 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 news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date of this news release and Mas Gold and Comstock will only update or revise publicly any of the included forward-looking statements as expressly required by Canadian securities law. Except as required under applicable securities legislation, MAS Gold undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise forward-looking information.

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 news release.

Figure 1: MAS Gold Corp. and Comstock Metals Ltd. claim holdings, La Ronge Gold Belt, Saskatchewan (CNW Group/MAS Gold Corp)

Figure 2: Comstock Metals Ltd. Preview SW Property Area Geology and Mineralized Zones (CNW Group/MAS Gold Corp)

MAS Gold Corp. Logo (CNW Group/MAS Gold Corp)

Comstock Metals Ltd. Logo (CNW Group/MAS Gold Corp)

SOURCE MAS Gold Corp

Cision

View original content to download multimedia: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/December2021/14/c1260.html
Minister LeBlanc reaffirms commitment to enhancing internal trade in Canada

Minister LeBlanc reaffirms commitment to enhancing internal trade in Canada

Canada NewsWire

MONCTON, NB, Dec. 13, 2021

MONCTON, NB, Dec. 13, 2021 /CNW/ - Today, the Government of Canada reaffirmed its commitment to enhancing internal trade during the Committee on Internal Trade meeting. Representatives from all provinces and territories were present.

During the meeting, the Honourable Dominic LeBlanc, Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, Infrastructure and Communities, reiterated the federal government's commitment to accelerating efforts to reduce barriers to internal trade in support of Canada's economic recovery and to strengthen its growth and competitiveness.

Minister LeBlanc joined the Honourable Carla Qualtrough, Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion, in support of her dialogue on labour mobility. Together, they underscored the critical importance of facilitating and prioritizing collective efforts for labour mobility and credential recognition, especially for Canada's healthcare sector.

Minister LeBlanc also welcomed the participation of his colleague the Honourable Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry Francois-Philippe Champagne and they called on their ministerial counterparts to be ambitious in their future efforts towards tackling remaining barriers to trade, investment and labour mobility within Canada.

For its part, the Government most recently announced the removal and narrowing of several federal exceptions from the Canadian Free Trade Agreement, and committed to investing $21 million through Budget 2021 to reduce barriers to trade in Canada and help build a more prosperous economy. This includes the commitment to open and accessible pan-Canadian internal trade data.

In 2019, the Government acted decisively when it removed the only remaining federal barrier to the interprovincial movement of alcoholic beverages. Minister LeBlanc welcomed the leadership of Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston and applauded the efforts of provinces and territories that have taken steps toward direct-to-consumer sales, and has called on remaining counterparts to take similar steps towards addressing long-standing trade barriers in this sector. He commended Quebec Minister Pierre Fitzgibbon's announcement (link in French only) today of Quebec's intent to eliminate the quantitative limits on alcoholic beverages that a person can bring into the province.

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He then restated the Government of Canada's commitment to working collaboratively with provinces and territories to accelerate action on the interprovincial movement of alcoholic beverages.

Minister LeBlanc also signalled the importance of continuing to engage with industry and stakeholders to identify and tackle trade and regulatory barriers and strengthen the domestic economy.

Minister LeBlanc re-enforced his commitment to continued collaboration with provinces and territories to remove barriers to trade.

Quotes

"Across the country, entrepreneurs are eager to get their products in the hands of more Canadian consumers, but internal trade barriers still represent a significant obstacle for them. Our Government has shown leadership by removing federal barriers and exceptions and investing $21 million through Budget 2021 to support the creation of open and accessible pan-Canadian internal trade data to identify barriers. We will continue to encourage our provincial and territorial partners to take bold steps in their areas of jurisdiction to allow domestic trade and commerce to be freer across the country. We must demonstrate to Canadians that we are all leveraging our capacity to accelerate our efforts to foster a strong economic recovery."

- The Honourable Dominic LeBlanc, Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, Infrastructure and Communities

"Labour mobility is more critical than ever to support Canadians in a changing economy. Through collaboration with the provinces and territories, the Government is committed to improving labour mobility and expediting the process to move skilled workers to the areas where they are needed most."

 The Honourable Carla Qualtrough, Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion

"As we recover from this pandemic, we must continue to work together to strengthen our internal market and align our regulatory approaches for the movement of goods, services and investments within Canada. I look forward to collaborating with our provincial and territorial colleagues to transform our biggest challenges into economic opportunities that will benefit all Canadians."

 The Honourable Francois-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry

Quick Facts

According to the International Monetary Fund, removing barriers to internal trade within Canada could increase Canada's gross domestic product by almost 4%.

The federal government released four Regulatory Roadmaps in June 2019, setting out a plan for reducing regulatory barriers and bottlenecks in targeted high-growth sectors.

Through the Regulatory Reconciliation and Cooperation Table, federal, provincial and territorial governments have also agreed on a renewed work plan for reconciling and co-operating on regulations in the coming years.

Associated Links

Stay Connected

Twitter: https://twitter.com/MinIntergovCA

SOURCE Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs
CENTENNIAL, Colo., Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- NioCorp Developments Ltd. ("NioCorp" or the "Company") (TSX: NB; OTCQX: NIOBF) is pleased to announce the results of assaying completed on drill core samples from the Elk Creek Project (the "Project") that were obtained through an agreement with the University of Nebraska's Conservation and Survey Division ("CSD").

(PRNewsfoto/NioCorp Developments Ltd.)

A total of 1,094 samples originating from 18 diamond drill holes completed by previous operators of the Project were obtained pursuant to an agreement between the Company and CSD and were assayed for rare earth element content at Actlabs in Ancaster, Ontario. The assay results were subjected to a Quality Assurance and Quality Control program consistent with industry best practices.

These new assay results complement the analysis previously completed by the Company of the geological and metallurgical evaluation of all of the rare earth data associated with the Project (see this announcement).

With the completion of this recent assay work, the rare earth assay database is considered complete for the purposes of calculating the potential rare earth content within the footprint of the previously announced niobium, scandium, and titanium Mineral Resource at the Elk Creek Project. If NioCorp is able to complete an update to its existing Mineral Resource and add information on rare earth content data, that update is expected to provide the average content (ore grade as expressed in parts-per-million, or PPM) and total contained tonnage of each individual rare earth element in the Mineral Resource.

In addition to the work now being conducted by independent geologic consultants on a potential updated Mineral Resource with rare earth data added, NioCorp is aggressively pursuing a technical work plan that includes metallurgical testing, mineral resource and reserve calculations, and additional market studies focused on rare earths.

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Mark Smith, CEO and Executive Chairman of NioCorp, said: "I am extremely pleased with the completion of this important step towards the development of a rare earth component to the mineral resource and reserve for the Elk Creek Project. If our rare earth content is found to be rich enough to economically justify extraction of individual rare earths as a byproduct of our planned niobium, scandium, and titanium production, the Elk Creek Project could ultimately emerge as a U.S. producer of the magnetic rare earths, assuming adequate project funding is secured."

"In fact, our polymetallic deposit contains an array of some of the most important critical metals that are required by electrified transportation and other climate-friendly technologies," Mr. Smith added. "This includes heavy magnetic rare earths such as dysprosium and terbium, which are currently produced in commercially significant quantities only in Asia. Some sources of heavy rare earths, such as the nation of Myanmar, are considered to have a high political risk from the perspective of supply chain security. The more critical minerals we produce in the U.S., the better positioned we will be to rapidly ramp up production of many climate-friendly technologies with Made in USA minerals."

The tables below outlines intervals of interest in particular drill holes.

Table 1: Drill Hole Assay Results



Azimuth Dip From To Length La 2 O 3 Ce 2 O 3 Pr 6 O 11 Nd 2 O 3 Sm 2 O 3 Eu 2 O 3 Gd 2 O 3 Drillhole (degrees) (degrees (feet) (feet) (feet) (ppm) (ppm) (ppm) (ppm) (ppm) (ppm) (ppm) EC-011 300 -60 695 785 90 1,639 2,894 322 1,109 157.4 40.8 90.6





1,295 1,530 235 1,259 1,985 205 678 112.4 31.3 69.7 EC-015 120 -60 1,590 1,810 220 904 1,407 149 493 79.4 22.3 54.5





2,360 2,755 395 680 1,187 132 454 70.6 19.0 45.2 EC-018 0 -90 610 1,517 907 500 941 108 394 66.7 17.3 39.2 EC-019 0 -90 1,890 2,160 270 1,301 2,523 286 1,015 150.0 40.3 87.1 EC-020 0 -90 1,110 1,360 250 536 924 99 347 58.6 17.0 39.4 EC-021 300 -60 1,740 2,000 260 1,629 2,664 283 933 149.7 41.5 94.2 EC-024 0 -90 760 870 110 560 1,046 125 469 89.6 24.7 60.2 EC-027 0 -90 660 793 133 1,141 1,889 190 656 91.5 23.8 59.8 EC-030 0 -90 2,280 2,430 150 1,147 1,957 210 704 119.8 36.6 89.8



Azimuth Dip From To Length Tb 2 O 3 Dy 2 O 3 Ho 2 O 3 Er 2 O 3 Tm 2 O 3 Yb 2 O 3 Lu 2 O 3 Drillhole (degrees) (degrees (feet) (feet) (feet) (ppm) (ppm) (ppm) (ppm) (ppm) (ppm) (ppm) EC-011 300 -60 695 785 90 10.1 42.9 6.2 14.0 1.7 9.2 1.3





1,295 1,530 235 7.6 33.2 5.1 12.0 1.5 8.8 1.3 EC-015 120 -60 1,590 1,810 220 6.3 27.5 4.0 8.9 1.1 6.1 0.9





2,360 2,755 395 5.7 27.3 4.1 9.0 1.1 5.8 0.8 EC-018 0 -90 610 1,517 907 4.6 22.2 3.6 8.4 1.0 5.9 0.9 EC-019 0 -90 1,890 2,160 270 9.7 42.4 6.1 13.0 1.5 7.9 1.1 EC-020 0 -90 1,110 1,360 250 4.5 20.3 3.0 6.8 0.8 4.8 0.7 EC-021 300 -60 1,740 2,000 260 11.8 55.4 8.6 19.8 2.4 12.9 1.8 EC-024 0 -90 760 870 110 7.9 39.0 6.3 15.0 1.8 10.3 1.5 EC-027 0 -90 660 793 133 6.9 32.1 5.2 13.4 1.7 10.1 1.5 EC-030 0 -90 2,280 2,430 150 11.4 54.3 8.5 19.3 2.2 12.4 1.7



































Table 2: Drill Hole Assay Results of Light, Heavy, Total, and Magnetic REEs



Azimuth Dip From To Length LREO1 HREO2 TREO3 Percent Drillhole (degrees) (degrees (feet) (feet) (feet) (ppm) (ppm) (ppm) Magnetics4 EC-011 300 -60 695 785 90 5,964 374 6,338 23.4%





1,295 1,530 235 4,127 283 4,410 20.9% EC-015 120 -60 1,590 1,810 220 2,953 211 3,164 21.4%





2,360 2,755 395 2,453 189 2,642 23.4% EC-018 0 -90 610 1,517 907 1,943 170 2,113 25.0% EC-019 0 -90 1,890 2,160 270 5,126 359 5,485 24.7% EC-020 0 -90 1,110 1,360 250 1,907 156 2,063 22.8% EC-021 300 -60 1,740 2,000 260 5,509 398 5,907 21.7% EC-024 0 -90 760 870 110 2,199 256 2,455 26.1% EC-027 0 -90 660 793 133 3,876 246 4,122 21.5% EC-030 0 -90 2,280 2,430 150 4,018 356 4,374 22.4%







1 LREO is the sum of the following: La2O3, Ce2O3, Pr6O11, Nd2O3. 2 HREO is the sum of the following: Sm2O3, Eu2O3, Gd2O3, Tb2O3, Dy2O3, Ho2O3, Er2O3, Tm2O3, Yb2O3, Lu2O3. 3 TREO is the sum of the following: La2O3, Ce2O3, Pr6O11, Nd2O3, Sm2O3, Eu2O3, Gd2O3, Tb2O3, Dy2O3, Ho2O3, Er2O3, Tm2O3, Yb2O3, Lu2O3. 4 Percent Magnetics is calculated as the sum of LPr6O11, Nd2O3, Tb2O3, Dy2O3 divided by the calculated TREO. The measured length of each individual assay interval was used to calculate a weighted average for the noted intervals.

The Company's focus continues to be on the four "magnetic" rare earths: neodymium, praseodymium, terbium, and dysprosium. The table above indicates that a substantial portion of the rare earths present in this dataset are comprised of the magnetic rare earths ("Percent Magnetics"). These elements are the critical ingredients in rare earth permanent magnets, which are the strongest permanent magnets commercially available. Rare earth magnets are key to the decarbonization of the world's economy, as they are indispensable in the production of electric cars, wind turbines, and high-efficiency electric motors. Publicly available average indicative pricing for the magnetic rare earths from metal.com as of December 3, 2021, appears below:

Rare Earth Oxide Product Metal.com Indicative Average Price, 12/3/21

(USD/kg) Neodymium Oxide $128 Praseodymium Oxide $130 Terbium Oxide $1,665 Dysprosium Oxide $439

The assay intervals noted do not constitute a Mineral Resource or a Mineral Reserve under any regulatory definition. Each drill hole is within the footprint of the 7,800-acre Elk Creek Carbonatite as well as being within the footprint of the existing niobium, scandium, and titanium mineral resource. Each drill hole noted above is located on land that the Company currently owns or is subject to an exclusive Option to Purchase agreement with the local landowner. The mineral resource is depicted on the map below using a 0.3% Nb 2 O 5 grade shell, along with the drill holes noted in the table above.

Scott Honan, NioCorp's COO, said: "NioCorp is extremely grateful to the staff and leadership of CSR, without which we would not have been able to complete this important step forward towards realizing the rare earth potential of the Elk Creek Project."

The University of Nebraska's UNL's Conservation and Survey Division ("CSD"), is a unique, multi-disciplinary research, service and data-resource organization that originated in 1893. As Nebraska's geological survey, its mission is to investigate and record information about the state's geologic history, its rock and mineral resources, the quantity and quality of its water resources, land cover, and other aspects of its geography, as well as the nature, distribution and uses of its soils. CSD was actively involved in the discovery of the Elk Creek carbonatite more than five decades ago. CSD continues to curate samples and data from the deposit, among its many other collections, for the benefit of stakeholders and in the public interest. CSD has been an invaluable source of data and expertise for minerals development and other Earth-science issues in Nebraska since its founding.

The information contained in this press release does not change any of the mineral resource or mineral reserve estimates contained in NioCorp's April 16, 2019, NI 43-101 Technical Report, Feasibility Study, Elk Creek Superalloy Materials Project, Nebraska. The information contained in this press release is provided to inform the reader of the growth of our geologic understanding of the rare earth potential of the Project. There has been insufficient work to define a mineral resource with respect to rare earth data and it is uncertain if further work will result in rare earth data being delineated as a mineral resource.

A Quality Assurance / Quality Control protocol following industry best practices was incorporated into the program and included systematic insertion of certified reference materials into sample batches at a rate of 7.4%. A total of 1,181 samples, including 87 QAQC samples, were submitted to Activation Laboratories (Actlabs) in Ancaster, ON for assay. Collected samples targeted original pulverized splits generated during historical sampling program. If pulverized samples could not be located coarse crush samples were used, resulting in 1047 original pulverized splits and 47 original coarse-splits being submitted for analysis. Samples were selected and extracted from a locked storage core and prepared sample repository, under the supervision of a qualified person and the curator in charge of the repository.

The lab analysis package included eight-major oxides, rare earths, and trace elements. Samples were analyzed via fusion inductively coupled plasma (ICP) and inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) in addition to niobium by XRF, using packages 8-REE and 8-Nb2O5  XRF. Samples were received, weighed and prepared by crushing to 80% passing 10 mesh (for coarse-splits), followed by a 250 g riffle split and pulverizing to 95% passing 105  (package RX1).

Qualified Person:

Brad Ulry, P.Geo., Chief Operating Officer, Dahrouge Geological Consulting Ltd., a qualified person as defined in National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed and approved the technical information contained in this news release and verified the data disclosed in this news release.

@NioCorp $NB.to $NIOBF #Niobium #Scandium #rareearth #ElkCreek #NdFeB #rareearthmagnets #magnets #EV #electricvehicle

For More Information:

Contact Jim Sims, VP of External Affairs, NioCorp Developments Ltd., 303-503-6203, jim.sims@niocorp.com

About NioCorp

NioCorp is developing a superalloy materials project in Southeast Nebraska that will produce Niobium, Scandium, and Titanium. The Company also is evaluating the potential to produce several rare earth byproducts from the Project. Niobium is used to produce superalloys as well as High Strength, Low Alloy ("HSLA") steel, which is a lighter, stronger steel used in automotive, structural, and pipeline applications. Scandium is a superalloy material that can be combined with Aluminum to make alloys with increased strength and improved corrosion resistance. Scandium is also a critical component of advanced solid oxide fuel cells. Titanium is used in various superalloys and is a key component of pigments used in paper, paint and plastics and is also used for aerospace applications, armor, and medical implants. Magnetic rare earths, such as Neodymium, Praseodymium, Terbium, and Dysprosium are critical to the making of Neodymium-Iron-Boron ("NdFeB") magnets, which are used across a wide variety of defense and civilian applications.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements contained in this document may constitute forward-looking statements, including statements regarding the Company's ability to produce Niobium, Scandium, Titanium and rare earths products at the Elk Creek Superalloy Materials Project and the Company's belief that it may be able to emerge as a significant U.S. producer of magnetic rare earths. Forward-looking statements are based on estimates and assumptions made by the Company in light of its experience and its perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, as well as other factors that the Company believes are appropriate in the circumstances. Readers are cautioned that such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause a change in such forward-looking statements and the actual outcomes and estimates to be materially different from those estimated or anticipated future results, achievements or position expressed or implied by those forward-looking statements. Risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause NioCorp's plans or prospects to change include risks related to the Company's ability to operate as a going concern; risks related to the Company's requirement of significant additional capital; changes in demand for and price of commodities (such as fuel and electricity) and currencies; changes in economic valuations of the Project, such as Net Present Value calculations, changes or disruptions in the securities markets; legislative, political or economic developments; the need to obtain permits and comply with laws and regulations and other regulatory requirements; the possibility that actual results of work may differ from projections/expectations or may not realize the perceived potential of NioCorp's projects; risks of accidents, equipment breakdowns and labor disputes or other unanticipated difficulties or interruptions; the possibility of cost overruns or unanticipated expenses in development programs; operating or technical difficulties in connection with exploration, mining or development activities; the speculative nature of mineral exploration and development, including the risks of diminishing quantities of grades of reserves and resources; and the risks involved in the exploration, development and mining business and the risks set forth in the Company's filings with Canadian securities regulators at www.sedar.com and the SEC at www.sec.gov. NioCorp disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Cision

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SOURCE NioCorp Developments Ltd.
NEW ORLEANS, LA / ACCESSWIRE / December 14, 2021 / Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC ("KSF") and KSF partner, former Attorney General of Louisiana, Charles C. Foti, Jr., remind investors that they have until January 11, 2022 to file lead plaintiff applications in a securities class action lawsuit against Novavax, Inc. (NASDAQ:NVAX), if they purchased the Company's securities between March 2, 2021 and October 19, 2021, inclusive (the "Class Period"). This action is pending in the United States District Court for the District of Maryland.

What You May Do

If you purchased securities of Novavax and would like to discuss your legal rights and how this case might affect you and your right to recover for your economic loss, you may, without obligation or cost to you, contact KSF Managing Partner Lewis Kahn toll-free at 1-877-515-1850 or via email (lewis.kahn@ksfcounsel.com), or visit https://www.ksfcounsel.com/cases/nasdaqgs-nvax/ to learn more. If you wish to serve as a lead plaintiff in this class action, you must petition the Court by January 11, 2022 .

About the Lawsuit

Novavax and certain of its executives are charged with failing to disclose material information during the Class Period, violating federal securities laws.

On August 5, 2021, the Company disclosed another delay in filing the Emergency Use Authorization ("EUA") for its COVID-19 vaccine product candidate, NVX-CoV2373, from the third quarter of 2021 to the fourth quarter of 2021. On this news, Novavax's stock price fell $46.31 per share, or 19.61%, to close at $189.89 per share on August 6, 2021. Then, on October 19, 2021, Politico reported that anonymous sources stated that manufacturing issues could delay regulatory authorizations and approvals for NVX-CoV2373 until the end of 2022.

On this news, Novavax's shares plummeted $23.69 per share, or 14.76%, to close at $136.86 per share on October 20, 2021.

The case is Sinnathurai v. Novavax, et al., 21-cv-02910.

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About Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC

KSF, whose partners include former Louisiana Attorney General Charles C. Foti, Jr., is one of the nation's premier boutique securities litigation law firms. KSF serves a variety of clients - including public institutional investors, hedge funds, money managers and retail investors - in seeking recoveries for investment losses emanating from corporate fraud or malfeasance by publicly traded companies. KSF has offices in New York, California, Louisiana and New Jersey.

To learn more about KSF, you may visit www.ksfcounsel.com.

Contact:

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Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC

Lewis Kahn, Managing Partner

lewis.kahn@ksfcounsel.com

1-877-515-1850

1100 Poydras St., Suite 3200

New Orleans, LA 70163

SOURCE: Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC





View source version on accesswire.com:

https://www.accesswire.com/677689/Novavax-Shareholder-Alert-by-Former-Louisiana-Attorney-General-Kahn-Swick-Foti-LLC-Reminds-Investors-With-Losses-in-Excess-of-100000-of-Lead-Plaintiff-Deadline-in-Class-Action-Lawsuit-Against-Novavax-Inc--NVAX




Olentangy Schools and its teachers union have agreed on a three-year contract renewal.

The deal between the district and the Olentangy Teachers Association was approved by the districts school boar Dec. 9 by a 5-0 vote. It will run from July 1, 2022, through June 30, 2025.

The Olentangy Local School District administrative building

The previous contract was agreed upon in 2018 and renewed for a one-year extension this past spring. The board on March 11 approved the extension that allowed for a 2.5% increase on the base salary.

That contract also enabled the district to realize health-care program savings estimated at more than $9 million, according to treasurer Emily Hatfield.

The new agreement approved Dec. 9 allows for a 3% increase annually on the base salary for teachers.

In addition to base pay raises, the salary rate increases by scheduled amounts, called step increases, based on years of experience and as teachers obtain certain levels of education.

Other provisions of the previous contract remain in place, such as benefits that include health, dental and life insurance and State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio pension.

Class sizes outlined in the current contract will continue at a ratio of 24-to-1 at the elementary level and 25-to-1 at the middle and high school levels.

This contract provides certainty and stability for our district's future, school board president Julie Wagner Feasel said in a Dec. 10 news release from the district. The administrators and teachers can now move forward with their continued focus on the students.

OTA president Elaine Eddy said the district and teachers have a strong partnership in providing education to Olentangy students.

While maintaining the integrity of being financially prudent, we still must remain competitive in the hiring process to attract and retain the best teachers, Eddy said. This three-year contract extension continues to do just that, and we are proud and appreciative to be teachers in this community.

Superintendent Mark Raiff concurred.

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The partnership between our teachers and the administration is critical in making Olentangy Schools a top school district for student opportunity and achievement. The contract reinforces this strong relationship while maintaining the fiscal responsibility the district is known for, Raiff said in a news release.

The OTA represents 1,514 Olentangy educators.

editorial@thisweeknews.com

@ThisWeekNews

This article originally appeared on ThisWeek: Olentangy Schools: Teachers get 3% base-pay raises in new 3-year deal
PICKERING, ON, Dec. 14, 2021 /CNW/ - Ontario continues to see strong growth as MPAC valued more than 86,680 new properties and improvements to existing properties totaling $38 billion. The assessed value of Ontario's 5.5 million properties is now estimated to be more than $3.04 trillion. These changes are summarized in the annual assessment rolls delivered to municipalities across Ontario today.

2021 Roll Return Fact Sheet (CNW Group/Municipal Property Assessment Corporation)

"In 2021, MPAC assessed nearly 36,800 new residential homes and more than 11,300 residential condominium units with an assessed value of $25.81 billion," said Nicole McNeill, President and Chief Administrative Officer. "On the non-residential side, we saw more than 1,500 new commercial and industrial buildings with a total assessed value of $3.27 billion."

"The strength of e-commerce was evident once again this year as we continued to see substantial growth in the warehousing and logistics sector," added McNeill. "MPAC assessed 109 new warehouses and eight new distribution centres with a total value of more than $740 million."

Across Ontario, more than 60% of new property value was located in 10 municipalities. Toronto led the way with $10.71 billion in new assessment due in large part to residential condominiums, which accounted for 58% of Toronto's new assessment. This was followed by Ottawa at $3.02 billion, which in contrast saw 11% of its new assessment from residential condominiums, then Vaughan at $2.02 billion, Mississauga at $1.64 billion and Brampton at $1.29 billion.

Ontario's urban centres were not the only municipalities to see significant assessment growth. When looking at growth rates for small municipalities (under 15,000 population), Muskoka Lakes led in new construction with $185 million in new assessment, of which 75% was from seasonal properties. This was followed by Blue Mountains at $144 million, Middlesex Centre at $76 million, North Perth at $74 million and Saugeen Shores at $67 million.

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Property assessments for the 2022 and 2023 property tax years will continue to be based on January 1, 2016, assessed values. This means your property assessment remains the same as it was for the 2021 tax year, unless there have been changes to your property.

For more information, view our 2021 Assessment Roll Fact Sheet.

Quick Facts

MPAC delivers an assessment roll annually to municipalities and the Province of Ontario to support the calculation of property and education taxes. These assessed values are used by municipalities to distribute taxes, not determine them.

The Ontario government postponed the province-wide Assessment Update due to the pandemic. Property assessments for the 2022 and 2023 property tax years will continue to be based on the fully phased-in January 1, 2016 assessed values.

When determining the assessed value of new properties or improvements to properties, MPAC considers what that property, in its current state, would have sold for on January 1, 2016.

The fixed date ensures consistency and fairness for every community, with all municipalities starting at the same point for budget decisions such as property tax rates.

About MPAC

The Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC) is an independent, not-for-profit corporation funded by all Ontario municipalities, accountable to the Province, municipalities and property taxpayers through its 13-member Board of Directors. Our role is to assess and classify all properties in Ontario in compliance with the Assessment Act and regulations set by the Government of Ontario.

We are the largest assessment jurisdiction in North America and second largest in the world, assessing and classifying more than five million properties in Ontario, representing $3 trillion in property value. Our assessments generate close to $30 billion annually and provide the foundation that municipalities use to base the property taxes needed to pay for community services.

SOURCE Municipal Property Assessment Corporation

Cision

View original content to download multimedia: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/December2021/14/c7064.html
HONG KONG, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/-- PR Newswire launched its Business & Finance Media Pitching Kit 2021 (APAC Edition) today, offering insights for brands pitching to business and finance media amidst a global economic outlook that remains clouded by uncertainties.

PR Newswire's Business & Finance Media Pitching Kit 2021 (APAC Edition)

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As the economy is reeling from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, many brands have shifted their business priorities and accelerated their digital transformation. Over the past year, there has been an increased use of digital currencies, and more brands are prioritizing Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG) initiatives.

The wave of changes has presented brands with many opportunities to share their stories with journalists who demand timely data and C-suite perspectives. For this media pitching kit, PR Newswire interviewed 19 business and finance editors and journalists across 9 markets in the Asia-Pacific region. They provided an inside look into the types of content that would entice them to follow up on press releases, the challenges of reporting while working remotely, and emerging trends they are looking to cover more in the coming year.

Download the kit here or start with the key takeaways below.

1. Spotlight on business and finance trends shaped by COVID-19

Journalists are keen to report on trends such as the digital transformation of enterprises, real estate price hikes, the rise of e-commerce and ESG.

"ESG and alternative investments are definite trends in the next year as investors hunt for higher yield. However, we don't want to neglect fixed income and equities which continue to take up a large part of investor portfolios, so we will continue to cover these, albeit to a slightly smaller degree," said Natalie Koh, News Editor, AsianInvestor.

"With a new wave of the pandemic, it is likely that 2022 will be another year in which investors look to real estate as a safe haven, and the market will continue to set new price peaks," said Pham Thi iep Anh, Business Editor and Reporter, VTV24.

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2. Focus on the future of business and finance

Hot topics on the radar of business and finance journalists include digital banking, fintech, blockchain and burgeoning trends like electric vehicles and renewable energy. Countries or companies that make successful developments in these areas will be closely watched.

"Digital banking, electric vehicles, smart cities, and renewable energy - these topics are important to our readers because they represent the future of the economy," Kamarul Azhar, Assistant Editor, The Edge.

"Blockchain is an emerging powerhouse. All industries and businesses are increasingly devoted to discovering the possibility of blockchain applications, ranging from real estate, banking, to logistics and supply chain," said Michael Ng, Features Journalist, HK101.

3. Keep a close eye on business forecasts

As markets react to the uncertain COVID-19 situation, journalists are looking to meet the needs of audiences, who want forecasts to make sound decisions on financial investments such as stocks, bonds, gold and digital currency.

"Readers want forecasts to make moves in financial and business investment. New models and ideas will always be interesting.," said Nguyen Vien Thong, Business Editor and Journalist, VNExpress.

"I look forward to more interpretation and analysis based on various companies' data, including but not limited to financial, business, user, and industry data," Yue Qi, Editor-in-Chief, National Business Daily.

4. Wanted: uplifting stories from the business and finance community

Reporters are increasingly looking out for inspiring stories and useful tips on achieving successful leadership. Views from business leaders are also attractive if they can share specific learnings and personal anecdotes from their careers.

"As a part of a larger society, the media must evolve in an effort to keep people's spirits and motivation high, especially in a time of crisis. We accomplish this by writing about successful business enterprises, executives, and businessmen who not only survived during the pandemic, but even thrived," said Kormensius Barus, Chief Editor, Industry.co.id.

"There will be more coverage on insights from business leaders in Asia who share their biggest lessons from their career that they can pass on to others. As the ecosystem grows, it is important to have a platform where people can learn from others so they can grow into leadership roles," said Taro Ishida, Partnerships Manager, KrASIA.

Other key pitching tips from the media include preparing C-suite executives for virtual media interviews, providing data-rich press materials as well as paying attention to key metrics to measure the success and impact of stories.

To get a deep dive into reporting on the business and finance industry, download the PR Newswire's Business & Finance Pitching Kit 2021 (APAC Edition) here.

About PR Newswire

PR Newswire, a Cision Ltd. company, is a leading global provider of news distribution and earned media software and services. In conjunction with Cision's cloud-based communications product suite, PR Newswire's services enable marketers, corporate communicators, and investor relations officers to identify key influencers, engage target audiences, craft and distribute strategic content, and measure meaningful impact. Combining the world's largest multi-channel, multi-cultural content dissemination network with comprehensive workflow tools and platforms, PR Newswire powers the stories of organizations around the world. PR Newswire serves tens of thousands of clients from offices in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia-Pacific regions. Visit www.prnasia.com for more information.

SOURCE PR Newswire
Highway 101 passes over Telephone Road in Ventura.

Driver identified in fatal crash

A 37-year-old Oxnard man who was ejected from his 2017 Porsche in a fatal crash over the weekend in Ventura was identified on Monday.

Eddie Mora was pronounced dead at the scene at 2:26 a.m. Sunday on the northbound Highway 101 just north of Telephone Road, according to a California Highway Patrol news release.

More: CHP: 1 dead after vehicle crash off Highway 101 in Ventura

The car was traveling at an undetermined speed when it went off the road and crashed into multiple trees, according to the release. Mora was ejected from the car, and the Porsche subsequently caught fire. He was not wearing a seat belt, the CHP reported. Ventura City Fire Department crews extinguished the fire.

The crash remains under investigation. Anyone with information is asked to call the CHP Officer Steve Lutzke at 805-662-2640.

Student arrested for making threats

A 14-year-old Ventura student was arrested Sunday in connection with criminal threats made at Balboa Middle School, officials said.

A parent had called the Ventura Police Department to report that a Balboa student had talked about being involved in a school threat, according to a Ventura Police Department news release.

In response to the threat inquiry, detectives verified the information and contacted the student at 9 p.m. in his home. He was later arrested.

Cmdr. Rick Murray said police are continuing to monitor the situation in case more individuals join in the threat.

"Sometimes when we get these copycat-type scenarios, students think it's humorous to follow suit and do something similar," Murray said.

He said the threat was made in person to another person.

"It was overheard or directly communicated to another person," Murray said. He declined to give more information.

Murray said the threat was "violence toward a group of individuals at the campus" but did not include racism.

"It was more of a general-type threat," Murray said.

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More:

Murray said his department does not actively monitor social media but if there is a report of a threat or potential threat to a school, the department will investigate to find out if the information is credible.

He said anyone can contact school officials or police if they see something unusual.

"We take them all seriously and quite frankly it's not funny anymore. Not that it was to be honest with you," Murray said.

The arrest comes in the aftermath of social media threats made at Oxnard and Santa Paula schools last week. The Oxnard Police Department arrested three people in connection to the posts, according to the press release.

There is no connection between the Ventura arrest and the Oxnard arrests, Murray said.

There have been social media posts that originated from Oxnard that were "recirculated" to indicate threats to Ventura Unified School District schools but the threats have been deemed not credible, according to the release.

Wes Woods II covers West County for the Ventura County Star. Reach him at wesley.woodsii@vcstar.com, 805-437-0262 or @JournoWes.

This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Roundup: Oxnard driver in fatal crash named; Ventura student arrested
Digital manufacturing will continue to benefit from on-demand 3D printing capabilities.

Innovative Software-as-a-Service offerings facilitate fast, anywhere access.

Increased customization and personalization will drive momentum, especially in medical/healthcare.

Additive manufacturing will alleviate lingering supply chain challenges.

Investment opportunities will continue to push the market forward and provide opportunity for consolidation.

NEW YORK, December 14, 2021--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Shapeways (NYSE: SHPW), a leading global digital manufacturing platform driven by purpose-built software, offers five predictions for additive manufacturing in 2022 based on strong market momentum, increased technology investments, and strengthened industry partnerships and collaborations over the past year.

"We expect additive manufacturing to gain significant traction in the coming year, especially in digitizing, automating, and innovating critical manufacturing workflows," said Greg Kress, CEO of Shapeways. "As traditional manufacturers increasingly enjoy newfound operational and cost benefits, we forecast an increased cadence of 3D printing adoption, which will drive the development and delivery of more customized and personalized products while alleviating lingering supply chain challenges."

1. Traditional Manufacturing Transforms with Digital Workflows

Interest in additive manufacturing will surge, especially in addressing demands for high-mix, low-volume production runs. This will motivate manufacturers of all kinds and sizes to transform their operations through the use of increasingly digital, end-to-end manufacturing processes. Companies that embrace new ways of doing business with digitized, additive manufacturing will reap the benefits of enabling product design innovations and faster time to market while reducing capex and inventory costs.

2. Purpose-Built Software Can Speed the Acceptance of Additive Manufacturing

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Traditional manufacturers, large and small, certainly know the value of software. Whether its an ERP, CRM or CEM, for decades software has been an integral part of streamlining operations while helping meet demands for high-volume production with superlative quality and efficiency. Yet what has been missing is purpose-built software designed specifically to support additive manufacturings unique process flows regarding how products are designed, made, and delivered.

Shapeways recent Otto software announcement gives manufacturers a way to gain free access to 3D printing by automating processes while validating quality end to end. While 3D printing now is mainstream among 75% of the mid-sized manufacturers polled in Shapeways recent "State of 3D Printing" survey, more flexibility is needed to meet demands for quality, personalization and sustainability.

3. Customization is King

Embracing additive manufacturing yields the potential to design, create, and deliver products that are limited only by ones imagination. While this pertains to every conceivable market, arguably none can make as life-changing a difference in daily lives as the potential for additive manufacturing in the medical/healthcare markets. A recent market report expects the 3D printing medical market to grow from $2.4B this year to $5.1B by 2026. Expect massive advancements in 3D-printed surgical guides and instruments as well as customized implants, wearable devices and prosthetics.

Other markets like NFTs (short for non-fungible tokens) have been around for a while, but are just coming into their own as a substantial way to invest or increase revenue. Appealing to buyers as a unique digital currency, it is easy to see why NFTs are so easily translated to the 3D printing industry. For businesses around the world, this opens up an infinite and so far untapped market of opportunities for digital files turned into 3D printed modelsallowing NFTs to come to life in full color, with a wide range of options in materials and finishings. In some cases, NFT models are also sold as an alternative to owning the actual digital file, leaving the door open to sizable production runs, depending on the popularity of an item.

4. Additive Manufacturing will Alleviate Supply Chain Woes

Savvy organizations understand that additive manufacturing has an important role to play in reducing the lingering effects of supply chain disruptions. Not only does 3D printing permit products to be manufactured on demand, it enables them to be produced and delivered locally. This reduces logistics requirements, including transportation and local storage, to ensure on-time, on-budget fulfillment.

5. Investments and Partnerships will Drive Market Growth

Headlines were busy in 2021 reporting on the constant activity in the additive manufacturing market. Aside from Shapeways IPO in late September, market watchers followed additional IPOs, M&A transactions, and a steady stream of new partnerships. Shapeways also announced a partnership with Desktop Metal to ensure broader access to world-class additive manufacturing services.

In 2022, the level of interest should continue rising as well-known names in the manufacturing and consumer goods industries step up their interest and investments in 3D printing technologies and services. At the same time, continued innovations may come from groundbreaking start-ups or smart collaborations among players of all kinds. Shapeways survey found that 68% of industry executives polled agreed that 3D printing is the future of manufacturing.

About Shapeways

Shapeways Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: SHPW) is a leading digital manufacturing platform provider offering customers access to high-quality manufacturing from start to finish through automation, innovation, and digitization. The companys purpose-built Otto software, wide selection of materials and technologies, and global supply chain lower manufacturing barriers and speed delivery of quality products. Shapeways digital manufacturing services have empowered more than 1 million customers worldwide to produce more than 21 million parts using 11 different technologies and 90 different materials and finishes. Headquartered in New York City, Shapeways has ISO 9001-compliant manufacturing facilities in Long Island City, N.Y., and the Netherlands and a network of innovative partners around the globe. It was founded in 2008 and spun-out of the Lifestyle Incubator of Royal Philips Electronics in 2010. Investors include Lux Capital, Union Square Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, INKEF Capital, Index Ventures and Hewlett Packard Ventures.

Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements included in this press release are not historical facts and are forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions under the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements generally are accompanied by words such as "believe," "may," "will," "estimate," "continue," "anticipate," "intend," "expect," "should," "would," "plan," "predict," "potential," "seem," "seek," "future," "outlook," and similar expressions that predict or indicate future events or trends or that are not statements of historical matters. All statements, other than statements of present or historical fact included in this press release, regarding the Companys strategy, future operations, and prospects are forward-looking statements. These statements are based on various assumptions, whether or not identified in this press release, and on the current expectations of management of the Company and are not predictions of actual performance. These forward-looking statements are provided for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to serve as, and must not be relied on as, a guarantee, an assurance, a prediction, or a definitive statement of fact or probability. Actual events and circumstances are difficult or impossible to predict and will differ from assumptions. Many actual events and circumstances are beyond the control of the Company. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including changes in domestic and foreign business, market, financial, political, and legal conditions; failure to realize the anticipated benefits of the transaction; the risk that Shapeways has a history of losses and the Company may not achieve or maintain profitability in the future; the risk that the Company faces significant competition and expects to face increasing competition in many aspects of its business, which could cause the Companys operating results to suffer; the risk that the digital manufacturing industry is a relatively new and emerging market and it is uncertain whether it will gain widespread acceptance; the risk that the Companys new and existing solutions and software do not achieve sufficient market acceptance, and those factors discussed in Galileos Registration Statement on Form S-4, under the heading "Risk Factors," and other documents Galileo has filed, or the Company will file, with the SEC. If any of these risks materialize or our assumptions prove incorrect, actual results could differ materially from the results implied by these forward-looking statements. There may be additional risks that the Company does not presently know, or that the Company currently believes are immaterial, that could also cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements. In addition, forward-looking statements reflect the Companys expectations, plans, or forecasts of future events and views as of the date of this press release. The Company anticipates that subsequent events and developments will cause its assessments to change. However, while the Company may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future, it specifically disclaims any obligation to do so. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing the Companys assessments of any date subsequent to the date of this press release. Accordingly, undue reliance should not be placed upon the forward-looking statements.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211214005355/en/

Contacts

Shapeways Investor Relations

Jennifer Walsh

investors@shapeways.com

Shapeways Media Relations

Rhonda Giedt

press@shapeways.com
The global community calls on the Taiwanese government to rectify the Tai Ji Men case and protect religious freedom and human rights

Protest in Washington, D.C.

Representatives of Tai Ji Men dizi (disciples) protest against the violations of their religious freedom and human rights by the Taiwanese government in Washington, D.C. on December 5, 2021.

Representatives of Tai Ji Men dizi (disciples) protest against the violations of their religious freedom and human rights by the Taiwanese government in Washington, D.C. on December 5, 2021.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 13, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Nearly 60 representatives of worldwide Tai Ji Men dizi (disciples) gathered in Washington, D.C., on December 5-7 to protest against the Taiwanese government's indifference to their case, a major case of religious persecution, and against its connivance with a few bureaucrats who have broken the law and abused their power. Over the past 25 years, Tai Ji Men has been persecuted through both judicial and tax measures, and its sacred land intended for a spiritual center was illegally and forcibly auctioned last year. Tai Ji Men's shifu (master) and dizi have exhausted all remedies available to them in Taiwan, but to no avail! Concerned that their families in Taiwan might be purged, Tai Ji Men dizi in the United States presented their case to several Taipei Economic and Cultural Offices around the world, but only received deceptive responses from the Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Finance, National Taxation Bureau, and others. They had no choice but to hold the first international press conference since its inception 55 years ago, in Washington, D.C., the worlds political capital, to seek international support, reveal the truth about the bogus Tai Ji Men case , and call on the Taiwanese government to implement transitional justice.



On December 5, dozens of representatives of Tai Ji Men dizi, ranging in age from 10 to 80 years old, protested in front of the Thomas Jefferson Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument, the White House, and National Christmas Tree, hoping that by courageously stepping forward and revealing the truth, more people will understand this fabricated and unjust Tai Ji Men case , and they demanded the Taiwanese government to administer policies in accordance with the law, return Tai Ji Mens sacred land, which was forcibly confiscated, and protect people's religious freedom and human rights! Many other visitors expressed support for Tai Ji Mens worthy cause, and some even joined the protest, holding signs in support of universal human rights and religious freedom.

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On the morning of December 6, the Center for Studies on New Religions (CESNUR) and Human Rights Without Frontiers co-organized an international forum , under the theme of Human Rights and Anti-Corruption: The Tai Ji Men Case  in honor of International Anti-Corruption Day (December 9) and Human Rights Day (December 10). Several international scholars and experts, who are concerned about the Tai Ji Men case, as well as Tai Ji Men dizi, participated in the conference in person or virtually, with many more attending via Zoom and YouTube.

Prof. Massimo Introvigne, an Italian sociologist who is the founder and managing director of CESNUR, and the editor-in-chief of Bitter Winter, stated, In the Tai Ji Men case , bureaucrats forgot, or willingly ignored, that they are civil servants and should work at the service of the deeper aims of the state, human rights and the well-being of citizens. Instead, they believed they were called to protect bureaucracy for bureaucracys sake, not to mention they tried to enrich themselves through the bonuses.

PierLuigi Zoccatelli, professor of Sociology of Religions at Pontifical Salesian University, Italy, criticized Taiwans bonus system, saying, Unless the bureaucrats are all angels, the system also becomes a machine to generate corruption. Prof. Zoccatelli remarked that corruption played a crucial role in the Tai Ji Men case , resulting in violations of Tai Ji Men's human rights, and that because Taiwan made the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) part of its domestic law, it should enforce the Covenant and correct the injustices against Tai Ji Men .

Willy Fautre, co-founder and director of Human Rights Without Frontiers, pointed out, It is obvious that in Taiwan there are abuses by the administrative power for private gain. What is at stake here is the system of bonuses which viciously leads to the over-collection of taxes and even the fabrication of tax evasion taxes. This is an abuse of power for private financial gain.

Camelia Marin, deputy director of the NGO Soteria International (Denmark), conveyed her admiration for Tai Ji Men's efforts to insist on doing what is right: "Let me express my gratitude for the perseverance and optimism that Tai Ji Men shows and shares by standing for their case, for their rights, bringing hope to the many others around the world who have not yet found justice but are still persecuted." She urged the Taiwanese government to rectify the Tai Ji Men case: "Now is the time to solve it."

Alessandro Amicarelli, a London-based human rights lawyer and the president of the European Federation for Freedom of Belief (FOB), said, Corruption is at the very core of the Tai Ji Men case . He believes that it is now time to move from prosecuting the innocent to prosecuting the rogue bureaucrats, who have wrongly prosecuted Tai Ji Men and violated their human rights.

Eight Tai Ji Men dizi spoke out against the persecution of themselves and their families by Taiwanese authorities, calling on the Taiwanese government to rectify the mistakes made by the unscrupulous government officials and return to Tai Ji Men the justice it deserves.

On the afternoon of December 6, Tai Ji Men dizi visited the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the U.S. again. It was their fourth visit to this Office. They hoped to meet with Representative Hsiao, who could help pass on their concern and message about the Tai Ji Men case to the Taiwanese government to immediately resolve the issue. They protested for over two and a half hours, but no one from the office came out to respond to their demands.

On December 7, the first international press conference on the Tai Ji Men case was held in the worlds political capital, and the news was published on Yahoo , the Toronto Sun , and other media outlets. Prof. Massimo Introvigne, an Italian sociologist and the editor-in-chief of Bitter Winter, introduced the event and explained that Bitter Winter is known for its support for Taiwan, and that the Tai Ji Men dizi (disciples) in the United States also love their country of origin. It is precisely because of their love for Taiwan that they want it to eliminate the ghosts of its authoritarian past and improve its international image as a truly democratic country where human rights prevail.

Prof. Introvigne had studied the Tai Ji Men case for years and emphasized, The Taiwan government is not understanding the Tai Ji Men case in its proper terms. Its not a domestic or technical tax case, but its a human rights case based on freedom of religion or belief. It's a case impacting negatively on the international image of Taiwan, said Prof. Introvigne. He urged the Taiwanese government to resolve the Tai Ji Men case as soon as possible by saying, We live in a historical moment when Taiwan needs the maximum support from its international friends. But a precondition for its support to be effective is for Taiwan to put its own house in order.

Willy Fautre, co-founder and director of Human Rights Without Frontiers, also stated that the Tai Ji Men case is not a technical tax dispute, but rather a case of human rights abuses. He said that the bureaucrats who pursued Tai Ji Men were motivated by corruption, including the immoral bonus system for tax collectors and enforcers. To restore human rights, Fautre insisted that these bureaucrats must be prosecuted and punished, and that the sacred land, which was wrongfully confiscated, must be returned to Tai Ji Men .

Tai Ji Men dizi demand that the Taiwanese government implement protection of human rights and freedom, rectify the Tai Ji Men case, return Tai Ji Mens sacred land, and restore the reputation of Tai Ji Mens shifu and dizi. Judy Lee, on behalf of worldwide Tai Ji Men dizi, said, We are going to continue to reach out through the international community to put pressure on the Taiwanese government to correct the mistakes that were made 25 years ago. If its not resolved, we will come back!

Tai Ji Men Qigong Academy : Tai Ji Men is an ancient menpai (similar to school) of qigong, martial arts, and self-cultivation. It has carried forward the wisdom of Taoist philosophy, one of the highest philosophies of humankind. It is an international nonprofit cultural organization. Its contemporary zhang-men-ren (grandmaster), Dr. Hong, Tao-Tze established the Tai Ji Men Qigong Academy in 1966, and since then it has grown to 15 academies worldwide.

Dr. Hong teaches his dizi (similar to disciples) methods to achieve physical, mental, and spiritual balance, and tens of thousands of families have benefited from his teaching. At Tai Ji Men, martial arts and wisdom have been passed down from the shifu (master) to his dizi. Through this time-honored tradition, the shifu and dizi promote the Tai Ji Men culture and martial arts around the world while embodying what is true, good, and beautiful as well as spreading the ideas of conscience, love, and peace. Over the past half-century, the shifu and dizi have self-funded trips to over 300 cities in 101 nations to conduct more than 3,000 cultural performances and exchanges and have been recognized as International Ambassadors of Peace and Goodwill .

Media Contact:

Lily Chen

Representative

info@taijimenla.org

626-202-5268

http://www.taijimen.org/TJM2016G_ENG/index.php

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/78d887bf-54bc-4f4c-80f7-8ecea60b1714




Continued investment in chopped salads and fresh cut vegetables

SALINAS, Calif., Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Taylor Farms announces the acquisition of Curation Foods' fresh packaged salads, green beans and fresh cut vegetables business from Landec Corporation (Nasdaq: LNDC), effective December 13th, 2021. The assets include the Eat Smart brand and production facilities in Guadalupe, CA and Bowling Green, OH. The addition of Curation Foods' packaged salad and fresh cut vegetables business will help the Taylor Farms Retail Division meet consumers growing demand for chopped salads and fresh cut vegetables.

"This acquisition will enhance our commitment to assured supply for our customers with the addition of a sixth Taylor Farms source based production facility, this one located in the fertile Santa Maria Valley," said Bruce Taylor, Chairman and CEO of Taylor Farms. "We look forward to a smooth transition for associates and customer partners."

Mark Campion, President of Taylor Farms Retail, will have leadership responsibility of the facilities and business integration.

For more information, delicious recipes, and more visit www.taylorfarms.com and follow Taylor Farms on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

ABOUT TAYLOR FARMS

Taylor Farms is a leading North American producer of salads and healthy fresh foods with production facilities across the US, Canada, and Mexico. Taylor Farms is grounded in a commitment to quality, assured supply, innovation, sustainability, and food safety. Taylor Farms is family owned and based in "The Salad Bowl of the World" Salinas, California. www.taylorfarms.com

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SOURCE Taylor Farms
(Bloomberg) -- European diplomats are warning again that time is running out to revive the nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, suggesting that the Persian Gulf nations rapidly advancing atomic work will soon make the landmark agreement obsolete.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Envoys from France, Germany and the U.K. have been frustrated by Irans refusal to budge on new demands offered during the seventh round of negotiations in Vienna, according to an emailed statement late Monday.

Time is running out, the diplomats said. Without swift progress, in light of Irans fast-forwarding of its nuclear program the agreement will very soon become an empty shell.

The U.S. said last week that Iran could face fresh sanctions if negotiations fail and the Islamic Republic could also face diplomatic censure at the International Atomic Energy Agency.

The 2015 accord had given Iran relief from international sanctions in return for caps on its nuclear program until the Trump administration exited three years ago, setting off a series of tit-for-tat escalations.

The stalemate in the Austrian capital could increase Middle East tensions and result in more saber rattling among nations concerned by Irans atomic activities. Energy markets were closely watching the talks for signs of when the holder of the worlds No. 2 gas and No. 4 oil reserves might return to global markets.

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2021 Bloomberg L.P.
OTTAWA, ON, Dec. 14, 2021 /CNW/ - Unifor is kicking off a weeklong federal lobby to communicate urgent repairs needed to fix Canada's broken Employment Insurance (EI) system.

Unifor representatives meet with NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh online. (CNW Group/Unifor)

"There is no time to waste when it comes to fixing EI. Workers across the country are running out of benefits and running into barriers with a program that seems more determined to punish them instead of help them," said Jerry Dias, Unifor National President.

"The incredible response we have seen from MPs of all parties in organizing this lobby week proves that this message is already being heard," said Lana Payne, Unifor National Secretary-Treasurer. "We all know it's time to fix EI, and Unifor members are ready to show Canada how that should be done."

Members of the union will meet with more than 100 Members of Parliament and ministerial staff in this effort, with most meetings occurring between Monday, December 13 and Friday, December 17, 2021.

"Rebuilding our social safety net is a key component of building back better," said Renaud Gagne, Unifor Quebec Director. "The system needs to change to better support all people who need it, from seasonal workers and new parents to members who experienced layoff for the first time during COVID and the many who are still not fully back at work."

To coincide with the union's efforts, members participated in a new video to outline some of the challenges and solutions that workers need to see in the EI system. Watch the video on unifor.org.

Unifor members are also participating in round table meetings on EI organized by Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion Carla Qualtrough and are organizing campaigns to email and call their own MPs to restore the Canada Recovery Benefit and fix EI.

The union's campaign, led by Lana Payne, is committed to build better EI. The campaign and corresponding report focuses on necessary improvements in three key areas;

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Employment Insurance Eligibility Criteria,

Employment Insurance Benefits, and

Administration of the Employment Insurance System.

Read a summary of the recommendations as well as a downloadable copy the full report, Securing An Inclusive, Equitable And Resilient Employment Insurance Program For Workers In Canada.

Unifor is Canada's largest union in the private sector, representing 315,000 workers in every major area of the economy. The union advocates for all working people and their rights, fights for equality and social justice in Canada and abroad, and strives to create progressive change for a better future.

SOURCE Unifor

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Acquisition Brings Company's Owner-Operator Expertise To New Market

BOSTON, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- West Shore LLC, a multifamily real estate investment firm, announces its expansion into a new market with the acquisition of The Pointe at Five Oaks, a new construction luxury apartment community situated on 29 acres of rolling countryside in Lebanon, Tennessee. This is West Shore's third property in Tennessee, adding to its two properties in Knoxville.

The Pointe at Five Oaks in Lebanon, TN - Courtesy of West Shore

"We are pleased to expand our portfolio in Tennessee in the growing and exciting Nashville market," said Steven P. Rosenthal, Chairman of West Shore. "The Pointe at Five Oaks is a terrific property that sits just outside Music City in Lebanon, giving residents an exceptional living experience with easy access to the city."

The Pointe at Five Oaks community offers custom one-bedroom and two-bedroom floor plans with loft apartment options, some with attached private garages. The 312 apartment homes are beautifully designed with quality finishes, gourmet kitchens, and stainless-steel appliances, with each unit featuring a private outdoor patio or balcony.

The complex offers an unparalleled selection of amenities in a dynamic location, including two state-of-the-art fitness facilities and an expansive clubhouse and business center. Outdoor grilling stations with alfresco dining areas and fire pits all overlook the resort-like saltwater pool.

"The Pointe of Five Oaks is strategically located and well positioned to benefit from the significant job drivers and positive momentum in the market," said West Shore President, Lee Rosenthal. "We are proud to add this luxury community to the West Shore portfolio and look forward to future opportunities to expand further in Tennessee."

West Shore's national portfolio now includes over 11,000 apartment homes. The Pointe at Five Oaks is located at 200 Five Oaks Boulevard in Lebanon, Tennessee, and is now leasing. To learn more, visit www.pointefiveoaks.com.

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ABOUT WEST SHORE LLC

West Shore LLC is a fully integrated real estate investment firm with a specific focus on the acquisition and management of multifamily assets. It is a dynamic, fast-growing company that blends an entrepreneurial approach to real estate with institutional investment discipline. Its principals are experienced management and real estate private equity executives. Boston-based West Shore was founded in 2016 and owns and operates a diverse portfolio of 36 multifamily properties in seven states, totaling over 11,000 units with a total market value of more than $2.0 billion. For more information about West Shore LLC, visit the company's website at www.west-shore.com.

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SOURCE West Shore LLC
Leading Hotel Company Recognized for Standout Environmental and Social Responsibility Efforts

PARSIPPANY, N.J., Dec. 13, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, the world's largest hotel franchising company with approximately 9,000 hotels across nearly 95 countries, is honored for its environmental and social responsibility practices in Newsweek 's list of America's Most Responsible Companies for 2022. From the thousands of companies considered for this award, only 500 made the final list, and Wyndham is represented as one of just 15 companies in the category of "Hotels, Dining & Leisure." This recognition comes on the heels of Wyndham being named as one of the Most Loved Workplaces by Newsweek, ranking #4 out of 100, and being identified as one of the best places to work in its home state of New Jersey by NJBIZ earlier this year.

Wyndham Grand Jupiter at Harbourside Place, a Florida lifestyle destination hotel edging on the beautiful bank of Jupiters Intracoastal Waterway.

"As the world's largest hotel franchising company, we have a unique opportunity to make a meaningful impact on the world," said Monica Melancon, Chief Human Resource Officer, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts.

"A key pillar of Wyndham's business model is operating in a way that is socially, ethically and environmentally responsible, and as a hospitality company, service and volunteering are in our DNA," said Monica Melancon, Chief Human Resource Officer, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts. "As the world's largest hotel franchising company, we have a unique opportunity to make a meaningful impact on the world, help ensure the future remains bright, and that hotel travel is made possible for all."

Through its network of more than 803,000 rooms, Wyndham takes steps every day to help minimize the impact of operations, reduce their environmental footprint and preserve natural resources. Efforts include working to eliminate single-use plastic products at all owned and managed properties, enhancing policies and mandating training for all team members to be able to identify and report human trafficking activities.

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In terms of sustainability, the company developed the Wyndham Green Program, a five-level certification program that helps reduce a hotel's environmental footprint. The program includes a proprietary environmental management tool that tracks data to help hotels improve energy efficiency, reduce emissions, conserve water, and reduce waste.

Furthermore, Wyndham is committed to a culture of diversity, equity, and inclusion, infusing different perspectives that reflect the company's diverse customers and communities around the world. Spanning multiple countries and continents, Wyndham team members are a widespread group of individuals with diverse interests and backgrounds who all come together to further one of the world's most prominent hotel organizations. To maintain this culture across its organization, the company has increased senior leadership engagement in its Affinity Business Groups and continues to build on its robust Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion training programs. For three years in a row, the company received a perfect score on the Human Rights Campaign's Equality Index, designating Wyndham as a best place to work as well as having been named by DiversityInc as a noteworthy company for its commitment to diversity and inclusion.

Newsweek and the data firm Statista collaborated to conduct global research in order to identify America's top companies where social responsibility is at the forefront. The full list of America's Most Responsible Companies for 2022 is currently available online at https://www.newsweek.com/americas-most-responsible-companies-2022.

About Wyndham Hotels & Resorts

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts (NYSE: WH) is the world's largest hotel franchising company by the number of properties, with approximately 9,000 hotels across nearly 95 countries on six continents. Through its network of approximately 803,000 rooms appealing to the everyday traveler, Wyndham commands a leading presence in the economy and midscale segments of the lodging industry. The Company operates a portfolio of 22 hotel brands, including Super 8, Days Inn, Ramada, Microtel, La Quinta, Baymont, Wingate, AmericInn, Hawthorn Suites, Trademark Collection and Wyndham. Wyndham Hotels & Resorts is also a leading provider of hotel management services. The Company's award-winning Wyndham Rewards loyalty program offers over 90 million enrolled members the opportunity to redeem points at thousands of hotels, vacation club resorts and vacation rentals globally. For more information, visit www.wyndhamhotels.com.

About Newsweek

Newsweek is the modern global digital news organization built around the iconic, over 85-year-old American magazine. Newsweek reaches 100 million people each month with its thought-provoking news, opinion, images, graphics, and video delivered across a dozen print and digital platforms. Headquartered in New York City, Newsweek also publishes international editions in EMEA and Asia.

Media Contact:

Scott Carman

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts

+1 (973) 753-6590

scott.carman@wyndham.com

(PRNewsfoto/Wyndham Hotels & Resorts)

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SOURCE Wyndham Hotels & Resorts
A man accused of attacking his ex-girlfriend and seriously injuring her stepfather in Fredericksburg on Oct. 2 claimed Monday that he was the victim and merely defended himself.

Christopher William Garand, 43, of Fairfax is charged with aggravated malicious wounding, burglary, robbery, assault and two counts of preventing a 911 call. He is also charged with a separate misdemeanor offense stemming from an alleged July 6 incident at the same residence.

Garand was in Fredericksburg Circuit Court Monday seeking to be released on bond. Judge Gordon Willis denied the request.

According to police and prosecutor Wenonah Peterson, Garand showed up unannounced at the womans home in the 800 block of Monument Avenue early Oct. 2 after drinking at a bar. Peterson alleges that Garand entered the home and began assaulting the woman and when the stepfather intervened, Garand turned his wrath on him.

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The stepfather ended up in the intensive care unit. The woman also needed medical attention, police said.
There have been so many negative aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic, its encouraging to hear about a positive one: the Fredericksburg Regional Food Bank continues to get a lot of food donations as a result of the crisis and is sharing the bounty in a special giveaway.

Because it had more frozen birds for Thanksgiving than it could give away, the Food Bank is offering Turkey and Toys during a special drive-thru distribution on Saturday at the Fredericksburg Expo and Conference Center. From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., volunteers will load up the trunks with holiday goodies for at least 500 families.

No registration or income documentation is required for the event, designed for those who need holiday assistance. Boxes of food, which include a turkey breast or whole turkey, along with milk, produce, chicken and cereal, will be distributed as long as supplies last, according to the Food Bank. The distribution also includes a limited supply of toys.

The facility initially asked for volunteers to help with the distribution, but by this week, all slots were filled. United Healthcare, which helped support the event financially, also provided some manpower and others have signed up to help, said Dan Maher, president and CEO of the Food Bank.

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I love to give back to the community, said Wachter. Its just great to get back to the kids and see them happy.

Peters said families who participate in the Cops and Kids program are nominated through public school counselors in the region, as well as from other local organizations, including the Thurman Brisben Center, Loisanns Hope House and the Empowerhouse.

Peters said with the exception of last year, Target at Central Park has been the sole store in the region to support the lodges event and said the store has opened its doors generously in support of Cops and Kids.

This is, by far, the most amazing event that Ive been a part of working with Target, Evelyn Reccio said, assets protection team leader at the Central Park Target store. Im looking forward to doing this for as many more years as I possibly can.

Peters said the event couldnt be held last year due to the coronavirus pandemic, but said lodge members held the event virtually, by mailing out 170 Target gift cards valued at $125 each.

This year, they actually get to do what we normally do, which is actually go shopping with a police officer, Peters said.

James Scott Baron: 540/374-5438 jbaron@freelancestar.com

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The divided seating harks back to the Jerusalem Temple, when only men  and then only priests  were allowed near the inner sanctum. That practice has been even harder to recast than male rabbinic leadership, which came later in Jewish history and is less defined in halacha, or Jewish religious law.

Fruchter, who is 31 and not married, was earning a graduate degree in nonprofit management and Jewish studies at New York University when she heard about Yeshivat Maharat, in the Bronx, the only U.S. seminary that ordains Orthodox Jewish women. Ordained in 2016, she immediately landed a job as an assistant rabbanit at an Orthodox congregation in Potomac, Maryland. (Many ordained Orthodox women do not use the word rabbi, preferring the Hebrew feminine rabbanit.)

In 2018, Fruchter was approached by a group of foundations interested in creating more leadership positions for Orthodox women. After months scouting potential locations, she settled on South Philadelphia, where the Jewish community has thinned out in recent decades as people migrated to the suburbs. The congregation she dubbed the Shtiebel, (the word comes from the Yiddish for a small, homey house of worship), was launched in July 2019, with a Friday night service attended by 75 people in a rented space.
PLATTSMOUTHRobert Sorenson, a candidate for Cass County sheriff, has received the endorsement of Plattsmouth Mayor Paul Lambert, Sorensons campaign announced this week.

In a statement from the campaign, Lambert said, I am proudly announcing my support for Robert Sorenson for Cass County sheriff. As the mayor of Plattsmouth and a former Nebraska senator Ive spent and dedicated a large part of my life to making Nebraska and Plattsmouth a better place.

Ive personally known Robert Sorenson for 14 years. I especially appreciate that he has also spent a large part of his life earning his own record of selfless service to our communities.

The mayor added that he believes in Sorensons plans for New Leadership, New Direction.

Im voting for Robert Sorenson and hope you will, too, Lambert said.

The Plattsmouth mayor is a long-standing, respected and accomplished servant to Plattsmouth, Cass County, and Nebraska, Sorensons campaign said.

The election for Cass County sheriff will be in 2022.

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SANTA FE, N.M. (AP)  New Mexico public schools have not recovered from the 4% drop in enrollment during the coronavirus pandemic despite the return to in-person schooling.

The state had already seen enrollment decline around 1% following years of fewer births and an aging population. The closure of school doors last year accelerated the decline, as many families opted to homeschool instead of attending virtual schools.

Public school enrollment from pre-K through high school stayed virtually flat this year at 318,608, marking a decrease of 13 students compared to last fall, according to data released by the education department.

In Albuquerque, kindergarten represented the largest drop in enrollment last year, but administrators hoped theyd be back, even at the risk of overflowing classrooms. But there was no rebound. In fact, enrollment is slightly down in all grade levels this year.

In some cases theyre staying home. Some may be in private schools. And some  we wonder if theyve left the state, said Albuquerque Superintendent Scott Elder.

Because school funding is directly tied to enrollment, Albuquerque had a $35 million hole in the budget last year, filled with one-time federal funds.

Home school enrollment accounted for around half of the enrollment decline across the state last year, from around 8,800 to 15,400. This year homeschooling is slightly down, at 10,300.

This version corrects that statewide fall enrollment was 318,608, not 318,621, and that the overall decrease was 13 students, not an increase of 13 students.

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec 14, 2021--

A new study, conducted by Strategy Analytics for Avanci, identifies transformative value propositions deriving from the introduction of 5G technology. This is especially important now that nearly all cars sold in Europe, the U.S., and China come equipped with connectivity.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211214005317/en/

Figure 1. Estimated Impact of 5G Technology on 5G-equipped Cars (Graphic: Business Wire)

5G connectivity will allow automakers to preserve or enhance the value of vehicles post-sale in a manner that will alter the calculation of residual vehicle values, said Roger Lanctot, Director of Connected Mobility at Strategy Analytics. This, in turn, will influence the economics of leasing and the market value of both new and used cars.

At the same time, 5G connectivity will directly assist and support the development of advanced driver assist systems capable of helping cars avoid collisions while facilitating self-driving vehicle operation. Over time, 5G connected cars will capture an increasing share of unit volume with an even faster capture of sales revenue.

Once all cars are equipped with 5G, the report says that auto makers will be able to tap into $40B in annual warranty cost avoidance; consumers will see $32B in annual lease/loan savings; and dealers will see a $24B annual enhancement in revenue at the point of sale. These savings are above and beyond the societal gains expected from reductions in collisions and emissions, which will also be in the billions of dollars globally.

Until now, car connectivity was a take it or leave it value proposition for consumers, said Roger Lanctot, Director of Connected Mobility for Strategy Analytics. 5G will change all that.

The full report is available for download here: 5G Connected Cars: A Transformative Value Proposition

Source: Strategy Analytics, Inc.

#SA_Automotive

About Strategy Analytics

Strategy Analytics, Inc. is a global leader in supporting companies across their planning lifecycle through a range of customized market research solutions. Our multi-discipline capabilities include: industry research advisory services, customer insights, user experience design and innovation expertise, mobile consumer on-device tracking and business-to-business consulting competencies. With domain expertise in: smart devices, connected cars, intelligent home, service providers, IoT, strategic components and media, Strategy Analytics can develop a solution to meet your specific planning need. For more information, visit us at www.strategyanalytics.com.

About Avanci

Avancis one-stop marketplace has transformed the way companies share technology by licensing intellectual property from many different patent holders in a single transaction, at a fixed cost, paid once for the lifetime of the vehicle. By streamlining the technology sharing process, Avanci provides automotive manufacturers with an efficient and transparent way to access the wireless technology needed to bring their products online. www.avanci.com

View source version on businesswire.com:https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211214005317/en/

CONTACT: Report contacts:

US Contact: Roger Lanctot, +1 617 614 0741,rlanctot@strategyanalytics.com

KEYWORD: MASSACHUSETTS UNITED STATES NORTH AMERICA

INDUSTRY KEYWORD: TECHNOLOGY AUTOMOTIVE MANUFACTURING MANUFACTURING TELECOMMUNICATIONS

SOURCE: Strategy Analytics

Copyright Business Wire 2021.

PUB: 12/14/2021 09:26 AM/DISC: 12/14/2021 09:26 AM

Copyright Business Wire 2021.

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The Fremont City Council will vote to approve a six-month service contract with Institute for Building Technology and Safety for building inspection services at its meeting Tuesday.

According to a report, city staff have been working on alternative solutions for staffing vacancies in the Building Inspection Department, as both the chief building and electrical inspector positions are vacant.

The critical staff shortage has been deemed an emergency by staff, as the electrical inspector position has been vacant for more than six months.

To keep up with contractor demand, staff are recommending the hiring of a private entity to supplement job duties until full-time replacements can be hired.

After two private companies were interviewed, Assistant City Administrator Shane Wimer hired IBTS, which started working with the Building Department on Dec. 6.

IBTS will assist in various areas, including:

Building Code Department services;

Floodplain services;

Fire code review and inspections;

Planning and zoning services;

Plan review; and

Department feasibility study service.

IBTS would conduct between 20 to 25 virtual inspections weekly, as well as a commercial plan review.

With a cost of around $100 to $150 per inspection, the staff estimates the contract to cost around $70,000.

The council will also discuss an agreement to purchase a tract of land at Outlet 2 of the Sunridge Places second addition.

The 2.9-acre land is adjacent to a large drainage ditch flowing south adjacent to Luther Road between First and Fifth streets. Its value has been appraised at about $190,000.

The city initially asked the developers for the land to potentially widen or improve Luther Road, as well as stormwater purposes during the platting process.

In other news, the council will continue discussion with a second reading for a zone change request from General Industrial to General Commercial for DPA Auctions at 900 Bud Boulevard.

The council will meet at 7 p.m. on the second floor of the Fremont Municipal Building at 400 E. Military Ave.

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Former Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman said Tuesday morning that he won't be seeking the state's highest office again.

"I loved being Governor of our Great State," he said in a message emailed to supporters. "As I listened to Nebraskans the past few months, I appreciated the strong support and encouragement they offered me to run again. I was very close to saying, 'Yes,' but family is very important to me, now more than ever."

Heineman cited his 98-year-old mother residing in assisted living in Fremont, along with having his son and daughter-in-law -- and his two grandchildren -- living "four minutes" from their home.

He had long been considered a frontrunner if he were to enter the Republican primary field, which contains Falls City businessman Charles Herbster, state Sen. Brett Lindstrom, University of Nebraska Regent Jim Pillen, former state Sen. Theresa Thibodeau, Michael Connely and Breland Ridenour.

Heineman's departure as a potential candidate leaves Pillen and Herbster better positioned, with Herbster holding an endorsement from former President Donald Trump and Pillen likely to receive the endorsement of Gov. Pete Ricketts, who will complete his second term in office at the end of next year.

Heineman was lieutenant governor for then-Gov. Mike Johanns when he was appointed U.S. secretary of agriculture in 2005. After ascending to become Nebraska's 39th governor, he won election in 2006 and 2010 before he was term-limited out of office. His decade in office made him Nebraska's longest-serving governor.

Though he won't be running for governor in 2022, Heineman said, he plans to work on ensuring that elected officials meet Nebraskans' greatest needs and work on improving the state's quality of life.

"I intend to remain politically active, particularly supporting candidates who can be future leaders of Nebraska," he said. "I want to encourage the current candidates for governor to speak to the issues that Nebraskans shared with me  tax relief, education and broadband."

Heineman said Nebraska's 1967 tax code "needs to be restructured to reflect the modern economy" with changes that promote economic growth and create "higher-paying careers."

Long an enthusiastic Husker sports advocate, Heineman finished his written statement with this: "Congratulations to the Lady Husker volleyball team in making it to the Final Four, and good luck in Columbus, Ohio, this week."

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The United Nations says the first four months of Taliban rule in Afghanistan have been marked by "credible allegations" of more than 100 extrajudicial killings, the denial of women's rights, and the recruitment of boys to be soldiers.

Addressing the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on December 14, Nada al-Nashif, the world bodys deputy rights chief, said she was deeply alarmed by continuing reports of such killings despite a general amnesty announced by Afghanistans new rulers.

"Between August and November, we received credible allegations of more than 100 killings of former Afghan national security forces and others associated with the former government," said Nashif, the UN deputy high commissioner for human rights, adding that at least 72 of these killings were attributed to the Taliban.

"In several cases, the bodies were publicly displayed. This has exacerbated fear among this sizeable category of the population," she added.

In Nangarhar Province, at least 50 suspected members of the Islamic State-Khorasan Province (IS-KP) extremist group -- an ideological foe of the Taliban -- appeared to have been executed, with reports of "hanging, beheadings, and public display of corpses," according to Nashif.

In his testimony, Afghanistan's envoy from the former government accused the Taliban of failing to fulfill its promises on protecting human rights.

"With the military takeover of Kabul by the Taliban, not only we see a total reversal of two decades of advances...but the group is also committing a litany of abuses with full impunity which in many cases is going unreported and undocumented," said Nasir Ahmad Andisha, Kabul's ambassador to the UN in Geneva. He is still recognized as the holder of the post by the world body.

The Taliban promised a general amnesty after toppling the Western-backed government in Kabul, but the militant group has faced international criticism over growing reports of the extrajudicial killing of civilians and former members of the previous government and armed forces.

Taliban Foreign Ministry spokesman Abdul Qahar Balkhi said on December 14 that the militant group was "fully committed" to the amnesty decree and denied employees of the previous administration were being persecuted.

Anyone "found breaching the amnesty decree will be prosecuted and penalized," he said, adding: "Incidents will be thoroughly investigated but unsubstantiated rumors should not be taken at face value."

The Taliban-led government has rejected allegations of "serious human rights abuses," saying they were not based on evidence.

Late last month, a Human Rights Watch report documented the killing or disappearance of 47 former members of the Afghan National Security Forces who had surrendered to or were apprehended by Taliban militants.

Overall, the Taliban has summarily executed or forcibly disappeared more than 100 former security force members in just four of Afghanistans 34 provinces, according to the New York-based watchdog.

The hard-line group has also been accused of stifling free speech and using brute force to crush dissent, including violently dispersing peaceful protesters and detaining and beating journalists.

At least eight Afghan activists and two journalists have been killed since August, while the UN has also documented 59 unlawful detentions and threats to their ranks, Nashif said during a scheduled update to the UN Human Rights Council on the situation in Afghanistan.

"The safety of Afghan judges, prosecutors, and lawyers -- particularly women legal professionals -- is a matter for particular alarm," she said.

The UN official said that women and girls "in particular face great uncertainty with respect to the rights to education, to livelihoods and to participation, in which they had made important gains over the past two decades."

The vast majority of women have been banned from working, while many girls and women have been deprived of the right to an education, prompting key global donors from restoring aid to Afghanistan even as it teeters on the brink of a humanitarian catastrophe with rising poverty, a lack of food, and a collapsing economy.

Nashif expressed deep concern about "the continued risk of recruitment of children" by the local affiliate of Islamic State, as well as by the Taliban, with "boys increasingly visible among security forces at checkpoints, as bodyguards, and in combat roles."

With reporting by Reuters and AFP
The Taliban is back in power in Afghanistan, and one of the biggest differences this time compared to 1996 -- when the Taliban first seized Kabul -- is the attitude toward it from its northerly neighbors.

The reaction by the Central Asian states, and Russia, then was nearly the opposite of how they responded in mid-August of this year when the Taliban again took control of Kabul -- and nearly all of Afghanistan -- after foreign forces ended their two-decade operation and withdrew.

The truce that now exists between most of the Central Asian countries and the Taliban benefits both, but it is fragile.

Ten Days In 1996

On September 26, 1996, the Taliban captured Kabul for the first time.

That same day, the Tajik government and the Russian Border Guards Service that was keeping watch on the Tajik-Afghan frontier voiced their continued support for the internationally recognized government of Burhanuddin Rabbani.

There had been a civil war in Tajikistan for more than four years, and the Tajik governments opponents had sanctuaries in northeastern Afghanistan where they regrouped and rearmed before trying to cross back into Tajikistan and continue their military campaign.

Rabbani was among the mujahedin who fought against Soviet forces less than a decade earlier but it seemed to Dushanbe that his government offered better guarantees than the Taliban of not allowing the Tajik opposition to freely use Afghan territory.

On September 27, 1996, a group of some 300 Tajik opposition fighters tried to cross into Tajikistan near Kalai-Khumb, sparking a battle that lasted into early October and resulted in the deaths of four Russian border guards.

On September 30, the Tajik government expressed concern that the Taliban capture of Kabul would have a negative impact on the situation along the Tajik-Afghan frontier. Tajik President Emomali Rahmon (then called Rakhmonov) appealed to the UN and world powers to mediate a political settlement in Afghanistan.

The Kazakh Foreign Ministry issued a statement calling on the UN to take measures to end the fighting in Afghanistan, warning that economic collapse and political instability there could threaten the stability of Central Asia.

On October 1, Uzbekistans Security Council held an emergency session dedicated to the Taliban seizure of Kabul and the evolving situation in Afghanistan.

Also on October 1, Russian Security Council Secretary Aleksandr Lebed warned that the Taliban coveted territory in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, including the ancient Silk Road city of Bukhara.

That same day, the Halk Maslahaty (Peoples Council) in Turkmenistan published the countrys military doctrine that stated Turkmenistan was a neutral country and would not enter into any military alliances.

So Turkmenistan sent no representatives to a hastily arranged meeting of Russian officials led by Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin and Central Asian leaders in Almaty, Kazakhstan, on October 4.

Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev voiced concern that the Afghan conflict was approaching the border of the Russian-led Commonwealth of Independent States and condemned the rights violations that followed the Talibans capture of Kabul.

Uzbek President Islam Karimov called for the Central Asian states and Russia to support ethnic Uzbek Afghan field commander Abdul Rashid Dostum.



His Kyrgyz counterpart, Askar Akaev, warned it would be a mistake to repeat the Soviet experience of the 1980s by directly interfering in Afghanistans internal affairs.



In the end, Karimovs proposal to support Dostum was rejected, but Uzbekistans stance on the Taliban was clear and, with the exception of Turkmenistan, it was generally the attitude of the other Central Asian countries.



On October 6, the Taliban, via their radio station in Pakistan, sent a message of brotherly love to the Central Asian states and the militant group promised not to interfere in the affairs of other countries. It also warned its northern neighbors not to interfere in Afghanistans internal affairs and Russia not to forget the lesson [it was] taught here."

Ten Days In 2021

The Taliban entered Kabul unopposed on August 15.

Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoev spoke by phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin that day and the two leaders vowed to keep in contact with each other about events in Afghanistan.

On August 16, the Russian presidents special envoy for Afghanistan, Zamir Kabulov, said: We see no direct threat to our allies in Central Asia, and Kabulov was backed in this view by the secretary-general of the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), Stanislav Zas, who said the situation along the Tajik-Afghan border was stable and there was no reason for Tajikistan to invoke CSTO mechanisms."

But Zas also said the CSTO would be conducting military exercises in Tajikistan near the Afghan border within one month.

By then, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan had announced their embassies and other diplomatic representations in Afghanistan were still operating and the Taliban also confirmed they were guarding the embassies of the Central Asian countries, all of which -- except for the Kyrgyz Embassy -- are next to each other on Wazir Akbar Khan Street.

The Uzbek Foreign Ministry released a statement on August 17 saying Tashkent supported the statement of domestic Afghan forces on the readiness to form an inclusive government, and confirmed authorities were in close contact with the Taliban.

Kazakhstans Foreign Ministry released a statement on August 19 saying Afghanistan is experiencing another crucial moment in its history. The long-standing conflict should be resolved by the Afghan people themselves."

The CSTO held a virtual summit on August 23, with Afghanistan as the main topic. The presidents of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan all attended, as did Uzbek President Mirziyoev even though his country is not a CSTO member.

Russian officials continued to say there was no threat to Central Asia from the Taliban though there could be from other militant groups operating in Afghanistan -- something the governments in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan have been well aware of for some time.

On August 17, there was a report that the head of Uzbekistans Termez Cargo Center, located near the Afghan border, was waiting for the resumption of trade with Afghanistan.

Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan continued to export electricity to Afghanistan despite the change of government and despite doubts that the Taliban would be able to pay for that electricity anytime soon.

Tajik President Rahmon was the sole dissenter among the Central Asian leaders in response to Taliban rule in Afghanistan.

The pro-government Democratic Party of Tajikistan issued a statement on August 25 calling on the government not to recognize the Taliban as the government of Afghanistan because this group has devastated Tajik lands, homes, towns, and villages [in Afghanistan] in recent years [and even today] the cruel activities of this group have reached the level of genocide, especially in Tajik-speaking regions."

Zahir Aghbar, the Afghan ambassador in Tajikistan appointed by the ousted Afghan government, stayed on at his post and briefly became something of a spokesman for the anti-Taliban resistance inside Afghanistan.

By Years End

In the remaining three months of 1996, Uzbekistan reinforced its roughly 160-kilometer border with Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan ordered all religious groups to immediately register with authorities, hundreds of Afghans from Badghis Province fled into Turkmenistan, and Tajik President Rahmon met with United Tajik Opposition leader Said Abdullo Nuri as the warring parties accelerated efforts to reach a peace deal in light of the new situation in Afghanistan.

Interestingly, the meeting between Rahmon and Nuri took place in northeastern Afghanistan, on December 10, 1996, one day later than scheduled. Nuris plane had been rerouted by the Taliban on its way to the meeting, and Taliban leader Mullah Omar was waiting to speak with Nuri.

The positions of the five Central Asian states had been established 25 years ago.

Turkmenistan remained neutral and engaged with Taliban representatives while the other four countries were opposed to the militants. Tajikistan and Uzbekistan even helped ethnic Tajik and Uzbek groups inside Afghanistan to fight the Taliban.

As 2021 comes to a close, all of the Central Asian countries except Tajikistan have sent delegations to meet with top Taliban members in Kabul. Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan sent their foreign ministers.

Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan have also all sent humanitarian aid to Afghanistan.

Tajikistan continues to avoid contact with Taliban representatives, but it has recently allowed the UN World Food Program to ship aid through Tajikistan to Afghanistan.

Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan continue to supply electricity to Afghanistan, and the Taliban continues to promise it will pay for it when it can.

Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan continue to trade across the border by road and rail, and both those countries are also in talks with Taliban representatives about future projects connecting Central Asia to South Asia through Afghanistan.

But none of the Central Asian governments has signaled it is ready to officially recognize the Taliban as the government of Afghanistan.

Official statements from Central Asian officials rarely use the name Taliban," preferring to use constructions such as the interim government or the new authorities in Afghanistan.

All except Turkmenistan have increased military exercises, individually and jointly, including with Russia or the CSTO.

The Taliban appears to be the big winner from this arrangement.

The movement held power in Afghanistan for five years with hostile neighbors to the north that were aiding the forces fighting the Taliban and in 2001 provided vital logistics aid to the foreign forces that chased the Taliban from power.

For now, it appears the Central Asian states are neither friend nor foe of the Taliban.

The Central Asian governments are even looking beyond Afghanistan, to the subcontinent, the Arabian Sea, and the Indian Ocean, while the Taliban has its attention fixed on Afghanistans internal affairs.

At the moment, it appears both sides are getting what they want.
A Jefferson County woman has tested positive for the omicron variant, the state health department said Monday, marking Colorado's third known case of the latest strain of the virus.

The woman had recently traveled to Africa and has not had symptoms, said Jessica Bralish, spokeswoman for the state Department of Public Health and Environment. The woman is fully vaccinated and had received her booster dose. All of her contacts have been tested, and "no additional transmission from this case has been detected to date," Bralish said in an email.

The variant's presence "was detected through routine testing and sequencing" conducted by the state health lab, she said. Colorado officials have said the state is among the best in the nation for random sequencing of positive samples.

The woman marks the third case of the variant identified in Colorado. Earlier this month, an Arapahoe County woman tested positive, followed a few days later by a Boulder County man. Both of those patients also had recently returned from trips to southern parts of Africa, health officials said at the time. Of the three cases, only the Boulder County man had any symptoms; officials said his were mild.

Last week, state epidemiologist Rachel Herlihy said wastewater testing had detected what was likely low levels of omicron transmission in Boulder County. No other cases have been identified in the area, Bralish said, and wastewater testing in other parts of the state has not detected any other traces of the variant.

"We are still learning how the omicron behaves," she said, "but given that it appears to be more transmissible, we expect to see more cases."

Gov. Jared Polis said earlier this month he wasn't yet troubled by the variant, given there's no evidence of large-scale community spread.

Much is still unknown about the variant, which was first identified in mid-November and gained worldwide media attention later that month. Early data indicates the strain is likely more transmissible than previous variants of the virus that causes COVID-19.

The World Health Organization said the overall risk from the strain "remains very high for a number of reasons." The WHO said there were early signs that vaccinated and previously infected people would not build enough antibodies to ward off an infection from omicron, resulting in high transmission rates and "severe consequences."

It is unclear whether omicron is inherently more contagious than the globally dominant delta variant, the WHO said.

Corroborating the WHO's assessment, University of Oxford researchers published a lab analysis on Monday that registered a substantial fall in neutralizing antibodies against omicron in people who had had two doses of COVID-19 vaccine.

But there's not yet evidence that the variant causes more severe disease, the researchers said. Colorado officials have said that the same strategies used against previous strains of the virus  mask wearing, vaccinations, boosters, social distancing and good hygiene  are still the best ways to avoid getting infected or seriously ill from omicron.

Reuters contributed to this report.
A Colorado Springs man who accepted a plea bargain for beating and choking his wife, who shot him in the head in self defense, was sentenced to probation Monday morning.

Morgan Chess, 30, pleaded guilty in a mid-October agreement with prosecutors to felony menacing in an April assault involving his wife in their home near U.S. 24 and Jet Wing Drive. On Monday, he was sentenced to three years of supervised probation, according to Fourth Judicial District Attorney's Office spokesman Howard Black.

Chess agreement also bundled two of his other cases  one a drunk driving and police evasion arrest, and the other a misdemeanor menacing case also involving his wife, April. As part of his sentence, he cant consume or possess any alcohol or drugs, and will have to submit to random urine tests.

He also wont be able to drive until his eligibility is reinstated.

The night of April 29, April Chess told police that she arrived home from work to find an already-intoxicated Morgan Chess, who proceeded to pick several fights with her that eventually escalated to him beating, choking, and threatening to kill April Chess.

In a statement given to Colorado Springs police and summarized in an arrest affidavit filed by the department, April Chess said the incident was the latest of hundreds of times Morgan Chess had been violent with her.

To put an end to the attack, she told police, and because she was afraid she was going to die, April Chess shot Morgan Chess in the head. She then helped him stop the bleeding before he called police to the home.

Court records indicate April Chess sought a temporary protection order against Morgan Chess in April, but do not indicate if that temporary order was upgraded to a permanent one in a separate hearing or if the temporary order is still in effect.
AdAmAn fireworks

The AdAmAn Club will celebrate its 99th anniversary on the annual climb up Pikes Peak for New Year's Eve fireworks. The traditional itinerary:

Dec. 30:

 7 a.m.: Kickoff breakfast

 9 a.m.: Start on Barr Trail

 11 a.m. Lunch at French Creek

 2:30 p.m.: Arrive at Barr Camp

 7 p.m.: Bonfire at AdAmAn Point

Dec. 31

 8:30 a.m.: Leave Barr Camp

 11:30 a.m.: Flash mirrors to city

 2:30 p.m.: Arrive to summit

 9 p.m.: Five fireworks to honor Frozen Five originators

 Midnight: Fireworks, followed by drive down highway with four-wheel drive club
Multiple Colorado law enforcement agencies joined forces on Friday to apprehend a violent suspect with a warrant out of Fountain after an extended vehicle and foot chase, according to a Monday news release from the Fountain Police Department.

Xavier Doucette, 24, could face more than a dozen charges including child abuse, domestic violence, menacing and vehicular eluding, police said.

Park County deputies responding to a Friday afternoon domestic violence report near U.S. 24 learned the suspect was also being sought in connection with an armed robbery, the release stated. The suspect was in a vehicle, with at least one other person, near the jurisdiction line between Park and Teller counties.

As the deputies tried to approach the car, the suspect drove off, resulting in a chase with Colorado State troopers as well as officers from Park and Teller counties, officials said.

Park County deputies backed off the pursuit after chasing the suspect several miles into Teller County, where Woodland Park police officers joined the chase. Officers disabled the vehicle by deploying spike strips across the road, Fountain police said.

Doucette then ran from the vehicle, but was later caught and arrested, officials said.
A vehicle fell into a sinkhole in northeastern Colorado Springs early Tuesday morning after a water main break caused a "large" sinkhole to form, according to police and Colorado Springs Utilities.

Colorado Springs police responded to the 6300 block of Northwind Drive, south of Dublin Boulevard, after a car drove into the sinkhole around 3:09 a.m., police said.

Tow trucks pulled the vehicle out of the hole and officers closed off the road in both directions between Dublin and Vickers until crews finish repairing the road, police said.

Colorado Springs Utilities expects the repairs to take 8 hours and said detours are available in the neighborhood.

Residents can find updates with Colorado Springs Utilities here.
There was an excellent article in the Gazette Thursday New report shows Colorados startling spike in crime and there was an article in the Wall Street Journal that named Colorado Springs (among other 13 other cities) as having a worse homicide rate last year.
When Boston transformed its identity management infrastructure, it relied on insights from the identity lifecycle subcommittee made of human resources officials, according to Chief Information Security Officer Gregory McCarthy.

Theyre the ones who best understand who identity moves throughout an organization, McCarthy said during a Nov. 30 SailPoint webcast on identity security.

People start their career in the government and retire from the government, so during that lifecycle, they can have 10 different positions within an organization, and they should have a smooth transition if theyre going from an IT department to the HR department, or what have you, McCarthy said.

User experience is key, especially when employees are changing jobs, and the city initially struggled with that.

The Department of Innovation and Technology opted to implement three tools -- SailPoints IdentityIQ, Ping Identitys suite of tools and Radiant Logics RadiantOne FID -- that were largely ready to use out of the box -- to replace the legacy, highly customized identity management infrastructure.

Because we implemented best-of-breed solutions that were three different toolsets, we didnt initially think about What is the user experience going to look like? How do we ensure that it is smooth and easy for an employee to access these applications? McCarthy said. When youre thinking about implementing a best-in-class identity management solution that may not be all under the same brand or umbrella, you really need to think about the user experience, he said.

That problem was solved with the introduction of the staff-facing Access Boston portal, which tied all three of these applications together and allowed the employee to have a really smooth, seamless interaction with the technology McCarthy said. If they couldnt use the technology, regardless of how great it was, it would have been a failure.

Access Boston centralized how city government employees access the data and IT they need to do their jobs. It launched on April 1, 2019, after a two-year, $2.4 million effort and addressed several of the pain points the department had identified. They included a lack of single sign-on, onboarding delays and a reliance on help desks for simple tasks such as password changes.

Cybersecurity was also a concern. In fact, until a few years ago, identity management fell under the purview of the departments enterprise applications group.

My team put forth the proposal to look at how we can take over the identity access management program under security as opposed to enterprise applications, McCarthy said. There are key differences between what enterprise applications does and security do. They go hand in hand, but our enterprise application teams are corely focused on delivering new products and delivering products securely are sometimes two different things, he said. We wanted to ensure that our identity access program really had the oversight of our security team.

Now, employees can use one username and password and multifactor authentication (MFA) to get everything they need from any device  fixed or mobile. They can also use self-service options to update passwords and request access to data and applications.

The transformation also involved providing secure remote access through a virtual-private network (VPN) using MFA  a move that McCarthy said was critical when the pandemic hit the year after the launch.

VPN is under attack on a regular basis, and I think especially during the pandemic that weve seen a lot of well-documented attacks on VPN tools, so having that MFA in place before the pandemic was extremely valuable, he said.

Today, McCarthy and the cybersecurity team are focused on privileged access management implementation and rollout to administrators to gain control over who has access to accounts and how they are being used.

In the longer term, he said he would like to find a way to offer identity access management to the public.

Right now, our program is primarily focused on employees and access that employees have, but I really think that it could be extremely valuable to allow for constituents to have an identity or a login to our city applications, McCarthy said. There are a lot of different engagements that constituents have with the city, whether its  licenses or a property tax payment or checking out a library book or checking their childs grades on the school system. They all have different access and different logins and different passwords with those. To streamline that could be really life-changing for our citizens.
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Police say Pearce engaged in sex acts three or more times between 2011 and April 2021 with a girl between the ages of 6 and 15, according to court documents filed in Cerro Gordo County District Court. The acts occurred in Mason City, and at least 30 days passed between the first and last incidents of abuse, according to the documents.
Mason City Police are asking for anyone with information on a shooting that occurred Friday afternoon to come forward.

Police were called at 3:33 p.m. on Friday to MercyOne North Iowa Medical Center's emergency room for a person who showed up there with a gun shot wound, according to a press release the MCPD issued upon request from the Globe.

The shooting had occurred on the 400 block of First Street Northeast, while the person who was shot was a passenger in a car. The driver immediately took the passenger to MercyOne for treatment, according to the press release. No additional details were provided.

Police say the car's driver is cooperating with police, but the passenger is not. Anyone with information about the shooting can contact Lt. Rich Jensen at the MCPD Criminal Investigations Divison at 641-421-3636. Information can also be share with North Iowa Crime Stoppers at 800-383-0088.

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There are now six deaths linked to a COVID-19 outbreak at Gretna Health and Rehabilitation Center, Virginia Department of Health data show.

The outbreak reported Oct. 20 infected 35 individuals and still remains active. Health officials will keep the outbreak listed as active until 28 days passes without a new COVID-19 case.

In an outbreak situation, the health department only includes cases and deaths that are linked to the facility. If someone tests positive for COVID-19 but the exposure is determined to be outside of the setting  and they did not pass the virus on to anyone in the facility  then that particular case will not be counted on a dashboard thats updated once a week, the department reports.

There are two other active COVID-19 outbreaks in the Dan River Region. At the Southern Virginia Mental Health Institute, there are 26 cases associated with an outbreak reported Oct. 26.

At Westover Christian Academy, an outbreak reported Oct. 20 has grown to include 44 individuals.

Combined, Danville and Pittsylvania County are adding about 25 new COVID-19 infections a day, nearly half the amount a year ago. However, the area is against the trend with the rest of the state experiencing an uptick in cases.

We have begun to see some of the results of the gatherings for Thanksgiving, Dr. Scott Spillmann, director of the local health district, told the Register & Bee last week. We are just now entering the time frame to see diagnosis of cases, and more.

Theres generally a lag period from when someone is exposed and the COVID-19 infections are recorded. Thats because it takes time for an individual to show symptoms, get tested and have those results delivered.

We have found with rare exception that following circumstances where people gather (holidays, sports, religious and other celebrations), there is the potential to spread COVID with its possible consequences, Spillmann said.

The area  like a majority of the state and nation  is at the highest level for COVID-19 transmission, as defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In these localities, the CDC recommends residents wear face masks for indoor public settings.

Vaccines

Virginia Department of Healths Pittsylvania-Danville Health District is now offering Pfizer booster shots for 16 and 17 year olds.

The Pfizer booster vaccine can be received by anyone 16 and older at least six months from the date of their second vaccine or at least two months from the date of their Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine. A parent or guardian must accompany anyone under 18.

The Moderna or Johnson & Johnson booster vaccines are available to anyone 18 and older at least six months from the date of their second Pfizer or Moderna COVID-19 vaccine or at least two months from the date of their Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine.

We are pleased to be able to offer this additional layer of protection for 16 and 17 year olds, Spillmann wrote in a statement. In light of the new omicron variant and the rise in cases and complications as more people gather indoors with the holidays and with the colder weather, we encourage everyone eligible for a vaccine or booster to get it this month to continue to protect your health and to keep friends and loved ones safe during your holiday celebrations and travel.

To find a clinic, visit vase.vdh.virginia.gov or call 1-877-VAX-IN-VA.

One clinic is set from 9 a.m. to noon Friday at Ballou Park Recreation Center located at 760 W. Main St. Another will be held from 2 to 5 p.m. Friday and Dec. 30 at the Danville Community Market.

For those coming for a second or booster dose, health officials report they should bring their vaccination card.
The 100-year-old covered bridge over the Dan River that connected mills at Dan River Inc. is on its way to becoming a pedestrian bridge for users of the Riverwalk Trail.

Environmental work on the 966-foot structure has been underway since Nov. 1.

Our contractors have removed the asbestos pipe insulation inside of the bridge, Danville Economic Development Director Corrie T. Bobe told the Danville Register & Bee via email Monday. They should finish scraping the lead paint this week and will then begin removing the metal side panels.

Waco Inc., whose corporate headquarters are in Richmond, is the contractor performing the $1.08 million rehabilitation of the bridge.

The projects cost is being covered by a $500,000 grant from the Virginia Brownfields Restoration and Economic Development Assistance Fund and $587,140 from New Market Tax Credit money through Danville, Virginia CDE, Inc., Bobe said.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency describes a brownfield as a property in which the expansion, redevelopment or reuse may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant or contaminant.

Completed in 1921, the bridge connected Dan River Inc.s White Mill, which was built the same year and housed the mills weaving operations, to yarn mills on the north banks of the river  also known as the Long Mill property, Bobe said.

The environmental work is the first phase of renovating the pedestrian bridge and should take about 90 days to complete, Bobe said.

Once the environmental remediation is completed, we will work together to engage an architecture and engineering first to help design the bridge and how it will connect to the trail, Bobe said. We will ensure that residents will be able to provide input on the final design of this structure.

Besides removing environmental hazards from the bridge, the rehab work will also improve the view of the river, Bobe added.

Waco is providing supervision, labor, materials and equipment for the following work for removal of asbestos and lead removal/encapsulation:

Removal of asbestos pipe wrap with pipes staying in place;

Removal of all windows containing asbestos glazing;

Removal of all asbestos pipe wrap debris found in the rolling cart and on the floor at the north end of the bridge;

Removal of the roof containing asbestos roof sealant;

Removal of the metal exterior walls containing lead painted plaster;

Encapsulating the lead paint found on the metal truss structure.

Neither funding nor a project timeline for full renovation of the bridge has been determined, Bobe said.

As for the White Mill property, the IDA and the Madison, Wisconsin-based Alexander Company in May signed a memorandum of understanding for a $62.5 million commercial and residential venture  under a joint 424 Memorial Drive LLC  for the White Mill property.

The IDA owns the White Mill property, which is 600,000 to 700,000 square feet.

424 Memorial Drive LLC will retain control of the property, and the White Mill building will be divided into three individually-controlled sections, with 110,000 square feet of commercial space, 150 apartment units (with an additional 100 units in the future) and 219 interior parking spaces.

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Once again, carnage goes to school. Once again, American students are used for target practice. But conservative leaders are on the case. Recognizing the ongoing threat to our children, they know its time for decisive action.

Its time to do something about books.

And if you expected that sentence to end differently, you havent been paying attention. In red America these days, books are Public Enemy No. 1.

As Time magazine recently reported, librarians are seeing a definite spike in censorship activity. Deborah Caldwell-Stone, executive director of the American Library Associations Office for Intellectual Freedom, called it an unprecedented volume of challenges. From Texas to South Carolina, to Virginia to Florida and beyond, conservative governors and advocacy groups are removing books from school library shelves, particularly those that deal with the two subjects they find most threatening: sexuality and race.

All to protect our children.

You may say that makes no sense. You may look at what happened Nov. 30 at a high school in Oxford, Michigan  four students killed, six more and a teacher wounded  and say that what we need to protect our children from is the fact that any troubled classmate can too easily obtain a weapon of mass destruction with which to work through his teenage angst. But on that subject, those same governors and advocacy groups will give you only loud silence.

In their world, a mass shooting is just a natural phenomenon, unpleasant, but unavoidable, like rain. Would you try to ban clouds?

No, from where they sit, the gravest threat facing our children stems not from bullets but from books, and they wont rest until the scourge of knowledge has been defeated. Which is to logic what a funhouse mirror is to ones actual appearance: a reality hopelessly distorted.

We live in a world where students huddle under their desks in active-shooter drills, but conservatives are concerned that learning about race might make them uncomfortable. A world where children have PTSD from seeing friends slaughtered, but conservatives fear that reading about sex might expose them to things theyre not yet ready for. A world where kids go to school with bulletproof backpacks, but conservatives think books have gotten way out of hand.

Consider the picture Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie tweeted Dec. 4, the one of him and his family posed before a Christmas tree with gleaming plastic smiles, all cradling long guns. Massies tweet read, Merry Christmas! ps. Santa, please bring ammo. To be conservative is to believe thats not at all creepy and fetishistic, nor indicative of insecurities and overcompensation, nor even mildly suggestive of an unhealthy phallic fixation. To be conservative is to feel its a completely appropriate thing to post, just days after the deadliest school shooting since 2018, to celebrate the birth of a man called the Prince of Peace.

To be conservative is to see that picture and remain convinced that Americas problem is too many books.

Never mind that no book ever pierced flesh and broke bone, no book ever spilled blood, no book ever left an empty place at a dinner table. And never mind that in America, too many kids find it easier to lay hands on a Glock than a copy of Beloved. Tragically, some of us are just fine with that.

After all, youve got to have your priorities straight. Youve got to protect what matters to you most.

Leonard Pitts Jr. is a columnist for the Miami Herald, 3511 NW 91st Ave., Miami, Fla., 33172. Readers may contact him via e-mail at lpitts@miamiherald.com.
To the editor:

According to the White House, President "Big-Guy" Biden isnt receiving favorable coverage from media. LOL. The midterms are coming, and Biden handlers and Democrats are desperate. They must refocus on COVID so they can continue to control people.

With giddiness Biden and Chief of Staff Ron Klain cancelled everything "orange man" accomplished, regardless of keeping Americans safe, creating jobs or sustaining Americas energy independence. Biden claimed only he could save us from the virus. Yet more people have died from COVID under him than under Trump. Promises, promises.

Did the Waukesha Christmas parade killings/maimings really happen? So far, Im not sure. A Black criminal did it fleeing his most recent crime. Oh, never mind. At least he didnt use a gun in a BLM riot. Move along nothing to see. And Oswald acted alone to kill JFK.

Russia is staging to takeover Ukraine. China is about to attack Taiwan. U.S. citizens and loyalists are being killed by Taliban in Afghanistan. Meanwhile, dementia-shuffling Biden held a virtual democracy summit between naps to show his exceptional weakness to the world. Putin and Xi are laughing at him.

Biden said hed never mandate vaccines. Right. Next, hell try and force you to buy an unaffordable electric car. He thinks most of you are too stupid to pay attention in spite of his 38% approval rating. Congratulations Biden voters. Go burn down more Christmas trees.

If you speak out against Democrats, youre a white supremacist insurrectionist. They want all opposition punished because were toxic to America and their socialist plans. Dang, wake up America!

David V. Mantiply, Pittsylvania County
It brings back a lot of childhood memories, she said. My grandfather had a small country store in Hubert, which is between Swansboro and Jacksonville. He didnt do the ham, but he had the hoop cheese, and I still have the cheese holder from his store. This is kind of like reliving his little store.

Sherian Lowery, 48, brought her grandmother Barbara Wardlow to the store on Thursday. Lowery said they were there to get stuff you cant find anywhere else.

We get ham chunks and use them to flavor beans, she said. My grandmother and grandfather, when I was much younger, brought me down here, and I have been coming ever since. I have introduced it to some other people, and now they come down here, too. The beans are in barrels, so you scoop out however much you want. Most places are prepackaged. A lot of people, when they were growing up, came to stores like this.

Anderson talked about how customers get their ham cut any way they like it. One customer on Thursday, Frank Scriven, left his phone number at the store so they could call him when they get in a supply of ginger snaps that hes been wanting to buy for his grandchildren.
The same is true for existing employees, who must adapt or find themselves out of work.

But for companies such as Arrival and Toyota, with its planned battery plant, the new facilities represent a net gain in production, employees and revenue, while also boosting local communities and the state economically.

North Carolina is well positioned to capitalize on the continued growth of the EV sector, OConnor said.

Economy and environment

Even as electric vehicle production and consumption increase in the U.S., cost remains the biggest barrier to EV domination of the market.

Batteries are easily the most expensive element of electric vehicles and why theyre more expensive, explained Matt Abele, director of marketing and communications at the N.C. Sustainable Energy Association.

Most experts predict price parity  the point at which it costs the same to build electric vehicles and those with combustible engines  to be five to seven years away, he said.

At that point, the argument against purchasing an electric vehicle really diminishes, Abele added.
Anyone with information about this incident is asked to contact Greensboro/Guilford Crime Stoppers at 336-373-1000. Citizens can also download the mobile P3tips app to submit a mobile tip, or go to P3tips.com to submit a web tip. All tips to Crime Stoppers are anonymous.

Posted 5:11 p.m.

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GREENSBORO  A Greensboro police officer was shot in her leg during a struggle Monday afternoon outside of an IHOP restaurant, according to Greensboro police.

The officer had responded to a call regarding a domestic disturbance at the IHOP at 1101 Lanada Road just before 2 p.m., police spokesman Ron Glenn said.

The officer, whom police did not immediately identify, was involved in a struggle outside the IHOP with one of the people involved in the domestic dispute, Glenn said.

During that struggle, he said, the officer was shot in the leg.

Glenn said he could not yet say who fired the shot, including whether it was the officer, nor whether the gun fired was the officer's weapon.

The officer was taken to the hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening, he said.
GREENSBORO  Police are saying this is now a homicide case, but have not released any details other than to say next-of-kin has been notified and that the victim's name is not being released at this time. It is unclear who was injured and how. This story will be updated as more information becomes available from police.
We were astounded by the number and quality of the applications, so we decided to increase the foundations commitment and help even more downtown communities bounce back, said Stephen De May, North Carolina president of Duke Energy, in the press release.

The grants are given to local nonprofits centered around downtown revitalization to set up microgrant programs. Organizations may award individual businesses microgrants between $500 to $2,500.

The grant program will focus on businesses with 50 employees or less and may be used for expenses of a past project a business has completed.

The town of Kinston, county seat for Lenoir, was driven by the tobacco industry and its lumber and cotton mills in the 1900s. Prosperity came to a halt in the 1960s and revitalization efforts started not long after.

Downtown Kinston Revitalization, previously known as Pride of Kinston, is tasked with beautifying, preserving and improving what downtown Kinston has to offer and noted that the pandemic has made their goal a challenge.

Sarah Arney, community development planner for Kinston, said that the grant came at the perfect time.
RALEIGH  At first, North Carolinas 2022 primary elections were scheduled for March. Then candidate filing was indefinitely delayed. Then it was back on. Then it was stopped again, for good, with the primary pushed back to May.

And no one knows who made each of those decisions along the way.

The institutions are clear, at least. A panel of three from the N.C. Court of Appeals 15 judges made the first decision to delay. Then the full 15-member court undid that decision. Then the seven-member N.C. Supreme Court undid that undoing, and made the final decision to move the primary back two months  in order to allow time for a gerrymandering trial to happen in the next few weeks, since it could lead to the states electoral districts being redrawn.

But at none of the three stages along the way did the public receive information thats typically made public about court orders  which judges were involved and how each one ruled.

The courts decision was anonymous, said Ralph Hise, a Republican state senator and top redistricting official, in a news release criticizing the ruling. Every election in the state has been suspended, and nobody knows by whom.
The phase two commitments would not be considered until the company creates at least 3,875 jobs and invests at least $3 billion, he said.

3. Fidelity (1,500 jobs)Fidelity, the Boston-based financial services company, has been on a hiring tear in the past year, as millions of Americans began investing online during the pandemic.

That has been a boon to its offices on the Durham County side of Research Triangle Park. Fidelity said, in September, that it would add 1,538 jobs in Research Triangle Park  the companys third expansion this year. The jobs will be focused on technology roles as well as customer-service positions, the company told The N&O.

Fidelity did not provide a salary range for the new jobs, and the state did not offer the company any incentives for the expansion.

4. Google (1,000 jobs)Another jobs announcement that did not require incentives came from the technology giant Google, which said in March that it plans to create 1,000 jobs in downtown Durham in the coming years.

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Durham, Google said, could become one of the companys top five engineering hubs in the U.S., along with the Bay Area, New York, Seattle and Kirkland, Washington.
For the second time in two years, a proposal to restrict motorboat use on the Boulder River in Sweet Grass County will work its way through the Fish, Wildlife & Parks rulemaking process.

This time, however, the proposal is to allow boats with up to 10 horsepower motors to use the river from its confluence with the Yellowstone River upstream to Natural Bridge from April 1 through Sept. 30. No motorboat use would be allowed on the river above Natural Bridge.

Previously, the rulemaking was geared to ban all motorized boat use. The new proposal, unanimously approved by the Fish and Wildlife Commission at its Tuesday meeting, now goes to the public for comment.

That first proposal was upended in April when a new Fish and Wildlife Commission tossed the issue back to an advisory group for reconsideration. The original motorboat ban was based on a petition from 47 Boulder River landowners.

It was my recommendation and my motion that we actually form this working group when the petition was brought to us originally, Commissioner Brian Cebull said.

Seeing the issue as precedent setting, since there are lots of rivers in Montana surrounded by private land, Cebull wanted to make sure all stakeholders had a chance to gather and mull the matter.

Pleased with the outcome, he added, There was something for everyone in there.

The new rule was opposed by the Sweet Grass County Conservation District and the Boulder River Watershed Association, said Dan Rostad, who was a member of the advisory group but works for the conservation district as watershed coordinator.

The Boulder River is not the river for motorized watercraft, he said in speaking for the groups. Its just too small.

Montana Trout Unlimited supported the original petition banning motorboats. TU spokesman Clayton Elliott said the group is concerned about possible damage to riparian areas and aquatic life on the stream.

Big Timber resident Cliff Weller, who was also a member of the advisory group, supported the revised rule and suggested the closure include the Boulder Rivers tributaries, an oversight corrected in an amended motion.

The first proposal came at the request of landowner Tom Patterson, who said last year there were two close calls between jet boats and recreationists using the Boulder River in the summer of 2020. The landowners also said the narrow river has blind corners and is home to irrigation pumps, other nonmotorized boaters, anglers, swimmers, innertubers and livestock that present hazards to upstream powerboats.

Opponents had decried the petition as a way for landowners to restrict use of the river, chipping away at the states stream access law.

Phil Kilbreath of Fish, Wildlife & Parks enforcement division, told the commission in April that collisions between boats are more likely to occur on lakes. The main safety issue on rivers is people without life jackets falling out of boats. As a result, such petitions tend to be more of a social issue, Kilbreath added.

The Boulder is a narrow, rocky stream that drains from the Beartooth and Absaroka mountains. The waterway is a tributary to the Yellowstone River, entering near Big Timber.

Public access points on its 20-mile lower section are limited, making motorized boating a potentially viable means to gain access to portions of the river when conditions allow, FWP wrote in notes provided to the commission in April. Additionally, not all motorized boating uses traditional jets boats; emerging technologies such as electric kayaks could provide access to portions of the Boulder River currently inaccessible.

About a year ago, a different Fish and Wildlife Commission approved a ban on motorboats on the Shields River, citing safety concerns after wardens had seen jet boats meeting that rivers 10 horsepower requirement. At the time, FWPs enforcement staff said wardens were concerned new technology could increase speeds with 10 horsepower engines.

The Shields is also a small tributary to the Yellowstone River, located east of Livingston in Park County.

In 2020, commissioners rejected a request to allow hovercraft access along the Bitterroot and Clark Fork rivers near Missoula where boats are limited to 20 horsepower motors.

In 2017, the Fish and Wildlife Commission denied the "Quiet Waters" petition that would have banned motorized boats on several rivers. The proposal targeted the Yellowstone, Flathead, Marias, Stillwater, Sun, Teton, Bitterroot, Missouri, Swan and Whitefish rivers, with additional changes to several tributaries.

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State wildlife managers will not move forward with a controversial proposal in eight hunting districts to eliminate limited-entry hunting permits for bull elk on private land in favor of general licenses while maintaining permits on public land.

Staff with Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks met with the Montana Fish and Wildlife Commission for a work session Monday afternoon ahead of Tuesdays commission meeting. On Tuesday the commission is set to take up hunting season proposals from the department, which include more than 200 changes as part of a simplification initiative from Director Hank Worsech.

Last week Worsech announced significant proposals for 14 central and eastern Montana hunting districts currently under limited-entry permits for hunting bull elk but also well over legally required population objectives. A proposal for eight of those districts, 411, 417, 426, 535 (newly proposed for 2022), 590, 702, 704 and 705, has drawn backlash from many hunters because it would create different regulations for public and private lands. On private lands, hunting for bull elk would move to a general license while public land hunters would remain under a permitted system.

Social media and email blasts from various hunting groups and personalities have encouraged hunters to attend Tuesdays meeting or testify remotely in opposition to the proposals. Opposition has centered on concerns that the plan unfairly favored landowners that do not allow public access and may exacerbate elk concentrating on private lands.

Support for the proposals has focused on the impacts of high elk numbers to landowners and state law which mandates FWP manage elk populations to objectives, which based in part on landowner tolerance of the animals.

Commissioners described an outpouring of concern and anger from hunters Monday and indicated that it would not receive the commissions support even as a tentative proposal. Whatever package the commission passes Tuesday will go out for public comment before final adoption of regulations in February for the 2023 and 2024 hunting seasons.

Worsech told the commission he would own the decision and that the proposals had gotten more people fired up than anything Ive ever dealt with, but defended them as bringing hunters and landowners to the table to talk about the issue of surging elk populations in many areas. In an effort to quell some of the strong feelings on the proposal, Worsech plans to speak before season-setting gets underway to explain the rationale behind the proposals but then offer an alternative for the commission and the public to consider.

What will be introduced, Worsech and FWP chief of staff Quentin Kujala said in an interview late Monday, will not include differing permit regulations on public and private lands. The districts in question are currently under a 900-series multi-district archery elk permit while rifle permits are set by district. The proposal Worsech will introduce will either move archery hunting to a general license district-wide or make the archery permits unlimited. Rifle permits will be increased by 50%.

Other plans include an appointed elk advisory council, which could work on and make recommendations for regulations and legislation to tackle the often-challenging topic of elk management, Worsech said.

Some commissioners Monday expressed concerns that the backlash from the original proposals could disadvantage what moves forward.

One thing to keep in mind is theres now this distrust, said Commissioner Janna Waller of Florence, noting the messages she has received number in the thousands. She encouraged a statement that would quash the concern she has heard that the proposals are catering to wealthy landowners.

Commissioner Pat Tabor of Whitefish acknowledged the heavy interest that resulted from the proposals in encouraging participation and solutions, but cautioned that good energy and recommendations could be getting lost in the shuffle of this firestorm.

Tuesdays commission meeting begins at 8:30 a.m. in room 317 at the Capitol and will be broadcast on www.fwp.mt.gov.

FWP announced Tuesday's commission meeting with a press release, social media posts and a notice on its website. The work session was not similarly publicized. FWP spokesman Greg Lemon said a notice was posted on the website last Thursday but the agency did not send out a corresponding press release, which he called an "oversight."

Tom Kuglin is the deputy editor for the Lee Newspapers State Bureau. His coverage focuses on outdoors, recreation and natural resources.

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When I became the supreme military commander at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in 2009, the alliance was focused on the war in Afghanistan. But one of the first senior delegations to visit me came to discuss Russia: the military chiefs of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

Ill never forget the tone in their voices as they described the malevolence of Russian President Vladimir Putin. They had the insiders view, as they had ascended through the ranks while their countries were part of the Soviet Union.

The three laid out a persuasive case that Russias 2008 invasion of Georgia was a dress rehearsal for further operations against democracies bordering Russia. So we rewrote the alliances war plans for dealing with that possibility, significantly increasing the level of U.S. support for Eastern Europe.

In 2014, Putins military moved in and seized Crimea. Seven years later, Putin is again setting in place the forces to strike Ukraine, as he seeks to fully sever its relationship with the West. What are the best tools the U.S. and European democracies can use to deter him?

The first is intelligence and strategic communications. By gathering information from all sources (human, electronic, etc.), laying it out coherently and publicizing it globally, Washington can aim to rally a coalition intent on new and stronger punishments.

While the U.S. government cannot reveal sources and methods, it can provide detailed, unclassified briefings. Photos of Russian forces in the field and heavy equipment are worth a thousand words.

Next is cyberwarfare. The National Security Agency and U.S. Cyber Command are surely probing the likely command-and-control systems of a Russian invasion force. But total secrecy isnt always the best approach: Ensuring the Russians can see American efforts moving through that domain, without revealing everything the U.S. can and will do, should help them understand that an invasion will not be a layup. The Russians used cyberattacks very effectively in the earlier assaults on Georgia and Ukraine; they need to know that their advantage there has been blunted.

A third tool is economic. Yes, previous sanctions have not dissuaded the Russian leader. But in a two-hour discussion with Putin on Tuesday, Biden conveyed some of the strong economic and other measures in the event of military escalation.

These should include additional targeted steps by all Western democracies against the highest members of Putins inner circle; tighter sanctions on Russias state-owned banks and its oil and gas sector (recognizing the difficulty of all this given the European dependence on Russian energy); and far broader secondary sanctions against companies doing business in Russia  which would begin to cut Putin off from the global economy.

Finally, the administration must consider the so-called nuclear option: disconnecting Russia from the Swift international payment system used by banks around the world, a penalty that helped devastate Irans economy a decade ago.

In terms of aiding the Ukrainian military, the Pentagon is providing Biden with a significant menu: defensive but lethal missile systems that can stop tanks; motorized artillery and ground transports for troops; advanced drones with strike capability; basic ammunition; and other logistical support.

Finally, Putin despises the idea of Western troops stationed close to Russia. He is seeking security guarantees, including a pledge by NATO not to enlarge eastward, as the price of de-escalation. The West shouldnt buy it: He should be told that an invasion of Ukraine would have the opposite effect, with a dramatic increase American forces in the Baltics, Poland, Romania and Bulgaria.

Putin has moved beyond saber-rattling, even if the likelihood of his launching an attack before the end of the year seems relatively low. He has invaded his democratic neighbors twice in the past 13 years. Letting him get away with it again could set the international system back decades.

James Stavridis is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist.

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Todays Highlight in History:

On Dec. 14, 2020, the Electoral College decisively confirmed Joe Biden as the nations next president, ratifying his November victory in a state-by-state repudiation of President Donald Trumps refusal to concede he had lost; electors gave Biden 306 votes to Trumps 232. Speaking from Delaware, Biden accused Trump of threatening core principles of democracy, but told Americans that their form of self-government had prevailed. A divided Wisconsin Supreme Court rejected Trumps lawsuit seeking to overturn his loss in the battleground state about an hour before the Electoral College cast Wisconsins 10 votes for Biden.

On Dec. 14:

In 1799, the first president of the United States, George Washington, died at his Mount Vernon, Virginia, home at age 67.

In 1819, Alabama joined the Union as the 22nd state.

In 1861, Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, died at Windsor Castle at age 42.

In 1911, Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen and his team became the first men to reach the South Pole, beating out a British expedition led by Robert F. Scott.

In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson vetoed an immigration measure aimed at preventing undesirables and anyone born in the Asiatic Barred Zone from entering the U.S. (Congress overrode Wilsons veto in February 1917.)

In 1939, the Soviet Union was expelled from the League of Nations for invading Finland.

In 1961, a school bus was hit by a passenger train at a crossing near Greeley, Colorado, killing 20 students.

In 1964, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Heart of Atlanta Motel v. United States, ruled that Congress was within its authority to enforce the Civil Rights Act of 1964 against racial discrimination by private businesses (in this case, a motel that refused to cater to Blacks).

In 1981, Israel annexed the Golan Heights, which it had seized from Syria in 1967.

In 1985, former New York Yankees outfielder Roger Maris, whod hit 61 home runs during the 1961 season, died in Houston at age 51.

In 2005, President George W. Bush defended his decision to wage the Iraq war, even as he acknowledged that much of the intelligence turned out to be wrong.

In 2011, President Barack Obama, visiting Fort Bragg in North Carolina, saluted troops returning from Iraq, asserting that the nearly nine-year conflict was ending honorably.

In 2012, a gunman with a semi-automatic rifle killed 20 first-graders and six educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, and then took his own life as police arrived; the 20-year-old had also fatally shot his mother at their home before carrying out the attack on the school.

In 2016, President-elect Donald Trump convened a summit at Trump Tower for nearly a dozen tech leaders whose industry had largely supported Democrat Hillary Clinton; the CEOs included Apples Tim Cook, Googles Eric Schmidt, Amazons Jeff Bezos and Teslas Elon Musk. Trump announced his selection of former campaign rival Rick Perry to be secretary of energy. Yahoo said it believed hackers had stolen data from more than one billion user accounts in Aug. 2013 (in Oct. 2017, Yahoo raised that figure to 3 billion).

In 2020, the largest vaccination campaign in U.S. history began with health workers getting shots on the same day the nations COVID-19 death toll hit 300,000. U.S. government agencies and private companies rushed to secure computer networks after the disclosure of a sophisticated, long-running cyber-espionage intrusion suspected of being carried out by Russian hackers. The owner of the Cleveland Indians said the team would drop the name it had used since 1915; he said it was no longer acceptable in our world. (The team would still be known as the Indians in 2021, with the new name, the Guardians, taking effect after that season.)

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DECATUR  A shoplifter who tried to walk out of a Decatur store carrying a 75-inch television, and then fled after he was spotted, has now been traced and arrested, police report.

A sworn affidavit from Decatur police said the 31-year-old man had tried to steal the television, valued at more than $760, from the Walmart store at 4224 N. Prospect Drive.

A sworn affidavit from Detective Jeremy Appenzeller said store security officers caught him in the act and asked him for a receipt. When he produced one that didnt match the television, he abandoned it and fled in a car driven by a woman.

Appenzeller said the offense happened on July 24 and police traced and arrested him Nov. 26 at the Macon County Jail, where he was already being held on other charges. The detective said police identified the car driver as the mans 36-year-old girlfriend and she helped identify him from store security video images, an identification that had also been confirmed by checking previous Macon County Jail booking photographs.

The man, who has three prior convictions for burglary, was booked on a preliminary charge of retail theft. He also faces unrelated pending charges of aggravated battery to a peace officer, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and home invasion, all connected to incidents in Mount Zion.

His bail is set at $275,000, meaning he must post a bond of $27,500 to be released. All preliminary charges are subject to review by the state's attorneys office.

Contact Tony Reid at (217) 421-7977. Follow him on Twitter: @TonyJReid

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CHICAGO  The toddler announced she was going to be brave shortly before the needle pierced the fleshy part of her right thigh.

Although her big brown eyes widened a bit at the sight of the syringe, she held onto her mothers hands and looked away, managing not to cry or whimper the entire time. Afterward, the little girl proudly showed off the cartoon Tweety bird adhesive bandage placed at the injection site.

You did so good, her mom said, embracing her daughters tiny frame before discussing milkshake flavors, the treat of choice after getting the shot.

Three-year-old Elena Rosales is a volunteer in a Moderna COVID-19 vaccine trial underway at Lurie Childrens Hospital, which is now studying the immunization in children 6 months to 5 years, the last age group to get cleared for coronavirus vaccine testing.

These are the infants and littlest kids who are still ineligible for vaccination against the virus, which has so far infected more than 7 million children nationwide as of earlier this month, according to the Chicago-based American Academy of Pediatrics.

Medical experts have forecast that COVID-19 vaccines could be authorized for children under age 5 sometime in early 2022, as trials like the one at Lurie continue to compile safety and efficacy data on this youngest age range.

While the Pfizer shot was cleared for children aged 5 to 11 in November, many parents of younger kids and babies are still anxiously awaiting vaccine authorization for their little ones as COVID-19 cases surge across much of the country, including Illinois.

Its agonizing to wait for this, said Elenas mother, Mariaelena Lozano, who lives in Chicagos Clearing neighborhood.

Lozano said part of her motivation for enrolling Elena in the Moderna trial was the hope that her daughter would get vaccinated sooner. Three of every four participants in the study are given the Moderna vaccine, while one-quarter of volunteers get a placebo. The study is blinded, meaning participants and their parents dont know whether theyve been given the immunization or not.

Even if Elena is getting a placebo, her mom says their participation in the study  which includes multiple follow-up appointments, blood draws, periodic COVID-19 tests and surveys  will still be worth it.

The sooner we get the trials underway, the sooner we can get vaccine to everyone, said Lozano. Even if she doesnt get the vaccine, it will help all of the littles get their shots. And Im OK with that. Its in the works.

Elena received her second shot at Lurie Dec. 7 and will be monitored for any side effects or reactions as well as her overall health during the trial.

The same day she got her second dose, the first case of the new omicron variant of the virus was reported in Chicago, raising local concerns about the infectiousness of the still-mysterious mutation and underscoring the need to vaccinate as much of the population as possible.

Roughly 120 Chicago-area kids and infants are participating in this part of the Moderna study at Lurie. About half of them are under 2 and the other half are 3 to 5.

The volunteers get two shots of either a low dose of the Moderna vaccine or a placebo, four weeks apart. Lurie is giving the shots to babies and little kids in their thighs because they dont have as much tissue in their upper arms as older children and adults.

Another 60 children 6 to 11 are also volunteering in an earlier part of the study at Lurie to evaluate the Moderna vaccine in bigger kids, which is still ongoing.

Lurie began enrolling children in the study in February and is still recruiting participants.

Across the United States and Canada, thousands of children of all ages are taking part in the Moderna trial at roughly 100 pediatric sites.

Although Moderna has submitted data indicating a smaller dose of its vaccine is safe and effective in kids 6 and up, federal regulators have delayed authorizing the shot for children to further study the rare risk of heart inflammation.

The vaccine has been controversial overseas, with health advisers in Germany, France and other European nations recently recommending individuals under 30 get the Pfizer shot instead because younger Pfizer recipients showed slightly lower rates of rare heart inflammation; the health risks of contracting COVID-19 are still much higher compared with the side effects of vaccination, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

As of now, the Moderna shot is only authorized in the U.S. for those 18 and older.

While Lozano knows the immunization is still considered experimental for children, she says she carefully weighed the benefits of taking part in the trial against the potential risks.

With anything thats not necessarily proven yet, it makes you a little nervous, she said. There was some caution. You never want to risk your kids health. At the same time, I felt she was a lot more susceptible to COVID. It became very clear cut in the end.

Medical experts say safety and patient care are the top priority in any clinical trial, particularly one involving children and infants.

We are very careful about appropriate testing and appropriate follow-up, said Dr. Bill Muller, professor of pediatrics at the Feinberg School of Medicine and an infectious disease specialist at Lurie Childrens Hospital. Being a part of a trial is very different from being a part of regular clinical care. In one way, its a little bit more experimental. In another way, were paying a lot more attention. So that might make people feel a little more reassured.

A terrifying time

The mom has worried about everyone in her family catching COVID-19 throughout the pandemic.

But Lozano has been particularly concerned for Elena, her middle child and the only member of the household who might have no immunity to the virus from either previous infection or vaccination.

Lozano and her partner caught COVID-19 in early August. Both were fully vaccinated and had mild cases, but Lozano at the time was pregnant with their third child and fearful for her unborn baby.

The nation was just starting to learn more about breakthrough cases, and the mother and father were both puzzled that they got sick even after getting their shots.

Their 9-year-old son, Eric, became symptomatic and also tested positive for COVID-19. The only one who had no symptoms was Elena, and she was never tested.

Across the board, it was just a terrifying time, Lozano said.

Since then, Lozano got her booster shot while still pregnant in part to pass on antibodies to her son Ezequiel, who was born a month early in late November and went home recently after a brief stint in the NICU.

Numerous studies have found that pregnant women who received mRNA COVID-19 vaccines passed along high levels of antibodies to their unborn babies.

So the baby would hopefully have some protection there, she said.

Then Eric got vaccinated last month, once the Pfizer vaccine was authorized for his age group. His second dose was scheduled for the day Lozano was discharged from the hospital after giving birth. She recalled the family picked her up and then they all drove straight to the vaccine appointment together.

I just needed to see it, she said. I felt a sense of relief in that moment.

The Latino family was also concerned that the virus was hitting their race alarmingly hard: Latino patients have been 2.5 times as likely to be hospitalized and 2.1 times as likely to die of COVID-19 compared with white patients, according to the CDC.

By November, the only one in their household left with no known protection against the virus was Elena.

I couldnt sleep sometimes thinking about her, Lozano said.

When Lurie officials reached out last month to say Elena was accepted in the trial, it felt almost like divine intervention, she recalled.

While COVID-19 rates among young children are lower than adults  and cases are generally less severe  millions of children have contracted the virus and hundreds have died as of earlier this month, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.

The youngest children also have fewer protections against the virus, as the CDC has advised that children under 2 years old shouldnt wear masks.

It is true that babies and children are less likely to have severe disease from COVID, Muller said, though he noted that many children have been hospitalized for the virus. One day in a hospital is a pretty bad thing for a kid. ... We talk about death as being uncommon, which is fortunate. But even serious illness is a pretty significant thing for a child.

He added that mild or asymptomatic illness in children can also be hard on families. Testing positive might mean missing school, multiple siblings quarantined at a time or child care problems, which can strain families financially.

These kids often have grandparents they want to visit and may have immunocompromised members in their family, he said. We know that kids can transmit to other family members. So thats another reason, to try to protect the people around them.

Unblinding

If a COVID-19 vaccine is authorized for children under 5 before the trial is complete, Elena and other volunteers will have the opportunity to get vaccinated if they received a placebo during the trial.

This was the case for older kids participating in the Moderna study, after the Pfizer vaccine was cleared for kids 5 to 11 last month. Volunteers were then unblinded, meaning the children and families learned whether they received the Moderna vaccine or a placebo.

Placebo recipients were offered either the authorized Pfizer shot or the Moderna vaccine, which is still not authorized.

Muller said every family whose children received the placebo decided to get the Moderna vaccine, to help continue collecting data for the study. All the older kids are still being monitored periodically as the trial continues.

We left it up to the families, Muller said. We talked through the different options. I think most of the families who decided to be in the study in the first place were motivated not just to get the vaccine but also to contribute to having the vaccine available for other kids.

The Chicago Tribune in September reported on four older children in two families who began volunteering in the Moderna trial over the summer.

Last month, all four kids were unblinded and learned they had received the immunization during the trial.

My kids were both given the vaccine  not the placebo  and we were so grateful! " said Shannon Lightner-Gometz of the Bronzeville neighborhood, whose two children are enrolled in the study. I actually got teary when I found out.

She said taking part in the trial has been an amazing experience for her daughter Juliana, 11, and son Gabriel, 8. They were also relieved they wont have to get two more shots to get vaccinated, which would have been the case if they had received a placebo, she said.

Both kids were also excited, especially as it meant that they no longer had to get tested at school, and they did not have to go ahead and have two more injections, she said.

Tzeittle Gonzalez of Chicagos Bucktown neighborhood said she and her two daughters were very excited, happy and relieved to find out theyd received the vaccine in the study.

Six-year-old Eden experienced some side effects  vomiting, fever and fatigue  following the shot, so Gonzalez had suspected her injections were vaccine.

She stayed home from school for a couple of days, the mom recalled. Her side effects were manageable with Tylenol and there was no cause for alarm.

Nine-year-old Gia didnt have any symptoms, so the mom was surprised her older daughter had also been vaccinated.

I feel fortunate that the girls received the vaccine during the trial but if they hadnt, I wouldve absolutely made an appointment as soon as one was available, she said.

She added that she has no reservations about her decision to enroll the girls in the vaccine trial, and would do so over again, given the chance.

The girls were aware of the process from the beginning, they knew why they were participating and were comfortable with the process, she said. As a society, we have used vaccines for a very long time. The difference with this particular one (is) that its been politicized.

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Vladimir Putin thinks the Soviet Union was a great, marvelous, unmatched world power, the Roman Empire in modern setting, a historical miracle spun by Russias cultural and ethnic superiority with lots of nuclear weapons, to boot. And he wants it back, starting with the nation of Ukraine, peopled, as he sees it, by residents in most ways Russian themselves. He has a Soviet tactic in mind. Attack that country. Make it part of the whole again.

President Joe Biden, more than a little bit upset by this other president and his amassing tens of thousands of troops on Ukraines border, says no, no, many times no and recently threatened sanctions in a trans-Atlantic video session with Putin. Biden is falling short, but gets it that Ukraine is now an advancing democracy and wants to go its own way despite once being the most important part of Russia. Ukraine is already combatting Russia-supported rebels and Biden understands that Hungary, Poland and the Baltic states could be next in line for takeovers. The threat is also to Europe, just as Putin sees a threat to the new Soviet Union if he does not ward off NATO and Europe by making sure that certain border nations belong to him.

Yes, its the case that Russia is dwindling in population and wealth, with the selling of gas and oil pretty much a definition of its limited economy. What it lacks in money, however, it makes up for in nuclear weaponry, enough to just maybe blow up half the universe, and the development of hypersonic missiles that the United States does not have. Putin himself also possesses an overload of ambition in wanting to restore what Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and President Ronald Reagan helped take apart, a monster instigating war and implanting oppression around the world while threatening the United States by such means as nuclear missiles in Cuba.

And, therefore, Biden said look, Putin, if you move ahead with your plans, Biden is going to make it impossible for Russia to deal with financial imperatives by having international banks say go away. Biden said, too, that he would let no gas and oil flow through the recently constructed Nord Stream 2 pipeline to Germany if an invasion took place. A spokesman said major European nations are on board with Biden about economic sanctions as well as his supplying Ukraine with defensive weaponry. Biden agreed with Putin on no offensive weaponry.

Will any of this work? Given Bidens record of backing up, giving up, carelessness and disappearing from action, probably not. For reasons of averting climate change threats, Biden had previously threatened sanctions against companies building the pipeline, but changed his mind out of courtesy to Germany even as he had terminated an important U.S. pipeline.

Afghanistan is the biggest example of his recklessly scooting from the scene; desperate Americans were left behind along with billions in U.S. weaponry after the killing of U.S. troops. One consequence of the swift, absolutely-in-charge Taliban takeover has been the ongoing starvation of a million children, a matter reported by The New York Times and something Biden cheerleaders should consider.

Putin wasnt deterred from much by President Barack Obamas sanctions after Russia facilitated Crimeas separation from Ukraine, and Russia can, to some extent, rely more on China and other parts of Asia if Europe gets tough. As others have suggested, a much, much better way to proceed would be to institute all the mentioned sanctions and far more right now, this minute, a punishment for Russian troops threatening the nation that would go away when the troops went away.

No one wants a war with Russia, and none of this would likely cause one. But such a war is more likely if Russia keeps marching along as it pleases, perhaps figuring that nothing all that bad is going to happen or last long.

Jay Ambrose is an op-ed columnist for Tribune News Service. speaktojay@aol.com.

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Donnette Beckett "Together Decatur" Columnist and Food/Drink Reporter Together Decatur columnist and food and drink reporter for Lee Enterprises Central Illinois. Follow Donnette Beckett Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today

FORSYTH  When it comes to spreading Christmas cheer, Santa can keep his sleigh.

The Harley Grinch prefers to do it from the seat of a Harley-Davidson motorcycle and he has gained quite the following the past couple weeks, wheeling up to numerous events around Decatur.

If you get a chance to make anybody smile, take it, said Gary Garner, donning his fuzzy Grinch costume and Santa Claus suit during an appearance at Coziahr Harley-Davidson to support a toy drive going on there. He was joined by "Martha Mae"  AKA his wife, Mindy.

While there he got to visit with 5-year-old Aryanna Watkins, who was wearing a shirt and pants with pictures of the Grinch on them.

I like the movie when he gets in the sleigh and crashes, said Aryanna, 5, said. But I dont like him taking the presents.

Although Grinch has a mischievous reputation, Garner, who admittedly loves "How the Grinch Stole Christmas," wants to bring joy to the holidays, much like the Grinch  with a heart that had grown three sizes  does at the end of the Dr. Seuss story.

The first outing for the Harley Grinch was WANDs Spirit of Giving event on Dec. 3, where, with toys in his sack, Garner showed the size of his giving heart.

By then I was apparently all over Facebook, he said. I didnt expect it to go like this.

With all of the attention the Harley Grinch has been given, he decided to use the notoriety for good.

He has since made appearances at a Salvation Army concert and two parades, among other places. For his next scheduled trip, Harley Grinch will be visiting Northeast Community Fund from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 18, to help with the food pantry.

Garner understands the need to show others love and affection, especially during the holidays. As a child, he was often the recipient of social service donations.

We had to depend on the Salvation Army for gifts and stuff, he said.

After three years of fostering their daughter, Garner and his wife recently adopted the young girl.

Im just giving back to the groups I have ties with, he said.

Some of the invitations to visit an event often come with a check, which Garner urges the person to instead donate to a local organization.

Im not in it for anything, he said. Just giving people smiles.

To follow where the Harley Grinch has been, visit the Harley Grinch Sightings Facebook page.

Contact Donnette Beckett at (217) 421-6983. Follow her on Twitter: @donnettebHR

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As Provoking Hopes office manager, Anne Muilenburg has seen the devastating effects of drug addiction and also experienced it first-hand. She says her addiction started as many in America did, after her physician prescribed opioids. They were for a painful spinal bone spur. Ten years later, using her prescription and buying two other people's prescriptions, she was taking 35 pills per day, far exceeding the maximum dosage.

It wasnt even enough to make me feel high. It was just enough to not make me sick, Muilenburg said. She described opiate withdrawal  experienced when she would run out of pills  as the worst feeling ever.

It makes you feel like somebody's peeling your skin off, she recalled in her small office, decorated with posters with sayings like be kind and stay humble.

Muilenburg finally got treatment but then drug jumped to alcohol and methamphetamine. She wound up losing her job at a car dealership and splitting with her husband, though they have since reunited. She was in and out of jail and found herself living on the street.

My being homeless was one of the things that led me to wanting to change my life, Muilenburg said.
The filing also alleges the mishandling of biweekly Environmental Protection Agency status reports and various violations presented by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ).

In the Notice of Intent, the city of Bristol, Tennessee announced it will be presenting the city of Bristol, Virginia with a common law nuisance and negligence claim because of its growing concerns over the potential health risks to Bristol, Tennessee residents and its sister citys alleged repeated violations and continuous failure to act.

The NOI is not a lawsuit. It does not include a demand for damages to be paid or close the door to working alongside the city of Bristol, Virginia to solve the landfill problem in a nonjudicial setting. The city of Bristol, Virginia has 60 days to respond to the allegations in the NOI or reach a settlement with the city of Bristol, Tennessee. After that, Bristol, Tennessee may proceed with a lawsuit.

Joel Kellogg, the co-founder of HOPE for Bristol, said the NOI may serve as a final wakeup call for the city of Bristol, Virginia.

The intent is to persuade them (Bristol, Virginia) to get this landfill up to standard and then maintain it from there on out. Its just a shame that they (Bristol, Tennessee) have to do that. But somebody has to because the DEQ has not done that. The EPA has not done that. So this is what the city of Bristol, Tennessee can do to try and get this thing under control, to try and get relief for its residents, Kellogg said.
All of seven of the inmates in Daniel's care survived, Workman said, with two of them suffering broken legs.

A cousin, Mark Saxton Sr., said Daniel was a native of the Mayfield area that was devastated by the storm.

He loved his community, Saxton said. He was a great family man. Everybody who met him just loved him. Hes the type of person you want to be associated with.

Brian Crick, a judge for two western Kentucky counties, was known for his sound judgment when it came to solving problems, a fellow judge said.

Crick, 43, was a district judge for Muhlenberg and McLean counties who handled criminal misdemeanor cases, traffic court and juvenile cases, said Circuit Judge Brian W. Wiggins. Wiggins said he has known his fellow judge since 2005, when Crick was a public defender. He later was in private practice before taking the bench in 2011.

Many of the defendants who came before him werent represented by attorneys, and Crick was very good about seeing to it that their rights were protected, Wiggins said. He had a very common sense approach. He was very level-headed about how to handle cases and how to talk to people.
Northam, who grew up in rural Accomack County , said, This has really been personal to me.

As the governor prepares to leave office next month, he said the state has expanded its funding of the telecommunications initiative from $4 million a year when he took office in 2018 up to $50 million in the current fiscal year.

But the biggest boost, about $700 million, came from Virginias share of federal funds in the American Rescue Plan Act, which Congress passed in March.

Altogether, Virginia has invested $846 million in state and federal funds to expand high-speed internet service to more than 429,000 homes and businesses, and used the money to leverage more than $1 billion from local government and private industry.

The original plan was to get this done in 10 years, and were going to get it done in six years, said Evan Feinman, broadband advisor to Northam. About 90% of the digital divide will be closed.

Hanover County received a state grant of almost $14 million to build fiber-optic networks to reach 6,198 homes and businesses, and achieve universal coverage. The state grant to Hanover and All Points Broadband will leverage $41 million for the project.

A $7.5 million grant also went to Dinwiddie County and Ruralband fiber-optic network to serve 1,622 people in the county. Amelia and Nottoway counties are part of another project that will extend broadband to almost 25,000 unserved locations in six counties.
As a Wall Street Journal editorial accurately put it: The Biden administrations problem is that it came into office believing that the main threat to world stability was Donald Trump. The editorial adds: China is buying Iranian oil in violation of U.S. sanctions, but the U.S. is also doing little about that. (A) Biden official said that was best handled diplomatically and that the President had taken it up directly with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Mr. Biden weakened Mr. Trumps maximum pressure campaign against Irans nuclear program and has put nothing but diplomatic entreaties in its place.

Rogue regimes only engage in diplomacy if they think they can pick the pocket of their adversary.

The West too often believes everyone wants to be like us. If that were true, wouldnt they already be more like us?

Evil must be opposed, or it grows in nations, as well as in individuals. The crime wave in America is partly the result of soft-on-crime judges, prosecutors, district attorneys and calls to defund the police. Criminals naturally see this weakness as an opportunity to loot and kill, fearing few, if any, consequences.
Im not going to preclude any of the officers from testifying that, based upon their training and experience, that deadly force or use of Taser was appropriate under the circumstances, Chu said.

She also denied prosecutors request to question police officers about union membership. They argued that Potter had roles in the union, including as president, that gave her an elevated level of respect among her coworkers. They wanted to ask officers about it so that jurors could evaluate any potential bias toward Potter.

Chu said she rejected the motion because Potter is no longer connected to the police union in any way and testifying witnesses couldnt possibly be biased to testify in her favor because of her position.

Chu also ruled Tuesday that if Potter is convicted of one or both of the counts against her, she would preside over a separate trial to determine if there were aggravating factors that would allow Chu to give Potter a sentence above what the state's guidelines suggest.

Without the jury present, prosecutors told the judge they had been operating under the impression that these issues would be presented during this trial, but Gray said Potter had never agreed to that.
" " In a confrontation at the Statehouse in Jamestown, Nathaniel Bacon (center) demanded that Gov. William Berkeley (on steps) give him a military commission that would authorize him to attack Native Americans on the frontier. Colonial Williamsburg

Bacon's Rebellion was a conflict that started like a lot of disagreements  with a drunken argument. But this short-lived uprising in 17th century Colonial America is considered to have had long-term consequences for Colonial settlements, policies toward Native Americans and concepts of race in North America.

The incident took place in Colonial Virginia from 1676 to 1677, and because it was 100 years before the American Revolution, Bacon's Rebellion was once posited as a sort of precursor to overthrowing tyranny. In fact, Thomas Jefferson considered rebellion leader, Nathaniel Bacon, a patriot.

But contemporary historians view Bacon's Rebellion in light of the conflict between colonists and Native Americans, as well as for the effects it had on the way ideas about race developed in the American Colonies.

Bacon was a relative newcomer to Virginia when he launched the rebellion. So how did he manage to rally enough support to spark a conflict that would change the course of history?

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Nathanial Bacon the Man

" " Nathaniel Bacon's likeness in stained glass at Preservation Virginia's Bacon's Castle in Surry, Virginia Colonial Williamsburg

Born in Suffolk, England in 1647, Bacon had been packed off to the Virginia colony by his father because he had attempted to defraud a 16-year-old neighbor, according to James Rice, Walter S. Dickson professor and chair, department of history, Tufts University, who says Bacon was considered a "very unpleasant fellow."

This seems to be the general consensus about the historical figure. The National Park Service website says "Bacon was a troublemaker and schemer whose father sent him to Virginia in the hope that he would mature."

Personality notwithstanding, things got off to an auspicious start for Bacon. He arrived in Virginia in 1675, and thanks to his connections  he was related to Governor William Berkeley by marriage  Bacon received both a land grant and a seat on the Governor's Council, according to the Virginia Museum of History & Culture. However, his arrival coincided with a crisis in Virginian's economic, social and political order in which he would soon become embroiled.

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Trouble in Virginia

Virginia's tobacco planters had experienced falling tobacco prices in a colony with economic disparity between the larger landowning planters and small planters, poor immigrants and freed slaves. Most of the locals were not involved in political life and non-landowners could not vote. In addition to these challenges to stability, Virginia colonists had varying opinions about how to manage relations with the native peoples and local tribes.

At the same time, war had erupted between the Susquehannock Indians and the colonists, which started with a "petty trading dispute," Rice said in "Bacon's Rebellion in Indian Country," a 2014 piece he wrote for Journal of American History. There were two ideas about how to respond.

Gov. Berkeley thought the best course of action would be to wage war against the Susquehannock but remain at peace with other neighboring tribes. Others, including Bacon, disagreed and felt that the conflict presented an opportunity to exterminate all the natives, period.

And it wasn't just Bacon, Rice says. Some of the area's wealthy planters also wanted to go further than the governor's plan of limited warfare. Bacon took control of an encampment of volunteer militiamen to fight the Susquehannock and other tribes.

Who were these militia? It's hard to know, according to Rice. He says there has been a myth that Bacon's rebels comprised poor Western (frontier) planters against rich Eastern planters; that it was an uprising from the bottom up. However, the socioeconomic status of the militia is difficult to pin down, and there is evidence of rich planters from the frontier, like Bacon himself and William Byrd, who was one of the men who recruited him, among them.

The historiography has focused on a civil war between Virginians, and the Indians have been pushed the margins of the story, Rice says. But Bacon's Rebellion was really about fighting the Indians more than a disagreement between poor and rich colonists.

" " A group of Virginian rebels led by Nathaniel Bacon set fire to Jamestown in a protest against Gov. William Berkeley. Many of the colonists were unhappy with Berkeley's failure to protect them from Native American attacks and burned Jamestown to the ground. MPI/Getty Images

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Bacon's Stance

What is known for sure is that in August 1676, Bacon issued a "Declaration of Grievances." In it, he took opposition to Berkeley's imposition of unjust taxes, favoritism and failure to properly promote trade. The grievances also noted the governor's inability to protect colonists from attacks by Indians, specifically:

For having, when the army of English was just upon the track of those Indians, who now in all places burn, spoil, murder and when we might with ease have destroyed them who then were in open hostility, for then having expressly countermanded and sent back our army by passing his word for the peaceable demeanor of the said Indians, who immediately prosecuted their evil intentions, committing horrid murders and robberies in all places, being protected by the said engagement and word past of him the said Sir William Berkeley, having ruined and laid desolate a great part of His Majesty's country, and have now drawn themselves into such obscure and remote places and are by their success so emboldened and confirmed by their confederacy so strengthened that the cries of blood are in all places, and the terror and consternation of the people so great, are now become not only difficult but a very formidable enemy who might at first with ease have been destroyed.

Bacon and his militia began to raid, loot and kill, despite Berkeley's refusal to recognize his vigilante group. Once the rebellion got going, it settled into a sort of rhythm, according to Rice. Bacon led his militia against both the Pamunkey and Occaneecheee Indians. When threatened by the governor, he turned back and trained his guns on the governor. This happened several times.

"There was a lot of back and forth," says Rice. "It went on like that for months." In September, the militia captured Jamestown and burned much of it to the ground.

But then suddenly, Bacon died  not in battle, but of sickness  possibly typhus, on Oct. 26, 1676. His body was buried in a secret location to keep the governor from putting it on display, according to Rice.

But Bacon's Rebellion didn't die with him.

"The underlying reasons for the rebellion didn't just disappear because he did," says Rice. However, at that point, the militia, for the most part, stopped fighting the Indians and the conflict became more of a civil war. The Berkeley loyalists were able to achieve final victory by controlling the waterways just a few days before a thousand Redcoats arrived by ship.

It's in these later stages that the majority of the rebel militia was made up of poor planters and enslaved Africans, explains Rice. They had the most to lose if captured and the most to gain if they won.

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The Aftermath of Bacon's Rebellion

"Some of the basic issues that had been in play during the rebellion weren't really resolved," says Rice. One question was where unfree labor would come from. The General Assembly did pass laws that made it easier to enslave the native Indians, but the more general question of conquest of the Indians was left up in the air. And a division persisted between more of a "genocidal vision" and the governor's desire to remove native peoples in a slower way.

Some scholars have explored the ways Bacon's Rebellion shifted overall notions of race in the colonies. Bacon built his militia with both white and Black indentured servants, and enslaved Black people who joined in exchange for freedom. The power struggle was between Bacon and his rebellion on one side and wealthy planters on the other.

In an interview with PBS, historian Ira Berlin explained that before the rebellion, distinctions were made between Blacks and whites, but their lives could be relatively similar. For example, some people of African descent were landowners, while some people of European descent were indentured servants.

After the Rebellion, wealthy white planters were alarmed. To protect their status, they shifted their reliance on indentured servants to favor more Black slaves. The rebellion eventually led to the consolidation of the planter class.

As for the relationship between the colonists and the Indians, after England's Glorious Revolution led to a change of power in 1689, new Colonial leaders' ideas about how to deal with native peoples aligned more with those of Bacon and his followers  that is they become more aggressive.

Now That's Interesting Nathaniel Bacon died of the "bloodie flux" and "lousey disease," inspiring the 17th century jingle, "Bacon is Dead I am sorry at my hart That lice and flux should take the hangman's part."
Anthony Evans, president of the Cabarrus Professional Firefighters Association, talked with the Independent Tribune about North Carolina firefighters finally getting presumptive benefits.

He said the new benefits will take some of the stress off a firefighter who is newly diagnosed.

We worked really hard with legislators with six years of really strong fighting to get this. We are tired of seeing our brothers and sisters dying without getting assistance, he said. I think it is not going to only help the initial fiscal worry but also taking care of yourself. Cancer is a long battle. It lets you focus on you and your family and your diagnosis.

Evans said that, previously, firefighters in other areas of the state, like Raleigh and Asheville, ran out of sick leave while dealing with their diagnosis, but these new benefits offer a longer time period off and fiscal security.

The struggle is just as true close to home.

Evans said the news about a fellow firefighter being diagnosed is common.

It has been such a constant thing of people getting a cancer diagnosis, he said.
Ronan was moved to the North Carolina Zoo based on a recommendation by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA).

We are so excited to welcome Ronan to the Zoo, Curator of Mammals Jay Stutz said in the news release. He is settling in well and already building meaningful relationships with his keepers. We all look forward to the experiences that he will share with our guests and staff.

Zookeepers at the Reid Park Zoo describe Ronan as a mellow bear. Stephanie Norton, Animal Welfare Specialist, said in the release: "Ronan has always been a calm and easygoing bear who quickly became a favorite with all of the keepers who worked with him. He has grown into an adult bear at Reid Park Zoo and will definitely be missed, but everyone here is so excited for his chance to continue to grow and experience new things at his new home."

Male grizzlies in the wild live about 22 years and weigh 400-700 pounds. They can run at speeds of 30 mph for short distances.

Once prevalent throughout western North America, there are currently about 55,000 wild grizzly bears on the continent, most of which live in Alaska. Approximately 1,500 grizzlies inhabit the lower 48 states of the U.S.

For more information about nuisance bear issues, visit https://bearwise.org/.
Should the UNC System headquarters be moved from Chapel Hill to Raleigh where it could be conveniently closer to other state educational agencies and the state legislature that has ultimate control over it?

In its recently adopted budget bill, the legislature provided for this move. Nobody argues with its power to direct such a move. But there is a widespread difference of opinion about the wisdom of this action.

I will share some of these different views and then tell you my own thoughts.

Respected columnist and longtime observer of North Carolina government and culture, Tom Campbell, writes that the move would be a good development. Despite disagreeing with the senate majority leader, Phil Berger, about many educational issues, Campbell thinks a university move to Raleigh would be positive.

Even though Campbell supports the move to Raleigh, he criticizes legislators for meddling in university life, writing that their hackles have really been raised by our state supported universities, which they contend doesnt offer enough conservative philosophy to balance liberal teachings.
MOUNT AUBURN  A 24-year-old man is in stable condition after being trapped Monday in a privately-owned grain bin.

The Christian County Sheriff's Office received a 911 call at 9:15 a.m. about the incident at a farm near Mount Auburn, said Sheriff Bruce Kettlekamp.

Approximately 15 personnel were sent to remove the man from the soybeans stored in the large grain bin, said Springfield Fire Chief Brandon Blough.

The team was able to reach the man, who was submerged to his chest, around 10:15 a.m. They wrapped him in a rescue harness that allowed them to suspend him while other team members cut holes in the bin's exterior to allow the beans to flow out, thereby freeing him.

It took almost three hours for the bean level to be lowered enough to get him out. Flight medics treated him in the bin, then flew him to HSHS St. John's Hospital in Springfield.

The Springfield team was assisted on scene by fire departments from Taylorville, Mount Auburn, Stonington and Decatur, Operating Engineers, Saint's Flight, and Dunn's Ambulance.

The man's identity has not been released.

According to the Agricultural Safety and Health Program at Purdue University, Illinois had 10 grain bin entrapment cases in 2020, more than any other state.

Because moving grain acts similarly to quicksand, tragedy can strike in seconds. The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration says a worker standing in moving grain will be trapped within five seconds and covered by grain in less than 30 seconds.

OSHA notes that more than half of deaths in grain entrapment cases are would-be rescuers and about seven in 10 occur on family farms.

Contact Valerie Wells at (217) 421-7982. Follow her on Twitter: @modgirlreporter

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DECATUR, Ill.  Velma L. Copeland, a former Decatur nursing home charge nurse who went shopping with a dead patients credit card, took a plea deal Monday and was sentenced to 24 months probation.

Copeland, 48, had been due to face a jury trial Monday in Macon County Circuit Court on charges of aggravated identity theft, unlawful possession of a credit card and illegal drug possession.

The plea deal negotiated by her defense attorney, Kevin Markes, saw the aggravated identity theft charge amended to identity theft, a Class 4 felony. Judge Rodney Forbes then agreed to dismiss the remaining charges.

The judge further ordered that Copeland, who lives in Kincaid, undergo an evaluation for substance abuse and complete any recommended treatment.

A sworn affidavit from Decatur police about the case said an 84-year-old man died Nov. 24, 2020, while a patient at Fair Havens Senior Living facility. His 55-year-old daughter called detectives Dec. 22 after discovering some 21 transactions racked up on her fathers credit card from the day of his death through Dec. 2.

Items charged ranged from a $405 utility bill to a video game for $299, along with other charges for food, gas and a dog collar, adding up to a total of more than $1,700. Detective Adam Siefman said he pulled surveillance footage from various stores and businesses that matched the time of the transactions which showed Copeland, sometimes still dressed in nursing scrubs, using the dead patients Discover Card.

Siefman checked with the nursing home and found it was Copeland who had been working as the charge nurse for the unit on the day the patient died and the day after.

During a Miranda interview, Velma admitted to finding the credit card under the bedside table where the victim was housed after he passed, said Siefman in the affidavit. Velma admitted to taking the credit card and making purchases using (the patients) credit card

Velma claimed she had been without a job for approximately six months prior to her employment at Fairhavens and had no money.

The guilty plea in the Decatur case doesnt end Copelands legal problems, however. Court records show that, at the time of the Decatur crime, she was on first offender probation out of Christian County after pleading guilty in December of 2019 to a charge of methamphetamine possession.

Before passing sentence Monday, Judge Forbes warned Copeland: ...Its possible this plea of guilty could be used to violate your first offender probation status, you understand that?

Yes, your honor, Copeland replied.

Christian County Circuit Court records show the state filed a petition to revoke her probation status March 24 and Copeland is due in court on that case Wednesday.

Contact Tony Reid at (217) 421-7977. Follow him on Twitter: @TonyJReid

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HAMMOND, Ind.  The U.S. Attorneys office is recommending a 37-month prison sentence for a Chicago man who pleaded guilty Sept. 16 to the illicit possession of two firearms after a confrontation with police for refusing to extinguish his marijuana cigarette near the Indiana-Illinois border.

Hammond police found the two guns June 28 in the possession of Clarence Brown, 30, outside the Walmart, 1105 Fifth Ave., Hammond.

Indiana is one of only 14 states that hasnt legalized the smoking of marijuana, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Its recreational use became legal in neighboring Illinois last year and Michigan in 2018. Ohio legalized medical marijuana use in 2016.

A 2018 poll of Indiana adults found more than 8 in 10 Hoosiers support some form of marijuana legalization.

The Indiana Democratic Party and Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr. are now advocating for the legalization of marijuanas recreational use.

State Sen. Rodney Pol, D-Ogden Dunes, said he too plans to introduce legislation that would legalize the possession of 2 ounces or less of marijuana for adults. He said it would remain a status violation for juveniles, like alcohol.

Pol said a survey of Michigan marijuana dispensaries indicated half their customers were Hoosiers. He said postponing legalization would deny Indiana, an agricultural state, one of the biggest money-making crops currently on the market.

State Sen. Eddie Melton, D-Gary, said this weekend he is preparing a bill that would do just that, although its prospects for passage in a Republican-dominated state legislature remain doubtful.

Republican Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb repeatedly has said he wont authorize it in the Hoosier State so long as it remains illegal at the federal level.

However, Indiana has softened enforcement of marijuana possession in small amounts, according to John Cantrell, a veteran Lake County, Indiana, defense attorney.

Area prosecutors rarely seek jail time, unless an arrest involves large, wholesale amounts. Most arrests end with charges dropped under a conditional discharge policy.

Cantrell said, We are living in a time comparable to the days when of prohibition of alcohol when people would duck into speakeasies and gangsters, like Al Capone, controlled its distribution. It's shameful.

Brown was never charged with marijuana possession. Instead, he must answer for the two firearms found in his car.

One was a ghost gun under the drivers seat  so-called because markings that would indicate its make, model and serial number had been obliterated.

The second gun, found in a backpack in the cars back seat was a Taurus .357 Magnum revolver. Both guns were loaded with live rounds of ammunition.

It was illegal for Brown to possess any firearms because he has been a felon since his 2011 conviction for armed robbery in Illinois.

Brown told police after his arrest that he found the two guns only three hours earlier in the backyard of some Chicago residence and was intending to turn them over to Chicago police. But he never got to do that because he first drove to the Walmart, about 1,000 feet east of the Illinois-Indiana state line.

The store is frequented by Chicago residents attracted to Walmarts discounted prices and Indianas lower taxes.

Hammond police officer Coty Sparks, who was working as a security guard at the store, noticed Brown and a female smoking marijuana late that afternoon outside the pharmacy doors.

Court papers state Brown has been smoking marijuana since age 11 with only one break in his habit  the seven years and three months he spent in an Illinois prison for his armed robbery.

He told court officials he also uses ecstasy, another recreational drug, on a daily basis.

Sparks told the pair to put out their marijuana cigarettes and leave the property.

Brown walked to his car in the parking lot and resumed smoking marijuana in plain sight of Sparks, who radioed for back up for help in escorting Brown away from the store.

A routine search for firearms turned up the two weapons. He has remained in federal detention since his arrest in July.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin F. Wolff stated in a memo to the court this week that Brown should receive 37 months imprisonment for his weapons violations.

No sentencing date is currently set for Brown.

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The owner of a small taqueria on the Southside has opened up a high-end Mexican seafood restaurant on South Stratford Road.

Ranferi Ran Ramirez, the owner of Taco Rico Taqueria at 631 E. Sprague St., opened Mariscos Marlin Bar & Grill on Nov. 29. The new restaurant is at 2438 S. Stratford Road. For years, that was the location of Cities Bar & Grill, but the building has sat vacant since Cities went out of business in early 2019.

The new restaurant is a stark contrast to the small and casual Taco Rico. Mariscos Marlin is big. It can seat 285 people, not including the covered patio, which can be enclosed and heated during the winter.

Ive always loved seafood. And Winston-Salem doesnt really have anything like this, high-end, serving Mexican or Hispanic food, Ramirez said.

A large fountain greets visitors outside the front door of Mariscos Marlin. A huge marlin hangs above the hosts station in the entranceway. Just beyond that is a sunken dining area with a wall-mounted TV about 8 by 15 feet. A separate dining room to the left can be used for private parties up to about 100 people. To the right is a full bar, plus more tables and booths and access to the patio.
GREENSBORO  A Greensboro police officer was shot in her leg during a struggle Monday afternoon outside of an IHOP restaurant, according to Greensboro police.

The officer had responded to a call regarding a domestic disturbance at the IHOP at 1101 Lanada Road just before 2 p.m., police spokesman Ron Glenn said.

The officer, whom police did not immediately identify, was involved in a struggle outside the IHOP with one of the people involved in the domestic dispute, Glenn said.

During that struggle, he said, the officer was shot in the leg.

Glenn said he could not yet say who fired the shot, including whether it was the officer, nor whether the gun fired was the officers weapon.

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The officer was taken to the hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening, he said.

The other person involved in the struggle was arrested, but Glenn said he could not say what charges were filed.

That person had minor injuries and was treated at the scene, he said.

Officers did close the restaurant after the shooting, and it was unclear if it has reopened.
Its iconic volcano fountain was among Las Vegass first strip-side attractions, pre-dating the Venetians canals and the Bellagios fountains. It was known as a venue where tourists could see Siegfried and Roy taming white tigers or a Cirque du Soleil act set to a Beatles soundtrack.

It wasnt immediately clear if the volcano will remain at the property, which MGM Resorts acquired in 2000.

As traditional gambling industry players shift their business focus to sports betting and expand in markets in Asia and the Middle East, the sale reflects the growing presence of tribal-run enterprises on the Strip.

When the Connecticut-based Mohegan Tribe opened a casino at the new Virgin Hotels Las Vegas earlier this year, it became the first tribe to operate a Las Vegas casino.

And gaming regulators are expected this week to issue a decision on the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians' bid to acquire the off-strip hotel-casino, The Palms.

The underlying Mirage real estate is now owned by MGM Growth Properties, which is being bought by New York-based VICI Properties in a $17.2 billion deal expected to close next year.
National

AP

Officials: Outages could last weeks

MAYFIELD, Ky.  Residents of Kentucky counties where tornadoes killed dozens of people could be without heat, water or electricity in frigid temperatures for weeks or longer, state officials warned Monday, as the toll of damage and deaths came into clearer focus in five states slammed by the swarm of twisters.

Kentucky authorities said the sheer level of destruction was hindering their ability to tally the damage from Friday night's storms. At least 88 people  including 74 in Kentucky  were killed by the tornado outbreak that also destroyed a nursing home in Arkansas, heavily damaged an Amazon distribution center in Illinois and spread its deadly effects into Tennessee and Missouri.

In Kentucky, as searches continued for the missing, efforts also turned to repairing the power grid, sheltering those whose homes were destroyed and delivering drinking water and other supplies.

Were not going to let any of our families go homeless," Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said in announcing that lodges in state parks were being used to provide shelter.

In Mayfield, one of the hardest-hit towns, those who survived faced a high in the 50s and a low below freezing Monday without utilities.

Our infrastructure is so damaged. We have no running water. Our water tower was lost. Our wastewater management was lost, and theres no natural gas to the city. So we have nothing to rely on there, Mayfield Mayor Kathy Stewart ONan said on CBS Mornings. So that is purely survival at this point for so many of our people.

Across the state, about 26,000 homes and businesses were without electricity, according to poweroutage.us, including nearly all of those in Mayfield. More than 10,000 homes and businesses have no water, and 17,000 are under boil-water advisories, Kentucky Emergency Management Director Michael Dossett told reporters.

President Joe Biden said Monday that he will travel to Kentucky on Wednesday to view damage from the storms.

Kentucky was the worst hit by far in the cluster of twisters across several states, remarkable because they came at a time of year when cold weather normally limits tornadoes. At least 74 people died in the state, Beshear said Monday, offering the first specific count of the dead.

In Bowling Green, Kentucky, 11 people died on the same street, including two infants found among the bodies of five relatives near a residence, Warren County coroner Kevin Kirby said.

Beshear warned that it could take days longer to pin down the full death toll, with door-to-door searches impossible in some places.

With this amount of damage and rubble, it may be a week or even more before we have a final count on the number of lost lives, the governor said.

Initially as many as 70 people were feared dead in the Mayfield Consumer Products candle factory, but the company said Sunday that eight deaths were confirmed, while more than 90 others had been located. Bob Ferguson, a spokesman for the company, said many employees gathered in a tornado shelter, then left the site and were hard to reach because phone service was out.

Debris from destroyed buildings and shredded trees covered the ground in Mayfield, a city of about 10,000 in western Kentucky. Twisted sheet metal, downed power lines and wrecked vehicles lined the streets. Windows were blown out and roofs torn off the buildings that were still standing.

Five twisters hit Kentucky in all, including one with an extraordinarily long path of about 200 miles, authorities said.

In addition to the deaths in Kentucky, the tornadoes also killed at least six people in Illinois, where the Amazon distribution center in Edwardsville was hit; four in Tennessee; two in Arkansas, where the nursing home was destroyed and the governor said workers shielded residents with their own bodies; and two in Missouri.

Not far from Mayfield, 67 people spent Sunday night at a church serving as a shelter in Wingo, and 40 more were expected to arrive Monday. Organizers were working to find a mobile outdoor shower facility and a laundry truck, expecting many of the displaced to need a long-term place to stay. Volunteers were scrambling to meet more immediate needs, too, such as underwear and socks.

Lifelong Mayfield resident Cynthia Gargis, 51, is staying with her daughter after the storm tore off the front of her apartment and sucked out almost everything inside. She came to the shelter to offer help and visit with friends who lost their homes.

I dont know, I dont see how well ever get over this, she said. It wont ever be the same.

Glynda Glover, 82, said she had no idea how long she would stay at the Wingo shelter: Her apartment is uninhabitable since the wind blew out the windows and covered her bed in glass and asphalt.

Ill stay here until we get back to whatever normal is, she said, and I dont know what normal is anymore.
As for her lawsuit, Williams said she is happy to have it behind her and is ready to move on, but she also said she feels like it didn't accomplish anything because nothing has changed in the department.

"I think I've wasted my time," she said.

But Williams also said she felt it was important to speak in front of the council.

"I don't think anything will change unless the City Council takes action," she said.

The council did not vote on the settlement Monday and there was no testimony from city officials.

In a statement, Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird said her administration is "committed to responding to allegations of any wrongdoing within our organization, while ensuring that all employees are held accountable for their job performance.

"Complaints are taken seriously, not only because it is the right thing to do, but because we value having a team that is operating cohesively and effectively to serve our community."
The mayor will start the new year by naming new aides to replace the three who left to pursue other opportunities in the waning days of 2021, and the city libraries director dishes on the most popular books of 2021.
In the months since, the program has lifted a weight off, John said, as they both navigate medical conditions.

"We get done with dialysis about 7:30, 8; some nights, it's 8:30," John said. "So Runza and Don and Millie's  we're always going to them. But this way, we can get these meals. I just put them in the refrigerator, and then we microwave them in the evening. We've got an evening meal."

The Nagles are among hundreds of Lincoln residents who have come to rely on the Tabitha program, which delivered nearly 150,000 meals in 2020 alone.

They may be the most memorable Gaylor Baird met on her route Monday.

"Every conversation is a reminder of how much benefit there is when people receive the help from Meals on Wheels," she said.

"Getting this meal is a real boost."

The meal seemed to serve that purpose for Bonita Harris, a 74-year-old visually impaired woman who answered the door at the C Street address where the mayor made her last stop of the morning.
In a Monday letter to Thompson, Meadows attorney George Terwilliger said the contempt vote would be unjust because Meadows was one of Trumps top aides and all presidents should be afforded executive privilege to shield their private conversations. Meadows himself sued the panel, asking a court to invalidate two subpoenas that he says are overly broad and unduly burdensome.

Terwilliger noted that the contempt statute has been used infrequently over time and argued that a contempt referral of a senior presidential aide would do great damage to the institution of the Presidency.

The committee has gradually teased a handful of the emails and texts Meadows had provided to the committee before he ended his cooperation  including 6,600 pages of records taken from personal email accounts and about 2,000 text messages. The panel has not released any of the communications in full.

On Monday, Cheney read the texts from Trump Jr. and a series of Fox News hosts as those in Trumps inner circle attempted to reach the president through his chief of staff, imploring him to take action against the violence that was taking place outside and inside the Capitol.
"How far does that go?" Blumenfeld asked.

Fortenberry, who has represented eastern Nebraska's 1st District since 2005, is charged with three felonies  two counts of making false statements to federal agents and one count of seeking to conceal the source of $30,000 in "conduit" political contributions from a 2016 California fundraiser.

The funds originated with Gilbert Chagoury, a Paris-based Nigerian, who purportedly directed the donations to Fortenberry because of a shared interest in protecting Christians from persecution in the Middle East. It is illegal for foreigners to donate to U.S. political campaigns.

One of the indictments grew out of a July 2019 interview in Washington, D.C., in which Jenkins, an assistant U.S. attorney based in Los Angeles, asked some of the questions posed to Fortenberry.

Prosecutors allege that Fortenberry lied during that interview, and an earlier interview at his Lincoln home, about the origin of the $30,000. They claim that Fortenberry had been informed that the money "probably" came from Chagoury during a 2018 phone call from the organizer of the California fundraiser who, by then, was cooperating with the FBI.
WASHINGTON  First lady Jill Biden along with Vice President Kamala Harris husband, Doug Emhoff, are planning to meet with families of victims and others who were at a Christmas parade in Waukesha where six people were killed and dozens were injured after an SUV plowed through the crowd.

The White House said Biden will begin her day Wednesday by attending a Forbes 50 Over 50 and Know Your Value event in New York City. She will then travel to the Milwaukee area to visit Children's Hospital Wisconsin in Wauwatosa and meet with front-line health care workers who cared for victims from the parade crash in Waukesha. She will also watch children receive COVID-19 vaccinations and talk with them and their families.

Biden's final stop will be in Waukesha to meet with families and first responders from the parade tragedy.

Darrell Brooks Jr. is accused of driving his vehicle into the parade in Waukesha on Nov. 21. Witnesses said he was swerving and appeared to be intentionally trying to hit people.

Biden and Emhoff are to be joined by U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy.

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TOWN OF WATERFORD  One month after being questioned about a possible conflict of interest, longtime Town Board member Nick Draskovich is giving up his elected position.

Draskovich, who is serving his fourth term on the Town Board, said he is resigning from local government to spend more time with his wife and children.

The resignation, he said, is not related to the conflict-of-interest question raised last month when he represented local business owners in front of the Town Board. He said he had been considering resigning since long before that issue came up.

My family and I have made the decision together, he said.

Resident Cathy Senft, who raised the conflict-of-interest question at a Nov. 8 board meeting, said she knows nothing about Draskovichs private life.

Senft, however, said that Draskovichs decision to give up his Town Board position probably is a good idea rather than risk the conflict of interest.

It didnt look too good for him, she said.

The Town Board called a special meeting Monday night to consider options for replacing Draskovich.

Town Board members serve two-year terms at a salary of $7,750 a year.

Draskovich had served on the towns Plan Commission when he was appointed in 2013 to a vacancy on the five-member Town Board. Voters then elected him to four consecutive terms.

In the April 2021 election, Draskovich and fellow incumbent Dale Gauerke both ran unopposed for two seats on the Town Board. The current term continues until April 2023.

Draskovich, who works for business consultant Endpoint Solutions Corp., represented a client Nov. 8 who was seeking town approval to build a new storage unit business on Big Bend Road.

To avoid a possible conflict, Draskovich abstained from a Town Board vote on the matter, which failed on a procedural hurdle but could come back for reconsideration.

Draskovich said he is resigning his elected position because his work and family lives just became very busy since his re-election eight months ago. He said he wants to spend more time with his wife and two children.

He also said he feels good about what he has accomplished in his eight years on the Town Board. He described providing town services, holding down taxes, communicating with the town and serving with integrity.

Ive done what I intended to do in my time with the town, he said. Im going to miss the work, and going to miss the people.

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RACINE  Dabrion Whitehead, 22, of Milwaukee, has dreams of becoming a barber.

Hes been incarcerated at the Racine Youthful Offender Correctional Facility since 2017 when he was involved in a high-speed chase in Fond du Lac with a stolen vehicle.

Thanks to a new jobs lab at the incarceration facility for young men ages 18-24, he has a greater opportunity to get a job and has goals that dont involve going back to crime, he said. He hopes to finish school once he is out of RYOCF. He expects to be discharged Dec. 21.

I really grew here, like being here helped me develop more, Whitehead said. I just really expanded my mind, I found myself here basically. Its a nice experience for me, like some people would take this time and be sad, when I took this time to advance myself and expand my mind.

Staff at the Racine Youthful Offender Correctional Facility has worked for a while to help change inmates lives for the better so they dont get out of jail only to commit more crimes and come back. Now, staff have the help of three new initiatives implemented within the last year.

A new mobile Mechatronics Lab at RYOCF, 1501 Albert St., pairs inmates with Gateway Technical College instructors to teach them some tools of the trade. The jobs lab, a Department of Corrections and Department of Workforce Development collaboration, allows inmates to get a head start on their job search. They create a Job Center of Wisconsin account, and apply and interview for jobs before they return to their community. A music studio helps inmates explore their passions.

The job center has been around for about two months, and the mechatronics lab has been around for about half-a-year. The music room was finished last year.

Many ways to learn

Mechatronics, also called mechatronics engineering, is an interdisciplinary branch of engineering that focuses on the integration of mechanical, electronic and electrical engineering systems, and also includes a combination of robotics, electronics, computer science, telecommunications, systems, control and product engineering.

Several southeast Wisconsin businesses, including Snap-On Incorporated, Nestle, GA Precision Manufacturing and Intech Medical sent representatives to RYOCF on Thursday to join DOC Secretary Kevin Carr and DWD Secretary-Designee Amy Pechacek in viewing the work done by the young men in the institutions new mobile Mechatronics Lab.

These men are the first group to use the Mechatronics Lab. They have been receiving instruction in the lab from Gateway Technical College and about 20 men will earn their certification through the college in a graduation ceremony set for Tuesday.

The secretaries and the employers viewed the students final projects and saw what theyve learned, toured the Mechatronics Lab and visited the jobs lab.

Making it happen

RYOCF Warden JeLeslie Taylor collaborated with the technical school and other organizations to make these efforts happen.

Taylor said she has worked since becoming deputy warden in 2017 and warden in 2019 to lower recidivism rates, and keep the young men from returning back to correctional facilities.

Besides her, on staff are correctional officers, sergeants, social workers, psychologists, treatment specialists, teachers, administration and a plethora of staff that are devoted to making a change, Taylor said. The young men didnt have positive role models  so when they come here, we have to help them build trust, and hopefully well help them build confidence in themselves to believe that they can be successful on an open environment.

Taylor said those at RYOCF are not treated as typical prisoners to be punished, but rather as a person who can be taught how to heal from past trauma, provided resources and education.

You have to listen to their stories, Taylor said. Each young man here has a story, and you have to be able to understand it, take the time to listen to their story of where they come from, why they behave the way they do, what has occurred in their life.

Our young men can draw, they can write songs, they have so much talent, Taylor said. You just gotta pull it out of them, and they flourish.

A new environment

Lashawn Franklin, 21, of Racine, was found guilty in 2017 of first-degree recklessly endangering safety, attempted armed robbery and bail jumping. He was in the Mechatronics Lab Thursday and said hes been enjoying learning a new trade.

Were building a new environment so we dont have to go back to the streets, Franklin said. He plans to further pursue classes at Gateway Technical College.

Tyler Wells, 24, of Oshkosh, admitted he made some poor past decisions.

Wells was found guilty in several cases from 2017-2020 of possession of amphetamine, attempted robbery with use of force, possession of narcotic drugs and possession of cocaine.

However, he said being in the Mechatronics Lab changed his whole mind frame and gave him hope for the future.

This is the first thing I accomplished in my adult life that I can be proud of, he said of his upcoming graduation.

After that, once discharged from RYOCF in potentially May, he plans to apply for jobs or apprenticeships. He hopes to one day earn a bachelors degree or associates degree.

Taylor said now that her past ideas have come to fruition and shes seeing positive changes occurring, shes thankful and humbled.

Im honored and grateful for the staff here, because they make it happen, Taylor said. Every single last person, this would not happen without them at RYOCF.

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Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul said in an interview Tuesday that he would not investigate or prosecute anyone for having an abortion should the U.S. Supreme Court overturn Roe v. Wade and a currently unenforceable state ban takes effect.

The comments to The Associated Press are Kauls strongest to date about how he would react to the Supreme Court undoing the landmark 1973 ruling that legalized abortion nationwide. A Wisconsin ban enacted in 1849 has been unenforceable under Roe v. Wade, but would take effect again if conservative Supreme Court justices decide to overrule Roe, as they suggested during oral arguments this month in a case over Mississippis 15-week ban on abortions. A decision is expected this summer.

Abortion is expected to be a central issue in the 2022 election in Wisconsin and other states. Kaul is up for reelection along with Democratic Gov. Tony Evers. Both are supporters of abortion rights and face Republican opponents who want to make abortion illegal again.

Wisconsin is one of 21 states with laws or constitutional amendments already in place that would make them certain to attempt to ban abortion as quickly as possible, according to an analysis from the Guttmacher Institute, a research group that supports abortion rights.

Wisconsin is one of nine states with an abortion ban law that predates Roe v. Wade, according to the analysis.

Kaul told the AP that its not clear what exactly the law in Wisconsin would be if Roe v. Wade is struck down. That would depend on exactly how the Supreme Court rules and resolving legal issues related to enforcing a law that hasnt been in use for nearly 50 years, he said.

Even if courts were to interpret that law as being enforceable, as attorney general I would not use the resources of the Wisconsin Department of Justice either to investigate alleged violations of that abortion ban or to prosecute alleged violations of it, Kaul said.

Even if Kaul would take that approach, most prosecutions for violating any abortion ban would most likely be brought by district attorneys at the county level.

Kaul said the Justice Department is focused on investigating crimes of statewide importance like homicide, sexual assault and arson.

Diverting resources from those important cases to the kinds of cases that could be brought under abortion ban, which I also believe to be unconstitutional, is not something that I would do as attorney general, he said.

Kaul said enforcing an abortion ban would undermine public safety.

And it would result in serious negative health consequences, including potentially the death of women who wanted to seek to exercise what for nearly 50 years been understood to be a constitutionally protected right, he said.

Two Republicans have launched campaigns to challenge Kaul: Fond du Lac County District Attorney Eric Toney and former state Rep. Adam Jarchow, R-Balsam Lake.

Toney said Kaul was a politician, not a law enforcement officer.

I am proudly pro-life and I will defend the police and defend our Wisconsin laws, including our abortion ban, if allowed, Toney said.

Jarchow blasted Kaul as a wholly owned subsidiary of the Washington DC swamp.

He is the very definition of partisanship and a failed leader, Jarchow said. So, while its disappointing that he says he will not follow the law, its not surprising.

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Before the dead were even buried, with families, survivors and the community still mourning, segments of the media, lawmakers and many in the public at large went in search of someone to blame.

Many wanted to know what went wrong in the case of Darrell Brooks, the man charged with driving an SUV through the Waukesha Christmas Parade on Nov. 21, killing six and injuring at least 60. The dead included senior citizens, a local businesswoman and a 6-year-old boy. The injured included children, a local priest and high school students in a marching band.

By all accounts, it was a horrific and heinous crime. It not only devastated a community, but shocked a state and nation.

The evidence against the accused indicates that Brooks had just left a domestic altercation when, for whatever reason, he drove into the parade at a clip fast enough to total out the front end of his vehicle as he smashed into parade participants who had their backs to the oncoming vehicle. It is only a miracle that more werent killed and injured.

Within hours of the incident, it was learned that Brooks at the time of the parade assault was out on bond after posting $1,000 bail on a felony charge stemming from an incident in which he reportedly ran over his girlfriend  with the same vehicle used in the parade attack. Many asked how that was possible and why the bail was so low?

Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm and his office were quick to own up to what Chisholm acknowledged was a mistake. An overworked and inexperienced assistant DA had recommended the low bond in the domestic violence case and a court commissioner approved it.

In the wake of the acknowledgement, some in the state Legislature have called for Gov. Tony Evers to dismiss Chisholm.

Should there be repercussions? Perhaps. No doubt the assistant DA has received some remedial training and the court commissioner who set the bail has been reassigned due to safety concerns.

As for Chisholm, no doubt he is aware of the sentiments of some that he should resign. Thats his call, of course. But a forced removal of office is up to voters, who have the option to petition for a recall or to wait and see if Chisholm decides to run for re-election.

For the immediate coming days and weeks, we suggest all angered by the incident allow time for the Waukesha community to mourn and to let the families of the deceased and injured navigate the holidays, a time that normally would be one of joy and love. But once everyone is back at work after the new year, let the legal system do its job and prosecute Brooks to the fullest extent possible.

By our American system of justice, he is technically innocent until proven guilty. But with the abundance of evidence in the parade attack, we hope his attorneys expedite the situation with a guilty plea and that the judicial system follows with an expedient sentencing.

Then its the Legislature that needs to get to work by introducing and adopting a law that requires prosecutors and court officials to consider lethality assessments when setting bail in domestic abuse cases.

According to Safe Futures, a Connecticut victim advocacy service, the Lethality Assessment Program is a partnership with law enforcement that uses assessment strategies piloted in the State of Maryland to better serve domestic violence victims. Trained police on the scene of a domestic violence call assess a victims risk for serious injury or death and can then immediately link those at greatest risk to Safe Futures for counseling and services.

The assessment includes a set of scored questions. In the case of Brooks, the victim in the Milwaukee County incident had provided answers to a Milwaukee police officer filling out a lethality assessment that clearly indicated Brooks remained a serious risk for the victim.

According to a report in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, use of the Lethality Assessment Program has spread across Wisconsin, but it is not universal. Its use is rare because it is not required to be considered under state law, Sara Krall, End Domestic Abuse Wisconsins homicide prevention program director, told reporter Ashley Luthern.

Wisconsin legislators need to change that. We suggest they follow the lead of their counterparts in Arizona, where since 2015 state law has required court officials to consider risk or lethality assessments when setting bail in domestic violence cases.

Will that stem every future tragedy resulting from domestic abuse? No, but having the assessment adopted into law will help to make sure judges and court commissioners use a tool to help keep the most violent and obsessive offenders in custody as long as possible until their cases can be adjudicated.

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1. Crime. Too much violence, too many shootings. Police have to get a handle on it.

2. Coronavirus. The omicron variant and others to follow threaten the community.

3. Roads. Killeen-area roads are still a mess after last years storm  a serious problem.

4.Government. Elections are on the horizon, and voters will have hard choices to make.

5. Unsure. Its hard to say which single issue will stand out at this point.

Vote

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 ASCEND Program

 District Rebranding

 Restructuring the KPS Administrative Team

 Onboarding and leading many new principals at all levels

 Monitoring building improvements at every KPS school

I am proud that my tenure as superintendent will be included within the extraordinary story of Kearney Public Schools. I firmly believe there is no better place to educate a child because this community values education. I have had the privilege of working with many remarkable and talented people including administrators, teachers, support staff, parents, volunteers, community leaders, business owners, and board of education members. We have worked as a team so when KPS students earn their high school diplomas, they are prepared to work, lead, and make a positive impact on the world, said Edwards. Nothing provides me with more satisfaction than knowing our students have been prepared for a bright future.

KPS Board of Education members commended Edwards for his visionary leadership and ability to build a strong culture of collaboration focused on shared, specific goals.
The defense has called the shooting a horrific mistake, but has also asserted that Potter would have been within her rights to use deadly force on Wright because he might have dragged another officer, then-Sgt. Mychal Johnson, with his car.

Sam McGinnis, a senior special agent with the state's Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, highlighted how Potter's duty belt had holsters that require an officer to take deliberate actions to release the weapons. The gun holster has a snap, while the Taser holster has a lever. The handgun, which is black, is also twice as heavy as the yellow Taser, McGinnis said.

The Taser and gun have different triggers, grips and safety mechanisms, McGinnis testified. The Taser also has a laser and LED lights that display before it is fired, which he demonstrated for the jury, while the handgun does not, he said.

McGinnis also testified that Potter didnt perform a function test on her Taser at the start of her shift. Although the Brooklyn Center Police Departments policy is that officers are supposed to do that, McGinnis acknowledged under cross-examination that he didnt check to see how widely the departments officers complied.
Trent Holscher of Ogallala calls himself a hobby hunter.

With two kids, the seed salesman and rancher doesnt have the time he used to for hunting and fishing.

But when deer season arrives each November, he makes sure to keep his rifle close. It paid off this year.

With a few minutes to spare after work, he decided to walk around his father Mikes CRP land about a half hour before sunset. When a buck stood up, he thought it looked like a decent size.

He kept getting bigger the closer I got, he said.

Holscher killed the 8x7 mule deer from 50 yards, and it dropped almost immediately. Then he waited for wife Lindsay to arrive to get a picture by the headlights of his pickup truck.

She also helped him haul the deer out.

The family is already enjoying the meat, which was processed into salami, jerky and deer sticks.

Hell get an official measurement on the rack once it dries out at Fosters Taxidermy in Ogallala, where its being mounted. It may reach between 205 and 210 inches.
Democrats and Republicans have come together in southwest Wisconsin to organize a clothing drive to help Afghan refugees that came to Wisconsin earlier this year. The refugees are being housed at Ft. McCoy near Sparta, which is one of several locations throughout the United States supporting refugees since the U.S stopped its military operations in Afghanistan.

Initially there were about 13,000 refugees at Ft. McCoy waiting placement. It is unclear how many remain at the base but officials at Ft. McCoy have stated they expect placement of all refugees to take up to a year. With 45 percent of the population under 18-years-old the need for clothing and personal items is substantial.

The Vernon County Democrats teamed up with Vernon County Republicans, as well the Viroqua Lions and Rotary clubs to collect clothing and personal items to fill that need. Vernon County has allowed the group to use a vacant county garage behind the old highway shop in downtown Viroqua to collect and sort the items. The collection site is staffed by volunteers and is open Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 3 to 6 p.m. and Saturday 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. You can also call to make an appointment to drop off materials.

A list of acceptable materials and drop-off locations can be found on the Vernon County Republican and Democratic Party websites at www.vernoncountygop.com and www.vernoncountydems.org. If you would like to volunteer or have a question, you can contact the group by calling 608-406-4106 or emailing at vernoncountyhelps@gmail.com.

Materials collected will be delivered to Ft. McCoy by the organization Save Our Allies (SOA) who are handling the civilian support of refugees at the base. SOA is a civilian non-profit set up specifically to support Afghans evacuated to the U.S. The Vernon County organizers are coordinating their project to help supply the SOA effort at Ft. McCoy.

The organizers of the Vernon County Clothing Drive would like to express their gratitude to all the businesses and organizations that have stepped up to make this effort possible including Nelson Agri-Center, Sleepy Hollow Chevrolet, Southwest Sanitation, Cashton Farm Supply, County Seat Laundry, Gundersen St. Josephs Hospital Hillsboro, Quillins Market, Vernon Memorial Hospital, CouleeCap, Viroqua Area Schools and Westby Area Schools.

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Passengers no longer will be able to fly from La Crosse to Detroit starting Jan. 10, officials confirmed, after Delta Air Lines announced it would end the daily flight.

According to the director of the La Crosse Regional Airport, Ian Turner, Delta is making the change due to the impacts the pandemic has had on travel. The airline had only begun offering the daily, nonstop flight in 2019.

Pandemic related travel demand, and the lack of return of the business traveler, continue to be a challenge, Turner told the Tribune in an email. It is certainly disappointing to see the end of this route that the community worked so hard to bring back and supported so well prior to the pandemic.

Delta will continue to offer the two daily flights from La Crosse to the Twin Cities, Turner said, saying that La Crosse Regional Airports passengers continue to be well served by the airline.

The airline is also discontinuing flights from a number of other small cities, it was reported on Monday, including Lincoln, Nebraska, Grand Junction, Colorado and Cody, Wyoming.

Due to ongoing travel demand impact from the pandemic, we have made the difficult decision to suspend Delta Connection service to these markets, a Delta spokesperson told Business Insider.

Turner said that 7,703 passengers flew out of the La Crosse Regional Airport in November, the first month that has shown an increase from 2019.

This is a strong recovery for us locally, Turner said.

We are appreciative of the members of our community who see the value of a short drive, easy parking and the low stress experience provided by flying local from the La Crosse Regional Airport, he said.

In addition to Deltas flights to the Twin Cities, American Airlines also offers a daily flight to Chicago OHare International Airport.

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Los Angeles Countys COVID Hospitalizations Drop Below 700

The number of coronavirus patients in Los Angeles County hospitals declined slightly in recently released data after surging past 700 over the weekend amid signs of a winter spike in COVID cases.

There are 698 COVID patients at county hospitals, down from 707 on Saturday, according to the latest state figures. The number of those patients being treated in intensive care is 179, down from 182 a day earlier.

The county confirmed its seventh known case of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 on Saturday. The fully vaccinated patient recently traveled somewhere in the United States, had mild symptoms and is self-isolating, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.

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Public Health has identified close contacts in Los Angeles County, some of whom have tested negative, and others are awaiting test results, officials said. Additionally, close contacts have been identified outside of the county that are being tested. The Omicron cases underscore the critical need for safety measures while traveling, county Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said.

All indications are that among those fully vaccinated, illness severity if infected with Omicron is mild, reminding us that all eligible residents need to urgently get vaccinated or boosted, she said. The vaccines are likely to provide much needed protection against serious illness caused by Omicron and are already known to provide protection against infection and disease associated with the Delta variant that continues to dominate across the County.

The Omicron variant has been deemed a variant of concern by the World Health Organization and the CDC. However, it remains unclear if the variant is more easily transmitted or can cause more severe illness. The previously identified Delta variant  blamed for the most recent surge in cases nationwide  remains the dominant mutation in circulation, representing more than 99% of all COVID specimens that have undergone genetic testing in the county, Ferrer said this week.

Also Sunday, officials reported 1,460 new cases of COVID-19 and five additional deaths associated with the virus, bringing the countys cumulative totals to 1,547,042 cases and 27,330 deaths since the pandemic began. Sundays numbers likely reflect weekend reporting delays.

The countys average daily rate of new infections rose to 13 per 100,000 residents last week, up from 8 per 100,000 residents the previous week. The seven-day cumulative rate of infections rose to 113 per 100,000, moving the county back into the category of high transmission as defined by U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The county was previously in the less-severe substantial transmission category. That category requires a county to have a cumulative seven-day transmission rate of less than 100 cases per 100,000 residents. Ferrer said Thursday the county is seeing increases in COVID infections following the Thanksgiving holiday, potentially marking the beginning of a feared winter surge in cases. She said that on Dec. 1, the countys seven-day average daily number of new cases topped 1,000  a 19% increase from the previous week.

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But Ferrer acknowledged that with the widespread availability of vaccines and the benefit of more experience preventing and treating infections, the county can be considered much better off than it was ahead of last winters surge, which threatened to overwhelm hospitals. I dont want to downplay the fact that we continue to now be back in what the CDC classifies as the tier of `high transmission, she said.

So we have a lot of community transmission going on. And when you have a lot of community transmission going on and theres lots and lots of opportunities of people intermingling, you run the risk of these numbers just continuing to grow. And every time they grow and we see more and more cases, we all know it results unfortunately in a higher number of people that will end up in the hospital and tragically pass away.

According to the most recent figures, 83% of county residents aged 12 and over have received at least one dose of vaccine, and 75% are fully vaccinated. Of all eligible residents aged 5 and over, 77% have received at least one dose, and 69% are fully vaccinated.

Of the more than 6.15 million fully vaccinated people in the county, 84,931 have tested positive, or about 1.38%. A total of 2,798 vaccinated people have been hospitalized, for a rate of 0.046%, and 537 have died, for a rate of 0.009%.
Rev. C. Herbert Oliver, civil rights activist, dies at 96

The Rev. C. Herbert Oliver, a civil rights activist who documented police brutality against African Americans in Alabama in the early 1960s and later fought for public school reform in New York City, has died. He was 96.

Oliver died Nov. 30 in New York City after struggling with several health problems, his daughter, Patrice Oliver, said at his funeral in Brooklyn on Wednesday, according to an online video of the service. Olivers relatives could not be reached Saturday.

Oliver was born in Birmingham, Alabama, on Feb. 28, 1925.

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From 1960 to 1965, he was the executive secretary of the Inter-Citizens Committee in Birmingham and worked with other clergy members to fight discriminatory policing led by Public Safety Commissioner T. Eugene Bull Connor, according to a profile of Oliver published in 2018 by his alma mater, Wheaton College, near Chicago.

The committee documented more than 100 cases of alleged brutality and civil rights violations by Birmingham police.

I would keep my eyes on the newspapers, and the newspaper would carry stories about people who had been beaten and arrested by policemen, Oliver told the Wheaton Magazine. I would find the victim and ask them to tell us their story. Invariably, the stories the victims would tell us were different from the stories the newspaper would put out.

By 1965, police brutality cases had dropped off and Oliver moved to Brooklyn, where he was pastor of the Westminster Bethany Presbyterian Church from 1967 to 1992.

Oliver led a new local school board in Brooklyn in the predominantly Black area Ocean Hill-Brownsville from 1967 until it was disbanded in 1970 amid controversy. The boards transfer of teachers, many of them white and Jewish, out of the school district led to a citywide, 36-day teachers strike in 1968, and eventually the boards disbanding, The New York Times reported.

There was a lack of good education, and the teachers and principals were not from the community or invested in the students, Oliver told the Wheaton Magazine. We were trying to settle the unrest of the community-centered in schools.
Students create slave memorial designs for Mississippi site

With only a few signs existing to memorialize the tragic events that took place at Forks of the Road in Natchez, junior and senior-level students of architecture and interior design at the University of Texas at San Antonio helped people realize the site is a far cry from reaching its full potential.

The site was once home to one of the largest slave trade markets in the nation between 1833 and 1863. During that time, families were divided and people were sold into lives of hard labor.

The students have spent approximately three months on a group project mapping and visualizing the kind of memorial and information center that the site deserves.

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On Dec. 1, they made a site visit to Natchez and presented their work at the Visitors Center. Forks of the Road, which was recently designated as a National Park Service site, has been severely under-recognized, they said.

We spent a whole month having conversations, researching Natchez, Mississippi, and the site itself, talking about American slavery as well as how it affects us today, said Joshua Forney as he presented his groups design. Specifically, we learned that Forks of the Road was such a prominent slave market site. It was a huge part of the south and provided such a huge economic boom. . If you were in the slave trade in the antebellum south, you had to come through Natchez, Mississippi. And yet, none of them heard of Forks of the Road until we were given the project.

Natchez National Historical Park Superintendent Kathleen Bond said the ideas presented were unlimited in size and budget, allowing the students to come up with a design from the farthest reaches of their imaginations.

Bond said while the designs may never be used in their entirety, they could help developers recognize what the site has the potential to be as the park service goes through the process of acquiring more of the land at forks of the road from private owners.

The students have been developing their designs for a memorial and interpretive center under the direction of Professor Diane Hays, FAIA, and teams of globally recognized architects, Bond said. They were split into teams and together designed buildings, interior spaces, and landscapes for Forks of the Road to honor the enslaved people who were victims of human trafficking at the market.

They worked directly with staff from Natchez National Historical Park to use architectural strategies to reflect emotionally powerful themes of dislocation, oppression, erasure and freedom in their designs, Bond said.

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Forney and his group partner Sarah Dawson did this by designing oddly shaped underground tunnels for visitors to walk through meant to create a sense of smallness, discomfort and confinement that the enslaved persons would have felt.

Destiney Bazan said she designed her center at a slant where it would feel as though your world is collapsing in on you as you walk through the enslaved persons journey. Slivers of light from outside shine through in places to symbolize rays of hope.

We chose the materials of concrete and steel because theyre so heavy and honest and its not pretty because history is not pretty, Bazan said.

Sierra Laird said, as an African American woman, it touched her emotionally as she discovered more about her ancestral history and searched for ways to tell their story to the world.

This project means a lot to us, Laird said. It was personal to me.

The designs of different student groups that were presented at the Visitor Center will be displayed there through the end of December, Bond said.

The center is open seven days a week, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, for anyone to come and see their work.
Mas

 Copyright 2017 Grupo Editorial La Verdad.

Todos los derechos reservados.
China calls for reckoning over US atrocity in Afghanistan

The US drone strike that killed 10 civilians in Kabul, including seven children, is an atrocity, the Chinese Foreign Ministry has said, calling for the international community to hold the United States accountable for war crimes.

While the US talked about democracy and human rights at the Summit for Democracy, the innocent Afghan people who were gunned down by the US military were brushed aside and their families had no place to complain about their grievances, Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told reporters in Beijing on Tuesday.

Wang added that it was even more outrageous that the US had refused to punish the perpetrators. He was responding to a question about the Pentagons decision not to discipline anyone involved in the August 29 drone strike on Kabul, which had been launched amid the US evacuation from Afghanistan and the Taliban takeover.

We condemn the brutal military intervention by the US in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria in the name of democracy and human rights. We call on the international community to look into the US militarys war crimes of killing innocent civilians around the world and hold it accountable, Wang said.

Justice may be delayed, but it will not be denied. pic.twitter.com/53pPJrCZnw  Spokesperson (@MFA_China) December 14, 2021

The Pentagon spent weeks insisting the strike had been righteous and the military had followed the correct procedures to target a facilitator for the terrorist group Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISIS-K), before admitting the killing of charity worker Zemari Ahmadi and a group of children in what it called a mistake.

On Monday, US media reported that none of the people involved in the strike would be punished. The Air Force inspector-general who investigated the attack left the decision to demote, counsel or otherwise penalize the perpetrators up to the commanders of Central Command and Special Operations Command.

The two generals declined to recommend any penalties and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin accepted their judgment, the Pentagon officially confirmed later in the day.

Wang also condemned the ongoing US sanctions against Afghanistan, saying that China had been offering support for the countrys reconstruction to the best of its ability, as a friendly neighbor and sincere friend.

Source: RT
For these reasons, the risk dial is raised from last week in the severe (red) zone. The dial reading reflects drastically reduced ICU availability, higher hospitalization rates and persistently high test positivity rates across the Two Rivers district.

This is the 12th week in a row the risk dial has been in the red.

Across Nebraska, the number of hospitalizations has continued to sharply increase, as of Thursday, Dec. 9, there were 612 active COVID-19 hospitalizations in the state. The number dipped down into the mid-300s in October, but has been on the increase since that point.

According to DHHS, there were 8,080 variants of concern identified among Nebraska residents, an increase of 282 from the prior week. 6,068 were the Delta variant; six were the new Omicron variant, first identified in South Africa.

There have been 320,943 total cases reported in Nebraska and 2,728 deaths, according to DHHS.

More than 120,000 coronavirus cases are emerging each day as conditions continue to worsen, according to the New York Times, Cases, deaths and hospitalizations are rising nationally, but remain below the levels seen during the summer and during last winters peak.
New houses are there now, but I went out there to get the lightning. The storm was moving to the south, and there was a full moon. Its not very often that you see clouds, lightning and full moon, he said.

There was a lot of luck to it. Id never had another chance to do anything like this. Moons are easy to shoot, but to get both a moon and a thunderstorm in there at the same time, well, some luck is involved.

But if you never go out, you never got a shot like that. Photography is like going fishing. Lots of times you go out and never get anything.

A new challenge

When he retired nine years ago, Shield  who taught at Kearney High School for 27 years and at the old Kearney Junior High School for 15 years prior to that  wanted to find something challenging to replace 45 years of equations, angles and long division. I wanted to indulge in something to keep me sharp, something I had to think about, he said.
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Hundreds of people gathered for a candlelight vigil Tuesday evening on the outskirts of Mayfield.

Prayers went up that the brokenhearted will be wrapped up in Gods love and that people hold on to one another as the storm-stricken city begins its recovery.

Scarlett Sears, an employee at the factory, said at the vigil she had not seen her co-workers since Friday.

It's great for the ones that made it but heartbreaking for everything else, Mayfield, MCP, all of it, heartbreaking, she said.

J.R. Ramsey, who has worked at the plant for 18 years, said he was still in shock.

It's good to see the people that made it, he said.

Conder said employees sheltered inside the building after the first siren, but were then told to go back to work about a half-hour later like it was a regular day.

Some of us were just clueless, she added. Unless family called us and let us know ... we had no idea it was coming for us at all.

Employees sheltered again after the 9 p.m. tornado siren. Conder was in a bathroom when the storm hit.
What Biden did not and should not pledge is deploying U.S. or NATO troops to directly fight the Russians; such a full-scale conflict between the top-two nuclear powers could become catastrophic. But the nuclear issue may just be heating up: On Monday a Russian deputy foreign minister said that his country could deploy intermediate-range nuclear missiles in Europe in response to its belief that NATO plans the same, a charge the alliance dismissed. (Such deployments were banned by a 1987 treaty that the U.S. pulled out of in 2019.)

Biden rightfully did not overpromise on Putins demands, including legal guarantees that NATO would not expand eastward. That decision should be for Ukraine (and Georgia, for that matter) and NATO to negotiate. A 2008 agreement to do just that is still stalled, but according to public opinion polls in Ukraine the desire to do so has never been higher. And no wonder, given Russias aggression that goes well beyond and before Crimea.
If you are worried about foreign hacking into Idaho elections, or integrity of elections in general, then you might take comfort in having a secretary of state who has a masters degree in homeland security and is well versed in cybersecurity.

Chad Houck, who is looking to replace retiring Secretary of State Lawerence Denney, has those credentials and the title of chief deputy to boot. And as with other Republican candidates running for secretary of state in next years primary, Houck says concerns about outside interference in elections are real.

If they are not interfering, they are at least trying and we have to stop it, Houck says. I am the only candidate who, in all aspects, is ready to step into the job on Day One. I have been involved in every court case, every land board debate, every board meeting and every aspect of what we do in the office  from the corporate division to the government services side, to budget preparation and the elections side.

The question is whether there is enough politician in him to win a primary election.

Im not a known commodity, or a name in Idaho politics, he says. Ive been the name behind the name for the last couple of years, and thats a hard place to come from. Also, the secretary is not going to make an endorsement in the race, because of his long-standing policy against endorsing candidates.

Former longtime Secretary of State Ben Ysursa has weighed in on the race, endorsing Ada County Clerk Phil McGrane for the office. Two other candidates, Sen. Mary Souza of Coeur dAlene and Rep. Dorothy Moon of Stanley, have been through plenty of political wars in the Legislature, and have support from their colleagues.

Houck says hes not a politician, but with this field of candidates, he needs to do what politicians do best  sell himself to the voters. And it may not be enough to simply say that everything is hunky-dory with Idaho elections. With at least a good number of Republicans, the big lie  that Donald Trump won the last presidential election  is the ultimate truth.

Its easy to produce political theater, and especially as divided as the nation is right now. Its easy to put out speculation, and much harder to refute it because it looks like you are being defensive, he said.

Ive heard people say that we need to get back to paper ballots. Well, Idaho has never left from paper ballots. Ive heard folks say we need to have watermark ballots. Idaho ballots already are marked to prevent duplication. Those are standards that should be applied nationally. Idaho is doing it and has been doing it, which makes Idaho a model that others should follow, he said. Getting that picture out in the current climate is very difficult. Were trying to educate people about why they should trust their ballot in Idaho. Mix-ups still occur occasionally, but the structure is good here and the right policies are in place.

As with other candidates, Houck opposes following Washington and Oregons lead with mail-in ballots. Idaho had swarms of absentee ballots during the last election cycle, which according to Houck came at a high cost. Some clerks retired after the 2020 elections.

It burned out their team. Idaho elections were not built to run that way, Houck said. In Idaho, its not a mail-in process, its a paper-ballot process. The easier you make it to get that ballot, the more security issues you are going to need for that process.

Although Houck is not the incumbent, he believes he has a record of accomplishments with the office. Throughout this campaign, he will be talking about his experience as chief deputy and the relationships developed on the staff and policy levels.

I hope voters can see through the political drama, the political facade and the professional politicians, he said.

Houck certainly has qualifications for the job. But in a political campaign, the candidate with the strongest resume doesnt always win.

Chuck Malloy is a longtime Idaho journalist and columnist. He may be reached at ctmalloy@outlook.com.

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Virginia has picked up the pace of extending high-speed internet service to 13 rural localities in central Virginia, including Goochland and Powhatan counties in the greater Richmond area.

A $79 million grant from the Virginia Telecommunications Initiative will be used as leverage for an additional $207 million in local government and private investment to expand fiber-optic networks for

high-speed broadband services in wide swath of the Piedmont region from the outer Richmond suburbs to the Charlottesville and Lynchburg areas.

The grant  which Gov. Ralph Northam, Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine and Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-7th, announced Monday  will also accelerate expansion of high-speed internet service to Albemarle, Amherst, Appomattox, Buckingham, Campbell, Cumberland, Fluvanna, Greene, Louisa, Madison and Nelson counties.

The grant was one of 35 by the state to expand broadband communications to nearly all residents of 71 localities by 2024. The new round of grants will be funded with $722 million from a combination of state dollars and federal aid from the American Rescue Plan Act, which President Joe Biden signed in March and the General Assembly allocated in August.

The grants will expand broadband access to more than 278,000 homes and businesses in Virginia. Northam asserted that the grants would get Virginia to 90% closure of the digital divide.

Broadband access impacts every facet of our daily lives, from education to business to health care, Northam said in a statement Monday. Its a necessity for navigating todays digital world.

The counties are part of a partnership with the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission, based in Charlottesville, and Firefly Fiber Broadband, a subsidiary of Central Virginia Electric Cooperative, based in Nelson. Dominion Energy and Rappahannock Electric Cooperative, based in Fredericksburg, also are constructing fiber-optic networks for the project.

Northam announced the grants at a Goochland Fire and Rescue station near Hadensville, joined by Warner, Kaine and Spanberger, whose congressional district includes Goochland, Powhatan and Louisa.

Warner and Kaine are former Virginia governors, Northam noted. That lets you know how much this means to the commonwealth of Virginia, he said.

Warner, who was a telecommunications executive before his election as governor 20 years ago, called the push to expand broadband networks, the culmination of many, many years of trying to achieve universal broadband coverage.

There was a lot of promise, he said, but rural areas all over Virginia, and for that matter all over the country, didnt get the benefits.

Northam, who grew up in rural Accomack County , said, This has really been personal to me.

As the governor prepares to leave office next month, he said the state has expanded its funding of the telecommunications initiative from $4 million a year when he took office in 2018 up to $50 million in the current fiscal year.

But the biggest boost, about $700 million, came from Virginias share of federal funds in the American Rescue Plan Act, which Congress passed in March.

Altogether, Virginia has invested $846 million in state and federal funds to expand high-speed internet service to more than 429,000 homes and businesses, and used the money to leverage more than $1 billion from local government and private industry.

The original plan was to get this done in 10 years, and were going to get it done in six years, said Evan Feinman, broadband advisor to Northam. About 90% of the digital divide will be closed.

Hanover County received a state grant of almost $14 million to build fiber-optic networks to reach 6,198 homes and businesses, and achieve universal coverage. The state grant to Hanover and All Points Broadband will leverage $41 million for the project.

A $7.5 million grant also went to Dinwiddie County and Ruralband fiber-optic network to serve 1,622 people in the county. Amelia and Nottoway counties are part of another project that will extend broadband to almost 25,000 unserved locations in six counties.
The opposition Labour Party, meanwhile, backed the rules. Labour health spokesman West Streeting said they were a necessary response to the omicron threat.

We cant be sure about the severity of the omicron variant, but we can be certain that its spreading and spreading fast, he said. "When people invoke the story of the boy who cried wolf  the warnings that came before but never materialized  people should remember that in the end there was a wolf.

The rebellion was a sign of growing discontent in Conservative ranks with Johnson. The party picked him to be leader in 2019 because he promised to get Brexit done after three years of gridlock over Britains departure from the European Union under Prime Minister Theresa May. The same promise helped Johnson win a December 2019 election with an 80-seat majority in the House of Commons, the biggest for any Conservative leader since Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s.

Since then the pandemic and a series of scandals have chipped away at the support for Johnson and his government. Johnsons initial reluctance to impose a nationwide lockdown in early 2020 helped give the U.K. the highest coronavirus death toll in Europe apart from Russia, with more than 146,000 deaths.
Some heroes dont wear capes, they sport facial hair instead.

Since November, several officers at the Marion Police Department have participated in No Shave November and Dont Shave December to raise funds for the Shop with a Hero program.

Sgt. Jerry Lewis came up with the fundraiser idea back in October, said Marion Police Chief Allen Lawrence. To participate in the fundraiser, officers donated $100 of their own money to grow their facial hair out during the months of November and December. In the history of the Marion Police Department, our officers have always been clean shaven, so this was something completely different for us.

Nebo Crossing started the Shop with a Hero Program in 2011. Since then, hundreds of children have received items they want and need for Christmas through the effort. Kids that take part in Shop with a Hero are given a $100 gift card and paired with an emergency services member, who takes them shopping at Walmart.

Each year, Marion Police Department donates ad sale proceeds from their annual calendar to Shop with a Hero. This year they wanted to donate more because of their passion for the program.
WASHINGTON (AP)  The House voted Tuesday to hold former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows in contempt of Congress after he ceased to cooperate with the Jan. 6 Committee investigating the Capitol insurrection  making it the first time the chamber has voted to hold a former member in contempt since the 1830s.

The near-party-line 222-208 vote is the second time the special committee has sought to punish a witness for defying a subpoena. The vote is the latest show of force by the Jan. 6 panel, which is leaving no angle unexplored  and no subpoena unanswered  as it investigates the worst attack on the Capitol in more than 200 years. Lawmakers on the panel are determined to get answers quickly, and in doing so reassert the congressional authority that eroded while former President Donald Trump was in office.

History will be written about these times, about the work this committee has undertaken, said Rep. Bennie Thompson, R-Miss., the chairman. And history will not look upon any of you as a martyr. History will not look upon you as a victim.
Macron called for changes in the passport-free Schengen area to improve the protection of external borders and limit flows of migrants from one EU country to another, and to streamline the process of sending those who dont qualify for asylum back to their home countries, people who have no right to stay in the EU."

Yet political rifts remain between the staunchly pro-EU French leader and Orban, who together with Morawiecki has challenged the bloc's jurisdiction over the affairs of its 27 member nations.

The EUs executive arm continues to withhold tens of billions of euros in COVID-19 economic recovery funds from Poland and Hungary over concerns about corruption and judicial interference. It has also threatened to impose additional sanctions if the two countries fail to live up to rule of law requirements.

Macron, a centrist who favors deeper European integration, acknowledged that he had political disagreements with the Hungarian leader, and earlier in the day insisted that respect for the rule of law, media pluralism, and the fight against discrimination are at the heart of the European project, a reference to claims by Orbans critics that he has eroded democratic institutions in Hungary and seized control of large parts of the countrys media.
Two first cases of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 have been detected in Mauritius in a person returning from South Africa and in another whose spouse had stayed in that country, the Minister of Health announced.

Both Omicron variant positive patients were asymptomatic during medical follow-up. They remained under surveillance and the tests conducted on Thursday were negative. They have already returned home, Health Minister Dr. Kailesh Jagutpal said at a press conference.

Tracing operations in the surroundings of these two people were conducted, revealing 12 positive cases with a missing S gene, a telltale sign of the Omicron variant, he said.

Sequencing of these 12 samples is underway to confirm possible contamination with the new variant.

One of the first two cases of Omicron was detected in a man who traveled on November 27 on a flight from South Africa, where the variant was first reported on November 25.

The second case was detected in a woman living in the commune of Tamarin (south-west of the island), after a PCR test performed in a clinic. Her husband had returned from South Africa on 18 November.

According to WHO figures, a total of 62,652 cases of Covid-19 have been reported in Mauritius, with 680 deaths.

A total of 901,187 people have received two doses of vaccine, or 73.5% of the islands population, according to government figures.
The Prime Minister of Burkina Faso, Lassina Zerbo, formed his new government team on the evening of Monday, December 13. It is composed of 25 members, including 23 ministers and 2 deputy ministers. This tightened team includes the departure of 19 ministers and the creation of new ministries.

Minister of State, Zephirin Diabre, remains at National Reconciliation. Brigadier General Aime Barthelemy Simpore retains the portfolio of the Armed Forces and Veterans.

In addition to security, Maxime Kone is entrusted with Territorial Administration and Decentralization. Rosine Coulibaly replaces Alpha Barry at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Cooperation and Burkinabe Abroad.

Smailla Ouedraogo is also returning to the government. He is at the Ministry of Ecological Transition and the Environment. Ousseni Tamboura has been retained at the Ministry of Communication, but he will have the task of overseeing the development of Culture, Arts and Tourism.

Fati Ouedraogo Zizien has joined the government with the portfolio of National Solidarity and Humanitarian Action. Abdoulaye Bamogo is the new Minister of Prospective and Structural Reforms.

The new government spokesman is Professor Alkassoum Maiga, Minister of Higher Education, Scientific Research and Innovation.

The new Minister of Infrastructure and Opening-up is Ollo Franck Kansie. Christophe Ilboudo is in charge of Industrial Development and Trade. Mathias Tankaono, former President of the Conseil superieur de la communication, is in charge of Sports, Youth Empowerment and Employment.

Moussa Kabore is the Minister of Agriculture, Hydro-Agricultural Development, Mechanization and Animal and Fishery Resources. There are no changes in the areas of Health, National Education, Public Service, Urban Development and Transport, among others.
Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

Sleep disorders and insufficient sleep are major global problems contributing to, e.g., increased health care costs and sick leaves, and reduced quality of life. According to recent estimates, sleep apnea alone affects approximately 1 billion people worldwide, and up to half of the world's population suffers from insomnia at some point in their lives. In Finland alone, sleep apnea is estimated to affect the lives of nearly 1.5 million people despite most of them remaining undiagnosed. Simpler and more cost-effective methods for screening and diagnosing sleep disorders are urgently needed.

A recent review by the Sleep Technology and Analytics Research group, STAR, at the University of Eastern Finland examined future trends in sleep disorder measurement technology, focusing on the possibilities of at-home measurements. Polysomnography, currently performed in sleep laboratories in specialized health care, is the most comprehensive method for diagnosing sleep disorders. However, due to the high price and limited availability of in-laboratory polysomnography, other methods, such as simple self-applied home sleep recordings, are also used in the diagnosis of sleep apnea. Technological advances in measurement technology, as well as in analysis methods based on machine learning and artificial intelligence, enable the use of simpler and more affordable measurements in hospital settings without compromising clinical accuracy. In research, a number of automated methods to analyze sleep recordings have been developed, and their introduction to clinical practice could free up health care resources. In addition, simpler sensors could enable multi-night sleep recordings, thus providing a more accurate picture of the natural structure of sleep. Although self-applied home sleep recordings cannot fully replace comprehensive polysomnography performed in a sleep laboratory, their use will certainly increase in the future.

With the current technology used in self-applied home sleep recordings, it is challenging to determine the exact structure of sleep. Traditionally, sleep stages are identified based on electroencephalogram (EEG). However, EEG is usually not included in self-applied home sleep recordings as current clinical electrodes require extensive skin preparation before they can be applied, as well as accurate placement in different areas of the head.

A recent study by the STAR group examined the electrical properties of novel textile-based dry electrodes and the quality of the EEG signal captured by them. The study showed that dry electrodes require a longer period to form stabilized electrode-skin contact than silver/silver chloride electrodes, which are widely used in clinical practice. However, in measurements performed in laboratory settings, the EEG signal captured by textile electrodes was found to correspond well to the quality of the signal captured by clinical electrodes.

"Textile electrodes are considerably easier to use and more patient-friendly, and thus a viable alternative to be used in self-applied home sleep recordings," Early Stage Researcher, lead author Matias Rusanen, from the University of Eastern Finland says.

Better-quality at-home measurement methods may also be useful for monitoring of the progression of sleep apnea, as the severity of the disease typically develops over several years. Breathing cessations in sleep apnea usually lead to transient drops in blood oxygen saturation, which puts a significant strain on the patient's body at night. This so-called hypoxic load has also been found to predispose patients to many other diseases, such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Another recent study by the STAR group examined the reverse causality of how existing diseases affect the development of the hypoxic load over several years. The study showed that in patients with diabetes or cardiovascular disease, the worsening of nocturnal hypoxic load was significantly greater during a five-year follow-up than in patients without comorbidities typically associated with sleep apnea.

"Our findings suggest that patients with diabetes or cardiovascular disease could benefit from the screening, and especially continuous monitoring of sleep apnea, and thus from the necessary treatment," Early Stage Researcher, lead author Tuomas Karhu from the University of Eastern Finland says.

Since comprehensive polysomnography is an expensive and complex measurement, it is not very well suited for continuous monitoring. One solution to this problem could be the methods presented above, in which the patient's sleep is monitored by self-applied and reusable sensors in the home environment.

Explore further Easy at-home assessment of sleep bruxism

More information: Henri Korkalainen et al, Self-Applied Home Sleep Recordings, Sleep Medicine Clinics (2021). Henri Korkalainen et al, Self-Applied Home Sleep Recordings,(2021). DOI: 10.1016/j.jsmc.2021.07.003 Matias Rusanen et al, An In-Laboratory Comparison of FocusBand EEG Device and Textile Electrodes Against a Medical-Grade System and Wet Gel Electrodes, IEEE Access (2021). DOI: 10.1109/access.2021.3113049 Tuomas Karhu et al, Diabetes and cardiovascular diseases are associated with the worsening of intermittent hypoxaemia, Journal of Sleep Research (2021). DOI: 10.1111/jsr.13441
Maha Farhat, assistant professor of biomedical informatics at HMS, said a recent study has found mutations in the gene that would cause remdesivir resistance  are more rare than you would expect by chance. Credit: Rose Lincoln/Harvard Staff Photographer

As the latest coronavirus variant upends expectations about the pandemic's coming months, drug manufacturers are working to expand treatment options to fight those stricken with severe disease. Even as new pills from Pfizer and Merck wind their way through the regulatory process, scientists last month detailed a case of resistance to remdesivir, one of the earliest drugs used to fight COVID-19. The case, in an immune-compromised patient who battled the illness for months, raised the specter of the virus opening a new front in the pandemic, one in which hard-won progress in devising new treatments is eroded by the fast-moving virus.

The Gazette spoke with Maha Farhat, assistant professor of biomedical informatics at Harvard Medical School and physician at Massachusetts General Hospital who researches drug resistance and pathogen evolution, about what the rise of remdesivir resistance means for the path of the pandemic. This interview was edited for length and clarity.

Q&A: Maha Farhat

GAZETTE: How concerningor surprisingis it that at this stage of the pandemic, we're seeing resistance to one of these drugs?

FARHAT: It's not at all surprising. Considering how frequently viruses mutate, I actually expected to see it earlier. The risk of new mutations is also higher during a severe infection because there are many, many viruses in the body. That increases the chances that one of them will have the right mutationthe wrong mutation to usthat makes it resist the antiviral agent, in this case, remdesivir. But we hadn't actually seen much of it, and I don't think it's from lack of surveillance or effort.

GAZETTE: I was wondering how much we had been monitoring for it.

FARHAT: There has been a bit of literature on it. Specifically, what people have done is they've looked at mutations in the gene that is the target of remdesivir, RdRp, and we really haven't found many mutations there. The amount of sequencing that has been done of SARS-CoV-2 is pretty massive, at least in parts of the world where these drugs are being used at high volumes, so I would have expected to see more. We have recently done a studyit's not yet publishedand found that mutations in the gene that would cause remdesivir resistance are selected against: They are more rare than you would expect by chance. We also found a negative association with disease severity with the mutation, meaning a virus that contains a mutation in the RdRp is less likely to cause severe COVID disease in a human. It might be because it's an essential protein for viral survival so if it mutates, the protein may not function as well.

GAZETTE: How concerning is it now that we've seen a case of this? Might there be more?

FARHAT: The bottom line is we don't know. There isn't enough data on the virus after treatment with remdesivir. But the fact that mutations in RdRp have been rare in the SARS-CoV-2 samples sequenced at diagnosis makes it less concerning. This is speculation, but not having observed mutations in RdRp in sequencing data may mean that even if resistance develops, it may be less likely to transmit to new patients. Also, the preliminary association between mutations in that gene and less-severe disease is reassuring, but does require confirmation in larger studies.

GAZETTE: Omicron is in the news, and there are all sorts of questions about what the many mutations do. How likely is it that drug resistance is one of the mutations for a variant like this?

FARHAT: There are no signs of remdesivir resistance in Omicron, based on the mutation data. At this point the major concern is the amount of variants in the spike protein itself, which is the target for vaccines, natural immunity, and monoclonal antibodies. And this is the reason the alarm bells have been rung. From the beginning of the pandemic, whenever a new variant comes out, the concern is that the vaccines are going to stop working. Omicron does have many more mutations in the spike protein than any of the other variants. Over the last two weeks, scientists around the world have rapidly shown that antibodies generated with vaccination are less neutralizing of Omicron. But the silver lining is that antibodies from individuals who have received the booster work better than those from patients who are vaccinated but have not yet received the booster. It is not yet clear what this means in our bodies as the data generated has mostly been from lab experiments. The clinical data is being actively collected. We will have to wait and see. The early indicators suggest that Omicron-related COVID is commonly mild, and severe outcomes will be delayed.

GAZETTE: Are there best practices from the pastthe combination therapy we saw with HIVthat we should be using or at least aware of?

FARHAT: We're going to start to see the use of the new pills against COVID that have better activity than remdesivir. We have several drugs in our armamentarium now, which is a reason to be more reassured. The second intervention we can implement is that if patients don't seem to be responding to usual therapy, we may want to sequence or confirm whether or not they have resistance. Now that we're seeing some of it, it makes it much more worthwhile to consider testing for resistance, which we don't currently do. So it's the combination of reaching for additional drugs that are now available and testing and surveying for the presence of resistance mutations. This could be done for the individual patient who may not be responding and on a population level, surveying for mutations similar to those reported in cases of remdesivir resistance, to see how many more we see.

GAZETTE: Is this an issue that's not going to go away? Are we locked in an arms race with this virusin treatment as well as vaccinationthat seems very adept at throwing a surprise at us every couple of months?

FARHAT: My personal view is that, in one sense, we lost the war; though in another sense, we won. We lost because it's likely that COVID's just going to be part of our lives moving forward, while we won because we were able to develop vaccines and therapies very early, and it has dramatically reduced the rate of severe disease.

Not only is the fact that Omicron is being observed now not surprising to me, but I suspect there are probably more variants that are undetected because we can't possibly sequence everything that's out there, especially in parts of the world that have limited access to vaccinations and to surveillance. Our task now is to double down on efforts to protect people around the world from developing severe disease by increasing access to preventatives and treatment.

GAZETTE: A year ago, we heard regularly that the more cases out there, the more likely there are going to be variants.

FARHAT: Vaccinating is essential for preventing severe disease. That's the No. 1 reason to vaccinate. It probably does lessen the emergence of variants, but I don't think it's going to eliminate it. I think that's too optimistic a view. We're seeing asymptomatic and mild disease transmission among vaccinated individuals, and as long as the virus is around, it's going to mutate. So I don't think that stopping variants should necessarily be a goal. I expect that moving forward, we're going to need regular updating of the vaccine and regular vaccination, as we do for the flu. That's becoming more and more of a reality.

GAZETTE: So we're in this for the long haul.

FARHAT: Yes. Another thing to note about vaccination is that it can prevent resistance, because by preventing severe disease, you're preventing the need to use antivirals to begin with, and even the need to come into the hospital. That automatically reduces the risk of developing remdesivir resistance. Vaccination is a mantra that a lot of people have been pushing for bacterial resistancedevelop vaccines for pneumonia, for example, the Pneumovax. That's definitely a strategy to tackle resistance emergence, and also the impact of resistance on health.

Explore further Why it's too soon to panic about COVID vaccines and the new variant

This story is published courtesy of the Harvard Gazette, Harvard University's official newspaper. For additional university news, visit Harvard.edu.
Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

Woefully lagging on vaccinations, countries in southern Africa are struggling to keep runaway COVID cases under control as the Omicron variant takes hold.

Already fragile hospital systems are at risk of being overloaded, prompting governments to urge citizens to get vaccinated, and in some cases reimpose strict measures.

Here is a rundown of COVID in the region, currently the hardest hit in Africa.

South Africa

With the highly mutated variant Omicron gaining ground, South Africa remains by far the continent's worst-affected country in terms of new cases.

The new strain was first detected in the region last month, and has since been reported in dozens of countries around the world.

Early research suggests it is highly contagious, but that vaccines offer at least some protection and that so far it does not appear to be causing more serious illness or deaths compared to previous strains.

But it is still wreaking havoc in South Africa, which reported the largest number of new cases in Africa in the past week, with 122,870 new infections over the past seven days to Wednesday, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

The number of COVID tests has also risen in recent weeks, and the positivity rate has hit a record high of 28.9 percent.

The country is seeing around 17,000 new cases a day, a high not seen since mid-July when around 20,000 cases were reported daily.

The latest wave has not seen deaths mount significantly, and most people testing positive have only displayed minor symptoms so far.

The government is urging the population to get vaccinated, especially young people among whom infections are soaring.

Last week it said Pfizer booster shots would be available from January to everyone over the age of 12.

Around 30 percent of all South Africans are fully vaccinated, a higher rate than elsewhere on the continent but far behind most Western countries.

Lesotho

New cases in the tiny landlocked kingdom have risen 425 percent over the past week, the fastest out of any country in the world excluding micro-states or countries that have reported fewer than 50 cases per 100,000 people.

It has seen a jump from a few cases per day in early November to a daily average of more than 1,300 over the past week.

Zimbabwe

The government has reimposed several restrictions with Omicron on the rise, including a night-time curfew, quarantine for people arriving in the country and proof of vaccination to enter bars.

But the measures have not kept new cases at bay.

Infections are rising at the second highest rate globally, with a record 4,300 average new daily cases over the past week.

As elsewhere, steep rises in deaths and serious illness have not been reported, and authorities are hoping that does not change in a country where health systems are already fragile.

Eswatini

Queues for COVID tests in Eswatini are long, as cases mount in Africa's last absolute monarchy.

The tiny nation now has the unfortunate status of having the highest incidence rate in southern Africa: 488 cases per 100,000 people in the past seven days.

It has also broken its record for weekly COVID cases, with 5,658 new infections reported from December 7 to 13.

Only about a quarter of the population of 1.2 million are vaccinated in the impoverished nation where vaccine hesitancy is high and many rely on traditional medicine.

Namibia

A month ago, Namibia was reporting a few dozen COVID cases per week. Today, per capita cases are rising at the third highest rate in the world.

The rate of new infections rose by 327 percent over the past seven days, with 3,169 new cases reported.

With just 12.1 percent of people vaccinated in the country of 2.4 million, authorities are desperately trying to convince people to get jabs.

The country recently destroyed tens of thousands of vaccines that expired before they could be used.

Explore further South Africa to roll out Covid booster shots next month

 2021 AFP
Signs with social distancing guidelines and face mask requirements are posted at an outdoor mall amid the COVID-19 pandemic in Los Angeles, on June 11, 2021. California is bringing back a statewide indoor mask mandate. Calidfornia Gov. Gavin Newsom's administration announced the new mandate will start Wednesday, Dec. 15, 2021, and last until Jan. 15. The order comes as the per capita rate of new coronavirus cases in California has jumped 47% in the past two weeks. Credit: AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File

California is bringing back a rule requiring people to wear masks indoors, a move aimed at containing a new type of the coronavirus as people gather with family and friends during the holidays.

Gov. Gavin Newsom's administration announced the new mandate will start Wednesday and last until Jan. 15. The order comes as the per capita rate of new coronavirus cases in California has jumped 47% in the past two weeks.

"We know people are tired and hungry for normalcy. Frankly, I am too," California Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly said Monday. "That said, this is a critical time where we have a tool that we know has worked and can work."

California lifted its statewide mask mandate on June 15 for people who were vaccinated, a date Newsom heralded as the state's grand reopening. But since then, county governments covering about half of the state's population have imposed their own indoor mask mandates as case rates surged with new variants.

The new mask mandate will cover everyone else, but state officials on Monday were unclear about how it would be enforced. Ghaly said enforcement would likely be stronger in some places than others, but he urged Californians to heed the warnings and wear masks.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom holds a face mask while speaking at a news conference in Oakland, Calif., on July 26, 2021. California is bringing back a statewide indoor mask mandate. Newsom's administration announced the new mandate will start Wednesday, Dec. 15 and last until Jan. 15, 2022. The order comes as the per capita rate of new coronavirus cases in California has jumped 47% in the past two weeks. Credit: AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File

"We know that there's going to be people who don't necessarily agree with this, who are tired, who aren't going to mask," Ghaly said. "We hope that those are few and far between, that most people see the purpose of doing this over the next month as something to protect them and their communities during a very tough time."

Newsom has issued lots of other coronavirus mandates, including requiring state employees, health care workers and, soon, public school students and teachers to be vaccinated. The governor can do this because California is still operating under an emergency declaration Newsom issued at the beginning of the pandemic. That emergency declaration will remain in place until either Newsom lifts it or the state Legislature votes to end it.

Republican Assemblyman Kevin Kiley, who ran against Newsom for governor during a an unsuccessful recall election earlier this year, has routinely tried and failed to get the Democratic-dominated Legislature to end the state's emergency declaration.

Shoppers wear masks inside of The Cool store in the Fairfax district of Los Angeles on Monday, July 19, 2021. California is bringing back a statewide indoor mask mandate. Gov. Gavin Newsom's administration announced the new mandate will start Wednesday, Dec. 15 and last until Jan. 15, 2022. The order comes as the per capita rate of new coronavirus cases in California has jumped 47% in the past two weeks. Credit: AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File

"I think that people are incredibly frustrated with this notion that these choices should be made by one person rather than in the way that our country and state are supposed to work which is all of us together having a say and having the freedom to make choices for ourselves," Kiley said. "Gavin Newsom is taking actions that go far beyond what any other governor or any other state has done."

California joins other states with similar indoor mask mandates, including Washington, Oregon, Illinois, New Mexico, Nevada, Hawaii and New York. But other Democratic governors have resisted new restrictions, including Gov. Jared Polis of Colorado who told Colorado Public Radio last week that "The emergency is over" and "public health (officials) don't get to tell people what to wear."

State officials are afraid of a repeat of last winter, when the state averaged more than 100 cases per 100,000 people during a monster winter surge of the virus when nearly 20,000 people died during an eight-week period.

A man stands need a sign alerting visitors to a mask mandate at the Grand Central Market in Los Angeles on Nov. 16, 2020. California is bringing back a statewide indoor mask mandate. Gov. Gavin Newsom's administration announced the new mandate will start Wednesday, Dec. 15, 2021, and last until Jan. 15. The order comes as the per capita rate of new coronavirus cases in California has jumped 47% in the past two weeks. Credit: AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File

Bartender Guy Klender, right, shares a light moment with customers while celebrating Star Wars Day at Scum and Villainy Cantina, a bar located on Hollywood Blvd, in Los Angeles, Tuesday, May 4, 2021. California is bringing back a statewide indoor mask mandate. Gov. Gavin Newsom's administration announced the new mandate will start Wednesday, Dec. 15 and last until Jan. 15, 2022. The order comes as the per capita rate of new coronavirus cases in California has jumped 47% in the past two weeks. Credit: AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File

Black Friday shoppers wearing face masks wait in line to enter a store at the Citadel Outlets in Commerce, Calif., Friday, Nov. 26, 2021. California is bringing back a statewide indoor mask mandate. Gov. Gavin Newsom's administration announced the new mandate will start Wednesday, Dec. 15, 2021, and last until Jan. 15, 2022. Credit: AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu, File

Dr. Mark Ghaly, Secretary of the California Health and Human Service, wears a Covered California facemark as he greets health practitioners working to vaccinate students at the Esteban E. Torres High School in Los Angeles, May 27, 2021. California is bringing back a statewide indoor mask mandate. Gov. Gavin Newsom's administration announced the new mandate will start Wednesday, Dec. 15, 2021, and last until Jan. 15, 2022. Credit: AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File

But that surge was before vaccines were available. Today, more than 70% of California's residents who are eligible have been fully vaccinated against the coronavirus. Even with the recent increase in cases, the state is averaging a little more than 14 cases per day per 100,000 people.

Even so, Ghaly said hospitals in several counties with low vaccination rates are still struggling with lots of patients, including parts of Southern California in Riverside, San Bernardino, Mono and Inyo counties. Ghaly warned coronavirus hospitalizations often increase in the weeks following a jump in new cases.

"We are proactively putting this tool of universal indoor masking in public settings in place to ensure we get through a time of joy and hope without a darker cloud of concern and despair." Ghaly said. "Californians have done this before, and we of course believe we can do it again."

California also is tightening existing testing requirements by ordering unvaccinated people attending indoor events of 1,000 people or more to have a negative test within one or two days, depending on the type of test. The state also is recommending travelers who visit or return to California to get tested within five days of their arrival.

Explore further California governor says mask mandate to end after June 15

 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
The vaccine is delivered using a needle-free 'injection.' Credit: Lloyd Mann

Safety trials are underway for a Cambridge-led vaccine that could be used as a booster targeting COVID-19 virus variants and relatives that threaten future coronavirus pandemics. The first volunteer is expected to receive the vaccine today at the NIHR Southampton Clinical Research Facility.

Developed by Professor Jonathan Heeney at the University of Cambridge and spin-out company DIOSynVax, this is a next generation coronavirus vaccine administered through a needle-free 'injection'a blast of air that delivers it into the skin. This offers a possible future alternative to people who fear needle-based jabs. If successful, it could be scaled up and manufactured as a powder to boost global vaccination efforts, particularly in low- and middle-income countries.

Professor Heeney said: "The response of the scientific and medical communities to the development and delivery of COVID-19 vaccines has been incredible, but as new variants emerge and immunity begins to wane we need newer technologies. It's vital that we continue to develop new generation vaccine candidates ready to help keep us safe from the next virus threats.

"Our vaccine is innovative, both in terms of the way it primes the immune system to respond with a broader protective response to coronaviruses, and how it is delivered. Crucially, it is the first step towards a universal coronavirus vaccine we are developing, protecting us not just from COVID-19 variants but from future coronaviruses."

How the vaccine works

SARS-CoV-2 uses 'spike' proteins on its surface to gain entry to host cells. These proteins bind to ACE2, a protein receptor on the surface of cells in our airways, allowing the virus to release its genetic material into the host cell. The virus hijacks the host cell's machinery to allow itself to replicate and spread.

Vaccines inform our bodies about what dangerous infections look like and how to respond to them. This is much safer than becoming infected with the live virus, because it avoids the life-threatening effects the whole virus can have. Immunization arms our immune system to look out for and block virus, or destroy cells that carry the spike protein, protecting us from COVID-19 disease. Unfortunately, SARS-CoV-2 is constantly mutating and the virus spike protein itself is changing. This raises the prospect of 'vaccine escape,' where changes to the spike protein mean the immune system is no longer able to recognize it.

To get around this problem, the Cambridge team searched for new types of antigenskey regions of the virusthat are the same across coronaviruses that occur in nature, including in animals that carry them, such as bats.

While most COVID-19 vaccines use the sequence of the RNA for the virus spike protein from the first isolated samples of the COVID-19 virus in January 2020, this new DIOSvax technology uses predictive methods to encode antigens like the spike protein that mimic the wider family of coronavirus antigens, thus giving wider protection. The body's immune cells take up the vector, decode the DIOS-vaccine antigen and present the information to the immune system. This in turn produces neutralizing antibodies, which block virus infection, and T-cells, which remove virus-infected cells. This technology is well-established and the vaccine plasmid DNA does not get taken up into human genetic material.

Professor Heeney added: "DIOS-CoVax vaccines target elements of the virus structure that are common to all known 'beta-coronaviruses'those coronaviruses that are the greatest disease threats to humans. These are structures that are vitally important to the virus life cycle, which means we can be confident that they are unlikely to change in the future.

"These next generation DIOSvax vaccines should protect us against variants we've seen so faralpha, beta, delta variants, for exampleand hopefully future-proof us against emerging variants and potential coronavirus pandemics."

The vaccine can be delivered pain-free without a needle into the skin, using the PharmaJet Tropis intradermal Needle-free Injection System, which delivers the vaccine in less than a tenth of a second by spring-powered jet injection.
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

China's economically important Zhejiang province wrestled on Tuesday with a COVID outbreak that has caused some districts to shut down businesses and left hundreds of thousands of people facing quarantine or other restrictions.

Zhejiang, a major industrial and export hub on the country's east coast, reported 44 of China's 51 domestically transmitted coronavirus cases on Tuesday, bringing the total since late last week to nearly 200.

Although Chinese case counts are miniscule compared to other major economies, officials in Zhejiang have employed the country's signature mass testing blitz and targeted lockdowns with concern high over fresh outbreaks as Beijing gears up to host the Winter Olympics in February.

More than 70,000 people have been placed under some form of isolation in the province while more than 465,000 face other restrictions, officials have said.

These may include health monitoring and bans on using public transportation or leaving their home districts.

The problems in the province come as Chinese media reported on Monday that the country's first case of the fast-spreading Omicron variant had been identified in the northern port city of Tianjin.

In recent days, districts in Ningbothe province's main portand the nearby city of Shaoxing said they were suspending some business operations.

Ningbo's Zhenhai district, a large petrochemical base, said all enterprises not related to virus control or deemed crucial to the public would be shut down and that petrochemical producers would have to reduce output.

A district in Shaoxing had ordered business to halt last Thursday.

Several publicly listed companies in Hangzhou, the province's capital and largest city, have also released statements saying they had suspended production.

Data from flight tracker VariFlight on Tuesday showed that hundreds of flights out of Hangzhou had been cancelled.

Zhejiang is one of China's leading provinces in terms of GDP and exports.

"The shutdown of Zhejiang factories will impact on the supply chains of various sectors, especially fibre and textiles," Zhaopeng Xing, senior China strategist at ANZ Research, told AFP.

He expects the flare-up could take up to 40 days to subside, with manufacturers possibly resuming work only after the Lunar New Year holiday in February.

"The impact will be similar to what happened in September and October, when power rationing was implemented," Xing said.

The world's second-largest economy battled weeks of widespread power cutsblamed on strict emissions targets and record coal pricesbefore stabilising the situation last month.

Xing said he expected Zhejiang's COVID woes could have a "mild impact" on Chinese GDP.

Analysts also have said the situation was putting downward pressure on oil prices.

"The supply chain disruption will push refinery crude prices up and is likely to affect gasoline prices, but only temporarily," Iris Pang, ING's chief economist for Greater China told AFP.

Explore further China reports first Omicron case

 2021 AFP
Airway basal cells from an animal model in culture marked red by cytokeratin 14 (a specific marker). The nuclei are stained blue with DAPI, a fluorescent molecule. Credit: Integrative Neurobiology of Cholinergic Systems Unit at the Institut Pasteur

In 2019, the WHO positioned chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) third in the global ranking of causes of death. However, some mechanisms of this debilitating chronic respiratory disease are yet to be identified. Against this backdrop, scientists at the Institut Pasteur, Universite de Paris, CNRS, Inserm, University of Reims Champagne-Ardenne, Reims University Hospital and the Institut Pasteur de Lille demonstrated that substituting a single nucleotide in the gene coding for the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor can lead to functional changes in airway cells and result in symptoms similar to COPD, independent of smoking. The scientists moreover identified the molecular mechanisms involved in this pathological phenomenon. The results of this research were published in the journal Nature Communications on November 4, 2021.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a progressive chronic respiratory disease characterized by permanently obstructed airways. According to Sante publique France, it affects 5-10% of the French population aged over 45. Its symptoms include a chronic cough, sputum and breathing difficulties, which intensify over the course of several years and eventually become debilitating.

Previous genetic studies conducted in humans initially linked this disease to genes located on chromosome 15 coding for subunits of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR). In a new study, scientists at the Institut Pasteur, Universite de Paris, CNRS, Inserm, University of Reims Champagne-Ardenne, Reims University Hospital and the Institut Pasteur de Lille focused their research on the variability of a single nucleotide (an adenine base rather than a guanine base) in the CHRNA5 gene, coding for the alpha5 subunit of the nAChR receptor, on chromosome 15. This version of the gene occurs in the genomes of 37% of the European population. The scientists examined the effects of this variation on airway cells.

In the animal model carrying this version of the gene, the study revealed the onset of emphysema destroying the pulmonary alveolar walls, a phenomenon observed in COPD patients. "We revealed the biological impact of a mutation in a gene linked to COPD," comments Valerian Dormoy, a lecturer and researcher at the Pulmonary Pathologies and Cellular Plasticity Inserm laboratory at the University of Reims Champagne-Ardenne and study joint last author. The scientists established a connection between the expression of this gene version and airway epithelium inflammation and remodeling. Functional impairment was observed in progenitor airway basal cells located in the deep layer of the epithelium and responsible for epithelial renewal. The scientists observed this dysfunction particularly during scarring of the bronchial epithelium.

The study findings were subsequently confirmed in humans. Histological analysis of cells from samples of nasal polyps from 123 non-smoking patients at Reims University Hospital also revealed a link between epithelial remodeling and this gene mutation. "This gene version appears to be a genetic predisposing factor for the disease independent of smoking. COPD onset then occurs subsequent to repeated lesions of airway tissue caused by other molecules including atmospheric pollutants," comments Philippe Birembaut, (former) Head of Department at Reims University Hospital (University of Reims Champagne-Ardenne, Inserm) and study joint last author.

Moreover, the signaling pathways involved were identified through in vitro analysis of animal cells expressing the modified version of the nicotinic receptor. This could provide a pharmacological target for the development of a future treatment. "One of our objectives is to define the characteristics of COPD patients carrying this mutation in order to develop personalized medicine," concludes Uwe Maskos, Head of the Integrative Neurobiology of Cholinergic Systems Unit at the Institut Pasteur (Universite de Paris, CNRS) and study joint last author.

Explore further Cocaine addiction: Impact of genetic mutations elucidated

More information: Julie Routhier et al, An innate contribution of human nicotinic receptor polymorphisms to COPD-like lesions, Nature Communications (2021). Journal information: Nature Communications Julie Routhier et al, An innate contribution of human nicotinic receptor polymorphisms to COPD-like lesions,(2021). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-26637-6
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

With the emergence of the new SARS-CoV-2 omicron variant that causes COVID-19, you may have wondered why the coronavirus keeps mutating.

According to John Segreti, MD, an infectious disease specialist and medical director of infection control and prevention at Rush University Medical Center, there's a simple answer: "That's just what viruses do."

How variants happen

Segreti explains that whenever any type of virus infects a person, an error can occur when the virus replicates that alters its genetic code. This code includes instructions that the virus needs to reproduce. Some mistakes in the genetic code make it impossible for the virus to replicate, so it cannot thrive. But other mistakes can make the virus more equipped to survive, he says. This leads to variants like the SARS-CoV-2 delta variant, which is currently responsible for the vast majority of COVID-19 cases in Illinois.

The latest variant called omicron, which was first detected in South Africa and is now in the United States, is proof that viruses are always changing. And the more people that are infected with the coronavirus, the more replication there will be, creating the potential for more mutations that lead to new variants of the virus.

"If we want to slow down the number of variants, we need to slow down the number of people getting infected," Segreti says.

Omicron won't be the last

The World Health Organization (WHO) names SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern and interest after Greek letters. Omicron, which represents the 15th letter in the Greek alphabet, certainly won't be the last coronavirus variant. Segreti expects we will far exceed the capacity of the ancient alphabet, which has 24 letters.

"Multiply the hundreds of millions of people being infected with the trillions of viruses in every person, and you have a huge number of potential mutations that can be made," he says.

Tired of new variants? Get vaccinated

The best protection against the delta and omicron variants is getting vaccinated or getting a booster if you are due, Segreti says. If you are an adult, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says you should get a Pfizer or Moderna booster if it has been at least six months since you completed your primary two-dose series with the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines. If you had a single-dose Johnson & Johnson shot at least two months ago, the CDC says you should get a booster with any of the COVID-19 vaccines available.

The CDC also now recommends boosters of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for those ages 16 and 17 if it has been at least six months since their initial Pfizer vaccination series.

Other protective steps for everyone include wearing masks, practicing social distancing and staying home if you are sick.

Explore further Infectious disease specialist urges vaccinations to combat COVID-19 variants
Credit: CC0 Public Domain

COVID-19 certification led to increased vaccination uptake 20 days before and 40 days after introduction in countries with lower-than-average vaccination coverage, according to a modelling study published in The Lancet Public Health journal.

COVID-19 certification, or 'vaccine passports', require people to have proof of complete vaccination, negative test, or COVID-19 recovery certificate, to access public venues and events (e.g. restaurants, concerts, hairdressers). As well as helping to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in public venues, it has been suggested that COVID-19 certification might encourage more unvaccinated people get vaccinated, particularly those who perceive their own risk of hospitalisation or death from COVID-19 as low, known as vaccine complacent groups.

Many countries have introduced or are considering introduction of COVID-19 certification, but whether this public health intervention increases vaccine uptake is so far unclear. Some survey-based evidence has suggested that participants reported they would be less likely to get vaccinated if COVID-19 certification was introduced, whereas some media and national health offices have reported increases in uptake following the introduction of COVID-19 certification.

Lead author of the study Professor Melinda Mills, Director, Leverhulme Centre for Demographic Science, University of Oxford, says, "As mass vaccination programmes continue to play a central role in protecting public health in this pandemic, increasing vaccine uptake is crucial both to protect the individuals immunised and break chains of infection in the community. Our study is an important first empirical assessment of whether COVID-19 certification can form part of this strategy. Overall, we observed a significant uptick in anticipation of restrictions coming into place around 20 days before introduction, which lasted up to 40 days after, but the context of existing vaccination uptake, vaccine hesitancy, levels of trust in authorities, and pandemic trajectory was crucial to the impact."

The study linked data COVID-19 certification introduced from April to September 2021 to vaccination uptake in six countries where certification was legally mandated (Denmark, Israel, Italy, France, Germany, Switzerland). Modelling was used to estimate what vaccine uptake would have been without COVID-19 certification in each of the six countries, based on vaccination uptake trends from 19 otherwise similar control countries without COVID-19 certification. In the main analysis, authors estimated the number of additional doses per population attributable to the policy. As a secondary analysis, the authors examined the impact of the policy on reported infections. They also examined differences in effects on vaccine uptake by age group and the influence of implementing COVID-19 certification in specific types of public venues (e.g., nightclubs and large events only).

In countries where vaccine coverage was previously low, introduction of COVID-19 certification was associated with a significant increase in the number of additional vaccine doses per million peopleranging from 127,823 in France, 243,151 in Israel, 64,952 in Switzerland and 66,382 in Italy. (See table in notes to editors for breakdown before and after introduction)

In contrast, in Denmark and Germany, where there were higher average vaccination rates before certification was introduced, there was no significant increase in vaccination. Moreover, Denmark introduced certification when overall vaccine supply was still limited (April 2021) despite demand being high. In Denmark, the policy's main aim was to increase testing before attending public venues, rather than encourage vaccination uptake, highlighting the multiple potential aims or consequences of COVID-19 certification policies beyond vaccine uptake.

Compared to the control countries, daily COVID-19 case numbers decreased after implementation in France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, but increased in Israel and Denmark. Many countries implemented certification as a response to rising cases, making it difficult to assess the effect of certification on reported infections. The authors say this highlights the importance of taking account of the phase of infection trajectory when the intervention is introduced.

After the introduction of COVID-19 certification, increases in vaccination were highest in people under 30 years old compared to older groups. The authors explored whether prioritisation of vaccine rollout among older age groups and eligibility in younger age groups around the time of certification may have influenced the results, but found that the effect could not be fully explained by age-based eligibility criteria.

In Switzerland, when COVID-19 certification was used to restrict access to nightclubs and large events only, increases in vaccination uptake was only observed in people aged under 20 years old. When restrictions were expanded to include all hospitality and leisure settings, uptake also increased among those 20-49-year-olds. The authors say this suggests that the policy may be useful in encouraging uptake in particular groups, but more research investigating other factors, including socioeconomic status and ethnicity, is needed to fully understand who certificates could effectively target.

Co-author on the study, Dr. Tobias Ruttenauer, University of Oxford, says "We know that certain groups have lower vaccine uptake than others and it may be that COVID-19 certification is a useful way to encourage vaccine complacent groups, like young people and men, to get vaccinated. However, COVID-19 certification alone is not a silver bullet for improving vaccine uptake and must be used alongside other policies. Vaccine hesitancy due to lack of trust in authorities, which is common among some minority ethnic and lower socioeconomic groups, may be addressed more successfully through other interventions, such as targeted vaccine drives and community dialogue to generate more understanding about COVID-19 vaccines."

The authors note some limitations of their study. There was no data available to examine vaccine uptake by sociodemographic, gender and ethnic groups. They also emphasise that COVID-19 certification policies across the six countries were different for various reasons, including the phases of introduction, aims, eligibility criteria, level of enforcement, and pandemic context (case numbers and deaths). They also acknowledge that the causes of vaccine hesitancy are diverse across different countries, influenced by the historical experience of different social groups, which may limit the generalisability of their findings.

Finally, they point to several issues associated with certificates that policymakers should consider. This includes the risk of exacerbating inequalities among communities that have lower uptake, generating inequality in access to public spaces where COVID-19 vaccine roll-out is staggered by age, entrenching digital divides if passes are electronic, and data privacy concerns.

More information: Melinda C Mills et al, The effect of mandatory COVID-19 certificates on vaccine uptake: synthetic-control modelling of six countries, The Lancet Public Health (2021). Journal information: The Lancet Public Health Melinda C Mills et al, The effect of mandatory COVID-19 certificates on vaccine uptake: synthetic-control modelling of six countries,(2021). DOI: 10.1016/S2468-2667(21)00273-5
Netherlands' Prime Minister Mark Rutte speaks during a press conference after a meeting with his Albanian counterpart Edi Rama, in Tirana, Albania, Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2021. The Dutch government on Tuesday Dec. 14, 2021, ordered elementary schools to close a week early for Christmas holidays as authorities battle to rein in coronavirus infections amid concerns about the swift spread of the new omicron variant. Credit: AP Photo/Franc Zhurda, File

The Dutch government on Tuesday ordered elementary schools to close a week early for Christmas holidays as authorities battle to rein in coronavirus infections amid concerns about the swift spread of the new omicron variant.

Caretaker Prime Minister Mark Rutte also extended the country's existing lockdown until Jan. 14, saying the government has to be alert for the new variant.

"That is of course not the good news you hope for at Christmas time," Rutte said in a nationally televised news conference. "So yes, a disappointing but perhaps not very big surprise."

Rutte said school holidays will be extended from two weeks to three, starting Dec. 20. Young children registered the steepest rises in infections in a recent coronavirus surge in the Netherlands.

That surge has ebbed slightly since lockdown measures were introduced last month. Bars, restaurants and other public meeting places such as theaters and cinemas have been shutting their doors at 5 p.m. since Nov. 28 and will now have to continue through the holiday season.

Rutte said that continuing high pressure on the health care system combined with the looming threat of the omicron variant made measures unavoidable.

"We still don't know much about it, but this new variant is spreading considerably faster than the current delta variant," he said.

Earlier Tuesday, the country's public health institute in its weekly coronavirus update said that positive tests declined by 21% over the past week to 116,477. Hospital admissions were down 10% and intensive care units edged lower by 4%.

However, the institute warned that the omicron variant is expected to cause more infections and could in turn lead to an increase in hospital admissions.

Health Minister Hugo de Jonge said the country's booster campaign will be accelerated so that every adult who wants a booster shot will be able to get one by the second half of January.

 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Cuban Health Specialists arrive in South Africa to support efforts to curb the spread of COVID-19. Credit: Elmond Jiyane, GCIS, CC BY-ND 2.0

Nearly two years ago, the COVID-19 pandemic began to sweep across the globe, straining health systems and disrupting economies unlike anything witnessed on such a large-scale in modern times.

With over 8.6 million reported infections and an estimated 223,470 recorded deaths in Africa as of 1 December, according to data from the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), one critical lesson we have learned from this pandemic is the immediate need for strong country capacity to prepare for and respond to health emergencies.

Lessons from recent outbreaks

Recent outbreaks of diseases such as the Ebola in West Africain Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone between 2014 and 2016were a clear indicator of how diseases can spread at an exponential rate in the absence of strong, responsive and resilient health systems, resulting in severe social and economic impacts. Lessons from recent disease outbreaks and the continuing COVID-19 pandemic for health practitioners, governments and the global health sector are similar regarding the importance of a strong public health system.

First, the value of a highly equipped and motivated healthcare workforce is a must-have to combat such a pandemic. It was clear that many African countries were not well prepared to fight a pandemic of this nature. Governments were challenged to boost their health systems and ensure access to care for all COVID-19 patients to reduce the number of deaths.

Second, the effects of the pandemic were not limited to health systemsthe ripple effects extended to a lowered economic outlook, increased cases of gender-based violence, heightened concern over child protection issues and many others.

Third, the inequitable access to the COVID-19 vaccines will result in Africa remaining behind while others enjoy its benefits. Regardless of the quick discovery of the vaccines, many low-income countries are expected to vaccinate their entire populations only by 2024three times the time it took to develop the vaccines.

While high-income countries are vaccinating groups such as children not at high risk of severe illness or death, some low- and middle-income countries lacking manufacturing capacity have yet to vaccinate all their healthcare workers. Vaccine advocacy is required to increase support to low-income countries to vaccinate their populations within a shorter time frame.

Opportunity to strengthen health systems

Joint action to strengthen preparedness, build more resilient health systems and guard against future crises is particularly timely, now more than ever, as the COVID-19 pandemic lays bare the weaknesses and gaps in health systems and services in Africa as well as countries across the world.

The pandemic has presented a perfect opportunity to transform the public health order in Africa that will effectively guard against future crises and make health for all a reality.

The new public health order for Africa is a more holistic public health approach needed to better safeguard the health and economic security of the continent. The new order is based on four pillars: the need for expanded capacity for African manufacturing of vaccines, diagnostics, therapeutics, and other necessary health products; the need for strengthened public health institutions for people-centered care; the need for a strengthened public health emergency workforce; and action-oriented partnerships that are respect Africa's priorities.

Collectively, African countries can develop more resilient health systems capable of responding to multiple health threats. Vaccine production must be a priority, including technology transfers, training and licensing to increase supply independence, as well as autonomous production of medical tools, drugs, and diagnostics.

The African Union and the Africa CDC are working to quickly scale up vaccine distribution to the 55-member states through the Partnerships for African Vaccine Manufacturing, which aims to leverage pan-African and global partnerships to scale-up vaccine manufacturing capacity on the continent.

Achieving health for all

To help achieve these goals, the African Union and the Africa CDC will be hosting the first Conference on Public Health in Africa (CPHIA), which will be held virtually from 1416 December 2021. The forum will bring together leading African academic institutions, government institutions, national and regional organizations, non-governmental organizations, frontline health workers and many others to review lessons learned from COVID-19 and usher in a new era of scientific collaboration and innovation. The CPHIA sessions will challenge the common narrative that knowledge does not emerge from African countries, and address how we collectively take advantage of this opportunity to create a new public health order for Africa.

We hope that this convening will be a catalyst for strengthening research, programming and advocacy for innovative public health responses to disease and emergency management in Africa. By coming together to merge our collective experience and resources, we can make meaningful progress on the most pressing public health challenges facing Africa as we work to achieve health for all.

Explore further African kids among those to miss medical appointments due to COVID

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Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

UCL academics will play a key role in a new three-year study investigating the long-term health impact of COVID-19 on NHS healthcare workers from diverse ethnic backgrounds and roles.

Launched by the NHS Race and Health Observatory the "REACH-OUT' study, builds on "UK-REACH' (United Kingdom Research study into Ethnicity And COVID-19 outcomes in Healthcare workers), which is led by the University of Leicester in collaboration with UCL, University of Nottingham, national stakeholders and front-line healthcare workers.

Data has already been collected from over 18,000 healthcare workers from a range of ethnic groups, around a quarter of whom contracted COVID-19, as part of earlier mixed-methods studies conducted by UK-REACH.

As part of UK-REACH, baseline data collected between December 2020 and July 2021 from ethnic minority healthcare workers will now be analyzed with data updated to reflect participants' feedback over time as part of the new study, which starts this December.

Feedback from participants through further questionnaires, structured interviews and focus groups will examine levels of support, availability, and effectiveness of various treatments for managing the impacts of acute and long-COVID. A key area of focus will be the type of support systems currently in place and the lived experiences and perceptions of healthcare workers, including lessons learned and implications to aid speedier recoveries.

The term long COVID is commonly used to describe signs and symptoms that continue or develop after acute COVID19. It includes both ongoing symptomatic COVID19 (from four to 12 weeks) and postCOVID19 syndrome (12 weeks or more).

Professor Katherine Woolf, Professor of Medical Education Research, UCL Medical School, said: "We urgently need to find out how best to support healthcare workers with the ongoing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. REACH-OUT builds on the unique UK-REACH questionnaire cohort study, which 18,000 healthcare workers have already taken part in since its launch in December 2020. The REACH-OUT study will follow-up these healthcare workers to discover how many of them have long-COVID, how this is affecting them, and how they can best be supported.

"A quarter of NHS staff, and nearly a third of the study's participants are from ethnic minority groups. Unfortunately, they have been particularly hard-hit by the pandemic, so it's especially important to find out how they can be supported to recover."

Dr. Habib Naqvi, director of the NHS Race and Health Observatory, said: "I am delighted that the NHS Race and Health Observatory will be working in collaboration with UK-REACH to examine the impact of long-COVID on some of the most at-risk healthcare staff in the UK. People from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds have shouldered a disproportionate burden in the COVID-19 pandemic, and we are increasingly concerned that history is repeating itself in the case of long-COVID.

"Black, Asian and minority ethnic healthcare workers, who make nearly 25% of NHS staff, are at high risk of COVID-19 infection and adverse outcomes. The ongoing mental, physical and occupational impacts of long-COVID on healthcare staff and on patient care are as yet unknown. Urgent research is needed to aid the recovery of the healthcare system, and this program of work will help to support that."

A set of policy recommendations for healthcare providers will follow the research findings.

Long-COVID symptoms range from extreme fatigue, lack of smell and taste and joint pain, to heart palpitations and issues with memory.

Mario Andrew Alfonso, an anesthetic nurse, said: "I am a COVID-19 survivor who has been suffering from the effects of the long COVID syndrome. I continue to experience a variety of symptoms that affects numerous systems in my body after recovering from an acute infection of COVID in 2020. It's not just long-term physical effects but also the long-term mental effects and their impact on your psychological wellbeing.

"I am aware that not everyone has similar symptoms or in the same severity. In fact, even those who had an asymptomatic COVID-19 infection can also experience these long-term effects. This is why I believe that research and study on this disabling effect of COVID-19 are extremely important."

Dr. Manish PareeK, associate clinical professor, infectious diseases and chief investigator of UK-REACH, University of Leicester, said: "Healthcare workers have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19 and there is emerging data on the long-term implication of having COVID-19so-called long-COVID in this group. Unfortunately, long-COVID in healthcare workers remains poorly understood and we are delighted that REACH-OUT will build on the work of UK-REACH to research this area and inform the NHS and policy-makers."

Dr. Laura NellumS, lecturer in global health, Nottingham University, said: "This research offers an important opportunity to gain in-depth insight into the experiences of our diverse NHS workforce, including across ethnic groups and healthcare worker roles. This will be critical for understanding the long-term impact that COVID-19 is having on the mental, physical, and occupational health of staff, as well as our healthcare system."

Explore further Dispel myths and build trust to combat vaccine hesitancy among ethnic minority health workers

More information: The United Kingdom Research Study into Ethnicity and COVID-19 Outcomes in Healthcare workers. The United Kingdom Research Study into Ethnicity and COVID-19 Outcomes in Healthcare workers. uk-reach.org/main/
Credit: Ricardo Job-Reese, Broad Communications

Over the last decade and a half, the biomedical field has witnessed an explosion in the volume and variety of genomic and health-related data. On the one hand, this has been an incredible boon for advancing human health; as our knowledge about the genetics of health and disease grows, so do the opportunities for researchers to make remarkable gains in disease prevention, diagnosis, and treatment.

That explosion, however, has also created immense challenges. Datasets are spread across research centers, universities, health care systems, government agencies, and more, often stored in systems that cannot directly talk to each other or in formats that cannot be readily translated from one to the other. There is a lack of infrastructure that makes it difficult for researchers to share and analyze those data and turn them into knowledge that can benefit patients.

Launched in 2013 to tackle this challenge, the Global Alliance for Genomics and Health (GA4GH) is a community of 650 organizations and 1,000 individual members from more than 90 countries dedicated to creating standards, policies, and approaches that promote effective and responsible genomic and health-related data sharing. GA4GH is building common pipelines, languages, and rules so that researchers can share and analyze genomic and clinical data in a consistent way.

In a recent special issue of the journal Cell Genomics, GA4GH members published a collection of 10 papers describing the organization's goals, principles, and work to date, including recommendations for federating data access internationally and standards for data access and oversight. Together, these commentaries and technical papers provide both a history of GA4GH and a roadmap for how its work will grow and evolve in the coming years.

We sat down with four Broad members who play key roles in the GA4GH communitysoftware engineer and GA4GH Variant Representation Standard (VRS) project co-lead Lawrence Babb; software product manager and GA4GH Data Use co-lead Jonathan Lawson; Broad chief data officer, Eric and Wendy Schmidt Center co-director, and GA4GH steering committee member Anthony Philippakis; and institute member and GA4GH vice-chair Heidi Rehmto talk about the organization's progress and future.

How has the data-sharing landscape in clinical genomics changed in the last decade?

JL: It became clear in the late 2000's that genomics research was becoming more common, and that data stored in large databases could potentially be linked back to patients. Those concerns raised the need for controlled data access. The benefit there is that this brought about a strong sense of data stewardship. The problem is that many institutions went ahead and did their own thing, which led to a proliferation of different processes for data access.

At a high level, what we now see is a desire to lay down some clear pathways so that researchers can navigate that jungle of processes and access data in a controlled manner. This is one area where GA4GH has really stepped up, by helping bring consistency to how data access is granted and established. The more interoperable things can be, the easier it's going to be for a researcher to get all the data they could want or need to answer a scientific question and ultimately generate innovative scientific results that positively impact human health.

HR: There is now global recognition that we cannot support clinical genomics without widespread sharing of both genomic and health data, as well as curated knowledge. The success of voluntary knowledge-sharing in the NCBI's ClinVar and widespread use of federated platforms like Matchmaker Exchange has shown us that clinical laboratories and the rare disease community have bought into the notion that we must work together to understand causal variation and apply genomics to the care of patients with rare disease.

What do you think are some of the most significant challenges in bringing genomic data into the clinic?

LB: Getting to the point where we can reliably represent genetic findings and knowledge with the clinical precision necessary to inform patient care will require significant effort. This is starting to happen in various areas, but there is still not yet a common foundation on which everyone in the field can reliably build approaches to using this invaluable data. We need standards, tools, and resources that rise to the level the healthcare system requires.

JL: We still have to solve the prime issues of what data is out there, how can we share it, and how can we analyze it. Governments, foundations, and corporations have spent millions of dollars to generate genomic data, often for a singular research project. After the initial project those data are essentially put in the back shelf of a warehouse, and no one knows that they're even there or how they can be used. All of this data could be extremely useful, and we need to discover the right incentive structures that would encourage data owners to engage with this problem.

AP: We're at a pivotal moment, where genomics is starting to shift from a purely research activity to one that is increasingly driven by clinical care. But while there has been a real embrace of patient-level data-sharing in basic research, this is much less clear in the clinic. For example, the amount of patient-level cancer genomic data generated through oncology care dwarfs what has been generated in the research setting. Why do we not share the genomic and clinical data of every patient with cancer, so that we can learn from the outcomes of the treatments that we're giving? We need to extend the kind of data sharing that's now common in the research setting to the clinical setting.

We also need to build the evidence base to show that knowing an individual's genomic makeup improves outcomes. For example, should patients with a high polygenic risk score (PRS) for cancer undergo more aggressive screening? Should we start those with a high PRS for coronary artery disease on a statin earlier? In order for genomics to become standard of care, we need to do the studies that will address these questions.

HR: There is still a lot of concern about data privacy and security when trying to collaborate and share across international boundaries. We need to engage with and educate the genomics community about the risks and benefits of sharing genomic data, and of allowing individuals, instead of regulators, to drive decision-making, while at the same time applying the most advanced approaches and thoughtful policies to protect individuals' rights to privacy and the security of their data.

How has GA4GH changed since it launched? What are some of its biggest successes?

LB: I have been involved with GA4GH for five years or so. In that time, GA4GH has significantly honed its organization so that it can tackle key areas that are too big or complex for any one organization, segmenting their efforts into work streams and relying on partnerships with real-world driver projects to build open solutions. GA4GH leadership's "rough consensus running code" motto helps the driver projects produce and share solutions around common problems.

JL: The community-led model has been very successful, more than I had hoped it would be when I first joined GA4GH in 2017. It's been interesting to see what it really takes to manage a community-led standard. Ultimately there needs to be arbiters, but it's often obvious when there's consensus on what needs to be done and how to do it.

GA4GH is the bridge that gives us a reason and framework to solve data sharing and data access problems at a global scale. If you don't coordinate globally, you're destined to only solve these problems just within the US, or just within a limited network of institutions. I talk to colleagues in Singapore and South Africa and Australia and Brazil and the UK, people who I would likely never work with in my day job, but with whom I can concentrate on these problems together. That's huge.

AP: During the past decade, GA4GH has developed an excellent set of processes for seeing the creation of standards. This wonderful collection of papers in Cell Genomics demonstrates that progress.

HR: We have successfully convinced countries, funders, and organizations of the importance of developing common standards and frameworks for genomic and health data-sharing. We have gone from a distributed grassroots effort to a well-powered operation that has figured out how to work across the global community.

These Cell Genomics papers represent a huge amount of work. Can you describe some of the key take-home messages?

JL: I see a prominent and recurring theme of data sharing and data access. The perspective paper focuses on data sharing, and it's a primary objective in everything that we do in GA4GH. I think this is because data sharing is a force multiplier in genomic discovery. GA4GH participants can improve data storage and analysis in their home institutions, but building out federated and standardized systems assures everyone that data will be easier to share and accessmaking the results of analyses more powerful and more rapidly achieved.

AP: They are a clear indication of the power that standards can play in driving progress. Take, for example, automated approaches to data use oversight. If you ask any researcher who wants to put large genomic data to use about their greatest pain point, almost everyone would say it's the process of gaining access to data. The Data Use Ontology and Data Use Oversight System could potentially streamline this process significantly by automating many of the steps that go into validating whether a researcher's purpose is consistent with the terms of a given dataset's informed consent.

HR: One common theme is long authorship lists with many people, institutions, and countries represented, demonstrating the importance of community consensus and widespread engagement to drive the work of GA4GH.

Another is the recognition that we need broad participation in order to ensure that our work is informed by key projects and perspectives, and ultimately adopted by the entire community. The participation of our driver projects is one way in which we accomplish this. Another is through our Genomics in Health Implementation Forum, which we launched in 2020 and which is bringing large-scale genomic data initiatives such as Australian Genomics and Genomics England together to share resources and knowledge, and to support implementation of our work.

What's next for GA4GH?

LB: We're working on "light touch" process refinement efforts that will ensure the quality, consistency, and dissemination of our work. And we're bringing in contributions from additional organizations interested in participating in this massive but essential effort.

We're also continuing to bring organizations together to create and support methods by which knowledge about genetic variants can be captured and disseminated in a standard and interoperable manner, and to share lab results and their interpretations with physicians and patients in a meaningful way. That's a building block for incorporating genomics more directly into healthcare.

JL: On the data-use side, I think we're moving from defense to offense. We're being more proactive, and talking about creating new things, instead of just solving old problems. What innovations can we build that will unlock a lot of potential? A theme in that is federation: creating standards where if I'm a researcher, every time I connect with a new database or new institution I don't have to consistently repeat the same processes over and over again.

There's this dance in policy development and technology development; they have to move together in coordination. Through GA4GH, the Broad is in a position to help engage in a lot of policy advocacy with regulators in the US and Europe and beyond. On top of that, we're also able to build the software that either fits a newly minted policy, or which proves that a policy that we're proposing is actually actionable and gives us feedback for refining it.

HR: We're starting to focus more heavily on implementation of the standards that have been approved. We want to work with our driver projects and the wider community to stress test our standards and policies and prove that they are fit for purpose, as well as stitch together multiple standards to support end-to-end workflows. I think the Broad is well-poised to continue contributing to GA4GH's work, to implement GA4GH standards, and to help demonstrate what can be accomplished in our field.

Explore further Connecting the dots for health data

More information: Heidi L. Rehm et al, GA4GH: International policies and standards for data sharing across genomic research and healthcare, Cell Genomics (2021). Heidi L. Rehm et al, GA4GH: International policies and standards for data sharing across genomic research and healthcare,(2021). DOI: 10.1016/j.xgen.2021.100029 Adrian Thorogood et al, International federation of genomic medicine databases using GA4GH standards, Cell Genomics (2021). DOI: 10.1016/j.xgen.2021.100032 Jonathan Lawson et al, The Data Use Ontology to streamline responsible access to human biomedical datasets, Cell Genomics (2021). DOI: 10.1016/j.xgen.2021.100028 Alex H. Wagner et al, The GA4GH Variation Representation Specification: A computational framework for variation representation and federated identification, Cell Genomics (2021). DOI: 10.1016/j.xgen.2021.100027 Moran N. Cabili et al, Empirical validation of an automated approach to data use oversight, Cell Genomics (2021). DOI: 10.1016/j.xgen.2021.100031
LDI Senior Fellow Heather Schofield, Ph.D., is an assistant professor at both the Perelman School of Medicine and The Wharton School. For the last 10 years, she has also been the co-director of a research lab in India focused on health and economic equity issues in that country's population of low-income laborers. Credit: Hoag Levins

Among the international scientists working to awaken greater attention to sleep in government policymaking circles, LDI Senior Fellow and University of Pennsylvania faculty member Heather Schofield, Ph.D., was featured in the recent special edition of Science magazine focused on sleep research.

Co-authoring one of the two lead articles in the influential Science Policy Forum that opened a 37-page special sleep report, Schofield and her research team reviewed the findings and policy implications of their randomized control trial and survey in Chennai, India. The article was titled "Informing Sleep Policy Through Field Experiences: Evidence is Particularly Needed from Poorer Communities."

The Science piece was based in part on the team's original sleep study paper published in the Quarterly Journal of Economics in April 2021, titled The Economic Consequences of Increasing Sleep Among the Urban Poor. That work was funded by 14 granting organizations, including the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics (LDI) and the Government of Tamil Nadu, the Indian state in which Chennai is located.

Schofield, who joined Penn in 2015, is an Assistant Professor at both the Perelman School of Medicine and The Wharton School. She is also the Co-Founder and Co-Director of the Behavioral Development Lab (BDL) in Chennai. Her co-authors in the sleep study were Frank Schilbach, Ph.D., of MIT; Gautam Rao, Ph.D., of Harvard; Pedro Bessone, Ph.D., a recent MIT graduate; and Mattie Toma, a Harvard Ph.D. student.

Delving Into Sleep Research

"This all started some years ago when I was working on another research project in Chennai," said Schofield. "I was walking from my hotel to the research office one morning and I passed this family sleeping on the pavement on the side of a six-lane highway with trucks rumbling by in one direction and cows wandering through in the other. There were honking horns and it was really hot and mosquitoes were everywhere. I wondered, "How can they sleep in this?" That got me thinking about the difference in sleep environments and how that variation might play out in terms of economic implications."

"Not many people think about the economics of sleep," Schofield continued. "That surprises me because economics is about making cost and benefit tradeoffs, which is what happens in personal and policy decisions about how muchor what kind ofsleep we get."

Insufficient sleep is widely recognized in world health circles to be endemic in minority and low-socioeconomic populations around the world. It plays a significant role in the higher rates of poor health common throughout those same populations.

A companion article in the Science special section characterizes sleep deprivation as "a historically neglected aspect of racial inequity." It quotes Marishka Brown, Ph.D., director of the National Center on Sleep Disorder Research at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. "Sleep deficiency is literally undermining the fabric of society, particularly in minority and low-socioeconomic populations, because they bear the disproportionate burden of the associated (health) risk. Sleep is a modifiable source of inequity."

"The Economic Consequences of Increasing Sleep Among the Urban Poor" study focused on a population of low-income laborers in Chennai. It analyzed how sleep deficiency directly converts to harmful consequences, and tested interventions that might mitigate them. Results of the study included informative negative findings and a surprisingly puzzling one pointing to areas in need of further research.

A survey of several thousand people that accompanied the main Schofield randomized control trial found that Chennai's population of low-income laborers routinely experience highly disrupted sleepwith individuals on average being pulled awake in their beds more than 30 times a night by noise, insects, heat, light, densely-crowded sleeping spaces, or psychological stress.

The study was very different from the kinds of sleep studies done in special sleep labs in high-income countries like the U.S., where patients are brought in and placed on beds wired to diagnose sleep disorders.

Sleep lab vs. field research

"Sleep deprivation studies are not new, but most of them have been done in sleep labs," explained Schofield. "But by doing that, you're actually changing the sleep experience. You don't capture the reality of the person's home sleep or understand the consequences of sleeping in whatever their home environment is, particularly if they are poor. It's important to understand these things if you're interested in changing peoples' sleep in a policy-relevant way. That's the reason we advocate the naturalistic approach to studying sleep in the field."

In Chennai, that approach analyzed sleeping states in the subjects' own beds at home, tested interventions in those spaces to increase the length and quality of sleep, and studied the downstream effects of that on workplace productivity and efficiency.

The project signed up its subjects to both participate in its interventions and to work for hire as data entry operators. That same data entry system served as the research tool gathering precise data about each worker's productivity and efficiency.

Participants were provided with different kinds of assistance to help increase the length of their home sleep including counseling, financial incentives, and physical items designed to reduce the environmental disruptions and discomforts in their normal sleeping space. These included eyeshades, earplugs, fans, cots, mattresses, sheets, and pillows.

The study subjects were also fitted with wristwatch-like unit that monitored their nightly sleep. Actigraphy technology has made new kinds of field sleep studies possible in recent years. The device precisely detects body movement, then processes that data through an algorithm programmed to infer sleeping or waking states.

Low sleep efficiency

The researchers measured how much time the subjects slept compared to the total time they spent in beda standard measure of sleep efficiency. One finding of the study was that the low-income adult laborers sleep only five and a half hours a night despite spending eight hours in bedachieving a sleep efficiency of 70 percent. By comparison, well-off, healthy adults in high-income countries like the U.S. routinely experience sleep efficiencies of 85 percent to 95 percent.

The arm of the study that provided interventions to improve sleeping conditions in the home did succeed in increasing the duration of the subjects' nighttime sleep by an average of 27 minutes. But that didn't achieve what many thought it would.

Prior to the publication of the study, the Schofield team asked 119 academic experts in the sleep science and economics fields to predict the likely impact of increasing the duration of night-time sleep on the low-income workers' job site performance. On average, those experts predicted a 7 percent increase in time worked and a 12 percent increase in work productivity.

However, the actual field study found those predictions to be off the mark. Despite increasing home sleep duration by 27 minutes, researchers found "no significant impact" on the worker's cognition, productivity, decision making, or wellbeing. At the same time, the period of extra sleep reduced their time on the job.

The power of naps

The puzzling finding came from a second arm of the study. It provided its members with 30 minutes of afternoon nap time in "nap stations" in a quiet, mildly air-conditioned, relatively bug-free section of its offices with comfortable cots and pillows. The laborers on average slept for 15 minutes during this period. Surprisingly, they subsequently demonstrated increased on-the-job cognitive ability, productivity, and other crucial measures.

"That was a really interesting and puzzling finding," said Schofield. "When we looked at the sleep quality metrics, the naps were distinctly higher than the nighttime sleep. This might be because the sleeping environment (in the research offices) was more comfortable, or it could be that the circadian rhythm is such that there are particular times of the time when sleep is more or less valuable."

One insight from the work is that sleep deficiencies in low-income communities in developing countries, as well as industrialized nations, may be more severe than previously understooda fact that could have substantial health, labor, and policy implications. Another is that government policymakers, in general, may not recognize the full degree to which sleep is a crucial social determinant of health.

"It's a complicated problem," said Schofield, "because it's both an individual and collective problem that has a lot of downstream implications that I don't think are fully appreciated by everyone involved."

Schofield's connections to India date to her time as a Pittsburgh teenager when she took a tourist trip to the country. As a student in the Harvard School of Public Health's Department of Global Health and Population in 2006, she visited India again to do her first research there. As a Harvard Business Economics Ph.D. candidate, she returned to work on her paper "The Economic Costs of Low Caloric Intake: Evidence from India."

Launching a lab in India

"I just kind of got to know the place," said Schofield. "India is a really big, diverse, complicated country that has a lot of interesting questions to look into with an infrastructure that makes the kind of research we do possible. There are a lot of well-educated people there interested in the same kinds of research; it was a real pleasure to work with them, and we wanted to create longer-term working relationships."

Ultimately, she and two other young Harvard colleaguesFrank Schilbach, Ph.D. and Gautam Rao, Ph.D.opened a small research lab in Chennai under the aegis of India's Institute for Financial Management and Research (IFMR) to support their growing cluster of research projects. IFMR is a non-profit institute within India's Krea University supporting macro and microeconomics, financial and management research, and education focused on issues of equity in all those areas.

Called the Behavioral Development Lab (BDL), the 10-year-old operation began with five staff members and, before the pandemic, expanded to as many as 65 staffers working on various research projects. Today, it is staffed with 43 personnel including principal investigators, Ph.D. candidates, research associates, field managers, and faculty affiliates.

Pivoting to COVID-19

During the pandemic, as strict travel restrictions and safety measures slowed research operations, BDL pivoted to broad phone surveys gathering data and insights to inform the Indian government's efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19 and address its unique challenges. For instance, India has a vast population of workers who regularly commute long distances back and forth between the city and their villages. Huge numbers of these workers were stranded in the cities after the government's rapid implementation of strict emergency restrictions on regional travel and transportation systems.

The issue was that the stranded laborers had no money, food support, or other resources because all their state support services were tied to their households in the distant villages. BDL, which has wide contracts throughout this population of laborers, is using phone surveys to inform policymakers about the workers' major barriers and the kinds of services they were and were not able to access and needed in their isolation.

BDL is currently working to return to full research operations. Aside from Chennai, which it has made famous in the world of sleep science, the lab has research projects underway in other cities across India.

Schofield's latest personal research project is a study of the economic and health consequences of loneliness throughout low-income migrant populations in the city of Bangalore.

Explore further Experiment with working poor in India finds no impact from more night sleep
Prof. Dr. med. Ulrike Protzer (r), head of the Institute for Virology at the Technical University of Munich and Director at the Helmholtz Munich, with an employee at the PCR analyzer in the Institute for Virology at the TUM university hospital Klinikum rechts der Isar. Credit: Astrid Eckert / TUM

Vaccines against the SARS-CoV-2 virus have been made possible by an unprecedented worldwide collaboration. But medications against COVID-19 have as yet seen only partial success. With the support of the Bavarian Research Foundation, a Munich research team has developed a protein which has reliably prevented infection by the virus and its variants in cell culture tests.

The SARS-CoV-2 virus uses a protein called Angiotensin Converting Enzyme 2 (ACE2) on the surface of human cells as an entry gate. This is where the spike protein of the virus finds a hold in order to ultimately infect the cell.

Recombinant antibodies are already being used in therapy for COVID-19 illnesses, including at the TUM University Hospital rechts der Isar; nevertheless the virus has used mutation to evade attacks by therapeutic antibodies and in part also the natural antibodies formed after vaccination.

Endogenous proteins turned against the virus

A team of scientists from the Technical University of Munich (TUM), the Ludwig Maximilians-University of Munich, Helmholtz Munich, and Munich-based Formycon AG are pursuing a different strategy: They have combined the ACE2 protein with part of a human antibody protein and have thus created an active ingredient which blocks the spike protein of the virus. In cell culture tests they were able to completely neutralize the virus and prevent infection.

"Both vaccines and antibody medications have the same problem, that the virus manages to evade them by just a little bit more with each successful mutation," says Ulrike Protzer, head of the Institute of Virology at the Technical University of Munich and at Helmholtz Munich. "This results in what are called immune escape variants."

The team led by Prof. Protzer and Johannes Buchner, Professor of Biotechnology at the Department of Chemistry of the Technical University of Munich in Garching, is thus focusing on the most important target of the virus, the ACE2 protein.

The optimum strategy against mutations

Since the simple ACE2 protein would be broken down too quickly by other enzymes in the human body, the team fused the ACE2 protein with a fragment of the human antibody immunoglobulin G (IgG).

"As the virus needs optimum docking on the ACE2 protein in order to survive, the virus cannot evade a medication which is based on exactly this protein," says Prof. Buchner, adding, "The fusion protein will therefore also be reliably effective against future mutations."

Laboratory testing involving the fusion protein, dubbed FYB207 internally, the original virus and the Alpha, Beta and Delta variants confirm the research team's assumption. Testing with the new Omicron variant is currently starting.

ACE2 protein provides additional protection

FYB207 can potentially be administered against all coronavirus types which use ACE2 as a docking pointnot only against variants of the current SARS-CoV-2 virus. ACE2 also has a natural enzyme activity in the cardio-vascular system which could offer additional protection against the threat of organ failure for the lungs, heart and kidneys.

Research work began with the testing of various combinations of ACE2 and immunoglobulin fragments as fusion proteins in the laboratory. The team decided on a fragment of the IgG4 protein regarded as a reliable fusion partner. Minute mutations were introduced in order to increase stability. Two variants are currently undergoing thorough investigation in pre-clinical studies.

"The fusion protein can be easily created biotechnologically," says Dr. Carsten Brockmeyer, co-author of the study and CEO of Formycon AG. "In the context of the partnership we also made sure that the selected active ingredient variants have pharmacologically favorable properties. We hope to be able to begin with the first clinical studies in the first half of the upcoming year."

"The SARS-CoV-2 virus and its related variants will continue to challenge humanity in the future," says Prof. Ulrike Protzer. "Even if vaccination is a highly reliable way to prevent severe symptoms in the course of the illness, the significantly more contagious Delta and Omicron variants have shown that both recovered and vaccinated patients can be re-infected. With regard to future, possibly even more contagious variants, we need a broadly efficacious active ingredient against the virus in addition to vaccination."

More information: Hristo L. Svilenov et al, Picomolar inhibition of SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern by an engineered ACE2-IgG4-Fc fusion protein, Antiviral Research (2021). Hristo L. Svilenov et al, Picomolar inhibition of SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern by an engineered ACE2-IgG4-Fc fusion protein,(2021). DOI: 10.1016/j.antiviral.2021.105197
People wait to be vaccinated by a member of the Western Cape Metro EMS (Emergency Medical Services) at a mobile "Vaxi Taxi" which is an ambulance converted into a mobile COVID-19 vaccination site in Blackheath in Cape Town, South Africa, Tuesday, Dec. 14, 2021. The omicron variant appears to cause less severe disease than previous versions of the coronavirus, and the Pfizer vaccine seems to offer less defense against infection from it but still good protection from hospitalization, according to an analysis of data from South Africa, where the new variant is driving a surge in infections. Credit: AP Photo/Nardus Engelbrecht

The omicron variant is offering more hints about what it may have in store as it spreads around the globe: A highly transmissible virus that may cause less severe disease, and one that can be slowedbut not stoppedby today's vaccines.

An analysis Tuesday of data from South Africa, where the new variant is driving a surge in infections, suggests the Pfizer vaccine offers less defense against infection from omicron and reduced, but still good, protection from hospitalization.

The findings are preliminary and have not been peer-reviewedthe gold standard in scientific researchbut they line up with other early data about omicron's behavior, including that it seems to be more easily spread from person to person.

The spread can be seen in Britain, the United States and Denmark, where confirmed omicron cases are increasing at a worrisome pace, said Dr. Jacob Lemieux, who monitors variants for a research collaboration led by Harvard Medical School.

"Omicron is moving extraordinarily fast, faster even than the most pessimistic among us thought it was going to move," Lemieux said.

During past waves of the pandemic, the U.S. could look to Europe and Britain for an early signal of what was coming, Lemieux said. "With omicron, it seems to be happening everywhere all at once with extremely rapid kinetics."

People living at the Soweto Home For The Aged practice social distancing during breakfast in Johannesburg, Tuesday, Dec. 14, 2021. An analysis of data from South Africa shows the omicron variant appears to cause less severe disease than previous versions of the coronavirus, and the Pfizer vaccine seems to offer less defense against infection from it but still good protection against hospitalization. Credit: AP Photo/Denis Farrell

It's unclear whether omicron's rapid spread will overwhelm hospitals. In South Africa, although case numbers are rising, hospital admissions for adults diagnosed with COVID-19 are 29% lower compared to the wave the country experienced in mid-2020, after adjusting for vaccination status, according to the new analysis.

Still, some experts cautioned that it's too soon to draw conclusions since the variant is quite new and hospitalizations can lag weeks behind infections.

When omicron reaches broader populations more useful information will emerge, said Dr. David Dowdy, an infectious disease epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

"To date, omicron has disproportionately infected young adultspeople who probably have more social contacts and are more likely to attend large gatherings," Dowdy said. Young adults may be more likely to be sick without knowing it, have more intense exposures and experience milder disease, he said.

People living at the Soweto Home For The Aged practice social distancing during breakfast in Johannesburg, Tuesday, Dec. 14, 2021. An analysis of data from South Africa shows the omicron variant appears to cause less severe disease than previous versions of the coronavirus, and the Pfizer vaccine seems to offer less defense against infection from it but still good protection against hospitalization. Credit: AP Photo/Denis Farrell

"Our society needs to learn how to wait, rather than either panicking or dismissing early findings," Dowdy said.

U.S. health officials estimate that a small, but growing proportion of new COVID-19 infections are due to omicron, and that the rise is particularly dramatic in some places.

Two weeks ago, omicron accounted for less than 0.5% of the coronaviruses that were genetically sequenced in the U.S. That rose to about 3% last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Tuesday.

But it varies from place to place, and is as high as 13% in the New York/New Jersey area, according to the agency.

The CDC is tracking how fast the percentage doubles, and as more cases come in, it may be better able to predict whetheror whenthe omicron variant becomes the dominant version of the coronavirus in the U.S, health officials say.

A man waits to be vaccinated by a member of the Western Cape Metro EMS (Emergency Medical Services) at a mobile "Vaxi Taxi" which is an ambulance converted into a mobile COVID-19 vaccination site in Blackheath in Cape Town, South Africa, Tuesday, Dec. 14, 2021. The omicron variant appears to cause less severe disease than previous versions of the coronavirus, and the Pfizer vaccine seems to offer less defense against infection from it but still good protection from hospitalization, according to an analysis of data from South Africa, where the new variant is driving a surge in infections. Credit: AP Photo/Nardus Engelbrecht

In Britain, omicron cases are doubling every two to three days. Health officials say the variant will replace delta as the dominant coronavirus strain within days.

In the new South Africa findings, people who received two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine appeared to have just 33% protection against infection, compared to those who were unvaccinated, during the country's current omicron-fueled surge, but 70% protection against hospitalization. The analysis was conducted by Discovery Health, South Africa's largest private health insurer, and the South African Medical Research Council.

The study did not look at booster shots, which are not yet prevalent in South Africa but which data from elsewhere has indicated improves protection.

The Pfizer vaccine's 70% protection against hospital admission during the omicron surge compares to a 93% protection level seen in South Africa's delta-driven wave, according to the new analysis.

People living at the Soweto Home For The Aged practice social distancing during breakfast in Johannesburg, Tuesday, Dec. 14, 2021. An analysis of data from South Africa shows the omicron variant appears to cause less severe disease than previous versions of the coronavirus, and the Pfizer vaccine seems to offer less defense against infection from it but still good protection against hospitalization. Credit: AP Photo/Denis Farrell

That's a big drop in vaccine protection from severe illness requiring hospitalization, said Dr. Eric Topol, head of the Scripps Research Translational Institute.

"What we don't know yet is whether the booster will restore that back to greater than 90% and for how long," Topol said.

The analysis in South Africa was based on examining more than 211,000 COVID-19 test results that date from Sept. 1 to Dec. 741% of which were for adults who had received two doses of the Pfizer vaccine, which is the most commonly used one in South Africa.

Experts now say that omicron accounts for more than 90% of all new infections in South Africa, according to Discovery Health chief executive Dr. Ryan Noach.

Researchers around the world are rushing to figure out what the variant will mean for the coronavirus pandemic, now well into its second year. More information came Tuesday from Pfizer, which announced that its experimental pill to treat COVID-19separate from its vaccineappears effective against omicron.

Takalane Mulaudzi, 29, grimaces as she gets her COVID-19 vaccination at Soweto's Baragwanath hospital Monday Dec.13, 2021. Despite having adequate supplies of more than 19 million vaccine doses, South Africa's vaccination campaign has lagged. Around 38 percent of the adult population in South Africa has been vaccinated. The relatively slow rate of vaccinations makes the government's goal of inoculating 67% of the population by February 2022 look unrealistic.Credit: AP Photo/Jerome Delay

In the weeks since the variant was detected, South Africa has experienced rapid spread of the virus. The seven-day rolling average of daily new cases in the country rose over the past two weeks from 8.07 new cases per 100,000 people on Nov. 29 to 34.37 new cases per 100,000 people on Dec. 13, according to Johns Hopkins University. The death rate hasn't increased during that same period.

Some say there's still not enough data to draw broad conclusions about hospitalizations and the severity of disease caused by omicron.

"Is omicron milder, or more severe than delta?" said Dr. Michael Head, Senior Research Fellow in Global Health, University of Southampton, wrote of the study. "Time will tell. The world's finest scientists, including many in the global south such as in South Africa, will find out. For now, national-level decision-makers have to consider that discretion is the better part of valor."

A man gets vaccinated against COVID-19 at a site near Johannesburg, Monday, Dec. 13, 2021 a day after South African President Cyril Ramaphosa tested positive receiving for mild COVID-19 symptoms after testing positive for the disease. Ramaphosa started feeling unwell Sunday and a test confirmed COVID-19. A statement said he has mild symptoms, is self-isolating in Cape Town and is being monitored by the South African Military Health Service. Credit: AP Photo/Denis Farrell

Takalane Mulaudzi, 29, is processed before getting her COVID-19 vaccination at Soweto's Baragwanath hospital Monday Dec.13, 2021. Despite having adequate supplies of more than 19 million vaccine doses, South Africa's vaccination campaign has lagged. Around 38 percent of the adult population in South Africa has been vaccinated. The relatively slow rate of vaccinations makes the government's goal of inoculating 67% of the population by February 2022 look unrealistic. Credit: AP Photo/Jerome Delay

Vaccine literature is displayed at a COVID-19 vaccination center at Soweto's Baragwanath hospital Monday Dec.13, 2021. Despite having adequate supplies of more than 19 million vaccine doses, South Africa's vaccination campaign has lagged. Around 38 percent of the adult population in South Africa has been vaccinated. The relatively slow rate of vaccinations makes the government's goal of inoculating 67% of the population by February 2022 look unrealistic.Credit: AP Photo/Jerome Delay

People wait for COVID-19 vaccination at Soweto's Baragwanath hospital Monday Dec. 13, 2021. South Africa's 7-day rolling average of daily new COVID-19 cases has risen over the past two weeks from 7.60 new cases per 100,000 people on Nov. 28 to 32.71 new cases per 100,000 people on Dec. 12, according to Johns Hopkins University. In general, the new omicron cases have resulted in milder cases, with fewer hospitalizations and less severe cases requiring oxygen or intensive care. Credit: AP Photo/Jerome Delay

People register for COVID-19 vaccination at Soweto's Baragwanath hospital, South Africa, Monday Dec. 13, 2021. South Africa's 7-day rolling average of daily new COVID-19 cases has risen over the past two weeks from 7.60 new cases per 100,000 people on Nov. 28 to 32.71 new cases per 100,000 people on Dec. 12, according to Johns Hopkins University. In general, the new omicron cases have resulted in milder cases, with fewer hospitalizations and less severe cases requiring oxygen or intensive care. Credit: AP Photo/Jerome Delay

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This story has been updated to correct the time period that the samples were from. They dated from Sept. 1 to Dec. 7, not Nov. 15 to Dec. 7. It also corrects that not all of the samples were positive, as a news release from Discovery initially said.

Explore further Omicron resists Pfizer vaccine but causes less severe disease: study

 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
(HealthDay)Compared to previous coronavirus variants, Omicron appears to cause less severe illness, but is more resistant to the Pfizer vaccine, researchers at South Africa's largest health insurer report.

The team at Discovery Health analyzed 211,000 positive coronavirus cases during the country's fourth wave, including 78,000 attributed to Omicron. It's the first major private study since the variant was first detected last month, the Washington Post reported.

The researchers found that during the latest wave, the risk of hospital admission among adults with COVID-19 was 29% lower than in the first pandemic wave that began in March 2020.

However, the Pfizer vaccine provided just 33% protection against infection with Omicron, a much lower rate than against other variants, according to the study.

The vaccine did give 70% protection against severe complications that would require hospitalization, which is "very good protection," the researchers said.

"This is the first time we've had any data on that," Dr. Eric Topol, vice president for research at Scripps Research in La Jolla, Calif., told U.S. Today.

"Seventy percent is definitely a dropdown. It isn't great. It was 95% effective [against] severe disease when it was Delta variant and then about 85% after six months of waning," Topol said.

Whether those numbers will continue to hold as more patients with Omicron are studied isn't yet clear, he added.

The South African researchers also found that children had a 20% higher risk of hospital admission with complications during the fourth wave than during the first wave, U.S. Today reported.

"What is encouraging at this stage is a flatter trajectory of hospital admissions indicating likely lower severity of this wave," Ryan Noach, Discovery's chief executive, said during a news briefing.

But earlier, he warned that South Africa's health care system could still be overwhelmed as Omicron continues to evolve.

"The Omicron-driven fourth wave has a significantly steeper trajectory of new infections relative to prior waves," Noach said in a statement. "National data show an exponential increase in both new infections and test positivity rates during the first three weeks of this wave, indicating a highly transmissible variant with rapid community spread of infection."

More information: Visit the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for more on the Visit the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for more on the Omicron variant

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Online GP consultations have unintended consequences that may put some patients at a disadvantage and create additional work for GP practice staff, a National Institute for Health Research (NIHR)-funded study at the University of Bristol has shown. The DECODE study, published in the British Journal of General Practice, examined the use of online consultations in primary care to improve how they will be used in the future.

NHS England required all GP practices to offer online consultationswhere patients submit their symptoms via an online formby April 2020. Online consultations were promoted as a solution to improve patient access to primary care and reduce GP practice workload.

The researchers, based at the NIHR Applied Research Collaboration West (ARC West) and the Center for Academic Primary Care (CAPC), University of Bristol, interviewed 19 staff and 21 patients who used online consultation tools, across eight GP practices in the south west and north west. These interviews took place in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.

They found that for some patients, online consultations improved access to care and were convenient. This was particularly the case for patients who felt they could express themselves better in writing. Some patients valued submitting enquiries online at a time that suited them and for simple enquiries that didn't warrant a face-to-face appointment.

However, online consultations made it difficult for some patients to communicate effectively with a GP. The structured questionnaires used in some systems were hard work for simple enquiries. When patients were allowed to write freely, some struggled to explain their issue. Patients weren't sure if they were writing to their own GP or someone else and had concerns of who would read their enquiry.

To ensure patients with limited IT access or skills could still access care, some practices allowed staff to complete an online consultation form for them, over the phone or in person. However, this was time consuming for staff and could compromise patient confidentiality.

For some GPs, online consultations were valued for giving greater flexibility in managing patient care and staff working patterns. However, for others online consultations generated additional work and led to staff dissatisfaction. Poor quality or incomplete information meant patients needed to be followed up with a telephone or face-to-face consultation, which could duplicate work. Some GPs felt that spending more time in front of a computer processing enquiries resulted in 'call-center medicine' which was tiring and isolating, and meant less time physically seeing patients.

Dr. Andrew Turner from NIHR ARC West and the University's Center for Academic Primary Care, and a lead author of the study, said: "In many cases the unintended consequences we identified were often the result of how the online consultations were implemented, rather than just a consequence of the technologies themselves. This means some negative consequences can be avoided if they are recognized in advance and solutions are sufficiently resourced."

Professor Jeremy Horwood from NIHR ARC West and the University's Center for Academic Primary Care, added: "The roll-out of these systems has accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic. Along with our previous work in this area, this research shows that it is critical to get the implementation of digital health technologies right. Primary care is already facing a workforce crisis and greater demand from patients. Technology should be helping rather than hindering access to care and GP workload."

The DECODE team have produced guidance outlining the unintended consequences they identified and their mitigation for clinicians and practice managers.

"Unintended consequences of online consultations: a qualitative study in UK primary care" is published in the British Journal of General Practice

Explore further How GPs coped with the rapid shift to remote consultations to reduce the risk of COVID-19

More information: Andrew Turner et al, Unintended consequences of online consultations: a qualitative study in UK primary care, British Journal of General Practice (2021). Journal information: British Journal of General Practice Andrew Turner et al, Unintended consequences of online consultations: a qualitative study in UK primary care,(2021). DOI: 10.3399/BJGP.2021.0426
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Two shots of Pfizer's COVID vaccine offers around 70 percent protection against severe disease from Omicron, according to results of a study published Tuesday in South Africa.

The emergence of the highly mutated variant, first detected in South Africa last month, sparked fears that it could cause severe disease, be more contagious or could evade vaccines.

Early indicators suggest that it could be more transmissible, but promising data so far has suggested that vaccines still offer protection against Omicron.

The latest research out of South Africa suggested that two doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine still offered protection against serious illness.

"The double dose of Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine showing 70 percent effectiveness in reducing risk of hospitalisation," said Ryan Noach, the head of South Africa's leading private health insurance company, Discovery, which co-led the study.

Two doses of the vaccine offered 93 percent protection against earlier variants, according to the companies.

The study was based on the results of 78,000 PCR tests taken in South Africa between November 15 and December 7 and was conducted by Discovery along with the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC).

"We are extremely encouraged by the results," said SAMRC head Glenda Gray.

But Noach warned that despite the protection offered by two doses, hospitals could still be overrun since Omicron is spreading rapidly in South Africa.

Last week, South Africa approved booster shots for all citizens over 18 as it seeks to stem the rise of new infections.

So far more than 17 million people have been vaccinated in South Africa, or around a third of the country's population.

The government had initially wanted to vaccinate around 70 percent of the population by year's end, but has moved that target to March 2022.

Pfizer/BioNTech has previously said that two shots may not be enough to protect against catching Omicron, though they appeared to be effective against severe disease.

In a preliminary study published last week the companies said a third shot appeared to be effective against the strain.

Explore further South Africa to roll out Covid booster shots next month

 2021 AFP
Every night before bed, Pat and John Sullivan list at least three things for which they are grateful that day. Their 40 years together, each better than the last. The joy they get from art and music. Their ability to keep loving and supporting each other through all the challenges they face.

"John started the practice, but he doesn't remember doing it," said Sullivan, whose husband was diagnosed two years ago with Lewy body dementia, a common type of dementia that can interfere with thinking, balance, behavior and mood.

Practicing gratitude is something John can still do. There are many things he can't: hold a job; walk down steps without assistance; pay the bills; launch a Zoom call; or remember the name of the disease that's slowly robbing him of independence. Sullivan, who is 79, does these things for him while juggling work, running their household and managing her own chronic illnessType 2 diabetes.

"The hardest thing is not having a break," she said. "And looking at him and knowing he's not going to come out of this alive."

Sullivan is one of more than 16 million people in the U.S. who provide care for loved ones with dementia. The vast majority of people with dementiaabout 80%  receive care at home, often from family members or friends whose work is unpaid, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Two-thirds of these caregivers are women; 1 in 3 are 65 or older.

As the population ages, the need will continue to grow. But caring for loved ones can take a toll, especially if the caregiver also has health issues.

About 40% of caregivers have two or more chronic illnesses, and around 35% age 65 and older have a disability, according to the CDC. Providing care to others makes it harder for them to take good care of themselves. It also places them at higher risk for a range of mental disorders and other health issues, including anxiety, depression and cognitive decline.

Even so, the Sullivans' gratitude list grows nightly. Sullivan believes that practice along with mindfulness and other types of self-care are crucial. "When I feel burdened, which happens at least twice a day," she said, "I stop and say, 'What am I not facing, and how am I not caring for myself?' The truth is, this is hard. It's very hard."

How much stress a caregiver feels is a greater indication of how much the job will affect their health than the amount of caregiving they provide, said David Roth, director of the Center on Aging and Health at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore. His research found caregivers who reported a lot of strain didn't live as long as those who better managed the stress.

Caregiving involves a range of tasks, such as managing a person's money, medications and personal care, including bathing, feeding and toileting. Roth said he asks people in his studies to describe the help they provide as well as how much strain it causes them. "We get a wide range of responses. For some people, helping with toileting, for example, is very stressful. For others, it is not."

Caring for people with dementia can be more stressful than other types of care, experts say. One reason it may be harder on families is that people with dementia often need care longer than people with other age-related conditions. According to the CDC, more than half of dementia caregivers provide care for four years or more.

"The main people who are at risk of physical health problems are those who feel overwhelmed by their responsibilities and have been doing it many months or even years, so it has a wear and tear effect on their systems," Roth said. "They feel like they have little control or choice and can't get additional resources to help them carry the load."

Sullivan said she gets help from neighbors, friends and community organizations, but it's no longer enough. Soon, she and her husband will move from their apartment in Oakland, California, to her childhood home in Shenandoah, Virginia, where they will live with her sister. Having support from extended family and a larger, more suitable living environment where everything is on one floor "will be huge," she said.

Families should start having conversations early on about what long-term care will look like for their loved ones, including who will provide that care and who will provide support to the primary caregiver, said Christina Irving, client services director for the Family Caregiver Alliance in San Francisco.

"The earlier people get help and support the better," she said. "Caregiving can take a toll and caregivers are not always able to step back and see that they need help. Don't wait until the caregiver is burned out or overwhelmed."

Irving also advises families put legal documents in place long before they are needed. These may include advance care directives in case the person is unable to make medical decisions on their own or power of attorney in case they are no longer able to pay their own bills or make financial decisions. "Individual circumstances will differ, but make sure there is somebody there to manage your affairs if you are no longer able to manage them for yourself," she said.

Roth said one caregiver shouldn't be expected to do it all. Family members, neighbors, churches and other community resources such as adult day care providers can all be tapped for support. "Partly as respite, but also as a second set of ears to contribute a positive voice and contribute new ideas to make the caregiving experience more peaceful and meaningful."

Because while the work of providing care to someone can be challenging, the experience doesn't have to be negative, he said.

"For older, retired people, sometimes it gives them a sense of purpose, like being a volunteer in their own family," Roth said. For an adult child, it may feel like an opportunity to "give back care and affection to a parent who has cared for you your whole life. It helps people feel like they are contributing in a positive way to the care of someone they love."

Sullivan finds the job both stressful and rewarding.

"You're still there with each other," she said. "Always. The big difference is whether you go into it consciously and intentionally," which she has. She discusses the situation openly with John, who is aware of his condition, even if he can't remember what it's called or how long he's had it. Together, they find ways for him to contribute as much as possible to his own care.

"It's less about providing careit's about being engaged in a very rewarding partnership with this person I love."

Copyright  2021 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
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Rocket scientists and brain surgeons are no smarter than the general population, suggests a study in the Christmas issue of The BMJ.

Despite the commonly used phrases "It's not rocket science" and "It's not brain surgery" the findings show that both aerospace engineers and neurosurgeons have similar levels of intelligence to those in the general population.

As such, the researchers say that both specialties might be unnecessarily put on a pedestal, and that phrases unrelated to careers such as "It's a walk in the park" might be more appropriate.

To help settle the age-old argument of which phrase"It's not brain surgery" or "It's not rocket science"is most deserved, researchers compared the intelligence of 329 aerospace engineers and 72 neurosurgeons with 18,257 members of the general population.

All participants completed a validated online test to measure six distinct aspects (domains) of cognition, spanning planning and reasoning, working memory, attention, and emotion processing abilities.

Potentially influential factors, such as gender, handedness, and experience (years) in their specialty, were taken into account in the analysis.

The results show that aerospace engineers and neurosurgeons were equally matched across most domains but differed in two respects: aerospace engineers showed better mental manipulation abilities, whereas neurosurgeons were better at semantic problem solving.

When these scores were compared to the general population, aerospace engineers did not show significant differences in any domains. Neurosurgeons were able to solve problems faster than the general population but showed a slower memory recall speed.

These results suggest that, despite the stereotypes depicted by the phrases "It's not rocket science" and "It's not brain surgery," all three groups showed a wide range of cognitive abilities, explain the researchers.

They acknowledge that this is an observational study that does not represent the global range of aerospace engineers and neurosurgeons.

They say their results suggest that both neurosurgeons and aerospace engineers might be unnecessarily placed on a pedestal and that "It's a walk in the park" or another phrase unrelated to careers might be more appropriate.

Explore further How music strengthens the brain

More information: "It's not rocket science" and "It's not brain surgery""It's a walk in the park": prospective comparative study, BMJ (2021). DOI: 10.1136/ bmj-2021-067883 , Journal information: British Medical Journal (BMJ) "It's not rocket science" and "It's not brain surgery""It's a walk in the park": prospective comparative study,(2021). DOI: 10.1136/ bmj-2021-067883 , www.bmj.com/content/375/bmj-2021-067883
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

Russia on Tuesday admitted that its homegrown Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine had not yet been approved by the World Health Organization because Russian authorities had not provided enough data.

In August last year, Sputnik V became the world's first approved coronavirus vaccine, when Russian authorities gave it the green light for domestic use ahead of large-scale clinical trials.

"We still haven't provided certain information that needs to be provided for certification because we had a different understanding of what information it had to be and how it should be provided," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

"We have different standards."

But Peskov said Russia is "gradually, let's say, adapting to these requirements."

While officials sparked concerns over the fast-track process, the jab was since declared safe and more than 90 percent effective in a report published by leading medical journal The Lancet.

But neither the US nor EU medicines watchdogs have so far granted authorisation for Sputnik V, which has been used in Russia and a host of other countries since late last year.

The WHO last month said it had restarted the certification process that could grant emergency authorisation for Sputnik V after delaying the process for several months but said it still needed "the full dossier on Sputnik".

At home, Russian authorities have faced a vaccine-sceptic population that has seen just 42 percent of Russians fully inoculated.

A Twitter account associated with jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny on Tuesday blamed the delayed WHO certification process on the Russian authorities and said that it had contributed to vaccine-scepticism at home.

"People are dying and they are sorting through paper," the account tweeted.

The WHO has so far granted emergency authorisations to COVID-19 shots Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca, Johnson&Johnson, Sinopharm, Sinovac and India's Bharat Biotech.

Explore further WHO restarts evaluation of Russian COVID-19 shot

 2021 AFP
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

The COVID-19 omicron variant has been reported in nearly half of the U.S. states since it was first detected in California on Dec. 1. The second known case of omicron in the country was identified in Minnesota.

"People that detect omicronstates, counties, countriesthat doesn't necessarily mean that they were the first to have it," says Dr. Bobbi Pritt, director of Mayo Clinic's Division of Clinical Microbiology. "It is just that they were one of the first to detect it. In Minnesota, we were one of the first states to detect the presence of the omicron variant. And that's because we sequence a large number of our COVID-19 positive specimens. We have a very good sequencing system in place."

Mayo Clinic Laboratories has been working with Minnesota state health officials and other academic medical centers looking for new variants by analyzing the virus's genetic code.

To help better understand genome sequencing and how it works, Dr. Pritt answers in this Q&A.

What does tracking a variant or sequencing a genome mean?

When we talk about identifying variants or tracking virus variants, that usually refers to analyzing the viruses genetic code to see if it is a variant and which variant it is.

Can you explain the molecular sequencing process?

First, you have to start with the positive sample. You have a patient sample that contains the SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19), then you take that positive sample, you subject it to something called extraction where you extract out the virus's genetic code, and purify it, along with all of the human DNA and RNA as well.

Then you subject it to PCR (polymerase chain reaction). And the PCR, in the case of the tests that we're using at Mayo Clinic, are tests that amplify little pieces of the entire virus or nearly the entire virus's genetic code to produce millions and millions of copies. Then all those little pieces that have been amplified need to be sequenced.

Next, the genetic code, letter by letter, is created. And that code is compared to a publicly available sequence library so that you can see if it matches up with one of the known variants or if it might be something completely new.

This is next-generation sequencingthe process of sequencing DNA or RNA by producing millions of sequence reads in a massively parallel manner. Also known as deep sequencing, next-generation sequencing allows for the sequencing of the entire genome of a microorganism.

Credit: Mayo Clinic

How is genetic sequencing used for the surveillance of COVID-19 to track these new strains?

You use the information you get from sequencing in a number of different ways to look at what variants are circulating in the community and if there are new variants, perhaps ones that don't even have names yet. That is one of the reasons you would want to sequence is to identify new variants, but usually it's to track the spread of known variants as they go through the community.

What is the time involved and capacity of sequencing machines?

As mentioned above, genomic sequencing is a complex process that involves multiple steps.

Here at Mayo Clinic, we use two different tests for sequencing. One is done in our clinical laboratory and is used primarily for infection prevention and control purposes. The results aren't used to guide treatment at this point. The other test that we use is done in a research laboratory that has a much larger capacity. We can sequence more than 700 specimens at once. That process takes much longer because we have multiple teams involved.

Why don't all positive tests get sequenced?

Knowing the variant, currently, does not impact treatment, we want to know what's circulating in the community to track how the virus is spreading. By monitoring for variants and sharing information into publicly-available databases, sequencing can help public health officials better understand outbreaks and make decisions.

For instance, if I were to test positive for COVID-19, I'd stay away from other people until a certain time had elapsed, so I knew I wasn't infectious. I don't need to know the variants that I have. But if I was with a group of people and we all got infected, we think at a certain party or event, like what we're seeing in New York City with the anime conference, then it might be helpful to know the variant so we could track the spread from a public health standpoint to understand how that variant may have spread across through multiple people.

What should people keep in mind right now with the new COVID-19 variant?

We need to remember that this is a virus, and it is prone to continue mutating. Some mutations might be clinically important, others may not be at all. A new variant may arise, and then it may go away and it might not ever have any significance. For example, some of the earlier variantsbeta, gammawe don't see those anymore, but the delta variant, on the other hand, did spread very quickly. Keep in mind, whenever we have a new variant, it isn't always an immediate concern. We need to watch and follow its progress over time.

What's most important in stopping this virus and preventing new mutations is to get everyone vaccinated and to continue to use all our preventive measures (wearing masks, social distancing) because the virus only mutates when it's inside of people. The fewer people that are infected, the lower chance that a mutation is going to arise and a new variant will appear.

Everyone should get vaccinated and continue social distancing and wearing their masks. Even though it's tough and we are all tired of the pandemic, we need to remain vigilant.

Explore further US tracking of virus variants has improved after slow start
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University of Queensland researchers have discovered an exercise 'sweet spot' that reverses the cognitive decline in aging mice, paving the way for human studies.

After more than a decade of research, led by Queensland Brain Institute (QBI) Emeritus Professor Perry Bartlett and Dr. Dan Blackmore, the team found 35 days of voluntary physical exercise improved learning and memory.

"We tested the cognitive ability of elderly mice following defined periods of exercise and found an optimal period or 'sweet spot' that greatly improved their spatial learning," Dr. Blackmore said.

The researchers also discovered how exercise improved learning.

"We found that growth hormone (GH) levels peaked during this time, and we've been able to demonstrate that artificially raising GH in sedentary mice also was also effective in improving their cognitive skills," Dr. Blackmore said

"We discovered GH stimulates the production of new neurons in the hippocampusthe region of the brain critically important to learning and memory.

"This is an important discovery for the thousands of Australians diagnosed with dementia every year."

Dementia is the second leading cause of death of all Australians, and with no medical breakthrough the number of people with dementia is expected to increase to around 1.1 million by 2058.

Professor Bartlett said the findings provide further proof that loss of cognitive function in old age is directly related to the diminished production of new neurons.

"It underlines the importance of being able to activate the neurogenic stem cells in the brain that we first identified 20 years ago," Professor Bartlett said.

The team were able to explore how the production of new neurons changed the circuitry in the brain using Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI).

"Using MRI, we were able to study the brain following exercise, and for the first time identify the critical changes in the structure and functional circuitry of the hippocampus required for improved spatial learning," Dr. Blackmore said.

Explore further Research hits the sweet spot for healthy brains

More information: Daniel G. Blackmore et al, An exercise "sweet spot" reverses cognitive deficits of aging by growth-hormone-induced neurogenesis, iScience (2021). Daniel G. Blackmore et al, An exercise "sweet spot" reverses cognitive deficits of aging by growth-hormone-induced neurogenesis,(2021). DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2021.103275 Xiaoqing Alice Zhou et al, Neurogenic-dependent changes in hippocampal circuitry underlie the procognitive effect of exercise in aging mice, iScience (2021). DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2021.103450 Journal information: iScience
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is calling for thousands of volunteers to staff new vaccination centers in shopping areas, stadiums and racecourses as the government accelerates its booster program to combat the omicron variant of COVID-19.

The drive comes two days after Johnson set a target of giving booster shots to all adults by the end of this year to stem the tide of omicron. U.K. health authorities say the number of omicron infections is doubling every two to three days, and the variant is now responsible for about 200,000 new cases a day.

"We need tens of thousands of people to help out  everyone from trained vaccinators to stewards,'' Johnson said. "Many thousands have already given their time - but we need you to come forward again, to work alongside our brilliant GPs, doctors, nurses and pharmacists, to deliver jabs and save lives.''

Long lines formed Tuesday at vaccination centers across England as the National Health Service raced to meet the government's target of delivering up to 1 million shots a day, more than double the recent daily average. Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab said Tuesday that logistical issues in expanding the vaccination program would diminish over the course of the week.

"It does take a few days just to make sure we get to a steady state," Raab told the BBC, adding: "We'll keep straining every sinew to make sure we can reach that target."

Monday was the second-highest day for COVID-19 booster bookings, the National Health Service in England said. More than 650,000 appointments were booked.

"It is fantastic to see such a positive response from the public so far,'' said Emily Lawson, the England vaccine deployment lead at the NHS. "The data is cleargetting boosted is our best hope of protecting people against the new variant.''

England's chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty told government ministers that based on current data a "significant increase in hospitalizations" from omicron is expected.

Over the past week, an average of 811 people a day were hospitalized with COVID-19.

There are currently about 7,400 coronavirus patients in U.K. hospitals, down from a peak of more than 39,000 in mid-January. Only 10 of those have tested positive for the omicron variant.

Throughout the pandemic, one of the government's primary goals has been to prevent the NHS from being overwhelmed by COVID-19 patients. This is particularly important during the winter, when U.K. hospitals are often stretched by a surge in flu cases and other illnesses related to cold weather.

In an address to the nation on Sunday, Johnson said that everyone 18 and up would be offered a third vaccine dose by Dec. 31a month earlier than the previous target. Johnson said boosters would "reinforce our wall of vaccine protection" against an anticipated "tidal wave of omicron."

U.K. health authorities say omicron, which is more transmissible than earlier variants, will become the most prevalent type of COVID-19 in Britain within days. Health Secretary Sajid Javid told lawmakers Monday that omicron would be dominant in London "within 48 hours."

Scientists in South Africa, where the omicron outbreak is more advanced, say the variant may cause less severe disease than the delta variant but caution that it's too soon to be certain. Health authorities around the world are watching Britain closely to see what an omicron surge looks like in a country with an older, more highly vaccinated population than South Africa's.

 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Minister of State with responsibility for Law Reform, James Browne T.D., represented Ireland at the Conference of Justice Ministers of the Council of Europe held in Venice, Italy on 13-14 December 2021.

The Conference of Justice Ministers considered the implementation of the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers Recommendation (2018) 8 concerning Restorative Justice in Criminal Matters. Issues addressed by the Ministers during the Conference included:

the use of restorative justice in desistance from crime;

the role of restorative justice in victims recovery;

offenders redress and reintegration;

juvenile offenders and juvenile victims of crime; and

training in restorative justice.

At the Conference, the Ministers of Justice of the Council of Europe adopted the Venice Declaration which called on member States to develop national Action Plans to develop and use restorative justice in their respective criminal justice systems.

Speaking during an exchange of views on the role of restorative justice for juveniles in conflict with the law and juvenile victims of crime, the Minister said:

Restorative justice is a criminal justice process, which has been shown, through mediation, to help victims recover from crime, reduce reoffending and save public resources. Irelands continuing commitment to restorative justice is reflected in the new Youth Justice Strategy 2021-2027, which includes a strong focus on restorative practices throughout.

The Guiding Principles of the Strategy state that Victims of Crime should have an opportunity to have their voices heard, and, where appropriate, to take part in restorative processes.

Addressing the role of restorative justice in changing offenders behaviour to ensure that they do not reoffend, the Minister said:

Restorative practices have an invaluable role to play in supporting a process of discouraging offenders from re-offending. Making amends to victims and communities can help offenders develop a pro-social identity that is conducive to change. If restorative justice enables an offender to accept responsibility for their actions, they have the opportunity to reform themselves, to develop maturity, to make good to their victims, and to repair and foster wider social bonds.

The Department of Justice Action Plan for 2021 includes Restorative Justice among its nine strategic objectives to be prioritised over the next three years.

While at the Conference of Justice Ministers, Minister Browne held a wide-ranging bilateral meeting with Mr. Karen Andreasyan, the Armenian Minister for Justice, to discuss anti-corruption measures, penal reform, constitutional reform and the digitalisation of Justice.

Separately, Minister Browne met with Ms Judit Varga, the Hungarian Minister for Justice to discuss Irelands priorities for its upcoming Presidency of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe (Ireland will hold the CoE Presidency from May to November 2022). Minister Browne also advised Minister Varga on Irelands stance on digitalisation and artificial intelligence in the field of justice.

Minister Browne was also interviewed by RAI Storia, the Italian public broadcasters documentary channel, on Irelands experiences in relation to restorative justice.

ENDS
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus S.Aleinik meets the UN Resident Coordinator in Belarus

On December 13, 2021, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Belarus Sergei Aleinik met with UN Resident Coordinator in the Republic of Belarus Ioanna Kazana-Vishnevetsky.

The parties discussed topical issues of interaction between Belarus and the offices of UN and other international organizations, including on issues of socio-economic development in the context of the spread of COVID-19, as well as plans for cooperation between our country and UN agencies in 2022.

An exchange of views took place on the approaches to resolve the situation of refugees and migrants who are in the transport and logistics center "Bruzgi" on the Belarusian-Polish border. The interlocutors confirmed the high level of coordination of efforts of the Belarusian authorities, public associations and international organizations of the UN system to provide support to refugees and migrants, including humanitarian aid.

The Resident Coordinator expressed her gratitude for the access to refugees and migrants provided by the Belarusian side for international organizations.

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LANSING, Mich. (AP)  Michigan legislators late Tuesday passed a $1.5 billion bill with state incentives to land major business projects, including an electric vehicle battery factory that General Motors wants to build in the Lansing area.

Once Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signs the funding and related bills into law, $1 billion in state revenue will go to the new Strategic Outreach and Attraction Reserve Fund. Legislative budget committees would have to approve transfers from the account to new site readiness and critical industry funds before the state's economic development board could distribute grants, loans and other assistance to companies.

Thanks to the effective collaboration of legislative leadership in both parties, our state will be competitive for every dollar and every job for years to come, the Democratic governor said in a statement. The funding legislation was approved on 25-11 and 78-25 votes in the Senate and House before lawmakers adjourned for the year.

As part of the deal, she will sign $409 million in aid for restaurants and other businesses that lost money in the pandemic. The Republican-controlled Legislature also approved a $75 million tax cut for businesses that pay taxes on nonindustrial equipment and personal property. The exemption, based on the value of the equipment, would rise from $80,000 to $180,000 per parcel.

We are in a period where there are increasingly large opportunities that will have generational and transformative impact. This allows us to be in better position to win those deals, Quentin Messer Jr., CEO of the Michigan Economic Development Corp. and president and chair of the Michigan Strategic Fund, said of the $1 billion in incentives.

The Lansing City Council on Monday began approving local tax breaks for the proposed GM project, which could cost up to $2.5 billion and employ as many as 1,700 workers. Business leaders and lawmakers have said Michigan is in the mix for three other big deals that could be announced as soon as January.

Michigan-based automakers qualify for generous job-retention tax credits under an old economic development program, and some businesses were awarded tax incentives through a newer initiative that expired in 2019. But supporters of the new incentives say the state cannot compete with what other states are offering, despite criticism that such corporate subsidies are unfair to other companies and could be better spent on government services.

Talks about boosting incentives had been underway but intensified in recent months after Ford Motor Co. announced plans to build an electric vehicle assembly plant and three battery factories in Kentucky and Tennessee.

The Ford announcement felt like a punch in the nose. ... Michiganders have always responded to every punch with a more forceful counterpunch," Messer told The Associated Press.

Opponents in both parties, including Democratic Rep. Cynthia Johnson of Detroit, called the incentives corporate welfare and said there is no guarantee that any new jobs will last in the long term.

Why do the wheels turn so fast for corporate America? When they come in here and they demand something, they get it like that, said Democratic Sen. Jeff Irwin of Ann Arbor. What about the people who are suffering in silence with mental illness? What about the people sleeping on the street? What about the small businesses who are trying to figure how (to) pay for health care?

But Sen. Ken Horn, a Frankenmuth Republican, said residents are counting on Michigan to be prepared for the auto industry's shift from internal combustion engines to zero emission electric power.

This is our opportunity to make a difference. This is money well spent, he said, saying the incentives will give Michigan a better than 50-50 shot at securing all four serious projects on the table, including another auto-related deal.

The grants for pandemic-afflicted businesses  to be funded with federal discretionary pandemic aid  and the tax cut were welcomed by groups representing small businesses. Grants to qualifying businesses will be tied to what they paid in 2020 for property taxes or rent, unemployment insurance taxes and liquor fees, inspection fees and other fees.

Critics questioned the tax reduction's effect on municipalities.

By repealing this tax in perpetuity with no replacement to local communities beyond the first year, you are directly defunding the money that goes toward public safety," said Sen. Jeremy Moss, a Southfield Democrat.

Republican Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey pledged to work to devise a permanent funding solution over the next year.

Follow David Eggert at https://twitter.com/DavidEggert00

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SANTA FE, N.M. (AP)  The New Mexico state Senate voted Friday in favor of a spending plan for $478 million in federal pandemic relief to expand highways, internet infrastructure, electric vehicles and oil field cleanup efforts.

Included in the bill is $133 million in spending on internet projects, including alternative broadband using emerging technologies like wireless towers, blimps and new satellite internet networks.

The sparsely populated rural state has struggled for years to dig the trenches and lay the fiber optic cable necessary to expand internet access. The issue was pushed to the forefront during the pandemic, when poor internet access led to inequalities in online education and healthcare access.

Legislators hope that an influx in federal funding and the creation of a dedicated state broadband office will help accelerate internet connectivity efforts, especially in rural communities.

While students are now back to school in person, theyre still expected to attend virtual classes when theres bad weather, or if theyre quarantined due to a COVID-19 exposure even though thousands of children lack access to quality internet, according to a fall state Public Education Department.

Theres no such thing as a snow day anymore, said bill sponsor Sen. George Munoz of Gallup, in northwestern New Mexico.

The state Senate voted 36-4 in favor of the bill, returning it to the House to approve recent amendments. The measure is expected to pass and preserves priorities added by the House, including $2 million for teacher loan repayment and $50 million for a rural hospital.

The money would come from the some $1 billion in federal funds the state legislature is working to allocate after the state supreme court ruled last month that Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham had no right to allocate the funds herself. The Legislature is on track to put around half of that money in the general fund, allowing it to allocate the money next year.

Lujan Grisham has urged the Legislature to move quickly on pandemic aid spending.

The Democratic governor had vetoed Legislature allocations of the federal pandemic relief funds this spring, sparking a rare public dispute between her and the Democratic majorities in the state House and Senate. The Legislature sued and ultimately won their argument in court that the Legislature has the power of the purse, even when the money comes from federal funding.

Attanasio is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues. Follow Attanasio on Twitter.

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SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec 14, 2021--

Today Virta Health, the leader in type 2 diabetes reversal, announced it now works with more than 20 national and regional health plans, marking 133% year-over-year growth with large insurer customers. Of these partners, nearly halfincluding Humana and Providence Health Plan now offer Virtas diabetes reversal treatment to their self-funded employer groups, representing thousands of companies and over 5M covered lives.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211214005989/en/

Heightened demand for Virta coincides with an industry-wide shift towards reversal as an antidote to Americas worsening metabolic disease epidemic. Virtas clinically proven treatment upends traditional approaches, and helps patients normalize blood sugar while removing the need for expensive medications like insulin. Recent analysis, with methodology validated by the independent actuarial firm Milliman, Inc., demonstrated payer savings of $425 per Virta patient per month, or $10,000 over the first two years.

The tide is turning towards disease reversal as the primary goal for type 2 diabetes treatment, said Sami Inkinen, CEO and co-founder of Virta. Our accelerating health plan growth affirms this shift, as payers race to cut costs while helping patients transform their health.

Recognizing this transition, the American Diabetes Association, the Endocrine Society, the European Association for the Study of Diabetes, and Diabetes UK recently released a consensus report that defined diabetes reversal for the first time while refining remission criteria.

Alongside health plan growth, Virta is also rapidly expanding its reach with employer customers. Over the last year alone, Virta has seen triple-digit year-over-year growth for its enterprise business.

To learn more about how Virtas diabetes reversal offering can save money and improve the health of your population, reach out to  partner@virtahealth.com.

About Virta Health:

Virta Health helps people reverse type 2 diabetes and other chronic conditions. Current approaches manage disease progression through increased medication use and infrequent doctor visits. Virta reverses type 2 diabetes through innovations in technology, nutrition science, and continuous remote care from physicians and behavioral experts. In clinical studies, 94% of patients reduce or eliminate insulin use, and weight-loss exceeds FDA benchmarks by 150%. Virta works with the largest health plans, employers, and government organizations and puts 100% of its fees at risk based on clinical and financial outcomes. To learn more about how Virta is transforming lives by reversing type 2 diabetes and other chronic diseases, visit www.virtahealth.com or follow us on Twitter @virtahealth.

View source version on businesswire.com:https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211214005989/en/

CONTACT: Media Contact:

Lauren Volkmann Cunningham

831-331-3307

KEYWORD: CALIFORNIA UNITED STATES NORTH AMERICA

INDUSTRY KEYWORD: DIABETES HEALTH PROFESSIONAL SERVICES INSURANCE MANAGED CARE

SOURCE: Virta Health

Copyright Business Wire 2021.

PUB: 12/14/2021 11:27 AM/DISC: 12/14/2021 11:27 AM

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SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP)  California regulators proposed major changes to the states booming residential solar industry Monday, including reducing the discounts homeowners with rooftop solar and storage systems get on their electric bills when they sell extra energy back to the power companies.

Californias wildly successful 26-year-old program to get more people to put solar panels on their homes has been at the center of a fierce debate between the states major utilities and the solar industry, and the California Public Utilities Commissions proposed reforms have been highly anticipated.

Power companies say the savings solar customers get from the current incentives are now so great that they no longer pay their fair share for the operation of the overall energy grid.

The changes proposed Monday would reduce those incentives and roughly double, to 10 years, how long it takes Californians to make back what they paid to install the systems. Buying rooftop solar panels and a system to store the power for nighttime use costs about $40,000, according to the solar industry.

The CPUC said the reforms are designed to make the program, known as net energy metering, more cost effective and to ensure energy grid operation costs are shared fairly. But the solar industry and its allies warned the changes will make it harder for the state to achieve its bold clean energy targets, including generating 100% of retail electricity from renewable or zero-carbon sources by 2045.

The proposal will move us backward on clean energy and block many Californians ability to help make our grid more resilient to climate change, Susannah Churchill, western senior regional director for Vote Solar, a political advocacy group that pushes for clean energy adoption.

California launched the program in 1995 with the goal of encouraging more homes to go solar. It worked. California now has 1.3 million solar systems on homes, far more than any other state, according to the solar industry. That number will only grow because since 2020 all newly constructed homes in California must have solar panels.

But as solar panels proliferated, criticism about the program grew. The state's major utilities  Pacific Gas & Electric, San Diego Gas & Electric and Southern California Edison  say the current setup allows solar customers to sell their energy back into the grid for more than its worth. They say more needs to be done to make sure solar customers  most of whom still rely on power from utilities once the sung goes  are paying for all the parts of the energy grid they use.

Power rates include many costs unrelated to energy generation, like transmission, distribution and even wildfire prevention work. When solar households pay significantly lower electricity bills  or no bills at all  theyre contributing less to those things. That means more of the cost is shouldered by other customers, often households and renters without the financial means to install solar. The utilities and the state peg that cost at $3 billion, though the solar industry disputes that number.

The CPUCs proposal would still allow residential solar customers to sell their excess energy back to the power companies, but at a significantly lower rate. Solar customers would also have to pay a grid charge based on how many kilowatts of energy they produce; it would cost $40 to $50 for most homes.

The charges arent as great as what the utilities wanted. The companies and their allies did not immediately comment on the states proposal.

CPUC Commissioner Martha Guzman Aceves said the reforms are aimed at creating fairness while ensuring the financial benefits are still strong enough to encourage people to go solar.

The changes would apply to new solar customers. People who already have panels on their homes wouldnt operate under the new system until theyve had their panels for 15 years.

But state regulators also want to encourage people with solar panels to install storage systems. It costs about $20,000 to $25,000 for people to put solar panels on the rooftop and another $15,000 to install storage systems. Customers who have storage systems  only a fraction of the overall rooftop solar market  can store the extra energy they make during the day for use at night.

The more customers who have solar storage, the fewer people need to rely on the energy grid  and fossil fuels  during the evening. Under the states plan, customers who already have rooftop solar will have access to subsidies of about $3,200 to install storage systems.

Regulators also propose creating a $600 million fund to help low income households afford solar and storage.

A five-member commission will vote on the final PUC reform proposal, likely in January.

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INDIANAPOLIS (AP)  All 92 Indiana counties will get a piece of the $500 million in regional development grants being handed out by state officials, an economic development agency decided Tuesday.

The Indiana Economic Development Corp. board approved awarding money to all 17 regional groups that submitted proposals for the program encouraging regional cooperation on projects to attract residents and businesses.

Five regions will receive the maximum $50 million grants from the program the state created with federal COVID-19 relief funding. Those are northwestern Indiana and ones clustered around Evansville, Fort Wayne, South Bend and New Albany.

Those regions have the potential to pull in people from out of state, particularly the nearby Chicago and Louisville, Kentucky, areas, said Mark Wasky, the development agencys vice president of innovation and strategic initiatives.

All of those are kind of gateways to the state in many ways, Wasky told The Associated Press. Theyre located within areas that present particular opportunities for the state to be able to leverage large urban areas to attract talent.

Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb proposed creating the grant program in January and said Tuesday it had encouraged local leaders to look beyond their own city and county lines.

This truly is a rising tide lifts all boats statewide, simultaneous, and I would say on an unprecedented scale, all at once over the course of the next few years, Holcomb said.

The state board also approved $30 million grants for four regions and another four will get $20 million. Three others were approved for $15 million and one is receiving $5 million.

Wasky said those reviewing the proposals believed it was important to give money to all the regions in order to support ongoing cooperation.

The importance of encouraging regions to continue down this path was of significant importance for us to make sure that everybody walked away with something rather than feeling like they were left empty handed, he said.

The Regional Economic Acceleration and Development Initiative program received proposals outlining hundreds of projects for large cities and rural towns, including subsidies to encourage more housing construction, creating high-tech business locations and building new recreation facilities.

The Republican-dominated Legislature initially dedicated $150 million toward the program. That was increased to $500 million in April as the state budget was bolstered by $3 billion in federal COVID-19 relief funding.

Indiana Democrats have faulted Republicans for claiming credit for the regional grant program while the states entire GOP congressional delegation opposed its funding source, the American Rescue Plan signed in March by President Joe Biden.

The program comes as Indiana has seen many years of uneven economic and population growth. The 2020 census found that Indianas population grew 4.7% over the past decade, with Indianapolis and its surrounding counties seeing three-quarters of that growth. Meanwhile, much of rural Indiana shrank as 49 of the states 92 counties lost population.

All the regional organizations were told they had to match their state grant funding requests with four times as much money from local government or private investment sources.

Work wont start immediately on many of the planned projects as Wasky said federal rules require money to be committed to specific projects by the end of 2024 and spent by the end of 2026.

The state grant program resembles the Regional Cities Initiative that then-Gov. Mike Pence pushed for in 2015 and awarded $42 million grants toward three regional plans for the Fort Wayne, Evansville and South Bend areas, leaving four other regional organizations empty-handed. Supporters lauded its success, but Holcomb and Republican legislators didnt pursue more money for it when a new two-year state budget was adopted in 2019.

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WASHINGTON (AP)  The Supreme Court has rejected an appeal from a conservative think tank over Gov. Tony Evers decision to exclude the groups writers from press briefings.

The justices acted without comment Monday, leaving in place lower court rulings that said the decision is legal.

The John K. MacIver Institute for Public Policy filed the lawsuit in 2019 alleging that Evers, a Democrat, violated its staffers constitutional rights to free speech, freedom of the press and equal access.

Former Gov. Scott Walker, a Republican, had joined in the institute's bid for high-court review. Evers defeated Walker in 2018.

Last year, a federal judge rejected the group's arguments, saying MacIver can still report on Evers without being invited to his press briefings or being on his email distribution list. The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously upheld that ruling in April.

Former Republican Gov. Scott Walker had urged the Supreme Court to take the case, arguing that the ruling in favor of Evers allows censorship because it permits picking and choosing which reporters attend press events that have long been open to reporters but closed to the general public.

The appeals court ruled that Evers media-access criteria was reasonable and he was under no obligation to grant access for every news outlet to every news conference.

MacIver had argued that Evers was excluding its staffers and violating their free speech rights because they are conservatives. Evers said they were excluded because they are not principally a news gathering operation and they are not neutral.

MacIver's attorney Daniel Suhr responded to the action by saying "politicians should not censor their news coverage by hand-picking who covers them.

When asked to comment on the Supreme Courts action, Evers spokeswoman Britt Cudaback referred to the governors legal filing in the case.

MacIver covers legislative meetings and other events at the Capitol as well as some Evers news conferences. But the institute sued after being excluded from a media briefing Evers gave for reporters on his state budget proposal in 2019. Evers wasnt present, but members of his administration provided information to reporters on embargo ahead of his budget speech to the Legislature that evening.

The appeals court noted that a limited number of reporters were allowed into the event. Reporters from The Associated Press, along with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and Wisconsin State Journal, were among those present for that briefing.

Former governors, including Walker, also limited the number of reporters and news outlets that could attend budget briefings and other events.

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A 2-month-old whose family tried to protect her by putting her in a car seat. A 94-year-old Korean War veteran from Arkansas. A longtime florist in Tennessee who recently started on her new adventure as an airport security worker. An Amazon warehouse worker in Illinois. A Kentucky judge known for his common sense.

These were among the dozens of people killed during Friday nights tornadoes that ripped through five states in the Midwest and South. There were dozens of confirmed deaths in Arkansas, Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri and Tennessee, but those numbers were expected to rise. Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said Monday at least 74 had died in his state alone.

Here are some of the people who perished during the tornadoes.

Douglas Koon, his wife, Jackie, and their three children huddled in his mother-in-laws bathroom in Dawson Springs, Kentucky, as the storms approached. The tornado hit the house directly, flinging the family around and tossing a bathtub in the air that was shielding two of his sons. The couple put their infant daughter, Oaklynn, in a car seat to protect her, and she appeared to be OK on Saturday.

Its the most traumatic thing Ive been through, I felt like I was helpless in protecting my kids, Douglas Koon told MSNBC in an interview on Saturday. But by Sunday, the baby was having seizures, and doctors noticed a brain bleed after she was taken to the hospital. They believed she had a stroke, Koon said in a Facebook post.

Its not looking good at this point, he wrote. The machines are keeping her alive.

Early Monday morning, the family posted that the infant had died.

In a text message to The Associated Press on Monday, Koon said he was struggling to process everything that Im going through.

A family member has set up a GoFundMe account for Koons family and his mother-in-law, Sheila Rose, who lost her home.

Lisa Taylor had worked 14 years as a florist at the same family-owned shop in Memphis, Tennessee, when she left in October to start a new career at the airport with the Transportation Security Administration. Co-workers at Rachels Flowers congratulated her with balloons on a sign that read, Good Luck, Lisa.

Taylor, 54, stayed in touch with her friends at the flower shop, making plans to return part-time over the holidays to make some extra money. Then the phone rang Saturday, just as the power came back on at the shop after violent storms passed through overnight. Taylors longtime boyfriend was calling with tragic news. A large tree had fallen through her roof overnight, killing Taylor as she slept in bed.

She had just gotten started on her new adventure and shes just been taken, said Angie Morton, who worked as a florist alongside Taylor for several years.

A single mother of two children now in their 20s, Taylor took her new government job for higher wages and the extra stability that came with health insurance and other benefits, friends said.

But she had a creative spark that made her a natural when it came to working with flowers, Morton said, whether she was helping grieving families design funeral arrangements or using bits and pieces of broken, castoff jewelry to add some custom sparkle to high school girls prom corsages.

She really liked to bling everything up, Morton said. She would take stuff other people would throw in the trash and make beautiful things out of it. If she found an earring in a store that didnt have a matching pair, she would think, I know theres somebody who that would be perfect for her corsage.

Charles Newell, deputy emergency management administrator for Shelby County, Tennessee, said she was the only known storm death in the county that includes Memphis.

Rachel Greer, the flower shops owner, was helping plan floral arrangements for Taylors funeral. She said Taylors daughter had requested a sea of purple flowers such as lavender roses and chrysanthemums to match her mothers favorite color.

Meanwhile customers were dropping by the shop to offer condolences and leaving notes. One of them read: Lisa was a light in a dark world.

Annistyn Rackley was an outgoing and energetic southeast Missouri 9-year-old who loved swimming, dancing and cheerleading, according to Sandra Hooker, the girls grandaunt.

The two became close over the past four years as Hooker offered the girl support during doctors visits and blood draws required by a rare liver condition that still didnt keep Annistyn from activities.

Annistyn, her parents and her two younger sisters, took shelter Friday night in a windowless bathroom in their new home west of Caruthersville, Missouri. To prove theyd gotten to the familys safe space, the girls mom texted Hooker a photo of the three in and next to the bathtub  all of them smiling, 9-year-old Annistyn holding her favorite doll.

Fifteen minutes later, Sandra Hooker said, a tornado splintered the home, carrying the family members dozens of yards through the air into a field where first responders found them in mud. Annistyn died, and the others were injured. The mother, Meghan Rackley, and their middle daughter, 7-year-old Avalinn, remained hospitalized Monday.

Hooker called Annistyn a special angel and said the girl delighted in donning outfits and makeup for cheer competitions and with learning new dances from TikTok. She did cartwheels and splits in front of Hooker.

I would just gasp because she could do the splits all the time, and she would just laugh, Hooker said. She loved dancing.

Hooker teaches gifted students at the same elementary school where Meghan Rackley teaches kindergarten in Caruthersville, which is nestled next to the Mississippi River in whats known as Missouris Bootheel region.

Hooker said Annistyns parents learned when she was 2 months old that she had a rare liver disorder in which bile ducts dont develop properly, sometimes making it hard to fight off illness.

Golden Wes Hembrey, 94, died when a tornado destroyed the nursing home in which he lived in Monette, Arkansas.

His nephew, Mike Hembrey, said the Korean War veteran and retired farmer had been in the nursing home since 2016 because of Alzheimers disease. But he remembered his uncle as engaged with his extended family throughout their younger years.

He was outgoing, his nephew said. Hed be out in the yard playing with us. But dont make him mad. When he was mad, he was mad.

He liked cutting up, telling jokes, said niece Kristie Carmichael.

The Hembreys said Jimmie Hembrey had visited his brother the day before the tornado and found him to be in good health.

Graves County Deputy Jailer Robert Daniel was supervising inmate workers at a candle factory in Mayfield, Kentucky, when the tornado struck. His boss said Monday that Daniel had been focused on the prisoners in his care when he was killed as the twister wrecked the plant.

Daniel, 47, had worked at the county jail for a few years previously and was rehired a few months ago, Graves County Jailer George Workman said. The seven inmates Daniel was overseeing at the factory Friday night were part of a brand-new work program and had just begun their jobs three days earlier.

After the storm hit, the inmates told Workman's deputies that it was Daniel who literally had pushed them all to safety, guiding them through a doorway and against a wall in an interior part of the plant. Workman said the last inmate through the door told deputies that Daniel was behind him one moment, and suddenly he was gone.

He was physically still in the act of trying to get them to safety. And thats when it hit, Workman said. It takes a tremendous person to be able to lay their own life down for somebody else. But he did and he was doing it for the right reasons.

All of seven of the inmates in Daniel's care survived, Workman said, with two of them suffering broken legs.

A cousin, Mark Saxton Sr., said Daniel was a native of the Mayfield area that was devastated by the storm.

He loved his community, Saxton said. He was a great family man. Everybody who met him just loved him. Hes the type of person you want to be associated with.

Brian Crick, a judge for two western Kentucky counties, was known for his sound judgment when it came to solving problems, a fellow judge said.

Crick, 43, was a district judge for Muhlenberg and McLean counties who handled criminal misdemeanor cases, traffic court and juvenile cases, said Circuit Judge Brian W. Wiggins. Wiggins said he has known his fellow judge since 2005, when Crick was a public defender. He later was in private practice before taking the bench in 2011.

Many of the defendants who came before him werent represented by attorneys, and Crick was very good about seeing to it that their rights were protected, Wiggins said. He had a very common sense approach. He was very level-headed about how to handle cases and how to talk to people.

Wiggins was killed when the storm hit his family's home in Muhlenberg County. He is survived by a wife and three children, all of whom made it through the storm without major injuries, Wiggins said. He was just a consummate family man ... very engaged with his children and his wife. They were number one to him.

We are especially heartbroken to get the news, Kentucky Supreme Court Chief Justice John Minton said in a statement. This is a shocking loss to his family, his community and the court system and his family is in our prayers.

Two of June Penningtons children said the Manila, Arkansas, resident was devoted to her four children and nine grandchildren and had a particular soft spot for animals.

Pennington, 52, was working as an assistant manager at a Dollar General store in nearby Leachville, Arkansas, when it was hit.

She didnt love anything as much in life as her kids and grandkids, said Christie Pennington. She was truly selfless and loved whole-heartedly.

David Benefield, the oldest of June Penningtons four children, said he was born when his mother was only 14.

She was a kid raising a kid. We were just like best friends, he said. Its crazy how close you become.

Her children remember her as someone who would do anything that we asked her to do, Benefield said. Even after her children were grown, they said June Pennington wanted to spend as much time with them as possible.

Christie Pennington said her mother adopted dogs, cats, rabbits, birds, turtles and even a ferret.

If there was ever an animal in need of a home, we took it in, she said.

Clayton Lynn Cope, 29, had been working at Amazon for more than a year before the storm killed him at a company facility in southwestern Illinois.

Five other workers also died at the facility located outside St. Louis.

Cope, who lived in nearby Alton, Illinois, had joined the Navy after graduating high school and was an avid outdoorsman who also liked to ride motorcycles and play video games. He had a special place in his heart for his dog, Draco, said his younger sister, Rachel Cope.

He would go out of his way for anyone, Cope said in a written message.

Ollie Borgmann, 84, was a sweet and typical grandmother who had lived in her home in Defiance, Missouri, for decades.

A tornado blew through the home she shared with her 84-year-old husband, Vernon, on Friday night, blowing the house off its foundation, as well as that of a neighbors house in the town located about 40 miles (64 kilometers) west of St. Louis.

Her son, Mark Borgmann, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that his brother, Keith, was on the phone with their father during the powerful storm when the line went dead. The next thing Vernon Borgmann remembers is waking up in a nearby field surrounded by debris. He suffered scratches and bruises but will be OK, said Mark Borgmann.

When Ollie Borgmann was found by rescuers, she was awake. She died later at a hospital.

Lovan reported from Louisville, Kentucky. Bynum reported from Savannah, Georgia. Associated Press writers Travis Loller in Nashville, Tennessee; John Hanna in Topeka, Kansas; Terry Wallace in Dallas; Sophie Tareen in Chicago; Josh Funk in Omaha, Nebraska; Mike Schneider in Orlando, Florida; and Jeff Amy in Atlanta contributed to this article.

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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NEW YORK (AP)  A son of Panama's former president, Ricardo Martinelli, pleaded guilty Tuesday in New York to laundering $28 million in connection with a massive bribery scheme involving a global construction conglomerate.

Ricardo Martinelli Linares, 42, was extradited to the U.S. last week from Guatemala in a case involving the Brazil-based company Odebrecht S.A.

His younger brother, Luis Enrique Martinelli Linares, had previously followed the same path: he was extradited from Guatemala in November and pleaded guilty on December 2nd to the same count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Odebrechts scheme involved the payment of more than $700 million in bribes to government officials, public servants, political parties and others in Panama and other countries. The company pleaded guilty in 2016 to conspiracy to violate anti-bribery provisions of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

U.S. prosecutors say the Martinelli Linares brothers laundered money from bribes that were directed to a close relative of theirs, identified only as a high-ranking government official in Panama from 2009 until 2014.

Former Panamanian President Martinelli served from 2009 until 2014. He was acquitted in November in Panama of charges he tapped the phones of opponents and journalists. He has said he hopes to run again for the presidency in 2024.

Dressed in a light green prison uniform, Martinelli Linares repeated, Yes, your honor to questions posed to him during Tuesday's court proceeding by U.S. District Judge Raymond Dearie.

Both brothers are being held without bail.

Prosecutors said that an earlier attempt to finalize a plea bargain fell apart in June 2020 when the brothers slipped across the U.S. border, traveled to the Bahamas by boat, and then boarded a private jet in an attempt to return to Panama.

When the plane was turned away due to COVID-19 travel restrictions, they ended up in several Central American countries before entering Guatemala on invalid diplomatic credentials. They were arrested there, on an arrest warrant issued out of New York, when they attempted to board a private family jet, set to fly to Panama.

They spent more than a year in a Guatemalan prison, before being extradited to the U.S.

An attorney for Luis Enrique Martinelli Linares, 39, said last month that the brothers fled because the U.S. government did not provide them with protection from deportation while they were negotiating a plea bargain.

Dearie agreed with prosecutors Tuesday that Martinelli Linares couldnt be released on a $5 million proposed bond because of the way he fled in 2020.

This is somebody who planned an escape, Dearie said. Actions speak louder than words."

Martinelli Linares won't be sentenced until at least next May. In his plea deal, he has agreed to forfeit nearly $19 million.

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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Frustrations over future control of Bozemans cannabis market boiled over last month, as providers work to maintain their territory ahead of the recreational market, which begins Jan. 1.

Eight marijuana providers in Bozeman sued the city in late November to reinstate a 20-storefront cap within the city limits recently repealed by the city commission. Providers argue that removing the cap dilutes the investments made to keep their footing in the market, while attorneys for the city contend the cannabis providers cannot force the city to protect them from competition.

Gallatin County District Court Judge John Brown heard arguments on the case on Dec. 7, although he has yet to issue a ruling on whether to put a halt on the ordinance repealing the cap.

The shift comes as many local governments are retooling their ordinances around cannabis ahead of the start of recreational marijuana sales next month. Missoula's city council installed 500-foot buffers between dispensaries, while the city of Billings will allow eight medical marijuana providers to operate in town and push all recreational sales outside of city limits.

Bozeman city commissioners gave initial approval to amend its local cannabis ordinance on Oct. 19, which repealed the limit on storefronts, maintained a restriction on a portion of Main Street and generally brought the ordinance closer in line with state law.

The 20-storefront cap had been in place since 2012, and medical marijuana providers, who will be able to sell recreational cannabis, already hold all 20 licenses.

Theres definitely a demand for more, assistant city attorney Anna Saverud told the commission on Oct. 19. Weve had a lot of calls about this.

Adam Arnold, a co-owner of Collective Elevation in Bozeman, argued removing the cap will create congestion in the city and scramble the arrangement providers and city planners have settled on after years of cooperation.

Weve kind of carried this industry, Arnold said during the Oct. 19 meeting. Working back and forth with the city and to instantly grant new licenses without understanding those implications has a lot of negative things, not only for people who dont want more cannabis businesses and those of us who already have cannabis businesses.

Montana is under a moratorium until mid-2023, in which only medical marijuana providers who were operating as of Nov. 3, 2020, when Montana voted to legalize recreational cannabis use, will be able to sell recreational cannabis after Jan. 1. But those already with state licenses to operate in Montana are able to open new locations, meaning businesses can still move into opportunistic markets like Bozeman.

Saverud told the commission during that Oct. 19 meeting city staff drew its changes to the cannabis ordinances from the framework ultimately passed by the Legislature and signed into law in late May. The state has taken on much of the hands-on components of regulation, and the city opted to regulate no tighter than the state.

Commissioner Christopher Coburn said creating a more restrictive ordinance than whats set out by the state may continue the stigmatization thats at odds with Bozeman voters who approved legalization; Gallatin County passed recreational cannabis by 66% in the 2020 election, nearly 10 points higher than voters statewide.

I think those additional restrictions will be the perpetuation of, frankly, the stigmatized policy from 10 years ago, Coburn said.

In its Dec. 6 response to the lawsuit, the city argued that eliminating the cap does not devalue the city licenses, but authorizes the existing cannabis providers to expand their operations.

In an undated letter to the city commission, the providers also argued that the 20 existing licenses would lose their value if the cap is repealed. They liken the situation to the states liquor license system, in which a limited number of licenses are allowed in the state and therefore are bought and sold, sometimes for millions of dollars, before a new bar can open in a tight market.

But attorneys for the city contend the citys licenses are nontransferable, unlike the state issued liquor licenses, and therefore have no independent value. Attorneys further wrote the providers arguments that repealing the cap will undercut their investments is disingenuous.

Judge Brown has yet to issue a ruling on the injunction sought by the cannabis providers. Bozeman's ordinance would go into effect in the New Year.

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Lawmakers on Monday approved reworked cannabis rules proposed by the Montana Department of Revenue.

The changes largely apply to five new rules proposed by the department, some of which were brought to lawmakers after discussions with industry players.

Per the rules approved Monday, tribes will be able to obtain higher capacity licenses. House Bill 701, the legalization framework lawmakers passed earlier this year, granted each tribal government a tier 1 license, the smallest capacity at 1,000 square feet of indoor cultivation, but made no mention of whether the tribes would be able to scale up their operations. The highest tier license made available in HB 701 is tier 12, which allows 50,000 square feet of cultivation space.

Sen. Shane Morigeau, D-Missoula, and Sen. Jason Ellsworth, R-Hamilton, took the lead on coordinating with the Department of Revenue's Cannabis Control Division to revise the rules. Morigeau on Monday thanked the department for being amenable to changes so close to the Jan. 1 start date of recreational cannabis sales.

"We got a lot of work done in a very short time frame because we understand how important these rules are to the industry," Morigeau said. "I appreciate that we took a little time here to do our best to improve the rules."

The rules lawmakers approved Monday will require outdoor grow operations to remain at the same size. Providers are not permitted, per HB 701, to develop new outdoor grow facilities, although outdoor sites that were in place before the 2020 election have been grandfathered in.

Lawmakers on Monday also eliminated a proposed rule to allow providers to label their products as "cannabis." Ellsworth last week argued that while cannabis may be the scientific term, children may not recognize the term and might not be deterred from consuming the product. The department had initially been willing to allow providers to use cannabis in labeling products because some providers felt marijuana is a pejorative term.

J.D. "Pepper" Petersen, president of the trade group Montana Cannabis Guild, applauded the changes made Tuesday, particularly those that affect the tribes. Only four or five tribal governments are interested in participating in the new cannabis market, he told the committee, and he hopes to see more engage.

"We want to see the tribes participate and we want to see an even playing field so that the folks that may have been impacted heavily by this could benefit from this as well, instead of just a subsect of our society," he said.

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A student has been charged after school officials say the child brought an airsoft gun to school Monday.

Officials at Walter Johnson Middle School found an airsoft pistol in a students backpack Monday morning after the student showed the gun to another student, said Cheryl Shuffler, public information officer for Burke County Public Schools.

The other student reported the incident to a teacher, Shuffler said. She said there were no pellets found with the gun.

Shuffler said BCPS has a zero tolerance policy for weapons on campus, and a transcript of a phone call that went out to Walter Johnson parents said the student has been charged with having a weapon on campus.

Specific information about the students punishment was not released, but Shuffler said BCPS is following policy for student discipline when weapons, including air rifles and pistols, are brought on campus.

State law dictates part of what must happen if a student brings a firearm to school, but air rifles and pistols are not considered firearms, according to school board policy 4333.
Helping each other is what its all about, Michaels said.

Were all a brotherhood and a sisterhood, no matter where you go, Michaels said. It doesnt matter if youre from a little town in Drexel or from Charlotte or from somewhere overseas. Were brothers and sisters, were supposed to take care of each other. And as humans, were supposed to take care of each other  Biblically, it teaches us bring us your tired, your cold and your weary. Thats what were doing.

They need help  were going to go help. If we need help, theyve offered several times to come down and help us. And thats what its about. Its about being a brotherhood and a sisterhood of being able to hold things together to take care of the greater good.

Michaels is an EMT basic, a firefighter and has experience with rescue operations. Deal is a firefighter and paramedic who also has done special ops with Burke County EMS. Colvin is a firefighter, EMT and hes certified in technical rescue, and Foy, who also volunteers at Chesterfield Fire Rescue, is a firefighter with emergency medical care experience and technical rescue experience.
While George Mulcaire-Jones has been heroic on a global scale, he is no less a local hero because of it.

Mulcaire-Jones has delivered somewhere around 3,000 babies in Butte, which makes him pretty heroic in itself.

But it is his work on pediatric and maternal health that continues to pay huge dividends.

During his practice here, he has seen beauty, vitality  and poverty and all that comes with it.

He has seen families struggling with housing, unemployment, childhood trauma, mental illness and substance use.

Thanks to a grant from the Montana Healthcare Foundation, Mulcaire-Jones and St. James Healthcare social worker Joslin Hubbard started a program called "The First 1,000 Days of Life," designed to help assure a better start for children. The 1,000 days, which begins at conception, is the core of physical and emotional development.

"The program is about figuring out how do you make that thousand days as safe, healthy and secure as possible," Mulcaire-Jones said.

It boils down to treating the entire patient  helping a mother struggling with substance abuse to give her and her baby a better chance.

Now, he is interested in taking both the lessons he has learned about rural healthcare and the tenets of the "1,000 Days" program across the state in a program called Montana Perinatal Quality Collaborative.

A key goal is to help reduce the odds of maternal mortality in rural Montana, where those chances are five times greater than they are in Montana cities.

For the last two decades plus, Mulcaire-Jones has taken that work to some of the poorest, most health-challenged places in the world with the nonprofit he established, Maternal Life International  dedicated to reducing maternal and infant mortality in those challenging places.

Although the obstetrician is ending his practice in Butte after 30 years, his work with Maternal Life International, and across the state of Montana, continues.

Mulcaire-Jones says his compassion and desire to help others springs directly from his Catholic faith.

Those roots were planted in his childhood, at Saints Cyril and Methodius Catholic Church in East Helena, and they found fertile growing space in the heart of this kindly, soft-spoken man who interacts with the entire world as though it were a mother about to give birth.

After medical school at the University of Washington and a residency in family medicine in Minnesota, he became aware of the Mission Doctors Association, a program of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles that sends doctors to places of extreme need in Africa.

He applied, was accepted, and was sent to Cameroon in central Africa.

He was immediately grateful for his family-medicine residency, and even more grateful for the surgical nurses who helped him, for he was faced with medical challenges he had never experienced.

"I was faced with things like perforated ulcers that I had no idea how to deal with," he said. "They helped me enormously."

Soon would come a defining moment in his life.

"I will never forget seeing my first maternal death," Mulcaire-Jones said. "She came from a distant village. She had preeclampsia and cerebral swelling, and she was brain-dead by the time she arrived." The baby died as well.

To put that in perspective, in 30 years of practice n Butte, he has not experienced a single maternal death.

*

Shortly after he returned to the United States and started his practice in Butte, he received a note from a midwife in Djottin, Cameroon.

"The Month of February was very sad," she wrote. "Two women died in childbirth."

"How can I ignore this?" he asked himself.

The answer was simple: He could not. And Maternal Life International was born  with the help if donations from generous people in Butte.

Today, MLI has operations in Haiti, Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya and Nigeria. Its "Faithful House" program, which has greatly reduced HIV infections by teaching a model of faithfulness and partnership between married couples, has spread organically.

Now that he is retiring, Mulcaire-Jones will be devoting even more time to MLI. But he is not disengaging from Montana  far from it.

He and his wife Mary are living in Missoula, because her health demands a lower altitude. But he is still in Butte frequently.

"I want to give Butte my profound thanks," Mulcaire-Jones said. "I love it here."

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Butte police reports

Cemetery vandalism

Over the weekend, five older headstones were spray painted, some blue, some green, at Mountain View Cemetery, 3910 Harrison Ave. A few trees were also damaged.

The headstones have now been cleaned off and the trees are in the process of being fixed, as well.

Impersonating U.S. marshal

Just after 5 a.m. Sunday, Kurttis Copyak, 42, of Butte was jailed for the felony offense of impersonating a public servant.

A woman in the Town Pump parking lot at 1000 Grizzly Trail was stopped by Copyak. The Butte man claimed he was a U.S. marshal and showed her his badge. She told officers Copyak was acting erratic so she ran into the convenience store to call 911. A badge was recovered.

Double arrest

Police officers were called late Thursday night to the Hampton Inn to assist Probation and Parole.

Arrested were Courtney Alex Farabaugh, 25, of Butte and Michael John Morlan, 28, of Butte.

During the investigation, drug paraphernalia was found along with possible heroin. Farabaugh also had a warrant out for her arrest for misdemeanor criminal contempt out of Butte City Court. Morlan had a felony warrant out for his arrest for probation violation.

Late-night DUIs

Just before 11 p.m. Thursday, Connor Jonathan Nieves, 19, of Butte was driving a white Dodge Ram truck when he turned right in front of a police car and the officer had to stop his car to avoid him. During the traffic stop, Nieves reportedly appeared to be intoxicated. He was taken to the Butte Detention Center where he failed sobriety maneuvers, but refused to take a Breathalyzer. He was jailed for the misdemeanor offenses of driving under the influence (refusal) and right-of-way violation.

A call came in at 2:25 a.m. on Saturday about a man at the Town Pump, 531 S. Montana St., who appeared to be driving while intoxicated. When officers arrived, Spencer Alan Schock, 22, of Butte was inside the vehicle. His speech was slurred and he appeared to be intoxicated. While at the Butte Detention Center, Schock refused to do any sobriety tests or take a Breathalyzer. He was jailed for misdemeanor driving under influence (refusal).

Attempting to leave

As a woman attempted to leave the Rosalie Manor via elevator at around 5:15 a.m. Monday, Donald David Harvey, 56, of Butte allegedly attempted to prevent her from doing so.

He was jailed for the misdemeanor offenses of unlawful restraint and disorderly conduct.

Resisting arrest

On Sunday afternoon, Willie Liegeois, 37, of Butte tried to get into the movies at the Butte Plaza Mall. They were closed at that time but Liegeois demanded to get in any way and scared a female staff member.

When officers arrived, he resisted attempts to be arrested. He was jailed for the misdemeanor offenses of resisting arrest and disorderly conduct.

Sleeping driver

Police were called to the Town Pump at 1370 Harrison Ave. at 7:30 p.m. Saturday regarding a suspected drunk driver who was asleep in her vehicle in the parking lot.

When they arrived, an officer woke Dara Rene Povrzenich, 39, of Butte and got her to step out of the car. She reportedly appeared unsteady on her feet and seemed to be under the influence. The officer thought she may have taken too much prescription medication, so she was transported to the hospital. While there, a blood sample was taken and police are awaiting the results.

She was later jailed for felony probation violation and misdemeanor driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

Man uncooperative

On Friday night, officers responded to the 2800 block of Silver Bow Boulevard to investigate people standing in the yard of vacant property.

A vehicle with three people in it was parked on the side of the residence. An officer recognized Christopher Lee Rasmussen, 38, of Butte sitting in the vehicle and knew he had a felony contempt warrant out for the arrest.

While two of the people got out of the vehicle, Rasmussen refused and locked the doors on the vehicle. He was ordered to get out, but remained uncooperative. Police then broke one of the windows and Rasmussen opened the passengers side door and ran. He didnt get too far before being handcuffed.

He was also jailed for misdemeanor resisting arrest.

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ARCHIVED - Spain debates booster jabs for those under 60



Communities in Spain are pushing the government to triple-vaccinate younger age groups

The Covid-19 vaccination campaign in Spain continues along its steady path, and the Public Health Commission is set to meet in the coming days to discuss whether the booster dose should be administered to the 50 to 59 age group, since people over the age of 60 have already received the third vaccine in many communities. The proposal has been pushed by Galicia, whose administration has confirmed that the vast majority of older people have now been double jabbed.

Up until this point, the Ministry of Health in Spain has been adamant that it will roll out the booster vaccine according to age group, that is, from oldest to youngest, with the third dose being administered six months after the second. The European Medicines Agency, however, has thrown this entire system into question, after it recommended last week that the booster could be applied after just three months.

The Galician Minister of Health, Julio Garcia Comesana, has admitted that his community is already preparing doses for the younger age groups, and hopes that he will be given the go-ahead in Wednesdays meeting, given that the community has an adequate number of mass vaccination centres and sufficient doses to not only have all those over 60 vaccinated before Christmas, but to move on to the next population group.

For the moment, the government in Spain is still imposing a six month gap between second and third doses, a factor which Galicia believes is limiting the progress of the campaign.

"We are conditioned by the six months that now is a limiting possibility, but information is already arriving that it could drop it to three", the regional minister concluded.

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CONESVILLE  When Charles and Christine Van Luyn heard the story of a man in Kentucky who lost his wife during the recent string of tornadoes  with him talking to her across the room one minute and the next minute that part of the room and his wife was gone  they knew they had to do something to help.

Charles Van Luyn can barely describe some of the videos he has seen from the small Kentucky town of Mayfield, one of several small communities left devastated by the storms, without crying. The couple has long supported Grindstone Ministries, located in Marshall, Ken., which is currently doing recovery work. Van Luyn said he plans to meet up with them to help many people in the area who have nothing left but the clothes they were wearing during the storm.

I want to support Grindstone Ministries when they are ready to deploy the next wave of people and I want to bring a team from Iowa, he said. If that team is just myself and whoever, I would like to take my trailer full as a gift from Iowa.
Insurer agrees to $800M settlement in Boy Scouts bankruptcy

DOVER, Del. (AP)  Attorneys in the Boy Scouts of America bankruptcy case have reached a tentative settlement under which one of the organizations largest insurers would contribute $800 million into a fund for victims of child sexual abuse.

The agreement announced Monday calls for Century Indemnity Co. and affiliated companies to contribute $800 million into the fund in return for being released from further liability for abuse claims. The payment would bring the amount of money in the proposed trust to more than $2.6 billion, which would be the largest sexual abuse settlement in U.S. history.

The settlement comes as more than 82,000 sexual abuse claimants face a Dec. 28 deadline to vote on a previously announced Boy Scouts reorganization plan.

That plan called for the Boys Scouts and its roughly 250 local councils to contribute up to $820 million in cash and property into a fund for victims. They also would assign certain insurance rights to the fund. In return, the local councils and national organization would be released from further liability for sexual abuse claims.
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The South African launch of Nokias TVs has been delayed until February 2022 due to various challenges faced by the distributor, Ellies.

Ellies had previously said that Nokia Smart TVs and other TV products would launch in South Africa before the end of the year.

It revealed the revised timeline in a statement on Tuesday announcing its interim results.

One exciting prospect relates to the recently concluded agreement between Ellies Electronics and StreamView to exclusively distribute Nokia products in South Africa and various other African countries from February 2022, the Ellies Group said in a statement.

Ellies Group CEO Shaun Prithivirajh said the agreement between Ellies and StreamView allows the company to bring a wide range of Nokia-branded smart products to the South African market.

The agreement marks StreamViews first foray into the Southern African market.

StreamView designs, develops, and manufactures official Nokia-branded smart TVs, set-top boxes and related products for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

However, Ellies is currently recovering from a significant blow, having recorded a decline in revenue of 24.6% from May to October 2021.

The general trading environment in this period has remained constrained in the wake of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, the unrest and related looting, and supply chain constraints, Ellies stated.

Its management is confident that despite the Groups challenges, a weakened economy, and growing unemployment, Ellies is well-positioned to capitalise on increasing demands for alternative energy solutions.

Ellies could also cash in on South Africas migration from analogue to digital terrestrial television (DTT).

According to Ellies, it is estimated that three million South African households are still expected to make the transition before the deadline.

Over the past 24 months there has been a clear culture shift in the business and the Board, together with Management, have done a lot to align employees to the new focus, Prithivirajh said.

Our improved cash position, enhanced governance structures and a settled management team bode well and we look forward to working together with our new shareholders in Imvula to steer Ellies to sustainable profitability, Prithivirajh stated.

Now read: Amazon reconsidering phone ban after deadly warehouse collapse
Eskom has warned that the refusal of its applications for pollution exemptions at several coal-fired power stations would have a very significant impact on its ability to provide electricity to the country.

If implemented, the decision will result in an immediate shutting down of 16,000MW of installed coal-fired capacity, Eskom said in a statement on Tuesday.

This would have a significant negative impact on the economy and employment, particularly in Mpumalanga and Lephalale, and delay the countrys plans for a just energy transition toward a cleaner electricity supply.

The state-owned power utilitys statement comes after the environmental department denied permission for Eskom to emit more sulphur dioxide at several of its power stations than is allowed to under current minimum air quality standards.

Eskoms request for postponements at Matla, Duvha, Matimba, Medupi and Lethabo were declined completely. Postponement applications for Majuba, Tutuka, Kendal, and Kriel were partially granted, it stated.

In her refusal letter, National Air Quality Officer (NAQO) Thuli Khumalo said it would be illegal to issue alternative limits for power stations located in priority areas where there was non-compliance with Particulate Matter standards.

In addition, Eskom had failed to demonstrate previous investments to reduce nitrogen oxides and sulphur dioxide at these two power stations, making the exemption provision inapplicable for the facilities.

Khumalo said Eskom had made minimal effort to fully comply with the standards first published in 2010.

The NAQO does not have the prerogative to issue decisions that are outside the current legal provisions or are in non-compliance with the law, Khumalo stated.

She advised Eskom to request the ministers of the various departments mentioned in its original letter to the NAQO to consider factors outside the environmental departments mandate.

These include the issues of insufficient water, gypsum, and financial costs of implementing the decision, as well as the closure of seven stations and the loss of an associated 19,000MW of supply to the national grid as part of its decommissioning programme.

South Africas pollution rules dictate that Medupi should emit only 500mg/Nm3 [milligrams per standard cubic metres] of sulphur dioxide.

An existing exemption allows the power station to output at seven times this level, at 3,500mg/Nm3, until 2025.

But Eskom wanted to push this limit even higher to 4,000mg/Nm3 and asked that the exemption be extended until 2030.

Eskom requested the same limit for Matimba until its decommissioning, in addition to being allowed to emit nitrogen oxides above legal limits.

Eskom previously said that retrofitting these two power stations with flue gas desulphurisation technology to cut down on the emissions would cost around R55 billion.

Even if this is done, the stations will not fully comply with the emissions standards set by South Africa.

Letters from the National Air Quality Officer to Eskom

Cover letter

MatimbaApplicationDecision

MedupiApplicationDecision

Now read: How to save Eskom and South Africa
At a plant nestled along a highway 20 miles north of Boston, hundreds of Pfizer Inc. workers are gearing up to produce millions of doses of a new vaccine that looks more and more like the next phase of fighting Covid-19.

Work on the project started the day after Thanksgiving at the 70-acre facility in Andover, Massachusetts, just as the World Health Organization designated a new coronavirus strain, omicron, a variant of concern.

The goal of the effort: make a booster shot customized against the highly mutated virus in less than 100 days.

Nobody yet knows how widely omicron will spread, how serious its infections will be or even whether the new shots will be necessary. Top White House medical adviser Anthony Fauci has said that reports on severity have so far been encouraging.

But if laboratory data rolling in from around the world are reliable, the strain is better able to sidestep existing vaccines than any to date.

Of 43 U.S. omicron infections analyzed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, four-fifths were in fully vaccinated people, although almost all the cases were relatively mild. U.K. health officials expect omicron to overtake delta as the dominant strain there within days.

Researchers are alarmed by some 30 mutations in omicrons spike, the protein that facilitates coronaviruss entry to cells. Changes in its appearance make it harder for antibodies to find and destroy the variant.

Thats prompted Pfizer, its partner BioNTech SE and their messenger RNA rival Moderna Inc. to start crash efforts to target it directly.

It was the list of mutations we never wanted to see, said Moderna President Stephen Hoge, who heads the companys scientific operations.

The vaccine maker, whose mRNA factory stands just 40 miles from Pfizers, started working on omicron the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, and meetings ran straight through the holiday.

Many employees had their Thanksgivings ruined by omicron, Hoge said.

Early lab data suggest that three doses of existing mRNA vaccines protect against omicron.

Whats less clear is how long that protection lasts, since Covid antibodies have been seen to wane over time. Pfizer hopes to have the first real-world effectiveness data about how its existing vaccine fares against the variant before the end of the year.

While the companies are tight-lipped about the details of exactly where they stand, both are bent on a fast response.

When news of the variant emerged from South Africa, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla decided almost immediately to begin large-scale manufacturing of an omicron-specific shot. The work ramped up so quickly that Pfizer hasnt tallied its costs.

I couldnt give you the number right now; Im not even sure we talked about it, said Mike McDermott, Pfizers global supply chain head, who gives Bourla regular updates on progress. Its very unusual for a drug company to start large-scale manufacturing on a product that may not be needed, he said.

The production process at Andover could start any day now, McDermott said. Workers are waiting for company researchers in Chesterfield, Missouri, to finalize and deliver a master cell line containing a genetic sequence that will be used in the targeted vaccine.

Pfizers Andover plant, acquired in 2009 in the $68 billion purchase of vaccine maker Wyeth, specializes in biologic products.

For the Covid vaccine, it performs two early steps: producing large quantities of a DNA template for the vaccine from the cell line, and then converting that into the mRNA that forms the core of the vaccine.

The mRNA will be sent to another Pfizer facility in Kalamazoo, Michigan. That facility makes the lipid nanoparticles that coat the mRNA and protect it from enzymes in the body that degrade it. Kalamazoo also has vaccine vial-filling operations.

South of Boston, Modernas Norwood, Massachusetts facility has clean-room suites for making mRNA and the lipid nanoparticles that coat the fragile genetic material. Formerly owned by Polaroid, the factory is the vaccine makers first and has been rapidly scaling up since the pandemic began.

In 2020, it took Moderna 42 days to produce batches of its original Covid vaccine and 63 days to start human trials with government researchers. With omicron, our goal is to hit a timeline like that for sure Hoge, the Moderna president, said.

One reason that both Pfizer and Moderna can move quickly with omicron is that they have the honed the process with both the original vaccines as well as variant vaccines for beta and delta strains the companies produced earlier this year.

While the delta and beta variant vaccines may not be needed, it provided a dry run for omicron.

Even after the vials of vaccine are filled and finished, uncertainties loom, starting with what human trials regulators will require, if any.

The FDAs current guidance, which the agency reiterated in an email, calls for immunogenicity trials to compare the human immune response to virus variants induced by the modified vaccine against the response to the authorized vaccine.

But Pfizer research head Mikael Dolsten says the company is exploring whether, in an emergency, it could obtain clearance without the omicron-specific trials. The agency may allow the drugmakers to submit human data from other variant-specific vaccines that show its approach is likely to be successful.

The FDA declined to comment on confidential discussions with vaccine developers. It said it encourages them to reach out early and often to discuss clinical data needed for new vaccines to help fight Covid.

Should fresh trials of immune response to the booster be required, they would likely involve a few hundred people and take a couple months to complete, Modernas Hoge said. Ultimately, the FDA has to tell us what they want, he said.

Another question is how quickly omicron expands outside of South Africa.

The strain appeared at a time when the countrys caseload was quite low  there wasnt that much competition from other variants. In a best-case scenario, the new strain might be outspread by delta in most countries and gradually fade away.

In the meantime, though, the drugmakers cant bank on that possibility. Pfizer plans to have the new doses ready by February or early March, Dolsten said.
Tuesday, Dec. 7

1121  A caller reported receiving a scam email claiming to be from McAfee. She confirmed with her credit card company that no fraudulent charges had been made.

1225  An officer helped someone with their bicycle on Adams Street.

1229  A person reported a person had been acting suspiciously on Adams Street around 11:20 a.m.

1248  There was a strong smell of gas in a Main Street building. The fire department was on the way.

1255  Report of vehicles and delivery trucks double-parking where the road is closed at Hunt/Railroad.

1353  Report of people fishing at the lower reservoir.

1641  A caller saw another driver swerve and purposely hit a squirrel on Spring Street.

1728  Non-injury accident on Main Street.

1912  An officer helped people take photos of themselves under the Christmas star at Main/Charter Oak.

1953  A person got locked out of their car on Main Street.

Wednesday, Dec. 8

0758  Police picked up a German shepherd mix on Monte Vista.

1009  One lane of Madrona Avenue between Hudson and Fir Hill would be closed for about two days due to PG&E work.

1219  Report of a man passed out at Lewis Station Park.

1556  A trailer was reported stolen.

1831  A caller reported receiving unknown number and emails stated that hed subscribed to a company. He wasnt aware of having any contact with the company.

Thursday, Dec. 9

1012  Report of a homeless man washing clothes in the bathroom at Meily Park and clogging the sink.

1200  Report of a homeless sprawled on the sidewalk with a bottle next to him on June Lane.

1551  Medical aid on Laguna Seca Court.

1603  Heavy equipment was parked at the corner of Deer Park Road and Highway 29, creating visibility problems for people turning left from Deer Park.

1634  Someone had tampered with mail on Crane Avenue, opening packages and leaving mail scattered in the driveway.

2028  Report of a drunk person lying down on the sidewalk and stumbling along Hunt Avenue. Police determined the person was not intoxicated.

2255  A sofa was left on the side of Pratt Avenue near the bridge.

Friday, Dec. 10

0947  Report of someone violating a restraining order.

1126  Report of streetlights out at Main/Adams.

1613  Two coyotes were seen in a vacant field off Pope/Hollis. They were not posing a danger to anyone.

1625  A dog on McCorkle Avenue had been barking nonstop since 7 a.m.

1648  A person received a scam email claiming to be from Norton LifeLock. The caller just wanted people to be aware of the scam.

1829  An officer removed a dead cat from the center turn lane of Main Street.

1906  A driver ran out of gas near Silverado/Pope, and a tow truck was 40 minutes away. An officer gave the driver enough fuel to reach a gas station.

1923  Report of a possible drunk driver leaving St. Helena city limits on northbound Highway 29.

2009  An elderly chihuahua found on Grayson Avenue was returned to its owner.

Saturday, Dec. 11

0433  Police cited an unlicensed driver on Adams Street.

1256  A space heater had charred a wall on Main Street. There were no active flames, but the wall was still hot. The fire department responded.

1802  A 29-year-old St. Helena woman was arrested on suspicion of violating a restraining order and violating probation.

2212  An officer found a man parked at Meily Park and advised him that the park was closed for the night.

2228  Report of domestic violence on Main Street. Police arrested a 31-year-old Chico resident on suspicion of domestic battery.

2334  Report of an ongoing problem with loud music and noisy, intoxicated people on Hunt Avenue.

Sunday, Dec. 12

1038  Report of a reckless driver swerving, passing illegally, and tailgating near Main/Grayson.

1040  Medical aid for someone experiencing pain on Hunt Avenue.

1221  Non-injury accident on Main Street.

1351  A car was broken into while parked in Oakville. The matter was referred to the sheriffs office.

1405  The northwest corner of Main/Pine was flooded. Caltrans tried unsuccessfully to clear the storm drain.

1522  Report of a suspicious man peering into vehicles in a Charter Oak Avenue parking lot.

1617  A tow truck with a vehicle on top of it went off Highway 29 south of Lodi Lane.

1714  Report of a possible drunk driver swerving and almost hitting railings and barriers on Highway 29 near Galleron Lane.

2043  A caller asked police to check on an elderly couple who werent answering their phone.

2153  Report of a tree down near Howell Mountain Road and Silverado Trail.

Monday, Dec. 13

0450  Medical aid for someone having difficulty breathing on Hunt Avenue.
Two drivers face allegations of felony drunken driving after separate vehicle crashes over the weekend in Napa County, including one wreck that seriously injured another motorist, according to the California Highway Patrol.

Esai Jared Corro, a 33-year-old Napa resident, was arrested in connection with a three-vehicle collision Sunday night at Big Ranch Road and El Centro Avenue in north Napa, CHP said in a news release.

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At about 8:42 p.m., the driver of a Chevrolet Silverado was backing out of a driveway, causing a Toyota Prius to stop on southbound Big Ranch, according to CHP. Another southbound vehicle, a Jeep Cherokee driven by Corro, rear-ended the Toyota and pushed it into a ditch, then continued forward and struck the Chevrolet, the highway patrol said.

Gregory J. Schmitz, a 69-year-old Napa man who was at the wheel of the Prius, was taken by American Medical Response ambulance to Providence Queen of the Valley Medical Center for what CHP described as major injuries.

CHP detained Corro, who also was taken to the Queen for minor injuries, on suspicion of driving under the influence causing injury. He was booked into the Napa County jail.

The third driver, a 25-year-old Marysville man at the wheel of the Silverado, sustained minor injuries in the collision and sought his own aid.

In a separate case, a Santa Rosa man was faces a felony DUI allegation following a single-vehicle crash in the Carneros area Saturday night.

A Honda Pilot SUV driven by 33-year-old James D. Maldonado rolled over on Highway 12/121 near Duhig Road, CHP said in a statement. Maldonado and his three passengers, ages 35, 17 and 8, were taken by ambulance to the Queen with minor injuries, according to the highway patrol.
Updated at 4:19 p.m.  Rainfall totals from a major weekend storm in Northern California reached 4 inches and more across much of the Napa Valley by Monday afternoon, with wet weather expected to continue into Tuesday morning.

Precipitation at the city of Napas corporation yard on Jackson Street since the storms arrival late Saturday had reached 3.86 inches as of 3:27 p.m. Monday, according to the Napa County OneRain website. Other locales around the county already had received upward of 4 inches of rain by the afternoon, with a high of 6.26 inches at Mount Veeder.

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Locally, other notable seven-day rain totals  which cover the dry conditions that prevailed last week before Saturday  included 4.92 inches at Hopper Creek at Highway 29 in Yountville, 4.69 inches near Napa County Airport, 4.56 inches in Angwin, and 4.18 inches at the Dry Creek fire station, OneRain reported.

The National Weather Service declared a flood watch from 1 to 7 p.m. Monday for valleys and mountain areas in Napa County and other parts of the Bay Area, due to the risk of strong runoff causing flooding from rivers and streams, and the possibility of street flooding and blocked storm draining. Affected areas included valley, mountain and coastal areas of the North Bay, including the city of Napa.

The weather service reported a weather pattern through the Bay Area had the potential to produce renewed bouts of strong rain through Monday afternoon and into early evening.

Earlier Monday, streams and creeks rose around the Bay Area through the morning as an atmospheric river continued to drench the region.

Several streams and creeks in the North Bay rose significantly, including Napa Creek, Corte Madera Creek and Santa Rosa Creek, the weather service said on social media. OneRain recorded a peak level at Napa Creek of 6.32 feet at 9:30 a.m. before it receded, although that remained below the creeks 9-foot monitoring stage and its 14.5-foot flood stage.

Rick Thomasser, manager of the Napa County Flood Control and Water Conservation District, said later Monday that the storms main surge into local waterways had likely passed, with about another inch of rain expected to fall by 4 a.m. Tuesday.

The Napa River was predicted to rise to about 13 feet by 1 a.m. at the Oak Knoll gauge in north Napa, and to 6 feet in St. Helena at midnight, below monitoring level at both locations, according to Thomasser.

The flood control districts main attention during the current storm  and another on Wednesday expected to carry up to 1.5 more inches of rain to Napa County  will be on creeks and creek bypasses that are easily blocked by fallen trees and other debris, according to Thomasser.

We have an excavator (contracted with the district) to pull out tree trunks and the like, he said of Napa Creek. So far it hasnt really accumulated a lot of debris, so its flowing well.

Information from Bay City News Service was used in this report.

You can reach Howard Yune at 530-763-2266 or hyune@napanews.com

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Just in case California legislators are looking for best, longest-lasting Christmas present they could possibly give this states millions of consumers, its this:

Make the states currently uncontrolled regulators into elective officials. Thats the logical solution to whats happening right now, when almost all are the virtual property of utility companies and other interests they are supposed to supervise.

Its true regulators serving on the states Public Utilities Commission (PUC), Air Resources Board (ARB) and Energy Commission are duty-bound to make sure prices and other rules allow for long-term survival of big companies whose practices they have the power to direct and change. So long as those companies behave prudently.

Heres the dictionary definition of prudence: acting with or showing care and thought for the future.

Companies like Pacific Gas & Electric, Southern California Edison, San Diego Gas & Electric, General Motors, Toyota, Honda and Ford often dont act that way.

So any obligation to keep them alive and thriving, with guaranteed profits for the utility companies in particular, should vanish. Irresponsible behavior by PG&E has killed more than 100 persons via wildfires hitting after company actions demonstrated little or no care about the future. PG&E, for example, over the 50 years before 2010, diverted to bonuses and profits more than $65 billion in money customers paid monthly for supposed maintenance work.

There were no penalties for this or parallel misdeeds by other companies. Similarly, no automaker has ever been penalized for repeated delays and stalling in building cleaner cars, which they falsely and loudly declared impossible before finally meeting California requirements.

By far the worst offender among California regulators is the PUC, which gives utilities vast sums of new consumer money via rate increases while excusing or forcing customers to subsidize negligent behavior. One example is the 2019 creation of the state Wildfire Fund, designed to pay billions of dollars in damages for future fires the PUC and the utilities expect the companies to spark because of many years of poor maintenance.

Most recently, Gov. Gavin Newsom and Californias two U.S. senators, Dianne Feinstein and Alex Padilla, called on the PUC to shut down the Aliso Canyon natural gas storage site, which leaked methane gas onto the Porter Ranch portion of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles for more than four months in 2015 and 2016.

More than 1,000 households had to relocate, two schools closed for long periods and the Southern California Gas Co. eventually paid a $1.8 billion settlement to more than 35,000 persons sickened by the leak, no big deal for that behemoth company.

But no one ever claimed the leak was permanently plugged, even as SoCalGas kept Aliso Canyon and similar sites open indefinitely. Then-Gov. Jerry Brown declared this situation an emergency and Newsom told the PUC to close the site.

But because the PUC answers to no one, its members serving six-year terms and almost impossible to remove, Aliso Canyon stayed open. Then, just last month, the PUC voted unanimously to increase amounts of gas stored there.

The reason listed was a supposition that only stored gas can prevent the kind of interruptions in home heating that have plagued Texas in recent winters, when many Texans endured sub-freezing temperatures in their homes.

Yet, there is no evidence that Aliso Canyon or other SoCal Gas storage sites are needed to avert heating problems. These have never occurred here and there is little evidence for claims there might be blockages this winter on pipelines bringing natural gas to California from the Permian Basin of Texas and Oklahoma or the fracking fields of Wyoming and western Colorado.

So the latest PUC action on Aliso Canyon is another in a half-century string of decisions where regulators favor monopolistic companies over customers.

The only way to change all this is by fundamentally altering the rules by which regulators operate in this state. That would take a constitutional amendment making the regulators elective officers who answer to voters (consumers).

Its high time legislators got started on that, especially since they could right now legitimately present any such measure as a Christmas gift to consumers that would keep on giving indefinitely.

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.
8 police and military killed in Kazakhstan: 317 more wounded

Protesters in Kazakhstan tear down Nazarbayev's monument

Special representatives of Armenia and Turkey meeting to take place on January 14 in Moscow

Azerbaijani defense ministry denies news of servicemen deaths

State of emergency introduced throughout Kazakhstan

EU calls on all sides in Kazakhstan to avoid escalation and violence

Azerbaijan starts receiving Turkmen gas through Iran

Prime Minister Pashinyan congratulates Armenians on Christmas

Protesters seize Almaty airport in Kazakhstan

Andranik Grigoryan is the CEO of Converse Bank, Chairman of Executive Management

France intends to help Azerbaijan in search of missing persons during 1st Karabakh war

Aeroflot cancels flight to Almaty: Aktau airport not working

Arnak Avetisyan appointed Armenian State Property Management Committees chair

Armenia appoints new ambassador to Russia

Christmas Eve liturgy takes place in Armenia's Etchmiadzin

Attempts to demolish a monument of Nazarbayev in Kazakhstan

Armenia deputy PM Mher Grigoryan to co-chair intergovernmental joint commission with Iran

Media: Internet cut off in Nursultan and Almaty

Armenia Prosecutor General to head for Moscow

Armenia premier to send 10-member delegation to Russia

Dollar gains value in Armenia

Kazakh president delivers new speech to nation

Kazakhstan protesters disarm police: Mir TV channel's office vandalized

Kazakhstan presidential residence set on fire

Almaty commandant: More than 500 civilians are beaten

OSCE calls for de-escalation of Kazakhstan situation

Protesters try to break into residence of Kazakhstan's president

Kazakh security forces take the side of protesters

Kazakh protesters seize Kazakh president's residence and destroy TV channels premises

Baghdad military base hit by missile attack

Armenian traces destroyed in occupied Shushi

Prosecutor's office building is on fire: State of emergency in Almaty

Azerbaijan declares 2022 year of occupied Armenian city of Shushi

Justice minister not commenting on arresting Armenian captives returned from Azerbaijan

Yerevan homeless shelter residents picketing in front of Armenia labor, social affairs ministry

Hong Kong imposes ban on flights from 8 countries due to COVID-19

Protesters in Almaty riot hospitals and clinics

PM: I have hard time imagining how Omicron variant cannot enter Armenia

New council of Armenias Parakar does not convene first session, new village mayor not elected

7 new cases of coronavirus reported in Artsakh

Armenia cargo transportation via railway drops but passengers increase in 2021

Government hands over Zangezur Copper and Molybdenum Combine certified rights with 15% Armenia-owned shares

Borrell says EU cannot be a neutral spectator in talks with Russia

Armenian PM urges to throw plastic bags out of life

Oil prices stabilize after jump

Premier recalls that anti-tobacco law has entered into force in Armenia as of January 1

129 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Kazakhstan President accepts governments resignation

Armenia State Property Management Committee dismissed

Armenia PM: We are entering 2022 with quite serious start to reforms

New council of Armenias Parakar convenes first session, village mayor election on agenda

New York prosecutor drops sex crime case against ex-governor Cuomo

England, Wales to make taking pictures of breastfeeding mothers in public illegal

Paraguay presidential guard dies after being impaled by deer while on duty

Flights delayed at Kazakhstan's Aktau airport as rallies continue

NATO foreign ministers to hold videoconference ahead of meeting with Russia

Ford to double production capacity for electric version of F-150 pickup

Oil prices rise by 1%

Borrell not to discuss Nord Stream 2 during Ukraine visit

Mercedes-Benz presents new electric car Vision EQXX

Kazakh authorities to satisfy protesters' demands for lower gas prices

Flooding in Iran: at least 8 people killed

Turkish lira drops for another 4%

Taliban army to be reinforced with suicide bombers

Doctors reveal details of Brazil presidents health condition

NATO head plans special meeting with Russia amid Ukraine crisis

Russian peacekeepers ensure safe entry to Karabakh for about 2,000 vehicles

Wave of protests against COVID-19 measures across Germany

Karabakh President holds new years first working consultation with law enforcement agencies heads

Coronavirus vaccines in Armenia are complemented with another one

Armenia soldier remanded in custody for inflicting fatal gunshot wound to fellow serviceman

Gas futures price in Europe exceed $ 1,000

US holds virtual inauguration ceremony for COVID-19-infected mayor

US court forbids Pentagon to punish military personnel refusing vaccinations

Armenia PM: We need to open new strategic page for transformation of customs service

Armenia ambassador delivers lecture for U.S. Naval War College students

5-month-old baby dies in Yerevan hospital

Armenias Vardenis town hall chief of staff signs mayor-elect inauguration session minutes

Georgia to not attend 2nd 3+3-format meeting in Turkey either, its ambassador says

Turkey airline applies for conducting flights between Istanbul and Yerevan

China urges Russia and US to continue reducing nuclear arsenals

Person, 58, dies in fire in Armenias Hrazdan

Blinken and Cavusoglu discuss relations with Armenia

Armenia law enforcement not permitting reporters to enter Vardenis town hall building

Mayor-elect of Armenias Vardenis takes oath of office at town hall courtyard

Canada court awards $ 107 million to families of passengers killed in Iran plane crash

Armenia police not allowing newly elected council members to enter Vardenis town hall building

90 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Israel photographer captures remarkable momentary image of flock of birds

Trump slams Twitter, Facebook over Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Green account banning

India investigating fake website that purportedly offered Muslim women for sale

Taliban dump 3,000 liters of alcohol into canal in booze crackdown in Afghanistan

Mauritius airport staff find newborn baby in plane toilet bin

Mexico president says he sought Assange pardon from Trump

Military helicopter crashes in Israel: two pilots die

New mayors inauguration to be held in Armenias Vardenis, there are large number of police officers

Armenia soldier dies from gunshot wound

Biden returns from holiday break to D.C. amid snowstorm

Turkey announces meeting with US on supply of F-35s

Brazil President hospitalized after stomach pains
History has shown that when people ignore the will and purpose of the people, they bring the nation to the brink of destruction. The secretary of the opposition "Armenia" Faction, Artsvik Minasyan, told reporters this Tuesday at the National Assembly of Armenia.

"It is very obvious that today Turkey and Azerbaijan want to snatch everything from the weakened Armenia, from the [incumbent Armenian] authorities serving their interests. This dangerous trend will lead to the final destruction of our statehood," Minasyan said, referring to the Turkish foreign ministry's statement that a special representative should be appointed from both sides to work on normalizing Armenian-Turkish relations.

"These people [i.e., the serving Armenian authorities] either do not realize or do it so that we constantly end up in the Turkish-Azerbaijani clutches," said the opposition MP.

"Obviously, this will not serve our national goals," he added.

Also, Minasyan asked what kind of neighborly relations can there be without protecting national rights, recognizing the disasters that have befallen the Armenian nation, and eliminating their consequences.

According to the opposition law maker, it is clear that this is not a new process, and he asked why Turkey and Azerbaijan were refusing before the start of the Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) war last year.

"The destruction of Armenia, Artsakh, the Armenian people is their goal, and they are taking such a step," the MP said.

Asked whether there are matters of renouncing Artsakh's right to self-determination and renouncing the international recognition of the Armenian Genocide, Minasyan responded that it is obvious what the Turkish preconditions were in order to normalize relations with Armenia.

"They [i.e., Turkey] already consider some of the preconditions neutralized, destroyed. If Armenia gives that agreement, it means that it accepts the neutralization of that precondition. And the precondition is the closing, the elimination of the Artsakh issue," Artsvik Minasyan concluded.
The meeting with Armenian prime minister Nikol Pashinyan, Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev, and European Council president Charles Michel will also allow the EU to play a role in the Nagorno-Karabakh peace negotiation process, writes The National Interest.

But what does the EU hope to gain from the upcoming summit with Armenia and Azerbaijan? And how can the EU involve itself in the peace talks between these two countries?

First, the EU should continue to provide financial assistance and humanitarian aid to try and resolve the conflict. To date, the EU has provided over EUR 17,000,000 in aid that has contributed to efforts including assisting those displaced by the conflict and rebuilding projects. While this assistance has not ended the war, it has provided essentials like food, clothing, and medical aid, to those affected by the crisis. Future financial aid might also contribute to a post-conflict reconstruction fund, which could be used to rebuild infrastructure destroyed in the conflict.

Second, the EU could provide insight into the peace negotiation process. Turkey and Russia have actively worked with Armenia and Azerbaijan to create and enforce a ceasefire. Turkey has sent observers to the Nagorno-Karabakh region to monitor the situation. Meanwhile, Russia has deployed peacekeeping forces. Despite these efforts, the ceasefire continues to be violated.

By involving the EU, the Western organizations members could field their own peacekeeping mission to help enforce the ceasefire. This peacekeeping force would collaborate with Russia and Turkey to ensure that the violence subsides. The action may also lead to the reintroduction of the Minsk Groups mediation force in the Nagorno-Karabakh region, which, in turn, could result in the demarcation of Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Third, the EU should work with Armenia and Azerbaijan in their economic development efforts. The EU could establish a development bank where both countries would become shareholders in this new institution. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development could pledge funds for Armenia and Azerbaijan to rebuild areas affected by the conflict.

Finally, the EU could work with Armenia and Azerbaijan to expand their trade opportunities, which would help boost both of their economies. Earlier this year, Armenia and Azerbaijan signed a pact, brokered by Russia, to develop economic ties and infrastructure in the Caucasus. European trade networks could also invite these two countries to participate, which could lead to additional economic opportunities in Armenia and Azerbaijan.

The upcoming Eastern Partnership Summit presents the EU with an opportunity to join the peace negotiation process between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The Western organization could provide additional humanitarian assistance to Armenia and Azerbaijan, send peacekeepers to the region, and establish new economic opportunities. The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict will not end overnightit will take time to resolve this crisisbut the EUs involvement could be an important step in the negotiation process. If President Michel has a productive discussion with Prime Minister Pashinyan and President Aliyev, then the EUs interactions with Armenia and Azerbaijan could help end the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly of Armenia Ishkhan Saghatelyan today received Director for Eastern Europe, South Caucasus and Central Asia of Germanys Federal Foreign Office Matthias Luttenberg and Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Germany to Armenia Viktor Richter.

Ishkhan Saghatelyan congratulated Ambassador Richter on assuming the mission and expressed confidence that his term of office would give new impetus to the Armenian-German relations. Armenia is concerned about the development of bilateral effective cooperation, and Germany, as OSCE Minsk Group member state, plays an important role in the region, Armenia and Artsakh, Saghatelyan said. He affirmed that Armenia in a difficult period, and in this context the role of Germany as an EU member state in returning Armenian prisoners of war to the homeland. We are familiar with the Foreign Ministers position and the ongoing discussion in the Bundestag on expressing a clear position on the issue of prisoners of war, for which Armenia is grateful, Ishkhan Saghatelyan underlined.

The incidents taking place on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border were touched upon. The deputy parliamentary speaker informed that the Azerbaijani Armed Forces continue the aggression and encroachments against the sovereign territory of Armenia. In this context, the interlocutors emphasized that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is not resolved, it shall be settled under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group, excluding the use of force or the threat of use of force. We must not stop making our efforts for resolving the issue through peaceful means, Matthias Luttenberg stressed.

In his turn, Matthias Luttenberg highly appreciated the current Armenian-German relations, noting that there is great potential for their development in different spheres. According to the guest, the newly formed Bundestag, as well as the Government of Germany are concerned about the rapprochement of the relations with Armenia.

The interlocutors also touched upon other issues of bilateral interest. Ideas were exchanged on the regional problems, demarcation and delimitation, the possible investments, the political issues in Armenia.
If you have followed the statements by the Co-Chairs of the Minsk Group starting from December 2020, you can surely see that the Co-Chairs, as well as a number of Armenias international partners say the Nagorno-Karabakh issue remains unresolved, unlike the statements made by Baku and Ankara. This is what former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Ara Aivazian told reporters at Yerevan State University today, touching upon the question about how he pictures the work of the Minsk Group and how it is possible to bring Azerbaijan to the negotiating table.

I follow the statements and see that today the Co-Chairs are first and foremost placing emphasis on the solutions to humanitarian issues, and in the recent statement, there was something new, that is, delimitation and demarcation. The resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is mentioned only at the end of the statement, with a statement on the well-known principles and elements. I am certain that Armenian diplomacy will continue to be involved constructively and, at some point, the Co-Chairs will be able to visit the region because today they have an objective to prove their viability, he said.
Armenian News - NEWS.am presents the daily digest of Armenia-related top news as of 14.12.21:

At around 7:30pm on Friday, Private Senik Arzumanyan (born in 2002), a conscript, sustained a fatal gunshot wound at a military unit in the southern part of Armenia, and according to preliminary data, from shots fired by a fellow soldier, the Armenian defense ministry reported.

Two other servicemen have been wounded, but their injuries are not life-threatening.

An investigation is underway to completely determine the circumstances of this incident.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan of Armenia on Tuesday left for Brussels on a two-day working visit.

In the Belgian capital, Pashinyan will attend the sixth Eastern Partnership summit. Bilateral meetings of the Armenian PM with his European colleagues are also planned on the margins of this event.

Also, the Armenian premier will have a private talk with President Charles Michel of the European Council.

A trilateral meeting between Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan of Armenia, President Charles Michel of the European Council, and President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan is also planned in Brussels.

Armenia has always been and remains ready for the process of normalization of relations with Turkey without preconditions, which is enshrined in the program of the Government of Armenia. Vahan Hunanyan, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia, stated this when asked by the media

"In this regard, we assess positively the statement of the Foreign Minister of Turkey on the appointment of a special representative for the normalization of relations, and confirm that the Armenian side also will appoint a special representative for the dialogue, Hunanyan added.

Armenia and Turkey will designate special envoys who will discuss the steps to take for normalization of relations. This is what Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey Mevlut Cavusoglu said today, adding that the countries will resume charter flights to and from Istanbul and Yerevan, Reuters reports.

Speaking at a discussion on the budget of the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs in parliament, Cavusoglu also said Turkey and Azerbaijan will coordinate the actions for normalization of relations with Armenia.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia is discontent with the fact that the Georgian national flag was shown at the meeting of the 3+3 regional format in Moscow on Dec. 10.

The Georgian MFA adds that it has responded to this through relevant diplomatic channels.

The first meeting of the 3+3 regional format was held in Moscow on Dec. 10. Among the participants were the delegations of Turkey, Russia, Iran, Azerbaijan, and Armenia, headed by the Deputy Foreign Ministers. Earlier, the Georgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement stating that Georgia will not be represented at the meeting.

As of Tuesday morning, 161 new cases of the coronavirus were confirmed in Armenia, and the total number of these cases has reached 342,765 in the country, Armenian News-NEWS.am has learned from the National Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

Also, 26 more deaths from COVID-19 were registered, making the respective total 7,845 cases.
I believe the process of [coronavirus] vaccinations needs to be carried out as quickly as possible. This is what Governor of the Central Bank of Armenia Martin Galstyan told reporters today.

According to him, the mortality rate is lower in countries where there is a high level of vaccinations of the population. He clarified that this also has an impact on the labor market and peoples moral-psychological situation.

Almost all the employees of the Central Bank have gotten vaccinated, and consciously, not under pressure, Galstyan said.
Minister of Justice of Armenia Karen Andreasyan on Dec. 13-14 attended the Conference of Ministers of Justice of member states of the Council of Europe (CoE) under the title Crime and Criminal Justice: The Role of Rehabilitative Justice in Europe in Venice, Italy.

As reported the Ministry of Justice, the minister delivered a speech in which he expressed gratitude to Italy and the Secretariat of the Council of Europe for hosting the event and stated that this platform of the CoE serves as a good opportunity to discuss the issues for identifying the current issues in the justice sector, as well as for introducing the necessary mechanisms and toolkits.

Taking into consideration the course of the forum, the justice minister touched upon the course of reforms that Armenia is implementing in the justice sector and emphasized that the sector-specific reforms imply a transition from the traditional ideology of imprisonment to the ideology of re-socialization and rehabilitative justice, the essence of which is to achieve the goals of punishment through alternative measures for imprisonment.
As a result of the demarcation and delimitation to be carried out by Armenia and Azerbaijan, new bypasses will be built in Tavush Province.

According to Pastinfo newspaper, the Armenian authorities are planning to build alternative roads in a few sectors of the road leading to the bordering Voskepar village of Tavush Province, as well as the Armenia-Georgia interstate road passing by the village. The new road will link a few villages to Baghanis.

The M-16 highway, according to Google Maps, crosses the Azerbaijani border from a few sectors, and since the Armenian authorities are demarcating with Google Maps, there is an initial decision to build a nearly 12 km road.

Based on the map, the highway will cross the allegedly new border with Azerbaijan in nearly three sectors, including the Tsaghkavan-Kirants road, the road from Kirants village to Voskepar and the road leading from Voskepar to Baghanis.

According to preliminary discussions, construction of the new alternative road will be launched in Tsaghkavan and will pass through Kirants and Voskepar and reach Baghanis.

Voskepar will remain a bordering village, with certain territorial concessions. Its no secret that Russian soldiers set up a turnpike in the bordering Voskepar village of Tavush Province in August of this year. According to reports, the road on which the peacekeepers are standing will be considered an Armenian-Azerbaijani border.
Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan, who is in Brussels on a working visit, held personal talks with President of the European Council Charles Michel.

The Prime Minister of Armenia thanked Charles Michel for the consistent efforts aimed at solving the problems caused by the 44-day war.

The interlocutors touched upon the upcoming trilateral meeting of Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan, President of the European Council Charles Michel and President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev scheduled for today, attaching importance to the continuity and strengthening of the dialogue. The parties expressed hope for effective negotiations, which will contribute to stability and a comprehensive settlement of the issues.

Nikol Pashinyan and Charles Michel also touched upon the agenda and issues for discussion at the sixth summit of the Eastern Partnership to be held in Brussels on December 15. The parties highlighted the development of Armenia-EU cooperation and the effective implementation of programs within the framework of the Eastern Partnership for the benefit of implementation of institutional reforms and the strengthening of democracy in Armenia.

The sides stressed the importance of the reforms launched in Armenia during the last three years and the steps taken by the Armenian Government in that direction. In this regard, the President of the European Council stressed the willingness of the EU to further deepen and expand the partnership for implementation of the priorities of the Government of Armenia.

The Prime Minister of Armenia and Charles Michel also touched upon the developments taking place in the South Caucasus.
With Chinas escalating tensions with Taiwan, June Teufel Dryer, the University of Miamis renowned China scholar and defense expert, doubts shell be able to return to the increasingly authoritarian nation she began studying, almost by default, more than a half century ago.

I havent been to China in three yearsmostly due to the pandemicand Im afraid if I go now, I would be arrested because I dont say what the government wants me to say, said Dreyer, the president of the American Association for Chinese Studies and a member of the International Institute for Strategic Studies who once set out to be a chemist. They suppress human rights, and their prisons are very, very cruel places.

Theres little question that, under President Xi Jinpings iron rule, Chinas vast censorship and surveillance forces know Dreyer attended Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wens historic 2016 inaugurationafter the island that China claims as its own elected its first female president. And they vehemently reject Dreyers position that Taiwan, which has never been ruled by the Peoples Republic of China, is a sovereign state and should be unambiguously recognized as such by the United States.

But Dreyer has no problem keeping an unblinking eye on China from her office in the Campo Sano Building on the Coral Gables Campus, where she maintains an extensive reference library of government reports, global newspaper articles, and other open-source materials on the communist powerhouse and the rest of East Asia. Known for her original scholarship, prolific writing, and courses on China, U.S. defense policy, and international relations, the professor of political science can be found there seven days a week, writing articles, perusing global newspapers online, working on the 11th edition of Chinas Political System: Modernization and Traditionwhich is taught in universities around the worldand juggling requests for her expertise.

Fluent in Chinese, Japanese, and her parents native German, she is quoted almost weekly by global news outletsfrom the BBC to Al Jazeeraand is often sought by government agencies, the military, think tanks, and diplomats. In October, the Congressional Research Service cited the article she wrote on Global Warming and Heated Politics in the Arctic for the Foreign Policy Research Institute, where she is a senior fellow. Last month, Japans new consul general in Miami paid her a visitfive years after her 2016 book, Middle Kingdom and Empire of the Rising Sun: Sino-Japanese Relations Past and Present, was named the top book in Japan by a prominent think tank.

And last Tuesday, she participated in a private roundtable discussion on the future of Indo-Pacific geopolitics hosted by the Wilson Center, a key nonpartisan policy forum. The panel focused on Taiwan, the subject of her most recent book, Taiwan in the Era of Tsai Ing-wen: Changes and Challenges, which she edited with the director of the Center for the Study of Contemporary China at the University of Pennsylvania Casey Law School. Published in April, just as Beijing launched its unprecedented military incursions into Taipeis air-defense zone, the book assesses the forces that led to the 2016 election and 2020 reelection of Tsai, who Dreyer has known for years and deeply admires.

She has a very calm demeanor, which was thought to be a disadvantage on the campaign trail because people want to see politicians pound the desk and promise this or that, said Dreyer, who has served as an election observer in the prospering democracy she began visiting in the 1980s. But she leads with cool competence. And feminists take note: She surrounds herself with equally competent women. Her ambassador-equivalent to the U.S., and her digital minister, who represented Taiwan last week at President Bidens Democracy Summit, are both women.

The daughter of a surgical instrument maker and a discontented homemaker, Dreyer grew up on Brooklyns Flatbush Avenue at a time when women in the workforce, much less politics, raised eyebrows. You were expected to marry, have kids, and follow your husband around and, if you worked, it was assumed your husband couldnt provide for you, Dreyer said, recalling that her mother eventually took a job in a nearby sweatshop over her fathers objections.

But Dreyer had bigger dreams, and no qualms about eschewing societal expectations. In 1958, she went off to Wellesley College to study chemistry, thinking she would work in industry. But that plan was derailed by an affliction she shared with her fatherin cold weather their fingers cracked and bled. It was really messing up all my experiments, she recalled. They were cracking and bleeding into all my titrations, so I figured Id never be a chemist.

After taking a course on China, Japan, and India, she thought about becoming an India specialistuntil someone pointed out that India has like 248 languages. So, I thought, Well, that wont do. Ill just study China, thinking everyone there spoke Mandarin.

That decision would prove propitious because, at the time, the U.S. Department of Defense was offering language fellowships to study Chinese and Japanese. So off Dreyer went to Harvard University, where her Ph.D. dissertation on Chinas ethnic minorities would become her first book, Chinas 40 Millions, and where she met her husband, Edward Dreyer, in the Harvard-Yenching Library. He would become a renowned historian of military and Chinese historyand, at the time of his 2007 death, one of the University of Miamis most beloved professors.

Before joining the Universitys faculty in 1970, Edward Dreyer accompanied his wife to Japan, where she studied Japanese and conducted researchbut wasnt taken seriously. When I started, men were amazingly chauvinistic, she said. I had to take my husband with me to ask the questions. They wouldnt answer a woman because what could I know?

Intent on establishing her expertise, she waited nine years to follow her husband to the U. Through the births of their two children and her first three jobs, two of them faculty positions elsewhere, they maintained a commuter marriage. When her husband convinced her that it was time their family lived together, she reluctantly left her post as the senior Far East specialist at the Library of Congressbut not before carving a niche as a defense specialist, which she did under a bit of duress.

She still remembers her dread when, on her first day on the job in Washington, D.C., she was informed she would also serve as the librarys China defense analyst. She found her way to an obscure office filled with books on the worlds military uniforms, ranks, insignias, and weapons. Borrowing every volume on China, she studied them on the subway on her way home every night. Too bad I was already married, she quipped. It was a great way to meet guys.

It wasnt long before men in power were seeking her expertise. After joining her husband on the University of Miami faculty in 1979, she served as Asia advisor to the chief of U.S. naval operations and began touring 14 Asia-Pacific states as a lecturer on American defense policy and security commitments for the United States Information Agency. She also served as an adjunct professor of Asian-Pacific Studies at the U.S. Air Force Special Operations School and on the U.S.-China Security and Economic Review Commission established by Congress.

Now, more than four decades later, the pandemic has curtailed her travel, but not her joy of teaching. I love the kids, she said. They are what makes teaching fun.

And her students love her, too. Without a doubt, shes been my favorite teacher, said senior Andres Torres, a political science major who is taking Dreyers China class this fall. A lot of people know a lot about something, but she knows something about everything. My Christmas reading is going to be great. I plan to read everything shes written.
Govt 'strongly opposes' UK's report on HK

The government called on London to stop interfering with Chinas internal affairs, saying the National Security Law is crucial for the SAR. File photo: RTHK

The SAR administration on Tuesday said it strongly opposes the unfounded allegations the UK made about the Hong Kong government in its latest Six-monthly Report on the city.



The report, compiled by the UKs Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs Office, alleged that since the introduction of the National Security Law in Hong Kong just over a year ago, mainland and SAR authorities had used the law to clamp down on the opposition, free press and civil society.



It also said the National Peoples Congress decision to introduce sweeping changes to Hong Kongs electoral system earlier this year reverses Chinas promise to Hong Kong in the Basic Law of gradual progress towards a system of universal suffrage, and further hollows out the Legislative Council.



In a statement, the Hong Kong government called on London to stop interfering in Chinas internal affairs, saying the National Security Law (NSL) is crucial for the SAR.



The NSL ensures the resolute, full and faithful implementation of the policy of 'one country, two systems' under which the people of Hong Kong administer Hong Kong with a high degree of autonomy, and the legitimate rights and freedoms enjoyed by Hong Kong people under the Basic Law are well-protected, the statement wrote.



"We strongly oppose the report's unfounded allegations against the improvement to the electoral system The improvement to the electoral system fully implements the principle of 'patriots administering Hong Kong', ensuring that members of the Legislative Council are patriotic, love Hong Kong and act in the interests of the country's development and the long-term prosperity and stability of Hong Kong.



The government spokesperson also brushed aside the reports concerns over prosecutorial decisions and judicial independence in Hong Kong, saying prosecutions in the city are made independently by the Department of Justice based on an objective assessment of all admissible evidence, applicable laws and the Prosecution Code, without political considerations.
The Global Institute for Food Security Regional Office in Bangladesh, inaugurated on December 12, will support GIFS multidisciplinary research, training and development partnership with the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council (BARC) of its Ministry of Agriculture, designed to help promote sustainable food security in the country.

Based at GIFS, the newly created Bangabandhu Research Chair in Food Security has been awarded to Dr. Andrew Sharpe (PhD), GIFS director of genomics and bioinformatics. Named in honour of Bangladeshs first President and Prime Minister Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the chair will lead vital agriculture research and development activities between Saskatchewan and Bangladesh, to establish the goals of the partnership.

Research and innovation have driven Canada and Saskatchewans agriculture success, and our partnership with BARC will deliver joint programs to help enhance farmer incomes, address the effects of climate change, and strengthen the countrys delivery of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, including around reducing hunger and empowering women, said GIFS Director of Strategic Partnerships and Chief Operating Officer Stephen Visscher.

GIFS international office and the Bangabandhu Research Chair in Food Security will provide us on-the-ground presence in Bangladesh and will be strategic vehicles through which we can implement targeted programs in the country, serving as a template to tackle similar challenges where they may occur in different regions of the world.

Saskatchewan is a leading agri-food exporter in Canada and Bangladesh is one of the provinces top 10 markets, with 2020 exports to the country alone valued at $612.9 million. Bangladesh is also emerging as a trade and investment destination with pro-business and pro-investment policies, vast interconnectedness within the South East Asia region, growing exports, expanding infrastructure and strong domestic demand.

Saskatchewan and the Peoples Republic of Bangladesh continue to enjoy strong bilateral relations, and agriculture is important to both our economies so there is strong alignment with our jurisdictions, said Saskatchewan Minister of Agriculture David Marit.

With GIFS new office and the Bangabandhu Research Chair in Food Security, we are excited to see there is even more opportunity to further advance our mutually beneficial relationship.

As part of its relationship with Bangladesh, GIFS is connecting partners within Saskatchewans research, development and agri-food ecosystem, including USask colleges and the Global Institute for Water Security on campus, Saskatchewan Food Industry Development Centre, the Prairie Agricultural Machinery Institute and the National Research Council of Canada. Their technical expertise and GIFS Omics and Precision Agriculture Laboratory technology will be combined to deliver initiatives that meet specific agriculture needs in Bangladesh.

Our vision is to deliver an efficient, effective and sustainable system of agricultural research, and to promote an increased standard of living and quality of life for the people of Bangladesh, said BARC Executive Chairman Dr. S.M. Bokhtiar (PhD).

This partnership with GIFS will support our plans to achieve this vision, helping connect us to even more key players in Saskatchewans leading agriculture sector who have strengths in areas relevant to us, especially climate resilience, to meet our particular needs in Bangladesh.

A leading international expert in the use of genomic technologies for the advanced breeding of various crops, Sharpes expertise in genome sequencing and phenotyping will serve as an asset to the Research Chair position and the partnership. His research accomplishments include helping to sequence the wheat, canola, barley and black mustard genomes, as well as vast phenotyping experience through GIFS Plant Phenotyping and Imaging Research Centre program at USask.

Under Sharpes leadership and working with BARC, the Bangabandhu Research Chair in Food Security will establish an agricultural technology centre in Bangladesh. Saskatchewan ecosystem partners will work together with Bangladesh partners to enhance crop breeding and plant improvement, advance soil health and quality, improve soil water retention and deliver innovations for post-harvest food handling and processing  a specific area of concern for the country.

USask is focused on providing discovery the world needs, and we are building on a proud tradition of accomplishment in agriculture and food security research, said USask Vice-President Research Baljit Singh.

We deeply value our partnership in Bangladesh that advances development of new agricultural technologies to ensure global food security. This new office and research chair solidifies this partnership in Bangladesh and connection to South Asia.

Bangladesh has made great progress in agriculture production, including attaining self-sufficiency with the rice crop; however, major challenges like increased soil salinity and depleting nutrients, a rapid population growth rate of two million people annually and the COVID-19 pandemic have highlighted the need to embrace innovation to deliver sustainable food security. We look forward to working with GIFS and other partners to accomplish this, said Bangladesh Minister of Agriculture Dr. Mohammed Abdur Razzaque (PhD).

The new GIFS office in Bangladesh and the Bangabandhu Research Chair in Food Security will commence activities immediately.
Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], December 14 (ANI/NewsVoir): On the auspicious occasion of Gita Jayanti, Cycle Pure Agarbathi, India' largest selling prayer brand, has launched 'The Bhagavad Gita in 3 minutes' to make the timeless wisdom accessible to the young millennials and help them deal with everyday life issues. The Bhagavad Gita's timeless relevance is more relevant than ever to the millennials and Gen Z, who are growing up in an overstimulated digital age. The Gita's profound yet practical teachings can assist them in dealing with their primary issues of stress, confusion, lack of attention, and motivation. However, the problem of short and dwindling attention spans persists. A millennial's current attention span is between 8 and 12 seconds. The Bhagavad Gita in 3 minutes can be downloaded for free in 8 Indian languages and 6 foreign languages from l.cycle.in/gita. Speaking about the digital book, Arjun Ranga, Managing Director, Cycle Pure Agarbathi, says, "In keeping with our mission of preserving Indian heritage and culture, we wanted to introduce current and future generations to the timeless teachings of the Gita. The Gita Jayanti is the perfect occasion to introduce and gift a copy of this practical wisdom to our millennials. Every chapter of the Gita can be read in about 8-10 seconds. The key lessons from all of the 18 chapters can be learned in just 3 minutes. The summary of each chapter has been validated by scholars." "Staying true to our purpose. We want future generations to be proud of our timeless culture and heritage. We want them to be able to connect with our rich heritage and delve into the wisdom," adds Ranga. The book showcases used 10 different classical Indian art forms, such as Tanjore, Kalamkari, Pichwai, Kerala Mural, Madhubani, Mithila, Rajasthani Miniature, Kaighat, and Padh to illustrate the story. These art forms have traditionally been used to depict Lord Krishna in various renditions across regions. This diverse rendition makes the Gita visually captivating and spiritually enriching. Download and share the timeless wisdom freely. The book can be downloaded for free in 8 Indian languages and 6 foreign languages from l.cycle.in/gita. The Mysuru-based NR Group was founded by Shri N. Ranga Rao in 1948. A true visionary and philanthropist, Shri. Ranga Rao created the ubiquitous Cycle Pure Agarbathies, which has today become the largest selling incense stick brand in the world. From a home-grown enterprise, NR Group has evolved into a successfully run business conglomerate with an established presence in India and abroad. The Group has diversified into various business categories like functional air care products (Lia brand of room fresheners and car-fresheners), wellness home fragrance products (IRIS) under Ripple Fragrances, floral extracts (NESSO) and Rangsons Technologies. Today it is truly an Agarbathi to Aerospace conglomerate as it is also involved in making parts for defense helicopters. The organization has largely committed towards social responsibilities and fulfills them, through its charity arm 'NR Foundation'. NR Group today is managed by the third generation of the Ranga family. For more information on NR Group, please visit: www.nrgroup.co.in. This story is provided by NewsVoir. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/NewsVoir)
Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], December 14 (ANI/PRNewswire): UST, a leading digital transformation solutions company has been recognized for the third consecutive time as one of the '100 Best Companies for Women in India 2021' for its exemplary efforts on gender diversity, inclusion and equality. The company also won the prestigious title of 'Exemplar of Inclusion' for its continuous efforts on gender inclusion in the workplace. Avtar, India's premier Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion solutions firm along with Seramount (formerly Working Mother Media), a strategic professional services firm dedicated to advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace in the United States, conducted the sixth successive edition of the Best Companies for Women in India (BCWI) study in 2021. Over 330 companies, spanning every major industry, geographical location and line of business, participated in the sixth consecutive edition of the Best Companies for Women in India (BCWI). The key segments that MICI covered were diversity, including gender, generation, people with disabilities, LGBTQ, practices for fostering diversity and inclusion in recruitment, retention, advancement of people from diverse groups, and company culture. UST is always committed to maintaining a balanced work-life environment to support employees through important life-changing events, not limited to maternity, elderly care, and child adoption; therefore, reasonable flexibility is provided in terms of working hours, remote working, leave extensions, and holidays. Through its hiring, promotion, recognition, leadership development, and retention, UST has always ensured diversity in the process. Programs like Network of Women USsociates (NOWU), mentoring, UST Career Architecture framework, D3 - a global developers conference celebrating talent in the technology world, and 'Women Unlimited' have been highly impactful towards furthering inclusivity and community building. From being one of India's first digital technology transformation companies to hire transgenders, to designing internal communities like 'Curved Colors,' a group for the LGBTQAI+ community, UST proved its active involvement in supporting and sustaining an inclusive culture. UST also conducts programs like 'Impact India,' which identifies talent within the differently abled community. UST has an ongoing partnership with institutes such as 'Braille without borders' for the visually impaired and 'National Institute of Speech & Hearing' for the hearing impaired. UST has designed 'Step IT Up', an accelerated training program, in several countries they operate in, designed to train and employ women, minorities, and veterans in STEM fields. UST encourages and actively recruits women who had to take a break in career due to family or personal reasons. "At UST, DE&I is a way of life, and we believe that the future of our organization lies in the aspiration of our diverse and inclusive talent to instill positive change. We have been deliberate and elaborate about adopting DE&I in our culture, processes, and interactions. We want our customers, employees, partners, and the communities around us to touch and feel this facet of the UST DNA. We make significant investments year on year to train, develop and create awareness of the need and, impact of DE&I. To be recognized by AVTAR and Seramount as one of the '100 Best Companies for Women in India 2021' is a reflection of our ongoing effort to make this world more diverse, equitable, and inclusive," said Manu Gopinath, Chief Operating Officer, UST. "We are deeply honored and energized to be recognized as the '2021 Exemplar of Inclusion' and listed among the top '100 Best Companies for Women' in 2021. At UST, we believe in equity, inclusion, and diversity and the richness of diverse perspectives to build for boundless impact for our customers, communities, partners, and employees. We welcome open and honest conversations to empower and enrich thus creating opportunities for innovation, growth, and collaboration. We are strongly committed to creating communities by providing avenues for excelling, and empowering every UST associate paving the way for a more inclusive future," added Anu Koshy, Head - Diversity and Inclusion, UST. Commenting on the occasion, Dr Saundarya Rajesh, Founder - President, Avtar, said, "This year's study results indicate that companies are consciously evolving in their Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Maturity. This is primarily based on three factors, viz., their leadership intent, the industry they belong to and the history of their DEI journey thus far. It is noteworthy that the disruptions of 2020, have further accelerated the pace of DEI progress in the Best Companies, with 73% of them having reported an increase in their DEI spend. One such key indicator is the large number of companies which have institutionalized practices to boost representation of women and other underrepresented groups in senior leadership and executive positions." She further added, "Companies are increasingly building a cascade effect of DEI Accountability. As per the data from 2021 Working Mother & Avtar Most Inclusive Companies Index (MICI), 95% of companies have built their KPIs/KRAs on Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion for their people managers across levels." Recently, UST won the 'Business Culture Team Award' for its Office of Values & Culture (OVC) at the Business Culture Awards 2021. UST was also recognized as the Best Place to Work in Malaysia, U.S., UK, India, and Mexico. Additionally, UST was named a Top Employer 2021 in eight countries - US, UK, India, Mexico, Spain, Philippines, Singapore, and Malaysia, by the Top Employers Institute (TEI). The company was also honored with a Glassdoor Employees' Choice Award for being one of the Top 100 Best Places to Work in 2020. The company recently announced its aggressive hiring plans of over 10,000 employees across the globe to support its global business demand, accelerate the digital transformation of companies, and the rise of the digital economy. This story is provided by PRNewswire. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/PRNewswire)
Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], December 14 (ANI/NewsVoir): Going beyond the usual health insurance services, India's first D2C Health Management Organization (HMO), Kenko Health, has announced exclusive offerings like medicine financing and delivery, and ambulance service at doorstep. The users will now be able to order medicines on the Kenko Health app, which will get delivered at their doorstep within 2-8 hours, at a discounted price, ranging from 20% to 90%. They will also be able to book an ambulance by answering a few questions about the patient's condition. Kenko Health is set to have 1 Lac users by March 2022 by offering these services to its members in over 40 cities across India including Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Nagpur, Indore, Lucknow, Vijayawada, Kochi, Mangalore, etc. In India, about 70% of an individual's lifetime healthcare expenses are spent on OPD services that include the consultation fee, laboratory tests, prescribed medicines and several OTC products. Kenko Health considers financing and accessibility as integral parts of healthcare benefits and aims to reform the insurtech sector. Kenko Health will leverage the hyper-local reach of Medpay, India's largest OPD care network, to connect its customers to pharmacies. The users will be able to order medicines by simply uploading the prescription on the app which gets scanned and validated by Kenko's AI technology. It has also partnered with Medulance, a medical transportation service company to provide emergency ambulance service. It also offers a Live Chat feature in the application which is taken care of by a customer care centre instead of a bot, making it a seamless experience for the customer. "People have been looking for insurance but can't afford it. Then they see our products, speak to someone at the press of a button, and realise it is only Rs. 300 to Rs. 500 a month; that they can sample and opt out easily if dissatisfied. For India's middle-income group, medicines constitute a large chunk of monthly expenses and we understand their financing standpoints. Our platform will soon become very close to a consumer good or discretionary purchase, offering the best of both worlds with consultation and hospitalisation coverage in the same plan," said Dhiraj Goel and Aniruddha Sen, Co-founders of Kenko Health. Kenko Health has recently raised USD 1.7 Mn as its pre-Series A round led by BEENEXT and Orios, and also saw participation from Accelerator VC 9Unicorns and Waveform Ventures. It plans to leverage the funds for expanding its team and developing specialized products for the OPD sphere. This story is provided by NewsVoir. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/NewsVoir)
New Delhi [India], December 14 (ANI/ATK): Unified Brainz Celebrated the Success of Men leading by example with Glitz, Glamour & Glory on the occasion of International Men's Day on 19th of November 2021. The world witnessed the most awaited event "Men Leaders to look Up to 2021" on digital grounds. This glorious ceremony saw the presence of some most sought-after lineup of men leaders who were featured from different walks of life sharing passion journey. In 2015, Carlos Santos lost everything. He made wrong investments, was subject to many scams, and lost millions in a short span. Everyone was quick to criticize his way of living: 'Why so much work?', 'Why so much isolation?' Yet, Carlos never gave up his work ethic. "Remember that when you fail, you are one step ahead of everyone because you will not make the mistake that others might make. Business is full of losses, failures, challenges, and differences. But it is the manner in which you face losses and issues that makes you different" says Carlos. Armed with his trademark resilience and dedication, Carlos soon turned the tide. Learning from experience, his goal now was trying to guarantee that you could model the financial markets without making any losses. For this, he diverted all his attention fully to his proprietary algorithm, which he first implemented in 2012 that alerts in line with 'enter and exit positions in the commodities, currency, bonds, futures and share markets. Using an aggressive risk-modulated strategy, it spreads and accumulates profits through compounding, which allows you to achieve gains in a safe way that could never be achieved in the market. "It was at that moment when I decided to diversify and invest in project financing. This would allow me to make long-term investments with fixed returns. I aimed to bring capital to sectors which other financial entities were not focused on, and I was trying to understand why. Why would someone not invest in South Africa, Laos, Swaziland, or Brazil? Soon I realized that the macroeconomic and operational risk related to such entities was the reason. However, the financial instrument issued by a bank allows the seller to migrate the operational and macroeconomic risk to the financial market. This allowed me to have a net asset discounted to the present value of the financing to not necessarily be 100 % of the investment. This was the innovative factor," explains Carlos. Thus, was born Ethos Asset Management - an independent, US-based company with a global outreach in project financing. As of today's date, the company has a presence in 72 countries. Speaking about their innumerable international tie-ups with banks and Associates, Carlos tells us, conducting business is a way of life for him: "What drives me is to influence people's lives. Nothing is better than seeing the face of a person who could never see a project materializeor seeing people's faces when they overcome a problematic life situation. Giving opportunities and developing people is my driving force. I think that is what makes me wake up every day." Carlos' passion for people can be traced to his childhood. Born in an upper-middle-class family to a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) mother and a successful automobile businessman father, Carlos was allowed to have an eclectic education as well as remarkable cultural tolerance. "My father is my inspiration. He is good at managing money, but he is even better at managing people," says Carlos. To know more about Carlos, check www.passionvista.com or to nominate for upcoming projects email us at info@passionvista.com Brilliant in every way, Carlos won the Top Student Award consecutively from 2012-2014 while winning the Banco de Portugal in 2015. Additionally, he won the Portugal Best Economist Award in 2016, E&Y Award 2018, and Best Professor 2019/2020. He considers teaching his favorite "personal amusement". "In the last six years, I have had the honor and pleasure to be a Professor at Lisbon School of Economics and Management (ISEG), University of Lisbon, where I lecture Microeconomics I and II, Macroeconomics I and II, Evaluation Projects, Corporate Finance, and Seminary. I'm proud of this position as it helps me maintain professionalism, enhance thought of mind solutions, and promote problem-solving. To be able to impact the lives of people through sharing of knowledge and experiences is my favorite way to spend time," reveals Carlos with a smile. This story is provided by ATK. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/ATK)
Adani Green Energy Limited (AGEL), a part of the diversified Adani Group, has signed a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with the government-run SECI, the company said in a statement on Tuesday.

"We are pleased to have signed the world's largest PPA with SECI," said Gautam Adani, Chairman of Adani Group.

"This is yet another step in our journey to enable India's dual objective to accelerate India's renewable energy footprint as well as promote domestic manufacturing under the Atmanirbhar Bharat programme," he said.

"Following the proceedings at COP 26, it is increasingly evident that the world has to equitably transition to a low carbon economy faster than previously anticipated. This is why the Adani Group has committed $50-$70 billion of investment in the renewables space. This agreement keeps us well on track to our commitment to become the world's largest renewables player by 2030," Adani added.

The AGEL-SECI agreement to supply 4,667 MW is part of a manufacturing-linked solar tender of 8,000 MW awarded to AGEL by SECI in June 2020, which set a record for being the world's largest solar development tender ever awarded.

So far, AGEL has signed PPAs with SECI for a total generation capacity of close to 6000 MW of the 8,000 MW awarded in 2020. AGEL expects to close the balance 2000 MW PPA in the next two to three months. (ANI)
New Delhi [India], December 14 (ANI/BusinessWire India): kindlife, a new age beauty and wellness ecosystem enabling commerce, community, and brands, has raised an undisclosed amount for their seed round. Founded by Radhika Ghai, kindlife enables consumers to shop for 150+ curated kinder brands across beauty, nutrition, and home care. The fundraise was led by Kalaari Capital under their CXXO initiative. Vani Kola, Founder, and MD, Kalaari Capital said, "We believe that the role of women leaders is essential for a thriving start-up ecosystem. Radhika embodies the qualities of an ideal CXXO (a Kalaari Capital initiative for women founders) founder - an innovator, risk-taker, and role model to aspiring female entrepreneurs. Her passion and commitment towards sustainable living, coupled with her wealth of experience and clear vision, truly resonated with us. We are proud to be early partners with Radhika and kindlife in their journey to create a unique well-being ecosystem." The round also saw participation from Java Capital, Titan Capital, TDV, and prominent investors like Pankaj Gupta, CEO-GII, Suhail Sameer, CEO- BharatPe, ShashvatNakrani, Co-founder-BharatPe, Manisha Raisinghani, Co-founder-LogiNext, Shweta Jain -CBDO, Diageo Luxury, and attorney-at-law Sakshi Soni. According to a World Economic Forum and Bain & Company report (Nov 2020), India is a $5.7 trillion consumption economy in the making. "Indian consumers want to make kinder choices and kindlife with its community of experts, kind-brands and robust technology will ensure that we are present every step of the way to enable these kind choices", says Radhika Ghai, Founder, and CEO, kindlife. "Premiumisation and up-gradation of lifestyle will fuel more than 40% of the projected growth in the Indian consumers' demand, a trend which is also clearly visible in the recent D2C boom. We have a lot of work to do, but the path is clear to us," said Radhika. Co-founded by Vidit Jain and ManasaGaremella, kindlife simplifies the journey for consumers who are looking for "kind" products and brands who want to tell their stories via their products to this community. Kiran Vasireddy, a Partner, Kalaari Capital, added "We are excited to partner with Radhika. We have great conviction in her vision to acquire and build a powerhouse of brands leading the clean-living theme in India. We are bullish on her rich experience from scaling her previous marketplace venture along with the functional expertise of her diverse team. kindlife is our third investment under the CXXO program, and we are pumped up about women entrepreneurs driving the digital India consumption story in the upcoming decade." This story is provided by BusinessWire India. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/BusinessWire India)
Dubai [UAE], December 14 (ANI/NewsVoir): India-UAE bilateral relations will see extraordinary developments in coming months, India's Foreign Secretary, Harsh V Shringla said on Monday during his visit to the India Pavilion at EXPO2020 Dubai. "There is a lot more to see in India-UAE bilateral relationship as we progress. Our relationship is based on technology, finance and energy and today it is further bolstered by the most important aspect of people-to-people contact," he added. Speaking on the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between India and the UAE, Shringla said, "We are in the process of negotiating a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the UAE. Negotiations are proceeding well, and we are optimistic that it will provide a unique opportunity to take India-UAE trade and investment relations to exponential heights. We are looking forward to the conclusion of the negotiations at the earliest." Elaborating on the India-UAE relations, the Foreign Secretary said, "We must acknowledge that our relationship with the United Arab Emirates is at a high-point. The visit of His Highness, the Crown Prince of the UAE to India in 2016 and PM Shri Narendra Modi's visit to the UAE in 2018 opened a new chapter in our bilateral relations. Those two visits shaped our relationships." "As India is celebrating its 75 years of independence - Amrit Mahotsav and the UAE is celebrating its 50 years of foundation, it is an extraordinary conjuncture between the two countries to come together," he added. Highlighting the significance of India's participation at EXPO2020 Dubai, Shringla said, "Dubai Expo provides a unique platform for countries to showcase their capabilities at a global level. The India Pavilion is one of the five permanent exhibitions at the Expo, and it truly showcases the progress and development made by the country in the last few years. It provides visitors a chance to witness India's economic development and rich cultural heritage." "We should use every opportunity to highlight the progress made by the country and India Pavilion at EXPO2020 Dubai is one such platform. We have a high footfall at the Pavilion with visitors including investors, entrepreneurs, and business people coming from all over the world. The government has taken some significant steps in recent months to provide incentives and opportunities to investors and we are able to highlight it to global audience with the help of the India Pavilion," he added. To know more about India Pavilion at EXPO2020 Dubai, please visit: Website - www.indiaexpo2020.com Facebook - www.facebook.com/indiaatexpo2020 Instagram - www.instagram.com/indiaatexpo2020 Twitter - twitter.com/IndiaExpo2020?s=09 LinkedIn - www.linkedin.com/company/india-expo-2020/?viewAsMember=true YouTube - www.youtube.com/channel/UC6uOcYsc4g_JWMfS_Dz4Fhg/featured Koo - www.kooapp.com/profile/IndiaExpo2020 To know more about EXPO2020 Dubai, please visit - www.expo2020dubai.com/en. This story is provided by NewsVoir. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/NewsVoir)
New Delhi [India], December 14 (ANI/NewsVoir): The only accredited online school in India, serving students from KG to Grade 8 has announced the addition of Nursery Grade to their school. K8 School is accredited by Cognia, USA, the world's largest and most prestigious school accreditor, and is offering 100% online schooling from home for KG to Grade 8 till now. With the addition of Nursery now, K8 School becomes an online school for kids starting 3.5 years of age. K8 School is also adding Foundation Programs for all students for Nursery, KG & Grade 1, in order to orient those students before starting their classes. The addition of Nursery and Foundation Programs will support K8 School's mission to provide parents with a complete pre-school program for their children, in addition to the already existing Primary (Grade 1 to 5) and Middle School (Grade 6 to 8) programs, thus making it a Nursery-Grade 8 safe school offering online classes. India's First Online School, Now Trusted by Thousands of Parents in India In the official statement released by K8 School, the Founder & CEO of K8 School, Sharad Bhatia said, "We are extremely thankful to parents across the country for believing in us and we will try our best to make sure that we continue to innovate and excel. We are starting a very futuristic and interactive Nursery Program at K8 School because we know that parents want their children to receive world-class education from the start. K8 School is also adding Foundation Programs from Nursery to Grade 1, so that all our students will be academically ready for online learning, even before our main classes commence. K8 School curriculum is now more powerful than ever and our students continue to learn in the most multicultural classrooms in the world. Very soon, we would also be beginning lots of post-classroom activities that would increase peer-to-peer interactions among our students and make learning faster, easier and smoother. We are heading towards independent learning for students with little or no help from parents, and that's the only way every child's potential will blossom to the maximum. I am also pleased to announce that we are declaring Admission Open for academic year 2022-23 and even before this announcement, hundreds of parents have already booked seats for their children." K8 School Is Powered by Discovery Education K8 School is powered by Discovery Education, the digital learning company of Discovery Inc., which is a more familiar name through Discovery Channel. Additionally, K8 School provides complete online school in India through its online platforms which include a Learning Management System, Student Management System, and Mobile App. When asked to elaborate on K8 School's online platform, Sharad Bhatia added, "No other school in India has a powerful online learning platform like we have. We have recently added a mobile app to our school which parents have simply loved for its simplicity and user-friendliness. We treat every child as unique and that is why we are building the most unique school in India. No matter what the final career goal of a child is, we make sure that we provide the child with the best possible school environment to chase and achieve that goal. At K8 School, besides doing well in studies, children also get time for other things in life outside of the school, so that their development is holistic. That is where we are better than any traditional school. We bring the best of online school, homeschool, traditional school, tuitions, and extracurricular academies under one roof." A Smooth and Hassle-Free Online Admission Process The admission process at K8 School is very simple. Parents can secure their child's admission by filing a simple form and submitting child's basic documents and this takes just a few minutes. Visit K8 School's website: k8school.com/ap for more information on the admission process. This story is provided by NewsVoir. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/NewsVoir)
New Delhi [India], December 14 (ANI/ATK): Unified Brainz celebrated the success of men leading by example with Glitz, Glamour & Glory on the occasion of International Men's Day on November 19, 2021. The world witnessed the most awaited event "Men Leaders To look Up To 2021" on digital grounds. This glorious ceremony saw the presence of some most sought-after lineup of men leaders who were featured from different walks of life sharing passion journey. Racing your way ahead in life and finding a spot for your passion in life are two different things. Rohit Wadhwa found a massive place for his passion for cars and has climbed the corporate ladder like no one else! An Automotive Sales & Marketing leader, Rohit has managed revenue of over $50 M yearly through his strong business acumen and strategies. An MBA by degree, he commenced his professional journey at HCL but soon switched to the automotive industry and joined Toyota. Since then, Rohit has worked in globally recognized automotive companies/OEMs like BMW Group, Audi India, and Volkswagen Group. When Rohit received his permanent residency in Canada, he joined Mitsubishi Motors, taking his success and achievements to an all-new level. Rohit explains his wide-ranging job roles and companies saying, "It was always my passion for cars that took me to different companies and various roles at very past faced trajectory in the corporate ladder." While challenges are inevitable, handling them in a manner that leaves a person and their work unaffected is most significant. Rohit prefers staying grounded and calm when in a troubled situation. Prioritizing work and playing by his strengths is his style of pinning down challenges. Of course, he admits his family standing by him as concrete pillars, especially his wife, whose support is unconditional and everlasting. Besides cars, Rohit is also passionate about people management. He doesn't discount the idea that one needs to keep learning at all ages to keep the foundation strong in this competitive era. To fuel his passion, he took up some structured courses, including "Managing the Company of the Future" from the University of London and "Communication Strategies for Virtual Ages" from the University of Toronto. His curiosity to know more about his industry and grow his knowledge makes Rohit one of the topmost leaders in the automotive industry today. Presently, he is also looking forward to learning the French language to make working with the Quebec people easier. Making lifestyle or career switches isn't an easy job, especially with an ongoing pandemic. But Rohit took the courageous decision of leaving his well-settled job in India for newer work opportunities when he received a PR for Canada in January 2021. Starting at a place where not many know you and seeking a job that fits your potential demands patience and strong networking skills, both of which he possesses. "I networked well and started creating my base in Canada and then eventually landed with a few great opportunities." Rohit is very meticulous in his personal & professional space, a strength that has kept him steady in his prosperous journey. The people who work with him enjoy his collaborative leadership style, structured approach, and ability to effectively translate complex operational concepts into tangible action plans. Only thirty-six years of age, Rohit is indubitably worthy of being included in the list of "Men Leaders" for his skills and hard work that lead him this far on the corporate leader this early in his professional life. His work stands out, be it closing over seventy national contracts in BMW Group or increasing Audi's market share by 6 per cent. Rohit also ranked number 1 in Customer Satisfaction in the year 2018, won the Best Marketing Initiative Award in 2019, increased the profitability in the Volkswagen Group by 1.4 times, and has overachieved all his sales targets consecutively in the last four years. To know more about Rohit, check www.passionvista.com or to nominate for upcoming projects email us at info@passionvista.com This leader's philosophy for life is simple- Move forward; whether the speed is fast or slow, you just have to keep moving in a direction. His message for the readers is, "Be humble to the world, grateful to the god and true to yourself." Rohit Wadhwa is, indeed, a magnificent face automotive world. This story is provided by ATK. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/ATK)
Pune (Maharashtra) [India], December 14 (ANI/NewsVoir): Pune is set to witness the country's biggest 'Toy Donation Drive'. Phoenix Marketcity Pune in association with Kotak bank- the official banking partner, RED FM - the official radio partner, My Gate - the official community partner, Ink & Drink - the official event partner, and Circle of Crust - the official F&B partner, Supported by Ray of Joy and extended support by Rotary District 3131 lead by Poona Airport, Rotaract Club of Pune Cantonment & FICCI FLO Pune chapter have organised a drive to collect used and unused toys that are in a fairly viable condition. The campaign is mapped out to span out across the city, and reach out to corporates, schools, gated communities, banks, and other spaces apart from the mall. The communication is a call to action for all nodes of our societies, to collect old toys that their children have outgrown and donate it to this cause. Donation baskets for toy collection have been placed in more than 20 societies in and around Pune, Kotak Mahindra bank branches, and at the mall. Arun Arora, the Centre Director, Phoenix Marketcity Pune was quoted as saying, "December month is an avenue for us to pave way into a better next year. And what better way to do so, than to make and drive such noble initiative. The toy donation drive is call to implore our patrons and the long-reaching communities to share a part of their happiness, even if it is through a toy." The toy donation drive is set to continue till December 31, 2021. People have an option to make the toy donation at the box set up near Star Bazaar, Lower Ground Floor of the mall. Every donation will be rewarded with an assured giveaway. For further information, please contact: Phoenix Marketcity - 020 66890085 Log on to: www.phoenixmarketcity.com/pune. This story is provided by NewsVoir. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/NewsVoir)
Dubai [UAE], December 14 (ANI/NewsVoir): Internationalisation of Indian higher education system is the need of the hour and a multi-pronged approach is required for it, said NITI Aayog, CEO, Amitabh Kant today in a session titled 'Internationalisation of Indian Higher Education System' at the India Pavilion in EXPO2020 Dubai. "The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 envisions internationalising of Indian higher education system and establishing India as a Vishvaguru. However, we must acknowledge and introspect about the current challenges and trends in order to achieve this vision", he said while addressing the session virtually. "It has to be understood that the higher number of outflow of Indian students to foreign universities and inflow of a substantially lower number of students to Indian universities reflect the sub-optimal quality of education in India as compared to the foreign universities," said Kant. Elaborating on the multi-pronged approach to internationalise the Indian higher education system, Kant said, "All higher education institutes must create an institute development plan with a vision to be the best in their fields as recommended by the NEP 2020. The universities may like to use the National Institute Ranking Framework (NIRF) rankings and analyse the areas where there is scope of improving their rankings." Along with this, he said that we must leverage our competitive advantages and traditional knowledge systems of India by integrating them with modern day study like sustainability studies, architecture, medicine etc. "Short-term diplomas and courses could be launched in collaboration with Ministry of Ayush and Universities to promote indigenous natural practices for international learners," Kant added. He further said that all educational institutes participating in the India learning scheme must be ranked on the basis of ease of studying with a higher weightage given to feedback from foreign students as this will help participating institutes in improving their quality and getting more participation from foreign students. To meet the funding needs, Kant said, "Indian higher education institutes must raise funds to raise their quality and Public-Private-Partnership could be one of the untapped areas to improve that and IIITs are one of the examples of this. The government recently modified the viability gap funding scheme to include social infrastructure projects that include higher education and universities must use this scheme to their advantage." He further added, "NEP has opened a window of opportunity to rejuvenate our higher education system. I call upon all our academicians to innovate and create world class universities and make India a much sought-after education destination for students across the world." Addressing the session virtually, Dr Raghunath Mashelkar, National Research Professor, and Former Director General, CSIR said, "I'm quite confident that in this century of knowledge - India will once again regain its position as leader in science & technology, innovation, philosophy and broader aspects of knowledge. I feel extraordinarily proud to speak to you as a product of education in India." Dr Vidya Yeravdekar, Chair, FICCI Higher Education Committee & Pro Chancellor Symbiosis International University said, "With the National Education Policy, we will have more and more multiple universities that will provide excellent education. It is for young Indians, the non-resident Indians and foreign students who live abroad to come to India and experience this wonderful higher education system and be a part of the growth story of India." To know more about India Pavilion at EXPO2020 Dubai, please visit: Website: www.indiaexpo2020.com/ Facebook: www.facebook.com/indiaatexpo2020/ Instagram: www.instagram.com/indiaatexpo2020/ Twitter: twitter.com/IndiaExpo2020?s=09 LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/india-expo-2020/?viewAsMember=true YouTube: www.youtube.com/channel/UC6uOcYsc4g_JWMfS_Dz4Fhg/featured Koo: www.kooapp.com/profile/IndiaExpo2020 To know more about EXPO2020 Dubai, please visit: www.expo2020dubai.com/en. This story is provided by NewsVoir. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/NewsVoir)
Jodhpur (Rajasthan) [India], December 14 (ANI/NewsVoir): Opportunity may come knocking, but with innovation leading the way, opportunity is bound to keep finding the door again and again. Its why Marwari Catalysts has joined hands with Kumbhat Advisors & ENNENN Group and invites the boldest and brightest FinTech innovators through its doors with its accelerator cohort program, 'Thrive 5.0'. India's financial technology (fintech) sector is growing rapidly, and this accelerator cohort program will assist fintech start-ups with product-market-fit guidance, wide access to global audience and accelerated joint go-to-market within 10 weeks. Following the success of the last cohorts with EdTech and D2C startups, Marwari Catalysts is extremely delighted to support another group of extraordinary entrepreneurs with the launch of their next batch of virtual accelerator cohort program. Thrive is backed up by some of India's leading AIFs, VCs and Angel Networks that will participate during the Demo Day process. The accelerator in a press statement says that 6-8 high potential startups will be selected to take part in the 10-week program for which the application process begins from 15 December, 2021. The cohort also includes investment opportunities up to $75K-$300K for qualified startups and will get access to one-on-one mentoring sessions, networking opportunities, funding investment advice, strategy-and-skill development, marketing & business development, making efficient pitch decks and more in order to facilitate growth. Commenting on the accelerator program, Sushil Sharma, Founder & CEO, Marwari Catalysts, says, "India is a young nation with over half its population under 25 years. While the country has made significant strides in digitalization and technological innovation which has made it more competitive in the global landscape, there exists a larger challenge on creation of employment opportunities and jobs for the young population. With the immense potential of the Fintech Sector in jobs creation and economic growth, MCats is happy to partner with Kumbhat Advisors & ENNENN group for this cohort program. We do hope that this joint initiative will lead to many successful ideas which will provide large employment generation opportunities and also a difference to the financial sector of our country." "I offer my heartiest congratulations and warmly invite eligible startups to this cohort. Mcats as an accelerator will be a partner for your growth but would like to notify that Accelerators are not to be treated as funds," he added. Further adding, Naresh Shah, Founder & Chairman, ENNENN Group says, "India's financial technology (fintech) sector may be young but is growing rapidly, fueled by a large market base and an innovation-driven startup landscape. And with a view to preparing the fintech ecosystem, this cohort will definitely ensure continuous innovation and engagement with industry to enable a proactive response to the rapidly evolving fintech scenario." Speaking on the announcement, Devesh Rakhecha, Founder & Director, Marwari Catalysts, says, "Our initiative for this cohort is one part of our commitment to making India a great place for Fintech companies to set-up, and scale-up. The BFSI industry in India is clearly at an inflection point and we are thrilled that with Kumbhat Advisors & ENNENN Group, we are leading with innovation and expect that this moves to benefit the entire FinTech space in India will shape the FinTech ecosystem in the country, inturn giving us a substantial advantage in the market." MCats is driven by a culture of innovation and has been a frontrunner in building entrepreneurial culture in Tier-2 and 3 cities of India. With Thrive, MCats looks to strengthen its ties with the startup ecosystem as well as build futuristic technologies. Sharing the rationale, CA Mohit Kapoor, Director, Kumbhat Advisors says, "The FinTech community is at the forefront of building an ecosystem where everyone wins; and we are excited that with this cohort, we hope to catalyse movement towards reaching such a goal and enable opportunities for India's innovative FinTech start-up ecosystem to take secure, scalable solutions to market faster. We, along with Marwari Catalysts, look forward to playing our part as the Startup Ecosystem Advisor and leverage our expertise on the entrepreneurial ecosystem in India to find the next-generation of startups that have the potential to bring large-scale disruptions." CA Amit Mehta, UAE, Shareholder at Marwari Catalysts, Investment Director at Alabbar Enterprises, Ex. Standard UAE Chartered, Ex. Morgan Stanley says, "India has a large untapped market for financial service technology startups - wherein on one hand 40 percent of the population were not connected to banks and 87 percent of payments were made in cash. Today with mobile phone penetration it has increased to 85-90 percent in 2020 from 65-75 percent, and internet penetration steadily climbing, the growth potential for fintech in India cannot be overstated. I am delighted to be a part of this accelerator cohort program as we support these emerging innovative startups at the forefront of developing new tools and technologies and provide a significant value to the industry in the near future." Marwari Catalysts is also in talks with various funds, family offices and angel investors for a strategic alliance to give a boost to young and ambitious entrepreneurs, while supporting the government's 'Start-Up India' initiative. So, if your technology innovation can positively impact FinTech space in India, here is your chance. Apply now to take your FinTech startup to the next level! Interested startups can tap on the link: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/. The deadline for applying is 31 January, 2022. This story is provided by NewsVoir. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/NewsVoir)
Kim Kardashian has revealed that she has passed the baby bar exam and is on her way to becoming a lawyer. According to People Magazine, Kardashian first announced in 2019 that she planned to become a lawyer like her father. Taking to her Twitter handle on Monday, the 'Keeping Up with the Kardashians' alum revealed that exciting news. "OMFGGGG I PASSED THE BABY BAR EXAM!!!! Looking in the mirror, I am really proud of the woman looking back today in the reflection. For anyone who doesn't know my law school journey, know this wasn't easy or handed to me," she wrote. "I failed this exam 3 times in 2 years, but I got back up each time and studied harder and tried again until I did it!!! (I did have COVID on the 3rd try w a 104 fever but I'm not making excuses)," she continued in a thread. The reality star went on to explain that the baby bar has a "harder pass rate" than the actual bar exam. "I was told by top lawyers that this was a close to impossible journey and harder than the traditional law school route," she wrote. "but it was my only option and it feels so so sooooo good to be here and on my way to achieving my goals." Kardashian thanked various people who have helped her on her journey, including CNN's Van Jones, the lawyers she has apprenticed with and her tutor. She also mentioned late dad Robert Kardashian Sr, a high-powered attorney known for representing O J Simpson in his 1995 murder trial. "My dad would be so proud and he would actually be so shocked to know that this is my path now but he would've been my best study partner. I am told he was notorious for making fun of people who didn't pass on their first attempt like him, but he would've been my best cheerleader," the beauty mogul wrote. "Bottom line is don't ever give up even when you are holding on by a thread, you can do it!!!!! Set your mind to it and get it done because it feels soooooo good once you get to the other side!" she concluded. The SKIMS founder attended Pierce College in Los Angeles but never graduated. However, California, as well as three other Us states, offers a path to passing the bar without attending law school by "reading the law," or apprenticing with a practising lawyer or judge. According to People Magazine, she also had to pass the baby bar exam in order to continue on with her studies. After revealing that she had failed twice on the last season of 'KUWTK' -- the second during which she was sick with COVID-19 -- she told fans in May that her experience with taking the baby bar exam has been "extremely difficult." "Unfortunately, I haven't passed yet, but I'm not giving up. I'm preparing to take it again soon," she wrote at the time. Kardashian has time and again been outspoken about her passion for criminal justice and prison reform. (ANI)
Taking to their respective Instagram handles on Tuesday, the newlyweds shared elegant, romantic pictures from the pre-wedding festivities.

They added the caption, "To love, honor and cherish."

In one picture, Vicky can be seen kissing his bride-to-be on her forehead.

In another, Katrina has her face covered by the thin veil, while Vicky posed by looking at her.

Katrina can be seen wearing a vintage-inspired floral Sabyasachi saree with a trailing veil. With pastel shades of pink and green, the saree is silhouetted like a white wedding gown.

She paired the outfit with a heavy diamond choker and matching earrings.

Along with this, she held a wedding bouquet, complementing the colours of the saree.

Vicky wore ivory-gold silk embroidered Sabyasachi sherwani and matching churidar.

Fans, friends and members of the film fraternity flooded the posts with likes and comments.

Isabelle Kaif, Preity Zinta, Neha Dhupia and Zoya Akhtar poured heart emoticons in the comments section.

Vicky and Katrina tied the knot on December 9 at Six Senses Fort Barwara, Rajasthan. The wedding festivities from December 7-9 were attended by close friends and family.

The couple will reportedly throw their wedding reception party for the film fraternity in the upcoming days and will resume work after concluding all wedding festivities. (ANI)
December 13, 2021, turned out to be a heartbreaking day for actor Esha Deol as she lost her childhood friend Natasha Jitender Irani yesterday. On Tuesday, Esha took to her Instagram account and penned an emotional note in the memory of Natasha. "May your soul rest in peace @tashajitender. Om Shanti. To my best friend my soul sister my Tasha. You have gone but will always be in our hearts. This family remains ours for eternity.Yeh dosti hum nahi todenge. #foreverlove #sisterhood #mybff," she wrote. Alongside the note, Esha uploaded a video featuring her pictures with Natasha. However, the cause of Natasha's death is not known yet. Popular chef Chinu Vaze also expressed her grief. "Natasha Jitender Irani 23-09-82 - 13-12-21. These past few days have been heartbreaking. But also eye-opening. We get so caught up in our belly-button gazing bulls**t. The truth is there is only love. Only love wins. Otherwise, you always lose. So be love, give love, feel love for each and every moment you stand here, blessed, breathing. Every second is a chance to let go, to forgive, to be at peace. Life never gives up on us. Love never gives up. Maybe this body does. But it doesn't matter. Love will always carry through. It will always heal and make whole no matter what you are leaving behind, no matter how many versions of yourself and your story you need to leave behind along the way," she wrote on Instagram. Chinu added, "Tashu my soul will always recognise your soul. Our love will always be bigger. Our love will connect us and protect you through this lifetime into the next. Go in peace. Nyru will be surrounded by the web of love you created in your life's time. So many moments of love and friendship that you circumambulated the whole world with. So many sparks of laughter and dancing eyes you tattooed on everyone's hearts. So much celebration and contentment that was your every moment. I promise to you I will live in love." Actor Tusshar Kapoor has also paid condolences after learning about Natasha's demise (ANI)
Actor Keshav Uppal, who was recently seen in 'Hiccups and Hookups', is currently shooting for the new web show 'A Cold Mess', also starring Barun Sobti and Ridhi Dogra. Talking about the series, Keshav says: "Currently I'm shooting for a show called 'A cold Mess' which will release early next year. So it features a lot of different characters who have very interesting stories. I don't know if I can reveal much about my role at present but I can tell you that it's a very quirky character named Abhay and will keep you entertained throughout. "The show is a love story with many ups and downs hence the title. Along with that, it brings light to many issues which today's generation faces but it's all done in a very fun way, you'll see when the show comes out." Sharing about his working experience with his co-stars, he said: "My experience with Barun and Riddhi was actually a lot of fun. They're both great human beings and we all spent some quality time together on and off set in Serbia and now in Mumbai. Barun is one of the coolest co-actors I've worked with. He's a very humble, talented and grounded person, someone you can learn a lot from. Ridhi is an incredible actor and just watching her perform on set was a learning experience." The first schedule of the show was completed in Serbia and talking about his experience, Keshav quotes: "We've shot the first schedule in Belgrade, Serbia and that was an amazing experience. Serbia was just the best. Beautiful country, amazing crew, gorgeous sets, incredible food, you name it, Serbia had it all. "Everyone on set is behind the camera or in front, bringing so much love and positivity that every break we got, all you could hear was laughter and every time the camera was rolling everyone was giving amazing performances. Currently shooting the second schedule and the show will be releasing early next year, very excited." --IANS ila/ksk/ ( 348 Words) 2021-12-14-11:36:08 (IANS)
The newlyweds have returned to Mumbai after enjoying a romantic honeymoon, which reports suggest was in the Maldives. The duo had jetted off to the exotic island country after tying the knot on December 9.

While at the airport today, Vicky could be seen wearing beige trousers paired with an off-white shirt, Katrina on the other hand, dressed in a pink salwar kameez with a sheer dupatta, was seen sporting sindoor and wearing chooda. She also held her husband's hand while walking out of the airport.

Fondly referred to by fans as VicKat, the couple had gotten married in an extremely private, intimate ceremony at the luxurious Six Senses Fort Barwara in Sawai Madhopur, Rajasthan.

Over the past week, Katrina and Vicky have been treating fans with stunning pictures from their wedding. They recently flooded Instagram with glimpses of their pre-wedding photoshoot. The couple looked perfect in their matching Sabyasachi outfits.

They will reportedly throw a wedding reception party for the film fraternity in the upcoming days and will resume work after concluding all wedding festivities. (ANI)
"The Omicron variant has arrived in Hungary," Chief Medical Officer Cecilia Muller said on Monday on the public television channel M1, adding that the variant had been detected in two samples.

"For the time being, no more cases have been revealed, but as mentioned earlier, the variant is already widespread in Europe, so its appearance in Hungary is not surprising," Muller added.

The mutation infected a married couple. The Chief Medical Officer stressed that taking the third vaccine dose is now more important than ever, Xinhua news agency reported.

Hungary on Monday reported 16,017 coronavirus cases in a 72-hour span (authorities do not provide data on weekends so the numbers published each Monday include data from Friday, Saturday and Sunday), raising the national total to 1,198,939.

In the past 72 hours, 455 people have died from the disease, taking the death toll to 36,884 in the country. At present, 6,531 patients are being treated in hospitals, including 565 on ventilators, according to figures from the government's coronavirus information website.

As of Monday, 6,190,822 people have received at least the first vaccine dose, while 5,893,531 had two, and 3,005,109 got their booster shot, according to the website.

--IANS int/khz/

( 224 Words)

2021-12-13-23:28:43 (IANS)
An NRI woman infected with coronavirus infection ran away from a Covid-dedicated hospital in Noida district of Uttar Pradesh. However, after five hours of search, the Noida police brought her back to the hospital. An NRI woman living in Noida's Sector-137 had arrived here from Singapore with her four-year-old child. The Rapid Action Team brought the woman to the hospital located in Sector-39 on Sunday after she reported Covid-like symptoms and was detected positive for the infection. "A woman with her four-year old child came to the hospital for Covid testing and was found positive for the infection. But she ran away from the hospital on Sunday night. However, she made the excuse of buying milk for her child when came back to the hospital after several hours," said Rajeev Baliyan, station incharge, Noida Sector-39 police station, to IANS. He also rejected the report of Omicron variant detected in her. According to the report, the hospital staff tried to contact the woman after she went missing from the hospital but her phone was switched off. Finding no clue about the woman, the hospital administration filed a complaint with the Sector-39 police station. Following which a team of Noida police and healthcare workers went to her residence where she could not be found. However, she returned back to the hospital around 2 a.m in the morning. At nearly 2 a.m. in the morning, the woman was re-admitted to the hospital, said Sushma Chandra, Chief Medical Superintendent, district hospital. ---IANS avr/msk/khz/ ( 265 Words) 2021-12-14-00:44:13 (IANS)
Set against the context of the ongoing pandemic and the probable fear of advent of yet another wave across the globe, 'Think Change Forum' (TCF), a think tank dedicated to finding answers and solutions on critical issues in the post Covid era on Tuesday organised a dialogue among nursing and midwifery experts from across the country to analyse issues plaguing the nursing sector. The discussion themed 'Is India's Nursing Infrastructure Ready for Another Wave' saw participants representing nursing bodies, institutions and academia, international NGO's and nursing practitioners. Based on the deliberations, Think Change Forum has released a '5-Point Recommendations' for immediately strengthening the state of Nurses & Midwives in India. These include: Urgent adaptation of the WHO norms as outlined in the Strategic Direction of Nursing & Midwifery (SDNM) 2021-2025 recently passed at the World Health Assembly 2021 and focuses on investment in nursing education, creation of positions and leadership. Filling of sanctioned positions of nursing leadership at central and state levels immediately and set up additional nursing positions at the directorates of various states of India. Fast track passing of the National Nursing & Midwifery Commission Bill (NMMC) by Government of India and repeal the India Nursing Council Act 1947. Implement a Live Register replacing the Nurses Registration & Tracking System (NRTS). Increase investments into nursing and midwifery quality education as due to a scanty number of Government institutions access to courses is limited. India has over 3 million registered nurses & midwives who are responsible for the country's 1.3 billion population, which is grossly inadequate. This is less than the WHO norm of 3 nurses per 1000 population and India needs to add more than 4.3 million nurses by 2024 to meet the prescribed WHO norms. The optimum Nurse-Patient ratio recommended by the Government of India and the Indian Nursing Council (INC) has not been implemented and as a result one nurse is looking after 20 to 30 patients, which putting patient well-being to a huge risk, making the task of doctors difficult and frustrating, and adversely impacting the credibility of India's healthcare system. As roles and challenges faced by nursing professionals have multiplied over the years, a major impediment to their growth and development is the lack of involvement of nursing professionals in decision-making and policy framing. There is a crisis of leadership in India's nursing cadres, which needs to be addressed immediately. Non-nursing professionals, who lack practical, day to day experience of the ground-realities are grossly ill-equipped to take decisions on behalf of practicing nurses. The panel discussion underscored the need for an urgent review of current organisational and management structures for nursing positions at the Nursing Directorates in India and strengthen nursing management capacities. A special Nurses Human Resources Management System, a technology-based platform for maintaining live nurse and midwives' register, a need-based assessment of the number of nursing institutions as per the population of the state are some of the other recommendations which need urgent attention of the policy makers. Speaking during the discussion, Dr T. Dileep Kumar, President, Indian Nursing Council, highlighted the nursing leadership and impact of policy by nurses and said, "There is an urgent need to fill in the nursing cadre and positions to achieve an inclusive structure and adequate representation of nurses in policy making. Currently there are either few or no fully functional directorates across Centre or sates. While much progress has been made to recognize, strengthen and support nurses and midwives, much remains to be done to ensure their growth." Prof (Dr) Roy K. George, National President, The Nursing Association of India (TNAI) speaking on the growing attrition of nurses from India said, "India is a global supplier of nurses despite their shortage within the country. The nursing and midwifery profession is witnessing a large-scale brain drain from the country due to poor salary, working conditions and absence of a proper career pathway, and out-dated systems of professional governance. Despite forming a large part of the healthcare force, nurses and midwives continue to be short-staffed across the nation leading to poor nurse-patient ratio, increased workload, long working hours, double shifts which eventually leads to poor quality of treatment. If this trend continues, India's healthcare infrastructure will be crippled and most of hospitals in the country will have to close down in the next five years because of their acute shortage". Dr Bulbul Sood, Senior Strategic Advisor, Jhpiego highlighted, "Nurses and midwives play a vital role in providing health services and often they are the first and only point of care in their communities. Therefore, it becomes imperative that we enable them with the right support and build awareness, recognition and representation for the nursing and midwifery cadre in our country. The #NurseMidwife4Change program of INC will help prioritise investments to further strengthen this cadre so that they are able to perform their roles optimally". Prof(Dr) Smriti Mani, OSD Nursing Directorate, West Bengal said, "West Bengal currently is the only state in India today where there are about 19 Nursing Officers dedicatedly looking after administration of nursing education, practice, career path and working conditions. As a result, the workforce has increased from 3,000 nurses in 1957 to 66,983 in 2021. We strongly advocate creation of separate nursing directorates led by nursing leaders across India". Panel Moderator, Ratan Jalan, Managing Director Medium Healthcare Consulting and Former CEO of Apollo Health & Lifestyle, elaborated, "Being at the forefront, nurses played a pivotal role in providing care during the pandemic. Unfortunately, the challenges about them - be it the inadequate supply, poor compensation or lack of recognition got even more evident. My idea for this webinar was to address some of the challenges and reflect on the solutions". Dr Saleena Shah - Principal Govt College of Nursing Thrivananthapuram (Ex Registrar, Nurses & Midwives Council, Kerala) emphasized, "We need to emphasize the need of investment into the nursing infrastructure and the integration of equal weightage for education as for other medical professions." Prof Reena Menon - Principal St John's College of Nursing, said: "Nursing students have to be taught by faculty who have clinical expertise, for which Integration of service & Education is the key. We also need to be able to impart clinical & leadership skills and help the cadre become assertive and smart." Prof Dr S. Ani Grace Kalaimathi - Registrar, Nurses and Midwives Council, Tamil Nadu said, "We need to bring out the leaders who are already there and highlight to the youngsters what has been done so far so as they are motivated". --IANS san/skp/ ( 1090 Words) 2021-12-14-16:56:32 (IANS)
China has been battling sporadic Covid outbreaks that are weighing on its major manufacturing hubs, Global Times reported. Less than 24 hours after North China's Tianjin reported the Chinese mainland's first case of an imported infection of the Omicron coronavirus variant on Monday night, Guangzhou, capital of South China's Guangdong Province, reported a new imported case infected with the Omicron strain on Tuesday. While the sporadic outbreaks are affecting major manufacturing hubs and ports such as Shaoxing and Ningbo, two cities in Zhejiang, Dongguan, which is deemed as the world's factory located in Guangdong, also rolled out nucleic acid tests in two of its counties at midnight on Monday after two patients tested positive for Covid. Businesses in Zhejiang are facing logistical challenges which may impact clothing firms and other sectors of the local economy, after factory activity and transportation channels in parts of the province were suspended amid the recent resurgence of coronavirus cases, the Global Times learned. Starting December 8, all companies, except for those making essential products or personal protective equipment (PPE) in Zhenhai, a district in Ningbo, have been required to suspend production. On the same day, Shangyu district in Shaoxing also required local companies to suspend production, with the exception of firms producing PPE or other essential products. Shangyu is a key hub for textile dye firms, while Zhenhai is a key base for the domestic petrochemical industry. Aside from halting factory production, those cities have also restricted intercity transportation. Zhejiang has closed 10 freeway toll stations on five highways, while Zhenhai and Shangyu have suspended package delivery services. A total of 247 bus lines have also been suspended in Ningbo and Shaoxing. Several local businesses told the Global Times that the suspension, combined with new public health measures limiting the flow of goods and people, has triggered logistical challenges for their companies, with truck drivers unwilling to enter the affected areas for fear they may be caught up in the new measures or forced to observe quarantine, the report said. "We can't ship our products from Shaoxing. Drivers from Ningbo are reluctant to come here, and warehouses in Ningbo are reluctant to accept our products," Jin Xiaobo, the CEO of Zhejiang Kaierhai Textile Garments, which is based in Shaoxing, told the Global Times. Shaoxing is about 120 km from Ningbo. This has caused headaches for traders, as they have no means to ship products to their overseas clients, particularly during what is the peak delivery season for clothing companies. However, the overall impact should be limited to certain industries and localities within the province, with general supply chains remaining stable, businesspeople and officials said. --IANS san/arm ( 456 Words) 2021-12-14-21:47:40 (IANS)
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday said that the Deputy Chief Minister of his government has no knowledge about the state's long standing special status demand for Bihar. Nitish Kumar reacted after Bihar's Deputy Chief Minister Renu Devi on Saturday said that there is no need to give Bihar a special status. Reacting to Niti Aayog's report, Renu Devi said: "Whatever development work is taking place in Bihar is due to the financial help of the Centre. The construction of six to eight lane roads is taking place in Bihar under National Highway Authority of India (NHAI), colleges, hospitals are being built due to funds given by the central government and it is more than the funds allocated to a special status state." Nitish Kumar has said that it is extremely important for Bihar to get special status. "If anyone is saying against the special status, he/she doesn't understand its meaning. If anyone doesn't have knowledge about it, he/she should avoid giving statement in public. If anyone is demanding special status for his/her state, it doesn't mean he is against any political party or the government. Demanding the same is in the interest of their own state," Kumar said without taking the name of Renu Devi. "Whatever the Centre is giving to Bihar is inadequate. We need additional financial assistance," he said. "The report of Niti Aayog is clearly saying that Bihar is at the bottom of the pyramid of development. Hence, the Centre should give special status to Bihar so that it would achieve national average of development," Kumar said. --IANS ajk/skp/bg ( 277 Words) 2021-12-13-20:33:57 (IANS)
The Karnataka Contractors Association has warned the state government on Monday that if their demands are not fulfilled, all contractors would stop work on the government projects from January 3, and stage a massive protest. The president of the Association D. Kempanna who earlier made startling allegation that BJP leaders and bureaucrats are getting 40 per cent cuts in all projects, said the association has planned a massive protest on January 3 against the ruling BJP. The government has to release Rs 22,000 crore for contractors who have executed projects for various government departments. Instead of releasing the dues, the government is trying to finish off contractors by implementing package contract systems. "The government should talk to us before January 3, otherwise all works would be stopped," he warned. He said that all contractors have decided to protest against the corruption. Despite writing letters to even Prime Minister Narendra Modi, they have not been able to meet Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, adding that were not able to meet former Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa as well. "There is no use even after submitting a memorandum to the Governor Thawar Chand Gehlot," he said. "In all contracts, 40 per cent cut is gone and corruption is evident. We have all documents. Let the government order probe. We will submit all documents. We don't belong to BJP, Congress or JD (S) parties," he stated. The corruption in contracting is on steady rise since 2019. Earlier the cut was between 10 to 15 per cent. He maintained that it is not possible to name the leaders who got the cuts. He maintained that they have documents and they will submit to probing agencies. Kempanna demanded probe by an independent agency. "Recently, the government has ordered probe under senior IAS officer Rakesh Singh. He is in-charge of the irrigation department. There is corruption in the department," he said, adding: "The corruption is rampant in irrigation, PWD and BBMP. Contractors from outside are preferred over local contractors." Ravindra, a local contractor said the ruling BJP government has pushed contractors to the verge of committing suicide. "A judicial probe must be ordered under the monitoring of the Supreme Court retired judge," he said. --IANS mka/pgh ( 382 Words) 2021-12-13-20:40:32 (IANS)
The Lok Sabha on Monday passed the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (Amendment) Bill, 2021 with voice vote. The NDPS (Amendment) Bill, 2021 was introduced in the Lok Sabha on December 6, 2021 which seeks to replace the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (Amendment) Ordinance, 2021. Moving the Bill for discussion, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that this Bill will amend the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 to correct a drafting error. The Act regulates certain acts such as manufacture, transport, and consumption related to narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances. Responding to debate, Sitharaman said that the retrospective aspect of the amendment was not substantive to amend the criminal laws. She further said that this Bill was to correct an error made in the last amendment and after the High Court's observations, the government had to bring this amendment through the Ordinance as the Parliament was not in session. The other High Courts asked for corrections in 2014, 2017 and the latest was by the Tripura High Court in June 2021, asking the government to correct the error. She also said that some opposition members raised the drugs seizure at Mundra Port, the Narcotics Control Bureau was investigating the case and arrests were also made but later after the order of the Union Home Ministry, the case was transferred to the Investigation Agency for further probe. Earlier, debating on the Bill, the NCP MP Supriya Sule urged the government not to act on the whims and fancies of one officer and bring in a concrete and comprehensive NDPS law if at all the government wants to fight this menace. Noting that drug consumption is an illness, she further said that those who consume are arrested and those who sell these substances are out of the clutches of the law enforcing agencies. Congress MP Manish Tewari said, "if this bill is accepted in the form in which the government has proposed it, it will nullify Article 20 of the Constitution." He also commented that if the proposed bill is passed, nobody in the country will be safe. Tewari supported the idea of the NDPS Act, but expressed his reservation on the "content of the proposed Bill". Noting that the Bill will not stand judicial scrutiny, the Congress MP asked the government to bring a Bill with further amendments. "We will support a comprehensive Bill that helps eradicate drug menace, but an addict needs to go to rehab and not jail," the NCP MP commented. Shiv Sena lawmaker Arvind Sawant, while highlighting the 'attack on the film makers' in this regard, said that when Sushant Singh Rajput lost his life, BJP put up his posters in poll-bound Bihar to gain political benefit. He also said that instead of remedial action, they went after the Maharashtra government and that entire Bollywood was given a bad name, Sawant said, adding that there should not be politics on drugs. Referring to the arrest of the son of a Bollywood actor, the Shiv Sena MP said that in the recent recovery of drugs at the Mundra Port in Gujarat which is being run by Adani Ports, nobody spoke about it and the small amount of drugs recovered from a Cruise was widely publicized by the media. DMK MP V. Kalanidhi while debating on the Bill said that actions have not been taken against people who sell or peddle drugs, but is rather taken against those who are found to be possessing small quantities. BSP MP Danish Ali said that the proposed Bill has a provision of retrospective effect that will have a dangerous impact in the country. "We need to catch the root cause of the disease." Referring to the recent seizure of over 3000 kg of drugs at Mundra port, he further said that in most of the cases, actions are taken against the persons found with the possession of the drugs, but not against the drug lords and peddlers. SP Member H.K. Hassan said that the liquor should also be brought under NDPS Act. He said that most of the time this Act is found to be used to threaten ordinary citizens. There should be strong provisions under this Act so that strict action can be taken against druglords and peddlers. Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said there are various issues regarding the NDPS (Amendment) Bill and asked if the government is going to decriminalise consumption in the future? "India has been constantly witnessing illegal drug trafficking of thousands of crores of rupees," he further said and asked how will that problem be solved? He claimed there are wrongful cases filed in the name of drug trafficking and asked the government to clarify what is the difference between consumption and trafficking? --IANS ams/skp/ ( 805 Words) 2021-12-13-21:08:12 (IANS)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the valedictory session of the National Summit on Agro and Food Processing on December 16 in which detailed contours of Natural Farming will be presented. This summit is being organised as part of the Pre-event Vibrant Gujarat Summit to be held in Anand, Gujarat from 14 to 16 December, 2021. This conference will be attended by 5,000 farmers. Apart from this, 80 central institutes of ICAR, Krishi Vigyan Kendras, and ATMA network in the states shall also be connecting farmers to witness the event live to know and learn about the practice and benefits of Natural Farming. Additionally, farmers and people from across the country can participate in the conference through the link https://pmindiawebcast.nic.in or watch it live on Doordarshan. The Government has initiated several measures to transform agriculture in order to increase farmers' income during the last six years. Efforts are underway to promote and support initiatives leading to sustainability of the system, cost reduction, market access and better realization to farmers. Zero Budget Natural Farming has also been identified as a promising tool to minimize the dependence of farmers on purchased inputs, reduce the cost of agriculture by relying on traditional field-based technologies which lead to improved soil health. It emphasizes on shift of agriculture practices from mono-crop to the diversified multi-cropping systems. Desi cow, its dung and urine play an important role from which various inputs such as Beejamrit, Jivamrit and Ghanjivamrit are made on the farm and are the source of nutrients and life to soil for good agricultural production. Other traditional practices such as mulching the soil with biomass or keeping the soil covered with green cover round the year, even in the very low water availability situation are added practices which ensure sustained productivity even from the first year of adoption. To emphasize on such strategies and to deliver message to farmers in far-flung areas of the country, the government of Gujarat is organizing this summit with a focus on Natural Farming. Eminent speakers have been invited to share their thoughts on the theme. An exhibition comprising more than 300 exhibitors from all over the country will be an added attraction. --IANS jw/skp/ ( 381 Words) 2021-12-13-21:16:12 (IANS)
Union Minister of State for Public Grievances Jitendra Singh on Monday hailed the high disposal rate of the newly created Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) benches of Jammu and Srinagar, saying in a span of just 15 days, more than 100 cases had been disposed of by the Srinagar bench while the Jammu bench had disposed of over 6,000 cases in over one year. Reviewing the functioning of the newly created benches with CAT Chairman Manjula Das in the national capital, Singh said Jammu and Kashmir is the only Union Territory in the country to have two CAT benches. The Minister said having two CAT benches signify the impetus the government headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi gives to Jammu and Kashmir, and the well-being of the government staff so as to keep them a motivating force which would ultimately accelerate the development of the union territory. The Srinagar CAT bench was inaugurated by Jitendra Singh on November 23 this year while the Jammu bench was inaugurated by him in June last year. They deal exclusively with service matters of government employees. The Minister said the two benches will go a long way in not only reducing the burden of various courts but would also provide to the persons covered by the Administrative Tribunals, speedy relief in respect of their grievances and service matters. It is worth highlighting that both the buildings of CAT at Jammu and Srinagar respectively, have been allotted by the union territory government. He also said that the Narendra Modi government is committed to transparency and "justice for all". The people-friendly reforms undertaken in the last seven years have benefitted the entire country including the people of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh. He further said that more than 800 central laws, which were not applicable to Jammu and Kashmir earlier, have been made applicable after August 5, 2019 for the benefit of people of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh, so that they can enjoy the same rights as people in the rest of India. --IANS jw/pgh ( 351 Words) 2021-12-13-21:34:56 (IANS)
The Supreme Court on Monday observed that herbs/medicines meant to enhance male potency do not attract the provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. A bench, headed by Chief Justice N.V. Ramana and comprising Justices Surya Kant and Hima Kohli, granted bail to Bharat Chaudhry, an accused in a narcotics case. He was granted bail by the lower court, which recorded that test reports of the seized material were awaited and it was not established whether the tablets which, according to the accused, were sexual enhancement tablets, would qualify either as a narcotic or psychotropic substance. However, the Madras High Court on November 2, 2020, cancelled the bail so granted, saying that test reports did not totally negate the fact that seized contraband goods were not narcotic substances. Chaudhry then then moved the top court challenging this order. The top court said: "A large number of the tablets that have been seized by the DRI admittedly contain herbs/medicines meant to enhance male potency and they do not attract the provisions of the NDPS Act." The Chief Justice-headed bench added that in the absence of clarity on the quantitative analysis of the samples, the prosecution cannot be heard to state, at this preliminary stage, that the petitioner has been found to be in possession of commercial quantities of psychotropic substances as contemplated under the NDPS Act. "Most importantly, none of the tablets were seized by the prosecution during the course of the search conducted, either at the office or at the residence of A-4 (Chaudhry) at Jaipur, on 16th March, 2020," it noted. It further added that reliance on printouts of WhatsApp messages downloaded from the mobile phone and devices seized from the office premises of the accused cannot be treated at this stage as sufficient material to establish a live link between him and two other accused, when even as per the prosecution, scientific reports in respect of the devices is still awaited. "In the absence of any psychotropic substance found in the conscious possession of A-4, we are of the opinion that mere reliance on the statement made by A-1 to A-3 under Section 67 of the NDPS Act is too tenuous a ground to sustain the impugned order dated 15th July, 2021," the bench said. Citing that "quantitative analysis of the samples could not be carried out for want of facilities", the top court said order cancelling bail to Chaudhary is not sustainable. It also granted bail to another accused Raja Chandrasekharan, saying since the charge sheet has already been filed and he has remained in custody for over a period of two years. "It is deemed appropriate to release him on bail, subject to the satisfaction of the trial court," added the bench. Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, Chennai Zonal Unit, had seized about 1,37,665 tablets of different types collectively weighing 90 kg (approx.) described as psychotropic substances from four locations, all situated in Chennai. Two accused made a statement that they had colluded with suppliers in Nagpur and Rajasthan and procured tablets composed of psychotropic substances for exporting and sending through courier service to customers in the US under the guise of herbal tablets, on orders received from Chaudhary. Officers of DRI, Jaipur Unit conducted a search at his residence at Jaipur on March 16, 2020 and seized some incriminating material. He was arrested on March 17. --IANS ss/vd ( 580 Words) 2021-12-13-21:38:36 (IANS)
The Border Security Force (BSF) and the Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB) have been jointly organising a series of events to mark the 50th Year of Independence of Bangladesh and to showcase BSF's contribution in the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War. As part of the golden jubilee celebrations, a "Joint Cultural Programme" was organised on Monday at the Integrated Check Post in Dawki in Meghalaya frontier of the BSF. A BSF official said the purpose of organising all such joint events is to remember "Mukti Yoddhas" (freedom fighters) of both the countries who valiantly fought for the "genuine cause and shared excellent cooperation between the two countries". During Monday's event, war veterans were felicitated. Popular cultural troupes from Bangladesh and India staged various performances while the war veterans shared their experiences of the battle. Over 500 men and women from both the countries, eminent personalities and dignitaries along with senior officials of BSF and BGB were present. The BSF officials said that such events on the border would further boost the spirit of amity and confidence among the border populace on both sides of the international boundary. In Agartala, a similar such joint cultural programme was held on Sunday evening in the Agartala ICP along Bangladesh's Akhaura border. Tripura Information and Cultural Affairs Minister Sushanta Chowdhury and Agartala based Assistant High Commissioner of Bangladesh Mohammad Jobayed Hosen among others were present in the function, where felicitations were accorded to the personalities who participated in the 1971 Bangladesh liberation war. The 1971 war led to the birth of sovereign Bangladesh from East Pakistan. The BSF, right from the beginning, played a very significant role in the 1971 Liberation War and heroically fought shoulder to shoulder with the Indian Army. According to the BSF officials, 23 BSF units were deployed under the Army's operational control and they performed their bravery in both defensive and offensive actions against enemy positions both independently and in coordination with the Army as well. India and Bangladesh share a 4,096 km border with West Bengal, Assam, Tripura, Meghalaya and Mizoram and BSF have been successfully manning the frontiers while BGB guarding their borders with the two border guarding force working in tandem. --IANS sc/pgh ( 382 Words) 2021-12-13-23:07:09 (IANS)
India's 65 million MSMEs are fast-moving to embrace digitisation to make India a trillion-dollar digital economy, said Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said on Monday. According to a press release from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the Union Minister called for partnerships among countries for achieving Sustainable Growth. Addressing the Inaugural Session of the CII Partnership Summit 2021 on the theme "Partnering for Building a New World: Growth, Competitiveness, Sustainability, Technology" through video conferencing, Goyal said India, as it assumes presidency of the G20, will leverage global partnerships for collective solutions to global issues. "India has emerged as the 'World's Trusted Partner'. Even in the peak of the Covid, even under lockdown, India met all of its international service commitments despite lockdowns and services supply chains did not suffer for even a second," Goyal said. The Union Minister assured that India will supply Covid vaccines to the whole world to tackle this "once in a century of its kind pandemic" and plans to manufacture 5 billion doses next year. "In addition to protecting its own population, India has also provided medical supplies and equipment to more than 150 countries across the globe," he said, "It is in line with India's ancient wisdom of 'Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam' (The World is One Family). Nobody will be safe until everybody is safe; nobody will be happy until everybody will be happy," Goyal said. The minister said the pandemic has put India under the spotlight, to introspect its potential as a global leader especially at a time when the country is celebrating 75 years of independence Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav. "India's cumulative COVID-19 Vaccination coverage exceeds 1.33 billion doses," he said. Goyal said all ministers are working for the welfare of the poor with the Government's philosophy of 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas, Sabka Prayas'. "We have been running the world's largest food distribution programme serving more than 800 million beneficiaries for 19 months besides the world's largest health insurance programme reaching out to the poorest of the poor," he added. Calling for a just and equitable world trade order, Goyal said, with 'Panchamrit', Prime Minister Narendra Modi has set very ambitious targets for India at the COP26. "India will reach its non-fossil energy capacity to 500 GW by 2030 and meet 50 per cent of its energy requirements from RE. We hope to attain Net Zero (Carbon Footprint) by 2070 in the fastest possible time," he said. Under PM Modi, India is on a Reform Journey that has transformed its landscape with several schemes like the PLI, PM Mitra, Reduction in Corporate Tax, Ease of Doing Business and Single Window, Goyal said. Today India's businesses are moving towards the adoption of tech like 5G, AI, IoT (Internet of Things), etc. to achieve Manufacturing excellence, he added. (ANI)
Speaking to ANI, here in Lucknow, Nishad said, "Home Minister Amit Shah will be attending a rally of Nishad party on December 17. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and other senior leaders of BJP will also join the rally. Announcement regarding providing reservation to Nishads, riverine community is expected."

The Nishad Party chief slammed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his 'Hindutava' comment and said, "At least he is now applying Chandan on his forehead. Earlier, he used to avoid it. We should not drag religion into politics."

Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh is due for early next year.

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. The rest of the seats were bagged by other candidates. (ANI)
The meeting will be held at 10 am in the Chamber of Leader of Opposition (LoP), Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge to chalk out the strategy for the ongoing winter session of the Parliament.

The winter session of Parliament began on November 29 and will continue till December 23. (ANI)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will participate in a conclave of Chief Ministers from 12 BJP-ruled states and also attend the 98th-anniversary celebration of Sadguru Sadafaldeo Vihangam Yog Sansthan on the second day of his Varanasi visit today. According to Prime Minister's Office (PMO), at around 3:30 PM, PM Modi will attend the 98th-anniversary celebrations of Sadguru Sadafaldeo Vihangam Yog Sansthan at Swarved Mahamandir in Varanasi. The Prime Minister will participate in a conclave of Chief Ministers of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, along with Deputy CMs from Bihar and Nagaland. The conclave will provide an opportunity to share governance-related best practices and is in line with the Prime Minister's vision of furthering team India spirit, the PMO said. The Chief Ministers of all BJP-ruled states will give a presentation on good governance, before PM Modi on Tuesday morning. The Chief Ministers and Deputy Chief Ministers will also visit Kashi Vishwanath Temple on Tuesday. PM Modi is currently on a two-day visit to his parliamentary constituency Varanasi. On the first day of his visit, he inaugurated phase 1 of the newly-constructed Kashi Vishwanath Dham at a cost of around Rs 339 crores. After reaching Varanasi at around 11 am on Monday, the Prime Minister started his day by offering prayers at Kaal Bhairav temple. He then took a cruise boat from Khirkiya Ghat to Lalita Ghat to visit the Kashi Vishwanath temple and also took a holy dip in the Ganges. Later, the Prime Minister inaugurated the ambitious project of Kashi Vishwanath Dham. He along with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had lunch with the workers involved in the construction work of the Kashi Vishwanath Dham Corridor. Later in the day, the PM took a boat ride from Lalita Ghat to Ravidas Ghat, where he was scheduled to take part in the Ganga aarti. Upon reaching, the Prime Minister boarded Vivekanand Cruise. He was accompanied by Adityanath, other chief ministers, deputy chief ministers of BJP ruled states and top BJP leaders.The ghat was illuminated with several thousands of earthen lamps, lights and floral arrangements.The Prime Minister also witnessed 'Ganga Aarti' on the banks of the Ganges. Later, PM Modi chaired a meeting with the BJP Chief Ministers and Deputy chief ministers which went on for six hours. After the meet, he inspected key development works in Varanasi and visited the Banaras railway station. (ANI)
Dr Ashish Naik, Deputy Health Commissioner, Surat Municipal Corporation said that the patient is undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Surat.

"A week ago in Surat, a tourist from South Africa was found to be infected with Omicron variant. After returning and testing the Corona for the third time, it was revealed that it was an Omicron variant. He had earlier returned to India and had undergone Corona tests in Delhi. Which came out negative. In which he was also tested for corona in Ahmedabad. There was also a negative report," Naik said.

"A week later, Corona underwent the third test after returning from South Africa with symptoms. In which Corona's Omicron positive report has come. The patient is undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Surat," he added.

On November 26, the WHO named the new COVID-19 variant B.1.1.529, which has been detected in South Africa, as 'Omicron'. (ANI)
In a unique move, the Tripura government has drawn up a detailed policy to improve the state's overall fish production by utilizing the government-owned water bodies. Tripura Fishery Minister Mevar Kumar Jamatia said the decision has been taken soon after the state bagged an award of best-performing state in the fisheries sector among the eleven hilly states. "The state was awarded a cash prize of Rs 10 lakh for its commendable job in the fishery sector," the minister said. The award was presented by the National Fisheries Development Board, Hyderabad on the occasion of World Fisheries Day observed on November 21. Sharing details of the new policy the minister said, lease Policy for government-owned water bodies of Tripura-2021 has been formulated for sustainable use of all the water bodies available in the government's land for scientific pisciculture. "At present, there are 1,502 water bodies spread in a total area of 645.54 hectares. The whole area belongs to the government of Tripura. The water bodies are under the control of different departments like education, rural development, forest and tourism and thus mostly remain underutilized as far as fish production is concerned," he said. So through this policy, the fisheries department tried to bring some uniformity in the management of water bodies as well as in its proper use for fish production, the minister added. According to the minister, an individual in Tripura consumes 25 kgs of fish per year which is the second-highest in the country after Andaman and Nicobar Islands. On the shortfall of production and consumption patterns, Jamatia said, in 2019 and 2020, a 23 per cent shortfall of fish has been recorded. The shortfall was filled up by importing fish from neighbouring Bangladesh and other states of the country, he added. "To become self-reliant in this front too, we have introduced modern fish culture practices like Bio-floc and Pisciculture. Hopefully, in the next two years, we shall be able to produce fish as per our requirement," he said. Explaining further, the minister said leasing of these water resources will accrue better utilization of water resources, enhancement in fish production, bridging the gap of demand against the production, revenue generation, employment generation, more contribution to GSDP and food and nutritional security of the people. (ANI)
During the last 24 hours, 4,308 people have recovered from the infection. While 38 people lost their lives to the deadly virus, taking the death toll to 43,170.

At present, there are 36,281 active COVID-19 cases in the state.

A total of 50,446 samples were tested in the last 24 hours, the bulletin said.

Meanwhile, India has recorded 7,350 new COVID-19 cases and 202 deaths in the last 24 hours, the Union Health Ministry informed on Monday. (ANI)
After Congress appointed Navjot Singh Sidhu as the chairman of its Election Committee in Punjab for the 2022 Assembly polls, former Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Monday said that he felt sad and bad about Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi over the way he was being treated by the Congress party. "I feel sad for him that despite having a tremendous potential, he is being made to be subservient to the whims of the PCC president Navjot Sidhu," Amarinder Singh said while remarking, "Channi will eventually end up as a night watchman only". Reacting to the appointment of Sidhu as the Chairman of the Congress Election Committee for Punjab, Amarinder said, it was unprecedented that a Chief Minister was made "subservient" to the PCC president. "No self-respecting leader should accept such humiliation", the former Chief Minister remarked, while suggesting that Channi should resign than face such humiliation and insult. He pointed out how the Congress had claimed that it had appointed a Scheduled Caste as the Chief Minister but has now made him "subservient" to the PCC president. "Was he just a showpiece to get the SC votes?" he asked. "Just because someone is behaving like a spoilt child and throwing tantrums day in and day out, you are submitting to all his blackmail and in the process insulting and humiliating your Chief Minister, who is doing a good job", he said, while remarking, "the Congress is going down the dumps". Amarinder Singh earlier this year quit Congress after months of in-fighting with current state Punjab PCC President Navjot Singh Sidhu and formed his own party. Assembly elections are scheduled to be held in Punjab early next year. In the 2017 Punjab Assembly polls, Congress won an absolute majority in the state by winning 77 seats and ousted the SAD-BJP government after 10 years. Aam Aadmi Party emerged as the second-largest party winning 20 seats in 117-member Punjab Legislative Assembly. The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) could only manage to win 15 seats while the BJP secured 3 seats. (ANI)
A banner was hoisted over the Taste of India restaurant in the Ring Road area of Surat city announcing the 'Pakistan Food Festival'.

Bajrang Dal activists protested and chanted 'Jai Shri Ram' and 'Har Har Mahadev' and removed all the banners and set fire to them.

"Bajrang Dal activists took down the flex banner from the building and set it on fire. No such festival will be tolerated. The restaurant has apologized," said South Gujarat Bajrang Dal president Deviprasad Dubey. (ANI)
Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah has said that India needs a "bold" prime minister who can hold everybody together and not divide them for politics, adding that every election has divided the nation. While speaking at a book launch event, the National Conference (NC) Chief said, "India needs a bold prime minister who can hold everybody together and not divide for politics but hold India as a whole, whether you are Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, anything, that is what India needs." "India doesn't need divisions. The tragedy is every election has divided India and the Indian people. When will that day come when no longer we will be divided on religion," he said. He further said that India will never be strong unless the people of India is strong. The event was organized for a book written on the life of former PM HD Deve Gowda. Former Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy, Congress leaders Jairam Ramesh and CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury were present at the event. (ANI)
A meeting of the floor leaders of Opposition parties in both the Houses of Parliament was held on Tuesday at the office of the Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge to discuss strategy for intensifying their protest demanding revocation of suspension of 12 MPs. The opposition discussed the proposal for a march by all the opposition MPs from Gandhi statue to Vijay Chowk in solidarity with 12 suspended members of Rajya Sabha. "The Rajya Sabha chairman has full powers to suspend any rule, issue direction, or revoke it but Government is not letting him do it. I request the chairman to use his powers to bring back these 12 suspended MPs to the House," Kharge told ANI before the meeting here. The Upper House has witnessed continuous adjournment since the first day of the ongoing Winter Session over the suspension of the 12 members. The suspended members comprise six from the Congress, two each from Trinamool Congress and Shiv Sena, and one each from CPI and CPM: Phulo Devi Netam, Chhaya Verma, Ripun Bora, Rajamani Patel, Syed Nasir Hussain and Akhilesh Prasad Singh of Congress; Dola Sen, Shanta Chhetri of Trinamool Congress; Priyanka Chaturvedi, Anil Desai of Shiv Sena; Elamaram Kareem of CPM; and, Binoy Viswam of CPI. The members were suspended for alleged unruly conduct towards the end of the monsoon session in August when marshals were called after Opposition members stormed the Well of the House during the passage of the General Insurance Business (Nationalisation) Amendment Bill, 2021. The suspended MPs have been protesting at the Gandhi statue in the premises of the Parliament since the first day of their suspension. The winter session of Parliament began on November 29 and will continue till December 23. (ANI)
One terrorist has been neutralised in an operation by the Army and Jammu and Kashmir Police in Behramgala, Poonch on Tuesday. Acting on specific intelligence, the troops have recovered one AK-47 and four magazines, said a press release from White Knight Corps. This came a day after two policemen of Jammu and Kashmir Police were killed while 14 others were injured after terrorists fired at a police vehicle near a police camp at Zewan on the outskirts of Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir on Monday. Further details are awaited. (ANI)
Wankhede had furnished wrong information about his age in his application for the bar licence in 1997, the Collector's office said on Monday.

When Wankhede was given the licence to his resto-bar in 1997, he was just 17 years of age, while the age should have been at least 21 to get the same, the Thane Collector's office said.

The Excise department has asked Wankhede to reply within a week.

Earlier on Friday, Wankhede and his wife Kranti Redkar had approached the Dindoshi court with a suit against Google, Twitter and Facebook alleging that the platforms are being used to spread misinformation against them. The matter is scheduled to be heard on December 17. (ANI)
Kumar told reporters here, "It was a planned attack by two foreign terrorists and one local terrorist. Three police personnel have lost their lives in this attack. One terrorist who managed to flee will be caught and the group will be neutralised soon."

Third police personnel succumbed to bullet injuries this morning.

Three police personnel were killed and 14 others injured after terrorists fired upon a police vehicle near a police camp at Zewan on the outskirts of Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir on Monday.

The injured personnel were shifted to an Army Hospital where they are undergoing treatment, according to Kashmir Zone Police.

One ASI and a Selection Grade Constable succumbed to their injuries in the attack that occurred at Pantha Chowk area of the city, Police said. (ANI)
The book, 'Against All Odds', is the real story of the courage, grit and determination of the Longewala battle in which 120 Indian Army soldiers defended the post of Longewala (or Laungewala) in the western sector on the night of December 4-5, 1971, against a formidable enemy onslaught of nearly 60 tanks and more than 3,000 Pakistani Infantry Brigade. It is an official biography of Brigadier Kuldip Singh Chandpuri, the hero of the Indian Army, who was of a Major rank at that time, and led the 23rd Alpha Company of the Punjab regiment at Longewala in Rajasthan. The feat of Brigadier Chandpuri and his men was featured in Bollywood blockbuster 'Border' which was released in 1997. His role was played by actor Sunny Deol. The movie won accolades across all sections of society. Commemorating 50 years of the 1971 Indo-Pak war, the book 'Against All Odds' is a salute to the bravery of soldiers of Longewala who defended the crucial post against all odds. Written by Gurjot Singh Kaler, Punjab Superintendent of Police, the book highlights the valiant role of Major Chandpuri and his 120 Indian soldiers who courageously fought against the huge enemy onslaught by the Pakistani military and stood victorious in defending the honour, respect and integrity of the motherland. Longewala was, thus, a decisive battle. This book is different from the J.P. Dutta-directed movie 'Border'. 'Against All Odds', not only depicts the battle of Longewala but is an official biography which truly depicts the life story of the hero of Longewala, Brigadier Chandpuri, that will inspire the coming generations to live a life of courage, grit and determination. It took around three and a half years to do research and the most interesting highlight of the book is that it captures the imagination of the readers as it has been written in a lucid, clear and understandable manner in the form of an engrossing conversation between the author and the protagonist of the plot. It has a total of nine chapters and some rare photographs of Brigadier Chandpuri that were never in the public domain before, Kaler, a young police officer with a literary mind, told IANS. The book traces the journey of Major Chandpuri, right from his birth till his final adieu from the world. It also addresses various issues related to the battle of Longewala which have never been heard before. The book was recently unveiled in the Kapil Sharma Show by actor Sunny Deol and it was also showcased at the battle site of Longewala on December 5. Kaler, who has previously worked with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, shared his own long association with the family and the lessons he picked up from Brigadier Chandpuri, who was imbued with a great sense of humour. He mentioned how Brigadier Chandpuri not only refused many political offers and even the offer from the Canadian Army to join their forces during his stint in Gaza as part of UN forces. The best prayer and service to the god is to serve his creation was the motto of Brigadier Chandpuri, who believed in serving the needy and downtrodden instead of going to the gurdwaras, Kaler added. Paying a heartfelt tribute to the battle of Longewala, the book has been published by Ferntree and marketed and distributed by Smart Books India. A decorated war veteran, Brigadier Chandpuri died in a private hospital in Mohali near Chandigarh on November 17, 2018. He was 77 and is survived by his wife and three sons. He was awarded the Maha Vir Chakra (MVC) for the heroic stand-off and forcing the enemy to retreat. He was born on November 22, 1940. The MVC citation read: "Major Kuldip Singh Chandpuri was commanding a company of the Punjab regiment occupying a defended locality in the Rajasthan sector. On December 5, 1971, in the early hours of the morning the enemy launched a massive attack on this locality with infantry and tanks. Major Chandpuri exhibited dynamic leadership in holding his command intact and steadfast. "Showing exceptional courage and determination, he inspired his men moving from bunker to bunker, encouraging them in beating back the enemy till reinforcements arrived. In this heroic defence, he inflicted heavy casualties on the enemy and forced them to retreat leaving behind twelve tanks. "In this action, Major Kuldip Singh Chandpuri displayed conspicuous gallantry, inspiring leadership and exceptional devotion to duty in keeping with the highest traditions of the Indian Army." A soft-spoken but firm man, Brigadier Chandpuri settled in Chandigarh's Sector-33 after retiring from the Indian Army, remaining active socially. The famous photograph of his soldiers dancing atop vanquished Pakistani tanks after the battle of Longewala was won, adorned the wall in a big frame in the living room of his house. (Vishal Gulati can be contacted at vishal.g@ians.in) --IANS vg/khz/ ( 832 Words) 2021-12-14-07:46:25 (IANS)
Delhi Health Minister Satyendra Jain on Tuesday informed that four new cases of the COVID-19 variant Omicron have been detected in the national capital, taking the total number of cases in Delhi to six. The Health Minister said, "Four new Omicron cases have been detected, taking the total number of cases to six." Giving an update on the health conditions of the Omicron positive patients, Jain said, "Of the six cases, one patient has been discharged from the hospital, while the other five are still admitted and are all stable. None are serious." "Currently, 35 COVID-19 positive patients and 3 suspected cases are admitted to the Lok Nayak Jai Prakash (LNJP) hospital," he added. Further, the Minister informed that the Omicron situation in Delhi is "under control" and if it spreads further, the government will see about what is to be done. "No case has come from the community so far; all the cases are from the airport. We are testing everyone who is reaching the airport from abroad," Jain said. (ANI)
Earlier on November 17, the Supreme Court appointed Rakesh Kumar Jain, former judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court to monitor the investigation in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence case to ensure transparency, fairness, and absolute impartiality.

The apex court had reconstituted the Special Investigation Team (SIT) and named three senior IPS officers, SB Shirodkar, Deepinder Singh and Padmaja Chauhan in it.

Local farmers had blamed Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Ajay Kumar Mishra 'Teni' and his son Ashish Mishra for the violence that left eight dead, including four farmers a local journalist, and others during a farmers' protest. They were mowed down by a vehicle that was part of the convoy of the Minister in Lakhimpur Kheri in north-central Uttar Pradesh.

Videos were being circulated on social media where a Mahindra Thar was seen knocking down protesters from behind. The Minister and his son deny the charges.

Ashish Mishra and 20 others have been booked for murder. (ANI)
Tense situation prevails in Belagavi, the bordering district of Maharashtra, as the members of Maharashtra Ekikarana Samithi (MES), the party demanding merger of Belagavi district with Maharashtra state, has given a call for bandh on Tuesday. The bandh call has been given to condemn the act of Kannada activists blackening the face of MES leader Deepak Dalavi on Monday. The incident happened when MES was organising 'Mahamelav' in Belagavi, parallel to the winter Assembly session held by the Karnataka government. The police had denied permission to hold the bandh in Belagavi. Security has been tightened in the bordering city and in the vicinity of Suvarna Soudha. The 'Mahamelav' was organised without permission of the district administration. On Monday, the MES party erected a podium in the Tilakwadi region in Belagavi on Monday. The police rushed to the spot and vacated the podium. There was an argument between the police and MES workers. Meanwhile, the Kannada activists, who a;so reached the spot, blackened the face of Deepak Dalavi. The black paint also got sprinkled on former MLA Manohara Kini and others. A tense situation prevailed and police arrested the Kannada activists on the spot. The police have also booked cases on the Karnataka Nava Nirmana Pade, Youth President Sampath Kumar Desai and three others in the Tilakwadi police station. The MES party workers took out a rally from the spot to the Tilakwadi police station. It has been decided to organise a protest along with NCP and Shiv Sena parties. The MES workers performed 'Ksheerabhsheka' (pouring of milk) on Deepak Dalavi later as a mark of respect. Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar has condemned the incident and stated that these incidents won't be a setback for the movement aiming at merger of Marathi speaking regions with the state of Maharashtra. Kannada activists had blackened the face of Vijay More, then Mayor of Belagavi City Corporation in Bengaluru in 2005 condemning the proposal taken in the corporation for merger of Belagavi with Maharashtra. --IANS mka/dpb ( 346 Words) 2021-12-14-09:58:21 (IANS)
Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai on Tuesday informed Lok Sabha that during the investigation of the case pertaining to the bomb blast at Darbhanga Railway Station, a conspiracy hatched by a foreign-based terrorist organization has surfaced. Rai, while replying to Darbhanga Lok Sabha MP, said that during the investigation of the case pertaining to the blast conspiracy hatched by a foreign-based terrorist organisationhas surfaced. MoS, Home, further informed that Key Location Plan (KLP) for Central Armed Police Forces' has been decided entirely on the basis of operational necessity and location suitability. "Presently, there is no plan to set up KLP of Central Armed Police Force in Darbhanga," he said. "There is a Defence Airport at Darbhanga from where the commercial flights have already been started. A Postal training centre also exists at Darbhanga. Besides, the setting up of an All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and a centre of Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) at Darbhanga have also been approved," Rai informed the Lower House. MoS, Home, further replying to another question on whether the government is considering to hand over the security of the aforesaid institutions to the central security forces, said, "Deployment of Central Industrial Security Force for the security of industrial undertakings institutions is considered on the basis of threat assessment." (ANI)
Opposition parties including Congress, DMK, RJD, Left, NCP, and TMC on Tuesday staged a walkout from the Rajya Sabha after their demand to revoke the suspension of 12 MPs was rejected by the Deputy Chairman Harivansh Narayan Singh. The walkout followed repeated denial from the Chair to revoke the suspension of MPs as demanded by the Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge. Kharge raised the issue when the House reassembled at 2 pm after its first adjournment over the same issue and the Chair took The Delhi Special Police Establishment (Amendment) Bill, 2021 for discussion, saying "I have written a special letter to you. We want a discussion over the Bill. We have come with all preparations. If you don't allow us to speak, we walk out from the House." Joint Opposition including Congress, DMK, Trinamool Congress, Left, NCP, RJD, IUML, Shiv Sena among others staged a walkout from the House following the announcement of the LoP. Earlier, Rajya Sabha was adjourned till 2 pm by Chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu over the same issue. The ruckus then created as the Rajya Sabha Chairman refused to consider the demand of Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge to revoke the suspension of 12 MPs and started Zero Hour. In a move that angered the Opposition and set the stage for acrimonious exchanges, a dozen members of Opposition parties in Rajya Sabha were suspended from the winter session on the very first day on Monday following a motion brought in by the government. The members were suspended for alleged unruly conduct towards the end of the monsoon session in August when marshals were called after Opposition members stormed the Well of the House during the passage of the General Insurance Business (Nationalisation) Amendment Bill, 2021. The suspended members comprise six from the Congress, two each from Trinamool Congress and Shiv Sena, and one each from CPI and CPM: Phulo Devi Netam, Chhaya Verma, Ripun Bora, Rajamani Patel, Syed Nasir Hussain and Akhilesh Prasad Singh of Congress; Dola Sen, Shanta Chhetri of Trinamool Congress; Priyanka Chaturvedi, Anil Desai of Shiv Sena; Elamaram Kareem of CPM; and, Binoy Viswam of CPI. All the suspended 12 MPs used to sit near Mahatma Gandhi statue inside the Parliament premises since they were suspended from the House, and the Opposition parties have been relentlessly disrupting House proceedings every day over the issue barring a few occasions. (ANI)
The Opposition parties continue to disrupt the proceedings of Rajaya Sabha seeking revocation of suspension of 12 MPs from the House. Several Opposition MPs, led by Congress, staged a demonstration in the Well of the Upper House for an hour on Tuesday seeking to revoke the suspension of the RS MPs. Amid the din, Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu managed to run Zero Hour. However, TMC MP in Rajya Sabha Sukhendu Sekhar Roy participated in the proceedings of the House. Soon after the House assembled for the day and the papers were laid on the table, Kharge raised an issue with the Chair to acknowledge the suspension of 12 MPs. The Chairman said the matter has already been discussed between the government and the Opposition and it is decided that the matter will be considered if the suspended MPs express regret for their act that led to the suspension. Meanwhile, the Opposition members including Congress, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Samajwadi Party (SP), Left, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Shiv Sena started sloganeering by standing in the House, and several Opposition members also trooped into the Well of the House. The Opposition parties were sloganeering "Revoke the suspension", "we want justice", and "dictatorship will not work in democracy". Meanwhile, the Opposition leaders in both the Houses held a march from Parliament to Vijay Chowk demanding the revocation of the suspension of 12 Rajya Sabha MPs. The Upper House has witnessed continuous adjournment since the first day of the ongoing Winter Session over the suspension of the 12 members. The Winter session of Parliament began on November 29 and will continue till December 23. (ANI)
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has set up a tribunal headed by Delhi High Court Chief Justice D N Patel under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) to adjudicate over Islamic Research Organisation (IRF) ban. Ministry of Home Affairs on December 13, 2021, through a notification, stated that the Islamic Research Foundation has been declared as an unlawful association, vide notification, dated November 15, 2021, published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part II, Section 3, Sub-section (ii). "Now, therefore, in the exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (1) of section 5 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 (37 of 1967), the Central Government hereby constitutes an Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Tribunal consisting of Justice D N Patel, Chief Justice, High Court of Delhi, for the purpose of adjudicating whether or not there is sufficient cause for declaring the Islamic Research Foundation as an unlawful association", stated the notification. The MHA recently extended the ban imposed on Islamic Research Foundation (IRF), an NGO headed by Islamic evangelist and India-born preacher Zakir Naik for a further five years. In its notification issued, the Ministry mentioned if the activities of the "unlawful association" were not curbed, it would continue its subversive activities and reorganize its absconding activists to create communal disharmony, propagate anti-national sentiments, and support militancy. The Ministry in its notification had said that Islamic preacher Naik's speeches and statements were meant to inspire youths of a particular religion in India and abroad to commit terrorist acts. Naik's statements and speeches are objectionable, subversive that promote enmity, hatred among religious groups, the Home Ministry said on extending the ban on IRF. The Centre had declared the IRF an unlawful organization under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 (37 of 1967) on November 17, 2016, for a period of five years. The Union Home Ministry in its notification said that the IRF "has been indulging in activities which are prejudicial to the security of the country and have the potential of disturbing the peace and communal harmony and disrupting the secular fabric of the country." Naik's IRF has been "encouraging and aiding its followers to promote or attempt to promote, on grounds of religion, disharmony or feelings of enmity, hatred or ill-will between different religious communities and groups which are prejudicial to the integrity and security of the country", the notification said. According to the Ministry, Naik makes radical statements and speeches which are viewed by crores of people worldwide. The Ministry said that these statements by Naik can also "disrupt the secular fabric of the country by polluting the minds of the people by creating communal disharmony, propagate anti-national sentiments, escalate secessionism by supporting militancy and some people may undertake activities which are prejudicial to the sovereignty, integrity, and security of the country". Naik runs two television stations, namely Peace TV and Peace TV Urdu. Both the channels are banned in many countries. It is banned in India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Canada, and the United Kingdom. The IRF head fled to Malaysia in 2016, just before the National Investigation Agency (NIA) started a probe against the Islamic preacher. (ANI)
Union Minister Prahlad Joshi on Tuesday slammed former Jammu and Kashmir Farooq Abdullah over his comment that India should talk to Pakistan and said that the latter must settle there. "He has said many times that India should talk to Pakistan. If he likes Pakistan so much, then he should settle there," Joshi told ANI. Following the terrorist attack near a police camp at Zewan in Jammu and Kashmir's Srinagar which took the lives of two police personnel, the National Conference chief had asked the Centre to hold talks with Pakistan like they do so with China. Referring to former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Abdullah had said "Friends can be changed, but not neighbours. So we cannot wait for talks till the last bullet is fired. Both countries have to come forward for talks. It is good for both India and Pakistan and we can avoid the damage." Two police personnel were killed and 12 others injured after terrorists fired upon a police vehicle near a police camp at Zewan on the outskirts of Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir on Monday. (ANI)
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) president Mayawati on Tuesday said that the Shiromani Akali Dal-BSP alliance would form the next government in Punjab with a clear majority. Reiterating her party's alliance with the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), she said they will soon launch the campaign for the Punjab Assembly elections. "When the SAD-BSP will contest the elections in Punjab, the Congress will be wiped out," she said while talking to the media on Tuesday. Mayawati said the BSP- SAD alliance will free Punjab "from the misrule of the Congress party with victory in the 2022 Assembly election." She said that Punjab held a special place in her heart and BSP founder, late Kanshi Ram, also belonged to Punjab. Meanwhile, BSP national general secretary Satish Chandra Mishra has embarked on a three-day visit to the poll-bound Punjab. On Tuesday, he will participate in the foundation day programme of SAD organised in Moga. Later, he will discuss the election strategy with top SAD leaders, including former Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal, Sukhbir Singh Badal and Harsimrat Kaur Badal. Mishra will meet BSP office-bearers and workers in Chandigarh. After that, he will attend a meeting of BSP-SAD candidates for the 2022 Assembly election and other leaders. The BSP, sources said, has decided to field candidates on 20 Assembly seats while SAD will contest on 97 seats. BSP Punjab unit president Jasvir Singh Garhi, in a press statement on Monday, said the party has finalised candidates on 17 seats while candidates on remaining three seats will be announced soon. "Party workers should work with honesty and make all-out efforts for the victory of the BSP- SAD alliance on each seat. We have to ensure that BSP-SAD forms a popular government in Punjab that works for the welfare of the masses and development of the state," she said. Terming the Congress government in Punjab as corrupt, Mayawati said: "This government failed on all fronts. The people of Punjab wish to get free from the misrule of the Congress government. People's welfare has been overlooked due to tussle among Congress leaders. The BSP and SAD workers should forget their differences to ensure victory of the alliance," she emphasised. --IANS amita/dpb ( 374 Words) 2021-12-14-10:03:41 (IANS)
The Madras High Court has directed a CBI investigation into the escape of two South Korean nationals from the custody of Tamil Nadu police. The two Koreans who were under the custody of the Tamil Nadu police in a flat as directed by the Supreme Court escaped from the premises a fortnight ago. Choi Yong Sak and Choe Jaewon, Managing Director and General Manager of Chowel India Pvt Limited respectively were arrested for violation of GST to the tune of Rs 40 crore in 2019 and lodged in Puzhal central prison. They were later granted bail and were lodged at the foreigner's detention camp at Trichy and the duo moved the Madras High Court that they be permitted to be lodged at their own residence instead of the detention camp citing into consideration the Covid -19 outbreak. Madras High Court rejected the application but the Supreme Court granted the order in their favour and was lodged in a multi-storied building at Oragadam in Chengalpattu district of Tamil Nadu. The duo scaled-down the eighth-floor building of the flat and had made good their escape. Tamil Nadu police suspect that they had travelled to Hyderabad by road and took a flight to Manipur and from there crossed the international border and landed in South Korea. The police were in touch with the South Korean authorities to ascertain whether they had reached that country. The court, on Monday, directed the CBI to conduct an inquiry into the incidents and produce a preliminary investigation report by January 25, 2022. There were reports that the duo had forged the documents and had received ground support in Tamil Nadu for their escape and the CBI will now probe all the angles related to the escape. --IANS aal/shb/ ( 308 Words) 2021-12-14-10:06:06 (IANS)
One more policeman succumbed to injuries on Tuesday taking the toll to three.

The terror attack took place the bus on Monday.

In a statement issued here, Stalin said: "Shocked to hear about the cowardly terror attack on a Police Bus near Srinagar. I condemn this dastardly attack and offer my heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families of the martyred security personnel."

"Wishing for the speedy recovery of other personnel who were injured," Stalin said.

--IANS vj/dpb

( 115 Words)

2021-12-14-10:24:34 (IANS)
Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai on Tuesday said that the development of Gorkhas including those living in West Bengal is one of the top priorities of the government. Answering a question in Lok Sabha on the political situation of Gorkhas in West Bengal, Rai said, "The all-round development of Gorkhas including those living in West Bengal is one of the top priorities of the Government. In a meeting with the representatives of Gorkhas on October 12, 2021, it was mentioned that the aspirations of the people would be met within the Constitutional framework and in consultation with the Government of West Bengal." This comes in response to questions asked by the Deputy Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha, Gaurav Gogoi on the matter. On October 12, the Union Home Ministry began tripartite talks with the Gorkha representatives from the Darjeeling Hills, Terrai and Dooars region and the government of West Bengal to resolve the issues related to the Gorkhas. Chairing the meeting at his North Block office, Home Minister Amit Shah had said that the Central government under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is constantly making efforts to resolve issues related to the Gorkhas and of the region. The meeting was significant as the motive aimed to find a Permanent Political Solution (PPS) to the more than 100-year-old demand of a separate state for the Gorkhas within the Indian federal structure. Meanwhile, the winter session of Parliament began on November 29 and will continue till December 23. (ANI)
According to the data tabled in the Lower House, most Indians renounced their Indian citizenship in 2019.

Total 1,31,489 Indians renounced their citizenship in 2015, which then rose to 1,41,603 in 2016. In 2017, 1,33,049 Indians renounced their citizenship. In 2018, the number stood at 1,34,561. In 2019, the number rose to 1,44,017 and in 2020 it dipped to 85,242. In 2021 it again mounted to 1,11,287 Indians who renounced their citizenship, till September 30.

In this regard, a question was raised by Telangana Rashtriya Samiti leader Kotha Prabhakar Reddy in the Lok Sabha today.

He questioned "whether provisions have been made for applicants to upload documents online, with an upper limit of 60 days for the renunciation."

Rai replied, "Citizenship of India may be renounced under provisions of Section 8 of the Citizenship Act, 1955 read with rule 23 of the Citizenship Rules, 2009. The online portal for renunciation of Indian citizenship has been activated in August, 2021. End to end processing of renunciation applications is carried out in the online Citizenship Module." (ANI)
The two also appeared before the Chandiwal Commission in Maharashtra's Mumbai on Monday.

Both Deshmukh and Waze are in judicial custody in separate cases of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED), respectively.

The Commission is probing the allegations of corruption levelled by former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh.

Singh had accused Anil Deshmukh of asking dismissed assistant inspector Sachin Waze to collect Rs 100 crore from hotels and bars in Mumbai every month. (ANI)
The Rajya Sabha on Tuesday passed the Delhi Special Police Establishment (Amendment) Bill, 2021 to extend the tenure of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Director up to a maximum of five years from the present two years. Union Minister Jitendra Singh moved the bill in the Upper House, saying it was necessary to curb corruption-based cases which have drastically gone down in the last seven years since Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government came to power at the Centre. The Bill was passed by the Rajya Sabha with a voice vote as the entire Opposition had walked out of the House earlier seeking revocation of suspension of 12 suspended MPs. Lok Sabha had also passed the bill on December 9. The ''Delhi Special Police Establishment (Amendment) Bill, 2021'' seeks amendment in the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946. The Bill also replaces the Delhi Special Police Establishment (Amendment) Ordinance, 2021 which was promulgated on November 14. The ordinance inserts the provision in the DSPE Act, "Provided that the period for which the Director holds the office on his initial appointment may, in the public interest, on the recommendation of the Committee under sub-section (1) of section 4A and for the reasons to be recorded in writing, be extended up to one year at a time. "Provided further that no such extension shall be granted after the completion of a period of five years in total including the period mentioned in the initial appointment," it stated. In simple words, the ordinance seeks to extend the tenure of the CBI chief to a maximum of five years from the present two years. (ANI)
The Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed double lane paved shoulder configuration for Chardham road project, a prestigious project of the NDA government, taking into consideration the recent security challenges, at India-China border, and the strategic importance of having double-lane roads for swift movement of the Armed Forces. A bench headed by Justice D.Y. Chandrachud emphasised that it is essential to strike a balance, when there is need to widen strategic roads, important for national security, and the principle sustainable development, which is crucial to protect the environment. The bench said this court can't second-guess the infrastructural needs of the Armed Forces. The top court also constituted an oversight committee, led by former Supreme Court judge Justice A.K. Sikri, to ensure all remedial measures are taken in the interest of the environment and the recommendations of the high-power committee are implemented in the project. The top court pointed out that there is no mala fide in the application filed by the Ministry of Defence to widen the roads for the operational requirement of the Armed Forces. The bench said the highways, which are strategic roads for the forces, cannot be compared to any other hilly or mountainous roads. The top court was hearing a plea filed by an NGO 'Citizens for Green Doon' seeking direction to stop felling of trees without clearances on the Ganeshpur-Dehradun Road (NH-72A), which is a part of the Delhi-Dehradun expressway. In 2018, the Centre's notification said that the road width cannot exceed 5.5 meters in the hilly terrains like the one through which Chardham project is proposed. In September 2020, the top court directed the government to keep the width of the Chardham road at 5.5 meters. In December, 2020, the Defence Ministry had sought permission from the top court to widen roads for national security, and contended that three national highways -- Rishikesh to Mana, Rishikesh to Gangotri and Tanakpur to Pithoragarh -- lead up to the northern border with China, which act as feeder roads. The Chardham highway is a 900-kilometre road project to provide all-weather connectivity to the four Hindu pilgrimage centres in Uttarakhand. --IANS ss/dpb ( 367 Words) 2021-12-14-11:23:24 (IANS)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said that the contribution of spiritual seekers in the freedom movement has not been recorded in history the way it should have been, but the younger generation is being introduced to their role. Addressing the 98th-anniversary celebrations of Sadguru Sadafal Dev Vihangam Yog Sansthan here, the Prime Minister said, "There were many saints who left their spiritual practices and participated in the freedom struggle. The contribution of saints was not recorded in history the way that it should have been. When we are celebrating Amrit Mahotsav, it is our responsibility to bring this contribution to light. So today, the country is remembering the contribution of its saints and gurus and introducing it to the young generation." PM Modi highlighted that Sant Sadafal Dev was one of the first people to go to jail in the non-cooperation movement during the freedom struggle. "Here every saint is proud that their ancestors had given direction to the independence movement. Sant Sadafal Dev ji was one of the first people to go to jail in the non-cooperation movement," PM Modi said. The Prime Minister also greeted the citizens on the occasion of Geeta Jayanti. "We are witnessing all of this: the 98th annual celebration of Akhil Bharatiya Yog Sansthan, 100 years of Sadguru Sadafal Dev Ji's imprisonment and Amrit Mahotsav of the country's independence. Today is also the occasion of Geeta Jayanti," he said. In his address, PM Modi lauded the Yog Sansthan and said that it is in India where an organisation of saints holds its annual celebration in the form of Amrit Mahotsav. "Our nation is wonderful. Whenever there are testing times, some or the other saint appears to change the times. It is India where its biggest hero of Independence is called 'Mahatma' by the world. It is India where the organisation of saints holds its annual celebration in the form of Amrit Mahotsav," the PM said. Talking about the Aatmanirbhar Bharat mission of the government, Modi said that just like the Swadeshi Movement during the freedom struggle, the country has started Aatmanirbhar Bharat Mission where local products are being strengthened. "Sadguru gave a mantra during freedom movement: of Swadeshi. Now, the nation has started the Aatmanirbhar Bharat Mission. Local trade, business and products are being strengthened. Local is being made global," the Prime Minister said. Earlier today, Prime Minister Modi chaired a meeting with the Chief Ministers of BJP-ruled states here.This comes a day after PM Modi chaired a meeting with the BJP Chief Ministers and Deputy chief ministers here yesterday. PM Modi is currently on a two-day visit to his parliamentary constituency Varanasi where he inaugurated phase 1 of the newly-constructed Kashi Vishwanath Dham at a cost of around Rs 339 crores on Monday. (ANI)
The encounter was underway at the Dori Dhook village in Surankote where two to three Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists have been trapped.

The gunfight erupted after a joint team of the police and the army cordoned off the area and launched a search operation on the basis of specific information about the presence of terrorists.

As the security forces zeroed in on the spot where the terrorists were hiding they came under a heavy volume of fire that triggered the encounter.

--IANS zi/dpb

( 120 Words)

2021-12-14-12:24:36 (IANS)
Taking forward the party's 100 days' action plan for the "Adhi Abadi" ahead of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls, Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will address a Women Town Hall in Raibareli on December 19. The Congress general secretary earlier announced 40 per cent of tickets will be given to women in the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections. Last week, Priyanka Gandhi rolled out 'women's manifesto' with a bunch of promises. As part of Congress' outreach programme for women voters in Uttar Pradesh, the party has planned to organise 100 town halls that are special dialogue meetings across the state. Earlier, Priyanka Gandhi held a Women Town Hall in Chitrakoot. Congress commenced a big public relations campaign to reach out to four crore women voters in the next 100 days. A brigade of around 8,000 woman volunteers has been assigned for the task with the slogan "Ladki hoon lad sakti hoon". As many as 150 professionals are working on this campaign. The brigade will reach about 2 lakh women daily and convey the promises of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra to them. At present, there are about 7 crore women voters in the state. About 4 crore women had voted in the last assembly elections. Interestingly, the women voters turnout was 4 per cent more 63 per cent as compared to 59 per cent of men. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections also, women voters turnout had been 1 per cent more than men. According to Congress strategists, about 60 per cent of the women voters are in the age group of 18 to 35. The party has a special eye on this 60 per cent youth. Congress is focusing on 100 seats out of the total 403 Assembly constituencies in Uttar Pradesh. According to sources, a target has been set to contact every woman 10 times in these seats. For the last 30 years, the Congress party has been failing in social engineering in Uttar Pradesh. No caste is the party's core vote bank. In such a situation, an electoral blueprint has been prepared to capitalise on the image of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra among women. (ANI)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the farmers during the valedictory session of the National Summit on Agro and Food Processing on December 16 at 11 am in Anand, Gujarat. The Prime Minister will address via video conferencing. The three-day summit is being organized from December 14 to 16, 2021. "To emphasize on such strategies and to deliver the message to farmers across the country, the Government of Gujarat is organizing the National Summit on Agro and Food Processing, with focus on Natural Farming," Prime Minister's Office said in an official statement. The Summit brings in focus on natural farming. Farmers will be provided with all requisite information detailing the benefits of adopting natural farming methods, PMO stated. PMO also said that the government has been driven by the Prime Minister's vision for farmer welfare. "It has been committed towards ensuring an increase in productivity, so that farmers are able to maximize their agri-potential. The government has initiated several measures to transform agriculture and increase farmers' income. Efforts are underway to promote and support initiatives leading to sustainability of the system, cost reduction, market access and better value realization to farmers," PMO said in a statement. It further stated that Zero Budget Natural Farming is a promising tool to minimize the dependence of farmers on purchased inputs, and reduces the cost of agriculture by relying on traditional field based technologies which lead to improved soil health. Desi cow, its dung and urine play an important role from which various inputs are made on the farm and provide necessary nutrients to soil. Other traditional practices such mulching the soil with biomass or keeping the soil covered with green cover round the year, even in the very low water availability situations, ensure sustained productivity even from the first year of adoption. As per PMO, the summit being attended by over 5,000 farmers who will be present in the Summit, apart from farmers being connecting Live through Central Institutes of ICAR, Krishi Vigyan Kendras and ATMA (Agricultural Technology Management Agency) network in the States. (ANI)
Addressing the event to celebrate the 98th-anniversary of Sadguru Sadafaldeo Vihangam Yog Sansthan in Varanasi today, Adityanath said, "We are taking our Indian culture to heights under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. We also celebrate the International Yoga Day on June 21 every year which has been started by PM Modi."

"Swarved is the science of prana or breath, pranayam is a part of that and yoga is a complete science in itself," Adityanath said.

The Chief Minister further lauded the presence of PM Modi on the occasion and welcomed him to address the 98th-anniversary celebrations of Sadguru Sadafaldeo Vihangam Yog Sansthan in Varanasi.

PM Modi on Tuesday arrived at the Swarved Mahamandir in Varanasi to attend the occasion of Yog Sansthan.

Earlier today, Prime Minister Modi also chaired a meeting with the Chief Ministers of BJP-ruled states here.

This comes a day after PM Modi had chaired a meeting with the BJP Chief Ministers and Deputy chief ministers here yesterday.

PM Modi is currently on a two-day visit to his parliamentary constituency Varanasi where he inaugurated phase 1 of the newly-constructed Kashi Vishwanath Dham at a cost of around Rs 339 crores on Monday. (ANI)
The Income Tax Department after search and seizure operations earlier this month on four Bangalore based Credit Cooperative Societies (CCS) and their associates has found "gross irregularities" and involvement of promoters in siphoning-off funds of depositors for personal usage, the CBDT said on Tuesday. In a statement, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) said that these search actions have revealed gross irregularities in the operations of these CCS and the involvement of their promoters in siphoning-off funds of depositors for personal usage. The promoters of these CCS took advantage of the relaxed Know Your Customer (KYC) norms while operating the CCS and several accounts have been opened without obtaining PAN. The promoters have misused these institutions for their personal benefit. The investigations have also revealed systemic distortion of the legal framework by these CCS. Apart from the general irregularities noticed in their functioning, various unfair practices adopted and modus-operandi of tax evasion have been noticed during the course of search operations of these CCS. One such CCS has been facilitating its clients to book bogus expenses by returning the amount in cash, which had been received by cheque from its clients. The said CCS has also enabled laundering of unaccounted money by accepting cash deposits from its clients and returning the proceeds to them through Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS). The said CCS has also been found to be engaged in providing short-term loan at very high rates of interest to some of the non-members of CCS. Needless to mention that the CCS does not have requisite approval for carrying out the business of lending.Certain instances of issuing fake Fixed Deposit (FD) certificates by another CCS to its clients in exchange of certain commission collected in cash have also been found. Such FD certificates have been used as collateral by its clients for obtaining loans from financial institutions /Commercial Banks. The promoters of one of the CCS have indulged in diverting the deposits made by genuine members by extending large loan amounts to the entities controlled by them or to their associates. Also, more than 100 benami accounts in the names of employees and others have been detected and such accounts have been placed under restraint. One of the clients of a CCS, who is engaged in the business of buying old gold from customers, has been found to be indulging in suppression of sales leading to escapement of income to the tune of Rs 20 crore in these transactions. The books of account relating to such undisclosed transactions have been discovered by the search team in a secretly maintained web-based server. Further, undisclosed investment in immovable properties aggregating to about Rs 130 crores in the name of the Chairman/ promoters of these CCSs, entities controlled by them and a few benami persons have also been discovered. The search action has resulted into the seizure of unaccounted cash of more than Rs 4 crore. Further investigations are in progress. (ANI)
Talking on Twitter, Deputy Commissioner, Ramban said, "There has been an unfortunate tempo accident near Chuchater, Rajgarh, in which 6 persons are feared dead and 3 injured. Moving back towards the site of the accident."

"The medical team rushed to the accident site. @diprjk @DisttRamban," the Commissioner further tweeted. (ANI)
The Supreme Court on Tuesday issued notices to the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly and others on pleas of 12 BJP MLAs from Maharashtra challenging their one-year suspension from the state Legislative Assembly for allegedly misbehaving with the presiding officer. A Bench of Justices AM Khanwilkar and CT Ravikumar agreed to examine the issue and sought responses from Maharashtra Legislative Assembly and the State and posted the matter for further hearing on January 11, 2022. The top court granted liberty to the petitioners to urge the House to reduce the suspension even during the pendency of this petition. The Bench said, "Needless to observe that pendency of these petitions will not come in the way of the petitioners to explore the possibility of urging upon the House to reconsider the decision impugned in these writ petitions at least to the extent of reducing the term specified therein. That is a matter which can be considered by the House if so advised." The Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi government led by chief minister Uddhav Thackeray is slated to hold the winter session of the state assembly between December 22 and 28 in Mumbai. 12 BJP MLAs were suspended on July 5 from the Assembly after the state government had accused them of "misbehaving" with presiding officer Bhaskar Jadhav in the Speaker's chamber. The motion to suspend these MLAs was moved by state Parliamentary Affairs Minister Anil Parab and passed by a voice vote. On July 22 they had filed the plea in the top court challenging the resolution passed by the Assembly d suspend them for one year. The 12 suspended members are- Sanjay Kute, Ashish Shelar, Abhimanyu Pawar, Girish Mahajan, Atul Bhatkhalkar, Parag Alavani, Harish Pimpale, Yogesh Sagar, Jay Kumar Rawat, Narayan Kuche, Ram Satpute and Bunty Bhangdia. (ANI)
The Director General of Jammu and Kashmir Police Dilbag Singh on Tuesday visited 92 Base Hospital to enquire about the health of police personnel who were injured in the terrorist attack on the outskirts of Srinagar. GOC Chinar Corps, Lt Gen DP Pandey also visited the hospital to enquire about the health of the injured. Earlier today, DGP Dilbag Singh visited the place of the incident where a police bus was ambushed by the terrorists near Zewan in Srinagar on Monday evening. Afterwards, DGP held interaction with the officers and Jawans at the Armed Police Complex Zewan. According to Jammu and Kashmir Police, the DGP appreciated the Jawans for retaliating the terrorist attack saying that immediate response avoided what would have been possibly a huge loss. He also complimented the driver for his sensible and quick action during the incident. He said that in retaliation one terrorist was reportedly injured and vowed that perpetrators would be brought to justice very soon. He directed the personnel to use the protective gear while on duty for personal safety, and take all protection on duty as well as during to and fro travel from the camps to deployments places. Three police personnel were killed and 14 others injured after terrorists fired upon a police vehicle near a police camp at Zewan on the outskirts of Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir on Monday. (ANI)
The Defence Minister was attending an event here when he met the wife of the war veteran.

Vijay Parv Samapan Samaroh was held in New Delhi ahead of the 50th anniversary of India's victory in the 1971 war.

Taking to Twitter, Rajnath said, "Had a warm interaction with the Bangladeshi Muktijoddhas and the Indian war veterans who fought against injustice in 1971 war. The Indian Armed Forces worked together with the courageous Muktijoddhas in their valiant struggle."

War veteran Colonel Hoshiar Singh was honoured with Param Vir Chakra, the highest military honour in the country, for exhibiting exemplary courage during the 1971 war, which led to the liberation of Bangladesh, then known as East Pakistan. (ANI)
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has arrested an Afghan national from Delhi in connection with the seizure of 3,000 kg of heroin from Gujarat's Mundra Port, the agency said on Tuesday. The Afghan national, 28, identified as Sobhan Aryanfar, hailing from South Delhi's Neb Sarai, was arrested on December 12, an NIA spokesperson told ANI. Till date, 10 people have been arrested in the case. Five among these are Afghans and one is an Uzbek national. The total seizure has gone up to 3,004 kg. On October 12 the NIA conducted raids at five locations in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR) linked to the seizure of 3,000 kg drugs at Gujarat's Mundra Port. The searches were conducted at residential premises and godowns at Lajpat Nagar, Alipur, Khera Kalan, New Delhi and Noida in connection with the seizure of semi-processed talc stones with contraband drugs imported by Aashi Trading Company. During searches, various incriminating documents, articles and items were seized by NIA. The agency on October 9 had also conducted raids in Chennai, Coimbatore, Vijaywada at premises of the accused and suspects involved in the Import of semi-processed talc stones with contraband. The case relates to the seizure of 2988.21 kg of narcotic substance (heroin) seized at Mundra Port in Gujarat having the involvement of foreign persons in procurement and delivery of the consignment. The narcotics drugs were found concealed in import consignment of 'Semi-processed Talc stones' originating from Afghanistan which had arrived from Bandar Abbas Port, Iran. The NIA on October 6 took over the Mundra Port drug haul case, in which 2,988.21 kg of heroin was seized at Mundra port by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence in September. The NIA has not only invoked sections of IPC and the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act but also Section 17 (punishment for raising funds for the terrorist act) and Section 18 (punishment for conspiracy to commit terror acts) of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). The NIA FIR has mentioned Machavaram Sudhakaran, Durga P.V. Govindaraju and Rajkumar P. as accused, among others. Chennai-based Sudhakaran and Govindaraju own the company which was shipping the contraband. Govindaraju is the proprietor of Aashi Trading Company, registered in Andhra Pradesh's Vijayawada that was importing the talc from a firm called Hasan Husain Ltd. Rajkumar, from Coimbatore, worked in Iran and "was coordinating with foreign suppliers". Those arrested so far in the case were mainly caught by the DRI. Parallelly, the Narcotics Control Bureau and the Enforcement Directorate are also probing the case. The September 16 seizure is said to be one of the single-biggest hauls in India, worth over Rs 21,000 crore. (ANI)
Taking a jibe at top Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leadership, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday said the leaders of the ruling party at the centre take a dip into the river Ganga when elections round the corner. Addressing a public meeting here, Banerjee said, "When elections round the corner, BJP take a dip into the Ganga. Before elections, they sit inside the temple in Uttarakhand. And, when people die due to COVID, they flow the bodies into the same 'Maa Ganga'. They have desecrated the holy Ganga. When BJP does not have anything, they make fake videos. They have ruined the country." Banerjee's remarks came a day after Prime Miniter Narendra Modi inaugurated the Kashi Vishwanath Dham corridor in Varanasi on Monday. The Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo said she believe in every religion and participate in festivals of all religions. She alleged that BJP "chants Hinduism" before elections to seek votes. "I chant Chadipath every day. ...I also belong to a Brahmin family, I am a Brahmin. But my identity is I am a human being. I do not need to take a character certificate from BJP. India is a secular country. You cannot isolate minorities," she stated. Banerjee emphasised that Goa should be ruled by Goans only. "We want the BJP rule to an end in Goa. Everyone needs to unite to defeat BJP in Goa. We made an alliance and BJP got scared. Along with MGP, TMC has become the true alternative to BJP in Goa. Goa will be ruled by the people of Goa, not by Delhi. Delhi's Dadagiri ana nakka. Kendra chi dadagiri anikka nakka," said the West Bengal chief minister. TMC and Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) formed an alliance for the forthcoming Goa Assembly polls. "We are delighted to announce the alliance with MGP for the upcoming assembly election in 2022. This partnership will be a winning partnership for Goa. Navya Goeank Navi Yuti," tweeted AITC Goa. Mamata Banerjee is on a three-day tour to goa. Earlier today, she held a meeting with leaders of the TMC's Goa unit. The TMC aggressively started campaigning for the upcoming polls after former Goa Chief Minister Luizinho Faleiro joined the party. Faleiro joined TMC in the presence of Abhishek Banerjee after resigning from the Congress party. Goa is scheduled to go for the Assembly polls in early 2022. Goa Assembly has a strength of 40 members out of which BJP currently has 17 legislators and enjoys the support of legislators from Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP), Vijay Sardesai of the Goa Forward Party (GFP) and three independents. GFP and MGP each have three MLAs.Congress, on the other hand, has 15 MLAs in the house. (ANI)
Amid standoff over MPs' suspension, Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Pralhad Joshi on Tuesday said that the Opposition was only disrupting the House proceedings. While interacting with media on the Parliament premises, he said: "We are talking to the suspended MPs individually and they should at least regret their conduct." Responding to Opposition's allegation of running the Zero Hour amid din, Joshi said: "For the past two weeks, the proceedings are being disrupted when the Members want to raise important issues of their states and constituencies." Joshi said that 50 members have given Zero Hour notice of which 26 had been admitted by the chair, including those of the Opposition members. The chairman conducted the House proceedings for an hour during Zero Hour amid din, while the Opposition resorted to sloganeering and later questioned it. The House was adjourned till 2 p.m. after the Zero Hour. The Minister of Parliamentary Affairs said that the government has adjourned the House for discussion and expects the Opposition to apologise and come into the House and participate in discussion. The like-minded Opposition leaders of both the Houses met on Tuesday at Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge's office and took out a march in solidarity with the suspended MPs. The Opposition and the government is at loggerheads on the issue and on Monday, the Upper House witnessed unabated disruptions with the Opposition demanding revocation of the suspension. --IANS miz/shb/ ( 247 Words) 2021-12-14-15:09:07 (IANS)
Devotees have begun to come in large numbers to the Kashi Vishwanath dham in Varanasi a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated it. The temple head priest believes that the construction of the corridor will give a boost to tourism, industry and business in the city. Speaking to ANI, the head priest said, "The construction of the temple is no less than a miracle as the country went through two waves of COVID-19. With the construction of Dham, tourism along with industry and business will increase." He said worship is being done as per the daily routine and the devotees visiting the temple feel joyous. "Worship is being done as per the daily routine. The gift that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given to Kashi is unprecedented. We are all elated as there cannot be a bigger occasion for us to have become a part of history. The devotees visiting the temple from now on will feel joyous. Now the Kashi Vishwanath Dham has been constructed," the priest said. The priest lauded the prime minister's move to take a dip in the Holy river Ganga and said that he has apprised the young generation of the history of Kashi. "Prime Minister Modi himself took a dip in the river Ganga and apprised the young generation of the history of Kashi," he told ANI. Asked about the impact of the construction of the corridor on South Indian tourists, he said that they have great devotion for Kashi and its people and visit the Dham the most. "The people from South India visit the Dham the most. They have great devotion for Kashi and its people. The pilgrims from South India visit here at all times of the year," the head priest said. An Indian tourist living in Mauritius said, "Tourism will increase here. The NRIs too would visit the temple. The people in Mauritius are extremely happy." Earlier on Monday, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi embarked on a two-day visit to his parliamentary constituency Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, he inaugurated phase 1 of the newly-constructed Kashi Vishwanath Dham at a cost of around Rs 339 crores. Noting that the project will add to the spiritual vibrancy of Kashi, the Prime Minister started his day by offering prayers at Kaal Bhairav temple. The Prime Minister then took a cruise boat from Khirkiya Ghat to Lalita Ghat to visit Kashi Vishwanath temple and also took a holy dip in the Ganges. (ANI)
European Union and India have decided to strengthen their cooperation on Competition Policy. The fourth EU-India Competition Week took place online on December 13-14 and showcased the commitment of the European Commission's Directorate-General for Competition (DG Competition) and the Competition Commission of India (CCI) to step up their cooperation and technical exchanges on competition policy and law, according to the EU Delegation to India and Bhutan Further, CCI Chairperson Ashok Kumar Gupta opened the event, emphasizing that the EU-India Competition Week is another valuable program organized by the European Union that is extremely relevant for CCI officers strengthening their capacities and building close association with the EU staff. Also, the Deputy Head of the EU Delegation to India, Seppo Nurmi, in his opening remarks, added that the organisation of the fourth Competition Week in India was a great opportunity for an open and thorough discussion on competition policy and law, and evidence of the commitment on both sides to strengthen their cooperation and technical exchanges, building on the previous years' Competition Weeks Meanwhile, officials from both agencies were joined by officials from the Italian and French national competition authorities for a series of roundtable discussions. Discussions focussed on the practical challenges of competition enforcement and regulation on digital markets, building on previous year's discussions in light of recent developments, according to the EU Delegation to India and Bhutan Also, the second day of discussions focused on competition law and enforcement in the pharmaceutical sector Earlier, the Competition Week builds on the Memorandum of Understanding signed between DG Competition and the CCI in 2013, to deepen relations and strengthen cooperation between the two agencies. Further, the MoU sets out the framework for discussion on competition legislation, sharing of non-confidential information on legislation and enforcement and technical cooperation between India and Germany. (ANI)
"Glad to receive new Ambassador of Sierra Leone to India H.E. Rashid Sesay, with residence at Abu Dhabi. Conveyed my best wishes for his successful tenure," tweeted V Muraleedharan

"Reaffirmed our strong commitment to further strengthen the bilateral space for the mutual benefit of both our peoples," he said. (ANI)
The Government of India has emphasized to China that any restriction selectively targeting sailors from India is unacceptable. In a written reply the Rajya Sabha, the Ports, Shipping, and Waterways Minister Sarbananda Sonowal said the government had taken note of a few media reports which had appeared earlier in the year on the subject. "The government had therefore taken up the matter with the Chinese side. The government emphasized to the Chinese side that any restriction selectively targeting sailors from India is unacceptable," Sonowal said. The minister was replying to a question whether it has come to the notice of the ministry that China has imposed unofficial ban on Indian seafarers and prohibited entry/berth of ships with Indian seafarers. Sonowal said that there has been no impact on the job of Indian seafarers except for in the cruise shipping which ceased operations due to Covid pandemic. Considering the potential humanitarian crisis onboard these vessels, it was decided to provide all assistance to the owners/managers of the vessel to effect crew change and repatriate the crew, he said. Earlier, according to the Directorate General of Shipping, one Indian vessel M.V Jag Anand owned by Great Eastern Shipping Company had arrived at the Port of Jingtang, North China on June 13, 2020 for discharging of coal that it had loaded in Australia. The vessel had 23 Indian Crews onboard. The vessel was stranded on account of difficulties faced by them regarding Crew Change at Chinese Ports as the Chinese Port Authorities have banned the entries of Foreigners w.e.f. March 28, 2020 and suspended all visa and residence permits with a view to controlling the spread of Covid-19. The vessel was waiting at the port of Jintang, China till the first week of January 2021. Further, information was also received for one foreign flag vessel M.V. Anastasia with 16 Indian seafarers onboard stranded at Caofeidian Anchorage, China since August 3, 2020. Also, because of the sustained efforts of the Government of India, MV JAG ANAND was allowed to sail to Japan. The vessel disembarked the crew on January 18, 2021 at Chiba, Japan. Similarly, the matter regarding the Crew change of vessel MV ANASTASIA was also resolved on February 10, 2021 as the vessel, MV ANASTASIA was diverted from Caofeidian Anchorage, China to Iwakuni Anchorage, Japan. Further, due to COVID-19 pandemic, restrictions were imposed and ships were kept waiting at anchorages and it also prevented crew changes. (ANI)
The Centre has constituted an Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Tribunal headed by Delhi High Court Chief Justice D.N. Patel under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 (UAPA) provisions to adjudicate whether there is sufficient cause for banning Islamic Research Foundation (IRF), founded by the controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik. The development comes following the earlier order of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) dated November 15, which had extended the ban on the IRF for five more years. "The Central Government hereby constitutes an Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Tribunal consisting of Justice D.N. Patel, Chief Justice of High Court of Delhi, for the purpose of adjudicating whether or not there is sufficient cause for declaring the Islamic Research Foundation as an unlawful association," the Ministry of Home Affairs' notification dated December 13 read. Earlier, the Central government had observed that the unlawful activities of the IRF are not curbed and controlled immediately, it will take the opportunity to continue its subversive activities and re-organise its activists who are still absconding. The government also apprehended that the IRF cadre and supporters may disrupt the secular fabric of the country by polluting the minds of the people by creating communal disharmony, propagating anti-national sentiments, escalating secessionism by supporting militancy, and undertaking activities that are prejudicial to the sovereignty, integrity, and security of the country and it was necessary to extend the ban on IRF for five years more. The Centre had declared the IRF an unlawful organisation for the first time on November 17, 2016, under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 (37 of 1967) for a period of five years. The ban was to expire on Tuesday. Zakir Naik, an Indian-born controversial Islamic preacher had fled to Malaysia in 2016 when the police lodged a case against him for his anti-national activities, including promoting hatred among the religious communities through his speeches. --IANS jw/shb/ ( 326 Words) 2021-12-14-15:54:58 (IANS)
In the state, 695 people recovered from the disease during this period taking the total number of recovered patients to 26,92,451.

The state recorded nine deaths taking the death toll to 36,633.

The total number of cases in the state stands at 27,36,695 with 7,611 active cases.

Meanwhile, India recorded 5,784 new COVID-19 cases, the lowest in 571 days in the last 24 hours, the Union Health Ministry informed on Tuesday.

As many as 252 deaths and 7,995 recoveries have also been reported. (ANI)
Top Opposition party leaders on Tuesday gathered at the residence of Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi to discuss the strategy to question the government in the ongoing winter session of Parliament. Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam MP TR Baalu, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge were among those who participated in the meeting. A key demand of the Opposition in the ongoing winter session of the Parliament has been the revocation of the suspension of 12 members of the Upper House. Earlier in the day Opposition MPs held a protest march from Parliament to Vijay Chowk. Opposition parties including Congress, DMK, RJD, Left, NCP, and TMC also staged a walkout from the Rajya Sabha after their demand to revoke the suspension of 12 MPs was rejected by Deputy Chairman Harivansh Narayan Singh. The walkout followed repeated denial from the Chair to revoke the suspension of MPs as demanded by Kharge. Kharge raised the issue when the House reassembled at 2 pm after its first adjournment over the same issue and the Chair took The Delhi Special Police Establishment (Amendment) Bill, 2021 for discussion, saying "I have written a special letter to you. We want a discussion over the Bill. We have come with all preparations. If you don't allow us to speak, we walk out from the House." Joint Opposition including Congress, DMK, Trinamool Congress, Left, NCP, RJD, IUML, Shiv Sena among others staged a walkout from the House following the announcement of the LoP. In a move that angered the Opposition and set the stage for acrimonious exchanges, a dozen members of Opposition parties in Rajya Sabha were suspended from the winter session on the very first day on November 29 following a motion brought in by the government. The members were suspended for alleged unruly conduct towards the end of the monsoon session in August when marshals were called after Opposition members stormed the Well of the House during the passage of the General Insurance Business (Nationalisation) Amendment Bill, 2021. The suspended members comprise six from the Congress, two each from Trinamool Congress and Shiv Sena, and one each from CPI and CPM: Phulo Devi Netam, Chhaya Verma, Ripun Bora, Rajamani Patel, Syed Nasir Hussain and Akhilesh Prasad Singh of Congress; Dola Sen, Shanta Chhetri of Trinamool Congress; Priyanka Chaturvedi, Anil Desai of Shiv Sena; Elamaram Kareem of CPM; and, Binoy Viswam of CPI. All the suspended 12 MPs often sit in protest near Mahatma Gandhi statue inside the Parliament premises demanding revocation of suspension, and the Opposition parties have been relentlessly disrupting House proceedings every day over the issue barring a few occasions. (ANI)
Speaking to ANI, Adhikari said, "West Bengal's condition is bad. There is black marketing of fertilizers and no subsidy on electricity. Three farmers have died by suicide within two months. Mamata Banerjee removed the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana and implemented a third-party scheme. This impacted the farmers badly. A big farmers' movement will take place in Bengal. There will be a central rally."

West Bengal BJP launched a three-day sit-in at Singur on Tuesday to corner the Mamata Banerjee government over the farmers' issue in West Bengal. (ANI)
A seminar was organised on Tuesday by Goa Naval Area at Raj Hans auditorium in the Dabolim village of the state to commemorate the Diamond Jubilee of the liberation of Goa, said the press statement issued by the Ministry of Defence. The seminar was attended by eminent speakers and senior delegates from the military as well as the academia. Governor of Goa, PS Sreedharan Pillai was the Chief Guest and delivered the keynote address at the inaugural session while Rear Admiral Philipose G Pynumootil, Flag Officer Commanding Goa Area delivered the welcome address. Delivering the keynote address, the Governor appreciated the Navy's initiative of delving into the history of the liberation of Goa and pointed out that such deliberations are needed to enhance awareness in the public, especially the youth, on the sacrifices made by previous generations, including the armed forces, in nation-building. Addressing the seminar, Vice Admiral AB Singh, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Naval Command brought out that the growth of Goa and the Indian Navy in the region has been synonymous and the liberation happening simultaneously with the commissioning of INS Vikrant, the first aircraft carrier of Indian Navy, and the Navy's effort in developing Dabolim airfield into a full-fledged air station. The first session of the occasion featured a broad analysis of sea power in the liberation of Goa by Rear Admiral SY Shrikhande. This was followed by an expose on the role of the Indian Army in the liberation of Goa by Brigadier AS Sawhney and Colonel Manvendra Nagaich of the 2 Signal Training Centre, Goa, the release said. The second session saw an interesting mix of papers, starting with "Goa's Struggle for Freedom: Azad Gomantak Dal and Gunpowder Resistance" by Dr Seema S Risbud, Associate Professor at Department of History, Goa University, it said. The seminar ended with an overview of post-colonial Goa and its political economy of transformation presented by Parag D Parobo, Assistant Professor of History, Goa University, it added. The State Governor also felicitated veterans of the Goa liberation effort on the occasion. (ANI)
Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Tuesday demanded that the Centre speed up the probe into the Lakhimpur Kheri incident and said that the Minister of State for Home Affairs Ajay Mishra should be sacked with immediate effect. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra issued a press statement today in the matter. She said, "Two months after the Lakhimpur farmer massacre, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) says that the son of Minister of State for Home Ajay Mishra Teni, namely Ashish and the other accused did not commit the criminal act out of negligence and neglect, but did it deliberately with the intention of killing them according to a pre-planned plan." "In this case, the farmers said from the very beginning, that the son of the Minister of State for Home had conspired to carry out this incident. The Supreme Court had also expressed concern over ensuring a fair and thorough investigation into the incident and expressed displeasure over the slow pace of investigation and the manner of investigation," she said. The Congress leader claimed that the SIT admitted that the Lakhimpur farmer massacre was done with a plan. "Then why are the Prime Minister and the Home Minister protecting the Minister of State for Home Affairs?" she questioned. "Victims' families and we, who are doing Satyagraha, have been demanding since day one, that the Minister of State for Home should be postponed, she said. "People present at the spot and the families of the victims had clearly stated that the violence was done after a conspiracy and the farmers were crushed. However, Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji, Home Minister Amit Shah ji and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath ji openly demonstrated their anti-farmer mentality by sharing the stage with Minister of State for Home Ajay Mishra Teni and gave them protection. They are still in their posts and no action has been taken against them," she said. "The Minister of State for Home should be sacked from the Union Cabinet and his role in the Lakhimpur farmer massacre should be investigated," the Congress leader said. On October 3, a vehicle allegedly crushed down farmers who were protesting against the farm laws. Reportedly, the vehicle belonged to Ashish, who is the son of Union MoS Ajay Mishra Teni. (ANI)
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national vice president Baijayant Jay Panda on Tuesday slammed former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah for his comment that the situation in the union territory cannot be normalised until talks with Pakistan take place. Speaking to ANI, Panda said, "Talks with Pakistan should be held on how the country will return PoK (Pakistan-occupied Kashmir) to us because they have no role in it." "Farooq's statement is wrong because we had talks with Pakistan for decades. What did we get in return? As long as the talks continued, they kept sending terrorists to India. They carried out many terrorist attacks on India," the BJP leader said. Following the terrorist attack near a police camp at Zewan in Jammu and Kashmir's Srinagar which took the lives of two police personnel, the National Conference chief had asked the Centre to hold talks with Pakistan as they do with China. Referring to former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Abdullah had said "Friends can be changed, but not neighbours. So we cannot wait for talks till the last bullet is fired. Both countries have to come forward for talks. It is good for both India and Pakistan and we can avoid the damage." Two police personnel were killed and 12 others injured after terrorists fired upon a police vehicle near a police camp at Zewan on the outskirts of Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir on Monday. Hitting out at previous governments of Jammu and Kashmir, the BJP leader said that they wanted to use the terrorist attacks for their own political benefits. "Previous governments did not want a decline in the terrorist attacks. They wanted the situation to remain the same so that they can use it for their own political benefits. Thousands of people were killed during these attacks. But now, terrorism will not work anymore," he added. Further, Panda talked about the current situation in Jammu and Kashmir and said that it is continuously improving now. "In November, Jammu and Kashmir has received around 1.27 lakh tourists. Stone-pelting incidents have also stopped. The terrorist attacks have declined here as compared to previous years," Panda said. (ANI)
The military delegation is headed by Major General SM Kamrul Hasan. "The syllabus of our military institutions, as well as the educational institutions, adequately reflects the history of the liberation war. The history of the liberation war in 1971 is not complete without the story of the Indian side," said Major General Kamrul Hasan of the Bangladesh Army

"The young generation of Bangladesh remembers it with gratefulness. They also look forward to furthering our relations in the days to come," said Major General SM Kamrul Hasan, Bangladesh Army.

Another member of the delegation, Subedar Major Basheer also thanked India for its efforts in securing the freedom of Bangladesh.

Haji Noor Uman who was a part of the Mukti Bahini thanked India's contribution in the Liberation War

Retired Lt Colonel KHS Shekawat who participated in the war from the Indian side mentioned that India's victory was possible with the detailed planning of the war since 1969 which made the victory possible. (ANI)
"Earlier today, continued the discussions with @BJP4India CMs and Deputy CMs. They shared different good governance practices from their respective states," the Prime Minister tweeted.

The Prime Minister, who was on a two-day visit to his parliamentary constituency Varanasi, visited Swarved Mahamandir on Tuesday.

The Prime Minister on Monday had inaugurated phase 1 of the newly-constructed Kashi Vishwanath Dham, built at a cost of Rs 339 crores. (ANI)
Former Punjab Chief Minister and Punjab Lok Congress (PLC) chief Captain Amarinder Singh on Tuesday warned the Punjab Police officials against allegedly intimidating his party workers at the behest of some local Congress leaders, saying that he would take all necessary measures to come down heavily on 'such hooligans in uniforms'. The former Chief Minister was reacting to reports of Punjab cops stopping PLC workers who were putting up posters in the Malwa region. He said he had received reports that the Punjab Police officials, clearly acting at the bidding of local Congress leaders, were threatening to slap false cases against his party workers. Captain Amarinder expressed surprise that such mischievous acts were being allowed by Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi. "If the present government has the guts, let them take me on politically instead of using these goons in uniform to do their dirty jobs," he said. He asked Channi to "rein in" such elements within the Congress and in the police force, "unless you are deliberately allowing such anarchy to plunge Punjab into political mayhem ahead of the Assembly polls, in which the ruling party is set to be shamefully trounced." "I know how to deal with such officials, who have compromised their integrity to appease their political masters," said Captain Amarinder, adding that, if needed, he would not shy from taking the Centre's help to deal with the lawlessness being unleashed by such police personnel. He asserted he would do anything needed to ensure that law and order is maintained in the state, which had witnessed complete peace and political harmony during his tenure as chief minister. "All such partisan officials who are going around trying to terrorise my party workers should remember that they aren't above the law, and they will have to answer for their acts," warned the former chief minister, adding that such draconian acts will not be tolerated at any cost. The job of the men in uniform is to maintain law and order and not to act in a partisan manner, said the PLC chief, warning the police personnel against becoming tools in the hands of the party in power. The Channi government should ensure that not just PLC workers but workers of BJP or Shiromani Akali Dal (Democratic), with which his party is headed for alliance/seat arrangement, should not be harassed in the state, he said. Assembly polls in Punjab are slated for early next year. (ANI)
Manish Maheshwari, former head of Twitter India who moved to a bigger role at the company's headquarters in the US amid the political storm over account removals earlier this year, is reportedly leaving the micro-blogging platform -- now under new CEO Parag Agrawal -- to launch his own edtech startup. Maheshwari is reportedly "in touch with a handful of investors" to raise funds for a new Bengaluru-headquartered edtech startup that promises to deliver MBA courses in four months, TechCrunch reported, citing sources. According to the filings with the local regulator, Maheshwari's home in Bengaluru is reportedly registered as the new startup's office location. A query sent to Twitter on the development went unanswered. Maheshwari, who joined Twitter in April 2019 as Managing Director for its India operations, moved into a new role in August this year, based in San Francisco as Senior Director, Revenue Strategy and Operations, and focused on 'New Market Entry'. His departure came as Twitter blocked accounts of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and several other party leaders for violating platform policies. The Congress alleged that it was done on the behest of the government. Twitter had clarified its action, saying that the rules were enforced judiciously and impartially for everyone on its service. Amid the political ruckus, the Centre in August informed the Delhi High Court that Twitter has appointed permanent officers as required under the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021. Twitter informed the Delhi High Court that it has appointed employees at the positions of Chief Compliance Officer and Resident Grievance Officer, and Nodal Contact Person, in compliance with the provisions of the new IT rules. In October, the Supreme Court issued notice on a plea filed by Uttar Pradesh government challenging the Karnataka High Court order quashing notice of personal appearance issued to then Twitter India Managing Director Maheshwari. The notice was issued to Maheshwari in connection with a probe into uploading a communally sensitive video by a user on Twitter. The police had rejected Twitter India officials' request to carry out the questioning via video conferencing. --IANS wh/na/arm ( 362 Words) 2021-12-14-17:28:11 (IANS)
Kerala Cooperation Minister V.N. Vasavan will reach Delhi on Wednesday to meet legal experts after the Reserve Bank of India rejected the state's plea to allow Cooperative Societies to use the word 'bank'. A close aide of Vasavan said the Kerala government is left with no other option, but to take up the issue legally. "Ever since the RBI came out with clear cut guidelines to this effect, Kerala has been trying its best to plead its case with the central bank. Vasavan had earlier this month written to RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das seeking withdrawal of 'Caution Notice' published by the central bank last month in several Malayalam dailies over various cooperative societies using the word "bank" in their names, said the aide who did not wished to be identified. "Incidentally, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, the other day informed the Lok Sabha that the RBI has rejected the plea of the Kerala government and hence there is no other way but to take it up legally," added the aide. The notice of the RBI had directed Cooperative Societies not to use the words, "bank", "banker", or "banking" as part of their names except as permitted under the provisions of the Banking Regulation Act 1949, or by the RBI. It also noted that cooperative Societies are accepting deposits from non-members/nominal members/associate members, in violation of the provision of the Act 1949, and that insurance cover under the Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation is not available to the deposits of Cooperative Societies. The Kerala government had expressed deep concern over the RBI notice and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, recently attacked the Centre's high-handedness towards states and had slammed the authorities for trying to create confusion in the Cooperative Sector in the state and said the Centre should desist from such moves. One reason why Vasavan is rushing to Delhi is the Cooperative sector in Kerala especially the banking segment is very strong and has a huge deposit base and is the succour to the local populace, when it comes to getting quick loans against collateral security, as compared to getting loans from commercial banks. --IANS sg/shb/ ( 373 Words) 2021-12-14-17:50:34 (IANS)
After the Ministry of Islamic Affairs of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia banned Tablighi Jamaat, President of the Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind, Maulana Arshad Madani met Ambassador of Saudi Arabia to India Saud Bin Mohammed Al-Sati on Tuesday. Arshad Madani during a meeting with the Saudi Ambassador said that the statement of the Ministry of Islamic Affairs of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia regarding Tablighi Jamaat has become a cause of great concern for Muslims all over the world. Tablighi Jamaat is attached with Deobandi school of thought, so it is also a matter of concern for Dar-ul-Uloom Deoband and Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind. "We do not have a discussion with Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's stand regarding Tablighi Jamaat in its country, and we have never talked about it in this regard. However, the allegation leveled by Islamic Affairs Ministry against Tablighi Jamaat at this time is very painful not only for Tablighi Jamaat but also for all Muslims and especially for those who belong to religion of Islam," Madani said after the meeting. He said, JuH wanted to convey its grievances and feelings to Minister of Islamic Affairs through the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and to inform him about the difficulties and worst consequences that could come to the Muslims as a result of his statement. "I am very glad that the Ambassador read my letter in a very good atmosphere, and discussed this subject and he has promised to give me the best cooperation in this regard. He also said that you should understand that this letter has reached the Ministry of Islamic Affairs, and from there I expect the answer to come as you expect," Madani said. --AIAN miz/skp/ ( 296 Words) 2021-12-14-19:58:43 (IANS)
"Enforcement Directorate, probing alleged Rs 100-crore extortion case against former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh, has now summoned IPS officer G Shreedhar in connection to the case on December 17," informed ED.

ED further informed that Shreedhar is presently posted as superintendent of police, Akola.

Earlier in the day, a suspended cop of Mumbai Police, Sachin Waze cleared former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh's name in the extortion case and said that no money was demanded by him or his staff during his tenure at the office. (ANI)
The BJP president will be accompanied by the Chief Ministers and Deputy Chief Ministers from BJP ruled states.

The BJP chief arrived in Varanasi on Sunday ahead of the inauguration of phase 1 of the newly-constructed Kashi Vishwanath Dham by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Notably, Nadda was appointed as the national working president of the BJP in June 2019 and later he took over as the party's national president in January 2020.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Prime Minister, who was on a two-day visit to his parliamentary constituency Varanasi, chaired a meeting with the Chief Ministers of BJP-ruled states in Varanasi. Nadda was also present in the meeting.

In November 2019, a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court had unanimously ruled in favour of Ram Lalla and said the entire disputed land spread over 2.7 acres will be handed over to a trust formed by the government, which will monitor the construction of a Ram temple at the site.

The top court also added that an alternative five acres of land at a prominent location in Ayodhya should be allotted for the construction of a mosque following consultation between the Centre and the state government.

On August 5, 2020, PM Modi laid the foundation stone for Ram Temple in Ayodhya. (ANI)
Financial assistance worth Rs one crore will be given to the family of Squadron Leader Kuldeep Singh from Rajasthan, who was martyred in the helicopter crash in Tamil Nadu on December 8 along with Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat, his wife and 10 other armed forces personnel. The announcement was made by Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Tuesday. In a tweet, Gehlot said, "The state government has decided to provide an assistance of Rs one crore to the family of Squadron Leader Kuldeep Singh from Jhunjhunu, Rajasthan, who was martyred in the Coonoor (Tamil Nadu) chopper accident. The state government stands with the family of martyrs in this difficult time." Squadron Leader Kuldeep Singh was the co-pilot of the ill-fated helicopter. --IANS arc/arm ( 140 Words) 2021-12-14-20:58:12 (IANS)
Punjab Lok Congress (PLC) chief Amarinder Singh on Tuesday warned Punjab Police officials against intimidating his party workers at the behest of some local Congress leaders. The former Chief Minister was reacting to reports of Punjab cops stopping PLC workers, who were putting up posters in the Malwa region. Amarinder Singh said he had received reports that the police officials, "clearly acting at the bidding of local Congress leaders", were threatening to slap false cases against his party workers. Amarinder Singh expressed surprise that such "mischievous acts" were being allowed by Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi. "If the present government has the guts, let them take me on politically, instead of using these goons in uniform to do their dirty jobs," he said. He also asked Channi to "rein in" such elements within the Congress and in the police force, "unless you are deliberately allowing such anarchy to plunge Punjab into political mayhem ahead of the Assembly polls, in which the ruling party is set to be shamefully trounced". "I know how to deal with such officials who have compromised their integrity to appease their political masters," said Amarinder Singh, adding that if needed, he would not shy from taking the Centre's help to deal with the lawlessness being unleashed by such police personnel. The former CM asserted that he would do anything needed to ensure that law and order is maintained in the state, which had witnessed "complete peace and political harmony" during his tenure as Chief Minister. "All such partisan officials who are going around trying to terrorise my party workers should remember that they aren't above the law, and they will have to answer for their acts," warned Amarinder Singh, adding that such draconian acts will not be tolerated at any cost. The job of the men in uniform is to maintain law and order and not to act in a partisan manner, said the PLC chief, warning the police personnel against becoming tools in the hands of the party in power. The Channi government should ensure that not just PLC workers, but workers of the BJP or the Shiromani Akali Dal (Democratic), with which his party is headed for alliance or seat arrangement, should not be harassed in the state, he added. --IANS vg/arm ( 388 Words) 2021-12-14-21:31:15 (IANS)
Video streaming giant YouTube has warned that if YouTube TV is unable to renew its agreement with Disney, it will lose access to over a dozen Disney-owned channels later this week. The company said that it is now in negotiations with Disney to continue distributing their content on YouTube TV. "Our deal will expire on Friday, December 17, 2021. We have not yet been able to reach an equitable agreement, so we want to give you a heads-up so that you can understand your choices," the company said in a blogpost. "Disney is an important partner for us. We are in active conversations with them and are working hard to keep their content on YouTube TV," it added. If the company is unable to reach a deal by Friday, the Disney-owned channels will no longer be available on YouTube TV starting December 17. And, the company will decrease their monthly price by $15, from $64.99 to $49.99 -- while Disney content remains off the platform. The company mentioned that it partners with content owners in order to make over 85 channels available to users on YouTube TV. "From time to time, our partnerships need to be renewed to ensure we continue to offer a strong lineup at a competitive and fair price," the company said. --IANS vc/bg ( 229 Words) 2021-12-14-19:22:38 (IANS)
Ottawa [Canada], December 14 (ANI/Xinhua): There is a community spread of the Omicron variant in Canada and new COVID-19 cases are expected to jump soon, Canada's Chief Public Health Officer Theresa Tam said on Monday. "We are seeing community transmission, possibly in its early stages, but this can rapidly escalate in the days to come," Tam said at a press conference in Ottawa. "We've learned a lot about this variant just even in the last days. We have learned that it is highly transmissible, or certainly has great spread potential," Tam said. Tam expected the situation to play out in Ontario, the most populous province with a population of 14 million. The Ontario COVID-19 science advisory table said on Monday that the Omicron variant will replace the currently dominant Delta variant as the main strain in the province by Christmas. Ontario, which has seen COVID-19 cases double over the last two weeks, reported 1,536 new COVID-19 cases Monday morning, as the province's science advisory group estimated that about 21 per cent of all new infections were caused by the Omicron variant. Monday's case count was a 73-per cent surge over the same time last week. The seven-day average of daily cases climbed to 1,328, the highest point in more than six months. Some communities in Ontario have seen conditions rapidly deteriorate with hundreds of new cases posted over the weekend, pushing case counts to the highest level since the onset of the pandemic in March 2020. Tam said there is evidence of waning immunity from COVID-19 infections and vaccines and quickly administering a third shot to as many people as possible can help stem the spread. Tam's Omicron warnings came on the same day she released her annual report, in which she said Canada's public health system is "stretched dangerously thin" after two years of the COVID-19 crisis and a parallel opioid epidemic. As of Monday afternoon, Canada reported 3,450 new COVID-19 cases in the past day, bringing the cumulative total to 1,838,810 cases, including 29,931 deaths, according to CTV. (ANI/Xinhua)
The capital city of Hanoi took the lead with 1,000 new cases. This is the first time Hanoi's daily transmissions have hit four digits since the start of the pandemic.

It was followed by Ho Chi Minh City (915), Ben Tre (867), Ca Mau (793), Dong Thap (740), Can Tho (680) and Khanh Hoa (594).

Hanoi's Dong Da district has banned large gatherings and suspended on-site dining from Monday noon after new outbreaks were recorded in a number of wards including Kham Thien, Quoc Tu Giam, Khuong Thuong, and Tho Quan.

Food and beverage establishments can only allow takeaways and must be closed before 9 p.m. Wet markets are also banned. High schools and vocational schools will switch to online classes until further notice.

Vietnam has confirmed 1,428,428 COVID-19 infections so far.

1,055,912 patients have recovered and 28,081 have died.

Almost 58 million people in Vietnam have now been fully inoculated. (ANI/VOVWORLD)
According to the police, the incident happened on Saturday during the PTI's rally in Mianwali where Prime Minister Imran Khan was also present, reported Geo News.

District Police Officer (DPO) Mianwali said that Amir Khan slapped the policeman when he tried to search him at the entrance. Consequently, a case was registered against the leader.

Swansi was later arrested after the incident. "A case was filed against Amir Khan after an investigation was launched into the incident," the DPO said.

Reacting to the case registered against him, Amir Khan said that "it was a politically motivated move", reported Geo News. (ANI)
Johnson expressed concern over the alleged large-scale movement of Russian troops along the Ukrainian borders, the Kremlin said in a statement on Monday.

Putin gave Johnson specific examples of how authorities in Kiev undermined the implementation of the Minsk agreements, "which are an uncontested basis for resolving the internal crisis in Ukraine."

The Russian President also pointed to the "discrimination against the Russian-speaking population" in Ukraine, Xinhua news agency reported.

He underlined the need to immediately begin negotiations on clear and internationally legal agreements against the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation's further eastward expansion and against the deployment of weapons in Russia's neighbours, primarily Ukraine.

The Russian side will present draft documents on this issue, Putin added.

--IANS int/khz/

( 151 Words)

2021-12-14-00:59:03 (IANS)
The US House's January 6 committee recommended criminal contempt charges against Mark Meadows, former US President Donald Trump's White House chief of staff. The panel sent a criminal contempt of Congress referral to the full House, as the extent of Mark Meadows's role in President Trump's efforts to overturn the election became clearer, reported The New York Times. From a trove of about 9,000 documents that Meadows turned over before halting his cooperation with the inquiry, a clearer picture has emerged about the extent of his involvement in Trump's attempts to use the government to invalidate the election results. The documents also shed light on his knowledge and guidance of a plan by right-wing lawmakers to try to use Congress to overturn the election, and how he coordinated with organizers of the rally in Washington that culminated in the deadly riot at the Capitol on January 6, reported The New York Times. According to dozens of text messages that members of the panel read aloud on Monday, Meadows fielded requests from terrified lawmakers and even members of Trump's family begging for Trump to call off the rioters on January 6, and Meadows told people that day that he was trying to persuade the president to do so. The committee voted 9 to 0 to recommend that Meadows be charged with criminal contempt of Congress for defying its subpoena, after Meadows shifted from partially participating in the inquiry to waging a full-blown legal fight against the panel, in line with Trump's directive to stonewall the investigation, reported The New York Times. Contempt of Congress charge carries a penalty of up to a year in jail. The panel's recommendation would send the matter to the full House, which could vote as early as Tuesday to refer the charge to the Justice Department. (ANI)
US President Joe Biden on Monday (local time) promised to help the American people who were impacted by this weekend's storms. "The federal government will do everything it can to help those impacted by this weekend's storms," tweeted Biden. "I want to provide an update on the deadly and devastating tornadoes that moved across several states in the central United States including touching down across 227 miles of Kentucky alone," said Biden. Biden said that Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is working on the ground with each of the states to assess the damages and focus on federal support where it is needed most. "The federal government will do everything - everything it can possibly do to help. FEMA's on the ground working with each of the states to assess the damages and focus on federal support where it is needed most and how we can get it there most rapidly," said Biden. "I want folks in all these states to know the federal government is not going to walk away. We are going to get through this," added Biden. At least 100 people are feared dead following a weekend tornado outbreak across eight states. The Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear said at least 74 are known dead in his state, reported CNN. There were at least 50 tornado reports from late Friday into Saturday in Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio and Tennessee, according to the Storm Prediction Center. President Biden is scheduled to visit areas impacted by tornadoes in Kentucky on Wednesday. (ANI)
Bangladesh is set to observe the Martyred Intellectuals' Day on Tuesday in a befitting manner. Bangladesh Prime Minister (PM), Sheikh Hasina on Monday said that the anti-liberation forces started the politics of killing, coup and conspiracy in the country. The killers carried out repression and tortures against free thinkers, teachers, writers, journalists and politicians, she added. President Mohammad Abdul Hamid and the PM paid deep respect and rich tributes to the sons of the soil on the occasion of the Martyred Intellectuals' Day. Hasina said the terrorist and militant groups carried out a reign of terror in the country from 2001 to 2006. They unleashed arson terrorism in the country to thwart the national election of January 5, 2014, and they are still hatching conspiracies, she added. She said the anti-liberation forces assassinated Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (famously referred to as 'Bangabandhu') and most of his family members on August 15, 1975, which was a heinous killing. "We have brought the killers of the martyred intellectuals under trial and have been executing the verdicts. No conspiracy can divert the nation from this process. Those who wanted to save the heinous war criminals will also be brought to justice one day," Hasina added. The nation will remember forever the sacrifice of martyred intellectuals, she said and called upon the people to be united against the conspiracies of the killers of 1971 and war criminals and Jamaat-clique for continuation of development. In separate messages on the eve of the day, the President and the Prime Minister urged the people to come forward being imbued with the ideology of the martyred intellectuals and spirit of the Liberation War to build a non-communal, happy and prosperous 'Sonar Bangla'. President Abdul Hamid, in his message, said the intellectuals, as the conscience of the nation, had played a very significant role with their sharp writings and intellect-based spirit to create public opinion in favour of the Liberation War, provide suggestions to the war-time Mujibnagar government in advancing the war towards its successful end. But it is unfortunate that the occupation forces of Pakistan and their local collaborators had brutally killed the country's eminent intellectuals, including academicians, physicians, litterateurs, journalists and artists on December 14,1971, just on the eve of the victory, causing an irreparable loss to the nation, he added. The President called upon all to be imbued with the ideology of the martyred intellectuals and build a non-communal society based on spirit of the Liberation War. In her message, PM Sheikh Hasina said martyred intellectual day is a shameful chapter in the history of Bangladesh as the Pakistani occupation forces, anti-liberation forces and their local collaborators killed eminent intellectuals at the fag end of the Liberation War to turn the nation into a brain-empty state. Sheikh Hasina said when the country was close to the final victory under the leadership of the greatest Bangalee of all times, Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the intellectuals were killed by the occupation forces and their local cohorts like Al-Badars, Al-Shams and Razakars. The Bangladesh premier said Professor Mofazzal Haidar Chowdhury, Munier Choudhury, Anwar Pasha, Shahidullah Kaisar, Gias Uddin, Fazle Rabbi, Abdul Alim Chowdhury, Siraj Uddin Hossain, Selina Parveen and Joytirmay Guha Thakurada were among those who were killed by the occupation forces and their collaborators. Just two days ahead of the country's cherished victory on this day 50 years ago, the occupying Pakistan army in collusion with their local collaborators -- Al-Badr, Al-Shams and Razakars -- butchered the most prominent intellectuals of the country in a bid to cripple the newly emerging nation of Bangladesh. A memorial erected in memory of the martyred intellectuals at Mirpur in the capital has been readied, as national leaders and people from all walks of life will pay their tribute by placing wreaths there. The national programmes have been chalked out to observe the Martyred Intellectuals' Day with due respect. M Abdul Hamid and Sheikh Hasina will issue separate messages on the occasion. The Pakistani troops and their Bengali-speaking collaborators belonging to Razakars or other auxiliary forces killed a number of intelligentsia throughout the nine-month long Liberation War. But the Pakistan occupation force visibly engaged the infamous Gestapo like Al-Badr and Al-Shams personnel on December 14, 1971, to carry out a clandestine systematic campaign to kill the best academics and professionals like doctors, engineers and journalists to turn the newborn nation to a state of brainlessness. The then Bangladesh government and victorious freedom fighters, however, came to know about their last brutal massacre only when the Pakistani troops surrendered on December 16, 1971, and their top accomplices mostly belonging to Jamaat-e-Islami and its student wing went into hiding to resurface years later. Those who were exposed to the killers' wrath on December 14, 1971, included Alim Chowdhury and Fazle Rabbi, journalists Shahidullah Kaisar, Sirajudddin Hossain, Nizamuddin Ahmed, S.A. Mannan and Selina Parveen and litterateur Monier Chowdhury, Govinda Chandra Dev, Jyotirmoy Guha Thakurta, Santash Chattacharjee, Anwar Pasha, Mofazzal Haider Chowdhury and Prof Muniruzzaman. Most of the December 14 victims were picked up from their houses, blindfolded, and killed from December 10--14, 1971. As per programmes, wreaths will be placed at 7.05 a.m. at Mirpur Martyred Intellectuals Memorial and several television channels, including Bangladesh Television (BTV) and private TV channels will air it from the site. Led by the Liberation War Affairs Minister, members of the martyrs' families and the valiant freedom fighters will place wreaths at the Intellectuals Memorial at 7.22 a.m. and Rayer Bazar Boddho Bhumi at 8:30 a.m. From 8.30 a.m. on the day, people from all walks of life will lay wreaths at the Intellectual Memorial maintaining proper health rules. Different television channels, including Bangladesh Television (BTV) and Bangladesh Betar will hold special discussions on the occasion of Martyred Intellectuals Day highlighting the significance of the day. The Ministry of Liberation War Affairs has requested the public not to use mike or loudspeaker in the area of the Martyred Intellectuals Memorial to maintain the sanctity of the Martyred Intellectuals Day. Marking the day, ruling Awami League and other political parties have chalked out various programmes. As part of the party programme, Awami League will hoist black flag at the party's Bangabandhu avenue central office, Bangabandhu Bhaban in Dhanmondi and other offices of the party across the country in the morning and keep the national and party flags at half-mast. It will place wreaths at Intellectual Memorial in Mirpur at 8 a.m. Leaders and workers of Awami League will place wreaths at Bangabandhu's portrait at Bangabandhu Bhaban at 8.30 a.m. and at Rayer Bazar Boddho Bhumi at 9 a.m. --IANS sumi/khz/ ( 1119 Words) 2021-12-14-01:54:11 (IANS)
Visiting French President Emmanuel Macron and his host, Hungary's Prime Minister (PM) Viktor Orban, emphasised partnership but acknowledged their differences in a joint press statement delivered here. Last week, Macron described Orban as a "political adversary but a European partner" with whom it was possible to find compromise, Xinhua news agency reported. The Hungarian PM, who opened Monday's press event, quoted the French President's words and assured him that his government also considered European partnership of utmost importance. Thanking Macron for his visit, Orban recalled that the last time a French President traveled to Hungary was in 2007. "Hungary's relationship with France is based on respect," the Hungarian PM said, listing three major areas where there was agreement with the French President. "We both love our country, we are working to strengthen Europe and we have set ourselves the goal of creating strategic autonomy for Europe," Orban reiterated. "We support the policy of common European defence capabilities, nuclear energy and a strong European farming sector," he added. The two countries' economies both depend heavily on nuclear power and Budapest and Paris are pushing the EU to promote nuclear energy and recognise it as a green investment. Macron said the two countries agreed on the need for a strong Europe. The French President's visit came on the eve of France's takeover of the six-month rotating Presidency of the EU Council on January 1, 2022. "We will have the opportunity to exchange views on the digital transition," which is an important ambition of the French Presidency, Macron said, stressing the importance of dialogue on contentious issues. The current sources of disagreement and tension between the two leaders include LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) rights and migration. On the latter issue, the French President said that Europe will have to come up with a new initiative and that he will discuss this in detail with Polish Prime Minister, Mateusz Morawiecki during their scheduled meeting later in the day. "We need to think together as Europeans in order to find solutions for defending our borders in a more effective way, and we also need to think about ways of taking joint action," he added. According to the European Commission, Hungary fails to uphold EU standards on the rule of law and democracy, a charge denied by Budapest. In Budapest, Macron was scheduled to attend a meeting of the leaders of the Visegrad Group of countries (Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia), and to meet the leaders of Hungary's opposition parties. --IANS int/khz/ ( 432 Words) 2021-12-14-02:24:49 (IANS)
The top diplomats on Monday reaffirmed their common position to restore the nuclear deal in its original balanced text, approved by the United Nations Security Council, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

They stressed that this is the only correct way to ensure the rights and interests of all participants in the deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, Xinhua news agency reported.

Multilateral negotiations to save the Iran nuclear deal resumed on November 29 in Vienna, Austria.

--IANS int/khz/

( 121 Words)

2021-12-14-02:34:32 (IANS)
There are recurring claims that China is building, or attempting to create, a string of military bases around the world. To date, only one has been officially confirmed, but that is doing nothing to reduce speculation that more are on the way. The US Department of Defense is on record as saying that China "is pursuing additional military facilities to support naval, air, ground, cyber and space power projection". Indeed, Pentagon officials added that Beijing is "very likely already considering and planning for additional military bases and logistics facilities to support naval, air and ground forces projection". With two million members, China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the world's largest military. Yet, for most of its existence, the PLA has had an inward and landward focus. It is only in the past eight or so years, since Chairman Xi Jinping took over the reins, that the country has become more extrovert in its military aspirations. Recent media coverage has focused on Equatorial Guinea and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as sites for potential Chinese military installations. In early December, media reports alleged that China was trying to build its first Atlantic military base in Equatorial Guinea. The likely site is Bata, a Chinese-built deep-water commercial port. General Stephen Townsend, commander of the US military's Africa Command, testified in April that the "most significant threat" from China would be "a militarily useful naval facility on the Atlantic coast of Africa ... I'm talking about a port where they can rearm with munitions and repair naval vessels." As for the UAE, after stern warnings from the USA, construction at the cargo port of Khalifa, 80km north of Abu Dhabi, was halted. There were allegations that secret military facilities were being developed there, unbeknownst to the UAE. In 2018, the UAE and China had signed a USD300 million deal to upgrade the COSCO Shipping Ports Abu Dhabi Terminal. This port is located near both Al Dhafra Air Base and Jebel Ali; the latter in Dubai is the busiest port outside the USA for US Navy ship visits. Cambodia is another potential location. In September-October 2020, Cambodia demolished two buildings that had been funded by the USA at Ream Naval Base. Later, Cambodian Defense Minister Tea Banh confirmed that China was helping expand base infrastructure. "We want to develop a suitable place ... Cambodia alone can't do it. It is moderately costly as well, but I don't know how much. They are helping with no strings attached." Satellite imagery published by the Center for Strategic and International Studies showed that expansion work has added three buildings, plus land and trees were cleared for a road. China's support at Ream is an interesting development, for it demonstrates how Beijing might use the military capacity building as an avenue to gain strategic footholds in foreign territory. The Wall Street Journal alleged a secret 30-year agreement to let the Chinese military use the naval facility. However, the Cambodian government, which is in Beijing's pocket, has strenuously denied it. The other concern is a Chinese development at Koh Kong that includes an unusually large airport. The USA slapped arms and a dual-use-item embargo on Cambodia on 8 December, even though this will probably push Cambodia closer to China's bosom. Phnom Penh will take over the chairmanship of ASEAN in 2022, where it has previously proved an effective disruptor and strong supporter of Chinese interests. There is concern about China setting up dual-use facilities in the Pacific too. In 2018 there was an alarm that China was attempting to do so in Vanuatu. More recently, Chinese involvement in the Solomon Islands has been highlighted, with the late-November riots resulting in large parts of Honiara's Chinatown being burned down. Doctor Anna Powles, senior lecturer in security studies at Massey University in New Zealand, told ANI that "local dynamics and grievances have intersected over the past three years with the geopolitical competition. Geopolitical manoeuvring was a trigger behind the riots, but it isn't the whole picture. It is, however, a prescient warning that strategic competition can undermine national and social resilience and tap into local anti-Chinese sentiments." In 2019, the Solomon authorities proposed to lease Tulagi Island to a Chinese developer for a special economic zone. The Central Province agreement, signed 22 September 2019 but never concluded, would have given Beijing-based Sam Group an exclusive five-year development lease for Tulagi and surrounding islands. The whole deal was suspicious, and Powles identified China Jing An, one of Sam Group's subsidiaries for this project, as previously being part of China's Public Security Ministry. Doctor Powles concluded: "The rumours about Chinese interests in Tulagi reflected the nexus between geopolitics and local dynamics. There were concerns that the proposed infrastructure could be dual-use - both civilian and military. There's little doubt that Chinese commercial efforts were an opportunistic fishing exercise. However, the concern is always how these arrangements could be exploited later by the Chinese state for strategic reasons." China has also been exerting influence in Kiribati, the site of World War II's bloody Tarawacampaign. China has an embassy in Kiribati, but the nearest American one is some 2,000kmaway in Fiji. A seminal moment was doubtlessly August 2017, when the PLA established its first overseasmilitary base in Djibouti. Strategically located in the Horn of Africa adjacent to the Gulf ofAden, China euphemistically called it a logistics base. About 10km from Camp Lemonnier(home to 4,500 American troops), this sizeable facility has helicopter pads and its own pierlarge enough to accommodate an aircraft carrier, Type 055 destroyers, large supply ships orsubmarines. PLA Marines are stationed at this Djibouti base, and they possess 8x8 armoured vehicles andeven artillery. Washington DC has accused PLA personnel of interfering with US militaryflights landing at Djibouti by lasing pilots and flying drones. Furthermore, China has soughtto restrict Djiboutian sovereign airspace over the base. The setting up of this Djibouti base was ostensible to support the PLA Navy's (PLAN) anti-the piracy task force, at a time when Somalia-based pirates were creating havoc with commercial shipping in the Gulf of Aden. China dispatched its first anti-piracy task force in December 2008. The piracy threat has receded to almost nothing, but the PLAN shows no indication of reducing its naval presence there. Interestingly, PLAN ships had docked in Djibouti more than 50 times from 2008-12, before itwas invited to establish a base there. This illustrates how regular warship port calls caneventually pay off with a more permanent presence. China's 2019 Defense White Paper said the PLA must develop "overseas logisticalfacilities", and that the military is tasked with "safeguarding China's overseas interests". Chinese academics have listed numerous advantages of overseas bases, such as enablingforward deployment of PLA forces, supporting a military conflict, diplomatic signaling,political change, bilateral and multilateral cooperation, and training. A wider logisticsnetwork would also assist in improved intelligence monitoring of the US military. Chinese analysts speak of overseas "strategic strongpoints", and the "string of pearls" theoryhas been circulating for years. The latter postulates that China will create a network of basesacross the Indian Ocean to protect Chinese interests such as oil and natural-resource importsfrom regions like the Middle East and Africa. The Pentagon's most recent annual report on China's military shed light on PLA basing. Itsummarized, "The PRC is seeking to establish a more robust overseas logistics and basinginfrastructure to allow the PLA to project and sustain military power at greater distances.Beijing may assess that a mixture of military logistics models, including preferred access tocommercial infrastructure abroad, exclusive PLA logistics facilities with prepositionedsupplies co-located with commercial infrastructure, and bases with stationed forces, mostclosely aligns with the PRC's overseas military logistics needs." The Pentagon noted that China currently uses commercial infrastructure to support all its overseas military operations, including its Djibouti base. It warned, "Some of the PRC's One Belt, One Road projects could create potential military advantages, such as PLA access to selected foreign ports to pre-position the necessary logistics support to sustain naval deployments in waters as distant as the Indian Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean to protect its growing interests. As a means of creating numerous options, the PRC is attempting to develop access in multiple African countries on the continent's Atlantic, Indian Ocean, Red Sea and Mediterranean coasts." The USA even went so far as to list potential locations for new bases: Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, UAE, Kenya, Seychelles, Tanzania, Angola and Tajikistan. It said overtures have probably already been made to Namibia too.Incidentally, China has a security presence in Tajikistan near the border with Afghanistan, but these are likely to be People's Armed Police troops. Given that most trade occurs by sea, and that naval ships can linger for long periods in international waters, it is only natural that the PLAN will take the lead in finding suitable new bases. Thus, the US stated, "Known focus areas of PLA planning are along the sea lines of communication from China to the Strait of Hormuz, Africa and the Pacific Islands."China puts a benign gloss on the idea of foreign bases, saying they contribute to the international public good, since they can support United Nations operations and humanitarian assistance/disaster relief missions. While China is legally entitled to forge agreements with sovereign nations, the USA warned, "Regardless, a global PLA military logistics network could both interfere with US military operations and support offensive operations against the United States as the PRC's global military objectives evolve." As the Pentagon noted, "The PLA's approach likely includes consideration of many different sites and outreach to many countries, but only some will advance to negotiations for an infrastructure agreement, status of forces or visiting forces agreement, and/or basing agreement." China would need a combination of deft diplomacy, elite capture and strategically timed investments to win support. Building or running an overseas base is not just a military matter either, for it encompasses the whole spectrum of politics, diplomacy, culture and religion. China has minimal experience in this realm, so it must tread carefully and trust cannot be created overnight. It needs host nations to side with it in times of tension or conflict. Furthermore, host nations would presumably require clear legal foundations for any basing agreement. As with its economic deals, China enjoys working in the gloomy shade of secrecy. Thus, when potential deals for military access are exposed publicly, it often scuttles any progress made. Overseas military basing will be constrained by the host nation's willingness to allow PLA forces on their soil. Chinese officials must recognize that stable long-term relationships with hosts are critical for ongoing access. That being said, China is adept at throwing its weight around, and is not hesitant to lean on smaller nations. For site selections, considerations include geographic position, a port's natural conditions, overall local support infrastructure, sustainable development, politics and foreign policy, onshore natural conditions, economic conditions, security conditions and human factors. The PLA would need to ensure lines of communication from Mainland China to overseas bases are unmolested. Beijing, therefore, needs quality hosts, not ones that will unexpectedly turn around and restrict access. That is perhaps one reason why little has come of Gwadar in Pakistan so far. Gwadar was once the poster child of potential Chinese military bases, but Pakistan is replete with security threats like terrorism and separatist activities in Balochistan, in addition to its weak economy, poor infrastructure and political instability. Saudi Arabia, for example, is shifting a proposed USD10 billion oil refinery from Gwadar to near Karachi. It makes no sense economically to site a refinery in Gwadar, as this would require a 600km pipeline heading east. The much-touted Gwadar - the "Singapore of Pakistan" - is looking increasingly fraught, although China may not have given up hope entirely on a base at such a choice location on the edge of the Arabian Sea. (ANI)
The US forces conducted a large-scale airdrop in the town of Al-Busayrah and surrounding areas in the countryside of Deir al-Zour, with the help of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, killing the three victims in Al-Busayrah on Monday, the report said.

The US forces also conducted house raids in the countryside of Deir al-Zour and abducted people to unknown locations, the report added.

There was no confirmation yet from the US side, Xinhua news agency reported.

According to SANA, the US forces carried out a similar operation in the area on December 7, during which it rounded up people with the help of the SDF, and destroyed the homes it had raided.

The US forces have been active in Syria since 2014 fighting terror groups. The Syrian government has repeatedly slammed it as a presence of occupation, accusing the US of stealing Syrian oil and gas as well as wheat crops.

--IANS int/khz/

( 192 Words)

2021-12-14-03:15:31 (IANS)
Allan Bukumbi, the Iringa regional Police Commander, said the accident occurred in Mahenge village in Kilolo district along the Dar es Salaam-Mbeya highway on early Monday morning when the van hit the tree after its driver had failed to negotiate a sharp corner, Xinhua news agency reported.

"The driver of the van ferrying newspapers from the commercial capital Dar es Salaam to Mbeya region was on high speed and failed to control the van at a sharp corner," Bukumbi told a press conference, adding that the accident occurred at 4 a.m. local time.

Bukumbi said four of the deceased were women and five men, adding that the injured victims were admitted to the Iringa regional government hospital.

--IANS int/khz/

( 162 Words)

2021-12-14-03:21:22 (IANS)
Wajir County Police Commander Hilary Toroitich said a gang of about five had raided a local mosque and taken hostage about 40 faithful who were present, Xinhua news agency reported.

Toroitich added that the militants suspected to have crossed from neighbouring Somalia ordered the faithful out and tried to drive them into a thicket heading to the nearby Kenya-Somalia border.

Their target was the Imam (Islamic preacher), also a police reservist who was leading the prayers then, the Police Commander said.

It was in the process that gunshots were fired forcing the gang to abandon their mission and escape, he added.

"But there were no injuries reported. We have sent reinforcements to help in tracking the gang," he said.

The area is near the Somalia border and the militants usually cross at will and stage attacks before escaping back.

--IANS int/khz/

( 180 Words)

2021-12-14-03:25:03 (IANS)
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti on Tuesday will appear before the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee for his hearing after his nomination from President Joe Biden to be the country's Ambassador to India. After more than five months of Garcetti's nomination as ambassador to India was announced by the White House, the Committee has finally scheduled the hearing at 10 am and will see the mayor give a statement followed by questions from Senators. Chaired by Senator Robert Menendez, Democrat lawmaker from New Jersey, the committee is made up of 22 senators, an equal split of Democrats and Republicans. However, Garcetti could face questions about criticism that he and his top aides failed to address allegations of sexual harassment by his former top advisor, which he denies. Senator Ted Cruz, a Republican committee member, could also make an issue of Garcetti's relationship with Hunter Biden, the President's son. Biden's nominee to be ambassador to Pakistan, Donald Armin Blome, and Amy Gutmann, the president's pick for ambassador to Germany, are also scheduled to appear before the panel at Tuesday's hearing. Known to be President Biden's close aide, Garcetti is a political appointee who in the past has served as a co-chair of Biden's presidential campaign. In announcing his nomination, the White House emphasised Garcetti's role in co-founding the bipartisan "Climate Mayors" network and in leading more than 400 US mayors to adopt the Paris Climate Agreement. According to sources, the White House strongly considers Garcetti to have a steady hand to guide the India-US relationship as Washington sees New Delhi as a key partner in its effort to push back against China's expanding power and influence. Garcetti, a Biden loyalist, has served as mayor of Los Angeles since 2013. He has a master's degree in international affairs from Columbia University and studied international relations as a Rhodes scholar at Oxford University. The White House statement released earlier this year said Garcetti had spent 12 years as an intelligence officer in the US Navy Reserve Component, serving under the commander of the US Pacific Fleet and with the Defence Intelligence Agency, before retiring in 2017 as a lieutenant. If approved by the senate foreign affairs committee Garcetti's nomination goes to the full Senate. A simple majority is needed to pass but Republicans have stalled the confirmation process by putting a "hold" on nominees. (ANI)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said that Washington will continue to play its stabilising role in the Indo-Pacific emphasising that it is the fastest-growing region on the planet. "What happens in this region in the 21st century will shape the trajectory of the world," said Blinken while delivering remarks on the 'US and Indo-Pacific' during an event in Jakarta on Tuesday. Blinken also said that the Indo-Pacific is the fastest-growing region on the planet. "That is why the United States will continue to play its stabilising role in the Indo-Pacific," he added. The US Secretary of State is on a visit to Indonesia. He met Indonesian President Joko Widodo on Monday. The two leaders discussed how the US and Indonesia can work together to preserve security and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific. Blinken's remarks on the Indo-Pacific comes two days after the Group of Seven (G-7) foreign ministers expressed concerns about Beijing's "coercive" economic policies. The G-7 foreign ministers on Sunday held talks with their counterparts from the ASEAN countries for the first time, as well as from Australia, South Korea and India, on the second day of the G-7 gathering, apparently to coordinate with the 10-member ASEAN and three other regional powers over policy on China. "We have been clear at this meeting this weekend that we are concerned about the coercive economic policies of China," Liz Truss said at a G7 news conference in Liverpool.(ANI)
China has been relocating Tibetans by demolishing their existing homes and coercing the poor Tibetans to accept fresh village homes in bordering villages with an aim to sideline the minority community and fulfil Beijing's strategic interests, according to a report. China has had a long history of relocating subjects so as to bolster vulnerable border areas. Known in Chinese as yimin shibian, the current move, however, does have some striking features that render it different from the past practices. Unlike the border areas of Manchuria, Inner Mongolia or Xinjiang; the Tibetan border areas are extremely difficult to farm or live in, said a report by International Forum For Right And Security (IFFRAS). These border areas are stationed at over 15,000 feet above sea level, the place has unique characteristics that only people accustomed to such heights can grapple with. Only Tibetans, used to living at such an altitude, have the ability to live comfortably at such heights and possess adequate knowledge of herding yaks, the report added. The relocation which is being done by the Chinese authorities is a persuasion process that is extraordinarily intense to the extent that the officials mostly demolish their existing homes and thereby coerce the poor Tibetans to accept fresh village homes in these bordering villages. There are clear signs that this whole idea of involving the Tibetans in carefully nurturing these border villages is not just about the infrastructural development aspect that the Chinese are reportedly so keen on, said IFFRAS. China's border project is essentially a novel form of colonialism wherein local beliefs, religious systems, leadership and knowledge are heavily sidelined and deliberately overruled. The only thing that matters here is the Chinese strategic interest, the report said. According to IFFRAS, the strategy of the Chinese to increase its border security is based on the works of a Korean scholar who had studied Chinese communities living alongside the Sino - Korean border. Noting that there was an urgent need to counter the population outflow from border villages, which had gradually resulted in the hollowing out of these villages, the Chinese began building more and more villages adjacent to India, Nepal and Bhutan. The larger idea is to deploy police and military units to live in those areas disguised as ordinary citizens wearing plain clothes and doing regular tasks for their livelihood. Such hollowing out of border villages would create hidden dangers in terms of security and infiltration of foreign elements into these areas. Therefore, the Chinese have urgently begun refocusing their Tibetan policy towards repopulating border villages in order to strengthen their own national security said IFFRAS. (ANI)
"Today, President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. declared that an emergency exists in the State of Illinois and ordered Federal assistance to supplement State and local response efforts due to the emergency conditions resulting from severe storms, straight-line winds, and tornadoes on December 10, 2021," the White House said in a statement.

A similar order was issued concerning the US state of Tennessee.

According to the official statements, the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will coordinate all disaster relief efforts to help residents.

"FEMA is authorized to identify, mobilize, and provide at its discretion, equipment and resources necessary to alleviate the impacts of the emergency. Emergency protective measures, including direct federal assistance, will be provided at 75 percent Federal funding," the statement said.

Late on Friday and Saturday, a series of tornadoes and hurricanes swept through the central and southern parts of the United States, leaving behind a trail of destruction and casualties. The disaster hit several US states, including Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas, Kentucky and Tennessee. On Saturday, Biden approved Kentucky Emergency Declaration and ordered federal assistance to the state, where tornadoes killed at least 74 people. (ANI/Sputnik)
The World Health Organization (WHO) has said that it expects an increase in the number of hospitalisations and fatalities related to the new Omicron coronavirus strain, reported Sputnik. "As case numbers linked to a variant of concern increase globally, we expect the number of hospitalized cases and even deaths to be reported," the WHO said in a statement. The UN health agency also said that more information is needed to fully understand the clinical picture of those infected with Omicron and WHO encourages countries to contribute to the collection and sharing of hospitalized patient data through the WHO COVID-19 Clinical Data Platform, according to Sputnik. It comes as the WHO last week had shed light on features of the new COVID-19 variant Omicron, including the extent to which it will spread, and the number of mutations in the newfound strain. The UN-health agency had suggested that a new variant could have a major impact on the course of the pandemic, but it's still too early to say for sure. Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, last week had said that highlighted "a consistent picture of the rapid increase in transmission" but he added that the exact rate of increase relative to other variants remains difficult to quantify. (ANI)
The lynching of Sri Lankan national Priyantha Kumara in Pakistan over blasphemy allegations by a hardline mob has signalled the rise of religion-based hatred violence in the country, according to a report. Priyantha was burnt alive after being severely beaten by angry supporters of a hardline Islamist party Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) in Sialkot, said a report by the International Forum For Right And Security (IFFRAS). The poster of the Islamist party was pasted on the wall adjoining the office of Kumara. A couple of factory workers saw him removing the poster and spread the word in the factory. Thereafter hundreds of men, enraged over the "blasphemy" incident, started gathering outside the factory from adjoining areas. Most of them were activists and supporters of the TLP. The mob dragged the suspect (the Sri Lankan national) from the factory and severely tortured him, and later burning him. Several videos were circulated on social media showing hundreds of men gathered at the site surrounding the body of the Sri Lankan national. They were chanting slogans of the TLP, said IFFRAS. Further, the report stated that the TLP has been exploiting Islam, spreading religious hatred, and using some sensitive socio-religious issues such as blasphemy law and the matter of the finality of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) for their political gains. TLP, which has been recently removed from the outlawed group by the Imran Khan government, has massively spread the violent political narratives at the street level mainly in Punjab province which was previously less so by the other schools of thought. The hardline party does not have any background of community service and charities. The report said that the TLP market only their firebrand style of retributive justice for those who were killed in the name of religion. TLP has propagated religious hatred content against both Muslim and non-Muslim communities on social media. It has spread content based on religious bigotry in digital space. The rise of TLP shows that their followers are now using violent tactics as other hardliner religious groups follow. The way TLP does politics on a sensitive issue like blasphemy law, one can't even imagine how dangerous it can turn out to be, according to IFFRAS. (ANI)
The US has no hostile policy toward North Korea while it continues to wait for a positive response from Pyongyang to its outreach, a state department spokesperson said Monday. Jalina Porter, principal deputy spokesperson for the state department, also reiterated that the US remains ready to meet with North Korea any time without any preconditions, Yonhap News Agency reported on Tuesday. "We remain committed to achieving a lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula through dialogue and diplomacy with the DPRK, and to that end, of course, we will seek to engage with the DPRK as a part of a calibrated and practical approach in order to make more tangible progress that increases the security of not only the US, but as well as our allies and our deployed forces," she said in a telephonic press briefing on Monday. DPRK stands for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the North's official name. Her remarks come after South Korean President Moon Jae-in said the US, China and North Korea have all expressed their agreement, in principle, for the need to formally declare an end to the Korean War, but that the countries have been unable to enter talks because of Pyongyang's demand for Washington to withdraw what it calls American hostility. "We certainly have no hostile intent towards the DPRK. And we're certainly prepared to meet without preconditions and we hope the DPRK will respond positively to our outreach," said Porter. "We'll continue to consult closely with Republic of Korea, Japan and other allies and partners about the best way to engage with the DPRK," she added, referring to South Korea by its official name. Echoing a similar statement, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said: "We have no hostile intent toward the DPRK, and we're obviously prepared to meet without preconditions and we continue to hope that the DPRK will respond positively to that outreach, the administration's outreach." The US has some 28,500 troops stationed in South Korea. North Korea has long demanded the withdrawal of American troops from South Korea, accusing joint ROK-US military exercises of being war rehearsals. North Korea has stayed away from denuclearization negotiations since 2019. --IANS ksk/ ( 371 Words) 2021-12-14-10:03:40 (IANS)
Earlier this August, Nirav Modi was granted permission to appeal against his extradition from the UK to India to face fraud charges on the grounds that a return to India would harm his mental health and place him at risk of suicide.

Modi's lawyers had long argued that their client suffered from severe depression and would not receive adequate medical care if he is imprisoned at the Arthur Road jail in Mumbai pending his court appearance.

They stated that his mental health condition had deteriorated further during his incarceration at Wandsworth Prison in South London following his arrest in London in March 2019 and the strict restrictions placed on prisons during the Covid-19 pandemic.

They had also introduced several medical experts to give evidence that Modi was at high risk of suicide.

Modi, once the jeweller to some of the biggest stars of Hollywood and Bollywood, stands accused of defrauding the state-owned Punjab National Bank of more than USD 2 billion through a carefully orchestrated scam involving dummy corporations and directors.

He is also charged by the Indian government with witness intimidation and destruction of evidence.

He has been held at Wandsworth Prison in London since his arrest in the British capital in March 2019. (ANI)
The explosion occurred at Police District 8 of Kabul city today, the official added without providing more details.

On Friday, a bomb attack targeted a mini-bus in the Dasht-i-Barch area of Kabul, killing two civilians and injuring three others.

The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for Friday's blast. (ANI)
The meeting was also attended by representatives of military departments, special services, financial monitoring services, law enforcement agencies, and ministries of justice of the two countries.

"The parties identified ways to expand military and military-technical cooperation, as well as collaboration on legal and regulatory issues and ensuring international information security," the council said in a statement.

The parties considered the prospects for cooperation in combating drug trafficking and organised crime, as well as countering terrorism. The issues of combating the laundering of the proceeds of crime and terrorism were also discussed.

The officials also exchanged views on the situation in the Asia-Pacific region and other issues of mutual interest.

"The delegations noted their firm commitment to the comprehensive deepening of Russian-Indonesian relations," the council added in the statement.

On Monday, Patrushev also met with Indonesian President Joko Widodo in Jakarta. They discussed issues of Russian-Indonesian bilateral cooperation, as well as interaction in multilateral formats, including the G20 and ASEAN.

Following the high-level consultations, Russia and Indonesia are expected to sign a new strategic partnership declaration in 2022, the parties said in a joint statement. (ANI/ Sputnik)
"Nasser al-Thibani, chief of the military operations of the government's forces, was killed while confronting the Houthi offensive aimed at the city of Marib early this morning," the source told Xinhua news agency on Monday.

The source said that the Houthis opened fire and killed al-Thibani and other soldiers of the pro-government forces during the raging battles near the Balaq mountain range, south of the city of Marib.

He clarified that al-Thibani was considered as a prominent official of the pro-government Ministry of Defence that's currently based in Marib.

The source added that the government forces have managed to regain control of several sites near Balaq, killing and injuring many elements of the Houthi rebel militia.

On Sunday, the Saudi Arabia-led coalition conducted 35 aerial operations against the Iran-backed Houthis near Marib, killing more than 200 militia members and destroying 21 vehicles.

During the past weeks, hundreds of Houthi fighters were either killed or injured as a result of the intensified Saudi aerial shelling launched to support the government forces in Marib and elsewhere in Yemen.

The Iran-backed Houthi militia launched in February a major offensive toward Marib in an attempt to seize control of the province, the last northern stronghold of the Saudi-backed Yemeni government.

Yemen has been mired in civil war since September 2014 when the Houthi militia forced the internationally recognized government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi out of the capital Sanaa.

--IANS ksk/

( 280 Words)

2021-12-14-11:23:23 (IANS)
Former Nepal foreign minister Pradeep Gyawali on Tuesday said that he had tested positive for Covid-19 with mild symptoms. Taking to Twitter, Gyawali informed that he has mild symptoms of COVID-19 and requested all those who had been in close contact with him for 4-5 days to be careful. "Tested COVID positive. Have mild symptoms. Kindly request to you all, who have been in close contact since 4-5 days, to be careful, to stay safe and to be tested, if have any symptoms," Pradeep Gyawali tweeted. (ANI)
The Embassy of Israel organised an alumni meeting for various Indian delegations that have gone to Israel over the years, in which Union Minister of Women and Child Development Smriti Irani was the guest of honour. According to an official statement, the alumni meet began with a moment of silence and condolences to the people and Indian government following the tragic helicopter crash in Tamil Nadu, which resulted in the death of the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) of the Indian Armed Forces, General Bipin Rawat, his wife, and 11 other military personnel. Several alumni members came together to share their experiences in Israel and success stories, the statement said. Speaking at the event, Israeli envoy to India, Naor Gilon said, "We are proud to organise Indian delegations from different walks of life." "Their visit to Israel leads to sharing of experiences, exchanging of expertise, networking and capacity building. They can also experience the similarities between our two nations. Israel and India are ancient civilizations with strong historical and cultural ties. The Indian delegates get an opportunity to witness this special bond while travelling across Israel," he said in the release. Union Minister Smriti Irani extended her compliments to the Embassy of Israel for organising delegations from India to Israel. "I extend my compliments to the Embassy of Israel for organising delegations from India to Israel. This brings the people from both countries closer to each other. I hope to visit Israel soon, not only to witness its innovation and technology but also to meet the people of Israel," she said in a statement. Ever since Israel and India established full diplomatic relations in 1992, the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs has organised various delegations from India that have gone to Israel. Several journalists, government officials, businesspersons, researchers, students, agriculture experts, water experts, volunteers from NGOs, influencers have been part of these delegations, according to the statement. They have travelled around Israel, met important personalities and visited places of cultural and historical significance. The purpose of these thematic delegations is to create a better understanding of Israel from a perspective that is relevant to each and every delegation, and to assist each delegate in creating personal relations and networks with key counterparts in Israel, the statement added. The event took place on December 9 at Ojas Art Gallery, Mehrauli in the national capital. (ANI)
"Juan Rolando Angulo Monsalve, Ambassador of Chile to India, called on General MM Naravane #COAS and discussed issues of mutual interest," Indian Army tweeted.

Earlier in September this year, the 7th Foreign Office Consultations (FOC) was held between India and Chile in Santiago.

During the FOC, both sides comprehensively reviewed the entire gamut of their bilateral relations which included trade and investments, defence, agriculture, health and pharmaceuticals, energy, space, cooperation in Antarctica, disaster management, cultural and consular issues.

Both sides acknowledged that trade is an important pillar of India-Chile relations and expressed satisfaction at the ongoing negotiations for the further expansion of the Preferential Trade Agreement which was signed in 2006 and expanded in 2017.

The two sides also exchanged views on regional and international issues on common interest including cooperation in the United Nations and agreed to work closely with each other in the multilateral arena. (ANI)
China's Liaoning Province will spend more than half a million dollars on a bridge into North Korea over the coming months to install "anti-terror monitoring points," overhaul electrical systems and conduct daily maintenance, government documents show, despite the bridge going unused for years, according to NK news, ab independent, privately owned specialist information sources that focus on North Korea.

Further, the new investments in the New Yalu River Bridge, which connects China's Dandong to the North Korean city of Sinuij is aimed to improve border security, according to the Chinese announcement.

"I think the Chinese government has been very consistent about their willingness to invest in connectivity with North Korea," Go Myong-hyun of the Asan Institute for Policy Studies.

"It could be part of China's long-term policy to keep investing in connectivity with North Korea, essentially preparing for the day when North Korea finally decides to reopen the border or increase the level of trade with China," he added.

Meanwhile, China passed border security legislation aimed at further securing the country's far-flung borders.

Further, China plans to replace a majority of the bridge's electrical systems, apply 334,000 square feet (31,000 square meters) of protective asphalt coatings and contract two years' worth of inspection and maintenance work, according to North Korea News.

Earlier, the New Yalu River Bridge was completed in 2013 at a cost of some $350 million and is supposed to be a major highway between North Korea and China. But it has gone virtually unused since completion, and as late as 2019 it ended abruptly in an empty field outside Sinuiju.

If opened, the New Yalu River Bridge would likely boost overall trade between China and North Korea. (ANI)
Amid concern over China's "aggressive actions" in the Indo-Pacific region, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday sought to bolster alliances against Beijing to "defend the rules-based order" stating that countries should have the right to "choose their own path". Outlining US's strategy in the Indo-Pacific region, Blinken who is on a two-day visit to Indonesia said, "We'll work with our allies and partners to defend the rules-based order that we've built together over decades to ensure the region remains open and accessible." "Let me be clear: the goal of defending the rules-based order is not to keep any country down. Rather, it's to protect the right of all countries to choose their own path, free from coercion and intimidation," Al Jazeera reported Blinken's speech at the University of Indonesia in Jakarta. The US Secretary of State described the Indo-Pacific as the world's most dynamic region and said everyone had a stake in ensuring a status quo that was without coercion and intimidation, in a barely veiled reference to China. According to Al Jazeera, Blinken insisted that Washington is not trying to force countries to choose between the US and China or seeking conflict with China. But he laid out a litany of complaints about "Beijing's aggressive actions" from "Northeast Asia to Southeast Asia and from the Mekong River to the Pacific Islands". "Countries across the region want this behaviour to change," he said. "We do too." He has also said that Washington will continue to play its stabilising role in the Indo-Pacific emphasising that it is the fastest-growing region on the planet. "What happens in this region in the 21st century will shape the trajectory of the world," said Blinken while delivering remarks on the 'US and Indo-Pacific' in Jakarta today. Blinken's remarks on the Indo-Pacific comes two days after the Group of Seven (G-7) foreign ministers expressed concerns about Beijing's "coercive" economic policies. The G-7 foreign ministers had on December 6 held talks with their counterparts from the ASEAN countries for the first time, as well as from Australia, South Korea and India, on the second day of the G-7 gathering, apparently to coordinate with the 10-member ASEAN and three other regional powers over policy on China. "We have been clear at this meeting this weekend that we are concerned about the coercive economic policies of China," Liz Truss said at a G7 news conference in Liverpool. China has been accused of claims in the resource-rich South China Sea. Beijing has aggressively pushed its nine-dash line claims in the Spratly and Paracel islands in the South China Sea. The other claimants to the SCS islands are Taiwan, Vietnam, Brunei, Indonesia, and Malaysia. Further, China has demonstrated an aggressive approach in pressing its territorial claims against its neighbours Meanwhile, the US Secretary of State met Indonesian President Joko Widodo on Monday and the two leaders discussed how US and Indonesia can work together to preserve security and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific. (ANI)
"The situation in international affairs, especially on the European continent, is very, very tense, and of course, requires discussion between the allies, between Moscow and Beijing. We see very, very aggressive rhetoric, both from NATO and from the United States of America, this requires our discussion with the Chinese side," Sputnik news agency quoting Peskov as saying.

The Kremlin spokesman also said that leaders will discuss regional issues, energy, and bilateral relations.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping will hold a virtual meeting on December 15.

Amid escalating tensions with the West, China and Russia are strengthening ties.

On foreign policy, Beijing and Moscow share similar approaches to Iran, Syria and Venezuela, and recently revived a push to lift United Nations sanctions on North Korea. (ANI)
According to the Pakistan High Commission today, the group will be visiting the renowned temple compound, also known as Qila Katas between December 17 to 23, the Pakistan High Commission said in a tweet.

"Today, the High Commission for Pakistan issued 112 visas to Indian Hindu pilgrims for their visit to a prominent Hindu Temple in Punjab, Pakistan. The group would be visiting Shree Katas Raj Temples, also known as Qila Katas in Chakwal district of Punjab from 17-23 December 2021," the Embassy in India said.

Katas Raj is considered one of the holiest places for the Hindu community in Pakistan. The temples form a complex surrounding a pond named Katas -- which is regarded as sacred by the devotees.

The visit is covered under the Pakistan-India Protocol on Visits to Religious Shrines, 1974.

A large number of Sikh and Hindu pilgrims from India visit Pakistan to observe various religious festivals every year. (ANI)
"The first follow-up to the Global Refugee Forum starts today. The High-Level Officials Meeting, a two-day virtual event, will bring together senior government officials, refugees, and various stakeholders, to take stock of progress on how the world responds to refugee situations," UNHCR said in a statement.

The meeting is expected to gather representatives of UN member states, as well as UN partners working in various refugee-related areas, such as various forms of assistance, resettlement, legal and political action.

In addition to assessing the progress, participants of the event will also discuss the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, and new conflicts on refugee flows, as well as increasing forced displacement which requires more inclusive and sustainable measures, according to UNHCR.

"The event will be an opportunity to identify gaps, review where efforts have continued or been adapted, seek solutions, and pledge new commitments for refugees and host communities ahead of the next Global Refugee Forum in 2023," the statement said.

The United Nations General Assembly adopted the global compact to create a framework for comprehensive international refugee policy on December 17, 2018. In 2019, the first Global Refugee Forum took place. It brought the international community together to discuss assistance to refugees and host countries.

The Global Refugee Forum provides support on the issues relating to employment, education, policy developments, fiscal support, solutions to displacement, clean energy, and infrastructure. (ANI/ Sputnik)
The Embassy of India, Antananarivo on Tuesday organized a webinar and virtual Business to Business meetings on opportunities in healthcare and pharmaceuticals. According to an official release, the Embassy of India Antananarivo collaborated with the Pharmaceuticals Exports Promotion Council of India (Pharmexcil) and organized a webinar and virtual Business to Business meetings on opportunities in healthcare and pharmaceuticals. The event was attended by Rakotomanana Fanjaniarivo Patricia, Responsible of Registration Department, Ministry of Public Health of Madagascar, Mehfooz Alam. Head of Generic Business, Opham and various pharmaceutical traders in India and Madagascar. "India and Madagascar share a good trade relationship with overall trade figures standing at USD 404.36 million for the year 2020-21. Out of this, pharmaceutical exports from India constituted USD 23.15 million. As per data for the current FY (available up to October 2021), out of India's total exports to Madagascar of USD 191.22 million, pharmaceutical products alone accounts for USD 16.95 million which is around 9 per cent of total exports," said Abhay Kumar, Ambassador of India to Madagascar in his opening remarks in the webinar. "I believe that pharmaceuticals sector has the potential to become of the major components of trade between the two countries as India is a major producer of medicines in the world and Madagascar imports most of its pharmaceutical requirements and this webinar will help in bringing the traders from both countries closer to each other", Ambassador Kumar added. According to the release, the webinar saw the enthusiastic participation of pharmaceutical traders with speeches on regulatory procedures in Madagascar from the official of Ministry of Public Health of Madagascar and sharing of experiences by members of the pharmaceutical industry of Madagascar. (ANI)
The UN Population Fund (UNFPA) has launched an $835 millio appeal to support people in crisis settings. With the Covid-19 pandemic and other challenges, the objective is to reach more than 54 million women, girls and young people in 61 countries, reports Xinhua news agency. "It is critical to recognize that sexual and reproductive health services are not secondary to other forms of emergency services; they are lifesaving. And now, as the world grapples with multiple overlapping catastrophes, they are more vital than ever," the UN agency said. Yemen has the greatest need for aid for the third consecutive year, as it needs around $100 million in urgent support, according to UNFPA's annual humanitarian report. There are estimates that every two hours, a woman dies in childbirth, and 1 million pregnant and breastfeeding women are acutely malnourished. More than 68 million dollars is required for services that include gender-based violence protection and response, and also to provide essential commodities such as dignity kits containing menstrual pads, soap and warm winter clothing. Rounding out the top 10 list of countries with the highest humanitarian funding requirements are the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan, Afghanistan, Nigeria, Venezuela, Haiti, Bangladesh and Lebanon. UNFPA reported that following the earthquake in Haiti this past August, gender-based violence, including rape and kidnapping, are widespread, which has increased the vulnerability of women and girls. Taina Camy, a UNFPA expert on preventing and addressing gender-based violence, explained that displaced people are more vulnerable because they are no longer in their homes and are living among strangers. Furthermore, they do not have access to basic services, such as bathrooms. "It's difficult to listen to horrific stories of women who have been sexually abused," she said recently. UNFPA is providing counselling and medical services, and working with local organisations and authorities in Haiti to improve conditions for people affected by the earthquake. The UN agency is also helping to restore health services, as many health facilities were damaged in the crisis. UNFPA has supported millions of people worldwide during the course of this year. So far, UNFPA has reached nearly 30 million women with sexual and reproductive health services in 2021. More than 4.3 million adolescents and young people also received services tailored specifically to them. The UN agency also assisted in over 1.5 million safe deliveries, supported family planning services for another 6 million people, and ensured more than 2.4 million survivors of gender-based violence received psychosocial support, legal assistance and livelihood training. Furthermore, at least 2 million people received personal protective equipment so they can continue to provide frontline services during the pandemic. UNFPA, formerly the UN Fund for Population Activities, aims at improving reproductive and maternal health worldwide. Its work includes developing national healthcare strategies and protocols, increasing access to birth control, and leading campaigns against child marriage, gender-based violence, obstetric fistula, and female genital mutilation. --IANS ksk/ ( 496 Words) 2021-12-14-13:42:28 (IANS)
President Ram Nath Kovind will embark on a three-day State visit to Bangladesh, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said on Tuesday. The visit is in the context of the 50 th Victory Day celebrations in Dhaka which Bangladesh President Abdul Hamid has invited Kovind to represent India as a guest of honour. Addressing a special briefing here, Foreign Secretary Shringla said, "Beginning tomorrow, President Kovind will be paying a State visit to Bangladesh. The visit will be from 15-17 Dec. This visit is in context of 50th Victory Day celebrations in Dhaka at which Bangladesh Pres has invited President Kovind to represent India as a guest of honour." President Kovind will be accompanied by the Minister of State for Education Dr. Subhas Sarkar and a Member of Parliament Rajdeep Roy. "This visit is of great historical significance. The year 2021 commemorates the Golden Jubilee of Bangladesh's independence. It commemorates 50 years of the establishment of diplomatic relations between our two countries. It also commemorates the great victory over the Pakistani army and their unconditional surrender to our joint forces, the forces of Indian armed forces and Bangladesh's forces on the 16th of December 1971," he said. Highlighting that the upcoming visit would be the first visit of President Kovind to Bangladesh since the COVID-19 outbreak, Shringla said that it signifies the importance that both countries attach to the bilateral ties. "Bangladesh inviting our President to be the guest of honour on this occasion to join to commemorate this event at which he is the only foreign dignitary who will be represented. At the same time, our president going out for the first time since the COVID pandemic is also very significant," Shringla said. The foreign Secretary recalled that the previous presidential visit from India to Bangladesh was undertaken by Pranab Mukherjee in 2013. President Kovind's visit to Bangladesh has several significant elements which reflect the strength of the India-Bangladesh partnership. During the visit, Kovind will hold a delegation-level meeting with his Bangladesh counterpart. "Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and foreign minister AK Abdul Momen will also call on the President," he further said. After that, Kovind will attend a banquet to be hosted by President Hamid. Shringla noted that in the morning President Kovind will pay tribute at the National Martyrs Memorial in Savar. "The Pakistani army in its genocidal campaign during the nine-month struggle for liberation killed three million people and committed horrific atrocities. And the memorial honours, those who died and suffered during this 1971 period," he said. President Kovind will also visit the Bangabandhu Memorial Museum to pay respect to the memory of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the father of the nation. "On the forenoon of 16th of December, Kovind will attend the Victory Day parade at the National Parade ground as a guest of honour. The parade includes a 122 member tri-service contingent from the Indian armed forces. Again, this is very unique and very special," he said. Foreign Secretary continued saying that India stood shoulder to shoulder with the people of Bangladesh during the struggle. Millions of Bangladeshis found shelter and refuge in India. "We recognize Bangladesh as an independent country is the second in the world to do so. Before it became free from the oppression that was there, It was an article of faith for us and a statement of our support for the righteousness of Bangladesh's cause," he stated. Shringla said that Kovind's program includes interaction with 'Mukti Jodhas' - Bangladeshis who took up arms and fought to free their country, along with our armed forces. "There'll also be a delegation of Indian veterans who will be in Bangladesh at that time. They too will call on President Kovind." President Kovind is scheduled to depart for Delhi on December 17. (ANI)
Despite rising Covid-19 cases, the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW) remains on track to ease more restrictions starting from Wednesday onwards. On Tuesday, daily new cases in NSW jumped to a 10-week high of 804, an increase from 536 on Monday, and almost four times since last week, reports Xinhua news agency. There was one reported death in the last 24 hours, but unlike previous waves, hospitalisations remain steady. And despite the upward trend, mask wearing in NSW will no longer be mandatory in indoor settings from Wednesday, and will only be required on public transport. In addition, non-essential retail venues such as restaurants and retail shops, would also open to the unvaccinated. NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard said on Tuesday that the state would not "backflip" on its path to opening up, but urged citizens to get a booster shots, and warned of dangers to the unvaccinated. "New South Wales is not planning on any snap lockdowns; what we are planning on is making sure the community understands the need to be vaccinated and the need to have boosters," Hazzard said on Tuesday. "You (unvaccinated people) might be out and about now, but you are very vulnerable to what is a rapidly increasing number of Covid cases." The fully vaccination rate for the state's over-16 population stands at 93.2, with 94.8 per cent having received at least one dose. Australia also remains on track to open its national borders from Wednesday to international students and skilled workers. The nation was originally due to open to the two groups from December 1, however, this was delayed following the emergence of the new Omicron variant. --IANS ksk/ ( 289 Words) 2021-12-14-15:09:04 (IANS)
Taking to Twitter, Mandaviya said that they also talked at length about further increasing cooperation in medical tourism, the pharma sector and other areas.

"Met Abdul Rahman Mohammed Al Owais, Minister of Health of UAE and had a detailed discussion on strengthening bilateral relations in health sector between two countries. We also talked at length about further increasing cooperation in medical tourism, pharma sector & other areas," Mandaviya tweeted.

Union Health Minister also met with UAE Minister of State Sheikh Shakhboot Nahyan Al Nahyan in Abu Dhabi. He said that they both had a productive discussion on further strengthening ties between India and UAE.

"Met UAE Minister of State @MoFAICUAE H.E. Sheikh Shakhboot Nahyan Al Nahyan in Abu Dhabi. We had a very productive discussion on further strengthening of ties between India & UAE. The cooperation between the two countries has grown even stronger during the #COVID19 challenge," Mandaviya wrote in another tweet. (ANI)
Women activists have expressed their concerns about a surge in violence against women in the crisis-torn country while gathering in the capital Kabul, local media reported. Women activists gathered in Kabul to mark the end of a 16-day campaign to "End Violence Against Women" (EVAM), Tolo News reported. "The EVAW was faded this year and the campaign did not cover other provinces where women have been facing violence," Tolo News quoted Toor Pikai Momand, head of the Mosavoda-e-Zanan Bara-e-Sulh as saying. "Women want freedom. And this is the women's rights based on Islamic values," said Setara Mohabat, university instructor. According to Tolo News, the women said that they were not able to mount the campaign in some provinces for various reasons. Women's rights activists who ran the campaign called on the Taliban officials to facilitate job and education opportunities for women as well as to include women in the government's structure. "The findings of EVAW show that many women lost their jobs and girls don't go to schools. The level of violence against women has increased," Tolo News quoted Lima Sapai, a member of the campaign as saying. The EVAW protest started on November 25, which is marked as the international day for EVAW, and ends on December 10, Human Rights Day. Earlier in September, the United Nations in Afghanistan called on everyone for concrete actions to end violence against women on the eve of the International Day for the EVAW. The Taliban entered Kabul on August 15, causing the US-backed government to step down. Later in September, the outfit announced the composition of the new interim government of Afghanistan. The country is currently battered by the deepening economic, humanitarian, and security crisis following the Taliban takeover. The international community, from governments to non-governmental organizations, has been providing various assistance to the Afghan people. (ANI)
The UK High Court on Tuesday began hearing an appeal by the billionaire diamond dealer Nirav Modi against his extradition to India to face charges of defrauding Punjab National Bank of more than Rs 11,000 crore as well as charges of money laundering and witness intimidation. Modi's lawyers argue that he should not be sent back to India on the grounds that it would harm his mental health and place him at risk of suicide. They contend that his long incarceration at Wandsworth Prison in south London - where he has been held since his arrest in London in March 2019 - has only made his condition worse. Modi has argued that he has long suffered from severe depression and that he would not receive the appropriate level of psychiatric and psychological care if incarcerated at the Arthur Road jail in Mumbai. His lawyers have based their appeal on the grounds that it would violate his human rights to be extradited. On the first day of the appeal, there was yet again on full display the British justice system which many a fugitive from justice - Modi being the latest - have relied on to fight extradition as Modi's lawyers and the two-judge panel debated over a two-and-a-half-hour period the minutiae of what constituted suicide risk and if there was a danger of Modi being pushed to suicide. Much of what was discussed had already been heard at Westminster Magistrate's Court where judge Samuel Goozee had earlier this year ordered Modi's extradition after ruling that there is a Prima Facie case against him as brought by the Enforcement Directorate and the CBI. This hearing was heard before Lord Justice Stuart Smith and Justice Robert Jay.At the very outset, Lord Justice Smith made it clear that the court was eager to get the case heard and a ruling to be issued particularly in light of what he called Modi's long incarceration at Wandsworth prison. Modi's legal team - led by Edward Fitzgerald QC, fresh from representing Julian Assange - relied on many of the arguments that they have relied on from the outset; that not only is Modi suffering from severe depression but that sending him to India would precipitate his taking his own life. The Indian government has made a variety of submissions and assurances with regards to providing adequate mental health care during his incarceration and on several occasions the bench made it clear that it was willing to accept the Indian government's assurances at face value. The court was told that the suicide of Modi's mother in 1979 made him especially vulnerable to suicidal tendencies and that extradition would be a trigger. The government of India has assured that Modi would be placed on suicide watch and would even have access to private medical care - including to mental health experts - outside of the Arthur Road jail facilities. However, Fitzgerald contended that the government, while making these assurances, had failed to provide how such a thing would work in practise. The judges retorted that the court was happy to take the assurance at face value. Lord Justice Smith also declared that India is a "sophisticated society" which "understands medical science and the need for proper treatment". The hearing continues at the Royal Courts of Justice. (ANI)
Voting is underway on the City Hall premises in Kathmandu to elect the president of the ruling Nepali Congress as none of the candidates could get a clear majority in the earlier round. The second round of voting started from 3:30 pm (local time) after no one got more than 50 per cent votes in the first round. Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, Dr. Shekhar Koirala, Prakash Man Singh, Bimalendra Nidhi and Kalyan Gurung were the candidates in the election held on Monday under the 14th General Convention. The second round of voting is expected to end by 10 and vote counting also is expected to start immediately, the election officials of the party informed. In the first round, Deuba got 2258 votes. Similarly, Dr. Koirala got 1702 votes, Nidhi got 249 votes, Singh got 371 votes and Gurung got 22 votes. Voting for the second round is underway as no candidate got 50 per cent of the votes. With other presidential candidates giving up in the second phase of the election, NC President Deuba and leader Dr. Koirala are contesting for the party's top post now. (ANI)
On the occasion of the Intellectual Martyr's Day or Black Day in the history of Bangladesh, several political, social, cultural and prominent groups recalled with horror and shame, the systemic and targeted genocide by the Pakistan Army. On December 14, 1971, Pakistan Army carried out killing of Bangladesh's people in order to destroy the intellectual backbone of the new nation. The blueprint of crippling the intelligentsia is known to have been chalked out by a body of at least 10 people headed by Major General Rao Farman Ali, the military advisor to the government of east Pakistan. Remenring the day, various NGOs, Universities, Ulemas and Imams came together to mark the occasion in various places of Bangladesh. In Dhaka, a group of around 1,000 students of Mukti Joddah Manch organized discussion meetings and documentary presentation on genocide of intellectuals by Pak Army on a multimedia projector at Shahbag in the evening. A street drama was also organized at Shahbag presented by Dhaka University Drama Society followed by a candle light vigil to remember martyred intellectuals in front of Eternal Monument in VC Chattar, Dhaka University. Separately, a street play performance by artists of Shilpakala Academy were made in front of National Press Club and highlighted the atrocities by Pak Forces. Bring awareness among youth to highlight the Pak army's role in 1971, a series of slide shows showing killing of the Martyrs in the hands of Pak army were run at digital display boards at prominent public intersections in Gulshan-1 and Dhanmondi. The slide shows highlighted the systemic killings indulged by the Pak army and called for justice against the perpetrators of this genocide. While in Khulna, volunteers of Bangladesh Social Activist Forum held a rally of 100 people which included 50 bikers. Similar programmes were held in Rajshahi, Benapole, Satkhira and Patuakhali under the banner. Scores of people were seen participating in these programmes. Elsewhere in Magura a human chain rally was organized which was attended by about 100 people holding banners and posters depicting photographs of martyrs. In Sylhet, a rally and discussion program was organized. In Chittagong, a rally was organized by Jongibad Pratirodh Andolan Bangladesh (JPAB) followed by human chain program in Chittagong demanding trial of Pakistan army officers in absentia who were involved in killing intellectuals on that day. This year also witnessed a unique signature campaign by Public Universities of Jashore, Khulna and Mymensingh under different student body groups. Thirty-six uiniversities all over Bangladesh also organized the protest against Pakistan atrocities under the banner of 'One Bangladesh'. They also held a candle light vigil. Various programmes highlighted that Bangladesh which is still reeling from the loss of martyred intellectuals is determined to eliminate fundamentalism and terrorism from its soil as it completes 50 years of its independence. (ANI)
The history of the 1971 Liberation War is not complete without the story of the Indian side and it is part of the syllabus of Bangladesh military and educational institutions, said Major General SM Kamrul Hasan of Bangladesh Army on Tuesday. Hasan has come to India to attend 'Vijay Parv' on the 50th Anniversary of the 1971 war victory along with other veterans of Bangladesh Army and Mukti Bahini at Parade Ground in Delhi where veterans of Indian Defence forces who participated in the war were also present. "It is an expression of the deep-rooted ties that we have with India and the cooperation that India did with Bangladesh in the 1971 war. We gratefully remember that and we look forward to strengthening our relationship further in days to come," said Hasan. "The syllabus of Bangladesh military institutions, as well as the educational institutions, adequately reflects the history of the liberation war. The young generation of Bangladesh remembers with gratefulness. They also look forward to furthering our relations in the days to come," he added. "Excited about being able to visit India. Every year we look eagerly to this event. I am representing one of the armed forces. We express our heartfelt gratitude to the Government of India for arranging such a festival," he added. At the event, veterans from both sides met each other and greeted. "We were preparing for the war from 1969. I still remember how we captured and defeated Pakistan in the war," said Lt Colonel KHS Shekhawat. Retd Colonel Shawkat Ali of Bangladesh Army said that he still remembers how Indian Defence forces helped them in the war and Bangladesh will always be grateful to them. (ANI)
A foreign national who entered Algeria on December 10 tested positive on his arrival at the International Airport of Algiers. His sample, which was sent to the Institut Pasteur d'Alger, was confirmed on Tuesday as the Omicron variant of the COVID-19, the official APS news agency reported.

Fawzi Derrar, acting director of the Institut Pasteur d'Alger, told reporters that the foreign national was put under quarantine upon his arrival in Algeria.

According to the WHO, the Omicron variant, which was first detected in Southern Africa, has been detected in at least 65 countries around the world.

Health authorities in Algeria on Tuesday reported 280 new COVID-19 cases and four new fatalities over the past 24 hours, bringing the total cases in the country to 213,288 and the death toll to 6,155. (ANI/Xinhua)
The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday suggested a high treason charge for enforced disappearances over the state functionaries responsible for providing protection to citizens. IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah, who made the observation during the hearing of a petition seeking safe recovery of 'missing' journalist Mudassir Mehmood Naaru, observed enforced disappearances gave the impression that the state was behind such a heinous crime, reported Dawn. Justice Minallah observed that even the media was not independent to cover miseries of 'missing' persons and their families. According to him, media in civilized societies gives vast coverage to such cases of enforced disappearance but Pakistani media seemed reluctant to carry even a photo of the children of a 'missing' person. Referring to the 'abduction' of Assistant Director of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) Sajid Gondal, the IHC chief justice remarked that a young man had illegally been taken into custody and was forced to give the statement that he had gone "to the Northern Areas on his own", reported Dawn. He said that the head of government should identify those individuals in the institutions under his command who are found to be behind enforced disappearances "Summoning officials of subordinate departments answerable to the prime minister and federal cabinet would be a futile exercise," he added. Imaan Zainab Hazir-Mazari, counsel for the family of the missing journalist, argued that officials of the spy agency should be held responsible for the enforced disappearance of any citizen from their respective jurisdiction, reported Dawn. However, Advocate retired Lt Col Inamur Rahim argued that Prime Minister Imran Khan and federal cabinet were responsible for the safety and security of citizens and if they would fail to protect the life of a citizen, then they were liable to be tried for subversion of the Constitution under the Rules of Business 1973, reported Dawn. (ANI)
"Afghanistan is facing an avalanche of hunger and destitution the likes of which I have never seen in my twenty-plus years with the World Food Program," WFP Country Director Mary-Ellen McGroarty said in a press release.

McGroarty added that the WFP urgently needs USD 220 million each month in 2022 for 23 million Afghans.

In November, WFP assisted more than seven million people, dispatching over 50,000 million tons of food - almost double the dispatches in September, the release said.

In preparation for the coming year, WFP began prepositioning food in strategic locations across the northeast and central highlands of the country where heavy winter snows can cut off communities from assistance, the release added.

An estimated 98 per cent of Afghans are not consuming enough food, a 17 per cent increase since August, according to the latest WFP survey cited in the release.

The humanitarian crisis deepened in Afghanistan after the Taliban took over the country in mid-August. (ANI)
US Ambassador-designate to Pakistan Donald Armin Blome on Tuesday (local time) said that he will push Islamabad to target all terrorist groups without distinction. "If confirmed, I will press Pakistan to target all terrorist groups without distinction," said Blome. The diplomat was questioned by lawmakers weighing his nomination to become the ambassador to Pakistan. Blome, during his testimony, gave a statement followed by questions from lawmakers of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee is chaired by Sen. Robert Menendez, a Democrat lawmaker from New Jersey, along with only a handful of Democrats and two Republicans. Blome further said that will never shy away from defending human rights in Pakistan, particularly freedom of religion and expression. "Religious minorities in Pakistan have long faced discrimination including accusations of blasphemy. The accusations have undermined the rule of law, threatened mob rule and deeply damaged Pakistan's international reputation and have led to many deaths. If confirmed, I will speak out against violations of human rights and religious freedom," said Blome. He also shared his thoughts on the kidnappings, assaults and enforced disappearances of Pakistani journalists. "Pakistani journalists and members of civil society face kidnappings, assaults, intimidation and disappearances. I will advocate for expanded protections for freedom of association and assembly, and will meet with civil society partners regularly," added Blome. He further reiterated his support for local groups and individuals who are often courageously leading these fights on the ground. "I would certainly use my position to speak publicly along with my engagements at senior levels of the Pakistani government to make clear US government priorities and values with regards to human rights and personal freedoms. Beyond that, I think it's also very important to work with local groups and individuals who are often courageously leading these fights on the ground. And I would look for ways that we can continue to support those groups and strengthen our support for those groups and those voices to make them more effective in leading the movement for change in Pakistan," said Blome. He also talked about Afghanistan and said that Pakistan has a shared interest in ensuring that the war-torn country does not once again become host to terrorist groups and a contributor to regional instability. "Mission Pakistan also plays an important role in encouraging an inclusive Afghan government that respects and promotes the human rights of all individuals, including women and girls, members of minority groups, and ensuring that Afghanistan never again becomes a safe haven for international terrorism," said Blome. Blome, who is currently the US Ambassador to Tunisia, has served US diplomatic missions in Kabul, Jerusalem, Cairo, Baghdad and Kuwait. (ANI)
"Islamabad offered a safe haven to the Taliban even as its militants targetted and killed US troops. We need to have a serious conversation with the Pakistani Government in our path forward," said Senator Menendez, who was chairing the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.

The senator, who is chairing a hearing of US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations on ambassadorial nominations to Pakistan, India and Germany, further said, "As I told this committee last month, the failure of our mission in Afghanistan was due, in a small part, to years of Pakistani double-dealing."

He also welcomed the nomination of Donald Armin Blome as US Ambassador to Pakistan.

"We welcome your (Donald Armin Blome as US Ambassador to Pakistan) nomination at this particularly challenging moment in US-Pakistan bilateral relationship," said the Democrat senator.

Further, Menendez welcomed the nomination of Eric Garcetti, as US Ambassador to India.

"As a member of Quad, alongside US-Japan-Australia, India is playing a greater role in helping maintain free and open Indo-Pacific. In September, Biden administration hosted 1st-ever in-person Quad Summit," said Menendez. (ANI)
As per the election officer Sunil Pandey, Deuba secured 2733 votes out of 4623 votes that were cast. "The electoral body is yet to announce the results officially but PM Deuba has been elected for the second tenure as party President," said Pandey.

He defeated Dr Shekhar Koirala, who was contesting while other presidential candidates, gave up in the second phase of the election.

The second round of voting started from 3:30 pm (local time) after no one got more than 50 per cent votes in the first round. Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, Dr Shekhar Koirala, Prakash Man Singh, Bimalendra Nidhi and Kalyan Gurung were the candidates in the election held on Monday under the 14th General Convention.

In the first round, Deuba got 2258 votes. Similarly, Dr Koirala got 1702 votes, Nidhi got 249 votes, Singh got 371 votes and Gurung got 22 votes. Voting for the second round is underway as no candidate got 50 per cent of the votes. (ANI)
1,500 Black college students challenged police in 1961. The Supreme Court took their side.

USA TODAYs Seven Days of 1961 explores how sustained acts of resistance can bring about sweeping change. Throughout 1961, activists risked their lives to fight for voting rights and the integration of schools, businesses, public transit and libraries. Decades later, their work continues to shape debates over voting access, police brutality and equal rights for all.

BATON ROUGE, La.  Sylvia Copper, 20, stared at the police officer as he bounced a tear gas can in his hands.

It was 10 days before Christmas 1961. She stood outside the Baton Rouge courthouse with at least 1,500 other Black college students, protesting the arrests of 23 peers for picketing outside segregated stores the day before.

The air was cold, the ground damp from rain, and the officer seemed nervous as he fidgeted with the container until it slipped from his grasp.

The canister hit the ground and released a cloud of toxic fumes. Officers nearby reacted by throwing cans of their own, filling the air with chemicals that burned the eyes of anyone nearby.

The young people fled through a row of homes, knocking down fences like cattle, Copper said. They screamed as police gave chase, hitting students with nightsticks and placing some under arrest.

From jail cells atop the courthouse, those arrested the day prior watched in horror through small windows.

The officers, protesters said, wanted to make the students an example of what happened when Black people stepped out of line.

The violence soon proved to have the opposite effect.

The officers' response rallied more white Americans to support Black protesters and set the foundation for a Supreme Court case against bias in law enforcement. In 1965, the high court ruled protesters could not be punished for "peacefully expressing unpopular views"  affirming First Amendment rights for future generations.

It created a precedent that you couldnt just charge people with anything and put them away and expect those charges to stick, said John Pierre, chancellor of the Southern University Law Center in Louisiana.

Story continues

Ronnie Moore, a civil rights activist involved in the Baton Rouge demonstration, said if white police officers and lawmakers had not violently sought to stall progress, the work he and other protesters did likely would not have gained traction.

The most effective strategy to kill the civil rights movement would be to never use dogs, never use water, ignore (protesters) and theyll never make the headlines, he said. "They never had the discipline to do that. They almost never had the ego to do that.

The hope of the family

The night before the demonstration, Copper called her mom from Southern University, a historic Black college overlooking the Mississippi River.

Her mother was a widow raising three children. She wanted to see her daughter earn her degree in nutrition, not go to jail. But on the phone, she said she understood her childs pull to protest.

We knew all along that Blacks werent getting what everybody else was getting, Copper said. It came to a point where everybody was just ready for a change.

Many Southern University students grew up in the Deep South, accustomed to sitting at the back of public transit, being denied service at businesses and playing in streets instead of whites-only parks.

Their parents saved money to help their children attain the education theyd been denied. At church, they prayed for societal change.

But the students felt hard work and prayer could get them only so far. They had to pressure white people to treat them as equal citizens.

Many of these folks could not afford to go to jail, Pierre said. The students couldnt afford to be kicked out of school. Some were the hope of the family. They were put through hell to do something to not just be the generation that stood by and let white supremacy rule the day.

Early in the fall semester, students interested in protesting segregation began meeting at Camphor Memorial Methodist Church near campus. Members of the Congress of Racial Equality, a pivotal civil rights group, had come to help them organize. For months, they trained students on how to plan demonstrations and to protect themselves against violence.

They would go through show-and-tells with us, Copper said, hitting at us and shouting at us, spitting in our face. They would tell us to, say, if they try to hurt or kick you or beat you down, roll yourself up so you can kind of protect yourself, your face, your head, your backs.

As the holiday season began, CORE sent letters to a dozen department stores, asking them to provide equal employment for Black workers and to open all facilities to Black customers.

In early December, CORE escalated its demands. Activists called on Black shoppers to boycott the retailers. They performed sit-ins at white lunch counters and picketed stores that refused to desegregate.

At some point, we made the decision that in order to dramatize how terrible the system is and how much change is needed, were going to have to decide to go to jail over the Christmas holidays, said Weldon Rougeau, then a 19-year-old sophomore at Southern University and vice chair of CORE in Baton Rouge.

Weldon Rougeau, left, speaks with Ossie Davis during a trip to New York in 1962, where Rougeau and other civil rights activists recounted their experiences for a Commission of Inquiry into the Administration of Justice in the Freedom Struggle, led by Eleanor Roosevelt.

Rougeau grew up in rural Louisiana, the only child of tenant farmers who were forced to share profits with the propertys owners. The arrangement never felt right to him. Rougeau, like many young people, joined the civil rights demonstrations unfolding across the nation.

I cant begin to tell you the consternation that caused in households of many of the students, including my parents, he said. People were well aware of all the terrible things that had happened to Black people who were arrested, some of whom were never found again.

A 7-mile walk for civil rights

Baton Rouge officials had had enough.

For days, the students had disrupted life in the predominantly white business district.

District Attorney Sargent Pitcher issued a warning: Anyone caught picketing would be arrested and fully prosecuted.

CORE members were ready for the risk. On Dec. 14, nearly two dozen met downtown to protest again.

Each carried signs to their destinations: We tried to talk  now we walk. This store discriminates  dont buy here.

Most didnt make it to the storefronts.

They stopped me after about 25 steps or so, said Joe L. Smith, then sophomore class president at Southern University. "It didnt take five minutes for me to get arrested.

In total, 23 protesters were handcuffed and taken to jail.

Ronnie Moore, foreground, joins another Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) worker making signs.

Moore, chairman of CORE in Baton Rouge, quickly prepared students for the second phase of their plan.

On Dec. 15, they'd rally for the picketers release.

Students were supposed to travel to the courthouse by bus.

In the chilly morning hours, they met at a railroad track near the edge of campus in Scotlandville, a majority Black community in northern Baton Rouge.

Dozens piled into buses helmed by Black residents. But police soon intercepted them. Officers claimed the buses were overloaded, Moore said, and placed the drivers under arrest.

At the front of the crowd, Moore rode in a car with loudspeakers. His job was to keep the line moving to the courthouse. But as the car left the safety of campus, officers handcuffed him for using a sound truck without a permit. They later added a charge of conspiracy to commit criminal mischief with a $2,000 bond  equivalent to $8,000 today.

The students had a choice: Give up or walk 7 miles from the university to the rally site.

CORE captains organized hundreds of students into orderly lines and began the trek on foot. A light rain fell as they walked quietly on the shoulder of Scenic Highway, a major state thoroughfare. Soon, white drivers aimed their tires at puddles as they passed, splashing water onto the students best dresses, suits and coats.

Hours later, the protesters turned onto St. Louis Street, filling a sidewalk across from the courthouse and jail.

The Rev. Benjamin Elton Cox, a CORE field secretary, had assumed leadership following Moores arrest. He informed police Chief Wingate White of the protesters agenda.

We intended to sing one stanza of God Bless America, recite the Lords Prayer and make allegiance to the flag, Cox later testified.





Move them out

Cox, who earlier that year volunteered to be one of the original 13 Freedom Riders challenging segregation in interstate travel, had spent weeks in Baton Rouge helping students organize.

On Dec. 15, he stood between them and more than 300 police officers armed with tear gas, revolvers and submachine guns.

Dont feel intimidated, Cox told the students.

If they give us tear gas, we will take it and fall honorably," he said, according to news reports.

The students proceeded to sing, their voices carrying to the jail on the courthouses fourth floor.

From their cells, arrested students and CORE members banged on windows and cheered in response.

Weldon Rougeau, 78, took part in civil rights demonstrations as a student at Southern University in 1961. He is pictured here in August 2021.

It was very inspiring, Rougeau recalled. It said, Hey, we have not been forgotten.

White witnesses, in court documents, described the scene differently. The students cheered in a conquest type of tone, police Capt. L.C. Font said. Officers said they didnt know what the students might pull out from under their coats. They feared the crowd might attempt to overtake the jail.

Tensions began to rise. Cox addressed the crowd.

It is lunchtime, he told the activists. Let us go downtown to eat.

He pointed the students to businesses CORE had been picketing.

These stores are open to the public. You are members of the public," he said. "Go to the designated places and sit until you are waited on.

Sheriff Bryan Clemmons wasnt about to let that happen. We have given you the opportunity to demonstrate here," he said through a loudspeaker, "but now you are creating a disturbance.

He turned to his deputies: Move them out.

The students ran, stopping only to turn on a hose and wash the tear gas from their eyes.

Some headed for stores on Third Street, where police released two German shepherds. The animals bit at the activists, tearing their flesh and clothes.

By the end of the day, 300 sought treatment at the university infirmary.

Fifty more students and CORE members were arrested, including Cox. All were transported to the same jail theyd just protested.

Christmas behind bars

Moore spent Christmas, New Years Day and his 21st birthday behind bars.

The 73 protesters arrested owed a combined $116,000 in bail. As their attorneys and families worked to raise the capital, the protesters remained in a poorly ventilated jail cell meant to hold 48.

Moore was briefly released in January and returned to Southern University, where he and eight other students were expelled for their roles in the protest at the order of an all-white Board of Education.

Moore and Rougeau were quickly arrested again for trespassing on campus. This time, they were charged with criminal anarchy or attempting to overthrow the state government.

For more than 50 days, the pair was held in solitary confinement without bond. The 6-by-9-foot cell they shared had a bunk bed, sink and toilet and no windows. They couldnt receive visitors other than their lawyers. They were allowed out to shower once a week.

I remember the isolation and really the sense of almost hopelessness, Rougeau said.

Some CORE members had worried the police attack would scare off future protesters and strangle the fledgling movement.

But in the days after the protest, more demonstrations popped up on campus and in New Orleans, with young people demanding to know why the students were being punished.

In January 1962, The Campus-Times at the University of Rochester sent a reporter to Baton Rouge to learn how students at the northern school could help.

And that spring, former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt led an inquiry into the treatment of civil rights activists, inviting four Louisiana protesters to testify before a committee. The group later called on the president, Congress and Department of Justice to better protect demonstrators.

That was also a major turning point for the movement, especially outside of Louisiana, Rougeau said. People began to see what the state was doing to these students, trying to express their constitutional rights.

Fear cannot alone justify suppression

In early 1962, Cox returned to the courthouse to face trial in a segregated courtroom.

Judge Fred A. Blanche Jr. had been in the building during the 1961 protest. Though he didnt step outside to witness the crowd, he said in his ruling he felt apprehensive that trouble or violence could erupt from such a situation.

He found the CORE field secretary guilty on three misdemeanor charges: obstructing the sidewalk, obstructing justice and disturbing the peace. He sentenced Cox to serve one year in jail.

Attorneys for the reverend appealed, arguing police officials fear of serious injury cannot alone justify suppression of free speech.

But the Louisiana Supreme Court stood firm on the ruling, depicting the students as well-trained and indoctrinated and subject to any desired activity required by Cox by so simple a signal as the snapping of his fingers.

As the civil rights movement gained momentum, CORE attorneys continued to fight the charges with the hope of setting a precedent for protests to come.

In 1965, their prayers were answered when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the lower courts verdict. At the crux of the judges decision was a video from the rally that showed Cox and the students protesting peacefully.

To uphold Coxs charges would mean allowing persons to be punished merely for peacefully expressing unpopular views, Justice Arthur Goldberg wrote in the majority opinion.

Decades later, lawmakers are once again targeting freedom fighters in the wake of the murder of George Floyd and the global Black Lives Matter protests that broke out after his death in May 2020. A spate of state laws proposed this year would give law enforcement broad discretion to suppress demonstrations, said Nicholas Robinson, a senior legal advisor for the International Center for Not-for-Profit Law.

"There's always going to be another way to deter protesters, to undercut their rights to assemble," said Ada Goodly, director of the Lewis A. Berry Institute for Civil Rights and Justice at Southern University.

Copper, now 80 and a legislative researcher for the state of Louisiana, said such anti-protest laws are exactly why people need to keep fighting. Black people do not have the same opportunities to build wealth as white people, and lawmakers continue to file bills making it harder for Black residents to vote, she said.

People are still in denial. They dont think theyre prejudiced. They think theyre doing alright. They think Black people are alright, she said. Were still in the same rut that weve been in all along.

To report these stories, USA TODAY interviewed veterans of the civil rights movement, historians and witnesses and reviewed public records.

Explore the series

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: How Louisiana students fought segregation and secured protest rights
A person is tested for COVID-19 in Johannesburg, South Africa, on Saturday November 27, 2021. AP Photo/Jerome Delay

Pfizer's shot cut hospitalization risk by 70% during Omicron surge, compared with no vaccine, a study found.

Glenda Gray, president of the South African Medical Research Council, said it was a drop from 93% during Delta wave, but boosters "will help".

The study didn't confirm the cases were Omicron, so it's not possible to tell precise effectiveness against the variant.

Two doses of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine shot offered about 70% protection against hospitalization during a recent surge in Omicron cases in South Africa, preliminary real-world data found.

This was a drop from about 93% in a previous Delta wave, the researchers from Discovery Health, South Africa's largest insurer and South Africa's Medical Research Council, said in a briefing Tuesday.

They said that 70% was still regarded as "good protection".

The latest analysis found that, compared with those who had not been vaccinated, the vaccine protected all age groups from admission to hospital with COVID-19 during South Africa's Omicron wave, with protection ranging from the highest  at 92%  in 18 to 29 year olds, down to 59% protection in 70 to 79 year olds, according to the researchers. Older people were immunized first in South Africa so waning immunity may have contributed to the findings.

Glenda Gray, president of the South African Medical Research Council, said that boosters "will help" increase protection against Omicron, per local broadcaster eNews Channel Africa.

The preliminary study from South Africa, which hasn't yet been formally published, is one of the first real-world insights into how much protection COVID-19 vaccines might afford against Omicron  a fast-spreading variant with 32 mutations in the part of the virus that infects cells and existing vaccines target.

The study's findings may be limited, however, because it assumed 78,000 of 211,000 lab test results from November 15 and December 7 were Omicron but didn't confirm it. South African health officials said on December 2 that Omicron accounted for 70% of sequenced COVID-19 cases in the country in November.

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Simon Clarke, associate professor in Cellular Microbiology at University of Reading, cautioned that three weeks may not be long enough to give an accurate picture of how vaccines work against severe COVID-19. "It shouldn't be forgotten that in the UK there was a five week gap between the first diagnosis and the first death," he said in a statement to the Science Media Center Tuesday.

Early studies on Pfizer's vaccine, from various labs worldwide, have already found a 20 to 40 fold reduction in antibody response against Omicron versus other variants.

It wasn't clear from the experiments how well the vaccine would perform in real-life especially against severe disease, which relies on other components of the immune system, called T cells and memory cells, rather than antibodies. Antibodies stop the initial infection and then T cells and memory cells stop you from getting sick or dying, although a few people will inevitably become severely unwell.

The South African researchers also said Tuesday that Pfizer's vaccine was 33% effective against infection during the Omicron wave compared with 80% in the Delta surge. Antibodies are the first line of defence against infection so the reduction in protection could be in keeping with the lab studies.

Real-world data from the UK published Friday found that, after a booster, Pfizer's vaccine was 70% to 75% effective against symptomatic COVID-19 caused by Omicron.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Palm Beach County Resident Ella Reiss shouts and applauds during a Bans Off Our Bodies abortion rights protest at Clematis Street and Flagler Drive in West Palm Beach, Saturday, October 2, 2021.

If everyone who is not in favor of reversing Roe v. Wade would write a letter to all of the members of the Supreme Court, perhaps the Justices will take into account that they are representing the wishes of all the people of the U.S. and not the legislators. The Constitution does not mention abortion, to the best of my knowledge. Does the Court believe that none of our foremothers ever had one, or that it was a topic for discussion in the entire 13 colonies? I am well past worrying about my own need for an abortion, but I remember when we fought for the right to have one, when there were even fewer women in Congress. Why is there no law about men being required to be reversibly fixed so that women wouldnt have to worry about pregnancy until such time as she wants to become pregnant? Why does the right only care about people before they are born or ready to die and doesnt want to lend a helping hand to people in between?

Barbara Stewart, West Palm Beach

Parents have role in school crowding

School crowding could be alleviated by cracking down on parents who falsify their location. I can't begin to count how many people I have overheard talking about using a friend's or relative's address to get their kids into a desirable school like Park Vista, instead of the school that sits in their district. Perhaps its time to implement some tangible consequences for these scheming, lying parents. Moreover, what kind of example does this set for the children of parents who willfully lie to get what they want? Whatever happened to common sense? Where I grew up, outside of Detroit, you simply went to the school you lived closest to. Nothing could be simpler than that.

Kurt Kelley, Boynton Beach

Fentanyl still besets Palm Beach County

The State Attorneys Addiction Recovery Task Force presented bleak data showing our country experiencing record numbers of drug overdose deaths: over 100,000 between April 2020 and April 2021. This increase is being driven by fentanyl, a powerful, fast-acting synthetic opioid that traffickers are lacing with street drugs. The Drug Enforcement Agency recently issued a public safety alert warning of a sharp increase in fake prescription pills containing fentanyl. Law enforcement has seized over 9.5 million counterfeit pills in 2021, more than the previous two years combined. Even more disturbing, 40% of black market pills contain a potentially lethal fentanyl dose.

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When the opioid epidemic emerged, government and community leaders took action. Now the threat has grown. To combat it, the Florida Legislature must legalize fentanyl test strips to detect contamination. All emergency rooms should test for fentanyl so we can understand the full scope of this crisis and provide proper treatment. Furthermore, we must make full use of our countys Addiction Stabilization Unit at JFK Medical Center North, by encouraging first responders to transport overdose patients there so patients can be placed in lifesaving treatment programs. By recognizing the fentanyl epidemic and taking swift action now, we will save lives.

Melissa McKinlay represents Palm Beach County Commission's District 6.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Action needed to save Roe v. Wade and abortion rights
Associated Press

A former hermit in New Hampshire whose cabin in the woods burned down after nearly three decades on the property that he was ordered to leave has been charged with trespassing there once again, turning a shed that survived the fire into a makeshift home outfitted with a wood stove. There had been an outpouring of support for David Lidstone, 81  better known as River Dave" since he was arrested in July and accused of squatting on property owned by a Vermont man. Lidstone was a local celebrity to boaters and kayakers on the Merrimack River before his property dispute caught the attention of the masses, bringing in over $200,000 in donations to help him start a new, law-abiding life.
(AP)

Former New York governor Andrew Cuomo will have 30 days to return proceeds from his book about his administrations response to Covid-19 following a state ethics committee vote.

Mr Cuomo placed $1m from book sales into a blind trust for his daughters, and he donated $500,000 to the United Way. He has yet to receive the full $5.1m as part of a contract with his publisher, according to his income tax returns.

In a statement, his attorney Jim McGuire accused the committee of unconstitutional actions that exceed its own authority and appear to be driven by political interests rather than the facts and the law.

Should they seek to enforce this action, well see them in court, he said.

The former governor is under a separate state attorney general investigation about the use of government resources to write American Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic, which was published late last year.

Mr Cuomo resigned from his third term in office in August following widespread allegations of sexual harassment and abuse and the likelihood of a weeks-long impeachment investigation as lawmakers and law enforcement probed both abuse allegations and his handling of the public health crisis and its impact in nursing homes.

Last month, the Joint Commission on Public Ethics voted to rescind its approval for the book, arguing that the committee allowed the project only under an agreement that no government staff would be used to help draft or edit the book.

A report from the state Assemblys Judiciary Committee determined that Mr Cuomo used government resources and staff to help with the book, though the former governor has argued that such help was done on a volunteer basis.

More follows....

Read More

Letitia James ends NY governor run, seeks reelection instead

Head of NY university system resigns amid Cuomo fallout

Publisher scraps plans to release book by Chris Cuomo
Emergency Department physician Dr. David Fosnocht receives his first dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine from Nurse Jackie Sims on Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2020, at Augusta Health in Fishersville. The healthcare system says it's under stress from the influx of COVID patients.

FISHERSVILLE  The first vials of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine arrived at Augusta Health one year ago Dec. 15, 2020. The first vaccinations were given to frontline employees. In 2021, vaccination clinics expanded according to Virginia Department of Health's timeline as availability increased.

One year later, Augusta Health is experiencing an increase in COVID-19 activity in the community, according to a news release

Augusta Health's testing positivity rate is 17%. COVID-19 inpatient admissions are up to 29, with three deaths over the past week. In comparison, the inpatient COVID-19 census was 13 on Dec. 6.

As of Dec. 13, 16 new positive cases of COVID were diagnosed at Augusta Health testing sites. Last weekend, 38 new positive cases diagnosed at Augusta Health testing sites. Since the pandemic began, Augusta Health has diagnosed 10,012 cases of COVID-19.

"Please vaccinate, wear masks indoors even if vaccinated, wash hands frequently and stay socially distant from others when possible  especially during indoor holiday gatherings," said Augusta Health.

Vaccination eligibility

Augusta Health is vaccinating everyone age 5 and older who lives, works or goes to school in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines are authorized for individuals age 18 and over. Pfizer vaccine is authorized for individuals age 5 and older; a parent or legal guardian must be present to consent to vaccination of those under the age of 18. Booster criteria vary by vaccine, so please be aware of the criteria for the vaccine selected, said Augusta Health.

Children 5-11 years old:

To ensure patient safety and in awareness of the different dosage for the 5-11 year-old age group, there are separate clinics for ages 5-11 only at the on-campus location. A parent or legal guardian must be present to consent to vaccination for those under the age of 18.

Booster eligibility:

Anyone over the age of 16 years old can receive third-dose COVID-19 booster shots. Eligibility for boosters was expanded to include 16- and 17-year-olds by the FDA and CDC last week.

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When can you get the booster?

At least six months after you completed your Pfizer or Moderna series

If you're immune suppressed and have completed either the Pfizer or Moderna series, you can get a third dose in 28 days

At least two months after Johnson & Johnson vaccination

Which booster can you get?

If you are 18 or older, you can get any booster shot you prefer.

If you are 16-17 years old, you can get a Pfizer booster.

For patient safety concerns, vaccines will be offered on specific days. Make an appointment for a clinic that is offering the vaccine you want. If you are registering for a booster, and are switching vaccine, make an appointment for the type of booster you want. For example, if you originally received a Pfizer vaccine, but would like a Moderna booster, make an appointment in a Moderna clinic.

Remember to bring your vaccination record card to the booster appointment.

Visit vaccinate.augustahealth.com to make appointment for all clinics.

Your support helps keep the lights on at The News Leader. Stay connected with our stories, enterprise reporting and more by clicking "Subscribe" at the top of the page.

More: VP for Nexus facing 10-count federal indictment for employment tax fraud

More: Threat on social media targets another Augusta County school; charges pending

Primary care offices

Vaccinations for COVID-19 continue in all Augusta Medical Group primary care offices. Patients who prefer to receive a vaccination from their personal physician should contact their doctor's office to be scheduled into the next available vaccination appointment block.

Community-based clinics

This week, Augusta Health's Community Vaccination Team is providing boosters and vaccinations at Bridgewater College, Glossbrenner United Methodist Church in Buffalo Gap and Allen Chapel in Staunton.

To date, more than 10,000 vaccines have been administered at clinics within vulnerable communities by the Augusta Health Task Force.

Community organizations that would like to partner with Augusta Health for a Vaccination Clinic can contact VaccinationTaskForce@augustahealth.com for more information on the requirements.

On-campus vaccination clinics

Augusta Health asks that you make an appointment for on-campus clinics. Go to vaccinate.augustahealth.com to view the links and schedule an appointment. Information about new clinics, the links and the criteria for each link, are posted as available.

On-campus clinics this week:

Tuesday, Dec. 14: Pfizer Clinic for children 5-11 years old from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.

This clinic is for those ages 5-11 only. A parent or guardian must be present to consent to vaccination of the child under the age of 18. Wednesday, Dec. 15: Pfizer Clinic from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. for those age 12 and older.

For first dose and second dose available to those age 12 and older, booster dose available to those age 16 and older. Please verify criteria before registration.

Thursday, Dec. 16: Pfizer Clinic from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. for those age 12 and older.

For first dose and second dose available to those age 12 and older, booster dose available to those age 16 and older. Please verify criteria before registration.

Friday, Dec. 17: Pfizer Clinic from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. for those age 12 and older.

For first dose and second dose available to those age 12 and older, booster dose available to those age 16 and older. Please verify criteria before registration.

Monday, Dec. 20: Moderna and Johnson & Johnson Clinics from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. for those age 18 and older. For first dose and second dose available to those age 12 and older, booster dose available to those age 16 and older. Please verify criteria before registration.

Visit vaccinate.augustahealth.com to make appointment for all on-campus clinics.

Vaccination call center

Not everyone has access to the internet. Others just have questions. For assistance, call Augusta Health at (540) 332-5122. Homebound patients are vaccinated through a pilot program with Central Shenandoah EMS. Contact the vaccination call center for more information.

Monique Calello (she/her) is The News Leader's health reporter. You can reach her at mcalello@newsleader.com.

Your support is vital to the future of community journalism. Please subscribe to The News Leader by going to our home page at newsleader.com.

This article originally appeared on Staunton News Leader: Augusta Health COVID patient deaths and admissions rise as holidays near
Craig Wright, an Australian computer scientist who claims to be Satoshi Nakamoto, the inventor of Bitcoin, has been cleared of six out of seven civil charges during a trial in a Miami court on Dec. 7 that put him up against the estate of his deceased business partner.



Trial and claims: The plaintiff of the civil court case declared that Wright and David Kleiman, a computer forensics expert and Wrights friend, pre-mined 1.1 million bitcoin together (worth $54 billion), fueling an argument over whether Wright owed half of his assets to Kleimans family.







The jury ruled that Wright and Kleiman did not have a partnership, and Wright will not pay the estate half of the $54 billion, according to CNN.

The jury also declared that Kleiman and Wright did not have a partnership in writing the Bitcoin white paper as Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008, Coingeek reported. At the trial, which began on Nov. 1, Kleimans brother, Ira Kleiman, claimed Wright stole the 1.1 million bitcoin that Satoshi Nakamoto mined. He accused Wright of fraud, civil theft, unjust enrichment and breach of fiduciary duty.

Kleimans brother filed the lawsuit against Wright in the Florida District Court in February 2018, in which he claimed that Wright forged several documents to make it look like his late brother had given away his shares, The Verge reported. Kleiman died in 2013.

Although the verdict stated that Wright had won the civil trial, deemed by some as the Bitcoin trial of the century, the jury still awarded W&K Information Defense Research LLC, a company set up by Wright and Kleiman, $100 million in intellectual property rights. The jury said Wright took control of the company without any prior consent.

Kleiman reportedly owned 25% of the joint venture, while Wright was named a beneficiary. His other company, Information Defense Pty Ltd., owned 35%, and his ex-wife, Lynn Wright, was listed as the majority shareholder with a 40% share, according to a document shared by podcast host Roy Murphy on Twitter.

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Lynn Wright and Information Defense Pty Ltd (Craig's company) as majority members legally wound up W&K Info Defense after Dave's death at zero value. As Dave only held 25% of the company, Ira had no right to spin the company back up. Ira will lose his probate claim now. Watch. pic.twitter.com/DamaSx2N7D

 Roy Murphy  (@murphsicles) December 6, 2021







The money from the trial will reportedly go to W&K and not to Kleimans estate. We are immensely gratified that our client, W&K Information Defense Research LLC, has won $100,000,000 reflecting that Craig Wright wrongfully took bitcoin-related assets from W&K, representatives from the company said, CNBC reported.

This has been a remarkably good outcome and I feel completely vindicated," Wright said after the trial. There are still more fights. We are going to make everything change: cryptocurrency to digital cash the way it's meant to be."











Craig Wright/Satoshi Nakamoto: Wright rocked the cryptocurrency world in 2016 when he claimed in a blog post that he was the real Satoshi Nakamoto and was willing to provide evidence to back up his statement, The Guardian reported at the time.









Wright was interviewed by The Economist, BBC and GQ Magazine while claiming to be the real person behind the first cryptocurrency.

However, he withheld his extraordinary evidence days after his announcement, saying, "I believed that I could put the years of anonymity and hiding behind me. But, as the events of this week unfolded and I prepared to publish the proof of access to the earliest keys, I broke. I do not have the courage. I cannot.

Although Bitcoin Foundations former chief scientist Gavin Andresen initially believed Wrights claim in 2016, he took back his words in an interview in June 2020, saying that he could have been fooled, Bitcoin.com reported.



The face behind the cryptocurrency: Before Wright came into the picture, a Newsweek report in 2014 claimed Dorian Satoshi Nakamoto, a 64-year-old Japanese American engineer, was the inventor of Bitcoin.









Nakamoto, who lives in Temple City, California, told the Associated Press in an interview that while most of the information presented in the report was correct, the claim that he is the inventor of Bitcoin is not true, CNN reported.

The former defense contractor eventually launched a crowdfunding campaign and had planned to sue Newsweek over the report.

NewsweekLied, a website with extensive information about Nakamoto and his legal defense fund, states that he was unemployed for at least 10 years when the news about his alleged identity broke out.



Featured Image via Ramon Quesada

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VIENNA (Reuters) - Austria is likely to soon recommend COVID-19 booster shots for children aged 12 and over once four months have passed since their second vaccine dose, Health Minister Wolfgang Mueckstein said on Tuesday.

The move would again put Austria ahead 4 of most European countries in terms of vaccinating children. Some of its nine provinces including Vienna started vaccinating children as of the age of five last month shortly before it was approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA).

Austria has accelerated its vaccination efforts since a surge in coronavirus infections last month that prompted a three-week national lockdown, which began lifting last Sunday.

"The National Vaccination Board will likely recommend tomorrow that we recommend the booster shot, i.e. the third vaccine dose, from the age of 12," Health Minister Wolfgang Mueckstein told a news conference.

"That means that four months after their second shot all those as of the age of 12 should also get their booster shot," Mueckstein said. That would lower the age at which that recommendation applies from 18 currently.

The board is a panel of experts that advises the government. The government generally follows its recommendations.

Roughly 69% of Austria's population is fully vaccinated against COVID-19, one of the lowest rates in western Europe. The conservative-led government plans to make vaccinations compulsory, with hefty fines for holdouts.

EMA should approve the vaccine developed by U.S. biotech company Novavax this week, Director General for Public Health Katharina Reich told the news conference. The vaccine contains a version of the virus' spike protein that cannot cause disease but can trigger the immune system.

"We expect approval this week and some time later - I hope that it will still be in December - we also want to have the vaccine in the country," she said.

(Reporting by Francois Murphy; Editing by Susan Fenton)
Beto O Rourke returned to Amarillo for his gubernatorial campaign rally greeted by an enthusiastic crowd Monday at Sam Houston Park.

The former U.S. Congressman from El Paso who is seeking the Democratic nomination for Texas governor in 2022 visited Amarillo during several campaign stops around the region this week.

When we decide that we are going to come together regardless of the differences that would otherwise divide us and decide that we are going to unify on the common ground before us, I believe there is no stopping what we can do," O'Rourke said.

He spoke about his experience this week with educational leaders and students from the Amarillo area and the value of education. O Rourke said he was inspired by the personal story of student Letty Ramirez and her sacrifices to better herself, all while being a parent.

Beto O'Rourke meets with a supporter at Sam Houston Park in Amarillo Monday evening.

I cannot think of anything more important than ensuring that we have a job and one that pays and provides purpose in our life, ORourke said to the crowd. "We have to put our money where our mouth is.

When speaking of low salaries and the loss of teachers in education in the state, O'Rourke said we need to take better care of the people who educate our children.

On healthcare, ORourke said Gov. Greg Abbott and current leaders are failing to expand Medicaid, to the detriment of the citizens of Texas who have a great need for such measures. He said people should not be going broke because of a medical issue arising.

I will expand Medicaid and bring those dollars here to get the care that we need, ORourke said.

Ramsey: It takes a village to win statewide races in Texas

O'Rourke got some of his loudest applause when he told the crowd that, if governor, he would work to legalize marijuana, reducing needless arrests for a legal substance in many other states. He talked about how veterans who could use the drug are instead given much more dangerous opiates.

ORourke said common-ground issues like this go across political boundaries.

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Taking shots at the current governor over his hot button stances on such issues as voting restrictions, the new current permitless carry law and denying the right to abortion.

Thanks to this permitless carry program, there is no way to know if those carrying are criminals or not; it makes us all less safe, ORourke said. As governor, I will repeal that program.

He said that the thousands of people that have been rejected for licensed carry now go unchecked without any type of background check.

During his speech, the right to womens healthcare such as abortion was another of O Rourkes priorities. He derided the current measures by the current governor to restrict access to womens healthcare.

Jennifer Gregg, who attended the rally, said she was very excited to see the candidate come to the city. She said that one of her top priorities for a candidate was womens health care.

I really think his ideas are badly needed, especially in my field of healthcare, Gregg said. I like his common sense approach on guns.

Gubernatorial candidate Beto O' Rourke addresses supporters at Sam Houston Park in Amarillo Monday.

Carole McDaniel said that she really respects that ORourke has come to the area multiple times and thinks his leadership is what the state needs.

This is his eighth time here," McDaniel said. His words about education and paying teachers are essential to me. Also, let's bring Medicaid to Texas that we choose not to expand it makes no sense for our needs.

She also said that his views on womens healthcare and access are badly needed.

Leatherbury: Meet Greg Abbott: The governor of censorship and double standards

Asked earlier in the day about his stance on the Second Amendment and the misinformation about his views, O'Rourke clarified his stance.

Were Texans. We will defend the Second Amendment and we will also ensure that we have the kind of responsible gun ownership that protects the lives of those around us. Were a little more than two years removed from a mass shooting in Midland-Odessa that killed eight. From another the month before that killed 23 in El Paso, we have four of the deadliest mass shootings in U.S. history, just in Texas and just in the last five years.

Attendees of the Beto' O Rourke rally at Sam Houston Park hold signs of support Monday evening.

Emphasizing that while he believed in the right to bear arms, he said there should be checks and balances.

I think some common-sense measures, like universal background checks, like extreme risk protection orders, and just making sure that if someone wants to carry a firearm in public that they go through training, and a background check like we used to have," he said. "But instead of doing that, our current governor has signed into law a permit-less carry bill that allows anyone, including violent criminals, to carry a loaded firearm in public without a background check. And it's why law enforcement police chiefs sheriffs alike were opposed to this measure because it makes us less safe at a time of the rising crime in Texas. So, lets protect the Second Amendment and lets do a better job of protecting the lives of those in our communities.

When asked about the crowd response, ORourke said he delighted with the turnout and enthusiasm of the crowd.

Focusing on jobs, great schools and Medicaid are not just ideas - these are good for Texas," O Rourke said.

This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Beto ORourke lays out his priorities for Texas at Amarillo rally
Eric Garcetti, the nominee for US ambassador to India, promised Tuesday to raise human rights and arms purchases from Russia as lawmakers said the concerns clouded the growing relationship with New Delhi.

The Los Angeles mayor told his Senate confirmation hearing that he will "actively raise" human rights if confirmed as President Joe Biden's choice as ambassador.

"I'll raise them with humility -- it's a two way street on these -- but I intend to engage directly with civil society," Garcetti said.

"There are groups that are actively fighting for human rights of people on the ground in India that will get direct engagement from me."

US policymakers across party lines broadly support warmer relations with India, seeing common cause with a fellow democracy faced with a rising China, but several lawmakers have voiced alarm over rights under Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The Hindu nationalist leader has pushed forward a controversial citizenship law that critics say marginalizes the Muslim minority.

Senator Bob Menendez, who leads the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, pointed to concerns with India over "reports of democratic backsliding and discrimination against religious minorities."

"New Delhi will need to address our concerns if it seeks to deepen our partnership even further," Menendez said.

Both Menendez and his Republican counterpart, Jim Risch, also voiced concern about India's recent announcement that Russia has begun delivery of the S-400 missile defense system.

Under a 2017 law, the United States is required to impose sanctions over significant weapons deals with Russia and it has already done so after Turkey bought the S-400.

Unlike Turkey, a NATO ally whose ties with the West have drifted, India has historically bought weapons from Russia but has seen its relationship grow rapidly with Washington over the past two decades.

Garcetti said Secretary of State Antony Blinken would decide whether to waive sanctions but that as ambassador he would be "very clear about what the threats are to our systems" if they operate alongside Russian hardware.

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A State Department spokesperson said Blinken had not made a decision on sanctions but that the United States was urging all countries to "avoid significant new transactions for Russian weapons systems."

Garcetti, who is barred from seeking a third term as mayor next year, has been seen as a rising star in Democratic Party politics and flirted with a presidential run.

The 50-year-old told the committee that he developed a lifelong interest in India after a visit as a university student and began studying Hindi and Urdu.

sct/bgs
President Joe Biden declared a state of emergency in Illinois Monday after devastating tornadoes swept through the state Dec. 10, killing six people in Illinois and dozens more along the tornados devastating route.

The declaration authorizes the release of federal aid, which will be used in tandem with assistance from local and state authorities to help mitigate damage. The Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, is expected to coordinate disaster relief efforts in 13 southern Illinois counties. Emergency protective measures, including direct federal assistance, will be provided, with 75% of the funds coming from the federal government.

Six people in Illinois, who had been inside an Amazon warehouse, died after the fierce winds whipped through southwestern Illinois, collapsing a portion of the building. Officials in Edwardsville, a town of roughly 27,000 people about 25 miles northeast of St. Louis, continued to clean up rubble and debris Monday at the sprawling, 1.1 million-square-foot Amazon facility.

The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration also confirmed Monday it will be conducting an investigation into the facilitys collapse. The same day, Amazon executives defended the safety procedures at the warehouse, saying they followed all appropriate safety measures for the 46 employees who had been inside the building when the storm hit.

There was even more loss of life and tornado damage in neighboring Kentucky, where it was estimated at least 74 people died during the storms that hit Friday into Saturday, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said Monday.

Biden is expected to visit the state Wednesday to survey the damage.


In 2015, a Democratic policy adviser was fired from the Arizona Senate after sending emails to her supervisors expressing that she was being paid less than her white male counterparts because of her race and gender.

After a court determined that Talonya Adams was wrongfully terminated, one of the persons responsible for her getting axed is apologizing.

Katie Hobbs records video apology. Talonya Adams does news conference after ruling. (Video Screengrab)

Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, one of the leading candidates in the states Democratic gubernatorial primary race is saying sorry for her part in the firing.

In a video posted on her Twitter profile and in a written statement on her website last week, Hobbs said, Over the last couple of weeks, Ive heard from several of you about my response to the discrimination that Talonya Adams faced as an employee in the Legislature.

I know that my initial response to the jury verdict fell short of taking real accountability for the pain Ive caused  to Ms. Adams and many Arizonans. Arizonans deserve a leader who owns up to her mistakes. pic.twitter.com/7MaUkq3YNA  Katie Hobbs (@katiehobbs) December 8, 2021

I understand that my response fell short of taking real accountability, she offered. Please allow me to state as clearly and unequivocally, I apologize to Ms. Adams. I am truly sorry for the real harm I caused Ms. Adams and her family.

She continued to say that her response to the jurys verdict was short-sighted, unnecessarily defensive and failed to meet the moment.

Adams was not impressed. She told reporters in a Dec. 9 news conference outside of a federal court building in Phoenix, Her response is a response to a political crisis. Its not a response to racism.

Her statement is not an apology. Its designed to allow her to get over a political hurdle, she continued.

Adams also told reporters that Hobbs made people think that she was incompetent and thus she will be filing a notice of claim.

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In February 2015, Adams emailed Minority Chief of Staff Jeff Winkler and then-Minority Leader Katie Hobbs about what she believed was being under-compensated for her service, stating that she did more work than the eight-hour days that her timesheets reflected. She also met with Senate Chief of Staff Wendy Baldo in person to talk about this issue.

Days later, she read in the Legislative Reporter that a white male policy adviser for the majority, Garth Kamp, was getting paid $30,000 more than she was despite doing a very similar job to hers.

After receiving the proper protocol from Baldo, she proceeded to bring her concerns via email to the elected Democratic leadership, of which Hobbs was a member. Adams then left for Seattle to see her ailing son but did not complete a briefing project before she left.

When Winkler found out, he brought the fact that her work was undone to Baldo, Winkler, and Hobbs. The three agreed on Feb. 20, 2015, to fire Adams, stating that they didnt believe that she could do the work and pointed to the incomplete project as evidence of their lack of confidence. She was told by phone that she was terminated from the position she had held since December 2012.

In 2017, Adams first federal suit alleged that the Senate violated the U.S. Civil Rights Act by not practicing fair pay equity, using a comparative study of her check and that of Kamps. She then noted that the collective fired her in retaliation to her complaining about the discrepancies in their earnings.

Two years later, a federal jury decided that Adams was, in fact, discriminated against because of her race and gender.

The Associated Press notes that she got her job back as a result of this decision and a $1 million award. After this ruling, a federal judge ordered a new trial.

The three-day trial ended on Nov. 9 with the same result, awarding Adams $2.75 million in damages, an amount rolled back because of the employment discrimination judgments cap of $300,000 under federal law. After factoring in back pay and compensation for lost benefits, she walked away with $353,617.88.

Hobbs, who is in the hot seat during this campaign season about her stance on race and gender, atoned, I know that the disappointment felt by many Arizonans didnt start with the verdict in this case. What Ms. Adams experienced is yet another example of the systemic inequities and racism that have long permeated every aspect of our lives, too often in ways that are invisible to people like me.

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By Humeyra Pamuk

JAKARTA (Reuters) - Secretary of State Antony Blinken touted on Tuesday a U.S. strategy to deepen its Asian treaty alliances, offering to boost defence and intelligence work with partners in an Indo-Pacific region increasingly concerned over China's "aggressive actions".

On a visit to Indonesia, Blinken called the Indo-Pacific the world's most dynamic region, where everyone had a stake in ensuring a status quo that was without coercion and intimidation, making a barely veiled reference to China.

He said the United States, its allies and some South China Sea claimants would push back against any unlawful action.

"We'll work with our allies and partners to defend the rules-based order that we've built together over decades to ensure the region remains open and accessible," Blinken said in a speech at a university.

"Let me be clear: the goal of defending the rules-based order is not to keep any country down. Rather, it's to protect the right of all countries to choose their own path, free from coercion and intimidation."

China claims almost the entire South China Sea as its own, despite some overlapping claims with other coastal states and a ruling by an international tribunal that its vast claim had no legal basis.

Beijing has rejected the U.S. stance as interference from an outside power that could threaten Asia's stability.

In response to Blinken's remarks, China's foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told a daily briefing in the Chinese capital that the United States should promote cooperation in the region, instead of "drawing ideological lines".

Blinken is making his first visit to Southeast Asia since President Joe Biden took office in January, a trip aimed at shoring up relations after a period of uncertainty about U.S. commitment to Asia under the administration of Donald Trump.

'A BETTER KIND OF INFRASTRUCTURE'

Despite tension in the South China Sea, Beijing's influence has grown in recent years as it pushes more infrastructure investment and integrated trade ties in the Asia-Pacific, in the perceived absence of a U.S. economic strategy for the region.

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Blinken said the United States would strengthen ties with treaty allies such as Japan, South Korea, Thailand and the Philippines and boost defence and intelligence capabilities with Indo-Pacific partners, as well as defending an open and secure internet.

He stressed, however, that it was not a contest between a U.S.-centric or China-centric region.

He also said Washington was committed to pressing the military junta in Myanmar to end violence, free detainees and return to an inclusive democracy.

The United States was also committed to a new comprehensive regional economic framework, which would include more U.S. foreign direct investment and U.S. companies identifying new opportunities in the region, he said, without providing details.

The administration has yet to spell out what exactly Biden's envisaged economic framework will entail. In 2017, the Trump administration walked away from a U.S.-inspired multinational Pacific trade deal.

Blinken, who will also visit Malaysia and Thailand this week, said the United States would work to strengthen supply chains and close the region's infrastructure gaps, from ports and roads to power grids and the internet.

In another swipe at China, he said the United States was hearing increasing concerns in the Indo-Pacific about opaque, corrupt processes of foreign companies that imported their own labour, drained natural resources and polluted the environment.

"Countries in the Indo-Pacific want a better kind of infrastructure," he said.

"But many feel it's too expensive  or they feel pressured to take bad deals on terms set by others, rather than no deals at all."

(Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk; Additional reporting by Emily Chow; Writing by Martin Petty; Editing by Stephen Coates and Clarence Fernandez)
The Daily Beast

Former president Donald Trump's decision to abruptly cancel his Jan. 6 counter-programming event has left key allies Peter Navarro and Steve Bannon fuming.Responding to reports that Trump was pressured into canceling by several allies in his inner circle, the pair suggested the ex-president is surrounded by insufficiently pro-MAGA individuals, and that he should put his once-slated presser back on the books immediately.There are still too many people around Donald John Trump that are not Trumpe
A Capitol rioter who sent text messages about putting a bullet in the head of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has been jailed.

The North Carolina man went to Washington DC on 6 January, bringing guns and ammunition and texted about putting a bullet in the speakers noggin on 7 January, was sentenced to serve 28 months in prison on Tuesday.

After having car issues, Cleveland Meredith Jr arrived in DC too late to attend the Stop the Steal rally that preceded the attack on Congress. He sent threatening texts to family and friends both on 6 and 7 January.

Thinking about heading over to Pelosi C**Ts speech and putting a bullet in her noggin on Live TV, he wrote on 7 January.

US District Judge Amy Berman Jackson said that threats to legislators, executive branch members, judges, and the media were increasing. She added that even some public officials think nothing of calling for someones head if they disagree with them.

She said it wasnt enough for someone like Meredith to claim that they were joking or not planning on taking action on their threats.

That is the most tired and hollow excuse and this sentence needs to clearly express that these kinds of statements cannot be shrugged off, Judge Jackson said. They cannot be erased by adding LOL at the end.

The judge reiterated her previous criticism that former President Donald Trumps Big Lie that the 2020 election was stolen had been amplified and, worse  that its now heresy for Republicans to openly disagree with those false claims, Buzzfeed News reported.

She said it had to be made crystal clear that threatening lawmakers from another party and intimidating people at the behest of someone who lost an election isnt patriotic and doesnt qualify as standing up for America.

It is the definition of tyranny and authoritarianism regardless of whether the people responding to the call take it seriously, the judge said.

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I cant just say, Okay, Mr Meredith, you can go home now, Judge Jackson added. He was arrested at his DC hotel after a relative who Meredith had shared the Pelosi threat with told Merediths mother, who reported it to the FBI.

When he was arrested, he had an assault rifle with a telescopic sight, a semiautomatic gun, more than 2,500 rounds of ammunition, and several high-capacity magazines. Hell be credited the 11 months he has already spent in jail and will spend three years on supervised release after serving his sentence.

Defence lawyer Paul Kiyonaga argued that his client was a lot of talk, called his threat bulls***, and said he had legitimate reasons for carrying weapons  he had used the guns recreationally during a Colorado trip and wanted protection in the case of social unrest. This didnt convince the judge because Meredith was carrying an arsenal of firearms.

Assistant US Attorney Anthony Franks noted that Meredith had sent other messages, including one saying that he would surround and slowly constrict DC and also threatening to shoot DC Mayor Muriel Bowser as well as burn DC to the FKG ground.

When the insurrection was taking place, a friend texted Meredith: I think Trump wants you to go home peacefully!!

Bulls***, he wants HEADS and Im gonna deliver, Meredith responded.

Strategizing on best way to assault this city ... do I go in fast on Sportbike or do I go in the back door on dirt bike, he wrote on 7 January when asked if he would be home that night. Staying one more day since I got here late, need to FK with these commies.

Mr Kiyonaga said his client had been plagued by a deepening sense of lack of purpose and that he was suffering from a mostly untreated mental illness in the time leading up to 6 January.

The attorney said Meredith had found purpose in the shared false beliefs of followers of the QAnon conspiracy theory and that the insurrection was a vindication of what he believed.

He said the messages were rapid-fire, and let your hair down texts.

Judge Jackson rejected comparisons to other defendants who had made threats, saying that Merediths weapons made him stand out. The defendant told the judge towards the end of the hearing that he had no intention of acting on his threats. He said his messages were political hyperbole that was too hyper. He apologised to Ms Pelosi, her family and he was at times audibly tearful during the hearing.

The bounds of decency and the bounds of the law have not changed one bit and they need to be enforced, Judge Jackson said ahead of the sentence announcement.

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When the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers built the NASA Causeway in 1964, it was designed for passenger vehicles driving to and from Merritt Island Launch Activity and the Atlantic Missile Range, Kennedy Space Center Director Janet Petro said.

And Petro said practically no one from those Space Race days would have imagined that the bridge spanning the Indian River Lagoon would last so long  or someday handle futuristic payloads from commercial space companies.

"For the people of the Kennedy Space Center, it is an artery that supplies the lifeblood to our missions," Petro told a ceremonial crowd Tuesday atop the deteriorated 57-year-old bridge.

"The road under our feet is a primary way for trucking critical spacecraft, hardware and thousands of spaceport users, customers, employees, partners and guests to our multi-user spaceport and to the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station," Petro said.

"It is vital in the role of our success," she said.

More: NASA Causeway on State Road 405 to be replaced by taller, larger bridges by 2025

More: KSC's new bridge could be a sign of what's to come for NASA and the Space Force

A group of dignitaries gathered near the aging drawbridge to mark the groundbreaking of the long-awaited $126 million NASA Causeway replacement project.

By the end of 2025, crews will construct two high-level fixed bridges over the Indian River, providing a revamped State Road 405 gateway to KSC and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

Construction will begin this month. Traffic to and from KSC and launch facilities will remain open throughout the project.

"Our administration obviously envisions Florida as the premier aerospace location. We know that Florida is the launch capital of the world. We intend to keep it that way," said Florida Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nunez, who chairs the Space Florida board of directors.

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Nunez called the causeway "this crucial, critical bridge."

An artist's rendition of the future NASA Causeway over the Indian River Lagoon.

However, a 2017 NASA engineering study determined that today's low-level bascule bridges could become too unsafe to support spacecraft and other heavy freight loads as early as this year.

FDOT officials collected public input on NASA Causeway design alternatives during a 2018 meeting at the Isaac Campbell Sr. Park Community Center in Titusville.

Then in 2019, Space Florida, NASA and the Florida Department of Transportation partnered to secure a federal $90 million U.S. Department of Transportation grant to spearhead the project.

"We're going to replace this with a taller and wider fixed-span causeway rising 60 feet above the water," FDOT Secretary Kevin Thibault told the crowd.

"This provides much-needed mobility enhancements for more than 12,000 motorists that come across this causeway. And who depend on the causeway between Titusville and Merritt Island each day  as they will no longer have to sit and wait while the drawbridge rises," Thibault said.

Florida Lt. Governor Jeanette Nunez, seen here making a hand print in concrete, was among the elected officials and guests at a Tuesday groundbreaking ceremony atop the bridge for a project that will reconstruct the NASA Causeway over the Indian River Lagoon.

Speakers at Tuesday's ceremony used golden trowels to fill square-shaped wooden boxes with concrete. They also cast handprints in wet cement and added their signatures.

The existing NASA Causeway has twin 2,993-foot-long bascule bridges. During the Apollo and space shuttle programs, these spans proved vital for transporting space-bound payloads to the launch facilities.

The new spans will measure 4,025 feet long. The project will also widen 2.7 miles of Space Commerce Way from two to four lanes.

Rick Neale is the South Brevard Watchdog Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY (for more of his stories, click here.) Contact Neale at 321-242-3638 or rneale@floridatoday.com. Twitter: @RickNeale1

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This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Ceremony kicks off $126 million NASA Causeway replacement project on State Road 405
Dec. 14CUMBERLAND  Chick-fil-A's signature franchise model, customer service and charity work, were some of the topics Dan Cathy, the company's chairman, discussed at a Cobb Chamber of Commerce event Monday.

While the consistency of Chick-fil-A's products are often cited as a reason for its huge popularity in the South, Cathy told the audience the company's franchise model is the heart of its success. Each Chick-fil-A store is owned by the company, with the franchisee responsible for operating it. But the operator only has to invest a $10,000 security deposit to take over a store.

"And that really is the genius, the super sauce of Chick-fil-A," Cathy said. "It's not the taste of the sandwich, it's not the taste of the lemonade. It's that entrepreneurial leadership, real close to the customer. ... The closer you can get top-caliber management to the customer, the better the business is going to be run."

There is no shortage of people lining up to operate a Chick-fil-A. Cathy said more than 80,000 people applied to do so in 2021. Those selected go through a long training process to ensure the company's corporate culture is consistent across locations.

"If you make it through the gauntlet and it is a long gauntlet, that's sometimes several years of process, you're part of the less-than-1% club," Cathy said.

Approximately 70% of operators come from within Chick-fil-A, having worked in the restaurants or the corporate staff, Cathy said. The chain has a 98% retention rate for operators. As Cathy likes to say, "success is about succession."

Cathy, 68, is the billionaire son of S. Truett Cathy, the chain's founder. He served as CEO from 2013 to November of this year, before passing the reins to a third generation of Cathys  Andrew Cathy, his 43-year-old son.

Wellstar Health System's Andrew Cox introduced Cathy, invoking the company's reputation for well-mannered service.

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"As a native Georgian, I've had a front row seat as Chick-fil-A has become the standard on organizational culture and demonstrating what it truly means to be approachable, gracious and lead with a servant heart," Cox remarked.

Selling quality products also remains central to the chain's success, Cathy said.

"I love to compete with brands that are run by finance people ... any time restaurant leadership knows more about their balance sheet than the recipes, I love to play in that kind of competitive environment," Cathy said.

A family affair

Cathy shared details of the chain's story, which many Georgians will be familiar with. His parents started the Dwarf Grill, a diner, in Hapeville, Georgia, in the late 1940s. Truett Cathy developed a recipe for the chain's flagship product, the chicken sandwich, and launched Chick-fil-A in 1967. The first location was in Atlanta's Greenbriar Mall. There are now more than 2,600 locations. The company remains privately owned and family-run, despite its size  the chain had $13.7 billion in sales in 2020.

Cathy said the chain rode the shopping mall boom of the late 20th century. Now, with malls on the decline, 90% of Chick-fil-A stores are standalone locations. About 300 locations are still in malls, with others located in airports, hospitals and universities.

"It's a remarkable story and sometimes I feel like I'm in the grandstands kind of watching it," Cathy said. "Sometimes I've been on the playing field. ... It's gonna be fun to continue to watch this business continue to grow. The best days of Chick-fil-A are yet ahead."

In 2020, Cathy said the chain turned on a dime to adjust to the pandemic, retrofitting the stores to focus on drive-thru. Chick-fil-A had already invested heavily in digital interfaces, such as the chain's app and giving employees iPads to take orders in drive-thru lines.

Next year, Chick-fil-A plans to invest more than $3 billion into its restaurants, Cathy said. While the chain is opening 160 new locations, most of that money will go into updating and renovating existing stores, a process the chain calls "scrape and rebuild."

Chick-fil-A's Christian values are well-known, from benign policies, such as stores being closed on Sundays, to controversial stances, such as a history of supporting anti-LGBTQ groups, which the discussion steered clear of.

Cathy, however, touted the work of the Chick-fil-A Foundation and his recent involvement in trying to bring investment to impoverished areas in west Atlanta. Recent events have made him more conscious of societal issues, he said, such as inequities in education, healthcare and internet access. Of the immigrant communities in metro Atlanta, he said "we have to embrace these people."

"Our corporate purpose for 40 years now, is to glorify God, by being a faithful steward of all this entrusted to us, and have a positive influence on all that come into contact with Chick-fil-A," Cathy said.

In west Atlanta, Cathy said he's concerned about the high rates of foreclosure, incarceration, crime and high school dropout rates.

"How could that be, right across the street from a $1.2 billion football stadium (Mercedes-Benz Stadium) that we built in order to have, you know, more executive suites and caviar, shrimp cocktails and so forth. But the people across the street are digging through the trash can trying to find something to eat? That's a big issue."

In Cobb County, Chick-fil-A has 26 locations and more than 2,000 employees. Cathy said parents often tell him they want their teenage children to work there to learn good manners.

"They learn how to say 'My pleasure.' And we find that we do a great service to Cobb County, because we deal with a lot of heathen barbarian teenagers," Cathy joked. "And we're teaching them civility, and how to teach people respect."

Cathy said the work to fulfill the company's mission is never quite finished. But he sticks to his values and trusts in his faith.

"There's a huge sense of inadequacy that I feel, to be quite honest with you ... to be the guy I need to be, to be the husband I need to be for my wife, two sons, to be the grandparent I need to be, the business leader that I need to be with Chick-fil-A," Cathy said. "And so God says, you know, don't think you're gonna figure it all out, because you're not. But you can trust in God."
NORTHBROOK, IL  If youre planning a Christmas vacation away from Northbrook this year, youre in good company.

More than 109 million people in the United States plan to hit the road between Dec. 23 and Jan. 2, according to AAAs newly released end-of-year travel forecast. Thats a 34 percent increase from 2020, when most people were forced to cancel travel plans or hold smaller celebrations at home due to the coronavirus pandemic.

That dramatic bounce-back  27.7 million more people traveling  will bring this years numbers within 8 percent of 2019 levels. Airlines will also see a 184 percent increase in travelers over last year.

With vaccines widely available, conditions are much different and many people feel a greater level of comfort with travel, Paula Twidale, senior vice president of AAA Travel, said in a news release.

Road trips remain the preferred method of travel during the holidays. More than 100 million plan to reach their destination by car despite gas costing $1.25 per gallon more than a year ago. More than 6 million people are expected to travel by air, while 3 million people are booking buses, trains and cruises.

AAA booking data through October shows that travelers are headed to theme-park-heavy destinations such as Orlando, Florida, and Anaheim, California. Las Vegas, New York City and several other Florida cities also rank high.

Whether you plan to travel by plane, train or automobile, those doing so in major urban cities are likely to see increased delays in areas where traffic bottlenecks are already common.

The transportation analytics firm INRIX, in collaboration with AAA, predicts only marginal delays throughout the holiday week. However, major metro areas across the United States could see more than double the delays versus typical drive times, while drivers in New York City are likely to experience more than three times the delays.

If you plan to travel from Chicago and want to avoid the rush, be aware that the peak travel time is expected to be between 3:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. on Dec. 23. The worst corridor will be I-290 West, between Morgan Street and Wolf Road, which will see a 240 percent increase over normal.

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Nationwide, here are the best and worst times to travel over Christmas and New Years:

Dec. 23

Worst travel time: Noon-6 p.m.

Best travel time: After 7 p.m.

Dec. 24

Worst travel time: 2-6 p.m.

Best travel time: Before 1 p.m.

Dec. 25

Minimal congestion expected.

Dec. 26

Worst travel time: 1-7 p.m.

Best travel time: Before noon.

Dec. 27

Worst travel time: 5-6 p.m.

Best travel time: Before 1 p.m.

Dec. 28

Worst travel time: 1-7 p.m.

Best travel time: Before noon.

Dec. 29

Worst travel time: 1-7 p.m.

Best travel time: Before 11 a.m.

Dec. 30

Worst travel time: 1-7 p.m.

Best travel time: Before noon.

Dec. 31

Worst travel time: 2-4 p.m.

Best travel time: Before 1 p.m.; after 5 p.m.

Jan. 1

Minimal congestion expected

Jan. 2

Worst travel time: 2-6 p.m.

Best travel time: Before 1 p.m.

Travel Costs

Travelers are also likely to run into some higher prices and other changes from last year. AAA recommends travelers book flights, car rentals, accommodations and other activities as early as possible, as prices are not expected to decrease as the holiday nears.

Traveling by air: AAA flight booking data show ticket prices for Christmas week are up 5 percent from last year, with the average lowest round-trip fare at $154. For those flying around New Years, prices will be considerably higher, with the average lowest fare at $182.

Hotels: The cost of a nights stay at mid-range hotels has increased about 36 percent, with the nightly rate averaging $320 on Christmas and $267 on New Years Eve.

Car rentals: Daily car rental rates are averaging about $130, a 20 percent increase over last year.

Travel Tips

Planning ahead can prevent a number of travel headaches, according to AAA:

Arrive at the airport early so youll have plenty of time to get through longer TSA lines and other travel checkpoints. For domestic travel, AAA suggests two hours ahead of departure time and three hours for international travel.

Consider booking a flight during non-peak travel periods to cut down on wait times.

Hit the road when theres less traffic and allow for extra time when traveling to your destination.

Plan ahead. Check with state and local authorities where you are, along your route, and at your planned destination to learn about local circumstances and any restrictions that may be in place.

Minimize stops along the way. Pack meals, extra snacks and drinks in addition to an emergency roadside kit.

Follow public health guidance. Use face masks and remember to socially distance. Wash your hands regularly and be sure to pack disinfecting wipes, hand sanitizer and a thermometer to help protect and monitor your health.

Check with your hotel. Prior to any hotel stay, call ahead to ensure your hotel is open and ask what precautions it is taking and what requirements are in place to protect guests.

For other helpful travel guidance from AAA, visit the organizations COVID-19 Travel Restrictions Map for the latest state and local travel restrictions. You can also use TripTik.AAA.com to plan your road trip and help determine which rest stops, gas stations, restaurants and hotels are open along your route.

This article originally appeared on the Northbrook Patch
Associated Press

Ghislaine Maxwell, convicted last week of conspiring to recruit and groom teenage girls to be abused by Jeffrey Epstein, plans to request a new trial after a juror in her case revealed he was a victim of sexual abuse, her defense lawyers said Wednesday. The lawyers said in a letter to U.S. District Judge Alison J. Nathan that based on undisputed, publicly available information, the Court can and should order a new trial without any evidentiary hearing. The judge late Wednesday set a schedule for the defense to ask for a new trial, saying it should make the request by Jan. 19, with prosecutors replying by Feb. 2.
HOLLAND  In its second round of competitive grant awards this year, the Community Foundation of Holland/Zeeland selected five local organizations to invest a total of $98,377 in their projects in the areas of early childhood education, addiction recovery, nonprofit services, at-risk youth and local arts and culture.

The ODC Network received $25,000 from the Community Foundation for its campaign to build a preschool in Park Township.

More: ODC Network receives gift to develop new education campus in Park Twp.

Dragonflies Discovery Preschool will be the nonprofit's third nature-based preschool in the Holland area. The preschool, expected to serve 194 children each year, is being built on land that was once part of the former Park Township Airport property, north of Park Township's offices on 152nd Avenue.

A rendering of Outdoor Discovery Center's Dragonflies Discovery Preschool, planned for Park Township. The school will have four classrooms, each with 18 students, and will offer full-day and half-day learning options.

This is an inflection point for our organization," said Dave Nyitray, President/COO of ODC Network, in a statement. "We are choosing to lean in during an uncertain time and provide critical childcare capacity that expands equitable access to early childhood education.

"The ODC Network is excited to launch Dragonflies Discovery Preschool, which will provide children with incredible nature-based learning experiences enhancing creativity, brain development, collaboration, and positive health outcomes, all while helping to support families navigating the challenges of childcare. We are grateful for the Foundation's support that both helps us meet a community need, but also lets us live into our mission of advancing outdoor education.

David Teater, executive director of Ottagan Addictions Recovery, demonstrates how the organization runs Zoom group therapy sessions from OAR's Holland office on Wednesday, Dec. 16, 2020.

Reach for Recovery, formerly known as Ottagan Addiction Recovery, was awarded $25,000 to aid the launch of a new program, Medication Assisted Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder, that the organization said will help save lives by preventing opioid overdoes deaths in West Michigan.

Reach for Recovery is the only local comprehensive substance abuse treatment program with both inpatient and outpatient options that accepts Medicaid, Medicare and offers a sliding scale to ensure treatment is available to all regardless of financial resources.

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A Community Foundation grant will also fund critical building renovations at City on a Hill Ministries, which houses 35 ministries and nonprofits in an affordable, collaborative space in Zeeland.

More: City on a Hill raising funds for building improvements

The organization will get $20,000 toward its Burning Bright campaign to replace the building's failing heating system and ensure the long-term viability of the space.

The Park Theatre was one of five nonprofits to receive grant funding from the Community Foundation of the Holland/Zeeland Area in the foundation's second round of competitive grants in 2021.

Escape Ministries was awarded $17,500 to invest in its building with an expanded security system and renovated entryway, water bottle filling stations and student furniture.

The nonprofit focuses on serving students who have been suspended or expelled from school, have been involved in gangs or have been involved in the juvenile court system.

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Park Theatre, too, received funds for building improvements and repairs for its historic concert venue at 248 S. River Ave., Holland. The $10,877 grant will "improve accessibility and increase capacity" at Park Theatre, which hosts a variety of music acts, comedy shows, films, open mic nights and other cultural events.

The Community Foundation's two rounds of competitive grant awards this year focused on a broad range of issue areas including arts and culture, community and economic development, environment, education, health, human services, housing, seniors and youth. The Community Foundation gave priority to proposals that were core to the organizations mission, will have a lasting impact or represented a pivot point for the organization.

This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Community Foundation invests $98K in local projects
Candidate for Lafayette City Court Judge, Michelle Odinet qualifying for the November election at the Clerk of Courts office in downtown Lafayette, La. Wednesday, July 22, 2020.

As condemnations and calls to resign mount for Lafayette City Court Judge Michelle Odinet over use of a racist slur in a video taken at her house, the judge likely wont lose her seat unless she resigns.

Multiple people were recorded using a racist slur in a video over the weekend, which the judge confirmed was taken at her home following a failed burglary attempt early Saturday morning.

The video does not show any of the speakers heard during the clip, but multiple voices repeatedly say n----- while watching footage of the attempted burglary.

"Mom's yelling, n-----, n-----," a male voice says, recounting the incident while watching the security footage.

"We have a n-----. It's a n-----, like a roach," a female voice adds.

In a statement to The Daily Advertiser Tuesday, Odinet said her family was the victim of an armed burglary, but a spokesperson for the Lafayette Police Department said Tuesday there was no indication that the suspect had a weapon.

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Odinet, who was elected to the bench just more than a year ago, has four children and is married to Lafayette Parish Coroner Kenneth Odinet Jr.

Candidate for Lafayette City Court Judge, Michelle Odinet qualifying for the November election at the Clerk of Courts office in downtown Lafayette, La. Wednesday, July 22, 2020.

Since the video was first reported by the Current Monday, condemnations of Odinet and calls for her to resign have mounted, starting with local NAACP President Michael Toussaint, who told KLFY Monday night that hate, in any form, cannot stand and must be condemned.

One would think that as a sitting judge, a mother, a community leader, a person in position of authority, that she would have stepped up and taken a stand against that type of language in her own home, Toussaint said.

Toussaints call for Odinets resignation was echoed by Louisiana Democratic Party Chair Katie Bernhardt Tuesday morning.

The citizens of Lafayette deserve to have confidence in our judicial system  that will not happen while she is on the bench, Bernhardt wrote in a statement.

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Louisiana Democratic Party Chair Katie Bernhardt

We will not tolerate bigotry from the bench. Fairness and impartiality cannot coexist with racism; Lafayette needs a new judge, she added.

The Louisiana Legislative Black Caucus also called on Odinet to resign Tuesday, with Chairman Edward "Ted" James saying "it does not matter that she was in her private capacity, as black a robe can never hide what's obviously in her heart."

"A sitting Judge should not use any racial slurs or show bias against any specific group of individuals," James said.

State Rep. Vincent Pierre, D-Lafayette, added to the caucus' call for Odinet's resignation by insisting "the citizens of Lafayette deserve to have confidence in the judicial system."

"Over half of those that go before city court judges are African Americans who have no confidence in Odinet's ability to rule fairly," Pierre said.

City Marshal Reggie Thomas, the first Black official elected to citywide office in Lafayette, also condemned condemned Odinet Tuesday, saying her mere ineffectual and weak apology will not suffice.

"It is up to Judge Odinet to remember the oath she took, and should she remain on the bench, find a way to gain back the trust of 'all' of Lafayette, especially African Americans," Thomas said.

Reggie Thomas with family and friends on election night. December 5, 2020.

State Sen. Gerald Boudreaux, D-Lafayette, called the video reprehensible, offensive and totally unacceptable from anyone serving as a judge.

The comments fail to identify any form of lamentation and cast a cloud relative to the impartiality of the judge to serve as an unbiased arbitrator in cases involving African Americans, he said.

Boudreaux and the LLBC are also asking the Judicial Commission of Louisiana, which oversees the conduct and punishment of elected judges, to investigate the incident.

Senator Gerald Boudreaux speaking at Groundbreaking Ceremony to announce the start of construction for the new Fire Station #3 located at 429 Cooper Drive. The original fire station was built in 1978 and was torn down in March of 2020 due to major structural concerns.The new fire station, over 7300 sq. ft., will comprise of living quarters designed with 8 gender-neutral separate sleeping rooms and a 3-bay apparatus room for fire trucks and service vehicles. The estimated cost of the new construction is $2.5 million. Monday, July 19, 2021.

But efforts to remove Odinet from the City Court bench likely face an uphill battle.

Judges are unique in Louisiana in that they are the only elected officials who are protected from recall petitions.

Other elected officials can be recalled if a number of registered voters sign a petition calling for a recall election. But state law specifically exempts judges from being subject to such petitions.

Only the Louisiana Supreme Court can remove an elected judge from the bench following an investigation by the states Judicial Commission, which can take several months or even years.

State law authorizes the state Supreme Court to censure, suspend with or without salary, remove from office, or retire involuntarily a judge for  persistent and public conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice that brings the judicial office into disrepute.

The laws requirement that such conduct be persistent could make any case to remove Odinet a long shot, unless more instances similar to the racist slur used in the video come to light.

Odinet did not respond when asked whether she would resign Tuesday morning.

Follow Andrew Capps on Twitter or send an email to acapps@theadvertiser.com.

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: Lafayette judge likely wont be removed without resigning
WISCONSIN The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is preparing to make decisions on COVID-19 pills from Merck and Pfizer, clearing the way for millions of Americans to pick-up treatments for the coronavirus at their local pharmacy.

FDA approval could come for both pills by the end of this month. Once approved, Wisconsin doctors could immediately order the pills directly from medical distributors for their patients. At least initially, the federal government will put caps on the number of pills physicians can order for their patients.

That approval can't come soon enough to Wisconsin, where COVID-19 cases clogged state hospitals and ICU beds so much that the federal government is sending workers to help handle patients. In Pfizer's studies, adults taking the company's drug had a 10-fold decrease in virus levels compared with those on placebo  enough to possibly keep them out of the hospital.

There will be other challenges to maximizing the effectiveness of the drugs. Patients will have to take 30 to 40 pills in a five-day period, and they will need to begin treatment within three days after they are infected.

Health experts worry high-risk patients infected with COVID-19 may not be able to get tested and treated in that three-day timeframe. Studies of a similar drug used to limit the impact of influenza show that only 40 percent of high-risk patients got diagnosed within the three-day window to begin treatment.

Both pills have limited the severity of coronavirus cases, cutting hospitalization and death rates. Study results for the Pfizer pill, which were released Tuesday, showed the pill reduced combined hospitalizations and deaths by about 89 percent among 2,250 high-risk adults when taken shortly after initial COVID-19 symptoms. That was better than the Merck pill, which reduced hospitalizations and deaths by 30 percent in high-risk adults and was submitted for final FDA approval late last month.

"This is truly a game changer," said Dr. Daniel Griffin, an expert on infectious diseases and immunology at Columbia University, told CNN. "This is up there with vaccines. It's not a substitute for vaccines; we still want to get people vaccinated. But, boy, this is just another great tool to have."

This article originally appeared on the Milwaukee Patch
Brady, a 15-year-old Yorkie, was killed by a coyote in Wauwatosa on Saturday, Dec. 11, 2021.

It started as a normal Saturday morning for Adrienne Burgoyne.

After letting her two Yorkies outside, she stood near the back porch of her Wauwatosa home in the Fisher Woods neighborhood.

Moments later, tragedy struck.

A coyote grabbed one of the Yorkies  a 15-year-old named Brady  by the neck and then began to shake him.

"There was no time for me to make noise or divert (the coyote) in any way," said Burgoyne, who was about 15 feet away at the time of the attack.

Soon enough, the coyote ran 20 feet into the neighbor's yard and dropped the dog.

"I knew that there was no way he was going to live through that," she said.

Adrienne's husband, Drew, was eventually able to scare the coyote away from the dog, but it was too late  his neck was severely damaged.

Drew Burgoyne took him to the veterinarian to put him down.

Now, the couple is calling for the city to take action to address a small group of coyotes that they say is "terrorizing" their neighborhood.

"We're fine with the sympathies and condolences, but what we want is for the city to put their policy into action," Drew Burgoyne said.

A coyote tries to sneak up on a herd of turkey grazing in Wauwatosa in 2009.

How Wauwatosa plans to deal with 'nuisance' coyotes

That policy is Wauwatosa's "Coyote Nuisance Management and Response Plan Policy," which came out in 2016 after coyotes killed two pet dogs in Wauwatosa in 2015.

The plan says that when a verified pet attack occurs, the city "will engage a contracted professional in an attempt to locate and remove the nuisance coyote(s)."

That attack will be verified using photographs and a veterinarians bill, as well as a completed incident report. Drew Burgoyne said they completed an incident report on Monday.

Eva Ennamorato, communications manager for the City of Wauwatosa, said city officials have already "started this process."

Marty Johnson, a wildlife biologist for the state Department of Natural Resources, confirmed he spoke with the city about the plan.

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"The DNR does not do nuisance animal removal work. I was able to refer the city to the nuisance trapper list on the DNR website," an email from Johnson said.

"I just don't want my neighbors' and my friends' pets to be attacked, that's why we're pushing for this policy to be put into action," Adrienne Burgoyne said.

160 confirmed coyote sightings in Wauwatosa in the last 6 years

Jenny Kuchta, a neighbor of the Burgoynes, said her family has seen several coyotes throughout the day and night near their home.

She saw three coyotes on their street just a week before the attack, which occurred near North 123rd and West Vliet streets in Wauwatosa.

"Having a 6-month-old puppy, I actually have not taken him on walks," Kuchta said. "I am deathly afraid to take him on a walk."

Kuchta and other neighbors have shared coyote sightings on a Fisher Woods neighborhood Facebook group.

More: Trail camera picks up image of cougar on West Bend property

More: The Milwaukee County Research Park's first office building will be renovated. And its site is to include 185 apartments and other new uses.

There have been 160 reported observations of coyote activity in Wauwatosa in the last six years, according to the Milwaukee County Coyote Watch website.

Wauwatosa Police Department Public Information Officer Abby Pavlik said there have been no calls, other than the weekend attack, to the department in 2021 for a coyote attack.

But a Facebook post from the department on Monday indicated there's been an "increase in coyote sightings and coyote activity in Wauwatosa" in the last week.

Johnson said the coyote breeding season, which starts in January, is approaching soon.

"As the breeding season comes on, coyotes become more active, patrolling and defending their territories," Johnson said.

Johnson said he doesn't have an estimate of how many coyotes could be in the area.

"In the urban setting, they don't have the pressure of hunting or trapping and so they become real comfortable in seeing real people," Johnson said.

"For better or worse, they're not going to be eliminated," he added. "If you were to remove a coyote or two, it's just a matter of time before another animal will fill that vacancy."

What you should do if you encounter a coyote

The Wisconsin DNR website provided several tips for residents who may encounter coyotes in the wild. They include:

Remove potential food sources such as open garbage cans, bird feeders and pet food bowls. Never intentionally feed coyotes.

Do not provide food and water for other wildlife. It may attract coyotes and their prey.

Clear brush and undergrowth in your yard.

Use scare tactics if you see a coyote. Yell and make loud noises, shake or throw pop cans filled with coins, throw a ball, shoe, sticks or other objects or spray the coyote with water. You can also buy ultrasonic dog repellents or pocket-sized air horns.

Install a 6- 7-foot high fence buried approximately 1 foot deep to help keep coyotes out of an area.

Trapping and hunting of coyotes on your property are legal year-round without a DNR license.

You can also add coyote observations to the iNaturalist website at: inaturalist.org/projects/milwaukee-county-coyote-watch.

Evan Casey can be reached at 414-403-4391 or evan.casey@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter @ecaseymedia.

Our subscribers make this reporting possible. Please consider supporting local journalism by subscribing to the Journal Sentinel at jsonline.com/deal.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: A coyote killed a Yorkie in Wauwatosa over the weekend
Bystanders watched from streets and bridges around the city as around 700 hundred kayaks moved along the canal for a parade to bring light into the darkness.

"Santa Lucia is something that is bringing light to people in darkness and we do live in a dark period right now," said Gustavo Cordes, who is the manager of the Kayak Bar that organises the event.

At four stops along the route, the participants stopped off for some traditional singing.

Apart from having to decorate the kayaks and to dress warmly should one fall into the dark and cold water, the only rule was to have 360 degree visible lights on the kayaks.

The best decorated kayaks received a bottle of champagne.
It is distressing that Desert X has decided to affiliate with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia  again. In doing so, Desert X has chosen to double down on the mistakes of its past. Once again, its leaders are showing their support, or at best their indifference, to a dictatorship that has one of the worst human rights records on the planet.

Why would Desert X want to partner and affiliate with such a regime by holding another art exhibition there early next year? To find the answer, one must follow the money.

Desert X, which is based in the Coachella Valley, has steadfastly refused to disclose the financial reward it receives from the Saudi royal family. When pressured to provide its tax returns, there was further obfuscation. In the relevant section of the tax returns that it ultimately provided, the amounts donated were disclosed. But astonishingly, names and addresses of the donors were left blank, a blatant violation of the disclosure requirements under federal law.

City council members Sabby Jonathan of Palm Desert, left, and Geoff Kors of Palm Springs.

Saudi Arabia adheres to the strictest form of Sharia law. Under Sharia law in Saudi Arabia:

Homosexuality and interfaith sex are punishable by death.

Women must obtain a male guardians approval to get married, leave prison, or obtain certain healthcare.

Women are routinely lashed for being victims of rape.

There is no free speech. In the last two years, all of Saudi Arabias prominent and independent human rights defenders have been imprisoned, threatened into silence, or fled the country.

There is no right to protest. Going to a public gathering, including a demonstration, is a criminal act under an order issued by the Interior Ministry in 2011.

Saudi Arabian law does not recognize religious freedom, and the public practice of non-Muslim religions is actively prohibited. Jews, especially, are routinely abused.

Further, any criticism of the current Saudi regime is strictly prohibited. Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi Arabian citizen and outspoken critic of the Saudi leadership, was murdered and dismembered by a Saudi Arabian hit squad. A U.S. intelligence assessment made public by President Joe Biden determined that the crown prince himself, Mohammed bin Salman, approved the operation.

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Some argue that if Desert X can create change in Saudi Arabias horrific human rights practices, we should support the organizations promotion of that country. However, lending a sheen of legitimacy to a brutal regime does not result in change. In fact, it harms those very goals.

Some claim that art transcends politics. But Saudi Arabias human rights abuses are not politics. They are imprisonment, torture and murder of innocent men and women because of who they are, who they love or what they say. By promoting a country that routinely abuses its own citizens for simply being women, LGBTQ or critical of the government, we are  intentionally or not  sending a signal that we condone those actions.

As author, Nobel laurate and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel reminded us:

There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest.

If Desert X persists in affiliating with this brutal regime, at a very minimum, it should do the following:

Make it clear, publicly, and directly to the Saudi government, that the organization strongly condemns and opposes the human rights violations taking place in Saudi Arabia.

Make its participation in Saudi Arabia conditional on a commitment from the Saudi government to enact specific changes and improvements to human rights.

Fully disclose the financial support Desert X receives from the royal family, the Saudi government, and related individuals and entities.

We call on Desert X to be transparent, and to take substantive actions to try to improve human rights in Saudi Arabia.

Sabby Jonathan is a city council member in Palm Desert, and Geoff Kors is a city council member in Palm Springs.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: New Desert X show would condone brutal Saudi Arabian regime  again
Columbus police work the scene of a triple homicide in the 6500 block of Kodiak Drive on the southeast side on Dec. 7

A Columbus police detective said Tuesday that the shooters involved in the triple homicide of a young man and two children planned the attack and knew the children were in the vehicle before they opened fire.

"The shooters in this case absolutely knew those children were in the car," said detective Terry Kelley, the lead homicide investigator in the fatal shootings.

Kelley said that a black Nissan Altima, believed to be between model years 2010 and 2012, was seen on video footage around the Winchester Lakes apartment complex prior to the fatal shootings on Dec. 7.

The vehicle involved did not have a license plate on it, Kelley said, indicating the attack was pre-planned and that the shooters had done reconnaissance or surveillance of the apartment prior to the shooting. He said there is no indication at this point the vehicle was stolen.

Columbus police say this black Nissan Altima believed, believed to be between model years 2010 and 2012, was involved in a triple homicide Dec. 7 at Winchester Lakes apartment complex on the Southeast Side that included the slayings of two sibling children.

Photos of car released in 'targeted assassination'

Detectives have said they believe there were two shooters on the scene on the night of Dec. 7, and dozens of bullets were fired in what was called a "targeted assassination."

Demetrius Wall'neal, a 9-year-old fourth-grader, and his sister, 6-year-old kindergartner Londynn Wall'neal, were found in the back seat of a sedan in the complex's parking lot, located on the city's Southeast Side.

Their mother's boyfriend, 22-year-old Charles Wade, was found in the front driver's seat of the car. All three victims were pronounced dead at the scene.

Jessica Jones, the children's maternal grandmother, told The Dispatch last week that the three were preparing to drive to meet the children's mother at a Buffalo Wild Wings when they shot inside a car in the parking lot. The grief from the fatal shootings, she said, was too much for the family to bear.

Previous coverage: Grandmother of young homicide victims: 'They didnt have to kill those babies.'

Offering prayers: Mothers of Murdered Columbus Children host vigil for children killed in triple homicide

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What we know: 'It's getting tiresome': What we know on Tuesday's triple homicide near Canal Winchester

Now, detectives are hoping two photographs of the Nissan Altima will help someone further the investigation and bring the killers to justice. Detectives say the vehicle is black and that one photograph where it appears maroon in color is only because of the light.

Another view of the black Nissan Altima, believed to be between model years 2010 and 2012, that Columbus police homicide detectives believe was used by the suspects in a triple homicide dec. 7 at the Winchester Lakes Apartments complex on the Southeast Side.

"The police and community distrust in the past, we can start right here to change everything and if we do that as a community, those two children and Mr. Wade didnt die for nothing, they died to change this community," Kelley said, urging people to come forward with information.

Columbus police seek information on triple shooting

Central Ohio Crime Stoppers is offering a cash reward for information leading to an arrest in the case.

Kelley said he is looking for specific information about who was at the scene on Dec. 7 to help identify the shooters and charge them in the case.

"With the children, in all intents and purposes, being targets of this, I would hope that our community would band together and say this is not okay," Kelley said. "I would hope someone would come forward and say we will not allow this violence to happen to these kids."

Kelley said detectives have developed information about what they believe was the motivation behind the shooting, but still need the first-hand witness information from someone who was there or who has been told about it.

"There is a person sitting at home right now ... who absolutely 100% knows who the shooter is and its because they were the driver of the car, they were in the same group of people, a girlfriend, a mother, a grandmother," Kelley said. "I need firsthand information of the people who were at the scene. That's always going to go farther than the technology, the different avenues of theories we have."

Kelley said he knows people are scared to come forward with information and can be treated as confidential sources.

Anyone with information is asked to call Kelley directly at 614-778-9706, homicide detectives at 614-645-4730 or Central Ohio Crime Stoppers at 614-461-TIPS.

bbruner@dispatch.com

@bethany_bruner

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus triple homicide: Shooters knew children were in car
MUNCIE, Ind.  The local Salvation Armys annual fundraising kettle campaign has gotten a boost from $10,000 in matching funds from an anonymous donor, with another $10,000 match promised.

The donor contacted the Muncie Salvation Army office and offered $10,000 to match cash donations raised in the kettle campaign between Nov. 30 and Dec. 4, Major Mark Litherland said.

During that week the campaign, at 10 kettle locations around the city, brought in more than $10,000, so the match was applied.

Litherland told The Star Press this week that the donor subsequently offered another matching donation.

The donor from last week pledged another $10,000 for Christmas week, Litherland said.

Major Mark Litherland of the Muncie Salvation Army

In a statement released by the Salvation Army, the donor said, "The Muncie community has a special place in my heart. I'm thrilled to offer this Red Kettle match so that my neighbors can double their impact on those who need it most in Delaware County,"

The Salvation Army hopes the donation inspires others to donate during the campaign.

Red kettles at 10 locations

The Salvation Army will have kettles at 10 locations through Christmas Eve and Litherland said he expected cash donations will be more than sufficient to draw the $10,000 match from the anonymous donor.

Among the kettle locations, the Salvation Army said, are Walmart, Rural King, Hobby Lobby, and Big Lots. Kettle hours are 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

This years kettle campaign began on Nov. 11 and continues through Christmas Eve. Litherland said the anonymous donors pledge and subsequent donation helped the campaign considerably.

It was a big thing, he said in an interview. During that time (the week of the first match), we dont normally collect that kind of weekly total until Christmas week.

This years local Salvation Army goal is $173,000 and Litherland said that goal looks possible to reach.

Were presently halfway there and the last two weeks of the campaign are usually big weeks, he said.

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More: Muncie Animal Care and Services getting into spirit with '12 Strays of Christmas'

The Salvation Army noted in an announcement, Despite many challenges in 2020, the organization ultimately only missed its goal by about $9,000, bringing in $164,270 last year.

The kettle campaign saw a sharp decrease in bell-ringers in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Typically, about 200 volunteers ring bells, but last year that number was down to 100. Litherland said many regular bell volunteers have returned this year.

The Salvation Army uses proceeds from its annual kettle campaign for social service programs throughout the following year, including its food pantry and help with utilities and rent.

Through Christmas Eve, donations can be made at 10 kettle locations around the city or by contacting the Salvation Army at 1015 N. Wheeling Ave., or 765-289-7924.

To volunteer to ring bells at kettle locations, go to registertoring.com. To make online donations, go to centralusa.salvationarmy.org/muncieIN.

This article originally appeared on Muncie Star Press: Red kettles: Donor promises $10,000 match for Salvation Army campaign
Florida reported far fewer coronavirus cases in the week ending Sunday, adding 12,984 new cases. That's down 33.6% from the previous week's tally of 19,555 new cases of the virus that causes COVID-19.

Florida ranked 49th among the states where coronavirus was spreading the fastest on a per-person basis, a USA TODAY Network analysis of Johns Hopkins University data shows. In the latest week coronavirus cases in the United States decreased 3.8% from the week before, with 821,545 cases reported. With 6.45% of the country's population, Florida had 1.58% of the country's cases in the last week. Across the country, 18 states had more cases in the latest week than they did in the week before.

The previous week used for comparisons in this report was likely skewed by cases and deaths artificially delayed from the week that included Thanksgiving. If the previous week was artificially high, cases and deaths either decreased less, or increased more, than these numbers reflect.

In this report, Florida's previous week includes two weeks of data because Florida reported Thanksgiving's data into the next week. State cases rose significantly from the previous week to the latest week. These week-to-week comparisons are misleading, though they accurately reflect the data reported by the state.

Duval County reported 358 cases in the latest week. A week earlier, it had reported 523 cases. Throughout the pandemic it has reported 167,780 cases.

St. Johns County reported 154 cases in the latest week. A week earlier, it had reported 290 cases. Throughout the pandemic it has reported 41,865 cases.

Clay County reported 91 cases in the latest week. A week earlier, it had reported 139 cases. Throughout the pandemic it has reported 34,257 cases.

Nassau County reported 46 cases in the latest week. A week earlier, it had reported 67 cases. Throughout the pandemic it has reported 15,730 cases.

Florida does not directly publish county-level death data.

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Across Florida, cases fell in 57 counties, with the best declines in Miami-Dade County, with 2,657 cases from 3,615 a week earlier; in Hillsborough County, with 855 cases from 1,473; and in Orange County, with 916 cases from 1,410.

>> See how your community has fared with recent coronavirus cases

Florida ranked 18th among states in share of people receiving at least one shot, with 73% of its residents at least partially vaccinated. The national rate is 72%, a USA TODAY analysis of CDC data shows. The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, which are the most used in the United States, require two doses administered a few weeks apart.

In the week ending Sunday, Florida reported administering another 2,225,405 vaccine doses, including 485,108 first doses. In the previous week, the state administered zero vaccine doses, including zero first doses. In all, Florida reported it has administered 32,243,922 total doses.

Within Florida, the worst weekly outbreaks on a per-person basis were in Miami-Dade County with 98 cases per 100,000 per week; Liberty County with 96; and Taylor County with 83. The Centers for Disease Control says high levels of community transmission begin at 100 cases per 100,000 per week.

Adding the most new cases overall were Miami-Dade County, with 2,657 cases; Broward County, with 1,448 cases; and Orange County, with 916. Weekly case counts rose in nine counties from the previous week. The worst increases from the prior week's pace were in Highlands, Okeechobee and Jackson counties.

In Florida, 325 people were reported dead of COVID-19 in the week ending Sunday. In the week before that, 554 people were reported dead.

A total of 3,754,042 people in Florida have tested positive for the coronavirus since the pandemic began, and 62,026 people have died from the disease, Johns Hopkins University data shows. In the United States 49,921,405 people have tested positive and 797,346 people have died.

>> Track coronavirus cases across the United States

Florida's COVID-19 hospital admissions rising

USA TODAY analyzed federal hospital data as of Sunday, Dec. 12.

Likely COVID patients admitted in the state:

Last week: 2,770

The week before that: 2,502

Four weeks ago: 2,497

Likely COVID patients admitted in the nation:

Last week: 93,748

The week before that: 86,490

Four weeks ago: 71,084

Hospitals in 38 states reported more COVID-19 patients than a week earlier, while hospitals in 37 states had more COVID-19 patients in intensive-care beds. Hospitals in 39 states admitted more COVID-19 patients in the latest week than a week prior, the USA TODAY analysis of U.S. Health and Human Services data shows.

The USA TODAY Network is publishing localized versions of this story on its news sites across the country, generated with data from Johns Hopkins University and the Centers for Disease Control. If you have questions about the data or the story, contact Mike Stucka at mstucka@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Duval County COVID cases increased by 358 this week
By Tina Bellon

(Reuters) - Electric vehicle leasing startup Hive Technologies Inc said on Tuesday it closed a $30 million funding round to expand its fleet for ride-hail drivers who can otherwise not afford the vehicles' higher upfront costs.

Backed by environmental, social and governance (ESG)-focused investors, the company leases EVs to Uber Technologies Inc and Lyft Inc drivers on a per-mile cost basis offering a potentially cheaper option than taking out a loan to buy a new EV.

"The more you drive, the faster the car payment goes to zero. So instead of going under the water on a loan, you're benefiting," Hive Chief Executive Mathias Thomsen said in an interview with Reuters.

The company currently only operates with General Motors' Chevrolet Bolts in California, but is talking to other automakers to broaden its vehicle line up and plans to expand to several other states in the coming years, Thomsen said. The funding will increase Hive's fleet to 1,000 vehicles from 100 at present.

Hive's funding round comes as ESG-minded investors pour money into EV companies, betting on a rapid uptick in EV adoption over the next few years.

Uber and Lyft have both promised to run only electric vehicles on their U.S. ride-hail platforms by 2030, but it is yet unclear how low-income drivers are expected to finance the costlier cars.

Uber and Hertz in October announced a partnership to provide 50,000 Tesla Inc rentals to drivers starting at $334 a week.

Thomsen said Hive's cars would be significantly cheaper, and drivers would be able to use solar-powered charging stations operated by iSun Inc, which is also an investor in Hive.

Hive's vehicles are acquired by Galway Sustainable Capital, a private-equity backed finance company and investor in Hive. Even at Hive's lower leasing prices, the business presents attractive returns, with new EVs being paid off after around four years, said Galway President Trent Yang.

"We're taking a bit more risk but we have great confidence that these EVs will retain real market value," Yang said.

(Reporting by Tina Bellon; editing by Richard Pullin)
By Rozanna Latiff and Liz Lee

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysia's major wireless carriers have recommended the government allow a second 5G service to be set up, according to three sources and documents seen by Reuters, ahead of a cabinet decision on whether to go ahead with a plan for a single wholesale network.

The cabinet will decide by January whether to allow multiple 5G providers, following concern from industry players that a single state-run network could hamper competition, Communications and Multimedia Minister Annuar Musa said last week.

Reuters in November reported an impasse between mobile operators and Digital Nasional Berhad (DNB), the state agency tasked with deploying 5G, over pricing and transparency issues.

DNB plans to launch an initial 5G rollout in three central areas on Wednesday.

Representatives from the country's six mobile operators met with ministry officials on Monday to propose solutions to the deadlock and their ideas for deploying 5G, three people familiar with the matter told Reuters.

The people, including two telecoms company officials, requested anonymity as the discussions were private.

Four operators - Axiata Group's Celcom, DiGi.com, Maxis and U Mobile - recommended the government allow two wholesale 5G networks, each to be built and operated by a consortium of carriers, the sources said.

In a presentation seen by Reuters, the operators proposed the consortia commence the two networks in parallel next year and separate them from 2023, "giving Malaysia fast initial deployment and then the security of dual competing networks going forward".

The two organisations will make use of existing telco assets to "coordinate rollout and collaborate in the first 12-18 months to achieve faster rollout of 5G across Malaysia than any one party", the slides showed.

The carriers would also be open to proposals that would allow them to own equity in DNB, and asked for greater inclusion in the government's rollout plans, the sources said.

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"We hope there will be continued consultation on the matter, given the deep implications for the country's digital economy ambitions," one of the sources said.

Another carrier, YTL Communications, objected to the plan and expressed support for a single 5G network, while Telekom Malaysia said it would back any decision made by the government, the sources said.

DiGi.com, U Mobile, and YTL declined to comment. The communications ministry, Axiata, Maxis, and Telekom Malaysia did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment.

DNB said it was not privy to the discussions held.

"We will respect the process adopted by the government and will make our representations at the appropriate forum," DNB CEO Ralph Marshall said in an email to Reuters.

The government in February scrapped a plan to apportion spectrum to carriers, opting instead for a single shared network in a bid to reduce costs, improve efficiency, and accelerate infrastructure buildup.

Carriers are worried the plan would result in a nationalised monopoly more costly than deploying 5G on their own, though DNB has said it will charge operators less to access its 5G network than the cost they incurred for 4G.

DNB has also offered free 5G services to carriers until March 31 as it seeks to finalise long-term wholesale agreements with operators.

Telekom Malaysia this month became the first operator to sign up for 5G trials with DNB, but did not say if it had signed a long-term deal.

(Reporting by Rozanna Latiff and Liz Lee; editing by Jason Neely)
Dec. 13Haig Partners LLC served as the sell-side adviser to AutoFair Automotive Group for the sale of its dealerships in New Hampshire and Massachusetts to Automotive Management Services Inc. of West Palm Beach, Fla.

AutoFair operates five locations in New Hampshire and two in Haverhill, Mass. Its brands include Ford, Honda, Hyundai/Genesis, VW, Nissan and Subaru. It also operates a collision center in Manchester. CEO and owner Andy Crews announced the sale last week.

Haig Partners, based in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., is led by Dartmouth College graduate Alan Haig, who serves as president. The company expects to advise on the sale of 48 dealerships in 2021, the most in its history, according to a press release. Since 2019, Haig Partners has represented owners in the sale of 21 dealerships in New England.

"The buy-sell market has been extraordinarily active thanks to high dealership profits and accelerating consolidation," Haig said in a statement. "We are expecting these conditions to continue well into 2022 and possibly beyond."
Arnold

Gov. Ron DeSantis has appointed Sarah Arnold, the director of resource development for the United Way of St. Johns County, to fill the vacancy on the St. Johns County Commission left by Jeb Smith.

Smith was first elected in 2014 and served in the District 2 seat, which includes much of rural St. Johns County. He resigned Nov. 2 to serve as the Florida Farm Bureau president.

Arnold will serve the remainder of Smith's term, and the seat is up for election in 2022.

County Commission: Longtime St. Johns County commissioner Jeb Smith resigns to serve as Farm Bureau president

Growth and development: Magic Beach Motel sale falls through

Arnold, of St. Augustine, was a 2019 honoree in The St. Augustine Record's "40 Under Forty." She also serves on boards of the Dream Big! Foundation and the Child Guidance Center of Jacksonville, according to a press release from the governor's office. She is a member of the Rotary Club of St. Johns and volunteers with Armstrong Meal Distribution and Read for the Record.

This article originally appeared on St. Augustine Record: United Way of St. Johns County official to serve on County Commission
Former Springfield City Councilman Justin Burnett speaks in support of the council and thanks them for the job they are doing at a Springfield City Council meeting on Monday, Aug. 23, 2021.

After failing to regain a spot in city government earlier this year, former Springfield city councilman Justin Burnett was hired this month to lead the southwest Missouri chapter of a faith-based, racial equity non-profit.

According to its website, Missouri Faith Voices is a "multi-faith, multi racial, statewide, non partisan organization" that is "committed to disrupting and dismantling the fraudulent historic and evil concept of white supremacy."

Founded in 2011, the lobbying group hopes to "untether faith from white supremacy." As lead organizer in the Ozarks, Burnett is taking over for Rev. Susan Schmalzbauer.

"Equity and inclusion are near to God's heart, and likewise, I believe in the beauty of diversity. Building belonging for our neighbors who have been left behind is my focus, & I will speak truth to power when necessary, whether in city halls, Jefferson City, or Washington, DC," Burnett wrote on Facebook last week while announcing his position.

First elected to city council 2015 as a firebrand conservative, the move to the left-leaning Missouri Faith Voices marks the culmination of a longtime ideological shift for Burnett.

In 2015, he was elected on a platform opposing anti-discrimination protections for LGBTQ residents of Springfield  a position for which he later apologized in a News-Leader op-ed. By 2021, Burnett ran for a city council seat as a progressive  losing to Councilwoman Heather Hardinger.

Though Burnett resigned from the city council in 2016, he believes seeing Springfield's poverty while in that position precipitated his ideological shift.

"As a council member, I volunteered at Convoy of Hope," Burnett said. "It was really eye-opening to see how much poverty we have in our communities to realize how simple things like shoes and haircuts and, and food that so many of us take for granted. For many of our neighbors, it's a daily struggle to get those basic necessities. And so that for me was an eye-opener that the status quo was not was not giving everyone a chance at the American dream."

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Previously: Burnett: To the LGBTQ community, I'm sorry

Growing up as a conservative Christian, Burnett said his mind opened after speaking with people from other faith traditions, including during a trip to Israel.

Burnett hopes his wide range of beliefs across his life better help him advocate for equity and inclusion in southwest Missouri.

"I have gone from being a conservative to a moderate to what I would describe as a progressive today," Burnett said. "Since I've evolved through multiple ideologies, I feel like I have an ability to sit across the table from someone and dialogue with them and and figure out how we can work together."

A top priority for Burnett once beginning his new role in January is to defend Springfield Public School's equity and inclusion plans, which have recently come under fire by Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt as a form of Critical Race Theory.

"I 100 percent support Springfield Public Schools and its initiatives to increase diversity, equity and inclusion in our in our public school system. I think that equity training is vitally important," Burnett said. "I think that ensuring the training remains is a moral issue for our community. And I think as a leader in the faith community, it is vitally important that we speak in support of what our public school system is doing."

Previously: Election 2021: Meet the candidates for Springfield City Council General Seat A

Burnett added his commitment to racial equity is a key pillar of his Christian faith.

"The key tenant of my faith as a Christian is my belief in Jesus's command to love our neighbors as ourselves," Burnett said. "And that is also a tenant shared by every faith tradition. We are all brothers and sisters in this universe, and I think that is is near to God's heart."

Other priorities Burnett hopes to advocate before his former colleagues at the City Council include the creation of a permanent day shelter for homeless Springfieldians and free public transportation like is seen in St. Louis and Kansas City.

At the state level, he will assist Missouri Faith Voices in advocating for increased regulations for payday loan companies, which he said will "ensure those in poverty are not abused."

Asked how his progressive transformation intermingled with his conservative faith tradition, Burnett admitted it can be difficult to marry all his beliefs into a whole.

"Recently, a friend told me that they were 'too Christian' to support me while I hold my progressive views. As a person of faith, that did hurt..." Burnett said. "When I got in my car, I was left with the gut-wrenching realization of the damage that the politization of faith has done. I'm hoping to bridge this divide to bring healing to our community."

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Ex-Springfield councilman Justin Burnett joins Missouri Faith Voices
A 21-year-old Fresno man convicted of two murders was sentenced to 18 years in prison Monday as relatives of the victims called the outcome an injustice.

Christopher Lenore Sanders, 21, pleaded no contest to charges he killed Jesse Villanueva, 28, and Peniamina Ben Romero, 17. Police said the two men were shot to death after an apparent dispute outside of the West Shaw Estates condominiums near Shaw and Marks avenues on July 30, 2018. Sanders was also charged with shooting a third victim who survived.

The fact that you guys are taking an 18-year plea for murdering two people is never going to sit right with me, said Corinne Villanueva, the widow of Jesse Villanueva. You guys have to do better.

Corrine Villanueva had been married to her husband for 10 years, and they have three children.

I can never get my husband back, and my children will never get their father back, she said. He will forever be missed.

Jessica Romero, the mother of Peniamino Romero, who also went by Boy Boy, wrote a letter to Judge Arlan L Harrell.

In her letter, she acknowledged her son wasnt perfect, but she said he always looked out for her or anyone in the community who needed help.

I can not explain how hard this has been for me. I miss him so much, she wrote. He is the reason I turned my life around. My other boys are affiliated, and I always prepare myself for a bad phone call. I just didnt think it would be about Boy Boy.

The family members wanted a stronger punishment for Sanders, who was 18 at the time of the killings.

Sanders was facing the possibility of life in prison without the possibility of parole had the case gone to trial, and a jury found him guilty on all the charges.

But the case proved to be problematic for prosecutors. There were conflicting witness statements about what happened, and proving first-degree murder might be a challenge.

Prosecutor Tim Galstan and Sanderss attorney Miles Harris worked for several weeks on a plea deal that ultimately involved Sanders pleading no contest to the two murders and assault with a firearm in exchange for an 18-year prison sentence.

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In November, the agreement was moving forward until it reached Judge Jon Kapetan. The judge was swayed by the victims relatives who spoke about their loss and the seeming unfairness of the plea deal.

Kapetan tossed the plea agreement, setting the stage for Sanders to face a jury trial.

But that never happened. Instead of assigning the case to a courtroom for a trial, Harrell, the presiding judge, accepted the plea agreement.

Harrell said he understood the relatives concerns but he must base his decision on the facts presented to him.

In this instance, the people determined that they could not prove murder, Harrell said. There was a killing of a human being, but was it murder or manslaughter? In this case, the evidence suggests it is manslaughter. I am extremely sorry for your loss, but please understand we make decisions on evidence and what can be proven in a court of law.
When you shop for a holiday gift, you probably read at least one review. Garner Healths bet is when you look for a doctor, youll want to do the same thing -- but youll find that existing reviews arent enough to go on.

Garner Health, founded in 2019, is a service designed to help people sort through doctors. The company contracts with employers who offer health plans to workers. Employees can search through Garners app for doctors in their area, particularly ones who have expertise in their particular issue. And, if employees use the service to select a doctor, theyll unlock funds provided by employers to cover medical costs.

The company closed a $45 million Series B round on Tuesday, led by Redpoint Ventures. It includes participation from Founders Fund, Thrive Capital and Optum Ventures.

This round follows a Series A round raised in February, and brings the companys total financing to $70 million, CEO and founder Nick Reber told TechCrunch. This includes previous investment from Sequoia Capital and Maverick Ventures.

Reber said interest in this round has been driven by a tenfold increase in Garners client base, savings on healthcare costs for employers and a high rate of employee use of Garners service.

We're, on average, saving 10% realized savings for our employers. And we're getting over 40% of employees to use our tool to find a doctor. So we're really proud of both of those numbers, he said.

On the surface, Garners doctor search functionality doesnt sound all that different from a service like Zocdoc (though Zocdoc has raised some $150 million in growth financing this year, and has about a $2 billion valuation). Garner differentiates itself in two ways: the data it uses to rank, and analyze doctor performance, and the incentives its offering to employees and employers to use the service.

Garner Healths doctor recommendations are compiled not from crowdsourced reviews, but rather, from medical claims data. Reber said that the companys algorithms have combed through some 200 million patients worth of claims, and compared the procedures doctors are actually prescribing to those considered best practice in scientific literature.

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Working with the medical community, weve written over 500 different individual measures, of how doctors should treat different patients, and what are good health outcomes, said Reber. And we measure these individual behaviors in the claims data, and that gives us a lot more insight into how they practice who they're keeping.

The end result, per Reber, is a totally objective review system. Albeit, one that relies on the byzantine process of submitting medical claims. Medical claims have been used to conduct public health research, but there are some underlying problems with the approach: for example, medical claims may be incomplete, and certain conditions may not have billing codes, as one review points out.

Its also easy to imagine that a system like this might privilege some doctors over others in unintended ways. If a doctor works with a community with high rates of underlying disease, or a community thats already underserved medically, would that harm individual performance metrics, even if the doctor does the best they can?

Reber says his team is obsessive about this. His algorithms, he argues, will only compare doctors based on groups of comparable patients.

The second piece of Garners puzzle comes down to the way the company plans to work with employers. Part of the companys promise is that if you select a doctor using the service, it will unlock funds provided by an employer to help cover out-of-pocket costs of the visit.

Whats the sell on that for employers? Rebers pitch is that, already, companies are facing mounting healthcare costs and risk losing talent if they cut employee benefits.

Employers do see healthcare costs as a pain point. One survey of 300 large private employers conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that 83% agreed that the cost of healthcare benefits was excessive (49% moderately agreed, 28% considerably agreed and 6% strongly agreed).

And, employers in general expect their healthcare costs to rise moderately next year -- about 5%, per a survey conducted by benefits consultant Willis Towers Watson. This is, in part, driven by the fact that people will likely begin routine screenings and treatments that were once stalled during the pandemics first peaks.

Employers can go a few different routes to offset costs. Some are considering adding spousal surcharges to existing premiums, or may narrow the selection of in-network options, per the Willis Towers Watson survey. Other companies might pick up the slack themselves. Among the largest of the 1,502 employers surveyed by human resources consulting firm Mercer, 32% will actually decrease premium costs to employees in an attempt to retain talent.

Rebers aim is to convince companies that Garner can help them stick with option 2: retain existing benefits, with the hope that directing patients toward certain specialists will cut long-term costs. So far, the company claims to have realized 10% savings for employers in terms of healthcare costs.

And, to sweeten the deal for employees, employers use some of those savings to cover some of the out-of-pocket bills.

The basic idea is we're going to cover that deductible bill, that copay, that coinsurance bill. And when you do, we know more savings are going back to your employer, which means that total costs borne by the employer are going down, said Reber.

So far, says Reber, Garner has worked with about 100 clients in 47 states. But with this current round, Garner will look to expand its client base. Garners platform works with both large and small companies, but Reber sees special opportunities for companies in the small to mid-size range. Those companies, Garner says, have often been left out of advanced benefits solutions.

The company has other plans for the round beyond expanding a client base. The company is also in the process of rolling out a scorecard service specifically for doctors and providers. For example, it might reveal that one doctor is performing more of a certain test, or has a higher level of complications among patients than a regional average.

That service is intended to give doctors insight into how their patients do relative to other specialists, or, for instance, help primary care physicians make referrals.

So far, this provider and doctor-based service is a small arm of the business. So far, Reber says that theyre piloting this service with a few large primary care groups, hospital systems and other multi-speciality providers.

Finally, the funding will also go toward improving Garners data science and analysis capacity.
RIYADH (Reuters) - The Gulf Cooperation Council called on Lebanon to prevent Hezbollah from conducting "terrorist operations", strengthen its military and ensure that arms are limited to "legitimate state institutions", the six-member group's Secretary General Nayef Falah Mubarak al-Hajraf said on Tuesday.

He also called on Lebanon to tighten border controls and take measures to deter drug smuggling via exports into Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states.

(Reporting by Yousef Saba)
The Daily Beast

Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast/Photos by GettyWhen Amanda Moore lost her job, she decided to go undercover in MAGA land, attending QAnon events and CPAC, hanging with neo-Nazis and blood-and-soil fascists, and palling around with Proud Boys at Harry's Bar in the lead-up to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. But what her new compatriots didnt know was that she was often recording them, and the result is a chilling portrait of what the right looks like from the inside.Moore joined Fever Dreams c
It is a known historical problem that over the years, countless Asian and Pacific Islander (API) creatives, entrepreneurs and social impact leaders have lacked the support, resources, infrastructure and investments that are vital to visibility and success. To address this ongoing issue, Gold House, the premier nonprofit collective of API leaders, has launched Gold House Futures to elevate the next generation of changemakers.



Instead of waiting for seats at others existing tables, were here to build our own: ones that are uniquely us, said Mikkoh Chen, head of Futures. With the backing of industry luminaries and the worlds largest platforms, Gold House Futures is equipping the next generation of creative and company leaders with career-making, life-changing resources to achieve authentic representation and commercial success.



According to Gold Houses website, its Futures are the most promising Asian & Pacific Islander (API) creatives and founders who benefit from career-making acceleration, skill-building and structured networking with like-minded API leaders. The inaugural class of Futures will focus on five categories (Guilds)  music, film, social impact, fine arts and entrepreneurship  to foster further connectivity within these groups, which are critical to strengthening positive API perception. Each Guild will work closely with leaders from their respective categories, and participants will receive additional support from the initiatives cross-industry partners.





Gold House Futures Music Guild





Music: The Music Guild



Gold House is collaborating with Spotify to bolster three API music artists who will have the opportunity to record Spotify Singles, a series of original artist recordings in its in-house studios that are released for streaming. These artists will be selected by a committee of music industry leaders (including Ronny Ho of Spotify, Puja Patel of Pitchfork, Eric Wong of Warner Music Group and Annie Lee of Universal Music Group) and icons (including Far East Movement). They will receive support, amplification and programming from Spotify.



We are here to pour gasoline on top of these promising fires in the API Artist community, said Byron Atienza, the Global Creative Vice President of Capitol Music Group. Its an extraordinarily talent rich, yet still underrepresented group thats ready to make its contribution to the arts. Gold House Futures is here to provide that needed platform - now.





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Future Gold Film Fellowship





Film: The Future Gold Film Fellowship



Created by Netflix, Tribeca Studios and Gold House, three API filmmakers will be selected to receive funding and promotion to produce a short film. They will be chosen by a diverse panel of industry heavyweights, including Jon M. Chu, Daniel Dae Kim and Alice Wu.



"I was able to kickstart my career with a three-minute short film on YouTube, said writer and director Aneesh Chaganty. So Im very excited to support a few up-and-coming API filmmakers as they try to do the same: make exciting short films through The Film Guild.





Gold Future Challenge





Social Impact: The Gold Futures Challenge



In partnership withAsian American Futures, the Gold Futures Challenge is a philanthropic award that recognizes the accomplishments of nonprofits serving API communities. Ten prizes  ranging from $25,000 to $100,000  will be awarded to organizations for projects that ensure API communities are Seen, Heard, Empowered and United. Finalists will be chosen by a slate of social justice leaders on the selection committee (including Chanel Miller, MILCK and Weijia Jiang), and the prize amounts will be determined by public vote. Awardees will also be invited to participate in educational programming provided byNode, a nonprofit social education network that empowers API community leaders.



The Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) community is actively doing work to be seen, heard, empowered and united, but continues to be severely under-resourced, said Joanna Kong, a board member and the co-chair of Asian American Futures) For every $100 dollars awarded by foundations in the United States, only 20 cents are designated for AAPI communities. This is one of the main reasons why the work of the Gold Futures Challenge is so important  our community deserves more equitable and reliable sources of funding to grow and sustain their work.





Gold Art Prize 2021





Fine Arts: The Gold Art Prize



The Gold Art Prize is a biennial award administered by Gold House and art advisor Kelly Huang of KCH Advisory. This award spotlights the achievements of five contemporary API artists each cycle and is juried by a distinguished nominating committee of API curators from major institutions (including the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art) and a selection committee of influential API figures (including Gemma Chan and Prabal Gurung). Each awardee receives a $25,000 unrestricted grant, a catalog that features their work and an exhibition opportunity at the newly-established Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) San Francisco.



This effort is an opportunity to spotlight AAPI artists  to ensure their contributions to art and culture are visible, said Miyoung Lee, vice chair of the board of the Whitney Museum. We want the artists to know they have a community of support behind them. We want the next generation to feel validated in choosing to pursue careers as cultural producers.



Entrepreneurship: Gold Rush



Gold Rush is a biannual accelerator  built for and by API founders  to champion the most promising API-led companies. The 12-week mentorship-driven program propels companies to top-line acceleration, high-value customer acquisition, media amplification and invaluable connections with investors and experts in their industry.



Asians  and Asian women in particular  are the least likely to be promoted to management, according to the Harvard Business Review, said Julia Gouw, chairwoman of Piermont Bank. As someone who has held several top positions in the corporate world, I have witnessed the lack of resources for API business leaders and entrepreneurs to overcome these difficult barriers and rise up. It is thrilling to build the Julia Gouw Womens Leadership Track to tackle these exact challenges by providing directed programming to ensure female founders are well-equipped for success.



Through investments with prominent partners, skill-building for successful leadership and world-class mentoring from industry titans, Gold House Futures is a key endeavor that will advance the success of emerging API creatives, entrepreneurs and social impact leaders for many years to come.



Visitwww.goldhousefutures.com to apply and learn more aboutGold House Futures.



Images via Gold House

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Google has agreed to set up a privacy and online safety initiative for children in New Mexico, after being accused of violating U.S. law that governs children's privacy on the internet.

Driving the news: Google LLC and New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas announced a settlement Monday over allegations Google violated the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and New Mexico state consumer protection laws.

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Two federal court cases New Mexico filed against Google are resolved by the settlement, Balderas' office announced.

The big picture: The settlement, which includes $3.8 million for the new initiative, is mostly a victory for Google, which wasn't found to have broken COPPA and now gets its name on a children's education and online safety project.

Google also notched a win last September when a U.S. district judge dismissed New Mexico's suit, which led to an appeal

What they're saying: "Im pleased that we demanded Google put the safety of our school children first and that were able to partner with Google in our shared commitment to innovation and education," said Attorney General Balderas in a release.

We are pleased to support programs and initiatives in New Mexico that promote kids education, privacy, and safety online," said Cynthia Pantazis, Google's director of government affairs and public policy.

Details: Google and attorney general Balderas will identify recipients of the initiative's funds. As part of the settlement, Google will also require apps on its Play Store to use age-screening tactics in order to avoid collecting information from children below age 13.

The settlement also requires Google to "increase parents' visibility into what information apps are collecting from their children," according to the release.

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Greensboro police have arrested a teen in the fatal shooting of a 15-year-old Raleigh boy last month.

Julius Jurrell Burley, 18, was charged with first-degree murder in the death of Christian Anthony Jamal ONeal, the Greensboro Police Department announced Monday.

Police responded Nov. 12 to a reported shooting on Central Avenue in east Greensboro, where they found ONeal dead.

ONeal, a Millbrook High School sophomore, had been staying in Greensboro for a few weeks at the time, police said previously.

ONeal wore the number 33 as a wide receiver and linebacker for the junior varsity team at one point, according to the school.

Everybody is like, what in the world? Matilda Perry, ONeals cousin, previously told The News & Observer. They cant believe it because Chris dont bother nobody.

Perry described ONeal as a respectful, shy teen.

He has always been mellow and kind of [kept] to himself, she said.
Georgia Representatives Mack Jackson (Dist. 128) and Brian Prince (Dist. 127) present Jefferson County High School junior Mary Wilhelmina Hodges with a resolution recognizing her for her two-year role as Georgia's Outstanding Teen.

Jefferson County High School junior Mary Wilhelmina Hodges was recognized last week by Georgia Representatives Mack Jackson (Dist. 128) and Brian Prince (Dist. 127) for her two-year role as Georgia's Outstanding Teen.

Hodges was originally scheduled to receive this recognition before the State House of Representatives in Atlanta during the general session in the spring of 2020, but that was postponed due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Rep. Prince took the opportunity during a recent legislative breakfast held in Louisville to present Hodges with the resolution recognizing her work representing the state at the Miss America competition and across Georgia during 2019 and 2020.

During her time in this role she promoted her Take 10 platform in several county school systems, encouraging students to exercise and promoting healthy living. She also started a fundraiser in conjunction with Reach Out Read that raised more than $10,000 for the literacy program.

Through the Miss Americas Outstanding Teen OrganizItion I have met people from all over the state, Hodges said, thanking those who attending the meeting. They come from big areas, urban areas, but I can tell you they have not received the support that I have in Jefferson County.

This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: Mary Wilhelmina Hodges recognized for service to state of Georgia
WASHINGTON  The House on Tuesday passed a bill that would punish China for its treatment of the country's Uyghur population following a bicameral agreement on the legislation.

The measure passed by voice vote, indicating unanimous support. The legislation now heads to the Senate, which is expected to send the bill to the White House for President Joe Biden's signature.

The House voted 428-1 last week to pass a version of the bill written by Jim McGovern, D-Mass. The Senate unanimously passed a related measure, sponsored by Marco Rubio, R-Fla., in July.

McGovern's bill would ban imports produced by ethnic Muslims in internment camps in northwest China, while Rubio's would clamp down on goods manufactured under forced labor conditions in Xinjiang.

The compromise bill would instruct the Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force to submit a notice to the Federal Register for public comment about how to best ensure that "goods mined, produced, or manufactured wholly or in part with forced labor" in China by Uyghurs and members of other persecuted groups are not imported into the U.S., according to the text of the bill obtained by NBC.

McGovern announced the bipartisan deal with Rubio earlier on Tuesday.

"Happy to report that Senator Rubio & I just reached an agreement on final text of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act," McGovern said on Twitter. "We will be moving our bill through both chambers & to President Biden's desk as quickly as possible."

The White House previously announced a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Olympics in February, citing Chinas "ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity in Xinjiang and other human rights abuses."

The U.S. labeled Chinas treatment of its Uyghur Muslim minority in Xinjiang as genocide in January, and lawmakers have been pushing a ban on imports of products made with forced labor by Uyghurs. China has dismissed the genocide charge, calling it a slanderous assertion about conditions in Xinjiang.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said before Tuesday's House vote that Biden welcomed the compromise measure.

"The Administration will work closely with Congress to implement this bill to ensure global supply chains are free of forced labor, while simultaneously working to on-shore and third-shore key supply chains, including semiconductors and clean energy," Psaki said in a statement.
Human remains have been discovered in the nearly eight-month search for Taylor Pomaski, the missing girlfriend of former NFL player Kevin Ware.

Pomaski, 29, was last seen on April 25 at a party in Spring, Texas, about 25 miles from Houston, the Harris County Sheriffs Office said.

On May 19, her case was transferred to the department's homicide unit. Investigators said in June the circumstances surrounding her disappearance seemed suspicious and she may have been the victim of foul play.

Harris County Sheriffs Office investigators and members of Texas EquuSearch, an organization dedicated to looking for missing persons, searched and excavated a site in North Harris County on Dec. 10 that was identified during the investigation into Pomaskis disappearance, Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said in a statement.

Taylor Pomaski, 29, was last seen on April 25 at a party in Spring, Texas. (Harris County Sheriff)

Thats where they found remains that were later determined to be human.

At this time, investigators are unclear on the identity of the remains, but investigators believe them to be related to the Pomaski case," Gonzalez said.

Related video: Police identify dismembered leg as remains of Florida mom

Identification of the remains will be completed by the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences.

Ware, a former tight end for the San Francisco 49ers, has not been charged in Pomaskis case.

The 41-year-old was arrested on drug and weapons charges in Montgomery County on April 19, in a case separate from Pomaskis disappearance. He was released on bond but re-arrested June 11 for failing to appear in court, according to NBC affiliate KPRC.

Montgomery County prosecutors wrote that he was a suspect in a murder investigation related to Pomaski's disappearance in a motion to have his bond revoked in that June case, according to KPRC. Ultimately, he was ordered to be held without bail for violating conditions of the previous bond case.

After prosecutors called him a suspect, Ware's attorney Coby DuBose told the outlet: That filing is the first time that its been suggested that he is a suspect.

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"Hes been cooperative. Hes told the police everything that he knows and hes led them through his house," DuBose added.

DuBose did not immediately reply to NBC News' request for comment.

Ware is currently being held without bond at Montgomery County jail, online jail records show.

Anyone with information on Pomaskis whereabouts is urged to contact the Harris County Sheriffs Office Homicide Unit at (713) 274-9100.
Chadwick Bosemans brother claims the late actor wouldve wanted the role of TChalla recast in the Black Panther franchise. The statement comes after many fans have expressed a desire to see another star tackle the beloved character. However, Marvel vowed never to do such a thing following the stars sudden passing in August 2020.

During an interview with TMZ, the 21 Bridges stars older brother Derrick Boseman told reporters that he believes TChalla needs to live on. He added, Chadwick knew the power of the character and the positive influence it carries, before noting that theres so much power in seeing a Black king, especially in a superhero capacity.

Kevin Boseman (L) says brother Chadwick Boseman (R) would want his Black Panther character TChalla recast. Photo: @kevinboseman/ Instagram

The news comes after mounting requests from fans for Marvel to find another leading star. Many have even begun using the hashtag recastTChalla to increase their efforts. One Twitter user commented, Imagine never doing another Superman movie after Christopher Reeves passed #RecastTchalla and shared a photo collage of several Black actors, including Damson Idris and John David Washington.

Imagine never doing another Superman movie after Christopher Reeves passed #RecastTchalla pic.twitter.com/lbatbcrdSw  Ben (@Mr_Evertz) December 13, 2021

Yes, Marvel should #RecastTchalla, wrote a second person. I didnt know Chadwick Boseman personally, but I think he would be saddened to learn Tchalla died with him. The character should live on in the MCU and continue inspire people everywhere.

Yes, Marvel should #RecastTchalla  I didn't know Chadwick Boseman personally, but I think he would be saddened to learn T'challa died with him. The character should live on in the MCU and continue inspire people everywhere. pic.twitter.com/E7saMxJtQp  Garrick (@KI_Garrick) December 13, 2021

A petition was even created by a person who appeared to be Emmanuel Noisette of E-Mans Movie Reviews on Change.org titled Recast TChalla To Honor Chadwick Boseman In the Black Panther Franchise. The request was directed at Marvel, Kevin Feige, Ryan Coogler and Marvel Studio. It has already gained over 43,000 signatures.

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While his character of TChalla was adored by fans, there have been rumors that Marvel will kill off his character in the new movie and for good, the petition description read.

This is a call for the President of Marvel Studios Kevin Feige, Co-President Louis DEsposito, and Writer/Director Ryan Coogler to reconsider their decision and recast the role of TChalla in the Black Panther franchise, it continued. If Marvel Studios removes TChalla, it would be at the expense of the audiences (especially Black boys and men) who saw themselves in him. That also includes the millions of fans who were inspired by the character as well.

Last November during an appearance on The Ringer-Verse podcast, Marvel Cinematic Universe producer and MCU vice president of development Nate Moore said you will not see TChalla in [future Marvel films]. We just couldnt do it.

Moore continued, When Chad passed, it was a real conversation we had with [director Ryan] Coogler about what do we do, and it was a fast conversation. It wasnt weeks, it was minutes of we had to figure out how to move that franchise on without that character. Because I think we all feel so much of TChalla in the MCU on the screen  not in comics  is tied to Chadwicks performance, is what he brought to that role both on- and off-screen.

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Indiana Task Force One members clear debris from the site of a candle factory in Mayfield, Kentucky that collapsed after being hit by a tornado on Friday.

Indiana Task Force One is shifting its search efforts to a town whose residents have a tragic, new way to describe the state of their home: Unrecognizable.

Dawson Springs, Kentucky, is the next destination for the task force, the group announced Tuesday. The town of 2,600 people was flattened by a tornado Friday night in a series of twisters that barreled through the state. Officials say the death toll remains at 74 people killed in the storms Tuesday afternoon.

The Indiana task force, comprised of first responders from 18 local agencies, will mark damaged structures for Kentucky officials and conduct wide searches to make sure the towns residents are accounted for.

Kentucky tornado: Remembering those who have died in the December storms

Indiana Task Force One members clear debris from the site of a candle factory in Mayfield, Kentucky that collapsed after being hit by a tornado on Friday.

Their new assignment comes after they spent days clearing debris from whats left of a candle factory in Mayfield.

Eight people working inside the factory at the time were confirmed dead after the tornado. Another eight people among the 110 working in the factory remained missing immediately after the storm.

Indiana Task Force One members focused its 12-hour shifts on clearing metal debris from the leveled factory searching for spaces where people may be trapped.

Searchers walked through mounds of twisted metal and heaping remains of the factory, video taken from the site shows. They zeroed in on clearing the collapsed roof.

'The whole place was gone': Dawson Springs works to come to grips with tornado's wrath

Crew members used cranes to lift metal bars dozens of feet in the air to move them away from the rubble. One of the three search dogs sent with the task force suffered a small cut to its paw in the process, which medical teams addressed.

The dog has returned to work, the task force said Tuesday.

Contact Sarah Nelson at sarah.nelson@indystar.com or 317-503-7514.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Kentucky tornado: Indiana Task Force 1 headed to Dawson Springs
JAKARTA (Reuters) - Private pharmaceutical companies in Indonesia will be permitted to directly import COVID-19 vaccines to "balance the market", the country's health minister told parliament on Tuesday.

Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin made the announcement during an update on the country's vaccine program. The government was forced to rescind a private vaccine programme earlier this year following widespread public outcry over vaccine inequity. [L4N2OS2QF]

"Vaccines that have permits from the World Health Organisation, Indonesias Drug and Food Agency (BPOM) and technical advisory group (ITAGI) can be imported by registered drug and pharmaceutical companies," he said.

Allowing pharmaceutical companies to sell directly to the public would provide "balance in the market and (give) society more choices", he said, adding that prices would be capped by the ministry.

Almost 50% of the targeted population have received two shots of a COVID-19 vaccine, with 70% receiving one. Indonesia had aimed to inoculate 208 million out of its population of 270 million by January 2022. It now aims to achieve this target in March-April 2022, according to local media.

Vaccines for those aged between 6-11 are being rolled out starting Tuesday, with China's Sinovac vaccine the most widely used in the Southeast Asian nation.

Acknowledging the financial burden of vaccines on the budget, the health minister confirmed that booster shots for the public would be made available from next January.

Honesti Basyir, head of Indonesias state-owned pharmaceutical company Bio Farma, told the same parliamentary hearing the country would need 300 million vaccine doses in 2022, including 68.6 million doses for children, and 231.4 million for boosters.

Since grappling with one of the worst COVID-19 outbreaks globally on the back of a devastating second wave this July, case numbers have plummeted in the Southeast Asian nation in recent months.

In the past week, Indonesia has averaged about 200 coronavirus cases and 10 deaths a day, down from a peak of more 56,000 cases on July 15. Overall, Indonesia has officially recorded more than 4.2 million coronavirus cases and 143,000 deaths.

(Reporting by Agustinus Beo Da Costa and Kate Lamb; Writing by Kate Lamb; Editing by Ana Nicolaci da Costa)
When one thinks of fine caviar, the Caspian and Black seas by Russia come to mind  not the Tennessee River Basin.

But Tennessee is home to one of the top caviar producers in the country.

For more than 30 years, Kelley's Katch has specialized in fresh, nutritious, sustainable American caviar at a great price, with outstanding customer service and next-day delivery.

This Savannah-based online caviar company founded by Mike Kelley and his wife, Vickie, was recently bought by two Memphians, cousins Dan and Randy Robinson.

How Kelley's Katch started

In 1988, Mike Kelley founded Kelley's Katch. This lifelong fisherman built his caviar business by providing a high-quality product at an affordable price point.

"My father was a fisherman and we sold caviar to a company in New York," Vickie Kelley said. "Mike was a fisherman as well and when we got married, we created Kelley's Katch."

Kelleys Katch caviar is produced from the roe of paddlefish found in rivers of Tennessee and other American states. American paddlefish is a freshwater sturgeon and a genetic cousin of the sturgeon found in Eastern Europe. Hence, it is considered caviar.

Kelley's Katch Caviar is based in Savannah, TN. Memphians (and cousins) Dan and Randy Robinson own the company that ships caviar nationwide.

Paddlefish caviar is a pearl gray in color and has a firm texture that is lightly salted. The appearance and size are very comparable to Sevruga caviar, which is an expensive caviar from the Caspian Sea and its surrounding rivers.

Kelleys Katch is both a processor and a repackager. The line of caviars includes both wild-caught and farm-raised paddlefish caviar, white sturgeon caviar and hackleback caviar.

Dan Robinson attributes the companys success to Mike Kelleys expertise and attention to detail.

Mike is amazing," Dan said. "He can taste a caviar and tell you the river it came from."

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A 2001 article in The Wall Street Journal put Kelley's Katch on the map.

"It was an article about a blind tasting at The Breakers Hotel," said Vickie, noting their company was launched before the days of the internet. "They called and told us our phone would ring off the hook ... and it did from 5 a.m. to 2 a.m. the next morning. It's funny, I still get calls about that article to this day."

Clients are from across the United States, with caviar being shipped to places like Hollywood and the Hamptons. Many on the list are well-known celebrities.

"There are times of the year when we know parties are happening in certain neighborhoods in Malibu," Vickie said. "We will have several orders going out to homes on the same street."

How the Robinsons discovered Kelleys Katch

You don't have to be a celebrity to enjoy Kelley's Katch caviar. Dan and Randy Robinson discovered Kelley's Katch from a relative.

My sister Lynn loves caviar and asked me to stop by and pick some up for her when I was in Pickwick one week, Randy said. Dan just happened to be in town, so we went together.

The shop was closed that day, but Mike Kelley happened to be inside.

Kelley's Katch Caviar Company is based in Savannah, TN.

He said he couldnt sell to us since the caviar had to be purchased online. But we stayed over an hour and chatted with him, Dan said. During the conversation, Mike mentioned he was considering slowing down.

Over the next two years, the Robinsons stayed in touch with Mike.

The next thing we knew, we were buying the company, Randy said.

The next chapter for Kelleys Katch

Both Dan and Randy have a family history in the food industry.

Its in our DNA, Dan said.

Their great-grandfather Tom Robinson founded The Skillet Restaurant in the 1920s, and their grandfather Monte Robinson ran Montes Drive In, a popular barbecue joint on Summer Avenue that was open for several decades. Dans father, Danny Robinson, worked for D. Canale Food Service. As adults, both Dan and Randy have invested in several food businesses.

Felicia Suzanne's Restaurant uses Kelley's Katch caviar on its famous smoked salmon deviled eggs.

The two hope to use their experience to grow Kelleys Katch customer base, both direct to the consumer and in food service.

We saw lots of opportunity with restaurants," Randy said. "Our goal is to grow the food service side of the business."

In Memphis, Kelleys Katch is served on the menus of restaurants like Acre, River Oaks and Felicia Suzannes.

James Beard-nominated Nashville restaurant Henrietta Red also features the caviar on its menu.

Kelley's Katch white sturgeon caviar is currently on our Hamachi Tartare appetizer, as well as by the ounce with traditional accompaniments, Acre executive chef Andrew Adams said. We have had it on the menu for a few months. Kelley's Katch caviar holds up, in quality, to other great caviar companies. It's delicious, the price is good and it's local.

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How you can enjoy caviar at home

Thanks to producers of American caviar like Kelley's Katch, enjoying caviar at home is more accessible and affordable.

We really want to demystify caviar, Dan said. We want to show people it is something you can do more with.

Dans favorite way to enjoy it is as a garnish for a homemade blini topped with warm brie and smoked salmon. But he also admits it is delicious on Fritos Scoops.

Vickie offered her tried-and-true tips on serving caviar at home.

First she recommends ordering it three days prior to your event, and storing it in the coldest part of the refrigerator until ready to serve it.

A sampling of the many ways caviar can be served.

While it can be kept for several days, Vickie said to eat it sooner than later.

"Think of it like buying fresh bread," she said. "The sooner you eat it, the better it tastes."

Vickie said to only use a mother of pearl spoon when serving caviar. "The reason is so that you don't pick up any taste from a silver or stainless spoon," she said.

Deviled eggs topped with caviar (she calls is "Deviled Eggs with a Kick") is one of her favorite dishes to take to church. At her son's engagement party later this month, she'll be serving caviar-topped smoked salmon and creme fraiche blinis.

"So many people nowadays are eating sushi. If you like sushi, you will love this," Vickie said. "Plus, you can impress your guests with it and not spend tons of money."

To order, visit kelleyskatch.com. All orders are shipped priority overnight via FedEx. If you place your order after 3 p.m. Central, it will be shipped the following day.

Jennifer Chandler is the Food & Dining Reporter at The Commercial Appeal. She can be reached at jennifer.chandler@commercialappeal.com and you can follow her on Twitter and Instagram at @cookwjennifer.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Kelley's Katch: American caviar from right here in Tennessee
MAYFIELD, Ky.  Four days after a powerful tornado tore through Mayfield, crews with heavy equipment continued to clear debris in its shattered brick downtown.

In many neighborhoods still without power, volunteers and families worked to cut away trees, board windows and take stock of scattered belongings on Tuesday. Volunteers set up barbecues and drink stands.

On one street, an apartment owner who had recently renovated her building stood outside, nearly in tears, realizing it was beyond repair. Nearby, at St. Joseph Catholic Church, a Spanish-speaking nun helped give out generators while volunteers gave away clothes, diapers and water.

Kentucky tornado live updates: Beshear says tornado death toll remains at 74, with 12 kids among victims

Along a strip of mostly closed fast-food restaurants, a disaster response insurance company had set up shop at a home improvement store.

About 110 people were working at the Mayfield Consumer Products candle factory when the weather hit, collapsing the roof of the building. Initial reports from the state said the death toll there could be in the dozens, but a company spokesman later said the number was much lower.

Gov. Andy Beshear said Tuesday the owners of the factory believe they've located everyone, and cadaver dogs haven't indicated any additional finds. Eight people out of 74 total deaths in the state were reported at the factory.

"The level of debris could be impacting the canines," Beshear said, "but we certainly hope that  our prayers were answered and that it's just eight that are ultimately lost there. If you saw it in person, you'd believe that's a miracle. The level of absolute destruction in one place. It's hard to describe..."

Meanwhile, Kentucky's worker safety agency has launched an investigation into the destroyed Mayfield candle factory that could take up to six months, per Kentucky Labor Cabinet spokeswoman Holly Neal.

Kentucky Emergency Management Director Michael Dossett said during a midday virtual press conference in Frankfort that there are 18,500 homes still without power, down from 28,531 Monday.

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Gov. Andy Beshear talks to people in Bremen, Ky., about their experiences in the recent tornado outbreak. Dec. 14, 2021

"We're making extraordinary progress for damage this significant across our commonwealth," said Dossett, who has delayed his retirement because of the tornadoes. "That does not include Mayfield's electric  it doesn't exist. So, that will take weeks and months to rebuild."

Lake Barkley State Resort Park, which was out of power Monday, got power back and now has 56 rooms available to house victims of the destruction. Barren River has 30 rooms open; John James Audubon State Park in Henderson has two.

The sun shines into the now open-air A to Z Wine and Spirits store in Maysville, Ky., illuminating intact and broken alcoholic beverages on shelves and the floor. "My wife and I were in the store working until about 10 minutes before it hit," co-owner, Mike Patel said. Dec. 13, 2021

Pennyrile State Park in Dawson Springs has been at capacity housing tornado victims since Monday, but Beshear said Tuesday it can put some cots in a conference room if need be. Rough River Dam Resort State Park in Falls of Rough has 40 rooms and 30 cottages available.

Beshear, who lost extended family members to the tornadoes, said anyone wanting to volunteer at the parks can reach out to andy.kasitz@ky.gov for more information. Pennyrile has enough volunteers at this time.

At least five tornadoes  the largest of which was estimated to be an EF-3, though Beshear said he believes it will end up being confirmed as an EF-5  ripped through western Kentucky Friday night and Saturday morning. They left piles of debris from leveled homes and businesses behind them. One of them stayed on Kentucky ground for more than 200 miles.

Tornado rating: What was the strength and size of the main Kentucky tornado? Here are early estimates.

Tornadoes also touched down in the Bowling Green area, Taylor County and Ohio County, according to the National Weather Service. Beshear said Monday there's no formal estimate yet on the cost of all the damage, but "it's in the hundreds of millions of dollars at least."

At a stop in Muhlenberg County on Tuesday, Beshear said they are trying to match the tracks of the storm to property records to determine the damage amount.

In Marshall County, the hardest hit area was Cambridge Shores, a collection of vacation and permanent homes near Kentucky Lake. There was "total devastation," as one volunteer described it, in some parts where entire houses were destroyed, and the county's two confirmed deaths occurred in the subdivision.

There are no missing persons in the county, and many who lost their homes have found shelter at privately owned lodges and at Kenlake Campground and the Kentucky Dam Village State Resort Park.

Vehicles were strewn among the rubble in the Cambridge Shores area of Marshall County, Ky. on Dec. 14, 2021. A tornado tore through the community.

A boil water advisory remained in places such as Benton as of Tuesday, but roads have been largely cleared throughout the county. Around Cambridge Shores, the top priority Tuesday was to restore utilities to the neighborhood.

President Joe Biden is expected to visit Kentucky on Wednesday to survey the damage in Mayfield and Dawson Springs.

According to the National Weather Service, the deadliest tornado event in state history occurred in Jefferson County in 1890, when 76 people were killed. Kentucky's death total remained at 74 Tuesday at noon, which is just shy of that record.

The current breakdown of deaths by county is:

Graves - 21 (of these, 8 were from the candle factory and 13 from other locations, Beshear said).

Hopkins - 17

Warren - 15

Muhlenberg - 11

Caldwell - 4

Marshall - 2

Franklin - 1

Fulton - 1

Lyon - 1

Taylor - 1

Toy drive: Kentucky First Lady Britainy Beshear organizing Western Kentucky Toy Drive for tornado victims

The Team Western Kentucky Tornado Relief Fund has now raised almost $10 million to assist people in the affected areas. Beshear announced Monday the state will use part of that to provide $5,000 to each family who lost someone to help with burial expenses. The state will work to contact those families directly; there is no need to apply.

"We're going to be real careful that (from) this fund ... a large portion is available for the needs of Kentuckians that are going to continue long after most of the outside help is is gone," Beshear said. "We're going to be looking at what every other fund out there is doing and making sure that we meet the long term needs of these residents."

This story may be updated.

Staff writers Billy Kobin, Joe Gerth and Hayes Gardner contributed. Reach health reporter Sarah Ladd at sladd@courier-journal.com. Follow her on Twitter at @ladd_sarah.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Kentucky tornado debris clearing, power restoration continue
Kim Kardashian is addressing claims that she's appropriated Black culture, sharing in a new interview with i-D magazine that she never meant to do so.

"Obviously, I would never do anything to appropriate any culture," she said in response to a question about navigating accusations of blackfishing. "But I have in the past got backlash from putting my hair in braids and I understand that. Honestly, a lot of the time it comes from my daughter asking us to do matching hair."

It was back in 2018 that Kardashian was criticized for wearing her hair in Fulani braids and referring to the style as "Bo Derek braids" after another white woman who stole the look from African culture. Still, Kardashian explained to i-D that she's had conversations with her 8-year-old daughter North West about wearing different hairstyles.

"Ive had these conversations with her that are like, 'Hey, maybe this hairstyle would be better on you and not on me.' But I also want her to feel that I can do a hairstyle with her and not make it that big of a deal either if that's something that she's really asking for, and really wants," the 41-year-old mother of four explained. "But I've learned and grown over the years and figured out good ways to communicate with all my kids about all this. Ive definitely learned over time, and Ive tried to pass that culture of learning onto my kids too."

She added, "but then there's also a history of braiding hair in Armenia, and people forget that I am Armenian as well."

Hairstyles and photo editing aren't the only things that have landed Kardashian in hot water. In fact, she also faced backlash when she first launched her shapewear line SKIMS under the name Kimono.

"I came up with the Kimono name because it was a play on my name, and because I was so inspired by Japanese culture. To me, it was just paying homage to it, but I quickly realized that it wasn't being seen that way," she told i-D.

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At the time of the initial launch in July 2019, Kardashian was accused of showing "zero respect" to Japanese culture and was encouraged to "reconsider" the brand's name by Kyoto, Japan, Mayor Daisaku Kadokawa.

"It was a really quick decision," she told the publication of rebranding to SKIMS. "I would never intentionally try to appropriate the culture in that way. It wasnt my intention at all. So I just was like, 'Okay, shut it down. It doesnt matter that we have so much product already. We have to figure this out. We need to take our time and slow down for a second and figure it out and change the name.'"

While the Kardashians have rarely addressed claims of cultural appropriation and have even denied their role in promoting unattainable beauty standards, Kim assured readers that she and her family are "absolutely in on the joke" when it comes to the various ways that people poke fun at them.

"We always have been. It is what it is. I especially couldnt really give a f*** what anyone ever says and thinks," she said, explaining that making that point was top of mind when she signed on to do Saturday Night Live. "I was just like, 'Listen, if Im going to do this, I want you guys to know we're in on this. This is what we talk about when were at home.' We have a sense of humor. We roast each other as a family all day long. None of us are sensitive to it. I wanted people to see a part of my personality that all my friends know, that everyone close to me knows. But you know, SNL was a completely different audience for me. It was my opportunity. I wanted to show people that this is funny, and this is a big side of my personality too. And it was fun."

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(Getty Images for ULTA Beauty / K)

Kim Kardashian has said she would never appropriate another culture in a new interview.

Speaking to i-D magazine, the reality TV star was asked to address accusations of cultural appropriation that she faced when she first released her bodywear line, Skims, under the name Kimono.

In 2019, shortly after announcing the name, Kardashian received a flurry of criticism on social media for adopting a term which denotes a traditional Japanese garment.

One critic tweeted at the time: Please be respectful with Japanese culture. The word Kimono shouldnt be something that any one company can take advantage and making profit out of #culturalappropriation.

Two months following the brands initial launch, the entrepreneur announced that the range had been renamed: SKIMS Solutionwear.

Now, Kardashian has responded to the backlash. When asked how she processed it all and chose to change the brands name at the time, she replied: It was a really quick decision. I mean, I came up with the Kimono name because it was a play on my name, and because I was so inspired by Japanese culture.

To me, it was just paying homage to it, but I quickly realised that it wasnt being seen that way. I would never intentionally try to appropriate the culture in that way.

It wasnt my intention at all. So I just was like, Okay, shut it down. It doesnt matter that we have so much product already. We have to figure this out. We need to take our time and slow down for a second and figure it out and change the name.

Kardashian broached the subject again when she was asked how she has navigated criticism around blackfishing - the reality TV star has previously been accused of wearing makeup to dramatically darken the colour of her skin.

I would never do anything to appropriate any culture, she said. But I have in the past got backlash from putting my hair in braids and I understand that.

Honestly, a lot of the time it comes from my daughter asking us to do matching hair. And Ive had these conversations with her that are like, Hey, maybe this hairstyle would be better on you and not on me. But I also want her to feel that I can do a hairstyle with her and not make it that big of a deal either if thats something that shes really asking for, and really wants.

Story continues

But Ive learned and grown over the years, and figured out good ways to communicate with all my kids about all this. Ive definitely learned over time, and Ive tried to pass that culture of learning onto my kids too, but then theres also a history of braiding hair in Armenia, and people forget that I am Armenian as well.

In 2018, Kardashian was heavily criticised for controversially describing her braided hairstyle at that time as Bo Derek braids.

Bo Derek was famously styled with cornrows in the 1979 film 10.

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Bloomington, Minnesota  It's a sound synonymous with the holidays: Salvation Army bells. The charity's Red Kettle Campaign has been raising money for people in need for more than a century. But this year, a shortage of bell ringers is leaving 20,000 hours unfilled, CBS Minnesota reports.

Steve Seltz has been a bell ringer for 30 years. He can be found six days a week greeting shoppers at the Mall of America, the nation's largest. He started volunteering after a friend stayed at a Salvation Army shelter.

Now retired and disabled, he still sees the need for their services every day.

"You do a lot of people watching and learn from that, and it makes you all the more proud that you're doing it," Seltz said.

But there's a shortage of bell ringers this year.

Salvation Army Marketing Manager Angel Fields Mitchell said it's been an ongoing problem since the pandemic.

"There aren't as many people that are signing up to bell ring, but I've got to say it is one of the safest volunteer opportunities that are out there," Fields Mitchell said. "You can mask up; it's a contactless, volunteer experience."

She says, though, that the organization has seen an increase in online donations the past two years.

"All of the donations go to be able to provide food, shelter and care right here in our local communities," Fields Mitchell said.

From October 2020 to September 2021, the Salvation Army Northern Division assisted 735,000 people and distributed more than 5.2 million meals.

"It takes an army to be able to be able to meet the needs of this community," Fields Mitchell said.

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Biden administration deploys federal aid to areas hit by deadly tornadoes
Michigan House lawmakers passed legislation Tuesday that would prohibit the redistricting commission from using the Open Meetings Act as the legal justification for meeting behind closed doors.

The legislation passed unanimously in the Senate on Dec. 2 and heads to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's desk next.

The state law spells out certain circumstances under which public bodies can enter into closed session, and the redistricting commission cites those permissible purposes in its rules of procedure.

The passage of SB 728 comes amid concerns about the transparency of the Michigan redistricting commission's work drawing new congressional and legislative districts.

The House approved the bill 100-2. Reps. Julie Brixie, D-Okemos, and Jim Ellison, D-Royal Oak, voted against it.

In an interview last week with The Daily News in Greenville, Whitmer said the commission's work has raised "a lot of red flags" and called arguments made by the commission's lawyers in defense of withholding information from the public "very concerning."

The bill passed Tuesday would add language to the Open Meetings Act stating that the law "does not permit the independent citizens redistricting commission to meet in closed session for any purpose."

Sen. Ed McBroom, R-Vulcan, who introduced the bill, said the legislation is not necessarily a blanket ban against closed meetings of the commission.

"My bill does nothing to stop them from utilizing a closed meeting and arguing  should they be litigated against  that they were justified in doing so," McBroom said. "It simply eliminates the Open Meetings Act as the justification for being able to do that."

The commission could still write its own rules on the matter consistent with constitutional provisions requiring transparency from the group, McBroom said.

More: Redistricting commission defends keeping memos secret, in response to media lawsuit

More: Michigan's redistricting commission could face legal challenges on several fronts

Story continues

The commission entered its first-ever closed-door session in late October to meet privately with its lawyers to discuss voting rights issues as it drew proposed congressional and legislative districts.

Julianne Pastula, the commission's general counsel, argued that the Open Meetings Act allowed the group to meet behind closed doors to discuss information she said was subject to attorney-client privilege.

Attorney General Dana Nessel found that the meeting likely violated the Michigan Constitution, which requires the commission to "conduct all of its business at open meetings." Presuming the memos laid out information relevant to the commission's mapping activities, it should not have met behind closed doors and must release the memos, Nessel wrote. She did not weigh in on whether the commission could never meet in a closed session.

Following Nessel's non-binding opinion, the commission voted against disclosing the memos the group discussed during its closed-door meeting. The group also declined to release a recording of the closed session. The commission's attorneys argued that disclosing the documents would amount to a waiver of attorney-client privilege.

The Free Press joined other media organizations in a lawsuit filed in the Michigan Supreme Court against the commission to seek records from the secret meeting and other private memos weighed by the commission.

The lawsuit also asks the high court to require the commission to conduct all of its future meetings in an open session.

The commission plans to meet the last week in December to adopt final U.S. House, Michigan Senate and Michigan House districts.

Clara Hendrickson fact-checks Michigan issues and politics as a corps member with Report for America, an initiative of The GroundTruth Project. Make a tax-deductible contribution to support her work at bit.ly/freepRFA. Contact her at chendrickson@freepress.com or 313-296-5743. Follow her on Twitter @clarajanehen.

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Bill passes to bar closed redistricting meetings under state law
BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanon's public prosecutor on Tuesday instructed the security forces to arrest a top politician over the Beirut port blast, a senior judicial source said, setting the stage for a possible confrontation with the lawmaker and his powerful ally Hezbollah.

Tarek Bitar, the judge investigating last year's catastrophic port explosion, first issued a warrant for the arrest of Ali Hassan Khalil, a former finance minister, on Oct. 12 after he did not attend a scheduled interrogation.

He is a right-hand man of House Speaker Nabih Berri and one of several current and former senior politicians and security officials charged in connection with the blast that killed more than 215 people. All have refused to be interrogated by Bitar, saying he lacks the authority to do so and is biased.

The arrest warrant referred by Bitar to the security forces on Tuesday called for Khalil, who is also an MP, to be detained once parliament is out of session, which according to the constitution will be the case from Jan. 1.

The constitution bars the arrest of parliament members while the legislature is in session unless they are caught in the act of a crime or a vote is held to allow for their prosecution.

Bitar had originally issued the warrant when parliament was out of session but security forces held off implementing it, leading Bitar on Friday to call on them to execute it or risk facing prosecution themselves.

On Monday, the Amal Movement, of which Khalil is a senior member, warned in a statement that the judiciary was being used in the case "to strike internal stability."

An October protest called for by Hezbollah and Amal against Bitar two days after he issued the warrant against Khalil descended into the worst street fighting in Beirut in more than a decade.

(Writing by Tom Perry, Editing by William Maclean)
Libya is to hold its first ever presidential elections late next week, but the lack of a final list of candidates and bitter political divisions have cast doubt on whether they will take place.

Polling, set for December 24, was intended to mark a transition towards peace, but many now fear it could instead reignite civil war.

The "elections may do more harm than good in Libya given the deep societal and political fault lines," said Jamal Benomar, a former United Nations under-secretary-general.

"The necessary conditions for free and fair elections are not available, and Libyans are too divided to accept or agree on the results."

The election, part of a United Nations-led peace process, comes after a year of relative calm following a landmark October 2020 ceasefire between eastern and western camps.

A transitional administration took office in March to lead the oil-rich North African country into the polls.

But despite high hopes for peace, the UN has struggled to overcome deep, complex divisions left by a decade of fighting and foreign intervention since the 2011 NATO-backed uprising that toppled and killed Moamer Kadhafi.

Benomar, who chairs the International Centre for Dialogue Initiatives think tank, warned that fragmented state institutions and a lack of "unified or legitimate" security forces were destabilising the country.

As an array of armed groups hold sway on the ground, few believe that voters will be able to freely cast their ballots.

- Divisive candidates -

About 2.5 million voter registration cards have been collected, but aside from posters urging other Libyans to do likewise, there are few signs in the seaside capital Tripoli that a ballot is approaching.

With the election authority yet to publish a final list of candidates, campaigning has not officially begun, although some hopefuls are promoting themselves on social media.

The elections follow months of bitter disputes over their legal basis and who may stand, with several divisive figures in the running.

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Among the most controversial is Khalifa Haftar, a military chief who controls much of eastern and southern Libya.

He is despised in the country's west following his year-long, ultimately failed assault on Tripoli in 2019-2020.

His candidacy was made possible by a controversial electoral law signed off by his ally, parliamentary speaker Aguila Saleh, in a process rivals say bypassed due process.

But for some, his rival Seif al-Islam Kadhafi's candidacy is equally problematic.

The son of the toppled dictator who ruled Libya with an iron fist for four decades, Seif al-Islam is accused by many -- including International Criminal Court prosecutors -- of war crimes.

Anas El Gomati, director of Libyan think tank the Sadeq Institute, said that "elections under these legal and political conditions will almost certainly destabilise Libya".

He told AFP: "An election victory by Seif or Haftar would bring war from those who stood against Kadhafi in 2011 or Haftar's assault on Tripoli in 2019."

Even interim Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah, a tycoon who heads the Tripoli-based transitional administration, faces claims his candidacy is illegitimate.

After months of legal battles, "whoever wins, there is a risk that the losers will undermine the winners and say the election wasn't constitutionally valid," said Peter Millett, a former UK ambassador to Libya.

- 'Train crash' -

As if these complexities were not enough, the UN's Libya envoy Jan Kubis quit his post just a month before the poll.

A diplomat in New York, who asked not to be named, said Kubis's insistence on holding the polls on December 24 had caused a "breakdown" in his relationship with Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who doubted conditions were ripe.

Kubis had even recognised the contentious September election law. That was "one of the big criticisms of his tenure", said Amanda Kadlec, a former member of the UN Panel of Experts on Libya.

To avoid a vacuum, Guterres appointed US diplomat Stephanie Williams, a former acting director of the UN's Libya mission, as "special adviser".

Parliamentary speaker Saleh had also changed the electoral timetable to delay legislative polls, keeping himself in charge of the eastern-based parliament even if his ally Haftar were to lose the presidential vote, according to Gomati.

Yet despite the danger of holding the polls, experts warn that postponing them also carries risks.

If Dbeibah stayed in position without a ballot, his eastern rivals could again create their own government to compete with his, Kadlec said.

Millett sees a risk "that Libya is heading for a train crash on December 25 whether elections happen on schedule or not."

hme-par/it
While in his hometown encouraging Missourians to get on the Billy Bus, southwest Missouri Rep. Billy Long went all-in with criticism of his opponents for the U.S. Senate Republican nomination.

The sharp rhetoric lambasting Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt, former governor Eric Greitens, and fellow Missouri Rep. Vicky Hartzler marked a shift in Long's Senate campaign, which for the most part has focused on what Long would do as Missouri's next senator.

But while Long was in Springfield Tuesday morning receiving the endorsement of political action group Moms for America, the gloves came off.

"I'm doing campaigning three feet at a time. A lot of these folks are doing it from 30,000 feet away. When's the last time you saw either Eric in person? Have you seen Eric Greitens in the state of Missouri? Have you seen Eric Schmitt at an event?"

Long alleged several of his opponent were reluctant to get on the stage with Long and defend their record.

"I'd love to get them on the same stage at the same time. I'd love to have a debate, I'd love to have a forum. If you are going to run, I think you need to get out and meet the people, talk to the people, answer questions, and tell them what you're going to do."

Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt, with a bipartisan group of state attorneys general, speaks to reporters in front of the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, Monday, Sept. 9, 2019.

Long calls Schmitt a 'China softie'

While saying Schmitt talks a big game, Long accused him of being too soft on China  alleging Schmitt wouldn't act to curb China's global influence as a senator.

"Schmitt wants to act like he's tough on China, but when he was in a position of power to cast a vote, he was a China softie," Long said.

"When Schmitt was in the (state) Senate and had a chance to do something about China ... Schmitt worked on two major initiatives that benefited China. One that made us dependent on Chinese imports and one making it easier for Chinese businesses to compete against Missouri businesses by spending $360 million in taxpayer money to build warehouses and sign deals with China."

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One of the bill's Long referenced would have subsidized a global cargo hub at the Lambert-St. Louis International Airport. Though Schmitt pushed the bill in 2011, the $360 million in tax breaks were not approved by the Missouri legislature.

The other bill Long referenced was an amendment to a Missouri law banning foreign ownership of agricultural property. Schmitt helped change the law, allowing foreign entities to own up to one percent of Missouri's agricultural land.

A veto by then-governor Jay Nixon was overridden by the Republican-controlled legislature.

"Whether, or to what degree, Missouri agricultural land should be foreign-owned is an important policy choice for the people of Missouri, a decision that should be made through their elected representatives and only after the specific proposal has been sufficiently vetted and openly considered," Nixon wrote at the time in his veto messege.

Long asserted these deals show Schmitt wants Missouri to be "dependent" on China.

Former Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens and 2022 U.S. Senate candidate speaks at the Taney County Lincoln Day event on Saturday, April 17, 2021 at the Chateau on the Lake in Branson.

Long: Greitens only fighting 'for himself'

As for Grietens, Long called him "a pretty unremarkable governor" and a very weak general election candidate.

Grietens resigned as governor in 2018 amid scandal and a potential impeachment by the Republican state legislature. The former governor was accused of alleged sexual assault and abuse against his hairdresser, with whom he had an extramarital affair, as well as campaign-related offenses that were later dismissed.

Long said the only reason Greitens is running now is to clear his name of that scandal.

"(Greitens) problems were not a witch-hunt. They were problems he brought on himself," Long said.

"And we all believe in moral redemption, but this is the first time I've ever seen moral redemption tried through the political process. Eric Greitens is fighting for himself and I'm fighting for you all."

Long added that "nobody wants Greitens to be the nominee more than Chuck Schumer and President Biden."

In this March 25, 2014, file photo, Rep. Vicky Hartzler, R-Mo., left, speaks to reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington. Hartzler announced Thursday, June 10, 2021, that she will run for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate in 2022. Incumbent Republican Sen. Roy Blunt announced in March he would not seek reelection. Hartzler has been in Congress since 2011. (AP Photo/Lauren Victoria Burke, File)

Long questions whether Hartzler is conservative

As for House colleague Vicky Hartzler, Long poured cold water on her claims of being the most conservative in the race.

"In her first ad she said she's 'the lifetime conservative running in the race.' And I'm like, 'OK, then where am I?'" Long retorted.

Long cited his 93 percent rating with conservative advocacy organization Club for Growth. In comparison, Hartzler has a 61 percent rating, which Long said was "tied with Liz Cheney."

Long also blasted Hartzler for accepting what he said was over $1 million of farming subsidies after voting in favor of those same subsidies.

"How do you vote for a subsidy and then take it yourself if you are one of the richest members of Congress? But that doesn't seem to dissuade her."

Long vies for Trump endorsement

Long's attacks come as polling has shown him trailing in the Republican primary  falling far behind frontrunners Schmitt and Greitens.

Long said he hopes to turn around his fortunes with an endorsement from former President Trump, who he has had a close relationship with since being one of the former president's first congressional endorsements in 2016.

"I got to see Trump a couple times two weeks ago. The President called me yesterday. I'm in constant contact with him ... Usually I call him, but yesterday he called me, which I saw as a pretty encouraging sign," he said of his prospects for an endorsement.

Long added he doesn't expect Trump to endorse in the US Senate race until March.

"He's looking at the field and he's deciding what he's looking at. The President is weighing his options and I do expect him to come in on this race, I expect him to endorse. I don't know who he will endorse."

Moms for America endorsement

At the Tuesday event in Springfield, Long was also endorsed by Moms for America President Kimberly Fletcher.

According to their website, Moms for America is a national advocacy organization and a "movement of mothers reclaiming our culture for truth, family, freedom and the Constitution."

"I am personally very thrilled to endorse Billy Long to go and represent the state of Missouri in the United States Senate," Fletcher said on Tuesday.

"I met Billy when he came to our event, our event with Turning Point USA at Mar-a-Lago and we could tell these are real Americans who are representing real Americans ... We need people who are going to be strong, who are going to be tough in fighting for our values, who are going to be constitutional conservatives who realize the importance of standing up."

Along with her endorsement, Fletcher announced the headquarters of Moms for America would be moving to southwest Missouri.

Moms for America President Kimberly Fletcher announces the political action groups endorsement of Missouri Rep. Billy Long for the U.S. Senate Republican nomination.

"Not only is this area just absolutely beautiful, but it is a place that loves America ...," she said. "There's just this incredible feeling of, you know, 'We love our police, we love our military, we love our country. And we love those freedoms that we've fought for.' And so I think this is a very special place in the United States."

While thanking them for their endorsement, Long said Moms for America have helped elect conservatives all over the country.

"These moms are fired up. These moms are upset. They are upset with CRT being taught in the schools. They are upset with schools allowing boys to use the girl's bathroom ... All these things that they fight for are near and dear to my heart, southwest Missouri's heart, and all of Missouri's heart."

Moms for America was listed as a "coalition partner" in the rally preceding the Jan. 6 insurrection and Fletcher was recently subpoenaed by the House of Representative's Jan. 6 committee for information she may have on the day's events.

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Long goes negative in Senate race, gets Moms for America endorsement
Lucy Hale

A macabre tale of revenge and horror complete with beleaguered detectives and an elusive serial murderer with the wits to match those of Hannibal Lecter sets the stage for the AMC+ thriller series Ragdoll. But at the core of the British series that stars Lucy Hale as the lone American navigating her way through Englands police system is a story about the impact of horrific cases on the mental health of those who investigate them.

Not as central to the story but just as important, the series features Hales queer Detective Constable Lake Edmunds as just another part of the team. Her sexuality is treated as a facet of her persona that does not wholly define her. Hale, whos starred in shows highlighting important LGBTQ+ storytelling for more than a decade since Pretty Little Liars premiered in 2010, is excited to appear in the darkly humorous mystery. And she explains why she's honored to be a part of queer stories she says didnt exist when she was younger.

In general, I love these types of shows. I love anything dark. I love trying to figure out mysteries, Hale tells The Advocate. I have been on board with the whole true-crime podcast documentary craze that's really big right now. But what really stood out to me about Ragdoll was that it had all of those elements that I love  but it was more about the mental health of these detectives and the driving force, the traumas in their life that had led them up to this point and how the Ragdoll investigation only further heightened things that they were already dealing with.

You meet these characters, and it's pretty gruesome and dark what they're doing, but you can kind of tell that they've already been through some of the darker days in their life, she adds. I thought that that was really interesting. But also, because it is so heavy  what [Ragdoll creator and writer] Freddy Syborn did so wonderfully, there's a lot of dark humor. I love that because, because as humans, that's how we survive, that's how we get through the darkest days in our lives. I think we all realize that, especially now. That is one of the greatest gifts in life, is not to take yourself too seriously.

Story continues

The shows packed pilot includes flashbacks to a case that haunts Edmundss colleague Detective Sergeant Nathan Rose (Henry Lloyd-Hughes), one that following a violent outburst in a courtroom landed him in a mental health facility. Soon theres a new serial killer in London whose grisly murders culminated in the discovery of a full body sewn together from six victims. Hence, the Ragdoll killer moniker.

Edmundss personality emerges as pragmatic and seemingly by-the-book until she takes some big swings. An early clue to her nerdy side occurs early on while she and her fellow officers are investigating the crime scene. She holds a mint leaf under her nostrils to cover the stench of the tethered corpses, all the while expounding on mint's scent-masking properties. Later, in a conversation with her colleague Detective Inspector Emily Baxter (Thalissa Teixeira), Edmunds offers backstory about a woman shed dated and how she came to be an American working on their team. The story seamlessly weaves in her sexual identity as a quotidian thing about her. And the minor exposition on how she landed in London fits, as the character is quick to dispense random facts and academic theory.

Lucy Hale

Thalissa Teixeira as DI Baxter and Lucy Hale as DC Edmunds in Ragdoll

Edmunds is Hales first queer character in an already long career that includes Pretty Little Liars, a mystery and thriller of a different sort that featured queer lead character Emily (Shay Mitchell) and the myriad women she dated in their tiny Pennsylvania town. In 2019 Hale starred in the CWs Riverdale spin-off Katy Keene, where she played the titular It girl whose best friend and roommate, Jorge (Jonny Beauchamp), is a drag queen. The Tennessee native, whose earliest fame came on the American Juniors singing competition series in 2003, recognizes the value in amplifying queer stories.

It's so important because I didn't have that growing up. You didn't have gay characters on TV in the 90s, Hale says. I vividly remember when we saw the impact of Pretty Little Liars and Emily's character and what that meant to so many women. At the time it was a big risk for ABC Family to do because no one [relatively few shows] had a teen character that was gay that wasn't coming out. Like she was just gay. And she always was gay. It was just who she was.

And the same with Katy Keene in a different way, Hale adds. We really showcased the drag community, which I thought was really amazing.

Ragdolls story unfolds in a tight six-episode season that sees Edmunds as a rule-follower questioning Rose, whose secrets increasingly impact the team with each episode. But then she fearlessly takes risks following a potentially dangerous lead without backup. As the cat-and-mouse games with the Ragdoll killer become increasingly treacherous, Edmundss past trauma bubbles to the surface in flashes that involve an ex-girlfriend.

Watch The Advocate's full interview with Lucy Hale above.

With Edmunds being Hale's first queer role, she is aware of the discussions on social media of late about who should play queer characters.

To this day, I've never played a queer character. And I know that there's responsibility with that. It's an honor. With the way it was written in Ragdoll, it's lightly mentioned. It's just ingrained in who she is, she says.

I always view it as character and I've never really talked about my personal life and what my sexuality is. I prefer not to talk about that because I like to keep my life very private, she says But I think that ... Edmunds, the character, sort of represents a generation. They talk about sexuality in a way that I really admire  that you can be fluid and you can be attracted to people as people. And that's always been my mindset. I just like human beings. Hale says.

Although her character's sexual identity is never overtly stated, she's clearly secure in herself. It's a part of Edmunds that Hale says feels authentic to her.

I feel like that happens too. I feel like she is proud of who she is, but we don't disclose is she or isn't she. But she loves women, we know that. And like, I also love women and respect women. It's cool that I get to play a character at this point in my life, where I've sort of stepped into who I am and my sexuality as well, she says.

But I do hear what you say because you want to be sensitive to all these amazing gay actors who should most of the time be playing these parts, Hale adds. I will say, though, her being proud of who she is and her background and her sexuality is obviously her, but it doesn't really play into much of the bigger picture. We were very sensitive about that as well because I can see it from both sides.

All episodes of Ragdoll are now available on AMC+.
Not long after Lucy Vasquez moved to Wilmington in 1995, she put out a call to the universe, a plea to God for guidance and purpose.

Almost immediately, she said, she got three phone calls in a row, all from people asking for her help doing outreach to the area Latino community, including for migrant workers in Pender County.

And just like that, the course of Lucy Vasquez's life for the next quarter-century was set.

"I like to say God brought me to Wilmington," Vasquez said. "I really thought God had a reason and a purpose for me to be there. There was a need. I had to answer the call."

Vasquez is one of three people in 2021 to receive the StarNews Media Lifetime Achievement Award. The other two are developer Gene Merritt and businesswoman Wilma Daniels.

Vasquez moved away from Wilmington in 2019 to care for her mother, who lives near Raleigh. But Festival Latino, which she started in 1998 as a bridge between area Latinos and the wider Wilmington community, is still going strong. (The 21st annual event is set for May at Ogden Park.)

Lucy Vasquez is one of three people in 2021 to receive the StarNews Media Lifetime Achievement Award.

And, in her nearly 25 years in the Wilmington area, Vasquez was one of the most prominent people advocating for area Latinos and making sure they had a voice.

Vasquez moved to Wilmington from Lenoir in Caldwell County near the mountains, but she grew up in Los Angeles, where her family was part of a vibrant Mexican-American community.

Wilmington's 40 Under 40 Class of 2021: Vanessa Gonzalez

The Latinos she knew were voluble and walked with their heads head high. So she was surprised to find in Southeastern North Carolina in the mid '90s a Latino community that existed on the fringes and almost tried to be invisible.

"The Latino community was hidden," Vasquez said, in large part because of language barriers and concern over their immigration status. Many at that time were undocumented. They were reluctant to ask for help, if they even knew where to look for it. Shopping was often done during odd hours, early in the morning or late at night, and many Latinos were largely isolated from the community at large.

Story continues

"They were afraid. When I saw that, it's what moved my heart," Vasquez said. "I asked God, how can we break these barriers?"

The Latino population in Southeastern North Carolina in 1995 was much smaller than it is today. In 1995, Latinos made up just above 1 percent of the population in New Hanover and Brunswick counties, and about 1.4 percent in Pender County. Compare that to the most recent U.S. Census data, which estimated the Latino population at 6.3 percent in New Hanover, 4.9 percent in Brunswick and 7.5 percent in Pender.

Even in the '90s, though, people and agencies were trying to reach Latinos to let them know about health and social programs available to them. They could be a hard community to reach. (At one time, Vasquez said, many Latinos in the area were migrants from the Mexican state of Oaxaca, and some didn't even speak Spanish but rather their indigenous language, making their isolation even more pronounced.)

Vasquez said she met with officials at what was then New Hanover Regional Medical Center, and they told her, "We have these programs, but the (Latinos) don't come," she said. "People were trying to reach and help them."

Eventually, Vasquez, who is bilingual, realized she could be a conduit of sorts between the Latino community and the wider community of Southeastern N.C.

"That's how I started in radio," she said, doing some of the area's first Spanish language programming on stations including WAAV, public radio WHQR and The Dove (WDVV), a Christian station.

Wilmington's 40 Under 40 Class of 2021: Angelica Santibanez-Mendez

One of the first Spanish language newspapers in the Wilmington area followed, as did the nonprofit Amigos Internacional and Centro Latino, an umbrella group that offered Latinos links to all kinds of services in the area. Their motto, she said, was, "You're not alone: You have friends."

Much of her work at that time  before smart phones and widely available Internet  consisted of getting information to Latinos they couldn't get from local media because they didn't speak English.

Vasquez said she remembers talking to one group of Latinos in 1999 when Hurricane Floyd was a few days away from North Carolina. She said they didn't even know there was a storm.

"We've got to get information out there in Spanish, and fast," she said. She then contacted multiple media outlets, posted signs, even went to work sites and trailer parks to let people know about storm shelters and other important storm information.

"Quite possibly," she said, "lives were saved." One official told her that, pre-Floyd, they didn't remember seeing any Latinos at shelters during storms. For Floyd, Vasquez said, some shelters were majority Latino.

Wilmington's 40 Under 40 Class of 2021: Arely Ramirez Diaz

Among Wilmington's non-Latino community, Vasquez's best-known accomplishment might be Festival Latino, an annual celebration of Latino food, music and dancing.

"God told me to do a festival," Vasquez said, and she sees it as an ongoing introduction of two cultures that exist side by side but, even today, have limited interaction.

Members of Grupo Cimmaron perform traditional folklore dancing from Uruguay during the 16th annual Festival Latino at Ogden Park in Wilmington in 2014.

The festival was a success from the start, even though that first year "there was very little Latino involvement," Vasquez said,

"The American community showed up," Vasquez said. But rumors that immigration enforcement was going to be at the festival kept Latino attendance low that first year.

"It's a set up," she heard over and over again, she said. "They thought it was a trap."

Vasquez said she even called area immigration agents begging them not to come. Vasquez said they told her they had no intention of disturbing the festival, something that has continued to hold true.

Eventually, the Latino community grew to trust her, Vasquez said, and by the third festival attendance was close to half Latino, where it has stayed. Festival Latino outgrew its original home of Long Leaf Park by the early 2000s, and after a stint at the fairgrounds one year the festival has been at Ogden Park since the middle 2000s.

Overall "the festival has been a huge success" at introducing the area Latino community and Wilmington to each other. She said she thinks that non-Latinos have learned that the Latino culture is not a monolith, but is composed of a wide variety of traditions from many countries.

The Festival Latino scheduled for May of 2022 will be only the third since 2017, with a combination of hurricanes and COVID-19 wiping out three festivals since 2018.

Vasquez stopped running Centro Latino when she moved from Wilmington in 2019 to take care of her mom, but she said she's happy to see that the network of support for Latinos in the Wilmington area is much more robust than it was in 1995.

"There was so much need back then," she said. "There was very little if any help."

Vasquez gives credit to St. Mary Catholic Church and other groups for doing outreach to the Latino community, but added one invention in particular has made it easier for Latinos new to Wilmington to navigate their surroundings: the smartphone.

Directions to WalMart or any number of support services are available at the swipe of screen, and "you can use it in whatever language you know," she said.

It's not something she could've imagined when she moved to Wilmington in 1995, but then neither is the growth of Wilmington's thriving, and thanks in part to Vasquez, more visible Latino community.

Contact John Staton at 910-343-2343 or John.Staton@StarNewsOnline.com.

This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Lucy Vasquez nominated for Wilmington Lifetime Achievement Award
Welcome back, New London. Here's all the local news, events, and community posts you need for Wednesday, Dec. 15.

First, today's weather:

Some sun, then clouds. High: 46 Low: 45.

Here are the top stories today in New London:

Student brings BB gun to middle school in New London, prompts lockdown (WFSB) Correa found guilty in Griswold home invasion murders (theday.com) Man Shot in Parking Lot in City of Groton (NBC Connecticut) Eastwinds Estate For Sale In New London (New London Patch)

Today's New London Daily is brought to you in part by our friends at GoodRx  the best way to save money on your prescriptions. GoodRx helps you locate the lowest prices for medications at local pharmacies, so you're not overpaying. Works for pet medications too! To see how much you can save, go to GoodRx.com.

Today in New London:

From my notebook:

U.S. Coast Guard Academy: "Hard to believe we're already halfway through December! As a reminder, we're still accepting submissions for #USCGA's first Holiday Coin Challenge. With this year's coins sponsored by PATFORSWA! Think you have an office or room on cam..." (Facebook)

Connecticut College: "Fall semester classes are over. Good luck on exams, Camels! : Mingyur Paldon" (Facebook)

Naval Submarine Base New London: "Hooyah USS Oregon (SSN 793) https://www.facebook.com/SSN793/posts/972519336675704" (Facebook)

Coast Guard Academy Lacrosse: "BEARS ARE STRONG: just got this great photo featuring COAST GUARD ACADEMY MEN' S LACROSSE player Cadet 2/c Will Kastrud (Midfield/Pittstown, NJ/North Hunterdon) post workout at the brand new Emlen Tunnell Strength & Conditioning Center. ..." (Facebook)

Public Library of New London, CT: "Just in case you missed our Bedtime Storytime last week. Parents, don't forget to save the video to watch when you really, really need it!" (Facebook)

Higher Edge: "Today, our hearts are in ... and with Sandy Hook. #lovewins #kindnesscounts" (Facebook)

New London Public Schools: "Come join us for a delicious meal on December 15, 2021! We can't wait to see you!! #NLPS #United inExcellence #Community Meals" (Facebook)

Naval Submarine Base New London: "When will your pay match your new rank? Check this out! https://www.facebook.com/MyNAVYHR/posts/418204303308544" (Facebook)

Congregation Beth El, New London, CT: "In case you missed this in the last Jewish Leader! Many thanks to Ella Sackett and Michael Leventhal!" (Facebook)

New London Public Schools: "COVID Vaccine available Wednesday at C.B Jennings for 5-11 years old." (Facebook)

Lyman Allyn Art Museum: "Still on the hunt for the perfect holiday gift or stocking stuffer?  Shop small and local by stopping by the Museum gift shop to find something for everyone on your holiday list. We have items that will appeal to all ages and even a li..." (Facebook)

Naval Submarine Base New London: "Stay fit for the holiday season! https://www.facebook.com/mwrsubasenlon/posts/272979418203160" (Facebook)

Cultural Coalition- Culturesect: "Its not just the museums. Museums throughout Connecticut have begun or reignited initiatives to diversify their collections, exhibitions, boards of trustees, community programs and other facets of their mission statements. Lyman Allyn..." (Facebook)

Public Library of New London, CT: "Thank you to everyone who has donated to our Food for the Holidays! We are extending our date for donations until December 30th! All food items will go to the New London Area Food Pantry. Thank you for supporting our community!" (Facebook)

CB Jennings Elementary School: "Come join us for a delicious meal on December 15, 2021! We can't wait to see you!! #NLPS #United inExcellence #Community Meals" (Facebook)

Public Library of New London, CT: "Check out these fantasy books available for adoption today. Deal of the Week: Sponsor 2 books from the adult collection for $10. Visit www.plnl.org/aab2021 for a list of all available books waiting to be sponsored." (Facebook)

Cultural Coalition- Culturesect: "Its not just the museums. Museums throughout Connecticut have begun or reignited initiatives to diversify their collections, exhibitions, boards of trustees, community programs and other facets of their mission statements." (Facebook)

Connecticut College, Hale Center for Career Development: "Make good use of your time between now and the new year!" (Facebook)

The Salvation Army - New London, CT: "Theres still time to make Christmas bright for children in need! https://tinyurl.com/NewLondonA... You can also adopt an angel at most Walmart Stores around the country. Together, we can ensure that #HopeMarchesOn for families ..." (Facebook)

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About me: Chris Rhatigan is a freelance writer and editor.

This article originally appeared on the New London Patch
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican Finance Minister Rogelio Ramirez de la O discussed proposals to support Peru's economy that also benefit Mexico with Peruvian President Pedro Castillo and his cabinet during a visit to the country, Mexico said on Tuesday.

"Options to enable the strengthening of trade between the two countries were analyzed, as well as authorizing lines of credit from the development bank with the purpose of boosting exports," the Mexican finance ministry said in a statement.

The meetings also included exchanges between officials on their experiences with social welfare programs, it said, without giving details of how much support Mexico was proposing.

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Monday he had sent Ramirez de la O to Peru to help Castillo as the Peruvian leader, a fellow leftist, wrestles with protests and an attempt to impeach him just months into his administration.

Lopez Obrador expressed sympathy for Castillo's plight and said the Peruvian was facing a negative media campaign that reflected resistance to a leader of humble origins.

(Reporting by Dave Graham; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
Bobby Bostic, a Missouri prisoner who was sentenced to 241 years in prison for a robbery when he was a teenager, has been granted parole.

In a news release Monday, the American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri announced that Bostic would be released from prison  where hes been since 1995  late next year.

Bostic, 42, was convicted of kidnapping, as well as multiple counts of robbery, armed criminal action and assault in St. Louis. He was 16 at the time and committed the crimes with an 18-year-old. At one point a gun was fired, causing a grazing injury to one of the victims.

At 16, he got 241 years for robbery, kidnapping in Missouri. Leaders call for release

Bostic was initially not eligible for parole until he was 112 years old.

But a bill signed by Gov. Mike Parson earlier this year made minors convicted of non-homicide crimes eligible for parole after serving at least 15 years in prison. The law went into effect on Aug. 28.

Through that bill, Bostic, as well as about 100 other prisoners, were able to apply for parole, according to the Department of Corrections.

The ACLU on Monday said they will provide Bostic with courses to ease his re-entry into society ahead of his release.

In recent years, Bostic has become the face of a movement to end harsh sentences for juveniles convicted of non-homicide crimes in Missouri.

In 2018, retired Missouri circuit court judge Evelyn Baker, who sentenced Bostic more than 20 years ago, told The Washington Post she regretted her decision.

I see now that this kind of sentence is as benighted as it is unjust. But Missouri and a handful of other states still allow such sentences, Baker wrote in The Post at the time.

Bakers call to action was soon echoed by 75 leaders in the criminal justice community, including a former acting attorney general, former U.S. solicitor general and former FBI director. They called on the U.S. Supreme Court to grant Bostic clemency.

The Supreme Court ruled in 2010 that juveniles sentenced for crimes other than murder must have some meaningful opportunity to obtain release based on demonstrated maturity and rehabilitation.

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The prejudices that let us believe as a society that teens who commit crimes are beyond redemption are still borne by those who remained imprisoned decades after mistakes that they made as juveniles, Tony Rothert, the ACLU of Missouris Director of Integrated Advocacy, said Monday.

Bobby demonstrates what we all know: who we are as children does not forever demarcate who we can become as adults, he added.

The Stars Jeanne Kuang contributed.
Teens across Louisiana are in desperate need of foster homes, and you can help.

According to Elizabeth Green, home development manager for the state Department of Children and Family Services, there are currently 3,232 children in foster care in the state. Children ages 12 to 17 account for 25% of this number, translating to 808 teenagers.

"We are in tremendous need of families willing to open their hearts and homes to older children," Green said. "We have a tremendous need for that, especially teens 15 to 17."

Green said the need for homes for older youth has been on the rise for the past few years in all regions of the state. Currently, there are 1,837 foster homes in Louisiana. Most of them are regular foster homes while 28% are relative foster homes, in which a foster parent has a relationship to the child's family.

More: Parents: 'Cannot imagine our life without' Lincoln Parish French immersion program

To help keep foster kids in their hometowns and allow them to continue at their respective schools, Green said DCFS works to place kids with a caregiver in the same region.

"We would love to have enough foster homes so that a child could remain in their same school, could remain in their same town because that is what is familiar to them," Green said.

More: Lincoln Parish French immersion program may return, but no guarantees, after town hall

Who can become a foster caregiver

Green said most anyone can become a foster caregiver in Louisiana.

Candidates must be at least 21 years old and have both criminal record and neglect and abuse clearances. They need to be healthy and have space in their homes to care for a child. All candidates are assessed to determine whether they can accept foster children in their homes.

Green said caregivers do not need previous parenting experience to be considered, though those who have experience also make great caregivers.

More: New Monroe food truck serves up a variety of tacos, authentic Mexican dishes

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How to become a foster caregiver

The first step to becoming a foster parent is to contact one's regional home development office and signing up to attend an orientation. Those interested can also learn more about the process by reaching out to their regional office. Orientations are held every 21 days.

For contact information for the regional DCFS offices, visit dcfs.la.gov/page/foster-parenting. For families in Northeast Louisiana interested in fostering, call (318) 362-5417 or email monreghdu@la.gov.

Following a virtual orientation, families that want to continue the process then undergo 21 hours of virtual pre-service training. Trainings are held every 10 weeks.

During this time, families are assigned a home development worker to conduct a home study. The worker talks with the family about becoming a foster caregiver and what age groups they feel comfortable caring for. They also determine if a family is equipped to care for a child who has experienced abuse and/or neglect.

More: Omicron variant: Monroe-West Monroe hospitals are prepared for another COVID-19 surge

Family members are screened for criminal record and abuse and neglect clearances for each family member ages 18 and older. Families must also complete medical examinations for every member in the household and complete vaccinations for any pets.

The process, from the time of application to the child moving in, lasts about 90 days.

After receiving certification, families then wait for the call telling them a foster child is on the way.

Many misconceptions about becoming a foster parent

A foster caregiver's top priority is not to keep the child, Green said. Rather, the first goal with caring for a foster child is reunification with their original family.

"We understand that children need to be reunited with their families if it is safe and if it is appropriate  and additionally also seeking out family members that might be interested in providing a home for a child to maintain that family bond," Green said.

Families are not responsible for covering the necessary costs of foster children. Instead, children in the foster care system have their expenses covered by DCFS. Covered needs include medical care, a monthly board payment, clothing and educational items.

More: More defendants deny allegations in Cedar Creek bullying, sexual battery lawsuit

Advice for prospective foster parents

Rachel Shamburger Daniel said she did not know anything about the foster care system prior to becoming a relative foster caregiver and later a general foster caregiver. She said becoming a caregiver is a fairly easy process. However, she said foster parenting is one of the hardest things she has done.

"It's trial and error," Daniel said. "But I've learned a lot in my years of fostering and adopting."

Daniel, who has cared for several foster children, said it helps for caregivers to be proactive and adaptable. She said it's beneficial to establish a relationship with the birth family when possible. It pays for caregivers to do their own research, especially about trauma and how it affects the brain.

With one of her children, Micah, she learned that his behavior problems, which are rooted in trauma, are eased through certain programming.

More: UL System board greenlights $18M security barrier for Grambling State University

"Most most foster kids have learning issues or don't like school," Daniel said. "There's things that you can do to help. There's music therapy; there's so many things you can do to help heal the brain."

Daniel also recommends foster caregivers take part in counseling as well as seek support from their local churches. She said prior to the pandemic, she would attend regular lunches with fellow foster parents through The Bridge, based in Ruston. She has also utilized the foster closet at North Monroe.

Yet, she said there are not enough community resources and more churches need to step up and support foster caregivers.

"The church needs to get involved," Daniel said. "We would have greater outcomes."

Follow Sabrina LeBoeuf on Twitter @_sabrinakaye and on Facebook at https://bit.ly/3B8sgHo.

Support local journalism by subscribing at https://cm.thenewsstar.com/specialoffer.

This article originally appeared on Monroe News-Star: Louisiana foster teens need homes. Here's how to become a caregiver.
Recovery operations at the Amazon Fulfillment Center in Edwardsville, Illinois on December 12, 2021. Tim Vizer/AFP via Getty Images

Amazon continues to face scrutiny over the deaths of six workers in a tornado at one of its sites.

Most of those who died were not sheltering in 'the designated location,' the company told the BBC.

OSHA opened an investigation into the disaster following widespread criticism.

A statement from Amazon about its safety policies said that most of those who died in its Illinois warehouse during a devastating tornado were not sheltering in the designated area.

Six workers died in the collapse of an Amazon fulfillment center in Edwardsville on Friday, where the storm tore off part of the building's roof and knocked down a large wall.

It came amid deadly weather that swept Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, and Missouri. The collective death toll has reached at least 90, with most in Kentucky, according to The New York Times.

Amazon said in a statement to the BBC that its policy for impending tornadoes is for staff to be "notified and directed to move to a designated and marked shelter in place location."

Most people sheltered at "the primary designated location," the company told the outlet. But some sheltered in another part of the building, the company said in a statement to Insider. "This is where most of the tragic loss of life occurred," the company added.

It did not say exactly where the designated place or the other area were, nor specify where deaths took place.

Amazon has defended its conduct, noting that it had relatively little time to react. Although wide swathes of the affected area were under a tornado watch all through Friday, the stronger "tornado warning" alert came later.

It received one warning at 8:06 p.m. and a second at 8:16 p.m., it said. The tornado hit at 8:27 p.m.

Managers worked "incredibly quickly" to get people into shelter when the storm warning came, Amazon told the BBC.

The claim was not convincing to one victim's relative. The sister of 29-year-old Clayton Cope, one of the six dead, told the BBC that she did not think staff were told to shelter after the first of the two warnings. The BBC referred to the woman as Rachel.

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In a Monday statement to Insider, Amazon said: "Our team worked quickly to ensure employees and partners could get to the designated shelter in place area.". The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment over Rachel's statement.

Amazon has faced intense scrutiny since the storm after some employees criticized the company's policies and decision-making in the aftermath of the disaster.

The Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) opened an investigation into the site Monday.

Cherie Jones, the girlfriend of Larry Virden, another worker who died, told the New York Post that he texted her to say that Amazon was not allowing him to leave as the tornado approached.

Several Amazon employees have also criticized a company phone ban operating in some locations, Bloomberg reported. On Monday, the company push back on this, saying workers and drivers in Edwardsville were allowed to have their phones.

Read the original article on Business Insider
A Cuban mother has gone on a hunger strike to call for the release of her imprisoned child, as family members get increasingly desperate over the fate of minors facing harsh sentences for protesting against the government on July 11.

Barbara Farrat, the mother of 17-year-old Jonathan Torres Farrat, said she decided to stop eating Saturday because of the increased repression and harassment my son and I are facing from state security agents.

In a phone interview with the Miami Herald, Farrat, an HIV patient, said she had stomach pains and was feeling nauseous, but she was determined to go all the way.

The message that I want to send to the authorities is that they must release my son, that they no longer harass my son in prison; he is a minor, she said. I am not afraid of them. I am afraid that my son will rot in prison; that does scare me. There is no way to shut me up.

Relying on a technicality in the Cuban penal law that sets the legal age at 18 but allows prosecuting those 16 and older, government officials have denied imprisoning minors. But at least 44 adolescents between 14 and 17 were detained, and 14 are still in jail, for participating in the July 11 anti-government protests around the island, according to a list of verified detentions compiled by legal aid organization Cubalex with the help of volunteer activists that created the group Justicia 11J.

That number could be even higher, Farrat said. Publicly, there are only 14, but I know five or six who are with my son, who are not included in the public lists. I know that a lot of mothers are afraid to speak out publicly, she said, adding that state security agents have threatened her son with a long sentence if she continues to denounce his situation on social media.

Jonathan Torres Farrat.

Torres Farrat was supposed to be caring for his baby. Instead, her mother said, he has been jailed for four months and has not been formally charged. Authorities have rejected all appeals for his release. He is currently at a prison for minors in Havana.

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Two months had passed before prison authorities allowed Farrat to give him his heart condition medication. His cardiologist had advised that he get a blood pressure reading twice a day. That has never happened while in jail, his mother added.

The Cuban official news outlet Cubadebate published Monday a defense of the Attorney Generals treatment of minors. Following international criticism of the authorities crackdown on protesters, the Cuban government has touted some changes in the legal code that will begin in January. They include providing parents of minors with immediate notification of detentions and allowing legal representation from the beginning of the process.

But it is unclear if those changes will benefit those already in jail.

Yanaisy Curbelo, the mother of Brandon David Becerra Curbelo, who was detained a week after the July 11 protests, also reported several violations of due process regarding his case, including a sudden change of charges that meant he is now facing an 18-year sentence on charges of sedition.

Becerra was studying to become a Spanish teacher. He was detained on July 16 while eating pizza with his 13-year-old younger brother near their home. Although at the time Becerra was 17, he turned 18 in jail.

A patrol car came with four officers and a van, with 12 or 15 men dressed in civilian clothes from state security. Brandon was listening to music with his headphones. They grabbed the phone from him, handcuffed him, pushed him against the patrol car and shoved him in the van, Curbelo said. My 13-year-old boy is the one who comes crying and asks me about what has happened to his brother.

Initially, authorities told Becerras lawyer that he was accused of public disorder and propagating an epidemic. Her mother thought he would just be fined. But a few days before a planned opposition march on Nov. 15, state security agents went to the prison for minors where he is being held in Havana to tell him he was facing an 18-year sentence under sedition charges. In Cubas penal code, sedition is a vaguely defined crime that prosecutors can use against anyone deemed to be disturbing the socialist order.

His lawyer was not notified until a week later.

Becerra, who contracted COVID-19 while in prison, also told his mother that state security agents regularly interrogate him and pressure him to admit engaging in violent behavior during the island-wide demonstrations.

Her mother is worried about his mental state. She was not allowed to see him for three months.

These people are doing whatever they want with these cases, she said. All he did was shout Patria y Vida [Homeland and Life] and that Cuba was hungry and film what was happening. They want to make an example out of the imprisoned children.

According to a list published by Justicia 11J, 15 trials of protesters charged with sedition are scheduled for this week. Another 140 also charged with the same crime are still awaiting trial, said Salome Garcia Bacallao, an activist with Justicia 11J. The organization has documented 79 trials and another 356 demonstrators formally indicted. Cubalex and Justicia 11J have verified 1,070 detentions in connection with the protests, but activists believe the true number could surpass 1,300 arrests.

Hablan las familias de los Presos Politicos en #Cuba https://t.co/igOhD5IW5k  Cuba Spaces  (@CubaSpaces) December 10, 2021

Activists used Human Rights Day last week to highlight these and other cases of demonstrators jailed in Cuba. On a live stream produced by Cuba Spaces on Twitter on Friday afternoon, families shared their desperation and called on the international community not to abandon them.

I miss my father a lot; its been a month since I havent been able to see him, said the 11-year-old daughter of Nadir Perdomo in a video. Perdomo, who is also the father of a baby boy, and his cousin Jorge are in prison for demonstrating against the government.

The family has been torn apart for four months, said Betty Guerra, another cousin. She said the Perdomo cousins have reported beatings by the correctional officers to force them to chant the government slogan Patria o Muerte, Homeland or Death.

Ailex Marcano, mother of Angel J. Veliz, a protester jailed in the central province of Camaguey, said she was unable to see her son for three months. She said she has been constantly harassed by high-ranking state security officials because she has spoken to the independent media about her sons case.

I will continue to fight for his freedom because I know that my son is a worthy young man, she said during the show.

Most of the family members who have spoken to the media were not previously involved in politics and were unfamiliar with the repression unleashed against dissidents over the decades. Most were born after Castro took power in 1959 and sent hundreds of Fulgencio Batistas supporters to the firing squad.

I never thought that the state was so cruel that it did not realize that it is the right of the people to demonstrate; that is not a crime, Farrat, the mother on the hunger strike, said. They are playing with the lives of our kids.




Elon Musk announced on Tuesday that Tesla would accept dogecoin, a popular cryptocurrency, for Tesla merchandise.

"Tesla will make some merch buyable with Doge & see how it goes," the Tesla CEO and SpaceX founder said in a tweet.

Following the announcement, Dogecoin's value went up to $0.20, according to Reuters.

The news service noted that Dogecoin had increased by 5,859 percent in the last year, in part thanks to the support of Musk, who has called it the "people's crypto."

But its value fell in May after Musk called it a "hustle" while he was hosting "Saturday Night Live."

That comment came after he called the cryptocurrency "an unstoppable financial vehicle that's going to take over the world."

While Tesla sells items ranging from "Giga Texas" belt buckles to miniature models of its vehicles, Musk did not specify which merchandise could be purchased using the cryptocurrency, Reuters added.

Musk on Monday was named Time magazine's 2021 "Person of the Year," a decision that was met with some criticism.

Time announced that Musk received the honor for "creating solutions to an existential crisis, for embodying the possibilities and perils of the age of tech titans and for driving society's most daring and disruptive transformations."

Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) was among those critical of the decision. Jayapal sent out a fundraising email on Monday saying Musk was "the richest person in the world and yet he avoids paying his taxes while working families struggle to put food on the table and pay rent."
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - NATO is not planning to deploy intermediate-range nuclear missiles in Europe, the Western military alliance said on Tuesday, rejecting Russian accusations and a call by Moscow for a moratorium on this kind of weapons in Europe.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters in Brussels that Russia itself had violated the meanwhile demised INF treaty for years by deploying new intermediate range nuclear capable missiles in Europe, adding that NATO did not aim to mirror Moscow's behaviour.

"The proposal from Russia on a moratorium is not credible because we had a ban and they violated that ban," Stoltenberg said.

"So unless Russia in a verifiable way destroys all its SSC-8 missiles, which are those missiles that violated the INF treaty, then it is not credible when they now propose a ban on something they actually have already started to deploy."

Stoltenberg was referring to the 1987 INF treaty between then-Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and U.S. President Ronald Reagan that banned intermediate-range nuclear weapons - those with a range of 500 to 5,500 km (310 to 3,400 miles) - in Europe.

(Reporting by Sabine Siebold)
Happy International Tea Day Raleigh!

First, today's weather:

Partly sunny. High: 58 Low: 38.

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Here are the top 5 stories today in Raleigh:

City council member Nicole Steward announced on Tuesday that she will not be seeking reelection. Although Steward received more votes than anyone on the council in 2019, including Mayor Baldwin, she stated that she believes "now is the right time to let the next leader step up." (INDY Week) On Monday, Wake County Public Health expanded its COVID-19 vaccine to allow 16 and 17-year-olds to receive booster shots at any of Wake County's five public clinics or any provider that offers the vaccine. (Spectrum News 1) An armed robbery took place in broad daylight, at around 9:45 am on Tuesday, at the Fifth Third Bank on Creedmoor Road. Police did not disclose if any money was stolen, but no one was injured after a teller complied with the robbers demands. (WRAL) Raleigh police are also investigating a four-person robbery that took place at a sweepstakes parlor around 12:49 am on Tuesday. When officers arrived at the scene, a security guard had been shot, and was transported to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries. (CBS17) Although Wake County plans to expand its free COVID-19 testing in schools in the near future, only 4% of those currently eligible have enrolled. A spokeswoman for the school district says it is not concerned with the low participation because the program is not intended to reduce COVID cases on campus. (WRAL)

Today's Raleigh Daily is brought to you in part by our friends at GoodRx  the best way to save money on your prescriptions. GoodRx helps you locate the lowest prices for medications at local pharmacies, so you're not overpaying. Works for pet medications too! To see how much you can save, go to GoodRx.com.

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Today in Raleigh:

From my notebook:

Break out your crumpets and throw on the kettle, it's International Tea Day and Raleigh Tea Company has some local flavors to get you all tea'd up.

Raleigh is up in the rankings again, as Orchard ranked us 11th in the best places to live and take advantage of a remote-based job or career . (TechWire)

Christ the King Lutheran Church Cary is hosting a blood drive today from 1:00 pm-5:45 pm.

Organizers at Pawfect Match Rescue and Rehabilitation are asking the community to help Miss Percy return home, no questions asked, after the puppy was taken from a charity event in Holly Springs. (abc11)

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This article originally appeared on the Raleigh Patch
Dr Angelique Coetzee discovered the Omicron variant nearly four weeks ago. (parliamentlive.tv)

The South African scientist who raised the alarm about the Omicron mutation of COVID-19 has outlined the most commons symptoms of the new variant she has seen.

At a meeting of the science and technology committee today, Dr Angelique Coetzee told MPs details of what she had been witnessing from patients she was treating.

"The picture predominantly for the past four weeks stays exactly the same, the three major complaints will be: what we would call myalgia (sore muscles, body ache and pain), headache as well as a little bit of a fatigue for a day or two."

The UK's official list of three symptoms has not changed since May 2020, when a loss of taste and smell was added to high temperature and a new, continuous cough.

Read more: Chaos as Boris Johnson and NHS make conflicting promises over booster rollout

Coetzee said in South Africa they are "running a campaign" for people to get tested even if they wake up with a "slight headache".

"If you wake up this morning, and you have this headache and the myalgia, it would be prudent to wait 24 hours for the rapid test," she said.

"We have found that the rapid test can be still false negative in that first period, less than 24 hours, but after 24 hours, up until about 5 to 6 days later, the rapid test is more than sufficient to be able to detect positive cases."

Testing shortages have hit the UK as COVID-19 cases soar following the emergence of Omicron. (PA Images)

Read more: Sajid Javid says Omicron is spreading at a 'phenomenal rate'

On Monday, Boris Johnson's spokesperson said there are no plans to change official guidance on COVID symptoms for Omicron, despite the growing anecdotal evidence that they differ from the signs associated with previous variants

We take clinical advice and there is a balance to be struck between widening the symptoms too much that you include other illnesses," he said.

"But we are confident we continue to strike the right balance in terms of the symptoms that people look out for in terms of what is accounted for - but obviously, we will make any changes if required and advice clinically."

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People queued for hours across the UK after the government opened up booster vaccines to walk-in patients. (PA Images)

Read more: Today is the last day you can test positive for COVID and not isolate on Christmas Day

On Friday, Professor Tim Spector, from the COVID monitoring Zoe app, said that Omicron cases are being missed because symptoms manifest themselves differently.

Omicron is probably more, much more similar to the mild variants were seeing in people who have been vaccinated with Delta than anything else, he told BBC Breakfast.

And so it is going to be producing cold-like symptoms that people wont recognise as COVID if they just believe the official Government advice.

Watch: Sturgeon - Restrict socialising to three households before and after Christmas

The comments come amid mounting speculation over the virulence of the emerging variant, which is spreading rapidly across the country - with some modelling suggesting there are 200,000 new cases each day in the UK alone. The variant has become the dominant variant in London and is believed to be more contagious than previous strains.

PCR tests were temporarily unavailable across England on Tuesday morning thanks to "exceptionally high demand", officials said.

Twice on Tuesday, the government website said there were no slots available for PCR tests at walk-in and drive-in test sites across every region of England, before making more slots available.

The Catch-up sign up

Omicron has triggered concern globally, prompting the government's reintroduction of certain social distancing measures in an attempt to slow the spread of the virus while they accelerated the booster programmes.

Early data suggests a third jab is necessary to provide adequate protection against the new variant and avoid hospitalisations, leading the government to expand capacity and postpone non-urgent NHS appointments to get jabs in arms.

However Englands chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty warned Cabinet on Monday that a significant increase in hospitalisations from Omicron is expected in the coming weeks.

The first death of a patient with Omicron was recorded yesterday, with 4,713 confirmed cases of the new variant.

COVID-19: Omicron currently infecting 200,000 a day - as COVID passport changes announced
The parents of the Oxford High School shooting suspect will spend the holidays in jail, though their lawyers are preparing arguments to have their detention revisited as both remain locked up on $500,000 bonds.

James and Jennifer Crumbley are facing involuntary manslaughter charges for their alleged roles in the Nov. 30 mass shooting that left four students dead and seven others injured, including a teacher.

According to prosecutors, the Crumbleys bought the gun that was used in the massacre four days earlier as an early Christmas present for their son, Ethan Crumbley, who is now facing first-degree murder and terrorism charges for his alleged actions that day.

At a probable cause conference Tuesday, defense attorney Shannon Smith said she would be filing a motion with the court in about a week involving the bond that has been set for the parents.

MORE NEWS: Judge denies lawyer's request to transfer Oxford school shooting suspect out of adult jail

WATCH: Parents of Michigan school shooting suspect found, arrested overnight after manhunt

Shackled at the hands and feet, the parents appeared in 52-3 District Court in Rochester on Tuesday as Judge Julie Nicholson postponed their preliminary examination to Feb. 8 to give both sides more time to sort through the massive volume of discovery, or evidence.

Community members leave candles, flowers and balloons at a memorial by the entrance of Oxford High School in Oxford on Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2021.

The couple said very little, beyond confirming that they agreed to have their preliminary exam postponed, and that they wanted to share the same lawyers. They did not sit side by side, but rather were separated by their attorneys and occasionally glanced at one another.

The Crumbleys and their son are all housed in the Oakland County Jail, though none have any communication with the other. A bond hearing for the parents has been set for Jan. 7.

James and Jennifer Crumbleys' brief court appearances came one day after a judge refused to move their son from an adult jail into a juvenile facility, despite pleas from his defense team that the teen's emotional and mental wellbeing may be harmed in the adult facility.

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The parents of accused Oxford High School gunman Ethan Crumbley, Jennifer and James Crumbley are in the 52-3 District Courtroom of Judge Julie Nicholson in Rochester on Dec. 14, 2021, for a probable cause conference in their cases after being charged with involuntary manslaughter. The Crumbleys are represented by attorneys Shannon Smith and Mariell Lehman.

Ethan Crumbley, 15, has been charged with first-degree murder and terrorism causing death stemming from the shooting.

The high school sophomore is accused of fatally shooting four people  Hana St. Juliana, 14; Tate Myre, 16; Madisyn Baldwin, 17; and Justin Shilling, 17.

Jennifer and James Crumbley each have been charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter. Each involuntary manslaughter carries a penalty of up to 15 years in prison if convicted. According to prosecutors, the parents did not have the gun properly secured, though the defense disputes that.

All three Crumbleys have pleaded not guilty.

Separately, a civil lawsuit seeking $100 million has been filed against the school district on behalf of a student who was shot in the neck and survived, and her younger sister who watched her sibling get shot.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Parents of Oxford school shooting suspect in jail, bond hearing set
A man has been charged with murder after police say he entered a home through a window and strangled a woman inside.

Horry County police arrived at a Little River home about 10:20 p.m. Dec. 4 and found Kathleen Fielis, 74, dead inside the bathroom, according to police records.

Joseph Brian Fielis, 39, is charged with murder and burglary, according to Horry County jail records. He has no bond set.

The Horry County Coroners Office said Tuesday Fielis death was being investigated as a homicide.

Horry County police officers were let into a home on Greenbriar Drive by Joseph Fielis, where they found Kathleen Fielis dead, according to an Horry County Police Department incident report.

Once inside, police officers detained Joseph Fielis and called animal control to take his dog.

Police say Joseph Fielis entered the Greenbriar Drive home by climbing through the window. Once inside, he strangled Katheleen Fielis to death manually with malice aforethought, according to arrest warrants.

Joseph Fielis had no visible injuries when police arrived, warrants said.

According to the warrants, police collected physical and forensic evidence as well as witness statements.

Joseph Fielis, of Little River, was booked into J. Reuben Long Detention Center about 3:15 a.m. Dec. 5, according to the jail website.

Horry County Police Department spokesperson Mikayla Moskov did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication.
The Daily Beast

Family handout via Atlanta PoliceAuthorities have identified a suspected killer in the 1995 cold case of a teenage girl who was en route to school when she was raped and shot twice in the face by a man who then eluded investigators for 26 years.Atlanta police say Kelvin Arnold, 49, who died in 2021 before he could be identified, brutally assaulted and fatally shot 14-year-old Nacole Smith on June 7, 1995, as she tried to shortcut through a wooded area on her way to school.There are literally bo




PowerPoint presentations from Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei Technologies indicate that the company has a larger role in China's surveillance efforts than was previously known, according to The Washington Post.

The Post reviewed over 100 Huawei PowerPoint presentations, many of them labeled "confidential," in which the company detailed how the government could use its technologies to identify voices, track people for political purposes and monitor the movements of inmates within prisons, among other surveillance tactics.

"Huawei has no knowledge of the projects mentioned in the Washington Post report," the company said in a statement to the newspaper. "Like all other major service providers, Huawei provides cloud platform services that comply with common industry standards."

"Privacy protection is our top priority," it added.

While the Post could not confirm who the presentations were shown to, the newspaper said that PowerPoints detailing surveillance tactics specific to government agencies - such as slides appearing to refer to China's controversial prison reeducation and labor programs - may have been intended for government audiences.

For a long time, according to the Post, Huawei has addressed queries about its possible connections to the Chinese government by asserting that it only sells general-purpose networking gear. But some Western governments have still prohibited the use of Huawei tech amid concerns that the company was working with Beijing, per the newspaper.

The Post's report comes amid heightened concerns about surveillance and human rights in China.

The Biden administration recently blacklisted Chinese firm SenseTime Group Limited, which the Treasury Department says operated or owned companies that operated surveillance technology used to target members of the Uyghur Muslim minority group using facial recognition.

While China's Communist Party depends on tools such as facial recognition to find dissenters, it has warned tech companies like Huawei against misusing the technology in the private sector, the Post said.
Enrique Tarrio during a Proud Boys rally in Portland, Ore., on Sept. 26, 2020. (Mason Trinca/The New York Times)

They showed up last month outside the school board building in Beloit, Wisconsin, to protest school masking requirements.

They turned up days later at a school board meeting in New Hanover County, North Carolina, before a vote on a mask mandate.

They also attended a gathering in Downers Grove, Illinois, where parents were trying to remove a nonbinary authors graphic novel from public school libraries.

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Members of the Proud Boys, the far-right nationalist group, have increasingly appeared in recent months at town council gatherings, school board presentations and health department question-and-answer sessions across the country. Their presence at the events is part of a strategy shift by the militia organization toward a larger goal: to bring their brand of menacing politics to the local level.

For years, the group was known for its national profile. The Proud Boys were prominent at the rallies of Donald Trump, at one point offering to serve as the former presidents private militia. On Jan. 6, some Proud Boys members filmed themselves storming the U.S. Capitol to protest what they falsely said was an election that had been stolen from Trump.

But since federal authorities have cracked down on the group for the Jan. 6 attack, including arresting more than a dozen of its members, the organization has been more muted. Or at least that was how it appeared.

Away from the national spotlight, the Proud Boys instead quietly shifted attention to local chapters, some members and researchers said. In small communities  usually suburbs or small towns with populations of tens of thousands  its followers have tried to expand membership by taking on local causes. That way, they said, the group can amass more supporters in time to influence next years midterm elections.

The plan of attack if you want to make change is to get involved at the local level, said Jeremy Bertino, a prominent member of the Proud Boys from North Carolina.

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The group had dissolved its national leadership after Jan. 6 and was being run exclusively by its local chapters, Bertino said. It was deliberately involving its members in local issues, he added.

That focus is reflected in the Proud Boys online activity. On the encrypted messaging app Telegram, the Proud Boys main group in the United States has barely budged in number  with about 31,000 followers  over the last year. But over a dozen new Telegram channels have emerged for local Proud Boys chapters in cities such as Seattle and Philadelphia over that same period, according to data collected by The New York Times. Those local Telegram groups have rapidly grown from dozens to hundreds of members.

Other far-right groups that were active during Trumps presidency, such as the Oath Keepers and the Three Percenters, have followed the same pattern, researchers said. They have also expanded their local groups in states such as Pennsylvania, Texas and Michigan and are less visible nationally.

Weve seen these groups adopt new tactics in the wake of Jan. 6, which have enabled them to regroup and reorganize themselves, said Jared Holt, a resident fellow at the Atlantic Councils Digital Forensic Research Lab who researches domestic extremist groups. One of the most successful tactics theyve used is decentralizing.

Members of the Oath Keepers and Three Percenters did not respond to requests for comment. On Tuesday, the District of Columbias attorney general sued the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, alleging the far-right groups conspired to attack the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.

The Proud Boys were founded in 2016 by Gavin McInnes, a co-founder of Vice. Enrique Tarrio, an activist and Florida director of Latinos for Trump, later took over as leader. The group, which is exclusively male, has espoused misogynistic, Islamophobic and anti-Semitic views, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which has designated it as a hate group.

By the 2020 election, the Proud Boys  who often wear distinctive black-and-yellow uniforms  had become the largest and most public of the far-right militias. Last year, Trump referred to them in a presidential debate when he was asked about white nationalist groups, replying, Proud Boys, stand back and stand by.

After the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, the group grew disillusioned with Trump. The president distanced himself from the riot and declined to offer immunity to those who were involved. The Proud Boys have also experienced a leadership vacuum, after Tarrio was arrested two days before the Capitol attack on charges of property destruction and illegally holding weapons.

That was when the Proud Boys began concentrating on local issues, Holt said. But as local chapters flourished, he said, the group increased their radical tendencies because members felt more comfortable taking extreme positions in smaller circles.

Many Proud Boys local chapters have now taken on causes tied to the coronavirus pandemic, with members showing up at protests over mask mandates and mandatory vaccination policies, according to researchers who study extremism.

This year, members of the Proud Boys were recorded at 145 protests and demonstrations, up from 137 events in 2020, according to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project, a nonprofit that monitors violence. But the data most likely understates the Proud Boys activities because it doesnt include school board meetings and local health board meetings, said Shannon Hiller, the executive director of the Bridging Divides Initiative, a nonpartisan research group that tracks political violence.

Hiller said the Proud Boys have shown consistently high levels of activity this year, unlike last year when there was a spike only around the election. She called the change concerning, adding that she expected to see the groups appearances intensify before the midterms.

On the Proud Boys local Telegram channels, members often share news articles and video reports about students who were barred from schools for refusing to wear a mask or employees who were fired over a vaccine requirement. Some make plans to appear at protests to act as muscle, with the goal of intimidating the other side and attracting new members with a show of force, according to the Telegram conversations viewed by The Times.

Tell me where I need to be and I am there, one member of a Proud Boys group in Wisconsin wrote last month about protests of mask mandates. I can drive 5-6 hours in any direction.

Think local, act local, wrote another member.

At some local meetings where the Proud Boys have shown up, they have spoken and threatened community leaders, according to news reports. At others, they have simply stood silently and watched. In the Telegram groups, some boasted that they had handed out their cellphone numbers to those interested in joining them.

While the Proud Boys membership is not public, Holt said the group appeared to be growing in small towns and counties.

Often, their presence has been enough to disrupt events. Last month, the school board in Beloit said it canceled classes because some of the Proud Boys were at a local protest over mask requirements. In Orange County, California, the school board said in September that it would install metal detectors and hire extra security after several Proud Boys attended a meeting and threatened its members.

In New Hanover County, North Carolina, which has roughly 220,000 residents and is two hours from Charlotte, Stefanie Adams, the school board president, said she had read about the groups increasing appearances and began tracking the reports closely.

Adams said she had an inkling that the Proud Boys might show up in her school district, which has 25,000 students. Because North Carolina law requires the county school board to vote on whether to continue a mask mandate for students each month, the district had handled many contentious meetings over the issue, she said.

I figured we were on their radar, and that we might be next, Adams said. We knew we had to prepare for them coming to our town, too.

Last month, Adams was notified by the boards head of security, which she had hired for the monthly meetings, that some Proud Boys were outside the building for the mask mandate vote.

Five Proud Boys eventually entered the room and stood in the back, Adams said. They folded their arms across their tactical vests and wore matching T-shirts with images of a rooster, the groups insignia. While they did not speak publicly, video footage from the two-hour meeting showed them clapping and cheering as anti-mask speakers made their case.

New Hanover Countys seven-member school board ultimately extended the mask mandate for another month, by a 4-3 vote.

A lot of people came up to me after the meeting and said I should have removed them, but the meetings are open to anyone, Adams said. She added, One thing I can tell you is that it didnt affect our vote or our decision on the masks.

This month, the board voted to make masks optional after the countys health and human services board ended an indoor mask mandate. Adams said the Proud Boys did not show up at this months meeting.

 2021 The New York Times Company
Lavish Lounge night club is seen July 5, 2020, following an early morning shooting that left 2 dead, 8 injured.

A rapper from Atlanta, Georgia, is facing federal charges more than a year after he performed at a Greenville County club on the night of a mass shooting.

Foogiano, whose real name is Kwame Brown, is facing two counts of illegal possession of a firearm by a felon, according to an indictment unsealed this week.

Foogiano was the headliner for a concert at Lavish Lounge on July 5, 2020, when gunfire erupted and struck 10 people  including two who died.

Foogiano was indicted in U.S. District Court in Greenville on Friday. The court documents were unsealed on Monday when Foogiano was arrested and arraigned, according to federal court records.

The July 2020 shooting was one of the largest shootings in Greenville County's recent history. The Greenville County Sheriff's Office responded immediately to the scene, and an investigation led by the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives soon followed.

More: A deeper look at deadly Lavish Lounge shooting as courts close club, feds take over probe

Foogiano was not responsible for firing any weapons during the night of the shooting, authorities have said.

One man, Jarquez Kezavion Cooper of Athens, Georgia, was arrested days after the shooting and charged with murder while others also believed to be responsible were still being sought after.

Greenville County Sheriff Hobart Lewis said after arrest that he believed those responsible were a part of Foogiano's "entourage."

A federal warrant for Foogiano's arrest was first signed on Nov. 9, according to court documents. Foogiano's indictment states that on July 5, 2020, he knowingly possessed a Glock 40-caliber pistol and ammunition while having been previously convicted of a felony.

More: Neighbors uneasy after 10 shot, 2 killed at Greenville nightclub during violent weekend

Foogiano was previously in custody in Georgia after he was arrested in Tennessee earlier this year on a probation violation, according to the Athens Banner-Herald. He is currently awaiting a judge's decision on his request to return to state custody in Georgia, according to federal court documents.

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Foogiano's listed federal public defender, James Loggins, did not immediately return a call or email for comment.

Mykala Bell, 23, a concert-goer and mother of two young children, and Clarence Sterling Johnson Jr., 51, who worked security that night, were each fatally struck by gunfire.

Eight others were wounded but survived. The ages of those shot ranged from 21 to 51, according to the Sheriff's Office.

Check back for more on this developing story.

More: 2 dead, 8 injured at Greenville nightclub shooting where rapper Foogiano was performing

Daniel J. Gross is an investigative watchdog reporter focusing on public safety and law enforcement for The Greenville News. Reach him at dgross@greenvillenews.com or on Twitter @danieljgross. Subscribe to The Greenville News at greenvillenews.com/subscribe.

This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Foogiano faces federal indictment after Lavish Lounge shooting
A Chinese J-20 stealth fighter. China's military has struggled to develop aircraft engines on its own. Reuters

In November, a US jury convicted Yanjun Xu, a senior Chinese intelligence officer, of espionage.

Xu was arrested in Belgium in 2018 and is the first Chinese intelligence officer extradited to the US.

The case shows how China has pursued industrial secrets to help it rapidly improve its own military.

A historic court decision sheds light on how China has used espionage to gain a military and economic advantage over the US and the rest of the world.

US counterintelligence officials managed to lure Yanjun Xu, a senior Chinese intelligence officer, out of China in 2018 and then get him extradited to the US to stand trial for attempting to steal advanced aircraft-engine technology, which China's military has struggled to develop.

This case is only the latest in a series of espionage operations by Beijing meant to steal industrial and military secrets from the US and its allies and partners and even from Russia  theft that has allowed China's military to rapidly build its arsenals of sophisticated weapons.

Common case, uncommon outcome

A General Electric aircraft engine. Anthony Bolante/Reuters

On November 5, a federal jury convicted Xu  deputy division director of the Sixth Bureau of the Jiangsu Province Ministry of State Security (MSS), the primary intelligence agency of the Chinese Communist Party  of "conspiring to and attempting to commit economic espionage and theft of trade secrets."

The Chinese intelligence officer was coordinating an operation to get access to a General Electric Aviation composite aircraft engine fan, a piece of technology no other firm has been able to reproduce.

In 2017, David Zheng, a GE Aviation employee, was approached by a Chinese university professor to give a presentation as the Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics. The approach was made through LinkedIn, which has become a go-to method for Chinese intelligence to identify foreign targets, including Americans.

Although GE Aviation has strict rules about such presentations, Zheng ignored them and went to China without telling his employer.

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During his presentation, Zheng had technical difficulties with his laptop, which contained five GE Aviation training documents. The hosts offered assistance, and a Chinese student inserted a thumb drive into Zheng's computer  an apparent effort to insert malware or copy the hard drive  and "fixed" the problem.

Zheng received a stipend of $3,500 for the trip.

A security guard next to a jet engine turbo-fan at the China Aviation Expo in Beijing, September 20, 2005. PETER PARKS/AFP via Getty Images

After the FBI determined that Zheng didn't willingly turn over any classified information, the GE Aviation employee began cooperating with the agency to lure Xu out of China. In 2018, they succeeded. Xu was arrested in Belgium and became the first Chinese intelligence officer to be extradited to the US.

According to the FBI and Department of Justice, Xu had since 2013 used multiple aliases to target US and third-country aviation companies and experts in that field. He would invite them to China on academic pretexts and then slowly lure them to espionage.

Xu's arrest and conviction are unique and shed light on a shadowy conflict in which Beijing is trying to wrestle global supremacy from the US using any means possible. Military secrets aren't the only target. The US's top counterintelligence agency estimates that Beijing steals $200 billion to $600 billion worth of economic secrets from the US every year.

Alan Kohler, the FBI's assistant director of counterintelligence, said Xu's actions were a form of "state-sponsored economic espionage" by the Chinese Communist Party to steal American technological and trade secrets.

"For those who doubt the real goals of the PRC, this should be a wakeup call," Kohler said. "They are stealing American technology to benefit their economy and military."

Gaining an edge by other means

A Chinese Y-20 airlifter at the Zhuhai Air Show, October 31, 2016. Dickson Lee/South China Morning Post via Getty Images

China seeks the most advanced tech available, the MSS uses three complementary approaches to steal or otherwise obtain military and industrial secrets.

First, with traditional human intelligence operations that seek to recruit foreign citizens to spy on their countries.

Second, by using non-traditional collectors, such as students or academics, who aren't intelligence officers but have access to sensitive or classified material through their work.

Finally, the MSS uses cyberattacks to steal foreign countries' most sensitive and classified industrial, personal, economic, and military material.

Under China's national security law, every Chinese citizen and firm is obliged to cooperate with the Chinese Communist Party on matters of national security. In practice, that means Chinese companies that do business with foreign firms are required to share any technology or information they acquire with the Chinese military or intelligence services.

Similarly, researchers and postgraduate students working on science, technology, engineering, or mathematics projects are expected to share their research with Beijing.

US companies are always at the top of the target list, but "friendly" countries aren't safe either.

Earlier this year, it was reported that Rubin Design Bureau, one of Russia's main submarine designers, was hit by a cyberattack likely done on behalf of China. In 2012, two Russian academics were jailed for passing information on nuclear missiles to Chinese intelligence.

Stavros Atlamazoglou is a defense journalist specializing in special operations, a Hellenic Army veteran (national service with the 575th Marine Battalion and Army HQ), and a Johns Hopkins University graduate.

Read the original article on Business Insider
EXCLUSIVE: Not only did she get a degree, but she was calling her professors regularly to let them know how committed she was, Jackson Lee told theGrios April D. Ryan of the Hot Girl music superstar.

With her massive fame, dedication to education, hit-making ability, and her philanthropy, Megan Thee Stallion is certainly the pride of Houston. The superstar Hot Girl, who recently graduated from college, was back in her hometown this past weekend to receive the 18th Congressional District Hero Award from U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, who represents Megans hometown.

U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee and music entertainer Megan Thee Stallion. (Photo: Getty Images/Megan Thee Stallion via Instagram)

TheGrios White House Correspondent and D.C. Bureau Chief April D. Ryan spoke with the Texas congresswoman after Sundays ceremony, which took place a day after the Fall 2021 commencement for Texas Southern University, where Megan Thee Stallion Pete received her bachelors degree in health administration.

Jackson Lee shared with Ryan the details of the weekend and the significance of Texas Southerns legacy as a HBCU and how she was involved in celebrating the class of 2021.

This is a historic school born out of segregation. It was born in the state of Texas because then Negroes  colored people  could not go to the University of Texas, and it was called the Negro College. But look at her (Texas Southern) now  its 94 years old, Jackson Lee told theGrio.

Jackson Lee said that she spoke with the hip-hop star on the morning of the graduation ceremony and gave remarks at the afternoon session where Megan Thee Stallion obtained her degree.

It was a double awards weekend for [Megan]. The excitement of her earning her Bachelor of Science degree, which is a big statement itself, and the very next day being presented with the 18th Congressional District Hero Award, Jackson Lee added.

Ryan noted that Megans devotion to her studies while also being one of the biggest entertainers of her era serves as an inspiration to young people. Jackson Lee said that the rapper and savvy businesswoman juggled education and her career with determined focus.

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Not only did she get a degree, but she was calling her professors regularly to let them know how committed she was, Jackson Lee said. She was online in the midst of all of these various music awards shows, traveling around the world and being a businesswoman.

Jackson Lee continued: She was calling professors as Megan Pete to ensure that she would be able to graduate, and I was keeping up with this. Shes a product of South Park, Texas, which is in my congressional district, and shes a product of her mother, her grandmother and her great grandmother. They helped raise her, and she is a human being crafted by their instruction and their love and what people need to know that in her heart, she is a servant.

(Photo: Megan Thee Stallion via Instagram)

Megans service and giving to the less fortunate has been well-documented, including the star setting up scholarship funds, providing financial boosts to an assisted living facility in her hometown, funding initiatives for burgeoning young entrepreneurs and much more. Throughout the sultry image that Megan presents via her rapper persona, she has consistently promoted the value of higher education and being a boss on ones own terms.

The conversation shifted to a surging issue on the national front today tackling student debt. An estimated $1.7 trillion is owed in student loans by American graduates. According to a report from Education Data Initiative, Black college graduates owe $25,000 more in debt in comparison to White college graduates. That study also found that Black students are more likely to struggle paying off their debt with monthly payments skyrocketing past $350 and up per month.

Congresswoman Jackson Lee addressed the issue, citing that President Joe Bidens Build Back Better plan is part of the mechanisms to put student loan debt in the rear view for Black Americans.

On the urgency of student loan debt, we have to tackle it in 2022. We obviously are doing a little bit [via the] Build Back Better with the increase in the amount of Pell Grants, which are a contrast to heavy loans from banking institutions and private lenders, Jackson Lee explained.

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) gives a speech during the opening of the mural as a part of Juneteenth Legacy Project commemorating the end of slavery in the United States on June 19, 2021 in Galveston, Texas. (Photo by Go Nakamura/Getty Images)

The congresswoman added, Weve got to be able to find a way to bring down student debt to forgive it, pay it off so that people can really be contributors to the economic engine of America. And thats what young people will be.

Jackson Lee went on to mention Megan Thee Stallions ambition to open assisted living facilities across the country while stating that she has the means to do so but hopes that her example will inspire other aspiring entrepreneurs to follow after her hardworking lead.

Jackson Lee said that student loan debt is a monumental issue and that the Biden-Harris administration, along with several members of the congressional body, are committed to addressing legislatively to reduce the student loan debt, especially as someone who also benefited from a college loan herself.

TheGrios April D. Ryan contributed to this report.

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The post Rep. Jackson Lee shares how committed Megan Thee Stallion was to graduate, why she honored star with Hero award appeared first on TheGrio.
Investigators stand at the entrance to Liberty Arsenal gun shop on May 7, 2021. Store owner David Paul was killed, while his brother, Michael Paul, was critically injured in an attempted robbery. Five men have been arrested in connection to the case.

An Alexandria man who accepted a plea bargain on obstruction of justice and other charges in the fatal shooting at Liberty Arsenal gun store had his sentencing moved into March 2022.

Cliron Demond Price, 21, now is set to be sentenced on March 28, but that date depends on the cases of the two men accused in the shooting death of store owner David Paul  Ramonte Lamar Jackson and Laquarus Dyon Augustine.

Jackson and Augustine both have been indicted in the May 7 shooting at the La. Highway 28 East store that also critically wounded Paul's brother, Michael Paul.

More: 'Senseless' shooting leaves community with many questions

More: Outburst delays arraignment of defendant in Liberty Arsenal fatal shooting

Jackson, 23, was indicted on a first-degree murder charge, while Augustine was indicted on charges of second-degree murder and attempted armed robbery. Both remain jailed with bails set at $4 million and $6 million, respectively.

Price drove Jackson and another man arrested in the case, Eric Dewayne Dixon Jr., to Baton Rouge hours after the shooting, lead detective Andre Clark with the Rapides Parish Sheriff's Office testified during an August bail reduction hearing for Price.

Ninth Judicial District Court Judge Greg Beard denied the bail reduction.

Then, on Sept. 30, Price changed his plea to guilty on most of the charges against him  obstruction of criminal justice, being an accessory after the fact, aggravated flight from an officer and illegal carrying of a weapon with drugs.

Another obstruction charge was dropped, and Price was released from jail on his own recognizance.

Part of his plea bargain is that he testify against Jackson and Augustine, if called to do so. That means he won't be sentenced until the cases against them are resolved.

Jackson has a pretrial conference set for Feb. 9. Augustine has a pretrial conference set for Feb. 23, as well as a motion to reduce his bail.

This article originally appeared on Alexandria Town Talk: Court dates for Cliron Price, Laquarus Augustine in Liberty Arsenal case moved into 2022
The sister of one of the Amazon warehouse tornado victims said the company failed its employees.

"The richest company in the world can't keep their employees safe," she told Insider.

Clayton Cope was one of six workers killed after a tornado hit a company warehouse in Illinois.

The sister of one of the Amazon workers who was killed when a tornado ripped through a company warehouse in Illinois said Tuesday she was furious that the trillion-dollar e-commerce giant couldn't keep its employees safe.

"I'm angry," Rachel Cope, the 28-year-old sister of Clayton Cope, 29, told Insider. "The richest company in the world can't keep their employees safe."

She added: "That's just disgusting."

Video: What parts of Kentucky look like after devastating tornadoes

Clayton Cope, a US Navy veteran and maintenance mechanic for Amazon, was one of the six employees killed after a tornado devastated a massive delivery site in Edwardsville, Illinois, on Friday night and caused the roof of the building to collapse.

All Amazon "cared about was making sure that people's Christmas presents got delivered," Rachel Cope said.

Recovery operations on Sunday after the partial collapse of an Amazon Fulfillment Center in Edwardsville, Illinois. Tim Vizer/AFP via Getty Images

Clayton Cope was in contact with his dad  who works at the same Amazon warehouse but was not working that night  after the first tornado sirens went off shortly after 8 p.m. Friday, his sister said.

Rachel Cope said her dad spoke with her brother on the phone and told him get to the shelter inside of the 1.1 million-square-foot warehouse. She added that Clayton Cope initially refused because he said he wanted to warn others of the looming danger.

She said: "My brother was saying, 'No, there's a ton of drivers that are coming back, and I need to go warn them to get inside and get to the shelter because they don't know where to go.'"

Shortly afterward, the building collapsed.

Amazon did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider on Tuesday but said in a previous statement that management at the Edwardsville facility "acted incredibly quickly" to get workers into a designated ground-level shelter at the site.

Story continues

"There was a small group who took shelter in a part of the building that was then directly impacted by the tornado, and this is where most of the tragic loss of life occurred," the company said.

Employees had just minutes of warning before the roof of the building collapsed, the company said.

A manager who survived the disaster told the Cope family that he saw Clayton "physically helping people get to the shelter" amid a "frantic" situation before the tornado hit, Rachel Cope said.

"My brother was a hero," she said. "He was a really, really, really good guy. He was the kind of guy that would do anything for anybody."

Rachel Cope, who said she previously worked at a nearby Amazon warehouse for over a year, said the company should have been better prepared.

"They're a company that is known for not caring about their employees," she said, adding that Amazon treated its employees as "replaceable."

"And that's how they'll feel about my brother," she said. "They'll feel he's replaceable. They don't care."

Read the original article on Business Insider
Last week, we discussed how COVID-19s new omicron variant was circling Tennessee  appearing in three bordering states.

Tennessee's top health official said it would inevitably spread into our state.

Since then, at least two cases the omicron variant have been reported in West Tennessee.

The two cases in Shelby County, Tennessees largest county, appear to be the first confirmed omicron variant cases in the state.

We did expect the omicron variant to appear in Tennessee, as it has in 19 other states, Michelle Taylor, director of the Shelby County Health Department, said in a statement.

The health department recommends all people eligible get vaccinated as soon as possible and encourages booster shots.

As a refresher and for those who are unaware about this new variant, the omicron strain is believed to be more transmissible than the delta variant  although it is still early and researchers are still learning about the infections.

Vaccination information

COVID-19 vaccines are now widely available to all Tennesseans 5 years old and up. No appointments are necessary. Walk-in options are available at all health departments, and you can also make an appointment if you prefer.

The Food and Drug Administration authorized vaccine booster shots for people 16 years old and up.

For all vaccine information, eligibility and to find vaccine sites in your area, visit the Tennessee Department of Health website.

Coronavirus by the numbers

Shelby County (as of Tuesday):

1,992: Active cases

2,402: Total deaths

530,716: Fully vaccinated

Madison County (as of Tuesday):

177: Active cases

331: Total deaths

83,178: Fully vaccinated

Tennessee (as of Tuesday):

21,090: Active cases

17,768: Total deaths

2,500,572: Fully vaccinated

This has been Ray Padilla with your weekly update on COVID-19 news in West Tennessee. You can reach me by email at raymond.padilla@commercialappeal.com or on Twitter at @Ray_Padilla_.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Coronavirus Watch: COVID-19 omicron variant detected in West Tennessee
The Daily Beast

GettyEven as daily new COVID cases set all-time records and hospitals fill up, epidemiologists have arrived at a perhaps surprising consensus. Yes, the latest Omicron variant of the novel coronavirus is bad. But it could have been a lot worse.Even as cases have surged, deaths haventat least not to the same degree. Omicron is highly transmissible but generally not as severe as some older variantslineages is the scientific term.We got lucky. But that luck might not hold. Many of the same epid




A Texas man who was out on bond after being charged with murder late last year was fatally shot on Sunday in a convenience store.

Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said that 22-year-old Davion Potts was followed into Primos Food Store by an unknown man who then shot Potts several times, according to The Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

"The motive is unknown," Gonzalez said in a Facebook post about the shooting.

On Dec. 8, 2020, Potts was arrested for his participation in a deadly road rage shooting. At that time, Potts fatally shot Travis Rowden, a pickup truck driver, over a minor accident, the Star-Telegram reported.

Potts, along with a female passenger, got out of their car, which was stopped at an intersection, and approached Rowden. Then the woman screamed at Rowden and Potts repeatedly banged on the hood of his truck, the newspaper added.

As Rowden drove away, Potts shot Rowden in the head and killed him. In March, Potts was released on bond, the Star-Telegram added.

As a result of his death, his murder case has been dismissed, and police were still searching for the man who shot him as of Sunday.
A notable Texas businessman is accused of paying $750,000 to have his ex-lover and her boyfriend killed, federal officials announced Dec. 13.

Erik Maund, a 46-year-old Austin, Texas, resident and a partner of the Maund Automotive Group, is charged with conspiracy to commit kidnapping and kidnapping resulting in death, among other charges, a news release from the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Middle District of Tennessee said.

Three other men are facing those charges as well: Gilad Peled, 47; Bryon Brockway, 46; both of Austin; and 30-year-old Adam Carey, of Richlands, North Carolina, according to the release.

Maund, Peled, Brockway and Carey could not be reached for comment on Monday, Dec. 13, and information regarding their defense attorneys was not immediately available.

According to the federal indictment, which was just unsealed, the complex murder-for-hire plot came in response to another scheme hatched against Maund.

In early February 2020, Maund reached out to a 33-year-old Nashville woman named Holly Williams, whom he had a past relationship with, feds say. Maund sometimes went to Nashville on business and asked Williams to meet with him, since he was going to be in town.

About a month later, the blackmailing began. Maund received text messages demanding money, promising to expose his relationship with Williams if he didnt.

Williams boyfriend, 36-year-old William Lanway, had sent the texts, the release said.

Its not said how much hush money was demanded. But soon, Maund got in touch with Gilad Peled, a proclaimed ex Israeli Defense Force soldier, and owner of Austin-based Speartip Security.

Brockway, who served in a Special Operations capable unit of the Marine Corps, and Carey, a former member of the Corps Special Operations Group, were also brought on board, feds said.

Over the next several days, the trio traveled to Nashville, Tennessee, gathering information on Williams and Lanway and surveilling them at their homes. By March 9, just eight days after the blackmail texts arrived, the men Maund hired had compiled a report titled Tennessee Sitrep, sharing what they had learned and stating they would use everything at their disposal to stop the attempted extortion of Maund.

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On March 12, $150,000 showed up in Peleds bank account, transferred from Maund, feds said. Later that day, Carey and Brockway armed themselves and took action, confronting Williams and Lanway in the parking lot of Williams apartment complex.

They shot Lanway multiple times, killing him; forced Williams into a vehicle along with Lanways body; and drove to a construction site, officials said. There they shot Williams dead and discarded the bodies at the site and left, the release said.

Between March 11 and now, Maund is accused of transferring $750,000 into a bank account belonging to Peled.

This investigation began with the discovery of two bodies inside a vehicle on Good Friday 2020, Nashville Police Chief John Drake said in a news release. Outstanding investigative work  led to multiple leads that drew our attention to other states. Realizing this very complex case reached far outside of Nashville, our team enlisted the help of the FBI and the U.S. Attorneys Office. Our close relationship with our federal partners led to the indictment and arrest of the four individuals.

Ultimately, the men were arrested across three states: Maund and Peled in Texas, Brockway in California and Carey in North Carolina.

If found guilty, they could face life in prison, the U.S. Attorneys Office release said.

Woman accused of trying to rent a hitman to kill ex-husband pleads guilty in Michigan

Teen son fatally shoots the husband of woman fighting his mom in a bar, Texas cops say
If you can make cookie dough, you can make batter for Tom and Jerry cocktails. You can double down on Wisconsin dairy by using cheese in the batter that gets stirred into the warm milk. Using a Wisconsin-made brandy completes the Sconnie trifecta.

The Tom and Jerry cocktail wasn't invented in Wisconsin, but we kept drinking it (even during Prohibition) when our fellow Americans had lost a taste for this hot toddy made of warm milk and cake-like batter mixed with rum and brandy, says Jeannette Hurt, Milwaukee-based author of "Wisconsin Cocktails."

Faithful readers of the No Budget Cooking Series may remember Hurt from last year's brandy slush recipe with a history chaser. You all seemed to like that one well enough, so I decided to ask Hurt about the Tom and Jerry.

"It's definitely something that you have to prep for," said Hurt. "But it's easy to make once you know how to do it."

Let's put that claim to the No Budget Cooking Series test with this recipe that doubles down on Wisconsin dairy by using cheese in the batter.

Tom and Jerry

Servings: 12

1 cup Mascarpone cheese

3 cups powdered sugar

6 eggs, separated (preferably pasteurized or from a local source you trust)

 teaspoon vanilla extract

 teaspoon ground nutmeg

 teaspoon ground cloves

 teaspoon ground allspice

Few dashes of bitters (optional)

 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoons cream of tartar (use only with pasteurized eggs)

6 cups milk

12 ounces rum

12 ounces brandy

Freshly grated nutmeg (optional)

In a large bowl, mix Mascarpone and powdered sugar until combined. Set aside.

In medium-sized mixer bowl, beat egg yolks until slightly thickened and pale yellow, about 4 minutes. Add vanilla, nutmeg, cloves and allspice, stir to incorporate.

Stir yolk mixture into Mascarpone mixture until well-blended. Set aside.

In a large glass or metal bowl, beat egg whites, salt and cream of tartar (if using pasteurized eggs) until the egg whites form sharp peaks that hold their shape when lifted with beater or whisk. Gently fold egg whites into Mascarpone mixture, until well combined.

Heat milk in heavy pot over medium-low heat until hot but not scalded, about 5 to 10 minutes.

Place 1 heaping tablespoon of batter in a mug, pour 4 ounces of hot milk, 1 ounce rum and 1 ounce brandy.

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Grate fresh nutmeg on top for garnish.

Batter can be used immediately or stored in a tightly sealed container and frozen for up to two weeks.

(Recipe from "Wisconsin Cocktails" and Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin)

Whether it's cold nights or just Wisconsinites' tendency to stick with what they like or a little bit of both, the Tom and Jerry hot toddy has been a staple in the Badger State since arriving here sometime around the 1880s, said "Wisconsin Cocktails" author Jeannette Hurt.

TASTING NOTES: Rich. Creamy. Sweet. The batter and warm milk smooth out alcohol harshness but without masking the brandy flavor. It's little wonder this hot toddy remains a favorite cold-night cocktail in Wisconsin.

EQUIPMENT: Three mixing bowls, measuring spoons, whisk, hand or stand mixer with whisk or beater attachment, spatula, saucepan and jigger.

PRACTICALITY: The batter comes together in 10 to 15 minutes. After that, it can be stored in the fridge or freezer to be added to your drinks as easily as adding a simple syrup or other mixers.

Separating eggs and folding egg whites into batter are the most advanced skills needed.

Tom and Jerry batter can be made ahead of time and stored in an airtight container in the fridge or freezer for up to two weeks.

HACKS/INSIGHTS: Confession, I had Hurt on a video chat while making this recipe. However, I realized just before our call that I was short on brandy so I ran to the liquor store. It was a Friday afternoon just before a snowstorm was about to hit. This might surprise you, but there were a lot of people in line at that time. I got back late and was scrambling to figure out technology on my phone to start the call. Then I was scrambling to find equipment and ingredients as Hurt showed me how to make the batter.

Even with self-induced chaos, making the batter was easier than I expected. I would rate Hurt's "easy to make" claim as true.

We made a half-batch, so yeah, this recipe scales to meet your cold weather needs.

Separating eggs can intimidate kitchen newbies  it's a skill I first tried a few years ago myself  but fortunately when it comes to mistakes, eggs aren't budget-breaking ingredients. I like the method of letting egg whites slip between my fingers. If you don't like eggs on your fingers, try using this method with a small bowl and empty water bottle:

Crack the egg into a small bowl

Squeeze the water bottle together

Place the bottle opening near the yolk

Release the sides of the bottle allowing it to reform its shape

The yolk gets sucked into the bottle

Dump yolk into one bowl and egg white into another, repeat this with each egg

I was concerned that the Mascarpone and sugar would just form a clump inside the hand whisk, but after a few minutes it formed a creamy base.

Hurt and I are of like minds when it comes to vanilla extract: the more the merrier. We halved all the ingredients except for the vanilla.

When it comes to spices, add more or less of what you like or dislike. Hurt likes to add a few dashes of bitters. (I followed suit and think will do so next time.) Making Tom and Jerry batter your own is part of the fun. Then when someone asks for the recipe, you can say, "Sorry, it's a family secret." Though if you don't want to come off as a complete jerk, give them this base recipe.

When it comes to folding in egg whites, Hurt said to make a figure-8 motion. Make the folding move (where you turn over the spatula) at the bottom and top of the eight. Don't worry about perfecting this move. It won't break the recipe. Just make sure the whites are fully incorporated.

You're worried the USDA agents will break down your door to confiscate this batter? First, don't worry as they are busy this time of year executing cannibal sandwich stings. Second, you can use pasteurized eggs, just make sure to use cream of tartar when beating the whites.

One final pro tip from Hurt: Pour hot water in your mugs while waiting for the milk to warm. Pour out the water just before mixing your Tom and Jerry. Warming the mug extends the time this hot toddy remains, well, hot.

Jeanette Hurt of Bay View wrote the book "Wisconsin Cocktails."

ABOUT THE TOM AND JERRY: Basically, the Tom and Jerry is really an old-timey cocktail that originated in New England in the 1830s or 1840s, said Hurt.

Professor Jerry Thomas claimed to have invented it, including an elaborate story of naming it after his two pet mice, but that's been debunked upon finding earlier references to this concoction.

Hurt has busted more than one drinking lore or myth. Most notably, uncovering compelling evidence that Wisconsin's love affair with brandy has more to do with a bit of good luck than the World's Fair in Chicago.

The Tom and Jerry arrived in Wisconsin around the 1880s or so, and never left. By 1902, a New York Sun article wrote that the Tom and Jerry had gone the way of the dodo birds, but here in Wisconsin, well, once we like something, it never leaves, said Hurt.

"Every so often some hipster bar in a northern climate will 'revive' the Tom and Jerry," she said. "But it's never had to be revived here because it never actually died."

Not even Prohibition stopped Wisconsinites from enjoying this hot toddy.

"My favorite story is about Doc's Saloon in Milwaukee getting raided," Hurt said. "The feds discovered a warm bowl of Tom and Jerry on the back bar."

If you like a shot of history in your cocktails, Hurt's book "Wisconsin Cocktails" mixes in plenty more stories to ponder while sipping a drink or two.

I WILL TEST YOUR RECIPE: Please email recipes you'd like reviewed. I'm always happy to consider a favorite family recipe or Wisconsin food producer for the No Budget Cooking Series.

ABOUT THIS SERIES: I test recipes in my very average kitchen with my moderately above average cooking talent and meh presentation skills. I'll provide some insights and basic cooking tips. If you don't find these stories useful, hopefully you find them entertaining.

Contact Daniel Higgins dphiggin@gannett.com. Follow @HigginsEats on Twitter and Instagram and like on Facebook.

This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Easy Tom and Jerry cocktail recipe doubles down on Wisconsin dairy
Opponents of Tunisian President Kais Saied on Tuesday slammed his decision to extend a months-long suspension of parliament, accusing him of dealing another blow to the country's nascent democracy.

Saied had on Monday vowed to press on with reforms to Tunisia's political system, months after he sacked the government, froze the legislature and assumed wide-ranging executive powers.

The former law professor announced an 11-week "popular consultation" to produce "draft constitutional and other reforms" ahead of a referendum next July 25.

That will mark one year since his power grab, which came as the North African country was mired in political and economic crises compounded by the coronavirus pandemic.

Saied had in October moved to rule by decree, escalating fears for the only democracy to have emerged from the 2011 Arab uprisings.

He said on Monday that parliament would remain suspended until new elections on December 17 next year, the anniversary of the start of the revolution that chased dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali from power.

That further isolated his nemesis, the Islamist-inspired Ennahdha party, which has played a central role in Tunisian politics since Ben Ali's fall.

Many Tunisians, tired of a system seen as dysfunctional and corrupt, welcomed Saied's moves, but he has also faced growing opposition in the form of demonstrations at home and pressure from abroad.

Washington, however, gave a positive response to Saied's announcement.

"We welcome President Saied's announcement of a timeline outlining a path for political reform and parliamentary elections and look forward to a reform process that is transparent and inclusive of diverse political and civil society voices," State Department spokesman Ned Price said.

The envoys of the G7 powers plus the European Union had urged Tunisia on Friday to set a timetable for a return to democratic institutions.

- 'I am the state' -

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On Tuesday, political analyst Slaheddine Jourchi said Saied was "determined to push through his political project to the end".

Opponents have accused Saied of seeking to extend his one-man rule and unilaterally rebuild the political system.

Noureddine Taboubi, head of the powerful UGTT trade union, criticised the lack of a vision for tackling the country's pressing social and economic woes.

"Until when are we going to discuss the constitution? People today have empty stomachs and are getting poorer," he told journalists in the industrial hub of Sfax.

In a speech to union members, he said the union had supported Saied's July 25 moves but "we didn't give (him) a blank cheque".

Yet some in Tunis welcomed Saied's latest move.

Nizar ben Ahmida, a 37-year-old teacher, stressed the importance of announcing a timeline.

But he said the president's speech lacked details on "employment, poverty, marginalisation and prosecution of those who have committed crimes against this country".

Tunis resident Nidhal said the election date was too far away.

"(Saied) is playing for time. He wants to implement his ideas," the 35-year-old said.

- 'Object of ridicule' -

Saied said a consultation on constitutional reforms would be launched on January 1. These proposals would then be examined by a committee of experts appointed by the president, before being put to referendum.

But former Ennahdha MP Samir Dilou said the idea would "make Tunisia an object of ridicule".

"Saied's speech reflects the state of denial in which he lives and his refusal to listen to anyone," Dilou told the daily Assabah.

Analyst Jourchi said developments would depend on how the public reacts.

"The street isn't reassured. The economic situation is what concerns the Tunisian public," he said.

Tunisia faces mounting public debt, inflation, 18 percent unemployment and stalled negotiations with the International Monetary Fund for its fourth bailout since the revolution.

But the 63-year-old president's focus has remained firmly on remaking the political system and tackling opponents -- primarily Ennahdha -- whom he accuses of corruption.

After seizing control of the judiciary in July, he has pushed judges to investigate alleged foreign financing for campaigns during 2019 parliamentary elections.

In Tunisia today, Jourchi said, "the big problem lies in the fact that he is continuing to rule by decree. His political conflict with his opponents will escalate and tensions will remain."

ezz-ayj/par/mtp/jah
ANKARA, Turkey (AP)  Turkey and Armenia will appoint special representatives to discuss steps to normalize their ties, Turkeys foreign minister said.

Speaking in parliament during a debate over his ministrys budget late Monday, Mevlut Cavusoglu also said charter flights between Istanbul and Yerevan would restart soon.

We have consulted with Azerbaijan. Soon, we will mutually appoint special representatives with Armenia for the steps toward normalization and we will act together with Azerbaijan at every step, Cavusoglu told parliament.

Turkey and Armenia have no diplomatic ties and Turkey shut down their common border in 1993, in a show of solidarity with Azerbaijan which was locked in a conflict with Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh region.

In 2009, Ankara and Yerevan reached an agreement to establish formal relations and to open their joint border, but Turkey later said it could not ratify the deal until Armenia withdrew from Nagorno-Karabakh. The territory lies within Azerbaijan but was under the control of ethnic Armenian forces backed by Armenia.

Last year, Turkey strongly backed Azerbaijan in the six-week conflict with Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh which ended with a Russia-brokered peace deal that saw Azerbaijan gain control of a significant part of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Cavusolgu did not provide further details on the steps to normalize ties but told parliament that Turkey and Azerbaijan were now engaged in intense diplomatic efforts to bring peace and prosperity to the Caucasus region.

Turkey and Armenia have a more than a century old hostility over the deaths of an estimated 1.5 million Armenians in massacres, deportations and forced marches that began in 1915 in Ottoman Turkey. Historians widely view the event as genocide.

Turkey vehemently rejects the genocide label, conceding that many died in that era, but insisting that the death toll is inflated and the deaths resulted from civil unrest.
Bartlesville police work the scene of a double fatality shooting at the Kickstand Saloon, 1812 SW Frank Phillips Blvd., Monday night.

UPDATE: 11:37 a.m.

The suspect in a fatal Monday shooting at The Kickstand Saloon, Gregory Rogers, has turned himself in to the Tulsa County Sheriff's Office. Bartlesville Police Chief Tracy Roles said Rogers will soon be transported to Bartlesville.

Roles also said the victims, Austin Standeford, 41, and Van Parson, 29, have affiliations with the Mongols Motorcycle Club, but BPD is unsure if that played a role in the shooting.

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UPDATE 10:52 a.m.

Bartlesville Police have identified Gregory Rogers, 51, as the suspect in a deadly shooting that occurred Monday night at the The Kickstand Saloon.

BPD Chief Tracy Roles said an arrest warrant has been issued for Rogers on two counts of first degree murder and one count of possessing a firearm with a felony conviction.

Bartlesville officers are working with Tulsa Police to search for Rogers in Tulsa after receiving information that he was transported to a Tulsa hospital at 11:30 p.m. on Monday for a gunshot wound in the arm. He left the hospital at 2 a.m. without receiving medical treatment.

Roles said BPD is unsure at this point how he was wounded or why he left without treatment.

The victims in the shooting have been identified as Austin Standeford, 41, from Bartlesville and Van Parson, 29, whose last known address is in Ponca City.

Standeford has been identified as a Native American, so the FBI is involved, although BPD is taking the lead on investigating the incident, Roles said. Due to the McGirt ruling, the trial for Standefords death will be handled in federal court, while the trial for the death of Parson, who is white, will be handled in district court.

Roles said this will create an interesting dynamic when it comes to litigating the case. It will not, however, have bearing on how the cases will be investigated.

We are victims of the Supreme Court ruling, in my opinion, in that we have a different criminal justice system based on race  that is something (we) have been trying to avoid, Roles said.

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The incident is also unique for Bartlesville, which averaged one homicide a year. Roles said he does not know of any previous double homicide in the town.

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Bartlesville Police officers are looking for the suspect in a Monday shooting at a Bartlesville bar that left two men dead.

At 8:30 p.m., police received a call of shots fired at the Kickstand Saloon, 1810 SW Frank Phillips Blvd. Officers arrived within minutes to find two men, 29 and 39, had been shot following an altercation.

The suspected shooter, described as a 6-foot to 6-foot 3-inch bald Black man, escaped on foot prior to the police arriving.

BPD Chief Tracy Roles said the police are searching for the suspect and working to get a search warrant for the bar to collect further information, including video footage.

"We think we know who the suspect is, but we are working to confirm that," Roles said.

The victims, who BPD is not yet naming, were immediately transported to the Ascension St. John Jane Phillips Medical Center, with one dying on the way and the other dying at the hospital, Roles said.

This is a developing story and will be updated as details become available.

This article originally appeared on Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise: Suspect in fatal Monday shootings in custody
By Michael Erman

NEW YORK (Reuters) - All three U.S.-authorized COVID-19 vaccines appear to be significantly less protective against the newly-detected Omicron variant of the coronavirus in laboratory testing, but a booster dose likely restores most of the protection, according to a study released on Tuesday.

The study from researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), Harvard and MIT that has not yet been peer reviewed tested blood from people who received the Moderna, Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines against a pseudovirus engineered to resemble the Omicron variant.

The researchers found "low to absent" antibody neutralization of the variant from the regular regimens of all three vaccines - two shots of the Moderna or Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines or one of J&J's single-dose vaccine.

But the blood from recent recipients of an additional booster dose exhibited potent neutralization of the variant, the study found.

The scientists also suggested that Omicron is more infectious than previous variants of concern, including about twice as transmissible as the currently dominant Delta variant, which may soon be overtaken by Omicron.

The results are in line with other studies recently published. Researchers at the University of Oxford said on Monday that they found the two-dose Pfizer and AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine regimens do not induce enough neutralizing antibodies against the new variant.

BioNTech and Pfizer said last week that a three-shot course of their COVID-19 vaccine was able to neutralize the new Omicron variant in a laboratory test, but two doses resulted in significantly lower neutralizing antibodies.

Moderna and J&J have yet to release any of their own data about how the vaccines perform against the new variant. J&J declined to comment on the new study and Moderna did not respond to request for comment.

(Reporting by Michael Erman, additional reporting by Julie Steenhuysen; Editing by Caroline Humer and Bill Berkrot)
The UK government has confirmed it is scrapping the red list for international travel.

Announced by health secretary Sajid Javid in the House of Commons today, the move comes in response to the rapid global spread of the omicron coronavirus variant, which ministers admit has rendered the strictest travel restrictions unnecessary.

The 11 African countries currently designated high risk by the Department for Transport will be removed from the red list from 4am on 15 December.

Now that there is community transmission, the travel red less is less effective, said Mr Javid.

The recently announced testing requirements, however, will stay in place.

Transport secretary Grant Shapps tweeted: All current testing measures remain in place and will be reviewed in the first week of January.

As always, we keep all our travel measures under review and we may impose new restrictions should there be a need to do so to protect public health.

Testing requirements vary depending on whether arrivals to the UK are fully vaccinated or not: the former group must present a negative lateral flow test before departure and book a PCR test to be taken within two days of entering the country, while the latter must also have booked a day eight PCR test and quarantine for 10 days.

A total of 11 African nations were put on the UKs formerly empty red list between 29 November and 4 December, including South Africa and Nigeria, with returning travellers given short notice that they would have to pay thousands for hotel quarantine in the UK.

South Africa and nine other countries, including safari favourites Botswana and Namibia, spent just 16 days on the red list this time around.

It is currently unclear whether current quarantine hotel detainees will be allowed to leave self-isolation early - and, if so, whether they will be able to claim a refund for the portion of their stay left remaining.

Africa guide Paul Goldstein says: I sincerely hope the government is not expecting any thanks for this.

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Singlehandedly they have destroyed the Christmas/New Year market for much of Africa as well as butchering confidence in the UK travel industry.

Many of those who travelled to red list countries during the couple of weeks they were back on the list are now midway through their 10-day hotel isolation period.

Louise Hemus Fox, currently in hotel quarantine at the Gatwick Sofitel, told The Independent: As a minimum we should be allowed out on receipt of a negative day eight test. Not have to sit here until midnight on day 10.

The whole thing is utterly pointless. This is absolutely nothing to do with infection control, its just a bureaucratic platitude.

Read More

Travel news  live: Red list scrapped from tomorrow as travellers charged 100s for last-minute tests

Which countries are on the red list?

What are the new travel changes and how will rules work?

Travel industry relief mixed with fury after government eases rules
woman feeding rabbit a carrot after taking for days to save him

Courtesy of aliciacastro / TikTok

If you ever need to rescue a wayward rabbit outside your home, you'll need these four things: patience, perseverance, a crate, and more than a few vegetables. Just ask Alicia Castro, who spent several days outside her Montana apartment trying to capture an abandoned pet bunny.

Castro documented the journey through her TikTok account, beginning Nov. 5 when she described how her partner had found the black-and-white rabbit outside their home. She grabbed a carrot and sat down 10 yards away from the lost animal. It worked, and the rabbit came over to help himself to the snack. But despite nibbling on the carrot, it wouldn't be an easy capture, and Castro knew she couldn't try to whisk him away on the first try.

She sat near him for hours, talking to the rabbit and giving him more carrots.

"We're just building trust," she says to the camera.

RELATED: The Do's and Don'ts of Catching a Lost or Scared Dog

The next day brought a bit of a letdown. After sharing a carrot, Castro tried to trap the bunny under a laundry basket, but he was able to escape. The little fluff was not as eager to approach Castro, and she left feeling discouraged. It seems like the trap was a good idea though, because she returned the following day with a large crate filled with veggies.

After several hours, she shared a happy update with her TikTok following. Her new long-eared friend was in the "big-ass crate" that she'd ordered the night beforesafe and secure behind the latched door. "We did it!" she told her bunny buddy.

Now safe and in from the cold, Castro called several animal rescue organizations about taking the bunny in, but none of them had any space. Through a little online research, she found out the rabbit had actually been abandoned once before she found him. And so even though she already has a catwho she describes as a "bit of a princess"Castro couldn't bear the thought of giving him away to someone who was not committed to his well-being. She shared an update a few days later, saying that they were taking the bunny-kitty introductions slow and safe, getting them used to each other in little bits of time.

In all, the four videos chronicling the rabbit rescue earned nearly 6 million views as of the time of this writing, so we're clearly not the only ones glad that he's in from the Montana cold.

While they're still working on a name, Castro wrote on TikTok that so far, they've called him Bunny, Bun, Banana Boy, and Carrot Boy. I vote for Carrot Boy. Makes him sound like a superhero.
How much is a little girl worth?

It is the question Rachael Denhollander asked at the sentencing hearing for Larry Nassar, the convicted sexual abuser, the former USA Gymnastics doctor who assaulted hundreds of young women over an excruciatingly long number of years.

On Monday, a judge in federal bankruptcy court in Indiana approved a $380 million settlement for the over 500 survivors of Nassar, a settlement between them and USAG and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee. Michigan State, where Nassar was also employed, had previously entered into a $500 million agreement to settle more than 300 claims.

They are classified as two of the largest sexual assault settlements in this country's history, but that is certainly not any cause for celebration. Nassar is just one of the worst serial sexual abusers in history, at least that we know of.

And you cannot affix a true dollar figure to what he stole.

A little girl  her innocence, her sense of self-worth, her well-being, her body  is priceless. Life has its twists and turns, teenagers generally feel things deeply as they try to find their place in the world. The things as adults we may see as mundane can be huge to a 15-year-old. Those kinds of things  whether her crush will ask her to homecoming, if she'll do well on her geometry quiz, when she and her friends will finally memorize the latest TikTok dance  are what she should be worried about, what she should get to worry about.

She should not be consumed with fear at the thought of going to gymnastics practice because he will be there, and an adult who allegedly has her best interests in mind sends her to his office for "physical therapy."

There is no amount of money that can undo what Nassar did to his victims, the physical, emotional and mental distress they endured at his hand, under the guise of providing health care.

There is no amount of money that can erase what USA Gymnastics did by turning a blind eye to complaints about Nassar, protecting him time and time again as though he were some kind of sacred cow instead of someone who could be replaced in a heartbeat.

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They protected a team doctor over the young female athletes he was abusing.

What Larry Nassar stole from gymnasts like Aly Raisman (left), Maggie Nichols (center) and McKayla Maroney can't be quantified by a dollar figure. (Photo By Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

They protected a team doctor over World and Olympic medal-winning champions, who brought glory to their organization and country, whose successes led to untold little girls wanting to follow in their perfectly pointed footsteps.

Some of those little girls became more of Nassar's victims. That is how long his reign of terror lasted.

USA Gymnastics protected a team doctor over young girls. Over their innocence. Over their self-worth. Over their well-being. Over their right to their own bodies.

USAG and Michigan State kept him on staff for decades. One of the earliest known victims of Nassar was 14 when he began molesting her in 1988. A decade later, he began digitally raping the 6-year-old daughter of a family friend. That is also the first year an MSU athlete made a complaint about him.

Many of the women who are part of the settlement class need that money to pay for the care they still require, and mental health care can be exceedingly expensive and difficult to get. Survivors are experiencing anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, and some have attempted suicide.

They will receive money and that money can help them pursue healing and peace, but no amount is enough.

No amount can return what Larry Nassar took from them, what USAG and Michigan State allowed him to continue to do. Those organizations did nothing for years, and seemingly only took action when the Indianapolis Star published its first report on sexual abuse within USAG in 2016 and women began sharing their stories with the paper.

How much is a little girl worth? Far more than Michigan State believed them to be. Far more than USA Gymnastics believed them to be. Far more than Monday's settlement.
GREAT NECK, NY  Federal, state, and local health officials are urging residents to get a COVID-19 booster shot as eligibility expands and the number of new cases climbs due to a growing number of variants.

"The CDC is strengthening its booster recommendations and encouraging everyone 16 and older to receive a booster shot," said Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "Although we don't have all the answers on the Omicron variant, initial data suggests that COVID-19 boosters help broaden and strengthen the protection against Omicron and other variants."

There are three boosters to choose from  Pfizer-BioNTech; Moderna; and Johnson & Johnson.

Everyone ages 16 and older can get a COVID-19 booster shot:

at least six months after getting a second shot of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine; or

at least two months after getting the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine

At this time, only Pfizer's vaccine is authorized and recommended for children aged 16 and 17. The Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines are for those ages 18 and up.

Below, you'll learn more about what medical experts are saying about the COVID-19 boosters, as well as where to get one in the Great Neck area.

Booster Offers Protection Against COVID-19 Variant, Experts Say

Many things about the Omicron variant remain unknown. But getting a booster shot is the best way to protect against the highly transmissible variant of the coronavirus, according to medical professionals.

Earlier this month, Pfizer officials released the results of an initial lab study showing that its vaccine neutralizes the Omicron variant after three doses.

"Although two doses of the vaccine may still offer protection against severe disease caused by the Omicron strain, it's clear from these preliminary data that protection is improved with a third dose of our vaccine," Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said. "Ensuring as many people as possible are fully vaccinated with the first two-dose series and a booster remains the best course of action to prevent the spread of COVID-19."

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The study found that people who received two doses of the vaccine were still protected from the virus. But a third dose increased the level of protection, BioNTech founder and CEO Ugur Sahin said in a statement.

The first case of the Omicron variant in the United States was reported in California earlier this month and was someone who had been vaccinated but had not gotten a booster shot. Omicron cases have since been confirmed in more than 21 states including Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Colorado, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, and Georgia.

Booster Shots: Explained

The protection provided by vaccines doesn't last forever. Our immunity from the original shot(s) wanes over time. It's natural.

That's why many medical experts are encouraging people to get the COVID-19 booster. The additional dose is designed to keep up your immunity, for longer, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine. Plus, it may help protect you from new strains of the coronavirus, like Omicron.

So does the COVID-19 booster shot have the same formulation as existing COVID-19 vaccines?

The CDC says yes. However, in the case of the Moderna booster shot, it is half the dose people get from their first two shots.

Potential Side Effects From Jab

The most common side effects of the COVID-19 booster include pain and swelling at the injection site, fatigue, muscle pain, fever, chills, and nausea. They typically go away within three days.

As with all three COVID-19 vaccines, serious, but rare, side effects may occur. Learn more about them here.

More information about possible side effects, as well as ways to relieve them, can be found here.

Where To Get A COVID-19 Booster Shot

There are a number of places you can get your booster shot  including pharmacy chains, state-run mass vaccination sites, and select Northwell Health facilities and physicians' offices.

CVS, Rite Aid, Walgreens Type in your ZIP code to find nearby locations

Northwell Health No facilities in Great Neck, but several can be found out east (like Huntington and Riverhead)

State-run mass vaccination sites Type in your ZIP code to find nearby locations

Physician's office Call your physician to see if they have COVID-19 booster



This article originally appeared on the Great Neck Patch
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki speaks during the daily press briefing at the White House December 14, 2021. Drew Angerer/Getty Images

The White House said it's up to Congress to help carry out Biden's promise to cancel $10,000 in student loans.

"If Congress sends him a bill, he's happy to sign it. They haven't sent him a bill on that yet," Psaki said.

Millions of Americans are expected to restart their student-loan payments in 49 days.

The White House on Tuesday said it's up to Congress to help execute President Joe Biden's promise to cancel $10,000 in student loans per borrower, though Democrats have asked him to forgive the debt on his own for months.

"What is the message to those people who feel that he is yet to follow through on that promise?" a reporter asked White House press secretary Jen Psaki said during Tuesday's press briefing.

"If Congress sends him a bill, he's happy to sign it. They haven't sent him a bill on that yet," Psaki responded.

Biden campaigned on approving $10,000 in student debt cancellation per borrower, but he still has not done so nearly 11 months into his presidency. In a speech on November 16, he said student loans are holding borrowers up, and forgiving $10,000 "should be done immediately."

His campaign website also said he'd work with Democrats to "authorize up to $10,000 in student debt relief per borrower" as part of COVID-19 relief, but the $1.9 trillion stimulus package he signed in March didn't include student debt relief. And in early February, shortly after Biden was sworn in and pressure to fulfill the student-loan cancellation began, Psaki said that the president's "calling on Congress to draft the proposal."

But lawmakers have insisted that Biden can get it done himself by simply signing an executive order. Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer have led the push to cancel $50,000 in student debt per borrower, which they believe Biden can do on his own via the Higher Education Act.

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"Cancelling $50,000 in student debt would completely wipe out student loans for 84% of borrowers, including more than 3 million borrowers who have been repaying their loans for more than 20 years," Warren previously told Insider. "This is the single most effective executive action President Biden could take to jumpstart our economy and begin to narrow the racial wealth gap."

Biden has expressed doubt in his legal ability to cancel student debt broadly, and he asked the Education Department to prepare a memo in April on whether he has that authority. But recently released documents revealed that Biden received that memo as early as April but has yet to release its contents.

Even so, Psaki said during the Tuesday press briefing that "there have been questions and asks about what executive authorities could be used. That has been under review."

"I don't have anything to report on that in this point in time," she added.

Psaki's comments come as millions of Americans are expected to restart their student loan payments on February 1, 2022, after a nearly two-year pause because of the COVID-19 pandemic. But with the public health crisis still ongoing, Democratic lawmakers, advocates and borrowers have urged Biden to extend the pause.

"This debt is just overwhelming for people," Schumer said last week. "If we don't extend the pause, interest rates just pile up. Students owe a fortune. And with Omicron here, we're not getting out of this as quickly as we'd like."

Borrowers across the country owe an estimated $1.7 trillion in student, a record-breaking total, according to data from the Federal Reserve.

Read the original article on Business Insider
BOYNTON BEACH - Police in Boynton Beach are asking for the public's help finding a vehicle that struck and injured a 51-year-old woman Sunday night.

Investigators are searching for a newer model gray Nissan Altima that witnesses say struck the woman, throwing her about 36 feet, as she crossed the 1000 block North Seacrest Boulevard at about 9 p.m. Sunday.

More: Child remains in critical condition after being injured in hit-and-run crash in West Palm Beach

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During the collision, the woman was thrown about 36 feet, police said. She was taken to a hospital with a broken pelvis and right shoulder, as well as head trauma. The Nissan was traveling north on Seacrest as the woman was crossing the roadway from west to east, police said.

The vehicle should have heavy front-end damage to the passenger side. The damage may be visible on the right bumper hood, windshield and roof of the car.

Anyone with information about the crash is asked to Boynton Beach police traffic homicide investigator Vincent Mastro at 561-742-6165, or Crime Stoppers at 800-458-TIPS (8477).

jwhigham@pbpost.com

@JuliusWhigham

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Police investigating hit-and-run crash that injured woman in Boynton Beach
DANVILLE  A Canadian company is drilling for copper and zinc on private property in Pittsylvania County.

The Toronto-based exploratory company, Aston Bay Holdings Ltd., is drilling holes about 1,000 feet deep and about 3.5 inches in diameter on the property owned by two landowners.

Were just their partner helping them investigate the potential value of their land, said Ashton Bay CEO Thomas Ullrich, during a telephone interview Monday afternoon.

The project  which is on about 2,000 acres of land  first was announced through the companys subsidiary, Blue Ridge Mining Inc., on Aug. 25.

The Danville Register & Bee learned of the project through a Zoom news conference Monday afternoon by the environmental group Appalachian Voices.

The purpose of the conference was to announce the formation of the Press Pause Coalition to protect Virginia from large-scale metals mining operations.

The work being done by the coalition is in response to exploration for metals by a Canadian junior mining company in three Virginia counties: Buckingham, Campbell and Pittsylvania, according to a news release from the coalition.

The groups are concerned about the potential effects of mineral mining on the environment, including waterways and public health. Downstream communities in almost half the state could be affected, including Richmond, Hampton Roads, Northern Virginia and the Chesapeake Bay, the coalition pointed out.

The negative impacts of commercial metals mining operations to water and public health are well-documented and numerous, Stephanie Rinaldi, coalition coordinator for the Press Pause Coalition, said in a prepared statement. And local and statewide organizations are joining together in hopes of preventing these harms by examining the lack of existing regulation for these industries as well as historic residual harms from unreclaimed mines.

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine is conducting an independent study of the health, safety and environmental effects of gold mining in Virginia as part of a state review lawmakers agreed to undertake in 2021, the Virginia Mercury reported in August.

The committee is examining gold mining operations at sites similar to those found in Virginia, the potential effects of such operations byproducts on downstream communities and whether existing state environmental regulations related to gold mining are sufficient to protect air and water quality, the Virginia Mercury reported.

An Aston Bay project involving exploratory drilling in Buckingham County prompted a proposal to temporarily ban gold mining in the state until a study of effects on the environment and public health could be complete, according to the Virginia Mercury. Lawmakers approved a study but removed the ban from legislation.

A similar analysis of mining of other minerals including copper, lead and zinc is being proposed by Virginia Del. Shelly Simonds, D-Newport News, along with a pause on issuance of metals mining permits for gold, copper, zinc and lead until the study is complete.

A pause on permitting is needed, Simonds said during a recorded Zoom video statement. The threat of metals mining is truly Virginia-wide.

A coalition of environmental groups has grown since companies recently have began exploring the possible mining of other metals.

Digging open pits below the water table, creation of piles of mining waste, failures of earthen dams and leaching from toxic ponds into the ground would all pose a hazard, Rinaldi said.

Most troubling is that these operations could have devastating impacts on Virginias drinking water, Rinaldi said. Here in rural Virginia, were very aware that our water comes from the ground, were all on well water out here. But many Virginians get their drinking water from the James River or other tributaries. All of these sources of drinking water would be threatened by metals mining.

Ullrich told the Danville Register & Bee any kind of potential mining would be underground, not an open pit.

I dont see the potential for an open pit anywhere in the state of Virginia, Ullrich said.

Ullrich acknowledged concerns expressed by mining opponents.

There are extremely valid concerns, he said. At Aston Bay, we believe in conserving the environment. Modern mining is done in a very responsible way. Theres no end of examples across the U.S. where mining is done in a very safe and environmentally sound way to the betterment of society in general and to local communities.

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For the last 10 years, the City of Lynchburg has been split into two districts each in Virginias House of Delegates and Senate.

Virginia has 40 Senate districts and 100 House districts; the city has been represented by the 22nd and 23rd districts in each legislative body.

That split could soon change: Under proposed new maps, laid out last week by two redistricting special masters selected by the Virginia Supreme Court, Lynchburg would return to one House and Senate district each: House District 52 and Senate District 8.

The proposed House District 52 generally will cover the entire city of Lynchburg as well as a small part of Campbell County. The proposed Senate District 8 will cover Lynchburg and the counties of Bedford and Campbell.

Returning Lynchburg to one unified district in the House and Senate has bipartisan support, said Sen. Mark Peake, a Republican who represents the current 22nd Senate district, which covers a large portion of the City of Lynchburg, as well as all of Amherst and Appomattox counties.

I dont think there was a lot of animosity about people wanting to split Lynchburg, Peake said when asked if he thought there was a big fight to keep Lynchburg split into two districts.

Under the proposed maps, Peakes district would come together with parts of fellow Republican Sen. Steve Newmans 23rd District, which covers the other part of Lynchburg and goes into Campbell County and toward Roanoke.

If the proposed redrawing moves forward, it is expected the 2023 election will determine who will represent Lynchburgs new proposed 8th Senate district, barring any lawsuits that would force special elections earlier. Even so, Newman has said he is unlikely to run again.

I think it makes perfect sense to have Lynchburg in one district, Peake said. The way theyve done it now, it makes for one compact and continuous district for Lynchburg, Bedford, and Campbell. So I think its a good fit geographically.

On the House side, the proposed maps have parts of Del. Wendell Walkers 23rd district uniting with parts of Del. Kathy Byrons 22nd district to form the new House District 52.

Similar to the Senate district seat, this seat would be up for reelection in 2023, and could pit Walker and Byron, the third-ranking Republican in the House of Delegates, in a primary fight against each other to see who would secure the GOP nomination to run for the proposed new seat covering Lynchburg.

Neither Walker nor Byron could be reached for comment Tuesday.

In all, more than 60 incumbents in the Virginia House and Senate would face running against a colleague, moving or retiring under new maps proposed for the states redistricting.

The proposed maps would affect nearly half of the seated lawmakers in each of the states legislative chambers, with slightly more Republicans than Democrats facing another incumbent, according to an analysis by the Virginia Public Access Project.

Certainly its not the job of the courts or the special masters to protect an individual politician, said Liz White, the executive director of One Virginia 2021, a nonpartisan group that advocated for the states new redistricting process.

Earlier this year, Beau Wright, vice mayor on Lynchburg City Council, wrote a letter to the redistricting commission suggesting to unite Lynchburg. The commission initially was tasked with drawing the new proposed maps until its members failed to reach agreement and the state Supreme Court stepped in.

Wright said this week he is excited to see the citys voice was heard on the issue in Richmond.

There was a bipartisan agreement, I think, across Lynchburg that we should revert to being represented by one delegate and one state senator, Wright said.

Im really glad both that the redistricting committee heard us, even though ultimately that this is a Supreme Court matter, but it looks like the Supreme Court heard us too, he said.

Wright also said the best part of this is that we will have focused attention in Lynchburg so that when we want to go to Richmond and make a request, that carries with it more weight.

Virtual public hearings will be held on the proposed maps Wednesday and Friday. Following that, Virginias Supreme Court will decide whether to change the maps or adopt them as they are.

The Richmond Times-Dispatch contributed to this report.

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The operator of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant has begun a boring survey to build an undersea tunnel for releasing treated water from the facility.

The water, used to cool molten nuclear fuel, is treated to remove most radioactive materials, but still contains radioactive tritium and other radioactive materials.

Japan's government plans to release the water into the ocean around spring of 2023, after diluting it to below levels set in national regulations.

Ahead of the construction, Tokyo Electric Power Company, or TEPCO, began drilling the seabed on Tuesday afternoon 700 meters offshore from the plant.

TEPCO plans to conduct more boring surveys 400 meters and one kilometer offshore.

The firm plans to dig as much as 21 meters into the seabed at the deepest site and take samples of mud and rocks to examine their components and hardness.

The surveys are expected to take 5 to 10 days for each location. TEPCO plans to use the resulting data to determine the route of the tunnel.

Local communities and critics are voicing concerns that the planned discharge could cause spreading of misinformation about the safety of local marine products.
Bank of America announced today the company is contributing $1 million to Childrens Hospital of The Kings Daughters (CHKD) new mental health hospital, matching its largest-ever donation to the Hampton Roads region.

This recent donation builds on the companys decades-long relationship with CHKD and recognizes the transformative nature of CHKDs mental health initiative. The cornerstone of this endeavor is a $224 million, 60-bed mental health facility scheduled to open next year, bringing the expertise of dozens of child and adolescent psychiatric professionals who will make CHKD their home for treating the children of the Hampton Roads region and beyond.

The new facility at CHKD is going to be transformative for our region, and a big win in terms of access to quality mental health care for children, said Frank Castellanos, Bank of America President of Hampton Roads. Weve supported the efforts of CHKD for four decades. The values they exhibit through the work they do are inspiring, and align with our commitment to the health and safety of vulnerable populations.

The 14-story mental health hospital is currently under construction on the same campus as the main CHKD hospital and will have private psychiatric rooms with space for parents to spend the night, healing amenities such as music and art rooms, and a rooftop area where hospitalized children can get exercise and fresh air. The new hospital will be the hub of a regional mental health outpatient program, with a continuum of care from early intervention to outpatient care to more intensive treatment.

Bank of Americas support will be recognized in the new building within a space devoted to General Academic Pediatrics, a CHKD primary care practice deeply committed to treating children and families with limited access to health care and other resources. CHKDs new mental health hospital will feature services such as primary care for children so that coming to the new tower for mental health treatment will be as routine and accepted as accessing routine health care. It is part of CHKDs goal in Lighting the Way for mental health for children and easing stigma.

This gift from Bank of America is a testament to the companys compassion for the children and families in the Hampton Roads region and the Commonwealth of Virginia, said CHKD President and CEO Jim Dahling. The gift will support some of the most vulnerable members of our community and contribute to advancing the science around treating mental health conditions for children across the country.

The generosity of this grant recognizes the need for improved access to mental health services in the region and state, along with services that can bridge health disparities throughout the community.

This mental health initiative is unfolding at a time when 20 percent of the nations children have a diagnosable mental health condition, and during a pandemic that has fueled anxiety and depression of children because of social isolation, along with illness, death, and job loss among families.

Once it is fully operating, the CHKD mental health hospital will employ more than 400 doctors, nurses, therapists, and other mental health professionals who will treat thousands of children across the state and beyond. In a far-reaching aspect of the initiative, a fellowship training program for child and adolescent psychiatrists also is being developed to train mental health providers. This critical program will improve access to care in Hampton Roads and also help address the extreme shortage of child and adolescent psychiatrists across the country.

CHKD

CHKD is the only freestanding childrens hospital in Virginia and serves the medical and surgical needs of children throughout greater Hampton Roads, the Eastern Shore of Virginia, and northeastern North Carolina. The not-for-profit CHKD Health System operates primary care pediatric practices, surgical practices, multi-service health centers, urgent care centers, and satellite offices throughout its service region. In 2019, CHKD broke ground on a 60-bed, 14-story mental health hospital and outpatient center on its campus to address the mental health crisis facing our youth. The new tower being built on CHKDs campus in Norfolk is scheduled to open in 2022. Learn more at CHKD.org.

Bank of America

At Bank of America, were guided by a common purpose to help make financial lives better, through the power of every connection. Were delivering on this through responsible growth with a focus on our environmental, social, and governance (ESG) leadership. ESG is embedded across our eight lines of business and reflects how we help fuel the global economy, build trust and credibility, and represent a company that people want to work for, invest in and do business with. Its demonstrated in the inclusive and supportive workplace we create for our employees, the responsible products and services we offer our clients, and the impact we make around the world in helping local economies thrive. An important part of this work is forming strong partnerships with nonprofits and advocacy groups, such as community, consumer, and environmental organizations, to bring together our collective networks and expertise to achieve greater impact. Connect with us on Twitter (@BofA_News).

For more Bank of America news, including dividend announcements and other important information, register for email news alerrts.
Geneva [Switzerland]: The World Health Organization (WHO) has said that it expects an increase in the number of hospitalisations and fatalities related to the new Omicron coronavirus strain, reported Sputnik.

As case numbers linked to a variant of concern increase globally, we expect the number of hospitalized cases and even deaths to be reported, the WHO said in a statement.

The UN health agency also said that more information is needed to fully understand the clinical picture of those infected with Omicron and WHO encourages countries to contribute to the collection and sharing of hospitalized patient data through the WHO COVID-19 Clinical Data Platform, according to Sputnik.

It comes as the WHO last week had shed light on features of the new COVID-19 variant Omicron, including the extent to which it will spread, and the number of mutations in the newfound strain.

The UN-health agency had suggested that a new variant could have a major impact on the course of the pandemic, but its still too early to say for sure.

Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, last week had said that highlighted a consistent picture of the rapid increase in transmission but he added that the exact rate of increase relative to other variants remains difficult to quantify. (ANI)
New Delhi: Nothing makes you more proud than seeing your children achieve their dreams. On Monday, the 21-year-old Harnaaz Sandhu made her family as well as the entire country proud by nabbing the Miss Universe 2021 title in Eilat, Israel.

In a conversation with news agency ANI, Harnaazs brother Harnoor Sandhu and mother Ruby Sandhu expressed their joy and informed that they are planning a grand welcome for her. Dhoom dhaam se hum Harnaaz ka swagat karenge. (We will welcome her in grand style). She deserves it. We all are proud of her. When she called us after winning the pageant, we all started crying. It was an emotional moment for all of us. With her win, she has inspired millions of girls out there.

Harnaazs mother further said, I dont know how to express my feelings. She made the whole Sandhu family proud. She is a determined girl. She has been active and confident since childhood. Today, her dream got fulfilled. I could not thank God enough.

Meanwhile, the diva post to her international win spoke about her experience of winning the crown as well as her future plans.

The Indian beauty who defeated contestants from 79 countries to bring the title home said in conversation with ANI, I cried because finally after 21 years India was getting the crown and I was just filled with so many emotions that I had to get it out and I couldnt stop myself.

Speaking of her future plans, she said, Everything takes time, its all about working hard and I would love to be part of Bollywood and Hollywood. I am looking forward to that along with talking about the issues and differences in society which, I think we all need to focus on.

Harnaaz has already been featured in upcoming Punjabi films Yaara Diyan Poo Baran and Bai Ji Kuttange, scheduled to be released in 2022.
Between the ongoing BCTGM strike against the Kellogg Company in Omaha and the recent UAW strikes against John Deere Corporation at plants across the state and region, labor is having a moment. But its a movement that local plumber Jeff Shudak has been part of since he first became a United Association apprentice in 2007. And he knows that striking is no picnic.

Ive been on a picket line myself, and its hard. Its hard on the worker, and hard on their family. Every day, you just want to go back to work. But sometimes, you have no other option when youre fighting for the right to make a decent living, he said.

Its that passion to make life better for workers that led Shudak to expand his work from plumbing to labor leadership. This past April, he was elected president of the nonprofit Western Iowa Labor Federation  an area labor federation chartered by the national AFL-CIO and covering 35 union affiliates in 37 counties in Western Iowa.

His goals? Support working folks in the community and expand union membership.

Shudak grew up in Underwood and attended Northwest Missouri State University for a couple years before deciding it wasnt for him. He worked odd jobs for a decade before finally taking the advice his father gave him as a child.

My dad always told me to get a good union job and settle down. It took me a while to see he was right, but I finally did, he said.

Shudak remembers vividly the day he working as a laborer and cleaning out a union plumbers truck when he caught a glance of the plumbers pay stub in the console. He knew instantly his father had been right and that joining the plumbers union would be a pathway to a livable wage, the ability to buy a home and build a life.

I went to the union hall the next day and applied to be an apprentice, and Ive never regretted it, he said.

Shudak hopes to use his position at president of the Western Iowa Labor Federation to help others see the benefit in unions and get good jobs. His work has only just begun.

If you would like to learn more about the Western Iowa Labor Federation or support its work on behalf of workers, go to wilfaflcio.org. Western Iowa Labor Federation t-shirts are available for purchase on the groups Facebook page. All proceeds go to support pro-labor initiatives and education.

 Western Iowa Labor Federation
Our Saviors Lutheran Food & Pet Food Pantry will hold a diaper giveaway from 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday in the parking lot at Our Saviors Lutheran Church, 313 Story St.

The event is for low-income Iowa residents who need assistance with baby diapers.

Our Saviors Lutheran Food Pantry was able to obtain a large number of diapers through its partnership with Food Bank for the Heartland, according to a press release from the pantry. Sizes available include size 3 (medium), size 4 (large) and size 5 (XL). Each family will receive three packages of diapers for each child in that size range.

Beginning on Wednesday, Our Saviors Lutheran Food Pantry and Lutheran Services in Iowa will begin a partnership to provide diapers to foster parents caring for Iowa foster children. LSI provides foster care and adoption services in Western Iowa on contract with the Iowa Department of Human Services. The partnership will help defray the cost of diapers for foster parents caring for young children. The pantry will continue to provide diapers to local foster parents as long as it is able to maintain an adequate supply.

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Several years ago, I went through a training program called the Submarine Command Course before I could assume the responsibilities of executive officer of a nuclear submarine. It is an arduous course, meant to challenge each participant to make sure that they can withstand the pressures of the job. Being responsible for a submarine, the crew of more than 150 people, and the weapons on board is a big deal. The Navy goes through a lot of effort to minimize the risk that youd fail.

The instructors, all previous submarine captains, pushed our buttons to determine our fitness. Much of the course focuses on technical knowledge, tactics and decision-making. However, they also had us take a battery of psychological and personality tests to expose any potential issues. Each of these assessments yielded a similar profile for me. The instructors and mental health professionals all said something to the effect of: You do not emotionally respond to anything. This can keep people calm in tough situations. It could also lead people to believe that you are aloof, so be careful of that.

Id heard these things before. Id all but built my personal reputation on it. Many of my professional evaluations I received in my time in the Navy pointed out the fact that my presence was a calming force, one of which is a letter from a senator, which hangs on my wall. I was proud that I could be counted on as a rock in a storm. My extreme stoicism was a byproduct of my rough upbringing and a series of overt decisions to not feel the emotion of any event while it was happening, thus reducing the emotion to a whisper in the background. This also extended to my personal life.

Ive recently retired from the Navy. Most of the decisions that Ive made in my adult life have been centered around the question what type of person do I want to be? Recently, asking myself that question revealed that I needed to be a stronger presence with those I loved. That was fundamentally at odds with what would be required of me had I continued in the Navy. As such, I made the decision to retire. There have been many adjustments. Finding my way back to feeling has been one of the most surprising.

Very recently, our dog passed away. He was a 5-pound toy poodle named Dan Schultz. He joined our family as a puppy, when I was on my first ship, and hed been with us for 13 years. A tumor developed in his stomach that was inoperable due to its size and a preexisting heart condition. The mass deprived him of his appetite, and he could not eat. It was putting pressure on his other organs, restricting their normal function. Under the advice of his veterinarian, we made the decision not to prolong his end of life.

Watching him live his final day, knowing each event would be his last time doing it, was heart wrenching. He had very little energy, due to how little food hed been able to hold down. He still came over to my wife and tried to calm her, as he could hear the sadness in her voice. I remember the realization of which of those trips up the couch would be his last. When the doctor arrived, Dan stood up, struggling to maintain his balance and walked over to greet him. This would be the last stranger he would greet with his customary kindness. That greeting remained on repeat in my mind for days, as have many of our last moments together.

I have genuinely never hurt the way that I do thinking about my little friend. Im devastated.

Heres the thing. Ive largely been desensitized to death. I grew up in a neighborhood where it was more common than it should be to lose people around you. Before I ever joined the military, Id learned to compartmentalize the emotion of loss in a way that Id be ashamed to fully describe. Once I joined the Navy, I had the cover of the next milestone to help me move past emotional events with ease. Ive spent most of my life choosing which events to feel, further enabled by the perceived expectation that I remain levelheaded in my profession. Id lost family members and friends, but while I served, those things could be filed away until I had time to deal with them.

When we were deployed, bad news was tightly controlled. Any notification of tragedy was filtered through the Command Team, who would decide when to notify the member. Sailors could indicate whether they preferred delayed notification, which the command would sometimes ignore if the tragedy was severe enough. I always requested not to know anything until after the mission was over. Id turned off my feelings to support the needs of the Navy. I wanted to be the type of person who did not make situations worse with my own emotion. I wanted to be the type of person who could carry the burden of other peoples emotion, forsaking the weight of my own.

As I retired, I decided that I wanted to be the type of person that was allowed to feel things in the moment. Im choosing to sometimes prioritize the emotion of today over tasks of tomorrow. Im choosing to prioritize my own joy and sadness over that of others. This has a learning curve. Evidently, the curve is steep.

I think of the last time my wife took Dan for a walk outside. She carried him because he was too weak to walk by himself. He saw one of his dog friends, Waldo. Waldo would typically be playful, but this day, he seemed to be aware that Dan was not up to it.

I recall the last time I heard Dans footsteps when I used our air-popper to make popcorn. He got excited and came to get a piece. However, he was unable to eat it due to the mass wed just learned was killing his appetite. He sat it on the bed next to him and looked at it longingly.

I remember Dan walking over to his bed for the last time. He laid down between me and my wife, as we sat on the floor next to him. He looked up at us briefly and then laid his head down to grasp what little comfort he could.

No matter what Im thinking or saying, thoughts of Dan Schultz weave their way in. When confronted with these memories, I find myself fighting a wave of sadness. I assume it is sadness, as I dont have much practice at feeling it. As I sit with the feeling, questions start to bounce around in my mind.

Is this what grief feels like?

Is this what I should have felt when my aunt passed away?

Should it have been this, and more, when we lost Grandaddy?

Am I a bad person for just now feeling this?

What tragedies did I ignore, where I should have felt something?

What is it supposed to feel like?

When is it supposed to stop?

This is all bigger than Dan. While Im sad, I appreciate that his companionship was strong enough that it has caused me to recognize that grief is not a weakness, but a way of reconciling my view of the future in the absence of love lost.

I have no desire to speak for all military veterans, as we are not a monolith. Im not sure how many veterans can relate, but Im hopeful that there is at least one. I merely wish to suggest that one of the things that uniformed personnel may sacrifice is the ability to be emotionally present for those around us. The sacrifice of being calm when reality demands otherwise is not trivial. The sacrifice of not being able to tell the stories that have shaped your stoicism, either because it is classified or may scare those you love, also takes a toll. When you thank someone for their service, the gratitude implicitly extends beyond the mortal dangers they may have faced; it includes the elements of their humanity they may leave behind to be effective.

Whether one is able, or desires, to reestablish their relationship with their emotions is a personal journey. It is a decision that comes with a cost to the individual. I dont know why Dan has been my shepherd on this journey, but Im thankful to my best friend for teaching me that I have more road to travel on my way back to feeling.

Thomas Dotstry is a retired submarine officer, who served with 20 years of cumulative enlisted and commissioned service.
It feels pretty safe to say now that the field of candidates running to be Iowas next governor is settled.

Rob Sand, the Democratic state auditor, announced this week that he will run for re-election as auditor. Sand had been weighing a run for governor.

Sand made the same decision that U.S. Rep. Cindy Axne and Iowa Sen. Pam Jochum did: to stay put rather than run for governor.

Sand was the last potential candidate for governor that Iowa political observers were waiting for. With his decision to run for re-election, the field of gubernatorial candidates is likely set.

Despite the list of names that opted not to run for the right to challenge Republican incumbent Gov. Kim Reynolds, there will be a competitive Democratic primary.

The most prominent candidates are Deidre DeJear and Ras Smith. If elected, either would become the first Black governor in state history. DeJear is a Des Moines businesswoman who ran for Iowa secretary of state in 2018. Smith is a state lawmaker from Waterloo.

Also running in the Democratic field, but less known to Iowa voters, are Joshua Kuhn-McRoberts, an Iowa Finance Authority worker from Waukee, and Kim West, an attorney from Des Moines.

Unless someone new enters the field  which is fairly unlikely at this point, with the primary election six months away  or one of them drops out, one of those four candidates will earn the Democratic Partys nomination and be tasked with facing Reynolds in next falls general election.

Before we take a look at that Democratic field of potential challengers, lets take a quick look at those who passed on a gubernatorial run.

Axne is badly needed by U.S. House Democrats, who face a challenge to their slim majority in the 2022 midterm elections. Axnes re-election is no slam dunk, but had she left the seat and created an open-seat race, Republicans chances of winning the race and gaining a seat in the House would have increased significantly.

Jochum has been a stalwart Democrat in the Iowa Legislature for decades, and she was the first Democratic woman to serve as Iowa Senate president. She has been floated as a potential candidate for higher office before, but has always chosen to remain in the Legislature.

Sand was the longest holdout. Political observers have been wondering what he might do in 2022 virtually since the day after he was elected auditor in 2018. In his video announcement, Sand listed the reasons he wants to run for another term as auditor, but did not address any reasons he decided against running for governor.

Is he terrified to run against Reynolds, as the Republican Governors Association asserted in a statement? That seems like a bit of hyperbole. (Although, to be fair to the RGA, hyperbole is pretty standard fare in political statements.) Lets not forget that Reynolds won her only gubernatorial election in 2018 by 2.8 percentage points. Thats not exactly a Chuck-Grassley-in-the-1990s-esque landslide.

However, it does bear noting that those prominent Iowa Democrats opted to pass on the chance to challenge Reynolds and the Democrats only realistic chance at taking away from Republicans at least one of the states law-making levers in 2022. No serious observer should consider Reynolds unbeatable. But she is starting her re-election bid from a position of strength, and the lack of interest from Democrats who decided not to challenge her is a signal that they see that, too.

In the most recent round of polling from the Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll, 51% of Iowans approve of the job Reynolds is doing as governor, 56% approve of her handling of the economy, and 52% approve of her handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and education issues. Those are solid numbers for an incumbent at the onset of a re-election bid.

DeJear, Smith, or whichever Democrat ultimately faces Reynolds will have to break through that with a message that will convince enough Iowans that Reynolds does not deserve another four-year term.

They will also face the challenge right off the bat of introducing themselves to Iowa voters. DeJear and Smith are well-known and well-liked in the bubble of Iowa Democratic politics. But theyll need more than just that base support if they are to defeat Reynolds.

That likely will be part of the argument they will be making over the next six months, as Democrats decide who to put up against Reynolds. We know whos on that list, and now we know whos not. Let the primary begin.

Erin Murphy covers Iowa politics and government for Lee Enterprises. His email address is erin.murphy@lee.net. Follow him on Twitter at @ErinDMurphy.
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I recently subscribed to a new internet service, which meant a technician had to come to the house to install equipment. He got a kick out of the wall-mounted phone in my basement. Not only is it wall-mounted, it also has a rotary dial. Yes, its old. I suspect it would make a good museum ar
The new German government has reached out to Morocco this Monday in a bid to turn the page on the diplomatic crisis which has been straining bilateral relations for months.

The German Foreign Ministry actually issued a statement hailing the Kingdom as a central partner of Europe and expressing Berlins support for Moroccos efforts to resolve the Sahara conflict, while stressing the importance of the autonomy plan.

The federal governments position on the Sahara issue has not changed for decades. Germany recognizes as important the contribution made by Morocco to the settlement process with its autonomy plan, the statement said.

In the warmly worded statement, the new German foreign ministry called Morocco a key partner of the European Union and of Germany in North Africa.

Germany and Morocco have maintained diplomatic relations since 1956. This is an important link between the North and the South both politically, culturally and economically, the statement pointed out.

The department of the new Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock also laid focus on the vast reforms that the Kingdom has embarked on over the past decade and on its important role in the stability and sustainable development of the region.

The German statement also welcomed Moroccos diplomatic engagement in the Libyan peace process.

The statement, which comes in the aftermath of the appointment of a new government in Germany, addressed the Sahara conflict that raised tensions between the Kingdom and the European country earlier this year.

In this connection, it said that the federal governments position on the Sahara issue has not changed for decades and that Germany supports the Personal Envoy of the United Nations Secretary General in his efforts for a just, lasting and mutually acceptable political solution on the basis of Security Council resolution 2602. Morocco made an important contribution to such an agreement in 2007 with an autonomy plan, it said.

In addition, the federal government underlined the significant economic, academic, cultural and commercial relations existing between the two countries.

Germany supports Moroccos modernization process and given the volume of its commitments, namely nearly 1.2 billion in 2020, it is one of the main bilateral donors.

Germanys foreign ministry hailed in this vein bilateral economic and trade relations as remarkable. In 2019, Germany ranked 7th in the Moroccan trade balance. The same year, its imports from Morocco stood at 1.4 billion, and its exports at 2.2 billion.

German-Moroccan development cooperation focuses on the areas of sustainable economic development and employment, renewable energies and water resources management. In 2020, Germany provided support to Morocco in managing the coronavirus crisis in the form of a massive emergency aid program, the statement recalled, adding that nearly 300 companies with German participation are represented in Morocco, in particular in Casablanca and Tangier. Besides, Morocco is a popular travel destination, with around 6% of foreign tourists coming from Germany in 2019.

Morocco is part of the G20 Pact with Africa initiative aimed at improving the framework conditions for private investment. To this end, the two countries agreed to a German-Moroccan reform partnership at the end of November 2019, the statement said, before listing the German foundations operating in Morocco and the cultural and education programs promoted by Germany in the kingdom.

The Foreign Ministrys statement was issued less than a week after the German embassy in Rabat pointed out in a statement shared on social media that The Kingdom of Morocco is a key partner for Germany. From the federal governments perspective, it is in the interest of both countries to return to good and traditionally expansive diplomatic ties.

The embassy said that the federal government also would like to openly welcome the normalization of ties between Morocco and Israel.

A fog of uncertainty and tension has been building up between Morocco and Germany since last March for what analysts explain as attempts by Berlin to separate the economic from the political dimension of the bilateral partnership.

Following the US recognition of Moroccos sovereignty over its southern provinces, Germany has shown an agitation calling for a UN Security Council meeting and going as far as attempting to undermine Moroccos gains.

Morocco has also deplored Germanys actions to undermine Moroccos regional influence especially on the Libyan issue.

Last May, Rabat also said German authorities act with complicity towards a former terror convict by disclosing to him sensitive information provided by the Moroccan security services to their German counterparts
Former President Mohamed Ould Abdelaziz is asking his successor, Mohamed Ould Ghazouani, to stop being a passive witness to injustice. In a letter dated December 8, published in the Mauritanian press and authenticated by his lawyers, he denounced the judicial investigation against him. Ould Abdelaziz has been incarcerated since June 22 for failing to comply with the rules of his judicial supervision. He is accused of illicit enrichment, receiving stolen goods and money laundering during the ten years he was in power. For him, this case is a political plot.

In his letter to the head of state, Mohamed Ould Abdelaziz wishes to address the president of the Supreme Council of the Judiciary: You cannot be a passive witness to such a grotesque plot; [] your role forbids you morally and legally.

In passing, the former president reminded his successor, Mohamed Ould Ghazouani, who was previously his closest advisor, that he is the only, if not one of the few people who know the origin and traceability of his assets.

For Mohamed Ould Abdelazizs lawyers, his provisional detention is abusive, while the investigation is not progressing. Either we judge him or we release him, but we cannot keep him in prison like this, said Taleb Khiyar, who recalled that the other co-accused in this case are free.

It is because they have not departed from their judicial control, explains Mr. Brahim Ould Ebety, president of the Bar Association, who heads the group of state lawyers formed for this case. According to him, the investigation is progressing by leaps and bounds. All the defendants and witnesses have been heard by the judge. The investigation could even be closed at the beginning of 2022, concludes the President of the Bar.

Posted by North Africa Post North Africa Post's news desk is composed of journalists and editors, who are constantly working to provide new and accurate stories to NAP readers.
A low-pressure storm system is expected to bring strong winds throughout the area Wednesday.

We are expecting winds in excess of 60 mph, Kenny Roberg, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in North Plate, said Monday afternoon.

The peak winds are anticipated to hit the area around noon Wednesday and continue through mid-evening.

Roberg said the system also has the potential to produce some precipitation, with rain changing over to snow.

Precipitation will likely accumulate over the Sandhills and produce at least an inch or two with the potential for more, he said.

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A deep upper-level trough off the West Coast will cut through the central and southern Rockies Tuesday, Roberg said, before continuing through Nebraska and into Minnesota Wednesday.

The surface low pressure is going to deepen rapidly to our west and as it moves into Nebraska, Roberg said. Because the deep pressure is so low, there will be the high winds and also colder air behind it.

Low temperatures could drop into the teens Wednesday night into Thursday morning before rebounding, he said.
The Lincoln County Commissioners on Monday tabled a request from the West Central District Health Department for CARES Act funding.

WCDHD Executive Director Shannon Vanderheiden gave a presentation about the work the health department does and said funding sources have ceased.

Our funding pretty much dried up, Vanderheiden said. That has made it very difficult to continue our efforts. Quite honestly, were as busy if not busier than we ever have been trying to continue efforts and protect our community.

The request was for $400,000 of CARES Act funds, but Deputy County Attorney Tyler Volkmer said there were concerns about the amount and the time frame regulated by the CARES Act. The funds would need to be spent by Dec. 31.

I think local health districts are generally seen as some of the primary recipients of these dollars, Volkmer said. The problem becomes, and Ill be the bad guy, I dont know how youre going to spend $400,000 in three weeks.

My understanding is we would not have to spend the $400,000, it just has to come to us, Vanderheiden said. Is that not accurate?

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The St. Patrick High School Student Council and National Honor Society partnered to gather food, toys and other items for local food pantries and nonprofits.

Ashton Guo, student council president, said the goal was to fill a school bus with items.

We have a food drive every year, Guo said. In addition, the CASA program, which assists foster children, reached out this year for toy donations, he said.

Guo said the drive exceeded its goal to fill the bus.

About one-quarter of the bus was filled with toys and board games, Guo said. Another quarter was filled with diapers for the Womens Resource Center, and the rest was filled with food.

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Each class earns points for the items they bring in for the drive. The eighth grade class was the winner and won a dinner for the entire class at Mongolian Grill.

The eighth grade contributed three-fourths of all the items brought in, Guo said.

The food was distributed to The Connection, the North Platte Catholic Community Food Pantry, Salvation Army, the Womens Resource Center and Bridge of Hope.
I am amazed you have 500 students opting out of your district, Poppert said. I think that would be maybe one of the top priorities is to find out why.

Handling that situation, Poppert said, is important. He suggested he would meet with the parents and student and see whether the reason could be resolved to keep the student in the district.

Matt Pederson asked Poppert to define a situation that needed improvement or change and how he addressed it.

It was my very first day at work at St. Paul when I went over and looked at their state scores, Poppert said. I brought the elementary principal in and I said Im looking at our state scores and they are not good.

Poppert said the composite score for reading students in elementary was 58%.

We should be at 85%, Poppert said. Thats the expectation and we have to figure out how were going to get to that point in two or three years.

The curriculum was changed the following year and scores in the third year reached the 85% goal.
Adding justices to the Supreme Court is court packing, plain and simple. President Franklin Roosevelt explored the idea in the 1930s, after the Supreme Court struck down key parts of his New Deal. The commissions report called his attempt to pack the court a needless, futile, and utterly dangerous abandonment of constitutional principle. No president has been reckless enough  or short-sighted enough  to push for it since.

President Biden notably said he was not a fan of court packing during his campaign. Then he backtracked and said he was open to the idea, giving into pressure from the far left wing of his party. He created this commission instead, leaving the problem of taking a position on this issue for another, more politically convenient day.

As the commissions own report details, court packing is often used as a political weapon in authoritarian regimes  not in the United States. In Venezuela, for example, Hugo Chavez cemented support for his socialist policies by expanding the countrys Supreme Tribunal of Justice from 20 members to 32 back in 2004. Look at all the good that did for what was once the wealthiest country in South America.
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Xi Jinping has become more and more dictatorial in recent years. Photo: Noel Celis/AFP via Getty Images

What will 2022 bring in the worlds of tech, media, and politics? On the latest episode of the Pivot podcast, Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway solicit predictions from Senator Amy Klobuchar, author Cory Doctorow, and CNBCs Andrew Ross Sorkin, who believes big businesss relationship with China may change dramatically.

Kara Swisher: Our first prediction comes from one of our BFFs, Andrew Ross Sorkin, co-anchor of CNBCs Squawk Box.

Andrew Ross Sorkin: Hey, Kara and Scott. My prediction of 2022? In a way weve never seen before, western companies are going to be grappling with China and human rights. Of course, so much of Silicon Valley has already left China, but many companies remain, like Apple and Elon Musks Tesla. And this year, in large part because of the Beijing Winter Olympics, the globe is going to be exposed to so many of the issues that are taking place there. It is going to challenge these companies to rethink their stances. It is potentially going to create hearings in Washington and elsewhere. And we are going to see lots of headlines and hard decisions that need to be made.

Scott Galloway: The Canadian, weighing in.

Kara Swisher: What a good voice he has. He has such a nice voice, doesnt he? I kind of just believe anything he says.

Galloway: Very handsome online.

Swisher: He does sound handsome, and he is in fact handsome.

Let me say, I think this is interesting. You know, tech companies have been in and out of China  Yahoo, LinkedIn, Google. But Im not going with this one. Even though theres a lot of anti-Chinese talk out there and the story on Tim Cooks secret deal with China has gotten a lot of attention, and forced labor, obviously, is a major issue  I just dont know if its not going to be business as usual. Scott, what do you think?

Galloway: I think hes half-right, I think there will be a lot of headlines because the stories are dramatic and there is a real inconsistency, and we still have this delusion that the better angels of American companies CEOS are going to show up, and were hoping theyll fill the void  and some have. Theres Ken Frazier, Marc Benioff  CEOs who are filling this kind of vacuum or trying to address the externalities. But Im not sure Americans really care, and I know thats a terrible thing. I bet therere more stories about Didis potential delisting than there are about the internment camps of the Uyghurs. I think Americans talk a big game, but I think weve lost a lot of moral authority in the world when we have our own insurrections and our own income inequality, and our own vaccine hesitancy. Im not sure that China is all that concerned about what we say. And I think Americans are still going to buy iPhones regardless of where Apple manufactures them. I think therell be a lot of headlines  I guess that will help to increase pressure. But I think its optimistic to think that big American companies will take that sort of stand and withdraw from China. None of these companies weve mentioned withdrew from China because of what I would call moral reasons.

Swisher: Well, Google did  it was spying. It was spying. But yeah, I agree with you.

Galloway: I hope hes right. I dont think he is. And also, quite frankly, Trump, and what Ill call the lying and the corruption that was the Trump administration, has lessened our moral authority around the world to ask anything of anybody.

Swisher: Which is ironic since Trump was quite anti-China in a lot of ways, although he also embraced them. That was such a weird situation.

Academic researchers estimate that the Chinese government has placed more than one million people into internment camps. Again, weve had a history of that in this country, but 

Galloway: Jesus, can you believe that?

Swisher: The question of forced labor will be interesting as more light is shed on this, which is very difficult in terms of reporting it. There are some bills aimed at that: The Uyghur Labor Prevention Act would require U.S. companies to guarantee you not use imprisoned or coerced workers from the predominantly Muslim region. So well see.

This transcript has been edited for length and clarity.
Even though asteroids are close to the sun, Bodewits said that asteroids actually have a surprising amount of water in them and some behave like comets by sprouting a tail when they get close to the sun.

Up to now, weve never been able to directly measure the amount of water in asteroids, but with JWST we can directly see the water molecules that will be coming off those asteroids, he said.

This revolutionary telescope is different from the Hubble telescope because of what it can detect.

While the Hubble telescope looks at optical and ultraviolet lights, the James Webb Space Telescope looks at infrared lights, which Bodewits said is good for looking at the emission of molecules.

We scientists are very excited about the capabilities of JWST, Bodewits said. Its sensitivity will allow scientists to search for water vapor throughout the solar system, to look at the atmospheres of exoplanets and to study the formation of planets.

When asked if the new telescope will be able to track Santa, Bodewits said well have to wait until next year.
Fucking finally.

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Exactly. I remember being pissed when they changed the format (in 2016?!!!)

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i wish more than anything instagram would let us delete certain photos within a carousel. i have some photo dumps where just one photo is of me and my ex but i dont wanna delete the whole post lmao.

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You actually can do that! Click the three dots at the top right. Hit edit. Then you can scroll through the pictures and you should have a trash can in the top left of the photo so you can delete which one you want!



I learned this when Saweetie deleted a photo in one of her photo dump!

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ahhh i just tried and the only thing on the top left is "Cancel"? is there a cheat to get the trash can to pop up?



oh wait wtf, the trash can is showing up on all my carousels except the one i want to delete a photo from!



Edited at 2021-12-14 02:46 am (UTC)

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Ooh thank you for this info!

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Now change it so that when I open the app and am reading the first post it doesn't automatically refresh my feed and push the post I was in the middle of reading down into oblivion

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LOL YES!! This does frustrates me lol!

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Lmao yes!!!!

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Omg lmao this makes me so mad

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TikTok needs to do the same.

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and Twitter

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Tiktok is the worst with it bc at least with ig theyre all people I follow and I can eventually suss out who it was. On tiktok I just have to let go and let god

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I wish tiktok had a "previous" button or a daily list of the videos you watched.

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it's gotta be deliberate so you scroll down. i HATE IT!!!!

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I'm not sure I ever realized the difference?



ETA: no nvm I did miss out on events or contest because I would see the posts days after lol



Edited at 2021-12-14 01:11 am (UTC)

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ugh same. an artist i absolutely love was selling prints of one of his painting for 24 hours only and i only saw his post in my feed 3 days after the fact...

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I actually don't see the difference so I'm happy with my feed, but I assume that depends on how many people you follow and how "high-profile" they are.

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now bring back the following page

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Yes

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that page was the worst lmao

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Let the people rejoice!

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Better late than never, I guess. I've missed ticket drops and events I would have gone to because of their dumbass misordered algorithm.

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I'm about ready to give up on IG. I swear I scroll through more ads than content I actually follow.

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deleted in 2016 and never looked back



twitter still has me tho 

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i agree! its why i only view my feed on desktop, its so great to look at art uninterrupted by ads 

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yesss and i see more from fucking "suggested" people than people i actually follow

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The damn "you're seeing this post because you liked a post by xyz" is so annoying. It clogs up my feed and makes it longer than it needs to be. The suggested posts after going through your entire feed is good enough, why do they need to intersperse random posts within my feed too? Ughhh

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me too but only recently. what changed? all the suggestions fucking suck!!!

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I wish Meta was forced to sell it. I hate that it's owned by Zuckerberg. I'd love to see a version of Instagram that just lets people share photos without censoring posts by certain groups of people.

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Its actually ass

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All praise to my lord and savior Baby Yoda.

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They should end my shadow ban too, along with stopping shadowbanning of other accounts posting Leftist content, especially since they dgaf about literal Nazis on their apps.

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For real, I ended up getting a terms of service violation message because my Black Lives Matter link in my bio was support or praise of terrorism, organized crime, or hate groups a bitch was fumingggg

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God, I hated the algorithm. When I followed a lot of local people/orgs, I would see the post about their event... Two to three days later. Very helpful!



I solved most of my issues with the algorithm by drastically dropping my follower count to almost all people I personally know or a few people creators (artists/booktube/crafters) who content I liked. No more brands or celebrities. It's impossible to not show me all the posts when there's only 10 new ones a day.



I ended up deleting it recently because I was spending hours on the FYP, which I never used to do. And I was getting so aggravated by being constantly sold to. No shame, social media is important for small businesses, but constantly being advertised by pelvic floor specialists, graphic designers, "mental health experts," girlbosses telling me how I could girlboss too.



Genuinely I felt so much better. I was taking in far too much useless information every night that I couldn't do anything with.

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Ill prob make a return, I dont really miss it tbh.

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Same. I haven't posted a single thing to my Instagram since 2018. People legit thought I died lmao.



I just don't live my life on social media anymore and it's nice. I'll occasionally open up the app to see what family, friends and acquaintances are up out of boredom but that's about it.

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Till Death....of their marriage.

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They never specified what death would make them part!

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Oh damn, so I'm guessing he has some skeletons in his closet since his first marriage ended like this too?



I had a friend who married someone like this, everything was good until they got married and the real guy came out.



Edited at 2021-12-14 04:08 pm (UTC)

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It seems highly likely he cheated on his first wife with his then co-star Kristen Alderson (ex-Starr from OLTL/ex-Kiki from GH). I wouldn't be surprised if he cheated this time too.

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she's 30?!?!! oh my god i'm so old.

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I mean, they dated for five years before getting married so if there's skeletons in his closet they were really deep in there.

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Damn wonder what happened. It's always interesting to see people divorce so quickly after getting married when they've been together for years previously. Could be that they thought marriage would fix their issues, but I can't imagine thinking like that.

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I also think that some of the couples are together because they know they can leave and when they get married, they have this idea that marriage is supposed to be this one thing. And they get frightened when marriage is whatever the two of you decide upon.

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Marriage after dating so long can be some people's idea of a bandaid to a relationship. My cousin dated and broke up with her ex-husband multiple times over 7 years and they split up less than 6 months after the wedding. Her second marriage, they dated less than a year, eloped, and they're still together 12 years later.

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Actually fully living with someone is way different than dating or staying a couple of days with the other person. Dumb things like how you wash the dishes, fold the clothes or squeeze the tooth paste tube can and will cause breakups

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idk this couple, but I usually assume they're already living together before they get engaged and married unless it's like, Duggars or other publicly chaste people lmao.

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They were living together prior to marriage, and I think they'd been living together for a few years too.

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Since joining a wedding planning support group Ive seen women with reasonable reservations or second thoughts be told over and over again that its normal to have cold feet and all of their objections are waved off as something that wont matter when the stress of wedding planning evaporates.



I remember one woman admitting shed felt pressured into accepting a (public) proposal from a guy she was trying to forgive for cheating and now she was wondering if it was too soon, mentioned their trust issues were ongoing because he treated the engagement like an eraser. He wanted to act like the cheating never happened and continue with the kinds of behaviors that had preceded him getting *caught* cheating. Like four people argued with me disagreeing with someone saying things are tense because of wedding planning and it would all blow over and she should go to therapy for her insecurity because he *CLEARLY* loves her and is a changed man since he proposed and she had to let the past go.  So I completely understand why some embattled couples treat the wedding like a finish line, unfortunately.



But that it happened to this guy twice is giving him thinking a wife is a very specific role that he is entitled to from any woman he puts a ring on, regardless of her personality or ambitions so it exacerbates any conflict when it doesnt smooth the relationship out in the direction he wants.







Edited at 2021-12-14 04:28 pm (UTC)

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They were likely a couple that were having issues before and shouldnt have gotten married in the first place

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I always wonder this too. And this timeline is especially fast but I know someone who was with a guy for like, 8 years, living together and everything and then I think the marriage fell apart within two years.

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I want a goth wedding :(

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I legit think their wedding looked really cool.

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find someone who shares your dream and has a budget for a party. it's not like you have to stay married!

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Lmao! I have the someone, we just don't have the party budget. Plus it'd be all his side. I only have like one friend and he wouldn't show up

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We were just speculating about this in the weekly soap thread. Mess!

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It amazes me when people jump into marriage after having been married and divorced. Maybe not surprise your partner and find out who they really are as well as yourself. Shit, be alone with your thoughts until you get comfortable and know YOU. Then start dating and marriage is work. I've seen friends and family as well as coworkers still be married and they all told me, "There are times when you hate them and they hate you. And you talk it out and work on it and then you love each once again."



It feels like people get into marriage to get shit because their family members and whoever else told them that's what their life should be. And I'm fucking tired!

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Also, the folks who get married for the wedding and gifts and don't think about what comes after.

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I've seen a lot of people do it for the big ass wedding and it's just a waste for me. To spend all this money and you don't agree with the person on the simplest of things, where to live.



I blame the media for putting in little girls heads that the wedding is the most important thing in the world and that everyone has to bow to the bride because it's her day. Yes, it's her day but there are other people involved in this wedding, like the Groom. Also, this is supposed to be a celebration of your love and all of this will lead to you both sharing this love with your friends and family. It's not to be a giant party that you made to get only gifts and settle with someone you kinda enjoy being around.



And the dudes that waste my friend's time by getting married, only to leave her for his side chick?! I HOPE YOU'RE READING THIS ADAM AND I HOPE YOU DIE!

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Im divorced and dont get it either. When I started dating my boyfriend, I told him that if he was looking to get married in the near future, I wasnt the one for him. Its been eleven years now, and the only benefits to getting married at this point would be tax breaks, spousal rights in case of a medical emergency, and not having to use the word boyfriend anymore to describe this grown man. 

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This page talks about it a little, under the second and third marriage headline.

https://btlfamilylaw.com/divorce-statistics/

I took a sociology class on families and the teacher said something along the lines of if you get divorced once its more likely you get divorced again. Or maybe the more divorces you have, the more youre likely to have? Its interesting to see that it happens to so many people.This page talks about it a little, under the second and third marriage headline.

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Lol she's a soap star? I just know her from Control.

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Loved her in Control!



Yeah, she got started on soaps, "The Bold and the Beautiful" and now "The Young and the Restless"

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Lmao she was ok i was making googly eyes at Dr. Darling the entire time though. Childhood me was like, "you look familiar adorkable scientist," and then i realized he played Will Scarlet O'Hara in Robin Hood Men in Tights and i was like yasssss.

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The movie about Ian Curtis?

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Was a goat tied to the altar?



Edited at 2021-12-14 04:12 pm (UTC)

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No, but I heard from a friend with a bike that they were trying to rent the Cruecifly for their wedding.



Mr. Lee declined.

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I heard that as well, but I also heard that Mr. Lee declined because he heard the wedding planner say that, going against her professional integrity she would try to fulfill the Bride and Grooms request for the fossilized remains of that ol bucket of tetanus. She was evidently speaking about Mr. Lee himself.





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So he got married too soon into the relationship the first time, which is why he says the marriage fell apart in a few weeks the first time. So he waited five years to propose in the next relationship and the end result was still only a few weeks.



Wow. That is quite the expensive trial and error to get to the exact same conclusion.

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They both looked near death on their wedding day based on those pics

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Hes been married twice and both ended within a couple of months? Thats not at all suspicious.

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Yeah it makes me wonder if his true personality comes out after the vows.

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This is always so wild to me because isnt the beginning the funnest part of marriage?



Ive been married 3 weeks and it hit me how literal the honeymoon-phase is cuz I feel like were on a long stress free vacation.

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That car looks nice, I guess

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Marriage is such a crap shoot.

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With both countries making announcement after announcement of new hydrogen projects, its clear that they are looking to beat Europe to become the largest producers of the fuel.

With announcement after announcement of grand hydrogen plans across the Middle East over the last year, it seems some of the worlds major energy-producing states are battling it out for a piece of the hydrogen pie. Saudi Arabia and the UAE have both revealed major investments in blue and green hydrogen production for the next decade, hoping to beat Europe to become the biggest producers of the fuel. Last week, Frances Engie and Abu Dhabi-based renewable energy business Masdar announced plans to invest $5 billion in the development of the UAEs green hydrogen industry. Few details have been provided around the development, but the two companies hope to establish projects with an electrolyzer capacity of 2 gigawatts by 2030. The project is aimed at developing a giga-scale green hydrogen hub for the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which could help accelerate the decarbonization of the economy.

The two firms stated that the new hydrogen projects will initially target local supply, with the aim of expanding capacity to create a giga-scale green hydrogen hub for the GCC, with the potential to export to other markets.

In May this year, Dubai launched the regions first industrial scale green hydrogen plant. Operated by Siemens, the project will use energy from the enormous Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, which is expected to achieve a production capacity of 5,000 megawatts by 2030.

Related: Oil Prices Under Pressure Despite An Optimistic Outlook In the November COP26 summit, the UAE revealed aims for a 25 percent share of the global low-carbon hydrogen market by 2030 through its hydrogen leadership roadmap. The country hopes to become a leading hydrogen exporter over the next decade, particularly focusing on the Europe and East Asia markets, with several projects already underway. The Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. (ADNOC) currently produces over 300,000 mt/year of hydrogen, with targets of 500,000 mt/year.

But its not the only Middle Eastern country aiming to develop its green hydrogen industry ahead of international competitors. Saudi Arabia is already investing heavily in hydrogen projects, although state-owned energy firm ARAMCO admits that blue hydrogen still dominates, aiming to make green hydrogen more financially viable to grow the sector. This comes as part of the national transport and logistics strategy to boost annual non-oil revenues from the sector to $12 billion by 2030.

Saudi Arabia is working with neighboring countries as ACWA Power and Omanoil and Air Products sign a $7 billion agreement this week to produce green hydrogen in Omans Salalah free zone. ACWA Power and US-based Air Products are already developing a $5 billion hydrogen-based ammonia plant as part of the Neom development on the Red Sea coast of Saudi Arabia. The facility is expected to produce 650 tonnes of hydrogen every day.

Through regional agreements, Oman is also hoping to become a major hydrogen producer and exporter. In November, local officials announced that it hoped to establish a hydrogen-centric economy by 2040, with 30GW of green and blue hydrogen. The government has hinted at a national hydrogen strategy to be released before the end of the year. Further, Oman already has plans to construct one of the worlds largest hydrogen facilities by 2038, with works commencing in 2028. The $30 billion plants will be powered by 25 gigawatts of wind and solar energy, aiming for an eventual hydrogen output of 1.8 million tonnes per year.

Related: Investors See Peak Demand Happening Much Further In The Future

Abullah al Abri, head of Energy Renewal at Petroleum Development Oman stated, The potential for clean hydrogen, including the green and blue versions, is around 1GW by 2025, 10GW by 2030, and around 30GW by 2040  this is how we see the growth of hydrogen in Oman.

The Middle East energy-producing states hope to rival Europe in hydrogen production as the race to green hots up. Huge investments from the UAE and Saudi Arabia are expected to compete against similar developments across Europe. Just this month, Spanish power company Iberdrola and Swedens H2 Green Steel announced their partnership for the development of a $2.6 billion green hydrogen facility. To be situated on the Iberian Peninsula, the plant is expected to commence operations in 2025/26.

However, not all hydrogen is equal, and while Europe is leading in the production of grey/blue hydrogen, derived from fossil fuel production, it still has a long way to go in developing its green hydrogen industry. But the high cost of producing green hydrogen compared to blue and grey alternatives continues to be a limiting factor. While energy majors contend with this challenge, time will tell which country can develop its green hydrogen sector the fastest through heavy up-front investments to become the largest producer and exporter of the fuel.

By Felicity Bradstock for Oilprice.com

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Following on from a year in which supply chains and international travel were severely disrupted, 2021 saw an increase in global cooperation, as institutions, businesses and governments alike sought to work together to find solutions to some of the worlds major challenges.

The onset of the Covid-19 pandemic in early 2020 had a dramatic effect on global connectivity. The implementation of border restrictions greatly disrupted the provision of goods and made cross-border travel extremely difficult.

In order to adapt to these challenges, many governments, businesses and institutions moved towards a strategy of regionalisation.

For example, in April last year the foreign ministers of ASEANs 10 member states endorsed several collective initiatives to fight the pandemic, including the establishment of a common Covid-19 fund to enable a rapid response to medical emergencies.

In the same month, the GCC agreed to establish a food supply network to safeguard the region from food insecurity.

Vaccine cooperation

However, while 2020 was marked by a trend towards regional solutions, 2021 has witnessed expanded global cooperation, as governments and international institutions collaborated on initiatives designed to help countries recover from the impacts of Covid-19.

Foremost among these was the Covax initiative. A collaboration between Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations and the World Health Organisation, Covax is designed to coordinate international resources to ensure that developing countries have affordable access to Covid-19 tests, therapies and, above all, vaccines.

Since beginning to distribute vaccines in February, the programme has helped ship more than 610m vaccine doses to 144 predominantly low and middle-income countries.

Despite such efforts, however, Covax has not been enough to bridge the vaccination gap between developed and emerging markets.

To take an example, while more than 90m doses have been delivered to Africa through Covax and the African Vaccine Acquisition Trust, only four of the continents 54 countries are on track to meet a WHO target of fully vaccinating 40% of the population by the end of the year, according to a recent report from the Mo Ibrahim Foundation.

This has led to calls for greater global coordination with regard to vaccine distribution, particularly in light of the discovery of the Omicron variant in southern Africa. Indeed, leading officials from the WHO, UN High Commission for Refugees and the International Organisation for Migration recently called on G20 governments to provide greater assistance to lower-income countries.

Providing financial assistance

While Covax has aimed to address the medical impact of the pandemic, other collaborative measures have sought to provide financial assistance to offset the worst of the economic fallout.

One such was the Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI), a G20-run scheme that offers a moratorium on bilateral loan repayments owed to G20 members and their policy banks. Initially rolled out in June 2020, the DSSI, which is available to 73 low-income nations, was extended until the end of this year.

Complementing that initiative is the G20 Common Framework for Debt Treatments Beyond the DSSI. Established in November last year by the G20 and the Paris Club  a 22-strong informal group of mainly Western creditors  the Common Framework applies to the same 73 countries that are eligible for support under the DSSI.

It differs from the former in that it provides relief on a case-by-case basis, with assistance ranging from complete debt restructuring or reduction to the longer-term deferral of debt payments.

Another move designed to ease fiscal concerns was the increased allocation of special drawing rights (SDRs). Managed by the IMF, SDRs are international reserve assets defined by a basket of five currencies  the US dollar, Japanese yen, euro, UK pound and Chinese yuan  which are used by member countries to supplement their own reserves.

On August 2 the IMFs Board of Governors approved the allocation of $650bn worth of SDRs to bolster global economic recovery. This was the first new allocation since 2009 and by far the largest of its kind, doubling the $318bn in SDRs previously released by the IMF.

While not considered blanket solutions to Covid-19-related economic problems, these measures are expected to help emerging markets address any liquidity squeezes they may be facing, which in many cases have become more critical on the back of reduced bilateral aid last year.

Global infrastructure expansion

International institutions were not the only ones who took a global approach in 2021, with a number of the worlds largest economies reaffirming their commitment to globalisation over the course of the past year.

Following a fall in spending in 2020 across many of the projects tied to its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), China sketched a reformed vision for the programmes future, focusing on three aspects: the Green Silk Road, the Health Silk Road and the Digital Silk Road.

As the names suggest, the strategy will focus on developing environmentally sustainable projects, with a particular focus on those in the health and ICT sectors, across various emerging markets.

Meanwhile, in June the G7 announced the launch of its own global infrastructure development plan to rival the BRI, called Build Back Better World.

While specific details of the programme have not yet been released, G7 officials said the programme aims to close the $40trn infrastructure gap in the developing world, thus strengthening some of the connections between high-income and emerging markets.

Elsewhere, on December 1 the EU launched Global Gateway, its own international infrastructure strategy, which aims to mobilise 300bn in investments through to 2027 to help with the global recovery from the pandemic.

The launch or continuation of these initiatives comes as a number of emerging markets are turning towards infrastructure projects to help stimulate their economic recoveries from the coronavirus, with many placing a focus on green or sustainable developments.

Increased diplomacy

Aside from coronavirus recovery-related issues, there was also a higher degree of global cooperation with regard to some longer-term themes throughout 2021.

After a decade of talks and months of negotiation, 136 countries signed up to an agreement to implement a global corporate tax rate of 15%.

The landmark deal aims to limit aggressive tax competition, and could bring in an estimated $150bn in extra tax revenue each year, according to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.

The agreement was seen as a triumph for global diplomacy, particularly given that a number of emerging markets use low tax rates as an incentive to attract foreign investment. However, some emerging markets  namely Kenya, Nigeria, Pakistan and Sri Lanka  have not yet signed up to the plan.

Meanwhile, perhaps the largest diplomatic event of the year was the UN Climate Change Convention (COP26). Representatives from more than 200 countries gathered at the event, held in Glasgow between October 31 and November 12, to discuss ways in which they could reduce global emissions.

The outcomes included pledges to phase down the use of coal-fired power and reduce deforestation, while more than 100 countries signed up to the US- and EU-led Global Methane Pledge, which aims to reduce methane emissions by 30% by 2030.

In addition, the parties also agreed on a landmark deal to reform global carbon markets and improve rules about carbon trading, seen as key tools in the transition towards decarbonisation.

However, COP26 was weakened by the absence of Chinas President Xi Jinping and Russias President Vladimir Putin, the leaders of two of the worlds leading polluters. In addition, a number of emerging markets criticised some of the proposals put forward by developed nations.

By Oxford Business Group

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The world's largest sovereign wealth fund, Norway's $1.4 trillion Government Pension Fund Global (GPFG), is pre-screening companies for sustainability risk before deciding to invest in them and, within one decade, it has divested from 366 firms that it has assessed as lacking sustainable business models.

This year alone, the fund has assessed sustainability risk across more than 400 companies that were added to the fund's index, and chose to refrain from investing in nine companies that it believes will increase the fund's financial risk in the long term, Norges Bank Investment Management said on Tuesday in an update on its actions to protect from risks in the long term.

"In addition to the nine companies that we chose to refrain from investing in, we divested from 43 companies this year that we consider not to have sustainable business models. This includes companies exposed to significant risks related to climate change, water management, and corruption," the fund said in a statement.

The ultimate goal of the fund's pre-screening process and decisions not to invest in certain companies or divest from others is to protect it from risks that could lead to financial losses, Chief Corporate Governance Officer Carine Smith Ihenacho told Bloomberg in an interview.

A Norwegian government panel said in August that the fund should ask oil firms in its portfolio to cut their emissions more drastically. A report from an expert group recommended that the work on climate risk be anchored in the fund's mandate, under which Norges Bank's "responsible investment is based on an overall long-term goal of zero emissions from the companies in which the fund has invested, in line with the Paris Agreement."

Norway is one of Europe's richest countries thanks to the decades of oil revenues amassed by the world's largest sovereign wealth fund with $1.4 trillion in assets and stakes in oil majors Exxon, Chevron, Shell, and BP.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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Health systems have nowhere near the resilience and capacity they had last fall, he said. Hospitals were able to clear a lot of beds ahead of that anticipated surge. But this fall, they have seen increases in patients seeking regular and delayed care on top of the COVID influx. Hospital staff are burned out, and some have left hospitals across the state.

"There's much less reserve and flexibility now than we had a year ago, and I think we're only entering the really bad part of this respiratory (virus) season," Lawler said. "I think we're going to get the triple whammy of delta, omicron and flu."

Several local doctors also tweeted over the weekend about the toll of working in their hospitals' intensive care units and seeing so many patients critically ill.

Nebraska continues to lag in vaccinations, according to CDC data. Only 58.7% of Nebraskans now are fully vaccinated, below the 60.8% U.S. rate and ranking 25th among states.
Adib Mattar, Head of Private Equity at Mubadala Capital, added: With REEFs continued success in North America, its business model has now been validated across multiple cities and now with international brands. The logical next step is to capitalize on its global applicability and scale in a region where Mubadalas network can help open doors and facilitate international growth. Ramezs experience in scaling businesses driven by technology is perfectly suited to drive this next phase of REEFs international growth.

Founded in 2019, REEF has a proximity ecosystem of over 8,000 locations and a team of over 18,000 team members. The company established its presence in the Middle East in August 2021 and recently announced the acquisition of Dubai-based iKcon Innovative Kitchen Concepts. To date, the company has partnered with a number of international brands to bring its cloud kitchens concept to local neighborhoods, including MrBeast Burger in Dubai and Another Wing which REEF opened up in partnership with DJ Khaled globally across over 160 locations in 3 continents, at the same time.

About REEF
Klein said his organization has seen the impact of the pandemic showing up in the severity of cases of abuse and neglect and the level of violence. It has caused the nonprofit to look at the workload of its team and how it can build in more support to manage the volume and complexity of the cases it's now handling.

Klein said Project Harmony will continue to work on building partnerships with school districts. The nonprofit already sends a team into a school when a school staff member is accused of abusing a student or a traumatic event happens at the school.

"Those events create not just trauma for the child and their family," he said, "but those that know them and serve them."

Klein said school districts are reaching out after those incidents to find out how they can support children and reassure families.

And if a child has suffered abuse and neglect, Project Harmony works to further the nonprofit's original mission of making sure the system isn't further hurting children.
Travelers should be prepared for dangerous conditions and check for updates on the 511.nebraska.gov website, which contains information for anyone traveling in the state. High profile vehicles such as semitrailer trucks could be especially vulnerable to tipping over in the gusting winds, he said.

Because the winds will be coming from the south-southwest, we expect more trouble (for motorists) along Interstate 80 than (Interstate) 29, Nicolaisen said.

Expected impacts of the winds could include damage to trees and power lines. That could result in widespread power outages, Nicolaisen said.

The high winds also bring a chance for tornadoes, with a greater risk in Iowa, said meteorologist Brett Albright.

Its going to be a far lower risk than the winds, Albright said. Winds like this are still going to cause widespread damage  people arent going to need to see a tornado.
House nears vote to hold Meadows in contempt in Jan. 6 probe

WASHINGTON (AP)  The House on Tuesday debated recommending criminal contempt charges against former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows after he ceased cooperating with the Jan. 6 Committee investigating the Capitol insurrection.

If approved, it would be the first time the House voted to hold a former member in contempt since the 1830s, according to the chambers records. But it's the second time the special committee has sought to punish a witness for defying a subpoena.

Its the latest show of force by the Jan. 6 panel, which is leaving no angle unexplored  and no subpoena unanswered  as it investigates the worst attack on the Capitol in more than 200 years. Lawmakers on the panel are determined to get answers quickly, and in doing so reassert the congressional authority that eroded while former President Donald Trump was in office.

History will be written about these times, about the work this committee has undertaken, said Rep. Bennie Thompson, R-Miss., the chairman. And history will not look upon any of you as a martyr. History will not look upon you as a victim.
ATLANTA (AP)  The Georgia Supreme Court upheld a lower court decision Tuesday dismissing a challenge to the governor's appointment of a former state senator as a superior court judge.

The ruling allows Jesse Stone to remain a judge in the Augusta Judicial Circuit. His appointment by Gov. Brian Kemp had been challenged by lawyer Maureen Floyd, who argued Kemp had waited too long to appoint him to fill a vacancy on the court.

The vacancy was created when former judge Michael Annis sent a letter to the governor in December 2019 saying he intended to resign Feb. 1, 2020. The state's Judicial Nominating Commission on Feb. 17, 2020, submitted a list of four potential candidates to fill the seat, including Stone. Kemp appointed Stone to the seat on Feb. 22, 2021, for a term to end Dec. 31, 2022.

Floyd argued Kemp had waited too long because Annis' term expired at the end of 2020.

Senior Judge Michael Karpf ruled Kemp had not violated the state constitutions requirement that Kemp fill the vacancy promptly and wrote that it did not matter that Annis term had run out because previous case law stated that judicial terms of office are eliminated when judges resign.
Pope Francis own role in the deal has come under scrutiny since several witnesses have said he approved negotiating an exit deal with the broker accused of extortion.

In October, Pignatone ordered prosecutors to throw out their indictments for four of their suspects and start over because they failed to respect basic procedural steps during the investigation meant to protect the rights of the accused, including summoning them for questioning so they could respond to the accusations.

On Tuesday, assistant prosecutor Gianluca Perone said to date prosecutors had only heard from one person. He said he expected to know by Jan. 20 whether prosecutors would ask for new indictments or for the charges to be dropped.

Pignatone set a procedural hearing for Jan. 25  hopefully the last one  and said he hoped by mid-February to then unify the proceedings against both sets of defendants and open the trial in earnest.

Pignatone has also repeatedly ordered prosecutors to turn over to the defense the videotaped recordings of a key suspect-turned-star witness so the suspects can adequately prepare their defense. The prosecutors initially agreed, then refused, then deposited most of the tapes but with cuts that in some cases amounted to an hour.
Earlier, a man was rescued after being swept into a covered stream channel in the San Fernando Valley. The man called for help on his cellphone and firefighters reached him through a maintenance hole on the street above. He suffered bruises and hypothermia, fire officials said.

It's kind of scary out there, said Dean Heller, while filling up his car's gas tank in northeast Los Angeles. Heller said he'd seen a few minor auto accidents and traffic on the Arroyo Seco Parkway had slowed to a crawl because of flooding in lanes.

I'm just trying to get stuff done so I don't have to be on the roads any more, he said.

The powerful system is a so-called atmospheric river that sucks up moisture from Pacific Ocean and dumps it at lower elevations as rain and in the mountains as snow.

The storm began over the weekend in Northern California and has brought heavy precipitation as far inland as Nevada, where more than 6 feet (1.8 meters) of snow fell since Sunday night at the Mt. Rose ski resort just southwest of Reno and more than 4 feet (1.2 meters) fell at Heavenly on Lake Tahoes south shore. Mammoth Mountain in the eastern Sierra also got about 4 feet (1.2 meters).
This is really about whats best for children and families and the resources available to take care of them, he said. When you look at the workforce of St. Francis, their work has been incredible. There has been no maltreatment of children. Children have not been lost, theyve been taken care of, but from a case-ratio perspective, there was work to do.

When the transition ends, St. Francis plans to remain in the Omaha area as a service provider. The agency has been doing similar work in western and central parts of the state for several years. It will be one of the options that state case managers can turn to for the care of children.

Smith said the state will offer jobs to St. Francis workers. The more workers who take up the state on the offer, the fewer the number of children who will have to experience a change in case managers. Plans are for the staff to make the switch in phases through the next six months.

The announcement came the day before a special legislative committee was slated to release the report of its investigation into how St. Francis ended up with its multimillion-dollar contract and how it has performed on the job.
BLOOMINGTON  A 31-year-old Bloomington man remains in custody on domestic battery charges.

Police said Michael L. Washington was speaking to a police officer in downtown Bloomington on Saturday when a woman arrived in her vehicle and told police that she and Washington had been in an argument earlier.

She told Bloomington police that Washington had grabbed and scratched her, then choked her. Two witnesses also told police that they watched Washington physically attack the woman, then grab her, strike her and choke her, police said.

Washington is charged with one count of aggravated domestic battery-strangulation and two counts of domestic battery.

He was jailed with no bond, as he was ordered to undergo a domestic violence risk assessment.

Washington was ordered to have no contact with the victim or her Bloomington address.

A bond review hearing is scheduled for Friday.

An arraignment is set for Dec. 30.

A booking photo was not immediately available.

Contact Kade Heather at 309-820-3256. Follow him on Twitter: @kadeheather

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NORMAL  The 2022-23 school year will not start for another nine months, but Illinois Wesleyan University and Illinois State University are starting to figure out who will be in the class of 2026. Both schools are reporting promising numbers so far.

The overall number of applicants to Illinois Wesleyan for next fall is still down from 2019, but the number of students accepted by now has held steady for the past four years.

Dean of Admissions Greg King attributes this to a higher response from students who already know they want to come to Wesleyan, while those who are less certain are holding out until closer to the final deadlines. It is understandable that some students might be focusing on other things right now, he said, given the pandemic.

Its not really top of mind for every student to be applying, King said.

Illinois State University is also happy with application numbers so far, said Jana Albrecht, associate vice president for enrollment management. At around 14,400, applications for next fall are similar to several years ago, but up more than 50% from the last year.

Our numbers look really, really good, Albrecht said.

ISU does not have an early action deadline, but instead uses rolling admissions, she said. Applications are reviewed as they come in and students are informed of their status as the year goes on. Students and their families seem to like the chance to make decisions as soon as possible, Albrecht said.

Wesleyan has received just more than 2,500 applications for next fall, as of Tuesday, and King expects they will receive around 5,000 total.

Of those 2,500 who have applied, around 750 had been accepted, King said. The rest who applied for early action will be notified of their status by Wednesday. The school will probably finish with around 2,400 students accepted. From those, King hopes to yield around 480 freshmen, about the same sized class as the past two years.

One number that is up from last year is deposits, with 26 students so far indicating they plan to attend next fall. That is the highest number of deposits for this time of the year ever, at around double last years number, King said.

Both schools have had around 70% of their applications come in through the Common App. This is ISUs first year participating in the Common App, a single application that can be used at 919 colleges and universities in the United States and abroad.

Neither ISU nor IWU require students to submit standardized test scores. Last year, around one-third of applications to IWU did not submit test scores. Both schools went test optional for the pandemic and intend to stay that way going forward. ISU and all public colleges and universities in the state will be required to be test-optional starting Jan. 1 under the Higher Education Fair Admissions Act.

Wesleyan saw its highest number of first-generation students and an increase in students from underrepresented backgrounds in the class of 2025.

Theres no doubt in my mind that opening the test-optional process helped with both those groups, King said.

While it is too early to know the impacts at ISU, Albrecht said she expected it would help with underrepresented groups like first-generation students. ISU also holds first-generation visit days, where staff and students answer questions brought up by first-generation students.

We try to tailor these visit days to answer the most recent questions weve heard from first-generation students, she said.

These sorts of education efforts are important to increasing diversity at the schools. A poll by the Art and Science Group, which provides market research for colleges and universities, showed that while two-thirds of white students felt they could go to people they knew with questions about choosing a college, only 38% of Black students felt the same.

The poll also showed that on average, white and Asian students planned to apply to more colleges than Black and Latino students. The study concluded that colleges and universities should be doing more to help students from historically marginalized groups apply to help level out the application field.

Both universities said their admissions staff try to make sure families can easily get help with what they need during the application process. Last year IWU had a video showing exactly what the application looked like and how to do it, King said.

We try to do as much audience education on the process as possible, he said.

Contact Connor Wood at (309)820-3240. Follow Connor on Twitter: @connorkwood

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BLOOMINGTON  The FBI is offering a $10,000 reward for information in the Jelani Day death investigation, but the agency still declines to take the lead.

The reward announcement is part of enhanced measures by the multi-jurisdictional task force involved in this case to identify new leads related to Days death.

The 25-year-old Illinois State University grad student and Danville native was reported missing in Bloomington on Aug. 25. His body was recovered from the Illinois River near Peru, 60 miles north of ISU, on Sept. 4. Authorities later determined he died by drowning.

In a seeking information post added to the FBI's Most Wanted website, a description and three photos of Day are listed asking for the publics help in gathering information related to his death.

Civil rights leader and activist the Rev. Jesse Jackson and civil rights attorney Ben Crump have joined Days family in calling upon the FBI to become the lead investigators.

Law enforcement officials, including FBI agents, have told The Pantagraph that while the bureau can assist, it will not take over the case unless federal crime has been committed, which no authorities have indicated is the case.

Jackson has said a hate crime in Days case could be the nexus that brings the FBI to the lead role. He has compared Days death to that of Emmett Till, a Black teenager who was lynched in 1955 Mississippi. Till's attackers brutalized, shot and dumped him in the Tallahatchie River. His body was unrecognizable when he was found.

According to a statement Monday from the multi-jurisdictional law enforcement, now known as the Jelani Day Joint Task Force, to supplement forensic, analytical, and technological investigative techniques already in use in the Day investigation, the JDJTF is engaging in a coordinated, nationwide, multi-platform social media campaign to identify new leads.

The reward of up to $10,000 is for substantial information regarding Days final hours leading to the identification of new witnesses or evidence.

Anyone with information is asked to call 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324) or go to tips.fbi.gov. Tips can be submitted anonymously.

Days family has offered a $25,000 reward for information about his death, which they have been adamant in their belief that it was murder.

In a Facebook post Monday, Days mother Carmen Bolden Day shared the task force announcement and wrote, In addition to my reward THEY now have one.....( Interesting). WHO HAS INFORMATION? WE WANT ANSWERS?

In addition to the FBI assistance, the task force currently includes: LaSalle County Sheriffs Office, Bloomington, Peru and LaSalle police departments, Illinois State Police and the Illinois Attorney Generals Office.

Contact Kelsey Watznauer at (309) 820-3254. Follow her on Twitter: @kwatznauer.

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Jelani Day, a 25-year-old Illinois State University graduate student and Danville native, was reported missing on Aug. 25, a day after he was last seen in Bloomington, Illinois. His body was found in the Illinois River near Peru, 60 miles (97 kilometers) north of the ISU campus, on Sept. 4.

Authorities later determined he died by drowning, but have said his death remains under investigation.

Day's mother, Carmen Bolden Day, said law enforcement officials have all but told her they believe her son died by suicide, which she dismissed out of hand. She said her son was not depressed or overburdened, had no school-related financial troubles and was studying speech pathology at Illinois State with aspirations of becoming a doctor.

She has hired civil rights attorney Ben Crump to investigate her son's death.

The FBI said it is offering the reward of up to $10,000 for substantial information regarding Days final hours leading to the identification of new witnesses or evidence.

The agency added a seeking information post to its FBIs Most Wanted website late Friday that includes a description of Day's disappearance and three photos of Day, The Pantagraph reported.

Anyone with information is asked to call 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324) or go to tips.fbi.gov. Tips can be submitted anonymously.
SPRINGFIELD  The Illinois Congressional delegation on Monday wrote a letter to President Joe Biden urging the support of Gov. J.B. Pritzker's emergency declaration following tornadoes that caused extensive damage in the Metro East and Central Illinois.

The request is for 28 counties. The storm Friday night killed six after an Amazon warehouse in Madison County collapsed.

Governor Pritzker has determined that this incident is of such severity that effective response is beyond the capabilities of the state and local governments, and the State is in need of Public Assistance to continue responding to and recovering from this tragic disaster, the letter dated Monday said.

The tornado that hit Amazons facility was part of a swarm of twisters across the Midwest and South that leveled entire communities. Another tornado destroyed a candle factory in Mayfield, Kentucky, killing multiple workers on an overnight shift.

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A multijurisdictional task force is expanding its search for information tied to the death of Illinois State University graduate student Jelani Day and offering a $10,000 reward for any leads in the case, officials announced Monday.

The Jelani Day Joint Task Force, which includes the FBI and several law enforcement agencies across Illinois, has been investigating the death of Jelani Jesse Javonte Day, whose body was found in the Illinois River in Peru Sept. 4, 11 days after he was last seen in Bloomington.

In a news release Monday, the task force announced a national social media campaign as it works to get new information on the case to supplement forensic, analytical and technological investigative techniques already in use.

Days mother reported him missing Aug. 25. His body was identified in late September, and the LaSalle County coroners office in October said he died by drowning.

Unsatisfied with the local investigation, his mother, Carmen Bolden Day, enlisted civil rights attorney Ben Crump in December to help urge authorities to continue looking for answers into her sons disappearance and death.

At a news conference earlier this month, with Crump by her side, Bolden Day said while authorities have not explicitly called Days death a suicide, investigators told her things that says to me without saying to me that Jelani did this to himself, and Jelani did not do this to himself.

Crump, who represented the family of Trayvon Martin, the 17-year-old who was killed by George Zimmerman in 2012, said, We are very clear in our declaration that this was not suicide. Crump said that position was based on the fact that Days car, clothes, wallet and cellphone were not found where his body was found. Days car was found Aug. 26, hidden in a wooded area in Peru, in LaSalle County.

Day ran track at Alabama A&M and was a member of the fraternity Omega Psi Phi. He was in graduate school at Illinois State University studying speech pathology and working to become a doctor, so that his mom would never have to work again, Bolden Day told the Chicago Tribune when Day was still considered missing.

Investigators are asking for help from the public and from Days close contacts who they say may be key in understanding the facts and circumstances surrounding Days death.

Tips can be submitted anonymously at 1-800-CALL-FBI.

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Rep. Devin Nunes announced last week that hes resigning at the end of the month to go to work for former President Donald Trump. In a way, the decision isnt surprising. But it does tell us a fair amount about the House, the Republican Party and, perhaps, Trump himself.

So, first, the House.

Nunes, a California Republican, probably had a route to reelection, and if he returned in 2023 with a Republican majority, he was in line to be chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, which has jurisdiction over large portions of domestic policy. In the past, chairing that committee wouldve been worth sticking around for years, even decades; in some ways, it was a more important position than speaker of the House.

But committees have declined in importance as the chamber has become more centralized. Whats more, the relatively frequent turnover of party majorities means were unlikely to see a stretch such as that from 1957 through 1994, in which the committee had only three chairmen over an almost 40-year period. The prize is worth a lot less if it cant be retained for long  and on the Republican side, committee term limits mean that six years is the current maximum anyway.

So what does this decision tell us about Republicans?

Political scientist Richard Fenno explained in the 1970s that representatives used the committee system for three potential goals: reelection, influence in the House and influence over policy. Heading up Ways and Means should help with all three, but its presumably most valuable to those who care about changing policy  and such members are scarce in the post-policy Republican Party.

In the 1990s, when Republicans won a House majority for the first time in four decades, Ways and Means Chairman Bill Archer was certainly someone who had a strong interest in crafting tax policy and had a reputation for knowing the topic thoroughly. Paul Ryan became Ways and Means chairman in 2015 during a second period of Republican majorities. He wasnt exactly known for policy expertise  but he was known for talking a lot about policy, even if there were a lot of questions about whether he was really doing the work.

To be perhaps a bit unfair, if in 1995 many Republican politicians still cared about public policy, by 2015 they were impressed by someone pretending to care about policy. Now it appears that even the pretense is gone.

Nunes decision might also suggest something about Trump.

Suppose that Nunes is mostly interested in being loyal to the former president. Trumps conception of loyalty doesnt have much wiggle room; he expects people to do what he wants, whether its feasible or not. But chairing Ways and Means is a position of responsibility. It could put Nunes in the position of having to vote for things that Trump might not support.

In part, thats inherent in any leadership position; one of the real requirements for party leadership in Congress, and for politics in general, is a willingness to absorb blame and shield others from it. But Trump, and Trump-style politics, makes absorbing blame a lot more painful than it normally would be  as can be seen in the former presidents attacks on Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell over the debt limit, or, for that matter, in what happened to former Vice President Mike Pence on Jan. 6.

So there are two things going on here. One is that the Republican lack of interest in public policy is becoming institutionalized. The other is that  at least as long as Trump is still influential  there appears to be some serious disincentives for others in the party to take on important leadership roles. Both changes will likely make it even harder for the party to govern effectively.

Jonathan Bernstein is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering politics and policy.

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Nona Graceland School climaxed their 6th Anniversary Celebrations with a Graduation and Speech and Awards Ceremony. The event took place on Saturday December 11, 2021 at their new campus located at Okpoi Gonno, Accra (GZ-122-5658).



Attendees have called the event a colourful ceremony, as all parents and graduands were dressed in beautifully woven Kente outfits. The event had 25 students graduate from Nursery 2 to Kindergarten 1 and 21 students graduate from Kindergarten 2 to Primary 1. Deserving students also were awarded in various categories for their hardwork and academic achievements. The event was held under the theme Godliness in Education; the key cornerstone for transforming societies.



The event was chaired by Rev. Dr. Samuel Ayete-Nyampong, a lecturer at the Trinity Theological Seminary and the immediate past Clerk of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana. He commended the Management and Staff of the School for sticking to their core values; Godliness, Excellence and Leadership and called for other educational institutions to emulate this in order to raise generations of great scholars who also have a relationship with God.



The special guest of honour for the event was Evangelist Dr. Abboah-Offei of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, Grace Congregation (Akropong) and founder and leader of the Patmos Prayer Centre, Akropong. In a speech read on his behalf by Rev. Emmanuel Quist (Director of Administration, Patmos Prayer Centre), he reiterated the need to deepen discipline in basic schools. When there is Godly discipline in schools, parents can be confident that their investments into their childrens education will yield greater results not only for the student or the family, but also for the society he said.



The Chief Executive Officer of the School, Mrs. Comfort Tetteh Nanor reiterated that the educational journey is a major contributor to grooming the students into becoming responsible citizens.



Research has shown that children spend a significant percentage of their waking hours in school. 13.36 percent of waking hours spent in school by the time they are in Senior High School. There is a need therefore to have them placed in the most conducive environments in order to develop their God-given capabilities to enable the children contribute effectively to transforming societies she said. Mrs. Nanor called on stakeholders in the educational sector not to take out Godliness from academic activities.



In her conclusion, she said, the home may be Godly, the family may be part of a Church. However, when Godliness is absent in schools, the efforts of the other stakeholders will be completely negated. Godliness in education is indeed a key cornerstone for transforming societies.



Nona Graceland School is one of the fastest growing private Schools located at Okpoi Gonno, within the Ledzokuku Krowor Municipal Assembly, Accra. Nona Graceland School combines the Montessori and GES Curriculum and is dedicated to



raising a generation of Godly and Excellent leaders for driving global change. They currently have classes from Creche to the Basic 4. As part of their growth strategies, a new block is under construction to house the upper classes up to JHS 3. The Management of the school announced that the new block which will be operational from January 2022 will be named after Evangelist Dr. Abboah Offei for his great achievements in the body of Christ and in society.

Source: Peacefmonline.com









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Uganda's opposition leader Robert Kyagulanyi, popularly known as Bobi Wine, has tweeted photos of police and military outside his home ahead of planned campaigns for a by-election in Kayunga district.



President Yoweri Museveni is also expected to visit Kayunga to campaign for the ruling party's candidate for the district chairperson position.



The by-election is scheduled for Thursday and both the ruling and opposition parties want to show their might.



Bobi Wine has accused the police and military of attempting to block him from leaving his home:









This morning, ahead of my planned visit to Kayunga District to campaign for our flag bearer, the police and military deployed overnight around my home in an apparent attempt to block me from leaving. The cowardly regime is on its way out. A matter of time.#WeAreRemovingADictator pic.twitter.com/Iopz14Uwoq

 BOBI WINE (@HEBobiwine) December 14, 2021

Local media report that police and military have also been deployed to Kayunga ahead of Tuesday's campaigns.Kayunga was previously a ruling party stronghold until the former chairperson who died in office was elected from the opposition.The ruling party wants to recapture the seat and has promised to elevate the town council to a municipality, Daily Monitor newspaper reports.

Source: BBC









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The Minority Caucus in parliament has betrayed Ghanaians three times since the second term of President Nana Akufo-Addo started in January 2021, former Special Prosecutor Martin Amidu has observed.



In an article on the 2022 budget imbroglio, Mr Amidu, who described the behaviour of the Minority as one reminiscent of the biblical Judas Iscariot who betrayed Jesus Christ, said the first betrayal was the approval of some contentious ministerial nominees of the president despite having earlier vowed to reject them.



The second betrayal and sell-out came on 29 March 2021 when, without any tangible reason explaining its volte-face, the Minority Leader seconded the approval of the Minister of Finance nominee in a consensus voice vote in parliament, the former Attorney General wrote.



The third betrayal and sell-out began Nicodemusly, with what appeared to have been the repentance of Judas Iscariot in the first two betrayals of the Ghanaian electorate on Friday, 26th November 2021, when we, the people, were deceived into believing that the 2022 Budget Statement and Economic Policy had been rejected by parliament because of the vigilance of the Minority caucus in parliament, Mr Amidu said.



He noted that the NDC Minority caucus had, unbeknown to the public, been assimilated into Nana Akufo-Addos one-party Kabuki dance ensemble.



The Minority and the Majority held a secret meeting on 30 November 2021 at which the Minority agreed to absent itself from the main parliamentary sitting that day to enable the Majority abuse the 1992 Constitution and Standing Orders of Parliament in purporting to rescind the rejected 2022 Budget of 26 November 2021, he alleged.



In his view, the Majority caucus, which has internalised the egoism of power of the government, has learnt to recruit the Minority for the Nana Akufo-Addo one-party Kabuki dance.



The Minority caucus has, since the beginning of the second term of the Nana Akufo-Addo government, accepted integration and has become the lizard that jumped from a high iroko tree to the ground [and] said he would praise himself if no-one did even when the electorate and its own ordinary members see them as traitors to the Constitutional role assigned an opposition party of 137 Members of Parliament in an equally split parliament.



The Minority enabled the appointment of the Minister of Finance together with any 2022 Budget hardships he inflicts upon Ghanaians. Judas Iscariot repented. The NDC can do the same, he said.





Read Mr Amidus full epistle below:



THE EGOISM OF POWER & THE LIZARD THAT JUMPED FROM A HIGH IROKO TREE TO THE GROUND  THE 2022 BUDGET: BY MARTIN A. B. K. AMIDU



Radix Malorum Est Cupiditas



THE FIRST BETRAYAL



On 3rd March 2021, the Minority in Parliament contrary to its own avowed negative evaluations approved the affected ministerial nominees of the President for appointment. The Ghanaian electorate, including some members of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Executive and its mass followers outside Parliament, who had the benefit of viewing what transpired in Parliament during the vetting process through public broadcasting felt betrayed, and disappointed by the brazen sell out by the NDC caucus in Parliament to the Government in the approval process.



The Functional Executive Committee (FEC) of the NDC (NDC-FEC) held a crisis meeting the next day, 4th March 2021 and acknowledged in a press statement that:  whatever the disappointment and disagreements may be especially from among the rank and file of the party, care should be taken not to allow these to degenerate into unnecessary bickering at the expense of party discipline and cohesion. The statement added that:



We are also of the view that urgent action is required to deal with the matter and consequently we have initiated a consultation process with the Party's Council of Elders in this regard. It is in our collective interest as a party to address challenges facing the Caucus Leadership and the Backbench as a whole. This task will be tackled expeditiously so as to preserve the unity, cohesion and resilience of the NDC parliamentary Caucus.



The tempers of Ghanaians and the ordinary members of the NDC itself were not assuaged by this appeal. Consequently, the Minority Leader on 5th March 2021 had to make a public statement on behalf of the Minority caucus in Parliament to reject claims that the Minority caucus had been influenced with money to vote to approve the ministerial nominees. He was at pains to point out in the statement that the caucus will never make money or consideration the basis of their engagement with the ruling party:



The Leadership and entire Parliamentary caucus of the NDC wish to reiterate our commitment to the cause of the great National Democratic Congress. We expressly reaffirm our resolve to hold the Akufo-Addo government to account over the coming days, months and years for their stewardship to the Ghanaian people. This is nonnegotiable. You may be disappointed in this outcome but we will not disappoint or let you down in the future. The Caucus has never been and would never be for sale.



The Council of Elders of the NDC then met with the Leadership of the NDC on Tuesday, 9th March 2021, to discuss the developments in Parliament arising from the approval of some of the Ministers designate on 3rd March 2021. As a squeal to this meeting the Council of Elders met again on Tuesday, 9th March 2021 with the Leaderships of the NDC and the NDC caucus in Parliament following which the Chairman of the Council of Elders issued a statement collectively agreeing that the incident of 3rd March 2021 in Parliament where some ministerial nominees were approved was regrettable and unfortunate, and runs contrary to the principles and values of the party. (Emphasis supplied). In the words of the press statement signed by the Chairman of the Council of Elders:



The Caucus Leadership have since pledged to uphold the principles and values of the party in our collective bid to develop our country. . The Council urged the National leadership of the party to resolve issues relating to the Caucus leadership in Parliament and called on the rank and file of the party to remain calm, and provide the needed support to our Caucus in order to hold the Akufo Addo government strictly to the principles of probity and accountability.





Judas Iscariot could not keep faith with this first compact of integrity with the electorate facilitated by the Council of Elders for even one month.





THE SECOND BETRAYAL



The second betrayal and sell-out came on 29th March 2021 when without any tangible reason explaining its volte-face the Minority Leader seconded the approval of the Minister of Finance nominee in a consensus voice vote in Parliament. The real culprits behind the shameless compromises and sell out became public knowledge the next day, 30th March 2021 when the Squealer of the NDC appeared on Peace FM to admit the NDC-FECs responsibility and gave reasons for the betrayal by the Minority Caucus of the Ghanaian electorate. Peace FM reported the story as follows:



General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketia, has revealed reasons why the Minority Caucus on the Appointments Committee approved Finance Minister-designate Ken Ofori-Atta. And it is shocking to the core as it is vain.



It was indeed shocking to the core as it was vain. The Squealer of the NDC said on air that:



We have strategies as a political party and some of the NDC leaders sat down and considered the approval of the nominee as to whether passing or failing him, which one will be in the interest of the party. So, we all decided that if we allow him to be the finance minister, it will be in the interest of the NDC....We realised during the vetting of the finance minister, he was exposed in all his wrong deeds...The banks he collapsed, PDS deal and bad financial decisions he superintended over; we needed him to be there to remind Ghanaians what he has wrought on this country. tell Nana Akufo-Addo that if it is this lame-back finance minister he wants to still be in control of the countrys finances, so be it, and that is why we told our people to approve him.



The capitulation of the Minority caucus in Parliament in approving the Minister of Finance nominee who is now bent on inflicting a draconian and harsh 2022 Budget with economic and social hardships on Ghanaians was the handy work of a former Minister of Finance of the NDC and the NDC-FEC as I have written and pointed out in my analysis available online and on my website as: The MPs Double Salary Criminal Investigation Docket Was Handled By the Attorney-General and Never By Martin Amidu As Special Prosecutor, at page 3 under the sub-title  The Double Salary & Other Criminal cases were Negotiated for Ministerial Approvals thereof.



THE THIRD BETRAYAL



The third betrayal and sell out began Nicodemusly with what appeared to have been the repentance of Judas Iscariot in the first two betrayals of the Ghanaian electorate on Friday, 26th November 2021 when We, the People, were deceived into believing that the 2022 Budget Statement and Economic Policy had been rejected by Parliament because of the vigilance of the Minority caucus in Parliament. The NDC Minority caucus had, unbeknown to the public, been assimilated into Nana Akufo-Addos one-party Kabuki dance ensemble. The Minority and the Majority held a secret meeting on 30th November 2021 at which the Minority agreed to absent itself from the main parliamentary sitting that day to enable the Majority to abuse the 1992 Constitution and Standing Orders of Parliament in purporting to rescind the rejected 2022 Budget of 26th November 2021.



The latest in the Nana Akufo-Addo one-party Kabuki dance is that, as expected, a letter with reference number PS/CS/167 dated 10th November 2021 [sic] under the signature of the Clerk to Parliament and addressed to the Minority Leader has put an end to the Kabuki dance as far as the sham attempts by the Minority caucus to save face in the name of rescinding the rescission of the rejected 2022 Budget on 30th November 2021 is concerned. The two paragraphs of the letter state:



"Please refer to your communication dated 7th December 2021 on the Motion relating to a ruling of the Hon. First Deputy Speaker on Wednesday, 1st December 2021.



The Hon. First Deputy Speaker, pursuant to Order 13 (2) of the Standing Orders of Parliament, has directed that I inform you that the Motion is not admitted.



Meanwhile, the reality, substance and purpose of the Nana Akufo-Addo Kabuki dance were achieved in the acceptance by the Minority caucus on Tuesday, 7th December 2021 of the Majority decision on 30th November 2021 rescinding and approving the 2022 Budget. On 7th December 2021, the Minister of Finance laid before Parliament a modification to the 2022 Budget Statement and Economic Policy of the Government for deliberations. The First Deputy Speaker directed that modification be made to the 2022 Budget Statement and Economic Policy of Government by attaching the modification submitted by the Minister of Finance to the original budget.



The Minority Leader acknowledged the modification laid by the Minister of Finance and in preliminary comments to the Speakers directives for modifications to the 2022 Budget was reported by Joy News to have said that the Minority was a very responsible opposition; declaring that and therefore, we engage and we are engaged with Government, appreciating that social consultation is important to save our country and the economy.



He also said that: Mr Speaker, we believe that the e-levy is punitive and it will undermine our quest to build a critical economy in seeking to tax (electronic financial) transactions, Mr Iddrisu said.  So, Mr Speaker, we on this side (of the House), we are unable to support the Government in its quest to impose an e-levy at 1.75 per cent on momo (mobile money) and affiliated transactions including remittances Therefore, we stand opposed, and at every level that e-levy is introduced, we will stand united to oppose it because of the effects on the core poor of the Ghanaian people.



On the next day, 8th December 2021 the NDCs Squealer told Ghanaians that the NDC MPs are using every legal means to reject the budget. In typical Orwellian doublespeak fashion, he prepared the publics mind for the obnoxious compromise with the Majority when he stated in his contradictory speech at the NDC Public Forum on the 2022 Budget that the approval of the Budget does not mean the e-levy has been approved since Select Committees have to further assess the fiscal policy. The General Secretary then gave the order of the FEC to the Minority caucus in Parliament in the following words:



So, we are at a stage where maybe from tomorrow, we will revisit the approval or non-approval of the budget. But whatever happens, we still stand by our position and we have agreed with our MPs that a boycott is not an option because if we boycott, what it means is that all these other stages will be a railroad. So, we will be present and undertake our key responsibility of holding the elephant accountable. (Emphasis supplied).





The Minority caucus had thus moved away from the draconian hardships and ills that afflict the 2022 Budget to concentrate on the E-Levy as its main objection to the rejected 2022 Budget which it treacherously facilitated to reinstate. The NDC Minority Leader was under instructions from the NDC-FEC to test the waters with the announcement he made on 2nd December 2021 at the 10th Anniversary launch of the Ghana Chamber of Telecommunications on the Minority accepting a 1% e-levy. This position was repeated by the NDC Squealer in his address to the NDC Public Forum on 8th December 2021. This explains the massive rescue operations undertaken by the NDC outside and inside Parliament to redeem the image of its Minority Leader after his speech at the 10th Anniversary launch of the Chamber of Telecommunications backfired. Anybody reading my last article  The Shameless Compromises of the One-Party Political Elite against the Ghanaian Electorate should have noticed that because I knew the real traitors behind the scenes, I portrayed the Minority Leaders speech as the NDC position and not his own.



The Ghanaian electorate had been hoodwinked with a circus of deceptions since 26th November 2021 of sham disagreements amongst the Nana Akufo-Addo one-party dance ensemble in Parliament. Rational and reasonable patriotic Ghanaians have always been on the alert to the machinations of such comprador political elites. Patriotic citizens were never deceived. Patriots unravelled every step in the betrayal process. We are now at the stage of what the two caucuses in parliament wanted and anticipated the most in the 2022 Budget season  the Budget Committee hearings and specially, the accompanying allowances of various forms and shapes. As usual, the Christmas calls and both sides must be one in the Kabuki dance against the interest of the Ghanaian electorate.





There were still ugly noises by the Minority on Friday 10th December 2021 about demands for the financial proposals in the 2022 Budget including the e-levy to be laid before the House for appropriate consideration to avoid hasty approval under a certificate of urgency. The Minority Chief Whip stated on Friday that: Mr Speaker, in the business statement from Tuesday to Friday, conspicuously missing was the financial bills including the Electronic Transaction bill. Parliament may rise on 21st December 2021 instead of 17th December 2021 ostensibly to give it time to consider outstanding estimates and other matters. But this is going to be business as usual amongst Nana Akufo-Addos Kabuki dance ensemble which has fully integrated the Minority caucus as it has been during each budget season. The Budget, as an important policy, and the Appropriation Act affecting the economic and social wellbeing of Ghanaians for the next year will be railroaded through Parliament and passed without prior consultation with affected stakeholders and We the People. We the People can go to hell. The next election is three years away in 2024.



CONCLUSIONS



The Majority caucus which has internalised the egoism of power of the Government has learnt to recruit the Minority for the Nana Akufo-Addo One-Party Kabuki dance. The Minority caucus has since the beginning of the second term of the Nana Akufo-Addo Government accepted integration and has become the lizard that jumped from a high iroko tree to the ground said he would praise himself if no-one did even when the electorate and its own ordinary members see them as traitors to the Constitutional role assigned an opposition party of 137 Members of Parliament in an equally split Parliament. The Minority enabled the appointment of the Minister of Finance together with any 2022 Budget hardships he inflicts upon Ghanaians. Judas Iscariot repented. The NDC can do the same.





The best defence for the 1992 Constitution is for all patriots to continue exposing the one-party political elite who are really comprador bourgeoises for neocolonialist interests for who they really are by putting Ghana First!







Martin A. B. K. Amidu













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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Minister for Parliamentary Affairs and Majority Leader, Hon. Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, has lashed out at the minority in parliament for their incessant attacks against the 2022 Budget Statement and Economic Policy of government.



According to him, the minotiy are behaving like a child who has found his father after losing a fight at the play ground.



Speaking On Okay FM's 'Ade Akye Abia' programme, he explained that he cannot understand why the minority are trying to make things difficult for themselves and not accepting that the 2022 budget has been approved by the August House.



"They understand the processes and the standing orders of the House but because of their parochial interest and their penchant for notoriety they don't want the House to have a decent discussion on the 2022 budget," he said.



Meanwhile, discussion of the 2022 budget has begun at the committee level where most of the budgetary allocations for state institutions have been approved already.



He further added that if they insist on waiting for Speaker Alban Sumana Bagbin to return from his trip before they will accord Hon. Joe Osei-Owusu some respect as a Speaker of the House, they will also wait for the Speaker to take over his seat as the Speaker of the House.



"We will all wait for Speaker to come," Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu added.



Background



A motion filed by the Minority National Democratic Congress (NDC) in parliament seeking to overturn the approval of the government 2022 Budget Statement and Economic Policy has been rejected.



The Tamale South Member of Parliament (MP), Haruna Iddrisu filed the motion, seeking to overturn the December 1, 2021 ruling which admitted the motion on the 2022 budget statement of government moved by the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta.



Giving reason for the bounced motion, the Clerk of Parliament, Cyril Nsiah, in a letter on behalf of the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bekwai said, pursuant to Order 13(2) of the Standing Orders of Parliament, has directed that I inform you that your motion is not admitted.



Responding to the rejection of the motion in a letter dated December 13, 2021 to the First Deputy Speaker, Haruna Iddrisu was of the view that the First Deputy Speaker, Joseph Osei-Owusu exhibited political bias in not admitting the motion filed by him as the caucuss leader on Tuesday, December 7, 2021.



The letter continued that the decision by the First Deputy Speaker is an affront to standing orders of the House, indicating that they are waiting for the Speaker to return from his sick leave in Dubai for them to file a fresh motion aimed at overturning the budget.



Kindly take note that the NDC Minority Caucus, which I lead and my good self, vehemently disagree with your position on the motion and your conduct in this matter. We take a strong view that your conduct affronts Orders 79, 81, 82 and 90 of our Standing Orders and can no longer be tolerated. In that regard, we have resolved to pursue this matter further with the Right Honourable Speaker upon his return, the letter mentioned.



Watch video below





Source: Isaac Kwame Owusu/Peacefmonline/[email protected]









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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STC Chief Executive Officer, Nana Akomea, has rebuked the people behind the mounting of billboards of Presidential hopefuls for the ruling New Patriotic Party(NPP) and the leading members who have allowed themselves to be on the billboards.



Contributing to Peace FM's 'Kokrokoo' programme Tuesday, Nana Akomea said it's needless for the party's members and supporters to begin campaigns for who becomes the next Presidential candidate after President Akufo-Addo to lead the NPP into the 2024 general elections.



The NPP will on Saturday, December 18, 2021 hold a conference at the Baba Yara Stadium in Kumasi, Ashanti Region, to deliberate on party matters.



Ahead of the conference, the leadership has warned their members and supporters not to mount billboards nor campaign for any person.



Prior to and during the conference from December 18 to 20, 2021, no billboards and or signboards, banners or any kind of outdoor signage with the images and or names of individual members, with or without the consent of the individual, shall be acceptable. This applies to the area within the Greater Kumasi Metropolis. All such displays, if put up already, should be removed, a statement by the party read.



It continued; Any person, with or without his or her consent, whose image is flaunted on any advocacy material and who does not take active steps to desist from any public display of aspiration for a position within the precincts of Greater Kumasi runs a higher risk of disqualification in the event nominations are declared open.



This notwithstanding, there are reports of billboards showcasing some leading members of the party for Presidential positions being mounted in Kumasi ahead of the conference.



Nana Akomea, reacting to the issue, is calling on the 'big names' on the billboards to bring their camps to order.



"Many of these people mounting these billboards are the same ones telling Ghanaians to tighten their belt; that they should accept the e-levy, so we can work with it. You are telling us to tighten our belt and doing these big billboards. So, that doesn't help the party. It doesn't help the government. It doesn't help you. They should pull the brake."



To him, such things will disturb the NPP's fortunes, so should be stopped immediately.



"They are all trauma to the party; it's needless. Focus on your work and do it effectively. When you have efficiently done your work well, that will be your testimony. That's what you can use to market yourself," he told host Kwami Sefa Kayi.





Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Gloria Akpene Acquah, a Ghanaian radio and television personality also known as MzGee has rubbished speculations that she once dated current Deputy Minister of Tourism Okraku-Mantey.



Mz Gee told Delay in a recent interview that never did she have an affair with Mark who was then the Programmes Manager at Hitz FM.



She explained that the rumours stemmed from fact that she was closest to Mark Okraku-Mantey and he gave her roles to play in discharge of her duties while she was at Multimedia Group Limited.



Mz Gee also debunked rumors that she and former Hitz FM presenter Kwame B had an affair.



She claimed they were best off friends and the deadlocked rasta did not possess the qualities she wants in a man for a date so she friend-zoned him.



Kwame B was at my beck and call but he was not my spec, she said.



In the same interview, Mz Gee said that societal pressure on her to give birth does not affect her in any negative way.



She said her husband is not disturbed that a child has not come out of their four years relationship.



The award winning broadcaster said she has heard stories of couples waiting for over 10 years to have a child so she is not late for birth.



Mz Gee got married to broadcast journalist Raymond Acquah, also a worker at Multimedia Group Limited, in 2017.



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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.

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" " One day married, next day free? There's really no such thing as a secret divorce. Mofles/RayaHristova/Thinkstock

Gabriel Villa allegedly did a very bad thing. According to a New York Post article, the Manhattan lawyer and travel agent secretly divorced his wife only months after their 1994 marriage to protect his money. By "secret divorce", we mean that he filed for divorce without telling his wife, Cristina Carta Villa. Yup, they continued to live as husband and wife for 20 years, even having a son together.

Needless to say, Carta Villa is a little upset. The 59-year-old is suing her "husband," now 90 and in poor health, to get the divorce nullified and to maintain ownership of the couple's multimillion-dollar Midtown condo. But will she win, or are "secret divorces" somehow legal?

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Not in the United States, says Lina Guillen, a California family lawyer and editor at Nolo, a source for free legal information and publisher of do-it-yourself legal guides.

"In the U.S., there is something called a default divorce," Guillen explains, "which can be granted with just one spouse appearing in court, but these aren't really 'secret divorces.'" The difference is that the spouse asking for divorce must prove that he or she notified the other spouse by serving divorce papers, or else published the divorce filing in the newspaper as a way of notification if the other spouse couldn't be found.

But here's the kicker: Villa didn't file for divorce in the United States. His papers were signed in the Dominican Republic, a Caribbean island nation that's notorious for its quickie divorces, known in colorful local parlance as divorcios al vapor.

Mexico used to be the hot spot for quickie divorces. In the States, divorce proceedings can drag on for months and cost thousands of dollars. From the 1940s to the 1960s, enterprising lawyers and judges set up shop right across the Texas and California borders, offering 24-hour divorces at low prices. U.S. courts eventually stopped recognizing these divorces, and Mexico enacted tougher residency requirements in the 1970s. But that didn't curb the demand for fast and cheap divorces. Today, the top destination for eager-to-be-exes is the Dominican Republic, a quick four-hour flight from NYC.

While a Dominican divorce is faster than in the U.S., it's still not a "secret" divorce. At least when it's done right. According to the Embassy of the Dominican Republic and additional information tracked down by Nolo's Guillen, there are several strict requirements for U.S. citizens wishing to obtain a divorcioal vapor:

Both spouses must sign a formal separation agreement that details division of assets, child custody and alimony.

At least one spouse must be physically present at the divorce hearing in the Dominican Republic. The other spouse can be represented by an agent with power of attorney.

If the judge rules in favor of the divorce, the ruling must be certified by the Dominican Republic's attorney general's office and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Finally, the divorce decree must be published in a national Dominican newspaper.

If U.S. citizens follow all of the necessary steps, they can obtain a Dominican divorce in eight to 10 days. But will that divorce be recognized by U.S. courts? It depends where you live. Divorce law is state law, and each state has its own rules. In California, where Guillen practices, at least one of the divorcing spouses must be a resident of the foreign country where the divorce is filed, and that's true in the majority of states.

"But New York follows the minority rule," says Guillen. "Neither party needs to reside in the foreign country or to have lived there for any period of time. New York has a well-established policy of recognizing foreign divorce judgments, and a spouse will have a really hard time attacking a foreign divorce if the divorce was mutual, unless the spouse can show there was some sort of fraud in obtaining the divorce, or that the divorce goes against public policy in New York.

Fraud is the keyword in the Villa case. According to Carter Villa, she never knowingly signed any separation agreements, unless her newlywed husband tricked her into doing so. Even if she unwittingly signed something, Carter Villa alleges that Villa wasn't physically present in the Dominican Republic for a hearing and the divorce was never published in a Dominican newspaper, making it invalid in both countries.

Without access to Carter Villa's Manhattan court filings or the divorce documents from the Dominican Republic, it impossible to know the specifics of her case or whether Villa skirted Dominican law to obtain his "secret" divorce. But the takeaway for conniving spouses is clear. If you're that worried about protecting your assets, have your spouse sign a prenup. It's the least scumbaggy thing you can do.

Now Thats Interesting If you still want a quickie divorce, but dont want to (technically) leave the U.S., your best option is Guam, a U.S. territory since 1898. For an uncontested divorce, theres only a seven-day residency requirement, and Guam divorces are recognized in all 50 states.
" " A large crowd gathers inside the Horizon Church to worship on Sept. 29, 2018 in Sydney, Australia. Horizon Church is a Pentecostal church that is also the Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison's place of worship. Brook Mitchell/Getty Images

It was the summer of 1906 and something extraordinary was taking place in a tumble-down shack in the industrial outskirts of Los Angeles. Crowds gathered day and night at the Apostolic Faith Mission to be part of the Azusa Street revival, a charismatic Christian renewal movement led by a black minister from Louisiana named William Seymour.

The Los Angeles Times took notice of the unusual spiritual awakening on Azusa Street, describing ecstatic attendees "breathing strange utterances and mouthing a creed which it would seem no sane mortal could understand," adding that "devotees of the weird doctrine practice the most fanatical rites, preach the wildest theories, and work themselves into a state of mad excitement."

The Times may have scoffed, but for the thousands of believers who traveled cross-country to join Seymour's grassroots spiritual movement, there was real power and Biblical truth in all of that "madness." Their spontaneous and euphoric expressions, known as "speaking in tongues," were a clear sign that they had been baptized in the Holy Spirit, just as Jesus's disciples were "filled with the Holy Ghost" and "began to speak with other tongues" during the Jewish feast known as the Pentecost.

Word of the spiritual storm on Azusa Street quickly spread across the country and eventually around the world, launching the wildly popular Christian movement now known as Pentecostalism. Pentecostal worship is famous for its spontaneous outpourings of the Holy Spirit through singing, speaking in tongues and divine healing. Today, just 113 years after the Azusa Street revival, Pentecostals number about 300 million believers worldwide, ranking second only to Catholics as the world's most practiced Christian denomination.

In the United States, two of the largest Pentecostal denominations are The Church of God in Christ whose 6.5 million members are mostly African-American, and the Assemblies of God with 3.2 million members across more than 13,000 congregations. There is also the United Pentecostal Church International which has 5.3 million members worldwide

Pentecostalism and related charismatic Christian movements are among the fastest-growing religious denominations in the world. In 1980, 6 percent of all global Christians were Pentecostals. By 2015, 25 percent of global Christians were Pentecostal with the greatest concentrations in what's referred to as the "Global South"  largely impoverished regions in Africa, Latin America and Southeast Asia.

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Pentecostal Beliefs

Martin Mittelstadt is a New Testament professor at Evangel University in Missouri, and president of the Society for Pentecostal Studies. He describes Pentecostalism as a "renewal" or "restoration" movement within Christianity. Such movements have sprung up now and again when Christians feel like something important about Christ's original teachings and church has been lost and needs to be recovered.

In the case of Pentecostals, what was lost were the impressive spiritual powers and prophetic callings bestowed upon Christ's 11 remaining apostles in the New Testament book of Acts, says Mittelstadt. After Jesus was crucified and resurrected, he appeared to his disciples and told them to wait in Jerusalem "until ye be endued with power from on high" (Luke 24:49). That power arrived during the Jewish festival of Shavuot, known in Greek as Pentecost ("fiftieth") because it takes place 50 days after Passover.

While the apostles and more than 100 other early Christians were gathered together for the Pentecost feast, "there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting," reports Acts 2. "And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance."

Pentecostal pioneer William Seymour and others came to understand this original biblical Pentecost experience as an example of "baptism in the Holy Spirit," or "Spirit baptism." Such a Spirit baptism occurs after someone has already converted to Christianity in their hearts by accepting Jesus Christ as their personal Savior (also known as being "saved"), and is separate from a water baptism. To be baptized in the Holy Spirit is to be baptized "with the Holy Ghost and with fire," as promised by John the Baptist in Matthew 3:11.

Pentecostals believe that the same transformative spiritual baptism experienced by the original 11 apostles is available to all and is necessary to align your life and personal mission with that of Jesus Christ.

"The goal is to reenact 1st-century Christianity," says Mittelstadt. "They want to relive the book of Acts. And the events on the Day of Pentecost are central to the character of the Pentecostal worldview."

At the heart of this worldview is the belief that Jesus Christ's return is imminent. In Acts 2, the apostle Peter explains the disciples' strange behavior on the Pentecost as a sign that the Second Coming is nigh. He cites the Old Testament prophet Joel, who prophesied that "in the last days... [God] will pour out of [His] Spirit upon all flesh."

The early Pentecostals saw what was happening on Azusa Street and elsewhere as the long-awaited arrival of the "latter rain," fulfilling the prophecy that the Holy Spirit would pour down on this last generation before the triumphant return of Christ.

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What's Up With Speaking in Tongues?

Speaking in tongues seems truly bizarre to many non-Pentecostals. Even the onlookers who witnessed the first Pentecost thought the apostles were day drunk when they spontaneously began to blabber in foreign languages. But speaking in tongues fulfills a very important role for Pentecostals.

Pentecostal pioneer Charles Fox Parham was one of the earliest to preach what is now one of the fundamental truths of Pentecostalism, which is that speaking in tongues is physical evidence of having been baptized in the Holy Spirit. Spontaneous speech, either in an untaught foreign language (xenoglossia) or through nonsensical divine utterances (glossolalia), is seen by Pentecostals as "proof" that someone has been filled with the Holy Spirit.

For early Pentecostal believers, receiving the gift of tongues had a functional purpose, too. Once baptized in the Holy Spirit, adherents would often to travel abroad to preach the word as Pentecostal missionaries.

But Mittelstadt wants to emphasize that speaking in tongues was never seen strictly in a utilitarian light. "These experiences were profoundly spiritual for these folks," he says. "They were also symbolic or metaphoric of a deep and intimate encounter with God."

Speaking in tongues remains controversial, and is a sticking point between Pentecostals and members of other Protestant churches who don't practice this. (They point out that other Bible verses say speaking in tongues should only be done in public if someone is there to interpret the message for the rest of the audience.)

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Pentecostals and Charismatic Worship

In the early Pentecostal movement, Mittelstadt says that church services used to run for four or five hours straight and include a lot of singing and space for spontaneous expressions of praise through dancing, clapping, shouting and speaking in tongues. Leaders may also ask people to come to the front of the church for healing, where they might anoint them with oil and pray over them.

"One of the great contributions of Pentecostals was this new emphasis on praise, on worship, spontaneity and freedom," says Mittelstadt. "The service is not taking place in front of you, but you are full participants within it."

Many Pentecostal practices have found their way into other Christian denominations, in what is referred to as the charismatic movement. There are charismatic Catholic, Methodist and evangelical churches.

Modern Pentecostal worship services in larger congregations aren't quite as spontaneous and ecstatic as their predecessors, says Mittelstadt, who laments the "performance element" that has taken over.

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All the World is Pentecostal

" " Hundreds of thousands of people attend an all-night Pentecostal church service held by the Redeemed Church of Christ on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway the night of Oct. 3, 2003 in Nigeria. Jacob Silberberg/Getty Images

The Pulitzer Center's Atlas of Pentecostalism estimates that 35,000 people convert to Pentecostalism every day, and some of the largest churches in the world are Pentecostal. The Redeemed Christian Church of God in Lagos, Nigeria claims to have 5 million members in Nigeria alone. And the Yoido Full Gospel Church in Seoul, South Korea, claims 800,000 members.

Mittlelstadt cites several reasons for Pentecostalism's explosive growth in the Global South. For starters, even non-Christians are accustomed to highly experiential forms of religious worship and practice.

"You're talking about people that are already living in a spiritual dynamic that believes in the supernatural," says Mittelstadt. "The idea of 'God versus the powers' is an everyday reality for these folks."

A second reason for Pentecostalism's rapid spread in the Global South is related to what's often derogatorily called "the prosperity gospel," the belief that living a certain kind of Christian life will not only bring spiritual blessings, but monetary reward. Mittelstadt doesn't agree that all Pentecostals in the Global South want to buy a new BMW, but he recognizes that Holy Spirit baptism often brings with it a noticeable "lift."

"You have this profound spiritual experience and all of a sudden fidelity to your spouse becomes important, education becomes important, you give up alcohol, you hold down a job, your family winds up being transformed and your communities are transformed," says Mittelstadt. "There's a social lift that comes with the Pentecostal experience."

Now That's Impressive The Redemption Camp of The Redeemed Christian Church of God in Nigeria used to be an offsite gathering spot for revivals, but has grown into a city of its own, with 5,000 private homes, its own electric power plant and an amusement park.

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Originally Published: Jun 14, 2019
The Living Art Phuket, in association with the Department of International Trade Promotion (DITP), presents the Curatorial Project X Talented Artists and Designers exhibition. The exhibition will be on display from December 9, 2021, till January 8, 2022, at The Living Art Gallery at Blue Tree Phuket.

The collective art and design exhibition will be presented in three separated exhibitions, inside the newly revamped gallery space of The Living Art Gallery Phuket:

1. COLLECTIVE ART AND CRAFT MARKET curated by The Living Art Gallery

2. DESIGNERS ROOM & TALENT THAI PROMOTION 2021 and T-STYLE FOR LIFE organised by the Department of International Trade Promotion (DITP)

3. STILL WATER exhibition in the Wunderkammer project, an international curatorial program of multiple satellite exhibitions across different countries to display the works of Glasgow School of Art graduates.

One of the main objectives of this collaboration is to create trade opportunities in art and craft products during the Phuket Sandbox 2021.

The inauguration of the Curatorial Project X Talented Artists and Designers exhibition will be held at The Living Art Gallery Phuket on December 9, 2021, at 3.30 pm; coinciding with the unveiling of the newly revamped gallery space of The Living Art Gallery at Blue Tree Phuket.
Department of Cultural Promotion, Ministry of Culture together with the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) and Phuket province organized the Miracle Festival of Thai Food as the tastiest medicine in the world, Thai Taste Therapy Festival

New perspectives opened for foreign tourists to experience the amazing medicinal benefits of local Phuket food

For hundreds of years, the cuisine of Phuket has reflected and perpetuated the culture and customs that have existed since the time of our forefathers and have been passed down and perpetuated from generation to generation, said Chai Nakhonchai, Director-General of the Department of Cultural Promotion. Furthermore, one of the distinctive characteristics of Phuket cuisine is the use of herbs and local ingredients unique to the island, which is the main theme of the Thai food festival, The tastiest medicine in the world, which allows tourists and foreigners residing in Phuket to experience Phuket local food through the lens of its medicinal properties that are beneficial to their health.

Holding the Thai Taste Therapy Festival by highlighting the medicinal benefits of Thai food encourages tourists to travel to the place where herbs and raw ingredients are produced as well as following the restaurant that owns the recipe, Apichai Chatchalermkit, Deputy Governor for Tourism Products and Business, The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), said. These are the true meanings of valuable gastronomic tourism, as it provides tourists with the opportunity to participate in a wide range of food-related activities, as well as benefits from the local community to tourism industry entrepreneurs in all sectors, resulting in the creation of truly sustainable food tourism.

The Thai Taste Therapy Festival, as introduced by Irin Rerksasarn, Director of Thai Taste Therapy: The Thai Taste Therapy Trip, a path of Thai cuisine as medicine  Thai Taste Therapy Dining  crosses with a discount campaign during December 2021 in Phuket, with events such as the Thai Taste Therapy Trip. We work with key partners such as Chimthai.asia, Suay Cherng Talay, The Charm Phuket, Tu Kab Khao, Blue Elephant Phuket, and others to bring together rare Thai ingredients and carefully selected community food products to share with customers  both domestically and internationally  via the Artisan online market place at www.chimthai.asia. Not only that, but we also have a highlight activity, the Thai Taste Therapy Market, which will assemble such things for guests and interested parties from December 10-12, 2021 at Arena Blue Tree, Phuket.

Activities in the event Thai Taste Therapy Festival at Arena, Blue Tree Phuket, from 10-12 December 2021 time 15:00-20:00

Taste some of the worlds most delicious medicinal dishes, such as Spaghetti Kee Mao Seafood that helps boost immunity from Nua Ton Resort & cafe; Yam Sai Bua Salmon, which is rich in fiber from Prodepran Restaurant & Bar; and Papaya Salad with Latok (sea grapes), which is vitamin-packed from Ta Tuay Restaurant. Special menus from cannabis and kratom leaves are also included.

Explore and purchase medicinal food and pharmaceutical products from the community specially organized for the event, including menus from the communities in old town Phuket, such as Ban Khanaen Community, Ban Palai Community, Ban Tha Chatchai Community, and Ban Koh Coconut Community (Coconut island).

Thai Taste Therapys menu workshop with celebrity chef Nooror Somany Steppe from Blue Elephant Phuket.

Cannabis Cooking: Cannabis food workshop and cannabis longevity drink, a traditional recipe from the reign of King Rama III, inherited by his heirs. A certificate is provided.

Preserve the environment by using FEST Food Safety Packaging, which is both safe for your health and environmentally friendly.

Sancharn Sathaphornwuthikhun, Director of Inflight Service, Department of Thai Smile Airways, said, Thai Smile and Mastercard will take everyone on a trip to experience delicious and healthful foods in the Thai Taste Therapy edition with prominent restaurants. THAI Smile has tightened security measures on six routes in Chiang Rai and Nan, Chiang Mai, Surat Thani, Krabi, and Phuket to keep passengers safe, as well as service staff (who must be completely immunized). We are ready to take you all on a new adventure. Special for Mastercard cardholders: receive a 200 baht discount when purchasing a ticket with Thai Airways and Thai Smile Airways by using the promo code MCTHAITaste. For more information, visit thaiairways.com
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

A new algorithm applied to internet search data, developed by a team of international researchers led by Royal Holloway has suggested that domestic violence incidence may have risen in London by up to 40 percent during the first COVID-19 lockdown in 2020: a figure 78 times larger than estimates based on police data.

The new algorithm, detailed in the study "Quantifying domestic violence in times of crisis," can be used to assess domestic violence levels in real time, presenting a potential solution for crime measurements otherwise reliant on historic or outdated data.

The researchers identified 35 keywords frequently searched online by domestic violence victims, including terms relating to: support, refuge, charity, aid, legal protection, law enforcement, as well as information on threatening and abusive relationships. Using daily search intensities for these keywords from Google Trends, the researchers were able to construct a search-based measure of domestic violence incidence by identifying which of the keywords predicted domestic violence crimes reported to the London Metropolitan Police in the five years prior to COVID-19. When then applied to the spring 2020 lockdown period the researchers observed a drastic increase of 40 percent in domestic violence-related online activity. In contrast, police reported domestic violence crimes saw only a modest increase of 6 percent, suggesting that victims were less likely to report to the police during the lockdown.

The research suggests that the London Metropolitan Police might have recorded an additional 4,700 domestic violence crimes over the lockdown period (on top of the 21,500 they did record), had the rate of reporting to the police during the period measured continued at the pre-pandemic level.

From the outset of the pandemic, there were significant concerns about the potential impact of lockdowns on the incidence of domestic violence. Whilst under normal conditions, police reports provide reliable information about the variation in domestic violence incidence, in the context of the pandemic there were also concerns that the lockdowns reduced victims' willingness or opportunities to report abuse.

Professor Dan Anderberg, head of the Department of Economics at Royal Holloway, said: "The results from the current study show that concerns, raised at the time, that victims of domestic abuse were less likely to report to the police during the lockdown were well-founded. Going forward the research also provides a tool for monitoring the level of domestic abuse incidence in real time."

The research from Professor Dan Anderberg at Royal Holloway, Professor Helmut Rainer at University of Munich and Dr. Fabian Siuda at Vienna University of Economics and Business was developed during spring 2020 lockdown, with the three economists keen to address the problem of measuring the potential rise in domestic violence during the pandemic.

More information: Quantifying Domestic Violence in Times of Crisis. Quantifying Domestic Violence in Times of Crisis. www.cesifo.org/en/publikatione  iolence-times-crisis
Archaeologists have discovered a way to reconstruct past climates by analyzing the shells of this species of short-lived surf clams, Donax obesulus, which have been consumed by people since ancient times. Credit: Jacob Warner, LSU

The tiny, pale surf clam about the size of a fingernail that most people have seen and collected on beaches around the world holds clues in its shell to Earth's past. For the first time, researchers have been able to identify the monthly, and even weekly, ocean temperatures recorded in these smooth clam shells. Because ancient civilizations consumed these ubiquitous clams and left the shells at archaeological sites, researchers now have a new way to reconstruct climate and its fluctuations from nearly 3,000 years ago.

"The equipment available now, compared to the past, is precise and powerful enough to be able to reveal the sea surface temperature and the overall climate at a specific location when the clam was building its shell. This gives us archaeologists and paleoclimatologists another tool in our proverbial toolbox to reconstruct past climate. As we know today, climate can influence all kinds of practices and behaviors, which may have been the case in ancient civilizations as well," said LSU Department of Geography & Anthropology doctoral candidate Jacob Warner, who is the lead author on this new research published in Chemical Geology.

Warner will present this new research, 'Trace Element Ratios (Sr/Ca, Mg/Ca, and Ba/Ca) in the Short-Lived Bivalve Donax obesulus: Potential Environmental Proxies?' at the American Geophysical Union, or AGU, Fall meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 14 from 4:006:00 p.m. Central. Members of the media can register to attend AGU for free.

Warner and colleagues are focused on tracking a climate phenomenon that affects a large part of the world called the El Nino Southern Oscillation, or ENSO, the warm phase of which is characterized by warmer than normal ocean temperatures, increased rainfall and more tropical storms and hurricanes in the southern U.S.

LSU Ph.D. candidate Jacob Warner drilled along the clam's shell to collect samples at each interval of time during the clams lifespan to get a snapshot of the ocean temperature as the shell grew. Credit: Jacob Warner, LSU

Warner's study sites are in northern Peru, which is one of the areas most impacted by ENSO. The cold, deep water off the coast of Peru makes it one of the most productive fisheries in the world; however, when a warm ENSO event occurs, it can result in fishery die-offs.

To capture the sea surface temperature from different phases of ENSO, the researchers collected 18 surf clams from markets and coastal beaches in 2012, 2014 and 2016. This new research used a species of short-lived surf clam called Donax obesulus, which has not been used to reconstruct climate before. Previous studies have successfully used the short-lived intertidal clam species, Mesodesma donacium. However, this species is now extinct in northern Peru.

Like trees and tree rings, clams create layers in their shells as they grow. Warner drilled along the shell to collect samples at each interval of time during the clam's lifespan to get a snapshot of the ocean temperature as the shell grew.

Archaeological site, Caylan, in the Nepena Valley, Peru. Credit: Jacob Warner, LSU

In a separate, forthcoming paper, Warner collaborated with fellow archeologist Aleksa Alaica, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Alberta to analyze the surf clam Donax obesulus found at an archaeological site in the Jequetepeque Valley in northern Peru. They discovered that the clams' shells were larger during warmer ENSO events; therefore, shell size can also be used as a paleoclimate proxy. They also discovered that the ancient people, who lived at this site, preferentially harvested larger individual clams, which indicates a fisheries management practice in place more than 2,000 years ago.

"This collaborative study showcases the power of simple methods to examine complex questions. Our work highlights the multiple factors affecting shell growth and the resilience of communities in the past to respond to climate and social transformations," Alaica said.

Explore further Our iconic giant clams face new threats from warmer waters and acidic oceans

More information: Jacob P. Warner et al, Investigating the influence of temperature and seawater 18O on Donax obesulus (Reeve, 1854) shell 18O, Chemical Geology (2021). Journal information: Chemical Geology Jacob P. Warner et al, Investigating the influence of temperature and seawater 18O on Donax obesulus (Reeve, 1854) shell 18O,(2021). DOI: 10.1016/j.chemgeo.2021.120638
Credit: CC0 Public Domain

The steady decline in lethal gun violence in the EU came to halt in 2012 and some countries, such as Sweden, have even noticed an increase since then. An arms race among drug criminals and an increase in the availability of illegal firearms could lead to more criminal and gun violence. This is one of the noteworthy conclusions from Project TARGET, a new, extensive European study coordinated by the Flemish Peace Institute in which Marieke Liem and Katharina Krusselmann participated on behalf of Leiden University.

Commissioned by the European Committee, Project TARGET provides the very first baseline study into the impact of the illegal arms trade on gun violence in Europe. Not a moment too soon, now that policy makers from several European countries are frantically searching for policy responses to shootings and disturbing evolutions in firearms trafficking.

Market being flooded with cheap and illegal weapons

Highlighting dozens of examples from all over Europe, Project TARGET shows, among other things, how a constant flow of cheap weapons is drastically transforming the illegal firearms market and possibly making it even more profitable. Most often it concerns converted or reactivated weapons, coming in from Turkey and from Central and Eastern Europe, or postal packages containing gun parts being shipped from the U.S. ending up in the wrong hands. But 3D printing is also becoming more important. Last month, the Dutch Police raided a clandestine workshop and confiscated nine 3D printers that were used to print gun parts. Criminals are also increasingly making use of the Internet to purchase weapons, both on and off the so-called Dark Web.

Gun violence as means to earn respect

Marieke Liem, Professor Social Resilience and Security, discusses the study's outcomes: "Our findings suggest that loosely structured or criminal groups without a structural organization are inclined to use firearms at an earlier stage and tend to consider gun violence as a means to earn respect. This is demonstrated by the sudden eruptions of gun violence in large urban areas in the Netherlands and Sweden. Perceived insults by criminals can lead to sudden eruptions of gun violence, while also claiming bystanders as victims. Given these circumstances, gun violence can easily become endemic."

Nils Duquet, director at the Flemish Peace Institute: "Illegally acquiring firearms is becoming easier and available locally, as is shown by our research. The available supply that exists today is sufficient for even low-ranking criminals to arm themselves. Additionally, the competition between drug criminals is intensifying. Setting in motion an arms race in which even heavier weapons are being purchased by those higher up on the ladder."

Gun violence is rarely seen as a national security priority, according to the researchers. Duquet: "The social impact of the violence it entails can be very sudden and disruptive. Within Europe, progress is currently being made on a structural, proactive approach. But there are many blinds spots and problem areas that require an increase in capacity, sharing of information, research and the elimination of legal loopholes. This report adds an important piece to this puzzle."

Explore further Do more privately owned firearms lead to more firearm violence?

More information: Targeting gun violence & trafficking in Europe: Targeting gun violence & trafficking in Europe: vlaamsvredesinstituut.eu/wp-co  ET-OnlineVersion.pdf
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

A new analysis of the economic impacts of Hurricane Katrina and Superstorm Sandy could help improve climate resilience planning for cities anticipating severe weather events going forward.

While many studies have examined the storms' economic impact through loss of business revenue, Illinois Institute of Technology Associate Professor of Social Science Yuri Mansury and his colleagues focused on households' income and properties by looking at which populations saw the most economic harm from the storms and why.

The lowest-income households in New Orleans, which were also predominantly African-American households, suffered the most as a result of Hurricane Katrina. Many of these households were dependent on employment in the mining industry or on capital earningsnamely, income received from owning mom-and-pop shops or owning property as landlords. Households earning less than $10,000 annually lost nearly 35 percent of their income and those earning between $10,000$15,000 lost nearly 12 percent of their income.

In New York, it was downtown Manhattan and the highest-income households in the state that suffered the most as a result of Superstorm Sandy. Those households relied on labor income, worker's compensation and salaries, and most were employed in the financial sector. Households earning more than $150,000 annually had an income loss of about 5.8 percent. Capital income was a secondary source of income for some of the highest-earning households.

Mansury says these types of studies have important implications for economic development and climate resilience planning in cities. Diversification of income sources is important for the lowest-income households to make them less vulnerable to disruption in their livelihood following an extreme weather event. Likewise, he says affluent areas also need diversified income sources to ensure that households are not dependent on a single industry or economic sector.

"When we think about the definition of a disaster, it is a combination of a hazardous event like Katrina and the preexisting stratification and existing inequality in the economy. If a disaster hits an empty area, it's just a natural hazard. But it becomes a disaster if it hits a densely populated area," says Mansury, who notes that about 60 percent of Americans now live in coastal cities. "The trend in which we observe the relocation of Americans to coastal cities is contributing to that, and more so, for households at the bottom of the distribution, they're not able to afford more protected areas; they're more exposed."

The researchers used geographic information systems to examine patterns of economic activity that existed in New Orleans and New York in the areas that ended up underwater following the storms. Using these maps alongside United States census data in a computational model, the researchers were able to examine the earnings of households employed by the businesses affected by the storms. In doing so they were able to understand the broader picture of households' dependence on the economic sectors that were most impacted by the storms.

Mansury and his colleagues hope to ultimately understand how to mitigate future economic losses caused by extreme weather, especially among lower-income households. They are planning a follow-up study that will focus on understanding how quickly residents and households experience the economic impact of natural disasters. Salary loss is felt most quickly by people no longer receiving a paycheck because their workplace is underwater. The same applies to the property owners of businesses that are flooded.

"We want to focus on income loss that is more immediate, particularly for low-income households that have less cushion," Mansury says. "We want to be able to anticipate and come up with a mitigation plan that takes into account the speed through which the effect is transmitted to vulnerable households."

This research was published in Applied Geography.

Explore further Poverty worsened 2020 as many low-wage workers took the brunt of the economic blows

More information: Yuri Mansury et al, Structural path analysis of extreme weather events: An application to Hurricane Katrina and Superstorm Sandy, Applied Geography (2021). Yuri Mansury et al, Structural path analysis of extreme weather events: An application to Hurricane Katrina and Superstorm Sandy,(2021). DOI: 10.1016/j.apgeog.2021.102561
Credit: Dr. Sue-Ann Watson

Museum of Tropical Queensland and ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies at James Cook University (Coral CoE at JCU), Senior Curator of Marine Invertebrates, Dr. Sue-Ann Watson said that to date, Australia has done a good job in protecting giant clams that inhabit the Great Barrier Reef.

"But these animals are now threatened by huge environmental adversariesglobal warming, marine heatwaves and ocean acidification. Just like coral, these changes lead to clams bleaching, and reduce growth and survival rates," Dr. Watson said.

"This paper shows that the challenge now is to protect the remaining wild populations of giant clams and their coral reef habitats in the hope that global emissions, and thus environmental conditions, stabilize."

As the largest living bivalve mollusc on Earth, the giant clam can weigh over 250kgs and can grow to over a meter long. Similar to coral, giant clam ancestors evolved around 50 million years ago, live long lives stationary on the ocean floor and have a 'solar-power' capability to receive energy via photosynthesis.

The paper boldly considers novel ways of assisting giant clams through the current climate crisis.

"Right now, strategies like local water quality management and utilizing complex technology for breeding programs will buy some time for these reef giants and help them to persist through this difficult period until emissions are reduced," Dr. Watson said.

Co-author of the paper from National University of Singapore and 2021 Pew Marine Fellow in Marine Conservation, Dr. Mei Lin Neo said further research is required to understand the effects of climate change on giant clams.

"Due to their long lifespans, giant clams are much more susceptible to threats such as rising seawater temperature. By understanding their biological responses to these environmental stressors, we can better inform future conservation strategies and consider new, innovative approaches," said Dr. Neo.

Queensland Museum Network CEO Dr. Jim Thompson said as the only invertebrate among the eight 'iconic' creatures of the Great Barrier Reef it's vital every effort is made to protect their future.

"This paper highlights the importance of collaborating with other researchers and institutions to help understand the challenges that face our marine life so we can implement the best course of action to protect them in the future."

Queensland Chief Scientist Prof Hugh Possingham welcomed the research on the giant clam to assist in conservation efforts.

"Climate change is impacting our marine ecosystems and hence threatening multi-billion dollar industries such as tourism and fisheries.

"I applaud the great work of Queensland scientists who are studying species that live on the Great Barrier Reef to ensure we can make effective decisions to protect them," said Prof Possingham.

Other initiatives such as recognizing giant clams as a flagship species for coral reefs may further help to improve the prospects of these charismatic megafauna over coming decades.

Explore further Back from the brink: Helping coral reefs recover

More information: Sue-Ann Watson et al, Conserving threatened species during rapid environmental change: using biological responses to inform management strategies of giant clams, Conservation Physiology (2021). Sue-Ann Watson et al, Conserving threatened species during rapid environmental change: using biological responses to inform management strategies of giant clams,(2021). DOI: 10.1093/conphys/coab082

Provided by Queensland Museum
Ph.D. student Ruby Hume's research is also investigating in-field spectral assessment of soils using infrared spectroscopy technology. Credit: University of Adelaide

University of Adelaide scientists have developed a new simple, inexpensive and fast method to detect and measure very low concentrations of agricultural lime in soils, which is generally a time consuming and difficult exercise.

The research is published in leading soil science journal Geoderma.

Ph.D. student and lead author of the study Ruby Hume, developed this method as part of a Department of Primary Industries and Regions (PIRSA)-led and Grains Research and Development Corporation-funded project, exploring novel approaches to address the issue of sub-surface soil acidification in South Australia's cropping regions.

"Soil acidity can be very damaging to crop production. Approximately 20 percent of agricultural land in South Australia is affected by the problem, and this number is expected to double over the next few decades," said Ms Hume.

"While it is not a new problem in South Australia, we are now seeing acidity in regions where it has not been an issue previously, such as in the Mid-North and the Yorke Peninsula, and clay-rich soils in the South East."

Another big issue the researchers say is the development of acid layers below the soil surface, which are difficult to detect and treat.

Lime (calcium carbonate) is typically applied on farms to treat soil acidity. To maximize its effectiveness, it is important to understand how the lime dissolves and moves through the soils.

The new method to detect and measure carbonate in soils uses Mid Infrared (MIR) spectroscopy. MIR spectroscopy is a relatively well-established tool in soil chemistry that measures the vibrations of molecular bonds within the soil when infrared light is shined on a sample.

"With this technology we were able to detect very small amounts of lime that might get lost amongst the other information that is contained in the soil," said Ms Hume.

"It is a valuable tool as it is accurate, inexpensive and requires minimal sample preparation."

The next stages of this research involve applying the method to a number of field trials that have been established by Grain Research and Development Corporation's Acid Soils SA team . These trials which will be conducted with local farmers across multiple sites in South Australia will involve different liming treatments and incorporation methods that may improve the way farmers manage their soils in the future.

Co-author and Principal Ph.D. Supervisor Associate Professor Luke Mosley from the University of Adelaide's Environment Institute and School of Biological Sciences said: "We hope that we will be able to detect lime products through the soil profile and measure if and how these products are moving through the soil and treating the acidity effectivity.

"The method is also potentially useful for soil carbon storage projects, which are increasingly being implemented in Australia and globally as a way to help mitigate climate change."

In future research, Ms Hume plans to look at plant spectral responses to acidity and liming, and has been awarded an Australian Plant Phenomics Facility (APPF) postgraduate internship to explore this with a potted trial at the APPF's Smart House facility, beginning next year.

More information: Ruby Hume et al, Detection of agriculturally relevant lime concentrations in soil using mid-infrared spectroscopy, Geoderma (2021). Ruby Hume et al, Detection of agriculturally relevant lime concentrations in soil using mid-infrared spectroscopy,(2021). DOI: 10.1016/j.geoderma.2021.115639
As Parker Solar Probe ventures closer to the Sun, it's crossing into uncharted regimes and making new discoveries. This image represents Parker Solar Probe's distances from the Sun for some of these milestones and discoveries. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/Mary P. Hrybyk-Keith

For the first time in history, a spacecraft has touched the Sun. NASA's Parker Solar Probe has now flown through the Sun's upper atmospherethe coronaand sampled particles and magnetic fields there.

The new milestone marks one major step for Parker Solar Probe and one giant leap for solar science. Just as landing on the Moon allowed scientists to understand how it was formed, touching the very stuff the Sun is made of will help scientists uncover critical information about our closest star and its influence on the solar system.

"Parker Solar Probe "touching the Sun" is a monumental moment for solar science and a truly remarkable feat," said Thomas Zurbuchen, the associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "Not only does this milestone provide us with deeper insights into our Sun's evolution and it's impacts on our solar system, but everything we learn about our own star also teaches us more about stars in the rest of the universe."

As it circles closer to the solar surface, Parker is making new discoveries that other spacecraft were too far away to see, including from within the solar windthe flow of particles from the Sun that can influence us at Earth. In 2019, Parker discovered that magnetic zig-zag structures in the solar wind, called switchbacks, are plentiful close to the Sun. But how and where they form remained a mystery. Halving the distance to the Sun since then, Parker Solar Probe has now passed close enough to identify one place where they originate: the solar surface.

The first passage through the coronaand the promise of more flybys to comewill continue to provide data on phenomena that are impossible to study from afar.

"Flying so close to the Sun, Parker Solar Probe now senses conditions in the magnetically dominated layer of the solar atmospherethe coronathat we never could before," said Nour Raouafi, the Parker project scientist at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland. "We see evidence of being in the corona in magnetic field data, solar wind data, and visually in images. We can actually see the spacecraft flying through coronal structures that can be observed during a total solar eclipse."

Closer Than Ever Before

Parker Solar Probe launched in 2018 to explore the mysteries of the Sun by traveling closer to it than any spacecraft before. Three years after launch and decades after first conception, Parker has finally arrived.

Unlike Earth, the Sun doesn't have a solid surface. But it does have a superheated atmosphere, made of solar material bound to the Sun by gravity and magnetic forces. As rising heat and pressure push that material away from the Sun, it reaches a point where gravity and magnetic fields are too weak to contain it.

That point, known as the Alfven critical surface, marks the end of the solar atmosphere and beginning of the solar wind. Solar material with the energy to make it across that boundary becomes the solar wind, which drags the magnetic field of the Sun with it as it races across the solar system, to Earth and beyond. Importantly, beyond the Alfven critical surface, the solar wind moves so fast that waves within the wind cannot ever travel fast enough to make it back to the Sunsevering their connection.

Until now, researchers were unsure exactly where the Alfven critical surface lay. Based on remote images of the corona, estimates had put it somewhere between 10 to 20 solar radii from the surface of the Sun4.3 to 8.6 million miles. Parker's spiral trajectory brings it slowly closer to the Sun and during the last few passes, the spacecraft was consistently below 20 solar radii (91 percent of Earth's distance from the Sun), putting it in the position to cross the boundaryif the estimates were correct.

On April 28, 2021, during its eighth flyby of the Sun, Parker Solar Probe encountered the specific magnetic and particle conditions at 18.8 solar radii (around 8.1 million miles) above the solar surface that told scientists it had crossed the Alfven critical surface for the first time and finally entered the solar atmosphere.

"We were fully expecting that, sooner or later, we would encounter the corona for at least a short duration of time," said Justin Kasper, lead author on a new paper about the milestone published in Physical Review Letters, and deputy chief technology officer at BWX Technologies, Inc. and University of Michigan professor. "But it is very exciting that we've already reached it."

For the first time in history, a spacecraft has touched the Sun. NASAs Parker Solar Probe has now flown through the Suns upper atmosphere  the corona  and sampled particles and magnetic fields there. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/Joy Ng

Into the Eye of the Storm

During the flyby, Parker Solar Probe passed into and out of the corona several times. This is proved what some had predictedthat the Alfven critical surface isn't shaped like a smooth ball. Rather, it has spikes and valleys that wrinkle the surface. Discovering where these protrusions line up with solar activity coming from the surface can help scientists learn how events on the Sun affect the atmosphere and solar wind.

At one point, as Parker Solar Probe dipped to just beneath 15 solar radii (around 6.5 million miles) from the Sun's surface, it transited a feature in the corona called a pseudostreamer. Pseudostreamers are massive structures that rise above the Sun's surface and can be seen from Earth during solar eclipses.

Passing through the pseudostreamer was like flying into the eye of a storm. Inside the pseudostreamer, the conditions quieted, particles slowed, and number of switchbacks droppeda dramatic change from the busy barrage of particles the spacecraft usually encounters in the solar wind.

For the first time, the spacecraft found itself in a region where the magnetic fields were strong enough to dominate the movement of particles there. These conditions were the definitive proof the spacecraft had passed the Alfven critical surface and entered the solar atmosphere where magnetic fields shape the movement of everything in the region.

The first passage through the corona, which lasted only a few hours, is one of many planned for the mission. Parker will continue to spiral closer to the Sun, eventually reaching as close as 8.86 solar radii (3.83 million miles) from the surface. Upcoming flybys, the next of which is happening in January 2022, will likely bring Parker Solar Probe through the corona again.

"I'm excited to see what Parker finds as it repeatedly passes through the corona in the years to come," said Nicola Fox, division director for the Heliophysics Division at NASA Headquarters. "The opportunity for new discoveries is boundless."

The size of the corona is also driven by solar activity. As the Sun's 11-year activity cyclethe solar cycleramps up, the outer edge of the corona will expand, giving Parker Solar Probe a greater chance of being inside the corona for longer periods of time.

"It is a really important region to get into because we think all sorts of physics potentially turn on," Kasper said. "And now we're getting into that region and hopefully going to start seeing some of these physics and behaviors."

Narrowing Down Switchback Origins

Even before the first trips through the corona, some surprising physics was already surfacing. On recent solar encounters, Parker Solar Probe collected data pinpointing the origin of zig-zag-shaped structures in the solar wind, called switchbacks. The data showed one spot that switchbacks originate is at the visible surface of the Sunthe photosphere.

By the time it reaches Earth, 93 million miles away, the solar wind is an unrelenting headwind of particles and magnetic fields. But as it escapes the Sun, the solar wind is structured and patchy. In the mid-1990s, the NASA-European Space Agency mission Ulysses flew over the Sun's poles and discovered a handful of bizarre S-shaped kinks in the solar wind's magnetic field lines, which detoured charged particles on a zig-zag path as they escaped the Sun. For decades, scientists thought these occasional switchbacks were oddities confined to the Sun's polar regions.

As Parker Solar Probe passed through the corona on encounter nine, the spacecraft flew by structures called coronal streamers. These structures can be seen as bright features moving upward in the upper images and angled downward in the lower row. Such a view is only possible because the spacecraft flew above and below the streamers inside the corona. Until now, streamers have only been seen from afar. They are visible from Earth during total solar eclipses. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Naval Research Laboratory

In 2019, at 34 solar radii from the Sun, Parker discovered that switchbacks were not rare, but common in the solar wind. This renewed interest in the features and raised new questions: Where were they coming from? Were they forged at the surface of the Sun, or shaped by some process kinking magnetic fields in the solar atmosphere?

The new findings, in press at the Astrophysical Journal, finally confirm one origin point is near the solar surface.

The clues came as Parker orbited closer to the Sun on its sixth flyby, less than 25 solar radii out. Data showed switchbacks occur in patches and have a higher percentage of heliumknown to come from the photospherethan other elements. The switchbacks' origins were further narrowed when the scientists found the patches aligned with magnetic funnels that emerge from the photosphere between convection cell structures called supergranules.

In addition to being the birthplace of switchbacks, the scientists think the magnetic funnels might be where one component of the solar wind originates. The solar wind comes in two different varietiesfast and slowand the funnels could be where some particles in the fast solar wind come from.

"The structure of the regions with switchbacks matches up with a small magnetic funnel structure at the base of the corona," said Stuart Bale, professor at the University of California, Berkeley, and lead author on the new switchbacks paper. "This is what we expect from some theories, and this pinpoints a source for the solar wind itself."

Understanding where and how the components of the fast solar wind emerge, and if they're linked to switchbacks, could help scientists answer a longstanding solar mystery: how the corona is heated to millions of degrees, far hotter than the solar surface below.

While the new findings locate where switchbacks are made, the scientists can't yet confirm how they're formed. One theory suggests they might be created by waves of plasma that roll through the region like ocean surf. Another contends they're made by an explosive process known as magnetic reconnection, which is thought to occur at the boundaries where the magnetic funnels come together.

"My instinct is, as we go deeper into the mission and lower and closer to the Sun, we're going to learn more about how magnetic funnels are connected to the switchbacks," Bale said. "And hopefully resolve the question of what process makes them."

Now that researchers know what to look for, Parker's closer passes may reveal even more clues about switchbacks and other solar phenomena. The data to come will allow scientists a glimpse into a region that's critical for superheating the corona and pushing the solar wind to supersonic speeds. Such measurements from the corona will be critical for understanding and forecasting extreme space weather events that can disrupt telecommunications and damage satellites around Earth.

"It's really exciting to see our advanced technologies succeed in taking Parker Solar Probe closer to the Sun than we've ever been, and to be able to return such amazing science," said Joseph Smith, Parker program executive at NASA Headquarters. "We look forward to seeing what else the mission discovers as it ventures even closer in the coming years."

Parker Solar Probe is part of NASA's Living with a Star program to explore aspects of the Sun-Earth system that directly affect life and society. The Living with a Star program is managed by the agency's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland, manages the Parker Solar Probe mission for NASA and designed, built, and operates the spacecraft.
The newly described species Iberozospeum costulatum. Credit: Carlos Prieto

Finding transparent snails with a length of only a few millimeters on muddy cave walls is no easy feat. "Nevertheless, we succeeded in collecting 57 gastropod populations from various caves in northern Spain. We have now studied them, both in terms of morphology and molecular genetics," explains Dr. Adrienne Jochum of the Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum in Frankfurt and the Natural History Museum and University in Bern, and she continues, "These snails exemplify the as yet undiscovered diversity in the caves of northern Spain."

In their integrative study, Jochum and her colleagues, Jeannette Kneubuhler and Dr. Eike Neubert from Switzerland and Dr. Carlos E. Prieto from Spain, discovered a previously unknown genus of cave snails and a new species from the Cantabrian Mountains among the specimens they studied. The newly identified genus Iberozospeum is named after its Iberian origin and after its close relatives from the genus Zospeum, known from the Eastern Alps and the Dinarides.

The newly described species, Iberozospeum costulatum, has a "medium-sized" transparent shell measuring about 1.24 to 1.55 millimeters, and its mouthparts consist of a long ribbon equipped with sharp, two-pronged teeth. "This 'radula' is used for grazing and sifting through the cave mud for food particles," adds Jochum.

The histologically examined animals from ten collections also included a sexually mature female snail, which was described for the first time by the Senckenberg scientist and her colleagues.

Jochum explains, "For its body size, the female gastropod carries a huge protein gland for egg production." Using scanning electron microscopy images of the inner shell, the researchers were also able to identify two sites for muscle attachments that enable the snails to perform 'muscle pirouettes.'

The snails mouthparts consist of a long ribbon with sharp, two-pronged teeth. Credit: Adrienne Jochum

"The exploration of the caves of northern Spain is far from complete. Every discovery opens up new possibilities for understanding the survival strategies in this subterranean world," adds Jochum.

Explore further 99-million-year-old snail fossilized in amber while giving birth

More information: Jeannette Kneubuhler et al, Molecular investigation and description of Iberozospeum n. gen., including the description of one new species (Eupulmonata, Ellobioidea, Carychiidae), Organisms Diversity & Evolution (2021). Jeannette Kneubuhler et al, Molecular investigation and description of Iberozospeum n. gen., including the description of one new species (Eupulmonata, Ellobioidea, Carychiidae),(2021). DOI: 10.1007/s13127-021-00517-9
Dr Thomas Davies. Credit: University of Plymouth

As coastal areas become increasingly developed, concerns are growing about levels of artificial light at night (ALAN) and its potential impacts on the marine environment.

Light pollution is well studied in terms of its effects on the night sky and astronomy, and on terrestrial ecosystems, but until now researchers didn't know the full extent of ALAN in the oceans.

A new study, funded by the Natural Environment Research Council, maps out areas of the ocean most affected by light pollution, finding that up to 1.9 million sq km of the world's coastal waters are being exposed to biologically significant levels of ALAN.

The study brought together researchers from the University of Plymouth, Plymouth Marine Laboratory, University of Strathclyde, The Arctic University of Norway, Bar-Ilan University, The Interuniversity Institute for Marine Sciences of Eilat and Beit Berl Academic College.

By combining various techniques including computer modeling, satellite technology and in situ observations in the River Tamar with a pre-existing world atlas of artificial night sky brightness, the researchers were able to build up a picture of the coastal ocean areas being exposed to ALAN.

In order to gauge artificial light in marine systems, the study used the light sensitivity of copepods (a type of microscopic crustacean) as a metric to determine the depth of light penetration.

Setting light levels by how detectable they are to marine organisms is key, considering the possible impacts of ALAN pollution on the creatures that live in the sea.

Many marine species are accustomed to the predictable light changes that occur naturally throughout the day, across seasons and with the lunar cycle. However, light from coastal developments can scatter a long way out to sea and is spectrally quite different to moon and sunlight. It also differs in the wavelengths penetrating the water column.

The new global atlas of ALAN under the sea shows that at a depth of one meter, 1.9 million sq km of coastal ocean are exposed to biologically important ALAN (around 3.1 percent of the global Exclusive Economic Zones). At 10m deep, 1.6 million sq km is exposed (2.7 percent) and by 20m down, 840,000 sq km (1.4 percent).

Dr. Thomas Davies, lecturer in marine conservation at the University of Plymouth and the study's senior author, said: "The extent of artificial light pollution on land has been known for many years now. Some people might consider that this light does not enter the Oceans, but it does, and in sufficient quantities to cause biological impacts. This atlas is the first to quantify the extent of ALAN in the Oceans. The severity of the problem in certain regions including the Mediterranean, Persian Gulf and South China Sea is really quite alarming."

Dr. Tim Smyth, PML head of science for Marine Biogeochemistry and Observations and lead author on the research, added: "Creating this atlas shows us how widespread the issue of artificial light at night is in our coastal seas and could hopefully lead to highlighting ALAN as a descriptor of disturbance in the same way we currently look at underwater noise as a concern. There's still a lot of investigation needed to understand the specific effects on marine organisms, the exact spectral nature of this light pollution and how it is changed by seasons or tides, for example. But recognizing its global presence in this way is a major step forwards in understanding ALAN and its consequences for the ocean."

The study, "A global atlas of artificial light at night under the sea," is published in Elementa.

Explore further Coastal cities leave up to 75% of seafloor exposed to harmful light pollution

More information: T. J. Smyth et al, A global atlas of artificial light at night under the sea, Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene (2021). T. J. Smyth et al, A global atlas of artificial light at night under the sea,(2021). DOI: 10.1525/elementa.2021.00049
A Spacecraft Has Touched the Sun for the First Time. Credit: NASA / Johns Hopkins APL / Ben Smith

On April 28, 2021, at 0933 UT (3:33 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time), NASA's Parker Solar Probe reached the sun's extended solar atmosphere, known as the corona, and spent five hours there. The spacecraft is the first to enter the outer boundaries of our sun.

The results, published in Physical Review Letters, were announced in a press conference at the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting 2021 on December 14. The manuscript is open-access and freely available to download.

"This marks the achievement of the primary objective of the Parker mission and a new era for understanding the physics of the corona," said Justin C. Kasper, the first author, Deputy Chief Technology Officer at BWX Technologies, and a professor at the University of Michigan. The mission is led by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHU/APL).

The probe made the first direct observations of what lies within the sun's atmosphere, measuring phenomena previously only estimated.

The sun's outer edge begins at the Alfven critical surface: the point below which the sun and its gravitational and magnetic forces directly control the solar wind. Many scientists think that sudden reverses in the sun's magnetic field, called switchbacks, emerge from this area.

"The concept of sending spacecraft into the magnetized atmosphere of the sunsufficiently close that the magnetic energy is greater than both ion and electron kinetic and thermal energypredated NASA itself," said Kasper.

Artist's conception of the Parker Solar Probe spacecraft approaching the Sun. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Steve Gribben

In 2018, NASA launched Parker Solar Probe with the goal of finally reaching the sun's corona and making humanity's first visit to a star.

This past April, the probe spent five hours below the Alfven critical surface in direct contact with the sun's plasma. Below that surface, the pressure and energy of the sun's magnetic field was stronger than the pressure and energy of the particles. The spacecraft passed above and below the surface three separate times during its encounter. This is the first time a spacecraft has entered the solar corona and touched the atmosphere of the sun.

Surprisingly, the researchers discovered that the Alfven critical surface is wrinkled. The data suggest that the largest and most distant wrinkle of the surface was produced by a pseudostreamera large magnetic structure more than 40 degrees across, found back on the innermost visible face of the sun. It is not currently known why a pseudostreamer would push the Alfven critical surface away from the sun.

Researchers noticed far fewer switchbacks below the Alfven critical surface than above it. The finding could mean that switchbacks do not form within the corona. Alternatively, low rates of magnetic reconnection on the sun's surface could have pumped less mass into the observed wind stream, resulting in fewer switchbacks.

The probe also recorded some evidence of a potential power boost just inside the corona, which may point to unknown physics affecting heating and dissipation.

"We have been observing the sun and its corona for decades, and we know there is interesting physics going on there to heat and accelerate the solar wind plasma. Still, we cannot tell precisely what that physics is," said Nour E. Raouafi, the Parker Solar Probe Project Scientist at JHU/APL. "With Parker Solar Probe now flying into the magnetically-dominated corona, we will get the long-awaited insights into the inner workings of this mysterious region."

The observations took place during Parker Solar Probe's eighth encounter with the sun. All data is publicly available in the NASA PSP archive. Several previous studies predicted the probe would first pass within the sun's boundaries in 2021.

The fastest known object built by humans, Parker Solar Probe has made many new discoveries since its launch, including on explosions that create space weather and the dangers of super-speedy dust.

The new findings suggest that direct observations by spacecraft have much to illuminate about the physics of coronal heating and solar wind formation. Having achieved its goal of touching the sun, Parker Solar Probe will now descend even deeper into the sun's atmosphere and linger for longer periods of time.

According to Gary Zank, a coinvestigator on the probe's Solar Wind Electrons Alphas and Protons (SWEAP) instrument and a member of the National Academy of Sciences, "It is hard to overstate the significance of both the event and the observations made by Parker Solar Probe. For over 50 years, since the dawn of the space age, the heliospheric community has grappled with the unanswered problem of how the solar corona is heated to well over a million degrees to drive the solar wind. The first measurements of the sub-Alfvenic solar wind may represent the most major step forward in understanding the physics behind the acceleration of the solar wind since the formative model by Parker."

"This event is what many heliophysicists have dreamed about for most of their careers!" Zank added.

Explore further Parker Solar Probe completes a record-setting swing by the sun

More information: J. C. Kasper et al, Parker Solar Probe Enters the Magnetically Dominated Solar Corona, Physical Review Letters (2021). Journal information: Physical Review Letters J. C. Kasper et al, Parker Solar Probe Enters the Magnetically Dominated Solar Corona,(2021). DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.127.255101
The South Pole Telescope measures the signal emitted by the earliest light in the universe (the cosmic microwave background). The cold, dry air of Antarctica protects the signal from atmospheric interference. Credit: Lindsey Bleem.

Argonne scientists Lindsey Bleem and Clarence Chang talk about what it's like to look for signals from the early universe from the South Pole Telescope.

Light emitted billions of years ago could help solve enduring mysteries about the evolution of the universe. The South Pole Telescope is designed to detect this light, known as cosmic microwave background (CMB). A collaboration among over 20 universities and national laboratories, the South Pole Telescope began operating in 2007. It uses detectors developed and manufactured at Argonne.

Here, two physicists from the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory talk about their work with the South Pole Telescope and why it matters. Lindsey Bleem collects and analyzes data at the telescope, and Clarence Chang develops superconducting detectors for the telescope. The special properties of superconducting materials make them attractive and unique for applications in not only telescopes, but also magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machines and particle accelerators.

Also check out the Argonne Voices audio story to learn more about their research and hear surprising facts about the South Pole.

Q: What is the cosmic microwave background, and what does it tell us about the universe?

Chang: The cosmic microwave background is the signal that was produced when the universe was about 380,000 years old. It corresponds to a period where the universe transformed from this superhot plasma where protons and electrons were flying around to when, after the universe had cooled down far enough, protons and electrons could form atoms.

Today, that signal appears at the longer wavelengths, in the microwave range (a few millimeters). So by studying and looking at the universe in those wavelengths, we can look at the early universeessentially, capture a baby picture.

Bleem: We've known since it was first discovered in the 1960s that the CMB is incredibly uniform. The deviations in the temperature, which are tracing changes in the density of this early plasma Clarence talked about, are only about one part in 100,000. We know that these small fluctuations had to grow over the entire age of the universe.

Besides just giving us this nice photograph, effectively, of the baby universe, the light that was emitted at the time has been traveling the entire age of the universe, 14 billion years. It has interacted with all of the structures that have formed since these early times. So we can study the very subtle imprints that these structures make in the CMB to actually tease out the processes and the physics that have happened between when it was emitted and today.

Q: How do you do that?

Bleem: We do that through a couple of important, different scientific analyses. One is called gravitational lensing. This is where astronomical masses along the line of sight can actually deflect the path of light.

The second is physics that occurs when the photonsthe light from the cosmic microwave backgroundcan scatter off the material in these intervening structures. We can trace this scattering process, and then map out structures along the line of sight, which can help us probe things like dark energy, which is heavily impacting the ability of really massive structures such as galaxy clusters to form.

Q: And why does the telescope need to be at the South Pole?

Bleem: The Antarctic itself, as you can probably imagine from the pictures, is quite cold. It's extremely dry. It's the world's largest desert. This makes it a fantastic place for the astronomy we do at the South Pole Telescope. Our telescope observes at millimeter wavelengths. Water in the atmosphere attenuates the millimeter wavelengths we're interested in, and the jiggling around of the water molecules can add a great source of noise to the data. So we have to go to these remote dry places to do these observations. And it turns out that the South Pole is the absolute best place on Earth to do this, followed by the Atacama Desert in Chile.

Q: What is it like working in that environment?

Chang: We're at the South Pole because it is dry. That dryness is great for our observations. But as human beings, we like a little bit of humidity in the air. That's something that's a bit challenging and can also interfere with how things go day to day.

Bleem: Yeah. It's not the most human-friendly. Your skin will crack. Wounds don't heal super well at the South Pole. It's not great for computers to be in that dry environment. We actually had a humidifier that blew on one of our computers to keep it running a little bit happier.

Q: How does your work at Argonne connect to the telescope?

Chang: At Argonne we developed a superconducting technology for the detectors. These detectors have to measure photons that are fairly long in wavelengthtypically a millimeter, 2 millimeters, 3 millimeters. Typical camera technology, such as what's used in our phones, even pushed to its extreme, still doesn't see these photons very well. In fact, it doesn't see them at all.

So we have to make a new technology to do it. And at its core, that means understanding and controlling superconducting materials and then processing them to make these really sensitive detectors and to manufacture lots of them. At Argonne, there is a strong program in researching basic materials and in applying that to different technologies.

Bleem: We also coupled our detector development very closely to all the work that's being done using the state-of-the-art supercomputers in the Argonne Leadership Computing Facility, a DOE Office of Science user facility. We are thus able to make the important theoretical predictions that allow us to connect the observations that we make with the South Pole Telescope to the predictions from different cosmological models about what we should be seeing.

So there's this really powerful interconnection at Argonne, not only between cosmologists and the material fabrication facilities and the scientists there, but also with our great computing experts.
PhD student Mathilde Lindhart deploys several instruments to measure the flow of water around reefs off Ile Anglaise in the Indian Ocean in 2019. Lindhart is the lead author of a new study that points to low-cost methods for scaling up monitoring efforts of these complex ecosystems. (Image credit: Rob Dunbar). Credit: Image credit: Rob Dunbar

Vast amounts of energy flow around the ocean as waves, tides and currents, eventually impacting coasts, including coral reefs that provide food, income and coastal protection to more than 500 million people. This water movement is foundational to reef success, bringing nutrients and food and removing waste, yet far less research has been focused on the physics in comparison to the biology of these living communities.

Stanford scientists recently addressed this imbalance by demonstrating that measuring the physics of just a small portion of reef with a single instrument can reveal insights about the health of an entire reef system. The findings point to low-cost methods for scaling up monitoring efforts of these enigmatic living structures, which are at risk of devastation in a changing climate. The results appeared in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans Dec. 14.

"This approach is like building a weather station for coral reefs," said lead study author Mathilde Lindhart, a Ph.D. student in civil and environmental engineering. "If we have a couple of weather stations around, we can then determine the weather everywhere on the reef."

Limited resources

For decades, marine scientists have often relied on a single instrument to calculate the flow around reefs because the measurements must be made with limited time and costly tools that can only be anchored in certain locations. As a result, they have had to assume that one measurement is representative of flow over the entire reef. This new work confirms that assumption is correct, bringing renewed credibility to previously collected data.

"Replication is the foundation of our ability to trust science," said senior study author Rob Dunbar, a professor of Earth system science in Stanford's School of Earth, Energy & Environmental Sciences (Stanford Earth). "Our results are building a solid foundation for other studies of coral reef physics."

The study authors tested a suite of current meters, which send out sound waves that scatter off the currents and suspended particles, including sediment and plankton, then return with a shift in frequency that translates into flow velocities. They measured the fluid dynamics at different resolutions, with ranges from about 3 to 40 feet, depending on the instrument.

"Marine biologists that do research on specific fish or corals or other organisms need to measure the flow," said study co-author Alexy Khrizman, a Ph.D. student in Earth system science. "It's very important to know that the choice of the instrument is not going to affect the research. It's also important that we get the flow and turbulence work correct, otherwise our calculations of production and calcification will not be correct."

Credit: Stanford University

Serendipitous science

The researchers conducted field work in different locations within the Salomon Atoll in the Chagos Archipelago in the Indian Ocean, south of the Maldives. They were collecting data about a reef off Ile Anglaise as part of a larger initiative to study the British Indian Ocean Territory Marine Protected Area when they realized they were prepared to test the assumption that one instrument would provide enough information to understand the flow of the entire reef.

"We were sort of testing our toolbox," Lindhart said. "We had all these instruments in the water already and were actually looking for something elseit's rare that you have the opportunity to measure the same thing, but in different ways."

The researchers used the data they collected to construct a three-dimensional model of the reef and its flow, bringing new clarity to the life of these underwater cities.

"This is the first three-dimensional construct that tells us how the roughness and its variability from place to place impacts water flow over the reef," Dunbar said. "There's a direct correlation between the roughness of the coral reef and the biodiversity of the reef."

Fundamental insights

Through their research, the study authors aim to answer foundational questions about how these incredibly complex structures interact with incoming energy.

"There are so many ways to study reefs, what we sometimes call the currency by which you're going to see what's going on. For most people, it's fish or the corals themselves," Dunbar said. "What's really new is that our currency is differentthis paper is about using the physics of moving water as currency."

They also hope the findings will be useful to conservation managers. Coral reefs are like "super-efficient cement factories," according to Dunbar, producing architectures and buildings that are self-healing. Although they comprise less than 1 percent of the surface area of the ocean, reefs are home to about 25 percent of all marine life.

"In order to make any kind of projection about climate change, we need to know how they are working right now," Lindhart said. "The beautiful thing about physics is that it's the same everywhereonce we've established some principles, you can take them and use them somewhere else."

Explore further Newly discovered fish songs demonstrate reef restoration success

More information: M. Lindhart et al, How Consistent Are Estimates of Roughness Parameters on a Rough Coral Reef?, Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans (2021). M. Lindhart et al, How Consistent Are Estimates of Roughness Parameters on a Rough Coral Reef?,(2021). DOI: 10.1029/2021JC017825
This image shows a 0.1 x 0.03 inch (2.5 x 0.8 mm) small Drosophila melanogaster fly. Image: Wikimedia Commons

Ion channels in the nervous system are among the most important targets for insecticides. Understanding the structure of the channels is key for the identification of novel species-specific binding sites of agrochemicals. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Physiology in Dortmund, Germany, joined forces with protein manufacturing company Cube Biotech and Bayer's Crop Science division to reveal the structure and function of a potassium ion channel from fruit flies. Their newly obtained insights reveal the differences between human and insect channels, explain how known compounds affect the channel and propose new target sites for drugs. The research could help pesticide manufacturers design new drugs apt to specifically kill pest insects and parasites without affecting other animals like bees and mammals.

The Slowpoke potassium channels in Drosophila, the common fruit fly, are huge and complex proteins that sit inside the cellular membrane and selectively and rapidly transport vital potassium ions through it. They are found in all animals and are responsible for completing various tasks, most importantly in the brain and in muscle cells. The essential roles of the potassium channels signify the importance of targeting Slowpoke with newly developed insecticides in order to help overcome the global problem concerning the decrease in efficiency due to the growing pesticide resistance. Yet, there is always the risk of not aiming properly. "Ideally, you want insecticides to be really specific to the pest insect, avoiding drugs that are toxic for humans, or other animals, such as birds, rodents and beneficial insects like bees," says Stefan Raunser, Director at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Physiology in Dortmund, and lead author of the study.

In order to design drugs that are specific for pest insects, scientists need high-resolution structures of the ion channels. Raunser and colleagues used cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) to obtain the structures of the protein in the open and in the closed states and compared them with structures of the human proteins that are already known. "The difference between human and insect channels are really tiny, but we found protein regions that are specific to insects," says Raunser.

Detailed map of the potassium channel for drug discovery

One specific site of the channel, named RCK2 pocket, has amino acids that differ between Drosophila and humans. It is located at the gating ring at the bottom of the channel. The gating ring sits inside the cell, picks up calcium ions when abundant, and kicks off a cascade of rearrangements that open up the central cavity for potassium ions to pass through. The RCK2 pocket changes its shape as it shifts between closed and open states. Therefore, it is a potentially perfect target for small molecules to block the channel in either state. Scientists also pinpointed other less insect-specific drug target sites. Among them, the S6 pocket appears in the closed state and could be used to lock the channel. "We are providing pharmaceutical scientists with a detailed map of the potassium channel, which they can use to make better, highly selective insecticides," concludes Raunser.

Additionally, the researchers also solved issues of the cryo-EM structures of the channel with two known compounds, verruculogen and emodepside. The fungal neurotoxin verruculogen is a small molecule that fits perfectly in the S6 pocket, close to the central cavity. Verruculogen keeps the channel narrow, locking it in the closed state. Another compound, emodepside, a drug used against gastrointestinal worms in cats and dogs, also binds close to the S6 pocket. Yet, it acts differently, as an additional passing filter, making it difficult for potassium to go through the channel in an optimal way. "It's important to understand how these ligands can manipulate the channel," says Raunser.

Explore further Study provides structural insights into how cholesterol in the brain regulates ion channels and alters their function

More information: Tobias Raisch et al, Small molecule modulation of the Drosophila Slo channel elucidated by cryo-EM, Nature Communications (2021). Journal information: Nature Communications Tobias Raisch et al, Small molecule modulation of the Drosophila Slo channel elucidated by cryo-EM,(2021). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-27435-w
Anthony Pagano. Credit: WSU

In recent years, polar bears in the Beaufort Sea have had to travel far outside of their traditional arctic hunting grounds which has contributed to an almost 30% decrease in their population.

The bears' home range, or the amount of space they need for food and other resources, was around 64% larger from 1999-2016 than it was in 1986-1998, according to a recent study in the journal Ecosphere.

"Having to travel farther means these bears are expending more energy which can threaten their survival," said Anthony Pagano, a postdoctoral researcher in Washington State University's School of the Environment and lead author of the study. "If we want to preserve the habitat of these amazing mammals, then we need to focus on the root of the problem, which is slowing global climate change."

For the study, Pagano and colleagues from the U.S. Geological Survey used satellite tracking data to analyze the movement patterns of female polar bears from 1986-2016 in the Beaufort Sea area north of Alaska.

Their work showed over the last two decades polar bears are having to travel farther north of their traditional hunting grounds on the continental shelf to remain on their receding sea ice habitat.

Extending around 100 miles north of Alaska and Canada, the continental shelf is a shallow water habitat that contains plenty of fish for the bears' favorite prey, seals.

During the early summer when seals are weaning their pups and most vulnerable to attack, polar bears will often double their body weight from eating the fatty meat.

The researchers' data shows that as the sea ice over the continental shelf continues to recede earlier and further; the bears are being displaced from this primary foraging habitat and traveling further north into deeper waters where there are fewer seals to prey on.

"The combined impact of having to move farther and farther north with the ice in the summer and then having to move back in the fall and winter as the ice freezes is taking a major toll," Pagano said. "Our work highlights the worrying impact of sea ice decline on polar bear movement patterns."

Another interesting finding of the study is that around 20% of the polar bear population in the Beaufort Sea is foregoing their traditional sea ice hunting grounds altogether in the summer and fall. These bears are moving inland along the Alaskan and Canadian coast looking for food such as carrion, berries and sometimes even bowhead whale carcasses that are left on the shore by indigenous residents that hunt the large aquatic mammals.

"Sometimes you'll have 50 to 100 polar bears that congregate around these whale carcasses and compete with each other for food," Pagano said. "As more and more bears move on land, I suspect there'll be a lot more competition for these food resources and we'll probably start seeing further decreases in abundance and survival."

Moving forward, Pagano and his colleagues with the U.S Geological Survey plan to conduct further studies of the polar bears moving inland to get a better idea of how they are coping with their new terrestrial habitat.

He said the best thing humans can do to help preserve the southern Beaufort Sea's 800 or so remaining polar bears is to focus on curbing global carbon emissions which are the main cause behind receding arctic sea ice.

Recent modeling work has shown that if regulations are enacted to reduce these emissions to avoid global warming greater than 2C or 3.6F then it could drastically slow the decline of polar bear habitat in the arctic which would in turn help these animals to survive.

"Coming across a polar bear while flying over the arctic in a helicopter is a surreal experience," Pagano said. "They are incredibly massive and impressive. It is amazing to observe this animal that is so uniquely adapted to exist in this harsh arctic environment. They are worth the effort it will take to preserve them."

Explore further Shrinking sea ice is creating an ecological trap for polar bears

More information: Anthony M. Pagano et al, Effects of sea ice decline and summer land use on polar bear home range size in the Beaufort Sea, Ecosphere (2021). Journal information: Ecosphere Anthony M. Pagano et al, Effects of sea ice decline and summer land use on polar bear home range size in the Beaufort Sea,(2021). DOI: 10.1002/ecs2.3768
Fig. 1: Hemispheric mole fractions of CH 2 Cl 2 and their growth rate. Global mole fractions of CH 2 Cl 2 (20112019) were inferred using the AGAGE 12-box model and data from 5 AGAGE background sites (see Methods). The upper panel shows the mole fractions in each hemisphere and their trends (dashed lines). The lower panel shows the growth rate in each hemisphere, with a smoothing timescale of ~1.4 years. Credit: DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-27592-y

New research, led by the University of Bristol and Peking University, has discovered that emissions coming from China of the ozone-destroying chemical, dichloromethane, have more than doubled over the last decade.

Since the signing of the Montreal Protocol, there has been a dramatic drop in emissions of the main substances that are responsible for depleting the stratospheric ozone layer, the part of the atmosphere that protects us from harmful solar radiation.

Compared to the CFCs, and other regulated ozone-destroying compounds, dichloromethane only lasts for a short time in the atmospherearound six months. Mainly for this reason, its production and use hasn't been controlled under the Montreal Protocol in the same way as longer-lived ozone-depleting substances.

Dr. Luke Western from the University of Bristol's School of Chemistry, said: "International monitoring networks have known that global atmospheric concentrations of dichloromethane have been rising rapidly over the last decade, but until now, it was unclear what was driving the increase."

To answer that question researchers from Peking University, the China Meteorological Administration and the University of Bristol teamed up to examine new data collected within China. Their results are published today in the journal Nature Communications.

Minde An, a postgraduate student from Peking University, and visiting researcher at the University of Bristol led the study.

He said: "China is an important producer and user of compounds such as dichloromethane. Therefore, we wanted to examine measurements within the country to determine its contribution to global emissions.

"Our calculations revealed that China's share of total global emissions grew from about one-third to two-thirds over the last decade. The global emissions increase since 2011 is the same size as the rise in emissions from China.

"We think that emissions of dichloromethane from China have increased because of its use as a solvent in various industrial applications and the expanding chloromethanes industry in China."

Current controls on the use of dichloromethane in China only relate to its toxicity or its role in causing urban air pollution. Levels of dichloromethane are regulated in consumer products, and there are restrictions on release rates from industrial processes, but there is no control on the overall amount that can be emitted to the atmosphere.

Historically, emission rates of dichloromethane have been small enough to not overly worry researchers studying ozone layer recovery. However, the recent rise needs to be carefully watched in future.

Dr. Ryan Hossaini from the University of Lancaster, and co-author of the study, said: "If current levels of dichloromethane persist, we could expect to see a delay in ozone layer recovery of a few years. However, if they continue to grow at the rate we've seen over the last decade, it could lead to a delay of over a decade, though future emissions are highly uncertain.

"Of significance is the location of the emissions discovered in this study. Short-lived compounds like dichloromethane are partly destroyed in the lower atmosphere before they reach the ozone layer.

"However, in some parts of Asia, there are regions where the atmosphere can transport these substances to the stratosphere relatively quickly. This means emissions from these regions may pack a bigger punch than those released elsewhere."

Despite these concerns, there are signs that changes may be coming. In the last month, draft regulation by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment in China listed dichloromethane as a new pollutant whose use in several sectors such as paint stripping or insulating foam production could be banned.

Professor Matt Rigby, also from the University of Bristol's School of Chemistry, said he was hopeful that these results can be repeated in the future to determine the impact of changes in regulation for dichloromethane and other compounds of interest to the Montreal Protocol.

He added: "One of the most important outcomes of this work is in showing what can be achieved through the close collaboration between scientists from around the world."

"These measurements from China are highly valuable for researchers and policymakers who are interested in the ozone layer and climate. We're looking forward to continuing this work in future, to provide the parties to the Montreal Protocol with increasingly accurate information to help ensure that the recovery of the ozone layer stays on track."

"Rapid increase in dichloromethane emissions from China inferred through atmospheric observations" is published in Nature Communications.

Explore further Ozone recovery may be delayed by unregulated chemicals

More information: Minde An et al, Rapid increase in dichloromethane emissions from China inferred through atmospheric observations, Nature Communications (2021). Journal information: Nature Communications Minde An et al, Rapid increase in dichloromethane emissions from China inferred through atmospheric observations,(2021). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-27592-y
Credit: CC0 Public Domain

A clay mineral known as smectite could hold a substantial portion of the water missing from Mars, according to new research from Binghamton University, State University of New York.

Rivers and streams once flowed across the surface of Mars, etching channels still evident on the planet's surface today. Water in lakes once lapped ancient shores. But today, Mars' red sands appear bone-dry. Where did all that water go?

Some of that water is trapped in the planet's polar ice caps, which behave like stone due to Mars' frigid temperatures. The rest may have gone underground, locked inside clay minerals such as smectite.

New research from Binghamton University Geological Sciences and Environmental Studies Professor David Jenkins and former graduate student Brittany DePasquale provides information on how deep smectite could occur in the surface rocks of Mars. They found that iron-rich smectite, the least-stable form of smectite, can form to depths up to 30 km, much deeper than others might have predicted. In view of this rather robust stability for smectite, it appears that clay minerals are able to receive and store the missing water on Mars.

"Up until recently many people, including myself, assumed that any water formerly existing on Mars was now present as ice stored at the polar caps and as subsurface ice," said Jenkins. "It is really just in the past several years that there has been enough data collected from satellites orbiting Mars to determine that there is not enough ice, nor enough loss of water vapor from the surface of Mars, to account for even the lower estimates of the amount of water that once existed on Mars. Once we saw that ferrous-iron-smectite, the least thermally stable form of smectite, was stable up to temperatures of about 600C at 30 km depth, it became clear that smectite might actually be a significant reservoir for the 'missing water' on Mars."

The primary contribution of this study is that it provides maximum temperatures to which ferrous-iron-rich smectite can exist with increasing depth in Mars. Up to this point, previous studies have focused on demonstrating the low-temperature formation of smectite, but have not demonstrated how stable it can be.

"This latter information is necessary if we are to try and determine to what depth the clay mineral smectite might occur on Mars," said Jenkins.

Mars in a lab

While many geologists head to mountains, valleys and other locations to parse the secrets of the Earth, Jenkins simply pops next door to his laboratory, a marriage between a chemistry lab and a machine shop. In its confines, he and his students can reproduce conditions that mimic anything from the surface of the Earth to the intense heat and pressure of its mantleor even more theoretical places, such as the early days of Mars.

"I cook and squeeze materials to see how they respond, whether they're stable or not, whether they change their chemistry or their crystal structure and, if so, how do they do that?" he said.

By cooking and squeezing smectite, Jenkins and DePasquale established a temperature ceiling for its formation, which may offer clues as to how and where the mineral formed on Mars. On Earth, smectite most often results from a reaction between rock and water; however, the conditions for that reaction, such as pressure and temperature, are still highly speculative.

Unfortunately, there is currently no equipment on Mars that could drill deep enough to confirm that depth. However, the red planet has an underground shortcut of sorts: impact craters, which litter the surface of Mars, particularly in the southern hemisphere. The satellites orbiting the planet also collect remote sensing information that can relate to mineralogy, such as wavelengths of light reflected from the planet's surface.

"Although this study helps affirm the importance of clay minerals as a potential reservoir for water on Mars, it certainly is not the final word on this subject. The more difficult question of the total amount of clay minerals in the surface or near-surface environment of Mars is yet to be determined with the precision needed to really confirm that clay minerals may be the dominant water reservoir on Mars."

The paper was published in Icarus.

More information: Brittany M. DePasquale et al, The upper-thermal stability of an iron-rich smectite: Implications for smectite formation on Mars, Icarus (2021). Journal information: Icarus Brittany M. DePasquale et al, The upper-thermal stability of an iron-rich smectite: Implications for smectite formation on Mars,(2021). DOI: 10.1016/j.icarus.2021.114816
Odontia katoi, a close relative of the newly described species, living in an ascidian. Credit: Charles Fransen

When biology student Mike Groenhof was making a phylogenetic tree of fifty shrimp species for his internship, one specimen turned out to be an undescribed species. The animal was collected by Naturalis scientist 18 years ago, and had been under the radar ever since.

Naturalis marine biologist Bert Hoeksema organized an expedition to Indonesia in 2003, in order to better map the marine biodiversity of Kalimantan. During the expedition, many shrimps were collected and stored, and eighteen years later someone got around to putting them in order.

Biology student Mike Groenhof (Leiden University) studied more than fifty species of shrimp on the basis of their morphology and genetics, for his internship with Charles Fransen and Werner de Gier of Naturalis. During one of the DNA-analyses, the new species turned up.

Living with an oyster

The new species was found in a tropical oyster (Chama lazarus), making the shrimp a symbiontan animal that lives with a host. There's several kinds of symbiosis, depending on whether the host benefits or suffers from the symbiont. In this particular case, there are no known effects on the oyster, so the new shrimp's lifestyle is classified as commensalism. There are hundreds of symbiotic shrimp, living in shells, corals, sponges and many other marine animals.

Illustration of Odontonia kerangcaris.There is not yet found a live animal of this species. Credit: Leiden University

Odontonia

Groenhof, Fransen and De Gier classified the animal as a member of the genus Odontonia, a group of shrimps that usually live in ascidians. In 2002 and 2018 other Odontonia species were discovered, including the so-called Hobbit shrimp, Odontonia bagginsi, described by De Gier and Fransen.

Mike Groenhof in one of the Naturalis depots. Credit: Leiden University

A new name

After a new species has been discovered, it needs to be formally descibed in a scientific publication, with illustrations of parts of the animal. Some species get a name based on their appearance (Odontonia rufopuncata, for instance, has red (rufo) dots (punctata), this new species has a name referring to the host: Odontonia kerangcaris. The name is based on the Indonesian word for shell 'kerang,' and the Latin word for shrimp: 'caris.' The publication appeared in Zootaxa last week.

Explore further In a hole in a tunicate there lived a hobbit: New shrimp species named after Bilbo Baggins

More information: Charles H.J.M. Fransen et al, Odontonia kerangcaris sp. nov., a new bivalve-associated shrimp (Crustacea, Decapoda, Palaemonidae) from East Kalimantan, revealing intrageneric host switching, Zootaxa (2021). Journal information: Zootaxa Charles H.J.M. Fransen et al, Odontonia kerangcaris sp. nov., a new bivalve-associated shrimp (Crustacea, Decapoda, Palaemonidae) from East Kalimantan, revealing intrageneric host switching,(2021). DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5081.2.6
A meteor lights up the sky over the top of a mountain ridge near Park City, Utah. Credit: NASA/Bill Dunford

It's time for the Geminids, the annual December meteor shower! Every year, Earth passes through the debris trail from the asteroid 3200 Phaethon. The pea-sized rocks it leaves behind burn up in our atmosphere, producing glowing trails in the night sky. People around the world will stare skyward and marvel at these meteors, also known as shooting stars.

What we can't see with the naked eye is the steady rain of much smaller meteoroids, often called cosmic dust, that bombards our atmosphere every day of the year. Produced when asteroids collide or comets are vaporized by the Sun, some of this material burns up when it enters the atmosphere, just like the Geminids but on a much smaller scale. About 55 miles above Earth, the miniscule fireballs leave a puff of even tinier particles, called meteoric smoke. The particles stick to each other and grow like tiny snowballs as they fall to Earth over several years.

Scientists had long predicted that meteoric smoke existed in Earth's middle atmosphere, but at one-thousandth the width of a human hair, these high-altitude particles are difficult to study. What the smoke is made of, how much of it there is, and what role it plays in the atmosphere are all questions scientists have been working to answer.

Previously, they tried to do so using suborbital rockets, but the instruments only had a few minutes to collect data before falling back to Earth. The data they did collect were difficult to interpret. Researchers also made guesses about the smoke's composition by analyzing meteorites, fragments of meteors that arrived on Earth. They looked at tiny pieces of these space objects in polar ice cores and on urban rooftops, but they couldn't reliably measure smoke in the atmosphere.

NASA's Solar Occultation for Ice Experiment (SOFIE), which launched onboard NASA's Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere (AIM) satellite in 2007, was the first instrument up to the task.

Noctilucent clouds observed by a NASA long-duration balloon. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

The first survey

From its orbit, SOFIE stares through Earth's atmosphere at the Sun, inferring information about the atmosphere by measuring the sunlight that passes through it. SOFIE measures the intensity of particular wavelengths of light at different altitudes in the atmosphere.

Plugging those intensity measurements into models, researchers can determine which atoms or molecules are present in the atmosphere. SOFIE can detect a variety of gases, including carbon dioxide and ozone, as well as aerosolstiny solid or liquid particles suspended in the air. A few of the wavelengths are used to detect meteoric smoke. Scientists used SOFIE's data to create the first long-term, space-based survey of meteoric smoke, revealing that it contains mostly iron, oxygen, silicon, and magnesium.

Refining the findings

Scientists had so far disagreed how much cosmic material makes its way to into Earth's atmosphere each day, with estimates ranging from two to more than 200 tons. But SOFIE provided a new kind of data that, when cross-checked with other analyses, could offer a more precise number. First, though, the scientists needed to figure out exactly what minerals meteoric smoke was made of.

The sun peeking over the limb of Earth as photographed by Expedition 28 crew members aboard the International Space Station. The image depicts all the layers of Earths atmosphere, from the surface to space. Credit: NASA

By 2017, they'd narrowed it down to nine possibilities based on their data. "This was tremendous progress even though we had a range of possible answers," said Mark Hervig, a scientist at GATS, Inc., and the principal investigator for SOFIE. But to better answer their remaining questions, the researchers needed to know which of the nine compositions should go in their models.

Fortunately, a group at the University of Leeds in the United Kingdom had recently gone to the South Pole to collect samples of cosmic dust that survived atmospheric entry. The ratio of iron, magnesium, and silicon they measured matched one of nine possible mineral variations the SOFIE team had identified: iron-rich olivine, a green mineral also abundant on Earth.

Using their own data and calculations, the Leeds team had estimated how much cosmic material entered Earth's atmosphere. When the SOFIE team ran their own models with information about iron-rich olivine, the two teams' estimates converged: Each day, about 25 tons of extraterrestrial material makes it to Earth.

Impacts of meteoric smoke

There's still much to learn about how meteoric smoke interacts with the atmosphere and affects life on Earth, but scientists have already discovered a lot.

Olivine particles from the Green Sand Beach in Hawaii. Credit: NASA's Ames Research Center/Tom Trower

People have observed iridescent clouds at polar latitudes in the summer since the late 19th century. It was long speculated that these noctilucent, or night-shining, clouds were made of ice. Scientists confirmed that in 2001 using data from a precursor to SOFIE. The finding answered one question but raised another. Ice needs a nucleus such as a grain of dust on which to crystallize, and the upper atmosphere where these clouds form was thought to be quite clean. Where did the dust come from? In 2012, using SOFIE, the researchers found their answer: meteoric smoke.

There is some speculation among scientists about other effects as well. One of them is the phenomenon of iron fertilization. Iron is essential for photosynthesis, the process by which plants convert sunlight into sugar. In the ocean, where phytoplankton reside, iron can be hard to come by. Much of it blows in as dust from land before sinking quickly. Some scientists suggest that another source might be meteoric smoke that has drifted down from the mesosphere. So it's possiblebut not certainthere's some extraterrestrial iron contributing to photosynthesis in the ocean.

Scientists are also looking into the role of meteoric smoke in water formation in the mesosphere. It's possible that oxygen and hydrogen react in the mesosphere, forming water. But like the ice crystals in noctilucent clouds, the hydrogen and water would need a hard surface upon which to react. Meteoric smoke might provide the necessary surface.

"There are questions and mysteries in our atmosphere that meteoric smoke may play a role in," Hervig said. "It's really frontier stuff." Data from SOFIE continues to help answer some of these questions, offering insight into the effects these cosmic particles have on Earth.

Explore further Cosmic dust may be key source of phosphorus for life on Earth
Screenshot from the OneZoom tree of life explorer with leaves coloured according to extinction risk and showing the 'spiral' view of the tree. Credit: OneZoom

OneZoom is a one-stop site for exploring all life on Earth, its evolutionary history, and how much of it is threatened with extinction.

The OneZoom exploreravailable at onezoom.orgmaps the connections between 2.2 million living species, the closest thing yet to a single view of all species known to science. The interactive tree of life allows users to zoom in to any species and explore its relationships with others, in a seamless visualisation on a single web page. The explorer also includes images of over 85,000 species, plus, where known, their vulnerability to extinction.

OneZoom was developed by Imperial College London biodiversity researcher Dr. James Rosindell and University of Oxford evolutionary biologist Dr. Yan Wong. In a paper published today in Methods in Ecology and Evolution, Drs Wong and Rosindell present the result of over ten years of work, gradually creating what they regard as "the Google Earth of biology".

Beautiful big data

Dr. Wong, from the Big Data Institute at the University of Oxford, said: "By developing new algorithms for visualisation and data processing, and combining them with 'big data' gathered from multiple sources, we've created something beautiful. It allows people to find their favourite living things, be they golden moles or giant sequoias, and see how evolutionary history connects them together to create a giant tree of all life on Earth."

Dr. Rosindell, from the Department of Life Sciences at Imperial, said: "We have worked hard to make the tree easy to explore for everyone, and we also hope to send a powerful message: that much of our biodiversity is under threat."

Screencast from the OneZoom tree of life explorer with leaves coloured according to extinction risk and showing the 'spiral' view of the tree. This shows zooming in from the complete tree of life to the leaf representing humans. Credit: OneZoom

The 'leaves' representing each species on the tree are colour coded depending on their risk of extinction: green for not threatened, red for threatened, and black for recently extinct. However, most of the leaves on the tree are grey, meaning they have not been evaluated, or scientists don't have enough data to know their extinction risk. Even among the species described by science, only a tiny fraction have been studied or have a known risk of extinction.

Dr. Wong added: "It's extraordinary how much research there is still to be done. Building the OneZoom tree of life was only possible through sophisticated methods to gather and combine existing datait would have been impossible to curate all this by hand."

Available to all

The OneZoom explorer is configured to work with touchscreens, and the developers have made the software free to download and use by educational organisations such as museums and zoos.

Dr. Rosindell commented: "Two million species can feel like a number too big to visualise, and no museum or zoo can hold all of them! But our tool can help represent all Earth's species and allow visitors to connect with their plight. We hope that now this project is complete and available, many venues will be interested in using it to complement their existing displays."

Drs Rosindell and Wong have also set up a OneZoom charity with the aim of using their tree of life to "advance the education of the public in the subjects of evolution, biodiversity and conservation of the variety of life on Earth."

Screencast from the OneZoom tree of life explorer with all leaves coloured green and showing the 'fern' view of the tree. This shows zooming in from the complete tree of life to the leaf representing the Christmas tree worm, a marine worm with two 'Christmas tree' like appendages that are used for feeding and breathing. Credit: OneZoom

Uniquely, to support this charity, each leaf on the tree is available for sponsorship, allowing anyone to 'adopt' a species and enabling OneZoom to continue their mission. More than 800 leaves have currently been sponsored by individuals and selected organisations, many with personal messages of how they feel connected to the conservation of nature.

Tour the tree of life

The team have also integrated the tree with data from the Wikipedia project to reveal the 'popularity' of every species, based on how often their Wikipedia page is viewed. Dr. Wong said: "Perhaps unsurprisingly, humans come out on top, but it has swapped places a few times with the second most popular: the grey wolfthe 'species' that includes all domestic dogs."

In the plant world, cannabis comes out on top, followed by cabbage, the potato, and the coconut. The most popular ray-finned fishes are sport fishing species, particularly salmon and trout.

Now the tree is complete, the team hope to create bespoke 'tours' and experiences of species connected in imaginative new wayssuch as tours of iridescent animals, medicinal plants, or even species named after celebrities. They have created a special screen capture tool for easy saving and sharing of user-generated tours.

Dr. Rosindell said: "With OneZoom, we hope to give people a completely new way to appreciate evolutionary history and the vastness of life on Earth in all its beauty."

Explore further Global bird conservation could be four times more cost-effective

More information: Yan Wong et al, Dynamic visualisation of milliontip trees: The OneZoom project, Methods in Ecology and Evolution (2021). Journal information: Methods in Ecology and Evolution Yan Wong et al, Dynamic visualisation of milliontip trees: The OneZoom project,(2021). DOI: 10.1111/2041-210X.13766
A man rides his bicycle through smoke from a forest fire covers Yakutsk, the capital of the republic of Sakha also known as Yakutia, Russia Far East, Russia, Thursday, Aug. 12, 2021. The U.N. weather agency has certified a 38-degree Celsius (100.4 Fahrenheit) reading in the Russian town of Verkhoyansk last year as the highest temperature ever recorded in the Arctic. The World Meteorological Organization said the temperature "more befitting the Mediterranean than the Arctic" was recorded in June 2020 during a heat wave that swept across Siberia and stretched north of the Arctic Circle. Average temperatures were up to 10 degrees Celsius more than usual in Arctic Siberia. Credit: AP Photo/Ivan Nikiforov, File

The U.N. weather agency said Tuesday it has certified a 38-degree Celsius (100.4 Fahrenheit) reading in the Russian town of Verkhoyansk last year as the highest temperature ever recorded in the Arctic, the latest in a string of "alarm bells about our changing climate."

The World Meteorological Organization said the temperature "more befitting the Mediterranean than the Arctic" was registered on June 20, 2020, during a heat wave that swept across Siberia and stretched north of the Arctic Circle.

Average temperatures were up to 10 degrees Celsius more than usual in Arctic Siberia, playing a key role in forest fires, loss of sea ice and global temperature rises that made 2020 one of the three hottest years on record.

"This new Arctic record is one of a series of observations reported to the WMO Archive of Weather and Climate Extremes that sound the alarm bells about our changing climate," said WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas in a statement.

Verkhoyansk is about 115 kilometers (70 miles) north of the Arctic Circle and a meteorological station there has been observing temperatures since 1885, WMO said.

Spokeswoman Clare Nullis said the record reading was the first of its kind in a new category of Arctic temperature monitoring, so there was no previous record to compare it with. But 38 degrees has never been seen before in the Arctic, she said.

Firefighters and volunteers have a briefing as they work at the scene of forest fire at Gorny Ulus area west of Yakutsk, in Russia, Saturday, Aug. 7, 2021. The U.N. weather agency has certified a 38-degree Celsius (100.4 Fahrenheit) reading in the Russian town of Verkhoyansk last year as the highest temperature ever recorded in the Arctic. The World Meteorological Organization said the temperature "more befitting the Mediterranean than the Arctic" was recorded in June 2020 during a heat wave that swept across Siberia and stretched north of the Arctic Circle. Average temperatures were up to 10 degrees Celsius more than usual in Arctic Siberia. Credit: AP Photo/Ivan Nikiforov, File

WMO is looking into a number of possible heat records, including 54.4 Celsius (129.9 Fahrenheit) recorded both this year and last in Death Valley, California, which could be a worldwide record high temperature reading, and 48.8 Celsius (119.8 Fahrenheit) on Italy's southern island of Sicily this summerwhich could be the hottest temperature ever recorded in Europe.

Taalas said WMO has never had so many investigations of possible heat records going at the same time, and they take time to verify. The agency says the Arctic is among the fastest-warming regions of the world and is heating up at rates twice those of the global average.

 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
"Coordination and cooperation across the jurisdictions of sovereign states is foundational for any response to climate change impacts," says Professor Nazli Choucri. "As we work to change course, new norms will be developed, and political science provides important perspectives on how to establish such norms. For example, having learned to recognize the burdens of inequity, we can establish the value of equity as foundational for our social order." Credit: Stuart Darsch

Nazli Choucri is a professor of political science and an expert on climate issues, who also focuses on international relations and cyberpolitics. She is the architect and director of the Global System for Sustainable Development, an evolving knowledge networking system centered on sustainability problems and solution strategies. The author and/or editor of 12 books, she is also the founding editor of the MIT Press book series "Global Environmental Accord: Strategies for Sustainability and Institutional Innovation."

Q: The impacts of climate changeincluding storms, floods, wildfires, and droughtshave the potential to destabilize nations, yet they are not constrained by borders. What international developments most concern you in terms of addressing climate change and its myriad ecological and social impacts?

A: Climate change is a global issue. By definition, and a long history of practice, countries focus on their own priorities and challenges. Over time, we have seen the gradual development of norms reflecting shared interests, and the institutional arrangements to support and pursue the global good. What concerns me most is that general responses to the climate crisis are being framed in broad terms; the overall pace of change remains perilously slow; and uncertainty remains about operational action and implementation of stated intent. We have just seen the completion of the 26th meeting of states devoted to climate change, the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26). In some ways this is positive. Yet, past commitments remain unfulfilled, creating added stress in an already stressful political situation.

Industrial countries are uneven in their recognition of, and responses to, climate change. This may signal uncertainty about whether climate matters are sufficiently compelling to call for immediate action. Alternatively, the push for changing course may seem too costly at a time when other imperativessuch as employment, economic growth, or protecting bordersinevitably dominate discourse and decisions. Whatever the cause, the result has been an unwillingness to take strong action. Unfortunately, climate change remains within the domain of "low politics," although there are signs the issue is making a slow but steady shift to "high politics"those issues deemed vital to the existence of the state. This means that short-term priorities, such as those noted above, continue to shape national politics and international positions and, by extension, to obscure the existential threat revealed by scientific evidence.

As for developing countries, these are overwhelmed by internal challenges, and managing the difficulties of daily life always takes priority over other challenges, however compelling. Long-term thinking is a luxury, but daily bread is a necessity. Non-state actorsincluding registered nongovernmental organizations, climate organizations, sustainability support groups, activists of various sorts, and in some cases much of civil societyhave been left with a large share of the responsibility for educating and convincing diverse constituencies of the consequences of inaction on climate change. But many of these institutions carry their own burdens and struggle to manage current pressures.

The international community, through its formal and informal institutions, continues to articulate the perils of climate change and to search for a powerful consensus that can prove effective both in form and in function. The general contours are agreed uponmore or less. But leadership of, for, and by the global collective is elusive and difficult to shape. Most concerning of all is the clear reluctance to address head-on the challenge of planning for changes that we know will occur. The reality that we are all being affectedin different ways and to different degreeshas yet to be sufficiently appreciated by everyone, everywhere. Yet, in many parts of the world, major shifts in climate will create pressures on human settlements, spur forced migrations, or generate social dislocations. Some small island states, for example, may not survive a sea-level surge. Everywhere there is a need to cut emissions, and this means adaptation and/or major changes in economic activity and in lifestyle.

The discourse and debate at COP26 reflect all of such persistent features in the international system. So far, the largest achievements center on the common consensus that more must be done to prevent the rise in temperature from creating a global catastrophe. This is not enough, however. Differences remain, and countries have yet to specify what cuts in emissions they are willing to make.

Echoes of who is responsible for what remains strong. The thorny matter of the unfulfilled pledge of $100 billion once promised by rich countries to help countries to reduce their emissions remained unresolved. At the same time, however, some important agreements were reached. The United States and China announced they would make greater efforts to cut methane, a powerful greenhouse gas. More than 100 countries agreed to end deforestation. India joined the countries committed to attain zero emissions by 2070. And on matters of finance, countries agreed to a two-year plan to determine how to meet the needs of the most-vulnerable countries.

Q: In what ways do you think the tools and insights from political science can advance efforts to address climate change and its impacts?

A: I prefer to take a multidisciplinary view of the issues at hand, rather than focus on the tools of political science alone. Disciplinary perspectives can create siloed views and positions that undermine any overall drive toward consensus. The scientific evidence is pointing to, even anticipating, pervasive changes that transcend known and established parameters of social order all across the globe.

That said, political science provides important insight, even guidance, for addressing the impacts of climate change in some notable ways. One is understanding the extent to which our formal institutions enable discussion, debate, and decisions about the directions we can take collectively to adapt, adjust, or even depart from the established practices of managing social order.

If we consider politics as the allocation of values in terms of who gets what, when, and how, then it becomes clear that the current allocation requires a change in course. Coordination and cooperation across the jurisdictions of sovereign states is foundational for any response to climate change impacts.

We have already recognized, and to some extent, developed targets for reducing carbon emissionsa central impact from traditional forms of energy useand are making notable efforts to shift toward alternatives. This move is an easy one compared to all the work that needs to be done to address climate change. But, in taking this step we have learned quite a bit that might help in creating a necessary consensus for cross-jurisdiction coordination and response.

Respecting individuals and protecting life is increasingly recognized as a global valueat least in principle. As we work to change course, new norms will be developed, and political science provides important perspectives on how to establish such norms. We will be faced with demands for institutional design, and these will need to embody our guiding values. For example, having learned to recognize the burdens of inequity, we can establish the value of equity as foundational for our social order both now and as we recognize and address the impacts of climate change.

Q: You teach a class on "Sustainability Development: Theory and Practice." Broadly speaking, what are goals of this class? What lessons do you hope students will carry with them into the future?

A: The goal of 17.181, my class on sustainability, is to frame as clearly as possible the concept of sustainable development (sustainability) with attention to conceptual, empirical, institutional, and policy issues.

The course centers on human activities. Individuals are embedded in complex interactive systems: the social system, the natural environment, and the constructed cyber domaineach with distinct temporal, special, and dynamic features. Sustainability issues intersect with, but cannot be folded into, the impacts of climate change. Sustainability places human beings in social systems at the core of what must be done to respect the imperatives of a highly complex natural environment.

We consider sustainability an evolving knowledge domain with attendant policy implications. It is driven by events on the ground, not by revolution in academic or theoretical concerns per se. Overall, sustainable development refers to the process of meeting the needs of current and future generations, without undermining the resilience of the life-supporting properties, the integrity of social systems, or the supports of the human-constructed cyberspace.

More specifically, we differentiate among four fundamental dimensions and their necessary conditions:

(a) ecological systemsexhibiting balance and resilience;

(b) economic production and consumptionwith equity and efficiency;

(c) governance and politicswith participation and responsiveness; and

(d) institutional performancedemonstrating adaptation and incorporating feedback.

The core proposition is this: If all conditions hold, then the system is (or can be) sustainable. Then, we must examine the critical driverspeople, resources, technology, and their interactionsfollowed by a review and assessment of evolving policy responses. Then we ask: What are new opportunities?

I would like students to carry forward these ideas and issues: what has been deemed "normal" in modern Western societies and in developing societies seeking to emulate the Western model is damaging humans in many waysall well-known. Yet only recently have alternatives begun to be considered to the traditional economic growth model based on industrialization and high levels of energy use. To make changes, we must first understand the underlying incentives, realities, and choices that shape a whole set of dysfunctional behaviors and outcomes. We then need to delve deep into the driving sources and consequences, and to consider the many ways in which our known "normal" can be adjustedin theory and in practice.

Q: In confronting an issue as formidable as global climate change, what gives you hope?

A: I see a few hopeful signs; among them:

The scientific evidence is clear and compelling. We are no longer discussing whether there is climate change, or if we will face major challenges of unprecedented proportions, or even how to bring about an international consensus on the salience of such threats.

Climate change has been recognized as a global phenomenon. Imperatives for cooperation are necessary. No one can go it alone. Major efforts have and are being made in world politics to forge action agendas with specific targets.

The issue appears to be on the verge of becoming one of "high politics" in the United States.

Younger generations are more sensitive to the reality that we are altering the life-supporting properties of our planet. They are generally more educated, skilled, and open to addressing such challenges than their elders.

However disappointing the results of COP26 might seem, the global community is moving in the right direction.

None of the above points, individually or jointly, translates into an effective response to the known impacts of climate changelet alone the unknown. But, this is what gives me hope.

Explore further What African countries got out of COP26

This story is republished courtesy of MIT News (web.mit.edu/newsoffice/), a popular site that covers news about MIT research, innovation and teaching.
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

2021 was a good year for research of all kinds. The strongest coronal mass ejection in years made headlines this past May, prompting experts around the world to urge world leaders to take it as a warning. Future storms, many noted, could wreak havoc on electrical grids, satellites and the internet. The time to act is now, they strongly suggested.

Back in 2017, a strange, elongated object entered the solar system. It was subsequently named "Oumuamua" and the event set off a debate among members of both the science community and the public at large regarding its origins and makeup. Some suggested it was the remains of an object colliding with a comet; noted astronomer Avi Loeb, however, made the controversial suggestion early this year that it might be an alien space probe or vessel sent to study our solar system.

More recently, Steven Desch and Alan Jackson, astrophysicists at Arizona State University, announced that they had located the origin of Oumuamua, refuting the idea of its alien origin. They believe it's a remnant of an ice chunk broken from a Pluto-like planet from another stellar system a half-billion years ago.

A team from the University of Central Florida College of Optics and Photonics, IMEC U.S. and the University of Arizona reported that infrared imaging makes it easier to identify Burmese pythons in the Florida Everglades. For more than 25 years, the invasive snake population has been growing in number in the region, disrupting the delicate ecosystem. And for nearly as long, state officials have been trying to find a way to get rid of them.

Stella Koch Ocker, a doctoral student in astronomy at Cornell, detected a plasma hum coming from Voyager 1. The spacecraft launched 44 years ago, and is still transmitting signals, even after flying into the heliopause (at 14 billion miles away); its distance is now great enough that it can detect interstellar plasma waves, audible as a constant drone.

Scientists around the world noticed that the Earth is spinning faster than normalfaster than has ever been recorded before. Over the past few decades, atomic clocks have provided time so accurately that the day/night cycle can be measured more precisely than ever beforeprecisely enough to notice minute changes. And lately, the planet seems to be spinning faster for unknown reasons.

An international team of physicists, led by a group at MIT, brought a human-scale object to a near-standstill, reaching a quantum state. Prior efforts had super-cooled only very tiny objects, such as clusters of atoms, to a near standstill. In this new effort, the team cooled a combined intangible object with a mass of 10 kilograms and measured it using the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory.

A team at the University of Cambridge developed a mathematical model that predicts the best way to build muscle. The method proved capable of selecting the optimum exercise regime for adding muscle. The math employs methods of theoretical biophysics to predict the amount of exertion needed to grow a certain amount of muscle and how much time it would take.

A group at Washington University in St. Louis found evidence indicating that America's first civilization was made up of "sophisticated engineers." They found that Native Americans living in what is now northern Louisiana at a place known as Poverty Point over 3,000 years ago built earthen structures that required a high degree of engineering sophistication.

An international team of space scientists discovered strange radio waves emitted from the direction of the galactic center. The signals were unusual and did not fit with currently understood patterns of radio waves from known sources, suggesting they could represent a new class of stellar object. They also noted it had much higher polarization than other signals, suggesting it is coming from a source that oscillates in just one direction.

A team of researchers at University of Arizona Health Sciences developed a novel nanotechnology that could be used to enhance the fight against colorectal cancer and melanoma. Their approach involved a nanotherapeutic platform that can switch tumors from "immune-cold" to "immune-hot," which stimulated a stronger immune response.

An international team studying data from the Curiosity rover found patches of the rock record on the surface of Mars that had been erased, revealing new clues about its watery past. They found evidence of ancient salty water that had seeped through cracks in the bed of what had once been a lake in Gale Crater. The water altered the mineral-rich clay below.

A team of researchers from Switzerland, Germany and Luxembourg, discovered a historical noveltya fossil of an ancient squid eating a crustacean while it was, itself, being eaten by an ancient shark. The interesting configuration gave the researchers a unique look at aquatic life approximately 180 million years ago. The combined fossils were discovered in a German quarry by an amateur collector.

An autonomous sailing vehicle called Saildrone, made by a company of the same name, captured the first-ever footage of the open ocean's surface as it was churned up by a hurricane. The drone managed to capture video and other data as it sailed through the category 4 Hurricane Sam in the Atlantic Ocean. As part of its journey, it stayed afloat as waves reached 15 meters amid winds blowing at 120 mph.

In September, NASA reported that Ingenuity, the tiny helicopter sent to Mars, was still flying missions. The helicopter, which arrived with the rover Perseverance, had at that time completed 12 flights successfully and was on track to carry out several more. NASA has been using the tiny craft to help with travel plans for the rover and to capture images and video of the red planet from a new vantage point.

A team working at Eotvos Lorand University's Department of Ethology discovered which dogs more often establish eye contact with humans.They identified four physical traits that characterize dogs that tend to look their human companions in the eye: those that have short heads, are cooperative, and are young and playful. They found that in general, dogs with shorter noses most often establish eye contact.

In April, researchers working at two sites on separate projects (one in the U.S. and one in Europe) found that muons do not always behave the way that physics theories expect them tosometimes, there are unexpected proportions of particles left over after high-speed collisions. The results suggest that certain theories related to the way the universe works may not be right.

A team with members from multiple institutions in the U.S. and one in the U.K. reported an accidental discovery hinting at a hidden population of brown dwarf stars. They found one, which they named "The Accident," that stood out from other brown dwarf stars. It was fainter in some ways and brighter in others, suggesting it was both hotter and colder than expected. Also, it was much older. The researchers suggest that there may be more brown dwarfs in the galaxy than previously thought.

A team at MIT developed a new material made from carbon nanotubes that generates electricity by scavenging energy from its environment. The group used tiny carbon particles that interact with the surrounding liquid to create a current. The liquid, an organic solvent, pulled electrons out of the particles and used them to drive chemical reactions or to power nanoscale robots.

A team of animal researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology and Osnabruck University reported on the first known observation of a lethal attack by chimpanzees on a gorilla. It was not known why the attack occurred, but the researchers suggest that declining resources due to climate change may have prompted the attack.

A team at Cornell University set a world record by tripling the resolution of a state-of-the-art electron microscope. The group reported observations of atoms at a record resolution. To achieve the new resolution, the team added an algorithm-driven process called ptychograthe catch was that it only worked with samples a few atoms thick.

A team of Polish scientists studying animal behavior recorded a polar bear chasing a reindeer into the sea to drown it before dragging it ashore to eat it. Other researchers suggest the behavior is an indication of polar bears adapting to a warming climatethey normally eat seals.

A team of researchers from the University of Aveiro and the University of Porto, both in Portugal, working with a group from the University of Birmingham in the U.K., found that for humans, the brain and testis have the highest number of common proteins. A closer look showed that most of them were related to the development of tissue and communications.

A team of researchers affiliated with several institutions in the U.S. and Spain has found that most human origin stories are not compatible with known fossils. They further suggest that the narrative for hominin origins is a "big mess." The lack of consensus, they contend, has led to researchers in different places working under different paradigmsan approach that they note cannot be sustained.

And finally, a team of evolutionary biologists and biomedical researchers at Harvard University outlined how longer lives are tied to physical activity. They found evidence showing that physical activity later in life shifts energy away from processes that can compromise health and toward mechanisms in the body that extend it. They further suggest that humans have evolved in a way that allows them to remain physically active as they age.

 2021 Science X Network
QUEENSBURY  The Masons of Queensbury have requested the town rezone their property on Burke Drive to allow for a day care center to occupy available space in the building.

The Town Board has scheduled a public hearing on the matter for Dec. 20.

The Masons brought the proposal to rezone the land before the Queensbury Town Board at a special workshop on Nov. 22 after seeing success with their initial application to the Planning Board.

The land is zoned as neighborhood residential, which does not allow for commercial use of available spaces.

The neighborhood residential zoning of the land at 15 Burke Drive currently does not allow for businesses to operate, reserving the land for single- and multi-family homes.

The Masons have reported they have unoccupied space in the building and have had interest from a day care center to move into the vacancy.

Town Supervisor John Strough explained the current zoning is meant to be a transitional area in between higher-density zones.

However, the supervisor said the town, and society as a whole, is moving toward more mixed-use zones that will allow for walkable communities.

It has become a frequent request for zoning to change, allowing for residential units in commercial zones. More and more, the community desires mixed-use zones that allow residents to live and shop within the same area, he said.

At a Town Board meeting on Dec. 6, Strough said the location would be a convenient addition to the neighborhood.

The back of the church is facing the Montcalm Apartments and across the street from the new apartments recently built on Burke Drive. This would offer a convenient child care location for the families living there. Mom and dad need a safe place for their children while they work. This rezoning would allow that, not only on Burke Drive, but on other 2-acre lots as well, he said.

The members of the board supported the request, but set a public hearing on the matter for Dec. 20 at 7 p.m. This meeting will be open to the community in person or via Zoom.

Other Town Board business:

The board has resolved to renew the contract with the West Glens Falls Emergency Squad with an advanced payment included. The new payment schedule has been enacted to offset the costs incurred by the squad after being tasked with assisting the state-run COVID vaccination site at Aviation Mall. West Glens Falls EMS is still awaiting payment from the state for providing services at the site earlier this year.

Queensbury resident Jeremy Beaudette shared his opposition to the Town Boards decision not to opt out of allowing recreational marijuana retailers in the town. Beaudette cited statistics from states where marijuana is legal and warned of the possible dangers. Board member Harrison Freer obtained his contact information and the meeting moved forward.

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CAMBRIDGE  Artist Will Moses remembers watching his great-grandmother paint at a table in her laundry room.

Wed go in and watch, and shed talk to us and tell us what she was doing, Moses said. She was really good about that. Then we all got herded out, had a cookie, got on our bikes, and away we went.

His great-grandmother, around 95 at the time, was Anna Mary Robertson Moses, known around the world as Grandma Moses.

But to Moses, she was just a grandmother.

We knew there was something special, but we didnt know what, Moses continued. There was a lot of attention focused on her by the family and people from outside. She was always having visitors, and we used to think it was pretty cool to go in and watch her paint.

Moses, an established folk painter himself, just released his 12th illustrated book.

He sat quietly at a table nestled between shoppers and bookshelves at Battenkill Books on Saturday afternoon. The store buzzed with a dozen people as Moses signed copies of his new illustrated book, The First Christmas, based on the lyrics of the beloved carol, O Little Town of Bethlehem.

Many of the pictures are Moses artistic interpretation of the manger scene and the birth of Jesus Christ.

Most bookstores, including Battenkill Books, carry the new hardcover book, which is also available at the Mt. Nebo Gallery in Eagle Bridge and on Amazon for $13.90.

Moses lives and works at the Mt. Nebo Gallery in the hamlet of Eagle Bridge. His studio is in the 200-year-old farmhouse where his great-grandmother began her career.

He creates paintings that reflect the quiet beauty of his tiny community nestled close to the Vermont border. His folk-style paintings are displayed in collections throughout the world, including the White House, The Smithsonian Institution and the New York State Museum.

Moses offers a variety of different art to collectors including original paintings, serigraphs, prints, puzzles, etchings and posters.

The inside of the new book contains prints of the oil paintings Moses is known for in similar folk style to his famous great-grandmother.

Grandma Moses didnt start painting until age 78 and produced more than 2,000 paintings in the last two decades of her life. She died 60 years ago at age 101  on Dec. 13, 1961.

But it was actually Moses grandfather, Forrest Moses  the son of Grandma Moses  who inspired Will to paint. Forrest was an unusual man who had a lot of patience with kids, he said.

He sort of saw himself as a successor, I think, Moses said. He wanted everybody in the family to paint, I think in part because of what she established. So all the kids did. All of his grandchildren painted as least one painting with him.

Moses laughed at the idea of letting 5-year-olds experiment with oil paints.

He recalled the hunting cabin feel of his grandfathers studio, where a series of characters would visit, drink coffee, smoke cigars, tell stories and swear.

Weve kind of lost a lot of that, those guys like that, Moses said. They didnt seem to ever do much, but they were always busy.

Gretta Hochsprung can be reached at 518-742-3206 or ghochsprung@poststar.com.

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ALBANY  Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo was ordered by New Yorks ethics commission Tuesday to give up millions of dollars a publisher paid him to write a book about his response to the coronavirus pandemic.

An attorney for Cuomo immediately called the action unconstitutional and promised a fight.

Cuomo was directed to turn over proceeds earned from American Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic within 30 days under a resolution approved 12-1 by the Joint Commission on Public Ethics, according to multiple media reports.

The order came a month after the commission voted to rescind the ethics approval it had given Cuomo before he entered into the $5.1 million book deal.

American Crisis was published in October 2020, months before Cuomo resigned amid findings he sexually harassed 11 women.

The staff of the commission granted approval of the deal in July 2020, when his counsel told the commission that Cuomo agreed to not use any state personnel or resources to produce his book and that he would write it entirely on his own time. But complaints later surfaced that state property, resources and personnel were used to prepare, write, edit and publish the book.

Cuomo has acknowledged that state employees helped with tasks including editing the manuscript. But hes claimed that those employees were volunteering.

JCOPEs actions today are unconstitutional, exceed its own authority and appear to be driven by political interests rather than the facts and the law, Cuomo attorney Jim McGuire said in a prepared statement. Should they seek to enforce this action, well see them in court.

There was no immediate comment from the attorney generals office.

A separate state Assembly investigation released last month found evidence that Cuomo, who resigned in August, had his staff spend copious amounts of time on the project.

Junior and senior staff members told investigators they were asked to perform book tasks during their work day, including transcribing dictations, printing and delivering documents, and attending meetings with agents and publishers. One senior state official sent and received 1,000 emails about the book, the legislative report said.

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Despite the lowest incarcerated population in four decades, attacks on staff in New York correctional facilities reached an all-time high this year.

According to the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, 1,048 assaults on staff have been reported through November. The previous record was 1,047 set last year. Its the third consecutive year attacks have topped 1,000.

Most of the attacks (788) have occurred in maximum-security prisons, such as Auburn Correctional Facility. There have been 256 assaults on staff in medium-security prisons.

Its part of a continuing trend observed in New Yorks 50 state prisons. While the number of incarcerated individuals held in state correctional facilities has decreased by 57.3% since 1999  from 72,649 to 31,030  the assaults on staff and other incarcerated individuals have increased.

Five years ago, there were 759 assaults on staff and 1,135 assaults on incarcerated individuals, according to DOCCS. Along with the 1,048 assaults on staff this year, there have been 991 assaults on incarcerated individuals.

DOCCS notes in its monthly reports that any attack by an incarcerated individual is classified by (the department) as an assault. The statistics may include incidents where no one is injured or if an object is thrown and hits another person.

Michael Powers, president of the New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association, is not surprised by the record-high number of assaults on staff. NYSCOPBA, which represents corrections officers, maintains its own statistics which show that assaults on staff have doubled since 2012.

Powers described the spike in violence as appalling and blamed progressive policies implemented by the state. NYSCOPBA filed a federal lawsuit earlier this year challenging the states solitary confinement reform law and accusing the state of federal civil rights violations after multiple union members were injured in separate attacks at correctional facilities.

In August, the union stood outside Auburn Correctional Facility and described the prison as the poster child for inmate violence. That press conference was held in the aftermath of an attack that seriously injured a corrections officer at the prison.

Given the recent admission by the department of these unprovoked attacks, we need the state to act now to protect staff before another officer suffers from this unrelenting violence, Powers said.

In November, Acting DOCCS Commissioner Anthony Annucci wrote a memo to the incarcerated population addressing the assaults on staff and safety within the correctional facilities. Annucci, who has worked for DOCCS for more than 37 years, commented that while there has always been the occasional very troubling incident, the trend I am seeing of late, in terms of the sheer savagery of the assault, the randomness of the assault, and the lack of any precipitating event before the assault, is extremely disturbing.

DOCCS has implemented policies and deployed equipment to combat the increasing violence in prisons. According to the department, millions of dollars have been invested to install fixed cameras and microphones in prisons. Body-worn cameras are also being used in some facilities.

Other measures taken include de-escalation tactics training for security staff and a pepper spray program.

Annucci warned incarcerated individuals that a violent felony assault conviction could lead to a longer prison sentence. He added that a new felony conviction could result in a life sentence if the individual is considered a persistent felony offender or persistent violent felony offender.

Make no mistake about it, Annucci wrote. This department will do everything within its power to keep everyone safe from assault, regardless of whether the person is an employee, other incarcerated individual, volunteer, visitor, or contractor. This, in turn, means holding the guilty party fully accountable in a court of law.

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NEW YORK  Martin Scorseses alma mater, New York University, is establishing a film institute in his name after a gift from George Lucas and Mellody Hobson.

The formation of the Martin Scorsese Institute of Global Cinematic Arts was to be announced Tuesday by NYUs Tisch School of the Arts. The institute will include a virtual production center, the Martin Scorsese Department of Cinema Studies and support for student scholarships  with tuition assistance for those selected as Scorsese scholars.

A large donation from the Hobson/Lucas Family Foundation  the nonprofit run by the Star Wars filmmaker and his wife, Hobson, co-chief executive of Ariel Investments and chairwoman of Starbucks Corporation  made the new institute possible.

This is such a singular and remarkable honor for me, and I thank my old, dear friend George Lucas, his wife Mellody Hobson and their remarkable foundation for this honor, Scorsese said in a statement. Their generosity of spirit and deed is deeply moving for me, and doubly so since this state-of-the-art institute will be housed at my beloved alma mater, NYUs Tisch School of the Arts. I only wish that my parents were around to see this. They would have been so proud.
The smoking-ban bill has lingered in Trenton for more than a year, jumping in and out of committees without formal action.

Gov. Phil Murphy has said he intends to sign the bill once it arrives at his desk.

Many casino workers want the ban passed to create safe work environments, specifically those with preexisting health conditions or pregnant employees.

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health says casino workers are at greater risk for lung and heart disease because of secondhand smoke exposure, and a study in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine found casino air to potentially have 50 times more cancer-causing particles than air on rush-hour highways, according to the bill.

The Casino Association of New Jersey, the casinos trade group, has said making the citys casinos smoke-free would cost them customers.

Officials shut down Atlantic City cannabis cafe, citing lack of permits ATLANTIC CITY  Described variously as a bar or a cannabis club, the Rekt Cafe on Bellevue A
Being here, you get an appreciation for the spirit of what he accomplished, said Wallace, who bought the Cherry Hill property in 2006 to house Red Oak Creative, her public relations firm.

Owning the building has been a true honor, she said. And the coolness factor is off the hook.

After Wallace and her three employees began working from home because of the COVID-19 pandemic, however, the owner decided to put the earth-sheltered office on the market. Lets see who else is going to appreciate it, hopefully as much as I do, she said.

The building  asking price $199,900  has attracted plenty of interest in the 18 months it has been listed.

I could have sold it to 20 people who wanted to live in it, said Bozzo, who works for Realtor Daniel R. White in Haddon Heights. A township zoning variance would be required to use the structure for non-office use.
In the case of my friend, there was no such opportunity. She never got to meet my son, who was born just months before the lockdowns began.

With almost two years since social distancing became the hallmark of polite society, I have started wondering how many other opportunities to gather, to hug and talk freely (and unmasked) are forever lost because we ceded our natural inclination to be social to caution and fear.

One of the people who eulogized my friend lamented how his family, very close to the deceased, had avoided gathering with her over the past year for her own health and safety.

They assumed there would be future occasions to spend time together.

His was a deep sense of regret that many people I speak with have felt throughout the pandemic: that living in fear of harming those we love has, in ways we didnt anticipate, harmed them still.

That all seemed behind us. Life has been largely normal for months.

Then recently , the headlines buzzed with news that the World Health Organization had identified yet another variant, this one dubbed omicron.

Just how serious it is (or isnt) has yet to be determined.
Their effectiveness has held up for the most part, allowing schools to reopen, restaurants to welcome diners and families to gather for the holidays. At last count, 95% of Americans 65 and older had had at least one shot.

"In terms of scientific, public health and logistical achievements, this is in the same category as putting a man on the moon," said Dr. David Dowdy, an infectious-disease epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

The vaccines' first year has been rocky with the disappointment of breakthrough infections, the political strife over mandates and, now, worries about whether the mutant omicron will evade protection.

Despite all that, Dowdy said, "we're going to look back and say the vaccines were a huge success story."

On the very day that an eager nation began rolling up its sleeves, Dec. 14, 2020, the U.S. death toll from COVID-19 hit 300,000. And deaths were running at an average of more than 2,500 a day and rising fast, worse than what the country witnessed during the harrowing spring of 2020, when New York City was the epicenter of the U.S. outbreak.
Its not often that the end of something means you spend even more money on it, but U.S. defense spending has long defied most rational parameters. With the United States formally out of wars for the first time in about two decades, the Pentagons budget increased 5% over last year to a staggering $768 billion in the annual National Defense Authorization Act alone, with an additional $10 billion in non-NDAA defense spending. The package was passed by the House and is expected to pass the Senate.

While lawmakers spent months in protracted negotiations whittling down the infrastructure package and President Joe Bidens social spending bill, there was no such inhibition when it came to the defense package, with legislators tossing in $25 billion more than what Biden had requested. Despite being a spending measure of roughly half the size of the controversial infrastructure bill in just one year, it is remarkably difficult to find much robust public conversation about what its components even are.
On Tuesday, Nov. 30, many lives changed forever. That afternoon, 30 shots were fired at Oxford High School in Michigan. Four students lost their lives that afternoon. This recent tragedy leads us to wonder: Should there be more protection in our schools to prevent more of these awful tragedies from happening?

When mentioning the idea of better protection, the first thing that pops up in the governments mind is cost. Public schools already have trouble getting funding from the government. With Gov. Kim Reynolds already trying to defund the public schools by $2.1 million dollars, an additional cost for more protection might just make their eyes roll. But should there really be a cost put on the protection of children? As a former student from one of our local districts, I would think, with schools in our area already having threats of shootings, we would have started to protect our schools more already, but no.

We should have metal detectors at every entrance in school buildings. Having detectors at the entrances will better control guns and other unsafe objects, such as knives, reducing the crime rate in our schools.
CHICAGO  The only Black juror on the panel that convicted Jussie Smollett of lying to Chicago police said he couldn't get past what the actor did not do after he claimed attackers looped a noose around his neck: Rip it off and keep it off.

If others saw the noose as Smollett's clumsy effort to portray his attackers as racist, Andre Hope saw much more.

"As an African American person, I'm not putting that noose back on at all, " Andre Hope told WLS-TV. At trial, Smollett testified that after the attack in downtown Chicago in January 2019, he returned home and put the rope back around his neck so police who came to his apartment soon after could see it.

Hope was not the only Black person who struggled with Smollett's use of such a potent symbol of racism in the U.S. to convince authorities he was the victim of a hate crime.

In an interview with NewsNation Now after Smollett was found guilty last Thursday, Eddie Johnson  who was Chicago police superintendent in January 2019 when Smollett said he was attacked  said virtually the same thing.

"I was concerned because I don't think there's many Black people in America with a noose around their neck and wouldn't immediately take it off," Johnson said.
Trussell also has used her social media platform to liken Planned Parenthood to the Ku Klux Klan and question the validity of health care professionals calling for vaccinations to deal with the pandemic.

In introducing Trussell to supporters at a Lisle restaurant, Bailey said Trussell was a hard working conservative and a fighter.

Were tired of extreme liberal policies being pushed in Springfield while weak-kneed Republicans are too afraid to stand up and deliver a simple conservative message, Bailey said.

We need bold and courageous leaders who will stand up for the working people and taxpayers, leaders who will fight for economic prosperity and economic opportunities, our freedoms and support law enforcement to help provide safer communities for every Illinoisan, he said. Leaders focused on getting the masks off our kids and the policies out of our classrooms.

Trussell said that while she loved Illinois, its political leaders and political class have failed us. She vowed that she and Bailey would deliver a tax cut to Illinoisans after their second year in office.

Sign up for The Spin to get the top stories in politics delivered to your inbox weekday afternoons.
Illinois and seven other states are asking the federal government to reinstate a freeze on interest thats piling up on money they borrowed to pay unemployment benefits during the early phase of the coronavirus pandemic.

Illinois owes nearly $4.5 billion to the federal unemployment trust fund, which has been accumulating interest at a rate of 2.27% since Sept. 6. As of Friday, the state owed $19.6 million in interest, a tab that would grow to more than $100 million if the debt is left unpaid for a year, according to Comptroller Susana Mendozas office.

Taxpayers should not be on the hook for interest just because the pandemic is lasting longer than projected, Mendoza said in a statement. States are wrestling with how best to replenish their COVID-depleted unemployment funds and they should not have to do that with the meter running.

Mendoza joined the chief fiscal officers of Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania to ask U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen for the Biden administrations support for reinstating a pause on interest charges that expired in September.
The vaccine has been controversial overseas, with health advisers in Germany, France and other European nations recently recommending individuals under 30 get the Pfizer shot instead because younger Pfizer recipients showed slightly lower rates of rare heart inflammation; the health risks of contracting COVID-19 are still much higher compared with the side effects of vaccination, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

As of now, the Moderna shot is only authorized in the U.S. for those 18 and older.

While Lozano knows the immunization is still considered experimental for children, she says she carefully weighed the benefits of taking part in the trial against the potential risks.

With anything thats not necessarily proven yet, it makes you a little nervous, she said. There was some caution. You never want to risk your kids health. At the same time, I felt she was a lot more susceptible to COVID. It became very clear cut in the end.

Medical experts say safety and patient care are the top priority in any clinical trial, particularly one involving children and infants.
Vladimir Putin thinks the Soviet Union was a great, marvelous, unmatched world power, the Roman Empire in modern setting, a historical miracle spun by Russias cultural and ethnic superiority with lots of nuclear weapons, to boot. And he wants it back, starting with the nation of Ukraine, peopled, as he sees it, by residents in most ways Russian themselves. He has a Soviet tactic in mind. Attack that country. Make it part of the whole again.

President Joe Biden, more than a little bit upset by this other president and his amassing tens of thousands of troops on Ukraines border, says no, no, many times no and recently threatened sanctions in a trans-Atlantic video session with Putin. Biden is falling short, but gets it that Ukraine is now an advancing democracy and wants to go its own way despite once being the most important part of Russia. Ukraine is already combatting Russia-supported rebels and Biden understands that Hungary, Poland and the Baltic states could be next in line for takeovers. The threat is also to Europe, just as Putin sees a threat to the new Soviet Union if he does not ward off NATO and Europe by making sure that certain border nations belong to him.
Regardless of how Glenn Lepp feels, he gets up every morning to feed hay to about 90 alpacas and llamas.

Ive got to get up, get them fed, watered, take care of some of that stuff, he said recently. These guys keep me going. Regardless of how I feel, Ive got to get them fed.

Lepp and his wife, Debbie, moved to the outskirts of Rapid City near Caputa in 2007. They previously lived in Idaho, North Carolina and Florida. Lepp is originally from Ashley, North Dakota.

The couple started taking care of alpacas about six years ago after an early retirement. He said they first saw an alpaca farm while in Colorado in 2014.

"That's kind of where we got in trouble," Lepp said.

The couple took an alpaca birthing class in Fort Collins and planned to breed alpacas. They started with about 20, a mix of alpacas and llamas. Over the years, they accumulated more and more alpacas to reach about 90.

Being able to take care of them helps Lepp get out of bed and continue on. He said his depression followed his leukemia diagnosis around 1980 while he was in the Marine Corps.

Lepp said he and his wife still breed the animals but havent found out the secret to breeding just yet.

Each alpaca has a name, and Lepp said theyre all fairly curious, although timid. He said they will come into the house and walk through just to see whats going on.

Its kind of funny to watch them, and if you move a lot of stuff around like if youre working in the garage, they come in and have to check it out, he said.

The Lepps keep the animals at Caputa Alpacas and Guest Ranch off of state Highway 44. Lepp said they opened the guest ranch in 2016, which was around the time they received their first alpacas.

The Lepps shear the alpacas every spring and harvest the wool. They also have a small store that sells alpaca products. Lepp said all of the money goes back into taking care of the animals. The couple also show some of the alpacas, including in Denver where theyve won first and second place ribbons.

Weve been trying to go to a show at least once a year, Lepp said.

The alpacas are free to visit from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday at 15268 E Highway 44, Rapid City.

 Contact Siandhara Bonnet at siandhara.bonnet@rapidcityjournal.com 

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NDN Collective will spend the next 10 months planning how it will distribute $50 million to Indigenous families and individuals in South Dakota, North Dakota and Minnesota.

The organization was selected by the Bush Foundation to establish the Community Trust Fund to distribute the money to Indigenous communities. The Bush Foundation has investments in Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and the 23 Native nations in the area.

A total of $100 million will go to Indigenous and Black communities and be distributed by the NDN Collective and Nexus Community Partners in St. Paul, Minnesota. The money is aimed at wealth gaps.

NDN Collective President and CEO Nick Tilsen said Tuesday that the organization hopes to Indigenize what building wealth means.

I think that capitalism has one definition of wealth, a very definition of wealth, thats just about money, he said. Were also going to explore what it means to utilize resources to build cultural assets, language assets, healing assets for people and what does that look like?

Tilsen said the money could be used for home repairs, down payment assistance for small business loans, college tuition, and paying down student debt. He said there will be opportunities for Native people across the spectrum.

We want to meet people where theyre at, so theres going to be opportunities for everything from somebody whos trying to get off the street  to somebody who is graduating high school and trying to figure out how theyre going to pay for their first year of college, or pay for their tuition, he said.

He also said NDN Collective will reach out to different organizations in the region and community members and may host town halls or focus groups to get feedback.

We havent decided any of this, we just found out about the announcement and were really beginning the planning process, he said.

According to the Insight Center for Community Economic Development  a national research, consulting and legal organization  the typical Native American household had eight cents of wealth for every dollar in the average white American household.

Thats a major wealth gap, Tilsen said. Its massive, its a massive injustice.

Tilsen said the wealth gap is linked with inequalities existing in health care, education, governance and every other aspect of society. He said there are more things that can be done to help shrink the wealth gap, like policy changes, investing in Indigenous education, and investing in infrastructure.

Eileen Briggs, grant-making director for the Bush Foundation, said the foundation hosted an open process where organizations were invited to indicate their interest to be the stewarding organization or to apply on their own. A total of 17 organizations applied for the program.

Briggs said the foundation engaged community members from the Black and Native communities, as well as an advisory community panel that interviewed each of the finalists.

We know NDN is bold in its advocacy work, but its also bold in its community development and philanthropic works, she said.

Briggs said the foundation is impressed by NDNs passion, clarity and commitment to the Native and Black communities.

Tilsen said planning could last into late 2022 with distribution in 2022 to 2023. He also said NDN Collective will hire one full-time staff person to help coordinate the planning process.

 Contact Siandhara Bonnet at siandhara.bonnet@rapidcityjournal.com 

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BELLE FOURCHE, S.D. (AP)  An unnamed private buyer purchased Big John, a 67-million-year-old Triceratops skeleton that was uncovered in Perkins County in 2014, for $7.7 million at a Paris auction on Oct. 21.

Walter Stein, a professional dinosaur fossil hunter and vertebrate paleontologist who specializes in Late Cretaceous theropods, has discovered, excavated, or prepared more than 40 dinosaur skeletons and hundreds of isolated fossils over the last 25 years.

Stein, of Belle Fourche-based PaleoAdventures, was the lucky paleontologist who discovered Big John in 2014, the Black Hills Pioneer reported. He said that even after a quarter of a century honing his craft, being the first person to set eyes upon a piece of history that has been buried for more than 65 million years never gets old.

Every time you find a skeleton, its a celebration. We do a little victory dance in the badlands whenever you find something cool, Stein told the Pioneer in a Thursday email. It was certainly an honor to find this beast and help bring it back to life, so to speak. When I was 6, I dreamed of heading west and digging dinosaurs, so every day I get to do this, Im living my dream.

PaleoAdventures is a small, family-owned independent commercial paleontology company dedicated to helping preserve the vertebrate fossils, such as those of dinosaurs and marine reptiles, long buried under the surface of the Northern Plains. Stein and his wife, Heather Stein, created PaleoAdventures in 2005, and provide a wide range of services including paleontological education and tours.

Stein unearthed Big John, a Triceratops dating to the late Cretaceous period, in 2014 north of Butte County within in the Hell Creek Formation.

Since the discovery, Big John has been declared the Guinness World Record title holder of the largest documented skeleton of a Triceratops dinosaur. The mounted skeleton measures approximately 23-feet-5-inches long from snout to tail and stands 8-feet-10-inches high at the hips. The reconstructed skull measures 8-feet-7-inches long and 6-feet-6-inches wide with a basal skull length of 5-feet-1-inches, making it 510% larger than any other Triceratops skull reported to date, according to Guinness.

Resurrecting Big John

In the summer of 2014, Stein said he was exploring an area of a private Mud Butte ranch in southwestern Perkins County that hed recently contracted to explore for palaeontologic findings.

I drove to a patch of badlands, jumped out of the truck, and within maybe 10-15 minutes of searching, I found the skeleton, Stein said, adding that he spotted the exhilarating find from 20 feet away.

Stein recalled that he observed a large debris field of broken fragments of the fossilized skeleton that led into a hillside, indicating that Big John had been weathering for a very long time.

One of the first bones I noticed was the remains of a brow horn going into the mud, he said. It was in rough shape, but I could immediately tell it was from a Triceratops, and a big one at that.

Fueled by enthusiasm, Stein said he began excavating the skeleton  a task that sounds easier in phrase than in practice.

You dont just find some bones and throw them into the back of a pickup truck, he explained. Its a long process and a lot of hard work.

After notifying the landowners of the discovery, Stein said he began documentation of the find, logging details about the geology and stratigraphy, and surveying a baseline for mapping. We triple checked the location to make sure we were where we thought we were, he said. Then we got down to excavation and documentation.

Stein said he and his team spent the better part of two summers to complete the dig operation, unearthing approximately 40% of the prehistoric animals skeleton and about 70% of the skull. A feat of that magnitude requires many helpful hands, and for Stein, hes grateful for those who pitched in to assist with uncovering the ancient remains.

PaleoAdventures is a small, family-run company, Stein said. My wife and I have been blessed with lots of family and friends who have helped our operations over the years.

To exhume Big John, Stein said six other people helped on the dig, including two of his guides, a summer intern, a friend, Heather Stein, his wife, and the couples oldest son, William.

I even hired an excavator to come help take some of the overlying rock off of the top to make it easier to get to the bone-bearing layer, he said. Getting Big J out of the ground was a group effort.

The owners of the property also assisted with the effort, Stein said.

Big John is named after the landowner, John R., who unfortunately passed away due to COVID last year, he said. John was one of the nicest and kindest guys Ive ever met. He would give you the shirt off of his back if you needed it. So, I hope the skeleton is a great tribute to this great man and his wonderful family.

Stein declined to provide the landowners last name to protect his privacy.

Like most dinosaur skeletons, Stein said Big John had an interesting taphonomic story. Taphonomy is the study of how organisms decay and become fossilized or preserved in the paleontological record.

One day, 67 million years ago, our Triceratops died out on a muddy floodplain near a river system, he said. Shortly after, the river flooded its banks, dumping a bunch of mud and debris around the skeleton. This covered portions of the body, like the one shoulder and arm, but left other parts sticking up in the air.

As time passed, the portions of Big John that were exposed to the air and elements deteriorated, broke down, and were displaced by scavengers or stream currents, Stein explained.

Eventually, these were covered with a second layer, but this time sand, he said. The bones in the mud were buried first and (as a result were) much better preserved. The ones up in the sand, like the horns and frill, were exposed longer and not in as good of shape.

Exacerbating the situation, Stein said groundwater was able to remain in the sand layer longer, introducing minerals like iron sulfides to portions of the skeleton.

 which is not a great thing for dinosaur bone, he said. We call this iron-pyrite disease, which produces a lot of iron concretion and secondary minerals like gypsum which blow apart the bone.

To add insult to injury, Stein said that tree and vegetation roots preferred the conditions of sandy layers due to the groundwater that the strata held well.

So, (the parts of Big John) in the sand layers (were) pretty root rotted and weathered by the time I found it, he said.

In short, the skeleton was what we paleontologists call disarticulated, but associated, Stein said, explaining that portions of Big John were found in a main pile where he fell, including the skull, shoulder, arm, vertebras, and ribs, while the legs and tail were washed approximately 13-16 feet further downstream from the main pile.

Stein said when you look in the right places, its not hard to find dinosaur bone.

The trick is to know how to get it out of the ground in one piece, he said. Whenever you find a skeleton and its over 20% complete, thats a win. So, with each bone, we knew we had a good one.

As Stein and crew uncovered bones in the field, he said they brought the fossils to their lab to begin fossil preparation  the process of removing a fossil specimen from the surrounding matrix in which it is embedded. Preparation of a skeleton the size of Big Johns is slow moving and sometimes daunting, he said.

With just me doing most of the prep work, it was an incredibly slow process, Stein said, adding that it took him approximately a months time to complete Big Johns left lower jawbone. This was a big dinosaur, too, with heavy bones, he said.

Following preparation, Stein said he would have loved to assemble the gargantuan artifact himself. However, he said the PaleoAdventures facility did not have enough space to accommodate doing so properly.

So, for approximately six years, Stein said he and his crew tried to find Big John a home in a museum, to no avail.

Shortly after the COVID-19 pandemic hit the U.S., after consulting with the landowners of the property that formerly served as Big Johns resting place, the decision was made to sell the unfinished and mostly unprepared 40% complete Triceratops skeleton to an Italian company.

After the sale, Stein said the company commenced preparations for an auction of Big Johns remains which entailed a years worth of tedious effort to prepare, restore, and assemble the skeleton utilizing castings of original parts to help fill in the missing parts not recovered from the dig site.

They did a good job with it, and I wish them well, he said of the Italian company which sold the skeleton for $7.7 million in an Oct. 21 auction.

Following his 2020 sale of the skeleton, Stein said he and Big John parted ways.

Once we sold the skeleton to the Italians, we were out of it, he explained. Id like to say we were millionaires right now, but we arent. We sold the skeleton for a small fraction of what they got at auction.

Stein said he watched the auction, which was livestreamed online, and was shocked by the multimillion-dollar price tag Big John acquired.

Triceratops, being a comparatively common genus, has never brought that kind of money, he said.

After the shock wore off, Stein said he felt a little sad to see Big John go.

Unfortunately, because of the auction format, (the skeleton) was picked up by a private bidder and not a museum, he said. I would have felt better about it had it gone to a museum. Hopefully the new owner will put it on public display somewhere soon, so others can love the specimen like we did.

Parting with specimens found in the field and painstakingly cared for by Stein and his crew can be bittersweet, he said.

When you love fossils as much as I do, its tough to just let them go, even if its to a good home, he said. Having said that, we are a private company, and we do need to pay the electric bill.

Unlike academic institutions, Stein said that private paleontological outfits like his dont qualify for grant funds and cannot collect tax revenue to assist with funding operations. Additionally, he said that landowners deserve to be compensated for skeletons found on their properties.

So, one of the ways we stay independent, is via guided dig site tours each summer, Stein said. Another way is by selling common fossils and skeletons. Whenever we find a $10,000 (valued) Tyrannosaurus rex tooth, I call that nature providing me a grant.

While Stein may not be a millionaire as a result of Big Johns sale, his passion fuels PaleoAdventures forward momentum, which he hopes could offer some light at the end of the tunnel with the goal of retaining more dinosaurs found in South Dakota.

It has always been our goal to build our own dinosaur museum right here in western South Dakota, he said. Unfortunately, my wife and I were not born with silver spoons in our mouths, and building a museum takes a lot of money and time.

With a small field station in Belle Fourche and museum exhibits on display for visitors to take in, Stein said the space is too small to accommodate his dream.

This winter, I am working on raising capital, finding investors, and putting some of our museum plans into motion, he said. Hopefully by 2023, we will be poised and ready to keep more dinosaurs in South Dakota.

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An 18-year-old Victor man allegedly driving his parents pickup without a drivers license has been charged with three felonies following an early Saturday morning high-speed chase.

Brayden Michael Fernlund appeared Monday before Ravalli County Justice Jim Bailey on felony counts of criminal endangerment, theft and criminal mischief. He was also charged with 11 misdemeanors.

According to the charging affidavit, a Ravalli County deputy was responding to another call on Highway 93 when he observed a vehicle approaching him at a high rate of speed near mile marker 63 at 4:40 a.m. on Dec. 11.

The deputy flashed his emergency lights at the vehicle in an attempt to get the driver to slow down.

The driver instead accelerated to about 84 mph. When the deputy turned around and began to follow the pickup truck, it increased its speed to 96 mph.

At this point, the deputy was following the vehicle with his emergency lights and siren activated.

The vehicle turned east at Victor Crossing, where it drove 85 mph in a 30 mph zone, the affidavit said. It then drove through the stop sign and headed northbound on the Eastside Highway where it allegedly reached a speed of 103 mph in a 65 mph zone.

The vehicle continued to flee before eventually stopping near South Cougar Lane, where the driver and passengers fled on foot. The pickup truck was left in gear and crashed into a power pole.

The deputy learned the truck was registered to Fernlunds father. He went to the family residence, where Fernlunds parents were surprised the truck was not in the driveway where they left it and Fernlund wasnt home where he was supposed to be, the affidavit said.

Fernlunds father told the deputy he had not given his son permission to drive the truck.

The deputy spoke to Fernlund when he returned home. The affidavit said Fernlund said a person named Abel was driving the truck.

However, deputies later spoke with four passengers who told them Fernlund was the driver. They all reported they had told Fernlund to stop and they were in fear of crashing.

Bailey set bond at $10,000.

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CrowdStrike Suggests 63 Percent of Orgs Losing Trust in 'Legacy' Software Providers Like Microsoft

A CrowdStrike survey, announced last week, depicted organizations struggling with security issues, and losing trust in "legacy" software vendors such as Microsoft.

Microsoft specifically gets named and blamed in the CrowdStrike white paper, the "2021 CrowdStrike Global Security Attitude Survey," which uses data from market researcher Vanson Bourne. The survey included responses from "2,200 senior IT decision makers and IT security professionals" from around the world, who were interviewed over the last three months.

Survey Findings

This fourth-annual CrowdStrike survey found that there was an increase of supply-chain attacks within the last year, with 32 percent saying such attacks had occurred on several occasions, compared with 16 percent saying the same thing in 2018.

Ransomware problems increased over the year, with 32 percent of respondents saying that they had been hit more than once, vs. 24 percent of respondents saying the same thing in the 2020 survey.

The respondents listed several barriers to getting better protections against ransomware, including "lack of internal awareness around cybersecurity" (42 percent), "lack of skills in the IT/cybersecurity team" (40 percent), "lack of adequate threat intelligence" (37 percent) and "lack of the right security solutions" (37 percent), among others.

The average time to detect a cybersecurity incident was estimated at 146 hours, according to the respondents. That number is up compared with the 2020 survey (117 hours) and the 2019 survey (120 hours).

Respondents were asked about any blocks to detecting and responding to cybersecurity threats. They listed having too many disparate solutions (47 percent), lack of resources (42 percent) and having a "legacy infrastructure that is a challenge to upgrade/secure" (42 percent), among others.

Microsoft Blamed

The CrowdStrike white paper didn't show any specific question about Microsoft, but possibly it was part of the survey and not reproduced in the white paper. The report does include a CrowdStrike statement that "according to 63% of respondents, their organization is facing a crisis of trust in legacy IT vendors, such as Microsoft, due to frequent security incidents."

The point about Microsoft being the problem was repeated by George Kurtz, CrowdStrike's president and CEO, in a couple of media interviews given last week.

Kurtz told Yahoo News that it's mainly Microsoft software vulnerabilities have led to recent attacks:

The second data point is you have to look at the vulnerabilities of Microsoft. Almost 50 percent from 2019 to 2020, they were up, almost 1,300 vulnerabilities. So a lot of these vulnerabilities were key in these attacks. If you look at PrintNightmare, you look at the Microsoft Exchange vulnerabilities, you look at a lot of the authentication issues that we've seen, being abused by things like Sunburst. So these are the facts. And when we talk to customers, they are increasingly concerned about the crisis and trust on Microsoft, and that's basically the environment that we've seen.

Kurtz also last week told Emily Chang of Bloomberg Technology that "63% of respondents admit that they're losing trust in their current security vendors like Microsoft and others." Kurtz added that "and I think we've seen the attacks become so sophisticated that existing signature based solutions and legacy technology just can't keep up with it."

When Chang brought up the notion that CrowdStrike's claims were just "self-serving" because Microsoft competes with CrowdStrike, Kurtz suggested it was just the numbers in the survey that indicated a lack of trust in Microsoft:

We didn't come up with the math on this and I think when you talk to customers that are out there and you know the feedback is they're being attacked; these technologies are not being able to prevent against them. And one of the biggest areas is Zero Day Tuesday. Customers are just fatigued with constantly patching all the latest zero-day vulnerabilities, which the bad guys are taking advantage of. So I mean, I certainly hope that Microsoft is able to address some of their issues. I mean, we want the best security for the entire landscape. But at the end of the day, it's still a big problem in that a lot of its software they have is causing the issues and their technologies are not able to keep up with defending against those attacks

Microsoft later responded to CrowdStrike's claims. Vasu Jakkal, Microsoft's corporate vice president for security, compliance and identity, presented a mild rebuke in a Bloomberg Technology interview, suggesting that security is a team effort and that CrowdStrike was veering from that goal:

We work with more than 200 security vendors across the board. They are part of our Microsoft Intelligence Security Association to solving the problem at hand. And it's really unfortunate when some vendors disparage other defenders because right now is the time to come together to solve the problem and to fight cybercrime. So it is about trust and who you choose to be on the journey with you. And in the case of Microsoft we have 650,000 security customers who have chosen Microsoft security, increasing 50 percent year over year.

Active Directory 'Architectural Flaws'

The pointed attacks on Microsoft had occurred before when Kurtz testified during a February Congressional hearing on the SolarWinds Orion "Solorigate" or "Sunburst" supply-chain attacks, later attributed to groups affiliated with Russia (dubbed "Nobelium" by Microsoft). He had suggested that Active Directory and Azure Active Directory had architectural flaws that facilitated the attacks.

However, it appears that the SolarWinds supply-chain attackers used a bunch of additional tactics to gain access to the Microsoft 365 e-mail of organizations.

Security consultancy Mandiant recently described expanded and recent Nobelium efforts to target organizations using Microsoft 365 services by infiltrating their Cloud Solution Provider partners using various means in this Dec. 6 post. "The abuse of a third party, in this case a CSP, can facilitate access to a wide scope of potential victims through a single compromise," Mandiant indicated.
She hopes the complaint will provide the relief that, in her opinion, would offer a safer environment for all students. "The relief we seek is for Hanover County Public Schools to honor the law and adopt the VDOE model policies. A full transgender policy in Hanover will begin to set a tone that schools should be a safe place for our kids. Right now, it's not."

She also said the current policy, or lack thereof, in county schools does not provide a consistent model and produces uncertainty in some students.

"There is no restroom policy for transgender students in Hanover. That's resulted in varying practices from school to school," Merrill said. "Without a countywide policy what's happening in our schools is hit or miss and at the mercy of the school and staff. We want to eliminate the stress that our children face not knowing if someone will call them out for being in the 'wrong' space. The physical and mental burden placed on our kids is what we seek relief from."

And, when school board members speak of protecting all students and a mission that emphasizes equity, Merrill thinks they should mean what they say.
Stoney during his re-election campaign last year said Wythe remained a priority. A few months after he was elected to a second term, a slim majority of five School Board members passed a resolution wresting control of school construction projects from his administration, noting its failure to rebuild Wythe and other school projects that exceeded earlier cost estimates.

The move has led to months of debate and controversy, as city and school officials have accused one another of refusing to collaborate and neglecting public demand for a new building as soon as possible.

They dont even know what they are doing, Robin Mines, a 1976 graduate of Wythe and president of the Swansboro Civic Association, said of the School Board members who voted for the so-called Schools Building Schools resolution. Theyre showing total incompetence and disrespect for the mayors office and the school superintendent.

While Superintendent Jason Kamras pushed back against the resolution with concerns about construction being delayed, saying that the school division would need new professional staff to manage school construction projects, division staff started soliciting bids for design work this fall.
Smith asked her students to identify various racial groups, and then had them write stereotypes about each on a large note pad, the lawsuit states. She then led a discussion about the stereotypes and why theyre wrong.

The groups her class picked were Blacks, Latinos, Asians, jocks and courtyard kids, which Urban Dictionary defines as students ostracized for being different. About Black people, the students wrote phrases including, black people dont succeed, drop out and single parent.

The lawsuit says none of the students were offended and that the ones who wrote under that category were primarily Black and appeared to find their writings humorous or amusing. One of the Black students took a photo of the poster and sent it to some friends and family, thinking they might find it amusing, too, the lawsuit said.

But a Black student who saw the picture was offended. She posted it on Facebook, saying this racist stuff at my school needs to stop. Her mother then complained to the school.

In the immediate aftermath, Virginia Beach public schools called the poster offensive and unacceptable. Smith was placed on paid administrative leave several days later and was fired a few weeks after that.
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In another timeline, Rachel Zegler would have had her breakthrough moment last December.

That was when Steven Spielbergs rendition of West Side Story was supposed to open and introduce the world to the New Jersey high school student who responded to an open call on Twitter and beat out thousands for the part of Maria. But the pandemic had other plans.

Yet 2021 wasnt exactly spent waiting in the wings. In fact, her dance card filled up rather quickly: She was cast in and filmed the sequel to Shazam" and snagged the role of Snow White in the live-action reimagining with Wonder Woman Gal Gadot playing the evil queen.

Its been a year of transition, Zegler, 20, said in a recent Zoom interview from her familys home in Clifton, New Jersey. I stepped out of my comfort zone.

And as soon as she got back from filming Shazam 2 in Atlanta, it was time to dive into the West Side Story promotional circus. That meant interviews, photo shoots and many, many public appearances and red carpets, which she had never done before.

My first red carpet was the Met Gala, which just feels like a baptism by fire, Zegler said. I said yes and then it was like, Oh, now I have to go and I have to like, walk on the carpet and trip up the stairs, which I didnt do and Im really proud of myself (for)! But yeah, that was that was crazy.

For her pivoting skills, Zegler has been named among The Associated Press' breakthrough entertainers of the year alongside Damson Idris, Simu Liu, Saweetie, Adrienne Warren, Ruaw Alejandro and more.

It was at the Met Gala that she got to meet the pop star Lorde and tell her how much her music meant to her. Much to her surprise Lorde  whose first name is Ella  knew exactly who she was, too.

She said, Im Ella. Its nice to meet you. And I was like, Im Rachel. And shes like, Oh, no, I know who you are. You sing, you dance, youre a triple threat. I cant wait to see your film, Zegler said. Im taking that to the grave.

Something similar happened recently with Kid Cudi at the CDFA Fashion Awards, too, and though Zegler isnt someone who gets star-struck easily, it is at least a bit surreal to suddenly be recognized.

You dont realize how far the reach is until youre in it, Zegler said. And then all of these people are coming up to you  complete strangers are coming up to you  and a lot of it, I think, has to do with Stevens impact on the industry and the world.

To be fair, her life had already changed course significantly the moment Spielberg told her that she had gotten the role three years ago. Not only would Zegler be starring in an iconic property with a legendary director at the helm, shed also the first Latina (shes Colombian-American) to play the part in a major motion picture. It was history in the making.

I really thought no one would see the video that I sent in, Zegler said.

Her family, she said, is a little overwhelmed. She is the baby, after all. But she tries to remind them as often as she can that she would not be an emotionally stable, well-spoken person without her parents and sister.

Theyre very proud, but I do think that they get scared for me sometimes, she said. It's a scary moment. I get scared sometimes.

Zegler is actually grateful that she had this gap year to get ready for her new life in the spotlight.

I dont know how I would have reacted to everything thats going on in my life right now should I have not had a year to prepare, she said. I was obviously devastated when we had to postpone a year. I dont know who wouldnt be. But looking back on it, the girl that I was before COVID moved our movie a whole 365 days is not the same girl whos talking to you today.

-

Follow AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ldbahr

For more on APs 2021 class of Breakthrough Entertainers, please visit: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-breakthrough-entertainers

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
The Franklin County School Board voted on Dec. 13 to discontinue its virtual education offerings for the 2022-23 school year.

The current virtual education offerings will still be available to students through the end of May 2022.

The school divisions breakdown of the numbers is as follows: Currently, 106 students in the division are enrolled in virtual education for the second semester of the 2021-22 school year. The number represents students who are enrolled in Virtual Virginia and students who utilize a blended learning offering. There are 70 students enrolled in Virtual Virginia, including 41 high school students, five eighth-grade students, nine sixth-grade students, five third-grade students, four second-grade students and six first-grade students. There are 24 seventh-grade students in the virtual team at Benjamin Franklin Middle School. There are 12 students enrolled in a blended course offering, including five fourth-grade students and seven fifth-grade students.

The students enrolled in the divisions virtual offerings are supported by seven teachers, according to the school system. Additionally, school counselors, an administrator of instructional technology and school principals spend time registering, monitoring, communicating and collaborating with Virtual Virginia and students who are enrolled in virtual education.

During her presentation on Dec. 13, Suzanne Rogers, assistant superintendent, noted that the divisions central office team met several times to discuss whether virtual education should be placed in the divisions 2022-23 budget.

Due to teacher shortage and the number of staff it takes to support virtual education, we recommend discontinuing the option in the 2022-23 school year and not placing it in the budget, the staff recommendation to the board read.

Julie Nix, the board chairperson and Blue Ridge District representative on the board, asked for clarification related to the impetus for the recommendation.

So were understanding this correctly, its not a matter of money as much as it is personnel in our classrooms? she asked.

Rogers replied: Correct. These seven teachers can then be brought back into the classroom settings.

Bernice Cobbs, superintendent, noted that one or two classes at Franklin County High School may be offered via Virtual Virginia in the future because of a possible staffing shortage.

Rogers added, What we wont offer is 100% virtual for a student, but there may need to be some classes covered from a virtual or blended option.

Virtual Virginia is a program of the Virginia Department of Education. It offers online Advanced Placement, world language, core academic and elective courses to students throughout Virginia.

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BEDFORD  A chunk of land off Moneta Road fronting Smith Mountain Lake was rezoned to allow residential development on about one third of the 9.3-acre parcel with a unanimous vote of approval from the Bedford County Board of Supervisors on Monday.

The project by Beville Properties, LLC, called The Village at Smith Mountain Lake, will allow for the construction of eight single-family lakeside homes on about 3 acres, with office and retail commercial use on the remaining six acres of the 9.3-acre land parcel along Virginia 122.

Originally zoned Planned Commercial Development, the rezoning made about three acres fronting the lake zoned Residential.

The goal of the rezoning to allow for mixed use of the property was to make the land use more cohesive with the environment around it, according to developers. Surrounding use of land to the presently-undeveloped parcel include a combination of commercial and residential purposes.

The current vision for the eight homes, the developer said, is to construct three-story houses with about five bedrooms and three bathrooms. This design is partly meant to minimize the square footage of each lot.

With the rezoning application approved, a design plat must be drawn up and submitted before the project can move forward. No timeline for the development project was provided at this time.

The Bedford County Planning Commission unanimously recommended approval of the rezoning application in a 7-0 vote at its November meeting. No members of the public spoke for or against the rezoning during the planning commission process, nor the public hearing before supervisors on Monday.

District 2 Supervisor Edgar Tuck, in whose district the rezoning occurred, said he is familiar with the property and agreed the rezoning would make the land use more cohesive with adjoining properties. Tuck added having residential use only on the lakefront was far more ideal than having commercial traffic down on the shore.
A Canadian company is drilling for copper and zinc on private property in Pittsylvania County.

The Toronto-based exploratory company, Aston Bay Holdings Ltd., is drilling holes about 1,000 feet deep and about 3.5 inches in diameter on the property owned by two landowners.

"We're just their partner helping them investigate the potential value of their land," said Ashton Bay CEO Thomas Ullrich, during a telephone interview Monday afternoon.

The project  which is on about 2,000 acres of land  was first announced through the company's subsidiary, Blue Ridge Mining Inc., on Aug. 25.

The Register & Bee learned of the project through a Zoom news conference Monday afternoon by the environmental group Appalachian Voices.

The purpose of the conference was to announce the formation of the Press Pause Coalition to protect Virginia from large-scale metals mining operations.

"The work being done by the coalition is in response to exploration for metals by a Canadian junior mining company in three Virginia counties: Buckingham, Campbell and Pittsylvania," according to a news release from the coalition.

The groups are concerned about the potential effects of mineral mining on the environment, including waterways and public health. Downstream communities in almost half the state could be affected, including Richmond, Hampton Roads, Northern Virginia and the Chesapeake Bay, the coalition pointed out.

"The negative impacts of commercial metals mining operations to water and public health are well-documented and numerous," Stephanie Rinaldi, coalition coordinator for the Press Pause Coalition, said in a prepared statement. "And local and statewide organizations are joining together in hopes of preventing these harms by examining the lack of existing regulation for these industries as well as historic residual harms from unreclaimed mines."

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine is conducting an independent study of the health, safety and environmental impacts of gold mining in Virginia as part of a state review that lawmakers agreed to undertake in 2021, the Virginia Mercury reported in August.

The committee is examining gold mining operations at sites similar to those found in Virginia, the potential impacts of such operations byproducts on downstream communities and whether existing state environmental regulations related to gold mining are sufficient to protect air and water quality, the Virginia Mercury reported.

An Aston Bay project involving exploratory drilling in Buckingham County prompted a proposal to temporarily ban gold mining in the state until a study of impacts on the environment and public health could be complete, according to the Virginia Mercury. Lawmakers approved a study but removed the ban from legislation.

A similar analysis of mining of other minerals including copper, lead and zinc is being proposed by Virginia Del. Shelly Simonds, D-Newport News, along with a pause on issuance of metals mining permits for gold, copper, zinc and lead until the study is complete.

"A pause on permitting is needed," Simonds said during a recorded Zoom video statement. "The threat of metals mining is truly Virginia-wide."

A coalition of environmental groups has grown since companies have recently began exploring the possible mining of other metals.

Digging open pits below the water table, creation of piles of mining waste, failures of earthen dams and leaching from toxic ponds into the ground would all pose a hazard, Rinaldi said.

"Most troubling is that these operations could have devastating impacts on Virginia's drinking water," Rinaldi said. "Here in rural Virginia, we're very aware that our water comes from the ground, we're all on well water out here. But many Virginians get their drinking water from the James River or other tributaries. All of these sources of drinking water would be threatened by metals mining."

Ullrich told the Danville Register & Bee that any kind of potential mining would be underground, not an open pit.

"I don't see the potential for an open pit anywhere in the state of Virginia," Ullrich said.

Ullrich acknowledged concerns expressed by mining opponents.

"There are extremely valid concerns," he said. "At Aston Bay, we believe in conserving the environment. Modern mining is done in a very responsible way. There's no end of examples across the U.S. where mining is done in a very safe and environmentally sound way to the betterment of society in general and to local communities."
SUFFOLK  Kati Grigsby trudged through the mud on a stretch of shoreline along the Nansemond River at low tide Friday afternoon.

She used gloves to pick up one of several bags of recycled oyster shells that are sitting in the muck as a makeshift reef. She separated out a few to check for spat, or baby oysters, which require a hard surface, like other shells, to grow.

Further down the shoreline, Grigsby pointed out other new oyster homes, including concrete structures known as reef balls and castles. There are five different styles of artificial oyster reefs along a few dozen feet of this shoreline.

The site is one of several where conservationists are now testing which type of oyster reef works best to shield against shore erosion and, well, spawn oysters.

The idea is to learn how the reefs can be deployed as the basis for living shorelines, said Grigsby, Hampton Roads program assistant and restoration specialist with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. The foundation is running the project along with the Nansemond River Preservation Alliance.

Living shorelines are made of natural elements, such as a marsh, instead of man-made materials used for a bulkhead. The concept is not new. But theres a growing movement, including in Hampton Roads, to invest in them as a way to adapt to the effects of climate change and sea level rise.

Shorelines made of the natural world act as protection against it, absorbing wave energy and proving more resilient after storms than bulkheads, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The Nansemond project came about when the Suffolk nonprofit Bleakhorn Foundation approached the bay foundation last year and Nansemond River Preservation Alliance about planting more oyster reefs and improving water quality in the waterway, Grigsby said.

Virginia lawmakers had also recently passed a bill declaring living shorelines the preferred way to stabilize shorelines.

Grigsby said theres some research about oysters being used as erosion control, but the bay foundation wanted to explore the idea more.

So they decided to test five different oyster reef styles, monitoring their ability to protect the shore while also growing baby bivalves.

The five include the oyster shells, all of which are recycled from local restaurants and placed in mesh bags. There are also the oyster castles  specialized concrete structures that look like castle turrets  and concrete reef balls, which resemble large rocks with holes inside.

The other two styles are new to the bay foundation. One looks like a mound of lumpy concrete and was designed for the project by adaptive infrastructure company Natrx. The other is made of plywood, jute string and concrete, papier-mache style in the shape of a small square table, Grigsby said.

Each has its advantages, she said. In a muddy environment, for instance, reef balls would likely sink while the table-style reef, with its four long legs, might work best.

The conservationists hope they can uncover what those advantages are, allowing them to tailor a living shoreline to the conditions of its environment.

To that end, Old Dominion University doctoral student Sierra Hildebrandt will be studying the project for several years. Hildebrandt, who works in the schools Wetland Plant and Restoration Lab, said she plans to go out to the sites about twice a year to gather data. She uses a device placed on the top of each structure that can count the number of oysters growing beneath.

The environmentalists are also observing how much soil accrues behind the structures, which indicates their ability to fight erosion.

Erosion happens when waves batter a shoreline, carrying away sand and rocks. To prevent this, Grigsby said, elevation is a key ingredient. That means building sand back up along a waterway.

The bay foundation and river alliance finished setting up the Nansemond test sites earlier this year; members of the Nansemond Indian Nation and Junto Womens Club helped plant many of the oyster reefs. Already, they can see sand naturally gathering behind some of the oyster structures, allowing marsh grass behind it to slowly grow closer to the shore. Thats a promising sign, Grigsby said.

Most homeowners, even if they want to have a living shoreline, dont know which product to choose, Hildebrandt said. This project could be one way to guide them.

The oysters also boost water quality with each filtering up to 50 gallons per day. Oysters used to be a navigational hazard in the Chesapeake Bay because they were so omnipresent, Grigsby said. Years of overharvesting, disease and pollution has changed that, but the foundation is working to rebuild the population.

The Nansemond is less polluted than some other local waterways because much of the area is less developed, but thats changing, and our river still isnt healthy, said Cindy Pinell, an educator with the Nansemond alliance.

Homeowners along the river are increasingly recognizing the importance of environmental tools like living shorelines, Pinell said.

Plus, the oyster-laden shoreline appears to be drawing in other critters. On Friday, Grigsby found raccoon footprints in the muck.

Thats the point of a living shoreline, she said. Its the interaction between the marine environment and the land.
TUSCALOOSA, Ala.  The defending Southeastern Conference champion Alabama gymnastics team will host its Crimson and White Preview Wednesday at 6 p.m. in Coleman Coliseum. Admission to the event is free.

The event will feature routines on all four events in a modified dual meet format, as well as gymnast interviews, tips on following gymnastics and the introduction of the 2022 Crimson Tide. This year's schedule poster, featuring the entire team, will also be available.

Like a regular-season meet, while the first vault is set for 6 p.m., fans are encouraged to be in their seats by 5:45 p.m., so that they can experience the team introductions and pre-meet festivities.

This year's squad is made up of 16 gymnasts, including 13 returners and three rookies. The Tide veterans include NCAA champions Luisa Blanco (balance beam) and Lexi Graber (floor exercise) as well as All-Americans Makarri Doggette and two-time Olympian Shallon Olsen . SEC uneven bars champion Shania Adams is also back along with First Team All-SEC vaulter Kaylee Quinn .

Other returners include Scholastic All-Americans Ella Burgess , Emily Gaskins , Griffin James , Cameron Machado , Isabella Martin , Sania Mitchell and Mati Waligora .

The UA newcomers are Corinne Bunagan (Ramsey, N.J.), Lilly Hudson (Fleming Island, Fla.) and Jordyn Paradise (Tampa, Fla.).

Season tickets are currently available through the Alabama Ticket Office (205.348.2262), located in the lobby of Coleman Coliseum, or online at RollTide.com.

For all the latest information on Alabama gymnastics, follow BamaGymnastics on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
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Ba Bar Green

All vegan all the time

East Asian vegan street food is not something you see every day. So where did the idea come from? It's been a process.

One of Eric and Sophie Banh's sisters lives in Toronto, and she went vegan for health reasons; there are several high-end vegan restaurants there. His sister-in-law went pescatarian for environmental reasons; her boyfriend is an environmental advocate. "I kept hearing that the way we eat meat isn't sustainable," recalls Eric. "But I'm a meat eater and it took a while to get to the point where I was thinking seriously about what we could do. My wife Teresa wanted to add more vegetables on the Ba Bar menu, but we want to be, and are, known for making amazing food. We didn't want to just add vegetables because we should. It had to be great. And it would be new. Being vegan is not a big thing in Vietnam, unless you do it for religious reasons. Before the pandemic, I started talking with Chef de Cuisine Chris Michel about this and how we could do something compelling. It was his idea to do a totally vegan concept. We agreed we wanted to go extreme and give a treat to vegans and vegetarians. There are no other places with this flavor profile."

Chef de Cuisine Chris Michel and owner Eric Banh

Eric and Teresa funded the concept up front and gave Chef Chris a 20% ownership. "Chris lived for two years in Vietnam and has traveled. He's a student and one of the smartest chefs I know. He could be a scientist. He's been with us off and on for ten years." Chris was one of the first chefs for Ba Bar and the opening chef at the Capitol Hill Ba Bar. He left to do residential dining at the UW (weekends and summers off!) but returned to the Saigon Siblings Restaurant Group family to consult for both Ba Bar and Monsoon. Now his focus is on Ba Bar Green.

Chris explains that although they've been talking about this for a couple of years, it's been over the past six months that most of his menu work and experimentation have taken place. "I love southeast Asian food and I love meat, but our love of meat is not sustainable. I like to challenge myself and work toward something I believe in. My goal for Ba Bar Green is that no one even thinks to give it a name because the flavors and textures are so good, no one cares. The menu isn't really meant for vegetarians, it's meant for meat eaters who want to make some changes. Technology is here now; before there was nowhere you could get certain things, now there's Beyond Meat and Impossible Food. The commercial side of things has come a long way, and vegetarian dishes are better than they used to be.

Garlic and kim chee fried rice

"Going fully vegan is harder. Plus we wanted to primarily go gluten free because Eric can't tolerate wheat. Using seitan was out. There is gluten in our bahn mi sandwiches. Our noodles are made from rice, we use gluten free soy sauce in several dishes, and absolutely no MSG. We make a chickpea miso; our own kimchi, which takes a couple of days to make; our own red curry paste that takes about a week, it has 25 ingredients; and our own fish sauce to use in our base Imperial sauce. Basically, I worked backwards from starting points like taking popular dishes and turning them plant-based, and what meat eaters who want to skip meat at times would like. We didn't want bland dishes, we had to broaden the flavor profile. I want to hit all the flavor notes. If you can't find something you like on this menu, you don't like southeast Asian food!"

Every dish is a revelation and palate pleaser: Kabocha & Sweet Potato Laksa with the house made red curry, Lemongrass Tofu Singapore Noodle, Garlic & Kimchi Fried Rice, either the Chorizo or Braised Tofu Banh Mi, Miso Eggplant, the list goes on.

"As we've gone along, my sister Sophie and I have tasted everything Chris has done," says Eric. "When we first tasted the Lao Crispy Rice & Quinoa Salad (photo), we were impressed at how good it was. And he's improved it since then! Any seasoned restaurant professional knows that doing things right takes time; you can't rush. I've always felt that if you want to be successful, you have to step out of your comfort zone. We're doing that here, but we're lucky to have a way to start slowly and see how it goes. We're going to give it three years and see where we are before we expand or give it up. Because we had a 400 square foot space where I used to make pastries at Ba Bar South Lake Union, we had a space to start this up as a walk-up window only. It's an affordable start-up, about 1/20th the cost of starting a restaurant. You can order online and there's also grab and go. There are so many moving pieces to a restaurant and your focus has to be on all of them. With Ba Bar Green, the focus can be totally on the food. And that is Chris' strength. And since the window is next to Ba Bar's front door, you can also get what you want from Ba Bar Green, then come into Ba Bar, sit, have a drink, or add a dish from the Ba Bar menu. We even have plant-based Vietnamese coffee."

Chris and Eric agree that they wanted to do something fun and interesting. Mission accomplished.

Connie Adams/December 2021

Ba Bar Green

500 Terry Avenue

Seattle, WA 98109

babargreen.com

Underground parking is available behind the restaurant off Republican.

Bring parking ticket in for validation.
 "Brain Development, Social Context and Justice Policy" | Main | Mapping the politics and making the case against the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act of 2017 

February 13, 2018

Retired Missouri judge now expressing regret about giving 16-year-old offender 241 years in prison for role in two armed robberies

Evelyn Baker, a retired Missouri circuit court judge, has this notable new opinion piece in the Washington Post under the headline "I sentenced a teen to die in prison. I regret it." Here are excerpts:

You will die in the Department of Corrections. Those are the words I spoke as a trial judge in 1997 when I sentenced Bobby Bostic to a total of 241 years in prison for his role in two armed robberies he committed when he was just 16 years old. Bostic and an 18-year-old friend robbed a group of six people who were delivering Christmas presents to a needy family in St. Louis. Two shots were fired. A bullet grazed one person, but no one was seriously injured. The two then abducted and robbed another woman  who said she was groped by Bostics accomplice before the two released her. They used the money they stole from her to buy marijuana. Despite overwhelming evidence against him, Bostic chose to go to trial. He was found guilty. Bostic had written me a letter trying to explain his actions, but despite this, he had not, in my view, demonstrated sufficient remorse. I told him: You are the biggest fool who has ever stood in front of this court. . . . You made your choice. Youre gonna have to live with your choice, and youre gonna die with your choice. . . . Your mandatory date to go in front of the parole board will be the year 2201. Nobody in this room is going to be alive in the year 2201. I thought I was faulting Bostic for his crimes. Looking back, I see that I was punishing him both for what he did and for his immaturity. I am now retired, and I deeply regret what I did. Scientists have discovered so much about brain development in the more than 20 years since I sentenced Bostic. What I learned too late is that young peoples brains are not static; they are in the process of maturing. Kids his age are unable to assess risks and consequences like an adult would. Overwhelming scientific research shows that children lack maturity and a sense of responsibility compared with adults because they are still growing. But for the same reason, they also have greater capacity for reform. Thats perhaps not surprising. As a society, we recognize that children and teens cannot and do not function as adults. Thats why below a certain age you cannot vote, join the military, serve on a jury or buy cigarettes or alcohol.... Most courts have understood the Supreme Courts 2010 decision to mean that the Constitution prohibits sentences like the one I gave to Bostic. While I did not technically give him life without parole, I placed on his shoulders a prison term of so many years combined that there is no way he will ever be considered for release. He wont become eligible for parole until he is 112 years old  which means he will die in prison, regardless of whether he rehabilitates himself or changes as he grows older. I see now that this kind of sentence is as benighted as it is unjust. But Missouri and a handful of other states still allow such sentences, and the Missouri courts have affirmed the sentence I handed down. This week, the Supreme Court will consider whether to take Bostics case and, if the justices do, they will decide whether his sentence is an outcome the Constitution can countenance. The court should take the case and give Bostic the chance I did not: to show that he has changed and does not deserve to die in prison for something he did when he was just 16. Imposing a life sentence without parole on a child who has not committed murder  whether imposed in a single sentence or multiple sentences, for one crime or many  is wrong. Bostic was immature, and I punished him for that. But to put him, and children like him, in prison for life without any chance of release, no matter how they develop over time, is unfair, unjust and, under the Supreme Courts 2010 decision, unconstitutional.

I am pleased to see a judge who imposed a functional LWOP sentence now recognizing and advocating that functional LWOP sentences create the same constitutional concerns as formal LWOP sentences that the Supreme Court found to violate the Eighth Amendment in Graham. That said, I find it a little rich this judge now asserting that she "learned too late" that juvenile brains are different than adult brains. Also, as the judge's commentary hints and as this local article from a few years ago about the case confirms, it seems Bostic's decision to go to trial rather than his crimes largely accounts for his need now to seek constitutional relief from the Supreme Court:

Bostic is serving a vastly greater sentence than Hutson, his accomplice, who received 30 years and will be eligible for parole six years from now. Both men were accused of firing guns that night. The only difference: Bostic went to trial and Hutson pleaded guilty.

February 13, 2018 at 04:16 PM | Permalink

Comments

These crimes are not the type I'd think someone who believes in giving life to sixteen year olds would deem worth it. There are some really horrible non-capital crimes involved out there in many cases. This isn't one of them. That is a major problem here.

Posted by: Joe | Feb 13, 2018 6:50:31 PM

"What I learned too late is that young peoples brains are not static; they are in the process of maturing. Kids his age are unable to assess risks and consequences of hormone-blockers and sex-change surgery."

Well duh! Why would you give someone under 18 hormone-blockers when they aren't even mature enough to cast a ballot for dog-catcher?

Posted by: Owing the Benjamins | Feb 13, 2018 7:10:14 PM

"The only difference: Bostic went to trial and Hutson pleaded guilty."

The sixth amendment says that the tax for exercising your right to a trial is a longer prison sentence. The founders put that in there because they knew that if everyone exercised their rights the people would get a superiority complex; so you keep the people humble by punishing them every time they act like free citizens rather than enslaved subjects of the king.

Not giving people who go to trial a longer sentence would be like letting people vote for free or letting women into the Virginia Military Institute.

Posted by: Dendrite | Feb 13, 2018 7:15:57 PM

And if I had my druthers both would have been executed. Armed robbery is far over the line of what behavior should be forgiven even once regardless of age.

Posted by: Soronel Haetir | Feb 13, 2018 9:38:40 PM

Adolescent brains are different. They are totally superior to adult ones, in every way, including morality.

These two should have been executed on the spot.

The lawyer profession knows shit. It thinks it knows more than the rest of us, and imposes its idiotic tyranny on crime victims.

The curve of the horizon is self evident, yet your morons call the earth, flat. The superiority of adolescents is across the board, yet you morons call adolescents less culpable.

Posted by: David Behar | Feb 14, 2018 2:39:13 AM

Joe. Thank you for your fact free ipse dixit. Also, thank you for not saying, on the other hand ...

Posted by: David Behar | Feb 14, 2018 8:09:49 AM

What I "regret" is that some moronic Missouri politician made Evelyn Baker, or anyone else who thinks 241 years is appropriate for a juvenile of 16 whose juvie codefendant got 30 on a plea to the facts as described, a judge. Anyone with even a trace of experience with 16 year old boys -- or in the alternative half a brain-- would have to question this determination long before the sentencing proceeding, and the certitude Her Dishonor exhibited in imposing this benighted

sentence for a lack of "sufficient" remorse is shocking in its shallowness, and only barely exceeded by her newly enlightened "oopsie, sorry". This is on her, and the courts which affirmed this travesty.

Posted by: miketrials | Feb 14, 2018 8:51:26 AM

Note that the "sane" penalty here for the co-defendant (he was 18 but given people 16 in various cases are treated like an adult, not sure how much this matters) "received 30 years and will be eligible for parole six years from now."

I don't think sixteen year olds should generally get thirty years in prison and to a sixteen year old (or to a college student probably) that very well might seem almost akin to a life sentence as is. Many adults have a short term view of life, only thinking of the present. A teenager particularly has such a mentality. So, I'm not surprised that he decided to take a risk of a trial. The judge calling him out as selfish is "duh" moment. Teens generally are selfish, those who commit crimes more likely as such.

Anyway, as noted by our resident pro-death penalty for single armed robberies by early teenagers show us, ymmv, but for non-capital crimes committed in 2015, especially ones not involving really horrible things like rape or the like, I think from my understanding of societal beliefs from long term observation and study that many tough on crime types will judge getting out in 2035 is not overly lax.

Posted by: Joe | Feb 14, 2018 10:22:15 AM

Hi, Joe. This guy is 19. Frontal lobes are not fully myelinated. Maybe, he can be sent to family court, and placed in foster care until age 21. I think he was overly impetuous. He should mature in a few years.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/breakingnews/17-dead-15-wounded-after-expelled-student-shoots-up-florida-high-school/ar-BBJ94GA?li=BBmkt5R&ocid=spartanntp

Posted by: David Behar | Feb 15, 2018 12:22:09 AM

I don't know. There so many innocent people in prison that it's hard for me to get too worked up about this guy.

Here are some names.

Adnan Syed (MD)

Barton McNeil (IL)

Edward Ates (TX)

Michael Ware (TX)

Joey Watkins (GA)

Jamar Huggins (GA)

Jesse Eldridge (TX)

Willie Veasy (PA)

Terrance Lewis (PA)

The details differ, but in each case there is enough evidence to find the person innocent beyond a reasonable doubt.

Posted by: William Jockusch | Feb 17, 2018 9:27:44 PM

Post a comment
 "Prison Reform Should Be a Bipartisan Issue" | Main | "The Effectiveness of Certificates of Relief: A Correspondence Audit of Hiring Outcomes" 

December 14, 2021

After Missouri expands parole eligibility for certain juve offenders, Bobby Bostic secures parole 25 years after getting 241-year sentence

The name Bobby Bostic may be familiar to some readers, as he became a focal point for debate and litigation over the application of the Supreme Court's Graham Eighth Amendment ruling prohibiting LWOP sentences for juvenile nonhomicide offenders. Back in the 1990s, Bostic received in Missouri state court a sentence of 241 years for armed robberies and would possibly not be eligible for parole for nearly 100 years under Missouri law at that time. Back in 2018, I blogged here about the sentencing judge's op-ed urging the US Supreme Court to take up Bostic's cert petition, but the Justices declined to do so.

Fast forward a few years, and Bostic's case in the news again reporting that MIssouri law has changed and that Bostic has now secured parole after serving a quarter century behind bars. This local article, headlined "Sentenced to 241 Years as a Teen, Bobby Bostic Wins Parole," provides these details:

A Missouri man sentenced to 241 years in prison for crimes committed when he was just sixteen will be released next year after a quarter-century behind bars. The ACLU announced today that 42-year-old Bobby Bostic has been granted parole. He will be released late next year after being provided courses designed to aid him in his re-entry. On December 12, 1995, Bostic and 18-year-old Donald Hutson were high on PCP when they robbed a group of St. Louisans delivering holiday gifts to a needy family. In the course of the armed robbery, Bostic shot one victim in the side. Hutson shot another individual. Both the gunshot victims survived. Bostic was charged with 18 felonies. He took his case to trial and in 1997 was found guilty on all counts. His earliest parole date was set for the far-flung year of 2201. The trial's judge, Evelyn Baker, told Bostic at his sentencing, "You're gonna die with your choice," and added, "Nobody in this room is going to be alive in the year 2201." Baker retired in 2008. Two years later, the U.S. Supreme Court delivered a ruling in Graham v. Florida that prohibits the imposition of a life without parole sentence on a juvenile offender who did not commit homicide. Bostic's 241-year sentence, however, was not technically a life sentence. In theory, he would have been eligible to be considered for parole at the age of 112.... In recent years, Judge Baker has come to regret the 241-year sentence she handed down to Bostic, writing in an op-ed published in Riverfront Times last year that, "At the time, I didnt know, and the criminal justice system didnt understand how the juvenile brain worked and how long it took to mature." In August of this year, the Missouri legislature passed a state statute allowing individuals who are serving "de facto" life sentences for nonhomicide crimes committed as juveniles to receive parole hearings after 15 years of incarceration. The ACLU says that, in addition to Bostic, there are about 100 other individuals in Missouri prisons who meet this criteria. Bostic had a parole hearing in November that, according to the ACLU, was "one of the first under the new law." At Bostic's side was the same judge who had sentenced him to nearly a quarter of a millennium in prison. At the parole hearing, Baker advocated for Bostic's release.... Donald Hutson, Bostic's accomplice in 1995, died in prison in 2018.

Prior related post:

December 14, 2021 at 10:45 AM | Permalink

Comments

Bostic needed to serve more time. Lets hope that Mr. Biostic turns his life around and is a positive contributor to society.

Posted by: Federalist | Dec 14, 2021 10:51:23 AM

I trust Bostic's first order of business will be to apologize and make restitution to the people he robbed and shot, and that we will be as eager to follow his progress in doing those things as we were to celebrate the enormous truncation of his sentence. Should I hold my breath?

Posted by: Bill Otis | Dec 14, 2021 11:25:49 AM

I wonder if it would be possible and/or make sense to require a prisoner to make a start on restitution before getting this type of parole. If they have truly been rehabilitated, could it be possible for them to do useful work, regularly and reliable, within the prison, to earn money for that, and to use a significant portion of it for restitution?

Posted by: William C Jockusch | Dec 14, 2021 11:27:19 AM

They probably can't make restitution:

Many federal inmates work for Unicor the federal prison industries. There is a waiting list of 25,000 inmates waiting to get jobs.

Unicor pays inmates 23 cents to $1.15.00 per hour and many of the products are made for private industry. Most inmates who work for Unicor use the money to buy tooth paste, snacks and small personal items.

https://www.bop.gov/inmates/custody_and_care/unicor_about.jsp

Posted by: beth curtis | Dec 14, 2021 12:11:19 PM

It's good Bostic will see release next year. He was 16 and made a foolish choice. However, not so foolish or heinous that he deserved a 241 year sentence. I hope more Missouri inmates sentenced as juveniles can seek parole pursuant to the new statute.

Posted by: anon | Dec 15, 2021 1:09:48 AM

"Enabling a man do to right, disabling them to do wrong". - Lao Tzu.

It seems to me that Mr. Otis and Federalist unfortunately focus largely, if not exclusively, upon the latter part of this quote. Perhaps I'm wrong, but I don't think so. To be sure, both parts of the quote are equally as important.

I would much rather have these respected voices calling for an equal focus upon, and a substantial increase, in efforts directed towards the creation of the support systems (proven to actually be more efficacious in lowering the risk of recidivism, e.g., stable housing, gainful employment, development of support groups, eradication of stigmatization, re-establishment of familial and social relationships, mentoring programs, counseling, mental health care, etc.), than advocacy for acts of contrition and remorse post-incarceration. Such acts, when forced, fail to create permanent internal change.

Besides, forced acts of contrition and remorse are NOT what victims seek. What they seek is a sense of security and peace of mind in the knowledge that offenders (a) are not a present or future danger to them, and (b) are actively and constructively rebuilding their lives, changing their behaviors and patterns of thinking, and becoming positive, contributing members of society. It is all of our jobs to assure that this is taking place.

I suspect there may be those who strongly disagree with me, They may point to rising crime rates and place the blame upon 'liberal approaches', and the "coddling of hopeless violent criminals". They may be surprised that I do not disagree with those who champion accountability for criminal acts, especially violent acts. Incapacitation, along with appropriate punishments and accountability are very important components of our system and I do not seek to do away with them.

However, after being incapacitated for reasonable amounts of time, and the punishment completed, and offenders return to our communities (as the vast majority do), we must then heavily focus upon rehabilitation as that goal is far from completed. It is the offender's success after incarceration that is the true test of our system. Not crime rates.



Posted by: Get Off Necks | Dec 15, 2021 7:44:02 AM

Bostic wasn't the only person impacted by this statutory change. He was not even the lead case in the Missouri courts even if he became the "name" put to this issue in the media. What many of the cases had in common was the victim miraculously surviving and the trial court using the multiple counts to create the equivalent of the life without parole sentence that would have been the minimum if the victim had died.

Posted by: tmm | Dec 15, 2021 12:15:27 PM

The numbers aren't consistent. Nobody now living will be 112 in 2201.



Posted by: Keith Lynch | Dec 24, 2021 3:16:31 PM

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Heartbeat@Bedok. (PHOTO: Google Street View)

SINGAPORE  Twice last year, a man refused to use SafeEntry to check into an ActiveSG Gym, and pushed his way into the premises instead.

The second time How Wai Kong forced his way into the gym at Heartbeat@Bedok, the 57-year-old was pinned down by three security officers as he put up a fierce struggle.

How pleaded guilty in the State Courts on Tuesday (14 December) to one count each of using criminal force to deter a public servant from the discharge of his duty, failing to keep a safe distance, and for behaving in a disorderly manner in public. Another three counts of a similar nature will be considered for his sentencing

District Judge Shaiffudin Saruwan ordered for How to be assessed for a Mandatory Treatment Order (MTO) suitability report. An MTO is usually given to offenders suffering from psychiatric conditions so that they can be treated in lieu of being given jail time.

Hows psychiatric condition was not revealed in court documents. He will return to court on 14 January after being assessed.

No mobile phone with him to check in

SafeEntry is a national digital check-in system that logs the personal identification numbers and mobile numbers of individuals visiting public venues or workplaces, so as to control the transmission of COVID-19 through contact tracing. It has been implemented since mid-2020, and is mandatory for entry to most venues.

On 8 July last year, How was the first patron in line at the main entrance to the gym, which was located at Bedok North Street 1. He did not have his mobile phone with him to use the SafeEntry check-in system, and did not have his time slot booking proof with him too.

A Sport Singapore employee who was on duty at the main entrance retrieved a computer tablet to verify Hows booking and to help him check in via SafeEntry. However, How ignored him and walked past the main entrance towards the gantries to the gym.

The employee stopped How, informing him of the need to check in. He spread his arms to block How, but How pushed him aside and walked through the gantry. The employee then called for police assistance.

Story continues

Struggled aggressively before being pinned down by security

Two days later, at around the same time, How was again the first person in line to the gym at the main entrance, and again did not have his phone with him. This time, an assistant director employed by Sport Singapore was on duty, and told How to wait so that she could clear other patrons who could check in first.

Instead of complying, How pushed the assistant director aside and walked in. Two security officers detained him before he could get past the gantries.

Upset, How struggled aggressively to break free, and had to be pinned down by three security officers until he calmed down. The assistant director lodged a police report later that afternoon.

For failing to keep a safe distance, How may be jailed up to six months and/or fined up to $10,000. For behaving in a disorderly manner, he may be jailed up to six months and/or fined up to $2,000. For using criminal force on a public servant, he may be jailed up to four years and/or fined.

Stay in the know on-the-go: Join Yahoo Singapore's Telegram channel at http://t.me/YahooSingapore
This file handout photo provided to AFP on November 16, 2021 by Pfizer shows the making of its experimental Covid-19 antiviral pills, Paxlovid, at its laboratory in Freiburg, Germany (AFP/Handout)

Pfizer said Tuesday that clinical trials confirmed its Covid pill -- a new type of treatment that should withstand the mutations seen with Omicron -- drastically reduced hospitalizations and deaths among at-risk people by almost 90 percent.

The announcement came as a real-world study from South Africa showed two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was 70 percent effective in stopping severe illness from the new variant, a result called encouraging by researchers, though it represents a drop compared to earlier strains.

Data for the new pill, which hasn't yet been authorized anywhere in the world, came from more than 2,200 volunteers, and backed up preliminary findings announced last month.

The American drugmaker said its treatment, called Paxlovid, also held up against the Omicron variant in lab-testing.

Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla told CBS News the drug was a "game changer," and he expected the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to give its green light as soon as this month.

The trial showed that the pill reduced the need for hospitalization in high-risk adults with Covid-19 by 89 percent if the treatment was given within three days of symptom onset and by 88 percent if given within five days.

Overall, there were 12 deaths in the placebo group, and none in the drug group.

Side-effects were found at comparable rates between the treatment and placebo groups (23 percent and 24 percent, respectively), and were mostly mild.

Paxlovid also reduced the risk of severe disease, as well as the amount of virus detected, in a separate study of people at normal risk -- but the results were on the edge of statistical significance and need further confirmation.

- New type of drug -

Paxlovid is a combination of two drugs -- nirmatrelvir, a new experimental medicine, and ritonavir, an existing antiviral used against HIV, both taken orally over five days.

Nirmatrelvir is known as a "protease inhibitor" and works by blocking the action of an enzyme the coronavirus needs to replicate. Ritonavir is administered to slow down the breakdown of nirmatrelvir inside the body.

Story continues

Because Paxlovid does not target the fast-mutating spike proteins that stud the surface of the coronavirus, it should be more variant-proof than other treatments, such as synthetic antibody infusions, as well as antibodies evoked by most types of Covid vaccine.

Another Covid pill, Merck's molnupiravir, has already been authorized in Britain. A US panel of experts narrowly voted in favor of the Merck pill two weeks ago, but FDA authorization is still awaited.

Final study results showed molnupiravir reduced hospitalizations and deaths by a relatively disappointing 30 percent, and there were also safety concerns related to its mechanism of action, which differs from the Pfizer pill.

Merck itself recommended against molnupiravir's use in pregnant women after animal studies showed harm to fetuses.

- Real-world vaccine data -

The news comes as the heavily-mutated Omicron variant continues spreading fast around the world, raising alarms about surges in severe cases and deaths.

Even if early data suggesting that the variant is milder in most people is confirmed, its increased transmissibility and ability to overcome prior immunity may negate this advantage, by infecting higher numbers of people.

Many high-income countries have stepped up their campaigns to get people booster shots in order to restore vaccine efficacy.

The latest research out of South Africa found that two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine still offered good protection against serious illness of 70 percent, though this was reduced from 93 percent during the country's Delta wave.

The study was based on the results of 78,000 PCR tests taken in South Africa between November 15 and December 7 and was conducted by Discovery along with the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC).

It also found two doses were 33 percent effective against infection -- a result that lines up with early data from the UK Health Security Agency, which experts say underscores the case for a third dose.

The British research found a third dose of Pfizer -- either after two earlier doses of Pfizer or two of AstraZeneca -- brought efficacy against infection back up to 70-75 percent.

The South African research further confirmed reinfection risk is higher with Omicron, and a lower percentage of people infected with the new variant were hospitalized when compared to the country's first wave, after adjusting for vaccine status.

Very preliminary data suggests that children have a 20 percent higher risk of hospital admission with the new variant, but the absolute numbers remain very low.

"It is essential to recognize that these are incomplete and partial data," said Russell Viner, a professor of child and adolescent health at the University College London, though he also warned against complacency.

bur-ia/caw
Russia - AP

Russia threatened to deploy intermediate-range nuclear missiles in Europe on Monday, escalating its stand-off with the West over Ukraine.

Sergei Ryabkov, Russia's deputy foreign minister, said that Moscow would turn to the weapons if Nato fails to rule out ever using them itself. The weapons have a top range of 5,000km and so could hit numerous European capitals.

Intermediate-range nuclear forces (INF) were banned in 1987 under a treaty signed between Mikhail Gorbachev, the former Soviet leader, and US President Ronald Regan. Washington quit the agreement in 2019, citing Russian breaches.

Mr Ryabkov denied Russia was planning to invade Ukraine in comments to the state-run RIA Novosti agency. Instead, he said Moscow would respond militarily if Nato sought to expand eastwards.

There will be confrontation, this will be the next step, [previously banned weapons] will appear from our side, he said.

They dont exist now, we have a unilateral moratorium, he added, referring to the US withdrawal from the INF treaty.

Russia - Alexander Shcherbak/TASS/Getty Images

Mr Ryabkov said the Kremlin had a complete lack of trust in Nato, which argues there are no new US missiles in Europe and that it is ready to respond to the threat of Russian weapons with a measured response.

It came as Boris Johnson and EU chiefs warned Moscow it would face serious consequences if it further encroaches on Ukrainian territory.

Nato's allies are growing fearful that Russia could send hordes of troops it has amassed on its border into Ukraine in a repeat of the 2014 annexation of Crimea.

In a phone call with President Vladimir Putin on Monday, Mr Johnson expressed his deep concern with Moscow's military build-up on the frontier.

The Prime Minister empathised the UK's commitment to Ukraine's territorial and sovereignty and warned that any destabilising action would be a strategic mistake that would have significant consequences", said a Downing Street spokeswoman.

Gabrielius Landsbergis, Lithuanias foreign minister, added on Monday ahead of a meeting with her EU counterparts in Brussels: We are convinced that Russia is actually preparing for an all-out war against Ukraine. It's an unprecedented event probably since the Second World War.

Story continues

In response to Moscow's provocation, EU foreign ministers agreed to hit targets linked to the Wagner Group, a Russian private military firm, with punitive sanctions, accusing it of destabilising Ukraine and parts of Africa.

Eight people with ties to the mercenaries were slapped with asset freezes and travel bans. Those sanctioned included founder Dmitry Utkin, a former Russian special forces commander decorated by President Putin.

The Wagner boss was accused of extrajudicial killings, while Alexander Kuzen, a 44-year-old Russian believed to be a commander in Wagner's 1st Attack and Reconnaissance Company, was said to have destabilised Libya.

Another target, Andrei Roshev, 68, one of the group's founders, was cited as having led mercenary troops in Syria in support of Bashar al-Assad's regime.

UKraine - ANATOLII STEPANOV/AFP/Getty Images

The Wagner Group has recruited, trained and sent private military operatives to conflict zones around the world to fuel violence, loot natural resources and intimidate civilians in violation of international law, including international human rights law, the EU said in a statement.

Wagner was also accused of having previously offered services to local leaders in sub-Saharan Africa, including Mali and the Central African Republic.

The sanctions are part of a wider retaliatory package being considered by EU ministers to deter any Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Germany on Monday confirmed for the first time it will not allow the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline to open if Moscows troops cross the Ukrainian border.
MOSCOW (AP)  A top European human rights court issued a ruling Tuesday urging Russia to introduce measures tackling domestic violence against women, which it said is happening on a staggering scale amid systematic problems in securing prosecutions and convictions.

The European Court of Human Rights ruled in a case that four Russian women filed after suffering abuse at the hands of their partners, stating that Russian authorities failed to protect them from violence and respond to their cases appropriately.

The court found that Russia violated Articles 3 and 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which prohibit inhuman, degrading treatment and discrimination, and recommended urgent changes to domestic law and practice to prevent similar violations.

According to the ruling, such changes should include introducing a legal definition of domestic violence and its various forms, bringing in restraining and protective orders, and criminalizing all acts of domestic violence.

We won! lawyer and women's rights advocate Mari Davtyan, who represented two women in the case, wrote in a Facebook post.

It is not the first time the court notes Russia's failure to fulfill its obligations on protection from domestic violence, but this time the court clearly and in detail pointed out measures Russia must adopt, including legislation against domestic violence, restraining orders, protocols for assessing and managing risks, mechanisms of interagency cooperation and much more, Davtyan said.

There are virtually no legal mechanisms to protect people in Russia from domestic abuse at the moment. Existing laws address a wide range of violent crimes, but attempts to create measures that would prevent these crimes from happening have faced resistance from authorities.

Simple assault against a family member was a criminal offense only briefly in 2016 under a measure passed by lawmakers, but it prompted a backlash from conservative groups. As a result, it was decriminalized the next year and downgraded to a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of about $68.

Valentina Matviyenko, the speaker of the upper house of parliament, acknowledged in 2019 that rampant domestic violence was a problem in Russia and vowed to have a domestic violence bill by the end of the year.

One was drafted by lawmakers and women's rights advocates, but faced weeks of stiff resistance from conservative groups and the Russian Orthodox Church, which argued that the state shouldnt interfere in family matters. As a result, it was watered down and never came up for a vote.

In the Tuesday's ruling, the European Court of Human Rights also ordered Russia to pay the four women a total of over 450,000 euros ($507,000). Natalya Tunikova, Yelena Gershman and Irina Petrakova are to get 20,000 euros ($22,500) each for damages. Margarita Gracheva is to be paid 40,000 ($45,000) for damages and over 330,000 euros ($372,000) for medical expenses. All will get money for legal expenses as well.

Gracheva's case made national headlines in 2017, after her husband kidnapped her, drove her out to the forest and chopped her hands off with an ax. Doctors were able to reattach her left hand, but it only regained limited function. Gracheva lost her right hand and is using a bionic prosthetic.

Her husband is currently serving a 14-year prison term, and Gracheva has become a key activist in the Russian women's fight for a domestic violence law.

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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KAUAI, Hawaii--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec 14, 2021--

PlantBaby, the new future-forward, direct-to-consumer nutrition brand, proudly announces today the release of its launch product, Kiki Milk. Formulated alongside leading pediatricians and nutritionists, Kiki Milk is the first certified organic, clean-label, dairy-free milk designed to meet the nutritional needs of growing children.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211214005846/en/

Kiki Milk is available in two varieties Original and Chocolate. Credit: Kiki Milk

Co-Founders Alex and Lauren Abelins journey to launch PlantBaby and Kiki Milk began after their son Alakai was born. As first-time parents to a son with a dairy and soy aversion, they began extensively researching the entire plant-based food and beverage category for kids. They were seeking organic, clean-label, dairy-free alternatives, yet they were faced with the unfortunate reality that many products are made with artificial ingredients and additives. They felt frustrated and believed more was possible  not only for their son but for other families too. Inspired to create positive change, they founded PlantBaby on a mission to support children along their nutritional journey from infancy into adulthood.

At PlantBaby, we have identified an incredible opportunity based on our familys personal experience to offer nutritional products that are designed with growing kids in mind, said Alex Abelin. Our intention with Kiki Milk is to reconnect kids to the miracle that is food and to the magic of nature, added Lauren Abelin.

Kiki Milk will be initially available in two varieties Original and Chocolate packaged in shelf-stable eight-ounce cartons. Kiki Milk is made exclusively with organic whole food ingredients and nourishing superfoods like oats, sprouted pumpkin seeds, hemp seeds, coconut and Aquamin, creating a blend that is omega-rich and provides ample plant-based calcium and protein. Kiki Milk ingredients are non-GMO and rigorously third-party tested to verify they are free from glyphosate and heavy metals. Additionally, Kiki Milk does not contain seed oils, gums, refined sugars, natural and artificial flavors, or common allergens like soy or gluten. This makes Kiki Milk a great option for kids, adults, and anyone with a sensitive stomach.

In my 15 years of experience working with families, Ive seen a cultural shift away from dairy to alternative milk. However, Ive noticed that the plant-based milk options available tend to be designed for adults and often lack proper nutrients to support the long-term health of children, said Dr. Joel Warsh, PlantBabys Pediatrician Advisor. Im very excited about Kiki Milk because it is the first organic, dairy-free milk that is made with nutrient-dense whole foods and has a taste that kids love, he added.

PlantBabys 2022 expansion plans include additional varieties of Kiki Milk in both eight-ounce and 32-ounce formats. PlantBabys long-term vision includes an expansive portfolio of organic, plant-based foods, beverages, formulas and supplements. Kiki Milk is now available for auto-ship or one-time purchase on www.kikimilk.com and will launch in select retailers in the near future. Follow Kiki Milks journey on Instagram @kikimilkco. #FUELYOURPLAY

About PlantBaby

PlantBaby is a future-forward nutrition movement developing a portfolio of clean-label, organic, plant-based foods, beverages, formulas, and supplements to support children on their nutritional journey from infancy into adulthood. Founded in 2020 on Kauai, Hawaii, PlantBaby is dedicated to restoring harmony in our food and agricultural systems by supporting regenerative agriculture and sourcing climate-friendly crops. PlantBaby is proud to partner with Farmers Footprint and Planet FWD, two organizations committed to building a healthier Planet Earth. For additional information, visit www.plantbaby.co and www.kikimilk.com.

View source version on businesswire.com:https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211214005846/en/

CONTACT: Elana Levin

KEYWORD: UNITED STATES NORTH AMERICA HAWAII

INDUSTRY KEYWORD: CHILDREN OTHER RETAIL OTHER CONSUMER OTHER HEALTH HEALTH FOOD/BEVERAGE RETAIL FAMILY FITNESS & NUTRITION CONSUMER PARENTING

SOURCE: PlantBaby

Copyright Business Wire 2021.

PUB: 12/14/2021 10:01 AM/DISC: 12/14/2021 10:01 AM

Copyright Business Wire 2021.

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LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec 13, 2021--

Billions of people around the world are attempting to return to workplaces, schools and social spaces. Governments & business owners need to do everything they can to boost confidence and let consumers know their safety is a top priority.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211213005583/en/

Retrace AV destroys SARS-CoV-2, the COVID-19 virus within 30 minutes (Photo: Business Wire)

Retrace AV is the future proof solution because its mode of action is not variant specific.

Retrace AV can be added into water-based paint to give 99.99% protection against SARS-CoV-2, the COVID-19 virus. No training is needed, you simply pour it in, mix and paint.

Easy to order and store, only 25ml of Retrace AV is needed for each 1 litre of paint. It gets to work as soon as the paint dries.

This means, one topcoat of your chosen paint adds antipathogenic security against bacteria and viruses for many years (tested for 10 years) and its efficacy can be verified annually thereafter by accredited providers.

Developed by an international team, Retrace AV has been tested to ISO 21702, ISO 22196 and ISO 11607 by independent laboratories including the UKs National Health Service (NHS) and UL, a global safety certification company, has verified its effectiveness against SARS-CoV-2.

COVID-19 is still out there and not going away. According to leading scientists, such as University of Queensland Virologist, Ian Mackay 1 and Shweta Bansal 2 an infectious-disease ecologist at Georgetown University - the best defence against COVID-19 is one which uses multiple measures.

The scientists reiterate that vaccines cannot be the only line of defence and we need to take advantage of every single tool we have at our disposal.

Until were in the clear, businesses are incorporating Retrace AV into their safety strategy for peace of mind and boosted consumer trust.

Find out more or buy Retrace AV at https://retraceav.com/

[ends]

Notes to editor

Retrace AV Limited, a Retrace Group company, leads the international team of manufacturers and distributors delivering the innovative anti-pathogenic paint additive to the world market.

UL Verification is an objective, scientific assessment that confirms the accuracy of marketing claims.

View source version on businesswire.com:https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211213005583/en/

CONTACT: Alex Ellis

Email:media@retraceav.com

KEYWORD: UNITED KINGDOM EUROPE

INDUSTRY KEYWORD: HEALTH INFECTIOUS DISEASES TECHNOLOGY OTHER TECHNOLOGY OTHER SCIENCE GENERAL HEALTH SCIENCE

SOURCE: Retrace AV

Copyright Business Wire 2021.

PUB: 12/13/2021 10:30 PM/DISC: 12/13/2021 10:30 PM

Copyright Business Wire 2021.
BANGALORE, India--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec 13, 2021--

Acuity Knowledge Partners (Acuity) has been Great Place to Work Certified in India for December 2021 to December 2022.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211213005851/en/

Great Place to Work is the global authority on workplace culture. Since 1992, it has surveyed more than 100 million employees worldwide and used those deep insights to define what makes a great workplace: trust. Its employee survey platform empowers leaders with the feedback, real-time reporting, and insights they need to make strategic people decisions.

Robert King, Chief Executive Officer of Acuity said, Its testament to our whole team that Acuity is recognised as a great place to work especially following the difficulties of the global pandemic. Our employees are our biggest asset. We continue to focus on supporting them as we develop our hybrid work models and add new talent across Acuity. We intend to continue raising the bar to create the best possible experience for our teams who support our growing list of global financial services clients.

Avadhesh Dixit, Chief Human Resources Officer of Acuity added, Were thrilled to see the positive response of our employees, particularly regarding the pride they feel in their work and the trust they have in their teams and the company. We hope to foster this positivity in our company policies and initiatives, ensuring our employees are able to bring their full selves to work and provide the highest quality service to our clients.

Acuity is a leading provider of bespoke research, analytics and technology solutions to the financial services sector and prides itself in fostering a culture of open mindset, teamwork, and excellence forming the pillars of our core values. We are committed to creating a holistic Employee Value Proposition (EVP), driven by the aspirations of our employees. We continue to create an environment where talented individualsregardless of race, gender, ethnicity, or sexual orientationcan be challenged, fully engaged, and recognised for their contributions. Acuitys Global Diversity Council supports various Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) who focus on strategic priorities to ensure that we are an employer of choice. Our effective employee engagement programs resonate with team requirements and aim to bring employees together, increasing communication and nurturing camaraderie.

In India, the Great Place to Work Institute partners with more than 1,100 organizations annually across over 22 industries to help them build High-Trust, High-Performance Cultures designed to deliver sustained business results. Hundreds of Chief Executive Officers and Chief Experience Officers from Indian businesses are part of the great place community that is committed to the vision of making India a great place to work for everyone.

Learn more at https://www.greatplacetowork.in/great/company/acuity-knowledge-partners and on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

About Acuity Knowledge Partners

Acuity Knowledge Partners is a leading research, analytics and business intelligence consultant to the financial services sector. The companys network of analysts and industry experts, combined with advanced data and technology, supports over 400 financial institutions and consulting companies worldwide to operate more efficiently and unlock their human capital, driving revenues higher and transforming operations. It specialises in investment banking, investment research, private equity & consulting and commercial lending. Acuity is a global business that operates from nine locations worldwide; the bulk of its team is based in India. Acuity Knowledge Partners is backed by Equistone Partners Europe, a leading private equity organisation that backs specialist growth businesses and management teams. To learn more, visit https://www.acuitykp.com/

View source version on businesswire.com:https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211213005851/en/

CONTACT: Media Contact:

Gyanendra N Pati

Director, Global Head of Marketing and Communications

Acuity Knowledge Partners

KEYWORD: INDIA ASIA PACIFIC

INDUSTRY KEYWORD: FINANCE CONSULTING BANKING PROFESSIONAL SERVICES HUMAN RESOURCES

SOURCE: Acuity Knowledge Partners

Copyright Business Wire 2021.

PUB: 12/13/2021 09:31 PM/DISC: 12/13/2021 09:32 PM

Copyright Business Wire 2021.

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WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec 14, 2021--

Beyond The Billion, a global consortium of venture capital (VC) funds and limited partner (LP) investors released Our First Billion Global Impact Report, assessing the results of their two-year campaign. Launched to address the gender venture funding gap where women founders only received 2.2% of venture capital, the campaign inspired venture capitalists to pledge to invest more into women-founded companies. While the pledges made were not legally binding, the results demonstrate that participating funds have taken their commitment seriously.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211214005417/en/

Almost 800 women-founded companies including nine women-led unicorns funded as part of first-of-its-kind global capital commitment campaign by Beyond The Billion, a global consortium of venture funds and limited partner investors. (Photo: Business Wire)

This report, published with support from Pacific Western Bank, Mastercard, Bank of America and Motley Fool Ventures, found that the consortium deployed 61%, or $638 million of their pledged amount in just two years into almost 800 women-founded companies  nine of which were recognized as unicorns, with the remainder expected to be deployed by 2023.

Innovative women founders are solving some of the worlds most pressing problems and so many of them were funded by our partner funds. Even as they enable women-led companies to scale, these savvy VCs are improving their returns, said Shelly Porges, Co-Founder & Managing Partner of Beyond The Billion.

Sarah Chen, Co-Founder & Managing Partner of Beyond The Billion added, These results are a testament to the collective power of our community of investors activated around a specific goal. Despite the global pandemic, our partner funds have remained steadfast in their commitment to invest in women founders while addressing real structural issues in closing the gender venture funding gap.

Kay Parry, Managing Director, Venture Banking of Pacific Western Bank that sponsored this report added, There is growing recognition in the venture industry that great ideas and successful entrepreneurs can come from anywhere, and the best returns are achieved with diverse teams. As importantly, this recognition extends to the LP community where we consistently hear that diversity within portfolios is now a part of their diligence process. We are excited by the progress made in 2021 and remain committed to working toward the goal of a private investment industry that more fully reflects the breadth and depth of innovators and risk-takers in our country.

To view the full press release, click here.

To download the full report, click here.

About Beyond The Billion

Beyond the Billions (BTB) first pledge campaign was launched in October 2018 with an audacious goal of catalyzing $1 billion for women founders globally, addressing the gender venture investment gap where women were receiving only 2.2% of all venture capital funding. Building on this momentum, founders Shelly Porges and Sarah Chen launched Beyond The Billion to catalyze capital deployed to and with these venture funds, and ensure continued investment by mobilizing limited partners (LPs) and connecting them to general partners (GPs) who invest in venture-backable companies founded by diverse women.

Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter,Facebook,Instagram.

About Pacific Western Bank

Pacific Western Bank is a commercial bank with over $34 billion in assets headquartered in Los Angeles, California, with 70 full-service branches. The venture banking team specializes in financial products and services for startups, venture-backed businesses, and their venture capital and private equity investors. The experienced team is committed to the space and dedicated to delivering high-touch, tailored solutions, helping innovators take their business to the next level. To learn more about Pacific Western Bank, visit www.pacwest.com, or follow them on LinkedIn and Twitter.

View source version on businesswire.com:https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211214005417/en/

CONTACT: MEDIA:

Emmie Twombly

Media & Communications

KEYWORD: UNITED STATES NORTH AMERICA DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

INDUSTRY KEYWORD: AUTOMOTIVE UTILITIES FUND RAISING ALTERNATIVE ENERGY FOUNDATION ENERGY MOBILE/WIRELESS OTHER PHILANTHROPY OTHER CONSUMER WOMEN CONTRACTS AUDIO/VIDEO GENERAL HEALTH FAMILY DEFENSE ENVIRONMENT CONSUMER OTHER TECHNOLOGY TELECOMMUNICATIONS GENERAL AUTOMOTIVE HEALTH SOFTWARE INTERNET HARDWARE MARKETING TECHNOLOGY FINANCE COMMUNICATIONS CONSULTING BANKING ACCOUNTING PROFESSIONAL SERVICES PHILANTHROPY

SOURCE: Beyond The Billion

Copyright Business Wire 2021.

PUB: 12/14/2021 09:17 AM/DISC: 12/14/2021 09:17 AM

Copyright Business Wire 2021.

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HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec 14, 2021--

FANUC America, a leading automation solutions provider, releases a suite of new mobile apps for quicker delivery of vital information. The CNC Comparison, the CNC Functions Catalog and the CNC Alarms set of apps provide key FANUC product information in a user-friendly way.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211214005013/en/

With the new FANUC CNC Alarms App, just one of the many mobile apps released, maintenance workers will no longer have to page through manuals to decipher an alarm message from a control. (Graphic: FANUC America Corporation)

The CNC Comparison and the CNC Functions Catalog are two newly created apps designed to help easily evaluate the vast array of FANUC CNC products available. The FANUC CNC Comparison App is a convenient way to compare and contrast the wide variety of FANUC CNCs. For a deeper dive into the extensive selection of FANUC components, functions and software, users can download the CNC Functions Catalog App.

For quicker troubleshooting, the FANUC CNC Alarms App helps identify alarm codes from the various controls. Maintenance workers will no longer have to page through manuals to decipher an alarm message with the CNC Alarms App.

We know the nature of manufacturing work is changing and having easy access to information from mobile devices is crucial, says Paul Webster, Director of Factory Automation Engineering for FANUC America. With multiple generations working in the manufacturing field, we believe its important to deliver information via the tools many workers are now using.

The CNC Comparison, CNC Functions Catalog and CNC Alarms Mobile Apps are available to download now in the Apple Store and Google Play.

About FANUC America Corporation

FANUC America Corporation is a subsidiary of FANUC CORPORATION in Japan and provides industry-leading robotics, CNC systems and factory automation. From small shops to large assembly operations, companies rely on FANUC automation to improve productivity, increase quality, maximize profits and maintain a competitive edge.

FANUC America is headquartered at 3900 W. Hamlin Road, Rochester Hills, MI 48309 and has facilities located throughout the Americas. For more information, please call: 888-FANUC-US (888-326-8287) or visit our website: www.fanucamerica.com. Also, connect with us on YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram.

View source version on businesswire.com:https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211214005013/en/

CONTACT: FANUC America Corporation Media Contact:Factory Automation: Debra Schug

CNC Strategic Communications Specialist

T: 847.898.5673

E:debra.schug@fanucamerica.comRobotics: Cathy Powell

Public Relations and Communications Manager

FANUC America Corporation

T: 248-377-7570

E:cathy.powell@fanucamerica.com

KEYWORD: UNITED STATES NORTH AMERICA CANADA ILLINOIS MICHIGAN

INDUSTRY KEYWORD: OTHER MANUFACTURING MOBILE/WIRELESS TECHNOLOGY ENGINEERING OTHER TECHNOLOGY AUTOMOTIVE MANUFACTURING AEROSPACE SOFTWARE MANUFACTURING ELECTRONIC DESIGN AUTOMATION

SOURCE: FANUC America Corporation

Copyright Business Wire 2021.

PUB: 12/14/2021 10:15 AM/DISC: 12/14/2021 10:16 AM

Copyright Business Wire 2021.

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ELK POINT, S.D. -- A Dakota Dunes man was placed on probation and must serve a brief prison sentence for taking thousands of dollars from a North Sioux City company.

Circuit Judge Tami Bern on Monday sentenced Joshua McElroy, 34, to 180 days in prison and placed him on six years' probation. Bern suspended a six-year prison sentence.

McElroy pleaded guilty in Union County Circuit Court in July to one count of grand theft. A charge of embezzlement of property received in trust was dismissed as part of a plea agreement.

From May 1, 2017, through April 15, 2020, McElroy took or exercised unauthorized control over property belonging to Murphy Insulation Inc. and/or Murphy Mechanical Insulation Inc. and valued at more than $100,000 but less than or equal to $500,000.

McElroy was ordered to pay $150,000 in restitution

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SIOUX CITY -- A Sioux City man was sentenced Monday to 10 years in prison for a March shooting.

Jose Nolasco, 21, pleaded guilty in Woodbury County District Court to intimidation with a dangerous weapon and being a felon in possession of a firearm. District Judge Tod Deck sentenced Nolasco to prison as spelled out in the terms of a plea agreement.

Nolasco got out of a car and fired multiple shots from a handgun into another vehicle on March 19 in the 1000 block of Ninth Street. The driver of the second vehicle was struck in the right shoulder by one of the shots, and the front-seat passenger hurt his hand while ducking. Nolasco then pointed the gun at a bystander and her child who were seeking cover before running from the scene.

Nolasco was apprehended a short distance away. He was seen on video surveillance disposing of the firearm, which was recovered by police.

Two counts each of assault while participating in a felony and aggravated assault and a single count of going armed with intent were dismissed as part of a plea agreement.

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DAKOTA CITY -- A decision on whether Dakota County will pursue a jail expansion project paid for with federal dollars could be made within a month.

A U.S. Marshals Service representative told the Dakota County Board of Commissioners Monday that the federal government needs to know soon if Dakota County will follow through on an agreement it signed in August. If not, the Marshals Service will move on and offer the deal to another county in the area.

The project, estimated to cost somewhere between $12.4 million to $13.5 million for a 112-bed expansion, would be funded with fees charged to the U.S. Marshals Service for housing an increased number of federal prisoners who are awaiting trial, many of them in federal court in Sioux City.

Since approving the contract with the Marshals Service in August, the board has been slow to commit to taking steps necessary to move the project forward. Twice this fall, the board voted 3-2 against hiring a construction manager.

Commissioner Robert Giese said it's time for the board to make a decision.

"I think the feds answered the questions they can answer. If you're not comfortable with it, vote no and we can move on," Giese said to members Janet Gill, Larry Albenesius and Troy Launsby, the three who have voted against hiring a construction manager. Giese and Scott Love, who was absent Monday, have voted for it.

The board plans to have a public hearing on Jan. 5 and vote at its regular meeting Jan. 10.

Gill, Albenesius and Launsby all voiced concerns about rising construction costs.

"That's one of our concerns is cost structure. It doesn't seem like the right time to do a building project," said Gill, the board's chairwoman.

Under terms of the agreement, the Marshals Service is paying Dakota County $80 per day for each inmate currently housed at the jail, an increase from $65 per day under a previous agreement. Once the jail addition is open, the county guarantees the Marshals Service 85 beds per day. In exchange, the Marshals Service will pay $150 a day per inmate for 30 months to give the county the necessary revenue to pay off the estimated construction debt. After 30 months, the rate returns to $80. The county has agreed to house 85 federal inmates daily for 10 years.

Christopher Barther, chief deputy U.S. Marshal for Northern District of Iowa, said the government is open to extending the 30-month period if construction costs exceed estimates and the county needs more time to pay off the expansion.

The addition would raise the jail's capacity to 248 beds and require the addition of 16-20 jailers whose salaries would be offset by the federal payments. The addition would be added to the west side of the current jail, which was built in 2006. Dakota County Sheriff Chris Kleinberg, who was not at Monday's meeting, said in September he hoped the expansion could be finished by next July.

Gill said she remained concerned that the Marshals Service would not fill the 85 beds after the 30-month period, leaving the county with fewer revenues to pay the additional staff.

Barther said the Marshals Service out of Sioux City is currently housing 130 prisoners in jails in 13-14 counties. It would like to consolidate into fewer facilities and would utilize the 85 beds it contracts for in Dakota County.

"Why would we invest so much money on the front side and not fill the beds?" Barther said. "There's no concern on our side that we can't fill it."

The Marshals Service does not own or operate detention facilities and must contract with state and local governments to house its prisoners who are awaiting trial. Once sentenced, offenders are transferred to a federal prison.

Dakota County currently houses an average of 20 federal prisoners daily. Last year, the county received $809,000 for housing federal prisoners and has received $688,000 to date in 2021. If the county were to withdraw from its agreement, the Marshals Service would offer it one of the other counties that have shown interest. Once an expanded jail is opened in another county, Dakota County could expect to lose 80% of its federal inmates and up to $600,000 in annual revenue, Chief Deputy Sheriff Tim Decker told the board.

"We could be losing money if we do not go forward," Decker said. "If we're not going to do it, there are plenty of people who want it. Someone else is going to get it, and we lose $400,000-$600,000 a year."

Gill appeared to remain unconvinced that it's in the county's best interest to move forward.

"I feel it's irresponsible to move forward with this," she said. "There seems to be a lot of risk."

Dakota County Clerk Joan Spencer, who earlier had said losing the current revenue from federal inmates would be damaging to the county's budget, disagreed.

"There's no risk," Spencer said. "They said if we build it, they'll pay for it."

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SIOUX CITY -- The Sioux City Council unanimously voted Monday to reallocate $250,000 in American Rescue Plan Act funding for incentive pay for city employees.

Under the terms of the act, the city is allowed to use ARPA funds for incentive pay for employees. Mayor Bob Scott made the request to reallocate the funds to provide a one-time incentive of $300 to current fulltime and permanent part-time employees. The incentive will be provided on a separate check or direct deposit on Dec. 17.

"One of the designated areas where these (funds) could be used is for premium pay for essential city workers," City Manager Bob Padmore explained before the vote. "At the beginning of the COVID pandemic, we identified just about our entire workforce is essential, whether it be water service workers that are out in the field, sewer workers, customer service representatives, housing, of course, our police and fire and EMS groups."

Padmore said the incentive pay is being provided to these employees to recognize the fact that they kept city operations running during the pandemic and did their best to maintain service to residents "at an equal level."

"Should at some point we find out that some employees wouldn't be eligible, we would pay for them out of non-ARPA funds," Padmore said. "We feel it's important that everyone be recognized and we not single out single groups when you take a look at the extra efforts that all employees have done."

Scott noted that council members are not considered essential workers and will not be receiving the incentive pay.

Leonard Kraker, president of International Association of Fire Fighters Local 7, thanked the council members for the recognition during the citizen comments portion of the meeting.

"As you know, most of our members did not join the profession for the money. They joined for the service to the community," he said. "During the last couple of years, we have not lessened our service to the community at all. In fact, we've increased our service to the community. We've done it all while some of our members have contracted COVID -- one of them ending up in the ICU."

During a special meeting in May, Padmore urged council members to devote most of the city's federal COVID-19 relief dollars to infrastructure projects. At the time, based on estimates, the city was expecting to receive $43.1 million in ARPA funding. The total amount it will actual get is only $40.6 million. The city received $20.3 million of that on June 15 and will be given the remainder one year from that date.

The city has until Dec. 31, 2024 to allocate the funds and an additional two years to spend them.

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SIOUX CITY -- A cat cafe is one step closer to opening in downtown Sioux City, after the City Council approved first reading of a change to the municipal code on Monday.

Megan Thompson wants to open Coffee & Purrs in the Commerce Building, 520 Nebraska St. The cat cafe would feature a separate area from the coffee shop where customers could interact with cats. It would be located in the brick building's commercial space, below 71 apartments known as Bluebird Flats.

The council unanimously voted in favor of a zoning text amendment to alter the definition of animal boarding, which would permit the cats to reside in the cat cafe overnight. The current definitions of animal boarding prohibit the keeping of animals for profit in the Downtown Commercial zoning district. The change, however, would also permit pet stores to have animals available for sale or adoption downtown, but animal boarding and breeding would remain prohibited there.

"They either get their morning coffee coming down from work and watch in the coffee shop area or people can come in for either 30 minutes or an hour, and they can sit in the cat room and cuddle with cats, basically," Thompson told the council before the vote.

Councilman Alex Watters told Thompson that he wishes her well with her business venture, noting that he comes from a family that is very fond of cats. He suggested that Thompson consider partnering with the Sioux City Animal Adoption and Rescue Center on cat adoptions, in addition to the Siouxland Humane Society and Noah's Hope Animal Rescue.

"I've been to (a cat cafe) in Des Moines. It's very successful. It was a big hit," he said. "I was happy to see this come up. I think we need more options like this in our downtown, so it's always exciting to see new things and breathing life into some of these spaces."

Mayor Pro Tem Dan Moore asked Thompson if she would be opposed to limiting the number of cats in the 800 to 900-square foot space. Thompson said she would be open to that, since most other cat cafes around the country have roughly 20 cats at one time.

The council is expected to vote on second and third reading next Monday, after Downtown Partners has provided input on the cat cafe.

Thompson told The Journal Friday that she envisions the cafe being beige and white with a clean, boho feel. She said the warm and cozy space would have a huge observation window between the coffee shop and the cat room so that patrons could watch the cats while they drink their coffee. She said the cat room would have a custom-built structure with tunnels for the cats to climb on.

Coffee & Purrs could open as early as March.

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JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP)  The United States will expand its military and economic relationships with partners in Asia to push back against Chinas increasing assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday.

Blinken said the Biden administration is committed to maintaining peace and prosperity in the region and will do that by boosting U.S. alliances, forging new relationships and ensuring that the U.S. military maintains its competitive edge.

Threats are evolving, our security approach has to evolve with them. To do that, we will lean on our greatest strength: our alliances and partnerships, Blinken said in a speech in Indonesia, outlining the administration's Indo-Pacific plans.

Well adopt a strategy that more closely weaves together all our instruments of national power  diplomacy, military, intelligence  with those of our allies and partners," he said. That will include linking U.S. and Asian defense industries, integrating supply chains and cooperating on technological innovation, he said.

Later he signed a series of three agreements with Indonesia's foreign minister, including one that extends until 2026 an existing maritime cooperation pact that among other issues calls for enhanced joint U.S.-Indonesian naval exercises.

Its about reinforcing our strengths so we can keep the peace, as we have done in the region for decades, he said. He did not elaborate further but the administration made waves earlier this year by agreeing to a pact that will see Australia produce nuclear-powered submarines.

Blinken insisted that the U.S. is not trying to force countries to choose between the United States and China, or seeking conflict with China. But he laid out a litany of complaints about Beijing's aggressive actions from Northeast Asia to Southeast Asia and from the Mekong River to the Pacific Islands."

At a daily briefing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said Blinken's latest comments showed the U.S. was contradicting itself by playing up the so-called China threat on the one hand while claiming that it has no intention to seek conflict with China on the other.

Wang criticized the U.S. for frequently sending ships and aircraft to the the area to flex muscles and stir up trouble."

Blinken is in Indonesia on the first leg of a week-long, three-nation tour of Southeast Asia that will also take him to Malaysia and Thailand. Countering Chinas growing aggressiveness in the region, particularly in the South China Sea, in Hong Kong and against Taiwan is prominent on his agenda.

Countries across the region want this behavior to change, he said. We do too.

We are determined to ensure freedom of navigation in the South China Sea, he said. It is also why we have an abiding interest in peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.

Blinken said the U.S. will forge stronger connections with its five treaty allies in the region  Australia, Japan, the Philippines, South Korea and Thailand  boost ties between them and cultivate a stronger partnership with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, many of whose members feel threatened by China.

A strong and independent ASEAN has long been central to tackle urgent crises and long-term challenges, Blinken said, in particular calling out the military rulers of Myanmar, also known as Burma, for their February takeover and subsequent crackdown on protesters.

We will continue to work with our allies and partners to press the regime to cease its indiscriminate violence, release all of those unjustly detained, allow unhindered access, and restore Burmas path to inclusive democracy, he said.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang countered by accusing Washington of policies that sow discord, undermine solidarity and disrupt cooperation.

If the U.S. really wants to play a constructive role for the peaceful development of the Asia-Pacific region as it claims, it should earnestly respect the ASEAN-centered regional cooperation structure, Wang told reporters in Beijing.

China-U.S. relations have hit a new low over a range of issues, including Beijing's increasingly assertive claim to virtually the entire South China Sea that includes the construction of manmade islands topped with military infrastructure. That claim overlaps with those of four ASEAN members.

Many Southeast Asian countries are economically dependent on China but see the U.S. as a counterweight to Beijing.

Blinken confined his remarks to the Indo-Pacific and China although he began his current overseas journey in Britain at a Group of Seven foreign ministers meeting that delivered a stern warning to Russia over Ukraine.

On arriving in Indonesia on Monday, Blinken found that a top aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin, national security adviser Nikolay Patrushev, was already in Jakarta for security talks. Asked why he had not sought out Patrushev to expand on Sunday's G7 warning, Blinken replied that the administration's top diplomat for Europe, Karen Donfried, who is currently in Ukraine, would be traveling to Moscow in the coming days to deliver that message.

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COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP)  NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Tuesday that he has applied to be the next governor of Norway's central bank in an appointment that would last for six years if he gets the job.

The current governor of Norges Bank, Oeystein Olsen, is retiring in early 2022 after holding the position since Jan. 1, 2011 for two terms. Stoltenberg's tenure at NATO ends next year.

Stoltenberg said he was contacted by Norways Finance Ministry in November and asked if he would consider applying.

I have now done that, and this is a job I am very motivated for, the NATO chief said in a statement. Stoltenberg added that the Finance Ministry in Oslo has clarified that my background as former Prime Minister and Secretary General of NATO does not conflict with the central banks rules on who can hold this position.

Stoltenberg said he had made it clear to the Finance Ministry "that if I get the position, it will not be possible for me to start before my period in NATO expires on 1 October 2022."

Norges Bank, the central bank,confirmed that Stoltenberg applied for the position.

Stoltenberg became NATO secretary-general in 2014. After a successful first term, his mandate at the trans-Atlantic alliance was extended to run through September 2022.

Stoltenberg has been praised for steering NATO through a difficult period under the Trump administration, when the U.S. threatened not to come to the aid of member countries that weren't spending enough on defense.

U.S. President Joe Biden and his NATO counterparts are meeting in Madrid in June, where they are expected to nominate Stoltenbergs successor.

On Tuesday, Norway's government published a list of 22 candidates for the central bank job that includes Stoltenberg but also Norges Bank's deputy governor, Ida Wolden Bache, who is also considered a top contender.

Stoltenberg was twice prime minister in Norway  from 2005 to 2013 and from 2002 to 2014  and has been finance minister, and industry and energy minister. Norway isn't a member of the European Union.

Lorne Cook in Brussels contributed to this report.

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RICHMOND, Va. (AP)  Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam announced on Tuesday that he will include several tax cuts in his outgoing budget proposal, including the elimination of the state's share of the sales tax on groceries  a proposal that was a key campaign pledge of Republican Gov.-elect Glenn Youngkin.

Northam is asking the legislature to do away with the state's 1.5% tax on groceries. His proposal does not eliminate an add-on tax of 1% by localities.

Virginia is one of only 14 states that tax groceries.

Northam announced his proposal at The Market at 25th, a community-driven grocery store in Richmond's East End neighborhood. He first proposed eliminating the grocery tax when he ran for governor in 2017, but it was not a central theme of his campaign.

Youngkin, who is scheduled to take office on Jan. 15, campaigned heavily on the issue, making it part of his Day One game plan." He argued that the tax is regressive, hitting low-income people the hardest. Youngkin had urged Northam to include tax cuts in his outgoing budget.

Governor Northams budget proposal is a step in the right direction but does not entirely fulfill Virginians mandate, said Macaulay Porter, a Youngkin transition aide. We appreciate the Northam administration laying the foundation for these elements of the Day One game plan so that Governor-Elect Youngkin can hit the ground running on January 15th to begin executing on his key campaign promises and finish the job. 

Speaker-designee Todd Gilbert had a more blunt assessment of Northam's tax proposals. "Now we know what it takes to get Virginia Democrats to propose cutting taxes  losing to a Republican," Gilbert said in a statement.

Sharon Wood, a retired registered nurse, said she has seen her monthly grocery bill go from about $200 to $350 over the past few months.

I think it will really help in this inflationary time," Wood said of the proposed tax cut after shopping at a Food Lion store in Glen Allen, a Richmond suburb. Every week I go (grocery shopping) and I see increases.

State Secretary of Finance Joe Flores said 1% of the revenue from the state's 1.5% share of the tax goes to school districts, while the other 0.5% is earmarked for transportation projects. Flores said Northam's proposed budget makes up the revenue that will be lost by school districts.

They will receive the same amount of funding that they are currently receiving from the state," he said.

Flores said the revenue that would go to transportation projects is not made up for in the governor's budget proposal, but the state will receive additional federal transportation money under the infrastructure bill passed by Congress last month.

Northam, who is scheduled to present his budget proposal to the legislature's money committees on Thursday, is also proposing that the state give one-time economic growth tax rebates of $250 for individuals and $500 for married couples; make up to 15% of the federal earned income-tax credit refundable for eligible families; and end the accelerated sales tax payments for retailers.

Northam said Virginia's strong economic position allows the state to reduce taxes and to pay for other provisions in his budget proposal, including raising salaries for teachers and law enforcement and funding historically Black college universities at record levels.

Many professionals made it through the pandemic fine, as their work simply moved online. But workers havent been so lucky when their jobs require close contact with other people," Northam said. "Virginia can help working people by eliminating the state grocery tax, providing one-time rebates, and giving a tax break to people who are working.

In addition to eliminating the grocery tax, Youngkin pledged during the campaign to suspend the most recent gas tax hike for a year; offer a one-time tax rebate of $300 for individuals and $600 for joint filers; cut income taxes by doubling the standard deduction; cut taxes on veterans retirement income; and implement a requirement that voters approve increases on local property taxes.

Younkin defeated former Gov. Terry McAuliffe, a Democrat, in the Nov. 2 election.

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PORTLAND, Ore. (AP)  Oregon lawmakers on Monday passed additional safety nets to keep housed thousands of people currently struggling to pay rent or facing eviction during the pandemic and also approved money to combat illegal marijuana grows.

During a one-day special legislative session lawmakers passed a $215 million package  which includes $100 million for additional emergency rental assistance for both tenants and landlords and funds to help agencies that have had a hard time getting emergency money out the door to do so more quickly.

Most of us here have been fortunate enough to be unfamiliar with the urgency, the panic and the desperation that so many in our communities are now experiencing. Having done everything in their power and everything they were told they needed to do to remain housed, they still remain in danger of losing their shelter and safety, said Rep. Wlnsvey Campos, a Democrat.

More than 67,000 Oregon households recently reported they feel not at all confident they can cover next months bills, according to the most recent U.S. Census Bureau survey. Despite an overwhelming need, this month the statewide rental assistance program stopped taking new applications after all $289 million of federal funds have been requested and committed to renters. However, due to a backlog $119 million has yet to reach renters.

Margaret Salazar, the director of the states Housing and Community Services, said Monday she expects the remaining federal assistance will be administered to Oregon tenants by March 2022. In addition, she estimates the proposed additional state funded rental assistance would be administered by June 2022.

Republican lawmakers have been critical of the Oregon Housing and Community Services mismanagement of the application backlog and said the bill fails to hold the agency accountable.

Anyone who understands how to run a business knows that you do not throw money at something that isnt working and you dont cover up inefficiencies by avoiding accountability," said Republican Rep. Bobby Levy.

Lawmakers also voted in favor of extending the current 60-day eviction protection period. The initial law, which the governor signed in June, grants renters a two-month period in which they cannot be evicted due to lack of payments, as long as they provide proof that they applied for aid.

However an estimated 8,355 households are at risk of eviction, as the safe harbor protection keeping them housed have expired as they continue to wait for aid from the state.

It would be tragic if Oregonians lost their homes because the money, available to help them, doesnt reach them in time, said Rep. Julie Fahey, D-West Eugene and Junction City.

The extension will keep eviction protections to remain in place for a tenant until their application has been processed  and not limited to 60 days.

Differing views on COVID-19 related restrictions and safety mandates also carried into Mondays special session. Sen. Dallas Heard, R-Roseburg, was escorted out of the chamber after Senate President Peter Courtney deemed his colleague was out of order and in violation of rules for refusing to wear a mask. There is a statewide indoor mask mandate in Oregon.

I must tell you this is something that makes me sad, very sad Dallas, Courtney said when Heard refused to put on a mask or leave the chamber. Assuming the mask mandate still exists during (the next legislative session), we will have to move against individuals who dont wear a mask and have them expelled before the extent that we can.

Although there has been tension between the two parties, there were members of the Senate GOP who voted in favor of the Mondays rental assistance and eviction protection package. Republican Sen. Bill Kennemer described the package as a legitimate need for this bill and... its a balance thats appropriate.

GOP lawmakers say that after repeated failures by Oregons housing department to timely implement a rental assistance program Republicans have reached a bipartisan agreement with majority Democrats to fix the problem and protect landlords and renters.

When we first started, we were miles apart, said Senate Republican Leader Tim Knopp, R-Bend. We were not willing to entertain coming in to pass legislation that we believed would do long-term damage to the rental housing market.

As part of the agreement, $5 million will be directed to the Oregon Housing and Community Services to speed up the processing of assistance applications and $10 million will be placed into the Landlord Guarantee Fund.

But keeping Oregonians housed were not the only bills that passed. Others were drought relief, illegal cannabis proliferation and support for Afghan refugee resettlement.

One bill that received unanimous support from lawmakers in both the House and Senate was $25 million for a comprehensive, statewide plan to address the proliferation of illegal cannabis around the state and ease the associated humanitarian impacts in Oregon.

Authorities say thousands of immigrants working on southern Oregon illegal marijuana farms that are run by foreign cartels are living in squalid conditions and are sometimes being cheated and threatened by their gangland bosses.

This is just the tip of the iceberg. Colleagues human trafficking and human-labor trafficking is happening. People are housed in squalor conditions. Its just appalling, Knopp said. Farm workers deserve so much better. But unfortunately, this borders on slavery.

Lawmakers also passed $100 million to help Oregonians impacted by this summers extreme heat and drought conditions.



Cline 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.

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP)  Pennsylvania is again aiming to put its presidential primary in position to determine the winner, rather than let other states play that role.

The state Senate on Tuesday unanimously approved a bill to move up Pennsylvanias primary elections in presidential election years by five weeks to the third Tuesday in March.

That is expected to put it on the same date in 2024 as Arizona, Florida and Illinois.

Critics of Pennsylvania's current date in state law  the fourth Tuesday of April  say its presidential primary clout is often diminished or rendered irrelevant by its relatively late vote.

In most presidential elections, the outcome is largely decided before our voters have a chance to cast their vote, the bills sponsor, state Sen. John Gordner, R-Columbia, said in a statement.

The bill goes to the state House of Representatives for consideration. A spokesperson for the House Republican majority said it has not yet been discussed in the caucus.

The Senate passed an identical bill last year, but it died in the House.

Gordner said the target date for Pennsylvania's primary will not violate any rules of the Democratic National Committee or the Republican National Committee.

Last year, Pennsylvanias primary was held the same day as those in New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Maryland and Delaware.

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OKLAHOMA CITY (AP)  Oklahoma tribal leaders said Monday that Gov. Kevin Stitt's decision to not renew hunting and fishing license compacts with the Cherokee and Choctaw nations is part of an ongoing dispute between the tribes and the Republican governor.

Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. and Choctaw Nation Chief Gary Batton said in a joint statement with Choctaw, Muscogee, Chickasaw and Seminole nation leaders that Stitt was undermining collaboration with them.

This is consistent with what weve seen from the governor since the (U.S.) Supreme Courts McGirt decision, which found that Oklahoma lacks jurisdiction over serious crimes committed on tribal reservations by or against tribal citizens, Hoskin wrote.

The state has asked the court to reverse the decision.

Stitt and tribal leaders had clashed earlier over Stitt's desire to renegotiate tribal gambling compacts that he claimed were expiring. Federal and state courts ruled against Stitt in lawsuits over the gambling question.

Hoskin and Batton said their tribes have paid $38 million to the state since separately agreeing with then-Gov. Mary Fallin to the licensing compacts that went into effect in 2016.

Under previous administrations, compacts regarding hunting and fishing licenses were a routine matter," Batton said. Unfortunately, Gov. Stitt has once again decided to let his personal concerns outweigh what is best for the people he was elected to represent, putting conflict above cooperation.

Stitt spokesman Charlie Hannema said Stitt believes all Oklahomans should be treated equally.

Personal attacks on the governor will not deter him from protecting the interests of all 4 million Oklahomans, including the states wildlife and natural resources, Hannema said in a statement.

Hannema said the Cherokee and Choctaw nations were offered the opportunity to purchase the licenses at the same price as non-tribal members, $25 for a hunting or fishing license, or $42 for a combination license.

A year ago, Stitt signed one-year extensions of the compacts, saying they helped capture federal funds "for conservation efforts across our state while promoting hunting and fishing opportunities for citizens of the (tribes)," according to statements released at the time.

After purchasing the licenses, the Cherokee Nation provided them at no charge to tribal members while the Choctaw Nation charged $2 each for them.

The tribes have guaranteed hunting and fishing rights on their reservations under their treaties with the United States.

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MINNEAPOLIS (AP)  Prosecutors in the manslaughter trial of a Minnesota police officer charged in the shooting death of Daunte Wright walked jurors through the differences between her handgun and her Taser on Monday, seeking to raise questions about how an experienced officer could confuse the two.

Wright, 20, was killed on April 11 after being pulled over in the Minneapolis suburb of Brooklyn Center for having expired license plate tags and an air freshener hanging from his rearview mirror. Kim Potter, 49, is charged with manslaughter.

Potter, a 26-year police veteran who resigned two days later, has said she meant to use her Taser to stop Wright after he pulled away and got back in his car as officers tried to arrest him on a warrant for a weapons charge. Potter is white and Wright was Black. His death, which came while Derek Chauvin was on trial in nearby Minneapolis in George Floyd's death, set off several nights of angry protests in Brooklyn Center.

The defense has called the shooting a horrific mistake, but has also asserted that Potter would have been within her rights to use deadly force on Wright because he might have dragged another officer, then-Sgt. Mychal Johnson, with his car.

Sam McGinnis, a senior special agent with the state's Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, highlighted how Potter's duty belt had holsters that require an officer to take deliberate actions to release the weapons. The gun holster has a snap, while the Taser holster has a lever. The handgun, which is black, is also twice as heavy as the yellow Taser, McGinnis said.

The Taser and gun have different triggers, grips and safety mechanisms, McGinnis testified. The Taser also has a laser and LED lights that display before it is fired, which he demonstrated for the jury, while the handgun does not, he said.

McGinnis also testified that Potter didnt perform a function test on her Taser at the start of her shift. Although the Brooklyn Center Police Departments policy is that officers are supposed to do that, McGinnis acknowledged under cross-examination that he didnt check to see how widely the departments officers complied.

Prosecutors asked to have the jurors handle a Taser, but Judge Regina Chu didn't allow it after Potter's attorneys objected. Chu said jurors can do so during deliberations if they want.

Earlier Monday, Dr. Lorren Jackson, an assistant Hennepin County medical examiner, testified that Potter's bullet caused injuries to Wright's heart and lungs and those caused his death. He said one can survive such injuries for only seconds to minutes.

After Wright was shot, his car drove away and collided seconds later with an oncoming car. Any injuries from the crash were insignificant in terms of what caused Wright's death, Jackson said.

Some officers testified last week that they weren't able to immediately approach Wright's car after it crashed because they weren't sure it was safe to do so. Prosecutors criticized Potter for not immediately radioing in what happened at the traffic stop.

Jackson testified that Wright had some cannabinoids, or THC and its metabolites, in his blood from smoking marijuana, but that they didn't factor in his cause of death. He said the level of THC metabolites in Wrights blood was on the high end of numbers he sees, but was still within a normal range for people who use marijuana.

Jurors were shown graphic images of Wrights body at the scene, as the assistant medical examiner found the body on the ground, with some medical equipment still attached from lifesaving efforts, and some dried blood from the gunshot wound.

They also saw autopsy photos, which Chu limited after Potter's attorneys objected earlier in the trial. Wrights mother, who has been present for much of the testimony, was not in court as the autopsy photos were shown.

The state is expected to rest its case midweek.

Separately, prosecutors filed two motions Monday, including one designed to limit the opinion of witnesses who are not testifying as experts. That came after Johnson last week testified that Potters actions were authorized under state law. Johnson was not testifying as an expert on the police use of force.

Prosecutors also asked Chu for permission to question police officers about union membership. They wrote that Potter had roles in the union, including as president, that gave her an elevated level of respect among her coworkers. They want to ask officers about it so jurors can evaluate any potential bias toward Potter.

The case is being heard by a mostly white jury.

State sentencing guidelines call for just over seven years in prison upon conviction of first-degree manslaughter and four years for second-degree, though prosecutors have said they plan to push for longer sentences.

Associated Press writers Mohamed Ibrahim in Minneapolis and Scott Bauer in Madison, Wisconsin, contributed to this report.

Find the APs full coverage of the Daunte Wright case: https://apnews.com/hub/death-of-daunte-wright

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BOSTON (AP)  The trial of a Harvard University professor charged with hiding his ties to a Chinese-run recruitment program is the latest bellwether in the U.S. Justice Department's controversial effort to crackdown on economic espionage by China.

Opening statements in the trial of Charles Lieber, the former chair of Harvards department of chemistry and chemical biology, begin Wednesday after jury selection was completed Tuesday in Boston federal court.

Lieber's trial is among the highest profile cases to come from the U.S. Department of Justices so-called China Initiative, which was launched in 2018 under former President Donald Trump but has faced criticism that it harms academic research and amounts to racial profiling of Chinese researchers.

Federal prosecutors and Lieber's defense team didn't comment Tuesday, but in legal filings ahead of trial, prosecutors said theyll show Lieber deliberately made false statements about his participation in a Chinese university program to protect his reputation and career.

Liebers lawyer, Marc Mukasey, argued in his trial brief that prosecutors will be unable to prove that he acted "knowingly, intentionally, or willfully, or that he made any material false statement. He also stressed Lieber, who remains on paid leave from Harvard, isn't charged with illegally transferring any technology or proprietary information to China.

The government has this wrong, Mukasey said last year. "When justice is done, Charlies good name will be restored.

Lieber was arrested last January on allegations that he hid his involvement in Chinas Thousand Talents Plan, a program designed to recruit people with knowledge of foreign technology and intellectual property to China.

Lieber, prosecutors said, was paid $50,000 a month by the Wuhan University of Technology in China, given up to $158,000 in living expenses and awarded more than $1.5 million in grants to establish a research lab at the Chinese university.

In exchange, prosecutors say, Lieber agreed to publish articles, organize international conferences and apply for patents on behalf of the Chinese university.

He's pleaded not guilty to the charges, which include two counts of making false statements to authorities and four tax offenses for failing to report income from the Wuhan university.

At the time, Lieber was one of the biggest names  and one of the few not of Chinese origin  swept up in the wide-ranging China Initiative, which was ostensibly launched to prosecute trade secret theft, hacking, and economic espionage.

The effort also focuses on threats to national infrastructure and efforts to influence the American public and policymakers without proper transparency, according to the Justice Departments website.

The department hasnt provided a comprehensive list of all the cases prosecuted under the initiative and their outcomes, but said Tuesday that the tally includes at least nine economic espionage prosecutions, seven theft of trade secrets cases and 12 matters involving fraud on universities or other grant making institutions.

Hundreds of faculty members at Stanford, Yale, Berkeley, Princeton, Temple and other prominent colleges, meanwhile, have signed onto letters to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland calling on him to end the initiative.

The academics say the effort is compromises the nations competitiveness in research and technology and has had a chilling effect on recruiting foreign scholars. The letters also complain the investigations have disproportionally targeted researchers of Chinese origin.

Even Andrew Lelling, a former U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts who was an early leader on the nationwide effort and whose office brought charges against Lieber, believes the initiative needs reform.

The Initiative has drifted and, in some significant ways, lost its focus, he wrote in part on LinkedIn last week. DOJ should revamp, and shut down, parts of the program, to avoid needlessly chilling scientific and business collaborations with Chinese partners.

Lelling, who is now in private practice, declined to comment directly on the Lieber case Tuesday, but argued that cases like it were important in bringing attention to the growing threat of economic espionage by the Chinese government.

There was widespread concern that the Chinese government was using research collaborations to siphon off U.S. technology, so researchers failing to disclose their China connections to U.S. grant-makers was concerning," he said. If the U.S. government doesnt know the extent of U.S. research collaboration with China, it cant properly develop policy in that area.

At the same time, Lelling argued that prosecutors should play out the remaining cases to their conclusion and focus on only the most serious cases against academics going forward.

Three years later, the academic community is fully aware of the issue," he said. "Schools have tightened their disclosure requirements in this area and researchers are very worried about government enforcement. In short, deterrence has been achieved.

Wyn Hornbuckle, a DOJ spokesperson, said Tuesday that the department is reviewing its approach to countering threats posed by the Chinese government and will provide additional information in the coming weeks.

Garland told lawmakers during an October hearing on the initiative that China remains a serious threat to American intellectual property in terms of espionage, cyber incursions and ransomware.

But he also stressed that "cases will not be pursued based on discrimination, but only on facts justifying them.

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MCLEAN, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec 14, 2021--

Thought Leadership & Innovation Foundation (TLI), a not-for-profit organization that works at the nexus of science, technology and public health, announces the recipients of its 2021 awards recognizing individuals and organizations that have displayed significant achievements in healthcare innovation:

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211214005890/en/

Ariel Rigney (Photo: Business Wire)

Innovation Visionaries Award, honoring a company or organization making a difference for all stakeholders in the ecosystem, including clinicians, therapists and researchers, was bestowed to The Autism Community in Action (TACA) for providing education, support and hope to families living with autism.

Innovation Heroes Award, honoring individuals who exemplify the spirit of innovation in healthcare, was bestowed to limb loss survivor Ariel Rigney, MPA, a self-proclaimed nonprofit nerd, athlete, world traveler and adventure-seeker.

Reed Hartley, executive director, TLI, explains, These awards demonstrate and illustrate the power of individuals and organizations to significantly impact lives. We are proud to recognize their achievements and applaud their efforts to improve the patient experience and outcomes. They also provide shining examples of how to effectively support clinicians, therapists and researchers who serve patient populations that need better access to quality care.

Honorees were chosen based upon an individuals efforts on behalf of patients or an organizations demonstrated expertise for developing novel and practical applications of an innovative new approach, service, human-centered design or transformation process.

Hartley underscores the achievements and advocacy programs of TACA, saying, TACA implements so many outstanding services, conferences, mentorships and resources to support the autism community. This organization demonstrates its ongoing commitment to promoting early intervention and improving treatment and outcomes for autism patients and their families. We congratulate the leadership and entire TACA team on celebrating its 20th anniversary of working to change the lives of individuals living with autism.

At the outset of the COVID-19 outbreak, TACA immediately transitioned to virtual meetings, increased online resources and enhanced parent support activities. They conducted 594 virtual meetings, with attendance of 18,000+ people, and expanded reach by 132%. Hope & Help, TACAs private Facebook support group grew to over 12,000 members--a 21% increase over 2019. They also responded via phone and online to 36,892 requests for support and awarded $195,588 in scholarships to families for medical and resource needs, representing 14% of the TACA budget. As one mother stated, because of TACAs support during the pandemic her previously non-verbal son walked into his first day of school, greeted the teacher with good morning and put on his mask. He had also been potty-trained and had learned all of his letters and sounds.

Recognized as an Innovation Hero, Rigney is passionate about advocating for amputee rights and access to care. Hartley notes, Ariel has demonstrated a transformative influence as she continues to inspire by her tireless efforts to raise amputee care awareness.

Her efforts have ranged from volunteering as a counselor at summer camps for kids with limb loss to working as a patient model to help train new physical and occupational therapists. By working with amputee patients, testing new prosthetic feet and technologies in the lab, and providing peer support to new limb loss patients, Ariel is a true hero. Rigney is honored to be a loud and proud advocate for her amputee community.

She is currently partnering with Range of Motion Project (ROMP) to raise money for amputees who lack access to prosthetic devices and care. She is also in training to attempt to summit Cotopaxi, a 19,347-foot volcano in Ecuador, in fall 2022. As she works to push her mind, body and prosthetic leg to the limit for this enormous feat, her focus is clear: show people that with proper access to prosthetics and care, amputees like her can achieve almost impossible goals.

For more information about becoming a TLI partner or to be considered for an award, contact the foundation.

About TLI

The Thought Leadership and Innovation Foundation (TLI) is a not-for-profit organization that works at the nexus of science, technology and public health, innovating for superior prevention, treatment and outcomes for those facing life-altering medical diagnoses. TLI helps patients across the country and around the world find better healthcare outcomes. Visit www.thoughtfoundation.org and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.

View source version on businesswire.com:https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211214005890/en/

CONTACT: Media:

Nicole Dufour

CPR Communications

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KEYWORD: VIRGINIA UNITED STATES NORTH AMERICA

INDUSTRY KEYWORD: INFECTIOUS DISEASES DIABETES HEALTH MEDICAL DEVICES

SOURCE: The Thought Leadership and Innovation Foundation

Copyright Business Wire 2021.

PUB: 12/14/2021 10:00 AM/DISC: 12/14/2021 10:01 AM

Copyright Business Wire 2021.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP)  Former Iowa state epidemiologist and medical director Dr. Caitlin Pedati has accepted a public health job in Virginia.

The Virginia Beach Department of Public Health posted a statement Friday announcing Pedati would serve as the coastal city's public health director beginning Dec. 10. Her hire was first reported by the news site Axios Des Moines.

Pedati left the Iowa Department of Public Health in October, citing an interest in pursuing new career opportunities. She began working for IDPH in 2018.

In the Virginia Beach press release, Pedati said she is excited to return to her home state.

A pediatrician with training in epidemiology, Pedati served as medical director and state epidemiologist, a critical role when the coronavirus pandemic reached Iowa in early 2020.

She initially appeared in numerous press conferences that Gov. Kim Reynolds held last year as COVID-19 cases spread throughout Iowa. Pedati's public role faded, however, as Iowa experienced a surge in cases involving the delta variant that has sickened more children and young adults.

Throughout the pandemic Pedati largely followed Reynolds policies even when they conflicted with medical science at the time. She was silent when Reynolds, a Republican, reopened businesses in May 2020 as the state continued to see high case counts and deaths. Pedati also didn't comment on Reynolds refusal to implement a mask mandate late last year to slow virus spread as recommended by medical professionals, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and a White House virus task force.

Reynolds authorized pay raises for Pedati that pushed her annual salary to more than $265,000 in the fiscal year that began July 1, 2020. Pedati also earlier that year received more than $55,000 in overtime pay, which normally wasn't paid to a person in her position, according to records obtained by the left-leaning Bleeding Heartland blog.

Public health district directors in Virginia can earn between $170,000 and $220,000, according to recent job postings.

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP)  A Sioux Falls man who could face the death penalty if convicted of killing his infant son pleaded not guilty Monday.

A grand jury last week determined that Dylan Castimore can be charged with first-degree murder in the death of 8-week-old Daxton Castimore. The defendant was originally charged with second-degree murder and manslaughter.

Minnehaha County States Attorney Daniel Haggar has not decided whether to pursue the death penalty, which became a possibility with the new charge. Should Haggar decline the capital punishment option, Castimore would face a mandatory life sentence, KELO-TV reported.

Castimore looked down as the new charges were read on Monday. When asked if he understood the charges, Castimore said, Yes, your honor, and the judge entered a not guilty plea on his behalf.

An autopsy determined the babys death was caused by a skull fracture. A contributing factor in the childs death was a lacerated liver. Court documents say the infant had several other injuries, including broken ribs.

The new charges also include aggravated battery of an infant and abuse or cruelty of a minor under the age of seven. Castimore is also accused of being a habitual offender.

Castimore is being held on a $1 million cash bond.

For copyright information, check with the distributor of this item, KELO-TV.

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2021 was a remarkable year for Earths climate

Posted on 14 December 2021 by dana1981

This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections

The close of another year provides an opportunity to assess what happened in the worlds of climate science and policy in 2021 and to gaze into a proverbial crystal ball to anticipate likely events in 2022.

This was a year full of climate-fueled extreme weather events, the publication of important new climate research and synthesis reports, and a crucial international climate negotiation. It ends with anticipation and uncertainty over whether the U.S. Congress will pass the countrys first-ever major climate change legislation.

2021 certainly did not lack for important climate events.

A hot year full of extreme weather

When the year comes to a close, 2021 will be the sixth- or seventh-hottest year on record and hotter than any year prior to 2015, despite a La Nina events having drawn cold water to the surface of the Pacific Ocean. La Nina years tend to be cooler than years with El Nino or neutral conditions in the Pacific. The year 2000 saw a La Nina event of similar strength to that in 2021, but 2021 was more than 0.4 degrees Celsius (0.75 degrees Fahrenheit) hotter than 2000. In short, 2021 was consistent with the long-term human-caused global warming trend of about 0.2C (0.36F) per decade.

Global average surface temperature change data from the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies divided into El Nino (red), La Nina (blue), and neutral (black) years, and years influenced by the short-term cooling effect of large volcanic eruptions (orange triangles). Linear best fit trend lines are shown for El Nino, La Nina, and neutral years. (Graphic created by Dana Nuccitelli)

Extreme and often deadly weather events struck all around the world throughout 2021, but especially in the middle of the year marking the summer months in the northern hemisphere. From India to England to Russia to China to New Zealand to the U.S. to Indonesia to Uganda to Germany, it seemed as though every corner of the world was hit by extreme precipitation and flooding over the span of just a few months. A rapid attribution study of the German flood that resulted in more than 200 deaths found that global warming made the extremity of the event approximately five times more likely than in a hypothetical world without human-caused climate change.

Around the same time, extreme heat waves punished Japan, Ireland, Turkey, western North America, and England. The record-shattering extreme heatwave in the Pacific Northwest likely killed more than 1,000 people, and another rapid attribution study concluded that such extreme heat was virtually impossible without human-caused climate change, although the event was eerily similar to predictions made in a report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) had published a full two decades earlier.

Western North America, Siberia, and the Mediterranean region experienced intense droughts in mid-2021. With the combination of extreme hot and dry conditions, wildfires also ravaged these regions. California was hit by its second-worst wildfire season on record, behind only that of 2020. Siberia experienced its driest summer in 150 years and its worst wildfire season in memory. Summing it all up, CBS News meteorologist and climate specialist Jeff Berardelli described 2021 as having the most extreme summer in memory.

In August 2021, the IPCC published its Sixth Assessment Report, which concluded that humans are most likely responsible for 100% of the approximately 1.1C (2F) global warming over the past 150 years, and that climate change will continue to worsen extreme heat, droughts, wildfires, floods, and hurricanes. The Atlantic hurricane season came to a close at the end of November, and was described by meteorologist Jeff Masters as  bonkers  given its extreme nature, including Hurricane Ida, which ranked as the fifth most costly weather disaster in world history. A December 2021 study by hurricane expert Kerry Emanuel of M.I.T. found that Atlantic hurricanes have become more powerful and more frequent over the past 150 years.

International climate negotiations and policy developments

The 26th Conference of Parties (COP) international climate negotiations convened in Glasgow in November 2021. At COP21 in Paris, countries had agreed in 2015 to update their individual climate targets five years later, but COP26 was delayed an extra year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. That postponement contributed to the widespread advance billings that COP26 indeed would be an extremely important event. And so it was.

The Glasgow negotiations yielded incremental but insufficient progress toward meeting the Paris targets. India pledged to reach net-zero emissions by 2070, and Nigeria by 2060, and 141 countries covering 91% of global forested area agreed to halt and reverse forest loss and land degradation by 2030. More than 450 financial institutions across 45 countries pledged $130 trillion of private capital to transition the global economy to net zero emissions by 2050; 103 countries responsible for close to half of global methane emissions pledged that by 2030 they will reduce those emissions by at least 30% from 2020 levels. The Glasgow climate pact agreement called upon all countries to accelerate efforts towards the phase-down of unabated coal power and phase-out of inefficient fossil fuel subsidies. That language was found vague and wanting by proponents of stronger action, but it nevertheless marked the first time a COP meeting specifically targeted coal and other fossil fuels.

The Glasgow agreement also requests Parties to revisit and strengthen the 2030 targets in their nationally determined contributions [NDCs] as necessary to align with the Paris Agreement temperature goal by the end of 2022. This request is unlikely to result in changes to the NDCs of countries like the U.S., which already has set an ambitious target (50% below 2005 emissions levels by 2030) roughly consistent with the Paris Climate Agreement. Reaching even that goal will pose stiff challenges on Capitol Hill, likely making more ambitious targets unachievable. The language may apply more to countries like China, whose NDC only aims to peak emissions before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060  targets that the country is already on track to meet without substantial additional policy efforts.

In the U.S. climate policy world, the infrastructure bill signed by President Biden on November 15th contains some significant climate-relevant investments, including a $66 billion investment for rail; $65 billion to improve the electricity grid; $44 billion for public transit; and $7.5 billion for electric vehicle charging stations. Four days later, the House of Representatives passed a budget reconciliation package with about $555 billion in climate-related investments including $163 billion in clean electricity tax incentives; $135 billion for home efficiency and electrification; $30 billion to create a Civilian Climate Corps; and $20 billion for electric vehicle tax incentives. That package is now under review in the Senate, where Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has expressed his goal to pass its version by Christmas, to then be sent back to the House for approval. Once past those not insubstantial milestones, a bill could be forwarded to the President for signature and enactment in early 2022.

Analyses by various energy policy modeling groups  including Energy Innovation, Princeton ZERO Lab, Rhodium Group, and Resources for the Future  estimate that the climate provisions in the infrastructure and House-passed reconciliation packages are sufficient to reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions to approximately 35-45% below 2005 levels by 2030; shy of the countrys 50% by 2030 NDC. Several senators are pressing to add a price on carbon pollution to the reconciliation package, which would likely add enough greenhouse gas emissions cuts to meet the U.S. NDC, but it remains to be seen whether West Virginia Democratic Senator Joe Manchin will be convinced to offer the key needed 50th vote in support of such a measure. If he does, Vice President Harris would be in line to break the 50-50 tie, with all Republican Senators voting against the legislation.

What else is coming in 2022?

Heading into 2022, models project that the current La Nina event will subside and be replaced by neutral conditions in the Pacific. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicts that the coming winter months will be relatively hot across much of the U.S., particularly in the southern states, and that the persistent drought in the southwestern states will continue. These conditions could lead to yet another dangerous western wildfire season in the summer and fall months.

The body of research into potential links between the rapid warming and sea ice decline in the Arctic and hot and dry conditions in the southwestern U.S., including a new Nature Communications study on the subject published in October 2021, may continue to develop in 2022. Some nations will strengthen their NDCs for COP27 in Egypt, possibly including China. And the U.S. will hold midterm elections in which the Republican Party may wrest control of one or both chambers of Congress from the Democrats, which would likely once again grind the gears of domestic climate policy to a halt.

In short, 2022 will be another consequential year for Earths climate, as likely will be every year henceforth on our heated planet.
Care and Feeding is Slates parenting advice column. Have a question for Care and Feeding? Submit it here or post it in the Slate Parenting Facebook group.

Dear Care and Feeding,

My 13-year-old, Cassie, was ghosted by her long-term friend group, and its breaking my heart. Cassie has been friends with a group of three other girls since they met in kindergarten. However, I know that this is an age where many kids are obsessed with popularity and being cool. Kids who are seen as weird or uncool have a tough go of it, and I fear that thats whats happening to Cassie. Cassie has always been one of those kids who matches to the beat of her own drum. She doesnt seem to care about conforming with her peers or following trends. She likes to dress in a manner that other teens consider unfashionable, has hobbies that some may think of as unusual, and is generally unconcerned with popularity. For years, this did not preclude her from having a great friendship with these girls.

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As far as I was aware, her social life was doing wonderfully for years. Cassie mentioned the other day that those girls stopped talking to her and unfollowed her on social media out of the blue, and have become closer with some popular kids in their school. They told her that she was too weird and uncool, and that she was bringing them down by being friends with them. Cassie is typically reserved about her emotions, and didnt volunteer how she felt about this abandonment, but Id imagine it has been painful for her. These girls have been at the center of her social life for years and that was just ripped away from her. As a parent, you hate to see your child in a situation like this, and Im at a loss about what to do. Ive told her that I love her and will always be there for her, but I dont know if I need to do anything else. How can I help my child survive being ghosted by her friends?

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Ghostbuster

Dear Ghostbuster,

First off, the early teen years can be just straight up awful for many kids (myself included, back in the day), so I completely empathize with Cassie. However, I want to give major kudos to your daughter for a few reasons.

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It takes an incredible amount of self-confidence to be true to yourself at all times and zig when everyone is zagging. Many kids will do anything to fit in with the crowd and often it can be to their detriment (drugs, sex, alcohol, bullying, etc.) and the fact that shes staying true to herself shows how strong she is.

America is overrun with mediocre people living mediocre lives who dont have the courage to step outside of their comfort zones. Not to mention, in typical mediocre fashion, these kids are blaming your daughter for being different. Cassie is a leader, and leaders are often misunderstood by the masses. That doesnt make her uncool or weird, it makes her unique and special  and you should tell her that every day. I know Id rather have my two young daughters spend time with someone like her than a bunch of carbon-copied mean girls. Lions dont waste time worrying about the opinions of sheep  and in reality, those girls were bringing her down, not the other way around.

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All of that said, shes still only 13 years old and losing an entire friend circle overnight would be traumatic for almost anyone. I dont think it would be a bad idea to have her talk to a therapist to ensure there arent any red flags you may have missed during this ordeal. In the meantime, I want to give you props for raising a great kid, and continue telling her how amazing she is. Im 100 percent sure she will find her people sooner rather than later.

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From this weeks letter, My 8-Year-Old Niece Insulted My Looks. No One Believes Me.: I know what that means. That means, You are old and ugly.

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Dear Care and Feeding,

My husband has an acquaintance from high school who moved to our area shortly before we did. His wife is not necessarily my cup of tea, but I generally get along with her. They are part of our larger shared group of friends, which includes two other couples. The problem is their daughter, who is a few months older than our 5-year-old. Their daughter is incredibly aggressive and physical with our son, and also with other kids. For example, her hugging often turns into squeezing, she often tackles him, etc. This happens every time they have a play date so we stopped doing them for a few months. My son tells her to stop and that he does not like it, but she does not listen. She has to be physically restrained or stopped because neither I nor her parents telling her will result in her letting go.

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After a recent outing together where the girl was generally well behaved, I had the daughter and mom over for a play date but was clear that it would be for two hours only. An hour and a half into the visit, the girl started getting more physical with my son, holding pillows over his face, grabbing him and holding him down, and scratching him. When I said that we had to wrap up the play date, that resulted in the girl throwing a half an hour tantrum screaming, rolling all over, and her mom trying to physically restrain her. She grabbed my sons head and I told them firmly the play date was over.

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The problem is that they have been invited to my sons birthday party in two weeks, and Im not sure if theres a polite way to disinvite them, or if I should. The girl attacked another child on the school bus (per Mom) and is due to be evaluated, but I really just do not want her around my son anymore. I want to do my job to protect my son, and I also dont want to put any other kids in a situation that could potentially harm them. But Im not sure if I should just let her come to the party and rely on her parents to watch her. My husband said he would ask them to leave if there was any sort of incident but really, Im just done socializing my son with this girl.

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Stuck In Playdate Hell

Dear Stuck,

Its clear that this little girl has some serious issues that needs addressing. Since shes not your kid, there isnt much you can do to ensure she gets the help she needs  but you can certainly do your part to protect your son.

My first thought was that you shouldnt rescind the invitation to your sons birthday party and wait to see how things go before taking drastic action (like kicking them out), but now I have different ideas.

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Life has been pretty difficult for everyone across the globe due to the pandemic, especially kids. 2020 was filled with virtual schooling, parties, and holidayswhich was no fun for anyone. Now that things are starting to open up again in 2021 (regardless of a new COVID variant on the rise), we should give our kids the fun they so desperately need and deserve (in a way thats safe, of course). With that in mind, even though you have mutual friends, youre not especially close with this girls parents, so I would absolutely remove their daughter from the invitation.

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The best predictor of future behavior is past behavior, so its pretty likely that she would act up at the party. And then what? Make a scene by kicking her family out and making the rest of the party uncomfortable for everyone in attendance? No thanks. You can say something like, Based on what happened between your daughter and my son, I think its best to not have her come to his birthday party, and leave it at that. Her parents may be upset or offended, but always remember that your son is your primary concern. Also, if theyre keeping it real with themselves, they should understand.

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One potential bonus of not inviting this girl to the party is lighting a fire under her parents rear ends to get her evaluated by a mental health professional immediately. I know if I was in their shoes and one of my daughters was told she wasnt welcomed at a birthday party due to her behavior, Id do whatever I could to fix it, stat.

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You should be unapologetic about making your sons birthday party the best it can possibly be, and ensuring that girl doesnt attend is one way to do that. Maybe I sound a little harsh here, but Ive been in your shoes, and I still regret not making some last-minute changes to a past birthday party list so that my daughter could have a conflict-free celebration. Good luck.

Catch Up on Care and Feeding

 If you missed Mondays column, read it here.

 Discuss this column in the Slate Parenting Facebook group!

Dear Care and Feeding,

I am the mom of two adult sons in their twenties, whom I love so much. I come from an incredibly dysfunctional family (narcissistic mom, religious zealot stepfather, absent bio-dad) and spent my life as the family scapegoat until I cut off contact with the majority of my family a few years ago after a series of events. My problem at this point is my brother. He has some serious issues. Hes a former drug addict who hasnt held a job in years and essentially bullies people into financially supporting him. While I have distanced myself from him, he has decided that my 26-year-old is his de-facto son. My son tries to maintain distance from him, but he will blow up my sons phone with trauma dumping (my sons words) texts to the point that my son doesnt even want to check his phone. Most recently, my brother posted a video on my sons Facebook wall pleading for my son to reach out to him. Im relieved that my son moved recently and my brother doesnt know the address because he had a habit of showing up unannounced. I am at a loss of what to do. I feel that if I confront my brother the situation will escalate, because he will say that my son is an adult and can associate with who he pleases (although I would argue that my sons silence is his answer regarding that). I am racked with guilt that my toxic family is causing my son distress. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

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Loving Mom/Fed Up Sister

Dear Loving Mom,

I know your 26-year-old son will always be your baby, but to the rest of the world, hes a grown man who should be fighting his own battles. As long as youve given him the green light to tell your brother to hit the bricks, you should let him do so on his own without getting involved.

In terms of how your son should do that, Im a firm believer it should be done directly. Ive never been a fan of ghosting/ignoring people, because I think it can send the wrong message (your brother continuing to contact your son is a good example). Id advise your son to say something along the lines of, Im sorry, but I think its in my best interest not to have you contact me anymore. Unless your son wants to, he doesnt owe your brother any further explanation other than that. From there, he should block your brothers number and social media accounts and move on with his life.

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When your brother inevitably confronts you about your sons behavior, you can throw the line back in his face that you predicted he would say to you  hes an adult and can associate with whomever he pleases. Life is too short to be burdened by people who bring us down, so I hope your son takes action to rid himself of your brother as soon as possible.

I should also mention that your son should seek therapy if this situation is causing him significant stress (which it seems like it is), and you should do your part to guide him in that direction. Speaking of which, your brother needs to address his issues with a mental health professional as well, but its not your sons responsibility to help him.

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Want Advice From Care and Feeding?

Submit your questions about parenting and family life here. Its anonymous! (Questions may be edited for publication.)

Dear Care and Feeding,

We have a 3-year-old in a private Waldorf-inspired preschool that goes up to middle school. We also have an 8-month-old baby at home. Going into the school year, we were assured that the school was taking all the necessary precautions to protect the children from Covid. Last year the school managed to stay open and did not have a single positive Covid case. Unfortunately, there have been five positive cases (at least five, we are finding out about more cases as testing occurs) in the upper school in the last three weeks. Throughout this ordeal, we have discovered that our daughters preschool teacher is most likely unvaccinated, though it seems that she is in the minority at the school. The school is implementing a once a week testing mandate regardless of vaccination status but has stated clearly it has no plans to implement a vaccination mandate. Our pediatrician feels strongly that at this point an unvaccinated adult will almost definitely get Covid and therefore we should pull our unable-to-be-vaccinated child from the school. We have her infant brother to worry about, as well as my partner who has co-morbidities that could make even a breakthrough case very dangerous.

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Our daughter has been thriving at the school and we were very happy with her class and instruction so far. The majority of the parents in the class support a vaccination mandate and some are definitely pulling their kids if we dont have confirmation of a vaccinated teacher, but at least one parent has said they would pull their kid is there WAS a vaccination mandate. The other preschools in the area are currently all full so transferring is not a possibility. The state guidelines stated back in September that unvaccinated teachers must be tested weekly but for a myriad of reasons our school was not complying. If they say they are testing now, can we believe them? Is weekly testing enough? What are the greater implications of having a teaching staff that doesnt believe in science? Is this just what the world is going to be like from now on?

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Vaxxed and Vexed in NY

Dear Vaxxed,

Its absolutely bananas to me that weve been in a pandemic for almost two years and some of the people responsible for educating our vulnerable children have no clue about public safety. Theres no way in hell I would let my now-vaccinated kids be educated by someone who doesnt understand that vaccines are the safest and most effective way to protect the population from this virus. Not to mention that the new Omicron variant poses a new threat to us.

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I agree with your pediatrician regarding pulling your daughter from that preschool as soon as possible. Yes, I know you said the other preschools in the area are full, but lets have some perspective here. Your daughter is three years oldyoure not going to stunt her future education by keeping her home for a year at that age. Shes too young to be vaccinated, and you already mentioned how devastating the virus could be for your family if she brought it home. In my opinion, this is a no-brainer: get her out of that school.

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Regarding your question about whether this is what the world is going to be like now, I certainly hope not. Sure, there will always be weirdos who dont believe in science, but I think the vast majority of rational people do  and your job is to surround your daughter with as many of those people as possible going forward.

Doyin

More Advice From Slate

My husband and I have been married for 15 years, and we have two kids. A few months ago, I discovered that my spouse had long been out of work and had hidden this from me. He had secretly opened multiple credit cards and incurred over $100,000 in debt. What should I do?
During oral arguments over S.B. 8, the Texas abortion ban that empowers vigilantes to sue clinics and their abettors for a $10,000 bounty, Justice Brett Kavanaugh appeared to understand the states cynical game. S.B. 8, Kavanaugh explained, is a brazen effort to work around Supreme Court precedent, with ramifications for many other rights favored by conservatives. He brought up an amicus brief filed by the Firearms Policy Coalition, which opposed S.B. 8 out of fear that blue states could deploy the same strategy against gun rights. This will easily become the model for suppression of other constitutional rights, the justice said, quoting from the brief. And it could be free speech rights, he continued. It could be free exercise.  It could be Second Amendment rights if this position is accepted here. By the end of arguments, I anticipated that the justice would vote to let federal courts block S.B. 8not because he supported abortion rights, but because he grasped the existential threat that Texas law posed to his courts authority.

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I was wrong. On Friday, the Supreme Court released its decision on S.B. 8, and this circumspect, principled version of Kavanaugh had vanished. Instead, the justice threw in with the four other hard-line conservatives, shielding Texas attorney general and state court clerks from federal suit. His vote will likely prevent federal courts from halting S.B. 8, forcing abortion clinics to remain shuttered for fear of ruinous lawsuits. Kavanaugh did not bother to explain why he sided with the far-right flank of the court, joining a willfully obtuse opinion that trivialized S.B. 8s radical departure from legal tradition. But his pre-SCOTUS record suggests one possibility that bodes poorly for Roe v. Wades survival: Kavanaugh will never cast a vote that authorizes a single abortion.

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The justices hostility to abortion has been evident since he served on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. In 2017, he heard Garza v. Hargan, a case about a pregnant, undocumented minor known as Jane Doe. Because the 17-year-old immigrant came to the United States without her parents, the government placed her in a federally funded shelter. When she sought an abortion, a Donald Trump appointee named Scott Lloyd refused to let her get one. Lloyd, a vehement foe of abortion, objected that if he let the government facilitate an abortion, he might be complicit in sin. The Justice Department backed Lloyd up, claiming that the government had a legitimate interest in promoting fetal life and childbirth over abortion.

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This argument initially prevailed with a three-judge panel. Kavanaugh forced Doe to remain pregnant, allowing Lloyd to cancel her procedure to avoid facilitating it. Then Kavanaugh instructed the government to continue seeking a sponsor who might take Doe in, absolving Lloyd of complicity in her abortion. Kavanaugh framed this outcome as a compromise, but it was not: The process of identifying a sponsor for undocumented minors takes months, and Doe was already 15 weeks pregnant. Texas, where her shelter was located, bans abortion at 20 weeks. So Kavanaughs proposal would merely run down the clock until Doe had no legal option but to carry her pregnancy to term.

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Four days later, the full D.C. Circuit vacated Kavanaughs decision and allowed Doe to get an abortion. Judge Patricia Millett mocked the idea that the government would facilitate Does abortion by allowing it to happen. The government would not pay for the procedure, provide transportation, or fill out any paperwork, Millett explained; it just has to not interfere or make things harder. Kavanaugh, by contrast, embraced the Trump administrations logic. He reasoned that, by letting Doe attend her appointment, the court had required the government to facilitate an abortion on demand.

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Kavanaugh knows Gorsuchs opinion is nonsense.

Kavanaughs performance in Garza v. Hargan was a successful audition for the Supreme Court, a demonstration of his zeal for eviscerating Roe v. Wade. Recently, during oral arguments in Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization, he all but announced that he would follow through, spurning the notion of a constitutional right to abortion access.

His questions during oral arguments in Whole Womans Health v. Jackson, though, were very different. Unlike Justices Clarence Thomas, Sam Alito, and Neil Gorsuchall of whom downplayed the threat that S.B. 8 poses to our constitutional orderKavanaugh sounded worried. He obviously didnt care about the laws impact on patients in Texas. But he did fret that it would open the door to copycat legislation targeting rights that he supports, including the Second Amendment. And he coupled these concerns with (what seemed like) a genuine interest in extending precedent to allow federal suits against S.B. 8.

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Yet in the end, Kavanaugh set aside these reservations and signed onto Gorsuchs majority opinion, which dashed all hope for a statewide freeze. Real relief would require SCOTUS to prevent state courts from even considering S.B. 8 suits. And by a 54 vote, with Kavanaugh in the majority, the court rejected this possibility. Gorsuch also dismissed the argument that the Texas law constitutes a unique threat to constitutional rights; in a trollish passage, he compared it to the Civil Rights Act of 1964, because that law also delegates the enforcement of public policy to private parties.

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It seems Kavanaugh knows Gorsuchs opinion is nonsense. And he must also see why S.B. 8 is nothing like civil rights laws. His comments at oral arguments prove that he realizes S.B. 8 is a novel and flagrant attempt to nullify fundamental liberties with the potential to unleash dangerous copycat legislation. But he joined the opinion anyway, in full, without even trying to qualify or explain his vote. Why?

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First, Kavanaugh may be willing to set aside all other convictions to avoid complicity in abortion. He has already endorsed Scott Lloyds theory that government officials facilitate abortions by allowing them to happen. And in every abortion case that has come before him, he has voted to uphold the restrictions at issue. As legal journalist Mike Sacks has speculated, Kavanaugh (along with Amy Coney Barrett) may have been unwilling to cast a vote that would allow for more abortionseven if just for the next few months, until the court overturns Roe outright. This is the same justice who, just a few weeks ago, analogized Roe v. Wade to Plessy v. Ferguson, which blessed segregation. Had Kavanaugh sided with Chief Justice John Roberts and the liberals, he would have cast the decisive vote paving the way for a resumption of abortion service throughout Texas. To use Lloyds language, the justice would have facilitated the sin of abortion many times over.

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Second, Kavanaugh may feel an allegiance to the Republicans who secured his seat on the understanding that he would abolish the constitutional right to abortion. (Recall that he campaigned to get on Trumps SCOTUS short list by giving a speech that praised the dissent in Roe.) This is a man who condemned Christine Blasey Fords sexual assault allegations as revenge on behalf of the Clintons and millions of dollars in money from outside left-wing opposition groups and warned Democrats: You sowed the wind for decades to come. I fear that the whole country will reap the whirlwinds. Kavanaugh has reportedly cocooned himself among trusted friends, avoiding interactions with progressives. The political and social infrastructure that elevated him to the bench will reward him for ending abortion by any means necessary.

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Third, Kavanaugh may have struck a deal with the other far-right conservatives, securing a guarantee that if a blue state copies Texas playbook, the court will find a way to stop it. California is already considering a bill that would let strangers sue sellers of assault weapons and ghost guns. But the conservatives can always find a way to distinguish such legislation from S.B. 8. Its notable that Gorsuchs majority opinion does not mention Roe v. Wade or acknowledge precedent protecting abortion. Perhaps Gorsuch and his allies swore to Kavanaugh that when a real right is on the line, they will simply change the rules.

Whatever drove Kavanaughs vote in Whole Womans Health v. Jackson, one thing is certain: The justice is not a gettable vote on abortion. Kavanaugh presented himself as open-minded about reproductive rights throughout his confirmation hearings, and even in his first few terms on the bench. Today, as he settles into life tenure, he apparently feels no obligation to pretend any longer.
We dont want to tempt fate with a couple of weeks left. But it appears that America will make it into the new year without collapsing.

Congress reached a deal last week on a process to raise the debt ceiling, a stupid law that limits how much the government can borrow to pay all of its obligations. Were it not raisedand it always comes down to the wirethe country could have faced sovereign debt default and sparked a global recession. It would have been bad.

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Under the brief bill that Senate Democrats introduced and will pass (with Democratic votes only) on Thursday, the debt ceiling will be increased by $2.5 trillion, or to a level commensurate with funding necessary to get into 2023, as Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said on the Senate floor. In other words, this gets Congress past the midterm elections, at which point theyll have to deal with this toxic issue again.

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And when they deal with it again, it may be more toxic than ever. In extending the limit to 2023, instead of, say, 2025, or 2029, or 3029, Democrats, who are at prime risk of losing at least one chamber of Congress in the midterms if not both, are setting up a fight reminiscent of the 2011 debt ceiling crisis, when the new House Republican majority brought the country to the brink of default as it insisted on spending cuts from Democrats and the Obama administration. And its not as if House Republicans have gotten any more easygoing in the 10 years since.

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So why did Democrats set themselves up for such impending drama? This debt ceiling deal, reached between Schumer and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, required each to give a bit.

McConnell had to back down, for a second time this year, on his insistence that Republicans would not lift a finger to help Democrats raise the limit. Instead, he agreed to pass a separate law that would allow Democrats, just this one time, to raise the debt ceiling without threat of a filibuster. McConnell has endured a lot of grief from Republicans for easing up. South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham reportedly said McConnell led Republicans on a charge up a hill and they were getting shot in the back, while Donald Trump urged Senate Republicans, once again, to GET RID OF MITCH!

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Schumer, meanwhile, had to agree to raise the debt ceiling by a specific dollar amount rather than simply suspend it for a period of time, as had become practice over the last decade. Getting Democrats to own the number was a top political goal of Republicans, who want to run scary, and misleading, ads throughout the election cycle about the wild and wacky Democrats and their terrifying spending habits. Keep in mind that raising the debt ceiling doesnt, itself, spend more money; it allows the government to finance existing obligations, many of which were passed on a bipartisan basis.

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Since Democrats have to own the number, then, why are they opting for an increase of only $2.5 trillion instead of $5.5 trillion, or $22.5 trillion? Or infinity dollars? Would Democrats really lose that many voters on the margin if the scary-sounding number was a bigger scary-sounding numberbut one that made sure they didnt have to deal with this again, at least in the first term of the Biden administration?

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Democrats of course wouldve wanted to raise [the debt limit] by a bajillion, one senior Democratic Senate aide told me, but the $2.5 trillion numberwhich kicks the debt limit to 2023was part of the deal Democrats cut with Republicans. If thats truethat Republicans wouldnt agree to this without Democrats going smallit must have been a backroom deal that wasnt actually put into writing: According to the official bill, Democrats had the discretion to fill in the blank on a debt ceiling increase with any number they wanted. Maybe, though, it was more about Democrats, still mired in Build Back Better negotiations, getting cold feet at big dollar amounts.

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Whatever the reason, $2.5 trillion is enough for House Republicans, who feel they already have one foot in the door of the House majority in 2023 and are now fantasizing about a future showdown. What delicious treats should they demand in exchange for the next debt ceiling increase? Regular ol domestic spending cuts? A rollback of the Build Back Better Act, assuming it ever gets signed into law? Medicare cuts?

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Conservative lawmakers are already calling for and strategizing around a fiscal clash in 2023, insisting on using the threat of federal default to place new curbs on government spending and reduce the $28 trillion national debt, the Washington Post reports. What they are envisioning is, at a minimum, a return to the brinkmanship seen the last time a Democratic president confronted a new Republican majority, in 2011. It already threatens to become the dominant domestic political clash ahead of the 2024 presidential election.

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The Tea Party Republicans who swept into power in 2011 muted their concerns about deficits when Trump came to office. And if Republicans retake the White House in 2025, we should expect this sudden panic over the alarming amount of federal debt to go quiet, again. But in 2023: What fun!

If Democrats do lose the House and/or the Senate next November and want to avoid this nightmare, they would have one more option: Take quick action in the lame-duck session before Republicans take over. If they can get Sens. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema to go along, Democrats could pass a party-line, filibuster-free reconciliation bill to raise the debt limit far out into the future. If they cant, theyll be handing Republicans a loaded gun.
Ashley Perez used to teach English, down in Texas. Back in the early 2000s, that meant assigning the so-called classicsTo Kill a Mockingbird, Of Mice and Men, Shakespeare. I asked her whether there were any books she wouldnt teach. I didnt teach from my district literature textbook at all. Actually, we used them as doorstops, she said. I think that when literature is put in a textbook, it stops seeming alive.

Perez writes young adult books now, but the way she said that last bitthe way she talks about literature being aliveI felt like I was back in the classroom with her, feeling the muted thrill of AP English. Because Perez taught mostly Black and Latino kids, she thinks a lot about how to make books like hers welcoming for all kinds of readers. That means thinking about the hidden messages her stories can send.

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But finding Perezs book in a school library has gotten a lot harder over the past year. Thats because, as careful as she is about being inclusive when she writes, some people say they feel left out of the narrative. And those people are showing up at school board meetings, demanding books like hers get pulled off the shelves. The American Library Association has called this years spike in book banning a moral panic. On Mondays episode of What Next, I spoke with Perez about what its like when your book is the one getting yanked out of libraries. Our conversation had been edited and condensed for clarity.

Mary Harris: Before we get to the backlash over your book, Out of Darkness, can you describe the work, in your own words?

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Ashley Perez: Out of Darkness is a love story. Its an interracial romance between a Mexican American girl named Naomi, who comes to East Texas from San Antonio, and an African American boy named WashingtonWash is what he goes by. And its set against the backdrop of a historical event that occurred about 20 minutes from where I grew up, which is the New London School explosion. A lot of people have never even heard of this event, but in March of 1937, there was a natural gas leak in the school that, when it ignited, caused a huge explosion and the estimate of deaths is close to 300. They never knew for sure because all the school records were destroyed in the explosion.

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Something else I noticed when I was reading about Out of Darkness is that I dont think its an easy read. The New York Times review is written by a pretty grizzled reporter, and he wrote, I actually had to close the book at one point to seek respite with Facebook. And puppies.

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Yeah, I remember that. I agree completely. And often when I hear from folks about the challenges of reading it, I can only respond with understanding, because I lived inside that story world. My heart is still buried in that book. But it is a challenging narrative. Its a book for a student who is willing, wishing to engage with some very difficult histories. Theyre histories of racial violence, histories of sexual abuse, histories of misogynythose things are all there in the book. There is also a lot of love and family and playfulness and joy thats happening in spite of those ever-intensifying pressures and constraints.

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Perez says when Out of Darkness was released back in 2015, she braced herself for some kind of pushback. But in the six years the book had been out, she never really got any. That is until she got word back in the spring that it had been put on a pause in a Central Texas school district. Then, over the summer, a video emerged. It shows a parent, Kara Belle, objecting to a passage in Perezs book. Shes speaking at a school board meeting just outside of Austin.

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The words Belles quoting in the video do appear in Out of Darkness, but she is compressing an entire scene into a string of buzzwords. In this scene, Naomi, the main character, has walked into a new school. Her classmates recognize shes the prettiest girl there. But they dismiss her because of her race. A Mexican is a Mexican is a Mexican, one girl says. And the boys? They daydream about sexually assaulting Naomi.

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In September, I had the pleasure of seeing Kara Belle do a dramatic reading of a series of snippets from a chapter of Out of Darkness in a school board meeting in a video that went viral. It circulated with headlines like, Texas Mom Loses It Over Anal Sex. She was reacting to the inclusion of the word cornhole in a passage that was from the perspective of white high school students in this 1930s Texas school who were objecting to the arrival of a Mexican American student in their class and we were seeing how the young men in the class were viewing her as a sexual object, etc.

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And we should contextualize the video. This mother goes to a school board meeting. Shes just yelling words at you, and you dont really know what shes talking about

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Nor does she know what shes talking about, right? Because she definitely hasnt read the book.

When I reacted to this, my brain was just kind of scrambled because I was like, What is going on here? But those are your words. How did you react?

Its so painful to hear something that youve worked incredibly hard to shape and to present in a way that is part of a literary wholeto see someone just yank those phrases as if any of the phrases that shes using are things that I endorse. Several of the things are dialog, and the whole point of the passage is to show readers what the main character has to endure, what she has to navigate, the ideas and perspectives and limiting beliefs that are circulating in the school space where she has to spend eight hours of her day.

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But this parent is not interested in the function of that passage in the work as a whole, nor is she interested in the work as a whole. Theres a reason shes reading from something in the first 30 pages. These parents have been steered toward particular books by websites like No Left Turn or Moms for Liberty, so theyve already decided that this book needs to go, and theyre just looking for what will be the most attention-grabbing. Particularly this individual knew, I think, that her presentation of the topic was going to grab attention. And that was the goal.

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You pointed out too that what the district did herebecause this woman did win, and the book got taken off the shelvesviolated their own policy. Their policy was that they might review a book, but during that time, the book would remain on the shelves. Thats not what happened here.

No. And unfortunately, in these challenges that are happening all over the country, were seeing that over and over. Districts have these policies for a reason. If I, as an English teacher, was afraid that one parent complaining would mean that all the books I was teaching were going to be removed, then what am I going to teach? Im not going to teach the thing thats challenging and controversial in some way. Im going to teach the most unobjectionable thing. And thats kind of the goal here is to chill discourse and intimidate teachers and librarians. So its not even just about removing Out of Darkness from the library. Its about creating an environment in which the librarian, the next time they order books, is going to think twice before choosing a book that engages with difficult histories in our nation or that engages with LGBTQ identities or that engages with teen sexuality in some way, even if that book is highly recommended in professional journals for school libraries.

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Another thing that bothers Perez is that while parents are often complaining to their schools about the sexual content of books like hers, that doesnt seem to be their true objection to what shes written. And she feels like that because she sees the books that arent getting banned.

I portray these events to challenge them, not to endorse them. Now, I often bring up the Bible because I grew up in a Bible church and I know that book really well, and I ask, Do you think that the Bible is grooming young people to be sexually abused or gang raped or to engage in incest, because all of those situations occur in that text? Theres just no denying the pattern of which books are being targeted. Even though the most common reason given is sexual content, it is not the sexual content that these books have in common. These books have in common centering characters or experiences from nonwhite, nondominant communities. If I could make a stack of all of the books in the high school library with sexual content and make a stack of those that feature straight white middle class characters, thats going to be the highest stack. But those are not the books that are being challenged. And every middle school and high school in Texas, Im willing to venture, has copies of the Bible. So this idea that this content is unacceptable in some books but fine in others is where I feel the actual intentions, and what kind of message is really being sent becomes clearer.

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Part of the reason I wanted to talk to you was this statistic from the American Library Association, which found that these conversations about banning books in schools, theyre happening more often this year than last year. And it seems like a major spike. Given that statistic, I had this question for you: Do you think there are any books that should be banned from schools?

No, I think once a book is included in a school library, I trust the librarians judgment. Although theres no comparison in terms of volume of challenges coming from folks who identify as conservative versus folks who identify as liberal, there have been a handful of cases where there was a call for the removal of To Kill a Mockingbird or Of Mice and Men. And I firmly believe that those books do belong in school libraries.

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We should be clear that the reason why I think many educators have become uncomfortable with To Kill a Mockingbird is that it puts forward a white savior narrative.

Yeah, but discomfort is not danger. Teaching To Kill a Mockingbird in an unqualified way, without contextualizing those issues, is at this point irresponsible. But to teach it in ways that highlight and address those problems can be very powerful. And frankly, our literature is full of narratives that are problematic in many of these ways, and we dont have to teach every one of those problematic narratives. But to find opportunitieseven if its saying, OK, Im teaching this other novel, but Im going to step to the side and have my students read a chapter or two from To Kill a Mockingbird so we can talk about the difference. Whats different when African American characters are portrayed as having agency in their own lives versus when they are portrayed as secondary to the actions of a white character?

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One parent in Houston who successfully petitioned her school into getting rid of a couple of books, not your book, explained herself by saying that shes not into censoring. Thats not what this is about for her. She sees this more as we filter students internet access. We have keywords and trigger words. We know people shouldnt have access to certain things as a minor. Why isnt this the same process in school libraries? And I wonder what youd say to that.

Well, whats missing from that is attention to what is the material. Its not a website, its a work of literature.

Whats the difference?

Whenever folks are talking about, We have filters for these other things, I want to say libraries have those filters, too. They come in the form of professional reviews, librarians referring to the recommendations of professional journals. They cant read every book. Thats true. But there are resources that guide their selection. So theres already been filtering. And in the case that they include something that has sexual content, like Out of Darkness, there is a track record of professional, trustworthy organizations evaluating that content and saying, Yes, this is functioning as part of a literary whole. Its not there to glorify the situation. It is part of a story that complicates and challenges that.

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Its not the same as accidentally clicking on pornography.

Exactly, and to imply that its the same just reveals a lack of understanding about what it is to engage with literature.

The increasingly heated rhetoric Im hearing right now when it comes to what kids can and cant read, the entry point for a lot of parentswhat seems to get them so upsetis sex. I wonder a little bit what you make of this sexual panic that is focused on books that deal with race. If you look at the Virginia governors race, there was a lot of talk about the book Beloved. Another book that has gotten a lot of attention in the past year was this book Lawn Boy. Theres a very similar school board meeting to the one that happened for your book, where a woman gets up and reads passages where its really frank conversations about gay sex, being a queer kid, being a fourth grader having sexual thoughtsstuff thats tough and stuff thats challenging.

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Its stuff thats tough. Its stuff thats challenging. But its also real. And again, thats where I come back to: Who am I serving? And I certainly care about parents and their perspective, but I am not writing to please parents. And also, you cant create literature if you are trying not to offend people. Literature has always taken me to the far, far edge of what I can bear. Im never comfortable when Im writing because the things that are worth writing about challenge us.

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Can you tell me how your life changed after this video went viral of a woman just dragging your work?

Yeah, my editor called it vandalism, and I appreciate that. The most significant effect has been that because this was so high-profile, my book, which is perhaps more widely read in Texas, since its set in Texas, all of a sudden is on the radar of basically every parent participating in this kind of orchestrated challenge. I have been sent lots of materials from private Facebook groups in these communities where my books been challenged, removed, or banned. And this is going to sound cynical, but the reason so much of this focus is on sexual content is because folks know they cant challenge something with a focus on the race of characters or the sexual orientation of characters.

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What do they say in the Facebook groups that makes you think that?

Im going to paraphrase this, but basically, When you challenge these books, focus on the sexual content, do not use the words gay sex, do not use LGBTQ, do not talk about race. Books cant be removed for those reasons. Its that clear. So while some parents may be there objecting because of the sexual content, theres clearly an agenda thats about other issues. Its about reclaiming this idea that somehow education has been taken away from conservative communities, or that their stories are no longer central. It is really that explicit.

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Ive heard from many school leaders that theyre overwhelmed and exhausted with public information requests. Parents are showing up, even though theyve passed the number of requests you can make for free, who have no issue running up bills of $500, $600 because they have funding.

And they were requesting like emails or communications?

Purchase orders from the library, beginning of year surveys to check if teachers ask students for preferred pronouns, things like that. They are basically looking for signs that the way things are being conducted in the school somehow violates the principles that they think should govern education.

One thing I always want to say really clearly and strongly, especially when being asked about my experiences with this situation, is that what we as authors are going through when these books are removed is a fraction of the struggle and suffering that is occurring for the librarians and the teachers and, above all, the students in these communities. Because trying to learn, trying to teach in an environment of such hostility and opposition is unfathomably difficult. And I hear from teachers and librarians all the time who are at their limit.

The thing I wish I could say to middle-of-the-road parentsparents who might hear a video like that and think, Oh, I dont think anal sex is the best thing for middle school. Maybe that parent has a point. I would want them to understand that what is happening is that teachers and librarians and schools resources are being pulled away from teaching students and being sucked into these manufactured controversies.

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Address CC Al Kasar Condado de Alhama (Murcia) 30840 CC Al Kasar Condado de Alhama (Murcia) 30840 Tel: 0034 868 619 319

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Quality Homes Costa Calida, fixed selling fees for properties in Condado de Alhama and the Region of Murcia

Quality Homes Costa Calida, a real estate agency based in the resort of Condado de Alhama and offering its services throughout the Region of Murcia, has introduced an attractive fixed fee package for those looking to sell their homes in the sun, an option which could help you to sell more quickly by eliminating the large agency fee from the total price offered to buyers.

Throughout what has been a turbulent start to the millennium in the Region of Murcia property market it has been the norm for estate agents to charge agents a percentage of the sale price in commission, sometimes inflating the price paid by purchasers by as much as 10 per cent. This has not only distorted market prices, but has also made properties less attractive to buyers, slowing down the selling process.

Now, though, Quality Homes Costa Calida at Condado de Alhama Golf Resort are offering an up-to-date selling scheme which they believe will meet the needs of property owners not only on Condado de Alhama but also in other parts of Murcia. They are convinced that fixed fee selling will make the market  and agents commissions  more transparent and will bring a higher return to customers, as sellers get more out of their sale and buyers pay less for their dream home in Spain.

For many years vendors have been asking themselves: Couldnt I do this myself for a lot less? Well, Quality Homes Costa Calida believe that the answer is: YES, you can.

Sure, you might need help in getting the right photos, writing the descriptions and getting on top of the legal and tax side of things. And yes, maybe some home staging advice wouldnt go amiss.

But they believe that you know how to treat possible buyers, reply to an enquiry, organize viewings, arrange an open house event and spread the word to friends and neighbours, so while offering help with photography, write-ups and legal and tax advice, Quality Homes Costa Calida have put together a 3-tier service to satisfy all levels of selling support on a fixed fee basis.

The lowest level 6-month package comes in at just 699 euros  VAT included  and that includes a professional market valuation, professional photographs, descriptions in English, Spanish, Dutch and German, home staging suggestions, a for sale board on the property, display in the office windows, inclusion in printed and online newsletters, advertising on 35 international portals, displays on Rightmove Overseas, Zoopla, Primelocation and others, email and call inquiry forwarding and a dedicated social media campaign.

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ARCHIVED - Travellers from Ireland to Spain subject to strict rules



Only fully vaccinated passengers will be allowed entry into Spain

Many Irish holidaymakers hoping to spend their Christmas in Spain have been dealt a crushing blow this week as the government has announced that its strict travel rules will remain in place for the entirety of the festive season. This means that travellers arriving in Spain from high-risk countries  including Ireland  will only be permitted entry if they can show proof of being double vaccinated against Covid.

Spanish health authorities have now updated the risk list to include Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechia, Cyprus, Croatia, Denmark, Germany, Slovenia, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Iceland, Italy, Slovakia, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Norway, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania and Sweden.

All passengers arriving from these countries will be allowed entry to Spain once they are double jabbed and will not be subject to any additional tests or quarantine requirements. Each traveller must complete the Health Control Form prior to departure and obtain a FAST CONTROL QR code to present at the boarding gate.

In addition, all those over the age of 12 arriving from the UK for tourism purposes must also have been immunised with one of the vaccines authorised by the European Medicines Agency or the World Health Organisation 14 days prior to their arrival. The British government has confirmed this week that Covid passports are now available for all double jabbed children aged between 12 and 15.

The following vaccines are suitable for travel to Spain

Pfizer/BioNTech

Moderna

AstraZeneca

Johnson & Johnson (Janssen)

Sinovac

Sinopharm

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Vaccinated seniors will be entitled to a financial bonus. The Slovak president does not plan to attend the Olympics in Beijing.

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Good evening. Read the Thursday, December 9 edition of Today in Slovakia to catch up on the main news of the day in less than five minutes. We wish you a pleasant read.

Parliament approved financial bonus for vaccinated seniors

Illustrative stock photo (Source: TASR)

Seniors aged 60+ who get a booster dose of the Covid-19 vaccine by the end of 2021 or at the beginning of January will be entitled to a 300 financial bonus.

Other seniors of the same age category who receive the second or at least first jab will be rewarded with a financial bonus of 200.



This stems from the law passed by parliament today. The Health Ministry is ready to increase vaccination capacities so everyone who would like to get a jab will be able to do so within the given deadline.

The bonuses should be sent to eligible seniors automatically; no registration is required. However, only seniors who have been vaccinated in Slovakia and have residency here are entitled to the bonus.

State quarantine contradicts Constitution

The Constitutional Court in Kosice. (Source: TASR)

The Constitutional Court decided that state quarantine, a measure to prevent the spread of the coronavirus that was in place in Slovakia in spring 2020, is at odds with the Constitution.

The court objected especially to the isolation in a medical facility or other designated facility in connection with the legal definition of isolation and the absence of the procedural guarantees of personal freedom."

With this decision, the court partially accepted the motion submitted by Ombudswoman Maria Patakyova. She questioned the constitutionality of mandatory state quarantine and the powers of the Health Ministry and hygienists to adopt any anti-pandemic measures without clear specification.

Coronavirus and vaccination news

(Source: TASR)

8,523 people were newly diagnosed as Covid positive out of 22,238 PCR tests performed on Wednesday. The number of people in hospitals is 3,419 people and 84 more deaths were reported on Wednesday. The vaccination rate is at 48.84 percent; 2,686,274 people have received the first dose of the vaccine. More stats on Covid-19 in Slovakia here.

out of 22,238 PCR tests performed on Wednesday. The number of people in hospitals is 3,419 people and 84 more deaths were reported on Wednesday. The vaccination rate is at 48.84 percent; 2,686,274 people have received the first dose of the vaccine. More stats on Covid-19 in Slovakia here. Seniors are the biggest group of people who are hospitalised and unvaccinated . There are 1,391 of them in the age category 65 and more; 77 are connected to lung ventilators.

. There are 1,391 of them in the age category 65 and more; 77 are connected to lung ventilators. The Health Ministry and all regions want to support interest in vaccination through a nationwide event, Darujem si Vianoce (Lets Give Each Other Christmas). New dates for vaccination will open and capacities will increase between December 11 and 18 .

interest in vaccination through a Darujem si Vianoce (Lets Give Each Other Christmas). New dates for vaccination will open and capacities . People who got a jab of the single-dose vaccine Janssen will be able to get a booster shot in eight weeks by the mRNA vaccine. Health Minister Vladimir Lengvarsky signed the shortening of the time period.

by the mRNA vaccine. Health Minister Vladimir Lengvarsky signed the shortening of the time period. The ban on family visits during Christmas will be reconsidered. Economy Minister Richard Sulik said it is nonsense; MP Juraj Seliga proposed that family visits should work the same as they did last year when only two families were allowed to meet during the Christmas holidays. Health Minister Vladimir Lengvarsky told the Dennik N daily that the government will probably reconsider it at the next session.

Travel info

A negative PCR test result no older than 48 hours is necessary to enter Russia. The test should be shown before boarding the plane and when transiting the country and on Russian borders. People who travel to Russia for work should stay in 14-day quarantine. No exception applies to vaccinated and recovered people.

Photo of the day

Heavy snowfall has complicated traffic in Bratislava, and M. R. Stefanik Airport had to close in the afternoon. The unfavorable meteorological situation has complicated the departure of the route to Dublin, with a delay of 73 minutes; four planned arrivals were canceled. The meteorological warnings remain in place for December 10.

Feature story for today

Rana Hashemi likes heavy metal music. She has seen dozens of concerts and been to festivals, and the music fan even has her own metal band. Nothing special in Europe. However, she comes from Iran, where metalheads face the threat of being accused of Satanism, putting morality in peril or committing apostasy in Islam.

She says that when people complain about how bad their life in Slovakia is, they do not know what they are talking about because they have freedom.

Elegant metalhead from Iran: People forget freedom when they moan about life in Slovakia Read more

In other news

President Zuzana Caputova is not planning to attend the Winter Olympics in Beijing. She shares the reservations due to which several state leaders have chosen not to take part in the Winter Olympics. Seven Slovak MEPs, led by Miriam Lexmann, have asked Slovak constitutional representatives to boycott the Olympics of Beijing because of China's breaches of Uyghur human rights. (Euractiv)

She shares the reservations due to which several state leaders have chosen not to take part in the Winter Olympics. Seven Slovak MEPs, led by Miriam Lexmann, have asked Slovak constitutional representatives to boycott the Olympics of Beijing because of China's breaches of Uyghur human rights. (Euractiv) The Education Ministry adjusted the amendment of the law on higher education after objections. The ministry said that it removed the politicisation against which universities protested. Neither the ministry nor the academic senate will be able to arbitrarily nominate people to the boards of directors.

The ministry said that it removed the politicisation against which universities protested. Neither the ministry nor the academic senate will be able to arbitrarily nominate people to the boards of directors. Exports from Slovakia continued to decline year-on-year in October for the second month in a row. However, according to the Statistics Office, the rate of decline slowed to 2.3 percent from 4.8 percent in September.

year-on-year in October for the second month in a row. However, according to the Statistics Office, the rate of decline slowed to 2.3 percent from 4.8 percent in September. Jan Hero has been named the new Proxy for the Roma community. The government removed Andrea Buckova , who has been in office since April 2020. The Office of the Government Plenipotentiary for Roma Communities has been transferred from the Interior Ministry to the Government's Office.

, who has been in office since April 2020. The Office of the Government Plenipotentiary for Roma Communities has been transferred from the Interior Ministry to the Government's Office. The court stopped the prosecution of Irena Matova , the last defendant in the case of a police raid in Moldava nad Bodvou in 2013 . Judge Martin Balocko, a judge of the Kosice I District Court, made the ruling on Tuesday based on an international agreement. The decision is not yet valid.

, the last defendant in the case of a . Judge Martin Balocko, a judge of the Kosice I District Court, made the ruling on Tuesday based on an international agreement. The decision is not yet valid. A National Criminal Agency (NAKA) investigator accused employees of the Office of Labour, Social Affairs and Family in Pezinok of the particularly serious crime of subsidy fraud committed by complicity . The allegation is related to fraud in the payment of pandemic aid. The four accused people face 10 to 15 years in prison.

. The allegation is related to fraud in the payment of pandemic aid. The four accused people face 10 to 15 years in prison. Roma Spirit 2021 awards were given to the non-profit organisation Navrat, Bratislava, the town of Filakovo, boxer Viliam Tanko, company PASELL SLOVAKIA llc., editor Jozef Sivak and fashion designer Pavol Berky. The Act of the Year Jury awarded the prize to the elaborate Romany-Slovak phraseological dictionary compiled and created by Martina Hornakova.

Do not miss on Spectator.sk today

Train schedule changes on December 12. Kosice should be better connected to Budapest Read more

She did not speak a word of English when she moved to New York. Now she teaches German to Americans Read more

Strecno Castle is closed, but conservators have their hands full Read more

Postal service operator changes its delivery system due to national emergency Read more

Making your own beeswax candles is easier than you think Read more

If you have suggestions on how this news overview can be improved, you can reach us at editorial@spectator.sk.
Semi-state players are preparing to transmit, store and produce green hydrogen in Slovakia.

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The energy sector has recognised hydrogen as a new niche that may give rise to opportunities that it is ready to engage in.

With the government presenting hydrogen as a key part of the efforts for carbon-neutrality, companies in the energy sector see a chance to explore possibilities to store, transport, or even generate green hydrogen in Slovakia.

Investment Advisory Guide Well-arranged information about the economy, labour market, investor support, legislation, and real estate as well as investment opportunities in Slovakia. For more details visit ouronline shop.

We are the ones who have to adapt, Martin Bartosovic, general director of the natural gas storage company Nafta, told The Slovak Spectator.

Storing of hydrogen Nafta, which has so far operated the largest underground storage facility complex in Slovakia and explored and produced hydrocarbons, is now conducting research on how to use its capacities to store hydrogen in its natural gas underground storages in depleted gas fields.

If investments are needed, we are prepared to carry them out so as to be part of this energy infrastructure, said Bartosovic.

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Related article Slovakia has high hydrogen ambitions in road transport Read more

Naftas depleted gas fields have a total capacity of 27.7 TWh. For now, they are looking into storing a mixture of natural gas with hydrogen or 100 percent hydrogen.

The company has been a partner of the HYUSPRE and HYSTORIES projects financed by the European Commissions Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking, a public-private partnership supporting research, technological development and demonstrations in fuel cell and hydrogen energy technologies in Europe. Their aim is to research the impact of hydrogen on porous types of depleted gas fields and create a model of hydrogen storage facilities. These projects

will be complete in 2022 and 2023, respectively, said Nafta spokesperson Martina Stecova.

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Related article Slovakia betting on hydrogen Read more

Nafta, in cooperation with partners in Germany, is also exploring the use of hydrogen for methane production.
Foreign Minister Ivan Korcok's idea of cultural diplomacy has materialised in a book of visual art from the national gallery's collections.

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An image of a farmer in a folk costume with a pair of oxen next to an image of a Tatra truck, both with the High Tatras in the background, or folk ornaments literally questioned by conceptual artist Julius Koller. A painting of the struggle of rural Slovaks for a better life with the distinctive brushwork of the famed Martin Benka juxtaposed with an image by contemporary photographer Boris Nemeth, of two tanks with an ironic undertone somewhere in eastern Slovakia.

While each of these excellent pieces of art published in the book Slovakia in the Artworks of the Slovak National Gallery can stand alone, pairing them together and compiling them into a rich visual mosaic creates a deeper and sheerer picture of Slovakia.

This book is not only one of many books about art, said Foreign Minister Ivan Korcok at the launch of the book in early December. It is a book about Slovakia, which tells the story of our country through art.

The 416-page book is now dispatched to Slovak embassies across the world to promote Slovakia and raise interest in the nation abroad.

Doing diplomacy through art

The minister, a vigorous supporter of cultural diplomacy, had the idea of publishing a representative book on Slovak artworks of timeless quality and to take a different look at the collections of the Slovak National Gallery (SNG).

We have nothing better than the culture and knack of our artists to attract attention to Slovakia, arouse emotions and make ourselves memorable far out in the world, he said.

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The SNG, the most prominent gallery in Slovakia, welcomed this assignment while the pandemic provided the museum with unexpected time and focus for the project.

The paintings are universal ambassadors; our publication's concept is based upon this belief, said Alexandra Kusa, general director of SNG and co-author of the book. We created a visual atlas  a slight shift from art history to visual culture.

Irony instead of sentiment

Together with the curators Alexandra Homolova and Pavlina S. Morhacova, they preselected some 600 works. As old art makes up only a smaller portion of the SNGs collections they focused on modern and contemporary art to dominate the book.

They did not jump on the bandwagon of the Slovak myth closely connected to rural life and folklore. Instead, they chose the works to ironise, relativise or contextualise any sentimentality. They selected artworks that withstood the test of time, and even though they served different regimes, not because of their ideological obligations but for their timeless qualities.

In compiling this visual atlas, we favoured the visual information contained in the artwork while shifting the actual artefact to the background, said Kusa. This approach allowed us to create a better narrative, compile and connect artworks and enable the viewer to experience the magic of 'accidentally' exposed closeness  speaking through images.

Slovakia in 21 chapters

The book features 400 artworks by 145 artists covering more than one hundred years of Slovakia divided into 21 chapters. These, in contrast with their poetical titles, began with a short and down-to-earth description of the given theme. Thus the chapter dedicated to mountains entitled Silence in the Highlands featuring, for example, pictures of the High Tatras, starts with the plain information that upland sand highlands make up almost 22 percent of Slovakia.

Other chapters are dedicated to religiosity featuring, for example, photos by Martin Martincek, the romantic cult of rural people and the lives represented, among others with a photo depicting disappearing blockhouses replaced by brick family houses, or even the climate represented by a photo of a stage from William Shakespeares Tempest by Ales Votava.

The chapter Now or Never! on milestones in Slovakia's history starts with the unforgettable photo by Ladislav Bielik of the man exposing his bare chest to a tank in Bratislava in August 1968. The chapter Through the Deep Woods juxtaposes highly acknowledged former Ladislav Mednyansky and one of the most promising contemporary painters, Andrej Dubravsky.

Others depict industrialisation and agriculture.

The chapter dedicated to the 1948-1989 period, the period under communism, is headlined Sad Morning Tram, a title of a poem by controversial poet Miroslav Valek, made into a popular rock song of the 1970s by composer Marian Varga and sung by Pavol Hammel. The chapter even starts with a photo by Juraj Bartos of a sad woman sitting in a tram.

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The authors did not omit the slogan often heard in promoting Slovakia as a tourist destination: that it contains every attraction except the sea. The chapter called The Land Without a Sea, features the artwork of Slovak artists depicting the theme of the sea; the dream of Slovaks pining for a sea is manifested in a photo by Anton Smotlak of four old smiling female workers from a agricultural cooperative, paddling in the water.

Korcok, himself an art lover with an inclination towards contemporary art, actively participated in the selection of final works and he even selected the artwork for the cover  a white question mark against a red background by Julius Koller.

All the answers are inside, he said at the launch of the book.
Restaurants remain closed.

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The government approved another round of milder measures. From December 17, people will be allowed to visit each other.

The cabinet approved gatherings up to a maximum of six people, or for members of one household. This comes after Health Minister Vladimir Lengvarsky told the public last week that people will not be allowed to visit families during the Christmas holidays.

Our paywall policy The Slovak Spectator has decided to make all the articles on the special measures, statistics and basic information about the coronavirus available to everyone. If you appreciate our work and would like to support good journalism, please buy our subscription. We believe this is an issue where accurate and fact-based information is important for people to cope.

Matej Misik, chair of the Institute of Health Analysis, running under the Health Ministry, recommended that people isolate and get tested before any Christmas visits.

The government also defines rules for curfew. As of December 17, the curfew will apply between 20:00 and 5:00 of the following day.

Recovered and vaccinated people will have access between 5:00 and 20:00 to all shops, hairdressers, nail salons, barbers, cosmetic salons, massage parlors, solariums, libraries, galleries, museums and ski tows and cable cars. Restaurants remain closed. Unvaccinated people will only have access to basic shops.

There are several exceptions to the night curfew. The curfew does not apply to those travelling to work and back but only if they are employees who cannot work at home. They have to have confirmation from their employer about their working hours and place of work. Providing care to a dependent person, shopping for essentials in the nearest shop, visiting the doctor's or pharmacy and walking pets within a 500-metre perimeter from one's place of residence are also exceptions. The vaccinated and those who have recovered from the disease can also attend church mass. This exception also applies to travelling abroad and back and when conducting social services.

The government also approved restrictions on trains. Only people who are vaccinated, recovered or have tested negative for Covid will be allowed to travel on fast trains, IC trains and long-distance trains as of December 17.

Omicron as a threat

The Health Ministrys experts called on people to get vaccinated and get a booster shot.

Science offers a solution, epidemiologist Martin Pavelka said. We can manage the Omicron variant, he said, adding that vaccination is the solution.

In the upcoming weeks, he expects the Omicron variant will replace the Delta strain, as Omicron is a more infectious variant. He added that the third dose is critically important in the possible fourth wave of the pandemic, in which Omicron will be dominant.

Third wave passes peak but Omicron still ahead Read more

Pavelka also said that there are still many people in Slovakia who are not immunised through the vaccine or through recent recovery from the disease. He said that we cannot rely on an easy development of the disease, as data from Africa showed, according to Pavelka, because in this region, about 70 percent have recovered from Covid.

We expect that the curve will rise again, even if the measures were really strict, Misik said when asked whether it is the right time with the onset of Omicron in Slovakia to ease the measures.

More on coronavirus development in Slovakia:
https://sputniknews.com/20211213/questions-linger-as-to-why-workers-stayed-at-kentucky-candle-factory-after-tornado-warning-came-1091494775.html

Questions Linger as to Why Workers Stayed at Kentucky Candle Factory After Tornado Warning Came

Questions Linger as to Why Workers Stayed at Kentucky Candle Factory After Tornado Warning Came

Many workers stayed at the Mayfield Consumer Products candle factory even after they heard the sirens warning of impeding tornado threat

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deadly tornadoes in us

us

kentucky

tornado

federal emergency management administration (fema)

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As rescuers from the US Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) continue to look for survivors at the Mayfield Consumer Products candle factory in Kentucky, questions remain regarding the workers' presence at the plant amid reports of an approaching tornado. The majority of the second shift at the plant stayed at the facility even as the first reports of destructive tornadoes arrived.Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear suggested that most workers stayed because they were advised to shelter at the plant, which was mistakenly thought to be a relatively safe place. The tornado, however, leveled the factory, burying over 100 workers underneath flying rubble.According to company spokesman Bob Ferguson, however, the plant never forced its workers to stay, and added that some employees left for their homes upon hearing the warning siren instead of gathering in a central hallway area erroneously designated as a rally point in the event of a tornado. The entire building, however, was destroyed.Questions also remain regarding the preparedness of the factory to react to a tornado threat. The company has been clocking high amounts of employee overtime recently with soaring holiday season demand and a systemic lack of workers for low-pay jobs within the labour force that the US has witnessed in the aftermath of the pandemic.The factory had been actively hiring temporary workers for 12-hour shifts ahead of the disaster, to cover for the demand, the AP reported. The news agency cited a pair who worked there for months, Bryanna Travis, 19, and Jarred Holmes, 20, who both suggest that they received no training in reacting to a tornado threat.Candle factory spokesman Ferguson nonetheless insisted that there had been "regular drills". Ferguson also indicated that the employees went to the designated shelter on the night between Friday and Saturday, when the deadly powerful tornadoes hit Kentucky and four other states. Ferguson noted that no one expected that the tornado would be of "such rare size and strength".Some 64 people have been confirmed dead in Kentucky alone, and 14 more in other states, as a result of the surprise tornadoes that hit the US over the weekend. The tornado swarm is believed to have some of the longest ground tracks in US history and could soon be labeled as one of the nation's deadliest.

https://sputniknews.com/20211213/kentucky-candle-factory-owner-praises-fema-for-carrying-out-rescue-mission-to-save-trapped-workers-1091485867.html

Turkish Warrior Because of Capitalism ? 1

R Bell ITS NOT CAPITALISM..it is greed and total disregard for workers lives. Capitalism equals the free market . America does not have anything freeits all Greed and Never give a sucker an even chance and the murderous swine are proud of it. More people OD on drugs in San Franshithole than died of Covid-19. And the Covid numbers are fake.. The Russians did it and China financed global warming tornados. Invest in Man Diapers made in China .Joe does, ask his son. 1

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https://sputniknews.com/20211213/summit-for-democracy-how-biden-is-losing-asia-pacific-to-china-without-firing-a-shot-1091495367.html

'Summit for Democracy': How Biden is Losing Asia-Pacific to China Without Firing a Shot

'Summit for Democracy': How Biden is Losing Asia-Pacific to China Without Firing a Shot

The Biden administration's selective approach to the Summit for Democracy's participants list left many Asian nations out in the cold.

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world

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After not being invited to US President Joe Biden's virtual "Summit for Democracy" held on 9-10 December, Beijing issued an essay titled "China: Democracy That Works."The paper released by China's State Council Information Office on 4 December describes democracy as a "common value of humanity and an ideal," stressing that "the people's status as masters of the country is the essence of people's democracy.""Democracy is a concrete phenomenon that is constantly evolving," the Beijing document reads. "Rooted in history, culture and tradition, it takes diverse forms and develops along the paths chosen by different peoples based on their exploration and innovation."Why US Has No Monopoly on Definition of DemocracyThe essay came under criticism in Western media which claimed that the model outlined by China has nothing in common with the "conventional" meaning of "democracy" in the West. Brian Wong, a Rhodes Scholar from Hong Kong, dubbed Beijing's model as "people-centered" and a "Democracy with Chinese characteristics" in an article for the Diplomat.Wong suggested that "American democracy had seemingly lost much of its allure" and added that Beijing is seeking to offer its own vision of democracy "that would, if substantiated and viable, pose a fundamental challenge to the Anglo-American monopoly of the term."Beijing's interpretation of democracy has the right to exist even though it does not fit into the Procrustean bed of Biden's model, notes Thomas W. Pauken II, a Beijing-based Asia-Pacific affairs commentator and author of US vs. China: From Trade War to Reciprocal Deal.The Chinese have hit a sore spot in the US as the role of what is described as small elitist groups in Washington's political decision-making has increased substantially in recent decades, according to the commentator.The author describes US elites as living "in a bubble world," and suggests that they "have taken charge of the US, especially its foreign policy." According to Pauken, "the rule of the elites in the USA has turned destructive". He added that a quick reversal from this trend is unlikely, at best."We are witnessing the imminent decline of the US and greedy power brokers are profiting big-time from it," Pauken notes.According to a 2014 study carried out by political scientists Martin Gilens of Princeton University and Benjamin Page of Northwestern University, US economic elites have a disproportionately high influence on political decision-making in Washington. An October Pew Research poll indicated that those participating Americans appear to be dissatisfied with the trend: at least 85% of those surveyed said that the country's political system "needs to be completely reformed" or "needs major changes."Internationally, the US is no longer seen as a democratic standard bearer: just 17% of those polled in 16 developed economies "consider American democracy a good model for other countries to follow," according to a Pew Research Center Spring 2021 Global Attitudes Survey.Biden Compromised His 'Own Geopolitical Goals' in Indo-PacificChina was not the only Asian nation whose vision of democracy does not appeal to the Biden administration: among those not invited to the "Summit for Democracy" were Singapore, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Myanmar and others. Just three ASEAN states made it to the US president's virtual gathering.Although the non-invitees signaled their dissatisfaction, the summit nonetheless did not prompt enthusiasm among Asian nations, according to The Brookings Institution's Andrew Yeo, a professor of politics and director of Asian studies at The Catholic University of America in Washington, DC. Even South Korea, invited to Biden's summit, remained relatively silent about the virtual venue, noted Yeo in an op-ed.In addition, the region's peculiarities and history must be taken into account, according to a study conducted by the Brookings Institution, a liberal US think tank. The group admits that "Asia remains considerably more free and democratic in 2020 than it was throughout the Cold War," adding that "support for democratic governance remains strong in Asia."Brookings scholars noted that countries diverge widely in the importance they attach to specific democratic ideals. For example, only 18% of Japanese listed freedom of religion as a very important principle, in contrast to roughly 80% of respondents in India and Indonesia. Similarly, less than 50% of respondents across the region called media freedom, freedom for civil society, and freedom for opposition parties as important, the think tank emphasized, citing Pew Research. Recent polling additionally indicates that a majority of Indonesians rate economic development higher than "democratic progress."Washington must observe these regional peculiarities amid ongoing geopolitical competition, considering the attention given to Beijing within Biden's Pivot to Asia strategy, according to the think tank. The Pivot to Asia strategy, initially kicked off by the Obama administration, sought to command support among Asia-Pacific nations and exploit their own tensions with Beijing as a means of exerting pressure on the the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP).Biden's "Summit for Democracy" squandered an opportunity to unite South Asia against Beijing, echoed The Diplomat's Mohamed Zeeshan. "Being so opaque in its selectivity, America has compromised its own geopolitical goals in South Asia," Zeeshan stressed.

https://sputniknews.com/20211212/how-bidens-summit-for-democracy-helps-solidify-growing-cooperation-between-russia-and-china-1091470203.html

https://sputniknews.com/20211211/china-says-us-using-democracy-as-weapon-of-mass-destruction-to-meddle-in-others-affairs-1091445295.html

https://sputniknews.com/20211122/xi-announces-china-asean-comprehensive-strategic-partnership-1090917089.html

https://sputniknews.com/20201115/china-asean-other-regional-nations-sign-major-trade-pact-rcep-1081171443.html

4Justice The US hosting a summit on democracy is like Hitler hosting a summit on peace and equality during WW2. US is severely demented. 9

vot tak What do the israeloamerican nazis have to offer? Oligarchy, organized crime, terrorism and war and all round corruption. 6

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https://sputniknews.com/20211214/appeals-court-denies-biden-admins-request-to-ditch-trump-era-remain-in-mexico-policy-1091520083.html

Appeals Court Denies Biden Admin's Request to Ditch Trump-Era 'Remain in Mexico' Policy

Appeals Court Denies Biden Admin's Request to Ditch Trump-Era 'Remain in Mexico' Policy

Joe Biden undid the so-called "Remain in Mexico" policy imposed by his predecessor Donald Trump immediately after assuming office in January.

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mexico

donald trump

us

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The US Court of Appeals for the Fifth District ruled on Monday to dismiss the Biden administration's bid to end the Trump-era "Remain in Mexico" policy that obliged migrants seeking entry to the United States to wait in Mexico.Formally, the policy is known as the Migrant Protection Protocols, and it was one of the first Trump-era laws that the Biden administration focused on immediately after taking over the White House. However, the states of Texas and Missouri sued the Cabinet over the cancellation of the policy, with the court ordering to reinstate the MPP in August. In compliance with the ruling, the Biden administration started sending the first migrants back to Mexico in early December.The DHS noted that particularly vulnerable individuals will be excluded from being enrolled in the "Remain in Mexico" programme, and all participants will be offered a coronavirus vaccine.The decision by the appeals court marked another failure of the Biden administration to ditch the Trump-era migrant policy. With the dramatically surging numbers of migrants on the southern border, Biden's White House faces a massive backlash over how it handles the immigration crisis.Particularly, it is Vice President Kamala Harris who is dealing with the most criticism, being the so-called "border czar". Recently, Guatemala's President Alejandro Giammattei told Fox News that Harris, despite being responsible for tackling the migrant issue, has not contacted him since summer. White House press secretary Jen Psaki denied the president's claims and confirmed that the vice president is still the White House's border czar.

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https://sputniknews.com/20211214/armenia-confirms-mutual-appointment-of-special-envoys-with-turkey-1091507309.html

Armenia Confirms Mutual Appointment of Special Envoys With Turkey

Armenia Confirms Mutual Appointment of Special Envoys With Turkey

YEREVAN (Sputnik) - Armenia confirms the mutual appointment of a special representative to settle the relations with Turkey, Armenian Foreign Ministry... 14.12.2021, Sputnik International

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2021-12-14T08:36+0000

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turkey

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The spokesman also said that Armenia was ready for the reconciling process of relations with Turkey without preconditions.Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said earlier on Monday that the countries would mutually appoint envoys to normalise the Turkish-Armenian relations.Armenia and Turkey have had no diplomatic relations with no border crossing between the two since 1993. Ankara's support of the Azerbaijani stance in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and Turkey's denial and acute reaction to the international recognition process of the Armenian genocide (1915-1917) in the Ottoman Empire exacerbated the already tense Turkish-Armenian relations.

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https://sputniknews.com/20211214/baltic-sea-collision-two-uk-ship-crew-members-exceeded-legal-limit-of-drugs-alcohol-after-test-1091519172.html

Baltic Sea Collision: Two UK Ship Crew Members 'Exceeded Legal Limit of Drugs, Alcohol' After Test

Baltic Sea Collision: Two UK Ship Crew Members 'Exceeded Legal Limit of Drugs, Alcohol' After Test

Two crew members on board the British cargo ship "Scot Carrier" involved in a fatal collision with a Danish dredger in the Baltic Sea were over the limit when undergoing a drug and alcohol test

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denmark

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Two crew members on board the British cargo ship "Scot Carrier" involved in a fatal collision with a Danish dredger in the Baltic Sea were over the limit when undergoing a drug and alcohol test, the vessel's UK owner has acknowledged."Scot Marine Holdings confirm that they have a strict drug and alcohol policy in place and have a zero-tolerance for any breaches that occur", the spokesperson stressed, adding that the company offers its "heartfelt thoughts" to the families of the deceased and a crew member who remains missing at sea.The Swedish Maritime Administration (SMA), in turn, said that the exact cause of the collision is still not known and that prosecutors are in the early stages of their probe into what happened.SMA spokesman Jonas Franzen told the BBC that screams had been heard from the water after the collision but that it was "very cold and dark" outside. According to him, "the water is about 4C (39F) and the air is about 5C (41F)".In the early hours of Monday, the 300-foot (91-metre) "Scot Carrier" hit the 180-foot (54-metre) Danish dredger "Karin Hoej" in a 25-mile (40-kilometre)-wide stretch of the Baltic Sea located between Sweden and the Danish island of Bornholm. The Danish vessel reportedly capsized "almost immediately" and a seven-hour search and rescue operation was ostensibly stopped before divers discovered the body of one sailor in the "Karin Hoej's" hull.

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denmark, sweden, collision, cargo ship, baltic sea, uk
https://sputniknews.com/20211214/bbc-accused-of-anti-semitism-for-its-coverage-of-altercation-between-jews-and-muslims-in-london-1091507831.html

BBC Accused of Anti-Semitism For Its Coverage of Altercation Between Jews and Muslims in London

BBC Accused of Anti-Semitism For Its Coverage of Altercation Between Jews and Muslims in London

The outlet has been accused of victim-blaming after it reported that Jewish girls abused on a bus in London voiced anti-Muslim slurs

2021-12-14T09:41+0000

2021-12-14T09:41+0000

2021-12-14T09:41+0000

bbc

anti-semitism

uk

london

media coverage

muslims

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The British Broadcasting Corporation has been accused of anti-Semitism following its report about Jewish girls on a bus being abused by a group of Muslim men in the UK capital. The outlets article included a video of the incident and a comment that racial slurs about Muslims can be heard inside the bus, appearing to suggest that the girls were the ones who began the altercation.At the same time, the outlet described the actions of the men, who spat on the bus, hit it with their shoes and hands, and showed the middle finger as an "alleged" anti-Semitic attack. Two of the men also did what looked like a Nazi salute.Multiple voices are heard in the video, but nothing appears to suggest that anti-Muslim slurs are being said by someone. The BBCs article caused anger and indignation among the Jewish community in the UK and prompted leading Jewish organisations to accuse the outlet of anti-Semitism, as well as victim blaming. The Charity Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) organised a protest in front of the outlets headquarters in London. Pictures and videos posted online show people holding placards reading "wheres the proof?" and "stop blaming Jews".The organisation claims hundreds of people attended the demonstration. The charity has demanded an explanation from the BBC over its coverage of the story, noting that there was no evidence in the video to support the broadcasters claim that someone on the bus had uttered an anti-Muslim slur.The rally was attended by the founder of Muslims Against Antisemitism, Fiyaz Mughal, who addressed the audience.English actress of Jewish origin Dame Maureen Lipman also threw her support behind the protest.Criticism From ColleaguesThe Campaign Against Antisemitism said the BBC had not responded to its statement, something the organisation said was not "out of the ordinary". The CAA said a survey it conducted last year showed that two thirds of British Jews were concerned "by the BBC's coverage of matters of Jewish concern, and 55% by its handling of anti-Semitism complaints". "These figures reflect years of eroding confidence in the BBC on the part of the Jewish community", the charity said.The BBC has also come under criticism from its UK colleagues. Lord Grade, a former chairman of the BBC, described the outlets story as "shoddy journalism". The Telegraph called on the BBC to provide answers on its coverage of the story.Meanwhile, London police have called for help in identifying the men who attacked the bus. The Campaign Against Antisemitism said the Metropolitan Police had found no evidence of the BBCs claim that an anti-Muslim slur was voiced by people on the bus.The Board of Deputies of British Jews has released a video saying the racial slur the BBC referred to was a Jewish man pleading for help in Hebrew.

Brit26 So the Campaign Against Antisemitism wanted the BBC story skewed to look like Muslims caused the altercations? Typical! 0

pussymuncher Last time I was back in the UK it was Always Muslims causing the trouble! I'm not hating But I've Never Ever been abused by Jews in the UK but I've had plenty of run ins with pakistani,kosovan, Albanians..... All members of the same cult...for me personally there's a pattern. 0

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Max Gorbachev

bbc, anti-semitism, uk, london, media coverage, muslims
https://sputniknews.com/20211214/blinken-chinas-aggressive-actions-a-cause-of-concern-in-asia-threaten-3-trillion-in-commerce-1091502309.html

Blinken: China's 'Aggressive Actions' a Cause of 'Concern' in Asia, Threaten $3 Trillion in Commerce

Blinken: China's 'Aggressive Actions' a Cause of 'Concern' in Asia, Threaten $3 Trillion in Commerce

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday called out China for its "aggressive actions" across Asia, as he argued that nations in the region wanted the "behaviour to change".

2021-12-14T07:53+0000

2021-12-14T07:53+0000

2021-12-14T07:53+0000

indonesia

us

china

south china sea

asia-pacific

antony blinken

quadrilateral security dialogue (quad)

aukus

build back better

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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday called out China for its "aggressive actions" across Asia, as he argued that nations in the region wanted the "behaviour to change"."That's why there is so much concern from North East Asia to South East Asia, from the Mekong River to the Pacific Islands, about Beijing's aggressive actions", Blinken said during a key speech in Jakarta. The US top diplomat's address sought to underline the Joe Biden administrations policy towards the Indo-Pacific region.That's why we are determined to ensure freedom of navigation in the South China Sea, where Beijing's actions threaten the movement of commerce worth $3 trillion every year, he remarked.Blinken claimed in his address that the goal of ensuring a rules-based order and freedom of navigation in the waters of the Asia-Pacific wasnt meant to keep any country down.It is not a contest between a US-centric region and a China-centric region.During his address, Blinken underscored that Washingtons vision for the region was centred on five core elements.Blinken emphasised that forging closer connections with other countries of the region, promoting broad-based prosperity, building a more resilient Indo-Pacific, and bolstering the security in the area were other key components of the Biden administrations Indo-Pacific policy.Blinken highlighted the US assistance in meeting the regional vaccine needs and pointed out the infrastructure financing being offered by Washington, as the US secretary of state listed some of the measures undertaken by the United States to promote resilience and broad-based prosperity among the countries of the region,Of the 300 million doses of safe, effective vaccines the United States has distributed worldwide, we have sent more than 100 million doses to the Indo-Pacific, stated Blinken.We will deliver the quality, high-standard infrastructure the region seeks. Build Back Better World, which we launched alongside G7 partners in June, is committed to mobilising hundreds of billions of dollars in transparent, sustainable financing over the coming years", said the top US diplomat.Blinken also praised the trilateral AUKUS security alliance between Washington, Canberra, and London for promoting peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific, arguing that the grouping was one of the prime examples of how the US would like to build deeper ties in the region with its allies and partners to ensure security.China views groupings such as the Quad and AUKUS, both mentioned by Blinken in his speech, with unease. While Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has compared the Quad to an "Asian NATO", Beijing has also blasted AUKUS for inciting a nuclear arms race in the region.As part of the AUKUS arrangement, the US and the UK have agreed to provide the Royal Australian Navy with advanced nuclear submarine technology (SSN) to help it develop attack subs.

https://sputniknews.com/20211126/canberra-blames-beijing-for-disconnect-between-words-and-actions-to-maintain-south-china-sea-peace-1091048287.html

https://sputniknews.com/20211122/china-concerned-by-aukus-deal-on-nuclear-submarines-data-exchange-1090930800.html

yg US is the only country that creates and threaten other countries at will, why do you say China is aggressive!? Tell you lies elsewhere or to those who believe in you! 11

landauroj China is applying what the WTO (Word Trade Organization) allows to its members. Because the USA is lagging on this own rules fight, blame China. A dirty strategy used by the USA since after WW2. 10

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https://sputniknews.com/20211214/chief-of-staff-for-irans-army-boasts-of-countrys-ever-growing-defence-might-1091521327.html

Chief of Staff for Iran's Army Boasts of Country's Ever-Growing Defence Might

Chief of Staff for Iran's Army Boasts of Country's Ever-Growing Defence Might

Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, Major General Mohammad Hossein Baqeri, has praised the country for perfecting its defence and deterrence capabilities without even a brief respite

2021-12-14T17:35+0000

2021-12-14T17:35+0000

2021-12-14T17:35+0000

iranian defense ministry

iran

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The Chief of Staff of Iran's Armed Forces, Major General Mohammad Hossein Baqeri, has praised the country for perfecting its defence and deterrence capabilities. As he addressed Iranian ambassadors and other diplomatic workers, Baqeri boasted that Tehran's planned responses and strategies against potential aggressors led to such advances in the country's defences that no foreign power dares breach Iran's border.The general vowed, however, not to rest on his laurels and promised that Iran's Armed Forces would never underestimate a potential threat. He said that Tehran will always be able to respond proportionally to the "status of the enemy". Baqeri further vowed that Iran will never act as an aggressor and will only be responding to offensive acts against the country.Speaking to the diplomats, the Armed Forces' chief of staff also noted that the latest development in the world requires the Iranian military to work in "synergy and coordination" with the country's Foreign Ministry.Baqeri's speech comes as Iran's defence industry reaches its peak with Tehran announcing the development of new models of military equipment and vehicles practically every year. The country managed to replace all sorts of defence imports after it was cut off them because of an international embargo. Now, Tehran produces its own air defence systems, warships and warplanes, drones, small arms, missiles and military equipment for its troops.

https://sputniknews.com/20190610/iran-shows-off-brand-new-air-defence-missile-amid-us-tensions-videos-1075774577.html

Gen Soleimani When they threaten Iran with "all options on the table" what do you expect? Iran, must an will defend itself against any foreign adversary. 1

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iranian defense ministry, iran
https://sputniknews.com/20211214/china-pledges-day-of-reckoning-for-us-troops-exonerated-of-war-crimes-in-many-countries-1091527167.html

China Pledges 'Day of Reckoning' for US Troops Exonerated of War Crimes 'in Many Countries'

China Pledges 'Day of Reckoning' for US Troops Exonerated of War Crimes 'in Many Countries'

The Chinese Foreign Ministry let loose on Washington on Tuesday for refusing to punish US military personnel responsible for a drone strike that killed 10 civilians in Kabul, Afghanistan, in August.

2021-12-14T22:50+0000

2021-12-14T22:50+0000

2021-12-15T04:15+0000

us

china

afghanistan

war crimes

asia-pacific

drone war

wang wenbin

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"The US troops' atrocity of killing civilians in Afghanistan is unacceptable. It is all the more outrageous that the US exonerates the perpetrators with impunity on various grounds", Wang Wenbin, a spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told Shenzhen TV reporters on Tuesday at a regular press conference."Justice may be delayed, but it will not be denied. The era in which the US acted arbitrarily in the world under the pretext of so-called 'democracy' and 'human rights' is over", Wang continued. "The day of reckoning will eventually come for the US military who committed the crimes of killing innocent civilians in many countries".The Chinese official's comments come after US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin accepted the recommendations of US Central Command head Kenneth McKenzie and US Special Operations Command leader Gen. Richard Clarke not to punish those involved in an August 29th strike that killed 10 civilians, all members of the same family, riding in a car in Kabul.The Daesh attack killed nearly 200 people, including 13 US service members and an unknown number of Taliban fighters, and injured thousands. The airstrike by an MQ-9 Reaper drone was claimed to have targeted a car with a bomb rigged for another attack and to have killed several Daesh fighters.In reality, the car was driven by Zemari Ahmadi, an employee of the US non-governmental organisation (NGO) Nutrition and Education International. He was most likely on a trip to refill water containers for his home. All 10 people killed were members of his family, seven of them children, the youngest of whom was 2 years old.However, Wang wasn't the only one to call out the Pentagon's decision."Thousands have been killed in covert, unaccountable drone strikes over the past two decades. We should be demanding accountability for anyone involved in this and a full inquiry into this and the entire drone programme", she added. The Somali-American came to the US in 1995 as a refugee from the civil war that engulfed her home country, which has since become the target of a years-long US drone war and covert war.She added that whistleblower Daniel Hale, a former National Security Agency analyst who revealed America's secret drone war programme to the press, was sentenced in July to 45 months in prison.Wang also called attention to the hypocrisy of the recent "Summit for Democracy" hosted by the United States, that pointedly excluded China, as well as Russia and many other states targeted by US foreign policy, which extolled their liberal values and claimed them to be under attack by "autocracy" across much of the globe.*Terrorist groups outlawed in Russia and many other countries

4Justice The US is an evil blight on the earth, yet still tries to portray itself as some shining beacon of democracy and righteousness. Only warped, demented people could act this way. 18

Rot Hchild China protects its own soil, by stopping separatist organizations like Falun Gong, Ughyars, Tibetan and Democracy rebels sponsored by the Judeo-Liberal elites in New York. Aemrica just bombs other countries and genocides women and children hundreds of miles away from its own soil resisting Judeo-Liberal colonization. 15

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us, china, afghanistan, war crimes, asia-pacific, drone war, wang wenbin
https://sputniknews.com/20211214/danish-ex-minister-gets-prison-sentence-in-historic-impeachment-trial-over-separated-migrant-1091502536.html

Danish Ex-Minister Gets Prison Sentence in Historic Impeachment Trial Over Separated Migrant Couples

Danish Ex-Minister Gets Prison Sentence in Historic Impeachment Trial Over Separated Migrant Couples

Former Danish Immigration Minister Inger Stjberg has been sentenced to 60 days in prison over an illegal order she made in 2016 to separate asylum seeker couples - by her own admission, to protect the underage girls.

2021-12-14T05:55+0000

2021-12-14T05:55+0000

2021-12-14T05:55+0000

denmark

news

europe

migrants

scandinavia

inger stjberg

child brides

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Former Danish Immigration Minister Inger Stjberg has been sentenced to 60 days in prison over an illegal order she made in 2016 to separate asylum seeker couples.While Stjberg maintained that she acted against the phenomenon of child brides and sought to protect the girls from all sorts of abuse, the court found that she intentionally acted against the law when she ordered that couples be separated without individual case assessment if either of the partners (usually the wife) was below the age of 18. Her decision was therefore found to be unlawful, TV2 reported. All in all, some two dozen couples were separated.The punishment is unconditional and cannot be appealed, meaning she will serve the prison sentence. She could, however, be permitted to serve a short period by using an electronic tag. According to Danish media, the former minister was seen to open her mouth in surprise as the verdict was pronounced.Nevertheless, she subsequently composed herself and said she had no regrets, lamenting the Danish values that were lost today.However, the verdict surprised even legal professionals. Frederik Waage, a professor of administrative law at the University of Southern Denmark, called the 60 days in prison a harsh sentence.It is very remarkable that one ignores some comprehensive testimonies from, say, department heads, Waage told TV2.Political commentator Hans Engell also argued that the verdict was harsh and ventured that the testimonies of the officials were completely swept off the table. It also surprised Hans Engell that all but one of the 26 judges thought it was a clear offence.The damning verdict was the culmination of a protracted trial that lasted 30 sessions over several months in late 2021. This is only the second impeachment case in modern Danish history. In 1995, former Justice Minister Erik Ninn-Hansen was sentenced to four months' probation due to illegal processing of applications for family reunification for Tamils. A total of 300 Tamil applications were secretly suspended, which led the coalition government led by Conservative Poul Schluter to resign.Stjberg has long been a highly popular, yet divisive figure in Danish politics, not least because of her hardline immigration policies under the previous liberal-conservative Venstre government, which was voted out in 2019.Since leaving government and being expelled from her party over the trial, Stjberg has become a political savage, yet has been tipped as one of the candidates to lead the national-conservative Danish People's Party, which found itself in the doldrums following the recent election. Now, the parliament will decide whether to disqualify Stjberg from being a member of parliament.

Brit26 What a load of garbage. Denmark is run by lefty pro-Islamic nutcases. That is why it is flooded with Muslims and foreign criminals, you buffoonHess. 2

Hess The introductory paragraph is a bigoted racist Jewish propaganda. Stjberg deserves what she got. She should be in prison longer than a few days. Denmark is now owned by anti-Muslim Jews, and their racist Danish politicians. Let see what Mr Igor Kuznetsov does if they take his children away. 1

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https://sputniknews.com/20211214/ghislaine-maxwells-legal-team-to-call-35-witnesses-during-her-trial-1091501978.html

Ghislaine Maxwell's Legal Team 'to Call 35 Witnesses' During Her Trial

Ghislaine Maxwell's Legal Team 'to Call 35 Witnesses' During Her Trial

The daughter of British billionaire Robert Maxwell faces eight charges, including enticing minors as young as 14 to engage in illegal sex acts. She claims she is innocent.

2021-12-14T07:11+0000

2021-12-14T07:11+0000

2021-12-14T08:56+0000

society

ghislaine maxwell

jeffrey epstein

sexual abuse

sex trafficking ring

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Ghislaine Maxwells legal team is to call 35 witnesses during her trial as it prepares to present its arguments this week, the Daily Mail reported, citing court documents. According to the outlet, her lawyers have taken on the daunting task of hearing the testimonies of all witnesses in just three days.One of Maxwells lawyers, Bobbi Sternheim, has asked the court to keep the identities of three witnesses secret or allow them to testify under pseudonyms.The names of the witnesses have not been released to the public, but reports say among them could be high-profile figures as Ghislaine Maxwell was part of the highest circles in both Britain and the United States. Among her acquaintances are former US Presidents Bill Clinton and Donald Trump, supermodel Naomi Campbell, and Queen Elizabeths second son, Prince Andrew. The latter is himself accused by one of Jeffrey Epsteins alleged victims, who claimed that she was trafficked to London by the financier and Maxwell when she was a minor and forced to have sex with the Duke of York.Maxwells relatives are expected to testify during the trial too. Previously, her brother Ian Maxwell accused prosecutors of making Ghislaine a scapegoat for Jeffrey Epsteins crimes for failing to bring the financier to court, a stance shared by the socialites legal team.Jeffrey Epstein was arrested in July 2019 and charged with running a sex trafficking network of minors. The financier, who rubbed shoulders with presidents, prime ministers, and royals, was found hanged in prison a month after his arrest, with his death ruled a suicide. The New York City Medical Examiners Office concluded that his death was a suicide. However, a forensic pathologist hired by his family suggested that evidence pointed to the financier potentially having been strangled.The women who have accused Epstein of rape and sexual abuse claim Maxwell played an invaluable role in his crime empire - she lured them into the hands of Epstein, promising well-paid jobs at the millionaire's house. Some of the women claimed that she not only groomed them, but also took part in the abuse. She faces eight charges, including sex trafficking conspiracy and sex trafficking of a minor, as well as enticing a minor as young as 14 to engage in illegal sex acts. If found guilty, Maxwell, who is 59, may face up to 80 years in prison. She claims she is innocent. The trial began on 29 November and will last around six weeks with a brief pause over Christmas, although some reports suggest that the verdict may be announced this month. Here are the key details of the trial:

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https://sputniknews.com/20211214/group-of-jews-in-israel-disguise-themselves-as-muslims-to-pray-on-temple-mount-media-says-1091518004.html

Group of Jews in Israel Disguise Themselves as Muslims to Pray on Temple Mount, Media Says

Group of Jews in Israel Disguise Themselves as Muslims to Pray on Temple Mount, Media Says

Located in the Old City of Jerusalem, the area is venerated by Jews, Muslims, and Christians. The Temple mount is the holiest site in Judaism and the third holiest in Islam.

2021-12-14T14:39+0000

2021-12-14T14:39+0000

2021-12-14T14:40+0000

middle east

jews

israeli-palestinian conflict

islam

judaism

israel

palestinians

temple mount

muslims

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A group of Jews has disguised themselves as Muslims in order to pray on the Temple Mount, Israel's Channel 13 has reported. Raphael Morris, head of "Returning to the Mount", said the group advocates for Jewish sovereignty on the Temple Mount. Speaking to Channel 13, Mr Morris emphasised that Muslims can enter the holy site at any moment during the day or night, while Jews are permitted to be there at limited hours of the day and are accompanied by police, who make sure that they are not engaged in prayer.The group teaches its members how to disguise themselves as Muslims. They dress in traditional Muslim outfits, carry prayer mats and beads, as well as Arab-language books about the Quran. Some members even dye their and beards black to make themselves look more like Arabs. On top of that, instructors teach members how to go through the motions of a Muslim prayer, while actually reciting Jewish liturgy.Following the 1967 Six-Day War between Arab states and Israel, the latter captured the Old City and although the holy site is under Israeli control, an Islamic Waqf manages the Temple Mount and administers religious activities there. Thus, Jews are allowed to visit the site, but are not allowed to pray there.It appears that members of "Returning to the Mount" do not fear that their are actions violate the law."The fact that the country doesn't like it doesn't mean that it is illegal", said the group's head, Raphael Morris.One member of the group, who called himself Baruch (not their real name) said the following: Yet, when it comes to the Temple Mount it seems that there is more at stake than simply arrest. The holy site is the epicentre of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This May, tensions over it sparked an 11-day conflict between the two sides, witnessing the worst spike in violence in years.According to Gaza health officials, 254 Palestinians were killed, including more than 100 women and children during the conflict. Israel has stated that it killed 225 Hamas militants. The militant group has not given a death toll for its fighters. In Israel, 13 people were killed during the rocket strikes, including two women.The news about Jews disguising themselves to pray on the Temple Mount has prompted concerns among Israeli security officials, who fear that group's actions may spark violence between Palestinians and Israelis. Channel 13 said it had come under pressure from security officers, who told it not to broadcast the report about the group amid concerns that it may lead to an escalation of tensions.Public Security Minister Omer Barlev said that every week individuals disguised as Arabs are slipping through the gates that are intended for use by Muslims only.Asked about a potential altercation at the holy site one member of "Returning to the Mount" said the following: "For the sake of the Temple I am prepared to pay with my life".

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Max Gorbachev

Max Gorbachev

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Max Gorbachev

middle east, jews, israeli-palestinian conflict, islam, judaism, israel, palestinians, temple mount, muslims
https://sputniknews.com/20211214/hong-kong-leader-carrie-lam-receives-letter-containing-razor-blade-and-threats-1091511873.html

Hong Kong Leader Carrie Lam Receives Letter Containing Razor Blade and Threats

Hong Kong Leader Carrie Lam Receives Letter Containing Razor Blade and Threats

The news comes a month after several threatening letters were sent to judges in Hong Kong in what experts have described as opposition to the national security... 14.12.2021, Sputnik International

2021-12-14T11:26+0000

2021-12-14T11:26+0000

2021-12-14T11:26+0000

asia & pacific

china

hong kong

freedom of expression

carrie lam

freedom of speech

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https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/107698/34/1076983464_0:160:3073:1888_1920x0_80_0_0_08bbd0b52b7f04e82dd146983d3aa36a.jpg

Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam has received a letter containing a razor blade and threats, her office has announced. The Standard wrote, citing its sources, that aside from the razor blade, the letter contained a list of political demands. Ms Lams office said the letter contained "intimidating content", but did not elaborate on the details.Police arrived to retrieve the envelope for further inspection. Following a preliminary investigation, the case has been listed as criminal, local media reported.A spokesman for the government said authorities will not "tolerate such illegal acts of violence and intimidation".Last month, threatening letters were sent to several judges in Hong Kong, with some envelopes containing rotten meat and suspicious powder. In May, Hong Kongs Secretary for Security John Lee Ka-chui and Commissioner of Police Chris Tang Ping-keung received letters with threats.Experts say the letters were likely sent by critics of the government and "pro-democracy" activists, who have voiced their opposition against the arrests of demonstrators who participated in anti-government protests between 2019 and 2020.The legislation was introduced in response to massive protests against an anti-extradition bill that was designed to establish a mechanism for transfers of criminals from Hong Kong to Taiwan, Macau, and mainland China. Demonstrators claimed the bill infringed on civil liberties.The national security law carries tougher penalties for protesters, as well as criminalises acts deemed to be subversion, secession, collusion with foreign forces, and terrorism. Individuals charged under the law are denied bail until trial and, as mentioned earlier, may face life in prison. The decision to introduce the law prompted criticism both internally and externally, with countries like Australia, Canada, Japan, and the United States expressing concern about it. Hong Kong authorities have faced especially harsh criticism in Britain. Hong Kong is a former colony of the United Kingdom that was handed over to China in 1997, with London and Beijing signing a Joint Declaration that enshrined civil liberties under the "one country, two systems" principle. Critics of the Hong Kong government say the legislation violates this principle as it abolishes the regions autonomy from China. Chinese authorities say that the law brings stability to Hong Kong.

Gone "Demonstrators claimed the bill infringed on civil liberties." Especially the liberty to be a criminal. 3

BillOwens From the lovers of western democracy. 2

3

china

hong kong

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Max Gorbachev

Max Gorbachev

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Max Gorbachev

asia & pacific, china, hong kong, freedom of expression, carrie lam, freedom of speech
https://sputniknews.com/20211214/how-domestic-surveillance-of-journalists--citizens-became-standard-us-government-practice-1091524290.html

How Domestic Surveillance of Journalists & Citizens Became Standard US Government Practice

How Domestic Surveillance of Journalists & Citizens Became Standard US Government Practice

Secret US CBP unit used sensitive government databases for tracking international terrorists to investigate 20 American journalists.

2021-12-14T23:18+0000

2021-12-14T23:18+0000

2021-12-14T23:19+0000

world

us

opinion

warrant

spying

department of homeland security (dhs)

central intelligence agency (cia)

surveillance

nsa surveillance

us customs and border protection (cbp)

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CBP is the largest federal law enforcement agency in the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The bombshell revelation prompted ire among US news organisations, with AP's executive editor, Julie Pace, urging DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to explain why the agency ran the name of an AP reporter through its databases. In its statement, the CBP claimed that the agency "does not investigate individuals without a legitimate and legal basis to do so." However, according to AP, "this appears to be an example of journalists being targeted for simply doing their jobs, which is a violation of the First Amendment."Are US Federal Probes Turning Into Paranoia?Lazare mocks the newly revealed operation, carried out by the Counter Network Division's Jeffrey Rambo in 2017 and dubbed "Operation Whistle Pig," adding that "the particulars of the case are less interesting than the general trend, which is toward greater and greater paranoia." To illustrate his point the independent journalist refers to the FBI's Operation Crossfire Hurricane into alleged Trump-Russia collusion which turned out to be what CNN described as a "big nothing burger".He also cites the US intelligence community and mainstream media attempts to depict New York Post's allegations about Hunter Biden as "Russia disinformation." Lazare also posits what he refers to as vain efforts by the Democrat-run US House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack as a means of steering public attention away from a question of "whether FBI or CIA informants helped egg on the insurrection.""So while the DHS has promised to call off its bloodhounds with regard to the AP, my sense is that paranoia will merely take on new forms as it continues to metastasize," the writer says. "The problem can only get worse."Why US Federal Agencies are Tracking Independent Journalists"Operation Whistle Pig" is just one of numerous surveillance efforts carried out by US federal agencies against journalists, notes former Department of Defence veteran analyst Karen Kwiatkowski.In particular, the veteran DoD analyst refers to Pulitzer-Prize winning reporter James Risen, who was persecuted under the Obama administration over his refusal to reveal confidential sources. In February 2015, Risen called the Obama administration "the greatest enemy of press freedom." Additionally, the Obama cabinet and also subsequent US administrations have targeted WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, seeking his extradition to the US.Earlier this year, a scandal erupted over allegations of spying on Fox News host Tucker Carlson. In June the journalist claimed, citing an unnamed whistleblower within the US government, that the National Security Agency (NSA) was monitoring his electronic communications and had planned to leak them to the press to take his show off of the air for "political reasons."While the US government usually justifies its conduct as matters of "national security," in reality, according to the Pentagon veteran, it is protecting "government security" by chasing those who are leaking factual information that the US leadership finds "embarrassing".She refers to ex-NSA contractor Edward Snowden's revelation with regard to National Security Agency's global spying programmes; Chelsea Manning's exposure of Pentagon war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan, and WikiLeaks bombshells, including Vault 7, which detailed CIA hacking techniques and cyber-tools.While mainstream journalism in the US "is well moderated and normally serves to promote the government narrative of whatever subject, be it health, national security or science and technology," there are alternative media sources that occasionally manage to gain audience and traction, she offered.Ironically, according to Kwiatkowski, US government agencies are keeping an eye on dissenting news sources and independent journalists akin to Washington's Cold War-era rivals, whom the US leadership used to scold for their own lack of press freedom.How US Gov't Agencies are Surveilling AmericansIt's not only journalists who are being surveilled by US government agencies, however, as a FISA compliance review written in November 2020 and declassified on 26 April 2021 revealed that the FBI used the NSA's massive electronic troves for warrantless searches of US citizens' information, despite having been previously censured by a court for such activities.In May 2021, Democratic Senator Ron Wyden raised an alarm over what he described as the Pentagon's warrantless spying on US citizens. The DoD reportedly used various software tools that used location data harvested from common apps installed on peoples' phones. Wyden's investigation also "confirmed the warrantless purchase of Americans' location data by the Internal Revenue Service, Customs and Border Protection, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Defence Intelligence Agency," according to the senator's letter, addressed to Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III.That same month, CNN reported that the Biden administration was considering using private firms to surveil "suspected domestic terrorists" online under the pretext that the DHS and the FBI, are limited in how they can monitor citizens online without a warrant. An unnamed source said to be familiar with the matter told the broadcaster that outside entities hired by federal authorities would be able to "legally" infiltrate private groups to gather vast amounts of information.

https://sputniknews.com/20211011/glaring-anomalies-why-6-january-insurrection-case-peddled-by-dems-doesnt-hold-water-1089832641.html

https://sputniknews.com/20211211/ex-un-expert-bidens-summit-for-democracy-is-sheer-hypocrisy-amid-us-effort-to-persecute-assange-1091443360.html

https://sputniknews.com/20210813/carlsons-case-why-nsa-watchdog-probe-unlikely-to-bring-spying--unmaskings-of-americans-to-end-1083599941.html

https://sputniknews.com/20210428/fisa-court-docs-how-the-fbi-continues-to-spy-on-americans-without-a-warrant-and-get-away-with-it-1082750168.html

https://sputniknews.com/20210514/fourth-amendment-for-sale-pentagon-appears-to-join-fbi-in-warrantless-spying-club-1082889071.html

Emris Rex Then they have the cheek to setup a, "summit for Democracy" the hypocracy is beyond belief 1

Holger H. It seems that the Sh*thole known as the US is on its way to become an Orwellian Nightmare... 0

2

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2021

Ekaterina Blinova

Ekaterina Blinova

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Ekaterina Blinova

world, us, opinion, warrant, spying, department of homeland security (dhs), central intelligence agency (cia), surveillance, nsa surveillance, us customs and border protection (cbp), department of defence, fbi, fisa
https://sputniknews.com/20211214/kushner-allegedly-screamed-at-israeli-envoy-who-said-netanyahu-didnt-trust-trump-on-peace-plan-1091513719.html

Kushner Allegedly Screamed at Israeli Envoy Who Said Netanyahu Didn't Trust Trump on Peace Plan

Kushner Allegedly Screamed at Israeli Envoy Who Said Netanyahu Didn't Trust Trump on Peace Plan

Jared Kushner told an Israeli envoy to get out of the White House last year over the two sides' disagreements on Washington's Middle East peace plan, a new book has claimed.

2021-12-14T12:24+0000

2021-12-14T12:24+0000

2021-12-14T12:26+0000

united arab emirates

donald trump

middle east

us

white house

ambassador

peace plan

israel

jared kushner

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Jared Kushner, former US President Donald Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser, told an Israeli envoy to get out of the White House last year over the two sides' disagreements on Washington's Middle East peace plan, a new book has claimed.In his book "Trump's Peace: The Abraham Accords and the Reshaping of the Middle East", Israeli journalist Barak Ravid asserts that Kushner's outburst occurred in early February 2020, when Israel and the US were at odds over how to deal with the Palestinian Authority and Tel Aviv's push for West Bank settlements.Ravid argues that during a meeting between Kushner and then-Israeli Ambassador to the US Ron Dermer in Washington, the envoy told Trump's son-in-law that then-Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu didn't trust the 45th American president to broker a peace deal in the Middle East."To say such a thing about us is disgusting. Get out", the-then senior White House adviser added, according to Ravid's book.Washington's 'Deal of the Century' The reported incident followed the Trump administration unveiling its 180-page Middle East peace plan, compiled by Kushner, in January 2020.The so-called "Deal of the Century" envisioned a two-state solution, including the recognition of Israeli claims to settler areas in the West Bank, the extension of Israeli sovereignty to the Jordan Valley, and the recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital.For the Palestinians, who harshly criticised the blueprint, the plan offered $50 billion in infrastructure and investment assistance, and promised a few neighbourhoods in East Jerusalem for a Palestinian state capital.In the book, Ravid also refers to another alleged showdown between Dermer and Kushner later in February 2020 over the so-called Abraham Accords, Israel's normalisation deal with the United Arab Emirates (UAE).The 15 August 2020 Israel-UAE normalisation deal was joined by Bahrain, Morocco, and Sudan, a process that was actively facilitated by the Trump administration. Before the Abraham Accords were signed, Tel Aviv had official diplomatic relations with only two Arab nations, Egypt and Jordan.

https://sputniknews.com/20200203/deal-of-the-century-what-is-trumps-plan-for-israel-and-the-palestinians-1078216323.html

https://sputniknews.com/20200618/netanyahu-doubted-kushners-ability-to-draft-workable-middle-east-peace-plan---bolton-memoir-1079656037.html

vot tak Hasbara. Total rubbish. This is part of the israeli psywar to counter the well known trump role as an israeli quisling. They trying to present their boi toy as independent of them. No cigar, zionists. Thumbs down. 3

feketehollo one jew screaming at another one, irrelevant, America has been turned into a jewish controlled zombie 3

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united arab emirates, donald trump, middle east, us, white house, ambassador, peace plan, israel, jared kushner
https://sputniknews.com/20211214/lakhimpur-kheri-violence-killing-of-farmers-was-a-planned-and-deliberate-act-probe-panel-alleges-1091501607.html

Lakhimpur Kheri Violence: Killing of Farmers Was a Planned and Deliberate Act, Probe Panel Alleges

Lakhimpur Kheri Violence: Killing of Farmers Was a Planned and Deliberate Act, Probe Panel Alleges

A Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the Lakhimpur Kheri violence in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh State has said that the incident was a "well-planned and deliberate act, not an act of negligence or callousness".

2021-12-14T06:07+0000

2021-12-14T06:07+0000

2021-12-14T06:17+0000

bharatiya janata party (bjp)

india

violence

uttar pradesh

farmers

killing

india

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A Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the Lakhimpur Kheri violence in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh State has said that the incident was a "well-planned and deliberate act, not an act of negligence or callousness".This has been stated in an application filed before the area's Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM). The application filed by the SIT seeks to invoke criminal charges, including an attempt against the 13 accused in the case. Federal Minister of State (Home) Ajay Mishra's son, Ashish, is among the 13.Other charges that the investigating officers seek to add include "voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapons or means, and acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention".Meanwhile, the Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court last week denied bail to Ashish Mishra, and the matter will next be heard on 6 January 2022.On 3 October, a convoy of three SUVs, allegedly belonging to Ajay Mishra, ran over a group of farmers protesting at Lakhimpur Kheri's Tikonia crossing area, killing eight people, including four farmers and a journalist. It also left nearly a dozen people injured, as farmers were protesting at the time against a visit by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) politicians to the area.During the incident, protesters lynched two BJP politicians and a driver of a Mahindra Thar vehicle in the subsequent violence.

Cross Bane According to the opposition, this man is Jesus. They say 0

Cross Bane Opposition parties claim that Father & Son are one and the same! So the son must be Jesus and the father must be Yahweh!! 0

2

india

uttar pradesh

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Deexa Khanduri https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e4/0c/1e/1081607388_0:0:961:960_100x100_80_0_0_e9e931b8c1e18fb41f3074e2145d7a3a.jpg

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bharatiya janata party (bjp), india, violence, uttar pradesh, farmers, killing, india
https://sputniknews.com/20211214/medvedev-us-move-to-exit-abm-treaty-prompted-russia-to-improve-defence-industry-create-new-weapons-1091520386.html

Medvedev: US Move to Exit ABM Treaty Prompted Russia to Improve Defence Industry, Create New Weapons

Medvedev: US Move to Exit ABM Treaty Prompted Russia to Improve Defence Industry, Create New Weapons

Medvedev: US Move to Exit ABM Treaty Prompted Russia to Improve Defence Industry, Create New Weapons

2021-12-14T16:05+0000

2021-12-14T16:05+0000

2021-12-14T16:53+0000

russia

us

anti-ballistic missile (abm) treaty

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The US decision to exit the ABM Treaty has stimulated Russia into bolstering its defence industry and creating new types of weapons, Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of Russia Dmitry Medvedev said on Tuesday.The move, however, also naturally led to increasing tensions between Washington and Moscow, he noted.It was in 2002 when then-US President George W. Bush decided to pull Washington out of the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty inked by the United States and the Soviet Union in 1972. The accord limited the two countries to only having two ABM complexes, each of which could have no more than 100 anti-ballistic missiles. Washington's exit from the treaty de facto terminated the agreement.Medvedev continued on by saying that Russia is committed to strengthening global strategic stability and offers to work with the United States in this field based "on the principle of the indissolubility and interconnectedness of strategic offensive and defensive weapons".In 2014, after Ukraine was rocked by a coup, Kiev cancelled the country's non-aligned status in a bid to create a path to joining the NATO alliance. In 2018, amendments to the Ukrainian Constitution making NATO membership one of the nation's main strategic goals were introduced, coming into force in 2019.Medvedev's Tuesday remarks come as the West continues to toss around accusations of Russia "amassing troops" in the vicinity of the Ukrainian border and fuelling the narrative of Moscow's purported plans to "invade" its neighbour.Russia has repeatedly outlined that it does not plan to attack anyone. The Kremlin has been consistently outlining the concept of "red lines" for Western countries, which, for Moscow, include the NATO alliance's expansion eastward and deployment of offensive weapons in the countries neighbouring Russia.

https://sputniknews.com/20211212/putin-told-biden-during-call-russian-troops-located-within-countrys-borders-pose-no-threat--1091457327.html

us

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Daria Bedenko

Daria Bedenko

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Daria Bedenko

russia, us, anti-ballistic missile (abm) treaty
https://sputniknews.com/20211214/nato-secretary-general-enters-race-to-become-next-head-of-norways-central-bank-1091517599.html

NATO Secretary General Enters Race to Become Next Head of Norway's Central Bank

NATO Secretary General Enters Race to Become Next Head of Norway's Central Bank

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has joined the race to become the next head of Norway's central bank

2021-12-14T14:58+0000

2021-12-14T14:58+0000

2021-12-14T15:30+0000

world

europe

jens stoltenberg

norway

nato

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https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e5/0b/1d/1091120695_0:0:3231:1817_1920x0_80_0_0_9af5c02f954bf5cdaa835d9ce5fe44cf.jpg

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has joined the race to become the next head of Norway's central bank, both Stoltenberg and the country's Finance Ministry have confirmed.The secretary general of the alliance noted in his interview with the news agency NTB that he was "very motivated for" the job. He added, however, that he will still have to finish his term as the chief of NATO, which ends in September 2022.The post at the top of Norway's central bank will fall vacant in March 2022, when its current governor, Oystein Olsen, resigns as per his prior announcement.Stoltenberg used to be Norway's finance minister and prime minister before getting the post of the NATO secretary general. He holds a master's degree in economics.However, Stoltenberg is far from being a shoe-in for the central bank job: the institution responsible for determining Norway's fiscal policy is far from being guaranteed and there are another 21 applicants, including central bank Deputy Governor Ida Wolden Bache, whom some feel is the favourite, according to Reuters. She led the country's monetary policy for four years and was the head of financial stability for one more.There is also little information regarding who might become the next NATO secretary general. There is no formal procedure for selecting a new secretary general, but traditionally the member states negotiate a single candidate via diplomatic channels in advance.

https://sputniknews.com/20210613/uk-defence-secretary-says-ex-pm-theresa-may-is-excellent-candidate-to-be-next-nato-chief-1083139349.html

Pantygone General All wars are bankers war. This news is only the confirmation 2

TruePatriot This clown couldn't punch his way out of a wet paper bag, but this offer is probably from his zio-masters who are pleased with his lick spittle performance at ZATO. 2

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Tim Korso https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e4/0a/02/1080648312_311:168:1773:1631_100x100_80_0_0_5eb98a42f89fd860368dcd2ae2d9e403.jpg

Tim Korso https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e4/0a/02/1080648312_311:168:1773:1631_100x100_80_0_0_5eb98a42f89fd860368dcd2ae2d9e403.jpg

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world, europe, jens stoltenberg, norway, nato
https://sputniknews.com/20211214/norway-introduces-alcohol-ban-remote-work-amid-raging-omicron-infection-1091501805.html

Norway Introduces Alcohol Ban, Remote Work Amid Raging Omicron Infection

Norway Introduces Alcohol Ban, Remote Work Amid Raging Omicron Infection

The Omicron strain is spreading rapidly in Norway, now present in all counties, with a doubling of cases over the past week. At the same time, the number of hospitalisations reached a record high since the start of the pandemic.

2021-12-14T05:26+0000

2021-12-14T05:26+0000

2021-12-14T05:39+0000

omicron covid strain

news

norway

scandinavia

covid-19

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Norway has announced a slew of measures to curb the explosive spread of the Omicron strain.These include a stop in serving alcohol in nightclubs and a recommendation to work remotely whenever possible. Citizens are encouraged to stay at home as much as possible and limit their social contacts. Maximum limits at public and private gatherings are being introduced as well. Lastly, requirements for mouth protection at indoor events is being re-introduced. The measures will apply starting from Wednesday and will be valid for at least for weeks onwards.The Omicron strain is spreading rapidly in Norway, now present in all counties, with a doubling of cases over the past week, national broadcaster NRK reported.At the same time, the number of hospitalised with COVID-19 reached a record high since the start of the pandemic, 358, the Norwegian Directorate of Health reported.In addition to concrete measures, the government also voiced plans to speed up vaccination and has set the goal that everyone over the age of 45 should receive their booster shot before mid-January.According to calculations from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (FHI), in three weeks there may be between 90,000 and 300,000 new cases of infection daily (in a nation of only 5.2 million), with a risk of up to 200 new hospital patients every day, if the spread of infection isn't slowed down significantly.Assistant Health Director Espen Rostrup Nakstad compared the infection situation with the Omicron strain to that of March 2020, before the vaccination programme was underway. He emphasised that infection and hospitalisation rates are rising and that the vaccines don't seem to provide full protection against the Omicron variant.Frode Forland, director of infection control at FHI, argued that in the current situation it is better to be safe than sorry.Even if the Omicron strain would prove to cause milder illness, there is a risk that there will be such a large spread in society that there will still be an increased burden on healthcare, Forland told Swedish national broadcaster SVT, predicting that the new strain is about to take over in all of Scandinavia.Forland, too, emphasised the benefits of speedy vaccination in order to prevent congestion within the healthcare system.Norway has fully vaccinated 72 percent of its population. Since the start of the pandemic, it has seen a total of 318,000 cases, with 1,136 deaths amid a rising COVID-19 curve and record infection rates.

https://sputniknews.com/20211213/several-hundred-danes-infected-with-omicron-strain-despite-being-jabbed-three-times-1091477197.html

TruePatriot Absolutely outrageous. All over what resembles a mild flu. It appears they want to enrich Big Pharma, kill off alot of people with the death in a bottle jabs or from lockdowns, and not gain herd immunity,. It is time the people wrest control away from these governmental loons and re-assert themselves. End the tyranny, the scamdemic is over. 6

astrodetective And what of the ordinary Flu? Seems to have totally disappeared. The usual strain of politicians with Big back $$$ Pharma pockets 5

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https://sputniknews.com/20211214/omicron-now-makes-up-29-of-coronavirus-variants-circulating-in-us--cdc-1091519663.html

Omicron Now Makes Up 2.9% of Coronavirus Variants Circulating in US  CDC

Omicron Now Makes Up 2.9% of Coronavirus Variants Circulating in US  CDC

WASHINGTON (Sputnik)  The Omicron strain is 2.9% of all circulating coronavirus variants in the United States as of last week, while the Delta variant remains... 14.12.2021, Sputnik International

2021-12-14T15:31+0000

2021-12-14T15:31+0000

2021-12-14T15:31+0000

us

cdc

omicron strain

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The latest ratio of circulating variants shows almost a fivefold increase in the frequency of Omicron in the US over the course of just one week.At the same time, the new data show that Omicron makes up over 13% in New Jersey and New York as well as Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.The United States is experiencing a new surge in COVID-19-related infections, hospitalizations and deaths. On Friday, the CDC said the number of new coronavirus cases was up 37% as compared to last week, and the number of COVID-19-related deaths per week had increased by 28%.On Monday, California authorities reinstated an indoor mask mandate for all non-exempt individuals through January 15 in order to mitigate the spread of the Omicron variant during the holiday season.

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https://sputniknews.com/20211214/putin-xi-and-the-power-of-siberia-1091523433.html

Putin, Xi and the Power of Siberia

Putin, Xi and the Power of Siberia

Topping the agenda in the videoconference between the Russian and Chinese leaders this week are two interrelated topics: the aggression being ramped up by the... 14.12.2021, Sputnik International

2021-12-14T18:26+0000

2021-12-14T18:26+0000

2021-12-14T18:26+0000

russia

china

power of siberia

opinion

op-ed

column

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Both Russia and China are coming under frenetic geopolitical attack from Washington and its European minions in recent weeks. More than the usual normal hostility, that is. Paradoxically, Moscow and Beijing are being accused with evermore shrill claims of threatening the rules-based order with aggression.A hysterical Western media campaign has built up the narrative that Russias President Putin is planning to invade Ukraine even though the evidence for such irrational claims is of the usual evanescent kind that drives most Western propaganda.Likewise, there is a similar media campaign to demonize Chinas President Xi Jinping for plotting to militarily invade the restive Chinese province of Taiwan.Fresh from his weekend trip to Europe warning about alleged Russian invasion plans, the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is touring Southeast Asia this week promoting denunciations of China for aggressive actions and for allegedly threatening global commerce worth $3 trillion passing through the South China Sea every year.Videoconferences initiated by US President Joe Biden with Xi and Putin have not served to tamp down tensions. If anything, the tensions are increasing due to unrelenting hostile rhetoric from the Biden administration continuing to air provocative accusations of aggression by Russia and China. Biden said he doesnt want a Cold War or confrontation with Russia or China. But the persistent rhetoric shows the opposite.With regard to Russia, it seems clearer that one objective in the geopolitical offensive (driven by dutiful Western media) is the cancellation of the Nord Stream 2 gas project between Russia and Europe. The 1,200-kilometer undersea pipeline has been completed earlier this autumn despite long-held opposition from Washington. The Americans want to sell their own more expensive and dirty shale gas to Europe.Now the new German government seems to be toeing the US line on objecting to Nord Stream 2. Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, who has long been opposed to the project, is saying that the Nord Stream 2 pipeline may be scrapped because of Russias aggression towards Ukraine.This is exactly the same line spouted by US Secretary of State Blinken who has cited Russias purported threat to Ukraine as a reason for Europe to bury the Nord Stream 2 partnership.In other words, the Americans seem to have at last found an acceptable  albeit spurious  rationale for the pliable Europeans to adopt. Namely, punish Russia by canceling energy trade for its alleged transgressions towards Ukraine. No matter that the narrative is hysterical fantasy and no matter that Europe will likely be hit with a massive gas crisis from soaring prices and lost supplies from Russia.In dealing with such Russophobic people like those in the Biden administration and the new German government the reality is that Russia can never win the argument. No reasonable argument or amount of evidence can change such prejudiced minds.Blinken and Baerbock are saying that Russia must deescalate the tensions with Ukraine in order to prove that Moscow is a responsible power. But how can Russia deescalate a situation that has been escalated by Washington and its NATO partners with regard to tensions over Ukraine from their support to the Russophobic Kiev regime?China, like Russia, is at a disadvantage in trying to dialogue with Washington and its European vassals. Like Moscow, Beijing is being demanded to prove a negative, that is, deescalate tensions over Taiwan when in fact it is the US that is winding up the tensions.It, therefore, seems highly significant that Putin and Xi are discussingUS and NATO aggression in the same forum as bilateral energy trade. The US aggression towards Russia is certainly about sabotaging Moscows strategic trade with Europe, which European political leaders are stupidly duped into playing along with.A powerful response from Russia and China would be for their leaders to announce plans to expand bilateral energy trade. That strategic partnership between Moscow and Beijing has been growing steadily over the past decade and more. But there is a lot more room for expansion of Russian gas and oil supplies to China since it has become the worlds leading economy and will be for decades to come. According to global energy analysts, Russias vast Siberian energy resources could be gradually redirected from existing European markets. That might take time and more ambitious infrastructure for pipelines, but it is eminently doable in a strategic pivot.Russia and China sharing land transits for energy trade would also remove the menacing threats by the United States to cut off global maritime chokepoints as a way of pressurizing Beijing.For Washington and its European lackeys accusing Russia of weaponizing energy trade with Nord Stream 2 and Ukraine transit, a superlative blow to such propaganda would be Russia and China saying to the US and EU: OK, you ingrates, deal with your futile energy problems, we are getting on with advancing much bigger strategic business.Why waste Siberian power on fools?

https://sputniknews.com/20211207/us-would-urge-germany-to-halt-nord-stream-2-pipeline-if-russia-invades-ukraine-reports-say-1091327111.html

Anton Krupp If Germany scraps Nordstream 2 Russia should simply stop supplying any gas to Europe, close their airspace to European and US airlines, expel all Western Diplomats and halt deliveries of strategic minerals such as Titanium and rare earth minerals. Russia should concentrate on China and the East. 11

Lin Wren I truly think that both China and Russia should say enough & withdraw all services, exports & help from USA & EU. At least it would be their choice to live without lies, cooked up stories. Let them feel the pinch & consequences 9

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russia, china, power of siberia, opinion, op-ed, column
https://sputniknews.com/20211214/russias-black-sea-fleet-forces-monitoring-french-frigate-auvergne-1091504502.html

Russia's Black Sea Fleet Monitoring French Frigate Auvergne

Russia's Black Sea Fleet Monitoring French Frigate Auvergne

The Russian Black Sea Fleet forces are keeping a watchful eye on the French frigate Auvergne which has entered the Black Sea, the National Defense Control Centre of the Russian Defence Ministry said on Tuesday

2021-12-14T06:54+0000

2021-12-14T06:54+0000

2021-12-14T07:59+0000

russia

france

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black sea

frigate

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Russia's Black Sea Fleet forces are keeping a watchful eye on the French frigate Auvergne, which has entered the Black Sea, the National Defence Control Centre with the Russian Defence Ministry said on Tuesday.The statement comes after the Russian Defence Ministry said last week that Su-27 fighters had been scrambled to shadow French Rafale and Mirage-2000 fighter jets, as well as a French Air Force C-135 tanker aircraft as they flew over the Black Sea.Russian fighter crews identified the aerial targets as two tactical fighters - a Mirage-2000 and a Rafale, as well as a C-135 tanker of the French Air and Space Force, and escorted them over the Black Sea. After the foreign military aircraft turned away from the state border of the Russian Federation, the Russian fighters safely returned to their home base. A violation of the state border was not allowed to occur, the ministry pointed out.Although France has not deployed a warship to the Black Sea since September 2020, surveillance flights and missions to probe the security of Russia's maritime borders were conducted in February and May 2021, with Russian jets scrambled to intercept and escort the potential intruders each time.The deployment of the Auvergne frigate comes as NATO has been beefing up its military foothold in the Black Sea region amid Western media reports that Russia may be planning an invasion of Ukraine, allegations that Moscow rejects as unsubstantiated.On Monday, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told Sputnik that the US is inexplicably fixated on the idea that there is a threat of a Russian invasion of Ukraine.The US and its allies have repeatedly accused Russia of a troop buildup at the countrys border with Ukraine as possible preparation for an invasion.Russia denies the accusations, saying that NATO's military activity near the Russian borders poses a threat to the countrys security and that Moscow reserves the right to move its troops on its own territory.

https://sputniknews.com/20211213/not-provoking-russia-doesnt-work-ukraine-mod-whines-berlin-blocked-nato-lethal-weapons-supply-1091488851.html

keyboardcosmetics If the world was a bar, America would be the angry drunk waving around a loaded gun. Yeah, the other people in the bar might be afraid of him, but they sure as hell dont respect him. ~ American commentator. 6

greg1242 Sink it! 5

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https://sputniknews.com/20211214/top-indian-court-paves-way-for-army-to-deploy-brahmos-smerch-rocket-along-border-with-china-1091510008.html

Top Indian Court Paves Way for Army to Deploy BrahMos, Smerch Rocket Along Border with China

Top Indian Court Paves Way for Army to Deploy BrahMos, Smerch Rocket Along Border with China

The Indian Defence Ministry approached the Supreme Court after some environmentalists sought to ban three highway projects in the Himalayan state of... 14.12.2021, Sputnik International

2021-12-14T11:59+0000

2021-12-14T11:59+0000

2021-12-14T11:59+0000

tibet

pla

uttarakhand

chinese people's liberation army (pla)

ladakh region

border clashes

china

indian army

supreme court of india

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The Supreme Court of India has granted the military permission to widen three highways connecting strategic passes along the border with China from 5.5 metres to 10 metres. The court categorically said that there could not be judicial review over defense requirements.During the previous hearing on 12 November, government lawyer Kottayan Katankot Venugopal argued that given the turning radius of the Smerch rocket launcher on a curve is 35 metres, and the BrahMos missile carrier is 42 metres long, it is a huge task for the army to bring the equipment to the Chinese border from 5.5 metres highways.With Tuesday's order, the Border Road Organisation (BRO) of the Defence Ministry can begin expanding the breadth of the Rishikesh to Mana, Gangotri, and Tanakpur-Pithoragarh highways in Uttarakhand state, which is in the middle sector of the 3488 km Line of Actual Control (LAC).The supreme court has made it clear to petitioners that feeder roads to India-China border will also be double lane paved shoulder configuration even if they are in a hilly region.The road-widening project was challenged by Citizens for Green Doon, a local NGO that red-flagged destruction to the fragile Himalayan ecosystem.Satellite images and reports show that China has improved infrastructure along the LAC and built airstrips, helipads, roads, and railway networks, indicating that People's Liberation Army troops will be deployed round the year in the region.India and China have continued their deployment of military assets in the second consecutive winter in the Himalayas after two armies were embroiled in a bloody face-off in June last year. In the violent face-off that erupted over infrastructure development in the western sector of LAC, 20 Indian soldiers and four PLA troops were killed.

https://sputniknews.com/20211208/india-could-be-attacked-from-all-fronts-china-poses-a-significant-challenge-iaf-chief-warns-1091344302.html

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tibet, pla, uttarakhand, chinese people's liberation army (pla), ladakh region, border clashes, china, indian army, supreme court of india, highways authority of india (nhai), india, china and india clash in new flare-up of border standoff
https://sputniknews.com/20211214/uk-house-of-commons-debates-plan-b-covid-19-measures-as-omicron-spreads-1091509030.html

LIVE: UK House of Commons Debates 'Plan B' COVID-19 Measures as Omicron Spreads

LIVE: UK House of Commons Debates 'Plan B' COVID-19 Measures as Omicron Spreads

The plans, announced by the cabinet, include making face coverings mandatory in public spaces, obliging citizens to show vaccination certificates to visit any major event and encouraging people to work from home amid a surge in Omicron cases of coronavirus.

2021-12-14T11:36+0000

2021-12-14T11:36+0000

2021-12-14T12:07+0000

united kingdom

parliament

uk house of commons

coronavirus

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The House of Commons is gathering to discuss measures to address the coronavirus pandemic. British lawmakers are scheduled to discuss "Plan B" to tackle the pandemic, which includes working from home and more mask-wearing, as well as COVID passports.The tightening of restrictions is under consideration due to the spread of the Omicron variant in the country. According to Deputy PM Dominic Raab, at least 10 people, infected with the strain, have been hospitalised.Around 80 Conservative MPs are expected to rebel against Prime Minister Boris Johnson and vote against the proposed measures.Follow Sputnik's Live Feed to Find Out More!

TruePatriot Moronic is no worse than a light cold or light flu, so stop the stupidity. Plan B is for bollocks. The scamdemic is over, end the tyranny, or let's have a real Prime MInister that will do the right things. And, no, not that idiot turncoat Starmer. 1

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UK House of Commons Debates 'Plan B' COVID-19 Measures as Omicron Spreads UK House of Commons Debates 'Plan B' COVID-19 Measures as Omicron Spreads 2021-12-14T11:36+0000 true PT290M29S

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united kingdom, parliament, uk house of commons, coronavirus, 
https://sputniknews.com/20211214/uk-police-reportedly-arrest-man-trying-to-drive-through-main-gate-of-houses-of-parliament-1091515498.html

UK Police Reportedly Arrest Man 'Trying to Drive Through Main Gate' of Houses of Parliament

UK Police Reportedly Arrest Man 'Trying to Drive Through Main Gate' of Houses of Parliament

A man reportedly attempted to drive into the Houses of Parliament in London via the main gate on Tuesday, The Sun has reported.

2021-12-14T13:10+0000

2021-12-14T13:10+0000

2021-12-14T13:32+0000

uk

london

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metropolitan police

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jaguar

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The man who tried to drive through the main gate of the Houses of Parliament is thought to have been arrested by the police, according to The Sun.The outlet referred to pictures, purportedly from the scene of the incident, allegedly showing police officers surrounding the man and handcuffing him. The alleged suspect is seen wearing grey joggers and a grey shirt, standing behind a blue Jaguar that is said to be parked directly opposite Carriage Gates.According to the report, the incident did not result in any injuries or property damage, and is not being treated as a terrorist incident.No official statement from the Metropolitan Police immediately followed the reports.

Charlie McD Haha. Trying to get out of that pit! 0

Anonymous- as if the world wouldnt' be a better place without the uk parliment 0

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uk, london, arrest, metropolitan police, houses of parliament, jaguar
https://sputniknews.com/20211214/ukrainian-parliament-oks-bill-allowing-foreign-troops-partake-in-drills-in-ukraine-in-2022-1091513472.html

Ukrainian Parliament OKs Bill Allowing Foreign Troops to Partake in Drills in Ukraine in 2022

Ukrainian Parliament OKs Bill Allowing Foreign Troops to Partake in Drills in Ukraine in 2022

KIEV (Sputnik) - The Ukrainian Parliament on Tuesday approved a bill granting admission to units of foreign armed forces to enter the territory of Ukraine in... 14.12.2021, Sputnik International

2021-12-14T12:07+0000

2021-12-14T12:07+0000

2021-12-14T12:25+0000

ukraine

drills

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The decision was supported by 318 lawmakers, with the required minimum of 226 votes. The document is now to be signed by President Volodymyr Zelensky.The Ukrainian president registered the bill last month.In late January, the Ukrainian Parliament passed a law allowing foreign troops to enter the country to participate in this year's exercises. It was later signed by Zelensky.Ukraine bans the operation of any military formations on its territory unless it is provided for by law. The deployment of foreign military bases is also illegal in the country, so each time a special law is proposed by the president and adopted by the parliament to allow foreign forces to take part in military drills.

vot tak This is "code" to cover bringing in merc terrorists from abroad to continue the israeloamerican war on the Donbas. 3

TruePatriot So, then, it's game on in Donbass with the foreign militaries, eh clown Z? Beware the bear is all I can say if you harm or attack Russians there. 2

2

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ukraine, drills
https://sputniknews.com/20211214/un-high-commissioner-taliban-beheaded--hanged-dozens-leaving-bodies-on-display-to-instill-fear-1091524130.html

UN High Commissioner: Taliban Beheaded & Hanged Dozens, Leaving Bodies on Display to Instill Fear

UN High Commissioner: Taliban Beheaded & Hanged Dozens, Leaving Bodies on Display to Instill Fear

The members of the Taliban killed dozens via beheading and hanging over four months they have been in charge of Afghanistan in extrajudicial killings, UN Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights Nada Al-Nashif has said.

2021-12-14T20:01+0000

2021-12-14T20:01+0000

2021-12-14T19:56+0000

asia & pacific

afghanistan

killings

beheading

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Members of the Taliban* killed dozens via beheadings and hangings over the four months that they have been in charge of Afghanistan, UN Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights Nada Al-Nashif said in a statement for the UN Human Rights Council.According to Al-Nashif, over 100 citizens and former members of the Afghan national security forces have been killed since the middle of August, with at least 72 of those killings carried out by the members of the group. At least 50 more victims of Taliban extrajudicial killings are members of Daesh-K**  a splinter group of the notorious terrorist organisation which was responsible for numerous bombings across Afghanistan  including the deadly blast at Kabul airport in August.Al-Nashif expressed grave concern over the killings in the light of previous promises by the Taliban to refrain from exerting revenge against workers in the previous Western-backed regime.She said that eight Afghan activists and two journalists have also been killed since the Taliban came to power on 15 August. The UN deputy high commissioner further noted that 59 unlawful detentions and threats to journalists and activists have currently been registered. Al-Nashif also reported the group as recruiting "child soldiers" and limiting women's basic rights.Taliban spokesman Qari Sayed Khosti rejected the report by the UN deputy high commissioner, insisting that it was poorly substantiated. Khosti stated that the killings were not the result of Taliban revenge against former workers, but a result of "personal rivalries and enmities".The insurgent group, which seized power within months after the US announced its withdrawal from Afghanistan, promised not to harm members of the security forces if they gave up their weapons, although numerous media reports suggest that they did the opposite. The Taliban earlier urged all officials - regardless of gender - in the previous regime to return to their duties after the seizure of Kabul. The insurgent group promised to build an inclusive government, but in its current form, there are no women in any positions of responsibility.*The Taliban is an organisation under the UN sanctions over terrorist activities**Daesh-K (also known as ISIS-K or the Islamic State-Khorasan Province) is a terrorist organisation banned in Russia

https://sputniknews.com/20211213/former-afghan-ambassador-reveals-what-has-to-be-done-by-taliban-to-gain-international-recognition-1091496092.html

Thraxite A lot of nations have the death penalty for traitors. Saudi Arabia has it for witches and warlocks and has done mass beheadings for years. Why does Afghanistans' action require censure, when US allies don't? 3

TruePatriot And, she knows this how when there are no westerners there to report the facts. Sounds like typical western "intelligence" hasbara. 3

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asia & pacific, afghanistan, killings, beheading
https://sputniknews.com/20211214/us-palestinian-officials-mark-first-meeting-in-five-years-with-virtual-conference-1091524607.html

US, Palestinian Officials Mark First Economic Meeting in Five Years With Virtual Conference

US, Palestinian Officials Mark First Economic Meeting in Five Years With Virtual Conference

In 2016, members of the US government and the Palestinian Authority met in Ramallah to hold the first US-Palestinian Economic Dialogue (USPED) since 2004. At... 14.12.2021, Sputnik International

2021-12-14T19:38+0000

2021-12-14T19:38+0000

2021-12-14T20:34+0000

us

virtual

conference

palestine

tel aviv

ramallah

washington dc

israel

foreign aid

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After some five years without scheduled talks, US and Palestinian officials met virtually on Tuesday to renew the US-Palestinian Economic Dialogue, the US Department of State and Palestinian Authority said in a same-day joint statement. Senior officials from both governments discussed a range of topics, including US regulations, infrastructure development, access to US markets, possible US-Palestinian business connections, and obstacles to Palestinian economic development. The discussions come as Palestinian foreign aid revenue continues a decade-long decline, particularly observing an 89.6% decrease in revenue for the first three months of 2021, according to Palestinian Finance Ministry data. Pressing financial issues, as well as renewable energy and environmental initiatives were also addressed during the virtual dialogue. Yael Lempert, US Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern Affairs, asserted to dialogue attendees that the Biden administration believes Palestinians deserve freedom, security, and prosperity. Additional attendees included Palestinian Minister of National Economy Khaled al-Osaily; Palestine Monetary Authority (PMA) Governor Dr. Feras Milhem; Minister of Information Technology and Communication Ishaq Sider; and Chairman of the Palestinian Energy & Natural Resources Authority Zafer Melhem. Earlier this week, Stephan Salameh, the Palestinian Prime Minister's Adviser for Planning and Aid Coordination, emphasized the importance of the resumption of dialogue with the US, "especially under the current US administration." "The US administration has promised to return financial support to the Palestinian treasury, but what is delaying this is the US law that limit[s] direct support to the Palestinian government, especially the operational support to the treasury, which was going to sustain salaries and poor families," Salameh said, referring to Trump-era legislation that restricted some $200 million in aid to the Palestinian Authority.

TruePatriot And where were the discussions about the zios being removed from Palestinian land? 2

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us, virtual, conference, palestine, tel aviv, ramallah, washington dc, israel, foreign aid
https://sputniknews.com/20211214/us-working-with-allies-on-alternatives-as-european-states-vent-frustration-over-iran-nuclear-talks-1091511011.html

US Working With Allies on 'Alternatives' as European States Vent Frustration Over Iran Nuclear Talks

US Working With Allies on 'Alternatives' as European States Vent Frustration Over Iran Nuclear Talks

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has revealed that the US has been working on "alternatives" in case the Vienna talks with Iran and other parties to the Iran nuclear deal fail.

2021-12-14T11:06+0000

2021-12-14T11:06+0000

2021-12-14T11:06+0000

world

us

iran

iran nuclear deal

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Secretary of State Antony Blinken has revealed that the US has been working on "alternatives" in case the Vienna talks with Iran and other parties to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA, also known as the Iran nuclear deal) fail.Blinken went on to warn that the timeline for restoring the JCPOA was limited. He insisted that the nuclear accord will "become an empty shell" if there is no "swift progress" in the negotiations.The US secretary of state is not the only party to the talks trying to hurry up Tehran to reach common ground with the signatories. UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss insisted that the ongoing round of talks in Vienna is Iran's "last chance to come to the negotiating table with a serious resolution".At the same time, AP has reported that European diplomats are growing increasingly frustrated with the lack of progress and blame Iran for wasting "precious time". They did not elaborate on why time is limited for restoring the deal devised to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons, which Tehran insists it doesn't seek.The diplomats from the UK, Germany, and France  signatories to the original 2015 deal alongside the US, Russia, and China  reportedly accused Tehran of coming up with unrealistic demands.Iran seeks to restore the JCPOA to its original state with all US sanctions lifted from the Islamic Republic and guarantees set in place to ensure compliance in the future.In 2018, the Trump administration voluntarily and unilaterally withdrew from the 2015 accord, imposing hefty economic sanctions on Tehran and jeopardising the nuclear deal. The new administration in Washington, however, declared that it wanted to restore the JCPOA and was willing to engage in talks. The first round was held in May and achieved a measure of success, according to those who participated in the talks.These talks were cut short after Iran elected a new government in June. Negotiations resumed at the end of November, but western diplomats claim that Tehran has backtracked on many things achieved during the previous round of talks in Vienna.

https://sputniknews.com/20211213/tehran-reportedly-getting-ready-for-space-satellite-launch-amid-vienna-talks-on-iran-nuclear-deal-1091485002.html

vot tak The first paragraph said very clearly this article would be from an israeloamerican pov and would promote their propaganda. I stopped reading it at that point. Thumbs down, zio-media hack. 6

shahid khan frustrated because they cannot railroad iran. the world watches and laughs ! 6

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world, us, iran, iran nuclear deal
https://sputniknews.com/20211214/watch-tplf-spokesman-admits-group-was-directed-by-us-to-take-control-of-ethiopian-capital-1091525689.html

Watch: TPLF Spokesman Admits Group Was Directed by US to Take Control of Ethiopian Capital

Watch: TPLF Spokesman Admits Group Was Directed by US to Take Control of Ethiopian Capital

In a recent interview on Tigray TV, a TPLF spokesperson said the group, categorized as a terrorist organization in Ethiopia, was directed by the US to seize power. Publicly, Washington has maintained a position of neutrality.

2021-12-14T21:31+0000

2021-12-14T21:31+0000

2021-12-14T21:32+0000

ethiopia

africa

proxy

tplf (tigray people's liberation front)

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Chinas intention is clear so I understand it. Whereas, the intention of the Americans is for us to enter Addis, TPLF spokesperson Getachew Reda told Tigray TVs Dimsti Woyane on December 8, according to a translation from Tigrinya by the Ethiopian outlet Borkena.Americas concern is ridiculous and transactional. It looks like the Americans couldnt make up their mind about us capturing Addis Ababa. There are interest groups who want Abiy to continue putting the country up for sale, and who do not want him to stop selling the countrys indispensable resources recklessly.In a statement given to the US state media Voice of Americas Amharic-language service on Monday, the US Department of State denied Getachews comments, saying the US has never encouraged the TPLF to expand its military operations or enter Addis Ababa.As Sputnik reported, the Western diplomats praised the TPLFs gains and floated various scenarios about how Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, the countrys first democratically-elected leader, might be forced to step down.The secretive meeting occurred under the auspices of a TPLF-connected think tank set up with financial backing from the US Agency for International Development (USAID), which is part of the US State Department, and the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), a CIA front group used to funnel support to US-aligned groups.US Stays Neutral in PublicDespite the revelations, Washington has continued to maintain an official image of neutrality. A Sunday statement by the US Department of State urged both the TPLF and Abiys government to begin a peaceful dialogue without preconditions and to launch inquiries into alleged human rights violations by the TPLF in Afar and Amhara.Over the last 13 months, since the conflict began, the US has sanctioned both the Ethiopian government and its Eritrean allies for allegations of using denial of food aid as a weapon against the rebels and actions that have contributed to the crisis and conflict, which have undermined the stability and integrity of the Ethiopian state." However, similar punishments have not been meted out against the TPLF, despite evidence suggesting they seized hundreds of aid trucks belonging to the UN World Food Program that were intended for Tigrayan civilians.The TPLF ruled Ethiopia for 27 years, during which time it constructed a federal system to control the countrys dozens of other ethnicities and moved most of its military and industries into the northern Tigray state. During that time, Ethiopia cooperated closely with the US War on Terror and the newly formed US Africa Command, providing facilities and troops that were key to advancing US interests on the continent, such as the 2006 invasion of Somalia that overthrew the Islamic Courts Union government. They also waged a devastating war against Eritrea, which had recently won independence from Ethiopia, that cost more than 120,000 lives.Rebels Seek Return to DominanceAbiy came to power in 2018 after the TPLFs allied ethnic parties rejected another TPLF candidate and selected him, an Oromo, instead. While he has continued cooperation with the US, Abiy has also weakened the TPLFs dominating position in Ethiopian politics with centralizing political reforms, and he signed a peace treaty with Eritrea that won him a Nobel Peace Prize. Under his government, the country has also continued its drift toward China, penning a number of infrastructure projects with Chinese firms and buying Chinese-made weapons.The TPLFs southern advance along Highway 2 toward Addis Ababa was stalled in November about 190 kilometers away from the capital city, and a counterattack by the ENDF has pushed the TPLF back by hundreds of kilometers.The UN estimates that more than 4 million people have been displaced by the conflict, with more than 70,000 crossing the border into Sudan, creating a massive humanitarian crisis. The WFP estimates 9.4 million Ethiopians are in need of food assistance.

Rot Hchild Two faced Ashkanazi Israeli controlled US A- 'democrazy for thee but not for me'. Rothschilds Inc uses arsonist fireman syndrome to control humanity - create the crisis by secretly funding terrorism then save the day by fighting terrorism. George Bush grandfather Prescott help fund Hitler and Imperial Japan before world war 2 with the help of EU banksters like the Rothschilds. When their Nazi and Japan project was failing because of Russian and Communist advances this was when UK/US entered the war. The same trick was used with their ISIS project in Syria, while pretending to fight ISIS, but arming them at the same time. Profit is made selling weapons and gaining new territory. 8

TruePatriot More forked tongue evil from the West. 6

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ethiopia, africa, proxy, tplf (tigray people's liberation front)
https://sputniknews.com/20211214/what-the-hell-was-that-trump-was-furious-with-bibi-over-move-to-push-into-west-bank-author-says-1091501075.html

'What the Hell Was That?': Trump Was Furious With Bibi Over Move to Push Into West Bank, Author Says

'What the Hell Was That?': Trump Was Furious With Bibi Over Move to Push Into West Bank, Author Says

Speaking to The Forward about his forthcoming book, Ravid detailed that Trump was irate after the White House's unveiling of its Middle East Peace plan on January 28, 2020, was interpreted by Netanyahu's government as a green light to annex West Bank.

2021-12-14T04:43+0000

2021-12-14T04:43+0000

2021-12-14T04:38+0000

tel aviv

donald trump

west bank

us

benjamin netanyahu

washington dc

israel

palestinians

jared kushner

middle east peace

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As details continue to emerge from Trump's colorful Axios interviews, journalist Barak Ravid is providing the public with even more background on the complicated relationship between Bibi and Trump in another excerpt from his book: "Trump's Peace: The Abraham Accords and the Reshaping of the Middle East." Speaking to The Forward about his forthcoming book, Ravid detailed that Trump was irate after the White House's unveiling of its Middle East Peace plan on January 28, 2020, was interpreted by Netanyahu's government as a green light to extend sovereignty to the West Bank. At the time, Trump's relationship with Netanyahu was already strained, as Trump was annoyed that Netanyahu refused to make an "ultimate deal" with the Palestinians and had delayed the release of the proposal, drafted by senior presidential adviser and Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner. The delay was largely due to the Israeli prime minister's inability to gain a majority to form a government following the second election in 2019. "That was the beginning of a change of attitude by Trump," Ravid said, suggesting that Trump felt that the relocation of the embassy to Jerusalem, recognition of Golan Heights and the peace plan were major political moments for his campaign. One administration official recounted to Ravid that Trump was treated "like a flowerpot" by Netanyahu during the rollout, and did not rebound, according to Middle East peace envoy Avi Berkowitz, who informed former Israeli Ambassador to the US Ronald Dermer that "the president doesn't like you guys now." About a month later, Dermer met with Kushner and claimed Netanyahu was questioning whether he could trust the Trump administration. "Dont be mistaken to think that everything that happened in the past three years was for you. We did it because we were serious about peace," Kushner yelled at Dermer, according to Ravid. "To say such a thing about us is disgusting. Get out." Judging by excerpts from Trump's interviews with Ravid, there was no love lost between the two leaders."I don't think Bibi ever wanted to make peace," Trump told Ravid, speaking of the Israeli prime minister's desire to make a peace agreement with the Palestinians during his 12-year reign. "My whole life is deals. I'm like one big deal. That's all I do, so I understand it," Trump asserted.

https://sputniknews.com/20211210/f-him-bitter-trump-bashes-netanyahu-over-bibis-efforts-to-cozy-up-to-biden-1091415003.html

Hess What a dishonest narcissist Jews servant? Trump was a dog on a short Jewish leash. 2

Hatuxka Appeasement by Trump didnt pay off? Kushner and he got played? Shabby failure 1

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https://sputniknews.com/20211214/will-tory-rebellion-over-omicron-emergency-rules-cost-bojo-prime-ministership-1091520864.html

Will Tory Rebellion Over 'Omicron Emergency' Rules Cost BoJo Prime Ministership?

Will Tory Rebellion Over 'Omicron Emergency' Rules Cost BoJo Prime Ministership?

Over 70 Tory MPs rebelled over UK PM Boris Johnson's decision to implement new pandemic restrictions in order to curb the Omicron variant of COVID-19.

2021-12-14T16:54+0000

2021-12-14T16:54+0000

2021-12-14T16:54+0000

boris johnson

world

opinion

rebellion

tory mps

uk

covid-19

omicron strain

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The UK House of Commons opened debates on 14 December over PM Johnson's "Plan B" to tackle the pandemic. The prime minister delivered an address to the nation on Sunday night where he declared an "Omicron emergency". In his speech, he stressed that booster jabs would be offered to everyone over 18 in England starting Monday, 13 December, amid surging cases of the new strain. As of Monday, ten people in England were in hospital with Omicron and at least one person in Britain has died from the new COVID variant, according to the BBC.Tories Outraged Over Johnson's Omicron MeasuresThe British prime minister proposed new anti-coronavirus rules including booster jabs, an enhanced use of the NHS COVID Pass to confirm one's coronavirus status, mandatory face coverings in most indoor public venues, and work-from-home recommendations among other measures.Yet, dozens of Tories rebelled over BoJo's proposals: "The initial evidence on Omicron does not support the measures announced", tweeted Conservative MP Mark Harper. "The protection from vaccines against serious disease and hospitalisation remains strong"."I am unequivocally pro-vaccine but vaccine passports and compulsion are not acceptable in a free society and counterproductive for confidence in vaccines and public health", Tory MP Marcus Fysh earlier tweeted. "I will vote against them".Speaking to the BBC over the weekend, former Brexit Minister Steve Baker argued that the PM's measures are "wrong" and "disproportionate", adding that "there is insufficient evidence that they are necessary".PM's Rules Will Be Passed in Parliament But Resentment is GrowingEven though roughly 70 Tory MPs are expected to vote against some new rules, the Labour Party is eager to support the restrictions, according to Dr Martin Farr, a senior lecturer of contemporary British history at Newcastle University. The opposition party believes that "it's more important to follow medical evidence than to create a defeat for the government", Farr remarks.At the same time, "for a government to have its measures passed because of the opposition parties supporting it when its own MP won't, looks very bad", according to the academic.A rebellion of this size is "a substantial blow to Johnson's standing and that of the government", echoes Wyn Grant, professor of politics at the University of Warwick.Johnson's political conduct has been triggering growing concerns among his party fellows over the last two months. The government's attempt to shield Tory MP Owen Paterson in a sleaze scandal, BoJo's "shambolic" speech to the CBI where Johnson spoke of his trip to Peppa Pig World and plummeting polls are seemingly unnerving Britain's Tories.Will BoJo Lead Tories Into the 2023 Elections?It is unlikely that the "Omicron emergency" will spell an end to Johnson's days as PM in the near term, according to the observers.There appears to be no way that he would resign unless he was challenged and defeated in a leadership election, which happened to Theresa May, argues Farr. At the same time, the academic notes that Conservatives are divided as to whether Johnson should be leading their party into the 2023 election."The events of the last few months have made it less likely, but still it depends on polls, how he's polling with the public", Farr notes. "It depends on the by-election in North Shropshire on Thursday".For the next two weeks the prime minister will be "safe" as there will be no politics or news due to the Christmas holidays, the academic says, adding, however, it's difficult to predict what the future has in store for BoJo.

https://sputniknews.com/20211214/uk-house-of-commons-debates-plan-b-covid-19-measures-as-omicron-spreads-1091509030.html

https://sputniknews.com/20211214/boris-johnson-faces-largest-tory-rebellion-of-his-prime-ministership-as-mps-vote-on-new-covid-rules-1091502975.html

Thomas Turk WOT Omicron, Ekaterina? Why don't you do an expose of the newly released Pfiser injection side effect data.. for haven't the Western MSM non-stop hammered the SputnikV dead-virus, not spike protein vax?? Western Standard. WATCH: BC Doctor reviews shocking stats from released Pfizer documents. Doctor Daniel Nagase, in an exclusive interview, reviewed recently-released safety data on Pfizer-BioNTechs COVID-19 vaccine. By February of 2021, Pfizer had already received more than 1,200 reports of deaths allegedly caused by the vaccine and tens of thousands of reported adverse events, including 23 cases of spontaneous abortions out of 270 pregnancies and more than 2,000 reports of cardiac disorders. 0

hp b Perfidious Igor, errrrr I mean Boris.. 0

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boris johnson, world, opinion, rebellion, tory mps, uk, covid-19, omicron strain
Nathan Sobey just spent a week in Las Vegas. The way this year has been going it's a wonder he didn't walk out of there with the Mirage hotel/casino in one pocket and Caesar's Palace in another.

There is hot and then there is Sobey hot. Fifth in Canada with a magnificent .448 Universal Trainer Rating and sixth in Canada for driving with a Universal Driver Rating percentage of .371, Sobey said this year has been a "wicked dream." (Statistics for trainers and drivers with 100 starts or more, as of December 6).

But it's no dream. It's as real as rain. The Alberta horseman has had a season for the ages. He has been the 1976-77 Montreal Canadiens or Babe Ruth of 1921. As a trainer, Sobey has won with 65 horses from 234 starts along with 51 seconds and 33 thirds. As a driver, Sobey has 64 wins from 278 outings. He also finished second 46 times and third 41 times.

"Every horse in the barn has had a stellar year," said Sobey, who turns 30 on Friday. "The hardest thing to come to terms with is realizing this kind of a year doesn't happen all the time. It's been a freak year. I'd love to follow it up again and again. But I have to understand that I may never have a year like this again."

It's not just the sum total either that should have Sobey voted Alberta's top horseman. Four horses in particular -- all top candidates for year-end honours -- have had especially great campaigns in 2021 for Sobey: Icy Blue Scooter, Exotic Dragon, Divine Art and Sometime Somewhere.

Icy Blue Scooter, with this past Friday's win at Century Mile giving him eight wins this year, should have him in line for champion aged horse.

"Icy Blue Scooter has been remarkable," said Sobey, who owns the eight-year-old with Diane Bertrand and Robert Gilhespy. "He's my pet. He's a very personable horse. It's his willingness to win races that sets him apart. He figured out how to win and he loves to win."

And how. Icy Blue Scooter has been to the winner's circle 37 times for career earnings approaching $300,000. And this from a horse who was claimed for $20,000 on October 6, 2018.

"He was on a lot of people's radar. He had been racing for $16,000 and I think a lot of people were waiting for him to drop back down to $16,000," said Sobey. "Finally, I said to myself that if I do wait there would be multiple claims on him. So I jumped on him. We only made some minor changes and put him on a different program."

The little changes obviously worked. Coming into that $20,000 claiming race, Icy Blue Scooter had gone 18 straight races without a win. After Sobey took him, he never saw a claiming price again.

"He's turned into an amazing racehorse. Even now, at the age of eight, he can still slug away. Once he makes the front, he's a hard horse to get past. He will fall asleep on you though. You have to keep him busy."

Exotic Dragon, who also went wire-to-wire on Friday for her 10th victory in 18 starts, is in a three-horse mix for three-year-old filly of the year -- a battle between her, Graceful Horizon and Burning Hot, that will probably be settled on New Year's Eve in the Century Casino Mile Filly Pace. (The Western Canada Pacing Derby is also on the December 31 card.)

"Those three specimens are three of the best three-year-old fillies ever raised in Alberta," said Sobey. "If you finish third to any of those three fillies, you can chalk it up as a win."

If there are eliminations to the Filly Pace, they will take place this Friday at Century Mile. The same is true for the Pacing Derby with eliminations also set for this Friday night.

Exotic Dragon, owned by Robert Jones, came into last Friday's win after a three-race sweep of the Murphy Series at Surrey, B.C.'s Fraser Downs.

"Dave Kelly drove her in the first leg and he didn't have to use her at all," Sobey said of the 4-1/2-length victory. "I was there for the next leg and it was a walk in the park. In the November 4th $75,000 final, she didn't get off the gate as good as I wanted. But when she made the front, the race was over.

"She won by five. Under wraps. She won in 1:55.3. I've gone training miles with her faster than she had to pace," Sobey said of Exotic Dragon, who also won the $50,000 Shirley McClellan and the $45,000 Diamond Stakes. "She crossed the finish line with the bit in her mouth and something saved."

Like Icy Blue Scooter, Exotic Dragon fortunately didn't catch the equine virus, which went through Century Mile forcing the track to miss two weeks of racing.

"Shutting down was the right thing to do," said Sobey. "There were 35 horses scratched because of the virus on opening night, November 19. The Alberta Standardbred Horsemen's Association, Horse Racing Alberta and Century Mile did what was best for the whole industry. It would have been too easy to put in a horse that you didn't know was sick behind the gate. The animals always come first. We're a gambling sport but the horses always come first."

Then there is Divine Art, a two-year-old filly, who won three of her six starts including the Super Finals, Stardust and Emerald Stakes. Divine Art is a slight favourite to win Juvenile Filly of the Year honours over Saphire Blue, the latter winning five of her six starts for trainer Harold Haining with the only loss coming in the Super Finals when she was parked the entire mile after drawing the outside eighth post position.

"Divine Art was green to start. But she became a powerhouse very quickly."

And, finally, there is Sometime Somewhere, who has a very legitimate chance of winning Horse of the Year accolades. Sobey believes the four-year-old who is also owned by Stony Plain's Jones, will prove to be better than even Icy Blue Scooter. Sometime Somewhere won 13 of his 20 starts this year including seven in a row and nine of 11 during one torrid stretch.

"I think Sometime Somewhere will take a mark of 1:49 at some point. I believe he will be one of the fastest pacers to ever come out of the west. We'll probably find that out next summer. I keep telling Bob (Jones) that he's got a really nice horse. He was second (by 2-1/4 lengths) to Icy Blue Scooter last Friday but I thought Sometime Somewhere could beat him. He can't quite get to the old man yet."

Like Divine Art and Exotic Dragon, Sobey got Sometime Somewhere when Canadian Hall-of-Famer Keith Clark, easily the best harness horsemen that Alberta has ever produced, announced he was retiring this summer.

"I got a call from a friend of mine one afternoon and he gave me the heads up that Bob Jones had called him and asked for my phone number. Then I got a call from Keith saying I better get some stalls ready -- that I was going to get some horses coming my way. And then I got a phone call from Bob asking if I would take him as a client. I changed a few little things and Sometime Somewhere just took off. He learned how to race and progressively improved to the point where he could be Horse of the Year."

Having one great horse in a season is special. Having two possible champions is outstanding. Three? Well, that's something you can only dream about. Four? That's simply off the charts. After all this, Sobey wasn't a finalist for the O'Brien Award for Outstanding Canadian Horseperson.

"I'm not bothered by it," said Sobey. "It would have been nice to have been considered for an O'Brien. But Dave Kelly is just as deserving. It gives me something to work toward."

And to think this delicious year for Sobey started off so miserably.

"Some of the COVID restrictions were lifted and we were finally able to race again on May 18. Opening day, first start of the year and I got into a wreck with a horse named Sintaluta, who was trained by Kelly Hoerdt. A horse broke stride and there was a spill. Daryl Thiessen and I both went down. Neither of us could avoid it. I was sent flying. I landed on my head and it knocked me out. The next thing I knew, Daryl and I were on the way to the hospital. I also banged up my hip pretty bad. I was out for three weeks.

"That was the start of 2021. So, no, with COVID and that accident, I never saw this kind of a year coming. It's amazing really. At no point in time did I think we would put up the numbers we have. I'd have a good week and I'd think that was good and if I could have another week even half as good I'd be happy. The good weeks just kept coming. It just kept snowballing and away we went.

"I couldn't do it without the help from my owners, who have given me so any nice horses to train, and the girls in the barn, who keep everything running. The staff works amazingly well together. There's just so many people behind my operation for the reason I'm in the position I am."

Even so, Sobey still isn't satisfied.

"I might go east for a bit and give it a go for three months in the new year. I'm talking with the owners and working on the details now. Maybe I'll take a half dozen horses and look for some new stock. As I've learned over the past several years, the guys making the money and winning races are continually refreshing their stock.

"I've invested in a ton of babies right now. I own three yearlings and the former partners with Keith Clark have given me about 10 more babies. I'm not done yet. I'm looking to acquire some more horses. I'd like to buy some three-year-olds and take advantage of some of that stakes money in Ontario. It's been an unbelievable year. It's been a wicked dream."

(With files from Curtis Stock / thehorses.com)
Ken Weingartner, Media Relations Manager for the United States Trotting Association and a 2019 electee into the Communicators Hall of Fame, has been named Member of the Year of the United States Harness Writers Association (USHWA) by a committee of former winners of the award.

I can think of no one more deserving than Ken Weingartner to be named USHWAn of the Year, said Kim Rinker, USHWA President. "Ken is reticent to toot his own horn, but has provided help and exposure a thousand times over for countless members of the harness racing community. He truly is a standout member of our organization."

Weingartner first went to the harness races with his father before I could walk, and upon returning to his native New Jersey after college and early newspaper work, his harness racing stories attracted the attention of the USTA, and Weingartner worked for the organization to the title he holds today. Weingartner writes feature stories along with previews and reviews of major races, and also is the point man for the weekly Top 10 ranking of star equines.

For USHWA, Weingartner, entering his 20th year of membership in the organization, serves as the secretary of his New Jersey Chapter. He also serves as the Webmaster of the groups online site (usharnesswriters.com). Weingartner has been a longtime chairman of the Broadcasters Awards committee, which yearly honours outstanding journalism, and a co-chair of the Clyde Hirt Workshop Committee, which exposes budding communicators to promulgating the sport during Hambletonian Week.

In addition to his election to the Communicators Hall of Fame, Weingartner has been honoured with the Allen Finkelson Golden Pen Award for excellence in harness racing publicity, and also by Harness Horsemen International.

Ken Weingartner will be honoured at USHWAs Dan Patch Night of Champions Awards Banquet, to be held on Sunday, Feb. 20, 2022 at the Rosen Shingle Creek Resort in Orlando, Florida.

(With files from USHWA)
The Prince Edward Island Harness Racing Industry Association (PEIHRIA) has partnered with Equine Guelph to offer Island horse people a series of Standardbred related educational courses this winter.

These courses will focus on key areas of Standardbred health that will provide participants with additional tools and preventative measures to ensure the well-being of the horses in their care.

The PEIHRIA will offer a 30 per cent discount to the first 50 Island residents who are members of Standardbred Canada that sign up for the following two courses:

 Racehorse Injury/Lameness Prevention and Care

 Racehorse Respiratory Health

Click here to find out more information on how you can register.

(With files from PEIHRIA)
Every year since 1981, when first lady Nancy Reagan first gave approval, the historical association has designed an ornament honoring a president or a key White House anniversary.

The association is working its way through all 46 presidents; Johnson was the 36th.

The 2022 official ornament will honor Richard Nixon, the 37th president, with a design set to be unveiled at his presidential library in Yorba Linda, California, on Presidents Day.

Ornament sales are a major source of money for the nonprofit, nonpartisan historical association, which was created in 1961  60 years ago  by first lady Jacqueline Kennedy to help pay for White House restoration and acquisition projects.

The ornaments have become collectibles, with about 1 million now sold annually, the association said. Sales figures were not provided.

Stewart McLaurin, president of the association, said it used to be that people in Washington would pop into the association's gift shop near the White House to buy ornaments to give away as Christmas presents.
In late 2021 the Israeli Army revealed that an army commando unit had successfully operated inside Gaza during the May 2021 ten-day war. The army team was honored for carrying out a complex operation inside Gaza that played a major part in defeating Hamas quickly. The army would not provide any more details but it is known that teams like this have operated inside the West Bank, Gaza and Syria. This works because Israeli teams consist of troops whose families came from Arab countries. This was known to give Mossad (foreign intelligence agency) a major advantage over intelligence agencies in other nations. That was because in the first few years after Israel was founded in 1948 over a million Jews from all over the world moved to Israel. This proved to be a gold mine of candidates for an organization that analyzed and spied on foreign countries. All these immigrants spoke the language of their former home countries and understood the culture like natives. Thousands of these immigrants joined Mossad over the years, and some of them went back to the countries they were born and raised in to gather information and set up networks of spies. Mossad was thus exceptionally effective at what it did despite Israels small size. Mossad became the envy of much larger intelligence agencies in places like the United States and the Soviet Union. But the Israelis had to be careful because some of those spies were discovered and some caught and executed.

Less publicity was given to the Israeli army and Shin Bet (domestic intelligence) also using Israelis who could pass as Palestinians, Iranians, Iraqis, Lebanese, Egyptians, or Syrians. The army recruits Israeli soldiers, who are doing their mandatory military service, to serve in special army or navy intelligence and commando units. These men are used for commando raids into hostile territory or longer missions where the special operations troops. The intelligence agents or teams operating in enemy territory often go unnoticed by the locals and unpublicized inside Israel. Once out of the army many of these commandos get jobs with Shin Bet or Mossad.

The foreign nations involved give these operatives a lot more publicity, often for missions the Israelis never carried out but the claims make for great ant-Israel propaganda. Most of the Israelis are described as Mossad, but many of the most valuable and dangerous missions are carried out by Shin Bet and the military.

Details of these missions only get publicity in Israel when the teams are detected, take casualties, and require extraordinary Israeli efforts to get the operatives out. For example, in November 2018 an Israeli special operations team was unable to complete its mission because it encountered a group of armed Hamas fighters. The commandos killed the Hamas gunmen (including a senior commander) but lost one of their own and another was wounded. A helicopter arrived within minutes and got the team out while an airstrike assisted in keeping more Hamas gunmen from intervening. Israel did not reveal what the special operations troops were there for but the most likely reason was for intelligence gathering, possibly related to Hamas tunnel construction.

These commando missions in Gaza are quite common and most are never detected by Hamas, or if they do find out about it, they say nothing unless they have managed to kill or wound some of the Israeli operatives. It was later revealed that the Israelis who got detected in 2018 had operated for several weeks in Gaza pretending to be Palestinians working for a foreign medical charity. The Israeli operatives distributed medical supplies and equipment and were not suspected until the team completed its intelligence mission and headed back to Israeli territory. At that point Hamas gunmen at a checkpoint suspected something was not right and the gun battle broke out. When a team is extracted, there are often elaborate backup plans to quickly respond to an emergency and in this case that worked.

Many other intrusion missions are very short term, often using commandos with a few members who can pass as locals to enable the team to get to an objective, destroy it and get out. A July 2014 operation in Gaza involved naval commandos going ashore in southern Gaza and destroying a facility used for launching long range rockets at Israel. Hamas detected the team after the explosions and four of the commandos were wounded. The mission was accomplished and all the commandos returned to Israel.

More recently Israeli commandos have been occasionally crossing the Golan Heights border with Syria to destroy Syrian observation posts that are too close to the Israeli border. Any Syrian observation post that is less than a kilometer (1,000 meters) from the nearest Israeli border fortifications is seen as a threat and are usually destroyed via a night time commando raid. Syria does not acknowledge such raids or disclose casualties. Going in on the ground allowed the Israelis to grab documents and perhaps even a prisoner. In 2020 two of these observation posts, each about 500 meters from the Israeli border, were attacked. It is believed these observation posts were established at the request of Iran and were compiling information on Israeli border activities for future Iranian attacks.

Details of how these operations are carried out are kept secret if possible because as the enemy does not know the details, such techniques can be used again and again, with enough variation to avoid becoming predictable.
In addition to Carter, the Dec. 8 event included a panel discussion featuring private sector representatives Whitney Czelusniak from AEP and Todd Norris from Ballad Health, voices from government including Del. Terry Kilgore and Pulaski County Administrator Jonathan Sweet.

Kilgore, in a pre-recorded message, told the crowd he believes the incoming Youngkin administration in Richmond will be supportive. This is transformational. I think it gives us an opportunity to lead, Kilgore said. Its going to play along Governor-elect Youngkins plans to make our community colleges more involved with public-private partnerships. Bringing business training, education and childcare all into the same room is going to create a win-win for everybody.

Norris said Ballad Health is enthusiastic about Ready SWVA because it brings together players from multiple sectors to address a dire economic need. The issue of access to childcare has hit home for every business in our region and every business in America, Norris said, so it creates a burning platform for us to work together to derive a sustainable solution.
Caja Caliente celebrates the traditional flavors of Cuba while adding a modern twist. This foodie spot has two Miami locations: one brick-and-mortar in Coral Gables and one food truck located in Miamis Design District. We were invited to stop by the food truck and taste some of Caja Calientes most popular menu items for lunch.

We highly recommend stopping by Caja Caliente earlier in the day, as certain menu items are known to sell out quickly.

Inside Look: Lunch at Caja Caliente, Miami

Pan con Pollo

For a fresh and filling lunch, we recommend trying the Pan con Pollo. This shredded chicken sandwich features pico de gallo, potato sticks, cotija cheese and caja aioli served on a pressed Cuban bun. The potato sticks add a tasty crunch while the other ingredients bring out the Cuban flavors. Overall, this is a great chicken sandwich.

Cuban Tacos

Perhaps the most famous offerings at Caja Caliente, The Famous Cuban Tacos are an absolute must-try. A variety of tacos are available, but we went with the Lechon (pulled pork), Pollo (shredded chicken), and Mahi Mahi Tacos.

All three were extremely flavorful and delicious, but if you can only try one it should definitely be the Mahi Mahi Tacos. The fish was cooked to perfection and paired wonderfully with avocado, black bean pico, cabbage and caja aioli. These tacos are ideal for a quick mid-day lunch break.

Caja Caliente also offers a tasty variety of bowls, burritos, pastries, desserts and more. For more information, visit Caja-Caliente.com.
Owners of a new clinic opening in the next several weeks in downtown Longview hope to provide another option for people with severe depression who havent responded to other treatments.

TMS NW provides deep transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), which electrically stimulates the part of the brain responsible for mood regulation through a coil placed over the head. Over time, the treatment lessens depression symptoms in most patients.

In 2017, Brendan Roe, Julia Swofford and Piper Buersmeyer, nurse practitioners specializing in psychiatric medicine, first opened TMS NW in Vancouver. The three met while working together at a different psychology practice and decided to open their clinic after discovering and researching TMS.

We were looking for a means to take care of clients who suffer from severe depression, who were not responding to medications ... and werent getting better, Roe said.

By the time someone has tried three antidepressants, the chance of returning to a normal level of functioning with the fourth is 7%, while with TMS it is 50 to 60%, Roe said. Nationwide, about 75% of patients respond to TMS, meaning their symptoms improve by more than 50%, he said.

About two years after starting TMS NW in Vancouver, Roe, Swofford and Buersmeyer opened a second location in Tigard, Ore., south of Portland. The group said they always wanted to open an office in Longview. The new location on Commerce Avenue is set to open sometime in late December or early January.

TMS NW Address: 1338 Commerce Ave., Suite 202, Longview . Hours: 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays Info: 360-531-7139; admin@tms-nw.com; www.tms-nw.com.

TMS has been studied since the 1980s and was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 2008 to treat adults for treatment-resistant depression, obsessive compulsive disorder, anxiety and smoking cessation. TMS is not shock therapy and is non-invasive.

Patients are not sedated and can drive immediately after treatment. The most common side effects are temporary and include mild pain at the treatment site, headaches, jaw pain and muscle twitching.

The treatment takes about 20 minutes, five days a week for at least six weeks. Buersmeyer said because many clients have been sick for a long time, it often takes longer than six weeks to fully respond.

It initially sounds like a lot of time, a big commitment and it is, Roe said. But when youve been dealing with depression and nothing is working for years, to be free of depression or even have 50% of symptoms reduced, to have that kind of improvement after years in seven weeks is phenomenal.

Talking Business: Fitty Apparel adding locations, taking body positivity national When Fitty Apparels store in the Three Rivers Mall closes for two weeks at the end of December, its not a holiday break. During that time, t

The clinic also provides medication optimization, when providers evaluate how current medications are working, identify areas for improvement and develop a plan to achieve treatment goals. Buersmeyer said the practitioners look at medications with a fresh set of eyes and can sometimes help the client without TMS treatment.

The conception that TMS is reserved for the worst of the worst is not true, and it may be more helpful for people to seek treatment earlier, Buersmeyer said.

The suffering and disability that comes from depression is very expensive, she said. We want to normalize even high functioning clients that want to use TMS.

TMS treatment is not a cure-all, and patients may need to continue medications and psychotherapy, depending on their needs, Buersmeyer said.

A recent review of the clinics numbers found about 3% of patients returned for treatment, Roe said. Returning patients routinely say the treatment works for a time before they notice a backslide, he said.

Ive never had a client say they returned to the original level of severity, Roe said. If youve been depressed for 30 years, it may take a couple turns.

Patients dont need a referral to get TMS treatment. Most insurance plans, including Medicaid, cover the treatment.

If someone has been depressed and has tried two or more medications, they should be calling us to talk about their options, Swofford said.

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A 21-year-old Longview man was sentenced to mandatory sex offender counseling and a year in prison Monday after pleading guilty in September to two counts of child rape in Cowlitz County Superior Court.

Superior Court Judge Thad Scudder approved Demetrius Jones request for an alternative sentencing for sex offenders, instead of issuing prison time only. In addition to a year in prison, Jones was sentenced to receive counseling to prevent him from recommitting sexual offenses, as well as community custody for life.

Longview man pleads guilty to child rape Wednesday A 21-year-old Longview man plead guilty to two counts of child rape Wednesday.

During Mondays court proceedings, Scudder said Jones age has a big impact on the decision Im making here. The defense said Jones was a minor during some of the offenses.

Crime

Jones pleaded guilty Sept. 15 to first-degree child rape and second-degree child rape involving one victim in 2015 and 2016. A presentence investigation report states Jones admitted to harming the victim off and on for at least six years.

Court documents state Jones strangled the victim to prevent the person from speaking about the events. The rapes were discovered when the victim, now 15, went to PeaceHealth St. John Medical Center due to injuries from the assaults in 2019 and told a social worker.

Victim help

Licensed Mental Health Counselor Associate Brenna Amburgey said victims of child sexual abuse manifest trauma in different ways: some are withdrawn, while others act out.

Victim help Counseling Services and Associates, Longview: www.cowlitzcountytherapists.com. Children's Justice and Advocacy Center, Longview: 360-353-3933, www.cowlitzcountycjac.com.

Amburgey said she is one of four employees at Counseling Services and Associates in Longview who offers free short-term services for victims of sexual abuse at any age. She said the counselors have seen children as young as 3, and speaking to a trusted person can help at any time after abuse. Processing feelings can be difficult right after trauma occurs, she added.

Its never too late to talk to someone, she said. Even if it happened years ago, its never too late.

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Cowlitz County District Court Judge Debra Burchett is facing new charges of violating the state Code of Judicial Conduct after allegedly committing several more violations and retaliating against staff who had helped in the initial investigation against her.

In April, a state commission that reviews judicial misconduct reprimanded Burchett for violating seven judicial rules of conduct in January and February 2020, including not advising defendants of their rights at probation review hearings and eliciting statements against defendants self interests.

The report states Burchett received a written reprimand as an intermediate level disciplinary action and would receive additional training. The training requirement was the only action taken by the commission against Burchett.

At the time Burchett, who has been on the bench since 2019, said her mistakes as a new judge were not intentional and that she was working with the commission to take all the necessary steps to correct them.

She had one more violation in 2020 when she didnt let someone into a Zoom hearing. Burchett said Monday that the new allegations were not true and that she and her attorney would issue a full response to the commission within the required 21-day window.

According to the new statement of charges from the Washington State Commission on Judicial Conduct, after the April reprimand in which Burchett agreed to not repeat the violation, the commission received a new complaint against her less than two weeks later.

On May 6, the commission received a complaint alleging Burchett engaged in a conversation with the court administrator which could reasonably be considered retaliatory for the court administrators perceived cooperation in her prior discipline.

Executive Director of the Commission on Judicial Conduct Reiko Callner said language against retaliation is included as part of all commission stipulations, as judges hold positions of power.

Callner said after the commission gets a complaint, it conducts an independent investigation. The judge is contacted confidentially and given a chance to answer the charges.

If that answer doesnt satisfy commission members, Callner said the judge can either agree to a stipulation that lays out corrective actions or hold a contested hearing, which essentially is a trial in front of a panel of commission members. That process is public.

If the charges go to a contested hearing and the panel hands down a stipulation instead of dismissing the charges, then the judge has the right to go to review before the state Supreme Court, Callner said.

If the panel finds the judge violated ethics rules, it can admonish, reprimand or censure the judge. If a judge is censured, the commission can recommend the state Supreme Court suspends or removes the judge from office.

Callner said at any point in the proceedings up to when the commission makes its final decision, the judge also can request a resolution by suggesting a stipulation the commission would then vote on.

According to the commission charging statement, the second investigation into Burchett revealed additional potential ethical concerns, including allegations Burchett directed her clerk to make an ex parte investigation into a probation matter, engaged in an off-the-record discussion with a litigant and then dismissed the matter without apparent legal basis, and that she allegedly awarded a counterclaim in a case when no request for such relief had been requested.

Burchett denied the claims in a written response, but the commission found there was probable cause she had and issued the statement of charges. Burchett has 21 days to respond before the commission takes the next steps of a contested hearing.

Community service hours

The charge document alleges after being reprimanded in April for calling to verify if a defendant performed community service hours, Burchett then had her clerk call on Aug. 13.

Burchett said previously after her first violation, she believed asking a clerk was the proper way to verify as she could not call herself.

However, Callner said the code of ethics forbids judges or staff from ex-parte communication, meaning one-sided communication. In the court system, all parties must be aware of, and informed of, the information which a judge is presented. Judges are supposed to be neutral arbiters of disputes, Callner said, and are not supposed to do independent investigations.

Off-the-record dismissal

Another alleged violation was on Aug. 18, when Burchett allegedly told a litigant contesting a traffic infraction that, although he was requesting dismissal, given the evidence and his admission, it was clear he had committed the infraction.

Then she had an off-the-record discussion with him, came back on the record and dismissed the infraction without stating a reason or explaining the interruption in the recording, according to the commission document.

Retaliation

The document also alleges Burchett confronted the court administrator on May 5 over the administrators comments when she was contacted by the press following the public filing of the reprimand.

This gave the appearance that Judge Burchett was retaliating against the court administrator for her suspected cooperation with the Commission in that proceeding, the documents said.

Counterclaim

In a June 21 hearing, the charging document also alleges Burchett awarding a judgment as a counterclaim in a case where the defendants had not actually filed for a counterclaim. Thats contrary to basic law, the document said, and failed to give the plaintiffs an opportunity to be heard.

Callner said the goal of commission intervention and enforcement of the code of ethics is to try to improve the conduct of the judge and give the public some measure of confidence, and restore the publics confidence in both the specific judge and the judiciary as a whole.

Under Burchetts original stipulation, she was directed to re-familiarize herself with the code of ethics in its entirety within 30 days, work with a mentor judge preapproved by the commission and also take at least four hours of ethics training approved in advance in the next year.

Callner said the commission rules direct the commission to consider both aggregating and mitigating factors, including prior discipline and patterns of behavior.

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The experiment area in Rizhao, Shandong. The area covers typical surface types including urban construction land, sea, arable land, forest, grassland, wetland, railway, and port. Credit: AIR

With the landing of a MA60 aircraft, a comprehensive remote sensing experiment wrapped up in Rizhao City, Shandong Province on November 30, 2021.

Starting November 7, the mission lasted for 24 days. Eight flights covering more than 10,000 square kilometers were carried out in Rizhao, bringing back data in visible light and synthetic aperture radar (SAR).

These data will provide solid support to civil applications and scientific research such as multi-band/multi-polarization SAR data fusion, ground object classification, quantitative analysis of target characteristics, high-precision extraction of typical surface elements, safety risk prediction and early warning along the high-speed railways.

The MA60 aircraft is part of China's Airborne Remote Sensing System (ARSS), a national major S&T infrastructure hosted by the Aerospace Information Research Institute (AIR), Chinese Academy of Sciences.

ARSS consists of two medium-sized manned aircrafts together with a range of remote sensing technologies developed by AIR. The two MA60 aircrafts consist of a remote sensing platform with complex modification, multiple equipment, and high observation efficiency. They can load, at the same time, radars and optical devices synchronously on board.

ARSS, which is integrated with SAR, infrared, lidar and optical aeronautical equipment, also incorporates the functions of real-time processing and satellite communication, contributing to emergency-response operations, including disaster prevention and reduction.

According to the Airborne Remote Sensing Center with AIR, more airborne remote sensing missions will be carried out over this area based on ARSS, and the other MA60 remote sensing aircraft, which carries multi-band SAR and hyperspectral equipment, will be taken as the flight platform.

With the help of this integrated airborne experiment platform, scientists can obtain more kinds of comprehensive scientific data under multi-temporal, multi-payload, multi-viewing angles, multi-altitude and multi-control flying conditions in varied regions.

Based on acquired data, a standard and quantitative scientific dataset of aerial remote sensing time series will be produced for agriculture, disaster reduction, ecology, urban development, and other research purposes.
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

Climate-neutral shipping by 2050 requires immediate action. The question is which green fuels to focus on. Ammonia is one of them, according to a new report.

Today, the maritime sector accounts for three percent of the world's total greenhouse gas emissions. This figure is expected to increase, and if we are to succeed in reversing the trend, it is therefore necessary for the maritime sector to embark on the green transition quickly. And as ocean-going ships rely heavily on fuels and are unlikely to sail on batteries, the solution must be found using other methods.

This may, for example, be biogas or Power-to-X (PtX) technologies, where green power is converted into so-called e-fuels such as liquid hydrogen, ammonia, and methane, or methanol that can be used in engines. However, the question is which technology and type of green fuel are the best choice for the sectorin terms of both emissions and price.

Researchers from DTU have made calculations on this in the MarE-Fuel project, performed together with Anker Invest, Maersk Line, Copenhagen Economics, OMT, and DFDS, and with funding from the Danish Maritime Fund and Lauritzen Fonden.

"Our analysis shows that there isn't one single kind of green fuel that can solve the challenges of the maritime sector, but that a combination of several technologies is required. We've established different scenarios which can all make the maritime sector green. And we've also made calculations to find which solutions have the lowest cost," says Marie Munster, Professor of Energy System Analysis from DTU Management.

She explains thateven though the analysis pinpoints which fuels and technologies will be beneficial for the maritime sectorthere are a number of challenges that the sector cannot solve itself because it requires heavy investments in technology and establishment of smart energy solutions.

Biomass cheapest

According to the analysis, the cheapest solution for the industry to achieve a reduction of emissions is initially to use green fuels produced by means of sustainable biomassfirst in the form of pyrolysis oil and then in the form of bio-e-methanol. However, the analysis shows thatin the long termthere may be a shortage of sustainable biomass, as the shipping industry is not the only sector looking to exploit this biomass for energy.

"How big a role sustainable biomass can play in green shipping depends entirely on how much of it we have access to in the future. If there is plenty available, it will certainly be one of the cheapest ways to goand we should therefore continue to focus on this technology. However, everything indicates that low-cost sustainable biomass will be in great demand, and we must consequently also focus on optimizing Power-to-X technologies, because we will need them," says Marie Munster.

"There isn't a single fuel that beats all the others. However, all the calculated scenarios indicate thatin the long termammonia will be essential in making the shipping industry climate neutralif the power used is green, that is. This is because ammonia is not dependent on carbon, and the price and climate gas emissions are comparable to the other green fuels," she continues.

Ammonia for shipping industry requires more PtX plants

To produce ammonia, you must first convert green power into hydrogen via electrolysis. Only then can it be turned into liquid ammonia.

"We can see that ammonia will be one of the important green fuels for the shipping industry the closer we get to 2050. If we're to meet the need for fuel for international shipping, we must now start building more plants that can produce electrolysis. With the current expansion rate (2019), it willin facttake up to 3,000 years before we have enough plants," says Professor Peter Vang Hendriksen, who is an expert in electrolysis and energy conversion at DTU Energy.

He ascertains that more electrolysis plants will be required no matter which green fuels are to be produced using Power-to-X technology. And this leads to anotherby now familiar challenge: that we need more green power.

"Electrolysis requires power. If, for example, we're only going to sail on green ammonia by 2050, and we continue at the same wind power expansion rate as today for the next 29 years, we would have to use all the new capacity to produce green ammonia for shipping. However, having cheap green power isn't enough, it must also be available most of the time to avoid having to over-dimension our production plants. Therefore, we must ensure flexible plants and preferably efficient storage of our wind and solar energy," says Peter Vang Hendriksen.

The analysis also shows that the conditions in Esbjerg (the volumes of wind and solar energy and the expected electricity prices) are actually so good that the cost of producing e-fuels is only 10 percent higher than infor exampleDakhla in the Sahara. And this does not take into account the benefits of a high security of supply in Denmark.

"Denmark has good opportunities for producing domestic green fuel for our maritime sector if we want to. But this requires a national strategy and that we scale up significantlyespecially in relation to electrolysis and PtX plantswhere we need to increase the global expansion rate by a factor of more than 100 relative to today to meet the e-fuel needs of the shipping sector. The industry can't do this on its own," says Peter Vang Hendriksen.

The calculations also show that the price of producing green fuels is about four times higher than the price of the corresponding substances produced today from fossil sources. However, scaling up production capacity, gains from mass production, and improvements in technology are expected to halve the price of green fuels by 2050.

Finally, both professors point out that carbon taxes and state subsidies for new plants will be of great importance to fuel prices and competitiveness. If the development is to be driven solely by a carbon tax, the tax will be very high, and it will therefore probably need to be supplemented by other measures. Without taxes and state support, green fuels will not be able to compete with fossil fuels regardless of the technology used.

The project has developed four open source models:

The OptiPlant model, which optimizes capacity sizes and electricity consumption from own production or via purchases from the electricity grid.

Balance of plant models for the production plans, which calculate effectiveness and fuel production costs. The focus is on methanol and ammonia.

The TCO model, which calculates the total costs from both the fuel side and the ship side.

The roadmap model, which calculates possible scenarios for reducing emissions of climate gases from shipping by 2050, depending on available biomass and green power.

Explore further Hydrogen produced from offshore wind in China can help Japan reach its greenhouse gas emissions goals
UBCO doctoral student Debasmita Mukherjee, with the School of Engineerings Advanced Control and Intelligent Systems Laboratory, is looking at ways to program robots so they can work safely alongside people. Credit: University of British Columbia

Using autonomous vehicle guidelines, a team of UBC Okanagan researchers has developed a system to improve interactions between people and robots.

The way people interact safely with robots is at the forefront of today's research related to automation and manufacturing, explains Debasita Mukherjee, a doctoral student and lead author of a recently published study. She is one of several researchers at UBC's Advanced Control and Intelligent Systems Laboratory who are working to develop systems that allow humans and robots to interact safely and efficiently.

"It is incredibly important for robots in manufacturing to perform their tasks in the safest and most efficient method possible," Mukherjee says. "In order to make these automated machines as smart as possible, we are developing systems that perceive their environments and carry out tasks in a similar manner as their human partners."

To develop such systems, researchers are using artificial intelligence and machine learning to help guide the machines. Mechanical Engineering Professor Homayoun Najjaran says the process is not as straightforward as it seems.

"Robots don't think or feel, so they need systems that capture and analyze their environment enabling them to respond," says Dr. Najjaran. "Often those responses need to be in hundredths of a second to ensure the safety of humans in their vicinity."

Traditionally, industrial robots have been fixed and programmed to operate at high speeds and perform tasks such as welding, painting, assembly, pick-and-place and material handling. Social robots, on the other hand, are built to assist people in service industries. They are typically mobile, lightweight and programmed to work in a variety of environments.

The field of research taking place at UBCO's School of Engineering is called human-robot collaboration (HRC), and it is gaining steam in manufacturing. Owing to the complementary nature of robot and human capabilities, there is an increased interest towards a shared workspace for people and robots to work together collaboratively, forming the motivation behind HRC.

HRC in an industrial setting blends the requirements of both domains in building intelligent, mobile robots that are aware of their surroundings and the human partner. The researchers are working with several organizations around the world to assimilate autonomous systems and machine learning technologies into HRC focused robotics.

However, Mukherjee says adapting to uncertainty within an industrial setting is the biggest hurdle. Using autonomous vehicle guidelines, she introduces some rules for functionality between humans and robots in industrial settings and tests their effectiveness.

"Increasing automation levels is standardized and accepted by the automotive industry, but other industrial settings, while relatively static, don't have the same standards," she says. "In the future, not only will industrial automated systems continue to use sensors to enable perception and communication similar to human capabilities, but they will also be adapting and communicating in real-time with their surroundings."

Mukherjee says this means robots will be able to predict what humans and other robots will do and can then respond accordingly.

As a next step, the researchers are turning their attention to developing systems that can enable robots to function and respond outside of a prescribed environment like a factory. The endgame is to achieve the seamless team dynamics and communication fluency of an all-human team while using robots.

"In an 'open-world,' robots will need to deal with unexpected variables like people, structures, machines, and wildlife," she adds. "We need to ensure they can do this correctly, efficiently and safely."

The research was published recently in Robotics and Computer-Integrated Manufacturing.

Explore further Investigating how robot systems can function better in dynamic environments

More information: Debasmita Mukherjee et al, A Survey of Robot Learning Strategies for Human-Robot Collaboration in Industrial Settings, Robotics and Computer-Integrated Manufacturing (2021). Debasmita Mukherjee et al, A Survey of Robot Learning Strategies for Human-Robot Collaboration in Industrial Settings,(2021). DOI: 10.1016/j.rcim.2021.102231
Toyota Motor Corp. President Akio Toyoda speaks during a press conference regarding battery EV strategies Tuesday, Dec. 14, 2021, in Tokyo. Credit: AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko

Japanese automaker Toyota is beefing up its electric vehicle lineup, offering 30 new fully electric models by 2030, its president, Akio Toyoda, said Tuesday.

Toyota Motor Corp. plans to sell 3.5 million electric vehicles globally in 2030, he said, up from its earlier plan to sell 2 million zero emission hydrogen and battery electric vehicles a year worldwide by 2030. Toyota now sells about 10 million vehicles globally a year.

Toyoda promised a full lineup of electric models called the "bz series," short for "beyond zero," coming in the years ahead, including sport-utility vehicles of all sizes, pickup trucks and sportscars.

"We can leave a beautiful planet and bring about many smiles for the future generation," Toyoda told reporters at a Tokyo showroom, standing on stage with more than a dozen EV models promised for the future.

His comments underscore the company's determination to reverse its reputation as a laggard in the industry's shift toward electric vehicles.

Toyota prides itself on its role as a pioneer in hybrid technology and more recently in hydrogen fuel cells for vehicles.

The maker of the Prius hybrid, Lexus luxury models and Mirai fuel cell car wants to offer various options, Toyoda said.

Toyota Motor Corp. President Akio Toyoda speaks during a press conference regarding battery EV strategies Tuesday, Dec. 14, 2021, in Tokyo. Credit: AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko

He stressed Toyota must respond to global fears about climate change and carbon emissions.

The company's Lexus luxury brand will become fully electric by 2035 globally, Toyoda said. It aims to achieve that by 2030 for the U.S., European and Chinese markets.

Also Tuesday, the company raised to 2 trillion yen ($17.6 billion) its investment in battery research and development from the 1.5 trillion yen ($13.2 billion) announced earlier this year.

When including other green technologies, like hybrids, Toyota is investing 8 trillion yen ($70 billion) by 2030, the company said.

Earlier this month, Toyota announced plans to build a $1.3 billion electric vehicle battery plant near Greensboro, North Carolina, that will employ at least 1,750 people and start production in 2025.

Toyota's fully electric sport utility vehicle called "bZ4X" is set to go on sale next year globally.

Toyota Motor Corp. President Akio Toyoda speaks during a press conference regarding battery EV strategies Tuesday, Dec. 14, 2021, in Tokyo. Credit: AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko

Toyota Motor Corp. President Akio Toyoda poses for photographers during a press conference regarding battery EV strategies Tuesday, Dec. 14, 2021, in Tokyo. Credit: AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko

Toyota Motor Corp. President Akio Toyoda speaks during a press conference regarding battery EV strategies Tuesday, Dec. 14, 2021, in Tokyo. Credit: AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko

Toyota Motor Corp. President Akio Toyoda speaks in front of some of the new fully electric models expected by 2030 during a press conference regarding battery EV strategies Tuesday, Dec. 14, 2021, in Tokyo. Japanese automaker Toyota is beefing up its electric vehicle lineup, offering 30 new fully electric models by the year 2030, Toyoda said Tuesday. Credit: AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko

Toyota is building a futuristic city near Mount Fuji, designed to try out and showcase automated driving, sustainable energy and robotics for housing.

David Leggett, automotive editor at GlobalData, said Toyota was trying to prepare for the dramatic technological and societal changes that are coming.

"Businesses have to think about how demand will look in 10, 20, 30 years' time, and the pathways that come back to their business plans over a foreseeable time horizon," Leggett told The Associated Press.

Toyoda, an avid racing driver and the grandson of the company's founder, acknowledged he had not been that interested in EVs in the past, viewing them as "commodities." But he said he's excited about the vehicles Toyota is developing.

"They are safer, faster and more fun to drive. I can say that as a driver," he said.

 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Portuguese energy company Galp and Swedish electric vehicle battery maker Northvolt on Tuesday announced a joint venture to build in Portugal what they say will be Europe's largest lithium conversion plant.

Their goal is for the plant to deliver enough lithium hydroxide to provide batteries for about 700,000 electric vehicles a year starting in 2026.

Lithium hydroxide is a key material in the manufacture of lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles. The companies said demand for lithium hydroxide is predicted to grow more than tenfold by the end of the decade as countries shift to clean energy to fight climate change.

The companies said in a statement they are mulling several potential sites for the plant in Portugal. They expect to invest about 700 million euros ($793 million) and say the plant will help create up to 1,500 jobs.

Portugal is believed to sit on some of Europe's biggest lithium deposits. Its government is poised to start awarding lithium mining licenses next year despite protests from environmental groups who argue the mines will ruin the countryside.

Explore further Carmaker Stellantis secures supply of battery-grade lithium

 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Overview of the virtual drilling simulator for skull-base surgery developed using AMBF (Asynchronous Multibody Framework) (Munawar, Adnan, et al. "A real-time dynamic simulator and an associated front-end representation format for simulating complex robots and environments." 2019 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS). IEEE, 2019). A segmented CT is rendered as a 3D virtual phantom in the simulator. Users send control input and receive haptic feedback with Phantom OMNI and stereoscopic view is provided with a VR Headset. Credit: Munawar et al.

People with diseases or conditions that affect the base of the skull, such as otologic abnormalities, cancerous tumors and birth defects, might need to undergo skull base surgery at some point in their life. To successfully conduct these challenging procedures, surgeons must skillfully operate on and within a person's skull, accessing specific regions using drills.

Researchers at Johns Hopkins University (JHU) have recently developed a new system that could be used to train surgeons to complete skull base surgeries, as well as potentially other complex surgical procedures. This system, presented in a paper published in Computer Methods in Biomechanics and Biomedical Engineering: Imaging & Visualization, is based on the use of a virtual reality (VR) simulator.

"The process of drilling requires surgeons to remove minimal amounts of bone while ensuring that important structures (such as nerves and vessels) housed within the bone are not harmed," Adnan Munawar, one of the researchers who developed the system, told TechXplore. "Therefore, skull base surgeries require high skill, absolute precision, and sub-millimeter accuracy. Achieving these surgical skills requires diligent training to ensure the safety of patients."

Currently, most resident surgeons are trained to complete skull base surgeries and other procedures on cadavers or on live people under the supervision of experienced doctors. However, realistic computer simulations and virtual environments could significantly enhance the training of surgeons, offering a cost-effective, safe and reproducible alternative to traditional training methods.

In addition to allowing surgeons to practice their skills in a safe and realistic setting, simulation tools enable the collection of valuable data that would otherwise be harder to attain. This includes optimal trajectories for surgical tools, the forces that are imparted during a procedure, or the position of cameras/endoscopes.

"This data is beneficial for two purposes," Munawar explained. "Firstly, it could be used to train artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms that can assist surgeons in the operating room and make procedures safer. Secondly, by comparing surgical data from residents in training and expert surgeons, educators could individualize training and make the limited time trainees have for education more efficient."

Credit: Credit: Munawar et al.

The VR-based system created by the researchers allows resident and experienced surgeons to practice complex surgical procedures within simulated environments that are based on the computer tomography (CT) scans of real patients. In addition, the simulator can be used to record structured data. This data could eventually be used to assess the skills of trainees or to train machine learning algorithms that could assist surgeons during complex procedures.

In addition to Munawar, the multidisciplinary team that developed the system included students Zhaoshuo Li, Nimesh Nagururu, Andy Ding and Punit Kunjam, as well as surgeon Francis Creighton and engineering faculty members Peter Kazanzides, Russell Taylor and Mathias Unberath. So far, the researchers used their system to specifically simulate skull base surgeries. Due to its flexibility, however, it could also eventually be applied to other surgical interventions and procedures.

"So far, our system provides an immersive simulation environment where the surgeons can interact with a virtual skull which is generated from a patient CT (Computer Tomography) scan," Munawar said. "A virtual drill that is controlled via a haptic device (or a keyboard) is used to drill through the virtual skull. The interaction between the drill and the skull is used to generate force feedback which is provided via the haptic device for realistic tactility. Finally, for visual realism and depth perception, stereoscopic video is displayed on a VR (Virtual Reality) headset."

As a surgeon is operating within the simulated environment, the system created by the team at JHU collects high-quality data in real-time. This includes information about the surgeon's hand trajectory, the forces imparted by the virtual drill on the phantom skull and stereo/video footage.

"A noteworthy aspect of our work is that it offers the possibility of incorporating real patient models into our simulation environment and then deploying them for use by skilled surgeons and residents for training," Munawar said. "Additionally, the collected data from experts can be used for AI (Artificial Intelligence) algorithm development."

In the future, the VR simulator created by this team of researchers could be introduced in medical colleges, hospitals and healthcare settings, as a means to train new surgeons before they start operating on humans. In addition, this recent work could pave the way towards the widespread integration of VR-based surgical training tools with the collection of structured data to train AI agents.

"Our immediate plan is to deploy our system in the Johns Hopkins OtolaryngologyHead and Neck Surgery department to be used by skilled surgeons as well as residents for practice and data collection," Munawar added. "The collected data will be used to establish a quantitative evaluation protocol to characterize surgical performance, which is not presented by prior works. We shall also use the data for developing artificial intelligence algorithms for computer-assisted surgeries, such as tool/tissue tracking and 3D reconstruction algorithms."

Explore further Skills course quickly and significantly sharpens rarely used military surgeons' skills

More information: Virtual reality for synergistic surgical training and data generation. Computer Methods in Biomechanics and Biomedical Engineering: Imaging & Visualization(2021). Virtual reality for synergistic surgical training and data generation.(2021). DOI: 10.1080/21681163.2021.1999331

 2021 Science X Network
Brazos County health officials reported 23 new cases of COVID-19 among county residents Tuesday.

Brazos County officials have confirmed 33,612 cases of COVID-19 in the county since the pandemic began more than a year ago. The number of active cases in Brazos County dropped from 210 to 206 on Tuesday.

A Texas A&M University website said the number of active, self-reported cases of the virus among students, faculty members and staff was 45 as of Saturday, the last date for which figures were posted.

Officials with the Brazos County Health District said 33,038 cases were considered recovered as of Tuesday; health officials classify all cases older than two weeks as recovered.

Four Brazos County resident was hospitalized Tuesday for treatment of symptoms related to the virus, officials said.

The percentage of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 in the states Trauma Service Area N  Brazos County and six surrounding counties  was 1.56% on Monday, the last date for which figures were reported. Other counties in the Brazos Valley region are Burleson, Robertson, Grimes, Madison, Washington and Leon.
Considering the enormity of the burden of foodborne illnesses, even a 1% improvement in overall microbiological safety of specialty crops through the utilization of this technology can translate into a significant reduction in outbreaks and hospitalization as well as economic savings, Cisneros-Zevallos said.

The researchers are tackling food safety issues by developing novel spraying or dipping solutions and coatings to improve the microbiological safety and hygiene of farming tools and accessories used in harvesting. They also will investigate the use of this technology in conjunction with contact surfaces used for storing, sorting and processing specialty crops.

This project will lead to the creation of a safer and more affordable food supply and enhance quality of life by reducing the risk of foodborne illness associated with specialty crop food and food products, Cisneros-Zevallos said.

Akbulut noted the project also will serve to bring a broader awareness of the emerging technologies of sanitary design that can be applied to tools and surfaces used during harvesting and post-harvesting.
Europol, the European Union's premier law enforcement agency, has announced the arrest of a third Romanian national for his role as a ransomware affiliate suspected of hacking high-profile organizations and companies and stealing large volumes of sensitive data.

The 41-year-old unnamed individual was apprehended Monday morning at his home in Craiova, Romania, by the Romanian Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) following a joint investigation in collaboration with the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

It's not currently known which ransomware gang the suspect was working with, but the development comes a little over a month after Romanian authorities arrested two affiliates of the REvil ransomware family, who are believed to have orchestrated no fewer than 5,000 ransomware attacks and extorted close to $600,000 from victims.

Affiliates play a key role in the subscription-based ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) business models, and are chiefly responsible for renting the toolset and the backend infrastructure from the core developers and launching their own attacks against a potential list of targets.

These actors are often recruited by the ransomware operators on underground forums, where their warez are advertised to Russian-speaking users or English speakers with a Russian-speaking guarantor, but only after vetting their technical skills. The affiliates also earn a large share of each successful ransom payment, ranging anywhere between 65% and 90%, making it an increasingly successful and profitable enterprise for cybercriminals.

According to Europol, the suspect is said to have targeted a large Romanian IT company delivering services to clients in the retail, energy and utilities sectors. Subsequently, the affiliate deployed ransomware and siphoned troves of data from the company's customers located in the country and beyond, before proceeding to encrypting the files.

"The information stolen included the companies' financial information, personal information about employees, customers' details and other important documents," Europol said in a statement. "The suspect would then ask for a sizeable ransom payment in cryptocurrency, threatening to leak the stolen data on cybercrime forums should his demands not be met."

Ukraine Arrests 51 For Selling Stolen Data of 300 Million People

In a separate law enforcement action, the Cyberpolice Department of the National Police of Ukraine announced it had arrested 51 people in connection with illegally possessing about 100 databases containing personal information of more than 300 million citizens of Ukraine, Europe, and the U.S.

The databases also included "confidential information on financial and economic activities of individuals and legal entities, information about customers of banking and commercial institutions, authorization data on emails, social networks, online stores and more," the department said in a statement.

As part of the operation codenamed "DATA," the officials conducted a total of 117 searchers in various parts of the country and shut down an unnamed website that offered the stolen data  such as telephone numbers, names, and, in some cases, vehicle registration information  for sale.

"More than 30 channels of illegal dissemination of information were blocked during the investigation," the agency noted, with Serhiy Lypka, head of the Department for Combating Crimes in the Field of Computer Systems, stating "the cost of databases ranged from 500 to 50,000 hryvnias  depending on its content and commercial value."
Kenney, a Democrat, said he visited New York two weeks ago, where dining and other indoor establishments have required vaccine proof since August, and found the requirements easy to navigate.

I was in New York two weeks ago and it was not an issue at all. Bring your ID and vaccination card and everything went smoothly, Kenney said. Thats why were doing this to stop the real serious thing, which would be shutting down.

Patrons and employees will have to start showing their vaccination cards Jan. 3 to enter establishments where people eat together indoors, including movie theaters and cafes or bars inside larger establishments like stores or hotels.

Bettigole said for the first two weeks of the mandate, patrons will have the option to show a negative COVID-19 test from the last 24 hours to enter.

But starting Jan. 17, proof of full vaccination for patrons will be needed.

The city mandate allows some extra time for children ages 5-11 and employees to get vaccinated. The city is asking that those groups have a first dose by Jan. 3 and a second dose by Feb. 3.
The auto industry already is moving toward electric vehicles, Harris added: "We need to make the shift faster and make sure it is driven by the United States.''

When public chargers are installed in rural, urban or suburban neighborhoods, we make it easier for people to go electric,'' Harris said, adding that the biggest barrier most people cite to buying an electric car is figuring out where and how to charge it.''

People who live in apartments may not have a private driveway where they can install a plug, she said, while rural residents may have to drive miles to the nearest charger.

Harris visited a maintenance facility in Brandywine, just outside Washington, where she received a demonstration of how chargers work and learned about a plan to electrify the government fleet in Marylands Prince Georges County.

Theres no sound or fume! Harris exclaimed as she charged one of the countys vehicles. "How do I know its actually working? she asked with a laugh.

The car is fully charged when the display is a steady green, said Mahidhar Reddy, CEO and founder of SemaConnect, a Maryland company that made the charging station.
Over recent years, the prevalence of the nones in the U.S. has been roughly comparable to Western Europe -- but overall, Americans remain more religious, with higher rates of daily prayer and belief in God as described in the Bible. According to a 2018 Pew survey, about two-thirds of U.S. Christians prayed daily, compared to 6% in Britain and 9% in Germany

The growth of the nones in the U.S. has come largely at the expense of the Protestant population in the U.S., according to the new Pew survey. It said 40% of U.S. adults are Protestants now, down from 50% a decade ago.

Among the former Protestants is Shianda Simmons, 36, of Lakeland, Florida, who began identifying as an atheist in 2013.

She grew up as a Baptist and attended church regularly; she says she left mainly because of the churchs unequal treatment of women.

Not everyone in her family knows she has forsaken religion, and some who do know struggle to accept it, Simmons said.

There are certain people I cant tell that I am atheist, she said. It has made me draw away from my family.
Abraham Gonzalez has been sentenced to 60 days in jail in connection with an assault of an 18-year-old in Grand Island on May 30.

Hall County Court Judge Arthur Wetzel sentenced Gonzalez on Friday for 60 days each for three counts of contributing to the delinquency of a child, which is a Class I misdemeanor. The sentences will be served at the same time.

A charge of felony robbery was dismissed.

How much credit Gonzalez gets for days served will be determined by the Hall County Department of Corrections. Work release could be approved after review of an application through the corrections department.

Gonzalez, 21, was one of five males who assaulted an 18-year-old Grand Island man on May 30 and robbed him of $40 in an alleyway near South Eddy Street and West Fonner Park Road, in the area behind Long John Silvers. The victim, Kaleb Kelly, reported being robbed of his cash, phone and car.

Kelly, who sustained visible injuries, said he planned to meet a juvenile male in the alleyway to purchase an item. Once Kelly parked and exited his vehicle, he said, five individuals dressed in black approached him and assaulted him.

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BRUSSELS (AP)  Serbia on Tuesday took a significant step forward in its quest to join the European Union by opening talks on a series of policies linked to the environment, but Belgrade was warned that progress on its European path still depends on normalizing relations with its former territory, Kosovo.

Countries wanting to join the 27-country EU must bring their laws and regulations into line with the blocs standards. Thats achieved by negotiations in 35 policy areas, or chapters, ranging from things like the free movement of worker, to taxation, or agricultural and economic policy.

On Tuesday, Serbia was permitted to open talks on climate change and environment, energy, transport policy and trans-European infrastructure networks. Belgrade has now opened 22 negotiating chapters since its membership talks began in 2014. Its the first time Serbia has opened four chapters at once.

Serbian Prime Minster Ana Brnabic told reporters in Brussels that the move marks a very important milestone for our European integration process.

EU Enlargement Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi agreed that Serbia is taking another very important step forward in joining the European Union.
As General Manager, Pankoke has been an important link between the Districts consumers, the Board of Directors, and District employees. He has also been an active member of the electric industry, serving on a variety of boards and committees at the Nebraska Rural Electric Association, the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, the Nebraska Electric Generation and Transmission Cooperative, and Nebraska Public Power District.

Pankoke stated After I reitre, what Im really going to miss is the people. Im going to miss the many customers that Ive come to know and talk to over the years. I cant tell you how gratifying it is to know how much customers appreciate the work we do, such as when we get their power restored after a storm. Im going to miss my colleagues from other power districts, who have been a source of information and become good friends. Im going to miss the board of directors, and I can never thank them enough for the support they have given me and the other employees. Most of all, Im going to miss our employees. They arent just like family. They are my family!
They said a pursuit ensued. The vehicle got to the end of Lakeview Road and made a U-turn heading back westbound before turning south on Highway 81, the affidavit says. The vehicle proceeded southbound on Highway 81 at speeds in excess of 100 mph, swerving around vehicles and going southbound in the northbound lanes for one mile. The vehicle then turned east onto Road 3 at a high speed. This vehicle pursuit lasted more than 50 minutes, driving through the southeast corner of York County. The driver twice drove off the roadway in fields and into someones yard. The driver attempted to strike my cruiser three times by stopping then reversing. There was a passenger in the front seat who on multiple occasions attempted to exit the vehicle while in motion. Each time they would try to exit, the driver would swerve causing the door to close. Troopers with the Nebraska State Patrol successfully deployed stop sticks twice rendering the vehicle inoperable on Road M between Roads 8 and 7. At this location, officers conducted a felony stop with duty weapons pointed in the direction of the driver.
The wages for lunchroom paraprofessionals and food service employees will be recoded from the General Fund to the School Nutrition Fund. KPS also will add four lunchroom paraprofessionals to ensure all KPS elementary buildings are equally staffed.

There will be no step increase for classified staffing until the beginning of fiscal year 2023-24 due to the rate increases being significantly greater than average increases.

For a board to step forward and do what you did, that is an action that speaks louder than words. On behalf of the school district, thank you, said Superintendent Dr. Kent Edwards to the board members.

In other business, the transportation department would like to retire a 65-passenger diesel route bus and an 11-passenger activity van. Both are on the normal 10-year replacement plan. The bus has 124,876 miles, and the van has 99,469 miles. The department also recommended the purchase of an additional 14-passenger special needs bus with a wheelchair lift to accommodate the growing need for special education transportation in the district.
Paris, TX (75460)

Today

Partly cloudy skies early will give way to cloudy skies late. Low near 35F. Winds NE at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy skies early will give way to cloudy skies late. Low near 35F. Winds NE at 10 to 15 mph.
WASHINGTON (AP)  The Associated Press sought answers Monday from the Department of Homeland Security on its use of sensitive government databases for tracking international terrorists to investigate as many as 20 American journalists, including an acclaimed AP reporter.

In a letter to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, AP Executive Editor Julie Pace urged the agency to explain why the name of Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter Martha Mendoza was run through the databases and identified as a potential confidential informant during the Trump administration, as detailed in a report by Homeland Security's inspector general.

This is a flagrant example of a federal agency using its power to examine the contacts of journalists, Pace wrote. While the actions detailed in the inspector generals report occurred under a previous administration, the practices were described as routine.

The DHS investigation of U.S. journalists, as well as congressional staff and perhaps members of Congress, which was reported by Yahoo News and AP on Saturday. It represents the latest apparent example of an agency created in the wake of the 9/11 attacks using its vast capabilities to target American citizens.

DHS prompted criticism from Congress and elsewhere in July 2020 w hen it deployed poorly or unidentified agents in military-style uniforms to sweep people off the streets of Portland, Oregon, and hustle them into unmarked cars during protests outside the federal courthouse in the city.

This latest revelation prompted Sen. Ron Wyden to call on DHS to immediately turn over the inspector general report to Congress.

If multiple government agencies were aware of this conduct and took no action to stop it, there needs to be serious consequences for every official involved, and DHS and the Justice Department must explain what actions they are taking to prevent this unacceptable conduct in the future, said Wyden, an Oregon Democrat who has long sought more oversight of government surveillance.

Rep. Bennie Thompson, the Mississippi Democrat who chairs the House Homeland Security Committee, said, If true, this abuse of government surveillance powers to target journalists, elected officials and their staff is deeply disturbing."

CBP said in a statement over the weekend that its vetting and investigative practices are strictly governed and that the agency doesn't investigate without a legitimate and legal basis to do so.

A DHS spokeswoman, Marsha Espinosa, said Monday that Mayorkas is deeply committed to ensuring the protection of First Amendment rights" and has developed policies that reflect this priority, thought she did not provide details.

We do not condone the investigation of reporters in response to the exercise of First Amendment rights, she said. CBP and every component agency and office in the Department will ensure their practices are consistent with our values and our highest standards.

In the AP's letter, Pace called for assurances that these improper practices and apparent abuse of power will not continue going forward.

That would be in line with recent order from Attorney General Merrick Garland prohibiting the seizing of records of journalists in leak investigations. That followed an outcry over revelations that the Justice Department under former President Donald Trump had obtained records belonging to journalists, as well as Democratic members of Congress and their aide s and a former White House counsel, Don McGahn.

During the Obama administration, federal investigators secretly seized phone records for some reporters and editors at the AP. Those seizures involved office and home lines as well as cellphones.

The DHS inspector general report that revealed the most recent disclosure of investigations of journalists also stemmed from a Trump-era leak investigation.

The IG was looking into the actions of Jeffrey Rambo, a Border Patrol agent who was on temporary duty with a Customs and Border Protection unit in the Washington D.C. area in 2017 when he accessed government travel records as part of a leak investigation involving reporter Ali Watkins, who was with Politico at the time and now writes for The New York Times.

The inspector general opened its investigation after media reports exposed Rambo and his investigation of Watkins.

In the course of its investigation, the IG learned from Rambo that he had routinely run checks on journalists and others, including congressional staff, while working at the CBP unit, the Counter Network Division.

Rambo told investigators that he queried its databases about Mendoza before trying to establish a relationship with her because of her expertise in writing about forced labor, an area of concern for CBP because it enforces import restrictions. The AP reporter is a known expert on the subject who won her second Pulitzer Prize in 2016 as part of a team that reported on slave labor in the fishing industry in Southeast Asia.

The AP, in a separate statement from the Pace letter, also sought an explanation for the use of the databases to investigate Mendoza and other journalists.

We are deeply concerned about this apparent abuse of power, the AP said. This appears to be an example of journalists being targeted for simply doing their jobs, which is a violation of the First Amendment.

The inspector general referred its findings to a federal prosecutor for possible charges of misusing government databases and lying to investigators, but the Justice Department declined to prosecute Rambo and two other Homeland Security employees.

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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A $500,000 gift from a Carmi business leader will help Southeastern Illinois College build a career and technical education center in White County.

The college has announced plans to break ground early next year for a facility to offer training in welding, automotive and diesel education and other trades near the colleges existing David L. Stanley White County Center in Carmi.

The new facility will be financed through state and local funds as well as a $500,000 gift from area entrepreneur Stan Williams.

Officials say the new center will be a regional hub for career dual-credit opportunities as well as technical education programs in the norther part of the SIC district.

This is really a 20-year-long dream in the making, said Southeastern Illinois College President Jonah Rice. We are elated to have a facility that will focus specifically on the career, technical education and workforce needs of this part of our district. There is a lot of industry in the area and this means we are going to be able to provide mechanics and those with commercial drivers licenses and welders and other disciplines to support that industry.

Rice said the new facility is part of a focus to provide employees for area businesses.

Theres a huge need. There are hundreds of thousands of manufacturing and trade jobs open in this country. There are so many jobs out there right now and they are great careers. Were excited to promote and train for them, he said.

SIC Vice President of Academic Affairs Karen Weiss said the new facility will meet needs in the area.

Our K-12 partners have asked for career dual credit opportunities in certain disciplines, and we are here to serve those needs with this facility, she said.

Williams served on the Little Wabash Area Vocational Center board in the 1970s.

As a businessman and community leader, Stan knows firsthand the value of quality career and technical training for the young people in our area, said Frank Barbre, vice chair of the SIC board.

Rice added, He is a great entrepreneur and has been a successful business man for decades. This gift shows his commitment to promote education and help people get more jobs in our area.

Design work on the new center is underway with the first of two phases of construction set to begin in the spring of 2022.

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Allen Ninness, director of Saline County Emergency Management Agency, said donors need to be smart when trying to help tornado victims.

Like the people of Harrisburg who weathered the Feb. 29, 2012 tornado, those affected by Fridays tornadoes in Kentucky and elsewhere will need many things, as well as volunteer help, for many weeks and months to come.

Cash is the most useful thing, Ninness said. Organizations can turn it into anything they need.

Sometimes, it's possible to have too much of a good thing. An example of this is when the Mayfield-Graves County Fairgrounds had to announced 1 a.m. Monday that they were no longer accepting clothing donations for tornado victims.

 If you or someone you know in our area needs clothing, please visit Pryorsburg Independent Methodist Church. They graciously took and are sorting clothes so we could make room for other essentials, their post read.

Clothing brings a problem with it. Donated clothing needs resource personnel to sort and size it, according to Ninness.

He also suggests donating money to larger organizations that always help in natural disasters, such as the Red Cross, the Salvation Army and organizations such as Baptist Disaster Relief. Those organizations have proven they will use the funds to help disaster victims.

Ninness said they received so many donations after the Harrisburg tornado that they could not use all of the items. Those unused items were sent to Indiana to help storm victims there.

We were thankful for the things we got, he said.

Ninness said this most recent storm system hit a large area. In this case, not just one town was hit. There was damage on Princeton and Dawson Springs. Im sure small communities will have needs, he said.

Karen Mullins, of the Marion Chamber of Commerce, was sharing requests from a group of Marion businesses accepting donations at HireLevel, 3911 W. Ernestine Lane; Country Financial office of Natasha and Tony Stearns, 2720 W. Main St. Suite A; any First Southern Bank location in Marion; and Black Diamond Harley-Davidson, 2405 Black Diamond Drive.

Money is still going to be the big thing, Mullins said.

Next, she suggested flashlights, batteries and lanterns; matches and candles; warm clothing, shoes and socks for children and adults.

Niness said the people in Mayfield and other damaged communities will ask for specific items as they are needed.

He added that they will need volunteers, not just now, but for weeks and months.

He also said volunteerism and even some donations can be spread out. He said people can do things at home to raise money now, then volunteer in a week or two by plugging into a group.

It is better to show up with a group of 15 or 20 and already have a job to help out, Ninness said.

He said recovery in Harrisburg took a good two years. Recovery from this storm will take a long time.

Sherri McKinney, regional director of communications for the American Red Cross  Tennessee Region, said many people can help out by donating blood.

An American Red Cross Emergency Blood Drive is set for 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday at Sedalia Elementary School, 5252 State Route 97, in Mayfield. Anyone who lives in the area or is volunteering can donate.

To register or find a blood drive, visit redcrossblood.org or on the Red Cross Blood phone app prior to arrival.

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SPRINGFIELD, Ill.  A new report looks at the relationship of COVID-19 and rural housing and homelessness in Illinois and recommends substantive actions to improve the housing situation in those regions of the state.

Rural housing and homelessness challenges are rarely discussed, but many rural residents struggle to find affordable, quality housing, said Dr. Sameer Vohra, pediatrician and chair of the SIU Medicine Department of Population Science and Policy. Additionally, rural residents who face housing insecurity or homelessness often suffer from related health issues. These recommendations describe strategies on how organizations in Illinois can address housing and homelessness as an aspect of health to improve rural residents overall wellness and quality of life.

The Illinois Rural Health Summit will host a webinar at noon Thursday, Dec. 16, to discuss how COVID-19 has impacted rural housing in Illinois. Registration is open for that webinar and a schedule of upcoming webinars. Linda Baker, university professor, Paul Simon Public Policy Institute, will serve as moderator.

The recommendations are:

Create an Illinois Rural Housing Solutions Taskforce to commission a set of recommendations to better collect housing data and develop housing needs assessments for rural communities.

Encourage hospitals and local public health departments to use Community Health Needs Assessments and I-PLANS to study and address housing and other social determinants of health.

Pilot the creation of rural community care centers to encourage a system of care linking health care to housing and other social needs.

The policy recommendations are the result of discussions from rural health stakeholders, community leaders, legislators, physicians and experts from organizations throughout Illinois and build on the Rural Health Summits initial report, Building a Healthier Rural Illinois: Understanding and Addressing the Challenges of COVID-19.

The Rural Health Summit is releasing monthly topic-specific policy briefs and hosting corresponding webinars through January 2022 on topics of an aging rural population, mental health, public health systems, nutrition and fitness, childrens growth and development, workforce development, opioids, health and housing, and economic development.

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With two weeks left before Christmas, people across Southern Illinois are coming together to gather supplies, raise money and donate toys for Mayfield, Kentucky tornado victims.

Jena Parson, with Robins Nest Learning Center in Marion, said these donations can help bring some semblance of a normal Christmas to these families.

Most of these families had their Christmas trees up in their home and presents wrapped under their tree, said. They are wanting to still be able to do those things with their children come Christmas day. Our goal is to be able to provide a means to be able to provide that for them.

Robins Nest Learning Center is accepting diapers, wipes and toys from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday at all their buildings in Marion, Carterville, and Carbondale.

We just feel like we want to look at the other side of this for our young children, our young generation, to help them through this hard time as they arent understanding whats happened to them and their world being turned upside down.

Marion Elks #800 is also accepting donations of puzzles, board games and coloring books as well as non-perishable food and cleaning supplies per requests from Kentucky schools, according to Michelle Hamilton, associate dean for Workforce and Community Education.

Marion Elks is accepting donations from 10:30 a.m. till 10 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Damage and deaths across Kentucky

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said at least 64 deaths due to the tornado had been confirmed in his state as of Monday, Dec. 13, and he fears there will be more. Eighteen people who died in the storm are still unidentified.

Those who died range in age from 5-months-old to 86-years-old. About 105 people remain unaccounted for, according to the governors office.

The governor said this was the worst tornado in the states history. Beshear said lives were lost in eight counties and an estimated 1,000 homes were damaged or destroyed after four tornadoes touched down in the state on Friday.

Beshear said he has opened up the states parks for housing for those impacted.

Pennyrile is already full, I think we have (more than 100) adults and a lot of kids that are out there, were going to guarantee at least two weeks of stay. There may be other options by the end of that, but were not going to let any of our folks go homeless, Beshear said.

At least 300 National Guard members have been deployed to help with relief efforts, according to the Kentucky Governors office.

Emergency department initiatives

The Williamson County Fire Protection Districts Station 3 is teaming up with Crab Orchard Schools to collect care items, such nonperishables, bottled water, and more, for Kentucky tornado victims, according to the districts social media page.

Crab Orchard students can bring items to school during regular class hours. Families of non-students can drop off items from 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 14, through Friday, Dec. 17 and from noon to 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at Station 3, 9066 Paulton Rd. in Marion.

The Du Quoin Fire Department, Benton Fire Department and West Frankfort Police are accepting donations this weekend as well.

Johnston City is accepting donations at City Hall to be taken to Mayfield on Thursday, according to Jimmie Barter with the police department.

Anyone who is unsure if their local police or fire department is accepting donations should reach out to those departments before dropping off supplies.

Churches reaching out

Across the region, faith communities are responding in a variety of ways. Two large trailers will leave Murphysboros United Methodist Church Wednesday morning filled with a variety of items.

There are times of tragedies when we can do nothing but pray, but when we can do something, we must, Pastor Marty McDonald told the congregation Sunday. The Bible is clear about this. Faith without works is dead. Period.

A team from Marions Cornerstone Church traveled to Fancy Farm, Kentucky, about ten miles northwest of Mayfield, where they are distributing collected items and assisting with clean-up and relief efforts. Additional trips to Kentucky are planned with relief items currently being collected by the church.

Anna lent a helping hand

The City of Anna Illinois filled a box truck and trailer with donations and supplies in the Shawnee College Parking lot on Saturday in an effort to help Mayfield.

"The City asks that we all do our part for our neighbors in great need. We all stand with Mayfield, The city said in an announcement.

Schools collect supplies for those affected

Several local schools are also accepting donations for tornado victims.

Johnston City is accepting donations from Dec. 14 through Dec. 17 at the Johnston City High School.

They are accepting non-perishable food items, baby food and formula, new clothes, hygiene products, portable chargers, gift cards, flashlights and more.

Donations were also dropped off at Mrs. Camerons room in Marion High School on Monday, Dec. 8.

Giant City is accepting donations in their cafeteria and is asking that no one donate used clothes.

Instead they are asking for: baby supplies (diapers, wipes, formula); paper products (paper towels, toilet paper, tissues); cleaning supplies (trash bags, gloves, bleach and bleach products); feminine hygiene products; personal hygiene products (deodorant, toothpaste, toothbrushes, soap, shampoo/conditioner and disposable razors).

Organizations start fundraising campaigns to donate to

Those wishing to donate directly to Kentucky can donate to a fund established by Gov. Andy Beshear at secure.kentucky.gov/formservices/Finance/WKYRelief or by sending a check to Public Protection Cabinet, 500 Mero St., 218 NC, Frankfort, KY 40601.

As of this morning, the Team Western Kentucky Tornado Relief Fund has received 30,175 donations and has a $4,009,817.71 fund balance.

Those who wish to volunteer can sign up at surveyhero.com/c/viuf4h7p

Beware of scams

The Better Business Bureau warns those wishing to donate money to relief efforts to carefully evaluate which charities they choose to give to.

Heartbreaking scenes of storm damage may prompt many people to look for ways to help by donating time or money to help those in need, Michelle L. Corey, the BBB's St. Louis president and CEO said. Publicity about disasters often is used by scammers to solicit money that never reaches those who need it."

To ensure that the money goes to those who need it and not to a scammer, the BBB advises donating to established charities, relying on experts to evaluate and recommend charities to donate to and understanding that gifts of food and clothing may not be wise.

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DETROIT  Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer penned a letter to U.S. Senate leaders Monday with 16 other Democratic governors, urging leadership to pass two voting rights bills pending in Washington.

Whitmer, who led the Monday letter, said the legislation was necessary to combat attacks against voting rights across the country including in Michigan. A total of 389 "anti-voting" bills have been introduced since the last election, the governor said.

"Protecting the right to vote is not a political or partisan issue. It is foundational to who we are," Whitmer said in a statement. "As governors, we have been working to make the ballot more accessible at the state level, and we know that voting rights have long been a bipartisan issue at the national level."

The letter to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., seeks Senate passage before the year's end of two different voting bills: the Freedom to Vote Act and the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Amendment Act.

Among other things, the bills would make Election Day a national holiday, permit online registration and same-day voter registration, ensure two weeks of early voting, and work to prevent voter intimidation and racial discrimination at the polls.

The legislation would also mandate that states and municipalities with a history of discrimination seek federal "preclearance" before altering voting laws or regulations.

"Congress has the chance to set uniform standards for voting, to bring transparency to our elections, and to fight back against insidious voter suppression laws," the letter said.

The legislation has been largely opposed by Republicans, but supported by Democrats in Congress. Senate Republicans blocked the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act from advancing in early November and previously blocked the Freedom to Vote Act.

Among the individuals signing the letter were governors for the states of California, Hawaii, Illinois, Minnesota, Wisconsin, New Jersey, New York and Oregon.

Whitmer has vetoed a variety of state election-related bills passed through the GOP-led Legislature this year, including ones that would have toughened identification requirements for in-person voters and absentee ballot voters.

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The steps are simple: Mix a few grains of the drug sample with a ketchup cups worth of water, dip a tiny strip of paper and wait.

Within minutes, the strip displays results: One line means there is fentanyl, and two lines mean there isnt.

That paper, which can detect any presence of fentanyl in a substance, is one of the latest tools Chicago officials and social service organizations are using against the deadly opioid that has infiltrated the citys illicit drug supply and is responsible for most of its fatal overdoses in recent years. The Chicago Department of Public Health began offering these fentanyl test strips to the public for the first time in October.

The free kits include the strips, ketchup cups, a stirrer and sterile water, along with instructions and information on how to seek treatment. Interested people can email OSU.CDPH@cityofchicago.org to request them for pickup or mail delivery.

So far, more than 7,000 strips have gone out, mostly to groups that tackle substance abuse, said CDPH behavioral health Medical Director Dr. Wilnise Jasmin. She said the names of individuals requesting a kit are protected and the city does not track who requests them.

The drug supply content has changed so much, Jasmin said. Normal drug tests may test for heroin or related morphine products. But they dont necessarily detect fentanyl specifically, and so thats why we are trying to encourage the fentanyl test strips.

The Cook County Department of Public Health also has a supply of fentanyl test strips that it distributes to community partners in the city and suburbs. A training video and other material on using the strips is at bit.ly/FTStraining.

Fentanyl is a highly addictive synthetic opioid that is manufactured by pharmaceutical companies primarily for patients suffering from severe pain. But in recent years it has been illegally mass-produced and cut with other street drugs like heroin, cocaine, MDMA or even counterfeit supplies of prescription pills such as Xanax.

Its appeal in the black market stems from it being 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine. That means illegal drug manufacturers can use less of it to deliver the same high to its users  but with often deadly consequences.

Fentanyl is now the leading cause of fatal opioid overdoses in Chicago, a crisis exacerbated when the COVID-19 pandemic isolated drug users and closed U.S. borders to the usual heroin and cocaine supplies, experts say.

But Taylor Wood, a drug-checking technician with the Chicago Recovery Alliance, said this latest drug epidemic stretches further back, to when pharmaceutical companies peddled highly addictive opioids to doctors, only for their patients to be cut off upon further scrutiny of the drugs. That left a population still substance-dependent turning to the streets for relief.

Its kind of an unfortunate, perfect storm for why fentanyl is so prevalent right now, Wood said.

Cook County registered a record number of opioid-related deaths in 2020, according to the medical examiner, which found many cases originated from Chicagos West Side. Although so far this year the citys opioid deaths have decreased compared with this point in time in 2020, the share that stems from fentanyl use continues climbing. About 88% of all fatal opioid overdoses in Chicago this year are related to fentanyl, according to the medical examiner, compared with 83% in all of 2020 and 74% in 2019.

Nationwide from April 2020 to April 2021, fatal drug overdoses topped 100,000, a 28.5% increase from the same period a year earlier, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC approved federal funding for fentanyl test strip purchases in April, which allowed CDPH to begin distributing them in October.

Robert Banks, a social worker with the University of Illinois at Chicagos Community Outreach Intervention Projects, knows the dangers of fentanyl personally. His grandson fatally overdosed on the opioid a couple of years ago while in Michigan, Banks said. He was 22.

The specter of fentanyl is ever-present in his job too.

Its a whole different ballgame out here now with this fentanyl, Banks said. It seems like every other week Im injecting somebody with (the overdose-reversing medication) naloxone to bring them back.

Banks, who began distributing fentanyl test strips for his job about six months ago, said he doesnt know if his grandson would have benefited from them because he hid his drug use from his parents and may not have been receptive to help.

Still, Banks said the strips are useful as one tool among several in the fight against the opioid epidemic. Beyond offering the testing kits, outreach groups like Banks work to offer access to recovery treatment and education on how to minimize risks for those who will still do the drug.

Then there are those who have built tolerance to fentanyl and do not fear ingesting it. Wood, the drug technician, said its still important they get information on whats in their drugs so they can adjust their dose, pace themselves and make sure someone else is present in case of an overdose.

Most of our dope users will use regardless, Wood said. Its more so just providing them with the information so they can maybe use less.

The Chicago Recovery Alliance has distributed the strips for years now, Wood said. Though some who believe in drug abstinence may balk at such an invention, Wood said thats not realistic from a public health standpoint given how powerful addiction is.

Harm reduction tools such as fentanyl strips have proved effective in shifting attitudes on drug use, Jasmin, the CDPH medical director, said. A 2019 study by Brown University researchers found about half of young adults who recently used drugs and were given fentanyl test strips changed their behavior after detecting the opioids presence.

The whole concept of harm reduction is to allow the person who uses drugs the opportunity to have another chance of staying alive, Jasmin said. If a person is alive, that will be the opportunity to talk to them about their options when it comes to going into recovery.

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The 46th president of the United States will receive an honorary doctorate degree in humane letters from South Carolina State University on Friday.

The S.C. State trustees met virtually on Monday afternoon to approve the honorary degree. The board voted unanimously in favor.

President Joe Biden will address S.C. States December graduates during the commencement ceremony at 10 a.m. Friday at the Smith-Hammond-Middleton Memorial Center.

Board chairman Rodney Jenkins said, Its customary to give the commencement speaker an honorary degree.

During the spring graduation, held in May, the university awarded Lenard Charlamagne Tha God McKelvey and alumnus Armstrong Williams honorary doctorates of humane letters. McKelvey was the keynote speaker during the commencement ceremony.

S.C. State Interim President Alexander Conyers noted Congressman James E. Clyburn was originally scheduled to be the commencement speaker.

Clyburn invited Biden to deliver the commencement address instead, because the congressman will be receiving his own degree during the ceremony.

Clyburn will march with the class of 2021. He did not march to receive his degree from S.C. State College in 1961. S.C. State did not conduct December ceremonies in that era, so he received his credential by mail.

Commencement seating will be limited to students, faculty and invited guests in keeping with COVID-19 social distancing capacity in Smith-Hammond-Middleton.

Face coverings will be required for entry and must be worn at all times inside the arena.

This story has been corrected.

Contact the writer: mbrown@timesanddemocrat.com or 803-533-5545. Follow on Twitter: @MRBrownTandD

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Dollar General has opened a new store at 704 F R Huff Dr. in St. Matthews.

To commemorate the opening of the new location, Dollar General plans to donate 100 new books to a nearby elementary school to benefit students ranging from kindergarten to fifth grade.

Through a partnership with the Kellogg Company, the donation will be part of a planned donation of more than 100,000 books across the country to celebrate new DG store openings.

The addition of the St. Matthews store opens the opportunity for schools, nonprofit organizations and libraries within a 15-mile radius of the store to apply for Dollar General Literacy Foundation grants

The new store is expected to employ approximately six to 10 people, depending on the individual needs of the store.

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That which was anticipated, predicted and expected nearly 50 years ago is happening in the Supreme Court. The right of a mother to terminate her pregnancy was adjudicated to be constitutional in 1973 via Roe vs. Wade. The term abortion quickly mutated into progressive terms on both sides: pro-choice and pro-life. No one wanted to be against anything.

Abortion has split America and divided Americans for decades even before Roe vs. Wade, and will continue its divisiveness for the foreseeable future regardless of how the court rules on Mississippis Dobbs vs. Jackson Womens Health Organization.

While extreme anecdotes abound on both sides of this life issue, perhaps a couple of questions need to be answered. Is it ever justified to end an innocent life? Plenty of laws on our books say, No! Yet, some have argued that a mother can justifiably terminate her pregnancy by killing her baby, and have given a number of reasons why. Since public opinion is so split over the justification of taking an innocent life, the Court, the legislature, or the people need to decide.

Even Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg felt uncomfortable with the outcome. In May 2013, during a visit to the Chicago University School of Law, she said, My criticism of Roe is that it seemed to have stopped the momentum on the side of change. Michael H. Schill who moderated the visit, summarized Ginsburgs remaining comments, writing, She wouldve preferred that abortion rights be secured more gradually, in a process that included state legislatures and the courts. ... Ginsburg also was troubled that the focus on Roe was on a right to privacy, rather than womens rights.

In 2018, the Mississippi legislature passed the Gestational Age Act that essentially bans elective abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. The law goes to the heart of the question who decides. Ginsburg rightly noted that Roe was based only upon a right to privacy in the Constitution.

Representing Jackson Womens Health Organization, Julie Rikelman has argued that women are due special individual rights due to their unique roles in procreation. Needless to say, the Constitution does not give women special rights, nor does it address abortion.

Our founders recognized they could not anticipate all the issues or disputes that might arise. Therefore, they iterated our individual rights in nine amendments, adding the Tenth Amendment to cover their bases: The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

No one knows how the court may rule. Its a long time until June 2022 when the court plans to release its decision. If the court lets the Mississippi law stand, it will essentially concur with Ginsburgs thoughts that abortion rights be secured more gradually, in a process that included state legislatures and the courts. ...

The three justices on the left have rejected that decision. What might the six justices on the right decide? Can at least five of them decide to let states and courts adjudicate questions of abortion at levels closer to the people?

Abortion is literally a life-or-death issue. It is way too important to be decided by nine justices, or any number of justices for that matter. Let the people decide.

Daniel L. Gardner is a syndicated columnist who lives in Starkville, Miss. You may contact him at PJandMe2@gmail.com.

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CONCORD, NH  Numbers released from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) show that more than 15,902 New Hampshire residents have enrolled so far for a new health care plan on the Health Insurance Marketplace since open enrollment began. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) reported that nearly 4.6 million Americans nationally have signed up for 2022 individual market health insurance coverage through the Marketplaces since the start of the 2022 Marketplace Open Enrollment Period (OEP) on November 1.

People who are looking for health insurance in New Hampshire can get additional assistance from Health Market Connnect's Community Navigators. Their staff brings years of experience from health centers, hospitals, non-profits, and social services. This free resource launched in November and is the official source for Granite Staters interested in learning about the Health Insurance Marketplace and the health insurance plans that are now available. Hundreds of people have contacted Community Navigators and the organization will continue to work with New Hampshire residents to help them sign up for a plan through the end of the 2022 open enrollment period on January 15, 2022. They can also offer direct assistance in Spanish, French, and Nepali. More info at https://www.hmcnh.com or by calling 603-309-2021.

"Health Market Connect is pleased about the number of Granite Staters signing up for affordable health insurance through the Marketplace. There is still plenty of time to enroll in coverage for 2022. We recognize that the process can be complex, but our Community Navigators are able to provide local assistance to any New Hampshire resident to go over options and make sure that anyone can find a plan that works for them and their family. To contact a CMS Certified Navigator, email help@hmcnh.com or call 603-309-2021."

About Covering New Hampshire Covering New Hampshire is the official, free resource for Granite Staters to learn about the Health Insurance Marketplace and the new, affordable health insurance plans that are now available to you. Covering New Hampshire aims to help people understand the new health care law, assist in connecting people with Health Insurance Marketplace.
Wyomings nascent rare earth elements industry may be inching closer to commercialization.

Rare Element Resources, the mineral exploration and development company behind the Bear Lodge mining project in northeastern Wyoming, announced Saturday that it had secured funding for a demonstration-scale separation and processing plant in Upton, nine miles from its proposed rare earths mine.

Rare earths are key components of technologies like cell phones, computers, televisions and batteries, and are used in industrial processes like petroleum refining and glass making. Because wind turbines, solar panels and electric cars require them, too, the expansion of clean energy technologies is driving up demand for rare earth elements.

Though Wyoming boasts substantial deposits of the 17 rare earth elements, which are actually abundant in nature but dont often occur in large enough quantities to mine affordably, the economics and environmental impacts of extraction and processing have deterred U.S. development. But with the support of the federal government, several rare earth companies are now looking to establish domestic processing for the first time in decades.

After receiving a $21.9 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy, Rare Element Resources raised an additional $25.1 million from private investors. It expects the combined sum to cover the costs of designing, licensing, engineering and constructing the demonstration plant.

The company has already tested its separation and processing methods at small-scale pilot plants in Canada and Germany.

To envision a pilot plant, I tell people, OK, look at something that you can put in your garage, said George Byers, a consultant for the company. For a demonstration-scale plant, look at something you can stick in a small high school gym. And for the full-scale plant that were going to build there, its going to be like the small schoolhouse tacked onto the gym.

The demonstration plant in Upton is essentially a stepping stone, intended to make sure all the technology will work at an intermediate size before its employed at a commercial scale. But if it works, Rare Element Resources hopes to build its commercial separation and processing facility at the same site.

The company aims to begin operations at the demonstration plant by mid-2025. It hasnt yet set a timeline for the full-scale facility or the Bear Lodge mine.

Were going to let the results from the demo plant dictate our next steps, Byers said.

The demonstration plant will use ore thats already been recovered and stockpiled as part of the Bear Lodge project, the company said. Eventually, though, it hopes that the commercial plant will be able not only to process materials from its own mines, but to extract rare earths from less-concentrated sources like coal and coal ash.

While many rare earths are present at the proposed mines, the company will focus primarily on the high-value magnet components neodymium and praseodymium, along with other rare earth elements like samarium, europium and gadolinium, Byers said.

If the demonstration plant is successful, the company will have to secure a number of additional local, state and federal permits  including approval from the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality and the U.S. Forest Service  before it can scale up operations.

Weve got some other things to do, Byers said. But getting the funding and all finalized  and we were oversubscribed on that  we will now be able to undertake construction of the demo plant.

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Coffee is different when its fresh, Ken Graves says.

The 72-year-old operates a little-known coffee and tea shop with his wife, Wendy, out of their Casper home.

But P. Hawk isnt the sort of shop where you walk in and leave with a cup in hand.

The Graves are merchants  they import coffee beans and tea. They also operate a micro roastery where they roast their beans in-house.

Customers place their orders ahead of time, and schedule an appointment to pick them up. That ensures the coffee is roasted on an as-needed basis.

Ken insists this makes all the difference. If your vendor cant tell you when its beans were roasted, he says, theyre probably old.

And  contrary to popular belief  that doesnt take very long. Coffees flavor and aroma go stale within a week or two post-roast, Ken says.

He got hooked on fresh-roasted coffee a couple decades ago. But back then, there wasnt anyone selling it in Casper.

No one else here was doing it, he says.

So the Graves started importing and roasting it themselves.

That was back in 2001. Twenty years and 50,000 pounds of coffee beans later, P. Hawk is still roasting on the daily.

The bulk of the operation takes place in a walk-in shed in the Graves yard. Its small, but its climate-controlled, has electricity and fits everything they need.

The coffee roaster is on the back counter. Its cherry-red and shiny, the color and luster of a fancy old car.

Space not taken up by coffee, tea or office-related supplies is decorated with Americana-style signs that say things like Behind every successful business is a substantial amount of coffee! The Graves also boast an impressive collection of souvenir mugs.

The rest of the crowded, yet tidy shed looks a bit like an apothecary.

Jars of loose-leaf tea line storage cubbies on one side, and brown bags of rooibos fill shelves on the other. (Rooibos is one of P. Hawks specialties. The South African herb brews a deep red, and has a sweet, earthen taste.)

Ken stores his coffee beans in big plastic tubs under the counter. Hand-written labels on the side tell you where they came from  Peru, Ethiopia, Papua New Guinea.

He opens one container, revealing golden seeds inside. Indian Monsooned Malabar, one of his favorites.

Its discovery is an interesting story, he says. Under the British Raj, India grew and exported coffee to Europe in unprecedented amounts. Getting it there took quite awhile. Trade ships had to cross the Indian Ocean, circumnavigate Africa and sail back up the Atlantic.

Prolonged exposure to the humid sea air turned the beans its distinctive yellow-green color, and gave them a unique dirty, salty taste.

Its alchemy, roasting coffee, he says.

He may approach his business like a scientist, but he isnt the type to shame those who like to keep things simple, either.

What kind of coffee and tea people like to drink is more complicated than cream and sugar, after all.

He just wants everyone to give fresher stuff a chance.

You can tell somebody you have the best product in the world. But if you get it in their hands  if you can taste it, he says, pausing for a moment, Thats the whole thing.

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The Carbon County Republican Party unanimously decided Saturday against disciplining a Carbon County senator for an email he sent that angered some in the GOP.

This fall, Sen. Larry Hicks, R-Baggs, wrote a strongly worded email in response to a message sent by Park County Precinct Committeeman Troy Bray to Sen. Tara Nethercott. In his email, Hicks said he did not respect Bray for his past despicable behavior.

The Wyoming Republican Party later chastised Hicks for what it termed an uncouth action and forwarded the matter on to the local party in Carbon County to discuss possible discipline. The local party, however, decided no action was warranted.

We consider this matter fully reviewed, addressed, and closed at all levels within the Wyoming Republican Party, the Carbon County GOP position statement read. We also apologize for any additional inconvenience or embarrassment that further review of this matter may have caused since your public apology should have been sufficient to all concerned as penance for your minor personal identification error.

The origins of the matter date to September, when Bray sent Nethercott an obscene email in reference to her stance on a piece of legislation.

If I were as despicable a person as you, I would kill myself to rid the world of myself. You sicken me, Bray wrote. Thank you for ensuring that the people of Wyoming are subjected to tyranny once again. F- YOU C-.

A month later, Hicks received an unrelated email from Steven Bray, a former statehouse candidate. Hicks apparently thought the email came from Troy Bray and responded to that effect.

Please remove me from your email list, Hicks wrote. Given your past history of obscenity laced unwanted attacks on members of the legislature there is absolutely nothing of any value that you have to say that I am interested in hearing, I do not represent you and I sure as hell do not have any respect for your past despicable behavior.

While Hicks email appeared to be a case of mistaken identity, it prompted criticism from a fellow state senator.

Sen. Anthony Bouchard, R-Cheyenne, shared a screenshot of Hicks email with the entire Legislature in which he asked, Is this the new norm in politics, to tattle tale?

This victim mentality can spread like a cancer. Its weak sauce at best, Bouchard wrote. And this is what happens when the first thought is to react as a victim. Definitely not a good look.

Following a recommendation from the state GOP to handle the matter, the Carbon County GOP found that no actual basis for concern, condemnation, or disciplinary action exists.

Natrona County GOP

Hicks is not the only lawmaker whose actions are up for scrutiny at the county level.

In an unrelated matter, the state GOP also recommended that the Natrona County Republican Party address Casper Rep. Steve Harshmans actions during the special session.

Harshman, the former Speaker of the House, was caught on a hot mic cursing fellow Casper Rep. Chuck Gray.

Chuck Gray, f**** (inaudible), Harshman was caught saying. Little f******(inaudible).

Harshman apologized the following day on the House floor.

The next Natrona County central committee meeting is not until Jan. 24. Even then, it appears unlikely that the body will take action on the matter.

Three members of the Natrona County GOP executive committee, Chairman Kevin Taheri, Vice Chairwoman JoAnn True and State Committeeman Dr. Joseph McGinley, said that they are not aware of the Harshman incident appearing for discussion on an upcoming agenda. Taheri added that there are no immediate plans in place to address Harshmans comments.

In November, a few days after the state partys recommendation that the Natrona County GOP handle the issue, the Natrona County GOP Executive Committee held a meeting in which officials showed no sign that they were keen to take action against Harshman.

It was handled by the Speaker of the House, McGinley told the Star-Tribune on Monday. Im suspecting that our group in general sees this as resolved.

On the day after the hot mic incident, Speaker Eric Barlow, R-Gillette, revoked Harshmans privileges to participate remotely. Barlow identified three breaches when announcing the punishment: Addressing the body without permission from the chair, using a name of another member and inappropriate language.

While Carbon County declined to punish Hicks in any form, officials there still took up the issue. Natrona County does not seem likely to do so.

We focus on problems, not people in Natrona County, McGinley said.

Follow state politics reporter Victoria Eavis on Twitter @Victoria_Eavis

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It will soon cost you at least a dollar or two more to enjoy a Carib or Stag beer as bar owners say a price increase by Carib Brewery has left them with no other alternative but to charge customers more.

Carib Brewery, in a statement on Monday, announced a $1 retail price increase per bottle or can would apply to its Carib, Carib Pilsner, Stag, Carib Blue, Royal Extra Stout, Coors, Heineken, Guinness, Smirnoff Ice and Blue Moon products.
Korea Village is celebrating one of its sons for his academic achievements.

Dr Kiran Nandlal, who is no stranger to academic success, has a bachelors degree in petroleum geosciences at The University of the West Indies (The UWI), St Augustine, but the Presentation College alumnus didnt stop there. After he was awarded a second scholarship which led him to Edinburgh, Scotland, to pursue his masters degree at the Heriot-Watt University in reservoir engineering, the scholar returned home to put his knowledge to use at the Ministry of Energy as a stipulation of his service to the country for being awarded the national scholarship.
The Trinidad and Tobago Police Service is offering a $.1 million reward in relation to the p
The stage is being set for a showdown between the Government and unvaccinated workers employed by the State, come January 17.

With a week and a half to go, there has been no real effort aimed at defusing the looming confrontation. Meanwhile, as positions harden on each side, the public has been reduced to the role of spectator, unsure of how the banning of unvaccinated public sector employees from the workplace without pay will affect them, since, apart from the Prime Ministers statement, there has been no information regarding the public sectors Quasi Safe Zones Policy.
Fox Tucson Theatre is bringing comic magician Justin Willman to its stage next May.

Tucson magic fans probably know him by his former stage name Justin Kredible, which he abandoned about 10 years ago when his career took a turn to TV.

But for years, Willman headlined Gaslight Theatre under the moniker Justin Kredible.

Willman, 41, is the former host of Food Networks Cupcake Wars, which pit bakers against one another to come up with the best cupcakes.

His Magic For Humans show on May 21 at the Fox, 17 W. Congress St., will be his first in Tucson in several years and his first ever outside of Gaslight Theatre, where he was a regular since his 2002 debut.

Willman, who hosts Netflixs months-old show Baking Impossible, is one of four acts that were added last week to Foxs 2021-22 calendar. Tickets are on sale now through foxtucson.com. Also coming:
Ensign told Lanza that none of this creates significant hurdles.

He said even if people dont use their mail-in ballot once every four years they can still remain on the permanent early voting list simply by returning a mailed notice asking if thats what they want. And even if they miss that notice, Ensign said, they can sign up again, either on a county website or returning a form by mail.

None of this is remotely burdensome, he said.

Ensign also said that, even with the new law, it still remains easier to vote in Arizona than most other states.

He said only five states have permanent vote-by-mail lists, with another five conducting all their elections by mail. Another 10 have such a list, but one confined solely to elderly voters or those with disabilities.

A full 30 states have no early voting list for anyone, Ensign said.

He also argued that culling the list of anyone who has shown little interest in early voting would save taxpayer dollars. And then, Ensign said, there is the states interest in preventing fraud.
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Her comments come as the state on Tuesday posted another 203 known deaths from COVID-19, bringing the total since the beginning of the pandemic to 23,243. There also were another 2,168 cases.

Its not just a question of having beds, both in the intensive care units as well as for standard care, but a problem of not having enough staff to provide the necessary medical care, Bessel said.

We are more stretched now than we have been since the start of the pandemic, she said. Many core team members decided to retire, seek another position within the hospitals that does not involve face-to-face health care or to get out of the profession entirely, she said.

Thats due to prior surges and the enormous physical and mental impact the pandemic has had on them, Bessel said.

There is a significant difference, though, in what is causing the current overcrowding problem at hospitals.

In January, when more than 90% of intensive care beds were occupied, COVID-19 patients accounted for about two-thirds. Now, by contrast, those with COVID take up about 40% of all ICU beds.

But Bessel said the balance of patients is still a direct result of the pandemic.
The new 500,000 acre-foot savings also will be the equivalent of a bit more than one-third of what the three Lower Basin states have already agreed to save under the entire seven-year term of the 2019 drought contingency plan if Lake Mead were to drop below 1,025 feet, from its current elevation of about 1,065 feet. If Mead got that low, the 2019 plan would require the three states to conserve a total of about 1.475 million acre-feet.

But Wheeler, a lead researcher from a Utah State University team that published a groundbreaking study on the river in February, warns that a total of at least 2 million acre-feet of Lower Basin conservation will be needed to stabilize the combined reservoir storage of Lake Mead and Lake Powell.

If the millennium drought that began in 2000 persists, the 1 million acre-feet of conservation now approved or on the verge of approval wont be enough, Wheeler said in an interview.

Worse, if river flows keep declining as theyve done since 2000, more savings will likely be needed, said Wheeler, an Oxford University senior research fellow and an investigator for an extensive series of Colorado River studies being conducted at Utah State.
It is apparently still a good time to be a landlord in the Tucson market.

Multifamily properties continue to snapped up by investors as the rental market closes out the year with strong demand.

With home prices climbing out of reach for many, prospective homebuyers remain in rentals or are moving into rentals to wait out the hot market.

Recent examples include:

The 19-unit Conrad Apartments, 301 W. Helen St., was bough by BLC Real Estate Subsidiary AZ LLC from BRInc Colonial LLC for $1.9 million. Allan Mendelsberg and Conrad Martinez, with Picor, represented both parties.

The duo also represented Brinc Dale MHP LLC in the purchase of three single-family residences at 3074, 3102 and 3106 N. Alvernon Way and a 36-space manufactured housing community in the 3100 block of North Dale Avenue, for $1.9 million. The seller was Joseph E. Schulte.

Mendelsberg and Martinez also represented 837 8th Ave LLC in the sale of the 4-unit complex at 837 S. Eighth Ave. to Hedgehog LLC for $725,000. Michael Bennett and Larry Burr, with Atlas AZ LLC, represented the buyer.
Commissioners appear sensitive to potential legal challenges like this. In fact, they got a closed-door briefing from their attorneys on a lawsuit the U.S. Justice Department just filed against Texas over the fact that the Republican-controlled legislature there, which draws the lines, found ways to make both of that states two new congressional districts largely Anglo and Republican even though more than 95% of the population growth of the past decade is attributable to minorities.

But any lawsuits there or here may have a hurdle.

While federal law precludes drawing lines to discriminate against minorities, courts have not been willing to extend those protections when districts are crafted for partisan advantage. That means anyone challenging changes would have to show that the real reason for any changes are racial or ethnic and not for political reasons.

Mehl acknowledged that, at least for the past decade, the reservation has been in a district that includes the White Mountains. And Flagstaff, by contrast, was in a district with Sedona, Cottonwood and Camp Verde.

The result has generally been there are two state representatives and one state senator from tribal lands.
John Rider, 61, was arrested at the beginning of the month on a similar charge. An arrest report did not say why he was facing the charge. There was no online docket in Sumter County yet for Rider, who was arrested in Brevard County, so it was not known if he had an attorney. No phone number was listed on an arrest report.

Online records show Ketcik and Halstead are registered Republicans, while Rider has no party affiliation.

The arrests come weeks after DeSantis proposed new restrictions on ballot drop boxes, creating the election police force and changes that would strengthen penalties for ballot harvesting. During his announcement, DeSantis, echoed many talking points on voting problems that have gained traction in the GOP following former President Donald Trumps false claims that his reelection was stolen from him. DeSantis is up for reelection next year and is eyeing a 2024 presidential run.

The governor had previously praised the 2020 election in Florida as smooth, and there was widespread consensus among election officials and experts that there was no fraud that could have affected results in the last presidential election.

An Associated Press review of every potential case of voter fraud in the six battleground states disputed by Trump has found fewer than 475  a number that would have made no difference in the 2020 presidential election.

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
A Starbucks spokesperson, when asked for comment Tuesday, referred The Associated Press to a letter from company CEO Kevin Johnson from a week ago about going forward together as one Starbucks, grounded in the belief that partners are the heartbeat of this company.

The NLRB said Thursday that workers voted 19-8 in favor of a union at Buffalo's Elmwood Avenue location, one of three stores in the city where elections were being held.

A second store rejected the union in a vote of 12-8, but the union said it might challenge that result because it wasnt confident all of the eligible votes had been counted. The results of a third store could not be determined because both sides challenged seven separate votes.

If no objections are filed to those results, they could be certified as early as Thursday. If objections are filed, there could be a series of hearings and appeals that delay certification of the votes.

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
The CPUCs proposal would still allow residential solar customers to sell their excess energy back to the power companies, but at a significantly lower rate. Solar customers would also have to pay a grid charge based on how many kilowatts of energy they produce; it would cost $40 to $50 for most homes.

The charges arent as great as what the utilities wanted. The companies and their allies did not immediately comment on the states proposal.

CPUC Commissioner Martha Guzman Aceves said the reforms are aimed at creating fairness while ensuring the financial benefits are still strong enough to encourage people to go solar.

The changes would apply to new solar customers. People who already have panels on their homes wouldnt operate under the new system until theyve had their panels for 15 years.

But state regulators also want to encourage people with solar panels to install storage systems. It costs about $20,000 to $25,000 for people to put solar panels on the rooftop and another $15,000 to install storage systems. Customers who have storage systems  only a fraction of the overall rooftop solar market  can store the extra energy they make during the day for use at night.
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP)  A grand jury in Texas has returned a capital murder indictment against a man authorities have said confessed to killing five people, including three whose dismembered bodies were found in a burning dumpster earlier this year.

Jason Thornburg, 41, was indicted Monday on a charge of capital murder in the deaths of David Lueras, 42, Lauren Phillips, 34, and Maricruz Mathis, 33, the Tarrant County district attorney's office said. Their bodies were discovered in a burning dumpster in Fort Worth in September.

Thornburg remains jailed on $1 million bond. Jail records do no list an attorney for him.

Surveillance footage of a vehicle at the site of the dumpster led authorities to Thornburg.

During an interview with police, he confessed to killing the three people found in the dumpster as well as his roommate and girlfriend, according to his arrest warrant. He told officers that he had in-depth knowledge of the Bible and believed he was being called to commit sacrifices, according to the arrest warrant.
Five years ago: President-elect Donald Trump convened a summit at Trump Tower for nearly a dozen tech leaders whose industry had largely supported Democrat Hillary Clinton; the CEOs included Apples Tim Cook, Googles Eric Schmidt, Amazons Jeff Bezos and Teslas Elon Musk. Trump announced his selection of former campaign rival Rick Perry to be secretary of energy. Yahoo said it believed hackers had stolen data from more than one billion user accounts in Aug. 2013 (in Oct. 2017, Yahoo raised that figure to 3 billion).

One year ago: The largest vaccination campaign in U.S. history began with health workers getting shots on the same day the nations COVID-19 death toll hit 300,000. U.S. government agencies and private companies rushed to secure computer networks after the disclosure of a sophisticated, long-running cyber-espionage intrusion suspected of being carried out by Russian hackers. The owner of the Cleveland Indians said the team would drop the name it had used since 1915; he said it was no longer acceptable in our world. (The team would still be known as the Indians in 2021, with the new name, the Guardians, taking effect after that season.)
Trapp took the conditions during two large tornado strikes in 2013  the Hattiesburg, Mississippi, tornado that in February of that year injured 82 people with winds of 170 mph and the Moore, Oklahoma, tornado that killed 24 people with winds up to 210 mph (340 kph) in May and put them into dozens of computer simulations of worst-case climate change scenario by 2100, which other scientists say is increasingly unlikely.

The worst-case scenario, which the world used to be on track for, would have another 6 degrees (3.3 degrees Celsius) or so of warming between now and the end of the century. Trapp said he will soon run simulations based on a scenario closer to the current trajectory for carbon dioxide emissions of about 3.2 degrees (1.8 degrees Celsius) warming above current levels.

Trapp found a big change on the winter storm, significantly longer and wider tracks and windspeed increases around 14% that added up to the nine-fold increase in power when using a formula that takes wind speed, rotation and size of path into account. Power increased 1.5 times for the spring storm, he said.
Donald Holz is among the five people in Wisconsin who face voter fraud charges. He said all he wanted to do was vote for Trump. But because he was still on parole after being convicted of felony drunken driving, the 63-year-old retiree was not eligible to do so. Wisconsin is not among the states that have loosened felon voting laws in recent years.

Holz said he had no intention to break the law and only did so after he asked poll workers if it was OK.

The only thing that helps me out is that I know what I did and I did it with good intentions, Holz said after an initial court appearance in Fond du Lac. The guy upstairs knows what I did. I didnt have any intention to commit election fraud.

In southeast Pennsylvania, 72-year-old Ralph Thurman, a registered Republican, was sentenced to three years probation after pleading guilty to one count of repeat voting. Authorities said Thurman, after voting at his polling place, returned about an hour later wearing sunglasses and cast a ballot in his sons name.

After being recognized and confronted, Thurman fled the building, officials said. Thurmans attorney told the AP the incident was the result of miscommunication at the polling place.
The University of Oklahoma is expanding its computer science program to OU-Tulsa to support the workforce and applied research needs of companies in Tulsa and northeastern Oklahoma, officials said Monday.

In partnership with the George Kaiser Family Foundation, OU-Tulsa will increase its focus on areas of computer science that include software engineering, cybersecurity and embedded systems by hiring new faculty and staff to provide instruction and constructing new teaching and research labs.

Through the expansion, OU-Tulsa plans to increase enrollment by several hundred students and hire more than 20 more faculty members over a six-year period.

This initiative will support the high-tech staffing requirements of companies looking to establish or relocate to the region, OU said.

Expanding our computer science program to OU-Tulsa strategically serves the workforce needs and the broader economy of northeastern Oklahoma, said OU President Joseph Harroz Jr.

Like OU, the George Kaiser Family Foundation is committed to changing lives and advancing society. We are immensely grateful for their partnership and belief in our vision to generate new opportunities for the Tulsa area.
Eddie Faye Gates, a Tulsa-area author, historian and educator, died Thursday at age 87.

Following a 24-year career with Tulsa Public Schools, most of it as a history teacher, Gates concentrated on researching and writing about Black history, particularly as it pertained to Tulsa and eastern Oklahoma.

She published several books, including 1997s They Came Searching, which preserved recollections of many long-time Black Tulsans.

Gates served on a 1997-2001 state commission investigating the Tulsa Race Massacre, and during that time she recorded interviews with many of the survivors who were still alive.

Gates was among the most forceful advocates for including African American perspectives in the commissions final report and for reparations for the survivors.

Gates wrote that her grandparents came to Indian Territory from Texas in a covered wagon in 1904.

They had been told that I.T. was heaven on earth, she wrote. It wasnt but it was better than Texas.
The construction of a US$1.78 billion thermal power plant was initiated in the north-central Vietnamese province of Quang Binh on Monday.

The groundbreaking ceremony of Quang Trach 1 thermal power plant was organized by the state-owned Vietnam Electricity Corporation (EVN) and Quang Binh authorities on Monday.

Estimated to cost VND41.13 trillion ($1.78 billion), the project covers an area of 48.6 hectares.

The power plant has an installed capacity of 1,200MW.

After being put into operation, it is expected to add about 8.4 billion kWh of electricity to the national grid per year.

The project is anticipated to be finished in 2025.

It will be implemented by a consortium of contractors including several Japanese and South Korean companies and Vietnams Construction Corporation No.1 JSC.

Quang Trach 1 thermal power plant will use modern technology, EVN stated, adding that it will have the highest ultra-supercritical (USC) parameters among thermal power plants in Vietnam.

The facility will be equipped with wastewater treatment and exhaust gas and dust filtration systems, thus its emissions will meet the standards promulgated by Vietnam and the World Bank.

The plants environmental parameters will be closely monitored by the Quang Binh Department of Natural Resources and Environment.

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BANGKOK -- Thailand will halve to three months the time between administering a second COVID-19 vaccine shot and a booster, a health official said on Monday, to try to strengthen immunity in anticipation of a local spread of the Omicron variant.

Thailand has so far detected eight imported cases of the Omicron variant but has yet to see community transmission, according to its health ministry. Omicron has been reported in dozens of countries.

"Because Omicron is now widespread, the booster third shot would help lessen the severity of symptoms and reduce the death rate," said Taweesin Wisanuyothin, spokesperson for the government's COVID-19 taskforce.

Taweesin said recipients of a second shot in August or September could get boosters right away at any vaccine centre nationwide.

The UK Health Security Agency on Friday said boosters significantly restored protection against mild diseased caused by the Omicron variant, in early findings from a real-world analysis.

More than 43 million people or 60% of people in Thailand have received two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine, of which 4.1 million have received boosters.
Here are todays leading news stories:

Politics

-- Vietnamese National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue and Speaker of South Koreas National Assembly Park Byeong-Seug expressed their support for the elevation of their countries relationship to a comprehensive strategic partnership during their talks in Seoul on Monday, the Vietnam News Agency reported.

Society

-- A man from the north-central province of Nghe An suffered severe burns while his two-story house was seriously damaged following an explosion allegedly caused by homemade firecrackers on Monday.

-- Police in Ho Chi Minh City have booked over 87,000 violations of pandemic prevention and control regulations and imposed fines worth more than VND100 billion (US$4.3 million) since October 1.

-- A source of Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper confirmed on Monday that a detention officer at a prison in south-central Binh Thuan Province had been apprehended for torturing an inmate.

-- One person was killed and another injured following an explosion at a waste treatment plant in the northern province of Thai Nguyen on Monday afternoon.

-- Authorities in Hanoi have suspended dine-in service in Dong Da District, which is at high risk of COVID-19 transmission, from Monday to curb the spread of the virus.

-- The Hanoi Peoples Court on Monday sentenced Nguyen Duc Chung, former chairman of the municipal Peoples Committee, to eight years in prison for abusing positions and powers in a case related to the purchase of water-cleaning agent Redoxy 3C to purify lakes in the Vietnamese capital.

Business

-- The construction of Quang Trach 1 Thermal Power Plant was initiated in the north-central province of Quang Binh on Monday. The plant is expected to produce about 8.4 billion kWh of electricity a year.

Lifestyle

-- Vietnamese model Nguyen Quynh Anh won the top prize of Supermodel Me Revolution held in Singapore on Monday. This is the first victory of a Vietnamese model in one of the biggest fashion competitions in Asia.

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A court has sentenced an ex-chairman of the Hanoi administration to eight years in prison for power and position abuse, his second conviction this year.

The Peoples Court of Hanoi on Monday gave the jail term to former chairman of the Hanoi Peoples Committee Nguyen Duc Chung on charges of abusing positions and powers while performing duties in a case related to the illegal purchase of the water-cleaning agent Redoxy 3C to purify lakes in the Vietnamese capital city.

Two other defendants in the case, Nguyen Truong Giang, former director of Arktic Trading and Service Co. Ltd. (Asktic Co. Ltd.), and Vo Tien Hung, former general director of the Hanoi Sewerage and Drainage Company Limited (HSDC), were imprisoned for 4.5 years and four years, respectively, for the same offense.

The court ordered the three defendants to jointly pay more than VND36.1 billion (US$1.57 million) in compensation to HSDC, which is the civil plaintiff.

Of the total amount, Chung has to pay VND25 billion ($1.09 million) while Giang and Hung are liable for VND7.1 billion ($308,360) and VND4 billion ($173,724), respectively.

The trial panel noted that Chung's family had paid VND10 billion ($432,000) and Giangs had also paid VND1 billion ($43,200) to the Hanoi Civil Judgment Enforcement Department as a partial settlement of the compensation.

According to the indictment, the Hanoi administration in 2016 directed relevant agencies to address water pollution in local rivers and lakes by searching for suitable advanced technologies.

Chung, the city's chairman at that time, chose the water treatment technology of Germanys Watch Water GmbH and placed an order for the production of the Redoxy-3C agent for use in the water pollution treatment after making a trip to Germany to visit the manufacturer.

However, he later instructed Hung to buy Redoxy- 3C through Asktic Co. Ltd., where Giang acted as the director, instead of purchasing the agent directly from the German manufacturer, with the intention of gaining personal profit.

Arktic is wholly owned by Chungs wife, Nguyen Thi Truc Chi Hoa, and this company is in the name of their son, Nguyen Duc Hanh, as shown in its business registration certificate.

With the green light from Chung, Arktic bought Redoxy- 3C from Watch Water GmbH for around VND115 billion ($5.02 million) and resold it to HSDC for some VND151 billion ($6.6 million) to earn a difference of VND36.1 billion, the indictment said.

During the two days of trial, Chung repeatedly said he was innocent, asserting that he did not direct HSDC to buy Redoxy- 3C through Arktic and that he gained nothing from Arktic.

The court, however, affirmed that the evidence and testimonies collected during the investigation and the trial were enough for the conviction of the three defendants.

Together with a five-year imprisonment term Chung received on December 11, 2020 from the same court on charges of appropriating state secret documents, Chung has to serve a total of 13 years in jail.

Chung was then determined to be the mastermind of the theft of state secrets, which involved his three accomplices, who received jail terms ranging from 18 months to 4.5 years for the same crime.

The four stole confidential documents of an investigation into a scandal related to Nhat Cuong, a technology firm and mobile phone vendor, which was still under investigation for smuggling, accounting violations, money laundering, and bidding violations, all causing serious consequences, according to a separate indictment.

Such documents were considered by police as state secrets.

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Vietnam formally received on Tuesday 2,558,000 Moderna COVID-19 vaccine doses donated by Germany, with the European country expected to gift a total of over 10 million doses to the Southeast Asian nation.

The vaccine doses were sent through the global vaccine-sharing scheme COVAX Facility, the World Health Organization (WHO) Vietnam said on Tuesday on its verified Facebook account.

German Ambassador to Vietnam, Dr Guido Hildner, was joined by other UN, UNICEF, and WHO officials at the handover ceremony at the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology in Hanoi.

On December 10, the shipment of 2,558,000 Moderna COVID-19 vaccine doses arrived in the Vietnamese capital, the German Embassy said in a press release issued the same day.

The vaccine donation was made through COVAX Facility in close coordination with UNICEF and WHO Vietnam, as well as the Vietnamese government.

Germany has already provided Vietnam with vaccines and medical equipment this year.

This delivery is another contribution by Germany to support Vietnam's vaccination campaign.

Germany will supply Vietnam with even more vaccine shots, bringing the total number of vaccines the European country is expected to deliver to the Southeast Asian nation to over 10 million doses, the embassy asserted.

"With this new delivery of over 2.5 million doses of vaccine through COVAX, Germany reaffirms its solidarity with Vietnam in combating and overcoming the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Hildner was quoted as saying in the press release.

Current developments show that the pandemic is far from being defeated.

Germany will provide further vaccines to Vietnam through the international vaccine platform COVAX.

We can only defeat the pandemic if it is brought under control everywhere.

Therefore, Germany and the European Union support the COVAX vaccination campaign for fair and transparent access to COVID-19 vaccines worldwide."

"On behalf of the UN family, we thank the government and people of Germany for sharing these life-saving vaccine doses with the Vietnamese people, said Rana Flowers, UN coordinator ad interim and representative of UNICEF in Vietnam.

We seek to ensure vaccines reach to every corner of this country and the world, equitably.

The governments who have supported and continue to support COVAX, including through financial support and donations of vaccine, are the change makers in the fight against the spread of this pandemic.

Another batch of 2.6 million AstraZeneca vaccine shots donated by Germany touched down in Ho Chi Minh City in late September.

This summer, some German states donated to Vietnam one million rapid antigen test kits, face masks, protective clothing, and vaccine storage refrigerators.

In early 2020, Vietnam provided Germany with over 100,000 face masks for free.

Vietnam has received a total of 45,197,910 doses of COVID-19 vaccine so far through COVAX Facility.

Up to now, about 151 million vaccine doses have been delivered to Vietnam, as donations and via purchase contracts, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

COVAX is co-led by WHO, Gavi, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), and UNICEF as delivery partners.

Germany co-founded the Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelarator (ACT-A) coordination mechanism, of which COVAX is the vaccine pillar, last year and is its second-largest donor with 2.2 billion (US$2.5 billion).

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Police in Ho Chi Minh City have booked over 87,000 violations of pandemic prevention and control regulations and imposed fines worth more than VND100 billion (US$4.3 million) since authorities loosened COVID-19 restrictions on October 1.

The municipal steering committee for COVID-19 prevention and control organized a press meeting on Monday to provide information on the pandemic situation in the metropolis.

At the event, Senior Lieutenant Colonel Le Manh Ha, deputy chief of staff of the citys Department of Public Security, said that police units in all districts and Thu Duc City have been patrolling to ensure security and order, as well as to detect and deal with violations of pandemic response measures.

Officers across the metropolis have booked over 87,000 violations of pandemic prevention and control regulations and imposed fines worth more than VND100 billion ($4.3 million) since October 1, Ha elaborated.

Police issued warnings in 251 cases, most of which were failure to wear face masks in public.

The Department of Public Security has been working with the Department of Health to equip the police force with basic medical skills as well as knowledge of COVID-19 prevention and control, the official continued.

With over 488,000 local infections, Ho Chi Minh City has been the hardest-hit locality in Vietnam since the fourth virus wave began on April 27.

As of Sunday, local hospitals were providing treatment to 12,150 COVID-19 patients. Among them, there are 388 children under 16, 488 patients on breathing support, and 15 patients on ECMO, or outside-the-body life support.

Due to the serious pandemic, the municipal authorities had implemented various levels of social distancing since May 31 before loosening restrictions on October 1, as the majority of the adult population had been vaccinated with at least one dose.

As of Monday, health workers in the metropolis had administered more than 14.8 million vaccine shots.

Nearly 6.9 million out of nine million people in the city have been fully inoculated.

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A man from Nghe An Province, north-central Vietnam suffered severe burns and his two-story house was seriously damaged following an explosion allegedly caused by homemade firecrackers on Monday.

In the wake of a blast at around 2:00 pm on Monday, many people in Nghi Phu Commune of Vinh City in Nghe An saw the two-story house of 33-year-old L. was cracked, with its furniture badly damaged.

All windows on the first and second floors of his neighbors house on the opposite side were also shattered by the force of the explosion.

As local residents ran to the site, they found L. lying on the floor covered in blood.

L. was rushed to hospital for emergency treatment with serious injuries and burns.

As police in Vinh City examined L.s house at 4:00 pm on the same day, they noticed that there were a lot of shredded paper and a smell of explosives inside.

The officers have thus suspected that homemade firecrackers led to the detonation.

Onlookers gather at the scene of a house explosion allegedly caused by homemade firecrackers in Vinh City, Nghe An Province, north-central Vietnam, December 13, 2021. Photo: Doan Hoa / Tuoi Tre

Earlier this month, T.T.H., a 19-year-old resident of northern Hai Duong Province, was hospitalized after an explosion occurred while he was making a homemade firecracker.

He was transferred to Viet Duc University Hospital in Hanoi on December 6 in a state of multiple traumas, including brain injury, maxillofacial trauma, left eyeball injury, and broken hands.

After undergoing the amputation of one finger, surgical treatment of his facial trauma and left eyeball removal, the patient regained consciousness and is being monitored at Viet Duc University Hospital.

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The Ministry of Health registered 15,220 more COVID-19 cases throughout Vietnam on Tuesday, alongside 4,524 recoveries and 252 virus-related fatalities.

The latest infections, including 17 imported and 15,203 domestic transmissions, were logged in 62 provinces and cities, the ministry said, noting that 9,351 patients caught the pathogen in the community.

Ca Mau Province recorded 1,011 of the newest cases, Ho Chi Minh City 991, Tay Ninh Province 931, Binh Phuoc Province 907, Hanoi 837, Can Tho City 692, Khanh Hoa Province 597, Thua Thien-Hue Province 394, Hai Phong City 382, Binh Duong Province 352, Dong Nai Province 336, Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province 258, Bac Ninh Province 225, Binh Thuan Province 211, Lam Dong Province 193, Da Nang 177, Quang Nam Province 80, Quang Ninh Province 62, and Bac Giang Province 11.

Vietnam had documented 15,349 locally-acquired infections on Monday.

The country has detected 1,438,207 community transmissions in all its 63 provinces and cities since the fourth virus wave erupted on April 27. A combined 1,057,619 of them have recovered from COVID-19.

Ho Chi Minh City has been the hardest-hit locality with 489,165 patients, followed by Binh Duong Province with 287,908, Dong Nai Province with 92,911, Tay Ninh Province with 40,546, Long An Province with 39,319, Dong Thap Province with 31,722, Can Tho City with 29,650, Tien Giang Province with 29,301, An Giang Province with 27,642, Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province with 22,424, Binh Thuan Province with 22,193, Khanh Hoa Province with 20,613, Hanoi with 19,636, and Da Nang with 8,327.

Vietnam confirmed a mere 1,570 locally-transmitted infections in total in the previous three waves.

The health ministry announced 4,524 recovered patients on Tuesday, bringing the total to 1,060,436.

The toll has mounted to 28,333 fatalities after the ministry recorded 252 deaths on the same day, including 64 in Ho Chi Minh City, 28 in An Giang Province, 27 in Dong Nai Province, 18 in Binh Duong Province, 16 in Tay Ninh Province, and the remaining in 20 other provinces and cities.

Vietnam has logged 1,443,648 patients since the COVID-19 pandemic first hit it early last year.

Health workers have given more than 133.6 million vaccine doses, including 748,830 shots on Monday, since vaccination was rolled out nationwide on March 8.

Over 75 million of the countrys 98 million people have received at least one dose while upwards of 58.6 million are now fully immunized.

Vietnam aims to fully inoculate 100 percent of its adult population this year. Many provinces and cities are immunizing children aged 12-17 against COVID-19, using Pfizer-BioNTech shots.

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An officer at a prison in Vietnam has been apprehended for allegedly torturing an inmate.

A source close to Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper confirmed on Monday that investigators under the Supreme Peoples Procuracy had initiated legal proceedings against Nguyen Doan Tu, an officer at Z30D prison in Ham Tam District, Binh Thuan Province.

Tu will be held in custody for four months to facilitate the investigation.

The Supreme Peoples Procuracy had completed legal procedures and conducted a COVID-19 test on the officer prior to the arrest.

The Tuoi Tre source stated that Tu had beaten a female prisoner with a baton on many occasions.

The officer was suspended from work about a month ago after the victim reported the case.

An official at Z30D prison has confirmed the incident to Tuoi Tre but refused to provide further information.

According to the Penal Code, torturing inmates is punishable by six months to 12 years in prison depending on the severity of the offense.

The offender can face up to 20 years in jail or a life sentence if the torture results in death.

The violator will also be banned from working in certain positions for one to five years.

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Vietnamese model Nguyen Quynh Anh won SupermodelMe Revolution held in Singapore on Monday, marking the first victory of a Vietnamese model in one of the biggest fashion competitions in Asia.

Anh outperformed her rivals, Nikki from the Philippines and Hannah of Singapore, in the finale on Monday evening, securing the top prize in the sixth season of the SupermodelMe Revolution.

The 10th episode of the contest saw the three contestants compete in a photo shoot and strut.

Anh showed off her confidence in both categories, winning the judges praise.

The Vietnamese model then claimed the top prize while Nikki was announced the first runner-up and the second runner-up title went to Hannah.

This was the first time a Vietnamese model had won an Asian supermodel competition.

Vietnamese model Nguyen Quynh Anh competes at SupermodelMe Revolution. Photo credit: SupermodelMe Revolution

In a Facebook post on her verified account following the victory, Anh thanked those who had been interested in her journey at SupermodelMe Revolution.

This victory is for everyone, the model wrote in Vietnamese.

Just have faith and bravery, you can do everything.

Vietnamese model Nguyen Quynh Anh competes at SupermodelMe Revolution. Photo credit: SupermodelMe Revolution

Born in 1999, Anh is known as the 2018 runner-up of The Face Vietnam, a Vietnamese modeling-themed reality television series, based on the U.S. television series of the same name.

Since May, she has been in Singapore to film for SupermodelMe, a multi-platform reality series in which a number of aspiring models of Asian heritage compete for a chance to launch their career in the fashion industry.

Vietnamese model Nguyen Quynh Anh competes at SupermodelMe Revolution. Photo credit: SupermodelMe Revolution

The sixth season, first broadcast on October 11, after a seven-year hiatus featured 12 contestants, with three from the Philippines, two each from Singapore and Vietnam, and one each from mainland China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand.

The prizes for this season were a Subaru Ambassadorship, a cover on Harpers Bazaar, and a modeling contract with Storm Model Management.

Vietnamese model Nguyen Quynh Anh competes at SupermodelMe Revolution. Photo credit: SupermodelMe Revolution

Vietnamese model Nguyen Quynh Anh competes at SupermodelMe Revolution. Photo credit: SupermodelMe Revolution

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By Eric F. Spina

Anything going on in the news? asked communication professor Joe Valenzano, opening up another lively edition of Conservative Political Rhetoric.

Without notes, Dr. Valenzano adeptly led students through a freewheeling discussion of current events, from the redistricting effort in Ohio to the new COVID-19 variant discovered in South Africa. About half the class identifies as conservatives and the other half as liberals.

As I listened to students share a diversity of views, I realized anew the mark of the most influential teachers in our lives. Like Joe, they make us think critically and challenge our long-held beliefs. Theres no political rancor in this small seminar, only respectful conversation. For me, it was a refreshing hiatus from the tenor of our times.

I told the students at the start they would learn what it means to be conservative, and I said that if I do my job right, the liberals in class would realize they are more conservative than they think, and the conservatives would realize they are more liberal than they think. Feel free to ask them and see how I did, he said.

Challenge accepted.

It is not about what side of the aisle you are on; it is about making sure that whatever side you are on that you are educated and know why you are on that side, said Drew Moyer, president of the Student Government Association. The class has been centered around listening, truly listening, to others who share differing opinions so that we can learn from each other.

Students are required to read two textbooks: The Federalist Papers by Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison as well as The Conscience of a Conservative by Barry Goldwater. They also read The Constitution and writings by such well-known conservative thinkers as Edmund Burke, David Hume, and Arthur C. Brooks. A Harvard professor, Brooks spoke on campus two years ago about the principles in his book, Love Your Enemies: How Decent People Can Save America from the Culture of Contempt. Earlier in the semester, former Ohio Governor Bob Taft made a guest appearance to talk about Goldwaters influence on conservative thought and his own understanding of the role of government.

On the day I stopped by the students discussed the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalias essay, Gods Justice and Ours.

Read the first sentence, Dr. Valenzano told the class. Scalia wrote, Before proceeding to discuss the morality of capital punishment, I want to make clear that my views on the subject have nothing to do with how I vote in capital cases that come before the Supreme Court. Lets play with this for a second. What do you feel personally? What do you feel spiritually? What is your obligation to society?"

In the end, the students shared divergent views. Some drew the line at torture, calling it cruel and unusual punishment. Others believed in restorative justice and redemption.

Afterwards, Dr. Valenzano said, I love this class. The students come prepared, make smart arguments and we apply them to political events as they unfold. I dont set any ground rules, per se, except that I want people to share opinions  especially when they disagree.

As I reluctantly left the class to rush to a meeting, I realized this is what the Marianists mean about coming to the table. These students and their professor have gathered together to learn how to engage in spirited conversations that value the dignity of each individual and respect the opinions of all.

The greatest lesson may be this: When we open our minds, we open our hearts.
LONDON, December 14, 2021--(BUSINESS WIRE)--AM Best has affirmed the Financial Strength Rating of B+ (Good) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating of "bbb-" (Good) of Universal Insurance Company (Guernsey) Limited (UIC) (Guernsey). The outlook of these Credit Ratings (ratings) is stable.

The ratings reflect UICs balance sheet strength, which AM Best assesses as strong, as well as its strong operating performance, very limited business profile and marginal enterprise risk management (ERM).

UICs balance sheet strength is underpinned by its risk-adjusted capitalisation at the strongest level, as measured by Bests Capital Adequacy Ratio (BCAR), and by the companys very conservative investment portfolio. AM Bests expects UICs BCAR scores to remain comfortably in excess of the minimum required for the strongest assessment, with good internal capital generation continuing to support the companys growth. An offsetting factor in the balance sheet strength assessment is the companys small capital base, which heightens the potential for volatility in risk-adjusted capitalisation.

Since its creation in 2014, UIC has achieved strong operating performance, evidenced by a five-year (2017-2021) weighted average return on equity of 38.3%. Earnings are derived primarily from the companys excellent underwriting profitability, as seen in its five-year weighted average combined ratio of 20.1%, whilst the very conservative and highly liquid investment portfolio produces marginal but stable returns.

UIC provides ancillary motor policies, primarily distributed by brokers in the United Kingdom. The companys profile is highly concentrated, as it operates in a single line of business in a single territory, which makes its business model vulnerable to changes in the U.K. motor market. Whilst UIC aims to grow its book of excess motor policies and create new products for the motor insurance market, AM Best expects its profile to remain very limited.

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UICs ERM framework is considered evolving, and AM Best expects the company to continue to develop it. The marginal ERM assessment factors in the elevated risk profile stemming from UICs business model, which encompasses significant concentration risk.

This press release relates to Credit Ratings that have been published on AM Bests website. For all rating information relating to the release and pertinent disclosures, including details of the office responsible for issuing each of the individual ratings referenced in this release, please see AM Bests Recent Rating Activity web page. For additional information regarding the use and limitations of Credit Rating opinions, please view Guide to Bests Credit Ratings. For information on the proper use of Bests Credit Ratings, Bests Preliminary Credit Assessments and AM Best press releases, please view Guide to Proper Use of Bests Ratings & Assessments.

AM Best is a global credit rating agency, news publisher and data analytics provider specialising in the insurance industry. Headquartered in the United States, the company does business in over 100 countries with regional offices in London, Amsterdam, Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Mexico City. For more information, visit www.ambest.com.

Copyright  2021 by A.M. Best Rating Services, Inc. and/or its affiliates. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211214006187/en/

Contacts

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Associate Financial Analyst

+44 20 7397 4289

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By Bart H. Meijer

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - The Netherlands will extend COVID-19 restrictions through the Christmas holidays, including the early closure of schools, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said on Tuesday.

The rapid spread of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, which is making up roughly 1% of new infections in the country, "is a reason to be concerned and to be cautious," Rutte said in a televised comments.

Elementary schools will close a week early to try to prevent children from infecting older family members during Christmas as hospitals struggle with a wave of COVID-19 patients.

Rutte said a second Christmas "during which grandparents couldn't hug their grandkids under the tree" was a painful necessity.

Booster vaccine shots to improve immunity against the Omicron variant will be offered to all Dutch adults before the end of January, Health Minister Hugo de Jonge said.

Other restrictions in place since Nov. 28, including the closing of restaurants, bars, non-essential stores and other public places from 5 p.m. to 5 a.m., the barring of all spectators from sporting events, and advice to work from home as much as possible were extended through Jan. 14.

Infections in the country of 17.5 million have dropped from record levels following the introduction of the nighttime lockdown, but remain relatively high at around 85 per 100,000 inhabitants.

The number of COVID-19 patients in hospitals has remained among the highest levels of the year and hospitals throughout the country have been ordered to postpone all non-emergency operations for weeks to free up beds in intensive care units.

As infections remain highest among young children, experts had advised the government to close schools a week earlier.

The Netherlands has registered almost 2.9 million coronavirus infections, with 20,214 related deaths.

(Reporting by Bart Meijer and Anthony Deutsch; Editing by Angus MacSwan, Ed Osmond and Grant McCool)
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel intends to import foreign workers for its high-tech sector on a trial basis to offset a pandemic-era labour shortage, Finance Minister Avigdor Lieberman said on Monday.

In remarks to his party's legislators, Lieberman said Israel was experiencing a labour shortage across the economy as a whole during the coronavirus pandemic, with employers demanding action from the government, including work permits for foreigners.

"We will carry out a kind of experiment in the high-tech sector. We will approve bringing in foreign workers - even for the high-tech sector," he said in his comments, broadcast on Israeli television.

Lieberman gave no numbers or timeframe for the trial in Israel's booming high-tech industry, which raised $25 billion this year.

Foreigners are currently not allowed into the country in a bid to slow the spread of the COVID-19's Omicron variant.

Avi Hasson, CEO of Start-Up Nation Central, a non-profit group that closely follows the Israeli tech ecosystem, said the sector is suffering "a chronic shortage of tens of thousands of employees".

Salaries in the tech industry are far higher than the country's average, and it employs about 10% of the national workforce. Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has said he hopes that figure would rise to 15%.

Local tech companies compete fiercely for jobs with hundreds of multinational firms with R&D centres in Israel, including Apple, Facebook, Microsoft, IBM, Google and Intel.

(Reporting by Jeffrey Heller and Steven Scheer; Editing by Nick Zieminski)
A graphic has been shared in multiple social media posts that claim it shows a genuine schedule issued by a Pakistani natural gas company, indicating supply in the country will be limited to certain hours of day in the winter months of 2021 . These posts are false; the Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) whose logo appears in the graphic denied it issued the schedule. Pakistan's energy ministry said it had not decided on any such supply schedule as of December 13.

The graphic was published on Facebook on November 15.

A screenshot taken on December 12, 2021 of the misleading Facebook post

Bearing the logo of SSGC, a natural gas supply company based in the Pakistani city of Karachi, the Urdu-language texts in the graphic translates as: "The gas schedule for the domestic consumer in the country.

"Gas schedule. From 5:30 am to 8:30 am in the moring, from 11:30 am to 2.00 pm in the noon, from 4:00 pm to 10:00 pm in the night gas will come."

The graphic's caption reads: "Schedule of Sui gas supplies for domestic use".

Natural gas is locally called Sui gas in Pakistan after the southern town of Sui where reserves were first found in 1952, according to state-owned Pakistan Petroleum Limited.

Similar claims alongside the same schedule were also published here and here on Facebook.

But the claims are false.

Fabricated graphic

SSGC denied it issued the graphic.

In a statement posted on Twitter on November 14, the company said: "A post is being shared on social media listing down a 'Gas Schedule' and attributing the information to #SSGC.

"Please note this is fake news and SSGC has nothing to do with it. If there is any curtailment announcement, it will be from the Ministry of Energy (Petroleum Division)."

A post is being shared on social media listing down a 'Gas Schedule' and attributing the information to #SSGC.

Please note this is fake news and SSGC has nothing to do with it.

If there is any curtailment announcement, it will be from the Ministry of Energy (Petroleum Division).  SSGC Official (@SSGC_Official) November 14, 2021

No such schedule

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Pakistan's Ministry of Energy also refuted the purported schedule in this statement on Twitter.

The ministry said: "Misleading news is being spread on various channels that gas will be provided to domestic consumers only three times a day. No such decision has been taken by the Ministry of Energy."

Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Limited (SNGPL), the state-owned company that distributes gas in northern Pakistan, also denied it had issued any supply schedule for winter.

The company said: "Important Notice: No schedule has been issued by Sui Northern Gas regarding gas shutdown/supply hours.

"The information regarding the timetable of gas outage is incorrect. All stakeholders are requested to inform the public about the correct situation."

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), the country's ruling party, said on Twitter: "During the winter in the months of December and January there used to be very little gas supply or it used to disappear altogether in morning, noon and evening.

"Now the federal government has decided that gas supply should be ensured to domestic consumers during meals cooking times daily in the morning, noon and evening."
Azerbaijani authorities next year will file lawsuits against Armenia in connection with the damage caused to the environment and the illegal exploitation of energy resources in the Karabakh region, which was liberated from Armenian occupation last year. Azerbaijans Deputy Foreign Minister Elnur Mammadov said the arguments will be brought before the international court of law based on a number of international conventions, Caspian News reports.

"One of them will concern damage to the environment. The second will be related to energy resources. At present, facts are being collected about the illegal use and exploitation of energy resources by the Armenian side in the territories liberated from occupation," Mammadov said in a press briefing on Wednesday. He added that an investigation has also been launched into the illegal activities of foreign companies in the Azerbaijani territories during the years of occupation. Complaints will be filed against the assets of those companies, which are currently being identified as part of the investigation, according to the deputy minister.

Armenia and Azerbaijan had been locked in an armed conflict for nearly 30 years over the Karabakh (Garabagh) region, which is an internationally recognized territory of Azerbaijan. Armenia launched full-blown military aggression against Azerbaijan following the Soviet Unions dissolution in 1991. The bloody war lasted until a ceasefire in 1994 and saw Armenia occupying 20 percent of Azerbaijans internationally recognized territories. Over 30,000 Azerbaijanis were killed, and one million were expelled from those lands in a brutal ethnic cleansing policy conducted by Armenia.

On September 27, 2020, the decades-old conflict took a violent turn after Armenias forces deployed in the occupied Azerbaijani lands shelled military positions and civilian settlements of Azerbaijan. During the counter-attack operations that lasted 44 days, Azerbaijani forces liberated over 300 settlements, including the cities of Jabrayil, Fuzuli, Zangilan, Gubadli, and Shusha, from nearly 30-year-long illegal Armenian occupation. The war ended in a tripartite statement signed on November 10 by Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Russia. Under the statement, Armenia also returned the occupied Aghdam, Kalbajar, and Lachin districts to Azerbaijan.

Environmental crimes

Ecological terror has been common in the occupied territories, including pollutions, arsons, deforestation, illegal exploitation of mineral deposits and etc. The Okhchu river, which begins at 3,285 meters above sea level on the Gapijig mountain, the highest point of the Zangazur ridge along the Azerbaijan-Armenia border, and passes through the Gafan district of Armenia and Azerbaijans Zangilan region, was contaminated heavily with chemical wastes from a copper-molybdenum plant located in Armenia at the rivers basin. Germanys CRONIMET Company reportedly owned 60 percent of stakes at the facility, called Zangazur copper-molybdenum plant.

The Okhchu river, one of eleven rivers of Azerbaijan in the Karabakh region, which is home to more than 30 percent of the countrys overall drinking water reserves. Azerbaijani authorities blamed the Armenian authorities for not preventing the pollution of the Okhchu river, the water of which is not used in Armenia and flows into Azerbaijans agriculturally important Araz River. The Okhchu river is said to be used as a collector by Armenia's producers for sending away the industrial wastes from the countrys territory and causing agricultural, environmental, and humanitarian disasters in Azerbaijan. The analysis of the samples taken from the Okhchu river revealed a big number of life-threatening elements in the water, including copper, molybdenum, manganese, iron, zinc, and chromium. The amount of nickel in the river is 7 times, iron 4 times, and copper-molybdenum 2 times higher than normal, according to the examination results.

Five gold deposits and other natural resources of Azerbaijan in the once occupied territories have been intensively looted by the local Armenian companies and those invited from overseas. Companies such as Vallex Group, First Dynasty Mines, Base Metals, Lydian International, GeoProMining, and Vedanta Group, as well as the Armenian-descent businessmen and entrepreneurs having close relations with the Armenian diaspora, had been involved in illegal mining operations in the once occupied Azerbaijani lands. The Franck Muller luxury watch manufacturer company owned by Swiss tycoon of Armenian origin, Vartan Sirmakes, used gold from the Soyudlu and the Vejnali deposits of Azerbaijan in the production of Frank Muller watches and sold on Swiss stock exchanges. Sirmakes has reportedly exploited gold worth $302 million.

The unprecedented systematic deforestation activities in the Karabakh region have been repeatedly voiced by the Azerbaijani authorities, calling for an international investigation into the issue. From 2001 to 2020, Armenian ecological terror annihilated 324 hectares of tree cover in the Karabakh region, including in Tartar, Khojavand, Khojaly, Fuzuli, and Aghdam districts, according to Global Forest Watch, an online platform for monitoring global forests.

By such behavior, Armenia violates not only the principles of territorial integrity of another state but also a number of conventions and resolutions, which prohibit the destruction of movable and immovable property of the occupied state. The states current policy contradicts with the UN environmental standards, the London Post wrote in a 2018 report titled Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict: Ecological catastrophe of the 21st century.

Energy resources

Armenian vandalism in the occupied Azerbaijani territories has taken a toll on the Karabakh regions energy infrastructure. According to data compiled by the Energy Ministry of Azerbaijan, the energy facilities and resources of 20 substations in 10 power network districts and over 16,400 kilometers of power lines in the Karabakh region have been destroyed and looted. In addition, natural gas lines measuring 2,000 kilometers in length, and 34 gas distribution equipment have been destroyed and looted.

Armenia deprived Azerbaijan of the potential of 3 large hydropower stations in the Karabakh region, including the Tartar, Khudafarin, and Giz Galasi hydroelectric grids with the illegal occupation. The Sarsang water reservoir of the Tartar station has once provided irrigation water for around 125,000 hectares of land in six districts of Azerbaijan. Armenians manipulated the water reserve in Sarsang with artificially created floods in winter and drought in summer months. The lack of technical control and outmoded equipment inventory posed a threat of reservoir dam destruction, which can lead to inundations in several regions of Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan was not able to use the vast geothermal power capacity of the Kalbajar district and the Shusha city during the occupation years. There are 3,093 cubic meters/day of thermal water reserve in Kalbajar and 412 cubic meters/day in Shusha, according to the Energy Ministry of Azerbaijan. Armenian authorities attempted to build a geothermal power station and bottled water production plant near the Istisu thermal spring in Kalbajar. Armenias former prime minister Karen Karapetyan has even attended the groundbreaking ceremony of the plant in 2017.

The illegal exploitation of Azerbaijans natural resources in Karabakh extended to the coal reserves in the Tartar district. Armenian authorities extracted and transferred the coal to Armenia for use reportedly in the restoration of the outdated power block of the Yerevan Thermal Power Plant.
Oil prices rose on Monday, extending gains from last Friday, helped by growing optimism that the omicron coronavirus variants impact will be limited on global economic growth and fuel demand. Brent futures climbed 53 cents, or 0.7%, to $75.68 a barrel by 0100 GMT, after rising 1% on Friday. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) gained 69 cents, or 1.0%, to $72.36 a barrel, following a 1% increase in the previous session. Both benchmarks posted gains of about 8% last week, their first weekly gain in seven. They have recovered more than half the losses suffered since the Omicron outbreak on Nov. 25, CNBC reports.

Market sentiment has improved as the threat of the omicron variant has receded, said Toshitaka Tazawa, an analyst at Fujitomi Securities. WTI will probably test its recent high of $73.34 and then try to rise towards $78, the level before the Omicron fears led to a sharp sell-off late last month, he said.

South African scientists see no sign that the omicron variant is causing more severe illness, they said on Friday, as officials announced plans to roll out vaccine boosters with daily infections approaching an all-time high. Booster Covid-19 shots significantly restore protection against mild disease caused by the Omicron variant, the UK Health Security Agency said on Friday. Still, investors remained cautious on the U.S.-led coordinated release of crude reserve by oil consuming countries as well as tensions between Russia and Ukraine.

The U.S. Department of Energy said on Friday it will sell 18 million barrels of crude oil from its strategic petroleum reserve (SPR) on Dec. 17, as part of a previous plan to try to reduce gasoline prices. On Sunday, the Group of Seven warned in a statement that Russia faces massive consequences and severe costs if President Vladimir Putin attacks Ukraine.

U.S. intelligence assesses that Russia could be planning a multi-front offensive on Ukraine as early as next year, involving up to 175,000 troops. Meanwhile, Iraqs oil minister said on Sunday he expected the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) at its next meeting to maintain its current policy of gradual monthly increases in supply by 400,000 bpd.
Armenia hails Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglus statement on the appointment of a special representative to normalize relations with Yerevan and will assign its own envoy to start a dialogue, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Vahan Hunanyan stated on his Facebook page on Tuesday.

"Armenia is always ready to [launch] the process of normalizing relations with Turkey without any preconditions, which is stated in the Armenian governments program. So, we positively view the statement made by the Turkish Foreign Minister regarding the appointment of a special representative to normalize relations and confirm that the Armenian side will also appoint its own envoy to start the talks," the spokesperson noted.

On December 13, the Turkish top diplomat said that Ankara and Yerevan would appoint special representatives to normalize relations in the near future.

On December 10, the first meeting of the "3+3" Consultative Regional Platform was held in Moscow under the co-chairmanship of Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko, Azerbaijan's Khalaf Khalafov, Armenia's Vahe Gevorkian, Turkey's Sedat Onal, as well as Director General of the Eurasia Department of the Iranian Foreign Ministry Alireza Haghighian.
Armenia's Investigative Committee continues the investigation of the criminal case into the murder of military unit conscript and inflicting gunshot wounds to two other conscripts.

According to the Investigative Committee, a number of essential circumstances of this case have been found out, News.am reported.

Earlier, it was reported that another conscript from the same military unit had been detained on suspicion of Private Arzumanyan's murder. A criminal charge has been brought against him, and he has been remanded in custody.
European attempt to challenge the Nord Stream 2 project every time are unreasonable, Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg said on the sidelines of the EU Foreign Ministers Summit in Brussels Monday.

According to the Minister, the Nord Stream 2 is a totally acceptable project, so it is wrong to challenge it every time Russia comes up in a discussion.

"Since the very beginning, in 2006, we said that we want to diversify sources and routes [of energy supply]. This is exactly this kind of project. It is complete. I believe it would not be too rational to start challenging it regularly again," Schallenberg told journalists.

He reminded that the EU and the US engaged in negotiations on this pipeline, which led to a reasonable approach of both sides.

"I find it surprising that this topic and this project are being challenged every time again. It is complete. We must use it," the Minister underscored.
The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil export pipeline has achieved a significant milestone by carrying 500 million tonnes of oil in total from the Sangachal terminal near Baku across Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey to Ceyhan, according to BP.

The milestone was achieved on 12 December when the 500 millionth tonne of Caspian crude flowed through the pipeline, was loaded on the 4922nd tanker named Nordorse, which was a joint SOCAR lifting, and departed for Trieste (Italy).

Gary Jones, bps regional president for Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey, said: "The 500 million tonnes of oil export is a remarkable milestone that winds up 15 years of steady and efficient operations of BTC. After so many years the pipeline continues to be the major artery of energy export in the region."

Since the start of operations, BTC has demonstrated exceptional efficiency. To date BTC has had strong safety and operational performance. Its efficiency and operational reliability has increased from 75% at the start up to the current level of 99.9%.
Initial data on the effectiveness of the Sputnik V vaccine against the Omicron strain may be obtained as early as next week, Director of the Gamaleya National Research Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology Alexander Gintsburg told the Russia-24 TV channel on Tuesday.

"First of all, I would like to discuss the impact of vaccines on those processes that you enumerated. I am ready to discuss this subject in detail and experimentally. I think, next week, since currently the staff of the Gamaleya [Center] are working on resolving the issue as to whether the antibodies that are formed by the Sputnik V vaccine will protect against the Omicron strain," TASS cited him as saying.

According to the vaccines developer, if the effectiveness of the vaccine against this strain is 2-6 times lower than against the strain detected in Wuhan, it wont be necessary to alter the preparation.
India may be the first foreign buyer of Russias most advanced S-500 Prometei anti-aircraft missile system, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yury Borisov told the RBC TV Channel on Monday.

"Beyond a doubt, once we deliver this system to our troops, India will be the first on the list, if it expresses its desire to buy these advanced armaments," the deputy PM said, replying to a question about whether India would be the first country to purchase the Russian-made S-500.

The Russian vice-premier also said that he disagreed with the conclusions by experts of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) that the largest Russian weapon producers had seen the sales of their armaments dwindle on the global arms market, TASS reported.

"In this context, I do not agree with their conclusions because they fail to take into account many things that I know about. Secondly, our statistical data suggest that we have a stable book of long-term contracts topping $50 billion while $13-15 billion has been our annual export figure lately. Our leading importers have long-term contracts with us," the Russian deputy PM stressed.
Positive steps have been taken between Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and Iran on cooperation in the gas sector, including gas swap, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said during phone talks with Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, according to the Iranian President Office's official website.

According to Ebrahim Raisi, joint cooperation between Iran and Turkmenistan in the field of transport and transit of goods continues. With the efforts of both states, some obstacles regarding this could be removed.

Raisi also stressed the development of cooperation between the two countries regarding start-up projects and also in the health sector.

Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov in turn called the contract on gas swap between Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan via Iran an important step and called for the establishment of a joint cooperation commission between the three countries.

Berdimuhamedov added that Ashgabat supports the development of bilateral relations between Iran and Turkmenistan, as well as cooperation in trade and health sectors.

On November 28, 2021, a tripartite contract on the swapping of 1.5-2 billion cubic meters of Turkmen gas to Azerbaijan through Iran per year was signed between Iran and Azerbaijan in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, on the sidelines of the 15th Summit of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO). According to the contract, daily 5-6 million cubic meters of gas will be swapped.

The mentioned gas swap is of particular importance to Iran. The Islamic Republic's north and north-east provinces are located at the end of its gas network, where gas pressure drops down, thus increasing consumption there during cold months. The contract between Turkmenistan, Iran and Azerbaijan can prevent a drop in gas pressure these regions of Iran. Due to low gas pressure, the mentioned alternative way is the best option for Iran to supply gas to the mentioned regions.
If the new Omicron coronavirus strain proliferates, Russia will hope for the best but prepare for the worst, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists on Tuesday.

"Its much better to hope for the best but prepare for the worst. Perhaps, this should be our motto," he said, replying to a question as to which scenario, an optimistic or a pessimistic one, was the Kremlin forecasting for the Omicron situation.

"In terms of preparedness, you know that thanks to the work of our governments crisis center, our entire logistics is ready for an extreme load on the healthcare system," TASS cited him as saying.

"[There was] a previous wave [of the pandemic], we weathered it, and the one before that, and we see that a lot of experience has been accumulated," the Kremlin official explained.

According to Putins press secretary, "diametrically opposing points of view among scientists on Omicron indicate that it has been insufficiently researched so far, so work is still ahead in order to understand whether it is dangerous or not." "Undoubtedly, this is a new strain, so this is a new threat," he concluded.
There is no alternative but to establish good neighborly relations between Armenia and Turkey, a member of parliament from the ruling Civil Contract party, Eduard Aghajanyan, told journalists.

"It is about starting diplomatic relations between Armenia and Turkey. This doesn't mean that Armenia is giving up its key state interests, Interfax Azerbaijan cited him as saying.

On the contrary, we are convinced that Armenia's state interest is to establish diplomatic relations with Turkey There is simply no alternative but to establish good neighborly relations with neighboring countries," Aghajanyan stressed.
Russian and Iranian Foreign Ministers, Sergey Lavrov and Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, discussed the situation around the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on the Iranian nuclear program in the context of the resumption of the Vienna talks, the Russian foreign ministry said on Monday after their telephone conversation.

"Key attention was focused on the current situation around the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action on the Iranian nuclear program in the context of the negotiating process that resumed in Vienna on November 29. The sides reiterated mutual interest in the restoration of the nuclear deal in its original balanced format approved by the United Nations Security Council. They reiterated that this is the only right way to ensure the interests of all the participants in the comprehensive agreements as well," the ministry said.

According to the ministry, the ministers also discussed current issues of the bilateral and regional agenda.

The telephone conversation was initiated by the Iranian side.
Today Brussels will host a meeting between President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and President of the European Council Charles Michel.

Earlier, it was expected that the meeting will be held on December 15.

Ilham Aliyev arrived in Belgiums capital Brussels on December 13 on a working visit for participation in the 6th Eastern Partnership Summit of the European Union.

On December 14, the visit a meeting between the Azerbaijani President and the President of the European Council Charles Michel will be held.

Then with participation of Michel, meeting between the Azerbaijani president and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan is planned to be held.

Within the framework of the visit, President Ilham Aliyev will meet with Jens Stoltenberg, Secretary General of the structure, at the NATO headquarters today.

President Aliyev will take part in the meeting of the North Atlantic Council, which is the supreme body of NATO. The meeting will be held in the "NATO + Azerbaijan" format.
Deputy Prime Ministers Vu Duc Dam and Pham Binh Minh have encouraged overseas Vietnamese to return to celebrate Tet.

At a meeting with ministries and branches on December 8, 2021, Dam asked the Ministry of Health (MOH) to issue new guidance on quarantine and health monitoring for people entering Vietnam. The rules are similar to those applied to people from pandemic-hit areas within the country to other localities.

At the meeting on December 9, 2021, Minh stressed that resuming international commercial flights is a requirement in the new normal, especially when travel demand increases in the year-end season.

According to Dam, those who have been fully vaccinated and have negative test results will only have to have self-quarantine and monitor their health at home. As for unvaccinated people, localities need to arrange quarantine facilities with good conditions.

He asked the Ministry of Transport (MOT), the aviation sector and ministries and branches to submit reports and urgently prepare for the reopening of international air routes and clarify procedures so that overseas Vietnamese can arrange their plans.

The instructions by the two Deputy Prime Ministers have brought hope to hundreds of thousands of overseas Vietnamese who went abroad to study, work and visit relatives and cannot return to Vietnam, and to overseas Vietnamese who want to return to visit.

This is a very legitimate aspiration that we have the responsibility to satisfy promptly, especially when Tet is near, Dam said.

However, hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese are facing the risk of having to spend another Tet on foreign land with no opportunity to reunite with parents, wives, husbands and children, who have been impatiently waiting for them over the last two years.

Vietnam closed its border in April 2020. While other countries have reopened for international flights, Vietnam has yet to do so. Vietnam is among a few countries which only license rescue flights and require citizens to have concentrated quarantine.

On some internet forums, Vietnamese citizens complain that they have to pay VND150-240 million for flights to Vietnam.

The travel rules restrict foreign specialists, qualified engineers and workers from entering Vietnam to work. Only 200,000 specialists have come to Vietnam over the last two years. Many businesses complain that their investment projects are still pending because of the lack of qualified engineers.

The tourism sector, which received 18 million foreign travelers in 2019, has suffered the most from the policy.

In June, the Politburo realized the necessity of reopening to receive international travelers. In Conclusion No07 on key tasks on strengthening anti-pandemic measures and promoting socio-economic development, the Politburo asked for a pilot program on vaccine passports for foreign travelers to some tourism centers that have controlled Covid, such as Phu Quoc.

Phu Quoc began receiving 2-3 groups of foreign travelers in November, 2021.

At the Governments November press conference, Deputy Minister of Transport Nguyen Ngoc said the ministry has a plan to resume flights between Vietnam and 12 countries, including Japan and South Korea based on agreements with the countries, and other factors such as their pandemic prevention and control measures and vaccination rate.

A report said that 94 percent of Vietnamese aged 18 and over have had one jab and 69 percent have been fully vaccinated, a relatively high proportion that could allow for reopening flights.

Solutions

After Resolution 128, which called for Vietnam to live with the pandemic and safely adapt to new circumstances, changes to travel of Vietnamese citizens occurred.

Dozens of flights between Hanoi and HCM City are provided daily to fully vaccinated domestic passengers who have negative test results. Passengers do not have to ask for permission to travel and do not have to have quarantine at destinations. Meanwhile, passengers entering Vietnam still have to have concentrated quarantine even if they are fully vaccinated and have negative test results.

Caution is necessary in the context of pandemic, but reopening is in no way less important. The number of imported positive cases accounts for a small proportion of hundreds of infections reported daily.

Vietnam needs to allow airlines to carry passengers who can meet requirements (vaccinations, certificates on antibodies, negative test results) to Vietnam.

The Government has just given green light to pilot resuming routine international flights between Vietnam and nine destinations (San Francisco or Los Angeles (the US), Singapore, Bangkok (Thailand), Phnom Penh (Cambodia), Vientiane (Laos), Beijing/Guangzhou (China), Tokyo (Japan), Seoul (South Korea), and Taipei (Taiwan) from January 2022. The resumption of international flights is meant to resume international passenger transport activities, accelerate economic and tourism recovery and create favorable conditions for overseas Vietnamese to return to celebrate Tet. Prior to that, MOT suggested that the government allows international flights to resume on nine routes from December 15, 2021. Under the plan, the resumption be carried out in two pilot phases. In the first phase starting on December 15, flights between Vietnam and San Francisco or Los Angeles (the US), Singapore, Bangkok (Thailand), Phnom Penh (Cambodia), Vientiane (Laos), Beijing (China), Tokyo (Japan), Seoul (South Korea), and Taipei (Taiwan) would be resumed. In the second phase, starting in January 2022, more international air routes would be resumed, including the ones connecting Vietnam and Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), Hong Kong, Paris (France), Frankfurt (Germany), Sydney (Australia), and Moscow (Russia).

Tu Giang

Commercial flights yet to resume, overseas Vietnamese return via Cambodia Flying to Cambodia and taking a long-distance bus to the border gate to enter Vietnam is now the option chosen by many overseas Vietnamese.
The strategic cooperative partnership between Vietnam and the Republic of Korea has become increasingly effective and substantive, NA Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue told the Korean press.

Chairman of the National Assembly Vuong Dinh Hue (Photo: VNA)

The following is the full text of the interview.

Reporter: The year 2022 marks the 30th anniversary of the diplomatic ties between Vietnam and the RoK. How do you evaluate the Vietnam-RoK strategic cooperative partnership over the past time, and development orientations in the time ahead? What will be cooperation priorities?

NA Chairman: I always have great affection for the RoK and its people. My last visit to this beautiful and hospitable country was in 2019, in my former capacity as Deputy Prime Minister. During that visit, I joined Excellency Hong Nam-ki, Deputy Prime Minister cum Minister of Economy and Finance, in co-chairing the first Vietnam- RoK Economic Dialogue at the Deputy Prime Minister-level. This time, I am very delighted to return to the RoK, in my new capacity as President of the National Assembly of Vietnam.

As you may well aware, Vietnam is upholding the consistent foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, peace, friendship, cooperation, development, and multilateralisation and diversification of its relations. Vietnam is striving to be a friend, a reliable partner, and an active and responsible member of the international community. Bearing this in mind, Vietnam always attaches importance and looks forward to further strengthening the ties with the RoK, especially when such relationship is well rooted in our time-tested history. Ly Long Tuong (or Lee Yong-sang), then 80 years of age, still joined the Ly royal family and the people of Goryeo to twice fend off the invaders from the Mongol Empire. This gesture bears vivid testament to the close bond between our two countries.

NA Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue and Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea (RoK) Park Byeong-Seug. (Photo: VNA)

After nearly 30 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1992, the Vietnam - RoK ties have witnessed remarkable developments. Such impressive progress is very rare in any bilateral relationship between countries around the world. Such bond has been growing ever stronger since the establishment of the Vietnam - RoK Strategic Cooperative Partnership in 2009. The RoK is Vietnam's top partner in numerous fields, while Vietnam is the RoK's key partner in its New Southern Policy.

Regarding political relations, the Vietnam  RoK Strategic Cooperative Partnership has becoming increasingly effective and substantive. The political trust between the two sides has been constantly strengthened through regular visits and contacts between high-level leaders and leaders of the two countries ministries, agencies and localities at all levels under various formats, even during the COVID-19 pandemic. Among which, the most recent are the visit to Vientam by Honorable Park Byeong Seug, Speaker of the National Assembly of the RoK in November 2020, and other meetings and contacts within the framework of international forums. In particular, the two sides are working together to conduct activities to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Vietnam  RoK diplomatic relations, and elevate the current Strategic Cooperative Partnership to new heights.

Economic cooperation has always been a highlight and a key pillar in the two countries cooperation. The two sides have established and joined many bilateral and multilateral cooperation mechanisms. The Vietnam - RoK Free Trade Agreement (VKFTA) which took effect from December 2015 has laid foundation for promoting stronger and more effective economic, trade and investment cooperation. The RoK is currently the largest FDI investor in Vietnam with over 9,100 projects and total registered capital of 72.3 billion USD, and the second largest trade partner with two-way trade turnover in 2020 reaching 65 billion USD. The RoK is also Vietnam's second largest ODA donor, with 1.5 billion USD grant committed in the 2016-2020 period alone. The two countries are also participating in the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), and the RoK is also considering joining the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), of which Vietnam is also a member.

Culture, tourism and people-to-people exchange are lively areas of cooperation, and help bolster mutual understanding and lay a solid groundwork for deeper and broader collaboration between the two countries. The Korean Wave, through cultural, arts, film and culinary programs, has become more popular in Vietnam. Vietnamese culture and food has also been well-known and well-loved in the RoK. Thanks to historical and cultural similarities, Vietnam is an attractive destination for Korean tourists, with more than 4.3 million visits in 2019. More than 500,000 Vietnamese tourists also visited the RoK in the same year. Every month, there are about 2,000 flights connecting various localities between the two countries. Without the COVID-19 pandemic, perhaps Vietnam would have received 6 million visits from Korean tourists last year. More than 200,000 national of each country are currently residing, studying and working in the other. This number includes more than 65,000 Vietnamese  Korean multicultural families, who are a bridge of friendship that bring our two peoples closer to each other.

Recently, although the COVID-19 pandemic has caused considerable hardships, the cooperation between the two countries could still able to maintain its growth trajectory. It is during times of great need that the mutual assistance and the Strategic Partnership between the countries became even more evident. Most remarkably, the RoK was among the first countries to provide assistance to Vietnam in its fight against COVID-19, including medical supplies and vaccine doses. Vietnam has tried its utmost to accommodate the entry of tens of thousands of Korean experts and managers, and secured the economic operation and prevented supply chain disruptions for Korean investors in Vietnam. The two sides are making every effort to turn the COVID-19 pandemic into an opportunity for collaboration in new areas, especially health and digital technology cooperation.

It can be said that over the last 30 years, the Vietnam  RoK relationship is at its most flourishing since the establishment of diplomatic relations. My visit to the RoK will open up a new chapter in the development of cooperation between our two countries. I am confident that our cooperation will garner more successes, thanks to the solid foundations and achievements in our relations in nearly 30 years, geographical proximity, historical and cultural similarities, mutually reinforcing interests in development cooperation, our respective leaders attention, and the great efforts of our peoples and business communities.







Economic cooperation has always been a highlight and a key pillar in the two countries cooperation. (Photo: VNA)

Reporter: How has the COVID-19 affected the Vietnam-RoK cooperation? What measures has the Vietnamese National Assembly taken to support and attract foreign businesses in general and Korean firms in particular? How do you think Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) would be useful to Korea-Vietnam bilateral relations?

NA Chairman: In my opinion, COVID-19 is a litmus test, one at the global scale. It will not only put the individual to the test, but also the leadership and capacity to respond to the crisis of each country. I am quite impressed by what Israeli historian Yuval Noah Harari said, and I quote This storm will pass. But the choices we make now could change our lives for years to come. What matters is not how severely the pandemic affects us, but how together we address this issue.

It is undeniable that the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has posed numerous challenges to the regional and international community, including Vietnam and the RoK. Many exchange and cooperation activities between the two sides have been cancelled or postponed. Economic cooperation, people-to-people exchange and many other areas have been severely impacted. However, given the resolve of the high-level leaderships of the two sides, the Vietnam - RoK cooperation continues to be sustained, particularly high-level and all-level exchanges. Such activities were conducted under diverse flexible formats both physically and virtually to be in line with the new context.

Given the complicated developments of the COVID-19 pandemic, addressing difficulties and attracting investment from foreign investors, particularly the Korean ones, remain the top priority of Vietnam, including of the National Assembly. Vietnam has created all favorable conditions to assist foreign experts and managers, including Korean ones, in sustaining their economic operation in Vietnam. This includes prioritising vaccination for workers in Korean industrial parks and factories, ensuring pandemic containment measures, preventing the supply chain disruption of Korean businesses, providing tax incentives and promptly removing emerging obstacles and difficulties. The Vietnamese high-level leaders are involved directly in such endeavors. H.E President Nguyen Xuan Phuc and H.E. Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh participated in-person in the roundtables with Korean businesses.

In addition to bilateral cooperation mechanisms, within the framework of the RCEP, Vietnam and the RoK are important partners and have finished the ratification procedures for the Agreement to come into force at the beginning of 2022. This is an important groundwork for Vietnam and the RoK to strengthen our bilateral cooperation, consolidate our positions as each others leading trade and investment partner, and expand our Strategic Partnership.

With the implementation of preferential tariffs (the elimination of at least 92 percent of import tariff lines between Vietnam and Korea by 2040), harmonisation of commitments and standard, and reduction of export procedures, the Agreement will create favorable conditions for the business communities of both countries to strengthen investment and business cooperation. We also hope that through the RCEP, Vietnamese exports can have greater access to the RoKs market, thus increasing imports, and encouraging high-quality investments from the RoK to Vietnam./.

Source: VNA
Elephant conservation policies have been approved by the People's Council of Dak Lak province.

Accordingly, elephant owners will be granted VND500,000/day (female elephant owners) and VND600,000/day (male elephant owners) when their elephants meet during the rut season.

Photo: Dan Tri

During the elephant's pregnancy, the owner will receive VND300,000/day (in the first 10 months of pregnancy), VND600,000/day (from the 11th month of pregnancy to the 6th month after the elephant gives birth). In total, the female elephant owner will receive about VND400 (about $18,000).

For mahouts, they will receive VND200,000/day when elephants meet in the rut season, within 29 months for mahouts of female elephants and 30 days for mahouts of male elephants.

To restrict conflicts between wild elephants and humans in Dak Lak, localities where wild elephants often appear are allowed to set up security groups with no more than 10 members to monitor and supervise the movement of elephants. Each group will be granted VND20 million and each member VND5 million per year.

Organizations, households and individuals who are attacked by wild elephants will be compensated 100% of the value of damaged property. If they are injured by elephants, their medical examination and treatment fees will be fully covered by the local government and they will benefit from occupational accident insurance. For those who are killed by wild elephants, their families will be entitled to death gratuity.

The domestic elephant herd of Dak Lak province currently numbers 44, including 19 males and 25 females, all of them fitted with electronic chips since 2017. For decades, Dak Lak's domestic elephant herd has not recorded any successful reproduction, although local authorities have taken many solutions and spent a lot of money.

Mai Lan
About 150,000 students in grades 9 and 12 in Ho Chi Minh City returned to school after seven months studying online because of the Covid-19 outbreak.

Nguyen Van Hieu, Director of the HCM City Department of Education and Training, said the agency and the local Department of Health sent 15 working teams to inspect the implementation of measures to ensure safety for students at schools.

Hieu said during the two weeks of trial, ensuring health safety will be the key task. If Covid-19 cases are detected, teachers will observe and handle the situation without causing panic. For these 2 weeks, there will be less emphasis on teaching.

If there is an outbreak at a school, as most students have been vaccinated, students will be informed, and measures will be taken under the regulations of the Health Ministry. The class with suspected cases will switch to online teaching.

According to the HCM City Department of Education and Training, about 88,000 9th graders and 66,000 12th graders were allowed by their parents to go to school directly on December 13, reaching the rate of 88 per cent.

Some photos of the first day at school for 9th and 12th graders in HCM City:

Parents in HCM City took their children to school on December 13 morning. Photo: Truong Thanh Tung

A boy back to school with his meal.

Students have to make medical declaration.

Many students are happy to go to school. Photo: Truong Thanh Tung

Measures to prevent and control the Covid-19 epidemic have been carefully prepared by schools in Ho Chi Minh City for many days. Photo: Truong Thanh Tung

Classes started at 7am. Photo: Truong Thanh Tung

Students at Pham Van Sang High School.

The 5K message is emphasized when students return to school even though they have been fully vaccinated. Photo: Truong Thanh Tung

Minh Anh - Phuong Chi

HCM City to pilot school reopening in two weeks Schools in HCM City will reopen for 1st, 9th, and 12th grade pupils from December 13 for a two-week pilot period.
From January 1, 2022, the price of tap water in Ho Chi Minh City will rise from VND400 to VND1,200 per cubic meter.

Since 2019, the price of clean water has been adjusted at the beginning of each year with an increase of VND300-400 per cubic meter/time.

According to the Saigon Water Supply Corporation One Member Limited (Sawaco), from 2022, for households use tap water at the level of 4m3/person/month, the price will be VND6,700/cubic meter instead of VND6,300 at present. For families that use 4-6 m3/person/month, the price will be VND12,900/cubic meter, instead of VND12,100. The price will be higher for those using tap water exceeding this level.

The price will increase from VND12,300 to VND13,000/m3 for administrative and non-business agencies, mass organizations; and from VND11,400 to VND12,100/m3 for production facilities and from VND20,100 to VND21,300 VND/m3 for business and service providing organizations.

The price does not include VAT and only applies to the level of 4m3/person/month.

Hanois air quality rated poor

According to air quality monitoring stations based in Hanoi, the capital city's air quality was rated from poor to very poor in recent days.

Hanoi is in winter now, when the typical weather is dry, with very little rain, contributing to an increase I fine dust.

The Hanoi Department of Natural Resources and Environment recommends that people stop burning garbage and reduce cooking with honeycomb charcoal, especially farmers in suburban districts not burning straw to reduce air pollution.

Young man arrested for stealing VND1.5 billion at Hanoi supermarket

The police in Bac Tu Liem District in Hanoi on December 12 prosecuted and arrested Nguyen Minh Chuc, born 1997, from Nam Dinh province for controlling a guard so that he could steal VND1.5 billion at a Dien May Xanh electronics supermarket in the district on November 29 evening.

Over 1.05 million Covid-19 patients in Vietnam have recovered

Since the fourth outbreak occurred on April 27, Vietnam has recorded 1,413,051 COVID-19 cases, ranking 32 out of 223 countries and territories in the world. Vietnam ranks 148th out of 223 countries and territories for infections per 1 million people, with 14,332 cases per 1 million people. Of 1,407,655 patients, 1,051,903 have recovered.

The total number of deaths from COVID-19 in Vietnam is 27,839, accounting for 2% of the total number of infections globally, ranking 32 out of 234 countries and territories. As for the number of deaths per 1 million people, Vietnam ranks 132 out of 224 countries and territories in the world.

150,000 police officers join fight against Covid-19 pandemic, 17 die

Deputy Minister of Public Security and Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Van Son said that more than 150,000 police officers and soldiers have directly participated in the fight against the pandemic.

In the tough battle with the epidemic, nearly 10,000 police officers and soldiers have been infected and nearly 1,000 people are still under treatment. Seventeen police officers have died and hundreds of officers were injured while performing their duties during the fight against Covid-19.

Construction of VND2,240 billion coastal road begins in Thanh Hoa

Thanh Hoa province on December 12 kicked off the construction of the 24km long coastal road from Nga Son to Hoang Hoa with a total investment of more than VND 2,240 billion, including VND1,100 billion from the central budget and the remaining from the local budget. The project will be carried out in 36 months. The road is expected to open to traffic at the end of 2024.

The project to build a coastal road through Thanh Hoa province more than 96 km long passing through districts Nga Son, Hau Loc, Hoang Hoa, Quang Xuong, Sam Son city and Nghi Son town, was approved by the government in 2010.

PV
LANSING, Mich. (AP)  Michigan lawmakers late Tuesday approved an additional $841 million in spending, primarily on pandemic relief, including for coronavirus testing at schools and emergency assistance to help low-income renters.

The supplemental funding was passed on 94-9 and 35-1 votes in the House and Senate as the state grapples with one of the country's highest COVID-19 infection rates and record-high hospitalizations. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer will sign it.

The bill, which legislators advanced on their final day of voting for the year, includes $736 million in nondiscretionary federal pandemic aid that Congress passed in March and last December. Of that, $150 million will go to schools to help them screen and test for the virus, which was half of the amount Whitmer sought. Another $168 million will go toward relief for airports, and $140 million will go toward emergency rental aid.
The driver of a pickup truck who was involved in the traffic death of a 12-year-old China Spring student last week will not be held criminally responsible for the girls death, a Waco police spokesperson said Monday.

Cierra Shipley, Waco police spokesperson, said the police investigation into the Dec. 8 incident in which seventh-grader Alina Miller was critically injured concluded the driver committed no criminal offense. The girl died the following day at a Temple hospital.

Shipley said police officials would not release the drivers name. The Tribune-Herald has filed a Texas Public Information Act request for a copy of the police report.

The girl was hit by a pickup while riding her bicycle about 4 p.m. in a residential subdivision at Orchid Lane and Salem Way. She initially was taken to a local hospital before being flown to a Temple hospital, officials said.
I think its not a bad thing that theyre getting tested on way or another, but it just puts a limitation on the number of samples available, Rao said.

The Texas Department of State Health Services reported the first case of the omicron variant had been spotted in Harris County on Dec. 6.

A DSHS press release from Nov. 4, five days before the first omicron sample was taken in South Africa, stated the department would partner with labs and universities throughout the state to increase sequencing.

Before the partnership, the CDC handled all COVID-19 sequencing for DSHS.

According to Douglas Loveday, a press officer for DSHS, the CDC sequenced more than 5,000 samples from Texas from mid-October to mid-November, or about 7% of Texas caseload. He said the CDC has increased sequencing throughout the country, but did not know by how much.

CDC plans to continue their sequencing program in the near future, but they cant guarantee how long their funding will allow them to keep sequencing at this level, Loveday said.
This cannot be compared to any other case that this court or any other court in this county has seen before, and calling this an isolated incident quite frankly does not do it justice, Keast said. This was a mass murder at a school, judge. This was planned. it was pre-meditated. The defendant didnt just attack other individuals, he targeted juveniles.

Keast said he would contact the jail after Mondays hearing and make sure that the defendant is neither within sight nor sound of any adult at the jail.

Carniak adjourned the probable cause hearing to Jan. 7 to review witness statements and other evidence from prosecutors and investigators. At that time, she could make a decision on whether to order a competency exam for him if such an exam is requested by his attorneys.

Monday's conference was a procedural hearing to prepare for a Dec. 20 preliminary hearing, which also will be moved to a later date.
Theres something missing from the discussion of legitimacy and Roe, though, something that the commission report gets admirably clear: The term has a lot of different, and sometimes incompatible, meanings. Before we ask what decision in the Mississippi case would be best for the courts institutional interest, we have to consider what sort of institution it is supposed to be.

For much of U.S. history, the court played a role that was important but much more limited than the one it has performed during the last few decades. It set aside few laws  only two federal laws in the first seven decades under the Constitution. As Americans struggled over monumental issues such as religious pluralism and the size of government, the court was mostly a bystander.

Over the last century, and particularly since World War II, the court has read the Constitution as giving it a much larger role in superintending the policies of the federal and state governments. As it accumulated more power, its conception of itself changed accordingly, as did everyone elses conception of it.
As regular readers will know, we have been following the remarkable efforts of Jason Capra and Vintage Wings Inc. over the past five years as they successfully pursued the resurrection of combat-veteran Douglas C-53 Skytrooper 41-20095. This aircraft, nicknamed Beach City Baby due to her long sojourn at the Ohio city of that name, is fast approaching her return to the skies at Vintage Wings facility in Franklin, Pennsylvania.

During our last report in September, we noted how the aircrafts structural restoration and interior fitting-out were essentially complete, but that the team was awaiting the return of a few key components from overhaul shops; this included such items as the magnetos, engine-mounted generators, electrical regulators and even a faulty 3-in-1 gauge.

Since our September update, the freshly-overhauled magnetos and generators have returned to Vintage Wings facility in Franklin, Pennsylvania, and their technicians have installed the components back on the engines.

The brief video clip below illustrates members of the restoration team performing timing adjustments to one of the magnetos on the port engine following its installation.

Most of the other items have returned and undergone reinstallation. They have buttoned up the cowlings and performed checks on the cowl flaps, with a few adjustments being necessary for those on the port engine. In fact the restoration team has progressed so far that they were able to conduct Beach City Babys first taxi trials on Sunday December 12th.

The video below shows Beach City Baby during her first taxi tests in Franklin, Pennsylvania.

Once the taxi trials are completed, the restoration team will need to remove the propellers, as required every five years by an Airworthiness Directive, to send them off for inspection. Jason Capra is really happy with the progress they are making, and recently noted: Our avionics and interior will be wrapped up soon and then its on to weight & balance, compass swing, pitot static checks, and final paperwork. All exciting stuff.

As noted above, there are now very few items remaining on the check list before a first flight can take place. Indeed, such is the confidence that Beach City Baby will be airworthy in the coming months that Vintage Wings is planning for next years air show season. They already have the following locations listed in their 2022 events calendar.

New Philadelphia, Ohio  May, 29-30 Reading, Pennsylvania  June, 3-5 Washington, Pennsylvania  June, 25-26 Indiana, Pennsylvania  July, 9-10 Meadville, Pennsylvania  July, 16 Oshkosh, Wisconsin  July, 25-30 Franklin, Pennsylvania  August, 13 Akron, Ohio  August, 14 Butler, Pennsylvania  August, 21-22 Marion, Indiana  September 2-4 Kent State University, Ohio  September 11-12 Cumberland, Maryland  Pending Pittsburgh, AGC, Pennsylvania  Pending Wheeling, West Virginia  Pending Topeka, Kansas  Pending

Many thanks to Jason Capra and Vintage Wings Inc. for the use of the images above. Anyone wishing to help support this important project should click HERE to find out how to contribute!
WATERLOO  A Colorado man has been sentenced to six decades in prison for attacking a jogger on a Waterloo recreational trail in 2015 and dragging her into the woods.

Patrick Richard Burt, 27, had been charged with first-degree kidnapping and first-degree sexual assault  offenses that carry life sentences.

But on Monday, Burt, formerly of Waterloo and Cedar Falls, pleaded to reduced charges of second-degree kidnapping and second-degree sexual assault along with a charge of willful injury causing serious injury.

Under the plea agreement, Burt was given consecutive sentences totaling 60 years in prison. He will have to serve at least 35 years behind bars before he is eligible for parole.

Once released, Burt will have to register as a sex offender and will be on lifetime parole. He was also ordered to pay restitution.

This is certainly one of the more difficult cases, not only in terms of its severity, but just trying to understand why this happened to this individual, said Black Hawk County Attorney Brian Williams. We think this is a good outcome. Difficult nonetheless, but we believe this is an appropriate sentence based on the nature and seriousness of the allegations.

Burt declined to address the court.

The victim, who didnt know Burt, didnt attend the hearing but provided a written statement saying she continues to suffer from anxiety and health issues related to the attack.

I will never understand what would motivate such evil or why I was attacked in the middle of the afternoon in a public place, she wrote. I dont know what happened in Mr. Burts life that would lead him to commit such an evil and hurtful offense towards me.

She said she prays for Burt and agreed to the plea arrangement to spare herself and her family the pain a trial.

My utmost concern in regards to Mr. Burts sentencing is that he never commits another offense towards another woman as he did me, she wrote.

Authorities said Burt attacked the jogger as she passed through George Wyth State Park on July 28, 2015, slamming her head into trail pavement and then pulling her into the bushes and sexually assaulting her.

Others on the trail found her semiconscious by the campground entrance.

The assailants identity remained unknown until a few years later.

In 2017, Burt was detained on criminal mischief charges after he allegedly became upset while playing a video game and caused $1,000 damage to his fathers home in Cedar Falls.

The charge triggered a DNA collection, which was entered in the national CODIS database. He had moved to Aurora, Colo., by the time the random match linked him to the George Wyth park attack.

He was detained in 2019 and later returned to Iowa.

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WATERLOO  One person has been arrested in connection with a domestic stabbing from the weekend.

Waterloo police arrested 24-year-old Aaliyah Renee Wright, of 608 W. Ninth St., was arrested Sunday for willful injury causing serious injury and second-offense domestic assault. She was later released from jail pending trial.

Court records allege Wright had been involved in an argument with her boyfriend at their home, and she went into the kitchen, grabbed a knife and stabbed him in the leg.

The man arrived at UnityPoint-Health Allen Hospital by private vehicle and was treated for the injury to his left thigh.

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WATERLOO  A Waterloo woman has been sentenced to five years in prison for killing a woman following a fight in November 2020.

Attorneys for LaSondra Annette Johnson, 36, had asked the court for a deferred judgment, which would have taken to charge off her record following probation.

But Judge Joel Dalrymple said a deferred judgment wasnt appropriate in the case. Nor was probation.

Johnson was sentenced to up to five years in prison  the maximum for the charge of assault causing serious injury  for the shooting death of 27-year-old Jada Young-Mills, a mother of three.

In sum, a gun was used. In sum, a gun was discharged. In sum, Ms. Johnson killed another human being with the use of that gun. Given those short, simple facts, a prison sentence is appropriate, Dalrymple said.

The judge also ordered Johnson to pay $150,000 in restitution to Young-Mills estate.

In the courtroom during Mondays sentencing hearing, Young-Mills family members told Johnson how the tragedy continues more than a year after the shooting.

You have kids, and I pray they do well. But her kids can never see their mom again. I would like to say I pray for you, but I cant. I cant find it in my heart, Charlotte Leonard, Young-Mills mother said.

Johnson, apparently addressing the family for the first time, apologized.

I would like to say I am sorry, Johnson said.

Johnson said she wanted to reach out to the family and send money for the children earlier, immediately after the shooting, but she said she was advised against it.

Witnesses said Young-Mills and her friends had approached Johnson while Johnson was sitting in a parked car on Dawson Street. An argument broke out, and a fight ensued.

Johnson, who had a permit to carry weapons, said she retreated to her vehicle, removed a pistol from the glove box and fired a warning shot in the air as people were trying to enter the vehicle.

During the September trial, Johnsons attorney argued she was acting in self-defense. The state argued that the fight was over when Johnson pointed the pistol at Young-Mills and fired.

Prosecutors had charged Johnson with first-degree murder, but a jury found her guilty of the lesser assault charge.

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THOR (AP)  The small north-central Iowa town of Thor took a hit last week when two buildings along its main street were gutted by fire.

The fire was discovered late Friday night, first in Thors old Humboldt Trust and Savings Bank building, The Messenger reported. Soon, the entire building and the vacant building next to it were engulfed in flames.

Thor Volunteer Fire Chief Kevin Olson, who lives around the corner from the buildings, learned of the fire when someone banged on his door late Friday night and he stuck his head out to see the flames.

Olson moved trucks out of a nearby shed before other firefighters arrived and began pumping water of the blaze.

With a force of only seven volunteer firefighters, the Thor fire department called in help from firefighters in Humboldt, Renwick, Goldfield, Vincent, Eagle Grove and Badger. Many of the firefighters worked through the night to extinguish the fire.

We are a small department, Olson said. We get wore out pretty quick. The cavalry showed up just in time.

No injuries were reported in the blaze. The two buildings are a total loss. A cause has not yet been determined.

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DES MOINES  A trio of Iowa state budget experts predicted Monday that state revenue will increase by about 3% for the current fiscal year and 1.7% next year, leaving billions of dollars in unspent money that Republican leaders say should be returned to Iowans in the form of tax cuts.

Iowa and many other states experienced a boost from federal COVID-19 aid, which fueled increased consumer spending through this year and is reflected in increased tax collections and more state revenue. The challenge is to determine what happens to state revenue when the impact of the federal funding wanes.

The three-person Revenue Estimating Conference  made up of Iowa Department of Management Director Kraig Paulsen, Holly Lyons of the Legislative Services Agency, and business owner David Underwood  concluded that revenue growth will slow but continue trending upward.

It all means Iowa is likely to end the current year with an unspent balance of $1.3 billion. When added to the current taxpayer relief fund balance, that leaves more than $2 billion in excess revenue that the state has not committed to spending.

Gov. Kim Reynolds and lawmakers must use the Monday estimates to design a state budget. Reynolds said she plans to propose significant tax cuts.

This overcollection of taxes is unethical and it must end, she said in a statement.

Iowa House Speaker Pat Grassley said he plans to work on finding the most effective way to lower taxes and return this money to Iowa taxpayers.

Democrats insist any tax cuts should be targeted at middle- to lower-income Iowans and smaller businesses, and go toward programs to help working Iowans, including job training, paid family leave, childcare and housing.

Contrary to what the governor and legislative Republicans are saying, more corporate tax giveaways and tax cuts for Des Moines millionaires will only make their workforce crisis worse, especially in rural Iowa, said Democratic Sen. Joe Bolkcom, who is the leading Democrat on the Senate committee that drafts budgets.

The Legislature is scheduled to convene the 2022 session Jan. 10.

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If your home still needs some holiday cheer, a Mendocino winery crafts multi-purpose wreaths that are beautiful, festive, smell amazing, and can even elevate your favorite warm winter dishes.

Founded in 1970 in Potter Valley, 18 miles north of Ukiah, by Guinness McFadden, McFadden Family Vineyard & Farm has been making bay leaf wreaths for nearly 50 years. In 1972, they began by selling garlic braids to Williams-Sonoma, and soon after that, the company approached them about making wreaths. Bay laurel just so happened to grow vigorously in the hills behind their estate.

My dad said yes, then went back to the farm to work with our guys to figure out how, said Fontaine McFadden, who heads up operations at the farm and is the daughter of Guinness McFadden, a Vietnam veteran who was awarded the Bronze Star for bravery.

For most of the year, the McFadden family and their staff are focused on growing organic grapes for iconic producersin the past, this has included Robert Mondavi, Chateau Montelena, and Berringerplus winemaking for their own brands McFadden and Blue Quail. But starting in October, once the annual grape harvest is complete, instead of putting their feet up, the farm staff gets right to work on making about 20,000 bay leaf wreaths for the holiday season.

The wreaths are made to order and ship out fresh, and in about 10 days to two weeks time, they begin to dry out, turning lighter green in color. That's when they're great to cook with, said McFadden.

Many customers hang the wreaths in their kitchen so they can pluck a few leaves off when cooking seasonal dishes, like soups, stews, and curries. Some of McFaddens culinary wreaths are even decorated with additional ingredients like chili peppers (a fun substitute for traditional holly), rosemary, thyme, and garlic bulbs. Like the gift that keeps on giving, McFadden said that once dry, the wreaths will last at least until next Christmas.

The making of the bay leaf wreaths, garlands, and swags, plus garlic braids at the farm serve an important purpose: It keeps McFadden workers employed throughout the year, not just during the grape growing season and harvest.

The McFadden Family winery crew at work making bay wreaths and garlands. (Courtesy of McFadden Family)

When our dad arrived in Potter Valley, nobody was growing grapes commercially, so it was hard to attract workers. It wasn't like in Napa, where there were lots of vineyards and lots of people who knew how to work with the vines, said McFadden, explaining that every year, her father would have to start over with an entirely new crew.

It seemed like it would be best for everyone if he could offer year-round work, so he wouldn't have to build up a new crew so often and so those folks could put down roots and not have to be migratory. Our foreman has been with us for 48 years. We grew up playing with his kids and we now work together at the farm. It's truly a family business.

Today, the average tenure for workers on the McFadden farm is about 25 years.

The bay leaf wreaths can be purchased from the McFadden website .
This AARP survey explored the opinions of 500 Kansas small business owners or decision makers about employee benefits. Results show that seven in ten Kansas small business owners support a privately managed, easy, and low-cost retirement savings option that would help small businesses offer employees a way to save for retirement. Most agree that state lawmakers should support a bill to make it easier for small business owners to access a retirement savings option for their employees and themselves.

The majority of all small business owners in Kansas agree also that being able to offer an easy, low-cost retirement savings program helps local small businesses attract and retain quality employees and stay competitive.



Over two-thirds of Kansas small business owners think that more should be done to encourage Kansas residents to save for retirementwith almost half saying a lot more should be done. And nearly three in four (74%) small business owners express concern as taxpayers that some Kansas residents have not saved enough money for retirement and could end up being reliant on public assistance programs.



Interviews were conducted between September 30 -October 19, 2021. The sample, including owner names and companies, came from a Data Axle USA list and is weighted using the 2017 Economic Census from the U.S. Census Bureau (based on industry, number of employees, and county) in Kansas with 0-100 additional employees.



For more information about this study, please contact Lona Choi-Allum at lallum@aarp.org. For media inquiries, contact External Relations at media@aarp.org.

Suggested citation:

Choi-Allum, Lona. AARP Kansas Work & Save Small Business Owner Survey. Washington, DC: AARP Research, December 2021. https://doi.org/10.26419/res.00494.001


Investor Webinar

Perth, Dec 14, 2021 AEST (ABN Newswire) - BPH Energy ( ASX:BPH ) is pleased to advise shareholders and investors that the Company will be presenting as part of a free Investor Webinar "ASX Opportunities in the Oil & Gas Sector: Meet the Upstream players!" on Tuesday 14th December 2021.Date: 14 December 2021Time: 12:30pm AEST / 9:30am AWSTPresenter: Executive Chairman and Managing Director, David BreezeWorld hunger for energy seems to be insatiable. In the recent times, the strong demand recovery has pushed the energy commodities to new highs. The biggest benefactors of the recent rally are the upstream Oil and Gas players who have been involved in the exploration, development, and operation of projects.The Webinar will discuss the different aspects of the energy industry in the Invest Nest Webinar by Kalkine Media. Get an opportunity to get your queries answered by three of their valued clients including BPH.The Company invites shareholders, investors and media to participate. To view the access details, please visit:About BPH Energy Limited

BPH Energy Limited (ASX:BPH) is an Australian Securities Exchange listed company developing biomedical research and technologies within Australian Universities and Hospital Institutes.

The company provides early stage funding, project management and commercialisation strategies for a direct collaboration, a spin out company or to secure a license.

BPH provides funding for commercial strategies for proof of concept, research and product development, whilst the institutional partner provides infrastructure and the core scientific expertise.

BPH currently partners with several academic institutions including The Harry Perkins Institute for Medical Research and Swinburne University of Technology (SUT).
New Mexico Gas Co. has asked the Public Regulation Commission to approve a rate increase in 2023 to recoup planned investments and increasing operating costs, the utility announced Monday.

If approved, the increase would generate about $40.7 million in additional revenue for the company, pushing average residential bills up by $5.63 per month, or 9.1%, according to the company. The additional income would pay for investments in the utilitys pipeline network, cybersecurity programs, infrastructure maintenance and efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, among other things.

Our objective is to serve our customers safely, reliably and efficiently, utility president Ryan Shell said in a statement. Meeting this objective requires ongoing investments to maintain our natural gas delivery systems and related infrastructure.

The request will trigger public hearings next year, followed by a PRC vote on the issue in the second half of 2022.

This is the gas companys third rate request since 2018, although prior to that, the company had no rate increases since 2012.

In the companys last rate case in 2019, it requested a 4.2% increase on monthly bills, but the PRC only approved a 1.4% hike.

In June, the PRC also approved a temporary, 30-month rate hike to allow the company to recover costs associated with last Februarys deep winter freeze.

Shell said the currently company has among the lowest rates for natural gas utilities in the region, but it recognizes that higher rates may be challenging for some customers.

We will continue to work with customers who need help with payment options or assistance programs, he said.
Copyright  2021 Albuquerque Journal

SANTA FE  Gov. Michelle Lujan Grishams administration plans to push a new funding source for conservation projects around New Mexico  a $50 million general obligation bond.

If approved by legislators, and then by voters next year, the proposed Land of Enchantment Bond would provide funding for forest thinning, land acquisitions, watershed restoration and other projects around New Mexico, top state environment officials said Monday.

It would be funded by a modest increase in state property tax rates  about $2 per New Mexico household over the next 25 years.

Sarah Cottrell Propst, the Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department Cabinet secretary, said the bonds could boost initiatives that are otherwise at the whim of sporadic state budget cycles.

These programs are just as much about people and communities as they are about the wild places, Cottrell Propst said during a Monday interview.

However, at least one prominent legislator said Monday she isnt sold on the idea.

I think generally using general obligation bonds for conservation would not be appropriate, said Rep. Patricia Lundstrom, D-Gallup, the chairwoman of the House Appropriations and Finance Committee.

I dont want to cut that pie up any smaller, added Lundstrom, who also said the proposal would take away some of the Legislatures spending powers.

If the proposal clears the legislature in the upcoming 30-day session, it would go to voters on a statewide ballot in November 2022. Lawmakers would also determine exact funding amounts for each agency involved in the plan.

Currently, the state uses general obligation bonds to pay for three different types of projects  senior centers, libraries and higher education buildings and repairs.

Voters decide every two years whether to approve the bonds, with separate questions appearing on the statewide general election ballot for each of three spending categories.

Adding conservation projects as a fourth category would provide a stable funding source amid year-to-year revenue fluctuations, backers say.

If approved, the $50 million would be available to be spent on project expenses, but not on salaries and other operational costs.

Potential projects

State Forester Laura McCarthy said EMNRD would use the money to prepare forests for prescribed burns  a key strategy as New Mexico grapples with extreme drought and braces for a big wildfire season next year.

As an example, she cited forest thinning that helped contain the Medio Fire in fall 2020 on the Santa Fe National Forest.

The fire threatened to encroach upon Ski Santa Fe and popular hiking trails before it spread into an area that had been part of a prescribed burn the year before.

It stopped the Medio Fire by allowing the safe space for firefighters to get in there and anchor off of it to control the fire, McCarthy said.

Meanwhile, the money could also support visitor experience projects at cultural places like Los Luceros, said Patrick Moore, the New Mexico Historic Sites director.

The historic site sprawls nearly 150 acres along the Rio Grande north of Alcalde, and boasts a Territorial-style hacienda and 18th-century chapel.

The ties that the ancestors of the Ohkay Owingeh have to this land are really dynamic, said Moore, whose division is housed under the Cultural Affairs Department. This is about ways we can tell that story in conjunction with Indigenous peoples and show how the landscape and the site has evolved over time.

Cultural Affairs is also eyeing the proposed bond money to preserve bosque areas and add wildlife viewing areas at the Coronado, Lincoln and Fort Stanton historic sites.

We often think of historic preservation as only buildings, Moore said. But its equally important to preserve and protect landscapes and the views so it can remain as true as possible to the historic period.

Federal partnerships

Projects improving surface water quality and habitat could also benefit from the proposal.

The Environment Departments river stewardship program restores streams and wetlands that supply water for acequias and urban areas.

Weve degraded our slope wetlands and upland meadows to the point where its like the watershed is unzipped, and the water just rolls out, McCarthy said, adding that consistent funding would help pay for equipment and engineering to restore those natural areas.

Meanwhile, many of the states newer climate change initiatives, like the move to conserve 30% of lands and waters by 2030, focus on the health of private working lands.

Debbie Hughes, executive director of the New Mexico Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts, said she is excited by the possibility of state funding to leverage more federal money for farm and ranch projects.

Whenever we put in fences to manage grazing or put water in storage, all of that helps sequester carbon, and helps with wildlife habitat and soil health, Hughes said.

New Mexico municipalities have voted to approve more than $53 million in bonds for parks, trails and open space projects since 1988, according to data from the Trust for Public Land.

No one agency can afford to do this themselves, Hughes said. Nobody has all the expertise, or enough staff, but when you partner and leverage from federal agencies, then it just makes a bigger project, you get more dollars and its a benefit to everybody.

For her part, Cottrell Propst said other states have also used general obligation bonds to pay for large-scale conservation projects and said the timing is right for New Mexico to seek out a stable funding source for similar initiatives.

We would be irresponsible if we didnt pursue this right now, she said.
Copyright  2021 Albuquerque Journal

Albuquerque startup Circular Genomics won a $4.5 million venture investment to advance breakthrough technology to diagnose depression and other neurological disorders.

The technology, developed at the University of New Mexico, is harnessing RNA for the first time as an effective biomarker to decipher an individuals genomic base for depression, as well as for such things as post-traumatic stress disorder. That could allow physicians to immediately determine the best treatment for patients, potentially eliminating todays trial-and-error approach, where doctors prescribe anti-depressants without knowing if the specific medication offered will improve a particular patients condition.

Its personalized medicine for brain disorders that could provide faster and more effective relief for patients, said Nikolaos Mellios, an assistant professor in the UNM Neurosciences Department who helped develop the technology.

It can predict a patients sensitivity to anti-depressants to advise psychiatrists before treatment, Mellios told the Journal. Today, you go to a psychiatrist who prescribes an anti-depressant with no way of knowing if youll get better.

Only 40% of patients on average respond to the first anti-depressant prescribed, and then it takes months to see if it works, Mellios said. That means 60% wont get better and, after waiting four to six months, the doctor might prescribe another drug, or possibly just increase the dose of the medication the patient is already taking.

Our diagnostic can help doctors make better choices with the first drug prescribed, Mellios said. If we can increase the first-time success from 40% to, say, 60%, were talking about millions more people who will get something effective on just their first visit to the doctor. Thats huge.

Investor interest

That broad potential impact immediately attracted investors almost as soon as Mellios and company co-founder Alexander Hafez launched Circular Genomics last winter.

Hafez worked with Mellios to fully develop the diagnostic technology as a doctoral candidate in biomedical science. He graduated in January, launched the company with Mellios in February and then entered Circular Genomics into the Comcast Pitch Deck Competition in April.

Thats an annual event sponsored by Comcast and hosted by UNM Rainforest Innovations, which manages the universitys technology-transfer programs.

The company won the first-place $10,000 prize at the event, which puts startups directly in front of investors to promote networking between potential funders and aspiring entrepreneurs who are developing compelling products and services, said Rainforest Innovations CEO Lisa Kuuttila.

Its exciting because we dont have a lot of technology today to address the problem of mental illness, Kuuttila told the Journal. A tool to diagnose disorders more effectively is extremely helpful. It generated immediate interest among investors at the pitch competition.

Indeed, two of the lead investors in the newly approved $4.5 million venture round  Waneta Tuttle of Albuquerque-based Tramway Venture Partners and David Blivin of Cottonwood Technology Funds in Santa Fe  both learned about Circular Genomics at the Comcast event.

Blivin called it disruptive technology that caught his attention, especially because it dispelled his misconception that diagnosing depression is a subjective matter.

The idea that you can actually tie it to clear biomarkers to diagnose it and then present reliable treatment thats best for the patient with quick validation based on how the body reacts is very intriguing, Blivin told the Journal. It can have a big impact on so many peoples lives.

A number of individual investors joined the funding round, as did Tennessee-based Mountain Group Partners, a venture fund that focuses on early-stage life sciences technology.

Circular RNA

The companys breakthrough is based on circular RNA, something that medical researchers discovered only in the past decade. Before that, scientists tried unsuccessfully to capture linear strands of RNA for analysis, hoping to measure the specific genes and proteins from those RNA samples to diagnose whats happening with individuals experiencing brain-related disorders, said Hafez, who is now Circular Genomics president and head of clinical operations.

The problem with linear RNA is that enzymes in the blood attach to the ends of RNA strands and quickly chew their way inward, rapidly degrading the strands and making it nearly impossible to isolate them for analysis, Hafez said.

With the RNA degrading so fast, you couldnt easily look at the genes being expressed in the brain or in blood, Hafez told the Journal.

In contrast, circular RNA is shaped like a doughnut, with no ends for enzymes to attach to, allowing the circular strands to remain stable for much longer.

Circular RNA is naturally expressed in the body, and it evades that rapid degradation common in linear RNA, Hafez said.  Because it remains stable for much longer, we can detect it and capture it in blood samples to measure the genes and proteins associated with pathways related to depression and other psychiatric conditions.

Thats the basis for Circular Genomics diagnostic technology.

RNA is a good messenger of whats happening in a persons body, but it (linear RNA) breaks down too fast, Mellios said. CircRNA provides a stable biomarker of a persons current state of health.

Timeline to market

The company has developed diagnostic tools for circular RNA with predictive algorithms that can indicate the best treatment for individuals, Hafez said. The company is now working to achieve regulatory approval that will allow medical providers to send blood samples in for analysis, with results that can guide treatment options.

It could take about two years to begin commercial operations, Hafez said. The company will seek Clinical Laboratory Improvement, or CLIA, certification, which would allow it to do in-house diagnostics for medical providers. It will simultaneously pursue U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval. That takes longer, but, once achieved, allows third-party labs to analyze blood samples for doctors using Circular Genomics product.

The new investment will permit the company to move out of its current offices at the Bioscience Center in Uptown Albuquerque to an independent facility with laboratory space early next year, where it will continue clinical analysis and trials for regulatory approvals. Hafez expects to hire 10 new employees in 2022.

The company will first focus on diagnostics for depression, and later progress to diagnostics for such other brain-related conditions as Alzheimers, PTSD and bipolar disorder.
Copyright  2021 Albuquerque Journal

SANTA FE  Arielle Platero was born in Fort Defiance, Arizona, on the Navajo Nation and grew up in Farmington in a single-parent household.

Now 33 and a senior majoring in engineering and math, with an emphasis on physics at Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado, Platero has been chosen to participate in a paid mentoring program with physicists at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in a joint LANL-Fort Lewis effort supporting Indigenous female undergraduate students pursuing a career in physics.

My mom raised me and my little sister, and we lived on the outskirts of town, said Platero in a recent phone interview. It was difficult, I know my mother struggled, and we got through it. She was always very encouraging of my sister and I going to school and finishing our educations.

Platero is the mother of two daughters: Claire, 10, and Natalie, 8.

Now, with the mentorship and the prospect of graduate school in the future, she realizes this is one more step in the path. Its been a long journey, for sure, to get here, Platero said.

I have always had an interest in math just growing up  math and science  and it wasnt until I worked at Raytheon (Technologies) on the reservation  I was able to view the engineers doing their work and it seemed very interesting, so thats where my interest in engineering started.

She never really thought about physics until she started attending San Juan College. Engineering and physics kind of went hand in hand , she said.

The two-year $195,000 LANL program, launched in mid-November, consists of 10 weeks at the lab and year-round mentoring. It is funded by the Department of Energy. Officials are seeking to make it a more permanent program, said Astrid Morreale, a researcher in the Particle Physics and Applications group at LANL and a co-leader of the program.

In my field of physics, which is high-energy nuclear physics  typically, the presence of people of Native American heritage  is actually very low, meaning low to zero, Morreale said.

When Laurie Williams, dean of the physics and engineering department at Fort Lewis College, learned of the mentorship grant, she sent out a flyer and emails asking interested Indigenous women to submit a letter of interest.

The other successful applicant is Fort Lewis senior Julie Nelson of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe.

Both Arielle and Julie are strong students, said Williams, adding that both are mothers, and both are interested in attending graduate school.

The mentorships are offered to two women per year majoring in physics at Fort Lewis College, with the goal to build a pipeline of talent from the undergraduate level in the Four Corners region to graduate programs and eventual careers in physics, including at national laboratories such as Los Alamos, LANL said in a news release.

Platero found out in October that she had been awarded the mentorship.

Once I got it, I was very excited, she said. Im encouraged to go after my doctorate, I am really excited about the prospect, I think this internship will really pave the path towards that goal.

Careers at LANL are absolutely a possibility for the students, said Morreale. My hope is that, thanks to the coverage they are getting now  there will be universities offering them really good deals for graduate work

Although the laws of physics may be taken for granted by many in everyday life, for students such as Platero, the laws are liberating.

So much of the world is governed by physics, forces and how matter interacts, and its such an interesting topic that helps to explain the natural phenomenon in the world, she said.

Platero has never been out of the country, but an upcoming two-week trip to CERN, the European Council for Nuclear Research, on the French-Swiss border is a program highlight.

Students will descend more than 300 feet below the French countryside to tour one of the detector experiments at the Large Hadron Collider, which investigates the properties of subatomic particles, and spend time reviewing data collected, and interacting with the global cohort of students and researchers who come to work at CERN, LANL said in its release.

Platero also believes its important to pass on the mantle of her good fortune.

I would like to encourage the younger generation of Dine or Navajos, even if they are  afraid of chasing their dreams, its not impossible to go out there  and hope for the best, she said. Dont stop trying to reach your goals.
Copyright  2021 Albuquerque Journal

The family of a man who died while Albuquerque police were taking him into custody earlier this year has filed a lawsuit alleging the officers used excessive force and were ill trained to deal with people with mental illness.

Danny White, 43, died of sudden cardiac arrest April 4 as two officers held him down on his stomach, according to a report issued in October by the Office of the Medical Investigator.

The report identified Whites death as a homicide, with Huntingtons disease, obesity and hypertensive cardiovascular disease listed as contributing conditions.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court of New Mexico, names as defendants the Albuquerque Police Department, the City of Albuquerque and two APD officers. Other defendants are two unidentified city employees  a 911 dispatcher and a police supervisor.

APD spokesman Gilbert Gallegos said in a written response Friday that the city will respond in court to the lawsuit.

As far as the officers (are concerned), I believe one officer had a policy violation and was educated on the violation, Gallegos said.

No other APD personnel were disciplined and no criminal charges have been filed in connection with Whites death, he said.

The homicide determination from OMI is a medical ruling, and not a definition used in the criminal justice system, Gallegos said.

The lawsuit alleges that a 911 call initiated a series of missteps that led to Whites death. They include:

 Whites sister called 911 and specifically requested a Crisis Intervention Unit officer who was familiar with White and had dealt successfully with him in the past. The sister repeatedly told the 911 operator that White had no weapons and had not injured anyone, but required mental health treatment at a hospital.

 Instead of dispatching a CIU officer, the 911 operator issued a standard call for response to a battery against a household member.

 About an hour elapsed between the 911 call and the time officers arrived at the house White shared with family members in the 3100 block of Ronda De Lechusas NW, near Unser and Bob McCannon.

Consequently, the episode that had precipitated the call was long over by the time officers arrived, the suit said. In this non-emergency moment, the family was seeking assistance in managing Dannys mental episode to get him calmly into the hands of medical professionals.

Family members tried to explain to the officers that White had Huntingtons disease  a genetic disorder that causes a breakdown of nerve cells in the brain, sometimes causing aggressive behavior.

One of the officers responded, Im not familiar with that one, and incorrectly said he couldnt transport White to a hospital unless White agreed, the suit said.

The officer proceeded to enter Dannys bedroom, where he was watching his favorite movie, disturbing no one and threatening no one, the suit alleges.

The officers should have called in a Crisis Intervention Unit, but instead escalated their encounter, pinning White to the floor and placing him in handcuffs, resulting in Whites death, it said.

The suit alleges the city and APD were negligent in hiring, training and supervising the two APD officers and the 911 dispatcher involved in the response. It seeks unspecified damages.
FARMINGTON  San Juan Regional Medical Center has been hit with a class action lawsuit over its 2020 data breach. The suit claims the hospital was negligent in its handling of patients personal information, resulting in the exposure of health information and other sensitive private data.

The new figure of 68,792 individuals affected by the data breach that was included in the class action complaint is an exponentially larger number than the hospital disclosed earlier this year.

Plaintiff Jeremy Henderson, on behalf of himself and other affected individuals, filed a class action complaint against the Farmington hospital on Oct. 7. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages for relief from the alleged damages.

San Juan Regional Medical Center declined to comment on the lawsuit.

The hospital has stressed in the past it has no evidence that any of the information was misused.

Santa Fe attorney Kristina Martinez along with attorneys for Mason Lietz & Klinger LLP with offices listed in Washington, D.C., and Chicago did not respond to a request for interview.

The hospital in June told The Daily Times that more than 500 people were affected by the data breach.

The lawsuit uses a figure of 68,792 patients that were affected.

That figure is listed on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights Breach Portal.

San Juan Regional Medical Center did not answer a question from The Daily Times as to why the number of people affected ballooned to nearly 69,000 people.

The 50-page class action complaint levies multiple accusations against the hospital, going at times into extreme detail to describe how the unauthorized access to the hospitals network has adversely affected tens of thousands of its patients.

Henderson was notified of the data breach and that his private information was compromised in the letter dated Sept. 13, according to the lawsuit.

It was a year earlier, on Sept. 7-8, 2020, when the hospital learned an unauthorized individual removed information from its network.

The victims of the data breach had their names, dates of birth, addresses, email addresses and phone numbers accessed, along with Social Security numbers, financial account numbers, passport numbers, drivers license numbers, health insurance information and medical information, the lawsuit alleges.

It also claimed letters were not sent out for people with stolen Social Security numbers and financial information until Sept. 13.

Plaintiff brings this class action lawsuit on behalf of those similarly situated to address Defendants inadequate safeguarding of Class Members Private Information that they collected and maintained, and for failing to provide timely and adequate notice to Plaintiff, the complaint states.

It also alleges Henderson and other impacted individuals have been exposed to substantial risk of identity theft and fraud and will have to closely monitor their medical and financial information to protect themselves.

The lawsuit also accused San Juan Regional Medical Center of failing to properly implement basic data security practices and of failing to implement safeguards required by Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPPA) regulations.

Henderson also argues the identity and fraud monitoring offered by the hospital for up to 12 months does not compensate those affected for time spent and damages incurred.

The complaint alleges Henderson has experienced a substantial increase in suspicious scam and spam phone calls and text messages as a result of the data breach.
PHOENIX  A Phoenix police officer was hospitalized in critical condition Tuesday and fighting for his life after being shot multiple times by a suspect who is in custody, authorities said.

Officer Tyler Moldovan, 22, was shot at an apartment complex parking area while officers looked for drivers of vehicles that had been driving erratically nearby about 2 a.m., said Sgt. Vincent Cole, a police department spokesperson.

Cole said a car matching the description of one of the vehicles officers had been looking for was found parked at an apartment complex with nobody inside.

Moldovan then discovered a suspect hiding behind a low apartment patio wall, according to Cole.

Officer Moldovan began giving commands to the suspect, who then pulled out a gun and began shooting, Cole said.

Other officers heard the gunfire, ran to the scene and took the suspect into custody without firing their weapons, Cole added.

Police said Essa Kolareh Eugene Williams, 24, was arrested shortly after the shooting and booked into jail on suspicion of attempted first-degree murder, possession of a weapon by prohibited person and resisting arrest.

It was unclear Tuesday afternoon if Williams has a criminal record or a lawyer who can speak on his behalf.

Moldovan, who is married, graduated from the police academy in March, said Sgt. Ann Justus, a police department spokesperson.

Police Chief Jeri Williams, speaking to reporters outside St. Josephs Hospital and Medical Center where Moldovan was being treated, said the hospital staff was doing everything possible they can to save the young officer.

Tyler is doing exactly what we expect our police officers to do and that is to continue to fight, the chief added.
KYIV, Ukraine  A court in Belarus on Tuesday sentenced the husband of the countrys opposition leader to 18 years in prison, six months after the trial began behind closed doors. The charges against Siarhei Tsikhanouski included organizing mass unrest and inciting hatred and have been widely seen as politically motivated.

Five other opposition activists were sentenced to lengthy prison terms of 14 to 16 years alongside Tsikhanouski.

Tsikhanouski, 43, a popular video blogger and activist, planned to challenge authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko in the August 2020 presidential election. He was widely known for the anti-Lukashenko slogan Stop the cockroach. He was arrested in May 2020, two days after he declared his candidacy.

His wife, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, ran in his stead, drawing tens of thousands of people to rally in her support during the campaign. Official results of the vote handed Lukashenko a landslide victory and a sixth term in office, but were denounced by opposition and the West as a sham.

The results triggered a months-long wave of unprecedented mass protests, the largest of which saw some 200,000 people taking to the streets of the Belarusian capital of Minsk. Lukashenkos government unleashed a violent crackdown on the demonstrators, arresting more than 35,000 and brutally beating thousands.

Tsikhanouskaya fled the country to Lithuania a day after the vote under pressure from the authorities. Other key opposition figures have also left the country, while some have ended up behind bars.

In recent months, pressure has mounted on Belarus non-governmental organizations, activists and journalists, with the authorities regularly conducting mass raids and detentions of those they suspect of supporting the anti-government protests. The majority of independent media outlets and rights groups in Belarus have now been shut down.

Commenting on the verdict in her husbands case, Tsikhanouskaya told The Associated Press that the dictator publicly retaliates against his strongest opponents, theyre being repressed for their desire to live in a free Belarus.

We will not stop and will continue the fight with the dictatorship in the center of Europe, Tsikhanouskaya, who raises two children, added. I dont have the right to tell my children that they wont see their father for so many years, because I dont believe it myself.

Siarhei Tsikhanouski has already spent 20 months behind bars. His trial was shrouded in secrecy, with court hearings held behind closed doors and lawyers bound by non-disclosure agreements.

State media showed a tired-looking Tsikhanouski being led into the closed hearing, along with other defendants who include Mikola Statkevich, who ran against Lukashenko in 2010 and was sentenced to six years in prison after demonstrations broke out following that election. Statkevich was arrested again in May 2020 and on Tuesday was sentenced to 14 years in prison.

Another popular blogger who also stood trial alongside Tsikhanouski, 29-year-old Ihar Losik, was handed a 15-year sentence. Losik was holding a hunger strike in jail to protest his prosecution.

U.S. ambassador to Belarus Julie Fisher said on Twitter that it is clear whom the regime most fears.

The United States, alongside our partners, will continue efforts to secure the unconditional release of all political prisoners, including Siarhei Tsikhanouski, Ihar Losik and all those facing unjust detention and vengeful verdicts, she wrote.

Germany Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock called the verdict against the opposition leader in Belarus scandalous during a news conference Tuesday in Stockholm with her Swedish and Norwegian counterparts.

They disgrace the rule of law and the international obligations of Belarus (with) this ruling, Baerbock said, adding that Germany is calling for the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners in Belarus  the 900 and also the two who were sentenced today.

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Follow all AP stories on Belarus at https://apnews.com/hub/Belarus.
COLCHANE, Chile  A merciless sun seared the migrants as they walked through one of the driest places in the world, trying to illegally cross the border from Bolivia into Chile fearing it might soon be closed.

It has become common in recent months to see migrants trudging across the Atacama Desert but the flow appears to have increased in recent days ahead of Chiles presidential runoff Sunday. The migrants fear that if far-right candidate Jose Antonio Kast wins he will close the border as he promised during his campaign.

The conservative lawmaker, who has defended Chiles military dictatorship, finished first in the countrys presidential election in November but did not get enough votes to win outright setting up a runoff against leftist Gabriel Boric. Kast has said he will order a ditch to be built to prevent migrants from crossing from Bolivia.

Immigration has been a recurring topic in Chiles presidential campaign as the country sees an increasing flow of migrants, mainly from Venezuela, but also from nations like Haiti and Colombia. Its a divisive issue and recently there was a widely publicized case of Chileans attacking Venezuelan migrants in Iquique, near the border with Bolivia and Peru.

The U.N. International Organization for Migration estimates there are almost 1.7 million immigrants in Chile. Only this year, Chilean authorities have registered more than 25,000 people arriving through the Atacama Desert, a significant increase compared to the 16,500 for all 2020.

We have relatives here in Chile who told us that we had to go before Dec. 19, because if the one who won the first round (Kast) wins again, he will close all borders, said Rayber Rodriguez, a Venezuelan traveling with his wife and daughter.

Tatiana Castro, a Colombian who also crossed into Chile through the desert, put it bluntly. We had to cross right now for fear that they would send us back.

She said people do not know how hard it is, that we have to go through many countries and across many borders where it is hard for us, we have to endure hunger cold weather.

The border has been guarded for months by the police and the army, though migrants cross using different paths in the desert in plain sight. The border area was empty until few years ago. Now it looks like the transit area of a train terminal.

Once in Chilean territory, migrants are not detained. Some keep walking to the closest city while others turn themselves in to authorities so they can start a process that might help them to regularize their immigration status.

Colchane, a Chilean town near the border with fewer than 1,600 inhabitants, mostly Indigenous Aymara, has seen a constant flow of migrants in recent months. Sometimes the migrants outnumber the local population.

We cant take it anymore, said Nicolas Mamani Gomez, who wants Kast to win, so no more immigrants will come.

Some of the migrants walk further after crossing the border and make it to the city of Iquique.

There, some of the migrants have been living in public parks and beaches. And not all the residents are happy. A few weeks ago, some locals attacked a camp where Venezuelans were staying and burned their belongings.

Virginia Carrasco, a 30 years-old Venezuelan, crossed the desert and entered into Chile with her three children  11 and 8 years old, and a baby of six months  looking for a better life.

Carrasco said she wants a better health care system for them.

In Venezuelas hospitals you get nothing, she said, as she dragged a cart filled with suitcases, bags and backpacks. There are people who have died because they cannot get medicine or doctors. I expect a better quality of life for my children in Chile, thats why I came here.

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Luna reported from Santiago, Chile.
MINNEAPOLIS  The suburban Minneapolis police officer who shot and killed Daunte Wright with her gun when she said she meant to use her Taser was fully trained in her departments policies on the proper use of force, including the stun guns, a police commander testified Tuesday.

Kim Potter, who resigned two days after she shot Wright, was trained on policies as they evolved during her 26-year career and repeatedly signed documents acknowledging the policies, Brooklyn Center Police Commander Garett Flesland testified.

Potter, 49, is charged with manslaughter in Wrights death on April 11 after he was pulled over for having expired license plate tags and an air freshener dangling from his rear-view mirror. Video captured the moments when Wright pulled away from officers who were trying to arrest him on an outstanding warrant, with Potter shouting Ill tase you! and then shooting Wright with her handgun.

Potter is white and Wright was Black, and his death set off several nights of angry protests in Brooklyn Center. It happened while a white former officer, Derek Chauvin, was on trial in nearby Minneapolis in George Floyds death.

The defense has called the shooting a horrific mistake, but has also asserted that Potter would have been within her rights to use deadly force on Wright because he might have dragged another officer, then-Sgt. Mychal Johnson, with his car.

Prosecutors introduced several documents Tuesday that Flesland testified showed Potters repeated certifications on Taser training, and her awareness of the warnings for their use  including a certification the month before Wright was shot.

On cross-examination, Potter attorney Earl Gray hammered away at her right to use force. He repeatedly described the situation as one in which Potter was trying to stop a wanted person who was trying to flee from the police and who could have put a fellow officer at risk of being dragged by a car.

Youve got to save that officer thats laying over the seat, correct? Gray asked.

Yes, Flesland said.

Later, when Gray asked Flesland what he thought of Potter, he said: Shes a good cop. Shes a good person. Shes a friend. I have no concerns going to calls with her. Prosecutors objected.

Flesland also testified that he and the police chief at the time had gone to Potters house the day of Wrights shooting because we had been told she had hurt herself. That line of questioning was cut off after prosecutors objected.

Sgt. Mike Peterson, a use-of-force instructor with the department and certified Taser instructor, showed the jury how officers are supposed to run a spark test at the beginning of every shift to check whether their Tasers are working. He did so with his own device, which generated a loud buzz for five seconds as electricity arced across the electrodes.

Sam McGinnis, a senior special agent with the states Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, testified Monday that Potter failed to run the test on her Taser on the day she shot Wright.

Peterson also walked the jury through the Brooklyn Center departments training procedures for using Tasers as prosecutor Matthew Frank showed them pages from the manufacturers and the departments training materials that warn against the dangers of mixing up a Taser and a handgun. Frank also highlighted portions that say a Taser should not be used simply to stop fleeing suspects or on suspects who are operating vehicles.

Earlier Tuesday, Judge Regina Chu denied two motions filed by prosecutors. One was designed to limit the opinion of witnesses who are not testifying as experts. That came after Johnson, who is now a major in a sheriffs office near Minneapolis, testified last week that Potters actions were authorized under state law. Johnson was not testifying as an expert on the police use of force.

Im not going to preclude any of the officers from testifying that, based upon their training and experience, that deadly force or use of Taser was appropriate under the circumstances, Chu said.

She also denied prosecutors request to question police officers about union membership. They argued that Potter had roles in the union, including as president, that gave her an elevated level of respect among her coworkers. They wanted to ask officers about it so that jurors could evaluate any potential bias toward Potter.

Chu said she rejected the motion because Potter is no longer connected to the police union in any way and testifying witnesses couldnt possibly be biased to testify in her favor because of her position.

Chu also ruled Tuesday that if Potter is convicted of one or both of the counts against her, she would preside over a separate trial to determine if there were aggravating factors that would allow Chu to give Potter a sentence above what the states guidelines suggest.

Without the jury present, prosecutors told the judge they had been operating under the impression that these issues would be presented during this trial, but Gray said Potter had never agreed to that.

In order for Potter to be sentenced above what the guidelines suggest, prosecutors would have to prove there were aggravating factors; prosecutors allege that Potters conduct caused a danger to others and that she abused her position of authority.

Prosecutors presented evidence of these aggravating factors when they brought in testimony about injuries to Wrights passenger and an occupant of the car that collided with Wrights right after Potter shot him. Chu said Tuesday that this testimony was not prejudicial and could remain part of this case because evidence about the crash also relates to whether Potters use of force was reasonable.

The case is being heard by a mostly white jury.

State sentencing guidelines call for just over seven years in prison upon conviction of first-degree manslaughter and four years for second-degree, though prosecutors have said they plan to push for longer sentences.

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Find the APs full coverage of the Daunte Wright case: https://apnews.com/hub/death-of-daunte-wright
McMINNVILLE, Ore.  The opioid epidemic blew into this picturesque Oregon town like a toxic wind, leaving overdoses, addiction, homelessness and wrecked families in its wake.

In a humble, single-story brick building, three blocks from downtown McMinnvilles wine-tasting rooms and cafes, staffers and volunteers of a recovery center called Provoking Hope help the casualties. The workers, who themselves are recovering from drug addiction, offer counseling, coffee and, for some, clean syringes.

McMinnville and thousands of other towns across the United States are on the precipice of receiving billions of dollars in the second-biggest legal settlement in U.S. history. The $26 billion from three drug distributors and a pharmaceutical manufacturer would address damage wrought by opioids, which the federal government declared in 2017 was a public health emergency.

States, counties and cities face a deadline in three weeks to sign onto the deal, and most states have agreed to do so. But a few holdouts remain, including Oregon, where disagreements have emerged between state and local government officials.

The money is needed. In Yamhill County, where McMinnville is the county seat, it would expand counseling and treatment, including in jails, expand residential treatment and recovery facilities and fund other programs, said County Commissioner Casey Kulla.

As Provoking Hopes office manager, Anne Muilenburg has seen the devastating effects of drug addiction and also experienced it first-hand. She says her addiction started as many in America did, after her physician prescribed opioids. They were for a painful spinal bone spur. Ten years later, using her prescription and buying two other peoples prescriptions, she was taking 35 pills per day, far exceeding the maximum dosage.

It wasnt even enough to make me feel high. It was just enough to not make me sick, Muilenburg said. She described opiate withdrawal  experienced when she would run out of pills  as the worst feeling ever.

It makes you feel like somebodys peeling your skin off, she recalled in her small office, decorated with posters with sayings like be kind and stay humble.

Muilenburg finally got treatment but then drug jumped to alcohol and methamphetamine. She wound up losing her job at a car dealership and splitting with her husband, though they have since reunited. She was in and out of jail and found herself living on the street.

My being homeless was one of the things that led me to wanting to change my life, Muilenburg said.

She has been free of drugs for 4 1/2 years. Muilenburg said funds from the settlement are needed to address the communitys drug dependency.

We need more treatment centers. Every place needs more treatment centers, she said. Its ridiculous that somebody wants to go to treatment and they have to wait eight to 10 weeks for a bed.

In the U.S., more than 500,000 deaths over the last two decades have been linked to opioids, both prescription drugs and illegal ones.

The clock is ticking on the settlement, with a payout second only to the $200 billion-plus tobacco settlement, in 1998, with the nations four largest tobacco companies.

The three drug distributors  AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health and McKesson  and drugmaker Johnson & Johnson agreed in July to pay the combined $26 billion to resolve thousands of state and local government lawsuits. But if the defendants feel theres a lack of participation by states and local jurisdictions, it could cause them to back away from the landmark agreement or eventually reduce the settlement amount.

The defendants have the last bite at the apple to say, Do we have a critical mass to justify going forward?' said Joe Rice, an attorney for the plaintiffs.

In exchange for the payout, participating states, counties and cities would have to drop any lawsuits against the defendants and agree not to sue them in the future for the opioid epidemic.

There are complex tradeoffs at stake here, said Caleb Alexander, a drug safety expert at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. On the one hand, the settlement would offer sorely needed funding to scale up treatment and otherwise address the opioid epidemic. On the other, many parties believe the settlement is not enough.

At least 45 states have signed on or signaled their intent to do so, and at least 4,012 counties and cities have also confirmed participation, plaintiffs attorneys said Friday.

Washington state has already ruled out participating, with Attorney General Bob Ferguson calling the settlement woefully insufficient. Hes suing the nations three biggest drug distributors  the same ones in the national settlement  for $38 billion in a trial that began in November.

In Pennsylvania, the district attorneys for Philadelphia and Allegheny County, which includes Pittsburgh, have sued the state attorney general to ensure their lawsuits against the drug industry could continue, saying their communities shares from the settlement would cover only a fraction of the epidemics financial toll.

We are not going to accept a settlement that is a sellout, Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner said.

Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro says receiving payouts from the settlement is a sure thing, unlike continuing to pursue lawsuits against the companies. Local governments can opt out and keep suing, he said, but the more that do, the less the state would receive.

New Mexico is still working out details, and were anticipating that counties and local governments will be responding soon, said Jerri Mares of the state attorney generals office.

In Oregon, lawyers for local governments and the state recently resolved an impasse over how the settlement would be disbursed, according to The Lund Report, a health care news site.

The state of Oregon had wanted local governments to apply to it for grants. The local governments instead wanted a larger share of the funds in direct payments. Theres now disagreement on how much of the settlement should go to attorneys who sued on behalf of several Oregon counties.

Kulla, the Yamhill County commissioner, supports the opioid settlement but doesnt want the state taking excessive control of it.

We at the counties are the ones working with those addicted and their families, and we incur the societal costs of those addictions, he said.

Under the settlement, the payments would be made over 18 years. The tobacco settlement was controlled by state governments, and most of the money has not gone to pay for the toll of tobacco. By contrast, the opioid settlements are structured so most of the money is intended to fight the crisis.

Kulla recognizes there wont be a quick fix.

Its going to be long-term, Kulla said. Its going to take generations, really, to dig ourselves out of this.

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Associated Press writers Geoff Mulvihill in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, and Cedar Attanasio in Santa Fe, New Mexico, contributed to this report.

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Follow Andrew Selsky on Twitter at https://twitter.com/andrewselsky
MAYFIELD, Ky.  An employee of the Kentucky candle factory where eight workers were killed by a tornado said Tuesday that a supervisor threatened her with written disciplinary action if she went home early because storms were approaching.

Haley Conder, who worked at the Mayfield Consumer Products factory on and off for 10 years, also questioned why the company did not encourage workers to go home  or at least give them a better understanding of the danger  between a first tornado siren around 6 p.m. Friday and another one around 9 p.m., shortly before the tornado hit.

They (the company) had from 6 oclock to 9 oclock to allow us to go home, to tell us really what was going on and that we needed to prepare ourselves for the worst, Conder told The Associated Press in a phone interview. It was nothing like that. Not one supervisor told us what was really going on.

A spokesman for the company insisted that employees were free to leave anytime.

Conders comments came on the same day that the states governor said Kentuckys workplace safety agency would look into the eight deaths, which happened as violent weather spawned tornadoes in five states.

Gov. Andy Beshear told reporters that the Kentucky Division of Occupational Safety and Health Compliance would conduct a review. That kind of investigation is routine whenever workers are killed on the job.

So it shouldnt suggest that there was any wrongdoing. But what it should give people confidence in, is that well get to the bottom of what happened, he said.

Conder, 29, said her supervisor threatened to write her up if she left early, and that accumulated write-ups can lead to firing.

More than 100 people were working on holiday candle orders when the twister leveled the facility. The scale of the damage initially stoked fears that scores of workers could be found dead in the rubble.

The company later said many employees who survived left the site and went to homes with no phone service, adding to the confusion over who was missing.

Since then, all workers have been accounted for, according to state and local officials who have spoken to the company. Louisville Emergency Management Director E.J. Meiman said late Monday that authorities now have a high level of confidence that nobody is left in this building.

The factory supplies candles to retailers, including Bath & Body Works. It is the countys third-largest employer.

Mayfield Consumer Products spokesman Bob Ferguson, who works for an outside communications firm, said the company welcomes a review by the state and will cooperate.

Ferguson denied that employees were stuck at the plant or would face retribution if they left.

Not true. That is absolutely not true. We followed our protocols exactly. Employees, if they decide they want to leave, theyre free to leave, he said.

Due to a tight labor market, the company had relaxed some of its procedures so that employees were not required to give a reason if they had to leave work during a shift, Ferguson said.

NBC News first reported that employees said they were threatened with discipline if they left early.

Mayfield, home to 10,000 residents and the candle factory, suffered some of the worst damage in the country. The tornado outbreak that killed at least 88 people  74 of them in Kentucky  cut a path of devastation from Arkansas, where a nursing home was destroyed, to Illinois, where an Amazon distribution center was heavily damaged.

Six people died in the Illinois warehouse collapse, and the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration has opened an investigation into what happened there. The tornadoes also killed four in Tennessee, two in Arkansas and two in Missouri.

Hundreds of people gathered for a candlelight vigil Tuesday evening on the outskirts of Mayfield.

Prayers went up that the brokenhearted will be wrapped up in Gods love and that people hold on to one another as the storm-stricken city begins its recovery.

Scarlett Sears, an employee at the factory, said at the vigil she had not seen her co-workers since Friday.

Its great for the ones that made it but heartbreaking for everything else, Mayfield, MCP, all of it, heartbreaking, she said.

J.R. Ramsey, who has worked at the plant for 18 years, said he was still in shock.

Its good to see the people that made it, he said.

Conder said employees sheltered inside the building after the first siren, but were then told to go back to work about a half-hour later like it was a regular day.

Some of us were just clueless, she added. Unless family called us and let us know  we had no idea it was coming for us at all.

Employees sheltered again after the 9 p.m. tornado siren. Conder was in a bathroom when the storm hit.

I look up and the ceiling is just giving way, like its the ocean just coming toward me, she said, adding she was trapped in rubble for about an hour.

Mark Saxton was working as a forklift operator. After the first storm siren, he said employees were told to go back to work.

I feel like production was a priority over letting everybody go home, Saxton said Tuesday in a phone interview. He said he wasnt threatened with any disciplinary action.

When the second storm siren sounded, he said he took refuge along with the other workers. It wasnt long before he heard a big boom and everything shook.

He said he dropped to the ground, got in a fetal position and thats when everything started falling  the walls and everything. He was trapped by a slab of a concrete wall but was able to extricate himself.

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Associated Press writers Dylan Lovan and Rebecca Reynolds in Louisville, Kentucky, and photographer Gerald Herbert in Mayfield contributed to this report.
A 2-month-old whose family tried to protect her by putting her in a car seat. A 94-year-old Korean War veteran from Arkansas. A longtime florist in Tennessee who recently started on her new adventure as an airport security worker. An Amazon warehouse worker in Illinois. A Kentucky judge known for his common sense.

These were among the dozens of people killed during Friday nights tornadoes that ripped through five states in the Midwest and South. There were dozens of confirmed deaths in Arkansas, Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri and Tennessee, but those numbers were expected to rise. Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said Monday at least 74 had died in his state alone.

Here are some of the people who perished during the tornadoes.

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Douglas Koon, his wife, Jackie, and their three children huddled in his mother-in-laws bathroom in Dawson Springs, Kentucky, as the storms approached. The tornado hit the house directly, flinging the family around and tossing a bathtub in the air that was shielding two of his sons. The couple put their infant daughter, Oaklynn, in a car seat to protect her, and she appeared to be OK on Saturday.

Its the most traumatic thing Ive been through, I felt like I was helpless in protecting my kids, Douglas Koon told MSNBC in an interview on Saturday. But by Sunday, the baby was having seizures, and doctors noticed a brain bleed after she was taken to the hospital. They believed she had a stroke, Koon said in a Facebook post.

Its not looking good at this point, he wrote. The machines are keeping her alive.

Early Monday morning, the family posted that the infant had died.

In a text message to The Associated Press on Monday, Koon said he was struggling to process everything that Im going through.

A family member has set up a GoFundMe account for Koons family and his mother-in-law, Sheila Rose, who lost her home.

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Lisa Taylor had worked 14 years as a florist at the same family-owned shop in Memphis, Tennessee, when she left in October to start a new career at the airport with the Transportation Security Administration. Co-workers at Rachels Flowers congratulated her with balloons on a sign that read, Good Luck, Lisa.

Taylor, 54, stayed in touch with her friends at the flower shop, making plans to return part-time over the holidays to make some extra money. Then the phone rang Saturday, just as the power came back on at the shop after violent storms passed through overnight. Taylors longtime boyfriend was calling with tragic news. A large tree had fallen through her roof overnight, killing Taylor as she slept in bed.

She had just gotten started on her new adventure and shes just been taken, said Angie Morton, who worked as a florist alongside Taylor for several years.

A single mother of two children now in their 20s, Taylor took her new government job for higher wages and the extra stability that came with health insurance and other benefits, friends said.

But she had a creative spark that made her a natural when it came to working with flowers, Morton said, whether she was helping grieving families design funeral arrangements or using bits and pieces of broken, castoff jewelry to add some custom sparkle to high school girls prom corsages.

She really liked to bling everything up, Morton said. She would take stuff other people would throw in the trash and make beautiful things out of it. If she found an earring in a store that didnt have a matching pair, she would think, I know theres somebody who that would be perfect for her corsage.'

Charles Newell, deputy emergency management administrator for Shelby County, Tennessee, said she was the only known storm death in the county that includes Memphis.

Rachel Greer, the flower shops owner, was helping plan floral arrangements for Taylors funeral. She said Taylors daughter had requested a sea of purple flowers such as lavender roses and chrysanthemums to match her mothers favorite color.

Meanwhile customers were dropping by the shop to offer condolences and leaving notes. One of them read: Lisa was a light in a dark world.

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Annistyn Rackley was an outgoing and energetic southeast Missouri 9-year-old who loved swimming, dancing and cheerleading, according to Sandra Hooker, the girls grandaunt.

The two became close over the past four years as Hooker offered the girl support during doctors visits and blood draws required by a rare liver condition that still didnt keep Annistyn from activities.

Annistyn, her parents and her two younger sisters, took shelter Friday night in a windowless bathroom in their new home west of Caruthersville, Missouri. To prove theyd gotten to the familys safe space, the girls mom texted Hooker a photo of the three in and next to the bathtub  all of them smiling, 9-year-old Annistyn holding her favorite doll.

Fifteen minutes later, Sandra Hooker said, a tornado splintered the home, carrying the family members dozens of yards through the air into a field where first responders found them in mud. Annistyn died, and the others were injured. The mother, Meghan Rackley, and their middle daughter, 7-year-old Avalinn, remained hospitalized Monday.

Hooker called Annistyn a special angel and said the girl delighted in donning outfits and makeup for cheer competitions and with learning new dances from TikTok. She did cartwheels and splits in front of Hooker.

I would just gasp because she could do the splits all the time, and she would just laugh, Hooker said. She loved dancing.

Hooker teaches gifted students at the same elementary school where Meghan Rackley teaches kindergarten in Caruthersville, which is nestled next to the Mississippi River in whats known as Missouris Bootheel region.

Hooker said Annistyns parents learned when she was 2 months old that she had a rare liver disorder in which bile ducts dont develop properly, sometimes making it hard to fight off illness.

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Golden Wes Hembrey, 94, died when a tornado destroyed the nursing home in which he lived in Monette, Arkansas.

His nephew, Mike Hembrey, said the Korean War veteran and retired farmer had been in the nursing home since 2016 because of Alzheimers disease. But he remembered his uncle as engaged with his extended family throughout their younger years.

He was outgoing, his nephew said. Hed be out in the yard playing with us. But dont make him mad. When he was mad, he was mad.

He liked cutting up, telling jokes, said niece Kristie Carmichael.

The Hembreys said Jimmie Hembrey had visited his brother the day before the tornado and found him to be in good health.

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Graves County Deputy Jailer Robert Daniel was supervising inmate workers at a candle factory in Mayfield, Kentucky, when the tornado struck. His boss said Monday that Daniel had been focused on the prisoners in his care when he was killed as the twister wrecked the plant.

Daniel, 47, had worked at the county jail for a few years previously and was rehired a few months ago, Graves County Jailer George Workman said. The seven inmates Daniel was overseeing at the factory Friday night were part of a brand-new work program and had just begun their jobs three days earlier.

After the storm hit, the inmates told Workmans deputies that it was Daniel who literally had pushed them all to safety, guiding them through a doorway and against a wall in an interior part of the plant. Workman said the last inmate through the door told deputies that Daniel was behind him one moment, and suddenly he was gone.

He was physically still in the act of trying to get them to safety. And thats when it hit, Workman said. It takes a tremendous person to be able to lay their own life down for somebody else. But he did and he was doing it for the right reasons.

All of seven of the inmates in Daniels care survived, Workman said, with two of them suffering broken legs.

A cousin, Mark Saxton Sr., said Daniel was a native of the Mayfield area that was devastated by the storm.

He loved his community, Saxton said. He was a great family man. Everybody who met him just loved him. Hes the type of person you want to be associated with.

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Brian Crick, a judge for two western Kentucky counties, was known for his sound judgment when it came to solving problems, a fellow judge said.

Crick, 43, was a district judge for Muhlenberg and McLean counties who handled criminal misdemeanor cases, traffic court and juvenile cases, said Circuit Judge Brian W. Wiggins. Wiggins said he has known his fellow judge since 2005, when Crick was a public defender. He later was in private practice before taking the bench in 2011.

Many of the defendants who came before him werent represented by attorneys, and Crick was very good about seeing to it that their rights were protected, Wiggins said. He had a very common sense approach. He was very level-headed about how to handle cases and how to talk to people.

Wiggins was killed when the storm hit his familys home in Muhlenberg County. He is survived by a wife and three children, all of whom made it through the storm without major injuries, Wiggins said. He was just a consummate family man  very engaged with his children and his wife. They were number one to him.

We are especially heartbroken to get the news, Kentucky Supreme Court Chief Justice John Minton said in a statement. This is a shocking loss to his family, his community and the court system and his family is in our prayers.

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Two of June Penningtons children said the Manila, Arkansas, resident was devoted to her four children and nine grandchildren and had a particular soft spot for animals.

Pennington, 52, was working as an assistant manager at a Dollar General store in nearby Leachville, Arkansas, when it was hit.

She didnt love anything as much in life as her kids and grandkids, said Christie Pennington. She was truly selfless and loved whole-heartedly.

David Benefield, the oldest of June Penningtons four children, said he was born when his mother was only 14.

She was a kid raising a kid. We were just like best friends, he said. Its crazy how close you become.

Her children remember her as someone who would do anything that we asked her to do, Benefield said. Even after her children were grown, they said June Pennington wanted to spend as much time with them as possible.

Christie Pennington said her mother adopted dogs, cats, rabbits, birds, turtles and even a ferret.

If there was ever an animal in need of a home, we took it in, she said.

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Clayton Lynn Cope, 29, had been working at Amazon for more than a year before the storm killed him at a company facility in southwestern Illinois.

Five other workers also died at the facility located outside St. Louis.

Cope, who lived in nearby Alton, Illinois, had joined the Navy after graduating high school and was an avid outdoorsman who also liked to ride motorcycles and play video games. He had a special place in his heart for his dog, Draco, said his younger sister, Rachel Cope.

He would go out of his way for anyone, Cope said in a written message.

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Ollie Borgmann, 84, was a sweet and typical grandmother who had lived in her home in Defiance, Missouri, for decades.

A tornado blew through the home she shared with her 84-year-old husband, Vernon, on Friday night, blowing the house off its foundation, as well as that of a neighbors house in the town located about 40 miles (64 kilometers) west of St. Louis.

Her son, Mark Borgmann, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that his brother, Keith, was on the phone with their father during the powerful storm when the line went dead. The next thing Vernon Borgmann remembers is waking up in a nearby field surrounded by debris. He suffered scratches and bruises but will be OK, said Mark Borgmann.

When Ollie Borgmann was found by rescuers, she was awake. She died later at a hospital.

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Lovan reported from Louisville, Kentucky. Bynum reported from Savannah, Georgia. Associated Press writers Travis Loller in Nashville, Tennessee; John Hanna in Topeka, Kansas; Terry Wallace in Dallas; Sophie Tareen in Chicago; Josh Funk in Omaha, Nebraska; Mike Schneider in Orlando, Florida; and Jeff Amy in Atlanta contributed to this article.
ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates  The head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog warned Tuesday that the restrictions faced by his inspectors in Iran threaten to give the world only a very blurred image of Tehrans program as it enriches uranium closer than ever to weapons-grade levels.

Speaking in a wide-ranging interview to The Associated Press, Rafael Mariano Grossi said he wanted to tell Iran that there was no way around his inspectors at the International Atomic Energy Agency if the Islamic Republic wanted to be a respected country in the community of nations.

We have to work together, Grossi said from a luxury hotel in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, after he visited that countrys first nuclear power plant. They must work together. I will make sure they understand that in us they will have a partner.

Grossis insistence that the Vienna-based IAEA remained an auditor for the world came as negotiations falter in Vienna to revive Tehrans tattered nuclear deal. Hours earlier, the chief of Irans civilian nuclear program insisted his country would refuse the agency access to a sensitive centrifuge assembly plant.

That plant in Karaj came under what Iran describes as a sabotage attack in June. Tehran blamed the assault on Israel amid a widening regional shadow war since former President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew America from Irans landmark nuclear accord with world powers. Iran since has refused the IAEA access to replace cameras damaged in the incident.

If the international community through us, through the IAEA, is not seeing clearly how many centrifuges or what is the capacity that they may have  what you have is a very blurred image, Grossi said. It will give you the illusion of the real image. But not the real image. This is why this is so important.

Grossi dismissed as simply absurd an Iranian allegation that saboteurs used the IAEAs cameras in the attack on the Karaj centrifuge site. Tehran has offered no evidence to support the claim, though its another sign of the friction between inspectors and Iran.

Since the nuclear deals collapse, Tehran has started enriching uranium up to 60% purity  a short technical step from weapons-grade levels of 90%. The deal limited enrichment to 3.67%, enough to be used in a power plant. The nations stockpile of enriched uranium grows every day far beyond the scope of the 2015 accord, which saw Tehran agree to limit its nuclear program in the exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions. It also spins ever-more advanced centrifuges also barred by the deal.

While stressing he wasnt involved in the political negotiations ongoing in Vienna, Grossi acknowledged the advances made by Iran since the deals collapse meant there would have to be changes to the original agreement.

The reality is that we are dealing with a very different Iran, he said. 2022 is so different from 2015 that there will have to be adjustments that take into consideration these new realities so our inspectors can inspect whatever the countries agree at the political table.

And while Iran insists its program is peaceful, U.S. intelligence agencies and the IAEA have said Iran ran an organized nuclear weapons program until 2003.

Theres no other country other than those making nuclear weapons reaching those high levels of uranium enrichment, Grossi said of Iran. Ive said many times that this doesnt mean that Iran has a nuclear weapon. But it does mean that this level of enrichment is one that requires an intense verification effort.

Irans mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Grossis remarks.

In Vienna, however, anxiety is growing among European nations at the negotiating table. The U.S. has remained outside of direct talks since abandoning the accord.

Without swift progress, in light of Irans fast-forwarding of its nuclear program, the (deal) will very soon become an empty shell, they warned in an overnight statement.

Apparently responding to the criticism, Iranian negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani wrote on Twitter: Some actors persist in their blame game habit, instead of real diplomacy.

But the Iranian negotiators who have entered the talks for the first time in months under newly elected hard-line President Ebrahim Raisi have taken maximalist positions. Bagheri Kani himself described six previous rounds of negotiations with a team under former President Hassan Rouhani as a mere draft.

Asked about the difference between the two administrations, Grossi said that the change is palpable.

The president himself and people around him have been saying very clearly they have views about the program, he said. They have strong views about the interactions that Iran has been having with both the IAEA and parties to the nuclear deal.

He also described cooperation with the Raisi administration as slower than expected.

We have been able to start this relationship quite late I would say, Grossi said.

Meanwhile, satellite photos obtained by the AP show ongoing construction in the mountain south of Irans Natanz nuclear facility, twice the target of suspected Israeli attacks. Another above-ground facility is being built at Irans underground Fordo facility, which also has begun uranium enrichment amid the Vienna talks in defiance of the nuclear deal.

Grossi said Iran has informed the IAEA about the ongoing construction and his inspectors are following progress at the sites.

Regionally, Saudi Arabia has begun exploring nuclear power. Unlike the UAE  which has a strict agreement with the U.S. that ensures it doesnt enrich its own uranium  Saudi Arabia says it wants a centrifuge program. That opens the risk of nuclear proliferation as the kingdom has threatened to rush for a nuclear weapon if Iran obtains one. Grossi described discussions between Riyadh and the IAEA as very positive.

And in Israel, long believed to be a nuclear-armed state, a massive construction project continues at its secretive nuclear reactor near Dimona, which isnt subject to the IAEAs watch. Iran often points to Israels weapons program as an international double-standard given the scrutiny of Tehrans civilian program.

When asked about Israel, Grossi said: I think the international community would like every country to sign up to the treaty on the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons and to put all the facilities under safeguards from the IAEA.

He stressed the importance of ensuring that IAEA inspectors have unfettered ability to monitor and access Irans fast-accelerating nuclear program.

The problem is that the more time passes and you lose the ability to record what is going on, then the moment this capability is restored, inspectors come back and start to put the jigsaw puzzle together again, he said. There might be gaps. And these gaps are not a good thing to have.

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Follow Jon Gambrell and Isabel DeBre on Twitter at www.twitter.com/jongambrellAP and www.twitter.com/isabeldebre.
State regulators are expected to vote Wednesday on Public Service Company of New Mexicos plan to exit the Four Corners coal plant in December 2024, but commissioners question whether PNM is entitled to full recovery of investments in the facility.

The state Energy Transition Act authorizes PNM to use low-cost bonds paid for by customers to recover all investments already included in the utilitys base rates. And, according to PNM, that includes about $150 million it previously spent on pollution controls to keep the plant running in compliance with federal regulations.

The Public Regulation Commission did provisionally approve those investments for inclusion in rates, starting in January 2019, but under the explicit condition that the PRC later review the prudence of those expenditures in PNMs next rate case. PRC Hearing Examiner Anthony Medeiros says the PRC retains its authority to do that prudence review even after PNM sells the ETA-authorized bonds for recovery.

If the commission later rules the pollution investments were imprudent, it could order PNM to credit all money collected from ratepayers for those expenditures back to customers, Medeiros told commissioners at an open public meeting last week.

But commissioners fear the issue could wind up at the Supreme Court, because PNM says the ETA now eliminates PRC authority to deny cost recovery through a prudence review, because the pollution investments were already in its rate base when the ETA took effect in summer 2019.

Its a legal issue hanging over our head, Commissioner Joe Maestas said at last weeks meeting.  This is my primary issue in this case. I can see us doing the review on the provisional order and the prudence of PNMs investments, and then that downstream review coming under legal challenge through the ETA.

Maestas favors excluding the pollution-control investments from the amount it authorizes for PNM to recover through bonds. That could, possibly, avoid a potential legal battle over PRC ability to later order rebates to customers on money already included in the bonds, assuming the commission found the pollution expenditures to be imprudent, Maestas said.

But doing that could immediately create a legal morass, because no ruling on imprudence yet exists to justify exclusion of those investments from bond financing under the ETA, according to Medeiros.

The PRC will vote on two separate orders on Wednesday, one to approve or deny PNMs early exit from the coal plant, and the second to approve or deny investment recovery through the bonds.

Medeiros supports PNMs exit plan, whereby the utility would sell its 13% share in the plant to the Navajo Nation, which already owns a 7% stake in the facility.

The remaining plant co-owners  which include Arizona Public Service, the Salt River Project and Tucson Electric Power  would likely continue operating the facility through 2031. But under agreements that PNM negotiated with them, the facility would move to seasonal operations starting in fall 2023, potentially reducing carbon emissions by up to 25% annually.

Customers could save up to $300 million over 20 years by PNM exiting the plant and replacing the coal-fired generation with cheaper renewables. But total savings will depend on the particular replacement resources authorized by the PRC in future hearings.

The financing issue, however, complicates the abandonment issue, because once abandonment is approved, PNMs right for cost recovery through bonds automatically kicks in under the ETA. The PRC could then face a potential legal challenge if it denies bond financing, or limits the amount eligible for recovery.
As much as he views it as a bummer to discontinue a local name for his establishment, Quanz Auto Body President Adam Quanz saw plentiful opportunities for continued growth and expansion by joining Crash Champions.

Crash Champions, a national chain operating in 17 states, announced this week it will acquire Quanz Auto Body, an Albuquerque-based company with three Duke City locations and one Rio Rancho location, as part of its expansion into the Southwest.

Our industry is consolidating at a very high, fast rate. Our plan was never to sell, its just something that kind of came up over the past few months. A lot of things made sense, Quanz said. Were in the same exact boat with every other business in our community and in the country; you cant find people, people dont want to work. And the costs of everything are skyrocketing.  These bigger companies can absorb a lot of those costs. The insurance relationships that weve relied on over the years have changed, and theres a lot more performance-based contracts with insurance companies, which cost us dollars.

Effective Monday, Quanz said his company will officially become Crash Champions, but expects itll still take a number of months for signage to change on the buildings.

Quanz Auto Body, which launched operations in 1980, offers services like paint and body work, bumper damage repair and hail damage repair.

Crash Champions CEO Matt Ebert said New Mexico will be the first state in the Southwest to offer Crash Champions locations, adding his company will eventually expand elsewhere in that region.

We currently go from Missouri to Colorado to California, when you look at the footprint of the states were currently in. So, we kind of have some gaps in the map, he said.

He also said Quanzs business model aligns with Crash Champions.

Theyre very focused on keeping their customers happy. They have a lot of satisfied customers. They also have a lot of insurance partners that are happy with the results that they get from Quanz. Similar to us, they do late-model collision repair as opposed to, say, a restoration shop, Ebert said, adding his company and Quanz Auto Body also focus on manufacturing certification for repairs and training.

Quanz said there were challenges in dealing with the extreme highs and some extreme lows of running a business during the pandemic.

He also said its become tough to compete as a local business because of some challenges New Mexico faces compared to surrounding states.

In the end, Quanz said the opportunity for growth and building more of a statewide presence appealed to him. He said the pluses of the acquisition include offering nationwide repair warranties and extra customer service resources.

Ill tell you, Crash Champions will grow in this market and in the state, and its going to happen very quickly, Quanz said, adding itll expand with other New Mexico locations outside the Albuquerque metro area in 2022.

Quanz said he will serve as the New Mexico director of operations for Crash Champions, while his brothers will stay on in various roles.

Were going to continue basically operating as is. Its just a name change, with more financial backing and more resources, he said.

He also said the people inside the shops, insurance company relations, manufacturer certifications, repair quality and existing buildings will remain, adding the only difference is replacing the Quanz logos with Crash Champions logos.
PARADISE, Calif. - The downpour has some people worried about the possibility of flooding.

From tarps to sandbags, people were stocking up on different supplies at a Paradise hardware store to keep their homes dry.

Jamie Hoskins, the store manager at Ace Hardware in Paradise, showed Action News Now all the supplies people on the ridge are loading up with.

"[Some] stuff you can use to block rain from getting to certain areas," Hoskins said.

It's not just about blocking the rain but also routing somewhere else out of their drains.

"A lot of people have problems with downspouts just because your gutters fill up with so much water," Hoskins said.

People have been scooping up their corrugated tubing.

"All the connections and stuff to hook that up to your thing, so if you needed to go 100 feet away, you could hook that all up to your downspout and actually take it quite a distance," Hoskins said.

Hoskins has not seen many people coming in to buy generators. The store usually sees more sales of them during the summer.

Hoskins adds they are well-stocked with these different rain supplies but some other items they sell have been impacted by the supply chain.
TEHAMA COUNTY, Calif. - A person was convicted during a trial for a criminal threat and assault incident that happened on March 18, according to the Tehama County District Attorney.

Dennis Terrell entered a home and threatened to stab the victim, according to the district attorney.

The jurys decision was based on the testimony of the victim and audio evidence of the 911 call from the victim.

Terrell will be back in court on Jan. 3 to be sentenced.
TEHAMA COUNTY, Calif. - A man has entered a guilty plea for unlawfully starting a fire that threatened structures in Red Bluff, according to the Tehama County District Attorneys Office.

David Clopp entered a guilty plea to a charge of unlawful burning and admitted to a prior conviction for a serious or violent felony on Nov. 19.

Clopp pleaded guilty to vandalism in a separate case.

The investigation began on Sept. 9 in a creek on 322 Jackson St. when Red Bluff Fire Department and Police Department responded to a fire.

The fire burned brush and threaten structures.

He was arrested shortly after starting the fire and was booked into the Tehama County Jail.

Clopp will be back in court on Jan. 4 to be sentenced.
India's leading natural beauty care company Lotus Herbals has appointed Bollywood fitness diva Malaika Arora as the brand ambassador for its Lotus Herbals YouthRx brand and its range of natural, anti-ageing skincare products. As the face of the brand, Malaika will appear in multimedia campaigns spanning TV, digital and OTT platforms which will commence from 15th December 2021. Lotus Herbals YouthRx offers a range of skincare products that are a complete natural solution for fighting the signs of ageing with the goodness of Ginger & Ginseng formulated into a revolutionary Gineplex Youth compound.

During its two-year-long association with Malika, the brand messaging would focus on ageing as a natural process and the benefits of using anti-ageing skincare products formulated with potent natural ingredients. As the brand ambassador Malaika Arora with her flawless skin and perfectly toned body is a natural fit, who embodies the ethos of the brand with her commitment to a healthy lifestyle. The stunning actress who readily connects with the young adult population resonates with today's modern consumers, who are enamoured by her beauty, flawless complexion and personality. Lotus Herbals Youth Rx plans to leverage her extraordinary popularity, to reach out to aspirational consumers PAN India.

Commenting on the association, Mr. Nitin Passi, Joint Managing Director, Lotus Herbals says Lotus Herbals Youth Rx symbolises green beauty and our scientifically researched natural product line redefines the anti-ageing category. We are glad that we have such a stunning celebrity endorser who resonates with the brand's ethos and values. Actress Malaika Arora elaborates I am delighted to associate with Lotus Herbals YouthRx since their products are free from Parabens & Artificial preservatives, is Non-toxic to the environment & are tested on Indian Skin. These wonderful products are all you need for radiant, firm, hydrated, youthful-looking skin. My need for younger and healthy-looking skin has finally been met by Lotus YouthRx.

As the new face for Lotus Herbals Youth Rx, the gorgeous Malaika Arora will appear in multimedia campaigns spanning TV, OTT, digital, in-store, POP, Sampling and social media platforms. With a widespread media plan, the brand will run a TVC with Malaika, on top-performing GEC channels and Mega properties on leading national and regional shows. To introduce the new brand ambassador, the campaign will run on all social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter &YouTube. In addition, Lotus Youth Rx would have massive giveaways for their followers to maximise reach and engagement.

The Lotus Herbals YouthRx product range is formulated with the Gineplex Youth Compound enriched with the goodness of Ginger & Ginseng which is a potent natural anti-ageing active ingredient and is clinically proven to accelerate lifting, firming and protective action on the skin. Natural yet the most powerful alternative to tackle the ageing of the skin, YouthRx scientifically harnesses the active proteins and minerals from natural ingredients, replenishes lost Hydration and nourishes the skin from within, bringing back the skin to its youthful health. Lotus Herbals Youth Rx is a conscious skincare brand whose products are crafted with responsibly sourced ingredients. All its products are 100% vegetarian, cruelty-free, preservative-free & clinically tested on Indian skins and made without using parabens & preservatives and come in packaging made of recyclable material, which includes paper boxes and jars.
Agro Tech Foods Ltd. one of the leading FMCG companies in India, expands its ready to cook segment under their Sundrop brand name. Known for offering healthier and tastier options, Sundrop introduces its first Mini Meal Kit with the launch of Sundrop 5 Min Yum Pasta with an authentic pasta sauce. This product is yet another endorsement to the brand leading the innovations bandwagon in the Ready-To-Cook category.

This innovative product has been introduced to offer consumers an indulgent experience in 5 min. The product is a complete kit offering three different kinds of pasta with an authentic sauce made with real veggies offering restaurant-style Italian pasta at home.

The all-new Sundrop 5 Min Yum Pasta is quick, tasty and authentic. It is non-fried and made with 100% Suji, has 70% less fat with no added preservatives - offering a wholesome and healthier mini-meal option to the consumers.

Speaking about the new product, Asheesh Sharma, Vice President Marketing, Agro Tech Foods Ltd said, At ATF, we are always on the lookout to innovate and discover new ways to fulfil consumer needs. We believe that there is a huge market for Mini Meal Kits positioned between Restaurants/Food Delivery on the one hand and complete In-Home Cooking on the other and hence, we are thrilled to announce the new Sundrop 5 Min Yum Pasta under our Ready-To-cook category. With increasing affluence, the Indian consumer will no longer be satisfied with a simple pasta or noodle offering with a masala pouch and will seek for better more nourishing options. Sundrop Mini Meal Kits of which Yum Pasta is only the first, seek to leverage this huge opportunity for consumer acquisition and boundless growth. We hope to optimize and add to this momentum with this new product introduction. In line with the brands ambition to up-trade consumers, we have launched this product which is cooked and packed with freshness lock technology.

Agro Tech Foods Ltds new Sundrop 5 Min Yum Pasta contains two packs inside  one with the pasta to be boiled and other with Red sauce, all together priced at INR 50.
In the last 10 years, PR has taken a different dimension, especially after the entry of social media and the rapid shift to digital, especially in the pandemic period. At the same time the industry has been facing stiff challenges, moreover client expectations have also increased, with more emphasis being given to digital and online reputation management. The industry has undergone a radical shift and the current times have pushed the industry to change gears.

In conversation with Adgully, C. Lekha, Director - Corporate Communications & Brand Reputation at IndiGo (InterGlobe Aviation Ltd), speaks about the growing significance of PRs role in the digital era, tackling the disruption in the aviation, travel and hospitality industry due to the pandemic, and more.

How has PR evolved in the last 10 years? Going forward, how will the industry shape up as the dynamics of the PR will keep changing with digital transformation?

PR has evolved massively over the last decade, especially with the advent of technological advancements across industries. PR has, in fact, become a more strategic and steadfast function for organisations to ensure that the right messaging is sent out to their target audience. Businesses of today need more logical branding along with effective media outreach, which not only enables accurate messaging but also helps businesses in facilitating better organisational/ business outcomes.

In addition, the digital era has brought in a paradigm shift in the nature of public relations, where businesses need their presence across digital landscape to effectively reach their target audience. In fact, this transition has made news travel within nanoseconds, which has made PR role even more vital in timely responding to all forms of social media. While earlier it took an event like a plane crash to be termed as crisis, today it only takes an unfavourable tweet by an influencer to go viral within seconds against the brand, turning the situation hostile. This has led to the whim dynamics of communications to be managed and dealt with in a completely different way.

I also believe that in a post-COVID-19 world we need to drive a more humane and emotional PR approach, which looks at engaging with audiences sensitively and more compassionately.

The travel and hospitality industry has got disrupted. What are the PR challenges you have faced for IndiGo in the last one year? How did PR help you to overcome the challenges?

No one could have imagined the kind of disruption that the whole aviation, travel and hospitality industry faced post the pandemic. The sudden halt of flights, travel ban across cities and countries to curb further spread of virus was crucially needed, however, these curbs have deeply impacted the travel and aviation industry. The biggest challenge that we faced during the initial days of the pandemic was due to no flights in operation, while everyone was focusing on how adversely the aviation and travel industry is going to get impacted and the gigantic losses expected.

However, in this critical time we worked to showcase our initiatives towards supporting the nation at this crucial juncture through repatriation flights, cargo flights, charters, and special initiatives like our collaboration with the Indian Metrological Department, creating the countrys first plasma corridor to save the life of a COVID-19 patient and many others.

We also addressed consumer concerns in flying during the pandemic through our Lean, Clean Flying Machine campaign, which focused on educating customers about safety of air travel and won us many global and Indian awards.

ALSO READ: PR is no longer restricted to securing media impressions: Udit Pathak

Airline brands are very particular in protecting and maintaining their reputation. In todays times when pandemic has hit everyone, how has IndiGo managed their brand reputation, especially online, where news travels fast?

PR played the most vital role in enabling us to communicate the right messages at the time of crisis. Since it was crucial for us to let our customers know that we are ready with our clean, hygienic, and safer flights, we drove our messaging around our lean, clean flying machine campaign. We also showcased our on-ground staff, including pilots and cabin crew, as corona warriors, which was brilliantly portrayed by media through personal stories of their journey from pre-pandemic to post-pandemic era. Our special initiatives helped connect emotionally with our customers. We are quite happy with the way we have managed from the initial days of the pandemic till date and PR has contributed immensely throughout this journey.

Many brands and clients want to achieve leadership positions quickly. It takes time to build your reputation and become a thought leader. Whats your view on thought leadership?

I completely second that! Leadership building needs time and one cannot achieve it in a jiffy. It is important that people first create a recall with their brand value rather than just trying to reach the top. A thought leader shares his knowledge based on their expertise and proficiency with years of experience in the industry. They share valuable insights with their exceptional guidance, innovation, which later on influences others. Hence, it is integral that thought leadership is built with a strong industry knowledge and domain expertise.

Internal communication and external communication with stakeholders are very important in the airlines business. What process and framework do you follow to continuously stay engaged with both your internal and external stakeholders?

Communications at all levels is extremely important for a brand to be seen and heard in the way it wants to be positioned. All stakeholders hold equal importance  be it current or potential customers, employees, or any other associate. Hence, it is important that there is clarity and transparency at all levels when it comes to communications. We try to stay connected by continuously sending out newsletters and updates to our internal teams while customers are updated on a regular basis through our continuous and aggressive media outreach. We are also open to feedback, which allows us to establish and sustain a rapport across all our stakeholders.

PR measurement and effectiveness of PR has always been a subject of debate. As a PR professional, what steps should the PR industry take to bring in uniformity so that everyone speaks one language when it comes to PR measurement?

This is an interesting question and remains a subject of debate for many of the PR community. However, I believe PR has evolved much over time that its functionality has become integral and immeasurable for all the brands today. At IndiGo, we believe in delivery of the right messages through our consistent communication across platforms. It is important to leverage business leaders to drive the most critical messages in media through business update meetings rather than just talking about new launches. We regularly map how effectively and clearly we have been able to share our vision and its impact on the business outcomes and stock performance. This regular analysis helps us define our communication strategy going forward as well. I feel that this is the best way to measure the efficacy of our communications strategy and where we stand.
With the year drawing to a close, it is time to recap the major developments across the industry. As in the previous years, Adgully reviews the year 2021 for M&E, Advertising, Digital, Marketing, PR & Communications along with leading names in the industry as part of the REWIND 2021 series.

ALSO READ: Rewind 2021: Digital adoption will impact what advtg looks like: Sumanto Chattopadhyay

In conversation with Adgully, Prasad Shejale, Founder & CEO, Logicserve Digital recaps the trends and developments that dominated the digital industry this year, as well as his projections and expectation for the upcoming year.

Digital industry has always been very dynamic and the changes in this industry happen quickly. This year, the industry witnessed a huge transformation, something that was only expected to happen in the next few years. Right from the rise of new content formats, popularity of short videos, NFTs and cryptocurrencies sparking conversations about the future of finance, the big announcement about the phasing out of third-party cookies to the new identity of Facebook embracing the metaverse. A lot has happened this year and this trajectory of digital transformation and adoption continues to take big leaps, even as we read this.

Heres a quick recap of some of the dominating trends of 2021.

Customer Data Platforms (CDPs)

CDPs allow businesses to streamline their customer data and have an integrated database that provides all the necessary information about the users across channels. This year, CDPs have helped companies to adapt to the key challenges and achieve marketing success.

Digital Security

With the digital revolution and the increasing adoption of digital channels across all businesses, security has been of utmost important to safeguard the data. As per the results of a poll conducted by The Pearson Institute and The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, around 9 in 10 Americans were found to be somewhat concerned about hacking that involves their personal information, financial institutions, government agencies or certain utilities. Also, an article published by Cyber Magazine mentioned that IoT devices suffer an average of 5,200 cyber-attacks every month.

This concern and the rising number of cyber attacks have surely urged everyone to be mindful and have robust digital security measures in place.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Artificial Intelligence has taken on a huge space in the digital industry this year as more and more people learned about the innumerable possibilities of using this technology to transform the way we work or live our daily lives.

Customer-centric Vision

The pandemic brought around a lot of changes for all of us, individuals as well as businesses. It is critical for everyone, including businesses, to quickly adapt to the changes and the changing consumer preferences, habits, etc. to continue growing. This year, we saw many more businesses shifting their focus on this aspect and building truly customer-centric processes, platforms, goals and the larger vision too.

Contactless solutions and digital payments

Now, I am sure we dont need any details about this. All of us saw how the pandemic and the safety precautions around it, in a way pushed the usage of digital payments as well as contactless solutions. While people wanted to be safe and still needed to get the things they want, they have preferred the partners that allowed them to avail their services in a contactless manner and make the payments digitally.

These were some of the major trends we saw this year that have further driven the digital transformation wave that we are all witnessing.

Now, as we all gear up for the new year and start putting together our strategies in place for continued success in 2022, I would like to highlight a few expectations and the key trends that I feel will dominate in the coming year.

5G

5G has been making good progress and I am sure we will soon see it become mainstream in the coming year. It offers a wide range of benefits right from increased capacity for delivery of new content and services, and delivering unique experiences in unthinkable ways, that too at incredible speed.

The government of India also has been supporting the development of 5G technology in India and, I am sure, it will be one of the most important technologies that will drive the digital transformation journey in the future.

Shoppable content

The pandemic has given rise to an increased reliance on e-commerce and newer ways of online shopping. E-commerce industry is gaining a huge traction and is predicted to be a $1 trillion industry by 2022.

In an effort to provide a seamless shopping experience to users, we have already seen some newer formats and channels for shopping come into picture this year. In the coming year, marketers will dive into the shoppable content space, which allows users to directly shop their favourite products without having to leave the platform or content they are consuming in a few easy steps. Brands will surely use this trend heavily in the coming year to revolutionise the way people shop.

Visual and voice search

We have seen huge developments in the visual and voice technology. This will continue to grow and will push businesses to rethink their digital strategies and figure out ways to be visible when people search for them via visual search or voice search. Some reports predict that voice shopping is going to reach $40 billion by 2022. Brands definitely dont want to lose on this opportunity.

Short videos

This trend is already becoming mainstream as people are able to consume content in a quick and convenient way and, they also enjoy the short format of the content. Short videos are everywhere now right from social media to shopping platforms. Owning to the shrinking attention spans of new-age users, this format is very apt for these audiences and it will continue to help business connect and engage with their customers in the coming year. We will also see a combination of other factors that will help brands provide personalisation as well as interactive aspects to their content to make it interesting and keep the audience hooked to their brand. There are endless ways to incorporate short-form videos into your digital marketing strategy and businesses will embrace this trend in 2022.

First-party and zero-party data

Data is extremely important for any business to service their customers better, understand them and continue enhancing their experience. There is a growing importance of first-party and zero-party data nowadays and, it is already urging businesses to change the way they collect information and use it mindfully.

Some companies have started directing their efforts towards finding solutions to safely collect first-party and zero-party data and use it for designing their marketing plans. We will see more companies focus on this area and be ready for a world where third-party data will be long-forgotten.
Lionsgate Play, the leading streaming platform with premium, bold edgy and high on drama content has announced the release of their action-comedy film Hitmans Wifes Bodyguard. The American action-comedy film directed by Patrick Hughes, starring Salma Hayek, Ryan Reynolds and Samuel Jackson is all set to release on 17th December 2021 exclusively on Lionsgate Play. Lionsgate Play app can be downloaded on Google Play Store, Apple app store and Amazon Firestick at a monthly and yearly subscription of INR 149 and INR 499 respectively.

In this sequel to the Hitmans Bodyguard which was a 2017 hit, the world's most lethal odd couple - bodyguard Michael Bryce (Ryan Reynolds) and hitman Darius Kincaid (Samuel L. Jackson) come together for another life-threatening mission. Being unlicensed and under scrutiny, Bryce is forced into action by Darius's even more volatile wife, the infamous international con artist Sonia Kincaid (Salma Hayek). As Bryce is driven over the edge by his two most dangerous protectees, the trio gets in over their heads in a global plot and soon find that they are all that stand between Europe and a vengeful and powerful madman (Antonio Banderas). Also, you can watch Hitmans Bodyguard on Lionsgate Play app.

Known for its curated content, Lionsgate Play recently premiered their first Hindi Indian original Hiccups and Hookups. The bold and edgy streaming platform has a library full of critically acclaimed movies such as Love Life, Dublin Murders, Show Trial, Vigil, WeWork to name a few. Lionsgate has been expanding its content library with titles releasing every Friday and localizing content based on the audience preferences. Currently, the platform has content available in six local languages like Hindi, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Bhojpuri.
Pepperfry, India's no.1 furniture and home products marketplace today announced the appointment of Akhilesh Chitlange as Vice President, Studio Activation. In his role, Akhilesh would be responsible for leading the organisation's omni-channel efforts across Company-Owned Company-Operated (COCO) and Franchise-Owned Franchise-Operated (FOFO) Studio businesses. The omnichannel model has been one of the strongest growth pillars for Pepperfry over the past few years and the brand has plans to continue expanding its omnichannel presence significantly. Akhileshs appointment is effective immediately and will be based out of the Pepperfry Corporate Office in Mumbai.

In the last 2 years, Pepperfry Studios have emerged as a key touchpoint for consumer engagement and a great marketing channel. Currently, Pepperfry has a studio footprint across 57 cities in India with 110+ studios and aims to reach 200 Studios by March 2022. The offline expansion is in line with the companys aim to penetrate niche markets and offer the largest furniture and home products catalogue in the country. These studios are experience centres that offer customers a first-hand experience of various types of woods, materials, colour and fabric swatches that helps them make the right purchase decision.

Commenting on his appointment, Ashish Shah, Co-Founder & Chief Operating Officer, Pepperfry said, Studio Pepperfry is a key growth driver of our business and already contributes to around 40% to our topline. We want to continue expanding our footprint by deepening our presence in top markets through own stores and bringing in more entrepreneurial spirit into the business through our Franchisee Program in Tier I and Tier-II cities. As we accelerate, Akhileshs business acumen and expertise in managing complex sales systems across large FMCG companies will help us bring in consistency and excellence in providing a great customer experience across 100s of studios spread across the country. We welcome Akhilesh to the Pepperfry team and wish him great success in his endeavours.

Akhilesh Chitlange, Vice President  Studio Activations, Pepperfry said, I'm excited to be a part of Pepperfry's journey. The company has undisputedly built the largest omnichannel business in the furniture and home products segment in India. This is a great opportunity for me to help develop a future-proof business team and drive revenue growth in line with the companys vision. Look forward to grow with the team onward and upward.

Akhilesh will be working closely with the leadership team to build a world-class omnichannel sales system that delivers better business results and customer experience. With a career spanning over 10 years, Akhilesh has covered a wide spectrum of Business & Corporate roles spanning Channel Sales, Trade Marketing, Sales Development verticals in the FMCG space. Prior to joining Pepperfry, Akhilesh was the Trade Marketing Head at Marico Limited. Previously, he has also worked with GSK Consumer Healthcare India and Britannia IndustriesLimited.

Akhilesh is a post-graduate in Sales & Marketing and holds a degree in Chemical Engineering.
Federal Department of Foreign Affairs

Bern, 14.12.2021 - Federal Councillor Ignazio Cassis today opened the High-Level Officials Meeting on the Global Compact on Refugees. Speaking remotely, he emphasised the initiatives implemented by Switzerland to follow up on commitments made at the 2019 Global Refugee Forum. The meeting was co-organised by Switzerland and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and aims to review actions undertaken to bolster support for displaced persons and their host countries. The vast majority of the world's 26 million refugees live in countries bordering crisis areas.

At no point since the Second World War have so many people been forced to live far from their homes due to violence, persecution, or extreme climatic conditions. In his speech, the head of the FDFA called on the international community to organise concerted support for refugees and provide assistance to their host countries. "Let us use our collective knowledge to help humanity live in peace and security," Mr Cassis said. The majority of host countries are frequently faced with highly challenging situations, made even more complex by the repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Promises kept

Today's meeting aims to review the progress made as part of the Global Compact on Refugees, which was approved in 2018. Switzerland has honoured its commitments by implementing a series of concrete measures. It has sought to make it easier for refugees to access high-quality education, for example by launching the Geneva Global Hub for Education in Emergencies (EiE). This initiative aims to encourage greater commitment and funding for the education of young displaced persons. Switzerland has also expanded its commitment to education abroad, notably by supporting a school that welcomes Afghan refugees in Pakistan.

Climate and innovation

Climate change is worsening the displacement of people in need of resources such as arable land or drinking water. As a country at the forefront of innovation, Switzerland has well-founded expertise in developing technological responses to challenges in numerous fields, including sustainable water management, sanitation and energy. "In order to share its expertise," Mr Cassis announced, "Switzerland has partnered with the UNHCR to launch the Geneva Technical Hub, a pioneering initiative on climate and innovation."

Supporting host countries

Some 86% of displaced persons find a safe haven in developing countries. Switzerland is supporting relocation work by the UNHCR, in particular by providing experts, and is assisting interested states through the implementation of a national relocation programme.

During the day's meeting, Mr Cassis announced that the 202223 relocation programme approved by the Federal Council in May provides for the admission of 1,600 refugees.

Address for enquiries

FDFA Communication

Federal Palace West Wing

CH-3003 Bern, Switzerland

Tel. Communication service: +41 58 462 31 53

Tel. Press service: +41 58 460 55 55

E-mail: kommunikation@eda.admin.ch

Twitter: @SwissMFA

Publisher

Federal Department of Foreign Affairs

https://www.eda.admin.ch/eda/en/home.html




Federal Office of Public Health

Bern, 14.12.2021 - The Federal Office of Public Health FOPH and the Federal Commission for Vaccination FCV also recommend two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine for children aged between five and eleven. If they wish, parents or legal guardians can have their child vaccinated on the basis of an individual assessment of the benefits and risks, as soon as the vaccination is available. The recommendation is based on the authorisation by Swissmedic of the Comirnaty mRNA vaccine from Pfizer/BioNTech for children aged between five and eleven.

The FCV and FOPH recommendation particularly applies to children in this age group who already have serious health risks owing to a chronic condition. The vaccination is recommended as a priority for children who have close contact with people at especially high risk in the same household who cannot obtain protection from vaccination, for example because they have a weakened immune system.

Finally, the vaccine recommendation also applies particularly to children in this age group who have recovered from COVID-19 if they are particularly at risk themselves, or if they have close contact with people who are at especially high risk or are immunocompromised such that vaccination does not protect them. One dose of vaccine is sufficient for these children.

The vaccination is not currently recommended for any other children who have recovered from COVID-19.

Children can be vaccinated from January

Only the special Comirnaty formulation for children, as authorised by Swissmedic on 10 December 2021, can be used to vaccinate children aged between 5 and 11. As usual, Pfizer will deliver these vaccine doses three to four weeks after authorisation. The Comirnaty vaccines for children will thus be available in Switzerland from the beginning of January 2022.

The vaccination of children aged between five and eleven is free of charge. The administration of vaccinations for children is done in the same way as for adult vaccinations. Switzerland has ordered enough vaccines to allow children in this age group to be vaccinated.

The cantons will decide and announce from when and where parents can register their child for a vaccination.

Address for enquiries

Federal Office of Public Health, Communication

Infoline Coronavirus +41 58 463 00 00

COVID-19 vaccination infoline +41 58 377 88 92

Infoline for people travelling to Switzerland +41 58 464 44 88

Publisher

Federal Office of Public Health

http://www.bag.admin.ch




https://www.aish.com/jw/s/Stop-Comparing-Covid-Precautions-to-Nazi-Germany.html

The repeated use of the murder of six million Jews as a political tool is offensive.

It may have started back in the summer of 2020, when a Kansas Republican county chairman posted a caricature of the states Democratic governor Laura Kelly on his newspapers Facebook page. Ms. Kelly had issued a public-setting mask mandate, and was depicted wearing a mask with a Magen David on it. In the background was a photograph of European Jews being loaded onto train cars. The caption: Lockdown Laura says: Put on your mask  and step on to the cattle car.

The next summer, we were treated to Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greenes criticism of House Speaker Nancy Pelosis mask requirement for the chamber, in which Ms. Taylor Greene declared: You know, we can look back at a time in history where people were told to wear a gold star were put in trains and taken to gas chambers in Nazi Germany. And this is exactly the type of abuse that Nancy Pelosi is talking about. Under pressure from her peers, the congresswoman later apologized; but her point, such as it was, had been made, and likely energized her like-minded supporters.

Then came Oklahoma GOP chairman John Bennetts comparison of private companies requiring employees to get vaccines to  three guesses  the Nazis forcing Jews to wear a yellow star.

The odious comparisons just seemed to pile up, across the country. They were getting attention, after all, and attention is catnip for political felines. Of course, the offensive comments, each in turn, were all roundly condemned by Jewish groups. Wash, rinse and repeat.

Last week, though, may have offered us the Mother Of All Such Slurs, when broadcaster Lara Logan, once a respected CBS News foreign correspondent, appeared on the Fox News Primetime program, where she addressed Dr. Anthony Faucis recommendation that Americans get fully vaccinated, including booster shots, in the wake of the appearance of the Omicron COVID variant. Her words:

This is what people say to me, that he doesnt represent science to them. He represents Joseph Mengele, the Nazi doctor who did experiments on Jews during the Second World War and in the concentration camps. And I am talking about people all across the world are saying this.

A cursory search turns up no one but Ms. Logan saying such a thing, but maybe those people all across the world spoke with her privately.

As usual, Jewish groups rightly rushed to condemn her statement. But she was impervious to the criticism, later re-tweeting to her 197,000 Twitter followers a Jewish fans comment: Shame on the Auschwitz Museum for shaming Lara Logan for sharing that Jews like me believe Fauci is a modern day Mengele. Well, that makes two people, anyway.

This introduction shouldnt be, and probably isnt, necessary, but for any readers not fully familiar with Josef Mengele: He was a Nazi doctor given the title Todesengel  German for Angel of Death. At Auschwitz, he performed deadly experiments on prisoners, selected victims to be killed in the gas chambers and helped administer the Zyklon B, or hydrogen cyanide, gas.

Mengele was particularly interested in twins, separating them on their arrival at the concentration camp, and performing experiments on them, including infecting them with germs to give them life-threatening diseases, performing operations on them without anesthetics and killing many of them to compare their and their siblings internal organs.

As to Dr. Faucis sin, it is being cautious  overly so, to his critics  about public health measures.

Aside from the insult and offensiveness of the Holocaust comparisons, the repeated use of the murder of six million Jews as a political tool should bother us for another reason:

With each one, even dutifully followed by condemnations, the memory of the Holocaust is further dulled a bit, the force of its historical reality subtly blunted. The public mind is, slur by slur, lulled into regarding the Holocaust as a mere metaphor. That may be of no concern to the offenders, but it should be to us.

Because the cascade of casual co-optings of the Holocaust to score political points dovetails grievously with the diminishing number of living links to the events of 1939-1945.

And all the loathsome little Holocaust deniers and revisionists are just licking their lips as they wait in the wings.

This article originally appeared in Ami magazine.
The Supreme Court has just heard oral arguments in the case of Dobbs v Jackson. The justices have not reached a decision yet, but the decision could overturn Roe v Wade. If the left dodges a bullet, and the Supremes uphold Roe, Governor Gavin Newsom would like them to think about it again.

You see, Texas did something creative, which Newsom thinks he can copy. Texas came up with a novel way to reduce abortions. Its new fetal heartbeat law makes abortions after a heartbeat is detectable illegal. But it leaves enforcement up to private citizens  by making abortionists liable for civil damages.

Legal scholars are still trying to figure out if this approach places the law outside the realm of questions about constitutionality. Do litigants actually have standing if nobody has been sued yet? The Supreme Court hasn't decided if the law is constitutional or not, but it has refused to prohibit the law in the short term. The Court is allowing challenges to the law to wind their way through the lower courts  which could take years. That gives the Court years to figure out how to get out of the pickle it created with Roe v Wade.

But the whole thing gave Governor Newsom an idea. If Texas can kill the abortion industry with lawsuits, why can't California do the same thing for the gun industry? Don't use the power of the state to shut down gun dealers. Just allow private citizens to sue them out of existence.

What could go wrong? Newsom has clearly outsmarted the Supremes. They can't possibly uphold the Texas heartbeat law and then strike down his gun control law  that is, not unless the Court finally accepts that one is a constitutional right and one is only an imaginary right  with the imaginary one being the one the left cherishes the most.

Newsom will force the Supreme Court to weigh written rights against imaginary rights. The right to bear arms is an actual written right. It's right there in the 2nd Amendment. I double-checked, and it's really there, clear as day: the right of people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. It can't get any simpler than that.

But a right to abortion isn't actually written in the Constitution. Our robed overlords found it emanating from a penumbra. That literally means that they saw it at the edge of the light emanating from behind the Constitution. That is some powerhouse legal reasoning  only I'm pretty sure that if you look on the back of the Constitution, you won't find a right to abortion there, either.

But Justice Blackmun reasoned that a person's right to privacy also gives her a right to terminate unwanted pregnancies at will. Of course, there is no right to privacy written in the Constitution, either. It was also discovered in a penumbra. That makes a right to abortion an emanation, from another emanation, emanating from a Supreme Court justice's imagination. That seems more like an argument for therapy than a constitutional right. But in our legal world, it's accepted as sound constitutional reasoning. Maybe the whole profession needs therapy.

So, if Newsom gets his way, he wants the court to explain to Americans that an actual written right is waivable, while an imagined right is not. Somehow, he doesn't see that his argument gives the Court two choices. One is unacceptable to the left  but entirely justifiable by the written word. When his gun law reaches the Court  and it will  he thinks he can successfully argue that point. He must be really smart  or at least think so.

I assume it's also a stroke of genius for Newsom to announce his strategy while the Supremes are still deliberating Dobbs v. Jackson. Has it occurred to him that the justices are not cloistered monks? They do read the news. Might a couple of them be thinking they might as well bite the bullet and settle it in Dobbs, because Newsom's gun law is going to make them take up the issue again anyway?

But I suppose one could cynically argue that the law is good politics, even if it's constitutionally unsound. Californians will welcome the opportunity to be disarmed in the face of rising crime and shrinking police response  won't they? So go ahead. Decriminalize property crime. Let criminals roam free with bail reform. Enable leftist D.A.s to pursue social justice rather than criminal justice. And then disarm law-abiding citizens. Yup, I'm sure all Californians will be on board with that. It sounds like a winning electoral strategy  to an ultra-rich politician who lives behind gated walls with his own private security.

Newsom hasn't considered the deep meaning in rising gun sales. You cannot tell people they don't need guns because you have law enforcement and then stop enforcing the law. Americans aren't that stupid  even the ones that voted for Governor Hair Gel. Reduced law enforcement, combined with a threat of more gun control, equals more gun sales. The people have already told Newsom what they want  with the sales statistics. He just isn't listening.

But Newsom thinks he has a winning strategy. Coddle the thugs, disarm his state, and give the finger to the Supreme Court. Okay, go for it. I'm sure everything will work out fine. No need to worry about unintended consequences. It's foolproof.

John Green is a political refugee from Minnesota, now residing in Idaho. He currently writes at the American Free News Network (afnn.us). He can be followed on Facebook or reached at greenjeg@gmail.com.

Image: Gage Skidmore via Flickr.

To comment, you can find the MeWe post for this article here.
It was pretty cute: all of George Soros prosecutors had a get-together to celebrate their abolition of bail. But the media asked a few embarrassing questions. In a year when killings are up, especially in Democrat-run cities.

What are these prosecutors thinking, celebrating no-bail in the middle of a crime wave?

A drugged-out petty criminal dies of a drug overdose while resisting arrest and under police restraint, and every nice liberal lady puts up a Black Lives Matter yard sign.

A teenager shoots a couple of rioters in self-defense, and President Biden calls him a white supremacist.

What the heck?

The New York Times sells a new narrative of the United States as founded on slavery: the 1619 Project. Even Greek tycoon Taki is nonplussed.

Imagine a European country today in which a newspaper of its most populous city launches a totally mendacious project reinterpreting its past.

Yes, even math is racist.

What is going on here?

What is going on is that the lefts over/under politics of blaming the middle class for everything that goes wrong with the underclass and solving every problem with a gubmint program has failed. The lefts politics has Made Things Worse.

But our liberal friends cant admit it.

The fact that black males commit over 50 percent of the murders in the U.S. is not because of white supremacy. It is because of the liberal politics that makes blacks into helpless victims that cant help themselves. It is because over/under politics that enslaves blacks on the liberal plantation instead of encouraging them to get their butts into the middle class, has failed.

But our liberal friends cant admit it.

The fact that blacks do very poorly at math in gubmint inner-city schools is not because math is racist. It is because the schools suck, black inner-city families suck, and fatherless boys suck. It is because wise administrative government by the educated class sucks.

But our liberal friends cant admit it.

In the best of all possible worlds the ruling class would admit to all the world that its religion -- that over/under politics is the royal road to justice -- is a lie and a false religion. And it would admit to all the world that administrative government by the best and brightest is a failure and the best and brightest are to blame.

But in politics you can never admit that you have failed. If you are president of the United States you cannot say, on December 8, 1941, oh, gee guys, I guess our intelligence services failed us; better luck next time. Instead, you must say: December 7, 1941  a Date That Will Live. In Infamy.

When a politician admits he made a mistake then it is time to resign.

That is because politics is all about, and only about, leading your people against the enemy. Because there is no politics without an enemy. And if you are not leading your people against the enemy, you might as well resign and let someone else step forward, Neville Chamberlain.

Therefore, if blacks are still in the basement a century and a half after the Civil War, and half a century after the Civil Rights Act, the political class is never going to admit that its policies have failed. Not, its the enemy wot done it.

Yes, but what enemy? Hmm, let me think about it for a moment. Yeah, I know, white supremacists! Theres your enemy and we will never solve the problem of racism until the white supremacists are defeated and their tiki-torches are smashed to pieces!

In politics, whatever the issue, "we" are never to blame. It is always the enemy. And the fact that things are going from bad to worse does not mean we should give up and try something else. No, it means that we should redouble our efforts, increase government spending, reduce more bail, cancel more conservatives, and push on to the final victory.

Do you know what I am learning from all this? I am learning that politics is suitable for only a few things: when there really is an enemy and he is really going to kill us and rape all our women. In that case, never mind who's made a mistake and who is to blame; it is "once more unto the breach, dear friends" and that is all.

But everything else is not so urgent. And there is time to think about what might work and what might not. There is time to think about mistakes and how to fix them and who is to blame. And one thing is for sure: it won't help to treat the other guy as an enemy.

That is the way of the world outside the world of politics. It is a world without an enemy.

I wonder what the United States would be like if we had less politics.

Christopher Chantrill @chrischantrill runs the go-to site on US government finances, usgovernmentspending.com. Also get his American Manifesto and his Road to the Middle Class.

Image: sarahmirk

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Selectively reporting or downright ignoring crime based upon race is a dangerous gambit in the hands of a partisan media with a political ax to grind. The Associated Press Stylebook cautions journalists against identifying race in crime reporting once a suspect is found or apprehended; however, there is an escape clause that suggests that race can be injected into a story if a reporter believes it plays a part in a particular demonstration or criminal act. That opens the door to gaslighting and editorializing upon the factual circumstances of an event for political purposes.

On January 6th, no sooner had the pepper spray fog lifted from Capitol Hill, leaving all to lick their wounds, than NPR had already leveled blame for the melee on majority-white Trump voters, Trump supporters, and an assortment of right-wing fringe groups. Subsequent testimonial evidence of the involvement of Antifa decked out in full black bloc, along with credible reports of federal provocateurs acting as crowd agitators, none of whom have been arrested or handed House commission subpoenas, has drawn little interest from liberal commentators still exulting over the prolonged and isolated imprisonment of protesters charged with low-level crimes.

Similarly, media reporting in the immediate aftermath of the Kyle Rittenhouse shootings, to include Democrat celebrities and Joe Biden, immediately opened a false front by christening him a white supremacist. Creating an inference that his shooting victims were black, neither Rosenbaum, Huber, nor Grosskreutz, were identified as white males with villainous histories.

Media tongues suddenly stopped wagging after a young black man drove his car into a Christmas parade in Waukesha, Wisconsin, killing six and injuring dozens. Darrell Edward Brooks, a career criminal with a forty-four page vitae of lawbreaking, deliberately plowed his car through a marching group and onlookers in what many considered a blatant and premeditated act of domestic terror. Brooks effectively made that case in his own social media postings, characterizing himself as a child abusing, Hitler-coddling anti-Semite and BLM acolyte with a predilection to run down elderly whites.

Suddenly faced with an incident at odds with the progressive race narrative and no white scapegoats in sight, CNN, MSNBC, and liberal newspaper outlets cashiered all arrest photographs of Brooks save one released by the police a day after the initial mugshot. In the updated close-up, Brooks appears bug-eyed and washed-out, the melanin drained from his face as if the strong lighting of an arrest processing room were all that was needed to flesh out the white supremacist from the black xenophobe.

MSNBC fabulists Joe Scarborough, Rachel Maddow, Joy Reid, and Chris Hayes gave Waukesha an outright cold shoulder. No link to the attack could be found on a scroll of their webpages still chock full of Machiavellian commentary on January 6 and the Rittenhouse verdict. Maddow eventually aired a segment on Waukesha without so much as a reference to Brooks, choosing instead to cast blame upon a red SUV that inexplicably sped into the parade route. Although Brooks several times veered his car into the path of paradegoers, NBC News made a de minimis issue of his intent by labeling the attack an accident, while ABC came close to blaming cops by alleging Brooks was fleeing a pursuit.

Censoring criminal misdeeds in matters where a particular skin color is unsuitable to ones needs or political purposes is emblematic of todays legacy media. MSNBC and CNN have chosen to shun awkward incidents of organized looting, an appellation promptly discarded in the belief that wordsmithing a crime might lessen a connotation to race. Flash mobs of larcenous young adults, many concealed in ski masks, hoodies, and packing handguns, arrive en masse to empty boutique shops of their wares, pepper-spraying and assaulting employees, and at times engaging in gun battles with police while escaping in convoys weighted down with booty. What began as a California phenomenon spurred on by the pro-thievery provisions of Proposition 47 has become hoodlum chic across the country.

The New York City Police compile data on crime and its characteristics as good as any major city department. Their data shows that 63 percent of all homicides were committed by blacks against 65 percent of all murder victims in 2020. In distant second at 26 percent were near identical rates of Hispanic-on-Hispanic victims and assailants. Citywide shootings and murder statistics for 2021 are tacking in the same direction, only worse. These results are transposable to many Democrat-run major cities, all with a calamitous impact upon black residents and inner-city neighborhoods.

NYPD has sought the publics help in identifying mob looters caught on security cameras. Videos and photos unmistakably reveal inconvenient truths to those who ply their trade in racial obfuscations. From San Francisco to Minneapolis and Chicago to New York City the choreography is the same, rampaging troupes of mostly young black males plundering in blue cities with do-nothing policies towards crime and mayoral diktats that prevent cops from interfering with or investigating retail theft.

The medias willingness to play along with progressives in their effort to mask black-on-black crime reveals artful deception. To date in 2021, in Chicago, over seven hundred people have been murdered by gun-toting assailants, an increase of more than fifty percent over the previous year. The victims are disproportionately black at a rate of 8 to 1 against all other races and ethnicities combined, with most of the shootings occurring in majority-black neighborhoods and attributed to known street gangs and their affiliates. In their 2020 annual crime report, the Chicago Police Department released information on the race and ethnicity of almost five hundred homicide victims but excluded that information for the more than two hundred known assailants, also a media practice more woke than informative in their day-to-day reporting of each individual shooting.

Black-on-black violence may be an irrefutable feature of city murder rates but should not be propagandized as an innate characteristic of race. Motives behind urban bloodshed are socioeconomic and involve a culture of gun violence by criminal street gangs running a wholesale and retail drug trade supplied by foreign drug cartels. The free flow of drugs across open borders feeds lucrative American drug markets. Laissez faire approaches to enforcement in the face of political largesse towards violent felons has led to a dramatic uptick in gang recruitment and gunplay aimed at eliminating competition at the local level. Internecine gang rivalries have given rise to a disturbing trend towards wild public shooting sprees rather than headshot street assassinations. Multiple innocents are now caught between indiscriminate gang fusillades and their intended targets, causing murder rates to skyrocket.

Overlooking race in reporting crime data chills the development of solutions that would strengthen the safety and welfare of inner-city neighborhoods, allow police to focus their efforts upon serial shooters and other violent offenders, and recommend high bail or pre-trial detention for recidivist felons who pose a legitimate danger to the community. Unfortunately, these remedies are of little interest within a liberal evangelism that has broad-brushed the word racist from a social pathology into a birth defect, putting a branding iron to more than three hundred million Americans born of a certain pallor and hammering home the message in grade schools, college campuses, the military, and corporate boardrooms.

Expect no mea culpa over the biased reporting of the Waukesha parade massacre, the Rittenhouse shootings, serial mob robberies, and racially-scrubbed city murder statistics, all necessary to advance the liberal canard on white fragility, supremacy, and systemic racism. Unfortunately for the well-being of the black community, keeping a focus upon intrinsic white racism brings about an ignorance of the elemental constructs of black-on-black crime.

Image: PxHere

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Chicago has some of the strictest gun control laws in the country. It also has some of the worst gun crime in the country. However, if you needed a reminder that it's people, not guns, who kill, on Saturday night, two thugs killed a man the old-fashioned way: they beat him to death.

Jose Tellez, a married father of three, lived in Gage Park. This is one of Chicago's older neighborhoods. It started as an actual park in the 1870s. By the early 20th century, developers started building bungalow-style single-family homes. The neighborhood used to be home to working-class families with roots in Eastern Europe and Ireland. However, it's now primarily Hispanic. Since at least 2012, it's been a solidly Democrat neighborhood.

On Saturday, Tellez was engaged in a quintessentially all-American activity: he was putting up Christmas lights on his Gage Park home. That's when two men set upon him and, using blunt objects, brutally beat him to death. As of now, the police have not arrested anyone for the attack.

Offhand, I can think of a whole bunch of reasons for the attack, many of which are quite far-fetched (e.g., aliens from Mars took him down). The most likely scenarios, though, are what we've gotten used to seeing in Democrat cities: gang members killing people over money, turf wars, failures of respect, or gang initiation rituals. And although Tellez was engaged in a charming domestic task and although his niece described him as a "loving husband, father, brother and son," that doesn't mean he didn't have dark corners of his life that came back with a vengeance.

The only thing we can say with certainty is that, in Lori Lightfoot's Chicago, no one is safe. There's a complete breakdown in law and order, thanks to defunding the police, attacking the police, electing a prosecutor who refuses to prosecute, disarming law-abiding citizens, and using racist condescension to give a pass to minorities for the crimes they commit. All of these factors add up to a toxic soup of crime and dysfunction. (And no, I'm not blindly accusing a minority, whether Black or Hispanic, of murdering Tellez. However, there's no doubt that the leftist justice system intentionally gives a pass to minorities.)

The Constitution envisioned a minimally invasive government, one that allowed a free people maximum control over their lives. However, the Founders also understood that self-governance requires certain core values and individual self-control. Indeed, they were quite explicit about that fact. John Adams said, "Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious People. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other."



Image: Jose Tellez.

Leftists have assiduously cultivated a population of immoral people. They have aggressively destroyed the traditional controllers of vice in America: the Judeo-Christian faith and middle-class values. In their place, they've substituted race-hatred, class envy, and complete disdain for the criminal justice system.

In addition, especially when it comes to Blacks, leftists have used ideology and propaganda to cause Blacks to internalize the same conditions that the slave culture used to keep Blacks on the plantations. Slavers opposed education, marriage, and the nuclear family, and the right to bear arms, because all of those things encouraged slaves to rebel. No wonder that, after 1865, Black community leaders encouraged Blacks to get their shot at the American dream by getting educated, marrying and raising families, and arming themselves. (Martin Luther King, Jr. was a strong Second Amendment proponent.)

However, beginning with Johnson's Not-So-Great Society, leftists have assured Blacks and other minorities that education is a White thing meant to destroy Black history and character, that marriage and the nuclear family are White attacks on minority freedom and integrity, and that guns are inherently evil rather than tools that protect a free people. And of course, BLM has completely undermined the rule of law in Democrat-run communities, allowing the predators free reign (and I used that word intentionally) over people who just want to live their lives in peace.

That's how you end up with a culture in which a man hanging Christmas lights for his family is set upon by two men and pummeled to death.

The government will not fix this problem. Leaders in minority communities must push back at a racist leftist ethos that implies that minorities are incapable of achieving an education, having stable families, or demonstrating self-governance and self-control. When minority communities rid themselves of these race-hustlers and again commit to excellence, men like Tellez should once again be able to hang Christmas lights in safety.

Hat tip: Peter von Buol.
In an interview with CBS TV's Rita Braver, President Biden disgraced himself with a big lie about his past record of supporting the use of military force in Afghanistan, compounding it with an evasion of responsibility for the thirteen military casualties suffered during his botched withdrawal operation.

Via Fox News:

Biden's claim to have opposed the war "from the very beginning" echoed remarks he made in a 2019 interview with the editorial board of New Hampshire's Seacoast Media Group. "I'm the guy that  as has been pointed out repeatedly  that thought we should not be going into Afghanistan," he said at the time. Biden did not oppose the invasion of Afghanistan, however. Then a senator from Delaware, he joined his colleagues in a unanimous vote in support of the 2001 authorization of military force against "nations, organizations, or persons" that then-President George W. Bush determined to have helped perpetrate the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Even worse, when you think about it, he insulted the military and national security personnel who advised him not to abandon Bagram Air Base and who advised him to leave a small presence. It also is an insult to the service members killed, since he's basically saying he knew their deaths were inevitable.

Via the Daily Wire:

On Monday, President Joe Biden implied that the deaths of 13 U.S. service members during his disastrous withdrawal strategy from Afghanistan were inevitable. "Everybody says, 'you could've gotten out without anybody being hurt,'" Biden said of Afghanistan to CBS News correspondent Rita Braver. "No one's come up with a way to indicate to me how that happens."

Joe Biden says the deaths of our 13 service members in Afghanistan were inevitable.



Everybody says, you couldve gotten out without anybody being hurt. No ones come up with a way to indicate to me how that happens. pic.twitter.com/ymlIisawoX  RNC Research (@RNCResearch) December 13, 2021

Biden lies because it is an old habit and because he knows he can get away with it. And in his advancing mental incapacity, he may even believe his lies.

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Pushing Across the Border

Ol' Joe's invitation to the other 7.4 billion humans on the planet in 2019 has been examined from all sides. "I would, in fact," he said, "make sure that there is, we immediately surge to the border..." Incoherent, even back then. Millions, so far, have taken it as marching orders and an army of invaders continues to muster around the globe.

Because the potential for being called out for incredible hypocrisy prevented him from directly tackling the issue once in the White House, Biden passed the whole border issue off to his Girl Friday. Yes, Girl Friday. Certainly, we can't call Kamala his Number One. She's not prepared, capable, ready, smart, or savvy enough to jump into his slot when needed. After nearly a year, Kamala has shown no signs of doing the homework needed to be so. We've seen these glaring incapacities since she achieved prominence in California. Besides, calling her Number One would be a supreme insult to Commander Riker.

So, Harris is out there digging around in order to address root causes in counties of origin. The main root cause is that communication is global now, and everyone heard Biden's invitation to walk America's streets of gold with impunity  to come and get his slice of the American pie.

What Trump understood is what most Americans with eyes and a home understand. A simple example is clarifying. Nancy Pelosi has a house that is surrounded by a wall. In that house are doors, and in that wall are gates. Those for whom she opens the gates in her walls and the doors of her house can enter. It is her right to control who enters her property, for how long and for what purpose, and whether any visitor's behaviors while there are grounds for being shown the door. And it doesn't necessarily mean the visitor can stay forever and eat up all her ice cream. NOTE: The vast bulk of illegal aliens in the United States overstayed their legitimate visas.

The Biden administration's complete hypocrisy vis-a-vis illegal aliens, the cherry on top of Nancy's ice cream sundae, is found in H.R. 5376, the ludicrously misnamed Build Back Better bill. Though Harris has stood up and put her hand out like some deformed Statue of Liberty and said, "Don't come," the invitation to illegal aliens, Big Tech, and Chinese economic vultures is right there in black and white.

Section 20021 provides tuition-free community college to anyone regardless of immigration status.

Section 20032 provides Pell Grants to some illegal aliens.

Section 20042 makes competitive R&D Grants available regardless of immigration status.

Section 23001 provides funds for childcare and universal pre-kindergarten regardless of the child's or parents' immigration status.

Section 60001 grants lawful permanent residence to the "DREAMers."

These sections certainly constitute a "come hither" look from the leftists. "Don't come" my (rear end). This will only increase the motivation for illegals to continue to flood into this country.



Image: Illegal aliens preparing to flood America (edited in befunky). YouTube screen grab.

Buying Their Way In

What is even more egregious is that this bill, just like so many bills Democrats drafted, favors the rich above all others. Section 60003 allows aliens in the United States who are the beneficiaries of approved immigration petitions to pay an extra fee to jump the numerical limitations line:

a $2,500 fee for the spouse and children of a permanent resident (waiting time is currently seven years);

a $5,000 fee for employment visas that are currently backed up nine years for Indian nationals and between three and nine years for Mainland Chinese nationals; and

a $50,000 fee for certain investor visas that are currently unavailable. Mainland Chinese nationals make up 90% of this waiting list. These are visas that do not require investment in rural or poor areas.

In addition, Section 60004 boosts the standard immigrant petition fees on all but immediate family members, most by $100. Petitions for workers have an additional fee of $800. Investors must pay $15,000 on top of the routine petition fee.

Companies have been clamoring for foreigners, mostly from India, to work in their I.T. sweatshops. These provisions in the Build Back Better bill open the door wide for them. And their gratitude will certainly be displayed on future FEC filings. The Center for Immigration Studies and the Heritage Foundation have published many articles regarding the damage these policies will do to American workers and industry.

Rich Chinese have been sending their wives here for years to birth their children in the United States. Now they will be able to buy visas to set up shop in rich Democratic cities and have them issued immediately. Perhaps this is Ol' Joe paying off some of that $1.5 billion? Maybe?

This isn't going to build anything back better. It's high time to Kill this Bill.

Anony Mee is a retired public servant.

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Crime causes poverty, argued James Q. Wilson, probably America's most celebrated criminologist. Like many observations that are counterintuitive or at variance with current wisdom, Wilson's findings did not resonate with the mass public.

How does crime cause poverty? Think about the current spate of smash-and-grab large-scale retail thefts. Two of those happened at the mall in my town. In the most recent orchestrated assault, some eighty young people, mostly males, pulled up in about a dozen vehicles and ran into Nordstrom swinging crowbars, breaking display cases, and stealing 200 thousand dollars' worth of goods. They injured five employees. The scene was repeated not only throughout California, but in several major cities.

Some of my neighbors used to go to the mall during Christmastime to shop, to dine, and to look at the Christmas displays. But not this year. Fear permeates the community, especially among the elderly.

A friend in Chicago used to go to the Magnificent Mile, also the recent scene of violent theft, with his family every Christmas season, but not this year and maybe never again.

Violent thefts create fear, and where there is fear, there is avoidance. Fewer shoppers means less spending on goods and services. The violent assault on a retail establishment also causes fear among the salespersons, some of whom do not return to work, just as bank employees who experience a robbery often do not return.

Less spending means fewer jobs and less circulation of money through the local economy. In our case, the local sales tax also goes to our schools, and this means less money for education.

The thugs, who received between $500 and $1,000 each to participate in the smash-and-grab, put themselves at severe and disproportionate economic risk. Going to prison is an economic loss not only for those who are convicted, but also for those who depend upon them for support. The breadwinner goes to jail, and the family goes on welfare.

Experiencing high levels of theft in San Francisco, as a result of the city making retail theft under $950 a misdemeanor, Walgreens is closing stores, and Safeway is cutting hours as well as beefing up exit control. The loss of drugstores is resulting in communities talking of prescription deserts and asking the city to compel Walgreens to remain open, something it cannot do.

Neighborhoods that become retail deserts lose value and become less desirable places to live. Retail establishments that remain in high-theft areas are forced to raise prices to compensate for both theft and higher insurance costs. When residents complain of retail deserts, they fail to ask the most relevant question: how did the retail desert emerge?

When community organizers compare food prices in inner city neighborhoods and suburbia, they often cry racism, but the reality is more complicated. Theft is higher in inner-city neighborhoods, and retail establishments need to compensate for the losses. The higher prices impact the people who can least afford them.

Crime does cause poverty and puts a strain on the economic and social quality of life of millions of people. The sooner we understand that, the sooner we will be willing to stop talking about absurd nostrums such as defunding the police and making retail theft a misdemeanor. Instead, we will start talking about preventing crime and making people feel secure in public spaces, something that currently does not exist. In the end, that will move us toward enhancing everyone's economic wellbeing and quality of life.

Abraham H. Miller is an emeritus professor of political science, University of Cincinnati, and a distinguished fellow with the Haym Salomon Center.

Image: John W. Iwanski.
El Salvador's President Nayim Bukele is something of a freak, a loose cannon. His Twitter photo should give you the idea:

I can't tell if he's on the right or left. He's some kind of opportunist who's often described as a caudillo. He's an ex-communist with Venezuelan advisers, as the screen shot indicates at the top. But apparently the country's real communists don't like him. He's trashed his country's future by dropping the U.S. dollar as the country's currency and replacing it with bitcoin, an unreliable ledger currency favored by drug-dealers, money-launderers, and fast-buck speculators. He is said to be popular, based on all the corrupt and ineffective governments that came before him. I can't tell if he really is or not. One thing we do know is that illegal migration from El Salvador is not as bad as it used to be. We also know that he's not on speaking terms with Joe Biden based on some bad treatment the Bidenites gave him when he visited the U.S. in February.

Now Bukele has rattled the pot a little.

In response to a news report, undoubtedly based on Bidenite leaks, that he's cut a secret deal with El Salvador's MS-13 and Barrio 18 gangs to cut the country's crime rate down, or rather "provided financial incentives to Salvadoran gangs MS-13 and 18th Street Gang (Barrio 18) to ensure that incidents of gang violence and the number of confirmed homicides remained low," as the U.S. Treasury said in a statement. According to the Wall Street Journal, he's called out the Bidenites themselves on corruption.

According to Bonchie at RedState:

US taxpayers should know that their government is using their money to fund communist movements against a democratic elected (and with a 90% approval rating) government in El Salvador.



Its not working though 



The people of El Salvador wont go back to that terrible past. pic.twitter.com/xPa3YA9xdO  Nayib Bukele  (@nayibbukele) December 12, 2021

That provoked a bad reaction from the Biden administration on Twitter:

We condemn @nayibbukele's false accusations against @POTUS and other U.S. government officials, including Ambassador Manes and current Charge d'Affaires Brendan O'Brien.  Brian A. Nichols (@WHAAsstSecty) December 9, 2021

Then this happened:

False accusations?



Is it false that Jean Manes asked me to release Neto Muyshondt (captured in video giving tens of thousands of US dollars to gang members)?



Do you want me to continue? https://t.co/KIy3Ix1zVH pic.twitter.com/BUB76MO68o  Nayib Bukele  (@nayibbukele) December 9, 2021

Bonchie explains:

Bukele then responded by sharing private text messages that showed the US Ambassador to El Salvador asking for the release of a man named Neto Muyshondt. Musyshondt [sic] was previously arrested on charges related to using government funds to pay off gang members and drug trafficking. For some reason, the United States is really interested in Muyshondt being released.

Sounds like bad stuff that the Bidenites should be explaining themselves on. Why are they fighting so hard to get a drug-dealer released from a Salvadoran prison, where he belongs? Was he an important human-smuggler? We know they love their open borders in Biden's America. Was he an FBI informant? We see a lot of that these days, too. Why did they want an obvious bad guy out of the can, and why did they not want to tell anyone?

The Bidenites also need to explain just how Bukele got hold of the ambassador's emails and how many others he's got in pocket. What kind of security do these people have, and why do they seem to think that just because El Salvador is a small country, there's no need to practice any sort of security as might be done with Russia or China? Apparently, it's all out there for the taking, and they forget that this guy is all in for bitcoin, the ledger currency of the world's criminals.

Bonchie flops around a bit with on-the-one-hand, on-the-other-hand stuff about Bukele's approach to crime in seeking to cut deals.

On this, all I can say is that I see two things. One, when you are fighting a lake full of alligators, it's natural and normal to take a few out of action through cutting deals. There is evidence that President Uribe of Colombia did that, by taking the narco-paramilitaries out of action in order to focus on fighting the nation's most dangerous enemy, the Marxist-narco-terrorist, Venezuelan-sponsored FARC, which was the sensible and effective move. It may have been the case with Bukele and his country's gangs, too, given that these Salvadoran gangs are decentralized, each a faction of its own. Knock out a few and focus on fighting the worst of them. If the Biden administration is horning in on a dynamic like that, it's meddling very illegitimately.

Second, notice that Bukele seems to care about violent crime. He seems to know that violent crime is damaging his country.

We don't have that on the Biden side of things here in the States. We have defund the police, and Soros prosecutors in blue cities who have contempt for rule of law and let every criminal off without charges. As a result, we now have attack after attack on innocent people minding their own business in urban areas; rich people getting murdered in their own homes, as happened in Los Angeles; and smash-and-grab broad daylight mass lootings of pricey retailers, as well as little ones. The Bidenites like crime, and they imprison only political dissidents. Unlike Bukele, they fully embrace the Hugo Chavez model. Hugo did that in one of his first steps toward turning Venezuela into a socialist hellhole. The results speak for themselves.

So some kind of corruption is going on with the Bidenites, and one wonders what else Bukele has on Biden. He's a scrappy character and not for amateur diplomats, such as Kamala Harris, who was allowed to visit only Guatemala's sane and recognizable leader last June, despite being the root causes border surge czar focused on the Northern Triangle countries, of which El Salvador is one. The Guatemalan president noted that she hasn't been heard from since.

But now the U.S. diplomats seem to want to micromanage Bukele's war with his country's gangs and are trying to call him corrupt. Well, it turns out there's some kind of corruption going on, but it seems to be on the Biden side. He called them out, the emails tell a bad story, and now we need to know why the Bidenites want drug-dealers let out of prison scot-free. Could it be that they want this guy out in order to ensure he inflicts chaos on the U.S.? Stranger things have happened.

Something fishy is going on, and you can bet that Russia and China are taking notes. The most important thing the Salvadoran president has highlighted here is that the Bidenites have a history of corruption. Although this isn't a Hunter Biden email type of corruption that's been exposed, we know that Russia and China do have that kind of information. They are more calculating than Bukele and may well have a lot of bad stuff on Biden corruption.

If Bukele can use this kind of knowledge of secret corruption to discredit the Bidenites, so can America's much more threatening enemies. The gate has been opened.

Image: Twitter screen shot.

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The land that gave us the Gestapo is illustrating its native son Karl Marx's dictum that historical phenomena appear two times: "first as tragedy, then as farce." Perhaps panicking over Germany's record COVID case count (despite 68.1% of its population being fully vaccinated), the Polizei there have invited worldwide scorn and ridicule in recent days for their punctiliousness in enforcing arbitrary and mostly ineffective regulations supposedly aimed at inhibit the spread of the virus.

Although it happened last month, video of police arresting a Santa Claus at a Christmas market in Stralsund, a Hanseatic city on the Baltic coast, has just surfaced in American media.

On Saturday, worldwide attention was focused on police in Frankfurt pulling out measuring sticks to enforce social distancing:

Hessische Polizei Beamten gehen mit Zollstocken durch die Menschenmenge in Frankfurt am 11.12.21 pic.twitter.com/1dkqehSnPt  Sternenstaub (@wirsindsoviele) December 12, 2021

But ridiculous as these acts seem, they are no joke. Tyranny is descending on many countries in the name of arresting a virus that is fatal to fewer than one percent of those who contract it, and that is mainly fatal to the elderly and those who have serious underlying conditions.

Photo credit: YouTube screen grab.
The Wuhan coronavirus's omicron variant and anti-Jewish/anti-Israel bigotry don't stop the important events in life, such as the Miss Universe contest, held in Israel last Sunday night. The show must go on, and it did! Beautifully!

Held in Israel's southernmost city, Eilat, bordering Egypt, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia and on the Red Sea, the contestants had their fun in the sun before, during, and after the competition.

The beauties didn't just prance around. They did some serious, educational stuff about their countries.

The pageant included traditional displays of national costumes, swimwear and a series of interview questions to test contestants' public speaking skills. The top 10 showed off intricately bedazzled full-length gowns in either gold, silver or bronze. The Philippines' Beatrice Luigi Gomez wore an asymmetrical cut dress with one sleeve, highlighting a new tattoo she said "celebrates her womanhood."

Sure, master of ceremonies Steve Harvey stumbled a bit because of a mistaken cue card, announcing the wrong home country of the winner, but, professional that he is, he quickly recovered and went on with the show.

And the winner is...Miss India!

Congratulations all! Beauty, brains, combatting difficulties, saying no to bigotry makes you all winners!

Image: Inside Edition via YouTube.

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Steven Spielberg's updated flop of the iconic 1961 classic West Side Story is another example of "go woke, go broke." At this most magical time of the year, it made me wonder how progressives might revise classic Christmas movies:

Miracle on 34th Street: Renamed Situation on 34th Street because atheists don't believe in miracles. Drunk Santa Claus is sent to rehab for his alcohol addiction.

National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation: The Griswold cat is replaced with a conservative talk show radio host.

Home Alone: Kevin McCallister sues his parents for accidentally leaving him home in Chicago and lets the Wet Bandits burglars take everything.

Bad Santa: Willie T. Soke's Santa Claus and his dwarf assistant Marcus Skidmore switch from robbing department stores at night to daytime smash-and-grabs.

March of the Wooden Soldiers: Classic Laurel & Hardy film opens with a Wooden Lives Matter protest.

A Christmas Carol: Republican Ebenezer Scrooge is visited by the ghost of his former business partner Democrat Jacob Marley. Stacey Abrams makes a cameo. Tiny Tim endorses Abrams for Georgia governor.

Little Women: Recast with daughters who are gay, trans, binary, and bisexual.



Image: Disturbed Christmas Tree by Cameron Stewart (edited in befunky). Unsplash license.

Office Christmas Party: During the Zenotek Christmas party, employees are offered safe spaces in case the holiday celebration depresses them.

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: Documentary about bullying.

How the Grinch Stole Christmas: Greens descend on Whoville, claiming they can steal whatever they want because it's reparations.

Meet Me in St. Louis: Rapper Cardi B sings "Have Yourself a Merry Little Winter Solstice."

A Christmas Story: David Hogg convinces Ralphie not to ask for a Red Ryder BB gun. Alec Baldwin makes a public service announcement.

Holiday Inn: Democrat mayor converts the hotel into a homeless shelter. Eminem begs forgiveness before singing "White Christmas."

It's a Wonderful Life: Playing one of George Bailey's neighbors, Al Sharpton rushes in during the final scene shouting, "No justice, no wonderful life!"

To comment, you can find the MeWe post for this article here.
The alliance of mainstream Democrats with communism is becoming obvious. I am so old that I can remember when embracing the Communist Party was a political death sentence. But Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-natch) of Connecticut, already notorious for his stolen valor in claiming to have served in Vietnam, was not shy about becoming the "surprise guest" when

[t]he Connecticut People's World Committee presented its annual Amistad Awards on Saturday to mark the 102nd anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party USA, with awards being presented to Sen. Julie Kushner, D-Danbury, Pastor Rodney Wade of Waterbury and SEIU activist Azucena Santiago. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-CT, joined the program as a surprise guest to offer his congratulations and present the award winners with certificates of special recognition from the United States Senate. "I am really excited and honored to be with you today and share in this remarkable occasion," Blumenthal said.



Facebook video screen grab.

Perhaps the senator is unfamiliar with The Black Book of Communism, which has sold millions of copies worldwide, chronicling the millions  "as many as 25 million in the former Soviet Union, 65 million in China, 1.7 million in Cambodia, and on and on"  who have died at the hands of communists enforcing their vision of utopia on Earth?

His rhetoric at the award suggests he thinks that all in all, it is pretty nifty way of running things worth fighting for, albeit with a few adjustments here and there:

Blumenthal said one doesn't have to agree with everything the party or the unions stand for and said he was there to acknowledge "the great tradition of activism and standing up for individual workers that is represented by the three honorees."

The Communist Party USA has plenty of crimes to account for, starting with espionage (stealing the secrets of the atomic bomb, for instance).

Senator Blumenthal's second term in the U.S. Senate ends in 2023, meaning he must stand for re-election next year in a year expected to be very difficult for Democrats. Of course, Connecticut is so Democrat-friendly that he received 63% of the vote when he ran for re-election in 2016, so maybe he has nothing to fear.

He'll be 76 years old next year and is estimated to be worth well over $100 million thanks to his father's Wall Street career as a commodities trader. (I wonder how the CPUSA regards the legitimacy of such wealth! It's a good thing he didn't live in Cambodia under communist Pol Pot.)

Blumenthal has an ultra-elite education: Harvard undergrad and Yale Law School, where he was a classmate of Hillary and Bill Clinton and Robert Reich. A real man of the people.

It is almost like a Babylon Bee satire, but it is all too real.

Hat tip: Debra Heine, American Greatness.

To comment, you can find the MeWe post for this article here.
Full disclosure: I despise Steven Spielberg movies and dislike both Romeo and Juliet and the 1961 West Side Story (WSS) movie. For that reason, I take particular delight in noting that Steven Spielberg's remake of WSS may have enthralled critics, but no one is rushing to see it. And no wonder, given that it's so darn woke that parts of it are in a language most Americans don't speak, but Spielberg refused to include subtitles.

Let me quickly get through my biases. I hate Steven Spielberg movies because I find them overblown, predictable, and incredibly boring. I also dislike the way he presents children. I gather from watching bios of him that he was an unpleasant little boy, and so are his characters. Some say they're realistic; I say they're too disagreeable to be trapped with for a movie's duration.

I dislike Romeo and Juliet because it's hard to imagine two more nincompoopish young people. At every opportunity, they take the stupid, thoughtless path. There's nothing romantic about that. The only thing that makes sense to me is the contention that Shakespeare didn't write the play as a romance; he wrote it as a cautionary tale holding that impulsive young people should never be trusted to manage their romances and marriages. Unfortunately, Shakespeare's writing was so transcendent that people loved the romance and ignored the message.

And I dislike WSS because the primitive pop psychology of 1950s leftists leaves me cold, and the movie was horribly miscast, with every lead character, except Rita Moreno, being embarrassingly bad. I also dislike Marni Nixon's voice (she dubbed Natalie Wood's singing). The opening Jets ballet is kind of fun in a '50s style, but everything else...meh.

You may disagree with me and probably will. My answer is that nobody will ever accuse me of following the crowd.

The above gets me to Spielberg's new WSS, which is an amalgam of everything I dislike most, especially Spielberg himself. Add to this mix the fact that Tony Kushner  the hard-left playwright who worked with Spielberg on Munich, a pro-Palestinian movie  doctored the script to play up the woke angle.



Image: Steven Spielberg (edited in befunky). YouTube screen grab.

John Nolte, who likes the original WSS, explains just how awful the remake is:

Spielberg openly sought to appease the most out-of-touch and fascist members of our society  left-wing racial activists. In this case, he sought them out in the crybaby, Puerto Rican activist community. This is a terrible idea, most especially for an artist. Racial activists in no way reflect what everyday Americans think or feel or want, and this includes Puerto Rican Americans. Spielberg's racial patronizing was so pathetic, he decided to punish and exclude anyone who's not bilingual by not including subtitles in scenes where everyone speaks Spanish. "If I subtitled the Spanish I'd simply be doubling down on the English and giving English the power over the Spanish," the virtue-signaling Spielberg squeaked from his gerbil cage. What does that even mean?!?! I'll tell you what it means It means his West Side Story remake is more homework than entertaining.

Nolte quotes from an NBC article about the re-education portion of the movie (emphasis from Nolte):

In the new movie, Spielberg and screenwriter Tony Kushner work to correct the original musical and movie's stereotypical depictions, adding more specificity and historical context around the Puerto Rican experience, and around the issues of racism and racial hostility. Such animosity first becomes evident when the Jets vandalize a mural of the Puerto Rican flag with a quotation from Pedro Albizu Campos, the leading figure of the Puerto Rican independence movement. The quote reads, "la patria es valor y sacrificio," Spanish for "the homeland is value and sacrifice." "Once you see that and you notice that the flag is the light blue flag, which is the original color of the Puerto Rican flag" before the U.S. colonized Puerto Rico in 1898 after the Spanish-American War."

Well, I feel appropriately politically indoctrinated now...

The good news is that, despite movie critics (most of whom are leftists) raving about the movie, the public isn't buying. Nolte writes that, while Spielberg's WSS cost $100 million to make, the movie barely broke $10 million on its debut weekend. Deadline tries to explain away the numbers by crying "COVID," but Nolte points out that everyone knew about COVID going in but still expected better of the movie. Hollywood misread America.

To all of which I say, "Heh and bwahaha."

To comment, you can find the MeWe post for this article here.
The worlds first self-propelled mechanical vehicle, in other words, the worlds first automobile, was built by the largely unknown French inventor Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot.

Nicholas-Joseph Cugnot was born in Void-Vacon, Lorraine, in 1725 and was trained as a military engineer. Tasked by the army to develop a steam-powered vehicle for the purpose of hauling cannon, Cugnot devised a scaled-down working model in 1769, and in 1770, he unveiled a full-sized steam-driven vehicle, which he called a fardier a vapeur. The vehicle was modelled after the fardier, which was a massively built two-wheeled horse-drawn cart for transporting very heavy equipment, such as cannon barrels. Instead of having a horse at the front, there was a third wheel, which supported a large copper boiler and the driving mechanism. Cugnot was one of the first to successfully employ a device for converting the reciprocating motion of a steam piston into a rotary motion by means of a ratchet arrangement, which was used to drive the front wheel.

Joseph Cugnot's 1770 Fardier a Vapeur, at the Musee des arts et metiers, Paris. Photo: Joe deSousa/Wikimedia Commons

The fardier a vapeur could reputedly move at a little over 2 miles per hour, but it needed to be refueled with wood and relit every 15 minutes, for which the fardier had to come to a complete stop. The vehicle was reported to have been very unstable owing to poor weight distribution, a serious disadvantage for a vehicle intended to be able to traverse rough terrain and climb steep hills. In addition, boiler performance was also particularly poor, even by the standards of the day. In 1771, during a trial Cugnot drove one of his vehicles into a stone wall, giving the inventor the distinct honor of being the first person to get into a motor vehicle accident. The story goers that Cugnot was arrested and convicted of dangerous driving, another first for him if true.

After several trials, the project was abandoned by the French Army. Nevertheless, the development was so impressive that King Louis XV awarded Cugnot a pension of 600 Livres a year for his ingenuity. Unfortunately, the French Revolution cut off the pension, and the inventor withdrew to Brussels, where he lived in poverty. Shortly before his death, Cugnot's pension was restored by Napoleon Bonaparte and he eventually returned to Paris where he died on 2 October 1804.

The first automobile accident.

Incredibly, the fardier a vapeur survived and can still be seen at the Musee des Arts et Metiers in Paris.

In 2010, a copy of the fardier de Cugnot was built by some of the pupils from ParisTech, in conjunction with Cugnot's native commune of Void-Vacon. The replica worked perfectly demonstrating the validity of the concept. It was exhibited at the Paris Motor Show and it currently visible at the native village of Cugnot, at Void-Vacon.

Another replica was built by the Tampa Bay Automobile Museum in 2014. The boiler was fed with a supply of oak, and after about 45 minutes there was enough steam to push the vehicle forward at about 3 to 4 mph. It only needs one person to drive, said Susan Cerf a spokesperson for the museum. But it's pretty slow and cumbersome. It'll go about 100 yards before it needs to be recharged, and the steam and smoke all blow back in the driver's face.

A replica of Joseph Cugnots Fardier a vapeur being driven at Grenoble, France, in 2012. Photo: Frederique Voisin-Demery/Flickr

References:

# Nicholas-Joseph Cugnot and the Automobile, SciHi Blog

# Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot, Wikipedia

# Daniel Strohl, Working replica of oldest vehicle in the world to appear at Stan Hywet Concours, Hemmings
If youve ever wanted to screen out unwanted or spam calls, that feature is finally here with Android 12. And thats not just in terms of automatically outright rejecting calls, either.

Instead, this Google Assistant feature, once only available on Pixel-branded handsets, does far more. It can also answer a phone call for you when needed. Not only providing an audio recording of the interaction. But also allowing direct on-screen transcripts and the ability to influence what your Assistant says. And, of course, whether or not the call comes through.

However, getting to the feature isnt going to be the most intuitive. Especially since its not actually built into the Google Assistant app or associated Assistant settings. But thats exactly what this guide is here to examine. Namely, how to screen calls using Google Assistant in Android 12. Whether youre on a Google Pixel phone or not.

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This wont work the same for every user

Now, its worth taking some time to explain right out of the gate that this feature wont work the same for everybody with an Android phone. Google launched the ability to screen unwanted and spam calls using Assistant, initially, as an exclusive Pixel smartphone feature. Thats changed, to a certain extent, with Android 12. But not all of the features youll find in the Google Pixel 6 or Pixel 6 Pro will be on every smartphone.

For instance, Google Pixel 5 and Pixel 5a with 5G pack a feature called Hold for me in the same menu as the Call Screen features. That may also be found on select older phones in the Pixel line-up. The feature, as its branding implies, lets you use Google Assistant AI when youre placed on hold. Specifically, to hold on the line while you get on with your day. When youre taken off hold, the Assistant lets you know so you dont miss the call.

On Google Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro, conversely, more features are present. Including the ability to automatically screen calls. Thats as opposed to needing to press a Screen Call button whenever a call is incoming. It also comes with the added ability to direct calls via Direct My Call. That feature also works as implied. Namely, by walking you through  complete with visuals  calls to automated systems.

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Those features and their settings will be found on some devices but not others. So well be focusing this guide on those features not exclusive to Pixel. But which works on Android 12, in general.

Heres how to screen calls in Android 12 using Google Assistant

As noted above, this guide will be sticking to the features found in just about every Android 12 gadget. So you may need to look to other how-to guides if you need more details on those, Android 12, specifically, or for Pixel handsets.
(ANSA) - ROME, DEC 14 - Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio on Tuesday presented Rome's bid to host Expo 2030 at the general assembly of the BIE (Bureau International des Expositions).

If the bid is successful, it will bring the World Fair back to Italy just 15 years after Expo Milano 2015.

"The Italian government, in partnership with the City of Rome, its citizens, the local authorities and the whole country, today presents its bid to host the 2030 World Expo in Rome, the Eternal City, from 25 April to 25 October 2030 under the theme 'People and Territories: Urban Regeneration, Inclusion and Innovation," Di Maio said.

Rome Mayor Roberto Gualtieri also took part in the presentation and gave five reasons to back Rome's bid, saying it is the "ideal place for Expo 2030".

"Rome is a unique city that shows its thousands of years of history," Gualtieri said.

"Here you can see how the relations between the peoples and their territories have evolved over the centuries.

"It is the city with the vastest green belt in the world.

"It is a bastion of culture and science.

"It is traditionally an open and inclusive city.

"Finally, the 2025 Jubilee will send a powerful message of inclusion, solidarity and hope".

Moscow, Busan in South Korea, Odesa in Ukraine and Riyadh in Saudi Arabia are also bidding for Expo 2030.

The innovative Italy pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai, featuring a replica of Michelangelo's David, is one of the star attractions at the World Fair that is running at the moment in the UAE.

(ANSA).


(ANSA) - ROME, DEC 14 - Strong growth of the new and more infectious Omicron variant of the COVID-19 virus is likely in Italy, a health ministry expert told ANSA Tuesday.

Ministry consultant Walter Ricciardi noted that the new strain would be prevalent in the UK and Denmark by the end of the week, already representing 40% of new cases in Britain.

He stressed: "It is presumable that the behaviour of the Omicron variant will be the same in our country, with a strong growth in cases.

"The variant's growth trend is in fact proving to be similar in all countries, but we still don't have certain data insofar as we are doing less sequencing than others". (ANSA).


Stormont remained divided over mandatory Covid certification regulations as warnings were sounded about an expected surge of Omicron cases.

The Northern Ireland Assembly debated the regulations for several hours on Monday before the sitting was suspended at 9pm.

It is set to resume at a later date when Health Minister Robin Swann will wind up the debate and a vote will be taken.

Earlier, deputy First Minister Michelle ONeill warned the region is set to be overwhelmed by Omicron very, very soon.

Ms ONeill said there were 10 confirmed cases of the new Covid-19 variant in Northern Ireland on Monday.

She also lashed out at the DUP, describing the party as absolutely out of kilter with the rest of the Assembly who are behind the public health message.

First Minister Paul Givan urged take-up of the Covid vaccination booster, warning that a storm coming our way.

However his party has opposed Covid certification for entering some hospitality venues.

DUP MLA Paul Frew speaking with people protesting against the Covid-19 vaccine certification scheme at Stormont (Liam McBurney/PA)

On Monday evening, MLAs debated the regulations in the Assembly chamber where Mr Swann urged united support for the scheme.

A united front is what we need, with joined-up policies and united messaging. That has been sadly lacking at critical stages to date, he told MLAs.

It is my fervent hope that today marks a turning point, that, given the seriousness of our situation, that this House can debate this measure rationally and respectfully.

However, DUP MLA Pam Cameron said her party will not back the Covid certification scheme.

There was a protest at Stormont earlier by those opposed to the scheme.

Former DUP economy minister Paul Frew, a vocal critic of mandatory certification, was among a number of party members who met with the protesters outside Parliament Buildings.

He suggested the scheme could be halted by way of legal challenge.

There are going to be legal challenges, there is no doubt about that and thats where it might be stopped, he told demonstrators.

I hear you 100%, and Im with you, but this will only be tested legally.

Speaking inside the Assembly chamber during Executive Office questions, Ms ONeill called for parties to unite.

If ever there was a time for a united front on the public health message, its today because were facing into a very, very difficult period in the weeks ahead where we see this new variant now coming on stream, were probably about two weeks behind whats happening in England and Scotland and they are getting into very difficult territory, she told MLAs.

We are going to be overwhelmed with this new variant very, very soon.

My priority is to keep businesses open and safe. I want to keep every door opened but to make sure its a safe space for people to enter.

Ms ONeill also said she had spent the weekend speaking to the Treasury, making the case very strongly for financial support for businesses.

Thats where we would want to be if we could have the resource to be able to do that, she added.

The vaccine booster programme in Northern Ireland is being accelerated in response to the threat posed by Omicron and has opened up to all over-30s.

Mr Givan said: You need to make preparation for that because we can see whats happening in London, where this new variant is now the dominant strain of new cases, that has increased rapidly over the past three to four weeks.

Similarly in Scotland that is the case as well, and with the movements that take place across the Common Travel Area, we have already a number of small cases in Northern Ireland, but the expectation is the same trajectory that is happening in Great Britain is likely to occur here in Northern Ireland.

He told BBC Radio Ulster: Thats why we need to take the steps that weve been advocating in terms of the booster jab over the next number of days and that will help prepare our defences for what is going to be needed to meet the challenges that are coming.

On Monday, Northern Irelands Covid certification became legally enforceable.

The scheme requiring people to prove Covid status to gain entry to a range of hospitality venues and large-attendance events was introduced late last month with a two-week grace period to allow businesses to adjust.

Patrons wishing to enter nightclubs, pubs, restaurants and other licensed premises will need proof of vaccination or a negative lateral flow test or evidence of a previous Covid-19 infection.

The same rules will apply for entry to large indoor and outdoor events, such as concerts and sporting events.

While the DUP opposed the scheme at the Stormont Executive last month  branding it a distraction that would have marginal effect in suppressing the transmission of Covid-19  the coalitions other four parties supported it.

The deaths of a further four patients who had previously tested positive for Covid-19 and another 1,431 cases of the virus were reported by the Department of Health on Monday.

On Monday morning there were 309 Covid positive patients in hospital, of whom 32 were in intensive care.
The Prince of Wales has thanked volunteers and NHS staff at a vaccination centre as he saw for himself the push to deliver booster jabs to the nation.

Charles, who last week revealed he and Camilla had received their Covid-19 boosters, hailed efforts at a makeshift clinic in Kennington, south London.

He also spoke out against vaccine misinformation, saying at one point: It is so frustrating all these nonsense conspiracy theories.

The Prince of Wales during a visit to Lambeth GP Federation Covid Vaccinations Walk-In Centre (Hannah McKay/PA)

The Lambeth GP Federation Covid Vaccinations Walk-In Centre  housed in a church hall  has been administering 3,000 boosters a day  which is 300 an hour.

Charles gave his personal backing to some of the 127 vaccinators and 190 volunteers working shifts around the clock.

A queue snaked several hundreds metres down the street, but people waited patiently and were quickly whisked through the queues.

Speaking to some of the hundreds who were resting after getting jabbed, he said: So many marvellous people have been volunteering. I am glad you didnt have to wait too long.

He also spoke to Kate Suiter, a former picture editor who trained eight months ago to be a vaccinator.

Charles praised volunteers during his visit to the centre (Hannah McKay/PA)

Afterwards, she said: He said thank you for helping and I joked that I had the gift of the jab and he laughed and said Im going to use that.

The masked prince watched some of the vaccinators  which included university medical students  deliver the booster jabs to those who waited patiently.

Abdul Mukadam, 53, lead GP for Covid vaccinations for Lambeth, said afterwards: Charles thanked and acknowledged every vaccinator and volunteer he met. He thanked them for the hard work they have been doing.

He added: Everybody has been doing their bit whether it is training as a vaccinator, coming as a volunteer or turning up to get the booster; and Charles was doing his bit by coming to acknowledge the efforts.

It is a welcome acknowledgement and there are a lot of people out there in the whole country doing their bit and in a way this was an acknowledgement and thanks for all of them.

The Prince of Wales poses for a picture during the visit (Hannah McKay/PA)

The NHS couldnt have done this on their own without all these volunteers.

Charles also met Britains most senior GP, Nikki Kanani, medical director of primary care at NHS England.

Dr Kanani said afterwards: Please come and get your booster there has never been a more important time to get protected it is vital protection for you and your family and loved ones before we come together for Christmas.
British Airways has confirmed it will launch a short-haul subsidiary at Gatwick.

The airline will operate under the British Airways name but will exist as an entirely separate entity, the firm said.

It will start flying in March 2022.

Thirty-five short-haul destinations will be served, including Athens, Berlin, Faro, Ibiza, Madrid, Malaga, Marrakech, Milan Malpensa, Santorini and Tenerife.

British Airways said tickets are available from 39 each way (based on a return journey) and are competitive with those of Gatwick no-frills carriers.

This puts it in competition with easyJet, which is the dominant airline at Gatwick.

British Airways negotiated new agreements on pay and working conditions with pilots and cabin crew in relation to the new subsidiary.

The operation will be similar to that of BA CityFlyer, which is a British Airways subsidiary based at London City.

It will initially be run by British Airways, starting with three Airbus short-haul planes before ramping up to 18 aircraft by the end of May ahead of the crucial summer holiday period.

By autumn 2022 flights will be managed separately under the trading name BA Euroflyer, but the brand name will remain British Airways.

Passengers are being promised they will receive the same high level of service they expect of British Airways, including free water and snacks, a generous baggage allowance, free seat selection within 24 hours before departure and frequent flyer benefits.

The vast majority of British Airways short-haul flights from the West Sussex airport have been suspended since March 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The company previously said the flights were loss-making even before the virus crisis, and they would only restart if there was a competitive and sustainable operating cost base.

British Airways chief executive Sean Doyle said: Today is a landmark moment for British Airways.

The creation of a new British Airways short-haul organisation means Gatwick customers will benefit from access to a premium service from the UKs flag carrier at competitive prices.

We are looking forward to bringing a short-haul network back to Gatwick, with a fantastic flying team in place, to serve our customers from Londons second hub airport, which we feel sure will be a success.

Gatwick is usually the UKs second busiest airport, but has been hit hard by the pandemic.

Just 4.6 million passengers travelled through the airport in the 12 months to the end of October, compared with 46.6 million in 2019.

Gatwick chief executive Stewart Wingate said: This significant news will be very welcome for many people connected to the airport.

Despite the ongoing public health situation, todays announcement is a positive signal that consumer confidence is returning as people start thinking about making travel plans for next summer.

Given the difficult period we have all just been through, we expect BAs new and extensive network of services from Gatwick to destinations across Europe to be in high demand and our staff, retailers, restaurants, cafes and bars are all looking forward to welcoming BA passengers back in larger numbers from April next year.
People will no longer be required to wait at vaccine clinics for a 15-minute period of observation after getting a Pfizer or Moderna jab, officials have announced.

The UKs four chief medical officers have recommended that the waiting period after Covid-19 vaccines should be temporarily suspended to speed up vaccination efforts.

After having a vaccine people are usually asked to wait for a period of observation to ensure they do not have an allergic reaction.

In a statement the UKs four CMOs and four deputy CMOs said: The 15-minute wait should therefore be suspended for first, second and homologous or heterologous boost vaccinations with mRNA vaccine given the current situation, with this operationalised in line with the needs in each of the four nations.

The long-term decisions on the 15-minute wait, when the current need for extreme speed of vaccination and boosting is over, should rest with the Commission on Human Medicines (CHM), the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI).

Hundreds of people queue at a vaccination centre on Solihull High Street, West Midlands (Jacob King/PA)

They said that the move it would be a temporary measure on the grounds of public health need to protect as many citizens as possible over a short period of time.

The CMO statement adds: The CMOs recognise that this will lead to a marginal increase in risk for a very small number of people, but substantially fewer than would be harmed by a slower vaccine rollout in the current public health emergency leading to some citizens not getting boosted or vaccinated prior to exposure to Omicron.

Those who have a history of allergies, particularly to other vaccines, or have had an immediate reaction after a previous doses, may still be advised to stay for the 15 minutes

Each of the UK nations will determine how they will use the advice.

The wait time was introduced after two NHS staff suffered allergic reactions on the first day of the vaccine rollout last year.

But some doctors have said the waiting time can reduce the efficiency of vaccination centres.

Dr June Raine, chief executive of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said: In light of the rapid spread of the new Omicron variant and the proven effectiveness of booster doses against Omicron, the 15-minute observation period following mRNA vaccines (Pfizer and Moderna) can be waived during the emergency response to the Omicron variant.

This advice includes first and second vaccine doses as well as boosters.

The 15-minute observation period after vaccination will remain in place for the small number of people who may have previously suffered anaphylaxis or other allergic reactions to a food, insect sting and most medicines or vaccines.

Dr Mary Ramsay, head of immunisation at the UKHSA, said: With Omicron growing at such a fast rate, and with early data suggesting two doses of the vaccine is not enough to protect against symptomatic infection, it is vital we do everything we can to get more jabs in more arms as quickly as possible.

The removal of the 15-minute wait will help streamline the process at vaccine centres, and we have updated our guidance to facilitate this.

Nikki Kanani, GP and deputy for the NHS vaccination programme, added: The updated CMO advice to temporarily suspend the 15-minute wait, where safe and appropriate, will be particularly helpful for smaller vaccination sites, helping get more people protected as quickly as possible.

The announcement comes as people have queued for hours outside vaccine clinics to get their booster jabs.

On Tuesday afternoon, the Prime Ministers official spokesman said that Boris Johnson wanted to thank those who had queued for hours to get their jabs yesterday.

The spokesman said: We want to go further and faster and we will continue to do that as we expand.

Youll have seen that the 15-minute wait has been temporarily paused by the UK chief medical officers, that will allow for significantly more people to go through those vaccination sites.

Its something that will be very beneficial on the ground and Ill stress that thats been done on clinical advice and safety continues to be our top priority.
People underestimate coronavirus at their peril, health officials have warned, as they voiced concerns the Omicron variant is being dismissed by some as mild.

Data from South Africa is still only in its early stage and countries must act now in the face of a potentially large wave of cases of the faster-spreading mutation, Dr Mike Ryan of the World Health Organisation (WHO) said.

His warning was echoed by the organisations director-general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who said efforts must be made to jab the unvaccinated as well as continuing with measures like mask-wearing and hand-washing.

"Were concerned that people are dismissing Omicron as mild. Surely, we have learned by now that we underestimate this virus at our peril. Even if Omicron does cause less severe disease, the sheer number of cases could once again overwhelm unprepared health systems"-@DrTedros  World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) December 14, 2021

It came after Dr Angelique Coetzee, chairwoman of the South African Medical Association, told the Commons Science and Technology Committee she agrees with a new study from the South African Medical Research Council suggesting that Omicron may be 29% less severe than the first wave of infection that swept the country.

She said we dont have all the answers, but the clinical picture so far is that people are mostly suffering mild illness from Omicron.

But the WHO has warned against relying too heavily on early data.

Dr Tedros told a press briefing: Were concerned that people are dismissing Omicron as mild.

Surely, we have learned by now that we underestimate this virus at our peril.

Even if Omicron does cause less severe disease, the sheer number of cases could once again overwhelm unprepared health systems.

Dr Ryan said that while scientific monitoring of the variant is ongoing, we need to be ready to deal with what is likely to happen, which is a large wave of cases, which may or may not be more or less severe but which will in themselves generate pressure on the health system.

The executive director of the WHOs health emergencies programme cautioned that health systems are weaker now than they were a year ago, in reality, as multiple waves of Covid-19 have swept through countries.

He added: Unfortunately, sometimes you can get up after the first punch , but its very hard to get up after the second and third, and thats the difficulty.

He said leaders at WHO will be the happiest people in the world to be able to say in two or three weeks from now that this is a much milder disease, everything is fine.

But he warned against making assumptions, as he said: Thats not how this virus has behaved up to now, thats not our experience through the three waves of this pandemic.

So I think the idea is to act now in the real world while we collect the data to understand exactly what this virus is capable of.

No-one who is offered a booster should feel guilty about accepting their third dose, Dr Ryan said, when asked about the UKs ramping up of its rollout.

He said countries can protect their own citizens while also helping to address global vaccine inequity.

He said: There are governments out there, like the UK, who are trying their best to deal with the priorities of their own people, and supporting, very strongly, international efforts to create equity in vaccine distribution.

Dr Tedros said the priority must remain to vaccinate the unvaccinated, even in countries who have better access to vaccines, and said jabs must be combined with other health measures.

Countries can take the heat out of the transmission by doing the simple things such as avoiding crowded spaces and ensuring good ventilation, Dr Ryan said.
General Hospital star Ingo Rademacher sued ABC on Monday, arguing that the companys COVID vaccine mandate is unconstitutional and amounts to religious discrimination.

Rademacher, who played Jasper Jax Jacks on the soap for nearly 25 years, was fired last month after refusing to get vaccinated. According to his lawsuit, Rademacher sought a religious exemption from the mandate, which ABC rejected.

Rademacher is represented by John W. Howard, an attorney who has filed several lawsuits challenging vaccine mandates, and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

I am entitled to a religious exemption against mandatory vaccination for COVID-19 on the basis of my deeply and sincerely held moral belief that my body is endowed by my creator with natural processes to protect me and that its natural integrity cannot ethically be violated by the administration of artificially created copies of genetic material, foreign to nature and experimental, Rademacher wrote in an Oct. 11 email to Disneys HR department.

Rademacher then had an interview with an HR lawyer, which, according to the suit, was more akin to cross-examination. The suit argues that ABC was required to honor Rademachers religious exemption, and that questioning the sincerity of his beliefs amounts to religious discrimination.

Steve Burton, another General Hospital star, confirmed on Nov. 23 that he, too, had been fired from the show for refusing to comply with the vaccine mandate. Burton revealed on Instagram that he had applied for religious and medical exemptions, but that ABC had denied them.

Rademachers suit also claims that the vaccine mandate violated his right to privacy.

This should not be a political issue, the suit states. There is no need for everybody to get the COVID-19 shot, even if the president demands it.

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Miss America 2020 Camille Schrier, left, with Miss Alaska Emma Broyles, named "social impact pitch winner" on night one of preliminaries on Sunday. (Photo: Jenn Cady, courtesy of Miss America Organization)

Miss America turns 100 this week, capping off a century of twists and turns for the beauty pageant-turned-college-scholarship-competition with a muted version of its former self  sans swimsuits, star power or even a slot on network television.

"Miss America has evolved in society as women in society have evolved," notes the updated website, adding that this year's competition comes with a record $100,000 in scholarships at stake. "This past year, candidates were no longer judged on outward appearance  The organization stands for empowering young women across the country to be the best they can be through leadership, talent, communication skills and smarts."

Founded in 1921 by a group of Atlantic City, N.J., businessmen, the original pageant  called the Atlantic City Bathing Beauty Contest  was held just after Labor Day in order to create enough excitement to extend the Jersey Shore summer season by an extra week. It was a big hit.

Finalists line up for judges at the 1954 Miss America pageant. (Photo: Getty Images)

And though it was also aiming to celebrate the "independent woman," controversy around the focus on physical beauty persisted through the decades  most notably in 1968, when a group of fired-up feminists converged on the Atlantic City boardwalk, right outside of what they called the "cattle auction." There, they protested the pageant's inherent sexism and racism (the contest was open only to women "of the white race" until 1950, and it would take until 1970 for the first Black woman to compete), and threw their bras into trash bins (though did not actually set them on fire, as the story often goes).

Feminist protestors, organized by the New York Radical Women, waved bras and high heels on the Atlantic City Boardwalk outside of the Miss America pageant in 1968. (Photo: Bev Grant/Getty Images)

More drama around the issue of sexism  and of shedding that image  swirled around the event in recent years, including, in 2017, with the infamous scandal involving the leaking of vulgar emails by then-CEO Sam Haskell who was forced to resign, and especially under the 19-month reign of Gretchen Carlson.

Carlson, Miss America 1989 and later a Fox News anchor who became a symbol of the #MeToo movement when she filed a lawsuit against then-Fox News chairman and CEO Roger Ailes claiming sexual harassment, faced accusations by Miss America 2018 Cara Mund that she and other leaders "silenced" and "bullied" her (Carlson denied all charges). She sparked outrage that same year when, as board chair, she helped rebrand the event as a competition called Miss America 2.0 and did away with the swimsuit portion, prompting calls for her ouster from dedicated fans.

"Change is difficult," Carlson told ABC News just a year before stepping down.

And the changes just kept coming  including a permanent move from its traditional home base of Atlantic City (although it had left temporarily before when a 2005 relocation took the pageant to Las Vegas for a decade), not to mention a switch from September to December and, after moving its broadcast around to various networks and seeing its lowest ratings in 2018 and 2019 (after appearing to have reached its peak back in the 80s), a departure from network television altogether.

This year, as in 2019 (there was no Miss America in 2020 due to the pandemic), the Miss America contest  which held preliminaries on Dec. 12 and 13 with Miss Alaska, Miss New York, Miss Illinois and Miss Texas winning in talent and social impact categories  will take place at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Connecticut. It will be livestreamed on Peacock at 8 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 16. But will anyone watch? And does Miss America still matter?

"There's no comparison to its heyday, in the 50s, when it was first on TV  and even before that, from the 40s through the 60s, when women didn't have as many opportunities, and it was a seen as a launching pad and a tool of social mobility," Hilary Levey Friedman, a Brown University professor of sociology and author of Here She Is: The Complicated Reign of the Beauty Pageant in America, tells Yahoo Life. "To the women who compete, it's obviously super relevant, it's just that that group is much, much smaller now."

One could even say that Miss America is a victim of its own success.

"In many ways," Levey Friedman says, "some of the things that pageants fought for  women's leadership, the freedom to pursue different careers  are part of why they're less relevant now."

What distanced diehard fans

"It was known as the 'Super Bowl of pageants,' and it's turning 100 this year, and we just don't have that many pop-culture events that have been around that long," Levey Friedman, daughter of Miss America 1970 Pamela Eldred, says. Still, its importance has faded. "For many years, it was amazingly relevant, and it helped define what American womanhood looked like."

Miss America saw its final swimsuit competition  and Atlantic City staging  in 2017. (Photo: REUTERS/Mark Makela)

And when it changed to mirror the advances in society  without much warning  many longtime supporters felt abandoned.

"Apart from the substance of the swimsuit competition, I think what upset and shocked a lot of fans  because this was no surprise, it was talked about for years and it was the thing feminists got most worked up about  is the way it was done: very quickly," says Levey Friedman. "The rollout wasn't great. State winners had already been selected that year. So, even from a marketing point of view, they could've said, 'this is your chance to say bye to [the swimsuit competition],' they could've honored it and even upped their profile."

Why Miss USA and Miss Universe, meanwhile, appear to still be going strong

Miss Universe, which took place in Israel on Sunday, came shortly after Miss USA, which was actually a Miss America spinoff  a for-profit company founded in 1952 by Catalina Swimsuits as a promotional tool after that year's Miss America, Yolande Betzbeze, said she would refuse to appear at any events wearing a swimsuit, prompting the organization to drop Catalina as a sponsor. And while Sunday's broadcast on Fox saw a 30 percent drop in viewership from 2019, the Miss USA pageant appears, at least outwardly, to have retained much of its glitzy, glamorous excitement.

"They've never been confused about who they are," Levey Friedman points out about Miss USA. "It started at Miss America in the 50s because [Betzbeze] refused to appear in a bathing suit, and it's always been about how you look, and glamour  with some rebranding around making a difference in community, but no talent, no platform. And that's part of the reason they've been successful."

Miss America's new look is power suits over swimsuits, as demonstrated by Miss New York Sydney Park. (Photo: Jenn Cady, courtesy of Miss America Organization)

So, is Miss America going away?

"For the past many years," the pageant expert says, "my prediction was that Miss America would be held in a hotel ballroom and not on TV, and here we are. It's not going anywhere, because there is a dedicated group of people who want to be part of it."

And while it "will never be what it was," many things "are not what they were," she says, including other contests, such as what was once called America's Junior Miss  known for launching the career of 1963 winner Diane Sawyer  but now reworked into the nonprofit scholarship and leadership program Distinguished Young Women.

Fans and viewers are important to Miss America, but not the most essential, after all, as that ranking belongs to the women who still choose to compete  an important, modern distinction. "It's a choice," says Levey Friedman, "and in the 50s and 60s it used to feel like this is what you had to do if you wanted a particular kind of life."

And so now, "I think people will keep doing it," she says, "because they want to keep doing it."

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MASON, Ohio (AP)  One of the Ohio cities that voted recently to criminalize abortion within its limits has reversed its decision.

The city of Masons council repealed its ordinance in a 6-1 vote Monday, The Cincinnati Enquirer reported, after two members who had supported the ban were expelled by voters in November.

The measure made it illegal to procure or perform an abortion within city limits or to aid and abet the procedure by providing money, transportation or medical instructions.

The largely symbolic measure, which had taken effect Nov. 24, drew demonstrations by abortion rights backers, who called it unconstitutional.

It saw pushback on multiple fronts.

More than 2,000 residents of the city of about 30,000 located 25 miles (40 kilometers) northeast of Cincinnati signed a petition that would have put the issue to a vote of the people in either May or November, drive organizer Joy Bennett said.

Neither Mason nor nearby Lebanon, which became the first city in Ohio to ban abortions in May, has any abortion clinics or is planning any. The Mason ordinance forbid possession within city limits of abortion-inducing drugs, including prescription misoprostol and mifepristone, but carried no penalties for someone seeking an abortion.

Misoprostol and mifepristone require a prescription and are administered in some doctors offices, abortion clinics and Planned Parenthood health centers.

The ban included exceptions for accidental miscarriages, ectopic pregnancies and the life of the mother.

Similar efforts to ban abortion in other small Ohio cities targeted in a national effort emanating from Right to Life East Texas  Celina in Mercer County, and London in Madison County  failed.

Abortion faces certain restrictions under Ohio law but remains legal in the state following a 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision that said women have a constitutional right to seek the procedure.
Shoppers wearing face masks wait in line to enter a store at the Citadel Outlets in Commerce on Nov. 26. California is bringing back a statewide indoor mask mandate that will start on Dec. 15 and last until Jan. 15, 2022. (Ringo H.W. Chiu/AP)

Faced with rising coronavirus cases and growing concerns about the Omicron variant, California is ordering a statewide mask mandate for indoor public spaces to go into effect on Wednesday.

The move comes as coronavirus case rates in California have risen by almost 50% in the last 2 weeks, and COVID-19 hospitalizations are up by nearly 15%. County health officials across the state say they suspect they may be seeing the start of a winter jump in coronavirus cases.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ranks California as having a high level of transmission of the coronavirus, the worst tier in the federal agency's four-tier scale.

"This is a critical time where we have a tool that we know has worked and can work," Dr. Mark Ghaly, California's health and human services secretary, said Monday. "We are proactively putting this tool of universal indoor masking in public settings in place to ensure we get through a time of joy and hope  without a darker cloud of concern and despair."

The order will affect roughly half the state's population, including San Diego and Orange counties, the Inland Empire, and swaths of the Central Valley and rural Northern California. The statewide indoor mask mandate order will last a month, expiring on Jan. 15.

A number of California counties  including Los Angeles, Ventura and Sacramento  and most of the San Francisco Bay Area already have their own indoor mask mandates that were implemented in the summer and have no end dates.

The state is also recommending that travelers who return to or visit the state get tested within three to five days of their arrival.

California's announcement came on the same day New York enacted its own statewide mask requirement in indoor public spaces, excepting only settings where everyone inside must be vaccinated. Officials in Britain have also reordered an expansion of indoor mask mandates.

The new mask orders arrive as the Omicron variant  discovered only last month  has spread rapidly around the globe. Britain has recorded its first death of someone infected with the Omicron variant.

"Omicron will almost certainly overtake Delta and cause new waves of infection globally," Dr. Tom Frieden, a former CDC director, tweeted. While there has been some optimism that Omicron may cause less severe illness, "this will take time to figure out," Frieden wrote.

Troublingly, studies of household members find that Omicron poses more than double the risk of coronavirus transmission compared with Delta, Frieden said. In Britain, officials expect new Omicron cases to become equal to that of Delta sometime in mid-December, with Omicron cases doubling every two to three days, Frieden said.

"Make no mistake, Omicron has the potential to induce an enormous number of infections worldwide and even if severe COVID is one-tenth that of Delta or preceding variants, in absolute numbers it could lead to a major toll of hospitalizations or deaths," Dr. Eric Topol, director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute in La Jolla, wrote in a blog post.

"Similarly, we should not underestimate Omicrons impact on long COVID. The propagation of a large number of infections, even among vaccinated individuals, for whom there is expected to be some ill-defined lower risk and severity of long COVID, is a lingering and serious concern," Topol wrote.

There continues to be concern about a potential reduction in the effectiveness of COVID-19 immunizations against symptomatic illness resulting from Omicron. Early data suggest effectiveness against symptomatic illness for the two-shot Pfizer vaccine falls to 35%, but rises to 75% following a booster shot. Still, this is not as good as the vaccine effectiveness against Delta, which was 95% following the booster, according to Topol.

Scientists suspect that vaccinations and boosters will still provide significant protection against severe illness, however.

In addition, many states have been struggling with a winter COVID-19 surge due to the still-dominant Delta variant. "We see other states in the United States struggle with overwhelmed hospitals and a high number of cases," Ghaly said.

With the more recent coronavirus variants, data suggest that if people do become severely sick, they become sicker sooner, Ghaly said. "So the impact on hospitals might be quicker," he said.

Also, there is no discussion that stay-at-home orders will return again this winter, Ghaly said, so hospitals will in some ways face some challenges that they didn't last year.

Ghaly said he's concerned that hospital capacity is still pressed and challenged, particularly in San Bernardino and Riverside counties, across the Central Valley and in the eastern Sierra and the rural north. A number of hospitals throughout the state are busier than usual for this time of year, where staff are still exhausted from battling a nearly 2-year-old historic pandemic, and there's still plenty of pent-up demand for healthcare needs that were postponed during earlier parts of the pandemic.

The evidence is there that masks make a difference, Ghaly said. The coronavirus is airborne and can also spread silently from infected, asymptomatic people.

"Even a 10% increase in indoor masking can reduce case transmission significantly," Ghaly said. "Wearing a mask is going to be one of the most important things to help us get through this period of uncertainty."

Ghaly acknowledged that there may be people across the state who will not comply with an indoor mask mandate.

"We hope that those are few and far between," Ghaly said. "In some places, the enforcement is going to be stronger than others."

But Ghaly expressed hope that some communities will decide to follow the new rules for just the next month.

The mask policy "can have a real impact on case transmission and help preserve our hospital system, and save lives," Ghaly said.

At least 10 studies cited by the CDC recently have confirmed the benefit of masks, and "each analysis demonstrated that, following directives for universal masking, new infections fell significantly," the state Department of Public Health said in a statement.

State public health officials credited a universal masking requirement in indoor settings in California's K-12 schools as being effective in helping to keep schools open even as other states nationwide have been forced to temporarily halt in-person instruction due to outbreaks. "California accounts for roughly 12% of all U.S. students, but only 1% of COVID-19 related school closures," state officials said in the statement.

For parts of California, the new mask order will result in dramatic changes in day-to-day life if the rule is widely followed. Places like Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and San Diego counties haven't had an indoor mask order since June 15, when the last statewide mask order ended.

Residents in areas that partially eased local mask rules will also notice a difference. San Francisco on Monday said it will no longer allow people at indoor gyms or offices to be maskless, even if everyone inside is fully vaccinated.

But in places like L.A. and Ventura counties, the state's latest rules essentially echo the existing local mask orders, and won't result in changes.

Under the new order to go in effect on Wednesday, California is also tightening rules related to entering large indoor events. Existing rules require patrons age 3 and older of indoor events of 1,000 or more people to show proof of full vaccination or the results of a recent negative test.

For patrons who choose to show a recent negative test, existing rules allow them to show a test as much as 72 hours old; the new rules require patrons to show a more recent test  within two days if it's a PCR test or one day if it's a rapid antigen test.

Health officials in Los Angeles and Orange counties warned in recent days that it is possible that hospitals will be strained again this winter with COVID-19 patients.

Dr. Regina Chinsio-Kwong, a deputy health officer for Orange County, said even without factoring in Omicron, Orange County will need to brace itself for the possibility of a COVID-19 surge.

"Unfortunately, yes, our hospitals are having to relook at their surge plans with the staffing shortages that they have been experiencing to brace themselves again for a very, very busy winter," Chinsio-Kwong said Friday.

It still remains possible that too many cases of COVID-19 could make it harder for heart attack patients to get a hospital bed, leaving them at greater risk of dying or suffering severe illness "because they're not able to get the care they need as quickly as they need it," Chinsio-Kwong said.

In Los Angeles County, growing vaccination rates have made an impact on reducing the burden on hospitals; during last year's surges, 15% to 20% of coronavirus cases led to hospitalizations, but for this summer's Delta surge, about 5% to 6% of cases led to hospitalizations. That "really reflects the power of those vaccines," Los Angeles County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said recently.

"But we worry about a strain on the hospital care system. We have a really noted ongoing staffing shortage issue at many of our hospitals," Ferrer said.

A number of healthcare workers have decided to leave the workforce, exhausted by the pandemic and disillusioned by anti-vaccination sentiment.

"So while I don't anticipate us being hit anywhere near as hard as we were hit last winter, it's all relative," Ferrer said. "And our job is to really do our very best to make sure people know what they can do to try and avoid getting a serious illness associated with COVID."

California is approaching a statewide COVID-19 death toll of 75,000. The national death total is nearing 800,000.

People exempted from the state's indoor mask requirement include those younger than 2; people with medical or mental health conditions that prevents wearing a mask, including those for whom wearing a mask could obstruct breathing or who are unconscious; and people who are hearing impaired or are communicating with someone hearing impaired, where the ability to see the mouth is needed to communicate.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
California proposes cutting major rooftop solar incentive after years of debate FILE PHOTO: Solar panels are seen on rooftops amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Santa Clarita, near Los Angeles

By Nichola Groom

(Reuters) -California on Monday proposed reducing the rate at which homeowners can sell excess electricity from their rooftop solar panels into the grid, weakening a policy that has underpinned dramatic growth in the renewable energy industry for years.

The announcement by the California Public Utilities Commission triggered an outcry from the solar panel installation industry, whose backers have warned such proposals could darken the outlook for new projects and undermine the states efforts to combat climate change.

The PUC justified the proposal, however, saying it would encourage the solar industry to accelerate battery storage technology so excess power can be held in reserve instead of sold, while undoing a policy it said amounted to a multi-billion dollar subsidy for wealthy homeowners at the expense of other utility ratepayers.

Under the proposed reforms, Californians with new solar installations would see a discounted rate for power they sell into the grid and a monthly utility charge of $8 per kilowatt to cover the cost of maintaining the grid.

Existing solar owners would be moved to the new structure once their installations have been connected for 15 years, the PUC said. But, they would be offered an incentive to pair a battery with their solar installations before then, which would push them on the new rates sooner.

If adopted, the changes would represent the state's most significant reform of the so-called net metering policy since it was adopted in the 1990s, allowing homeowners to sell excess electricity into the grid at or near the retail rate.

The changes could impact the outlook for utilities and solar providers - including big panel installers like Sunrun Inc, Tesla Inc and SunPower Corp - and could also provide a cue to other states that tend to take California's lead on clean energy policies.

California is home to about 40% of the nation's residential solar energy capacity.

The PUC said its review of the policy found it was not cost-effective and harmed homeowners without solar panels by shouldering them with the price of maintaining the grid. Those ratepayers are disproportionately lower income, the regulator's review found.

It said California ratepayers spent about $3 billion a year to support net metering.

Those funds would be better directed elsewhere, Commissioner Martha Guzman Aceves said in an interview. "If you use that money to purchase the large-scale clean energy projects, we would be able to meet our 2045 goals" of producing all the state's electricity from clean sources, she said.

The nation's top solar trade group, the Solar Energy Industries Association, slammed the announcement, saying the changes would "create the highest solar tax in the country and tarnish the state's clean energy legacy."

Affordable Clean Energy for All, a utility-backed group, said the decision "recognizes we can grow rooftop solar in California while taking steps to reduce inflated subsidies."

The PUC could vote on the proposal as soon as next month, after receiving stakeholder feedback. The new policy would take effect four months after a final decision is issued.

(Reporting by Nichola Groom; Editing by Dan Grebler and Peter Cooney)
An arriving traveler takes a rapid coronavirus test at Tom Bradley International Terminal at LAX on Dec. 3. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

California on Wednesday announced a statewide mask mandate for indoor public spaces.

Here is what you need to know:

What is the mandate?

Beginning Wednesday, wearing masks in indoor public settings is required.

Even a 10% increase in indoor masking can reduce case transmission significantly, said Dr. Mark Ghaly, the California health and human services secretary, in explaining the new rules.

The coronavirus is airborne and can also spread silently from infected, asymptomatic people.

How long does the order last?

It is set to expire on Jan. 15.

Who is covered?

The order will affect roughly half the states population, including San Diego and Orange counties, the Inland Empire, the Central Valley and rural Northern California. The statewide indoor mask mandate order will last a month and will expire on Jan. 15.

Los Angeles County, Ventura County and most of the San Francisco Bay Area have their own indoor mask mandates that were implemented in the summer. While those jurisdictions have issued criteria by which officials would end the local mask mandates, there is no specific end date to the others in those areas.

Why is this happening?

California has seen the beginning of a winter surge of the Delta variant. And there are worries about the new Omicron variant.

Coronavirus case rates have risen by 50% in the last 2 weeks, and county health officials across the state say they suspect they may be seeing the start of a winter jump in coronavirus cases. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention considers California as having a high level of transmission of the coronavirus, the worst tier in the federal agencys four-tier scale.

Californias announcement came on the same day New York enacted its own statewide mask requirement in indoor public spaces, exempting only settings where everyone inside must be vaccinated.

On Monday, the California Department of Public Health offered these tips:

Celebrate safely: Take commonsense steps this holiday season to protect yourself, your family and your community as you celebrate.

Upgrade your mask: Good fit and filtration continue to be the best way to get the most out of your mask. The best masks for preventing COVID-19 include the N95, KN95 and KF94. If you dont have access to one of these masks, wear a surgical mask or a surgical mask with a cloth mask on top. If you choose a fabric mask, opt for one with three or more cloth layers. No matter what kind of mask you wear, check the fit by avoiding gaps above the nose or on the sides.

Get vaccinated for COVID-19 and flu: Its your turn now! Its recommended that everyone over six months of age be vaccinated for the flu. For COVID-19, Californians age 5+ are eligible to make appointments or go to a walk-in site for vaccination. You can get your flu and COVID-19 vaccines on the same day.

My Vaccine Record is an easy way to show vaccination status at venues or businesses that require proof of vaccination. Visit myvaccinerecord.cdph.ca.gov today to get your vaccine record.

Stay home & get tested if sick: If you are experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 (fever, cough, shortness of breath, fatigue, muscle or body aches), or believe you have been exposed, get tested, call your healthcare provider, and stay home and away from others. Free, confidential testing is available statewide. Avoid close contact with people who are sick and stay home from work and school if you feel ill.

Wash hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds.

Travel tips: Delay travel (both domestic and international) until you are fully vaccinated. If you must travel before being fully vaccinated, consider getting tested before and after travel. See the CDCs full travel guidance.

Avoid crowded venues or areas when cases are high.

Add your phone to the fight: Sign up for COVID-19 exposure notifications from CA Notify.

Answer the call or text if a contact tracer from the CA COVID Team or your local health department tries to connect.

Check with your local health department about local conditions. Local health jurisdictions can implement protocols that are stricter than state guidance.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. (AP)  A car that was stuck partly submerged near the brink of Niagara Falls after a daring rescue attempt last week went over the falls this weekend and cannot be seen from the shore, state parks officials said Monday.

A U.S. Coast Guard swimmer who descended by a cable from a hovering helicopter pulled a woman from the car Wednesday. State park police said the woman, who did not survive, likely drove into the river on purpose.

The car was last seen in the churning rapids above the American Falls at about 9 p.m. Saturday amid rising water and heavy winds. The car was gone from the brink by daybreak Sunday when the water receded, according to a statement from the state parks department.

The car was not visible amid the mist and boulders at the bottom of the falls.

However, State Parks will continue to monitor for debris or visual impact, the department said. We will evaluate removal if we make visual contact with the car.
WASHINGTON  Rep. Bennie Thompson on Monday joined calls for the Department of Homeland Security to provide information about a secretive unit that was investigating journalists, elected officials and other Americans.

On Saturday, Yahoo News revealed that a unit of Customs and Border Protection, known as the Counter Network Division, investigated up to 20 journalists, as well as members of Congress and their staff. The investigations involved conducting database searches on their travel and looking at whether they had any connections to the terrorism watchlist, as well as gathering other personal data.

House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson. (Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images)

If true, this abuse of government surveillance powers to target journalists, elected officials and their staff is deeply disturbing, Thompson, the Democratic chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, said in a statement. The United States government has an obligation to protect all citizens right to privacy and freedom of speech. There must be accountability and protections in place to ensure that such incidents never occur.

The divisions work sparked an FBI probe into a journalist and a Senate staffer, which in turn led the DHS inspector general to investigate the CBP officials involved. While the inspector general referred several employees for possible charges, none were prosecuted, and at least two have returned to work at the agency.

The executive editor of the Associated Press, Julie Pace, also wrote Monday to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, asking why one of its reporters was run through government databases by CBP. This is a flagrant example of a federal agency using its power to examine the contacts of journalists, Pace wrote in her letter. While the actions detailed in the inspector generals report occurred under a previous administration, the practices were described as routine.

The inspector general report, completed in 2020, does not appear to have ever been turned over to Congress, despite previous requests.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

The inspector general must provide this report to Congress to enable critical oversight work, Thompson said, echoing a demand made Sunday by Sen. Ron Wyden, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee.

If the allegations in this story are true, Customs and Border Protection has flagrantly abused government surveillance powers to target journalists and elected officials under the flimsiest of pretenses, Wyden told Yahoo News in his statement.

The DHS and CBP did not respond to requests for comment, including whether Dan White, one of the employees referred for possible prosecution by the inspector general, is still in a supervisory role at the Counter Network Division.
As a mob of Donald Trumps supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, White House chief of staff Mark Meadows received text messages from multiple Fox News hosts and the presidents son, urging him to convince Trump to issue a statement condemning the violence, according to the House select committee investigating the attack.

The text messages are among thousands of documents Meadows has turned over to the committee, according to Vice Chair Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., who revealed the messages Monday evening as the panel gathered to pass a resolution to hold Meadows in contempt of Congress.

Cheney said Meadows, who served as Trumps chief of staff during his final months in office, turned over thousands of emails and text messages as part of a previous agreement to cooperate with the panel, but he has refused to testify, despite being ordered to do so by a subpoena. Meadowss attorney said the former top White House aide believes his testimony is protected by executive privilege.

Mark, the president needs to tell people in the Capitol to go home. This is hurting all of us. He is destroying his legacy, Cheney said as she read out loud a text message from Fox News host Laura Ingraham.

Please get him on TV. Destroying everything you have accomplished, wrote Brian Kilmeade of Fox & Friends.

Sean Hannity, another Fox News star, asked if Trump could make a statement asking people to leave the Capitol.

Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., vice chair of the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)

Cheney also described multiple texts Meadows received from Donald Trump Jr. similarly urging the president to take action. Hes got to condemn this s*** ASAP, Trumps eldest son wrote to Meadows, who replied: I'm pushing it hard. I agree.

Cheney, a prominent GOP critic of Trumps actions that day, concluded: These text messages leave no doubt the White House knew exactly what was happening at the Capitol.

Some of those messages stand in contrast with how some Republican lawmakers, as well as Fox News stars like Tucker Carlson, have portrayed the violent attack on the Capitol. Two Fox News contributors recently quit over a special that downplayed the assault.

The revelations came as the House panel voted Monday to make Meadows the third Trump ally it referred for possible criminal penalties for refusing to cooperate with its investigation.

Then-President Donald Trump with chief of staff Mark Meadows in May 2020. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)

The specific text messages revealed by Cheney ahead of Mondays vote are the latest details to emerge about Meadowss communications leading up to and during the deadly riot by Trump supporters who sought to overturn the results of last years presidential election.

In a report issued on Sunday night ahead of the contempt vote, the committee described several specific messages about which it had planned to question Meadows about last week, when he failed to show up for a scheduled deposition.

Among the documents described in the contempt report is a Jan. 5 email in which Meadows indicated that the National Guard would be present at the Capitol the following day to protect pro-Trump people.

Its not clear who was the recipient of this message from Meadows, or what it was based on, but it comes amid renewed scrutiny of who is to blame for the National Guards delayed response to requests for help from the Capitol Police during the riots. One of the main questions for congressional investigators is whether Trump played any role in that delay.

The comment matches up with congressional testimony given by former acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller in May, in which he described a conversation with Trump on Jan. 3 in which the president told him to "do whatever was necessary to protect the demonstrators that were executing their constitutionally protected rights."

Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., chair of the select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack, speaks as Reps. Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., Adam Schiff, D-Calif., Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill. and Jamie Raskin, D-Md., listen, Oct. 19, 2021. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Other messages cited in the contempt report include text messages between Meadows and individuals including members of Congress, on Jan. 6 before, during and after pro-Trump insurrectionists stormed the Capitol. The report also referenced text messages Meadows sent to and received from an organizer of the rally where Trump spoke near the White House before the attack.

In addition to correspondence pertaining specifically to Jan. 6, the select committee also described several emails and text messages produced by Meadows that could shed new light on Trumps attempt to undermine the 2020 election, including messages regarding encouraging Republican legislators in certain key states to send alternate slates of electors to Congress. Some of the messages highlighted in the report appear to reflect direct communication between Meadows and the former president. One such example is a November 2020 text exchange with a member of Congress about contacting state legislators in which Meadows relayed that POTUS wants to chat with them. Another is an email from Dec. 23 regarding the Trump campaigns effort to challenge election results, in which Meadows wrote, Rudy was put in charge. That was the Presidents decision.

Trump supporters at the rally prior to the deadly assault on the Capitol. (John Minchillo/AP)

The panel also cited text messages from December 2020 about the effort to install Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark as acting attorney general, as well as texts regarding Trumps infamous Jan. 2 call in which he pressured Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to find enough votes to overturn Bidens victory in that state.

The committees interest in many of the records produced by Meadows began to surface last week. One day before Meadows had been scheduled to sit for an initial deposition, his attorney notified the panel that the former Trump aide would no longer be cooperating, citing the panels apparent interest in information that, he argued, is covered by the former presidents claims of executive privilege.

In a letter to Meadowss lawyer, select committee Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., disputed this argument, explaining that the committee intended to question Meadows about a number of specific records hed already turned over without a claim of privilege. Among the records Thompson said the committee sought to ask Meadows about included a Jan. 5 email about having the National Guard on standby, and another email regarding a 38-page PowerPoint briefing titled Election Fraud, Foreign Interference & Options for 6 JAN that was to be provided on the hill.

More details have also since emerged about that PowerPoint briefing.

Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)

According to the New York Times, the PowerPoint cited by Thompson recommended that Trump declare a national emergency to delay the certification of the election results, claiming that China and Venezuela had interfered in the vote. It also included proposals for Vice President Mike Pence to reject electors from states where fraud occurred when Congress met to certify Joe Bidens win on Jan. 6. It had been circulated on Capitol Hill before the Jan. 6 riot by Phil Waldron, a retired Army colonel and proponent of misinformation about fraud in the 2020 presidential election.

Waldron told the Times that he did not personally email the PowerPoint to Meadows, but that it was possible Meadows received it from someone else on Waldrons team.

In a separate interview with the Washington Post, however, Waldron said he visited the White House multiple times after the election and spoke with Meadows maybe eight to 10 times.

Trump departs with White House chief of staff Mark Meadows in October 2020. (Al Drago/File Photo via Reuters)

According to the Post, Waldron was a cybersecurity consultant who worked with Trumps outside lawyers, including Rudy Giuliani, to challenge the election results in several key states. He described one particular meeting he and others had with Meadows around Christmas last year in which, he said, Trumps chief of staff asked what he needed to determine whether the 2020 election had been hacked. Waldron told the Post that his team put together a list for Meadows of IP addresses, servers and other information that he believed should be investigated using the powers of the worlds greatest national security intelligence apparatus.

Waldrons account of his interactions with the White House in the days and weeks after the election, along with details that have emerged about the PowerPoint itself, raise new questions about Meadowss contacts with unsubstantiated theories about voter fraud that were circulating among Trumps advisers during that time. George Terwilliger, Meadowss lawyer, told the Times late last week that the PowerPoint was turned over to the Jan. 6 committee because Meadows had simply received it via email and did nothing with it.

We produced the document because it wasnt privileged, Terwilliger said.

Last week, Meadows filed a lawsuit against the Jan. 6 select committee, arguing that the panels overly broad and unduly burdensome subpoenas violate his right to free speech as well as his former bosss powers of executive privilege. President Biden, as the current office holder, has so far waived executive privilege for documents relevant to the select committees investigation. Last week, a federal appeals court ruled against Trumps effort to override Bidens authority and block the Jan. 6 panel from accessing his White House records.
FILE - Pro-Trump attorney Lin Wood, a candidate for chairman of the South Carolina Republican Party, speaks to attendees of the Richland County GOP convention on Friday, April 30, 2021, in Columbia, S.C. An investigation found that Wood, who has falsely insisted that former President Donald Trump actually won the 2020 election did not violate Georgia election laws by moving to another state before voting last year. The State Election Board voted on Tuesday, Dec. 14, to dismiss the case, and a spokesman for the secretary of state's office confirmed that no violation was found.(AP Photo/Meg Kinnard, File)

ATLANTA (AP)  An investigation found that a high-profile lawyer who has falsely insisted that former President Donald Trump actually won the 2020 election did not violate Georgia election laws by moving to another state before voting last year.

The Georgia secretary of state's office in February opened an investigation into where Lin Wood had been living when he voted early in person in Georgia in last year's general election. The State Election Board voted on Tuesday to dismiss the case, and a spokesperson for the secretary of state's office confirmed that no violation was found.

The investigation was initiated after the secretary of state's office learned from a television reporter that Wood may have been living in South Carolina when he voted. Wood on Feb. 1 announced on Telegram that he had moved from Georgia to South Carolina.

In an email to a WSB-TV reporter, Wood wrote that he had been domiciled in South Carolina for several months after purchasing property in the state in April.

In a text message to The Associated Press at the time, Wood wrote, "While I spent time in South Carolina in 2020, I considered myself domiciled in Georgia and a resident of Georgia at all times in 2020. He said he voted in person in Georgia on Oct. 21 for the 2020 general election but did not vote in the Senate runoffs in January.

Georgia law says a persons residence shall be considered that place in which such persons habitation is fixed, without any present intention of removing therefrom. It also says that if a person moves to another state with the intention of making it such persons residence, such person shall be considered to have lost such persons residence in this state.

After his move to South Carolina, Wood ran to become chairman of that state's Republican party, but his bid was ultimately unsuccessful.

Wood has insisted Trump won the election but that it was rigged for him to lose. He filed legal challenges on his own and with attorney Sidney Powell, who kept fighting for Trump even after she was removed from his legal team. Wood and Powell were criticized by Republican leaders after they encouraged Georgia voters not to cast ballots in the U.S. Senate runoffs. Wood and Powell claimed the runoffs would be rigged and questioned the loyalty of Republicans David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler to Trump before their losses tipped the Senate into Democratic control.

Wood and Powell were among nine lawyers who were ordered earlier this month to pay Detroit and Michigan a total of $175,000 in sanctions for abusing the court system with a sham lawsuit challenging the 2020 election results.
The Department of Water and Power offices in downtown Los Angeles. (Richard Vogel / Associated Press)

A top executive who worked on cyber risks at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power has agreed to plead guilty to one felony charge of making false statements, prosecutors said Monday.

Former Chief Cyber Risk Officer David F. Alexander, 54, of Arcadia lied to the FBI about a job offer that he "secretly solicited" in return for helping pass contract money to a lawyer, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors said Alexander lied to the FBI about his conversations and agreements with Paul Paradis, a New York attorney hired by City Atty. Mike Feuer's office.

Alexander's attorney, Nina Marino, declined to comment.

Monday's announcement marks the third tentative plea agreement in the DWP scandal.

Former DWP General Manager David Wright has agreed to plead guilty to a bribery charge, admitting that he took bribes in exchange for supporting a $30-million, no-bid DWP contract to Paradis' company, prosecutors said. Wright also admitted in the plea agreement that he participated in several other corrupt schemes while leading the utility.

Paradis also has agreed to plead guilty to one count of bribery and is cooperating with the ongoing federal criminal investigation, prosecutors said last month.

The scandal, which involves both Feuer's office and the utility, stems from litigation over DWP billing errors. Paradis was hired by the city attorney's office to sue PricewaterhouseCoopers, the consulting firm that the city blamed for the faulty DWP billing system that overcharged a wide swath of customers.

At the same time, DWP customers filed a class-action lawsuit against the city.

While PricewaterhouseCoopers was defending itself in the lawsuit brought by the city, its lawyers uncovered evidence showing that Paradis at one point represented the lead plaintiff in the class-action lawsuit against the city.

Paradis, who agreed to plead guilty last month, helped arrange for another lawyer to "play the role of the attorney" representing the plaintiff in the class-action case, prosecutors said. Paradis also told the attorney that the city wanted the class-action lawsuit "pre-settled," according to his plea agreement.

Paradis ultimately collected a $2.175-million kickback from the attorney. Paradis' company, Aventador, also went on to secure a $30-million contract from the utility to fix the billing problems. The company's name was later changed to Ardent.

Prosecutors said Monday that Paradis developed a professional relationship with Alexander while he worked at the DWP.

Alexander worked as the DWP's chief information security officer from May 2017 to February 2019 and as the DWP's chief cyber risk officer from February 2019 to August 2019, according to the plea agreement.

Alexander used his role at Southern California Public Power Authority, a group of several utilities, including the DWP, to help give a $17-million contract focused on cybersecurity work to three vendors, including the one associated with Paradis.

Months later, Alexander also worked "to manipulate" the DWP contract process as the utility sought to award an $82.5-million, three-year contract for cybersecurity work. He helped draft the "request for proposals" document with Paradis and solicited Paradis' edits, the plea agreement states.

More than a dozen vendors submitted contract proposals, but Alexander undertook efforts to influence the other members of the evaluation committee to rate Paradis' company favorably, the agreement states.

At the same time, Alexander solicited and agreed to accept from Paradis a future job as the chief administrative officer of the company with an executive-level salary, a sign-on bonus and $60,000 a year for 30 years for his early retirement penalty from DWP, prosecutors said.

At a July 2019 meeting at a coffee shop, Alexander told Paradis that he could guarantee $10.5 million to $11.5 million in DWP "task orders" for Paradis' company, according to the agreement. The pair also discussed a "signing bonus" for Alexander when he joined the firm.

"Near the end of their meeting, defendant Alexander confided that he would tell no one about his corrupt arrangement with Paradis, stating that "[a]s far as what I do and when I can execute against that contract is between you, me, and the wall," according to the agreement.

The FBI raided the DWP on July 22. Two days later, Alexander participated in a voluntary interview with the FBI, where he falsely stated that he had declined any employment opportunity with Paradis company and that he had not expected any compensation from Paradis, the agreement states.

He made similar remarks in another interview on July 26 with the FBI, the agreement states.

The charge Alexander faces carries a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison, prosecutors said.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
A bloodstain is seen on the ground near charred corpses in Don Taw village in Myanmar. (Associated Press)

One person appears to have been trying to crawl to safety. Two others are locked in a haunting embrace on the ground. A few of the corpses have their hands tied.

The charred remains of the 11 villagers in northwestern Myanmar tell the grisly story of their final moments. They were rounded up and beaten by soldiers hunting down resistance fighters. Some, if not all, were shot before they were trapped inside a hut next to a betel farm and set alight.

We saw the smoke, but we thought the soldiers were just burning houses. Then someone close by came screaming and crying, saying, My friends are being burned, said Ko Sithu, a teacher in the village, Don Taw. I felt helpless because there was nothing I could do. Ive never seen anything like this in my life. I dont know how the junta could do such a thing.

The Dec. 7 killings were reportedly in retaliation for a nearby bomb attack on a military convoy by guerrilla fighters, who have used land mines and improvised explosive devices to kill a growing number of soldiers. The slaughter of the villagers adds to a growing list of atrocities committed by the military junta, which seized power of the impoverished Southeast Asian nation in a Feb. 1 coup and has been fighting an intensifying battle against rebel volunteers since.

The daughter of Zwee Htet Soe, a protester who died during a demonstration against the military coup on March 3. (AFP/Getty Images)

The burned victims ranged in age from 14 to 40 and included four 17-year-olds, according to a list of the dead released by Myanmars shadow civilian government. The oldest victim was paraplegic. The incident underscores the deepening crisis in Myanmar and the weakening chances of a diplomatic solution with a government increasingly terrorizing its own people.

"We are appalled by the alarming escalation of grave human rights abuses in Myanmar," said Rupert Colville, a spokesman for the United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner last week.

A separate U.N. group investigating crimes by the military in Myanmar, known as the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar, said it has accumulated more than 1.5 million items of evidence of abuse and atrocity, including photographs, videos, testimonies and social media posts since the military takeover.

At least 1,300 people have been killed by junta forces, including children and pregnant women, according to the Assistance Assn. for Political Prisoners, a Myanmar-based human rights group.

The killings are intensifying as the junta  facing months of condemnation by the international community  is moving to crush resistance. Unarmed civilians have been bludgeoned to death, shot in the head by snipers, run over by speeding military vehicles and tortured and raped in prison. A Human Rights Watch report released this month detailed how security forces armed with assault rifles encircled protesters in a neighborhood in Yangon, Myanmars largest city, and killed at least 65 demonstrators and bystanders.

The rights group said 200 soldiers were involved in the operation in the Hlaing Thar Yar industrial zone, firing indiscriminately on anti-coup protesters armed with only rocks, slings and Molotov cocktails.

We werent able to help those who were injured because they would shoot at us if we tried, said one witness about the March 14 massacre. Some people who tried to help went forward anyway and they were shot in the head and died.

On Friday, the Myanmar Accountability Project, a London-based rights group, accused junta chief Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing of crimes against humanity before the International Criminal Court. The group said it submitted clear evidence that the use of torture in Myanmar is widespread, systematic and the result of state-wide policies.

Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing (Aung Shine Oo / Associated Press)

Myanmar was brought before the court in 2019, when it was accused of genocide against the Rohingya Muslim ethnic minority. The country, also known as Burma, was defended at The Hague by civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, precipitating her fall from grace as a onetime symbol of human rights. The military has since silenced Suu Kyi, placing her under house arrest on spurious charges such as violating COVID-19 rules.

Myanmar has largely ignored the International Criminal Courts order to protect the Rohingya from genocide. Still, rights groups say opportunities may exist in the future should the government fall, similar to the way former Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic stood trial at The Hague for war crimes.

Rigorously documenting abuses in forensic detail is essential if there are ever to be guilty verdicts, said Chris Gunness, director of the Myanmar Accountability Project. For universal jurisdiction to be applied, or for international justice mechanisms to kick in, it doesn't matter if a regime cares or not. They can still be held to account.

Aung Myo Min, minister for human rights for the civilian National Unity Government, whose members are in hiding, said it was critical that international rights groups continued to document the junta's abuses.

"Myanmar's legal system has been destroyed," he said. "We only have international law to punish them for their crimes."

The growing resistance to military rule  from long-established ethnic rebel groups and newly formed civilian groups known as Peoples Defense Force made up of ethnic majority Bamar  guarantees more bloodshed and brutality, analysts say.

The military, known as the Tatmadaw, has spent the last six decades waging war with striking savagery on those who challenge its authority.

Atrocities have always been an integral part of the militarys counterinsurgency operations, which are intended not only to target rebels but also terrorize the communities that support them, said Richard Horsey, an analyst on Myanmar at the International Crisis Group. Troops dont need to be told to do these things, its in the military culture.

Fires caused by shelling burn in Myanmar's northwestern state of Chin in October. (Associated Press)

Ko Sithu, the teacher in Don Taw, thought soldiers had come to clear land mines when they approached his village the morning they burned the 11 people.

He was sitting at a tea shop around 7 a.m. when he saw about 100 soldiers on foot followed by two military trucks. The soldiers began shooting toward the village. Ko Sithu fled for cover. No more than 10 minutes later, he saw smoke rising in the distance.

When he returned in the afternoon after the soldiers had left, he saw the remains of the burned victims. They were students and betel farmers.

We are not sure whether all of them were tied up or not, but we are sure that at least two or three people were tied, said Ko Sithu, 35. Some of them looked like they struggled a lot to escape.

A body of a woman with a gunshot wound to the head was also found near the scene.

Buddhist funerals were held for all the victims the next day. Ko Sithu said none were fighters, but most of them were mistaken for members of the Peoples Defense Force because of their youth.

The military should know that the people will never be afraid of them, he said. These atrocities only make them angrier and more willing to fight.

Times staff writer Pierson reported from Singapore and special correspondent Kyaw Hsan Hlaing from Bangkok, Thailand.





This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Roberto Bentivegna wrote the screenplay for "House of Gucci." (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

I remember watching an Italian news report when I was 12 and seeing Patrizia Reggiani in church, dressed in black, mourning the death of the man she had killed just a few days earlier. I grew up in Milan, Italy. My mother is a fashion designer. As a child, I would feed ducks with my father just three doors down from where Maurizio Gucci was murdered.

So when Ridley and Giannina Scott called me to discuss writing "The House of Gucci," which they had tried to bring to the screen for almost two decades, I saw it as more than just a writing gig: I saw it as the opportunity of a lifetime. A perfect blend of my interests as a storyteller and a world I knew intimately.

The writing process began by reading Sara Gay Fordens book, The House of Gucci, which is a wonderful biography of the family and the brand from its creation in 1921 to the present. I was lucky enough to speak Italian and accessed articles written about the Guccis in the 1970s, 80s and 90s. I found wonderful nuggets of gold throughout the articles. For example, that Paolo was president of the Pigeon Fanciers Assn. or Aldos reputation for picking up young ladies shopping at his stores.

But as with any good adaptation, there came a point when I had to put the source material aside and make the story my own. This is a work of fiction, not a docudrama or a biography. And at the center of it is Patrizia. One of the most overused notes given to screenwriters is to make the protagonist sympathetic. And while I generally disagree with this, I felt Patrizias 30-year arc was so big, so broad, that she needed to start in a place of love for Maurizio for the love story to compellingly turn into one of sheer horror. After all, it would be far more relatable for audiences to deal with a tale of doomed love rather than focus on the gold-digging, cynical aspect of the character.

"Tone" is another interesting term that gets thrown around a lot. Ironically, the writer is perhaps the last person to be aware of tone as he or she is writing. Of course, some stories naturally fall into a certain genre, and there are conventions that might be followed within that framework. But with "House of Gucci," I knew I had to have fun with the material. Much like a rich Italian meal, it was all about giving it as much color and exuberance as possible. The biggest pitfall would have been turning what is a melodramatic, operatic minestrone into something too austere, too self-righteous. The characters should take themselves very seriously: but herein lies the humor and satire.

I researched for three months and wrote the script in another three months. My first draft was 135 pages long. At one point, we had a 150-page manuscript  Ridley and I kept adding new scenes, drunk on Gucci enthusiasm. The shooting script was close to the original 135. I dont think many of the new scenes in the longer draft made it to the finished script, but we got to know those characters and the story better.

This is my first produced feature film. I spent a year during the pandemic in Colombia after going to a wedding in Bogota and getting stuck there. I was working with Ridley and the actors remotely for most of that year. Ridley graciously allowed me to be on set for the entirety of the shoot, from the first frame to the last. I will eternally be grateful to him for that  he knows I want to direct, and it was a masterclass in filmmaking by a true master.

I will never forget arriving in Rome in February at my hotel, which also served as the production offices for the film. I put my bags in my room and ventured upstairs to the sixth, seventh, eighth floors. It was the middle of the night, nobody was around. Each floor was dedicated to a production department. To see my ideas come to life  the cars I had referred to, the food, the fashion shows, the clothes  was incredibly emotional.

After many years of writing in a bubble, never seeing my dreams brought to life, here I was, working with incredible artists, on a story that brought me right back to the city I grew up in  Milan. The city where I fell in love with cinema.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Ahmaud Arbery-Georgia Trial This photo combo shows, from left, Travis McMichael, William "Roddie" Bryan, and Gregory McMichael during their trial at at the Glynn County Courthouse in Brunswick, Ga. Jurors on Wednesday, Nov. 24, 2021 convicted the three white men charged in the death of Ahmaud Arbery, the Black man who was chased and fatally shot while running through their neighborhood in an attack that became part of the larger national reckoning on racial injustice. (Pool, file)

BRUNSWICK, Ga. (AP)  A judge in coastal Georgia has set a sentencing date early next year for the three men convicted of murder in the killing of Ahmaud Arbery.

Father and son Greg and Travis McMichael and their neighbor, William Roddie Bryan, are set to be sentenced Jan. 7, according to an order signed Monday by Superior Court Judge Timothy Walmsley. At the November trial, the three white men were convicted of murder and other crimes in the Feb. 23, 2020, killing of the 25-year-old Black man.

The McMichaels armed themselves and pursued Arbery in a pickup truck after seeing him running in their neighborhood just outside the Georgia port city of Brunswick. Bryan hopped in his own truck and recorded video on his cellphone as he joined the pursuit, capturing the moments when Travis McMichael blasted Arbery with a shotgun.

A nine-count indictment charged the McMichaels and Bryan each with one count of malice murder, four counts of felony murder, two counts of aggravated assault, one count of false imprisonment and one count of criminal attempt to commit false imprisonment.

Travis McMichael was convicted of all nine charges. Greg McMichael was convicted of all charges except malice murder. Bryan was convicted of three counts of felony murder and one count of aggravated assault, as well as false imprisonment and criminal attempt to commit false imprisonment.

Malice and felony murder convictions both carry a minimum penalty of life in prison. The judge decides whether that comes with or without the possibility of parole. Even if a chance of parole is granted, a person convicted of murder must serve 30 years before becoming eligible. Multiple murder convictions are merged for the purposes of sentencing.

Murder can also be punishable by death in Georgia if the killing meets certain criteria. Prosecutors chose not to seek the death penalty in the case of Arbery's slaying.

Each count of aggravated assault carries a prison term of at least one year but not more than 20 years. False imprisonment is punishable by a sentence of one to 10 years in prison.
(Reuters) - U.S. drugmaker Moderna Inc will produce millions of mRNA vaccines a year in Australia after agreeing to set up one of its largest manufacturing facilities outside the United States and Europe.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the plant in Victoria state was expected to produce up to 100 million mRNA vaccine doses every year when it begins operations in 2024.

"By advancing with this new partnership, we are building ... our sovereign capability to manufacture these vaccines here in Australia," Morrison told reporters in Melbourne.

Morrison did not specify the financial details of the agreement but Australian media reported the deal could be worth about A$2 billion ($1.43 billion).

Moderna said in October it planned to invest up to $500 million to build a factory in Africa to make up to 500 million doses of mRNA vaccines each year, including its COVID-19 shot. However, the company said it had not begun the process of deciding the country and location.

COVID-19 vaccines developed by Moderna and Pfizer use mRNA - messenger ribonucleic acid - technology but it can also be used to manufacture vaccines for other respiratory illnesses and seasonal flu.

The new Australian facility will create a more robust defence against future pandemics and ensure manufacturing can be contracted locally to avoid global supply chain issues, Victoria state Acting Premier James Merlino said.

The announcement was made as neighbouring New South Wales state, home to Sydney, reported its biggest daily rise in COVID-19 cases since a nearly four-month lockdown ended in early October. The Delta variant was responsible for most of the 804 cases reported on Tuesday, although the number of Omicron cases has been creeping up.

Despite the surge in new infections, officials said a planned easing of restrictions in Sydney from Wednesday will proceed as they urged people to get their booster shots to ward off the Omicron threat.

Australia has inoculated nearly 90% of its population above 16 with two doses and shortened the wait time for a booster shot after the emergence of the Omicron cases.

The country has recorded about 232,700 cases and 2,113 deaths since the pandemic began.

($1 = 1.4027 Australian dollars)

(Reporting by Renju Jose in Sydney and Manas Mishra in Bengaluru; Editing by Ramakrishnan M. and Jane Wardell)
A Nevada parole board granted O.J. Simpson early release from his parole on Tuesday, citing good behavior.

The former Heisman Trophy winner, NFL running back and Hollywood actor "is a completely free man now, his lawyer Malcolm LaVergne told the Associated Press.

Simpson, 74, served nine of a possible 33 years in prison after a 2008 conviction on 12 counts including felony armed robbery and kidnapping. Simpson led a group of five men that held memorabilia dealers at gunpoint at a Las Vegas hotel in 2007 in an effort to steal what Simpson claimed was his own memorabilia.

A Nevada parole board cited good behavior in granting Simpon an early release. (Jason Bean-Pool/Getty Images)

Simpson did not serve time after being acquitted of murdering his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman in 1995. He was found liable in 1997 in a wrongful death civil lawsuit and was ordered to pay the Goldman and Brown families $33.5 million in damages. Goldman's family continues to fight in court to collect.

Simpson was freed from prison in 2017 and has remained on parole since. He was scheduled to remain on parole until February, but the Nevada Board of Parole granted him roughly three months of good behavior credits, according to Nevada State Police spokeswoman Kim Yoko Smith. Simpson did not speak with media Tuesday.
The United States on Tuesday marked another grim milestone in the coronavirus pandemic, surpassing 800,000 deaths from COVID-19.

According to data from Johns Hopkins University, more than 800,000 Americans have died from complications from the virus since the pandemic began, with more than 50 million reported U.S. cases  far more cases and deaths than in any other country in the world.

Put another way, the U.S. death toll from coronavirus now exceeds the entire population of North Dakota.

Soon after a deceased patient was removed from a room at Asante Three Rivers Medical Center in Grants Pass, Ore., on Sept. 9, a nurse waits for her next COVID-19 case to be brought in. (Nathan Howard/Getty Images)

Just a year ago, the country's death toll stood at 300,000. In February, a month after President Biden took office, that number surpassed 500,000.

On Tuesday afternoon, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi held a moment of silence inside the House chamber for the lives lost. Later Tuesday, Pelosi, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and other bipartisan members of Congress planned to hold a moment of silence on the steps of the U.S. Capitol.

This week also marks a year since the COVID-19 vaccine became available. Since then, more than 60 percent of the U.S. population has been fully vaccinated, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Biden held a similarly solemn vigil at the Lincoln Memorial on the eve of his inauguration, when the U.S. passed the 400,000 mark.)

But that wasn't enough to stop COVID-19 from being deadlier in the United States this year than last year, when there was no vaccine. According to data from the CDC, the country has lost more lives to the virus in 2021 (more than 413,000) than were reported in 2020 (about 385,000).

The reason: the emergence of the more contagious Delta variant, and the refusal of many Americans to get inoculated against COVID-19.

"We're dealing with Delta," Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nations top infectious disease expert, told CNN on Tuesday morning. "We're dealing with a much more formidable virus in every respect."

Add to that the more than 60 million Americans who are eligible to be vaccinated but have not done so.

"We've got to do better than that," Fauci said.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, President Biden's chief medical adviser, gives an update on the Omicron variant on Dec. 1. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

With the pandemic about to enter its third calendar year, U.S. health officials continue to fight misinformation surrounding the COVID vaccine.

Deaths continue," National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins said this week, "most of them unvaccinated, most of the unvaccinated because somebody, somewhere, fed them information that was categorically wrong and dangerous.

And with the recent arrival of the Omicron variant, the message from the White House COVID-19 task force continues to be focused on vaccines and boosters.

Just 26.9 percent of eligible Americans have received a booster dose so far, per CDC data.

"Vaccines remain our most important tool," White House COVID-19 response coordinator Jeff Zients said at a task force briefing Monday. "But we need everyone to do their part. This means getting boosted."
Fran Kranz was inspired to write  and direct  a film about the aftermath of a mass school shooting after the Parkland, Fla., incident in 2018. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times/Los Angeles Times)

I wanted to write about forgiveness, because in the most difficult circumstances, I wasnt sure if I was capable of it.

Forgiveness is a strange currency. Its not always as valuable received as it is when its given. If it comes cheaply or with conditions, it feels deflated or hollow. I cant quite figure out how its value is determined, and I cant place exactly where its value changes as it passes from the grantor to the beneficiary. Its not always an even trade.

When I was a student, I learned about the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa. I was amazed by stories that came out of the amnesty hearings. They are some of the most moving and horrifying examples of our human experience. I was inspired, but I was also afraid. I didnt think I could participate in a process of restorative justice. I feared that if I lost a loved one, I would never be able to forgive the perpetrator. I could not make an effort to simply heal through truth and reconciliation. I would need punishment, retribution. Fortunate to never experience that kind of loss, I was able to bury these thoughts.

Almost 20 years later, on the day of the Parkland school shooting in Florida, those dormant fears were awakened. I was a new parent and overwhelmed with concern for my daughter and the country she was going to grow up into. Listening to the collective grief that day once again forced me to confront my ability to forgive. Could I live a life without hate and blame? Who should I hate? Who should I blame?

That day started what would become nearly two years of research into the subject of mass shootings. I learned a lot. Some things will haunt me. Thankfully, I also learned about extraordinary people.



In one book, I read about the parents of a shooter meeting the parents of a victim at one of their homes years after the attack. There were few details. They cried. They even laughed. They shared photographs. Thats all that was available to the reader. I remember staying awake late into the night imagining what must have fully transpired there. What could you possibly say? How could you move forward through that and with the very people you felt so much hate and blame toward? I soon realized that these were the same questions I had asked many years earlier. It was time to answer them for myself.

I wrote my four characters as equals. They were not good or bad, protagonists or antagonists. I never found that in my research. I found complex humanity. I found the mess of parental love. In my own life, I knew I was condemned to make mistakes every day before my daughter was even 2. I knew the odds were against you as a parent, so I wrote each of them with as much compassion and dignity as I could imagine.

The movie itself happened quickly. I created a company online, put money into a bank account, claimed I was partly financed, hired great casting directors so I wasnt cold-calling agents myself, put together a brilliant crew that taught me all I didnt know, found a location and settled on a date.

With some incredible good fortune, I soon had four great actors to play the parents. I recognized their talent and valued their instincts, so I trusted them to tell me what they needed. Over a 2-day rehearsal, I rewrote the script so all the steps were there to carry them on their way. We shot the film in 14 days. Editing took much longer. Then we submitted the film to the Sundance Film Festival. Now, with even greater fortune, audiences have watched the film in theaters.

Fran Kranz was inspired to write  and direct  a film about the aftermath of a mass school shooting after the Parkland, Fla., incident in 2018. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

I dont think Mass" offers explanations for gun violence in America or even the horrifying mass shootings that have become so common. At some point in the writing process, all that mattered was the people that live on in the aftermath. Thats what I remember most from my research; their suffering, their trauma and their need to heal.

The movie is a way for us to stay with them long after the headlines stop generating views or ratings. Not just to learn about their pain but also to learn about their lives, their hopes and fears, their children. Because if we can feel their suffering, we can feel their humanity. Its that latter connection that the movie is ultimately about, and finding it in the people you dont want to look at.

I often wonder if this is the only solution I unconsciously offered. That to stop the bleeding in America we have to find the shared humanity in each other again, the shared suffering. That it might never happen debating contentious issues that immediately pit us in opposition to one another, demonizing ourselves and making antagonists out of politicians, neighbors and family members. That we have to uproot this fruitless dynamic by cultivating a greater empathy for those we disagree with or even hate and blame. That we have to come to the table, with nothing but our truth in words and feelings, and work our way through our differences as people, not as politics.

Maybe then the miraculous discovery will be that there are fewer differences between us than we feared.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
(Reuters) - An ethics panel in New York on Tuesday ordered former Governor Andrew Cuomo to return $5.1 million he received for his memoir after finding he failed to follow state ethics regulations, a spokesperson with the commission said.

The Joint Commission on Public Ethics voted 12-1 to approve the order, the spokesperson said. Reuters has not seen the commission's full resolution.

Cuomo has 30 days to surrender the money he made for writing the book "American Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic" to the state. The state attorney generals office will have the authority to decide how the funds are dispersed, the New York Times reported.

In a statement, Cuomo lawyer Jim McGuire vowed to fight the order.

"JCOPEs actions today are unconstitutional, exceed its own authority and appear to be driven by political interests rather than the facts and the law," McGuire said. "Should they seek to enforce this action, well see them in court."

In November, the commission found Cuomo failed to meet state regulations that dictate the outside activities of public officials, such as writing a book in exchange for royalties or other compensation. The commission said Cuomo violated a requirement not to use state resources to complete the book and misrepresented how long it would take to complete.

Cuomo, a Democrat, stepped down as governor in August after multiple allegations of sexual misconduct. He has denied any wrongdoing.

He was initially lauded for his handling of a crippling coronavirus outbreak in New York. But praise turned to blame when media reported allegations of misconduct, including the under-reporting of nursing home deaths.

Cuomo's book was published in October 2020 by The Crown Publishing Group, a subsidiary of Penguin Random House.

Cuomo has donated $500,000 of the proceeds to charity and placed another $1 million in a trust for his daughters, the Times reported.

(Reporting by Brendan O'Brien in Chicago; Editing by Aurora Ellis)
FILE PHOTO: Signage is seen at the headquarters of the Federal Communications Commission in Washington, D.C.

By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Six former chairs of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on Monday urged the Biden administration to quickly resolve a dispute over the planned use of 5G wireless spectrum that the aviation industry says poses an air safety risk.

Former FCC chairs Ajit Pai, Tom Wheeler, Julius Genachowski, Michael Copps, Michael Powell and Mignon Clyburn said in a joint letter they were "concerned" about the Federal Aviation Administrations (FAA) recent efforts to revisit the FCCs 2020 decision to allow use of the C-Band spectrum for wireless use.

The former officials said the agencies should work to "resolve the FAAs concerns expeditiously, but this debate should not be fought publicly in a way that undermines consumer confidence in the process."

Last week, the FAA warned that interference from 5G wireless spectrum could result in flight diversions.

Asked about the former FCC chairs' letter, the FCC said Monday it continues "to work with federal agencies and the wireless companies so 5G C-band and aviation can safely co-exist."

The aviation industry and the FAA have raised concerns about potential interference of 5G with sensitive aircraft electronics like radio altimeters. AT&T and Verizon Communications in November agreed to delay the commercial launch of C-band wireless service until Jan. 5 after the FAA raised concerns.

The FAA issued a pair of airworthiness directives ordering the revision of airplane and helicopter flight manuals to prohibit some operations requiring radio altimeter data when in the presence of 5G C-Band wireless broadband signals.

The FAA remains in discussions with the FCC, White House and industry officials about the precise contours of any limitations, which are expected to be outlined in the coming weeks in a series of notices.

AT&T and Verizon on Nov. 24 said they would adopt precautionary measures for six months to limit interference. But aviation industry groups said they were insufficient to address air safety concerns.

(Reporting by David Shepardson;Editing by Chris Reese and Aurora Ellis)
Not at all. It just seems like a lot of back-and-forth talk.

Yes. I'm growing very worried over what might happen.

If it keeps up, I might be a little more concerned.

I think there are much larger things to concern us as a country.

It's hard to tell; I can't take the leader of either country seriously.

Vote

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YEREVAN, DECEMBER 14, ARMENPRESS. On December 14, Speaker of Parliament Alen Simonyan received Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Kazakhstan to the Republic of Armenia Bolat Imanbayev, the Parliaments press service reports.

The Head of the Armenia-Kazakhstan Friendship Group Vagharshak Hakobyan also attended the meeting.

After exchanging greetings Alen Simonyan congratulated the Ambassador on the occasion of Independence Day to be marked in Kazakhstan in the near future.

The Head of Parliament highlighted the development of cooperation with Kazakhstan, in the bilateral format, as well as in the international parliamentary structures.

The sides touched upon the cooperation of the two countries in the CIS Inter-Parliamentary, the CSTO Parliamentary Assemblies, in the Inter-Parliamentary Union and in the EAEU.

In the context of bilateral relations, the Speaker also underlined that the inter-parliamentary cooperation, where he considered as a key issue the role of the Parliamentary Friendship Groups.

The post-war situation was discussed, particularly the issue of the return of Armenian prisoners of war and the captive persons by Azerbaijan.

In strengthening of the Armenian-Kazakh relations the parties highlighted the role of the Armenian community of Kazakhstan.
YEREVAN, DECEMBER 14, ARMENPRESS. Arayik Harutyunyan, the Chief of Staff of the Prime Minister, took part on December 14 in the "Ethics and Innovation ministerial round-table discussion of the Eastern Partnership and Western Balkans countries, launched within the framework of the Global Summit of the Open Government Partnership (OGP). As ARMENPRESS was informed from the Office of the Prime Minister, issues related to the challenges of the pandemic and escalations were discussed during the event. How do countries cope with them and what reform agenda do they envisage in their OGP national action plans?

The round-table was attended by high-ranking representatives of Armenia, Georgia, Moldova, North Macedonia, Serbia, Ukraine, Montenegro, as well as representatives of the OGP, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, the European Commission, the Eastern Partnership and other civil society initiatives.
YEREVAN, DECEMBER 14, ARMENPRESS. During the 9th session of the UN Convention against Corruption, held on December 13-17 in Sharm el-Sheikh (Egypt), the Azerbaijani delegation decided to abuse the platform and, instead of touching upon the manifestations of rampant corruption in their own country, began to discredit Armenia, Artsakh and Armenian organizations and individuals of the diaspora.

ARMENPRESS reports, the purpose of the event entitled "Misuse of fund raising activities for corruption and related criminal purposes", organized by the Azerbaijani delegation, was to designate Armenian organizations as institutions financing terrorism and to present the realization of the right of the people of Artsakh to self-determination as separatism and terrorism.

In order to give legitimacy to the event, the Azerbaijani delegation decided to use the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in its political speculations, inviting UNODC representatives to take part in the thematic discussion as speakers. In addition, without permission from the UNODC Secretariat, Azerbaijan used the structure's logo on the event materials to try to create the impression that UNODC and the 9th session of the UN Convention against Corruption are co-organizers of the event.

The Armenian delegation attending the meeting, headed by the Prosecutor General of Armenia Artur Davtyan, took a number of steps to counter the Azerbaijani propaganda. In particular, at the request of the Armenian delegation, the UNODC Secretariat demanded that the Azerbaijani delegation remove the logos of the UNODC and from all documents related to the Azerbaijani event. In addition, at the request of the Armenian delegation, the UNODC expert, who was supposed to speak at the thematic discussion, stated that the UNODC Secretariat usually provides speakers for relevant events at the request of the participating countries. He also stressed that the presence of the Secretariat at the event in no way means that UNODC endorses any speeches or announcements made during the event.

After the speeches of the other speakers invited to the event, a member of the Armenian delegation, Consul of Armenia in Egypt Rafayel Movsesyan took the floor, strongly criticized the anti-Armenian event organized by Azerbaijan and demanded that Azerbaijan stop hate propaganda against famous Armenian organizations and figures who tried to draw the attention of the international community to the violence against the civilian population of Artsakh, crimes against humanity, violations of international humanitarian law, the destruction of the Armenian cultural and religious heritage during the war in 2020 and the humanitarian crisis created as a result of the aggression of Azerbaijan. He reminded Azerbaijan of the December 7 decision of the UN International Court of Justice on interim measures on Azerbaijan, which requires Azerbaijan to take steps to stop propaganda of racial hatred and discrimination against persons of Armenian descent, including by officials and state institutions.

A very limited number of foreigners physically participated in the meeting, who left the hall immediately after the speech of the Armenian delegation.
The strategic 900-km Chardham project worth Rs 12,000 crore aims to provide all-weather connectivity to four holy towns

Trying to allay the concerns of landslides in Himalayan regions due to the construction of the wider Chardham highway project, the government had said all necessary steps have been taken to mitigate the disaster. (PTI file photo)

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed double lane widening for the strategic Chardham highway project in Uttarakhand, saying the recent past has thrown serious challenges to national security. The court in the exercise of judicial review cannot second guess the infrastructural needs of the armed forces, the bench headed by Justice D Y Chandrachud said while also setting up an oversight committee headed by former Justice A K Sikri to report to it directly on the project.

The strategic 900-km Chardham project worth Rs 12,000 crore aims to provide all-weather connectivity to four holy towns -- Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath.

In its judgment, the bench, also comprising Justices Surya Kant and Vikram Nath, clarified that the oversight committee will not undertake a fresh environment assessment.

The committee will receive all support from the ministries of Defence and Road Transport, the Uttarakhand Government and all district magistrates.

The top court said that there are no malafides in the application filed by the Defence ministry. The allegation that its application seeks to relitigate matters or to subvert previous orders of this court are unfounded.

As a specialised body of the government, the Defence ministry is entitled to decide operational requirements of the armed forces, including infrastructural support needed for facilitating movement of troops, it said.

"The bonafides of MoD are also evident from the fact that the issue of security concerns was raised during the discussion of HPC and finds mention in HPC report. This MoD has maintained the need for double lane roads for border security concerns.

"The appellants have referred to a statement made by Chief of Army Staff in 2019 in a media interview regarding the adequacy of infrastructure for troop movement. We do not find it necessary to place reliance on statements made to the media given the consistent stand of MOD. The security concerns as assessed by MoD may change overtime. The recent past has thrown serious challenges to national security," the bench said.

The apex court said the armed forces cannot be held down to a statement made during a media interview in 2019 as if it was a decree written in stone.

"This court in the exercise of judicial review cannot second guess the infrastructural needs of the armed forces. The submission of the appellants requires the court to interrogate the policy choice of the establishment which is entrusted by law to the defence of the nation. This is impermissible," it said. If the Army cannot move its missile launchers, heavy machinery up to the northern Indo-China border, then how will it defend it and fight a war if it breaks out, the Centre had said in a poser to the apex court earlier.

Trying to allay the concerns of landslides in Himalayan regions due to the construction of the wider Chardham highway project, the government had said all necessary steps have been taken to mitigate the disaster. It added that landslides have happened in various parts of the country and not specifically due to road construction.

The court was hearing the Centre's plea seeking modification of the September 8, 2020 order, which had asked the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways to follow the 2018 circular stipulating a carriageway width of 5.5 metre on the ambitious highway project which goes up to the border with China. In its application, the MoD had said it seeks modification of the order and directions that the national highways from Rishikesh to Mana, from Rishikesh to Gangotri, and from Tanakpur to Pithoragarh may be developed to two-lane configuration.
Gujarat told the Supreme Court it had received 22,557 applications as of Thursday from families of the dead seeking compensation

Medical workers checks medicine and other essential items inside a Covid-19 coronavirus ward of a Civil hospital in Ahmedabad. (SAM PANTHAKY / AFP)

AHMEDABAD: Gujarat has acknowledged more COVID-19 deaths than its official tally, according to a court document filed on Monday, lending weight to fears that the country's actual toll was much higher than reported.

Reuters and other media have reported, based on figures collected from crematoriums and cemeteries, that during India's record second wave of cases between April and June, states including Gujarat undercounted deaths as many people died at home due to a severe shortage of hospital beds and oxygen.

Gujarat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's home state, told the Supreme Court it had received 22,557 applications as of Thursday from families of the dead seeking compensation and 16,175 had been approved, according to an affidavit seen by Reuters.

Its reported death count is 10,099, according to the state's latest health bulletin.

A Gujarat official with direct knowledge of the matter said applications had now swelled to more than 40,000 and nearly half had been approved. All of them would get 50,000 rupees ($659) each.

India has reported a total of 475,636 COVID-19 deaths, including many revised figures from states that have come under pressure from courts to accurately represent the scale of the disaster.

The main opposition Congress party said it believed the actual death toll to be still higher.

"We have been saying from the beginning that the Gujarat government has been underreporting COVID-19 cases and deaths," said Manish Doshi, chief spokesperson of Gujarat Congress, adding its surveys had shown at least 55,000 deaths.

Gujarat Revenue Minister Rajendra Trivedi, whose department is paying the compensation, did not respond to requests for comment.
The condition of a few injured policemen is stated to be critical, the police and hospital sources said

The police sources said that the bus carrying the personnel of the IRPs 19th Battalion came under attack at Aripora along the Pantha ChowkKhanmoh link road near Zewan, about 14-km southeast of the city centre. (Representational Image/ AFP)

SRINAGAR: Two Indian Reserve Police (IRP) force personnel were killed and 12 others injured in a sneak attack by separatist militants in Zewan area on the peripheries of Kashmiri capital Srinagar on Monday evening. The condition of a few injured policemen is stated to be critical, the police and hospital sources said.

A report put the number of the injured at 16. The police sources said that the bus carrying the personnel of the IRPs 19th Battalion came under attack at Aripora along the Pantha ChowkKhanmoh link road near Zewan, about 14-km southeast of the city centre. Two of the injured policemen including an assistant sub-inspector succumbed at the 92-Base Army hospital here. Sources said that the militants fired their automatic weapons indiscriminately. A police official said, The condition of a couple of more critically injured policemen is stated to be critical. After the injured were removed to the 92-Base Hospital at the nearby headquarters of the Armys 15 Corps, police reinforcements joined by columns of the CRPF and the Army laid siege to the area and started searches to capture the assailants dead or alive, sources said.

This was the first major attack on a police bus in Kashmir Valley after the February 14, 2019, suicide attack on a bus of the CRPF in which 40 personnel were killed and several others wounded at nearby Lethapora in Pulwama district.
The Opposition has described the suspension as undemocratic and in violation of all the Rules of Procedure of the Upper House of Parliament

Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi (R) joins other parliament members from opposition parties in a march to protest against the suspension of 12 parliament members at the Parliament House in New Delhi on December 14, 2021. (Photo:AFP)

New Delhi: Leaders of over a dozen opposition parties took out a protest march on Tuesday in support of their demand for revoking the suspension of 12 Rajya Sabha MPs and pledged to carry on their fight unitedly.

Accusing the government of suppressing the voice of the Opposition, Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge, DMK's Tiruchi Siva and Shiv Sena's Sanjay Raut along with other members of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha walked from the Mahatama Gandhi statue in the Parliament complex to Vijay Chowk while holding banners and placards.

The opposition members, including from the TMC, Samajwadi Party, CPI, CPI-M, IUML, TRS, RJD and the NCP as well as some smaller parties, pledged that they will not relent and will continue their fight unitedly till the suspensions are revoked.

Asserting that the suspended MPs did no wrong, the leaders said they will not apologise or bow before the government and will continue to raise the issues of the people to save democracy and the Constitution.

Former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi alleged that the Opposition is not being allowed to raise issues in Parliament which, he said, is now "merely a building and a museum".

"Wherever the Opposition is trying to raise issues, they are suppressed. The government does not allow us to raise issues. This is a murder of democracy," he told reporters.

Gandhi also said the prime minister does not come to Parliament and "this is not the way to run a democracy".

"We have here our suspended members. This is a symbol of the crushing of the voice of the people of India. They have been suspended now for two weeks. They are sitting outside. Their voice has been crushed. They have done nothing wrong.

"We are not allowed to debate things in Parliament. Bill after bill, bill after bill is just passed in the din. This is not the way to run Parliament," he said.

The 12 Opposition MPs were suspended from Rajya Sabha on November 29 for the entire Winter session of Parliament for their "unruly" conduct in the previous session in August.

The Opposition has described the suspension as "undemocratic and in violation of all the Rules of Procedure" of the Upper House of Parliament.

Gandhi said the suspended MPs have not been removed by the Rajya Sabha chairman or the prime minister, but the forces who want to steal from farmers.

"The prime minister and the Chairman are implementers. It is the power of industrialists, others are mere masks," he alleged.

He cited the example of the prime minister taking a bath in river Ganga during his Varanasi visit on Monday, saying these forces who want to steal the income of farmers and want to capture the media say that no one's face except the PMs will be shown.

Asked whether the Lakhimpur issue will be raised in Parliament, Gandhi said, "We will try and raise the Lakhimpur issue in Parliament. But these four people - 'Hum do, hamare do' will not allow us to do so."

"There will be no discussion on China, Lakhimpur Kheri, farmers. What is the use of this? It is of no use. This is only a building. It is a museum now," he said while pointing towards Parliament House.

DMK leader Tiruchi Siva said the government's stand on the issue is "totally unconventional, unprecedented".

"If something has happened, there has been flexibility in the past but now rigidity is seen," he said.

Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut said it is the "sacrifice" of the MPs towards the farmers' agitation.

"The government is not even ready to listen to us. We want to save democracy and want justice, but the government does not want to hear the words democracy and justice.

"We have never seen such days in our democracy when the opposition is suppressed. We will continue our fight, but will never bow down or be afraid. This is our message of unity," he told reporters.

TMC's Dola Sen, who is among the suspended MPs, said the opposition is supposed to raise the voice of the people.

"The Modi government does not allow us to raise our voice and is passing bills within minutes. Our only option left is to raise our voice in the Well of the house. We are fulfilling our duty.

"They have suspended members previously also. We condemn them for suspending us. They may suspend us many times, we will raise the voice of people, farmers to save the Constitution and democracy," she said.

Elamaram Kareem of CPI-M said they will "'repeat" their "crime" inside and outside the house and claimed that the Modi government, which has "surrendered" before the farmers, will be compelled to "surrender" to the people's agitation raised by opposition parties

Vishambhar Prasad Nishad of Samajwadi Party alleged that there is an "undeclared emergency" in the entire country and the government is running away from issues like price rise.

Manoj Kumar Jha of RJD said they were not fighting for their personal ego but for the dignity of democracy and parliament.

"We have seen majorities earlier too, but this government has the pride of a brute majority and there is no compassion. Parliament is not run with brute majoritarian regimes," he said.

He also attacked the chair. "This is a long battle, we are not just fighting for revoking the suspensions but for restoration of parliamentary traditions."

Vandana Chavan of the NCP said it is the responsibility of the government to listen to the opposition and it is the responsibility of the opposition to raise issues of the people in the house.

"We will not allow the house to run till the suspensions are taken back," she also said.

Binoy Viswam of CPI said the whole world is watching the happenings in India and the government is trying to suppress the voice of dissent.

"We stand together and this unity is going to decide the country's future. We will march together hand in hand," he said.

Opposition parties have been stalling proceedings in Rajya Sabha over the issue. The government has insisted that the suspended members apologise for their unruly conduct.
by Melani Manel Perera

People will be able to use the platform to report offences using their mobile phones. The trilingual website (Sinhala, Tamil and English) was launched on International Anti-Corruption Day.

Colombo (AsiaNews)  Transparency International Sri Lanka (TISL) has created a website called Apesalli to monitor fraud and corruption in the South Asia country.

Both fraud and corruption are rampant throughout Sri Lanka, but are hard to see. This is why the new Apesalli website will be a valid tool for honest citizens, said some Sri Lankans, speaking to AsiaNews.

The website will be useful in the case of election as well, noted Wajira Sirimanne, who monitors elections in Gampaha for TISL.

As election observers we have seen corruption cases several times, he told AsiaNews. Now "Apesalli gives us the opportunity to make more accurate assessments and reports. The fact that the website is trilingual  Sinhala, Tamil and English  helps a lot, he added.

Sirangika Lokukarawita, the Galle District coordinator for the TISL election monitoring team, agrees.

The TISL initiative is a great opportunity for all citizens who care about public money to report any type of fraud in real time.

Apesalli allows citizens to fulfill their social responsibility. Reports can also be easily filed using mobile phones, Shirani Cooray, another election observer, told AsiaNews.

TISL launched Apesalli to coincide with the International Anti-Corruption Day on 9 December. It allows reporting of electoral fraud as well as abuse of state assets.

This year we had to monitor various situations: the tax amnesty granted earlier in the year, the bill on the Colombo Port City Economic Commission, and the corruption scandals related to the sugar and fertiliser trade, said TISL executive director Nadishani Perera

People should be aware of the harmful effects of corruption, Perera added. This [the website] will increase the public demand for accountability of government officials.
by Sumon Corraya

Various representatives of the government and the local Church took part in commemorationsof the Christian community's contribution to the nation both during the 1971 war and today. Archbishop of Dhaka Bejoy N D'Cruze: "I dream of a prosperous country where all religious faiths can live in harmony".

Dhaka (AsiaNews) - "During the war of independence many faithful Christians also fought for freedom. Churches, hospitals and Christian educational institutions gave shelter and protection to fighters and refugees," stated Bangladesh Parliament Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chowdhury, chief guest at an event organized by the local church on December 11 to celebrate the golden jubilee of the country's independence and the centenary of the birth of the father of the nation Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

Dr. Shirin, a former student of Holy Cross College in Dhaka, expressed admiration for the contribution made by Christians to the building of the nation: "Christians are a small community but they contribute to the development and growth of the country.

Bishop Paul Ponen Kubi, general secretary of the Bangladesh Bishops' Conference, added in his welcome address: "Today we have gathered to show our respect for those who have contributed to creating an independent country. Without their sacrifice we would not have had a state for ourselves."

Some 417 Christian fighters participated in the 1971 war of independence. At least 10 died, including a nun and three priests: Italian Xaverian missionary Fr. Mario Veronesi, American Holy Cross priest Fr. William Evans, and local priest Fr. Lucas Marandi.

Dictating the program for the day was the Archbishop of Dhaka, Bejoy N. D'Cruze. The guests of honor were the first cardinal of Bangladesh Patrick D'Rozario, the Minister for Religious Affairs Mohammad Faridul Haq Khan and the Minister of the Interior Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal who praised Christian organizations: "I am happy to see the cooperative activities of Christians flourishing and I hope they will be an example for others.

Archbishop Bejoy N D'Cruze thanked the more than 1,000 participants from all over the country: "The father of our nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman dreamed of a country without hunger, poverty and injustice. He dreamt of a secular country. In the last 50 years we have achieved a lot, but I dream of a prosperous country where all religious faiths can live in harmony."
Today's headlines: U.S. Secretary of State Blinken promises to strengthen ties with Southeast Asia against "aggressive actions by Beijing, Pakistan invites Afghanistan to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation summit, China sends one million vaccines to Nicaragua, in Japan protests against the U.S. military base in Henoko.

INDONESIA

There was a 7.4 magnitude earthquake that triggered a tsunami warningthis morning in Indonesia, later lifted by the meteorological department. So far no casualties or serious damages have been reported.

USA - INDONESIA

U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken has promised that Washington will strengthen ties with Southeast Asia in an effort to counter Chinese power. According to his statements, the United States will also strengthen (military) cooperation with Indo-Pacific countries in response to Beijing's "aggressive actions."

SINGAPORE

Dickson Yeo Jun Wei is a Singaporean citizen who spent 14 months in U.S. prison last year for spying for China. On his return to Singapore, he was detained again and later released after the city-state's Department of Homeland Security clarified that he poses no threat.

PAKISTAN - AFGHANISTAN

Pakistan has invited "the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan" to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation summit to be held in Islamabad on Dec. 19. An Afghan Foreign Ministry official said the meeting's agenda will focus on "the economy, the banking system and the normalization of Afghanistan's relations with the world."

CHINA

After breaking ties with Taiwan, Nicaragua received one million vaccines from China. Local media showed footage of an AirChina aircraft arriving in the Central American country with the first 200,000 doses from Sinopharm.

JAPAN

Demonstrators in Okinawa protested against the relocation of an American military base in the district of Henoko by paddling canoes and small boats off the coast. The governor of the prefecture has faced a long legal battle against the central government in Tokyo, but the relocation is part of an agreement between the US and Japan signed after three American soldiers raped a 12-year-old girl near Futenma (where the base is now located) in 1995.

RUSSIA

The Russian security services (FSB) have announced that they have arrested 106 neo-Nazi terrorists, belonging to the Ukrainian group MKB ("Murder Cult Maniacs"), who were preparing attacks in 37 regions of Russia. Weapons and explosives in large quantities were seized from the detainees. The group was founded in 2017 by Ukrainian citizen Egor Krasnov, born in 2000, is widespread in several former Soviet countries, and professes the theory called "accelerationism", which uses mass exterminations to hasten the extinction of the human species.

ISRAEL - UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

The Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has met the Crown Prince of the United Arab Emirates Muhammed bin Zayed in Abu Dhabi Talks focused on discussions the commercial relations between the two countries. The Jewish State aims at maintaining international sanctions against Iran, of which the Emirates are an important trade partner.
by Vladimir Rozanskij

Over 1,000 people deported to Djausdjan province. The move favours their Pashtun supporters in northern Afghanistan. Tribal council convened to resolve the case. Tajikistan and Uzbekistan ask the Taliban government to address the ethnic issue.

Moscow (AsiaNews) - In recent days the Taliban have allegedly forcibly deported more than 1,000 people in the northern territories of Afghanistan, as reported by various sources. The Afghan fundamentalist government is said to have decided the operation to free about 20,000 acres of land, on which several ethnic Uzbek and Turkmen communities were settled. The deportees themselves say that Taliban guerrillas of Pashtun ethnicity took them from their homes, driving them to the province of Djausdjan.

For some time now, the Taliban had already begun to use force against hundreds of Shiite Khazari families in five provinces of the country. The intention of the "students of God", who returned to power 20 years after the U.S. invasion, is to redistribute land to their supporters and punish the sectors of the population that supported the previous government, backed by the United States and other Western allies.

A man interviewed by Radio Azattyk, under the fictitious name Abdullah, tells of being deported to Darzab, a remote village in Djausdjan. According to him, the authorities of the province promised to send a delegation to investigate this "illegal occupation" of inhabited territories, but so far no one has been seen.

"We had owned our land for hundreds of years, we shared it among community members, and now it has been taken away from us," Abdullah says. Another witness, Faizullah, confirms that "we could protest, otherwise they would have killed us."

The representative of Pashtun nomads in Djausdjan, Gulam Sarvar Alizaj, says that discussions often arise because of the uncertainty of property rights on lands, which would actually belong to the State, despite the claims of locals. The nomads themselves claim the right to return to the pastures from which they were driven out 20 years ago, and which Uzbeks and Turkmen "have occupied trying to cultivate them, even though they are fruitless lands." Now the decision of the tribal councils, in which five people from each side should participate, is being invoked.

The Taliban government declined to comment on the case, which highlighted how much the internal problems of the new Afghanistan echo the centuries-old ethnic and tribal conflicts of this territory. The vast majority of Taliban leaders are ethnic Pashtuns, and they are now trying to impose themselves on all other groups.

It is not easy to disentangle the internal balance of these struggles, also because no population census has been held for many years; the last attempt in this sense was made in the 1970s, without reliable results. According to the figures of that time, Pashtuns constitute about 40% of the entire Afghan population, followed by Tajiks (less than 30%), Khazars and Uzbeks (about 10%), plus other minorities.

To escape from the occupations of Tsarist and Soviet Russia, in the past various ethnic groups had come to Afghanistan; in the last thirty years the situation has become even more entangled. The leaders of Central Asian countries, such as Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, are asking the Taliban to create "inclusive" administrative structures to finally deal with these internal problems, without having had any satisfaction so far.
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A crowd gathers outside Aspen City Hall just before the grand opening on Dec. 8. The new Aspen City Hall earned a LEED Gold certification for the green building strategies employed during design, and a WELL building silver certification for advancing human health and well-being. On Monday, Aspen City Council discussed a timeline and potential resolution for achieving building efficiency goals.
These four missions will employ satellites that will observe Earth 's surface and how it is changing. They will also provide crucial information about the planet's climate, including extreme storms, surface water and oceans, atmospheric dust, and even air quality and sea ice.The TROPICS mission will use six small satellites that will be about the size of a bread loaf. They will carry a miniaturized microwave radiometer instrument to observe tropical cyclones, collecting data about temperature and humidity once every 50 minutes. They will deliver more data than current weather satellites since they will travel in pairs in three distinct orbits.EMIT will not orbit next to its siblings. It will be instead installed on the International Space Station (ISS) and track mineral dust's origin and composition. These mineral particles can seriously affect the planet's climate by raising the temperature and warming its atmosphere. Not only that, but they can pollute the air and affect peoples' health. It can also trigger blooms of microscopic algae in the ocean, harming entire ecosystems.The third mission, known as NOAA's JPSS-2, will play a crucial role in helping the first responders by sending data about floods, wildfires, volcanoes, smog, dust storms, and more. The JPSS satellites will orbit the globe from the north pole to the south pole and collect data as they go. They will survey every portion of our world at least twice a day.Finally, NASA will launch SWOT, a satellite as big as an SUV , into orbit to measure the volume of water in the world's seas, lakes, and rivers. This will help evaluate the availability of fresh water on land. By tracking these bodies of water, scientists will also gather data about their overall role in climate change.
Developed by Swiss company Ascento Robotics, the Ascento Pro is an upgraded version of the previous Ascento 2 machine, which was launched in 2020. That robot was already impressive in terms of motor skills, but the Pro version brings even more features to the table.With a simple, compact, and modular design, the Ascento Pro is designed in a way that leaves enough space for custom sensors and various payloads. It has two legs, each with a motorized wheel , and a tensional spring in the knees, which compensates for the bots own weight. It can bend its knees to get even smaller, it can walk on any surface, climb stairs, jump up and forward, and hop over obstacles.Unlike its older sibling, the Ascento Pro is not partially, but fully autonomous (being equipped with cameras, LiDAR, headlights), and it can reach higher speeds of up to 7.4 mph (12 kph). Its swappable, rechargeable battery offers up to 8 hours of use on a single charge. The bot can also dock and recharge completely autonomously.Ascento made its two-wheeled machine customizable, so users can equip it with additional sensors, cameras, and even arms. With the process being entirely mechanical, users can easily replace the components.You can use the Ascento Pro for a variety of operations, thanks to its modularity and versatility. This machine makes for a great last-mile delivery robot, whether you deploy it to deliver food, mail, samples between labs in hospitals, and more. It can also be a great source of inspiration in your robotics research, or you can use it for inspection and surveillance to offer just a few examples.Theres no info on the pricing or availability of the Ascento Pro, but the manufacturer encourages anyone whos interested in its two-legged machine to contact the company for full specs and any other details.
Now, Motorama was an entirely GM affair, but the company liked to show off at other events as well, especially after it pulled the plug on its sanctioned auto show in 1961. And the way it did that was by means of extraordinary displays the likes of the 1969 Chevrolet Camaro we have here.Well, not just one Camaro, but two of them, nicely wrapped in a single package that has come to be known as the Cutaway Camaro or the Double Header Car.Back in 1968, when it was about to launch new versions of its recently-arrived muscle car, Chevy decided to trek the nations shows with a single display that could present, depending on mood and just a push of a button, either a standard Camaro, or an RS/SS version.The company managed to achieve this by designing some of the cars elements in such a way as to be easily removed and replaced. We have the standard Camaro shell, with no doors so that people could get a better feel of the interior, and two engines, a straight-6 and a 350ci (5.7-liter) V8, both attached to their own front ends, that could be easily swapped and mated with the rest of the car.Legend has it GM only made two of these, and this is one of them. It was kept hidden, in a private collection, for the past 52 years, so having it out in the open out of the blue does come as a surprise. And theres a reason for it doing that, as it is now getting ready to go under the Barrett-Jackson hammer in January in Scottsdale, Arizona.The contraption is listed with no reserve, but given its rarity and place in the history of the thing, it should make a real splash  we'll come back on this and let you know.
It may be fair to say that no other modern aircraft have been thrown into this fray more than the Fairchild-Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II (Warthog). Some of the lofty claims levied at the famous attack jet include being able to shoot down an F-22 Raptor in a dogfight for a start.There's a whole other can of worms in that debate. But we've all no doubt heard this before, on comment sections across the web, no doubt. How about something more "spicy," so to say? Some claim a squadron of A-10s could have easily defeated a World War II-era Navy fleet all by themselves.As bogus as that may sound, it does make a bit of sense if you're familiar with the weapons the Warthog flies into battle carrying. Most arguments can be settled with a couple of rounds of 30mm high explosive bullets. It would seem.The YouTube channel Grim Reapers tested these claims in DCS World, a free-to-play, flight-combat simulation game. On one side was a sizeable formation of Warthogs with GAU-8 Avenger cannons ablaze.The other side consisted of an Imperial Japanese Naval Fleet very similar to the one that attacked Pear Harbor in 1941. The Hogs featured Sidewinder air to air missiles and laser-guided bombs as their primary ordinance as well.The battle was long and drawn-out, for sure. But not quite as dramatic as people telling tall tales about the Hog's perceived complete indestructibility seem to belive. Well, these people would be wrong, at least according to the results here.Two Japanese carriers sunk compared to more than a few shoot-downs on the Hog's side. Undoubtedly not the result most of us would have hoped for, especially if you believe the Hog to be invincible. Give the whole video a look if you're interested. They also try with the AC-130 for good measure.
This means the company isnt only trying to further polish the Android Auto experience on its own, but it is also collaborating with various third parties for the same purpose.A recent announcement is just the living proof in this regard.Google has recently revealed that it worked together with Xiaomi on resolving a very critical problem in Android Auto, with users now projected to get a new update in this regard rather sooner than later.More specifically, users have been complaining that every time they unplug their phones from the car after running Android Auto and Google Maps , the mobile device feels extremely slow. The only way to recover the phone and return to its typical performance is to perform a full reboot.By the looks of things, Xiaomis phones are the ones most often affected by the problem, and Google says the Chinese tech giant will soon ship an update to address the problem.But as we learned the hard way, you really shouldnt start the party until the fix lands, and it truly resolves the glitch.A similar promise was made earlier this year for Samsung users, and while everybody held their breath on a bug-fixing update, not only the release was pushed back, but it also failed to resolve the Android Auto struggles for everybody.So right now, Google confirming that Xiaomi is promising an operating system update to fix Android Auto is definitely good news, but only time can tell If the experience is returning to normal for everyone. Until this happens, however, users are still all alone in their struggle with slow mobile phones after running Android Auto in their cars.
Over the past few months, we've seen Lamborghini branch out in a big way. They've gone from releasing the old-school-themed Countach to branding a ton of new non-sportscar products.They sold an entire 40-unit gated community of villas in the outskirts of Dubai . Each one is full of Lamborghini-inspired design elements, furniture, and architecture.There are handbags, smartphone cases, cardholders, and key fobs. These upcycled leather goods also feature the Lamborghini shield and would look great in your Lambo-themed villa.For unwinding, Lamborghini is also offering a set of headphones. While they're usable anywhere, we'd suggest pairing them with the SecretLab gaming chair that the companies announced recently. But what about those times when you need to get going?That's where Lamborghini CBD-infused cold-brew coffee comes into the mix. They have now partnered with Floral Growth, a Canadian-based cannabis company to bring the coffee to market."They always wanted to get into the cannabis space but wanted to make sure they do it with the company that has know-how and the traceability that could ensure the quality of the [Lamborghini] products that have come to be renowned," says Luis Merchan , CEO of Floral.Three different flavors will be available at launch, which is sometime in the next couple of months. Among them will be standard black coffee, vanilla, and then a third hasn't been announced other than to confirm that it will use CBG instead of CBD.While the science is yet to be done, some believe CBG might actually be slightly more effective in providing health benefits. Regardless, it's clear that Lamborghini isn't resting its empire simply on the cars they make. They're getting into every space and inviting us to drink up.
SpaceX, Blue Origin , Virgin, theyve all managed over the course of 2021 to send people above the Karman line, some farther and for longer, others less so. To rub Americans noses in it, the Russians took things even further and flew a civilian film crew to the ISS to shoot scenes for a movie.Next year, America will do the same, with NASA using a partnership with a company called Axiom Space to make money off tourists. In February 2022, four civilians, commanded by former NASA astronaut Michael Lopez-Alegria, will fly the Axiom banner to the ISS using a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule and will stay up there for eight days.In the fall of next year or in early 2023, the second Axiom mission, complete with scientific research and outreach activities, will take off, having just been cleared by NASA, this time for a 14-day stay on the station.Known as Ax-2, the mission will be flown, probably also on a SpaceX machine, by John Shoffner , a 63-years old American whos made a name for himself in racing, especially at the Nurburgring 24 Hours, but also in the VLN series.Were not entirely sure how the Russian did things with their film crew, but NASA pledges proposed crew members would undergo NASA medical qualification testing to be approved for flight, [] as is standard for any space station crew.Its unclear at this point if Tom Cruise will finally be on the list of people going to the International Space Station, after he was left out of the selection for the first crew.
EV

Tesla introduced the automotive industry to the world of over-the-air updates, as seen in the IT industry. From time to time, usually once every three months or so, the Americanproducer pushes updates to its cars. Some of these updates include new functions, alongside software optimizations. Tesla does not always offer information about the new features that come with the update.One such new function that was silently pushed to Tesla cars recently was discovered by the folks at Drive Tesla Canada . Contained in the software version #2021.44.5, this allows for accurately tracking the tire wear, as well as telling when the tires are wearing unevenly. Screenshots posted by the publication show a warning message informing the driver that the rear tire tread is too low and advises for a tire inspection and rotation.I know the first thing that comes to mind when you see this message is how the hell can it know the tread depth? but dont freak out just yet, there is a simple explanation behind this tech. As the tire wears out, its diameter gets smaller, which makes the wheel rotate faster than it did when it was new. Now, of course, the tire also gets smaller when the pressure drops, but since the tire pressure sensors already report that, it is easy to estimate the treadwear by considering the rotation speed versus the air pressure in the tire.Similarly, when one wheel is rotating faster than the others (assuming the tire pressure is the same), it is a sure sign of uneven wear between the four wheels. Of course, the car does not notice when there is uneven wear on the same tire, such as when the wheel alignment is wrong, or the shock absorbers are broken.If this update seems like a small one, you should know that Tesla is preparing a more consistent range of updates shortly, at least for the Model 3 and Model Y destined to the European market . Nevertheless, these updates are expected to trickle down to the cars sold on other markets too, including the United States.
EV

In the video below, you can see some of MotorTrends editors discussing how difficult it was to reach a decision with the great competitors the award had this year. They also talked about the multiple tests they did, some of which are very unique to the prize, such as the frustration test.The idea is to find a steep hill in which a truck towing something heavy will have to overtake a semi. Evaluating if the truck can even do that is the primary goal. Predictably, the Rivian contender did that without complaining.According to the editors, the electric pickup truck coped with all six criteria (advancement in design, efficiency, engineering excellence, performance of intended function, safety, and value) with ease. The American magazine had already praised how well it deals with off-roading and what a great vehicle it is in daily driving.Ironically, Edmunds recently stated that the Rivian R1T was the most inefficientit ever tested. MotorTrend would have counterpointed that if Edmunds had not mentioned this as well: although it has a massive frontal area and is a tall vehicle, the R1T is still the most efficient truck around just by being electric.Yes, the GMC Hummer EV also competed with the R1T despite not being for sale yet, but GMs first attempt to deliver an electric truck goes against much of what EVs should stand for, especially when it comes to efficiency. Being so massive and so heavy may make people want to brag about its torque and power, but that will have an impact on range, hauling capacity, and so forth. Safety around a 4-ton vehicle is also a concern for the others.According to MotorTrend , anyone able to pay around $70,000 and willing to have a great pickup truck would get the best value for the money with the Rivian R1T. Just like with the Lucid Air, being electric is just a detail, but it is an important one.
Nolan Sykes of Donut Media talks about the EU's proposal and why Italian supercar manufacturers are not ready to play ball. Yet.According to the July 2021 proposal, carmakers needed to cut down CO2 emissions from cars by 55% versus 2021 levels until 2030 and by 100% until 2035. If approved, it will be impossible for auto manufacturers to sell gas or diesel cars in 27 countries.This proposal was good news for European environmentalists and politicians, but not everyone was happy.So, why was the proposal important for the EU? According to Sykes, the proposed regulations are part of an ambitious effort by the European Union to address climate change. The European Commission developed the 2030 Climate Change Target Plan to reduce the continent's overall carbon footprint by 55% compared to 1990 levels.Part of the plan is to plant 3 billion trees across Europe and increase the production of renewable energy by 45%. Also included are plans to increase the practicality and sales of electric vehicles.The reception has had mixed reactions. Some European automakers were ready to play ball, including Volkswagen, Stellantis, and Ford's Europe division. However, the European Automobile Manufacturers Association went to bat for combustion engines.The auto lobby group resistance foreshadowed the Italian government's response. Italy is prevalent for its gas-hungry, mean supercars like Lamborghini, Ferrari, Maserati, and Pagani. According to them, stopping their production of supercars as early as 2030 was in bad taste. For starters, they produce low volumes of vehicles each year, and changing their production line for electrification only does not make financial sense.Italy, through a new cabinet minister for Ecological Transition, Roberto Cingolani, made headlines when he announced that Italy was in talks to shield Lamborghini and Ferrari from the 2035 gas ban . His argument is Ferrari and Lamborghini combined sell around 16,000 cars annually, a small fraction compared to the millions of vehicles sold each year.While all this makes sense, theres a variable left out, and perhaps one that could mean the decision is not objective. Roberto Cingolani used to work for Ferrari and was one of the board directors. Cingolani had to resign from the board of directors at Ferrari to take up the government job. Before his position at Ferrari, he worked for an Italian weapons manufacturer.Its not been roses and butterflies for Cingolani in Italy. He has been on the receiving end from Italian environmentalists, particularly for his support of natural gas.Underneath all the heat, it is not clear if it was an independent Italian government decision to counter the gas-powered engine ban or a result of lobbying from auto companies. Sykes feels Cingolani sees climate change as a problem that's solvable while still maintaining Italys tradition of developing huge engine blocks.The gas-engine ban and supercar carve-out are still proposals at the moment, and it could take up to two years until its voted on. If actualized, EU automakers still have a decade to stop supercar manufacturing. With that in mind, Sykes believes there is no need for a funeral of an event to go yet.He has a sensitive question, do you think it is fair to pollute due to privilege? As stated in the introduction, humans have a survival instinct, and at one point or another, gas-powered vehicles will have to go. Lets hope its not too late when we come to that decision.
ABS

Folks, today we're going to be talking about Take Off (TO), a travel and camping trailer from a little-known company out of Holland. However, "little-known" means nothing as the creators of this travel trailer, Easy Caravanning, trace their heritage back to HoltKamper, a crew that's been around since 1928, a sort of Airstream of Europe. From this history, TO makes its appearance on the market.Why bring another travel trailer to your attention? Well, because this one is that different. To help make things clear, TO is a pop-top machine. When you're ready to sleep for the night, pull over in a safe area, head to the rear of TO, and lift the roof in place, revealing your dream habitat. Judging by all the renderings in the gallery, you may think this habitat is a dream, but in fact, it exists and is selling for a starting price that may be rather difficult to believe at first.As it stands, TO is available in three different styles or floorplans, each tapered to certain needs and abilities. Best of all, they start off at 15,595 EUR (17,636 USD at current exchange rates) for the most basic version, Active. The most expensive version, Xcite, starts off at 20,795 EUR (23,516 USD at current exchange rates). However, once you're done customizing this sucker with your dream idea of a trailer, you're looking at topping that off with around 8,000 USD if you add big-ticket items like a tent annex or solar power setup.The trick with these versions is that each model builds upon the previous one, and Xcite features everything that Active and Sport models include. This means you're looking at trailers that are equipped with an AL-KO chassis and dampened by a hexagonal rubber suspension or shock absorbers, depending on the model chosen. Max 15-inch alloy rims flex All-Season tires. An overrun brake system with automatic reverse is also in place Overall, the outer shell and interior sandwich panels are completed using thermoformedand given a hail-resistant roof. All that equates to a trailer that comes in with a net weight of just 590 kg (1,300 lbs) for Xcite, the most equipped model. With a weight limit of 750 kg (1,653 lbs), it doesn't sound like you can bring along too many extras. But, you can sleep two people in the king-size bed that Easy has thrown in, while another two berths can be added via the tent annex.Speaking of sleeping, this brings me to the interior features . Aside from LED lighting, USB ports, and 230-volt sockets, you'll also find things like a removable kitchen equipped with a two-burner stove, folding sink, detachable cooler, and water pump. There's a removable and foldable table with adjustable legs, too, in case you take your meal outdoors.For furnishings, you'll find brushed aluminum tops, mobile cushions, organizers, storage boxes and cabinets, and a roll-up mattress. The last feature is crucial for exposing the U-shaped dinette in case you're having guests over for a bite or drink.For a bathroom, the only feature you'll find standard is a portable toilet. Things like a shower will have to be added extra. And yes, it'll most likely be an exterior one. For everything else, there's always Mastercard, Visa, AmEx, or just cold hard cash as Easy Caravanning looks like the sort of team that's ready to build your dream trailer I chose to do so on the manufacturer's website, and once I was done, I was looking at a trailer priced at 26,761 EUR (30,259 USD at current exchange rates). Mind you, I added the tent annex, solar panels, inverter, a special interior, some awnings, a bike rack, and a couple other goodies. Sounds like Take Off is a trailer to consider if you're looking for a balance travel trailer.
EV

ICE

adoption is hindered by peoples perceptions, as they still see electric cars as immature and untrusty. Range anxiety is real, and people still believe electric car batteries are fragile and unreliable. This couldnt be further from the truth, as this high mileage 2015 Tesla Model S shows after six years and more than 424,000 miles driven. The car was used by the original owner for Uber, which explains the number of miles, probably one of the highest for an EV anywhere in the world.According to Brian Carlson, who drives and reviews the car in the video below, this Tesla Model 70D belongs to a friend of his. After clocking in more than 70,000 miles (112,000 km) a year six years in a row, you might think the car does not hold many original parts anymore, but youd be wrong. This Model S 70D still has its original rear drive unit, although the front motor was replaced at around 380,000 miles (611,000 km). Still a respectable figure, we must admit, which few will cover in a cars lifetime.Many people are concerned about the Li-Ion battery reliability, knowing what a pain these are in a phone or laptop. Rest assured, car batteries are nothing of this sort, and this Teslas battery proves it, being replaced after 250,000 miles. Since Tesla offered an unlimited-mileage warranty for the 2015 Tesla Model S, the battery was swapped free of charge, and the replacement has already covered more than 180,000 miles (290,000 km). Even so, it still offers around 180-200 miles of range , which is only 40 miles shy of a new batterys performance.Besides the front motor and the battery, the car needed some suspension parts replaced, all at around 375,000 miles. Other worth-mentioning components that broke up were the Media Control Unit at 335,000 miles (the pesky failing MMC problem) and the AC compressor at around 300,000 miles.As you can see, these are minor inconveniences compared to an equivalentcar and considering all the savings with fuel and maintenance this Tesla Model S still seems like a good idea today.
SUV

While announcing its plans to go electric, the Japanese carmaker revealed 15 concepts, and only one has a Toyota badge and a sedan shape. It is called bZ SDN. Lexus may also get its version with the concept car it named simply as Lexus Electrified Sedan.While "electrified" may imply it uses a plug-in hybrid or even only a hybrid powertrain, that does not seem to be the case with this Lexus. The luxury brand also named its version of Toyotas bZ Largesimply as Lexus Electrified SUV and we are sure it will be purely electric.Back to the sedans, the Toyota bZ SDN did not deserve much attention from Akio Toyoda in his presentation of the concept cars. The Toyota CEO only said it is a mid-size sedan that meets customers expectations for a first car. We have the impression that there must have been a mistake in translation or that Toyoda referred to what Japan may consider a mid-size sedan.In many markets, what Americans consider compact (C-segment vehicles) is referred to as mid-size. According to the European classification, the Toyota Corolla belongs to the C-segment. In China, it would fit in the B-segment, as Bridget McCarthy kindly shared with us when discussing the new BYD e-platform 3.0 Summing it up, the Corolla fits the description of an exemplary first car In the worlds major car markets, both in terms of size and affordability. An electric version of such a car with LFP batteries would do that as well. A mid-size sedan in the American classification would be a Camry, a much larger vehicle.Another curious element that reinforces that thesis is that the bZ SDN has the same rear-view mirrors as the bZ4X , the bZ Compact SUV, and the bZ Small Crossover. That is a clear sign that these four vehicles are intended for production and that it will not take a long time to happen.Next April, Toyota may present a different vehicle at the 2022 Beijing Auto Show. However, theres a solid chance it will be the bZ SDN. It wont take long for us to confirm that.
EV

Akio Toyoda, Toyotas President, took the wraps off no less than 15 diverse models of electric concepts for the Toyota and Lexus stable . During the launch, he detailed the plans for 30 BEVs by 2030.The concept releases showcased alongside the auto manufacturers bespoke, the bZ4X, includes a range of commercial vehicles, SUVs, off-roaders, and a Lexus LFA-inspired supercar.Toyoda added that the company will increase its investment in battery development to $18 billion from the $13.5 billion it had previously announced. With that announcement, the automaker has doubled the number of new releases from the previously proposed 15 by 2025.Over the recent months, Toyota hastened its plans to electrify its lineup , promising that it will be ready to sell zero-emission vehicles in Europe by 2035.Toyoda further explained that it is their mandate to reduce carbon emissions as much as possible, as soon as possible. He said Toyota plans to expand its options for carbon-neutral cars that run on clean energy.While the CEO did not offer details of the expanded EV concepts, the automaker teased a range of familiar vehicles such as the FJ Cruiser and the Tundra during the presentation. He also hinted that its current range models will eventually become fully electric.Different concepts presented are for diverse markets. For instance, the city bZ crossover concept that features a small battery is best for the European and Japanese markets. The larger SUVs, on the other hand, with three rows, allow for more space and a larger battery pack.Recently, Toyota announced it will break ground on its first battery factory in the U.S. at a mega-site in North Carolina.
Earlier this year, United Airlines set two important records in the industry. It signed the biggest SAF (sustainable aviation fuel) purchase agreement in the history of aviation, adding up to hundreds of millions of gallons, from Alder Fuels and Fulcrum BioEnergy. At the beginning of this month, it wrote history once again by flying the first SAF-powered aircraft with passengers on board, from Chicago to Washington, D.C.Now, United hit another milestone, becoming the largest airline to invest in hydrogen-electric motors for regional aircraft. By becoming one of the major investors in ZeroAvia , a company that specializes in hydrogen solutions for aviation, United agreed to purchase 50 of its ZA2000-RJ, with an option for 50 more.The 2-5 MW zero-emission powertrain system will be used in pairs, so this purchase agreement will be enough to provide hydrogen-electric motors for up to 50 twin-engine aircraft. The ZA2000-RJ will be used as a retrofit solution for existing aircraft, including Uniteds CRJ-550, which is the only 50-seater packed with premium amenities and first-class services. If it can also become emissions-free through the integration of a hybrid-electric system, this premium regional aircraft is set to become even more popular.The first United Express aircraft powered by ZeroAvias hydrogen system is expected to enter service by 2028. Until then, ZeroAvia will continue with its other big plans. The first one to be certified will be a 10 to 20 seat aircraft with a 500-mile (804.6 km) range, followed by a 40-80 seat airliner in 2026. The regional jets operated by United and its partners will be the largest versions of hydrogen-electric airplanes, coming in 2028.Other major investors in ZeroAvia are Alaska Air Group , Amazons Climate Pledge Fund, and Shell Ventures.
EV

A whopping $5 billion of the $1 trillion infrastructure stimulus bill is going towards a connected network of rapid charging stations in the United States. One that can finally allow average everyday American motorists to kick dirty fossil fuels to the curb in the process.Vice president Harris outlined the plan while paying a visit to ancharging station maintenance facility in Maryland. Praising local employees for conducting so much hard work towards President Biden's plan to start the process of weaning off gasoline engines in America.In her own words, Vice-President Harris said she'd like "to make electric vehicles accessible for everyone...Absolutely make it accessible for everyone and easy. Just like filling up your car with gas." It's going to take more than finely picked words to bring such a daunting creation come to life. Demand for automobiles isn't going to decrease any time soon. If the plan is to succeed, the system would need to be quick to build and, more importantly, quick to charge your car. We will admit, however, that the $7,500 EV tax credit is pretty darn sweet.That's a tall order, considering you still can't charge your EV as fast as you can fill it with fuel in a normal car. At least in most situations, at this point. But it's hard not to commend EV manufacturers for the stellar job they've done making battery EVs more competitive with gasoline competitors. It's a sign that things are changing in America very rapidly. Meanwhile, the rest of the infrastructure bill is set to get to work fixing America's crumbling roads, bridges, and tunnels. Best of luck, you'll need it!
Ahn will be the man responsible for developing Volkswagens unified cells. He will answer to Frank Blome, Volkswagen Group Components head of battery cell and system. Blomes boss is Thomas Schmall, the CEO of Volkswagen Group Components, which shows how intricate Volkswagens chain of command is.The still-unnamed company  come on, Volkswagen, why is it so hard to call it anything?  will take care not only of developing the new unified cells in all their configurations: entry ( LFP ), volume (high-manganese), and those for high-performance cars. It will also take care of the six battery factories in Europe slated to deliver 240 GWh in batteries until 2030.One of the main focuses of the new company will be on the Salzgitter plant, which will be the heart of Volkswagens strategy. Salzgitter will recycle the battery packs the company manages to recover  either by leasing EVs multiple times or by offering good deals for people to sell them back to Volkswagen.Of these six new battery plants, Volkswagen has defined the location for two: Skelleftea, in a partnership with Northvolt, and Salzgitter, wholly owned by Volkswagen. The Spanish plant the German carmaker wants to build will possibly be close to its Martorell and Pamplona factories, but Volkswagen is yet to say precisely where. The fourth one will be in Eastern Europe, and we bet it will be in the Czech Republic.Volkswagen already has a factory in that country making MEB vehicles : Mlada Boleslav. It will also be close to the Zwickau and Dresden German factories that already produce MEB products as well.
That is about to change, as Kia has unveiled major plans to establish a CKD (completely knocked down) plant in Malaysia with a view to export to the rest of the region. Yes, that includes the Philippines.

Yes, there are many fans of all things Korean in this part of the world be it food, K-pop, or K-drama. But when it comes to cars, the K is lagging behind the J in Southeast Asia. The big reason for that is the lack of manufacturing facilities in the region for the Korean brands. Many of them still export from South Korea to most of the world, including to us.

Kia Motor Corporation (KMC) just released their plans for the ASEAN region, starting with the establishment of Kia Asia Pacific or APAC as their regional think tank and headquarters. And they will be setting up a CKD plant to maximize the ASEAN free trade area (FTA) for zero tariffs. It is very similar to what Kia's parent Hyundai is planning with their own factory in Indonesia.

Interestingly, Kia's partner in this endeavor is Berjaya. If you're unfamiliar with the automotive operations of Berjaya, they are also invested in the Mazda business in the region, including the Philippine distributor.

The list of models that Kia intends to produce in Malaysia is very interesting. By 2022, they will start production of the Kia Carnival and Kia Sorento. In 2023, they will start production of the Kia Sportage (yes, the all-new one) and even the Kia Niro hybrid. That means those are the models that they will export, and it could signal the arrival of hybrid and electric vehicles in the ASEAN region.

Over 5 years, Kia plans to produce a total of 100,000 vehicles in Malaysia, gradually ramping up production year on year for sale in Malaysia and for export. They plan to export 6000 units in 2022, then 9000 in 2023, then 12000 in 2024, then 15000 in 2025, and 19000 by 2026.

The interesting thing is Kia also stated in the plan that the facelifts of the Sorento and Carnival will be in 2024, which is unusual. Normally carmakers do not make it officially known when the facelifts of updates of their models are until maybe about a year prior.

Perhaps the important question here is why Kia selected Malaysia as the location for their CKD plant and not the Philippines. Kia cited that they found the business environment in Malaysia to be suitable for the CKD business. The automaker adds that the policies in place in Malaysia are favorable for their CKD investment, as well as the already established programs for logistics and vendors.

If that was the case, then it is highly likely that the Philippines was not in the running at all.
President Biden spoke with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Friday, congratulating the new leader and addressing Russias escalation of forces along Ukraine's border.

The big picture: Biden reaffirmed his support for "robust U.S.-German relations and desire to further strengthen transatlantic cooperation," the White House said.

"I look forward to working closely together on the full range of global challenges, including transatlantic efforts to address Russias destabilizing military buildup along Ukraines border," Biden said in a tweet regarding the call.

Biden and Scholz also spoke about efforts to help end the COVID-19 pandemic and counter the threat of climate change, according to the White House.

A tweet previously embedded here has been deleted or was tweeted from an account that has been suspended or deleted.

Scholz, a Social Democrat, was sworn in as chancellor of Germany Wednesday, succeeding Angela Merkel who served 16 years as chancellor.

Catch up quick: In a phone call Tuesday, Biden told Russian President Vladimir Putin that the "price of invading Ukraine would be steeper than anything he's faced in the past," Axios' Dave Lawler writes.
The head of the Cherokee Nation believes Andrew Jackson's portrait should be stripped from the $20 bill and replaced by the late tribal leader Wilma Mankiller  justice, he says, for the former president's transgressions against Native Americans.

Driving the news: "We have a history and there are dark chapters, and we shouldn't forget them, but we have a bright future," Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. said during an interview for "Axios on HBO." "Part of that bright future is to reach back into our history, secure our rights, take them forward."

The 1835 Treaty of New Echota  signed by Jackson and ratified by the Senate  forced the Cherokee Nation to move from ancestral homelands in Georgia, Alabama and Tennessee to present-day Oklahoma.

Along the way, about a quarter of its population died along the so-called "Trail of Tears."

Why it matters: There's long been talk about finding a prominent woman besides suffragette Susan B. Anthony to feature on U.S. currency, and the Obama administration supported replacing Jackson with the portrait of abolitionist Harriet Tubman.

A design concept was due by 2020, but in 2019, then-Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the project would be delayed until 2026.

"I think Wilma Mankiller would be a great replacement," Hoskin told Axios.

Mankiller died in 2010 after serving as the Cherokee's first female principal chief.

The same treaty Jackson signed called for appointing a non-voting House delegate to represent Native Americans. That effort also has been stalled for the past 180 years.

Kim Teehee, who's been picked to serve as that delegate, would represent the Cherokee Nation, but understands more than 500 tribes could want her to press for their issues. She sees merit in discussing returning the Black Hills  which include Mount Rushmore  to the Oglala Lakota.

"I think there's still some discussions that need to take place," Teehee said. "They feel that there was a great injustice and that they deserve their land back, and they are right to feel that way. I don't think anybody else can stand in their shoes and tell them that that's not the case."

"I am absolutely sympathetic to the history of the great Sioux Nation, but I would want to work with them directly."

Go deeper: Cherokee Nation wants its congressional delegate
Libyas Dec. 24 presidential election is now all but certain to be postponed due to a dispute over who can run, raising fears that a period of relative calm will soon come to an end.

Why it matters: Many feared that a rushed, winner-take-all election in the deeply divided country would spark renewed conflict. A delay carries risks of its own.

The three main would-be candidates are all controversial.

Khalifa Haftar, the rogue general who dominates Eastern Libya, launched a military offensive on Tripoli in 2019 that sparked renewed civil war.

Saif al-Islam Gadhafi, an alleged war criminal who was rumored to be dead, has re-emerged as a potential heir to his late father, dictator Moammar Gadhafi.

Interim Prime Minister Abdelhamid Dabeiba has broken a vow not to run, and critics say he's effectively bankrolling his campaign using state resources.

Driving the news: All three have faced legal challenges to their candidacies, some of which are ongoing. As a result, the electoral commission was unable to publish the candidate list on time to hold the requisite two weeks of campaigning before Dec. 24.

It remains to be seen whether the now-inevitable postponement will be days-long, indefinite, or somewhere in between.

The state of play: Political factions are maneuvering to take advantage of the precarious situation, said Claudia Gazzini, Libya analyst for the International Crisis Group.

Some want a delay of at least a year. Others contend Dabeiba's mandate ends on Dec. 24 and he must be replaced. Some are still pushing to vote as soon as possible.

Gazzini said "the most realistic option" would be a delay of a few months in order to sort out the list of candidates, adjust the election law, and try to gather commitments to respect the result.

Emadeddin Badi, a Libya expert at the Atlantic Council, contends that if an election is held under the current circumstances  with a disputed legal basis, no provisions for power-sharing and armed groups backing particular candidates  "it's going to manufacture a crisis more than its going to solve anything."

What to watch: The potential pitfalls of the two-part elections are many.

"What happens if Haftar doesnt make it to the second round?" Gazzini asked. "Is he going to all of a sudden say, OK, no problem, Im going to recognize the results anyways? This is, after all, the man who just launched a civil war.

"What happens if Saif al-Islam turns out to be the winner? Is everyone going to be cool and accept it as the result?" she added.

Between the lines: That potential outcome is the cause of particular concern in Washington, Badi said. Russia is backing Saif's candidacy, he notes.

Flashback: Once the face of reform in his father's regime, Saif became a pariah from the moment he declared  during the uprising in 2011 against his father  that thousands would die and Libya would descend into civil war if the protests continued.

Now those remarks strike many Libyans as prescient, Gazzini said, and Saif appears "clean from the dirty politics of the last 10 years."

Many Libyans have grown nostalgic for the Gadhafi era after a decade of chaos.

What's next: "The definition of a dire situation or a conflict in Libya is now basically this surreal show of drones, foreigners, Syrian mercenaries, Russian mercenaries," Badi said.
The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection unanimously approved a resolution Monday to recommend that former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows be held in contempt of Congress for refusing to comply with a subpoena.

Why it matters: The committee's focus on the former White House chief of staff brings them one step closer to the former president. Texts read aloud during the briefing hearing showed Donald Trump Jr. pleading with Meadows to have his father urge an end to the Capitol assault.

Rep. Liz Cheney(R-Wyo.), the vice chairwoman on the committee, read a series of texts from GOP lawmakers, Fox News personalities and Trump Jr., all pleading with Meadows to have the president urge an end to the Capitol assault.

Hes got to condemn this shit ASAP, Cheney read aloud from a text sent by Trump Jr. to Meadows. The Capitol Police tweet is not enough."

I'm pushing it hard. I agree, Meadows replied, according to Cheney.

She read another text from Laura Ingraham, which said: The president needs to tell people in the Capitol to go home  he is destroying his legacy.

Sean Hannity also texted Meadows on that day, writing: Can he make a statement? ... Ask people to leave the Capitol?"

How we got here: The committee released a report Sunday outlining its recommendation to hold Meadows in contempt after he failed to appear before the panel last month. His attorney announced last week that Meadows believed he was protected by executive privilege and would no longer cooperate with the investigation.

The committee alleges in Sunday's report that the former chief of staff sent an email the day before the deadly riots telling an individual that the National Guard would be present to "protect pro Trump people."

The big picture: Meadows is the third person to face a recommendation for contempt proceedings from the committee, after former White House strategist Steve Bannon and former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark.

The Justice Department formally charged Bannon with one count of criminal contempt for failing to appear for a deposition and another for refusing to hand over documents to Congress.

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia is overseeing the criminal case.

What they're saying: "If youre listening at home, Mr. Meadows, Mr. Bannon, Mr. Clark, I want you to know this: History will be written about these times, about the work this committee has undertaken. And history will not look upon any of you as a martyr," said Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), who chairs the panel.
New data from South Africa and Europe hint that Omicron cases are poised to explode in the U.S., where the vast majority of the population isn't well protected against infection.

Driving the news: A new analysis by South Africa's largest private insurer paints a picture of Omicron's clinical risk: Two doses of Pfizer's vaccine appear to be significantly less effective against severe disease with Omicron than previous variants.

But the variant is less likely to lead to hospitalization in adults than the original version.

What they're saying: "Everything points to a large wave. A large wave is coming," a senior Biden administration official told Axios.

"It will be fast. It won't be as severe, but regrettably, there will be plenty of hospitalizations," the official added.

By the numbers: The South African analysis, by Discovery Health, found that the risk of hospital admission among adults diagnosed with the Omicron variant is 29% lower than it was during South Africa's first wave of infections in 2020. The researchers adjusted their calculations by vaccination status.

Their vaccine effectiveness analysis included more than 211,000 positive COVID-19 test results, from which 41% were from adults who'd received two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

During the current Omicron wave, the two-dose regimen was 70% effective against severe disease requiring hospital admission. (Vaccine effectiveness is measured against the same risk in the unvaccinated.)

Yes, but: It also found that two doses of the Pfizer vaccine are only 33% effective against infection from Omicron.

The big picture: A dramatic surge in cases could still overwhelm our burnt-out health system if even a small percentage require hospital care.

The analysis found that vaccinated elderly people have slightly less protection against hospitalization, reinforcing the importance of booster shots in this age group.

They found children had a 20% higher risk of hospital admission than they did from previous variants.

State of play: The Delta variant is already driving yet another surge of cases and hospitalizations in the U.S. Omicron seems poised to make this significantly worse, given its high transmissibility and its ability to evade immune protection.

In Denmark, where about 80% of the population has been vaccinated, three-fourths of Omicron cases are among fully vaccinated people, and another 9% are among those who have received a booster shot, according to a report released by the Statens Serum Institut yesterday.

European countries have also been reporting that the variant is spreading rapidly, with cases doubling every two to three days.

Omicron's "exponential rise could take us to levels of even 1 million cases per day in the United States, which previously would have been considered an unthinkable projection," Scripps Research's Eric Topol wrote yesterday on Substack.

Yes, but: We don't have nearly enough data yet to make any firm predictions.

In South Africa, for example, case growth also appears to be slowing down, and there have been reports that hospitalized adults are less sick than in previous waves.

"The chances that those vaccines will continue to provide protection against serious illness against Omicron are very good," said Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

The bottom line: "Frankly we don't have enough reliable, robust data at this point to give a clear direction as to what this will look like in the weeks to months ahead," said Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota.
The House on Tuesday evening unanimously voted to pass a bill that would ban all imports from the Chinese region of Xinjiang unless the U.S. government determines that the products were not made with forced labor.

Driving the news: Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) reached a compromise agreement earlier on Tuesday on the final legislative text of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki confirmed for the first time Tuesday that President Biden will sign the bill.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the House would send the bill to the Senate for swift action.

What they're saying: "We have been clear that we share Congress view that action must be taken to hold the [People's Republic of China] accountable for its human rights abuses and to address forced labor in Xinjiang," Psaki said at a press briefing.

"Weve already taken action on the global stage in that regard, leading an effort at the G7, putting in place financial sanctions and Global Magnitsky visa restrictions, and I think thats evidence of our commitment to this."

Why it matters: The deal marks a major breakthrough in the bipartisan push to punish the Chinese government for what the U.S. has described as a genocide against Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities.

The big picture: The bill would ban all imports from the northwest region of Xinjiang unless the U.S. government determines with "clear and convincing evidence" that the products were not made with forced labor.

Major corporations like Nike and Coca Cola have lobbied against the bill, which would have far-reaching consequences for U.S. supply chains deeply integrated with Chinese industry.

Xinjiang also accounts for nearly 50% of the world's polysilicon, a raw material used to manufacture solar panels.

Between the lines: The Biden administration has been outspoken about China's campaign of mass detention, surveillance, forced labor and forced sterilization of Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities, but had previously declined to throw its weight behind the bill.

The administration has vehemently denied allegations from Republicans that officials like climate envoy John Kerry have lobbied against the bill to ensure the U.S. can cooperate with China on climate change.

Press secretary Jen Psaki reiterated on Tuesday that the administration had been providing "technical assistance" to ensure the legislation could be implemented.

What to watch: The compromise version of the bill must be passed again in the House and Senate before it can be sent to President Biden's desk for a signature.

The Senate unanimously passed Rubio's version of the bill in July, while the House voted 428-1 to pass McGovern's last week.

This story has been updated with House passage of the bill.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu was the first to announce the planned talks in Turkeys parliament on Monday evening. The special negotiators will be named as part of steps to normalize relations with Armenia, he said without giving any other details.

Cavusoglu also stressed that Turkey consulted with Azerbaijan before making the decision. We will be taking every step together with Azerbaijan, he said.

Armenia confirmed and hailed Cavusoglus statement on Tuesday morning. The Foreign Ministry spokesman, Vahan Hunanian, said the Armenian side also will appoint a special representative for the dialogue.

Armenia has always been and remains ready for a process normalizing relations with Turkey without preconditions, Hunanian said in written comments to the media.

Ankara has for decades refused to establish diplomatic relations with Yerevan and kept the Turkish-Armenian border closed out of solidarity with Azerbaijan. It provided decisive military support to Baku during last years Armenian-Azerbaijani war over Nagorno-Karabakh.

In August this year, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian spoke of positive signals sent by the Turks, saying that his government is ready to reciprocate them. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said afterwards that Pashinian has offered to meet with him.

Erdogan appeared to make such a meeting conditional on Armenia agreeing to open a transport corridor that would connect Azerbaijan to its Nakhichevan exclave. He also cited Azerbaijans demands for a formal Armenian recognition of Azerbaijani sovereignty over Karabakh.

Cavusoglu made clear later in September that Turkey will continue to coordinate its policy on Armenia with Azerbaijan. We decide together, we take steps together, he said.

Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan complained last month about new preconditions set by Ankara. Among them is a corridor connecting Azerbaijan and Nakhichevan, he told the French daily Le Figaro.

Eduard Aghajanian, the chairman of the Armenian parliament committee on foreign relations, said on Tuesday that the two sides announced plans for normalization talks as a result of a process that started at some point. He shed no light on that process.

This doesnt mean that Armenia is renouncing its key national interests, Aghajanian told reporters. We believe that it is in Armenias interests to establish diplomatic relations with Turkey.

The main opposition Hayastan alliance dismissed these assurances. It is evident that Turkey and Azerbaijan are now trying to clinch everything from a weakened Armenia and its government willy-nilly serving their interests, said Artsvik Minasian, a senior Hayastan lawmaker.

Hayastan and other opposition groups denounced earlier what they see as Pashinians secret overtures to Erdogan. They said that Pashinian is ready to make more unilateral concessions to Ankara and Baku.
Speaking just hours before his fresh talks with Pashinian planned in Brussels, Aliyev said the so-called Zangezur corridor that would connect Azerbaijan to its Nakhichevan exclave via Armenian territory must have the same status as the existing Lachin corridor linking Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh.

There are no customs checkpoints on the Lachin corridor right now, Aliyev said after talks with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. The same must also be the case on the Zangezur corridor.

If Armenia insists on setting up customs checkpoints to control the movement of goods and people through the Zangezur corridor, then we will insist on the same conditions for the Lachin corridor, he told reporters.

Pashinian was quick to reject Aliyevs demands and accuse Baku of trying to drive the issue of opening regional transport links into deadlock.

The Azerbaijani presidents attempts to draw parallels between the opening of regional transport routes and the Lachin corridor have nothing to do with discussions held and statements signed on that topic to date and are unacceptable to Armenia, he wrote on Facebook. I will make this position clear at the trilateral meeting slated for today.

Pashinian referred to his planned talks with Aliyev hosted by European Council President Charles Michel. The latter held separate talks with the two leaders earlier on Tuesday.

Aliyev, Pashinian and Russian President Vladimir Putin reported major progress towards opening Armenian-Azerbaijani transport links after holding talks in the Russian city of Sochi on November 26. Putin said the Russian-Armenian-Azerbaijani working group will formalize in the coming days decisions which we agreed today.

However, the group co-headed by deputy prime ministers of the three states announced no agreements after meeting in Moscow on December 1.

On December 6, Aliyev renewed his threats to forcibly open a land corridor to Nakhichevan. Yerevan condemned the threats and said they run counter to understandings reached at Sochi.

Visiting Yerevan on November 5, Russias Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk said the trilateral task force has agreed that Armenia and Azerbaijan will retain sovereignty over roads passing through their territory. The Russian Foreign Ministry also reported such an understanding at the time.
5 things to know about LA Mayor Eric Garcettis confirmation hearing to become ambassador to India
Geminid Meteor Showers Above Oregon / Washington Coast. But Can You See It?

Published 12/12/21 at 6:02 PM PST

By Oregon Coast Beach Connection staff

(Long Beach, Washington)  A wildly engaging sight will be flaring in the skies above the Oregon coast and Washington coast overnight on December 13 and 14. But the problem will be the clouds. Either way, the Geminid meteor showers will be raging overhead with their peak on Monday night into Tuesday morning, and the possibility of seeing as many as 60 to 120 meteors per hour. (Photo courtesy NASA)

Some spots east of the coastline may be hosting some breaks in the clouds, so those on the eastern ends of Oregon and Washington might get to see a few, though chances are slim as the forecasts across the northwest look towards rain or snow at night in most places.

Yet this may not be a total loss, as another meteor shower will overlap with this one and then peak later in the month.

According to Jim Todd, astronomy expert at Portland's OMSI, it's Monday night and early Tuesday morning that will be the peak for those trying to check it out on the Oregon coast or Washington coast  or anywhere in the Pacific Northwest. It's the one meteor shower that can produce sparkling results before midnight, maybe starting as early as 10 p.m.

However, astronomers around the world say the best time will generally be in the hours just before dawn because of the moon.

The Geminids are one of the more spectacular meteor showers of the year, producing shooting stars that are bright and intensely colored. However, the moon in the early evenings will be interfering with the sight, but it will set later.





Todd said the Geminids are from pieces of the 3200 Phaethon asteroid, which has an unusual orbit that resembles that of a comet. Thus it's often referred to as a rock comet. NASA's STEREO spacecraft examined its dust tail a decade ago, and from the data scientists think there may be a muddy dry lake bed on the chunk of rock that emits some of the particles when it is heated by close encounters with the sun.

See Oregon Coast Weather - Washington Coast Weather

The weather forecast for the Washington coast and Oregon coast is for rain overnight on Monday into Tuesday morning, although some areas inland are showing some amount of clearing overnight. If you're in spots like Westport, Washington, Coos Bay, Yachats or Seaside, it may well be worth your time to poke your head out every once in a while and see if there is any clearing in the night sky. Even rainy nights on the coast are notorious for breaking up now and then.

Keep your hopes up, however, as the Geminids last through December 17. The very last meteor shower of the year is the Ursids, which will be visible from December 13 through 26, and it reaches its peak on December 21.

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Rhododendron Fest Returns to Oregon Coast in May, 116 Years in Florence

Published 12/13/21 at 6:02 AM PST

By Oregon Coast Beach Connection staff

(Florence, Oregon)  A much-beloved tradition on the central Oregon coast will make its way back to Florence in May, with the return of the 116th Rhododendron Festival on May 18  22 after being canceled and reshuffled during the last two seasons because of the pandemic.

Bettina Hannigan, president and CEO of the Florence Chamber, said the festival will be back in full gear with the carnival, Rhododendron Court, parades, classic car cruise, vendor fair and flower show.

We can't wait to be back in bloom', she said.

This year, Florence held a contest to figure out its theme. Back in Bloom was the winning entry, submitted by Howard Cusack of Florence.

I am thrilled to make a contribution to the Chamber's always superlative efforts to present an event that merges Americana, culture, art, and commerce with our amazing and unique floral landscape, said Cusack. I learned very early in my career as a concert producer that that the keys to a successful show are a great lineup and a relevant branding name. For example, in the summer of 1976, during our country's bicentennial, I produced an event featuring Electric Light Orchestra, Steve Miller Band, Heart, J Geils, and several others. We called it The Freedom Jam and it caught the attention of a nation and drew 80,000 people from all over.

In this case, Cusack explained he'd tried to create a slogan that was simple, direct and immediate  as well as memorable.

There's no doubt that the community has sorely missed both the event and the celebration of our legendary rhodys so I was after something that might be a reminder of the rebirth of the festival, Cusack said.

The Florence Rhododendron Festival was canceled for the first time since World War II during the pandemic, something Hannigan says makes Cusack's pick that much more potent of a message.

I think it will lend itself to lots of fun and creativity for our parades, civic displays, auxiliary events, and especially our marketing. she said.

Generations of families both local and from around the state have made the annual Florence Rhododendron Festival their pilgrimage by attending. There have been the Davis Shows carnivals, people exhibiting their rhodys and showing off their classic cars and motorcycles, and those who were a part of the parades.

It's a family tradition, an Oregon institution, Hannigan said.

The Florence Rhododendron Festival is Oregon's second-oldest floral festival, bested only by a year by the Portland Rose Festival, and sees thousands of visitors from around the state and across the country.

For more information on the annual Florence Rhododendron Festival, including applications for the Rhododendron Court, exhibitor space, parade entries, or to volunteer on the Chamber's Rhody Fest committee, contact event coordinator Mitzi Hathaway at Events@FlorenceChamber.com or 541-997-3128.

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Emergency crews spent most of Monday monitoring and suppressing a container truck in Nederland after it started leaking noxious vapors on Sunday, but details are still slim on when the response might end.

By Monday night, the city of Nederland reported that personnel  including fire firefighters from multiple cities  would be monitoring the scene overnight and more updates could come, but there was no word on whether the large swathe of Beauxart Road closed since Sunday morning would be reopened any time soon.

According to documents obtained by the Enterprise from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, employees from Nederland Tank Wash on Saturday afternoon noticed that a truck at the facility was leaking vapors.

Related: Port Arthur LNGs next permit could be in jeopardy

At 8:10 a.m.  about 15 hours later  the city of Nederland announced on its Facebook page that emergency officials had been responding to the facility in the 7700 block of Beauxart Road for about 45 minutes.

The product is an oil blend used as a lubricant additive which is producing low levels of Hydrogen Sulfide gas, city officials wrote in their notice. These vapors are being controlled by water spray at this time while emergency crews are formulating a plan to mitigate the incident.

The Enterprise reached out to Nederland Tank Wash and executives from its owner group, Younger Companies, but requests for comment were not returned.

The parent company is based in Houston and owns a similar tank wash facility in Louisiana.

Related: These SE Texas plants released the most benzene in Texas last year

According to TCEQ documents, the company estimated that the tank was expected to release around 100 pounds of hydrogen sulfide over about 22 hours and attributed the release to the product becoming overheated inside the tank.

The force of release has been controlled, engineers with the company wrote in a report to the agency. Currently cooling off the tank truck.

The companys report wasnt available online until Monday afternoon because its account on TCEQs public database was considered probationary, which usually means the company hasnt yet submitted a signed agreement to participate in the automated reporting system.

The city of Nederland published an air emission report on Facebook that it received from the company, adding that it was given authorization by the company to do so.

Related: ExxonMobil reports small debris fire in Beaumont

The report was authored by the Center for Toxicology & Environmental Health LLC, a private environmental consulting firm that TPC Group used after its Port Neches facility exploded in November of 2019.

According to the firms findings, there were 11 detections of VOCs during its monitoring period on Sunday that were above action level, meaning federal health and regulatory authorities have found that exposure at those levels could be harmful to the health of humans and long-term exposure could cause chronic issues.

VOCs, or volatile organic compounds, are a generic collection of chemicals that regulators have found to be harmful, and some of which are known to cause cancer. Side-effects from exposure often are expressed as eye, nose and throat irritation and severe headaches.

People with chronic conditions, especially respiratory issues, are more susceptible to air emissions like VOCs.

Related: Delta causes outages, flaring among industry

The firm also reported 10 detections of hydrogen sulfide during its monitoring period, which is considered highly toxic at low levels of exposure, according to the U.S. Occupational Health and Safety Administration.

The concentration of hydrogen sulfide that the firm reported was below the threshold that OSHA considers dangerous within a 10-minute period of exposure, and CTEH reported that the longest detection lasted for five minutes.

But 12 of the detections were reported from public roadways or residential areas around the facility, including in the subdivision on Sterling Ridge Drive across the road from the tank wash.

Representatives from TCEQ told the Enterprise that staff from the Beaumont regional office had been monitoring the situation since Saturday and were continuing to remain engaged in the situation.

The agency also is deploying a mobile monitoring van to the area that will arrive on Tuesday morning to supplement the emergency commands ability to track emissions.

Top hits: Get Beaumont Enterprise stories sent directly to your inbox

In a Monday morning notice from the city of Nederland urging people to avoid the area, city officials said it was unknown when the response might end, meaning crews might have to stay to suppress the tanks temperature until the tank is either emptied or pressure is reduced enough to be considered safe.

The company employed a scrubber system on Sunday that releases the vapor inside the tank through equipment that should safely diffuse it under optimal conditions.

jacob.dick@beaumontenterprise.com

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A federally-recognized East Texas tribe has joined a lawsuit that could decide the future of two embattled gaming facilities on tribal lands.

The Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas of Livingston announced at the end of last week that it has filed an amicus brief in a case raised by the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo near El Paso against the State of Texas, which the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to put on its docket in October.

The Supreme Courts decision to hear this case has given us hope that the states effort to put our employees out of work will finally end, Nita Battise, chairperson of the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas Tribal Council, said in a statement.

This case is vitally important to our Tribe. Hundreds of jobs are at stake, as well as our long-term future and sustainability as a Tribe.

Like the Alabama-Coushatta, the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo has faced scrutiny from the state over a 1994 ruling that officials, including Attorney General Ken Paxton, believe allows Texas to ban electronic bingo facilities.

Related: East Texas tribe expects further legal action on gaming

Both tribes have been fighting orders to close their respective facilities since at least 2002, but the fight was renewed for the Alabama-Coushatta in 2016.

They also were impacted by a series of policies between the mid-1940s and 1960s that came to be known as Indian termination, which culminated with both groups losing their federal recognition in the late 1960s.

After several lawsuits and a congressional push by former El Paso Congressman Ronald Coleman, federal jurisdiction was restored by 1987.

But a section of the bill that restored federal oversight still prohibited any gaming activities already outlawed in Texas. The Kickapoo Traditional Tribe of Texas is the only one that has an uncontested right to host electronic gaming on its lands.

Related: Bill restoring gaming rights for 2 TX tribes stalls in Senate

The Ysleta del Sur Pueblo case asks the Supreme Court to overrule a 1994 decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit that allowed the state to regulate gaming on tribal land.

In the brief filed last week, lawyers for the tribe wrote that the 1994 decision did not concern gaming activities that Texas permits and regulates (like bingo), nor did it purport to construe the Restoration Act to that end. At the time, everyone  including Texas  believed the Restoration Act barred Texas from enforcing its regulatory jurisdiction over on-reservation gaming activities that Texas allows, like bingo.

The National Law Review wrote earlier this month that the final decision in the case could have broader impacts across the nation depending on whether the Supreme Court accepts or rejects the idea that state regulations may, under certain circumstances, become surrogate federal law that Tribes must follow.

Related: Alabama-Coushatta reopens East Texas bingo hall

In August 2021, a U.S. magistrate judge in Beaumont ruled that the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas should be allowed to legally operate Naskila Gaming, agreeing that the gaming offered there was allowed by the 1987 Restoration Act.

The State of Texas appealed, and the case was stayed until the Supreme Courts decision in the Pueblo case.

The tribe has said that the permanent closure of the facility will impact around 700 jobs in East Texas  an argument that has helped it gain letters of support from local leaders around Livingston and Polk County, as well as U.S. House of Representatives.

Related: Texas AG could jeopardize Alabama-Coushattas bingo hall plans

House Bill 2208, introduced by Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-El Paso, and Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-San Antonio, passed out of that body earlier this year and would have ensured the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo Tribe and the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe are covered under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, but it stalled in the Senate.

We have strong community backing, we have bipartisan support in Washington, and we have a very sound legal argument on our side, Chairperson Battise said in a statement.

Still, our future hangs in the balance. The decisions made by Congress and the Supreme Court in this matter will make an impact that will be felt throughout East Texas.

jacob.dick@beaumontenterprise.com

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Sunday, Dec. 19, marks 20 years since Frodo made his debut on the big screen in "The Fellowship of the Ring" released in 2001.

Why does this matter?

The Middle Earth franchise is one of the highest-grossing movie franchises of all time, valued at $5.86 billion, CNBC reports, including a trilogy adapted from "The Lord of the Rings" novels and a trilogy adapted from "The Hobbit."

J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional storyline has engrossed viewers for two decades and appears to still be valuable with Amazon Studios producing a television series to release in 2022.

And, there are plenty of reasons for this high valuation, according to Infobloom:

There were 19,000 costumes created for "The Fellowship of the Ring."

Sean Astin put on a whopping 30 pounds for his role as Sam.

Orlando Bloom performed many of his stunts. He broke a rib at one point during filming.

"The Fellowship of the Ring" was nominated for 152 awards and won 98 of them, including Oscars, Grammy Awards and Golden Globes.

In celebration of the first film's anniversary, Infobloom looked at Google Trends search data for 15 "Lord of the Rings" characters to see which was each state's favorite.

You can see the results below.

Graphic provided/InfoBloom

Gollum took the top spot in Texas, tying with Frodo for the most popular character in the nation, each winning more than 12 states.

Graphic provided/InfoBloom

Note: Infobloom analyzed data from November 2020 to November 2021.
Bangladeshis mark their countrys Victory Day by paying their respects to martyrs of the 1971 war of independence from Pakistan, at the National Martyrs Memorial in Savar, Dec. 16, 2020.

Since its independence in 1971, Bangladeshs journey has been riddled with enigma.

On the one hand, the country has achieved remarkable successes in economic growth and some social indicators, while on the other, it has fallen short, by far, of establishing an inclusive political system, and it has increasingly moved away from democratic principles in recent years.

Even as its geopolitical significance has increased, whether it will be able to benefit from it remains an open question.

As the country celebrates its golden jubilee, it is worth recalling that when Bangladesh emerged as an independent country between India and Myanmar, it drew little attention in the international media, and far less from the international community.

The easy availability of weapons because of the war of independence from Pakistan made some people worried that anarchy would follow. A dire prediction that it would be the international basket case was echoed by many.

But Bangladesh defied these predictions and confounded analysts. It not only survived, in many ways it thrived.

Today, Bangladesh is being observed closely by international actors  often drawing praise for its role on the global stage  and can hardly be ignored. In recent times, economic growth, political twists and turns, and geopolitical significance are the three reasons Bangladesh receives attention.

The slow but steady transformation of the country from an agriculture-based to a service-oriented economy, from an aid-dependent economy to a participant in the global supply-chain, and from a rural country to an urbanized society, is testimony to the resilience of its people in the face of many odds  natural and human-made.

Yet, as the nation marks its 50th year, its propitious journey to establish an inclusive political system has been reversed; authoritarianism is on the rise.

Elated Bangladesh partisans climb on the roof of an Indian army truck carrying Indian troops into Dhaka, Dec. 16, 1971. [AP Photo]

A thriving economy

In the first two decades of its existence, the 1970s and 1980s, Bangladesh became synonymous with disasters  natural and political  in the international media. As famine, periodic floods and cyclones devastated the country, economic progress was slow at best, and political upheavals, including repeated military coups and assassinations of leaders, were frequent.

Despite a popular dream of a democratic, inclusive Bangladesh, the country was marred by civilian and military authoritarianism.

Yet, it was during this tumultuous time that the country became known for models that uplift the poor and disadvantaged. These include the microcredit movement of the Grameen Bank, and health and education programs of the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC), the worlds largest non-governmental organization.

Integration with the global economy came in various ways, including through short-term labor migration to the Middle East and Gulf states, and Southeast Asia, along with claiming a space in the global supply chain by becoming the second largest producer of readymade garments.

By the end of the nations second decade, a social transformation became palpable  as more women began to enter the formal economic sector and labor market, urbanization picked up speed and the economy became more globalized.

With the beginning of democratization in the third decade, not only did the political scene start to change, but Bangladeshs economy began to take off. The countrys GDP growth continued to be high in the third and fourth decades.

When COVID-19 hit in 2020, the economy had been growing at more than 6 percent for more than a decade, according to official statistics. This growth was matched with developments in social indicators, for example, a rapid decline in maternal and child mortality along with the expansion of education, particularly for girls. Bangladesh outpaced many of its neighbors in achieving these goals.

These successes enabled the country to graduate to a Lower Middle-Income Country in 2015. In addition, it is set to graduate from Least Developed Country (LDC) to Developing Country in 2026.

A Bangladeshi woman feeds cattle at her home in Dowtia village, near Dhaka, Jan. 19, 2004. Once hand to mouth, she now earns an adequate amount to support herself and her family by selling milk from cows bought after availing a loan from BRAC, the biggest of a legion of NGOs that have pioneered microfinance as a means of helping the poor to help themselves. [Reuters]

A faltering democracy

Still, the successes were not unblemished, as corruption became endemic. State resources were being used for maintaining a clientelistic network rather than providing for the public good, and economic disparity as measured by the Gini Index increased.

The most important marker of these two decades was the mismatch between economic growth and political development  the country continued to experience bad governance and acrimonious, violent politics, while the economy thrived.

Yet, a de facto two-party system in politics allowed a fragile democracy to survive. Regular fair elections, alteration in power, freedom of speech and assembly, the presence of a vibrant civil society and promise of an independent judiciary created an opportunity for citizens to participate in politics and let their voices be heard. Institutional weaknesses notwithstanding, accountability mechanisms were in place.

But the political situation began to change in the middle of the 2010s, the fifth decade of the nations existence, as political rivals began to consider each other mortal enemies. Ideological opponents were viewed as existential threats, pernicious polarization was deliberate and schisms were cultivated. The feeble democratic institutions were further weakened through constitutional and extra-constitutional measures.

These paved the way for the return of the military to power, albeit under a civilian guise. Although the power was handed back to political leaders through an election, Bangladesh subsequently witnessed heightened executive aggrandizement, concentration of power in the hands of a single individual, repeated manipulated elections, enhanced persecution of the opposition, shrinking space for freedom of expression and the decimation of civil society organizations.

Bangladeshi Awami League supporters shout slogans as they attend a rally to mark Independence Day celebrations in Dhaka, March 26, 2009. [AFP]

A global role

For a long time, Bangladeshs role on the global stage was limited, except for being the second largest contributor to the United Nations Peacekeeping Forces. At independence, its foreign policy orientation was marked by its close friendship with the Soviet Union. The ideological leaning of the founding leaders and the supportive role of the USSR during the war of independence prompted this preference.

But Bangladesh took a decisive turn toward the West in 1975 after a military takeover. This policy has continued for decades with slight twists and turns.

In the last decade, Indias influence on Bangladesh increased as it created a hegemonic relationship with the incumbent Awami League, which returned to power in 2009.

However, as Chinas ambitions to become a global power began to manifest in the 2000s, its focus turned to South Asia, including Bangladesh, and Beijing and New Delhi began vying to extend their influence in the country.

Although India remains closer to the incumbent Bangladeshi government, at least politically, Bangladesh has opened its door to China, and the relationship has warmed.

With growing interest by the United States in the Asia-Pacific, the contestation will be more intense in coming days.

Bangladesh at a crossroads

At its 50th year, Bangladesh stands at a crossroads.

In politics, it faces the choice between pursuing the current pathway of a non-inclusive system of governance. This could lead to further shrinking of space and restrictions on freedom of expression and assembly, or reverse the current course to return to democracy.

In the economy, the choice is between continuing growth for a few, or developing a system that addresses the disparity and leaves nobody behind.



Ali Riaz is a distinguished professor of political science at Illinois State University, a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, and the president of the American Institute of Bangladesh Studies. The views expressed here are his own and do not reflect the position of Illinois State University, the Atlantic Council, the American Institute of Bangladesh Studies, or BenarNews.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken vowed to strengthen American economic ties with Indonesia and boost infrastructure investment in the country after he arrived in Jakarta on Monday to start his first tour of Southeast Asia as Washingtons top diplomat.

His trip to the region comes on the heels of tours by several other senior American officials, and will include stops in Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok, as Washington tries to match an increasingly assertive China in its economic and geopolitical influence in the Indo-Pacific.

During talks in Jakarta with Indonesian President Joko Jokowi Widodo on Monday, the two discussed strengthening their strategic partnership, Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said.

Its clear the United States is committed to strengthening its partnership with Indonesia, including in the economic sector, said Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi, who was scheduled to meet with Blinken on Tuesday.

Retno said Jokowi wanted to make Indonesia part of the global supply chain in the health sector, to which Blinken responded positively.

Secretary Blinken also expressed his commitment to partner with Indonesia in the area of infrastructure investment, she told a news conference, without elaborating.

The United States has a fair bit of catching up to do on trade with the member-states of the Association of Southeast Asian nations (ASEAN). In recent months, the Biden administration has sent U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai and Commerce Secretary Raimondo to the region.

Total U.S. trade with ASEAN was $135 billion, to China $40 billion. Twenty years later, in 2020, Chinas trade with ASEAN was $685 billion to Washingtons $362 billion.

Kishore Mahubani, an author and scholar, noted in an article for Foreign Policy that submarines are stealthy, but trade is stealthier.

Both generate security  the former by deterrence, the latter by interdependence. But the kind of security created by trade lasts longer, said the distinguished fellow at the National University of Singapores Asia Research Institute.

ASEAN outlook on Indo-Pacific

Still, when the United States and Southeast Asian nations talk, the issue of security is equally important in a region where four ASEAN nations have claims that compete with Chinas sweeping ones in the contested South China Sea.

Indonesia does not regard itself as a party to the South China Sea dispute, but Beijing claims historic rights to parts of that sea overlapping Indonesias exclusive economic zone (EEZ) off the Natuna Islands.

In Jakarta, Blinken reiterated the U.S. commitment to ASEAN centrality and our support for the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific during the meeting with Jokowi, State Department spokesman Ned Price said.

ASEANs outlook on the Indo-Pacific says that member-states must promote freedom, peace, stability and prosperity in the region, through a peaceful settlement of disputes, and through promoting the rule of law and rejecting the use of threats and force.

Blinken is scheduled to give a speech on Washingtons approach to the Indo-Pacific on Tuesday morning in Jakarta.

In a statement released on Sunday, the State Department said Washington and Jakarta were committed to freedom of navigation and overflight in the Indo-Pacific region, alluding to Chinas growing assertiveness in its claim to most of the South China Sea.

We support Indonesias strong efforts to safeguard its maritime rights and stand up to PRC [Peoples Republic of China] aggression in the South China Sea, including in its exclusive economic zone around the Natuna Islands, the department said.

The United States is proud to be Indonesias largest defense partner in terms of the number of annual exercises and events in which we participate together.

Earlier this month, an Indonesian lawmaker, Muhammad Farhan, revealed China had demanded that Indonesia stop oil and gas drilling at sea off the Natunas, and that Beijing had alleged in an unprecedented diplomatic note some months ago that these activities were occurring in the South China Sea.

In a separate diplomatic communique, China also objected to a joint Indonesia-United States military exercise held in August, according to Farhan.

Much needed corrective

Blinkens visit will initiate an increasingly high-level of interaction between Indonesia and the United States in the context of the strategic partnership between the two countries, I Gede Ngurah Swajaya, director general of the Americas and Europe desk at Indonesias foreign ministry, told reporters last week when announcing Blinkens visit.

Blinkens deputy, Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Kritenbrink, meanwhile, last week characterized Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand being essential components of the Biden-Harris administrations Indo-Pacific strategy. 

[Tthe Secretarys meetings will focus on strengthening the regional security infrastructure in response to PRC bullying in the South China Sea. The Secretary will also discuss unilateral PRC actions in the Mekong River, Kritenbrink said.

Blinkens Indonesia visit is a much-needed corrective to earlier oversights, Ben Bland, director of the Southeast Asia Program at the Lowy Institute in Sydney, wrote in an opinion piece for the New York Times.

So far, Washington has shown limited ambition for boosting the relationship with Indonesia. Despite warnings over Beijings growing strategic leverage with Jakarta, it has yet to come up with significant economic counterweights, Bland wrote, referring to China being a vaccine supplier and funding Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) projects in Indonesia.

Helping Indonesia emerge from the economic and health crisis spurred by the pandemic will win favor with Mr. Joko while reducing his reliance on Beijing. Supporting Indonesias recovery also will bolster the argument that democracy  not authoritarianism  can deliver for developing countries in Asia.

Strategic trust with Washington and Moscow

Blinkens Indonesia trip coincided with a visit there by Nikolai Patrushev, the chief of Russias Security Council, who also met with Jokowi on Monday.

Patrushev was due to hold a bilateral security consultation with Indonesian security minister Mohammad Mahfud MD and sign a cooperation agreement on international information security between Indonesia and Russia, Retno said.

Retno said the United States and Russia were both good partners of Indonesia and Jakarta would would continue to develop strategic trust.

Strategic trust is very important as a foundation for forging mutually beneficial and respectful cooperation, she said.

Strategic trust is needed to build a peaceful and prosperous world and Indonesia has a strong commitment to contribute to creating a peaceful, stable and prosperous world.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken delivers remarks on the Biden administrations Indo-Pacific strategy, at the University of Indonesia in Jakarta, Dec. 14, 2021.

Updated at 2:14 p.m. ET on 2021-12-14

The United States pledged Tuesday to help Indo-Pacific countries build better infrastructure to counter Chinas ambitious connectivity scheme to construct railways, dams and power plants across the region.

During a speech in Jakarta, Secretary of State Antony Blinken signaled that Washington would also pursue closer diplomatic and military ties with countries in the region to ward off security threats. His visit to Indonesias capital was the first stop on his first tour of Southeast Asia as Americas top diplomat.

In thinly-veiled criticism of Chinas Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), he listed frequent complaints linked to Beijing-backed infrastructure projects, including opaque contracts, the influx of foreign workers, environmental pollution and debt traps.

Countries in the Indo-Pacific want a better kind of infrastructure, but many feel its too expensive, or they feel pressured to take bad deals on terms set by others, rather than no deals at all, Blinken said in his speech at the University of Indonesia.

So we will work with countries in the region to deliver the high quality, high-standard infrastructure that people deserve, he said.

Blinken will also visit Malaysia and Thailand  which, like Indonesia, are founding members of the ASEAN bloc. He met with Joko Jokowi Widodo, the Indonesian president, a day earlier. On Tuesday night, Blinken flew from Jakarta to Kuala Lumpur.

Im in Jakarta on the first stop of a three-country tour of Southeast Asia because what happens in this region shapes global events, and because our relationships with countries of Southeast Asia are vital across virtually all of the foreign policy priorities that we have, he told reporters at a local hotel later in the day.

He and his Indonesian counterpart, Retno Marsudi, he said, had just signed three bilateral memoranda of understanding to bring our countries work together to another level. These included a memorandum on maritime cooperation covering activities such as joint naval exercises and combating illegal fishing.

[W]e will bolster Indo-Pacific security. Threats are evolving. Our security approach has to evolve with them, he said during his speech earlier on.

The United States will adopt a strategy that more closely weaves together all our instruments of national power  diplomacy, military, intelligence  with those of our allies and our partners, he added.

As a strategy to counter BRI, the U.S.-led Build Back Better World Partnership (B3W) initiative, unveiled in June at the G7 summit in Cornwall, England, promises sustainable and value-driven infrastructure investment to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars in low- and middle-income countries in coming years.

President Joe Biden said at the time that the program would help narrow a U.S. $40 trillion need for infrastructure projects across the developing world.

Blinken said the United States, Japan and Australia had provided more than $48 billion in government-backed financing for infrastructure for the region since 2015.

In addition, American companies have invested more than $1 trillion in the region, he said.

And together with Australia and Japan, we launched the Blue Dot Network to start certifying high quality infrastructure projects that meet the benchmarks developed by the G20, the OECD and others, and to attract additional investors, he said.

A four-year study by AidData, an international development research lab at U.S. university William & Mary, found that countries owed under-reported debts of at least $385 billion to China in the past two decades, and that one-third of projects under BRI have run into major implementation problems.

The hidden debts, which slipped through the scrutiny of international lenders such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and credit rating agencies, mean borrowing countries may have to repay more than they think, AidData said.

A Chinese worker carries materials for the first rail line linking China to Laos, a key part of Beijing's Belt and Road Initiative, in Luang Prabang, Laos, Feb. 8, 2020. [AFP]

Contested waters

On the issue of the South China Sea, Blinken said the United States was determined to uphold freedom of navigation and would work with other countries to defend the rules-based-order in the Indo-Pacific.

Its not about a contest between a U.S.-centric region or a China-centric region. The Indo Pacific is its own region. Rather, its about upholding the rights and agreements that are responsible for the most peaceful and prosperous period this region and the world has ever experienced, he said.

He said Beijings aggressive actions in the contested waters threatened the movement of more than U.S. $3 trillion worth of commerce every year.

When commerce cant traverse open seas, that means that farmers are blocked from shipping their produce, factories cant ship their microchips, hospitals are blocked from getting life-saving medicines, Blinken said.

He cited a laundry list of accusations against China, including distorting open markets through subsidies to its state-run companies, denying exports or revoking deals for countries whose policies it does not agree with, and engaging in illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing activities.

Countries across the region want this behavior to change. We do too, Blinken said.

The American president will be inviting Southeast Asian leaders for a summit in the United States in coming months, to discuss how we can deepen our strategic partnership, he said.

The U.S. government has yet to announce a date for a meeting between President Biden and leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. However, Cambodias government said a summit could take place in the very near future, while the Philippines said it might happen next month.

Blinkens trip to Southeast Asia comes on the heels of tours by several other senior American officials, as Washington tries to match an increasingly assertive China in its economic and geopolitical influence in the Indo-Pacific.

The United States recognizes that much of our planets future will be written in the Indo-Pacific. Our enduring commitment to this region and our collaboration with our allies and partners will help us to achieve a free and open, interconnected, prosperous, resilient, and secure region for all, the senior-most American diplomat said.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi sign memoranda of understanding at the Pancasila Building in Jakarta, Dec. 14, 2021. [Pool Photo via AP]

But an article posted on Chinas military news website blasted the late U.S. regional charm offensive, calling Washington the most unreliable major power that often stops at paying lip service.

For one thing, America is only interested in military security while diplomatic engagement and economic aid and cooperation are just candies to lure in the Southeast Asian countries, said the writer of the opinion piece published on the ChinaMilitary site.

For another, America is incapable of doing things on all fronts in parallel. With the change of administrations, its policies are never consistent, its economic strength and influence are falling, and its soft power is waning, all of which have taken a serious toll on the implementation of its strategies and policies, the article said.

Aaron Connelly, a senior fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), said Blinkens visit had a straightforward purpose.

Some visits are motivated by crisis or a particular agenda, Connelly said.

In this case, I think that Blinken is trying to restore regular order to U.S. diplomacy by visiting key Southeast Asian states, listening to his counterparts, and rebuilding relationships after the damage of the Trump years, he told BenarNews.
President Rodrigo Duterte, accompanied by Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea, shows his certificate of withdrawal from the 2022 senatorial election, at the Commission on Elections in Manila, Dec. 14, 2021.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday dropped his bid for election to the Senate next year, hours after his daughter, a vice presidential candidate, endorsed him to her supporters.

Duterte showed up at the Commission on Elections office shortly before 5 p.m. to file his statement of withdrawal. Hours earlier, Sen. Christopher Bong Go, his longtime aide, officially withdrew from the 2022 presidential race, leaving their Partido Demokratiko Pilipino (PDP)-Laban party without a candidate for the countrys top office.

President Rodrigo Roa Duterte this afternoon filed his statement of withdrawal at the Commission on Elections and will no longer be running for senator in the May 2022 national elections, Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles, Dutertes acting spokesman, said in a statement.

Dutertes withdrawal would allow him to better focus on managing our pandemic response to sustain the economy as the country moves to reopen after extended closures caused by COVID-19, the spokesman said.

He likewise views this as an opportunity to concentrate on efforts to ensure transparent, impartial, orderly and peaceful elections in May, Nograles said.

The spokesman said Duterte, 76, plans to retire from government to spend more time with his family once his term ends next year. The Philippine constitution limits a presidents time in office to a single, six-year term.

Earlier in the day, Sen. Go made official what he had announced last month.

Im no longer in the presidential race for 2022, Go told reporters. I already spoke about my decision on Nov. 30. I was just buying time so my supporters could absorb my decision.

The Philippines, a country of 110 million people, will hold a general election on May 9, 2022, to choose a successor to Duterte and the vice president, as well as fill 12 Senate seats, all 316 House seats and about 18,000 official positions ranging from governors to mayors and town councilors.

Duterte had flirted with the idea of running for vice president, in what observers suggested was a backdoor attempt to control government amid a likely investigation by the International Criminal Court (ICC) over his administrations war on drugs, which has left thousands dead.

Marcos-Duterte-Carpio ticket

The president dropped that plan in October when he announced that he planned to retire from politics after his term expired. He then instead endorsed Go as a vice presidential candidate while hoping that his daughter, Sara Duterte-Carpio, would step and run as president.

She, however, opted to run for vice president and join forces with ex-Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr., a presidential candidate who is the son and namesake of the countrys late dictator.

Duterte-Carpio apparently was not aware of her fathers plans as she endorsed him in his senate race earlier in the day.

Marcos Jr., who comes from one of the most famous political dynasties in Asia, is vying to replace Duterte, whose 2016 presidential campaign was endorsed and bankrolled by the Marcos family.

His father, President Ferdinand E. Marcos, ruled the Philippines for two decades, including 14 years of martial law, before a popular uprising chased him into exile in 1986.

Duterte will lose presidential immunity when he steps down next year. He is facing at least two cases brought before the ICC by relatives of those who died in his drug war.

Under his administration, police have killed about 8,000 suspected drug addicts and dealers, whose markets are primarily located in the sprawling slums of Metro Manila, according to government figures. The number could be as high as 30,000, according to human rights advocates and drug-war survivors.
The portraits of Filipino heroes from the World War II era (clockwise from top), Jose Abad Santo, Vicente Lim and Josefa Llanes-Escoda appear on the front of the P 1,000-peso note.

The Philippine government on Tuesday backed off from a plan to overhaul the 1,000-peso bill by removing portraits of three World War II-era Filipino heroes that front the note  an idea widely panned here as plain revisionism.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the countrys central bank, at the weekend released a sample image of the proposed new bill. It features the Philippine Eagle (Pithecophaga jefferyi), a species that remains critically endangered in the wild and is found mostly in the southern Mindanao region.

The bank said it was planning to use an image of this bird (pictured below) on the face of the note to replace images of Vicente Lim, Josefa Llanes Escoda and Jose Abad Santos, three iconic Filipinos who fought and died while resisting the Japanese wartime occupation. The P 1000-peso bill is the most widely circulated Philippine note.

On top of that, the central bank embarrassingly misspelled the scientific name of the majestic eagle, sparking widespread criticism on social media.

The old bill will remain in circulation, Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles, the acting presidential spokesman, assured Filipinos during a news conference on Tuesday.

This new 1,000-peso bill featuring the Philippine Eagle is a polymer series that the BSP is using as a test circulation to validate and determine that polymers are more hygienic, more environmentally friendly and more secure compared to materials used for our peso bills.

So the 1,000 peso bills featuring three of our national heroes and martyrs will not be demonetized, Nograles said.

[BenarNews/stringer]

Negative reactions were swift when the BSP first announced the plan to change the face of the note. Historians said they were aghast. Even the military questioned the new policy.

Several lawmakers opposed the move, branding it a form of revisionism.

The BSP did not only erase our heroes in the P1,000 bill, it has also diminished Philippine history by focusing on plants and animals. Literally, our heroes lost their role, Sen. Nancy Binay said in a statement.

Its sad that Josefa Llanes-Escoda, Jose Abad Santos, and Gen. Vicente Lim have become the first casualties of retail revisionism, she said. For some strange reason, BSP is slowly silencing memories of heroism and acts of patriotism.

Carlos Isagani Zarate, the House deputy minority leader, said the BSP was denigrating their historical contribution in the defense of our freedoms and the fight against foreign aggression.

He added that the BSP appeared to be helping those who are now aggressively trying to revise our history.

Llanes-Escode was the founder of the Philippine Girl Scouts; Santos was the Philippine chief justice of the Supreme Court during the Japanese occupation, which lasted from 1942 till 1945 after the forces of Imperial Japan invaded the archipelago in December 1941; and Gen. Lim, the first Filipino to graduate from the United States Military Academy at West Point, was executed after being taken prisoner by the Japanese military.

Benjamin Diokno, governor of the central bank, defended the move and said the new bills were part of a test circulation for the roll out of polymer bills, starting in April 2022. These are said to be stronger and more secure against counterfeiters.

Heroes will remain heroes whether they are in the notes or not  We will not demonetize the existing 1,000-peso paper banknote, Diokno told reporters on Monday.

Under my watch, there will be no demonetization of any denomination. The BSP will continue to print the existing 1,000-peso paper banknotes featuring the three heroes even as we circulate the 1,000-peso polymer banknotes.
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FILE  Vermont State Sen. Becca Balint, D-Windham, addresses the Vermont Senate, Jan. 6, 2021, at the State House, in Montpelier, Vt. Balint, of Brattleboro, Vt., the first woman and first openly gay person to serve as the president of the Vermont State Senate, said Monday, Dec. 13, 2021 that she's running to occupy the state's lone U.S. House seat.
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PITTSFIELD  In the span of just a few months working for Hillcrest Educational Centers, Francis Kesse had allowed his extended family home in Ghana to begin to achieve financial freedom, according to his wife, Beatrice Kesse.

Kesse, 33, who had been a teacher in Ghana, was the cornerstone, the pillar and the breadwinner of his family, she said.

Receiving his three-year guest worker visa to America, the land of opportunities, was a dream come true for Kesse, she said, because it meant opportunity would trickle down to the couples three young children.

But that dream ended on Jan. 11, 2019, when Kesse was killed in a crash in Stockbridge.

On Monday, 45-year-old Michelle S. Curletti was sentenced to four years in prison for driving drunk that night when her BMW crossed the double-yellow center line on Route 7 and struck the Toyota SUV carrying Kesse and three others.

In a victim impact statement, Beatrice said not a day goes by when she does not feel the turmoil of his early death.

His death has created a void in my life; a void that will never be filled until eternity, she wrote.

Kesse was riding home with his co-workers that Friday night after a shift at Hillcrests Brookside Intensive Treatment Center in Great Barrington, where for the previous seven months he had worked as a youth development professional.

Meantime, Curletti was driving home from a work party. She was employed at the state Department of Children and Families Pittsfield office as an area program manager, but was terminated after the crash.

Jesus! screamed Fidelis Morkeh, the driver of the SUV upon impact, according to his statement to the court, in which he described being unable to maneuver away because large trees flanked the vehicle on either side.

The impact caused the SUV to spin out counterclockwise, leave the roadway and strike a tree, said Assistant District Attorney Stuart Weissman.

Kesse was in the right rear seat, and died as a result of injuries. Kesses brother, Augustine Owusu, said in his own impact statement that the two were like twins, and that he suffered a severe neck injury from which he is still recovering.

Kesse was previously described by his employer, Jerry Burke, president and CEO of Hillcrest Educational Centers, as a well-regarded staff member who had earned the respect of children under the organizations care.

Curletti, of West Stockbridge, pleaded guilty in Berkshire Superior Court on Monday to one count of motor vehicle homicide while under the influence of alcohol and operating negligently, and a second count of operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol and negligently causing serious bodily injury.

She admitted to driving with a blood-alcohol concentration of 0.20, Weissman said, more than twice the legal limit.

Witnesses and closed circuit video of showed Curletti drinking alcohol within hours of the incident, according to the prosecutor.

Curletti, who was not injured in the crash, was transported to Berkshire Medical Center, where blood and urine samples were collected.

She appeared alongside her defense attorney Lori Levinson in Berkshire Superior Court on Monday morning.

Earlier this year, Levinson unsuccessfully sought to have the results of the blood-alcohol test excluded from the evidence against Curletti, arguing in part that there was no probable cause for the evaluation. She declined comment after Mondays hearing.

She will be sentenced to four years incarceration at the Massachusetts Womens Correctional Center at Chicopee  two years for each offense. Judge John Agostini agreed to wait until Jan. 7, after the holidays, to impose the sentence.

Curletti did not have a criminal record, and did not intend to kill Kesse, Agostini said in a court filing. But her conduct resulted directly in his death and serious injury to others.

Quote "His death has created a void in my life; a void that will never be filled until eternity." Impact statement from Francis Kesse's wife.

None of the surviving crash victims seek vengeance or retribution, Agostini noted in the filing, and wished to leave the level of punishment in the hands of the court. The surviving victims described the overwhelming emotional and physical trauma of the crash and losing Kesse, whom they described as benevolent and kind. In their separate impact statements, they invoked their Catholic faith.

From my background as a Catholic, and by my faith as a Christian, I cannot ask you to send Ms. Curletti to prison, because that wouldnt bring back our dear friend to this life again, Morkeh wrote. I humbly recommend that Ms. Curletti should be allowed to inform society by any means about the adverse effect of alcoholic abuse with driving and its impact on the lives of people.
Cops and Courts Reporter

Amanda Burke is Cops and Courts Reporter for The Berkshire Eagle. An Ithaca, New York native, she previously worked at The Herald News of Fall River and the Fitchburg Sentinel & Enterprise.
Ben Downing, who launched his campaign for governor in February in East Boston, above, announced a number of endorsements Monday, including four members of the Berkshire delegation in the Statehouse.
My goal is to become a robotics engineer and master-certified in FANUC, he said. I thought I was well suited and well prepared, but it definitely was still nerve wracking. He asked how my classes here at Bowling Green and my work in the lab have helped me progress out in the field or on the job site.

I actually got to talk to him a decent amount of time  I think I went a little bit over. I went on to talk about the actual manufacturing system that I was working on and how important it is that hands-on work with this type of machinery is significant because Ohio is a massively industrialized state and robotics have an ever-increasing role.

Preparing students for human-robot interaction

The mechatronics engineering technology program at BGSU is an interdisciplinary field that prepares students to work with emerging technologies in robotics and advanced manufacturing. This in-demand field includes the design, development, implementation, automation and management of robotics system technologies such as industrial robotics manipulators, automated guided vehicles, navigation and inspection, assistive robotics, device technologies, human-robot interaction and many other exciting applications.

Mechatronics and robotics professionals design, integrate and maintain automated and intelligent systems. These professionals conduct their work in laboratories, offices or on-site at advanced manufacturing and logistics facilities.

Kennedy, who attended the Millstream Career Center in Findlay City Schools, developed an interest in robotics and robot competitions while in high school. He was drawn to BGSU because the University had just unveiled its mechatronics engineering technology program and lab at the time.

I was given a tour prior to the start of the program opening, and they had a bunch of Mitsubishi Delta SCARA robots in that lab that I really got interested in, said Kennedy, who will graduate in December. Plus, it was a four-year program  I really wanted the background knowledge of engineering so that when I go out into the industry, it's not just about the robot. I will understand the other components, equipment and what the robot interacts with and communicates with.

Internship opens door for immediate employment

Kennedy spent the summer as an intern with Perrysburg-based RoBEX, a precision integrator of industrial robots that designs, builds and installs custom robotic systems that improve productivity and safety through industrial, collaborative and autonomous mobile robots.

Cal Bowers, Vice President of Growth at RoBEX, said Kennedy completed MiR Academy, a training resource for autonomous mobile robots, and played a key role in supporting a packaging company for mobile industrial robots (MiR) programming  a very large project for a critical customer. He also learned to program AutoGuide robots.

Kennedy was offered a job at RoBEX at the end of his internship and is working part-time during his final semester at BGSU. He will start working full-time after he graduates.

It is always satisfying to have our graduates find immediate job placement in the robotics and automation industry, said Dr. Mohammad Mayyas, professor of robotics and mechatronics engineering technology. The mechatronics engineering program offered Ian practice on state-of-the-art, integrated manufacturing equipment during his senior capstone project. Together with his interest and extensive co-op preparation, Ian was able to grow hands-on skills while in the College. This made it easy for him to secure a job at RoBEX upon graduation.

"Today, Ians commitment to learning has become an example to his employer for what the workforce market needs.

Currently at RoBEX, Kennedy is learning the FANUC RoboGuide to complete robot simulations and programmable logic controllers (PLC) programming.

Ian came into his internship with RoBEX with extreme confidence and a high level of composure with regard to his expectations of the position and the various requirements that would be expected of him, Bowers said. The educational foundation BGSU and the mechatronics engineering technology program provided truly prepared him for ultimate success in his role here. We incorporated a variety of projects that needed collaboration, expertise, clear understanding and patience to reach the goals set by the team, and Ian exceeded every expectation we set for him.
BOISE - 2022 nonresident regular deer tags in Idaho have already sold out, but 1,500 nonresident whitetail-only tags will be available for purchase starting Wednesday, December 15 at 10:00am MST/9:00am PST.

Nonresident hunters can buy a whitetail tag online, at vendors, or by telephone at (800)554-8685. Hunters can see the current availability of nonresident deer and elk tags on the nonresident tag quota webpage.

After the over-the-counter nonresident deer tags sell out, nonresidents may still be able to get a tag in several ways:

Apply for a controlled hunt in May, and if selected, a nonresident can buy the controlled hunt tag. (Nonresidents are limited to 10 percent of all controlled hunt tags.)

Buy a returned nonresident tag, which if available, will go on sale April 21

Hire an outfitter if the outfitter has nonresident tags available.

Buy chances in the Super Hunt drawing, which is open to nonresidents. Each year, 34 hunters win this special opportunity to get tag, or tags, valid for any open unit in the state, general or controlled hunts, for the species in which they drew a tag. There are two Super Hunt drawings each year, and the deadline for the first one is May 31.

The Idaho Fish and Game has sold out of nonresident deer and elk tags since 2017, with sell out dates consistently getting earlier each year. Nonresident tags go on sale on December 1 for the following year.
IDAHO COUNTY - It was a busy weekend for the Idaho County Sheriff's Office. Over the weekend, the Idaho Sheriffs Office responded to 10 accidents and multiple slide offs, most due to snowfall and icy road conditions. The high winds this weekend also caused several cable lines, trees and a power pole to fall down and cause multiple traffic hazards.

The Department also made three arrests.

Arrested on Saturday, December 11, 2021 was 22-year-old Kcy Bogart, from Kooskia, ID. One day prior, Kcy was charged with exploitation of a vulnerable adult and also trespassed from a residence. After receiving a call on Saturday alleging that Bogart was trespassing at the same residence, Deputies arrested Bogart for trespassing, violation of a no contact order, and resisting and obstructing officers.

Also arrested on December 11, 2021, was 50-year-old Darrell Bruce, from Potlatch, ID. During a routine traffic stop, Bruce was arrested after Deputies learned Bruce was wanted on a warrant out of Nez Perce County for failure to appear. Bruce was also arrested for possession of methamphetamine, possession of marijuana, possession of a schedule II narcotic, and possession of paraphernalia.

On Sunday, December 12, 2021, 38-year-old Alaina Armstrong, 38 years of age, from Kooskia, ID, was arrested for possession of methamphetamine, possession of paraphernalia, and resisting and obstructing officers after an open-air sniff of her vehicle by Idaho County Narcotic Detection Dog, Mic.
MOSCOW - The impacts of climate change in Idaho will present challenges and opportunities to all sectors of Idahos economy  from recreation and tourism to agriculture, energy, human health, infrastructure and land  according to a series of reports prepared by Idaho researchers and just released to the public by the University of Idaho James A. and Louise McClure Center for Public Policy Research.

The Idaho Climate-Economy Impacts Assessment connects the latest scientific research on Idahos changing climate with economic risks and opportunities that impact businesses, residents and local and state economies.

The assessment is a nonpartisan, science-based resource for Idaho business leaders and policy makers to plan for a productive, prosperous and resilient Idaho economy, said Katherine Himes, director of the McClure Center.

Over the past two years, dozens of Idaho researchers accessed and synthesized data on various effects of climate change. They connected changes in Idahos climate with economic analyses and worked with state and regional experts to assess how this may impact Idahoans pocketbooks.

Idaho is geographically unique, said Patrick Hatzenbuehler, U of I assistant professor of agricultural economics, Extension specialist in crops economics and co-author of the agriculture report. Having Idaho-specific data will help the different communities across Idaho respond to regionally specific challenges presented by climate trends, he said.

The assessment was supported financially by businesses, nonprofits, governments and foundations and included a forty-member advisory board with leaders from businesses, nonprofits and local, state, federal and tribal governments.

A Look to Major Economic Sectors

The team of researchers from University of Idaho, Boise State University and Idaho State University looked at Idahos major economic sectors including agriculture, energy, human health, infrastructure, land (forests and rangelands), and recreation and tourism.

Jeff Hicke, U of I professor of geography and climate change researcher, co-led the forests section of the assessment. He compiled and reviewed data and scientific literature to identify the most recent forest science relevant to Idaho. The forests report indicates there will be a shift of tree species in the years to come as climates changes and forests adapt.

Trees will respond differently to climate change; some will benefit from a warmer climate and others will be stressed, reduce their growth and be vulnerable to bark beetle outbreaks, he said.

Hicke said the assessment reveals opportunities for the timber industry to identify solutions to reduce the effects of climate change and protect economic activity in Idaho. This could include working with others to offset emissions impacts by increasing storage in Idahos forests and providing monetary benefit to Idahos forest managers.

Hatzenbuehler notes these reports will help industry leaders, land managers and land owners adapt practices to lessen economic impacts from climate change or even increase profit under certain conditions.

The trends indicate that, even under irrigation, some crops such as corn are more sensitive to climate change than other crops like wheat. Similarly, if you have irrigated land with enough access to water, hay will be a crop that will increase yield as the temperature becomes warmer, so including hay in the rotation over crops such as corn makes economic sense as a farmer in that specific scenario, he said.

The economic assessment reports are available online, along with additional material and resources. Himes encourages Idahoans to visit the website to identify opportunities for economic growth and learn more.
Looking for something to do? The Stay Local events calendar publishes a list of nonprofit events Tuesdays and Fridays. Please check with your club or organization to be certain of meetings, outings and classes, as they may be canceled due to bad weather or COVID-19. If any listing is inaccurate or to submit an event, contact Julie Norwood at 231-592-8358 or julie.norwood@pioneergroup.com.

Home for the Holidays: 5-8 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 16, downtown Big Rapids. An event highlighting downtown shops in a holiday atmosphere. Includes Christmas caroling, hot cocoa and horse drawn carriage rides.

Wine & Canvas: 6-9 p.m. Friday, Dec. 17, at Artworks, 106 N. Michigan Ave., Big Rapids. A unique social painting experience. Bring your own beverage and snack. Cost: $40. Register at www.artworksinbigrapids.org/painting-drawing or by calling 231-796-2420.

Nights of Lights: 5:30-9:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays from Dec. 11 to Jan. 1, including Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, The Castle in Canadian Lakes, Pere Marquette Dr., Canadian Lakes. Cost: Free. Nonmember may obtain a free vehicle pass at www.nightsoflights.org.

Tuba Bach Christmas 2021: 4 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 19, at Immanuel Lutheran Church, 726 Fuller Ave. in Big Rapids. Concert features Will Sutton, Remus Webb, Ed Mallett and Noah Mallett. No admission charge; masks required.

Visit with Santa: 4-7 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 16, at Red Fox Market, 112 S. Michigan Ave., Big Rapids.

Letters to Santa: RE/MAX Together is accepting letters to Santa until Dec. 22 at 1411 N. State St., Big Rapids. Include your return address to get a reply from jolly old St. Nick.

RECURRING EVENTS

Mecosta Co. Genealogical Society: Open from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. every second Saturday, at 424 N. Fourth Ave., Big Rapids, next to Recycle, or by appointment. Volunteers needed to help with sorting and indexing. Call Maureen Nelson at 231-250-5555 for more information.

Mecosta County Sheriff Posse: 7 p.m. the second Thursday of each month at the Mecosta County Jail basement training room, 225 S. Stewart Ave., Big Rapids. This volunteer group is always looking for more members. For more info call 231-250-9241

Morley Community Center: The center, at 151 7th St., Morley, hosts weekly pickleball, open gym, indoor garage sales and outdoor market, in addition to monthly ancestry class, craft night and blood drive. For a list of activities, visit morleycenter.org/events or call 231-856-4496.

Reed City Food Pantry: Open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesdays at St. Philip Neri Catholic Church, 831 S. Chestnut St., Reed City.

ARTWORKS ONGOING CLASSES, EXHIBITS

106 N. Michigan Ave. in Big Rapids / 231-796-2420 / artworksinbigrapids.org

After School Arts: (On break. Returns in January) 3:45-5:15 p.m. Wednesdays. Drop-ins welcome on a first come, first serve basis, but registration recommended. Register at Artworks gift shop or by calling 231-796-2420 the Monday before each session.

Open Pottery: 5-8 p.m. Tuesdays. Cost: $10 per session, $60 for an eight-session punch card. (Additional firing fees apply. Clay may be purchased in bulk for $20 per 25 lbs.) Call 231-796-2420 to schedule your session.

Fundamentals of Photography, Intermediate: 5:30-7:30 p.m. Tuesdays, Nov. 9-Dec. 14, Cost: $75. Register at www.artworksinbigrapids.org/photography.

Holiday Market: 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday-Saturday, Nov. 15-Dec. 24; Extended hours 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 16, for the Home for the Holidays event.
As restaurants and bars struggle for staff, the pool of bartenders, servers and liquor sellers could increase with an effort to lower the minimum age requirement to sell and serve alcohol.

The proposed change would lower the age for serving or selling alcohol from 18 to 17, while the legal age for drinking would remain 21.

Even before the pandemic began, Northern Michigan needed service workers. But the pandemic made that need the number one issue for bars and restaurants, said Scott Ellis, the executive director of the Michigan Licensed Beverage Association.

In the Lansing area alone, between 50% and 60% of the associations members are operating at a lesser capacity because they cant get workers, Ellis said.

Lots of restaurants have workers who started when they were 15 or 16, are mature and know the industry, Ellis said. At 17, these workers could wait tables and deliver drinks.

The Michigan Association of Retailers supports the bill sponsored by Rep. Michele Hoitenga, R-Manton. It passed the House 64-39 on Dec. 7 and was referred to the Senate Committee on Regulatory Reform.

While small grocers may have upstanding 17-year-old employees who want to be cashiers, its difficult to put them in those positions because they cant sell alcohol, said Amy Drumm, the senior vice president of government affairs for the Michigan Retailers Association.

The change would make it easier for retailers to give young workers an opportunity to work in cashier positions without needing to call somebody older to make a sale, Drumm said.

Not everyone agrees with the proposed move.

Some groups argue that 17-year-olds are not responsible enough to sell and serve liquor.

Research suggests that younger sellers are more likely to sell to underage and intoxicated patrons, said Mike Tobias, the executive director of Michigan Alcohol Policy Promoting Health and Safety, a volunteer grassroots organization based in Perry

Weve done some server training in the past, and some folks talked about it being sometimes a little difficult to say no to an angry customer. So I just think it might be even harder for somebody younger, Tobias said.

The Liquor Control Commission also opposes the change, concerned that allowing 17-year-olds to sell and serve alcohol could create long-term safety concerns.

In a statement in opposition to the bill, the commission noted Michigans alcohol serving requirements are in line with the majority of other states.

Maine is the only state to allow 17-year-olds to sell and serve alcohol for on-premise consumption at restaurants, bars and tasting rooms, the commission noted. Eighteen other states allow people under 18 to sell alcohol at grocery stores, convenience stores and liquor stores.

Several other states that allow people under 21 to sell and serve alcohol require bartenders to be at least 21, according to the bills legislative analysis.

Supporters argue the regulations currently in place would prevent illegal sales.

Liquor licenses are very expensive, and once you have one nobody wants to lose it, said. Rep. Roger Hauck, R-Mount Pleasant, who voted in favor of the bill.

Licensees and owners are ultimately responsible for anything that happens on a licensed premise, so theyre going to be smart about the maturity of employees when giving them that responsibility, Ellis said.

There are also training programs that teach servers about the laws and the effects of alcohol, which the association would encourage for young servers, Ellis said.

Employers would also have to comply with the Youth Employment Standards Act that limits the number of hours minors can work.

It prevents minors 16 and older from working in areas of business where alcoholic beverages are produced, sold at retail or sold for consumption at an establishments where food is less than 50% of its total earnings.

While measures like compliance checks prevent sales to minors, they have to be consistent, Tobias said.

Michigan Alcohol Policy Promoting Health and Safety is empathetic to the worker shortage, but lowering the sellers age to 17 is not a good solution, Tobias said.

Everythings looked at through an economic lens, and I know thats important, but I feel like people lose sight of the public health impacts, Tobias said.
Plus, Bill's Message of the Day, why former President Trump canceled his January 6th press conference.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Health ministers from member countries emphasised the importance of the PHC approach to achieve UHC and health system resilience

Noting that primary health care (PHC) plays a crucial role in addressing peoples health needs close to where they live and work, reduces cost of care, enhances equity, and enables better preparedness and response to pandemics, the World Health Organization has urged member countries in the WHO South-East Asia Region to increase investments to strengthen primary health care as the foundation for universal health coverage (UHC) and health security.



"During the COVID-19 pandemic we have seen that countries with strong primary health care systems were able to respond better and faster to the pandemic, while also maintaining essential services with minimal disruption," said Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh, Regional Director, WHO South-East Asia Region, at a high-level meeting.



The Regional Director was speaking at a virtual meeting that included the health ministers from member countries to commemorate UHC day and launch the South-East Regional Strategy for PHC. At the meeting, ministers emphasised the importance of the PHC approach to achieve UHC and health system resilience. The Ministers of Health pointed to both the timeliness and value of the Regional PHC Strategy to help drive necessary PHC-oriented transformation across the Region.



PHC is the key that unlocks UHC  through simultaneously addressing concerns related to equity and efficiency. We need a paradigm shift to ensure that primary health care is provided throughout the life course with a focus on prevention and well-being that is organized around the comprehensive needs and expectations of the people and communities, said the Regional Director.



"One of the key lessons of the COVID-19 pandemic is that the best defense against disease outbreak and other health emergencies is resilient primary health care as the foundation of universal health coverage. Many of the countries that have responded most effectively to COVID-19 are those that had invested adequately in PHC," said WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, at the meeting.
TikTok has launched a creator support programme in South Africa, inviting South African TikTok community members to apply.

Direct access to a Creator Manager.

Ongoing content support and guidance.

The best TikTok merch.

Exclusive access to TikTok events and masterclasses.

Facilitated by the TikTok, its first-of-its-kind creator amplification programme, the Level Up Programme, is for locals who want to take their skills, their passions and their content creation careers even further.South Africans inherently have creativity flowing through their veins  its a natural part of them - which is why we want to provide these creatives with the opportunity to take their abilities and talents even further, turning their goals into a reality, says Saul Moross, creator operations lead for sub-Saharan Africa.The programme allows us to work with creators of all levels in order to increase their content creation skills, connect and collaborate with other creators in the community, and get the most in return for a more streamlined effort and relationship with the creator community at different levels, adds Moross.Whether you consider yourself an amateur or advanced creator, if youre keen to learn more about the platform, its tools and how to turn your creativity into a career  then you should definitely apply to Level Up!Whats even better is that as you progress through the programme, youll get access to even more exclusives.Click through to the application link here
The British government will remove all 11 countries from its Covid-19 travel red list from Wednesday because there is now community transmission of Omicron in Britain, Health Secretary Sajid Javid told parliament.

Cancellations

The new Omicron variant was first detected in southern Africa and Hong Kong. The British government added 11 African countries to its red list from late November, meaning that only UK citizens or residents arriving from those nations were allowed in and then had to quarantine in a hotel."Now that there is community transmission of Omicron in the UK and Omicron has spread so widely across the world, the travel red list is now less effective in slowing the incursion of Omicron from abroad," Javid said."We will be removing all 11 countries from the travel red list effective from 4am tomorrow morning."The 11 countries which will be removed are Angola, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe.Britain has registered more than 4,700 cases of Omicron, with 10 people hospitalised, and one person has died after contracting the variant. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Tuesday Britain was facing a "huge spike" in Omicron cases.Travel companies had urged the government to reduce restrictions as soon as possible. London's Heathrow Airport said last week it was seeing high levels of business travellers cancelling due to concerns over restrictions.Britain will still require all inbound travellers to take either a PCR or a rapid lateral flow test a maximum of 48 hours before departure, a measure Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said would be reviewed in the first week of January.Mark Tanzer, chief executive of travel association ABTA, welcomed the removal of the red list but said testing should also have been scrapped."With the testing measures now extending over the Christmas and New Year period, and the industry quickly approaching peak-booking season for summer 2022, travel businesses are facing a very serious situation," he said in a statement."Consumer confidence in travel has suffered a significant setback, which will outlast these restrictions."Arrivals from the red list countries have had to pay thousands of pounds to quarantine in government-approved hotels. Many have complained on social media about the costs and conditions of their stay.A lack of available rooms also left some people trapped abroad waiting for space to become available in the hotels.
As a key player in the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry in South Africa for over a century, Bayer South East Africa is standing by its commitment to "Health For All" by launching a new Covid-19 relief fund.

Source: Supplied

Supporting frontline workers

Unlimited telephonic counselling

In partnership with the South Africa Medical and Education (SAME) Foundation, this initiative will provide much-needed equipment and psychological support to healthcare workers.More than R3m has already been allocated to provide oxygen concentrators, respiratory masks and vaccine fridges and freezers in support of local hospitals and vulnerable communities. This assistance will be welcomed by many healthcare workers who now find themselves in the grip of a fourth wave. Currently over 6 000 new Covid cases per day are being added to the tally of over 3 million infections and nearly 90,000 deaths since the pandemic first hit South Africa in March last year.The vaccination rollout has given us hope, but the job isn't done until support and access is available everywhere in the world, says Klaus Eckstein, senior Bayer representative in South East Africa. Our various interventions aim to be responsive to the ever-changing surges and hotspots across our region, ensuring that facilities and frontline workers who need support get it as soon as possible, he says.Oxygen concentrators, which have been in short supply during previous waves, and medical grade PPE to protect healthcare workers will be provided for, in addition to assistance with vaccine storage fridges and freezers, an urgent need in our largely under-resourced healthcare system.Mental health support by way of unlimited telephonic counselling and support services to healthcare workers for three months is also part of this relief fund. In collaboration with ICAS, a leading global provider of wellness services, this resource is provided exclusively by a team of registered professionals, including psychologists, social workers, and registered counsellors, in all 11 official languages.Bayer remains committed to helping navigate this challenging time, by standing next to those in need and at the frontline, providing resources and expertise.The Covid-19 pandemic has had and will continue to have a devastating impact around the world. It is paramount that we remain focused on continuing to use our influence and resources, as well as our compassion and commitment to social responsibility, to support and help communities worldwide, Eckstein says.
Biotech giant CSL will tap investors for billions of dollars to help fund a massive takeover offer for Swiss pharmaceuticals firm Vifor.

CSL confirmed after Tuesdays market close that it has offered to buy Vifor, in a deal that values Vifor at $US11.7 billion ($16.4 billion). The total price tag of the sale is $US12.3 billion or $17.2 billion.

Chief executive Paul Perreault told The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age that Vifor had an exciting research pipeline, particularly for kidney disease treatments, and CSL was well-placed to commercialise these assets and develop new revenue streams in the long term.

CSL chief executive Paul Perreault. Credit:Tony Stewart.

This makes perfect sense for us, he said of the acquisition. There is no divergence here from what CSL has done in the past [in scouting for opportunities], he said.
Enter Trump. On October 20, a SPAC named Digital World Acquisition Corp announced that it had found a merger target in Trump Media & Technology Group. Trump Media claims to be a business that aims to challenge what it calls the tech monopoly in media, which it asserts aims to silence conservative voices, like Trumps. Despite Trump Media not having issued a discernible financial plan or explained how it intends to go about this task, interest in Digital World went stratospheric, with its shares soaring from about $US10 (the standard IPO price for pre-merger SPACs), to $US175 in the two days after the announcement. Since then, Trump Media has missed a self-imposed deadline of November to launch a beta version of Truth Social, a social media platform that would supposedly be an alternative to Twitter (which has banned Trump). The world is still waiting. The problem may have been that a very early iteration of the site was compromised into oblivion by a tidal wave of trolls expressing anything but admiration for Trump. On December 6, Trumps company did disclose that it has hired a chief executive: Republican politician Devin Nunes, who will quit US Congress to take the job, never mind that he has never run a media company before, but he has shown a sedulous devotion over the years to Trump.

Nunes hasnt explained his decision to leave Congress, though its reasonable to assume that it has something to do with the prospect that his district will become more Democratic in the pending redistricting. The Trump SPAC deal has attracted the attention of Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren, who has devoted her career to outing financial phonies. In a November 17 letter to Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler, Warren used the deal to underscore that SPACs are inadequately regulated. Textbook example of a SPAC misleading shareholders The deal, Warren said, appears to be a textbook example of a SPAC misleading shareholders and the public about materially important information. She was referring to alleged undisclosed contacts between DWAC and Trump associates, which contradicted DWACs consistent claims that it had not initiated substantive discussions, directly or indirectly, with any business combination target. Under federal law, Warren observed, those discussions were required to be publicly disclosed.

Warren also expressed concern that DWACs acquisition of Trump Media and Technology may reignite the market for SPACs. Thats troubling, she indicated, given signs that SPACs have a tendency to disadvantage small investors compared to promoters. As it happens, the SPAC market has shown modest signs of life lately, starting around the time of the DWAC announcement about Trump. Believe me, you dont want to invest in someone elses inside joke. CNBC stock trading guru Jim Cramer Many investors who may have been enticed into Digital World by the magic of Trumps name, such as it is, may have already had their heads handed to them, as the shares have fallen from their peak of $US175 to $US50.49 at Mondays close. That has reinforced the impression that SPACs are made to fatten the wallets of promoters and their insider friends at the expense of credulous small investors, especially when they have little going for them other than a celebrity name.

These newer SPACs increasingly feel like an inside joke for the super-rich and a way for celebrities to monetise their reputations, Jim Cramer, the stock trading guru at CNBC, told listeners in March. Believe me, you dont want to invest in someone elses inside joke. Cramer was seconding the SEC, which issued an investor alert around the same time, warning, It is never a good idea to invest in a SPAC just because someone famous sponsors or invests in it or says it is a good investment. As I reported in March during the frenzy, the SPAC system hid numerous pitfalls for unwary small investors, who may have been lured by the notion that SPACs enabled hidden gems among private companies to go public more cheaply than through an initial public offering. Costs built into the SPAC structure are subtle, opaque, and far higher than has been previously recognised, law professors Michael Klausner of Stanford and Michael Ohlrogge of New York University reported in a paper in November 2020. (Their paper was titled A sober look at SPACs.) In other words, for investors and startups alike, SPACs present nothing new under the sun. They just look new.

So what about this Trump deal? It didnt last for more than a few days before raising eyebrows among financial regulators. As Digital World disclosed on December 6, in late October it received an inquiry from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, or FINRA, a Wall Street self-regulatory body, about suspicious trading in its shares ahead of the announcement. Loading The disclosure states that in early November, the SEC asked for information about certain ... communications between DWAC and TMTG, among many other things. Neither FIRA nor the SEC has said that any wrongdoing has been established thus far. As for Trump Media & Technology Group, its not what you would call a solidly established business enterprise. The investor presentation Digital World filed with the SEC on December 6 is devoid of business information. Its heavily devoted to Trumpian grousing about tech monopoly censorship and to airy claims about the enterprises market opportunity. The latter is pegged at 457 million potential users generating $US35 billion ($49 billion) in annual revenue. Trump conjured up those figures by adding together the market reach and revenues of Netflix, Twitter and the radio and podcast firm iHeartMedia.

A couple of other aspects of the presentation are bound to raise smiles. It calculates Trumps historic social media following at 146 million, although the figure is the sum of his followers on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, which may have overlapped, and although his current following on Twitter is zero because hes been banned from the platform. The slide deck lists 30 executives and other members of Trump Medias technology team, presumably to bolster the notion that its a serious tech company. Peripheral characters But the team members are identified only by their first names and initials of their last names  i.e., Josh A. and Tom M., like peripheral characters in a 19th century Russian novel. The deck notes, personnel subject to change, so if you were basing your investment on, say, Steve E. serving as VP, engineering, you may be disappointed. The entire deck is attributed to the firm of E.F. Hutton. This isnt your fathers or grandfathers E.F. Hutton, the brokerage renowned for its When E.F. Hutton talks, people listen ad campaign of the 1960s. That E.F. Hutton got absorbed by Shearson Lehman Bros. (remember them?) in 1988 after an enormous fraud scandal and was owned by American Express and Citigroup in the course of a series of mergers.

The brand name was evidently controlled by one Stanley Hutton Rumbough, grandson of the original Edward Francis Hutton, who ceded it to Kingswood Capital Markets, an investment bank, which rebranded itself to evoke the rich history, successful legacy and long-recognised value of the old name, never mind the fraud scandal. Anyway, Kingswood seems to be the investment bank associated with Trump Media. Loading There isnt much more to say about this SPAC deal, at least until Trump and his new CEO actually do something media-like. The deal has followed the SPAC model to the point of arranging a $US1-billion cash infusion from outside investors known as a PIPE, for private investment in public equity. The PIPE investors appear to be getting a good deal in that they are assured of buying shares in the merged company at a steep discount to the shares public price. That assures them almost certainly of being able to flip their shares at a profit the moment the merged company goes public. In the estimate of Bloomberg financial columnist Matt Levine, the goal is indistinguishable from encouraging them to find some retail rubes to foist the shares on. Thats particularly true in light of the fact that Trump Media has yet to demonstrate that it is a genuine company. What it has is a business pitch derived from Trumps epic resentments, a CEO with no apparent experience, and a management team that cant be identified.
Famed criminal lawyer Rob Stary is about to get a second wind.

Stary retired in August as principal lawyer and partner at Stary Norton Halphen, which he founded in 1995 as Robert Stary Lawyers. Along the way he helped found the Western Suburbs Legal Service.

Rob Stary is making a comeback at the Magistrates Court. Credit:Fairfax

But Stary is more famous for representing Julian Assange, who is fighting extradition from Britain to the US, as well as underworld kingpins Carl Williams and Tony Mokbel. He was once dubbed the lawyer to whom Australian terror suspects turn more than any other.

The lawyer was notable for taking sharp aim at our politicians, including former prime minister Julia Gillard. They were both once colleagues at law firm Slater & Gordon, but that didnt stop Stary, when representing clients in an industrial dispute in 2009, calling for Gillard (then deputy PM) to face contempt of court charges. He later insisted they remained friendly.
Mandatory mask rules are likely to come back into effect in Queensland when COVID-19 begins to circulate widely in the community.

Chief Health Officer John Gerrard, who has described an increase in the virus in Queensland as interstate travellers flooded the state when the borders reopened this week as inevitable, said health authorities were looking at mask mandates on a daily basis.

Mask mandates will likely be reintroduced in Queensland as border relaxations allow more cases in. Credit:Jono Searle/Getty

Certainly if there is evidence of community transmission of the virus, mask mandates are likely to come back in, he said.

Indoor mask mandates  its probably a little warm in Queensland for outdoor mask mandates and theyre probably not so critical  and every day we look at that.
Workplaces exposed to a positive coronavirus case will no longer have to undertake the same levels of deep cleaning as previously, following increasing evidence of the virus airborne spread. Masks will remain mandatory in retail and for hospitality staff but will not be required at weddings, funerals or ceremonial settings. Mr Foley said the changes were in response to the uncertainty brought about by the Omicron strain of the virus. Its all about maintaining the pillars of our vaccinated economy, he said.

As part of the changes, elective surgeries will also resume up to 75 per cent capacity, with boosted services in rural and regional areas, Mr Foley said. He urged Victorians eligible to receive their third COVID-19 vaccine dose to make a booking, saying evidence suggested the booster was key to reducing the impact of the Omicron strain The Peel Hotel in Collingwood is one of the two venues affected. Credit:Chris Hopkins Of the 720,000 Victorians eligible for a booster, 175,000 have rolled up their sleeves for the third jab. Whether its at our local community pharmacies or whether its at your local GP, you should come forward and get that booster, as soon as you can, Mr Foley said.

Omicron scare at Melbourne nightspots Hundreds of patrons who attended two popular nightspots in Melbournes inner-north last week have been asked to isolate after a fellow patron was later diagnosed with the Omicron variant of COVID-19. Health authorities said the infected person spent several hours at Sircuit Bar in Fitzroy from about 9pm and then moved on to the Peel Hotel in Collingwood about 11.30pm and stayed until about 3am. There were more than 410 people at Sircuit Bar and about 320 at Peel Hotel while the infected patron was present.

Loading They have all been deemed close contacts of the case. Vaccinated patrons have been asked to get tested for COVID-19 and isolate for seven days, while those not fully immunised must isolate for 14 days. People living in the same house as a close contact are not required to get a test, but they must isolate and get tested if they develop symptoms of COVID-19. Health officials are also contacting patrons who were at Sircuit between 6pm and 9pm on Friday. With staff and hundreds of patrons in isolation, Peel Hotel owner Tom McFeely said the venue would probably close for the weekend.

If your staff has to isolate, you cant open, and it makes things extremely difficult, just when we thought we were getting back to normal, he told radio station 3AW. Mr McFeely, who reopened the venue two weeks ago, said the governments directives on Omicron were policy on the run and felt like water torture for small businesses. Patrons who visited the Sircuit Bar last Friday have been told to isolate. Credit:Chris Hopkins He said most people ordered to isolate were confused by the directions given by health authorities, claiming they differed from venue to venue and people had been given different information about when close contacts would be released from quarantine. People are confused over the times. They want to know where it came from and who this person was out and about, and [they want to] get the timeline correct. There was not enough information being given to us, he said.

A Department of Health spokeswoman confirmed patrons who attended both venues before midnight last Friday would have to isolate until 11.59pm on Friday this week. Those who visited the nightclubs in the early hours of Saturday morning would have to quarantine until 11.59pm on Saturday, she said. The Omicron scare comes as NSW authorities investigate more than 200 coronavirus cases linked to a nightclub superspreader event in Newcastle. All the cases are likely to be sequenced as the new Omicron variant, as the state deals with its largest COVID-19 surge in more than two months.

Loading We will see a significant increase in Omicron cases: Sutton Victoria has recorded four new cases of the Omicron variant of COVID-19, taking the total number of confirmed cases of the strain to 10. Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton said he expected those numbers to climb  and quickly. I think well see a significant increase in our Omicron cases. The story globally is that its doubling every two to three days.... Its replacing the Delta variant. I think thats going to happen globally.

Four of the states positive cases were air passengers who travelled to Melbourne from Dubai on November 30, while one was a traveller who arrived in Victoria from the Netherlands and went straight into hotel quarantine on December 3. A sixth case was a household contact of one of the travellers. Two of Wednesdays new Omicron cases are travellers who have been in quarantine since arriving in Melbourne on separate flights from Britain. Another of Wednesdays new Omicron cases is a household contact of a previously reported case, while the fourth is the individual who attended two Melbourne nightspots on Friday. There are now 365 Victorians with the virus being treated in hospital, including 84 in intensive care, with 46 on a ventilator. There are also 44 patients in intensive care who have been cleared of the virus.

More than 10,780 Victorians were vaccinated against COVID-19 at state-run clinics on Tuesday. That takes the total number of doses administered at state facilities to almost 5 million, which means about 92 per cent of Victorians aged 12 and over are now fully immunised against the virus. Loading Australia reopens to international students, temporary migrants Australia has reopened its borders to international students, backpackers and temporary migrants for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic. The policy will allow about 150,000 study visa holders and another 200,000 holders of temporary and skilled migrant visas who are fully vaccinated against coronavirus to enter the country without needing a travel exemption.

Businesses hope the international travellers will help to address ongoing labour shortages, but arrivals are anticipated to trickle rather than flood into Australia, with Qantas reporting no hikes in tickets booked for the coming days and Melbourne backpacker hostels experiencing few reservations. Hundreds of thousands of Victorians overdue for a booster shot Nearly 443,000 Victorians are already overdue to receive their COVID-19 booster vaccine, according to the states Chief Health Officer. The initial six-month interval between second doses and booster shots was reduced to five months last week on the advice of the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation.

Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton said 720,403 Victorians were eligible on Wednesday to receive a booster dose and, because of the reduced interval, 442,716 were overdue to receive a third shot of the vaccine. There were 6274 booster appointments available in Victorias state-run clinics over the coming week. A total of 96,440 people nationwide received a booster shot on Tuesday, according to federal Health Department data. Since the start of this week, each day there have been more people receiving their third vaccine shot than there have been people receiving their first or second doses. Tasmanian border open for Victorians

Loading Tasmania opened its borders on Wednesday to Victorians, other Australians, and international travellers, although there were still a few rules in place for those visiting the state. Melbourne, Geelong, and surrounding shires were designated high-risk areas by the Tasmanian government, which meant people visiting Tasmania from those areas must present a negative result on a COVID-19 PCR test taken within 72 hours of their departure. Tasmanian Premier Peter Gutwein said at a press conference on Tuesday that all visitors must also register for a Tasmanian travel pass. Travellers must be fully vaccinated, or seek approval from the government to enter the state and then quarantine on arrival.

While other states have opened their borders at 80 per cent, we took the very sensible decision, in my view, to wait until we had hit 90 per cent, Mr Gutwein said on Tuesday. We will be reopening as one of the most vaccinated places on the planet. The Tasmanian Premier said 89 per cent of the states population aged over 12 was fully vaccinated as of Tuesday, and officials expected to reach the 90 per cent milestone on or about Friday. Western Australia also chose to keep its borders shut until it reached the 90 per cent double vaccination milestone.
Emboldened local governments have followed suit, enacting rules in some places that adhere closely to Hindu doctrine. That is especially true in Gujarat, which Modi led for 13 years before becoming Prime Minister and which is often seen as a laboratory for pushing policies to reshape India along his Hindu nationalist vision. Those include tightening a ban on alcohol and adding protections against the slaughter of cattle, which many Hindus consider sacred. Rakesh Maheriya, third from right, who is president of a street vendor association, meets with fellow vendors in Ahmedabad, India. Credit:Rebecca Conway/New York Times But even devout Hindus dont always agree among themselves what practices the faithful should follow, a conflict that also raises issues of income and class. Hence the bitter disagreement over eggs. Many Hindus are vegetarian, particularly among the elite within the countrys traditional caste system, and some of them consider eggs to be meat products.

Citing complaints from Hindus as well as health concerns, local officials in Ahmadabad, Gujarats largest city, and at least four other cities banned the sale and display of meat, fish and eggs on the street in mid-November. The mayor of one city, Rajkot, told local news media: Carts with non-vegetarian food can be seen everywhere in the city. The religious sentiments of the people are hurt by this. A street vendor serves up scrambled eggs and a roll. Credit:Rebecca Conway/The New York Times Local authorities werent expecting the backlash. In recent days, facing a lawsuit and protests, officials in Ahmadabad relented and allowed sales of previously forbidden food to resume for now, although the dispute is being considered by the courts. They did not respond to requests for comment. Top leaders with Modis Bharatiya Janata Party, which dominates politics in Gujarat, deflected blame to local officials. Some people eat vegetarian food, the states chief minister, Bhupendra Patel, told local media. Some people eat non-vegetarian food. The BJP government does not have any problem with it.

With Hindu nationalism on the rise, food has drawn more headlines. Hundreds of people lost their jobs when one of the BJP-led states in northern India began shutting down slaughterhouses. Muslims accused of slaughtering cows have been lynched by mobs. In the southern state of Karnataka, one Hindu leader has vowed to protest a plan by some local officials to provide eggs for school lunches. Loading Those beliefs can run counter to Indias economic goals and changing social mores. Consumption of eggs has grown substantially in recent years as more families have entered the middle class. They now eat 81 eggs per person per year on average. (Americans, by contrast, average more than twice that.) The central government hopes eggs will become a growing source of protein. Higher egg consumption could help the countrys troubled farm sector. Government forecasters have called for increased chicken and egg consumption, enough to double farmers income and prevent child malnutrition. The ban on eggs certainly had its fans.

Naresh Kansara, an official at a large Hindu temple in Ahmadabad, said it was wrong to sell nonvegetarian food nearby. Why dont they eat at a hotel, away from public view? he said. Why so openly? Loading Still, the egg ban caused an uproar. The confiscation of carts in November galvanised street vendors, who began protesting outside government offices. Singh, the Ahmadabad food-cart operator who escaped the November crackdown, migrated from poorer Bihar state in the 1990s during a period of economic liberation. Bit by bit, he built a name for himself on the versatility of his eggs. The president of the street vendors association in Gujarat, Rakesh Maheriya, said mostly Hindu vendors and customers were being punished. Many vendors are from the lower castes, a large voting bloc, and many Hindu customers were incensed as well.

Dhara Patel, a 20-year-old engineering student who consumed her favourite dish, minced eggs, a few times a week in the roadside stalls near her college, said the meal was her only source of protein. Why does the government have a problem if we want to eat eggs? she said. Its also about the livelihoods of those street vendors. Although the local government now says coercive action wont be taken against egg sellers, municipal officials have yet to rescind their ban formally. Vendors said they had been given assurances that they could come back. Still, along the lakeside road where they once sold their eggs, the number of food carts has dwindled, a sign to them that the egg crackdown is far from over. Who knows how long we will be allowed to be here? Singh said. They can do anything, anytime.
Latest News MyState set for major broker play in 2022 "The difference between product and policy is minimal at the moment, but what we've been able to do is ask the brokers to trust us"

Pepper Money predicts 2022 in asset finance space One of Australia's leading lenders on where the sector will travel in the coming 12 months

Hejaz Financial Services, one of the leading providers of Islamic finance in Australia, is set to apply for a banking licence to become an authorised deposit taking institution (ADI).

If Hejaz become an ADI, it would represent the first time that an Islamic financial institution has achieved that status in Australia.



Islamic finance differs considerably from regular finance, as charging interest on loans is not allowed under Islamic law. It is very common in Muslim-majority countries and is growingly rapidly in Australia.

To help them become an ADI, Hejaz have appointed three new staff to their leadership team. Andrew Oey, once of Bank of Melbourne and Bankwest, will join as head of lending, with experienced insurance and financial services operator Samrah Sahi coming on board as head of customer service.

Michael Trist, formerly executive vice president at Dark Horse Capital, will join as general manager  sales and distribution. He brings a wealth of experience, including in the UK, where the Islamic finance sector is far more established than it is in Australia.

Read more: AMP sets out stall to broker channel

Hejaz is on a mission to ensure that Muslims dont have to compromise their values in order to access best-in-class financial products, said Muzzammil Dhehdy, COO of Hejaz.

Our success so far has been founded on the world-leading expertise of our team and the arrival of Andrew, Michael and Samrah will take us to a new level. Each brings exceptional experience and pedigree that will enable us to solidify our status as Australias premier Islamic bank.

Hakan Ozyon, CEO and founder of Hejaz, spoke of the need to serve the huge, growing market of Muslims in Australia with Islamic finance.

There are roughly 1.2 million Muslims in Australia, representing an estimated market of $192 billion.



These people want to save, invest and buy houses just like other Aussies and our ambition is to be able to provide a full range of services to help them achieve their financial ambitions in a way that doesnt compromise their beliefs.

We enjoy a good relationship with APRA, who have been instrumental in guiding us towards our goal of becoming Australias first Islamic Bank.
Latest News MyState set for major broker play in 2022 "The difference between product and policy is minimal at the moment, but what we've been able to do is ask the brokers to trust us"

Pepper Money predicts 2022 in asset finance space One of Australia's leading lenders on where the sector will travel in the coming 12 months

Macquarie Bank has launched what it claims to be the fastest account opening experience in Australia, where new customers can be digitally onboarded in less than a minute.

Powered by Macquaries modernised cloud platform, customers can apply for a transaction and savings account and have their identities verified in an instant. They are then granted access to Macquaries online banking applications and have debit cards reflected in their Apple or Google wallets for immediate use.

Customers can also link up to 10 offset accounts to their home loans with a single click.

Since its launch a month ago, Olivia McArdle, head of deposits and payments at Macquarie, said the bank had received positive feedback from customers who were able to open an account with a lift of a finger while lounging at home.

Macquarie is one of the few banks in the world  and the biggest in Australia  that runs its core banking platform on the public cloud, which offers a greater speed and processing power for its customers.

Many banks still require customers to visit a branch or wait days for the physical card to arrive in the mail, McArdle said. We have reimagined the account opening experience to be almost instantaneous while still delivering all of the same comprehensive security and identity checks.

Since cloud computing entails more risk than traditional banking, customer protection remained at Macquaries top of mind when it created its own security app, Macquarie Authenticator. Luis Uguina, chief digital officer of Macquarie, said the bank was keen to provide the experience of a fintech  with the security of a bank.

[The Macquarie Authenticator] gives customers real-time control to approve or deny transactions and account changes, Uguina said. Its fast, personalised and, most importantly, a seamless way to incorporate extra security into the way you manage your finances.
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Flipkarts social commerce platform Shopsy, has started offering grocery as a category on its platform. Leveraging the Groups supply chain infrastructure and tech capabilities, Grocery on Shopsy will cater to consumers across 700 cities, spanning over 5,800 pincodes. Grocery on Shopsy will host over 6,000 products across 230 categories - ranging from staples, FMCG (fast-moving consumer goods), and other dry groceries; matching the selection and range available on Grocery.

The move is expected to help take on rivals such as Amazon, Reliances JioMart and Tata-backed BigBasket to tap the grocery market which is expected to be worth $850 billion by 2025, according to the analysts.

Over the last six months Shopsy has become one of the top social commerce platforms in the country, said Prakash Sikaria, senior vice president - growth, Flipkart. Grocery is a key consumer need and we are committed to making e-grocery affordable for consumers and sellers alike.

With grocery on Shopsy, users can now shop for value groceries by adding and checking out products in their cart or by combining orders for multiple individuals in their network. Users can avail of a flat 5 per cent commission margin that will directly be credited to the linked bank account as well as enjoy up to 50 per cent savings. In order to bring the safest and high-quality grocery products to its pan-India consumers, Shopsy further ensures stringent quality control across its fulfilment centres and Grocery supply chain.

We have been working on reducing the cost of delivering groceries over the last few months. We are happy to announce that we have achieved best in class cost structure which makes us confident of scaling groceries on Shopsy, said Sikaria. Our core focus will be to bring benefits of community commerce to Indian consumers. We believe this model can solve challenges such as small ticket buying, assisted buying and instant delivery leveraging resellers who act as a conduit between us and end-users.

Shopsy hit the $100 million mark of the gross merchandise value (GMV) in October this year on the back of festive sales and it has set a GMV target of $1.5 billion by the end of next year.

Flipkarts Grocery fulfillment centres including those in Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Coimbatore, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Patna and Pune will be leveraged by Shopsy. These centres have fully digitized processes and product quality checks. These centres have implemented effective quality management systems to ensure the products are traceable from raw materials until they reach the consumer, without losing their freshness.

Shopsy was launched by Flipkart in July this year, with the aim to make digital commerce accessible across India through a zero-commission marketplace. Shopsy has helped local and small businesses and women entrepreneurs adopt social commerce by simply reaching out to their trusted network of people on common social media apps. Shopsy has over 2.5 lakh sellers on the platform who provide 150 million products across over 250 categories and is on track to enable over 25 million online entrepreneurs by 2023.

According to a recent Bain & Company report titled How India Shops Online 2021, social commerce is set to democratise e-retail, with three in five social shoppers coming from tier-2 and smaller towns. Tapping into this opportunity, Shopsy has expanded its presence in tier-2 and 3 cities such as Bathinda, Barpeta, Gandhinagar, Morena, Mandla, Muzaffarnagar, Raipur, Sri Ganganagar and Saharanpur during the festive period. It is unlocking the potential of digital commerce for under-served consumers.

Backed by festive fervour, the platform has seen 3.6x growth in app downloads, crossing the 10-million mark on the Google Play Store, within five months of launch. But Shopsy is not alone. In the area of social commerce, it is competing with the likes of SoftBank-backed Meesho, BulBul, GlowRoad, Mall91, simsim and DealShare.

With a vision to enable 100 million small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), including individual entrepreneurs, to succeed online, Meesho is democratising internet commerce by bringing a range of products and new customers online.

DealShare is known for pioneering the community group buying (CGB) model in India. The model is handy for millions of customers of tier-2 and tier-3 cities and rural India, who are yet to benefit from e-commerce and can potentially empower millions of retailers, too. DealShare has reached $600 million in gross merchandise value (GMV) annual run rate (ARR), over 1,200 pin codes and 60 cities in three years.

Udaan, Indias largest business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce company, is eyeing the grocery market and is focusing on community grocery e-commerce (CGE) to tap the sector growing sharply in the pandemic.

Bengaluru-based Udaan has launched Price Company for CGE, an app that uses the firms relationship with small retailers, community influencers and customers to enable e-commerce on a mass scale.

Community Group Buying (CGB) is a popular trend in China, which has one of the highest e-commerce uses in the world. Large players such as Pinduoduo, Meituan, and Didi are competing with each other to tap this market.
Leena Nair, Unilevers chief human resources officer (CHRO) will step down in January to join French luxury brand-Chanel as global chief executive officer and will be based out of London.

Nair started her career at Hindustan (HUL) 30 years ago, as management trainee and became the first woman on HULs management committee.

During her stint at the company, Nair progressed through roles in factories, sales and human resources.

In a Linkedin post, Nair said, I am humbled and honoured to be appointed the global chief executive officer of Chanel, an iconic and admired company. I am so inspired by what Chanel stands for. It is a company that believes in the freedom of creation, in cultivating human potential and in acting to have a positive impact in the world.

She also said, I am grateful for my long career at Unilever, a place that has been my home for 30 years. It has given me so many opportunities to learn, grow and contribute to a truly purpose-driven organisation. I will always be a proud advocate of and its ambition to make sustainable living commonplace.

After three years as head of leadership and organisational development in London, she was appointed CHRO in 2016 with responsibility for the companys

150,000 people across more than 100 countries globally. Nair was also a member of the Leadership Executive.

Nair completed her Master in Business Administration from XLRI- Jamshedpur as a gold medalist in 1991-1992.

Alan Jope, at Unilever said in a release, I would like to thank Leena for her outstanding contribution over the last three decades. Leena has been a pioneer throughout her career at Unilever, but no more so than in her role as CHRO, where she has been a driving force on our equity, diversity and inclusion agenda, on the transformation of our leadership development, and on our preparedness for the future of work."

Jope also said Nair has played a critical role in building our purpose-led, future-fit organisation, which is now the employer of choice in over 50 countries globally.

I am also especially grateful for her leadership over the last two years, and how our HR teams have helped Unilever manage through the many challenges of the covid-19 pandemic with great care, compassion and professionalism. On behalf of everyone at Unilever, I wish Leena every success in this very exciting new role, he said.
on Tuesday said its board has approved a proposal to acquire US-based Dash Pharmaceuticals LLC for a cash consideration of USD 18 million.

The company's board has approved to acquire Dash Pharmaceuticals through one of its subsidiary units, the drugmaker said in a regulatory filing.

Natco, through its affiliates, is proposing to enter into an agreement to acquire Dash Pharmaceuticals subject to the satisfactory completion of due diligence, execution of definitive agreements, and compliance with statutory requirements, it added.

Dash is a front-end pharmaceutical sales, marketing and distribution entity based in New Jersey, USA, which is expected to have around net sales of USD 15 million for the year ending December 2021.

This acquisition will provide the company with a front-end to engage with its customers directly in the US, which is the largest pharmaceutical market in the world, noted.

(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.)
Shriram Capital Ltd (SCL) and Shriram City Union Finance (SCUF) will merge with Finance Company (STFC) as part of restructuring in

The new entity, which will be the largest retail non-banking financial company (NBFC) in India, will be named Shriram Finance Ltd (SFL).

The merger, which will lead to a simplified corporate structure, is expected to pave the way for the exit of investors like Ajay Piramal. Piramal, who holds 20 per cent in SCL and 9.96 per cent in SCUF, will hold 8.37 per cent in the merged entity, Shriram Finance.

The less complex structure may attract fresh investors to the new entity.

After the merger, the entity will have assets under management (AUM) of over Rs 1.5 trillion, more than 20 million consumers, and a distribution network of around 3,500.

All of these will be serviced by a team of more than 50,000 employees. Pursuant to the merger, STFC will issue 1.55 shares for every one share of SCUF and 0.097 shares for every one share of SCL, STFC said in a filing with the BSE. The group expects to complete the merger in nine months.

STFC closed 1.76 per cent lower at Rs 1,476.25 per share on the BSE. SCUF closed 5.87 per cent higher at Rs 2,143.6 per share.

The boards of the three approved the merger on Monday. It is subject to the approval of the shareholders of three and regulatory bodies like the Reserve Bank of India, National Company Law Tribunal, and National Housing Bank.

The company will launch a super-app called Shriram One, where all lending, savings, and insurance products will be available on a single platform.

We are simplifying our holding structure, eliminating multiple layers. After the merger, what we get is the largest retail NBFC in the country. Hence the benefit will come from synergies and how we can enhance our touch points with the existing customers, D V Ravi, managing director of Shriram Capital, told Business Standard. He added the tech stack would also become common, helping the customers to access all the products. It will also enhance the companys distribution footprint across all business lines without incurring any incremental capex.

The merger will help the group bring together all its lending products -- loans for commercial vehicles, two-wheeler loans, gold loans, personal loans, auto loans, and small enterprise finance.

SCL will merge with STFC after the de-merger of all other businesses of the group -- namely life insurance, general Insurance, and all non-lending and non-insurance activities.

Shriram Housing Finance will become a subsidiary of Shriram Finance with an 85.02 per cent holding. Shriram Finance will hold 44.56 per cent in Shriram Automall India after the merger. All other businesses, including insurance, will be held separately outside the listed entity.

The announcement comes two weeks after Shriram Groups founder, R Thyagarajan, came up with a succession plan through the trust route by appointing a board of management to run the Shriram Ownership Trust (SOT).

Umesh Revankar, executive vice-chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of STFC, will be vice-chairman of the merged entity.





Y S Chakravarti, managing director (MD) and CEO of SCUF, will be MD and CEO of the merged entity. Parag Sharma, chief financial officer, will work as whole-time director on the board.

The idea is to integrate and make all the products -- lending, insurance and savings  under one platform. The tech stack is built to make customer life easy, Chakravarti said.

He added Shriram Finance would enhance its product basket with new products and thereby look at segments like supply-chain finance and discounting in the logistics segment.

SCUF and STFC see this merger as an opportunity to strengthen their offers and provide a more holistic product basket encompassing all lending products.

Morgan Stanley and ICICI Securities were financial advisors in this transaction. The valuation exercise has been conducted by Bansi C Mehta & Co and Ernst and Young (EY). EY has also assisted in the restructuring and taxation assessment for the transaction. J&M Legal has been the legal advisor. HSBC and JM Financial have helped with the Fairness opinion. PwC will help STFC and SCUF navigate the post-merger integration process.

We have very few overlaps in terms of branch network. We dont want to be just a digital-only company. We want to reach out to consumers for businesses like gold loans, expanding to more geographies, and opening a greater number of branches, Chakravarti said.
Flipkarts social commerce platform Shopsy which was launched in July this year is eyeing to become the largest grocer in the country. Shopsy has started offering groceries as a category on its platform. Leveraging the Groups infrastructure and tech capabilities, grocery on Shopsy will cater to consumers across 700 cities, spanning over 5,800 pincodes. In an interview with Peerzada Abrar, senior vice president Prakash Sikaria said the firm is expecting to clock around 100 million users on the Shopsy platform by next year. Edited excerpts:

What is social commerce and community group buying and what does it mean for

Flipkarts Shopsy as a platform engages in reseller commerce. Since its launch in July 2021, it has seen significant growth, especially across categories such as fashion. Today, if you see social commerce in India, there are two kinds of buying that are happening - one is where consumers are using the platform for buying products for themselves and the second is entrepreneurial, where community buying takes place. This is where we are targeting our Grocery launch. Largely what happens in Grocery social commerce is that a community leader or a reseller aggregates all the orders, and the orders are then delivered to this individual who then segregates and delivers them to individual customers, who in the first place had ordered through him/her. The reason it is a very interesting business model is that one of the biggest challenges from the e-grocery perspective is the cost of fulfilment. Today, e-grocery doesnt effectively cater to low basket needs because of the shipping cost. And also, the amount of value that a customer can get, they dont end up getting it because the cost of delivery is built into the prices. This is where the aggregation model becomes an effective approach, as due to intermediaries aggregating the basket there is enough value on the table to be passed on to the end customer and also result in the community leader being able to make money.

How is this model going to bring value and how is it different from the traditional way of doing e-commerce?

If you look at some of the global markets, the community commerce model on grocery has become extremely successful. One of the core pivots around it is the amount of unparalleled value that you can give to the customer. As an example, let us say that a customer wants to order something worth Rs 300. Now, delivering just a Rs 300 item is difficult. So, here what will happen is that a reseller or a community leader will aggregate multiple such Rs 300 orders in their community or in their locality. So, let us say they aggregate 10 such orders and place a singular Rs 3,000 order on Shopsy and they are rewarded for that in terms of the intermediary commissions that they get. Once the order is delivered to this community leader, the community leader then breaks this order into 10 parts of 300 each and delivers it to respective customers. Imagine the multiple kinds of approaches that can work here. It is important to note that while in a traditional reseller model, you can order from anywhere for anyone. One can sit in Surat and can order for someone in Indore, and they still make their commissions. Here, because theyre doing delivery as well, the model is more localized. So they will order for people living near them, and their neighbours or their society or their apartment people. And that is how the model works because delivery is an important component of this model. Either it is like a very close location so that someone can take a bike or a cycle and go and deliver or in the same society, which is like walking from one apartment to another apartment within the society.

There is an online grocery war, where players claim deliveries within 15 or 30 minutes. How is Flipkarts Shopsy addressing the challenge of speed for delivering products or groceries?

There's a huge debate on if immediate grocery delivery is even needed and the kind of core structures it has. The Grocery social commerce model that we are launching, interestingly, lends itself to a hyperfast kind of delivery. What we are seeing when we talk to a lot of resellers, is that they pre-order fast-moving items for a better customer experience. So imagine a reseller order like 10 top branded soaps or 10 top toothpaste brands or 10 hair oils, for example. And think of them acting as a dark store themselves because they know that when such a need arises, people will ping them and because they are nearby, they are able to deliver in 5-10mins. It is still very early days and we'll see how it scales up. However, the model caters to both the T+1 or T+2 (settlement date of security transactions) deliveries that typically platforms as ours do through Flipkart grocery. But also this pre-order kind of approach is interesting where instant delivery can also happen.

Is there any difference in terms of the models and the opportunities in India compared to how community group-buying is evolving in China?

It is still very early days. I think the core of this model is an aggregation of delivery services. Hence the reduction in cost that is getting passed to the end customer as value, will remain. The assortment or small tweaks around Indian user behaviour, what kind of products they are ordering, what size of the order value they are putting across, might change. But the core would not change because of the very typical value dynamics there. While we are not yet seeing group-buying taking off in India the way it does globally, however, community buying is a model which we think will work in India.

What role would Flipkarts investments in such as Ninjacart and Shadowfax play to help Shopsy?

These investments are to help Flipkart score e-commerce ambition and aspirations. Ninjacart helps us build a very robust fruit and vegetable that Shopsy will leverage as part of this grocery launch as well. Shadowfax, on the other hand, caters to hyperlocal deliveries. So, both play a kind of a role when it comes to Flipkarts Grocery ambitions. Specifically for this launch, Ninjacart will certainly be helpful from a perspective. However, we are not looking at hyperlocal deliveries. We are still looking at T+1, T+2 deliveries. So Shadowfax solves that need for Flipkart Quick and might not be relevant from a Shopsy grocery launch perspective.

How is Shopsy going to be different from players such as Meesho, DealShare and Udaan, which have also set up community group buying models?

One is video commerce as an element that we are planning to bring in and really go deeper into the ecosystem. But at the core of it is the hyper value model. The logistics and the cost of logistics are extremely important. Thats why I think Flipkarts approach is very different from a lot of other players where we are leveraging Flipkarts own logistics platform to drive down the cost for the hyper value platforms that we are building under Shopsy. Our estimate is that the logistics costs for Flipkart are 50 per cent of all the other players, be it in grocery or fashion or general merchandise. And at the end of the day, that is what will matter because that is the value you're passing on to the customer. And that is where, other than the network effect and the very strong tech base that Flipkart has, I think the winning approach in social commerce would be making sure that you innovate on logistics to really create a value that you're able to pass to the customers.

How is Shopsy expanding its presence in Tier 2 and 3 cities?

I think by next year we'll be clocking around 100 million users on the Shopsy platform. And that is just a testimony to the kind of growth we are seeing. We clocked about a billion-dollar run rate in October, and then we are growing month-on-month. So very encouraging numbers. We easily see the Shopsy platform grow about 4X to 5X over the next year, and that is what we will try to achieve.
Eight new cases of the Omicron variant of were reported in Maharashtra - seven of them in Mumbai - and none of the patients had a history of international travel, the state health department said on Tuesday.

With the fresh cases, which included three women, the tally of those infected with the newly discovered variant of SARS-CoV-2, the virus which causes COVID-19, rose to 28 in the state, the health department said in a bulletin. As per the report given by the (Pune-based) National Institute of Virology today, 8 more patients were found to be infected with Omicron in the state.



Out of these, seven patients are from Mumbai and one patient is from Vasai-Virar (a satellite township of Mumbai), the health bulletin said. Seven of these eight persons were vaccinated against and their swab samples were taken for testing in the first week of December, it said. All of them - five men and three women - are in the age group of 24 to 41, the department said. It said of the eight, three are asymptomatic, while five have mild symptoms of the viral infection.



According to preliminary information, none of them have a history of international travel, the bulletin said. The bulletin said one of those who have been infected with Omicron had travelled to Bengaluru, while the others had visited New Delhi. Out of the eight patients, two are in hospital and six are in home isolation and their close contacts are being tracked, it added.

Giving the break-up of 28 patients detected with Omicron so far, the bulletin said 12 are from Mumbai, 10 from Pimpri-Chinchwad (an industrial township in Pune district), two from Pune city, one each from Kalyan-Dombivali, Nagpur, Latur and Vasai-Virar. Out of these, nine patients have been discharged after returning negative RT-PCR test, the health bulletin added. It said as many as 91,320 international travellers have arrived in Maharashtra through Mumbai, Pune and Nagpur airports in the recent days. Of these, 13,615 were from 'at-risk' countries.



The emergence of Omicron, classified as a 'variant of concern' by the WHO, has caused alarm among scientists and governments across the world.

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The Mumbai civic body on Tuesday prepared a list of guests present at a party attended by actor Khan, who has contracted COVID-19, and their immediate contacts for testing all of them, an official said.

The personalities have been also asked to remain isolated at home and avoid any exposure to other people until the RT-PCR results are out. We have to seal the building of Khan, which has been a standard practice of the civic body, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's Additional Commissioner (western suburbs) Suresh Kakani said.

Khan had attended a party at the residence of filmmaker Karan Johar.

As per BMC officials, four persons who attended the dinner party have so far tested positive for

The civic body has prepared the list of guests who were present at the dinner party and their immediate contacts in the last one week and will test all of them. Some of them have given their swab samples, a BMC official said.

We have so far tested 15 people. The details of their immediate contacts and others are being collected to carry out testing," Kakani said.

The city civic body on Monday said Khan and actor Amrita Arora had tested positive for the and those who came in contact with them were traced and their tests conducted.

Later, Mumbai Mayor Kishori Pednekar said it is not right to be carefree when the pandemic has not ended.

She said if people flout COVID-19 norms, why strict action should not be taken against them.

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The on Tuesday suspended a state government order, reducing the prices of cinema tickets.

The court passed the orders on a petition filed by cinema theatre owners challenging the Government Order (GO) 35 issued in April this year, reducing the prices.

It allowed the petitioners to sell the tickets at old rates.

The petitioners argued that the GO was issued in violation of earlier orders by the court.

They argued that the government's intervention in deciding the cinema ticket prices was not appropriate and that they had every right to decide the ticket prices at the time of release of new films.

Certain sections of Telugu film industry had voiced their unhappiness over the GO and had urged the government to withdraw it. However, the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) government had defended its move on the ground that the cinema theatres were resorting to exorbitant hike in prices before the release of big budget films or films featuring big actors.

Last month, a Bill was also passed in the state Assembly for an online movie ticketing system to be administered by the state government.

The government went ahead with the passing of legislation despite reservations by a section of industry. Minister for Cinematography Perni Venkataramaiah said that AP (Regulation) (Amendment) Bill 2021 will check exploitation of moviegoers.

Megastar Chiranjeevi also requested the Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy to rethink the government's decision to have a low cap on movie ticket prices.

He had stated that for the survival of theatres and for the many families who depend upon cinema alone for their survival, these reduced online ticketing rates should have the same flexibility as the uniform GST prices.

--IANS

ms/vd

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Defence Minister on Monday said that the Central government has been making constant efforts to achieve 'Aatmanirbharta' in the defence sector, that "lagged behind due to lack of investment, innovation, research and development before the current government at the Centre came to power in 2014".

Singh inaugurated several iconic events of the Department of Defence Production (DDP), as part of the Ministry of Defence dedicated week from December 13-19, 2021 to celebrate 'Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav' commemorating 75 years of Independence.

A virtual exhibition, 'Path to Pride', public exhibitions, curated museums and a booklet showcasing 75 resolutions of DDP were inaugurated/launched by Singh. Congratulating DDP for organizing the week-long nation-wide events, he said that it will be helpful in spreading information about the efforts towards making India a net defence exporter from a net defence importer.

In his address, Singh also paid rich tributes to the country's Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat and other Armed Forces personnel, who lost their lives in a helicopter crash in Tamil Nadu on December 8, 2021 and extended his condolences to the family members. "General Rawat still had a lot to do. Modernization of our Armed Forces and complete self-reliance in the were subjects close to his heart. Now, it is our responsibility to work tirelessly to achieve the objective even sooner," he added.

Sharing his insights on what freedom means to a nation, the Defence Minister said that freedom is not just a thing to be attained or earned, it is also a thing to maintain, for which one has to strive continuously.

"Freedom is not a goal, but a path. To a sovereign nation, freedom means the ability and capacity to take any decision related to defence and socio-economic development. In any situation, we can take a decision only when we are completely self-reliant," he stressed.

Singh was of the view that while India attained freedom in the fields such as agriculture, education and health post-independence, not much attention was paid towards the "Before the government came to power in 2014, the lagged behind due to lack of investment, innovation and research and development. This led to dependency on imports to meet the defence requirements of the country and affected the strategic autonomy," he said.

The Union Minister pointed out that the present government understood the importance of self-reliance in defence and has been making constant efforts to achieve 'Aatmanirbharta' in the sector. "The defence sector has entered into a new era due to the policies, vision and mindset of this government," he added.

Stating that this government does not shy away from taking bold decisions in the interest of the nation, Singh listed out a number of policy reforms aimed at promoting self-reliance in defence manufacturing. He made special mention of the corporatization of the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB), saying that the move will make OFB more effective and efficient and unleash its true potential.

The minister also appreciated the fact that the private sector has contributed to about 90 per cent of country's defence exports. He exuded confidence this active and continued partnership between the government and the private sector will help to soon achieve 'Make in India, Make for the World' as envisioned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He hoped that the week-long events will generate awareness among people about the progress made in the defence sector, instill spirit and further strengthen their trust in the country's defence preparedness.

Defence Secretary Dr Ajay Kumar said that the week-long events will make people aware of the achievements, resolve and vision of DDP. He reiterated the resolve to continue to move forward without any comprise to achieve 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat'.

As a run up to the DefExpo-2022 and with an aim to reach out to a larger audience in India and abroad, a Virtual Exhibition named 'Path to Pride' was launched to showcase the journey of 75 years for 'Aatmanirbhar' defence manufacturing through 75 stories of growth and evolution across the domains of land, naval, air, missile and electronic systems. This virtual interactive platform offers a repository of India's defence capabilities, indigenization efforts, future readiness and policy reforms, augmenting India's emergence as the global defence manufacturing hub.

As per the Defence Ministry, this exhibition has virtual events lined-up for seven days with seven Ps - Pratigya, Prarambh, Pratishthan, Parivartan, Parakram, Protsahan and Prayas - designed to engage respective stakeholders from the Government, manufacturers, innovators and masses.

Public exhibitions organized by Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs), Directorate General of Quality Assurance (DGQA) and Directorate General of Aeronautical Quality Assurance (DGAQA) at 75 locations across the country were also simultaneously inaugurated through virtual mode showcasing the journey of growth and development of defence manufacturing in the country. These exhibitions will be displaying an array of indigenous marquee defence products during the week. The exhibitions will offer a unique opportunity to the general public to have a look and feel of modern defence weapons, arms, ammunition and other equipment and on the top of it, a proud feeling of nationalism.

Curated museums at Bangalore, Mumbai, Kolkata, Pune, Avadi - Chennai and Goa were also inaugurated through virtual mode with a purpose to inform, educate, and inspire the masses. A booklet listing 75 commitments to the nation to be fulfilled by August 15, 2022 was also unveiled. The commitments aim to boost defence manufacturing, bring efficiency, facilitate Ease of Doing Business and reduce the regulatory compliance burden across the comprehensive defence production infrastructure.

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India on Tuesday reported a net decrease of 2,463 in active cases to take its count to 88,993. Indias share of global active cases now stands at 0.4 per cent (one in 250). The country is twenty-sixth among the most affected countries by active cases. On Monday, it added 5,784 cases to take its total caseload to 34,703,644 from 34,697,860  an increase of 0.1%. And, with 252 new fatalities, its Covid-19 reached 475,888, or 1.37 per cent of total confirmed infections.

With 6,698,601 more Covid-19 vaccine doses being administered on Monday, Indias total count of vaccine shots so far reached 1,338,812,577. The count of recovered cases across India, meanwhile, reached 34,138,763  or 98.37 per cent of total caseload  with 7,995 new cured cases being reported on Tuesday.

Now the twenty-sixth-most-affected country by active cases, third by deaths, second by total cases and recoveries, India has added 55,261 cases in the past 7 days.

India now accounts for 0.4% of all active cases globally (one in every 250 active cases), and 8.93% of all deaths (one in every 11 deaths).

India has so far administered 1,338,812,577 vaccine doses. That is 3857.84 per cent of its total caseload, and 95.7 per cent of its population.

Among Indian states, the top 5 in terms of number of vaccine shots administered are Uttar Pradesh (183537903), Maharashtra (129202783), West Bengal (101730079), Madhya Pradesh (97346490), and Bihar (91682692).

Among states with more than 10 million population, the top 5 in number of vaccine shots per one million population are Gujarat (1395630), Delhi (1352605), Kerala (1332457), Jammu and Kashmir (1320366), and Uttarakhand (1274372).

Backwards from here, the last 1 million cases for India have come in 77 days.

The count of active cases across India on Tuesday saw a net reduction of 2,463, compared with 825 on Monday. States and UTs hat have seen the biggest daily net increase in active cases are Maharashtra (66), Mizoram (37), Tripura (12), Uttar Pradesh (12), and Chandigarh (10).

With 7,995 new daily recoveries, Indias recovery rate stands at 98.37%, while fatality rate remained unchanged at 1.37%.

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 14 is higher than the national average.

Indias new daily closed cases stand at 8,247  252 deaths and 7,995 recoveries. The share of deaths in total closed cases stands at 3.05%.

Indias 5-day moving average of daily rate of addition to total cases stands at 0.0%.

Indias doubling time for total cases stands at 4158.5 days, and for deaths at 1308.6 days.

Overall, five states with the biggest 24-hour jump in total cases are Kerala (2434), Tamil Nadu (657), Maharashtra (569), West Bengal (418), and Mizoram (320).

India on Monday conducted 990,482 to take the total count of tests conducted so far in the country to 657,662,933. The test positivity rate recorded was 0.6%.

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 (14.76%), Kerala (12.86%), Sikkim (11.55%), Goa (11.35%), and Maharashtra (9.91%).

Five states with the highest TPR by daily numbers for tests and cases added  are Mizoram (72.23%), Sikkim (2.56%), Kerala (2.26%), Arunachal Pradesh (2.19%), and Manipur (1.96%).

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 (1686891), J&K (1341256), Kerala (1132107), Punjab (1066549), and Karnataka (809463).

The five most affected states by total cases are Maharashtra (6644452), Kerala (5197039), Karnataka (3000671), Tamil Nadu (2736046), and Andhra Pradesh (2074976).

Maharashtra, the most affected state overall, has reported 569 new cases to take its tally to 6644452.

Kerala, the second-most-affected state by total tally, has added 2434 cases to take its tally to 5197039.

Karnataka, the third-most-affected state, has reported 236 cases to take its tally to 3000671.

Tamil Nadu has added 657 cases to take its tally to 2736046.

Andhra Pradesh has seen its tally going up by 108 to 2074976.

Uttar Pradesh has added 18 cases to take its tally to 1710572.

Delhi has added 30 cases to take its tally to 1441748.
A demand was raised in on Tuesday to declare cow the animal and enact an effective central law to stop cow slaughter in the country.

Making a special mention in the House, MP Kirori Lal Meena said cow is an integral part of Indian culture, and that even some Mughal rulers like Babur, Humayun and Akbar had prohibited its slaughter.

"Therefore, I demand that the central government should bring an effective law to stop cow slaughter and also, cow should be declared the ' animal'," he said.

Earlier, in his Zero Hour mention, Harnath Singh Yadav of the said the rate of illegal religious conversions was increasing in the country, and demanded an anti-conversion law at the level to ensure social harmony and national security.

K Vanlalvena of the MNF spoke about the issue of Myanmar refugees in Mizoram, and urged the central government to help them.

member Narendra Jadhav (nominated) demanded that the central government should regulate, subsidise and fix price ceiling on cardiovascular as well ad pacemaker surgeries.

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US Defence Secretary on Monday spoke with India's Defence Minister over the phone and reaffirmed the American commitment to strengthening bilateral ties.

The secretary offered his deepest condolences for the loss of General Rawat, India's Chief of Defence Staff, Mrs Rawat, his spouse, and all the other Indian service members who were involved and killed in that helicopter accident on the 8th of December, Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby told reporters at his news conference.

He also, of course, reaffirmed the US commitment to strengthening US-India ties and to deepening our defence partnership, Kirby said.

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and India have decided to strengthen their cooperation on Competition Policy.

The fourth EU-India Competition Week took place online on December 13-14 and showcased the commitment of the European Commission's Directorate-General for Competition (DG Competition) and the Competition Commission of India (CCI) to step up their cooperation and technical exchanges on competition policy and law, according to the EU Delegation to India and Bhutan

Further, CCI Chairperson Ashok Kumar Gupta opened the event, emphasizing that the EU-India Competition Week is another valuable program organized by the that is extremely relevant for CCI officers strengthening their capacities and building close association with the EU staff.

Also, the Deputy Head of the EU Delegation to India, Seppo Nurmi, in his opening remarks, added that the organisation of the fourth Competition Week in India was a great opportunity for an open and thorough discussion on competition policy and law, and evidence of the commitment on both sides to strengthen their cooperation and technical exchanges, building on the previous years' Competition Weeks

Meanwhile, officials from both agencies were joined by officials from the Italian and French competition authorities for a series of roundtable discussions. Discussions focussed on the practical challenges of competition enforcement and regulation on digital markets, building on previous year's discussions in light of recent developments, according to the EU Delegation to India and Bhutan

Also, the second day of discussions focused on competition law and enforcement in the pharmaceutical sector

Earlier, the Competition Week builds on the Memorandum of Understanding signed between DG Competition and the CCI in 2013, to deepen relations and strengthen cooperation between the two agencies.

Further, the MoU sets out the framework for discussion on competition legislation, sharing of non-confidential information on legislation and enforcement and technical cooperation between India and Germany.

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Defence Minister on Tuesday touched the feet of Dhanno Devi, the wife of Col Hoshiar Singh who was conferred with India's highest military honour, the Param Vir Chakra, for displaying exemplary courage and indomitable fighting spirit in the 1971 war with Pakistan.

Devi was part of a group comprising Indian veterans of the war, their family members and 'Mukti Jodhas' of Bangladesh with whom Singh held an interaction.

The interaction was organised as part of celebrations of the 50th anniversary of India's victory in the war that led to the birth of Bangladesh.

"Had a warm interaction with the Bangladeshi Muktijoddhas and the Indian war veterans who fought against injustice in the 1971 war. The Indian Armed Forces worked together with the courageous Muktijoddhas in their valiant struggle," Singh tweeted.

In his address, Singh paid rich tributes to the brave soldiers, sailors and air warriors who ensured the victory in the 1971 war by making supreme sacrifice while displaying devotion to duty.

He remembered the war heroes including Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw, Lt Gen Jagjit Singh Aurora (then General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Command), Lt Gen JFR Jacob and Air Marshal Idris Hassan Latif and others.

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In a significant move, India, and on Tuesday held talks on joint use of the Chabahar Port while underlining its important role in enhancing regional connectivity.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said the participants discussed further development of transportation corridor around the port.

It was the second such virtual meeting among the three countries on further development of the strategically important Iranian port.

"The participants underlined the important role played by Chabahar Port during humanitarian crises as well as in enhancing regional connectivity," the MEA said.

"They also took note of the increase in transit traffic between Central Asia and South Asia through the Shahid Behesti Terminal, Chabahar Port and discussed further development of transportation corridor," it said in a statement.

Located in the Sistan-Balochistan province on the energy-rich Iran's southern coast, the port is being developed by India and to boost trade ties.

"Upon the invitation of the Iranian side, Indian side agreed to send a high level delegation to Chabahar next year. It was decided to hold the third session of the trilateral working group meeting in India at a mutually convenient date," the MEA said.

It said the Indian side made a presentation on the operations of the Chabahar Port and informed that the Indian company, India Ports Global Limited (IPGL), through its wholly-owned subsidiary, India Ports Global Chabahar Free Zone (IPGCFZ), took over the operations of the port in December 2018.

"Since then, it has handled 160 vessels, 14,420 TEUs (Twenty-foot Equivalent Units) and 3.2 million tons of bulk and general cargo," the MEA said.

"The Shahid Behesti Terminal, Chabahar Port has handled shipments and trans-shipments from various countries including Russia, Brazil, Thailand, Germany, Ukraine, Oman, Romania, Bangladesh, Australia, Kuwait, and UAE," it said.

The meeting was jointly chaired by Sanjeev Ranjan, secretary in the ministry of ports, shipping and waterways; Ali Akbar Safaei, secretary, deputy minister and managing director of Iran's Ports and Maritime Organisation; and Abdossamad Mumenof, secretary of Uzbekistan's ministry of transportation.

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India must immediately move towards developing hypersonic cruise missiles to maintain minimum credible deterrence against its enemies, said on Tuesday.

The countries that have done defence innovation are the ones who have bested their enemies and made their mark on history, he said.

"We should, therefore, strengthen ourselves and be ready to deal with any kind of situation," he said in his speech at an event of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) here.

Singh said it should be ensured that India is a leader when it comes to defence technologies.

"We have to obtain those technologies too that are with just a few countries right now," the minister noted.

Ballistic missile defence systems are getting more and more robust with the passage of time, Singh said.

"In order to maintain a minimum credible deterrence, we have to immediately think about hypersonic cruise missile development. It will be a revolutionary step in our defence sector and we all have to put our efforts into it," he said.

Multiple platforms designed and developed by the DRDO, and which have been handed over to the armed forces of the country, have strengthened the security architecture of India, he said.

"As the time is changing, our defence requirements are changing accordingly," Singh noted.

Today, in battlefield, there is a new warrior called 'technology', he mentioned.

The way technology's role has increased in the battlefield, it is amazing and unprecedented, he noted.

In such a time, defence technologies with India will have to catch up with the future, he said.

The minister said he wanted to assure the people of the country that the modernisation and the integration of the armed forces would continue as usual.

"The integration and modernisation is not just happening by the efforts of the government. This is also happening because of the meeting of minds of our armed forces," he said.

"When we talk of making the country a net defence exporter, the path goes through the collaboration between entities such as the DRDO, armed forces, private industries and academia," he noted.

In the last few years, there has been a major shift in the way has been functioning, the minister said.

The government has already taken various measures to boost self-reliance in defence sector, he said.

Singh talked about how corporatisation of the Ordnance Factory Board and the allocation of a part of defence budget to buy just indigenous items would boost self-reliance in the defence sector.

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India and the on Monday held space consultations and both exchanged information for bilateral collaboration and deliberations in international forums in the outer space domain.

The India- Space Consultations were held on December 13, 2021, with the participation of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and Department of Space/Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on the Indian side and the Space Agency, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office on the UK side, read MEA press release.

The two sides exchanged information on respective national space priorities, prospects for bilateral collaboration, and deliberations in international forums in the outer space domain, the release added.

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A powerful 7.5-magnitude struck eastern on Friday triggering a warning, the meteorological department said, but there was no immediate word on any casualties or damage. The US Geological Survey later said the quake had a magnitude of 7.3.



"Everyone ran out into the street," Agustinus Florianus, a resident of Maumere town on Flores island, told Reuters.



warnings were issued for the areas of Maluku, East Nusa Tenggara, West Nusa Tenggara and Southeast and South Sulawesi, after the quake hit 112 km (69.59 miles) northwest of Larantuka, in the eastern part of Flores, at a depth of 12 km.

A 5.6-magnitude aftershock hit Larantuka after the first quake, the agency said.



Alfons Hada Betan, head of East Flores Disaster Mitigation agency in Larantuka said there were no immediate reports of damage and the quake was felt for several minutes as people fled from their homes.



People said on social media the was also felt strongly in Makassar, South Sulawesi.



The U.S-based Pacific Warning Center said that based on preliminary parameters, hazardous tsunami waves were possible for coasts located within 1,000 km (621.37 miles) of the earthquake's epicentre.



straddles the 'Pacific Ring of Fire', an area of high seismic activity that rests atop multiple tectonic plates.



At least 48 people were killed and hundreds injured when the Mount Semeru volcano erupted on Java island on Dec. 4.



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The NIA has arrested an Afghan in connection with the seizure of 2,988 kilogram of heroin at Mundra port in Gujarat, an official said on Tuesday.

Sobhan Aryanfar, 28, lived in Delhi's Neb Sarai area, he said.

The Investigation Agency (NIA) had registered a case under sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, the Narcotic Drug and Psychotropic Substance Act and the Indian Penal Code over seizure of 2,988.21 kilograms of narcotics substance (heroin) at Mundra Port in in September involving foreign nationals in procurement and delivering of consignment, the official said.

Aryanfar has been found to be involved in the conspiracy of transporting narcotic concealed in import consignment of semi-processed talc stones' originating from Afghanistan, he said.

The NIA had earlier arrested seven accused in this case, the official of the premier investigation agency said, adding further Investigation in the case continues.

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The hyper mutated Omicron Covid variant, known to evade vaccine efficacy, cannot be deterred with two doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca or Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 shots, scientists at Oxford University have found.

The yet to be peer-reviewed study, published on the preprint server MedRxiv, used blood samples from 28 individuals who had previously received two doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca or Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines, and a live virus isolate to explore Omicron's vaccine efficacy.

They found "substantial decrease in neutralising titres" -- a measure of the level of neutralising antibodies generated in responses to vaccination against, or infection from, Covid-19.

The results indicated that the Omicron variant has the potential to drive a further wave of infections, including among those already vaccinated, although the researchers highlight that there is currently no evidence of increased potential to cause severe disease, hospitalisations or deaths in vaccinated populations.

These findings also align with recently published data from the UK Health Security Agency, showing reduced effectiveness of two doses of these vaccines against symptomatic disease due to the Omicron variant compared to Delta. Importantly, this effectiveness was improved by a third dose of vaccine.

"These data will help those developing vaccines, and vaccination strategies, to determine the routes to best protect their populations, and press home the message that those who are offered booster vaccination should take it," said lead author Professor Gavin Screaton, Head of the University's Medical Sciences Division.

"Whilst there is no evidence for increased risk of severe disease, or death, from the virus amongst vaccinated populations, we must remain cautious, as greater case numbers will still place a considerable burden on healthcare systems," he added.

Further, the researchers said they did not yet assess the impact of a "third dose" booster, "which we know significantly increases antibody concentrations, and it is likely that this will lead to improved potency against the Omicron variant," said Matthew Snape, Professor in Paediatrics and Vaccinology at the University.

Meanwhile, the UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, in a televised statement on Sunday, warned that Britain faces a "tidal wave" of Omicron infections, and announced that the country would be speeding up its booster programme to offer all adults a third dose of a vaccine by the end of the year. The government had previously been aiming to extend its booster scheme to all over-18s by the end of January.

Elsewhere, an Israeli study published on Saturday also found that a three-dose course of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine provided significant protection against the omicron variant. Israel began its booster program in July.

The findings from Israel came after researchers in South Africa found omicron could partially evade the immunity from two shots of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

The omicron variant, thought to be more infectious than its predecessor delta, was first identified in South Africa in November and has since spread to more than 60 countries around the world.

--IANS

rvt/dpb

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Prime Minister inspected key development works in and said it is the government's endeavour to create the best possible infrastructure for the sacred city.

"Inspecting key development works in Kashi. It is our endeavour to create best possible infrastructure for this sacred city," tweeted PM Modi on 12:52 AM Tuesday.

PM Modi was accompanied by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath during the inspection after midnight.

PM Modi was seen interacting with locals and waving at people who had turned up to greet him.

PM Modi chaired a meeting with the BJP Chief Ministers and Deputy chief ministers in Uttar Pradesh's on Monday.

"Just concluded an extensive meeting in Kashi with BJP Chief Ministers and Deputy Chief Ministers," tweeted PM Modi.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who attended the meeting, informed that the meet went on for six hours till late Monday night.

"Thank you ji for enlightening us with your words of wisdom and vision for a better India during the 6 hr long exhaustive and intense deliberation," Sarma tweeted.

PM Modi is currently on a two-day visit to his parliamentary constituency where he inaugurated phase 1 of the newly-constructed Kashi Vishwanath Dham at a cost of around Rs 339 crores on Monday.

On December 14, at around 3:30 pm, PM Modi will attend the 98th-anniversary celebrations of Sadguru Sadafaldeo Vihangam Yog Sansthan at Swarved Mahamandir.

The Prime Minister will also participate in a conclave of Chief Ministers of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Tripura, and Uttarakhand, along with Deputy CMs from Bihar and Nagaland.

The conclave will provide an opportunity to share governance-related best practices and is in line with the Prime Minister's vision of furthering team India spirit.

Chief Ministers of all BJP-ruled states will give a presentation on good governance, before PM Modi on Tuesday morning. The Chief Ministers and Deputy Chief Ministers will visit Kashi Vishwanath Temple on Tuesday.

Chief Ministers of BJP-ruled states are scheduled to visit Ayodhya on December 15 for the darshan of Ram Lalla.

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Nearly half of the total downloads of e-commerce apps in the festive season in India witnessed installation frauds, according to a study by mFilterlt. More on that in today's selection of top headlines



In festive season, fraud app installations touch new high: Study

In October, installation frauds of e-commerce apps in the peak sale season accounted for half of the total downloads according to a study by mFilterlt, a global digital ad and fraud detection and protection company based in India.

The company handles sites accounting for over 50 per cent of the countrys e-commerce customers which include top global players. Read more

Central govt's push to phase out kerosene still a 'work in progress'

The Centres push to phase out kerosene is a work in progress, a decade after the move towards rationalising the allocation of the fuel to states.

For now, most states still seek kerosene allocations and users continue demanding the fuel. The Centre has phased out budgetary subsidies for this fuel. There is no this fiscal year against Rs 2,677.32 crore in FY21. Read more

Farm Act aftermath: Kant says Centre bent on more reforms across sectors

Weeks after the Centre repealed the three agriculture acts, NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant today said that the going forward India is determined to carry out more reforms across all sectors because the country needs more of them, not less.

Replying to a question on whether the repeal of the three agriculture acts has changed the governments appetite to do significant reforms, Kant said that on the contrary the government will push for greater levels of reforms across sectors to make things easy and simple. Read more

of public sector units to drive divestment receipts: MoS

From now onwards, would be the primary mode of receipts, Parliament was informed on Monday.

With over a period of time, the scope for minority stake sale has declined, minister of state for finance Bhagwat Kishanrao Karad told the Lok Sabha in a written reply. Read more

India to produce 5 billion Covid vaccine doses next year: Piyush Goyal

India plans to ramp up its Covid vaccine manufacturing capacity and expects to produce 5 billion doses of vaccines in the coming year, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said on Monday. Addressing an event of the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII), Goyal said India was ready to export as many doses as partner nations require. Read more
UN Secretary General, has warned against criminal exploitation of Covid-19 recovery resources.

In a video message to the ninth session of the Conference of the States Parties to the UN Convention against Corruption (CoSP9) in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, the top UN official on Monday warned that countries investing in Covid-19 recovery, "must guard against the diversion of vital resources by criminal opportunists."

Corruption spreads through societies and erodes people's trust in leaders and institutions, Guterres told the anti-corruption conference, stressing that "greed over need, harms us all."

Corruption deepens inequalities, feeds cynicism and reinforces obstacles facing women and girls, according to the UN Chief, who maintained that tackling it is "an important step towards inclusive, sustainable development."

Guterres described the conference as an opportunity to strengthen cooperation and accelerate global action against corruption, Xinhua news agency reported.

"Let us revive hope and restore trust in institutions ... now is the time to act for a safer, more prosperous and just future," the UN Chief added.

The session kicked off on Monday in Egypt's resort city of Sharm El-Sheikh. The session will last until December 17, with more than 2,000 participants from governments, regional and inter-governmental organisations, civil society, academia, and the private sector taking part virtually and in-person.

--IANS

int/khz/

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A US woman accused of killing a British teenager in England and fled Britain, will face criminal proceedings in the in January 2022, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has said.

Harry Dunn, 19, died in August 2019 after a crash outside the Royal Air Force base in Northamptonshire used by the US military, Xinhua news agency reported.

After the crash, driver Anne Sacoolas, wife of a US Intelligence official based at the camp, and also reportedly a US Intelligence officer, fled Britain and claimed diplomatic immunity.

Dunn's family launched a legal challenge claiming Sacoolas should not have been granted immunity and the family wants Sacoolas to return to Britain to face justice.

In December 2019, CPS authorised Northamptonshire Police to charge Sacoolas with causing death by dangerous driving. An extradition request for her to be brought to the was rejected by the US government.

Dunn's mother, Charlotte Charles, said her family were feeling "very emotional and overwhelmed" by the news that Sacoolas would face UK justice system.

"It is all that we asked for following Harry's death," she said.

Despite the CPS announcement, lawyers of Sacoolas said there is currently no agreement to have their client appear in a hearing, according to media reports. They also denied reports that the 44-year-old would attend through a video link.

--IANS

int/khz/

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The Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) had asked the government to initiate insolvency and bankruptcy proceedings against as it has invested Rs 2,500 crore in the company's bond programmes, the Finance Ministry said in Parliament on Tuesday.

The Ministry of Labour and Employment has apprised that Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has invested Rs 2,500 crore in Ltd (RCL), for which RCL has defaulted in payment of interest from October 2019, Minister of State for Finance Bhagwat Karad said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.

He was replying to a query asked by Member of Parliament from RJD, Manoj Kumar Jha, whether it was a fact that had defaulted on payment of principal and interest obligations on bonds held by

The total interest default on the non-convertible debentures (NCDs) (secured) is Rs 534.64 crore as of November 30, 2021, Karad said.

Ministry of Labour and Employment has informed that as the maturity date of these investment has not become due till date, there is no default on principal as on date, he said.

"The matter for initiation of action under the provisions of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (IBC), against Reliance Capital Ltd was taken up by EPFO," Karad added.

Citing action taken by the RBI, the minister informed the house that the apex bank superseded the board of directors of the company on November 29, 2011.

It (RBI) has filed an application on December 2, 2021 for initiation of corporate insolvency resolution process (CIRP) against Reliance Capital at the Mumbai branch of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT).

"As per the section 12 (3) of IBC, CIRP needs to be mandatorily completed within a period of three hundred and thirty days from the insolvency commencement date," the minister said further.

Earlier this month, the company asked its creditors to submit their claims with proof by December 20 following initiation of corporate insolvency process against it.

Last month, the Reserve Bank had superseded Reliance Capital's board, citing defaults and governance issues.

The company's promoters have supported the application of referring it to the NCLT under section 227 for fast-track resolution.

Reliance Capital owes its creditors over Rs 19,805 crore, majority of the amount through bonds under the trustee Vistra ITCL India. The company is the third NBFC to go for resolution under the IBC after Dewan Housing Finance.

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Power Minister on Tuesday expressed concern over rising dues of (RE) producers that have not been paid by discoms, saying no investment will come in the sector if investors find power bills are not being cleared.

Taking to reporters on the sidelines of National Energy Conservation Day Function, on rising dues of RE producers from discoms, the minister said, "It is a matter of worry because the quantum is just Rs 15,000 crore or Rs 16,000 crore. But it amounts to 11-month of their billing."



A latest status report of the power minister finalised on November 29, 2021 showed that the total overdue amount of discoms towards (RE) producers stood at Rs 19,013 crore as on October 31, 2021, which constitutes 20 per cent of total amount of overdues of Rs 93,906 crore.

The overdues of discoms towards RE producers stood at Rs 14,741 crore in January this year.

The report showed that the amount of Rs 19,013 crore overdues toward RE producers was 11.8 times of their average monthly billing.

Andhra Pradesh utilities owe the maximum amount of the overdues towards RE producers at Rs 6,279 crore followed by Tamil Nadu at Rs 3,215 crore and Telangana at Rs 2,159 crore.

The minister explained, "They (RE producers) are very important in the context of COP26 (India's target of 500GW RE by 2030). No investment will come if they find that power is not paid for. That is compelling us to take more stringent actions to make sure that energy bills are paid. If we don't do that no investment will come for RE..then how would I achieve 500GW (RE by 2030) But I cannot have a rule for RE only."



Thus, the is embarking upon a robust payment security mechanism for the power producers so that energy bills are paid well in time.

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A World Trade Organization panel ruled in favour of Brazil, Australia and Guatemala on Tuesday in their trade disputes with India over sugar subsidies and asked New Delhi to conform with global rules.

In the cases brought before the in 2019, the rival producers alleged that India had broken rules by providing excessive domestic support and export subsidies for sugar and sugarcane.

"We recommend that India bring its WTO-inconsistent measures into conformity with its obligations under the Agreement on Agriculture and the SCM (Subsidies and Countervailing Measures) Agreement," the panel said.

India, the world's top sugar producer after Brazil, may appeal the decision. Its mission to the in Geneva did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the ruling in the conclusion of the panel's 115-page report.

It found that for five sugar seasons between 2014-15 and 2018-19, India provided domestic support to its sugarcane producers in excess of the maximum level of 10% permitted by a global agriculture deal.

It also said that India failed to notify a WTO committee of its sugar export subsidies, violating a separate agreement.

However, the panel did not uphold one of Australia's allegations that India had maintained buffer sugar stocks which it should have reported to the WTO in the 1990s.

India encouraged overseas sales for three years in a row, helping New Delhi emerge as a significant, stable exporter of the commodity.

After protests from Brazil, Australia, and Guatemala, the WTO in 2019 decided to set up panels to rule on complaints against India's export subsidies for sugar.

The Australian Sugar Milling Council (ASMC) said in August that there was "widespread concern amongst the world's sugar producing countries that the Indian government might be contemplating further contentious export subsidies".

ASMC had commissioned a report from Green Pool Commodity Specialists, which estimated India's sugar overproduction between 2017 and 2020 cost Australia's sugar industry A$1 billion ($724.40 million).

"Green Pool found that the subsidies and global oversupply had forced down the price of sugar on global markets by an average two cents a pound over the four years," said ASMC Director David Rynne.

For the past many years, higher sugar production has hammered local prices, hitting mills' financial health and making it hard for sugar barons to make timely payments to cane farmers.

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Private sector lender and Indias largest airline carrier, IndiGo, have joined hands to launch co-branded that offer customer reward points that they can redeem for booking air tickets and value-added services on

Essentially, the cards will work on a reward proposition of an airline ticket for free.

The bank is offering two co-branded  6E Rewards XL and 6E Rewards  along with its partner The 6E rewards programme of is linked to a co-branded card wherein members can earn rewards by using their plastic on IndiGo and other merchants and redeem them for benefits. Basically, the idea is that when a customer uses a credit card, the reward points that gets accumulated over a period of time can be redeemed for booking air tickets and value-added services on IndiGo.

The base variant (6E Rewards) is priced at Rs 700 (plus GST) and has a host of welcome benefits, including a complimentary welcome ticket of Rs 1,500 and 6E prime add-on services worth Rs 899. The higher variant (6E Rewards XL) is priced at Rs 1,500 (plus GST) as an introductory offer. It has welcome benefits, including complimentary tickets worth Rs 3,000 and add-on services worth Rs 899, among other things.

after being conservative on the unsecured credit business since the beginning of the pandemic is now looking to grow it as the economy has bounced back reasonably. has 2.54 million outstanding in the market as of October, 2021. It has added more than 100,000 credit cards to its kitty in the last month. The bank is bullish on the segment and is looking to grow it like the rest of its peers.

Unsecured credit is the centre of the plate business for us and the good thing today is the unsecured part of our balance sheet is relatively lighter, which gives us a huge headroom to grow as we try to build a balanced book for ourselves. So, it is fair to say, right now, we are extremely bullish on the unsecured credit space and the credit card segment. We are doing a number of things to strengthen our market position in both these businesses, said Ambuj Chandna, President, Consumer Assets, Kotak Mahindra Bank.

When the pandemic began, we were dealing with a lot of unknowns, hence we were conservative on the unsecured credit segment as we wanted to see this whole covid thing play out. We are happy with the way the country has bounced back reasonably quick and fast, he said.

There are 400 million people in India who are credit active yet there are 66 million credit cards currently. So, there is a huge headroom to grow as far as the credit card space segment is concerned.

Willy Boulter, Chief Commercial Officer, IndiGo said, as the economy is looking up, travel for business and leisure has come back. It is returning to its levels seen before the pandemic. Domestic travel is roughly at 98 per cent of what it was pre-pandemic and the airline is now expanding the number of destinations it is serving across India.

IndiGo started the 6E reward programme two years ago and already has the largest credit card issuer, HDFC Bank, as its partner. We intend to continue the partnership with HDFC Bank. Mastercard is on hold at the moment but we are talking with other network partners and we are very confident that we can continue to grow the number of cards offered by both our banking partners, he said.

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Disclosure: Entities controlled by the Kotak family have a significant holding in Business Standard Pvt Ltd
The will expand its military and economic relationships with partners in Asia to push back against China's increasing assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific, US Secretary of State said Tuesday.

Blinken said the Biden administration is committed to maintaining peace and prosperity in the region and will do that by boosting US alliances, forging new relationships and ensuring that the US military maintains its competitive edge.

Threats are evolving, our security approach has to evolve with them. To do that, we will lean on our greatest strength: our alliances and partnerships, Blinken said in a speech in Indonesia, outlining the administration's Indo-Pacific plans.

We'll adopt a strategy that more closely weaves together all our instruments of national power diplomacy, military, intelligence with those of our allies and partners," he said. That will include linking US and Asian defense industries, integrating supply chains and cooperating on technological innovation, he said.

It's about reinforcing our strengths so we can keep the peace, as we have done in the region for decades, he said.

He did not elaborate further but the administration made waves earlier this year by agreeing to a pact that will see Australia produce nuclear-powered submarines.

Blinken insisted that the US is not trying to force countries to choose between the and China or seeking conflict with China.

But he laid out a litany of complaints about Beijing's aggressive actions from Northeast Asia to Southeast Asia and from the Mekong River to the Pacific Islands."



Blinken is in Indonesia on the first leg of a week-long, three-nation tour of Southeast Asia that will also take him to Malaysia and Thailand. Countering China's growing aggressiveness in the region, particularly in the South China Sea, in Hong Kong and against Taiwan is prominent on his agenda.

Countries across the region want this behaviour to change, he said.

We do too.

We are determined to ensure freedom of navigation in the South China Sea, he said. It is also why we have an abiding interest in peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.

Blinken said US will forge stronger connections with its five treaty allies in the region Australia, Japan, the Philippines, South Korea and Thailand boost ties between them and cultivate a stronger partnership with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, many of whose members feel threatened by China.

A strong and independent ASEAN has long been central to tackle urgent crises and long-term challenges, Blinken said, in particular calling out the military rulers of Myanmar, also known as Burma, for their February takeover and subsequent crackdown on protesters.

We will continue to work with our allies and partners to press the regime to cease its indiscriminate violence, release all of those unjustly detained, allow unhindered access, and restore Burma's path to inclusive democracy, he said.

Blinken also lauded the administration's commitment to providing coronavirus vaccines to the countries of the Indo-Pacific and its support for their efforts to combat and deal with climate change.

Blinken confined his remarks to the Indo-Pacific and China although he began his current overseas journey in Britain at a Group of Seven foreign ministers meeting that delivered a stern warning to Russia over Ukraine.

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Taiwan's Defense Ministry report has warned that may deploy forces near the island nation on the pretext of conducting drills, and then use them for a genuine invasion.

The report submitted to the Taiwanese legislature said that on the pretext of staging exercises, may deploy forces on the east and south coasts of China, reported NHK World.

In addition, the report also said that Beijing might send warships to the Western Pacific in such a way as to encircle

"The forces could then fire missiles and start landing operations in order to seize in the shortest possible time with minimal losses," stated the report.

The document, however, adds that the Chinese military would have trouble landing and supplying troops, as its transport capacity is still limited, reported NHK World.

It also pointed out that it is currently difficult for China's military to focus resources on Taiwan, as it is being monitored by the United States and Japan. The country's ongoing disputes with India and Vietnam are another obstacle.

The report comes as Taiwanese defense authorities try to secure an additional budget to mass-produce long-range missiles and improve their deterrent capabilities, reported NHK World.

The report warns of ever-increasing pressure from the Chinese military. Taiwan's defense minister Chiu Kuo-cheng earlier said will be able to fully invade by 2025.

Nicaragua had recently severed ties with Taiwan and established diplomatic relations with China.

Beijing claims full sovereignty over Taiwan, a democracy of almost 24 million people located off the southeastern coast of mainland China, despite the fact that the two sides have been governed separately for more than seven decades.

Taipei, on the other hand, has countered the Chinese aggression by increasing strategic ties with democracies including the US, which has been repeatedly opposed by Beijing. China has threatened that "Taiwan's independence" means war.

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The Omicron variant was detected in the respiratory samples of a Polish national who arrived in Tianjin from Warsaw on December 9.

Mainland has reported its first case of the new Omicron (Covid-19) variant in the port city of Tianjin, media reports said on Tuesday.

The case is "imported from Europe", Gu Qing, director of Tianjin Health Commission, was quoted saying in an interview with Chinese Central Television.

The Omicron variant was detected in the respiratory samples of a Polish national who arrived in Tianjin from Warsaw on December 9. The person presented no symptoms and had normal temperature when entering through Tianjin, the Global Times reported.

After an all sealed-off management, the person has been transferred to a quarantine spot and diagnosed as an asymptomatic case later.

In order to prevent the further spread of Omicron in the city, Tianjin authorities have also planned a special treatment area for Omicron infections with a special medical team.

So far no other Omicron infections were detected among other passengers with the same flight, the report quotes the authorities as saying.

Omicron's entry into the country is bit different from that of Delta as it was detected at the entry quarantine spot, showing that China's current epidemic monitoring network is highly effective, Wu Hao, an expert of the community epidemic prevention and control group of the joint prevention and control mechanism of the State Council, China's cabinet was quoted as saying.

When the Delta variant was found in China, it triggered panic. The scale of transmission of the Delta variant has been even larger than that caused by Omicron. In May, the Delta variant broke through the "defence line" in Guangzhou, capital city of Guangdong province, and caused a domestic outbreak.

"But the difference now is that the Omicron variant was found in the border entry quarantine point, which showed that our epidemic prevention and control monitoring network responded very quickly," Hao said.

Earlier had said that it is ready to tackle the Omicron variant, and it is confident that the country's zero-Covid response along with the mainstream tests will block community transmission.

According to Xu Wenbo, from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the vaccines developed in China remain effective against the new mutated variant, yet to better cope it has made technological reserve preparations in vaccine development, Global Times reported.

The country also granted emergency approval to its first-ever antibody cocktail therapy against the virus, which has shown to be effective in reducing the risk of hospitalisation or death among high-risk Covid-19 patients by 80 per cent.

The combination therapy, co-developed by Tsinghua University, the Third People's Hospital of Shenzhen and Brii Biosciences headquartered in China and the US, also retains its neutralising activity against the Omicron variant, the report said.

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French house Chanel named Leena Nair, an executive from Unilever, as its new global on Tuesday, recruiting a consumer goods veteran to run one of the world's biggest luxury goods groups.

Nair's career at Unilever spanned 30 years, most recently as the chief of human resources and a member of the company's executive committee.

A 52-year old Indian national, Nair is a rare outsider at the helm of the tightly controlled family house, known for its tweed suits, quilted handbags and No. 5 perfume.

She follows U.S. businesswoman Maureen Chiquet, who came from a background and was of Chanel for nine years until early 2016. She was not replaced until now.

Chanel said in a statement that 73-year old French billionaire Alain Wertheimer, who owns Chanel with his brother Gerard Wertheimer, would move to the role of global executive chairman of the group, which started out as a hat boutique on rue Cambon in Paris.

Chanel was founded in 1910 by fashion legend Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel and grew to become a byword for French chic.

The group said Nair, who at Unilever oversaw 150,000 people, would join at the end of January and be based in London.

It added that the new appointments would ensure its "long-term success as a private company."

The recruitment of Nair, who rose through the ranks of Unilever having started out as a trainee on the factory floor, comes as the fashion industry is under pressure to show a more inclusive approach.

Under her watch Unilever achieved gender parity across global management, according to a Harper's Bazaar profile published last month, which also highlighted her commitment to pay the living wage across the supply chain.

Nair serves as a non-executive board member at British Telecom and has previously served as non-executive director of the British government's business, energy and industrial strategy department.

Chanel has fiercely defended its independence and only began publishing financial results in 2018. It said in July it expects to increase sales by double digits this year compared with their 2019, pre-pandemic level of $12.3 billion.

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The issues of immigration, rule of law, the Western Balkans, energy, including nuclear energy, were mainly discussed at the meeting between visiting French President and Prime Ministers of the Visegrad Group (V4) countries in Budapest.

"We spoke thoroughly and exhaustively about migration ... about the question of the rule of law ... about the Western Balkans ... about energy, especially about nuclear energy and its ETS (Emissions Trading System) energy billing system," Hungarian Prime Minister (PM) Viktor Orban told a joint press conference after the meeting on Monday.

Macron arrived in Budapest earlier on Monday. Orban had a bilateral meeting with the French President earlier in the afternoon, Xinhua news agency reported.

"We will agree with President Macron on the issue of patriotism, the strengthening of Europe and European strategic autonomy," the Hungarian PM said.

Hungary assumes the current presidency of the V4 Group, which includes Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

"Hungary was the only one that said that if necessary, the EU border should be protected with physical force, and thus not only Hungary but the whole of Europe would be protected," Orban said.

"We didn't get a single good word, and we even had to suffer the harshest attacks when we defended Europe's borders, we were regularly shot in the back from Brussels and some European capitals," he added.

Macron said that he saw a European partner in Orban despite their differences and said that the basics for moving forward were "media plurality, rule of law and the respect of fundamental rights."

He added that the common areas of understanding between Budapest and Paris were nuclear energy, agriculture and a common European defence policy.

Poland and Hungary were both involved in a long-lasting conflict with the EU over democratic values like rule of law, judicial and press freedom, and human rights.

The European Commission has launched several procedures against both countries, including a new "conditionality" mechanism that ties funding to the rule of law and anti-corruption criteria, and that has held up the release of coronavirus recovery funds to Budapest and Warsaw.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said that his country managed to "defend" its borders, which are also the borders of the EU.

Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis said his government was ready to send soldiers to either the Polish frontiers or to the Balkans.

Slovakia's Prime Minister Eduard Heger underlined that it was important for the V4 countries to state very clearly that despite all the conflicts and disputes, the EU was the only source of development and wealth these countries could count on.

--IANS

int/khz/

(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.)
Asia-focused insurer FWD Group has raised $1.4 billion via a private placement of shares ahead of its long-planned initial public offering (IPO) that will now be carried out in Hong Kong, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the matter.



A decision to shift to was made after regulatory approval for FWD's planned U.S. IPO of $2 billion to $3 billion was delayed.



The company received preliminary approval last week from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to carry out a marketing roadshow to investors but still required full sign-off from regulators, according to the sources.



The sources could not be named as the information was not yet public. FWD declined to comment.



Founder Richard Li's weighted voting rights will be dropped to allow FWD to meet Hong Kong's listing rules which only permit companies deemed as innovative to have that share structure, the sources said.



The size and time frame of the IPO has yet be determined, the sources said.



The lacklustre share price performance of Chinese companies listed in the United States, led by Didi Global Inc, prompted the company to switch its listing to



FWD will be valued at $9 billion on a post-money basis, the sources said.



The Hong Kong-based insurer, controlled by billionaire Li, finalised the deal early on Tuesday which is led by investors Apollo Global Management and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), the sources said.



They said other investors include Swiss RE, the Li Ka Shing Foundation, Li's Pacific Century Group, SCB Thailand and Metro Pacific Investment Corp (MPIC) from the Philippines.



CPPIB and Pacific Century Group declined to comment. The Li Ka Shing Foundation, Swiss Re, Apollo, SCB and MPIC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.



(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
and hold a vice-like grip over how people use mobile phones, stripping any meaningful choice from the system and potentially hiking costs, Britains competition regulator said on Tuesday.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it had provisionally found that the two groups were able to leverage their market power to create largely self-contained ecosystems.

The statement is a fresh warning to tech groups after the regulator, with British government backing, stepped up scrutiny of the power they wield in a world increasingly lived online.

It recently told Facebook owner Meta it had to sell Giphy, the popular animated images platform it bought in 2020.

The regulator said on Tuesday it would consult on its initial and findings and would welcome responses by February 7. It expects to issue a final report by June.

 and have developed a vice-like grip over how we use mobile phones and were concerned that its causing millions of people across the UK to lose out, CMA Chief Executive Andrea Coscelli said.

Chris Philp, the tech and digital economy minister, said Britains new pro-competition regime would level the playing field between tech giants and smaller businesses.

Apple says its ecosystems provide security and privacy, enabling businesses to sell goods and create jobs. Apple believes in thriving and dynamic markets where innovation can flourish, it said.

Google said Android provided people with more choice than any other mobile platform in deciding which apps and app stores they use.

It said its ecosystem supported almost a quarter of a million jobs in Britain, and as a result of recent changes, 99 per cent of developers qualified for a service fee of 15 per cent or less.

Were committed to building thriving, open platforms that empower consumers and help developers succeed, it said.

The CMAs report set out a range of options , including making it easier for users to switch between Apples iOS and Googles Android phones without losing functionality or data.

Hold Google, Meta accountable for ads, lawmakers tell UK Google, Facebook and other online services should be held legally accountable for advertisements on their platforms in order to prevent fraudsters scamming millions of consumers, a cross-party group of British lawmakers has said. has proposed a landmark online safety law to punish abuses such as child pornography, racism and violence against women, but a joint committee of lawmakers drawn from both houses of parliament said on Tuesday it should go a step further to cover paid-for adverts. Excluding paid-for advertising will leave service providers with little incentive to remove harmful adverts, and risks encouraging further proliferation of such content, the joint committee report said. The Financial Conduct Authority also wants adverts on social media and search engines, currently excluded from the draft law, to be included after 754 million pounds ($999.65 million) was stolen from consumers in the first six months of this year. The report also backed a Law Commission recommendation to make cyberflashing, or the unsolicited sending of obscene images or video recordings, which are often a feature of sexual harassment, illegal. (Reuters)

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Iran on Tuesday accused Western parties to its 2015 nuclear deal of "persisting in their blame game", a day after European diplomats said the accord would soon be an empty shell, without progress.

"Some actors persist in their blame game habit, instead of real diplomacy. We proposed our ideas early, and worked constructively and flexibly to narrow gaps," Iran's top negotiator, Ali Bagheri Kani, said on Twitter.

"Diplomacy is a two-way street. If there's real will to remedy the culprit's wrongdoing, the way for a quick, good deal will be paved." On Monday, British, French and German diplomats said major powers and Iran had yet to get down to business at talks on rescuing the nuclear deal, which will very soon become "an empty shell" without progress.

"As of this moment, we still have not been able to get down to real negotiations," the diplomats from the so-called E3 said in a statement about the Vienna nuclear negotiations in which they are shuttling between U.S. and Iranian officials.

"Time is running out. Without swift progress, in light of Iran's fast-forwarding of its nuclear programme, the (nuclear pact) will very soon become an empty shell," they added.

The statement offered a pessimistic assessment of efforts to revive the deal under which Iran had limited its nuclear programme in return for relief from U.S., European Union and U.N. economic sanctions.

Then-President Donald Trump pulled the United States out of the accord in 2018 and reimposed U.S. sanctions, prompting Iran to begin violating its nuclear restrictions in 2019.

Trump's successor, Democrat Joe Biden, has sought a mutual return to compliance with the deal via indirect talks with Iran as Tehran refuses to meet directly with American officials.

The other countries in the deal are Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia. Diplomats said they made significant progress in the six rounds of negotiations between April and June, when the talks took a five-month hiatus after the election of hard-line cleric Ebrahim Raisi as Iran's president.

During the seventh round, which began on Nov. 29, Iran abandoned any compromises it had made in the previous six, pocketed those made by others, and demanded more, a senior U.S. official has said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Visiting South Korean President on Tuesday met Australian opposition Labor Party leader Anthony Albanese and asked for the country's continued support for Seoul's efforts to bring lasting peace to the Korean Peninsula.

Moon and Albanese met in Sydney during the President's ongoing four-day state visit to the country, reports Yonhap News Agency.

Moon noted that he and Prime Minister Scott Morrison agreed the previous day to elevate the bilateral relationship to a comprehensive strategic partnership and expressed hope for strengthened cooperation in future high-tech industries, among other areas.

He also asked that the Labor Party take an interest in and support the Korean community's settlement and growth in

Welcoming Moon, Albanese pledged to actively cooperate to further develop the two countries' relations based on their shared values of democracy and a market economy.

He conveyed Australia's respect for Seoul's efforts until now to foster peace on the Korean Peninsula and expressed his enthusiastic support for the campaign for denuclearization and peace.

Moon is scheduled to meet with local businesspeople later in the day to discuss ways to secure stable supply chains of raw materials and critical minerals.

--IANS

ksk/

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
British bank NatWest was fined 264.8 million pounds (USD 354.30 million) on Monday for failing to comply with rules in a case that marked the first time U.K. financial regulators pursued criminal charges for such violations.

The fine was handed down at Southwark Crown Court in London. NatWest, the partially state-owned bank formerly known as Royal Bank of Scotland, had pleaded guilty on Oct. 7 to charges related to deposits made by a jewelry business between 2012 and 2016.

Over the course of the relationship, the customer deposited 365 million pounds with the bank, about 264 million pounds of it in cash, the U.K.'s Financial Conduct Authority said in a statement.

Although some NatWest workers reported suspicions about the transactions, the bank failed to take appropriate action, the regulatory agency said.

NatWest is responsible for a catalogue of failures in the way it monitored and scrutinized transactions that were self-evidently suspicious, Mark Steward, the FCA's executive director of enforcement, said in a statement.

Combined with serious systems failures, like the treatment of cash deposits as checks, these failures created an open door for

The offenses related to operational weaknesses between 2012 and 2016, and involved Fowler Oldfield, a jeweler in Bradford, England.

The case represented the first time the Financial Conduct Authority pushed through a criminal prosecution under money-laundering regulations introduced in 2007. No individuals were charged as part of the proceedings.

We deeply regret that we failed to adequately monitor one of our customers between 2012 and 2016 for the purpose of preventing money laundering,'' NatWest CEO Alison Rose said.

While today's hearing brings an end to this case, we will continue to invest significant resources in the ongoing fight against financial crime.

(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 US made mistakes in and was blamed for America's failures and not given credit for the sacrifices it made in the global war on terror, Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Monday.

Addressing the opening session of the Margalla Dialogue 2021 seminar in Islamabad, organised by the Islamabad Policy Research Institute (IPRI) think-tank, Khan said faced the biggest collateral damage in the Afghan war.

" was held responsible for the shortcomings of the United States," he said.

Pakistan faced the biggest collateral damage in the Afghan war as it was the only US ally that suffered more than 80,000 casualties, displacement of millions of people and over 100 billion dollars economic losses, Khan said.

Khan said Pakistan was blamed for the wrong reasons by the community, whereas it remained silent on the Kashmir issue. He regretted that Pakistan was not able to effectively present its point of view before the world.

Noting that only military power was not a guarantee for national security, which was an all-encompassing concept, Khan asserted that, You can't have national security until there is inclusive growth.

Unequal distribution of resources leads to anarchy among the people who are left out of the mainstream development. The uplift of the underprivileged segment of the society was critical to ensure across the board national security," he said.

He also emphasised that rule of law and equality for all were the preconditions for democracy.

"Corruption, particularly of the elite, was detrimental to the development of a country," he said.

Khan stressed on research to promote original thinking within a society and said that lack of in-depth research led to reliance on second-hand information by the western think tanks on important issues such as

He also talked about Islamophobia and urged for a strong response by Muslim think tanks to neutralise the concept that Islam and terrorism were linked.

has been under Taliban rule since August 15 when the Afghan hardline militant group ousted the elected government of President Ashraf Ghani and forced him to flee the country and take refuge in the UAE.

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Patrick Drahi has raised his stake in BT Group Plc and said he wont make a takeover offer, pursuing an approach of creeping control that could flush out other interest from private equity or rival telecom operators.

The telecom tycoon raised his holding to 18% from the initial 12.1% he bought in June, creating a stake worth more than 3 billion pounds ($4 billion) based on the companys share price Monday. Though his statement Tuesday means he cant bid for BT for another six months, deal chatter will continue as the companys depressed share price has long made it the subject of speculation.

Drahis purchase was his first move since takeover rules preventing him from further purchases after his June acquisition expired on Saturday. His statement that he does not intend to make a run at BT can be abandoned if someone makes an offer for the company, or if its board agrees to a takeover from Altice UK, the vehicle that bought the shares.

BT shares dropped as much as 5.3%.

Some people might be disappointed that no bid from the billionaire is coming for at least another six months, said New Street analyst James Ratzer in a note to clients.

The self-imposed pause in BT activity may look out of keeping for Drahi, 58. The French-Israeli-Moroccan built a telecom and media empire in Europe and the U.S. through a strategy of debt-fueled acquisitions of at-risk companies, that were soon followed by deep cost cuts, restructurings and layoffs.

BTs second biggest holder, Deutsche Telekom AG, has openly fanned speculation of deals since Drahis entrance, with CEO Tim Hoettges calling the company a king maker in any potential moves.

U.K. rules mean a company is obliged to make a takeover offer if they hit a 30% shareholding. Neil Campling, head of telecom, media and tech research at Mirabaud, pointed out that were Altice to purchase the 12% stake owned by Deutsche Telekom, that would trigger a mandatory offer.

The U.K. government responded swiftly to the latest purchase with a statement that it was monitoring the situation carefully and would not hesitate to act if required to protect our critical telecoms infrastructure.

From Jan. 4, ministers will gain stronger powers to intervene in takeovers and would likely examine any bid for BT under the recently passed National Security & Investment Act.

Deal Speculation

The London-based phone and broadband company had been bracing for an offer and a drumbeat of deal speculation has grown for years. Its market capitalization has halved since 2016 and its hired defense advisers from Robey Warshaw and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. following Drahis surprise entrance as the companys biggest investor in June.

Drahis higher stake comes two weeks after new chairman Adam Crozier took the reins of BTs board. The French telecommunications tycoon had already been holding discussions with senior BT executives and quizzing them about growth plans, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Its shares have fallen more than 50% in the last five years, thanks to competition, Brexit, an accounting scandal, and regulation including the ban of key 5G wireless supplier Huawei. Its also grappling with two enormous obligations: its pension deficit and its debt pile.

The cost of protecting BTs debt against a default has been surging on speculation about a possible takeover by Drahi. There is the risk of a leveraged buyout, as well as the possibility that hell encourage management to consider other options, such as selling or spinning off infrastructure unit Openreach.
At a plant nestled along a highway 20 miles north of Boston, hundreds of Pfizer workers are gearing up to produce millions of doses of a new vaccine that looks more and more like the next phase of fighting Covid-19.

Work on the project started the day after Thanksgiving at the 70-acre facility in Andover, Massachusetts, just as the World Health Organization designated a new strain, Omicron, a variant of concern. The goal of the effort: make a booster shot customised against the highly mutated virus in less than 100 days.

Researchers are alarmed by some 30 mutations in Omicrons spike, the protein that facilitates coronaviruss entry to cells. Thats prompted Pfizer, its partner BioNTech SE and their messenger RNA rival Moderna Inc. to start crash efforts to target it directly.

It was the list of mutations we never wanted to see, said Moderna President Stephen Hoge, who heads the companys scientific operations. The vaccine maker, whose mRNA factory stands just 40 miles from Pfizers, started working on Omicron the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, and meetings ran straight through the holiday. Many employees had their Thanksgivings ruined by omicron, Hoge said.

While the companies are tight-lipped about the details of exactly where they stand, both are bent on a fast response. When news of the variant emerged from South Africa, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla decided almost immediately to begin large-scale manufacturing of an Omicron-specific shot. The work ramped up so quickly that Pfizer hasnt tallied its costs.

I couldnt give you the number right now; Im not even sure we talked about it, said Mike McDermott, Pfizers global supply chain head, who gives Bourla regular updates on progress.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir Abdollahian held a phone conversation to discuss the 2015 nuclear deal.

The top diplomats on Monday reaffirmed their common position to restore the nuclear deal in its original balanced text, approved by the United Nations Security Council, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

They stressed that this is the only correct way to ensure the rights and interests of all participants in the deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, Xinhua news agency reported.

Multilateral negotiations to save the nuclear deal resumed on November 29 in Vienna, Austria.

--IANS

int/khz/

(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 UN Security Council on Monday did not adopt a draft resolution on after its permanent member cast a veto, Niger Permanent Representative to the United Nations Abdou Abarry said after the vote.

"The draft resolution has not been adopted owing to the negative vote of a permanent member of the Council," Abarry, who presides with the UN Security Council during the month of December, said.

India voted against the resolution and China abstained from voting.

The draft resolution, co-sponsored by Ireland and Niger, said the adverse effects of can exacerbate vulnerable situations or contribute to future violence, conflicts and instability, presenting "a key risk" to peace and security.

The document sought to request the UN Secretary-General to integrate climate security risk "as a central component" into the United Nations' conflict-prevention strategies aiming to reduce the risk of conflict relapse due to harmful effects of

Russian Permanent Representative to the United Nations Vassily Nebenezia said his country could not support the draft because Moscow was against creating a new area of UN Security Council's work that establishes a generic, automatic connection between climate change and global security.

"Positioning climate change as a threat to security diverts the council's attention from genuine, deep-rooted reasons of conflict in the countries on the Council's agenda," Nebenzia said. "This is convenient for those countries that are actively helping these conflicts to come into being or who have waged military activities in diversion from the Security Council's mandate or simply don't want to provide the necessary help to developing countries."

Nebenzia also said that nations which present climate change as a source of political instability prefer to neglect the negative consequences of military activities on the environment, including the loss of biodiversity, deforestation and soil pollution in conflict-affected areas.

In addition, the draft resolution failed to seek to help countries to work on specific situations and, instead, took a generic approach to the issue of climate, despite the principles of the United Nations' Rio de Janeiro Earth Summit and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, Nebenzia also said.

"It is particularly sad to see this attempt to shove in this draft resolution when there's a clear lack of consensus among the members of the Security Council now when countries are trying to agree on how to implement the Paris Agreement in Glasgow, and also on measures that really are necessary to fight climate change," Nebenzia added.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The will expand its military and economic relationships with partners in Asia to push back against China's increasing assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday.

Blinken said the Biden administration is committed to maintaining peace and prosperity in the region and will do that by boosting U.S. alliances, forging new relationships and ensuring that the U.S. military maintains its competitive edge.

Threats are evolving, our security approach has to evolve with them. To do that, we will lean on our greatest strength: our alliances and partnerships, Blinken said in a speech in Indonesia, outlining the administration's Indo-Pacific plans.

We'll adopt a strategy that more closely weaves together all our instruments of national power diplomacy, military, intelligence with those of our allies and partners," he said. That will include linking U.S. and Asian defense industries, integrating supply chains and cooperating on technological innovation, he said.

Later he signed a series of three agreements with Indonesia's foreign minister, including one that extends until 2026 an existing maritime cooperation pact that among other issues calls for enhanced joint U.S.-Indonesian naval exercises.

It's about reinforcing our strengths so we can keep the peace, as we have done in the region for decades, he said. He did not elaborate further but the administration made waves earlier this year by agreeing to a pact that will see Australia produce nuclear-powered submarines.

Blinken insisted that the U.S. is not trying to force countries to choose between the and China, or seeking conflict with China. But he laid out a litany of complaints about Beijing's aggressive actions from Northeast Asia to Southeast Asia and from the Mekong River to the Pacific Islands."



At a daily briefing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said Blinken's latest comments showed the U.S. was contradicting itself by playing up the so-called China threat on the one hand while claiming that it has no intention to seek conflict with China on the other.

Wang criticised the US for frequently sending ships and aircraft to the the area to flex muscles and stir up trouble."



Blinken is in Indonesia on the first leg of a week-long, three-nation tour of Southeast Asia that will also take him to Malaysia and Thailand. Countering China's growing aggressiveness in the region, particularly in the South China Sea, in Hong Kong and against Taiwan is prominent on his agenda.

Countries across the region want this behaviour to change, he said. We do too.

We are determined to ensure freedom of navigation in the South China Sea, he said. It is also why we have an abiding interest in peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.

Blinken said the U.S. will forge stronger connections with its five treaty allies in the region Australia, Japan, the Philippines, South Korea and Thailand boost ties between them and cultivate a stronger partnership with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, many of whose members feel threatened by China.

A strong and independent ASEAN has long been central to tackle urgent crises and long-term challenges, Blinken said, in particular calling out the military rulers of Myanmar, also known as Burma, for their February takeover and subsequent crackdown on protesters.

We will continue to work with our allies and partners to press the regime to cease its indiscriminate violence, release all of those unjustly detained, allow unhindered access, and restore Burma's path to inclusive democracy, he said.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang countered by accusing Washington of policies that sow discord, undermine solidarity and disrupt cooperation.

If the U.S. really wants to play a constructive role for the peaceful development of the Asia-Pacific region as it claims, it should earnestly respect the ASEAN-centered regional cooperation structure, Wang told reporters in Beijing.

Blinken confined his remarks to the Indo-Pacific and China although he began his current overseas journey in Britain at a Group of Seven foreign ministers meeting that delivered a stern warning to Russia over Ukraine.

On arriving in Indonesia on Monday, Blinken found that a top aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin, national security adviser Nikolay Patrushev, was already in Jakarta for security talks.

Asked why he had not sought out Patrushev to expand on Sunday's G7 warning, Blinken replied that the administration's top diplomat for Europe, Karen Donfried, who is currently in Ukraine, would be travelling to Moscow in the coming days to deliver that message.
.

Russian President and Chinese President will discuss tensions in Europe and aggressive US and Nato rhetoric during a video call on Wednesday, the Kremlin said.

The conversation will take place at a moment of high tension in both countries relations with the West, with Beijing under pressure over human rights and Moscow over its build-up of troops near the border with Ukraine.

has cultivated closer ties with as its relations with the West have worsened.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Shares of surged 10 per cent to Rs 972.50 on the BSE in Tuesdays intra-day trade, after the drug-maker announced that it has received the Establishment Inspection Report (EIR) from United States Food and Drug Administration (US FDA) for its Goa manufacturing facility. The US drug regulator had inspected the facility in September 2021.

said the has determined that the inspection classification of the facility is Voluntary Action Indicated (VAI).

This is a significant milestone as we build back our reputation of being best-in-class in Quality and Compliance. We are committed to manufacture and supply products of the highest quality from all our manufacturing sites. said Vinita Gupta, CEO,

Commenting on the development, Nilesh Gupta, managing director, Lupin said: This is a very positive development and we are delighted with the of the change in classification of our Goa site. The Goa site has a very important place in the US market with the number of affordable, quality medicines we supply, and we now look forward to new products flowing out of the site again.



Shares of Lupin had hit a 52-week low of Rs 854 on December 7, 2021. It touched a 52-week high of Rs 1,267.50 on June 2, 2021. Despite of todays gain, the stock has underperformed the market by falling 18 per cent in past six months, as compared to 10.5 per cent rally in the S&P BSE Sensex. In the last one year, however, it has gained 3 per cent, against 26 per cent surged in the benchmark index.

"Lupin plans to strengthen the biosimilars portfolio across, especially in EU and the US apart from continued respiratory traction in the US. Its tie-ups with Eli Lilly, Boehringer for anti-diabetics and with MSD for pneumonia vaccines will help bolster domestic franchise and the progress on the margins front are key triggers for future price performance," ICICI Securities said in Q2FY22 result update.

At 10:20 am; the stock traded 7 per cent higher at Rs 944, as compared to 0.63 per cent decline in the S&P BSE Sensex. The trading volumes on the counter jumped over five-fold with a combined 4.96 million equity shares changed hands on the NSE and BSE.
The initial public offer (IPO) of branded retailer Metro Brands was subscribed 3.6 times on Tuesday, the concluding day of the issue. The institutional investor portion was subscribed 8.5 times, the wealthy investor portion by 3.02 times, and retail investors by 1.13 times.

The company had priced its between Rs 485 and Rs 500 per share. The Rs 1,367-crore consisted of a fresh issue of Rs 295 crore and an offer for sale of Rs 1,072 crore. The company plans to utilise the funds raised through the fresh issue for opening new stores under its Metro, Mochi, Walkway and Crocs brands.

Metro Brands is one of the largest Indian speciality retailers. The company opened its first store under the Metro brand in Mumbai in 1955. It has since expanded to retail a wide range of branded products for men, women, unisex and kids.

As of September 30, 2021, the company operated 598 Stores across 136 cities, spread across 30 states and union territories in India. The company targets the economy, mid and premium segments in the market.

The company retails footwear under its own brands Metro, Mochi, Walkway, Da Vinchi and J. Fontini, and certain third-party brands such as Crocs, Skechers, Clarks, Florsheim, and Fitflop.

The company also offers accessories such as belts, bags, socks, masks, and wallets. And has retail foot care and shoe-care products at its stores through a joint venture, MV Shoe Care.

Axis Capital, Ambit, DAM Capital, Equirus, ICICI Securities and Motilal Oswal Financial Services are the bankers to the issue.
Shares of Olectra Greentech were locked at the 5 per cent upper circuit at Rs 854.95 on the BSE on Tuesday on expectation of healthy earnings going forward. The stock of the car and utility vehicles company has zoomed 115 per cent in the past three months, as compared to a 0.63-per cent decline in the S&P BSE Sensex. It had hit a record high of Rs 912 on November 18, 2021.

Currently, Olectra Greentech is trading under the T group on the BSE. In the T2T segment, each trade has to result in delivery and no intra-day netting of positions is allowed. Till 11:13 am, a combined 321,617 shares had changed hands and there were pending buy orders for 11,051 shares on the NSE and BSE.

Olectra Greentech is into manufacturing of polymer insulators since 2003. The company has tied up with BYD (a Chinese battery and electric car maker) for manufacturing of electric buses. Electric buses are sold under the joint brand name of It has successfully delivered a total of nearly 386 e-buses to various state transport undertakings (STUs) in India and a few private parties till September 30, 2021.

On December 13, 2021, ICRA rating agency reaffirmed the enhanced ratings of Olectra Greentech's Rs 265 crore long term/short term  non-fund based instrument with a positive outlook.

"The ratings factor in the expected strong performance of Olectra Greentechs e-bus division in H2 FY2022 which is likely to support growth in its revenues and margins. The companys order book of the e-bus division improved significantly to 1,575 buses as on November 16, 2021 as against 792 as on June 30, 2020," ICRA said.

While the order execution was impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic over the past 18 months, the company plans to deliver ~100-110 buses in Q3 FY2022 and ~200  300 buses in Q4 FY2022 (as against 88 buses sold in FY2021 and 29 buses in H1 FY2022) which would lead to significant growth in revenues and healthy profits.

It's ability to achieve the growth and the timely delivery of the buses would remain a key rating monitorable. The ratings factor in the favourable demand prospects for electric vehicles (EV'-s), which would aid healthy order inflow and ramp-up in operations, the rating agency said.
The are likely to open on a subdued note given the fresh fears around the Omicorn variant globally. At 08:10 AM, the SGX Nifty was quoted at 17,305, down 59 points. Meanwhile, here the top stocks to focus in trade on Friday.

Anand Rathi Wealth: The stock to make its debut on the bourses today. The issue was subscribed 9.78 times. According to reports, the Grey Market Premium indicates a 50 per cent listing gain for the debutant.

Paytm: Riding on strong festival season activity, Paytms gross merchandise value (GMV) saw a 129 per cent jump in October-November to Rs 1.7 trillion. The value of loans disbursed through the platform increased 375 per cent YoY to Rs 1,320 crore ($178 million) in the first two months of the third quarter. READ MORE



Vedanta: The Anil Agarwal-controlled and its related group entities have withdrawn multiple tax disputes with the Union government. This includes the income tax appeal pending before the Delhi bench of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal in a matter relating to international taxation. Its parent Resources has also filed the application seeking withdrawal of the claim and termination of the arbitral proceedings pending before the Permanent Court for Arbitration in the International Court of Justice. READ MORE



As part of the restructuring of the Shriram Group, Shriram Capital and Shriram City Union Finance will merge with Shriram Transport Finance Company. The new entity, which will be the largest retail non-banking financial company (NBFC) in India, will be named Shriram Finance Ltd. After the merger, the new entity will have an assets under management (AUM) of over Rs 1.5 trillion, more than 20 million consumers, and a distribution network of around 3,500. READ MORE The companys board has approved a proposal to incorporate a wholly owned subsidiary to carry on business of Account Aggregator  which shall be licenced by the Reserve Bank of India.

Edelweiss: Edelweiss Wealth Management has bought back 5.28 per cent of its shares from the partner PAG by paying Rs 230 crore, thus increasing the stake to 44.16 per cent. According to the agreement, which was to lapse this month, no premium or discount was involved.

Greenlam: Surfacing solutions brand Greenlam plans to invest Rs 950 crore in 2-3 years towards setting up of the third laminate plant and made a foray into the plywood and particle board business. As part of the plan, the company will invest Rs 600 crore on machinery and Rs 225 crore on the laminate capacity.

Meanwhile, the companys board has approved stock split in the ratio of 5:1, i.e. each equity share with the face value of Rs 5 will be sub-divided into five equity shares with a face value of Re. 1 each.

Vodafone Idea: The telecom company has partnered with Hungama Music to launch a music streaming service to drive digital adoption and monetisation. Initially, the company plans to offer six months of premium subscription of Hungama Music at no extra cost to its customers.

BPCL: The company has collaborated with Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) to scale up Alkaline Electrolyser technology for Green Hydrogen production.

M. K. Exim (India): The companys board is scheduled to meet on December 21 to consider a proposal for bonus issue of equity shares.

Stocks in F&O ban: Escorts, Indiabulls Housing Finance and Vodafone Idea are the only stocks in the F&O ban period today.
In a move that can irk China, on Monday chose for the largest-ever defence deal with the Asian country.

and took their strategic relations to new heights by agreeing to a new defence deal worth USD 717 million (NTD 19,861 billion), reported Taiwan News.

The deal's announcement marked the climax of a four-day visit to Canberra by South Korean President Moon Jae-in -- the first foreign leader to visit since the coronavirus pandemic began in 2020, according to an Al Jazeera report.

Hanwha, a South Korean defence company, has signed on to supply the Australian army with cutting-edge artillery weapons, supply vehicles, and radars.

It represents the largest defence contract between Australia and an Asian nation in history, and it comes just months after Canberra joined the AUKUS pact with the UK and US, much to the chagrin of China.

Indeed, experts believe Moon's visit shows Seoul is prepared to go out of its way to deepen its friendship with Australia, despite knowing it will potentially take heat from China as a consequence, reported Taiwan News.

"At the end of his single five-year term and in the midst of the pandemic, it has to be quite important to signal a degree of support and comfort with Australia's membership of the Quad and the AUKUS agreement," said Bill Paterson, Australia's former ambassador to Seoul.

The outcomes of recent meetings between South Korean leaders and their Chinese and Australian counterparts show that, despite the importance of the country's trade relations with China, Seoul places greater trust in American allies like Australia when it comes to security, reported Taiwan News.

While China and will commemorate 30 years of diplomatic ties next year, Australia and South Korea have diplomatic connections going back 60 years.

The countries have a long military relationship, with about 18,000 Australians fighting alongside South Korean forces in the Korean War -- in which China fought on the other side.

The two countries also share strong economic ties, with South Korea being Australia's fourth-largest trading partner, bolstered by a free trade agreement that took effect in 2014.

Now Morrison and Moon have agreed to upgrade the official status of their relations to a "comprehensive strategic partnership", reported Taiwan News.

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"I request the chairman to use his powers to bring back these 12 (suspended) MPs to the House," Kharge added.

Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, on Tuesday requested the Chairman of the House, M. Venkaiah Naidu to bring back the 12 suspended MPs, and alleged that the government is "not letting" the latter do so.

Speaking to ANI, Kharge said, "The (Rajya Sabha) chairman has full powers to suspend any rule, issue direction, or revoke it but the government is not letting him do it."

"I request the chairman to use his powers to bring back these 12 (suspended) MPs to the House," he added.

Talking about Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Uttar Pradesh's (Kashi), Kharge said that he is doing to collect votes.

"They are staging a drama; until people don't under their drama, they will continue doing it. The government doesn't do anything from the heart; their one and only agenda is to collect votes," he said while adding that they (BJP) are trying to polarise the votes.

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The floor leaders of in both the Houses of the Parliament will meet on Tuesday to discuss a proposal for a march by all the opposition MPs from Gandhi statue to Vijay Chowk in solidarity with 12 suspended members of

The meeting will be held today at 10 am at the Chamber of Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Mallikarjun Kharge.

The Upper House has witnessed continuous adjournment since the first day of the ongoing Winter Session over the suspension of the 12 members.

The suspended members comprise six from the Congress, two each from Trinamool Congress and Shiv Sena, and one each from CPI and CPM: Phulo Devi Netam, Chhaya Verma, Ripun Bora, Rajamani Patel, Syed Nasir Hussain and Akhilesh Prasad Singh of Congress; Dola Sen, Shanta Chhetri of Trinamool Congress; Priyanka Chaturvedi, Anil Desai of Shiv Sena; Elamaram Kareem of CPM; and, Binoy Viswam of CPI.

The members were suspended for alleged unruly conduct towards the end of the monsoon session in August when marshals were called after Opposition members stormed the Well of the House during the passage of the General Insurance Business (Nationalisation) Amendment Bill, 2021.

The suspended MPs have been protesting at the Gandhi statue in the premises of the Parliament since the first day of their suspension.

The winter session of Parliament began on November 29 and will continue till December 23.

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Adani Green Energy has signed an agreement with the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) to supply 4,667 MW of green power.

This is the world's largest ever green power purchase agreement.

The AGEL-SECI agreement to supply 4,667 MW is part of a manufacturing-linked solar tender of 8,000 MW awarded to AGEL by SECI in June 2020, which set a record for being the world's largest solar development tender ever awarded.

So far, AGEL has signed PPAs with SECI for a total generation capacity of close to 6000 MW of the 8,000 MW awarded in 2020. AGEL expects to close the balance 2000 MW PPA in the next two to three months.

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Larsen & Toubro Infotech has expanded its Hyderabad operations by setting up a new facility in the city.

The 110,000 sq. ft. state-of-the-art Center is designed and equipped to house over 3,000 employees and will support company's global operations. The Center will focus on delivering digital, data, and cloud solutions to global clients.

The facility hosts new-age amenities related to the safety, security, and overall wellbeing of employees. Located in the Sky View Campus, Hitech City Main Road, Madhapur, the Center is LEED Gold certified by USGBS.

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Lupin jumped 6.78% to Rs 944 after the drug maker received the Establishment Inspection Report (EIR) from United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) for its Goa manufacturing facility.

The inspection was conducted in September 2021. The USFDA determined that the inspection classification of the facility is Voluntary Action Indicated (VAI).

Commenting on the development, Nilesh Gupta, Managing Director, Lupin said This is a very positive development and we are delighted with the news of the change in classification of our Goa site. The Goa site has a very important place in the U.S. market with the number of affordable, quality medicines we supply, and we now look forward to new products flowing out of the site again. We remain committed to meet and exceed global standards of quality and compliance at all our manufacturing facilities globally.

Vinita Gupta, CEO of Lupin said, We are very happy to have received the EIR from US FDA with Voluntary Action Indicated classification for our Goa plant. This is a significant milestone as we build back our reputation of being best-in-class in Quality and Compliance. We are committed to manufacture and supply products of the highest quality from all our manufacturing sites.

Lupin is an innovation-led transnational pharmaceutical company. The company develops and commercializes a wide range of branded and generic formulations, biotechnology products and APIs in over 100 markets in the U.S., India, South Africa and across Asia Pacific (APAC), Latin America (LATAM), Europe and Middle-East regions.

The company eported a consolidated net loss of Rs 2,094.87 crore in Q2 FY22 as against net profit of Rs 213.51 crore in Q2 FY21. On a consolidated basis, net sales rose 5.9% to Rs 4,003.42 crore in Q2 FY22 over Q2 FY21.

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Presidency College had a good Department of Economics and Political Science. Id say that the teaching standard at my time there would compare quite favourably with the standard I found later when teaching undergraduate classes in Berkeley.

I remember in my first lecture in Berkeley in a large undergraduate class I was using some bit of calculus. After my class a female student came to see me to complain about the use of calculus in class. I told her that I was not using any advanced calculus, so if she brushed up her high school-level calculus she should have no difficulty in ...
A former Congress MP and four ex-MLAs, including three from the SAD, joined Amarinder Singh's Lok Congress here on Tuesday.

Amrik Singh Aliwal, a two-time MP from Ludhiana, and former legislators Harjinder Singh Thekedar of the Congress, and Prem Mittal, Farzana Alam and Rajwinder Kaur Bhagike of the SAD joined the party in the presence of Amarinder Singh, the Lok Congress said in a statement.

Former district Congress presidents Jagmohan Sharma and Satvir Singh Palli Jhikki, and Arthiya Association president Vijay Kalra also came into the party fold, it said.

Other new entrants include Sammukh Singh Mokha, Anup Singh Bhullar, Sanjeev Bittu, Ashwani Kumar, Nitin Sharma Batala and Rajdeep Kaur from Fazilka, the Punjab Lok Congress statement said.

Amarinder Singh quit the Congress and floated his own party, the Punjab Lok Congress, following his unceremonious exit as the Punjab chief minister months ahead of the assembly polls in the state.

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Former chief minister Amarinder Singh on Tuesday said the mission of his party, the Lok Congress, was to form the next government in the state and not just defeat the ruling

Addressing a meeting of party workers and office bearers here, Singh said he was overwhelmed with the response he was getting from across the state.

He claimed that very soon several sitting and former legislators from all the three major political parties -- the Congress, the Aam Aadmi Party and Shiromani Akali Dal -- will be joining his party.

"We will soon be holding a similar function but at a large scale as several leaders will be joining us," a party statement quoting him as saying.

assembly polls are due early next year.

Sharing the agenda of his party, Singh said he was not there just to become the chief minister once again.

"My mission is not only saving Punjab but reviving its past glory," he asserted while referring to some pressing problems that confronted the state right now.

The former chief minister pointed out that Punjab was under a massive debt of about Rs 5 lakh crore, which was about 70 per cent of the total gross state domestic product (GSDP).

He said this will take generations to repay and the corrective measures needed to be taken immediately.

He also wondered where his successor Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi was going to get the money for populist announcements.

"Probably, he knows that is not going to come back and let the next government bear the brunt," said Singh, who faced an unceremonious exit from the state government in September.

He said Punjab can no longer depend on agriculture and it needs modern industry for which investment is needed.

He said till September, Rs 1 lakh crore had already been invested in the state.

Referring to the threat from the neighbouring country, the former chief minister said India did not want enmity with any country.

Singh said he had nothing personally against the people of Pakistan, but he has problems with the Pakistan government and its military establishment which is sponsoring terror and killing our soldiers on borders.

Singh said 83 soldiers from Punjab were killed during the last five years. "Imagine the total number of casualties from across the country", he said, while adding that under such circumstances no true Indian can claim that Imran Khan and Pakistan military chief General Qamar Bajwa are his friends.

"If you are friends with such people, which you proudly claim, you are not a well-wisher of the country," he said while referring to Punjab chief Navjot Singh Sidhu's public pronouncements claiming Imran Khan to be his friend.

Referring to the plight of other political parties in the state, Singh said the Congress was in a state of civil war with the incumbent chief minister and the PCC president pulling in different directions with workers and leaders feeling confused and clueless on what to do and whom to follow.

The AAP was down in the dumps, with half of their legislators having deserted the party, and others ready to leave, claimed Singh.

About the Akali Dal, he said they were yet to find their feet again after being punished by people as it was during their tenure that the sacrilege incidents took place in 2015 and they took no action.

Moreover, he added that the farmers were not going to forgive them for supporting the repealed agriculture laws initially although they backed out later.

Elaborating about his party's plan of action, he said the Punjab Lok Congress will go for seat adjustment with the BJP.

He said the BJP was also in consultation with Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa who leads Shiromani Akali Dal (Sanyukt).

He hoped that the seat adjustment will be worked out soon and the new government will watch and safeguard the interests of the state at all costs.

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leader on Tuesday termed the suspension of 12 Rajya Sabha MPs as the "symbol of the crushing of the voice of people of India" and said that the Opposition is not allowed to raise any issue of importance in the

Speaking to the media at the Vijay Chowk, the Wayanad MP said, "Suspension of 12 MPs is a symbol of the crushing of the voice of people of India. Their voices have been crushed. They have done nothing wrong. We are not allowed to discuss important issues in "

"Bill after Bill is being passed in in the din. This is not the way to run the Parliament. The Prime Minister doesn't come to House. We are not allowed to raise any issue of importance. It is the unfortunate killing of democracy," he said.

The leader further called Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Rajya Sabha Chairman "just implementors" of a power that wants to steal farmers' income.

"A minister killed farmers. The Prime Minister is aware of it. Truth is that 2-3 capitalists are against farmers... These MPs were not suspended by the Rajya Sabha chairman or the Prime Minister but by the power that wants to steal farmers' income. The Prime Minister and the chairman are just implementors," he added.

The Opposition leaders in both the Houses held a march from Parliament to Vijay Chowk demanding to revoke the suspension of 12 Rajya Sabha MPs.

Meanwhile, The Rajya Sabha has been adjourned till 2 pm on Tuesday as the Opposition parties disrupted proceedings of the House seeking revocation of suspension of 12 MPs from the House. The Upper House has witnessed continuous adjournment since the first day of the ongoing Winter Session over the suspension of the 12 members.

The winter session of Parliament began on November 29 and will continue till December 23.

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Chief Minister on Tuesday said Prime Minister remembers the river, which is regarded as the "mai" (mother) by lakhs, only during elections to get votes, a day after he took a ritualistic dip in the holy river before inaugurating the Kashi Vishwanath Dham (KVD) in Varanasi.

Addressing a public meeting at Assnora village in North Goa on the last day of her two-day visit to Goa, the TMC supremo said the prime minister can do anything to get votes and recalled his visit to Uttarakhand for performing "tapasya" (meditation).

She also alleged that the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh made the river "impure by throwing unclaimed bodies of COVID-19 victims".

Banerjee said around 23 lakh people visit Gangasgar in to participate in the Gangasagar mela like the Kumbh congregation.

But we don't worship the river only during the time of elections. During the election time, Modi ji went and took a dip in the Ganga river, she said in an apparent reference to the PM's visit to Varanasi, his Lok Sabha constituency, on Monday for inaugurating the KVD which houses the world-famous Kashi Vishwanath temple



Banerjee said PM Modi took a dip in the Ganga river only to get votes.

He can do anything to get votes. He had gone to Uttarakhand and performed tapasya. We have no objection to it. Let him do whatever he wants to. He has freedom (to do whatever he wants) but where were you during the entire year? she asked.

The swipe at PM Modi came in reference to his visit to a cave near the Kedarnath temple where he had spent a day meditating after the election campaign for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, which the BJP won.

The chief minister accused the Yogi Adityanath government in UP of throwing unclaimed bodies of the COVID-19 victims in the Ganga river.

They have made the Gangamai (mother Ganga) 'apavitra' (impure). We call the Ganga water pure. We call the river our mother. But the BJP has thrown COVID-19 dead bodies in the Ganga river. We don't like it, she said.

Banerjee, who is projecting herself as the opposition pivot to take on the BJP and whose party is contesting the maiden assembly elections in Goa, was livid at the "Bengali party" tag assigned to the TMC.

"They say we are Bengalis, (but) who are they? They are Gujaratis. Did we ever say that he is a Gujarati and he should not come here? If Gujaratis can go anywhere in the entire country, why can't Bengalis go? If a Bengali can write the Anthem, can't he come to Goa? she questioned.

Banerjee said Mahatma Gandhi was seen as the leader of the entire nation and not of any state.

We don't think which part of the country he belonged to. A true leader should take the country together, she commented.

The West Bengal chief minister said that Goa will not be run from Gujarat or Delhi but Goans will run their state.

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Congress President on Tuesday met opposition leaders of DMK, NC, Shiv Sena, NCP to chalk out parliamentary strategy and how the like minded parties can work together. The meeting comes in response to Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee who categorically said that there is no UPA now.

The leaders present in the meeting include Sharad Pawar, T.R. Baalu, Farooq Abdullah and Sanjay Raut.

Rahul Gandhi was also present in the meeting.

After the meeting, Baalu said, "we discussed the suspension of the MPs from Rajya Sabha," while Farooq Abdullah of the Conference said that a consensus has been built to devise common strategy to move forward.

"We talked about the current state of the nation and how we can work together and move forward in the interest of the nation," Abdullah added.

The crucial meeting of comes on the day when opposition took out a march on the issue of suspension of the MPs. In the meeting it has been decided that the MPs will not offer apology as the government has demanded from them.

The like minded opposition leaders of both the houses of Parliament met in the office of Leader of opposition Mallikarjun Kharge. The opposition leaders took out a march in solidarity with the suspended MPs.

The opposition and the government are on loggerheads on the issue and on Monday the upper house witnessed disruptions with opposition demanding revocation of the suspension.

--IANS

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Riding high on the party's victory in the Legislative Council polls, the on Tuesday said that the 'unholy alliance' of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) in the state has been rejected. The saffron party has won four out of the six seats in the Council polls for which elections were held last week.

Bharatiya Janata Party national general secretary and in-charge C T Ravi told IANS that the message is loud and clear that people and elected representatives of the local bodies are against the MVA. "It's a strong message to the MVA leadership that no one in accepts their 'unholy alliance' of three parties, Shiv Sena, Congress and NCP. Unholy alliance of MVA has been rejected in the Legislative Council polls," Ravi said.

Ravi claimed that the MVA is trying to present a strong mathematical position in the elections but the results show a different picture.

"The MVA partners did everything to win the Maharashtra Legislative Council election. But despite being three parties coming together, the MVA was not able to defend Dhule where the mathematics was in their favour. They are concentrating on mathematics but the is focusing on winning people's support through its developmental agenda," Ravi said.

He claimed that there is strong resentment within the cadres of the MVA partners and the results are a reflection of that resentment. "Leaders of Shiv Sena, Congress and NCP joined hands to form the MVA government in the state while the cadre is against the unethical alliance formed for the sake of power," he said.

The won the local authority constituency polls in the Akola and Nagpur seats with their candidates Chandrashekhar Bawankule and Vasant Khandelwal emerging winners in Nagpur and Akola respectively. The BJP and Shiv Sena bagged one seat each in Mumbai, the BJP also won the Dhule seat and the Congress secured Kolhapur -- all four unopposed owing to local-level political understandings in the biennial polls.

Former Maharashtra chief minister tweeted, "4 out of 6! Council Poll Results proved that despite three MVA parties together, they can't defeat BJP Maharashtra. We thank Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Minister Amit Shah, our BJP National President J P Nadda for continuous guidance."

--IANS

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Dismissed police officer Sachin Waze during his deposition before an inquiry commission here on Tuesday denied making any payment to former home minister Anil Deshmukh or any of his staff member.

He also denied collecting money from bars and bar owners in

Waze is currently deposing before the Justice K U Chandiwal Commission, which is probing corruption allegations levelled against Deshmukh by former police commissioner Param Bir Singh.

NCP leader Deshmukh resigned from the post of state home minister in April this year.

Waze's cross-examination by Deshmukh's lawyer Girish Kulkarni continued on Tuesday.

When asked whether there was any occasion he had to make payment to Deshmukh, Waze said, "No".

He also denied making payment to any of the staff members of the then home minister.

To a question on whether he made any payment to Kundan Shinde, in his capacity as Deshmukh's staff or otherwise, Waze said, ''I don't recollect."



When asked if anybody from the then home minister's office asked him to collect money from bars or bar owners, Waze said, "I don't remember."



He also denied collecting any money from bar owners or bar-associated people.

Waze also responded in negative when asked whether there was any interference from the state home ministry or any political party in cases he was probing during his stint at the Crime Intelligence Unit (CIU).

Later, the inquiry commission posted the matter for further hearing on December 21 and imposed a cost of Rs 15,000 on Deshmukh for seeking adjournment.

Earlier, in his statement before the Enforcement Directorate (ED), Waze had alleged that Deshmukh asked him to collect money from bar and hotel owners.

He had also claimed that Deshmukh used to give instructions in high-profile investigations.

Waze had alleged that during a meeting held in October 2020 at Deshmukh's residence 'Dyneshwari', the NCP leader gave him a list of 1,750 bars and restaurants and asked him to collect Rs 3 lakh each from these establishments for granting various favours.

In his statement before the ED, Waze had also mentioned that he handed over the money collected from bars to Deshmukh's personal assistant Kundan Shinde.

His statement is part of the charge sheet filed by the central probe agency in connection with a money laundering case.

Deshmukh was earlier arrested by the ED in connection with the case, and he is currently in judicial custody.

The ED launched a probe against Deshmukh and his associates after the CBI filed an FIR against him on April 21 following allegations made by Param Bir Singh.

The government had in March formed the one-member commission of Justice Chandiwal (retired) to probe Singh's allegations against Deshmukh.

Waze, who had served as an assistant inspector of Police, was arrested in March this year in the case of an SUV with explosives found near industrialist Mukesh Ambani's south Mumbai residence 'Antilia'.

Singh, now suspended, was transferred from the post of Mumbai police commissioner in March in the aftermath of the Antilia bomb scare episode. He had then alleged that Deshmukh asked police officers to collect Rs 100 crore a month from bars and restaurants in the city.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the ED are also probing the allegations made against Deshmukh by Singh.

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The LNJP hospital has been designated for treating patients infected with the new Omicron variant of Covid-19.

Delhi's first patient of the Omicron variant of the (Covid-19), a 37-year-old man, has been discharged from the Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan (LNJP) hospital, officials said on Tuesday.

The man, a resident of Ranchi, had travelled from Tanzania to Doha and from there, to Delhi on a flight on December 2. He stayed in Johannesburg in South Africa for a week and had mild symptoms.

The LNJP hospital has been designated for treating patients infected with the new Omicron variant of Covid-19.

A 35-year-old man with travel history to Zimbabwe and South Africa has also tested positive for Omicron, becoming the second patient in the national capital to get infected with the new variant of the

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Shringla said the Economic Survey 2020-21 pointed to a strong "V-shaped" recovery of economic activities.. Photo: ANI

The Indian economy is rapidly recovering from the coonavirus (Covid-19) pandemic-induced downturn and is returning to its trajectory of rapid growth, Foreign Secretary has said.

He also said India's trade figures are promising and that the total the country received in the current financial year stood at $81.72 billion, the highest ever.

In an address at the India Global Forum on Monday, Shringla said an ambitious target of $400 billion of exports has been set for the year 2021-22 and an "unprecedented push has been given to negotiating trade pacts with various countries.

He said trade agreements are currently being negotiated with the United Arab Emirates, the UK, the European Union, Israel and several other countries.

The foreign secretary also showcased various ambitious structural reforms rolled out by the government in the last few years to enhance economic openness, good governance and global competitiveness.

He said the country has also emerged as a major green energy hub having one of the most ambitious solar energy production capacities in the world.

"The Indian economy is rapidly recovering from pandemic induced downturn and is returning to its trajectory as a rapidly growing economy," Shringla said at the event held in Dubai.

The foreign secretary said the Economic Survey 2020-21 pointed to a strong "V-shaped" recovery of economic activities.

"According to the RBI, Indian GDP grew 20 per cent year-on-year in the first quarter of this year. The IMF has projected a 9.5 per cent growth rate for this year, close to double digits," he said.

Shringla said the "Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan (Self-reliant India initiative) has been launched to make the country a trustworthy global supply chain hub.

"The economic shock of the pandemic was countered by a massive fiscal and monetary support package. Liquidity was injected into the system through a stimulus package amounting to $408.7 billion," he said.

"This is equivalent to about 15 per cent of India's GDP making it among the largest economic packages in the world. Special attention is given to vulnerable sectors such as MSMEs," he added.

Listing various measures to boost economic growth, Shringla said private sector participation has been given a big push in eight areas: coal, minerals, defence production, civil aviation, power distribution, social infrastructure, space and atomic energy.

He also said that the business ties between India and the UAE are witnessing rapid strides.

"UAE investments in India are today estimated to be around USD 17-18 billion. These span a number of areas including energy, ports, logistics and infrastructure. We are committed to addressing issues raised by UAE investors," he said.

Referring to expansion in defence ties between the two sides, he said joint ventures in the defence sectors can be explored.

"Going forward, we are sure that we will do more business in sectors like infrastructure, food processing, health security, renewable energy and the start-up space," Shringla said.

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Internet restaurants do not have physical outlets but they take orders online and serve customers through home delivery.

Rebel Foods, which runs chain of restaurants, on Tuesday said it plans to invest $150 million (nearly Rs 1,140 crore) to acquire and scale new food brands in India and globally.

The investment pool will be used in the next few quarters, to scale up existing and new partnerships with over 40 Indian and international brands, the company said in a statement.

Rebel Foods, which operates over 450 kitchens globally around 70 cities in over 10 countries, said it plans to further grow its presence to 100 cities around the world.

do not have physical outlets but they take orders online and serve customers through home delivery.

The company said it has helped scale up partner brands like SLAY, Naturals Ice Cream, Mad Over Donuts and Wendy's across 100s of locations in India within a short period. It recently invested in Biryani Blues and Zomoz to further scale the brands nationally.

"Through this initiative, we aim to invest in some of the most loved food brands and help them scale through our extensive network to all parts of the country and even internationally like it's already happening with SLAY, Wendy's, Biryani Blues and others," said Rebel Foods Co-Founder Raghav Joshi.

He further said, "this is in conjunction with our plans to expand great local brands internationally while becoming the most loved food company."



The company's investment plans come on the back of it attaining unicorn status in October this year.

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The on Tuesday allowed double lane widening for the strategic project in Uttarakhand, saying the recent past has thrown serious challenges to national security.

The court in the exercise of judicial review cannot second guess the infrastructural needs of the armed forces, the bench headed by Justice D Y Chandrachud said while also setting up an oversight committee headed by former Justice A K Sikri to report to it directly on the project.

The strategic 900-km Chardham project worth Rs 12,000 crore aims to provide all-weather connectivity to four holy towns -- Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath.

In its judgment, the bench, also comprising Justices Surya Kant and Vikram Nath, clarified that the oversight committee will not undertake a fresh environment assessment.

The committee will receive all support from the ministries of Defence and Road Transport, the Government and all district magistrates. The top court said that there are no malafides in the application filed by the Defence ministry. The allegation that its application seeks to relitigate matters or to subvert previous orders of this court are unfounded.

As a specialised body of the government, the Defence ministry is entitled to decide operational requirements of the armed forces, including infrastructural support needed for facilitating movement of troops, it said.

"The bonafides of MoD are also evident from the fact that the issue of security concerns was raised during the discussion of HPC and finds mention in HPC report. This MoD has maintained the need for double lane roads for border security concerns.

"The appellants have referred to a statement made by Chief of Army Staff in 2019 in a media interview regarding the adequacy of infrastructure for troop movement. We do not find it necessary to place reliance on statements made to the media given the consistent stand of MOD. The security concerns as assessed by MoD may change overtime. The recent past has thrown serious challenges to national security," the bench said.

The apex court said the armed forces cannot be held down to a statement made during a media interview in 2019 as if it was a decree written in stone.

"This court in the exercise of judicial review cannot second guess the infrastructural needs of the armed forces. The submission of the appellants requires the court to interrogate the policy choice of the establishment which is entrusted by law to the defence of the nation. This is impermissible," it said.

If the Army cannot move its missile launchers, heavy machinery up to the northern Indo-China border, then how will it defend it and fight a war if it breaks out, the Centre had said in a poser to the apex court earlier.

Trying to allay the concerns of landslides in Himalayan regions due to the construction of the wider project, the government had said all necessary steps have been taken to mitigate the disaster. It added that landslides have happened in various parts of the country and not specifically due to road construction.



The court was hearing the Centre's plea seeking modification of the September 8, 2020 order, which had asked the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways to follow the 2018 circular stipulating a carriageway width of 5.5 metre on the ambitious highway project which goes up to the border with China.

In its application, the MoD had said it seeks modification of the order and directions that the national highways from Rishikesh to Mana, from Rishikesh to Gangotri, and from Tanakpur to Pithoragarh may be developed to two-lane configuration.

(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 results indicate that the Omicron variant has the potential to drive a further wave of infections, including among those already vaccinated, the researchers said.

Two doses of and (COVID-19) vaccines generate lower levels of antibodies against the Omicron variant of coronavirus, according to a study which suggests that those previously infected or vaccinated may be at an increased risk of infection.

Researchers from the University of Oxford in the UK analysed the impact of the Omicron variant of concern on one of the immune responses generated by vaccination.

The yet-to-be peer-reviewed study, posted on the preprint repository MedRxiv on Monday, used blood samples from individuals who had previously received two doses of the or vaccines, and a live virus isolate.

The researchers demonstrate substantial decrease in neutralising titres -- a measure of the level of neutralising antibodies generated in responses to vaccination against, or infection from, COVID-19.

The results indicate that the Omicron variant has the potential to drive a further wave of infections, including among those already vaccinated, the researchers said.

They, however, noted that there is currently no evidence of increased potential to cause severe disease, hospitalisations or deaths in vaccinated populations.

These results align with recently published data from UK Health Security Agency, showing reduced effectiveness of two doses of these vaccines against symptomatic disease due to the Omicron variant compared to Delta.

This effectiveness was, however, improved by a third dose of vaccine, the researchers said.

"These data will help those developing vaccines, and vaccination strategies, to determine the routes to best protect their populations, and press home the message that those who are offered booster vaccination should take it," said Professor Gavin Screaton, Head of the Oxford's Medical Sciences Division, and lead author of the paper.

"Whilst there is no evidence for increased risk of severe disease, or death, from the virus amongst vaccinated populations, we must remain cautious, as greater case numbers will still place a considerable burden on healthcare systems," Screaton said.

The researchers noted that these data are important but are only one part of the picture.

They only look at neutralising antibodies after the second dose, but do not tell us about cellular immunity, and this will also be tested using stored samples once the assays are available, they said.

"Importantly, we have not yet assessed the impact of a 'third dose' booster, which we know significantly increases antibody concentrations, and it is likely that this will lead to improved potency against the Omicron variant," said Matthew Snape, a professor at the University of Oxford and co-author of the study.

"Vaccination induces many arms of our immune system, including neutralising antibodies and T-cells," said Teresa Lambe, a professor at the University of Oxford, and an author on the paper.

"Real-world effectiveness data has shown us that vaccines continue to protect against severe disease with previous variants of concern. The best way to protect us going forward in this pandemic is by getting vaccines in arms," Lambe added.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Last weekend some smart alecks managed to breach the defenses of one of the most ubiquitous media platforms, access the mouthpiece of the leader of one of the worlds most populous countries, and grab the opportunity to broadcast whatever they wanted to 73 million followers. And they used it to pump cryptocurrency.



Its almost laughable that yet another Inc. hack  this time on the account of Indian Prime Minister  should once again become the vehicle for spruiking Bitcoin. India has officially adopted bitcoin as legal tender, the tweet sent by hackers from his account read. The government has officially bought 500 BTC and is distributing them to all residents of the country.

As implausible as that message sounds, the entire incident  from exploit to outcome  tells us a lot about hacking culture and the variety of actors out there trying to break into computer systems.

Whats immediately obvious about this specific event is that the perpetrators were more mischievous than malicious. Pitching Bitcoin has become the Rick Roll of the hacking community  a funny prank rather than a nasty attack.

Its not the first time.

In July 2020 more than 100 famous accounts were breached including those of Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Bill Gates, Elon Musk, Kanye West and Apple Inc. Once they got access, the attackers went on to promote a Bitcoin scam to millions of these victims followers.

The details of that incident are dripping with delicious irony. First up, the hackers use of Bitcoin was in fact their undoing  U.S. law enforcement officers tracked down the cryptocurrency accounts and found that theyd used their drivers licenses for authentication. And, the breach was conducted through old-fashioned social engineering  tricking staff into giving login credentials, which allowed access to the target accounts.

Finally, true to hacker form, two of them were teenagers, one of whom was underage. Youngsters pulling off epic hacks is a time-honored tradition. Kevin Mitnick, the most infamous of them all, was just 16 when he broke into Digital Equipment Corp.s systems in 1979 and stole software. Jonathan James, purportedly the first juvenile imprisoned for cybercrime, was 15 when he got going and added the Department of Defense to his list of victims.

Yet since Mitnick and James rose to fame decades ago, the goal of network penetration has gone from scamming cheap long-distance calls to shutting pipelines and destroying centrifuges used in weapons production. And its likely that more hacks go unnoticed or unreported than those we hear about.

So even though this was a prank  a somewhat well-trodden one at that  there is a serious side to it. It should be of grave concern that one of the most powerful outlets in the world was once again breached, allowing unauthorized access to the media equivalent of the nuclear codes. Musk, the chief executive officer of Tesla Inc., has made cryptocurrency and equity markets swing by billions of dollars with a few choice words.

Am considering taking Tesla private at $420. Funding secured.  Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 7, 2018

One can only image what might have happened if the account of the democratically elected leader of an increasingly authoritarian government decided to declare a second demonetization or an escalation of its conflicts with China or Pakistan. We should be thankful that the attackers chose Bitcoin as the subject of their tweets, not economic or military destruction.

The world might not be so lucky next time. A few hacks of Twitter has proven to the rest of the community that this is a target with vulnerabilities, and others  possibly with state backing or terrorist links  will think of better ways to abuse that weakness than promoting crypto scams. And clearly Twitter itself continues to drop the ball on the fundamental task of keeping its system robust as it balances usability with security.

May we laugh and appreciate the prankster nature of the best hackers around. But lets keep in mind that breaching is all fun and games until someone gets hurt.
The 2022-23 to be presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on February 1 will focus a lot more on trade-related packages and may propose to amend the (SEZ) Act, said Commerce Secretary B V R Subrahmanyam on Tuesday.

There will be a lot of trade-related packages coming up in the For the first time, you will find specific paras addressing us (the commerce ministry). The old history of us wanting something and the finance ministry not doing it is no longer there. We have brought harmony there, said Subrahmanyam. He was speaking at a session of the Confederation of Indian Industry Partnership Summit.

Hinting at an announcement on the simplification of SEZs, Subrahmanyam said the commerce ministry would be rewriting the law. If there is a unit in an facing the domestic market, it will behave like a domestic tariff area entity. If it is facing the international market, it will behave like an unit. It will still be one unit. Thats going to be a breakthrough once we get it through the next session of Parliament, he said.

The commerce and finance ministries are often at loggerheads over the SEZ policy on tax incentives to SEZ units and allowing them to sell in the domestic tariff area.

An expert committee led by Bharat Forge Chairman Baba Kalyani, that was formed in 2018 to review the SEZ policy, has already submitted its report, recommending significant changes in the SEZ policy, including the formulation of separate rules and procedures for manufacturing and service SEZs.

Subrahmanyam also cautioned the Indian industry, telling it to brace for increased competition and think global since India was going to sign a host of very deep free trade agreements (FTAs) to integrate the Indian economy with advanced economies, such as the UK, Australia, and the European Union (EU).

FTAs cant be one way. Everybody wants market access. I want the industry to keep that in mind. To make FTAs realistic and compliant with World Trade Organization norms, we need to have at least 90 per cent of trade covered under substantial liberalisation. We cant be cherry-picking. It will be a deep integration of economies. There will be some sensitive lines, of course. In the Indian context, dairy, for example, is a sensitive area. By and large, these are going to be very deep FTAs, he added.

Subrahmanyam said India would be concluding an FTA with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) any day.

I am saying any day, not weeks. Launched on September 22, we will have the signing sometime in January, he added.

He said India was also going to relaunch the FTA with Israel by March-April next year.

We are negotiating an FTA with Australia. We will have an interim in place by the end of this month and a full agreement by next year. We are entering into an agreement with the UK. We will have an interim in place by March-April and a final one by December next year. The EU FTA, which had been stalled for seven years, will hopefully be done by mid-2023. It is a more complex dynamic, given there are 27 countries. We are in talks with Canada and by the end of next year, we should have a full-fledged agreement, he added.
Dubai [UAE], December 14 (ANI/NewsVoir): Internationalisation of Indian higher education system is the need of the hour and a multi-pronged approach is required for it, said NITI Aayog, CEO, Amitabh Kant today in a session titled 'Internationalisation of Indian Higher Education System' at the India Pavilion in EXPO2020 Dubai.

"The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 envisions internationalising of Indian higher education system and establishing India as a Vishvaguru. However, we must acknowledge and introspect about the current challenges and trends in order to achieve this vision", he said while addressing the session virtually.

"It has to be understood that the higher number of outflow of Indian students to foreign universities and inflow of a substantially lower number of students to Indian universities reflect the sub-optimal quality of education in India as compared to the foreign universities," said Kant.

Elaborating on the multi-pronged approach to internationalise the Indian higher education system, Kant said, "All higher education institutes must create an institute development plan with a vision to be the best in their fields as recommended by the NEP 2020. The universities may like to use the National Institute Ranking Framework (NIRF) rankings and analyse the areas where there is scope of improving their rankings."

Along with this, he said that we must leverage our competitive advantages and traditional knowledge systems of India by integrating them with modern day study like sustainability studies, architecture, medicine etc. "Short-term diplomas and courses could be launched in collaboration with Ministry of Ayush and Universities to promote indigenous natural practices for international learners," Kant added.

He further said that all educational institutes participating in the India learning scheme must be ranked on the basis of ease of studying with a higher weightage given to feedback from foreign students as this will help participating institutes in improving their quality and getting more participation from foreign students.

To meet the funding needs, Kant said, "Indian higher education institutes must raise funds to raise their quality and Public-Private-Partnership could be one of the untapped areas to improve that and IIITs are one of the examples of this. The government recently modified the viability gap funding scheme to include social infrastructure projects that include higher education and universities must use this scheme to their advantage."

He further added, "NEP has opened a window of opportunity to rejuvenate our higher education system. I call upon all our academicians to innovate and create world class universities and make India a much sought-after education destination for students across the world."

Addressing the session virtually, Dr Raghunath Mashelkar, National Research Professor, and Former Director General, CSIR said, "I'm quite confident that in this century of knowledge - India will once again regain its position as leader in science & technology, innovation, philosophy and broader aspects of knowledge. I feel extraordinarily proud to speak to you as a product of education in India."

Dr Vidya Yeravdekar, Chair, FICCI Higher Education Committee & Pro Chancellor Symbiosis International University said, "With the National Education Policy, we will have more and more multiple universities that will provide excellent education. It is for young Indians, the non-resident Indians and foreign students who live abroad to come to India and experience this wonderful higher education system and be a part of the growth story of India."

To know more about India Pavilion at EXPO2020 Dubai, please visit:

Website: (https://indiaexpo2020.com)

Facebook: (https://www.facebook.com/indiaatexpo2020)

Instagram: (https://www.instagram.com/indiaatexpo2020)

Twitter: (https://twitter.com/IndiaExpo2020?s=09)

LinkedIn:(https://www.linkedin.com/company/india-expo-2020/?viewAsMember=true)

YouTube: (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6uOcYsc4g_JWMfS_Dz4Fhg/featured)

Koo: (https://www.kooapp.com/profile/IndiaExpo2020)

To know more about EXPO2020 Dubai, please visit:(https://www.expo2020dubai.com/en).

This story is provided by NewsVoir. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/NewsVoir)

DISCLAIMER

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Another round of rationalisation of rates is on the cards. The Centre is looking to convene a meeting of the Goods and Service or Council in early January. Besides rate rationalisation, a correction of the inverted duty structure is also expected. Inverted duty structure is when inputs for a product are taxed at a higher rate than the outgoing product itself. At the 45th Council Meeting in Lucknow on September 17, the Council had set up a Group of Ministers or GoM headed by Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai to look at the possibility for rate rationalisation and correction of the inverted duty structure. The GoMs report is expected to be finalised before the January meeting of the council. We may also see more talks on merging one or two slabs.

These recommendations were recently made by the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP), a finance ministry-backed think-tank. The NIPFP study suggests that the government can rationalise the GST rate structure without losing revenues by rejigging the four major rates of 5%, 12%, 18% and 28% with a three-rate framework of 8%, 15% and 30%. The study estimates that if the GST rate structure prevailing at its onset in July 2017 was restored last year, additional GST revenues of nearly 1.25 lakh crore could have accrued in 2020-21. In fact, at the last in September, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had pointed out that multiple rate changes since the onset of GST in 2017 had lowered the revenue-neutral rate from the original 15.5% to 11.6%. We can, therefore, expect an increase in the GST rates or a merger of slabs so that the average GST rate would inch closer to the revenue neutral rate. With the GST regime completing 4.5 years, it may be time to consider an overhaul of the rate structure for the long term. But the industry must be given sufficient time to incorporate any such changes. We cannot risk destabilising the GST system right when the economy is bouncing back.
Welcome to Caixins Tech Insider, your twice-weekly wrap on the movers, shakers and deal-makers in Chinas tech scene.

Tencent leads investment in Singapores digital banking firm

Chinese social media and gaming giant Tencent Holdings Ltd. has led a $70 million funding round for Singapore-based digital-banking firm Tyme that will help it hasten a rollout in South Africa and the Philippines.
ETATS-UNIS :: Fugitive Extradited from Cameroon to the United States to Serve 80 Year Prison Sentence

In the first extradition from the Republic of Cameroon to the United States, a Texas man was extradited to Houston on Friday to serve an 80-year prison sentence he received in absentia four years ago after he pleaded guilty in two separate cases to conspiracy, health care fraud, money laundering, and tax offenses.

According to court documents, in November 2016, Ebong Aloysius Tilong, 57, of Sugar Land, Texas, and his wife, Marie Neba, went to trial on the conspiracy, health care fraud, and money laundering charges. The trial evidence and court documents showed that between 2006 and 2015, Tilong, Neba, and their co-conspirators used Tilong and Nebas company, Fiango Home Healthcare Inc. (Fiango), to corruptly obtain more than $13 million by submitting false and fraudulent claims to Medicare for home health care services that Fiangos patients did not need or receive. The trial evidence and court documents also showed that Tilong and Neba paid illegal kickbacks to patient recruiters to refer patients to Fiango, and that Tilong falsified and directed others to falsify medical records to make it appear as though Fiangos patients met the Medicare qualifications for home health care. Additional evidence demonstrated that Tilong attempted to destroy evidence and blackmail and suborn perjury from witnesses. After the first week of trial, Tilong pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud, three counts of health care fraud, one count of conspiracy to pay and receive health care kickbacks, three counts of payment and receipt of health care kickbacks, and one count of conspiracy to launder monetary instruments.

In June 2017, Tilong pleaded guilty in a separate case to two counts of filing fraudulent tax returns. In connection with this guilty plea, Tilong admitted that he created a shell company called Quality Therapy Services (QTS) to limit the amount of tax that he paid to the IRS on the proceeds that he and his co-conspirators stole from Medicare. According to Tilongs plea agreement, in 2013 and 2014, Tilong wrote almost $1 million in checks from Fiango to QTS for physical-therapy services that QTS never provided to Fiangos patients and deducted as business expenses. Tilong admitted that his tax fraud scheme caused the IRS a tax loss of approximately $344,452.

In August 2017, Neba was sentenced to 75 years in prison the Medicare fraud scheme at Fiango. The U.S. District Court scheduled Tilongs sentencing for Oct. 13, 2017, but court records show that on the morning of his sentencing hearing, Tilong removed an ankle bracelet monitoring his location and failed to respond to phone calls from, or appear in, the U.S. District Court for his sentencing. On Dec. 8, 2017, the U.S. District Court sentenced Tilong in absentia to 80 years in prison for his role in the Medicare and tax fraud schemes.

After Tilong absconded, the FBI Houston Field Office located Tilong in Cameroon, and worked collaboratively with the FBI Legal Attache in Abuja, Nigeria, the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG), IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) Fraud Section, and the Office of the President of the Republic of Cameroon to ensure Tilongs capture. Prior to his removal from Cameroon, Tilong was wanted by the FBI and listed among HHS-OIGs Top 10 Most Wanted Fugitives. The National Police Force of Cameroon arrested Tilong in January 2019.

In September 2021, the Republic of Cameroon President Paul Biya signed a decree ordering Tilongs removal to the United States.

On Dec. 10, 2021, U.S. Marshals escorted Tilong from Cameroon to the United States.

The United States is grateful to the Government of Cameroon for its cooperation and support of this extradition request.

The successful return of Ebong Tilong demonstrates the departments commitment to working with our international partners to pursue, capture, and return those who try to defraud the American people, said Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite Jr. of the Justice Departments Criminal Division. Thanks to the efforts of our law enforcement partners and their counterparts in Cameroon, Ebong Tilong has been returned to the United States and brought to justice.

This successful extradition of Ebong Tilong to serve his 80-year prison sentence is an example of the FBIs collaboration with our federal and international partners that we hope will deter others from fleeing to avoid prosecution or sentencing, said Acting Special Agent in Charge Richard A. Collodi of the FBI Houston Field Office. These partnerships highlight the FBIs reach as well as its determination to pursue actors anywhere to administer justice.

Convicted fraudster and former fugitive Ebong Tilong has been brought to justice in our country, thanks to the tireless efforts of U.S. law enforcement, including our investigators, said Special Agent in Charge Miranda L. Bennett of HHS-OIG. Our agency, together with our law enforcement partners, will continue to aggressively pursue those who steal from federal health care programs, wherever they try to hide.

IRS-CI is committed to not only investigating and ultimately seeking convictions of individuals who scheme to defraud Medicare, launder proceeds of their illicit transactions, and evade the IRS in paying their taxes, but were also committed to assisting in the apprehension and return of criminals who choose to run and hide upon their conviction and sentencing no matter where they go or how long theyve been gone, said Assistant Special Agent in Charge Ramsey E. Covington of the IRS-CI Houston Field Office. We appreciate the efforts of our law enforcement partners and federal prosecutors in ensuring Tilong ultimately begins serving his 80-year sentence in federal prison.

The Justice Departments Office of International Affairs, the Regional Security Office of the State Departments Bureau of Diplomatic Security, and the Consular Section of the U.S. Embassy in Yaounde provided invaluable assistance in supporting the extradition and coordinating the return of Tilong to the United States.

Trial Attorney Jonathan Baum formerly of the Criminal Divisions Fraud Section (now with the Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section) and Trial Attorney Andrew Pennebaker of the Fraud Section are prosecuting Tilongs Medicare and tax fraud cases.

The FBI, HHS-OIG, and IRS-CI conducted the investigation under the supervision of the Criminal Divisions Fraud Section and the U.S. Attorneys Office of the Southern District of Texas as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force. The interagency team combines the resources of federal, state, and local law enforcement entities to prevent and combat health care fraud, waste, and abuse. Strike Force teams have shut down health care fraud schemes around the country, arrested more than a thousand criminals, and recovered millions of taxpayer dollars.

Topic(s):

Health Care Fraud

Component(s):

Criminal Division

Criminal - Criminal Fraud Section

Criminal - Office of International Affairs

Press Release Number:

21-1234
Angakusajaujuq: The Shamans Apprentice (Zacharias Kunuk, Canada)

In an Arctic landscape, a young shaman faces her first test: a trip underground to visit Kannaaluk, The One Below, in order to find out why someone in the community has become ill. A masterclass in storytelling and stop-motion animation, it tells a wonderful, imaginative tale while giving us a peek at aspects of Inuit culture.

Bad Seeds (Claude Cloutier, Canada)

Two competing carnivorous plants transform into rapidly interchanging historical and fictional figures. Canadas veteran satirist Cloutier crafts a deliciously biting poke at our endless obsession with progress, growth, and competition.

Bestia (Hugo Covarrubias, Chile)

Using porcelain and felt figures, this stop-motion film takes us inside the domestic life and cracked mind of a secret police agent. Set during Chiles military dictatorship, it follows the agents repetitive daily life as it shifts between her unusually intimate relationship with her dog, concerns about her body, dull bus rides to work, and, you know, the deplorable tortures she oversees. The storytelling and character design, along with the quiet, suspenseful atmosphere and patient pace, make this one of the unexpected surprises of the animation festival circuit.

A Bite of Bone (Honami Yano, Japan)

Yanos poignant and visually arresting film  it uses hand-drawn ink and pencil dots  is a tale of death and loss seen through the eyes of an innocent young girl. During her fathers funeral, she recalls a summer adventure with her father and sister. The pathos can veer into overboard at times, but the striking and symbolic use of images composed of dots constantly reminds us of our relative insignificance and fragility. In the end, Yanos film is less about death and loss than about celebrating each moment and breath.

Friend of a Friend (Zachary Zezima, France)

During a birthday party attended by a bunch of twenty-somethings, one partygoer imprisons another in what appears to be the basement of the same house. Over time, we learn that the hostage sexually assaulted his kidnapper before he ended up in the basement. What follows is a powerful and compassionate take on sexual assault and sexual identity. Zeminas use of vibrant, almost tie-dye-like colors enhances the ambiguity of the characters as they struggle to find the seemingly shifting personal borders between love and desire, right and wrong.

Gravedad (Matisse Gonzalez Jordan, Germany)

In a small village, a young woman struggles with highs and lows. On good days, she can fly to the stars; on low days, she wants to crawl into a hole. The other inhabitants seem to float calmly just above the ground. The woman wonders what keeps them grounded and balanced. They speak of their various passions: water, music, dancing. Jordans gentle, playful designs evoke both her former teacher Andreas Hykade (Altotting) and the sensual work of Yoriko Mizushiri (Anxious Body), fashioning a gentle meditation on escaping sadness and depression.

The Hangman at Home (Michelle and Uri Kranot, Canada/Denmark/France)

Originally a vr project inspired by a poem by Carl Sandburg, The Hangman at Home invites (or maybe forces!) the viewer inside five apartments. Within each small space, we encounter an assortment of characters in various troubled and intimate states. We see illness, pregnancy, fatigue, old age, fecklessness, confusion, and fear. The people all seem to be in a holding pattern.

The dirty, rough paint design and rotoscoping give the film an ample grotesqueness that matches the psychological state of the inhabitants. And, contrary to the title, its not really about a hangman: its more about all of us, what it means to be human, whether we want to sit back and be passive voyeurs or take some responsibility and get involved in this shitshow together. A fine question for our internet-drenched souls.

Hide (Daniel Gray, Canada/Hungary/France)

From one of the directors of the glorious dental epic Teeth comes this imaginative, touching, and surreal tale of homesickness and separation. Two brothers play a game of hide and seek. One counts as the other hides. Seconds pass  then minutes  before you realize that something isnt quite right. Every so often, the hiding boy peeks out to see that the space around him has changed.

The sparse soundtrack, along with a visual design that dances between bright, spacious minimalism and dense fragments, creates a ghostly atmosphere that flawlessly fits Grays exploration of isolation and disconnect. Though it was made before the pandemic, Hide takes on new layers of meaning after almost two years of quarantines, lockdowns, and curfews.

In the Shadow of the Pines (Anne Koizumi, Canada)

This animated documentary is a sort of letter from Koizumi to her late father. In this deeply personal work that combines clay animation, archival photos, and family interviews, the director talks of how much shame she felt when her father worked as a janitor at her public school. Along the way, this sensitive work touches upon class, status, generational conflict, and the struggles of a Japanese immigrant in Canada.

Los Huesos (Joaquin Cocina and Cristobal Leon, Chile)

Combining dark, absurdist humor with Chilean political history, Los Huesos is a piece of creepy magnificence that beautifully captures the look, pace, and tone of early-20th-century animated films while slyly commenting on the sociopolitical state of contemporary Chile.

Night Bus (Joe Hsieh, Taiwan)

During a late-night bus ride, a stolen necklace triggers a series of events connected to betrayal, hatred, and murder. Using hand-drawn designs and cut-outs, Hsieh creates a surreal thriller that somehow fuses Agatha Christie, Quentin Tarantino, and David Lynch into a gloriously icky portrait of some messed-up people  and monkeys.

Peel (Samuel Patthey and Silvain Monney, Switzerland)

This animated sketchbook takes us through the sights and sounds of a care home for the elderly. Faces, voices, and noises pass by, before shifting into something new. Patthey and Monney do a wonderful job of breathing life and beauty into the tired space. Theres never a moment of boredom. The residents and caregivers are always moving or resting or eating or playing games. Made before the pandemic, the film will certainly resonate a little more in a time when so many elderly people have perished.

The Zolle Suite: Resign (Kristian Pedersen, Norway/U.S.)

Okay, an abstract, experimental work doesnt have a hope in hell of getting nominated, but Pedersen has been riding under the animation radar for a while now, so I want to give him some love. One of the most visually and conceptually alluring animators around right now, Pedersen contributed this beautiful finale to the Zolle Suite opera project (Steven Woloshen and Benjamin Swiczinsky also contribute separate pieces). The story has something to do with a woman caught between life and death, but never mind all that: just sit back and let Pedersens splendid, hypnotic energy take you to the stars and back.

Images at top, left to right: Bestia, Hide, In the Shadow of the Pines
Photo: The Canadian Press FILE - Former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin addresses the court as Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill presides over Chauvin's sentencing at the Hennepin County Courthouse in Minneapolis June 25, 2021. Chauvin appears to be on the verge of pleading guilty to violating George Floyd's civil rights. A federal docket entry on Monday, Dec. 13, 2021 showed that a hearing has been scheduled for Wednesday for Chauvin to change his current not-guilty plea in the case. The court system also sent out instructions for media to attend the hearing. (Court TV via AP, Pool, File)

Former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin appears to be on the verge of pleading guilty to violating George Floyd 's civil rights, according to a notice sent out Monday by the court's electronic filing system.

The federal docket entry shows a hearing has been scheduled for Wednesday for Chauvin to change his current not guilty plea in the case. These types of notices indicate a defendant is planning to plead guilty. The court system also sent out instructions for media to attend the hearing.

Chauvin has already been convicted of state murder and manslaughter charges for pinning his knee against Floyds neck as the Black man said he couldnt breathe during a May 25, 2020 arrest. He was sentenced to 22 1/2 years in that case.

He and three other former officers  Thomas Lane, J. Kueng and Tou Thao  were set to go to trial in late January on federal charges alleging they willfully violated Floyds rights.

A message left with Chauvin's attorney, Eric Nelson, was not immediately returned. The U.S. Attorney's Office had no comment.

The information sent out Monday gives no indication that the other officers intend to plead guilty. Messages left for attorneys for Kueng and Thao were not immediately returned. Earl Gray, the attorney for Lane, is currently in a trial in the unrelated case involving the fatal police shooting of Daunte Wright.

According to evidence in the state case against Chauvin, Kueng and Lane helped restrain the 46-year-old Floyd as he was on the ground  Kueng knelt on Floyds back and Lane held down Floyds legs. Thao held back bystanders and kept them from intervening during the 9 1/2-minute restraint.

Floyds arrest and death, which a bystander captured on cellphone video, sparked mass protests nationwide that called for an end to racial inequality and police mistreatment of Black people.

All four officers were charged broadly in federal court with depriving Floyd of his rights while acting under government authority, but the federal indictment broke down the counts even further. A count against Chauvin alleged he violated Floyds right to be free from unreasonable seizure and from unreasonable force by a police officer.

Thao and Kueng are charged with violating Floyds right to be free from unreasonable seizure by not intervening to stop Chauvin as he knelt on Floyds neck. All four officers are charged for their failure to provide Floyd with medical care.

Specifically, the indictment says Chauvin kept his left knee on Floyds neck even though he was handcuffed and not resisting. The indictment alleges Thao and Kueng were aware Chauvin had his knee on Floyds neck, even after Floyd became unresponsive, and willfully failed to intervene to stop Defendant Chauvins use of unreasonable force. All four are charged with willfully depriving Floyd of liberty without due process, including the right to be free from deliberate indifference to his serious medical needs.

It was not immediately clear if Chauvin plans to plead guilty to all or some of the federal charges against him in connection with Floyd's death.

Chauvin is also charged in a second indictment, stemming from the use of force and neck restraint of a teenage boy in 2017.

That indictment alleges Chauvin deprived the then-14-year-old boy, who is Black, of his right to be free of unreasonable force when he held the teen by the throat, hit him in the head with a flashlight and held his knee on the boys neck and upper back while he was prone, handcuffed and not resisting. Information from the court gave no indication that Chauvin would be changing his plea in that case.

The three other officers were also charged in state court with aiding and abetting murder and manslaughter. They are scheduled to go to trial in the state case in March.
Photo: Google Maps

Police are investigating a fatal pedestrian collision on Highway 3A in the Kootenays.

RCMP and BC Highway Patrol was called to the incident on Dec. 10 at about 4:45 p.m. at the intersection of Highway 3A and Tarrys Road in Tarrys, B.C.

Tarrys is a small community along the Kootenay River north of Castlegar.

Officers arrived to learn that a woman in her 40s was getting off a transit bus at a designated stop when she was hit by a Honda Accord traveling south. The woman succumbed to her injuries.

The driver of the Honda remained at the scene and is cooperating with investigators.

The cause of the collision remains under investigation however impairment has been ruled out.

Police are reminding motorists and pedestrians to use caution during the dark winter months.

Anyone with information regarding this collision, including any dashboard camera video, is asked to contact BCHP in Nelson at 250-354-5180 and reference file 2301: 2021-6323.
Photo: pixabay

Canadian border officers have identified hundreds of travellers with suspected fake coronavirus test results and over 90 travellers with suspected fake vaccine passports.

As of Oct. 31, the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) intercepted 374 instances of suspected falsified or fraudulent COVID-19 test results at a port of entry to the country, CBSA spokesperson Isabelle Vigneault told Vancouver Is Awesome in an emailed statement. Of these travellers, 160 attempted to enter Canada by air while 187 attempted to cross the land border.

As of the same date, the CBSA has also intercepted 92 instances of suspected falsified or fraudulent proof of vaccination credentials.

All of the travellers were referred to the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) for further assessment and possible enforcement.

As of Dec. 7, PHAC has issued 17 fines for suspected falsified or fraudulent test results or proof of vaccination presented at a point of entry to Canada, explained the agency in an emailed statement to V.I.A. However, several cases are still under investigation.

Law enforcement works with PHAC officers to assess "each situation on a case-by-case basis to determine which compliance or enforcement tool" is appropriate. The PHAC does not determine which enforcement measure is most appropriate. Law enforcement may choose to use a different instrument for enforcement, such as local bylaws or provincial legislation.

Fines for using fraudulent documents or making a false statement

The fine for violation of subsection 66(b) of the Quarantine Act (making a false or misleading statement to a quarantine officer, screening officer or environmental health officer) is $825 plus applicable provincial fees and taxes.

Travellers who present false documents may be subject to an additional $5,000 fine under section 58 of the Quarantine Act (failure to comply with an order prohibiting or subjecting to any condition the entry into Canada) if they fail to meet the requirements for entry into Canada, and will be required to undergo a 14-day quarantine if they fail to meet the criteria for exemptions.

If a traveller also used the fake document to board a plane to Canada, Transport Canada may use its authorities to enforce penalties as well. The penalty for forging a document comes with a hefty fine of up to $750,000 or six months imprisonment or both.

Foreign nationals who provide false information may also be denied entry and/or banned from returning to Canada.
Photo: DARREN STONE, TIMES COLONIST University of Victoria students, from left, Eric Calvert, Sharidyn Schiller, Thomas Swindale and Baz Cox react to the news that exams will move online due to a COVID-19 outbreak among students.

Students and instructors are scrambling to adjust after the University of Victoria announced the cancellation of in-person exams Sunday, due to a growing cluster of COVID-19 cases.

As of Monday, 124 cases of COVID-19 had been associated with the cluster following off-campus gatherings, Island Health and UVic said in a joint statement. Four of the cases have been identified as Omicron, an emerging variant of concern believed to be more transmissible. Lab sequencing is continuing and more confirmed cases of Omicron are expected.

The number of positive cases associated with the cluster has jumped from 30 confirmed by Island Health on Friday. In response to the growing numbers, UVic announced Sunday it would not be holding in-person exams, effective Monday.

Instructors who were planning to hold exams are having to find a last-minute alternative method to evaluate students, said Lynne Marks, president of the UVic Faculty Association. Some are moving to take-home tests or exams written online, options that work better for some courses than others, she said.

The change is creating more work for instructors, but the faculty association recognizes cancelling in-person exams is necessary for the health of students and faculty, Marks said.

Students and faculty are now wondering what it will all mean for the next semester.

The announcement reminded Sharidyn Schiller, a first-year health informatics student, of March 2020, when pandemic-related uncertainty sent schools across the country to a virtual model for months.

Them posting that felt like the exact same as when school got cancelled for the first time. Everyone was like, no, thats not real, said Schiller, who plans to head home to Alberta earlier and write her exams later this week from there.

Schiller said shes hoping the next semester doesnt move to an online model, but if it does, she doesnt want to live in residence while learning through her computer screen.

First-year computer-science student Baz Cox was studying in the library Sunday when he learned through a friend that his Monday-afternoon exam would no longer be held in person. His professor sent out four or five emails Sunday evening to the class, explaining how the 2 p.m. exam would proceed online.

While students were told the evaluation would not be open-book, Cox said hes skeptical professors will be able to enforce that. Having written two exams in person, he said he feels hes at a disadvantage because students taking the same courses will now get to write those exams from home, potentially with access to their notes and textbooks.

Camosun College, Vancouver Island University and Royal Roads University are continuing with their exam schedules as planned. Camosun spokesman Rodney Porter said the college consulted with Island Health and was not advised to cancel in-person exams. Camosun doesnt have the case numbers that UVic is reporting and has about half the size of UVics student population, with much smaller exam groups.

Island Health and UVic say the affected student population is highly vaccinated, resulting in mild illness in the cases so far. The health authority is not aware of any hospitalizations associated with the cluster.

Transmission is taking place in social settings and households, and theres no evidence of transmission in classrooms or workplaces, Island Health and UVic said in their joint statement, crediting COVID-19 control measures for preventing spread on campus.

Island Health said cancelling in-person exams and limiting other social events are sufficient to limit spread during the exam period and it supports a return to in-person learning in January. The health authority said the cluster is a reminder to be cautious during the holiday season, because indoor social settings with few or no safety controls can lead to transmission among vaccinated people.

The health authority said it will make rapid-testing kits available in the coming days through the university to people deemed close contacts of confirmed cases.

Queens University in Kingston, Ont., and St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, have also cancelled or postponed in-person exams.

The changes come after Queens confirmed a virus outbreak in the student community, and after the local health unit announced a case of the Omicron variant not linked to travel.
Re. Opening of a Costco gas bar in Kelowna

Dan McTeague, a former Liberal MP and a gas price analyst was recently reported as saying that in the days ahead, Costco-adjacent gas station operators may speak with competitors to see if they can lower their costs and pass the savings on to the consumer. If there is no price fixing, then why this comment?

If a station wants to lower its price, who cares what its competitors think?

In any other country, oil companies and (gas) stations would be fined for doing what they do here.

M. Boyer, Kelowna
Photo: IIO BC

The Independent Investigations Office of BC has concluded an investigation into a death in Prince George following a fatal collision on Highway 97.

Although the pedestrian who was killed had been the subject of an unsuccessful traffic stop hours earlier, the IIO found the actions of police did not contribute to his death.

On Dec. 7, about 11:30 p.m., officers conducting an ongoing investigation observed a red Dodge Caravan leaving a residence. When police attempted to stop the van, the male driver fled southbound on Highway 97.

The officer did not pursue but tried to follow the tracks in the fresh snow for about 30 minutes before the trail was lost.

An hour later, police received a call from a civilian who reported speaking to a man in a red Caravan that was pulled off the side of the road in Hixon.

The civilian said the man told him he was hiding from police before departing.

Then between 1:55 a.m. and 2:35 a.m., the RCMP received several calls about a male pedestrian in the southbound lane of Highway 97, south of Widdis Road.

Police attended around 2:45 a.m. and reported locating a deceased male and a red Caravan a short distance away.

The IIO has now reviewed the evidence, including information from the BC Coroners Service and police records, and determined the actions of police did not contribute to the mans death.

After the unsuccessful traffic stop, police had no contact with the man before his death.

The Coroners Service investigation into the manner and cause of death continues.

The IIO is the independent civilian oversight agency of the police in British Columbia. It investigates all officer-related incidents that result in serious harm or death, whether or not there is any allegation of wrongdoing.
Photo: The Canadian Press

Underlying the John Horgan governments sweeping reforms to forestry are some laudable goals: saving stands of at-risk old growth, taking steps toward First Nation reconciliation, protecting caribou and addressing a long-term decline in B.C.s timber supply.

But these reforms will cost B.C. between 4,500 and 12,000 jobs  depending on whose estimates you believe  and accelerate a flight of capital that has already seen B.C.s forestry majors buying up sawmills in the U.S., Europe and Eastern Canada, while shuttering sawmills and pulp mills in B.C.

We need certainty, says Canfor CEO Don Kayne. And if we dont have that in British Columbia, were not investing.

In a recent brief, RBC Capital Markets analyst Paul Quinn speculated that sawmills will pull back on local investment given the uncertain future of forestry in B.C. The province has already moved from a low-cost producer to (by far) the highest cost region in North America over the past decade.

And we expect that trend will remain in the near term as mills continue to chase fewer and fewer logs.

A growing chorus of voices  from forestry companies and chambers of commerce to union leaders and First Nations  is warning about the pace and scale of the changes and lack of consultation.

In addition to its recent announcement of plans to remove up to 2.6 million hectares of old growth from the timber harvesting land base, the Horgan government used closure to shut down debate on two bills that could dramatically redraw the forestry landscape for B.C.s forestry sector, which produces B.C.s most valuable exports.

The pace and scale of the policy and legislative changes that have been introduced in the last five weeks has been unprecedented, said Susan Yurkovich, president of the Council of Forest Industries.

The government is rushing through legislation with things that will have fundamental impacts on communities, on First Nations, on forestry companies, on workers throughout the province with very little discussion in the House.

Even some First Nations  among intended beneficiaries of tenure reform  say the changes are being rushed and that they have not been given the time or resources to properly respond to whats proposed.

The province is making sweeping changes to forest legislation without any substantial First Nations input, the BC First Nations Forestry Council says.

The B.C. government gave First Nations only 30 days to respond to its proposed old-growth deferrals. The Huu-ay-aht on Vancouver Island responded (it disagrees with the deferrals), while others protested the tight deadline.

We dont have the resources or expertise needed to understand the implications of these changes on our rights, the Ashcroft Indian Band told the government.

The United Steelworkers union, which represents 12,000 sawmill workers and loggers in B.C., has also criticized the reform legislation  notably the old-growth deferrals  as hasty and lacking input from labour.

In the past three years, eight operations with USW workers across B.C. closed and 1,000 good-paying, family-supporting jobs were lost, said USW Wood Council chairman Jeff Bromley. The impact from this process will almost certainly multiply across the province.

While rural communities could be hit hard by reforms that result in sawmill and pulp mill closures, even cities like Surrey could see significant economic impacts.

Large sawmills in Surrey include operations run by Teal-Jones Group, S&R Sawmills, Pacific Lumber, Catalyst Paper, the Sundher Group, Key West Forest Products and Riverside Forest Products.

The deferral process is going to jeopardize many businesses, said Surrey Board of Trade president Anita Huberman. Hundreds of employees will be laid off due to this deferral process.

In his recent brief, Quinn estimated the removal of 2.6 million hectares of old growth from the timber land base would translate into a 13% decrease in the annual allowable cut.

Old growth makes up a relatively small amount of Teal Jones tenure, but is disproportionately valuable.

Those small quantities allow us to go into areas of some of the lower-quality fibre so we can harvest the whole scope of the forest, said Conrad Browne, director of Indigenous partnerships and strategic relations for Teal Jones.

While old-growth logging deferrals are the most immediate concern, other changes being made  through bills 23 and 28  will redraw the working forest land base in B.C. and could have a serious impact on forest industries.

Those changes have been rushed through the B.C. legislature without sufficient debate, said BC Liberal forestry critic John Rustad.

It took me six hours to read this legislation once, said Dave Elstone, managing director of the Spar Tree Group forestry consulting firm. How on earth can they have passed this in the legislature that fast? Theres no way you could have sat down and understood this as an MLA. Im a forester, and I have to sit down and really think about this stuff.

Bromley said unionized labour has likewise not had sufficient input on all the changes.

The amendments made to the Forest Act include mechanisms for redistributing tenure.

Changes to legislation will enable the government to reduce harvesting rights of established companies that have built up world-class sawmills and plywood mills over the decades, warns forest sector consultant Russ Taylor.

Katrine Conroy, Minister of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development, acknowledged that old-growth deferrals could cost 4,500 jobs. But Taylor estimated that the compounding effect of old-growth deferrals, tenure redistribution and other reforms could result in the permanent loss of 10 to 12 sawmills, 10,000 to 12,000 jobs and more than $400 million in annual government revenues. COFI warns job losses could be high as 18,000.
Photo: YouTube screenshot Fred Sharp, seen here in an undated short film moonlighting as an actor, has been criminally charged of securities fraud and conspiracy to commit fraud in the United States.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has made it a bakers dozen of British Columbians facing fraud charges for their role in an alleged $1-billion stock fraud scheme orchestrated by shell company facilitator and West Vancouver resident Fred Sharp

On Friday, Americas stock market regulator announced civil charges against three more British Columbians: Jay Scott Kirk Lee, Geoffrey Allen Wall and Benjamin Thompson Kirk, who now join eight other B.C. residents who allegedly participated in a massive and complex pump-and-dump operation between 2010 and 2019 by using a web of overseas shell companies created by Sharp, a former Vancouver lawyer-turned-businessman for Panama investment firm Mossack Fonseca.

The allegations against Lee, Wall and Kirk are similar in nature to a suite of charges laid out by SEC and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) since August. In essence, the so-called Sharp Group allegedly used its shell companies to conceal beneficial ownership of shares belonging to the company insiders, who hired Sharp.

The commission alleges the insiders, such as Lee, Wall and Kirk, concealed their shares with nominee owners and in tranches of less than 5% of the total company shareholdings, to skirt disclosure requirements. Simultaneously, false representations were also made to brokers and trading agents to make it seem as though the insider shares were legally tradable (and without disclosures) on the open market to regular investors. To complete the scheme, the insiders allegedly marketed (pumped) the company before selling (dumping) the shares.

The defendants charged in this case were some of the more prolific clients of Frederick L. Sharp and his offshore platform, which was essentially a complete service provider for all the illicit needs of those dedicated to committing penny stock fraud, the commission said Friday in a statement.

Sharp was criminally charged in August. The commission claims the Sharp Group was central to the decade-long offshore shell scheme that realized $770 million in net profit from over $1 billion in gross sales of stocks controlled by Sharp-connected company officers and their accomplices.

The charging document filed Friday in the District of Massachusetts, where many investors were allegedly ripped off, shows the trio traded in at least 10 junior American companies and received an estimated $77.3 million in illicit profits  about 10% of Sharps entire alleged scheme, which involves hundreds of companies.

"The defendants apparently believed that by joining Sharps network of clandestine accounts and cloak-and-dagger communications they would have the tools at their disposal to commit fraud without accountability," said Melissa Hodgman, associate director of the Enforcement Division. "Our action today has demonstrated that even the most sophisticated scheme is not beyond our enforcement efforts."

How did the alleged scheme work?

One of the three defendants has a track record of stock offences.

In 2015, the Alberta Securities Commission ruled Kirk made misrepresentations and broke trading registration rules when promoting junior company Skymark Media Group Ltd. as a de facto director. Kirk was banned from trading Alberta-registered companies and also entered into a consent agreement with the SEC to pay back over $6 million in relation to his illegal activity, which also involved hidden ownership of shares.

However, it wasnt until Jan. 25 of this year that the B.C. Securities Commission (BCSC) placed reciprocal trading bans on Kirk.

The BCSC was unable to explain why there was a more than five-year delay but spokesperson Elise Palmer stated amendments to the B.C. Securities Act from March 2020 have resulted in automatic reciprocal orders and settlement agreements from any other provincial securities regulator in Canada. (The BCSC would still need to initiate its own orders for those found guilty in America.)

Kirk is said to have communicated with Sharp in an encrypted cellphone network as code name Bertie. Lee called himself Rocko while Wall was known as Bahamas.

The Sharp Group was, according to the commission and FBI, run by Sharp and associates Courtney Kelln of Surrey and Yvonne Gasarch (Zhiyeng Chen) of Richmond, who all face criminal securities fraud charges.

Lee is 38 years old and resides in Vancouver; Wall is 49 years old and lives in Saanich; Kirk, meanwhile, is 43 and lives in Hope, according to information available to the SEC, which was assisted in this investigation by the BCSC.

As one example of how the trio and the Sharp Group operated the alleged scheme, the three defendants first merged a public company called Buka Ventures Inc. with a private company called Nutranomics. Trading at 12 cents per share in 2013, they made incredible claims about the purported health products provider.

Kirk arranged with Sharp to incorporate marketing company Nugget Enterprises LLC in the Caribbean nation of Saint Kitts and Nevis for Kirks use and to hide the origins of the marketing materials.

Then, Lee, Wall and Kirk conferred repeatedly in September 2013 to discuss the timing of manipulative trading and the launch of their publicity campaign, the commission claims.

After aggressively marketing the company, the stock rose to over $1 per share at one point and the trio sold all 20 million of their Nutranomics shares to unsuspecting retail investors, for gross proceeds in excess of $16.35 million, according to the SEC.

Aside from Nutranomics, the trio is said to have obtained the $77 million through the following companies: Ami James, Green Innovations, iTalk, Independence Energy, Axiom, Medijane, Willow Creek, Vapor Hub and Punchline.

The SECs complaint, which was filed in federal district court in Boston, charges Lee, Wall and Kirk with violating the anti-fraud and registration provisions of the federal securities laws. The SEC is seeking permanent injunctions, conduct-based injunctions, repayment of allegedly ill-gotten gains plus interest, civil penalties, and penny stock bars, noted the commissions statement.

Sharp, 69, has not responded to his charges. The Department of Justice has filed for a default judgment.
The decision of the Nicaraguan government to cut diplomatic ties with Taipei has saddened and shocked their nationals residing in Taiwan, and students, in particular, are worried about their futures, reported local media.

"Taiwan is the safest place. In Taiwan, we have found hope and a new, different way of life," Focus Taiwan quoted a Nicaraguan student as saying on Monday.

The students came to the island nation on a scholarship offered by Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA).

Another Nicaraguan referring to the country's announcement of cutting diplomatic ties with Taipei said, "I guess China is offering something that Taiwan can not."

The Nicaraguan man is in his late 20s and works for a biotech company in Taipei. He is part of a small community of about 50 Nicaraguans working in the private sector here.

On December 9, Nicaraguan Foreign Minister Denis Moncada had said in a televised announcement the government of Nicaragua declares that it recognises that there is only one China in the world.

Nicaragua's announcement leaves a little more than a dozen countries worldwide that maintain official diplomatic relations with Taiwan, including fellow Central American countries Honduras and Guatemala. Although Taiwan and China have been separately governed for more than 70 years, Beijing views the democratic island of 24 million people as part of its territory and has regularly stated its aim of "reunification," despite the fact Taiwan has never been ruled by the Chinese Communist Party.

(ANI)
With Bangladesh being the central pillar of India's Neighbourhood First policy, Dhaka is New Delhi's largest trade partner in South Asia and bilateral trade between the two countries grew at an unprecedented rate of 14 per cent during the COVID-19 pandemic, said Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla on Tuesday.

Speaking at a special Ministry of External Affairs briefing, the Foreign Secretary also said India is the most important economic partner of Bangladesh.

"Bangladesh is a central pillar of our Neighbourhood First policy. It is also the relationship where this policy intersects the element of our Act East policy. India today, is Bangladesh's most important economic partner and Bangladesh is India's largest trade partner in South Asia. India is the second-largest trade partner of Bangladesh," he added.

Recalling Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Bangladesh earlier this year, Foreign Secretary said that "It is the only country that is visited by PM Modi, President Ram Nath Kovind and Foreign Minister S Jaishakar.

"In March, our Prime Minister paid a State visit to Bangladesh to join the Triveni of celebration. It is the measure of importance that we accord to our relations with Bangladesh that it is the destination of the first post-pandemic visits both President and Prime Minister. It is also the only country visited by the PM, President and Foreign Minister in the short period of time in the recent past," he said.

The Foreign Secretary said: "India and Bangladesh jointly commemorated Maitree Diwas on December 6. It is jointly celebrated with New Delhi and Dhaka and also in capitals all over the world. Both Prime Ministers issued special messages on this occasion."

"Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, bilateral trade was at an unprecedented rate of 14 per cent from 9.46 billion US dollars in 2019 to 10.78 billion dollars in 2021," he said.

Shringla also said that Bangladesh is also one of our most important development partners both in terms of value and range of cooperation. "We extend of our third of our total global development assistance under lines of credit to Bangladesh."

"In addition, we have been extending various projects to bring direct benefits to the local community. India Bangladesh is better connected than ever before. Road, rail, air, river and coastal connectivity is increasing. Multi-model transports that utilise more than one of these channels is today very much possible."

"Joint energy space is steadily emerging, our electricity grids are interconnected from east and west with more than 1160 megawatts of powers way across from India and Bangladesh," he added.

President Kovind will embark on a three-day State visit to Bangladesh from tomorrow. The visit is in the context of the 50th Victory Day celebrations in Dhaka which Bangladesh President Abdul Hamid has invited Kovind to represent India as a guest of honour.

President Kovind is scheduled to depart for Delhi on December 17.

(ANI)
In view of the COVID-19 pandemic, passengers travelling on the Delhi-Kathmandu bus service that is scheduled to resume on Wednesday have to compulsorily carry a complete vaccination certificate and a negative RT-PCR test report within 72 hours of the start of the journey.

The bus service, which was closed due to the pandemic, will commence operation at 10 am from Dr Ambedkar Stadium Terminal at Delhi Gate in the national capital.

Resuming after about a gap of over one-and-a-half years, the bus service will be operated on the previous pattern.

The bus service, which covers a distance of 1167 km, was launched in November 2014 as a 'Maitri Bus Sewa' between the capital cities of India and Nepal. On March 23, 2020 the operations were halted as the first wave of the pandemic hit the country.

According to the information given by Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC), the fare of the bus service have become a bit expensive.

Earlier, Rs 2,300 per person was charged for this journey. It has now been increased to Rs 2,800.

Like before, this bus will leave for Kathmandu from Delhi every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, while the bus from Kathmandu will return to Delhi on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.

According to the DTC, this bus will stop at Firozabad and Faizabad in Uttar Pradesh and Mugling in Nepal. Apart from this, the bus will also be stopped for custom checking at Sunauli, which is at the India-Nepal border.

(ANI)
There are recurring claims that China is building, or attempting to create, a string of military bases around the world. To date, only one has been officially confirmed, but that is doing nothing to reduce speculation that more are on the way.

The US Department of Defense is on record as saying that China "is pursuing additional military facilities to support naval, air, ground, cyber and space power projection".

Indeed, Pentagon officials added that Beijing is "very likely already considering and planning for additional military bases and logistics facilities to support naval, air and ground forces projection".

With two million members, China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the world's largest military. Yet, for most of its existence, the PLA has had an inward and landward focus.

It is only in the past eight or so years, since Chairman Xi Jinping took over the reins, that the country has become more extrovert in its military aspirations.

Recent media coverage has focused on Equatorial Guinea and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as sites for potential Chinese military installations.

In early December, media reports alleged that China was trying to build its first Atlantic military base in Equatorial Guinea. The likely site is Bata, a Chinese-built deep-water commercial port.

General Stephen Townsend, commander of the US military's Africa Command, testified in April that the "most significant threat" from China would be "a militarily useful naval facility on the Atlantic coast of Africa ... I'm talking about a port where they can rearm with munitions and repair naval vessels."

As for the UAE, after stern warnings from the USA, construction at the cargo port of Khalifa, 80km north of Abu Dhabi, was halted. There were allegations that secret military facilities were being developed there, unbeknownst to the UAE. In 2018, the UAE and China had signed a USD300 million deal to upgrade the COSCO Shipping Ports Abu Dhabi Terminal.

This port is located near both Al Dhafra Air Base and Jebel Ali; the latter in Dubai is the busiest port outside the USA for US Navy ship visits.

Cambodia is another potential location. In September-October 2020, Cambodia demolished two buildings that had been funded by the USA at Ream Naval Base. Later, Cambodian Defense Minister Tea Banh confirmed that China was helping expand base infrastructure.

"We want to develop a suitable place ... Cambodia alone can't do it. It is moderately costly as well, but I don't know how much. They are helping with no strings attached."

Satellite imagery published by the Center for Strategic and International Studies showed that expansion work has added three buildings, plus land and trees were cleared for a road.

China's support at Ream is an interesting development, for it demonstrates how Beijing might use the military capacity building as an avenue to gain strategic footholds in foreign territory.

The Wall Street Journal alleged a secret 30-year agreement to let the Chinese military use the naval facility. However, the Cambodian government, which is in Beijing's pocket, has strenuously denied it. The other concern is a Chinese development at Koh Kong that includes an unusually large airport.

The USA slapped arms and a dual-use-item embargo on Cambodia on 8 December, even though this will probably push Cambodia closer to China's bosom. Phnom Penh will take over the chairmanship of ASEAN in 2022, where it has previously proved an effective disruptor and strong supporter of Chinese interests.

There is concern about China setting up dual-use facilities in the Pacific too. In 2018 there was an alarm that China was attempting to do so in Vanuatu. More recently, Chinese involvement in the Solomon Islands has been highlighted, with the late-November riots resulting in large parts of Honiara's Chinatown being burned down.

Doctor Anna Powles, senior lecturer in security studies at Massey University in New Zealand, told ANI that "local dynamics and grievances have intersected over the past three years with the geopolitical competition. Geopolitical manoeuvring was a trigger behind the riots, but it isn't the whole picture. It is, however, a prescient warning that strategic competition can undermine national and social resilience and tap into local anti-Chinese sentiments."

In 2019, the Solomon authorities proposed to lease Tulagi Island to a Chinese developer for a special economic zone. The Central Province agreement, signed 22 September 2019 but never concluded, would have given Beijing-based Sam Group an exclusive five-year development lease for Tulagi and surrounding islands.

The whole deal was suspicious, and Powles identified China Jing An, one of Sam Group's subsidiaries for this project, as previously being part of China's Public Security Ministry.

Doctor Powles concluded: "The rumours about Chinese interests in Tulagi reflected the nexus between geopolitics and local dynamics. There were concerns that the proposed infrastructure could be dual-use - both civilian and military. There's little doubt that Chinese commercial efforts were an opportunistic fishing exercise. However, the concern is always how these arrangements could be exploited later by the Chinese state for strategic reasons."

China has also been exerting influence in Kiribati, the site of World War II's bloody Tarawa campaign. China has an embassy in Kiribati, but the nearest American one is some 2,000km away in Fiji.

A seminal moment was doubtlessly August 2017, when the PLA established its first overseas military base in Djibouti. Strategically located in the Horn of Africa adjacent to the Gulf of Aden, China euphemistically called it a logistics base. About 10km from Camp Lemonnier (home to 4,500 American troops), this sizeable facility has helicopter pads and its own pier large enough to accommodate an aircraft carrier, Type 055 destroyers, large supply ships or submarines.

PLA Marines are stationed at this Djibouti base, and they possess 8x8 armoured vehicles and even artillery. Washington DC has accused PLA personnel of interfering with US military flights landing at Djibouti by lasing pilots and flying drones. Furthermore, China has sought to restrict Djiboutian sovereign airspace over the base.

The setting up of this Djibouti base was ostensible to support the PLA Navy's (PLAN) anti-the piracy task force, at a time when Somalia-based pirates were creating havoc with commercial shipping in the Gulf of Aden. China dispatched its first anti-piracy task force in December 2008. The piracy threat has receded to almost nothing, but the PLAN shows no indication of reducing its naval presence there.

Interestingly, PLAN ships had docked in Djibouti more than 50 times from 2008-12, before it was invited to establish a base there. This illustrates how regular warship port calls can eventually pay off with a more permanent presence.

China's 2019 Defense White Paper said the PLA must develop "overseas logistical facilities", and that the military is tasked with "safeguarding China's overseas interests".

Chinese academics have listed numerous advantages of overseas bases, such as enabling forward deployment of PLA forces, supporting a military conflict, diplomatic signaling, political change, bilateral and multilateral cooperation, and training. A wider logistics network would also assist in improved intelligence monitoring of the US military.

Chinese analysts speak of overseas "strategic strongpoints", and the "string of pearls" theory has been circulating for years. The latter postulates that China will create a network of bases across the Indian Ocean to protect Chinese interests such as oil and natural-resource imports from regions like the Middle East and Africa.

The Pentagon's most recent annual report on China's military shed light on PLA basing. It summarized, "The PRC is seeking to establish a more robust overseas logistics and basing infrastructure to allow the PLA to project and sustain military power at greater distances.

Beijing may assess that a mixture of military logistics models, including preferred access to commercial infrastructure abroad, exclusive PLA logistics facilities with prepositioned supplies co-located with commercial infrastructure, and bases with stationed forces, most closely aligns with the PRC's overseas military logistics needs."

The Pentagon noted that China currently uses commercial infrastructure to support all its overseas military operations, including its Djibouti base. It warned, "Some of the PRC's One Belt, One Road projects could create potential military advantages, such as PLA access to selected foreign ports to pre-position the necessary logistics support to sustain naval deployments in waters as distant as the Indian Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean to protect its growing interests. As a means of creating numerous options, the PRC is attempting to develop access in multiple African countries on the continent's Atlantic, Indian Ocean, Red Sea and Mediterranean coasts."

The USA even went so far as to list potential locations for new bases: Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, UAE, Kenya, Seychelles, Tanzania, Angola and Tajikistan. It said overtures have probably already been made to Namibia too.

Incidentally, China has a security presence in Tajikistan near the border with Afghanistan, but these are likely to be People's Armed Police troops.

Given that most trade occurs by sea, and that naval ships can linger for long periods in international waters, it is only natural that the PLAN will take the lead in finding suitable new bases. Thus, the US stated, "Known focus areas of PLA planning are along the sea lines of communication from China to the Strait of Hormuz, Africa and the Pacific Islands."

China puts a benign gloss on the idea of foreign bases, saying they contribute to the international public good, since they can support United Nations operations and humanitarian assistance/disaster relief missions.

While China is legally entitled to forge agreements with sovereign nations, the USA warned, "Regardless, a global PLA military logistics network could both interfere with US military operations and support offensive operations against the United States as the PRC's global military objectives evolve."

As the Pentagon noted, "The PLA's approach likely includes consideration of many different sites and outreach to many countries, but only some will advance to negotiations for an infrastructure agreement, status of forces or visiting forces agreement, and/or basing agreement." China would need a combination of deft diplomacy, elite capture and strategically timed investments to win support.

Building or running an overseas base is not just a military matter either, for it encompasses the whole spectrum of politics, diplomacy, culture and religion. China has minimal experience in this realm, so it must tread carefully and trust cannot be created overnight. It needs host nations to side with it in times of tension or conflict. Furthermore, host nations would presumably require clear legal foundations for any basing agreement.

As with its economic deals, China enjoys working in the gloomy shade of secrecy. Thus, when potential deals for military access are exposed publicly, it often scuttles any progress made.

Overseas military basing will be constrained by the host nation's willingness to allow PLA forces on their soil. Chinese officials must recognize that stable long-term relationships with hosts are critical for ongoing access. That being said, China is adept at throwing its weight around, and is not hesitant to lean on smaller nations.

For site selections, considerations include geographic position, a port's natural conditions, overall local support infrastructure, sustainable development, politics and foreign policy, onshore natural conditions, economic conditions, security conditions and human factors. The PLA would need to ensure lines of communication from Mainland China to overseas bases are unmolested.

Beijing, therefore, needs quality hosts, not ones that will unexpectedly turn around and restrict access. That is perhaps one reason why little has come of Gwadar in Pakistan so far. Gwadar was once the poster child of potential Chinese military bases, but Pakistan is replete with security threats like terrorism and separatist activities in Balochistan, in addition to its weak economy, poor infrastructure and political instability.

Saudi Arabia, for example, is shifting a proposed USD10 billion oil refinery from Gwadar to near Karachi. It makes no sense economically to site a refinery in Gwadar, as this would require a 600km pipeline heading east. The much-touted Gwadar - the "Singapore of Pakistan" - is looking increasingly fraught, although China may not have given up hope entirely on a base at such a choice location on the edge of the Arabian Sea.

(ANI)

Also Read: Nicaraguan nationals in Taiwan disappointed, concerned about future after cut in diplomatic ties
PCA: road to carbon neutrality

Published 13 December 2021

As the need for carbon neutrality in cement production has moved firmly to the headlines, the US cement association, PCA, has developed its roadmap to transform the countrys cement industry into a carbon-neutral sector. By PCA, USA.

As wildfires, hurricanes and other weather events continue to intensify around the world, it is clear that the structures, roads and buildings that make up our communities will face more frequent and destructive natural disasters. The recent effects of global warming have emphasised the urgent need for resilient infrastructure that meets the demands of the future  sustainability, circularity and climate adaptation.

Concrete, the most widely-used material in the world, is uniquely positioned to meet these infrastructure demands and sustainability requirements. Concrete made with cement has long proven its value as a durable, cost-effective, available material that is resistant against extreme temperatures and natural disasters, requiring minimal repairs over its lifetime. Additionally, concrete improves the thermal mass of structures and buildings, and allows for smoother, more rigid pavements that lower vehicle-use emissions. While cement manufacturing is undeniably energy intensive, there are many technologies, innovations and solutions to consider that can significantly curb emissions across the value chain as the world adapts to the rapid expansion of cities and impending effects of climate change.

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We recognize Dec. 15 as Bill of Rights Day. President Franklin D. Roosevelt designated this day by proclamation in 1941 to observe and honor the ratification of the first 10 amendments to the Unites States Constitution. But how did the Bill of Rights itself come to be?

During the American Revolution, the thirteen former British coloniesnow states, or basically independent nationscame together under the Articles of Confederation for military and other collective purposes. But some of the leaders of the Revolution feared that the Articles of Confederation were too weak and risked letting powerful European nations invade the new states and take them over one by one. These leaders sought a more perfect union of the states to ward off European threats and address some of the domestic problems the Articles of Confederation were unable to correct. The result of these concerns was the drafting of the United States Constitution.

While the Constitution created a new national government that would rectify the deficiencies of the Articles of Confederation, there arose a fear that this new national government would abuse its powers to the detriment of the citizens. This fear resulted in a vigorous debate which jeopardized the ratification of the Constitution.



Supporters of the Constitution as drafted argued the new government only had the powers set out explicitly in the Constitution, so that fears of overreach were not realistic. Opponents argued the history of humankind shows that people with power tend to abuse their power, so just enumerating the governments powers was not enough to safeguard the unenumerated rights of citizens and the states.



Ultimately, the two sides reached a compromise: the drafting of a set of specific limitations on the powers of the new government. These specific limitations would be amendments to the Constitution, specifically guaranteeing certain rights to the people and the states. With the assurance that these amendments would follow, the Constitution was ratified in June 1788. Twelve constitutional amendments were approved by the new Congress in September 1789. Ten were ratified by the eleven states required to make them effective on Dec. 15, 1791. These ten amendments have become known as the Bill of Rights.



The Bill of Rights not only withdrew certain power from the government, but it also spelled out those fundamental rights that would no longer be subject to normal political processes. In other words, these rights are held as so dear to our nation that only new Constitutional amendments may overturn them.

The Bill of Rights includes the right to peaceably assemble, the right to petition the government, the freedom of the press, the freedom of religion, the right to be free of unreasonable searches and seizures, the right to a jury trial, the right to assistance of counsel, and many more. These rights have served our nation well as a bulwark against abusive government. The Bill of Rights has also served as a model for other nations.



On Bill of Rights Day 2021, let us all give thanks for the wisdom of the framers of the Constitution and those who came before us in maintaining and defending these invaluable rights.



Curtis L. Collier

United States District Judge

Chair, Eastern District of Tennessee Civics and Outreach Committee

Carrie Brown Stefaniak

Law Clerk to the Honorable Curtis L. Collier

Immediate Past President, Chattanooga Chapter of the Federal Bar Association



Kristen A. Dupard

Law Clerk to the Honorable Curtis L. Collier






Georgia Northwestern Technical Colleges (GNTC) Precision Machining and Manufacturing program on the Floyd County Campus and Whitfield Murray Campus was presented with a $20,000 grant by the Gene Haas Foundation to be used for student scholarships.

The scholarships will be given to students that plan to enroll, or are currently enrolled, in a machining-based program at GNTC. The funds will be used for scholarships and to help pay for students textbooks or supplies.

Georgia Northwestern Technical College is so grateful to the Gene Haas Foundation for its ongoing support of our students, Dr. Heidi Popham, president of GNTC said. These funds will enable outstanding students in our Precision Machining and Manufacturing program to stay the course toward graduation and achieve their career goals. We greatly appreciate our partnership with the Gene Haas Foundation.

The criteria for receiving a Gene Haas scholarship will be determined by the program instructor or a committee that includes the instructor. The grant cannot be used to purchase equipment, machines or simulators.

It is such a pleasure to present this gift to Georgia Northwestern Technical College on behalf of the Gene Haas Foundation, said Lindsay Cline, director of Education and Events of Phillips Corporation. GNTC is an exemplary institution of manufacturing education, and Phillips Corporation is incredibly proud of their dedication to program expansion and workforce development.
An anonymous caller on Portview Circle told police his neighbor was walking around talking to bushes and he wanted police to check on him. Police spoke with the neighbor, who said he walked from the east side of Chattanooga to come see his brother. The man had no outstanding warrants. He did not need any assistance from police nor had any medical issues.

* * *

A woman on Valentine Circle told police that a man had entered her home through the front door (unlocked) and said he was in the wrong place and then left. She was unable to provide a

description of the person, beyond that he was a white male. She said he exited the home through the front door and left in an unknown direction. Upon further inspection of the home, officers were unable to locate anyone in the home or any signs of forced entry. The woman later told officers nothing had been taken from her home. Officers surveyed the area but were unable to locate anyone.

* * *

A man told police that while he was staying at the Best Western Royal Inn, 3644 Cummings Hwy., he parked his vehicle overnight in the truck parking lot. He said that when he returned to his vehicle and began driving that morning, he observed that the catalytic converter had been removed while he was asleep at the hotel. There is no suspect information.

* * *

A man told police he found a debit card in the parking meter in the parking lot behind Toto Sushi, 330 Frazier Ave. Officers took the debit card and placed it into Property for safekeeping.

* * *

A man in an apartment on Oyler Lane told police that his neighbor's door had been open for several hours, but no one lives in the apartment so he did not know why it was open. Police cleared the inside of the apartment. It appeared that maintenance had been working on it and did not lock the doors before leaving. Police were able to lock one of the two doors, but could not lock both. The man said he had called maintenance and they said they would come lock it later.

* * *

A woman told police that she was pumping gas at Kankus Express, 3604 Brainerd Road, when a woman, later identified by police, pulled up to another pump. She said as she was exiting the gas station the woman approached her and caused a disorder. She said the woman approached the vehicle and was yelling at her. The woman informed her that she had firearms in the vehicle. No physical contact was reported, nor was the weapon brandished and the woman left the scene. While police were speaking with her, the woman and her husband came back to the scene. They told police a similar story about what had happened. Police verified that the woman's firearms were not stolen. Police were able to get a video of the event and it lined up with what everyone told police. They were all told to stay away from one another. Everyone left the scene without incident.

* * *

A woman on North Moore Lane told police that her son was causing a verbal disorder and she wanted him to leave. As police arrived, the son was leaving the residence in a beige Nissan Altima with his father. The woman said she no longer needed police and just wanted the son to leave, which he did.



* * *

A woman on Mississippi Avenue told police that when she started her vehicle that morning, she noticed a loud exhaust noise. When she looked under her vehicle, she saw that her catalytic converter had been cut out of her exhaust and had been stolen. She believes the offense occurred between 1-3 that morning. Her residence has been placed on the Watch List for two weeks.

* * *

A man on Kinser Circle contacted police about a disorder at his residence. Police spoke with three Hispanic people at the house, who were all intoxicated. One, the owner of the residence, wanted one of the guests to leave and the guest refused. Police told the guest they needed to leave and then he said he had a ride coming to get him, so he waited outside the house until his ride came. Everyone agreed to stay separated until the guest's ride came.

* * *

A woman called police from Hamilton Place Mall and said she was in the driver's seat of her car when she felt a jolt to her vehicle and believed the vehicle had been struck by another vehicle. She said she looked out her window and noticed a vehicle with the door open, touching her vehicle. Police spoke with the driver of the other vehicle and she said she has leg issues and was attempting to get into her vehicle when the door struck the woman's vehicle. The woman's vehicle sustained damage to the driver's side rear door.

* * *

A woman told police she was unhappy she had been asked to leave the Mapco, 1227 East Main St., after getting into it with another customer. She said the other customer winked at her as she exited the bathroom. She said she called the man out on it, which led to a verbal argument between them and an employee. The employee then asked the woman to leave to avoid further disorder. The woman said felt wronged for being asked to leave when she was defending herself. The employee said she wished to have the woman trespassed from the property.

* * *

Police ran the VA tag on a Ford Fusion at 1800 McCallie Ave. and found that the tag was entered into NCIC as stolen. Police performed a traffic stop on the vehicle and spoke with the driver. Police found that the front license plate had been stolen, which matched the rear tag. Police confirmed the driver as the owner of the vehicle.

* * *

A woman told police that the tag on her vehicle was stolen while she was inside the mall around 2:30 p.m. She said the tag was a TN tag. The tag was entered into NCIC as stolen.

* * *

A man on Northmont Road called police because he was upset a woman had kicked him out of the house, which was causing a verbal disorder. The man left the scene and went to his mother's house without incident.

* * *

A man told police he left his vehicle parked on the side of East 12th Street overnight last Saturday night. He said he last saw it around 10:30 p.m. when he parked it there and when he got back there around 3 or 4 p.m. the next day on Sunday, he discovered some damage to it on the driver's side. He said the side mirror had been broken off and there were pieces of it scattered up the road (from the mirror), like someone had knocked it off. He said he suspects another vehicle caused it, but he has no idea how the damage was done for sure. He said there were also scratches/scuff marks on the quarter panel, but no real dents. He said he was actually parked on South Kelly Street, but it was nearest East 12th Street. He said there have been no estimates yet and the vehicle is actually registered to his mother.

* * *

The manager of LKQ, 400 Workman Road, told police that a man was on the property after having been told he was trespassed. He said the man had been caught stealing previously with some friends, and he was no longer allowed on the property. Police spoke with the man, who was visibly upset (tearful, not angry). He said that he did not steal anything and was not sure why the manager would want to trespass him. Police explained to him that they were not accusing him of stealing anything, but that the manager's wishes to trespass him were being documented. The man agreed to leave the property and it was made clear to him that he could not return.

* * *

Police spoke with the manager of Dave & Busters, 2100 Hamilton Place Blvd., who said a black male walked out on his tab. The manager was able to identify the man because he left his wallet at the store. The manager wanted the theft documented and did not want to press charges.



* * *

A shoplifting was reported at Mapco, 1227 E Main St. An employee told police that at approximately 10 p.m., a black male wearing blue jeans, a brown jacket and a black hat stole three 12-packs of beer. She stated he grabbed a pack of Bud Light, Budweiser and Coors Light, each costing $11.99. She said the man exited the store and got into a white vehicle parked in the parking lot. When the vehicle exited the parking lot, she said it took a right onto Main Street and then another right onto a side street.

* * *

The manager of Rumors Lounge, 3885 Hixson Pike, called police and said a man was intoxicated and was refusing an Uber. She said she had his keys and did not want him to leave and he was disturbing other customers. Officers spoke with the man, who agreed to take a Lyft if the manager could call it for him. The management agreed and the man agreed to wait outside until it arrived. The man had no warrants.

* * *

An anonymous caller, who said he was a Lyft driver, told police that he dropped off a customer at the Extended Stay America, 6240 Airpark Dr. He said the man mentioned that he has placed "three bombs in Chattanooga" and "America is going to war." Police spoke to the front desk clerk of the Extended Stay and she said that she had checked in a customer matching the description provided by the Lyft driver. Police went to the room the clerk indicated and spoke to a man who appeared to be heavily intoxicated. He said that he was incredibly drunk and did not recall saying anything about war or explosive devices. He further assured police that he had no thoughts or had taken any actions to hurt himself or the city of Chattanooga.
Cleveland State Community College recognized the Bank of Cleveland in supporting the building effort of the new Health and Science Center. The Bank of Cleveland provided $50,000 in support to sponsor one of the shared classrooms in the new Center. A classroom was dedicated in their honor.

The Health and Science Center was built in March and was the first building to be built on the campus in over 46 years.

It houses all healthcare and science majors with state-of-the-art laboratories, simulated hospital rooms, and a physician's office.
Habitat for Humanity of Greater Chattanooga announced that their annual Raise the Roof fundraiser netted the non-profit $116,000, exceeding their goal for the event.

Habitat officials offered their thanks to those who helped make this years event a success. Last year, we proved that we could still hold fun events like Raise the Roof while being responsible and doing all we could to protect our guests. We knew the bar would be high for this year, said Phil Trammell, vice president of Development for Habitat. We are very thankful for the valuable guidance provided by Tenesha and Jacques Irvin, who served as this years co-chairs, as well as the amazing support from our presenting sponsors, Crown Automotive Group and the Mark Hite Team. We appreciate all of the efforts that led to this years success.

Over the past 35 years, Habitat for Humanity of Greater Chattanooga has built 288 homes and repaired over 100 existing homes, providing more than 1,000 women, men, and children with stability and the joy and security of Habitat homeownership.

Proceeds from Raise the Roof will go directly into funding Habitat for Humanitys mission of building more decent and affordable homes for deserving families in Hamilton County.

The cost of building supplies has skyrocketed over the past year, so receiving this incredible support greatly increases our ability to help those who need it most in our community, said Madison Rollings, Development and Communications manager for Habitat.

To learn more about Habitat for Humanity of Greater Chattanooga, visit: www.HabiChatt.org.






Nokian Tyres grew the workforce at its Dayton factory by nearly double in 2021, increasing production and serving the community in a year of growth at the facility, where it plans to make as many as four million tires per year at full capacity.

The team at the Dayton Factory grew from 175 team members to approximately 325 employees in 2021 thanks to an aggressive hiring campaign in the first half of the year, and Nokian Tyres continues to accept applications to fill its growing number of positions.

The Dayton Factory is an important part of our companys growth plan, and our employees are the most important part of our factory, said Dayton Factory Operations Director David Korda. We were thrilled to be able to grow our team this year while deepening our partnerships in the community.

Community activities included educational support, scholarships for Rhea County students, the second year sponsoring the Nokian Tyres Summer Nights downtown concert series, platinum sponsorship of the Tennessee Strawberry Festival and tens of thousands of dollars in donations to Rhea County-based nonprofits.

Nokian Tyres also worked with several educational institutions, including Rhea County High School, Chattanooga State and Cleveland State Community Colleges, to provide opportunities for area students.

As we grow the team at our factory, we recognize the importance of being a strong community partner, said Senior Human Resources Manager Blake Markham. We are only as strong as our ability to serve our team members and the community where we are fortunate to operate.

As the company looks ahead to 2022, the Dayton Factory will continue to play an important role in its growth. Nokian Tyres plans to hire more than 100 workers in the next couple years and keep growing its production volume at the facility, which was built so the company could focus on making tires for North American drivers.

While we are pleased with our growth in 2021, it is only the beginning of our journey here in Dayton, Mr. Korda said. We look forward to expanding our team and growing our efforts to serve the community in the year ahead.

To learn more about the Dayton Factory or apply for jobs, visit NokianTires.com/DaytonFactory.




The following roads will be closed Wednesday, from 11 a.m.

until 9 p.m. for the annual Chattanooga Chamber of Commerce Open House:

W 8th Street between Broad Street and Chestnut Street

Chestnut Street between Citi Park Parking Garage and W 8th Street





Friday:


90 Day Fiance: Before the 90 Days, Ginos girlfriend, Jasmine, who is 17 years younger than him, is showing some major signs of control. Jasmine demands Gino to report to her whenever he leaves the house. Fans are concerned that Gino doesnt see Jasmines control and jealousy issues as red flags.

Gino and Jasmine | TLC

Gino fell in love with Jasmine online

The couple met on an international dating site and have been dating long-distance. Now Gino will travel to meet Jasmine in her home country of Panama. On the premiere episode of season 5, which aired Dec 12, Gino also explained to his brother that he would like to propose and start a family with her before he returns to the states.

He hopes to get her pregnant during the trip and start a family as soon as possible. Ginos uncle, who is more like a father figure, is concerned about his nephew being safe while in Panama. He and his wife are worried that Gino could get taken advantage of and he could get into some serious trouble.

Jasmine has problems with controlling her jealousy

During the first episode, Gino goes to pick up food from a restaurant. Jasmine, who demands to keep tabs on Ginos location at all times, was jealous that he spoke to the waitress. He was being polite and asked for her name, which angered Jasmine. She asked him, Why were you talking to her that much?

Just based on the first episode alone, there seem to be a lot of red flags. Jasmine keeps close tabs on Gino at all times. She demands to know where hes going. During the video call, Gino tells Jasmine he is picking up takeout from a restaurant. And she tells him, Show me all of the evidence. Because Ive been here and I dont know what youve been doing the whole day. Gino says, Jasmine likes to know every time I go out from my home. I let her know, you know, Hey, Im going at this time, and this is where Im going.'

Gino doesnt see Jasmines jealousy and controlling behavior as a red flag

Gino himself agreed that he cant decide if Jasmine is just being overly protective or if shes controlling him. He said, I dont know if shes joking or not, she says Evidence. Report.' He says he will send her a screenshot to check in with her. He says, She wants to know where Im at, at all times.

He said, Sometimes I wonder if shes concerned about me meeting other women or is it, you know, that shes worried about me being out and getting home safe, maybe its both. He continued, But if I dont send her text or photos, she can really get upset.

Many 90 Day Fiance: Before the 90 Days fans think that Jasmines major red flags should concern Gino. Surprisingly, Gino doesnt seem to mind having tabs on him at all times. Will their relationship last? 90 Day Fiance: Before the 90 Days Season 5 airs Sundays on TLC and discovery+.

RELATED: 990ay Fiance: Before the 90 Days Season 5: How Kim Is Completely Different From Baby Girl Lisa
Napoleon Dynamite unexpectedly took the world by storm in 2004. The quirky, nerdy comedy about rural outlier teens was hilarious, sincere, and had tons of authentic charm. But despite its enormous popularity and cult classic status, Napoleon Dynamite 2 still hasnt materialized. However, Jon Heder once said hed be willing to return to his career-defining role.

Jon Heder imagines a Napoleon Dynamite 2 being raw and edgy

Jon Heder and Aaron Ruell | CBS via Getty Images

Its been over a decade and a half since Jared Hess eccentric Napoleon Dynamite hit theaters. However, people are still talking about it. According to Screenrant, star Jon Heder spoke out about the possibility of a return to his iconic character in 2020.

Furthermore, Jon Heder stated that director Jared Hess would likely evolve the characters past their previous movie. The original starred Heder as Napoleon Dynamite, Tina Majorino as Deb, and Efren Ramirez as his best friend Pedro Sanchez. Filmmakers shot the entire film on location in Preston, Idaho, on a budget of just $400,000.

I would come back if Jared decided, Hey, lets go ahead, and lets see if we can pull off the magic, Heder said at a Wizard World panel in September 2020. Weve thought about it. Were always playing with the idea. I know Ive talked a little bit with Jared, and its his baby, so Im just like, You pull the trigger on that. I feel like the future for Napoleon would be a lot more raw and edgy. So whatever he comes up with would be fun to explore. Because I think whatever Jared comes up with wouldnt be your typical, Lets do a sequel where they all look the same and they all act the same. I think it would be an interesting development in their lives.

Moreover, Ramirez added that Napoleon Dynamite would still essentially be Napoleon Dynamite. It would have to be a bit different, but still in that whole genre of Napoleon Dynamite and his mind, the actor said.

Theres so much more depth to find through these characters, especially in their futures, Ramirez said. That would be pretty interesting.

Jared Hess might be less enthusiastic about the possibility

According to Looper, Hess addressed the possibility of a sequel back in 2010. However, despite its original success, he seemed to have mixed feelings on the possibility of a Napoleon Dynamite 2.

When sequels are an afterthought, they usually end up being bad, but when they were originally intended to have multiple films made up of the same story, I think it works, Hess said. But oftentimes when sequels are done just because the first one was successful and they do it for that, I dont know.

Hess based the movie on his own life experiences in the small town of Preston. He additionally revealed that his wife and co-writer, Jerusha, contributed her own experiences to the screenplay.

Napoleon Dynamite is, at its core, a film about youth and future possibilities. Which, to sum up, makes it both rife with possibility and unrealistic to expand upon at the same time.

A Napoleon Dynamite 2 may not happen immediately, but there is an animated series

While there dont appear to be any immediate plans for a sequel, the Napoleon Dynamite legacy marches on. For example, Hess created an animated series that ran on Fox for six episodes. However, the network canceled it in 2012. You can find the complete series on DVD or stream it via Prime Video.

In short, with or without a sequel, Napoleon Dynamite remains a beloved comedy cult classic with endless repeatability. Perhaps producers should take Napoleons famous advice: Pedro, just listen to your heart. Thats what I do.

RELATED: Jon Heder Admits He Improvised the Iconic Napoleon Dynamite Dance Scene: I Just Winged It
As Dexter: New Blood gets deeper into its 10-episode order, more details are coming out about Dexter Morgans actions in the original series finale. Dexter ran for eight seasons on Showtime and famously ended with him faking his death. But as Dexter: New Blood Episode 6 revealed, that wasnt his initial plan.

Michael C. Hall as Dexter Morgan in the pilot episode of Dexter | Dan Littlejohn/CBS via Getty Images

What happened to Dexter in the Dexter series finale

After eight seasons of killing, Dexter was ready for a new life. His hope was to move to Argentina with his girlfriend Hannah McKay and son Harrison Morgan. But the plan fell apart after his sister Debra Morgan was shot by a serial killer and left comatose.

Dexter decided to pull the plug on her and bury her body at sea, just as a hurricane was barreling toward Miami. He drove out into the ocean, dumped her body, and then exiled himself to the Oregon wilderness. The final scene of Dexter showed him living a solitary life as a lumberjack.

RELATED: Dexter: The Alternate Ending Makes So Much More Sense to Viewers

Dexter: New Blood Episode 6 revisited Dexter faking his death

Eight years later, Dexter is now living in the fictional small town of Iron Lake, New York. He lives a quiet life as firearms dealer Jim Lindsay, but eventually, his girlfriend, police chief Angela Bishop, learns about his secret identity.

Confronted, Dexter explains in Dexter: New Blood Episode 6 that he was trying to escape death following several personal losses and too many years as a blood-spatter expert. He says he was actually trying to kill himself when he drove his boat out to sea eight years ago but survived. He decided from there to give himself a second chance in life and took up the identity of Jim Lindsay.

RELATED: Dexter Kill Count Revealed by Showtime

Dexter was able to go eight years without killing, but he slipped after nearly being shot by local bad boy Matt Caldwell. He didnt realize at the time that Matt is the son of Kurt Caldwell, a powerful businessman who will stop at nothing to find out what happened to Matt.

The search for Matt comes amid the disappearances of several missing women, who have secretly been killed by Kurt. While his motives remain unclear, the belief among many viewers is that he might be recreating a tragic event in his life.

Things are only going to get more intense from here

As police continue to investigate the case of Iron Lakes missing women, Angela has made another grim discovery. She was searching the towns caves when she came across the body of her best friend Iris, whod been missing for decades. Now, shell have to rely on Dexters skills as a blood-spatter expert to get a lead. But thats only if he doesnt try to solve the problem himself, like always.
Dexter: New Blood fans are wondering about Harrison Morgans intentions when visiting Audrey Bishop in episode 6. It seemed he was looking for comfort and a listening ear following the drama with Dexter Morgan. But after spotting his weapon on him, theres concern that he might have been planning to harm her. So, was Harrison going to kill Audrey? Executive producer Scott Reynolds has offered up an answer.

Harrison and Audrey from Dexter: New Blood series still

The Harrison and Audrey scene in Dexter: New Blood Episode 6, revisited

Audrey was alone in her room when she was interrupted by the sound of someone at her window  only to find it was Harrison. He explained he couldnt sleep and needed to talk. Audrey comforted Harrison about his dad and the anger he constantly feels, saying she can relate to his struggles in many ways.

That night, they wound up sleeping together as Harrisons razor sticks out of his back pocket. The belief among many fans was that Harrison was actually planning to sneak in and kill Audrey. However, Reynolds refuted that.

He just carries that razor with him, he explained to TV Fanatic. He doesnt leave it at the house because his dad goes through his stuff. Harrison is finally connecting with someone whos sharing about her life, and theyre seeing that theyre both outsiders. When youre a teenager, you feel things deeper than at any point in your life.

He continued: We purposefully had that in the script that you saw the flash of that blade as theyre making out. Its a reminder that this isnt just a sweet kid. This sweet, hurt, vulnerable kid isnt 100% who he says he is.

RELATED: Dexter: New Blood Star Recalls Being Super Emotional During Dexter and Harrison Reunion Scene

More information will come to light

In the same episode, Harrison opened up to his therapist about his childhood trauma. His dad had cared for him since his mothers brutal murder by the Trinity Killer, but they split up when Dexter decided to leave Miami. Harrison was left with Hannah McKay before being placed in foster care following her death.

When he was old enough, he decided to look for Dexter, tracking him from Florida to Oregon to New York, where hes living as Jim Lindsay. Harrison is disappointed when Dexter wont open up to him, especially when he acts like he and Rita Morgan casually broke up. But Dexter has to keep some things close to the chest in order to protect his identity.

Hes very protective of that past, and rightly so, Reynolds explained. He doesnt want the world to find out that hes a guy that faked his own death. He experienced that with Angela [Bishop], and it didnt go well, so his guard was up.

Reynolds also confirmed Angela would keep his secret, but theres still some concern by fans after a report saying a character from his past would show up in the Dexter: New Blood finale. While Reynolds did not comment on the report, showrunner Clyde Phillips told TV Insider their return would become a big story point.

RELATED: Is Dexter: New Blood Setting Up a Harrison Spinoff?

Next on Dexter: New Blood

In the meantime, Angela is leaning on Dexters skills as a blood-spatter expert to help her determine what happened to Iris. After decades of wondering about her fate, she found her best friends body in one of the Iron Lake caves, where shed gone to follow up on a hunch about Kurt Caldwell. Now, its personal for her to catch him  if hes even the one responsible. But Angela going after him also makes her a threat.

Watch Dexter: New Blood on Showtime at 9 p.m. ET on Sundays.

RELATED: Dexter: New Blood Star Clancy Brown Reveals He Was Initially Considered for Role in Original Series
Former General Hospital star Ingo Rademacher, who played Jax on the show, has announced his lawsuit against ABC. In the suit, the actor claims that religious discrimination got him fired from the longtime soap. He is also claiming that the network, which airs General Hospital, has violated his civil rights by terminating his employment.

Ingo Rademacher, formerly of General Hospital | Frazer Harrison/WireImage

Hes suing for religious discrimination  but didnt say what his religion is, or how he was fired for practicing it

Deadline was the first to break the story about Ingo Rademacher and his lawsuit against ABC. In the suit, the former General Hospital actor claims hes the victim of religious discrimination. He is also claiming that ABC is violating his civil rights.

ABCs actions are blatantly unlawful, reads his lawsuit. ABC does not have the authority to force a medical treatment to its employees against their will. These actions constitute religious discrimination and violate Mr. Rademachers rights under state and federal law.

Later on in the lawsuit, which reads more like a tirade, Rademacher blames both President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris for the vaccine mandates and ultimately demands that the Los Angeles Superior Court declare vaccine mandates unconstitutional.

The "General Hospital" actor is suing ABC over a vaccine mandate, calling it unconstitutional. https://t.co/EjVhz7zwab  TMZ (@TMZ) December 13, 2021

However, there are a few problems with Rademachers lawsuit, according to legal experts. The biggest one, of course, is that vaccine mandates are 100 percent constitutional, and they have been for more than a century. The case of Jacobson vs. Massachusetts  which was handed down in 1905  declared that vaccine mandates were constitutional. Individual liberty is not absolute, reads the decision, and it is subject to the police power of the state. Furthermore, the Supreme Court of the United States  in a 6-3 ruling  decided to uphold the Jacobson ruling in 2021, when Maine healthcare workers tried to claim religious exemption against getting the COVID-19 vaccine.

Stephen Colbert roasted the disgraced actor

On the December 16 episode of The Stephen Colbert Show, the late-night host roasted the disgraced actor for not complying with the production companys vaccine mandate.

Sorry, buddy, but you have to follow the medical advice  youre on General Hospital, not General Stuff I Read On Facebook, he snarked, to raucous applause from the audience.

Prior to this, Nancy Lee Grahn  who plays Alexis on General Hospital  claimed that Ingo Rademacher was fired after he made transphobic comments on the set.

The fellow actor, #IngoRademacher, is mercifully no longer a part of the #gh cast. Transphobia & misgendering are disgusting & should be unacceptable in any industry, including soaps/acting. I stand with my costar, @cassandrajames_, & the trans community. https://t.co/pjj6FzEncg  Nancy Lee Grahn (@NancyLeeGrahn) November 8, 2021

Laura Wright, who plays Carly Corinthos, also expressed her disgust at Ingo Rademacher for his comments against transgender people.

I am aware of the transphobic post shared by a GH member & I would like to start by saying I am disgusted by this action. Misgendering trans individuals is dangerous & I do not support this behavior. I stand in support of all trans folks & echo the words of @cassandrajames_  Laura Wright (@lldubs) November 8, 2021

Shortly after these posts were made, General Hospital executives confirmed that Ingo Rademacher was fired from the show. However, they made clear that the actor was fired due to his failure to comply with ABCs COVID-19 vaccine mandate.

Since that time, Rademachers defenders have harassed Grahn on social media. But Grahn said that she will not engage, and that it wasnt her job to save anyone.

ABC had no comment about the pending litigation by the ex-General Hospital star.

RELATED: All My Children, One Life to Life Reboots Featuring General Hospital, DOOL Stars Available on Apple+
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS

General Hospital Ingo Rademacher star has been a vocal critic of vaccine mandates.

ABC fired him in November for refusing to get a COVID-19 vaccine.

Rademacher is now suing ABC over what he calls an unconstitutional mandate.

Ingo Rademacher | Nick Argo/ABC via Getty Images

General Hospital star Ingo Rademacher played Jasper Jax Jacks on the soap opera for the better part of 25 years. But the actor exited the series in November when ABC fired him for refusing to get a COVID-19 vaccine. Now, the actor is fighting back against the network and their unconstitutional mandate with a lawsuit.

The General Hospital star has been a vocal critic of vaccine mandates

ABC fired Rademacher from General Hospital after he declined to comply with the networks mandate that all employees be vaccinated. The Australian actor has been a vocal critic of the vaccine and its efficacy since its inception through former President Donald Trumps Operation Warp Speed. But its the employer-forced vaccination rule that has him taking legal action.

Rademacher said on social media that he will never agree with corporations being able to mandate a vaccine on employees so they can keep their job and livelihood.

General Hospital Star Ingo Rademacher Exits After Refusing Vax Mandate https://t.co/VR5SbBKvSk  Morgan Fairchild (@morgfair) November 9, 2021

RELATED: Former General Hospital Star Ingo Rademacher Blasts Nancy Lee Grahn in an Instagram Tirade

A lot of people were coerced and forced into taking the jab otherwise they would lose everything. And thats not a choice, he said on Instagram.

The news of Rademachers exit first appeared in a tweet from his former co-star Nancy Lee Grahn (Alexis). She mentioned it while showing her support for transgender castmate Cassandra James (Terry).

Ingo Rademacher speaks out

Rademachers co-star accused him of sharing a transphobic post in an Instagram Story. When he shared a tweet from podcast host Allie Beth Stuckey, who misgendered assistant health secretary Dr. Rachel Levine.

Grahn wrote that Rademacher was mercifully no longer part of the General Hospital cast. Implying she doesnt like working with people who have different political opinions. In response, Rademacher posted a video about his exit from the soap opera, and he addressed the unkind words from his former co-star.

So this is my official video to say that Im no longer on the show. Which I never got a chance to do because Nancy announced it to everyone on Twitter, saying that I was mercifully no longer on the show, Rademacher said.

Which was a huge disappointment to me. After having worked with somebody for 25 years, you would think they would show a little bit more respect and have a little bit more integrity and allow me to make that announcement to the fans.

The General Hospital star is suing ABC over their vaccine mandate

On December 13, Rademacher officially filed a lawsuit against ABC over their vaccine mandate for talent, calling it unconstitutional. According to TMZ, in his filing, he says he asked the network for a religious exemption to avoid the jab. But they denied him.

Before the denial, Rademacher says that ABC subjected him to a 30-minute interview where he had to prove his religious status. But, they apparently didnt believe his claims.

The "General Hospital" actor is suing ABC over a vaccine mandate, calling it unconstitutional. https://t.co/EjVhz7zwab  TMZ (@TMZ) December 13, 2021

RELATED: With Ingo Rademacher Officially Out at General Hospital, Casting Questions Remain

Rademacher argues that ABC terminating his employment due to his refusal to get vaccinated is a violation of his right to privacy under Californias state constitution.

Ingo Rademacher accuses ABC of being blatantly unlawful

In the court documents, Rademacher chronicled the short history of the COVID-19 vaccines. He explained that when they were first being developed under the Trump administration, a number of Democrats  including now-President Joe Biden  were vocal with their skepticism.

But now that they are in power, the attitude has changed. As Rademacher notes, the COVID lockdowns and rules  especially in the state of California  have been the most draconian restrictions in modern history.

The actor calls ABCs actions blatantly unlawful.

And he theorizes in his lawsuit that large corporations like ABC/Disney are forcing vaccines on employees to make the Biden administration happy.

Jax left town on General Hospital

In Rademachers final episode, Jax told his ex-wife Carly (Laura Wright) that he was leaving town and going back to Australia because he had urgent business in Sydney. When she asked if he would be back for the holidays he replied, Im kind of on the outs with everyone in Port Charles right now.

On social media, Rademacher thanked his fans and gave a shout out to the cast and crew that hes worked with for more than two decades.

His last episode as Jax aired on November 22nd. https://t.co/TeWoukdoHr  TV Insider (@TVInsider) December 13, 2021

RELATED: General Hospital: Ingo Rademacher Responds to Criticism About Anti-Vaccine Passport Rally Support

They were like my family. A lot of the people there, and I was really hoping that I could play Jax for another 10 or 25 years. And unfortunately, thats not going to happen, Rademacher said. I want to thank you guys for sticking with Jax for 25 years. Im sorry that Im not there anymore to play Jax. Which is still something that Im trying to process. Its just kind of crazy.
Its time to grab some tissues, Greys Anatomy fans. As anticipated, the winter finale is coming on Thursday, Dec. 16, and it looks like another tragedy could shake the doctors at Grey Sloan Memorial. The Greys Anatomy Season 18 Episode 8 promo trailer just hinted that Owen Hunt (Kevin McKidd)  and possibly Cormac Hayes (Richard Flood)  will die. So heres a breakdown of the preview and what to expect next.

[Spoiler alert: This article contains spoilers about Greys Anatomy Season 18 Episode 8.]

The Greys Anatomy Season 18 Episode 8 teases the possibility of Owen Hunts death

RELATED: Is Greys Anatomy Ending After Season 18? Ellen Pompeo Gets Honest About the Last Season

The promo trailer for Greys Anatomy Season 18 Episode 8, It Came Upon a Midnight Clear, starts with a mini update on Farouk Hunt (Bardia Seiri). Megan Hunts (Abigail Spencer) son isnt doing well, but Winston Ndugu (Anthony Hill) offers her some hope. He tells Megan and Owen that theres an organ donor, and the heart is a match for Farouk.

Meanwhile, Teddy Altman (Kim Raver) tells Owen she wants eyes on the heart, and Hayes says hes coming along. However, the organ transport goes horribly wrong.

In the Greys Anatomy preview, Owen sits in the passenger seat of the organ transplant vehicle. Then the driver seems to have a medical emergency, and the car crashes in the woods. The vehicle is crushed, and some fans are worried Owen could be dead. That said, Hayes whereabouts are unknown. Although he seemingly said he would join the trip, Hayes wasnt directly shown in the car with Owen.

Kevin McKidd as Owen Hunt in Greys Anatomy Season 18 | ABC/Liliane Lathan

RELATED: Greys Anatomy: This Nick Marsh and Meredith Grey Fan Theory Will Make You Watch Season 18 Differently

Meanwhile, Miranda Bailey (Chandra Wilson) seems worried. She tells someone offscreen that she needs to know what happened. But no one has answers. Then Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo) says something is insane in a voiceover, and no other context is given. Amelia Shepherd (Caterina Scorsone) also expresses some shock while shes in her scrubs. However, once again, we dont know what shes talking about.

Nevertheless, the Greys Anatomy Season 18 Episode 8 trailer suggests that the new episode on Dec. 16 will end with a cliffhanger. Just as the promo ends with another shot of the car crash, ABC tells fans the winter finale will leave them on the edge.

What else can fans expect from the Greys Anatomy Season 18 winter finale?

Richard Flood as Cormac Hayes and Ellen Pompeo as Meredith Grey in Greys Anatomy Season 18 Episode 8 | ABC/Raymond Liu

RELATED: Greys Anatomy Fans Dont Believe Nick Marsh and Meredith Greys Romance in Season 18

While the Greys Anatomy Season 18 Episode 8 promo caused many fans to worry about the possibility of Owens death, the synopsis for It Came Upon a Midnight Clear doesnt tease any scares. The press release courtesy of ABC reveals the doctors at Grey Sloan Memorial will be celebrating the holidays, and there are plenty of happy moments ahead.

In the next new episode, David Hamilton (Peter Gallagher) and Meredith will prepare for a milestone on their Parkinsons disease project, which is in Minnesota. However, it seems both Meredith and Amelia will be spending some time in Seattle.

Caterina Scorsone Amelia Shepherd and Camilla Luddington as Jo Wilson in Greys Anatomy Season 18 Episode 8 | ABC/Liliane Lathan

RELATED: Greys Anatomy: How Did Andrew DeLuca Die?

New photos from the Dec. 14 episode show Meredith talking to Hayes. Amelia also speaks with Jo Wilson (Camilla Luddington), who just found out that Atticus Link Lincoln (Chris Carmack) had a huge crush on her in the past. But even so, ABCs synopsis suggests AmeLink isnt over because Link hopes to spend the holiday with Amelia and Scout as a family.

Meanwhile, Levi Schmitt (Jake Borelli) must face a difficult decision during surgery in the Greys Anatomy winter finale. The new photos also tease a serious conversation between Maggie Pierce (Kelly McCreary) and Richard Webber (James Pickens Jr.).

Whatever happens next, it seems like episode 8 of Greys Anatomy Season 18 will feature storylines for most of the cast right before the holiday break. But hopefully, everyone gets out alive.

RELATED: 3 Greys Anatomy Deaths We Will Never Get Over
The Duggar family appears to be in shambles. After Josh Duggars trial ended in a guilty verdict on December 9, public statements began to trickle in. Jill Dillard and Derick Dillard were among the first to take a public stand on the judgment. Other Duggar siblings released statements shortly after. While each sibling had their own words to share, several have made it clear that they have mostly negative feelings about Josh Duggar. They all seem to be rallying around Anna Duggar, though.

Jill and Derick Dillard revealed that they had been lied to in their public statement

Derick and Jill Dillard have been some of the most outspoken opponents of the Duggar family. Derick was on hand for the entirety of Josh Duggars trial, and Jill appeared at the courthouse toward the end of the trial, too. There doesnt seem to be much love lost between the Dillards and Josh, either. The famed couple seems to have an issue with Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar, too.

Jill and Derick Dillard | D Dipasupil/Getty Images for Extra

Derick and Jill wrote in a public statement that they were happy that justice had been served and agreed with the jurys verdict. The couple also took the chance to throw shade at Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar. They wrote that they had been lied to for a long time and were glad that they were given a chance to hear the evidence for themselves. Derick and Jill have had a strained relationship with Jim Bob and Michelle since 2017.

Derick and Jill were sure to show support for Anna Duggar in their statement. According to the U.S. Suns coverage of Josh Duggars trial, Derick spent much of the process sitting with Anna.

Joy-Anna Forsyth appears to be erasing Joshua Duggar from her memory

Joy-Anna Forsyth was one of Joshs abuse victims. She did not appear in court for the first few days of testimony, but her husband Austin Forsyth was present for the trials duration. Joy-Anna joined him later, and photographs of the duo entering and exiting court show them looking emotional and tired.

Joy Anna Duggar and Austin Forsyth on Counting On | TLC/YouTube

Shortly after Joshs guilty verdict was read, the Forsyths shared a statement. The couple, who share two children, stated that they agree with the ruling and are glad they could hear the evidence for themselves. They went on to thank the law enforcement professionals who work to protect children and prevent child sexual abuse materials from circulating.

Joy and Austins closing statements were particularly interesting, note Duggar family followers. They signed off in their statement by saying that they are praying for Anna and her children. Family followers found the her children line particularly telling. It appears that the couple is wiping Josh from their memory entirely. Anna Duggar, who married Josh Duggar in 2008, recently gave birth to their seventh child. Madisyn Lily Duggar was born on October 23, just one month before Joshs trial began.

Jeremy and Jinger Vuolo offered a public statement, too

Jeremy and Jinger Vuolo were not in Arkansas to hear the verdict read. The former reality TV stars were following the events from afar. After the judge read the verdict, the couple released a statement. In their lengthy statement, they called Josh a hypocrite and offered support and prayers to Anna and her seven children.

Josh Duggar | Washington County Sheriffs Office via Getty Images

Jeremy and Jinger currently reside in Los Angeles with their two children. In the wake of Josh Duggars arrest, they revamped their social media presence. The duo quickly removed most pictures of their children from their public feeds. They did not return to Arkansas for the trial. Another Duggar family member followed their social media lead.

The Duggar family | D Dipasupil/Getty Images for Extra

Josiah Duggar and his wife, Lauren Swanson, deleted most of their family pictures from Instagram ahead of Josh Duggars trial. They have largely gone underground and have not spoken about Joshs arrest or conviction. In fact, Josiah and Lauren have not been seen in quite some time.

RELATED: Josh Duggars Trial: Amy Duggar King Says Her Family Was Told a Completely Different Story Regarding Molestation Scandal
Love Island (USA) Season 3 winners Olivia Kaiser and Korey Gandy split after three months of dating. Shortly after he revealed their breakup, Olivia appeared on a podcast where she shared her side.

Love Island Season 3 winners, Olivia Kaiser and Korey Gandy | Sara Mally/CBS/Getty Images

Olivia Kaiser addressed split with Korey Gandy; said he hooked up with Florita Diaz

A few weeks after Korey Gandy revealed he and Olivia Kaiser split up, she appeared on the Whoa! Its Ryan podcast, where she told her side of the story. According to the Alaska native, the two entered into a relationship following their Love Island win.

However, a couple of months later, in Oct. 2021, she said she became afraid of failure and only a friendship. Even so, the 28-year-old claims nothing changed as they maintained a sexual relationship.

RELATED: Love Island: Jeremy Hershberg and Florita Diaz Part Ways: Just Friends Now

While Olivia noted the two started telling one another they love each other; she also pointed out they never had another conversation about affirming their relationship status. She then confirmed the rumor that Korey hooked up with Florita Diaz in Miami before they reunited in Atlantic City with the rest of the cast around Thanksgiving 2021.

However, she maintains they were on a break at the time. According to Olivia, he seemingly distanced himself from her and lied about connecting with Florita. She claimed that she found about the alleged hook-up through Trina Njoroge and Charlie Lynch before he eventually admitted to it through a video chat. The Alaska native said she has since forgiven Korey and claims they are still in communication.

Korey announced breakup around Thanksgiving 2021

Shortly following Thanksgiving, Korey announced their breakup in a lengthy Instagram caption, claiming he didnt want to believe it.

The 28-year-old went on to explain they split amicably and thanked his ex for showing him that he can be vulnerable again and truly care for someone. Additionally, he claimed he thought things were perfect when they left the island but noted they encountered difficulties in the real world that the two ultimately couldnt overpower.

Referring to the Alaska native as one of the most beautiful people hes met, he promised to always respect her and care for her. He closed his statement by thanking his followers for their support, hoping it would continue to extend to them individually.

After Koreys post, Olivia didnt acknowledge the breakup but continued posting on social media, resulting in criticism from fans.

Fans previously criticized Olivia for not acknowledging their split

When Olivia and Korey coupled, many fans didnt believe she had true feelings for him. During a date with newcomer Andre Brunelli, her behavior confirmed it as she kissed him and admitted she would pursue a connection with him.

However, she ultimately stuck with Korey, and the two went on to win the competition. Olivias silence on their split caused many fans to believe their original suspicions were confirmed, and they began commenting under her posts.

A final WHAT THE FREAK?! to Korey and Olivia, the winners of #LoveIslandUSA! pic.twitter.com/0rPFww0JqA  Love Island USA (@loveislandusa) August 16, 2021

RELATED: Love Island Season 3: Korey Gandy Addresses Criticism That Hes Childish

One fan claimed he changed under a TikTok video and questioned why she uploaded thirst traps instead of acknowledging the break. The 28-year-old responded, you grieve your way, and Ill grieve mine.

She then hinted at the cheating scandal by posting a video of her lip-syncing to a verse about a significant other cheating in rapper Cardi Bs Through Your Phone, fueling the rumors more. Love Island is streaming on Paramount+.
Prince Harry began dating Meghan Markle in 2016. At the time she was starring in the legal drama Suits, which was filmed in Canada. Therefore, the duke made trips to see her and now Canadian taxpayers are learning just how much his trips cost them.

Heres how much taxpayers had to fork over for Harrys visits to Toronto.

Closeup of Prince Harrys profile with Meghan Markle in the background | Chris Jackson / POOL /AFP via Getty Images

How much Prince Harrys trips to see Meghan cost Canadian taxpayers

When Prince Harry was still a working member of the royal family he was provided round-the-clock security by protection officers. And whenever he visited Canada the Royal Canadian Mounted Police worked with the British security to keep him safe within the countrys borders. But just how much that RCMP protection cost is more than most originally thought, according to a new report.

CBC News reporter Elizabeth Thompson explained: The documents that were released to CBC News under access to information show that between January 2016 and February 2020, it cost more than $334,000 to sub in an additional cost for the RCMP to supply security for [Harry] and thats above and beyond the salaries of the officers who were assigned to protect him.

Thompson then revealed when the princes security cost taxpayers the most. A lot of people might think that the most expensive period was when [the Sussexes] spent that Christmas in Canada and they were thinking of stepping back and maybe living in Canada part-time. But in fact, the most expensive period was 2017-2018, she said (per Express), adding that photographers started hanging out around Meghan Markles house when it became known that they were sort of dating, they used to see like six big Black SUVs on this little suburban residential street that she lived on and in those SUVs were British security but also RCMP.

So the princes visits to see her between April 2017 to March 2018 cost taxpayers $182,430.

Meghan was also given protection when she wasnt entitled to it

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry attend day 3 of 2017 Invictus Games in Toronto | Karwai Tang/WireImage

Something else Thompson noted is that when Meghan and Harry made their first public appearance together during the 2017 Invictus Games, the Suits star was also provided with a royalty protection squad officer at the event. That fact is raising plenty of eyebrows because she and Prince Harry were not engaged at the time and a commoner is not entitled to tax-payer-funded RCMP.

After announcing they were stepping down from their roles as senior royals in January 2020, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and Archie stayed at a waterfront property in Vancouver Island, British Columbia, and were provided security by RCMP which cost taxpayers over $30,000 a month.

In March 2020, the couple moved to California. A year later during his sitdown with Oprah Winfrey, Prince Harry hinted at just how expensive private security is and how upset he was that his father, Prince Charles, stopped paying for his.

RELATED: Prince Harry Heavily Criticized After Urging People to Quit Their Jobs
On the Dec 5 episode of Sister Wives, Christine Brown says her husband, Kody Brown, isnt even her friend anymore. Kody attempts to have a heart-to-heart conversation, but Christine doesnt feel like she can open up to him about issues.

Christine Brown and Kody Brown on Sister Wives | TLC

Christine and Kodys marriage in trouble

During this season of Sister Wives, Christine opened up about the state of her marriage. In the first episode of season 16, Christine said that she wouldnt make any drastic decisions about her marriage just yet. However, she feels like shes been lacking Kodys support. During the Nov 21 episode, Christine revealed how bad her marriage to Kody has become.

Christine said, I never wanted to be so estranged and have extremely limited physical contact  not even handholding. She confided, Its sad. My marriage to Kody is sad. The Sister Wives star said she feels at a crossroads in her marriage.

Christine says Kody isnt even her friend at this point in her marriage

On the Dec 5 episode of Sister Wives, Kody brought Christine out to the Coyote Pass property to discuss the whole moving to Utah misunderstanding. However, Kodys apology wasnt received well by Christine. She confided in the cameras, Its cause I dont trust a word thats coming out of his mouth. I dont believe him that hes sorry.

Christine says shes tired of riding this emotional roller coaster. Meanwhile, Kody feels like he cannot make her happy no matter what he does. She said, Why would I want to live on the same property with a dysfunctional marriage, where right over there hes got a full functioning marriage? She said, If mine and Kodys relationship were better and we both wanted the same type of a relationship thats a full marriage, I could handle staying here a lot easier.

When Kody asked for her to open up, Christine said it wasnt a safe conversation for her. She said in the confessional, Look, hes not even my friend right now. Why would I talk to him about things that are close to my heart if hes not even my friend?

After 25 years, Christine leaves marriage to Kody

On Nov 2, Kodys 3rd wife, Christine, confirmed that she had left Kody through a statement on Instagram. The post reads: After more than 25 years together, Kody and I have grown apart, and I have made the difficult decision to leave. The post continues, We will continue to be a strong presence in each others lives as we parent our beautiful children and support our wonderful family.

Christines statement ends: At this time, we ask for your grace and kindness as we navigate through this state within our family. With love, Christine Brown. The Sister Wives star captioned the post: Thank you for understanding and compassion! Christine and Kody have been married spiritually since 1994, when Christine was 22 years old.

Staying in Flagstaff, a deteriorating marriage, and a lack of support appear to be just some of the many reasons why Christine decided to leave. Sister Wives Season 16 continues to provide more insight into the relationship between Christine and Kody. Sister Wives airs Sundays on TLC and discovery+.

RELATED: Sister Wives: Kody Thinks Christine Is Using Daughters Major Surgery As Excuse for a Vacation
Humanitarians care about the origin and impact of their gifts. Find a list of ideas to help get you started.

Looking for the perfect gift for the humanitarian in your life? The Better Samaritan team has a few ideas to get you started:

Humanitarians and those around them care about the origin and impact of their gifts. Here are two guides filled with ethical and sustainable gifts that will have a lasting impact!

Gift Guides

World Relief Gift Guide

Sarah Bessey Christmas Gift Guide

Another thing humanitarians are known for is traveling far and wide. Here are a few things thatll make their next trip easier, as suggested by our podcast guests:

Gadgets

Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald reporter, loves her wireless earbuds

Stefani McDade, associate editor for CT, finds a portable recorder handy for her reporting.

Kent Annan, co-director at HDI, finds the Scannable app helpful for travels and staying organized.

Dallas Jenkins, creator of The Chosen, recommends a foam roller to soothe those aches and pains from traveling.

Your humanitarian also needs a good read to accompany them on their travels. Try one of these recommended reads from our podcast guests:

Books

Jamie Aten, founder & co-director at HDI: The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel Van Der Kolk

Sophia Lee, senior reporter at WORLD: Prayer: Experiencing Awe and Intimacy with God by Timothy Keller

Marcus Coleman, Director of DHS Center for Faith-Based & Neighborhood Partnerships: Good to Great by Jim Collins

Philip Yancey, bestselling author: Telling the Truth by Frederick Buechner

For even more book recommendations, check out this roundup of books from other Better Samaritans (select books on sale).

HDI Gifts

Give students the gift of education by donating to Wheaton College and the work of HDI here.

The Spiritual First Aid course from HDI, developed over many years in the field, offers practical, faith- and research-based training to equip anyone to respond to crises locally. This training is the gift that will keep on giving, as you bring all you learn to everyone you encounter.
I was born in Los Angeles to a family in turmoil. My father was an alcoholic and a womanizer, and he was married four times by the time I was 17. My mother left when I was about 5 years old, and I never saw her again.

Throughout my childhood, I was moved from foster home to foster home. I started using drugs when I was 13. I believe thats when I finally realized that I hated myself. Up until then, I had been able to ignore my feelings of worthlessness and the ongoing sting of rejection and abandonment.

At 15, I ran away from home, living on the streets until I was arrested. Thus began my life with the law.

On the run

At first, I ended up at Eastlake Juvenile Hall in Central Los Angeles (a facility to which I would return several times). Murderers, thieves, and gang members were lumped together with those who had only run away from home. As a white girl with long, blond hair, I immediately felt out of place.

Eventually, I was transferred to Florence Crittenton, an open-placement girls home in East Los Angeles. Leaving the grounds was against the rules, but there were no bars or walls to prevent it. During that time, I would ride buses across Los Angeles at night, unaware of the potential danger. Pimps, predators, and gangsters abounded in many neighborhoods.

But I was too restless to stay anywhere for long. After running away from the girls home for the third time, I was arrested again and sent back to juvenile hall. At this point I was a ward of the court, since my father and stepmother had divorced, neither wanting to take me in.

The court placed me in a closed facility in Central Los Angeles called the Convent of the Good Shepherd. The neighborhood was so unsafe we had to move our beds away from the windows on holidays, because gang members had shot through them in the past. The convent walls were 12 feet high. But I even ran away from there, climbing onto the roof of the laundry building and crawling up the ivy to escape.

With each getaway, my self-hatred escalated, along with contempt for authority figures and mistrust of people in general. I was headed down a path of destruction.

At age 19, I started working for the California Conservation Corps. One of our responsibilities was to serve meals to firefighters and prisoners as they fought major fires. This is where I met a man Ill call Bill, who was serving a prison sentence in Yreka, California. We wrote letters back and forth for months, and when he was released, we moved in together. Later, we married and had two children.

At the time, I was drinking heavily and smoking pot. For years, I had used every drug I could get my hands on. But little did I know that Bill was using cocaine and speed intravenously. And it didnt take much to get me doing likewise. I would spend the next six and a half years with a needle in my arm, racking up four near-death experiences when I overdosed.

Needless to say, I lost all interest in working and taking care of my kids, my husband, or my apartment. Over time, my veins were so scarred from injecting myself that I started shooting in my hands and feet. On several occasions, I even had another stoned addict shoot drugs into my neck veins, which risked sudden death. Of course, none of this was remotely funI was just trying to deaden my pain.

Bill and I divorced less than a decade later. We had tried getting sober, but we didnt know who the other person was without the drugs. After a six-month attempt at sobriety, I abandoned my family and headed straight for the streets so I could continue feeding my addiction. I never imagined that I would end up homeless for two years, looking every bit like the proverbial bag lady. During this period, I hung around a dangerous neighborhood, venturing into the projects at night looking for drugs. I occasionally scoured garbage cans for food, but usually I just sold my body so I could survive and maintain my drug habit.

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I certainly had a death wish. Twice, guns were pulled on me, and once I told the attacker, Shoot me and put me out of my misery. I even attempted suicide on several occasions. But miraculously, I survived every close call.

Image: Photo by Mikaela Hamilton

Water in the desert

By age 29, I had been arrested 13 times. One morning, when I was trespassing on Fort Ord, then an Army base near Seaside, California, six military police cars arrived, and a Seaside Police sergeant came busting through the door. Because of my lengthy criminal record, I was sent to a womens prison in Southern California, where I already knew some of the inmates from my time on the street.

Crowded by pairs into tiny cells in the receiving unit, we were on lockdown 23 hours a day, 7 days a week, so there was no privacy. Very few inmates were allowed out of their cells to work.

But God was preparing another miracle. My cellmate worked in the kitchen, which gave me significant alone time. While she was away, I started reading Al Capones Devil Driver, a book about the mob bosss chauffeur. This man had killed many people and landed in prison, where he ultimately became a born-again Christian.

At the time, I wasnt even looking for God. All I knew was that I wanted to die. My whole life had been an unbroken stretch of misery, and the pain was unbearable. After finishing the book, I realized that God was exactly who I needed. I got on my knees and cried out to him for over an hour, weeping for all the wrongs I had done. When I got up off the cell floor, I was a brand-new person.

After being placed in the general prison population a few weeks later, I immediately went to church. The chaplain befriended me and bought me an expensive Bible. I read it for hours every day. After a lifetime derailed by destructive lies, finding Gods truth felt like discovering a cool stream in the desert.

The Scriptures spoke wholeness and hope to my heart. At first, I could hardly fathom that Jesus would love a sinner like me, much less that my sins were totally forgiven. But the more I read, the more the Holy Spirit confirmed the shocking reality of the gospel. I drew special encouragement from Joel 2:25, which speaks of God repay[ing] you for the years the locusts have eaten.

Soon enough, I found myself wanting to share Christ with others in prison. So I began leading worship songs and eventually teaching Bible studies.

After my release, I had to go back to my hometown of Santa Cruz, California. But the only people I knew there were drug addicts and prostitutes. I wondered why God had returned me to this kind of environment. How would I overcome my reputation there? But God graciously gave me many opportunities to witness to those I had run with.

Eventually, I returned to school and received my registered nursing degree. I also married the son of a California Highway Patrol captain, and together we started a ministry that helps people come to know Jesus and disciples them in the Christian faith. For decades now, I have written Bible studies and taught them to diverse groups of womensome lifelong Christians, others fresh off the streets or recovering from addictions.

After so many years on the runfrom home, from authority, from life itselfI praise God for giving rest to my weary soul. No life is too broken for God to heal. I am living proof.

Sharon Dutra is the cofounder of Be Transformed Ministries. Connect with her at betransformedministries.com.

Have something to add about this? See something we missed? Share your feedback here.
As a books editor for a Christian magazine, I think Im contractually obligated, every so often, to mention that verse from Ecclesiastes about there being no end to the making of books (12:12). (Though I cant help wondering whether an updated version might instead remark on the relentless production of podcasts, that contemporary magnet for everyone and their cousin barbs.)

Enter to win a complete set of the 2022 CT Book award winners! MoreCT.com/BookAwards

The making of books verse carries the same world-weary tone that pervades much of Ecclesiastes. And we have to admit some truth here. Consider the investment of mind, body, and soul involved in writing books few may read or remember, and ask yourself: Why do so many people, across so many eras and cultures, willingly empty themselves in this way?

Even so, youll never catch Christianity Today pronouncing Vanity of vanities upon the whole book-making enterprise. Recall that God himself speaks to us through a bookas does the author of Ecclesiastes. Sometimes, you cant tell the truth about the world with anything less.

Thats why were pleased to dedicate the bulk of CTs January/February issue not only to our annual Book Awards (which now include a new category: Marriage and Family), but also to books themselves, in the form of excerpts from several of the finalists (and a number of the winners). Together, we believe they represent some of the years most exemplary Christian thinking. (To locate these excerpts, look for the links as you scroll through the categories.)

Congratulations to this years honoreesand let no one dismiss their work as a chasing after the wind. Matt Reynolds, books editor

Apologetics & Evangelism

Urban Apologetics: Restoring Black Dignity with the Gospel

Edited by Eric Mason | Zondervan

The essays in Urban Apologetics do much more than merely debunk the myth that Christianity is a white mans religion. They compellingly blend an adherence to biblical truth with an awareness of cultural trends. The authors evoke themes like Black dignity and Black consciousness, and in the next breath they press the importance of the sufficiency of Scripture, the work of the Holy Spirit, and the necessity of conversion. They take identity seriously, and they also take the gospel seriously. They are not blind to prejudice, and neither are they deaf to truth. In all this, they deftly expose the shallowness of the false choice between biblical faithfulness and ethnic identity. Perhaps it should not be surprising that concern for culture and identity can sit alongside contending for the faith, but in todays social climate it is a wonderfully refreshing combination. Christopher Watkin, associate professor at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia

(Read an excerpt from Urban Apologetics.)

Award of Merit

In Quest of the Historical Adam: A Biblical and Scientific Exploration

William Lane Craig | Eerdmans

This is a bold, rigorous, original work at the intersection of faith and science. For those who wonder whether contemporary science, including evolutionary science, is compatible with the Christian faith, Craigs book will be seen as a breath of fresh air. For the sake of argument, Craig assumes the evolutionary thesis of common ancestry and considers whether that thesis is compatible with a historical Adam and Eve. He concludes that the evidence is not only consistent with the belief in an historical first human pair, but provocatively, that the first humans ought to be identified with Homo heidelbergensis, dating back to somewhere between 750,000 and a million years ago. I dont agree with every move that Craig makes. Undoubtedly, many within the Christian community will not agree either. But his project is not revisionary. Rather, he is seeking, with intellectual humility, boldness, and rigor, to walk the path of reason in the search of truth. Paul Gould, associate professor of philosophy of religion at Palm Beach Atlantic University

(Read CTs interview with William Lane Craig.)

Finalists

Surviving Religion 101: Letters to a Christian Student on Keeping the Faith in College

Michael Kruger | Crossway

Why God Makes Sense in a World That Doesnt: The Beauty of Christian Theism

Gavin Ortlund | Baker Academic

Biblical Studies

A Theology of Paul and His Letters: The Gift of the New Realm in Christ

Douglas Moo | Zondervan

Many of us are familiar with Moo in analysis mode from his various commentaries on books of the New Testament. Here, we also find Moo in synthesis mode, as he details the theology of Paul across his epistles. This is biblical theology at its best, as this foremost Pauline scholar comprehensively presents the fulfilment of Old Testament promises in Christ while looking forward to their consummation. I especially appreciated Moos up-to-date and balanced presentations of contested issues like the New Perspective on Paul. Peter Lau, visiting lecturer at Sydney Missionary & Bible College

Award of Merit

Covenant: The Framework of Gods Grand Plan of Redemption

Daniel I. Block | Baker Academic

This is a work of developed biblical theology from an established scholar. Blocks years of training manifest themselves in the breadth and depth of this book as he guides readers through the cosmic story of Gods ultimate plan of redemption through the framework of covenant. While Block is primarily an Old Testament scholar, he explores how the Old Testament view of covenant carries over into the New Testament in profound ways. Covenant should be a fixture in courses on biblical theology for years to come, while also appealing to interested readers and scholars. Beth Stovell, professor of Old Testament at Ambrose University

Finalists

The Beatitudes Through the Ages

Rebekah Eklund | Eerdmans

(Read an excerpt from The Beatitudes Through the Ages.)

Understanding the Jewish Roots of Christianity: Biblical, Theological, and Historical Essays on the Relationship between Christianity and Judaism

Edited by Gerald McDermott | Lexham

Children & Youth

Any Time, Any Place, Any Prayer: A True Story of How You Can Talk with God

Laura Wifler | The Good Book Company

Adults have a tendency to complicate prayer, but Wifler does an exceptional job of reminding kids (and us) how simple it is to talk to God. Walking through the prayer of Christ, she exemplifies the joyful life of prayer in the life of a believer and captures Gods receptive heart to the prayers of his children. This book is theologically sound and beautifully illustrated, and it will encourage children and adults alike to grow in a prayerful life. Amy Gannett, writer, Bible teacher, and founder of Tiny Theologians

Award of Merit

Whistlestop Tales: Around the World in 10 Bible Stories

Krish and Miriam Kandiah | Hodder & Stoughton

The Kandiahs provide meaningful and much-needed context for some well-knownand some lesser well-knownBible stories, highlighting the contemporary countries and ancient cultures in which they are set. A Syrian spy, an Iranian queen, a Sudanese senator, and an Italian soldier are among the international heroes featured in these tales, which highlight each characters ethnic heritage, something often overlooked in childrens Bible stories. Each story is retold with humor and warmth. And Andy Grays action-packed illustrations will keep children turning pages to discover what comes next. Meadow Rue Merrill, author of Redeeming Ruth and The Lantern Hill Farm series

Finalists

What Is God Like?

Rachel Held Evans and Matthew Paul Turner | Convergent

Stay This Way Forever

Linsey Davis | Zonderkidz

Christian Living & Discipleship

Living Radical Discipleship: Inspired by John Stott

Edited by Laura Meitzner Yoder | Langham Global Library

John Stott was one of the most respected theologians of all time. On the tenth anniversary of his death, editor Laura Meitzner Yoder compiled a series of essays from contributors who share how Stotts radical convictions on topics such as creation care, social responsibility, and global church leadership shaped their thinking and ministry praxis. As with many anthologies, some of the essays feel more relevant than others. Nevertheless, Living Radical Discipleship reminds readers how the gospel intends to transform our lives so that we can then transform the world around us. Dorothy Littell Greco, author of Marriage in the Middle and Making Marriage Beautiful

(Read an excerpt from Living Radical Discipleship.)

Award of Merit

What God Has to Say about Our Bodies: How the Gospel Is Good News for Our Physical Selves

Sam Allberry | Crossway

Allberys work guides disciples of Jesus to understand their own bodies in light of Scripture. Avoiding both an overly negative picture of the body (with its temptations to shame) and a naively cavalier picture (with its temptations to false liberty), he casts a vision rooted in the bodily death and resurrection of Jesus. Nearly every page brims with insight, from the effects of body-shaming to the motivations driving the popularity of tattoos. Dave Morlan, cofounder and teaching pastor of Fellowship Denver Church

Finalists

Abuelita Faith: What Women on the Margins Teach Us about Wisdom, Persistence, and Strength

Kat Armas | Brazos

Leaving Silence: Sexualized Violence, the Bible, and Standing with Survivors

Susannah Larry | Herald

The Church & Pastoral Leadership

Preaching to People in Pain: How Suffering Can Shape Your Sermons and Connect with Your Congregation

Matthew D. Kim | Baker Academic

As a preacher, I found this book an invaluable and timely resource. Oftentimes, people sitting in our churches are suffering immensely from different hardships and challenges. Kims book will help preachers offer words of hope and empathy for suffering saints. He gives readers insights on different types of pain, a plan for preaching on pain, sample sermons, a brief theological overview on suffering, and personal stories that grip the heart. Benjamin Shin, associate professor of Christian ministry and leadership at Biola University

Award of Merit

Winsome Conviction: Disagreeing without Dividing the Church

Tim Muehlhoff And Richard Langer | InterVarsity Press

With an engaging style, Muehlhoff and Langer teach readers how to have crucial conversations about sensitive issues without digressing into contempt and animosity. Using Scripture, conflict theory, and church history, they offer readers a map for navigating disagreements in a robust and civil manner. They teach us how to identify the difference between confessional absolutes, convictions, and personal tastes (preferences), and how to dialogue through differences with Biblical truth and love. This is a needed tool for our contentious age! Lucas Woodford, president of the Minnesota South District, Lutheran ChurchMissouri Synod

(Read an excerpt from Winsome Conviction.)

Finalists

Power in Weakness: Pauls Transformed Vision for Ministry

Timothy G. Gombis | Eerdmans

Planting a Church without Losing Your Soul: Nine Questions for the Spiritually Formed Pastor

Tim Morey | IVP Academic

Culture & the Arts

Discovering God Through the Arts: How We Can Grow Closer to God by Appreciating Beauty & Creativity

Terry Glaspey | Moody

This is a superb explication of the Christians relationship to the arts. Or at least what the Christians relationship should be to the arts. The book is full of references to, and insightful explanations of, paintings, music, film, literature, and other media that are either spiritually encouraging or spiritually challenging. Glaspey remarks on the relationship of the arts to spiritual discipline, wonder, mystery, and Scripture, and he describes how art can help us find comfort, discover courage, and develop a passion for justice. Drew Trotter, senior scholar, Consortium of Christian Study Centers

(Read an excerpt from Discovering God Through the Arts.)

Award of Merit

Reading the Times: A Literary and Theological Inquiry into the News

Jeffrey Bilbro | InterVarsity Press

This book is like the best class you ever took in college. Big ideas are delivered in a winsome and enticing way. We all know we are consuming bad news and it is eroding our society. Bilbro identifies the problem, shows how its likely worse than you imagined, and offers hope. Reading the Times helps us think about time itself and how beauty, faith, and simple human practices can shift our perspective in healthy, God-honoring ways that will, in the end, enable us to read and respond to news wisely. Ned Bustard, author, illustrator, and founder of Worlds End Images

(Read CTs review of Reading the Times.)

Finalists

The Wisdom Pyramid: Feeding Your Soul in a Post-Truth World

Brett McCracken | Crossway

(Read CTs review of The Wisdom Pyramid.)

He Saw That It Was Good: Reimagining Your Creative Life to Repair a Broken World

Sho Baraka | WaterBrook

Fiction

Revival Season

Monica West | Simon & Schuster

This novel stands out thanks to its overall mastery. The waning world of revivalism is vividly portrayed, the narrative moves with urgency while revealing deeper layers at every stage, and the characters, though all too human, are drawn with sympathy and complexity. As Miriam comes to see her fathers faults and deceptions, what could have been a simple coming of age as rejection of faith story turns into a much more interesting quest to disentangle the legacy of a divine father from a human one. J. Mark Bertrand, crime novelist and pastor of Grace Presbyterian Church in Sioux Falls, South Dakota

Award of Merit (tie)

Sugar Birds

Cheryl Grey Bostrom | She Writes Press

In Sugar Birds, readers will find hints of a coming-of-age story with similar themes as Where the Crawdads Sing. Told from the perspectives of 10-year-old Aggie and 16-year-old Celia, the novel is about self-discovery and learning how to survive in a world that isnt always kind or easy to understand. Lyrical at times, the book is enjoyable both in paper and on audio. Cara Putman, novelist and attorney

The Weight of Memory

Shawn Smucker | Revell

Smuckers novel draws you in right away and keeps you reading. It is imaginative, builds upon suspense effectively, and combines narrative movement with evocative phrasing. The Weight of Memory raises questions of what truly matters within the framework of our mortality. Carolyn Weber, professor at New College Franklin (Franklin, Tennessee), author of Surprised by Oxford and Sex and the City of God

Finalist

Little Hours

Lil Copan | One Bird Books

History & Biography

Gods Law and Order: The Politics of Punishment in Evangelical America

Aaron Griffith | Harvard University Press

Gods Law and Order examines the controversial issue of the prison system by exploring evangelical engagement with that system through the 20th and early-21st centuries. Demonstrating nuance and a deep understanding of evangelical thought and practice in the public sphere, Griffith explains how dominant evangelical ideas about sin, punishment, and justice intersected with larger societal trends related to crime and punishment. Through his book, Griffith provides strong evidence for his argument that One cannot understand the creation, maintenance, or reform of modern American prisons . . . without understanding the impact of evangelicalism. Trisha Posey, professor of history at John Brown University

(Read CTs review of Gods Law and Order.)

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Award of Merit

Mother of Modern Evangelicalism: The Life and Legacy of Henrietta Mears

Arlin C. Migliazzo | Eerdmans

Arlin Migliazzo spent more than a decade researching the life and legacy of Henrietta Mears. His hard work is on display throughout this well-written and enjoyable biography. By grounding his work in an impressive array of archival material, Migliazzo was able to go beyond previous examinations of Mears, revealing the full extent of her personal influence upon figures such as Bill Bright and Billy Graham and showing how her extensive writings decisively shaped the development of evangelicalism in postWorld War II America. In pointing out how Mears fostered changes in relationships, attitudes, and perspectives regarding American culture that marked evangelicalisms transition away from fundamentalist separatism, Migliazzo makes meaningful contributions to ongoing discussions about the nature of conservative Protestantism in America. Keith Bates, professor of history at Union University

(Read an excerpt from Mother of Modern Evangelicalism.)

Finalists

Chosen Peoples: Christianity and Political Imagination in South Sudan

Christopher Tounsel | Duke University Press

The Making of Biblical Womanhood: How the Subjugation of Women Became Gospel Truth

Beth Allison Barr | Brazos

Marriage & Family

Where the Light Fell: A Memoir

Philip Yancey | Convergent

Where the Light Fell is a moving and captivating autobiography. Yancey describes the heavy mantle of his mothers vow that he would follow in the ministry footsteps of his father, who had died suddenly as a young man. Tracing his life through the fundamentalist church, the Deep South, and a subculture that rejected anything outside its own narrow understanding of truth, Yancey tells a story of hurt, rejection, and responsibility, yet in a way that is incredibly transparent and inviting. Though not everything is resolved in the end, the book closes with Yanceys reflections on how God used family difficulties to draw him toward grace and faith. Kristin Kellen, assistant professor of biblical counseling at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary

(Read CTs review of Where the Light Fell, as well as an excerpt from the book.)

Award of Merit

Lament for a Father: The Journey to Understanding and Forgiveness

Marvin Olasky | P&R

Lament for a Father is a beautifully written, deeply personal reflection on parents, specifically parents who disappoint. Olasky is appealing to those who have unresolved conflicts with a parent, living or dead. Written by a seasoned and prolific author, Lament is the culmination of research that made his father come alive for him. The book is motivated by a desire to understand more about his father, his mother, and how his familys history influenced who they were. Easy to read, intimate, and personal, this book provides a glimpse into one mans journey to redeem and reconcile his lifelong disappointment with his parents by his drive to know them as people. Chap Clark, pastor of St. Andrews Presbyterian Church in Newport Beach, California

(Read CTs review of Lament for a Father.)

Finalists

The Intentional Father: A Practical Guide to Raise Sons of Courage and Character

Jon Tyson | Baker

Handing Down the Faith: How Parents Pass Their Religion on to the Next Generation

Christian Smith and Amy Adamczyk | Oxford University Press

(Read an excerpt from Handing Down the Faith, as well as an interview with the authors.)

Missions & Global Church

Migration and the Making of Global Christianity

Jehu Hanciles | Eerdmans

This is a groundbreaking work from a recognized African scholar of global Christianity. Following in the footsteps of scholars like Andrew Walls, Brian Stanley, Philip Jenkins, Dana Robert, Emma Wild-Wood, and others, Hanciles convincingly argues that migration is the lens for understanding the DNA of a historic global missionary church. In this volume, he navigates sociology, history, and theology to make sense of migration as key to understanding the global church. Challenging the notion that missionary institutions have been the prime movers in missions history, Hanciles introduces everyday global Christians who have contributed to the churchs mission. As he writes on the first page, Every Christian migrant is a potential missionary. Edward Smither, professor of intercultural studies at Columbia International University

Award of Merit

Advanced Missiology: How to Study Missions in Credible and Useful Ways

Kenneth Nehrbass | Cascade

Christ has commissioned us to make disciples of all nations, and Advanced Missiology is a helpful guide toward fulfilling that aim. This book does an excellent job defining and developing a cross-cultural discipleship strategy for the church. Beyond offering a solid course in missiological studies, I appreciate how Nehrbass gives concrete action steps. This book is a practical guide for keeping discipleship at the center of our missions efforts. Eddie Byun, associate professor of Christian ministry at Biola University

Finalists

World Christianity and the Unfinished Task: A Very Short Introduction

F. Lionel Young III | Cascade

(Read an excerpt from World Christianity and the Unfinished Task.)

The Religious Other: A Biblical Understanding of Islam, the Quran and Muhammad

Edited by Martin Accad and Jonathan Andrews | Langham Global Library

Politics & Public Life

Reparations: A Christian Call for Repentance and Repair

Duke L. Kwon and Gregory Thompson | Brazos

Kwon and Thompson have done the difficult and necessary work of asking contemporary questions with the full weight of Scripture, orthodox theology, and Christian tradition in mind. This book takes on the truly admirable task of fully fleshing out a theological response to a political and social issue, doing justice to both the theological task and the contemporary question. The authors outline a distinctly Christian account of reparations, relying neither on proof-text theology nor uncritical acceptance of modern arguments. They weave together history, social science, and theology to give a robust account of what Christian love requires in the pursuit of our common life together. It takes opposing arguments seriously and addresses them with conviction and compassion. Kaitlyn Schiess, author of The Liturgy of Politics

(Read CTs review of Reparations.)

Award of Merit

We the Fallen People: The Founders and the Future of American Democracy

Robert Tracy McKenzie | IVP Academic

McKenzie, history professor at Wheaton College, offers a complex and fascinating American history that asks whether our nation is great because we are good, or because the founders designed a government that intentionally accounts for our fallen nature. Lessons for both the left and right abound throughout the book, complementing McKenzies own astute reflections. We are in desperate need of greater historical depth to situate and inform our contemporary political challenges. We the Fallen People is a must-read for any American Christian interested in reforming our political witness. Matthew Hawkins, PhD student and cohost of the podcast Crossing Faiths

(Read an essay from Robert Tracy McKenzie.)

Finalists

The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self: Cultural Amnesia, Expressive Individualism, and the Road to Sexual Revolution

Carl Trueman | Crossway

(Read an excerpt from The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self, as well as CTs review of the book.)

Confronting Injustice without Compromising Truth: 12 Questions Christians Should Ask about Social Justice

Thaddeus Williams | Zondervan

(Read CTs review of Confronting Injustice without Compromising Truth.)

Spiritual Formation

God of All Things: Rediscovering the Sacred in an Everyday World

Andrew Wilson | Zondervan

Wilsons book is substantive, insightful, endearing, engaging, and well-written. It offers an important corrective to the gnostic tendencies of evangelical Christianity in America, which tends to divide the spiritual from the physical. I prefer works on spiritual formation that derive from the Scriptures, articulating how Gods Word informs and affects our spiritual development, and God of All Things succeeds in every respect. As Wilson moves from the biblical worldwith all of its peculiar terminology and strange social moresto our world, he shows us how to live what we read. Rodney Reeves, senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Jonesboro, Arkansas

(Read an excerpt from God of All Things.)

Award of Merit

Living Vocationally: The Journey of the Called Life

Paul J. Wadell and Charles R. Pinches | Cascade

Wadell and Pinches offer a robust and encouraging examination of living vocationally. In a culture full of books about the quest of the solitary person and other helpful books about building careers, Living Vocationally is a refreshing exploration of the spiritual, communal, and moral aspects of the good life. Neither glibly formulaic nor impractically theoretical, this book weaves spiritual wisdom with narratives of peoples vocational experiences, such that readers are invited to hear the whispers of their own hopes and stories of calling. Susan Phillips, spiritual director, executive director of New College Berkeley

Finalists

Holier Than Thou: How Gods Holiness Helps Us Trust Him

Jackie Hill Perry | B&H

(Read an excerpt from Holier Than Thou.)

Humbled: Welcoming the Uncomfortable Work of God

David Mathis | B&H

Theology & Ethics

Simply Trinity: The Unmanipulated Father, Son, and Spirit

Matthew Barrett | Baker

When it comes to books on the Trinity, words like accessible, welcoming, entertaining, and soul-stirring typically dont come to mind. For Simply Trinity, however, all these descriptions apply. Barrett invites readers to enter into the landscape of historical Trinitarian theology and see why the classical doctrine of the Trinity is good news for Christians today. He also helps readers navigate contemporary challenges to the doctrine, illustrating why what we think about the Trinity matters beyond the realm of theological debate. Gayle Doornbos, associate professor of theology at Dordt University

(Read an excerpt from Simply Trinity, as well as CTs review of the book.)

Award of Merit

The Doctrine of Creation: A Constructive Kuyperian Approach

Bruce Riley Ashford and Craig G. Bartholomew | IVP Academic

Christians confess that God is the maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible; yet many modern Christians unknowingly subscribe to a gnostic conception of Gods creation. Ashford and Bartholomew lean upon the approach of famed Dutch Reformed theologian and politician Abraham Kuyper to provide a meticulously biblical, theological, and historical corrective. The authors believe God calls Christians to contribute toward all spheres of life, and they hold up creation as the domain of Gods ongoing restorative workoriginally designed very good and meant to be even better. Sean McGever, Young Life area director and faculty member at Grand Canyon University

Finalists

Providence

John Piper | Crossway

(Read CTs review of Providence.)

The Logic of the Body: Retrieving Theological Psychology

Matthew LaPine | Lexham

Beautiful Orthodoxy Book of the Year

Prayer in the Night: For Those Who Work or Watch or Weep

Tish Harrison Warren | InterVarsity Press

This book is extraordinary for its beauty, honesty, and profound insights on suffering. Page after page, my eyes were opened to new ways of thinking about the nature of grief, how humans respond to it, and how God uses it. Its hard to write a book on a subject that so many have written on before and yet offer so much fresh insight, but Warren has undoubtedly done that here. I couldnt put it down. Natasha Crain, author, speaker, and podcaster

Christians are sometimes guilty of overplaying a theology of glory while overlooking a theology of the Cross. Instead of patiently accepting suffering as a part of our lives, we skirt over the subject as much as possible. Prayer in the Night is the rare book that leans into the reality of darkness and vulnerability in the Christian life. Although it may appeal to readers enduring their own seasons of suffering, its value is truly timeless. Samuel Chiang, executive director of the Global Evangelism Network of World Evangelical Alliance

This is a beautiful book. It is among the richest treatments of pain and suffering I have encountered. It is both deeply theological and profoundly personal. As one who recently has walked through my own dark night of the soul, I found Warrens writing to be both a balm and a beacon, pointing me back to hope in Jesus. Micah Fries, director of programs at the Multi-Faith Neighbors Network

(Read an excerpt from Prayer in the Night, as well as CTs review of the book.)

Award of Merit

Enjoying the Bible: Literary Approaches to Loving the Scriptures

Matthew Mullins | Baker Academic

A sad truth of our time is that many people who want to know God attempt to do so without wanting to know the Bible. There are many reasons, including the way in which many who do know God have framed the Bible as an instruction manual. Charitably, and with considerable dexterity, Mullins pushes back on reductionist notions of studying the Bible as a repository of information. Instead, he highlights the literary nature of the Scriptures to promote reading the Bible with developing delight, emotional investment, and transformative impact. I cant wait to place this book in the hands of others, as I believe it will help a great many reconnect reading the Bible with knowing God and relating to him. Mark Ryan, director of the Francis A. Schaeffer Institute at Covenant Theological Seminary

Warning: This book will change the way you read the Bible! Mullins offers a definitive explanation and defense of how the Bible, like Jesus, is both truth and grace. Rather than coming to the Bible with a hermeneutic of information, were invited to see how the Bible itself requires a hermeneutic of love. The former uses the Bible to extract instructions, whereas the latter seeks to understand the Bible according to its fullest function: to captivate, delight, entice, comfort, confound, and even shock the reader. The Bible is as much a masterpiece as it is a manual, as much a work of art as it is an argument. Edward W. Klink III, senior pastor of Hope Evangelical Free Church in Roscoe, Illinois

I was not expecting to enjoy a book about the Psalms and other literary aspects of the Bible, but then, thats the point of this bookto reinvigorate our reading of Gods Word. Mullins inspires readers to see the literary beauty of Scripture so that we are driven to read more, rather than simply rushing through particular passages to find the main idea. Perhaps the most convicting part of the book for mea Christian apologist who frequently focuses on matters of the brain rather than the heartwas the oft-repeated refrain that our emotions and intellect work together in comprehending Scripture. Lindsey Medenwaldt, executive director of Mama Bear Apologetics

(Read CTs interview with Matthew Mullins.)

Finalists

God of All Things: Rediscovering the Sacred in an Everyday World

Andrew Wilson | Zondervan

Hope in Times of Fear: The Resurrection and the Meaning of Easter

Timothy Keller | Viking

(Read an excerpt from Hope in Times of Fear.)

Have something to add about this? See something we missed? Share your feedback here.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) wants to create a more friendly financial climate. Christians, say local evangelical leaders, are among the unintended beneficiaries.

The business of Dubai is business, even though they are committed Muslims, said Jim Burgess, evangelical representative to the Gulf Churches Fellowship, referencing the UAEs economic hub. But worshiping on Sundayour traditional day to celebrate the resurrection of Jesuswill be a great blessing.

Seeking better alignment with international markets, the Emirates is adopting a Monday to Friday workweek. The weekend had previously begun with Friday, in deference to Muslim communal prayers. Christians aligned their corporate worship accordingly.

It is a bit strange to worship on a Friday, but you get used to it, said Hrayr Jebejian, general secretary of the Bible Society of the Gulf, who lives in Kuwait. The [UAEs] reasons are purely financial, but for Christians it will be like going back to normal.

Of the UAEs 10 million people, 88 percent are migrant workers. The Pew Research Center estimates 13 percent are Christians, coming largely from India, Indonesia, and the Philippines, in addition to Western expats.

It is necessary to keep and attract good talent.

Alongside officially secular Lebanon and Turkey, the UAE is now the third Middle Eastern nation to keep the Western calendar. But it comes with a tweak. All public sector employees will be dismissed at midday Friday, as the Emirates becomes the only nation in the world with a four-and-a-half-day workweek.

While the innovation puts the UAE in the forefront of the longer-weekend labor debate, it also facilitates Muslim Friday prayersthough not yet for the private sector. Both Burgess and Jebejian were surprised by the workweek decision and wondered how local conservatives would respond.

The grand mufti of neighboring Oman indirectly criticized the change. And Kuwait, the most democratic of Gulf nations, indicated no intention to imitate.

While Friday afternoons off may be an effort to forestall criticism, other moves in the past year clearly show the Emirates trending toward secularism.

If I want to pray in my house five times a day, 50 times a day, or zero times a day, thats my business, not the business of the state, stated Youssef Otaiba, UAE ambassador to the United States, last April. I certainly believe in the separation of religion and state  my government believes that, [and] that is the way to the future.

That future includes a geopolitical dimension, as this week Prime Minister Naftali Bennett became the first Israeli head of state to visit the UAE. In the 16 months since signing the Abraham Accords, investment between the two nations has reached $1 billion.

Jewish tourists have made Dubai a favored holiday destination, the Emirates has appointed a senior rabbi in residence, and in 2022 the capital Abu Dhabi will open the nations first synagogue, within a multifaith complex.

And last month, the UAE announced the creation of a court for non-Muslims, introducing civil marriage and allowing family status issues to be adjudicated outside of sharia law. Divorce, child custody, and inheritance issues can now also be argued in the English language, alongside Arabic.

Christians will feel more comfortable, said Burgess.

But a year ago, more controversial changes in the law applied to Emiratis as well as expats. The UAE scrapped penalties for consuming alcohol and the cohabitation of unmarried couples.

Society is opening up, said Jebejian. Compared to a similar loss of values in Western nations, taken together there is nothing to lament.

Burgess, also senior pastor of Fellowship Church in Dubai, evaluated the decision as a licensed minister.

On average, every month a handful of individuals from outside his church have approached him for marriage. Usually coinciding with cycles of government enforcement of the law, pregnant couples would also seek matrimony to shield themselves from jail. Redirecting their focus, it was a chance to present the gospel and offer biblical counseling.

Empty marriages are as hurtful as cohabitation, he said. Decriminalization, though regrettable, will help solve many problems.

Still, complications have ensued as the law adjusts. Released from prison, unwed mothers still have difficulty officially documenting their children.

But overall, the changes are meant to put the foreign workforce at ease. Other reforms extend residency for three months after job termination, allowing expats time to find new employment without immediate risk of deportation. The UAE is also offering residency for retirees and freelancers.

If you dont mind the heat, it is a great place to live, said Jebejian. The beaches have sun 365 days a year.

His tongue-in-cheek remark masks an emphasis on ministry. The Bible society distributes Christian literature in 17 cities in the Gulf. And the UAE, Oman, and Bahrain maintain hospitals still run by missionary organizations. Foreign Christian workers arrived to serve society long before the oil boom; today, Gulf royals continue to honor that debt.

And last week, Bahrain consecrated the peninsulas largest cathedral. The Mary, Queen of Arabia church will seat 2,300 worshipers and serve as the headquarters for all Catholic ministry in the Gulf.

It is a sign of respect for the Christian presence, said Jebejian. The degree of freedom in every country is different, but such a step will gradually influence the others.

The UAE, ranked No. 48 on Open Doors 2020 list of the 50 nations where it is hardest to be a Christian, continues to criminalize blasphemy and the propagation of any faith other than Islam. But in 2021, it dropped off the watchlist.

Burgess, now 70 years old, will transition this spring to work with Arabian World Partnershipa nongovernmental organization his church founded to attract evangelical service to the Gulf. Unlike much analysis that centers the steps toward greater religious coexistence on public imaging and financial concerns, he attributes the changes to a young Muslim generation seeking its place in the world.

Their greatest fear is Islamic extremismand to be lumped in with it.

They are embracing tolerance, and we should embrace them right back, said Burgess. Maybe one day they will see the value of freedom of religionfor everyone.
Trapped candle factory worker rescued after praying on phone with wife: 'God will work it out'

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As a tornado devastated Mayfield, Kentucky, last weekend, Courtney Saxton, 38, and five of her children ranging from 3 to 13, bolted to hide in their bathtub and closet. While they hid, waiting for the storm to subside, Saxton received a frantic call.

It was her husband, Mark, who told her that he was trapped under broken debris at the Mayfield Consumer Products candle factory. He had been working a shift as a forklift operator loading and unloading trucks, she told the Associated Press.

Not knowing if her husband would make it out alive, Saxton said she immediately began praying with her husband about the unforeseen future. After several hours, Mark Saxton was found and rescued. Aside from cuts and scrapes on his body, he was alright medically.

He was calling us hollering and screaming and crying because he was stuck, Saxton said of the phone call she received.

It was scary for me because Im thinking, Oh my God, is he going to make it? So, I prayed with him over the phone, too. I just kept talking to him, kept telling him that God will work it out, be strong, dont give up, keep fighting.

Mark Saxton told NBC News that he knew he might be in danger when he heard the tornado warning. He remembers looking outside the factorys door and seeing an ice-cream-swirling-shaped cloud heading in his direction. He turned around and went to a tornado-safe hallway nearby.

Tiles and concrete started falling, Saxton said. Everyone started running. So I just dropped to the ground. I got in a fetal position, and the concrete slab fell on top of me.

I really didnt think I was going to make it, he continued. If you see the people that were beside me ... I cant believe Im even here.

On Friday night into Saturday morning, over 30 tornadoes left trails of destruction throughout six states: Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri and Tennessee. Over 80 have died.

Tennesee was hit by four tornadoes, including one that ran the ground for 200 miles. About 110 people were huddled inside the candle factory in Mayfield. Including Saxton, about 40 were initially rescued. On Monday, emergency officials said that they think everyone at the factory had been accounted for, including eight who died. As of Monday, about 109 people throughout Tennessee remained missing, according to Gov. Andy Beshear.

After the tornado made landfall, Saxton and her children came out of their hiding places and quickly realized their roof was missing.

They stayed the night at a shelter on Saturday at the St. Jerome Parish Hall in Fancy Farm.

Courtney Saxton said shell never forget the terror she saw in her childrens faces.

They were scared, screaming, crying, she told AP. It was awful. I was trying to calm them down, but the whole time Im praying. I knew that God would see us through.

The Saxtons werent the only ones who relied on their faith during the tornado in Mayfield.

Also taking shelter in their bathroom, Graves County Circuit Judge Kevin Bishop and his family, who live near Mayfield, resorted to prayer as a last hope amid feelings of anticipation about their survival in the midst of the unknown.

We hunkered down with as many pillows and blankets over everybodys heads and prayed, Bishop told the news agency.

Even though Bishop's home had minor damage, and the tornado removed the roof of the courthouse where he worked, he told AP that he remains optimistic about Mayfields ability to recover.

Were strong. Well work together. But its going to be a long time, he said.

Rev. Bob Waldridge, the pastor of Yahweh Baptist Church, could be seen cleaning up chairs, pews and sound equipment from the 100-year-old church that had been flooded and damaged.

The wind came through, and everything that was in the foyer ended up in the back of the church, Waldridge was quoted as saying. And it blew the back wall of the church out, and it took the roof off the church.

Its just a building, but Im more worried about the people, he added. There are a lot of folks that are hurt right now.

Moving forward, he said other local churches have offered their space for his congregation to meet.

Pastor Joey Reed of Mayfield First United Methodist Church told WLKY that he waited out the storm with his wife inside the 100-year-old church.

We heard furniture in the foyer bouncing around and then we felt fresh air under the closet doors and we realized it was open to the elements somehow, Reed was quoted as saying.

The tornado left the church badly damaged but still standing.

We will come back from this, Reed said. I dont know how we will rebuild, but that doesnt matter as much as the mission and ministry of the church rebuilding and thats what were aiming for.
ISIS extremists in Mozambique enslaved hundreds of women, girls as sex slaves: watchdog

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Militants linked to the Islamic State terror group in the southern African country of Mozambique have enslaved more than 600 women and girls, many of which have been abused and sold as sex slaves for as low as $600, a report by Human Rights Watch reveals.

The United Kingdom-based watchdog organization reports that the armed group Al Sunnah wa Jamaah, also known as Al-Shabab, in the northern province of Cabo Delgado has forced younger, healthy-looking and lighter-skinned women and girls in their custody to marry their fighters.

Others have been sold to foreign fighters for between $600 and $1,800, according to the report. And, abducted foreign women and girls have been released after their families paid ransom.

The oil-rich Cabo Delgado province, a coastal region on the Indian Ocean, has suffered an emergence of a jihadi movement that has displaced thousands and killed hundreds since 2017. In 2018, the terror group pledged its allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. In 2019, the Islamic State confirmed the group as an affiliate and has claimed responsibility for some attacks.

Militants abducted women and girls during attacks in various Cabo Delgado districts. HRW interviewed 37 people, including former abductees, relatives, security sources and government officials between August 2019 and October 2021.

A 33-year-old woman stated that local Al-Shabaab fighters held her aunt at gunpoint so that she would identify houses with girls between the ages of 12 and 17 in Mocimboa da Praia. The source counted 203 girls but is unsure if all the girls were abducted.

Some mothers were begging the fighters to take them instead of their daughters, a 27-year-old man who was interviewed said. But one of the [militants] said they didnt want old women with children and diseases.

A former abductee from Mocimboa da Praia said he was forced to select the women and girls for sex with fighters when they return from military operations.

Those [women] who refused were punished with beatings, and no food for days, he said.

Human Rights Watch Africa Director Masi Segun said that an unknown number of women and girls remain in captivity in Mozambique, although regional security forces have rescued some of them. Those who remain captive face horrific abuses daily, including enslavement and rape by Al-Shabab fighters.

Mozambican authorities should intensify efforts to rescue and reintegrate survivors into their communities, and promptly ensure their humane treatment and access to medical and psychosocial services, Segun stressed in a statement.

The Al-Shabab group in the majority-Christian country of Mozambique is not believed to have any connection with the deadly Somalia-based terror group with the same name.

Last November, ISIS-linked militants beheaded over 50 people, including women and children, and abducted others in weekend raids in the Miudumbe and Macomia districts of the Cabo Delgado province.

According to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED), the Cabo Delgado province had suffered from at least 776 organized violence events since 2017, and as of January 2021, 2,578 fatalities from organized violence and 1,305 fatalities from civilian targeting.

The United Nations estimates more than 745,000 people are internally displaced in Mozambique due to the Islamic extremism that erupted in 2017.

Mozambique also ranks as the 45th worst country for Christian persecution on Open Doors USAs 2021 World Watch List. This 2021 report is the first time the country has been listed on Open Doors annual list. Extremist attacks have killed many Christians, and terrorists have burned churches and schools.
Maryland cant bar Christian school from voucher program over beliefs on sexuality, judge rules

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A federal judge has ruled that Maryland unlawfully discriminated against a Christian school due to its traditional views on marriage and gender identity when the state denied it access to a voucher program.

U.S. District Court Judge Stephanie Gallagher ruled Friday that state officials violated the First Amendment rights of Bethel Christian Academy in Savage when they excluded the school from the Broadening Options and Opportunities for Students Today voucher program.

Gallagher, a Trump appointee, argued that the state failed to put forth evidence that Bethels policies have deterred a single prospective applicant from applying for admission or that Bethel has ever denied admission expelled, or disciplined a student on the basis of sexual orientation.

Not only was Defendants decision to exclude Bethel from BOOST eligibility based on Bethels speech, but it was based on the specific viewpoints Bethel chose to express in its admissions policy, Gallagher wrote in her ruling. The First Amendment, which is applicable to the states via the Fourteenth Amendment, bars laws that restrict the freedom of speech.

The judge concluded that the First Amendment prevents Defendants from attempting to use BOOST funding as leverage to compel recipients to express views that Defendants find more palatable.

The decision also rejected an effort by state officials to have Bethel return $102,000 of BOOST funding that it received the first two academic years it was eligible for the program.

Ryan Tucker of the Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative legal nonprofit representing Bethel, said in a statement that the ruling showed that Maryland may not discriminate against religious schools simply because it dislikes their religious beliefs.

The court was on firm ground to stop the state from targeting and denying children scholarships simply based on the beliefs and policies set out in their schools parent-student handbook, stated Tucker.

BOOST was created in 2016 by the state legislature and jointly overseen by the Maryland State Department of Education and a seven-member advisory board.

BOOST funding is given to students to attend nonpublic schools in the state, with 17 students at Bethel receiving the vouchers in the 2016-2017 school year and 18 students receiving the funding for the 2017-2018 school year.

In June 2019, Bethel filed a lawsuit against Maryland over the private Christian school being removed from BOOST in 2018 due to its traditional views on sexuality and gender.

At issue was the schools official handbook defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman and requiring students and faculty to use the facilities that correspond with their biological sex rather than any preferred gender identity.

Matthew Gallagher, chairman of an advisory board that oversees the vouchers, informed Bethel that its policies were discriminatory.

A non-heterosexual student may reasonably view the policy as one that allows denial of admission or discipline or expulsion on the basis of his or her sexual orientation, Gallagher said, as quoted by The Baltimore Sun.

Therefore, the Board concluded that this policy, on its face, was in conflict with the nondiscrimination clause contained in the ... law.

In 2020, Gallagher had initially denied Bethel a preliminary injunction against the voucher program ban.
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Right now, there is a concerted effort to change the American publics attitude towards psychedelic drugs. Turn on Netflix, Hulu, or other streaming services, and youre likely to find shows and documentaries on the usefulness of drugs like LSD (acid), DMT (spirit molecule), MDMA (ecstasy or mollies), and psilocybin (magic mushrooms). These shows are the first public signs that we are being primed to accept the recreational and prescription use of psychedelics to solve both our mental and spiritual ills.

Since the Nixon years, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has marked psychedelics as schedule 1 substances because they lack clinical value, can be addictive, and hold the potential for long-term physiological and psychological damage, including schizophrenia-type symptoms.

Given this classification, how does one change public opinion about a class of drugs associated with images tucked firmly in the American consciousness of spun-out flower children whirling around the grass at Woodstock or loitering aimlessly on the streets of Haight-Ashbury?

According to Edward Bernays, the father of public relations and nephew to Sigmund Freud, in order to manipulate the public to think a certain way, it needs to be taught how to ask for what it [the manipulator] wants. Robert Worchester, a political analyst, described public opinion by making a distinction between attitudes, opinions, and values. He noted that a persons values are the most impervious to change; however, through continued exposure, thought, and discussion, these too can be shaped.

When it comes to influencing our view about psychedelics, what could possibly compete with the images of dancing hippies? What about a growing body of scientific literature that claims the use of these drugs can help resistant anxiety, posttraumatic stress, depression, alcohol and tobacco abuse?

For the past 30 years, research studies involving psychedelics were not backed by public funds  until recently. Studies have been popping up in clinicaltrials.gov. There have even been several reports, with small sample sizes, touted as success stories for reducing mental health symptoms by micro-dosing these drugs.

Mental health is certainly a concern for Americans. This week, a Gallup poll found that Americans rated their mental health at an all-time low, with only 34% giving themselves an excellent score. Aside from this poll, we know that our society is facing significant mental health challenges, with nearly 20% of the population suffering from anxiety disorders and suicide ranked as one of the top 10 causes of death in the United States.

The media is not the only group riding high on our mental health problems. Groups like Mind-Medicine, a pharmaceutical start-up, are seeking FDA (national) approval for psychedelics, under the expectation that the drugs will provide an alternative treatment to the aforementioned mental health conditions. Veterans and first responders have already been enlisted in these studies.

The co-founder of Mind Medicine stated their goal is to get the average person to realize that these are not evil drugs  they can be used as medicines and be successful at treating unmet medical needs.

Aside from the attempt to lend credibility to these drugs through science, there has already been a push to legalize psilocybin (magic mushrooms). Some states and cities have already moved to legalize these substances for recreational use. These places include Denver, Colorado; Oakland and Santa Cruz, California; Ann Arbor and Washtenaw County, Michigan; Somerville, Cambridge, and Northampton, Massachusetts; Washington, D.C.; and Oregon. Seattle is the largest city to decriminalize all psychedelic plants and fungi for religious, spiritual, healing, or personal growth practices.

California is currently proposing its own measures to legalize psilocybin mushrooms, truffles, sclerotia, and mycelium. Iowa is following suit, but with an additional bill that would reclassify psilocybin, ibogaine, and MDMA for medicinal purposes.

The real goal here is to nationalize the use of these drugs, which have the potential to significantly alter our society and offer bad treatment for those suffering from trauma, anxiety, and depression. The strategy we are seeing to promote psychedelics has been taken right out of the playbook of Big Marijuana. Rather than fight the arduous battle of changing the schedule 1 designation at the federal level, theres a major push to make these drugs respectable. Research studies and popular media will continue to promote medical benefits associated with these drugs, but the endgame is for psychedelics to be legalized at every local and state level for recreational use.

Fighting major pharmaceutical and research industries may seem like an uphill battle. However, there are important steps that we can take to slow this fast-moving train:

First, it is critical that the research community engages in truthful scientific research and is aware of the increasing push to medicalize these drugs.

Second, there needs to be greater accountability regarding the influence and financial benefits enjoyed by the Big Pharma industry in pushing these drugs. Organizations like Smart Approaches to Marijuana have been pushing back on the financial and political influence of Big Marijuana. We need more groups to give oversight to the pharmaceutical industry.

Finally, the church has an important role to play in offering true healing and answers to people who might otherwise try to find comfort in marijuana or psychedelic drugs

Originally published at the Family Research Council.
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Donald Trumps greatest accomplishment as president may not have been the policies he enacted or the justices he appointed. Instead, as important as those accomplishments were and are, it is possible that the most important thing he did as president was to say to the political world, I will not play your games. I am the champion of the people, not a member of the good old boys club.

But now that he has broken the mold, thrown out the old rule book, and forged a new path of leadership, it will be best in 2024 for another conservative leader with backbone and conviction to take the lead. Trump simply brings too much collateral damage with him (and, I remind you, I voted for him in 2016 and 2020).

What prompts me to write this now is the latest reminder of the negative baggage that came along with Trump, this time in the form of two interviews he conducted with Israeli journalist Barak Ravid for his new book, Trumps Peace: The Abraham Accords and the Reshaping of the Middle East.

As reported in the Jerusalem Post, in April of this year, Trump explained to Ravid that he had not spoken to former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu since Netanyahu called President Biden to congratulate him after his election.

As quoted in the book, Trump said, I haven't spoken with him since [he congratulated Joe Biden]. [Expletive] him.

Trump also said to Ravid, The first person that congratulated [Biden] was Bibi Netanyahu, the man that I did more for than any other person I dealt with. Bibi could have stayed quiet. He has made a terrible mistake.

I liked Bibi. I still like Bibi. But I also like loyalty. The first person to congratulate Biden was Bibi. And not only did he congratulate him, he did it on tape.

This is the same man who threw Vice President Mike Pence under the bus on January 6. Is it any surprise that he also ditched Bibi?

In reality, as noted by the Post, Though Netanyahu was the first leader in the Middle East to pick up the phone to Washington, journalists were quick to note that Netanyahu was actually not one of the first people to give Biden a congratulatory call. In fact, he made the call nearly a month after Bidens election, after calls had already come in from the leaders of France, Germany, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Ireland.

Yet, according to Ravid, during the two interviews Trump granted him, one lasting 90 minutes, he brought up Netanyahus call to Biden 5 times. Talk about letting something stick in your craw. Talk about not letting it go.

But are we really surprised? (Note also that this story has been all over the news for several days now, and I have seen no report from Trump denying the quotes.)

So, in Trumps view, despite the presence of a new administration in the White House, Netanyahu should not have reached out to Biden. The election was stolen, plain and simple, and even though Israel would be dealing with Biden, not Trump, in the days to come, Israel had no business congratulating him.

Put another way, loyalty to Trump mattered more than the strength of Israels relationship with America.

Put another way still, Netanyahu should have said to the people of Israel, the ones who put him in office, Im really sorry, but I cannot congratulate the new president of the United States. If I do so, that will hurt my friend Donald Trump, who has done so much for our country. So, Ill sacrifice our well-being in the present and not deal with our most important ally, since I dont want to upset the man who is no longer in the White House. Seriously?

But this is hardly an isolated incident. Trump continues to make acknowledgment of the allegedly stolen election a litmus test.

As he said at a rally in Iowa in October, The single biggest issue  the issue that gets the most pull, the most respect, the biggest cheers  is talking about the election fraud of 2020s presidential election.

But this is not the primary political battle we need to be fighting now, even if you feel 100 percent sure the election was stolen.

The primary political battle is to get the right people in office, first in the midterms, then in 2024, all while continuing to push for election integrity on every front. (For the record, our electoral system seemed to work pretty well last month, didnt it?)

And we certainly dont need to reelect someone who will make loyalty to him, demonstrated by the public affirmation that the election was stolen, to cloud his judgment as president.

To be sure, Trump can still be a force for good in many ways. And he can help support worthy candidates, using the massive influence he still wields.

But if he remains the same man who trashed quite a few good people over the years, then we dont need him back in the White House.

Surely there are others who can step forward and do a good job, especially when Trump has demonstrated that tens of millions of Americans want a strong leader who will not cave in once he or she gets to Washington.

Trump has set a bold, tell it like it is model that others can follow. But he is not the only man who can effectively lead America. And without question, it is possible to be a decisive, powerful leader without burning so many bridges, burying so many relationships, and alienating so many people along the way.
Mass. church donates backpacks with Bibles, supplies for police to handout to homeless

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A church in Massachusetts has donated 200 backpacks full of various supplies and Bibles to two police departments to aid the local homeless population.

LifePoint Church of Chicopee, a congregation with around 1,000 worshipers, donated the backpacks on Wednesday to the police departments of Chicopee and Holyoke.

Matt Whitacre, LifePoints worship and creative arts pastor, told The Christian Post that the police have a way of distributing the backpacks to the needy.

The idea is that officers will carry these packs in their cars, and when they come across or have a call involving someone from the homeless community, they can give it to them, said Whitacre.

This is important because it helps the homeless community know that people care about them and are thinking about them. It also helps build goodwill between the community and the police force in a time where its very difficult to be in law enforcement.

Each donated backpack contains a Bible, blanket, antiseptic wipes, deodorant, hoodie, hat, gloves, toothbrush and toothpaste.

We want people to know that their generosity is truly making a difference and changing lives. Its an amazing and tangible way to be the hands and feet of Jesus, Whitacre added.

The Chicopee Police Department posted a short statement on its Facebook page Wednesday, giving LifePoint a big thank you for the generous donation.

Earlier this year, LifePoint raised $15,000 to give each employee of a local hospital a $10 Dunkin Donuts gift card as a way of showing their support for healthcare workers.

According to the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, as of January 2020, Massachusetts had nearly 18,000 people experiencing homelessness on any given day.

The USICH notes that during the 2018-2019 school year, an estimated 24,700 public school students in Massachusetts experienced homelessness during the academic year.

In April, an annual homelessness census found that while overall homelessness was down in Boston, unsheltered individuals were on the rise, likely due to COVID-19 pandemic concerns about sheltering in groups.

A one-night count on Jan. 27 found 1,176 single adults staying in emergency shelters, a decrease of 417 from the year before. However, the number of unsheltered people sleeping on the street on the night of the census increased 25.9% to 170.
Louie Giglio warns many will lose Satan's 'game' of deception before Jesus returns

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In light of the Advent season of waiting, Louie Giglio, the pastor of Passion City Church in Atlanta, Georgia, shared with his congregation that Jesus is coming back soon yet many wont make it to Heaven and some will be deceived by Satans game of deception.

The enemys plan for you and for me, in light of the fact that Jesus is coming soon, is that you would get deceived, Giglio preached in a sermon delivered on Nov. 29.

If you ask the average psychologist to describe the psyche of the human condition, they would say to you futile, meaningless and empty, he said later in the sermon. Why? Because man is already trying to plant God and already its fall in the Church, and hearts are growing cold.

The pastor and author lamented that many will stand in the Church and say, Forget about the blood of the lamb. We are good to save ourselves. He emphasized that the state of the world will get worse before it gets better.

Faith is going to wane. [Matthew 24:12] says that as wickedness increases, ... the faith of most will grow cold, Giglio told the crowd.

Theres something you can be sure of, even in a time of uncertainty and chaos: Jesus is coming soon, he stressed.

He warned, however, that everyone wont make it and urged those watching the sermon to live alert, not alarmed.

You dont need to be alarmed. What I would prefer you to be is alert, he said. I prefer you to wake up tomorrow and go, Jesus is coming soon, and He could come imminently, immediately, today. He could come in 100 years, which is also soon. But he could come right now.

The pastor said he aims to be alert but not frantic about the Lords coming. He advised his listeners to do the same.

Jesus said, Dont be alarmed. Im going to put my confidence in Him, Giglio said. Stay close to the original. If the enemys game is deception, then whats the best way to not get deceived?  Keep your eyes on Jesus. Keep your ears attuned to Jesus. Think your life in the words of Jesus. And dont listen to anything else but Jesus.

Deception from the enemy tries to take a Christians eyes off of who God is and overthink false prophecies, according to Giglio.

Keep your eyes on the revealed Jesus, not on some hidden prophecy, Giglio continued. In other words, just keep leaning into Jesus every day versus digging around and looking for and listening to the next prophecy that someones going to say. Just keep your eyes on Jesus because if Hes coming soon, then youll have your eyes locked in Him when he arrives.

People should live ready, he said, since the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.

Everyone wont make it to Heaven in the end, Giglio said.

Two men are in a field, and one is taken, and one is left, he described.

He said that all Christians have the responsibility to become evangelists by sharing the Word of God without quarreling.

Everybody deserves an opportunity to hear the Gospel, he said. Skip the debate and spread the news. Go to your work, family, neighborhood, wherever you go, become an evangelist.  Youre an evangelist for your people. You want to arrive in Heaven as an evangelist.

Giglio encouraged his listeners to stay close to the flame, or the Lords Holy Spirit.

In Scripture, the flame is the Holy Spirit of God.  Draw close to the flame.  And live in a community of people who want to get around the flame, the pastor stressed.

Live in a community of people who know Jesus is coming soon; a kingdom mindset, a people who have hearts that are on fire for Jesus, he continued. And youre not just hanging out with people who are talking about the wind. Youre hanging out with people who want to stay close to the flame.  So what am I doing today to make sure that my heart stays close to the flame?

Because in the end, the tell-tell sign of the Son of Man coming is that most peoples hearts are going to grow cold, he concluded. Start now, knowing Jesus is coming soon by making the move  the move from earth to Heaven.

During the sermon, Giglio showed a graphic defining what soon means in the biblical sense. "Soon" is defined as a relative term used in relation to the external nature of the ALMIGHTY, who exists outside time and space, yet concurrently operates within the confines of finite human history. Soon could mean right now or within the next 100-1000 years, the latter of which, in God time, is the equivalent of one human day.
Josh Duggars family members react to child porn guilty verdict: 'Felt more like a funeral'

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Family members have reacted after former reality television star Josh Duggar was found guilty by a federal jury in Arkansas on Thursday of receiving and possessing child pornography and could face up to 20 years in prison.

This entire ordeal has been very grievous, his parents, Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar, said on their website. Today, Gods grace, through the love and prayers of so many, have sustained us. Our hearts and prayers are with anyone who has ever been harmed through CSAM [Child Sexual Abuse Material].

The couple vowed to do all we can to surround their daughter-in-law Anna Duggar and their seven children.

As parents, we will never stop praying for Joshua, and loving him, as we do all of our children, they assured. In each of lifes circumstances, we place our trust in God. He is our source of strength and refuge. Thank you for your prayers.

Amy Duggar King, the cousin of the accused and niece of his parents, overtly praised the jurys decision.

King, who made appearances on the familys TLC show 19 Kids and Counting when on air, regularly spoke out against her cousin. Upon hearing of his conviction, she tweeted that her heart was for the victims.

May the jurors and Judge Brooks seek healing/counseling from all that was exposed to them, King wrote on Twitter.

May the children grow up with real Godly men as father figures who will guide and protect them. May the people who were once in disbelief have their eyes opened for the first time.

May the jurors and Judge Brooks seek healing / counseling from all that was exposed to them.

May the children grow up with real Godly men as father figures who will guide and protect them.

May the people who were once in disbelief have their eyes opened for the first time.  Amy Rachelle King (@amyduggar) December 9, 2021

Kings mother, Deanna Duggar, also shared in an Instagram Story that JUSTICE WAS SERVED!!! Praying for all involved in the case!!!

Josh Duggar, 33, had previously admitted to molesting his sisters when he was younger. His history of abuse resulted in the cancelation of the familys reality show highlighting their large family and ultra-conservative Christian faith.

Derick Dillard, the husband of Jill Duggar and Josh Duggars brother-in-law, shared his thoughts after he and his wife attended the trial.

We just wanted to, among other things, see the facts for ourselves, he told People. America is the best country to get justice.

The couple shared further in a lengthy statement on their family website.

Today was difficult for our family, the statement read. Our hearts go out to the victims of child abuse or any kind of exploitation. We are thankful for the hard work of law enforcement, including investigators, forensic analysts, prosecutors, and all others involved who save kids and hold accountable those responsible for their abuse.

Joshs actions have rippled far beyond the epicenter of the offense itself, they added. Children have scars, but his family is also suffering the fallout of his actions. Our hearts are sensitive to the pains Joshs wife, Anna, and their seven children have already endured and will continue to process in the future. This trial has felt more like a funeral than anything else. Joshs family has a long road ahead. We stand with them, we are praying for them, and we will seek to support them however we can during this dark time.

The jury in Fayetteville found the 19 Kids and Counting star guilty of one count of receiving child pornography and one count of possessing child pornography. After hearing the verdict, he told his wife he loved her and was taken into custody.

Josh Duggar was accused of having over 200 images of child porn ranging from about 18 months of age to 12 years of age.

The images were found in a computer at a car dealership that he owned. Duggar had pled not guilty to the charges. His defense claimed someone else was responsible for the illegal files on the computer, a claim investigators found to be unlikely.

According to People magazine, the allegation that Duggar had porn images of children on devices was made by Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent Gerald Faulkner, who testified for the prosecution.

Homeland Security seized the devices in March 2020. Agent Faulkner provided a summary of the forensic analysis.

The files downloaded of child abuse were within the top five of the worst of the worst that Faulkner said he ever had to examine in his line of work.

Judge Timothy Brooks said Duggar will be sentenced in about four months and faces up to 20 years in prison and $250,000 fines.

Federal prosecutor Dustin Roberts said during a press conference after Thursdays hearing that although Duggar was convicted on both charges, Duggar will be sentenced for the charge of receiving child pornography.

Possession of child pornography is a lesser included offense, he said. By function of law, you cant be convicted of both.
565K displaced, 2,500 killed amid rise of Islamic extremism in Mozambique since 2017

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Violent extremist attacks that have led to the displacement of over half-a-million people and more than 1,300 civilian deaths in northern Mozambique in recent years decreased in January as government forces try to expel Islamic rebels from the Cabo Delgado province.

Reports have indicated a lull in violent extremist events reported from the troubled province where hundreds of terror attacks have been carried out since 2017 by local extremists thought to be aligned with Ahlu Sunnah wa-l-Jamaah, which pledged allegiance to the Islamic State.

According to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED), the Cabo Delgado province has suffered from 776 organized violence events since 2017, 2,578 "fatalities from organized violence" and 1,305 fatalities from civilian targeting.

The United Nations estimates that 565,000 people fled their homes and villages due to attacks by non-state groups.

ACLED data indicates that there were 10 militant strikes in January. AFP reports that the total is down from the 30 militant strikes recorded in December.

As government forces have engaged in efforts to defeat the terrorists, some reports have given credit for the decline in attacks to the rise of government land and airstrikes.

However, ACLED has warned against giving the government forces too much credit for the January decline.

The rainy season decline in insurgent attacks in Cabo Delgado has led to speculation that the government has made significant military gains against the insurgency in recent weeks, a narrative that has also appeared in pro-government propaganda, a weekly ACLED update posted during the first week of February states.

There are encouraging signs for the government on the security front, and last weeks offensive in Mocimboa da Praia has the potential to bring more. However, the lack of insurgent activity in January is not necessarily indicative of government success.

The international violence data collective notes in its analysis that rain and the lack of agricultural production present problems annually around this time of year. The result is a restrain on insurgent action no matter what government gains there are.

As an example, in January 2020, ACLED records 25 total events involving insurgents resulting in 50 fatalities in Cabo Delgado, the database explains. This January, there were a comparable 22 total events involving insurgents, resulting in 47 fatalities. Far from predicting the decline of the insurgency, the conflicts slow pace in January 2020 preceded the insurgents most successful year by far.

ACLED gave the government credit for making conditions safe enough for Doctors Without Borders to return to the Macomia district, where the humanitarian group can help 100 patients per day. The organization suspended its program in the region last June after insurgents attacked a health center there.

That MSF is now able to return to Macomia suggests a major improvement in the prospects for security there, ACLED reports. It also represents a major quality of life improvement for civilians in the district.

Calton Cadeado, a security researcher at the Joaquim Chissano University in Maputo, told AFP that he sees the success of the government forces' offensive strategy.

As the outlet reports, government troops last month launched a series of airstrikes on the Palma district, the land hub for a gas project in the province. Forces were also said to have killed several insurgents hiding in a mosque.

The military offensive to eliminate the terror group, known locally as Al-Shabaab but not connected to the Somalia-based group with the same name, has come under scrutiny. Activists have accused the military of indiscriminately killing anyone accused of working with the terror group. However, Cadeado told AFP that the relationship between the military and local residents has "improved a lot" recently.

Mozambique and Portugal are preparing a bilateral security cooperation program that is to be finalized in February. According to ACLED, the agreement will replace an existing deal. The new deal will include the training of Mozambican military forces by Portuguese counterparts.

A new report from the Mozambican Bar Association accuses the government of failing to protect human rights in the province. The association accused the government of not having a strategy for preventing and combating terrorism.

"[T]he government has wasted opportunities for international cooperation in preventing and combating terrorism, within the scope of the country's adhesion to international conventions, the report reads.

In January, Portuguese Foreign Affairs Minister Augusto Santos Silva told the media that he expects a deal to provide European Union assistance to Mozambique to be completed in the coming weeks.

Mozambique ranks as the 45th worst country for Christians on Open Doors USAs 2021 World Watch List. This years report is the first time the country is listed on Open Doors annual list. Extremist attacks have killed many Christians and terrorists have burned down churches and schools.
Catholic diocese instructs priests to withold baptism, communion from trans-identified individuals

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A Catholic diocese in Michigan has ordered its priests not to perform baptisms, confirmations and other Catholic sacraments on trans-identified or nonbinary individuals, with an exception for those who have engaged in repentance for rejecting their biological sex.

The Catholic Diocese of Marquette, believed to be one of the first dioceses in the United States to issue the policy in July, stated in an official instructional report that its priests are to also withhold communion from trans-identified individuals who have not repented. The diocese clarified the instruction in a statement last week.

In the Catholic faith, communion is believed to be the process of taking in the body and blood of Jesus Christ.

Additionally, in some cases, the order will prevent trans-identified people from receiving the anointing of the sick, which is often associated with providing physical or spiritual healing to very ill individuals.

We are not defined or identified by our sexual attractions or conflicts about sexual identity [and] our fundamental identity is as a beloved son or daughter of God, the instructional letter reads. Thus, it is best to avoid identifying persons merely using labels such as gay or transgender. It speaks more to our fundamental identity and dignity as persons to speak of persons with same-sex attraction or persons with gender dysphoria.

The instruction aims to provide considerations for pastoral care. It addresses the art of pastoral accompaniment, the meaning and purpose of human sexuality, general approaches to the accompaniment of persons with same-sex attraction and persons with gender dysphoria, and guidance for select pastoral circumstances.

There is an ever-greater need today for the pastoral care of persons with same-sex attraction and persons with gender dysphoria, the order said. Let us open our hearts to the love of God that we may overflow with love and kindness and respect for others.

The document, however, states that the experience of ones sexual identity is not sinful if it does not arise from the persons free will, nor would it stand in the way of Christian initiation.

But, the deliberate, freely chosen and manifest behaviors to redefine ones sex do constitute such an obstacle.

The Diocese of Marquette contends that the best way to approach people with same-sex attraction and persons with gender dysphoria is through pastoral care and through a loving approach to spread the news about Jesus Christ.

Human persons are created in the image and likeness of God. We are beloved sons and daughters of the Father, the instruction states. Jesus Christ died for us, which shows the depths of our human dignity. Thus, we are to treat persons with same-sex attraction and gender dysphoria with dignity and respect and all unjust discrimination is to be avoided.

The order addressed how the Churchs teaching is good news to a broken world.

The sexual revolution and the breakdown of marriages have led to barrenness, broken hearts, broken lives and broken families, it reads. The Churchs teaching, in contrast, fosters steadfast love, fidelity, unity, and fruitfulness. This is good news. The way to healing is embracing Jesus and His teaching.

The instruction notes that for priests to accompany others, it's insufficient merely to state the Churchs teaching.

In addition, we must strive to meet people and lead them, step-by-step, as we all walk toward the fullness of truth, the instruction reads. Accompaniment requires docility to the Holy Spirit and discernment of the steps along the path. Discernment requires the virtue of pastoral prudence and must be carried out in fidelity to the teachings of the Church. Accompaniment does not dilute the teachings of the Church, but rather, animated by charity, we are to proclaim the Gospel in its fullness.

The Diocese of Marquette released a statement last Thursday stating that The Church teaches that persons experiencing feelings of same-sex attraction or gender dysphoria is not sinful, but freely acting upon them is.

Experiencing feelings and desires that are not in accord with the true meaning and purpose of sexuality is not sinful, the statement reads. To commit a sin, we must know that something is wrong and freely choose to do it.



Bishop John Doerfler of the Diocese of Marquette said that in his years of ministry, hes found working with same-sex attracted people to be a privilege. He said he remains inspired by their faith and desire to live chastely.

Jennifer Haselberger, a former chancellor for canonical affairs in the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, told The Washington Post that the new policy could contradict Canon Law, a set of ordinances and regulations that guide the Catholic Church.

Canon Law, she said, states that anyone who has not been baptized can be eligible for the sacrament and that those who will be impacted by the policy might have a way to challenge the order if they appeal to the Vatican.

Theres nobody who approaches baptism from a state of perfection, she said. The presumption is the opposite. You come to baptism as a sinner, and original sin is forgiven you.

Doerfler told a local Fox affiliate that its crucial for people to realize the gift of the body that the Lord has given them.

Hes given us this body as male or female to acknowledge that, to treasure that, and to respect that, he said.

The Catholic Church is widely known for hosting primarily infant baptisms. The new policy will likely impact non-Catholic adults wanting to be baptized within the Catholic Church, trans-identified teenagers prepping for confirmation and children of Catholic migrants who could not be baptized due to migration and other factors, according to The Washington Post.
Denzel Washington says God's mission for him is combatting 'spiritual warfare,' shares view of Heaven

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Academy Award-winning actor Denzel Washington has opened up about the spiritual aspect of his Christian faith and highlighted the importance of having an "anchor" in an ever-changing culture.

Washington is gearing up for the release of his new film Macbeth," and in an in-depth interview with TheNew York Times, the actor and his co-stars talked about his Christian faith.

The famous actor, who described himself as a God-fearing man," talked about God, the Bible and Heaven in the interview. He also revealed that he made a promise to his late mother to honor her and God.

What I do, what I make, what I made  all of that  is that going to help me on the last day of my life? Its about, Who have you lifted up? Who have we made better? he told the NYT.

This is spiritual warfare. So, Im not looking at it from an earthly perspective. If you dont have a spiritual anchor youll be easily blown by the wind and youll be led to depression, he added.

The Oscar-winning actor then lamented what he said is a self-obsessed society.

The enemy is the inner me, he continued. The Bible says in the last days  I dont know if its the last days, its not my place to know  but it says well be lovers of ourselves. The number one photograph today is a selfie, Oh, me at the protest. Me with the fire. Follow me. Listen to me.

Were living in a time where people are willing to do anything to get followed. What is the long or short-term effect of too much information? Its going fast and it can be manipulated obviously in a myriad of ways. And people are led like sheep to slaughter, Washington said.

The entertainer then shared his view of Heaven, explaining that there are going to be two lines, the long line and the short line, and Im interested in being in the short line.

The New York native encouraged the interviewee, The Times' columnist Maureen Dowd, to read the Bible. He suggested that she start with the New Testament, because the Old Testament is harder."

"You get caught up in the 'who-begot-who-begot-who thing,'" he said.

Washington later revealed how he fills up spiritually every morning before starting his day.

You have to fill up that bucket every morning, he said. Its rough out there. You leave the house in the morning. Here they come, chipping away. By the end of the day, youve got to refill that bucket. We know right from wrong.

While at "The Better Man Event" hosted by First Baptist Orlando in Florida in September, Washington revealed what the Lord has been telling him to do when he prays in this season.

At 66, getting ready to be 67, having just buried my mother, I made a promise to her and to God, not just to do good the right way, but to honor my mother and my father by the way I live my life, the rest of my days on this Earth. I'm here to serve, to help, to provide, Washington said at the Christian mens conference.

During the nearly 30-minute sit-down discussion, Washington shared what he hears from God with his spiritual mentor, Pastor A.R. Bernard, the senior pastor of the Christian Cultural Center in Brooklyn, New York.

"In every prayer, all I hear is: 'Feed my sheep.' That's what God wants me to do, the Fences actor shared.
US deploys Green Berets to Mozambique; ISIS-linked militants accused of beheading children

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The United States has deployed U.S. Army Green Berets to Mozambique to train local troops as the country faces a growing insurgency that has seen children as young as 12 beheaded as well as thousands killed and displaced in the southern African country.

Analysts say this intervention is long overdue with a worsening humanitarian crisis and rise in appalling atrocities. More than 2,600 people have died since 2017 from the fighting and terrorist activity that began in north Mozambique, according to the United Nations.

The U.N. reports the mysterious group of insurgents has committed killing, rape and other atrocities.

The U.S. Army Special Forces soldiers were sent to train Mozambican marines for two months to counter the spread of violence by the Islamic extremist group, al-Shabab.

The United States is committed to supporting Mozambique with a multifaceted and holistic approach to counter and prevent the spread of terrorism and violent extremism, the U.S. Embassy in Mozambique said in a statement. Civilian protection, human rights, and community engagement are central to U.S. cooperation and are foundational to effectively counter the Islamic State in Mozambique.

This approach addresses socioeconomic development issues as well as the security situation, the statement adds.

The elite Green Berets are often deployed worldwide to build relationships, go on missions with locals and teach them how to fight effectively, Business Insider reports.

The U.S. government launched the two-month Joint Combined Exchange Training program to help prevent the spread of terrorism and will also provide communications and medical treatment.

The U.S. recently designated the Islamic State-linked insurgents in Mozambiques Cabo Delgado province a foreign terrorist organization on March 10.

Islamic State affiliates in Mozambique are also known as Ansar al-Sunna and known locally as al-Shabaab. The group reportedly pledged allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria in 2018.

Since October 2017, ISIS-Mozambique, led by Abu Yasir Hassan, has killed more than 1,300 civilians, and it is estimated that more than 2,300 civilians, security force members, and suspected ISIS-Mozambique militants have been killed since the terrorist group began its violent extremist insurgency, a State Department announcement reads. The group was responsible for orchestrating a series of large-scale and sophisticated attacks resulting in the capture of the strategic port of Mocimboa da Praia, Cabo Delgado Province.

According to the State Department, attacks by Islamic extremists in Mozambique have caused the displacement of nearly 670,000 persons within northern Mozambique.

U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price said in a March 11 press briefing that designating Islamic State-Mozambique and Islamic State-DRC as specially designated global terrorist organizations is a decisive action against extremism and an important step in the global fight to defeat ISIS.

The United States will continue to expose and isolate terrorists, disrupt their support networks, deny them access to the U.S. financial system, and do everything in our power to preserve the security of the United States, Price said. We remain decisively engaged with our partners to address security challenges and to advance peace and security in Africa.

Islamic extremist-fueled violence in Mozambique has become a trend since 2017.

Senior leaders with the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees warned of the urgent need in the Cabo Delgado province due to the displacement of hundreds of thousands of individuals.

The number of internally displaced people has increased from around 70,000 about a year ago to nearly 700,000 today. U.N. officials predict the number is expected to reach 1 million by June.

Most displaced people have fled south or found shelter with family or friends. The government is developing sites for those who remain. More than half of the displaced people are children.

The British aid organization Save the Children published a report earlier this month featuring interviews with survivors who recalled children as young as 11 being killed by insurgents.

A 28-year-old mother told the aid agency that her 12-year-old son was beheaded.

That night our village was attacked and houses were burned. When it all started, I was at home with my four children," she recalled. "We tried to escape to the woods, but they took my eldest son and beheaded him. We couldn't do anything because we would be killed too.

Christian persecution watchdog group Open Doors said the fresh wave of extremist violence in Mozambique ranked the country at No. 45 on the groups World Watch List of countries where Christians face the greatest persecution.

Instability in the region prevents a reliable count of those affected, but we believe the violence is widespread and often religiously motivated, Open Doors USA spokesperson Amy Lamb told The Christian Post in an email. Its part of a greater spread of extremist violence throughout the entire Sub-Saharan region, as factions of ISIS, al-Shabaab, Boko Haram, and their splinter groups expand their reach.

Lamb said this matter is of grave concern and is often fueled by religion against believers.

Make no mistake: this violence is religiously-motivated, and Christians alongside other religious minorities are being systemically targeted, Lamb wrote. Christians in the U.S. should pray urgently for the protection and provision of people in this region.

Christians make up over half of Mozambique, yet Islamic oppression is strong and accelerating.

Islamic extremists have destroyed Christian places of worship, schools and business, as many Christians have been forced to flee their homes, Open Doors reported. The presence of drug cartels in some areas also leads to increased persecution, especially in the country's northern region.
Mike Stone withdraws defamation lawsuit against Russell Moore, cites 'better path' for family, church

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Prominent Southern Baptist Pastor Mike Stone has withdrawn a defamation lawsuit against former SBC Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission President Russell Moore, stating he believes it's time to "leave the matter in the hands of our Lord."

Stone, a member of the SBCs Executive Committee who serves as pastor of Emmanuel Baptist Church in Blackshear, Georgia, had his lawyers withdraw the lawsuit last week.

In a public statement that was sent to The Christian Post on Tuesday morning, Stone explained that the withdraw of the lawsuit was "at my request."

I have entrusted Christ with my soul, my life, my ministry and my family. I can and do trust Him to guide me in this present matter, said Stone.

While I continue to desire the revelation of truth that such proceedings would bring to bear against these accusations, I believe that based on current circumstances the better path for my family, my church, and our convention at this time is to leave the matter in the hands of our Lord."

In October, Stone sued Moore in the U.S. District Court for Middle Tennessee, with the issue centering on letters that Moore leaked to the press after leaving the ERLC in May.

The letters alleged that SBC leaders mishandled a crisis of sexual abuse and that Moore and his family had endured unfair treatment at the hands of denominational leaders.

Stone had previously overseen a task force that was commissioned to study how the Moore-led ERLC might be impacting contributions to the SBCs Cooperative Program giving.

This was in response to Moore having had a history of garnering headlines for openly criticizing the public policy views and overall behavior of former President Donald Trump.

The commission released a report in February concluding that the current perception of the leadership and direction of the ERLC by many Southern Baptists is a substantial impediment to the growth of the Cooperative Program.

Moores letters were made public ahead of the SBC's Annual Meeting in June, with Stone claiming that they contributed to his failure to win the election for convention president.

Stone asserted that Moore began a malicious, intentional, and egregious campaign to harm him by defaming him with the text of two letters strategically concealed from general distribution within the ERLC and the SBC.

Plaintiffs business operations have already been negatively impacted by Defendants untruthful statements due to a decreased trust and confidence in Plaintiff in the religious community, his complaint alleged.

Plaintiffs pastoral efforts will undoubtedly suffer decreased church attendance and a reduction in donations and honorariums because of Defendants statements which are untruthful and have cast Plaintiff in a false light.

Stone's decision to withdraw the lawsuit elicited a slew of reactions on Twitter.

"I commend Mike Stone for this action and pray that there can be reconciliation between these brothers. Praying for both," tweeted James Merritt, former SBC president and pastor of Cross Pointe Church in Duluth, Georgia.

Christian author Matt Crawford wrote, "I dont know the reason for which @PastorMikeStone withdrew his lawsuit against Dr. Moore, since no explanation has been given. But Im thankful that he has done so."
Most Americans say there are no valid reasons to refuse COVID vaccines but are open to exemptions

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Most Americans support religious exemptions for COVID-19 vaccinations although only one in 10 say their religious teachings forbid them from getting vaccinated, and 60% dont believe there are valid religious reasons to avoid vaccination, a new poll suggests.

The Washington-based polling nonprofit Public Religion Research Institute released survey data last Thursday about Americans views about COVID-19 vaccination based upon a sample of 5,366 adults interviewed online between Oct. 18 and Nov. 9.

Among the findings, PRRI noted that 10% of respondents believed that the teachings of their religion prohibit them from getting vaccinated. In comparison, 13% said getting vaccinated for COVID-19 goes against their personal religious beliefs.

When asked if they agree or disagree that too many people are using religion as an excuse to avoid COVID-19 vaccination requirements, 59% of respondents said they either completely (30%) or mostly agreed (29%). Twenty-two percent said they mostly disagree and 18% said they completely disagree.

Meanwhile, 60% agree there are no valid religious reasons to refuse a COVID-19 vaccine, and 38% disagreed.

Although only 39% said they either completely or mostly agree that anyone who simply says that receiving a COVID-19 vaccination goes against their religious beliefs should be granted a religious exemption, Americans were more open to providing religious exemptions to individuals and groups with a history of refusing vaccinations for other illnesses.

Fifty-five percent of respondents said anyone who has a record of refusing to receive other vaccinations due to their religious beliefs should be able to claim a religious exemption. About 43% disagreed.

Fifty-seven percent of respondents agreed that anyone who belongs to a religious group that has a record of refusing to receive other vaccinations should be able to claim a religious exemption, while 41% said they disagree.

Fifty-one percent of respondents said they agree that anyone with a document from religious leaders saying that COVID-19 vaccinations go against their religious beliefs should be able to claim a religious exemption. Forty-seven percent disagreed.

Most Americans (52%) disagreed with the statement that no one should be allowed to claim an exemption from receiving a COVID-19 vaccine based on their religious beliefs. About 45% agreed with the statement.

There was a noticeable partisan divide among the respondents as PRRI finds that 73% of Republican respondents and 33% of Democrat respondents supported religious exemptions.

When asked specifically about COVID-19 vaccine mandates by the government, slightly more Americans support religious exemptions (58% favor, 41% oppose) for those who sincerely believe they violate the teachings of their religion, a summary report states.

Majorities of most Christian groups say that the government should allow people to opt out of vaccinations if they sincerely believe they violate the teachings of their religion.

The PRRI report comes amid widespread litigation over COVID-19 vaccine mandates, both for those enacted at the federal and state levels.

Last week, a federal judge issued a nationwide injunction against the Biden administrations vaccine mandate for entities that contract with the federal government.

Judge R. Stan Baker of Georgia, a Trump appointee, temporarily blocked the mandate in response to arguments that letting the mandate take effect on Jan. 4 would result in irreparable injury to workers.

Baker wrote that forcing plaintiffs to comply with the mandate would require them to make decisions which would significantly alter their ability to perform federal contract which is critical to their operations.

On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to grant two emergency requests to block New Yorks COVID-19 mandate for healthcare workers. Critics contend that the state should allow religious exemptions since it allows medical exemptions.
Swords into plowshares: why the Truman economy was surprisingly successful

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It is commonly believed among certain schools of economics that war is good for the economy and therefore peace is bad. This has been proven wrong over and over again, but it nevertheless persists, because it is the poisoned fruit of a bad economic root, the idea that economic growth depends on policies which stimulate spending. If one starts with the idea that spending leads to growth, its hard to avoid the myth that war is good for the economy, because its hard to deny that wars are one of the most expensive things which government does.

This idea got a major test after the end of WWII and the succession of power from FDR to Truman.

While investors, industry and businessmen, and entrepreneurs all shared a common disdain and fear of Roosevelt, after WWII he was now gone and so was his business-destructive administration. Harry Truman was neither investor nor business favorite. Yet, this was a breath of fresh air after the Roosevelt administration. Investors might not like the Truman administration, but they could live with it. Trumans succession of the presidency

completed the shift from a political regime investors perceived as full of uncertainty to one in which they felt much more confident about the security of their property rights . business and professional people felt much less threatened by Truman than they had by Roosevelt.

As the dismal economy of the 1930s lingered painfully on, public support for Roosevelt began to weaken. Even some of the radicals of Roosevelts Brain Trust became disenfranchised about the New Deal. Brain Trust member

Raymond Moley  who had become estrange from the New Deal, described [one of the New Deal programs] in 1940 as a 'time bomb.'"

In fact, by November 1941 a Fortune magazine poll revealed 92.8 percent of business executives grimly predicted a post-war economic structure in the United States would be somewhere between a quasi-socialist state and an outright dictatorship.

By the mid-1940s, unemployment was at a paltry 3.9 percent. In fact, unemployment maintained a very low rate; 3.9 percent in 1946, 3.6 percent in 1947, and 3.4 in 1948. It wasnt until 1949 that it rose to 5.5 percent which is a healthy and strong figure; in fact, between 1950 and 1957 unemployment range from a low of 2.5 percent to a high of 5.0 percent  stunning figures of economic health by any standard. From an employment standpoint, the Shining City certainly did shine.

Even with the exceedingly low levels of unemployment, substantial price controls were in effect in 1944, but were essentially abandoned by 1947. Although there were price controls in place during the period between 1941 and 1945 prices rose by 46 percent  so much for the governments ability to manage prices, although the government did marginally control the pricing on war materials. And during the post-war period between 1945 and 1948 prices rose about 13 percent.

Economists Richard Vedder and Lowell Gallaways joint review of the economic data suggests that the strong economic increases cited during the war years are seriously overstated. Therefore concluding that WWII brought America out of the Great Depression, a common misconception, is not correct. In fact, the war prosperity was superficially due to the governments massive demand and consumption on wartime materials. Not to paint this as unnecessary to shift to such an economy during times of significant wars  this change is often crucial to secure a military victory via massive munitions development and production. But the falsehood of this substitute prosperity is the very reason so many economists at the end of the war predicted a return to a depression and exacerbated by the return of soldiers needing employment. It also drove the greatly inflated, and fundamentally flawed, economic statistics.

Looking at it from the demand side, many consumers of governmental services are forced to purchase those services at a cost above what the consumer would be willing to pay if permitted to buy the services on a non-coercive basis. From the supply perspective, monopolistic governmental bureaucrats lack the incentive to minimize resource use, and thus services are provided less efficiently than if sold competitively in the private market economy.

With the governments exit from industry the GNP in 1946 declined by only 1.1 percent  a tiny number in contrast to the dire predictions of economists of the time. Output in 1947 was less the 2 percent below the output of 1944, and 1948 exceeds the wartime peak by nearly 6 percent. The result of the economy at the end of the war and post-war is the exact opposite of what the Keynesian economists of the time predicted. They believed that

[I]t reflected a more short-term Keynesian concern with falling aggregate demand in the face of decreased government expenditures. The thought of a rapid reduction in government military spending [would be a] nightmare.

But as Vedder and Gallaway report, Yet that is precisely what the government did.

Federal spending dropped by more than 50 percent, essentially a spending cut of 53.4 percent (seemingly unimaginable by todays perception). In 1945 government spending was $118 billion and fell to $58 billion by 1947, and to $55 billion in 1948.

Between Congress and President Truman little was done  with the exception of a few small efforts were  to invoke any new public works spending or stimulate aggregate demand through tax relief. Congress completely rebuked a majority of Trumans efforts to push any reinstituted programs from the New Deal. The citizens of the Shining City did as they did during the war  they soldiered on. With a report from the New York Times only three days after V-J Day stating,

[R]eports indicate that industry is reconverting its plants from war to peace much more quickly and early, and that reconversion unemployment is much smaller than anticipated.

Despite the evaporation of government contracts for the war effort, reports Burt and Anita Folsom, entrepreneurs, who were the success behind the supplying of war materials, proved after the war, they were not dependent on government war contracts for success, as they quickly shifted to peacetime production underpinned a successful economy.

Business also ignored the dire predictions of the economists, as stocks rose more than 30 percent between the autumn 1945 and the autumn of 1946. Articles from Business Week revised their originally bleak projections of unemployment by a 30 percent improvement stating that the transition from war to peace production isnt proving too rough. However, they were still off by 60 percent in 1946 with unemployment even improving further in 1947 and 1948.

The doomsayers 'minimum estimate' turned out overly pessimistic by nearly a factor of three.

Since they were relying on a Centrally Planned economy, which was about to depart, the Keynesians saw this departure as the impetus to their depressing future for the country. Fortunately, the citizens of the United States proved them incorrect.

Jim Huntzinger is the President and Founder of Lean Frontiers, Inc., which develops knowledge and learning communities on the Lean Enterprise for business and industry. With a background and experience in manufacturing and operations, he has also extensively researched the history and development of American manufacturing and also published several books on the lean business model, manufacturing history, and economics.
Tim Kellers health has seen remarkable improvement amid stage 4 cancer, doctors say

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Popular pastor and author Tim Keller, who is battling stage 4 pancreatic cancer, was told by doctors that his health has seen remarkable improvement in the months following his diagnosis, according to his wife, Kathy Keller.

In a series of tweets posted on her husband's official Twitter page, Kathy Keller thanked supporters for their prayers and shared an update regarding the pastor's condition.

"Through Gods mercy and your prayers, there has been remarkable improvement in the last 18 months  in fact, his doctors are using words like 'fantastic' and 'dramatic' to describe the progress. Your prayers are working!" she wrote.

"As Tims begins a new round of chemotherapy this week, we hope you will pray for continued effectiveness of the treatment with even fewer side effects. Thanks again for the outpouring of love and support. We are grateful and ask for your continued prayers."

Keller, the founder of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City and City to City, was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer in May 2020. He publicly revealed his illness less than a month later. At the time, he asked supporters to pray that God would use medical means or his direct intervention to make the cancer regress to the point of vanishing.

I feel great and have no symptoms. It was what doctors call an incidental pickup, otherwise known as providential intervention, he said. I have terrific human doctors, but most importantly I have the Great Physician himself caring for me.

He added, Though we have had times of shock and fear, God has been remarkably present with me through all the many tests, biopsies, and surgery of the past few weeks.

Keller, the co-founder of The Gospel Coalition, is also a survivor of thyroid cancer, which he had in 2002. He wrote about the experience in his book, Walking with God Through Pain and Suffering.

The pastor has regularly updated supporters on his condition and continued to speak, write and participate in ministry. In June, he said he was "extremely encouraged" by his body's response to his cancer treatment.

In an April 2021 interview with The Christian Post, Keller also expressed gratitude for his health despite mentioning that pancreatic cancer is typically an aggressive disease that often claims its victims within a year.

My wife Kathy and I are pretty grateful, he said in the interview. It looks like Ive got more time than we thought when we originally got the diagnosis.

The pastor told CP that no matter what lies ahead, hes ready for anything.

What the future holds, I dont know. Pray that I would have years and not months left, and that the chemotherapy would continue to be effective. But we are ready for whatever God decides for me. Were spiritually ready," Keller contended.

I do know, he added, that the resurrection of Jesus Christ really happened. And when I die, I will know that resurrection too.
UN urged to promote religious engagement and literacy, especially in the West

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NEW YORK  The United Nations was urged to use its status as the seat of global politics to promote the importance of religious engagement and literacy to advance development and diplomacy at a worldwide gathering of diplomats and representatives of various religious institutions Friday.

The meeting held at the U.N. Church Center in midtown Manhattan was organized by Religions for Peace and the U.N. Alliance of Civilizations under the theme, Faith and Diplomacy: Strategic reflections on religiously inspired efforts towards building peaceful, just and inclusive societies.

Religions for Peace, led by Prof. Azza Karam, is the worlds largest and most representative multi-religious coalition advancing common action among religious communities for peace. The organization works to transform violent conflict, advance human development, promote just and harmonious societies and protect the Earth.

Religions for Peace is the United Nations of religious institutions.  There is not a single faith community that is unrepresented on the Council of Religions for Peace, Karam said in welcoming the audience on Friday. As such, we are deeply honored and constantly humbled when we listen to our faith leaders speak.

Several members of the diplomatic and religious communities shared various recommendations on the nexus between faith and diplomacy.

But it was Chief Rabbi David Rosen, the international director of the Department of Interreligious Affairs at the American Jewish Committee, who argued that a lack of religious sensibility and religious literacy among diplomats in the West is causing them to miss out on the critical value of engagement with religions.

We know from the famous Pew study that some 84% of our world considers religion to play an important part in their lives. And that to ignore the influence, power and capacities of religions is foolhardy, counterproductive. It is akrasia, Rosen said.

It would, therefore, be funny if it were not so sad to see how so many Western countries in particular disregard the critical value of engagement with religions. More often than not, it is because the people engaged with diplomacy themselves are lacking in religious sensibility, let alone religious literacy, he continued. The situation is often even worse in the field of development where it is not unusual to find an ignorance of religious realities and even hostility towards religion  which is sometimes considered the enemy, an attitude which, again, is totally self-defeating.

Miguel Angel Moratinos, the high representative of the U.N. Alliance of Civilizations, highlighted that while the world has become increasingly complex, religious and cultural issues remained at the heart of much of the conflict around the world today.

If you go to most of the diplomats and member states here taking part in the normal life of the U.N. system, they will be in absolute agreement with me that if you go to the agenda of the Security Council today, you will have practically 90% or 95% of the crisis, conflict have a cultural or religious dimension, he said. So that means that you cannot ignore the religious and cultural dimension of any crisis or problem that affect the peace and security in the world.

Rosen explained that globally, faith and religions are manifested differently, making it impossible to discuss faith generically.

Not all religions are about faith. Faith is a varying element in religions and sometimes even quite marginal. This makes the widespread use of the word in the West problematic to begin with. But even if we refer to religion, a more encompassing term than faith, it also cannot be generalized about, he said.

Religions vary from one context to another. Indeed the same religion may have a very different character at one time or place from the same religion in other times or places. Even more to the subject of our consultation, the relationship between a religion and the political authority or civil society varies enormously from one context to another.

Variety extends from places in our world where religion is the foundational fabric of society and where religious leaders exercise overwhelming influence to places where religious institutions have lost virtually all temporal power but where many people expect it to offer some kind of moral guidance, he added. We need to talk about religions in the plural and to understand that each context has to be addressed with its own particularity.

Rosen also said that while there are good arguments that can be made for the alienation of religion in some contexts, the perversion or prostitution of something is no proof of its inherent value or lack thereof.

There are, of course, some good reasons for alienation from religions where one sees the terrible things that have been done and often are still done in their names.  The role that religions have to play, both in development and diplomacy, is so great that to ignore it is to undermine ones own interest, the rabbi said.

What should be clear  is the importance of bringing the worlds of diplomacy and religions to learn about one another and to support one another in the pursuit of peace and reconciliation and the promotion of the common good, he argued before noting that Religions for Peace and the UNAOC should be used in the U.N. system to highlight the importance of religious engagement and literacy.

Rosen added that the U.N. should be a structure highlighting the importance of religious engagement and literacy.

And a fact that it established the Alliance of Civilizations and has collaborated in the past closely with Religions for Peace should make them the natural agencies to entrust this crucial task, he said. However, first and foremost, it requires that the leadership of the U.N. itself charges its member states to engage with these bodies developing the key capacities for those working on international issues, strategizing together in relation to each and any given context precisely to assess the role that each can play and the potential of their mutual collaboration.
'Fresh wave of violence' in Mozambique driven by radical jihadist extremists; children beheaded: report

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Conditions in Cabo Delgado, northern Mozambique, have seriously deteriorated over the past year, affecting children disproportionately as nearly 3,000 people have been killed and over 800,000 displaced since the violent insurgency that began in October 2017, according to a report.

Violent attacks by Islamic rebels in the Cabo Delgado province have led to the deaths of more than 2,838 people, including over 1,400 civilians, though the actual number is expected to be higher.

A report released this month by Save the Children, Plan International and World Vision showed how the extent of the conflict in Cabo Delgado has worsened in the last 12 months and how children are suffering disproportionately.

The last 12 months of Mozambiques Islamic insurgency has escalated due to increased armed conflict on villages and district capital towns, leading to casualties and grave violations against children.

Amy Lamb, director of communications for Open Doors, told The Christian Post that the fresh wave of violence in Mozambique has had a devastating toll.

Lamb said that for the first time, Mozambique was added to the World Watch List as being among the most persecuted countries because of the fresh wave of violence coming into Mozambique primarily driven by radical jihadist extremists.

A March attack on Palma, a town in the northeast of Mozambique, led to an estimated 67,848 displaced people as of June 4.

Many children affected by this attack were orphaned or were separated from their parents as they fled.

The southeastern African country is home to about 17 million Christians, which is over 50% of the population. Lamb said it's also home to one of the fastest-growing evangelical populations in the world.

Because of [the rise in Christianity], were seeing jihadist groups including those who are affiliated with the Islamic state, with al Shabab, with Boko Haram, al Qaeda, Lamb explained.

Its just organizing together in order to expand their territories throughout the African continent, and their goal is really to eradicate Christianity from this territory and, unfortunately, in some ways, its working, she continued. Even specifically from this northern part of Mozambique, an estimated 800,000 people have fled the region, and those who remain, including women, children, families, are facing starvation even if theyre spared from  violence.

Lamb said Christians in Mozambique are especially targeted with violence and believes the government contributes to this.

There is a great deal of instability, and there can even be some anti-Christian antipathy at the government level, Lamb said. So as far as the government of Mozambique, in some ways, its not helping because there are some of those antipathies even at the highest level, so when its pervasive at the lower level, its combining into a perfect storm.

The report also offers recommendations and said the U.N. and international community must, without delay, support the establishment of peace and address underlying causes of the conflict.

In March, the U.S. Army Green Berets were deployed to Mozambique to train Mozambican marines to counter the violent insurgency that has led to children as young as 12 years old being beheaded.

Lamb agrees that the situation requires the international communitys attention and said the Islamic State is struggling to gain a hold of the entire region in what she believes is the greatest wave of Islamic violence in the modern era.

It should be a matter of grave concern for the international community because it is an indication that there is an emerging caliphate throughout the sub-Saharan African region, she said. So what we saw in the devastation  thats all caliphate activity.

And whats so concerning is these groups are organizing together to create whats essentially a new Islamic State throughout the entire region, Lamb continued. So that is deeply concerning, not just from a religious freedom standpoint, but also from a democracy standpoint. Also from just the overall human rights condition of we have this one group of incredibly violent extremists who are saying  were going to take over. It should be a matter of concern for the international community because this is probably the greatest wave of Islamic violence that the modern era has seen.

Lamb called on the American Church to pray for Christians in Mozambique and for those who have been displaced.

Pray for Gods intervention in the violent attacks, and as rapidly as we have seen this wave of violence rise, that we would see it decline just as fast, Lamb added.
Whistleblower challenges SBC leaders response to Russell Moore letters Executive Committee searching for firm to conduct independent review

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Days after Southern Baptist Convention leaders Mike Stone and Ronnie Floyd challenged claims by the former leader of the denominations Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, Russell Moore, that they mishandled a crisis of sexual abuse in the convention, a Texas pastor has come forward with evidence that he claims supports Moores claims.

Phillip Bethancourt, the lead pastor of Central Church in College Station, Texas, who at the time was an ERLC staffer, said he felt compelled to become a Southern Baptist whistleblower in a letter to Stone and Floyd published publicly on Thursday.

Floyd, who is president of the SBC's Executive Committee, said he did not have the same recollection" of accounts presented by Moore of the SBC's mishandling of sexual abuse allegations lodged against SBC churches.

Stone, a former chairman of the Executive Committee who is now an SBC presidential nominee, was accused of trying to delay the formation of a credentials committee to assess churches reported to be mishandling sexual abuse." But he dismissed the claims as scandalous, unscriptural, ungodly and outrageous. He also noted that he is a survivor of sexual abuse himself.

In his Thursday letter, however, Bethancourt suggested the SBC leaders were not being truthful.

I am writing to you in regard to your public responses to the recently publicized letters from Russell Moore. Ronnie, you said you do not have the same recollection of the events. Mike, your video called Moores claims absolutely slanderous, ungodly, and an outrageous lie, the Texas pastor began. I cannot remain quiet in light of your responses, so I am compelled to do something no one would want to do--become a Southern Baptist whistleblower.

He continued: Wouldnt the best way to get to the truth be to hear the two of you in your own words? Your own words actually corroborate the claims in Russell Moores letters--the same claims you now suggest are false. I believe that when Southern Baptists hear you in your own words, they will be wise enough to recognize the truth.

He shared three audio clips from the Nashville Caring Well Conference debrief meeting from October 8, 2019. At the conference, attorney and abuse advocate Rachael Denhollander was allowed to speak freely about sexual abuse in the denomination. In a conversation with Moore, she voiced strong words about how the SBC Executive Committee staff handled a sexual abuse survivor.

In the first clip shared by Bethancourt, Floyd appears to question why conference speakers weren't restricted on what they were allowed to say because it came off as an attack on SBC leadership.

How are we supposed to respond, in your minds, to people who would say, Why in the world, would we have a conference and let people degrade the Southern Baptist Convention, attack its leadership, our churches?'  How are we supposed to do that, and we let them say what they want to say? Floyd asked while mentioning that the Executive Committee financially supported the SBC Sexual Abuse Advisory Group.

Moore noted that the speakers were not restricted because were not in a criminal conspiracy to cover up what happened.

If we had [put parameters on what speakers could say], what you would end up with right now is three days of Washington Post stories and New York Times stories about the parameters that we put on people," Moore replied. "So that the charge would be only the people that were willing to come in and participate in the cover-up were allowed to be there."

In a second clip, Floyd asked how he should handle Executive Committee trustee complaints about how Denhollander has come after them in her Caring Well Conference interview.

Moore noted that the ERLC didnt script anybody and added that the commission wanted to "hear from everybody's heart without a muzzle put on them." He suggested that the Executive Committee not do stupid stuff again when dealing with a survivors public disclosure of abuse.

In a third clip, Floyd also explained that his primary focus was not survivors of sexual abuse but to preserve the base.

Moore replied, "What I would say to you is that we don't have one base."

Floyd had already stated that he is hearing threats that some churches may stop their Cooperative Program giving because of the Caring Well Conference," Bethancourt wrote in the letter. "So, it certainly seemed to us in the room that what it meant to preserve the base was to protect the money."

Bethancourt also shared audio clips from a May 2019 meeting in Atlanta on sexual abuse that included Stone and Floyd, in which he claims that "their resistance to the immediate formation of a standing credentials committee became a primary point of disagreement." The credentials committee was to assess churches reported to be mishandling sexual abuse allegations.

"Stones own words corroborate Russell Moores recounting of our contentious discussion on this subject," Bethancourt wrote.

Bethancourts revelations come as a growing chorus of SBC messengers call for an independent investigation of how the denominations leaders have dealt with what Moore called a crisis of sexual abuse in the denomination via two leaked letters.

Moore alleged leaders mishandled the crisis through methods such as intimidating whistleblowers into silence and exonerating churches with credible allegations of negligence of sexual abuse victims.

In a statement Thursday, Floyd said he called the May 2019 meeting in Atlanta to discuss how to handle charges of sex abuse in the denomination. He said the discussion was confidential and argued that Bethancourt's release of the audio from the meeting was an attempt to mischaracterize them as an effort to avoid addressing the realities of sex abuse."

"The fact of the matter is that immediately following the meeting and even before leaving the airport, I instructed our staff and legal team to begin the creation of an SBC Credentials Committee," Floyd explained. "That work continued throughout the weekend, and by early the next week, the framework for what we now know as the Credentials Committee was born."

"Any suggestion that the purpose of the meeting was to oppose efforts to address sex abuse is not credible when given the full context of the meeting and our immediate action to create the Credentials Committee."

Floyd said the discussions from the meeting "reflect leaders engaging in a scriptural process of coming together with others who have differing opinions on complicated issues and of discussing those differences honestly with a goal of how to best move forward.

Floyd added that following the October Caring Well Conference, he requested a meeting with Moore and Bethancourt to "better understand how to respond to churches that had questions coming out of the conference."

"That was the extent of the conversation," he stated. "However, I apologize for any offense that may have resulted from my remarks."

The executive committee president further added that since last weekend, "the Executive Committee staff leadership has been in the process of talking with and potentially securing a highly credible outside firm with the intent of conducting an independent third-party review of the accusations recently levied at the SBC Executive Committee."

Stone has denied allegations that he tried to delay the formation of the committee investigating how the SBC handled claims of sex abuse against churches. Last Saturday, he released a video stating that Moore's second leaked letter lacked credibility.

"If you take his letter at face value, then [Moore] has known about cover-up, intimidation, bullying, stonewalling, barriers, pressure, all of these sorts of things against victims of sex abuse," Stone said. "He has known about lies and back-room deals and corruption. He has known about it, not for days or weeks, or literally months. He has known about it, supposedly for years while he has not breathed a word. Russell hasn't stood behind these accusations. He doesn't even have the professional decency to issue this as a press release through credible news sources."

Stone added that his "very first act as chairman" of the SBC executive committee in the summer of 2018 was to "put together a motion to accept a request from the ERLC that we give them what ultimately was $250,000." He said he requested permission to do that because of his personal story, "not known to anybody else in the world at the time except me and the man who abused me."

"I wanted the privilege of initiating this action on the part of the executive committee. ... After that was unanimously passed by the subcommittee and I knew that it was going to be approved by the full plenary body, I left that committee room to a nearby bathroom where I vomited, not because I am weak or I was upset, but just the emotion  decades of emotion  came bubbling forth as I was so grateful to be a part of addressing this horrific and heinous injustice committed against the most vulnerable members of our Southern Baptist churches," he said.

"To think that somebody with that passion and that personal past is later going to get together in a back room with the subcommittee and conspire to cover up for pedophiles and the molestations they commit against our most vulnerable children, it's outlandish."

Ronnie Parrott of Christ Community Church in Huntersville, North Carolina, and Grant Gaines, pastor of Belle Aire Baptist Church in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, are two of the most prominent SBC voices calling for an independent investigation.

In light of the recent allegations made against the executive committee by Russell Moore, former president of the ERLC, in letters dated February 24, 2020 and May 31, 2021  we move that the messengers ask the newly elected president of the Southern Baptist Convention to appoint a task force to hire a third party to investigate the allegations made against the executive committee of the SBC in said letters, including but not limited to allegations of mishandling sexual abuse cases, mistreatment of sexual abuse victims, a pattern of intimidation, and resistance to sexual abuse reform initiatives, the pastors wrote in a statement Saturday.

We further move that the task force report back to this convention at our next annual meeting with the findings of the investigation as well as suggestions for actions to be taken by our convention.

The 2021 SBC Annual Meeting, set to take place June 15-16 in Nashville, Tennessee, is expected to draw a historic crowd. The convention is expected to address a range of disagreements on critical race theory, sexual abuse and gender issues.
Supreme Court says abortion providers can sue Texas, but heartbeat law remains in effect

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The United States Supreme Court has released a decision allowing some lawsuits against Texas heartbeat abortion ban to move forward, but has not blocked the law that prohibits abortion once a baby's heartbeat can be detected.

In a ruling released Friday morning in the case of Whole Womans Health et al. v. Jackson et al., the high court examined whether certain abortion providers could pursue a pre-enforcement challenge.

We conclude that such an action is permissible against some of the named defendants but not others, wrote Justice Neil Gorsuch, who authored most of the majority opinion.

This Court has never recognized an unqualified right to pre-enforcement review of constitutional claims in federal court. In fact, general federal question jurisdiction did not even exist for much of this Nations history.

The Supreme Court also rejected an appeal by the Biden administration against Texas' law, labeling it improvidently granted, or something that shouldn't have been brought before the justices.

Planned Parenthood denounced the Supreme Court decision in a post on its Twitter account and promised to keep fighting against the heartbeat abortion ban.

The Supreme Court has once again failed to put an end to Texas bounty hunting scheme and protect our constitutional rights, tweeted Planned Parenthood. They have failed to bring relief to Texas patients and providers whove suffered for 100 days under this unconstitutional law.

Justice Clarence Thomas pointed out during arguments in the case of Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization on Dec. 1 that the U.S. Constitution doesn't include the right to abortion, despite what Planned Parenthood and pro-choice activists have long claimed.

Thomas noted: If we were talking about the Second Amendment, I know exactly what were talking about. If were talking about the Fourth Amendment, I know what were talking about, because its written. Its there. What, specifically, is the right here that were talking about?

Texas Right to Life Director of Media and Communication Kimberlyn Schwartz emailed a statement to supporters celebrating the Supreme Courts rejection of the Biden administration's challenge.

We are grateful that the Supreme Court practiced judicial restraint today and stopped the Biden administrations pro-abortion campaign against the strongest pro-life law being enforced today, stated Schwartz.

While we continue to fight for this policy in the lower courts, Texas Right to Life celebrates that the Texas Heartbeat Act will continue saving between 75-100 preborn children from abortion per day.

In May, Texas' Republican Gov. Greg Abbott signed the ban into law, which prohibits most abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected, generally around six weeks into a pregnancy.

The law is not enforced through state officials but rather through private citizens who are given financial incentives to sue abortion providers or anyone who helps a woman obtain an illegal abortion.

Despite multiple pre-enforcement legal challenges, including one from the U.S. Department of Justice, the Supreme Court allowed the law to take effect on Sept. 1.
Texas Right to Life receives bomb threat at Austin office: 'This is a spiritual war'

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A Texas-based pro-life activist organization received a new bomb threat against one of its offices, allegedly due to its support for the states controversial heartbeat abortion ban restricting abortion as early as six weeks into pregnancy.

Texas Right to Life released a statement Monday explaining that its legislative office in Austin had received a bomb threat that morning.

The threat came in the form of what the lobbying group labeled a suspicious letter sent to the office, which threatened to bomb the organization and said that they should expect to receive the bodies of aborted babies.

Authorities arrived at the office at 11:40 a.m., according to the statement. The Austin Police Department is investigating the incident.

Devaluing life inside the womb inevitably leads to violence outside the womb, Texas Right to Life President Elizabeth Graham said in a statement. These recent crimes demonstrate the brokenness, anger, and pain of the pro-abortion movement. We pray for the perpetrator, that he or she may find healing in Christ, and we ask for prayers for our staff.

Kimberlyn Schwartz, director of media and communication for Texas Right to Life, told The Christian Post in a statement Thursday that the most recent threat and other threats they have received are heartbreaking.

These threats are heartbreaking, not only because they endanger our staff, but also because they reveal the anger and pain that abortion leaves on the hearts of its proponents, stated Schwartz.

Ultimately, this is a spiritual war. Texas Right to Life is taking ground from deep in the Evil Ones territory and proclaiming the sanctity of Life. Now is the time for all Christians to stand up for preborn children and pray for the end of abortion.

In another email cited by The Texas Citizen Journal, Graham said the organization is working with the Austin Police Department and the FBI to determine the validity of the threat.

According to Texas Right to Life, the threatening letter stated: LETS BOMB TEXAS FOR LIFE AND CHANGE IT TO  TEXAS FOR DEATH.

Texas Right to Life, which was instrumental in helping craft Texas new abortion law, received an email in September from someone threatening to blow up its headquarters in Bellaire. A suspicious package was delivered to that office later that day.

The facility was evacuated and bomb experts from Houston checked the package, which turned out to not have an explosive device inside.

Texas Right to Life did the right thing in contacting the police, said the Bellaire Police Department in a statement to CP in September.

It was fortunate that our officers were on scene when the suspicious package was delivered and we appreciate the occupants of the building working with police to quickly clear out in the event that this was an actual bomb.

In May, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed the Texas Heartbeat Act prohibiting most abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected, usually about six weeks into a pregnancy.

The law is not enforced through state officials but rather through private citizens given financial incentives to sue abortion providers and anyone who helps a pregnant woman procure an abortion.

Despite multiple pre-enforcement legal challenges, including from the Biden administration, the U.S. Supreme Court allowed the controversial legislation to take effect on Sept. 1.

On Nov. 1, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments for around three hours on the Texas law, focusing on the means through which the ban was enforced.

Since the Texas Heartbeat Act took effect September 1, abortion advocates wished rape upon our female staff and their daughters, left vicious voicemails, circulated the home addresses of employees online, and threatened to bomb our offices twice within four months, Texas Right to Lifes Monday statement reads. Texas Right to Life has taken proactive measures to ensure the safety of our staff since we became the target of violent messages online and by phone due to the Texas Heartbeat Act.

In September, an Oklahoma man was arrested for making death threats to pro-life Texas legislators.
Less than half of Americans, 63% of churchgoing Christians believe Jesus existed before Christmas

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Less than half of Americans, including just 63% of churchgoing Christians, believe Jesus existed before His virgin birth in Bethlehem, a new study from Lifeway research shows.

The study, conducted Sept. 3-14 through an online survey of a national pre-recruited panel of 1,005 Americans, shows that only 2 in 5 or 41% of American adults, in general, believe Jesus existed before His Bethlehem birth. Some 32% disagree with the idea that Christ existed before His Bethlehem birth, while 28% say theyre not sure.

Researchers also found that even among Christians who attend church four times a month or more, only 63% agree that Jesus existed before His Bethlehem birth even though many Scriptures from the Bible support that position.

Prophecies such as those in Isaiah 9 reflect that the Messiah would be the Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father and Prince of Peace. While these titles reflect the Trinity, some Americans do not connect the Jesus born in Bethlehem with the Messiah who already existed as God now coming in the flesh, said Scott McConnell, executive director of Lifeway Research.

The religiously unaffiliated were the least likely among respondents in the survey to believe Jesus existed before Bethlehem, with fewer than 15% of them supporting the notion.

In John 6:62 for example, Jesus asks His many disciples at the time: What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before?

The Scripture further highlights how difficult it was for many of them to embrace the idea of His divinity and pre-existence when it notes in John 6:66 that: From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.

In a 2016 presentation in New York City, the American Bible Society explained that despite the Bible being the most printed and sold book in the world over the last five decades, less than half of practicing Christians in the U.S. spend serious time engaging with their Bible and the rest of the country is even worse.

At the time, Samuel Harrell, director of Project Ignition at the American Bible Society, presented evidence gathered from a six-year assessment of the state of the Bible conducted by the Barna Group which showed that just 18% of the American population 18 years and older read the Bible. Among practicing Christians, only 37% were found to engage with their Bible.

A recent survey from Probe Ministries, a nonprofit that seeks to help the Church in renewing the minds of believers with a Christian worldview, also reflected unorthodox theology among born-again Christians when it found that nearly 70% of them disagree with the biblical position that Jesus is the only way to God.

Another study from Arizona Christian University published earlier this year, showed that among an estimated 176 million American adults who identify as Christian, just 6% or 15 million of them actually hold a biblical worldview.

The study showed that while a majority of Americans self-identified as Christians, including many who identify as evangelical, believe that God is all-powerful, all-knowing and is the Creator of the universe, more than half reject biblical teachings and principles, including the existence of the Holy Spirit.
Over 500 UK church leaders prepared to face criminal charges if conversion therapy is banned

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Over 500 church leaders from across the UK have written to the government to say they are prepared to face criminal charges if a conversion therapy ban is introduced.

In the letter, they say that they will "continue to do our duty to God" even if the proposed ban comes into force.

"It should not be a criminal offence for us to instruct our children that God made them male and female, in his image, and has reserved sex for the marriage of one man and one woman. Yet this seems to be the likely outcome of the proposed legislation," they write.

"We therefore very much hope (and pray) that these proposals will be dropped in their current form. We have no desire to become criminals, and place a high value on submitting to and supporting our government.

"Yet we think it important you are aware that if it were to come about that the loving, compassionate exercise of orthodox Christian ministry, including the teaching of the Christian understanding of sex and marriage, is effectively made a criminal offence, we would with deep sadness continue to do our duty to God in this matter."

The open letter, which is still collecting signatures online, has been sent days before a government consultation on the proposed ban ends on Friday. Christians are being urged to participate in the consultation to make their concerns known.

Dr. Ian Paul, a theologian and member of the Church of England's General Synod, said the current proposals were "ill considered and ill conceived."

"As the consultation document itself states, many of the issues highlighted are already illegal," he said.

"The term 'conversion therapy' is ill defined, and the proposals appear to be driven by an ideological agenda rather than real concern and clear thinking.

"There is a real risk that pastoral ministry will be criminalised, and that human rights, including the right to religious belief will be trampled on."

Rev. Dr. Matthew Roberts, Minister of Trinity Church York, warned that standard Christian teaching on sexuality and gender stands to be criminalised under the proposed ban.

"It is deeply concerning that the government seems to be considering legislation that would criminalise normal, loving Christian ministry, while stopping us from helping young people who are being caught up in the horrible damage being done by transgender ideology," he said.

"Nothing we do could be considered 'therapy'. But the proposals are drafted so badly, and with such apparent ignorance of basic Christian teaching, that entirely standard Christian teaching would be criminalised in the name of something that has nothing to do with us.

"'Conversion', as Christians understand it, is an amazing thing: realising that life is not all about focusing on ourselves, but on the God who made us. It is deeply wrong that this proposed legislation implies that being converted to Jesus Christ is akin to violence or abuse."

Rev. Roberts also expressed concern about the rights of Christian parents to raise their children in accordance with their beliefs.

"Being able to raise children in their own faith is a legal right, and one which these proposals would take away. The government cannot do this without running into serious legal difficulties," he said.

"The Queen is appointed to be the Defender of the Faith. It would be very strange indeed if Her Majesty's Government legislated against the faith of their own sovereign."

Dr. Julie Maxwell, a paediatrician and youth worker at St. Mary's Basingstoke, said she was especially concerned about the potential impact of the proposed ban on pastoral youth work.

She warned that the ban would leave adults scared of sharing their views on gender and sexuality with young people.

"As we know children and young people need direction from adults around them regarding all sorts of lifestyle issues. Teenagers are navigating huge changes associated with puberty and issues around sexuality and gender are important topics that need to be discussed," she said.

"As Christians we seek to support young people who are seeking to follow Jesus Christ to understand these issues from the perspective of Biblical teaching regarding God's creation of men and women and his design for marriage.

"To find ourselves in a situation where parents, youth workers and other adults are afraid to address these issues risks leaving children and young people confused and vulnerable.

"There is already a significant increase in mental health problems in children and young people and being unable to support those struggling with issues around sexuality and gender identity will negatively impact on this."

Rev. Graham Nicholls, Director of the Affinity church network, said he was prepared to go to prison to defend his traditional Christian beliefs.

He said: "We particularly wanted to write from the perspective of practitioners, people who are pastors, youth workers, and counsellors.

"We don't know how this law about conversion therapy could impact their work and their ordinary, everyday work of chatting with people, encouraging people, praying with people that could be severely impacted. So we thought it was important from the point of view of practising pastors.

"Those who are campaigning for the law, their stated aim is that prayers or any kind of encouragement to do what we would say the Bible is teaching in terms of sexual ethics, should be prohibited.

"We don't know how the law will work out, but I think if those demands were met, then really any conversation with your family or if your child asks a question about their sexuality or their gender and you give them some advice, potentially, that could fall foul of the law  if you give them advice from a Christian perspective that questions or suggests there is a good or a bad path to follow."

Originally published at Christian Today.
home World EU scraps inclusive language guidelines advising Christmas be replaced with 'holiday times'



The executive branch of the European Union has withdrawn its guidelines for inclusive communication, which suggested that European Commission officials update the language they use by replacing the word Christmas with holiday times" and avoiding gendered words.

The 32-page guide, advising those in the European Commission who speak about EU policies in public, has been pulled out about a month after it was issued due to an internal pushback, The Sunday Times reports.

The document advised avoiding references to Christmas and Christian names to avoid giving the impression of intolerance or judgment, fuel stereotypes or single out one religious group.

Because not everyone celebrates the Christmas holidays, the guidelines reportedly advised that officials need to be sensitive to the fact that people have different religious traditions.

Antonio Tajani, former president of the European Parliament and a member of the center-right political party Forza Italia party, is among those who objected to the guidelines.

Inclusion does not mean denying the Christian roots of the #EU, Tajani tweeted.

Ursula von der Leyen, the Commissions president, had reportedly rejected the guidelines before the withdrawal, sources told The Telegraph.

EU Commissioner for Equality, Helena Dalli, said in a statement that the guidebook clearly needed more work.

My initiative to draft guidelines as an internal document for communication by commission staff in their duties was intended to achieve an important aim: to illustrate the diversity of European culture and showcase the inclusive nature of the European commission towards all walks of life and beliefs of European citizens, she said, according to The Guardian. However, the version of the guidelines published does not adequately serve this purpose.

She added: It is not a mature document and does not meet all Commission quality standards. I therefore withdraw the guidelines and will work further on this document.

The guide also suggested that the gender binary of male and female  Mr., Mrs. and Ms should be dropped unless requested.

In the absence of such information, Mx should be used as the default, it stated.  Avoid gender-specific pronouns for people whose gender is unknown ... so as not to exclude intersex persons and gender-queer people and not to make them invisible.

It added: Do not ask what pronoun a person prefers. This assumes that gender identity is a personal preference  it is not. Ask how they describe themselves. What are your pronouns?

The guidance also encouraged officials to [b]e careful about the use of gay and lesbian as nouns, which may be considered inappropriate. The term homosexual can be considered offensive because it follows the medical model and is sometimes used by anti-gay activists.

The document was criticized by Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin in an interview with Vatican News.

Unfortunately, the tendency is to homogenize everything, not knowing how to respect the rightful differences, which naturally must not become an adversarial issue or a source of discrimination, but must be integrated in order to build a full and integral humanity, he said.

And whoever goes against reality puts himself in serious danger. And then there is the cancelation of our roots, especially as regards Christian holidays, the Christian dimension of our Europe, too.



Originally published in The Christian Post.
Bras and boobs  many people worldwide who are reading this can be like I understand! when I complain about how uncomfortable bras can be at times. Either the bras are cute but are meant for women with smaller bust sizes, or are ugly and expensive if you have a bigger bust. Thats where Frankly Apparel comes into play: they are a braless clothing company  the first of its kind  and theyre here to change things for those of us with bigger cup sizes.

Founders Heather Eaton and Jane Dong met at Stanfords MBA program and successfully launched their braless clothing company via a Kickstarter campaign during the worst time of societys existence. Heather is a former management consultant from Chicagos Deloitte office, where she worked on everything from innovation-focused non-profits to movie studios. Jane worked at Goldman Sachs in New York as an Investment Banker where she was recruited after attending Columbia as a recruited golfer. When she realized paper storage company mergers weren't her jam, she joined Uber and eventually ran UberEats US & Canada Driver Acquisition.

Related: Is Sustainability the Future Of Modern Fashion Industry?

Mid last year, Heather and Jane launched a Kickstarter campaign with an initial goal of raising $25,000. Their objective in choosing Kickstarter was to be able to fund the inventory for their very first collection, which meant reaching a certain minimum with their manufacturer. They surpassed this goal in under five hours, and doubled it, ultimately raising over $50,000.

The light bulb moment that inspired Frankly was a very personal one for Heather: finding bras that actually fit had always been a struggle, even from the early stages of puberty. She expressed to me that as a young teenager, she was excited to go bra shopping and join the ranks of being a woman in the sense that shed get to wear an actual bra and not a training bra (since those are a thing), but nothing seemed to fit; and now as an adult, she still feels the same way. Women with bigger boobs have been excluded from the braless movement because we have so many more things to consider  support and security is much more of a concern with larger cup sizes because too much movement can be painful. I know the struggle firsthand, and I think it can be especially frustrating for those who have big boobs, especially as compared to the rest of their body, she says.

Related: This New High-Tech Wonder Bra May Help Detect Breast Cancer

One of the differentiating points about Frankly is its innovative and proprietary split-size system. Frankly allows you to select a bust size that is different from your waist size for a dress or bodysuit, without having to worry about fit. We find that nearly half of our customers are taking advantage of the split-sizes, which just goes to show how many women are out there looking for clothes that are better suited to them, says Jane.

Sustainability also plays a key role for the brand. Through their Studio pre-order program, Frankly aims to collaborate with their customer to produce more of what she wants, to avoid unsold inventory. The company utilizes the Higg Index to source sustainable, high-quality materials and fabrics, and the clothing is manufactured in Los Angeles by ethical companies.

As of August 30th, Frankly had already shipped to 42 out of 50 states and gone viral on TikTok more than once  topping over 5 million views with one of their cheeky videos. Their customer is already praising their unique size chart and the company as a whole has people very excited. While they currently only ship to the United States, theyre already seeing noticeable international demand in a short few months since launch. Heather and Jane view their customers as co-creators in the sense that they aim to integrate their feedback. As a direct result, Frankly will be expanding its size range to 4X with its next collection, debuting this fall.

When I spoke with Heather and Jane about their journey, heres what they had to say for themselves:

On fundraising via a Kickstarter campaign to launch the brand

Jane: Frankly actually began as a class project that Heather and I worked on while getting our MBAs at Stanford. We were taking a class called Startup Garage, during which we had to conduct almost 100 user interviews. We were getting so much positive feedback and enthusiasm for our idea, but to truly validate that women wanted something more than the status quo, we needed to see them back that up with actions and their spending. We pooled our savings together (post-paying tuition) to launch a Kickstarter campaign to fund the inventory for our first collection. We reached our goal in under 5 hours, and we ended up more than doubling our initial goal of $25k over the course of our campaign. We spent almost no money on ads or marketing, which showed us that women have just been waiting for a way to ditch their bras.

How their different backgrounds paved the way to a successful entrepreneurial venture

Jane: On the surface, it might seem like Heather and I are pretty similar. Were both from industries like Investment Banking and Consulting, and we did meet in business school. However, when we dig deeper into what we actually spent our time doing, it becomes very apparent that we are different. Heather is a great design thinker, has graphic design skills, and has an eye for product that I personally (unfortunately) just dont have. Heather also is the one with more adjacent fashion experience, having done product strategy with a well-known shoe company. I love hanging out in spreadsheets; she will tolerate it. We sometimes come from really different points of view, but because we understand the logic of the other persons thinking, it helps us make better and more thorough decisions than if it was just one of us.

Heather: I cant emphasize enough how helpful it is to have a co-founder who is good at (and enjoys!) all the parts of the business you do not. Our strengths are complementary: Jane handles operations and finance because her background is investment banking and running driver operations at Uber, while I run product and brand using my experiences in graphic design/marketing, consulting, and in product at Rothys. We implicitly trust the others decision-making for areas in their domain. It has worked out well for us so far and made the job more enjoyable.

Investment banking and consulting are both such great first-time jobs. You learn how to work hard, be resourceful, make analytical decisions, and communicate effectively. As entrepreneurs, I really dont think you could ask for a better background. We are both so used to navigating ambiguity and just diving in and learning what we dont know. That has allowed us to make so much progress in an industry where we are basically outsiders.

Related: The Company Turning Selfies Into Better-Fitting Bras

How to select the right co-founder...

Jane: You often end up spending more time with your co-founder than with your spouse or partner, so when youre co-founder dating, keep that in mind. Selecting a business partner requires you to 100% trust them - youre sharing everything with them, from your social security numbers to your corporate bank account. You really need to believe that even in tough situations, theyll do the right thing for the company. While having different strengths and interests definitely helps Frankly, the most important thing is that you can make hard decisions together and keep moving forward. Founder disagreements can really blow up a company, and were thoughtful about continuously giving feedback, talking about how we feel, and ensuring that were aligned on our values and the future of Frankly.

On their innovative sizing metric and proprietary split-size system.

Heather: We started Frankly with the intention of making the braless fashion trend more inclusive for a wider range of cup sizes. In the past, clothing has never been designed to fit people with disproportionately big boobs. In fact, fashion explicitly designs for a B-cup. This is especially crazy considering the average woman in the US wears a DD! When we sat down and started talking about how we could give more people the chance to go braless, we came up with split-sizing. With our split sizes, our customers can choose their size based on both their bust size and their waist/hips size separately. We hear from customers all the time that this is the first time they have ever seen all their measurements in the same size on a size chart. That is so gratifying to me to finally give customers an option that I wanted myself for so long. Our goal is to continue expanding our sizing to fit even more bodies and chest sizes.

On their mission and why the Frankly movement is about so much more than going bra-less

Heather: Back when we ran our Kickstarter, we had this tote with art from NYC-artist Julie Cleveland that said bras are a social construct. Its so true! We wear bras to make our bodies more presentable to society. Often, that is intrinsically tied to making our bodies more presentable for men, at the expense of our own comfort and needs. Women nearly universally claim to hate wearing bras, but if you ask a woman to go out in public without one, she will often tell you she could never. That just doesnt sit right with us. But were also realists. Just because you know its unreasonable to constrict a totally natural body part that over 50% of the human population has, doesnt mean you necessarily want to be the one person leading the charge to free the nips at work. We want to be a baby step to a more braless future. We help our customers reclaim their comfort, without adding to the anxiety that sometimes comes with going braless in public.

Related: How a Kentucky-Born Musician Used the Pandemic to Launch a Fashion Brand from Bali

Its also just about challenging the status quo in fashion. Why havent bras really changed in the last 50 years? Why dont we design clothing for real womens bodies, instead of expecting women to change their bodies to fit their clothes? Our mission is to empower women to ask for more, starting with what they wear. Weve put up with an industry that doesnt design for the average person for far too long. If we can raise our expectations with something as basic and universal as clothing, imagine the other ways in which we can demand change. Frankly is named after that line from Gone With The Wind: Frankly, my dear, I dont give a damn, and thats us. We dont give a damn about how things have been done before or what society thinks. Fashion hasnt worked for women for a long time. Its still not working, so were here to shake things up.

Copyright 2021 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved
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Former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has been ordered to hand over about $5.1 million he made from a book he wrote  i.e. a book he reportedly made his staffers write  about his handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, The New York Times reports.

The decision, handed down Tuesday by the Joint Commission on Public Ethics, ordered Cuomo to give the proceeds to the state attorney generals office. The AGs office has also been given the authority to enforce the ruling.

But getting the full sum may be difficult, as Cuomo donated $500,000 to charity and dropped another $1 million in a trust for his daughters. Plus, the disgraced former governor  who resigned in the midst of a slew of scandals, including a bombshell report on his alleged sexual misconduct  appears ready to fight the ruling in court.

Jim McGuire, a lawyer for Cuomo, said, JCOPEs actions today are unconstitutional, exceed its own authority and appear to be driven by political interests rather than the facts and the law. Should they seek to enforce this action, well see them in court.

Cuomo was contracted to write American Crisis: Leadership Lessons From the Covid-19 Pandemic last summer, when he was still seen by many as an emblem of calm, rational leadership for the way he guided New York through the Covid crisis (the book, published in Oct. 2020, was a best seller). One year later, however, Cuomo was not only facing the multiple sexual misconduct allegations, but an investigation also found numerous shortcomings in the administrations handling of the Covid crisis, including reports that his office fudged the numbers about the number of Covid-19 related nursing home deaths.

The greatest irony about the book, however, was the revelation in an Assembly Judiciary Committee report that while Cuomos administration was botching parts of its pandemic response, the governor made his staff work on American Crisis. Senior state officials reportedly took meetings with publishers and agents, transcribed and drafted portions of the book, and coordinated promotion  all during normal work hours as part of the regular course of work in the Executive Chamber.

One portion of the report even read: [A] senior state official complained in a text message to a colleague that work on the Book was compromising the officials ability to work on COVID-related matters.
LOS ANGELES (AP)  Damson Idris transformed from his real life British-speaking Nigerian persona into a canny drug kingpin character with a West Coast accent on FXs popular crime drama Snowfall.

Idris made his presence felt as Franklin Saint, a young street-minded entrepreneur who was educated in an upper-class neighborhood, but determined to get into the drug game to take care of the people around him. Through the critically acclaimed show, his popularity has grown exponentially over the past four seasons.

Along with serving as a co-producer of season five due next year, Idris breakthrough role landed him other opportunities on other projects such as television shows The Twilight Zone" and Black Mirror along with films including Farming and Netflixs Outside the Wire, starring him with Anthony Mackie.

Its the foundation of my career, Idris said of Snowfall, which was co-created by John Singleton, who died in 2019. The series focuses on the genesis of how crack cocaine became a rampant epidemic in Los Angeles inner city neighborhoods in the 1980s.

Sometimes, I talk as if Im already 90 years old and Ive seen my career, he said. Its so weird. I think in 40, 50, 60 years, people will talk about and refer to (the series) and be like Oh man, I remember when he did that and look what hes doing now.' I think thats a remarkable thing. I love the show for that.

For his career-defining work, Idris has been named among The Associated Press breakthrough entertainers of the year alongside Rachel Zegler, Simu Liu, Adrienne Warren, Rauw Alejandro and more.

The Nigerian actor grew up in Peckham, south London, but he didnt know anything about the drug epidemic in the United States until he visited Los Angeles for the first time and saw Skid Row  an impoverished area inhabited by the homeless. He auditioned so well for the role that he said Singleton didnt know he was from London until way later in the process.

Before Idris' rise, he said Singleton gave him advice about humility  a lesson that still sticks with him.

Everyone you meet on the way up, youre going to meet on the way down," he said. "So just be nice to everyone. Thats something Im learning and mastering today. Im fortunate not only to be the lead of the show, but also be a young producer. That could come with a lot of ego and a big head. But if anything, Im even nicer now to everyone. Thats something John taught me. He empowered people. Thats something I strive to do. Im learning so much every day.

In preparing for Snowfall, Idris said his upbringing in Peckham helped him relate to the plight of Black people's struggle in South Central Los Angeles.

There are so many categories that correlate: From single fathers (and mothers), to poverty, to drugs to crime to police brutality to racism, he said. I definitely feel in the U.K. that there are similarities between Black British culture to African American culture. I feel like my upbringing assisted with me understanding and having empathy towards people of that lifestyle in South Central."

For Idris, doing impersonations has been his calling card since he was a kid. His acting career unknowingly started when his family made him perform in front of them.

You remember at the beginning of Eddie Murphys Raw and Samuel Jackson says That boy got talent? That was literally my upbringing, he recalled. I didnt know what acting was, but I was impersonating these people from Martin (Lawrence) in Bad Boys to whatever since I was 5 years old.

Idris, 30, is a part of a long line of British Black actors who have found success on American soil including Idris Elba, Daniel Kaluuya, David Oyelowo and John Boyega. He said acting is embedded at an early age for their culture by them going to the theater when we're babies.

I think when we see you guys on the screen, we are instantly locked in because we feel a connection, he said. Its unfortunate that you guys dont get the opportunity to see our stuff, too. Most of the time when we come here, Americans think Oh, hes all tea and crumpets. They think I live next door to the Queen. I dont. But thats changing.

In the future, Idris said he would love to someday portray Eddie Murphy or Sidney Poitier on screen and maybe a musician. He said next year will be a pivotal moment for his career.

My career could either skyrocket or Im going back to Peckham, he jokingly said. In 2022, Im really excited about playing a lot of real people from the past and producing.

___

For more on APs 2021 class of Breakthrough Entertainers, please visit: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-breakthrough-entertainers
Paul Gosar has repeatedly denounced the American Rescue Plan, a bill passed by Congress earlier this year to help Americans and businesses during the pandemic. Gosar labeled the plan, which cost $1.9 trillion, a Democrat spending bonanza and agreed with his colleague Matt Gaetzs contention that its nothing more than a trojan horse for socialism. Gosar voted against the plan, of course, but in a Monday press release he happily took credit for a $32,000 American Rescue Plan grant that will help an Arizona airport clean and sanitize its facilities, calling the funds essential.

I am pleased to announce that the City of Kingman will receive this critical funding for economic relief related to operational costs for cleaning and sanitizing the Kingman Airport to combat the spread of COVID-19, Gosar wrote. This funding is essential to maintaining safe and reliable air service to the community.

Included in the release was a quote from Kingman Mayor Jen Miles thanking the Arizona representative for his continued support.

We are grateful for Congressman Gosars continued support, and this funding will help with the ever-growing Kingman Municipal Airport operations, Miles said.

Rep. Paul Gosar celebrates a federal grant to an Arizona city to fight Covid under the American Rescue Plan. The congressman's statement includes a quote from the mayor thanking him for his "support." UNMENTIONED: Gosar voted against the legislation. pic.twitter.com/DzyMgCVwFF  Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) December 13, 2021

Gosar and Miles offices did not immediately respond to a requests for comment from Rolling Stone.

As a refresher, here are some of the initiatives that were funded by the American Rescue Plan: $1,400 stimulus checks, increased child tax credits, extended unemployment insurance, rental assistance, and emergency funds for governments, in addition to funds for businesses. When Gosar voted against the plan, he called it a supposed Covid relief bill and claimed that the legislation fails to compensate small and medium-sized businesses while providing only meager relief for the American people. Not only did he vote against it, he proposed an amendment to give Americans $10,000 stimulus checks in an attempt to strip a number of other priorities from the bill.

As of Monday, Gosar seems pretty proud of that supposedly meager relief.
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Two key organizers of the main Jan. 6 rally in Washington, D.C. are coming in from the cold. Dustin Stockton and Jennifer Lynn Lawrence are set to testify next week before the House select committee investigating the attack on the U.S. Capitol. The pair will deliver testimony and turn over documents, including text messages, that indicate the extensive involvement members of Congress and the Trump administration had in planning the House challenge to certifying Bidens election and rally near the White House where Donald Trump spoke  efforts that ultimately contributed to a massive and violent attack on the Capitol. More from Rolling Stone Fox News Hosts, Don Jr. Pleaded With Mark Meadows to Get Trump to Call Off Insurrection: Jan. 6 Committee

Paul Gosar Takes Credit for Covid Funding He Bashed as a 'Democrat Spending Bonanza'

Trump Blames Netanyahu, Not Himself, for Failed Israel-Palestine Peace Deal

Among the documents the couple is providing are conversations they had with staffers and members of Congress as they planned the main rally that took place on the White House Ellipse that day. Stockton described these discussions as largely logistical and focused on planning the members participation in objections to the electoral certification on the House floor and various events that were staged to protest against the election. They include Instagram messages Lawrence exchanged with Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-N.C.) as she tried to get him to speak at the Ellipse rally. Cawthorn, whose office did not immediately respond to a request for comment, ultimately appeared onstage at that event. Were turning it all over and well let the cards fall where they may, Stockton says. Its the latest revelation from the couple, veteran activists who have spent the better part of a decade specializing in staging political stunts while working for conservative activist groups, Republican campaigns, and Trumps on-again-off-again strategist Steve Bannon. Stockton and Lawrence were members of the team that led the nationwide March for Trump bus tour, which ended with the Jan. 6 rally at the White House Ellipse. In recent weeks, Stockton and Lawrence have participated in an extensive series of interviews with Rolling Stone revealing what they knew about the day. The pair were the sources for a story that was published in late October, when they said members of Congress were involved in planning Trumps efforts to overturn the election and the Jan. 6 Ellipse rally. They claimed one of these lawmakers, Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.), suggested the possibility Trump could get them a blanket pardon in an unrelated ongoing investigation if they helped protest the election. (Gosar later suggested that story was categorically false and defamatory.) Stockton and Lawrence also say they were told that Trumps former chief of staff, Mark Meadows, had communicated with the organizers and was warned about concerns of potential violence. Nothing in the documents viewed by Rolling Stone or the couples statements revealed any planning for, or coordination with, the violent attack on the Capitol by Trump supporters. Stockton and Lawrence spoke to Rolling Stone on the condition of anonymity for that story due to the ongoing investigation. Now, after receiving a subpoena from the committee, they decided to come forward and testify publicly  in Congress and in the press. The couple say they believe the public deserve answers about what went down on Jan. 6. The people and the history books deserve a real account of what happened, Stockton explains. Lawrence puts it more bluntly: Violent shit happened, she says. We want to get to the bottom of that. Behind those noble sentiments about why theyre cooperating with the committee is a hard reality: Stockton and Lawrence are running out of options. On Nov. 22, the committee subpoenaed the pair, demanding they deliver depositions and turn over documents related to their involvement in the rally and communications with members of Trumps team. Stockton is scheduled to testify on Tuesday, and Lawrence is due up the following day. The duo are keenly aware that Bannon, Meadows, and others who have declined to cooperate with the committee are facing federal charges for contempt of Congress. Weve seen whats happened with Bannon, and we dont have the resources that a Steve Bannon has, Stockton says, referencing Bannons multimillion dollar fortune. Our options are, in a lot of ways, limited. Stockton and Lawrence have spent the past few weeks on the move, switching between their R.V. and various hotels and hideouts. Apart from Louis, a greyhound-beagle mix who has accompanied them back and forth across the country, the couple have few of their old friends left. The legal drama and infighting have left them cut off from political work; Stockton is keeping them afloat with what he describes as a variety of side hustles. Being caught between those on the right they think might want to silence them and a Democrat-led committee thats hit them with subpoenas and potentially large legal bills has left them with what Stockton labels a sense of paranoia. The couple have packed their things up and switched locations in the middle of the night at least once when they became suspicious of a group of paramilitary-looking young men. When they first made contact with the committee, the meeting, they say, was a disaster that left them with real questions about who they could trust. Theyve spent most of the past few months on the run. Its been a long, stressful time for Stockton and Lawrence, a pair who were once rising stars in the extended MAGA universe and now find themselves looking constantly over their shoulders. For a lot of people who end up in such a tight spot, its tough to look back and pinpoint the moment things started to go wrong. For these two, that question has a fairly straightforward answer. In Lawrences mind, it all began when she had a gun put to my head. Zack Wittman for Rolling Stone Zack Wittman for Rolling Stone

IN THE EARLY MORNING HOURS of Aug. 20, 2020, Stockton and Lawrence were asleep in their R.V. as it sat parked on the dusty backlot of the Casablanca Resort and Casino in Mesquite, Nevada. But some time after 4 a.m., the pair say they suddenly awoke after a late night to hear banging on the door. Their mobile home was surrounded by heavily armed officers from the United States Postal Inspection Service, an obscure law-enforcement arm of the Postal Service. Stockton leapt up and reached for his own firearm. He put the gun down when he saw a badge tapping on the window.

As Im reaching down, one of the officers  the USPS special forces motherfuckers, he gets my attention. Thank god. He gets my attention before I draw. Theres a good chance that probably saved my life, Stockton says. Its clear that theres enough men and firepower out there that, like, this is the real deal.

Stockton says he was handcuffed as the officers searched the R.V., while Lawrence, by her own admission, went apeshit and began shouting at the officers about corrupt courts and accusing them of being part of a plot to boost Trumps Democratic rival Joe Biden.

In fact, the raid was part of a fraud investigation into a group that Stockton and Lawrence worked on alongside Bannon. The pair  who first bonded while smoking a joint at the Republican National Convention in 2012  had been working for Bannon since 2014, when he was running the conservative website Breitbart. They reported directly to Bannon and honed their skills making mischief and headlines on special projects for his site. During the 2016 election, they tried to chip away at Trumps Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, with a series of rogue operations that included recruiting Black activists to discourage the community from voting and embedding with Bernie Sanders supporters to help spur their protests at the 2016 Democratic National Convention. A recent profile in Politico that chronicled their work dubbed the pair The Bonnie and Clyde of MAGA World.

The pairs activism is infused with a mischievous sense of showmanship. Lawrence is a brash New Yorker who tends to wear skimpy outfits and gowns accessorized with her trademark winged eyeliner. Stockton is a former competitive poker player with tattooed arms, a thick beard, and a desert-fried drawl that belies his Nevada roots. On the March for Trump bus tour he favored a velour blazer and a pair of exotic stingray boots.

After a brief falling out in 2017, Stockton and Lawrence reunited with a post-White House Bannon in 2019 to work together on We Build the Wall, an organization that was dedicated to raising private funds to help Trump erect his trademark wall along the southern border. The groups fundraising ended up succeeding beyond their wildest imagination, raising about $25 million, enough to craft over three miles of barriers on the border. A little over a year later, Bannon and three other individuals affiliated with We Build the Wall were charged with fraud for allegedly taking hundreds of thousands of dollars in donor funds after vowing they would not accept payment for work on the project. Bannon did not respond to a request for comment on this story.

Bannon, who was arrested on board a yacht, was pardoned by Trump in the final 24 hours of his presidency earlier this year. The other group leaders who were indicted did not receive pardons. Despite the raid, Stockton and Lawrence have never been charged.

Their brush with the law has haunted them during their dealings with the January 6 committee. Its still hanging over our heads, Stockton explains. We definitely didnt want to face another violent raid and we also wanted to avoid racking up even more legal fees and trouble.

Stockton and Lawrence took the armed raid on their R.V. as confirmation of their worst worries about deep state forces waging lawfare on Trump supporters. And they felt something similar happened on election night in 2020, when Stockton says the vote result reflected what he saw as obvious shenanigans.

Stockton felt validated as Trump questioned the election results, even as a series of election experts and nonpartisan observers said the presidents claims of fraud were baseless conspiracy theories. And as the media universally  and quickly  reported that officials at every level of government found no evidence of election fraud, it reinforced he and Lawrences view that the fix was in. When social media and tech companies deleted content that spread election misinformation, Stockton and Lawrence saw it as dissent being silenced. The pair were convinced the election was stolen.

According to the couple, Amy Kremer, a conservative activist who Stockton knew from his days in the Tea Party world, reached out to them on election night to see if they were interested in staging protests questioning Trumps loss. They went all in for the cause.

Stockton and Lawrence say they subsequently worked with Kremer to plan a rally in Washington on Nov. 14, 2020. That event featured a drive-by from Trump in the presidential motorcade. That night, there were clashes between Trump supporters and counterprotesters. Turnout among the pro-Trump contingent was high enough that Kremer was inspired to launch a nationwide March for Trump bus tour with Stockton and Lawrence.

They were also, they say, encouraged by a suggestion that participating in the protests challenging Trumps election loss could win them Trumps help with the fallout from the We Build the Wall debacle. In December 2020, as the tour rolled around the country, Stockton and Lawrence say they got a call from Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) and his chief of staff, Thomas Van Flein. According to Stockton, Van Flein claimed he and the congressman had just met with Trump, who was considering giving them a blanket pardon to address the We Build the Wall investigation.

We were just in the Oval Office speaking about pardons and your names came up, Van Flein allegedly said. Van Flein did not respond to a request for comment.

Gosar suggested the bus tour was helping Stockton and Lawrence build support for a pardon from the caucus and Trump. Keep up the good work, Gosar said, according to Stockton. Everybodys seen what youre doing.

While Stockton says Gosar previously supported the wall project and would likely have moved to get the pardon regardless of what was happening post-election, the call made clear to him that the protests against the 2020 vote could help get Trump on their side. Trump was taking interest because of the notoriety of what we were currently doing, Stockton says.

Gosar did not respond to a request for comment. Through an attorney, Gosar in November said Stocktons claims about the pardon werefrankly outrageous. In an earlier bulletin from his office, Gosar called the story 100% false and made up. Though Stockton and Lawrence were not identified in that article, Gosar  who admitted writing a letter in support of a pardon for Bannon  insisted the allegations came from people I have never met. He had, in fact, met Stockton and Lawrence. The trio were photographed beaming together at the Ellipse rally on Jan. 6.

Courtesy of Dustin Stockton and Jennifer Lawrence Courtesy of Dustin Stockton and Jennifer Lawrence

Ultimately, the pardon for Stockton and Lawrence never materialized. Instead, it went to the man who, per Stockton, needed it less than the others. Steve Bannon, the one guy in the group of us who has personal wealth and media and political connections beyond all of the rest of us, hes the guy who gets the pardon, Stockton says, his voice tinged with anger and disbelief.

It was the start of a pattern theyd see again.

THE JAN. 6 ELLIPSE RALLY was set to be the culmination of the bus tour, featuring a speech from multiple members of Congress and Trump himself. According to Stockton and Lawrence, it was planned to support the objections to electoral certification that were taking place that day on the House floor. They expected Trump and other leaders to present definitive detailed proof of election fraud as the crowd remained on the Ellipse, where security procedures were in place.

Instead, for well over an hour, Trump aired a series of vague, misleading, and demonstrably false claims about the vote being rigged along with his familiar campaign grievances about the media supposedly ignoring his crowd sizes, the radical left, and cancel culture. Then, in the final 120 words of his speech, Trump declared, Were going to walk down Pennsylvania Avenue  and were going to the Capitol.

Many in the crowd got on the move as Trump concluded, and the barricades at the Capitol complex were first breached shortly before his remarks wrapped. Fighting at the building between police and the former presidents supporters would rage for hours, even turning deadly.

Stockton claims he was so upset by the speech that he turned to Lawrence and said, Lets get the fuck out of here. He was incensed by both Trumps call to march and the lack of concrete evidence that was presented onstage.

We assumed that him sitting with all the access to all the agencies of government and classified information he  had access to vastly more information than we did, Stockton says. We trusted when he told us that it was black-and-white and that there was clear evidence over, and over, and over again. We trusted that it would be there, and it ended up being a bluff, and he finally got caught in it.

The couple claim they then went back to their room at the Willard InterContinental, a luxury hotel adjacent to the Ellipse where many of the rally organizers stayed. Exhausted and frustrated, Stockton says he passed out almost immediately.

At their hotel on Jan. 6, Lawrence says she watched the violence break out on TV as Stockton slept in the other room. She was incensed that Trump  who didnt send out a tweet urging the crowd to stay peaceful until about an hour after the barricades were breached  hadnt done more to call for an end to the violence. As this was unfolding on the television, I was asking, Where is Trump? Why hasnt he come out and made a statement? It was way too long before he came out and made a statement, Lawrence says. Like, why are we waiting? This is so opposite of what we represent. You should want to denounce this immediately.

In their telling, the pair had been warning about the potential for violence since the first days after the election. We had been, like, since November  trying to raise the red flag that, hey, like, not everybody on our side has the same outlook of, like, what this should look like, Lawrence says.

Both claimed they were among a group that had concerns about an event dubbed the Wild Protest organized by far-right activist Ali Alexander that was staged outside the building as the vote was being certified. According to Stockton and Lawrence, that wariness was due to Alexanders links to militant groups and the potential consequences of bringing people who were angry about the election to the Capitol steps as the certification was taking place.

Stockton and Lawrence say Kremer said she brought these concerns to Trumps White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows. They were under the impression Meadows would resolve the issue. A spokesman for Meadows declined to comment.

Ultimately, Alexanders rally was granted a permit. In an interview for a television series hosted by Fox News Tucker Carlson, Alexander claimed he and Infowars host Alex Jones were contacted by the Trump campaign during Trumps speech and told to lead crowds from the Ellipse to the Capitol. Alexander, who has an extensive history of ties to white nationalists and conspiracy theorists, has repeatedly insisted he played no role in the violence.

Kremer did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Alexander denied any responsibility for the Jan. 6 violence and accused Stockton and Lawrence of lying to the press.

Once he woke up on Jan. 6, Stockton says he wanted the Ellipse rally organizers to denounce the attack as forcefully as possible. Kremers Women for America First group, which had obtained the permit for the Ellipse event, did issue a statement declaring they were saddened and disappointed at the violence that erupted on Capitol Hill. But Stockton says he wanted literally to do every interview.

They put a statement together that denounced it, but I wanted to go nuclear. Like, I wanted to go full-court press with it, Stockton claims. We were pushing hard and put a plan together to hold a press conference  to fully denounce and take all questions from everybody.

To Stockton, it was important for the Ellipse rally planners to distance themselves from the violence. However, Kremer ultimately decided the statement was sufficient. Rolling Stone reported in November that Kremer and some of her fellow organizers spent the evening of Jan. 6  as the attempted insurrection was winding down  in a suite at the Willard, dining on charcuterie.

Stockton says he pushed for the group to more forcefully denounce the violence but was overruled. We didnt have anything to do with it. It wasnt us, and frankly we are going to be tarnished with this forever unless we get out and scream from the rooftops that this wasnt right, Stockton says he argued. Unfortunately, I lost that battle.

Almost a year later, they are, as Stockton might put it going nuclear. Theyre cooperating with the committee and willing to do any interview they can to tell their story to the press. But when they initially tried to come to the investigators, things got off to a rocky start.
Each day beginning Dec. 13 and ending on Christmas Eve, The Courier will spotlight 12 nonprofit organizations in the community demonstrating that kindness, goodwill and the Christmas Spirit is present everyday of the year through the good works of feet on the ground community residents. Volunteers, monetary donations and word of mouth enable these and many more organizations to carry out their mission. This is the third year of highlighting nonprofits that serve our community and change lives during the 12 Days of Christmas.

Billie Beasley saw the need to help women in our community with a safe and comfortable place for young women to live during their pregnancy and after giving birth while they decide how to care for their unborn child and family. Journey Home is the only maternity home in Montgomery County offering a home for women 18-26 years of age to stay while pregnant and shortly after.

Journey Home offers a comfortable family environment to learn skills and acquire tools for success in her journey providing housing, spiritual encouragement, counseling support, parent education and career development. Most importantly they provide daily encouragement to boost the moms confidence that she is a valuable person with purpose. The organization partners with other organizations to provide birthing classes, parenting classes, and educational classes for their success in obtaining gainful employment to be independent.

The name Journey Home was an inspirational thought after Billie attended a church service and heard the name. We want ladies to Journey Home safely and be equipped to take care of their family, said Beasley. Beasley lived the life of an unwed pregnant woman at the age of 17 while she was employed at a nursing home. Terminated from her job due to her pregnancy as an unwed woman she had to choose between living in an abusive situation or caring for another women needing assistance as she was undergoing cancer treatment.

The path was not easy for Billie although her experience deepened her faith and the impact she would make in the lives of other women in the future. How would her life be different if she had a safe place when she was an unwed pregnant woman? Her experience as an unwed mother coupled with her job experience helped create a Journey Home.

Beasley was employed at the Pregnancy Assistance Center for 15 years and served as a volunteer for 22 years at a juvenile detention center where she witnessed many pregnant women without a safe home. This helped her gain relationships with pregnancy centers throughout the country, adoption agencies, other maternity homes, and a national hot line.

In 2019 Journey Home was established as a Christ-centered nonprofit Maternity Home existing to encourage and empower the women that walk through our doors to live the lives God intended for them to live. It was not until August of 2019 that they received 5013 documentation and exactly 40 weeks after Journey Home was created, women came to live in the home pre-pandemic in January 2020 offering a comfortable family environment in which to learn skills and acquire tools for success in their journey. After they opened their doors their first resident gave birth three weeks later. Their vision is to a maternity home the community trusts to recommend when a need arises with someone you know.

One story resonates with Billie Beasley with a mom and her two boys.

She came to us when she was early in her second pregnancy. She already had a 2 1/2-year-old toddler and was now a homeless and pregnant mom. She had just moved here from Kansas. When she first contacted us, she decided that the rules would just be too much for her. And then we met by chance unexpectedly in the parking lot of a pregnancy center. As I walked up to her, she shared her hopelessness condition in tears. Afterward she realized it was the same woman she had talked to weeks earlier. She decided that this was a sign and that she needed to come to Journey Home.

She and her son moved into Journey Home immediately. The path was not always easy, but she worked hard with perseverance. After 13 months at Journey Home, she received a phlebotomy certificate, had her own car and was moving into her very own apartment. Through this she has remained close with Journey Home and all the residents.

She shared a moment with a new guest at the facility. Its not always easy and you definitely wont always agree completely but stick with it! It will be worth the effort you put into it!

She and her sons are now a self-sufficient family unit and can focus on their future instead of living in the constant fear of homelessness.

The February 2021 freeze destroyed the pipes at their Willis home and Journey Home was forced to move to another location. The West Conroe Baptist Church welcomed Journey Home to reside at their campus temporarily until a new home could be found. As of Dec. 8, an offer was approved for a new home. New beginnings in 2022.

Since opening their doors 14 women have been residents of Journey Home.

Journey Home is a registered nonprofit dependent on donors, churches, grants, and gifts from the community. They receive no government funding. They encourage the community to pray for their staff, pray for the women, commit financially one time or monthly to sustain finances to house five women with children. Volunteers are needed to mentor the women.

Follow their Facebook page: www.Facebook.com/Journey-Home-TX. Donations can be made at www.journeyhometx.org or email Becky Beasley at becky@journeyhometx.org. Volunteers, please contact Karen Gould at karen@journeyhometx.org. If you know of a young woman who is committed to taking the next step towards her future but finds herself facing homelessness or in an abusive relationship, please contact Billie at billie@journeyhometx.org or 281-289-8257. Let us support these women and walk beside them along their journey.

Contributed by Margie Taylor
The city of Conroe is moving forward with an economic development grant with Hewlett Packard Enterprise which is relocating it aviation department from California to Conroe.

The grant amount is $465,072 payable over seven years.

Executive Director of the Conroe Economic Development Council Danielle Scheiner said the grant is performance based.

According to information from the city, the company has entered into a 10 agreement to lease a dedicated hanger at Galaxy FBO. The $1.6 million project to relocate the department from San Jose will include office space buildout, conference and support services as part of the 19,000 square foot space.

On yourcouriernews.com: Conroe Airport director lauded for aviation vision as growth takes flight

The companys move to Conroe will bring about 11 jobs to the community.

The move to Conroe comes after Gov. Greg Abbott announced in December 2020 that the company was moving its global headquarters to Spring. The new campus is expected to open in early 2022.

According to information from Abbotts office, HPE already has a significant presence across Texas, with locations in Austin, Plano, and Houston  the latter of which is home to more than 2,600 employees and is the companys largest employment hub. HPE currently operates major product development, services, manufacturing, and lab facilities in Houston and Austin.

We are excited that Hewlett Packard Enterprise has chosen to call Texas home, and I thank them for expanding their investment in the Lone Star State by relocating their headquarters to the Houston region, Abbott said in a release. Hewlett Packard Enterprise joins more than 50 Fortune 500 companies headquartered in the Lone Star State, including 22 in the Houston area alone. That is because Texas offers the best business climate in the nation. Our low taxes, high quality of life, top-notch workforce, and tier one universities create an environment where innovative companies like HPE can flourish.

We look forward to a successful partnership with HPE, as together we build a more prosperous future for Texas.

cdominguez@hcnonline.com
12 Houston winter menus to warm your spirits Here's where you can toast friends while feeling toasty this season.

New HPD video shows officer speeding before killing pedestrian The officer was driving upwards of 80 mph along Reed Road.

Dallas Cowboys football great brews up new business The hall of fame quarterback is now in the beer business.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP)  All 92 Indiana counties will get a piece of the $500 million in regional development grants being handed out by state officials, an economic development agency decided Tuesday.

The Indiana Economic Development Corp. board approved awarding money to all 17 regional groups that submitted proposals for the program encouraging regional cooperation on projects to attract residents and businesses.

Five regions will receive the maximum $50 million grants from the program the state created with federal COVID-19 relief funding. Those are northwestern Indiana and ones clustered around Evansville, Fort Wayne, South Bend and New Albany.

Those regions have the potential to pull in people from out of state, particularly the nearby Chicago and Louisville, Kentucky, areas, said Mark Wasky, the development agencys vice president of innovation and strategic initiatives.

All of those are kind of gateways to the state in many ways, Wasky told The Associated Press. Theyre located within areas that present particular opportunities for the state to be able to leverage large urban areas to attract talent.

Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb proposed creating the grant program in January and said Tuesday it had encouraged local leaders to look beyond their own city and county lines.

This truly is a rising tide lifts all boats statewide, simultaneous, and I would say on an unprecedented scale, all at once over the course of the next few years, Holcomb said.

The state board also approved $30 million grants for four regions and another four will get $20 million. Three others were approved for $15 million and one is receiving $5 million.

Wasky said those reviewing the proposals believed it was important to give money to all the regions in order to support ongoing cooperation.

The importance of encouraging regions to continue down this path was of significant importance for us to make sure that everybody walked away with something rather than feeling like they were left empty handed, he said.

The Regional Economic Acceleration and Development Initiative program received proposals outlining hundreds of projects for large cities and rural towns, including subsidies to encourage more housing construction, creating high-tech business locations and building new recreation facilities.

The Republican-dominated Legislature initially dedicated $150 million toward the program. That was increased to $500 million in April as the state budget was bolstered by $3 billion in federal COVID-19 relief funding.

Indiana Democrats have faulted Republicans for claiming credit for the regional grant program while the states entire GOP congressional delegation opposed its funding source, the American Rescue Plan signed in March by President Joe Biden.

The program comes as Indiana has seen many years of uneven economic and population growth. The 2020 census found that Indianas population grew 4.7% over the past decade, with Indianapolis and its surrounding counties seeing three-quarters of that growth. Meanwhile, much of rural Indiana shrank as 49 of the states 92 counties lost population.

All the regional organizations were told they had to match their state grant funding requests with four times as much money from local government or private investment sources.

Work wont start immediately on many of the planned projects as Wasky said federal rules require money to be committed to specific projects by the end of 2024 and spent by the end of 2026.

The state grant program resembles the Regional Cities Initiative that then-Gov. Mike Pence pushed for in 2015 and awarded $42 million grants toward three regional plans for the Fort Wayne, Evansville and South Bend areas, leaving four other regional organizations empty-handed. Supporters lauded its success, but Holcomb and Republican legislators didnt pursue more money for it when a new two-year state budget was adopted in 2019.
PORTLAND, Maine (AP)  A group of Republican senators including Sen. Susan Collins of Maine on Tuesday called on the Social Security Administration to reopen its field offices to the public.

Collins said the closure of the offices for more than 20 months has taken a toll on residents who need to access Social Security services. They said in a statement that the suspension created a disruption to the millions of new applicants and beneficiaries receiving Social Security benefits.
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP)  The Dutch government on Tuesday ordered elementary schools to close a week early for Christmas holidays as authorities battle to rein in coronavirus infections amid concerns about the swift spread of the new omicron variant.

Caretaker Prime Minister Mark Rutte also extended the country's existing lockdown until Jan. 14, saying the government has to be alert for the new variant.

That is of course not the good news you hope for at Christmas time, Rutte said in a nationally televised news conference. So yes, a disappointing but perhaps not very big surprise.

Rutte said school holidays will be extended from two weeks to three, starting Dec. 20. Young children registered the steepest rises in infections in a recent coronavirus surge in the Netherlands.

That surge has ebbed slightly since lockdown measures were introduced last month. Bars, restaurants and other public meeting places such as theaters and cinemas have been shutting their doors at 5 p.m. since Nov. 28 and will now have to continue through the holiday season.

Rutte said that continuing high pressure on the health care system combined with the looming threat of the omicron variant made measures unavoidable.

"We still dont know much about it, but this new variant is spreading considerably faster than the current delta variant, he said.

Earlier Tuesday, the country's public health institute in its weekly coronavirus update said that positive tests declined by 21% over the past week to 116,477. Hospital admissions were down 10% and intensive care units edged lower by 4%.

However, the institute warned that the omicron variant is expected to cause more infections and could in turn lead to an increase in hospital admissions.

Health Minister Hugo de Jonge said the country's booster campaign will be accelerated so that every adult who wants a booster shot will be able to get one by the second half of January.

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Follow APs pandemic coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic
BRUSSELS (AP)  European Union nations on Tuesday set fish catch quotas for next year in an attempt to protect fragile stocks and fishing fleets at the same time  leaving environmentalists claiming they will protect neither.

The traditional year-end bartering session between EU coastal nations to secure as many catch rights for their fishers for next year again often clashed with the advice of scientists to contain overfishing.

Even though some catches were reduced to safeguard the survival of species  like the one-third cut of sole totals in the Gulf of Biscay and some bans on targeted cod fishing  others were kept to guarantee the survival of threatening fishing communities.

The compromise result, said Slovene minister Joze Potgorsek who chaired the talks, will allow us to maintain fish stocks at sustainable levels while also protecting the livelihoods of European fishing fleets.

Environmentalists decried, however, that economic profit for the industry was at the cost of ocean sustainability and complained that some nations made no qualms about hiding their economic goals.

French Fisheries Minister Annick Girardin put it simply: A single line  the defense of quotas for French fishing.

The EU had agreed to end overfishing and remain within stricter limits by 2020, but enforcing it has been problematic.

The Oceana environmental group said Tuesday's result allows for the continuation of overfishing for a third of catch limits in 2022.

For decades, the EU allowed fishing to drive several iconic species to the brink of commercial extinction before efforts over the past 10 years have seen a gradual recovery. Environmental groups say that this effort needs to be sustained before the seas off the EU will be restored to a natural balance.

They said EU ministers failed to grasp that. Ending overfishing and ensuring abundant fish populations is in the interest of fishers, and these narrow-minded decisions will only jeopardize the health of our ocean, our planetary support system, and with it, the fishing industry, said Andrea Ripol of Seas At Risk.
BERLIN (AP)  European diplomats are expressing frustration with Iran's stance in talks aimed at salvaging its tattered 2015 nuclear deal, saying they are wasting precious time dealing with new Iranian demands and that time is running out." U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Tuesday diplomacy remains the best option but that Washington is engaging with partners on alternatives.

Talks in Vienna between the remaining signatories to the 2015 agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA, resumed last week in Vienna.

Diplomats from Britain, France and Germany had urged Tehran to come back with realistic proposals after the Iranian delegation  representing the country's new hard-line government  previously made numerous demands that other participants deemed unacceptable.

Senior diplomats from the three European powers made clear on Monday night that things have not improved although all delegations have pressed Iran to be reasonable. Russia and China also are part of the agreement with Iran.

The United States has participated indirectly in the ongoing talks because it withdrew from the accord in 2018 under then-President Donald Trump. President Joe Biden has signaled that he wants to rejoin the deal.

As of this moment, we still have not been able to get down to real negotiations, the European diplomats said. We are losing precious time dealing with new Iranian positions inconsistent with the JCPOA or that go beyond it.

They said the situation is frustrating because the outline of a comprehensive and fair agreement that removes all sanctions related to the nuclear deal while addressing nonproliferation concerns had been visible last summer.

Time is running out, they warned. Without swift progress, in light of Irans fast-forwarding of its nuclear program, the JCPOA will very soon become an empty shell.

The accord, sealed in Vienna in 2015, was meant to rein in Irans nuclear program in return for loosened economic sanctions.

Following the U.S. decision to withdraw and reimpose sanctions on Iran, Tehran has ramped up its nuclear program again by enriching uranium beyond the thresholds allowed in the agreement. Iran has also restricted monitors from the U.N. atomic watchdog from accessing its nuclear facilities, raising concerns about what the country is doing out of view.

Speaking to reporters in Jakarta, Blinken pointed to the frustration expressed by the European powers.

We continue at this hour, on this day to pursue diplomacy because it remains at this moment the best option, but we are actively engaging with allies and partners on alternatives, he said.

___

AP's Diplomatic Writer Matthew Lee in Jakarta, Indonesia, contributed to this report.
ATLANTA (AP)  An Associated Press review of every potential case of voter fraud in the six battleground states disputed by former President Donald Trump has found fewer than 475  a number that would have made no difference in the 2020 presidential election.

Democrat Joe Biden won Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin and their 79 Electoral College votes by a combined 311,257 votes out of 25.5 million ballots cast for president. The disputed ballots represent just 0.15% of his victory margin in those states.

The cases could not throw the outcome into question even if all the potentially fraudulent votes were for Biden, which they were not, and even if those ballots were actually counted, which in most cases they were not.

The review also showed no collusion intended to rig the voting. Virtually every case was based on an individual acting alone to cast additional ballots.

The findings build on a mountain of other evidence that the election wasnt rigged, including verification of the results by Republican governors.

The AP review, a process that took months and encompassed more than 300 local election offices, is one the most comprehensive examinations of suspected voter fraud in last years presidential election. It relies on information collected at the local level, where officials must reconcile their ballots and account for discrepancies, and includes a handful of separate cases cited by secretaries of state and state attorneys general.

Contacted for comment, Trump repeated a litany of unfounded claims of fraud he had made previously, but offered no new evidence that specifically contradicted the APs reporting. He said a soon-to-come report from a source he would not disclose would support his case, and insisted increased mail voting alone had opened the door to cheating that involved hundreds of thousands of votes.

I just dont think you should make a fool out of yourself by saying 400 votes, he said.

These are some of the culprits in the massive election fraud Trump falsely says deprived him of a second term:

A Wisconsin man who mistakenly thought he could vote while on parole.

A woman in Arizona suspected of sending in a ballot for her dead mother.

A Pennsylvania man who went twice to the polls, voting once on his own behalf and once for his son.

The cases were isolated. There was no widespread, coordinated deceit.

The cases also underscore that suspected fraud is both generally detected and exceptionally rare.

Voter fraud is virtually non-existent, said George Christenson, election clerk for Milwaukee County in Wisconsin, where five people statewide have been charged with fraud out of nearly 3.3 million ballots cast for president. I would have to venture a guess thats about the same odds as getting hit by lightning.

Even in the state with the highest number of potential fraud cases  Arizona, with 198  they comprised less than 2% of the margin by which Biden won.

Trump has continued to insist that the election was fraudulent by citing a wide range of complaints, many of them involving the expansion of mail voting because of the pandemic. As the Republican weighs another run for president in 2024, he has waded into some GOP primary contests, bestowing endorsements on those who mimic his Stop the steal rhetoric and seeking to exact revenge on some who have opposed his efforts to overturn the results.

Trumps false claims of a stolen election fueled the deadly Jan. 6 attempted insurrection at the Capitol, have led to death threats against election officials and have become deeply ingrained within the GOP, with two-thirds of Republicans believing Bidens election is illegitimate. Republican lawmakers in several states have used the false claims as justification to conduct costly and time-consuming partisan election reviews, done at Trumps urging, and add new restrictions for voting.

The number of cases identified so far by local elections officials and forwarded to prosecutors, local law enforcement or secretaries of state for further review undercuts Trumps claim. Election officials also say that in most cases, the additional ballots were never counted because workers did their jobs and pulled them for inspection before they were added to the tally.

There is a very specific reason why we dont see many instances of fraud, and that is because the system is designed to catch it, to flag it and then hold those people accountable, said Amber McReynolds, a former director of elections in Denver and the founding CEO of the National Vote at Home Institute, which promotes mail voting.

The APs review of cases in the six battleground states found no evidence to support Trumps various claims, which have included unsupported allegations that more votes were tallied than there are registered voters and that thousands of mail-in ballots were cast by people who are not on voter rolls. Dozens of state and federal courts have rejected the claims.

White House spokesman Andrew Bates said the AP's reporting offered further proof that the election was fairly conducted and decided, contrary to Trump's claims.

Each time this dangerous but weak and fear-ridden conspiracy theory has been put forward, it has only cemented the truth more by being completely debunked  including at the hands of elections authorities from both parties across the nation, nonpartisan experts, and over 80 federal judges, he said.

Experts say to pull off stealing a presidential election would require large numbers of people willing to risk prosecution, prison time and fines working in concert with election officials from both parties who are willing to look the other way. And everyone somehow would keep quiet about the whole affair.

It would be the most extensive conspiracy in the history of planet Earth, said David Becker, a senior trial attorney in the Justice Departments Civil Rights Division during the presidencies of Bill Clinton and George W. Bush who now directs the nonprofit Center for Election Innovation & Research.

Separate from the fraud allegations are claims by Trump and his allies that voting systems or ballot tallies were somehow manipulated to steal the election. Judges across the country, of both parties, dismissed those claims. That includes a federal judge in Michigan who ordered sanctions against attorneys allied with Trump for intending to create confusion, commotion and chaos in filing a lawsuit about the vote-counting process without checking for evidence to support the claims.

Even Trumps former attorney general, William Barr, said a month after the election that there was no indication of widespread fraud that could change the result.

For its review, AP reporters in five states contacted roughly 340 election offices for details about every instance of potential voter fraud that was identified as part of their post-election review and certification process.

After an election is over, officials research voter records, request and review additional information if needed from the state or other counties, and eventually decide whether to refer potential fraud cases for further investigation  a process that can take months.

For Wisconsin, the AP relied on a report about fraud investigations compiled by the state and filed public records requests to get the details of each case, in addition to prosecutions that were not initially reported to the state elections commission. Wisconsin is the only one of the six states with a centralized accounting of all potential voter fraud cases.

A state-by-state accounting:

ARIZONA: Authorities have been investigating 198 possible fraud cases out of nearly 3.4 million votes cast, representing 1.9% of Bidens margin of victory in the state. Virtually all the cases were in Pima County, home to Tucson, and involved allegations of double voting. The county has a practice of referring every effort to cast a second ballot to prosecutors, something other offices dont do. In the Pima cases, only one ballot for each voter was counted. So far, nine people have been charged in the state with voting fraud crimes following the 2020 election. Six of those were filed by the state attorney generals office, which has an election integrity unit that is reviewing an undisclosed number of additional cases.

GEORGIA: Election officials in 124 of the states 159 counties reported no suspicious activity after conducting their post-election checks. Officials in 24 counties identified 64 potential voter fraud cases, representing 0.54% of Bidens margin of victory in Georgia. Of those, 31 were determined to be the result of an administrative error or some other mistake. Eleven counties, most of them rural, either declined to say or did not respond. The state attorney general's office is reviewing about 20 cases referred so far by the state election board related to all elections in 2020, including the primary, but it was not known if any of those overlapped with cases already identified by local election officials.

MICHIGAN: Officials have identified 56 potential instances of voter fraud in five counties, representing 0.04% of Bidens margin of victory in the state. Most of the cases involved two people suspected of submitting about 50 fraudulent requests for absentee ballots in Macomb, Wayne and Oakland counties. All the suspicious applications were flagged by election officials and no ballots were cast improperly.

NEVADA: Local officials identified between 93 and 98 potential fraud cases out of 1.4 million ballots cast, representing less than one-third of 1% of Bidens margin of victory. More than half the total  58  were in Washoe County, which includes Reno, and the vast majority involved allegations of possible double voting. The statewide total does not include thousands of fraud allegations submitted to the state by local Republicans. Republican Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske has said many of those were based largely upon an incomplete assessment of voter registration records and lack of information concerning the processes by which these records are compiled and maintained. Its not known how many remain under investigation.

PENNSYLVANIA: Election officials in 11 of the states 67 counties identified 26 possible cases of voter fraud, representing 0.03% of Bidens margin of victory. The elections office in Philadelphia refused to discuss potential cases with the AP, but the prosecutors office in Philadelphia said it has not received any fraud-related referrals.

WISCONSIN: Election officials have referred 31 cases of potential fraud to prosecutors in 12 of the states 72 counties, representing about 0.15% of Bidens margin of victory. After reviewing them, prosecutors declined to bring charges in 26 of those cases. Meagan Wolfe, administrator of the Wisconsin Elections Commission, said the number of cases in 2020 was fairly run of the mill.

APs review found the potential cases of fraud ran the gamut: Some were attributed to administrative error or voter confusion while others were being examined as intentional attempts to commit fraud. In those cases, many involved people who sought to vote twice  by casting both an absentee and an in-person ballots  or those who cast a ballot for a dead relative such as the woman in Maricopa County, Arizona. Authorities there say she signed her mothers name on a ballot envelope. The womans mother had died a month before the election.

The cases are bipartisan. Some of those charged with fraud are registered Republicans or told investigators they were supporters of Trump.

Donald Holz is among the five people in Wisconsin who face voter fraud charges. He said all he wanted to do was vote for Trump. But because he was still on parole after being convicted of felony drunken driving, the 63-year-old retiree was not eligible to do so. Wisconsin is not among the states that have loosened felon voting laws in recent years.

Holz said he had no intention to break the law and only did so after he asked poll workers if it was OK.

The only thing that helps me out is that I know what I did and I did it with good intentions, Holz said after an initial court appearance in Fond du Lac. The guy upstairs knows what I did. I didnt have any intention to commit election fraud.

In southeast Pennsylvania, 72-year-old Ralph Thurman, a registered Republican, was sentenced to three years probation after pleading guilty to one count of repeat voting. Authorities said Thurman, after voting at his polling place, returned about an hour later wearing sunglasses and cast a ballot in his sons name.

After being recognized and confronted, Thurman fled the building, officials said. Thurmans attorney told the AP the incident was the result of miscommunication at the polling place.

Las Vegas businessman Donald Kirk Hartle was among those in Nevada who raised the cry against election fraud. Early on, Hartle insisted someone had unlawfully cast a ballot in the name of his dead wife, and state Republicans seized on his story to support their claims of widespread fraud in the state. It turned out that someone had cast the ballot illegally  Hartle, himself. He agreed to plead guilty to a reduced charge of voting more than once in the same election.

Hartles attorney said the businessman, who is an executive at a company that hosted a Trump rally before the election, had accepted responsibility for his actions.

Additional fraud cases could still surface in the weeks and months ahead. One avenue for those is the Electronic Registration Information Center, a data-sharing effort among 31 states aimed at improving state voter rolls. The effort also provides states with reports after each general election with information about voters who might have cast ballots in more than one state.

In the past, those lists have generated small numbers of fraud cases. In 2018, for example, Wisconsin used the report to identify 43 additional instances of potential fraud out of 2.6 million ballots cast.

Official post-election audits and other research have shown voter fraud to be exceptionally rare. A nonpartisan audit of Wisconsins 2020 presidential election found no evidence of widespread fraud and a Republican lawmaker concluded it showed that elections in the state were safe and secure, while also recommending dozens of changes to how elections are run. In Michigan, Republican state senators issued a report earlier this year saying they had found no evidence of widespread or systematic fraud in the 2020 election.

Not only do election officials look for fraud, they have procedures to detect and prevent it.

For mail voting, which expanded greatly last year because of the pandemic, election officials log every mail ballot so voters cannot request more than one. Those ballots also are logged when they are returned, checked against registration and, in many cases, voter signatures on file to ensure the voter assigned to the ballot is the one who cast it.

If everything doesnt match, the ballot isnt counted.

Often, we dont get to fraud, said Jennifer Morrell, a former local election official in Utah and Colorado who advises election officials on security and other issues. Say we have evidence that something might not be correct, we ask the voter to provide additional documentation. If the person doesnt respond, the ballot isnt accepted. The fraud never happened.

If a person who requested a mail ballot shows up at a polling place, this will become apparent when they check in. Typically, poll workers either cancel the ballot that was previously issued, ensuring its never counted, or ask the voter to complete a provisional ballot that will only be counted if the mail ballot is not.

In Union County, Georgia, someone voted in person and then election officials found their ballot in a drop box. Since the person had already voted, the ballot in the drop box was not counted and the case was referred to the state for investigation, Deputy Registrar Diana Nichols said.

We can tell pretty quick whenever we pull up that record -- wait a minute, this person has already voted, Nichols said. Im not saying its foolproof. We are all human, and we all make mistakes. But as far as the system is set up, if you follow the rules and the guidelines set up by the state, I think its a very good system.

The final step is the canvassing process in which election officials must reconcile all their counts, ensuring the number of ballots cast equals the number of voters who voted. Any discrepancies are researched, and election officials provide detailed explanations before the election can be certified.

Often, an administrative error can raise questions that suggest the potential for fraud.

In Forsyth County, Georgia, election officials were asked by Arizona investigators for records confirming that a voter had also cast a ballot in Georgia last November. It turns out that voter didnt cast a ballot but was listed as having done so because their registration number was mistakenly associated with another voters record in the countys system, according to a letter sent by county election officials.

In other cases, it could be as simple as a voter signing on the wrong line next to another persons name in a paper pollbook at their polling place. Once researched, it quickly becomes clear no fraud occurred.

Republican lawmakers have argued there are security gaps in the process, using concerns of fraud to justify restrictions on voting laws. This has happened even in places where Republican lawmakers have pushed back against Trumps false claims and said the 2020 election was valid.

The review by Republican lawmakers in Michigan that found no systemic fraud cited various claims they had investigated. For example, senators were provided with a list of over 200 voters in Wayne County who were believed to be dead. Of these, the report noted, only two instances involved actual dead voters. The first was due to a clerical error in which a son had been confused with his dead father and the second involved a 92-year-old woman who had died four days before the election.

And yet, Republicans in the state are collecting signatures for a citizen initiative that would allow the GOP-controlled legislature to approve voting restrictions and bypass a veto by the Democratic governor. Republicans say mail voting needs to be more secure as more people embrace it.

These bills will restore confidence in our elections, said GOP Rep. Ann Bollin, chairwoman of the Michigan House Elections and Ethics Committee and a former township clerk. Voters want to know their vote will count and that they, and only they, are casting their own ballot.

Overall, 80% of counties in the six states reviewed by the AP reported no suspicious activity after completing their post-election reviews. This was true of both small and large counties, something experts said was to be expected given how rare voter fraud has been.

Limited instances of fraud do occur, as the AP review illustrates, but safeguards ensure they are few and that they are caught, said Ben Hovland, a Democrat appointed by Trump to serve on the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, which supports the state and local officials who administer elections.

Every credible examination has shown there was no widespread fraud in the 2020 presidential election, Hovland said. Time and again when we have heard these claims and heard these allegations, and when you do a real investigation, you see that it is the exception and not the rule.

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Contributing to this report were Associated Press data journalist Camille Fassett in Oakland, California; reporter Colleen Long in Washington; AP state government reporters Scott Bauer in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin; Bob Christie in Phoenix; David Eggert in Lansing, Michigan; Anthony Izaguirre in Tallahassee, Florida; and Michelle L. Price in New York City; and other AP reporters in Michigan and Pennsylvania.
PLACERVILLE, Calif. (AP)  A father and son charged with sparking a devastating Northern California wildfire that destroyed about 1,000 homes near Lake Tahoe earlier this year are out of jail after a judge vastly reduced their bail, largely rejecting prosecutors' arguments that the duo posed a flight risk.

Travis Shane Smith, 32, had his $1 million bail reduced to $50,000 and his father David Scott Smith, 66, had his $1 million bail reduced to $25,000 on Monday after their attorneys argued the men had no criminal history and no reason to leave behind their families, The Sacramento Bee reported.

The Smiths were arrested Dec. 8 and charged in El Dorado County with recklessly starting a fire and illegal possession of a silencer. Travis Smith is also charged with illegal conversion or manufacture of a machine gun.

Travis Smith's attorney, Mark Reichel, told The Associated Press on Tuesday that prosecutors have not laid out their theory as to how the men started the Aug. 14 Caldor Fire, which destroyed about 1,000 homes and other buildings, injured five people and forced tens of thousands of others to flee their homes.

Theyre very happy to be out, Reichel said. They werent very happy to be arrested.

Prosecutor Nora Hall argued that potential prison sentences  at least a dozen years for each man  made them potential flight risks and that Shane Smiths social media posts indicated a lack of concern for proper firearms safety.

But El Dorado Superior Court Judge Ralph Marks said a bail reduction was warranted because there was no evidence the men acted maliciously or with intent. The charges also did not indicate they posed a danger to the community, the judge said.

Reichel and Linda Parisi, attorney for the elder Smith, said the men were in the area where the fire sparked and called 911 to report flames.

The criminal complaints do not specify how the machine gun and silencer tie into the Caldor Fire, and the DAs office has not offered an explanation. It declined on Tuesday to release additional statements about the case.

The fire crossed three Northern California counties, forcing tens of thousands of people to evacuate the resort town of South Lake Tahoe and surrounding areas before it was contained in October.

The next scheduled court date for the Smiths is Feb. 1.
WASHINGTON (AP)  President Joe Bidens pick to lead the Food and Drug Administration parried questions on crises ranging from the COVID-19 pandemic to the opioid epidemic, during a Senate hearing Tuesday that seemed to bode well for his confirmation.

After the hearing was over, Vermont Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders announced he would oppose Dr. Robert Califf's nomination. But Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Chair Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., and ranking GOP Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina both have said they would support him.

Califf, who served briefly as FDA commissioner toward the end of the Obama administration, promised that if confirmed he would use data to streamline the approval of COVID treatments and tests, conduct a full review of the agency's controversial handling of opioid painkillers, maintain focus on tobacco regulation, work to make prescription drugs more affordable, and confront medical misinformation on social media.

A cardiologist with strong connections to the pharmaceutical industry and academic research centers, Califf insisted that public service is his motivation for returning to the FDA. In a self-deprecating aside, he referred to himself as a 70-year-old person with nothing to gain."

His most pointed questioning came from Sanders, who underscored Califf's connections to drug companies and his multimillion-dollar investments in pharma stocks. What kind of comfort can you give to the American people when you have been so closely tied to the pharmaceutical industry yourself? demanded Sanders.

Responded Califf: I'm totally with you. The price of pharmaceuticals is way too high in this country."

New Hampshire Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan pressed Califf on the need to change FDA prescribing information for opioids, to better reflect the risk of addiction.

Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana told the nominee, I thank you for your vision.

The FDA has been straining for months under a massive pandemic workload even as a series of scientific disputes  including the approval of a controversial Alzheimers drug  have marred its public reputation. Califfs nomination by Biden last month was seen as a safe, steady choice to guide the agency, which hasn't had a permanent leader since last January.

The FDA regulates the vaccines, drugs and tests used to combat COVID-19. Thats on top of its normal duties regulating a swath of consumer goods and medicines, including prescription drugs, medical devices, tobacco and vaping products.

More than a year after authorizing the first COVID-19 vaccines, the FDA still faces a string of key decisions, including whether to expand booster shots to younger teens and children. Additionally, as researchers learn more about the omicron variant, the FDA will play a deciding role in whether the shots should be updated to target the strain.

FDA commissioners aren't typically involved in day-to-day scientific reviews, but they serve as the go-between the agencys scientists and political decisionmakers in the White House.

That relationship came to a head this fall when the FDA's two top vaccine reviewers publicly opposed the Biden administrations plan to offer boosters to all American adults. Both have since retired from the agency after decades-long careers, giving Califf an opportunity to choose key replacements. Last month, the FDA ultimately signed off on boosters for all adults as COVID-19 cases surged again.

Califf will also help choose a new chief for the FDA's tobacco center, which is weighing whether to ban e-cigarettes from Juul and other vaping companies due to their risks to teens.

Califf's first stint as FDA commissioner came after more than 35 years at Duke University, where he founded a contract research organization that conducts studies for many of the worlds largest drugmakers.

Since leaving government he has worked as a health policy adviser for Google and served as a board director or adviser to more than a half-dozen drug and biotech companies. If confirmed, Califf would resign from all of those positions, according to a recent federal disclosures form.

Under Califf in 2016, the FDA added bolstered warnings to prescription opioids and began publicly scrutinizing all new opioid drug applications. But the agency has yet to implement many other steps recommended by experts, including an overall review of whether the opioid painkillers pose more risks than benefits for society at large.
ATLANTA (AP)  The Georgia Supreme Court upheld a lower court decision Tuesday dismissing a challenge to the governor's appointment of a former state senator as a superior court judge.

The ruling allows Jesse Stone to remain a judge in the Augusta Judicial Circuit. His appointment by Gov. Brian Kemp had been challenged by lawyer Maureen Floyd, who argued Kemp had waited too long to appoint him to fill a vacancy on the court.

The vacancy was created when former judge Michael Annis sent a letter to the governor in December 2019 saying he intended to resign Feb. 1, 2020. The state's Judicial Nominating Commission on Feb. 17, 2020, submitted a list of four potential candidates to fill the seat, including Stone. Kemp appointed Stone to the seat on Feb. 22, 2021, for a term to end Dec. 31, 2022.

Floyd argued Kemp had waited too long because Annis' term expired at the end of 2020.

Senior Judge Michael Karpf ruled Kemp had not violated the state constitutions requirement that Kemp fill the vacancy promptly and wrote that it did not matter that Annis term had run out because previous case law stated that judicial terms of office are eliminated when judges resign.

The judge also rejected Floyds claims that Kemp manipulated the appointment process to give Stone a longer period in office before he had to face voters.

Karpf noted Stone will face voters in a nonpartisan election next year, the same time he would have gone before voters even if Kemp had appointed him in February 2020, because state law requires at least a six-month delay before an appointed judge faces voters. Judicial elections generally take place in May, not on the November ballot that includes partisan elected officials.

The high court upheld Karpf's ruling and noted that removing Stone would prolong the vacancy of that office.

A remedy that aggravates the injury flowing from a constitutional violation is not a remedy that is tailored to the injury, Presiding Justice Michael P. Boggs writes in the opinion. Floyd cited no reason that Stone is ineligible to hold the office, he added.
PIERRE, S.D. (AP)  The South Dakota House Speaker said Tuesday he had appointed special counsel to guide a committee considering whether the state's attorney general should be impeached.

The Republican Speaker, Rep. Spencer Gosch, said Sara Frankenstein, a Rapid City attorney who specializes in government affairs, would counsel lawmakers in the first impeachment investigation in state history.
PIERRE, S.D. (AP)  South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noems daughter received unusual treatment in an application for her real estate appraiser license, including an extra opportunity to obtain it after failing to meet federal requirements, the former director of a state appraiser agency told lawmakers Tuesday.

Sherry Bren's testimony before a legislative panel was the first time that she has spoken in depth in public about Kassidy Peters' application and about a meeting that her mother called last year to discuss the appraisal process. The panel began looking into the July 2020 meeting at the governor's mansion after The Associated Press first reported on it in September.

Noem called the meeting a week after the state's Appraiser Certification Program notified her daughter that her application was headed for denial. Peters ultimately obtained the certification four months later, in November 2020, and Bren said she was subsequently forced to retire" from a program that she had led since its inception in 1991.

Bren testified that she felt intimidated at the July meeting, where she said Peters unsuccessful application was discussed in detail and a plan was formulated that gave her another chance to apply.

Bren said that she could not remember the agency forming what's called a stipulation agreement for any other appraiser at that point in their application. She said it broke with established procedures, giving Peters a third chance to pass a work review; applicants are usually granted two opportunities.

Even before that, Bren said, Peters application had departed from established practice, when Noems labor secretary took an unusual, hands-on role that spring.

The legislative panel's inquiry comes as Noem has positioned herself as a prospect for the GOP presidential ticket in 2024 and shown a willingness to jab at potential rivals.

Noem has denied wrongdoing, casting her actions as an effort to cut red tape to address a shortage of appraisers. Noem also has insisted the agreement was not broached at the July meeting and said her daughter had only given her personal experiences through the program.

Theres been a continual narrative that I did something to help her get licensed, which is absolutely false, Noem said at an event Monday.

In testimony Tuesday, Bren said she had expected to see Noem and her labor secretary at the July meeting, but was surprised it included others, including Peters and the governors top aides.

Once I got there, I was very nervous, and, quite frankly, intimidated, Bren said.

As she testified, Noem spokesman Ian Fury posted on Twitter that the agreement showed that Peters had to meet additional requirements to get her license.

In an email, Fury also questioned Bren's credibility, pointing out that the agency had previously entered into a stipulation agreement" with an applicant in 2017.

But Bren said that 2017 agreement was reached as part of the proceedings of a third-party review board, called the Office of Hearing Examiners, to which appraisers can appeal if they believe the agency mishandled their license.

Once our case goes to hearing, then these documents are outside of my authority or control, and it would not be the same thing as what were talking about today, Bren told the committee.

The 2017 agreement laid out a plan for an applicant to withdraw his application and submit a new one; Peters' agreement allowed her to complete her initial application.

In another departure from normal procedure, Bren said Secretary of Labor Marcia Hultman had pushed in the spring for her to strike from Peters' first agreement a requirement that she take additional classes as she tried for a second time to meet federal requirements. Bren said she could not remember a cabinet secretary ever getting involved in that process.

Hultman previously testified that Peters application was handled in the same way as many other applicants. Hultman also said the meeting in the governors mansion did not influence how Peters' application was handled because regulators had already shaped the agreement.

But Bren told lawmakers, I recall the discussion focused on crafting a second agreement requiring Peters to complete the classes. Peters agreed to complete the classes, correct and rewrite the appraisal reports, and submit them for review to the examiner.

The agreement was signed more than a week after the meeting.

Brens appearance was compelled by subpoena. After she was pressured to retire last year, she filed an age discrimination complaint and accepted a $200,000 settlement that bars her from disparaging state officials.

Bren testified that she was forced to retire. Asked later to say why, she said: I believe that it was age discrimination and beyond that would be strictly speculation on my part.

Several lawmakers said they would like to see the state remove the nondisparagement clause from Bren's agreement because it would let them get more information.

This is a question about, was a longtime, dedicated employee, was she wrongfully fired? Was she wrongfully fired on behalf of a relative of the governor? And did the state end up paying $217,000 to cover that up? said Sen. Reynold Nesiba, a Democrat. And were not going to know the answer to that question because of this nondisparagement clause.

The committee will draft a report on its findings, said Rep. Randy Gross, the Republican co-chair. He said that would let the facts of what we learned stand on their own.

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This story has corrected the attribution of a statement to Sherry Bren and that she filed an age discrimination complaint, not a lawsuit.

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Follow Stephen Groves on Twitter: https://twitter.com/stephengroves
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP)  Louisiana has two new top federal prosecutors after each took the oath of office.

U.S. District Judge Brian Jackson on Monday swore in veteran prosecutor Ronald Gathe Jr. as U.S. Attorney for the Baton Rouge-based Middle District of Louisiana.

Im really looking forward to this part of this chapter of my life and look forward to serving the people of Louisiana, Gathe said, The Advocate reported.

And Brandon Bonaparte Brown was officially sworn in last week at the federal courthouse in Lafayette as the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Louisiana, which has offices in Shreveport, Lafayette, Alexandria, Monroe and Lake Charles.

I am excited to serve alongside a team of exceptional public servants at the U.S. Attorneys Office and with the dedicated law enforcement professionals throughout this district. This office will continue to partner with law enforcement and community partners to pursue equal justice under the law," Brown said.

Gathe is a graduate of Xavier University and Southern University Law Center and is the first Black person nominated by a president for the position in the Middle District, created in 1972. Jackson and Stan Lemelle are Black men who served as U.S. Attorney in the Middle District without having been appointed by a president.

Gathe succeeds Brandon Fremin, who had been the Trump administrations appointee until he resigned at the end of February. Ellison Travis had been serving as the district's interim U.S. Attorney.

Since January, Gathe had been Chief of Trials for the 18th Judicial District Attorneys Office in Iberville, West Baton Rouge and Pointe Coupee parishes. He also previously served as an assistant district attorney in the 19th Judicial District Attorneys Office in Baton Rouge.

Brown replaced David Joseph as U.S. Attorney. Joseph resigned Aug. 3, 2020, after being appointed to a judicial post in the Western District. Alexander C. Van Hook had been serving as acting U.S. Attorney in the interim.

In November 2012, Brown joined the U.S. Attorney's Office in Shreveport, serving as an assistant U.S. Attorney. In March 2018, he left to accept a position in private practice and then rejoined the Shreveport Criminal Division in October 2018. He also served as an assistant district attorney in Monroe.

A graduate of Louisiana Tech University, Brown received his law degree from Southern University Law Center in 2007.
LAS VEGAS (AP)  A man convicted in the shooting death of a woman during a burglary in her metro Las Vegas home has been sentenced to 32 years to life in prison.

State District Court Judge Tierra Jones on Monday said 60-year-old Sheri Aoyagi was killed in 2018 because she and her husband had returned home during the burglary and the perpetrators didn't want to leave any witnesses.
A man who was effectively sentenced to life in prison for a robbery he committed as a teenager in St. Louis has been granted parole, years after the judge who sentenced him had a change of heart.

The state parole board granted parole to 42-year-old Bobby Bostic on Monday and he will be released from prison late next year, according to the American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri and the Missouri Department of Corrections.

Bostic was 16 in December 1995 when he and another teen robbed at gunpoint a group of people who were delivering Christmas presents to a needy family. Prosecutors said Bostic fired a shot that grazed one victim, and that he and the other teen then carjacked and robbed a woman before releasing her.

Then-Circuit Judge Evelyn Baker believed at the time that it was unlikely that Bostic could be rehabilitated and she sentenced him to a total of 241 years in prison on 18 counts, with convictions for every count to be served one-after-the-other, meaning he wouldn't be eligible for parole until he was 112 years old. She said at the time that she intended for Bostic to "die in the Department of Corrections.

Bostic for a while found hope in a 2010 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that outlawed life sentences for people under 18 for non-homicide crimes. The Supreme Court, however, declined to hear his case in 2019.

But Bostic got support from any unlikely source  the judge who had sentenced him. Baker, then retired, came to regret the sentence and in 2018 called for throwing it out, saying it was grossly unfair.

What I learned too late is that young peoples brains are not static; they are in the process of maturing, she wrote in an essay published by The Washington Post.

When the U.S. Supreme Court denied his case, the ACLU worked with the Missouri Legislature to pass a law based on Bostics case that allows teens imprisoned essentially for life for crimes other than murder to get a parole board review after 15 years.

The Missouri Department of Corrections on Tuesday confirmed that Bostic is set to be released from prison next Nov. 9. Until then, the department can offer Bostic a variety programs, including job readiness classes and family reunification programs, department spokeswoman Karen Pojmann said.

We can connect him to various re-entry programs to help ensure his success in society, Pojmann said.

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This story was updated to correct the headline, which erroneously said Bostic was sentenced to a minimum of 112 years in prison. He was given the equivalent of a life sentence and would have been 112 years old when first eligible for parole until the state parole board's decision.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP)  Minneapolis began a pilot program on Monday that would send unarmed mental health professionals to residents who call 911 about behavioral or mental-health related crises.

The behavioral crisis response teams  which aim to provide counseling, crisis intervention and connection to support services  will be staffed by professionals from Canopy Mental Health & Consulting. The company was awarded a two-year, $6 million contract by the city's Office of Performance and Innovation in July, the Star Tribune reported.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP)  Two Kansas City area districts are dropping mask mandates and modifying quarantine rules in response to Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt's threats to file legal action against districts over the regulations.

Kearney and Smithville school boards met in special sessions Monday to discuss a ruling from a Cole County judge last month that school districts and local health agencies do not have the authority under state law to impose health orders.

Schmitt, a Republican who is running for the U.S. Senate, cited that ruling last week when he sent letters to dozens of districts and local health agencies demanding they stop enforcing COVID-19 mitigation policies. He has also encouraged parents to report any school districts that continue to enforce the restrictions.

The Columbia School Board also voted Monday to drop mask requirements and modify quarantine rules but a district spokeswoman said the vote had nothing to do with Schmitt's letter, The Columbia Missourian reported.

The court ruling and Schmitt's letters have caused confusion for school districts. Some have modified their COVID-19 regulations while others have argued Schmitt does not have the authority to enforce his demands because their rules were created by locally elected officials.

The Smithville school district will make masks optional in early January, while Kearney will drop its mask mandate on Dec. 23, officials decided. Masks will still be required on school buses, The Kansas City Star reported.

Quarantine rules will not be eliminated. Students and staff who are showing symptoms of COVID-19 or who test positive still will be excluded from school. Those who are identified as a close contact to someone with COVID-19 will not be excluded from school if they do not symptoms, or are fully vaccinated, or had COVID-19 within the previous three months.

Cole County Circuit Judge Daniel Green ruled last month that health orders issued by local authorities under state health regulations were unconstitutional.

On Monday, Jackson and St. Louis counties filed legal action seeking to overturn Green's ruling. The counties accused Schmitt of creating chaos across the state with a campaign of litigation terror.

The court order was to go into effect Dec. 22 but Schmitt has said school districts and local health agencies should immediately drop the COVID-19 regulations.
GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP)  A tobacco store employee shot and killed one of three robbery suspects who entered the business, police said Tuesday.

Greensboro police said in a news release that three males entered the store on the city's north side at around 7:45 p.m. on Monday. The men were armed with a handgun, police said in the news release.
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP)  The New Mexico state Senate voted Friday in favor of a spending plan for $478 million in federal pandemic relief to expand highways, internet infrastructure, electric vehicles and oil field cleanup efforts.

Included in the bill is $133 million in spending on internet projects, including alternative broadband using emerging technologies like wireless towers, blimps and new satellite internet networks.

The sparsely populated rural state has struggled for years to dig the trenches and lay the fiber optic cable necessary to expand internet access. The issue was pushed to the forefront during the pandemic, when poor internet access led to inequalities in online education and healthcare access.

Legislators hope that an influx in federal funding and the creation of a dedicated state broadband office will help accelerate internet connectivity efforts, especially in rural communities.

While students are now back to school in person, theyre still expected to attend virtual classes when theres bad weather, or if theyre quarantined due to a COVID-19 exposure even though thousands of children lack access to quality internet, according to a fall state Public Education Department.

Theres no such thing as a snow day anymore, said bill sponsor Sen. George Munoz of Gallup, in northwestern New Mexico.

The state Senate voted 36-4 in favor of the bill, returning it to the House to approve recent amendments. The measure is expected to pass and preserves priorities added by the House, including $2 million for teacher loan repayment and $50 million for a rural hospital.

The money would come from the some $1 billion in federal funds the state legislature is working to allocate after the state supreme court ruled last month that Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham had no right to allocate the funds herself. The Legislature is on track to put around half of that money in the general fund, allowing it to allocate the money next year.

Lujan Grisham has urged the Legislature to move quickly on pandemic aid spending.

The Democratic governor had vetoed Legislature allocations of the federal pandemic relief funds this spring, sparking a rare public dispute between her and the Democratic majorities in the state House and Senate. The Legislature sued and ultimately won their argument in court that the Legislature has the power of the purse, even when the money comes from federal funding.

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Attanasio is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues. Follow Attanasio on Twitter.
LAGOS, Nigeria (AP)  Nigeria will no longer accept COVID-19 vaccines with short shelf lives after 1 million doses have expired in Africa's most population nation before the shots could be used, a government official said.

While some of the doses given to Nigeria were within a few months of expiring, authorities have said that other donated vaccines had just weeks left to be given to people before becoming unusable.

Faisal Shuaib, head of Nigerias National Primary Health Care Development Agency, told reporters that expired vaccines not used in time now will be destroyed. He did not specify what Nigerian officials would consider to be too short of a shelf life.

Nigeria has only been able to fully vaccinate 1.9% of its 206 million people. While at least 30 million doses are currently available, authorities say the rush to distribute almost-expired ones has created an additional burden.

Other African countries also have struggled to use donated doses in time. Malawi burned nearly 20,000 expired vaccines earlier year and South Sudan also said it had to destroy tens of thousands of doses.

Matshidiso Moeti, the World Health Organizations regional director for Africa, said Tuesday that the problem of expiring vaccines is a global one. The number of doses that have gone unused in Africa has represented less than a quarter of 1%.

It is necessary to dispel the impression that even as we are expressing concern about access to vaccine supplies, there are millions of doses being wasted, expiring in Africa," she said. That is not the case.

Two weeks after Nigeria recorded its first omicron variant case, the country is starting to see an increase in the number of new infections, Shuaib said. However, there has been no evidence so far of increased hospitalizations, he added.

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Follow all AP stories on the pandemic at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP)  A police investigator says he believes the people who killed two young children along with a man at an Ohio apartment complex a week ago knew the children were present and may have targeted them along with the man.

Authorities said 9-year-old Demitrius Wallneal and 6-year-old Londynn Wallneal were shot along with 22-year-old Charles Wade as they sat in a car in the parking lot of the Winchester Lakes apartment complex on the southeast side of Columbus on the night of Dec. 7.
NEWBERG, Ore. (AP)  The architect of a ban on political symbols including those supporting gay pride and Black Lives Matter in Newberg schools appears to be facing an ultimatum: resign by Friday or hope that Newberg voters will side with him in a January recall election.

Yamhill County Clerk Brian Van Bergen told The Oregonian/OregonLive that as of Monday, a campaign effort to recall Newberg school board vice chair Brian Shannon far exceeded the number of valid signatures required to put the recall on the ballot.

The minimum required is 2,547 and the county has found no cause to invalidate more than 3,000 signatures, Van Bergen said.

If the signatures are fully certified by the end of Monday, Shannon will have until Friday evening to resign, Van Bergen said. Shannon told newspaper he will not resign, which means by Monday he'll be required to submit a 200-word explanation for why he should not be recalled to the clerks office.

I have no intention of resigning, Shannon said. I continue to believe that the majority of our community supports the Boards efforts to keep adult political agendas out of taxpayer-funded schools.

Shannon was first elected to the board in 2019 during an election in which only 17% of Yamhill County voters took part.

Newberg school board chair Dave Brown, elected in 2019, is also facing the possibility of a recall election, potentially on the same ballot as Shannon in January.

Brown voted in favor of Shannons political symbols ban and pushed through the firing of Superintendent Joe Morelock without cause in November, rejecting pleas from minority members of the board to retain popular administrator.

The Recall Dave Brown campaign said it would submit more than the required number of signatures to Yamhill County on Monday.

Brown did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the newspaper.

The school boards conservative majority faces multiple lawsuits for its conduct, including the political symbols ban and the boards hiring of Canby attorney Tyler Smith at an August meeting that was not properly noticed to the public.
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP)  Swedish media reported Tuesday that a British freighter didnt noticed it had rammed a Danish freighter off southern Sweden, causing the smaller vessel to capsize and leaving one person dead and another missing.

The Scot Carrier only stopped when it was ordered back by authorities, media said.

Two people have been detained as suspects. The British shipping company said crew aboard the Scot Carrier were tested for drugs and alcohol after the collision and two crew members exceeded the limit. It was not clear whether they were the same crewmembers who were detained.

The pre-dawn collision with the Danish-flagged Karin Hoej happened Monday in foggy weather. The Danish ship capsized fully and was left floating upside down.

Local rescue service operations manager Johan Nilsson told the daily Aftonbladet that there are marks showing that the larger boat ran into the smaller one, which rolled over ... capsized immediately.

Scotline Marine Holdings Ltd, the owner and manager of the 2018-built Scot Carrier, said in a statement that it has "a strict drug and alcohol policy in place and ... a zero-tolerance for any breaches that occur.

Swedish prosecutors on Monday opened a preliminary investigation on potential charges of gross negligence in maritime traffic and gross sea drunkenness. A British citizen born in 1991 and a Croatian born in 1965 were detained as suspects in the case. Their names were not released.

The capsized vessel was towed closer to land so divers from the Swedish Armed Forces and the Coast Guard, among others, could search it.
NEW YORK (AP)  Second hand. Like new. Thrift. Buy Nothing. Gently used. There are lots of ways to describe consumption in the booming resale market.

Add Merry Christmas! to the list.

Resale has taken off among those looking to save the planet and spend less on gifts during what can be the most wasteful time of the year  the December holidays. This year's supply chain delays have provided extra motivation.

Gifting at its core should be about thoughtfulness, and arguably more thought is put into finding a meaningful, interesting secondhand gift for someone than just hitting the buy button on something everyone is getting from Amazon, said Ashlee Piper, a sustainability expert and author of Give a Sh*t: Do Good. Live Better. Save the Planet.

One of her favorite gifts ever was a tattered copy of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes that a friend found for $2 at a thrift shop.

Its kitschy, thoughtful and totally unique," Piper said.

The resale market is far from dominant overall, and spans all ages. Industry reports have said the recent gains are driven mainly by Gen Z and Millennial shoppers.

Players large and small are reaping the benefits.

Luxury resale marketplace The RealReal, which has more than 23 million members after going public more than two years ago, said it saw a 60% jump last year over the year before among those choosing gift boxes with purchases during the holiday season. Last month, the online site, which has 16 brick-and-mortar consignment stores around the U.S., saw orders with gift boxes rise by 73% over the same month last year for unbranded jewelry. Such purchases were up 62% for Gucci items and 53% for Louis Vuitton selections, according to company data.

The stigma is gone, said Marshal Cohen, a consumer behavior and retail analyst for the NPD Group. There is a new view of how valuable some of the resale product is. Grey market selling of new and used items are now reaching new heights. Scoring a great item others can only dream of is the new form of luxury.

Sales of gift cards for online thrift giant ThredUp, which went public earlier this year, were up 103% during the first two weeks of December compared to the entire month of November, said Erin Wallace, vice president of integrated marketing.

Kristi Marquez, 36, in Jupiter, Florida, has two young daughters. She has cut down her gift list from about 20 people to 10 this year after her family opted to buy only for their kids. A good three-quarters of her gifts will be resale items. She used Thriftbooks.com and other book resellers to purchase previously owned titles at deeply discounted prices. Facebook Marketplace and local moms' groups have proven fruitful for toys.

Sometimes, she said, going resale isn't about the environment or saving money, especially this year.

At the top of our oldests list is the Magic Mixies Magic Cauldron. At first, I didnt know the toy was so popular and was shocked to see it sold out everywhere, except at more than double the price from resellers on Amazon and Walmart, she said. After wading through potential scammers, I finally got a hold of one on Poshmark for $99. Its not the eco-friendly toy wed hoped for and its still overpriced but were happy we found the main toy she asked for this year.

The plastic toy, which makes sounds and produces mist after kids create a potion, retails for $69.99.

As more retailers have added resale as an option, tech middlemen have jumped in to assist. One company, List Perfectly, offers tools for resellers to cross-post their wares on 11 marketplaces.

Resale doesnt necessarily mean used. A lot of resellers resell new items that are currently scarce as theyve planned their inventory for months to accommodate holiday shopping demands, said Clara Albornoz, co-founder and CEO. Buyers can see a variety of options, easily price compare, shop from their home, get their items quickly and affordably, and delivered straight to them, usually with opportunities to return if there are any issues.

Another company, Recurate, enables brands to create their own resale platforms on their websites.

Recurates sales over the Black Friday and Cyber Monday week were over 50% higher than average," said Karin Dillie, vice president of partnerships. She said customers are seeking resale items "to satisfy their own deal hunting as well as to purchase as gifts.

Appealing specifically to Gen Z, the resale marketplace Galaxy provides live shows for buyers and sellers to interact in real time. It recently hosted a five-day holiday event involving 40 top sellers.

By being able to have real time conversations through live video and SMS messaging, sellers and shoppers get to build a relationship. This often leads to sellers becoming trusted curators of your wardrobe and your holiday shopping, said Danny Quick, co-founder and CEO.

Sadie Cherney, a franchise owner with three resale Clothes Mentor boutiques in South Carolina, said resale is a buyer-beware market.

Her tips: Search for items that are new with tags, do your homework on return policies, make sure things like zippers are functional, check for stains and tears, and  perhaps most importantly  decide whether you will tell your gift recipient that you shopped resale.

Kahlil Spurlock, 32, in Jersey City, New Jersey, turned to resale for holiday gifts this year in an effort to reduce his carbon footprint. He used Grailed, a site not unlike The RealReal but focused on menswear.

I was buying for my 20-year-old brother, who does buy resale, he said. There are some items that are just so cool, like some streetwear, you can only find on resale."

Spurlock picked up two items from hot brands for his younger sibling.

None of this is new to 50-year-old Amanda Spencer in suburban Philadelphia. She's a longtime resale hunter on Facebook Marketplace, local Buy Nothing groups that offer items for free, and events like sales at her church.

This year for Christmas, she found a series of books on Facebook that her daughter wanted. And from a Buy Nothing group, she picked up a beanbag chair her daughter had asked for.

It's not exactly the one but who cares, Spencer said.

For her son, she found Minecraft cube building toys at a yard sale.

Most of the stuff that theyve ever gotten throughout their lives has either been hand-me-downs or from consignment shops, Spencer said. Why bother paying full retail?

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Follow Leanne Italie on Twitter at http://twitter.com/litalie
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP)  Rhode Island's new U.S. attorney is on the job.

The U.S. attorneys office announced Zachary Cunha took the oath of office Monday to become the U.S. attorney for the District of Rhode Island. U.S. District Court Chief Judge John McConnell administered the oath in U.S. District Court in a brief ceremony attended by members of Cunhas family and other judges.

Cunha was chief of the civil division for the U.S. attorneys office in Rhode Island. The U.S. attorney is the top federal law enforcement official in the state responsible for overseeing an office that prosecutes federal cases.

Cunha was nominated by President Joe Biden in September on the advice Democratic U.S. Sens. Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse.

A lawyer for two decades, Cunha spent most of his career with the Department of Justice, serving in the U.S. attorney's office for Rhode Island, Massachusetts and the Eastern District of New York, where he was first appointed as an assistant U.S. attorney in 2005. He has an undergraduate degree from Brown University and a law degree from George Washington University.

He said he's humbled and honored to lead the office and continue its tradition of seeking justice on behalf of every resident, and he's looking forward to working closely with partners in law enforcement and with communities and community leaders across Rhode Island.
Each Midland Public Elementary School has been ranked in the top 33% of more than 2,000 Michigan schools.

The 2022 US News & World report ranks elementary, middle and high schools each year. On Monday, MPS announced how some of its schools ranked to education counterparts nationally, across the state and locally.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP)  The state crime laboratory for Rhode Island has been awarded a $300,000 grant to address a backlog of firearms cases.

Rhode Island U.S. Attorney Zachary Cunha announced the grant Monday, shortly after he was sworn in as U.S. attorney. The Justice Department awarded the Project Safe Neighborhoods grant to the laboratory.
GOLDEN, Colo. (AP)  A truck driver who was convicted of causing a fiery pileup that killed four people and injured six others on Interstate 70 west of Denver was sentenced Monday to 110 years in prison.

District Court Judge Bruce Jones imposed the sentence against Rogel Aguilera-Mederos, 26, after finding it was the mandatory minimum term set forth under state law, The Denver Post reported.

I will state that if I had the discretion, it would not be my sentence, the judge said.

Aguilera-Mederos was convicted in October of vehicular homicide and other charges stemming from the April 25, 2019, crash. He testified that the brakes on his semitrailer failed before he plowed into vehicles that had slowed because of another wreck in the Denver suburb of Lakewood.

But prosecutors argued he could have used one of several runaway ramps as his truck barreled down from the mountains. The chain-reaction wreck ruptured gas tanks, causing flames that consumed several vehicles and melted parts of the highway.

Those killed were Miguel Angel Lamas Arellano, 24; William Bailey, 67; Doyle Harrison, 61; and Stanley Politano, 69.

Sometimes it feels like being half a person when you lose your spouse, said Kathleen Harrison, who was married to Doyle Harrison. We were a team.

A Jefferson County jury convicted Aguilera-Mederos of four counts of vehicular homicide, six counts of first-degree assault, 10 counts of attempted first-degree assault, four counts of careless driving causing death, two counts of vehicular assault and one count of reckless driving.

Aguilera-Mederos, who was hauling lumber, was traveling at least 85 mph (137 kph) on a part of the interstate where commercial vehicles are limited to 45 mph (72 kph) because of a steep descent from the Rocky Mountain foothills, according to investigators. The initial impact caused a 28-vehicle chain-reaction wreck.

Police said that just before the crash, the truck traveled past a ramp on the side of the interstate that is designed to safely stop trucks and other vehicles that have lost their brakes.

Aguilera-Mederos wept as he spoke during the sentencing, apologizing to the families of the victims and asking for their forgiveness.

I am not a criminal, he said. I am not a murderer. I am not a killer. When I look at my charges, we are talking about a murderer, which is not me. I have never thought about hurting anybody in my entire life.
LONDON (AP)  The omicron variant is spreading so rapidly it has the potential to overwhelm Britains hospitals, highlighting the need to strengthen coronavirus restrictions and speed up the delivery of booster vaccine shots, the country's health minister said Tuesday.

Omicron is so transmissible that even if it proves to be less severe than other variants, there is still likely to be a surge in hospital admissions if it goes unchecked, U.K. Health Secretary Sajid Javid told lawmakers.

His comments came as the government rushed to accelerate the national vaccination program, with a goal of offering a booster dose to every adult by the end of December. Lawmakers also voted Tuesday to approve tougher rules on mask-wearing in most indoor public places and mandatory COVID passes for nightclubs to slow the variant until more vaccinations can be delivered.

This is a new national mission, Javid said. A race between the virus and the vaccine to get as many people protected as possible.

In another effort to speed up the booster program, U.K. health officials temporarily suspended the 15-minute observation period normally required for anyone receiving a Pfizer or Moderna shot. Doctors had complained that the waiting period  designed to spot allergic reactions before patients left clinics  usually wasnt necessary and resulted in healthy patients taking up valuable space at crowded vaccination centers.

Long lines formed outside vaccination centers across England for a second consecutive day on Tuesday as the National Health Service raced to meet the governments target of delivering up to 1 million shots a day, more than double the recent average.

Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab said logistical issues in expanding the vaccination program would diminish over the next week.

It does take a few days just to make sure we get to a steady state, he told the BBC. Well keep straining every sinew to make sure we can reach that target.

Vaccinations centers throughout the U.K. put 562,800 shots in arms on Monday, including 513,722 boosters.

Monday was the second-highest day for COVID-19 booster bookings in England, with more than 650,000 appointments scheduled, the NHS said.

In an address to the nation on Sunday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson encouraged everyone eligible to get a booster shot to reinforce our wall of vaccine protection against an anticipated tidal wave of omicron. Everyone 18 and up will be offered a third dose by Dec. 31  a month earlier than the previous target, Johnson said.

Johnson late Monday called for thousands of volunteers to staff new vaccination centers in shopping areas, stadiums and racecourses. The push mirrored last years vaccination drive, with primary care doctors, hospitals, the military and average citizens mobilized to deliver inoculations.

We need tens of thousands of people to help out  everyone from trained vaccinators to stewards, Johnson said. Many thousands have already given their time  but we need you to come forward again, to work alongside our brilliant GPs, doctors, nurses and pharmacists, to deliver jabs and save lives.

U.K. authorities have said the number of omicron infections is doubling every two to three days and the variant is likely to become the dominant form of COVID-19 throughout the country in days.

Javid said the rapid spread of omicron in Britain meant it no longer made sense to try to stop the importation of cases from abroad. As a result, the government lifted a ban on visitors from 11 African countries and a requirement that U.K. residents returning from those countries quarantine in a hotel at their own expense.

Javid said all the countries on the red list would be removed at 0400 GMT on Wednesday.

U.K. health authorities reported 59,610 confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, the highest number since Jan. 9. However, widespread vaccinations means that the large number of infections is translating into fewer hospitalizations and deaths. Britain recorded 150 more coronavirus-related deaths on Tuesday, compared with 1,035 on Jan. 9.

Scientists in South Africa, where the omicron outbreak is more advanced, say the variant may cause less severe disease than the delta variant, although they caution that its too soon to be certain. Health authorities around the world are watching Britain closely to see what an omicron surge looks like in a country with an older, more highly vaccinated population than South Africa.

Throughout the pandemic, the British governments primary goal has been to prevent the NHS from being overwhelmed by COVID-19 patients. This is particularly important during the winter, when U.K. hospitals are often stretched by a surge in flu cases and other illnesses related to cold weather.

Professor Chris Whitty, Englands chief medical officer, told government ministers it was too soon to know the severity of illness that omicron will produce but that we can expect a significant increase in hospitalizations, according to a summary of his comments released by the government.

Over the past week, an average of 811 people a day were hospitalized with COVID-19. There are currently about 7,400 coronavirus patients in U.K. hospitals, down from a peak of more than 39,000 in mid-January. Only 10 of those have tested positive for the omicron variant.

"The lag between infections and hospitalizations is around two weeks, Javid said. With infections rising so quickly, were likely to see a substantial rise in hospitalizations before any measures start to have an impact. So there really is no time to lose.

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Follow APs pandemic coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic
ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (AP)  The head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog warned Tuesday that the restrictions faced by his inspectors in Iran threaten to give the world only a very blurred image of Tehran's program as it enriches uranium closer than ever to weapons-grade levels.

Speaking in a wide-ranging interview to The Associated Press, Rafael Mariano Grossi said he wanted to tell Iran that there was no way around his inspectors at the International Atomic Energy Agency if the Islamic Republic wanted to be a respected country in the community of nations.

We have to work together," Grossi said from a luxury hotel in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, after he visited that country's first nuclear power plant. They must work together. I will make sure they understand that in us they will have a partner.

Grossi's insistence that the Vienna-based IAEA remained an auditor for the world came as negotiations falter in Vienna to revive Tehran's tattered nuclear deal. Hours earlier, the chief of Iran's civilian nuclear program insisted his country would refuse the agency access to a sensitive centrifuge assembly plant.

That plant in Karaj came under what Iran describes as a sabotage attack in June. Tehran blamed the assault on Israel amid a widening regional shadow war since former President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew America from Iran's landmark nuclear accord with world powers. Iran since has refused the IAEA access to replace cameras damaged in the incident.

If the international community through us, through the IAEA, is not seeing clearly how many centrifuges or what is the capacity that they may have ... what you have is a very blurred image," Grossi said. "It will give you the illusion of the real image. But not the real image. This is why this is so important.

Grossi dismissed as simply absurd an Iranian allegation that saboteurs used the IAEA's cameras in the attack on the Karaj centrifuge site. Tehran has offered no evidence to support the claim, though it's another sign of the friction between inspectors and Iran.

Since the nuclear deal's collapse, Tehran has started enriching uranium up to 60% purity  a short technical step from weapons-grade levels of 90%. The deal limited enrichment to 3.67%, enough to be used in a power plant. The nation's stockpile of enriched uranium grows every day far beyond the scope of the 2015 accord, which saw Tehran agree to limit its nuclear program in the exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions. It also spins ever-more advanced centrifuges also barred by the deal.

While stressing he wasn't involved in the political negotiations ongoing in Vienna, Grossi acknowledged the advances made by Iran since the deal's collapse meant there would have to be changes to the original agreement.

"The reality is that we are dealing with a very different Iran, he said. 2022 is so different from 2015 that there will have to be adjustments that take into consideration these new realities so our inspectors can inspect whatever the countries agree at the political table.

And while Iran insists its program is peaceful, U.S. intelligence agencies and the IAEA have said Iran ran an organized nuclear weapons program until 2003.

Theres no other country other than those making nuclear weapons reaching those high levels of uranium enrichment, Grossi said of Iran. Ive said many times that this doesnt mean that Iran has a nuclear weapon. But it does mean that this level of enrichment is one that requires an intense verification effort.

Iran's mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Grossi's remarks.

In Vienna, however, anxiety is growing among European nations at the negotiating table. The U.S. has remained outside of direct talks since abandoning the accord.

Without swift progress, in light of Irans fast-forwarding of its nuclear program, the (deal) will very soon become an empty shell, they warned in an overnight statement.

Apparently responding to the criticism, Iranian negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani wrote on Twitter: Some actors persist in their blame game habit, instead of real diplomacy.

But the Iranian negotiators who have entered the talks for the first time in months under newly elected hard-line President Ebrahim Raisi have taken maximalist positions. Bagheri Kani himself described six previous rounds of negotiations with a team under former President Hassan Rouhani as a mere draft.

Asked about the difference between the two administrations, Grossi said that the change is palpable.

The president himself and people around him have been saying very clearly they have views about the program," he said. "They have strong views about the interactions that Iran has been having" with both the IAEA and parties to the nuclear deal.

He also described cooperation with the Raisi administration as slower than expected.

We have been able to start this relationship quite late I would say, Grossi said.

Meanwhile, satellite photos obtained by the AP show ongoing construction in the mountain south of Iran's Natanz nuclear facility, twice the target of suspected Israeli attacks. Another above-ground facility is being built at Iran's underground Fordo facility, which also has begun uranium enrichment amid the Vienna talks in defiance of the nuclear deal.

Grossi said Iran has informed the IAEA about the ongoing construction and his inspectors are following progress at the sites.

Regionally, Saudi Arabia has begun exploring nuclear power. Unlike the UAE  which has a strict agreement with the U.S. that ensures it doesn't enrich its own uranium  Saudi Arabia says it wants a centrifuge program. That opens the risk of nuclear proliferation as the kingdom has threatened to rush for a nuclear weapon if Iran obtains one. Grossi described discussions between Riyadh and the IAEA as "very positive.

And in Israel, long believed to be a nuclear-armed state, a massive construction project continues at its secretive nuclear reactor near Dimona, which isn't subject to the IAEA's watch. Iran often points to Israel's weapons program as an international double-standard given the scrutiny of Tehran's civilian program.

When asked about Israel, Grossi said: "I think the international community would like every country to sign up to the treaty on the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons and to put all the facilities under safeguards from the IAEA.

He stressed the importance of ensuring that IAEA inspectors have unfettered ability to monitor and access Iran's fast-accelerating nuclear program.

The problem is that the more time passes and you lose the ability to record what is going on, then the moment this capability is restored, inspectors come back and start to put the jigsaw puzzle together again, he said. "There might be gaps. And these gaps are not a good thing to have.

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Follow Jon Gambrell and Isabel DeBre on Twitter at www.twitter.com/jongambrellAP and www.twitter.com/isabeldebre.
MEXICO CITY (AP)  Mexico and the United States began work Tuesday on the new framework that will govern their security relationship going forward and replaces the Merida Initiative, which had focused on building up Mexicos capabilities to battle the drug cartels.

The U.S.-Mexico Bicentennial Framework for Security, Public Health and Safe Communities seeks to move beyond the Merida Initiative.
A former Houston police captain now indicted over a violent and "bogus" voter fraud investigation is no stranger to the wrong side of the law.

A grand jury indicted Mark Aguirre on a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon Tuesday, more than a year after he allegedly ran an air conditioning technician off the road and held the man at gunpoint while trying to uncover a voter fraud scheme in the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election. Aguirre, 64, faces up to 20 years in prison if he's convicted.

Aguirre was being paid more than $200,000 as a private investigator for a Houston group called Liberty Center when the attack occurred Oct. 19, 2020, according to the Harris County District Attorney's Office. Aguirre and company were convinced of a massive ballot fraud scheme in Harris County, and the former cop had been tailing the driver of a repair van for days before confronting him on an unspecified Houston street.

In broad daylight, Aguirre slammed his SUV into the back of the repair van causing it to crash. When the technician got out of the van, Aguirre allegedly rushed him with a gun, forced him to the ground and searched the vehicle. Prosecutors say Aguirre and Liberty Center believed there were more than 750,000 harvested ballots in the bay of the van. Instead, all Aguirre found were spare parts and tools for repairing air conditioners.

Steve Ueckert/Houston Chronicle

When authorities responded, Aguirre tried to leverage his status as a retired Houston police captain to influence the officers' investigation into the collision, according to prosecutors. In December 2020, prosecutors filed aggravated assault charges against the disgraced cop. Tuesday's indictment means the case is nearing trial, which is currently scheduled for Feb. 11.

"He crossed the line from dirty politics to the commission of a violent crime, and we are lucky no one was killed," district attorney Kim Ogg said in a statement. "His alleged investigation was backward from the start, first alleging a crime occurred and then trying to prove it happened."

Ogg's office called Aguirre's claims "bogus" in a press release Tuesday, mirroring the word and sentiment used by conservative activist Steven Hotze who was outraged by Aguirre's prosecution.

Buster Dean, Staff / Houston Chronicle

This is the second time Aguirre has been indicted for his work as an investigator. In 2002, while working as a captain for HPD, he ordered the arrests of nearly 300 people who were in a Kmart parking lot on Westheimer Road at the same time that a group was street racing. It turned out that many of those arrested were either passersby or store customers and not involved, but Aguirre still ordered their arrest. The city ended up paying close to $1 million in civil settlements and attorneys' fees due to the captain's orders.

After the 2002 raid, a grand jury indicted Aguirre on five misdemeanor charges of official oppression, but a jury later found him not guilty. He has since retired from the force and worked as a private investigator. The attorney who defended him on the oppression charges, Terry Yates, is listed as his defense attorney for the recent indictment. Yates could not be reached for comment.
The Washington Post via Getty Images

An H-E-B on the Southeast Side was evacuated on Monday night when an unknown person called in a bomb threat, according to the San Antonio Police Department.

SAPD responded to the bomb threat incident at the H-E-B plus! at 4100 S New Braunfels Avenue around 8 p.m. yesterday, December 13, according to the report.
DALLAS  When Henry R. Martinez Jr.'s cellphone rings, it usually means his community is in need. A surprise shipment of food must be distributed, a collapsed roof repaired, a vaccination clinic set up at the community center.

His neighbors turn to him in times of want and crisis because he knows them, respects them and will do his best to help. He wishes their government would do the same.

Martinez endeavors to fulfill the needs of the mostly Latino residents of the Ledbetter Eagle Ford community in West Dallas because the broader social and political structures dont  and havent since his late father first took up this work decades ago.

Change seemed possible when Texas lawmakers met in Austin this year to redraw the state's political maps. The 2020 census showed that the Latino population in the Dallas-Fort Worth area had grown large enough that it seemed possible to cluster their communities, including Ledbetter Eagle Ford, together into a congressional district that would allow them to elect someone more connected to their daily lives.

Perhaps they could finally be represented by a Latino or Latina member of Congress from Dallas. Residents, legal experts and local leaders all pleaded with state lawmakers to acknowledge their constituency in the new district boundaries being drawn up.

Instead, Republicans  who entirely controlled the process  carved up predominantly Latino neighborhoods, leaving many voters of color with even less of a say in who represents them. In a bid to entrench partisan advantage in a rapidly changing state, GOP mapmakers awarded increased representation and control to white voters in rural areas, Austin and Houston.

For Martinez, it was the latest indignity for a community long denied an equal role in the democratic process.

Theyre focused more on others than the Latino people, and thats unfortunate and thats sad, Martinez said. We waited 10 years.

Rather than honoring how representation can be built, Martinez said, they make us real small.

Generations of community



On a recent weekday, Martinezs phone buzzed late in the evening with an alert of an unexpected donation of fresh fruits and vegetables. It was too last-minute to call on other volunteers that help him run a community-based food pantry, so as a November evening chill set in, Martinez and his wife, Isabel, found themselves unloading a truckload of produce onto the uneven parking lot of a small church.

The following morning, Martinez joined three other volunteers in distributing the donations. Some were sorted into black plastic bags offering a good mix of produce, but most of it was loaded straight into car trunks and back seats of grateful residents as the volunteers pulled from clumsily stacked cartons of grapes, pears, berries and a selection of squash, lettuce, tomatoes and bell peppers. There hadnt been enough time to organize.

Yet the demand was so extraordinary. Even with the distribution's impromptu nature, the volunteers faced a long line of cars stretching for blocks in an area where one in four people live below the poverty line.

Ledbetter Eagle Ford sits just west of downtown Dallas, crammed between the Trinity River and Interstate 30. The busy boulevard running through its middle is lined by warehouses, industrial businesses, trucking companies and a few of what Martinez calls historical staples, including an old diner and a barber shop. Behind are rows of single-family homes, some 70 to 80 years old, tucked behind chain link or iron post fences.

Its an old neighborhood, so power lines overhang the streets. But like other historic Latino and Black enclaves in urban centers, its residents have watched warily as redevelopment swallows up areas around them. The homes for sale in Ledbetter Eagle Ford are marketed as investor opportunities and for their proximity to nearby trendy areas.

To Martinez, community service is an inheritance from his father. The 62-year-old is the executive director of the Ledbetter Eagle Ford Community Organization, an organization run entirely on donations.

Beyond the food pantry, the organization has helped set up a senior program for older residents at a community center, where they regularly gather to share meals, crossword puzzles and, on a recent weekday, dance moves as some shimmied and twirled over polished wood floors. Months before, the room had been lined with health care workers in masks and face shields for a COVID-19 vaccination clinic Martinez helped organize.

He also leads the Ledbetter Neighborhood Association, founded by his father to represent the areas residents, through which he helps maintain the community by helping neighbors whose homes are in need of repair, among other tasks.

Martinez himself is from and of Ledbetter Eagle Ford, born and raised in the area; his elementary school sits at the end of the road from where he was distributing the donated produce. He splits his time between his day job as a transportation specialist for a chiropractic business, his grown children and a handful of grandchildren, and his service to the community. He is so well known that some of the police officers who regularly patrol the area refer to him as the mayor of Eagle Ford when they run into him.

His family ties to the area date back to the early 1900s when immigrants fleeing the violence of revolution in Mexico, including his grandfather, settled in Eagle Ford, drawn in by work at a local cement company. By the late 1980s, a federal judge would refer to the area as the largest Hispanic neighborhood in Dallas. Also born and raised there, Martinezs father served in the military before throwing himself into community work and going on to form the Ledbetter Neighborhood Association.

Under his fathers tenure, the organization's agenda ranged from overseeing a small cemetery to helping expand main thoroughfares to pushing back as development began encroaching on the area  all in service of preserving the communitys historical narrative.

Always the group found itself fighting for recognition.

One of its most significant contributions came in the late '80s when the Ledbetter Neighborhood Association joined two local Black leaders, Roy Williams and Marvin Crenshaw, to sue the city of Dallas, claiming its hybrid system for electing some city council members at large violated the federal Voting Rights Act by diluting the votes of African Americans and Mexican Americans.

Black and Latino residents had been pushing for change for decades, looking to the courts to force Dallas to move from a system in which city council members were elected citywide to a mixed system with some elected from smaller single-member districts. But that hybrid system still drew objections as Black and Hispanic candidates struggled to be elected to any of the three at-large seats that existed at the time.

Ultimately, a federal district judge knocked down the system, finding it discriminated against Black and Hispanic voters, and ordered the city to fix it.

The history of minority participation in the political process of Dallas is not one of choice; it is a record of what blacks and Hispanics have been permitted to do by the white majority, U.S. District Judge Jerry Buchmeyer wrote in a March 1990 opinion.

After the first election under a newly created system of 14 single-member districts, the city council was made up of nine white members, four Black members and two Latino members. This doubled the number of Black representatives; no Latino candidates had even run in the election before.

The elder Martinez would continue his service until retiring in 2010, passing the baton  and an overstuffed Rolodex of phone numbers  to his son. The younger Martinez remembers how his father kept his community in mind until just before his death in 2019, imploring him to carry on his work.

He said, Son, I want you to keep up this community. I was born and raised here. My parents came here. He told me, You gotta take care of and keep up this community, no matter what happens, Martinez said. If theres people that need help, help them.

His fathers fight helped the community gain more voice in the halls of power. But in the denial of a new district anchored in the community, Martinez sees a contraction of Latinos political equality. It makes the progress theyve made feel tenuous, Martinez said.

We need more representation, Martinez said. Its like theyre taking it and grabbing it and taking it away after we worked so hard for it.

Opportunity lost



Martinez and other community leaders dont complain about their current, Democratic representatives. Their frustration lies with Republicans rejection of a new district commensurate with their growing numbers. The work Martinez does relies on relationships hes built locally to bring resources and attention to people for whom they arent always afforded.

A new district would have granted them an additional voice in the halls of power on policy changes that could improve the lives of their neighbors. That includes issues like raising the minimum wage, access to affordable health care and a safety net that includes paid sick leave.

Whenever I think of what an additional Latino district would mean, I think about the issues that are important to our members like immigration and safe, good-paying jobs, said Diana Ramirez, the civic engagement director for the Workers Defense Action Fund, which advocates on behalf of low-wage and immigrant workers in Dallas and other areas. I think about the area of Pleasant Grove where I grew up and knocking on doors in that area and seeing so many pickup trucks with what look like [construction and contractor] materials.

She imagines a political reality in which those working in construction, one of the deadliest industries, would have direct access to a representative that could hear what their day-to-day is like.

That opportunity existed, at least in theory, with this year's redistricting process. Federal law, in fact, provides for the creation of opportunity districts for traditionally marginalized voters, and Texas has a long history of depressing the political influence of Hispanic and Black voters.

Those sorts of districts are supposed to boost representation for voters of color, giving voters of a traditional minority group the ability to harness their numbers into real political power and elect their preferred candidates. Often, but not always, those candidates are of the same race or ethnicity. When lawmakers redraw political districts every 10 years to ensure they are equal in population, communities of color have a window in which to make their case.

The campaign for a district controlled by Latinos in North Texas is a manifestation of the demographic change that has transformed the region over the last few decades.

In Dallas County, the Hispanic population has grown by about 60% since 2000, crossing the 1 million mark to make up the largest portion of the countys population. Three out of every five residents the county gained in the last decade were Hispanic. Combined with Hispanic population growth in neighboring Tarrant County, Hispanic residents now outnumber white residents in the two large counties. At the same time, the white population has shrunk both in its share of the overall population and in absolute numbers. The 2020 census recorded a decrease of roughly 60,000 white residents in Dallas County in the last decade.

That change, locals say, makes for a different slate of needs that demand increased representation to ensure the communitys priorities are being addressed.

We need someone who can actually represent the voice of the ethnic makeup of the community. That is what, at this point, has been challenging and has been missing, said Elba Garcia, a Dallas County commissioner who represents the western end of the county. We have never had a Latino or Latina member of Congress. The opportunity has been denied [even though] thats what the Constitution and redistricting is all about.

There are various complex legal thresholds to clear in order to claim a Latino opportunity district, including political cohesion among Latino voters in the area and evidence that other voters, namely white voters, tend to vote in a bloc to defeat the candidates favored by Latinos.

But their numbers must first grow enough so that a geographically compact district can be drawn containing their communities  a threshold, many proponents of a new district argue, Dallas Latinos have long since crossed.

Though theyve expanded their presence across the region, helping to diversify even traditionally white suburban communities, the western end of Dallas County comprises some of the neighborhoods most densely populated by Latinos. Some have pointed to Garcias commissioner precinct as a possible starting point since it has long allowed Latinos to elect their preferred candidate at the county level. (Garcia is often mentioned as a prospective candidate for Congress if a Latino opportunity district were drawn in the area.) Advocates for a Latino-controlled district in Dallas have also looked to the southeast to communities like Pleasant Grove, where the Latino population has been expanding.

But the redistricting process is mired in partisan considerations.

Efforts to draw a new district covering those areas, which would likely elect a Democrat, were resoundingly rejected by Republicans in the Texas Legislature  at times without much substantive opposition.

In the Senate, Republicans rebuffed a Democratic proposal for such a district after the chambers lead map-drawer said it would result in a detailed and painstaking racial gerrymander in North Texas. Racial gerrymanders, in which lawmakers rely too heavily on race or ethnicity to draw a district, are illegal, though race can be considered as a primary factor when drawing political districts, particularly to create or maintain opportunity districts that comply with the federal Voting Rights Act. (Senate Republican leaders claimed the states congressional map was drawn race blind.)

In the House, floor debate over a potential Latino opportunity district combusted after Republicans offered an incongruous argument to shoot down an amendment by state Rep. Rafael Anchia of Dallas that would have anchored a new district in west Dallas County.

Its immoral to prevent the creation of a district like this. Its also likely illegal, Anchia told his colleagues in presenting his amendment hours into the chambers floor debate on a new congressional map. You really have to try hard to deny Latinos in North Texas the ability to elect the candidate of their choice, but that's what's baked in this plan and I ask that we fix it through this amendment.

Addressing the House, state Rep. Jacey Jetton, a Republican from the Fort Bend area, spoke in opposition to the amendment by pointing out that it would unnecessarily drop the Hispanic population in neighboring Congressional District 33.

That district had been created by a three-judge federal panel a decade before to protect the voting rights of people of color in the area, offering Hispanic or Black voters an equal chance to elect their preferred candidate. A decade later, Hispanics were just shy of making up the majority of eligible voters in CD-33.

Despite Jettons stated opposition, it was Republicans new congressional map that actually reduced the Hispanic population in the district from 48% to roughly 42%  a fact pointed out by state Rep. Victoria Neave of Dallas as she challenged Jettons claim.

It is the underlying map thats reducing the number of Latino voters in Congressional District 33 that you just mentioned. Did you know that? Neave said as she pressed Jetton.

Jetton responded that he was not advised.

In the end, Republicans approved a map that sliced heavily Latino areas of Dallas County into at least five different districts. In all but one, Latino voters make up about a fifth or less of the electorate. In reducing the share of the Hispanic population in CD-33, Republicans placed some of those residents into Congressional District 6, a sprawling, mostly white rural district that stretches across several counties to the south and east of Dallas, covering roughly 6,000 square miles.

They used an oddly shaped tendril to connect that swath of rural counties to the areas around Irving and Arlington, stranding urban and suburban Hispanic voters who in the past were concentrated enough to influence the election of who represents them in Congress.

More broadly, the congressional map Republicans approved for elections to come will shrink the number of districts in which Hispanic and Black voters are in the majority. White voters will largely determine who fills the two new Congressional seats the state gained based on its overall growth in the last decade, almost all of which was attributable to people of color. Hispanic Texans were responsible for half of the states increase of 4 million new residents.

I think it just goes to show you the lengths to which Republicans are willing to go to try to stick their head in the sand about the changing demographics of Texas, said Michael Li, a senior counsel for the Brennan Center for Justice whose work focuses on redistricting and voting. The word I keep using is brazen. There was a really strong argument for a Latino district [in Dallas] last decade. Its only gotten stronger because the population has grown even more.

Latinos will always have to fight in court

As in the fight Martinezs father helped waged, the fate of Dallas Latinos representation will be decided in a federal court  in this case, one more than 600 miles away in El Paso, where a panel of three federal judges will be considering various legal challenges to the states new political maps.

As they did in the last round of redistricting, and as theyve done in legal fights dating past that, the individual voters and organizations that serve Texans of color suing the state will have to prove that state lawmakers denied them an equal opportunity to participate in the voting process. Their hope is that the courts will force a redraw of states political districts.

Whats new? Theyve been doing it for the last 30 years, and sadly Latinos will always have to fight in court to get the representation they deserve, said Garcia, the Dallas County commissioner.

Five different lawsuits have been filed against the states new congressional map, most arguing it is unconstitutional and violates the Voting Rights Act by diluting the electoral power of voters of color. To make their case, various of the complaints point to Republicans refusal to create new districts that give Latinos meaningful influence in elections. Some take specific aim at the new political boundaries in the Dallas-Fort Worth region, where they say lawmakers unlawfully manipulated the population based on race to the detriment of voters of color.

Without such blatant cracking, map drawers could have created either an additional Latino majority district or a coalition district with Black and Latino voters in this region, one of the lawsuits argues.

Those Texas voters and groups were recently joined in their fight by the U.S. Department of Justice, which in its lawsuit against the state scrutinized how Republicans surgically excised voters of color from the core of the Dallas-Fort Worth region.

The state has so far failed to convince the court to dismiss the challenges but is expected to fight arduously to keep them in place for the upcoming March primaries, arguing there isnt enough time to redo the districts before voting is set to begin.

But with the litigation left as their only hope, it could be years before Dallas Latinos learn whether they were cheated out of increased representation or whether they will have to wait another 10 years to again make their case.

The Texas Tribune is a nonpartisan, nonprofit media organization that informs Texans  and engages with them  about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.
Claims are continuing to roll in against Hertz after dozens more customers have come forward with harrowing accounts of being accused and arrested for theft despite having lawfully secured a vehicle from the rental company.

According to a CBS story from November, 165 customers nationwide have now filed claims in bankruptcy court (the company filed for bankruptcy in May 2020), stemming from situations in which they were wrongfully arrested, jailed and charged for car theft at the hands of Hertz. Included in those claimants is James Tolen, who was pulled over and ultimately held at gun point at a traffic stop in Houston last year after it was discovered that Hertz reported the car Tolen had legitimately rented as stolen. After Tolen was able to provide proof of contract, one of the officers allegedly called Hertz and told the company it needed to get a better system. Despite that admonition, a NASA employee was later also held at gunpoint, with police claiming his Hertz SUV had also been reported stolen.

Since then, according to a secondary report from CBS, even more customers have stepped forward to tell similar stories. Carrie Gibbs was arrested at a gas station in California despite her rental having been secured for her by an insurance company following an accident. She was taken into custody and charged with felony car theft, and while the case was eventually thrown out, Gibbs still lost her real estate license as a result of the arrest. Rejeana Meado rented a car for three days in Houston; after she had successfully returned the car to Hertz, she was notified the car had been reported stolen. There are several more accounts, too, the similarities of which are uncanny.

But in response to CBS sinterview request, Hertz offered only this statement: Unfortunately, in the legal matters being discussed, the attorneys have a track record of making baseless claims that blatantly misrepresent the facts. The vast majority of these cases involve renters who were many weeks or even months overdue returning vehicles and who stopped communicating with us well beyond the scheduled due date. Situations where vehicles are reported to the authorities are very rare and happen only after exhaustive attempts to reach the customer.

Per attorney Francis Alexander Malofiy, though, thats not necessarily true. People think that theyre an isolated incident and they dont realize that this is a systemic issue thats happening across the nation, he said. And its true that dozens of people being arrested on stolen vehicle charges  reported by the same company  despite having legitimately rented said vehicle, does seem to exceed that of a fluke.

In a similar scenario from August, Tarikh Campbell of Teaneck, New Jersey, took to Twitter to share his experience with Hertzs competitor, Avis. In Campbells case, his rental was seemingly stolen back from him by Avis.

TRAVELER BEWARE! Have you ever had a rental car company steal their car back from you? Well this just happened to me. Im not usually one to take to Twitter in this way. Im barely ever here. But I feel this is my only option short of taking legal action. So here goes  Tarikh Campbell (@tarikhcampbell) August 20, 2021

By Campbells own account, Avis came to his childhood home and  unbeknownst to him  repossessed the rental in the middle of the night, and then told Campbell that not only could they not track the cars location (despite having already apparently tracked it to his residence), but that he was also liable for its disappearance and responsible for $20,000 worth of fines. Because Campbell had left his E-ZPass in the car, and thanks to a security camera that had captured footage the night the car was stolen, he was able to trace the car back to Newark International Airport, where hed picked the car up the day prior. For its part, Avis feigned ignorance and eventually dropped the fines, though their explanation for what happened is still unclear.

While its certainly a departure from the incidents reported by CBS, Campbells episode is illustrative of the fact that there seems to be a trend of rental car companies taking swift, unjustified penal action against customers, and seemingly not a lot of accountability to match. Of course, both Avis and Hertz remain adamant that their customer-oriented service models are intact and, in Hertzs case, not responsible for all of the aforementioned arrests. The jury, however, is  both literally and figuratively  still out on that.

For more travel news, tips and inspo, sign up for InsideHook's weekly travel newsletter, The Journey.

The post Why Are Dozens of Hertz Customers Being Accused of Auto Theft? appeared first on InsideHook.
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Here is what we know so far about PGP 2022.

When will Canadas parents and grandparents sponsorship open for 2022? Here is what we know so far about PGP 2022.

When will Canadas parents and grandparents sponsorship open for 2022? Here is what we know so far about PGP 2022.

When will Canadas parents and grandparents sponsorship open for 2022? Here is what we know so far about PGP 2022. Kareem El-Assal Aa Accessibility Font Style Serif

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IRCC has yet to release details on the Parents and Grandparents Program (PGP) 2022 but here is what we know so far.

According to the Immigration Levels Plan 2021-2023, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) is looking to welcome some 23,500 immigrants under the PGP in 2022.

Prior to the coronavirus pandemic, IRCC released details on the new PGP intake around January of each year. During the pandemic, however, IRCC has provided updates and held PGP lotteries in the autumns of 2020 and 2021.

It remains to be seen when IRCC will announce the launch of the PGP 2022. We also do not know what format it will take. In recent years, IRCC has stuck to a lottery whereby it has randomly selected sponsors who submitted expression of interest forms on the IRCC website. Prior to the pandemic, IRCC was exploring other ways to manage the PGP given that demand to sponsor parents and grandparents far exceeds the number of spots. For 2020 and 2021, IRCC received some 200,000 expression of interest forms. The department is processing 40,000 applications under the 2020 and 2021 PGP intakes.

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There is certain information, however, that we do already have at our disposal. For example, IRCC continues to state its processing standard for PGP applications is between 20-24 months.

In addition, IRCCs eligibility criteria for PGP sponsors is:

Be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, or a registered Indian under the Canadian Indian Act;

Be at least 18 years old;

Be residing in Canada;

Meet the minimum necessary income level for the PGP (married and common-law partners can combine income if they want to co-sign the application) and provide proof of income to IRCC by submitting Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) Notices of Assessments;

Sign a legal undertaking that they commit to financially supporting the sponsored individuals for 20 years and to repay any social assistance claimed by the individuals within this period.

The minimum necessary income (MNI) requirement depends on the size of your family and where you reside in Canada. If you live outside of Quebec, you will be assessed based on your income in the 2021, 2020, and 2019 tax years. If you live in Quebec, you will only be assessed on your income over the past 12 months.

Sign up to receive instant email updates on PGP 2022

Consider the Super Visa as another option

The Super Visa is another option you can consider pursuing to reunite with your parents and grandparents in Canada. The Super Visa allows your parents and grandparents to enter Canada multiple times over a 10 year period.

Learn More about the Parents and Grandparents Super Visa

 CIC News All Rights Reserved. Visit CanadaVisa.com to discover your Canadian immigration options.
The COVID-19 pandemic has seen businesses accelerating digital transformation strategies faster than originally planned. But the ongoing IT skills gap has complicated progress, with more than half of IT decision-makers reporting that hiring for essential IT positions is somewhat difficult or extremely difficult, according to the Global Knowledge 2021 IT Skills and Salary report.

To bridge this gap, employers and job seekers alike are leaning on certifications, whether to train up existing staff or to provide evidence of skills in high demand. Ninety-two percent of more than 9,300 IT professionals surveyed by Global Knowledge report holding at least one certification  a 5% increase over last years report. Meanwhile, 64% of IT decision-makers contend that certified employees bring $10,000 or more of additional value over their non-certified counterparts.

But which certifications hold the most promise? To help you get a sense of where to place your training bets, here are the top 10 most pursued IT certifications of 2021, according to data from Global Knowledge.

1. Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP)

The Certified Information Systems Security Professional certification offered by the ISC is designed to validate your skills and knowledge for designing, implementing, and managing cybersecurity programs. Its aimed at those in the role of CISO, CIO, director of security, IT director or manager, security systems engineer, security analyst, security manager, security auditor, security architect, security consultant, and network architect. The exam covers topics such as security and risk management, asset security, security architecture and engineering, communication and network security, identity and access management (IAM), security assessment and testing, security operations, and software development security. Candidates are required to have at least five years of cumulative, paid work experience in two or more of the eight domains covered in the CISSP Common Body of Knowledge to qualify for the exam.

Price: $699

2. AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate

The AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate certification is designed to validate your skills and abilities for designing and implementing cloud initiatives using AWS services. The exam covers topics such as deploying, managing, and operating workloads on AWS; implementing security control and compliance requirements; and using the AWS Management Console and AWS Command Line Interface (CLI). It also covers your knowledge of the AWS Well-Architected Framework, AWS networking, security services, and the AWS global infrastructure. Its recommended that candidates for the exam have at least one year of hands-on experience with AWS, including using compute, networking, storage, and database services, as well as AWS deployment and management services.

Price: $150

3. AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner

The AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner certification is an entry-level exam that is aimed at anyone with basic knowledge of the AWS platform. Its recommended to have at least six months of exposure to AWS Cloud, a basic understanding of IT services and knowledge of core AWS services. The exam covers topics such as AWS cloud concepts, security, and compliance within the AWS Cloud, core AWS services and the economics of AWS Cloud. Its a great place to start if youre just getting into cloud technology and plan to grow your cloud skills.

Price: $100

4. Certified Information Security Manager (CISM)

The Certified Information Security Manager certification offered by the ISACA demonstrates your skills and abilities with IS and IT security and control and can help pave the way to an IT manager role. The CISM exam covers information security governance, information risk management, information security program development and management, and information security incident management. To qualify for the exam, candidates are required to have five or more years of experience in IS management  experience waivers are available for a maximum of two years.

Price: $575 for members; $760 for non-members

5. Google Professional Cloud Architect

The Google Professional Cloud Architect certification demonstrates your skills and ability to leverage Google Cloud technologies in an organization. The exam covers designing and planning a cloud solution architecture, managing and provisioning the cloud solution infrastructure, designing for security and compliance, analyzing and optimizing technology and business processes, managing implementations of cloud architecture, and ensuring solutions and operations reliability. The certification will show that you have the skills as a cloud architect to implement enterprise cloud strategy, solution design and to follow architectural best practices in addition to your knowledge of software development methodologies in multicloud or hybrid environments.

Price: Free

6. AWS Certified Solutions Architect Professional

The AWS Certified Solutions Architect Professional certification establishes your ability to design, deploy, and evaluate applications using AWS services. The exam covers topics such as AWS CLI, AWS APIs, AWS CloudFormation templates, AWS Billing Console, AWS Management Console, scripting languages, and navigating Windows and Linux environments. Youll need a strong understanding of the best practices for the architectural design of applications and enterprise projects, including how to map them to business objectives. Your knowledge of cloud application requirements and ability to design a hybrid architecture using AWS technologies as well as a continuous integration and deployment process will also be tested. Its recommended to have at least two or more years of hands-on experience designing and deploying cloud architecture on AWS.

Price: $300

7. Microsoft Certified: Azure Fundamentals

The Microsoft Certified: Azure Fundamentals certification validates your knowledge of cloud services offered through Microsoft Azure. Its an entry-level certification for those who are new to working with cloud-based solutions or who are new to using Azure. Candidates are expected to have general knowledge of topics such as networking, storage, compute, application support, and application development. The certification covers your knowledge of cloud concepts, Azure services, Azure workloads, security and privacy in Azure and Azure pricing and support.

Price: Free

8. Certified in Risk and Information Systems Control (CRISC)

The Certified in Risk and Information Systems Control certification offered by the ISACA is designed to validate your knowledge of building agile risk-management programs. The exam covers governance, risk response and reporting, IT risk assessment, and information technology and security. Its designed for mid-career IT or IS audit, risk, and security professionals to prove their skills and knowledge when using governance best practices and continuous risk monitoring and reporting.

Price: $575 for ISACA members; $760 for non-members

9. Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate

The Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate certification is designed to demonstrate your skills and abilities for implementing, managing, and monitoring an organizations Microsoft Azure environment. Candidates for the exam should have at least six months of hands-on experience administering Azure and a strong understanding of core Azure services, workloads, security, and governance. Its also recommended to have experience using PowerShell, Azure CLI, Azure portal, and Azure Resource Manager templates. The exam covers managing Azure identities and governance, implementing and managing storage, deploying and managing Azure compute resources, configuring and managing virtual networking, and monitoring and backing up Azure resources.

Price: Free

10. Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert

The Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert certification is an advanced exam for solution architects to demonstrate their expertise in designing cloud and hybrid solutions that run on Microsoft Azure, including compute, network, storage, monitoring, and security. Youll need to pass the associate-level exam first before you can take the expert-level exam. Candidates are recommended to have advanced experience and knowledge of IT operations such as networking, virtualization, identity, security, business continuity, disaster recovery, data platforms, and governance. The Azure Solutions Architect Expert exam is set to be retired on March 31, 2022, but Microsoft has already implemented a new replacement exam called Designing Microsoft Azure Infrastructure Solutions  it is currently available in beta.

Price: Free
Half a decade ago, in the wake of the rise of cloud computing, some IT evangelists, CIOs, and large tech research firms foretold the imminent death of the data center as we know it. My co-columnist at CIO.com Mark Settle at the time advised caution in writing off data centers and envisaged how they would continue to grow based on the evolution of  you guessed it  data.

Today, data centers continue to not just survive but thrive alongside hybrid and multicloud systems in new avatars such as on-prem as a service. Not just that, data centers are poised to meet the emerging demand for services related to emerging tech such as edge computing, IoT, and 5G.

As a result of these new applications and emerging needs in end-user computing (EUC) and mobility solutions, data centers are becoming increasingly complex, leading to more internal and external risks. Downtime is a persistent risk, with a single event topping losses of $11,000 per minute.

Heres what enterprises can do to identify and mitigate risks in data center operations.

1. Have an integrated approach to risk management

The record-setting winter storm and subsequent power outage in Texas in February 2021 proved to be a reality check for data centers in the state. Although there were no large-scale failures, there were significant issues with electrical failover systems.

From a functional point of view, data centers are physical facilities that run business-critical applications, while from the business perspective, they are pieces of real estate or capital assets that need to be budgeted for and managed.

The point is, a single point of failure might (and frequently does) cause a huge disruption to operations and consequently leads to revenue loss. Which is why you need a pervasive risk management plan and policy that apply to the whole organization.

This is where Integrated Risk Management (IRM) comes in. Gartner defines IRM as a set of practices and processes supported by a risk-aware culture and enabling technologies that improve decision making and performance through an integrated view of how well an organization manages its unique set of risks.

In the post-pandemic world, businesses implementing remote work, BYOD, CYOD, and other changes to workplace practices are blending their digital transformation strategy with IT infrastructure upgrades to identify, tolerate, and mitigate risks arising from natural disasters, supply chain, data processing, as well as those inherent to their business model.

If youre in the middle of a digital transformation, you need to monitor every process and factor  external or internal  that can affect your data center and be prepared to deal with multiple risks arising from a single or multiple events happening simultaneously.

Digital transformation is not just for the enterprise or organizations that bank heavily on data or technology  it applies just as much to SMBs in the post-pandemic workplace, including those that have started out with the public cloud as a substitute for the data center.

Even the federal government is taking digital transformation seriously  transforming data center infrastructure to take advantage of cloud technology is one of their two central objectives (improving the online user experience is another).

Data center optimization is a key measurement for scorecarding in the Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act. This measurement is in part a reflection of how well the agency infrastructure takes advantage of the cloud, says Jeff Shupack, a digital transformation expert with 15 years practice in reducing risk for global capital initiatives with Lean-Agile implementations.

Organizations are realizing that agile methodologies, big data analytics, mobility solutions, and DevOps work in tandem with a reliable and upgraded data center for efficient risk prevention, adequate risk response, and quick disaster recovery. As a result, theyre turning to frameworks that enable these best practices to be implemented in hybrid IT infrastructures to ensure business continuity, reduce OPEX, and improve digital customer experience.

2. Know your risks

No matter how comprehensive your risk management plan, it can never evolve faster than technology. And new tech and new work practices are creating more complexities than ever. Lets take a quick look at the different types of risks data centers face.

Inadequate IT security

Arguably the biggest risk that data centers face today, cybersecurity breaches can range from DoS attacks to social engineering to data theft. The average data breach cost $4.24 million in 2021  the highest in 17 years.

Application and system failures also have an impact on the physical security front, resulting in situations where ID cards cant be verified, CCTV connections are lost, or authorized personnel are denied entry to certain areas.

System failure

Without a resilient architecture and continuous, redundant, and high-bandwidth connectivity, a data center is doomed. Servers, network devices, and associated equipment all need features such as clustering, mirroring, and duplication to reduce the chances of downtime.

Sometimes applications or software (such as hypervisors) act up and take down entire servers or networks with them. You need to make sure all apps work seamlessly across a hybrid infrastructure and talk to cloud-native apps as well.

Power failure

Although extremely rare, power failure can and does happen  primarily as a consequence of natural disasters. You need to provide UPS- or generator-backed power routes to all racks and cooling systems in your data center. A direct connection to a multi-substation power grid helps hedge against an outage at the local substation.

Water leakage

Flooding or water seepage can spell doom for data center equipment. However, well-maintained water pathways and drainage are crucial for fire control and cooling systems.

High-decibel noise

One lesser-known but significant risk to data centers is prolonged exposure to loud and high-frequency sound vibrations, which can lower the efficacy of storage systems, reduce read/write performance, and ultimately affect data integrity. Data centers should be built far away from arenas, fire stations, airports, and the like, and housed within buildings that use acoustic suppression technology.

Fire

Electrical power spikes and short circuits are common causes of fire in data centers. If not contained quickly, fires can raze thousands of dollars worth of hardware in minutes. Ironically, air conditioning and cooling systems dissipate smoke and make it harder to detect a fire in the early stages. Use smoke detection systems with photoelectric sensors to continuously monitor the air in your data center for signs of smoke.

Poor disaster-recovery planning

While data backup is a pretty simple procedure these days, data centers are preferred over the public cloud for a combination of security and performance reasons  youd expect the immediate recovery of transactional data in the event of a system failure.

Of course, this depends on factors such as the nature of the business and regulatory framework it falls under. All the more reason to have a clear-cut plan for recovery for each different failure event; ditto for compute, storage, or networking resources.

The most pre-emptive disaster-recovery plans have monitoring systems in place that track risk factors affecting data centers and send out alerts when critical thresholds are crossed.

3. Assess risk before you manage it

All risks  like businesses  are not created equal. While data centers face their own distinctive risks, especially for different verticals, the risk-mitigation techniques that you end up using need not necessarily be tailored to a data center environment.

Therefore, you need a risk management plan that lists out every imaginable risk your data center faces and specifies responses to every type of incident. Before it happens.

Start by carrying out a risk audit  a comprehensive assessment of all your owned and operated facilities. Evaluate factors that affect facility design, IT infrastructure, and operational processes.

If there have been major incidents or outages in the past, do a root-cause analysis (if still possible) to address any gaps you havent covered. What can you do to ensure downtime wont occur in similar circumstances arise again?

Further, if you operate a hybrid architecture with multiple data centers and cloud systems, audit each one on its own as well as the data paths and connections between all of them.

If you operate in highly-regulated industries such as finance and healthcare, you need to make periodic data center risk assessments and disaster testing a part of your routine operations.

As with everything else, creating a framework, policy, or cheat-sheet (at the very least) provides a ready reference of the categories of risk that apply to you, the systems that each category affects, the estimated damage and recovery costs, and the protocol to be followed in case of an incident or disaster.

For example, IT Consulting company Capgemini employs an evolving approach to risk management that identifies and quantifies risks along with their mitigation costs. We have put in place a monthly risk management system that logs all risks and issues with containment and action plans. An investment budget is made available if changes are required, said Kevin Read, Senior Delivery Center Manager at Capgemini.

Killing downtime

A data center  or even the entire IT infrastructure of a company  never functions in isolation. There are umpteen components and factors that keep data centers running around the clock.

Risk mitigation with IT infrastructure is a shared responsibility, not just the CIOs or CTOs. You need to have an adequate number of IT staff trained and willing to do what it takes to stay on top of data center operations.

Ill leave you with a piece of advice from Gavin Millard, VP of Product Marketing at Tenable: Conflicting goals can be hard to address, but one of the most effective methods of doing so is to have a highly efficient process for continuously identifying where a risk resides. You also need a predictable, reliable method of updating systems without impacting the overarching business goals of the organization.
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The conservative headlines on the mob storming the Capitol were a head-twisting panorama of the opposing philosophies expressed in right-wing media, and reflective of the divisions in the Republican Party.

FoxNews.com posted not one but two editorials last night denouncing the mayhem, including a short piece by Karl Rove that placed a good part of the blame on Donald Trump for bringing the mob together. Both the Washington Examiner and National Review, two influential and prominent conservative websites that have been increasingly critical of Trump, came out swinging. Most notably, the Examiner called for his impeachment and removal from office.

But several voices on the far right took a different view. Consider this headline from Infowars, posted last night: Unarmed woman carrying Trump flag executed in U.S. Capitol building. Big League Politics called Vice President Mike Pence a traitor for praising the police, especially after they shot a patriotic woman dead. American Thinker theorized that leftist provocateurs led the way into the Capitol.

And others just ignored the events. Newsmaxs usually robust opinion pages contained not one piece about the Capitol riots. The top story on its homepage the morning of January 7 had this bland headline: Trump vows orderly transition after greatest 1st term in history. The opinion pages of the Washington Times seemed stuck in time, with a lead editorial about the elections in Georgia.

Its worth mentioning a piece of conservative satire from the outlet Babylon Bee, which invents news stories to make points in the manner of The Onion. It carried the headline: Trump walks away from Republican party without even looking back at the explosion. The piece made up a quote from Steve Bannon and Nancy Pelosi both saying: Ive never seen anything so beautiful.

Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today

Howard Polskin is the president and chief curator of TheRighting, a website that aggregates stories from right-wing media outlets on a daily basis to inform mainstream and liberal audiences. The site, which was launched in 2017, also tracks and analyzes traffic to conservative websites on a monthly basis.
In June, a video of mob violence in northern India surfaced online. Filmed in a village near Ghaziabad, the video showed people slap and violently harass Abdul Samad Saifi, a 72-year-old man wearing traditionally Muslim clothing. The mob then cuts off his beard while he sobs. Shortly after it was posted, the video went viral and sparked widespread outrage.

Before long, several Twitter users who shared the video saw an error message indicating that their tweets had been withheld in India in response to a legal demand.

The legal demand was one of thousands made to Twitter directly from the Indian government over the last four years. After Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) rose to power in 2014, any online content that criticized him, the government, or Hinduism more broadly, was branded as anti-nationala term popularized by trolls and self-proclaimed jingoists to fuel a brash and bigoted kind of patriotismand made vulnerable to removal.

In 2020, the Indian government asked Twitter to remove nearly 10,000 tweets, up from about 1,200 the prior year; in 2017, the government only demanded that Twitter delete 248 tweets.

There has always been a coordinated strategy to paint everyone who disagrees with the government as an enemy of the nation, Pranav Dixit, a technology reporter for BuzzFeed News, says. The only difference now is that Modi is far more social media-savvy than his predecessors. Cheap internet and big telecommunications infrastructure boomed in India right around the time he took office. Modi knew that he could sway millions of people with a single tweet, Dixit says. He has very deliberately and systematically built a right-wing online ecosystem that benefits his party.

The rapid advancement of technology amplified two competing dynamics: criticism against the state became much easier, and with it, the governments ability to control what its citizens said. And while content-removal demands by the Modi administration have come under increasing scrutiny in global media, little data exists to track the extent of censorship.

Using a combination of web scraping, APIs, and text extraction from hundreds of legal notices given to Twitter (sourced from the Lumen database, a Harvard University initiative monitoring global content removals), I created a series of datasets to better understand the nature and magnitude of the content that the Indian government wiped from Twitter. Because of a variety of factorsincluding the discretionary nature of Twitters data disclosures, the Indian governments lack of transparency, and user-made changes to their respective flagged tweetsmy data represents what is likely a fraction of the affected content. Still, these limitations provide a sense of how restrictive Indias digital climate is, and provide a narrow glimpse into a much larger problem.

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Data from Twitters own transparency reports reveal that, in 2020, the Indian government asked Twitter to remove nearly 10,000 tweets, up from about 1,200 the prior year; in 2017, the government only demanded that Twitter delete 248 tweets.

The effects of the governments requests for removal were only felt locallymeaning the tweets were only withheld if the user chose India as their country setting. In other words, even if the user was physically in India, they could change their setting to a different location and view the removed tweet. After I changed my own settings to the United States, I was able to find what most of the tweets contained. (Click to enlarge the following images.)

Many of the flagged tweetswhich were mostly opinions on the news, satirical jokes, or expressions of solidarity with activists in memoriamfell broadly into a few categories, and coincided with significant political or otherwise controversial events. They included criticism around the revoking of Article 370, a law that granted Kashmir its autonomy for more than seven decades since Indias independence from British rule; the passing of the Citizenship Amendment Act, which discriminated against Indian Muslims and prevented Muslim immigrants from seeking asylum; and a series of agricultural bills that sparked the largest farmer protests in the world, amidst the poorly managed COVID-19 pandemic.

The rules under which a tweet may be considered inflammatory are now much broader than in prior years. In the takedown notices, several tweets are cited as objectionable or seditious if they contain dissent of any kind, without further explanation. Even criticism of sexual violencewhen the perpetrators were Hinduis branded as dissent. As more tweets and topics come into the line of fire, what anti-national means grows murkier.

Twitter plays a complicated role in Indias political landscape. Since its a private company operating in India, it is legally bound to comply with national regulations. Section 69A in the Indian Penal Code allows the government to block access to a media intermediary (including TV networks, social media platforms, and search engines) in the interest of the sovereignty and integrity of India, its defense, security or the maintenance of public order. When the government makes a legal demand to Twitterwhich it often does without explanationTwitter outlines how it enforces actions against reported grievances in reports published monthly. The rate of compliance with the Indian governments legal demands is only around 10 percentthe ambiguously stated reason for which is that the flagged tweets may not violate Twitters own terms of service. (Twitter did not respond to a request for comment on more details about this internal process.)

If Twitter takes down a random piece of contentits a private company, they can act according to their internal guidelines and dont have to explain anything publicly, Tanmay Singh, a lawyer working with the Internet Freedom Foundation. But when the government makes a demand to remove a citizens free speech of any kind, it has to follow due process and disclose all relevant information publicly according to Indias Code of Criminal Procedure, Singh says. The government has not made any of its court orders to Twitter publicly accessible. What the government is doing with Twitter severely undermines transparency, Singh says. Without transparency, you cannot have accountability. And we absolutely need both in a participatory democracy.

These Twitter content removals also target Indian journalists and activists. Last September, Aakar Patel, a journalist and former Amnesty International director, was arrested for posting offensive tweets, after which Twitter temporarily suspended his account. One tweet, made in the wake of George Floyds murder, was about the Black Lives Matter protests in India; another was about the history of Modis caste and community, a subject Patel spent years researching. (He was released shortly after on anticipatory bail.)

Nothing I said was false or inaccurate, Patel told CJR after his release. He added that he was not surprised by the governments efforts to take down his tweets. I dont know if there are too many democracies in the world where without a police complaint, or without any sort of evidence of criminal activities, a government can force Twitter to take something down, Patel said. But thats whats happening in India.

Before the BJP came to power in 2014, an average of three journalists were arrested per year for dissenting speech, according to the Free Speech Collective, a research and advocacy group promoting freedom of the press and the right to dissent in India. Since then, the number of journalists arrested or informally detained per year has reached an average of 14; in 2020, the number of journalists arrested or detained peaked at 51. The number of people charged with seditiona colonial-era law still in the countrys constitutionhas increased by more than a third since 2014. Most are journalists.

I dont know if there are too many democracies in the world where without a police complaint, or without any sort of evidence of criminal activities, a government can force Twitter to take something down. But thats whats happening in India.

In September 2020, Auqib Javeed, a journalist who worked at the time for Article 14 and the Kashmir Observer, reported on the disappearance of many Twitter accounts that openly criticized the Indian states actions in Kashmir, during the weeks leading up to what became one of the longest internet blackouts in the region. When so many crucial accounts suddenly went black, I wanted to know what happened, Javeed says. It turns out many of these users were summoned by the police, harassed, given warnings, and verbally abused. Some had to give sworn statements saying they will never say anything negative about the government again. Javeed published his findings on 17 September 2020, under a title calling the Kashmiri police a cyber bully. The day after the story was published, Javeed was summoned by the police, and harassed and beaten inside a Srinagar police station for hours until he agreed to change the articles headline. He was not formally charged with a crime.

Journalists who have complaints against their work, get blocked, or have their content taken down are pretty much powerless against the might of social media companies, says Geeta Seshu, founder and lead researcher on the Free Speech Collectives Behind Bars report, which details every official and unofficial detention, arrest and complaint against journalists in the last decade. Unless its a prominent figure, most people are just left high and dryfaced alone with unreported, arduous legal cases that drag on for years. Were talking about people thrown in jail just for saying something. Thats a very dangerous breakdown of the institutions built to uphold justice.

Methodology

First, I downloaded and compiled data from all of Twitters transparency reports for India, published every 6 months, beginning in January 2012 until December 2020. The final CSV file contained the total number of legal demands made to Twitter from the Indian government per time period, including the number of tweets flagged for removal and the users flagged for suspension. It also included the total number of tweets and accounts Twitter actually enforced, accompanied by the compliance rate.

To find the actual URLs and accounts flagged for removal, I scraped the Lumen database  a Harvard University initiative monitoring global content removals  using Selenium in Python, filtering for India and Twitter. Since Twitter voluntarily discloses data to Lumen, only about an eighth of the total takedown notices were available. Each notice on their database had some basic information, as well as a PDF file containing the original legal demand. After downloading the PDFs, I ran them through Adobe Acrobats Optical Character Recognition tool to make the scanned images into searchable text. Then I used text extraction libraries like PyPDF and PDF Plumber to pull out the unstructured text from each file, manually going through for non-English characters and other OCR glitches.

Using regular expressions, I cleaned the text and extracted all the URLs within them into a separate list. I used Twitters API via Tweepy to obtain information about each tweet and/or Twitter user, including the text of the tweet, the total number of tweets from that user, the bio, and number of followers. While trying to get this information, I discovered that if a user sets their country as anything other than India on Twitterregardless of where they are actually located physicallythe tweets are no longer blocked. I ran the same code twice, so both interfaces can be compared. In total, I was able to find about 500 tweets with text from the original 800 URLs that were tweets; the rest were URLs for accounts in general.

After some cleaning and formatting in Pandas, I used a combination of ScikitLearn, Numpy and a TF/IDF count vectorizer to categorize the tweets for which I had text. I chose eight categories to classify them into, based on a combination of the most frequently occurring words/sentiments, my reporting process and the general context of political events in India over the last decade. Finally, I cleaned and analyzed the data further into smaller CSV files to build a series of charts and graphics, for which I used Flourish, Altair, and Adobe Illustrator.

I also scraped Indian Kanoon, an online database for legal information, for about 1,000 PDFs containing court filings and judgments relating to Article 124A (sedition) in the hope that I could filter for cases based solely on defendants tweets. After rigorous cleaning and text extraction, the data proved unusable for the purpose of this story. I did, however, go through the data to identify potential sources to contact and case studies to examine further. Through my interviews, I found a report titled Behind Bars, published by the Free Speech Collective, from which I extracted data on the arrests, detentions and complaints against journalists.

All of the completed and cleaned CSV files are available on my GitHub repository, as well as the Jupyter notebooks containing the original code used to collect the data.

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Paroma Soni is a CJR fellow.
Journalists on Twitter are faced with an impossible task, a choice between building their following or avoiding harassment. More often than not, they face those risks without the support of their editors and newsrooms.

On this weeks Kicker, Jacob L. Nelson, an assistant professor at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University, and Kyle Pope, editor and publisher of CJR, discuss Nelsons latest report, published by the Tow Center for Digital Journalism, on journalists experiences with and views of newsroom social media policies.

SHOW NOTES

A Twitter tightrope without a net: Journalists reactions to newsroom social media policies, Jacob L. Nelson, CJR and the Tow Center for Digital Journalism

Five perspectives on newsroom social media policies, Jacob L. Nelson, CJR and the Tow Center for Digital Journalism
In recent weeks, a pair of trends moving in opposite directionsPresident Bidens approval rating (down) and prices (up)have dominated coverage of the White House, and the White House seems pretty annoyed about that fact. Senior staffers including Ron Klain, the chief of staff, and outside Biden allies have publicly criticized the media for what they see as a distorted and disproportionate focus on whats bad about the economy, rather than whats good about it; top officials reportedly even led briefings for major newsrooms on supply-chain and other issues, making the case that the US is in a much better economic position than a year ago. Last Thursday, dozens of liberal groups wrote to key media players to complain about a pervasive pattern of under-reporting and negative bias toward the actions and agenda of this administration; meanwhile, Kurt Bardella, a Democratic adviser, complained to The Hill about a barrage of unimportant high-school tabloid-style garbage, like stories about Biden coughing during a speech on jobs. On Friday, Biden went on Jimmy Fallons show for his first late-night appearance as president. People are worried, and people are getting so much inaccurate information to themI dont mean about me, but about their situation, Biden said, turning serious after joking about his low approval rating. Theyre being told that Armageddons on the way.

Media critics and columnists have weighed in, too, criticizing gloomy coverage of the economy in particular and Bidens job performance in generalespecially when compared to that of the last guy in the Oval Office. One column, by Dana Milbank, of the Washington Post, sparked especially lively debate. Milbank listed a string of recent headlines in Politicos influential Playbook newsletter and noted that his impression of other outlets coverage of President Biden had been much the same: unrelentingly negative, before making the case that this isnt just a figment of his imagination. Milbank commissioned a data firm to, in his words, measure the negativity with precision by using artificial intelligence to run a sentiment analysis of language that appeared in more than two hundred thousand articles across sixty-five news websites between January and November of this year (to assess coverage of Biden) and the same period last year (to compare it with coverage of then-President Trump). After a honeymoon, Bidens press for the past four months has been as bad asand for a time worse thanthe coverage Trump received for the same four months of 2020, Milbank wrote, a trend that he sees as tantamount to media complicity in the murder of democracy. The US, he argued, is in an existential struggle between self-governance and an authoritarian alternative. And we in the news media, collectively, have given equal, if not slightly more favorable, treatment to the authoritarians.

Podcast: Twitter on a tightrope

Klain shared the column on Twitter, with the caption submitted for your consideration; other White House officials promoted it, too, while various media critics endorsed Milbanks analysis. Not that everyone agreed. I think this point of view is very wrong, Ross Douthat wrote in the New York Times, of Milbanks argument, adding that journalists not only have an obligation to the truth that cannot be set aside for the sake of certain political results, however desirable for democracy those results may seem, but that shirking this duty would prove counterproductive, by eroding news consumers trust. Writing in the New Republic, Jason Linkins reached a similar conclusion from a different direction. Blind fealty to heads of state is the hallmark of dictatorships, not democracies, Linkins wrote. No true partisan for democracy can simply be a reflexive defender of a politician. Some observers, meanwhile, eviscerated the methodology of Milbanks sentiment analysis. Nate Silver, of the data-driven news site FiveThirtyEight, called it complete crap, and its algorithm faulty. The article about Biden that had the most positive score appeared in the conservative Washington Examiner and excoriated Democrats plans for higher taxes. (As Silver notes, the analysis may have misunderstood high as positive without judging context.) The article with the sixth-most positive score was about the assassination of Haitis president.

I lack Silvers data expertise but I, too, was highly skeptical of Milbanks sentiment analysis, which doesnt, to my mind, really prove anything meaningful. This is not to say that Milbanks observationsthat coverage of Biden has been unrelentingly negative, and that reporters are failing to be partisans for democracyare necessarily wrong. And the urge to quantify media framing at a large scale is understandable, given how often political journalists dismiss qualitative media criticism as overly general. But the topline numbers that Milbank offers dont say anything about how hes right, or what coverage is bad and why. Even if you assume that the sentiment analysis does reasonably and consistently capture the medias actual judgments (which is a big if), comparing the numbers for Biden to those for Trump doesnt really prove Milbanks opening hypothesis that Bidens coverage, in isolation, is overly negative. Should Bidens numbers be higher? Or Trumps lower? Or both? The data doesnt offer a framework for assessing such questions. (Nor does it compare coverage across the same time period.)

More fundamentally, I simply dont think media criticism is reducible to quantitative measures. Sure, media critics can marshal data pointsthe number of times a given topic was mentioned on cable news in a given period, sayto build an argument, but those rarely, if ever, prove the argument, or why it matters. And counting mentions, clearly, is a much easier task than quantifying language, the meaning of which is messy and inconsistent across different outlets and writers, even before you get into contextual misunderstandings over high taxes. Media criticism is inevitably impressionistic and subjective to a high degree. Thats not a free pass to make sweeping statements about coverage with no evidence whatsoever to back it up, and it doesnt mean that all media criticism is equally valid. Nor does subjectivity render media criticism pointless as a craft. In the end, it fuels a debate that cant be short-circuited by a single dataset, of any quality. You dont need to scan two hundred thousand articles to justify slamming Playbook.

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Which brings us back to the key question here: is Milbank right? Is Ron Klain? The answer (beyond noting that politicians grumbling about their coverage isnt unusual in a democracy) is complicated, and ties into a question of balance that I first wrote about more than a year ago. Reporters should not cover Biden as negatively as they covered Trump in some misguided pursuit of neutrality; at the same time, the Trump era awakened many reporters to problems in American governance that go beyond Trump, and returning to an era of complacency because Trump was worse isnt tenable either. Milbanks data may appear to show the former problemalso known as false equivalencyin the aggregate, but I think its more usefully assessed within and between smaller numbers of stories that are directly comparable. The issue is not so much that Bidens coverage is negative but what that negativity entails and whether its fair and substantiveand judging that requires case-by-case analysis that isnt always served well by Trump comparisons. Much coverage of Biden has indeed been trivial (see: coughing) or lacking in perspective (see: Afghanistan), and thats without even wading into the messy recent coverage of the economy. But there are plenty of areas in which he arguably deserves more rigorous scrutinynot least, as Linkins noted, his relatively tepid push to protect voting rights, which are obviously essential to the survival of democracy.

A democracy that requires journalists to mute their criticism of one politician because the alternative is scarier arguably isnt a democracy that has survived at all. To be fair, Im not sure (contra Douthat, et al) that Milbank is quite calling for journalists to be apologistsand in isolation, his argument that media coverage of Trumps threats to democracy could be much more urgent is fair. But that urgency wontand needntlook like keeping coverage of Biden an arbitrary fraction ahead of coverage of Trump on a sentiment graph. If theres a comparison to be drawn here, perhaps, its a forward-looking one of prominence and proportion. As Will Bunch, a columnist at the Philadelphia Inquirer, put it in response to Milbanks column, The problem with Biden-era journalism isnt what they write, but what they dont write What top U.S. journalists need to see is that Bidens performance is A story, but the performance of the fragile American system under attack from authoritarianism is THE story.

Below, more on media criticism, politics, and democracy:



Other notable stories:

ICYMI: Chris Wallace, an old approach, and something new

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Jon Allsop is a freelance journalist whose work has appeared in the New York Review of Books, Foreign Policy, and The Nation, among other outlets. He writes CJRs newsletter The Media Today. Find him on Twitter @Jon_Allsop.
LONDON  Investors managing $4.1 trillion in assets are urging the worlds biggest chemicals companies to phase out production of hazardous substances which linger in the environment and have been linked to serious health problems.

The move by 23 investors including Aviva Investors and Storebrand comes as regulators toughen rules around their use and as analysts warn some companies could face billions of dollars in associated clean-up and compensation costs.

In a letter to the worlds 50-biggest chemical producers with combined revenues of $860 billion the investors call for increased transparency around how many substances of very high concern they produce every year.

Whilst U.S. and European regulators have disclosure requirements on hazardous chemicals, many other countries do not, and information on the volumes produced globally are not publically available.

To help investors, companies should also share the data with the non-profit International Chemical Secretariat (ICS), which advocates for a shift to safer chemicals and tracks the performance of leading producers, the letter seen by Reuters said.

We believe sustainable management of chemicals is key to financial outperformance, Eugenie Mathieu, senior analyst at Aviva Investors, told Reuters, citing the example of litigation tied to PFAS or perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, used in applications such as lubrication and industrial coatings.

So-called persistent chemicals such as PFAS  which degrade slowly and are linked to a range of illnesses after getting into local water supplies  have already led to payouts from companies including 3M, and more cases are pending.

Potential Costs

In recent years the financial implications for (a) companys liability for past and current production of pollution of persistent chemicals, especially PFAS, have been clear, she added, citing one analysts estimate of potential costs in the United States of between $25 billion and $40 billion.

A spokesperson for 3M, one of the companies to receive the letter, said the company was committed to environmental stewardship, adding: We welcome the opportunity to engage with investors and other stakeholders regarding this topic.

Belgian company Umicore said it had engaged with ICS over the groups ChemScore questionnaire in October and complies with relevant legislation where it makes, imports or sells its products, using a risk-based approach to chemicals management.

Given the growing regulatory and litigation concerns, the investors said they wanted to see all companies make a time-linked commitment to phase out production of the chemicals, focusing first on persistent chemicals.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency earlier this year laid out a plan to toughen rules https://www.reuters.com/world/us/biden-administration-moves-curtail-toxic-forever-chemicals-report-2021-10-18 for persistent chemicals, while the European Union is also looking to tighten legislation and incentivise a transition towards less hazardous materials.

Lastly, the investors said companies should set out plans to develop products that can be reused as part of a circular economy, or which allow customers to design products that can be used in such a way  a key focus of EU lawmakers.

The chemical industry sits at the start of the supply chain so has a role to play in driving the circular economy forward, the letter said, citing examples such as using waste or bio-based material as feedstocks.
Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker on Monday questioned whether building codes need updating to counter risks from an increasing number of severe storms as investigators parse through reasons for the fatal collapse of an Amazon.com Inc. warehouse in the state late last week.A tornado struck an Amazon delivery station in Edwardsville, Illinois, on Friday, killing six workers and destroying much of the facility at the peak of the holiday shopping season. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has opened an investigation.The tornado was part of a deadly weather system that tore through the central U.S. last week killing at least 75 people during a usually calm time of the year and potentially setting records for the distance it covered. Scientists havent figured out if there is a connection to climate change and tornadoes, but they do know storms in general are becoming more severe.

Pritzker said during a press conference on Monday in Edwardsville, which is near St. Louis, that the investigation will look at whether current regulations were followed at the Amazon warehouse. He also raised the prospect that climate change may be contributing to a rising number of storms and added that hes speaking with state legislators on whether or not we need to change code based upon the climate change that we are seeing all around us.

Severe storm

The billionaire Democrats comments on the tragedy are part of a broader national discussion regarding the use of long-term averages to define what is normal, which can leave previous decisions about building codes and even crop decisions and insurance rates out of date as the climate changes.

This tornado was something that was an unexpected major, severe storm. We are seeing more and more of that I might add throughout the state of Illinois, he said in response to questions from a reporter. Thats something that we are deeply concerned about to make sure the code is where it ought to be.

He added that the distribution, warehousing and manufacturing industries are key components of the states economy. Illinois is a hub of warehousing and then moving commodities and consumer products throughout the country with intricate networks of railways, airports, rivers and roadways running through it. More than 20% of its non-agriculture jobs come from trade, transportation and utilities and another 10% are from manufacturing.

We want to attract those businesses. We want to keep those businesses here in Illinois, and yes, we want to make sure the code is up to date, especially up to date given the serious change in climate weve seen across the country, Pritzker said.

About the photo:Damaged buildings following a tornado in Mayfield, Kentucky, U.S., on Saturday, Dec. 11, 2021. Tornadoes ripped across several U.S. states late Friday, killing more than 70 people in Kentucky, at least two at a nursing home in Arkansas and an undetermined number at an Amazon.com warehouse that was partially flattened in Illinois.

Copyright 2022 Bloomberg.
A Wyoming oil exploration company may not avail itself to Texas law to evade liability for injuries to one of its contractors employees, a panel of the US 5th Circuit Court of Appeals decided.

Cannon Oil and Gas Well Services lease agreement with KLX Energy Services required each company to indemnify the other if any employees were injured by the drilling equipment that KLX rented to Cannon, regardless of fault. But Wyoming law forbids oil field indemnity agreements because of concern that they remove an incentive for drillers to be mindful of workplace safety.

The 5th Circuit ruled Friday that because Cannon operates solely in Wyoming, the provision in its contract with KLX that says Texas law governs is not valid.

The underlying state court proceedingin which a Wyoming resident was injured in Wyoming by the alleged negligence of a Wyoming oil companyimplicates Wyomings policy with precision, the opinion says. Enforcing the indemnity provision would discourage what Wyoming hopes to encourageCannons taking steps to avoid injuries in its oilfield operations.

The contract dispute stems from a December 2017 accident that injured KLX employee Joshua Batchelor while he was conducting a pressure test on an oil well owned by Cannon in Carbon County, Wyoming. Bactchelor and his wife filed a lawsuit against Cannon in Wyoming state court.

Cannon, relying on its contract with KLX, called on the Houston-based company to indemnify it. The two companies had both purchased at least $2 million in liability insurance coverage to ensure that they could meet the terms of the lease agreement.

Cannon filed suit in federal court seeking a declaration that KLX was required to honor the contract. But the district court judge ruled that the indemnity provision was not absolute. The contract stated that indemnity could be limited by applicable law. The court ruled that the indemnity provision was unenforceable because Wyoming law bars oilfield indemnity agreements.

The 5th Circuit panel noted that Texas law allows parties to enter into contracts governed by the law of another states, but also limits contractual autonomy. Parties cannot choice the law of a jurisdiction that had no relation to them or the agreement and may not thwart or offend the public policy of the state whose laws would apply otherwise.

The panel said in order for Wyoming law to override Texas law:

Wyoming must have a more significant relationship with the parties than Texas does. Wyoming must have a materially greater interest than Texas in applying the law. Applying Texas law must be contrary to Wyoming policy.

All three statements are true, the opinion says. Before negotiating the contract, Cannon contacted KRX employees stationed in Wyoming. All of the drilling done with the KRX equipment took place in Wyoming. And finally, Wyoming has an interest in promoting worker safety in its oilfields, the panel said.

Wyomings interest in promoting worker safety in its oilfields is at its zenith on these facts, the opinion says.

The panel affirmed the decision of the trial court, which means Cannon must defend itself against the lawsuit in Wyoming state court.
Insured losses from the swarm of tornadoes and severe convective storms that caused destruction in parts of the United States this month could amount up to $5 billion, industry experts said on Tuesday.

Catastrophe modeling firm Karen Clark & Company said it expects insured losses of about $3 billion from tornadoes that tore a 200-mile path through the six states in the U.S. Midwest and South, demolishing homes, leveling businesses and setting off a scramble to find survivors beneath the rubble.

The barrage of tornadoes killed at least 74 people in Kentucky, officials said on Monday.

Credit rating agency Fitch said insured losses could rise to $5 billion, rivaling the U.S. Midwest derecho event in August last year, but less than Winter Storm Uri and Hurricane Ida, both of which saw losses of $15 billion and $40 billion respectively.

Fitch said it was unusual to have this type of weather-driven event in December, which is historically the least costly month of the year for U.S. convective storm insured losses, citing climate change as a potential factor.

The tornadoes will likely drive insurance industry natural catastrophe losses to the largest annual total in the U.S. since the 2017 record year (approximately $130 billion), it added.

This will add to reinsurers push for rate hikes at the January 2022 pricing renewals and beyond as they absorb losses from another unusual weather event and react to concerns about the negative impact from climate change, Fitch said.

The powerful twisters, which weather forecasters say are unusual in cooler months, also destroyed a candle factory and the fire and police stations in a small town in Kentucky, ripped through a nursing home in neighboring Missouri, and killed at least six workers at an Amazon warehouse in Illinois.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, December 14)  It's official: Senator Bong Go formally withdrew from the 2022 presidential race on Tuesday.

The senator went to the Commission on Elections on Tuesday to withdraw his candidacy two weeks after he made the verbal announcement. The poll body's spokesperson, James Jimenez, shared Go's photo filing the paperwork.

Wala na po ako sa karerang ito. Nakapagsalita na ako nung Nov. 30, pinaintindi ko lang sa supporters ko na nagre-resist ang aking puso, isipan sa pagtakbo," Go said.

[Translation: I am already out of the race. I already said it last Nov. 30. I wanted my supporters to understand that my heart and mind were against my candidacy.]

Last Nov. 30, Go said his family has been against his decision to run for the highest office.

He explained that he only accepted the challenge to run because he felt the need to follow the order of his party, PDP-Laban, chaired by President Rodrigo Duterte.

Following Go's withdrawal, Duterte has yet to name the presidential candidate he will support.

Some presidential hopefuls, including Manila Mayor Francisco "Isko Moreno" Domagoso, as well as Senators Panfilo Lacson and Manny Pacquiao, said Go's decision should be respected.

Moreno said quitting isn't an easy choice, adding the move is a "huge sacrifice" on Go's part. This sentiment was shared by vice presidential aspirant Vicente "Tito" Sotto III.

"It takes a wise man to sacrifice something that he loves and give way to others who can serve our country better," Sotto said.

Pacquiao, meanwhile, is confident this development will help him secure more votes from Mindanao, as he noted he is now the only remaining Mindanaoan running for the highest government post.

For Davao City Mayor and vice presidential hopeful Sara Duterte, withdrawing is a personal decision which "we can only support."

Hours after Go formally ended his presidential bid, President Duterte also dropped out of the senatorial race.

CNN Philippines correspondent Melissa Lopez contributed to this report
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, December 14)  President Rodrigo Duterte has called on the Commission on Elections to take a more proactive role in preventing crowding in campaign gatherings amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

He said the Comelec can issue an order to prevent superspreader events.

"Id like to call the attention of the Comelec," the President said in his regular address to the nation on Monday. "You are the ones supervising the elections. As a matter of fact, you are the one running the show Could you not just issue a [directive], i-maintain lang 'yung (just maintain) social distance?"

The poll body has issued limits for in-person campaigns based on alert levels. However, it will only take effect once the national campaign season begins on Feb. 8, 2022.

Duterte said allowing large gatherings for campaign sorties could mean the pandemic situation will worsen again, adding Filipinos "should not tempt the Gods" amid improving COVID-19 data.

The President also reminded 2022 election candidates to exercise "utmost caution and prudence" in holding their campaign-related caravans and rallies.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, December 14)  Public and private employees who are planning to take their shots during the second wave of the nationwide vaccination program shall be excused from work, Presidential Adviser for COVID-19 Response Vince Dizon said.

"Basta po ang rason eh magpapabakuna, hindi po sila dapat ma-mark na absent o mabawasan ang kanilang benepisyo," he said over PTV on Tuesday.

[Translation: So long as their reason is that they will get vaccinated, they should not be marked absent or deprived of any of their benefits.]

The government issued the same directive in the first phase of the "Bayanihan, Bakunahan" project held from Nov. 29 to Dec. 1.

The second round commences on Wednesday, Dec. 15, until Dec. 17. But it will only push through in Metro Manila, Ilocos Region, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, and the Cordillera Administrative Region.

Officials moved to reschedule the massive rollout in several other areas to Dec. 20 to 22, as they brace for the possible impact of tropical cyclone "Odette."

READ: Govt suspends 2nd 'Bayanihan, Bakunahan' in some regions due to storm 'Odette'

Despite this, the government hopes to inoculate 7 million more people in the three-day drive.

Dizon assured that the country has "more than enough" supplies to reach its target of 54 million fully vaccinated Filipinos by the end of the year.
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The Missourians Opinion section is a public forum for the discussion of ideas. The views presented in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Missourian or the University of Missouri. If you would like to contribute to the Opinion page with a response or an original topic of your own, visit our submission form
Chef Angela May presents a Zesty Zespri three-course Kiwi-mas feast

Singapore  This festive season, is ready to give the gift of a culinary feast with a side dish of good health. Renowned chef, culinary director and host of the Bocuse dOr Chef Angela May, has collaborated with Zespri to present a Zesty Zespri Kiwi-mas feast, a three-course menu worth SGD 320 that offers delightful tropical flavours and stars Zespri Kiwifruit, which contains more than 100% of your daily Vitamin C needs.

Three lucky contest winners will enjoy the tangy and sweet taste profile of this Vitamin C-rich fruit in a diverse tropical Christmas menu for the family. Photo courtesy: Zespri Kiwifruit

Zespri is 100 per cent owned by current and former kiwi fruit growers and has a global team of 700 based in Mount Maunganui and throughout Asia, Europe and the Americas. Chef Angela and Zespri collaboration aim to bring cheer to festive dinner tables while sharing the health benefits of the Vitamin C-rich kiwifruit. Brand-new recipes were created especially for Zespris Christmas giveaway.

Contest details:

There are three sets (Zesty Zespri Kiwi-mas feast, a three-course menu worth SGD 320 each) to be won.

Each prize feeds four people and will be delivered to the comfort of your home on December 23.

Winners will be announced the following week in the comments section of the same post.

Contest opens on December 13 and closes on December 20 at 11.59 pm.

Chef Angela May, Culinary Director of Deliciae Hospitality Management (DHM). Photo courtesy: Zespri Kiwifruit

I developed this menu with the vibrant flavour profile of Zespri Kiwi fruit in mind. It was a fun, Vitamin C-rich ingredient to base my menu around and Ive incorporated it in both sweet and savoury dishes. In my home, mealtimes have always been a time to bond, catch up and tuck into something both tasty and wholesome, and this is all the more true at Christmas. I hope the bright flavours of this menu bring cheer to a few peoples homes, especially after a tough year for many, said Chef Angela.

The dishes highlight the versatility of both Zespri SunGold and Zespri Green Kiwi fruit and span a spectrum of tastes, featuring the complex, uplifting flavours in the main, and spotlighting the sweet and refreshing quality of the fruit in the starter. Hurry, enter the contest and win Chef Angelas Christmas feast for yourself or a loved one!

Baby Spinach, Roasted Cauliflower, Mint, and Feta in a Sharp Lemongrass Dressing. Photo courtesy: Zespri Kiwifruit

With Zespri Kiwifruit Thai Red Curry, Zespri Kiwifruit Salsa, Quinoa and Chiffonade of Lacinto Kale and Goji. Photo courtesy: Zespri Kiwifruit
12/14/2021

Photo (c) dowell - Getty Images Coronavirus (COVID-19) tally as compiled by Johns Hopkins University. (Previous numbers in parentheses.)

Total U.S. confirmed cases: 50,164,035 (49,938,379)

Total U.S. deaths: 799,090 (797,456)

Total global cases: 271,173,538 (270,339,576)

Total global deaths: 5,317,639 (5,309,203)

Pfizer says its pill is 90% effective

Pfizer has issued its final analysis data of a pill to treat COVID-19, declaring that the pill showed an efficacy rate of 90% in preventing hospitalization and death. In a clinical trial, it said none of the patients who took the pill died.

Emerging variants of concern, like Omicron, have exacerbated the need for accessible treatment options for those who contract the virus, and we are confident that, if authorized or approved, this potential treatment could be a critical tool to help quell the pandemic, said Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla.

The Pfizer pills are meant to be taken with the older antiviral drug ritonavir every 12 hours for five days beginning shortly after the onset of symptoms. If authorized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the drug will be sold under the brand name Paxlovid.

California orders masks regardless of vaccination status

The state of California has issued a sweeping mandate that requires masks to be worn in indoor public spaces regardless of vaccination status. The measure takes effect Wednesday.

Several jurisdictions in the state, including Los Angeles County, already have a similar mask mandate in place. The statewide requirement will expire on Jan. 15, if it is not renewed.

California Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly said the measure is necessary to cope with a 47% spike in COVID-19 case rates in California since Thanksgiving. According to Ghaly, the rate of daily new cases has nearly doubled since the holiday.

Pandemic set off a wave of entrepreneurship

Millions of Americans quit their jobs during the pandemics Great Resignation, and it turns out many of them started new businesses. A report by the Peterson Institute for International Economics found that new business startups increased by 24% last year when compared to 2019.

The report found people thrown out of work early in the pandemic were open to significant life changes. In particular, low-income workers began taking stock of their situation and looked for opportunities.

Around the nation

New Jersey: State health officials are grappling with a sharp increase in new cases of the coronavirus. Gov. Phil Murphy reports that serious cases are also increasing, with a 25% increase in hospitalizations in the last seven days. The latest positivity rate is 8%.

Michigan: With winter break just ahead, the University of Michigan has issued guidance to students, faculty, and staff for staying healthy over the holidays. COVID-19 case activity on campus has returned to the elevated levels seen before the Thanksgiving break, said Robert Ernst, associate vice president of student life and director of the Campus Health Response Committee.

Ohio: Anti-poverty groups are appealing to state officials to free up some of the $5 billion in Ohios COVID-19 relief money to help low-income residents. Weve so far spent a huge portion of our funds to stabilize businesses. We need to spend the remaining funds on those who are most in need, said Zach Schiller, of Policy Matters Ohio.

Oklahoma: Cases of the coronavirus have risen over the last month. State health officials say about 20% of the cases are in patients who had been vaccinated. Interim Health Commissioner Keith Reed said many of the cases involved patients who would have been eligible for a booster shot but didnt get one.
12/14/2021

Photo (c) Roman Tiraspolsky - Getty Images With holiday shipping deadlines tightening by the day, United Airlines has decided it could take a little stress off the shoulders of gift-givers by offering a gift that doesn't need expedited shipping  one-way fares starting at $49. The airline is also giving its rewards members a good deal by offering awards trips starting at 4,900 miles.

However, there are two buts that consumers need to pay attention to, and theyre big ones. First, travelers need to understand that these fares start at $49 and dont account for taxes and fees. Secondly, the window on this deal closes at midnight on December 14.

Uniteds hubs  Newark, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Denver, Washington D.C., and San Francisco  get the bulk of the best prices, but even small markets like Lincoln, Nebraska, and Huntsville, Alabama, have hard-to-beat fares.

Flights starting at $49

When ConsumerAffairs jumped into Uniteds reservation system for this deal, heres what we found for flights using January 12, 2022, as the day of departure.

For $49 each way: routes include Cincinnati to Washington D.C. and Nashville to Chicago.

For $69 one way: routes include Boise to Los Angeles and Atlanta to Houston.

If youre willing to pay more but still get a good deal: United has $139 one-way fares from places like Ft. Myers to San Francisco and Washington D.C. to Phoenix.

Can travelers expect more deals to come soon?

Its too early to know if these kinds of deals will continue to be offered, but others may follow suit now that United has thrown down the $49 gauntlet.

When it comes to domestic and short-haul international routes, we're living in a ridiculously competitive fare environment, which can only be good news for travelers, Willis Orlando at Scotts Cheap Flights told ConsumerAffairs. What's even better is that we can expect to see other full-service airlines respond to these cut-rate fares with bargain fares of their own.

Orlando cited a recent example from Alaska Airlines, which offered flights to Hawaii from certain West Coast cities for $123 roundtrip. That prompted American, Delta, and Hawaiian Airlines to react with deals of their own to Hawaii. The bottom line is this: If youre looking for a good deal on airfare, watch airline sites like a hawk and be prepared to move quickly.

We'd expect to see much of the same with these highly in-demand domestic routes this week, Orlando said. So if you're a Delta or American loyalist, standby, your deal is probably on the way within days if not hours.
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JAMMU, DECEMBER 13: The Chief Secretary, Dr. Arun Kumar Mehta today chaired a meeting to review the functioning of the Health & Medical Education Department and took stock of the physical and financial targets achieved this financial year.

The Additional Chief Secretary, Health & Medical Education Department, Director, SKIMS, concerned HoDs, Principals of all Medical Colleges and other senior officers of the Department attended the meeting.

At the outset, Additional Chief Secretary, Health & Medical Education Department gave a presentation drawing a picture of the functioning of the Department in general, and achievements under various sectors in particular viz. Health Institutions including Medical Colleges, NHM, Emergency Covid-19 Response Package (ECRP), National Ayush Mission, National Aids Control Programme, healthcare infrastructure development and other Centrally Sponsored Schemes.

While discussing ECRP, Chief Secretary directed Principals of all Medical Colleges and Director, Health Services to ensure that the status report with respect to medical equipment like ventilators, beds etc. human resource, oxygen plants, Liquid Medical Oxygen is made available to the concerned authorities within a day, so that any issue identified, is addressed, or an alternate arrangement is made in time, to cater to any emergent situation.

The Chief Secretary observed that Jammu & Kashmir has made significant progress towards achieving 100% coverage in immunization of children as per the National Immunization Schedule, and asked the department to launch a campaign reaching out to the people with an aim to cover all left out children within a period of 3-4 months.

The Chief Secretary further observed that considering 94% of births in the Union territory are institutional births, the department should explore to make the immunization record of each child digitally available, which can be extracted to an application like DigiLocker.

With respect to the Centrally Sponsored Schemes, the Chief Secretary asked the concerned Directors of Health Services to ensure that the payments under all schemes are made directly into the Aadhar linked bank accounts of the end beneficiaries timely, without any delay and backlog if any, needs to be immediately addressed.

The Chief Secretary directed the concerned to ensure 100% saturation of Golden Cards under Universal Health Insurance. While reviewing the status of the new Medical Colleges, the Chief Secretary directed that all Medical Colleges must be made fully functional by end March, 2022. He asked the Department to ensure that any issue related to infrastructure, equipment or manpower is addressed by that time.

The Chief Secretary was apprised that the basic project of the Cancer Institute at SKIMS, Srinagar is complete, has been commissioned and is operational. It was also informed that the similar institute at GMC, Jammu will also be made functional by March, 2022. With a view to improve the standards of healthcare at all institutions across the Union territory, the Chief Secretary said that the level of healthcare made available to the people should be at par with cities like Mumbai and Chandigarh so that any individual is not compelled to travel to cities outside J&K to avail specialized healthcare.

Dr. Mehta observed that the hospitals should come up with SOPs of an exchange programme or an excellence group wherein doctors can discuss medical cases and the line of treatment cutting across different hospitals.

The Chief Secretary observed that all hospitals need to maintain a high level of hygiene and cleanliness and should have a quality policy in place immediately. He asked the department to develop an online healthcare feedback system so that the satisfaction level amongst the people can be gauged and improvements can be made.

Dr. Mehta noted that the hospitals need to have a proper referral system in place, indicating the name of the doctor referring the case, to curb avoidable referrals. He also directed the concerned to evolve a system in line with CAB for patient waiting-areas in the hospitals, adding that the hospitals should also put a check on the number of attendants that accompany a patient. With respect to under-utilized medical equipment,

Dr. Mehta asked the concerned Directors to furnish a report to the Administrative Department within a week indicating any kind of hospital equipment that is lying un-utilized. He further directed the concerned to ensure that the list of medicines that are available free of cost is conspicuously displayed in the hospitals, for public awareness.
As the COVID-19 pandemic pushed enterprise networks to evolve rapidly to serve increased user populations with increased services, network security threats evolved in response. Multiple and diverse network endpoints invite multiple bad actors to invade your network, which is why network operations (NetOps), and network security operations (SecOps) teams need a way to work together more quickly and effectively than ever before. During a recent NETSCOUT OnGuard webinar, a panel of industry experts discussed this rapid digital transformation of enterprise networks and how NetOps and SecOps can join forces for faster, more decisive network issue assessment.

When discussing the expanded services and demands on enterprise networks, Hardik Modi, associate vice president for NETSCOUTs threat, intelligence, and mitigation products, noted that from a security standpoint, maintaining the availability, integrity, and confidentiality (CIA) of all services became that much harder to ensure. And enterprise organizations will always need to be focused on all three aspects of the CIA cybersecurity triad.

Total network visibility: A common need can be commonly sourced

Total network visibility is important to NetOps for service assurance and to SecOps for cybersecurity, and these teams can collaborate more powerfully by using a common source of network-derived datasomething that Mark Doering, director of technical marketing for NETSCOUT, referred to as a single source of truth. Doering went on to say that if these teams dont have the same formulated data pattern, collection capabilities, or depth of visibility, or the same point of visibility in their network, then theyre going to derive different answers to the same questions. Using the same smart data source allows for more efficient troubleshooting from both sides of the organization and eliminates that sort of crossfire and duplication of effort.

Endpoint detection versus whole-network detection

Tom Bienkowski, director of product marketing for NETSCOUT, noted that security teams have additional methods for deriving visibility for cybersecurity purposes, including endpoint detection and response (EDR) solutions. Although EDR (and firewall, and edge defense) tools are all important parts of any network defense strategy, they should not be the only defense. As Modi commented, Knowing that you have complete coverage with your EDR solution in itself is a challenge.

Today, malware is increasingly targeting the BIOS, where it is difficult to detect, and its being found on other network devices, including Internet of Things (IoT) devices, where it is increasingly difficult to deploy EDR solutions. But as Doering noted, Network-derived data is hard to manipulate and hard to obfuscate. The network usually gives you that better point of truth. So, having network-derived data is key for enterprise network security.

Youve got total network visibility. Now what?

Every enterprise can benefit from the streamlined workflows and decreased mean time to recovery (MTTR) that results when NetOps and SecOps teams share the same source of network-derived data. Businesses can also go on the offensive when it comes to threatsthey can go threat hunting.

Being able to retrieve information from a security and event management/security orchestration, automation, and response (SIEM/SOAR) solution is different than saying, I have an endpoint reporting, or I have a network reporting, Doering said. Youre going after a data set, or event, or set of events. It could be a list of events, he added, because many are tying the newer EDRs to things such as MITRE D3FEND and are able to drill into the exposed event. And whether it be the applications or the security infrastructure, a smart data solution brings that all together naturally for NetOps and SecOpsfrom packets to security events, to application-level awareness. Regardless the security layer, be it layer 3 up to layer 7, Doering emphasized, youre going to need that visibility across the entire network infrastructure.

Watch the webinar here.
WASHINGTON (AP)  The House panel investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection voted Monday to recommend contempt charges against former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows as lawmakers revealed a series of frantic texts he received as the attack was underway.

The texts, provided by Meadows before he ceased cooperating with the committee, revealed that members of Congress, Fox News anchors and even President Donald Trumps own son were urging Meadows to push Trump to act quickly to stop the siege by his supporters.

We need an Oval address," Donald Trump Jr. texted Meadows as his father's supporters were breaking into the Capitol, sending lawmakers running for their lives and interrupting the certification of President Joe Biden's victory. "He has to lead now. It has gone too far and gotten out of hand.

Trump Jr. added, "Hes got to condemn this s- ASAP."

Republican Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, the panel's vice chairwoman, detailed the texts obtained by the committee as the panel voted to recommend the contempt charges against Meadows, who did not show up for a deposition last week after his lawyer said he would stop cooperating.

The panel voted 9-0 to recommend the contempt charges. The House is expected to vote Tuesday to refer the charges to the Justice Department, which will decide whether to prosecute the former Republican congressman.

Cheney said the texts show Trump's supreme dereliction as he refused to strongly condemn the violence of his supporters, and also raise questions about whether he sought to obstruct the congressional certification through inaction.

These texts leave no doubt, Cheney said. The White House knew exactly what was happening at the Capitol.

The vote comes as the panel has already interviewed more than 300 witnesses, and subpoenaed more than 40 people, as it seeks to create the most comprehensive record yet of the lead-up to the insurrection and of the violent siege itself. The committee's leaders have vowed to punish anyone who doesn't comply, and the Justice Department has already indicted longtime Trump ally Steve Bannon after he defied his subpoena this fall.

Whatever legacy he thought he left in the House, this is his legacy now, committee Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., said of Meadows  a former Republican congressman from North Carolina  ahead of the vote. His former colleagues singling him out for criminal prosecution because he wouldnt answer questions about what he knows about a brutal attack on our democracy. Thats his legacy.

In a Monday letter to Thompson, Meadows attorney George Terwilliger said the contempt vote would be unjust because Meadows was one of Trumps top aides and all presidents should be afforded executive privilege to shield their private conversations. Meadows himself sued the panel, asking a court to invalidate two subpoenas that he says are overly broad and unduly burdensome.

Terwilliger noted that the contempt statute has been used infrequently over time and argued that a contempt referral of a senior presidential aide would do great damage to the institution of the Presidency.

The committee has gradually teased a handful of the emails and texts Meadows had provided to the committee before he ended his cooperation  including 6,600 pages of records taken from personal email accounts and about 2,000 text messages. The panel has not released any of the communications in full.

On Monday, Cheney read the texts from Trump Jr. and a series of Fox News hosts as those in Trumps inner circle attempted to reach the president through his chief of staff, imploring him to take action against the violence that was taking place outside and inside the Capitol.

Hey Mark, the president needs to tell people in the Capitol to go home ... this is hurting all of us ... he is destroying his legacy, Fox News host Laura Ingraham texted Meadows, according to the committee.

Please get him on tv. Destroying everything you have accomplished, Brian Kilmeade wrote.

In response to one text from Trump Jr., Meadows texted: Im pushing it hard. I agree.

Cheney also detailed texts that she said were from members of Congress and others in the Capitol.

Hey, Mark, protestors are literally storming the Capitol, read one text. "Breaking windows on doors. Rushing in. Is Trump going to say something?

Another appeared to come from a member in the House chamber. Theres an armed standoff at the House Chamber door, the text read, according to the panel.

If Meadows had appeared for his deposition, lawmakers had planned to ask him about Trumps efforts to overturn the election in the weeks before the insurrection, including his outreach to states and his communications with members of Congress.

Trumps former top White House aide is uniquely situated to provide key information, having straddled an official role in the White House and unofficial role related to Mr. Trumps reelection campaign, the panel said in a 51-page report released Sunday evening.

As part of its list of questions for Meadows, the panel says it wanted to know more about whether Trump was engaged in discussions regarding the response of the National Guard, which was delayed for hours as the violence escalated and the rioters beat police guarding the Capitol building.

The documents provided by Meadows include an email he sent to an unidentified person saying that the Guard would be present to protect pro Trump people," the panel said, and that more would be available on standby. The committee did not release any additional details about the email.

In a transcript of the deposition Meadows skipped, committee staff said they would have interviewed Meadows about emails to leadership at the Department of Justice on December 29th and 30th, 2020, and January 1st, 2021, encouraging investigations of suspected voter fraud, even though election officials and courts across the country had rejected those claims.

In a text exchange with an unidentified senator, the committee said, Meadows said Trump believed Vice President Mike Pence had power to reject electors in his role presiding over the Jan. 6 certification.

Pence did not have that power under the law, as the vice presidents function is largely ceremonial.

___

Associated Press writer Eric Tucker contributed to this report.
A 2-month-old whose family tried to protect her by putting her in a car seat. A 94-year-old Korean War veteran from Arkansas. A longtime florist in Tennessee who recently started on her new adventure as an airport security worker. An Amazon warehouse worker in Illinois. A Kentucky judge known for his common sense.

These were among the dozens of people killed during Friday nights tornadoes that ripped through five states in the Midwest and South. There were dozens of confirmed deaths in Arkansas, Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri and Tennessee, but those numbers were expected to rise. Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said Monday at least 74 had died in his state alone.

Here are some of the people who perished during the tornadoes.

___

Douglas Koon, his wife, Jackie, and their three children huddled in his mother-in-laws bathroom in Dawson Springs, Kentucky, as the storms approached. The tornado hit the house directly, flinging the family around and tossing a bathtub in the air that was shielding two of his sons. The couple put their infant daughter, Oaklynn, in a car seat to protect her, and she appeared to be OK on Saturday.

Its the most traumatic thing Ive been through, I felt like I was helpless in protecting my kids, Douglas Koon told MSNBC in an interview on Saturday. But by Sunday, the baby was having seizures, and doctors noticed a brain bleed after she was taken to the hospital. They believed she had a stroke, Koon said in a Facebook post.

Its not looking good at this point, he wrote. The machines are keeping her alive.

Early Monday morning, the family posted that the infant had died.

In a text message to The Associated Press on Monday, Koon said he was struggling to process everything that Im going through.

A family member has set up a GoFundMe account for Koons family and his mother-in-law, Sheila Rose, who lost her home.

___

Lisa Taylor had worked 14 years as a florist at the same family-owned shop in Memphis, Tennessee, when she left in October to start a new career at the airport with the Transportation Security Administration. Co-workers at Rachels Flowers congratulated her with balloons on a sign that read, Good Luck, Lisa.

Taylor, 54, stayed in touch with her friends at the flower shop, making plans to return part-time over the holidays to make some extra money. Then the phone rang Saturday, just as the power came back on at the shop after violent storms passed through overnight. Taylors longtime boyfriend was calling with tragic news. A large tree had fallen through her roof overnight, killing Taylor as she slept in bed.

She had just gotten started on her new adventure and shes just been taken, said Angie Morton, who worked as a florist alongside Taylor for several years.

A single mother of two children now in their 20s, Taylor took her new government job for higher wages and the extra stability that came with health insurance and other benefits, friends said.

But she had a creative spark that made her a natural when it came to working with flowers, Morton said, whether she was helping grieving families design funeral arrangements or using bits and pieces of broken, castoff jewelry to add some custom sparkle to high school girls prom corsages.

She really liked to bling everything up, Morton said. She would take stuff other people would throw in the trash and make beautiful things out of it. If she found an earring in a store that didnt have a matching pair, she would think, I know theres somebody who that would be perfect for her corsage.

Charles Newell, deputy emergency management administrator for Shelby County, Tennessee, said she was the only known storm death in the county that includes Memphis.

Rachel Greer, the flower shops owner, was helping plan floral arrangements for Taylors funeral. She said Taylors daughter had requested a sea of purple flowers such as lavender roses and chrysanthemums to match her mothers favorite color.

Meanwhile customers were dropping by the shop to offer condolences and leaving notes. One of them read: Lisa was a light in a dark world.

___

Annistyn Rackley was an outgoing and energetic southeast Missouri 9-year-old who loved swimming, dancing and cheerleading, according to Sandra Hooker, the girls grandaunt.

The two became close over the past four years as Hooker offered the girl support during doctors visits and blood draws required by a rare liver condition that still didnt keep Annistyn from activities.

Annistyn, her parents and her two younger sisters, took shelter Friday night in a windowless bathroom in their new home west of Caruthersville, Missouri. To prove theyd gotten to the familys safe space, the girls mom texted Hooker a photo of the three in and next to the bathtub  all of them smiling, 9-year-old Annistyn holding her favorite doll.

Fifteen minutes later, Sandra Hooker said, a tornado splintered the home, carrying the family members dozens of yards through the air into a field where first responders found them in mud. Annistyn died, and the others were injured. The mother, Meghan Rackley, and their middle daughter, 7-year-old Avalinn, remained hospitalized Monday.

Hooker called Annistyn a special angel and said the girl delighted in donning outfits and makeup for cheer competitions and with learning new dances from TikTok. She did cartwheels and splits in front of Hooker.

I would just gasp because she could do the splits all the time, and she would just laugh, Hooker said. She loved dancing.

Hooker teaches gifted students at the same elementary school where Meghan Rackley teaches kindergarten in Caruthersville, which is nestled next to the Mississippi River in whats known as Missouris Bootheel region.

Hooker said Annistyns parents learned when she was 2 months old that she had a rare liver disorder in which bile ducts dont develop properly, sometimes making it hard to fight off illness.

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Golden Wes Hembrey, 94, died when a tornado destroyed the nursing home in which he lived in Monette, Arkansas.

His nephew, Mike Hembrey, said the Korean War veteran and retired farmer had been in the nursing home since 2016 because of Alzheimers disease. But he remembered his uncle as engaged with his extended family throughout their younger years.

He was outgoing, his nephew said. Hed be out in the yard playing with us. But dont make him mad. When he was mad, he was mad.

He liked cutting up, telling jokes, said niece Kristie Carmichael.

The Hembreys said Jimmie Hembrey had visited his brother the day before the tornado and found him to be in good health.

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Graves County Deputy Jailer Robert Daniel was supervising inmate workers at a candle factory in Mayfield, Kentucky, when the tornado struck. His boss said Monday that Daniel had been focused on the prisoners in his care when he was killed as the twister wrecked the plant.

Daniel, 47, had worked at the county jail for a few years previously and was rehired a few months ago, Graves County Jailer George Workman said. The seven inmates Daniel was overseeing at the factory Friday night were part of a brand-new work program and had just begun their jobs three days earlier.

After the storm hit, the inmates told Workman's deputies that it was Daniel who literally had pushed them all to safety, guiding them through a doorway and against a wall in an interior part of the plant. Workman said the last inmate through the door told deputies that Daniel was behind him one moment, and suddenly he was gone.

He was physically still in the act of trying to get them to safety. And thats when it hit, Workman said. It takes a tremendous person to be able to lay their own life down for somebody else. But he did and he was doing it for the right reasons.

All of seven of the inmates in Daniel's care survived, Workman said, with two of them suffering broken legs.

A cousin, Mark Saxton Sr., said Daniel was a native of the Mayfield area that was devastated by the storm.

He loved his community, Saxton said. He was a great family man. Everybody who met him just loved him. Hes the type of person you want to be associated with.

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Brian Crick, a judge for two western Kentucky counties, was known for his sound judgment when it came to solving problems, a fellow judge said.

Crick, 43, was a district judge for Muhlenberg and McLean counties who handled criminal misdemeanor cases, traffic court and juvenile cases, said Circuit Judge Brian W. Wiggins. Wiggins said he has known his fellow judge since 2005, when Crick was a public defender. He later was in private practice before taking the bench in 2011.

Many of the defendants who came before him werent represented by attorneys, and Crick was very good about seeing to it that their rights were protected, Wiggins said. He had a very common sense approach. He was very level-headed about how to handle cases and how to talk to people.

Wiggins was killed when the storm hit his family's home in Muhlenberg County. He is survived by a wife and three children, all of whom made it through the storm without major injuries, Wiggins said. He was just a consummate family man ... very engaged with his children and his wife. They were number one to him.

We are especially heartbroken to get the news, Kentucky Supreme Court Chief Justice John Minton said in a statement. This is a shocking loss to his family, his community and the court system and his family is in our prayers.

___

Two of June Penningtons children said the Manila, Arkansas, resident was devoted to her four children and nine grandchildren and had a particular soft spot for animals.

Pennington, 52, was working as an assistant manager at a Dollar General store in nearby Leachville, Arkansas, when it was hit.

She didnt love anything as much in life as her kids and grandkids, said Christie Pennington. She was truly selfless and loved whole-heartedly.

David Benefield, the oldest of June Penningtons four children, said he was born when his mother was only 14.

She was a kid raising a kid. We were just like best friends, he said. Its crazy how close you become.

Her children remember her as someone who would do anything that we asked her to do, Benefield said. Even after her children were grown, they said June Pennington wanted to spend as much time with them as possible.

Christie Pennington said her mother adopted dogs, cats, rabbits, birds, turtles and even a ferret.

If there was ever an animal in need of a home, we took it in, she said.

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Clayton Lynn Cope, 29, had been working at Amazon for more than a year before the storm killed him at a company facility in southwestern Illinois.

Five other workers also died at the facility located outside St. Louis.

Cope, who lived in nearby Alton, Illinois, had joined the Navy after graduating high school and was an avid outdoorsman who also liked to ride motorcycles and play video games. He had a special place in his heart for his dog, Draco, said his younger sister, Rachel Cope.

He would go out of his way for anyone, Cope said in a written message.

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Ollie Borgmann, 84, was a sweet and typical grandmother who had lived in her home in Defiance, Missouri, for decades.

A tornado blew through the home she shared with her 84-year-old husband, Vernon, on Friday night, blowing the house off its foundation, as well as that of a neighbors house in the town located about 40 miles (64 kilometers) west of St. Louis.

Her son, Mark Borgmann, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that his brother, Keith, was on the phone with their father during the powerful storm when the line went dead. The next thing Vernon Borgmann remembers is waking up in a nearby field surrounded by debris. He suffered scratches and bruises but will be OK, said Mark Borgmann.

When Ollie Borgmann was found by rescuers, she was awake. She died later at a hospital.

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Lovan reported from Louisville, Kentucky. Bynum reported from Savannah, Georgia. Associated Press writers Travis Loller in Nashville, Tennessee; John Hanna in Topeka, Kansas; Terry Wallace in Dallas; Sophie Tareen in Chicago; Josh Funk in Omaha, Nebraska; Mike Schneider in Orlando, Florida; and Jeff Amy in Atlanta contributed to this article.
SIMSBURY  A teen escaped a home where police say two people died in a domestic violence shooting on Sunday.

Deputy Police Chief Chris Davis said his department received a call around 5:20 p.m. for a reported shooting at a Woodleigh Place home in Weatogue. Davis classified the incident as a domestic violence shooting.

Davis said an 18-year-old woman, who was identified as a family member from inside that residence, witnessed the shooting and fled the home, running to a neighbor to call police.

Davis said officers found a woman injured in the home. Davis said the woman, later identified as 57-year-old Linda Halligan, was carried to an ambulance by officers and taken to St. Francis Hospital, where she died.

As officers investigated, Davis said, a major police presence descended on the neighborhood to search the residence for another individual believed to be inside. That individual, identified by Davis as 59-year-old Bernard Halligan Jr., was later found dead in the garage of the home.

Davis said it appears one person shot the other, but detectives are investigating the circumstances of the incident.

Its a very safe community, Davis said. These types of incidents can happen anywhere.

Simsbury police said neighboring agencies, including the North Central Emergency Services Team, North Central Crisis Negotiation Team and Connecticut State Police, also responded to help with the investigation.

At this time, the investigation is continuing, but there is no threat to the public, Davis said.

Davis said two homes were searched by investigating officers.

Our hearts go out to all the family members that have been impacted by this, Davis said.

Anyone with information is asked to call detectives at 860-658-3145.
CONCORD, N.H. (AP)  A New Hampshire teacher's union, several educators and parents sued the state's top education, human rights and law enforcement officials Monday over a state law that limits the discussion of systemic racism and other topics, saying it curtails speech, limits the free exchange of ideas and hurts students.

The Prohibition on Teaching Discrimination law, passed in June, prohibits teaching children that they are inferior, racist, sexist or oppressive by virtue of their race, gender or other characteristics.

An earlier version of the legislation echoed a now-rescinded Trump administration order that sought to ban discussion of divisive concepts in schools. The law that eventually passed allows for instruction on the historical existence of the ideas, and puts a focus on strengthening anti-discrimination laws.

But it also allows disciplinary action to be taken against teachers who violate the law.

The lawsuit, which calls on an enforcement ban and a jury trial, was filed in federal court by AFT-New Hampshire, which represents 3,400 public school teachers and related staff; three high school teachers; and two parents.

They sued New Hampshire Education Commissioner Frank Edelblut, Commission on Human Rights Chair Christian Kim, and New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella. The Education Department and Human Rights Commission said they do not comment on pending litigation. A senior assistant attorney general said the office will review the lawsuit and defend the law."

AFT-New Hampshire President Deb Howes said teachers work in fear of being targeted without evidence by people with a political agenda.

Educators are terrified of losing their teaching license over simply trying to teach," Howes said.

She said one reason the lawsuit was filed was in response to a conservative groups offer to pay $500 to the first person who catches a teacher violating the law after the Education Department set up a website to collect complaints against teachers. The conservative organization told supporters in a tweet to designate online donations as CRT Bountys, referring to critical race theory.

Republican Gov. Chris Sununu had denounced the tweet.

AFT-New Hampshire believes the state is one of eight Republican-led states that have passed laws aimed at censoring discussions around race and gender in classrooms, prompted by concern over critical race theory.

The lawsuit claims the law is at once unconstitutionally vague in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution, chills teacher speech in violation of the First Amendment and conflicts with and compels abridgment of New Hampshires Constitution and laws, thereby creating further vagueness, fear and uncertainty as to what New Hampshire teachers may teach and as a result hurts New Hampshires students."

The lawsuit said the Commission for Human Rights and the attorney general's office have issued guidance to clear up ambiguous language, but even those agencies agree the law is confusing.

Ryan Richman, a plaintiff in the lawsuit who teaches high school world history in Plaistow, said he asks his students to discuss events in the news and their connections with the past.

Nine times out of 10, they want to discuss stories about oppression and how theyve observed or experienced it  the Rohingya genocide, the Uyghur genocide, the Black Lives Matter movement. I shouldnt lose my license for honestly discussing current events in my classroom, Richman said in a statement.

He also questioned how he and his students can discuss the Nazi philosophy that the Aryan race was superior to all others, and the history of human chattel slavery in the American South and its impact on African Americans.

Republican State Sen. Jeb Bradley of Wolfeboro said the law prohibits teaching students that they are inherently superior or inferior to people of another age, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, creed, color, marital status, familial status, mental or physical disability, religion, or national origin."

Clearly any instruction that teaches students they are inferior or superior due to these characteristics is discrimination and its terribly disappointing that this lawsuit has even been filed," he said in a statement.
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (AP)  A man who led police officers on a pursuit in October from Marylands Eastern Shore to the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel in Virginia before crashing has been charged with attempted murder, police said.

Virginia State Police said a passenger injured in the crash was still hospitalized Monday, nearly two months after the crash on Oct. 19, news outlets reported.
JOHANNESBURG (AP)  The omicron variant is offering more hints about what it may have in store as it spreads around the globe: A highly transmissible virus that may cause less severe disease, and one that can be slowed  but not stopped  by todays vaccines.

An analysis Tuesday of data from South Africa, where the new variant is driving a surge in infections, suggests the Pfizer vaccine offers less defense against infection from omicron and reduced, but still good, protection from hospitalization.

The findings are preliminary and have not been peer-reviewed  the gold standard in scientific research  but they line up with other early data about omicron's behavior, including that it seems to be more easily spread from person to person.

The spread can be seen in Britain, the United States and Denmark, where confirmed omicron cases are increasing at a worrisome pace, said Dr. Jacob Lemieux, who monitors variants for a research collaboration led by Harvard Medical School.

Omicron is moving extraordinarily fast, faster even than the most pessimistic among us thought it was going to move, Lemieux said.

During past waves of the pandemic, the U.S. could look to Europe and Britain for an early signal of what was coming, Lemieux said. With omicron, it seems to be happening everywhere all at once with extremely rapid kinetics.

It's unclear whether omicron's rapid spread will overwhelm hospitals. In South Africa, although case numbers are rising, hospital admissions for adults diagnosed with COVID-19 are 29% lower compared to the wave the country experienced in mid-2020, after adjusting for vaccination status, according to the new analysis.

Still, some experts cautioned that it's too soon to draw conclusions since the variant is quite new and hospitalizations can lag weeks behind infections.

When omicron reaches broader populations more useful information will emerge, said Dr. David Dowdy, an infectious disease epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

To date, omicron has disproportionately infected young adults  people who probably have more social contacts and are more likely to attend large gatherings, Dowdy said. Young adults may be more likely to be sick without knowing it, have more intense exposures and experience milder disease, he said.

Our society needs to learn how to wait, rather than either panicking or dismissing early findings, Dowdy said.

U.S. health officials estimate that a small, but growing proportion of new COVID-19 infections are due to omicron, and that the rise is particularly dramatic in some places.

Two weeks ago, omicron accounted for less than 0.5% of the coronaviruses that were genetically sequenced in the U.S. That rose to about 3% last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Tuesday.

But it varies from place to place, and is as high as 13% in the New York/New Jersey area, according to the agency.

The CDC is tracking how fast the percentage doubles, and as more cases come in, it may be better able to predict whether  or when  the omicron variant becomes the dominant version of the coronavirus in the U.S, health officials say.

In Britain, omicron cases are doubling every two to three days. Health officials say the variant will replace delta as the dominant coronavirus strain within days.

In the new South Africa findings, people who received two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine appeared to have just 33% protection against infection, compared to those who were unvaccinated, during the country's current omicron-fueled surge, but 70% protection against hospitalization. The analysis was conducted by Discovery Health, South Africas largest private health insurer, and the South African Medical Research Council.

The study did not look at booster shots, which are not yet prevalent in South Africa but which data from elsewhere has indicated improves protection.

The Pfizer vaccine's 70% protection against hospital admission during the omicron surge compares to a 93% protection level seen in South Africas delta-driven wave, according to the new analysis.

That's a big drop in vaccine protection from severe illness requiring hospitalization, said Dr. Eric Topol, head of the Scripps Research Translational Institute.

What we dont know yet is whether the booster will restore that back to greater than 90% and for how long, Topol said.

The analysis in South Africa was based on examining more than 211,000 COVID-19 test results that date from Sept. 1 to Dec. 7  41% of which were for adults who had received two doses of the Pfizer vaccine, which is the most commonly used one in South Africa.

Experts now say that omicron accounts for more than 90% of all new infections in South Africa, according to Discovery Health chief executive Dr. Ryan Noach.

Researchers around the world are rushing to figure out what the variant will mean for the coronavirus pandemic, now well into its second year. More information came Tuesday from Pfizer, which announced that its experimental pill to treat COVID-19  separate from its vaccine  appears effective against omicron.

In the weeks since the variant was detected, South Africa has experienced rapid spread of the virus. The seven-day rolling average of daily new cases in the country rose over the past two weeks from 8.07 new cases per 100,000 people on Nov. 29 to 34.37 new cases per 100,000 people on Dec. 13, according to Johns Hopkins University. The death rate hasn't increased during that same period.

Some say theres still not enough data to draw broad conclusions about hospitalizations and the severity of disease caused by omicron.

Is omicron milder, or more severe than delta? said Dr. Michael Head, Senior Research Fellow in Global Health, University of Southampton, wrote of the study. Time will tell. The worlds finest scientists, including many in the global south such as in South Africa, will find out. For now, national-level decision-makers have to consider that discretion is the better part of valor.

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This story has been updated to correct the time period that the samples were from. They dated from Sept. 1 to Dec. 7, not Nov. 15 to Dec. 7. It also corrects that not all of the samples were positive, as a news release from Discovery initially said.

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Associated Press writers Mike Corder, Mike Stobbe and Carla K. Johnson contributed.

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Follow APs pandemic coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic
BRIDGEPORT  Aviation pioneer Igor Sikorskys sons want the citys Stratford-based airport to continue to be named after their father, whom Bridgeports website describes as its most famous tenant.

Sergei Sikorsky, 96, of Arizona, and Igor Sikorsky Jr., 92, of Unionville, in separate interviews Monday weighed in on the controversial proposal by Mayor Joe Ganims administration to rebrand the Igor I. Sikorsky Memorial Airport the Bridgeport Sikorsky Memorial Airport.

Its been named after my father now for, its gotta be half a century, Sikorsky Jr. said.

The facility was dedicated to Sikorsky Sr. in 1972, the year the Russian immigrant, who invented the first practical helicopter, constructed seaplanes or flying boats and founded the namesake Stratford-based aircraft manufacturing giant, died.

Sergei Sikorsky, a retired Sikorsky Aircraft executive, said, I personally would be a bit disappointed if the name were diluted.

Bridgeports airport commission last week passed the change to rename the airport, with the only non-Bridgeport official who has a seat on that body, Stratford Mayor Laura Hoydick, voting no. But an error in publicizing the meeting requires that group hold a do-over under the state Freedom of Information Act, so the name switch is not yet official.

Ganims administration, which is seeking to lease and possibly eventually sell Sikorsky Airport to the Connecticut Airport Commission, wants to ensure the facility remains associated with Bridgeport for marketing purposes.

Hoydick in her weekly email newsletter to constituents last Thursday defended her opposition, stating, I feel this proposed name change diminished the honor given to the airports namesake and the importance of this aviation and engineering giant to the history and industry of our region.

Sikorsky Jr. echoed that sentiment Monday. He said the issue is not just about his father, but about the airports and Stratfords connections to aviation history.

You take all that, and all that centers around the airport, Sikorsky Jr. said. I dont want to cast any aspersions on Bridgeport, but the airport really is saturated with Stratford aviation history.

Beyond that, Hoydicks chief-of-staff, Michael Downes, in a statement Friday acknowledged the town, while not owning the airport, has an interest in making sure people understand it is located there, not Bridgeport.

Theres really no way you can change the geographic fact its in Stratford, but (renaming Sikorsky) certainly does, Downes said. I think theres no way to escape that naming it (after Bridgeport) certainly also diminishes Stratfords role in the airport and its association.

Sikorsky Memorial has had other names. It was originally known as Mollison then Avon Field before the city purchased the site in 1937.

It was Bridgeport Municipal Airport for the first few decades, Ganim aide Danny Roach noted last week. Roach declined comment Monday on the Sikorsky brothers comments but said he may try to contact them.

The name Igor I. Sikorsky Memorial Airport has outlasted all others. And making a change now could potentially pose practical issues, Sergei Sikorsky said, including paperwork changes that are going to cost some taxpayer, somewhere, money.

Both men are still active with helping to promote their fathers legacy. Sergei said he intends to be in Stratford early next year for Two Roads Brewerys annual release of its Russian Imperial Stout named after Sikorsky Sr. And Sikorsky Jr. said he is scheduled to appear at the town library to sign copies of his book exploring the connection between his father and another famous aviator, Charles Lindbergh.

But, Sergei Sikorsky said, while he and his brother have their personal opinions, the choice of what to call Sikorsky Memorial is not theirs to make.

Its a decision that has to be made by Bridgeport and the local authorities, Sergei Sikorsky said. Certainly not by me.
LONDON (AP)  British lawmakers voted Tuesday to approve new restrictions to curb the spread of the omicron variant, but Prime Minister Boris Johnson faced a major revolt by lawmakers in his own Conservative Party who are opposed to the regulations.

The result was a blow to the authority of the embattled prime minister, whose approval ratings  both with voters and inside the party  have plunged amid ethics scandals and allegations that his government breached its own pandemic restrictions.

The House of Commons voted on measures that take effect this week, ordering masks to be worn in most indoor settings in England, changing rules on self-isolation and  most contentiously  requiring proof of vaccination or a negative coronavirus test to enter nightclubs and large crowded events.

All passed comfortably because of opposition party support, but 97 Conservatives voted against the nightclub rules, according to a House of Commons tally  by far the biggest rebellion of Johnson's premiership. It came despite Johnson imploring Tory legislators to back the measures in a private meeting just before the vote.

Lawmaker Charles Walker, one of the rebels, called the vote a cry of pain from the Conservative Party that the prime minister must heed.

Vaccine passes have become commonplace in many European countries, but Johnsons government has resisted introducing them in England, although the governments of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, which set their own health rules, have done so.

The British government argues that the highly transmissible omicron strain has changed the argument, and COVID passes for some venues are now a sensible measure, alongside booster vaccinations for all adults.

Omicron is a grave threat, Health Secretary Sajid Javid told lawmakers, saying the strain was already estimated to be infecting 200,000 people a day in the U.K.

He said the nightclub rule was not a vaccine passport because people could also use a negative virus test to enter venues.

Many Conservative legislators, however, argued that the new requirements were economically damaging and restricted individual freedoms.

Former government minister Andrea Leadsom called the regulations a slippery slope. Conservative lawmaker Greg Smith argued that vaccine passes and mandatory vaccinations for health workers  another government policy  marked a fundamental change in the relationship between citizen and state, and one to be resisted.

Other Conservatives argued vaccine passes would not slow the spread of the virus, because omicron appears more resistant to vaccines, while some accused the government of exaggerating the threat from the new variant.

The opposition Labour Party, meanwhile, backed the rules. Labour health spokesman West Streeting said they were a necessary response to the omicron threat.

We cant be sure about the severity of the omicron variant, but we can be certain that its spreading and spreading fast, he said. "When people invoke the story of the boy who cried wolf  the warnings that came before but never materialized  people should remember that in the end there was a wolf.

As if to underscore omicrons rapid spread, a handful of lawmakers missed the vote because they have COVID-19 and are in quarantine.

The rebellion was a sign of growing discontent with Johnson in Conservative ranks. The party picked him to be leader in 2019 because he promised to get Brexit done after three years of gridlock over Britains departure from the European Union under Prime Minister Theresa May. The same promise helped Johnson win a December 2019 election with an 80-seat majority in the House of Commons, the biggest for any Conservative leader since Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s.

Since then the pandemic and a series of scandals have chipped away at the support for Johnson and his government. Johnsons initial reluctance to impose a nationwide lockdown in early 2020 helped give the U.K. the highest coronavirus death toll in Europe apart from Russia, with more than 146,000 deaths.

A successful vaccination program helped Johnson recover some of his authority, but his government has faced damaging allegations that it flouted the coronavirus rules it imposed on everyone else, including claims staff in Johnsons 10 Downing St. office held lockdown-breaching Christmas parties last year. Johnson has ordered an inquiry, but insists he personally broke no rules.

The government also faced charges of cronyism when it tried to block the suspension of a Conservative lawmaker found to have broken lobbying rules by advocating on behalf of two companies who were paying him. The government changed tack after an outcry and the lawmaker, Owen Paterson, resigned.

A special election on Thursday to replace Paterson could add to Johnsons woes. Polls suggest the opposition Liberal Democrats may take the seat from the Conservatives. Nationally, the Labour Party has opened up a lead in opinion polls.

Since a national election is not scheduled until 2024, the danger for Johnson comes largely from his own party. The Conservatives have a long history of dumping leaders when they become unpopular.

Clearly, he is in trouble, said Tim Bale, professor of politics at Queen Mary University of London. The question is whether that trouble is terminal or not.

"I doubt whether he is in any immediate danger  he will still be there by Christmas. But I think the new year will be an interesting few months.

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Follow all AP stories on the pandemic at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic.
Presenting to the C-suite or board of directors at your credit union can be an amazing opportunity. It is also terrifying! Here are some things I remember to tackle ahead of time to help my presentations land.

Align your topic to the strategic plan. Your executive leadership wants to know what will help the credit union achieve its strategic goals. No matter the topic of your presentation, take a moment to tie it to strategy. And, as much as possible, show how your topic helps improve the bottom line. Without line of sight to the strategic plan, you will lose your audience before you begin. Understand your audience. Who are the people you are presenting to? What do they care about? Particularly when presenting to the board, take a moment to check your credit unions website or intranet to see what you can learn about them, the organizations they come from and how long they have been on the board. The better you understand their perspective, the more you can align your material to their interests.
Last week, one of my lecturers at Durham University held a Christmas Quiz. It was intended as a bit of light relief at the end of term, but predictably turned into yet another exercise in woke self-laceration.

'Tell me something controversial about the following . . .' the lecturer said. Among the topics were Durham Cathedral, the university's Oriental Museum and our venerable seat of learning itself.

Some students, knowing what was expected, duly obliged, lobbing in buzz words such as 'elitist', 'colonialist' and 'classist'.

My lecturer laughed approvingly  these were clearly the correct answers  and rewarded them with a chocolate.

But then I suggested something I genuinely believe to be controversial: how the president of Durham Students' Union, Seun Twins, was in my opinion never properly elected. In fact, more people voted in favour of reopening nominations than actually voted for her.

Her name may be familiar to some readers. Ms Twins was making headlines last week in the aftermath of the Rod Liddle affair.

She backed calls for the resignation of the head of the Durham college who'd invited the journalist to speak at a student dinner and which prompted a walkout of students.

My lecturer's response to my answer? 'No comment'  though I was offered a chocolate.

Outraged: Students protest Rod Liddle's speech

This refusal to discuss contentious issues is typical of a university that has morphed from a bastion of academic excellence and self-proclaimed champion of free speech (check out the university website) into an institution utterly in hock to hard-Left ideology.

It comes with the kind of intolerance for dissent that is more reminiscent of Maoist China than a leading establishment of higher education in a Western democracy.

I am 19 and being accepted at Durham was the proudest moment of my life.

Despite the odds being stacked against me  a disadvantaged background and an 'A-Level algorithm' that threatened to derail the grades I'd worked so hard to achieve through lockdowns and online teaching  I secured a place at this institution to study law.

That is why I feel so saddened as I watch its ceaseless attempts to appease a vocal Left-wing minority. And it is a minority.

This refusal to discuss contentious issues is typical of a university that has morphed from a bastion of academic excellence and self-proclaimed champion of free speech (check out the university website) into an institution utterly in hock to hard-Left ideology

I am a member of the Conservative Party which is unusual for a student. However, I've never felt any real opprobrium from fellow students. Almost all those I meet happily find common ground and form friendships across political divides rather than shunning those with whom they disagree.

The problem is many of the university's staff and in particular its Students' Union.

Earlier this month, I wrote in the Mail about lecturers at Durham and other universities striking yet again over pay and pensions, and putting their agendas ahead of their obligations to their paying students whose life chances have already been hit by the pandemic.

Now, once again, that group-think approach is putting the career of a respected academic, Professor Tim Luckhurst, at peril.

As the Mail On Sunday reported, the heads of at least 13 of Durham's 17 colleges, along with other professors and heads of departments, have thrown their weight behind last week's protests at Rod Liddle's speech at South College.

Earlier this month, I wrote in the Mail about lecturers at Durham and other universities striking yet again over pay and pensions, and putting their agendas ahead of their obligations to their paying students whose life chances have already been hit by the pandemic

On Saturday, this paper published a transcript of the 'offending' section  which many would argue was a defence of free speech and a condemnation of intolerance to the views of others.

Of course, protesters have every right to express their beliefs but how can any university or its staff preside over a system in which any view outside of a prescribed woke narrative is shut down?

It's as if they have never heard of 'free speech' let alone defended it. (Incidentally, as Guy Adams explained in this newspaper, many of those who walked out of the dinner didn't hear Liddle speak but objected to his mere presence.)

As the row escalated, out of a student body of some 20,000, protesters outside the college were only in their dozens. Yet I have received emails from my head of department and college condemning the speech, mostly for how it covered trans issues, with quotes such as 'I deplore the intolerant and hurtful remarks attributed to the speaker,' and 'we stand against hate and discrimination of any kind'.

And this is playing out across the university.

Despite sanctioning Professor Luckhurst to invite Liddle, the university then placed him under investigation and barred him from duties. Last week, students were sent an email from the Vice Chancellor reiterating his commitment to making Durham a 'safe place'.

Despite sanctioning Professor Luckhurst to invite Liddle, the university then placed him under investigation and barred him from duties

He wrote: 'Staff, students, alumni and other stakeholders are struggling to comprehend how a college [dinner] . . . could have caused so much distress and upset.'

Well, quite  or comprehend just how blatantly one-sided in its response the university has been.

The truth is this supine knee-bending to the diktats of the woke brigade is typical of Durham now.

For me, it all began at matriculation in October  a supposedly jolly ceremony during Freshers' Week in which new students are formally accepted. But soon enough, Seun Twins was haranguing us about 'decolonising' Durham and 'elitism'.

I came to Durham to study the law and learn from experts  not digest speeches on social justice from a Jeremy Corbyn devotee.

I was clearly naive to imagine the Students' Union would represent all students  a remit for which it receives 759,000 a year. It doesn't and has no intention of doing so.

I came to Durham to study the law and learn from experts  not digest speeches on social justice from a Jeremy Corbyn devotee

Last year, it threatened to withdraw funding for the print edition of Palatinate  the student newspaper on which journalists Jeremy Vine and George Alagiah cut their teeth  which really does promote free speech and reports fairly on the Students' Union rather than acting as its mouthpiece.

Another free speech institution here is the Durham Union Society, a debating forum renowned for the range of its invited speakers. But they were barred from the annual Freshers' Fair this year as they were deemed not woke enough.

And if it's not busy 'decolonialising' the curriculum, Durham is pre-occupied with other absurd initiatives, such as their 'student sex worker training' classes. Last month, a Zoom class entitled 'Training Opportunity: Students Involved In The Adult Sex Industry' explored 'the challenges student sex workers can face'.

Academics miss no opportunity to shoe-horn Left-wing ideology into lectures, either. I've heard from students of endless diatribes about capitalism and the Tories. Many fear that if they challenge or disagree they will be penalised.

The university also publicises courses on topics such as 'unconscious bias'. It seems everywhere we look we are encouraged to take offence and find moral outrage.

Last year, it threatened to withdraw funding for the print edition of Palatinate  the student newspaper on which journalists Jeremy Vine and George Alagiah cut their teeth  which really does promote free speech and reports fairly on the Students' Union rather than acting as its mouthpiece

Speaking as someone who is mixed-race, while I have experienced racial abuse, I've never felt it was the fault of my school or university but only of the bigoted individuals. Incidentally, I have yet to meet a student who has signed up for these classes.

Yet, the university remains obsessed with offering 'safe spaces' to anyone who feels victimised by whatever trend is doing the rounds. And while they fixate over micro-issues such as gender-neutral toilets (single-sex loos enforced a 'false . . . gender binary' apparently), they are doing little to improve our everyday lives and future prospects  as evidenced by the strikes earlier this month.

It is time universities remember what their job is  and it is not to indoctrinate us in woke ideology, or convince us of our hapless victim status, but to provide a world-class education to their fee-paying students who want to get out into the world, make something of themselves and contribute to society.

To give us the tools to make the world a better place  not sit and cry about our 'wounds'.
Its that time of year again when various media outlets reveal their inspirational person or persons of the year.

From the BBCs achingly woke list of women to Time magazines more controversial choice of SpaceX founder Elon Musk, they are all in their own ways worthy recipients.

But if you ask me, only one person truly deserves that title in 2021  J. K. Rowling.

I cant tell you how my admiration for this woman has grown in recent years. She has gone from being just another famous author to the modern equivalent of writers such as Mary Wollstonecraft or Simone de Beauvoir; a feminist icon every bit as inspirational  and controversial.

Its that time of year again when various media outlets reveal their inspirational person or persons of the year. But if you ask me, only one person truly deserves that title in 2021  J. K. Rowling

Last month, she was excluded from the 20th anniversary celebration of the Harry Potter films while a bunch of woke little ingrates  Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint  basked in the glory of a lucrative franchise which, without her, wouldnt exist.

And all because she has been miscast as a modern-day witch for daring to challenge the hard-line dogma of trans activists who insist  against all reason  that biological sex does not exist.

And that anyone who calls themselves a woman has a right to occupy female-only spaces, even if that threatens those who might have cause to feel vulnerable in the presence of biological males.

Last month, Rowling was excluded from the 20th anniversary celebration of the Harry Potter films while a bunch of woke little ingrates  Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint  basked in the glory of a lucrative franchise which, without her, wouldnt exist

This week, Rowling was magnificent when she responded to guidance issued by Police Scotland that rapes could be recorded as carried out by a woman if the perpetrator identifies as female.

Adapting a quotation from George Orwells Nineteen Eighty-Four, she tweeted: War is Peace. Freedom is Slavery. Ignorance is Strength. The Penised Individual Who Raped You Is a Woman.

Thus she summarised the dangers faced by women in a world that increasingly seems to believe someones right to self-identity trumps all other human rights.

Needless to say, her words provoked a furious response. No doubt efforts will be made to cancel her (again) and the armies of the professionally outraged will come for her.

Just as they did last year when she tweeted an article entitled, Creating a more equal post-Covid world for people who menstruate, commenting:  People who menstruate? Im sure there used to be a word for those people. Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?

From the BBCs achingly woke list of women to Time magazines more controversial choice of SpaceX founder Elon Musk, they are all in their own ways worthy recipients

She is utterly fearless in the face of such lunacy and has brought this debate out into the open where it belongs, exposing the flaws in the arguments and underlining the injustices of a movement that, with supreme irony, prides itself on being all about tolerance.

In the face of childish petulance, and far worse, Rowling has shown herself to be a grown-up who, as she has painstakingly explained on numerous occasions and in a lengthy essay, is far from hostile to trans people but doesnt think their rights should trump those of others.

Rowling is a woman who has known male violence herself and is determined to protect other women from sharing that fate, whatever the cost to herself.

She is a woman who stands up for what is right and reasonable in the face of aggression, paranoia, ignorance and hysteria; who has the courage to say what she believes even when she knows her words will be twisted out of all context.

All that and she writes cracking stories, too.

Heres to you, J.K. Cheers.

Last month, Rowling was excluded from the 20th anniversary celebration of the Harry Potter films while a bunch of woke little ingrates  Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint  basked in the glory of a lucrative franchise which, without her, wouldnt exist

Do put a frock in it, Kate...

Kate Beckinsales not fooling anyone when she posts a snap of herself wearing the same Carmen Miranda costume she wore aged nine.

Its like her complaining about her high IQ (152) being a handicap in Hollywood.

We get the message, Kate: youre slimmer and cleverer than the rest of us.

Kate Beckinsales not fooling anyone when she posts a snap of herself wearing the same Carmen Miranda costume she wore aged nine

Having a child at university used to be every parents dream. Now its more like a nightmare.

You bring them up to be open-minded and curious, and they come back to you brainwashed or cowed by far-Left bullies determined to shut down free speech and vilify anyone who dares challenge their dogma.

Who in their right mind would pay 9,000 a year  and the rest  for that?

Apparently, Last Christmas by Wham! (right) is the top song choice for dogs. Honestly, who dreams up this nonsense?

Is it the same people who buy their pets Christmas stockings? I love my dogs, but they havent a clue what day it is and dont care what music I play  as long as its anything by Bow Wow Wow.

Apparently, Last Christmas by Wham! (right) is the top song choice for dogs. Honestly, who dreams up this nonsense?

Porn is just pernicious

Billie Eilish has revealed that she began watching porn at the age of 11 and it really destroyed my brain.

It might be tempting to dismiss this as an experience of a precocious LA upbringing, but sadly its not. Eleven is the average age at which children first see porn; and these sites get more monthly visits than Netflix.

Unlike Netflix, they are free to view.

Billie Eilish has revealed that she began watching porn at the age of 11 and it really destroyed my brain

The new three-visitor limit for care home residents is devastating, according to a spokesperson for the campaign group Relatives & Residents Association. Seriously?

Ill tell you what would really be devastating: a repeat of last winters care home carnage. Im no fan of Covid restrictions, but this is the one that makes most sense.

There is something really depressing about the headmaster of Malvern College  which has close links to two of our greatest writers, J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis  declaring that using pens in exams is too tiring for pupils.

Can they even write their own names? And they call that progress.

Betrayal of the ghost children

In contrast to care home residents, there is virtually no danger posed to children by Covid. Which is why the Education Secretary, Nadhim Zahawi, should immediately quash any suggestion that schools might not open again in the new year.

Only last week, it emerged that 100,000 ghost children are thought to be at risk of abuse after failing to return to school following the lockdowns. Thats children who at best will miss out on an education, and at worst will find themselves trapped in abusive homes.

Children like six-year-old Arthur Labinjo-Hughes, and now also 16-month-old Star Hobson, murdered by her mothers lover.

For youngsters like these, nursery or school is a lifeline, often their only chance of escaping the hell into which they have been born. It is quite simply morally wrong for us to abandon them to their fate.

The Government must classify schools as essential services and keep them open at all costs  and teaching unions should urge members to get vaccinated and get on with the job. If not, well be remembered as the generation that threw their children under a bus to save their own skin.

Children like six-year-old Arthur Labinjo-Hughes, and now also 16-month-old Star Hobson, murdered by her mothers lover. For youngsters like these, nursery or school is a lifeline, often their only chance of escaping the hell into which they have been bo

So jealous of the women featured in yesterdays Mail who hire nannies-slash-assistants in December so they can spend more time doing Christmassy things.

But then youre looking at a woman who once got the nanny to run the mothers race at school.

OK it was a bit naughty, but so worth it to see the look of fury on the other mothers faces when she left them all standing.

How is it possible that 94,000 NHS staff still arent vaccinated? They are either reckless fools or know something we dont. Either way, its not encouraging.
Amid all the pessimism generated by the emergence of Omicron and the ongoing political shenanigans at Westminster, there is one set of positive statistics that the doomsters cannot ignore: the employment figures.

Britains jobs miracle is alive and well and the underlying dynamism and creativity of the UK economy continue to shine through the gloom.

At the start of the pandemic in March 2020, the prediction was that Britains jobless total could surge to 12 per cent of the workforce. This has turned out to be wildly inaccurate.

The latest official data shows unemployment actually fell from 4.3 per cent to 4.2 per cent in October, with some 257,000 citizens joining the nations payrolls.

Anyone tempted to say this is a temporary phenomenon that will be wiped out by the worrying surge in Omicron infections should think again.

Britains jobs miracle is alive and well and the underlying dynamism and creativity of the UK economy continue to shine through the gloom [file picture]

The latest official data shows unemployment actually fell from 4.3 per cent to 4.2 per cent in October, with some 257,000 citizens joining the nations payrolls

The Office for National Statistics reports that the British economy has no fewer than 1.2million unfilled vacancies.

These figures make a mockery of Labour claims that there would be a jump in unemployment when Rishi Sunaks furlough scheme ended.

The monthly data shows there was a small blip in early October, as the job-supporting programme ended, but well before the month was out the employment-creating behemoth that is the modern British economy was on terrific form.

Walk down any high street or visit any shopping centre in the land and you will spot desperate-sounding job vacancy advertisements posted in shop windows, pleading for staff.

Its the same story in the hospitality and social care sectors.

For despite all the dire predictions of a Brexit and Covid-fuelled jobs disaster, Britains economy is outperforming those of its former partners in the European Union.

Forecasts just issued by the International Monetary Fund (admittedly prepared before Omicron became a factor) show the UK economy to be in rude health.

How then has Britain been able to defy the forecasters and create so many new jobs?

This boom can be attributed, at least in part, to the success of co-ordinated action by the Government and the Bank of England.

Instead of allowing Britain to slump, as was the case during the Great Depression of the 1930s and after the financial crisis of 2008/9, Chancellor Rishi Sunak (pictured) stepped in with unprecedented fiscal help in the shape of the furlough scheme and the introduction of measures such as bounce-back loans

Instead of allowing Britain to slump, as was the case during the Great Depression of the 1930s and after the financial crisis of 2008/9, the Chancellor stepped in with unprecedented fiscal help in the shape of the furlough scheme and the introduction of measures such as bounce-back loans, which prevented smaller business from going to the wall.

Britains flexible labour markets, largely a result of the Thatcherite revolution, allow firms to hire without the fear that, if economic conditions change, they will be lumbered with labour costs they can do nothing about.

This is in sharp contrast to their competitors in the EU, where  with one or two exceptions such as Germany  over-regulation has led to a sclerotic labour force and high unemployment.

In the UK we have also been assisted by having a more nimble post-industrial economy.

Britains flexible labour markets, largely a result of the Thatcherite revolution, allow firms to hire without the fear that, if economic conditions change, they will be lumbered with labour costs they can do nothing about

Britain is also a global star in the life sciences (as has been illustrated by our leading role in developing Covid vaccines) and new technologies such as artificial intelligence.

This week it was revealed that in 2021, UK film and TV production for streaming channels such as Netflix, Amazon et al was sharply up at 5.5billion, almost double where it was at the time of the Brexit vote.

In spite of doom-laden predictions of a jobs exodus to Europe from the City-dominated financial and professional services sectors, they now employ more people than ever.

We can all be comforted by the fact that, whatever hardships are thrown up by the mutating Covid virus and challenging global economic circumstances, Britain is in a strong position to prosper.
Barb de Corti is the Australian CEO of Sante by ENJO

The Australian CEO of skincare brand Sante by ENJO has shared why using her revolutionary makeup remover pads with nothing but water is secret to glowing skin - and how reducing chemicals in the home has improved her family's health.

Barb de Corti was on an Austrian holiday with her son Mark 28 years ago who suffered from severe asthma and noticed it improved dramatically.

After a few days she identified the link; it was due to the accommodation being cleaned without a single chemical.

The fibres used in the ENJO makeup remover pads are 100 times finer than a human hair and can cleanse with zero chemicals. By just using water, you avoid aggravating or dehydrating your skin with chemicals or fragrances

'Naturally I removed chemicals from my home and then the next step became clear - to remove chemicals from my skincare,' Barb told FEMAIL.

Sante by ENJO was first born from the gentle yet effective fibre technology used to clean the wounds of patients in hospital to reduce scarring and bacteria.

'Research revealed that water and the fine fibres performed better and were less painful for patients and due to this working so well we decided to produce a skincare range to remove bacteria that causes acne but also to remove makeup,' Barb said.

Barb de Corti: What are the nasties to look out for in skincare? There are too many to name! Parabens, Siloxanes anything that is synthetic or artificial should always raise a red flag. These are made up of hundreds to thousands of different ingredients not listed on the label, so you are never sure what you are actually being exposed to. Commonly found in cosmetic and skincare products, these chemicals are also known to mess with your hormones and are harmful to fish and other wildlife when dispensed down the drain and into our waterways. Advertisement

'Today, Sante's sustainable range offers chemical-free skincare from head to toe.'

The soft, stylish products have been skyrocketing in popularity since launching onto shelves and have been clinically proven to reach into the pores and remove makeup and impurities when used with water.

'The science doesn't lie! Sante patented ENJOtex fibres are 100 times finer than a human hair and can cleanse with zero chemicals. By just using water, you avoid aggravating or dehydrating your skin with chemicals or fragrances,' Barb said.

'The fine fibres slough away skin cells to reveal healthy cells underneath and prevent pores from becoming blocked. Our products are dermatologically tested, sustainable and most importantly chemical-free.'

They also last for three years and are machine washable, replacing on average 1.095 disposable makeup wipes and saving you $584 each year.

The fine fibres slough away skin cells to reveal healthy cells underneath and prevent pores from becoming blocked

They also last for three years and are machine washable, replacing on average 1.095 disposable makeup wipes and saving you $584 each year

When it comes to the average skincare routine, Barb says women tend to make three main mistakes: over-cleansing, over-exfoliating and double cleansing.

'Over cleansing with products which just cleanse the surface and don't offer a deep clean. In contrast, over exfoliation is also a massive problem, as it leaves micro-tears on the skin. This leaves skin exposed for the bacterium porphyrin to enter, which causes acne and pimples,' she said.

'Thirdly, 'double cleansing' is great marketing but not necessary if you use the right products. Your skin is either clean or it isn't! What companies are saying is that their products are not working hard enough the first time around!'

When it comes to the average skincare routine, Barb says women tend to make three main mistakes: over-cleansing, over-exfoliating and double cleansing

As for Barb herself, she keeps to a simple less is more approach.

'I always use good quality sunscreen and moisturiser without fail every day. I cleanse after my morning run with our Face Cleanser,' she said.

'In the evening I take the day off with our makeup remover, exfoliate every other day with our Exfoliator fibre and finish with my favourite eye cream and serum - Augustinus Bader.'

'It's important to me as a business owner to practice what I preach.

'One of our main values is to lead a healthy lifestyle and reduce what impact we as individuals have on the environment, and removing chemicals and single use plastic from my cleaning and skincare routines has truly helped me to achieve a healthier and happier life.'
A change in tone, increase in blink rate and 'fake' smiling are three common tell-tale mannerisms of deception, according to 'human lie detector' Steve van Aperan.

With Christmas just over a week away, Mr van Aperan, who worked in the criminal investigation branch of the Victoria Police Force and is a certified Forensic Polygraph Examiner, said these body language signs can be used to determine if someone dislikes a gift or feels uncomfortable

'The easiest way to identify if someone is not being truthful is to look for conflicting body language,' the Melbourne body language expert told Daily Mail Australia.

A change in tone, increase in blink rate and 'fake' smiling are three common tell-tale mannerisms of deception, according to 'human lie detector' Steve van Aperan (stock image)

Steve van Aperan (pictured) has worked in the criminal investigation branch of the Victoria Police Force and is a certified Forensic Polygraph Examiner

'We tend to know our loved ones quite well, so any changes from their normative behaviour can indicate that they are uncomfortable and feel the need to lie.'

It comes after research by Italian coffee brand Lavazza predicts eight million Australians will regift this Christmas after receiving a present they disliked.

'Fake' smiling

Mr van Aperan said facial expressions are known as 'micro-expressions' - small hints of concealed emotions - with the most common being a 'fake' smile compared to engaging in a 'real' smile.

'A "fake" smile takes place from the nose down and doesn't activate any muscles above the nose, whereas a 'real' smile does,' he said.

'With a fake smile, all you're doing is lifting the corners of your mouth to make you appear happy - as if you were posing for a photo.'

Poll What would you do if you received a gift you didn't like? Be grateful and say 'thank you' Tell the giver you don't like the gift Say you're grateful but would've liked something else What would you do if you received a gift you didn't like? Be grateful and say 'thank you' 125 votes

Tell the giver you don't like the gift 4 votes

Say you're grateful but would've liked something else 5 votes Now share your opinion





Increase in blink rate

A lesser-known body language sign of deception is an increase in the rate of blinking.

You may notice a spike in someone's blink rate by up to eight times the normal pace after telling a fib.

'A lot of people think liars look away when they're fibbing, when in fact it's the opposite,' Mr van Aperan said.

'Through research we know that when someone lies their blink rate multiplies six to eight times faster than normal.

'Interestingly this doesn't occur while they're telling a lie, but in the milliseconds after the delivery of a deception.'

HOW TO TELL IF SOMEONE IS BEING DECEITFUL: 'Fake' smiling Change in tone of voice Changes in behaviour Increase in blinking Avoiding answering questions Being vague Oversharing Conflicting body language Repeating questions before answering them Advertisement

Oversharing

When people lie, they want to minimise the possibility of being exposed or caught in their lie, and so a common tactic used to avoid this is called 'aversion'.

Mr van Aperan said: 'If you gifted a present to a friend and you noticed their face drop in disappointment, you may ask them, "do you like it?".

'To be polite, that friend would engage in aversion and try to steer the conversation away from the original question.

He added how they might begin to overshare with superfluous and irrelevant information in a bid to change the conversation topic.

'Their response may sound something like, "Oh wow, socks! I have been meaning to pick up some socks from the shops, but I never got around to it. I'll definitely wear these!",' Mr van Aperan said.

Change in tone of voice

Tone of voice is considered a 'paralinguistic cue', a non-lexical element of communication by speech.

Mr van Aperan said when someone is telling a lie they often attempt to manipulate their own tone of voice to try to increase the believability.

'People often do this by changing their pitch, voice modulation and speed of delivery - faster to make the lie sound like a comment in passing, or slower to make the statement sound more deliberate,' he said.

After giving someone a Christmas present, take note of whether the pitch or tone of their voice changes.

It comes after research by Italian coffee brand Lavazza predicts eight million Australians will regift this Christmas after receiving a present they disliked (stock image)

According to new data by Lavazza, an estimated 3.3 million Aussies (19 per cent) have been caught regifting, with 1-in-5 respondents also citing that they had their present regifted back to them.

With the country projected to spend $17.3 billion on Christmas this year, the research found that Aussies spend an estimated 76 million hours searching for the right gift for their loved ones.

Despite attempting to choose the perfect present, 75 per cent of people believe they can tell when someone doesn't like a gift - with change in facial expressions (45 per cent) the biggest giveaway, followed by hesitation before responding (33 per cent), breaking eye contact (22 per cent) and changing the subject quickly (20 per cent).
A perfectly healthy woman revealed she suffered a sudden heart attack and needed emergency double bypass surgery - just 10 weeks after giving birth.

In April 2021, Erin Cox, 40, who is from Maryland, welcomed her third child with her husband, Rick Maese.

While enjoying the bliss of new parenthood, they decided to take a trip to Virginia Beach in mid-July with their three kids - when suddenly, she collapsed.

While waiting for help to arrive, Erin, who had no prior health issues and no warning signs before the heart attack, said her husband spent an 'agonizing' few moments 'unclear if hed have to raise [their kids] alone,' and that her three young children almost had to grow up 'without memories of their mother.'

Thankfully, she was airlifted by a helicopter and rushed to the nearest hospital, where she underwent an emergency life-saving double-bypass surgery.

A perfectly healthy woman revealed she suffered a sudden heart attack and needed emergency double bypass surgery - just 10 weeks after giving birth

Erin Cox, 40, from Maryland, was at the beach with her family two months after giving birth to her third child, when she suddenly collapsed

Erin, who had no prior health issues and no warning signs before the attack, said her husband (pictured) spent an 'agonizing' few moments 'unclear if hed have to raise [their kids] alone'

It turns out, Erin suffered from a spontaneous coronary artery dissection, or SCAD - which occurs when a tear forms in a blood vessel in the heart.

According to MayoClinic, it most commonly affects women in their 40s and 50s who have no prior health issues, and 10-20 per cent of SCAD cases are associated with pregnancy.

Now, Erin is sharing her story so that she could warn other new moms about the terrifying condition, as well as the signs that could save your life.

'The last thing I remember was getting about ankle deep in the water,' she told Good Morning America during a recent interview. 'I didnt have any of the things that typically precedes a heart attack.'

'I learned later that I had walked up all the way to the blanket where [my husband] was sitting with the baby and our oldest daughter and just kind of dropped to my knees.

'The next thing I remember is waking up in the emergency room.'

According to her husband, the mom-of-three, who works as a Washington Post writer, was 'not responsive' after she collapsed.

'She wasnt moving,' he recalled. 'I turned her over and started screaming for 911.'

According to HeartandStroke.ca, causes of SCAD can include high blood pressure, hormone use, Fibromuscular dysplasia, and childbirth.

Drug use, highly emotional events, and physical stresses can also cause SCAD. The strain of pregnancy and labor can add to the stress on weaker blood vessels, leading to a tear.

TCTMD reported that it typically occurs within the first month after giving birth - but it can also happen later, or during pregnancy.

Erin suffered from a spontaneous coronary artery dissection, or SCAD - which occurs when a tear forms in a blood vessel in the heart. It is most common in women in their 40s and 50s

Thankfully, she was airlifted by a helicopter and rushed to the nearest hospital, where she underwent emergency double-bypass surgery. She is pictured with one of her daughters

What do we know about spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD)? Spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD) occurs when a tear forms in a blood vessel in the heart

SCAD most commonly affects otherwise healthy people in their 40s and 50s. And although it's possible to affect men, it is most common to occur with women

Causes can include high blood pressure, hormone use, Fibromuscular dysplasia, and childbirth. Drug use, highly emotional events, and physical stresses can also cause SCAD

The strain of pregnancy and labor can add to the stress on weaker blood vessels, leading to a tear

10-20 per cent of SCAD cases are associated with pregnancy, and it typically occurs within the first month after giving birth - but it can also happen later, or during pregnancy

Symptoms include chest pain or pressure, shortness of breath, heavy sweating, and dizziness

Sources: HeartandStroke.ca, MayoClinic, and TCTMD Advertisement

Symptoms include chest pain or pressure, shortness of breath, heavy sweating, and dizziness.

Erin said she is now speaking out about what happened to her in the hopes that she can educate others and draw attention to SCAD - which she said is not talked about enough.

She explained on Twitter that had it not been for other women speaking out about their diagnosis, her doctor may not have recognized the signs and been able to treat her so quickly.

'I might not have had a doctor who recognized my condition,' she wrote.

'I could have been among the unknowably large legion of women with SCAD before me who died or lost significant heart function, their symptoms overlooked or misattributed to anxiety.

'Typical heart attacks often follow the warning signs of heart disease - blocked arteries, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, unlucky genetic history. SCAD is more of a lighting strike from a clear sky.

'With SCAD, the lining of coronary arteries spontaneously disassemble and tear, stopping blood flow to the heart.

'Research has not uncovered why it happens, only some correlations - pregnancy and heightened physical or emotional distress among them. There's no way to predict or prevent it.'

The writer said that many doctors told her she was lucky to be alive, and that the whole thing has left her feeling 'blessed.'

'Its incredible to nearly die and wake up in your own life, your blessings put in dazzling relief and the day-to-day noise reduced to a whisper,' she continued.

'I collapsed in front of my husband @RickMaese and our three kids. The oldest says she never wants to go to Virginia Beach again. The younger two dont know, but nearly had to grow up without memories of their mother.

Now, Erin is sharing her story so that she could warn other new-moms about the terrifying condition, as well as the signs that could save your life

She explained on Twitter that had it not been for other women speaking out about their diagnosis, her doctor may not have recognized the signs and been able to treat her so quickly

The mom-of-three, who works as a writer at the Washington Post, said that many doctors told her she was lucky to be alive, and that the whole thing has left her feeling 'blessed'

Erin said her long-term prognosis is 'much better than she hoped for,' and that 'the immobile patch of scar tissue is vastly outmuscled by the rest of her heart'

'[My husband] spent an agonizing stretch unclear if hed have to raise them alone.

Erin said her long-term prognosis is 'much better than she hoped for,' and that 'the immobile patch of scar tissue is vastly outmuscled by the rest of her heart.'

She concluded: 'Please, if you or someone you love feels weight on their chest, dizziness, aching arms or jaw, or a general not right feeling, get help even if theyre young and healthy.

'If somethings wrong when it seems nothing should be wrong, keep pressing for a diagnosis.'
From a plug socket that's covered in damp grime to a gin bottle filled with acetone, safety hazards are rife and not exactly hiding in plain sight.

People from around the world have shared the most alarming safety fails they've spotted - with the very best collated in a gallery by Bored Panda.

One 'innovator' decided dangling from a digging truck the best way to cut down a tree with a chainsaw, while another free thinker decided that cardboard would be the best replacement for hot metal box.

Elsewhere, four men were seen using two precariously-placed ladders to change a lightbulb that was high up, and a bright spark propped themselves up on several crates placed on a greasy kitchen floor.

Here, FEMAIL shares some of the best examples...

Wood you believe it? This rickety arrangement of wood pallets on top of a truck in the US looks like it would tip off at the nearest corner

These grimy US plug sockets are more than a little damp, and for anyone who knows anything about how electricity travels they're best avoided

The managers of this US university accommodation may have grown tired of students pulling the emergency switch for fun, but locking it perhaps isn't the wisest idea...

These men in South America should probably be told (and soon) that flip flops and rooves don't go well together

Not only does dangling from a crane pose many potential deadly risks while chainsawing a tree, but if the lever got any tighter this man would be in two parts

How many men does it take to change a light bulb? Apparently four, and not ones that know how to use ladders. Pictured in the US

Would you feel comfortable climbing under a temporary home being held up by a forklift truck? This answer is no

This fire exit written in Hebrew definitely doesn't advise adding a pull up bar at head-level in the event of a fire

Ah yes, a double acetone and tonic please! This UK person has better quickly take the gin label off and make the 'acetone' more visible

This US kitchen employee is better off not standing on precariously stacked crates on a slippery floor, but what do we know...

This UK venue manager must have assumed that fires don't get through doors that use chairs as locks

Only hopes and prayers are holding together these two ladders. Surely no job is worth risking your life for?
A mother-of-one who thought having children would be impossible after a horrific crash has given birth to a miracle baby just before Christmas.

Charlotte McCarthy, from Baxenden, was hit by a truck along with her parents and partner, Jak Metcalfe, in 2018 LancsLive reports, which left the whole family with life-threatening injuries.

The couple had to spend their Christmas in hospital recovering from their trauma, Jak was only given a 50 per cent chance of survival while Charlotte was told that a single millimetre was the difference between life and death on an arterial injury she sustained.

The group was on a family outing celebrating Charlotte's graduation when a truck collided with their car.

Charlotte McCarthy, from Haslingden, leaving hospital with her fiance Jak after a crash on the notorious accident blackspot Grane Road

Baby Cara was initially in and out of hospital the week of her birth due to weight loss and jaundice, but it not thriving at home

Jak, who had escaped from the wreckage, attempted to free Charlotte but his own pelvic injuries stopped him despite his bravery and they were later freed by firefighters.

The couple became engaged two months after their ordeal, and now plan to be wed in 2022.

Charlotte feared that her previous injuries to her abdomen would prevent her from ever having children but three years on, she gave birth to a healthy baby girl on December 1st, and named her Cara Anne Metcalfe.

'We always worried that we might not be able to have babies because of our injuries and she is a miracle. And it's a miracle that she's so healthy,' said Charlotte.

The family thought their previous injuries made having a baby impossible, and were surprised to find out they were expecting earlier this year

'When I first got pregnant, it was a bit of shock. We were speaking to the colorectal nurse because we thought I had a bowel blockage. They said it's not a blockage but there is something there!'

In order to deliver their baby safely, Charlotte required the help of 22 NHS workers who made sure everything ran smoothly.

Charlotte's previous injuries put her pregnancy in the high risk category which demanded that she have regular scans throughout her pregnancy and a planned caesarian at 37 weeks.

The metal plate in Charlotte's spine meant an epidural wasn't an option and instead she had to be put under general anaesthetic for the entirety of the procedure.

Despite having a high risk pregnancy, Charlotte gave birth to a baby girl on 1st December and is now adjusting to life as a mother

While she was disappointed not to meet her baby straight away, Jak was able to be in the operating room and was witness to the whole thing.

Jak said: 'It all went quite smoothly really, or as they planned it to at least. There were 22 people in the surgery.'

Jaundice and weight loss meant baby Cara had to come into the hospital for a week after being born but the support the couple had from doctors and nurses left them overwhelmingly happy.

Paul Barrow a consultant colorectal surgeon who assisted them right up until Cara's birth was included on a long list of NHS workers they were endlessly grateful to.

Cara is now back home for good with her parents and doing well, Charlotte said: 'It's tiring but it's just so lovely because when we look at where we were three years ago, it's totally different now because she's here.'

At the time of the crash, the driver of the truck wasn't legally allowed to be driving the vehicle involved and was later fined 1,600.

Prior to his sentencing for careless driving, which he admitted, the family met with him and heard his apologies.

Stating that he was also an injured party in the collision, Charlotte revealed that their decision to speak with him wasn't about anger or forgiveness, but peace of mind.

She said: 'I shook his hand because after all of the above and facing court; I have run out of strength and need some peace.'
The newly crowned Miss France has responded to criticism surrounding the pageant by insisting that she is a feminist.

Diane Leyre, 24, who lives in Paris, was crowned Miss France 2022 in a glittering ceremony on Saturday that was broadcast to over 7 million people.

The pageant has strict criteria stating that contestants must be single, at least 1.7 metres in height and under the age of 25.

France's Gender Equality Minister, Elisabeth Moreno, revealed her thoughts on the pageant to BFM TV, saying: 'It's been 100 years that it has existed, that it has celebrated the elegance of France, and it is not the competition as such, but it's rules, which I consider backward-looking.

France's Gender Equality Minister, Elisabeth Moreno, has labelled the rules of the Miss France pageant 'backward'. Pictured: Diane Leyre being crowned this year's winner

'Why can't a Miss France be ironic? Why does a Miss France not pose topless to denounce breast cancer?

'I now understand better. And since it makes a lot of women dream and it puts glitter in the eyes of the French, I can understand that we want to compete. But the main thing is that we can change these rules. so that they adapt to 2021.'

The rules of many beauty pageants including Miss France have been accused of objectifying women and promoting unhealthy body standards.

Diane Leyre, who has a degree in international business acknowledged the critiques in a speech after she beat 28 other women to be crowned.

The Local, reported Diane saying: 'As a woman, I want to show that you can be Miss France and a feminist. For me, feminism is deciding to do what I want.'

Culture Minister Roselyne Bachelot said 'we all need a bit of lightheartedness', while defending the contestants saying they are 'far from being empty trophies.'

Diane (pictured) who has a degree in international business, has responded to criticisms of the pageant by insisting that she is a feminist

The organisers of the Miss France contestants announced on Saturday the requirement to be 'unmarried' will change.

Head of the Miss France company, Alexia Laroche Joubert has also revealed there is discussions to possibly include transgender participants to bring the pageant into the modern era.

The official Miss France Instagram page announced Diane as the winner of the contest in a post urging people to follow her personal social media account.

One person commented: 'Well done @DianeLeyreOff! You well deserved it. You are elegant, photogenic, full of charisma and with a beautiful eloquence.'

'Totally deserved! She is beautiful and expresses herself very well,' another wrote.

A third said: 'She is sublime, charismatic, elegant. Too proud of this beauty queen'

Another added: 'So happy that Diane is our new Miss France, I have been following her since her election as Miss IDF and was convinced that her naturalness and her confidence would pay off.'

Organisers of the Miss France annual pageant have revealed the rule stating women must be unmarried will change. Pictured: Diane at the ceremony
Salt Bae's Nusr-Et Steakhouse in London is now one of the worst ranked restaurants on TripAdvisor after being slammed by unhappy customers online.

Turkish chef, Nusret Gokce, rose to fame back in 2017 for his unusual meat seasoning technique where he lets salt run down his elbow, and he's been spotted slicing meat for customers at his newly opened London restaurant, where specials include a Golden Giant Tomahawk steak for 1,450, Golden Giant Striplion for 1,350 and Golden Kafes for 500.

However many diners have been left less than impressed with the glitzy eatery in Knightsbridge, with a slew of bad reviews leaving it at number 20,491 out of 23,811 in the capital on TripAdvisor.

One person commented: 'Do not be fooled by the glitz and glam and waste your money.

Salt Bae's Nusr-Et Steakhouse in London is now one of the worst ranked restaurants on TripAdvisor after being slammed by unhappy customers online

Specials at the trendy restaurant include Golden Giant Tomahawk steak for 1,450, Golden Giant Striplion for 1,350 and Golden Kafes for 500 (pictured, one of the meat dishes at the restaurant

'Terrible food. Meat was not at all tasty. Ended up going for a 5 kebab after a 300 bill... this place is the biggest joke in London.'

Meanwhile another wrote: 'Insult to humanity.

'Worst food, worst service. Paid over 1,800 for three of us.

'Poor quality, smelly meat, small portions. Rather spend 50 in the local restaurant, will be better! Never again! Stay away, it's a death trap!'

A slew of bad reviews has left the restaurant ranked at number 20,491 out of 23,811 in the capital on TripAdvisor

A third added: 'Avoid like the plague.

'I travel all over the world conducting my business and have eaten in many many restaurants but this is the worst one yet.

'The ones in L.A, Turkey and Dubai are amazing and I couldn't recommend them highly enough but I would never return to Nusr-et in London.

'I dined here with some business associates and felt embarrassed afterwards that I'd chosen such a god awful place to dine in. This place is all hype and no substance give it a miss or dine at your own peril.'

Many diners have been left less than impressed with the glitzy restaurant in Knightsbridge, leaving a host of one and two star reviews online

A fourth commented: 'They need to rebrand an as 'Aberdeen steakhouse' where they charge tourists 15 for a steak.

'You are better off going to Hawksmoor and saving 900 for the same meal but better.

'Or go to Hippodrome steakhouse where you will not only save 900 to 1,200 but you also get some casino chips.'

FEMAIL has contacted Nusr-et Steakhouse for comment.

The upscale eatery chain is owned by Turkish butcher-turned-chef Nusret Gokce, whose theatrical salt-sprinkling antics have earned him a celebrity following including David Beckham

In October the restaurant was accused of 'deleting negative reviews', after a customer's eye-watering bill went viral.

A month earlier, a customer's receipt from went viral after totalling a staggering 1,812.40 earning the restaurant an onslaught of backlash, however Google reviews currently show a 4.8 star rating - with the site stating it was 'updated by the business a week ago.

According to My London News, 'a flurry of reviews appearing to criticise the restaurant when it first opened' have since 'disappeared.

The 38-year-old, who has been nicknamed Salt Bae by fans, currently has 17 restaurants in his successful chain and has a legion of celebrity devotees including DJ Khaled, Leonardo DiCaprio and David Beckham.

Nusret has been spotted slicing meat for customers at his newly opened London restaurant, where specials include a Golden Giant Tomahwak steak for 1,450, Golden Giant Striplion for 1,350 and Golden Kafes for 500.

The initial opening of Nusr-Et Steakhouse London was delayed due to Covid- 19, but has remained in demand with people eager to make reservations.

Rumours of Salt Bae's London branch have been circulating since 2017. He wrote on Instagram this week: 'I was waiting very long time but finally dream come true'

Salt Bae, real name Nusret Gokce, owns a chain of Nusr-Et restaurants and is known for his theatrical salt-sprinkling antics
Britain's former King Edward VIII's abdication was the 'last thing' his lover Wallis Simpson wanted, according to royal author Anna Pasternak.

Anna, who penned The American Duchess: The Real Wallis Simpson, told People for its Royals' special fall edition that Edward had 'a ferocious, obsessive love' for twice-married American socialite Wallis 'and was never going to let her go'.

The Duke's abdication, which occurred in December 1936, rocked the monarchy and the country to its core - but apparently the woman he did it all for was against him making such a decision.

Edward wed Wallis, who was thought unfit to be Queen, having been married twice, in Tours, France, a year after he ceased to be King.

Britain's former King Edward VIII's abdication was the 'last thing' his lover Wallis Simpson (pictured) wanted, according to royal author Anna Pasternak

Anna, who penned The American Duchess: The Real Wallis Simpson, told People for its Royals' special fall edition that Edward (pictured after his wedding to Wallis) had 'a ferocious, obsessive love' for twice-married American socialite Wallis 'and was never going to let her go'

After finding herself at the centre of one of the most scandalous love affairs of the 20th century, Wallis faced harsh criticism and received abusive and hostile hate mail.

Yet Anna says Wallis was a 'convenient scapegoat and took the rap for the abdication', despite it being the 'last thing she wanted'.

Wallis Simpson and King Edward VIII: A scandal that rocked a nation January 1931 - Wallis meets Prince Edward in January 1931, after being introduced via her friend Lady Furness 1931- 1934 - They see each other regularly at various parties August 1934 - Wallis admits she and Edward are no longer just friends, after joining him on a cruise January 1936 - King George V dies. Edward asks Wallis to watch the proclamation of his accession with him from St. James's Palace August 1936 - The pair enjoy a cruise. Details of their relationship appear in the American press December 11, 1936 - Edward announces his abdication June 3, 1937 - The couple get married in France. Wallis was formally known as the Duchess of Windsor, but was not allowed to share her husband's title of 'Royal Highness' Advertisement

The author added that the Duke of Windsor harboured 'this kind of ferocious, obsessive love for her - he was never going to let her go.'

But when asked by the BBC's Kenneth Harris in 1970 if she had any regrets, Wallis tactfully replied, 'Oh about certain things yes. I wish it could have been different but I'm extremely happy.

'Naturally you've have had some hard times but who hasn't? You just have to learn to live with that.'

Following their wedding in 1937, Wallis was formally known as the Duchess of Windsor, but was not allowed to share her husband's title of 'Royal Highness'.

Edward and Wallis lived in France and spent much of their time hosting parties and travelling between Paris and New York.

In 1940, Edward was appointed as Governor of the Bahamas  a role which he held until 1945.

The Duke's health deteriorated in the 1960s and towards the end of 1971, the Duke  a smoker  was diagnosed with throat cancer.

Netflix's The Crown depicted how, in May 1972  ten days before his death  Edward was visited by the Queen and Prince Philip.

She spoke to him alone before appearing with just the Duchess for a photograph. The Duke died on May 28, less than a month before his 78th birthday.

His body was returned to Britain, where it lay in state at Windsor Castle's St George's Chapel before his funeral.

Following the Duke's death, Wallis became something of a recluse and was rarely seen in public before her death at the age of 89.

After Wallis died on April 24, 1986, the Royal Family allowed her to rest next to her late husband in the Windsor grounds.
A skin specialist who had terrible acne is now running a successful business helping with problem complexions after finding the 'holy grail' product for herself.

Phoebe Carter, 25, who lives with her fiance Aaron Ali in Essex had a series of particularly angry outbreaks after the couple got engaged on holiday in Bali in 2019, and she began to feel very stressed and anxious by her inflamed skin.

She had suffered with acne on-and-off since her teenage years, but this recent bad outbreak led her to spend 100 a month on different products to ease her angry skin.

Phoebe also has to manage the hormonal condition polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), which further aggravates her acne.

In despiair over lockdown, she creating an acne positivity page on Instagram, which is where she discovered the 'miracle' product in the form of a 36 face oil with anti-inflammatory properties that's given her back her glow.

Phoebe Carter, 25, began spending up to 100 a month on new skincare products to try and help her acne after suffering from an outbreak after her trip to Bali in 2019

Phoebe said: 'For a long while, I felt like a fraud, as I was recommending treatments to clients, yet I had such bad skin.

'I worried that they would think, "Why should I listen to her, when she clearly doesn't know how to manage her own complexion?"

'Strangely, however, when I was working at a spa in Mayfair in London, a lot of customers asked for me.

'They found me very relatable, as I would happily talk about my own skin and the problems I had.

Pictured at her engagement party in September 2019, Phoebe said she felt anxious about her skin following her outbreak after the Bali holiday

'Then lockdown came in March 2020. I wasn't seeing customers every day, I didn't feel very useful and with all the stress and the fact I'd had quite a lot of antibiotics for a really bad flare-up, I was feeling really low.

'That was when I started an Instagram page about my acne and everything changed.'

Phoebe says her flare-ups have often been triggered when she came off the contraceptive pill, as well as the PCOS aggravating her skin.

She continued: 'My skin really affected my confidence.

'I had a huge break-out in the build-up to my engagement party, which made me feel awful.

Phobe found a lot of helpful anti-inflammatory products like Chinese herbs, and while she was exploring the anti-inflammatory approach she I discovered the Monday's Child skincare page and noticed a huge difference in her skin (right)

Thanks to her lockdown journey, Phoebe has completely changed her attitude to her skin

'I don't like wearing a lot of make-up, but I really didn't know how I was going to cover it.

'All I could do was be grateful that at least it was only my engagement party and not my wedding I'd be covered in acne for!'

'The Pill can help to control acne, but it's just a sticking plaster really. It's often even worse when you come off it.'

It is usually advisable to stick to just one treatment for six to eight weeks to give it a chance to become effective, and now Phoebe realises by trying out new remedies each week probably did more harm than good.

Phoebe says that after coming off the contraceptive pill, she suffered from a bad outbreak

The products and remedies she used stripped her skin of the good things it needs, rather than replenishing it with oils out of the fear it might have become oilier and spottier than normal.

She said: 'I was really scared of oils.

'If you have acne, you think, "No way will I put oil on my face."

What is PCOS? Causes, symptoms and treatment explained... PCOS stands for polycystic ovary syndrome. PCOS is a hormonal disorder causing enlarged ovaries with small cysts on the outer edges. Women with PCOS may have infrequent or prolonged menstrual periods or excess male hormone (androgen) levels. Symptoms include menstrual irregularity, excess hair growth, acne, and obesity. Fertility may also be affected. While the exact cause of PCOS isn't known, insulin resistance caused by a highly refined and processed diet is believed to be one of the biggest triggers. PCOS can be managed through diet, the contraceptive pill and other oral medications. Source: Mayo Clinic Advertisement

'At beauty college, we did facials for each other every day and I remember this horrible, cheap, sticky oil being used on my skin that made it all horrible and congested.

'The smell and everything was horrible, so I always said to myself I would never use oil in my routine.'

Despite not expecting to work in skincare after college, where she was more interested in eyebrows and semi-permanent make-up, she was surprised to discover that her own skin problems helped her to bond with clients.

She said: 'I think they related to me and I found being able to help them very rewarding.'

But when Covid struck, lockdown was a very difficult time for Phoebe.

After following an exfoliating beauty routine to try and strip her problem skin away, her face was red and angry.

Feeling fed up, she started an Instagram blog called Bare Faced Fi aimed at the acne community.

She said: 'I suddenly realised how many acne bloggers there were and started following them.

'I was really open about my skin and got a bit of a boost from it.

After discovering the 36 skin perfecting oil by Monday's Child, she realised the products she had been using were really harsh and stripped her skin of the oils it needed

'I spent a lot of time videoing my skin routine and I was able to help people because of my knowledge through my job.

'I also found a lot of helpful anti-inflammatory stuff, like Chinese herbs, which were really helping me.

'And it was while I was exploring the anti-inflammatory approach that I discovered the Monday's Child skincare page and found this skin perfecting oil for 36.

'After reading a lot of success stories, I realised that while I had become so interested in Chinese herbs and healing my body, I was still using really harsh skin products that were stripping my face.

'Reading the ingredients on this oil, they were anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial, so I ordered a bottle.

Suffering from acne on-and-off since her teenage years, Phoebe had a particularly bad outbreak after her fiance Aaron Ali proposed on holiday in Bali and it continued when she got back home to their new flat in Essex

'I used it over a couple of evenings and the soreness and scabs on my face were really repaired.

'A lot of people with acne need repairing, as their skin has been really under duress.

'After starting with a few drops, by the end of the week I was squeezing it over my face.

'I decided, "This is my holy grail product. I'm going to always have it in my routine."'

Using it ever since, in September 2020 Phoebe started her own business, Face Glow By Fi and uses it for customers, as well as in her own beauty routine.

'My routine is very heavily oil based, I do use a lot of botanicals, plants and anti-inflammatory things, too,' she said.

'I am also really into face massage and face yoga. I learned through my Instagram page how important this is for removing toxins from your skin.

'But you need to use oil and Monday's Child means I can do this now.

Phoebe is now excited to enjoy the festive season with healthy skin and is 'no longer completely obsessed' with having clear skin

'This oil is like a magic product and knowing that I can use it, particularly when I have a flare-up, is really reassuring.

'I am no longer obsessed with having completely clear skin. As long as it glows and looks healthy, that's what really matters to me. '

Feeling confident once again, Phoebe is sure she will have clear skin for her wedding.

She said: 'I haven't started planning my wedding yet. I've put a hold on it because of Covid. When it happens, it will happen.

'We'd like to go abroad maybe to Spain, but we haven't been able to go there and see any potential venues yet, so we think it may well be 2023.

'Then we are hoping we can have it exactly as we want it.

'And with my family, friends and clients always commenting on how good my skin looks now, I am hoping it will stay that way for my big day.'
Since opening at November's end, a revival of enduring musical hit Cabaret has become the hottest ticket in London's West End, lauded by critics, and leaving some fans gushing 'it's the show of a lifetime'.

However, theatregoers hoping for tickets to see the star-studded production, which is set in a Berlin cabaret club as the Second World War breaks out, are likely to be left disappointed - unless they have very deep pockets.

The show, which stars Eddie Redmayne as Emcee, the nightclub's charismatic master of ceremonies, Jessie Buckley as Sally Bowles, in a role originally made famous by Liza Minnelli, amd Omari Douglas as writer Clifford Bradshaw, is at London's Playhouse Theatre, which has been transformed into the Kit Kat Club.

The cheapest tickets - from 30 - have long since been snapped up and while many are still widely available, they come with an eye-watering price tag...seats in the stalls for two can cost up to 620, which some have slammed as 'elitist' and 'prohibitive' - suggesting a mini-break in foreign climes might be cheaper.

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2022's hottest ticket? Eddie Redmayne and Jessie Buckley star as Emcee and Sally Bowles in the latest revival of the Berlin nightclub musical Cabaret. However, theatre fans have complained that ticket prices - currently around 250 to see the show in January - are 'prohibitive' , 'elitist' and 'extortionate'

While the London Playhouse Theatre maintains tickets have always been available from 30, only the most expensive seats are now left for many of the upcoming performances that feature Redmayne and Buckley

Tickets from March 21st are considerably cheaper but casting for the show has yet to be announced for those dates.

The Playhouse Theatre told MailOnline the show is a 'remarkable theatrical experience and the pricing of our intimate auditorium is in line with other West End musicals.'

Among those trying to buy a ticket this week for the musical, which was written in 1966 by John Kander and Fred Ebb, was television personality Fern Britton, who took to Twitter to comment on the expensive prices.

She wrote: 'Just tried to book 1 ticket for Cabaret in the west end starring Eddie Redmayne. Rave reviews and selling out. Price 310 gulp. So, I wont be going'

Others were equally aggrieved at the high prices; @mrsgroovie added: 'For 310 per ticket - PER TICKET - Id want Eddie to personally escort me to my seat. No adding to basket for me. I know theatres need to make up for COVID losses but prices like this...'

@ChrisK3454 tweeted the theatre, saying: '@TheatrPlayhouse 298 to see Cabaret! Ill pass thanks and watch the film again. Theatres arent levelling up then. Elitist and I dont want to hear that its Covid. Possibly cost less to go to another country.'

@FalmouthSeaside wrote: 'My daughter was offered tickets for the Redmayne Cabaret but refused them, huge amount of money to sit in the Gods'

Stellar cast, stellar prices: Jessie Buckley and Eddie Redmayne attend the gala performance after party for Cabaret on Sunday night

London's Playhouse Theatre has been turned into a pre-war Berlin-style nightclub for the run of the musical - with guests offered schnapps or a beer on arrival as it mimics the speakeasies of the time.

The production has won rave reviews from the critics this week, with the Daily Mail's Patrick Marmion giving it four out of five stars.

The Telegraph's Dominic Cavendish said the rework sent 'shivers down the spine' and that people will 'kill-for-a-ticket'. Meanwhile, the Guardian called Redmayne's take on Emcee 'electric'.

Some have defended the high prices. @BatesyT84 wrote: 'There are more expensive shows to see in the West End than Cabaret and many of those are are not as strong.

'This is a once in a lifetime show. Stop moaning about the price. Pay for great art when you can.'

Explaining how the ticket sale structure works for Cabaret, producers for the show told MailOnline: 'As with any show, tickets at a lower price always sell first.

'For our first booking period there were 15,000 tickets priced at 50 and under and for our longer second booking period there are 20,000 tickets priced at 50 and under.

'This equates to 20 per cent of the auditorium. For every performance there is also a lottery with six exceptional 25 seats, including table seating.'
The 'mentally disciplined' Queen 'compartmentalises' to cope with heartbreak of losing Prince Philip and Megxit scandal, a royal expert has claimed.

The monarch, 95, has been blighted with tragedies over the last 12 months - with husband Prince Philip dying in April, and her son Prince Andrews facing questions over his controversial friendship with Jeffrey Epstein, who died in prison in 2019, while awaiting trial for sex trafficking charges.

Along with health complications, the royal has also faced family fallouts, with grandson Prince Harry moving to Montecito, California, with his wife Meghan Markle, and the reportedly fraught relationship between the prince and his older brother William.

Royal biographer Ingrid Seward told People magazine the royal has found 'her ability to compartmentalize has been extremely helpful in her life', saying: 'She won't let things crowd in on her. She is mentally disciplined and that has helped her through these 70 years.

The 'mentally disciplined' Queen, 95, 'compartmentalises' to cope with heartbreak of losing Prince Philip and Megxit scandal, a royal expert has claimed

'It has enabled her to deal with all the things and not allow things to overwhelm her. It goes a long way towards explaining her ability to be able to still be working at this age.'

Meanwhile a source also revealed the royal has been able to 'keeps things separate between family and official issues.'

It comes as it was revealed the Queen is set to enjoy a new normal Christmas this year  and may even appear in public for the first time since early autumn.

The 95-year-old monarch has either been resting or undertaking only light desk duties following a mystery health scare.

The monarch has been blighted with tragedies over the last 12 months - with husband Prince Philip dying in April

But she has been given the go-ahead by doctors to throw her annual private pre-festive season party for extended family members for the first time since 2019, the Mail can reveal.

This year, however, it will take place at Windsor Castle and not Buckingham Palace, where it has traditionally been held for several decades.

The Queen has lived in Berkshire since the start of the pandemic and has rarely set foot out of it in recent months.

But she will move her court to her Sandringham Estate in Norfolk for Christmas, where her nearest and dearest are all set to gather in time for Christmas Eve  as long as government advice does not change.

Along with health complications, the royal has also faced family fallouts, with grandson Prince Harry moving to Montecito, California, with his wife Meghan Markle

Her Majesty is expected to fly to East Anglia by helicopter, rather than take the train as she normally does, in light of her age and general health.

Before she does, she will record her annual Christmas message, again at Windsor. It is likely to reflect on her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, who died aged 99 in April, as well as the heartening show of community strength seen throughout the nation during the Covid pandemic.

The Mail understands that palace aides are also exploring options for the monarch to appear in public over the next two weeks to wish the country a very happy Christmas.

Although photographs and videos have been released by Buckingham Palace of the sovereign undertaking in-person and virtual audiences with foreign ambassadors, dignitaries and the Prime Minister, all meetings have taken place behind palace walls.

The hope is that the Queen will be well enough to take part in a short public engagement in the castle grounds. Her appearance will be seen as a small shot of joy in difficult times.

It wont be a normal Christmas, but like many families around the country, it will be as normal as it can get, a source said.

The Queen was last seen in public at a Windsor Castle reception on October 19. The next day, she cancelled a trip to Northern Ireland and was taken to hospital overnight for undisclosed preliminary tests.

She was ordered to rest for several weeks and since then has undertaken a small number of low-key engagements, including recording a video message to be played at Cop26.
A Boston-based woman has revealed that she will be switching houses with a complete stranger from the UK for New Year's - after being inspired by the Christmas movie The Holiday.

Grace Gagnon, 25, is about to head all the way across the globe to live in one of her follower's home for the holidays, while the stranger is going to fly to Massachusetts to stay in her water-front apartment.

It all started when she posted a TikTok video, where she asked, 'Anyone in England want to switch places for the holiday? I have a studio apartment on Boston's water-font.'

'Serious inquiries only,' she captioned it. 'Bonus points if you have a hot, single brother.'

The clip quickly went viral, gaining more than three million views in a matter of days, and according to the Boston-native, she received 1,000s of responses from people who wanted to participate.

A Boston-based woman just revealed she is switching houses with a stranger from the U.K. for New Year's - after being inspired by the Christmas movie The Holiday

It all started when Grace Gagnon, 25, posted a TikTok, where she asked, 'Anyone in England want to switch places for the holiday? I have a studio apartment on Boston's water-font'

The clip quickly went viral, gaining more than three million views, and according to the Boston-native, she received 1,000s of responses from people who wanted to participate

Inspired: Grace said she came up with the idea after watching the 2006 flick The Holiday, which stars Cameron Diaz, Kate Winslet, Jack Black, and Jude Law

Grace said she came up with the idea after watching the 2006 flick The Holiday, which stars Cameron Diaz, Kate Winslet, Jack Black, and Jude Law.

In the movie, two women - one from a quiet English village and the other from star-studded Hollywood - decided to swap homes after they both admit they've been in a rut.

But things start to turn around for both of them after they fell in love with local men in their new locations.

In another video, Grace said she would make sure to introduce whoever swapped with her to her friends, so that they didn't have to explore Boston by themselves.

She also said she would provide a detailed list of her favorite things to do around the city - including bars, restaurants, and museums.

And when someone asked if the apartment came with its very own Jude Law, she joked that she did have an older brother, but unfortunately, he's already taken.

As for what she was looking for, she said she was open to switching with anyone who lived in the U.K. - including England, Ireland, and Scotland - and that she wanted to take the trip after Christmas.

In the film, two women - one from a quiet English village and the other from Hollywood - decided to swap homes after they both are in a rut. They end up falling in love with local men

Ready for love: In another video, Grace - who revealed she is currently single - explained that although falling in love would certainly be a plus to the trip, that wasn't her top priority

'I'd like to go somewhere not for Christmas, but after Christmas. I don't have New Year's Eve plans, so if I could spend it across the pond I would be so happy,' she explained. 'But if that doesn't work out, I'm also open to other dates in January.

'I know there are some travel restrictions coming up with COVID so I'll be watching the news next week and if by chance, we're not allowed to travel internationally than I would be open to swapping with someone on the West coast of the United States.'

Grace said anyone who was seriously interested could fill out a Google form that she made, and that she already had a few Facetime calls set up with potential-swappers.

She explained that once she decides on a person, she is going to use a certified website to make the exchange - to ensure that everyone's valuables are safe and that no one gets 'bamboozled.'

In another video, Grace - who revealed she is currently single - explained that although falling in love would certainly be a plus to the trip, that wasn't her top priority.

'I am not going on this trip solely to fall in love and meet someone. I'm going because I want to experience a new part of the world and live in someone else's shoes,' she said. 'And if I happen to meet someone along the way ... I'll be so happy for myself.

In one final clip, Grace revealed that she had officially picked someone to swap houses with, but until everything was booked and set in stone, she didn't want to share any more details

Bon voyage! 'I'm literally booking a last minute trip to Europe for New Year's Eve, all thanks to TikTok. I have been shaking with excitement all day,' she gushed

Grace explained that she dated someone in college, but said she has spent the last few years focusing on her career, so she has yet to find her true love.

She added: 'I am a sucker for fairytale endings and Hallmark movie endings and I love when they happen in real life, I just get so excited when I see that stuff happen on social media.

'I am known for wearing my heart on my sleeve and I think love is so important. But I have yet to experience it.

'I see a lot of people around me falling in love and doing things with their partners, and I'm so happy for them but I'm always wondering why it hasn't happened to me yet.

'The last couple of months I have really been questioning what I'm doing and why I'm single, I'm really fed up honestly. I just want to get out of here for a little bit, shut the world out, and have fun somewhere else.'

In one final update, Grace revealed that she had officially picked someone to swap houses with, but until everything was booked and set in stone, she didn't want to share any more details.

'I'm literally booking a last minute trip to Europe for New Year's Eve, all thanks to TikTok. I have been shaking with excitement all day,' she gushed.
Sarah Ferguson made her son-in-law Edo Mapelli Mozzi proud as she is led a charm offensive in Italy tonight.

The Duchess of York, 62, who is commonly known as Fergie and still lives with her ex-husband Prince Andrew on the Royal Lodge in Windsor, dazzled as she shared an animated discussion with Italian presenter Bruno Vespa during his show Porta a Porta on Rai 1.

For the interview, which will air at 10.30 GMT tonight on the Italian Channel tonight, the mother-of-two opted for a glamourous beige cape dressed and a glossy hairdo.

Fergie's romance novel, Her Heart for a Compass, is being published in Italy under the translated title of La Bussola del cuore.

She later changed into a stylish burgundy coat and headed to the Museo Ninfeo to further promote the novel.

Sarah Ferguson, 62, who is commonly known as Fergie, pictured, dazzled as she shared an animated discussion with Italian presenter Bruno Vespa on Rai 1 while promoting the Italian translation of her novel Her Heart for a Compass

It seems that the Duchess also discussed her relationship with her ex-husband Prince Andrew during the interview

What will she say? Pictures of the Queen appeared behind Fergie in images released from the show

Sharing knowing smiles with Vespa throughout the interview, the Duchess of York looked professional and at ease in the short beige cape dress, which she paired with a sensible black heel and black tights. It's likely she'll talk about Prince Andrew and the Queen as promotional images show her in front of pictures of the royals.

She wore it with an eye-catching pair of diamond drop earrings and gold bracelets, including one adorned with the name of her eldest daughter, Princess Beatrice, who is married to Edo and welcomed a daughter named Sienna this summer.

The interview is sure to go down well with her son-in-law Edo, who is descended from an Italian noble family.

The Duchess, who is in Europe to promote the multiple translation of her Mills and Boon novel, was wearing a watch to make sure she remains on schedule.

Later tonight, Fergie performed an outfit change and swapped her cape for a beautiful burgundy coat. She presented her book at the Museum Ninfeo in Rome

She is also likely to discuss her relationship with her daughters Princess Beatrice and Eugenie on the show

Her fiery locks where styled in a glossy do, with her tresses cascading down her shoulders as she spoke.

She donned a glamourous makeup, with some eyeliner and a dash of foundation to compliment her healthy glow.

Bruno who is a famed presenter in Italy hung by the Duchess's every word as the pair chatted for a pre-recorded interview.

Fergie has been giving several interviews to European outlets in recent months to promote Her Heart for a Compass.

The Duchess of York, pictured, looked stylish in the beige cape she picked for her interview tonight

Last week, she told French magazine Madame Figaro: 'Im very brave, Im very courageous well, probably the most bullied woman in the history of the Royal Family - bullied by the press. But Im here.'

Fergie also confessed she still loves Prince Andrew, 61, and that she stands by him, even in the face of sexual assault accusations made by Victoria Giuffre, 38, which the Prince denies.

Giuffre has claimed the Duke forced her to have sex at the London home of former Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell, and abused her at Epstein's homes in Manhattan and the U.S. Virgin Islands. She was 17 at the time of the alleged abuse.

Fergie's hair, pictured, was styled in a glamourous do, with her fiery locks cascading down her shoulders as she spoke

The Duchess beamed as she discussed La Bussola del cuore, the Italian version of her Mills and Boon novel, with the presenter, pictured

The mother-of-two, whose son-in-law Edo Mapelli Mozzi comes from Italian nobility, looked stunning for her interview

Sarah's comments come as Ghislaine Maxwell, former friend of the late paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, faces a sex trafficking trial in New York, in which Prince Andrew has been named several times.

Referring to the negative media coverage she suffered for years following her separation from Prince Andrew in 1992, Fergie explained: 'I was maybe the most persecuted woman in the history of the royal family, but I'm still here.

'The bruised reed that doesn't break is in my DNA.'

Speaking of her ex-husband, with whom she still lives with at Royal Lodge in Windsor, she said her wedding day was the most beautiful day of her life.

She added: 'I loved him and I still love him today, I will stay by his side, because I believe in him, it is a good man.'

Fergie, pictured, talked about the romance novel inspired by her family history. The novel has been translated in several languages this autumn

The Duchess of York put on a very animated display during the interview as she discussed her book and her personal life

The royal, pictured, spoke of her relationship with The Firm, Princess Diana, Prince Andrew and the Queen in the interview

Fergie was warmly welcomed by Italian presenter Bruno Vespa when she stepped into the show's set tonight, pictured

Fergie accessorised with diamond drop earrings and sported a glamourous makeup, left. She was also wearing a bracelet reading 'Beatrice,' right

Later this evening, the Duchess proudly promoted her book in the centre of Rome. She wore a black dress under the burgundy coat, pictured. As part of the promotional evening, Fergie posed with one of the guests, left

Prince Andrew's ex-wife seemed to be delighted to be promoting her book in Italy tonight, pictured

The Duchess is touring the media circuit in Italy to promote the Italian translation of her book Her Heart for a Compass, pictured

The mother-of-two said her daughters are her priority, and added she never misses any of their calls ,always ready to lend them a compassionate ear.

She said being a mother was the one thing she has done best in her life and suggested it was because she did not have a motherly figure in her own mother.

Susan Barrantes divorced Fergie's father in 1974 and moved to Latin America where she raised horses before her death in 1998.

Speaking of her latest novel Her Heart for a Compass, the Duchess of York said writing it during lockdown was therapeutic and boosted her self-esteem.

She mused she would like to see it made into a French movie starring Lea Seydoux as the heroine Margaret.

She said she has approached French production company about her novel's movie rights.

Sarah's latest comments come as Maxwell faces allegations of recruiting minors for the late paedophile Epstein to sexually abuse from 1994 to 2004.
Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall wrapped up warm today as they visited a food bank in London ahead of Christmas.

The royal couple sported winter attire as they thanks volunteers and staff at Wandsworth Food Bank in south London, noting the 'vital work' they did in the community.

Sporting his usual patterned attire, the heir, 73, opted for a light blue striped shirt, navy jacket, shiny black shoe, and tie with a plus design.

Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall wrapped up warm today as they visited a food bank in London ahead of Christmas

Ooops! Charles struggled with his mask during a visit to Lambeth GP Federation COVID Vaccinations Walk-In Centre

Sporting his usual patterned attire, the heir, 73, opted for a light blue striped shirt, navy jacket, shiny black shoe, and tie with a plus design

The Prince of Wales (left) speaks to a volunteer during a visit to Wandsworth Foodbank at St. Mark's Church in Battersea Rise

He added a face mask to stay Covid safe, which he created from an offcut from a textile programme supported by my Turquoise Mountain Foundation in Myanmar.

Meanwhile Camilla, 74, dressed for the London chill in black boots and a midi green coat.

The food bank, which is part of the Trussel Trust, was started by congregation members of St Marks Church in 2013 in response to the growing need they saw in their community.

It provides emergency food, support and advice to people and families in need across Wandsworth.

The food bank, which is part of the Trussel Trust, was started by congregation members of St Marks Church in 2013 in response to the growing need they saw in their community

Last year, the team and volunteers home-delivered 11,336 emergency food supplies to local people referred to them during the pandemic  a 78 per cent increase on the previous year. Charles is pictured with volunteers

The Duchess of Cornwall (right) speaks to volunteers during a visit to Wandsworth Foodbank at St. Mark's Church in Battersea Rise

Last year, the team and volunteers home-delivered 11,336 emergency food supplies to local people referred to them during the pandemic  a 78 per cent increase on the previous year.

Writing on Instagram following their visit, the royal couple thanked the team for their 'amazing work' supporting the people of Wandsworth.

After the visit Charles and Camilla headed to a nearby vaccination centre to meet with locals.

It comes as Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall's released their official Christmas card for 2021 capturing a sweet moment between the couple as well as giving a nod to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

Charles poses for a picture as he visits a COVID-19 vaccination centre in south London

Charles speak to people getting their booster jabs in Lambeth, south London today

The food bank provides emergency food, support and advice to people and families in need across Wandsworth

Prince of Wales speaks to a volunteer during a visit to Wandsworth Foodbank at St. Mark's Church

The picture, taken on the second day of Royal Ascot in June, shows the heir-to-the-throne helping his wife to adjust her face mask during the race meeting.

The snap, which will be the Prince of Wales' festive greeting this year, seems especially fitting in light of new restrictions requiring people in England to wear masks on public transport, shops and indoor public spaces such as post offices, theatres and hairdressers.

But it also depicts Charles as a loving husband to Camilla, whom he married in April 2005 after a love affair that lasted decades.

Prince Charles, 72, and the Duchess of Cornwall, 73, have released their official Christmas card for 2021, It captures a sweet and candid moment they shared earlier this year at Royal Ascot, where the heir-to-the-throne helped his wife to adjust her face mask during the function, pictured

Charles' eldest son, the Duke of Cambridge, also released his seasonal greetings, a family portrait where William, 39, poses with his wife Kate Middleton, also 39 and their three children, Prince George, eight, Princess Charlotte, six and Prince Louis, three

It was taken during a secret trip to Jordan the family undertook earlier this year.

In his Christmas card, Prince Charles is dapper in a grey three-piece suit, which he paired with a white shirt, a smart lavender tie and a lilac pocket square.

The Duchess of Cornwall is equally stylish in a flowy cream dress, paired with a matching hat
Pfizer's antiviral COVID-19 pill appears to protect people from severe Covid symptoms caused by the Omicron variant, the company announced on Tuesday.

The pharmaceutical study found that the pill, named Paxlovid, reduces risk of hospitalization and death from Covid by about 90 percent among patients who are at high risk for severe symptoms, confirming previous findings.

Those results are related to tests carried out against infections caused by other strains of Covid, including the Delta variant.

But on Tuesday, the company also announced that its antiviral pill, which can be taken at home, seems to work just as well against the Omicron strain.

Pfizer scientists put Paxlovid through lab tests, testing it against a man-made version of a key protein that Omicron uses to reproduce itself, with the drug able to block the newest form of the virus from multiplying. Further evaluations are underway to establish just how effective Paxlovid is at preventing Omicron infection.

Paxlovid works by blocking the coronavirus' ability to multiply in patients' bodies.

Pfizer's experimental Covid pill is effective against the Omicron variant and continues to perform well at preventing severe disease, the company said Tuesday. Pictured: Pfizer's pills, in an image provided by Pfizer in November 2021 (file image)

The news comes as the U.S. experiences a massive Covid surge, with an average of 120,000 cases reported each day and increases in hospitalizations and deaths.

Total US cases have now passed 50.1 million, according to data from Johns Hopkins University, while total deaths sit close to 799,000.

While the Delta variant is driving the current surge, the Omicron variant has been identified throughout the country and is now causing about three percent of cases nationwide, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data.

A total of 189 cases have been identified across 33 states, although just one in five positive PCR tests is sequenced in the US, meaning the true size of the outbreak is likely much larger.

Omicron is now the dominant strain of Covid across the United Kingdom, and is expected to follow suit in the US within weeks.

A White House source told Axios Tuesday that a 'large wave' of the virus is expected to hit US shores soon.

Preliminary data suggests Omicron is less dangerous than Delta, but its sheer infectiousness means it is inevitable that hospitalizations and deaths will creep up, experts have warned.

Pfizer's antiviral pill, along with a similar pill from Merck, may be useful in preventing severe cases during this surge. But vaccination - including booster shots - is still the best protection, experts say.

The Pfizer news comes as Covid cases increase rapidly across the U.S., driven by the Delta variant, cold weather, and increased indoor gatherings

As Covid cases increase once again in the U.S., and around the world, antiviral drugs may become a key tool for reducing severe disease in people who become infected.

In the coming weeks, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is likely to authorize a drug made by Pfizer for use in the U.S., adding it to the country's arsenal.

Experts anticipated that Pfizer's drug would work against Omicron - as would Merck's - because the drug does not target the coronavirus' spike protein, which contains most of the new variants mutations.

Also on Tuesday, Pfizer announced full results of its clinical trial on the drug's effectiveness for patients at high risk of severe Covid symptoms.

The drug reduced combined hospitalizations and deaths by about 89 percent among high-risk adults, Pfizer's trial showed.

This clinical trial included 2,250 patients, most of whom were over age 60 or had other medical conditions that increased their risk of severe Covid.

Pfizer's drug is most effective when patients begin treatment within five days of their initial symptoms. Patients take three pills twice a day for five days.

A similar pill made by Merck has not demonstrated as much success in clinical trials - Merck's pill only reduced risk of hospitalization and death by 30 percent in high-risk adults.

Still, the FDA's vaccine advisory committee voted to recommend Merck's pill for authorization.

Unlike past Covid treatments, both Merck's and Pfizer's pills could be picked up from pharmacies and taken at home - rather than requiring treatment in a medical setting.

The agency is currently reviewing data on Pfizer's pill, and is expected to discuss its authorization in the coming weeks.

The FDA is currently reviewing data on Pfizer's Covid pill, and is expected to discuss its authorization soon. Pictured: The pill is packaged in Germany, November 2021

Pfizer is also studying its pill in lower-risk adults, including healthy unvaccinated adults and those who are vaccinated but have one or more preexisting health conditions.

In interim results reported Tuesday, Pfizer said the drug failed to meet its main study goal of sustained relief from Covid symptoms.

Still, the drug reduced hospitalizations by about 70 percent among the lower-risk patients, Pfizer's analysis found.

An independent board of medical experts reviewed the data and recommended Pfizer continue the low-risk patient study for further results.

Across both of Pfizer's studies, adults taking the company's drug had a 10-fold decrease in virus levels compared with those on placebo.

Pfizer's announcement comes as the U.S. faces a new surge in Covid cases, with more than 120,000 new cases reported daily in the last week, according to data from Johns Hopkins.

Covid hospitalizations and deaths are also rising in the U.S.

About 54,300 patients are currently hospitalized with Covid across the country, as of December 11 - up from 51,600 the prior week.

More than 1,200 Americans have died of Covid each day in the past week, and the pandemic's total death toll nears 800,000.

In parts of the Northeast and Midwest, many hospitals are once again being overloaded by incoming virus cases.

This latest surge is primarily driven by the Delta variant, combined with colder weather and more indoor gatherings during the holiday season.

Omicron (purple) has increased from causing 0.4% of U.S. Covid cases in the week ending December 4 to causing 2.9% of cases in the week ending December 11

Yet the Omicron variant is also spreading rapidly across the country.

According to CDC estimates released Tuesday, the variant caused 2.9 percent of Covid cases nationally in the week ending December 11.

That's a six-fold increase from the previous week, when it caused 0.4 percent of new cases.

Omicron is even more entrenched in some parts of the country. In the New York and New Jersey region, it's causing 13 percent of new cases, the CDC estimates.

As Omicron contributes further to case increases, the Pfizer and Merck pills will be useful tools for reducing severe disease and hospitalizations.

But the best way for people to protect themselves against Covid is to get vaccinated and get a booster shot, said CDC Director Dr Rochelle Walensky, appearing on NBC's 'Today' on Tuesday.

She said the Pfizer pill, if authorized by the FDA, 'will be another great tool, but we need to diagnose people early.'

The U.S. government has agreed to purchase enough of Pfizer's drug to treat 10 million people and enough of Merck's to treat 3 million, pending FDA authorization.
Some of the most effective treatments against COVID-19 in America's arsenal may not be as effective against the Omicron variant, a worrying sign as news emerged that the new strain already represents up to 13 percent of cases in some states.

A German research team found that monoclonal antibody treatments developed by Eli Lilly and Regeneron - which are both used to treat Covid patients across the U.S. - are less effective against the Omicron variant as it is against other strains of the virus.

The treatments are among the most effective America has for a person that has been infected by the virus already, and have been widely heralded by some political figures like former President Donald Trump -who used them in the wake of his own Covid infection - and Florida Gov Ron DeSantis.

The list of Covid treatments and prevention measures that are less effective against the highly mutated virus strain that was discovered last month by South African health officials is only growing, with the Covid vaccines and other antiviral treatments believed to lose some effectiveness.

Data on the antibody treatments has also been revealed as the nation suffers an increase in Omicron cases, with the variant now accounting for around three percent of new cases nationwide, and 13 percent in New York and New Jersey.

Eli Lilly's monoclonal antibody drugs bamlanivimab with etesevimab are not very effective against the Omicron COVID-19 variant. REGN10933 and REGN10987, the monoclonal antibody drugs developed by Regeneron, weer also found to be not as effective against the strain. A drug developed by GlaxoSmithKline and Vir Biotechnology was found to be less effective, but still does work, against Omicron.

Eli Lilly told Reuters the drug is less effective due to the many mutations the Omicron variant has on its spike protein (file photo)

'The neutralizing activity of several monoclonal antibodies is strongly affected against the Omicron variant and will limit treatment options for Omicron-induced COVID-19,' researchers wrote in a study that is still pending peer review.

Researchers tested the ability of different monoclonal antibody treatments to neutralize multiple strains of the virus.

They found that neither bamlanivimab or etesevimab - a duo of drugs developed by Eli Lilly used together in monoclonal antibody treatment - are effective against the Omicron variant.

'Due to the substitutions contained within the spike protein of the Omicron variant of concern, it appears that bamlanivimab with etesevimab is likely to experience reduced neutralization activity,' said a company spokesperson

The company was conducting its own Omicron tests, also including its experimental antibody bebtelovimab, and would report the initial findings as soon as possible.

REGN10933 and REGN10987 - the two monoclonal antibody drugs developed by Regeneron to combat Covid - also did not show any promise against Omicron in the trial.

Regeneron did not respond a to Reuters request for comment.

Interestingly, Sotrovimab, another common monoclonal antibody treatment developed by GlaxoSmithKline and Vir Biotechnology, was found to be able to neutralized the variant, though it is not as strong against Omicron as it is against other virus strains.

Monoclonal antibody treatments have proven to be a valuable tool in America's arsenal during the pandemic.

While the treatments can not replace the vaccines, and are much less efficient to administer than the jabs, they can prove to be a lifesaver for the unvaccinated or immunocompromised.

The drugs work by delivering a person's body thousands of virus fighting antibodies - similar to the antibodies a person generates as response to the vaccine.

Those antibodies serve as an additional line of defense for a person's immune system, and help neutralize the virus and prevent it from spreading.

The treatments are very expensive and resource-intensive to deliver, though, and are often most effective before an infected person starts feeling severe symptoms.

Pharmaceutical companies are working on a host of other drugs that can have a similar impact to monoclonal antibodies, but will be less resource-intensive.

Pfizer, which also develops the nation's most used COVID-19 vaccine, hopes to soon gain authorization from the Food and Drug Administration for a new antiviral Covid pill it is developing.

The drug, if taken early on in a person's infection, can prevent minor symptoms from developing into severe complications.

The company released data on Tuesday that its new pill is effective at reducing hospitalization or death caused by Omicron by 89 percent.

It is especially welcome news, as separate data shows that Pfizer's vaccine is not as effective against the new variant.

A South African study found that people who have received both doses of the Pfizer vaccine have a 70 percent reduced chance at hospitalization caused by Covid, down from 93 percent against the Delta variant.

The jabs are also significantly less effective at preventing infection, down from 80 percent against the Delta strain to 33 percent against Omicron.

The new strain is rapidly spreading across America, with 189 cases being confirmed in 33 cases and the District of Columbia.

Worldwide, over 13,000 cases have been sequenced, with the UK and Denmark leading the way with more than 4,500 cases confirmed each.
The Omicron variant appears to spread more quickly than past versions of the coronavirus, yet is less likely to cause severe illness, a new South African study finds.

Discovery Health, the largest health insurance company in South Africa, analyzed over 200,000 COVID-19 cases - 78,000 of which were connected to Omicron.

The risk of hospitalization was 29 percent lower for Omicron patients than those infected in South Africa's first Covid wave in spring 2020, researchers found.

Pfizer's vaccine is 70 percent effective at protecting against hospitalization from Omicron, the study also found - though this vaccine was only 33 percent effective against infection.

The findings are promising, but only reflect data from the first three weeks of South Africa's Omicron case wave. Experts caution that hospitalizations could increase in the coming weeks as Omicron continues spreading in South Africa and elsewhere.

In the U.S., Covid cases have increased by over 50 percent in the last two weeks - to 120,000 new cases a day.

Hospitalizations have increased 20 percent, to over 57,000 Covid patients in hospitals nationwide. More than 1,200 Americans are dying of Covid each day.

The Pfizer vaccine provides strong protection against severe disease and hospitalization from Omicron, a new study from South Africa found. Pictured: Vaccinations at a hospital in Soweto, South Africa, December 2021

Officials who looked at 78,000 Omicron cases in the past month found t he risk of hospitalization was a fifth lower than with Delta (in green) and 29 per cent lower than the original virus (dark blue). Omicron is shown in brown and the original South African 'Beta' variant in light blue. Children appeared to have a 20 per cent higher risk of hospital admission with complications during the new wave than the initial outbreak, despite the numbers still being tiny

As a crude rate, Omicron is currently causing a third fewer hospital admissions than Delta did during its entire wave  38 admissions per 1,000 Omicron cases, compared to 101 per 1,000 for Delta

The study also found that two doses of Pfizer's vaccine still provides 70 per cent protection against hospital admission or death from Omicron, compared to 93 per cent for Delta

Waning immunity from two Pfizer doses was found to offer just 33 per cent protection against Omicron infection, explaining why the country has seen a meteoric rise in case numbers

The Omicron coronavirus variant was first identified in South Africa and Botswana in late November.

Since then, more than 13,000 cases have been identified in 77 countries, according to BNO News.

That includes more than 180 cases in 33 U.S. states, as of December 14.

The variant is currently causing about three percent of new Covid cases nationwide, per the latest estimates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

This is a rapid increase from last week, when it caused an estimated 0.4 percent of new cases.

Due to Omicron's rapid spread, scientists are concerned that it can outcompete the Delta variant.

In South Africa, Omicron has completely displaced Delta and is driving an exponential increase in new Covid cases.

A new real-world study, conducted in South Africa, provides additional evidence for the variant's increased capacity to spread - but it also offers hopeful findings on mild symptoms and protection from vaccines.

The findings were posted online on Tuesday, and have yet to be peer reviewed.

The insurance company's analysis included over 211,000 Covid cases, 78,000 of which were attributed to the Omicron variant.

Of those 211,000 cases, about 41 percent occurred in patients who'd previously received two doses of Pfizer's vaccine.

The data reflect the first three weeks of South Africa's Omicron surge, from November 15 to December 7, 2021.

'National data show an exponential increase in both new infections and test positivity rates during the first three weeks of this wave, indicating a highly transmissible variant with rapid community spread of infection,' said Dr Ryan Noach, CEO of Discovery Health.

The Omicron variant has been identified in more than 70 countries as of December 14

In the U.S., Omicron is spreading rapidly - with over 180 cases identified in 35 states

One reason for this increased transmission may be that the Omicron variant is more capable of re-infecting people who previously recovered from a Covid case, compared to past variants.

'Overall, the risk of re-infection (following prior infection) has increased over time, with Omicron resulting in significantly higher rates of reinfection compared to prior variants,' said Shirley Collie, Discovery Health's chief health analytics actuary.

South Africans who were infected during the country's first wave, in spring 2020, face a 73 percent risk of reinfection during the Omicron surge, compared to those who weren't previously infected, Collie said.

However, Discovery Health's analysis also indicated that Omicron may be less likely to cause severe Covid symptoms than previous variants.

Omicron patients had a 29 percent lower risk of being admitted to a hospital, compared to Covid patients infected during South Africa's first surge.

In addition, those patients who are hospitalized are less likely to require intensive care compared to past Covid waves, the analysis showed.

The data align with anecdotal reports from South African doctors, suggesting that most Omicron cases are mild and patients recover within days.

But Noach cautioned that cases may appear to be mild in South Africa because many of the people getting infected had previous Covid cases or were vaccinated - protecting them against severe symptoms.

In addition, some experts have pointed out that it can take several weeks for Covid cases to progress to severe symptoms.

The Discovery Health study only reflects three weeks of data, and South Africa may see more hospitalizations as the Omicron surge progresses.

Along with disease severity, the researchers examined how well Pfizer vaccines fare against Omicron.

The vaccines protect well against hospitalization from the variant, they found, with 70 percent effectiveness after two doses.

The researchers compared age groups, finding that the oldest South Africans (over age 70) had slightly less protection: 60 percent effectiveness against hospitalization.

Protection from hospitalization was also maintained for South Africans with chronic illnesses, such as diabetes and hypertension.

Against Omicron infection, however, Pfizer vaccines are not as protective: effectiveness against infection was only 33 percent.

This is a large drop from the 80 percent effectiveness against infection reported in South Africa prior to Omicron's appearance.

Data from Pfizer and from a real-world U.K. study suggest that booster shots can make up some of the vaccine protection gap, increasing vaccine effectiveness against infection to 70 percent.

Booster shots can increase protection from Omicron, studies have found. Pictured: People wait to be vaccinated at a mobile 'Vaxi Taxi' in Cape Town, South Africa, December 2021

'We are extremely encouraged by the results of Discovery Health's analysis,' said Dr Glenda Gray, president of the South African Medical Research Council.

'It is extremely important to be able to demonstrate to the public that in a real-world setting - in the presence of a highly transmissible new COVID-19 variant - the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine provides good protection against severe disease and hospitalisation,' she said.

The Discovery Health study also found that children under 18 had an increased risk of hospitalization for severe Covid symptoms with Omicron compared to previous variants.

But the data are very early and 'require careful follow-up,' the researchers said.

'We are hopeful that the current experience of Covid caused by the Omicron variant - mild disease for the most part - will remain unchanged,' Noach said.

'Notwithstanding this, we remain concerned that health systems could still come under pressure considering the high rate of spread of Omicron, and consequent high sudden infection burden.'
The number of roadside breath tests carried out on suspected drink drivers in 2020 fell to their lowest level since records began, with just over 250,000 samples taken by police, new Home Office figures confirm.

While a fall in tests last year was an almost certainty with such a dramatic fall in traffic levels due to the pandemic - especially during lockdowns - there was a shocking rise in the proportion of motorists found to be over the legal alcohol limit.

More than one in six motorists tested provided positive samples, which is the highest proportion recorded since 2003 and suggests a rising rate of drink driving.

Rise in positive drink drive samples: A massive 17% of motorists providing breath samples in 2020 were either over the legal alcohol limit or refused to take a test

The number of breath tests carried out on suspected drink drivers in 2020 was the lowest since records began

Home Office data published this morning confirmed that in 2020 just 252,069 motorists were breathalysed by police  an 18 per cent fall compared with 2019.

The month with the lowest number of tests taken was - unsurprisingly - April, when the nation was first plunged into lockdown.

Just over 1,000 samples were taken in England and Wales that month, a fall of 49 per cent year-on-year.

Despite travel restrictions being put in place in December - especially 'tier 4' rules for London, the South East and parts of the East Midlands from 19 December - more than three times as many samples were taken than in April.

That said, the lowest percentage of positive samples were recorded in the final month of the year - around one in ten drivers the police stopped and tested.

While a fall in tests was widely expected, the decline continued the downward trend in the number of motorists being breathalysed at the roadside since the peak of 703,490 in 2009.

Yet, in light of the slump in volume of tests administered by officers, a massive 17.2 per cent were found to be over the limit or a driver refused to provide a sample - the highest proportion for 17 years.

Experts said both the decline in tests and rise in positive samples was a result of fewer bobbies on the beat

Despite the slump in volume of tests administered by officers in 2020, it saw the highest proportion of positive or refused samples since 2003

Experts said both the decline in tests and rise in positive samples was a result of fewer traffic bobbies on the beat, meaning fewer roadside checks can be made and motorists are likely more willing to risk breaking the law with the belief that there are fewer officers to catch them.

Hunter Abbott, managing director of personal breathalyser firm AlcoSense, said: 'Separate Home Office figures show the number of dedicated roads policing officers in England and Wales had dropped to 3,850 by March 2021 compared with 5,220 in 2015 - a dramatic reduction of 26 per cent.

'With ever fewer traffic police, testing will continue to spiral downwards.

'Studies show people drinking more alcohol since Covid struck, particularly at home - so roadside tests should actually be stepped up given the danger of morning-after driving with alcohol still in your system.'

The month with the lowest number of tests taken was - unsurprisingly - April, when the nation was first plunged into lockdown

While the most roadside tests were administered in December, it saw the lowest positive or refused samples taken - around one in ten tested

A recent report by Public Health England highlighted a 25 per cent increase in alcohol sales in shops and supermarkets between 2020 and 2019, suggesting a steep rise in heavy drinking at home.

It comes as the number of people killed or seriously injured due to drink driving on Britain's roads is on the increase, according to the latest Department for Transport figures published earlier this year.

The number of drink-drive casualties in 2019 was 2,050 - an increase of 8 per cent on 2018 and the highest level since 2011. Of these, 230 fatalities where a cause of the motorist being over the drink drive limit.

'Even with 0.05 milligrams per litre of alcohol in breath (one-seventh of the English/Welsh limit) a driver is 37 per cent more likely to be involved in a fatal accident than when sober,' Abbott said.

'If in any doubt, drivers should self-test with a personal breathalyser to ensure theyre completely clear of alcohol before getting behind the wheel,' he said.

This Department for Transport chart maps fatalities in reported drink-drive accidents in Britain from 2009 to 2019

Fatalities in reported drink-drive accidents, as a percentage of all fatalities from 1979 to 2019

The stats released by the Home Office on Tuesday also showed that speeding offences reduce by 12.9 per cent when compared to the year previous, though careless driving fines increased by a fifth (19.6 per cent).

The number of drivers penalised for using a hand-held mobile phone whilst driving reduced by two fifths (39 per cent) and neglect of traffic signs dropped by a fifth (22.4 per cent).

While most offences dropped, tickets for people not wearing a seat belt increased by 17.4 per cent and licence related offences grew by 10.3 per cent.

Should the drink drive limit be lowered?

The RAC earlier this year called for government intervention to curb the rise in drink drive-related casualties recorded in 2019.

This includes a review of the existing drink-drive limit.

'The UK Government should consider all options, including increasing enforcement at the roadside, the use of alco-locks for those already convicted of driving under the influence and even looking at the merits of reducing the drink-drive limit in England and Wales to bring it in line with most other European countries,' RAC spokesman Simon Williams told This is Money in February.

Rise in drink-drive crashes on Britain's roads: There has been a 3% annual increase in the number of shunts involving intoxicated motorists, says the Department for Transport

Government guidelines state that the limit in England, Wales and Northern Ireland is 80 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood, 35 micrograms per 100 millilitres of breath or 107 milligrams per 100 millilitres of urine.

In Scotland, the limits is lower: 22 micrograms in breath and 50 milligrams in 100ml of blood.

The drink-drive limit in Scotland was reduced lower than the rest of the UK in 2014 and stricter rules mean that one drink is likely to push a driver over the legal threshold.

Last year, the AA gave its support for the introduction of new rules that would see young novice drivers facing stricter drink drive limits than other motorists.

At a hearing of the Transport Select Committee in October, it called for a zero-tolerance limit for drivers in the first months after passing their driving test.

It demanded a combination of measures - including increased use of telematics insurance - and 'robust enforcement' to cut the number of accidents on Britain's roads involving young motorists.

The RAC's suggestion of introducing 'alco-locks', which are installed in cars driven by previous offenders, has also been suggested previously.

'Alcolocks', which force previously-convicted drink drivers to pass a breath test before they drive, should be considered, says the RAC

The devices - known more formally as alcohol ignition interlocks - are systems which test drivers for alcohol in their breath before they are allowed to drive.

They work in the same way as conventional breathalysers, in that they test to amount of alcohol in the sample of breath provided.

When fitted to a car, the driver is required to blow into the kit before the engine can start.

The systems vary, with some locking out the ignition for up to 24 hours if the user has alcohol in their breath.

If the measurement taken is over the limit, the system immobilises the vehicle's engine, meaning the driver won't be able to use the car until they blow below the limit.
The Government is under intense pressure to outlaw fraudulent paid-for adverts in forthcoming legislation after MPs backed the move in a new report.

Industry and consumer groups, politicians and regulators have long demanded action against harmful advertising, which lures unsuspecting savers and investors to hand over cash to fraudsters touting fake or cloned deals and products.

A powerful joint committee of MPs issued a report today calling for paid-for adverts to be covered in the Online Safety Bill, to force tech firms to stop them appearing on their sites.

Scam adverts: Unsuspecting savers and investors are being lured to hand over cash to fraudsters touting fake or cloned deals and products

As well as their own sites, the tech giants control large parts of the online advertising industry, along with large advertising exchanges, leaving publishers facing a tough task to stop adverts slipping through the net.

Last week, the UKs technology trade association TechUK announced that Facebook/Meta, Microsoft and Twitter would join Google, TikTok and Amazon in only accepting adverts from firms authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority. Read more from TechUK below.

Mel Stride MP, chair of the Treasury Committee, responded that it was reassuring online giants were 'finally taking a positive step in the right direction and stopping fraudulent advertisements from appearing on their sites'.

But he said: 'For too long these companies have turned a blind eye to the criminality at play behind these scams.'

And Stride reiterated that such adverts should be covered in the bill, saying: 'Legislating against these pernicious scams is the only way to stop ever increasing numbers of people from falling victim to economic crime.'

Meanwhile, Damian Collins MP, chair of the joint committee of MPs tasked with scrutinising the Government's draft bill, said: 'We need to call time on the Wild West online. Whats illegal offline should be regulated online. For too long, big tech has gotten away with being the land of the lawless.

'I nearly lost 85k to a fraudster' Sophisticated scammers are running fake adverts and 'cloning' legitimate firms and their operations, even down to assuming the names of real staff. And nine in 10 people back calls to force tech giants to vet online ads against fraud, according to a survey by Aviva earlier this year. Find out more here, including how to stay safe and check you are dealing with a legit financial company

'The era of self-regulation for big tech has come to an end. The companies are clearly responsible for services they have designed and profit from, and need to be held to account for the decisions they make.'

The joint committee's report says the exclusion of paid-for advertising from the Online Safety Bill would 'leave service providers with little incentive to remove harmful adverts, and risks encouraging further proliferation of such content'.

Anong the report's main conclusions was that: 'Big tech has failed its chance to self-regulate. They must obey this new law and comply with Ofcom as the UK regulator, or face the sanctions.'



The Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport, which is responsible for the bill, said it noted the committees recommendation on fraudulent advertising and would consider it carefully.

It added that the DCMS is looking into the entire issue of online advertising through the Online Advertising Programme, including whether tougher regulation was needed. Read its full statement below.

Meanwhile, the DCMS said it recognised the huge problem caused by scam ads and online fraud, and the bill would cover user-generated content, for example romance scams or where a person on Facebook puts up a post encouraging people to invest in their Ponzi scheme.

Antony Walker, deputy chief executive of TechUK, said: 'The joint committee report is well thought through and does a good job of disentangling and restructuring a complex draft bill.

Paid adverts arent included, and we know this is how enormous numbers of fraudsters trap their victims Sarah Coles, Hargreaves Lansdown

'We welcome the focus on clarity, proportionality and a risk-based approach for the 24,000 companies in scope.

'There is much in this report that could significantly improve the Governments draft bill. Importantly it focuses on the need for the bill to be crystal clear about what it is asking businesses to do. Lack of clarity has been one of the sectors biggest concerns.

'The ultimate test of this legislation remains whether it enables in-scope companies and the regulator to make swift and effective decisions without unintended consequences for fundamental freedoms online.'

Walker said that overall the MPs' report takes a nuanced and proportionate risk-based approach, but there were areas of concern, including 'a risk that the extension of scope to include fraud could over burden the communications regulator'.

'We believe the issue of financial fraud should remain in the remit of the Financial Conduct Authority,' he said.

Walker went on: 'The next phase of this process must include thorough engagement by Government with in-scope services to get into the detail of how the bill will work in practice for different companies.

'We encourage Government to come forward with a revised and improved bill quickly so that we can get this new regulation into law.'

What does the Government say? 'Our groundbreaking Bill will require tech firms and social media companies to take long overdue responsibility to protect their users - especially children - from a full range of illegal and harmful content,' said Digital Secretary Nadine Dorries in response to the joint committee report. 'Crucially the new comprehensive legislation will hold big tech to account if they fail to act. 'Id like to thank the committee for its work. The Government will consider its recommendations carefully and incorporate them where we feel the Bill can be strengthened further to make Britain the safest place to go online, while protecting free speech.'

A coalition of 14 consumer groups, charities and industry bodies which has called on the Government to change the 'flawed' bill welcomed the committee's recommendation that paid-for digital adverts are included.

'This will be vital in safeguarding the public from the epidemic of scams perpetrated by online criminal gangs,' said the coalition, which spans industry bodies like UK Finance, the Investment Association and the Association of British Insurers, groups like Victim Support, Age UK and Which?, and James Thomson, chair of the City of London Police Authority Board.

'Our view remains that the Governments current proposed approach to tackling online fraud in the draft Bill is flawed.

'Including measures to combat user-generated fraud, whilst leaving fraud facilitated via paid for digital adverts out of scope will only lead to complex and muddled legislation, creating loopholes for criminals to exploit and a poor outcome for consumers.

'Fraudsters will be able to continue to exploit people online by posing as legitimate businesses or using fake celebrity endorsements to steal from the public.

'The coalition is by no means alone in this view. The Financial Conduct Authority, Bank of England, City of London Police, Work and Pensions Committee and Treasury Committee have all called for fraud carried out via paid-for advertising to be brought in scope of the bill.'

Sarah Coles, senior personal finance analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: 'There are a number of problems with the bill as it stands, not least the fact that paid adverts arent included, and we know this is how enormous numbers of fraudsters trap their victims.

'In addition, its not designated as "priority illegal content", and isnt specifically mentioned in the way other risks are.

'It means providers only have a duty to remove fraud when its reported by users. And theres a risk that its only likely to be reported by users when they have fallen victim.'

'The Competition and Markets Authority warned that at the moment legislation means that providers have to take proactive steps to minimise the risk from content designed to damage peoples finances, so the new legislation could actually undermine existing rules, and weaken protections.

'The committee called for it to be designated as a priority, so providers would have to control the risk of content appearing on the site. They also want fraud to be specifically mentioned alongside other risks, so the bill itself rather than secondary legislation would require platforms to proactively stop fraud from appearing.'

Coles said that evidence heard by the joint committee of MPs included that victims of fraud lost 2.3billion over the past year, and 85 per cent of scams rely on the internet.

MPs were also warned by insurance companies that fraudsters can make copies of providers websites and pay for them to appear at the top of search results, added Coles.
A possible comeback to the FTSE 100 by Britains most controversial housing boss was yesterday greeted with incredulity.

Jeff Fairburn, whose name became synonymous with executive greed due to his enormous bonuses, was at the weekend at the centre of speculation he could be parachuted in to lead Footsie property giant Taylor Wimpey, whose long-term boss Pete Redfern last week announced plans to step down.

Speculation was triggered by activist investor Elliott Management, which published an open letter last week calling for a shake-up of Taylor Wimpeys management, adding that it had secretly built up a large stake in the group and was now among its five biggest shareholders.

Ousted: Fairburn was forced to step down as Persimmon boss after his 75m bonus package sparked outrage

The feared US hedge fund has pushed for Redferns replacement to be recruited from outside the company and for new non-executive directors to be brought in.

Elliotts move sparked conversations about whether an overhaul in Taylor Wimpeys board room could see Fairburn, 55, make a shock return to the FTSE 100 four years after he was ousted as boss of rival housebuilder Persimmon.

His exit followed outrage over his 75million bonus package, which was paid out after the Governments taxpayer-funded Help to Buy Scheme fuelled a bonanza of new home sales.

However, a spokesman for the High Pay Centre (HPC), a think-tank that tracks the pay of top executives, said installing Fairburn at Taylor Wimpey would be totally out of touch with how most people would like to see a major company acting.

Reunion: Dave Jenkinson could also be joining Taylor Wimpey's board

A spokesman for the HPC said: It seems farcical that Taylor Wimpey would want to bring in a figure like Jeff Fairburn to head their company.

Too often in the upper echelons of business and politics in this country we see individuals, who fail in their roles or violate moral standards, make a brief departure from public life only to get a second or third chance when their mates think the dust has cleared.

Meanwhile, Justin Urquhart Stewart, co-founder of investment manager 7IM, said Fairburn had a question mark over his track record, which in turn could affect the reputation of Taylor Wimpey should he take the top job.

The brand is really important. The property market is going into a really difficult time over the next few years and trust in how these businesses are run is going to be crucial.

'If you have someone who is seen as being slightly less than a safe pair of hands, I think investors may take umbrage, Stewart added.

A spokesperson from Avant Homes said: Jeff Fairburns sole focus is on Avant Homes.

'He was appointed Chairman of Avant in April 2021 following its acquisition by private developer Berkely DeVeer in partnership with funds advised by Elliot Advisors, and remains wholly committed to developing Avant into one of the UKs leading housebuilders.

'He is not involved with nor considering any involvement in any other business whether in an executive or non-executive capacity.

Fairburns bonus fiasco resulted in a wave of condemnation from politicians, corporate governance experts and charities.

Critics said the sum was a classic example of corporate greed, with Nicholas Wrigley, Persimmons chairman at the time, resigning after saying he regretted not capping the bonuses.

Fairburn failed to help matters after he stormed out of a BBC interview in October 2018 after being asked questions about his bonus.

In a bid to assuage public anger following the debacle, Fairburn said he would donate most of the multi-million-pound sum through a charitable trust.

However, the details of such a trust or any donations have yet to be made public.

The Charity Commission, which regulates organisations in England and Wales, also has no record of any charity bearing Fairburns name, despite him insisting last year that a trust had been set up in 2018.

Following his ousting at Persimmon, Fairburn took the reins of Berkeley DeVeer, a private developer of houses across Yorkshire and the North East of England.

Fairburn became its chief executive in January last year after buying a 50 per cent stake in the group for an undisclosed sum.

Shortly after taking charge, he was on the acquisition trail, teaming up with Elliott to snap up larger rival Avant Homes in April.

The swoop was seen as a sign that Fairburn may be plotting a return to the top of the UKs housebuilding sector, while his prior relationship with Elliott through the Avant deal has raised suspicions he could be the funds top pick to take over at Taylor Wimpey.

Fairburn started at Persimmon in 1989 as a quantity surveyor for its Yorkshire business.

He rose through the ranks to become managing director for the North East in 2000, division chief executive in 2006, group managing director in 2012 and group chief executive in 2013.

Under his leadership, Persimmon became a stock market darling with booming profits, including a record 1billion in 2018, a surging share price and big dividend payouts.

Apart from the pay row, the firm became embroiled in a string of scandals that created headaches for Fairburn and his successor, Dave Jenkinson.

Jenkinson commissioned an independent review into Persimmons building practices after a number of complaints from customers.

The review found that under Fairburn the culture at the builder had led to shoddy workmanship and potentially unsafe homes being built that exposed customers to intolerable fire risks.

Adequate fire protection in properties has been a key issue in British construction since the 2017 Grenfell Tower disaster which killed 72 people.

The company was also caught up in an industry-wide probe into leasehold charges, with an inquiry by the Competition and Markets Authority finding that many housebuilders, including Persimmon, had mis-sold leasehold properties to customers.

Jenkinson, 54, who was paid over 40million through the same controversial bonus scheme that brought down Fairburn, is also considered to have a shot at the Taylor Wimpey top job meaning that the two former Persimmon bosses could find themselves rivals for the chief executives corner office.

Other candidates rumoured to be in the frame include Jennie Daly, Taylor Wimpeys group operations director, Steven Boyes, the deputy chief executive of rival housebuilder Barratt, and Crest Nicholson boss Peter Truscott.
Timothy Davies is 61 and lives in Llanelli with his partner, Amy and his daughter. He has worked as an HGV driver for over 40 years.

An HGV driver from Wales will be celebrating in style this Christmas after winning 100,000 in Halifax's latest Savers Prize draw.

Timothy Davies, 61, from the town of Llanelli, in Dyfed, couldn't believe his luck when a bank staff member in Halifax's Llanelli branch told him he was the winner of the 100,000 prize.

Mr Davies said: 'I have never won anything in my life and I never thought I stood a chance of winning.

'I am shocked and completely over the moon - my partner didn't believe me!

The Halifax Savers Prize Draw rewards over 1,600 savers every month, with the bank offering three prizes worth 100,000, and 100 worth 1,000 as well as 1,500 worth 100.

The draw is now in its tenth year and over the past decade, Halifax has paid prize money of over 75 million to nearly 160,000 customers, with over 6 million won in 2021 alone.

It is one of a selection of bank and building society savings lotteries, as we detail below, which have been set up in the wake of the huge popularity of Premium Bonds.

Despite being overwhelmed by the experience, Mr Davies is not short of ideas on how to spend the money.

He added: 'I plan to use the money to help with my daughter's education and purchase a buy-to-let to help me when I retire.

'I will also use it to pay for laser treatment on my eyes and I hope to plan some travel. In the meantime, we are planning an extra special Christmas this year.'

Mr Davies added: 'I am truly overwhelmed to receive 100,000 and I want to thank everyone at Halifax.'

The Halifax Savers Prize Draw rewards over 1,600 savers every month, with prizes ranging from 100 all the way to 100,000.

The savings prize draws

Halifax current account customers can register through online banking or by visiting a local branch for its savings draw,

NS&I pays out around three million tax-free prizes ranging from 25 to 1million every month to Premium Bond holders

But there is one barrier to overcome as they'll need to hold 5,000 or more in savings for a whole month to be entered into the following month's prize draw.

The 5,000 can be made up of multiple pots across any Halifax savings account including cash Isas, although children's accounts are excluded.

Furthermore, any savings in joint accounts will be split equally with all account holders needing to register separately.

When it comes to monthly prize draws, NS&I's Premium Bonds will likely be the first product that comes to most people minds.

The Premium Bond draw has been running since 1956 and there are now 21.1million Premium Bond holders holding more than 113 billion eligible 1 bonds between them.

NS&I pays out around three million tax- free prizes ranging from 25 to 1million every month to Bond holders.

A lesser known alternative to Premium Bonds is the Family Building Society's Windfall Bonds.

Family Building Society's Windfall Bonds, which began in 2015, have 127million stashed away in them and only a few thousand customers

Premium Bonds only require a minimum investment of 25 to enter the draw, whilst Windfall Bonds require a far heftier 10,000 deposit.

However, there is no maximum cap on Windfall Bonds, subject to availability, whereas with Premium Bonds you can deposit a maximum of 50,000.

There are currently 12,700 Windfall Bond accounts, each holding 10,000 - but many bond holders have more than one account.

Each qualifying 10,000 bond is entered into a free draw for a chance to win one of 21 monthly prizes. There are fifteen worth 1,000, three worth 2,500, two worth 10,000 and one 50,000 prize.

TSB and Nationwide also offer customers the chance to take part in a monthly prize draw.

Each month TSB is awarding five prizes of 1,000 and fifty prizes of 100 to randomly selected customers who enter the draw.

There will be six draws, the first of which will be awarded this month, with the money paid directly into customers' savings pots.

To enrol, current account customers need to put money into a 'savings pot' within their Spend & Save, or Spend & Save Plus current account.

Nationwide members benefit from a monthly prize draw split into 8,008 prizes, with one worth 100,000, two worth 25,000, five worth 10,000 and the rest all worth 100.

Unlike, with Halifax, Nationwide members are automatically opted in, so as long as you hold a mortgage, savings account or current account with Nationwide, there is nothing to do.
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An animal shelter in Kentucky is overwhelmed after deadly tornadoes devastated the state, leaving dozens of pets scared and without a home.

Speaking to DailyMail.com, David Spalding, Board President of the Mayfield-Graves County Animal Shelter, described how the shelter was lucky enough to remain standing, but now is tasked with taking in and transporting dozens of animals.

'Today we're moving a little over 100 animals to other rescue organizations just to make room,' Spalding said. 'We've never been through a situation like this. From what I'm told from the people who have been through disasters like this is that after about three or four days to expect a large influx.

'Cats, dogs, right now the animals are scared, especially the ones that have completely lost their home. That was their comfort zone.'

DailyMail.com got a first look at the displaced animals being held in crates as they hope for their owners' return. Volunteers and workers were seen preparing dogs and cats for a big move out of the Kentucky shelter as it expects to be inundated with rescues the remainder of the week.

The animals are being outfitted with microchips and taken by the Humane Society of Kentucky to Massachusetts and other states where there's more space for them.

In Kentucky alone, the human death toll is at 80, with Governor Andy Beshear saying, 'That number is going to exceed 100. This is the deadliest tornado we have ever had.'

The Mayfield-Graves County Animal Shelter in Kentucky remained standing throughout the storm, but workers are now taking in up to 100 injured animals and displaced pets

DailyMail.com got a first look at the displaced animals being held in crates as they hope for their owners' return

Volunteers and workers were seen preparing dogs and cats for their big move out of the Kentucky shelter as it prepares to be inundated with rescues the remainder of the week

Speaking to DailyMail.com, David Spalding, Board President of the Mayfield County Animal Shelter, 'Today we're moving a little over 100 animals to other rescue organizations just to make room'

'Cats, dogs, right now the animals are scared, especially the ones that have completely lost their home. That was their comfort zone,' Spalding said, adding that he expects many more rescues in the coming days

The animals are being outfitted with microchips and taken by the Humane Society of Kentucky to Massachusetts and other states where there is currently more space for them

'Right now we're working with Kentucky Humane Society and other organizations to help remove the animals that we've already had here and take to other rescue organizations so we can take in other animals, the hurt and the injured, that have been affected during the storm,' Spalding said

Spalding added that they expect to see far more animals rescued in the coming days. 'The animals don't have a place to go back to so it may take a while for them to calm down and come out where they're visible and we can actually catch them and bring them in,' he said

At least 94 people are confirmed dead across six states following 'one of the largest' storm outbreaks in history after tornadoes devastated the Midwest and South.

It's believed at least 30 tornadoes ripped through Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri and Tennessee with rescue efforts for both animals and humans underway.

'Friday night we had massive destruction from an unprecedented tornado,' Spalding said. 'It happened to go right through the center of our town.

'Right now we're working with Kentucky Humane Society and other organizations to help remove the animals that we've already had here and take to other rescue organizations so we can take in other animals, the hurt and the injured, that have been affected during the storm,' he said. 'Most of them are large animals because they're easier for people to see. The smaller pets we're just starting to see today because people are a little more focused on what's going on.'

Spalding added that they expect to see far more animals rescued in the coming days.

'The animals don't have a place to go back to so it may take a while for them to calm down and come out where they're visible and we can actually catch them and bring them in,' he said.

Spalding said they will be adding microchips to animals so if in the future their owner returns, they can properly keep track and identify them for a reunion.

'We figure that some of these folks may be displaced for one or two weeks,' he said.

'I haven't been sleeping much,' Spalding added. 'I'm overwhelmed, yes, but manageable.'

Spalding said they will be adding microchips to animals so if in the future their owner returns, they can properly keep track and identify them to reunite the pet and their owners

Kat Rooks, Initiatives Director at the Kentucky Humane Center was in one of three vans that left Louisville to pick up 27 dogs and eight cats from the Mayfield Center

'This is going to be a long, long recovery there,' Rooks told told Courier News Monday night after unloading animals

'There were a lot of tears on Saturday,' Rooks added. 'These are my friends, people that I know, I work with closely. People that I know lost everything there'

'Animals are coming in surrendered by good Samaritans. Animals coming in as strays. [Workers] are going out and assisting search-and-rescue teams and helping to remove animals from properties that have been devastated. They are already seeing an influx and expect that to continue,' Rooks said

At least 448 National Guard members are assisting with rescue and recovery efforts and FEMA is already on the ground helping displaced families

'We figure that some of these folks may be displaced for one or two weeks,' Spalding said. 'I haven't been sleeping much,' Spalding added. 'I'm overwhelmed, yes, but manageable'

Kat Rooks, Initiatives Director at the Kentucky Humane Center, was in one of three vans that left Louisville to pick up 27 dogs and eight cats from the Mayfield shelter.

'This is going to be a long, long recovery there,' Rooks told told the Courier Journal Monday night after unloading animals. 'Animals are coming in surrendered by good Samaritans. Animals coming in as strays. [Workers] are going out and assisting search-and-rescue teams and helping to remove animals from properties that have been devastated. They are already seeing an influx and expect that to continue.'

'There were a lot of tears on Saturday,' she added. 'These are my friends, people that I know, I work with closely. People that I know lost everything there.'

Governor Beshear said at least 109 people remain unaccounted for.

At least 448 National Guard members are assisting with rescue and recovery efforts and FEMA is already on the ground helping displaced families.

'I believe this is the most rapid response from the federal government in the history of the United States of America and we need it and we are really grateful for it,' Beshear said.

He added that Kentucky continues to rally together and help each other during the tragedy: 'This is one state, people that love one another.'

The governor also ordered flags be flown to at half-staff until next Monday in remembrance of the lives lost and asked other states to follow suit.

CANDLE FACTORY, MAYFIELD, KENTUCKY: Recovery crews work at the Mayfield Consumer Products candle factory where 110 were working when the tornado struck. Only 40 of the workers were rescued alive

KENTUCKY: Tornado damage in Bowling Green, Kentucky. More than 80 people are dead in the state following the tornado outbreak throughout the Midwest and South this weekend

KENTUCKY: Pete Desai, left, who owns the Cardinal Motel in Bowling Green, Kentucky looks through the wreckage caused by the tornado. Biden has called it 'one of the largest' storm outbreaks in history

'I'm really sorry,' an emotional Beshear said during a press briefing Monday morning, addressing those still searching for their loved ones.

'You're not supposed to lose people like this, and to not know and not have the information has got to make it that much harder.'

While noting the toll from the deadly storm was lower than he initially feared, Beshear said he expects the toll to increase as searchers continue to sift through the rubble.

He noted that the numbers will continue to fluctuate as officials search and 'it may be weeks before we have counts on both deaths and levels of destruction.'

'Sometimes they have, thank god, gone down, other times they've gone up,' he said, adding that 'undoubtedly, there will be more' fatalities.
Erik Charles Maund, 46 (pictured), was arrested on Friday during a traffic stop near Austin and charged with conspiracy to commit kidnapping resulting in death, and carrying, brandishing and discharging a firearm in relation to a crime of violence, according to a federal indictment unsealed on Monday

The married grandson of a Texas automotive tycoon was indicted after he allegedly paid three men $750,000 to kidnap and murder his mistress and her current boyfriend who threatened to expose the suspect's affair.

Alleged mistress Holly Williams, 33, and her partner William Lanway, 36, were found dead in Lanway's crashed Acura sedan on March 12 of last year. The car had veered off a construction road, down an embankment and into a tree, and its occupants were both fatally shot several times.

Her married ex Erik Charles Maund, 46, was arrested on Friday during a traffic stop near Austin and charged with conspiracy to commit kidnapping resulting in death, and carrying, brandishing and discharging a firearm in relation to a crime of violence, according to a federal indictment unsealed on Monday.

It's not clear if Maund and Williams were dating at the time of her murder.

Austin residents Gilad Peled, 47, Byron Brockway, 46, and North Carolina resident Adam Carey, 30 - three former members of the military who worked with private security companies - were also arrested that day and indicted on the same charges.

Peled owns Austin-based Speartip Security, a business that helped clients respond to extortion demands, according to the Department of Justice indictment. On Tuesday, December 7, a chilling review for the security company was written under the name Erik Maund

'Mistress and her boyfriend': Holly Williams (right), 33, and William Lanway, 36 (left), were found dead in Lanway's crashed Acura sedan on March 12 of last year

Lanway's 2005 white Acura sedan (pictured) had veered off a construction road, down an embankment and into a tree, and its occupants were both fatally shot several times

Maund is a partner of Maund Automotive Group in Austin and the grandson of its founder, Charles Maund.

Allegedly, he paid Peled, Brockway and Carey more than $750,000 to travel from Austin to Tennessee to kidnap, threaten and intimidate the couple.

Peled owns Austin-based Speartip Security, a business that helped clients respond to extortion demands, according to the Department of Justice indictment. On Tuesday, December 7, a chilling review for the security company was written under the name Erik Maund:

'Speartip is very professional and on top of it,' the reviewer wrote. 'They get the job done in an expedited time. Couldnt imagine using anyone else!!'

'Thank you for the kind words,' replied Peled, or the person managing the company's Google page. 'Always a pleasure working with you.'

The 'hitmen': Gilad Peled, 46 (pictured) owns Austin-based Speartip Security, a business that helped clients respond to extortion demands, according to the Department of Justice indictment. He is a former member of the Israeli Defense Forces, according to the Department of Justice

The 'hitmen': Byron Brockway, 46 (left), is a former marine and owns the security company Ink Force, LLC. Adam Carey of North Carolina, 30 (right), is a former Marine and a contractor for security companies, according to the Department of Justice

The sequence of events that led up to the killing began in February of 2020, according to the indictment, when Maund reached out to his former girlfriend about seeing each other when he visited Nashville to see a relative, according to KVUE.

It is unclear when Maund and Williams dated, or whether Maund was married to his wife, Sheri, at the time.

But in March, Lanway reached out to Maund claiming to be Williams' boyfriend, and threatened to expose Maund's relationship if the automotive heir didn't pay him hush money.

As a result, Maund hired the three men. Peled is a former member of the Israeli Defense Forces. Brockway and Carey are both former U.S. Marines. Brockway owns another security company, Ink Force LLC, and Carey is a contractor for security companies within the private sector, according to KVUE.

Carey and Brockway surveilled the couple to learn where they lived and what car they drove on March 9.

After Peled received a document from the two other hired hands detailing their findings, Maund withdrew $15,000 from his bank account to pay for this 'intelligence report,' the indictment claims.

On March 11, Brockway and Carey allegedly confronted Williams and Lanway in the parking lot of their apartment complex in West Nashville with firearms. They shot Lanway in the parking lot multiple times. They put his body in his own car, then used that car to kidnap WIlliams and drive her to nearby Old Hickory Boulevard, where they shot her several times.

Within hours of the murders, the Department of Justice wrote, Brockway returned a rental car that the two men had used to get to the couple. Carey drove Brockway to Memphis, Tennessee, where he caught a flight to Austin, and Carey drove there from Memphis.

Then, Maund wired $750,000 from his bank account to an account controlled by Peled.

In February of 2020, according to the Department of Justice, Maund sent text messages to Holly Williams (right) to arrange a meeting in Nashville when he traveled there to visit a relative. But her current boyfriend, William Lanway (left) allegedly contacted Maund, extorting him for money by threatening to reveal his relationship with Williams

The Maund Automotive Group (pictured), which operates its flagship location out of 6900 Burnett Road in Austin, is prominent in the Central Texas area

The Maund automotive group, which operates its flagship location out of 6900 Burnett Road in Austin, is prominent in the Central Texas area.

In 1945, Maund's grandfather opened a used car lot in Port Arthur at the age of 18, and eventually acquired four more lots. Over time, he bought out four car dealerships in the area, according to the company's website.

A representative from the auto group had no comment when contacted by KVUE regarding Maund's current affiliation with the company, although the indictment names him as a partner.
Shocking details have been revealed in the case of a celebrity cosmetic surgeon who was found guilty of professional misconduct after the death of two patients.

In a decision handed down by the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT) this week, Sydney ear, nose and throat specialist Dr William Mooney was found guilty of professional misconduct as a result of unsatisfactory professional conduct on a range of other complaints.

Two patients operated on by Dr Mooney died in the days following the operations, one after an instrument used by the surgeon pierced his brain and another after an artery bled during surgery to fix his snoring.

Dr Mooney had also been involved in an 'inappropriate' relationship with a female patient.

The Tribunal said the instances of unsatisfactory professional conduct were 'sufficiently serious' to justify the suspension or cancellation of Dr Mooney's licence.

Sydney ear, nose and throat specialist Dr William Mooney was found guilty of professional misconduct by the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal

Dr Mooney working on a patient not connected to the subject of the complaints. The Tribunal heard that at the time of the complaints Dr Mooney was performing approximately 200 rhinoplasty operations (nose jobs), 100 sinus surgeries and around 40 other minor surgeries per year

In 2017, the surgeon had boasted to Daily Mail Australia in 2017 of doing five nose jobs a day from his Bondi surgery.

The complaints brought by the Health Care Complaints Commission relate to three patients of Dr Mooney's - Patient A, B and C.

Patient A was a 24-year-old man who died in March 2018 some days after Dr Mooney operated on him to help alleviate his snoring, including removing his tonsils.

The Tribunal heard that Dr Mooney noticed arterial bleeding during the operation in the man's right tonsil. He 'over-sewed' the area with four sutures.

The man later started throwing up blood and while being prepared for further surgery at Concord Hospital, suffered a cardiac arrest and died.

The Tribunal found the operation had been performed 'far too quickly', taking only 23 minutes according to a nurse, or 33 minutes by the hospital records.

One expert witness, Dr Altmann, testified that the three procedures involved in the operation should have taken approximately 90 minutes.

The Tribunal also found Dr Mooney's post-operative care was 'significantly below standard' in that he relied on the reports of others about Patient A's condition.

The patient's family were also unaware of the bleeding during the operation.

The Tribunal found that Dr Mooney filed to use CT scans while operating on Patient B, became 'disoriented' and was 'in the cranial cavity when he thought he was in the frontal sinus'

In the case of Patient B, a 41-year-old man who died in December 2017, the Tribunal head from three experts who again said Dr Mooney performed a complex procedure too quickly and caused 'significant intracranial trauma'.

Dr Mooney admitted not using CT scans while conducting the operation, which took approximately 30 minutes, the Tribunal finding he became 'disoriented' while performing the operation and 'was in the cranial cavity when he thought he was in the frontal sinus'.

The mistake caused damage to an artery in the brain and the movement of 'brain tissue containing bone shards'. The patient's blood pressure escalated alarmingly during the operation as a result.

'Regrettably, I proceeded to use sharp and dangerous instrumentation at the base of the skull in a high-risk position,' Dr Money said in a statement to the Tribunal.

The Tribunal found Dr Mooney 'could not have been taking appropriate care' in performing the complex procedure so quickly.

Patient C was a young woman who Dr Mooney treated with botox injections, tonsillitis and a nose job over a period of years.

He also prescribed her Duromine, a weight-loss medication.

At an inquiry in February 2017, Dr Mooney said he had 'one liaison' with a patient in mid 2014. But records obtained by the Health Care Complaints Commission showed that between October 2013 and January 2016, 3,425 text messages and 807 phone calls were exchanged between Dr Mooney and the patient

The Tribunal considered statements Dr Mooney had previously made about his relationship with Patient C between October 2013 and January 2016.

At an inquiry in February 2017, Dr Mooney said he had had 'one liaison' with the patient in mid 2014 and that otherwise, they were friends.

But records obtained by the Health Care Complaints Commission showed that between October 2013 and January 2016, 3,425 text messages and 807 phone calls were exchanged between Dr Mooney and patient C.

The Tribunal found that the relationship with Patient C constituted unsatisfactory professional conduct. It described the relationship as 'exploitative and inappropriate', and the conduct as departing 'from both reasonably expected standards and proper and ethical conduct.'

It also found the prescription of Duromine by Dr Mooney to the woman was conduct that fell 'significantly below what is reasonably expected of any doctor'.

A further complaint heard by the Tribunal related to conditions placed on Dr Mooney's registration, including supervision by another practitioner and three-monthly hair screening for drugs.

Dr Mooney had his registration temporarily suspended in December 2018 after returning a positive test for cocaine.

It was unclear whether the positive test was a result of the substance being used as part of surgical procedures to stop bleeding or for personal use.

Dr Mooney failed to attend his first drug test in September, 2018, claiming illness, but the Tribunal heard medical records showed he had been performing operations at the specified time.

The surgeon was required to provide a 3cm sample of hair as part of the drug test but when he eventually submitted to the test in October 2018, his hair had been cut shorter than the required length.

In a statement to the Tribunal Dr Mooney said he researched hair testing on the internet after he became concerned that his handling of cocaine while performing surgery while not wearing gloves might result in a positive test.

He thought if he cut his hair short, it would re-grow to 3cm by the time of testing and his regrown hair would be 'clean', the Tribunal heard.

His hair tested positive but experts were unable to say whether the result was due to use during surgery or illicit drug use.

The Tribunal found Dr Mooney had contravened the conditions placed on his registration and his conduct was unsatisfactory professional conduct.

'We have found that Dr Mooney has, on several occasions, chosen to deliberately withhold information from the regulatory authorities which are charged with protecting the public and maintaining professional standards,' the Tribunal found.

The findings allow the Health Care Complaints Commission to now consider whether Dr Mooneys registration will be cancelled or suspended.

The specialist first established his private practice, known as Face Plus Medispa, at Bankstown in 2006 and later expanded to three locations; Bankstown, Bondi Junction and Bondi Beach, He also had satellite clinics in Melbourne and Darwin, employing two junior doctors and 40 staff across the facilities.

The Tribunal heard that at the time of the complaints, Dr Mooney was performing approximately 200 rhinoplasty operations (nose jobs) a year, 100 sinus surgeries and around 40 other minor surgeries per year.

In September 2017 Dr Mooney told Daily Mail Australia about his 'millennial nose jobs' for those who wanted a quick solution to imperfection.

'I have a lot of people who come in with little irregularities or little bumps who want to reshape their nose quickly and without surgery,' Dr Mooney said.

'It takes about an hour and people often come in and go straight back to work.

'It's a real 'millennial nose job' because that generation just craves immediacy and wants everything right away.'
A man has issued a warning over vaping after his device 'spontaneously started erupting', leaving him with serious burns to his leg.

New Zealander Matthew Bijl, 34, was at a work barbeque earlier this month when he felt his jeans pocket heat up.

The vape had erupted in his jeans, leaving him with a trail of burnt skin down his leg.

After the adrenaline wore off, Mr Bijl rushed to a local hospital, describing the pain as a '9.5 out of 10.'

'Being a grown man, its been a while since I'd cried from pain,' he said.

'I've broken bones before, and I'd rather break a bone.'

New Zealand resident Matthew Bijl, 34, was at a work BBQ earlier this month when a smoking vape began to erupt in his jeans, leaving him with a trail of burnt skin down his leg

Mr Bijl (pictured left) was rushed to hospital, and felt the burns on his leg were 'worse than breaking bones'

Mr Bijl was given the vape as a gift from a friend and bought the rechargeable batteries from vape product franchise VAPO in Christchurch.

In store, he was told the shocking incident he endured was more than likely due to 'customer error' and a refund wouldn't be forthcoming.

VAPO national retail manager Blade Speirz confirmed the company were aware of the incident.

'We are very concerned about any adverse incident involving our customers and will always investigate fully to ensure we can provide the highest level of safety, education and service,' Speirz told stuff.co.nz.

He added the issue was 'complex' as staff had identified damage to the wraps and liquid underneath the wraps on the batteries.

Mr Bijl, who has been left with serious burns and was fortunate not to undergo a skin graft, also stated it was lucky he wasn't driving at the time of the incident.

In 2019, a woman in New Zealand's south damaged her home in Canterbury after an e-cigarette which she left overnight on the kitchen counter erupted with a 'loud metallic sound'.

A terrified Chloe Jordan woke to a kitchen full of smoke, burns across the acrylic counter as well as black spatters and shrapnel on the walls, ceiling and carpet.

The aftermath (pictured) after a smoking vape exploded in a pair of jeans worn by New Zealand resident Matthew Bijl

Mr Bijl was given the rechargeable vape as a gift from a friend and bought the batteries from vape product franchise VAPO in Christchurch, New Zealand (stock image)
General Hospital actor Ingo Rademacher is suing ABC after he was fired from the popular soap opera for refusing to comply with an on-set vaccination mandate.

Rademacher, 50, - who played Jasper 'Jax' Jacks on the show for 25 years - filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles on Monday, claiming he had previously applied for religious exemption from getting the coronavirus vaccine, after fellow cast member Steve Burton tested positive for COVID in August.

However, his application along with Burton's, were denied by the TV network. The pair had previously been outspoken opponents of the coronavirus vaccine mandate that was put into effect on part of the set, known as Zone A, on November 1, where actors could initially work unmasked.

Zone A is where the cast and crew generally work physically closest to each other, sometimes without Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), while the cameras are rolling.

Prior to their dismissals, ABC held a 30-minute interview with both actors to give them an opportunity to prove their religious status, but the network clearly didn't buy it. After the decision was made, Burton decided not to pursue legal charges.

General Hospital actor Ingo Rademacher - who was fired from the soap opera due to his refusal to get vaccinated against COVID-19 - is suing ABC, calling the vaccine mandate put in place for actors unconstitutional. In a video shared on December 5, Rademacher thanks their support for his last 25 years on the show and tells them to keep 'fighting for medical freedom'

Ingo Rademacher played Jasper 'Jax' Jacks in General Hospital for 25 years before his firing in November due to his non-vaccinated status

'Unfortunately, 'General Hospital' has let me go because of the vaccine mandate,' Burton said in an Instagram video on November 23rd. The actor previously tested positive for COVID-19 in August and made his appearance on the show on October 27.

'I did apply for my medical and religious exemptions and both of those were denied  which, you know, hurts,' he added. 'But this is also about personal freedom to me. I don't think anyone should lose their livelihood over this.'

Rademacher, who was fired in early November, called ABC's decision a violation of his right to privacy under the California Constitution.

In court documents obtained by the Dailymail.com, the actor refers to the start of the pandemic, saying the first COVID-19 vaccines were developed under the Trump Administration, which led to a lot of Democrats, including now-President Biden to be initially skeptical.

He also called lockdown rules as the 'most draconian restrictions in modern history,' and ABC's actions as 'blatantly unlawful. He added that most large U.S. companies are only forcing employees to abide to vaccine mandates due to their failures to resist pressure from the Biden Administration.

The General Hospital former mainstay also wants the court to label ABC's vaccine mandate as 'unconstitutional' and is seeking damages. He even shared an Instagram post of a picture of himself posing along with the words: 'I will stand with you to fight for medical freedom.'

About one in five American adults has not received a single dose of a coronavirus vaccine.

Several production companies in Hollywood have applied similar on-set mandates, but there is no official requirement in the industry for actors to vaccinate themselves in order to work on-set.

Rademacher's posted a picture of himself posing along the words: 'I will stand with you to fight for medical freedom,' referring to his choice not get vaccinated, after appearing on an episode of General Hospital one last time on November 22nd.

Co-star Steve Burton, who plays Jason Morgan in the show, was also fired in November for similar reasons as Rademacher. Burton is not vaccinated and tested positive for COVID in August, prompting the production set to impose a vaccine-mandate on cast and crew

Rademacher has also faced criticism on social media in recent weeks for making 'transphobic' comments.

The German-Australian actor has forcefully denied these accusations.

Dailymail.com has contacted ABC and Rademacher's representatives for comment on both matters.

'General Hospital', which takes place in the fictional town of Port Charles, New York has been on the air since 1963. It features 59 seasons as new episodes are ongoing.

In his last episode, which aired on November 22, Rademacher's character, Japer 'Jax' Jacks made reference to the actor's real-life situation, saying that he would be returning to Australia after falling out with surrounding.

'I'm kind of on the outs with everyone in Port Charles right now,' the character said. Fans of the show shed light on the scene, interpreting that the actor had specifically fallen with castmates, including trans actor Cassandra James and Nancy Lee Grahn.

In November, Rademacher apologized on an Instagram video for not crossing out the word 'dude' when he shared a tweet from a conservative commentator who was using the word referring to Rachel Levine, the U.S. assistant secretary for health.

Levine is currently the first transgender four-star officer to be sworn into office.

Rademacher's apology came after strong condemnations of his actions from fellow colleagues James and Grahn on Twitter.

'I am aware of a transphobic post shared by a fellow General Hospital actor,' James who plays Dr. Terry Randolph on the soap opera, shared on Twitter. 'Shame on you. You have some serious unlearning and education to do. I feel deeply disappointed that such a public display of ignorance could come from our GH family.'

'Misgendering trans folks is violence and if you come for one of us, you come for all of us,' James added. 'The cis world doesn't get to decide which of us is valuable. I am so proud of the fans for always holding us to a high standard, for calling out transphobia and violence.'

Grahn tweeted on the matter:' 'The fellow actor, #IngoRademacher, is mercifully no longer a part of the #gh cast. Transphobia & misgendering are disgusting & should be unacceptable in any industry, including soaps/acting. I stand with my costar @cassandrajames_ & the trans community.'

It was unclear whether Rademacher's dismissal from the soap opera had ties with his recent actions on social media.

PICTURED: Ingo Rademacher in his final episode of General Hospital, playing as his character, Jasper 'Jax' Jacks. Weeks after ABC confirmed the controversial Rademachers departure from the daytime serial, the actors character broke the news in a brief exchange with ex-wife Carly November 22nd's episode, saying 'I'm kind of on the outs with everyone in Port Charles right now'

In November, Rademacher faced criticism from co-stars Nancy Lee Grahn and trans actor Cassandra James for not crossing out the word 'dude' when he re-shared a tweet from a conservative commentator who was using the word referring to Rachel Levine, the U.S. assistant secretary for health who is the first four-star officer to hold office

In his apology, Rademacher tells his transgender co-star: 'Cassandra, I apologize to you sincerely. I think you're an absolute talent and you're very beautiful as well. I don't think a transphobic man would say that. I think you're absolutely gorgeous, I really do.'

The actors later recalls a story when he and his wife allowed their son to wear a Disney Princess dress when he was three 'because he wanted to look pretty. I don't think a transphobic dad would buy his son a Disney princess dress.'

On the matter, he said he should have crossed out the word 'dude' from the original post, adding, 'I don't think its okay to call a transgender an empowered woman because where does that leave women?'
High school students studying in some of California's largest school districts will no longer be given a D or F grade for poor work, and will instead be allowed to take the tests or complete the work again.

The new system has been introduced due to the pandemic, with supporters arguing that it reduces the stress levels for already-traumatized and unsettled students.

Proponents say it will particularly help black, Latino and lower-income students, who have statistically been disproportionately affected by pandemic upheaval to school routines.

Critics say that it dumbs down education, leaving students unequipped to cope with the harsh realities of the modern world.

The scheme was first reported at the beginning of this month by Ed Source.

Nidya Baez, assistant principal at Fremont High in Oakland Unified (right) and Devin Vodicka, chief executive of the Learning-Centered Collaborative, have both backed the scheme to get rid of D and F grades

A student is seen on March 24 taking her exam at St Anthony Catholic High School in Long Beach, California. Several California school districts have now decided to get rid of D and F grades

Los Angeles Unified, Oakland Unified, Sacramento City Unified and Santa Ana are among the school districts trialing the new way of marking, the site reported.

'Our hope is that students begin to see school as a place of learning, where they can take risks and learn from mistakes, instead of a place of compliance,' said Nidya Baez, assistant principal at Fremont High in Oakland Unified.

She told the site: 'Right now, we have a system where we give a million points for a million pieces of paper that students turn in, without much attention to what they're actually learning.'

The new system is known as 'competency-based learning'.

Debora Rinehart, a math and science teacher at St. Theresa School, a Catholic school in Oakland, said she thought removing the lower marks was akin to lying to students about their true level of achievement.

'I will work with any student before or after school or even on the weekend to help them learn. However, I will never lie about their knowledge level,' she said.

'Not reporting Ds and Fs is the equivalent of lying about a student's progress.'

However, Devin Vodicka, a former superintendent of Vista Unified in San Diego County and chief executive of the Learner-Centered Collaborative, which promotes competency-based learning, told Ed Source that the new system helped prepare students for the wider world.

'We need a system that gets beyond the institutional model and provides more meaningful feedback for students,' Vodicka said.

'The future is going to require less focus on time and more focus on what we can do and contribute, and the quality of our performance. We need to prepare our students for this.'

Students in Sacramento School District are seen in class. Sacramento is among those to get rid of classic grading systems

Another supporter, Patricia Russell, of the Mastery Transcript Consortium, said that 400 school districts have now joined their organization, which promotes alternatives to grades.

'We're talking about people who are very young, and labeling them at such an early age as 'less than' or 'more than' can have significant psychological repercussions,' Russell said.

'Some things in life are zero-sum games, but learning should not be.'

And Laura Schwalm, chief of staff of California Education Partners, said they hope the new scheme will broaden students' horizons.

'Graduating with a D, in career and technology courses, too, leaves students with few choices,' she said.

'No one is saying water down grades. This is about giving support, not lowering standards, and looking for simple ways to make grading more fair, to give kids a fighting chance and to measure what students know with multiple opportunities to show that.'

Ed Source reported that some teachers confessed to rarely giving D and F grades, while others used the low marks as useful tools.

Debora Rinehart, a math and science teacher at St. Theresa School in Oakland, said that the new system was akin to 'lying' to students about their achievements

Last year, San Diego Unified School District announced it was adopting the policy, which is designed to 'provide students multiple opportunities to demonstrate their mastery,' according to Nicole DeWitt, instructional support officer for the district, in a December 2020 meeting explaining the new thinking.

DeWitt said they had begun reassessing the practice of grading since 2018, but the pandemic gave the process added urgency.

San Diego's board found, in early 2020, that black students received a D or F 20 per cent of the time and Hispanic students received them 23 per cent of the time, compared with 7 per cent for white students and 6 per cent for Asian students.

After a school board workshop in July 2020, a resolution demanded the district to 'revise our grading policy to ensure that we have equitable grading practices,' DeWitt said, and the new scheme came into effect in .

New York City has enacted a similar policy, with the Department of Education announcing in October 2020 that pupils will not get failing grades during the 2020-21 school year.

Instead, they are now marked 'N' for 'needs improvement'.

Schools from grade eight upwards could choose to keep traditional letter grades or use the city's new grading policy for students.

'This year's grading policy maintains a high bar for student achievement and keeps our students engaged while being responsive to the flexibility our families need in the ongoing pandemic,' said Danielle Filson, DOE spokesperson, at the time.

'Schools will select a grading scale that meets the needs of their community with a high expectation and the necessary flexibility to best support New York City students.'

And in October of this year, a school in Minnesota took similar action.

Sunrise Park Middle School in White Bear Lake released a YouTube video detailing its new grading system which it said, in part, helps fight systemic racism.

The scale goes from an A (any score above 92.5 percent) to an I (50 percent to 59.49 percent) but below that, a letter grade will not be used, including an F.

Associate Principal Norman Bell said that students are encouraged to retake and revise tests, quizzes, papers, projects, and have a 10-day window to do so after the date the grade is posted.

Grades also will not be increased or decreased over behaviors, attitude, tardiness, and whether the assignment was turned in late or on time.
Two teens, including one who previously threatened to 'shoot up the school' after he was expelled, have been arrested and accused of being in the 'planning phase' of an attack on a Pennsylvania high school.

Logan Jack Pringle, 17, and Preston Robert Hinebaugh, 16, were arrested Friday on charges of conspiracy to commit terrorism and conspiracy to commit aggravated assault. They were still in custody as of Monday morning.

Police found five weapons at Hinebaugh's house: one pump-action rifle and four AR-15-style semi-automatic rifles.

A parent at Westmont Hilltop High School was the first person to raise concern.

Last Tuesday, her daughter texted her saying she saw Pringle - who was expelled three years ago - at school, but 'assumed he had been re-admitted to the school district.' The mom emailed the principal, and school officials contacted police.

It turns out Hinebaugh had let Pringle into the school at about 10.30am. The pair walked down the halls 'examining cameras and other features of the building,' according to a criminal complaint.

Hinebaugh (left) let Pringle (right) into Westmont Hilltop High School in Johnstown, Pennsylvania last week to scope out cameras, police say

Police later found a pump-action rifle and four untraceable AR-15s in Hinebaugh's possession, with police speculating that they were built by someone in his family

The AR-15s found at Hinebaugh's house were 'ghost guns' that were 'made and put together by someone in the Hinebaugh family,' Upper Yoder Township police Chief Donald Hess told the Johnstown Tribune Democrat.

Hinebaugh's parents, however, were 'unaware of' some of the weapons in their son's possession, according to the complaint .

Hinebaugh was also charged with one count of conspiracy to commit criminal trespass, presumably for letting Pringle onto campus last week, and one count of possession of a firearm by a minor.

Pringle, on the other hand, has been barred from entering the Westmont Hilltop High since February 2018, according to a criminal complaint filed by Assistant Chief John Blake of the Upper Yoder Township Police Department and published by the Daily Beast.

In January of that year, Pringle lit a match and threw it on the carpeting of the school, according to the complaint. He also took fireworks to school and researched weapons on school computers.

'Logan Pringle made a note stating "I Hate This School with a picture of a knife. Logan Pringle made a checklist for his "Rebellion" including weapons and diagrams of the school with one stairwell/hallway labeled "Ideal Location,"' the complaint states.

Pringle's Instagram account, @takbir_300, only had five photos, most of them related to firearms, before it was taken down

Hinebaugh told police that Pringle, above, is 'obsessed' with guns and is no longer welcome at his house 'because he fired a shotgun into the wall of the residence,' authorities say.

On February 5 of that year, eight witnesses allegedly heard Pringle say, 'I'm gonna get a gun and shoot up the school,' after he was expelled.

He added, 'I just have to figure out how to get into the school,' and, 'I'm gonna get a Glock and shoot up the school.'

Pringle figured out how to get in last week, when Hinebaugh unlocked the front door and ushered him through. Pringle also dropped Hinebaugh off at school the next day.

'Hinebaugh posted to his personal Snapchat account "Story" a picture of Logan Pringle in the school building illegally with the banner "Hes Back" across the photograph,' the complaint states.

The school also checked Pringle's history on the school's Wi-Fi and found searches involving guns, including 'a website for the AR-15 platform weapon,' according to WJAC.

A mother sounded the alarm after her daughter told her Pringle was back on campus. 'I mean we potentially stopped a school shooting from happening just by having a conversation between my daughter and myself,' she said

A student texted her mom on Tuesday to let her know she saw Pringle on campus. The mother contacted the school principal, who got back to her 'immediately' to say he would investigate.

Pringle and Hinebaugh were allegedly scoping out surveillance cameras, authorities say.

Pringle left the building through a door in the gym 12 minutes later. He told police that 'he didn't think it would be that easy to get back into the school,' and that he 'left through the door near the gym because he did not believe he would be able to get out through the front doors without being caught.'

Hinebaugh told police that Pringle is 'obsessed' with guns and is no longer welcome at his house 'because he fired a shotgun into the wall of the residence,' authorities say.

Pringle's Instagram account, @takbir_300, only had five photos, most of them related to firearms, before it was removed.

The unidentified mother who reported Pringle's presence at school last Tuesday told WJAC: 'We're glad they took me seriously.

'I was a little upset that it took this long for them to notice a student who shouldn't have been there was roaming the schools.

'I mean we potentially stopped a school shooting from happening just by having a conversation between my daughter and myself,' she said.

Pringle and Hinebaugh will be tried as adults. They were arrested on Friday, with Pringle's bail set at $250,000 and Hinebaugh's set at $400,000.

Hinebaughs attorney, Matthew R. Zatko, told the Daily Beast: 'My client denies all of the allegations and looks forward to defending himself and clearing his name.'

A source close to the Pringle family told the online outlet that Pringle wanted to join the military and has an 'obsession with guns,' but that he's long suffered from mental illness and the 'system has already failed him more than once,' adding that Pringle was once placed in a group home where he was beaten.

Westmont Hilltop High held classes on Monday as usual, but with 'an increased police presence' that included Police Chief Hess, according to a letter sent to parents by district superintendent Thomas Mitchell.

'District leadership is in constant communication and evaluating the situation to ensure continued preventative safety measures are in place,' the letter said.
Australian comedian Vince Sorrenti has been slammed for singing an 'outdated and unacceptable' song about Maori live on the radio - and the shame-faced star agrees.

Mr Sorrenti, 60, was being introduced on the 2GB show, Saturday Night With Rob Duckworth, when he launched a string of puns based on the old song, That's Amore.

But after a couple of innocent gags about Moray eels and tuna mornay, the humour took a twist with the Sydney stand-up funnyman's final joke.

To the tune of the 1953 Dean Martin hit, Mr Sorrenti sang: 'When you're hit by a thug, in a tough Kiwi pub, that's a Maori.'

The studio can be heard bursting into laughter in the background as Rob Duckworth - standing in for regular host Bill Woods - tries to move quickly on.

Australian comedian Vince Sorrenti (pictured)has sparked a row after singing an offensive song against Maori live on the radio

'There you go, Vince Sorrenti, he's on fire already,' he said, before asking the comic actor - who was one of the stars of Fat Pizza and Housos - about his latest gigs.

Mr Sorrenti is a patron of Immigration Place Australia but was previously embroiled in a race row when a 2011 TV advert he did for Tyreright mocked the Chinese accent.

Now fuming Maori have told the Sydney stand-up comedian to bring his act into the 21st century after the gag was branded outdated and unacceptable.

'In today's day and age, that's definitely not acceptable,' said a member of Sydney's Maori Wardens community. 'He needs to reconsider his material in the future.

'Maybe in his day it was acceptable. Back in the dark ages maybe it would have been fine, but nowadays you have to consider things other than people's ethnicity.

'It's not acceptable. It never has been, but it's really not acceptable now.'

Vince Sorrenti, 60, was being introduced on the 2GB show, Saturday Night With Rob Duckworth (pictured), when he launched a string of puns based on the old song, That's Amore

He added: 'The world's changed and cultures are starting to react to any kind of approach to their identity that puts a comedy slant on it.

'Even if they're just joking about it, it's just no longer acceptable any more. It's starting to become a stronger issue for Maori and other Pacific Island cultures.

'It really is just a matter of him reconsidering how he approaches that sort of thing in the future.

'I grew up with it and I'm used to it - but that doesn't make it right.'

On Tuesday, Mr Sorrenti admitted the Kiwi critics had every reason to be upset and apologised.

'Those Kiwis are right,' Mr Sorrenti's spokesman told Daily Mail Australia. 'That humour is outdated and unacceptable.

'I just spoke with Vince and he is embarrassed and very remorseful. Its a very silly and meaningless ditty and was never intended to hurt or offend. He is going to apologise on air this weekend.'

They added: 'It is a very old parody he used to sing in the 1980s.

'When he was introduced on air the other night, they played the Thats Amore music and he sang along without thinking. It was wrong and he is sorry. Im surprised he even remembered the words.

'Believe it or not he even sang that parody on TV in New Zealand all those years ago. Its a reminder of how much times have changed.

'Thanks for bringing it to our attention.'

Fuming Maori have told the Sydney stand-up comedian to bring his act into the 21st century after the gag was branded outdated and unacceptable (pictured, Maoris perform a haka)

Hardy McLean, chairman of the Maori Wanderers, said he was happy to take the joke as an attempt at humour.

'It's something we get all the time,' he told Daily Mail Australia. 'Somebody else would probably see it differently but not me, personally. It's just a joke.

'We've got to be able to have a laugh at ourselves every now and again.'

Nine's 2GB declined to comment.
The White House was forced to defend Kamala Harris on Monday, insisting she was still in charge of addressing the 'root causes' of mass migration after the president of Guatemala said he had not heard from the White House since the vice president's visit in June.

She was given that role by Biden in March, tasked with liaising with El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala as the administration faced a surge in the numbers of people reaching the southern border.

But during her regular daily briefing, Psaki was asked whether the vice president remained in the role.

'She is, and I just announced a commitment that shes announcing this afternoon,' said Psaki, referring to a $1.2 billion investment from businesses in Central American economies.

'Well, then why is it that she has not spoken to the President of Guatemala since June?' continued Peter Doocy of Fox News. 'Thats six months.'

Psaki replied: 'I know that I did see this kind of strange report from the president of Guatemala saying that hes had no contact with the White House, which is inaccurate.'

White House Press Secretary insisted Vice President Kamala Harris was still in chare of addressing the 'root causes' of mass migration on Monday

Immigration remains one of the key challenges facing the administration in general and Harris in particular, as she manages the fallout from plunging poll numbers, hostile headlines and departing staff.

Last week, President Alejandro Giammattei of Guatemala added to her woes by claiming he had not heard from the White House in months.

'We had many conversations with your ambassador, but [between] my presidency and the White House, no,' he told Fox News.

'I spoke once to Joe Biden because I introduced myself. Then we had the visit of Vice President Harris. On matters of state and migration, we had Mr. Alejandro Mayorkas. Aside from that direct communication, no we have not had it.'

The controversy threatened to take the shine off $540 million in new commitments from the private sector for Central America.

Initiatives included a push by Nespresso to support coffee-growing in Honduras and El Salvador, a Microsoft pledge to connect millions of people to the Internet and a $100 million commitment from Mastercard to promote digital payments and e-commerce.

Harris appealed to the private sector in May for helping in supporting employment opportunities and economic growth as part of an effort to dissuade families from heading north to seek out better economic prospects.

But migrants continue to flood to the U.S. border with Mexico in record numbers with more than 1.6 million encounters with Customs and Border Protection since Joe Biden took office.

Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei said in an interview Wednesday (right) that he has only spoken to Harris once  when she visited Guatemala in June (pictured left)

Migrants construct a makeshift shelter along the U..-Mexico border wall on December 9 as they await transport to a U.S. Border Patrol processing center

Thousands of migrants continue to pour over the border every day. Here a caravan walk on the Puebla-Mexico highway toward the U.S. on Thursday

Those meeting with Harris Monday to discuss addressing 'root causes' of migration include Microsoft President Brad Smith (left), CEO of PepsiCo's Latin American division Paula Santilli (center) and CEO of Nespresso Guillaume Le Cunff (right)

During Joe Biden's time in office, Customs and Border Protection has encountered more than $1.6 million migrants at the southern border with Mexico

Harris' favorability is dismally low, with only 40 per cent approval, according to a Los Angeles Times average. Fifty-three per cent of respondents disapprove of her job as Biden's No. 2.

In the same approval tracking, Harris' approval dipped below her disapproval rating for the first time in early June, which was around the same time she was visiting Guatemala and Mexico as part of her border czar role.

Despite all this, Harris brushes off criticism of her first year as vice president amid reports of a feud between herself and President Biden. She would not directly answer any questions related to what she learned in the last year when asked by the San Francisco Chronicle in an interview last week or address her failures in the role so far.

'There is nothing about this job that is supposed to be easy,' Harris said. 'If something is coming to me, it's because it needs to be addressed and because, by definition, it's not going to be easy.'

'If it was easy, it would have been handled before it comes to me,' she added.

Migrants part of a caravan heading to the U.S. board a truck on the Puebla-Mexico highway in Mexico on Thursday, December 9

Migrants walk along a highway while traveling in a caravan toward Mexico City on their way to the U.S. border on December 9

Harris twice wouldn't directly answer a question whether she wished she'd done anything differently in her year as vice president.

'I love people, and there's so much that we are doing that is directly impacting and with the people in mind,' Harris said.

She also bashed reports claiming she thinks Bluetooth earphones are not secure as 'ridiculous'

The vice president convened a meeting Monday afternoon with private sector CEOs to discuss their pledges to invest in Central America. The roundtable includes Microsoft President Brad Smith; Paula Santilli of PepsiCo's Latin American division; Nespresso CEO Guillaume Le Cunff; David MacLennan of Cargill; and Juan Pablo Mata of Grupo Mariposa, a food and beverage company based in Guatemala.

The seven new investments are coming from CARE International, Cargill, Grupo Mariposa, Parkdale Mills, PepsiCo, JDE Peet's, and PriceSmart.

Mastercard, Microsoft, Nespresso and Partnership for Central America already had commitments with Harris' Call to Action, but are announcing Monday additional action and investments in Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador.

The biggest new investment comes from PepsiCo, which plans to spend $190 in Northern Central America through 2025. These investments include improving infrastructure and manufacturing plants, expanding to new distribution routes and IT projects.

Harris' approval rating dipped below her disapproval in early June, around the time she traveled to Guatemala and Mexico. Her approval currently sits around a dismal 40 per cent

Cargill and Parkdale Mills each pledged $150 million for agricultural and manufacturing projects.

Nespresso also committed to supporting the region's economy with a minimum $150 million in spending across coffee purchases, price premiums and technical assistance by 2025.

Microsoft, which previously promised to give 3 million people in the region internet access, will up its commitment to 4 million people. It is also now promising to teach digital skills to 100,000 people.

Back on May 27, Harris announced a Call to Action from business and private entities to help address the root cause of migration by promoting economic opportunity in Northern Triangle nations.

These commitments now total more than $1.2 billion.

Harris initially announced the new commitments during closing remarks at a virtual event co-hosted by the State Department and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, in collaboration with the Partnership for Central America.
First Lady Jill Biden and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff will travel to Waukesha, Wisconsin on Wednesday to meet victims of last month's Christmas parade tragedy.

The trio will first stop in Milwaukee where they'll visit Children's Wisconsin, where some of the victims of the November 21 attack were cared for.

The first lady and second gentleman will meet with frontline health care workers at the hospital.

First Lady Jill Biden (left) and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff (right) will travel to Waukesha, Wisconsin on Wednesday to meet victims of last month's Christmas parade tragedy

An SUV plows into a crowd of people during a Christmas parade in Waukesha, Wisconsin on November 21

They'll also visit with children who just received their COVID-19 vaccinations.

They will be joined by Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, who has been traveling with the first lady to COVID-19 vaccination clinics.

Then, the group will travel to nearby Waukesha and meet with families of the victims and first responders at the Waukesha City Hall.

Reporters won't be allowed in for Dr. Biden's and Emhoff's meeting with the families and first responders, the East Wing said.

Six people were killed and 62 others were injured when 39-year-old Darrell Edward Brooks Jr., drove his Ford SUV Escape through barricades and onto the Christmas parade route in Waukesha, a suburb of Milwaukee.

A number of those killed were from the group the Milwaukee Dancing Grannies.

Seventeen of the injured were children and were taken to Children's Wisconsin.

As of last week, three children still remained in the hospital.

The visit will mark the first from administration officials in the aftermath of the Christmas parade attack.

Law enforcement is not classifying it as a 'terrorist event,' with Brooks' mother saying he had a long history of mental health problems.
China could finally cripple Australia with its trade war as commodity prices crash in 2022.

While iron ore prices have halved since July, this occurred as coal prices rose to record highs in October with China suffering widespread blackouts.

Australia benefited from higher commodity prices even as China slapped punitive tariffs on barley, timber and seafood, in retaliation at calls for an inquiry into the origins of Covid.

But in 2022, the Westpac bank is expecting both iron ore and coal prices to fall.

China could finally cripple Australia with its trade war as commodity prices crash in 2022 (pictured is Chinese President Xi Jinping with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un)

World's major iron ore suppliers AUSTRALIA: 37 per cent BRAZIL: 16 per cent CHINA: 12 per cent INDIA: 10 per cent RUSSIA: 5 per cent Source: Western Australia Department of Jobs, Tourism, Science and Innovation Advertisement

Senior economist Justin Smirk said high commodity prices this year had simply encouraged other nations to boost their production, which would in turn increase global supply.

'There's an old adage in commodities markets that high prices are a cure for high prices,' he said.

'The current market has significant potential for a strong supply response to combine with demand becoming more sensitive to higher prices.'

Since the end of July, iron ore prices have halved from more than $US200 a tonne, sinking to $US84.61 by November as China, Australia's biggest trading partner, slashed steel production.

Apartment builder Evergrande's default would also send panic through China's property sector and further diminish demand for steel.

Prices in December have recovered to $US102.50 but Westpac is expecting the iron ore spot price to fall to $US77 by December 2022 and $US64 by September 2023.

Brazil, the world's second-biggest producer of iron ore after Australia, has suffered since the 2019 Vale tailings dam collapse.

Almost three years on from that disaster, the South American nation is recovering, with more production during the past three months boosting supply and weighing down the price.

Westpac senior economist Justin Smirk said high commodity prices this year had simply encouraged other nations to boost their production, which would in turn increase global supply. He is expecting the iron ore spot price to fall to $US77 by December 2022 and $US64 by September 2023 (pictured is Fortescue Metals Group chairman Andrew Forrest with Prime Minister Scott Morrison)

'This should keep pressure on iron ore prices for the near term,' Mr Smirk said.

'It takes about 45 days for Brazilian iron ore exports to reach Chinese ports this supply should keep downwards pressure on iron ore prices.'

Coal spot prices in October hit a record high of $US269 as China suffered widespread blackouts, with Australian coal ships left stranded outside key ports.

The Newcastle futures price has since moderated to $US163 a tonne and Westpac is expecting prices to plunge by another third to $US113 by December 2022 and to $US103 by March 2023 as recent flooding affects supply.

'The weather induced shocks to Australian coal exports will be short lived with coal prices set to fall between 24 per cent and 33 per cent,' Mr Smirk said.

Coal spot prices in October hit a record high of $US269 as China suffered widespread blackouts, with Australian coal ships left stranded outside key ports. The Newcastle futures price has since moderated to $US163 a tonne and Westpac is expecting prices to plunge by another third to $US113 by December 2022 and to $US103 by March 2023 as recent flooding affects supply (pictured is a freight train at Kooragang in Newcastle)
A university student has vented her frustration after catching Covid at a nightclub along with dozens of other revellers in a major super-spreader event.

Emily Keogh, 23, was one of 150 nightclub-goers who caught the virus after visiting The Argyle House in Newcastle last Wednesday.

Ms Keogh enjoyed a night out with friends at The Argyle for her birthday that night but then felt 'horrifically sick' on Saturday morning.

She and her friends filmed themselves partying and doing shots unaware the virus was spreading rapidly throughout the popular night spot.

Emily Keogh, 23, was one of 150 nightclub-goers who caught Covid after visiting The Argyle House in Newcastle last Wednesday

In one social media video, the 23-year-old and her mates from university were filmed joking 'it's Covid time' as they queued shoulder-for-shoulder for entry with other revellers.

The regional NSW city is now on tenterhooks as authorities race to confirm whether those infected have the new and highly-contagious Omicron strain of the virus.

Authorities believe the cases from the Argyle are Omicron infections, Sky News reported.

The university student took two self-administered rapid antigen tests and then an official NSW Health PCR test, which all came back positive.

She told Daily Mail Australia she suffered 'every symptom all at once', including intense sweats, aches and muscle fatigue.

'It's unlike any virus I've ever had - I would describe the symptoms as exactly what you hear on the news,' she said.

Emily Keogh, 23, enjoyed a night out with friends at The Argyle House in Newcastle, NSW for her birthday last Wednesday but ended up catching Covid

Ms Keogh, who is losing 50 hours of bartending work a week because of her infection, said she was furious at the lack of government support and communication from NSW Health she is receiving.

The medicine student said she won't know how long she will have to self-isolate for until genomic sequencing determines if she has the Omicron strain or not.

'I don't want mental health support - I want hotel accommodation away from my family and money to make up for the lost work,' she said.

'I'm a casual bartender and don't get anything because I'm on youth allowance.

'I spoke to someone at NSW Health and they told me I should treat getting Covid as a birthday present because I get six months of immunity.'

Ms Keogh told Daily Mail Australia she was furious at the lack of government support available to her

Health authorities have so far linked 150 cases to the Argyle House nightclub in Newcastle

In one TikTok video, the 23-year-old and her mates from university were filmed joking 'it's Covid time' as they queued shoulder-for-shoulder for entry with other revellers

Ms Keogh told Daily Mail Australia she suffered 'every symptom all at once', including intense sweats, aches and muscle fatigue

Ms Keogh said she understood the risks of going to a nightclub during a pandemic, but that it simply felt like 'living life with Covid'.

'There's a certain amount of risk, but without an aggressive suppression strategy were all going to get it,' she said.

Finnegan's Hotel in Newcastle has also been exposed to the virus, with authorities ordering anyone who was at the pub from Friday at 6.30pm until Saturday at 2.30am to self-isolate immediately.

NSW meanwhile reported 804 Covid cases in the past 24 hours in an extraordinary surge in case numbers.

It is the highest number of daily infections since September 7, when the state was in the middle of a 100-day lockdown to stem an outbreak of the highly-contagious Delta variant.

NSW Health also reported one death in the last 24-hour reporting period to 8pm on Monday night.
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Hospitality businesses could be shut within weeks under Government plans to halt the spread of the Covid variant as Boris Johnson faces the biggest revolt of his premiership today, with a third of Tory backbenchers preparing to vote against controversial 'Plan B' vaccine passports.

Whitehall officials have drawn up proposals to limit the number of people allowed in pubs and restaurants across the country amid mounting concern over the so-called 'Omicron' strain, according to The Sun.

The plans could trigger a wave of New Year's Eve party cancellations and further decimate the industry, with MPs now privately warning that they will torpedo any attempts to reintroduce draconian restrictions such as the 'Rule of Six' or a ban on households mixing.

As many as 79 Conservative MPs  equivalent to the Government's working majority which it won at the 2019 General Election  are ready to rebel against 'illiberal' restrictions that would make the NHS Covid pass necessary for entry to larger venues. Under the new regulations, published barely 24 hours before today's vote, people could be fined 10,000 if they try to falsify a Covid pass.

Downing Street has claimed that hospitality venues could be forced to close without vaccine passports. But critical MPs claim the measures will not work, and several ministerial aides are on 'resignation watch'.

Many within the Conservative Party particularly oppose the requirement for Covid passes  showing full vaccination or a recent negative test for the virus - as a serious infringement of people's civil liberties. There is also concern at the economic impact of a return of the working from home guidance on town and city centre businesses at a crucial time of the year if people again stay away from their offices.

The Government's new Covid crackdown  which includes orders to work from home and compulsory facemasks in more settings  is expected to sail through the Commons because Sir Keir Starmer has said the Labour Party will support the measures.

But the Commons mutiny could wipe out Mr Johnson's majority and eclipse his biggest revolt yet, when 54 Tories voted against the tier system of curbs last December.

MPs yesterday accused the Health Secretary of 'shifting the goalposts'. Former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith admitted being 'concerned about the mixed and heavy messaging coming from the government', while Mark Harper, chair of the Covid Recovery Group, said it was 'not acceptable to keep governing this country by decree'.

One backbencher told The Guardian: 'These restrictions are the gateway drug to more serious restrictions down the line. I think we'll be on Plan X, Y or Z by Christmas.'

Another said 'scare stories' about further curbs beyond Plan B had 'actually had the opposite effect' and emboldened the rebels.

Tory whips launched a desperate 11th hour operation on Monday to curb the revolt, telling junior members of the Government that they would have to quit if they voted against Covid vaccine passports. Ministers and whips also shared internal polling commissioned by the Cabinet Office which showed that the public favours 'Plan B' restrictions and a cautious approach to the so-called 'Omicron' variant, The Telegraph reported.

Mr Johnson repeatedly declined to rule out further restrictions ahead of Christmas but stressed the urgency of people getting boosters. He also said MPs thinking of rebelling against Plan B measures needed to recognise there was 'no room for complacency' in dealing with Omicron.

As the coronavirus crisis enters its latest crucial phase:

Sajid Javid said three jabs will be required for a valid Covid vaccine passport once all eligible adults in England have had a 'reasonable chance' of getting the booster;

Sir Keir Starmer announced he is supporting the Government's new Covid crackdown as he urged people to 'stick to the rules' to help prevent the NHS from being 'overwhelmed' by Omicron;

The entire NHS England was put on the highest level of alert for the first time since March today after the UK's Omicron outbreak surged by 50 per cent in a day;

Britain has suffered its first death from Omicron, the Prime Minister revealed on a visit to a vaccination clinic near Paddington. However, experts are demanding answers about the UK's first Omicron fatality, such as the individual's vaccination status, if they were part of group vulnerable to Covid, and if the virus was the leading cause of death;

GPs fumed they found out about the jabbing goal at the same time as the rest of the nation, and NHS bosses warned it would take 'time' to get the scaled up programme 'fully up and running';

Former Cabinet minister David Davis and Labour MPs slammed the Government for failing to ramp up the booster drive in September, and warned the 'vaccine wall of defence was crumbling';

Sajid Javid said that patients waiting for elective surgery such as hip replacements could see their treatment postponed as the NHS races to roll out a million jabs a day. He promised, however, that critical care for cancer patients would be unaffected;

Both Scotland and Wales dangled the possibility of having to impose tougher restrictions as Boris Johnson failed to rule out more measures for England.

Left, Prime Minister Boris Johnson speaks during Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons. Right, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Sajid Javid outside 10 Downing Street

Members of the public queue to receive a dose of a Covid-19 jab at a vaccination centre outside Guy's and St Thomas' Hospital in central London on December 13, 2021

NHS England was put on the highest level of alert for the first time since March. Level four means health bosses believe there is a real threat that an expected influx of Covid patients could start to force the closure of other vital services

Will we need three jabs to have 'fully vaccinated' status by JANUARY? Javid says booster shots will be needed for passes once Brits have had a 'reasonable chance' to get them - as new laws reveal 10,000 fine for faking proof to get into events People may need three jabs to use controversial Covid passports for entry to large venues by January, the Health Secretary warned. Sajid Javid told the Commons that people will only be considered 'fully vaccinated' once they have had their booster, and that three doses will be required for vaccine passports once all eligible adults in England have had 'a reasonable chance' to get the next jab. But he refused to clarify when these changes would come into force, as confusion mounts over whether the Prime Minister's promise in Sunday's TV address means everybody will have had their booster by December 31 or will just be offered a third dose by then. In a massively ambitious move, Boris Johnson brought forward the deadline to offer all over-18s a third jab by New Year's Day as he warned the country: 'There is a tidal wave of Omicron coming.' But concerns about whether the Government could even hit the goal were raised almost immediately after Mr Johnson's 8pm televised announcement. Even at the height of the NHS's vaccine drive in March, the health service never managed more than 850,000 jabs a day. Britons faced a five-hour queue for booster shots at St Thomas' hospital in Westminster on Monday, after officials reportedly assigned only four staff members to rolling out the jabs. The hospital said everyone in the queue would get a vaccine. There were reports of queues at vaccination centres dotted across the country, including in Kidlington, Belfast, Manchester and parts of London. Younger people were also turned away in the confusion as they tried to get booster jabs. Staff at the Manchester City's Etihad Stadium allowed those in their 20s in while others were declined. Advertisement

In a massively ambitious move, Mr Johnson brought forward the deadline to offer all over-18s a third jab by New Year's Day as he warned the country: 'There is a tidal wave of Omicron coming.'

But concerns about whether the Government could even hit the goal were raised almost immediately after Mr Johnson's 8pm televised announcement. Even at the height of the NHS's vaccine drive in March, the health service never managed more than 850,000 jabs a day.

In England a booster is available to everyone aged 18 or over from this week as long as the second dose was at least three months ago. Over-30s can already book a booster online and, from Wednesday, this will be extended to over-18s.

The UK recorded its first death involving Omicron, and 10 people are in hospital with the variant. Most of these 10 have received two vaccines and range in age from 18 to 85, though there are no details on whether they have underlying conditions.

Mr Javid told MPs there are now 4,713 confirmed cases of Omicron in the UK, adding that the UK Health Security Agency estimates that the current number of 'daily infections are around 200,000'.

He added: 'While Omicron represents over 20 per cent of cases in England, we've already seen it rise to over 44 per cent in London and we expect it to become the dominant Covid 19 variant in the capital in the next 48 hours.'

Overall, there were a further 54,661 lab-confirmed Covid-19 cases in the UK as of Monday morning, the Government said.

The NHS will need to exceed 840,000 booster jabs per day in a bid to fight Omicron, which is causing around 200,000 new infections per day, the Health Secretary said.

Mr Javid told MPs that every adult across England could expect to be offered a 'chance to get boosted by the end of this month' though he suggested not everyone would get a dose in December.

He said: 'It is asking a huge amount of our colleagues in the NHS. And it's our joint view that we can try to offer adults a chance to get boosted by the end of this month. And that does not mean every single person necessarily can get that booster, it requires them to come forward and to take up this offer as well, as well as everything going right in this huge expansion plan.'

It follows confusion over whether the Government has promised that people can all have a jab in their arm by the December 31 deadline, or whether they will just have an offer of a future vaccine.

Mr Javid told the Commons: 'Until now the highest number of jabs that we've delivered in a single day in the UK was over 840,000. We'll not only need to match that but we will need to beat that every day. But we can and we've got a plan to try and do it.

'We're opening more vaccination sites including pop-up and mobile sites that'll be working seven days a week.

'We are training thousands more volunteer vaccinators, we're asking GPs and pharmacies to do more and we're drafting in 42 military planning teams across every region of our country.'

Mr Javid said he acknowledge that 'our national mission comes with some difficult trade-offs', meaning some non-urgent appointments and surgery in the NHS may be cancelled.

He added: 'These are steps that no Health Secretary would wish to take unless they were absolutely necessary, but I am convinced that if we don't prioritise the booster now the health consequences will be far more grave in the months that lie ahead.'

Mr Javid also urged people to have boosters as a way of protecting children.

Robert Halfon, Conservative chairman of the Education Select Committee, asked Mr Javid to 'make sure schools are kept open in January'.

Mr Javid said: 'One of the reasons to take the measures we've said, especially around expanding the booster programme, is to make sure we can prioritise our children.'

Anti-vaxx protesters demonstrate outside the Houses of Parliament in London on Monday

Downing Street has indicated schools will be kept open unless there is an 'absolute public health emergency' and warned local authorities against deciding to close early for Christmas as a precautionary measure.

'There are certainly no plans to put in any restriction on schooling, we know how vital education has been and how detrimental the pandemic has been towards children and young people who, in many cases, have borne the brunt of this,' the Prime Minister's official spokesman said.

Earlier on Monday, Mr Johnson announced the first UK death with Omicron during a visit to a vaccination clinic near Paddington in west London.

The Prime Minister said: 'Sadly, yes, Omicron is producing hospitalisations and sadly at least one patient has been confirmed to have died with Omicron.

'So I think the idea that this is somehow a milder version of the virus, I think that's something we need to set on one side and just recognise the sheer pace at which it accelerates through the population. So the best thing we can do is all get our boosters.'

Responding to the fact the Government website said on Monday 'there are no more home tests available' when people tried to order lateral flow kits, the Prime Minister said there was a 'ready supply' of tests.

The UK Health Security Agency said earlier that 'due to exceptionally high demand, ordering lateral flow tests on gov.uk has been temporarily suspended to fulfil existing orders'.

It added: 'Everyone who needs a lateral flow test can collect test kits, either at their local pharmacy, some community sites and some schools and colleges.'

But Labour shadow health minister Wes Streeting described Covid testing as a 'shambles'.

He told MPs that pharmacies across the country are out of stock, 'and even here in Parliament there are no home-testing kits available from Portcullis House'.

He said an increase in demand should have been foreseen and said: 'This is a serious problem.'
Lasting at least 21 days and covering 11,654 miles, it is the ultimate challenge for train buffs.

Experts believe a new record has just been set for the longest possible continuous railway journey.

Thanks to the opening of a railway in Laos earlier this month, it is now possible to travel from Lagos, in southern Portugal, all the way to Singapore by train with just a few changes.

The 11,654-mile journey could be done in 21 days allowing for overnight stays to make connections and sort out visas and other paperwork, say experts.

It tops the previous longest possible rail trip by around 1,000 miles and has been made possible by the opening on December 2 of a railway connecting the Laotian cities of Vientiane, the capital, with Boten, near the Chinese border.

The journey, which does require some very short interchanges between stations, has been calculated by users of the Reddit website with help from British train enthusiast Mark Smith.

How it's now possible to travel by train from southern Portugal in western Europe to Singapore in East Asia

Starting with an Atlantic dip in Lagos, on the Algarve, you would wend your way across Europe and Siberia.

Then you would head south through China, Laos, Thailand and Malaysia before eventually you could end up enjoying Singapore Sling cocktails in the Long Bar at Raffles hotel in Singapore.

The railway in Laos was built by the Chinese and is the first in the landlocked country.

It allows the intrepid rail traveller to get from Beijing to Bangkok by rail  a gap that would previously have to have been largely crossed by bus  and then on to Singapore.

Previously, the rail traveller would have had to finish in Vietnam, a journey of around 10,500 miles.

Mr Smith, from Quainton, Buckinghamshire, a former station manager at Charing Cross and Cannon Street stations in London, said: 'Previously, you could only go as far south as Saigon and then go by bus through Cambodia to go to Bangkok.

The 1,000-plus mile trek would see travellers pass through Paris (pictured) and onto Moscow in Russia

From Moscow (pictured) travellers can get a train to Beijing

After travelling through Laos and other East Asian countries, the final destination would Singapore (pictured)

'But now there's the cross-Laos railway. It's a very impressive achievement.'

Mr Smith, who runs the seat61.com website which advises travellers on long-distance rail journeys, believes it will take around 21 days to complete the trip.

It will be this long because travellers will have to stay overnight along the route, for example in Lisbon, Madrid and Paris, and they will have to stay two nights in Moscow and two in Beijing.

But to make the complete journey they will have to wait because two of the longest legs  Paris to Moscow and Moscow to Beijing  are currently suspended due to the pandemic. The trip could cost a little over 1,000.
An ABC radio host has faced public backlash after airing a story about the birth of Jesus during an interview about the origin of Christmas.

Richard Glover, the host of ABC Sydney's Drive program, was inundated with messages from outraged listeners after the segment aired on Wednesday.

The host had interviewed Christian scholar The Reverend Professor Dorothy Lee from Melbourne's University of Divinity for a segment discussing the two biblical versions of the birth of Jesus Christ.

Richard Glover, (pictured) the host of ABC Sydney's Drive program has received a string of backlash over a segment discussing the birth of Jesus Christ

The chat was part of the program's 'Self Improvement Wednesday' which discusses a range of topics covering history, astronomy and philosophy, with an expert.

However, hours after the program aired Mr Glover took to Twitter in response to a flurry of backlash from listeners who left outraged over the subject.

'So many angry about seven minutes of radio today on the biblical account of the birth of Jesus - featuring an Australian scholar who happens to be one of the world's best,' he wrote.

'I know many don't believe - I don't - but why so angry about a Christian trip into a foundation text?' he wrote.

Mr Glover defended the segment as 'wonderful and compelling whatever your beliefs', arguing the the biblical account was mostly 'literary analysis'.

But the program left listeners divided, inciting furious debate over whether the national broadcaster went too far by hosting a segment on religion and Christianity.

The host had interviewed Christian scholar The Reverend Professor Dorothy Lee from the University of Divinity for a segment discussing the birth of Jesus ahead of Christmas

'Can you point to any text or historical document that records the birth or the life of Jesus's apart from the bible,' wrote one person.

'I guess its like having an antivaxxer conspiracy nut or a neo-Nazi on because their silly views are interesting,' commented another.

Others praised the host for holding an insightful discussion on Christianity ahead of the Christmas period.

'Richard - it was great radio. Thanks for selecting that as a topic and for discussing it in a respectful and interesting interview,' one person said.

'Dont let the turkeys get you down. I found it very interesting,' wrote another.

'Like it or not people of faith are part of society. They should be represented on public media. Ignoring them is dumb. Anyone who thinks they should not be heard is as bigoted as those of faith who attack others on the basis of their sexuality etc,' a third added.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted the ABC for comment.
A woman who stands accused of swindling more than $1million from a homebuyer during a property settlement has had a sensational blow up at reporters outside court.

Annelise Sunderland, 29, was arrested last month and charged with two counts of recklessly dealing with the proceeds of crime.

Police allege a wannabe homebuyer in the ACT unknowingly deposited more than $1million into a fraudulent NAB bank account during a property settlement in June.

It is alleged a woman in the ACT sent the money to the fake account - the details of which were taken from a compromised email address belonging to her lawyer, and contained altered bank details.

Ms Sunderland was supported by a friend and dressed in a black power suit, slides and a baby blue handbag as she pleaded not guilty in Parramatta Local Court on Tuesday morning.

Pictured: Annelise Sunderland (left), 29, leaving Parramatta Local Court on Tuesday with a friend (right)

Ms Sunderland tried to avoid photographer by shielding her face with court papers and an iced drink

She also asked to have her bail conditions changed so that she would only have to report to police once a week, instead of three times per week.

When approached by reporters outside the court, Ms Sunderland used a series of colourful phrases while telling them to leave her alone.

'Why don't you all just f*** off,' she said, shielding her face with court documents and what appeared to be an iced latte.

When a reporter asked where she allegedly stashed the million dollars, the woman made a vile comment about the journalist's mother.

Ms Sunderland wore a black power suit with a baby blue handbag. She will appear in court again on February 8

During the search of her Parramatta unit, police seized numerous mobile phones and documents for forensic analysis.

Ms Sunderland was charged on November 24 and granted bail.

Cybercrime Squad Commander, Detective Superintendent Matthew Craft, reminded people to remain vigilant when conducting transactions online.

'Get in the habit of checking the email address, URL, and spelling used in all correspondence and heavily scrutinise all transactions that you make online,' he said outside court.

'BEC scams aren't easy to detect because the invoices for clients and contractors often use the desired recipients branding but contain altered banking details.

'To avoid being scammed, people should use two-step verification methods where appropriate, and regularly update and maintain strong passwords.'

Ms Sunderland will face the court again on February 8.
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has been summoned to appear before a criminal court on a charge of concealing treason was successfully filed with a court.

The charge was successfully filed with the Myrtleford Magistrates' Court and Mr Andrews - or at least his legal representative - is listed to face the court on Friday at 9.30am.

While the prosecuting agency on the court record is listed as 'unknown', it is understood anti-lockdown campaigners Jim Rech and photographer Dezi Freeman had the matter listed privately.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has been charged by a private citizen with concealing treason

Protesters were told of the charges during a massive protest in Melbourne on November 27 (pictured)

Premier Daniel Andrews has been the target of protests over lockdown laws, vaccinations and his pandemic bill

Sources have told Daily Mail Australia the private prosecution had been rejected from several Victorian courts before finally being put into the criminal justice stream in Myrtleford - 280 km northeast of Melbourne.

Addressing 'freedom' protesters last month, Mr Rech claimed to have been successful in having the matter brought before the court, but it had since been suppressed to the general public.

Mr Rech, who refers to himself as a 'Commonwealth Public Official' is known to have tried similar proceedings against other members of parliament across the country, reportedly arresting 'those sitting on the bench without any Crown authority'.

Daily Mail Australia noted the matter is in fact listed on the court's Electronic Filing Appearance System, which is accessible to the wider community.

'He was charged with, but not limited to, misprision of treason and fraud. And as a result of those charges being filed and served, they were served at his electoral office,' Mr Rach told protesters.

'The police have been given notice  The courts have been told to suppress the listing but we put it out there, weve been to the court registrars.'

The Myrtleford Magistrates' Court accepted a private prosecution against Premier Daniel Andrews

Mr Rech told the mob the Victorian premier faced the 'death penalty' if convicted of treason.

'Now that means any politician on indictable criminal offences which is a life penalty but under martial law its a death sentence  it has to go to a grand jury,' he said.

Under the law in Victoria, ordinary citizens can pay $85.70 and file a criminal charge in court.

While many private prosecutions are described by legal professionals as 'wacky', they have a long history in Victoria.

Sydney Law School associate professor Tyrone Kirchengast told The Age in July private prosecutions were 'the cornerstone of the early justice system in the 12th century kings courts'.

Anti-lockdown campaigner Jim Rech addressed the crowd on November 27

Protesters against Daniel Andrews have successfully had charges accepted by a Victorian court

Thousands of Victorians have protested against Premier Daniel Andrews over the past two years

The practice goes back to a time before police and prosecutors where private citizens would apprehend and charge crooks themselves.

In those days, hanging the criminal was seen as a favourable option, but more often offenders were branded with hot irons or thrown into the stocks.

Today, private prosecutions are mostly used by municipal councils, building authorities and animal welfare groups.

But they are also brought into play by members of the public who believe the authorities have dismissed their claims for justice.

The case against Mr Andrews faces significant challenges, with the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions likely to take control of the matter before it gets off the ground.

Jim Rech told protesters outside Parliament House in Melbourne on November 27 he had filed charges

It remains unclear if Daniel Andrews will be forced to face the private prosecution, brought on by protesters

Premier Daniel Andrews has reportedly been slapped with a summons to appear at court on Friday

Under the law, the CDPP has the power to overtake and discontinue private prosecutions should it find it has no reasonable prospect of a conviction being secured on the available evidence or was 'not in the public interest'.

In July, a private prosecution against the Chief Magistrate of Victoria Lisa Hannan was dealt with in Victoria under similar laws.

Despite the obvious hurdles, the application has already caused significant inconvenience across sections of the State Government, which is expected to provide a lawyer to appear on Mr Andrews' behalf on Friday.

A staffer for the Victorian Director of Public Prosecutions will also be on hand, although the matter is out of its hands due to acts of treason falling under the Commonwealth's umbrella.

Mr Andrews' office failed to respond to Daily Mail Australia's questions about the upcoming hearing.
Ellie Aitken has resurfaced a week after announcing she'd be taking a break from the spotlight to focus on her family - accidentally setting off the alarm in her Range Rover as she made a dash to the shopping centre.

The lawyer and socialite has been keeping a low profile after her estranged husband Charlie Aitken announced his new romance with Ellie's former best friend, Hollie Nasser.

Ms Nasser, who works in the psychology field, was married to Mr Aitken's business partner and longtime investor, Christopher Nasser.

On Monday, Ms Aitken took her son shopping dressed in an all-black ensemble with a red frill at the bottom of the skirt.

She caught an Uber to her Range Rover, which was parked on a nearby street, and unintentionally set off the car alarm as she fiddled with the locks and collected items from the passenger seat.

Ellie Aitken has resurfaced a week after announcing she'd be taking a break from the spotlight to focus on her family

The outing comes a week after Ms Aitken released an emotional statement admitting she was not coping with the public fallout of her relationship breakdown

Ms Aitken appeared tense as she returned from the car back to her Uber, before carrying on to the store with her son.

The outing comes a week after Ms Aitken released an emotional statement admitting she was not coping with the public fallout of her relationship breakdown.

'The truth is that despite the support of friends and family I have not coped well with the deeply hurtful lies, gossip and innuendo that has surrounded the breakdown of my relationship,' she said.

She announced she would be 'taking a break from social media' and public view while she and her family adjust to the separation and her estranged husband's new relationship.

'I had attempted to put on a brave face and tried to manage my feelings and wellbeing despite the fact that I have not had any control over the reasons for my sorrow.'

She caught an Uber to her Range Rover, which was parked on a nearby street, and unintentionally set off the car alarm as she fiddled with the locks and collected items from the passenger seat

On Monday, Ms Aitken took her son shopping dressed in an all-black ensemble with a red frill at the bottom of the skirt

Ms Aitken was 'pushed to [her] limit', resulting in a rogue Instagram post calling out Ms Nasser.

The post accused her former friend of 'bullying' her and exposed a series of texts between the two women.

Ms Aitken shared a private text message she had received from Ms Nasser to Instagram accusing her of 'playing the victim' and blaming her for 'ruining her marriage'.

'Ellie there's no point in us talking anymore,' Ms Nasser's message begins.

'I can't believe after... you are out there playing the victim and saying I ruined your perfect marriage.'

Mr Aitken and his wife Ellie had been long-time friends of the Nasser's, and Mr Nasser was a director of the Aitken's wealth management company

The Instagram post was deleted within minutes, but not before it was shared widely among eastern suburbs social circles.

Ms Aitken has since acknowledged sharing the private texts only 'made a painful matter worse' and acknowledged she's struggling to navigate such a public split.

'It is a situation that I honestly never expected to endure, let alone so publicly... I was pushed to my limit over the weekend.

'The media focus on the private lives of the families involved continues to impact those affected by the choices and actions of others.'
Donald Trump Jr. and Fox News hosts sent frantic texts to Mark Meadows during the January 6 riot urging the president to 'condemn this sh*t' as it 'got out of hand', a House Committee has revealed.

The House Select Committee unanimously voted 9-0 on Monday night to recommend contempt charges against former White House chief of staff Meadows.

Rep. Liz Cheney, the select committee's vice chair, read a number of text messages from political and journalistic heavyweights which 'leave no doubt that the White House knew exactly what was happening here at the Capitol.'

'[President Trump] has got to condemn this sh*t ASAP. The Capitol police tweet is not enough,' Don Jr. texted Meadows.

Meadows replied to the president's son: 'I'm pushing it hard, I agree.'

'Donald Trump Jr. texted again and again urging action by the president, "We need an Oval Office address. He needs to lead now. It has gone too far and gotten out of hand,"' Cheney told the committee.

Laura Ingraham messaged: 'Mark, the president needs to tell people in the capitol to go home, this is hurting all of us. He is destroying his legacy.'

'Please get him on TV. Destroying everything you have accomplished,' Brian Kilmeade wrote to Meadows.

Sean Hannity advised: 'Can he make a statement? Ask people to leave the capitol.'

Former Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows went on Sean Hannity's Fox News show on Monday to say he was not surprised at the Jan. 6 committee's decision

Don Jr. and Fox host Laura Ingraham sent desperate messages to Meadows urging him to get a grip of the chaos at the Capitol

Donald Trump (pictured in the East Room of the White House in July 2020) held a rally at the Capitol which descended into a deadly riot on January 6

Rep. Adam Schiff read a number of lawmaker texts to Mark Meadows in advance of Monday's contempt of Congress vote

Republican Rep. Liz Cheney read through text messages sent to Meadows during the insurrection including from lawmakers, administration officials, several Fox News hosts and Donald Trump Jr. All encouraged the president to call the mob off

Meadows later appeared on Fox News claiming the investigation into the Capitol riot is an excuse to go after Trump 'once again.'

'It's disappointing, but not surprising,' Meadows told Hannity last night.

'Let's be clear about this, this is not about me - holding me in contempt. It's not even about making the Capitol safer. We've seen that by the selective leaks that are going on right now. This is about Donald Trump and about actually going after him once again,' Meadows said.

Prior to Monday's vote, the committee members laid out their case against the ex-White House chief of staff, who was at former President Donald Trump's side during the January 6 insurrection.

Chairman Bennie Thompson insisted Meadows - who had planned to cooperate and then changed his mind - 'hasn't left us any choice.'

On Monday, Hannity told his viewers that the committee is a 'sham' and a 'waste of your time and money.'

Meadows pushed back on one of the committee's central pieces of evidence: an email sent by Meadows on January 5 saying that the National Guard would be present the next day to 'protect pro Trump people.'

The former congressman from North Carolina suggested that the committee was trying to 'spin some nefarious purpose' on the email, which was meant to ensure a 'safe environment.'

He defended his lack of cooperation with the investigation into the Capitol riot, which led to the deaths of five people, saying that it's not up to him to speak.

'I can say that when you look at the criminal component of the intent, there's never been an intent on my part,' Meadows told Hannity.

'I have tried to share non-privileged information but truly, the executive privilege that Donald Trump has claimed is not mine to waive, it's not Congress' to wave, and that's why we filed the lawsuit to hopefully get the courts to weigh in - hopefully they will weigh in.'

In his opening remarks on Monday, Chairman Thompson said, 'Mr. Meadows put himself in this situation, he must now accept the consequences.'

'Anyone who wants to cooperate with our investigation can do so. Nearly everyone has,' Thompson also said.

'Our democracy was inches from ruin, our system of government was stretched to the breaking point. Members and staff were terrorized. Police officers fought hand and hand for hours. People lost their lives,' he recalled.

The U.S. House Select Committee on Jan. 6th met Monday night and voted 9-0 to hold Mark Meadows in contempt of Congress

'We want to figure out why and share that information with the American people,' he continued. 'And either you are on the side of helping us figure out why or you are trying to stop us from getting those answers.'

Thompson added that 'in real life there aren't a lot of bright-line moments.'

'This is one of them,' he noted. 'And if you are listening at home, Mr. Meadows, Mr. Bannon, Mr. Clark, I want you to know this: history will be written about these times. About the work this committee is undertaken. And history will not look upon any of you as martyrs. History will not look upon you as a victim. History will not dwell on long list of privileged claims or your legal sleight of hand.'

'History will record that in a critical moment in our democracy, most people were on the side of finding the truth or providing accountability, or strengthening our system for future generations,' Thompson said.

'And history will also record in this critical moment that some people were not. That some people hid behind excuses, went to great lengths answering questions explaining what they had done and what they knew,' Thompson said. 'I predict that history won't be kind to those people.'

Rep. Adam Schiff also read out a number of text messages the committee received from Mark Meadows before he decided to stop cooperating

Rep. Adam Schiff, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee and a select committee member, read more text messages, including an unnamed lawmaker telling Meadows that Vice President Mike Pence should throw out Electoral Votes when chairing the joint session to certify President Joe Biden's election on January 6.

'On January 6, 2021, Vice President Mike Pence as President of the Senate, should call out electoral votes that he believes are unconstitutional as no electoral votes at all,' the text read.

Schiff also called one of the texts 'chilling,' when yet another unnamed lawmaker apologized to Meadows for not being able to overturn the election during the certification session - without mentioning the Capitol attack.

'Yesterday was a terrible day. We tried everything we could in our objection to the 6 states. I'm sorry nothing worked,' the lawmaker said, according to Schiff.

Several lawmakers on the committee chided Meadows for not cooperating, yet putting 'part of that story in a book to line his pockets,' as Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger put it.

Meadows released a book, The Chief's Chief, earlier this month.

Committee members also pointed out that Meadows had been a member of Congress before becoming Trump's chief of staff in 2020.

Rep. Adam Kinzinger, appearing at the hearing remotely, chided Mark Meadows for not cooperating, yet putting 'part of that story in a book to line his pockets.' Meadows' book about his time at the White House came out earlier this month

Earlier Monday, Meadows' attorney urged the Jan. 6 committee not to pursue criminal charges against the former White House chief of staff, as he argued doing so would be 'contrary to law.'

'Such a referral would be contrary to law, manifestly unjust, unwise and unfair,' attorney George Terwilliger wrote. 'It would ill-serve the country to rush to judgment on the matter.'

Terwilliger said that a 'good-faith invocation of executive privilege and testimonial immunity' is within the bounds of the law for a former administration official.

The committee recommended the contempt charges on Sunday, the same day it released a report showing that Meadows said the National Guard was on standby to 'protect pro Trump people' in an email on January 5.

'There's a very high probability that they will refer me for criminal contempt to DOJ,' Meadows told Fox News' Sean Hannity on Monday.

Democratic leaders announced on Thursday that the full House will vote on the contempt measure this week.

Meadows is the third person to face a contempt vote in the House in the Democrat-led committee's investigation, after ex-Trump adviser Steve Bannon and former DOJ official Jeffrey Clark.

Bannon, Trump's former White House chief strategist, was indicted on two counts of contempt of Congress by a federal grand jury on November 12 after he refused to appear or hand over any documents.

The committee recommended the contempt charges on Sunday, the same day it released a report showing that Meadows said the National Guard was on standby to 'protect pro Trump people' in an email on January 5

Meadows did an about-face last week, deciding at the last minute that he would cease compliance with the committee after he and the committee could not come to agreement on the terms of his testimony, according to his attorney.

But he had already handed over around 6,000 pages of documents.

'A referral to the Department of Justice based on such an invocation would ignore the statute's legislative history and historical application, contravene well-established separation of powers principles, and improperly impute a criminal intent to a good-faith actor,' Terwilliger said Monday.

When Meadows failed to appear for his deposition last Wednesday, the committee announced it would move to refer criminal contempt charges to the Department of Justice.

The former chief of staff, in turn, filed a lawsuit against members of the House Jan. 6 committee and Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

In the case, Meadows accuses the investigators of trying to 'violate' the principle of executive privilege that should protect his communications with Trump.

It asks a judge to invalidate two 'overly broad' subpoenas and accuses the committee of overreach by issuing a demand to Verizon for his cell phone records.

'After working with them - trying to work with them - it became obvious over the last 72 hours or so that they continued to plan to delve into both executive privilege and some of the deliberative speech that would have occurred as a result of my interactions with the president and other senior staff and so we had to make the tough decision to say that we're gonna no longer cooperate,' Meadows told the Jenna Ellis show.

He said revealing their conversations would set a dangerous precedent.

Reps. Bennie Thompson D-Miss., and Liz Cheney, R-Wisc., said in a statement last week that they had questions about official communications Meadows had carried from his personal accounts, and that he needed to appear over his non-privileged communications.

'We also need to hear from him about voluminous official records stored in his personal phone and email accounts, which were required to be turned over to the National Archives in accordance with the Presidential Records act.'

'Even as we litigate privilege issues, the Select Committee has numerous questions for Mr. Meadows about records he has turned over to the Committee with no claim of privilege, which include real-time communications with many individuals as the events of January 6th unfolded,' Thompson and Cheney wrote in the statement.

In a 51-page report released Sunday, the committee described a series of messages sent by Meadows to various people.

'The Chief's Chief,' by former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, was published by All Seasons Press on December 7

'Mr. Meadows sent an email [on January 5] to an individual about the events on January 6 and said that the National Guard would be present to 'protect pro Trump people' and that many more would be available on standby,' the report states.

The committee also identified a text message that Meadows sent to a member of Congress in November 2020 'regarding efforts to contact state legislators because, as Mr. Meadows indicates in his text messages, quote, 'POTUS wants to chat with them.''

In the document released Sunday, the committee outlined the questions it would have asked Meadows had he cooperated.

'We would've asked Mr. Meadows about text messages exchanged with various individuals, including Members of Congress, on January 6th, both before, during, and after the attack on the United States Capitol, including text messages encouraging Mr. Meadows to facilitate a statement by President Trump discouraging violence at the Capitol on January 6th, including a text exchange with a media personality who had encouraged the presidential statement asking people to, quote, 'peacefully leave the Capitol,' end quote, as well as a text sent to one ofby one of the President's family members indicating that Mr. Meadows is, quote, 'pushing hard,' end quote, for a statement from President Trump to, quote, 'condemn this s***,' end quote, happening at the Capitol.'

Meadows has continued to defend Trump, including in his new book, The Chief's Chief, released last week.

The former congressman wrote that Trump would've taken the law into his own hands to fight off Black Lives Matter protesters trying to enter the White House last year and 'knocked their heads in' if the Secret Service hadn't led him to a secure bunker instead.

'But he didn't have a choice. When it comes to the United States Secret Service, no one does. Either you do what they say, or they pick you up and make you do it.
All pornography websites should have a legal duty to prevent children from accessing them, MPs and peers say today.

A parliamentary committee also called for criminal offences to be created including the promotion of self-harm, cyberflashing  sending unwanted obscene pictures  and trolling people on the basis of gender, disability or race.

It added that online fraud must be treated as seriously as terrorism under forthcoming internet laws.

It further called on the Government to introduce stronger exemptions to prevent tech giants from blocking or removing news content from recognised publishers unless it is illegal.

The recommendations are among a raft of changes suggested by the cross-party committee to improve the draft Online Safety Bill before it is put to Parliament. Free speech would also be defended by protections for content that serves the public interest.

All pornography websites should have a legal duty to prevent children from accessing them, MPs and peers say today. A parliamentary committee also called for criminal offences to be created including the promotion of self-harm, cyberflashing  sending unwanted obscene pictures  and trolling people on the basis of gender, disability or race.

The committee has addressed concerns that the draft bills definition of legal but harmful content is too vague, calling for crimes to be created to tackle specific issues such as cyberflashing. It recommended introducing legal duties for all pornography sites to keep children from accessing them.

Under the present draft bill, this rule applies only to sites with user-generated content.

The committee said online scams should be classed as priority illegal content, meaning platforms are required to stop them appearing in the first place.

It has also urged the Government to bring fraudulent internet adverts  such as those that use fake celebrity endorsements to dupe victims into investing  into the scope of the legislation.

Famous names such as Sir Richard Branson and Martin Lewis are among those that have been used to dupe victims. Tory MP Damian Collins is chairman of the joint committee on the draft Online Safety Bill and has heard from victims, ministers, regulators and tech giants.

Tory MP Damian Collins is chairman of the joint committee on the draft Online Safety Bill and has heard from victims, ministers, regulators and tech giants. He said: The committee were unanimous in their conclusion that we need to call time on the Wild West online. A lack of regulation online has left too many people vulnerable to abuse, fraud, violence and in some cases even loss of life.

He said: The committee were unanimous in their conclusion that we need to call time on the Wild West online.

Whats illegal offline should be regulated online. For too long, big tech has got away with being the land of the lawless.

A lack of regulation online has left too many people vulnerable to abuse, fraud, violence and in some cases even loss of life.

The long-awaited legislation will impose a duty of care on tech giants to protect users from harmful content. It will install Ofcom as regulator with the power to fine them up to 10 per cent of their global turnover.

The Government has two months to respond to the committees recommendations and the bill is due to be put to Parliament next year.

The report highlighted how fraud was the biggest single crime in the UK in 2020, with around 85 per cent of scams relying on the internet in some way.

Studies estimate that victims have lost 2.3billion to fraud over the past year alone, with one in three affected admitting they felt depressed afterwards. But the draft bill currently defines fraud as illegal content, meaning providers are required to remove such content only after being notified by users.

The committee has recommended the Government change it to priority illegal content in order to honour its pledge to properly combat the problem.

Concerns have been raised that the bill would also do nothing to stop criminals continuing to pay for online advertising to promote their scams.

The committees inquiry heard how criminals would copy the websites of insurance companies and pay for them to appear at the top of search results  above the legitimate site.

In response, the report called for paid-for ads to be included in the scope of the bill.

Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen leaves after giving evidence to the joint committee for the Draft Online Safety Bill at the Houses of Parliament, in London, October 2021. The committee has been hearing evidence from tech executives, researchers and whistleblowers such as Haugen, whose revelations alleging that the company put profits ahead of safety have galvanized legislative and regulatory efforts around the world to clamp down on online hate speech and misinformation.

In response to the proposed exemptions for online content from news publishers, the News Media Association  which represents national, regional, and local news organisations in the UK  said it was pleased that the report acknowledged the critical importance of robust and workable protections for freedom of speech.

The associations chief executive Owen Meredith said: We note that the report includes a recommendation for Government to work with industry bodies to ensure that the news publisher content exemption is watertight and fit for purpose, and we look forward to engaging with policy makers on this vitally important provision.

The committees report also says tech companies should install a senior manager as a safety controller, who would ultimately be liable if there was evidence of repeated and systemic failings causing serious harm to users.
Scott Morrison has urged Australians not to be worried about rising Covid case numbers, insisting the nation has chosen to live with the virus.

Speaking in Melbourne on Tuesday, the Prime Minister said high case numbers are fine as long as health systems can cope with any increased workload.

'Cases are not the issue and I know over a period of time we may have become conditioned to case numbers being the trigger. That's not the case,' he said.

NSW has reported 804 Covid cases in the past 24 hours in a large surge in case numbers. Pictured are shoppers in Sydney on November 26

'Now, here in Victoria you've been having cases of over 1,000 a day for some time and the Victorian public hospital system and health system is coping strongly.

'They did the work, they did the planning, New South Wales is the same. So that is the way forward.'

Victoria has been recording about 1,000 cases a day for the past month while NSW's tally spiked to 804 on Tuesday from 536 on Monday.

But only 607 Australians are in hospital with the virus as vaccines work to reduce symptoms.

Mr Morrison said Australia's high vaccine rate of almost 90 per cent means that lockdowns don't have to be considered.

'That means we have choices today that we didn't have 18 months ago and that means that we can continue to move forward,' he said.

Scott Morrison (pictured on Monday) has urged Australians not to be worried about rising Covid case numbers, insisting we must live with the virus

He said the mutant Omicron strain - which appears to be more infectious but less serious than Delta - would not derail Australia's opening plan to allow skilled migrants and international students in from Wednesday.

'We're not going to let Omicron take us back again. We've decided as a country to live with this virus and Australians have worked so hard for that.'

Mr Morrison made the comments as he announced Australia will set up its own mRNA vaccine manufacturing facility to produce as many as 100 million vaccines a year, helping the country prepare for future pandemics.

The facility will be built in Victoria as part of a partnership between the federal and state governments, as well as vaccine manufacturer Moderna, and is expected to be operational by 2024.

Australian Medical Association president Omar Khorshid said the production would be a significant to the world's vaccination stocks during a future pandemic.

'It is great news, not just for the management of this pandemic, but for the enormous horizons that mRNA technology has in terms of treating other diseases we wouldn't have thought could be treated by vaccines, such as cancers,' he told the Nine Network.

The new manufacturing plant will produce respiratory vaccines for potential future pandemics and as well as seasonal health issues such as the flu. Moderna wants it to to be up and running by 2024.

'This investment will continue to secure Australia's future economic prosperity while protecting lives by providing access to world-leading mRNA vaccines made on Australian soil,' Mr Morrison said.

The county has been dependent on overseas supply from the US and Europe for mRNA vaccines such as Moderna and Pfizer.

The development comes after NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet promised 'no more lockdowns' for the state in an interview with Alan Jones on Facebook Live on Monday night.

Restrictions are set to ease on December 15, with unvaccinated residents allowed to visit restaurants and shops for the first time since NSW went into lockdown in June.

A 'pingdemic' of health alerts has meanwhile forced thousands into isolation as the state opens up to the rest of the world, with almost two million Covid alerts issued by Service NSW over the past fortnight.

Health authorities have linked 84 cases to the Argyle House nightclub in Newcastle, and on Tuesday night announced the city's Finnegan's Hotel had also been exposed to the virus.

Anyone who went to the popular night spot over an eight hour period on Saturday night has been forced into isolation.

With AAP
The ability of foreign criminals to dodge deportation on human rights grounds will be curtailed under the new Bill of Rights.

Reforms will massively restrict the number of appeals brought under the controversial right to private and family life.

They will make it far more difficult for appeals to reach court under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which was enshrined in UK law by Labour.

The new Bill of Rights will also insist that rulings by Britains top judges take precedence over those from the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.

Justice Secretary Dominic Raab said: Our plans for a Bill of Rights will strengthen typically British rights like freedom of speech and trial by jury, while preventing abuses of the system and adding a healthy dose of common sense.

Justice Secretary Dominic Raab says the Government's plan for a Bill of Rights will strengthen 'typically British rights' like freedom of speech and trial by jury, while preventing abuses of the system

Currently up to 70 per cent of foreign criminals who lodge deportation appeals do so under Article 8, claiming it will be a breach of their rights to return them to their home nation for reasons such as they have children in the UK.

But sources said under the new plans they will have to seek permission from the courts first. It is understood foreign offenders could be restricted from using Article 8 depending on the gravity of their crime or the length of their jail sentence.

A senior Government source said last night: The idea is to have a permission stage that could effectively filter out spurious or vexatious claims to make sure the courts are concentrating on the genuine, credible ones.

'The European Court itself has its permission stage as well. So in a way well be following the model that Strasbourg has.

Officials believe the changes will end interference from Europe because measures will emphasise the seniority of the UKs Supreme Court.

Reforms by the Tory-led coalition government in 2012 attempted to stop abuse of Article 8, saying criminality should only be outweighed by family life arguments in exceptional cases.

But sources said the move failed and since then the proportion of successful appeals under Article 8 has increased. Latest figures, published in August, showed 10,882 foreign offenders have been released from prison but have avoided deportation.

The total walking the streets has rocketed by 176 per cent since 2012, when it stood at under 4,000. Ministers are also understood to believe human rights reforms are essential to their plans to shake up the parole system.

Amid concern about decisions to free offenders such as double child killer Colin Pitchfork, the Ministry of Justice is working on changes which place more weight on public protection than criminals rights.
The Air Force has discharged 27 people for refusing to get the COVID-19 vaccine, making them what officials believe are the first service members to be removed for disobeying the mandate to get the shots.

The Air Force gave its forces until November 2 to get the vaccine, and thousands have either refused or sought an exemption.

Air Force spokeswoman Ann Stefanek said Monday that these are the first airmen to be administratively discharged for reasons involving the vaccine.

She said all of them were in their first term of enlistment, so they were younger, lower-ranking personnel. And while the Air Force does not disclose what type of discharge a service member gets, legislation working its way through Congress limits the military to giving troops in vaccine refusal cases an honorable discharge or general discharge under honorable conditions.

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, pictured, has said the vaccine is critical to maintaining the health of the force and its ability to respond to a national security crisis

The Pentagon earlier this year required the vaccine for all members of the military, including active duty, National Guard and the Reserves. Each of the services set its own deadlines and procedures for the mandate, and the Air Force set the earliest deadline.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has said the vaccine is critical to maintaining the health of the force and its ability to respond to a national security crisis.

None of the 27 airmen sought any type of exemption, medical, administrative or religious, Stefanek said.

Several officials from the other services said they believe that so far only the Air Force has gotten this far along in the process and discharged people over the vaccine refusal.

As a result, they were formally removed from service for failure to obey an order. Stefanek said it is also possible that some had other infractions on their records, but all had the vaccine refusal as one of the elements of their discharge.

It is not unusual for members of the military to be thrown out of the service for disobeying an order- discipline is a key tenet of the armed services.

As a comparison, Stefanek said that in the first three quarters of 2021, about 1,800 airmen were discharged for failure to follow orders.

According to the latest Air Force data, more than 1,000 airmen have refused the shot and more than 4,700 are seeking a religious exemption. As of last week, a bit more than 97% of the active duty Air Force had gotten at least one shot.

Master Sgt. Tiffany Sneeze, from the 165th Airlift Wing, administers the COVID-19 vaccination to an Airman on Dobbins Air Force Base, Georgia, pictured in June. U.S. Air Force has said 27 service members have been discharged for refusing to receive a COVID-19 vaccine

The Pentagon made the vaccine mandatory for all service members in August and the vast majority of active-duty troops have received at least one dose. Pictured in May, Capt. Sarah Gilbert, 59th Medical Wing clinical nurse, discusses the COVID-19 vaccine with a basic trainee from the 37th Training Wing at Wilford Hall Ambulatory Surgical Center

Members of the Navy and the Marine Corps had until November 28 to get the shots and their Reserve members have until December 28. Army active duty soldiers have until Wednesday, and members of the Army National Guard and the Reserves have the most time to be vaccinated, with a deadline of next June 30.

Across the military, the vaccine reaction has mirrored that of society as a whole, with thousands seeking exemptions or refusing the shots. But overall the percentage of troops - particularly active duty members - who quicky got the shots exceeds the nationwide numbers.

As of December 10, the Pentagon said that 96.4% of active duty personnel have gotten at least one shot. The number plummts to about 74%, however, when the Guard and Reserve are included. According to the Centers for Disease Control, about 72% of the U.S. population 18 and older have gotten at least one shot.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has made it clear that the Guard and Reserve are also subject to the mandate, and has warned that those who fail to comply risk their continuing members in the military. But that has proven to be contentious.

About 97% of 326,000 Air Force personnel are vaccinated against the virus, a number far higher than the general U.S. population. Pictured, Capt. (Dr.) Joseph Santamaria, 59th Medical Wing opthamologist, administers a COVID-19 vaccine to a 37th Training Wing trainee last May

Oklahomas Republican governor and the state attorney general have already filed a federal lawsuit challenging the military mandate for the state's Guard. Gov. Kevin Stitt - the first state leader to publicly challenge the mandate - is arguing that Austin is overstepping his constitutional authority.

Stitt had asked Austin to suspend the mandate for the Oklahoma National Guard and directed his new adjutant general to assure members that they would not be punished for not being vaccinated.

Austin rejected the request and said unvaccinated Guard members would be barred from federally funded drills and training required to maintain their Guard status.

Oklahoma's adjutant general, Brig. Gen. Thomas Mancino, posted a letter on the state Guard's website, however, warning his troops that those who refuse the vaccine could end their military careers.

'Anyone ... deciding not to take the vaccine, must realize that the potential for career ending federal action, barring a favorable court ruling, legislative intervention, or a change in policy is present,' Mancino wrote.
Comedian Terry Gilliam has broken his silence after his show was cancelled by The Old Vic theatre and said he never thought 'freedom of recommendation' would be under threat.

The Monty Python star, 81, was set to co-direct Stephen Sondheim's musical Into The Woods next year when the iconic theatre in London announced the production had been called off last month.

The move came after Gilliam urged his 495,000 Facebook followers to watch US comedian Dave Chappelle's controversial new Netflix show, The Closer.

In a post on social media the actor has now said his 'unspeakable crime' was recommending to his Facebook followers to watch a show by a 'brilliant and provocative American comedian'.

He went on to say it was 'very sad' that a 'great cultural institution like The Old Vic allowed itself to be intimidated into cancelling our production'.

Comedian Terry Gilliam said he never thought 'freedom of recommendation' would be under threat after his show was cancelled by The Old Vic theatre last month

The former Monty Python star urged his 495,000 Facebook followers to watch US comedian Dave Chappelle's controversial new Netflix show, The Closer

He wrote: 'It is very sad that a great cultural institution like The Old Vic allowed itself to be intimidated into cancelling our production of Into The Woods by a small group of closed-minded, humour-averse ideologues on their staff, who absurdly, call themselves ''The Old Vic 12''...as if they are the victims of some cruel injustice desperately fighting for their freedom!

'My unspeakable crime was recommending my Facebook followers to watch a Netflix special by a brilliant and provocative American comedian, and then share with me their opinions.

'They did and civilisation did not collapse! However, The Old Vic's artistic credibility certainly has.

'Freedom of Speech is often attacked, but I never imagined that Freedom of Recommendation would be under threat as well.'

In October, Gilliam publicly backed Chappelle and told his followers he would 'love to hear their opinions' on his new Netflix special.

He wrote: 'I'm encouraging all of you to watch Dave Chappelle's new show, The Closer, on Netflix. To me, he's the greatest standup comedian alive today: incredibly intelligent, socially aware, dangerously provocative, and gut-wrenchingly funny.

'There's a storm brewing over Netflix's support for the show. I'd love to hear your opinions.'

Chappelle's Netflix special has sparked a backlash for his comments about the LGBT+ community.

The show, which saw some Netflix employees walk out in protest, also sees the comedian tell the audience that 'gender is a fact'.

The comedian took to social media to say his 'unspeakable crime' was recommending to his Facebook followers to watch a show by a 'brilliant and provocative American comedian'

In October Gilliam took to Facebook and said he would 'love to hear the opinions' of those who had watched Dave Chappelle's new show

The former Monty Python star was set to co-direct Stephen Sondheim's musical Into The Woods next year when then The Old Vic theatre in London announced the production had been called off

Concerns were said to have been raised in May over Gilliam's work with the Old Vic, but bosses had proceeded with the production.

Members of the Old Vic 12 - the organisation's artistic development scheme - were among those voicing concerns, The Stage reported.

Old Vic employees were also said to be angry and one even resigned because of Gilliam's stance on Harvey Weinstein, the #MeToo movement and transgender rights.

It was reported that senior management later met Gilliam and his co-director Leah Hausman 'as a matter of course to discuss our culture and values'.

A spokesman told The Stage: 'The Old Vic and co-producers Scenario Two mutually agreed that the production of Into the Woods will not take place at The Old Vic. We won't be commenting further.'

Into the Woods hit Broadway in 1987 before making its West End debut at the Phoenix Theatre in 1990.

It was adapted for the big scream by Disney in 2015 with Meryl Streep, James Corden and Johnny Depp among the cast.

Last month the show's production company Scenario Two confirmed the Theatre Royal Bath will now put on Gilliam's highly-anticipated version from August next year.

Scenario Two boss John Berry said the theatre bosses in Bath had shown an interest in hosting the musical within hours of The Old Vic withdrawing its support in November.

He said Mr Sondheim, who died on November 26, was 'steadfast' in his support for Gilliam, adding the celebrated composer would 'wholeheartedly approve the idea of staging in Bath'.

Mr Berry told The Times: 'I think it is perfect for us. We get a chance to really test the production and then the plan is to bring it into town [London].

'This is going to be really exciting. In some ways it is the perfect environment for Terry's great vision.'
The verb to Megsplain has been defined in this column as to make a banal or meaningless statement employing a courageous, virtuous tone.

In this multiple choice quiz, I provide you with the beginning of a real Megsplanation, and you have to say how it ends:

1. Meghans childrens book The Bench begins:

This is your bench

Where youll witness great joy...

 but how does it continue?

a) From here you will rest

See the growth of our boy

b) As you gaze at your wife

Looking ever so coy

c) Watching granny in The Crown

As played by Clare Foy

d) And if we save up

We can give Archie a toy.

e) And on our next trip to London

Well book the Savoy.

2. TraveLling gives you ...

a) More frequent flyer points

b) DVT

c) Some perspective of what the rest of the world is like

d) A chance to speak to the crew in Business Class, and ask how the folk in standard are coping

e) The opportunity to pick up top-brand scents at 20 per cent off

3. Ive never wanted to be a lady who lunches  Ive always wanted to be a woman who ...

a) Breakfasts, then lunches

b) Sues

c) Marries a prince

d) Connects

e) Works

The verb to Megsplain has been defined in this column as to make a banal or meaningless statement employing a courageous, virtuous tone (Meghan Markle pictured in Sept 2021)

4. I think the biggest part of being a girl boss in the office, at home, or anywhere you go is just knowing your ...

a) Price

b) Value

c) Worth

d) Onions

e) Highway code

5. Achieving net zero carbon emissions means making a series of choices over time to make that footprint as small as possible, while compensating for any remaining emissions through ...

a) Eating quinoa twice a day

b) Never driving if you can fly

c) High-quality carbon removal projects

d) Lighting up the world with your radiant smile

e) Rubbing two sticks together

6. Believing in true equality is not enough ...

a) We must also encourage all the ordinary folk to strive for equality on our behalf, even if we have to pay them to do so

b) And thats what I said to my good friend Oprah when she welcomed me into her literally stunning mansion last week

c) Thats the first thing life taught me on the day I became a real-life Princess

d) Its going to take more than belief. We have to work for it every day

e) First, you must fix yourself a multi-million dollar Netflix deal

7. Believe in what makes you ...

a) Money

b) Lose weight

c) Better than others

d) Unique

e) Adored

8. As a mom, and an expectant mom, I deeply appreciate the significance of ...

a) Community support, safe and accessible pregnancy resources, and trusted guidance in a nurturing setting

b) A nanny who has signed an NDA

c) The love and kindness of those who surround me.

d) Under-floor heating, ecologically sourced

e) A contract with Netflix

What's your score in the Meg quiz? (Meghan Markle pictured on the Ellen DeGeneres Show)

9. (statement from the Archewell Foundation) Our co-founders, Prince Harry and Meghan, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, have a long-standing commitment to ...

a) Personal growth

b) Empowerment

c) The planet

d) Chickens

e) Oprah

10. With fame comes...

a) Pressure

b) Friends

c) Wealth

d) Opportunity

e) A loss of the sense of what makes us who we really are

11. We want to make sure that as we recover, we recover stronger; that as we rebuild ...

a) We have our designers fit a top-of-the-range kitchen with marble worktops, crystal taps and a rustic-style eating area

b) We rebuild together

c) We put in underfloor heating

d) We make an impact

e) We learn to empower our dreams

Answers: 1a; 2c; 3e; 4b; 5c; 6d; 7d; 8a; 9c; 10d; 11b
While Australia sits on the cusp of an Omicron explosion, a leading epidemiologist has issued a plea for Aussies to get a vaccine booster and a Covid test in the hope it will prevent Christmas Day turning into a patchwork of super-spreader events.

New South Wales recorded a jump of 300 new cases to 804 on Tuesday, but leading epidemiologist Catherine Bennett is more concerned about the Delta variant's impact in Victoria.

The Deakin University Professor said the rising number of NSW cases attributed to the new Omicron variant was worrying but not yet alarming because it is not being accompanied by a rise in potentially deadly cases.

She urged people to get a booster and a Covid test before they go anywhere at Christmas - including on family visits.

Victoria announced cases remained stubbornly high at 1,189 cases on Tuesday - topping the 1,000 mark for nearly a month.

A leading epidemiologist has issued an extraordinary warning to prevent Christmas Day turning into a patchwork of super spreader events because of the Delta strain (pictured, arrivals at Sydney Airport in December)

While Omicron is on everyone's lips, Delta has the track record as a deadlier strain and because of increased hospitalisations, Victorians have been warned over indoor Christmas celebrations

HOW DANGEROUS IS OMICRON? A study from the South African Medical Research Council on Tuesday found: - Omicron looks to cause milder symptoms, but is significantly more transmissible - Two Pfizer jabs are only 70 per cent effective against hospitalisation - There are 38 hospital admissions per 1,000 Omicron cases, compared to 101 per 1,000 for Delta - Overall hospitalisation admission is 29 per cent lower for Omicron, and hospitalisted patients are less sick The study looked at data from 78,000 Omicron patients in South Africa Advertisement

Ms Bennett said the actual number of new infections is likely far higher than what is being reported - because testing numbers have dropped so much.

'We can't rely on case numbers now, so many things impact how many of the cases are captured or measured, from whether people even get tested to active follow-up after an outbreak, to reporting of exposure sites.

'We will never get 100 per cent of the actual case numbers now.'

The most important numbers are what's happening in hospital wards, she said.

Scott Morrison also urged Australians not to be worried about rising Covid case numbers, insisting the nation has chosen to live with the virus.

Booster Covid jabs have been proven to offer 75 per cent protection against mild illness caused by the super-mutant Omicron strain (pictured, a young woman being jabbed in Sydney)

NSW has reported 804 Covid cases in the past 24 hours in a large surge in case numbers (pictured, Sydney Christmas shoppers)

Speaking in Melbourne on Tuesday, the Prime Minister said high case numbers are fine as long as health systems can cope with any increased workload.

'Cases are not the issue and I know over a period of time we may have become conditioned to case numbers being the trigger. That's not the case,' he said.

While the impact of Omicron on unvaccinated people, or those without any immunity is not yet known, Ms Bennett said experts are coming to believe the new variant is less dangerous than the Delta strain.

To date only one person has been admitted to hospital with Omicron in Australia.

There has also been speculation that should a less-deadly Omicron become the dominant strain that could signal the beginning of the end of the pandemic.

School does not finish in NSW and Victoria until Friday December 17, which could contribute to increased virus spread (pictured, teens waiting for a jab in Melbourne)

But on the basis of what's happening in Victorian hospitals, Ms Bennett thinks it is likely the Delta strain is behind Victoria's surge in hospitalisations and ICU cases.

There are currently 364 cases in hospital in Victoria with 80 cases in ICUs. In NSW just 21 are in ICUs, while 168 people are in hospital.

'While Victoria's numbers haven't budged yet, hospitalizations have gone up and new ICU cases have doubled in last 10 days in Victoria,' she said.

Ms Bennett said because Victoria's active ICU cases are increasing '10 per cent every day' and they could soon place the state's hospital system under as much pressure as at any time during the pandemic.

'Those cases are rising quite quickly, if its going to continue to rise at 10 per cent a day it wont take long to hit where we were at the peak.'

She said the current surge in case numbers will continue, especially with students still in school and Christmas shopping intensifying.

School does not finish in NSW and Victoria until Friday December 17, which could contribute to increased virus spread.

'I think we might have seen push up in numbers anyway as we come into a busy time over next 3 weeks or so.'

Scott Morrison (pictured on Monday) has urged Australians not to be worried about rising Covid case numbers, insisting we must live with the virus

Then there's Christmas Day, which could be a major concern with thousands of family gatherings - many of them taking place indoors.

Because of the increase in hospitalizations in Victoria, Ms Bennett warned people to think ahead about the potential for spread at Christmas parties.

Ms Bennett recommended people take advantage of the new guidelines around boosters, which now allow for a third dose five months after your second dose.

The move by the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation means 1.5 million Australian will be eligible to get their third dose from Sunday, along with a further 2 million by Chirstmas.

The vaccine regulator brought the waiting period forward for those aged over 18, as cases Omicron variant continue to surge in Australia.

'The other key measure is rapid antigen testing,' she said.

She recommends anyone hosting an indoor Christmas Day gathering in Victoria should be asking all guests to return a negative rapid antigen test before visiting.

'If you are going to have 30 people indoors, do everything you can for ventilation.

'If you can't do much about ventilation or you have vulnerable people at your party ask people to test themselves in the morning before they come, and ask people to stay home if they have symptoms.'

Ms Bennett recommended buying the nasal swap Covid test kits from the supermarket. They return a test result in about 15 minute.

Woolworths and Coles sells a two-pack of rapid antigen tests for $30, while they retailed for $25 at Chemist Warehouse.

'Doing that doesn't guarantee you won't have anyone in the house with the virus, but it reduces the risk of having someone in your home who is infectious.'

She says that is especially the case if vulnerable people will be present - the elderly or immunocompromised - or if you don't have much ventilation indoors.
Anti-vaxxers and conspiracy theorists have falsely accused Scott Morrison of comparing people getting jabbed to sheep being herded through a gate.

In a press conference in Sydney's inner west on Friday, the Prime Minister was asked what he would say to Western Australia Premier Mark McGowan about reopening his borders to the rest of the nation.

In response, Mr Morrison clumsily compared bringing each state in line with the national re-opening plan to herding sheep.

'My position hasn't changed for all premiers and chief ministers and that is to implement the national plan that we agreed. To bring Australians together, to live with the virus,' he said.

'I appreciate greatly the work done by all the premiers and chief ministers and seeing those national vaccination rates get to where they are.

'We've got one more state to get through that gate as it's a bit like, you know, getting the sheep through the gate and into the run and we've got one more state to get through'.

Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce made a similar comment in September when he said getting the states on the same page was like 'herding cats'.

But the PM's remark was hugely misinterpreted online by anti-vaxxers who thought he was comparing the vaccinated population to sheep willingly obeying instructions.

One YouTube video of the comment, which was viewed 150,000 times, was titled 'Australia PM LITERALLY Refers to Those Getting the Shot as THE SHEEP'.

The video featured a clip of the remarks followed by a man pretending to be a sheep and attracted dozens of outraged comments from vaccine sceptics.

Anti-vaxxers and conspiracy theorists have falsely accused Scott Morrison of comparing people getting jabbed (pictured in Melbourne) to sheep being herded through a gate

'Sheep sounds better than cattle. Don't give up people fight for your own - there are more of you,' wrote one.

'He may as well have said ''lead the rest of the lambs to the slaughter'',' another added.

One viewer simply wrote: 'This bloke has got to go'.

A source close to Mr Morrison said the comments had been misrepresented and insisted he was using the gate analogy to describe the nation's progress towards re-opening.

The national re-opening plan specified there would be no domestic restrictions once each state hits the 70 per cent vaccination rate.

But several states ignored it, including WA which will open when 90 per cent are vaccinated on February 5.
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem has written a bill that would require public school districts to provide a daily moment of silence for 'voluntary prayer, reflection, meditation, or other quiet, respectful activity.'

Noem's office released the draft legislation on Monday and plans to introduce it in the Republican-led state legislature when its annual session begins next month.

The bill states that students and teachers are 'best served by a moment of silence at the start of every school day to afford them a reprieve from the frenzy of daily life and to set a tone of decorum that will be conducive to learning.'

It would provide for a moment of silence 'lasting up to one minute' every morning, according to a copy obtained by the Grand Forks Herald.

Noem, 50, told a crowd in Iowa over the summer that she's 'putting prayer back in our schools.'

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem is proposing a bill that would require public schools to host 'up to one minute' of silence every day for prayer, meditation or other quiet activity

Children can already pray in schools 'on the same terms and conditions that they may engage in other conversation or speech,' according to the Department of Education

Children are already allowed to pray individually or in groups and to discuss religion freely with their classmates while they're in school 'on the same terms and conditions that they may engage in other conversation or speech,' according to the US Department of Education.

In 1962, the Supreme Court ruled that mandated school praying was a violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, which prohibits the government from making any law 'respecting an establishment of religion.'

The court struck down a 22-word non-denominational prayer recommended to school districts by the New York Board of Regents.

The prayer read: 'Almighty God, we acknowledge our dependence upon Thee, and we beg Thy blessings upon us, our parents, our teachers and our Country,' according to Middle Tennessee State University's First Amendment Encyclopedia.

Noem's proposed law steers clear of any particular religion and emphasizes that a student may engage in any 'quiet, respectful activity' with their time.

'No school employee may dictate the action to be taken by students or teachers during the moment of silence. No student may interfere with another students engagement in the moment of silence,' the bill reads.

In 1985, the Supreme Court overturned another 'moment of silence' law in Alabama, after justices found the measure to have a religious purpose.

'The Court held that Alabama's passage of the prayer and meditation statute was not only a deviation from the state's duty to maintain absolute neutrality toward religion, but was an affirmative endorsement of religion.

Speaking to a conservative crowd in Iowa over the summer, Noem, 50, said she is 'putting prayer back in our schools.' Above, Noem on November 5 in Las Vegas

'As such, the statute clearly lacked any secular purpose as it sought to establish religion in public schools, thereby violating the First Amendment's Establishment Clause,' according to Oyez, a project of the Chicago-Kent College of Law.

Janna Farley, a spokesperson for the ACLU of South Dakota, told Forum News Service that students 'already have the right' to religious exercise at public schools and that the bill 'doesn't immediately raise red flags,' though the ACLU has yet to review it.

Noem, a strong social conservative, was elected in 2018 as an ally of then-President Donald Trump.

Earlier this year, she faced criticism from conservatives after she promised to sign a bill banning trans athletes from competing in school or college sports, but substantially altered the legislation at the last minute, taking 'the legal teeth out of [the] bill,' according to Kristen Waggoner of the Alliance Defending Freedom.

In July, Noem told a conservative crowd at an event in Iowa that she doesn't recognize the United States anymore.

'When I grew up, people were proud to have a job,' the governor said. 'They weren't confused on the difference between boys and girls. We prayed in schools  which by the way, in South Dakota, I'm putting prayer back in our schools.'
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The photo of a Missouri mother's three daughters seeking shelter in the bathroom of their home reveals the heartbreaking final moments they spent together before a tornado ripped through the house on Friday, killing the eldest girl and tossing her family members into the debris.

Annistyn Rackley, 9, died when the twister splintered their Caruthersville home, carrying the family members dozens of yards through the air into a field where first responders later found them in mud. The nine-year-old girl is among at least 88 people who were killed in the swarm of tornadoes that ripped through five states and caused widespread devastation to entire regions on Friday.

'Their house is splintered,' Annistyn's great-aunt, Sandra Hooker, said. 'There's debris strewn forever out in the field, and so they were sucked up into the tornado.'

The other family members were injured but survived.

The middle child, Avalinn, 7, who told doctors she flew around 'in the tornado,' has broken vertebrae in her back and is expected to undergo surgery Wednesday.

Mother Meghan Rackley, 32, suffered a brain injury, large cut and several broken bones. The family is asking the community to keep her in their prayers.

Father Trey Rackley, 37 - who suffered cuts and bruises - and the youngest daughter, Alanna, 3, have been released from the hospital.

Towns remain in utter destruction as volunteers and workers continue to rummage through mountains of rubble and debris on Tuesday morning searching for those trapped by the storms. Thousands of homes have been destroyed, displacing families ahead of the holidays, and communities remain without power, gas or running water.

The death toll from the storms - which comes from data reported by each state - is expected to rise as rescuers continue to search through debris.

Hardest-hit Kentucky had 74 confirmed fatalities, including a two-month-old girl, Gov. Andy Beshear had announced Monday. He cautioned that the number 'is fluid' and 'will change.'

President Joe Biden approved an emergency declaration for Kentucky and intends to do for the other impacted states, if needed. He announced Monday that he is traveling to the state on Wednesday to survey the damage.

A Missouri mother took a picture of her three daughters - Annistyn, 9, (circled), Avalinn, 7, (standing) and Alanna, 3 (in tub) - seeking shelter in the bathroom to prove they were in a 'safe space' just moments before a tornado ripped through the family home and killed Annistyn

Annistyn Rackley died when the twister splintered their Caruthersville home, carrying the family members dozens of yards through the air into a field where first responders found them in mud (Pictured left to right: Annistyn, 9; Avalinn, 7; Alanna, 3, and their parents, Megan and Trey, in Arizona)

Annistyn is among at least 88 people who were killed in the swarm of tornadoes that ripped through five states and caused widespread devastation to entire regions (Pictured: Storm damage in Mayfield, Kentucky on Dec. 12)

The nine-year-old had been battling a rare liver disorder since infancy in which bile ducts don't develop properly. She was remembered as being full of energy and delightful

Trey and Meghan Rackley and their three daughters sought shelter in a windowless bathroom in their southeast Missouri home, which they had just moved into earlier in December, as storms raged across the middle of the country.

To prove they were in their 'safe space' with the storm approaching Friday evening, Meghan texted her aunt, Sandra Hooker, a photo of the three in and next to the bathtub, smiling. Fifteen minutes later, the twister ripped the family out of their home, tossing them in a nearby field.

Emergency responders located the family and took them to a nearby hospital where Avalinn told doctors: 'I was flying around in the tornado and I prayed to Jesus to take care of me, and he spit me out - and the tornado spit me out into the mud.'

Hooker said after a prayer vigil Sunday, searchers in the field near the Rackleys' house found the doll that Annistyn was holding in the photo.

Hooker said it was Annistyn's favorite, and she called it Baby MawMaw.

'They brought Baby MawMaw to me, and I'm cleaning her up so that [Avalinn] can have Baby MawMaw,' she said.

The community continues to rally behind the family and has created a crowdfunding page to help cover funeral, medical and other expenses.

Loved ones say Annistyn, who since infancy had been battling a rare liver disorder in which bile ducts don't develop properly, was always full of energy and delighted.

She would often don cute outfits for her cheerleading competitions, practice cartwheels and the splits, and teach herself new TikTok dances.

Hooker called her a 'special angel.'

A vigil was held for the Rackley family on Sunday night

The Rackley girls (from left) Avalinn, Alanna and Annistyn posing for a family Christmas photo

Mother Meghan Rackley, 32, (left) suffered a brain injury, large cut and several broken bones. The family is asking the community to keep her in their prayers. Father Trey Rackley, 37 - who suffered cuts and bruises - and the youngest daughter, Alanna, 3, (right) have been released from the hospital.

A crowdfunding page has been established to help the Rackley family in their time of need

Tornadoes also roared through both the Missouri and Illinois sides of the St. Louis area, as well as the Memphis, Tennessee, area and parts of Arkansas and Illinois. A candle factory in Mayfield, Kentucky (pictured), and an Amazon facility in Edwardsville, Illinois, were hit

The storm left a trail of wreckage in its wake that stretched from Arkansas, where a nursing home was destroyed, to Illinois, where an Amazon distribution center was heavily damaged

'I would just gasp because she could do the splits all the time, and she would just laugh,' the aunt added. 'She loved dancing.'

Although the younger daughters and Trey are recovering, Hooker has asked the community to pray for the family, especially Meghan.

'Our family believes in a God of miracles and that is why we are here today,' she told KAIT 8. 'To ask God for a miracle and give us a miracle for Meghan.'

'The loss, it is exponential. There are no words,' echoed Mandi Alexander, a long-time friend of Meghan's. 'Annistyn was bubbly. She was the best kid. She was the strongest kid.'

Tornadoes also roared through both the Missouri and Illinois sides of the St. Louis area, as well as the Memphis, Tennessee, area and parts of Arkansas and Illinois. A candle factory in Mayfield, Kentucky, and an Amazon facility in Edwardsville, Illinois, were hit.

A street view of destroyed homes is seen on December 14, 2021 in Mayfield, Kentucky

Deanna Badillo (pictured) says she beat death by crawling through a hole to escape her Mayfield, Kentucky home that had been destroyed by the storms

She and a friend had been sheltering in a hallway when the storm struck (Pictured: Badillo's home)

Badillo (left) had feared one of her dogs had been killed in the storm, only to later find out that a neighbor had found the pup and kept her warm and fed until he could locate the owner

Six Amazon workers killed after Illinois tornado destroyed warehouse - including Navy vet who died trying to save colleagues Six Amazon workers were killed after a tornado struck a warehouse in Illinois on Friday night. Meanwhile, photos reviewed by DailyMail.com suggest a lavish party was thrown at Jeff Bezos' Beverly Hills mansion this weekend in the aftermath of the tragedy. Navy veteran Clayton Cope, 29, was among the dead after a series of tornadoes roared through the facility near St. Louis, ripping off its roof and causing 11-inch thick concrete walls longer than football fields to collapse on themselves. His sister Rachel Cope said she's angry that Amazon didn't allow its workers to go to an emergency shelter after the first siren sounded. Clayton Cope, a US Navy veteran, was among those killed in the disaster The Amazon workers killed include Clayton Cope (top left), Etheria S. Hebb (top center), Kevin Dickey (top right), Deandre S. Morrow (bottom left) and Larry Virden (bottom middle) and Austin J. McEwan (bottom right) 'I'd want people to know that he died saving the lives of people in that building because of Amazon's negligence to take the tornado sirens seriously and choosing the productivity of their company over their employees,' Cope told DailyMail.com. 'My brother is a hero.' Amazon cargo driver Austin J. McEwen, 26, was also killed while trying to shelter during the tornado. Other Amazon workers identified as dead by the local coroner were Deandre 'Shawn' Morrow, 28, of St. Louis, Missouri; Kevin D. Dickey, 62, of Carlyle, Illinois; Etheria S. Hebb, 24, of St. Louis, Missouri; and Larry E. Virden, 46, of Collinsville, Illinois. Meantime, several warehouse employees said they're worried Amazon's controversial cell phone ban, which was temporarily lifted during the pandemic, would jeopardize safety. Their fears were amplified after a tornado killed the Edwardsville workers. Blue collar workers said in the aftermath of the disaster that they're worried reinforcing the cell phone ban would prohibit them from checking weather alerts or calling for help during emergencies. 'After these deaths, there is no way in hell I am relying on Amazon to keep me safe,' one person, who works at an Amazon facility in Illinois, told Bloomberg. 'If they institute the no cell phone policy, I am resigning.' Another worker said she wasn't willing to lock away her cell phone while on the clock either. 'I don't trust them with my safety to be quite frank,' she told the outlet. 'If there's severe weather on the way, I think I should be able to make my own decision about safety.' Moments before he died, Cope was on the phone with his dad, telling him he needed to go warn his colleagues that were returning to the warehouse to get shelter, his sister said. 'And that's when the building collapsed,' she said. His sister expressed her fury with Amazon on a public Facebook post as well, where she demanded answers for the tragedy. 'Everyone knows that all Amazon cares about is productivity,' she said. 'My brother never would have died if this company actually gave 2 sh*** about their employees and got them to safety after the storm started to get bad and took it seriously. 'This never would have happened if they cared about lives over productivity and you all know that.' Advertisement

In Mayfield, where tornadoes leveled and destroyed homes on nearly every block, a pregnant mother lost her baby after being picked up by the tornado.

'We had a family of five. They were in their house and it was leveled,' Bobby Waldridge, of Yahweh Baptist Church, told WLWT.

He said the woman and her four young sons were found in a field behind the house. Her husband was buried in rubble.

All survived but are facing serious injuries.

'I've seen a lot of things in my life from policing to ministry but this is the worst absolutely the worst,' Waldridge said.

He added: 'The mother, she was pregnant also and she lost the child.'

Through all this tragedy, there is a strong sense of community. Strangers are offering to lend a hand and all are vowing to be there for their neighbors as they learn they've lost more than just their homes.

'A lot of families are not as fortunate as you and I right now being here and just an immense lost of loved ones here,' Waldridge said.

Another Mayfield resident shared how she beat death by crawling through a hole to escape her destroyed home and was then reunited with her lost dog.

Deanna Badillo and her unnamed friend were in the hallway of her North 6 Street home when the twister ravaged through the house, trapping them.

In what she called an 'out of body experience,' the pair crawled through a hole and out of the debris.

'My friend and I both said we've cheated death. I think it's because of God's grace and I'm not done on this planet,' Badillo told WTHR.

'I didn't see anything... but what I felt I can't explain that to you. I can't explain what it feels like to stand here and tell you what I went through.'

She also shared how she feared one of her dogs had been killed in the storm, only to later find out that a neighbor had found the pup and kept her warm and fed until he could locate the owner.

'It's the little things that matter,' Badillo said. 'That little dog every bit of her matters.'

She claims finding her dog was a sliver of good news amongst an awful tragedy.

Although some impacted by the storms, like Badillo, are sharing stories of rescue and hope, many families are mourning the loss of loved ones.

One Kentucky man is holding on to the last communication he had with his mother before the storms rolled through her Dawson Springs neighborhood on Friday night.

Billy West, of Madisonville, received a text from his mother, Marcia Hall, at 10.12pm reading: 'I Love You'.

Tornadoes ripped through Hall's School Street home approximately 30 minutes later, WFIE reported. She was sheltering with her sister, Carol Grisham.

West rushed to his mother's community after the storm to find her house completely destroyed.

Authorities located Hall and Grisham the next morning.

'We found them Saturday morning probably 75-100 feet away from the house together,' said West, noting that the only part of the house remaining was the foundation.

He also said a car now sits where the kitchen once stood.

'I think sometimes, I think, mom, if y'all had just got in the car versus the house...' he said. 'She may have been here, but God only knows.'

Hall sent the same message to her other two children, according to CNN.

Jason Cummins, one of Hall's sons, said he tried to contact his mom and aunt after the storm but couldn't get ahold of them.

'I just texted them afterwards asking if they were all right,' he said. 'I didn't hear anything back. The text didn't go through.'

Worried, he got in his car around 2.30am Saturday and drove 70 miles to Dawson Springs in hopes of finding them.

'I just got here, and I just hollered,' he recalled. 'I just hollered for them.'

After his search proved unsuccessful, he returned to the area the next morning during which time he and his relatives located the women.

Cummins said his mom and aunt were loved by their community.

'Everybody thought the world of them,' he told the news outlet.

'They were the sweetest, nicest people who were always thinking about everyone else before themselves.'

'My children loved them,' echoed neighbor Breeana Glisson. 'We talked to them every day.'

The sisters will be memorialized together at an area funeral home where they used to volunteer their time and help others mourn.

On Monday, Kentucky parents revealed their two-year-old baby girl had died two days after they tried in vain to protect her and her siblings from a deadly tornado that ripped through Kentucky by hiding in the bathroom.

Oaklynn Koon suffered a stroke, a swollen head and injuries to her neck when the twister hit. Her parents had strapped her into her car seat in the bathroom, put her brothers in the bathtub and covered themselves in pillows but were thrown from the Dawson Springs home and onto the other side of their neighbor's house.

Billy West, of Madisonville, tells reporters how he received a text from his mother reading 'I love you' approximately 30 minutes before tornados ripped apart her Dawson Springs home Friday night. His mother and aunt were found dead the next morning

Carole Grisham (left) and Marsha Hall (right) were found together Saturday morning about 75-100 feet away from the house. Their children and neighbors say they were pillars in the community and will be greatly missed

'At least I know who will be watching over you up there for me. My dad. God this doesn't seem real,' parents Doug and Jackie Koon shared on Facebook Monday, announcing her passing.

The Koons had huddled together in the bathroom with their two sons laying in the bathtub with pillows over them, and Oaklynn strapped into her car seat - figuring that would give her the most protection.

'Nothing is... scarier than knowing a tornado is heading your way and hearing your kids freaking out, and thinking we are going to die,' Jackie wrote on Facebook following the ordeal.

'It's the most traumatic thing I've ever been through,' he told MSNBC on Sunday as his daughter battled for her life. 'I felt like I was helpless in protecting my kids against it.'

When the tornado finally hit her mother's house in Dawson Springs, Jackie said: 'We all went flying and ended up on the other side of our neighbor's house.'

As the storm subsided, Doug told MSNBC he looked up from where he landed and saw his four-year-old son standing there and screaming 'daddy.' The boy had a cut on his head, Doug said, and it was bleeding.

Two-month-old Oaklynn Koon (left) died Monday morning after spending two days in the hospital battling injuries sustained during the tornado. Her father, Doug Koon, confirmed her passing on Facebook (right)

Doug and Jackie Koon's 4-year-old son also suffered injuries during the tornado and required a CT scan

The Koon family is mourning the loss of two-month-old Oaklynn

He said he tried to stop the bleeding as he searched for his other family members through the rubble, guided by screaming and moaning. He tried to stop everyone's bleeding and get them to safety before his mother-in-law's house was completely destroyed, and then rushed his family to the hospital.

Doug said his four-year-old son had to have a CT scan to ensure the brain bleed does not get worse, and overnight Oaklynn's, condition worsened.

Jackie posted on Facebook on Sunday that the doctors at the local hospital ran some tests on Oaklynn and 'they think she has injured her neck veins, which may have caused her to have a stroke.'

Doug said 'machines were keeping her alive' and that her 'head swelled really bad'. She was being incubated and transferred to another hospital.

She passed away on Monday morning and is believed to be Kentucky's youngest storm victim.

The aerial photo above, taken on Dec. 13, shows the destruction left behind by Friday's storm in Dawson Springs, Kentucky, the town where the Koon family lived

The storm left a trail of wreckage in its wake that stretched from Arkansas, where a nursing home was destroyed, to Illinois, where an Amazon distribution center was heavily damaged (Pictured: Mayfield, Kentucky on Dec. 14)

The storm left a trail of wreckage in its wake that stretched from Arkansas, where a nursing home was destroyed, to Illinois, where an Amazon distribution center was heavily damaged.

In Kentucky, Gov. Andy Beshear said the death toll could grow as authorities continued to work around debris that slowed recovery efforts.

Nearly 450 National Guard members have been mobilized in the state, and 95 of them are searching for those presumed dead.

Across the state, about 26,000 homes and businesses were without electricity, according to poweroutage.us, including nearly all of those in Mayfield.

More than 10,000 homes and businesses had no water as of Monday, and another 17,000 are under boil-water advisories, Kentucky Emergency Management Director Michael Dossett told reporters.

Across Kentucky, about 26,000 homes and businesses were without electricity, according to poweroutage.us, including nearly all of those in Mayfield (Pictured: Damage in Mayfield on Dec. 14)

The tornados blew residents' personal belongings up to 130 miles away, with wind speeds of up to 40 mph

Katie Posten, of New Albany, Indiana, found a family photo on her windshield and was able to locate the Kentucky family it belonged to, 130 miles away in Dawson Springs, Kentucky, through a public appeal on Facebook

Chris Kramer posted that he found a Veterans of Foreign Wars card (left) circa 1993 belonging to a Marion Tolbert, that originated 100 miles away at Matthew Tolbert's grandfather's house in Benton. A Polaroid picture (right) of Leigh Ann Carner Morris' father with his dog was found in Brandenberg, Kentucky, 110 miles away from where it originated in Princeton, Kentucky

The state was by far the worst struck on Friday night by 30 tornadoes that ripped across the Midwest, killing another 14 people in Illinois, Tennessee, Arkansas and Missouri.

Many residents' personal belongings were blown up to 130 miles away, and now people are reuniting devastated families who lost everything with pieces of their lives that turned up in unusual places.

Midwesterners have taken to social media to locate the owners of pictures, Bibles, baby quilts, Christmas ornaments and other keepsakes after deadly tornadoes swept across six states this weekend.

A Facebook group, Quad State Tornado Found Items, is flooded with posts detailing items - and even pets - that people have found. In many cases, the owners lived 100 miles away from where their belongings ended up.

A black and white photo of a woman in a striped sundress and headscarf holding a little boy on her lap traveled almost 130 miles in winds that reached up to 140 miles per hour in the storm.
Ministers were accused of playing with peoples Christmases last night as they were poised to axe the travel red list hotel quarantine scheme.

Furious tourism chiefs pointed out that thousands of travellers cancelled trips to see loved ones abroad after the No-Go list was revived little more than two weeks ago.

South Africa and ten other countries in Africa were added to curb the spread of the Omicron variant. But the variant is already spreading in the UK and across the globe.

Anybody arriving in the UK from countries on the red list were required to quarantine in hotels for 11 nights at a cost of 2,285.

Transport secretary Grant Shapps (pictured) is said to have convinced colleagues that, for fully vaccinated Britons, the 'red list' should be replaced with testing while quarantining at home instead

Paul Charles, chief of travel consultancy The PC Agency, said: The government has to create a long-term strategy for when new variants emerge. They cant keep switching the industry on and off because it damages the sector every time'

The travel industry has blasted the moves, saying it will kill off travel over the key Christmas period

But transport secretary Grant Shapps is said to have convinced colleagues that, for fully vaccinated Britons, it should be replaced with testing while quarantining at home instead.

Data suggests that with Omicron spreading rapidly worldwide, draconian travel restrictions will have a limited impact on countries infection rates.

Fully vaccinated foreigners may still be forced to quarantine in hotels upon landing in England.

A meeting of the so-called Covid O committee of cabinet ministers will take place this week, with an announcement potentially as soon as today.

Paul Charles, chief of travel consultancy The PC Agency, said: The government has to create a long-term strategy for when new variants emerge.

They cant keep switching the industry on and off because it damages the sector every time.

The government is responsible for cancelling and playing with peoples Christmases when it comes to foreign travel. Lots of people have had to cancel trips over Christmas. They cant continue to behave in this way.

South Africa and ten other countries in Africa were added to curb the spread of the Omicron variant. But the variant is already spreading in the UK and across the globe

Furious tourism chiefs pointed out that thousands of travellers cancelled trips to see loved ones abroad after the No-Go list was revived little more than two weeks ago

A meeting of the so-called Covid O committee of cabinet ministers will take place this week, with an announcement potentially as soon as today

Since Omicron emerged, pre-return tests have also been re-introduced for the fully vaccinated while post-arrival swabs, to be taken by day two, must be more costly PCR tests rather than rapid lateral flow devices.

The travel industry has blasted the moves, saying it will kill off travel over the key Christmas period.

Airline CEOs were last night meeting with Treasury officials to protest against the measures, which are among the most draconian in Europe.

The changes mean the red list is a policy likely to remain in place in case needed in future, but the eleven African countries currently on it will be removed.

The revival of the system has been plagued with issues, including travellers being unable to book hotel rooms because not enough have been acquired by ministers and reports of grim food while quarantining.
One of Australia's biggest service station chains is now restricting purchases of diesel additive AdBlue.

The exhaust fluid is in short supply across Australia after China this year stopped exporting the fertiliser urea, a key ingredient.

BP, Australia's third largest service station chain, is now restricting the amount of AdBlue a customer can buy per transaction - emulating what happened in supermarkets with toilet paper at the start of the pandemic in 2020.

'bp Australia is closely monitoring the global supply challenges associated with AdBlue,' a spokesman told Daily Mail Australia on Tuesday.

One of Australia's biggest service station chains is now restricting purchases of diesel additive AdBlue (pictured is a BP service station in Sydney)

'The situation is changing very rapidly and with little notice, and we are working closely with our suppliers and carefully monitoring stock levels to try and reduce any potential impact.

'We thank our customers for their patience and understanding in these challenging circumstances.'

Mark McKenzie, the chief executive of the Australasian Convenience and Petroleum Marketers Association, told Daily Mail Australia on Friday his service stations, including BP, were banning customers from panic buying more AdBlue than they needed.

'In relation to our fuel retailers, we're getting a bit of a run on the product at service stations for obvious reasons,' he said.

As recently as Friday, service stations were allowing motorists to fill their AdBlue reservoirs but not fill jerrycans.

'We'll allow them to get the normal level they need to put into the AdBlue reservoir but we won't be allowing people to fill up jerrycans and the like at service stations,' Mr McKenzie said.

'It's panic buying because they're trying to just fill every vessel they can.'

BP, Australia's third largest service station chain, is now restricting the amount of AdBlue a customer can buy per transaction - emulating what happened in supermarkets with toilet paper at the start of the pandemic in 2020.

Without AdBlue, modern diesel vehicles won't start because the computerised engine management systems need the fluid to reduce the levels of nitric oxide pollution.

Why is AdBlue shortage a worry? Without AdBlue, diesel engines in truck, utes and four wheel drives won't start It contains urea, which is commonly used as a fertiliser A refined version of this urea is added to diesel engines to reduce nitric oxide exhaust fumes This diesel exhaust fluid is marketed in Australia as AdBlue containing 32 per cent urea and 68 per cent de-ionised water China supplies 80 per cent of the Asia-Pacific region's diesel-grade urea But Australia's biggest trading partner has banned urea exports in a bid to contain food prices This has seen a scramble to source urea from alternative markets like Indonesia, Saudi Arabia and Qatar Source: National Road Transport Association Advertisement

Australia's only AdBlue manufacturer Incitec Pivot will stop making the diesel additive from December 2022, with chief executive Jeanne Johns in November blaming a failure to secure a gas supply deal.

The National Road Transport Association estimates China supplies 80 per cent of the Asia-Pacific's urea.

South Korea last week signed a deal with Indonesia to buy 120,000 tonnes of urea a year for three years.

Trade Minister Dan Tehan on Monday promised Australia would buy supplies from Indonesia, Saudi Arabia and Qatar after Energy Minister Angus Taylor last week admitted Australia's existing supplies of AdBlue were only sufficient to last for another five weeks, or until mid-January.

Shipments bound for Australia would add another two weeks, which would see supplies run out in early February.

Australian Trucking Association chairman David Smith said China's urea export ban had caught Australia 'off guard' and left it 'swinging'.

'They wanted to retain their urea themselves to hold the price of urea in China  to make it cheaper for their farmers,' he told the ABC's Radio National.

Car accessory retailers are also running low with Supercheap Auto and Autobarn low on stock.

Half of Australia's diesel truck fleet has a diesel engine while Australia's top-selling vehicle, the Ford Ranger, is only available as a diesel locally.

The urea supply crisis is likely to stop goods getting to supermarket shelves, which would lead to higher headline inflation as many utes and four wheel drives are unable to start.
Oxford Community Schools are set to be closed on Tuesday after a threat aimed at the middle school was posted on social media.

School officials decided to shut the school entirely out of an abundance of caution after they became aware of the threat on Monday.

Law enforcement have been informed an and an investigation is now underway which will also see a full security check of all school buildings take place.

Officials have stated clearly that all threats will be taken seriously and prosecuted.

It has been exactly two weeks since four students were shot and killed in a shooting at Oxford High School. Six others were injured.

Students from the high school have been told they will be allowed to return to the building to pick up their backpacks as previously arranged on Tuesday.

Oxford Community Schools has announced all buildings will be closed Tuesday after a threat against the middle school was received on social media. The threat was aimed at the middle school

The suspected shooter, Michigan teenager, Ethan Crumbley, 15, appeared in court on Monday.

Crumbley, who faces 24 charges in connection with the mass shooting calmly answered questions via video link during a hearing in which his lawyers unsuccessfully pleaded with the judge to move him from a facility where he is being jailed with adults.

He faces 24 charges in connection with the November 30 mass shooting.

Crumbley blinked occasionally behind glasses and over a white face mask during the Oakland County criminal court procedural hearing as his lawyers said his mental, physical and emotional health was not best served by holding him in the county's adult jail, although he is isolated from other inmates.

Ethan Crumbley appeared via Zoom in court on Monday from the Oakland County Jail in Michigan. He is being held on four counts of murder, a single terrorism charge and other charges of aggravated assault

Ethan Crumbley appears on video from the Oakland County Jail at 52nd District Court in Rochester Hills, Michigan. Crumbley's probable cause conference Monday was adjourned to January 7 to allow his lawyers to review witness statements

His lawyers also argued he was not a threat to other young people and should be held at a youth facility.

Oakland County assistant prosecutor Marc Keast told Judge Nancy Carniak that video evidence showed Crumbley was responsible for the shooting. Crumbley has pleaded not guilty.

Keast said he could not imagine putting Crumbley, who has been charged as an adult and is being held without bond, in a juvenile facility.

The judge said she would not move Crumbley. Keast assured her he would contact jail officials to 'make sure the defendant is not within sight or sound of adults at the Oakland County Jail.'

Ethan Crumbley, left, is being held in the same jail as his mother Jennifer and father James. They have been charged with manslaughter for giving their son access to their guns

Judge Nancy Carniak speaks during an Ethan Crumbley video appearance at 52nd District Court in Rochester Hills, Michigan

Crumbley spoke only briefly during the hearing, giving his name and telling the judge he understood the proceedings.

Also charged in the killings are his parents, James and Jennifer Crumbley, who prosecutors say gave him a semi-automatic handgun as an early Christmas present and then ignored signs that he was planning a shooting at the school.

The parents, who have pleaded not guilty, are being held in lieu of $500,000 bail each on charges of involuntary manslaughter.

The morning of the shooting, school officials met with Ethan Crumbley and his parents at the school after a teacher found a drawing of a gun, a bullet and a person who appeared to have been shot, along with messages stating, 'My life is useless' and 'The world is dead.'

The school district's superintendent has said the Crumbleys 'flatly refused' to take their son home.
The death of a senior nursing assistant whose body was found in a park after she vanished for two weeks is not suspicious, police said yesterday.

'Brilliant and dedicated' children's hospital worker Petra Srncova, 32, was last seen after she finished a shift on November 28.

Police were called to a park minutes away from her London home on Sunday after children out playing discovered her body.

Scotland Yard said Czech-born Miss Srncova's death was 'unexplained' but initial inquiries suggested it was not suspicious.

Her distraught father Petr last night demanded answers and questioned if officers had done enough to find his daughter. He tearfully told a TV station in the Czech Republic that London police claimed 'they were doing everything they could... but I didn't believe it'. He added: 'They reassured me that the 20-member team is dealing with it and they are doing everything they can to find out the truth.'

He said he had been told there were no signs of an attack on his daughter's body, but a post-mortem examination is yet to be completed. He added that he had not eaten for ten days with worry and was now braced to attend his daughter's funeral and escort her 'on her last trip'.

Petra Srncova, 32, was last seen after she finished a shift on November 28. Police were called to a park minutes away from her London home on Sunday after children out playing discovered her body

Police had grown increasingly concerned for her welfare and had issued a desperate appeal for anyone who had seen her and knew of her whereabouts to get in contact with them. Pictured left: Police at the scene in Brunswick Park

The South London park is in lockdown after the discovery of the body this morning

Martin Hosek, of the Czech embassy in London, urged police to continue investigating what happened.

Visiting the park in Camberwell to lay flowers, he said: 'I'm here to pay tribute because it's always very tragic when a young and promising woman is found [dead], especially in a foreign country. We hope the police will thoroughly investigate the case because the reason for the death is still unclear. We have full trust in the police.'

Miss Srncova left the Evelina hospital in central London at 7.45pm on November 28. Police said she withdrew money from a cashpoint before travelling home by bus and was last seen in the area at 8.22pm.

Her flatmate last night said she arrived home, but headed back out after taking a bath.

He assumed she may have taken a last-minute trip or was staying with friends. But he added that she had been 'withdrawn and suffering from several health problems'. A concerned hospital colleague raised the alarm on December 3 after Miss Srncova failed to turn up for work.

Paying tribute, an NHS worker said on Facebook: 'You were brilliant, dedicated and skilled and we wish it had been a different ending.'

Neighbours said Miss Srncova moved into the block of flats almost three years ago.

Her MP, Labour's Harriet Harman, also laid flowers at the scene and said: 'It's just very sad. Whatever happened, a young woman has lost her life and it's a cause for absolute sadness and grief for her family  and a cause for concern for the local community.'

A man arrested in connection with Miss Srncova's disappearance last week was released on bail over the weekend pending further inquiries.
Hundreds of people have gathered outside BBC headquarters in London to protest the 'appalling' news coverage of a recent anti-Semitic attack in the capital.

Around 250 demonstrators led by Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) held up signs reading 'BBC News: Stop Blaming Jews!' outside Broadcasting House on Monday night, while chanting: 'BBC News where's the proof!' and 'BBC News tell the truth!'

The furore follows the reporting of anti-semitic incident on Oxford Street on November 29, during the Jewish holiday of Chanukah, in which a group of Jewish teenagers were accosted and forced back onto their bus by a group of men - who were seen hitting the vehicle with their hands and shoes while spitting and hurling anti-Semitic insults.

The CAA said the BBC news website reported that racial slurs against Muslims could be heard from inside the bus - leading Jewish organisations to accuse the BBC of victim blaming.

It came after one reporter allegedly said it was 'not clear what role' the supposed 'anti-Muslim slurs' may have had in the incident.

The BBC has since defended its reporting, saying the story was a 'factual report' that 'overwhelmingly focused on the individuals the police want to identify; those who directed abuse at the bus.'

A spokesperson for CAA said: 'Tonight's rally sends a message to the BBC that the Jewish community has had enough of years of the BBC victim-blaming Jewish people for anti-Semitism, downplaying racism towards Jews, platforming anti-Semites and fuelling anti-Semitism in Britain.

Around 250 demonstrators from Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) held up signs reading 'BBC News: Stop Blaming Jews!' outside Broadcasting House on Monday night, while chanting: 'BBC News where's the proof!' and 'BBC News tell the truth!'

Dame Maureen Lipman (pictured) encouraged people to join the demonstration 'because you care, and you will be demonstrating against my often-times employer asking for parity with other victims of racism, prejudice and abuse'

'We demand explanations over the BBC's outrageous coverage of the recent anti-Semitic incident on Oxford Street, when the BBC's reports victim-blamed Jewish teenagers for being attacked.

'We also call on the BBC to finally adopt the International Definition of Anti-Semitism and accept anti-Semitism training from us for its staff and reporters.'

In a press release the group said the report of anti-Muslim slurs coming from inside the bus was 'made with no evidence to support it', adding that it was 'contradicted in the article by a witness from the bus who said that she heard no such slurs.'

The group added: 'On its BBC London Evening News, the BBC even suggested that 'it's not clear what role [the supposed slurs] may have had in the incident.'

Lord Grade, a former Chairman of the BBC, described the reporting as 'shoddy journalism' and called for answers in a video he recorded in support the protest.

It came after Dame Maureen Lipman encouraged people to join the demonstration 'because you care, and you will be demonstrating against my often-times employer asking for parity with other victims of racism, prejudice and abuse.'

At the rally, Gideon Falter, Chief Executive of Campaign Against Antisemitism, told the crowd: 'We don't want to be here, but we have to be here, because we have to say: 'BBC News, stop blaming Jews'.'

He added: 'We see no evidence for the BBC's claim, which is a distraction from the real story, which is that Jewish teenagers were prevented by racist thugs from celebrating Chanukah.'

The founder of Muslims Against Antisemitism, Fiyaz Mughal OBE, also spoke at the protest.

The founder of Muslims Against Antisemitism, Fiyaz Mughal OBE, also spoke at the protest. He said: 'It's sad we have to come out here again, when Jews are blamed by institutions that we think we should have trust in'

At the rally, Gideon Falter, Chief Executive of Campaign Against Antisemitism, told the crowd: 'We don't want to be here, but we have to be here, because we have to say: 'BBC News, stop blaming Jews'.'

Video footage showed the aggressors making Nazi salutes at the Jewish teenagers

The brazen thugs showed little worry of getting into any trouble with the police

He said: 'It's sad we have to come out here again, when Jews are blamed by institutions that we think we should have trust in.'

The CAA claimed the BBC had failed to 'respond substantively' to them and other Jewish organisations in relation to the coverage.

The group said the lack of response was 'not out of the ordinary' for the corporation, adding that recent polls it had conducted showed concern about the BBC's coverage of Jewish matters.

It said: 'Polling that we conducted last year for our Antisemitism Barometer revealed that two thirds of British Jews are deeply concerned by the BBC's coverage of matters of Jewish concern, and 55% by its handling of anti-Semitism complaints.

'These figures reflect years of eroding confidence in the BBC on the part of the Jewish community.'

CAA said it had submitted a complaint to the BBC and written to the Chairman and Director-General to voice its concerns.

Its letter had asked the BBC to reveal its evidence that an anti-Muslim slur can be heard on the bus and to 'explain why the claim that an anti-Muslim slur can be heard is asserted as fact.'

It added: 'We also reiterated our call for the BBC to adopt the International Definition of Antisemitism and once again offered to provide the Corporation with training in how to identify and deal with anti-Semitism, which will go some way to restoring what little remains of the confidence of the Jewish community in our nation's public service broadcaster.'

A BBC spokesperson said: 'Anti-Semitism is abhorrent. We strive to serve the Jewish community, and all communities across our country, fairly.

'Our story was a factual report that overwhelmingly focused on the individuals the police want to identify; those who directed abuse at the bus.

'In the eighth paragraph of our news article, there was a brief reference to a slur, captured in a video recording, that appeared to come from the bus.

'It has been claimed what we considered to be an abusive term in English was in fact someone speaking in Hebrew. We have consulted a number of Hebrew speakers in determining that the slur was spoken in English.

'The brief reference to the slur was included so the fullest account of the incident was reported.'
As end-of-year celebrations kick off Australians have been warned having a few too many drinks at the office Christmas party could get them the sack.

The Fair Work Obudsman reminded workers on Friday that a code of conduct still applies around behaviour and underperformance in the office.

'Dont face consequences because you got a little too into the Christmas spirit at your end-of-year work party.' it wrote on Facebook.

The Fair Work Obudsman has issued a warning to Australian workers reminding them not to behave inappropriately at upcoming office Christmas parties in a Facebook post on Friday (pictured)

The Ombudsman said underperformance can include staff not following workplace policies, rules or procedures during the Christmas period.

Staff who planned to hit the booze hard at work festivities were also warned to avoid telling inappropriate or offensive jokes to colleagues.

Other behaviour that could get you into trouble also includes any banter that involves speaking about the company in a negative way.

More serious misconduct like theft, fraud, sexual harassment or assault could land Australian workers with an instant dismissal.

The warning comes as staff contemplate returning to the office amid fear Christmas parties could drive a new wave of Covid-19 Omicron infections.

NSW Covid-19 cases numbers have exploded to 804 on Tuesday as the countdown to Christmas celebrations begin.

A 'pingdemic' of health alerts has meanwhile forced thousands into isolation as the state opens up to the rest of the world, with almost two million Covid alerts issued by Service NSW over the past fortnight.

The Fair Work Obudsman warned workers a code of conduct still applies around behaviour and underperformance in the office during Christmas

Health authorities have linked 84 cases to the Argyle House nightclub in Newcastle, and on Tuesday night announced the city's Finnegan's Hotel had also been exposed to the virus.

Premier Dominic Perrottet insisted this week the state won't reinstate restrictions and will scrap a string of existing rules on December 15 as planned, including density limits, QR check-ins risk venues, and masks.

'I want people to go out and enjoy the best of what Sydney has to offer,' Mr Perrottet said earlier this week.

'I think it's great people are going out and having a party again, enjoying their Christmas parties, so they should, that's the great aspect of our city. '

'As we start to enjoy life again, as we have in the past, people will contract Covid.'
Police in California were on the scene of a Tesla factory on Monday afternoon, after a man was found dead in the parking lot.

According to an advisory from the Fremont Police Department, firefighters responded to a call about a person seen face-down in the parking lot of the 53 million square foot facility at around 3.25pm Monday.

The firefighters tried to render medical aid but the man was pronounced dead on the scene.

Fremont police have now taken over the investigation, categorizing the man's death as 'suspicious.'

Police were on the scene of a Tesla factory on Monday afternoon after a man was found dead in the parking lot. The Fremont Police Department is investigating the death as 'suspicious'

Authorities remained on the scene until dusk with more than a dozen units spotted on the southwest side of the facility in Fremont, California

They had not released the deceased individual's name, what injuries he may have sustained or a possible motive of any potential suspects as of Monday evening.

'At this point, we have a dead body in the parking lot and homicide investigators are taking over the investigation,' Police Captain Fred Bobbitt told FOX News.

Homicide detectives remained on the scene to gather evidence as dusk fell, the East Bay Times reports, with more than a dozen units spotted on the southwest side of the facility.

Police and security guards had blocked off the area, and officers were seen setting up at least two canopies near a Toyota pickup truck in the lot.

An ambulance also seemed to remain on the scene, in footage from NBC Bay Area.

The factory has previously been derided for having a number of workers injured on the job

Employees have claimed they were forced to work overtime and there were high rates of injury

The factory, which employs over 10,000 people in the San Francisco-Bay Area, has previously been derided for its unsafe working conditions.

In February 2017, one employee Jose Moran, detailed allegations of mandatory overtime, high rates of injury and low wages at the factory.

'Most of my 5,000-plus coworkers work well over 40 hours a week, including excessive mandatory overtime,' he wrote in a blog post at the time. 'The hard, manual labor we put in to make Tesla successful is done at great risk to our bodies.'

He noted that at one point, 'six out of eight people in my work team were out on medical leave at the same time due to various work-related injuries.'

A few months later, The Guardian published a report finding that the Tesla factory's recordable incident rate was above the industry average between 2013 and 2016, and ambulances had been called into the factory more than 100 times between 2014 and 2017 - for employees experiencing fainting, dizziness, seizures, abnormal breathing and chest pain.

In an interview, CEO Elon Musk admitted that his workers had been 'having a hard time, working long hours and on hard jobs,' but said he deeply cared about thier health and wellbeing.

He said the company had improved its safety record, by introducing a third shift, adding a team of ergonomics experts and improving its 'safety teams.'
New Zealanders stuck in Australia are becoming increasingly concerned after Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern signalled a potential delay in opening borders due to the emergence of the Omicron Covid strain.

The Prime Minister confirmed the rethink in parliament on Tuesday, with the long awaited re-opening - set for January 17 - now subject to a review on either January 7 or 8.

The Omicron variant is yet to land in New Zealand, and Ms Ardern's government is keen to keep it out while scientists assess how transmissible and deadly it may be.

'We haven't changed any decisions at this stage around reconnection... but I think people understand we need to review the latest details and evidence around Omicron,' Ardern said.

New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern announced a late minute review of international borders in January due to the Omicron Covid strain on Tuesday

NZ Nationals leader Christopher Luxon said keeping the border shut potentially beyond January 17 was unacceptable

Covid-19 Minister Chris Hipkins stated it was 'very likely' the nation would proceed with its planned re-opening mid-next month, before adding the Omicron strain 'could prove to be a spanner in the works.'

As of Tuesday, 89 per cent of New Zealand residents aged 12 or over are fully vaccinated, and 94 per cent have had at least one dose.

Business NZ chief executive Kirk Hope accused the government of being 'overly cautious' in flagging a possible delay to re-opening.

'They are using an approach that has suited them well. But it is increasingly frustrating for businesses,' he said.

'The border rethink has created quite a lot of uncertainty for business, which had been looking forward to the door opening on the border even just a bit.'

National Party leader Christopher Luxon, who continues to firm as the nation's next potential leader, said potentially keeping the border closed was unacceptable.

'The rest of the world is moving on,' he said.

'It is about risk management. We have to find a way through to manage risk intelligently.'

Following Tuesday's bombshell development where it was confirmed borders could stay shut beyond January 17, Business NZ chief executive Kirk Hope accused the government of being 'overly cautious'

Act Party leader David Seymour also weighed into the discussion, stating the uncertainty over the border opening or staying shut is beyond cruel.

'This new (Omicron) variant is something we have been able to perceive for a long time. We can't have a strategy that depends on closing the border every time there is a (new) variant,' Seymour told reporters on Tuesday.

'People will put up with a lot... if they know where it ends. What people are now being subjected to is constant uncertainty that verges on the form of torture...and sadly that is how a lot of people overseas are feeling.'

Countless families across the Tasman are also said to be furious at Tuesday's news from parliament, with many not applying for quarantine places this month as they believed the border would be open from January 17.

On Tuesday, NZ health officials confirmed there were currently 80 community Covid-19 cases, with 62 people in hospital with the virus.
A mysterious Jesus Christ-like figure has been spotted in the night sky above an Australian outback town.

The mysterious shape illuminated over a shed was photographed by a resident in Laramba, about 200km west of Alice Springs in the Northern Territory on Saturday night.

While just exactly what the figure may be is unclear, many believe it was Christ making his appearance as a 'Christmas miracle'.

A mysterious Jesus Christ-like figure was seen in the night sky above the Northern Territory town of Laramba on Saturday night

Adding to the mystery of the sighting, the figure was spotted when a group of locals had gathered together for a Christian community gathering.

Some shared the photo to social media with the words 'amen', while others weren't as convinced and suggested it was either moonlight or the lens flare of the camera.

Other reported sightings of Jesus have made headlines over the years including in clouds and even food.
A woman who was violently shoved into a metal pole in the New York City subway last year is suing the state transit agency for lack of security as subway incidents and overall crime in the Big Apple continue to rise.

Ruth Leon-Villegas, 56, broke her neck and required stitches on her head after Matthew Montanez, who has a history of mental illness, pushed her into a metal pole in December of last year.

She fell on the platform floor as onlookers snapped photos and did nothing to help her, she recalls.

She's suing the Metropolitan Transportation Authority for negligence and asking for unspecified damages, according to the New York Post.

MTA spokesman Aaron Donovan said the agency 'intends to vigorously defend against this lawsuit, which appears to be without merit.'

Ruth Leon-Villegas, 56, broke her neck after a stranger shoved her into a metal subway pole last December. She is suing the MTA for negligence and asking for unspecified damages

Villegas said that Matthew Montanez stood above her 'watching me, expressionless' until he was arrested, above. He is known to hear voices and go off his medication, police say

The lawsuit also names Montanez and says he 'maliciously attacked her causing serious and permanent injuries,' according to court documents.

Villegas had moved to New York from Venezuela three years before last year's attack, according to the New York Daily News.

She was on her way home from work when she saw Montanez singing loudly on the F train platform at the West 4th Street-Washington Square station in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan.

'I saw him, I didnt like the look of him so I moved away. A lot of people also moved away,' told the Daily News.

'[When] the train came, and when I went to get onto the train, he jumped on top of me and hit me into the metal pole,' Leon-Villegas said.

'I was unconscious for a few seconds. And I was really nervous, because I was like, "I cant stay unconscious, Im alone, I have to be able to call someone.'"

'So I came back to [consciousness], and I was able to call my daughter, who was working, to let her know what had happened,' she recalled.

'I was saying, "help me, help me." People were taking pictures but nobody did anything,' Leon-Villegas told the New York Post.

Villegas has said that, 'People were taking pictures but nobody did anything'

The incident happened at the West 4th Street-Washington Square station in Greenwich Village

Crime in New York City is up four percent from last year, according to the latest figures from the New York Police Department

Leon-Villegas said that Montanez, who was 23 at the time, watched her struggle on the ground until he was arrested.

'He was standing there watching me, expressionless. He obviously isnt well because a normal person wouldnt do such a thing,' she told the Post.

Montanez has been known to hear voices and to go off his medication, law enforcement said.

In her lawsuit, Leon-Villegas said that she 'will continue to be rendered unable to perform her normal activities' and that she's had to pay for numerous medical bills.

Crime in New York City is up four percent from last year, according to the latest figures from the New York Police Department. Felony assaults are up a whopping nine percent, with robbery up almost five percent.

A man was bloodied following a brutal attack on a Midtown subway platform on December 3

A thug who allegedly threatened to kill a woman on the New York subway with two wooden spikes late last month after making 'anti-white statements' is being hunted by police

Shocking subway crimes have gone up in the past year.

Earlier this month, a man was left bloodied after a brutal attack on the northbound platform of the 49th Street station, which serves the city's N and R trains.

The victim suffered obvious injuries to his head and was pictured sitting on the train station floor with bandages covering his eyes and forehead.

His attacker, a bald man wearing jeans, black boots and a black trench coat, appeared to smirk at the camera as he was guided in to the back of the police cruiser.

Police are hunting for a man who allegedly threatened to kill a woman on the New York subway with two wooden spikes after making 'anti-white statements' late last month.

The suspect wielded the large shivs at a 46-year-old woman near the 59th Street subway station in Manhattan on last Monday, cops said.

The man, who has an ankh hieroglyphic symbol on his face, was traveling on the subway at 7.20am on the 4 train on November 29.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken launched a broadside at China's 'aggressive actions' in the Asia-Pacific today as he began a tour of the region.

Joe Biden's administration is seeking to bolster alliances against Beijing which is increasingly seeking to dominate its smaller neighbors - many of whom rely on Washington for defence against China.

Speaking in Jakarta, Indonesia, on the first leg of the trip, Blinken vowed to work with allies to 'defend the rules-based order' and that countries should have the right to 'choose their own path'.

'That's why there is so much concern - from Northeast Asia to Southeast Asia and from the Mekong River to the Pacific Islands - about Beijing's aggressive actions,' Blinken said.

'Claiming open seas as their own. Distorting open markets through subsidies to its state-run companies. Denying the exports or revoking deals for countries whose policies it does not agree with.'

Speaking in Jakarta, Indonesia (pictured), on the first leg of the trip, Blinken vowed to work with allies and partners to 'defend the rules-based order' and that countries should have the right to 'choose their own path'.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (L) listens to Indonesia's Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi (R) at the Pancasila Building in Jakarta on December 14

Blinken warns Iran's nuclear agreement will become an 'empty shell' unless there's progress to restore 2015 deal Trump withdrew from The United States is preparing 'alternatives' with allies in case talks on reviving a deal to curb Iran's nuclear ambitions fail, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday. 'We continue in this hour, on this day, to pursue diplomacy because it remains at this moment the best option, but we are actively engaging with allies and partners on alternatives,' he said during a visit to Indonesia. Blinken referred to a recent statement by European countries involved in the talks, which he said noted that 'time is running out, that Iran is still not engaged in real negotiations'. 'Unless there's swift progress... the Iran nuclear agreement will become an empty shell,' Blinken said, referring to the statement. Negotiations restarted on Thursday last week to try to revive the 2015 deal between Iran and world powers, which the United States withdrew from under Donald Trump in 2018. Advertisement

'Countries across the region want this behaviour to change -- we do too,' he said during the speech at the University of Indonesia.

Blinken added that Washington was 'determined to ensure freedom of navigation in the South China Sea', and said Beijing's actions there threaten the movement of more than 3 trillion dollars' worth of commerce every year.

But he also stressed that 'it's not about a contest between a US-centric region or a China-centric region - the Indo-Pacific is its own region', and said Washington wanted to avoid conflict there.

China claims almost all of the resource-rich South China Sea, with competing claims from four Southeast Asian states as well as Taiwan.

Beijing has been accused of deploying a range of military hardware including anti-ship and surface-to-air missiles there, and has ignored a 2016 international tribunal decision that declared its historical claim over most of the waters to be without basis.

Blinken also said Washington wants to ensure 'peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait'.

US-China tensions have soared over self-ruled, democratic Taiwan, which China claims as its territory and has vowed to retake one day, by force if necessary.

Washington is developing a 'comprehensive Indo-Pacific economic framework', and is also seeking to bolster military alliances in the region, he added.

'Threats are evolving, our security approach has to evolve with them. To do that, we will lean on our greatest strength: our alliances and partnerships,' Blinken said.

'We'll adopt a strategy that more closely weaves together all our instruments of national power - diplomacy, military, intelligence - with those of our allies and partners.'

The top US diplomat said Washington would press Myanmar to 'cease its indiscriminate violence, release all of those unjustly detained, allow unhindered access, and restore Burma's path to inclusive democracy,' using the country's former name.

Myanmar has been in chaos since Aung San Suu Kyi's civilian government was ousted in a military coup in February.

Later he signed a series of three agreements with Indonesia's foreign minister, including one that extends until 2026 an existing maritime cooperation pact that among other issues calls for enhanced joint U.S.-Indonesian naval exercises.

'It's about reinforcing our strengths so we can keep the peace, as we have done in the region for decades,' he said. He did not elaborate further but the administration made waves earlier this year by agreeing to a pact that will see Australia produce nuclear-powered submarines.

Blinken insisted that the U.S. is not trying to force countries to choose between the United States and China or seeking conflict with China. But he laid out a litany of complaints about 'Beijing's aggressive actions' from 'Northeast Asia to Southeast Asia and from the Mekong River to the Pacific Islands.'

Blinken is in Indonesia on the first leg of a week-long, three-nation tour of Southeast Asia that will also take him to Malaysia and Thailand. Countering China's growing aggressiveness in the region, particularly in the South China Sea, in Hong Kong and against Taiwan is prominent on his agenda.

'Countries across the region want this behavior to change,' he said. 'We do too.'

'We are determined to ensure freedom of navigation in the South China Sea,' he said. 'It is also why we have an abiding interest in peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.'

Chinese President Xi Jinping is overseeing increasingly aggressive foreign policy in the Asia-Pacific region

Blinken said U.S. 'will forge stronger connections' with its five treaty allies in the region - Australia, Japan, the Philippines, South Korea and Thailand - boost ties between them and cultivate a stronger partnership with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, many of whose members feel threatened by China.

'A strong and independent ASEAN has long been central to tackle urgent crises and long-term challenges,' Blinken said, in particular calling out the military rulers of Myanmar, also known as Burma, for their February takeover and subsequent crackdown on protesters.

'We will continue to work with our allies and partners to press the regime to cease its indiscriminate violence, release all of those unjustly detained, allow unhindered access, and restore Burma's path to inclusive democracy,' he said.

Blinken also lauded the administration's commitment to providing coronavirus vaccines to the countries of the Indo-Pacific and its support for their efforts to combat and deal with climate change.

The diplomat wants to highlight Southeast Asia's growing importance to US foreign policy on the trip, even as his administration has to contend with myriad other crises, from Iran to Russia.

The US-China relationship has deteriorated over a range of issues from cybersecurity and tech supremacy to human rights in Hong Kong and Xinjiang.

Biden has largely continued Trump's hawkish stance on China, describing the Asian power as the pre-eminent challenge to the United States.

Countries in the region face an increasingly tough task of trying to foster good relations with both Beijing - a key trading partner - and Washington, vital to maintaining the region's security.

After Indonesia, Blinken heads to Malaysia and Thailand.

Russia is also trying to assert its influence in the region.

After holding talks with Blinken Monday, Indonesian President Joko Widodo met Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev, a high-ranking Russian official.

Asked why he had not sought out Patrushev, Blinken replied that the administration's top diplomat for Europe, Karen Donfried, who is currently in Ukraine, would be traveling to Moscow in the coming days to deliver that message.
A man received up to ten doses of the Covid vaccine in one day because he was paid by 'selfish' people to get the jab for them.

Astrid Koornneef from the NZ Ministry of Health said this week the department was aware of the incidents and had launched an investigation.

'We are very concerned about this situation and are working with the appropriate agencies,' Ms Koorneef, group manager operations for the Covid-19 vaccine and immunisation program, said.

A man in New Zealand got ten doses of the Covid vaccine in one day (file image)

It is understood the man visited a number of vaccine centres throughout the day and received the vaccines using other people's information.

Once he received the jab, medical records were updated for the real person and they were allowed to enter businesses and attend events with double vaccination policies.

University of Auckland vaccinologist and associate professor Helen Petousis-Harris said it was a 'really dumb thing to do' but the man would probably not suffer any long-term effects.

Though he would have likely felt quite under the weather the next day with the body's immune system responding to the larger than average dose.

The immune response is what causes the fatigue, mild cold symptoms, and 'fuzziness' that often happens in the hours following the vaccine as the body fights off the inactive virus.

Ms Petsousis-Harris also called those who paid the man to avoid getting a vaccine 'unbelievably selfish' as they could spread the virus to other people under the false guise of being vaccinated.

She added there was also no benefit in getting more than the recommended dose as the body immune response plateaus.

Some New Zealanders said they knew of people offering to get the vaccine for other for a fee of $100 (file image)

Social media users said the bizarre side-hustle is gaining traction.

One woman said she knows someone in Palmerston, on the nation's South Island, whose been jabbed multiple times on behalf of others.

'There's a chick in Palmy whose had at least 20 [vaccines],' she wrote.

Another said: 'I know someone whose charging $100 a jab.'

Of the eligible population, 94 per cent of people have had their first dose and 89 per cent have rolled up their sleeve for both.

Of the fully vaccinated population, 91 per cent have downloaded a 'My Vaccine Pass', the equivalent of Australia's vaccination passport.
The driver of an 18-wheeler that barreled down an interstate at 85mph, causing a huge fireball crash that killed four people was sentenced on Monday to 110 consecutive years in prison.

Rogel Aguilera-Mederos, 26, was driving a semitruck down I-70 in Lakewood, Colorado when he crashed into two dozen vehicles - including four other semitrucks - stuck in rush-hour traffic on April 25, 2019.

The impact of the crash caused a giant fireball explosion that incinerated cars and trucks and killed four people.

More than two years later, on Monday, Aguilera-Mederos, of Texas, was sentenced to 110 consecutive years in prison by county court Judge A. Bruce Jones, who said his hands were tied due to mandatory minimum laws in the state.

He sentenced Aguilera-Mederos to the minimum in the range available to him on all 27 criminal counts, which must be served consecutively, the Denver Channel reports.

Before his sentencing on Monday, Aguilera-Mederos pleaded with a judge to give him a lighter sentence, claiming he is not a criminal and did not mean to hurt anybody

Among the vehicles he crashed into were four other semi-trucks

Prosecutors say Aguilera-Mederos, of Texas, was driving at 85mph when he crashed into two dozen cars on April 25, 2019 near the Denver West Colorado Mills Parkway

A giant fireball formed from the impact of the crash, incinerating some cars and trucks

Aguilera-Mederos, of Texas, was working for a Houston-based trucking company at the time of the fatal crash, when he was driving an 18-wheeler loaded with lumber.

Prosecutors said he barreled eastbound down the interstate from the mountains at speeds of 85mph. They say he also swerved at times, forcing others off the road before he crashed into two dozen vehicles causing a giant fireball, FOX 31 reports.

It left behind a scene of 'significant, just unbelievable carnage,' Lakewood Police Spokesman Ty Countryman said in a news conference following the deadly crash, noting that some bodies were still in the wreckage hours later, with video showing cars stopped in every direction as the huge fire spread, sending smoke billowing.

'This is looking to be one of the worst accidents we've had here in Lakewood,' Countryman said.

Four victims were killed in the crash, including: Doyle Harrison, 61, of Hudson, Colorado; William Bailey, 67, of Arvadal; Miguel Angel Lamas Arrellano, 24, of Denver; and Staney Politano, 69, of Arvada.

Six others were taken to the hospital for their injuries.

He was found guilty in October on 27 criminal charges including vehicular homicide, assault and reckless driving for a fiery crash in April 2019, and a county court judge on Monday said he had to sentence Aguilera-Mederos, pictured with his attorney, according to state minimums

Among the victims of the deadly crash were Stanley Politano, 69, of Arvada, Colorado, left, and Miguel Angel Lamas Arrelano, 24, of Denver, right,

Doyle Harrison was also killed in the inferno

Victim William Bailey is pictured with his wife Gage Evans

Aguilera-Mederos had claimed the brakes in his truck had failed and he lost control, but prosecutors argued in court that he could have taken steps to prevent the crash, including using a runaway truck ramp miles before the crash near the Denver West Colorado Mills Parkway, and said he made a 'bunch of bad decisions' instead.

Rogel Aguilera-Mederos, 26, was sentenced on Monday to 110 consecutive years in prison

His defense attorney claimed he did not know that his truck brakes were smoking or that he would not be able to stop. He also argued that Aguilera-Mederos' actions were a series of negligent decisions, and that he did not intend to hurt anybody.

But in October, a jury found him guilty of 27 criminal charges, including:

Four counts of vehicular homicide

Two counts of vehicular assault

Six counts of assault in the first-degree with extreme indifference

10 counts of criminal attempt to commit assault in the first degree

One count of reckless driving

Four counts of careless driving causing death

He was also found not guilty of 15 counts of criminal attempts to commit assaults in the first degree.

Before his sentencing on Monday, Aguilera-Mederos pleaded with the judge to be lenient on him, breaking down in tears as he spoke.

'It's hard. This was a terrible accident, I know,' he said. 'I take the responsibility, but it was an accident.

Some of the lumber Aguilera-Mederos was transporting was strewn across I-70 as traffic was stopped in both directions

Smoke billowed throughout the sky in the aftermath of the crash

'I have never thought about hurting anyone in my entire life and Jesus Christ, he knows that, he knows my heart,' he continued. 'I am not a criminal, I am not a murderer.

'The accident - it wasn't intentional, it wasn't intentional Your Honor. I did all that I can as a man. I put myself in harms way to avoid harming anyone else.'

He claimed that he tried to avoid the traffic, and noted that he did not flee in the aftermath 'because I respect the laws.

'I want to say sorry, sorry for the loss, sorry for the people injured,' he concluded, noting: 'I ask ... God many times why them and not me.'
Two dogs have been rescued from mine shafts by specialist Victorian firefighters in separate incidents in the same week.

Bruno the bull-Arab was rescued by the Bendigo-based Oscar1 Brigade on December 5 after he fell down a mine shaft at Castlemaine Diggins National Park.

Less than six days later, the team was called to rescue terrified Terry the kelpie-cross from a mine shaft at Woodend.

'The owner said they were camping and the dog just went for a run, but as it was night and you can't see these mine shafts at the best of times, he just fell down the hole,' Captain Daniel McMahon said.

Terry the kelpie-cross was rescued from a mine shaft in Woodend - the second rescue of a dog down a hole in a week in the area

Captain McMahon said he was pleased both incidents ended with a good result, with neither dog suffering injuries.

'It was a 15-metre shaft but we thought it may have been a false floor, meaning there could have been another 10 or 20 metres below if the floor had collapsed,' he said.

'Terry was in surprisingly good nick though with no injuries, so we hooked him up to the ropes and Woodend brigade helped pull him up.'

Oscar1 Brigade trains for a variety of rescue situations including grain silos, tower rescues and mines.

'Rescuing a dog in a mineshaft is a serious job, but for us, it also doubles as real-world experience in case we are called to a community member in the same unfortunate situation,' Captain McMahon said.
Property prices in suburbs near the city are set to surge again as a reopening of Australia's border to international students draws out Chinese buyers.

Juwai IQI, which markets homes to cashed-up buyers across Asia, said Sydney in particular was set to benefit as overseas university students returned on Wednesday for the first time since March 2020.

But Melbourne was expected to benefit too, despite being a cheaper place to rent as the border reopened to foreigners.

Chairman and co-founder Georg Chmiel said Sydney's inner west, north shore and the inner-south were likely to be in demand in 2022, with prospective Chinese buyers particularly interested in apartments.

'When students come back, demand will increase in some of the suburbs that have suffered the most during the pandemic,' he told Daily Mail Australia.

Suburbs near the city are set to surge again as a reopening of Australia's border to international students this week encourages Chinese buyers. Juwai IQI, which markets property to cashed-up buyers across Asia, said Sydney in particular was set to benefit as overseas university students on Wednesday returned for the first time since March 2020 (pictured is the University of New South Wales in Kensington)

'International student buyers still value the same locations that they liked before the pandemic.'

With Chinese students set to make up almost a third of the international intake, buyers from China will be particularly influential.

'There are more students from China than any other country,' Mr Chmiel said.

'Twenty-nine per cent of foreign students are Chinese, nearly as much as the next three countries combined.'

From December 15, fully-vaccinated international students are being allowed into Australia, with their entry delayed by two weeks to factor in the Omicron Covid variant.

Even before the return of international students, Sydney's rental vacancy rate in the year to November has shrunk from 3.5 per cent to 2.6 per cent, new SQM Research data showed.

This is still higher than the capital city average of 1.5 per cent with Perth, Adelaide, Darwin, Canberra and Hobart having rental vacancy levels of less than 1 per cent.

Melbourne has the highest rental vacancy rate of 3.2 per cent, which is more than double Brisbane's 1.3 per cent.

Chairman and co-founder Georg Chmiel said the inner west, north shore and areas of the inner-south were likely to be in demand, with prospective Chinese buyers particularly interested in apartments (pictured is an apartment at Chatswood on the lower north shore)

SQM Research managing director Louis Christopher said rental demand for units in Australia's biggest cities was set to surge next year, following a slump during the pandemic.

Capital city apartment rents per week SYDNEY: $475.30 MELBOURNE: $372.70 BRISBANE: $399.90 PERTH: $398.50 ADELAIDE: $336.70 CANBERRA: $529.90 DARWIN: $458.30 HOBART: $434.70 Source: SQM Research data on median weekly apartment rents in the week ending December 12, 2021 Advertisement

'It is clear that demand has boomed for larger properties since Covid and we are not yet recording a reversal of this trend,' he said.

'However, I do believe 2022 will see a move towards units, simply by virtue of their relative affordability plus the new inflow of immigrants will look for unit accommodation first and foremost as they have done in the past.'

Sydney is now vying with Canberra for having the most expensive house rent, with tenants charged a median weekly lease of $734.40 compared with $734.50 in Canberra, in the week ending on December 12.

But Sydney units are much cheaper at $475.30 a week, which is more affordable than apartments in Canberra ($529.90) but marginally more expensive than Darwin ($458.30) and Hobart ($434.70).

Melbourne units typically cost $372.70 a week.

Under Foreign Investment Review Board rules, foreigners can't buy established houses or apartments but they can buy brand new properties.

'Foreigners generally may not purchase established dwellings,' Mr Chmiel said.

'So foreign buyers are generally most interested in new apartments and house and land packages.'

Under Foreign Investment Review Board rules, foreigners can't buy established houses or apartments but they can buy brand new properties (pictured is Sydney's Haymarket which is surrounded by modern apartments)

The Labor-aligned McKell Institute has spoken out against a call from federal Liberal MP Tim Wilson, a former chairman of the House of Representatives economics committee, for borrowers to be allowed to fund a mortgage deposit with their superannuation.

The think tank's executive director Michael Buckland said this policy would erode retirement savings and cause property prices to rise even more.

'Super-for-housing would mean first-home buyers handing their hard-earned retirement savings to existing property owners when they would be better off investing them in super,' he said.

'Young Australians need their retirement savings quarantined and compounding. Using these savings to fuel yet another housing market feeding frenzy would be policy madness.'

The Labor-aligned McKell Institute has spoken out against a call from federal Liberal MP Tim Wilson, a former chairman of the House of Representatives economics committee, for borrowers to be allowed to fund a mortgage deposit with their superannuation (pictured is an auction at Strathfield in Sydney's inner west)

Sydney's median apartment price stood at $837,169 in November 2021 with values surging by an annual pace of 15.2 per cent or a level half that of houses in the same city, CoreLogic data showed.

This meant a borrower had to save up for a 20 per cent mortgage deposit of $167,434.

That left them paying of a loan of $669,735, a level that is 7.4 times an average, full-time salary of $90,329.

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority considers a debt-to-income ratio of six to be risky.

Melbourne's mid-point price for units was $626,449, with values going up by nine per cent annually.

An average income-earner, with a 20 per cent mortgage deposit of $125,290, would owe the bank $501,159 and not be in mortgage stress with a debt-to-income ratio of 5.5.
A massive police operation involving helicopters and boats has swung into place after a person plunged from Sydney Harbour Bridge on Tuesday morning.

Shocked locals watched as low-flying helicopters flew under the bridge to guide search crews in police boats to recover the body from the water around 11am.

Mysterious green dye was also spotted in the water during the recovery mission.

'I just ran across the bridge. A bunch of cops with evidence bags right where there is a gantry outside the footpath,' one eyewitness posted on social media.

A police operation involving helicopters (pictured) and boats swung into place after a person plunged from Sydney Harbour Bridge on Tuesday morning

Shocked locals watched as low-flying helicopters flew under the bridge to guide search crews in police boats (pictured) to recover the body from the water around 11am

'Had Westpac police and fire services circling the Harbour Bridge,' said another. 'Also weird green dye in the water.

'About 15 minutes after that starts, a full escort rocks up at the Governors House. Agents jump out of cars and rush in. No idea what's going on.'

Another added: 'There was two choppers (including the Westpac one) doing a very slow sweep of the Harbour around Farm Cove.

'When I saw the Westpac one I thought they were looking for someone in the water.'

Mysterious green dye was also spotted in the water as the recovery mission was underway

A NSW Police spokesman later said there were no suspicious circumstances

A NSW Police spokesman later said there were no suspicious circumstances.

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The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has revealed shocking data that reveal how more than 5700 firearms at airport security checkpoints have been confiscated in 2021, the highest ever in a single year.

It means around 16 weapons every single day are being found at security checkpoints with about 85 per cent of them loaded. The previous yearly record was 4,400 in 2019.

Those passengers who are found with firearms at checkpoints face fines of up to $13,910. For repeat offenders, the fines can be even higher.

Transportation Security Administration (TSA) said security personnel had confiscated more than 5,700 firearms at airport security checkpoints in 2021

The TSA has confiscated an average of 16 guns a day at airports across the U.S. this year

85% of the weapons found are loaded. The previous yearly record was about 4,400 in 2019

In some cases local law enforcement confiscate the weapons at checkpoints and can arrests those in possession of a firearm.

Atlanta, Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston airport saw the highest number of confiscated firearms.

'It's an all time high,' TSA Administrator David Pekoske told reporters during a Monday briefing. 'The reason? I think there's just more firearm carriage in the country. That's the best answer I can give you,' he said.

Airline passengers are allowed to transport an unloaded firearm on an aircraft, but only in checked baggage.

The high figure reflects an overall increase in firearms being carried by Americans

Airline passengers can transport unloaded firearms, but only in checked bags

A suicide vest found in a checked bag. Officers discovered it was inactive and belonged to an explosives instructor

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'It's a pretty costly mistake to make,' Pekoske said noting that the TSA will 'always proceed with a civil penalty action that will cost thousands of dollars after we complete an investigation'.

The TSA will also refers the issue to law enforcement if local or state laws are broken.

'We see a strengthening in the airline travel industry toward pre-pandemic levels and our goal is to ensure you as the passenger have a safe and secure flight,' Pekoske noted.

We work hard with our airport and airline partners to achieve this by ensuring screening operations meet the upcoming demand. I also want to thank our Transportation Security Officers across the country who, each and every day, meet the travel volume demand and help keep airport screening lanes moving to ensure millions of passengers arrive at their destinations safely.'

In November, an accidental shooting at a security checkpoint at Atlanta International Airport sparked chaos.

A TSA officer saw a gun during screening and passenger then lunged into the bag to grab it, at which point it fired.

The incident saw air traffic into Atlanta halted while the Atlanta Police investigated.

People were on the ground and seen scrambling for cover in a video posted to social media after a gun accidentally went off at Atlanta Airport in November

The image above shows scores of passengers who quickly evacuated the terminal after rumors spread of an active shooter

Toy guns, knives and other assorted property are displayed at JFK airport
A Gold Coast grandfather who urged an abused Filipina teenager to recruit her friends so he could 'take their virginity' has had his sentence increased on appeal.

Rex George Harrison, 66, will now serve at least five years behind bars after the Court of Appeal found his original sentence 'manifestly inadequate' and doubled the non-parole period.

Harrison pleaded guilty in Brisbane Supreme Court in November 2020, to sexually abusing a 14-year-old girl and was sentenced to six-and-a-half years' imprisonment.

The former chef also pleaded guilty to possessing and transmitting child exploitation material.

The grandfather was labelled a 'predatory' offender who contacted girls over social media, manipulating them to send vile images that were discovered on his mobile phone.

Depraved grandfather Rex George Harrison (pictured) used a teenager he sexually abused to 'recruit' friends in a bid to take their virginity in the Philippines

In November last year, Harrison was sentenced in the Supreme Court of Queensland (pictured) to six-and-a-half years' imprisonment - that term was deemed 'manifestly inadequate' on appeal and the non-parole period was doubled to at least five years

He instructed the girls to pose naked and take pictures of themselves in provocative sexual positions, also as they urinated and defecated.

Harrison first visited the Philippines in October 2016, meeting his first victim in a bar before assaulting her in a hotel room.

He returned to the country twice more to sexually abuse the same teen before being arrested on October 5, 2017, about to board his flight for his fourth trip.

Highly sexualised messages found by police show Harrison wanting to meet young girls to 'take their virginity' and asked his victim to recruit her younger friends.

In a victim impact statement, one of his victims said her involvement with Harrison brought her nothing but heartache, shame and embarrassment.

The Court of Appeal on Tuesday said the original sentence did not adequately reflect his overall criminality.

'It is bad enough that (Harrison) engaged in sexual intercourse with (the victim),' the court said.

'It is substantially worse conduct to then engage her to act as his procurer of other children to engage in sexual activity with him and to do so for money.'

It found Harrison exploited the children through inducements, threats and emotional manipulation for his own 'depraved sexual interests'.

Harrison was resentenced to eight years, with a non-parole period set at five years in prison.
A teenage boy screamed to his mother to 'stop the bleeding' after allegedly being stabbed in the face in a terrifying late-night attack.

The boy, 14, is heard pleading in distressing audio for his mother to rush him to hospital after six masked youths allegedly entered his South Penrith home and stabbed him several times at 11.35pm on Sunday.

New South Wales police said the boy was allegedly stabbed in his face, left arm and left hand after claims the men entered the house and attacked him before fleeing by car.

A teenage boy screamed to his mother to 'stop the bleeding' after being stabbed in the face in a terrifying late-night attack

New South Wales police confirmed the boy was stabbed in his face, left arm and left hand after claims the men entered the house and attacked him before fleeing by car

Two cars are shown arriving outside the home, before switching off their headlights in chaotic CCTV footage obtained by the Daily Telegraph.

The video appears to show the alleged attackers fleeing the scene as distressing screaming is heard.

'Please mum, take me to the hospital A.S.A.P, please mum, please mum, Im shaking,' the boy screams.

Another voice yells out 'f***ing dogs! f***ing c***s!'

NSW Police confirmed to Daily Mail Australia that no arrests had yet been made and enquiries are continuing.

They appealed to public to come forward with any footage and/or information - confidentially if necessary.

The video also shows two cars screeching away from the scene.

When the youths arrived at the home, they entered through a side gate, one carrying a weapon.

Two cars are shown two cars are shown arriving outside the home, before switching off their headlights in chaotic CCTV footage

The boy's mother was at home, singing karaoke but unaware of the disturbing

The boy was taken to Nepean Hospital by his grandmother for treatment.

Police said his injuries were not considered life-threatening.
A sailor charged with setting the fire that destroyed the $1.2billion USS Bonhomme Richard last year was 'disgruntled' after dropping out of Navy SEAL training, prosecutors argued in court.

Seaman Apprentice Ryan Sawyer Mays, 20, was due back before a judge on Tuesday for Day 2 of a preliminary hearing to determine whether there is enough evidence to proceed with a military trial.

Mays' defense lawyers said there was no physical evidence connecting him to the inferno that raged aboard the ship for five days and injured dozens of people.

Scheduled to testify on Tuesday is a key witness for the government - a crew member who reported seeing someone he believed was Mays descend to the ship's lower storage area, where investigators say cardboard boxes were ignited.

Prosecutor Cmdr. Richard Federico told the court on the first day of the hearing on Monday that Mays lied to family, friends and investigators about why he left SEAL training and that he was angry about being reassigned to the Bonhomme Richard. Federico also said Mays used foul language with a superior days before the blaze.

Mays denied igniting the amphibious assault ship. The junior sailor was charged with aggravated arson and the willful hazarding of a vessel.

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Seaman Apprentice Ryan Sawyer Mays, accused of torching a US Navy warship, is due back in court for Day 2 of a preliminary hearing. He is pictured arriving for a hearing at Naval Base San Diego Monday

Mays, 20, is charged with aggravated arson and the willful hazarding of a vessel for allegedly setting the fire that destroyed the USS Bonhomme Richard in 2020

At least 63 people were injured in the blaze, which took crews four days to put out

In this July 12, 2020 file photo fire crews spray water from the dock onto the side of the USS Bonhomme Richard in San Diego

Defense attorneys said fellow sailors considered Mays 'arrogant' because the sailor who was 19 at the time had come from SEAL training. They disputed that Mays hated the Navy more than any other sailor assigned to deck duty like he was, which involves cleaning the ship.

The fire was the worst noncombat Navy warship blaze in recent memory.

About 160 sailors and officers were on board when the fire started on the 840-foot, 40,000-ton vessel, which had been docked at Naval Base San Diego while undergoing a two-year, $250million upgrade.

More than 60 sailors and firefighters were treated for minor injuries, heat exhaustion and smoke inhalation. Left with extensive structural, electrical and mechanical damage, the billion-dollar ship was scrapped.

Defense Attorney Gary Barthel pointed out no DNA linked to Mays was found at the scene and he questioned why investigators concluded Mays did it just because they found a lighter among his belongings.

The inferno caused extensive structural, electrical and mechanical damage to the multibillion-dollar ship, which had to be scrapped

Photos show the charred insides of the amphibious assault ship Bonhomme Richard

'Were there other individuals on the ship with lighters?' Barthel asked a federal fire investigator who testified for the Navy, and who agreed there likely were.

Navy prosecutors argued the case was carefully investigated. They have collected more than 28,000 pages of material and hours of video to build their case.

Mays is pictured in uniform in this file photo. He joined the US Navy in 2019 and later entered the Navy SEAL training program, but dropped out after just five days

Defense lawyers objected to the hearing, saying they were not given enough time to review the evidence against Mays.

Officials assessing the ship's damage found three of four fire stations on the ship had evidence of tampering: Fire hoses had been disconnected and one was cut, according to court documents.

Investigators also found uncapped bottles containing small amounts of highly flammable liquid near the ignition site, including one that tested positive for a heavy petroleum distillate such as diesel, kerosene or jet fuel, according to the documents.

Mays told investigators he was in the hangar bay when he became aware of the fire, according to court documents. He described how he assisted firefighters, alerted at least one crew member of the threat and eventually helped fight the blaze, according to the documents.

Winds coming off San Diego Bay whipped up the flames that shot up the elevator shafts and exhaust stacks. Two explosions - one heard as far as 13 miles away - caused the fire to grow.

The fire sent acrid smoke wafting over San Diego for days.

An affidavit stated that Mays joined the Navy in 2019 'with the intent on becoming trained in the Advanced Electronics Computer Fields,' but 'changed his career goals to becoming a Navy SEAL.'

Investigators were led to Mays after a sailor claimed to either see Mays around the scene of the fire before it was set

He was assigned as an 'undesignated Seaman' abroad the Bonhomme Richard after dropping out.

Sailor Seaman Kenji Velasco explained over the course of several interviews that he saw Mays enter Lower V, the lower vehicle storage area where the fire took place, minutes before the blaze started.

He said that he saw a 'light-skin male' wearing clean coveralls and a facemask who was carrying a silver or metal bucket and, when he passed Velasco, the person said, 'I love deck,' a sarcastic phrase Mays had said before.

He then told investigators that Mays hates the U.S. Navy and the Fleet, embittered against the service after dropping out five days into training to become a Navy SEAL.

During a 10-hour interview with Navy investigators, Mays told them that he had been in a romantic relationship with Petty Officer Armelle Ane, according to official documents released in October.

Ane was not aboard the ship when the fire broke out but previously served with Mays.

Mays was named the primary suspect for allegedly setting the 40,000-ton ship aflame shortly after military officials began investigating the cause of the fire. Above is a screenshot from a search warrant showing an Instagram post he made two days after the blaze

Mays told officials that the two of them were engaged, and that the relationship ran into trouble when she was deployed to the UNSN Mercy, a Navy hospital ship that was deployed to Los Angeles to help deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Investigators eventually found Mays' statement 'mostly contradicted by the female sailor,' after speaking with Ane - who also told Navy officials that Mays is 'volatile and bipolar,' according to the search warrant obtained by the service against Mays when he became a suspect.

Command Master Chief Jose Hernandez also revealed in a series of interviews that Mays 'showed disdain toward authority and the U.S. Navy,' and days before the fire had lashed out at a contractor who confronted him for sleeping during his duty day, an affidavit read.

Dozens of Navy officials, including several admirals, face disciplinary action for systematic failures that investigators said thwarted firefighting efforts during what an internal investigation described as a 'preventable' blaze.
New York's governor has shrugged off the leaders of several counties vowing to ignore her new COVID rules, saying that she trusts New Yorkers to do the right thing regardless of their political rulers.

Kathy Hochul's new restrictions came into effect in the early hours of Monday.

Under her new plan, announced on Friday, masks are now required to be worn in all indoor public places unless businesses or venues implement a vaccine requirement.

Several leaders of New York's 62 counties immediately said they would not enforce the rules - among them Livingston, south of Rochester; Madison, near Syracuse; Rensselaer in the Capital Region; and Dutchess and Rockland Counties, in the Hudson Valley.

But Hochul said she was not concerned by the five counties' flagrant disobeying of her rule.

'I do have faith in New Yorkers,' Hochul said at a press conference on Monday.

Kathy Hochul, the governor of New York, on Monday shrugged off leaders of some counties saying they would not enforce her mask mandate

Protesters against face masks are seen on June 8 in Kings Park, New York

A woman is seen protesting outside City Hall in Manhattan on August 9

'I believe the vast majority want to do what's right, they want to put this pandemic behind us.

'They want to make sure we never have to go back to the days of being in lockdown.'

She said she was not going to be 'heavy handed' with enforcement.

'I'm going to monitor what's going on in the various counties,' Hochul said.

'But I'm not attempting to be heavy handed.

'I have a close relationship with the [New York State] Association of Counties. I called them first while I was still contemplating this.

'I said: 'I want you to know that this is something I believe in.'

'They did not give me pushback. They understood.'

In New York 93.4 per cent of adults have at least one vaccine dose - well above the nationwide average - but cases are slowly ticking up.

Businesses now need to ask everyone to wear face masks, or check everyone is vaccinated

Rockland County, in red, is among those where the new rules will not be enforced

Under Hochul's rule, businesses or individuals who disobey can be fined $1,000.

The plan has also been criticized by her political rival Tom Suozzi, a Long Island congressman who is challenging her in the Democrat primary for governor.

Suozzi said that Hochul's plan was too vague.

'Lack of a comprehensive plan is causing chaos and confusion and disarray,' he said.

Ed Day, the Republican executive of Rockland County, said the governor's staff was unable to provide detailed information about the new requirement, and it was unenforceable. He said he would not enforce the mask or vaccine mandate.

PJ Wendel has said he will not enforce the rules in Chautauqua County

'My decision would be to move the people from the health department who are vaccinating children and others right now with a live-saving vaccine, move them to go walk around to different places to figure out whether people are masking up or not,' he said.

'That would be utterly reckless on my part and I will not do that.'

PJ Wendel, the Republican chief executive of Chautauqua County, agreed.

'We are disappointed in the rollout of this announcement,' he said.

'How the state intends to enforce this mandate is not clear but our local health departments certainly do not have the capability to do so.

'We have never had a state run testing or vaccination site in our county. The lion's share of this entire pandemic response has been on the shoulders of our small health department.

'To even think of adding the enforcement of another state mandate to this dedicated but exhausted staff is reprehensible.'
Australia is increasingly vulnerable to a crippling cyber attack that will grind the country to a halt overnight, a world expert has warned.

Rob Lee, founder and CEO of security specialist firm Dragos, has warned Australia's critical infrastructure has been left behind in the race to protect against cyber terrorists.

The nation's oil and gas fields and mining sector would be prime targets for a cyber attack - and the country needs to shore up its defences now, he says.

'Compared to other regions in the world, Australia is behind,' Mr Lee said.

He's been backed by former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull who has reportedly invested big money into Mr Lee's cybersecurity firm in a $200million funding round.

Mr Lee, whose company's motto is 'safeguarding civilisation', says Australia needs to do more itself - and quickly - before it attracts a state-sponsored attack.

Australia could be brought to its knees in a crippling cyber attack that will grind the country to a halt overnight as world expert Rob Lee (pictured) reveals the nation's defences are weak

Rob Lee been backed by former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull (pictured here with his wife. Lucy) who has reportedly invested big money into Mr Lee's cybersecurity firm Dragos in a recent $200million funding round

China and Russia-based hackers are said to have Australia in their sights as more and more companies face ransomware attacks like Channel Nine faced in March.

The broadcaster was locked out of its own email system and media facilities for days after hackers attacked the company and demanded cash to release their grip on its network.

But Mr Lee warns even bigger companies could come under attack and are especially vulnerable as they try to upgrade their systems.

'What we're seeing is a transformational period right now in Australia,' he told The Australian.

The nation's oil and gas fields and mining sector would be prime targets for a cyber attack - and the country needs to shore up its defences now, Rob Lee says

'With geopolitical adversaries, changing electric infrastructure and mining infrastructure, there is a lot going on and that opens you up to espionage and intrusions.

'I would say that Australia is taking it seriously, but overall is behind when it comes to security efforts, and doing whats necessary.'

He said some mining companies were aware of the risk and had strengthened security on their computer networks.

But he said Australia's growing investment in renewable energy had brought in new companies whose security was less robust.

Some of Australia's mining companies have embraced the challenge and instigated next generation security on their networks

'It opens up a lot of connectivity and thus access for adversaries, and that complexity makes it more difficult to defend,' said Mr Lee, who reviewed Ukraine's cyber security after an attack on their power grid in 2015.

He warned hackers would be aware of the potential cyber backdoors being left open and could swoop in at any time.

Mr Lee stressed the need to start upgrading immediately, as ramping up cyber security across networks and communications hardware was not just a matter of downloading a patch, but could take three and five years to fully transition to a more impregnable system.

Mr Lee warned that states like China and Russia would be aware of the potential cyber backdoors being left open and said they could swoop in at any time

Former Australian National Cyber Security Adviser Alastair MacGibbon recently warned it was only a matter of time for the country's cyber security will be breached on a large scale.

'People will die. Economies will tip. It will have catastrophic consequences for us,' he told Nine's 60 Minutes show in June.

Assistant Defence Minister Andrew Hastie added: 'Critical infrastructure is incredibly vulnerable. You don't need to bomb a city or fire a single bullet to bring it to its knees.

'I'm concerned about a cyber Pearl Harbour. We've always thought about warfare in terms of land, sea or air.

'But the reality is that we're all on the new battlefield, which is cyber.'
Police are investigating a positive Covid case who was allegedly meant to be in isolation and attended a nightclub triggering an outbreak of more than 200 people.

The NSW Health Minister on Tuesday referred the reveller who attended the Argyle House nightclub in Newcastle to authorities, alleging they were under an order to self isolate and absconded quarantine.

'Out of the roughly 650 to 680 people that were there at the club on Wednesday 8th December  there's now more than 200 patrons who are positive to COVID,' Brad Hazzard told Nine News.

Most of them are believed to have the highly infections Omicron strain, but further testing is underway to confirm.

NSW Health issued an alert for The Argyle House nightclub in Newcastle (pictured) late Sunday night identifying all attendees as close contacts after transmission of Covid at the venue on the night of December 8

24 cases of Covid have been linked to the The Argyle House nightclub (pictured) in Newcastle

The outbreak is linked to a boat party five nights earlier on Sydney Harbour where at least five people caught the virus.

Mr Hazzard said the case was told to self-isolate for 'seven days' but instead is believed to have travelled to the Hunter region while infectious.

'If that's the case, I've asked for Health to refer that person as soon as possible  to police,' he said.

'Individual responsibility has to play a part here.'

Anyone who was at the Newcastle nightclub between 9pm December 8 and to 3am December 9 are close contacts and must immediately get tested and isolate for seven days, regardless of the result.

The rule applies to all 680 people who checked in using the QR code that night and to anyone who did not check in.

Household contacts of anyone who attended the nightclub are also ordered to immediately get tested and isolate until the close contact tests negative, due to the high transmission at the venue.

Health authorities have so far linked 84 cases to the Argyle House nightclub in Newcastle

The superspreader event follows clusters at the Albion Hotel at Parramatta, Oxford Tavern at Petersham, Cult Nightclub in Potts Point and the party boat cruise on Sydney Harbour.

NSW Health say they're concerned about a sharp rise in cases as Christmas parties take place during the holiday period.

They urge anyone feeling even slightly unwell not to attend gatherings.

The state recorded 804 Covid cases in the past 24 hours in an extraordinary surge in infections.

It is the highest number of daily infections since September 7, when the state was in the middle of a 100-day lockdown to stem an outbreak of the Delta variant.

One death from from the virus was also reported on Tuesday.

NSW Health say they're concerned about a sharp rise in cases as Christmas parties take place during the holiday period. Pictured: Sydney

More than 1.9 million Covid alerts have been issued by NSW Health authorities over the past two weeks as virus case numbers continue to surge (pictured, shoppers in Sydney's QVB)

Despite the concern, Premier Dominic Perrottet promised 'no more lockdowns' for the state in an interview with Alan Jones on Facebook Live on Monday night.

Restrictions are set to ease on December 15, with unvaccinated residents allowed to visit restaurants and shops for the first time since NSW went into lockdown in June.

A 'pingdemic' of health alerts has meanwhile forced thousands into isolation as the state opens up to the rest of the world, with almost two million Covid alerts issued by Service NSW over the past fortnight.

Infectious disease expert Peter Collignon has warned Australians should no longer be looking at Covid cases as a metric for how well the nation is dealing with the virus.

'Case numbers should not be our focus. We should be looking at hospitalisations and death,' the Australian National University physician told The Australian.

'With Omicron, could get it worse? Yes it could. It probably spreads more. But we're not seeing any evidence in South Africa of massive numbers of immunised people in hospital.'
A 23-year-old veteran cop from New Jersey claims she is being forced out of her department and faces being demoted as retaliation all because of an 'old boys club' between her male colleagues.

Captain Theresa Grillo who is married and openly gay, was the highest-ranking woman in the Lodi Police Department in Bergen County, northern New Jersey.

Grillo started her career in 1999. She was promoted to Sergeant in April 2008, Lieutenant in January 2013 and Captain in May of 2018 and was on track to eventually become the department chief having risen through the ranks to be third in command.

But for the past ten months she has been suspended with pay for 'repeatedly leaving her post' while directing traffic at a construction site.

New Jersey police Captain Theresa Grillo could be demoted by three ranks after being charged with leaving her post at an off-duty roadside construction site

Grillo complained she was being tracked and discriminated against by her 'old boys club' coworkers. Grillo is seen second from right

Grillo claims the times she left her post was while she was off-duty and was simply to pick up lunch, coffee or to use the restroom.

Grillo claims that she has been unfairly picked on by 'the old boys' network' who are seeking to have her fired from the department noting that male officers who have done similar have all been exonerated with no further action taken against them.

Grillo was charged with neglect of duty, insubordination, failure to obey an order and untruthfulness following an investigation by the Internal Affairs.

Her movements were studied after higher-ups fitted a GPS tracker to the patrol car she was driving. The exact times of her whereabouts were then logged and used as evidence in the case against her.

Grillo has been with the Lodi police department for 23 years and was third in line to be chief

If Grillo is demoted, she could lose hundreds of thousands in pension benefits. Grillo takes part in the Junior Police Academy where she encourages younger members of the community to become officers

Grillo's actions are currently the subject of a non-criminal disciplinary hearing at Lodi council and it could see her demoted three ranks to patrol which would see her lose hundreds of thousands of dollars in future pay and pension benefits, in addition preventing her from ever becoming chief.

Depending on the outcome of the hearing, the Lodi Borough Council would decide the final penalty.

'I believe it is all politically motivated,' said Gina Mendola, Grillo's attorney to NJ.com. 'This male-dominated police force did not want my client to ever serve as deputy chief or chief. She's a gay, married woman and she's complained of a hostile work environment.'

The Lodi Police Department has not made any comment on the the pending disciplinary action.

Grillo has said she noticed things began to change following her promotion to the rank of captain in 2018. She noticed that she was being left out of the loop when it came to departmental decisions.

After complaining to the then-deputy chief over what she perceived to be a hostile work environment, she later withdrew the complaint - but the chief then started an investigation of his own into Grillo, as a way to retaliate.

On one occasion in 2020, Grillo was ordered to switch from a traffic car to a patrol car which was equipped with more equipment including computers and safety features, but she refused fearing it had not been properly sanitized against covid.

After clashing with the chief, Grillo claims she is being discriminated against

The refusal to switch cars, she claims, saw fellow police officers start tracking her movements via GPS in another car she was using.

Grillo was supposed to be working off-duty at a construction site and Lodi Chief, Donald Scorzetti says Grillo was supposed to call for backup before leaving her posting. He maintains that everything in terms of tracking Grillo's whereabouts was all above board and correct.

Yet, in her defense Grillo has detailed how six other officers who behaved similarly have not faced the same kind of scrutiny or faced any reprimand.

Scorzetti ultimately suspended her with pay in February 2021 over fears she might 'retaliate'.

No matter the outcome, Grillo has said she now intends to sue the borough council.

'They thought this was a way to shut her down and punish her for complaint,' her lawyer, Mendola, said. 'They didn't expect us to fight back, but we are fighting back. To do this a 23-year veteran who has dedicated her life to this community is a travesty.'
Woke Portland city officials have awarded a nearly $12 million clean energy contract to a nonprofit run by a woman convicted of defrauding energy companies.

According to an investigation by the Oregonian, Linda Woodley, 71, has served time in prison over the past 25 years for defrauding energy companies, and racked up millions of dollars in liens for unpaid federal and state taxes - including a six-figure penalty filed just earlier this year.

She has also faced accusations of failing to disclose financial records, and has been investigated by the IRS.

But Portland city officials awarded her nonprofit organization, Diversifying Energy, a contract worth nearly $12 million earlier this month to purchase, deliver and install portable eat pumps and cooling units inside 15,000 homes and apartments of low-income individuals.

The Portland Clean Energy Community Benefits Fund tapped her for the program, and the City Council unanimously approved the grant - despite concerns from some staff members who were concerned about the nonprofit's high personnel costs and proposed delivery timeline.

They recommended the city instead award the grant to the only other bidder, with 85 percent white employees, rather than to Woodley, who is black.

She is now also facing claims that she lied about her prior experience to get the grant money.

Linda Woodley, 71, pictured at a Zoom meeting of The Portland Clean Energy Community Benefits Fund, earned a nearly $12 million contract from city officials - but has served time in prison over the past 25 years for defrauding energy companies

Woodley has now said her longstanding legal and financial woes are connected to a criminal conviction in the 1990s for committing tax and bankruptcy fraud. Her history of failing to pay federal taxes also dates back to then.

Still, she acknowledged that the IRS placed a $77,000 lien on property she owns in 2018 for failure to pay federal income taxes in 2015, 2016 and 2017.

But she denies she fabricated or exaggerated her proposal by claiming she 'managed' a $30 million energy upgrade program in Los Angeles, even though the program's overseers say they never heard of her.

'People make mistakes and it has been over 25 years since the 1991 incident,' she said. 'I had hoped this part of my life was behind me.

'I have worked very hard over the past years to be a good person and I think that I am highly regarded in many circles in the industry.'

She has, in fact, made a name for herself in the energy efficiency industry since she moved to Portland in 2014, and created Prisma Point, a consulting firm specializing in designing energy efficiency programs for underserved markets and promoting diversity management in the energy industry.

That group partnered with Energy Trust of Oregon and Portland General Electric, with Woodley receiving several accolades for her work.

She then formed Diversifying Energy just over a year ago to 'facilitate equitable access to clean, sustainable energy and improve air quality to vulnerable populations, including low-income communities and people of color,' according to its website.

The Portland Clean Energy Community Benefits Fund (pictured) tapped Woodley's nonprofit, Diversifying Energy for a city program to purchase, deliver and install portable eat pumps and cooling units inside 15,000 homes and apartments of low-income individuals

Woodley founded Diversifying Energy just over a year ago to 'facilitate equitable access to clean, sustainable energy and improve air quality to vulnerable populations, including low-income communities and people of color'

But in Diversifying Energy's bid proposal, the Oregonian reports, she falsely claimed she had more than 20 years experience as a champion for energy efficiency.

Public records obtained by the Oregonian show that in the 1980s she was selling fossil fuels to industrial and commercial customers on the West Coast.

She later founded and purchased several natural gas marketing firms in San Francisco, including Pacific Western Energy and Allegis Energy Resources - but declared them both bankrupt in 1992, leaving behind debts of about $3.5 million.

A multiyear investigation by the FBI and IRS ensued, according to the Oregonian, and concluded she diverted over $800,000 from the companies for her own use, lied during corporate bankruptcy proceedings and failed to pay her 1991 taxes.

She was convicted of bankruptcy and tax fraud in 1997, and was sentenced to three years and a month in federal prison.

She was also ordered to pay nearly $1 million to the companies she defrauded.

After her release, the Oregonian reports, Woodley moved to Washington, where she confessed in 2001 to more than a dozen probation violations - including faking financial statements, securing prohibited loans to purchase a home in Seattle's Queen Anne neighborhood and lying to probation officers.

As a result, Woodley wound up back in jail for six months.

Five years later, in 2006, the Oregonian says, she tried to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection - just months after the US Attorney's Office in Washington filed a notice seeking $928,000 from her in connection to her 1997 conviction.

At the same time, she faced foreclosure on the property she owned.

But federal judges denied the bankruptcy claims after Woodley failed to provide the necessary financial documents, like federal income tax returns and monthly statements.

Then, just one year later, the IRS placed a $1.3 million lien against her for the unpaid restitution to the companies she originally defrauded.

And shortly after she relocated to Portland, the IRS refiled its lien against her in Washington state and increased the penalty to $2.2 million. It eventually released her from the lien in 2016, when it expired.

The City Council, led by Mayor Ted Wheeler, pictured at a news conference in August, unanimously approved the grant earlier this month

Since then, the Oregonian reports, Woodley has registered at least eight other businesses or nonprofits on the West Coast, including Diversifying Energy, but most appear to be dormant.

Then, just this past May, the state of California filed an $810,000 lien against her in Sacramento County for a failure to pay taxes she owned tied to her 1997 tax fraud conviction.

Portland city officials have said they were unaware of Woodley's history, and said they would delay the execution of the $11.5 million agreement with Diversifying Energy.

They also said they would look to take steps to further vet who they award grants to.

'This is obviously shocking and distressing and sad news for us and the program,' Eden Dabbs, a spokeswoman with the Bureau of Planning and Sustainability, which oversees the fund, told the Oregonian.

'We are going to have to take responsibility for the decision.

'Well absolutely be looking at this in terms of process and use it as a painful lesson not to let this ever happen again.'
An extensive month-long search for William Tyrrell on NSW's Mid North Coast has been called off after investigators failed to find the missing toddler's remains.

NSW Police have announced search operations being undertaken near the three-year-old foster mother's Kendall home, where he vanished from in September 2014, are expected to be completed in coming days.

The forensic search was launched on November 15 under a Coronial Order as part of ongoing investigations into the toddler's disappearance.

'Once the search operation is complete, a team will facilitate a repatriation of the site,' the statement said.

NSW Police have announced a month-long search for William Tyrrell (pictured) will be called off in coming days

Strike Force Rosann detectives launched a renewed search in Kendall (pictured) on November 15

'Further, forensic examinations of seized items and a significant quantity of soil remain ongoing.'

NSW Police said Deputy State Coroner Harriet Grahame has been appraised and Strike Force Rosann detectives continue to prepare a brief of the information for the coroner.

'The NSW Police Force remains committed to finding William Tyrrell and investigations by the Homicide Squads Strike Force Rosann are ongoing,' the force said.

'Investigators would like to thank the NSW Rural Fire Service, Salvation Army, and the local community for their hospitality and assistance.'

William and his family were visiting his foster grandmother's property on Benaroon Drive, Kendall, from Sydney when he mysteriously vanished seven years ago.

Police draining the water tank at William's foster grandmothers house at Kendall on November 24 as part of their renewed search for the toddler

NSW Police said items found in the search and soil were still undergoing forensic examination

Last month, NSW Police announced hundreds of officers would search three locations in the area he disappeared after receiving new information and they were looking for a body.

The gruelling operation, which has intermittently been hampered by wet weather, has seen officers scour dense bushland and drain creeks to sift through muddy creek beds.

Officers also re-examined William's foster mother's home, searching a water tank and using a ground-penetrating radar to scan cement laid in the garage after the little boy's disappearance.

Strike Force Rosann detectives have found several items of interest during the renewed search, including pieces of faded red material and a hessian bag.

Investigators also uncovered two strands of red threads which police on site were seen comparing to a Spider-Man suit, like the now-iconic costume William was last photographed wearing.

Investigators found red fabric at the bottom of a muddy creek during the search - which will be forensically examined to determine whether it is the same material as a Spiderman suit William was photographed in (pictured) the morning he vanished

Two days into the renewed search, police also seized a car that previously belonged to William's foster grandmother, who died earlier this year.

Officials are yet to reveal whether any items are forensically significant to the case, but NSW Police Detective Chief Superintendent Darren Bennett told reporters on November 26 investigators were 'very happy' with what had been found so far.

In November, NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller said the search would continue 'until investigators believe the job is done', and estimated it would take 'a number of weeks.

'There are still lots of questions that need to be answered,' he said, referring to the investigation.

'A big part of that is either locating his body or remains of his body at Kendall.

'We want to be certain that the search is being done as thoroughly as possible.'

The former home and surrounds of William Tyrrell's foster grandmother's home is searched by police on November 26

'Body finding' expert searching for William Tyrrell makes a stunning admission about what police expect to find in the ground

By Kylie Stevens and Candace Sutton for Daily Mail Australia

A water science expert and renowned 'body finder' assisting in the search of William Tyrrell has made a chilling admission about the missing boy's remains.

Professor Jon Olley says he is more hopeful about finding the missing boy's Spiderman costume than his bones during the renewed search near his foster grandmother's home in Kendall, on the NSW mid north coast.

That's because his bones could well have broken down in the earth in the seven years since William disappeared - while the fabric would not have.

'The one thing we have going in our favour is the fact that (investigators) believe he was in a polyester suit,' Prof. Olley told the Daily Telegraph.

'(Polyester) doesn't break down and it's very resistant to actually fading as well.'

Prof. Olley helped police find the remains of murdered Queensland schoolboy Daniel Morcombe and has joined the current police search for the little boy lost for the past month.

Professor Jon Olley (pictured recently on the renewed search for William Tyrrell) has admitted they may never find the little boy's remains

Prof Olley told the Telegraph while William's bones could be buried in the soil, given the 'bioactivity' of the area and acid levels in the soil would break them down over time.

'Seven years for a child's bones is a long time in this sort of environment,' he was quoted saying.

In 2011, the Griffith University emeritus hydrology professor spent two months with a team of hydrologists and archaeologists searching on a steep swampy site near the Glasshouse Mountains on Queensland's Sunshine Coast.

They found two shoes and three bones belonging to the 13-year-old, whose body had been discarded by killer Brett Peter Cowan at the site some eight years earlier in December 2003.

Police excavated 500 cubic metres of sand to remove a layer of sediment up to a metre deep that had been deposited since Daniel's body was left there.

Professor Olley identified three 'depressions' and 'flow paths' before finding the boy's shoes and bones.

Professor Olley has higher hopes of finding the remains of William's Superman costume (pictured wearing the superhero suit on the day he went missing in September 2014)

During the search for William Professor Olley has been joined by a special task force of police officers and a forensic grave archeologist.

He told Daily Mail Australia last month that the task of finding William's remains was 'more complex' job than Morcombe's because it was over 'a bigger area'.

Earlier this week, police unearthed a piece of faded red material buried in a muddy creek bed as they continue the search for William.

As they raked through the mud, detectives discovered a piece of fabric near the base of a tree.

The item was placed into an evidence bag and will be forensically examined to determine whether it is the same material as the red and blue Spider-Man costume the toddler was last seen in.
The Northern Territory has detected four new COVID-19 cases in the community as an outbreak spreads towards the West Australian border.

One infection is linked to a cluster in the town of Katherine, 320km south of Darwin.

The other three cases are unconfirmed, but Health Minister Natasha Fyles said they are very likely to be genuine infections due to the close contacts.

Two of those are in remote Timber Creek 202km from the WA border, 225km east of Kununurra, and the other one is in Kalkarindji, 550km south of Darwin.

The Northern Territory has detected four new COVID-19 cases in the community as an outbreak spreads towards the West Australian border (pictured, healthcare workers in the remote town of Katherine)

'Today's case numbers are nowhere near as high as yesterday but we do expect more cases in the coming days,' Ms Fyles told reporters on Tuesday.

It brings the current outbreak to 88 cases but that is expected to rise to 91 later in the day once the three infections are confirmed.

Meanwhile, the Aboriginal Medical Services Alliance Northern Territory has called for Katherine and its surrounding area to be locked down to slow the spread.

It said vaccination rates are not high enough to be fully protective and more health workers were urgently needed in the area.

Two of the new cases are in remote Timber Creek 202km from the WA border, 225km east of Kununurra, and the other one is in Kalkarindji, 550km south of Darwin (pictured, Covid checks in Perth)

The Northern Land Council backed the call.

It comes as Ms Fyles hinted the NT's border and travel rules may be tweaked following an outcry from the tourism industry and parents of boarding school students.

The eased restrictions which come in effect on Monday limit travellers from leaving high-vaccination areas, such as Darwin and Alice Springs, for 14 days.

The cases brings the Northern Territory's current outbreak to 88 cases but that is expected to rise to 91 later in the day once the three infections are confirmed (pictured, a Covid test in Katherine in the NT)

The outbreak started when an infected woman illegally entered the NT in late October.

The 21-year-old was fined for lying on her border entry form as the virus spread from Darwin to Katherine and numerous Aboriginal communities.

Police have since launched a fresh investigation into the border breach after an Aboriginal woman died from COVID-19 in early December.

People in Timber Creek have been ordered to wear a face mask in most public places until 2pm on Friday as a rapid response team prepares to travel to the town.

It comes after an infected man from Binjari Aboriginal community, near Katherine, visited the town before testing positive to the virus on Monday.

The two cases in Timber Creek comes after an infected man from Binjari Aboriginal community, near Katherine (pictured), visited the town before testing positive to the virus on Monday

Kalkarindji already has a mask mandate in place, which finishes at the same time.

'We are less concerned about the Kalkarindji case. The individual is a woman that we are advised is double vaccinated and her infectivity is low,' Ms Fyles said.

A lockout in the Aboriginal community of Beswick, 425km southeast of Darwin, will end at 2pm Tuesday but masks will need to be worn until the same time on Friday.

The mask order is also in place in nearby Barunga Aboriginal community, Katherine and the town of Tennant Creek, 990km south of Darwin.

One new case was detected at The Centre of National Resilience quarantine facility at Howard Springs, south of Darwin, after a traveller returned to Australia from South Africa.

Authorities have also confirmed that another traveller who flew from Nigeria to Darwin via Sydney is infected with Omicron.
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Unions and headteachers today called for the two-week Christmas holiday to be extended into January and a staggered start to the new term in 2022 because of the rising number of Omicron cases.

Schools are already closing early for the Christmas holidays and blocking parents from seeing their children in nativities and carol concerts for the second year in a row - sometimes with just hours to go.

NASUWT general secretary Dr Patrick Roach has written to education secretary, Nadhim Zahawi calling for masks in classrooms now and a staggered start to the new term in 2022 for secondary schools, meaning children will be forced into online learning.

He said: 'We ask you to avoid a repeat of the confusion and chaos which last year impacted negatively on public and parental condence and hampered the hard work of teachers and school and college leaders in their preparations at the start of 2021.

'An immediate announcement from the government on additional measures for schools and colleges is, we believe, essential before the majority of schools and colleges close for the Christmas break.'

Clare Wagner, head of Henrietta Barnett School in Barnet, north London, told the Evening Standard: 'Not only does testing take ages but you can't have pupils in school before the test, and they can't go into lessons until the results have come through so you have to have a staggered start'.

Headteachers say that there is 'chaos' in Britain's education system with children already being taught online and now not returning to the classroom until January at the earliest.

Schools in areas with high infection rates such as London, the south-east and the East Midlands, say they are sending home entire year groups because they don't have the teachers and supply teachers available. Unions claim that in some schools up to half of staff are off sick, with some missing from work since November.

Downing Street has said that schools should not be closing early for the Christmas holidays, unless they are ordered to on public health grounds.

The return to home schooling for thousands of children came days after an alarming report warned that almost every child in the country has fallen behind at school because of Covid lockdowns - with pupils battling 'endemic' loneliness, boredom and misery during the pandemic.

Up to half the teaching workforce is unavailable for work due to Covid-related absence in some schools, the NASUWT union has claimed. And parents are being told to stay away from nativities and Christmas concerts, sometimes with only a few hours notice.

Broadcaster Isabel Webster tweeted: 'So many calls from heartbroken friends, as their child's nativity/carol service is cancelled for 2nd year in a row... Ours is still on, but we've just been told only 1 family member can go - so I'm missing out. I hate you covid. We will never get these years back...'

One parent replied: 'Have missed my daughter's nativity for last two years nowboth Reception & Year One.. and my younger daughter's Christmas party at nursery also was cancelled last week. As you say - we will never get this time back'.

One mother told MailOnline: 'This is child discrimination. Selfish teachers are cancelling nativities and concerts so they can not have their Christmas disrupted without consideration for the happiness and wellbeing of pupils who have already missed out on so much because of the pandemic'.

As children suffered more disruption their their education, it also emerged today:

NHS leaders have warned that Boris Johnson's Covid booster rollout is setting up the health service for 'failure' and raised questions about the possibility of success;

Hospitality businesses could be shut within weeks under Government plans to halt the spread of the Covid variant as Boris Johnson faces the biggest revolt of his premiership today, with a third of Tory backbenchers preparing to vote against controversial 'Plan B' vaccine passports;

People may need three jabs to use controversial Covid passports for entry to large venues by January, the Health Secretary warned;

Schools are already shutting early for Christmas with unions claiming in some areas up to half of staff are now off sick. Pictured: Pupils listen during a geography lesson at Whitchurch High School earlier this year

Nativity plays and other Christmas festivities are being widely axed and filmed instead as parents are kept away. Pictured: A Knutsford school last year

Broadcaster Isabel Webster is among the parents missing out on seeing their child's nativity after schools cancelled or limited numbers

One parent responded that it would be the second year all their child's Christmas events have been cancelled - a situation also suffered by millions of families

The Government should publish guidance advising schools to cancel or postpone non-essential activities and events immediately, as well as move to online staff and parental meetings, the NASUWT union says, but many schools have already axed nativities and Christmas concerts.

The education secretary Nadhim Zahawi (pictured arriving at Broadcasting House on Sunday) has also refused to rule out school closures in the new year

A staggered return of pupils at the start of January should be considered and additional on-site testing facilities should be provided up until the February half-term, the union says.

With entire year groups being sent home, Mr Zahawi has hit back and said: 'School attendance remains mandatory...The evidence is clear that the best place for children is in a classroom'.

Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), has said schools across the country are seeing 'very severe low attendance' as the Omicron variant spreads.

He told BBC Radio 4's Today Programme: 'Listening to the speculation and the news, and certainly the emails I've been getting from members, you are getting some pockets of very severe low attendance, partly young people, partly staff.

'One (school) has emailed me this morning saying 25% of staff have been off for three weeks, you can imagine if you can't then get supply teachers that becomes very difficult to maintain the quality of education.'

Little-known minister for jabs gets sidelined Vaccines Minister Maggie Throup was sidelined yesterday as Sajid Javid said he will now be 'personally running' the booster programme. The Health Secretary said he is taking charge of the rollout and will be responsible for its success. He insisted that Ms Throup is 'doing a really important job' but his decision to lead the initiative is likely to prompt questions over her future. Her predecessor, Nadhim Zahawi, had a much more prominent role. He attended Cabinet and was frequently seen on TV. Miss Throup took over the role in September after Mr Zahawi was promoted to Education Secretary. Asked who was in charge, Mr Javid told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'Maggie Throup is the Vaccines Minister. She is doing a really important job.' Pressed on whether she was in charge of the rollout, Mr Javid said: 'I am personally running this programme.' Advertisement

Downing Street said yesterday that schools should not be closing early for the Christmas holidays, unless they are ordered to on public health grounds.

The Prime Minister's official spokesman said there were currently no plans to put any restrictions on schooling, adding that suspension of face to face lessons was only ever done if 'it was an absolute public health emergency'.

In response to the increase in cases of the highly transmissible variant, teaching unions have called for the staggered return of pupils in January and for additional onsite testing facilities for schools.

They also said the Government should publish further guidance advising schools and colleges to cancel or postpone non-essential activities or events, as well as move to online staff and parents meetings.

Meanwhile, reports suggest some schools have been closing early amid rising concern of the Omicron variant.

In response, the Prime Minister's official spokesman said: 'Certainly we do not think anyone should be closing schools early unless they have received advice from a local director of public health that it is necessary on public health grounds.

'We wouldn't want to see that happening routinely just as a precaution because education is vital and we have seen sadly because of the public health crisis children have to miss face to face education and so it is very important that we maintain schooling as much as possible.'

It comes after the health secretary refused to rule out school closures when quizzed this morning as the Government continues its battle to control the spread of Omicron cases.

Sajid Javid said he did not want children to go back to learning from home after Christmas as he urged the nation to sign up for their booster jabs but said 'there are no guarantees' schools would be open.

Many individual schools have closed early for Christmas in defiance of Whitehall advice and it is understood several local authorities are considering similar moves to curb Omicron cases

Asked on LBC whether this remained a possibility, Mr Javid said: 'Well, I don't want to see that or any of these kinds of measures. I'm just going to focus on everything else we need to be doing, especially the booster programme.'

Website crashes in stampede for jabs The NHS website crashed yesterday as record numbers rushed to book a booster in the hope of saving their Christmas. Boris Johnson's promise to give every adult a third jab by the end of the year triggered a surge in demand that left parts of the UK's health infrastructure unable to cope. Queues of up to five hours built up at some vaccination centres. The Government was also forced to suspend temporarily the online availability of home lateral flow kits on the eve of rolling out a new testing regime. From today, all contacts of those who have tested positive for Covid have to take a daily rapid test for a week in a bid to prevent the virus from spreading further. The weekend saw a record number of booster bookings on the NHS website, with 749,000 slots snapped up. A further 110,000 slots had been booked by 9am yesterday. Problems with the site began on Sunday afternoon. The Prime Minister's later TV address led to a further surge, with many of those trying to book met with a message telling them that they had been placed in a queue. Others were unable to get this far and were instead told the site had 'technical difficulties'. No10 yesterday suggested 'further capacity' would be built into the service in coming days to deal with the increased demand. Advertisement

He added: 'I'd say this... if you are asking me for guarantees, I will just say - as the Health Secretary, of course, I'm not the Education Secretary - as the Health Secretary, that there are, when it comes to our fight against this pandemic, there are no guarantees.

'But what we do know that works is, in this case, a booster shot of the vaccine.'

The health secretary's comments echo those made by the education secretary yesterday who also offered no guarantee that schools would still be open in the new year.

Nadhim Zahawi said the Government was still learning about the variant and that it was trying to ensure schools were protected.

Asked by the BBC's Andrew Marr if he could make the promise that schools won't close, he said: 'We are absolutely working to make sure that all schools are open, that they're protected.

'I will do everything in my power. We are still learning about this variant. We know that a booster works.

'Get boosted, protect yourself, protect your community and let's get through this and transition this from pandemic to endemic.'

An Omicron Covid-19 case was reported in a primary school for the first time last week.

All year five students, aged nine or ten, at Manor Community Primary School in Kent, were advised to stay home and get tested.

Those who are unvaccinated and come into close contact with a person who has been infected with Omicron must self-isolate for 10 days.

As of tomorrow, people who are fully vaccinated and identified as a contact of someone with Covid  whether Omicron or not  should take an NHS rapid lateral flow test every day for 7 days to help slow the spread, the Government said this weekend.

Pupils' parents received an email informing them of the situation and a mobile testing unit was dispatched to the school in Keary Road on Friday.

As a precaution, the UK Health Security Agency is carrying out testing on some pupils in key stage two groups.

The news came days after another Omicron case was confirmed at nearby Northfleet Technology College.

Health experts fear the Omicron variant could be more contagious than other strains, although it is understood the vaccine remains effective at preventing severe symptoms and hospitalisation in most cases.

The UK's Omicron outbreak surged by 50 per cent in a day today after more than 1,500 Britons were diagnosed with the mutant virus and the first death was confirmed.

Officials confirmed another 1,576 cases of the highly-evolved variant over the past 24 hours, bringing the total number to 4,713  however this is believed to be a vast underestimate with the true number several times greater because not all positive tests are analysed for variants.

Fearing a rise in Omicron infections, new coronavirus restrictions have come into force around the country as part of the government's Plan B to tackle the virus over the winter period.

Many individual schools have closed early for Christmas in defiance of Whitehall advice, with some citing their own Covid outbreaks and a lack of staff.

It is thought a number of local authorities are considering similar moves in a bid to curb Omicron cases.

Last month, Darwen Aldridge Enterprise Studio, a secondary school which teaches pupils aged 13 to 19, said that it was shuttering its doors temporarily due to teachers being off with Covid.

And Finlay Community Primary School in Gloucestershire said it was partially closing - with pupils in reception moving to online learning - due to 'an increase in Covid-19 cases' and 'low staffing levels'.

Among the schools already closed for Christmas are Abbots Green Academy and Sybil Andrews Academy in Bury St Edmonds, Suffolk.

Pupils have switched to online learning and it is not known if they will return in January in-person yet.

Other schools cancelled nativities and Christmas festivities amidst growing concern over the highly transmissible Omicron variant.

It comes as a public health chief called for an extension of the school holiday to act as a 'firebreak' against Covid.

Professor Dominic Harrison, director of public health for Blackburn with Darwen, said adding a week either side of the two-week break could reduce transmission to 'vulnerable family members' and protect schools in the New Year.

A firebreak, he said, would be the best way to contain Omicron after the Centre for Mathematical Modelling of Infectious Diseases had found the strain will have a 'very significant impact' on schools.

His proposal was echoed by a senior leader of the National Education Union whose members are unhappy at being exposed to pupils with Covid.

But yesterday campaigners urged councils to keep schools open.

The NASUWT has said the Government should stagger the return of pupils to schools in January amid concerns about the Omicron variant and set up onsite testing facilities

Molly Kingsley, of parent group UsForThem, said: 'Schools are quite literally essential for children. Closing them is nothing short of a moral crime.

'Just as it would be inconceivable to close power stations, hospitals, essential retail, it must be inconceivable to close schools.'

After the Christmas holidays last year, Prime Minister Boris Johnson told parents on Sunday January 3 to send their primary-age children back to school.

But on the evening of the next day, he announced a national lockdown for England - with all schools closed to the majority of pupils.
His lawyers are due to argue for dismissal of the lawsuit in Manhattan in January

The 38-year-old is suing him for sexual assault under NY's Child Victims Act

Virginia Giuffre alleges she was forced to have sex with Duke three times in 2001

Prince Andrew's lawyers have accused Virginia Giuffre of 'changing her story' as they attempt to get the sexual assault case thrown out by claiming it is 'unconstitutional'.

Giuffre, aged 38 and 17 at the time of the alleged abuse, claims she was forced to have sex with Andrew, 61, on three occasions in 2001, when he was aged 30.

American lawyers for the Duke, who has consistently and vehemently denied her claims, have now contended the law which the case was filed under - the New York's Child Victims Act - is unconstitutional.

Andrew Brettler, representing the Prince, described Giuffre's allegations as 'vague' after she said the Duke used her to 'gratify his own sexual desires' and accused him of 'victim shaming'.

The Duke's lawyers are scheduled to argue for a dismissal of the lawsuit at a hearing before Judge Kaplan in Manhattan on January 4, 2022.

It comes shortly after the Duke was seen sharing a joke and laughing while on a horse ride with two friends in the grounds of Windsor Castle yesterday.

Prince Andrew shared a joke and laughed on his latest pony ride in Windsor yesterday while his lawyers prepare for a dismissal of the lawsuit at a hearing in Manhattan on January 4, 2022

The Duke of York was pictured breaking out in a huge smile as he rode across the grounds surrounding the castle with two fellow riders

Mr Brettler referred to Giuffre's complaint as 'ambiguous at best and unintelligible at worst', reports The Sun.

He added: 'Giuffres refusal to include anything but the most conclusory allegations is puzzling given her pattern of disclosing to the media the purported details of the same allegations.

'Perhaps it is Giuffres tendency to change her story that prompted her to keep the allegations of the Complaint vague, so as not to commit to any specific account.'

While Prince Andrew believes that none of the documents should remain confidential, his lawyers have requested the evidence to stay under seal in order to comply with current court orders.

American lawyer Andrew Brettler, representing the Duke, wrote to US District Judge Lewis Kaplan asking to keep 'sealed' Andrew's response to some of Giuffre's claims which have so far remained confidential, reports The Times.

He said the formal request was made 'without prejudice' to Andrew's right to question the appropriateness of a conditional arrangement Giuffre made with the estate of Jeffrey Epstein, who she says also abused her.

Giuffre sued Andrew for unspecified damages in August, saying he forced her to have sex at the London home of former Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell.

She also accused him of abusing her at Epstein's homes in Manhattan and the US Virgin Islands.

Virginia Giuffre (pictured above), aged 38 and 17 at the time of the alleged abuse, claims she was forced to have sex with Andrew, 61, on three occasions in 2001, when he was aged 30

Giuffre (pictured after the hearing in the criminal case against Epstein in August 2019) sued Andrew for unspecified damages in August, saying he forced her to have sex at the London home of former Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell.

Andrew has 'unequivocally' denied Giuffre's claims and accused her of seeking 'another payday' in her drive to profit from her association with Epstein.

Meanwhile, in a separate legal case, friends and family of alleged 'madam' Maxwell have asked to remain anonymous if they testify in her defence when the trial continues later this week.

Maxwell, who could face an 80-year prison sentence if found guilty of six sex trafficking charges, will begin the 'fight for her life' in New York on Thursday when her lawyers launch her defence case.

The socialite stands accused of procuring women and underage girls for the billionaire paedophile Jeffrey Epstein. She vehemently denies the charges.

The prosecution rested its case on Friday after calling Annie Farmer, who testified that she was fondled and abused by Maxwell when she was 14.

Maxwell, who could face an 80-year prison sentence if found guilty of six sex trafficking charges, will begin the 'fight for her life' in New York on Thursday when her lawyers launch her defence case

The prosecution rested its case on Friday after calling Annie Farmer (pictured), who testified that she was fondled and abused by Maxwell when she was 14

Christian Everdell, a lawyer representing Maxwell, asked the court to allow some defence witnesses to withhold their real names, as they had requested, saying: 'People who testify might get a lot of unwanted attention, especially if they are testifying on behalf of Ms Maxwell'.

Judge Alison Nathan said she would consider the request.

During several bail hearings, Maxwell's friends and relatives wrote anonymously to the court pleading for her to be granted bail and vouching for her good character.

A lawyer associated with the case said: 'People's lives have been destroyed by having their names linked to Ghislaine's.

'She would support any move to protect those prepared to speak on her behalf. She is innocent and determined to prove it but is anxious no more lives and reputations are ruined.'

The defence is expected to last two or three days, which means the case could go to the jury before Christmas. Maxwell's lawyers fear jurors might then rush to deliver a verdict before the holidays.
Australia is set to become the hottest place in the world with temperatures predicted to reach 50C in the outback this week.

A combination of 'exceptionally hot air mass' and lack of cloud cover is setting Australians up for a blistering December.

That 'hot air' is expected to build up over northern and central Australia where 'severe to extreme' heat is expected to hit a record-breaking 50C.

According to Weatherzone Australia's highest December temperature on record sat at 49.9C in Nullarbor in South Australia in 2019.

A combination of 'exceptionally hot air mass' and lack of cloud cover is setting Australians up for a blistering week

News comes as Australia's east coast suffers extreme humidity thanks to the current La Nina weather event that is expected to stay well into 2022 (pictured, a woman on Bondi Beach)

Pilbara, Kimberley and North Interior districts of Western Australia are expected to feel the heat the most.

Meanwhile Weatherzone says the people of Alice Springs are predicted to face a whopping 41C every day between now and Saturday.

Coastal areas will also see a mini heatwave as temperatures hit 30C in Sydney on Saturday and 33C in Melbourne.

Adelaide's hottest day of the week will be Friday when it hits 37C, while Brisbane will enjoy a balmy 31C on Wednesday and Thursday.

News comes as Australia's east coast suffers extreme humidity thanks to the current La Nina weather event.

La Nina has brought humidity levels as high as 97 per cent to Australia's east coast due to increased rainfall.

The current La Nina event is expected to stay and cause havoc until late Summer or early Autumn in 2022.

Pilbara, Kimberley and North Interior districts of Western Australia are expected to feel the heat the most as Alice Springs expected to sit at 41C until Saturday

La Nina has brought humidity levels as high as 97 per cent to Australia's east coast due to increased rainfall
Norway has banned alcohol sales in hospitality venues as the country's leaders race to impose new curbs to try and slow the spread of the Omicron variant.

Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store said that, from midnight tonight, bars and restaurants will be banned from selling booze for at least four weeks but will be allowed to remain open as part of a package of new Covid measures.

Staff have also been told to work from home where possible, mask mandates are being extended and access to public swimming pools and gyms restricted.

'For many this will feel like a lockdown,' Mr Store admitted, but insisted the measures are necessary to prevent a 'serious' situation where Delta and Omicron cases combine to overwhelm the country's hospitals.

It comes after health chiefs warned of a 'contagion bomb' with up to 300,000 cases per day and 200 hospital admissions if nothing is done.

Norway will ban bars and restaurants from selling alcohol for at least four weeks but will allow them to remain open to combat the spread of Omicron Covid (a graph shows case rises)

Health chiefs in Norway have warned of a 'contagion bomb' that could overwhelm hospitals as deaths from the virus rise, though remain below 10 per day

In nearby Denmark the situation is worsening as scientists have warned that the Omicron variant could become dominant within days.

Denmark is second worldwide only to the UK in confirmed cases of Omicron, with both countries having extensive sequencing of samples to detect variants quickly.

Denmark has recorded a total of 3,437 Omicron cases as of Monday, while the UK has recorded a total of 4,713 Omicron infections. Meanwhile, Norway recorded a total of 958 cases of the variant as of Sunday.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has warned that the UK is facing a 'tidal wave' of Omicron as it emerged that at least one person in the country has died with the variant.

Across the Channel, France is set to be hit by a sixth Covid wave in January due to the Omicron variant, according to a leading French hospital executive.

'We haven't said a word on the sixth wave, which is Omicron, which will come later, in January,' Martin Hirsch, head of Paris's AP-HP hospitals group, Europe's largest hospital system, told RTL radio.

France has recorded just 59 Omicron cases so far while Germany has recorded 77, which is much lower than the UK and Denmark.

But this is because Britain and Denmark are tracking and modelling the spread of the variant carefully using genome sequencing. It means that the figures they are reporting may reflect what is happening elsewhere in Europe.

Norway is setting record highs in terms of both new Covid-19 infections and hospitalisations, partly due to the spread of the Omicron variant.

The Norwegian Institute of Public Health (FHI) issued a dire warning on Monday as it said the government must move quickly to impose further restrictions in order to stem the spread of the variant.

'The Omicron variant will already in December cause a wave with many sick, many hospitalisations, [putting a] significant burden on the health care system and society through, among other things, widespread sickness absence,' the FHI said.

Denmark has recorded a total of 3,437 Omicron cases as of Monday, while the UK has recorded nearly double that figure with a total of 4,713 Omicron infections. Meanwhile, Norway recorded a total of 958 cases of the variant as of Sunday. The Omicron variant has led to the number of cases in the three countries to skyrocket

Denmark is second worldwide only to the UK in confirmed cases of Omicron, with both countries having extensive sequencing of samples to detect variants quickly. But there is resistance to the reintroduction of a vaccine pass

Demonstrators peacefully march during a 'Men in Black' protest against new government Covid-19 restrictions in Copenhagen, Denmark

They warned that unless effective measures are established, the nation of 5.4 million people risks having between 90,000 and 300,000 new Covid cases per day in the next three weeks, adding that there could be up to 200 hospital admissions every day.

On Monday, there were 358 people hospitalised with Covid in Norway - the highest number during the entire pandemic, the Norwegian Directorate of Health said.

In the UK, Mr Johnson said on Sunday that two vaccine doses would not be enough to contain it as her urged Britons to get their booster jab.

The Omicron variant appears to spread faster than the Delta variant, making vaccines less effective but causing less severe symptoms, the World Health Organization said Sunday, while stressing that the data remains patchy.

Indeed, data from Denmark's research institute Staten Serums Institute shows that of the 2,471 people infected with Omicron so far, 74.6 per cent - or 1,843 people - were double vaccinated.

It has prompted the Danish health authorities to announce on Monday that a third dose of the Covid vaccine would be offered sooner to everyone over 40 to curb the spread of the variant.

'Due to the new and more contagious Omicron variant the Danish Health Authority has decided to push the third jab for everyone aged 40 and above, so they get the vaccine four and half months after the second jab,' the health authority said in a statement.

By reducing the interval of the doses, 'we will be able to enter the winter with better protection for those at increased risk of severe disease and increased immunity in the population,' director Soren Brostrom said.

A third dose is 'safe and effective' as soon as three months after the initial vaccine course, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) said last week.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson told the country last night that a wave of Omicron 'is coming' as he ramped up the booster drive to meet his target of delivering a million jabs a day. The PM is pictured above at a vaccination centre in Westminster, London

The UK Covid alert level was raised from level 3 to level 4 after the UK reported another 1,239 confirmed cases of the Omicron variant

Denmark has seen a high vaccine uptake among its population of 5.8 million people, with 80.6 per cent of those over the age of five receiving two jabs already.

In response to the surge in cases, Denmark reintroduced new restrictions last week, closing schools and colleges, curtailing nightlife and promoting remote working.

It comes as Mads Albertsen, a professor at Aalborg University, said the Omicron variant could be dominant within days.

Meanwhile, Norway's Prime Minister will hold a press conference at 8pm tonight to announce new restrictions to curb the spread of the variant.

The government on December 7 introduced a cap on the number of visitors allowed in private homes and shortened the hours bars and restaurants can serve alcohol, but additional regulation is now required.

'The situation concerns us more than it did previously,' Line Vold, the FHI's head of infection control and emergency preparedness, told public broadcaster NRK.

'We think Omicron will be the dominant variant in the coming days... We need to quickly introduce further restrictions.'

New regulations could come later on Monday, newspaper VG reported, citing unnamed sources.

To speed up vaccination with booster doses, the health ministry has asked Norway's armed forces as well as pharmacies to assist in the inoculation campaign, VG reported.

It comes after it emerged earlier this month that a business trip to South Africa may have sparked the world's biggest Omicron outbreak after between 50 and 60 vaccinated people were infected at a Christmas party in Norway.

Scatec staff had recently returned from South Africa, where the super-mutant strain was first discovered, before a meal at Louise Restaurant & Bar in Aker Brygge on Oslo's waterfront.

Fifty people tested positive with a PCR test and 10 with a lateral flow following the party, though so far none is thought to be seriously ill.

Oslo authorities confirmed one positive Omicron case following the company Christmas party and said more infections were 'expected'.

Scatec has insisted only vaccinated employees were allowed to attend the party and they needed a negative test result beforehand.

Norwegian epidemiologists had earlier ruled out the possibility the infections are Delta variant cases and said there was a 'high probability' it was Omicron.

The Christmas party was held in a closed room but the guests reportedly mingled with other people in the restaurant after 10:30pm, when it turned into a nightclub.

At least two restaurant guests not involved in the Christmas party also later tested positive, though it is not yet clear if they were infected at the event or from a different contact.

Ten waiters who served the table were tested after the party, but none have tested positive. But one of the company's super-spreaders was also drinking in an Irish bar in the city the following night, raising fears more could be infected.
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Britons are being offered huge discounts on winter getaways as holiday firms and airlines look to tempt people abroad, amid talk of changes to the UK's travel restrictions.

Some tour operators are offering up to 80 per cent off holidays to Spain this month in a bid to convince uncertain travellers to book a break this winter.

Meanwhile Ryanair has released thousands of cheap seats, including 20 return flights to popular winter holiday destinations such as Tenerife - where January highs reach 68F.

It comes as Sajid Javid today announced that all 11 countries on the coronavirus travel red list will be removed from 4am on Wednesday.

However Government demands for holidaymakers to take costly PCR tests on their return to the UK will remain in place.

Cape Verde: Britons are being offered huge discounts on winter getaways as holiday firms and airlines look to tempt Britons abroad, amid talk of changes to the UK's travel restrictions. TUI has cut price deals to Cape Verde (pictured), where January temperatures can be up to 75F

Benidorm: Some holiday firms are offering up to 80 per cent off holidays to Spain (pictured: Poniente beach in Benidorm) this month in a bid to convince uncertain Britons to book a break this winter

Tenerife: Meanwhile Ryanair has released thousands of cheap seats, including 20 return flights to popular winter holiday destinations such as Tenerife (pictured) - where January highs reach 68F

Discount deals offered by TUI for December and January getaways Cape Verde Hotel Riu Palace Santa Maria - All Inclusive - Seven Nights - Down from 1096 per person to 690 per person Tenerife Tamaimo Tropical - All Inclusive - Three Nights - Down from 606 per person to 236 per person Lanzarote Riu Paraiso - All Inclusive - Three Nights - Down from 671 per person to 291 per person Mexico Riu Playacar - All Inclusive - Seven Nights - Down from 1306 per person to 848 per person Morocco Riu Palace Tikida Agadir - All Inclusive - Four Nights - Down from 644 per person to 304 per person Benidorm Hotel Rio Park - Full Board - Three Nights - Down from 657 per person to 127 per person Prices correct at the time of publication Advertisement

Travel bosses say the measure is creating a huge dent to confidence in the winter getaway market, because holidaymakers fear testing positive and being stuck abroad.

Holiday firm TUI, the UK's biggest tour operator, is slashing prices to tempt Britons to book a winter getaway however.

One of the biggest discounts on its website is on holidays to Benidorm, on Spain's famed Costa Blanca, where average January temperatures are around 61F.

One three night stay at Hotel Rio Park, full board, flying out from Cardiff between December 18 and December 21 has been slashed from 657 down to 127 per person.

Only double jabbed Britons are allowed into Spain under current rules, while holidaymakers will need to take a PCR test on their return to the UK.

These can cost up to 100 - nearly as much as the holiday itself.

TUI has also slashed some all inclusive holidays to Mexico in January by more than 35 per cent.

Again, like all incoming travellers to the UK, holidaymakers need to take a PCR test on their return.

Trips to Morocco, where average January highs are around 65F, have also been slashed by around 50 per cent by TUI.

There are also similar discounts on trips to the Canary Islands, such as Tenerife and Lanzarote, which are a popular choice for UK winter sunseekers.

Some trips to Cape Verde, a popular winter holiday destination where temperatures regularly reach up to 75F, have also been slashed by 300.

It comes as airlines have also slashed prices on flights in January.

Data from Google shows how flight prices to the Canary Islands are lower than average for next month.

Holiday firm TUI, the UK's biggest tour operator, is slashing prices, including to Mexico (pictured: Mexico's Rio Grande) to tempt Britons to book a winter getaway

Trips to Morocco (pictured: Morocco's Ait Benhaddou), where average January highs are around 65F, have also been slashed by around 50 per cent by TUI

There are also similar discounts on trips to the Canary Islands, such as Tenerife and Lanzarote (pictured), which are a popular choice for UK winter sunseekers.

How flight prices have changed in the last three weeks These are the average flight prices and how they have changed according to data from Google. All data, which is based on flights from Sunday, January 9 to Sunday, January 16 is correct at the time of publication: London to Fuerteventura Average flight price 21 days ago: 68 Average flight price today: 40 London to Tenerife Average flight price 21 days ago: 30 Average flight price today: 20 Manchester to Gran Caneria Average flight price 21 days ago: 105 Average flight price today: 77 Manchester to Faro (Portugal) Average flight price 21 days ago: 51 Average flight price today: 33 Birmingham to Benidorm Average flight price 21 days ago: 59 Average flight price today: 40 Advertisement

A round trip from London to Tenerife next month is currently priced at 20, without luggage.

Meanwhile, a round trip to nearby Fuerteventura from London on the same dates is currently 40, again without luggage.

A Jet2 round trip to Gran Canaria, another of the Canary islands, this time with luggage, is currently priced at 77.

Flight prices from Manchester to popular winter holiday destinations are also on the decline.

Seats from Manchester to Gran Caneria in the second weekend of January cost an average of 105 three weeks ago, but cost 77 now, according to Google.

Similarly, Manchester to Faro has also dropped in price from 51 to 33 over the past 21 days.

And flights from Birmingham to Benidorm have also dropped in price, from 59 to 40.

Flights to other popular winter destinations such as Mexico and the Caribbean are currently priced at average to slightly above average, according to data from Google.

It comes as ministers were last night accused of playing with peoples Christmases over plans to axe the travel red list hotel quarantine scheme.

Furious tourism chiefs pointed out that thousands of travellers cancelled trips to see loved ones abroad after the No-Go list was revived little more than two weeks ago.

South Africa and ten other countries in Africa were added to curb the spread of the Omicron variant.

But the variant is already spreading in the UK and across the globe.

Anybody arriving in the UK from countries on the red list were required to quarantine in hotels for 11 nights at a cost of 2,285.

But transport secretary Grant Shapps is said to have convinced colleagues that, for fully vaccinated Britons, it should be replaced with testing while quarantining at home instead.

Sajid Javid today announced that all 11 countries on the coronavirus travel red list will be removed from 4am on Wednesday.

A round trip from London to Tenerife next month is currently priced at 20, without luggage, while a round trip to nearby Fuerteventura from London on the same dates is currently 40, again without luggage

A Jet2 round trip to Gran Canaria, another of the Canary islands, this time with luggage, is currently priced at 77

Flight prices from Manchester to popular winter holiday destinations are also on the decline. Seats from Manchester to Gran Caneria in the second weekend of January cost an average of 105 three weeks ago, but cost 77 now, according to Google

What are the test rules for UK arrivals? New restrictions introduced at 4am on November 30 require fully-vaccinated people entering the UK to self-isolate until they receive a negative result from a PCR test taken on the second day after they arrive. From 4am today all people aged 12 years and over must also take a PCR or LFD Covid-19 test before they travel to England from abroad. The tests must be bought from the private sector, typically costing around 55. Previously, double-jabbed travellers were only required to take a cheaper lateral flow test, and did not need to self-isolate unless they received a positive result. People who are unvaccinated will continue to need one pre-departure test and two post-arrival PCR tests, and must quarantine for 10 days. Ten African countries have been added to the UK's red list since November 26. Arrivals from those locations must stay in a quarantine hotel for 10 days at a cost of 2,285 for solo travellers. Advertisement

Data suggests that with Omicron spreading rapidly worldwide, draconian travel restrictions will have a limited impact on countries infection rates.

Fully vaccinated foreigners may still be forced to quarantine in hotels upon landing in England.

A meeting of the so-called Covid O committee of cabinet ministers will take place this week, with an announcement potentially as soon as today.

Paul Charles, chief of travel consultancy The PC Agency, said: The government has to create a long-term strategy for when new variants emerge.

They cant keep switching the industry on and off because it damages the sector every time.

The government is responsible for cancelling and playing with peoples Christmases when it comes to foreign travel. Lots of people have had to cancel trips over Christmas. They cant continue to behave in this way.

Since Omicron emerged, pre-return tests have also been re-introduced for the fully vaccinated while post-arrival swabs, to be taken by day two, must be more costly PCR tests rather than rapid lateral flow devices.

The travel industry has blasted the moves, saying it will kill off travel over the key Christmas period.

Airline CEOs were last night meeting with Treasury officials to protest against the measures, which are among the most draconian in Europe.

The changes mean the red list is a policy likely to remain in place in case needed in future, but the eleven African countries currently on it will be removed.

The revival of the system has been plagued with issues, including travellers being unable to book hotel rooms because not enough have been acquired by ministers and reports of grim food while quarantining.

Transport secretary Grant Shapps (pictured) is said to have convinced colleagues that, for fully vaccinated Britons, the 'red list' should be replaced with testing while quarantining at home instead

Paul Charles, chief of travel consultancy The PC Agency, said: The government has to create a long-term strategy for when new variants emerge. They cant keep switching the industry on and off because it damages the sector every time'

The travel industry has blasted the moves, saying it will kill off travel over the key Christmas period

The top deals on Jet2's website All of the details are correct at the time of publication. Cyprus Paphos, 4 star Leonardo Plaza Cypria Maris Beach Hotel & Spa, 7 nights bed & breakfast departing from Birmingham on 16th February. Price: 519 per person based on 2 sharing, includes a 22kg baggage allowance and return transfers. Costa Del Sol Benalmadena, 4 star Sentido Benalmadena Beach, 7 nights room-only departing from East Midlands on 11th March. Price: 429 per person based on 2 sharing, includes a 22kg baggage allowance and return transfers. Fuerteventura Fuste Costa Caleta  Caleta de Fuste, 3 star Caybeach Caleta, 7 nights self-catering departing from Edinburgh on 2nd February. Price: 369 per person based on 2 sharing, includes a 22kg baggage allowance and return transfers. Algarve Albufeira, 4 star Santa Eulalia Hotel and Spa, 7 nights self-catering departing from London Stansted on 18th February. Price: 299 per person based on 2 sharing, includes a 22kg baggage allowance. Madeira Funchal, 4 star Girassol Suite Hotel, 7 nights bed & breakfast departing from Newcastle on 7th February. Price: 449 per person based on 2 sharing, includes a 22kg baggage allowance and return transfers. Advertisement

It comes as TUI earlier this month revealed a slump in demand for winter bookings due to fears over the Omicron variant as it reported an annual loss of more than 2billion after Covid travel curbs hit the tourism industry.

The travel firm said it was reviewing whether to cut the remainder of its winter schedule in light of the spread of the new strain and a fourth wave of the pandemic.

Chief executive Fritz Joussen said the majority of customers contacting the group are choosing to reschedule to later in 2022 rather than cancelling holidays, although he stressed that affected bookings remain a very small proportion overall.

The group said it is close to breaking even in the final three months of its financial year, to September 30, with a quarterly underlying loss of 82.7million (97million).

The comments came as TUI revealed worse-than-expected annual group losses of 2.1billion (2.47 billion) for the year to September 30, although this narrowed from losses of 2.7billion (3.15billion) in 2019-20.

The company is still expecting next summers bookings to rebound close to levels seen before the pandemic, with the first quarter of the new financial almost fully sold - at 93 per cent - and running at 69 per cent of pre-pandemic levels.

Meanwhile, easyJet said last week that it has also seen signs of demand softening in its current quarter due to the emergence of the new Covid strain, with winter bookings starting to weaken and some travellers changing trips to next year.

TUI hopes summer 2022 will see a bounce-back close to 2019 bookings, but stressed customers are continuing to book later and at short notice.

The group's chief executive, Fritz Joussen, said: 'TUI's operating business is back and has recovered significantly in the last financial quarter of 2021.'

But he added: 'There will be flexibility in deciding whether to offer winter programme capacity at the lower end of the range depending on the so-called fourth corona wave and possible policy decisions with regard to the Omicron variant.

'Capacity plans are regularly reviewed and adjusted.'

The group is currently planning for winter programmes at between 60 per cent and 80 per cent of pre-pandemic levels.
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The Omicron Covid variant spreading at a ferocious pace in the UK has become dominant in London barely two weeks after it was first detected, health chiefs revealed today.

Professor Kevin Fenton, the capital's director of public health, said data suggested the super-strain was already behind at least one in every two new infections in the city, up from 44 per cent just yesterday.

As the country's major transport hub, London quickly became England's Omicron epicentre after South Africa first raised the alarm on November 24. It is thought to have been seeded in the capital by travellers flying into the UK.

The capital's Covid infection rate has spiralled to its highest level since January when stringent curbs were in place, rising 55 per cent in a fortnight from 347 to 537 cases per 100,000 people.

And hospitalisations in the city have risen by 50 per cent over the same period, from 90 to 140 admissions a day on average. Deaths remain flat but it can take up to a month for fatalities to start rising due to the time it takes to fall seriously ill.

Nationally, Omicron is behind one in every five cases but is expected to outstrip Delta before the New Year. For comparison, it took Delta almost two months to take over from the Alpha variant. Omicron is also spreading very quickly in Scotland and South Northamptonshire, data shows.

A spokesman for London's mayor suggested today they would back controversial local lockdown restrictions in the capital, saying it was better to 'act now' rather than wait for the virus to spiral out of control.

But Tory representatives called on ministers to rely on 'strong vaccine protection' and ramp up the booster drive, rather than curb people's daily lives.

Nicola Sturgeon today told Scots they could no longer mix in groups bigger than three households, and said social distancing was to return in shops and pubs because of surging Omicron numbers there. But the First Minister said the rule would be relaxed for Christmas Day and there was no reason to cancel plans.

The surging cases in the capital and calls for more restrictions have echoes of last winter when London was the first place to be locked down in the run up to Christmas.

It comes as a major study today suggested that two doses of Pfizer's vaccine still provides 70 per cent protection against hospital admission and death from Omicron, compared to 93 per cent for Delta.

The first real-world study in South Africa also estimated the risk of hospitalisation was a fifth lower than with Delta and 29 per cent lower than the original virus.

The findings lend weight to the theory that the ultra-infectious variant is weaker than previous strains, something which doctors on the ground in South Africa have been claiming for weeks.

The above maps show areas where the Omicron Covid variant has been detected in England over the two weeks to November 20 (left), and to December 4 (right). Areas where the variant has been detected are not coloured yellow. It shows how it has gone from just one local authority, to about half of the country. Areas with darker colours have detected more cases

The above graph shows the seven-day average for hospital admissions in different regions of England. It reveals that in London (orange) there has been a steady increase

This graph shows the Covid infection rate per 100,000 people in England's regions. It also shows there has been a rapid uptick in London (red) while cases remain largely flat in other regions

The above graph shows how Omicron cases are rising across England's regions. PCRs search for three specific genes to tell whether someone has Covid, but with Omicron one of the genes is so mutated - the S-gene - that it does not show up with the tests. Cases with this gene missing are coloured purple above, with the graph showing their numbers quickly increasing

The above graph shows the proportion of cases detected that did and did not have a confirmed S-gene. PCRs search for three specific genes to tell whether someone has Covid, but with Omicron one of the genes is so mutated - the S-gene - that it does not show up. This allows scientists to quickly tell which cases are likely Delta (green) and Omicron (purple)

It is feared Scotland's move in response to Omicron will bounce Boris Johnson into action, who yesterday refused three times to rule out another lockdown.

He has brought back restrictions including face masks in public places, work from home guidance and new rules for vaccinated contacts of Covid cases in order to beat the variant. He has also ramped up the booster drive opening it to all over-18s.

Officials are already working on a 'Plan C' which would see more covid curbs on people's daily lives, but there is no suggestion it would involve bringing back the tier system.

Britain's Omicron cases rose 50 per cent again yesterday after 1,576 were recorded. In London, there were 887 confirmed or suspected cases up to December 10, with the most (55) in Barking and Dagenham.

Professor Fenton today warned that Omicron had now become dominant in the capital, and called on all residents to ensure they get their booster shots.

He told the Standard: 'Our latest monitoring of provisional data indicates that over 50 per cent of cases sent for further analysis in London are now Omicron, replacing Delta as the dominant variant.

'It is crucially important that Londoners get fully vaccinated with their first dose, second dose, and the all-important booster while we learn more about the clinical characteristics of Omicron and the potential impact on our hospitals.'

Omicron hospitalisation rates in South Africa are a THIRD of level in summer Omicron is causing milder disease than Delta, in patients in the epicentre of the new Covid variant, the first major real-world study in South Africa confirmed today. Officials who looked at 78,000 Omicron cases in the past month found the risk of hospitalisation was a fifth lower than with Delta and 29 per cent lower than the original virus. The finding lends weight to the theory that the ultra-infectious variant is weaker than past strains, something which doctors on the ground in South Africa have been claiming for weeks. But the reduction in severity is probably not solely down to Omicron being intrinsically milder, according to the South African Medical Research Council which led the analysis. Around 70 per cent of South Africans have recovered from Covid already and 23 per cent are double-vaccinated, which has created high levels of immunity. The finding will raise hopes that the UK's Omicron wave will be less severe than previous peaks, despite having an older and denser population. The study also found that two doses of Pfizer's vaccine still provides 70 per cent protection against hospital admission or death from Omicron, compared to 93 per cent for Delta. Advertisement

Latest data from the UK Health Security Agency  which monitors variants  showed Omicron was behind 44.5 per cent of cases in the capital up to December 11.

The city's Covid infection rate has surged 55 per cent in the latest fortnight, up from 347 to 537 cases per 100,000 people in the week to December 9.

This is also the highest infection rate in the capital since January, when stringent curbs were in place.

Hospitalisations have risen by a similar amount, but deaths remain flat at about ten a day.

Both are lagging indicators, however, because of the time taken for someone who has caught the virus to suffer serious disease.

Suggesting the mayor would support more restrictions, a spokesman said: 'Cases of Omicron are rising sharply in London and with so much at stake, it is better that we act now to safeguard the public and help reduce pressures on NHS services.

'Londoners will see vaccine centres working around the clock, more local pop-up sites coming online near them, and [the Mayor] will use all of our resources at City Hall to ensure that all of Londons communities are encouraged to take up this lifesaving vaccine.

They added: 'The last thing any of us want is to see a further lockdown or to see the virus running out of control.

'We have already lost too many Londoners  thats why its so important that the government redouble their efforts to make sure that we're reaching groups who haven't yet taken up the vaccine, step up the booster rollout and that we see children vaccinated as well, when they're eligible.'

Labour is backing more restrictions in the Commons today and bringing in Covid passports for nightclubs and large events.

They have repeatedly blasted the Government for failing to ramp up the booster programme earlier to protect against a new variant.

Emma Best, the Conservative's London Assembly member for health, said: 'A strong vaccine shield, not a local lockdown is the best protection for our capital.

'Our vaccine shield is weaker than other parts of the country as only 61 per cent of people are fully vaccinated and sadly, some hospitals in London are already reporting that their coronavirus wards are starting to fill up.

'Thats why its so important Londoners get vaccinated and go for their booster jab as soon as possible.'

Official data shows 61 per cent of Londoners have had two doses of the Covid vaccine, with uptake falling in inner city areas and ethnic minority communities. Some 25 per cent have also received their boosters so far.

Official data only reveals suspected or confirmed Omicron cases across the capital's 32 boroughs to December 6.

It reveals Barking and Dagenham in the north have detected the most cases, 55, followed by Greenwich, 53, and Newham, 52. On the other hand, cases are lowest in Sutton, 7, Harrow, 10, and Hounslow, 11.

But officials fear the true total is likely to be much higher with cases doubling every two to three days.

This graph shows how Britain's vaccination drive is going. There was a lag in September as the booster drive got going, which opposition parties have already slammed saying it has put the country at unnecessary risk

It comes as a study in South Africa today confirmed Omicron is causing milder disease than Delta, in patients in the epicentre of the new Covid variant.

Officials who looked at 78,000 Omicron cases in the past month found the risk of hospitalisation was a fifth lower than with Delta and 29 per cent lower than the original virus.

The finding lends weight to the theory that the ultra-infectious variant is weaker than past strains, something which doctors on the ground in South Africa have been claiming for weeks.

But the reduction in severity is probably not solely down to Omicron being intrinsically milder, according to the South African Medical Research Council which led the analysis.

Around 70 per cent of South Africans have recovered from Covid already and 23 per cent are double-vaccinated, which has created high levels of immunity.

The finding will raise hopes that the UK's Omicron wave will be less severe than previous peaks, despite having an older and denser population.

The study also found that two doses of Pfizer's vaccine still provides 70 per cent protection against hospital admission or death from Omicron, compared to 93 per cent for Delta.
Businesses could receive new state support, including a potential return to furlough, if Boris Johnson orders pubs, bars and restaurants to close - as industry leaders slammed 'lockdown by stealth' and said Plan B risks slashing festive takings by 40%.

The Government has already come under pressure to increase the support it is providing to hospitality businesses after some saw festive bookings 'disappear overnight' after the introduction of 'Plan B' restrictions to tackle Omicron.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak is prepared to loosen the money taps again if ministers decide closures are necessary, according to a Treasury source, although they insisted this does not mean further restrictions were now more likely.

Boris Johnson has already come under pressure to increase the support it is providing to hospitality businesses after some saw festive bookings 'disappear overnight'. Pictured right: Chancellor Rishi Sunak

'If we do get to a position where we are telling businesses that they have to shut their doors then it is not unreasonable for them to expect additional government support,' the source told The Times.

'That could mean a return to the furlough scheme but depending on what, if any, further restrictions are necessary there might be other ways of providing that support.'

Wetherspoon chairman Tim Martin and CBI chief Tony Danker are among business leaders suggesting ministers are pursuing 'lockdown by stealth' at a time when the threat posed by Omicron had still not been established.

Today it emerged that The Streets had cancelled its concerts in February 2022 due to uncertainty over Covid, while a performance of the Lion King at the London Palladium today and tomorrow has also been called off.

Mr Danker said the current messages from the Government have had a 'chilling effect' on certain sectors of the economy.

'Still no sign' end of furlough caused unemployment to spike Britain's jobs market has strengthened further despite furlough ending as the number of payrolled workers jumped by a record 257,000 last month, according to official figures. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said there is "still no sign" that the closing of the furlough support scheme in September has affected the jobs market, with the number of UK workers on payrolls rising by 0.9% between October and November to 29.4 million. The unemployment rate fell once more, to 4.2% in the three months to October, which is the lowest rate since spring 2020 and down from 4.3% the previous quarter. The ONS said the number of people employed is now 424,000 or 1.5% above levels seen before the pandemic struck. Vacancies also jumped to another new record - up 184,700 to 1.22 million between September and November, though there were signs of the recruitment crisis easing as the ONS reported an 80,000 drop month-on-month - the first fall since February. But it comes amid fears over the impact on the economy of the highly infectious Omicron variant of coronavirus and new restrictions to control Covid-19. Advertisement

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'It seems to us that whilst we have measures to keep the economy open, we have messages that have ended up closing much of it down.

'People should be worried enough to go and get a booster urgently, but not so worried to stop going to shops, restaurants or airports.

'That's what's not working, you have a double whammy for businesses in those sectors, hospitality, retail, leisure or travel, where demand is collapsing and there's no support to recover.

'So, whilst we all support the booster campaign, and I urge all employees to get their booster, the unintended consequence has been a really rather chilling effect on demand in a lot of sectors in our economy.'

Christmas is the most lucrative time of the year for pubs and restaurants, but trade body UK Hospitality forecasts that takings will be down as much as 40% in parts of central London.

Data it released from Monday to Sunday of last week showed a 13% drop in trade and a 15% increase in cancellations across the country when compared with pre-pandemic levels, the Guardian reported.

The Prime Minister refused to rule out further restrictions before Christmas yesterday as Sajid Javid warned that those who fail to get boosted will lose their 'fully vaccinated' status.

In a tightening of the rules, the Health Secretary said those with just two jabs would find it harder to travel abroad and access certain UK venues.

Sources said the change was likely to come into force in February.

The move came as Mr Johnson repeatedly refused to rule out a further tightening of restrictions in the next ten days.

Speaking to reporters yesterday, he said he hoped that Plan B measures, such as increased mask wearing and working from home, would be enough to keep the virus at bay.

But he refused three times to rule out imposing tougher measures before Christmas if Omicron proves to be more dangerous.

Christmas is the most lucrative time of the year for pubs and restaurants, but trade body UK Hospitality forecasts that takings will be down as much as 40%. File pic

The Mail revealed last week that ministers are already looking at possible further restrictions.

These include requiring people to 'check in' at pubs and restaurants with the NHS Covid app, extending mask use to the hospitality sector and increasing the venues required to operate Covid passport entry schemes.

Up to 79 Tories could revolt over Plan B By Harriet Line, Chief Political Correspondent for the Daily Mail Boris Johnson faces the biggest revolt of his premiership today as a third of Tory backbenchers prepare to rebel against his Plan B vaccine passport measures. As many as 79 Conservative MPs  equivalent to the Governments working majority  are ready to vote against plans that will mean the NHS Covid pass is required for entry at larger venues. Downing Street suggested that hospitality venues could be forced to close without vaccine passports. But critical MPs claim the illiberal measures, set to come into force from tomorrow, will not work. Several ministerial aides are on resignation watch. Such a large rebellion will be a major blow to the Prime Minister but he will escape an embarrassing defeat as Labour has said it will back the measures. Yesterday one leading rebel, Tory MP Marcus Fysh, sparked a furious row by likening their introduction to the policies pursued in Nazi Germany. This is not Nazi Germany, he told the BBC. Its the thin end of an authoritarian wedge and thats why we will resist it. The Board of Deputies of British Jews said his remarks were completely unacceptable. Advertisement

One Whitehall source said officials had also dusted off measures used during the last lockdown, such as reintroducing table service and even requiring people to sit outside. But this was denied by No 10. The PM's official spokesman said: 'There are no plans to go beyond what we have set out'.

The spokesman acknowledged that 'in extremis' the Government could even tighten curbs during the parliamentary recess which starts on Thursday night, but said this was not under consideration.

Some ministers believe that further restrictions are inevitable, but hope to delay them until after Christmas.

A source said: 'Everyone wants to give people the chance of a decent Christmas and then we will see where we are. That may result in a slightly more restricted January.'

Yesterday, the PM said: 'Throughout the pandemic I've been at great pains to stress to the public that we have to watch where the pandemic is going and we take whatever steps are necessary to protect public health.'

He added: 'What I can tell you is that we think that looking at the balance of the risks, looking at the epidemiology, looking at where we are with Omicron, looking at everything we know, there are still some important things we don't know about Omicron.

'We think that this is the best approach: combination of a Plan B, which is some sensible steps to slow the spread of the virus to buy us some time to help to reduce the infections and of course the mortality rate, and then combine that with rapidly building up our booster defences.'

The NHS Covid pass is widely used for foreign travel and will also be central to the vaccine passport scheme.

Until now, the scheme is open to all adults who are double-jabbed.

But, with evidence mounting that two jabs are not enough to prevent infection with Omicron, this is now set to change.

Mr Javid: 'Once all adults have had a reasonable chance to get their booster jabs we intend to change this exemption to require a booster dose.'
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The NHS' website showed no PCR tests available in all of England today. Tests returned this afternoon but are still in short supply

Boris Johnson's testing system collapsed today with no free NHS PCR tests available anywhere in England for a time and lateral flow tests still out of stock online for the second day running for anyone in the UK.

The Government's Plan B relies on rapid and regular testing to avoid mandatory quarantine - and critics fear the crisis could lead to more restrictions or even a post-Christmas lockdown.

The new chaos came on the last day Britons can test positive for coronavirus and be out of quarantine for Christmas Day.

This morning the Government's website showed no PCRs available at testing centres in all of England for anyone with suspected Covid, including NHS staff.

Around 90 minutes later more appointments appeared but there are still pinch points with 'very few available' in London, according to the NHS website, as Omicron became the dominant strain in the capital.

There were still 'none available' in Hertfordshire, Suffolk, the Isle of Wight, Bristol and Mendip, and 'very few' in Stockton-on-Tees.

Experts said the shortage of tests doesn't 'bode well' when Boris Johnson predicts a 'huge spike' of cases within days, piling even more pressure on the UK's testing system.

UK Health Security Agency sources told the BBC the shortage 'was due to exceptionally high demand'. Downing Street has insisted there is significant testing capacity despite suggestions of difficulties finding PCR tests. A spokesman said: 'Appointments for PCR tests are available, but high demand can lead to temporary reduced availability in some areas. More appointments are made available to book every afternoon.

'Testing is playing an integral role in keeping people safe and managing the virus and we're so grateful to everyone that's getting tested to protect themselves, their loved ones and their communities. Everyone with symptoms or who is directed to get a PCR test should continue to come forward to get a test delivered to their home or at a test site.'

The Prime Minister's official spokesman said: 'In terms of PCR availability, I don't have the latest but I would envisage further booking possibilities will come online later and, of course, there are in-person opportunities as well.'

It came as millions of Britons told to use daily lateral flow tests to slow the spread of Omicron from today still can't get them online for the second day running with Amazon now brought in to bail out Royal Mail in the run up to Christmas.

Greenwich Council's Labour leader Danny Thorpe, whose borough has one of the highest Omicron rates in the country, tweeted: 'Residents had issues getting a #LateralFlowTest & today it looks like no #PCR tests available? @sajidjavid - what on earth is going on? This really needs sorting today'.

NHS staff working in hospitals, mental health properties, care homes and GP surgeries have also said they cannot get tests - stopping them doing their jobs - because they are also being told to use the same website as the public.

As millions fought for tests, it also emerged today:

Nicola Sturgeon is expected to unveil a new wave of Covid restrictions for Scotland today that could cost its economy more than a billion pounds in the run up to Christmas;

Boris Johnson tells his cabinet that a 'huge spike' of Omicron cases is coming with Chris Whitty saying that hospitalisations are certain to rise;

The PM is desperately ringing round Tories as he faces a 70-strong revolt over his 'Nazi-style' Covid measures in crunch votes tonight - amid growing signs he wants to go even further;

There are no more home lateral flow tests available in the UK with any supply going before 7am this morning at a time when the Government is telling millions to use one daily

People, including former Lib Dem MP Steve Webb, have expressed concerns about the lack of tests available

Double-jabbed people identified as a contact of someone with Covid-19 in England were told to take a daily rapid test for seven days from today. Unvaccinated people must self-isolate for ten days.

Website crashes in stampede for jabs The NHS website crashed again as record numbers rushed to book a booster in the hope of saving their Christmas. Boris Johnson's promise to give every adult a third jab by the end of the year triggered a surge in demand that left parts of the UK's health infrastructure unable to cope. Queues of up to five hours built up at some vaccination centres. The Government was also forced to suspend temporarily the online availability of home lateral flow kits on the eve of rolling out a new testing regime. From today, all contacts of those who have tested positive for Covid have to take a daily rapid test for a week in a bid to prevent the virus from spreading further. The weekend saw a record number of booster bookings on the NHS website, with 749,000 slots snapped up. A further 110,000 slots had been booked by 9am yesterday. Problems with the site began on Sunday afternoon. The Prime Minister's later TV address led to a further surge, with many of those trying to book met with a message telling them that they had been placed in a queue. Others were unable to get this far and were instead told the site had 'technical difficulties'. No10 yesterday suggested 'further capacity' would be built into the service in coming days to deal with the increased demand. Advertisement

But as the rules began, people logging on to get packs of seven tests were told 'there are no rapid lateral flow tests available to order today for home delivery' before 7am.

Britons are being urged to head to pharmacies to pick them up in person, but many of these stores have also run out. However, there appeared to be no problems with the availability of PCR home test kits.

As a key plank in the Government's covid prevention plan failed for the second day, Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab insisted the issue with ordering lateral flows from the Government website is not due to a lack of the tests.

He told BBC Breakfast: 'The problem isn't supply and volume, the problem is the allocation and distribution, or the delivery, of it.

'We know that in relation to the online system there were some challenges yesterday and that's partly because of the proportion they've got each day.

'We're making sure that however people may wish to order them and procure them, we're ramping up not just the capacity ... but the ability to distribute and to deliver.'

New delivery arrangements have been agreed for rapid coronavirus tests after orders on the Government website were temporarily suspended amid high demand, with Amazon being brought in

Health Secretary Sajid Javid insisted there is no shortage of such tests and said the issue is with delivery.

He told MPs in Parliament that he has agreed new arrangements with Amazon and others to address the problem.

On Monday, a day ahead of new rules coming in which require fully vaccinated contacts of a positive case in England to take daily lateral flow tests for a week, the Government website where the kits can be ordered from advised people to 'try again later' or to book a coronavirus test site appointment instead.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said the pause is temporary and availability refreshed daily, with people encouraged to revisit the website from Tuesday.

Mr Javid told the Commons: 'I can reassure this House that the UK has sufficient lateral flow tests to see us through the coming weeks.

'If anyone finds they are unable to get a kit online, they should check the website the following day or pop down to their local pharmacy and pick up a kit.'

He said limits on ordering tests are linked to delivery capacity and told of new arrangements to tackle the issues.

Mr Javid said there is 'no shortage of actual tests', adding that there are 'tens of millions' available.

He said the 'the limiting factor' is the ability to deliver the tests, branding the current arrangements with Royal Mail alone as 'not enough'.

He added: 'There are new arrangements that I've reached with Amazon and other delivery methods.'

He said a record number of tests would be delivered each day, and the number of 'access points' is being increased, including more through pharmacies.

Earlier, Boris Johnson was asked about potential supply issues during a visit to a vaccination clinic near Paddington in west London, and told broadcasters there is a 'ready supply'.

A UKHSA spokesperson said: 'Everyone who needs a lateral flow test can collect test kits - either at their local pharmacy, some community sites and some schools and colleges.

'Due to exceptionally high demand, ordering lateral flow tests on gov.uk has been temporarily suspended to fulfil existing orders.'

Jab booking chaos saw 4.4MILLION try to book a slot but just 545,000 get one - as furious GPs say they are ALREADY out of vaccines Britain's booster drive was thrown into chaos yesterday after more than 4.4million attempts were made to book booster shots on the NHS website. NHS England chief executive Amanda Pritcahrd said 545,000 appointments had been secured by 8pm last night, after the booking system crashed when Britons piled on to get boosters. GPs complained today that they had already run out of stocks for their walk-in clinics, after being left with less than 24 hours to order enough doses for all patients. They were given until 9am to place orders for jabs. And thousands of Britons are again standing in queues outside jabbing centres, which yesterday stretched to up to five hours long. Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab acknowledged there were 'teething problems' with rolling out boosters after the drive was thrown open to all UK adults. He said it would take 'a few days' to ramp up deliveries. UK scientists estimate there are potentially up to 200,000 Omicron cases a day. Sajid Javid warned in the Commons yesterday that the overall number of Covid was likely 200,000, but it was later clarified that he meant the super-mutant variant. NHS leaders warned last night that Boris Johnson's 'booster or bust' deadline on December 31 is setting the health service up for 'failure'. The Prime Minister pledged on Sunday night to offer all eligible adults in Britain a booster jab by the end of the year, and to start administering more than a million a day. But even at the height of the NHS's vaccine drive in March, the health service never managed to get more than 850,000 jabbed every day. There were 397,532 boosters reported yesterday and the rolling average now stands at 425,869  about half the record daily total of 844,285 in March. It means 18million people in England are yet to have a third jab. A senior NHS source broke ranks last night to warn that even hitting the a million jabs a day daily target by Christmas would be tough, let alone reaching that during mid December. Health Secretary Sajid Javid has warned some elective care  such as hip replacements  may be postponed as resources are directed to the booster drive. He has promised, however, that cancer patients will be unaffected. Advertisement

Mr Johnson said the demand seen shows 'that people are doing the sensible thing, and getting tests'.

The daily testing approach replaces the requirement for double-jabbed people identified as a contact of someone with Omicron to isolate.

New regulations are also set to be put to a debate and vote in the Commons this week on the NHS Covid Pass becoming mandatory for entry into clubs and other large gatherings - but with a negative home test as an alternative for the unvaccinated.

Labour deputy leader, Angela Rayner, accused the Government of being 'reckless' over its 'inability to procure properly and plan for civil contingencies'.

She tweeted: 'Boris Johnson has his priorities in the wrong place.'

Paul Taylor, a 37-year-old pharmacy technician from Leeds, told the PA news agency he was 'frightened' at the prospect of being unable to order any lateral flow tests.

'(I have) only recently started to socialise normally (going to the gym, attending big events). Doing regular LFTs has relieved the anxiety of potentially passing anything on that I've felt throughout the pandemic.'

'I'm frightened because without tests I only have two choices: go out but risk passing on the virus to other people or stay in and return to self-imposed lockdown.'

Jessica Keogh, a 32-year-old executive assistant from London, told PA she had run out of lateral flow tests and was unable to order more.

'It's actually my worry that I won't be able to get any before Christmas and I will worry about being able to visit my family,' she said.

There did not appear to be any problems with the availability of PCR home test kits.

The NHS jab booking website also crashed as record numbers rushed to book a booster in the hope of saving their Christmas.

Boris Johnson's promise to give every adult a third jab by the end of the year triggered a surge in demand that left parts of the UK's health infrastructure unable to cope. Queues of up to five hours built up at some vaccination centres.

The Government was also forced to suspend temporarily the online availability of home lateral flow kits on the eve of rolling out a new testing regime. From today, all contacts of those who have tested positive for Covid have to take a daily rapid test for a week in a bid to prevent the virus from spreading further.

The weekend saw a record number of booster bookings on the NHS website, with 749,000 slots snapped up. A further 110,000 slots had been booked by 9am yesterday.

Problems with the site began on Sunday afternoon. The Prime Minister's later TV address led to a further surge, with many of those trying to book met with a message telling them that they had been placed in a queue. Others were unable to get this far and were instead told the site had 'technical difficulties'. No10 yesterday suggested 'further capacity' would be built into the service in coming days to deal with the increased demand.
Boris Johnson today faced demands to urgently clarify the situation over Britain's first Omicron death and 10 hospitalisations after warnings that the announcements may have sparked unnecessary panic.

The Prime Minister yesterday confirmed that a patient had died after testing positive for the variant.

But he gave no extra details, such as the person's age, condition, vaccination status or whether Covid was even the primary reason for their death. And health officials have refused to provide any further information.

Experts today told MailOnline answers are desperately needed regarding the yet-to-be revealed details of the fatality, as otherwise the Government 'is placing further strain on people's trust in their judgements, which is already pretty thin'.

One prominent expert last night made the point that the first Omicron fatality could have been hit by a bus and just coincidentally tested positive.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) also yesterday revealed 10 Britons had been hospitalised, but refused to say whether any had received their booster.

Tory MPs have urged the Government to provide more details about the people in hospital.

Former Cabinet minister Chris Grayling said 'there is a difference between people who have been hospitalised with Omicron and from Omicron'.

In further confusion today, Dominic Raab claimed the true toll was 250  before later back-tracking to state nine and then 10 Britons had been hospitalised with the variant, saying he originally misheard the question.

Ministers today accused him of showing the 'same failure' as his boss, Mr Johnson.

Tory rebel ringleader Steve Baker told MailOnline 'public confidence relies on ministers obviously gripping facts'.

Asked how many people were hospitalised with the super strain, the Justice Minister told Sky News the figure was 'in the low hundreds, I think 250 the last time I looked'. But 15 minutes on BBC Breakfast, Mr Raab said 'I think we've got nine people who are in hospital with it'

The UK Covid alert level was raised from level 3 to level 4 after the UK reported another 1,239 confirmed cases of the Omicron variant

Professor Robert Dingwall, one of Britain's leading sociologists and a former No10 adviser, told MailOnline: 'If the government is to make a convincing case for seeing Omicron as more threatening than South African scientists are suggesting, more information is needed about the circumstances of this death.

'Obviously, patient confidentiality needs to be protected, but releasing general information about the patient's age, health status, including prior vaccination and source of infection, and primary cause of death should not compromise this.

'Otherwise, the government is placing further strain on people's trust in their judgements, which is already pretty thin.'

Mr Johnson yesterday revealed the UK's first death due to Omicron on a visit to a vaccination clinic in Paddington, west London.

UK's first Omicron death: What do we know? There are almost no details available on the UK's first confirmed Omicron death. Was the person unvaccinated? Health chiefs have not said. Nothing is known about the vaccination status of the person, whether they had received a Covid booster or if they were completely unvaccinated. The UKHSA only said the 'majority' of people hospitalised with Omicron had received two doses. Were they vulnerable? No clarity was given. Older people and those with some health conditions are at increased risk of dying from Covid, which is why they, and the health and care staff who look after them, have been prioritized in the vaccine rollout. Where did the person catch Omicron? This has yet to be publicly revealed  but the strain is now in almost every corner of Britain. Where a person caught Covid can be tricky to pin down unless a large number of infections can be traced to a single-event, known as a super-spreader. Were they in hospital for another reason when they died? Health chiefs did not say, but UKHSA said the person who died was diagnosed with Omicron in hospital. This could mean that the person was in hospital for Covid, which was later determined to be the Omicron variant, or they were in hospital for a sperate reason, such as a heart attack and later found to have Omicron when they died. There is also the possibility they caught Omicron while in hospital for a procedure, like a planned surgery, and then caught Omicron and died. Why haven't we been told? Patient confidentiality was cited as a reason by the Prime Minister's official spokesperson yesterday. Will we know more? And when? UKHSA prepare a weekly report on Covid cases and deaths. More information on this, and any more Omicron deaths, may be provided in that report that comes out at the end of the week. Advertisement

He said: 'Sadly yes Omicron is producing hospitalisations and sadly at least one patient has been confirmed to have died with Omicron.'

Mr Johnson did not reveal the age of the person who died, or if they had underlying health conditions, which made them vulnerable, or whether Omicron was the leading cause of their death or a secondary factor.

Quizzed for more details on the patient who died with Omicron, Dr Susan Hopkins, chief medical adviser to the UKHSA, told MPs on the Science and Technology Committee: 'We try not to release any data about individuals for their confidentiality reasons.'

But she confirmed they were diagnosed with Omicron after arriving at hospital.

Adding to confusion, Mr Raab stated 10 times more people had been hospitalised with Omicron than the true number.

Mr Raab was asked on Sky News this morning: 'You said a significant number are in hospital. How many?'

He said: 'The last I saw was in the low hundreds, I think 250 the last time I looked.

'But of course the data is being updated all the time.'

He added: 'The problem is the rate at which it is transmitting and if that continues we will see those numbers increase very dramatically.

'Then we know a proportion of those hospitalised will possibly die or have a very serious suffering of the omicron variant.'

Appearing on BBC Breakfast, the Justice Secretary said: 'I know we've had one death.

'I think we've got nine people who are in hospital with it or still at a relatively low number and we're tracking that very carefully, but the data is shifting all the time.'

Asked the same question on ITV, Mr Raab said: 'It's 10 at the moment.'

But a spokesperson for the UKHSA said 10 people had been admitted to hospital with the Omicron variant as of yesterday.

They added: 'This is people who were diagnosed with Omicron before or upon being admitted to hospital. The 250 figure is an incorrect one.'

And a Ministry of Justice spokesperson said they 'don't know where' the number came from.

Some 807 Covid-infected Britons were hospitalised on any given day in the week to December 7, the latest date figures are available for.

In a third interview this morning, Mr Raab clarified there were 10 Omicron hospitalisations when he was quizzed over the confusion on ITV's Good Morning Britain.

After being interrupted, he said: 'Can I answer the question? I understand you like ranting at your politicians in the morning but can I answer the question because it's a fair challenge and I want to answer it.

'First of all, I misheard one of the questions around whether it was hospitalisations of Omicron-related patients or more generally, but the figures are: one death from Omicron, 10 in hospital, and I can tell you the latest daily hospitalisations (for all Covid strains) run at 900.'

SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford said: 'This is extraordinary. All Governments are going to have to make decisions to control the spread of the virus.

'Knowing the difference between nine and 250 in a hospital is pretty fundamental. Dominic Raab is showing the same failure to be over the detail as his boss Boris Johnson.'

And Tory rebel ringleader Steve Baker told MailOnline: 'Public confidence relies on ministers obviously gripping facts. If they have not gripped the facts how can they have asked the right questions?

'This certainly does nothing to persuade me I am making a mistake in voting No today.'

The Prime Minister faces a 70-strong Tory revolt during a Commons vote on Plan B restrictions, with MPs branding the curbs a 'softening up exercise' for a full lockdown.

Pictured above is the current pace of the booster programme (green bars) and how it will have to ramp up to hit the million jabs a day target (red bars). NHS bosses warn scaling up the programme will be 'incredibly difficult'

Professor of medicine and consultant oncologist Karol Sikora said the Government should release more details about the Omicron death to put people's minds at ease.

'Have they had booster? Are they elderly?,' he said.

'There are all sorts of nuances to this thing, and we're not being given proper information.'

He added that given the average age of Covid fatalities in the UK, and that the individual may have died while being infected with Omicron, as opposed to because of the variant, there was no reason to panic and the Government should calm fears rather than stoke them.

'The average age of death of Covid is 82.5 so a lot of 82-year-old people die in a year, at any one time,' he said.

'No details have been released, I suspect it's just some old boy that's tested positive, he may have died in his sleep or with a heart attack, who knows?

'It is unnecessarily alarming.'

Professor Sikora said his suspicion is that the silence regarding whether the person was vaccinated or not indicated to him that the person died of another cause while they had Omicron.

'I suspect that it's a death, which is unfortunate, but is due to something else, and it just happens to be Covid positive that's why they're not making a big noise about them being vaccinated or not,' he said.
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The number of morning rush-hour commuters using the London Underground has plunged by more than a quarter in just a week as Britons switch back to working from home and shun going into the office.

Around one million passengers entered or exited the Tube network up to 10am this morning, which was down 26 per cent on the same period on Tuesday last week and less than half (45 per cent) of normal pre-pandemic levels.

Transport for London reported that bus usage across the capital also fell this morning to 1.16million Oyster or contactless card taps, which was down 8 per cent on last week but still at 70 per cent of pre-Covid numbers.

The difference between Tubes and buses is partially because the latter are more regularly used by children going to school as normal and lower-paid Londoners in key worker roles that require them to travel in to their workplace.

While the total number of people on the TfL network today was roughly equal to yesterday, it was a bigger fall because Mondays have been generally quieter in recent months as more people tend to work from home then.

TfL, which runs the capital's buses and Tubes, yesterday recorded an 18 per cent reduction in Tube journeys up to 10am, while bus usage dropped 6 per cent. However, across all of yesterday, the week-on-week fall was only 12 per cent on Tubes and 2 per cent on buses, mostly because leisure travel has not fallen as much as commuting.

Transport bosses in the capital added that the biggest reductions came from stations in the City of London where there were around 318,400 entry and exits yesterday compared to around 415,300 last week.

In terms of Tube stations linked specifically to shopping locations, TfL saw nearly 541,000 entry and exits yesterday, compared to around 581,000 entry and exits during the same period last week.

Meanwhile the congestion level reported by TomTom in the capital between 7am and 8am today was 48 per cent  the lowest for that period on a Tuesday since before the summer holidays, when half-term is excluded.

A very quiet London Euston train station this morning as people continue to follow Government advice to work from home

A quiet Piccadilly line train carriage on the London Underground today during the morning rush hour

People pass through London Waterloo train station during the morning rush-hour today amid the work from home guidance

HOW LONDON UNDERGROUND AND BUS USAGE HAS DROPPED OVER THE PAST FEW WEEKS

UNDERGROUND BUS



Entries + Exits (Up until 10am) % of normal % change on the week before Boarding Taps (Up until 10am) % of normal % change on the week before Monday, November 29 1.24m 53% -1% 1.21m 72% -2% Monday, December 6 1.22m 52% -1% 1.21m 72% unchanged Tuesday, December 7 1.35m 56% -2% 1.26m 73% -1% Wednesday. December 8 1.35m 56% -3% 1.25m 73% -2% Thursday, December 9 1.31m 56% -5% 1.24m 74% -2% Friday. December 10 1.076m 52% -3% 1.18m 73% -1% Monday, December 13 1.00m 46% -18% 1.15m 71% -6% Tuesday, December 14 1.00m 45% -26% 1.16m 70% -8%

People walk along the platform at Camden Town station on the London Underground's Northern line this morning

Commuters pass through during the morning rush-hour at Waterloo railway station in London this morning

A quiet Piccadilly line train carriage on the London Underground today during the morning rush hour

The figures represent the proportion of additional time required for journeys compared with free-flowing conditions. A 48 per cent level therefore means a 30-minute trip will take 14 minutes more than with no traffic.

In comparison, congestion for the same period in London on a Tuesday has been between 53 and 54 per cent for the last five weeks in a row, and peaked at 66 per cent on September 14, soon after the schools went back.

In half-term it fell to 35 per cent, while in the summer holidays it floated between 24 and 27 per cent. The last time it was lower than 48 per cent outside of term-time on a Tuesday was July 20, when it was 34 per cent.

Road and rail use has plummeted this week as the Government's return to working from home guidance kicked in, with traffic levels in towns and cities across England falling by as much as nearly half.

The congestion figure the 7am to 8am period in London yesterday was 42 per cent - and while this was a lower figure than today, it was still the quietest term-time Monday morning rush hour since September 6.

HOW TOMTOM DATA SHOWS CONGESTION LEVELS HAVE VARIED IN ENGLAND'S CITIES OVER THE PAST SEVEN MONTHS DATE Birmingham Leeds-Bradford Liverpool London Manchester Newcastle Sheffield Tue 2 Nov 49% 35% 27% 51% 44% 30% 35% Tue 9 Nov 41% 36% 25% 54% 43% 33% 36% Tue 16 Nov 42% 41% 27% 53% 51% 32% 34% Tue 23 Nov 42% 36% 27% 54% 46% 36% 35% Tue 30 Nov 47% 46% 31% 54% 48% 35% 38% Tue 7 Dec 38% 35% 27% 53% 44% 33% 39% Tue 14 Dec 47% 31% 27% 48% 34% 25% 29%

TomTom data found London's roads were the quietest they have been on a term-time Tuesday rush-hour morning since July

How morning rush-hour congestion in London today is the lowest it has been in term time since July London congestion levels on Tuesday morning rush-hours since July is shown below. The data from TomTom is for the 7am-8am slot. It shows the proportion of additional time required for journeys compared with free-flowing conditions: Tue 14 Dec  48% Tue 7 Dec - 53% Tue 30 Nov - 54% Tue 23 Nov - 54% Tue 16 Nov - 53% Tue 9 Nov - 54% Tue 2 Nov - 51% Tue 26 Oct - 35% (half-term) Tue 19 Oct - 52% Tue 12 Oct - 55% Tue 5 Oct - 59% Tue 28 Sep - 50% Tue 21 Sep - 53% Tue 14 Sep - 66% Tue 7 Sep - 47% Tue 31 Aug - 27% (summer holidays) Tue 24 Aug - 27% (summer holidays) Tue 17 Aug - 24% (summer holidays) Tue 10 Aug - 25% (summer holidays) Tue 3 Aug - 25% (summer holidays) Tue 27 Jul - 27% (summer holidays) Tue 20 Jul - 34% Tue 13 Jul - 35% Tue 6 Jul - 48% Advertisement

As for other UK cities, the congestion level from 7am to 8am today was 47 per cent in Birmingham, 34 per cent in Manchester, 31 per cent in Leeds, 29 per cent in Sheffield, 27 per cent in Liverpool and 25 per cent in Newcastle.

All of these figures were below the same time period on Tuesday last week, apart from Liverpool which was unchanged.

During a press conference last Wednesday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson urged people in England to work from home where possible from yesterday, which brought the country in line with the rest of the UK.

Network Rail also reported plummeting commuter numbers at platforms during the traditional rush hour period of 6am to 9.30am yesterday.

Of the stations it gave figures for, Cannon Street in the City of London saw the largest week-on-week decline, with demand down 38 per cent.

This was followed by Leeds (35 per cent) and Waterloo and King's Cross stations in London, which saw drops in demand of 34 per cent and 28 per cent respectively.

Elsewhere, there was a 24 per cent drop in demand at Birmingham New Street, 20 per cent at Manchester Piccadilly and 11 per cent at Edinburgh Waverley.

The figures are particularly bad news for the rail industry, which continues to be bailed out by taxpayers to the tune of billions of pounds.

It raised the prospect of services having to be cut or never returning to pre-pandemic levels on some routes to ensure they remain financially viable.

TfL has warned that a whole Tube line may need to be shut or 100 bus routes axed for current service levels to continue if a new bailout package is not agreed with ministers.

The latest package ran out on Saturday, but ministers yesterday confirmed it has been extended until this weekend while a deal is thrashed out.
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Boris Johnson made a desperate last-ditch plea to Tory Covid rebels tonight insisting he has 'no choice' about imposing curbs to combat the Omicron variant.

The PM stressed he wants to keep the country 'as free as possible' with 'sensible and balanced' measures as he spoke to the Conservative 1922 just before a series of dramatic votes in the Commons.

But he dodged calls from backbenchers to guarantee they will get another say if the government has to move to Plan C, which could mean more draconian limits, such as reimposing social distancing

The final appeal came after Sajid Javid was berated in the chamber as he argued action is needed to avoid 'unsustainable' pressure on the NHS, stressing that scientists believe infections with the Omicron strain are doubling every two or three days.

Tory MPs queued up to grill him, demanding to know why the government is not heeding evidence from South Africa that the disease might be milder.

In one of the punchiest interventions, backbencher Bob Seely complained that some modelling of the virus's trajectory had been 'hysterical, substantially inflated, consistently overconfident, lurid and severely flawed'.

And former minister Desmond Swayne accused the premier of creating a 'ministry of fear' with 'extraordinary extrapolations' from limited data.

The PM has been personally contacting wavering MPs after scores vowed to defy the government whip when new regulations rubber-stamping Covid passes for nightclubs and major events, mandatory vaccination for health staff, and mask at put to a vote tonight.

But the scale of the rebellion means the embattled PM will almost certainly have to rely on Labour to get the measures through - despite in theory having an 80-strong Commons majority. Several ministerial aides have been threatening to quit but appear to have been won over, with Danny Kruger saying he had received 'assurances' there will never be compulsory vaccination.

Tories are also gearing up for an even bigger battle amid claims ministers are preparing to go further by shutting hospitality within weeks if the Omicron strain continues to run rampant.

In a grim signal to the country, Mr Johnson held Cabinet 'virtually' this morning and told ministers that a 'huge spike' of infections is coming.

On another day of Covid chaos:

Nicola Sturgeon has heaped more pressure on Mr Johnson later by unveiling a new wave of Covid restrictions for Scotland;

Jacob Rees-Mogg has warned that the country must 'learn to live with' coronavirus in evidence of friction within Cabinet;

There are claims that Rishi Sunak has been raising concerns about the costs of accelerating the booster jab drive;

The quarantine hotel system has been effectively scrapped with Sajid Javid confirming all countries are being removed from it;

There have been fresh setbacks in the government's booster jab drive with huge queues and booking issues, while test kit shortages have also been reported ;

Three members of Keir Starmer's shadow cabinet have tested positive as coronavirus surges across the country.

Former chief whip Mark Harper (left) warned Sajid Javid (right) that parliament must be recalled over Christmas if ministers want to impose tougher rules

Boris Johnson is facing a 70-strong Tory revolt over his 'Nazi-style' in crunch votes today as furious MPs branded them a 'softening up exercise' for harsher lockdown

Stephen McPartland said on Twitter today that he will be voting against the Plan B curbs

Members of the public queue to receive a dose of a Covid-19 jab at a vaccination centre in south Manchester today

There were long queues at another vaccination centre on Solihull High Street in the West Midlands today

NHS England was put on the highest level of alert for the first time since March. Level four means health bosses believe there is a real threat that an expected influx of Covid patients could start to force the closure of other vital services

Sturgeon heaps pressure on PM by unveiling new wave of Covid curbs Nicola Sturgeon re-introduced social distancing and asked Scots to cut down on socialising in the run up to Christmas today. Pubs, restaurants and shops will have to take measures to avoid crowding and queues, the First Minister told Holyrood. Additionally she asked Scots to limit indoor mixing to just three households. While the advice will not be enforceable in law, Ms Sturgeon announced that allowing staff to work from home where possible will again become a legal duty on employers. Ms Sturgeon confirmed that she was not seeking to put restrictions on festive events at Christmas itself. 'Turning to Christmas Day specifically, or Christmas Eve or Boxing Day or whenever you have your main family celebration, we are not asking you to cancel or change your plans, and we are not proposing limits on the size of household gatherings,' she said. 'My key request today is this: before and immediately after Christmas, please minimise your social mixing with other households as much as you can. 'However, if you do plan on socialising, either at home or in indoor public places, we are asking that you limit the number of households represented in your group to a maximum of three. And make sure you test before you go.' She also lashed out at Boris Johnson, complaining that it was 'not acceptable' that there was no additional funding yet available from the UK Government to support businesses affected by the measures she is introducing. Advertisement

Whitehall officials have drawn up proposals to limit the number of people allowed in pubs and restaurants, according to The Sun. There are also contingency plans to bring back furlough and support for businesses if tougher restrictions are needed.

However, the options are causing alarm inside the PM's top team as well, with Jacob Rees-Mogg insisting on his regular podcast that the country must 'learn to live' with coronavirus.

Covid passes are the main focus of Tory rebels in Westminster today, with anger that they are 'illogical' and an infringement of civil liberties. Mr Javid said yesterday that in future booster jabs will be needed to be 'fully vaccinated' for the purposes of the passes.

There is also broad opposition to mandatory vaccination for NHS and care staff, and unhappiness at the economic impact of a return of the working from home guidance on town and city centre businesses at a crucial time of the year if people again stay away from their offices.

The Plan B measures are not in danger of failing because Sir Keir Starmer has ordered Labour MPs to support them.

But the Commons mutiny could wipe out Mr Johnson's majority and eclipse his biggest revolt yet, when 54 Tories voted against the tier system last December. Some rebels believe it could be bigger than the 80-strong revolt that forced David Cameron to promise the EU referendum.

Mr Javid told MPs: 'Omicron is a grave threat. We acted early to slow its spread, strengthening our testing regime and placing 11 countries on the travel red list.

'But despite those swift steps the data over the past few days has shown more cause concern. I'd like to reinforce with the House today, to all honourable members why Omicron represents such a risk to the progress that we've all made so far together.'

Several Tories intervened to ask for guarantees of another vote if the government wants to go further.

Former chief whip Mark Harper said: 'Is he able now at the despatch box to commit that if the Government were to take further measures to deal with Omicron during the recess, that the Government would recall the House of Commons so that we're able to have all of the evidence and participate in taking those decisions on behalf of the constituents we represent?'

Mr Javid replied: 'I am not able to give that commitment alone, it wouldn't be a decision for me and my department alone, but it is something that I know the Government would consider together seriously.'

Alec Shelbrooke, Conservative MP for Elmet and Rothwell, asked: 'When will we know whether Omicron gives severe or mild disease? Therefore, if it is mild, how quickly will the decision be made that this would be of an advantage to get rid of Delta and get a herd immunity which doesn't create strong disease?'

Fellow Tory Andrew Bridgen highlighted comments from the head of the South African Medical Association suggesting Omicron is a 'mild form of Covid-19' and will have 'huge benefits for herd immunity and protection'.

But Mr Javid said: 'Even if the hospital stay (of Omicron patients) is half of what it (other Covid variants) is at the moment, at the rate that this thing is growing, and if it continues to grow at that rate, that benefit could be cancelled out in two days.'

Isle of Wight MP Mr Seely gave an excoriating assessment of the quality of information being issued by the government.

'Will he accept that many academics have doubted the previous forecasts, describing them as hysterical, substantially inflated, consistently overconfident, lurid and severely flawed?' he said.

'We have had a problem with inaccurate forecasts. Will he accept that point?'

Mr Javid said: 'Yes, yes I absolutely accept that point. And with previous variants of Covid we have seen forecasts and estimates whether it's from academics or think tanks and others that have been completely off the mark.'

However, he went on: 'Just because forecasts in the past have been wrong it doesn't mean to say every estimate or forecast is always wrong.'

In an excoriating outburst, Sir Desmond accused Mr Johnson of creating a 'ministry of fear'.

He said between '200 and 350 people will die of flu' on a 'typical winter's day', asking: 'Do we hide behind our mask? Do we lurk at home working from home? Do we demand that people provide their bona fides before going to a venue? Do we require people to be vaccinated as a condition of keeping their jobs?'

He asked MPs if they took seriously some of the 'extraordinary extrapolations' given to them, noting: 'The fact that these are things that might take place and we have to balance that against the known cost and damage to enterprise, economy and society, and in the end it comes down to a matter of opinion, a matter of our prejudices.'

He asked which 'Stalinist minds' had thought up the name behind the UK Health Protection Agency, adding: 'Get them out there twisting the fear button and by and large you will get the reaction you want  people will crave more enforcement and more fearsome measures to protect them from this great danger that is out there.'

Sir Desmond said: 'The Government, having administered this ministry of fear, is absolutely complicit with its officials and organisations that have designed it and delivered it.

'They have abandoned in doing that any principle of social democracy, of liberal democracy, absolutely beyond anything we've endured in recent living memory in the history of this pandemic.

'And as a consequence, having abandoned what might have been their ideology, they are rudderless and as a consequence of that so much more at risk of the opinions and predictions of the advisers to which they are in hock.'

Conservative MP Dr Luke Evans said he could not support Covid passes, telling the Commons: 'I worry about the slippery slope. What businesses, what society interactions or what infections may become in scope in future months or future years?'

Conservative former cabinet minister Greg Clark said there appeared to be a 'lack of clarity' over the purpose of Covid passes.

The PM's spokesman said the decision to hold Cabinet remotely had been taken 'in light of the increasing number of cases and our advice to work from home when possible'.

Pressed on why Cabinet was virtual but MPs would have to vote in person tonight, the spokesman said: 'I think my understanding is the Speaker, working with the Leader, on measures in place for voting, I don't have the full detail but I believe they might be expanding the time allowed for votes.'

Asked whether people should still be going ahead with Christmas parties, the spokesman said: 'Our position on that hasn't changed.

'As I have said the Prime Minister believes we have a proportionate and balanced approach and given what we know about this variant and the protective measures we already have in place we do not want to close hospitality.

'That is not a proposal in Plan B. But we will continue to encourage everyone going to a party or spending any time in an enclosed space with people they don't know to get tested beforehand to make use of the significant capability we have and obviously to continue to take heed of things like good ventilation, good respiratory hygiene.'

The Tory rebellion shows little sign of running out of steam, with critics seizing on confusion after Mr Javid suggested there were 200,000 cases of Omicron yesterday - which would imply it is spreading even faster than previously thought.

Tory rebel ringleader Steve Baker told MailOnline: 'Public confidence relies on ministers obviously gripping facts. If they have not gripped the facts how can they have asked the right questions? This certainly does nothing to persuade me I am making a mistake in voting No today.'

Mr Kruger said he would support the Government after talks with Mr Johnson on Tuesday morning and having spoken to Health Secretary Sajid Javid, who is understood to have spoken to at least one other ministerial aide, the night before.

The MP warned he is 'profoundly concerned' about 'mass surveillance', and 'the segregation or punishment of people who decline medical interventions offered by the state'.

'I don't believe that is where anyone in Government wants to go. I spoke to the Health Secretary last night and the Prime Minister this morning,' he wrote on his website.

Mr Kruger said both 'stressed that these deliberately limited measures are intended to prevent another mandatory lockdown', there will 'never be compulsory vaccination for any citizen' nor will there be health passes not accepting negative lateral flow tests.

'On this basis  thus far and no further  I am happy to support the measures this evening,' he concluded.

Downing Street said the PM told the virtual Cabinet there is 'a huge spike of Omicron was coming and the measures we aim to introduce as part of Plan B were balanced and proportionate, helping to reduce transmission while we ramp up the booster programme'.

In apparent evidence of tensions, Mr Rees-Mogg used his ConservativeHome podcast to warn: 'You have to learn to live with Covid in the end. We cannot switch the economy off and on every few months.'

Asked whether that was what the Government was doing, the PM;s spokesman said: 'Certainly it is not our intention to do so.'

One Cabinet source described the Whitty briefing as 'grim', saying he gave the impression that hospitals would be 'in trouble' if the rate of infection did not ease - although No10 is adamant he did not warn that any will be forced to close by a specific date.

Lockdown-sceptic ministers are understood to be growing increasingly concerned about the prospect of even tougher rules, with allies of Jacob Rees-Mogg telling MailOnline he was asking 'how much further can we go?'

There were also 'raised eyebrows' from some ministers about Sajid Javid's claim on 200,000 Omicron infections a day. 'Now it seems to be even higher,' said another hawkish Cabinet source wryly. 'What can you do with that.'

Former minister Tobias Ellwood said Covid passes were 'illogical'. He said there were 'practical implications' but the main issue was people could go into venues with 'proof of having two jabs, which may have been completed six months ago, so even with a new mutation you could actually be carrying Covid'.

'Leadership is about taking people to where perhaps they didn't realise they needed to go, but they must understand the plan, and this is illogical at the moment,' he said.

'If you can turn up with just a piece of paper, that documentation you've received that says you've had two jabs completed six months ago, that will not prevent Covid from entering a large venue.'

Ex-minister accuses the PM of creating a 'ministry of fear' A former minister has accused Boris Johnson of creating a 'ministry of fear' in an excoriating outburst. In a passionate speech, Sir Desmond Swayne said between '200 and 350 people will die of flu' on a 'typical winter's day'. 'Do we hide behind our mask? Do we lurk at home working from home? Do we demand that people provide their bona fides before going to a venue? Do we require people to be vaccinated as a condition of keeping their jobs?' he asked. Sir Desmond demanded to know if MPs took seriously some of the 'extraordinary extrapolations' given to them by scientists. 'The fact that these are things that might take place and we have to balance that against the known cost and damage to enterprise, economy and society, and in the end it comes down to a matter of opinion, a matter of our prejudices,' he said. He asked which 'Stalinist minds' had thought up the name behind the UK Health Protection Agency, adding: 'Get them out there twisting the fear button and by and large you will get the reaction you want  people will crave more enforcement and more fearsome measures to protect them from this great danger that is out there.' Sir Desmond said: 'The Government, having administered this ministry of fear, is absolutely complicit with its officials and organisations that have designed it and delivered it. 'They have abandoned in doing that any principle of social democracy, of liberal democracy, absolutely beyond anything we've endured in recent living memory in the history of this pandemic. 'And as a consequence, having abandoned what might have been their ideology, they are rudderless and as a consequence of that so much more at risk of the opinions and predictions of the advisers to which they are in hock.' Advertisement

Fellow Conservative Stephen McPartland said he would be voting against the curbs. 'We know Plan B measures don't make any sense & are just softening us us up for more restrictions in next few weeks,' he tweeted.

'The impact on mental health, cancelled surgeries & diagnostics is intolerable for families.'

Dominic Raab risked inflaming the tensions in interviews this morning as he dismissed 'overstated' criticism about the measures to combat the Omicron strain. Mr Raab, whose Jewish father fled Czechoslovakia in 1938, dismissed backbencher Marcus Fysh's comparison between Covid passes and the oppressive Hitler regime as 'crass' and 'inappropriate'.

He told Sky News: 'Even if you haven't had the double jab or, in due course, the booster, you can still rely on the lateral flow test, which is why I think some of these concerns about this are overstated.'

Mr Raab went on: 'If you want to go into a crowded venue, I think most people would think that voluntarily as a matter of their own safety, but also those around them, that that is a reasonable thing to do.

'I don't think this is a big step or a slippery slope, but I do understand the concerns and that's why we should have a proper debate.'

Mr Raab hit out at the comparison of coronavirus health passes to Nazi atrocities. 'I don't like that kind of language and I don't think it's appropriate,' he said. 'I don't think comparing what we are trying to achieve to an authoritarian or Nazi regime is quite right. I think a lot of people find that crass.'

The deputy PM did not rule out further measures being considered for Christmas or new year, saying: 'These issues are always discussed but we have got Plan B, that's what we think is required over the Christmas period.'

Pressed if Christmas will be safe, Mr Raab replied: 'Yes, I think it is. I want to give that reassurance. I think people can look forward to spending Christmas with loved ones in a way that we couldn't last year.'

Former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith has admitted being 'concerned about the mixed and heavy messaging coming from the government', while Mark Harper, chair of the Covid Recovery Group, said it was 'not acceptable to keep governing this country by decree'.

One backbencher told The Guardian: 'These restrictions are the gateway drug to more serious restrictions down the line. I think we'll be on Plan X, Y or Z by Christmas.'

Another said 'scare stories' about further curbs beyond Plan B had 'actually had the opposite effect' and emboldened the rebels.

Tory whips are said to have had 'the thumbscrews out' to curb the revolt, telling junior members of the Government that they will have to quit if they vote against Covid vaccine passports.

Ministers and whips have also reportedly been sharing internal polling commissioned by the Cabinet Office which showed that the public favours 'Plan B' restrictions and a cautious approach to the so-called 'Omicron' variant.

In an excoriating outburst, former minister Desmond Swayne accused Mr Johnson of creating a 'ministry of fear'

The First Minister announced this afternoon further measures required in response to the growing outbreak of the Omicron variant.

Mr Johnson yesterday repeatedly declined to rule out further restrictions ahead of Christmas but stressed the urgency of people getting boosters. He also said MPs thinking of rebelling against Plan B measures needed to recognise there was 'no room for complacency' in dealing with Omicron.

In a massively ambitious move, Mr Johnson brought forward the deadline to offer all over-18s a third jab by New Year's Day as he warned the country: 'There is a tidal wave of Omicron coming.'

But concerns about whether the Government could even hit the goal were raised almost immediately after Mr Johnson's 8pm televised announcement. Even at the height of the NHS's vaccine drive in March, the health service never managed more than 850,000 jabs a day.

In England a booster is available to everyone aged 18 or over from this week as long as the second dose was at least three months ago. Over-30s can already book a booster online and, from Wednesday, this will be extended to over-18s.

The UK recorded its first death involving Omicron, and 10 people are in hospital with the variant. Most of these 10 have received two vaccines and range in age from 18 to 85, though there are no details on whether they have underlying conditions.

Mr Javid told MPs there are now 4,713 confirmed cases of Omicron in the UK, adding that the UK Health Security Agency estimates that the current number of 'daily infections are around 200,000'.

He added: 'While Omicron represents over 20 per cent of cases in England, we've already seen it rise to over 44 per cent in London and we expect it to become the dominant Covid 19 variant in the capital in the next 48 hours.'

Overall, there were a further 54,661 lab-confirmed Covid-19 cases in the UK as of Monday morning, the Government said.

The NHS will need to exceed 840,000 booster jabs per day in a bid to fight Omicron, which is causing around 200,000 new infections per day, the Health Secretary said.

Mr Javid told MPs that every adult across England could expect to be offered a 'chance to get boosted by the end of this month' though he suggested not everyone would get a dose in December.

He said: 'It is asking a huge amount of our colleagues in the NHS. And it's our joint view that we can try to offer adults a chance to get boosted by the end of this month. And that does not mean every single person necessarily can get that booster, it requires them to come forward and to take up this offer as well, as well as everything going right in this huge expansion plan.'

It follows confusion over whether the Government has promised that people can all have a jab in their arm by the December 31 deadline, or whether they will just have an offer of a future vaccine.

Mr Javid told the Commons: 'Until now the highest number of jabs that we've delivered in a single day in the UK was over 840,000. We'll not only need to match that but we will need to beat that every day. But we can and we've got a plan to try and do it.

'We're opening more vaccination sites including pop-up and mobile sites that'll be working seven days a week.

'We are training thousands more volunteer vaccinators, we're asking GPs and pharmacies to do more and we're drafting in 42 military planning teams across every region of our country.'

Mr Javid said he acknowledge that 'our national mission comes with some difficult trade-offs', meaning some non-urgent appointments and surgery in the NHS may be cancelled.

He added: 'These are steps that no Health Secretary would wish to take unless they were absolutely necessary, but I am convinced that if we don't prioritise the booster now the health consequences will be far more grave in the months that lie ahead.'

Mr Javid also urged people to have boosters as a way of protecting children.

Robert Halfon, Conservative chairman of the Education Select Committee, asked Mr Javid to 'make sure schools are kept open in January'.

Mr Javid said: 'One of the reasons to take the measures we've said, especially around expanding the booster programme, is to make sure we can prioritise our children.'

Anti-vaxx protesters demonstrate outside the Houses of Parliament in London on Monday

Downing Street has indicated schools will be kept open unless there is an 'absolute public health emergency' and warned local authorities against deciding to close early for Christmas as a precautionary measure.

'There are certainly no plans to put in any restriction on schooling, we know how vital education has been and how detrimental the pandemic has been towards children and young people who, in many cases, have borne the brunt of this,' the Prime Minister's official spokesman said.
A mother-of-two who paid 85 for a Grinch visit is left 'disgusted' after the entertainer wrecked her home by pouring washing up liquid all over her kitchen and fruit juice over her son.

Laura Magill, of Belfast, planned a visit from the famous Dr. Seuss character for her two sons, Kreed and Kalin on the lead up to Christmas - but she got more than she bargained for.

The package included a visit from the Grinch, who messes up beds, has a pillow fight and decorates the Christmas tree with toilet roll, according to Ms Magill.

But in a post that has now gone viral, she claimed the entertainer had a food fight with 'expensive' personalised cupcakes she had made and eggs smashed all over her home.

Laura Magill, of Belfast, planned a visit from the famous Dr. Seuss character for her two sons, Kreed and Kalin on the lead up to Christmas but was left 'disgusted' after the entertainer wrecked her home (pictured)

Ms Magill (pictured) wrote a post on Facebook, that has since gone viral, saying: 'Fairy liquid [was] poured all over my kitchen floor, eggs smashed, and a full bottle of juice poured over my floor and son!'

The Grinch, is a fictional character created by Dr. Seuss from the 1957 children's book How the Grinch Stole Christmas! Pictured: Jim Carrey in the 2000 film

Writing on Facebook, Laura said: 'So paid 85 for a Grinch visit advertises the Grinch to come in, mess the kids beds, have a pillow fight, put toilet roll around your Christmas tree, and pictures with the kids at the end (they were told to leave no pictures) VS what I got...

'Every single bit of party food and expensive cupcakes were thrown all over the place and tree decorations were broke.

'Fairy liquid poured all over my kitchen floor, eggs smashed, and a full bottle of juice poured over my floor and son!

'Kids new onesie is also ruined. Highly highly DO NOT recommend emailed and complained but no reply. The Grinch definitely came and stole Christmas - never been so disgusted in my life!!!'

It appears Laura and her sister used the company Santa Stop Here Belfast. A response from the company to the viral post said 'we hope you see the funny side', alongside an image of a Grinch behind bars on their Facebook page.

She claimed the entertainer had a food fight with 'expensive' personalised cupcakes she had made

A spokesperson for Santa Stop Here Belfast told MailOnline: 'Laura's sister hired us and was told in advance what was involved prior to the visit.

'Weve done 30 visits this year with no complaints. We have been doing this for three years in total.

'Our grinch is loving the attention- weve had hundreds of booking enquiries today. The grinch also knew them personally - but hasnt told them who was below the mask yet!'

However, social media users have been in 'hysterics' over the incident and said that the entertainer was 'worth every penny'.

One user wrote: 'Paid for the Grinch, got the Grinch. No pleasing some people!'

Another added: 'Did she hire the Grinch or the Cat In The Hat?'

One more wrote: 'Theres really money to be made out there, I too would like to be paid 85 to pour fairy liquid on someones kitchen floor.'
Chinese hackers are already exploiting a 'fully weaponised' software vulnerability which is causing mayhem on the web, with experts warning that it is the 'most serious' threat they have seen in decades.

The flaw was uncovered earlier this month in a piece of software called Log4j, which helps applications interact with one-another across computer networks.

By exploiting the flaw, dubbed Log4Shell, hackers can take control of servers which run the network and repurpose them for their own ends.

That could mean stealing data on those servers such as medical records and photos, plundering company databases for people's bank details, or locking up servers and extorting firms in so-called 'ransomware' attacks.

And there is little that most ordinary users can do to stop this from happening, or any way to tell if data has been stolen in this way.

As one cybersecurity source who spoke to MailOnline put it: 'This is where you put your faith in the lap of the computer Gods and hope it gets fixed soon.'

Chinese hackers are already exploiting a 'fully weaponised' software vulnerability which is causing mayhem on the web, with experts warning that it poses a threat to internet-connected devices across the globe. Pictured: A hacker works on a computer [stock image]

What is Log4J, how does it work, and what does the hack do? Log4J is a piece of software that logs user activity and app behaviour on a computer network. It is an API, or 'application programming interface', which fetches and carries data across the network - essentially one of the invisible cogs that makes the computer world turn. Most APIs are open-source, meaning they can be accessed by anyone and are frequently built into networks by engineers constructing them, often without their customers knowing. The flaw that has been exposed in Log4J gives hackers a back door into networks which use the program. It allows them to drop malicious pieces of code on to servers running the network, which can then be repurposed to do the hacker's bidding. In practice, this means that hackers would be able to steal any data stored on those servers or use them to carry out tasks - provided they know how to write code to do the particular task. For users, it could mean having medical records and bank account details stolen, along with files and photos that have been backed up online. Most major firms will have additional layers of security in place such as encryption software that could foil such a hack, but users will have little or no way of knowing this. And, even if people find out their data is vulnerable, there is little they can do to secure it or to find out if hacker have been able to access it. For companies, it could mean hackers locking up their servers and demanding money to unlock them in a 'ransomware' attack, or using them them to run capacity-draining processes such as crypto mining. Because Log4J is open source, many companies may not even know they are using it until the attack has been carried out. The UK's National Cyber Security Centre has urged all firms to check for 'unknown instances' of Log4J on their systems, while IT experts have warned the hack will likely cause problems for 'years' to come. Advertisement

Data will only be vulnerable to this hack if it has been stored on a server that uses an API - an 'application programming interface', effectively an invisible cog that helps computer networks turn - which incorporates Log4J, the expert added.

It means, for example, that photos which have never been uploaded to the internet should be safe - but many phones will automatically back up images online without users being aware of it.

Most companies will also have additional security measures in place such as encryption software which would likely protect sensitive data, but users will have little or no way of knowing if this is the case and will be unable to take extra measures to protect the data even if they find out it is vulnerable.

And because Log4J is open source - meaning it can be freely accessed and used by network engineers - many companies may have no idea their systems have been built using it until it is too late.

Millions of firms are thought to be in danger. It security first Check Point said 37 per cent of the UK's corporate networks have already been the target of attempted exploitation of the vulnerability, with hackers scanning the internet for possible targets.

Some of the world's largest tech companies, including Microsoft, Cisco, IBM and Google, as well as government agencies such as Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) in the US, have found some of their servers to be vulnerable.

They have since issued guidelines on how to tackle the threat, urging customers that use Log4j to update the software to the latest version, released since Apache - the software firm which created Log4J - became aware of the vulnerability.

US cybersecurity firms Mandiant and Crowdstrike also said they found sophisticated hacking groups leveraging the bug to breach targets. Mandiant described those hackers as 'Chinese government actors' in an email to Reuters news agency.

Tech experts are issuing dire warnings over the vulnerability, saying that the flaw poses one of the most severe cyber-security risks ever seen.

'The Apache Log4j Remote Code Execution Vulnerability is the single biggest, most critical vulnerability of the last decade,' said Amit Yoran, chief executive of network security firm Tenable and founder of the US Computer Emergency Readiness Team.

Juan Andres Guerrero-Saade, principal threat researcher with cybersecurity firm SentinelOne, called it 'one of those nightmare vulnerabilities that there's pretty much no way to prepare for.'

Guerrero-Saade said his firm had already seen Chinese hacking groups moving to take advantage of the vulnerability.

Lotem Finkelstein, Director of Threat Intelligence and Research at Check Point Software, said: This is clearly one of the most serious vulnerabilities on the internet in recent years, and it's spreading like wild fire. At one point, we saw over 100 hacks a minute related to the LogJ4 vulnerability.

'We're seeing what appears to be an evolutionary repression, with new variations of the original exploit being introduced rapidly  over 60 in less than 24 hours. The number of combinations of how to exploit it gives the attacker many alternatives to bypass newly introduced protections,' he said.

'This vulnerability, because of the complexity in patching it and easiness to exploit, will stay with us for years to come, unless companies and services take immediate action to prevent the attacks on their products by implementing a protection.

'Now is the time to act. Given the holidays seasons, when security teams may be slower to implement protective measure, the threat is imminent. This acts like a cyber pandemic  highly contagious, spreads rapidly and has multiple variants, which force more ways to attack.'

The flaw is considered so serious because the affected software is used in a wide range of devices that use Java software. It is so popular and embedded across many companies' programs that security executives expect widespread abuse.

Online services used by millions including Netflix, Amazon, Uber and LinkedIn and cloud-based services such Apple iCloud, Android OS, Google Documents and more are all understood to be under threat from the software bug.

Tech giants such as Amazon Web Services and IBM have already moved to address the flaw in their products. However, potential attackers had more than a week's head start before it was made public.

It was first noticed on sites used by users of the popular video game Minecraft, and was officially reported to Apache on November 24 by Chen Zhaojun - an employee of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba.

It is now apparent that initial exploitation was spotted Dec. 2, before a patch rolled out a few days later. The attacks became much more widespread as people playing Minecraft used it to take control of servers and spread the word in gaming chats.

The US government sent a warning to the private sector about Apache's Log4j vulnerability and the looming risk it poses on Friday, while Germany has activated its national IT crisis centre in response to the 'extremely critical' flaw.

In a statement, CISA said: 'Log4j is very broadly used in a variety of consumer and enterprise services, websites, and applicationsas well as in operational technology productsto log security and performance information.

'An unauthenticated remote actor could exploit this vulnerability to take control of an affected system.'

CISA director Jen Easterly warned that the flaw was already being widely exploited 'by a growing set of threat actors.'

'The internet's on fire right now,' said Adam Meyers, senior vice president of intelligence at the cybersecurity firm Crowdstrike. 'People are scrambling to patch,' he said, 'and all kinds of people scrambling to exploit it.'

He said Friday morning that in the 12 hours since the bug's existence was disclosed, it had been 'fully weaponized,' meaning malefactors had developed and distributed tools to exploit it.



Everything we know about the 'Log4Shell' bug so far WHAT IS THE PROGRAMMING FLAW? An exploit discovered in the Java logging library, log4j2, has sent developers scrambling for a patch. Java remains one the world's most popular programming languages and is used to create functions within an app or system. HOW WILL IT AFFECT MY DEVICES? With the 'Log4Shell' bug, hackers can take full control of an external server, without authentication, with relative ease. Experts have warned it is one of the biggest threats in the history of modern computing. The following apps or online services are known to use Java within its programming, either through back-end services or user interfaces. Google and Android OS

Netflix

Spotify

Apple's iCloud

LinkedIn

Uber

Amazon

Minecraft WHAT CAN I DO TO STOP IT? News of a potential vulnerability affecting millions of devices has sent programmers scrambling for a fix. Firewalls and VPNs are likely already working on short-term fixes to protect their customers' online security. Experts have suggested all Log4j users should immediately look to upgrade to Log4j-2.15.0-rc2. Unofficial patches have also been launched by internet sleuths. Advertisement

Much of the software affected by Log4j, which bears names like Hadoop or Solr, may be unfamiliar to the public at large.

But as with the SolarWinds program at the centre of a massive Russian espionage operation last year, the ubiquity of these workhorse programs makes them ideal jumping-off points for digital intruders.

While a partial fix for the vulnerability was released on Friday by Apache, the maker of Log4j, affected companies and cyber defenders will need time to locate the vulnerable software and properly implement patches.

In practice, this flaw allows an outsider to enter active code into the record-keeping process. That code then tells the server hosting the software to execute a command giving the hacker control.

So far no major disruptive cyber incidents have been publicly documented as a result of the vulnerability, but researchers are seeing an alarming uptick in hacking groups trying to take advantage of the bug for espionage.

'We also expect to see this vulnerability in everyone's supply chain,' said Chris Evans, chief information security officer at HackerOne.

Multiple botnets, or groups of computers controlled by criminals, were also exploiting the flaw in a bid to add more captive machines, experts tracking the developments said.

What many experts now fear is that the bug could be used to deploy malware that either destroys data or encrypts it, like what was used against U.S. pipeline operator Colonial Pipeline Co in May which led to shortages of gas in some parts of the US.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for Germany's Interior Ministry said the country's federal IT safety agency is urging users to patch their systems as quickly as possible to fend off possible attacks using a bug in the Log4J tool.

'The threat situation is extremely critical,' the spokesman, Steve Alter, told reporters in Berlin. 'Immediate protective measures are required.'

German authorities have recorded efforts to exploit the bug around the world, including successful attempts, he said, without elaborating. So far no successful attacks against German government entities or networks have been confirmed, though a number have been deemed vulnerable, said Alter.

Germany is in contact with 'numerous national and international partners' on the matter, he said. 'A successful exploit of this weakness would mean that someone could take complete control of the affected system.'

Java remains one the world's most popular programming languages and is used to create functions within an app or system.

Unless a patch is found, criminals, spies and programming novices could gain easy access to internal networks where they can loot valuable data, plant malware, erase crucial information and much more. [stock image]

It's still used to this day, either for backend services to user development interfaces, in some of the world's most popular applications or online services, including Netflix, Amazon, Google and Android OS, Spotify, LinkedIn and Uber.

With the 'Log4Shell' bug, hackers can take full control of an external server, without authentication, with relative ease.

'I would be hard-pressed to think of a company thats not at risk,' said Joe Sullivan, chief security officer for Cloudflare, whose online infrastructure protects websites from malicious actors.

'Log4Shell' was uncovered in a utility that's ubiquitous in cloud servers and enterprise software used across industry and government.

Until it is resolved, criminals, spies and programming novices alike are granted easy access to internal networks where they can steal valuable data, plant malware, erase crucial information and much more.

Untold millions of servers have it installed, and experts said the fallout would not be known for several days. Amazon, Twitter and Apple's iCloud are understood to be 'vulnerable' to the exploit.

Hackers are also understood to be able to use QR codes, whose use was widely popularised throughout the pandemic for NHS Test and Trace purposes, to run malicious code on servers.

The scare prompted senior intelligence experts to react, including Robert Joyce, director of cybersecurity at the National Security Agency in America.

He explained: 'The Log4j vulnerability is a significant threat for exploitation due to the widespread inclusion in software frameworks, including the NSA's GHIDRA (a free open source reverse engineering tool)'.

The vulnerability, dubbed was rated 10 on a scale of one to 10 the Apache Software Foundation, which oversees development of the software. Anyone with the exploit can obtain full access to an unpatched computer that uses the software.

Experts said the extreme ease with which the vulnerability lets an attacker access a web server - no password required - is what makes it so dangerous.

Marcus Hutchins, an internet security researcher, warned Log4Shell could make millions of apps vulnerable to hacking as its software is often used by developers.

Cybersecurity experts say users of the online game Minecraft have already exploited it to breach other users' devices by pasting a short message into in a chat box

New Zealand's computer emergency response team was among the first to report that the flaw was being 'actively exploited in the wild' just hours after it was publicly reported Thursday and a patch released.

The vulnerability, located in open-source Apache software used to run websites and other web services, was reported to the foundation on Nov. 24 by the Chinese tech giant Alibaba, it said. It took two weeks to develop and release a fix.

But patching systems around the world could be a complicated task.

While most organizations and cloud providers such as Amazon should be able to update their web servers easily, the same Apache software is also often embedded in third-party programs, which often can only be updated by their owners.

The first obvious signs of the flaw's exploitation appeared in Minecraft, an online game hugely popular with kids and owned by Microsoft.

Meyers and security expert Marcus Hutchins said Minecraft users were already using it to execute programs on the computers of other users by pasting a short message in a chat box.

Microsoft said it had issued an urgent software patch for Minecraft users. 'Customers who apply the fix are protected,' it said.

Researchers reported finding evidence the vulnerability could be exploited in servers run by companies such as Apple, Amazon, Twitter and Cloudflare.
Ghislaine Maxwell's 'little black book' of contacts will not be made public, the defense and prosecution in her trial have agreed.

Judge Alison Nathan ruled at Manhattan federal court that only small parts of the directory would be released under seal.

It is said to be a version of Jeffrey Epstein's infamous 97-page book containing the names and addresses of almost 2,000 world leaders, celebrities and businessmen - including Prince Andrew, and former US presidents Donald Trump and Bill Clinton.

Ghislaine Maxwell's 'little black book' of contacts will not be made public, the defense and prosecution in her trial have agreed (pictured conferring with her lawyer Bobbi Sternheim in court on Thursday)

The book is said to be a version of the infamous 97-page book containing the names and addresses of almost 2,000 world leaders, celebrities and businessmen including Prince Andrew (pictured in Epstein's book)

The Duke of York and others named in the book have denied any allegation they took part in sexual abuse.

In 2015, pages from Epstein's book were published by online news website Gawker, but many of the contacts were redacted.

The directory was allegedly taken from Epstein and Maxwell's Palm Beach villa by former butler Alfredo Rodriguez who made copies of it before attempting to sell it to an undercover FBI agent.

The decision not to include Maxwell's directory in court was made by both legal teams over the weekend and will be a major boost to the defense.

Just a few pages, labeled 'exhibit GX52' were mentioned in the prosecution's case after the judge had warned against 'needless' namedropping.

Only the small extract referred to in court will be released as an exhibit under seal, meaning it is visible only to the defense, prosecution and jury.

Damian Williams, a US attorney to Judge Nathan, said in a letter seen by The Telegraph: 'It is not being offered for the truth of the matters asserted therein, and you may not consider it for that purpose.

Maxwell is set to come out fighting at her sex trafficking trial this week after the prosecution's case ended on Friday (pictured with Epstein)

'Rather, you may consider it only to the extent you believe it is relevant to show a link, if any, between Ms Maxwell and the names and phone numbers listed and how, if at all, the information was organized.'

The defense argued there was no proof the book was one of those that a former Epstein house manager Juan Alessi testified was used to book massages from young girls.

Maxwell is set to come out fighting at her sex trafficking trial this week after the prosecution's case ended on Friday, helped by a parade of 35 witnesses.

Court papers reveal the British socialite's defence could outsize the prosecution case, which had 24 witnesses over two weeks.

They included the four women who accused the 59-year-old of abusing them as teenagers or of 'serving them up' to her paedophile friend Jeffrey Epstein.

Court papers reveal the British socialite's defence could outsize the prosecution case, which had 24 witnesses over two weeks

Ahead of defence arguments starting on Thursday, Maxwell's lawyers surprised observers by saying they expected to hear all 35 of the testimonies in just two or three days.

Some of the witnesses are coming from abroad and three may not be willing to testify unless their identities are kept secret by the New York court.

The fast-paced nature of the defence case  with potentially more than ten witnesses squeezed into each court day  means Maxwell will almost certainly not give evidence.

If she did, she would have to face being cross-examined for days about her life of luxury with financier Epstein.

Maxwell claims she is being made a scapegoat for Jeffrey Epstein, the late pedophile financier who she worked for for years. Epstein killed himself in 2019

Instead, the jury is likely to hear from Maxwell's acquaintances and potentially family.

Her lawyer Bobbi Sternheim said in a letter to Judge Alison Nathan: 'Three of the defence witnesses have requested to testify under their first names or under a pseudonym.

'The court's ruling on this issue may impact the willingness of these witnesses to testify, thereby compromising Ms Maxwell's right to present her defence.

'We are still trying to make travel arrangements for defence witnesses, many of whom are coming from locations out of the district and abroad.'

The names of the defence witnesses have not been released to the public.

The prosecution rested its case on Friday, having accused Maxwell of being a dangerous sexual predator.

She denies procuring schoolgirls to be abused by Epstein and herself. The alleged offences took place at his mansion in Palm Beach, Florida, dubbed the 'house of sin', and at other properties.

Annie Farmer, one of the four accusers in Ghislaine Maxwell's sex trafficking trial took the stand on Friday. Farmer, who is the only accuser in the case to testify under her real name, described meeting the late pedophile in New York in 1996 when she was 16. She told how Epstein brought her to his ranch in Santa Fe, New Mexico where she met Maxwell

Her lawyer Miss Sternheim has told the jury that women have been taking the blame for the sins of men 'since the age of Adam and Eve'. Maxwell denies six counts of sex trafficking children.

Her brother Ian Maxwell said at the weekend that she believes Epstein, who died in 2019 in his Manhattan prison cell while awaiting trial, was probably murdered.

He also said that his sister suspected that their late father, the billionaire publisher Robert Maxwell, was killed at sea. His body was recovered off the Canary Islands in 1991.

But Mr Maxwell told the Americano podcast: 'I don't buy a lot of the conspiracy theories at all.'

Chief medical examiner Dr Barbara Sampson ruled that the cause of Epstein's death was suicide. He was 66.
A homeless man thought to be keeping warm inside a dumpster was crushed to death inside a garbage truck which investigators believe he was emptied out into.

The body of Lee Roy Stewart, 58, was found at the Waste Management Facility in Springfield, Illinois, FOX Illinois reported.

The Sangamon County Coroner Jim Allmon confirmed that Stewart would have been alive as his body was crushed.

Lee Roy Stewart, 58, was crushed to death inside a garbage truck in Springfield, Illinois

Local reports from The State Journal-Register said that it is unclear whether the man was sleeping or disoriented inside the dumpster when the incident took place last week.

But Allmon said he 'died of crushing injuries consistent with the equipment used to transport garbage' and that foul play was not suspected.

Investigators still don't know why Stewart was inside the dumpster, but a homeless initiative organisation suggested it was for comfort and to keep himself warm.

The homeless man's body was found at the Waste Management Facility in Springfield, Illinois (pictured: file photo)

Julie Benson, president of Helping the Homeless in Springfield, told the station: 'They find a spot where they're off the grid.

'They can get comfortable where they're at. That's their home.'

Temperatures can drop as low as 24F(-4C) in Springfield at night this time of year.

It is not believed Stewart is from the area and was placed in Clay County, Florida in 2020 where an arrest record shows he was previously charged with resisting an officer.

On Friday investigators were finally able to track down his family to locate a next-of-kin according to News Channel 20.
A targeted regional lockdown could be reintroduced in New South Wales as Covid infections soar across the state, health minister Brad Hazzard has warned.

More than 200 coronavirus cases have sprang up in Newcastle after a superspreader event at the Argyle House nightclub on December 8.

While premier Dominic Perrottet has said there will be 'no more lockdowns' now that 93.2 per cent of the state are fully vaccinated, Mr Hazzard isn't so sure.

'The one thing I've learnt that Health Minister in a pandemic, a one in 100 year pandemic is never say never,' he told ABC radio.

'So I can't guarantee that it will always be that way.'

More than 200 coronavirus cases have sprang up in Newcastle after a superspreader event at the Argyle House nightclub (pictured) on December 8

New South Wales Health Minister Brad Hazzard (pictured) is not ruling out a regional lockdown as Covid infections soar across the state

NSW recorded a massive jump in cases on Tuesday recording 804 infections - the highest in 10 weeks.

Health authorities fear the rise is likely to continue as Christmas parties and large gatherings ramp up over the summer break.

Mr Hazzard is now warning double-dosed residents their immunity to Covid will 'rapidly' wane three to four months after the final jab.

'Take it very seriously and get the booster shot. I'm very concerned that people are not actually understanding the benefit of getting the booster, a third shot of vaccine is going to make all the difference.'

Fully vaccinated residents are now eligible to get their booster shot five months after receiving their second dose.

Mr Hazzard said boosters are the only way to make sure stay-at-home order aren't reimplemented.

'NSW is not planning on any snap lockdowns,' he said.

'What we're planning on is making sure the community understands the need to be vaccinated and the need to have boosters.

'NSW has led the country, we're not about to start backflipping on issues that we promised the community we'll do.'

Health authorities have so far linked 84 cases to the Argyle House nightclub in Newcastle

Healthcare workers administer COVID-19 tests at a drive through test centre in Liverpool, Sydney, Thursday, December 2, 2021

HIGH RISK VENUES LINKED TO OMICRON Sydney Habour Boat cruise More than 140 revellers were ordered isolate after attending the cruise, which was jointly marketed as 'Flow Fridays - 90s Themed Boat Party' and 'Freaky Sunday Afrovibe' on December 3. Five Covid cases have been linked to the event, with NSW Health confirming a number of the cases were likely Omicron The Argyle House, Newcastle All 680 attendees who attended the nightclub on December 8 have been identified as close contacts So far, 84 guests have tested positive to Covid and tests are underway to determine whether they have the Omicron strain Health authorities say it is 'likely' to be the Omicron variant after the cluster was linked to an outbreak on a Sydney boat party Finnegan's Hotel, Newcastle Anyone who visited the venue from 6.30pm Friday December 10 to 2.30am on Saturday December 11 has been deemed a close contact Oxford Tavern, Petersham There have been 46 cases linked to a trivia night at the pub in Sydney's innerwest on November 30. All attendees were considered close contacts and ordered to isolate for seven days. Albion Hotel, Parramatta An alert has been issued for Albion Hotel, which has been linked to seven cases. Anyone who attended the venue between 11pm on December 3 and 3am December 4, or from 4.30pm to closing time on December 5 is considered a close contact. Cult Nightclub, Potts Point The same alert has been issued for Cult Nightclub after a potential Omicron exposure. Anyone who visited the venue between 9.45pm on December 4 and 3am on December 5 is considered a close contact Advertisement

The warnings come as Police investigate a positive Covid case who was allegedly meant to be in isolation and attended a nightclub triggering an outbreak of more than 200 people.

The NSW Health Minister on Tuesday referred the reveller who attended the Argyle House nightclub in Newcastle to authorities, alleging they were under an order to self isolate and absconded quarantine.

'Out of the roughly 650 to 680 people that were there at the club on Wednesday 8th December  there's now more than 200 patrons who are positive to COVID,' Brad Hazzard told Nine News.

Most of them are believed to have the highly infections Omicron strain, but further testing is underway to confirm.

NSW Health issued an alert for The Argyle House nightclub in Newcastle late Sunday night identifying all attendees as close contacts after transmission of Covid at the venue on the night of December 8

24 cases of Covid have been linked to the The Argyle House nightclub (pictured) in Newcastle

The outbreak is linked to a boat party five nights earlier on Sydney Harbour where at least five people caught the virus.

Mr Hazzard said the case was told to self-isolate for 'seven days' but instead is believed to have travelled to the Hunter region while infectious.

'If that's the case, I've asked for Health to refer that person as soon as possible  to police,' he said.

'Individual responsibility has to play a part here.'

Anyone who was at the Newcastle nightclub between 9pm December 8 and to 3am December 9 are close contacts and must immediately get tested and isolate for seven days, regardless of the result.

The rule applies to all 680 people who checked in using the QR code that night and to anyone who did not check in.

Household contacts of anyone who attended the nightclub are also ordered to immediately get tested and isolate until the close contact tests negative, due to the high transmission at the venue.

An alert has also been issued for Finnegan's Hotel in Newcastle from 6.30pm Friday December 10 to 2.30am Saturday December 11.

More than 1.9 million Covid alerts have been issued by NSW Health authorities over the past two weeks as virus case numbers continue to surge (pictured, shoppers in Sydney's QVB)

The superspreader event follows clusters at the Albion Hotel at Parramatta, Oxford Tavern at Petersham, Cult Nightclub in Potts Point and the party boat cruise on Sydney Harbour.

Despite the concern, Premier Dominic Perrottet promised 'no more lockdowns' for the state in an interview with Alan Jones on Facebook Live on Monday night.

Restrictions are set to ease on December 15, with unvaccinated residents allowed to visit restaurants and shops for the first time since NSW went into lockdown in June.

A 'pingdemic' of health alerts has meanwhile forced thousands into isolation as the state opens up to the rest of the world, with almost two million Covid alerts issued by Service NSW over the past fortnight.

Infectious disease expert Peter Collignon has warned Australians should no longer be looking at Covid cases as a metric for how well the nation is dealing with the virus.

'Case numbers should not be our focus. We should be looking at hospitalisations and death,' the Australian National University physician told The Australian.

'With Omicron, could get it worse? Yes it could. It probably spreads more. But we're not seeing any evidence in South Africa of massive numbers of immunised people in hospital.'
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The widow and daughters of an oligarch are fighting for a share of his 3billion fortune - including a 150million superyacht and 75million Monaco mansion.

Loudmila, 70, Elena, and Veronica, 36, are at the centre of a legal clash over Oleg Bourlakov's will after the 72-year-old died of Covid in June.

They were in line to inherit his estate until Loudmila realised he was cheating with Sofia Shevtsova - who is 50 years younger and claims to have had a child with him.

The couple, who met as science students and were married for 47 years, started divorce proceedings three years ago but he passed away before they finished.

Mr Bourlakov's original will had named his widow as the sole inheritor of his estate but after he died another one was found. The later document, written in Russian in a notebook, named his sister and brother-in-law.

Mrs Bourlakov, who lives mostly in Monaco, Elena, who lives in Canada, and financier Veronica, who lives in Mayfair, London, are challenging it in a Monaco court.

His sister and brother-in-law the Kazakovs - who still live in Russia - are disputing the family's claims in a London court due to the city hosting a series of discussions between the families over the future of the finances in 2018.

Oleg Bourlakov, 72, died from Covid in June, leaving behind a huge estate, having cashed in on the energy and cement industries during post-Soviet Russia

Left: Bourlakov's daughter Veronica. Right: His alleged girlfriend Sofia Shevtsova

His 107-metre superyacht is the second largest sailing boat in the world and is equipped with a solar sail, designed to power its virtually fuel-free engines

Mr Bourlakov's huge private jet is pictured. His family are at war over inheriting his fortune

Eco-sailing pioneer who died of Covid and left behind a family in chaos... who was Oleg Bourlakov? Oleg Bourlakov was born in St Petersburg in 1949 but made his billions in post-Soviet Russia in energy and chemicals. He started off as a member of the USSR air force and was said to be a patriot and incredibly proud of serving his country. But in October 1988 he founded Integral - a co-operative that worked on patents and scientific research for chemical products. He was helped in this by his wife, who co-founded the business and was a member. Mr Bourlakov then brought in natural resources and mining firm Sovinterfrance. He invested heavily in the oil trade from 1992, as well as cement production. He took control of leading Russian national firm Novoroscement and then oil exploration company Burneftegaz. The businessman sold Novoroscement in 2007 for a staggering $1.5billion, and then Burneftegaz in 2014 for around $1billion. Yet Mr Bourlakov was perhaps best known for his passion for sailing, with him becoming a pioneer for powering his yacht with green energy. He owned the world's second largest sailing yacht, the renowned 106.7-metre Oceanco superyacht Black Pearl. It has three DynaRig carbon masts supporting a sail area of 2,900 square meters. This harnesses sail power, solar and a hybrid propulsion system the billionaire helped work on. The incredible machine can cross the Atlantic burning just 20L of fuel. In his personal life, Mr Bourlakov met his wife when they were science students and were married for 47 years. He read aerospace engineering and she got a degree in aeronautical engineering. They resided in Ukraine until 1993 before moving to the US and then to Canada in 1995. They have two daughters and six grandchildren. Mr Bourlakov was buried on July 16 in the North York district of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Advertisement

Mr Bourlakov made his fortune during post-Soviet Russia as the energy and cement industries booming, and was known by some as the 'Cement King'.

The former Air Force officer sold his aggregates business in 2007 and his gas concerns in 2014 for over 1.5billion.

The tycoon, who survived an assassination bid in 2018 when shots were fired at his car, commissioned his superyacht - dubbed the Black Pearl - in 2010.

He was hailed by sailing pundits as a 'visionary' for his drive to produce a ship capable of sailing the seas virtually fuel-free.

His 107-metre superyacht is the second largest sailing boat in the world and is equipped with a solar sail, designed to power its virtually fuel-free engines.

The court fight focuses on a series of meetings in London in 2018, where Mrs Bourlakov and her daughters claim she was a victim of 'fraud on an epic scale'.

They claim this was a concerted effort to try to con them out of a fair share of the couple's wealth.

Mrs Bourlakova claims her ex-husband cooked up an elaborate plan to camouflage his assets and shield them from her.

She claims he said they were tied up in a long-standing business partnership with his brother-in-law Nikolai Kazakov.

Her lawyer Helen Davies QC told the High Court he was rumbled during a round table talk between Mr and Vera Kazakov and the Bourlakovs in London in April 2018.

Ms Davies said: 'At the meeting, Mr Bourlakov, the Kazakovs and (Mr Bourlakov's adviser) asserted for the first time that all of the Bourlakov family's business interests were subject to a longstanding oral partnership between Mr Bourlakov and Mr Kazakov, which halved the amount Mr Bourlakov said was available for division between him and Mrs Bourlakova from $3.7billion to $1.85billion.'

During later meet ups in the city, Mr Bourlakov allegedly said 'there were debts in the hundreds of millions of dollars, which further reduced the value of the Bourlakov family's assets'.

He allegedly said Mr Kazakov was entitled to a share of the disputed assets because of their joint involvement since the 1980s, but Ms Davies said this was a ruse.

She said: 'These statements were lies, which Mr Bourlakov confected in order to obtain Mrs Bourlakova's assets and retain the vast majority of the family's assets.'

Her lawyer Helen Davies QC told the High Court he was rumbled during a round table talk between Mr and Vera Kazakov (pictured) and the Bourlakovs in London in April 2018

The fight features a series of meetings in London in 2018 at which Mrs Bourlakov and her daughters claim she was subjected to 'fraud on an epic scale' in a bid to con her out of a fair share of the couple's wealth. Pictured: His superyacht

The Black Pearl superyacht is pictured at anchor in Weymouth Bay, Dorset, in August 2019

The legal fight will decide what was in Mr Bourlakov's estate when he died and whether it included the Black Pearl. But the court heard a separate battle is ongoing over who will inherit the fortune in the end.

Mr Bourlakov had previously intended to leave his entire estate to his wife under a 2004 will, but after his death a later will was found, the barrister said.

The document, written in Russian in irregular handwriting on two pages of a notebook, left everything, including specifically the Black Pearl, to the Kazakovs.

Mrs Bourlakov and her two daughters claim the document is 'a forgery and/or invalid' and are challenging it in court proceedings in Monaco.

But in the London court the Kazakovs are disputing the claims they were involved in 'fraud on an epic scale' in relation to the dispute over Mr Bourlakov's fortune.

They say it was Mrs Bourlakov herself who used underhand tactics to get her hands on disputed assets from the marriage.

The Kazakovs' QC, James Willan, said: 'Mr Bourlakov contended until his death, and the Kazakovs continue to contend, that it was Mrs Bourlakova who, in combination with her daughters Elena and Veronica, have defrauded Mr Bourlakov and the Kazakovs in anticipation of the marital breakdown.

'They allege that, following a calculated strategy put into action before she commenced divorce proceedings in Monaco, Mrs Bourlakova seized control of assets worth billions of US dollars which had been entrusted to her as a nominee by Mr Bourlakov and Mr Kazakov.

'Mrs Bourlakova dissipated those assets to put them beyond the reach of Mr Bourlakov and Mr Kazakov in anticipation of legal proceedings, including by transferring hundreds of millions of US dollars to Elena and Veronica and settling around $1.5 billion of assets into offshore structures - including a Bahamian trust known as The Golden Wheat Trust.'

The complex legal dispute kicked off in Monaco in December 2018 when Mrs Bourlakova sued for divorce and for division of the marriage assets.

The tycoon, who survived an assassination bid in 2018 when shots were fired at his car, commissioned his superyacht - dubbed the Black Pearl - in 2010

He was hailed by sailing pundits as a 'visionary' for his drive to produce a ship capable of sailing the seas virtually fuel-free

In June 2020 Mr Bourlakov tried to take his wife and two daughters to court 'alleging that they misappropriated hundreds of millions of dollars worth of those assets'.

The legitimacy of the 2019 will is also to be decided by the courts in the principality.

But the case spilled over into the English courts as Mrs Bourlakova claimed 8.6million compensation from the Kazakovs - and other business associates and companies - for an alleged deceitful conspiracy to 'minimise or even extinguish' her share of the family assets.

But Mr Willan - for the Kazakovs - argued the case should not be heard by a judge in England as none of those directly involved have any UK connections, while Monaco is very much the 'centre of gravity' for the dispute.

He urged the judge, Mr Justice Trower, to bar the dispute from going ahead in England, accusing Mrs Bourlakova of trying to have the fight over the estate, including ownership of the yacht, decided in London, when it should be resolved by the courts in Monaco.

Neither of the Bourlakov daughters are involved in the High Court action in England, but remain 'important individuals within the overarching dispute' over who is entitled to Mr Bourlakov's billions, said Mr Willan.

As well as Mrs Bourlakova and the Kazakovs, the High Court clash involves two companies on her side and five companies ranged against her owned by Panamanian companies - plus four individuals linked 'tangentially' to Mr Bourlakov or the five companies.

The judge is expected to rule at a later date on whether Mrs Bourlakova's deceit and conspiracy claim against the Kazakovs and others can go ahead in London.
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What curbs will return? SOCIALISING LIMITS: Scots are being asked to limit indoor gatherings to three households. But it is merely advice and will not become a legal requirement. Earlier rules allowed up to six people from two households. HOSPITALITY: Ms Sturgeon said there would be 'a return to the kind of protections in place at the start of the pandemic' to avoid crowding, such as physical distancing, table service an contact tracing in bars, pubs, cafes and restaurants. HOME WORKING: Ms Sturgeon announced that allowing staff to work from home where possible will again become a legal duty on employers. SCHOOLS: Unions pushing for all schools in Scotland to close early for the Christmas holidays, at the end of this week, but Ms Sturgeon did not do so. CHRISTMAS: Scotland's First Minister stressed she was 'not asking anyone to cancel Christmas', with no restrictions on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day or Boxing Day. But she added that 'keeping your celebrations as small as family circumstances allow is sensible'. CARE HOMES: Visits should be limited to two households, with all visitors asked to take a coronavirus test before attending. Advertisement

Nicola Sturgeon re-introduced social distancing and asked Scots to cut down on socialising in the run up to Christmas today.

Pubs, restaurants and shops will have to take measures to avoid crowding and queues, the First Minister told Holyrood.

Additionally she asked Scots to limit indoor mixing to just three households. While the advice will not be enforceable in law, Ms Sturgeon announced that allowing staff to work from home where possible will again become a legal duty on employers.

Ms Sturgeon confirmed that she was not seeking to put restrictions on festive events at Christmas itself, although she added that 'keeping your celebrations as small as family circumstances allow is sensible'.

'My key request today is this: before and immediately after Christmas, please minimise your social mixing with other households as much as you can,' she told the Scottish Parliament.

'However, if you do plan on socialising, either at home or in indoor public places, we are asking that you limit the number of households represented in your group to a maximum of three. And make sure you test before you go.'

She also lashed out at Boris Johnson, complaining that it was 'not acceptable' that there was no additional funding yet available from the UK Government to support businesses affected by the measures she is introducing.

The changes - which could well be followed by similar moves in Wales - will further increase the pressure on Boris Johnson in England, with London, like Scotland, an omicron hotspot.

Calls have been made for the introduction of further restrictions in the capital, with the super mutant variant now responsible for half of cases.

The city is still the region of England with the fastest-growing Covid outbreak, according to Government data, with cases growing by up to 48 per cent a week in the worst-hit boroughs.

NHS leaders said No10 needs to be prepared to introduce stricter curbs than the current Plan B if Omicron is on the brink of overwhelming the NHS.

Mr Johnson warned his Cabinet this morning that a 'huge spike' of Omicron is coming, according to Downing Street.

But the Prime Minister already faces a Tory rebellion over introducing mandatory face masks and vaccine passports for some venues, measures already in place in Scotland.

Scores of Conservatives have vowed to defy the government whip when new regulations rubber-stamping Covid passes for nightclubs and major events, mandatory vaccination for health staff, and mask use come before the Commons.

Dominic Raab risked inflaming the tensions in interviews this morning as he dismissed 'overstated' criticism about the measures to combat the Omicron strain.

But the scale of the rebellion means the embattled PM will almost certainly have to rely on Labour to get the measures through - despite in theory having an 80-strong Commons majority. Several ministerial aides are threatening to quit rather than back the government.

Ministers are said to be examining plans for a further round of restrictions in England that would push it closer towards a lockdown and are sure to watch Ms Sturgeon's announcement with interest and trepidation.

Meanwhile Britain's booster drive to beat the Omicron super-variant has been mired in chaos after more than 4.4million attempts were made to book top-up shots on the NHS website and furious GPs warned they had run out of doses.

Health chiefs said 545,000 appointments were secured by 8pm last night, even after the website crashed because so many people logged on. This morning Britons were stuck in up to an hour long queues.

But GPs complained they would not have enough jabs for everyone after being given until 9am to order stocks to meet Boris Johnson's December 31 'boosted or bust' deadline.

It came as:

The UK's booster drive to beat the Omicron super-variant was mired in chaos yet again, with desperate Brits left queuing for three hours and furious GPs warning they had already run out of doses.

The testing system collapsed with no free NHS PCR tests available anywhere in England and lateral flow tests still out of stock online for the second day running for anyone in the UK.

NHS bosses ordered hospitals to discharge all healthy patients off wards and into care homes and even hotels to handle a predicted Omicron surge.

Boris Johnson faced demands to urgently clarify the situation around Britain's first Omicron death and 10 hospitalisations after warnings that the announcements may have sparked unnecessary panic.

The number of morning rush-hour commuters using the London Underground has plunged by more than a quarter in just a week as Britons switch back to working from home and shun going into the office.

Schools began closing early for the Christmas holidays and blocking parents from seeing their children in nativities and carol concerts for the second year in a row.

The First Minister announced this afternoon further measures required in response to the growing outbreak of the Omicron variant.

Any move could put pressure on Boris Johnson in England, where he faces a Tory rebellion over introducing mandatory face masks and vaccine passports for some venues, measures already in place in Scotland.

It comes a day after the SNP health secretary Humza Yousaf said that tighter rules were 'inevitable'.

According to NHS data, many older age groups who have been eligible to get a Covid booster since September still have double digit percentage figures of people who are yet to get a third dose. Some 81 per cent of people aged 40-to-49 have yet to have a booster

Jab chaos saw 4.4m attempts to book a slot but 545,000 get one Britain's booster drive to beat the Omicron super-variant has been mired in chaos after more than 4.4million attempts were made to book top-up shots on the NHS website and furious GPs warned they had run out of doses. Health chiefs said 545,000 appointments were secured by 8pm last night, even after the website crashed because so many people logged on. This morning Britons were stuck in up to an hour long queues. But GPs complained they would not have enough jabs for everyone after being given until 9am to order stocks to meet Boris Johnson's December 31 'boosted or bust' deadline. Hundreds of Britons were again seen queuing outside jabbing centres with lines forming at least 30 minutes before they opened. Yesterday clinics in London had up to five-hour waits. The fallout follows a chaotic 24 hours of Government messaging. Addressing MPs about the threat of Omicron yesterday, Sajid Javid told MPs up to 200,000 Britons were now getting infected with Covid every day, sparking confusion as to whether he meant the figure was solely for the variant or the virus overall. Department of Health sources later told The Telegraph that it was for Omicron but experts have questioned the source of the figure and officials have yet to respond to MailOnline and clarify the situation. Further chaos ensued today as Dominic Raab wrongly claimed 250 Britons have already been hospitalised with Covid, before back-tracking to say the correct toll was ten. Ministers were yesterday accused of causing 'unnecessary alarm' for confirming the country's first Omicron death without offering any more details about the patient's age, vaccination status or whether the virus was responsible for killing them. Advertisement

Scottish Tories have demanded a 'cancellation compensation' scheme be set up to help hospitality venues like pubs and restaurants hit by fresh curbs at their busiest time of the year.

After Ms Sturgeon's announcement, Conservative leader Douglas Ross said: 'Many Scottish businesses have been hammered by the change in guidance and it was vital that the SNP Government gave them extra support to prevent job losses.

'We need to know when this funding will come forward. Small businesses are crying out for help now and they need to know this money will reach them before Christmas.'



Leon Thompson, executive director of industry body UKHospitality Scotland, said businesses were already taking a massive hit due to existing rules.

'I have members quoting rates of cancellation of 30 to 100 per cent and they're still coming in for events and gatherings due to take place in the coming days,' he said.

'This is devastating for businesses that need the income to keep going and to see them through the winter.

'The industry was initially looking at multi-million-pound losses but over the weekend that has become greater and taking in the supply chain we're now looking at the losses rising to 1billion.'

Shadow finance secretary Liz Smith said: 'Scottish jobs will be at risk if small businesses lose out on thousands of pounds of vital revenue that they were expecting to receive.

'This latest setback in the Covid situation is a bitter blow to businesses at one of their busiest times of the year. They need more support from the SNP, who so far seem to be trying to pass the buck.

'Unlike small businesses, the SNP Government does not have a cash flow issue. There is money available right now in their accounts to establish an emergency cancellation compensation fund to protect jobs.

The First Minister is due to make a statement at Holyrood at 2pm, setting out any new measures as well as updating the Scottish Parliament on the booster vaccination programme.

And speaking in advance of the Holyrood statement, Ms Sturgeon cautioned that there may be 'targeted and proportionate' measures introduced as a trade-off for allowing families to meet at Christmas.

She said: 'We need to try to protect peoples' ability to spend Christmas with their families, and I am personally hoping for a more normal Christmas than last year on behalf of everybody across the country.

'But we need to balance that with the need to keep people as safe as possible in the run up to, and throughout, the winter and into 2022.

'With Omicron, the virus has mutated and is now more transmissible than anything we have seen before - our estimation is that it will be the dominant strain in Scotland at some point this week.

'We have to think of this as a race between vaccination and a virus that has just learned to run faster, so we are challenging ourselves to take steps to speed up getting booster jabs into peoples' arms while considering what we can do to try to slow down the spread of the virus.

This graph shows how Britain's vaccination drive is going. There was a lag in September as the booster drive got going, which opposition parties have already slammed saying it has put the country at unnecessary risk

Boris faces 70-strong Tory revolt over vaccine passports Boris Johnson is facing a 70-strong Tory revolt over his 'Nazi-style' Covid measures in crunch votes today as furious MPs branded them a 'softening up exercise' for harsher lockdown. Scores of Conservatives have vowed to defy the government whip when new regulations rubber-stamping Covid passes for nightclubs and major events, mandatory vaccination for health staff, and mask use come before the Commons. Dominic Raab risked inflaming the tensions in interviews this morning as he dismissed 'overstated' criticism about the measures to combat the Omicron strain. Mr Raab, whose Jewish father fled Czechoslovakia in 1938, dismissed backbencher Marcus Fysh's comparison between Covid passes and the oppressive Hitler regime as 'crass' and 'inappropriate'. But the scale of the rebellion means the embattled PM will almost certainly have to rely on Labour to get the measures through - despite in theory having an 80-strong Commons majority. Several ministerial aides are threatening to quit rather than back the government. Tories are also gearing up for an even bigger battle amid claims ministers are preparing to go further by shutting hospitality within weeks if the Omicron strain continues to run rampant. Whitehall officials have drawn up proposals to limit the number of people allowed in pubs and restaurants, according to The Sun. There are also contingency plans to bring back furlough and support for businesses if tougher restrictions are needed. Covid passes are the main focus of Tory rebels today, with anger that they are 'illogical' and an infringement of civil liberties. Sajid Javid said yesterday that in future booster jabs will be needed to be 'fully vaccinated' for the purposes of the passes. There is also broad opposition to mandatory vaccination for NHS and care staff, and unhappiness at the economic impact of a return of the working from home guidance on town and city centre businesses at a crucial time of the year if people again stay away from their offices. The Plan B measures are not in danger of failing because Sir Keir Starmer has ordered Labour MPs to support them. But the Commons mutiny could wipe out Mr Johnson's majority and eclipse his biggest revolt yet, when 54 Tories voted against the tier system last December. Some rebels believe it could be bigger than the 80-strong revolt that forced David Cameron to promise the EU referendum. Advertisement

'The most important step we can all take, alongside regular testing, remains to get vaccinated.

'I know many have already booked their booster appointments, but I am aware others will have found it more difficult to get an appointment. Please keep trying - every effort is being made to build capacity, and more appointments are being created each day.

'We are working round the clock with health boards to look at all options on how we could speed up vaccination - options including bringing in more vaccinators, supporting more hours at vaccination centres, bringing more facilities on stream, and offers of military support from the UK Government.

'I am acutely aware of the impact this crisis has had on peoples' lives already, and so any steps that need to be taken to slow the spread will be as targeted and proportionate as possible. Cabinet will consider the options available on Tuesday, after which I will set out more detail to Parliament.'

Scotland recorded 26 new cases of the Omicron variant on Monday, taking the overall number to 186, while a further 3,756 Covid-19 cases were confirmed.

Addressing MSPs last week, Ms Sturgeon stressed it was 'important to keep the need for any additional protections under daily review' because of Omicron which 'may be significantly more transmissible than anything before'.

The First Minister said: 'I do really hope we can avoid any further measures.

'I cannot guarantee this however, I don't think any responsible person in my position could ever guarantee this at this stage.'

She added it was 'important to remain open to any proportionate measures', such as a possible extension of vaccine passports.

Speaking on Monday, Mr Yousaf told the BBC's Good Morning Scotland programme: 'I think it's inevitable that we will announce additional, protective measures.'

Ahead of the First Minister's coronavirus statement to Holyrood, the Scottish Conservatives reiterated calls for mass vaccination centres.

Party leader Douglas Ross said: 'For more than a month, the Scottish Conservatives have been calling for the reopening of mass vaccination centres to speed up the vaccine booster rollout.'

Mr Ross said speeding up the booster jag rollout is 'likely to be the crucial difference between avoiding or introducing stricter restrictions', and added: 'The rapid rollout of mass vaccine centres and more drop-in clinics is now a necessity.

'It is mission critical that the booster jag programme accelerates to win the race between the vaccine and the virus.'

Scottish Labour's health and Covid recovery spokeswoman, Jackie Baillie, said: 'It's clear we are in the most fragile position we've been in for months.

'We need to take the action needed now to save lives, protect livelihoods, and keep restrictions to a minimum this Christmas.

'This means ramping up the booster programme urgently to meet our new target, equipping Test and Protect to deal with the expected tsunami of cases we are facing, and supporting hard-hit businesses through this challenging time.

Ahead of the First Minister's coronavirus statement to Holyrood, the Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross reiterated calls for mass vaccination centres

'We can't shy away from difficult decisions if they are necessary - but all rules must be clear, consistent, and firmly rooted in the evidence.'

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton said: 'After pestering the Health Secretary for months we finally have an ambitious target for ramping up booster vaccines, but we also need to see frontline NHS staff given the additional resources they need, guarantees of financial protections for small businesses, particularly in hospitality, and measures to ensure that everyone who needs it can access mental health support during these difficult times.'

He also warned against any extension of Scotland's vaccine passport scheme to cover more venues, claiming they 'give people a potentially fatal false confidence'.

Scots firms buckle under pressure of Covid restrictions Restaurants, hotels and pubs have been inundated with cancellations, with people heeding advice to drop plans for office parties or nights out with friends and family after the First Minister warned such gatherings could become super-spreader events. One restaurant in Edinburgh fielded 500 cancellations within 24 hours and a hotel in Dunfermline, Fife, reported 400 in 12 hours. A hotel in Aberdeen had taken 22 deliveries from suppliers the day before the announcement in anticipation of a bumper Christmas, and still has the bill to pay despite having since had 1,000 cancellations. Marc Crothall, chief executive of the Scottish Tourism Alliance, said the advice had sent 'a shockwave of anxiety and turbulence' through Scotland's tourism community. He added: 'Within hours, we had received numerous messages, emails and calls from hotels, accommodation providers, restaurants and events venues with notification of mass cancellation of bookings representing a colossal loss of revenue, not just solely attributed to Christmas party night cancellations. 'One hotelier told me that business to the value of 250,000 for the remainder of this month has been wiped out. This isn't unusual, it's widespread. It's happening to every tourism business right now. 'There's little opportunity for them to recover losses at that level. This also extends to the supply chain. 'The ripples of the impact of recent announcements and subsequent speculation reach far and wide and impact all within our industry and those who depend on it. Many are now worried about the future certainty of employment. 'If an announcement of immediate financial support is not forthcoming within the next few days, the industry is staring straight into the face of a dangerously bleak few weeks and months.' Colin Wilkinson, managing director of the Scottish Licensed Trade Association, said: 'It's been an absolute disaster for the whole sector. It's basically shutting us down. Some businesses have lost 100 per cent of their Christmas party bookings. It's now going to the point where it may not be viable for some of them to stay open. Advertisement

Ministers agree to remove ALL countries from the travel red list from 4am tomorrow as Sajid Javid confirms the Government is shelving hotel quarantine because Omicron is already running rampant in the UK and has 'spread so widely across the world'

Sajid Javid today confirmed all countries will be removed from the Government's international travel red list from 4am tomorrow because Omicron is already running rampant in the UK.

The Health Secretary told the House of Commons that the change has been made because there is domestic community transmission of the variant and it is also spreading 'widely across the world'.

As a result he said the red list is 'now less effective in slowing the incursion of Omicron from abroad' and hotel quarantine will therefore be shelved.

The 11 countries on the list are: Angola, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

The decision was hammered out at a meeting of the Cabinet's Covid-19 operations (Covid-O) committee.

The red list was reintroduced last month following the emergence of Omicron as ministers tried to prevent importing cases into the UK.

Despite the change on the red list, tougher travel testing rules introduced in response to the variant will remain in place.

Said Javid today confirmed all countries will be removed from the Government's international travel red list because Omicron is already running rampant in the UK

The 11 countries currently on the red list are: Angola, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe

Mr Javid told MPs this afternoon: 'Now that there is community transmission of Omicron in the UK and Omicron has spread so widely across the world, the travel red list is now less effective in slowing the incursion of Omicron from abroad.

'So I can announce today that whilst we will maintain our temporary testing measures for international travel, we will be removing all 11 countries from the travel red list, effective from 4am tomorrow morning.'

People arriving in the UK from red list countries must currently spend 11 nights in a quarantine hotel at a cost of 2,285 for solo travellers.

Removing all 11 countries from the list will mean that ministers will once again mothball the hotel quarantine system.

However, it is unclear what the change will mean for people who are already in a quarantine hotel having arrived from one of the banned nations.

Other rules introduced due to Omicron fears included requiring fully-vaccinated travellers entering the UK to take a pre-departure test, and to self-isolate until they receive a negative result from a post-arrival PCR test.

These rules will remain in place for the moment.

Tim Alderslade, chief executive of Airlines UK, which represents UK-registered carriers, said the decision to remove the countries from the red list 'makes complete sense but doesn't go nearly far enough'.

He said: 'If the red list isn't necessary given that Omicron is established here at home, then neither are the costly emergency testing and isolation measures imposed on even fully vaccinated travellers, which again put us completely at odds with the rest of Europe. It is testing that is the deterrent to travel, not the relatively limited red list.

'Government has admitted that the measures introduced are disastrous for the travel sector, and the science says they aren't now required.

'The Health Secretary says he wants to act quickly to remove unnecessary restrictions, and we implore him to make good on this by scrapping testing as soon as possible, otherwise the key Christmas and New Year booking period will be undermined.

'This is make or break for UK aviation and if Government is unable to row back from these restrictions over the New Year, it will need to step in with further economic support for a sector that again has been singled out.'

Airport Operators Association chief executive Karen Dee said: 'The removal of all the countries from the red list is a welcome recognition that these measures have little purpose when Omicron is rapidly becoming the dominant variant in the UK.

'It is difficult to understand why the UK and devolved governments did not recognise that the same logic applies to the blanket, expensive and burdensome testing regime.'

The issue was raised in the Commons yesterday as Labour former minister Ben Bradshaw called for the 'very draconian, costly and complex' travel rules to be axed.

In response, Mr Javid said: 'I think (Mr Bradshaw) makes a very good point, given that we already know that the Omicron variant is fast becoming the dominant variant in our capital city, spreading rapidly throughout the country, the justification for having those rules is minimised.

'It's something that I've already raised with my colleagues in the Department for Transport and I do hope that we can act quickly.
A senior university lecturer has lost a discrimination claim after accusing a colleague of saying 'that's so gay' in front of him.

Stephen Lannin alleged a fellow academic made the remark after seeing something on a computer screen.

When the graphic design lecturer challenged him about it, course leader Brent Meheux replied 'oh I didn't mean it like that', an employment tribunal heard.

Mr Lannin also claimed an incident in which a student was called 'ladyboy' during a lecture was offensive.

And he complained about someone being described as 'puffy' for not drinking enough alcohol.

Mr Lannin made the discrimination claims after he was made redundant from his job of 17 years at Solent University in Southampton, Hampshire.

But his claims were dismissed, with the tribunal panel ruling Mr Meheux had not made the 'that's so gay' remark.

They also found other claims he made were too late and without foundation anyway and said he had behaved 'provocatory' during the appeal meeting.

Stephen Lannin (pictured) alleged a fellow academic made the remark after seeing something on a computer screen

When the graphic design lecturer challenged him about it, course leader Brent Meheux (pictured) replied 'oh I didn't mean it like that', an employment tribunal heard

The hearing in Bristol was told Mr Lannin was a senior lecturer in Graphic Design in the university's School of Art, Design and Fashion from 2002.

In 2015 he complained to the faculty's Dean Professor Peter Lloyd about an increase in 'casual homophobic remarks' in the office.

He claimed Mr Meheux was 'anti-PC', 'hated PC culture' and he heard him make the comment as well as say he 'only liked certain types of gay'.

In an email Mr Lannin wrote of two incidents, without identifying the perpetrator.

'The person concerned used the phrase 'that's so gay' about something they'd seen on their computer,' he wrote of the first.

'I challenged this remark - the person concerned then stated 'Oh I didn't mean it like that' - I replied that I hoped they never use the phrase around students.

Of the second, he said: '(a different person], in the context of a joke, used the word 'Puffy' to describe how a person [not a gay individual] may be perceived for not drinking enough alcohol. I regret not challenging this person on the remark.'

Professor Lloyd told him to speak to those making the comments directly - a response Mr Lannin criticised, the panel heard.

The tribunal was told during an inaugural lecture filmed and put on YouTube, Professor Lloyd invited four students on stage dressed as ladybirds and mushrooms.

The hearing was told the professor turned to a man dressed as a ladybird and said 'that would make you a ladyboy, is that right?' before saying 'OK that doesn't sound right, they are ladybirds'.

Mr Lannin told the panel he felt 'disgusted that the Director of the School of Art, Design and fashion would make such an offensive, demeaning joke towards a student at a public gathering'.

In 2015 he complained to the faculty's Dean Professor Peter Lloyd (pictured) about an increase in 'casual homophobic remarks' in the office

But the tribunal ruled Professor Lloyd 'did not make that association' but noted the fumble was 'no doubt a source of embarrassment to him'.

In April 2019, Mr Lannin was told he was being made redundant due to 'changing operational needs'. He appealed the decision, claiming his sexuality was 'relevant'.

During the appeal meeting, Mr Lannin said he had suffered discriminatory treatment and bias as a young man and this had continued in his teaching career, including at Solent University, the panel heard.

The tribunal heard he also adopted a policy of 'provocative questioning' and asked the former Vice-Chancellor, Professor Graham Baldwin, about his sexuality.

The panel heard Mr Lannin asked 'when did you come out to your parents as being heterosexual?' and 'as a teacher/lecturer, when did you have conversations with your students about your sexuality?'

Professor Lloyd refused to answer and there were 'raised voices', the tribunal was told.

During the appeal meeting, Mr Lannin said he had suffered discriminatory treatment and bias as a young man and this had continued in his teaching career, including at Solent University (pictured), the panel heard

His appeal was 'unanimously' dismissed so he took claims for unfair dismissal, discrimination, harassment and victimisation to a tribunal.

But the panel - headed by employment judge Andrew Matthews - concluded Mr Meheux had not made the comments Mr Lannin claimed he had.

The tribunal also found his other claims had been brought too late but ruled that, in any case, they were without foundation.

'Any such comment was not made by Mr Meheux,' the panel's judgement said.

In relation to Professor Lloyd's 'ladyboy' joke, it said: 'We do not find, however, that it had the purpose of violating Mr Lannin's dignity or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for Mr Lannin.

'It was not addressed to anyone in particular. We also do not find that it had that effect. Mr Lannin took no action at the time.'

The panel also found his behaviour during the appeal meeting 'provocatory'.

'We have rejected Mr Lannin's claim that his dismissal was discriminatory,' it said. 'The University has shown a permissible reason for the dismissal, being redundancy.'
Leaders should resign over social workers' failings, says MP Keighley and Ilkley MP Robbie Moore said Bradford Council leaders should 'hang their heads in shame' and resign. Mr Moore said: 'Whilst the ultimate responsibility lies with Star's evil killer, and the serious and vile neglect from her mother, questions must now be asked as to why action was not taken. 'Bradford Council bosses should hang their heads in shame. Children's services are not fit for purpose, and I have no confidence it ever will be under Bradford Council's current leadership. 'Therefore I'm afraid it is my view the leader of the council Susan Hinchcliffe, and the chief executive Kersten England must now resign. 'Children's services has been in a dire state for years and there now must be serious action taken to protect children, and in my view, this cannot be done under the current leadership.' Advertisement

Social workers investigating the couple who killed innocent Star Hobson cleared them five times - even declaring a referral to them was 'malicious' the week before she was murdered.

The authorities fell for mother Frankie Smith, 20, and her 28-year-old girlfriend Savannah Brockhill's lies, despite a series of concerns raised by relatives.

During an unannounced social worker visit to their Keighley home on September 15 last year Star was so dazed by the abuse she had suffered she walked into a sofa.

She had bruises on her face and shins but the Bradford City Council worker believed Brockhill's explanation she'd fallen down the stairs.

In fact she was being 'choke slammed', swung by her leg and hit in the face by the twisted couple.

They referred to her as a 'brat' and forced her to stand facing the wall for long periods of time during their reign of cruelty.

In total two friends and three relatives - including Star's own father - had reported them to social services but they were still allowed to keep her.

Star's great grandfather David Fawcett, 61, said: 'The lack of response from social services was unbelievable, they did nothing and we dismissed as troublemakers who made the complaint because we didn't like gypsies or same sex relationships.

'What an insult to hear that our claim had been called malicious when it was the opposite.

'They did visit the flat but Savannah Brockhill took over and dismissed us as 'weirdos' and trouble makers who hated gypsies and lesbians - and they swallowed it.'

As Brockhill was today convicted of murdering her and Smith for allowing her death, serious questions were being asked of the authorities.

Two month ago the head of the council's Children Services department Mark Douglas resigned.

Ofsted rated the service as 'inadequate' in 2018 and warned 'some children were at serious risk of harm'. In June this year it was hit with a 'direction to improve' over a 'slow pace of change'.

Five friends and relatives raised official concerns over Smith and Brockhill's parenting

Abused Star was so dazed she walked into a sofa in view of social worker during one visit

Social services first got involved in Star's treatment in January 23, 2020, after a referral from Smith's friend and sometimes babysitter Holly Jones.

She flagged up potential domestic violence issues and the fact Star was increasingly being left in her care.

Three days later police visited but there were no concerns raised. Social services tried to visit Smith on January 28 but she was not home.

Her family were spoken to and no problems were raised, so the case was closed on February 27.

Innocent Star Hobson was only 16 months old when she was killed in her Keighley home

Bradford City Council head of Children Services Mark Douglas resigned two months ago

A timeline of failures: How social services and police missed abuse of tragic Star January 23, 2020 - A referral from Smith's friend and sometimes babysitter Holly Jones went to social services. She flagged up potential domestic violence issues and the fact Star was increasingly being left in her care. Three days later police visited but there were no concerns raised. Social services tried to visit Smith on January 28 but she was not home. Her family were spoken to and no problems were raised, so the case was closed on February 27. May 5, 2020 - Star's great-grandmother Anita Smith contacted social services over concerns over how the baby was being treated. They visited but there were no bruises to either the baby or her mother. Social services spoke to Frankie Smith and Brockhill and the latter gave them permission to do police checks on her. June 21, 2020 - Jordan Hobson, Star's father, referred Smith and Brockhill to social services after seeing pictures the couple had shared of his daughter's bruised face. Police again visited their home and saw the markings on the baby's head. Smith told them Star had hit her head on the handle of a coffee table. A medical examination found two bruises on her cheek and four on the back of her leg. Smith and Brockhill's explanation that they were from her playing with a puppy were believed. June 23, 2020 - Social services were again contacted by Rachel Whiteley, a close friend of Smith's mother Yvonne Spendley. She had been concerned how Smith had treated Star at a barbecue, picking her up roughly. Ms Whiteley said at the time: 'I thought it was disgusting, giving her barbecue food, the way she handled her.' Social services closed the case in July, it is not clear what was done. September 2, 2020 - Frank Smith  Star's paternal great-grandfather  alerted social services to a video of Star with bruises on her face. When they visited her, her mother was said to have been in Scotland. The next day they went again unannounced and found her at home with Brockhill. They noticed Star was so unsteady on her feet she walked into a sofa while they were there. There were also bruises on her cheek and right shin but were told by Brockhill she had fallen down the stairs. The murderer told police later what the social worker had said, adding: 'Social services came to see Star, she checked her body, her bedroom, chatted with us about Star, she said the report was malicious.' On September 15 social services closed the case, indeed concluding the referral had been 'malicious'. A week later Star was murdered. Advertisement

On May 5 social services were contacted by Star's great-grandmother Anita Smith over concerns over how the baby was being treated.

They visited but there were no bruises to either the baby or her mother.

Social services spoke to Frankie Smith and Brockhill and the latter gave them permission to do police checks on her.

After making the referral, Ms Smith said she was called a 'weirdo' and a 'freak', and she and Mr Fawcett had their access to Star restricted from then on, seeing Star only a couple more times before her death that September.

Her partner David Fawcett said the tot seemed 'depressed' after returning to her mother.

He said she quickly developed bruises on her face and body, while appearing to have 'lost that spark she had' when staying with them. He told the court: 'I'd never seen a depressed baby before in my life.'

Mr Fawcett said he had confronted Brockhill about Star's bruises and was told 'all kids get bruises'.

When he questioned how she didn't get any while living with him he said she hung up the phone so he posted comparison photos of Star with bruises and without on Facebook. Frankie Smith then blocked him after seeing them.

Jordan Hobson, Star's father, referred Smith and Brockhill to social services on June 21 after seeing pictures the couple had shared of his daughter's bruised face.

Police again visited their home and saw the markings on the baby's head.

Smith told them Star had hit her head on the handle of a coffee table.

A medical examination found two bruises on her cheek and four on the back of her leg.

Smith and Brockhill's explanation that they were from her playing with a puppy were believed.

Social services were again contacted on June 23 by Rachel Whiteley, a close friend of Smith's mother Yvonne Spendley.

She had been concerned how Smith had treated Star at a barbecue, picking her up roughly.

Ms Whiteley said at the time: 'I thought it was disgusting, giving her barbecue food, the way she handled her.'

Social services closed the case in July, it is not clear what was done.

On September 2 Frank Smith  Star's paternal great-grandfather  alerted social services to a video of Star with bruises on her face.

When they visited her, her mother was said to have been in Scotland.

The next day they went again unannounced and found her at home with Brockhill.

They noticed Star was so unsteady on her feet she walked into a sofa while they were there.

There were also bruises on her cheek and right shin but were told by Brockhill she had fallen down the stairs.

The murderer told police later what the social worker had said, adding: 'Social services came to see Star, she checked her body, her bedroom, chatted with us about Star, she said the report was malicious.'

On September 15 social services closed the case, indeed concluding the referral had been 'malicious'.

A week later Star was murdered and found with fractures to her shin, ribs and skull.

David Fawcett, Star's great-grandfather and Frankie Smith's grandfather, raised the alarm but said he and his wife were 'dismissed as troublemakers who made the complaint because we didn't like gipsies or same sex relationships'

Children's boss quit before trial began The Children's Services boss in charge of Star's care quit his 121,000-a-year post just days before Smith and Brockhill went on trial. Mark Douglas became Bradford Council's third Director of Children's Services to quit within a turbulent three year period. The department was rocked by an Ofsted report in 2018 which branded it 'inadequate' and said some children under its care were 'at risk of serious harm.' Michael Jameson quit as director soon after the report was released and he was succeeded by Gladys Rhodes White, who left less than a year later. On his arrival in May 2019, Mr Douglas, formerly Director of Children's Social Care at Doncaster Children's Services Trust, vowed to 'develop good and outstanding services for the city and district.' Kersten England, Chief Executive of Bradford Council, said at the time: 'Mark will be key to us achieving this so we put the voice and needs of our young people at the heart of all we do.' The former social worker suddenly quit on October 15, just before the trial at Bradford Crown Court began Advertisement

She had also suffered lacerations to a vein carrying blood between her leg and organs which leaked into her abdominal cavity.

Prosecutor Alistair MacDonald QC said the injuries had been caused by a severe and forceful blow or blows, 'either in the form of punching, stamping or kicking to the abdomen'.

Smith and Brockhill waited 15 minutes after the incident where Star was injured before calling 999.

In that period they searched online for 'How to bring a baby out of shock.'

The jury was shown video footage of Star being shouted at in her home which Mr MacDonald said showed 'there was also a degree of cruelty and psychological harm' inflicted on the youngster.

In one clip, an upset Star is seen being roughly handled by Frankie Smith and a sustained attempt made to make her stand in the corner.

Mr MacDonald said: 'It is inconceivable that any carer would wait 15 minutes to call for professional help when their 16 month-old child was showing symptoms of a medical catastrophe.

'Any innocent carer would have been on the phone within seconds, not 15 minutes.'

He said there had also been two fractures to Star's right leg 'caused by forceful twisting' which had been refractured as they healed.

He also described a fracture to the back of the skull and bruising to Star, 'much of which is considered to be non-accidental in origin'.

The prosecutor said: 'It is also the case that social services, who were aware of Star's case, were kept away from Star, as were many of her family in the last period of her life.'
Office workers and hotel guests in London's Leicester Square have returned to their buildings five hours after around 200 people were evacuated when a gas service pipe to a restaurant 'ruptured'.

Police forced hotel guests, shoppers and office staff to abandon the area before a 50-yard cordon was put up in the central London square.

Two fire engines and around 10 firefighters from Soho and Euston Fire Stations were at the scene today after a 'gas main ruptured'.

As of 1pm the cordon was 'reduced', according to Cadent Gas, which said it thought a third party was responsible for the rupture.

This afternoon, Bear Street has opened and people have been allowed back in their homes.

Cranbourn Street was also opened up to allow access to the Vue cinema and Leicester Square was opened as far as Pizza Hut, including the Christmas market.

Police asked staff in tens of offices and shops to abandon the area this morning after the central London square was cordoned off (file image)

A post on the Met Police's Westminster Twitter page reads: 'Cordons are in place at Leicester Square due to a suspected gas leak'

By 2pm, the remaining buildings affected were also able to reopen: Platinum Lace, APNA Adda Indian street food restaurant, Bella Italia, Church of Notre Dame, Burger King, Espresso Bar, Leicester Square Theatre, Victory House Hotel, Premier Inn, Ruby Blue and Petit Bistro.

A spokesman for Cadent Gas said: 'We believe the gas escape was caused by damage by a third party to a gas service pipe. This will be investigated fully once everyone has been allowed to return and the cordon removed completely.

'Safety of people in the area has been paramount throughout and we have been working closely with the emergency services at all times.

'If anyone smells gas, they should act fast and call us on 0800 111 999*.'

Clive Robinson, London Fire Brigade's station commander, said: 'A gas main has ruptured and around 200 people have been evacuated from surrounding buildings and a hotel.

'Crews are expected to remain on scene throughout the morning.'

A post on the Metropolitan Police's Westminster Twitter page earlier asked pedestrians to 'avoid the area'.

The post added: 'Cordons are in place at Leicester Square due to a suspected gas leak.

'Emergency services are in attendance and managing the incident. A number of buildings have been evacuated as a precaution, and the square is currently closed to pedestrians. Please avoid the area.'

A spokesman for Cadent Gas said the company was called at 6.30am after reports of a gas smell.

They added: 'The gas service pipe to a restaurant on Cranbourn Street was isolated at 10:05 this morning. Weve stopped the gas escape..

'We are now checking the for any gas reading in the surrounding buildings and venting them as necessary.'

They said Leicester Square was cordoned off near the Vue Cinema 'just as a safety precaution, while we carry out investigation work'.

A Premier Inn hotel and nearby church were evacuated, along with a number of restaurants and other buildings.

Police this morning forced hotel guests, shoppers and office staff to abandon the area before a 50-yard cordon was put up in the central London square

London Fire Brigade earlier confirmed gas engineers were trying to repair the leak.

A spokesman for the brigade said: 'Crews were called at 7.01am to reports of a gas leak in Leicester Square.

'Around 200 people have been evacuated from nearby properties and a 50 metre cordon remains in place.

'Engineers from Cadent gas are working to repair the gas leak.'
Melting permafrost in Russia's Arctic regions could release ancient and potentially deadly viruses and bacteria, the government has warned.

Nikolay Korchunov, a senior Russian diplomat who chairs the Arctic Council, said Monday that there is a risk of microbes trapped in the frost for tens of thousands of years 'waking up' as the ground thaws due to global warming.

Korchunov said the Council has now established a 'biosafety' project to study the risks and possible effects posed by the reemergence of diseases which may have been frozen since at least the last ice age.

Russia has established a new body to study the threats posed by viruses and bacteria that could emerge from permafrost as it thaws (pictured, a virus previous found in the permafrost)

Permafrost - permanently frozen ground that typically doesn't thaw even in summer - has been defrosting rapidly in the last decade, coughing up well-preserved ancient animals (pictured, a 40,000-year-old wolf's head)

Speaking to TV channel Zvezda on Monday, he said: 'There is a risk of old viruses and bacteria waking up.

'Because of this, Russia has initiated a 'biosafety' project within the Arctic Council,' he added.

The project will be tasked with assessing 'risks and hazards' related to 'permafrost degradation' and 'future infectious diseases, he said.

Some 65 per cent of Russian territory is classed as permafrost - ground which remains permanently frozen even during summer months.

But, as temperatures rise due to global warming, the ground is now starting to thaw out - coughing up animals and objects that have been frozen for thousands of years.

The remains of wooly rhinos that went extinct around 14,000 years ago and a 40,000-year-old wolf's head - so perfectly preserved it still had fur - have been unearthed in recent years.

It has even spawned an industry reliant on the wooly mammoth - which went extinct some 10,000 years ago - as hunters go in search of unearthed skeletons so they can extract their tusks and sell them to ivory dealers.

Nikolay Korchunov, a senior Russia diplomat and head of the Arctic Council, said the new 'biosafety' project will look at the risk posed by ancient diseases

But the discovery of such well-preserved specimens has also given rise to the fear that diseases which the animals may have carried could be unfrozen with them - and, unlike their hosts, may survive being thawed out.

Jean Michel Claverie, a virologist at Aix-Marseille University, warned last year of 'extremely good' evidence that 'you can revive bacteria from deep permafrost.'

Professor Claverie even discovered one such virus himself - pithovirus - which, when defrosted from permafrost began attacking and killing amoebas.

While the pithovirus, which had been frozen for some 30,000 years before the experiment, is harmless to humans, Professor Claverie said it demonstrates that long-frozen viruses can 'wake up' and begin re-infecting hosts.

Scientists disagree about the exact age of the Arctic ice cap, the permafrost which surrounds it, and therefore the age of the objects it contains.

But most defrosted discoveries that have been uncovered so far date from the last ice age, around 115,000 to 11,700 years ago.

Aside from the potential release of ancient diseases, scientists warn permafrost melt poses an even greater threat due to the release of carbon dioxide and methane gases as organic matter trapped within it defrosts and begins rotting.

The remains of a wooly rhinoceros, which went extinct some 14,000 years ago, is dug out of the permafrost in July this year

The Batagaika Crater, in Russia's Yakutia region, is a huge dip in the landscape caused as permafrost thaws out and collapses on itself

Both gases contribute to global warming which will in turn accelerate the melting, in a vicious cycle that scientists warn is a 'tipping point' that will accelerate the pace and severity of climate change unless it is stopped or mitigated.

The melting also poses a risk to Russian infrastructure and towns, which have been built into the frozen ground and are now seeing the earth shift beneath their feet as it begins to thaw out.

A huge oil spill in the Arctic Circle last year was blamed on the melting, after a diesel reservoir collapsed when the ground around it gave way.

Against that backdrop, Vladimir Putin has been increasingly vocal about the threat of permafrost melt and global warming more generally.

Speaking at a conference last year, he told the audience: 'It affects pipeline systems, residential districts built on permafrost, and so on.

'If as much as 25 per cent of the near-surface layers of permafrost, which is about three or four meters, melt by 2100, we will feel the effect very strongly.'
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Two crew members of a British cargo ship were over the limit for drugs or alcohol when they smashed into a Danish vessel off the coast of Sweden, killing at least one sailor, the UK owner of the ship has admitted.

Scot Carrier, a 300ft UK-flagged vessel en route from Latvia to Scotland, hit 180ft Danish vessel Karin Hoej around 3.30am on Monday in a 25 mile-wide stretch of the Baltic Sea between Sweden and the Danish island of Bornholm.

The Karin capsized 'almost immediately', the head of Sweden's maritime rescue agency said, with rescuers reporting 'screams' in the water around 4.45am. But the search was called off after seven hours when no sign of the men was found, before divers discovered the body of one man in the ship's hull. The other is presumed dead.

'In line with standard procedures, (...) all crew members of the Scot Carrier were tested for drugs and alcohol with two crew members exceeding the legal limit,' Scotline, which owns the Scot Carrier, said in a statement late on Monday. The company said it has a strict drug and alcohol policy in place and zero tolerance of any breaches.

Earlier, prosecutors opened a case into 'criminal negligence', which was soon widened to include claims of drunkenness after 'one or more' of the Scot's crew tested positive for alcohol in their blood, the coast guard said.

Two men - a 30-year-old Briton and a 56-year-old Croatian - have since been arrested on suspicion of gross negligence at sea, severe marine intoxication and involuntary homicide.

Rescuers said the Scot's crew admitted they 'may have hit something' before trying to sail away from the scene and had to be stopped from leaving, Swedish news outlet Expressen reported. Ship tracking data shows the Scot did sail away from the crash site, before turning back along a meandering course and coming to a stop.

Scotline has been contacted for further comment by MailOnline.

Two crew members of British cargo ship Scot Carrier (pictured with damages to the bow after being towed at the port in Ystad, Sweden) were over the limit for drugs or alcohol when they smashed into a Danish vessel off the coast of Sweden, killing at least one sailor, the UK owner of the ship has admitted. The incident occurred in the early hours of Monday

Swedish coast guard say the British vessel smashed into the smaller Danish boat - the 180ft Danish vessel Karin Hoe. The Karin capsized 'almost immediately', the head of Sweden's maritime rescue agency said, with rescuers reporting 'screams' in the water. Rescuers were searching for two people. One was found dead in the ship's hull. The other is presumed dead

The Danish container ship, the Karin Hoej, capsized (bottom of the hull pictured left in the distance) in the Baltic Sea after colliding with British-flagged vessel Scot Carrier (right) around 3.30am on Monday

Divers found the body of one of the Danish crew inside the wreck of the Karin (pictured), with the other presumed dead after search efforts turned up no sign of him

Scot Carrier, a 300ft UK-flagged vessel en route from Latvia to Scotland, hit 180ft Danish vessel in the Baltic Sea between southern Sweden and the Danish island of Bornholm. Pictured: The British cargo ship with damages to the bow

The Scot is currently moored just off the coast of Ystad, a small town in southern Sweden, and is under guard

The Karin has been towed to the settlement of Sandhammaren, in southern Sweden close to the crash site, where it has been anchored so divers can get inside

The Scot - registered in Inverness - is currently moored just off the coast of Ystad, a small town in southern Sweden, under guard. The wreck of the Karin has been towed to the nearby settlement of Sandhammaren, where divers are searching it.

Several people have also been 'detained' aboard the Scot, Swedish national broadcaster SVT reported Monday. It is unclear how many people were on board at the time of the crash, but coast guards say none are missing.

Johan Nilsson, head of Sweden's maritime rescue agency, said the Scot appears to have hit the Karin at 'high speed', which caused it to turn over and throw its crew into the frigid water.

He said there are 'clear signs' that the British vessel struck the Danish one, including scratch marks across the keel - the underside of the boat which keeps it upright in the water.

'The larger boat has then continued and driven straight across. It has gone very fast,' Nilsson added according to Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet.

He said that he was 'hoping for a miracle' for the two Danish sailors, speculating that they might still be alive inside an air bubble trapped somewhere in the Karin's hull. One was later found dead, with one still not located.

Lars Blohm, of the Sea and Air Rescue Center, said there is almost no way a person could survive in cold water that long. Temperatures in the ocean were around 4C (39F) and 5C (91F) in the air at the time of the crash.

That would put the average survival time of a stranded person at around 90 minutes, according to guides published by the US Search and Rescue Task Force.

Forecasters said weather in the channel was calm but foggy at the time of the crash.

'I can confirm an accident has happened but I do not know the circumstances,' Soren Hoj, managing director of Rederiet Hoj which owns the Karin Hoej, added.

'We are deeply concerned,' he added, confirming that the two crewmen are both Danish citizens.

Prosecutors are looking into whether the British ship's crew were drunk at the time of the crash, alleging that 'one or more' of them tested positive for alcohol in their blood after being stopped. The UK owner of the vessel has since admitted that two crew members were over the legal limit for drugs or alcohol

A rescue boat navigates by the capsized Danish cargo ship Karin Hoej after it collided with British cargo vessel Scot Carrier in the Baltic Sea, between Ystad and Bornholm, early Monday morning 13 December

Six lifeboats, nearby civilian vessels, and three helicopters spent hours scouring the sea for survivors after hearing 'screams' in the water, but found nobody

Rescuers said nobody could have survived in the cold waters for long, and called off the search with a criminal probe launched into the incident

As part of their investigations, Swedish coast guard will check to see whether the crash happened in their territorial waters, giving them automatic jurisdiction over it.

Territorial waters generally extend up to 12 nautical miles from a country's coastline. From ship tracking data, it appears Monday's crash happened some 20 miles out to sea.

If it transpires the crash was in international waters, Danish prosecutors may take over the case since the victims are Danes. The crash site is also close to a Danish island - Bornholm.

The Scot Carrier, almost 300ft long and built in 2018, was en route from Salacgriva in northern Latvia to Montrose in Scotland when the accident happened.

Karin Hoej, 180ft long and built in 1977, was on its way from Sodertalje, just south of the Swedish capital Stockholm, to Nykobing Falster in southern Denmark.

Both vessels were sailing in the same direction - east to west - through the 25-mile gap between Sweden's southern tip and Bornholm island when the crash happened.

The Karin was carrying no cargo at the time of the accident.

The British-flagged Scot Carrier, a 300ft container ship built in 2018, was en route from Latvia to Scotland when it crashed around 3.30am (file image)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has warned the Iran nuclear agreement will become an 'empty shell' unless Tehran makes efforts to restore the 2015 deal which Donald Trump quit.

Negotiations resumed last Thursday to revive the Obama-era pact between Iran and other world powers in which Tehran agreed to limit uranium enrichment - a key process in the manufacture of nuclear weapons.

'We continue in this hour, on this day, to pursue diplomacy because it remains at this moment the best option, but we are actively engaging with allies and partners on alternatives,' Blinken said during a visit to Indonesia.

The top US diplomat noted a recent statement by European countries involved in the talks, which he said noted that 'time is running out, that Iran is still not engaged in real negotiations'.

'Unless there's swift progress ... the Iran nuclear agreement will become an empty shell,' Blinken said, referring to the statement.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks at a press conference at the Fairmont Hotel in Jakarta on Tuesday

Centrifuges at an Iranian facility for the enrichment of uranium - part of the process of making nuclear weapons

A banned enrichment plant at Natanz which Trump was 'talked out of' bombing last year as relations soured over the nuclear deal

British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss went further at the weekend, warning that the resumed talks were the Islamic Republic's 'last chance to come to the negotiating table with a serious resolution'.

'There is still time for Iran to come and agree this deal,' she told a news conference.

Iran claims it only wants to develop a civilian capability but Western powers say its stockpile of enriched uranium goes well beyond that, and could be used to develop a nuclear weapon.

Joe Biden has said he is ready to return to the agreement and Iranian officials maintain they are serious about committing to the talks.

But Tehran has been accused of backsliding on progress made earlier this year and playing for time.

Blinken's remarks came after Biden recently said the United States was preparing 'additional measures' against Iran.

The 2015 agreement has been disintegrating since Trump pulled out. The deal ensured sanctions relief for Iran in return for tight curbs on its nuclear programme, which was put under extensive UN monitoring.

Trump went on to re-introduce sanctions, prompting Tehran to start disregarding the deal's limits on its nuclear activities in 2019.

Recent rounds of talks held in Vienna have stumbled on which sanctions Washington is prepared to lift and guarantees demanded by Iran to protect against the prospect of a future US withdrawal.

The agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), was signed by Iran and the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council - China, France, Russia, United Kingdom, United States - plus Germany.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi speaks as he meets with ambassadors and diplomatic representatives in neighboring countries, in Tehran, Iran on December 11

The US has participated indirectly in the ongoing talks because it withdrew from the accord in 2018 under then-president Donald Trump. President Joe Biden has signalled that he wants to rejoin the deal.

'As of this moment, we still have not been able to get down to real negotiations,' European diplomats said on Monday. 'We are losing precious time dealing with new Iranian positions inconsistent with the JCPOA or that go beyond it.'

They said the situation is frustrating because the outline of a 'comprehensive and fair agreement' that removes all sanctions related to the nuclear deal while addressing non-proliferation concerns had been visible last summer.

'Time is running out,' they warned. 'Without swift progress, in light of Iran's fast-forwarding of its nuclear programme, the JCPOA will very soon become an empty shell.'

The accord, sealed in Vienna in 2015, was meant to rein in Iran's nuclear programme in return for loosened economic sanctions.

Following the US decision to withdraw and reimpose sanctions on Iran, Tehran has ramped up its nuclear programme again by enriching uranium beyond the thresholds allowed in the agreement.

Iran has also restricted monitors from the UN atomic watchdog from accessing its nuclear facilities, raising concerns about what the country is doing out of view.
Care bosses have warned homes will not have enough staff to deal with NHS orders for hospitals to discharge as many patients as 'soon as practically possible' to handle the predicted Omicron surge.

In a letter to regional bosses published late last night, NHS England ruled all patients occupying hospital beds who don't 'need' one be sent to care homes, hospices and hotels if it is 'safe' to do so.

Hospitals are on red alert in the wake of shocking modelling by No10's scientists that warned admissions could exceed levels seen during the darkest days of the nation's second wave last January, when 4,000 infected patients were needing medical care every day.

But the NHS guidance did not stipulate how patients would be deemed 'medically fit' enough to be discharged, leaving the decision in the hands of medics.

And there are fears returning elderly patients to care homes could put others at risk, after former Health Secretary Matt Hancock's decision not to test all residents before they were discharged last year was blamed for the deaths of thousands.

Care England, which represents the biggest private chains in the country, told MailOnline the NHS must ensure all patients are 'properly tested' this time round and warned more staff are needed at some homes to make the scheme work.

Professor Martin Green, its chief executive, said: 'If the NHS intend to discharge more people into care homes they must ensure that they are all properly tested and that the care homes are properly funded to do this work on a national tariff.

'There is an issue about staffing in the care sector, so the NHS may well have to provide some staff in order to make this discharge scheme work.'

Nurses are being flown in from Spain and Greece to offer temporary assistance at hotels that are being converted into care sites over Christmas to help deal with the oncoming crisis, it was also revealed today.

It comes after Sajid Javid admitted even urgent operations may have to be cancelled in order to ramp up No10's booster drive, which aims to offer a vital third dose to all adults by the end of the month.

Ministers have already warned anyone wanting to see their family doctor face-to-face for a 'routine' appointment will be forced to wait until the New Year so GPs can focus on delivering booster jabs. Doctors called for clear messaging on what is considered 'urgent', telling patients not to come in with rashes or common colds.

Cancer charities and patients' rights groups today slammed the policy as a 'hammer blow' for those needing care, adding delays in seeing a GP can mean diagnoses are missed in the vital early stages of the disease. MacMillan said it fears the pivoting of the NHS to prioritising Covid will have 'unintended consequences'.

The NHS surgery backlog is already at a record high of nearly 6million, with the crisis fuelled by hospitals being forced to cancel tens of thousands of operations during the pandemic.

Critics accused the NHS of having transformed into the 'National Covid Service' in the early days of the outbreak, sacrificing other elements of health care.

The NHS last night ordered hospitals to discharge all healthy patients off wards and into hotels to handle the predicted surge in Covid patients because of the Omicron variant this winter. Sajid Javid (pictured today on Downing Street ahead of a cabinet meeting) admitted even urgent operation may have to be cancelled in order to ramp up No10's booster drive, which aims to offer a vital third dose to all adults by the end of the month

The NHS waiting list for routine hospital treatment in England has reached 5.83million, official data reveals marking the eleventh month in a row that the figure has hit a record high. Some 1.6million more Britons were waiting for elective surgery  such as hip and knee operations  at the end of September compared to the start of the pandemic

Jab chaos saw 4.4m attempts to book a slot but just 545,000 get one Britain's booster drive to beat the Omicron super-variant has been mired in chaos after more than 4.4million attempts were made to book top-up shots on the NHS website and furious GPs warned they had run out of doses. Health chiefs said 545,000 appointments were secured by 8pm last night, even after the website crashed because so many people logged on. This morning Britons were stuck in up to an hour long queues. But GPs complained they would not have enough jabs for everyone after being given until 9am to order stocks to meet Boris Johnson's December 31 'boosted or bust' deadline. Hundreds of Britons desperate to get a booster before Christmas again stood in long queues outside jabbing centres, after waits reached five hours yesterday. In the capital lines began forming at 6am or two hours before clinics opened. The fallout follows a chaotic 24 hours of Government messaging. Addressing MPs about the threat of Omicron yesterday, Sajid Javid told MPs up to 200,000 Britons were now getting infected with Covid every day, sparking confusion as to whether he meant the figure was solely for the variant or the virus overall. Department of Health sources later told The Telegraph that it was for Omicron but experts have questioned the source of the figure and officials have yet to respond to MailOnline and clarify the situation. Further chaos ensued today as Dominic Raab wrongly claimed 250 Britons have already been hospitalised with Covid, before back-tracking to say the correct toll was ten. Ministers were yesterday accused of causing 'unnecessary alarm' for confirming the country's first Omicron death without offering any more details about the patient's age, vaccination status or whether the virus was responsible for killing them. Boris Johnson pledged on Sunday night to offer all eligible adults in Britain a booster jab by the end of the year, and to start administering more than a million a day. The drive is currently open to over-30s only, before expanding to younger age groups. In a round of interviews this morning Mr Raab acknowledged there were 'teething problems' with the drive, but said it would be ramped up over the next few days. NHS leaders warned last night they had been set up for failure, with a senior source breaking ranks to say hitting the one million doses a day target by Christmas would be tough, let alone reaching it in the next few days. At the height of the NHS's vaccine drive in March, the health service never managed to get more than 850,000 jabbed every day. Advertisement

In the letter from NHS England chief executive Amanda Pritchard and NHS Improvement boss Professor Stephen Powis, hospitals are ordered to free up beds.

It says: 'Those patients who do not need an NHS bed, because they do not meet the reasons to reside criteria, must be discharged as soon as practically possible.

'Working with local authorities, every system will need to put in place sufficient measures in order to reduce by half their own number of patients not meeting the reasons-to-reside criteria.

'A significant proportion of discharge delays are within the gift of hospitals to solve. Hospitals should work to eliminate avoidable delays on pathway zero, ie straight home without the need for social care support.

'Where necessary, this could include using personal health budgets, which has been successfully piloted in Cornwall and Lancashire; or use of hotel beds.'

The letter added: 'We encourage systems to explore surging community rehabilitation capacity and securing spare capacity from care homes.'

Health leaders said that the emergence of the variant requires an 'extraordinary response' from the NHS.

Pressures in the social care system mean that many patients are usually left in hospital while social care packages are arranged.

But last year care home residents in hospital were sent back to homes without all of them being tested in order to free up space for younger Covid patients.

Care England said it raised 'the lack of testing in hospitals and in the care sector' a number of times with the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England in late March 2020.

Mr Hancock didn't make testing for hospital discharges compulsory until mid-April, by which time thousands of infected residents had returned to their homes with the virus.

The new NHS guidance also ordered hospitals to make 'full use of non-acute beds in the local health and care system' including the use of beds in hospices and private hospitals.

They have also been told to expand the use of 'virtual wards'.

Hospital bosses have been asked to 'surge test', including testing oxygen supplies, and 'learn the lessons from previous waves of Covid, and making preparations to have the capacity in place to meet a potentially similar challenge this winter'.

Trusts have been ordered to maintain mental health, learning disability and autism services.

Meanwhile, they have been told to prioritise pre-planned care for 'highest clinical priority patients'  which includes those with cancer and those who have been waiting the longest.

The letter says that services should be maintained 'as much as possible', but recognises that some staff may need to be redeployed to support vaccination efforts.

And plans to employ more staff should be accelerated  including asking international nurses to come to work in the UK sooner where possible.

Mr Javid yesterday revealed some urgent appointments could be cancelled to accommodate Covid patients in hospitals  although he earlier insisted only non-urgent services would be postponed.

Speaking in the commons, the Health Secretary said: 'I acknowledge that our national mission comes with some difficult trade-offs. We are redeploying NHS staff away from non-urgent services.

'That means that, for the next two weeks, all primary care services will focus on urgent clinical need and vaccines, and some urgent appointments and elective surgeries may be postponed until the new year while we prioritise getting people the booster.

'These are steps no Health Secretary would wish to take unless they were absolutely necessary, but I am convinced that if we do not prioritise the booster now, the health consequences will be far more grave in the months that lie ahead.'

Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme, the Health Secretary said NHS appointments for people with symptoms of cancer will be 'completely unaffected' by the diversion of NHS resources to booster jabs, though he expects some procedures to be cancelled.

Pictured above is the current pace of the booster programme (green bars) and how it will have to ramp up to hit the million jabs a day target (red bars). NHS bosses warn scaling up the programme will be 'incredibly difficult'

This graph shows how many vaccination centres were open in April during the first drive, compared to the numbers involved in the booster roll-out. It reveals there are fewer mass vaccination centres now than previously

According to NHS data, many older age groups who have been eligible to get a Covid booster since September still have double digit percentage figures of people who are yet to get a third dose. Yesterday, the NHS online booking system for Covid boosters was opened up to the over 40s. 81 per cent of people aged 40-to-49 have yet to have a booster.

Raab claims total number of Britons hospitalised with Omicron is 25 times the true toll before back-tracking A transparency row over No10's handling of crucial Omicron data deepened today as Dominic Raab claimed 250 Britons infected with the variant were hospitalised  before correcting the figure to just nine. The Government was heavily criticised yesterday for announcing the first Omicron death without revealing the person's age, condition, vaccination status or whether Covid was even the primary reason. Asked how many people were hospitalised with the super strain during a round of interviews this morning, the Justice Secretary Mr Raab told Sky News the figure was 'in the low hundreds, I think 250 the last time I looked'. But 15 minutes later, in a separate interview with BBC Breakfast, Mr Raab said: 'I think we've got nine people who are in hospital with it.' He corrected the figure on the third attempt with ITV, clarifying that there are '10 in hospital' with Omicron. Mr Raab claimed he had 'misheard' the original Sky question. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) told MailOnline 10 Omicron-infected people had been admitted to hospital as of yesterday, saying 250 was 'incorrect'. But officials have still refused to offer any more details about any of the hospitalised patients, only saying all were aged between 18-85 and the 'majority had received two doses' of a vaccine. Doctors last night warned the Government was causing 'unnecessary alarm' with its Omicron statistics. The fallout follows even more chaotic messaging by the Health Secretary Sajid Javid last night. Addressing MPs about the threat Omicron poses yesterday, Mr Javid told MPs up to 200,000 Britons were getting infected with Covid every day. His comments sparked immediate confusion as to whether he meant the figure was solely for the variant or the virus overall. Department of Health sources later told The Telegraph it was just for Omicron  but experts have questioned the source of the figure and officials have yet to respond to MailOnline and clarify the situation. Advertisement

On whether he could give an 'assurance' that 'anyone who has the symptoms of cancer, and specifically in this case breast cancer, will still be able to be seen within two weeks, Mr Javid said: 'That will be completely unaffected by this new mission.'

He said, however, that planned operations may need to be postponed as the NHS tries to tackle Omicron and turns its attention to boosters.

'So that might mean, for example, it might mean a knee operation or a hip operation or something... sadly someone has probably been waiting for a long time in any case, but the hospital concerned would have the right to postpone it if it meant they would get a lot more booster jabs done,' he said.

'It does mean that, when it comes to primary care, for the next couple of weeks that our GPs will only be focusing on urgent needs and vaccinations.

'And it also means that non-urgent appointments and elective surgeries may have to be postponed into the new year.'

Asked on Times Radio whether people will suffer because they cannot get the treatment they need on the NHS, he said: 'Well, that certainly should not be the case at all because, as well as focusing on this, there will be a focus on any urgent need and any, of course, emergency care.'

He added: 'If we don't do this, if the NHS doesn't do this, then more people will suffer.'

The Department of Health has been approached for clarification on whether urgent surgeries will be

But charities have hit out at the policy, asking for greater clarity on what surgeries will be delayed and arguing even if only 'non-urgent' appointments are delayed, it will result in patients missing early diagnoses for deadly diseases.

Minesh Patel, Head of Policy at Macmillan Cancer Support, said: 'While it's vital everybody receives their Covid-19 booster, using GP capacity to help with this, at a time when access to GP appointments was already under huge pressure, may have unintended consequences for cancer diagnoses.

'This is concerning when we know there are already nearly 50,000 patients 'missing' a cancer diagnosis in the UK and catching cancer early is so vital in ensuring the best possible outcome for patients.

'It is crucial that people continue to contact their GP if they have any symptoms that could be cancer and that all concerns about cancer are treated as urgently required appointments.'

Shaun Walsh, of Cancer Research UK, said: 'Sajid Javid has said that cancer services will be protected, and it's vital that Government stands by its word.

'NHS leaders must protect cancer services and ensure that everyone gets the diagnosis and treatment they need for the best chance of survival, because cancer won't wait.'

Meanwhile heart disease charities argued non-emergency care is still time critical and the longer people have to wait for care, the greater their risk of dying.

Dr Sonya Babu-Narayan, associate medical director at the British Heart Foundation (BHF) and consultant cardiologist, said: 'The NHS is under immense pressure and difficult decisions are now having to be made, including the postponement of routine care.

'The best way for people to reduce this pressure on the NHS, and to protect themselves and their loved ones from Covid-19, is to get the booster vaccine as soon as they can.

'Non-emergency care is frequently far from 'routine'  cardiac care is time critical. Treatments like heart surgery aren't a luxury, as the longer people wait, the greater the chance of dying or developing irreversible heart failure before they receive the care they need.

'The vast backlog of people needing cardiovascular treatment will only keep growing, putting more and more lives at risk.

'Heart services must be protected and the shortage of heart disease doctors and nurses must be addressed as a priority.

'Heart patients need to hear how their life saving care will be delivered, both now, throughout the pandemic's ebbs and flows and in the future.'

And Caroline Abrahams, charity director at Age UK said: 'If you are an older person who has already been waiting for an operation for some time, the news that non-urgent surgery is being put on hold must be a hammer blow.

'The NHS must do everything possible to support older people who are having to wait longer as a result.'

Patients Association chief executive Rachel Power added: 'Patients who are facing delays must have clear information about what is happening, when they will be treated, and how to care for themselves at home while they're waiting.'

Meanwhile, Professor Martin Marshall, chairman of the Royal College of General Practitioners, said there must be clear messaging to the public on what is defined as an urgent health need while GPs focus on the Covid booster rollout.

He told Good Morning Britain: 'We need to have very clear public messaging that helps the public to differentiate between what is urgent, what is a necessary condition to look after, and what can wait for a few weeks.

'That isn't easy, I don't think anybody's pretending that.

'Let me be clear what kinds of things we're talking about here which are urgent, which do require general practice to focus on alongside the booster programme

'So, if somebody potentially has an infection; if they have symptoms that might be cancer; if they have a long-term condition like diabetes that is poorly controlled; if they are young and maybe have a high temperature or if they're vulnerable, perhaps if they're elderly; mental health problems as well.

'If they have conditions like that, they need to come forward.

'If they have routine problems  a bit of an ache or a pain; a little bit of a rash if you're known to have eczema; a cough and a cold; if you've got high blood pressure that's well controlled  then that isn't urgent, in comparison with general practices' role in the programme.'

And Chris Hopson, the chief executive of NHS Providers, said will face some 'very difficult decisions' on how to deploy staff if there is a surge in hospital admissions.

He told the All Party Parliamentary Group on Coronavirus: 'If we have got significant numbers of secondary care staff helping out on vaccinations, if we see a surge in hospitalisations before that campaign is completed there will be some very difficult decisions to make about whether those staff return on not.

'This is a very, very live issue. We definitely have now reached a place where we cannot do everything and we are going to have to prioritise.'

'How is it fair hospital beds are taken by the unvaccinated when my life is hanging by a thread?': The shocking human stories behind the thousands of operations cancelled by Covid

By JOHN NAISH FOR THE DAILY MAIL

Lara Sargent had high hopes that this year, finally, the pain which has blighted her life for the past decade would come to an end.

At times, the 25-year-old has been in such agony during her periods that she could barely stand.

'I'd be rolling around the floor in unbearable pain,' says Lara, who lives in West Sussex.

The problem began when she was 13, and when she was 18 her GP put her on the Pill, but that 'just made things worse'.

In January this year, after a 13-month wait, Lara was sent for laparoscopic surgery to investigate the cause of her pain.

Lara Wahab, 34, is an advertising account director. She lives in North London with her younger sister, Tanya. Lara says: If I don't have a kidney and pancreas transplant soon, I'll have to go on dialysis or I will die'

She was diagnosed with severe endometriosis  where endometrial tissue that forms the lining of the womb develops elsewhere in the body, causing pelvic pain and heavy periods.'

Lara's gynaecologist referred her to a specialist NHS centre, where another consultant could operate to remove the tissue and end her pain.

In May this year, after being told her surgery would be imminent, she underwent pre-operative tests  yet the operation that should have followed has been cancelled.

My life is hanging by a thread because of lack of ICU beds Lara Wahab, 34, is an advertising account director. She lives in North London with her younger sister, Tanya. Lara says: If I don't have a kidney and pancreas transplant soon, I'll have to go on dialysis or I will die. My kidney function is way below normal  a reading above 80 is a sign of a good kidney and mine is 10. My symptoms are getting worse and my body is hanging by a thread. I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when I was seven, and in 2019 developed kidney failure, which is a complication of the disease. As a result my body itches all over, I suffer from nausea, loss of appetite, hair loss, swelling in my ankles and legs, as well as breathlessness and a loss of strength. In August 2019 I was put on the transplant list for a simultaneous kidney and pancreas transplant, which can 'cure' type 1 diabetes. The alternative is living on dialysis, which reduces my life expectancy. Only ten per cent of dialysis patients live for ten years or more. I was told that it would take 12-15 months to find a donor. But then Covid hit, and when I checked the transplant list status it said 'Suspended'. I was so down. I called the Churchill Hospital in Oxford (where I would be having the operation) and a nurse told me this was partly because the NHS couldn't handle transplants as well as all the Covid cases. In the winter of 2020 the programme started again, but it wasn't until April 2021 that I got a call to say organs may be available. It didn't work out  as often happens for various reasons  and that happened yet again the same month. Last month, I rang my kidney nurse to ask why I hadn't had any more calls  when he looked into it, he found that on six occasions organs had been available but I hadn't been contacted. He couldn't tell me all the reasons, but in one instance last month there was a healthy pancreas and kidney available, and I hadn't received a call. My nurse said: 'Are you sure you want to know the reason?' He then told me I could have received the new organs, but the operation couldn't go ahead because there were no beds available in the intensive care unit. It broke my heart. Here was my chance to have new organs and a new life . . . and it had been taken away from me because of the pandemic. Not only that, but when I looked into it, many beds seem to have been taken up with people who are actively choosing not to be vaccinated against Covid. How is that fair? I feel really worried about the future  for me and for other patients who desperately need to have surgery. Advertisement

It's a situation countless others are going through  but stories such as Lara's put the real human cost into perspective.

'I have had to give up my job as a healthcare assistant because I am often bed-bound with the pain during my period,' Lara says. 'I have had to start taking prescription pain relief just to cope with each day.

'I'm now taking antidepressants because, before, there was an end in sight and I could cope. Now there isn't and I feel hopeless.'

Lara has been calling the hospital, hoping to be told when she can have the operation.

'But they keep telling me there's a waiting list, staff shortages due to the pandemic and a huge backlog,' she says.

'Now I've been referred to another specialist NHS centre, but am back to square one, waiting for a first consultation before I will even be considered for surgery.'

It's a situation familiar to many. From people needing new knees or urgent care following a heart attack, to those with cancer that requires surgery  there is one thing that unites so many different NHS patients now: they are all just waiting.

Waiting list numbers are spiralling rapidly to such huge figures that it feels almost impossible to imagine the human misery that lies behind them. Last week, the number of patients waiting for consultant-led hospital treatment, including surgery, in England alone reached six million  the highest figure since records began in August 2007.

Meanwhile, many other patients who had been booked in for surgery are seeing their operations cancelled.

The Royal College of Medicine has just published data that showed more than 13,000 elective-care operations were cancelled in the past two months at 40 sites alone  as a comparison, this was around the same number of cancellations for 156 sites in 2019.

It is easy to blame this fast-spiralling crisis on an obvious villain: Covid-19.

The pandemic has forced hospitals to institute rigorous infection-control regimens, screening patients and staff, isolating anyone suspected of being infected by the virus, and deep-cleaning operating theatres and equipment between operations even more meticulously.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned on Monday that cancellations and disruptions could be 'even greater next year' if more people do not get their booster jabs to stop Omicron  the new Covid variant  running riot.

However, leading experts say Covid is just the 'heavy straw that's broken the camel's back' after years of mounting crisis.

The very basics of getting patients into hospitals for timely treatment, then out again into community care, are broken. Instead, desperate patients get stuck at every point because the system is collapsing.

And as we can reveal, while ministers talk apologetically of cancellations and waiting lists being about elective surgery  replacing worn hips and knees  misery-making delays that nevertheless can be endured, research shows alarmingly that more than a million operations categorised as 'emergency' or 'urgent' appear to have been cancelled in 2020 alone in England and Wales.

Research published in the British Journal of Anaesthesia in June found that admissions for Class 1 surgery  emergency operations needed within 72 hours for catastrophes such as strokes or heart attacks  dropped by more than 13 per cent between April 2020 and March 2021, with more than 108,000 patients missing out on vital surgery. For Class 2 urgent surgery  operations needed within a month for problems such as tumours of the brain, lungs, bowel and breast  admissions slumped by almost a quarter, with 92,430 procedures called off.

Patients needing less immediate surgery suffered even more, with more than 900,000 fewer admissions for those needing skin cancer, prostate cancer or gall bladder operations  down more than a third on previous years. And routine hip or knee operations plummeted by nearly half-a-million, down 52 per cent on normal levels.

Priya Raj, 25, from Glasgow, works in financial services. She says that had the surgery been done in March 2020, when planned, it would have been a simple operation. Instead, the delay led to her needing emergency surgery and the risk that she won't be able to have children

What has happened to all these 'missing' operations? Might they be explained by patients' emergency or urgent symptoms being overlooked or ignored during the pandemic, for instance? Or have these patients simply not received urgent and emergency surgery because the Covid-burdened NHS lacks the capacity to do them?

'We don't yet have any answers,' explains Dr Tom Abbott, the researcher in anaesthesia and perioperative medicine at Queen Mary University of London, who co-authored the study and says they are looking at what is happening to emergency patients.

Dr Abbott nevertheless calculates that the overall NHS surgery backlog will increase to 2.4 million cancelled operations by the end of 2021, with millions more patients feeling the impact for years to come.

'The backlog is likely to take many years to clear, particularly as the speed with which surgical treatments can be delivered is slowed by infection-control procedures,' he warns.

My kidneys were irreparably damaged by bladder op delay Neil Bowles, 46, a business executive, is married to broadcast manager Lisa Armstrong, 47. He says that what started off as a bladder condition has, as a result of Covid delays, further damaged his kidneys, which are now failing Neil Bowles, 46, a business executive, is married to broadcast manager Lisa Armstrong, 47. The couple live with children Erin, 15, and Callum, 12, in Banbridge, Co Down. Neil says: What started off as a bladder condition has, as a result of Covid delays, further damaged my kidneys, which are now failing. My health began to deteriorate in 2016. I was in chronic pain, lost more than 4st in eight months and needed to urinate every half-hour, day and night. I was diagnosed with interstitial cystitis, also known as painful bladder syndrome. Essentially, my bladder was inflamed. On top of that, my ureters (the tubes that connect the kidney to the bladder) were also inflamed, which was blocking the flow of urine. I was told I'd need an operation to create a new bladder from part of my bowel, or a stoma bag to collect urine for life. As an interim measure, I had stents inserted to prop open the ureters and help the urine drain from the kidneys to the bladder. Even at this point, my kidneys were slowly failing. I had a biopsy, and the surgeon said my bladder was the worst he had seen in 30 years  it was so damaged. I urgently needed surgery, but in May 2020 I was told that no non-emergency procedures were taking place due to the Covid crisis. My stents should have been replaced every six months to reduce the risk of infection, but I had the first set for 20 months. And as a result, my ureters have become badly inflamed. In August of last year, I had to have an emergency procedure as a temporary solution. Tubes were inserted into each of my kidneys through the skin on my back and connected to an exterior drainage bag. I am now at stage three kidney failure and live with chronic pain. If I end up needing dialysis or a transplant, how much will that cost the NHS? Advertisement

Other research co-authored by Dr Abbott, and published in the British Journal of Anaesthesia in August, shows how essential such infection-control measures remain. It found that while only 1.1 per cent of patients acquired a Covid-19 infection at hospital at the time of their operation, their mortality rate after catching Covid was extremely high, with patients being up to 25 times more likely to die.

However, stringent infection-control precautions do not explain fully the huge drop in operations and the accompanying rise in waiting times, say health service leaders.

As Rory Deighton, the acute network lead for the NHS Confederation, which represents NHS Trusts, says: 'While we now have six million people waiting, that figure was [already] around 4.5 million when we went into the pandemic. The problems have accumulated over ten years.'

He claims that 'money meant for developing NHS services and investing in new equipment had instead to be spent on keeping services going'.

The resulting structural problems now run throughout the health-service system, creating blockages at all vital points. Indeed, the same fundamental problems that are stopping patients getting surgical care  lack of beds and staff  are also leaving seriously ill patients stranded in A&E units, and even stuck outside for hours in ambulances, warns Dr Adrian Boyle, vice-president of the Royal College of Emer-gency Medicine.

This shortage leaves A&E doctors competing with surgical doctors for the inadequate beds available, and both miss out.

'We can't get our emergency patients admitted, and at the same time operations are being cancelled for people who need beds in wards or intensive care in which to recuperate,' says Dr Boyle.

'Operations have been cancelled like this since bed shortages began to mount up in 2015.'

Chronic bed shortages have only been worsened by Covid. Analysis by researchers at the King's Fund health think-tank this year shows that infection-control precautions and staff absence have shrunk the number of beds by a further 5 per cent, which Dr Boyle fears has pushed services over the edge.

'We have almost the least number of beds per head of population in Europe,' he says.

For example, while Germany has 601.5 beds per 100,000 citizens, the UK has only 249.5, according to 2017-18 EU statistics.

'The pandemic is a heavy straw on the camel's back,' says Dr Boyle. But that is not the only thing stopping beds becoming available for desperate patients. Thousands of people are currently stuck in those preciously rare beds because there's nowhere else they can go.

'One in ten of the patients in hospital is medically fit to be discharged, but there is not the community support available to take them,' says Rory Deighton.

For now, waiting lists for routine operations may be significantly addressed by creating a nationwide network of specially dedicated surgery hubs, says Tim Mitchell, vice-president of the Royal College of Surgeons of England.

Surgical hubs are already being pioneered in some areas, such as London and Northumbria, where they perform procedures that range from low-complexity surgery (such as hip and knee replacements) to specialised treatments such as cancer operations.

Such hubs, says Mr Mitchell, may either be dedicated free-standing units or be located independently inside large hospitals.

In Croydon University Hospital, for example, a hub has been set up with ten theatres and 28 beds for surgical patients. The centre has strict infection-control procedures. In a separate part of the hospital, emergency admissions and Covid-positive patients are treated.

'The idea is gaining traction in the NHS,' says Mr Mitchell. 'Croydon has drawn patients from across London, showing that patients are prepared to travel for surgery.'

Mr Mitchell adds that the Government is expected soon to publish its Elective Recovery Plan for tackling the waiting-list crisis. In the immediate term, he wants to see the green light given to a nationwide plan for surgical hubs. In the longer term, he says NHS bed numbers must be almost doubled, from 2.5 to 4.7 per 1,000 people  and the number of hospital doctors (including surgeons) from 2.8 to 3.5 per 1,000 people. While that sounds very ambitious, Mr Mitchell says this would bring the NHS only up to the average numbers seen in other developed nations.

Minesh Patel, head of policy at Macmillan Cancer Support, told Good Health: 'Our research estimates that more than 47,000 people are missing cancer diagnoses, compared with what the numbers should be. And more than a quarter of people having cancer treatment in August have told us they are worried about their chances of survival being hit by delays.'

Meanwhile, there is no magic wand, warns Rory Deighton: 'We have to be realistic about how long it will take to resolve the problem.'

Today's record waiting lists are symptomatic of an emergency that has been years in the making. If we blame only Covid, we will never find an effective answer.

Case studies by Julie Cook, Sheron Boyle and Jill Foster
A killer's hand-drawn map pointing to the remains of a woman who disappeared in 2007 has helped authorities find her body 14 years later, just weeks after he was executed for murdering his wife.

David Neal Cox, 50, was a long-time suspect in the disappearance of his sister-in-law Felecia Cox while he was on death row for the 2010 murder of his estranged wife Kim Kirk Cox.

Just days before his execution on November 17 this year, the first in Mississippi in nine years, Felecia's daughter Amber Maskley wrote to him with a final plea to help her find her mother's body.

He returned a crude map which showed the location of his brother's wife's body next to a shed and mobile home on land the family owned in Pontotoc County.

Cox had asked Ms Maskley not to open the letter until after his execution for the murder of his wife and a separate sexual assault at a home in Sherman in the neighboring Union County.

On Sunday, police followed the map and unearthed human remains at the spot the killer identified.

A killer's hand-drawn map pointing to the remains of a woman who disappeared in 2007 has helped authorities find her body 14 years later

On Sunday, police followed the map and unearthed human remains at the spot the killer identified (circled)

Officials in Mississippi on Sunday unearthed human remains they believe belonged to Felecia Cox (left), the former sister-in-law of executed death row inmate David Neal Cox (right)

Law enforcement officials with cadaver dogs, a Mississippi State University anthropology professor and his students converged on a plot of land measuring 40 yards by 40 yards in the 1400 block of Cane Creek Road, about a mile south of Highway 278 in Pontotoc County, to carry out an excavation based on information shared by David Cox, Pontotoc Progress reported.

The remains will be taken to the state crime lab for an autopsy to determine a cause of death and DNA testing to confirm identity, according to Pontotoc County Coroner Kim Bedford.

After four hours of searching and digging, at around 1.20pm, they uncovered human remains.

Dr. Jesse Goliat, an assistant professor of archeology and Middle Eastern studies at MSU, said his team used a ground penetrating radar to pinpoint the location of the body.

Officials and anthropology students arrived at a location along Cane Creek Road in Pontotoc, Mississippi, based on information in David Cox's pre-execution confession

A team of 11 people spent four hours digging up the site before locating the human remains

The body was found just 30 yards from where David Cox once lived in a mobile home

Amber Miskelly, daughter of Felecia Cox, who has been missing since July 2007, wipes tears from her face as District Attorney John Weddle, right, holds a press conference on December 6 regarding information provided to his office by the attorneys of David Neal Cox

David Cox was executed on November 17 for shooting to death his estranged wife, Kim Kirk Cox (left), in 2010. Three years earlier, he murdered his brother's wife Felecia Cox (right)

Once his students started digging, the cadaver dogs alerted them to decomposition in the ground.

The body was discovered buried 4 feet below the surface.

'Based on the information provided by David Cox's letter and the work of the MSU team the remains of a body presumed to be Felecia Cox have been exhumed today,' Weddle said.

He added: 'we can't begin to say thank you enough to Amber Miskelly (Felecia Cox's daughter) and her family for their assistance in this ordeal.

'This has been a very trying day for her family out here today, but hopefully it will be an important day that finally brings closure to the disappearance of her mother.'

Felecia Cox had been married to David Cox's brother, Jeff. She vanished on July 2, 2007. Two days after her disappearance, her car was found abandoned in Pontotoc County, with her purse still inside.

Felecia's husband at the time was behind bars on drug charges. He later died in prison.

Lindsey Kirk, 23, was sexually assaulted by her stepfather in front of her dying mother when she was just 12 years old in 2010

David Cox pleaded guilty in 2012 to capital murder for the May 2010 fatal shooting of Kim Kirk.

He also pleaded guilty to multiple other charges, including sexual assault. A jury handed down the death sentence.

Cox had dropped his appeals, filing court papers calling himself 'worthy of death' before the state Supreme Court set his execution date.

Among the people who witnessed the execution was David's stepdaughter, 23-year-old Lindsey Kirk. She was 12 on May 14, 2010, at her aunt's house, where she was staying along with her two brothers and mother.

They had been granted a restraining order against David. Her mother was in the back of the house filling the bathtub for her little brother.

'A gunshot came through the screen door, and he ran in and told me not to move,' Lindsey said of her stepfather, who chased her aunt, Kristie Salmon, out of the house.

Lindsey was not in the room when her stepfather shot her mother in the arm and abdomen, but he soon took her back there.

'Mama was laying on the floor. She was bleeding,' Lindsey said. Her brother 'was balled up in a closet.'

Her stepfather then sexually assaulted her three times in front of her dying mother - even as police surrounded the home and tried to get David to release Lindsey, along with her two brothers.

The ordeal lasted more than eight hours before officers got the three children out, recovered Kim's body and arrested David.
A World Health Organization (WHO) taskforce has been sent to South Sudan to investigate an unidentified illness which has killed 89 people.

The country's ministry of health reported that an unknown disease had killed scores of people in the northern town of Fangak in Jonglei state.

The WHO sent a rapid response team of scientists to the area, which is one of the worst hit by recent severe flooding, to collect samples from sick people, reports the BBC.

Local health officials in Fangak said initial samples from the sick returned negative results for cholera.

A World Health Organization (WHO) taskforce has been sent to South Sudan to investigate an unidentified illness which has killed 89 people. Pictured: File image of Medecins Sans Frontiere (MSF) workers prepare a mobile clinic in Rubkona town, Unity State, South Sudan on November 26

The country's ministry of health reported that an unknown disease had killed scores of people in the northern town of Fangak in Jonglei state

'We decided to send a rapid response team to go and do risk assessment and investigation; that is when they will be able to collect samples from the sick people - but provisionally the figure that we got was that there were 89 deaths,' Sheila Baya, from the WHO, told the BBC.

Baya said the team of scientists had to reach Fangak via a helicopter due to severe flooding in the area, adding that the group are waiting for transport to return them to the capital Juba on Wednesday.

In the bordering state of Unity, severe floods have increased the spread of diseases such as malaria and caused malnutrition in children due to food shortages, Lam Tungwar Kueigwong, the state's minister of land, housing and public utilities, said.

Oil from the fields in the region had contaminated the water, he said, leading to the death of domestic animals.

The flooding in the north of South Sudan has cut off communities from accessing supplies of food and other vital commodities.

An aerial view shows houses submerged in flood waters in Bentiu, in Unity State, South Sudan

A South Sudanese wades through flood waters as she collects firewood in Rubkona, Unity State

More than 700,000 people have been affected by the worst flooding in the country for nearly 60 years, the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR said, blaming climate change.

The suffering caused by the floods, including food shortages and illnesses, is putting pressure on the health facilities, said international charity Medecins Sans Frontieres, which operates in the area.

'We are extremely concerned about malnutrition, with severe acute malnutrition levels two times the WHO threshold, and the number of children admitted to our hospital with severe malnutrition doubling since the start of the floods,' MSF said.

For Nyatuak Koang, a mother of three boys and two girls, that concern is all too real for her after the floods forced her to move twice.

'We don't have anywhere to sleep, we don't have any mosquito nets and we don't have material to cover our house,' she said.

Nearly a decade after South Sudan gained independence following a war, it faces the threat of conflict, climate change and COVID-19, the outgoing head of the U.N. mission in the country said in March.

Nearly all the population depends on international food aid, and most basic services such as health and education are provided by the United Nations agencies and aid groups.
Police have released a CCTV image of a man sought after an unprovoked assault on a woman outside a pub in west London.

The victim, 27, suffered from a serious leg injury after being pushed to the ground by an unknown man in Shepherd's Bush in the early hours of December 5.

Police found the woman after being flagged down by members of the public. She remains in hospital, where she is being treated.

A second woman was also knocked over by the man but did not suffer any serious injuries, said the Met.

The force has shared an image of a man wearing a green puffer jacket and black trousers who they want to identify in connection with the incident.

Police have released a CCTV image (pictured above) of a man sought after an unprovoked serious assault on a woman, 27, outside a pub in Shepherd's Bush, west London

The Met said in a statement: 'Detectives have released a CCTV image of a man they need to identify and speak with following an unprovoked assault.

'At approximately 02:10hrs on Sunday, 5 December, officers on duty in the area of Uxbridge Road, W12 were flagged down by members of the public.

'They found a 27-year-old woman who had sustained injuries after being pushed to the ground by an unknown man outside a pub.

'She remains in hospital undergoing treatment for a serious leg injury.'

An investigation is being carried out by detectives from the Central West CID, which covers Hammersmith and Fulham.

Detective Constable Laura McDonagh said: 'This was a completely random assault, in which a man  without any provocation  pushed two women to the pavement.

The victim suffered from a leg injury after being pushed to the ground by an unknown man outside a pub on Uxbridge Road (file photo above) in the early hours of December 5

'The injuries suffered by one of the women will require ongoing treatment and she has been left severely impacted by them.

'Assaults on women will not be tolerated and we remain committed to identifying the man responsible.

'I would urge anyone who was in the area at the time to come forward and speak with us. Likewise, if you recognise the man in the image, please phone police.'

Anyone with information is urged to call police on 101 quoting the reference CAD 901/05Dec or get in touch anonymously via Crimestoppers.
The Russian billionaire behind Stolichnaya vodka unfairly sacked a senior UK executive because he objected to 'brutal' staff pay cuts during the pandemic despite the firm making profits, a tribunal has ruled.

Oligarch Yuri Shefler fired Chief Investment Officer Vlad Zabelin over the phone to 'punish' the 180,000-a-year executive for complaining about the cuts.

Shefler, a vodka tycoon worth 2 billion according to Forbes, slashed the pay of all his 2,000 workers by 30 per cent when the Covid-19 pandemic hit even though the business was still performing well.

Mr Zabelin raised concerns that Shefler, owner of S.P.I. Group, was 'using the pandemic as an excuse to cut pay without any transparency' and that cuts were 'unnecessary'.

London-based Mr Zabelin also complained that he would not receive his 180,000 bonus, the employment tribunal heard.

Now, Mr Zabelin has successfully sued Shefler, 54, who is married to a Victoria's Secret model, for whistle-blowing and unfair dismissal and is in line to receive compensation.

Mr Zabelin worked as Group Chief Investment Officer for Shefler's company - which supplies alcohol to 170 countries - and in March 2020 initially agreed to a 30 per cent pay cut for three months due to the pandemic.

Oligarch Yuri Shefler (left) fired Chief Investment Officer Vlad Zabelin (right) over the phone to 'punish' the 180,000-a-year executive for complaining about the cuts

However, when he was informed it would continue without an end in sight, he objected.

Mr Zabelin had learnt that 'expensive' investment opportunities were still being explored in America when employees in New York were facing 'brutal pay cuts'.

In speaking to senior executives in Luxembourg, where the company is based, Mr Zabelin was told the cuts created 'an environment of mess and despair'.

Mr Zabelin complained that the pay cut created a toxic environment and negatively affected mental health, while a change to how bonuses were calculated would have a 'significant negative effect' on employee motivation and morale.

He claimed SPI was 'not being transparent and was using the pandemic as an excuse to make adverse decisions against staff'.

In June 2020, Shefler called Mr Zabelin and 'expressly' fired him during the conversation.

Mr Zabelin said: '[Shefler] said that a bonus would only be considered if a person does some extra, outside of such person's scope of work.

'When I told him that this was not what my employment contract was saying he told me "then sign a resignation letter if you don't agree".

'When I asked him why I should sign a resignation letter, he told me literally "forget about everything, I am firing you" and hung up.'

Employment Judge Lewis, sitting at London Central, ruled Shefler 'lost his patience' and was already 'annoyed' at Mr Zabelin raising concerns about cuts and bonuses.

Judge Lewis said: ' No procedures were followed whatsoever. In the middle of a conversation to discuss his concerns about pay and bonus cuts, Mr Zabelin was told out of the blue that he was fired.

Shefler is married to Russian Victoria's Secret model Tatiana Kovylina, 40, who he has four children with

The megayacht Serene (pictured) was previously owned by Russian billionaire, Yuri Shefler who sold it in the summer of 2014

Shefler was listed at 1205 in Forbes' list of the world's richest billionaires in 2021. S.P.I Group is best known for selling Stolichnaya vodka, which Shefler bought from state-owned VVO Soyuzplodoimport for $285,000 in 1997

The iconic Stolichnaya vodka: One of the oldest vodka brands in Russia Origins of the famous vodka brand are debated, bit Sojuzplodoimport, the brand's owner, claims the the first Stolichnaya bottles were produced in 1941, in besieged Leningrad, with mass production starting in 1943. Considered a premium vodka, its prices were high and it was soon granted the nickname 'Stoli'. It's heyday was in the 80s, and by 1990, Stolichnaya vodka was being exported to 90 countries. It featured in comedy Absolutely Fabulous as a key component of the Stolli-Bolli cocktail - a mix of Champagne and vodka. In 1997, Yuri Shefler created Sojuzplodimport, acquired Stolichnaya, sold it to his other company (Spirits International, in the Netherlands) and founded S.P.I. Group. Shefler bought Stolli from state-owned VVO Soyuzplodoimport for $285,000 but the sale was later ruled illegal and the vodka is banned from being sold in Russia, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Belgium. Advertisement

'It was clear the Group had good cash flow and was still making profits. Further, it had not got to the point of Mr Zabelin refusing to accept such cuts.'

Judge Lewis said 'no reasonable employer would have dismissed' Mr Zabelin for 'arguing his case and asking for transparency about what was proposed'.

The judge added: 'Mr Zabelin expressed concern that SPI was using the pandemic as an excuse to cut pay without any transparency. He believed this tended to show a breach of trust and confidence.

'It was reasonable for him to believe this. He knew from his own ongoing projects and instructions that SPI was able to continue to engage in expensive mergers and acquisitions.

'The SPI Group is a fairly large international company with high profile products. The cuts appear to have applied to most or all of 2,000 employees.

'It is reasonable to believe that at a time of Covid, there was public interest in the impact on employees including whether employers were unnecessarily cutting pay of staff, and on how employees might have felt about it.

'An open-ended 30 per cent pay cut was significant. Shefler had telephoned the claimant at the first opportunity after Mr Zabelin's objections had been conveyed to him...

'He started by talking about the [bonus] and lost patience as soon as Mr Zabelin referred to his contract of employment.

'We doubt that Shefler would have lost his patience quite so quickly and to the point of dismissing Mr Zabelin if he had not already been annoyed about his wider position.'

Shefler did not provide evidence at the tribunal and Judge Lewis concluded the sacking was 'out of hand'.

Shefler's 14.5million Surrey mansion is pictured in July 2008

Mr Zabelin, now a board member of wine holding Tenute di Toscana, will be awarded compensation at a later hearing.

He won claims of unfair dismissal and whistle blowing against Shefler and SPI Spirits (UK) Limited, the UK subsidiary of the group.

Shefler is married to Russian Victoria's Secret model Tatiana Kovylina, 40, who he has four children with.

In 2021, he was listed at 1205 in Forbes' list of the world's richest billionaires. S.P.I Group is best known for selling Stolichnaya vodka, which Shefler bought from state-owned VVO Soyuzplodoimport for $285,000 in 1997.

The sale was later ruled illegal and the vodka is banned from being sold in Russia, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Belgium.

Shefler used to own the megayacht Serene but sold it to Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia's deputy crown prince, in the summer of 2014.
Police intelligence suggests climate protesters are plotting further disruption in the new year, the High Court has heard, as seven activists face jail for blocking roads while one ignored a court summons in order to attend another demonstration.

Nine people were due to face contempt of court proceedings at the Royal Courts of Justice in London, but two protesters did not appear this morning.

Insulate Britain say Dr Diana Warner, a retired GP from Bristol, defied the court summons to take part in another protest in Yorkshire to disrupt a train she thought was headed for the Drax power station this morning, and a warrant was issued for her arrest after repeated attempts to contact her were unsuccessful.

Dr Ben Buse, who is currently in prison having been among nine protesters to be jailed last month for similar breaches, was not brought to court due to an administrative error at HMP Thameside.

Both Buse and Warner are due to be dealt with on Wednesday.

The remaining seven defendants - Ruth Jarman, Biff Whipster, Paul Sheeky, Richard Ramsden, Stephen Gower, Steven Pritchard and the Rev Sue Parfitt - said they are prepared to go to jail for defying court orders banning protests in the wake of several days' action during the autumn.

Myriam Stacey QC, representing National Highways, told the court there was 'intelligence' suggesting the group will resume their demonstrations in 'the spring of 2022'.

The seven defendants, who have a combined age of 428 and include a 79-year-old Anglican priest, admitted the allegations but said they were compelled to act to highlight Britain's so-called 'leaky homes'.

Their court appearance comes almost a month after nine Insulate Britain protesters were given jail sentences ranging between three and six months for breaching High Court injunctions, and each were ordered to pay 5,000.

Insulate Britain supporters (L to R) Paul Sheekey, Rev Sue Parfitt, Biff Whipster, Ruth Jarman, Steve Pritchard, Steve Gower, Richard Ramsden outside the High Court

Today's court appearance comes almost a month after nine Insulate Britain protesters were given jail sentences ranging between three and six months for breaching High Court injunctions, and each were ordered to pay 5,000. Pictured, supports of the nine jailed activists take part in a demonstration in London on November 20

Insulate Britain say Dr Diana Warner (pictured), a retired GP from Bristol, has defied the court summons to take part in another protest in Yorkshire this morning, and a warrant has been issued for her arrest after repeated attempts to contact her were unsuccessful

The protesters' alleged breaches relate to an Insulate Britain protest on the M25, which led to tailbacks of 2.5 miles, when activists blocked the carriageways and glued themselves to the road.

Myriam Stacey QC, for National Highways, told the Royal Courts of Justice there is also reason to believe there will be further disruption.

'Intelligence suggests they will resume in the spring of 2022,' she said.

'We asked for the source but we weren't told. But it stems from the police.'

She said 'numerous' previous media statements issued by Insulate Britain signalled their intention to defy the injunctions against the group's road blockades.

Ms Stacey said: 'Insulate Britain appreciate the protests are in defiance of court orders, the breaches are deliberate and aimed at providing the protesters with the best possible platform...and the associated disruption was acknowledged but seen as a necessary corollary and proportionate to that goal.

'It is safe to infer that they intend to continue on the basis that the risks attached to breaking the court orders are worth the price of espousing the cause they feel so strongly about.'

Warner defied a court summons and headed to Yorkshire today where she took part in another protest to disrupt a train she thought was headed for the Drax power station. However, Drax said the train was not one of theirs

Earlier, Lord Justice Dingemans issued a warrant for the arrest of Warner, 62, from Bristol, who did not attend court on Tuesday.

Catherine Oborne, for Warner, said repeated attempts had been made to contact her over the last 24 hours, but were unsuccessful.

In a video posted on Twitter, Insulate Britain said Warner was in Yorkshire as part of a protest to block a train she thought was headed for the Drax power station.

However, a spokesperson for Drax said: 'The train they attempted to stop was not one of ours. Everyone has the right to peaceful protest but trespassing on railway lines puts the safety of train staff, as well as the protestors themselves, at risk.'

Speaking outside the court ahead of the hearing, Mr Pritchard, a property maintenance worker from Radstock in Somerset, said: 'I'm obviously nervous.

'The expectation is that I and the other defendants will have a custodial sentence. So, I'm fully expecting to go to prison.'

The 62-year-old added: 'There are some circumstances under which I would consider going on hunger strike.

'There's not a lot to me, so I suspect it wouldn't be a very long hunger strike.

'I would become seriously ill and die.

'But it's not beyond the realms of possibility.'

Mr Pritchard's threat of a hunger strike comes a day after a jailed Insulate Britain protester ended her hunger strike after 26 days.

Emma Smart, 44, had been under medical supervision on the hospital wing at HMP Bronzefield in Ashford, Surrey, since November 26 after refusing to eat food.

She is now almost four weeks into a four-month prison sentence for contempt of court for breaching a National Highways injunction on protesting on the M25.

Smart originally vowed to go on hunger strike 'until the government issues a meaningful statement to get on with the job of insulating Britain's leaky homes'.

But the Extinction Rebellion offshoot said the protester from Weymouth, Dorset, ended this strike yesterday after receiving a letter from Sir Richard Drax.

Insulate Britain said the Conservative MP 'wrote to express concern for Emma's welfare and to request a visit, which is likely to happen within a couple of weeks'.

Jailed Insulate Britain activist Emma Smart, 44, of Weymouth, Dorset, pictured with her niece

Smart was imprisoned with eight other people from Insulate Britain. One of the group's protests is pictured on October 13, which blocked the M26 at junction 31 in Thurrock, Essex

Fellow protester Rev Parfitt, an Anglican priest from Bristol who faces the High Court, today said: 'It's a pretty scary sort of experience.

'I feel deeply called to do this because I think it's the only kind of action left to do in the dire (climate) emergency we are in.'

The 79-year-old said she will not go on hunger strike should she be sent to prison, as others have done.

She said: 'It is extreme action that we have taken, and we shall continue to take when we are out of prison, because what else can we do?

'At my age, what have I got to lose? I have everything to gain in the sense of doing what I believe to be God's will - that gives me total contentment and peace of mind.'

Police arrest retired vicar Sue Parfitt on Bishopsgate in London. She was arrested a total of nine times in just six weeks. The 79-year-old is among a group of people facing the High Court this morning

A further 17 climate activists face being summoned to the High Court at later dates, the group said last month.

Insulate Britain is demanding that the Government insulate Britain's 'leaky homes' to avoid deaths caused by fuel poverty.

Since September, the group has disrupted traffic on the M25, as well as on other roads in London, Dover, Birmingham and Manchester.

Videos showing furious motorists dragging the climate activists away from the blockades previously have gone viral on a number of occasions.

A number of High Court injunctions against the group's road blockades have been granted to Transport for London and National Highways to prevent their disruptive protests.

Those who breach the injunctions could be found in contempt of court and face a maximum penalty of two years in prison or an unlimited fine.

The hearing before Lord Justice Dingemans and Mr Justice Johnson is due to start at 10.30am today.
The Taliban have beheaded or hanged dozens of prisoners and publicly displayed their bodies in extrajudicial killings, a UN report has revealed.

The report said the militant group has also been recruiting child soldiers, and has been quashing women's rights since taking power in Afghanistan in August.

More than than 100 former Afghan national security forces and others have been killed since the takeover, the UN Human Rights Council heard on Tuesday.

Nada Al-Nashif, UN Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, said that in addition, at least 50 suspected members of the Islamic State-Khorasan Province - an ideological foe of the Taliban - were killed by hanging and beheading.

Al-Nashif said she was deeply alarmed by continuing reports of such killings, despite a general amnesty announced by the new Taliban rulers after August 15.

The Taliban have beheaded or hanged dozens of prisoners and publicly displayed their bodies in extrajudicial killings since taking power in Afghanistan in August, a UN report has revealed. Pictured: Taliban fighters display their flag on patrol in Kabul, Afghanistan, August 19, 2021

'Between August and November, we received credible allegations of more than 100 killings of former Afghan national security forces and others associated with the former government,' she told the UN Human Rights Council.

'At least 72 of these killings,' she said, were 'attributed to the Taliban.'

'In several cases, the bodies were publicly displayed. This has exacerbated fear among this sizeable category of the population,' she said.

At least eight Afghan activists and two journalists have been killed since August, while the UN has also documented 59 unlawful detentions and threats to their ranks, she told the council in Geneva.

'The safety of Afghan judges, prosecutors, and lawyers - particularly women legal professionals - is a matter for particular alarm', she added.

Al-Nashif's comments came after the United States and other countries harshly condemned the Taliban following a Human Rights Watch report earlier this month documenting 47 summary executions.

Those killings were of former members of the Afghan National Security Forces, other military personnel, police and intelligence agents 'who had surrendered to or were apprehended by Taliban forces' from mid-August through October, it said.

The Taliban spokesman Qari Sayed Khosti flatly rejected the report and other claims about extrajudicial killings as 'not based on evidences.'

More than than 100 former Afghan national security forces and others have been killed since the takeover, the UN Human Rights Council heard on Tuesday. Pictured: Members of Afghanistan's security forces are seen in Herat on August 6, days before the Taliban takeover

He said there were some cases of former members of the now-defunct Afghan National Defence and Security Forces who had been killed, but that was 'because of personal rivalries and enmities.'

Details of the killings being brought before the UN council will come as a blow to the Taliban, who are continuing their efforts to persuade the US and the West to release around $10billion in funds that were frozen as they swept to power in August.

In a rare interview on Sunday, Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi said the funds would help millions of the country's citizens that are in desperate need.

He also claimed Afghanistan's new Taliban rulers are committed in principle to education and jobs for girls and women, a marked departure from their previous time in power which saw a history of oppression and human rights abuses.

The UN report, however, brings this claim into further question.

Speaking to the Associated Press, Muttaqi said the new government wants good relations with all countries and has no issue with the United States.

He urged Washington and other nations to release the funds that were frozen when the Taliban took power on August 15, following a rapid military sweep across Afghanistan and the sudden, secret flight of US-backed President Ashraf Ghani.

Muttaqi's comments hint at a dire situation in Afghanistan - already one of the poorest countries in the world per capita before the group took control of the country. The UN council's report is unlikely to help his case.

Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi (pictured in September) has made a plea to the US and the West to show 'mercy and compassion' by releasing $10billion in funds frozen when the group seized Afghanistan to help the country's citizens in dire need of aid

'Sanctions against Afghanistan would ... not have any benefit,' Muttaqi said, speaking in his native Pashto during the interview in the sprawling pale brick Foreign Ministry building in the heart of the Afghan capital of Kabul.

'Making Afghanistan unstable or having a weak Afghan government is not in the interest of anyone,' said Muttaqi, whose aides include employees of the previous government as well as those recruited from the ranks of the Taliban.

Muttaqi's comments are not the first time he has made a plea for the funds - from Afghanistans Central Bank - to be released.

However, in October, Deputy United States Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo told a US Senate Committee that he saw no situation in which the Taliban would be allowed to access the reserves.

Concerned nations have pledged aid to the country, which made up a large part of its economy before the Taliban took over, but many are reluctant to send funds unless the Taliban agrees to a more inclusive society.

Meanwhile, reports from Afghanistan have told harrowing stories, such as parents being forced to sell their children to survive, and droughts forcing people from their homes.

The UN has warned that more than half of Afghanistan's population faces starvation this winter, a problem compounded by the fact that many aid agencies fled the country as the government collapsed and international aid dried up.

International charity Save the Children has called on governments to make urgent exemptions to existing counter-terror and sanctions policies, to allow for the delivery of lifesaving humanitarian aid.
A former extra on the hit Netflix drama 'The Crown' who convinced teenage girls to carry out sexual acts for money, gifts and oyster card top ups has been convicted of rape.

John Bancroft, 68, targeted seven teenage girls online by offering 'sugar daddy' experiences and subjected at least one victim to bondage, domination and sado-masochistic sexual practice, Snaresbrook Crown Court heard.

His younger half-brother Graham Manicom, 62, was also involved in the abuse of the young victims.

They sexually abused one of the girls at a Hotel Ibis in Stratford, east London, after offering her chocolate and alcohol, jurors were told.

Bancroft's illicit activities were uncovered when a sister of one of the victims contacted police in May 2017. He was later arrested and analysis of his devices revealed a much-larger grooming campaign.

Bancroft was convicted of four counts of rape and meeting a child following sexual grooming by a jury, while Manicom admitted two counts of paying for the sexual services of a child during the trial.

They were remanded in custody ahead of sentence on 14 February next year.

John Bancroft, left, targeted seven teenage girls online by offering 'sugar daddy' experiences and subjected at least one victim to bondage, domination and sado-masochistic sexual practice, Snaresbrook Crown Court heard. His younger half-brother Graham Manicom, right, was also involved in the abuse of the young victims

Speaking after the brothers were convicted, prosecutor Olivia Ball said: 'John Bancroft was a manipulative, predatory and sickening man who was old enough to be the grandfather of the girls he targeted.

'He groomed and exploited these young girls. He chose victims that he perceived to be vulnerable - often those without a father figure and girls with little sexual experience.

'In exchange for money, these young girls were without question expected to pander to Bancroft's sexual demands which included group sex and sado-masochistic acts.

'Graham Manicom was no stranger to his brother's activities and was also a willing participant.

'The prosecution case against the defendants included strong witness testimony from the victims, phone evidence and DNA evidence from sex toys found at Bancroft's home address.

'The victims in this case have shown incredible fortitude throughout this investigation and prosecution. The CPS is committed to bringing sexual offenders to justice.'

Bancroft, described by the prosecution as a 'former Netflix Crown extra and union employee', met his victims at hotels, then paid them up to 200 a week to engage in sexual acts.

He also offered them alcohol to lower their inhibitions.

Bancroft sent images of his genitals to the young girls he had groomed and encouraged them to send indecent photographs of themselves back to him.

He also convinced some of his victims to take part in threesomes with Manicom.

Bancroft called his victims 'sugar babies' or 'princesses', while showering them money, gifts and food.

He told one girl he wanted to be her 'mentor, father, provider and lover'.

Bancroft met girls at hotels across London and at his own home.

Bancroft was described by the prosecution as a 'former Netflix Crown extra and union employee'. Pictured: Claire Foy and Matt Smith on set for The Crown in 2016

Ms Ball had told the court: 'Bancroft would seek [the teenage girls] through a child dating website. He would pay for sexual services after gaining their trust. These were vulnerable young girls.'

Detective Sergeant Kelly Ryan from Modern Slavery and Child Exploitation team said: 'Bancroft and Manicom are sick individuals who targeted vulnerable girls for their own twisted gratification. They are old enough to be the victims' grandfathers and their manipulative actions have had a devastating impact for the girls they abused.

'The brothers had a significant power imbalance over the victims and they were extremely calculating in who they targeted and sought girls who were distant from their families, had financial worries or who had been previously abused.

'The seven victims who assisted police throughout this lengthy investigation have been extremely strong and brave throughout the trial and I sincerely hope this result will start to bring them some closure.

'I also applaud the sister of one victim who absolutely did the right thing by contacting us to share her concerns. This launched the investigation and uncovered the scale of Bancroft's offending.

'I encourage anyone who has had a similar experience to that of the victims to come forward and report it to police. We will support you and take all reports seriously.'

Bancroft had earlier admitted five counts of paying for the sexual services of a child, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, attempted sexual communication with a child and nine counts of attempted causing or inciting the sexual exploitation of a child, as well as seven counts of taking indecent images and six counts of distributing indecent images of children.

Bancroft, of Buckhurst Hill, Essex, and Manicom, of Waltham Abbey, Essex, were remanded in custody ahead of sentence.
British Airways has launched a new short-haul airline that will fly from Gatwick Airport to 35 holiday destinations from March next year.

The subsidiary airline will operate under the British Airways name, but will exist as an 'entirely separate entity', the firm said.

The vast majority of its short-haul flights from Gatwick have been suspended since the beginning of the Covid pandemic in March last year.

However, the airline has long struggled to make its flights from the airport profitable, even prior to the pandemic, and said it would only resume if there was 'a competitive and sustainable operating cost base'.

A total of 35 short-haul destinations will be served, including Athens, Berlin, Faro, Ibiza, Madrid, Malaga, Marrakech, Milan Malpensa, Santorini and Tenerife.

The airline said tickets are available from 39 each way (based on a return journey) and are 'competitive with those of Gatwick no-frills carriers'.

British Airways has made the move as part of aims to remain 'agile and competitive' with short-haul rivals easyJet - the current dominant airline at Gatwick.

Chief executive Sean Doyle said: 'Today is a landmark moment for British Airways.

Travelers queue with their luggage for the British Airways check-in desk at Gatwick Airport. The airline has announced it has created a short-haul subsidiary serving 35 destinations

British Airways and Easyjet aircraft parked at the South Terminal at Gatwick Airport in August earlier this year

'The creation of a new British Airways short-haul organisation means Gatwick customers will benefit from access to a premium service from the UKs flag carrier at competitive prices.

'We are looking forward to bringing a short-haul network back to Gatwick, with a fantastic flying team in place, to serve our customers from Londons second hub airport, which we feel sure will be a success.'

The new subsidiary will begin flying in March 2022.

Passengers are being promised they will receive 'the same high level of service they expect of British Airways', including free water and snacks, a 'generous' baggage allowance, free seat selection within 24 hours before departure and frequent flyer benefits.

British Airways negotiated new agreements on pay and working conditions with pilots and cabin crew in relation to the new subsidiary.

The operation will be similar to that of BA CityFlyer - a British Airways subsidiary based at London City.

It will initially be run by British Airways, beginning with three Airbus short-haul planes, before ramping up to 18 aircraft by the end of May ahead of the crucial summer holiday period.

By autumn 2022, flights will be managed separately under the trading name BA Euroflyer, but the brand name will remain British Airways.

British Airways chief executive Sean Doyle said 'today is a landmark moment' for the airline

The airline previously had a schedule of 47 short-haul routes and 1,881 flights from Gatwick prior to the pandemic, according to travel data and analytics firm Cirium

It had long tried to ensure short-haul flights from the airport were profitable, using a number of strategies.

The failed 'hub without the hubbub' operation at Gatwick North Terminal lasted only briefly and offered a connecting time that was as little as 26 minutes.

In the 1980s, the firm took over British Caledonian and then Dan-Air, leaving it with duplicated and incoherent services.

After the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001, easyJet embarked on a major move to Gatwick, which is now its main base.

It meant that the airline struggled to maintain profitability on its short-haul routes while competing with its budget rival.

However, the move to create a subsidiary airline is hoped to keep the business 'agile and competitive' with short-haul rivals easyJet.

Gatwick is usually the UK's second busiest airport, but has been hit hard by the pandemic.

Just 4.6 million passengers travelled through the airport in the 12 months to the end of October, significantly down on 46.6 million in 2019.

Gatwick chief executive Stewart Wingate said: 'This significant news will be very welcome for many people connected to the airport.

'Despite the ongoing public health situation, today's announcement is a positive signal that consumer confidence is returning as people start thinking about making travel plans for next summer.

'Given the difficult period we have all just been through, we expect BA's new and extensive network of services from Gatwick to destinations across Europe to be in high demand and our staff, retailers, restaurants, cafes and bars are all looking forward to welcoming BA passengers back in larger numbers from April next year.'

Gatwick Airport's chief executive Stewart Wingate said the announcement 'will be very welcome for many people connected to the airport'

The announcement comes as British Airways was one of seven of the UK's largest airlines and travel companies to blast the introduction of 'disproportionate and haphazard' new travel rules in a letter to Boris Johnson on Monday.

Tighter restrictions came into force amid concerns of a 'tidal wave of Omicron' spreading across Britain, with a further 1,576 cases of the highly-evolved variant reported on Monday.

The new rules mean everyone entering the UK must have evidence of a negative test prior to their departure and must self-isolate until they have a negative result from a test after arriving back in the country.

Previously, the fully vaccinated were only required to take a cheaper lateral flow test - and did not need to self-isolate unless they received a positive result.

Instead, airline bosses have demanded 'all emergency testing for fully vaccinated passengers should be removed at the formal review on 20 December'.

The letter also asked for a 'package of bespoke economic support measures should be provided immediately to bridge the sector through this crisis'.

Meanwhile, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps is understood to have convinced colleagues to scrap the red list in favour of replacing it with testing for the fully vaccinated.
Police officers were told to be 'non-visible' at a Black Lives Matter protest which ended with the statue of slaver Edward Colston being toppled, a trial heard today.

The bronze memorial to the 17th century slave merchant was pulled down during a protest on June 7 last year, before being dumped in Bristol Harbour.

Rhian Graham, 30, Milo Ponsford, 26, Jake Skuse, 33, and Sage Willoughby, 22, are on trial at Bristol Crown Court after denying criminal damage.

Miss Graham told police she had damaged the statue but that 'whether it is criminal or not, I think, is up for debate' - and took part to show 'I'm not racist', the trial heard yesterday. The statue was recovered from the harbour and is now on display at the M Shed museum.

Today, the jury heard a statement from WPC Julie Hayward, in which she said a 'non-visible style of community policing' was an objective of the day.

She described seeing around 10,000 people set off from College Green by Bristol Cathedral in the direction of the Colston statue. She then saw people putting ropes around it as the crowd shouted 'pull in down, pull it down!'

Milo Ponsford, left, Sage Willoughby, second left, Jake Skuse , second right in mask, and Rhian Graham right, accused of criminal damage over the toppling of the statue of slave trader Edward Colston, outside Bristol Crown Court today

The charges relate to the toppling of a statue of Edward Colston last summer during a Black Lives Matter protest. The bronze statue was pulled down and dumped in the river (pictured)

It came as a heritage chief at Bristol Council today insisted the toppling of Colston's effigy had provided the city with a valuable opportunity for 'conversation and education' in its new home in a museum.

Jon Finch, head of culture and creative industries at the council, gave evidence for the prosecution on Tuesday about the damage caused to the statue. But he was confronted with remarks he made about the statue ahead of the opening in June of the exhibition in which it features.

Tom Wainwright, for Ponsford, read out Mr Finch's quotes describing the opportunity for the M Shed to demonstrate 'the value of what museums could and should be about'.

Mr Finch said museums should be 'able to respond and engage with social issues and current concerns'. He also described it as a valuable opportunity for conversation, education and 'most importantly, engagement' with the people of Bristol.

Mr Wainwright said: 'The toppling of the statue was in itself an historic event, it was a protest that was heard around the world?'

'It was, yes,' Mr Finch replied.

'Now has value as an educational and cultural object that it didn't have before?' Mr Wainwright asked.

'I think it certainly now has value as an historic object,' the witness said.

Mr Finch was asked if the fact other memorials and venues around the city have been stripped of Colston's name proved the statue should have been removed earlier, but he replied: 'I can't comment on that.'

The four defendants were tracked down through CCTV images.

When interviewed by police, Graham confirmed it was her in the footage and said the statue had caused 'massive offence' to the people of Bristol, who had campaigned for it to be removed.

'I accept that I helped cause the damage to the statue but whether it is criminal or not, I think, is up for debate,' she said.

The court heard that Willoughby told police he had tied ropes around the statue's neck, but he did not pull down the statue or push it in the harbour.

'He said that Colston statue has been petitioned for removal over 20 years and ignored by Bristol City Council,' Mr Hughes said.

'He helped cause the damage and did not have Bristol City Council's permission to do so.'

Skuse and Ponsford made no comment to all questions when interviewed by police.

The jury heard there had been a campaign to remove the statue since at least the 1990s, but with concerns being raised as early as the 1920s.

The court was told that a planning application in 2018 to have a new plaque added to the plinth explaining Colston's involvement in the slave trade was derailed by the Society of Merchant Venturers.

One of the women accused of toppling a statue of slave trader Edward Colston during a Black Lives Matter protest claimed it was her bid to show 'I'm not racist', the court heard yesterday.

Rhian Graham, 30, made the comments when interviewed by police over the damage to the 19th-century bronze memorial during protests in Bristol on June 7 last year.

Graham, Milo Ponsford, 26, and Sage Willoughby, 22, helped pull the statue from its plinth in the city centre, Bristol Crown Court was told.

Four people accused of damaging Bristol's Edward Colston statue during a Black Lives Matter protest received a warm welcome from a crowd of supporters as they arrived at court today

Supporters gathered outside the court with placards and signs as the defendants arrived

A supporter stands with a placard at Bristol Crown Court ahead of trial of the Colston Four

After its fall the statue was daubed with paint, spat on, and rolled around 570 yards (520m) through the streets before being dumped in the city's harbour.

A fourth defendant, Jake Skuse, 33, was accused of helping to roll the statue to where it was hauled over the railings at the water's edge.

A small group targeted the Colston statue after nearly 10,000 peaceful protestors had passed it by that day.

Willoughby tied a rope around the neck of the statue, one of two used to pull it down, jurors heard.

CCTV footage played to the court showed Ponsford and Graham pulling on the ropes as the statue fell to the pavement below.

Judge Peter Blair QC, the Recorder of Bristol, reprimanded the public gallery after cheers, applause and whistling rang out as the footage of its descent was played in court.

Those watching the trial later opted to make silent 'jazz hand' waves as they celebrated the statue being dumped in the harbour.

Council employees pulled the statue from the water four days later. It is currently on display at a nearby museum, still covered in graffiti.

William Hughes QC, for the prosecution, told the jury the fact Colston was a slave trader is 'wholly irrelevant'.

Mr Hughes said the incident occurred during a Black Lives Matter protest over the killing of George Floyd, a black man, who died after being restrained by a police officer in the US.

'An estimated 10,000 people were in attendance of the march, with police saying it was engaging, the community had come together to change black lives,' he said.

'After the vast majority of those protesting had passed it, a small number of individuals congregated at the statue of Edward Colston in Bristol city centre.

'Using ropes brought to the scene the statue was pulled down by members of this small group, who included Mr Willoughby, Miss Graham and Mr Ponsford.

'After it had been toppled it was daubed with paint, spat on and struck with implements.

'Thereafter the statue was rolled through the city centre and thrown into the harbour.

'The statue was rolled a considerable distance - approximately 520 metres - to the harbour edge where it was pushed into the harbour.

'Mr Skuse was involved in this later activity rolling the statue from its original place of fall where it was thrown into the water.

'All this activity caused damage to the statue not only to the statue itself the falling plinth of the statue it was resting on, the pavement beneath the statue and the railings of the harbour.

'This was not part of the peaceful Black Lives Matter march but an unlawful criminal act.'

Mr Hughes said all parties accepted Colston was a divisive figure among the city's residents and the presence of the statue had been the subject of intense debate.

At the time of its damage Bristol City Council, the statue's custodians, had not decided on whether to remove it.

The cost of the damage to the statue was estimated at 3,750 while the damage to railings at the harbour edge was 350.

Ponsford was arrested at his motorhome in Bristol following the incident, while Graham and Willoughby voluntarily attended police interviews.

Graham, of Colston Road, Bristol, told police the very presence of the statue was 'offensive', the court heard.

She told police: 'The Edward Colston statue being there in the first place is a massive offence to many, many people living in Bristol.

'By it being there I am forced, as a citizen of Bristol, to say I'm not racist but I allow a statue of a slave trader to be venerated in my city.

'I accept that I helped cause damage to the statue, but whether it is criminal us up for debate because [of] all the context around the statue.

'It is just an abhorrent offence to a lot of the population of Bristol.'

The Colston statue was erected in 1895, depicting him in middle age and dressed in period clothing, leaning on a stick.

It was commissioned from sculptor John Cassidy some 170 years after Colston died in 1721.

Colston gave generously to the city of Bristol. Dozens of buildings, charities, schools, pubs and roads were named after him.

The incident in Bristol sparked the destruction of other statues in the UK and widespread protests about monuments to Britain's colonial past.

Graham, Ponsford, Willoughby and Skuse all deny criminal damage.

The trial, due to last two weeks, continues.
A senior dentist has been struck off after he 'repeatedly' sexually assaulted two dental nurses in front of patients.

Eamonn McCann touched one dental nurse - known only as Witness A - beneath her underwear while 'casually' chatting to patients and gave her a 'Christmas kiss' on the cheek after handing her a bonus, a disciplinary hearing was told.

Then on a day after everyone else had left the practice, McCann 'launched' himself at the woman and tried to have sex with her, which she said was 'the final straw', a panel was told.

Another dental nurse came forward after she had been sexually assaulted six times, occasionally when patients were 'in the chair'. She said she was initially hesitant to do so as he was her employer and owner of the practice, a panel heard.

He denied all the allegations, which the panel heard took place in the 1990s, claiming he could not remember Witness A.

But McCann has now been suspended after the General Dental Council found he committed 'repeated instances of inappropriate, sexually motivated, non-consensual, intentional physical contact with female dental nurses'.

The General Dental Council heard Eamonn McCann repeatedly targeted a dental nurse and touched her inappropriately in the 90s and later sexually assaulted a nurse in 2015 (file image)

McCann, who qualified at Queen's University of Belfast in 1982, would tickle Witness A, deliberately prolonged patients' treatment so he could assault her in the surgery and make comments about her figure, a committee was told.

The woman told the panel she started wearing her father's cardigan to hide her body.

She told the committee she would try to 'close her legs', 'clam up' and 'move away' from McCann, based in Northern Ireland, as a result of his behaviour.

Witness A told the committee: 'There was one incident when [McCann] came into the Practice happily at Christmas time with bonuses and gave me a long kiss. It was in the cloakroom when I was about to leave for Christmas, and it was just me there.

'He kissed me on the cheek and said, "I've always wanted to give you a Christmas kiss".

'One time he also went under my underwear. He would be doing it while casually speaking to patients.'

The committee heard the nurse 'nearly vomited' after McCann 'came running towards her and pressed himself on her back'.

She continued: 'At the end of one of those days I was working with [McCann], he tried to have sex with me.

McCann, who practised in Northern Ireland, was struck off the register after a panel concluded multiple allegations of sexually assault made by the dental nurses were proved (stock image)

'This was the final straw for me and I'd had enough. Everyone had left the practice and no one else was around. It happened in the surgery room.

'I was wearing my uniform, I remember, I will never forget because I was wearing dark green underwear and I thought whether he saw it under the white uniform.

'He'd been quite friendly and had been touching me on the legs throughout the day. He said that my skin was soft.

'He only ever touched my legs as that's what patients could not see.

'It was at the end of the day that I was cleaning in the surgery and he just launched at me.

'I don't think he kissed me. He would always take off his tunic in the surgery rather than in the cloak room and he would always be topless underneath it.

'I think his trousers were on but his zip was undone. It lasted for seconds. He must have pulled down my underwear.'

Witness A said this 'distressed' her and she 'immediately ran home'.

McCann told the panel he would never have done this.

More than 20 years later, Witness B said in 2015, McCann pressed his crotch against her as she was writing an email.

She told the panel: 'While I was typing the next thing I knew he had me pinned against the workbench that the computer was on. I felt like his penis was erect and he was pushing up against me.

'I just wanted to get the email written and get out of there. I began to get flustered and he started to do an in an in-and-out motion, three or four times.'

Witness B told the committee on another occasion, Mr McCann touched her leg before 'squeezing' up and down then eventually in her crotch area as they were filling in a patient's cavity.

The panel were also told he touched her crotch during an x-ray in the surgery room but McCann denied this, saying he might have brushed past her.

Witness B said McCann also 'squeezed' her buttock under her trousers which left her feeling very 'cross' and 'uncomfortable'.

In 2017, Mr McCann was given a caution for reckless contact by police in County Tyrone.

Witness C, a former patient of Mr McCann, told the panel during an appointment in either 2009 or 2010, he placed his hand on the thigh of the dental nurse for a few minutes.

The patient said the nurse appeared 'visibly upset afterwards' which then made the patient 'upset and uncomfortable' and they subsequently left the practice.

Witness A and B then independently put forward their allegations to the General Dental Council.

After being suspended for a year, Mr McCann has now been struck off the register with the committee concluding: 'You employed a strikingly similar modus operandi in relation to the commission of acts of sexual touching against your female dental nurses when there were 'patients in the chair' within the dental surgery.

'The evidence in relation to your conduct viewed overall, tends to suggest that you regularly sought to sexually touch dental nurses working for you, including in the course of patient appointments.'
A woman who killed her three-month-old baby sent a chilling text to her husband just moments before setting her daughter down on a train track.

Melissa Arbuckle, 32, was walking her three-month-old baby in a pram in July by the train tracks in Melbourne when she sent a message to her husband to let him know where they were.

'Muffin was losing it after feed so I've gone for a walk with her,' she wrote.

Melissa Arbuckle, 32, was walking her baby in a pram in July by the trains when she sent a message to her husband to let him know where they were before laying the little girl on the tracks (stock image)

Mum and baby then continued their walk where they waved at trains and texted the woman's mother and sister.

Then Arbuckle began researching train speeds and timetables, an agreed summary released by Melbourne Magistrates' Court said, according to The Herald Sun.

Around 5pm a train noticed Arbuckle acting 'suspicious' near the train lines and activated the emergency brakes.

A train noticed Arbuckle acting 'suspicious' and activated the emergency brakes. The mother laid the baby on the tracks in front of the train and attempted to lie down herself before the train hit them both (stock image)

The baby was struck and thrown under the carriage while Arbuckle was left with serious injuries.

Witnesses rushed to help the pair and helped to pull out the still breathing baby.

Emergency services arrived shortly after and found Arbuckle repeatedly hitting herself in the head with a stone.

Arbuckle was diagnosed with severe major postpartum depression and postpartum psychosis the day after the incident and has been granted bail before her hearing on December 21 at Melbourne Magistrates' Court (above)

The baby girl died later that night at the Royal Children's Hospital after she was flown from the scene.

The day before the incident Arbuckle shared she had been suffering from suicidal thoughts and was diagnosed with severe major postpartum depression and postpartum psychosis the day after.

Arbuckle faced Melbourne Magistrates Court on Tuesday where she pleaded guilty to one count of infanticide for the incident in July.

Magistrate Donna Bakos granted Arbuckle bail to reappear before the Victorian Supreme Court for a directions hearing on December 21.

'This is an extraordinarily tragic event and it's tragic for many, many people,' Ms Bakos said.

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The ability of foreign criminals to dodge deportation on human rights grounds will be curtailed under the new Bill of Rights, Dominic Raab said today.

The Justice Secretary told how the reforms will massively restrict the number of appeals brought under the controversial 'right to private and family life'.

They will make it far more difficult for appeals to reach court under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which was enshrined in UK law by Labour.

Mr Raab also said that freedom of speech was being 'whittled down' as he prepared to unveil the Bill to strengthen it amid concern over the rise of 'cancel culture'.

Ministers fear a series of controversial rulings won by well-known figures has eroded freedom of expression  a key component of Britain's democracy for centuries.

They are also understood to be concerned that 'woke' and 'politically correct' campaigners, particularly on social media, are shutting down legitimate points of view amid a growing 'cancel culture'.

Justice Secretary Dominic Raab (pictured on Sky News today) said the reforms will massively restrict the number of appeals brought under the controversial 'right to private and family life'

Speaking in Parliament today, Mr Raab said the UK Government wants to 'prevent the misuse and the distortion' of the European Convention on Human Rights, noting: 'Some of this has arisen because of the Strasbourg case law and some from the UK case law.

'Let me just be very clear at the outset: my critique is levelled at the Human Rights Act, the way it operates - it's not levelled at the UK judiciary, who have quite properly sought to implement legislation passed in this House.'

He said of the UK's proposals: 'We can prevent serious criminals from relying on Article 8 - the right to a family life - to frustrate their deportation from this country.'

Mr Raab said Article 8 claims make up 'around 70 per cent' of all successful human rights challenges by foreign national offenders against deportation orders, adding: 'Our proposals would enable us to legislate to curtail that abuse of the system.'

But shadow justice secretary Steve Reed described the proposals as 'all mouth and no trousers'.

He said: 'They do nothing to deal with the severe failings in the criminal justice system, they repatriate no powers that are not already based here and astoundingly they actually threaten to make it harder to deport the most dangerous foreign criminals including terrorists.'

The SNP's Brendan O'Hara called on the Government to provide evidence for reforms to human rights law.

The SNP human rights spokesman told MPs: 'This Government regularly tells us that abuses of the system are the reason for all manner of reforms of legislation that simply don't suit them. I know from my experience of the Elections Bill recently that they rarely manage to produce anything other than anecdotal evidence. This time: where is the empirical evidence for this enormous change and where can we see it?'

Mr O'Hara also asked the Government to confirm it was committed to the European Convention on Human Rights 'without tinkering or equivocation'.

But Mr Raab replied that the evidence base had been set out 'at some length', adding: 'I have said it once but I am happy to reaffirm we will stay in the European Convention on Human Rights. We will qualify areas around article 8.'

Article 8 on the right to private and family life 'invites qualification', Mr Raab said, adding that a new interpretation of this 'will allow us to deport more foreign national offenders, which has been hamstrung by Article 8 as it has been interpreted under the Human Rights Act'.

Earlier, outlining the major reforms, Mr Raab told Sky News: 'It will do three things. First of all we will strengthen quintessentially British rights like freedom of speech, the liberty that guards all others. We have seen that whittled away recently for various reasons.

'Secondly, we can prevent some of the abuses of human rights that people care about, such as the ability to scupper deportation orders for people who have been convicted of serious offences.

'Thirdly, one of the things that people are seeing is the goalposts shift on human rights as they expand incrementally. That should be subject to proper democratic oversight by lawmakers me accountable to your viewers.'

Currently up to 70 per cent of foreign criminals who lodge deportation appeals do so under Article 8, claiming it will be a breach of their rights to return them to their home nation for reasons such as they have children in the UK.

But sources said under the new plans they will have to seek permission from the courts first. It is understood foreign offenders could be restricted from using Article 8 depending on the gravity of their crime or the length of their jail sentence.

A senior Government source said last night: 'The idea is to have a permission stage that could effectively filter out spurious or vexatious claims to make sure the courts are concentrating on the genuine, credible ones.

'The European Court itself has its permission stage as well. So in a way we'll be following the model that Strasbourg has.'

Officials believe the changes will end interference from Europe because measures will emphasise the seniority of the UK's Supreme Court.

Reforms by the Tory-led coalition government in 2012 attempted to stop abuse of Article 8, saying criminality should only be outweighed by family life arguments in 'exceptional cases'.

But sources said the move failed and since then the proportion of successful appeals under Article 8 has increased. Latest figures, published in August, showed 10,882 foreign offenders have been released from prison but have avoided deportation.

The total walking the streets has rocketed by 176 per cent since 2012, when it stood at under 4,000. Ministers are also understood to believe human rights reforms are essential to their plans to shake up the parole system.

Amid concern about decisions to free offenders such as double child killer Colin Pitchfork, the Ministry of Justice is working on changes which place more weight on public protection than criminals' rights.

Max Mosley won 60,000 in damages against the News of the World in 2008 after it published a story about an orgy with five women, which had been wrongly described as a 'Nazi-themed'

In addition, ministers are understood to be concerned that Parliament's role as the authoritative voice on British law has been 'blurred' by judges delivering rulings which 'gold plate' original components of the European Convention on Human Rights, agreed in 1951.

They feel its influence has been expanded far beyond what was originally intended, in areas ranging from free speech to immigration. It comes after criticism of the result of a legal case between the Duchess of Sussex and The Mail on Sunday.

Earlier this month, the Court of Appeal upheld a High Court decision that Meghan had a 'reasonable expectation of privacy' over a letter written to her estranged father Thomas Markle.

During a lengthy legal battle, the newspaper defended its right to publish extracts of the correspondence in 2019.

Lawyers and media experts said the decision set a 'dangerous precedent' by extending the right of privacy to benefit the 'rich and powerful'.

Earlier this month, the Court of Appeal upheld a High Court decision that Meghan, Duchess of Sussex (pictured with her husband Prince Harry) had a 'reasonable expectation of privacy' over a letter written to her estranged father Thomas Markle

At the time of that ruling, Mr Raab said: 'The drift towards continental-style privacy laws, innovated in the courtroom, not by elected lawmakers in the House of Commons, is something that we can and should correct.'

An earlier key case which was interpreted as judges developing their own privacy laws was brought by Formula 1 tycoon Max Mosley in 2008.

Mr Mosley, who died this year, was the son of Sir Oswald Mosley, former leader of the British Union of Fascists. He was exposed as taking part in sadomasochistic sex by the News of the World, which obtained a video of him aged 67 in an orgy with five women.

The High Court ruled the now-defunct newspaper breached Mr Mosley's privacy, awarding him 60,000 in damages, and ruled it had been wrongly described as a 'Nazi-themed' orgy.

Mr Justice Eady said the businessman had a reasonable expectation of privacy in relation to his sexual activities, no matter how 'unconventional'.

The Justice Secretary's consultation paper today is expected to say the UK will remain party to the European Convention on Human Rights.

But it will seek to rebalance it alongside 'quintessentially British rights' contained in landmark documents such as Magna Carta in 1215 which put into writing for the first time the principle that the monarch and their government are not above the law.
Facebook paid $60million to a bank in South Dakota called Meta Financial Group to secure the name rights for its 'metaverse' rebrand, a regulatory filing has revealed.

The Silicon Valley giant is banking on the Meta name as it seeks to market its new virtual reality world which it believes is the future of the internet.

Meta Financial said in regulatory filing on Monday that a Delaware company called Beige Key LLC agreed earlier this year to acquire the worldwide rights to its company names for $60 million in cash. It did not disclose who the owner of Beige Key was.

A Meta Platforms (Facebook) spokesman later confirmed: 'Beige Key is affiliated with us and we have acquired these trademark assets.'

The 'metaverse' is a set of virtual spaces where you can game, work and communicate with other people who aren't in the same physical space as you (pictured: CEO Mark Zuckerberg shows off his avatar in a space suit in the metaverse)

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is seen fencing in the 'Metaverse' with an Olympic gold medal fencer during a live-streamed virtual and augmented reality conference to announce the rebrand of Facebook as Meta, in this screen grab taken from a video released October 28

Beige Key LLC: Mysterious firm behind the $60m name deal Before renaming itself Meta on October 28, Facebook used a Delaware limited liability company (LLC) called Beige Key to buy the naming rights of Meta Financial Group for $60 million. Delaware LLCs do not have disclose their members - equivalent to shareholders in a corporation. Beige Key LLC was incorporated in Delaware on June 30. 'Beige Key is affiliated with us and we have acquired these trademark assets,' a Meta Platforms (Facebook) spokesman said. Meta did not disclose who the owner was A Meta Platforms spokesman confirmed the company was engaged in discussions with Meta Financial before Facebook's name change was announced. In the filing, Meta Financial said it had embarked on a brand strategy review earlier this year, but the MetaBank spokesperson declined to comment on the negotiations beyond the contents of the filing. Advertisement

As well as offering products through its MetaBank subsidiary including consumer savings, loans and credit cards, and commercial lending, Meta Financial partners with institutions including government agencies and financial technology firms to offer banking services with the aim of bolstering financial inclusion.

Facebook said in October its parent company had changed its name to Meta Platforms.

The tech giant, which has invested heavily in virtual reality and augmented reality, sees the metaverse as the successor to the mobile internet.

Last week, Meta Platforms opened up its previously invite-only Horizon Worlds app, where users of its Quest virtual reality headsets can play games and interact as avatars, to over-18 users in the United States and Canada.

The metaverse concept, which has cropped up on several Silicon Valley companies' earnings calls and which will require cooperation among tech giants, could be more than a decade away from being fully realized.

The concept is a set of virtual spaces where you can game, work and communicate with other people who aren't in the same physical space as you.

Facebook explained: 'You'll be able to hang out with friends, work, play, learn, shop, create and more.

'It's not necessarily about spending more time online  it's about making the time you do spend online more meaningful.'

While Facebook is leading the charge with the metaverse, it explained that it isn't a single product one company can build alone.

'Just like the internet, the metaverse exists whether Facebook is there or not,' it added.

Zuckerberg announced in October that Facebook was changing its name to Meta

'And it won't be built overnight. Many of these products will only be fully realized in the next 10-15 years.'

A Meta Platforms spokesman confirmed the company was engaged in discussions with Meta Financial before Facebook's name change was announced.

In the filing, Meta Financial said it had embarked on a brand strategy review earlier this year, but the MetaBank spokesperson declined to comment on the negotiations beyond the contents of the filing.

Meta Financial's shares were trading 1.5% lower in mid-afternoon trading, giving it a market capitalization of around $1.74 billion. Meta Platforms was up 1.6%, valuing it at $933 billion.

Artist whose Instagram handle was 'Metaverse' for nine years had her account DISABLED days after Facebook announced its name change to Meta

By Sam Tonkin for MailOnline

An artist whose Instagram handle was 'Metaverse' for almost a decade had her account disabled days after Facebook announced its name change to Meta, it has emerged.

Australian Thea-Mai Bauman created the account in 2012 to document her life studying fine art in Brisbane, as well as her trips to Shanghai, where she built an augmented reality firm called Metaverse Makeovers.

She used the handle @metaverse alongside her creative work and had fewer than 1,000 followers when Instagram's parent company, Facebook, announced at the end of October that it was changing its name to Meta.

Artist Thea-Mai Bauman, whose Instagram handle was 'Metaverse' for almost a decade, had her account disabled days after Facebook announced its name change to Meta, it has emerged

Five days later, and having received messages from strangers offering to buy her Instagram handle, as well as one saying: 'fb isn't gonna buy it, they're gonna take it', Bauman found that her account had been disabled.

A message on the screen read: 'Your account has been blocked for pretending to be someone else'.

'This account is a decade of my life and work. I didn't want my contribution to the metaverse to be wiped from the internet,' Baumann told the New York Times.

Facebook rebranded its parent company in October and now goes by the name Meta.

Meta refers to the 'metaverse', CEO Mark Zuckerberg's vision for the company's transition into shared augmented reality, where users work and play in virtual world environments.

The announcement was made as Zuckerberg tried to distance the social media behemoth from mounting scandals after leaked whistleblower documents claimed its platforms harmed users and stoked anger.

But Baumann's treatment has further enraged critics, some of whom said it illustrated the power and control Meta wields over individual user accounts with its various policies and algorithms.

'Facebook has essentially unfettered discretion to appropriate people's Instagram user names,' Rebecca Giblin, director of the Intellectual Property Research Institute of Australia at the University of Melbourne, told the New York Times.

Bauman (pictured) used the handle @metaverse and had fewer than 1,000 followers when Facebook announced at the end of October that it was changing its name to Meta

She added that 'the @metaverse example highlights the breadth of this power' and that under Facebook's policies, users 'essentially have no rights'.

Baumann's account was finally restored a month after she first appealed to Instagram.

A spokesman for the social media giant said it had been 'incorrectly removed for impersonation', adding: 'We're sorry this error occurred'.

No explanation was given as to why it had been flagged for impersonation.

Instagram also refused to answer further questions about whether it was disabled because the account was linked to Facebook's rebranding.
Passengers on two Virgin Australia flights in Queensland will be spending their Christmas holidays in self-isolation, after two planes were declared high risk Covid exposure sites.

Monday's Virgin Australia flight VA1105 from Newcastle to Brisbane was declared a close contact exposure site by Queensland Health, just hours after the state's hard border with New South Wales finally came down.

An infectious person then flew on a connecting flight from Brisbane to Townsville onboard flight VA375.

All passengers on both flights have been deemed close contacts and their mandatory 14 day isolation period in Queensland will see them spend their Christmas holidays locked away.

Monday's Virgin Australia flight 1105 was declared a close contact exposure site by Queensland Health on Tuesday (stock image)

Parts of Brisbane Airport and a connecting flight to Townsville have also been listed as Covid exposure sites as information indicates an infectious person flew directly from Newcastle to Townsville onboard the flight VA375

Anyone at Brisbane Airport's domestic departures terminal on Monday December 13 from 12.15pm to 2.05pm is a casual contact and should monitor for symptoms.

The case, which comes just a day after Queensland opened its borders to New South Wales, is believed to be linked to the cluster emerging from a Newcastle nightclub.

NSW authorities alleged a person on board an infected Sydney Harbour party boat broke quarantine orders to attend the club, where around 200 people caught the virus.

The Sydney Harbour Friday-night cruise was listed as an exposure site after it was revealed an attendee was infected with the 'super-spreader' Covid variant Omicron.

It is alleged that one of those attendees, who was meant to be in isolation, breached quarantine on December 8 to attend Argyle House nightclub in Newcastle.

All passengers on both flights have been deemed close contacts and will need to spend their Christmas holidays in self-isolation

Argyle House nightclub is now at the centre of an outbreak where testing is underway to see if Omicron is present.

NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard said almost a third of the nightclub attendees have tested positive to Covid.

'What we do know is that out of the 650 to 680 people, there are now more than 200 patrons positive who have COVID-19,' he said.

Queensland has confirmed one new Omicron case but the person has been in quarantine after they travelled from Kenya.
Incredible footage taken from the cockpit of a plane at 45,000ft shows the towering supercell that led to the tornado that has killed 88 people in the US.

The video, captured by a pilot flying above Memphis, Tennessee, shows lightning illuminating the huge storm cloud as it gathered Friday.

The tornado went on to tear a 200-mile path through six states in the Midwest and South, demolishing homes, leveling businesses and setting off a scramble to find survivors beneath the rubble.

Incredible footage taken from the cockpit of a plane at 45,000ft shows the towering supercell that led to the tornado that has killed 88 people in the US

The pilot was flying cross country at a high altitude to avoid the significant weather impacts near the Mississippi River Region when he captured the footage.

The top of the cloud was right in front of the cockpit in the awe-inspiring footage which reveals the magnitude of the storm.

Supercells are colossal storm systems caused by mesocyclones, rotating updrafts that can span several miles and deliver torrential rain and high winds including tornadoes.

Kentucky bore the brunt of the latest devastation with 74 confirmed deaths after it was struck by 30 tornadoes that ripped across the Midwest, killing another 14 people in Illinois, Tennessee, Arkansas and Missouri.

The video, captured by a pilot flying above Memphis, Tennessee, shows lightning illuminating the huge storm cloud as it gathered Friday

Brick houses in Cambridge Shores, Kentucky, were torn down during the huge storms that caused devastation across the Midwest, killing dozens

Many homes were destroyed in the tornado with roofs and balconies ripped off during the freak weather in Cambridge Shores

The storm destroyed thousands of buildings in Mayfield as it passed through Kentucky Friday night

They left a trail of wreckage in its wake that stretched from Arkansas, where a nursing home was destroyed, to Illinois, where an Amazon distribution center was heavily damaged.

In Kentucky, Gov. Andy Beshear said the death toll could grow as authorities continued to work around debris that slowed recovery efforts.

Nearly 450 National Guard members have been mobilized in the state, and 95 of them are searching for those presumed dead.

Across the state, about 26,000 homes and businesses were without electricity, according to poweroutage.us, including nearly all of those in Mayfield.

More than 10,000 homes and businesses had no water as of Monday, and another 17,000 are under boil-water advisories, Kentucky Emergency Management Director Michael Dossett told reporters.

Cambridge Shores was one of the worst hit areas in all of Kentucky, and some residents are still unaccounted for as rescue workers comb through the leveled terrain

Heavy damage is seen after a tornado swept through Cambridge Shores in Gilbertsville, Kentucky, with debris strewn across the area

The state was by far the worst struck on Friday night by 30 tornadoes that ripped across the Midwest, killing another 14 people in Illinois, Tennessee, Arkansas and Missouri.

Many residents' personal belongings were blown up to 130 miles away, and now people are reuniting devastated families who lost everything with pieces of their lives that turned up in unusual places.

Midwesterners have taken to social media to locate the owners of pictures, Bibles, baby quilts, Christmas ornaments and other keepsakes after deadly tornadoes swept across six states this weekend.

A Facebook group, Quad State Tornado Found Items, is flooded with posts detailing items - and even pets - that people have found. In many cases, the owners lived 100 miles away from where their belongings ended up.

A black and white photo of a woman in a striped sundress and headscarf holding a little boy on her lap traveled almost 130 miles in winds that reached up to 140 miles per hour in the storm.
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This heartbreaking photograph shows a family of six giraffes lying dead after they got stuck in the mud in Kenya, as experts warn the drought being experienced by the African country could kill 4,000 of the animals.

Pictures of the animals lying together lifeless on the dry, orange earth were taken on Friday in the Sabuli Wildlife Conservancy in Wajir. It is believed they got stuck in the mud when they attempted to drink from a nearby reservoir, which had almost dried up.

The corpses of the animals - classified as a vulnerable species - are seen lying on their sides sprawled out across the earth. One of the animal's long necks stretches backwards, its head resting on another giraffe.

This heartbreaking photograph shows a family of six giraffes lying dead after they got stuck in the mud in Kenya, as experts warn the drought being experienced by the African country could kill 4,000 of the animals

The giraffes, weak from lack of food and water, died after they got stuck in mud as they tired to drink from a nearly dried up reservoir nearby. The corpses of the animals - classified as a vulnerable species - are seen lying on their sides sprawled out across the earth. One of the animal's long necks stretches backwards, its head resting on another giraffe

A giraffe lies dead in the road on December 9, 2021 in Wajir County, Kenya. A prolonged drought in the country's north east has created food and water shortages, pushing pastoralist communities and their livestock to the brink

It is clear from the photo taken - from above the scene - that the giraffes died some time ago, their bodies showing signs of decomposition. They were moved to the location in Sabuli, in Kenya's north east, to prevent contamination to the reservoir water.

The giraffes were already weak from starvation and from a lack of drinking water caused by the severe drought in the region, which received less than a third of its usual rainfall in September.

Food and water shortages as a result of the lack of rain have affected animals and people alike, with Kenyan newspaper The Star reporting that 4,000 giraffes in the nearby Garissa county risk death as a result.

According to experts, wild animals have suffered the worst from the devastating drought. Ibrahim Ali, a worker at the Bour-Algi giraffe sanctuary, said the drought has made the situation worse for many animals.

'Domesticated animals were being assisted but not wildlife, and now they are suffering,' he told The Star, saying that farming along the rivers was blocking animals - such as giraffes - from being able to get to the water to drink.

He said that there is an urgent need to open areas up so that wildlife could access more water.

According to the first ever national wildlife census, released in August, Kenya has a total giraffe population of 34,240, made up of three species of the animal. These include the Maasai giraffe, reticulated giraffe and the Nubian giraffe. Giarffes are classified as a vulnerable species.

The drought was declared a national disaster by Kenya's president Uhuru Kenyatta in September. It is estimated that more than two million Kenyans risk starvation because the drought, that is affecting half the country.

It is clear from the photo taken from above that the giraffes died some time ago, their bodies showing signs of decomposition. They were moved to the location in Sabuli, in Kenya's north east, to prevent contamination to the reservoir water

In this aerial view, a giraffe lies dead in the road near Matanaha village on December 9, 2021 in Wajir County, Kenya

Assistant chief of Eyrib village, Abdi Karim, looks at the bodies of six giraffes that lie on the outskirts of Eyrib village in Sabuli Wildlife Conservancy on December 10, 2021 in Wajir County, Kenya

Many parts of Kenya are in 'urgent need' of food aid, Kenya's National Drought Management Authority has said.

Kenya and other parts of East Africa have battled some of the worst locust plagues in decades this year, with the insects destroying crops and grazing grounds. Scientists say that unusual weather patterns exacerbated by climate change created ideal conditions for insects to thrive.

Experts warn that such climate shocks will become more common across Africa, which contributes the least to global warming, but will suffer from it most.

'We do not have a spare planet in which we will seek refuge once we have succeeded in destroying this one,' the executive director of East Africas Intergovernmental Authority on Development, Workneh Gebeyehu, said last month while opening a regional early warning climate centre in Kenyas capital, Nairobi.

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta agreed.

'Africa, while currently responsible for a negligible amount of total global greenhouse gas emissions, is under significant threat from climate change,' he said at the centers opening. The continent is responsible for just 4% of global emissions.

Kenyatta was among the African leaders speaking at the global climate summit as they urged more attention and billions of dollars in financial support for the Africa.

Rangers from the Sabuli Wildlife Conservancy supply water from a tanker for wild animals in the conservancy in Wajir County, Kenya Tuesday, Oct. 26, 2021
Pfizer's breakthrough at-home Covid pill should still work against Omicron, the drug giant insisted today.

Laboratory tests suggested the twice-a-day antiviral, called Paxlovid, will still offer a robust response against the variant.

The company also released final trial data for its medication, saying it cuts the risk of vulnerable adults being hospitalised or dying by up to 90 per cent.

The results  taken from a study of 2,200 at-risk adults  are in line with Pfizers initial findings, which saw doctors call it a potential game-changer in the fight against Covid.

The maker of a rival antiviral pill molnupiravir, the only at-home pill approved by the UK's medicines regulator, was forced to revise down the efficacy rate for its drug, prompting fears early Pfizer results were also overly optimistic.

Molnupiravir, made by US-based Merck and Ridgeback, will only be given to older and at-risk people within 48 hours of catching the virus as part of a pilot that is expected to launch by the end of the year.

Separate results showed Pfizer's Paxlovid also worked on healthy unvaccinated adults, slashing their odds of severe illness by 70 per cent if taken within a few days of testing positive.

Pfizer's chief executive Dr Albert Bourla said the emergence of Omicron has exacerbated the need for accessible treatment options for those who contract the virus.

He added that the pill, which the UK has bought 250,000 doses of, could be a critical tool to help quell the pandemic.

Meanwhile, Mikael Dolsten, the company's chief scientific officer, said the results were 'stunning'.

Pfizer's drug won't be supplied to Britain until the start of next year, pending approval.

It comes as the daily Covid figures show around 50,000 Britons are testing positive per day, but experts estimate as many as 200,000 became infected with the mutant strain.

The UK Health Security Agency confirmed 4,713 Omicron infections across the UK as of yesterday. At least 10 patients have been hospitalised and one has died.

Pfizer said that its Covid pill, called Paxlovid (pictured), is up to 89 per cent effective at preventing hospitalisations and deaths when taken within the first few days of Covid symptoms

HOW DOES PFIZER'S PILL WORK? What is it? Pfizer's drug is part of a class known as protease inhibitors. It is designed to block an enzyme the coronavirus needs in order to multiply. Like protease inhibitors used to treat HIV, it is given in combination with other antivirals. How effective is it? A recent trial of the pill in more than 2,200 adults found that it cut hospitalisation and death rates by 89 per cent in people at high risk of a severe illness from Covid. It also cut the risk of being admitted to hospital and dying by 70 per cent among healthy unvaccinated people and vaccinated adults with one or more underlying illnesses. It should be given as soon as possible after catching Covid, ideally within three to five days. How much has the UK ordered? 250,000 courses Advertisement

Paxlovid is a protease inhibitor, which works by inhibiting an enzyme that the coronavirus uses to make copies of itself inside human cells.

Protease inhibitors have been effective at treating other viral pathogens such as HIV and hepatitis C virus, both on their own and in combination with other antivirals, the company said.

If approved, it would be given to patients at the first sign of Covid infection with the aim of reducing the risk of serious illness.

Pfizer trial of Paxlovid enrolled 2,246 at-risk adults by November 4, half of whom were given the pill within five days of their first Covid symptoms as part of phase two and three trials, while the remaining group received a placebo pill.

More than 40 per cent of participants were based in the US, while the rest were in Europe, Africa and Asia.

They found that the drug, which is taken orally every 12 hours for five days, significantly reduced the risk of hospitalisation or death by 89 per cent when taken within three days of symptoms, compared to the placebo group.

And the drug still cut the risk of being hospitalised or dying by 88 per cent when it was taken five days after symptom onset.

Pfizer said five patients who took Paxlovid within the three-day window were hospitalised, compared to 44 among the placebo group. And no deaths were recorded among those who took its drug in this timeframe, compared to nine fatalities in the other group.

Meanwhile, there were eight hospitalisations and no deaths among those who took the drug five days after their first Covid symptoms, compared to six hospitalisations and 12 deaths among the placebo group.

And the drug was the most effective among older groups, slashing the risk of hospitalisation or death by 94 per cent among the over-65s.

Pfizer also trialled the drug on 673 healthy unvaccinated adults, as well as vaccinated adults who had one or more risk factors, with the aim of alleviating all Covid symptoms for four days.

The pill did not prevent participants from feeling unwell, but the chance of being hospitalised from the virus was 70 per cent lower among the group and no deaths were recorded.

Paxlovid also slashed the viral load  the amount of virus detected in an infected individuals nose or throat swab  10-fold compared to the amount of virus detected in those who didnt take the drug.

And laboratory tests suggest the pill is expected to work against Omicron, because it doesn't target the virus's spike protein, which contains most of the new variant's mutations.

Dr Bourla, Pfizers chair and chief executive officer, said the results provide further evidence that its pill could have a meaningful impact on the lives of many if it is approved in the fight against the virus.

Emerging variants of concern, such as Omicron, have exacerbated the need for accessible treatment options for those who contract the virus and Pfizer is confident the pill could be a critical tool to help quell the pandemic, he said.

Dr Bourla added: The data further supports the efficacy of Paxlovid in reducing hospitalisation and death and show a substantial decrease in viral load.

This underscores the treatment candidates potential to save the lives of patients around the world.

The company said it shared its data with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as part of a rolling submission for emergency authorisation.

The FDA is expected to soon rule on whether to authorise Pfize's pill and a competing pill from Merck, which was submitted to regulators several weeks earlier and reduced hospitalisations and deaths by 30 per cent among at-risk adults.

If granted, the pills would be the first Covid treatments that Americans could pickup at a pharmacy and take at home.
Jetstar has launched a major Christmas sale offering half a million discounted fares to idyllic overseas destinations and holiday meccas across Australia.

The airline's seven-day sale kicks off on Wednesday, with domestic flights marked down to as low as $29 and international tickets starting from $109.

More than 500,000 discounted fares are up for grabs for travel from January 2022 - including to Hawaii, Fiji, Japan, and Thailand - and will be on sale until midnight on Tuesday December 21.

The prices on all 60 Jetstar domestic routes have been slashed to less than $100, while low fares are also available across 28 international routes.

Jetstar has launched a massive Christmas sale starting Wednesday, slashing prices on more than 500,000 fares. Pictured: South Sea Island, Mamanuca islands group, Fiji

Holiday seekers will be able to nab cheap flights to overseas destinations, including Hawaii (pictured), Thailand, and Singapore

The festive fares include flights from Sydney to the Sunshine Coast ($49), Melbourne to Ballina ($59), Cairns to Sydney ($85), and Brisbane to Perth ($99).

Holiday seekers can also nab a trip from Darwin to Singapore from $109, Melbourne to Phuket from $149, Sydney to Honolulu from $179, Sydney to Nadi in Fiji from $169, or Gold Coast to Tokyo from $199.

Travel dates vary per route, but include early January to early April and late April to mid July 2022.

And should customers be affected by changes to border restrictions, they will always be able to get a credit voucher to the value of their booking - or in some situations a refund.

Club Jetstar members will have access to even lower fares, but travellers can sign up to become a member when making a booking to unlock the exclusive deals.

The sale follows research conducted by Jetstar in Australia which revealed 87% of respondents plan to travel domestically within the next 12 months, with over half (56%) intending to visit Queensland.

Tickets for all 60 Jetstar domestic routes will be available for less than $100 for seven days. Pictured

Flights from Hobart or Melbourne to the Gold Coast (pictured) will be available from $45

Fares from Sydney to Whitsunday Coast (pictured) will be available from $69^ in the Christmas megasale

Seventy-two per cent of respondents said they plan to travel internationally within the next year, with the most popular Jetstar destinations being New Zealand (21%), Bali (21%) and Thailand (18%).

While the sale is scheduled for a week, it could end sooner if fares are sold out prior to 11.59pm AEDT next Tuesday.

Under Jetstars Fly Flexible policy, customers can change the date of their travel if their plans change - although a price difference may apply.

All passengers on Jetstar international flights (aged 12 years and older) will be required to by fully-vaccinated with a TGA-approved or recognised vaccine unless they have an exemption.
A waiter who worked at an iconic central London restaurant popular with celebrities suffered a broken ankle after a reveller knocked him to the floor with a 'leg sweep', a court has heard.

Bartlomiej Dyjak, 38, allegedly assaulted Le Caprice employee Elias Kidane outside Tramp private members' club in Mayfair during the early hours of New Year's Day last year.

He is standing trial at the Old Bailey charged with inflicting grievous bodily harm.

The court heard Mr Kidane had been celebrating with champagne after finishing a shift at the restaurant and has limited memory of his journey home.

He told the Old Bailey: 'We started drinking at around 12am. I was the last to leave at around 2am. We all drank champagne, everyone was drinking champagne in the restaurant.

Le Caprice in central London was popular among celebrities until it closed due to the coronavirus pandemic

The alleged assault took place outside Tramp private members' club (pictured). Bartlomiej Dyjak denies inflicting grievous bodily harm

I closed with my line manager and I asked him if he wanted to go somewhere else to drink.

Then I dont remember anything else, I think I wanted to go home.'

He told the court he walked past the private members' club to get to his bus stop - a walk he has completed 'thousands of times'.

However, he told the court he was confronted by two men before being 'attacked'.

He added: 'I got a flash of standing in front of two men and they were really tall, they were taller than me.

I dont know how but I got attacked, I felt a sweep, a leg sweep and I immediately fell on the floor. I still remember that time I was trying to get up and I couldnt get up.

I tried to get up and I heard voices, no one helped me at that time. There were other people laughing at the back. After that I lost my memory.

Princess Diana was a regular customer at Le Caprice, here pictured leaving the central London restaurant in January 1994

Le Caprice, a restaurant loved by royalty and the showbiz elite Le Caprice, in Piccadilly, London, closed in March 2020 after 38 years. It went onto become a haven for the stars, including Mick Jagger and Elizabeth Taylor, as well as royals like Princess Margaret and Princess Alexandra before being bought by its owner, businessman Richard Caring. Though there are 'early plans' to open the restaurant in a new location, they are thought to be at a preliminary stage. A spokesperson for Le Caprice told MailOnline: 'Le Caprice has occupied the current site for 38 years and now the lease is coming to an end. The iconic restaurant within the London dining scene will be reborn at a new location currently under negotiation. 'We thank our clientele for their loyalty and support over the years and assure them that they will be as excited as us with the new plans for this historic brand.' Advertisement

I woke up somewhere in a doorstep somewhere near the club. [It was] about 10am on New Years Day.

I was trying to get up and I saw my leg, it was extremely swollen, it was huge, it was like three legs. There was no one passing by, I couldnt ask for help or anything.

Mr Kidane made his way to Green Park station and took the Tube home.

Two days after the incident, he self-presented at St Thomas' Hospital, where he was told his right ankle was broken.

The Old Bailey heard a plate and five screws were placed in his ankle and it took two weeks before he could try to walk again.

Dyjak, of River Rise Close, Surrey Quays, southeast London, denies inflicting grievous bodily harm.

Le Caprice, beloved by Princess Diana and a host of A-list stars including Elton John and Tom Cruise, closed shortly after the coronavirus pandemic began in March last year.

The restaurant was initially opened in 1947 by Mario Gallati, a former maitre d' at The Ivy, who ran it until 1975.

It went on to become a haven for the stars, including Mick Jagger and Elizabeth Taylor, as well as royals like Princess Margaret and Princess Alexandra.

It was one of several exclusive London restaurants that did not be reopen post-lockdown.

When site did reopen briefly earlier this year, it was only as a training academy in response to staff shortages hitting the hospitality sector.

Though there are 'early plans' to open the restaurant in a new location, they are thought to be at a preliminary stage.

The trial continues.
A homeless man who raped a woman after he followed her into the restroom of a Seattle car dealership in 2018 has been sentenced to prison in connection with the chilling attack, after pleading guilty to the crime last month.

Christopher Teel, 27, received a sentence of 8.5 years to life from a King County judge Friday. He will serve eight and a half years minimum and then his sentence could be extended if a review board determines he might commit another sex offense, according to court documents.

Teel, whom investigators found had shown signs of mental illness when he was 19 or 20, was convicted of first-degree rape and unlawful imprisonment for the May 14, 2018, incident.

The victim, a 40-year-old woman who was not named in court documents, had dropped her vehicle off for service at Carter Motors in West Woodland and was waiting for a shuttle bus to drop her off at work, prosecutors said.

She then went to use the bathroom. Since the dealership was under renovation at the time, her only option was a portable unit outside the establishment, isolated at the end of a long ramp.

Teel, a hulking man who stands at 6-feet-3-inches tall and weighed about 250 pounds at the time of the 2018 attack, followed the woman into the restroom and forced open the stall door that separated him from the victim and grabbed her by the neck, court records show.

He then pulled her out of the stall, choked her and held her down on the floor while reportedly telling the victim, 'You want this, God wants this,' before he sexually assaulted her.

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Christopher Teel, 27, received a sentence of 8.5 years to life Friday after being convicted of first-degree rape and unlawful imprisonment for the 2018 incident

The incident occurred in a portable restroom outside this West Woodland car dealership, which was being renovated at the time

The woman punched and fought Teel for the duration of the attack, the charges state, and screamed for help.

'He was able to gain access to the stall - that's when he was able to grab me by my throat and my shoulder and he threw me down on the ground in front of the handicap stall and we fought for several minutes,' the woman told a documentary film producer about the attack later.

However, when the shuttle driver arrived at the dealership and couldn't find the woman, he started searching for her around the premises, when he heard her screams for help.

The man then sought help from at least one staffer, court documents further reveal, who convened outside the locked bathroom door.

Upon hearing bangs on the door, police say, Teel stood up, which enabled the woman to unlock the door.

After seeing the pair, a disheveled Teel and the woman, who was sobbing and visibly set, a dealership employee asked what was wrong, the charges say, with the woman responding that she had just been raped.

Court records state that Teel followed the woman into the restroom and forced open the stall door that separated him from the victim, grabbed her by the neck, and proceeded to rape her in the enclosed space

At that point, Teel tried to flee the scene, but was tackled by an employee and retrained until police arrived.

After apprehending Teel, one of the arresting officers later reported that the then 24 year old was ranting nonsensically as officers restrained and cuffed him, going on a diatribe about air being 'poisonous' while spouting other, similarly strange ravings, the initial criminal complaint against Teel, who is originally from Texas, revealed.

Police wrote in the report that nothing Teel said made sense, according to a pre-sentence report penned by one of his attorneys.

'By all accounts, Christopher is not a criminal mastermind and was likely experiencing a psychotic break the day he assaulted Ms. S. [the victim] as evidenced by various reports of his behavior that day,' a defense mitigation specialist wrote in the report.

Teel, who moved to Seattle from Texas in 2016, was just 24 years old and homeless at the time of the attack, court records show.

When questioned by police immediately after the incident, Teel admitted that he followed the woman into the restroom with the intent to sexually assault her.

He then tried to head-butt a detective during the session, court records show, and was recorded on video talking to himself.

Teel, who has been diagnosed with unspecified schizophrenic spectrum disorder or some other psychotic ailment following the incident, was found not competent to stand trial three times during the ensuing trial.

However, after a yearlong stay at Western State Hospital, Teel's competency was restored in 2019, after a psychiatric evaluation of the then 25-year-old issued found that he was capable of understanding the criminal charges that have been filed against him, his defense attorney, Sandro Parrotta, wrote in a pre-sentence report penned last week.

Following the 2019 evaluation, the examining psychologist discerned that Teel was potentially 'feigning' symptoms of a psychotic disorder.

DailyMail.com sent a request for comment to Parrotta's office regarding her client's sentencing Tuesday morning, but did not immediately hear back.

During his time in jail and at Western State, Teel intentionally severed a part of his finger on two separate occasions, by intentionally slamming it in a door.

He also lost more than 100 pounds, which concerned jail health staff, the report further states. It adds that the deterioration in Teel's mental and physical health during this span spurred doctors to forcibly inject him with antipsychotics.

According to the report, Teel has a family history of mental illness, and told police that was bullied as a child. Investigators found that he began showing signs of mental illness when he was 19 or 20.

During a hearing last year, Teel punched his court-appointed lawyer in the head, prompting police to wrestle him to the ground and the postponement of the proceeding.

Prior to the rape, Teel had no criminal history, court records show.
A medieval harness pendant that was found in Lincolnshire is the one millionth archaeological discovery made by members of the public since the Treasure Act came into force 25 years ago, a report reveals.

The copper-alloy pendant, which dates from between 1350 to 1400, was found in a Lincolnshire field in October and was revealed as the Portable Antiquities Scheme's annual report was launched at the British Museum.

The PAS was set up in 1997 and allowed Britons to document their finds in a central database.

A year earlier, the Treasure Act had come into force. Under the Act, finders of potential treasure are obligated to report their discoveries to the local coroner within a timeframe of 14 days.

Nearly 50,000 finds were recorded last year, according to the report.

Of those, more than 1,077 were treasure finds. However, the numbers are lower than previous years because the coronavirus lockdown limited opportunities for Britain's estimated 20,000 metal detectorists to scour their areas.

Speaking at the launch at the British Museum in London, Arts minister Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay thanked members of the public who waived their right to reward, allowing museums to acquire the valuable historical finds for free.

A medieval harness pendant that was found in Lincolnshire is the one millionth archaeological discovery made by members of the public since 1997, a report reveals. The copper-alloy pendant, which dates from between 1350 to 1400, was found in a Lincolnshire field in October

He said: 'Often people focus on the reward but the generous gesture of those who waive their right to reward, I would particularly like to thank those finders and landowners.'

WHEN IS A FIND CLASSED AS TREASURE? The following are Treasure by law in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, according to the British Museum: Any metallic object, other than a coin, that at least 10 per cent by weight of metal is precious metal and that it is at least 300 years old when found. If the object is of prehistoric date it will be Treasure provided any part of it is precious metal. Any group of two or more metallic objects of any composition of prehistoric date from the same find. Two or more coins from the same find provided they are at least 300 years old when found and contain 10 per cent gold or silver If the coins contain less than 10 per cent of gold or silver there must be at least ten of them. Only the following groups of coins will normally be regarded as coming from the same find: Hoards that have been deliberately hidden

Smaller groups of coins, such as the contents of purses, that may been dropped or lost

Votive or ritual deposits Any object, whatever it is made of, that is found in the same place as, or had previously been together with, another object that is Treasure. Any object that would previously have been treasure trove, but does not fall within the specific categories above. Only objects that are less than 300 years old, that are made substantially of gold or silver, that have been deliberately hidden with the intention of recovery and whose owners or heirs are unknown. SOURCE: British Museum Advertisement

Among the treasure found last year were nearly 1,000 gold Iron Age coins in Essex and a copper-alloy and silver early medieval disc brooch from Cheddar, Somerset, the report revealed.

The counties recording the most PAS finds in 2020 were East Yorkshire (5,584 finds), Norfolk (5,206) and Suffolk (4,048).

For the same year, the areas where most Treasure was reported were Norfolk (104 cases), Hampshire (71) and Suffolk (57).'

As of May this year, 54 parties 'waived' their right to reward meaning a museum could acquire the treasure at no expense.

These included a landowner who found a Bronze Age gold bracelet, from Brigg, north Lincolnshire, and a Roman gold jewellery fitting, from near Sandwich, Kent, where both the finder and the landowner waived their right to reward.

Just over 91 per cent of last year's finds were made by detectorists.

The most valuable discovery of the last 25 years was the Staffordshire Hoard, which is made up of Anglo-Saxon gold and silver and was first discovered in 2009.

So far, out of more than 1million artefacts which have now been documented by PAS, just over 16,000 have been classed as treasure.

During the launch, Lord Parkinson announced it was the 25th anniversary of the Treasure Act, calling it 'an exciting time for treasure.'

The report revealed that a medieval pendant became the one millionth archaeological discovery found by members of the public, to the 'delight' of the director of the British Museum.

Also launched today was the Treasure Annual Report for 2019.

British Museum director Hartwig Fischer said: 'I am delighted we have reached the milestone of one million records - each of these has been discovered by the public and logged on the PAS database.

'2020 was an incredibly challenging year for all of us, but the PAS, thanks to its online database, national partnership and the hard work of its staff, was able to adapt well in the circumstances - recording almost 50,000 finds including processing over 1,000 treasure cases.'

The number of discoveries made last year is lower than previous years because opportunities for metal detectorists - who made 91 per cent of the discoveries - to record their finds were limited due to lockdowns and the impact of the pandemic, the report revealed.

A silver seal matrix dating to the early 13th century inscribed with the name Matilda de Cornhill was discovered in Hollingbourne, Kent. It was found in June this year

Roman coins were found in three pots in Wickwar, Gloucestershire. Metal detectorists Mark Lovell and Mark Wilcox discovered the coins buried in the ground, with conservation work uncovering more than 6,500 coins dating back to the 4th century AD at this previously unknown Roman site

The counties recording the most PAS finds in 2020 were East Yorkshire (5,584 finds), Norfolk (5,206) and Suffolk (4,048). For the same year, the areas where most Treasure was reported were Norfolk (104 cases), Hampshire (71) and Suffolk (57)'

Another table showed how 2020's treasure haul was lower than last year but higher than in 2018

The finds also include a gold cross pendant with a runic inscription discovered in Berwick-upon-Tweed and Roman coins found in three pots in Wickwar, Gloucestershire.

Metal detectorists Mark Lovell and Mark Wilcox discovered the coins buried in the ground, with conservation work uncovering more than 6,500 coins dating back to the 4th century AD at this previously unknown Roman site, the report revealed.

Mr Wilcox, 56, told the PA news agency: 'It is the biggest find we ever had. We had seen some loose coins and then I lifted up a seven kilo pot but we did not know what was in the pot until we saw the X-ray.'

Lovell, 56, added: 'We were elated and shocked at the same time.'

A silver seal matrix dating to the early 13th century inscribed with the name Matilda de Cornhill was discovered in Hollingbourne, Kent.

The finds also include a gold cross pendant with a runic inscription discovered in Berwick-upon-Tweed. It is believed to date from between 700 and 900AD. It was found in June last year

It is thought to have belonged to the wife of Reginald de Cornhill, High Sheriff of Kent and Constable of Rochester Castle.

The PAS scheme is funded through the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport's grant-in-aid, managed by the British Museum and hosted through Amgueddfa Cymru, the National Museum Wales.

Michael Lewis, head of PAS and treasure at the British Museum, said: 'It is important to acknowledge the positive contribution made by metal detectorists and other public finders across the country.

'No matter how small, or fragmentary, the finds are all part of the great jigsaw puzzle of our past.'
NHS call handlers thought an 11-year-old girl who died after 'her lungs were filled by rat poison fumes' was suffering from food poisoning so didn't send an ambulance, a family member has claimed.

Fatiha Sabrin died following a 'chemical incident' at her home in Shadwell, east London, on Saturday, December 11 - the day after her birthday.

Nishat Tasnim Disha, Fatiha's mother's cousin, who is based in Seattle, Washington, said a 111 call handler thought the family, who were suffering from severe vomiting and diarrhea, had food poisoning.

It was only when a second call was made when Fatiha's mother was barely responsive that an ambulance was sent.

The schoolgirl was rushed to hospital along with her mother and brother, but she tragically died a short time later.

Ms Disha, who calls herself the children's aunt, told MyLondon: 'On Saturday morning, my nephew and niece both started vomiting severely along with diarrhoea. My cousin [Fatiha's mother] called the paramedics for help, but they couldn't figure out the reason for vomiting.'

Fatiha Sabrin (pictured) died following a 'chemical incident' at her home in Shadwell, east London, on Saturday, December 11, the day after her birthday. Fatiha received awards for her writing, pictured

Ms Disha claims the 111 staff initially thought the family were suffering from food poisoning, and as such the issue wasn't treated as an emergency.

However as the day went on, Fatiha's mother started to fall ill too and the conditions of her two children worsened.

'As the day passed, my cousin started to feel sick as well. After a while, she couldn't even open her eyes. She was unable to help her daughter and son,' Ms Disha said.

Ms Disha said when the paramedics arrived Fatiha didn't have a pulse.

'CPR and electric shock were given to bring back her pulse but nothing changed. She was brought to the hospital but couldn't be saved.

'After check-ups, the doctors found out that their lungs and stomach were filled with toxic gas.'

The schoolgirl was rushed to hospital. Pictured, police at the scene

Ms Disha said Fatiha's father was away from London on a trip during the incident.

Fatiha's mother is now 'better', althought is still in hospital, whilst Fatiha's brother 'recovered quickly' and is staying with family.

'I can't describe what the parents are going through,' Ms Disha said. 'Fatiha was such a brilliant and happy child, exceptionally kind and always curious to learn.

'I don't have words to say for such a tragic loss.'

Ms Disha described the 'unbearable pain' the family is currently going through, and added: 'There must be a proper investigation. We want to know how those toxic chemicals came into that building.'

Sabbir Ahmad, a family friend, said the girl's father Sahidul Islam has been stuck in an airport since the tragedy happened because he was in Bangladesh on a business trip.

Describing Fatiha, Mr Ahmad said: 'She was a very bright girl. She was in my home eight or nine days ago and were discussing her future plans.

'She was very responsive and told me she wanted to be a doctor, and wanted to make something very good of her life. She was also a great writer; she received awards for her writing skills.'

Fatiha's aunt Nishat Tasnim Disha, based in Seattle, Washington, has been in close contact with Fatiha's parents since the tragic event. Pictured, police cordoned off the block of flats

Mr Ahmad said his wife, who arrived at the flat and found the family in trouble, alerted the authorities and called an ambulance.

On Sunday local sources claimed the tragedy could have been caused by a powerful rat poison, according to The Sun.

At present it is still unclear where the substance that led to Fatiha's death was found, though Ms Disha believes the toxic chemicals 'contaminated the air of the whole apartment block'.

Other residents said they also experienced strange symptoms around the time Fatiha died.

Toni Santos Babi, a resident in the block, said: 'I and my flatmates smelled a strange smell in our flat, and I had a headache, and they had a cough and throat ache for the last two days.'

At present, Fatiha's death is being treated as unexplained and the Met said a special post-mortem examination will be scheduled in due course.

A sweep of the building was carried out by the London Fire Brigade and a quantity of chemicals  believed to be used for pest control  were discovered. Work is underway to remove the chemicals from the property, police said.

Detective Chief Superintendent Marcus Barnett, in charge of policing for Tower Hamlets and Hackney, said: 'Our thoughts remain first and foremost with Fatiha and her family. This is a tragic incident and we are doing everything we can to support them at this time and to understand what has happened.

'All other residents in the building were evacuated as a precaution and we understand that it is very distressing for them to be away from their homes. We are working closely with the local authority to ensure residents' needs are being met and to provide timely updates as to when they may be allowed back into their properties.'

Meanwhile, Fatiha's friends have been left 'devastated' by her death and leave an empty chair in the classroom as they grieve, the schoolgirl's teacher said.

Rena Begum, headteacher at Buttercup Primary in Shadwell, east London, where Fatiha was a pupil, said her classmates were 'struggling to cope' with Fatiha's death and were 'devastated by her empty seat' left in the classroom.

She told The Guardian: 'The children are struggling to cope. It is a real shock to them at their young age that suddenly someone is not there.'

Describing the schoolgirl as 'role model' who had 'strong dreams of wanting to help the community and becoming a medical professional', Ms Begum went on to say the primary school was now offering bereavement counselling for students.

The headteacher added: 'Her friends are devastated by her empty seat in class.

'There was a lot of confusion and tears, it was important for them to just let it out. We are giving them bereavement counselling.'

MailOnline has contacted Public Health England for comment.
Sajid Javid today confirmed all countries will be removed from the Government's international travel red list from 4am tomorrow because Omicron is already running rampant in the UK.

The Health Secretary told the House of Commons that the change has been made because there is domestic community transmission of the variant and it is also spreading 'widely across the world'.

As a result he said the red list is 'now less effective in slowing the incursion of Omicron from abroad' and hotel quarantine will therefore be shelved.

The 11 countries on the list are: Angola, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

The decision was hammered out at a meeting of the Cabinet's Covid-19 operations (Covid-O) committee.

The red list was reintroduced last month following the emergence of Omicron as ministers tried to prevent importing cases into the UK.

Despite the change on the red list, tougher travel testing rules introduced in response to the variant will remain in place.

Said Javid today confirmed all countries will be removed from the Government's international travel red list because Omicron is already running rampant in the UK

The 11 countries currently on the red list are: Angola, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe

Mr Javid told MPs this afternoon: 'Now that there is community transmission of Omicron in the UK and Omicron has spread so widely across the world, the travel red list is now less effective in slowing the incursion of Omicron from abroad.

'So I can announce today that whilst we will maintain our temporary testing measures for international travel, we will be removing all 11 countries from the travel red list, effective from 4am tomorrow morning.'

People arriving in the UK from red list countries must currently spend 11 nights in a quarantine hotel at a cost of 2,285 for solo travellers.

Removing all 11 countries from the list will mean that ministers will once again mothball the hotel quarantine system.

There had been a question over what would happen to the people who are currently in hotel quarantine after arriving from a banned nation in recent days.

Minister for the Cabinet Office Steve Barclay told MPs this evening that those people will be able to leave early and only those who test positive will have to stay in isolation.

Mr Barclay said: The Health Secretary has urgently considered the issue of releasing people from managed quarantine before they have completed the 10 day isolation the Governments decision is that we should permit early release of those people who went into managed quarantine before these changes to the red list and require them to follow the relevant rules as if they have arrived from a non-red list country.

Anyone who has tested positive will need to continue to stay in managed quarantine.

The minister said the change will be implemented 'as quickly as possible with further guidance for affected individuals due to be published 'imminently'.

Other rules introduced due to Omicron fears included requiring fully-vaccinated travellers entering the UK to take a pre-departure test, and to self-isolate until they receive a negative result from a post-arrival PCR test.

These rules will remain in place for the moment.

Tim Alderslade, chief executive of Airlines UK, which represents UK-registered carriers, said the decision to remove the countries from the red list 'makes complete sense but doesn't go nearly far enough'.

He said: 'If the red list isn't necessary given that Omicron is established here at home, then neither are the costly emergency testing and isolation measures imposed on even fully vaccinated travellers, which again put us completely at odds with the rest of Europe. It is testing that is the deterrent to travel, not the relatively limited red list.

'Government has admitted that the measures introduced are disastrous for the travel sector, and the science says they aren't now required.

'The Health Secretary says he wants to act quickly to remove unnecessary restrictions, and we implore him to make good on this by scrapping testing as soon as possible, otherwise the key Christmas and New Year booking period will be undermined.

'This is make or break for UK aviation and if Government is unable to row back from these restrictions over the New Year, it will need to step in with further economic support for a sector that again has been singled out.'

Airport Operators Association chief executive Karen Dee said: 'The removal of all the countries from the red list is a welcome recognition that these measures have little purpose when Omicron is rapidly becoming the dominant variant in the UK.

'It is difficult to understand why the UK and devolved governments did not recognise that the same logic applies to the blanket, expensive and burdensome testing regime.'

The issue was raised in the Commons yesterday as Labour former minister Ben Bradshaw called for the 'very draconian, costly and complex' travel rules to be axed.

In response, Mr Javid said: 'I think (Mr Bradshaw) makes a very good point, given that we already know that the Omicron variant is fast becoming the dominant variant in our capital city, spreading rapidly throughout the country, the justification for having those rules is minimised.

'It's something that I've already raised with my colleagues in the Department for Transport and I do hope that we can act quickly.'
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Omicron is causing milder disease than Delta in patients in the epicentre of the new Covid variant, the first major real-world study in South Africa confirmed today.

Officials who analysed 78,000 Omicron cases in the past month estimated the risk of hospitalisation was a fifth lower than with Delta and 29 per cent lower than the original virus.

As a crude rate, Omicron is currently leading to a third fewer hospital admissions than Delta did during its entire wave  38 admissions per 1,000 Omicron cases compared to 101 per 1,000 for Delta.

The findings lend weight to the theory that the ultra-infectious variant is weaker than previous strains, something which doctors on the ground in South Africa have been claiming for weeks.

But the reduction in severity is probably not solely down to Omicron being intrinsically milder, according to the South African Medical Research Council which led the analysis.

Around 70 per cent of South Africans have recovered from Covid already and 23 per cent are double-vaccinated, which has created high levels of immunity.

The finding will raise hopes that the UK's Omicron wave will be less severe than previous peaks, despite having an older and denser population. Unlike South Africa, the UK is rolling out booster jabs on a mass scale.

The study also found two doses of Pfizer's vaccine still provide 70 per cent protection against hospital admission or death from Omicron, compared to 93 per cent for Delta.

While this is more protection than many scientists initially feared, it still leaves 30 per cent of people vulnerable to severe Omicron disease, four times as many as Delta. Waning immunity from two Pfizer doses was found to offer just 33 per cent protection against Omicron infection, explaining why the country has seen a meteoric rise in case numbers.

Despite the optimism, No10 was warned today by chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty there will be a a 'significant increase in hospitalisations' from Omicron in the coming weeks. UK experts are concerned that different demographics in Britain make the country more susceptible to high infection numbers and hospital pressure.

Officials who looked at 78,000 Omicron cases in the past month found t he risk of hospitalisation was a fifth lower than with Delta (in green) and 29 per cent lower than the original virus (dark blue). Omicron is shown in brown and the original South African 'Beta' variant in light blue. Children appeared to have a 20 per cent higher risk of hospital admission with complications during the new wave than the initial outbreak, despite the numbers still being tiny

As a crude rate, Omicron is currently causing a third fewer hospital admissions than Delta did during its entire wave  38 admissions per 1,000 Omicron cases, compared to 101 per 1,000 for Delta

The study also found that two doses of Pfizer's vaccine still provides 70 per cent protection against hospital admission or death from Omicron, compared to 93 per cent for Delta

Waning immunity from two Pfizer doses was found to offer just 33 per cent protection against Omicron infection, explaining why the country has seen a meteoric rise in case numbers

Against Delta, two Pfizer jabs initially offer more than 80 per cent protection against symptomatic infection before falling to around 60 per cent within six months.

Today's study, co-run by private health insurance company Discovery Health, was based on more than 211,000 positive Covid test results from November 15 to December 7, 78,000 of which were attributed to Omicron.

Overall, four in 10 of those who tested positive had received two doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine.

Omicron becomes DOMINANT in London and city's hospital admissions have doubled The Omicron Covid variant is now dominant in London, public health chiefs warned today, barely two weeks after it was first detected in the country. Professor Kevin Fenton, the capital's director of public health, said early data suggested it was already behind one in every two of the city's infections. Nationally, it is behind one in every five cases but is expected to make up half before the New Year  a month after arriving on British shores. For comparison, it took Delta almost two months to take over from existing strains. Covid hospitalisations in the capital have surged 50 per cent in a fortnight, with admissions up from 91 to 140 on average by December 11, the latest available. Deaths are flat, but they are a lagging indicator because of the time taken for someone who catches the virus to get seriously unwell. The London mayor's office warned today it was 'better to act now' than wait before imposing additional measures, as Labour is expected to vote through Covid passports. They also welcomed the ramped up booster drive. It is a chilling reminder of last winter, when the capital was the first place to be effectively locked down in England because of runaway infections and hospitalisations. Boris Johnson yesterday refused three times to rule out another lockdown, after bringing back restrictions including face masks in public places, work from home guidance and new rules for vaccinated contacts of Covid cases in order to beat the variant. He has also ramped up the booster drive opening it to all over-18s. Advertisement

The 70 per cent protection from severe disease figure still puts two doses well above the World Health Organization's efficacy threshold of 50 per cent.

But the researchers said that efficacy was reduced further in older age groups, falling to just 59 per cent in the 70 to 79 bracket, for example.

That could be because older people were vaccinated first in the initial rollout and there has been more time for immunity to wane than in younger people.

Protection against admission was consistent across a range of chronic illnesses including diabetes, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, and other cardiovascular diseases, the study said.

Children appeared to have a 20 per cent higher risk of hospital admission with complications during the fourth wave than during the first, despite the numbers still being tiny.

'This is early data and requires careful follow up,' said Shirley Collie, chief health analytics actuary at Discovery Health.

She cautioned that children were still 51 per cent less likely to test positive during the Omicron wave and the risk for them remains low.

As a crude rate, Omicron is currently causing a third fewer hospital admissions than Delta did  38 admissions per 1,000 Omicron cases, compared to 101 per 1,000 for Delta.

However, South Africa is only a month into its Omicron outbreak and Covid admissions are steadily rising, with 422 admitted yesterday, a rise of 141 per cent compared to last week.

A total of 6,198 people are being treated for the virus now compared to the 5,562 who were in hospital on Sunday  the biggest single-day rise since the new variant took off.

Yet, despite the increasing case and hospital numbers, there were just 11 deaths attributed to Covid in the last 24 hours, up only marginally on last week.

Doctors in South Africa's Omicron ground zero maintain that Omicron patients are coming in with milder illness and being discharged quicker.

Official figures suggest the number of Covid hospital patients with severe illness is a third of the level at the same point in the country's Delta wave.

The South African doctor who first raised the alarm about Omicron last month endorsed the study today, telling MPs that it confirmed what doctors were seeing on the ground.

Dr Angelique Coetzee, chairwoman of the South African Medical Association, told the Commons Science and Technology Committee that 'we don't have all the answers' but the clinical picture so far is that people are mostly suffering mild illness from Omicron.

Dr Coetzee said some people are getting breakthrough infections if they are vaccinated or if they have had Covid before, but cases seemed to be milder, especially for the vaccinated.

'The breakthrough infections we are seeing are mild... (and) the symptoms we are seeing in (vaccinated) people are less severe or intense than in the unvaccinated,' she said.

'On a hospital level... between 88 per cent to 90 per cent (of people) are unvaccinated.'

She said that in hospitals it is hard to differentiate between those patients with the Delta variant and those with Omicron, but that intensive care units 'are still not overwhelmed'.

Dr Michael Head, senior research fellow in global health at the University of Southampton, said the analysis covers just three weeks of data and 'it is important to avoid inferring too much right now from any national scenario'.

Pfizer claims its at-home Covid pill STILL beats Omicron and cuts risk of dying/hospitalisation by up to 89% Pfizer's Covid pill slashes the risk of hospitalisation and death by up to 90 per cent and will work against Omicron, the vaccine maker claimed today. A study of more than 2,200 at-risk adults found the drug, called Paxlovid, reduced the risk of severe outcomes by 89 per cent. And a separate trial of the pill, which the UK has already ordered 250,000 doses of, on healthy unvaccinated adults found taking it within a few days of suffering Covid symptoms cuts the chance of being hospitalised by 70 per cent, Pfizer said. Meanwhile, laboratory tests suggest Paxlovid will still offer a 'robust' response against the Omicron variant, which is due to become dominant in the UK tomorrow. Pfizer's boss Dr Albert Bourla said the emergence of Omicron has exacerbated the need for accessible treatment options for those who contract the virus and the pill could be a critical tool to help quell the pandemic. The UK's medicines regulator has so far approved one at-home pill in the fight against Covid. But molnupiravir, made by US-based Merck and Ridgeback, will only be given to older and at-risk people within 48 hours of catching the virus as part of a pilot that is expected to launch by the end of the year. Advertisement

He added: 'For example, the narrative around South Africa is that Omicron may be much milder, whereas reports out of Denmark broadly suggests the opposite.

'This reflects the uncertainty of new data. Within that, factors include the different levels of exposure to Covid-19 and previous infection, levels of vaccination and potential waning of immunity, and also age ranges infected thus far.

'We know that Covid-19 is very adept at moving from younger to older populations within a few weeks.

'Is Omicron milder or more severe than Delta? Time will tell. The world's finest scientists, including many in the global south such as in South Africa, will find out.

'For now, national-level decision-makers have to consider that discretion is the better part of valour.'

Meanwhile, Professor Chris Whitty has warned ministers to brace for a 'significant increase in hospitalisations' from Omicron, as Downing Street insisted no further coronavirus restrictions are being planned.

England's chief medical officer also told a virtual Cabinet meeting on Tuesday that it is 'too early to say how severe' the strain is after early suggestions from South Africa that it could be relatively mild.

Boris Johnson also warned his ministers that he believes a 'huge spike' of cases of the variant will hit the nation, as he pressures Tory rebels to back his new Plan B restrictions during a Commons vote.

Downing Street did not reject a suggestion that new Omicron cases could hit a million per day next week based on a 'valid' estimate from the UK Health Security Agency that daily infections are currently around 200,000.

Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab insisted Plan B restrictions including mandatory mask=wearing and the use of Covid health certificates for large venues will be sufficient over Christmas, meaning families can 'spend it with loved ones'.

But the downbeat assessment from Prof Whitty delivered to the first Cabinet meeting not to take place in person for months will raise concerns that additional measures may be needed in the new year.

He told ministers he can not yet determine whether cases are plateauing in South Africa, where the strain was first identified, and said there is 'no reliable evidence' from the nation's scientists of a peak in case rates.

'He added that it remained too early to say how severe the Omicron variant was but that we can expect a significant increase in hospitalisations as cases increase,' according to No 10's account of the meeting.

Earlier, South African Medical Association chairwoman Dr Angelique Coetzee told MPs on the Science and Technology Committee that most cases of Omicron have been mild.

Downing Street gave its backing to the UK Health Security Agency estimate that there could already be around 200,000 cases of the rapidly-spreading strain in circulation.

'We think it is a valid figure which is recognising it is an estimate and models have wide ranges,' the Prime Minister's official spokesman said.

'It does provide an understanding of how quickly Omicron is transmitting, we expect it to become the dominant variant in London today.'

The spokesman did not reject a suggestion that by the middle of next week there could be a million Omicron infections a day, instead saying: 'Like I say, cases are increasing significantly.'

However, despite the figures, he insisted there are 'no plans' to move beyond Plan B restrictions, which are expected to be backed in Tuesday's Commons vote with Labour's support.

'We need to learn more about this variant on things like severity before we decide what  if any  action is required in the future,' he added.

Downing Street also insisted there is significant testing capacity after it emerged there are no available slots for PCR tests at walk-in or drive-through sites in some parts of England for people with coronavirus symptoms.

The spokesman insisted ministers are working with Royal Mail and Amazon to expand the number of delivery slots as lateral flow tests became unavailable to be ordered through the Government website for the second day running.

Ministers are pinning their hopes on Plan B and an acceleration of the booster programme to offer all adults in England a third vaccine dose by the end of December to contain Omicron.

Mr Raab told Times Radio that the target is 'demanding', but added that it will allow the nation to 'go into this Christmas with the ability to spend it with loved ones in a way that was impossible last year'.

But he did not rule out further measures being considered for Christmas or New Year, saying: 'These issues are always discussed but we have got Plan B, that's what we think is required over the Christmas period.'

Pressed if Christmas will be safe, Mr Raab replied: 'Yes, I think it is. I want to give that reassurance. I think people can look forward to spending Christmas with loved ones in a way that we couldn't last year.'

The assurance came as more than 70 backbench Tories threatened to defy the whips and oppose the Government's Plan B for England, in what would be the biggest rebellion against the Prime Minister since he entered No 10.

Confederation of British Industry (CBI) director-general Tony Danker said warnings from the Government are creating a 'chilling effect' on many sectors of the economy.

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'It seems to us that, whilst we have measures to keep the economy open, we have messages that have ended up closing much of it down.

'People should be worried enough to go and get a booster urgently, but not so worried to stop going to shops, restaurants or airports.

'That's what's not working, you have a double whammy for businesses in those sectors, hospitality, retail, leisure or travel, where demand is collapsing and there's no support to recover.'

NHS England said it experienced its busiest Monday for vaccinations since the rollout began, with 418,000 booster jabs delivered.
There is not an increased risk of heart inflammation from Pfizer's Covid vaccine in British adults and older teenagers, the world's biggest study into the issue suggests.

Analysis by the universities of Edinburgh and Oxford said myocarditis was occurring at a rate of three per million jabs administered in people aged 16 to 40.

They said this was not significantly different to the rate in the general population for the same age group.

Reports of myocarditis in young people and teenagers in other countries early in the rollout complicated the debate on whether British children should be jabbed. Data from Israel and US  where the dosage gap is only three weeks  suggested the condition was more common.

Experts believe Britain's 12-week spacing has cut the risk of myocarditis and helped keep numbers low.

Scientists described the data as 'reassuring' to young people. But because the data did not look at young people specifically, questions on incidence in teenagers unanswered.

All over-12s are now eligible for Pfizer's vaccine after the Government U-turned on the roll-out and signed off on jabs for children.

The Joint Committee for Vaccination and Immunisation  the independent group advising ministers on vaccine policy  is now locked in discussions on whether to recommend vaccines to children as young as five.

Professor Lim Wei Shen, chair of the panel, today hinted the decision will be made before Christmas.

Vaccinating young children still makes many scientists uneasy due to the tiny risk the virus poses to them.

No10's advisers were originally unconfident on approving them because the benefits did not clearly outweigh the risks, with youngsters unlikely to fall serious ill or die with the virus.

Researchers from the Universities of Edinburgh and Oxford found there were no cases of the ultrarare heart inflammation per million second doses of either Pfizer's (labelled BNT162b2 above) or AstraZeneca's (ChAdOx1) vaccines across all age groups. In under-40s, Pfizer's jab caused two excess admissions per million after first doses and three per million after second doses

Graph shows: Hospital admissions for myocarditis, pericarditis and cardiac arrhythmia from April 2019 to October 2021. Myocarditis admissions have been declining throughout 2021 and are not substantially higher than before the start of the vaccine rollout

The study, published in the journal Nature Medicine, looked at data for 38million people vaccinated from December 1 to August 24 this year. Of that, just over eight million were under 30.

Researchers calculated 'excess' myocarditis cases  those which would not have occurred without jabs or Covid infection  for each vaccine type.

Zero cases were found in people aged 16 to 40 who had AstraZeneca  although very few in the age group were given the company's vaccine.

Three excess cases per million were found in people who had a second dose of Pfizer's, while two were seen in those who had first dose from the company.

Moderna had a slightly higher incidence, rate, with eight cases per million first doses given out and 15 per million second doses.

Covid itself caused 10 excess cases of myocarditis per million infections  higher than both doses of Pfizer's and AstraZeneca's vaccines, but lower than in second doses of Moderna's vaccine.

Moderna's vaccine has been approved for use in 12- to 17-year-olds by the MHRA, which gives the final sign off to all drugs used in Britain.

But it is still not recommended by the JCVI, with only Pfizer's jabs being offered to the age group.

The researchers also showed men were at higher risk, confirming previous research. But it did not break down rates in younger adults.

Independent experts also believe the risk of myocarditis is lower in younger children than adolescents.

Pfizer's own study suggests unjabbed 12 to 15-year-olds are just three per cent more likely to catch Covid compared to fully vaccinated children earlier this week

What are the risks of Covid and vaccines to five-year-olds? Covid Most children only experience mild symptoms after being infected with Covid. Just one in 300,000 children who test positive for Covid die, according to UK Government data. And the risk of being hospitalised and getting admitted to ICU is similarly low. But the risk is higher to children with serious underlying conditions. The JCVI has yet to release its updated guidance on vaccinating children aged 11 and under. But its latest advice on recommending first jabs to over-12s suggested one Pfizer dose only prevents 131 hospital admissions per million 12-15-year-olds. And second doses only prevent nine hospital admissions for every million dished out to the age group. The figures are likely to be less for five- to eleven-year-old, who are less vulnerable to the virus. Vaccines Myocarditis  an ultrarare form of heart inflammation  is the main side effect of the Pfizer vaccine that concerns experts. Data shows the risk is slightly higher in adolescents than adults, particularly in boys. The JCVI has not released data on how many cases are expected in children aged five to 11 but studies show children in younger age groups are less at risk than teenagers. It found myocarditis cases in between 2.6 to 17.7 million first vaccine doses in children aged 12 to 15. And the condition was found in between 20.9 to 42.2 children in the age group per million second doses dished out. Advertisement

Study co-author Professor Aziz Sheikh, of the University of Edinburgh, said: 'Overall the message is that these risks are substantially higher in people who develop SARS-CoV-2.

'The numbers are very small  but I think overall these data are reassuring for young people as well.'

Professor Nicholas Mills, a consultant cardiologist at the university, added: 'We're not seeing any data here that would change the recommendation on vaccinating children.'

They said data on how the Omicron super mutant variant affects myocarditis risk is not yet available.

Dr Peter English, retired consultant in communicable disease control said: 'The take-home [is] if you don't want to get myocarditis or pericarditis, get vaccinated.

'If you don't get vaccinated, with ever more transmissible forms of SARS-CoV-2 virus spreading widely, it is only a matter of time before you get Covid and the risks if you do massively outweigh the risks of vaccination.'

Government advisors are currently in discussion about extending the roll-out to all over-fives by Christmas.

Other countries including the US and all EU member states have already done so.

Professor Lim told the Science and Technology committee of MPs today: 'We are discussing that at the moment.

'We're also waiting for the vaccines to be approved by MHRA.'

Chairman of the committee Greg Clark asked: 'So would you expect to make a decision before Christmas on that?'

Professor Lim added: 'I would expect so, we try and keep in step with the approval process.' But he did not provide a clearer time-frame.

Some experts have called for the rollout to be extended to the age group in order to fight off the impending wave of cases and hospitalisation caused by the Omicron strain.

SAGE adviser Professor John Edmunds, an epidemiologist at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, called for jabs for five to 11-year-olds 'as soon as possible'.

Cases have been highest in under-18s since early November, with more than 32,000 recorded per day last week compared to less than 2,000 in over-75s, according to ZOE data published today.

Speaking at Royal Society of Medicine event, Professor Edmunds said: 'We've, had a large number of cases over the last few months, and unfortunately high numbers of hospitalisations and 100 to 150 deaths a day.

'I'm not saying all of that has been driven by children, but much of it unfortunately has.

'So from taking a population perspective, I think it's it's pretty clear we do need to vaccinate our children as well as everybody else.'
A new Covid-19 case has been detected in Queensland linked to Brisbane and Townsville domestic airports and two Virgin flights, one from Newcastle where recent superspreading events are of serious concern.

The latest case of community transmission was confirmed in a tweet from Queensland Health on Tuesday night.

It followed confirmation earlier on Tuesday of four new cases, including one of the new variant Omicron, but all four were in home or hotel quarantine.

A new COVID-19 case has been detected in Queensland linked to Brisbane and Townsville domestic airports and two Virgin flights

One of the flights flew from Newcastle where recent superspreading events are of serious concern after they have been linked to a possible Omicron variant case (pictured, Brisbane Airport)

Queensland Health said the latest case was linked to Flight VA1105 from Newcastle to Brisbane and Flight VA375 from Brisbane to Townsville, both on Monday.

Passengers on the flights are considered close contacts and under health guidelines should get tested, self-isolate and contact health authorities.

Casual contacts at the two airports around the time of the flights should isolate until receiving a negative test.

NSW health authorities have identified superspreading events at a nightclub and a pub in Newcastle.

By Tuesday afternoon, more than 200 people out of 680 revellers at the Argyle House nightclub on Wednesday night had tested positive for the virus.

Of the new cases, 21 were identified as the Omicron variant.

Passengers on the flights are considered close contacts and under health guidelines should get tested, self-isolate and contact health authorities (pictured, Brisbane Airport on Tuesday)

Queensland Chief Health Officer John Gerrard said the state was 'not going to deviate' after reopening its borders

It is not known if the latest Queensland case is the Omicron variant.

But amid concerns about that variant, Queensland Chief Health Officer John Gerrard said the state was 'not going to deviate' after reopening its borders.

He said it was too early for cases to be rising in the state after quarantine was scrapped for vaccinated travellers from domestic hotspots on Monday.

Queensland's travel rules are also unlikely to be tightened because of Omicron, he said, as it is too soon to tell if the variant is causing a rise in hospitalisations globally.

'We're certainly watching that with with great interest, but we're not going to deviate from our current plan,' Dr Gerrard said.

Deputy Premier Steven Miles was confident cases would remain manageable over Christmas with restrictions such as localised lockdowns highly unlikely.

He said Monday's border opening had been timed for when the vast majority of Queenslanders have been vaccinated, which would ensure the festive season would pass without major outbreaks.

Queensland's travel rules are also unlikely to be tightened because of Omicron as it is too soon to tell if the variant is causing a rise in hospitalisations globally (pictured, border crossing at Coolangatta)

'The modelling suggests that even as cases start to arrive, they won't be reaching peak kind of levels until into March next year,' Mr Miles told reporters in Brisbane.

However, Dr Gerrard said as cases rise over coming months there was a chance an indoor mask mandate could return if there was evidence of widespread and sustained community transmission of the virus.

Meanwhile, as a vaccine mandate came into effect for Queensland's private hospitals, aged and disability care facilities on Wednesday, Dr Gerrard said he expected all health care workers to be double-dosed.

He said any remaining vaccine hesitancy among the state's residents had been 'melting away' in recent days.

Mr Miles said health providers would only have to check if people entering private facilities had a green tick on their check apps from Wednesday.

Deputy Premier Steven Miles (pictured) was confident cases would remain manageable over Christmas with restrictions such as localised lockdowns highly unlikely

He warned people visiting private health facilities to ensure they complied with the vaccine mandate.

'Any enforcement beyond that, that is the job of police and police have said that they take that job very seriously,' Mr Miles told reporters in Brisbane.

Meanwhile, unvaccinated people will be banned from attending most Queensland venues, including cafes, restaurants, nightclubs, stadiums and theme parks from Friday.

Dr Gerrard warned the venue mandate was here to stay.

'It's not fair on the vaccinated to ask them to make sacrifices for the very small number of people who have not become vaccinated.'

Overall 82.03 per cent of eligible Queenslanders are fully vaccinated and 88.61 per cent have had one dose.
A transient man from the San Francisco Bay Area has been sentenced to 20 years to life in prison after he admitted to murdering his girlfriend and then driving around with her decomposing body in her RV for three days before turning himself in.

Beau Paepke, 30, learned his fate on Friday at Santa Cruz County Superior Court, more than a month after he pleaded guilty to killing his girlfriend of five years, 33-year-old Rachel 'Elias' Meisenheimer.

Paepke, of Santa Cruz, suffocated and stabbed Meisenheimer to death inside her RV on June 28 - just three days after he was released from jail on a domestic violence charge filed by his girlfriend.

He surrendered to the police on July 1 and confessed to killing Meisenheimer. Sporting a fresh 'RIP' tattoo on his forehead, he told police he left the victim's body inside her RV parked near the Keiser Permanente Arena in Santa Cruz.

Bay Area transient Beau Paepke, 30 (left), has been sentenced to 20 years to life after pleading guilty to murdering his girlfriend, Rachel 'Elias' Meisenheimer, 33 (right), in late June

After the brutal murder, Paepke emptied out her bank account and released her beloved pet pit bull, Frankie, in a nearby park.

Paepke was arrested on charges of murder, violating a domestic violence order, violating parole and probation.

After his initial confession, Paepke had a change of heart and pleaded not guilty to killing his girlfriend.

Then in November, he pleaded guilty to the charges against him.

Paepke had a history of domestic violence targeting Meisenheimer and had spent more than three weeks in jail in June. Three days after regaining his freedom, he stabbed and suffocated the woman to death

Paepke is pictured with his girlfriend's pit bull, Frankie, whom he released in a park after her brutal murder

At his sentencing hearing on Friday, Paepke kept mum, but Meisenheimer's family delivered impassioned impact statements, arguing that their deceased loved one's tormentor deserved a harsher punishment than the one he received, reported Santa Cruz Sentinel.

'If it was up to me, hed be locked up for the rest of his life,' father Tim Meisenheimer said. 'They didnt give him enough time. I dont understand the justice system.'

Relatives and friends described Meisenheimer as a creative person who was an artist, a photographer, a goth model and an advocate for the homeless community.

Her mother, Monica Lennen, has revealed that Meisenheimer lived in her RV, struggled with drug addiction, and had lost her daughter, Mercy, to a still birth in October 2020.

Meisenheimer was described by loved ones as an artist, a photographer, a goth model and an advocate for the homeless community

The 33-year-old struggled with drug addiction and had lost her daughter to a stillbirth last year, but family say she was turning her life around before her killing

But in the months leading up to her death, Lennen said her daughter was turning her life around and had decided to leave Paepke after suffering abuse at his hands.

In early June, Meisenheimer went to the police and reported her boyfriend for domestic violence, which landed him in jail for just over three weeks.

Just three days before the killing, Paepke was released from jail after pleading no contest to a December 2019 felony assault great bodily injury involving his girlfriend.
A Florida man who faces more than five years in prison for attacking police officers with a pole, a wooden plank and a fire extinguisher during the January 6 riot blamed his actions on the 'tyrannical' lies of then-President Donald Trump.

Robert Scott Palmer, 54, of Largo, who gained infamy as 'FloridaFlagJacket,' pleaded guilty to assault charges in October for his role in the riot.

Palmer threw a wooden plank at officers and sprayed them with a fire extinguisher before throwing it at them. He then attacked another group of officers with a 4- to 5-foot pole before cops fired a non-lethal projectile that hit him in the stomach.

Federal prosecutors urged a judge to give him 63 months in prison when he is sentenced on Friday, but his lawyer is seeking just two years behind bars.

Palmer, who claimed he had been shot with rubber bullets 'just for yelling at the [cops],' has now said he realizes that Trump was lying about the election result and offered his 'most sincere and deepest apologies.'

'Little did I realize that they were the tyrannical ones desperate to hold on to power at any cost,' he wrote in a letter to US District Judge Tanya Chutkan ahead of his sentencing.

Robert Scott Palmer, 54, of Largo, pleaded guilty to assault charges in October for his role in the coup. His official sentencing hearing is scheduled for Friday, December 17

Palmer threw a wooden plank at officers and sprayed them with a fire extinguisher before throwing it as well as he looked around for other items to assault police with, a DOJ memo said. He reportedly attacked another group of officers with a 4-5 feet pole, before being fired a non-lethal projectile that hit him in the stomach

'Attempting to portray himself as the victim, rather than the aggressor, Palmer pointed at his abdomen, shouting, ''This is the United States. This is what our country is doing to its citizens,''' a DOJ memo stated

Excerpt of 'FloridaFlagJacket's 'regretful' letter to Judge ahead of his sentencing Friday Dear Judge Chutkan, My name is Robert Palmer and I appeared before you on the 4th of October. I am one of the Capitol riot people. A lot, if not most of the defendants I have been incarcerated with, would object to me saying that we were rioting. To be quite honest with your honor if asked about it when it first happened in January. I would have been able to be counted in that group. I have since then I realized that we, meaning true supporters, were lied to by those that at the time had great power, meaning the then-sitting president, as well as those acting on his behalf. They kept spitting out the false narrative about a stolen election and how it was 'our duty' to stand up to tyranny. 'Little did I realize that they were the tyrannical ones desperate to hold on to power at any cost even by creating the chaos they knew would happen with such rhetoric. For listening it then your honor let me offer please and I can only hope and pray it is accepted by this honorable count my most sincere and deepest apologies. I believe the apologies should go in this order. First, to the brave men and women of the DC police force, Capitol police force and the national guard, and any other law enforcement agency who stood protecting the Capitol from the angry mob, and no one should question that it indeed was a mob... Source: Huffpost Advertisement

'Trump supporters were lied to by those that at the time had great power, meaning the then-sitting president, as well as those acting on his behalf.'

'They kept spitting out the false narrative about a stolen election and how it was 'our duty' to stand up to tyranny,' he added in the letter, which was obtained by the Huffpost.

His letter of apology is an about-face from his Facebook posts before and after the riot.

'In the event of a Civil War, I'm not afraid of the 81 Million Biden Voters,' he posted on Jan. 12. 'Half are dead and don't exist!'

No police officers were injured by Palmer, but the DOJ wants him locked up for more than five years because his actions were intended to cause 'serious bodily injury.'

Palmer is one of at least 185 people charged with assaulting or impeding police on January 6 as throngs of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol in a failed bid to stop Congress from certifying Joe Biden's presidential election victory.

'QAnon Shaman' Jacob Chansley and Scott Fairlamb have so far received the longest prison time - with both given 41 months - of the 45 people that have been sentenced.

Chutkan has been known to give out stiffer sentences to rioters than what has been requested by prosecutors.

'There have to be consequences for participating in an attempted violent overthrow of the government beyond sitting at home,' Chutkan said in October.

'The country is watching to see what the consequences are for something that has not ever happened in the history of this country before,' she added.

Palmer traveled to DC from his home near Tampa before taking part in the riot.

He had attended Trump's rally and made his way to the Capitol wearing a 'Florida for Trump' hat and a jacket designed like the flag of the United States, earning him the nickname on social media of 'FloridaFlagJacket,' the DOJ said.

He could also be seen in pictures taken during the riot holding a 'Biden is a Pedophile' sign.

Prosecutors say Palmer threw the wooden plank at Capitol and Washington, DC police while they were protecting the lower West terrace entrance, and later sprayed a fire extinguisher at police officers until it was empty.

Robert Scott Palmer offered his 'most sincere and deepest apologies' for participating in January 6 riot at US Capitol

He blamed his action on lies told by then-President Donald Trump

Palmer's letter lawyers hope his apology will help reduce any prison time

He then threw the fire extinguisher at the officers.

After being hit by the police projectile, Palmer retreated and lay down on the West Plaza.

'Attempting to portray himself as the victim, rather than the aggressor, Palmer pointed at his abdomen, shouting, ''This is the United States. This is what our country is doing to its citizens,''' a DOJ memo stated.

When speaking to the media, in the aftermath of the riot, Palmer allegedly said that he had been shot with rubber bullets for yelling at them [officers]' and for 'nothing, absolutely, nothing.'

Palmer is one of at least 185 people charged with assaulting or impeding police on January 6, as throngs of Trump's supporters stormed the Capitol in a failed bid to stop Congress from certifying President Biden's election victory

When speaking to the media, in the aftermath of the coup, Palmer allegedly said that he had been shot with rubber bullets for yelling at them [officers]' and for 'nothing, absolutely, nothing'

Palmer, who runs a cleaning and restoration business, was first arrested in March and charged with assaulting, resisting and impeding officers, engaging in civil disorder, and entering restricted building or grounds.

Video in a tweet allegedly shows Palmer spraying and then throwing a fire extinguisher at a line of police officers and ultimately striking one of them.

On the day of the Capitol riots, he gave his own name and hometown to a reporter for an interview which was later posted to YouTube.

'I'm just going about it and letting them make the mistakes that they want and ruin the country as they want, and I'm just trying to live my life right now,' he said to HuffPost when the publication called for an interview.

'I'm just going to just leave it like that. I'm not getting myself any  not deeper, 'cause I didn't do anything wrong  but I'm not involving myself anymore.'

He could also be seen in pictures taken during the riot holding a 'Biden is a Pedophile,' sign

Palmer is one of more than 600 people facing charges in connection with the January 6 riots, but has been advised the longests entence yet by the DOJ

'I'm not, I'm not, I'm not, I'm not, I'm not saying anything  anything more. OK?' he said.

Palmer's name was already in the hands of the FBI after it received hundreds of thousands of tips about the Capitol attack and those who participated.

Palmer has a criminal record that includes being sentenced on charges of battery and felony fraud.

He was identified by an online sleuth who found him giving a livestream interview in which he gave out his name.

On Monday, the House Select Committee investigating the insurrection at the Capitol, voted 9-0 to recommend contempt charges against former White House chief of staff Meadows.

Former Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows went on Sean Hannity's Fox News show on Monday to say he was not surprised at the Jan. 6 committee's decision

Don Jr. and Fox host Laura Ingraham sent desperate messages to Meadows urging him to get a grip of the chaos at the Capitol

Rep. Liz Cheney, the select committee's vice chair, read a number of text messages from political and journalistic heavyweights which 'leave no doubt that the White House knew exactly what was happening here at the Capitol.'

'[President Trump] has got to condemn this sh*t ASAP. The Capitol police tweet is not enough,' Don Jr. texted Meadows.

Meadows replied to the president's son: 'I'm pushing it hard, I agree.'

'Donald Trump Jr. texted again and again urging action by the president, 'We need an Oval Office address. He needs to lead now. It has gone too far and gotten out of hand,'' Cheney told the committee.

Laura Ingraham messaged: 'Mark, the president needs to tell people in the capitol to go home, this is hurting all of us. He is destroying his legacy.'

'Please get him on TV. Destroying everything you have accomplished,' Brian Kilmeade wrote to Meadows.

Sean Hannity advised: 'Can he make a statement? Ask people to leave the capitol.'

Meadows has continued to defend Trump, including in his new book, The Chief's Chief, released last week.

The former congressman wrote that Trump would have taken the law into his own hands to fight off Black Lives Matter protesters trying to enter the White House last year and 'knocked their heads in' if the Secret Service hadn't led him to a secure bunker instead.

'But he didn't have a choice. When it comes to the United States Secret Service, no one does. Either you do what they say, or they pick you up and make you do it.
Four organizers of the January 6 'Save America' rally are suing Verizon in an attempt to prevent the phone giant from handing over cell phone data to the House select committee on January 6.

Politico reported Monday that organizers Justin Caporale, Tim Unes, Megan Powers and Maggie Mulvaney filed a lawsuit arguing the committee doesn't have the proper authority to obtain the data.

The committee's subpoena to Verizon, which requests call, text and location information, 'lacks a lawful purpose and seeks to invade the plaintiffs' constitutional rights to privacy and to confidential political communications,' the lawsuit said.

Four organizers of the January 6 'Save America' rally are suing Verizon in an attempt to prevent the phone giant from handing over cell phone data to the House select committee on January 6

Justin Caporale (left), who was working for candidate Donald Trum at the time, was with Event Strategies Inc. on January 6 and was listed on the permit paperwork for the 'Save America' rally as the 'project manager'

Also suing: Megan Powers (left) of MPowers Consulting LLC, listed on the permit paperwork as 'Operations Manager for Scheduling and Guidance' and Maggie Mulvaney (right), described as the 'VIP lead.' Mulvaney is the niece of Trump's former acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney

The lawsuit comes as the House of Representatives is poised to vote Tuesday to hold former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows in contempt of Congress over his refusal to cooperate.

The individuals involved include Caporale, of Event Strategies Inc., listed on permit paperwork for the January 6 rally as a 'project manager,' Unes, the founder and president of Event Strategies, Inc., who was the rally's 'stage manager,' Powers, of MPowers Consulting LLC, listed on the permit paperwork as 'Operations Manager for Scheduling and Guidance' and Mulvaney, described as the 'VIP lead.'

Mulvaney is the niece of former President Donald Trump's acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney.

Unes was let go by the Elizabeth Dole Foundation after his ties to January 6 were discovered, The New York Times reported. He had been planning the memorial events for the late Sen. Bob Dole in Washington last week.

'The Plaintiffs are four private citizens who were not involved in any federal government activities or programs. They have only one apparent connection to the matter Congress claims to be investigating: They served as vendors to help staff a peaceful, lawful, orderly and patriotic assembly to promote First Amendment-protected speech,' the suit argued.

The lawsuit revealed that the plaintiffs sat for 'lengthy' interviews and provided 'thousands of documents to Congressional investigators.'

'The Plaintiffs answered every single question about what happened at the event, who spoke, who the Plaintiffs spoke with, and when,' the suit continued. 'If Congress wanted to know anything more about the Plaintiffs' brief involvement with the events it is allegedly investigating, it needed only have asked.'

The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court in New Jersey.

The January 6 committee voted Monday night to hold Trump's former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows in contempt of Congress, with the whole House vote expected on Tuesday

After Trump's speech at the 'Save America' rally, a crowd of his supporters rampaged the Capitol Building, holding up the certification process of President Joe Biden's win for several hours.

The committee voted Monday night to hold Meadows in contempt of Congress.

Meadows briefly planned to cooperate with the committee and had turned over a number of text messages to lawmakers - which they read in the run-up to the contempt vote.

They included messages from lawmakers, Fox News personalities and Donald Trump Jr, urging former President Donald Trump to call off the mob.

President Trump had appeared at the 'Save America' rally and told supporters, 'And after this, we're going to walk down, and I'll be there with you, we're going to walk down, we're going to walk down ... we're going to walk down to the Capitol, and we're going to cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women.'

'And we're probably not going to be cheering so much for some of them,' he added.

'Because you'll never take back our country with weakness. You have to show strength and you have to be strong,' he said.

Afterward, a crowd of his supporters rampaged the Capitol Building, holding up the certification process of President Joe Biden's win for several hours.
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The Biden administration is preparing for an explosion of Omicron cases that they believe will result in a flood of sick Americans going into the already overburdened hospital system.

'Everything points to a large wave. A large wave is coming,' a senior administration official in President Joe Biden's White House told Axios.

The official, however, expressed hope the cases wouldn't be as severe as previous COVID variants including Delta as the White House continues to push booster shots as the best protection.

'It will be fast. It won't be as severe, but regrettably, there will be plenty of hospitalizations,' the person said.

Omicron now makes up three per cent of all new US infections and has been detected in 33 U.S. states including Alaska and the District of Columbia, the CDC said on Tuesday. In New York and New Jersey, 13 percent of new cases have been caused by the new strain.

California brought back its mask mandate for all indoor places across the state on Monday, joining New York who did the same last week. In Philadelphia, residents must now show proof of vaccination to enter bars and restaurants, like in New York City.

The U.S. is currently averaging around 120,000 cases per day, a 49 percent increase over the past two weeks. Hospitalizations are rising as well, with an average 66,000 Americans receiving treatment every day, a 22 percent increase over the past two weeks.

Meanwhile, the total number of known coronavirus cases in the United States surpassed 50 million on Monday and the death toll is rapidly approaching more than 800,000.

And only 27 percent of those vaccinated have also received their booster shot, according to the CDC, which medical experts say can help ward off the new variant.

However, there have been increasing reasons for optimism in the face of the new strain, with the first real-world study in South Africa confirming Omicron is causing a third fewer hospitalizations than Delta.

The study also found two doses of Pfizer's vaccine provides 70 per cent protection against hospital admission or death from Omicron, compared to 93 per cent for Delta.

Pfizer also announced Tuesday morning that its new oral COVID-19 treatment could reduce hospitalizations and deaths caused by the Omicron variant by 90 percent.

Omicron is now in 33 U.S. states and the District of Columbia, including far off Alaska, as the mutant strain that has dominated the world in recent weeks continues its rampant spread across America

The Omicron COVID-19 variant (purple) now accounts for 3% of U.S. Covid cases, up from less than one percent last week. The Delta variant (orange) is still the nation's dominant strain, accounting for 97% of new cases, per CDC data

As of Monday, only 16 percent of Americans had received their COVID-19 booster shots, with no state having more than 30% of its population boosted

Pfizer claims its at-home Covid pill STILL beats Omicron and cuts risk of dying or being hospitalized by up to 89% Pfizer's Covid pill slashes the risk of hospitalisation and death by up to 90 per cent and will work against Omicron, the vaccine maker claimed today. A study of more than 2,200 at-risk adults found the drug, called Paxlovid, reduced the risk of severe outcomes by 89 per cent. And a separate trial of the pill, which the UK has already ordered 250,000 doses of, on healthy unvaccinated adults found taking it within a few days of suffering Covid symptoms cuts the chance of being hospitalised by 70 per cent, Pfizer said. Meanwhile, laboratory tests suggest Paxlovid will still offer a 'robust' response against the Omicron variant Pfizer's boss Dr Albert Bourla said the emergence of Omicron has exacerbated the need for accessible treatment options for those who contract the virus and the pill could be a critical tool to help quell the pandemic. Advertisement

Omicron has already become the dominant strain in London after South Africa first raised the alarm on November 24 and has prompted further restrictions and lockdowns in other parts of Europe.

All of this is even before the Omicron variant has truly landed in the U.S., as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) still reports that 97 percent of sequenced cases are of the Delta variant, though Omicron has quickly grown from an insignificant variant in sequencing to making up three percent of cases.

In Washington state, one of the first places Omicron was detected in the US, the variant is spreading rapidly.

Researchers at the University of Washington found that 13 percent of 217 positive COVID specimens collected on Wednesday had the omicron mutation. That was up from about 7 percent of samples they had tested from the day before, and 3 percent from the day before that.

Omicron was first detected in the state two weeks ago.

As the holiday season approaches - where more people travel and gather in large groups - some states are reimposing face masks requirements and gearing up for a spike in cases, particularly as the highly-transmissible omicron variant gains steam.

Dr Anthony Fauci has said preliminary data suggests the omicron strain is less deadly than delta, but also cautioned that it is too early to say for sure.

And the Delta variant continues to spread, especially in the Midwest, Southwest and New England regions of the United States.

California and New York are among the states reinstating mask mandates.

In California, where cases have spiked 47% since Thanksgiving, the statewide mandate will take effect Wednesday and last at least until Jan. 15.

'We know people are tired and hungry for normalcy,' California health agency secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly told reporters during a press briefing. 'Frankly, I am too. 'That said, this is a critical time where we have a tool that we know has worked and can work.'

In New York, with more than 10,500 new cases per day, the mandate took effect Monday and applies to all public spaces that have not implemented a vaccine requirement.

On Monday, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the UK had seen its first Omicron death and cases are also on the rise there.

'What we now know about Omicron is that ... it's spreading at a phenomenal rate, something that we've never seen before. It's doubling every two to three days in infections,' UK Health Secretary Sajid Javid told Britain's Sky News Monday. 'That means we're facing a tidal wave of infection. We're once again in a race between the vaccine and the virus.'

Early data on the Omicron variant shows that the strain can bypass a majority of the protection provided by the original Covid vaccine regimen.

If correct, it means that much of America is still at severe risk from the new strain, and the low booster rates leave much of the nation vulnerable to another large virus surge.

Only 27% of those vaccinated have also received their booster shot - above Boston Mayor Michelle Wu gets her booster shot last week

Good news at last! Omicron is causing up to a THIRD fewer hospitalizations than Delta and two Pfizer jabs still slash death risk of severe disease by 70%, major real-world South African study finds Omicron is causing milder disease than Delta in patients in the epicentre of the new Covid variant, the first major real-world study in South Africa confirmed today. Officials who analysed 78,000 Omicron cases in the past month estimated the risk of hospitalisation was a fifth lower than with Delta and 29 per cent lower than the original virus. As a crude rate, Omicron is currently leading to a third fewer hospital admissions than Delta did during its entire wave  38 admissions per 1,000 Omicron cases compared to 101 per 1,000 for Delta. The findings lend weight to the theory that the ultra-infectious variant is weaker than previous strains, something which doctors on the ground in South Africa have been claiming for weeks. But the reduction in severity is probably not solely down to Omicron being intrinsically milder, according to the South African Medical Research Council which led the analysis. Around 70 per cent of South Africans have recovered from Covid already and 23 per cent are double-vaccinated, which has created high levels of immunity. The study also found two doses of Pfizer's vaccine still provide 70 per cent protection against hospital admission or death from Omicron, compared to 93 per cent for Delta. While this is more protection than many scientists initially feared, it still leaves 30 per cent of people vulnerable to severe Omicron disease, four times as many as Delta. Waning immunity from two Pfizer doses was found to offer just 33 per cent protection against Omicron infection, explaining why the country has seen a meteoric rise in case numbers. Officials who looked at 78,000 Omicron cases in the past month found t he risk of hospitalisation was a fifth lower than with Delta (in green) and 29 per cent lower than the original virus (dark blue). Omicron is shown in brown and the original South African 'Beta' variant in light blue. Children appeared to have a 20 per cent higher risk of hospital admission with complications during the new wave than the initial outbreak, despite the numbers still being tiny As a crude rate, Omicron is currently causing a third fewer hospital admissions than Delta did during its entire wave  38 admissions per 1,000 Omicron cases, compared to 101 per 1,000 for Delta The study also found that two doses of Pfizer's vaccine still provides 70 per cent protection against hospital admission or death from Omicron, compared to 93 per cent for Delta Waning immunity from two Pfizer doses was found to offer just 33 per cent protection against Omicron infection, explaining why the country has seen a meteoric rise in case numbers Advertisement

However, a highly anticipated study of Pfizer's Covid pill confirmed that it helps stave off severe disease, the company announced on Tuesday, adding the pill worked against the omicron strain.

'We are confident that, if authorized or approved, this potential treatment could be a critical tool to help quell the pandemic,' Albert Bourla, Pfizer's chief executive, said in a statement.

Last month, Pfizer asked the Food and Drug Administration to authorize the pill, known as Paxlovid. That authorization is still pending.

Currently, the US is averaging nearly 1,300 COVID deaths every day, a 32% increase within the last two weeks.

Hospitalizations related to COVID are growing as well, with 65,000 people receiving treatment for more severe cases every day - a 23% increase of the last 14 days.

According to official CDC data, 72% of Americans have received at lease one dose of a COVID vaccine, while 60% are fully vaccinated.

It was exactly one year ago today, on Dec. 14, 2020, a nurse in Queens became the first American to receive the COVID vaccine outside of medical trials.
A Massachusetts high school and its local police department have launched an investigation into a troubling Instagram page that referred to black students as 'slaves.'

Fitchburg High School students said the offending page, 'fhsslaves,' was up for about 18 hours on Friday before it was taken down by its creator.

When administrators caught wind of the disturbing social media profile, the Fitchburg Public School District told parents in a statement, they reported it for hate speech within the Instagram app before filing a police report.

The page, which featured a 'variety of pictures' of black students was private - other users needed to 'friend' the account to view its content.

In an email to parents, high school Principal Jeremy Roche said that the account was not only 'wrong and divisive,' but also 'potentially a hate crime and illegal.'

More than 70 percent of the 1,200 students at the high school located about 50 miles west of Boston are non-white. Nearly half are Hispanic, 7.8 percent are black and 8 percent identify as mixed-race, according to US News.

Fitchburg High School students said the offending page, 'fhsslaves,' was up for about 18 hours on Friday before it was taken down by its creator

In an email to parents (pictured), high school Principal Jeremy Roche said that the account was not only 'wrong and divisive,' but also 'potentially a hate crime and illegal'

Emi Pasteorino (pictured), a 16-year-old student who saw the contents of the Instagram account and spoke to WHDH with his mother's permission, said that its creator 'made one post and then they deleted it later because it started to spread news'

Emi Pasteorino, a 16-year-old student who saw the contents of the Instagram account and spoke to WHDH with his mother's permission, said that its creator 'made one post and then they deleted it later because it started to spread news.'

'People were finding out and telling the teachers,' Pasteorino said.

'I don't think it was about targeting black people. I think it was just supposed to be a joke. Obviously, it wasn't a funny joke.'

Fitchburg senior Gabriel Luciano said the situation has left students feeling 'uncomfortable.'

'It's weird for you to just take pictures of people and post it and just say stuff about them.'

Kirsten Dame, another Fitchburg senior, said she saw the account in her friend suggestions on the Instagram app, and also noticed that the profile was quickly taken down.

'They're taking pictures of black people, posting them as slaves, and I'm like, OK Jesus. I don't know who would do that, but it's terrible,' Dame said.

Fitchburg senior Gabriel Luciano (pictured) said the situation has left students feeling 'uncomfortable'

Kirsten Dame (pictured), a Fitchburg High senior, said she saw the account in her friend suggestions on the Instagram app, and also noticed that the profile was quickly taken down

Superintendent Robert Jokela (pictured) said that the safety of students is 'paramount,' and that the district would not be releasing any further information about the offending social media page or its investigation

Other students worry that the now-deleted account and the national attention swirling around it will damage their school's reputation.

'I'm definitely upset for our school,' a student told WCVB. 'Now, this makes our school look bad and it's really not bad. we're actually a really great school.'

The account has since been removed from Instagram, and its precise content is unclear. The Fitchburg School District did not return DailyMail.com's requests for comment.

'This matter is being addressed currently and we are unable to comment further at this time,' wrote Superintendent Robert Jokela in a Monday notice on the Fitchburg Public School District's Facebook page.

'The privacy of our students is paramount.'

The Fitchburg Police Department confirmed that they are 'working closely with school officials on this issue' in a statement.

'Ultimately, these types of social media sites serve to divide and tear apart the positive, welcoming, inclusive school culture that we are working so hard to create here at FHS,' Principal Roche wrote in his email to parents on Friday.
Joe Biden faced another blow in the southern border crisis when an appeals court ruled Monday the administration cannot end the program requiring migrants to wait in Mexico while their asylum claims are processed in the U.S.

'[The Department of Homeland Security] claims the power to implement a massive policy reversal  affecting billions of dollars and countless people  simply by typing out a new Word document and posting it on the internet,' the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said in a Monday night ruling.

The 117-page opinion added: 'DHS has come nowhere close to shouldering its heavy burden to show that it can make law in a vacuum.'

Earlier in December, Biden was forced to restart the Migrant Protection Program (MPP)  more commonly referred to as the Remain in Mexico policy  after stopping it shortly after taking office in January.

Texas and Missouri sued the administration over Biden stopping the program and a federal judge ruled it had to be reinstated. In compliance with that order, the administration started sending asylum seekers back to Mexico last week.

Biden quickly re-issued a memo terminating MPP hoping it would overcome the legal challenges.

The conservative-leaning 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, however, was not convinced by the new memo and rejected the attempt to once again end the Remain in Mexico policy.

Migrants seeking asylum in the U.S. will need to wait in Mexico, a new court ruling reiterated on Monday as it upheld Trump-era Remain in Mexico policy. Here migrants rest in Mexico City on December 13 during their journey north to the U.S.

Joe Biden tried to stop the Migrant Protection Program in January, but a court ruled in early December it needed to be reinstated. A second attempt to issue a memo ending MPP was struck down by the 5th Circuit Court on Monday

The 2019 policy requires that migrants seeking asylum wait in Mexico for a court date rather than being allowed to wait in the U.S. Migrants requesting asylum could wait between weeks and years for a court date.

Migrants have continued to flood over the southern border in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic and Biden has struggled to quell the flow even when saying the border is 'closed.'

Since taking office, Customs and Border Protection has encountered more than 1.6 million migrants at the southern border.

Despite being at a loss for a solution to the southern border crisis, administration officials have slammed the MPP as 'flawed' as it remains one of the only policies that keeps illegal immigrants out of the U.S.

DHS said Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas believes the policy 'has endemic flaws, imposed unjustifiable human costs, pulled resources and personnel away from other priority efforts, and failed to address the root causes of irregular migration.'

Children get water and snacks in Mexico City on Monday as migrants continue their trek to seek asylum in the U.S.

Central American migrants flock to the Casa Peregrino in Mexico City on Wednesday. They will head to refugee support offices to try and obtain a permit to stay in Mexico longer after seeing difficulties of other migrants after entering the U.S. during the coronavirus pandemic

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki described the program earlier this month as 'deeply flawed.'

'We're working to implement [it] under the court order,' she added even as DHS was issuing a different memo to end the policy.

Meanwhile, Vice President Kamala Harris is looking to flood money into Central America in her most high profile role as 'border czar' where she is addressing the 'root causes' of the border crisis.

During Joe Biden's time in office, Customs and Border Protection has encountered more than $1.6 million migrants at the southern border with Mexico

Harris announced Monday $540 million in new private industry investments in the Northern Triangle.

The vice president attracted seven new companies and organizations to invest in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras in her effort to improve economic conditions and weed out corruption.

These new commitments include PepsiCo and PriceSmart. Some existing and expanded investments are coming from Mastercard, Microsoft and Nespresso.

In March, Biden tapped Harris as his 'border czar' to address one of the biggest issues facing the administration in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

The vice president's office quickly rebranded this position as addressing the 'root causes' of migration by improving conditions in Central American countries, rather than stopping the flow of illegal immigration once it reaches the southern border.
More than 60 people were killed when a fuel truck exploded in a street in Haiti's second-largest city Cap-Haitien during the night, the city mayor said on Tuesday.

As dozens of bodies lay near the explosion site, people in the area used buckets to scoop up fuel from the truck and the street to take back to their homes, Dave Larose, a civil engineer who works in Cap-Haitien, told the Associated Press.

'We have now counted 60 deaths,' Deputy Mayor Patrick Almonor said, adding that authorities were still searching for additional victims amid the charred debris.

Almonor earlier described a horrific scene at the blast site, saying he had seen more than 50 people "burned alive" and that it was "impossible to identify them."

According to Almonor, the truck is believed to have flipped over after the driver lost control while swerving to avoid a motorcycle taxi.

'It's horrible what happened,' he said. 'We lost so many lives.'

More than 50 people were killed when a fuel truck exploded in a street in Haiti's second-largest city Cap-Haitien during the night, the city mayor said on Tuesday. Pictured: Video showing the aftermath of the explosion, which cause a huge blaze

Pictured: A burnt fuel truck lies overturned next to a destroyed house after the truck exploded in a neighbourhood during the night, in Cap Haitien, Haiti December 14, 2021

People stand at the site of an explosion in Cap-Haitien, Haiti December 14, 2021. At least 50 people have been killed in the blast

Almonor said around 20 houses in the area were also set ablaze by the explosion, but that no details were yet available on possible victim numbers inside the homes.

Fuel spilled onto the road and pedestrians apparently rushed to collect the tanker's gas, which is in short supply as Haiti grapples with a severe fuel shortage caused by the tightening grip of criminal gangs on the capital Port-au-Prince.

The local hospital was stretched trying to treat the injured, Mayor Pierre Yvrose told Reuters. The true total number of injured was still not known.

'We need human resources, and also material resources, namely, serum, gauze, and anything that can be used in case of serious burns,' Yvrose said.

'We don't have the ability to treat the number of seriously burned people,' a nurse told AFP. 'I'm afraid we won't be able to save them all,' she said.

The truck carrying gasoline overturned around midnight in the area of Sanmarie on the eastern end of Cap-Haitien, according to local media.

As rescue workers cleaned up in the aftermath of the explosion, bodies covered in white sheets lay on the ground before they were loaded on to trucks to be taken away.

The blast also damaged the fronts of houses and shops in the street and charred motorbikes and cars, Reuters journalists said.

Residents stand at their homes damaged by a gasoline truck that overturned and exploded in Cap-Hatien, Haiti, Tuesday, December 14, 2021

Police and firefighters cover up the bodies of people who were killed after a fuel truck exploded in a neighbourhood during the night, in Cap Haitien, Haiti December 14, 2021

A firefighter stands next to the remains of a truck that was carrying gasoline and overturned in Cap-Hatien, Haiti, Tuesday, December 14, 2021. The truck exploded, engulfing cars and homes in flames, killing more than 60 people and injuring dozens of others

Deputy Mayor Patrick Almonor, who visited the site of the blast (pictured on Tuesday), said he had seen more than 50 badly burned bodies, while Prime Minister Ariel Henry had estimated the death toll at around 40 in an earlier tweet

'I learned, with desolation and emotion, the sad news of the explosion, last night, in Cap-Haitien, of a tanker truck which transported gasoline,' Prime Minister Ariel Henry wrote on Twitter.

The government declared three days of mourning for the dead. Henry promised field hospitals would be rapidly deployed to help care for the blast victims.

'Three days of national mourning will be decreed throughout the land, in memory of the victims of this tragedy which has devastated the whole Haitian nation,' he said.

The United Nations office in Haiti said it stood ready to help the national authorities in its response, and offered its condolences to the families of the victims.

The Caribbean nation has suffered from a wave of violence this year by gangs who for nearly a month prevented fuel trucks from loading at its main fuel ports, forcing many businesses to shut down. Fuel deliveries resumed last month.

Gangs have grown more powerful since the July assassination of President Jovenel Moise, which created a political vacuum and allowed criminal groups to expand their territory.

The Caribbean nation has never produced enough electricity to meet the needs of the whole population. Even in well-off parts of the capital, the state-run Haiti electric utility only provides, at most, a few hours of power a day.

Pictured: A street vendor pushes his wheelbarrow past burning barricades set up by protesters in reaction to rising fuel prices, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Friday, December 10, 2021

Those who can afford it rely on pricey generators, which are no help in the face of the severe fuel shortage caused by gangs blocking access to the country's oil terminals in the capital and its outskirts.

In recent months more than a dozen vehicles transporting fuel have been attacked by gangs demanding ransoms for the drivers' release.

Demonstrators took the streets as recently as Monday protesting the increase of the resulting rise in gasoline prices.

The lack of fuel is also damming up water access, in a country where many people rely on private companies to deliver water by truck to at-home systems.

And with no guarantee of steady power or water supply, health care providers have been forced to drastically cut back their services.

Haiti is also dealing with the aftermath of the assassination of President Jovenel Moise in July.

Cap-Haitien, located on the northern coast, is the country's second-largest city.
This is the last picture of a nine-year-old girl who was seen sheltering with her family 15 minutes before a tornado tore through their home and hurled them into a nearby field.

Annistyn Rackley, holding her favorite doll, smiles alongside her sisters Avalinn, seven, and Alanna, three, in the bathroom of the home the family had only moved into ten days ago.

Parents Meghan and Trey decided the windowless room offered the best protection as the storm barrelled towards Carruthers, Missouri, on Friday night.

The mom had sent the photo of the girls to her great-aunt Sandra Hooker to prove they were safe.

But 15 minutes later, a tornado tore the house apart, throwing the family through the air into an adjacent field where emergency responders found them lying in the mud.

Annistyn, a third-grader who loved swimming, dancing and cheerleading, was killed, one of 88 people who died as up to 30 tornadoes ripped across the Midwest, also striking Kentucky, Illinois, Tennessee and Arkansas.

Hooker, known as Aunt Sandy to the family, called Annistyn a 'special angel,' recalling her as outgoing and energetic despite a rare liver condition that required regular doctor's visits.

Annistyn Rackley, holding her favorite doll, smiles alongside her sisters Avalinn, seven, and Alanna, three, as they shelter in the bathroom of the home the family had only moved into ten days ago. Fifteen minutes after the picture was taken a tornado tore the house apart, throwing the family through the air into a nearby field where emergency responders found them in mud.

Parents Meghan and Trey Rackley with their daughters (from left) Annistyn, Avalinn and Alanna

The Rackley girls (from left) Avalinn, Alanna and Annistyn posing for a family Christmas photo

Annistyn poses in a recent family photo for Christmas

Her father, Trey Rackley, a 37-year-old trucking company dispatcher, suffered cuts and bruises and remains sore and sometimes in shock, Hooker said.

But he and the youngest daughter, three-year-old Alanna - Little Lani - are no longer hospitalized.

Hooker said mother Meghan's injuries included broken bones, a brain injury and a large cut, and she's asking people to pray for the 32-year-old mother.

The middle child, Avalinn, or Ava, had broken vertebrae in her back and was expected to undergo surgery Wednesday, Hooker said.

Hooker said Annistyn still was full of energy and delighted in donning outfits and makeup for cheer competitions and learning new dances from TikTok.

After Ava reached a hospital in Memphis, Hooker said, she learned from family there that the young girl had told doctors and nurses, 'I was flying around in the tornado and I prayed to Jesus to take care of me, and he spit me out - and the tornado spit me out into the mud.'

Hooker said after a prayer vigil Sunday, searchers in the field near the Rackleys' house found the doll that Annistyn was holding in the photo.

Hooker said it was Annistyn's favorite, and she called it Baby MawMaw.

'They brought Baby MawMaw to me, and I'm cleaning her up so that Ava can have Baby MawMaw,' she said.

Hooker is the sister of Meghan Rackley's grandmother, and she said she and Annistyn, or Anni, grew close over the past four years.

Annistyn also attended the same elementary school where her mom and Hooker teach.

Hooker teaches gifted students at the same elementary school where Meghan Rackley, 37, teaches kindergarten.

Hooker said the Rackleys hadn't yet unpacked from their move December 4 from Caruthersville to their new home along Highway J, just west of the city.

Hooker talked to mom Meghan on Friday afternoon about the possibility of bad storms.

Annistyn also attended the same elementary school where her mom and Hooker teach.

Hooker said Annistyn's parents learned when she was two months old that she had a rare liver disorder in which bile ducts don't develop properly, sometimes making it hard to fight off illness.

She said she bonded with Annistyn during doctor's visits and blood draws and said the girl liked to draw with chalk on the cement of her carport.

The Rackleys on a family holiday

But she said Annistyn still was full of energy and delighted in donning outfits and makeup for cheer competitions and learning new dances from TikTok.

She did cartwheels and splits in front of Hooker.

'I would just gasp because she could do the splits all the time, and she would just laugh,' Hooker said. 'She loved dancing.'

Hooker's account of what happened to the Rackleys came from talking to law enforcement and first responders who were at the scene after the tornado and found family members in the field. Hooker also said she talked to the girl's father.

'Their house is splintered,' she told The Associated Press during a telephone interview.

'There's debris strewn forever out in the field, and so they were sucked up into the tornado.'

Tornadoes also roared through both the Missouri and Illinois sides of the St. Louis area, as well as the Memphis, Tennessee, area and parts of Arkansas and Illinois.

The youngest victim was named on Monday as two-year-old Oaklynn Koon who died after suffering a stroke, a swollen head and injuries to her neck when the twister hit Missouri.

Her parents had strapped her into her car seat in the bathroom, put her brothers in the bathtub and covered themselves in pillows but were thrown from the Dawson Springs home and onto the other side of their neighbor's house.

A vigil held for the family in the devastated community of Carruthers, Missouri

A vigil held for the Rackley family

On Monday, little Oaklynn succumbed to her injuries, parents Doug and Jackie Koon said on Facebook.

'At least I know who will be watching over you up there for me. My dad. God this doesn't seem real,' they wrote.

One twister carved a track that could rival the longest on record, as the stormfront smashed apart a candle factory in Kentucky, crushed a nursing home in Arkansas and flattened an Amazon distribution center in Illinois.

At least eight people were killed in the candle factory when the tornado rampaged through the small town of Mayfield, bringing the walls crashing down and tearing the roof off.

Among them was Lannis Ward who was working alongside his girlfriend Autumn Kirks that night - a busy time of year for the factory in the run up to Christmas.

Kirks described how she glanced away from Ward for a moment and when she looked back he was gone. Later she learned the terrible news that he had been killed.

Mayfield was one of the hardest-hit towns in the entire country as the epicenter of the storm struck there.

Also killed was Kentucky District Judge Brian Crick, 43, a married father of three, as well as a three-year-old boy.

In Illinois, six Amazon workers, including a Navy veteran, were killed when the storm struck a warehouse.

Two-month-old Oaklynn Koon (pictured), from Dawson Springs, Missouri, died Monday morning after spending two days in the hospital battling injuries sustained during the tornado. Her father, Doug Koon, confirmed her passing on Facebook

Autumn Kirks, right who was on shift at the candle factory in Mayfield, Kentucky, with her boyfriend Lannis Ward. She glanced away from Ward, left, and when she looked back, he was gone. Also in Mayfield, Kentucky District Judge Brian Crick, a married father of three, was among those killed in the storm

Navy veteran Clayton Cope, 29, was killed when the twisters struck St Louis. Clayton, who lived in nearby Alton, Illinois, had been working at Amazon for more than a year before he died.

Etheria Hebb (pictured with her son) was among those killed at the Amazon warehouse in Illinois, near St Louis

Clayton Cope, a US Navy veteran, was among those killed in the disaster

The Amazon workers killed in Illinois included (from left) Deandre S. Morrow, Larry Virden and Austin J. McEwan

Navy veteran Clayton Cope, 29, was killed when the twisters struck St Louis. Clayton, who lived in nearby Alton, Illinois, had been working at Amazon for more than a year before he died.

He joined the Navy after graduating high school, and was an avid outdoorsman who enjoyed riding motorcycles and playing video games.

Other Amazon workers killed were Deandre 'Shawn' Morrow, 28, of St. Louis, Missouri; Kevin D. Dickey, 62, of Carlyle, Illinois; Etheria S. Hebb, 24, of St. Louis, Missouri; and Larry E. Virden, 46, of Collinsville, Illinois.

West of St. Louis, 84-year-old Ollie Borgmann, described as a sweet and 'typical grandmother,' died at a hospital after a tornado on Friday blew the Defiance, Missouri, home she shared with her 84-year-old husband, Vernon, off its foundation.

In Pemiscot County in southeastern Missouri, bordering Arkansas and Kentucky, where the Rackleys live, the sheriff's office did not immediately return telephone messages Monday seeking comment about the storm that destroyed the Rackleys' home.

Governor Mike Parson's office said that about 30,000 Missouri residents initially were without power.
Republican Sen. Rick Scott of Florida on Monday accused President Biden's Build Back Better bill of attempting to push through 'evil' cuts on charity hospitals in largely right-leaning states.

Scott said the House version of the bill would cut two forms of funding for hospitals that serve uninsured and underinsured patients in order to pay for provisions in Democrats' 1.8 trillion spending bill.

And he said it would disproportionately impact Republican states.

'It doesnt add up,' Scott told the Washington Times.

'I just think that its evil. Its mean-spirited.

'The Democrats are taking care of the people in New York or Illinois or Connecticut and taking advantage of the people in places like Florida or Texas.'

The latest version of the bill includes a provision that would cut Disproportionate Share Hospital payments by 12.5 percent across 12 states that have not expanded Medicaid coverage.

Sen Tim Scott of Florida accused Democrats of an 'evil' and 'mean spirited' attempt to choke off funding to hospitals in red states that support underinsured Americans as they try to push through President Joe Biden's huge social spending plans in the Build Back Better bill

Scott wrote to hospital executives in his state asking for their help in fighting the plans

In a recent letter, Scott cites forecasts by the non-partisan Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission which calculates the cuts would amount to about $423 million.

'With annual cuts totaling more than $420 million, over a ten year period, 12 states will see a $4.2 billion cut to charity hospitals whose work is predominately focused on treating the underserved and uninsured,' Scott wrote to hospital executives.

He also said Texas, Florida, Tennessee, and Kansas will lose money from their Uncompensated Care Pools - which covers unpaid bills, the cost of uninsured people using emergency rooms, and charity care - worth as much as $35 billion, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

'Making cuts to these valued and incredibly important programs defies reason,' he wrote.

Defenders of the proposals disagree. They say the plans include $59.3 billion to subsidize private insurance and help people caught in the gap where they earn too much for Medicaid but are too poor to benefit from the Affordable Care Act.

The idea is to extend health insurance to about 2.2 million people living in the mostly GOP-led states that have not pursued Obamacare's Medicaid expansion

The White House describes its plans as the 'biggest expansion of affordable healthcare in a decade.'

Democrats have also raised concerns about the proposals, including Sens. Raphael Warnock (left) and Jon Ossoff of Georgia - another GOP-leaning state that will be affected

It is not just Republicans raising the alarm, however.

Democratic Sens. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff headed a group of Georgia lawmakers who wrote to their party leaders in the House and Senate to express their concern.

'The DSH program assists hospitals that serve a high Medicaid and uncompensated care population and is meant to support hospitals for treating the most vulnerable patients,' they said.

'Reducing federal funds to hospitals and providers can be detrimental to their survival, and in the midst of a global pandemic, we should not be imposing additional financial constraints.'

The final Senate version of the bill is likely to be different to the House version in an effort to woo Democratic holdouts such as Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia.

A draft released by the Senate Finance Committee did not include cuts to Medicaid Disproportionate Share Hospital payments.
The mother of Julian Assange has spoken of the 'unending, gut-wrenching pain' she is suffering over her son's possible extradition to the US.

Christine Assange also said the WikiLeaks founder is being 'cruelly psychologically tortured' by the authorities and set out her fears he will be jailed 'for the rest of his life'.

Mr Assange, 50, is wanted in America over an alleged conspiracy to obtain and disclose national defence information following WikiLeaks' publication of hundreds of thousands of leaked documents relating to the Afghanistan and Iraq wars in 2010 and 2011.

His extradition moved a step closer when the US Government won a High Court bid to last week, overturning the decision of a judge who ruleD against his extradition on the basis of a real and 'oppressive' risk of suicide.

However, Mr Assange's lawyers intend to take his case to the Supreme Court - the UK's highest court.

In an open letter, his mother said: 'Fifty years ago in giving birth for the first time as a young mother, I thought there could be no greater pain. But it was soon forgotten when I held my beautiful baby boy in my arms. I named him Julian.

'I realise now that I was wrong. There is a greater pain. The unending, gut-wrenching pain of being the mother of a multi-award winning journalist who had the courage to publish the truth about high-level government crimes and corruption.

Christine Assange, mother of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, says he is being 'cruelly psychologically tortured' by the authorities

Julian Assange (pictured) is wanted in America over an alleged conspiracy to obtain and disclose national defence information

'The pain of watching my son, who sought to publish important truths, being endlessly globally smeared.

'The pain of watching my son, who risked his life to expose injustice, being fitted up and denied a fair legal process, over and over again.'

Mr Assange is facing a renewed push for his extradition after the High Court overturned the previous ruling against such a move last week.

However, his mother fears he will be 'buried alive in extreme solitary confinement'.

She wrote: 'The constant nightmare of him being extradited to the US and being buried alive in extreme solitary confinement for the rest of his life. The constant fear the CIA will carry out its plans to assassinate him.

'The rush of sadness as I saw his frail, exhausted body slumping from a mini-stroke in the last hearing due to chronic stress.

'Many people are also traumatised by seeing a vengeful superpower using its unlimited resources to bully and destroy a single defenceless individual.

'I wish to thank all the caring, decent citizens globally protesting Julians brutal political persecution.

Wikileaks founder Mr Assange gestures as he speaks on the balcony of the Embassy of Ecuador in London in May 2017

Supporters of Julian Assange gather outside the Royal Courts of Justice on the day of the ruling on Friday

Julian Assange will NOT be held in a supermax jail if he's extradited, US assures UK - so where will he be held? If Assange is extradited to the US he has now been assured that he will not got to a SuperMax jail such as ADX Florence in Colorado where Abu Hamza and other terrorists are held in solitary confinement. A likely destination is Allenwood prison in Pennsylvania, a federal jail used before to house extradited prisoners. These included Orpington's Christopher Tappin, 65, pleaded guilty to selling missile batteries in a Texas court after a two year extradition battle in 2013. Allenwood also holds a number of hackers, including Andrew Auernheimer, better known by his pseudonym weev, who became a well known cyber criminal who exposed flaws in the systems of big businesses and published data about Government officials  crimes similar to the ones Assange is accused of. It also holds a number of notorious murderers including James Eagan Holmes, responsible for the 2012 Aurora shooting in which he killed 12 people and injured 70 others. American officials have told the High Court in London that Assange could apply for a transfer to a jail in his native Australia, but his lawyers believe this could take up to ten years. He could be sent to the country's highest security prison, the Goulburn Correctional Centre in New South Wales, around two hours south-west of Sydney. It has the nickname 'Hell'. The male-only prison holds Australia's most dangerous murderers, robbers and terrorists. If he is sent to a low security jail it could be the Lotus Glen Correctional Centre is northern Queensland, close to his home town of Townsville. Advertisement

'Please keep raising your voices to your politicians till its all they can hear. His life is in your hands.'

In January, district judge Vanessa Baraitser that Assange should not be sent to the US, in which she cited his risk of suicide.

However, the US government appealed the ruling, insisting it had given diplomatic assurances that Assange would not face those strictest measures either pre-trial or post-conviction. It also suggested that Assange's sentence will probably be between four and six years.

After a two-day hearing, the Lord Chief Justice Lord Burnett, sitting with Lord Justice Holroyde, ruled in favour of the US on Friday.

They found the previous judge had based her decision on the risk of Assange being held in highly restrictive prison conditions if extradited.

However, the US authorities later gave assurances that Assange would not face those strictest measures either pre-trial or post-conviction unless he committed an act in the future that required them.

The case will now be sent to Priti Patel who will make the final decision on Assange's extradition, though he is expected to appeal today's ruling.

His father Richard has previously said that they would take the legal battle all the way to the Supreme Court if necessary.

Mr Assange has spent the past two years at HMP Belmarsh in London after almost a decade hiding within the Ecuadorian embassy in the capital.

Australia's deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce supported Mrs Assange's letter, saying he should be kept in the UK to be tried or returned to his home nation.

Mr Assanges fiancee has also previously accused UK authorities of playing the role of 'executioner' after he suffered a mini-stroke in prison.

Stella Moris, 38, said he was left with a drooping right eyelid, memory problems and signs of neurological damage after the stroke in October.

Campaigners believe the incident was triggered by the stress of the ongoing High Court battle over his extradition.

Ms Moris, the mother of his two children, has been warning that her partner's health has been getting worse.

She said: 'His incarceration is having a catastrophic effect on his health.

'The US government plotted to kill him and have found a way to do so - get the UK state to play the role of executioner.'

Referring to the 2018 killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, she added: 'This is a slow-motion Khashoggi playing out in the heart of London.

'It is horrifying that Britain has let itself be instrumentalised by a foreign power to bring about travesty.'

South African-born lawyer Ms Morris fell in love with the controversial WikiLeaks founder five years ago while visiting him to work on a legal bid to halt the extraditions. The couple have been engaged since 2017.

Ms Morris and Julian had children Gabriel, three, and Max, one, while he was holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy in London, keeping their relationship and family a secret from the outside world until last September.
President Biden's senior adviser for migration, Tyler Moran, is set to leave her post after only seven months on the job.

Moran took the post in July amid a record surge in border crossings that has decreased in the colder months. She is set to depart at the end of January, and the White House is now weighing replacements.

'Tyler has been an invaluable member of our team since the transition and a tremendous asset in our effort to rebuild a fair and humane immigration system,' White House chief domestic policy adviser Susan Rice told Politico Playbook.

The White House insisted that Moran only ever planned to stay on the first year, and was burnt out after spending the last seven months commuting by plane. But it made a similar statement after the departure of Amy Pope, Moran's predecessor, in July.

'Amy had always intended to join the Biden Administration for a short time with an expected departure in the mid-summer,' the White House said at the time.

Other members of the migration team have departed after short stints, including Biden's former 'border czar' Roberta Jacobson, who left in April.

It is not clear where Moran spent the last seven months commuting from by plane, but she is a native of New Hampshire, according to a writeup in the Concord Monitor.

Moran is the co-founder of Immigration Hub, an immigrant advocacy group, and former policy adviser for former Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, and former immigration policy director for the Domestic Policy Council under President Obama.

The US saw a record-high number of apprehensions at the southern border in July - 213,593. Numbers have steadily decreased since then - 209,840 in August, 192,001 encounters in September and 164,303 interdictions reported in October.

Weeks ago, the Biden administration was forced to reinstate the Trump-era 'Remain in Mexico' policy due to a court's decision.

President Biden's senior adviser for migration, Tyler Moran, is set to leave her post after only seven months on the job

Moran took the post in July amid a record surge in border crossings that has decreased in the colder months

The US saw a record-high number of apprehensions at the southern border in July - 213,593. Numbers have steadily decreased since then - 209,840 in August, 192,001 encounters in September and 164,303 interdictions reported in October

The Department of Homeland Security said it would comply with a court order in reimplementing the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), which requires asylum-seekers who made it to the border by way of Mexico to remain in the country as they await U.S. court proceedings related to their claim.

Last month, White House communications chief of staff Emma Riley left her post for a job in the Labor Department. But much attention has been focused on departures from Vice President Kamala Harris' office, where reports of chaos and dysfunction have been leaking out.

Harris communications director Ashley Etienne left weeks ago, followed by the departure of Harris' chief spokesperson Symone Sanders.

Peter Velz, director of press operations, and Vince Evans, deputy director of the Office of Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs, have both told others in the vice president's office that they are also leaving, administration officials told the Washington Post.

Meanwhile, White House press secretary Jen Psaki insisted on Monday that Harris is still in charge of addressing root causes of migration after the president of Guatemala said he had not heard from her since the vice president's visit in June.

Asked if Harris remains in the lead on migration, Psaki replied: 'She is, and I just announced a commitment that shes announcing this afternoon,' said Psaki, referring to a $1.2 billion investment from businesses in Central American economies.

'Well, then why is it that she has not spoken to the President of Guatemala since June?' continued Peter Doocy of Fox News. 'Thats six months.'

Psaki replied: 'I know that I did see this kind of strange report from the president of Guatemala saying that hes had no contact with the White House, which is inaccurate.'

'Other than your meeting with Kamala Harris in June?' Fox News' John Roberts asked Alejandro Giammattei of his contact with the White House last week. 'That is the only one,' he responded.

The controversy threatened to take the shine off $540 million in new commitments from the private sector for Central America.

Initiatives included a push by Nespresso to support coffee-growing in Honduras and El Salvador, a Microsoft pledge to connect millions of people to the Internet and a $100 million commitment from Mastercard to promote digital payments and e-commerce.

Harris appealed to the private sector in May for helping in supporting employment opportunities and economic growth as part of an effort to dissuade families from heading north to seek out better economic prospects.
Sinaloa Cartel

Founded in 1989 by Hector Palma, Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman and Ismael 'El Mayo' Zambada, the Sinaloa Cartel today stands as one of the most established transnational drug trafficking organizations. While it has carved out a presence in 15 of the 32 Mexican states, the cartel also expanded its operations into the United States, Europe, Asia and South America.

With El Chapo in prison, the cartel has been plagued by internal fighting between Zambada and three of El Chapo's four sons, known as 'Los Chapitos'.

The Drug Enforcement Administration views the Sinaloa Cartel as one of the top two criminal organizations along with its rival, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel.

The DEA said the Sinaloa Cartel 'exports and distributes wholesale amounts of fentanyl, heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine, and marijuana in the United States by maintaining distribution hubs in various cities.'

How they get drugs into the US: 'Illicit drugs distributed by the Sinaloa Cartel are primarily smuggled into the United States through crossing points located along the [south west border]. The cartel employs gatekeepers assigned to Ports Of Entry and controls Arizona and California area smuggling corridors into the United States.'

Jalisco New Generation Cartel

The Jalisco New Generation Cartel was once allied to the Sinaloa Cartel as El Chapo depended on its firepower to combat Los Zetas.

Commandeered by Nemesio 'El Mencho' Oseguera, the group set itself apart from other cartels in the country butchering its enemies and today is considered by the Mexican government as the most dangerous group in the country.

The Jalisco New Generation Cartel is spread out across 23 of the Mexico's 32 states and currently finds itself at war with at least ten cartels.

The group has been known to have increased the power that its members have by purchasing military weapons and parts from the United States.

The Jalisco New Generation Cartel, according to the DEA, specializes 'in manufacturing and distributing large amounts of fentanyl, heroin, methamphetamine, and cocaine.'

How they get drugs into the US: 'The CJNG smuggles illicit drugs into the United States by accessing various trafficking corridors in northern Mexico along the SWB including Tijuana, Juarez, and Nuevo Laredo. The CJNG also has influence over the busiest port in Mexico, the Port of Manzanillo, and utilizes that influence for the distribution of large quantities of drugs.'

Beltran-Leyva Organization

For a while, the Beltran-Leyva Organization [BLO] was born out of the Sinaloa Cartel and became one of the most powerful cartels in Mexico led by the Beltran Leyva brothers: Marcos Arturo, Carlos, Alfredo, Mario Alberto and Hector.

The Beltran-Leyva Organization was involved in a deadly war with the Sinaloa Cartel after the brothers accused their cousin, El Chapo, of being responsible for the January 2008 arrest of Alfredo. The brothers retaliated by reportedly plotting the murder of El Chapo's 22-year-old son, Edgar Guzman, in May 2008.

Alfredo's arrest sparked one of the worst periods in Mexico's war on drugs as the BLO's new ally, the Juarez Cartel, went to war with the Sinaloa Cartel in Ciudad Juarez, a border town across from Texas.

The BLO also expanded its might by going toe-to-toe with the Gulf Cartel, Sinaloa Cartel and La Familia Cartel in the northeastern border city of Reynosa.

While the cartel remains viable today, the organization's members over time split into 11 factions.

How they get drugs into the US: 'BLO relies on its loose alliances with larger cartels for access to drug smuggling corridors along the [south west border].'

Los Zetas and the Cartel del Noreste [Northeast Cartel]

Los Zetas were created by Mexican military deserters who formed an alliance with the Gulf Cartel in 1999 and based its operations in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, across from Laredo, Texas. The group quickly carved out a named for itself through its savage killings. By 2010, Los Zetas split from the Gulf Cartel.

Los Zetas at one point dominated more cities across Mexico than the Sinaloa Cartel, with whom it clashed amidst a threat from the Gulf Cartel to eliminate it completely.

Like some of the other Mexican cartels, Los Zetas saw some of its members split and form their own groups.

Los Zetas role play in the drug trade is enforced by one of its factions, the Cartel del Noreste [Northeast Cartel]. Together, the criminal groups have set up its small, but lucrative, drug trade business into the Texas border cities of Laredo and Eagle Pass while controlling routes and turfs in the Mexican states of Tamaulipas, Nuevo Leon, Coahuila, San Luis Potosi and Zacatecas.

How they get drugs into the US: 'Members smuggle the majority of their illicit drugs through the [south west border] in the areas of Laredo, Texas; Eagle Pass, Texas; and the Mexican states of Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, and parts of Tamaulipas.'

Guerrero Unidos

Operating in central Mexico, the Guerrero Unidos broke away from the Beltran-Leyva Organization and formed an alliance with the Jalisco New Generation Cartel to traffic drugs into the United States and bring back its profits into Mexico.

The cartel is accused of being behind the September 2014 disappearance of 43 students, who were kidnapped by local police in Iguala, a city in the southern state of Guerrero.

How they get drugs into the US: 'The cartel has a working partnership with the CJNG and uses the same transportation networks to move drug shipments into the United States and to return drug proceeds back to Mexico.'

Gulf Cartel

The Gulf Cartel is considered to be one of the oldest active criminal organizations in Mexico and is believed to have close ties to other gangs in Europe, West Africa, Asia, Central America, South America, and the United States.

The organization started off by smuggling alcohol into the United States during the Prohibition Era. It was not until the 1980 that it got itself immersed into the drug trade.

The DEA believes the Gulf Cartel has been working closely with the Jalisco New Generation Cartel as it ships heroin and cocaine to the Texas border cities of McAllen and Brownsville.

How they get drugs into the US: 'The Gulf Cartel focuses its drug trafficking activities on heroin and cocaine by transporting loads into the United States near the McAllen and Brownsville, Texas, areas.'

Juarez Cartel and La Linea

The Juarez Cartel cemented itself as one of the mayor players in the drug trade business back in the 1970s. It founder, Amado Carrillo, was known as 'El Senor de los Cielos' or 'The Lord of the Skies' due to the massive fleet of planes he owned to transport drugs, especially cocaine from Colombia and other countries in Latin America.

The cartel was once allied to El Chapo before that relationship fell apart after the notorious drug lord declined to pay the Juarez Cartel for the right to use its drug smuggling routes.

The Juarez Cartel has depended on its armed wing, La Linea, to transport heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine, and marijuana between Ciudad Juarez and El Paso, Texas.

How they get drugs into the US: 'These cartels' greatest territorial influence is in the state of Chihuahua near the [south west border]. This area has profitable smuggling opportunities between Ciudad Juarez and El Paso, Texas.'

La Familia Michoacana

La Familia Michoacana was once linked to the Gulf Cartel before it went on its own in 2006.

Between 2009 and 2010, the cartel proposed to the Mexican government that it had plans of laying down its arms as long as its home state of Michoacan was granted protection. However, President Felipe Calderon shot down their offer, which led to the cartel becoming increasingly involved in the funding of political candidates.

La Familia Michoacana today maintains a relationship with the Jalisco New Generation Cartel and other criminal groups as part of its drug smuggling operation.

How they get drugs into the US: 'LFM has some ties to the CJNG and also works with other smaller groups to further the cartel's drug trafficking activities.'

Los Rojos

Just like Guerreros Unidos, Los Rojos was formed as an armed wing and broke away from the Beltran-Leyva Organization.

According to a 2020 Congressional report, Los Rojos 'operates in Guerrero and relies heavily on kidnapping and extortion for revenue as well as trafficking cocaine, although analysts dispute the scope of its involvement in the drug trade.'

How they get drugs into the US: 'Los Rojos is involved in heroin trafficking'
Sajid Javid and his top health advisers were today accused of scare-mongering after clarifying that gloomy models do estimate that 200,000 Britons could be catching Omicron every day.

The Health Secretary last night told MPs that daily Covid infections were thought to have breached the 200,000 mark.

But his comments, made in a statement discussing the threat of Omicron, sparked immediate confusion over whether the figure was relating to the virus as a whole, or specifically just the super-mutant variant.

Department of Health insiders last night told The Telegraph that Mr Javid was correct to imply Omicron cases had hit 200,000 a day.

And the UK Health Security Agency, which made the grisly estimate, today revealed the maths used to make the claim. Today's toll would be in the region of 300,000, by the team's own calculations.

But experts today questioned the pessimistic projection, with one of the country's most eminent statisticians calling the calculation into doubt.

Professor Sir David Spiegelhalter, from the University of Cambridge, told MailOnline: 'To get the figure of 200,000, they would need to assume a doubling time of 1.75 days, or a higher starting point.

'It is very frustrating, to put it mildly, that such high-profile and surprising numbers are given without any publicly available justification.'

Professor of medicine and consultant oncologist Karol Sikora added to the criticism, stating the Government was deliberately 'scaremongering' the population into getting booster jabs.

Its alarmist and all part of a deliberate PR ploy to get people the booster, he said.

Its not a bad idea to get the booster, but you could see yesterday the system creaked under the pressure.'

He added that he thought the 200,000 Omicron infections a day figure was deliberately pessimistic.

Virologists and the infectious disease guys thrive on bad news about it because they become important and so its in their interest to say there will be 200,000 infected a day.

'I would be very surprised if it was any worse than last time.'

Dr Simon Kolstoe, an expert in evidence-based healthcare at the University of Portsmouth, told MailOnline Covid modelling is 'complex' and the numbers shared by officials should be 'based on evidence'.

He added: 'Likewise estimates on doubling rates are precisely that - estimates - and there are many factors that influence how quickly a virus will spread.

'What is clear is that Omicron is a potential threat, and if we want to protect the NHS without having further lockdowns it is vital that as many people as possible get vaccinated.'

Did Britain's 'first Omicron death' die FROM the Covid variant or WITH it? A lack of transparency over the UK's first Omicron death prompted fury today, as a doctor told the Government to release more details to stop 'unnecessary alarm'. Experts are demanding answers about the UK's first Omicron fatality, such as the individual's vaccination status, if they were part of group vulnerable to Covid, and if the virus was the leading cause of death. Professor of medicine and consultant oncologist Karol Sikora said the Government was not providing the nation with enough information about the death, and that this was causing 'unnecessarily alarming'. 'Were they in hospital for Covid or were they there because they had been run over by a bus?,' he said. Boris Johnson revealed the UK's first death due to Omicron on a visit to a vaccination clinic in Paddington, west London. He said: 'Sadly yes Omicron is producing hospitalisations and sadly at least one patient has been confirmed to have died with Omicron.' Mr Johnson did not reveal the age of the person who died, or if they had underlying health conditions, which made them vulnerable, or whether Omicron was the leading cause of their death or a secondary factor. Professor of medicine and consultant oncologist Karol Sikora said the Government should release more details about the death to put people's minds at ease. 'Have they had booster? Are they elderly?,' he said. 'There are all sorts of nuances to this thing, and we're not being given proper information.' Advertisement

Mr Javid told MPs yesterday: 'There are now 4,713 confirmed cases of omicron in the UK.

'The UKHSA estimates that the current number of daily infections are around 200,000.

'While omicron represents more than 20 per cent of cases in England, we have already seen it rise to over 44 per cent in London, and we expect it to become the dominant Covid variant in the capital in the next 48 hours.'

On paper, Mr Javid's comment on 200,000 daily infections read like he was referring to overall Covid cases, rather than specifically those caused by Omicron.

But then The Telegraph was told last night that the Health Secretary was indeed referring to Omicron cases directly in that statement.

UKHSA today clarified that the 200,000 figure is based on data from the Office of National Statistics, which carries out tens of thousands of random tests each week.

Its data from November 21  the week that Omicron was first spotted in the UK  allowed them to estimate there were about 78,000 Delta infections on December 7.

This figure, they say, allowed them calculate there were approximately 23,000 daily Omicron infections on December 7.

This is based on the assumption that the variant made up around 20 per cent of cases by then.

Then by assuming, a doubling time of two days for Omicron cases, UKHSA estimated that by yesterday approximately 207,000 people were being infected every day.

When queried on the accuracy of the figures today, Mr Javid admitted that while previous Covid forecasts had been inaccurate, he could not just assume they were wrong.

'With previous variants of Covid we have seen forecasts and estimates whether its from academics or think tanks and others that have been completely off the mark,' he said.

'Just because forecasts in the past have been wrong it doesnt mean to say every estimate or forecast is always wrong.'

Doubts over the Government's Omicron modelling came on the back of accusations over a lack of transparency regarding the death and hospitalisations that have been attributed to the variant.

Boris Johnson has faced demands to urgently clarify the situation over Britain's first Omicron death and 10 hospitalisations after warnings that the announcements may have sparked unnecessary panic.

The Prime Minister yesterday confirmed that a patient had died after testing positive for the variant.

But he gave no extra details, such as the person's age, condition, vaccination status or whether Covid was even the primary reason for their death. And health officials have refused to provide any further information.

This graph shows how Britain's vaccination drive is going. There was a lag in September as the booster drive got going, which opposition parties have already slammed saying it has put the country at unnecessary risk

This is not the first time Government has been questioned over its presentation of Covid data and forecasting cases in the pandemic.

Britain's data watchdog, The UK Statistics Authority (UKSA) scolded the Government for failing to be transparent with the data used to justify the second national lockdown last winter, with the potential to 'confuse the public and undermine confidence'.

Omicron hospitalisation rates in South Africa are a THIRD of level in summer Omicron is causing milder disease than Delta, in patients in the epicentre of the new Covid variant, the first major real-world study in South Africa confirmed today. Officials who looked at 78,000 Omicron cases in the past month found the risk of hospitalisation was a fifth lower than with Delta and 29 per cent lower than the original virus. The finding lends weight to the theory that the ultra-infectious variant is weaker than past strains, something which doctors on the ground in South Africa have been claiming for weeks. But the reduction in severity is probably not solely down to Omicron being intrinsically milder, according to the South African Medical Research Council which led the analysis. Around 70 per cent of South Africans have recovered from Covid already and 23 per cent are double-vaccinated, which has created high levels of immunity. The finding will raise hopes that the UK's Omicron wave will be less severe than previous peaks, despite having an older and denser population. The study also found that two doses of Pfizer's vaccine still provides 70 per cent protection against hospital admission or death from Omicron, compared to 93 per cent for Delta. Advertisement

This data, included a now infamous chart presented by No 10's chief scientific adviser, Sir Patrick Vallance, suggesting there could be a shocking 4,000 deaths per day by December 20 if nothing was done.

But the figures came from an outdated model based on a projection that there would be 1,000 deaths per day by the start of November.

In reality the daily average was lower than 200, meaning the prediction was five times too high.

And former Health Secretary Matt Hancock was slammed by the body for misleading the public on Covid tests in the height of the pandemic's first wave in last year.

While the need for data masterclasses was highlighted officials being interviewed by the MPs were overall positive regarding how government had handled data over the course of the pandemic.

Their main criticism was ministers quoting data that had not been publicly released, something officials said shouldn't happen in the interests of transparency.

In other Covid news Omicron has become dominant in London barely two weeks after it was first detected, health chiefs revealed today.

Professor Kevin Fenton, the capital's director of public health, said data suggested the super-strain was already behind at least one in every two new infections in the city, up from 44 per cent just yesterday.

As the country's major transport hub, London quickly became England's Omicron epicentre after South Africa first raised the alarm on November 24. It is thought to have been seeded in the capital by travellers flying into the UK.

Covid cases in the capital have spiraled to their highest level since January when stringent curbs were in place, and hospitalisations in the city have risen 50 per cent to 140 admissions a day on average. Deaths remain flat but it can take up to a month for fatalities to start rising due to the time it takes to fall seriously ill.

Nationally, Omicron is behind one in every five cases but is expected to outstrip Delta before the New Year. For comparison, it took Delta almost two months to take over from the Alpha variant.

The above maps show areas where the Omicron Covid variant has been detected in England over the two weeks to November 20 (left), and to December 4 (right). Areas where the variant has been detected are not coloured yellow. It shows how it has gone from just one local authority, to about half of the country. Areas with darker colours have detected more cases

A spokesman for London's mayor suggested today they would back controversial local lockdown restrictions in the capital, saying it was better to 'act now' rather than wait for the virus to spiral out of control.

But Tory representatives called on ministers to rely on 'strong vaccine protection' and ramp up the booster drive, rather than curb people's daily lives.

Latest data from the UK Health Security Agency  which monitors variants  showed Omicron was behind 44.5 per cent of cases in the capital up to December 11.

Nicola Sturgeon also today told Scots they could no longer mix in groups bigger than three households, and said social distancing was to return in shops and pubs because of surging Omicron numbers there.

It comes as a study in South Africa today confirmed Omicron is causing milder disease than Delta, in patients in the epicentre of the new Covid variant.

Officials who looked at 78,000 Omicron cases in the past month found the risk of hospitalisation was a fifth lower than with Delta and 29 per cent lower than the original virus.

The finding lends weight to the theory that the ultra-infectious variant is weaker than past strains, something which doctors on the ground in South Africa have been claiming for weeks.

But the reduction in severity is probably not solely down to Omicron being intrinsically milder, according to the South African Medical Research Council which led the analysis.

Around 70 per cent of South Africans have recovered from Covid already and 23 per cent are double-vaccinated, which has created high levels of immunity.

The finding will raise hopes that the UK's Omicron wave will be less severe than previous peaks, despite having an older and denser population.

The study also found that two doses of Pfizer's vaccine still provides 70 per cent protection against hospital admission or death from Omicron, compared to 93 per cent for Delta.
A Liverpool hospital trust will have to pay out 15million after a baby boy suffered brain damage at birth and developed cerebral palsy.

The boy, known only as PW as he cannot be named for legal reasons, was born at Liverpool Womens Hospital in 2013, when his mother went into early labour at 38 weeks.

But while the baby was born by emergency caesarean section, the boy's heart rate began slowing due to a uterine rupture.

The Liverpool Women's NHS Foundation Trust later admitted a breach in its duty of care and said an 'earlier delivery should have occurred'.

The Trust was ordered to pay the family 15million at an approval hearing at Manchester High Court held yesterday.

Hospital bosses today said they sent their 'sincere apologies' to the boy and his family, and said lessons had been learned.

The largest medical negligence claim in the UK is thought to be 37million paid out by the West Hereford Hospitals NHS Trust, in 2018, to a six-year-old boy.

He suffered a catastrophic brain injury because of a delay in the detection and treatment of the herpes simplex virus, leaving him with permanent damage to his eyesight and in need of full time care

The Liverpool Women's NHS Foundation Trust will have to pay out 15million after a baby boy suffered brain damage at birth and developed cerebral palsy

Following legal action brought by law firm Simpson Millar against Liverpool Women's Hospital NHS Foundation Trust on behalf of the family, the Trust also admitted that if earlier delivery had occurred PW would have avoided all neurological injury.

The 15million compensation care package, which includes a lump sum payment of 5.3million, as well as annual payments for the remainder of the childs life, will now be used to fund a lifetime of care, therapies, specialist equipment and accommodation.

Speaking on behalf of the family, lawyer Jodie Cook said while the severity of PWs condition - which impacts his development, mobility and his ability to communicate - means he will never be able to live independently, the funds will ensure he can live to the fullest potential.

She said: 'Because these payments will run for the rest of my clients life, the reality is that the value of this claim could well exceed the 15million estimate.

'However, whats far more important than the numbers, is the fact that this compensation will offer my client security and peace of mind for his future.'

Ms Cook added the family were extremely relieved the case had come to an end, and very much looking forward to moving on with their lives.

She said: 'No amount of money will ever compensate the family for what they have endured over the years as a result of an injury that could and should have been avoided, but it will provide some financial stability which will fund PWs immediate and longer-term care needs.

'The family are extremely relieved that the case has now drawn to a close and are looking forward to moving on with their lives as best they can.

'Whilst PW will never be in a position to live independently, the care package he has been awarded by the High Court does mean he can live in a specially adapted home with dedicated carers, and with access to specialist equipment.'

Speaking on behalf of the family, lawyer Jodie Cook (pictured) said while the severity of PWs condition - which impacts his development, mobility and his ability to communicate - means he will never be able to live independently, the funds will ensure he can live to the fullest potential

Following an admission of liability from the Trust in 2016, PW was awarded interim payments on account of damages which ensured PW had access to care and rehabilitation whilst the case was ongoing.

Speaking about the outcome of the case, PWs mother said: 'It is a relief to finally get to this point and know our sons needs will be met for the rest of his life.

'We know that nothing can change his injuries but knowing we can help to support him and use the compensation to put in place the substantial care package that he needs is of some consolation.'

A Liverpool Womens NHS Foundation Trust spokesperson said: 'Liverpool Womens NHS Foundation Trust would like to offer its sincere apologies to PW and his family for the failings in relation to PWs delivery in 2013.

'These failings have been carefully considered and lessons have been learned by the Trust.

'The Trust recognises that money cannot truly compensate PW, but hopes that with the settlement which the Court has now approved in this matter, PW and his family will be able to move forwards in the knowledge that PWs care needs now and into the future are met, as well as recognising the very significant care and input which PWs parents and family have provided to date.

'Liverpool Womens NHS Foundation Trust would like to express its very best wishes to PW and his family.'
A photo of a civil servant gagged and tied to a chair was not taken when she said it was, a digital expert told a tribunal.

DeAnn Fitzpatrick who worked for Marine Scotland, was photographed taped to a chair in a photo which went viral in 2018 at the peak of the MeToo movement.

The photograph prompted a national outcry and investigation by the Scottish Government body until questions were raised over its legitimacy.

It is now claimed by a digital forensic expert that the image was taken in August 2009, not December 2010 as Ms Fitzpatrick had said.

Ms Fitzpatrick claimed she was subjected to the ordeal as she was a whistleblower on misogyny and abuse in the organisation's office in Scrabster, Caithness in 2010.

However, she was later sacked by bosses on the the grounds she lied about the timing and nature of the incident.

She is now pursuing an employment tribunal as the Canadian national says the dismissal was unfair and she is seeking to be reinstated by Marine Scotland.

Ms Fitzpatrick is also claiming she was dismissed because of whistleblowing.

It is now claimed by a digital forensic expert that the image of DeAnn Fitzpatrick tied to a chair (pictured) was taken in August 2009, not December 2010

Speaking last week to the Mail On Sunday she said: 'I thought I worked for the Scottish Government who supported and protected their staff, but no woman should have to go through what I have had to go through at work.

'I've lost almost everything, including my good name and a job that I loved.

'But I want to stand up for myself and every other human being who has ever been spat on, called a w***e, told to go f*** themselves, knocked in the head, had their glasses knocked off their face, racially abused, mocked for having a miscarriage, taken advantage of when their mental health is suffering and physically assaulted when they speak out in their place of work.'

Heavy restrictions have been imposed on the evidence Ms Fitzpatrick, who is originally from Canada, can present in support of her wrongful dismissal and breach of contract claim, with the Government's legal team opposing the submission of a number of key documents, including a damning diary she was ordered to keep by her union rep after raising her concerns about bullying at work.

Its entries list examples of her being frequently called a 'f****** r****d', a 'f****** foreign Canadian b***h' and snide remarks following a miscarriage and the length of time she was off work as a result.

Ms Fitzpatrick (pictured) is also claiming she was dismissed from her job because of whistleblowing

The hearing was told by digital expert James Borwick that he was asked to look into the photograph and a number of emails in the case as part of the disciplinary investigation by the body.

Solicitor Andrew Gibson, representing Marine Scotland, asked: 'With what degree of certainty can you say that this photograph was taken on the 10th August 2009 and not the 16th December, 2010, and why can you say that?'

Digital expert Mr Borwick travelled to a Marine Scotland office in Campbeltown, Argyll and Bute, to access the original photograph on the government body's server.

He said: 'By the end of my examination and my investigation, I'd examined a picture, DF.jpeg, that was stored on the SCOTS server and that picture had a creation date of 2009, a last modification date of 2009, and the date embedded within it said exactly the same thing - 2009.

'So I'm certain that it hasn't been modified or tampered with in any way whatsoever.'

Mr Gibson said to the witness: 'If Ms Fitzpatrick is to be believed, this file was taken some 16 months later.'

The witness said: 'If, as Ms Fitzpatrick maintains, this photo was taken in 2010, then the created date would say December 2010.'

Mr Borwick explained that if someone had changed the creation date on the image, something which is not easily done, there would be 'markers all over' the file's data to indicate the change.

In cross-examination, Ms Fitzpatrick put it to the witness: 'In your summary you've said that you were provided with a copy of file DF.Jpg and you were asked to verify when it was created.

'After examination of the file, you say that the metadata revealed it was created on 10th August 2009 using an Apple iphone.

'Do you still agree with this statement?'

He replied: 'Yes I do.'

Ms Fitzpatrick asked: 'Is it not actually true that the metadata simply indicated that it might have been created on the 10th December 2009?'

Mr Borwick said: 'No. The file itself was created in 2009, which meant the picture existed in 2009.'

Ms Fitzpatrick added: 'Are you 100 per cent certain that the Df.jpg examined on the Scots server was created on the 10th August 2009? Do you still stand by that certainty?'

The witness replied: 'I do, yes.'

The hearing was told by digital expert James Borwick that he was asked to look into the photograph and a number of emails in the case as part of the disciplinary investigation by the body. Pictured: Ms Fitzpatrick

Senior civil servant David Wallace also spoke at the trial, he had taken the decision to dismiss Ms Fitzpatrick.

She asked him: 'Do you think for jollies I don't mind tape being placed over my mouth?'

He replied: 'Nothing in that behaviour felt like acceptable behaviour in an office environment, but I believe that the circumstances of it were not as outlined by you as happening in 2010 as a result of whistleblowing.

'It happened in 2009 in different circumstances.'

Ms Fitzpatrick also asked: 'Why would I intentionally lie about something that happened to me?'

Mr Wallace replied: 'I'm assuming that the construction of a story which said the picture had been taken in 2010 rather than 2009 was beneficial to you in some way and therefore that's why you initially said the photograph was taken in 2010.

'I'm assuming that was the motivation for doing it, but beyond that I'm not sure I can comment.'

The tribunal, before employment judge Alexander Kemp, continues.
A man accused of murdering millionaire hotelier Sir Richard Sutton and paralysing his own mother told a psychiatrist that without lockdown the attack 'wouldn't have happened', a court has heard.

Thomas Schreiber, of Gillingham, Dorset, is accused at Winchester Crown Court of the murder of the 83-year-old baronet and the attempted murder of his mother Anne Schreiber on April 7 2021.

The 35-year-old has previously admitted the manslaughter of Sir Richard and pleaded guilty to driving a Range Rover dangerously on the A303, A4 and M3.

As the trial continued today, defence witness, consultant psychiatrist Dr Tim Rogers, told the court that the defendant's history of mental ill health contributed to a 'significant impairment of rational thought'.

He said that the defendant told him: 'I am 150 per cent certain if there hadn't been a lockdown, it wouldn't have happened'.

The attack happened at Sir Richard's Moorhill estate near Gillingham, Dorset, which he shared with the Schreiber family - with the defendant living in an annexe - following the separation of the defendant's parents.

Thomas Schreiber is on trial at Winchester Crown Court accused of the murder of Sir Richard Sutton, 83 and the attempted murder of his mother, Anne Schreiber (pictured with Thomas)

Sir Richard (pictured), an 83-year-old baronet who owned a string of hotels including the Sheraton Grand on London's prestigious Park Lane, died in the knife attack in April this year

The court has heard the defendant had been unhappy at his mother becoming the partner of Sir Richard, calling her a 'gold-digging b***h' and Schreiber felt unfairly treated financially compared to his two sisters.

The defendant has told the court that he felt a 'loss of control' and he 'could not physically stop' the knife attack on his mother and Sir Richard.

Defence witness, consultant psychiatrist Dr Tim Rogers, told the court that the defendant's history of mental ill health contributed to a 'significant impairment of rational thought'.

He said Schreiber had a 'major depressive disorder' which would have been worsened by family arguments and the Covid-19 lockdown.

He said that depression can lead to 'cycles of negative thoughts' that could increase the chances of the defendant suffering 'anger and irritability'.

Dr Rogers said: 'He was using coping mechanisms like meeting friends, then (because of) the effects of the pandemic those coping mechanisms were no longer there.

Sir Richard Sutton, pictured with his wife Lady Sutton and their children David and Caroline

Police guard Sir Richard's 2million property in the Dorset hamlet of Higher Langham in April

'He was isolated and essentially locked in this annexe in the middle of these family problems, it's reasonable this had an effect on his mental health.'

He added that drinking alcohol and the fact it was the anniversary of the death of the defendant's father, David Schreiber, could also have been contributing factors to the impairment of his mental state.

Giving evidence to the trial, Schreiber had described hearing a voice saying 'attack, attack, attack', but Dr Rogers said although the defendant had 'intrusive thoughts', he described them as his 'own thoughts'.

Dr Rogers said: 'These symptoms changed during lockdown... he told me his mental health received a full frontal attack.

'He said he was afraid to go downstairs... things became mind numbing for him.'

Dr Rogers added that the defendant had not described experiencing hallucinations or paranoia and did not have symptoms of bipolar disorder.

Pictured: A jury has been shown footage released by the Metropolitan Police of Schreiber being chased at 135mph before armed police seized him in the hours following the attack

One 'distressive' thought Schreiber reported having every single day since lockdown began was 'they don't care about you just like they didn't care about dad' and he began to consider using a shotgun to 'blow my brains out'.

The court heard Schreiber admitted having an 'uncontrollable rage' after hearing a voice in his head shout 'attack, attack, pick up the knife' on the day of the killing.

Dr Rogers concluded Schreiber was suffering from an 'abnormality of mental functioning' at the time, which substantially impaired his ability to form rational judgements and exercise self control.

He added: 'That being the anniversary of his father's death, it is likely that activated all these past resentments.'

Psychiatrist Dr John Sandford, called by the prosecution, said he did not consider that the defendant suffered from a major depressive disorder.

He said that the defendant had been given anti-depressants while living in Australia in 2017 but he had never been referred to a secondary service such as a consultant or a community mental health nurse.

He added that the defendant had visited his GP in March 2021 showing symptoms of 'mixed anxiety'.

He said that the defendant told him: 'I am 150 per cent certain if there hadn't been a lockdown, it wouldn't have happened'.

Dr Sandford said: 'My headline conclusion is he doesn't suffer from a mental disorder, there is no evidence that he has a severe mental illness like schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, there is no evidence of that at all.

'He was a little bit of a lost soul, he had anger and resentment about his childhood that had never been resolved - he was unhappy but he didn't have a mental disorder.

'He has a history of poor anger control and aggression within his family, it's a possibility drink is a significant factor in this.'

The trial continues.
Elon Musk, Time magazine's new Person of the Year for 2021, isn't everyone's cup of tea.

He's brash, arrogant, uncompromising, erratic, antagonistic, attention-seeking and sometimes tweets like a reckless maniac.

But then I could also be talking about myself!

Where we differ is that Musk is also, without any doubt, the single greatest entrepreneurial genius on Planet Earth right now, a swashbuckling maverick who's turned himself into the world's richest inhabitant through sheer force of visionary, innovative and risk-taking determination.

He hasn't achieved this by being Mr. Nice Guy.

Musk, who has Asperger's Syndrome, is indisputably a flawed human being whose managerial style has been described by co-workers as exhibiting a 'high degree of degenerate behavior' and a 'total and complete pathological sociopathy.'

Tesla employees have been reportedly told not to walk past Musk's desk because of his 'wild firing rampages', hard-nosed engineers have apparently been reduced to tearful rubble in his fiery confrontational meetings, and by his own admission, he's a very impatient and demanding workaholic.

Elon Musk, who has Asperger's Syndrome, is indisputably a flawed human being whose managerial style has been described by co-workers as exhibiting a 'high degree of degenerate behavior' and a 'total and complete pathological sociopathy.'

He's no easier to live with at home judging by the scathing account of their marriage posted by one of his two ex-wives, Justine.

But then, truly transformative people are rarely warm, cuddly individuals.

Describing him as a 'clown, genius, edgelord, visionary, industrialist, showman,' Time praised him as a 'man-god' who 'dreams of Mars as he bestrides Earth, square-jawed and indomitable.'

The magazine's editors added: "Musk is easily cast as a hubristic supervillain, lumped in with the tech bros and space playboys, for whom money is scorekeeping and rockets are the ultimate toy. He is actually 'different': He's a manufacturing magnatemoving metal, not bytes. His rockets... reinvigorated America's space dreams and are launching satellites to expand Internet access across the globe... The man from the future where technology makes all things possible is a throwback to our glorious industrial past, before America stagnated and stopped producing anything but rules, restrictions, limits, obstacles, and Facebook."

Time emphasized that its annual acknowledgement was not an award, but rather, 'recognition of the person who had the most influence on the events of the year, for good or for ill.'

I mistakenly assumed that Musk's recognition would be parked into the 'good' category.

After all, this is a guy who's spent the past 25 years trying to save the planet through sustainable cars, solar power, and ringing alarm bells about climate change and Artificial Intelligence, and who's almost single-handedly restored the dream of space exploration including the stunning idea of colonizing Mars to help with Earth's massive over-population crisis.

Yes, Musk can be weird, intemperate, rude and unpredictable.

Yes, his tweeting can be indefensibly irresponsible  whether it's ramping up (or down) crypto-currencies, constantly downplaying the threat from Covid-19 and spreading disinformation about the virus, shamefully calling people who criticize him 'pedos', or live-tweeting as he is emptying his bowels.

I mistakenly assumed that Musk's recognition would be parked into the 'good' category. He almost single-handedly restored the dream of space exploration including the stunning idea of colonizing Mars to help with Earth's massive over-population crisis. (Above: The Inspiration4 all-civilian crew on board the Crew Dragon module. SpaceX launched several historic flights this year including the first-ever all-civilian space crew)

And yes, he should pay more tax.

It's outrageous that in 2018, he paid zero individual federal taxes, and paid an average rate of just 3.7% between 2014-18  even though it was perfectly legal given that he takes no salaries, and his fortune is mostly held in assets and stock. And, as he points out by way of self-defense, he generates huge tax income for the treasury through the 110,000 people he employs.

But I prefer to look at public figures in totality, believing them all to be imperfect, and the totality of Elon Musk's achievements surely outweighs the bad stuff?

Apparently, not.

In fact, judging by the outraged liberal reaction to his Time POTY announcement, the woke brigade believe he is even less deserving than previous holders of the title like Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin.

'The selection of Musk this year may be the worst ever,' snarled liberal writer Kurt Eichenwald.

'Let's change the rigged tax code so The Person of the Year will actually pay taxes and stop freeloading off everyone else,' raged Senator Elizabeth Warren.

'The guy could really use an ego boost, you know?' scoffed late night host Trevor Noah. 'And honestly, you can't argue with this: I mean, richest man in the world, who also controls space, crypto, and electric cars? Who would even be second place? Like, maybe Pete Davidson?'

'It's important to note this is not necessarily a compliment,' Jimmy Kimmel mocked. 'Adolf Hitler and Donald Trump were also named person of the year.'

'Literally almost anyone else would have made a better Person of the Year than Elon Musk,' seethed left-wing 'Brooklyn Dad Defiant' blogger Majid Padellan.

And self-styled Democratic strategist Aaron Parnas even suggested Dolly Parton should have won it instead.

Musk has ploughed his money and brains into a series of businesses that collectively mean he has done more to save us from ourselves than any of his fellow Earth-mates. (Left) The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft, carrying non-professional astronauts, launches from NASAs Kennedy Space Center in September 2021. (Right) Tesla, which makes sustainable electric cars, is heading towards being the world's biggest company

Really?

No offense to Dolly, but I'd put saving the planet marginally ahead of crooning Jolene.

And frankly, why all the hate against Musk?

This guy surely is the living, breathing personification of the American dream?

Aged just 10, he was reading two books a day and became obsessed with computer and video games. He acquired a computer, and at 12, sold the code of a video game he created called Blastar to a tech magazine for $500.

Due to his Asperger's, he was a loner as a kid and was physically and verbally bullied throughout childhood, even hospitalized for a week after one particularly savage beating.

He's also hinted at suffering some unknown form of abuse at the hands of his father from whom he is now estranged and describes as 'evil.'

So, Musk left home in South Africa on his own with nothing and came to the United States via Canada. A very bright student, he dropped out of Stanford after two days to launch  with his brother - an internet start-up 'Zip2' which developed and marketed an Internet city guide for the newspaper publishing industry including the New York Times and was sold for $307 million.

Why all the hate against Musk? This guy surely is the living, breathing personification of the American dream? (Pictured: Musk, age 24, at his computer in 1995)

Then he founded the hugely successful online banking firm 'X.com' online banking company, which later merged with PayPal and ended up making him another $150 million.

Since then, Musk has ploughed his money and brains into a series of businesses that collectively mean he has done more to save us from ourselves than any of his fellow Earth-mates: Neuralink, that integrates the human brain with Artificial Intelligence and which he describes as a 'Fitbit in your skull' and claims could soon cure paralysis, deafness, blindness, and other disabilities; Tesla, which makes sustainable electric cars and is heading towards being the world's biggest company; SolarCity, now the second largest, and cheapest, provider of solar power systems in the US; and Space X, which is now NASA's official supplier for the International Space Station and is building rockets and spacecraft far cheaper than anyone else.

None of this has come easily, and his personal life has been as up-and-down as his professional one.

Aside from his divorces and estrangement from his dad, Musk nearly died from malaria in 2000, and he lost his first child, a son named Nevada Alexander, to sudden infant death syndrome at just 10 weeks old.

So, this is a very complex man who's been through a lot in his life that might explain some of his less than edifying behavior.

But I would argue he has his heart in the right place.

Musk wants our planet, and the 7.9 billion people on it, to survive.

He doesn't want us to be wiped out by climate change, or asteroids, or self-designing Artificial Intelligence robots.

In its citation, Time said: 'This is the man who aspires to save our planet and get us a new one to inhabit.'

And Musk said by way of response: 'The goal overall has been to make life multi-planetary and enable humanity to become a spacefaring civilization.'

I can't think of a more important goal than this, or a man who, for all his faults, is more uniquely qualified to try to achieve it.

That's why I'm delighted Time chose Elon Musk as their Person of the Year.

We need more people like him in the world, and less whiny woke wastrels currently throwing their toys out of their strollers because their bogeyman is finally getting the recognition that he deserves.
A Minneapolis Instacart driver ran over an elderly couple's groceries after seeing a pro-police sign in their front yard and wrote a crude message on a receipt branding them as 'racist' and saying 'f*** the police.'

A 36-year-old driver from Coon Rapids, Minnesota, who only went by Tara on the app, reportedly ran over $50 worth of groceries in an angry fit over a sign the couple had in their driveway.

A bottle of soda, what appears to be coffee creamer, a bag of bananas and other items can be seen in the photo which police posted to Facebook on Monday.

Tara has since been relieved of her position at Instacart, but it wasn't immediately clear if Tara was the driver's real name or what type of charges the suspect is facing.

The sign read 'Thank you Blaine PD' and donned a Blue Lives Matter flag - a symbol of police support - in the shape of a heart.

Instead of the groceries from Cub Foods that the couple had ordered on December 6, Tara left a derogatory message scribbled on a 'random receipt' on the couple's front porch.

'Instacart doesn't pay employees. Sry [sic] find another slave. F*** the police,' the hateful message read, which also had the words 'racist' and 'pigs' written on it in black marker.

A relative, Amber Gray, wrote on a GoFundMe: 'My heart breaks for my loves ones,' and detailed how the act left them feeling 'vulnerable'.

Instacart released a statement saying it was 'appalled by the unacceptable actions of this shopper, who has been removed from the Instacart platform as a result.'

A Minneapolis Instacart driver ran over an elderly couple's $50 worth of groceries (pictures) in an angry fit over a sign the couple had in their driveway

Pictured: The pro-police sign in the elderly couple's front yard that angered Tara enough to run over their groceries

Tara left a hateful message in the Christmas wreath hanging from the couple's front door and branded them as 'racist'

The elderly couple's loved ones shared a screenshot of their receipt from Cub Foods, which showed a picture of Tara, who has since been removed from the platform. Police said Tara is 36 and from Coon Rapids, Minnesota

'We'll continue to provide support to the impacted customers and will also work directly with local law enforcement on any investigations into this matter,' it added.

According to a listing on Indeed, the average annual salary for a personal shopper with Instacart in Minneapolis is $47,000, which is based on aggregated data. Delivery drivers in the city reportedly make $65,000 per year.

In a press release posted to the Blaine Police Department's Facebook page on Monday, the elderly couple reported on December 6 that when they received the notification from the Instacart app that the driver was at their house, they went outside to pick up their groceries 'due to the amount of snow in their driveway'.

'When the couple opened the front door, the delivery driver yelled back at them to check inside of their Christmas wreath,' which is where they found the receipt inscribed with the bitter note.

'They also reported the driver was driving back and forth in the driveway.... After the delivery driver left they found that their groceries had been run over in the driveway,' the press release stated.

The elderly couple reportedly told Instacart what happened and received a full refund for their order.

A grocery fund set up by the couple's loved ones on GoFundMe three days after the incident has already accumulated nearly $8,500 - far exceeding the $500 goal.

'Tara probably doesn't know how carefully those $50 in groceries were budgeted for. Or how devastating the recent medical diagnosis has been. Or how scared and vulnerable her vile act of hatred made them feel,' Amber Gray, one of the fundraiser organizers, wrote.

Blaine Police Chief Brian Podany (pictured) said that he understood the suspect's discontent towards law enforcement but told Fox 9 that they shouldn't have taken it out on 'innocent people out there, especially people who are trying to contribute to this person's livelihood'

In an update posted on Tuesday, Gray called the 197 donations a 'Christmas miracle'. It is unclear what her relationship is to the elderly couple.

The police department added in the press release: 'The delivery driver has been identified and the investigation continues with charges likely in the near future.'

Blaine Police Chief Brian Podany told Fox 9: 'We're law enforcement. We get not everybody likes us, we understand that. But don't take that out on innocent people out there, especially people who are trying to contribute to this person's livelihood.'
The Senate voted Tuesday afternoon to raise the debt ceiling by $2.5 trillion - a day before Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the U.S. could go into default.

Only Democrats voted in favor of the hike, with the final vote standing at 50 to 49, with one Republican abstaining. That meant there was no need for Vice President Kamala Harris to break a tie.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said on the floor Tuesday morning that the hike would allow the U.S. to borrow enough money to fund its expenses into 2023 - after the midterm elections.

Schumer and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell struck a deal last week, where they attached a rule-change to another bill that would allow the debt ceiling resolution to go forward with a simple majority vote - instead of the typical 60 votes needed for cloture.

This allowed Democrats to avoid a Republican filibuster threat - and permitted McConnell to call it a win, as he wanted only Democrats to vote for the hike - enabling the GOP to go after Democrats for the debt in the run-up to the 2022 midterms.

Still, former President Donald Trump and other Republicans grumbled that McConnell allowed Democrats to utilize a fast-track approach, instead of using the more cumbersome process of reconciliation to get the bill through.

The debt ceiling resolution will also need to be passed in the House.

The Senate voted Tuesday afternoon to raise the debt ceiling by $2.5 trillion. Only Democrats voted in favor of the hike, with the final vote standing at 50 to 49, with one Republican abstaining

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (left) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (right) struck a deal on the debt ceiling last week, which will allow just a simple majority to move a debt ceiling resolution through the Senate Tuesday, before the December 15 deadline

Schumer said he expected the $2.5 trillion debt ceiling hike to allow the government to borrow money to pay its bills through sometime in 2023

On Thursday, the Senate passed a bill that would allow them to raise the debt ceiling one time using a simple majority.

In a vote of 64 to 36, 14 Republicans joined the Democrats in a procedural vote on a bill that delays Medicare sequestration cuts for three months that also contains a provision that allows for the debt ceiling to be raised one time using a simple majority.

Schumer thanked McConnell for playing ball and said on the Senate floor Thursday that their conversations were 'fruitful, candid, productive' and said this was the 'responsible' action to take.

Republicans who joined the Democrats for the cloture vote included McConnell and Sens. John Thune, John Barrasso, Shelley Moore Capito, Roger Wicker, Susan Collins, Roy Blunt, Thom Tillis, Lisa Murkowski, Richard Burr, Joni Ernst, John Cornyn, Mitt Romney and Rob Portman.

On final passage - which was 59 to 34 - 10 Republicans joined 49 Democrats in getting the bill over the line.

They included Barrasso, Blunt, Capito, Collins, McConnell, Murkowski, Portman, Romney, Thune and Tillis.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer thanked Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell prior to the vote saying their conversations were 'fruitful, candid, productive' and said this was the 'responsible' action to take

Fourteen Republicans joined the Democrats Thursday to vote for cloture for a bill that contained a provision that will allow the Senate to pass a debt ceiling hike before the December 15 deadline using only Democratic votes. Sixty votes are needed for cloture

The bill was approved by the Senate 59 to 34 later Thursday night. In this vote, 10 Republicans voted alongside 49 Democrats for final passage. The Medicare bill contained a provision that would allow Democrats to vote the debt ceiling using a simple majority one-time only

Other Republicans have grumbled about the deal, having hoped that McConnell would force Democrats to use the more cumbersome process of reconciliation to push up the debt ceiling.

Critics, including Trump, have pressed McConnell to drag out the process, with Trump incorrectly believing it would thwart Democratic efforts to push President Joe Biden's Build Back Better bill.

'So Mitch McConnell has the greatest hand, the greatest, the best, this is such an easy negotiation to kill the "Build Back Worse" plan of Biden.  And we have a thing called the debt ceiling. And this morning, I hear he gave it up,' Trump claimed on Hugh Hewitt's radio show Wednesday.

'He gave it up for practically nothing. He could have used the debt ceiling card ... the debt ceiling is psychological. This is not psychological. This is fact. This will destroy our country, the fabric of the country as we know it,' Trump said of Biden's Build Back Better plan.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, seen speaking at a service for the late Sen. Bob Dole earlier Thursday, agreed to a debt ceiling deal with Schumer that left some members of his party grumbling

Democrats already planned to use reconciliation - which allows them to bypass a Republican filibuster threat - to get the $1.75 trillion bill over the line, so holding up the debt ceiling process would only create a delay.

Schumer has said he wants Build Back Better passed by Christmas.

Moderate Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin, however, has remained resistant.

Other Republicans feared that allowing Democrats to bypass the filibuster one time by adding a provision to a separate bill, would open the door for more carve-outs down the road.

Sen. Mike Lee, a Utah Republican, warned it could 'neuter the Senate.'

'IT IS AKIN TO "NUKING THE FILIBUSTER!"' he tweeted in all caps.

Still, 10 Republican votes were needed to push the process forward.

Sen. Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican, argued that Republicans were still giving Democrats assistance - even if GOP senators won't be needed for the final vote on the debt ceiling.

'I don't think Republicans should be facilitating adding trillions in debt,' the Texas Republican said, according to Wednesday's Playbook.

Over on the House side, GOP Rep. Kevin Brady, the ranking member of the House Ways and Means committee, complained that the deal mucked up what should have been a bipartisan Medicare bill, calling it a 'poison pill.'

'You wrecked a bipartisan agreement for your debt ceiling crisis,' Brady said Tuesday night on the floor.

On Tuesday night, the House passed the Medicare-debt ceiling bill with a vote of 222 to 212, with the support of just one Republican, retiring GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger.

The debt ceiling has generally been voted on by members of both parties, as the debt was taken on by both Republican and Democratic presidents.

But McConnell, with few cards in his hand with Democrats controlling the White House and both houses of Congress, decided earlier this year to make it a hurdle for his Democratic colleagues - telling them they must raise the debt ceiling alone.

Republicans are eager to use the debt issue - as they did in the 2010 midterms to take Congress away from the Democrats - against the Democrats in Congressional races next year.

McConnell argued that the deal struck with Schumer still sticks to that.

'The red line is intact,' McConnell said. 'The red line is that you have a simple majority party-line vote on the debt ceiling. That's exactly where we will end up.'
Postmasters have told MPs the compensation they received in the wake of the Horizon computer scandal was 'nowhere near' the amount they lost as a result of their convictions, while the government has promised to pay them more.

Hundreds of subpostmasters were sacked or prosecuted between 1999 and 2015 after reported shortfalls which were eventually attributed to a glitch in an IT system rolled out by the Post Office in 1999.

The Post Office spent 32million denying any fault with their IT system and even bullied postmasters into pleading guilty to crimes they knew they had not committed.

So far, 72 postmasters convictions have been quashed and have been offered compensation, which they claim is 'nowhere near' the amount of money they lost as a result of the prosecutions.

Paul Harry, a former subpostmaster who was accused of false accounting by the Post Office, said he has received only around a fifth of the funds he cashed out to the mail delivery operation after shortfalls appeared in the Horizon accounting system.

Former subpostmaster Paul Harry (pictured) giving evidence to the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy committee of the subject of the Post Office and Horizon scandal

Former subpostmaster Jo Hamilton (pictured) told MPs she is 'one of the lucky ones' after receiving back all her lost funds in compensation. It came after she remortgaged her house and 'borrowed money from my friends and parents'

Alan Bates, a former subpostmaster and founder of the Justice for Subpostmasters Alliance representing 555 people who paid false shortfalls but were not convicted. He said 'more questions need answering' as to whether those people will receive payments

A number of other former subpostmasters and lawyers also explained to MPs on the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee the financial toll of the scandal and compensation which has been offered since the first legal convictions were overturned.

Shortly before the committee hearing started, the Government pledged that it will foot the bill for the final compensation payments to the wrongly convicted workers.

The Post Office has said it is unable to cover the payments for the exonerated individuals but the Government - as its only shareholder - confirmed it will pay.

What was the Horizon computer system and how did it go wrong? Between 1999 and 2015, hundreds of postmasters were sacked or prosecuted after money appeared to go missing from their branch accounts (file image) Horizon, an IT system developed by the Japanese company Fujitsu, was rolled out by the Post Office from 1999. The system was used for tasks such as transactions, accounting and stocktaking. However, subpostmasters complained about defects after it reported shortfalls - some of which amounted to thousands of pounds. Some subpostmasters attempted to plug the gap with their own money, even remortgaging their homes, in an attempt to correct an error. Between 1999 and 2015, hundreds of subpostmasters were sacked or prosecuted due to the glitches. The ex-workers blamed flaws in the IT system, Horizon, but the Post Office denied there was a problem. In case after case the Post Office bullied postmasters into pleading guilty to crimes they knew they had not committed. Many others who were not convicted were hounded out of their jobs or forced to pay back thousands of pounds of 'missing' money. The Post Office spent 32million to deny any fault in their IT system, before capitulating. However, the postmasters and postmistresses said the scandal ruined their lives as they had to cope with the impact of a conviction and imprisonment, some while they had been pregnant or had young children. Marriages broke down, and courts have heard how some families believe the stress led to health conditions, addiction and premature deaths. Advertisement

In a written ministerial statement, postal affairs minister Paul Scully said: 'I am pleased to confirm that today the Government is making funding available to facilitate Post Office to make final compensation payments to postmasters whose convictions have been overturned.

'We are working with Post Office to finalise the arrangements that will enable the final settlement negotiations to begin as soon as possible.

'By providing this funding, Government is helping Post Office deliver the fair compensation postmasters deserve.'

Chairman of the BEIS committee Darren Jones said it was 'wholly unacceptable' for the ministers statement to published shortly before the hearing began.

He also said that 'more questions need answering' as to whether the 555 people who paid false shortfalls but were not convicted will receive payments.

Alan Bates, a former subpostmaster and founder of the Justice for Subpostmasters Alliance representing these 555 individuals, said: 'I think over the years when they were serving subpostmasters they paid in the region of 8.5million back to the Post Office in stated shortfalls.

'Thats before anything else, like the loss of their businesses and all the rest of it, including the financial difficulties theyve be left in.'

Mr Bates added the group received a 56.75million settlement in 2019, but that 46million went directly towards the cost of legal action.

'After that was removed, around 11m was left, averaging around 20,000 per person,' he said.

'Unfortunately, each claim is closer to 700,000 in actuality of what people have lost to put them back in the position they started had the Post Office not done what they did.'

Mr Harry, who was convicted of false accounting, said he has received an interim compensation payment but is hoping for further payments.

He said: 'I have received a small amount of just over 20,000, but my losses are in excess of 100,000, so I am nowhere near getting my money.'

Former subpostmaster Jo Hamilton told MPs she is 'one of the lucky ones' after receiving back all her lost funds in compensation.

It came after she remortgaged her house and 'borrowed money from my friends and parents'.

Horizon, an IT system developed by the Japanese company Fujitsu, was rolled out by the Post Office from 1999.

The system was used for tasks such as transactions, accounting and stocktaking. However, subpostmasters complained about defects after it reported shortfalls - some of which amounted to thousands of pounds.

Some subpostmasters attempted to plug the gap with their own money, even remortgaging their homes, in an attempt to correct an error.

Between 1999 and 2015, hundreds of subpostmasters were sacked or prosecuted due to the glitches. The ex-workers blamed flaws in the IT system, Horizon, but the Post Office denied there was a problem.

In case after case the Post Office bullied postmasters into pleading guilty to crimes they knew they had not committed.

Many others who were not convicted were hounded out of their jobs or forced to pay back thousands of pounds of 'missing' money.

Hundreds of subpostmasters were sacked or prosecuted between 1999 and 2015 after reported shortfalls which were eventually attributed to a glitch in IT system rolled out by the Post Office in 1999 (file photo)

The Post Office spent 32million to deny any fault in their IT system, before capitulating.

However, the postmasters and postmistresses said the scandal ruined their lives as they had to cope with the impact of a conviction and imprisonment, some while they had been pregnant or had young children.

Marriages broke down, and courts have heard how some families believe the stress led to health conditions, addiction and premature deaths.
Nearly 30 percent of adult-aged Americans said they do not identify with any religion, a new study by Pew Research Center found.

The 29 percent in the group, known as the 'nones,' describe themselves as atheists, agnostics or 'nothing in particular' - up from 23 percent who said they were non-believers in 2016 and 19 percent in 2011.

Self-identified Christians continue to make up the majority of the US population, at 63 percent, but the number is down from 75 percent a decade ago.

The study, conducted among 3,937 respondents from May to August, also found that only 45 percent pray on a daily basis, compared with 58 percent who reported doing so in 2007.

One-third of adults say they seldom or never pray, up from 18 percent in 2007.

Over recent years, the prevalence of the nones in the US has been roughly comparable to Western Europe, but overall, Americans remain more religious, with higher rates of daily prayer and belief in God as described in the Bible.

The group known as the 'nones,' who describe themselves as atheists, agnostics or 'nothing in particular,' is up from 23 percent in 2016 and 19 percent in 2011

The study, conducted among 3,937 respondents from May to August, also found that only 45 percent pray on a daily basis, compared to 58 percent who reported doing so in 2007

Twenty-nine percent of Americans, roughly three-in-ten adults, do not identify with any religion - the highest number ever - a new study by Pew Research Center found

They live across the US, representing a diversity of ages, ethnicities and socioeconomic backgrounds, the poll found.

'If the unaffiliated were a religion, they'd be the largest religious group in the United States,' said Elizabeth Drescher, an adjunct professor at Santa Clara University, who wrote a book about the spiritual lives of the nones.

'There are people who do actually practice, either in a particular faith tradition that we would recognize, or in multiple faith traditions,' Drescher said. 'Theyre not interested in either membership in those communities formally or in identifying as someone from that religion.'

Even in their personal philosophies, America's nones vary widely, according to a recent poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

For example, 30 percent say they feel some connection to God or a higher power, and 19 percent say religion has some importance to them even though they have no religious affiliation.

About 12 percent describe themselves as religious and spiritual and 28 percent as spiritual but not religious. More than half describe themselves as neither.

Nearly 60 percent of the nones say religion was at least somewhat important to their families when they were growing up.

The poll also found that 30 percent of nones meditate and 26 percent pray privately at least a few times a month, while smaller numbers consult periodically with a religious or spiritual leader.

Nathalie Charles, an 18-year-old of Haitian descent who identifies as queer and is now a freshman at Princeton University, said she left her Baptist congregation as a teenager because she did not feel welcome.

She did not agree with its conservative views on immigration, gender and sexuality.

'I just don't feel like that gelled with my view of what God is and what God can be,' said Charles.

'It wasn't a very loving or nurturing environment for someone's faith.'

After leaving her New Jersey church three years ago, she identified as atheist, then agnostic, before embracing a spiritual but not religious life.

In her dorm, she blends rituals at an altar, chanting Buddhist, Taoist and Hindu mantras and paying homage to her ancestors as she meditates and prays.

The path taken by Charles places her among the religiously unaffiliated, the fastest growing group in surveys asking Americans about their religious identity. They describe themselves as atheists, agnostics or 'nothing in particular.'

Self-identified Christians continue to make up the majority of the US populace with 63, but the number is down from 75 percent a decade ago

Nathalie Charles, an 18-year-old of Haitian descent who identifies as queer and is now a freshman at Princeton University, said she left her Baptist congregation as a teenager because she did not feel welcome

According to a 2018 Pew survey, about two-thirds of US Christians prayed daily, compared to six percent in Britain and nine percent in Germany

The growth of the nones in the US has come largely at the expense of the Protestant population in the US, according to the new Pew survey.

It said 40 percent of US adults are Protestants now, down from 50 percent a decade ago.

Among the former Protestants is Shianda Simmons, 36, of Lakeland, Florida, who began identifying as an atheist in 2013.

She grew up as a Baptist and attended church regularly; she says she left mainly because of the churchs unequal treatment of women.

Not everyone in her family knows she has forsaken religion, and some who do know struggle to accept it, Simmons said.

'There are certain people I can't tell that I am atheist,' she said. 'It has made me draw away from my family.'

Similarly, at the beauty store she owns, she feels she must keep her atheism 'under wraps' from clients, for fear that'd go elsewhere.

Like Simmons, Mandisa Thomas is a Black atheist - an identity that can be challenging in the many African American communities where churches are a powerful force.

Thomas sang in a church choir in her childhood, but was not raised Christian.

'Within the Black community, we face ostracism,' said Thomas, who lives near Atlanta and founded Black Nonbelievers, a support group, in 2011. 'There is this idea that somehow you are rejecting your blackness when you reject religion, that atheism is something that white people do.'

Another advocate for the nones is Kevin Bolling, who grew up in a military family and served as a Roman Catholic altar boy.

'I just don't feel like that gelled with my view of what God is and what God can be,' said Charles. 'It wasn't a very loving or nurturing environment for someone's faith'

The growth of the nones in the US has come largely at the expense of the Protestant population in the US, according to the new Pew survey. It said 40 percent of US adults are Protestants now, down from 50 percent a decade ago

In college, he began to question the church's role, and grew dismayed about its position on sexuality after he came out as gay.

He's now executive director of the Secular Student Alliance, which has more than 200 branches in colleges and schools nationwide. The chapters, he said, serve as havens for secular students or those questioning their faith.

'I think this generation can be the first generation to be majority non-religious versus majority religious,' he said.

Being Catholic also was a big part of Ashley Taylors upbringing - she became an altar server when she was nine years old- Now 30, she identifies as religiously unaffiliated.

'It just means finding meaning and maybe even spirituality without practicing a religion .... pulling from whatever makes sense to me or whatever fits with my values,' she said.

Her faith gave her strength when she had cancer at 11, she said, but she also feels that growing up Catholic negatively affected her emotional and sexual development and delayed her coming out as queer.

Eventually, Taylor discovered Sunday Assembly, which provided her with a congregation-like community but in a secular way, offering activities such as singing, book clubs and trivia nights.

She's now board president at Sunday Assembly Pittsburgh.

'They're not trying to tell you whats true,' said Taylor. 'There's always a spirit of curiosity and questioning and openness.'

After leaving her New Jersey church three years ago, Charles identified as atheist, then agnostic, before embracing a spiritual but not religious life

Within Protestantism, evangelicals continue to outnumber those who are not evangelical. Currently, 60% of Protestants say yes when asked whether they think of themselves as a born-again or evangelical Christian, while 40% say no or decline to answer the question

For some nones, such as 70-year-old Zayne Marston of Shelburne, Massachusetts, their spiritual journey keeps evolving over decades.

Growing up near Boston, Marston attended a Congregational church with his family - he remembers Bible study, church-sponsored dances, the itchiness of his flannel trousers while attending Sunday services.

Through high school and college, he 'drifted away' from Christian beliefs and in his 30s began a serious, long-lasting journey into spirituality while in rehab to curb his alcoholism.

'Spirituality is a soul-based journey into the heart, surrendering ones' ego will to a higher will.' he said. 'Were looking for our own answers, beyond the programming we received growing up.'

His path has been rough at times - the death of his wife from a fast-moving cancer, financial troubles leading to the loss of his house - but he says his spiritual practice has replaced his anxieties with a 'gentle joy' and a desire to help others.

He previously worked as a landscape designer and real estate appraiser, and now runs a school teaching qigong, a practice that evolved from China combining slow, relaxed movement with breathing exercises and meditation.

'As a kid, I used to think of God up on a throne, with a white beard, passing judgment, but that has totally changed,' Marston said. 'My higher power is the universe... It's always there for me, if I can get out of my egos way.'

Three-in-ten adults in the new survey, or 31 percent, said they attend religious services at least once or twice a month, including 25 percent who said they attend at least once a week and 7 percent who attend once or twice a month.

Meanwhile, 70 percent black Protestants said they attend religious services at least once or twice a month, while 56 percent of white evangelical Protestants said they attend religious services at least once a month.

The AP-NORC poll of 1,083 adults was conducted Oct. 21-25 using a sample drawn designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 4 percentage points.
A cloud of smoke was filmed billowing into the air as a terrorist bomb killed two cops at a Colombian airport - moments after another bomber accidentally blew himself up.

Norte de Santander officers David Reyes and Willian Bareno were responding to the initial explosion that killed one of the attackers at Camilo Daza International Airport in the border city of Cucuta and approached a suitcase before it exploded.

Defense Minister Diego Molano said the blasts were caused by 'terrorist' groups that operate in the city of half a million people, which is located on the border with Venezuela and is a hub for commerce and migration.

Drug and guerilla gangs are currently at war in the city over control of cocoa crops and drug trafficking routes, with attacks such as the airport blast a semi-regular occurrence for residents of the area.

Cucuta mayor Jairo Yanez was awaiting to board a 5:15 a.m. flight to the Colombian capital city of Bogota when the first bomb exploded at 15 minutes earlier as man carrying explosives tried to climb over a fence that separates the airport's runway from one of the city's neighborhoods.

The bomber, who has not been identified by authorities, died instantly in the blast.

David Reyes (pictured) was one of the two police officers killed in Cucuta, Colombia, on Tuesday morning when a package he and his partner Willian Bareno encountered exploded near a tarmac at Camilo Daza International Airport. Bareno also died

Willian Bareno (pictured) was a member of the Cucuta police department's anti-explosives squad. Bareno and his partner David Reyes were both killed Tuesday at Camilo Daza International Airport while searching for explosives one hour after a man died when the explosives he was carrying were set off as he tried to climb over a fence that separates the airport's runway from one of the city's neighborhoods

A cloud of smoke hover near the tarmac at Camilo Daza International Airport on Tuesday moments after a bomb hidden in a suitcase exploded and killed two police officers

Two other men, who remain at large, left a suitcase filled with explosives on a grass area adjacent to the tarmac and exploded about an hour later as Reyes and Bareno, both members of the police department's anti-explosives squad, were combing the area for additional explosives.

A resident outside the airport was filming as a military helicopter hovered over the tarmac before the package exploded and killed the cops.

Though the explosions took place near Camilo Daza International Airport's runway, the passenger terminal was not affected. But flights were suspended and passengers were evacuated from the building.

'They will not (make) us bend with these events that only seek to destabilize us and generate terror,' Yanez said.

Police officers Willian Bareno (left) and David Reyes (right) were killed when a suitcase loaded with explosives exploded near a tarmac at Camilo Daza International Airport in Cucuta, Colombia, on Tuesday morning. The cops were searching the area for additional bombs after a suspect was killed when the explosive he was carrying was detonated as he attempted to climb over a fence separating the airport perimeter from a street

A soldier patrols near the runway of Camilo Daza International Airport airport in Cucuta Colombia, where an explosion occurred near the airport's perimeter fence Tuesday

Soldiers and dogs search for potential explosives near Camilo Daza International Airport in Cucuta, Colombia, on Tuesday

Cucuta is the capital of Norte de Santander, a border region that has recently seen a surge in fighting between guerrilla groups and drug trafficking gangs that are vying for control of cocoa crops and trafficking routes.

In June, a car bomb was set off at a military base in the outskirts of the city, where U.S. military advisers were working.

Then in August a bomb was set off outside a police station, injuring 14 people.

President Ivan Duque's helicopter was also shot at during a recent visit to the city. The president emerged unharmed from the attack.

Armed organizations operating in Norte de Santander include the National Liberation Army guerrilla group, and dissident groups formed by former members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia who refused to sign a 2016 peace deal with Colombia's government.
The House January 6th Committee has told former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows he may have violated federal record keeping laws regarding information on his personal cell phone and on email  as the House prepares to vote to hold him in criminal contempt.

Meadows has emerged as a key figure in the Jan. 6th investigation  with GOP Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming reading into the record Tuesday three more text messages he received from fellow Republican lawmakers the day of the attack pleading with him to intervene with former President Donald Trump.

Additional texts revealed on the House floor Tuesday evening included an unnamed lawmaker sending Meadows an 'aggressive strategy' for overturning election results in battleground states and an exchange with an anonymous Georgia state official.

'It is really bad up here on the Hill,' one wrote him, according to Cheney. 'The president needs to stop this ASAP,' wrote another. 'Fix this now,' wrote a third lawmaker.

The House is set to vote to hold former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows in criminal contempt after his failure to provide testimony. A panel report suggests he may have violated federal record keeping laws

Rep. Liz Cheney read into the record new texts that GOP lawmakers sent to Trump on Jan. 6

The lawmakers were urging Meadows to intervene with Trump

'Fix this now,' one lawmaker wrote Meadows

'We know that for 187 minutes, President Trump refused to act,' said Cheney.

She shared those messages, gleaned from a trove of information the committee obtained from Meadows when he was cooperating and perhaps from other sources, after on Monday night reading pleas from Fox News commentators for Trump to make a public statement urging rioters to get out of the Capitol.

More newly-revealed texts brought up during the House's debate over Meadows' contempt charge continued to paint a damning picture of the former chief of staff.

Committee member Rep. Zoe Lofgren read a message to Meadows sent by an unnamed Georgia state official on January 2.

'Need to end this call,' the text read. 'I don't think this will be productive for much longer.'

In a message read by Adam Schiff, an unknown number commended Meadows on Trump's potential appointment of Jeffrey Clark to head the DOJ - which was derailed by the threat of mass resignations among former Trump officials

'I heard Jeff Clark is getting put in on Monday. That's amazing. It will make a lot of patriots happy, and I'm personally so proud that you are at the tip of the spear, and I could call you a friend,' the text read.

A message from an unnamed lawmaker dated November 4, 2020 described an 'aggressive strategy' to force certain battleground states to send electors appointed by their Republican legislatures - before the races in those states were even called.

'HERE's an AGGRESSIVE STRATEGY: One day after the election. Why can't the states of [Georgia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania] and other [Republican] controlled state houses declare this is BS  just send their own electors to vote and have it go to the SCOTUS?'

A January 3 text from Meadows to an unnamed lawmaker read, 'He thinks the legislatures have the power but that the Vp has power too.'

Additional text messages were revealed on the House floor as Democrats and Republicans debated the contempt charge

In a 51-page report on holding Meadows in contempt for his failure to testify to the panel, the committee says Meadows has 'frustrated' its efforts to 'locate and discover highly relevant documents, even while turning over thousands of other documents.

'Based on Mr. Meadowss production of documents and recently reported information, it appears that Mr. Meadows may not have complied with legal requirements to retain or archive documents under the Presidential Records Act,' according to the report.

'He has denied the Select Committee the opportunity to question him about these circumstances so that the Select Committee can fully understand the location of highly relevant materials to its investigation and which materials may now be lost to the historical record.'

Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) read aloud a series of tweets people sent to former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows amid the Capitol riot. Many asked him to get to Trump urging him to take action

Lawmakers debated Meadows' conduct during a House Rules Committee markup Tuesday

A Jan. 6th committee report references Meadows' Gmail and cell phone use

Punchbowl reporter Jake Sherman revealed some of the texts Cheney read aloud were from him

By publicly revealing pleading texts sent to Meadows, Cheney may be signaling that the panel may have found a way to get some of the information anyway. It has previously subpoenaed communications companies.

The report also states that panel chair Rep. Bennie Thompson, in a letter to Meadows lawyer George Terwilliger III, asked the lawyer to 'identify for the Select Committee the current location of Mr. Meadowss cell phone and whether Mr. Meadows provided his texts and other relevant cell phone records to the National Archives.'

The push for the information comes as Meadows is citing a claim of executive privilege by former President Donald Trump as a reason for holding back and refusing to appear.

The texts highlighted actions Meadows had with elected officials and private individuals that would not be subject to a privilege claim.

But if the work he performed was official, even if he did it on a personal phone or private email account, federal records laws require him to turn it over to the National Archives  the repository for a trove of other information the panel is seeking to obtain.

Meadows' personal devices have shown up in several areas amid Trump election overturn effort. One involved his and Trump's contacts with state election officials in Georgia, where Trump was claiming election fraud.

'Mr. Meadows used a personal account in his attempts to reach the secretary of state before,' the committee wrote, citing its documents.

The committee, again citing documents on file, says Meadows 'used his personal cell phone to discuss the rally in the days leading up to January 6.'

Another Meadows lawyer, Michael Francisco produced 2,300 text messages from data backed up on Meadows' personal cell, according to the report, while also handing over a 'privilege log' stating Meadows was holding back more than 1,000 additional texts 'from his personal cell phone due to claims claims of executive, marital, and other protective privileges' an indication he was using the phone for official communications were covered by an executive privilege that a president can assert.

The panel cites Meadows' use of a pair of Gmail accounts as among the topics they would have questioned him about had he appeared.

'We wouldve asked him how and for what purpose he used those Gmail accounts and when he used one of them as opposed to his official White House email account. We wouldve similarly asked him about his use of a personal cellular telephone,' the committee wrote.

Cheney referenced Meadows' texts repeatedly during a hearing Tuesday at the House Rules Committee.

She said he 'appears to have been texting at least one other participant on the call' when Trump phoned Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to push him to 'find' 11,800 votes.

She also pointed to his texts around another area of the inquiry: Trump's potential move to designate DOJ official Jeffrey Clark as Attorney General. Meadows 'was communicating multiple times with a member of Congress, a currently serving colleagues of ours, who was working with Mr. Clark,' she said.

The report itself references 'texts in December of 2020 regarding the prospect of the Presidents appointment of Jeffrey Clark as Acting Attorney General.'

Meanwhile, Punchbowl DC reporter Jake Sherman tweeted Tuesday that he had been the author of some of the texts read aloud last night by Cheney. From a secure location in the Capitol amid the riot, Sherman contacted Meadows with his own pleas for assistance.

'We are under siege,' he wrote in one. 'There's an armed standoff at the house chamber door,' he wrote in another. 'We're all helpless.'

Cheney, the select committee's vice chair, read a number of text messages from political and journalistic heavyweights which 'leave no doubt that the White House knew exactly what was happening here at the Capitol.'

'[President Trump] has got to condemn this sh*t ASAP. The Capitol police tweet is not enough,' Don Jr. texted Meadows.

Donald Trump (pictured in the East Room of the White House in July 2020) held a rally at the Capitol which descended into a deadly riot on January 6

Don Jr. and Fox host Laura Ingraham sent desperate messages to Meadows urging him to get a grip of the chaos at the Capitol

Rep. Adam Schiff read a number of lawmaker texts to Mark Meadows in advance of Monday's contempt of Congress vote

Meadows replied to the president's son: 'I'm pushing it hard, I agree.'

'Donald Trump Jr. texted again and again urging action by the president, "We need an Oval Office address. He needs to lead now. It has gone too far and gotten out of hand,"' Cheney told the committee.

Laura Ingraham messaged: 'Mark, the president needs to tell people in the capitol to go home, this is hurting all of us. He is destroying his legacy.'

'Please get him on TV. Destroying everything you have accomplished,' Brian Kilmeade wrote to Meadows.

Sean Hannity advised: 'Can he make a statement? Ask people to leave the capitol.'
A Florida schoolgirl was pronounced dead on Monday, three days after she was thrown from a motorcycle during a high-speed crash that also killed her teenage boyfriend.

Taylor Kolouris, 15, of South Tampa, had been riding on the back of a motorbike driven by Ben Francis, 17, when they slammed into the side of Kia Sorento.

Tampa police say the driver of the car did not see the motorcycle approaching quickly when he was traveling northbound on Bay to Bay Boulevard from the stop sign on Lois Avenue.

Police have not revealed how fast the two Plant High School students were traveling and the crash remains under investigation.

Francis died at the scene of the crash and Kolouris was taken to Tampa General Hospital.

She passed away on Monday morning after succumbing to her injuries.

Young Florida couple Taylor Kolouris, 15, (left), and Ben Francis, 17, (right) have both died as of Monday morning after being involved in a motorbike accident on Friday

Emergency crews at the scene after the crash after Francis had rammed his motorbike into the side of a Kia Sorento. The driver was taken to the hospital and is expected to survive their injuries

A candlelit vigil was held for Kolouris on Sunday night Palma Ceia Presbyterian Church to pray for her recovery on the night before her death

Kolouris was said to have adored her family, which included her parents and two younger siblings

Kolouris with her friends, who described her as 'always smiling' and 'an absolute light'

The driver was taken to the hospital with serious injuries but is expected to survive, police said.

Family and friends of Kolouris held a vigil for her on Sunday night, before she tragically passed away, to offer their prayers at the Palma Ceia Presbyterian Church.

Kolouris's best friend Elizabeth McCree described her as 'an absolute light,' according to WTSP.

McCree said Kolouris was 'confident, a little sassy, but again the most loving and caring person you could ever meet.'

Her youth pastor Kenny Hubbel organized the event for Kolouris and led those in attendance in prayer.

'She's beautiful inside and out and we're just coming together in hope and prayer and asking God to make this okay,' Hubbel said.

Following Kolouris's passing, her family and friends have not yet publicly made a statement.

Francis, who had died at the scene, was honored by his own family and friends last weekend during a private memorial service.

Francis's best friend Taylor Sass (left) said that he had brought 'light into every room'

A memorial was set up at the intersection of Lois Avenue and Bay to Bay Boulevard to remember Francis

Plant High School students gathered around the flagpole to honor the tragic passing of the young couple

Around 100 of Ben's friends met on a Davis Island beach to swap stories and set off fireworks, one of his favorite activities.

'He always brought light into every room,' Francis's best friend Taylor Sass said.

'He knew how to make you smile and you just look at him and know that you're happy I don't know how you explain that.'

Francis's parents also spoke out about the loss of their son with a funeral service planned for him on December 18.

'Ben's life was about wanting everyone else to be happy so I'm gonna do what he would want me to do. He wouldn't want me to be sad,' his father said.

His mother said that the crash was a 'tragic accident' and that he will be missed by many.

The scene of the crash has been considered a danger zone for some time, accounting for 30 accidents since 2015.

The intersection where the accident took place has been considered dangerous, with 30 crashes at the site since 2015

Local dentist Michael McNeill, who has a practice near the intersection, said that he has witnessed prior collisions on that particular road.

'I live and work here so I get to witness maybe a half of a dozen a year, accidents that happen,' he said.

'With the amount of accidents that happen here, there ought to be some consideration for some crosswalks and a light.'
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Fresh Covid restrictions could be imposed within days as ministers put plans in place to recall Parliament during Christmas if cases of the Omicron variant hit 1million a day by the New Year.

MPs could be forced to work through the festive holidays and approve new lockdown rules for January if the Government's Plan B fails to stop a 'tidal wave' of Omicron cases 'overwhelming' the NHS.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson told the Cabinet during a Covid update on Tuesday that a 'huge spike in Omicron is coming', while England's chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty warned that Britain was facing a 'significant increase in hospitalisations'.

It comes as Mr Johnson faces intense pressure on his leadership after his party dealt him his biggest rebellion since he became Prime Minister two-and-a-half years ago.

The PM will be hoping the dissatisfaction among his MPs - which saw nearly 100 backbenchers defy the party whip to vote against the Government on Tuesday - is not felt more widely, as the Conservatives battle to keep the seat of North Shropshire in a key by-election on Thursday.

Nearly a third of his MPs voted against the introduction of mandatory Covid passes in nightclubs and large venues, with many saying they were unhappy about the way Mr Johnson was leading the country and his party.

Meanwhile NHS bosses have ordered hospitals to discharge as many patients as possible off wards and into care homes and even hotels after 'doomsday' Government modelling warned that admissions could exceed levels seen during the second wave last January, when 4,000 infected patients were needing medical care every day.

Health Secretary Sajid Javid told MPs that even if Omicron turned out to be less severe than the Delta variant, the fact it spreads so easily meant 'it still has the potential to overwhelm the NHS'.

He told Ministers that modellers believe Omicron cases may already be running at '200,000 a day' and 'doubling every two to three days'. However, some experts have cast doubt on the figure, which is far higher than the official Covid total and which is based on disputed mathematical modelling. Downing Street insisted the projection was 'valid'.

Prof Whitty also warned the Cabinet that astronomical infection rates will spark staff shortages in pubs, restaurants and shops  sparking concerns of a repeat of the so-called 'pingdemic' that led to the shutdown of whole swathes of the economy over the summer.

Former Tory chief whip and leading rebel Mark Harper said Mr Johnson should recall Parliament if there are moves to reimpose curbs.

It came as Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon limited socialising to three households indoors mixing either side of Christmas Day, with everyone encouraged to take a lateral flow test before meeting. The move, which is not mandatory, comes into effect from midnight on Friday and does not apply on December 25. Ms Sturgeon insisted she was not asking people to 'cancel' Christmas but told the Scottish Parliament the country is facing a 'likely tsunami' of new Covid cases in the weeks ahead.

Mr Johnson tried to reassure mutinous Tory MPs on Tuesday that the 'whole objective' of his Plan B was to 'keep things moving'. Deputy premier Dominic Raab insisted the restrictions, including compulsory facemasks and Covid passes for large venues, will be sufficient over Christmas.

But the Prime Minister failed to quell a massive rebellion of around 100 backbenchers over Covid passes. Earlier, Mr Johnson had made a last-gasp attempt to win round his MPs as he addressed the 1922 Committee of Conservatives shortly before the Commons vote, telling them 'we have absolutely no choice' but to impose the measures.

The rebellion is seen as a sign of party anger at the Prime Minister, and has sparked murmurings of a potential leadership challenge against him next year.

Omicron has become dominant in London, with the capital's Covid infection rate spiralling by 55 per cent in two weeks to 537 cases per 100,000 people  the highest level since January, when stringent curbs were in place. Hospitalisations have risen by 50 per cent over the same period, from 90 to 140 admissions a day.

Though deaths are currently flat, it can take up to a month for fatalities to start rising due to time it takes to fall seriously ill.

However, the first major real-world study of the variant  conducted in South Africa  has found that Omicron is causing a third fewer hospital admissions than the Delta variant. The study also found that just two doses of the Pfizer vaccines provides 70 per cent protection against severe illness. South African doctors have accused the government in London of overreacting to Omicron.

It comes as NHS chiefs bragged about the first day of the booster vaccine blitz, despite scenes of absolute chaos that were repeated again on Tuesday with Britons queuing for hours only to be turned away.

On another dramatic day of the coronavirus crisis:

The Omicron variant has become dominant in London barely two weeks after it was first detected, health chiefs revealed today;

But Omicron is causing milder disease than Delta in patients in the epicentre of the new Covid variant, the first major real-world study in South Africa confirmed;

Dr Susan Hopkins, chief medical adviser at the UK Health Security Agency, said vaccine passports, WFH and other curbs will be needed for 'the next four to eight weeks' to prevent the NHS from being 'overwhelmed' by the Covid variant;

Sajid Javid and his top health advisers were today accused of scare-mongering after clarifying that gloomy models do estimate that 200,000 Britons could be catching Omicron every day;

Nicola Sturgeon re-introduced social distancing and asked Scots to cut down on socialising in the run up to Christmas today;

Care bosses have warned homes will not have enough staff to deal with NHS orders for hospitals to discharge as many patients as 'soon as practically possible' to handle the expected Omicron surge;

Mr Javid today confirmed all countries will be removed from the Government's international travel red list from 4am tomorrow because Omicron is already running rampant in the UK;

A new super-variant could be created if Omicron and Delta infect someone at the same time, one of Moderna's bosses has warned;

The Department of Health reported 59,610 overall coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours, up more than 30 per cent in a week and the highest number since the peak of the second wave on January 9.

Daily deaths were down 17 per cent in a week with 150 victims today, while latest hospital data shows there were 793 last Friday, up 11 per cent.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson gives a thumbs up to photographers today as he is driven in a car for his morning run in London

Boris Johnson during Prime Minister's Questions at the House of Commons in London

MPs announcing the result of a vote for Coronavirus regulations, in the House of Commons in London, as MPs have voted 441 to 41, majority 400, to approve regulations to extend the requirement to wear face coverings to more indoor spaces in England

Health Secretary Sajid Javid updating MPs on the Government's Covid plans in the House of Commons today

BRISTOL: People desperate to get a booster jab before Christmas queued up in a snaking line over a car park. Many are facing up to three hour waits to get their top-up doses

RAMSGATE, KENT: People pictured waiting to be called for their jab at a mass vaccination centre. Britain's booster drive is being ramped up to beat the Omicron Covid variant

Omicron becomes DOMINANT in London: Capital's hospital admissions have risen 50% since variant first emerged The Omicron Covid variant spreading at a ferocious pace in the UK has become dominant in London barely two weeks after it was first detected, health chiefs revealed today. Professor Kevin Fenton, the capital's director of public health, said data suggested the super-strain was already behind at least one in every two new infections in the city, up from 44 per cent just yesterday. As the country's major transport hub, London quickly became England's Omicron epicentre after South Africa first raised the alarm on November 24. It is thought to have been seeded in the capital by travellers flying into the UK. The capital's Covid infection rate has spiralled to its highest level since January when stringent curbs were in place, rising 55 per cent in a fortnight from 347 to 537 cases per 100,000 people. And hospitalisations in the city have risen by 50 per cent over the same period, from 90 to 140 admissions a day on average. Deaths remain flat but it can take up to a month for fatalities to start rising due to the time it takes to fall seriously ill. Nationally, Omicron is behind one in every five cases but is expected to outstrip Delta before the New Year. For comparison, it took Delta almost two months to take over from the Alpha variant. Omicron is also spreading very quickly in Scotland and South Northamptonshire, data shows. A spokesman for London's mayor suggested today they would back controversial local lockdown restrictions in the capital, saying it was better to 'act now' rather than wait for the virus to spiral out of control. But Tory representatives called on ministers to rely on 'strong vaccine protection' and ramp up the booster drive, rather than curb people's daily lives. Advertisement

Other measures under the Government's Plan B also cleared the Commons, including to drop the requirement to isolate and instead do daily Covid tests for those fully vaccinated people who are contacts of a positive Covid case.

MPs also approved mandatory vaccinations for NHS and social care staff by April 2022 and the requirement to wear face coverings to more indoor spaces in England - including museums and galleries.

Some 369 MPs backed the move to introduce Covid passes - which have also been known as vaccine passports - in large venues, giving a majority of 243.

But the division list showed 96 Conservative MPs voted against.

Two Tory MPs also acted as tellers for the noes.

Eight Labour MPs, 10 Liberal Democrats, six DUP, Green Party MP Caroline Lucas and Independent MPs Jeremy Corbyn and Rob Roberts also opposed the regulations, according to the list.

The measures will mean people will have to prove that they are either fully vaccinated or have had a recent negative coronavirus test before they can go to nightclubs and large venues.

Before Tuesday, the biggest rebellion Mr Johnson had faced was in December 2020, against the strengthening of Covid-19 tier restrictions in England.

Then, a total of 55 Conservative MPs voted against the Government. This includes the two MPs who acted as tellers for the noes.

The list of those who voted against included the newest Tory MP Louie French, who was elected in the Old Bexley and Sidcup by-election and has been in the Commons for less than two weeks.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said it was a 'very significant blow to the already damaged authority of the Prime Minister' who he said was now 'too weak to discharge the basic functions of Government'.

He stopped short of explicitly calling for Mr Johnson to resign, but said: 'The Prime Minister needs to take a long, hard look at himself and ask himself whether he has the authority to take this country through the pandemic.'

He added: 'I think it's very important to understand how deep the breach of trust is between the Prime Minister and his own party.'

Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting said that Mr Johnson's authority was 'shattered'.

He told Sky News: 'That is an extraordinary, extraordinary rebellion. The Government has lost its majority. I think the size of that vote is a reflection of the shattered authority of Boris Johnson.

'He is undermining public health at a critical moment for our country. I think he has got to ask himself if he is the right man to lead our country through the next phase of the pandemic.'

Sir Charles Walker, the vice-chairman of the backbench 1922 Committee, said the rebellion by Tory MPs over Covid passes was a 'cry of pain' by the party.

He told BBC News: 'This was just a bridge too far. I think they were putting a marker down. It was a cry of pain from the Conservative Party. He (Boris Johnson) is in a very, very, very difficult position. There has been a strong view in within the Conservative Party that vaccine passports do not work and is not something many colleagues wanted to see introduced. This is a very, very specific line being drawn in the sand now and I think the Prime Minister and his team need to listen.'

But there are concerns among senior government figures that the Conservative Party increasingly looks divorced from public opinion, which has been in favour of Covid restrictions throughout the pandemic.

'Tory MPs and activists are a lot more libertarian than the public. There is a problem,' one aide told MailOnline.

The new measures approved in Parliament have been welcomed by NHS Providers chief executive Chris Hopson. He said: 'These new restrictions should help slow the spread of the virus and help ease pressure on the NHS as we head into what is set is to be our most difficult ever winter.'

On face coverings, he said the requirement in more indoors settings is a 'small price to pay as we seek to curb the spread of Covid-19'.

He added: 'MPs also voted today to make Covid-19 vaccinations mandatory for frontline health and care staff from April onwards to protect colleagues, patients and visitors from coronavirus.

'While there are inherent risks in introducing mandatory vaccinations, trusts are redoubling their efforts to increase voluntary take up efforts within their teams, having individual discussions with hesitant staff, and rolling out initiatives, such as education campaigns, to drive up vaccination rates.'

'Boris is in danger': Senior Tory MP Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown warns Prime Minister will face a leadership challenge next year unless he stabilises his premiership after HUGE revolt over Covid passes A senior Tory MP has warned Boris Johnson he will face a leadership challenge next year unless the Prime Minister stabilises his premiership after he suffered a huge revolt over Covid passes. The House of Commons voted by 369 to 126 in favour of Mr Johnson's plan to make the documents mandatory for nightclubs and other large venues in England. But 98 Conservative MPs rebelled to vote against the measure, inflicting a hammer blow on Mr Johnson's authority. Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, the treasurer of the 1922 Committee of Tory MPs, said this evening that the vote showed there is a 'major division' within the Conservative Party and 'we all know what happens to disunited parties'. Sir Geoffrey said there must be a 'major change' in the way Mr Johnson leads the Government, as the backbencher said the PM 'has got to now be in some danger and he has got to realise that'. The MP said that unless Mr Johnson gets his leadership back on track then 'some members of the party will be thinking to themselves we have got to have a change' with a leadership contest 'on the cards' next year. Advertisement

Whitehall officials have drawn up proposals to limit the number of people allowed in pubs and restaurants, according to The Sun. There are also contingency plans to bring back furlough and support for businesses if tougher restrictions are needed.

However, the options are causing alarm inside the PM's top team as well, with Jacob Rees-Mogg insisting on his regular podcast that the country must 'learn to live' with coronavirus.

Earlier, Mr Johnson had addressed the 1922 Committee to try and convince them to back his plans.

And he had been individually speaking to those who had publicly said they would oppose the measure earlier in the day.

Meanwhile, in a letter to healthcare providers published late last night, NHS England said all patients in hospital beds should be discharged now if it is 'safe' to do so to make room for Omicron patients.

Nurses are being flown in from Spain and Greece to offer temporary assistance at hotels that are being converted into care sites over Christmas to help deal with the oncoming crisis, it was also revealed today.

But the NHS guidance did not stipulate how exactly patients would be deemed 'medically fit' enough to be discharged, leaving the decision in the hands of medics.

And there are fears returning elderly patients to care homes could put others at risk after former Health Secretary Matt Hancock's decision not to test all residents before they were discharged last year was blamed for the deaths of thousands.

Care England, which represents the biggest private chains, told MailOnline the NHS must ensure all patients are 'properly tested' this time round and warned more staff are needed at some homes to make the scheme work.

It comes after Sajid Javid admitted even urgent operations may have to be cancelled in order to ramp up No10's booster drive, which aims to offer a vital third dose to all adults by the end of the month.

Ministers have already warned anyone wanting to see their family doctor face-to-face for a 'routine' appointment will be forced to wait until the New Year so GPs can focus on delivering booster jabs. Doctors called for clear messaging on what is considered 'urgent', telling patients not to come in with rashes or common colds.

Cancer charities and patients' rights groups today slammed the policy as a 'hammer blow' for those needing care, adding delays in seeing a GP can mean diagnoses are missed in the vital early stages of the disease. MacMillan said it fears the pivoting of the NHS to prioritising Covid will have 'unintended consequences'.

The NHS surgery backlog is already at a record high of nearly 6million, with the crisis fuelled by hospitals being forced to cancel tens of thousands of operations during the pandemic.

Critics accused the NHS of having transformed into the 'National Covid Service' in the early days of the outbreak, sacrificing other elements of health care.

Meanwhile, the Omicron Covid variant spreading at a ferocious pace in the UK has become dominant in London barely two weeks after it was first detected, health chiefs revealed today.

Professor Kevin Fenton, the capital's director of public health, said data suggested the super-strain was already behind at least one in every two new infections in the city, up from 44 per cent just yesterday.

As the country's major transport hub, London quickly became England's Omicron epicentre after South Africa first raised the alarm on November 24. It is thought to have been seeded in the capital by travellers flying into the UK.

The capital's Covid infection rate has spiralled to its highest level since January when stringent curbs were in place, rising 55 per cent in a fortnight from 347 to 537 cases per 100,000 people.

The above maps show areas where the Omicron Covid variant has been detected in England over the two weeks to November 20 (left), and to December 4 (right). Areas where the variant has been detected are not coloured yellow. It shows how it has gone from just one local authority, to about half of the country. Areas with darker colours have detected more cases

The above graph shows the seven-day average for hospital admissions in different regions of England. It reveals that in London (orange) there has been a steady increase

This graph shows the Covid infection rate per 100,000 people in England's regions. It also shows there has been a rapid uptick in London (red) while cases remain largely flat in other regions

The above graph shows how Omicron cases are rising across England's regions. PCRs search for three specific genes to tell whether someone has Covid, but with Omicron one of the genes is so mutated - the S-gene - that it does not show up with the tests. Cases with this gene missing are coloured purple above, with the graph showing their numbers quickly increasing

The above graph shows the proportion of cases detected that did and did not have a confirmed S-gene. PCRs search for three specific genes to tell whether someone has Covid, but with Omicron one of the genes is so mutated - the S-gene - that it does not show up. This allows scientists to quickly tell which cases are likely Delta (green) and Omicron (purple)

Omicron is causing up to a THIRD fewer admissions than Delta and two Pfizer jabs still slash death risk of severe disease by 70% Omicron is causing milder disease than Delta in patients in the epicentre of the new Covid variant, the first major real-world study in South Africa confirmed today. Officials who analysed 78,000 Omicron cases in the past month estimated the risk of hospitalisation was a fifth lower than with Delta and 29 per cent lower than the original virus. As a crude rate, Omicron is currently leading to a third fewer hospital admissions than Delta did during its entire wave  38 admissions per 1,000 Omicron cases compared to 101 per 1,000 for Delta. The findings lend weight to the theory that the ultra-infectious variant is weaker than previous strains, something which doctors on the ground in South Africa have been claiming for weeks. But the reduction in severity is probably not solely down to Omicron being intrinsically milder, according to the South African Medical Research Council which led the analysis. Around 70 per cent of South Africans have recovered from Covid already and 23 per cent are double-vaccinated, which has created high levels of immunity. The finding will raise hopes that the UK's Omicron wave will be less severe than previous peaks, despite having an older and denser population. Unlike South Africa, the UK is rolling out booster jabs on a mass scale. The study also found two doses of Pfizer's vaccine still provide 70 per cent protection against hospital admission or death from Omicron, compared to 93 per cent for Delta. While this is more protection than many scientists initially feared, it still leaves 30 per cent of people vulnerable to severe Omicron disease, four times as many as Delta. Waning immunity from two Pfizer doses was found to offer just 33 per cent protection against Omicron infection, explaining why the country has seen a meteoric rise in case numbers. Advertisement

And hospitalisations in the city have risen by 50 per cent over the same period, from 90 to 140 admissions a day on average. Deaths remain flat but it can take up to a month for fatalities to start rising due to the time it takes to fall seriously ill.

Scientists and health leaders today called for tighter pandemic restrictions to help hold the Omicron case tsunami at bay, stating the beleaguered Covid booster programme will not be enough.

Experts called for compulsory mask wearing, social distancing enforcement in the hospitality sector, and for Britons to dramatically reduce the number of people they meet in person.

The experts were giving evidence to MPs from All-Party Parliamentary Group on Coronavirus today.

British Medical Association chair Chaand Nagpaul was one of those who called for great restrictions.

'It makes no sense that staff in hospitality don't need to wear a mask, a waiter serving customers in a crowded restaurant is just as able to transmit the virus. Make that mandatory now,' he said.

'Have specifications on physical distancing, having a restaurant, or a club, or a bar, or a pub with people crowded next to each other doesn't make sense.

'You have to have a policy that is not just about boostersthat does mean going further than some of the restrictions in Plan B.'

SAGE advisor and professor psychology Stephen Reicher also argued that boosters will not be enough to stem the Omicron tide.

'We need to get cases down now, while we all agree we need to get boosters, number one it will take a number of weeks to give people those boosters, number one it will take a couple of weeks for the effect of those boosters to kick in and if we were to do nothing now by the then the cases will be catastrophically high,' he said.

Katherine Henderson, president of the Royal College Emergency Medicine said her biggest worry was the focus on the Covid booster programme would drag much needed clinical staff away from hospital wards.

'It isn't like we've got a whole load of blow-up vaccinators in a cupboard somewhere that we've been keeping on standby for this situation,' she said.

And Elaine Thorpe, an Intensive Care Unit matron at University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust told MPs that staff were already dreading what was to come.

'You can see it in the eyes of the doctors and the nurses and the physios, they are terrified of having to do that again,' she said.

Nationally, Omicron is behind one in every five cases but is expected to outstrip Delta before the New Year. For comparison, it took Delta almost two months to take over from the Alpha variant. Omicron is also spreading very quickly in Scotland and South Northamptonshire, data shows.

A spokesman for London's mayor suggested today they would back controversial local lockdown restrictions in the capital, saying it was better to 'act now' rather than wait for the virus to spiral out of control.

But Tory representatives called on ministers to rely on 'strong vaccine protection' and ramp up the booster drive, rather than curb people's daily lives.

Nicola Sturgeon today told Scots they could no longer mix in groups bigger than three households, and said social distancing was to return in shops and pubs because of surging Omicron numbers there. But the First Minister said the rule would be relaxed for Christmas Day and there was no reason to cancel plans.

The surging cases in the capital and calls for more restrictions have echoes of last winter when London was the first place to be locked down in the run up to Christmas.

It comes as a major study today suggested that two doses of Pfizer's vaccine still provides 70 per cent protection against hospital admission and death from Omicron, compared to 93 per cent for Delta.

Officials who looked at 78,000 Omicron cases in the past month found t he risk of hospitalisation was a fifth lower than with Delta (in green) and 29 per cent lower than the original virus (dark blue). Omicron is shown in brown and the original South African 'Beta' variant in light blue. Children appeared to have a 20 per cent higher risk of hospital admission with complications during the new wave than the initial outbreak, despite the numbers still being tiny

As a crude rate, Omicron is currently causing a third fewer hospital admissions than Delta did during its entire wave  38 admissions per 1,000 Omicron cases, compared to 101 per 1,000 for Delta

The study also found that two doses of Pfizer's vaccine still provides 70 per cent protection against hospital admission or death from Omicron, compared to 93 per cent for Delta

Waning immunity from two Pfizer doses was found to offer just 33 per cent protection against Omicron infection, explaining why the country has seen a meteoric rise in case numbers

NHS in crisis mode as it orders hospitals to empty 'as many patients as possible' into care homes, hospices or HOTELS NHS bosses have ordered hospitals to discharge as many patients as possible off wards and into care homes and even hotels to handle the predicted Omicron surge. In a letter to healthcare providers published late last night, NHS England said all patients in hospital beds should be discharged if it is 'safe' to do so. Hospitals are on red alert in the wake of shocking modelling by Government scientists that warned admissions could exceed levels seen during the darkest days of the nation's second wave last January, when 4,000 infected patients were needing medical care every day. Nurses are being flown in from Spain and Greece to offer temporary assistance at hotels that are being converted into care sites over Christmas to help deal with the oncoming crisis, it was also revealed today. But the NHS guidance did not stipulate how exactly patients would be deemed 'medically fit' enough to be discharged, leaving the decision in the hands of medics. And there are fears returning elderly patients to care homes could put others at risk after former Health Secretary Matt Hancock's decision not to test all residents before they were discharged last year was blamed for the deaths of thousands. Care England, which represents the biggest private chains, told MailOnline the NHS must ensure all patients are 'properly tested' this time round and warned more staff are needed at some homes to make the scheme work. It comes after Sajid Javid admitted even urgent operations may have to be cancelled in order to ramp up No10's booster drive, which aims to offer a vital third dose to all adults by the end of the month. Advertisement

The first real-world study in South Africa also estimated the risk of hospitalisation was a fifth lower than with Delta and 29 per cent lower than the original virus.

The findings lend weight to the theory that the ultra-infectious variant is weaker than previous strains, something which doctors on the ground in South Africa have been claiming for weeks.

It comes as Nicola Sturgeon re-introduced social distancing and asked Scots to cut down on socialising in the run up to Christmas today.

Pubs, restaurants and shops will have to take measures to avoid crowding and queues, the First Minister told Holyrood.

Additionally she asked Scots to limit indoor mixing to just three households. While the advice will not be enforceable in law, Ms Sturgeon announced that allowing staff to work from home where possible will again become a legal duty on employers.

Ms Sturgeon confirmed that she was not seeking to put restrictions on festive events at Christmas itself, although she added that 'keeping your celebrations as small as family circumstances allow is sensible'.

'My key request today is this: before and immediately after Christmas, please minimise your social mixing with other households as much as you can,' she told the Scottish Parliament.

'However, if you do plan on socialising, either at home or in indoor public places, we are asking that you limit the number of households represented in your group to a maximum of three. And make sure you test before you go.'

She also lashed out at Boris Johnson, complaining that it was 'not acceptable' that there was no additional funding yet available from the UK Government to support businesses affected by the measures she is introducing.

The changes - which could well be followed by similar moves in Wales - will further increase the pressure on Boris Johnson in England, with London, like Scotland, an omicron hotspot.

Calls have been made for the introduction of further restrictions in the capital, with the super mutant variant now responsible for half of cases.

The city is still the region of England with the fastest-growing Covid outbreak, according to Government data, with cases growing by up to 48 per cent a week in the worst-hit boroughs.

NHS leaders said No10 needs to be prepared to introduce stricter curbs than the current Plan B if Omicron is on the brink of overwhelming the NHS.

Mr Johnson warned his Cabinet this morning that a 'huge spike' of Omicron is coming, according to Downing Street.

Dominic Raab risked inflaming the tensions in interviews this morning as he dismissed 'overstated' criticism about the measures to combat the Omicron strain.

Ministers are said to be examining plans for a further round of restrictions in England that would push it closer towards a lockdown and are sure to watch Ms Sturgeon's announcement with interest and trepidation.

Meanwhile Britain's booster drive to beat the Omicron super-variant has been mired in chaos after more than 4.4million attempts were made to book top-up shots on the NHS website and furious GPs warned they had run out of doses.

Health chiefs said 545,000 appointments were secured by 8pm last night, even after the website crashed because so many people logged on. This morning Britons were stuck in up to an hour long queues.

But GPs complained they would not have enough jabs for everyone after being given until 9am to order stocks to meet Boris Johnson's December 31 'boosted or bust' deadline.

Omicron becomes DOMINANT in London: Capital's hospital admissions have risen 50% since variant first emerged and graphs show how quickly it has taken off in the country at large

The Omicron Covid variant spreading at a ferocious pace in the UK has become dominant in London barely two weeks after it was first detected, health chiefs revealed today.

Professor Kevin Fenton, the capital's director of public health, said data suggested the super-strain was already behind at least one in every two new infections in the city, up from 44 per cent just yesterday.

As the country's major transport hub, London quickly became England's Omicron epicentre after South Africa first raised the alarm on November 24. It is thought to have been seeded in the capital by travellers flying into the UK.

The capital's Covid infection rate has spiralled to its highest level since January when stringent curbs were in place, rising 55 per cent in a fortnight from 347 to 537 cases per 100,000 people.

And hospitalisations in the city have risen by 50 per cent over the same period, from 90 to 140 admissions a day on average. Deaths remain flat but it can take up to a month for fatalities to start rising due to the time it takes to fall seriously ill.

Nationally, Omicron is behind one in every five cases but is expected to outstrip Delta before the New Year. For comparison, it took Delta almost two months to take over from the Alpha variant. Omicron is also spreading very quickly in Scotland and South Northamptonshire, data shows.

A spokesman for London's mayor suggested today they would back controversial local lockdown restrictions in the capital, saying it was better to 'act now' rather than wait for the virus to spiral out of control.

The above maps show areas where the Omicron Covid variant has been detected in England over the two weeks to November 20 (left), and to December 4 (right). Areas where the variant has been detected are not coloured yellow. It shows how it has gone from just one local authority, to about half of the country. Areas with darker colours have detected more cases

The above graph shows the seven-day average for hospital admissions in different regions of England. It reveals that in London (orange) there has been a steady increase

But Tory representatives called on ministers to rely on 'strong vaccine protection' and ramp up the booster drive, rather than curb people's daily lives.

Nicola Sturgeon today told Scots they could no longer mix in groups bigger than three households, and said social distancing was to return in shops and pubs because of surging Omicron numbers there. But the First Minister said the rule would be relaxed for Christmas Day and there was no reason to cancel plans.

The surging cases in the capital and calls for more restrictions have echoes of last winter when London was the first place to be locked down in the run up to Christmas.

It comes as a major study today suggested that two doses of Pfizer's vaccine still provides 70 per cent protection against hospital admission and death from Omicron, compared to 93 per cent for Delta.

The first real-world study in South Africa also estimated the risk of hospitalisation was a fifth lower than with Delta and 29 per cent lower than the original virus.

The findings lend weight to the theory that the ultra-infectious variant is weaker than previous strains, something which doctors on the ground in South Africa have been claiming for weeks.

Experts accuse Sajid Javid and health officials of blatant scare-mongering for claim that at least 200,000 Britons are catching Omicron each day

Sajid Javid and his top health advisers were today accused of scare-mongering after clarifying that gloomy models do estimate that 200,000 Britons could be catching Omicron every day.

The Health Secretary last night told MPs that daily Covid infections were thought to have breached the 200,000 mark.

But his comments, made in a statement discussing the threat of Omicron, sparked immediate confusion over whether the figure was relating to the virus as a whole, or specifically just the super-mutant variant.

Department of Health insiders last night told The Telegraph that Mr Javid was correct to imply Omicron cases had hit 200,000 a day.

And the UK Health Security Agency, which made the grisly estimate, today revealed the maths used to make the claim. Today's toll would be in the region of 300,000, by the team's own calculations.

But experts today questioned the pessimistic projection, with one of the country's most eminent statisticians calling the calculation into doubt.

Professor Sir David Spiegelhalter, from the University of Cambridge, told MailOnline: 'To get the figure of 200,000, they would need to assume a doubling time of 1.75 days, or a higher starting point.

'It is very frustrating, to put it mildly, that such high-profile and surprising numbers are given without any publicly available justification.'

Professor of medicine and consultant oncologist Karol Sikora added to the criticism, stating the Government was deliberately 'scaremongering' the population into getting booster jabs.

'It's alarmist and all part of a deliberate PR ploy to get people the booster,' he said.

'It's not a bad idea to get the booster, but you could see yesterday the system creaked under the pressure.'

Care bosses warn homes won't have space to deal with NHS kicking out 'as many patients as possible' and demand health chiefs test EVERYONE discharged to avoid devastating repeat of first wave

Care bosses have warned homes will not have enough staff to deal with NHS orders for hospitals to discharge as many patients as 'soon as practically possible' to handle the predicted Omicron surge.

In a letter to regional bosses published late last night, NHS England ruled all patients occupying hospital beds who don't 'need' one be sent to care homes, hospices and hotels if it is 'safe' to do so.

Hospitals are on red alert in the wake of shocking modelling by No10's scientists that warned admissions could exceed levels seen during the darkest days of the nation's second wave last January, when 4,000 infected patients were needing medical care every day.

But the NHS guidance did not stipulate how patients would be deemed 'medically fit' enough to be discharged, leaving the decision in the hands of medics.

And there are fears returning elderly patients to care homes could put others at risk, after former Health Secretary Matt Hancock's decision not to test all residents before they were discharged last year was blamed for the deaths of thousands.

Care England, which represents the biggest private chains in the country, told MailOnline the NHS must ensure all patients are 'properly tested' this time round and warned more staff are needed at some homes to make the scheme work.

The NHS waiting list for routine hospital treatment in England has reached 5.83million, official data reveals marking the eleventh month in a row that the figure has hit a record high. Some 1.6million more Britons were waiting for elective surgery  such as hip and knee operations  at the end of September compared to the start of the pandemic

The NHS last night ordered hospitals to discharge all healthy patients off wards and into hotels to handle the predicted surge in Covid patients because of the Omicron variant this winter. Sajid Javid (pictured today on Downing Street ahead of a cabinet meeting) admitted even urgent operation may have to be cancelled in order to ramp up No10's booster drive, which aims to offer a vital third dose to all adults by the end of the month

Professor Martin Green, its chief executive, said: 'If the NHS intend to discharge more people into care homes they must ensure that they are all properly tested and that the care homes are properly funded to do this work on a national tariff.

'There is an issue about staffing in the care sector, so the NHS may well have to provide some staff in order to make this discharge scheme work.'

Nurses are being flown in from Spain and Greece to offer temporary assistance at hotels that are being converted into care sites over Christmas to help deal with the oncoming crisis, it was also revealed today.

It comes after Sajid Javid admitted even urgent operations may have to be cancelled in order to ramp up No10's booster drive, which aims to offer a vital third dose to all adults by the end of the month.

Ministers have already warned anyone wanting to see their family doctor face-to-face for a 'routine' appointment will be forced to wait until the New Year so GPs can focus on delivering booster jabs. Doctors called for clear messaging on what is considered 'urgent', telling patients not to come in with rashes or common colds.

Cancer charities and patients' rights groups today slammed the policy as a 'hammer blow' for those needing care, adding delays in seeing a GP can mean diagnoses are missed in the vital early stages of the disease. MacMillan said it fears the pivoting of the NHS to prioritising Covid will have 'unintended consequences'.

The NHS surgery backlog is already at a record high of nearly 6million, with the crisis fuelled by hospitals being forced to cancel tens of thousands of operations during the pandemic.

Critics accused the NHS of having transformed into the 'National Covid Service' in the early days of the outbreak, sacrificing other elements of health care.
The NHS Covid Pass app will go down for eight hours tonight as the health service makes 'essential updates'.

Those looking to travel between 10pm and 6am were urged to download their proof of a negative result.

The Department of Health said the interference to the digital service was part of 'planned maintenance'.

It comes as Britain's response to the Omicron variant looks ever more chaotic, with the government website temporarily suspending the ordering of lateral flow tests.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said people were stopping from getting them due to 'exceptionally high demand'.

The website on Monday advised people to 'try again later' or to book a coronavirus test site appointment instead.

Those looking to travel between 10pm and 6am were urged to download their proof of a negative result

There are no more home lateral flow tests available in the UK with any supply going before 7am this morning at a time when the Government is telling millions to use one daily

The NHS's official Twitter page tweeted out the news the Covid Pass app would go down overnight on Tuesday atfernoon.

It said: 'The NHS COVID Pass will be unavailable from 10pm this evening until 6am tomorrow morning to allow us to complete some essential updates.

'If you need your Pass to travel during these times, make sure you have downloaded a copy, or save it to your Apple Wallet or Google Pay.'

The Department of Health added: 'Due to planned maintenance, the NHS Covid Pass digital service will be offline from 10pm on Tuesday 14 December.

'It will be available again by 6am on Wednesday 15 December.

'If you need to use your NHS Covid Pass during this time, we suggest downloading or printing a copy of your NHS Covid Pass before 10pm this evening.

'From 15 December, you will need to renew offline copies of your domestic COVID Pass, before using it at venues in England and Wales.

'You can do this by downloading a new PDF or saving your updated domestic NHS Covid Pass to your Apple Wallet or Google Pay.'

The app is used to demonstrate proof of a negative coronavirus test result for travel abroad or for entrance into venues using the service.

If Parliament passes new restrictions tomorrow then people in England will have to show their vaccination or Covid status before entering a host of venues.

To get in they will needed to have had two jabs of vaccine, have taken a PCR or rapid lateral flow test within the last 48 hours, or are exempt from vaccination.

Meanwhile the UKHSA said the ordering of lateral flow tests on the Government website was temporarily suspended amid 'exceptionally high demand'.

It said the pause is temporary and availability refreshed daily, with people encouraged to re-visit the website from Tuesday.

Boris Johnson was asked about supply issues during a visit to a vaccination clinic near Paddington in west London, and told broadcasters there is a 'ready supply'.

A UKHSA spokesman said: 'Everyone who needs a lateral flow test can collect test kits - either at their local pharmacy, some community sites and some schools and colleges.

'Due to exceptionally high demand, ordering lateral flow tests on gov.uk has been temporarily suspended to fulfil existing orders.'

It added there is no shortage of LFTs and the Government has enough stock to meet demand.

The Prime Minister said: 'They can get those tests, we do have a ready supply of lateral flow tests.

'If you can't get one online for any reason, then there are ample supplies in the shops.

'But what I think, if I may say so, what that also shows is that people are doing the sensible thing, and getting tests as well.'

It has been announced that double-jabbed people identified as a contact of someone with Covid-19 in England will be told to take a daily rapid test for seven days from Tuesday.

New regulations, set to be put to a debate and vote in the Commons this week, could also see the NHS Covid Pass on the NHS app becoming mandatory for entry into clubs and other large gatherings - but with a negative home test as an alternative for the unvaccinated.

One person said on Twitter: 'Tried to order a lateral flow test kit and the NHS site says they have no more! What's going on!'

Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner tweeted: 'Testing is absolutely vital in keeping us safe and allowing people to make safe choices.

'The Government's inability to procure properly and plan for civil contingencies is reckless. Boris Johnson has his priorities in the wrong place.'

Paul Taylor, a 37-year-old pharmacy technician from Leeds, said he was 'frightened' at the prospect of being unable to order any lateral flow tests.

'(I have) only recently started to socialise normally (going to the gym, attending big events etcetera).

'Doing regular LFTs has relieved the anxiety of potentially passing anything on that I've felt throughout the pandemic.'

'I'm frightened because without tests I only have two choices: (1) go out but risk passing on the virus to other people or (2) stay in and return to self-imposed lockdown.'

Jessica Keogh, a 32-year-old executive assistant from London, said she had run out of lateral flow tests and was unable to order more.

'It's actually my worry that I won't be able to get any before Christmas and I will worry about being able to visit my family,' she said.

However, there appeared to be no problems with the availability of PCR home test kits.

A Whitehall source said: 'We have plenty of tests, people can continue to get them from pharmacies and other sites.

'We have seen a surge in demand and that is putting pressure on the delivery system rather than stock levels of home test kits.'
Consultant urologist Paul Miller, 63, (pictured) has been struck off the register for wrongly using Hifu treatment on cancer patients and for failing to declare his financial interest in the device, which uses high frequency waves to burn away cancer cells

A 'financially motivated' doctor who wrongly treated cancer patients on a machine he co-owned has been struck off the register.

Consultant urologist Paul Miller, 63, was said to be an 'early advocate' of high intensity focused ultrasound (Hifu) while working at East Surrey Hospital in Redhill, where he treated patients suffering from bladder and prostate cancer.

The Hifu treatment - described as novel and experimental - uses high frequency sound waves to burn away cancer cells, and emerged in the mid-2000s, with trials taking place in the UK, the US and France.

Mr Miller had set up his own company and bought a Hifu device for 450,000, which he subsequently rented to privately-run Gatwick Park Hospital in Horley, Surrey, where he also worked and would refer patients for treatment.

But between 2004 and 2018, Mr Miller used the treatment on several patients without declaring his financial interest in the machine - and despite other treatments being more appropriate, a tribunal found this week.

At the time it was not a treatment recommended by the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and could only be used as part of a clinical trial.

Hifu was deemed inappropriate for eight patients Mr Miller recommended it to, with it delaying some receiving treatment that would have been more successful.

Ten cancer patients died after they were treated by Mr Miller between 2006 and 2014.

A 2019 inquest found that that seven of those died from natural causes but ruled that Renfried Avery, 80, Leslie Owers, 75, and Graham Stoten, 57, all died of natural causes contributed to by neglect.

A Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) tribunal, sitting in Manchester this week, found Mr Miller acted dishonestly in having a financial interest and motivation for eight of his patients to undergo Hifu treatment and did not disclose his interest to some of them.

Ten cancer patients died after they were treated by the consultant urologist between 2006 and 2014. Pictured: Renfried Avery was one of three patients who died of natural causes contributed to by neglect, a coroner ruled in 2019

The tribunal also concluded his recommendation and treatment with Hifu was inappropriate - either because their cancers were not of the kind for which the device was considered appropriate, or because standard treatments of radical radiotherapy or radical prostatectomy offered better prospects of a cure.

Five of the patients were initially treated in the NHS at East Surrey Hospital before being referred to the privately run Spire Gatwick Park Hospital, while the other three were private patients of Mr Miller.

Mr Miller was also found to have failings in his care of five other patients.

Ruling Mr Miller's fitness to practise was impaired, tribunal chair Lindsay Irvine said on Tuesday: 'Not only did Mr Miller fail to discuss with or explain to some patients all the treatment options available to them, in the case of those to whom he recommended Hifu treatment or treated them with Hifu, he did not provide them with the level of information required for informed consent - given that Hifu was a novel and experimental treatment.

'The Tribunal considered that depriving patients of the opportunity of receiving the right treatment because of financial motivation and concealing from patients a financial interest is a particularly serious breach of good medical practice.

Bladder cancer patient Graham Stoten, who died aged 57, (pictured with his two sons) died of natural causes contributed to by neglect, a coroner ruled

'The Tribunal notes that Mr Miller has expressed no remorse, regret or apology for his actions nor has he demonstrated any insight into either his behaviour or the harm he has caused to patients.'

Mr Miller has not practised since he underwent a performance assessment in 2017 and withdrew from proceedings this week.

He had denied misconduct on various dates between 2004 and 2018.

Giving evidence earlier this year, he denied wanting to make money from the machine and said he believed its use was in the patients' best clinical interests.

The consultant said he had never received a salary, a dividend or payment from the company he jointly formed in October 2005 with another clinician.

Coroner blasted NHS for allowing Paul Miller to 'carry on unhindered' for FIVE years despite complaints about his care from hospital staff - which led to 'missed opportunities' to save cancer patients In October 2019, senior coroner Penelope Schofield criticised urologist Paul Miller and Sussex and Surrey NHS Trust at inquests into the deaths of 10 of his cancer patients who died of natural causes, but she found three had been contributed to by neglect, and 'missed opportunities' were noted in three others. Ms Schofield condemned Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust (SASH) for failing ensure patients received proper care at the time. She said the clinical treatment of patients was 'suboptimal' and there were 'missed opportunities' to cure or extend the lives of patients. The inquest in Crawley, West Sussex was told the three-man team of consultants did not work well as a team and it often felt like they were involved in a 'guerrilla warfare.' Miss Schofield said senior management failed to respond to serious concerns about Mr Miller's treatment of patients. A 2019 inquest found that that seven patients died from natural causes but said that Renfried Avery, 80, (pictured) Leslie Owers, 75, and Graham Stoten, 57, all died of natural causes contributed to by neglect 'Senior managers were aware of the risk of safety of patients yet they took no action,' she added. Miss Schofield said there was 'no real appetite' to follow through the allegations of Mr Miller and he was able to carry on working 'unhindered' because of the Trust's lack of procedure to deal with staff complaints. She said decision-making at senior levels seemed more geared to protecting the Trust reputation. The inquest heard senior colleagues and nurses became extremely concerned about a major conflict of interest. They felt patients whose conditions would not benefit from HIFU were being referred to the private hospital for treatment on the 500,000 machine. Whistleblowers raised the alarm and reported the consultant to senior management at SASH but were dismayed and frustrated when nothing was done. Professor Adhay Rane, a consultant urologist and colleague, told the inquest in Crawley, West Sussex, he approached the hospital clinical director, Raj Siva, at least four times to voice concerns over Mr Miller's treatment of patients. The ten patients who died were aged between 57 and 86 including Frederick Le Vallois, 71, Keith Reynolds, 68, Alan Burgess,72, Leslie Owers, 75, Ian Spurgeon, 85, Lilian Cole, 82, Jose Cressy, 76, Graham Stoten, 57, Renfried Avery, 80, and Martin Turner, 86. Bosses took five years to act on concerns of staff but eventually Mr Miller was suspended and an investigation was launched. On conclusion of the review in 2014 the Trust sacked the consultant from his 130,000-a year job. The Trust then wrote a letter to more than 1,200 patients treated by the consultant asking if they had concerns about their care. The Royal College of Surgeons launched its own investigation and found that 27 cancer patients treated by Mr Miller had suffered 'serious harm' at the hands of the consultant. Advertisement

The company, Mobile Hifu Limited, purchased a Hifu machine for about 440,000 with a bank loan and subsequently rented it out to privately run Spire Gatwick Park Hospital in Surrey where Mr Miller treated patients with prostate problems, the tribunal heard.

On Tuesday, in his absence Mr Miller was erased from the medical register.

Mr Irvine added: 'The Tribunal determined that given the scale of Mr Miller's dishonesty, his deliberate disregard for patient safety, putting his own interests before that of his patients, together with a complete lack of insight and the significant risk of repetition, his misconduct was irremediable and fundamentally incompatible with continued registration.'

One patient who survived following treatment by Mr Miller told the Medical Practitioners Tribunal earlier this year that he was unaware of the link between his doctor and the Hifu machine when he visited Mr Miller in March 2006 after a biopsy confirmed cancer was in his prostate.

The witness, referred to as Patient K, said he subsequently became aware of the financial connection between Mr Miller and Hifu, but could not say when.

He said: 'He told me that it was not something that was widely available, certainly as far as the NHS was concerned, and it was a procedure that was being used in France successfully.'

An MRI scan revealed the cancer had not spread and he was happy to go ahead with the Hifu single procedure because of its 'relative lack of side-effects', he told the hearing in Manchester.

He said: 'I was very guided by Mr Miller's recommendation as to the use of Hifu and I was aware radiotherapy was a treatment that took place over a period of time. I don't believe we had a detailed discussion as such in that regard but I knew about the other options.'

Asked by Catherine Cundy, for the General Medical Council (GMC), if he came away from the March 2006 consultation with the idea that Hifu was his recommended treatment, Patient K replied: 'It was strongly recommended and I did come away with that view.'

In October 2019, senior coroner Penelope Schofield criticised Mr Miller and Sussex and Surrey NHS Trust at inquests into the deaths of 10 of his cancer patients who died of natural causes.

She found three had been contributed to by neglect, and 'missed opportunities' were noted in three others.

Ms Schofield condemned Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust (SASH) for failing ensure patients received proper care at the time.

She said the clinical treatment of patients was 'suboptimal' and there were 'missed opportunities' to cure or extend the lives of patients.

The inquest in Crawley, West Sussex was told the three-man team of consultants did not work well as a team and it often felt like they were involved in a 'guerrilla warfare.'

In a statement released after the inquest Mr Avery's only child Mark, 44, said: 'It has been seven years since my dad passed away and I finally feel as if we have got some answers. It's just a shame my mum, who died almost two years ago, isn't here to see it.

'She was by my dad's side through every step of his illness and was taken in by Miller as well. He was the expert and they trusted him implicitly - they put dad's life in his hands.

'It is devastating to think that with different treatment we could have had months or even years left with him and that's something I will never be able to forgive Miller for.

'Personally I have also found it very upsetting to hear the trust's attempts to wriggle out of all responsibility when there were clearly failings on their part. Rather than admit their mistakes, they seemed more concerned with protecting their own reputation.

'My dad was one of the first people to raise concerns about Miller and my parents were always determined to get to the truth and make sure the same didn't happen to anyone else.'

He added the real issue for his mother Doreen Avery was that Mr Miller 'seemed to show no remorse for his actions' after moving to America to continue practising.

'Hopefully now he will finally be held accountable for his actions,' he added.

Clinical negligence lawyer acting for Mark Avery, Victoria Beel, said Mr Miller 'gambled with the precious time' of his patients and 'has shown no remorse for his actions'.

Ms Beel added: 'Dr Miller abused his position of trust and showed total contempt for his patients, making decisions that would seriously affect their lives without their knowledge or consent.

'He gambled with the precious time they had left and even now has shown no remorse for his actions, all of which continues to raise serious questions about his fitness to practice.

He added: 'It is imperative that the trust also learns from its own failures to stop Dr Miller earlier and ensures there are robust and rigorous systems in place to prevent this from ever happening again.'

Dr Ed Cetti, medical director at SASH, said: 'We extend our sympathies and sincere apologies to the family and friends of all those involved. We are sorry that historic poor practice led to some patients not receiving the standard of care they were entitled to expect.

'In the years since this period, we have worked hard to create the environment, systems and processes that ensure staff are supported to raise concerns, and that lessons are learnt and improvements made as a result. The culture of our organisation has been transformed, with the independent regulator rating us outstanding earlier this year.'
Prosecutors have suffered a double blow at the start of day five of the Kim Potter trial as they failed in their bid to bring two motions undermining the credibility and limiting the scope of testimony of law enforcement officers.

Yesterday, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison made a bid to question the credibility of police officers' testimony by bringing Potter's role as Police Union President to light.

In a court filing he claimed that the jury could not do their job without an awareness of what he characterized as a source of bias.

Today, in a brief hearing Tuesday morning, Judge Regina Chu dismissed the argument made by Assistant AG Matthew Frank ahead of Day Five of testimony in Daunte Wright's shooting.

Frank attempted to claim that the testimony of former Brooklyn Center Police Sergeant Mychal Johnson could have been bias even though he was not a union member.

Johnson was called as a state witness Friday but told the court that Potter was not only within her rights to use her taser but that, under the circumstances she would have been justified in using lethal force.

According to Judge Chu, 'Here's the problem I see, Former Officer Potter is no longer connected to the police union in any way so witnesses who are testifying couldn't possibly be bias to testify in her favor because of her position.'

She concluded, 'I'm going to find that the question about union membership and officer Potter's former activities are not relevant to show bias. I am denying the motion.'

Kim Potter, 49, is charged with first-degree manslaughter and second-degree manslaughter after fatally shooting Wright on April 11. She's pictured in court on Tuesday

Tuesday morning, Judge Regina Chu dismissed the argument made by Assistant Matthew Frank ahead of day five of testimony in Daunte Wright's shooting

Officer Kim Potter, a 26-year veteran in the force, claims she accidentally shot Daunte Wright (right) when she reached for her gun instead of her taser during a traffic stop over his expired plates in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota

Judge Chu went onto deny a second prosecution bid to limit testimony of law enforcement witnesses. In a notice also filed yesterday the state sought to prohibit attorneys eliciting what they referred to as 'expert opinions' from lay witnesses.

As with the previous motion this seemed a direct response to Johnson's testimony.

And, as with the previous motion, Judge Chu was unconvinced telling prosecutor Erin Eldridge, 'I am not going to tell the jury to disregard [Sgt Johnson's testimony].

Brooklyn Center Patrol Major Mychal Johnson, who assisted officers at the scene on April 11, took the stand on Friday

'When that issue came up, I ruled that police officers can testify about what they have been trained to do under certain circumstances

'I think the state's motion goes beyond Officer Johnson. They're also trying to preclude any of the police officers who will be testifying from eliciting opinions considering whether the use of the taser was appropriate.

'I believe that police officers are entitled to render an opinion on that and it's totally appropriate for them to do that so I am denying the motion.'

During the morning break Potter officially waived her right to a jury trial on the aggravating factors brought by the state in their bid to secure a longer sentence than the terms suggested by Minnesota state should she be found guilty.

First degree manslaughter carries a sentence of up to 15 years but sentencing guidelines mean that, should she be found guilty, Potter would more likely fact a term of seven years.

The prosecution has already filed a motion pushing for harsher sentences in the event of a guilty verdict.

In a tetchy exchange with the judge prosecutor Matthew Frank insisted that all parties had already agreed that evidence relating to the so-called Blakely factors they have raised would be heard as part of the main trial.

The state has cited two aggravating factors: the risk posed to the safety of others by Potter's actions and her abuse of authority as a licensed police officer.

But today Potter's attorney Earl Gray rejected this saying no such agreement had been made and Judge Chu once again sided with the defense.

While she said she would not go back and exclude any evidence already given, she made it clear to the state that no evidence speaking solely to the aggravating factors, rather than the central facts of the case, would be admissible moving forward.

On Monday the Minnesota AG made a bid to question the credibility of police officers' testimony by bringing Potter's role as Police Union President to light

Attorneys for Potter have once again converted a state witness into one for the defense and elicited the opinion under oath that the ex-cop would have been justified in using deadly force when she mistook her handgun for her taser and shot Daunte Wright on April 11.

Jurors spent the morning hearing from Brooklyn Center PD Commander Garett Flesland, a sometime supervisor of Potter.

Through Flesland, the prosecution had introduced sections of Brooklyn Center PD policy on use of force as well as their code of ethics and the oath sworn by every officer,

Under examination by Assistant AG Frank, Flesland explained that officers were notified of updates in the department policies and had to acknowledge that they had read and understood them.

When it comes to use of force, the department policy states, 'Officers are entrusted to use well-reasoned discretion in interpreting the use of force in each incident.'

Frank took Flesland through the factors used to determine 'reasonableness' and circumstances under which deadly force would be justified.

The jury heard these included, 'to protect the officer or another from death or great bodily harm,' and 'to effect arrest or capture or prevent escape.'

The court also heard that, as a Field Training Officer, Potter was subject to additional training and certification.

Jurors were shown Potter's Taser certification and recertification forms and learned that she received a 'perfect score' on the written test more than once.

As Frank moved through her qualifications, the court also learned that Potter was only certified on the Taser 7 in March, 2021 having completed a transition course from the previous models used by the department.

Frank showed still images from prior incidents from 2016 to 2020 as well as the day of Wright's shooting to establish that Potter wore her taser on her left, or reaction, side and that her Taser was always placed in the holster with the handle to the back.

Flesland told the court that this meant that she would have consistently drawn it with her left hand and not reach across her body to draw it with her right.

But under cross examination Earl Gray established that Potter had only fallen foul of BCPD policies twice in her life  24 or 26 years ago when she had two car accidents at the start of her career.

And ,just as he had with Patrol Major Mychal Johnson, Gray turned a state witness into a powerful voice for the defense.

Gray put it to Flesland, 'If someone hypothetically is inside a vehicle that's trying to take off and part of his body's hanging out and part of it is in the car that person would be dragged down the road. Correct?'

Flesland agreed, 'Very likely. I would be concerned yes.'

His voice rising in a crescendo Gray laid out the scenario in which, he claims, Potter found herself  with Wright repeatedly resisting, fighting attempts to apprehend him, ignoring her warnings, 'I'm going to tase youTaser! Taser!' and trying to take off while a fellow officer was half in, half out of the car.

In those circumstances he asked, 'You have the right to use deadly force to save that police officerCorrect?'

Flesland replied, 'Potentially, yes.'

The officer went onto admit that he would be 'extremely concerned' if he were arresting a person whom he knew to have a warrant for a weapons violation.

Asked how he would describe Potter, having worked with her for 20 years, Flesland said, 'She's a good cop. She's a good person. She's a friend. I had no concerns going to calls with her.'

As Gray wrapped up Flesland gave an answer that was struck from the record on the state's objection, when he revealed that he and former Brooklyn Center Police Chief Tim Gannon had gone to Potter's home on the day of the incident because he admitted, 'We had been told she'd hurt herself.'

An emotional Potter was seen screaming and burying her face in her hands moments after the shooting

Earlier in the trial, jurors were shown bodycam and dash cam footage of the dramatic moment Potter shot Wright dead after 'accidentally' pulling out her gun instead of her taser

Judge Chu interrupted the afternoon's testimony as the jury appeared to drift and even nod off with one juror closing his eyes.

Catching the jury's fading attention Judge Chu suggested that they, 'stand up and stretch their legs,' observing 'it's getting late in the afternoon.'

BCPD Sgt Mike Peterson, who has been a Use of Force instructor with the department since 2007, was on the stand.

He outlined officers' taser training and told how mistaking a firearm for a taser was a danger covered in both the manufacturer warnings and Brooklyn Center training and policy.

The court heard that BCPD policy allows a taser to be used on, 'a subject who is violent or physically resisting' or 'demonstrating by words or action an intention to be violent or physically resisting and reasonably appears to present the potential to harm officers him/herself or others.'

But the policy states, 'Mere flight without other known circumstances is not good cause.'

With the jurors energy clearly flagging Judge Chu halted the day with the end of Petersons lengthy direct examination.

Frank closed by asking the officer if he had ever known of any other cop to draw their gun when they intended to draw their taser. He said he did not.

Court will resume with Petersons cross examination Wednesday.

As the footage played on Potter could be seen standing at a wire fencing by the roadside repeating over and over, 'Oh my God, what have I done?'

Johnson is heard in the footage trying to comfort Potter, telling her to breathe and sit down as she cries saying she is going to prison

On Friday it was revealed that fellow officers feared that Potter would take her own life in the wake of the shooting and took steps to ensure that she did not have a loaded firearm in her possession.

It came in testimony from Mychal Johnson, the officer who claims his life was saved by Potter's actions as, he believed, Wright was trying to drive off with him 'dangling' out of the car.

Johnson told jurors that he had taken Potter's gun from her after the shooting as it might be used in evidence in a future court hearing, but he handed her his own.

Moments later, he told the court, a fellow officer expressed concern that Potter might harm herself.

'Officer Potter was sitting in a squad, and I discreetly asked if I could see my firearm and was able to remove the magazine and one round in the chamber so at that time there were no rounds in the chamber,' he said.

Despite Johnson's claim being key to Potter's defense he had been called as a witness for the prosecution.

Earlier Minnesota's Assistant Attorney General Matthew Frank took Johnson through the traffic stop and shooting as methodically as possible, apparently at pains not to elicit any opinion from the officer who knew Potter both professionally and socially.

Johnson, now a patrol major with Goodhue County Sheriff's Department was a sergeant with Brooklyn Center Police Department and Potter's supervisor at the time.

He was on the scene because he had responded to rookie Officer Anthony Luckey's request for back-up at the fateful traffic stop that day.

But while Frank kept emotion out of Johnson's testimony there was no way to remove it from previously unseen footage from Johnson's bodycam that was played in court.

On Friday, jurors saw the third officer's perspective for the first time as he reached into Wright's car and tried to prevent the 20-year-old from driving away.

They saw him reach for the gear shift and attempt to turn Wright's keys in the ignition.

Then they saw Johnson grab Wright's arm as he struggled and appeared to try to get to the gear shift.

Johnson told the court that he 'heard a loud pop' but didn't immediately register that a shot had been fired.

As the footage played on the jury once again saw a hysterical Potter yelling, 'I grabbed the wrong f***ing gun. I shot him. Oh my God.'

Now they heard Johnson comfort her, telling her to breathe and sit down. 'I'm going to prison,' she said.

Johnson could be heard replying, 'No you're not. Kim, that guy was trying to take off with me in the car.'

The court was shown photos of Wright's bloodied body and autopsy photos. An illustration of the path of the projectile recovered from Wright's body is shown

Dr. Jackson told jurors that Wright would have died within 'seconds to minutes' of receiving a gunshot to his chest

On Monday jurors were shown shown gruesome images from Wright's autopsy and pictures of his body at the scene of his death.

Hennepin County Assistant Medical Examiner Dr. Lorren Jackson was the first witness called by the prosecution Monday morning.

Jackson responded to the scene of the crash that followed Wright's shooting April 11, 2021. He told jurors that Wright would have died within 'seconds to minutes' of receiving a gunshot to his chest.

As the court was shown photographs of Wright's bloodied body Dr. Jackson told how he had examined Wright's body at the scene then carefully bagged his hands to preserve any trace evidence and placed in him a sealed body bag.

The photographs were not broadcast as part of the livestream of the trial according to an order from Judge Regina Chu, but Jackson described what they showed.

In this screen grab from video, a photo of a Glock 9mm handgun carried by Potter is entered into evidence

Chu also limited the number and nature of images that the state could show, stating that she wanted the jury to decide this case based on evidence and facts, not sympathy.

The judge ordered that Wright's face, in which his eyes were open, be excluded from many of the autopsy pictures.

But pictures of his face  with abrasions and small lacerations on his lip  were among close to 30 images displayed in court today. The injuries were, Jackson said, superficial and consistent with Wright's car crash and efforts to resuscitate him.

The jury saw the bloody gunshot wound's entry point and partial exit wound as well as the adhesive seals placed over it by officers attempting to stem the bleeding.

An X-Ray showed the bullet still lodged in his body despite having broken the skin at its resting point.

Under direct examination by prosecutor Erin Eldridge, Jackson explained that he had recovered the bullet from beneath the skin between the fourth and fifth rib.

Pictures of Wright's chest, the skin reflected back, showed the path the bullet took through his bone and muscle and the holes, torn in the left and right ventricles of his heart.

A graphic showed more clearly the path the hollow-point bullet had torn through Wright's chest wall, heart and lungs as it 'mushroomed' on impact. According to Jackson 'the majority of the injury was to Wright's heart.'

He found approximately 3 liters of blood in Wright's chest  more than half the amount of blood Wright would have had in his entire body.

'A person of Wright's size and build would have approximately 4.5-5.5 liters of blood within his entire body. When you lose more than half of that rapidly it's a life-threatening injury,' Jackson explained

He estimated that Wright could have lost consciousness within 10-15 seconds if he lost blood supply to his brain and that he would have died in a matter of minutes.

In this screen grab from video, the bullet recovered from Wright's body is shown as Dr. Lorren Jackson takes the stand

Johnson testified that he opened the passenger-side door after Wright started to pull away from another officer, leaned into the car, pushed the shift knob forward to make sure it was in park and reached for the keys to try to turn off the vehicle

Toxicology tests showed cannabinoids  THC and metabolites of marijuana  in Wright's body.

As the morning continued Bureau of Criminal Apprehension forensic scientist Melissa Loren, the crime scene leader, took the stand.

Several images of the crash-damaged car were displayed in court as she testified. By far the most disturbing were those showing the driver's seat.

The paperwork through which Wright had leafed trying to find insurance documents was bloodstained and scattered on the seat in which blood pooled. A spent cartridge casing was clearly visible on it.

Potter's gun, made safe for the court, was also displayed during Loren's testimony.

Flanked by her attorneys, the ex-cop shifted uncomfortably in her seat and looked down as the gun was brought into the room.
President Joe Biden on Tuesday paid tribute to the families who lost loved ones in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting nine years ago, saying the nation owed them action - not prayers.

In a video message released by the White House, Biden called the day that 20-year-old Adam Lanza shot and killed 26 people, including 20 children between six and seven years old, and six adult staff members, 'one of the saddest days' that he and Barack Obama were in office.

Sandy Hook was the deadliest mass shooting at an elementary school in U.S. history, and the fourth-deadliest mass shooting overall.

Biden, who was vice president at the time, acknowledged the frustration felt by families in Newton, Connecticut, as they lobbied to pass stricter gun control laws but came up short.

'We came close to legislation, but we came up short. It was so darn frustrating, and it's still frustrating now for you and me and so many others,' he said.

He noted the same frustration was felt by families in the 2018 Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, and from the families in last month's shooting in Oxford, Michigan.

And he issued a call for action.

'We owe all these families more than our prayers. We owe them action,' he said.

'We can't give up hope. We can't stop,' Biden added.

He called on the Senate to pass legislation proposed by Democratic Senator Chris Murphy, from Connecticut, that would expand federal background checks to all gun sales.

And Biden asked the Senate to pass a bill from Senators Jeanne Shaheen, Maggie Hassan and Amy Klobuchar that would close the so-called 'boyfriend loophole.' The bill would prevent people who have abused dating partners from buying or owning firearms and stop convicted stalkers from possessing a gun.

But to move those bills forward in the legislative process, 10 Republicans senators would need to support them, which is unlikely.

Two House-passed bills to greatly expand background checks have already stalled in the Senate.

In a November poll, just 52% of Americans say that the 'laws covering the sales of firearms' should be stricter than they currently are, the lowest number that Gallup has measured on the question since 2014. In 2019, 64% of people told Gallup they wanted stricter gun laws.

But a bigger majority of Americans support universal background checks.

A March poll from Politico/Morning Consult found that 84% of voters, including over three-quarters of Republicans and 82% of Independents, support a law requiring a background check for all firearm purchases.

President Joe called on the Senate to pass universal background checks and a law that would close the 'boyfriend loophole'

Sandy Hook was the deadliest mass shooting at an elementary school in U.S. history, and the fourth-deadliest mass shooting overall - above two Connecticut State Police officers accompany a class of students, and two adults, out of the school on the day of shooting

Local residents place flowers near the Sandy Hook Elementary School December 15, 2012

In 2021 there were at least 149 incidents of gunfire on school grounds, resulting in 32 deaths and 94 injuries nationally, according to Everytown for Gun Safety, a gun control advocacy group.

Given the difficulty of passing gun control laws in Congress, Biden has wielded the power of the presidential pen to sign executive orders in an attempt to rein in gun sales.

He's moved to crack down on 'ghost guns,' homemade firearms that lack serial numbers used to trace them and are often purchased without a background check. He's also moving to tighten regulations on pistol-stabilizing braces like the one used in Boulder, Colorado, in a shooting in March that left 10 dead.

Additionally, the president's Build Back Better Act includes $5 billion for community violence interventions.

But there are many actions he can't take with executive order, showing the limits of his power.

His orders don't affect the sale of assault weapons, nor will they close loopholes that allow buyers to escape background checks online or at gun shows. A fifth of all guns sold to buyers in the US don't require a background check, according to the Giffords Law Center, a national advocate for gun control.

He's also fallen short on his 2020 presidential campaign promises.

Biden promised to ban the importation of assault weapons, vowed to embrace of a voluntary gun buyback program and pledged to provide resources for the Justice Department and FBI to better enforce the nation's current gun laws and track firearms.

Mass shootings have been on the rise in the US even with the coronavirus pandemic still raging around the country.

The Gun Violence Archive, which defines a mass shooting as one with four or more people injured or killed, not including the perpetrator, said there were 42,657 from 669 mass shootings and 27 mass murders in 2021.

On December 14, 2012, the day of the Sandy Hook shooting, Lanza shot and killed his mother at their Newtown home. As first responders arrived at the school, Lanza committed suicide by shooting himself in the head.

President Barack Obama gave a televised address on the day of the shootings, calling on the country 'to come together and take meaningful action to prevent more tragedies like this, regardless of the politics.'

He later traveled to Newtown where he met with victims' families and spoke at an interfaith vigil.
Two men who bought a 4million-winning scratchcard with someone else's debit card details have been jailed for 18 months for fraud.

Jon Ross Watson, 34, and Mark Goodram, 38, bought the winning Red card in a Waitrose store in Clapham, London, on April 22, 2019.

On Tuesday, they pleaded guilty to three counts of fraud at Bolton Crown Court, where they had been due to stand trial.

Sentencing them, Recorder Sarah Johnston said: 'You must have thought all of your Christmases had come at once.

Jon Ross Watson, 34, and Mark Goodram, 38, (pictured) pleaded guilty to three counts of fraud at Bolton Crown Court today over the winning scratchcard they purchased in 2019

'Despite knowing you had fraudulently acquired that prize money you tried to claim it.'

The court heard the men travelled from Bolton to London on Easter Monday in 2019 where they intended to go begging.

Denise Fitzpatrick, prosecuting, said the pair, who were both on licence at the time following prison sentences, had details of a debit card belonging to a man named Joshua Addyman, who they did not know.

Goodram had the card number and expiry date written on his hand and keyed them into a chip and pin machine at a Londis store on Clapham High Street, where they bought 90 of shopping at 10.21am, Ms Fitzpatrick said.

She said they then went to the Waitrose store on Clapham Common where they bought 71 worth of shopping, including five scratchcards, using the same technique.

Denise Fitzpatrick, prosecuting, said Watson (pictured) telephoned the National Lottery line at 10.50am on Easter Monday 2019 and told the operator his friend had won the jackpot

One of the cards had a prize of 10, which they claimed at the Londis store, while the other had the jackpot prize.

Ms Fitzpatrick said Watson telephoned the National Lottery line at 10.50am and told the operator his friend had won the jackpot.

Goodram came onto the line and said he would be sharing the prize with his friend, before being told the payment would be made by bank transfer, she said.

Ms Fitzpatrick said: 'Mark Goodram explained he did not have a bank account.

'The purchase of the winning scratchcard had been made by debit card from a bank account however, which immediately raised suspicions.'

The court heard the pair spoke to media when the prize was not immediately paid out to them.

Goodram and Watson were jailed today at Bolton Crown Court (pictured) after pleading guilty to three counts of fraud

Recorder Johnston said: 'You had the audacity to plead your sense of injustice in the national newspapers subsequent to the fraud being uncovered.'

She said their crime had deprived the next law-abiding customer to buy a scratchcard in the Waitrose store of 'a life-changing sum of money'.

The court heard Goodram, of no fixed abode, had 24 previous convictions for 48 offences.

Robin Kitching, defending, said Goodram had longstanding addictions to drugs and alcohol.

He was sentenced to a further month for a Bail Act offence after failing to attend court in November.

Watson, of Nuttall Avenue, Little Lever, had 74 convictions for 143 previous offences and was jailed earlier this month for assault occasioning bodily harm and theft from a shop, the court heard.

Nicholas Ross, defending, said Watson understood his wrongdoing and, as a result of the case, found himself 'shamed and ridiculed' by members of the public.

Recorder Johnston said: 'I have no doubt that both of you will continue to offend in dishonest ways in the future.'
A woman who snatched a four-year-old boy from his mother at a children's concert at the Royal Albert Hall while high on the chemsex drug GHB has been spared jail.

The 26-year-old mother, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, was attending a children's concert at the famous London music venue with her young boy when he was carried away by Charlotte Robbins.

She eventually caught up with Robbins, 28, after seeing her son's distinctive red shoelaces disappearing into the crowd.

Responding to the mother's cries for help, a man from the crowd grabbed the boy and returned him to his mother.

Robbins, of Belsize Park, London, told jurors she had taken the date rape drug GHB - also known as liquid ecstasy - and claimed the incident was 'a mistake' as she was attempting to return the boy to his legal guardian.

She was handed an 18-month community order and ordered to commit to 30 days of rehabilitation.

Charlotte Robbins (pictured), 28 of of Belsize Park, London, was handed an 18-month community order and ordered to commit to 30 days of rehabilitation at Southwark Crown Court

Jurors heard how Robbins claimed she was high on GHB, and had possibly smoked crystal meth at the time of the incident on March 10 last year.

The mother told jurors that as she frantically searched for her son, she almost lost him in the crowd.

But she told Southwark Crown Court she spotted his distinctive red shoelaces as Robbins carried him away.

She caught up with Robbins and grabbed the woman and her son from behind, shouting for help, jurors heard.

Responding to the mother's cries for help, a man from the crowd grabbed the boy from Robbins and returned him her.

'If I hadn't seen his legs I wouldn't have been able to see him,' she said during the trial.

'He was struggling as well, he's four, he was held pretty tightly. He was calling for me, struggling to break loose.

'People were walking past, they didn't know what was going on.

'I said, "Help she's got my child, help".

'I don't know who it was, he just pulled my son from her and gave him to me...'

Robbins told an officer at the time that she had taken GHB and seemed visibly high to the officer and to a member of the venue's staff.

The 26-year-old mother, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, was attending a children's concert at the Royal Albert Hall (pictured) with her four-year-old son

She claimed she had made an honest mistake and thought she was returning the child to his legal guardian.

Dominic Hockley, prosecuting, earlier told Southwark Crown Court: 'She accepts that she took the boy who at that stage was a four-year-old child.

'That she took from the lawful control of his mother. That isn't in dispute.

'We say that her actions weren't reasonable, she made no effort at all, at all, to establish the facts before grabbing the child from his mother.'

Mr Hockley added: 'No child, you may think, should be dragged from his mother by a stranger.

'Irrespective of whether she believed he might be, she should not be taking children unsupervised.

'That's more so in the way in which she did what she did.

'The prosecution say there were plainly or other reasonable things to do.

'There were teachers around, security around, the boy's legal guardian.

'Why did she think that she had to become the physical enforcer of a care order?

'Even if she was right in what she says was her honest, genuine mistake, what she did was not reasonable in these circumstances.

Robbins was high on GHB and may have also smoked crystal meth the night before the concert on March 10 last year.

'Her mistake was not reasonable because we say it came about because of her intoxication,' Mr Hockley said.

'Where a mistake results from voluntary intoxication by alcohol or drugs such a mistake cannot be thought of as reasonable.

'There is ample evidence that the defendant was intoxicated.'

Robbins, who has waited to be sentenced since April, attended court with dried blood on her hands and sobbed in the dock.

Judge Jeffrey Pegden QC sentenced her to an 18-month community order with a 30-day rehabilitation activity requirement.

'That means the probation service will assist you with your various difficulties,' he said.

Robbins, of Belsize Park, north London, denied, but was convicted of taking a child from a person having lawful control under the Child Abduction Act 1984.
Lim Dem leader Ed Davey and a trio of Labour frontbenchers were forced to self-isolate today as Covid swept through Westminster.

Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves, shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson and shadow environment secretary Jim McMahon said they were awaiting the result of PCR tests after positive LFTs this morning.

Mr Davey, however, got a positive PCR result this afternoon after starting to feel unwell yesterday.

Westminster has implemented stricter Covid rules in recent weeks, but MPs are still allowed to go maskless in the chamber and the voting lobbies.

Tonight they are likely to to into those lobbies four times to vote on new Covid legislation, while on Wednesday the chamber is usually full for Prime minister's Questions.

Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves said she had tested positive three days after having her booster jab

Mr Davey got a positive PCR result this afternoon after starting to feel unwell yesterday and isolating.

shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson and shadow environment secretary Jim McMahon said they were awaiting the result of PCR tests after positive LFTs this morning.

Ms Reeves said she had tested positive three days after having her booster jab, adding: 'This shows how much of a race against time it is to beat Omicron.

'Vaccines are our best weapon against Covid. Please get boosted as soon as you can to protect your friends, family and our NHS.'

Mr McMahon said he was 'gutted' that he would now also miss his booster jab appointment, adding: 'If you are able to have it, please do.'

None of the affected MPs will be able to vote on the Government's Plan B package of measures to limit the spread of Omicron, though the Labour trio said they would have supported it, in line with party policy.

Ms Phillipson added: 'A few people have asked why I cant simply vote by proxy. Its a good question. Earlier this year, the Government removed arrangements for MPs to vote remotely or by proxy.'
Covid rules weren't enough to dampen spirits for one intrepid Santa Clause - who was determined to visit sick children in hospital unable to celebrate at home.

Young patients at the Royal Aberdeen Children's Hospital were delighted to see Father Christmas sweeping fast their windows on Sunday and spreading festive cheer.

The stunt was led by children's charity the Archie Foundation, who teamed up with the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service for the second year in a row.

Indoor mixing is not allowed because of the pandemic, so all contact had to take place through a pane of glass.

One poignant image showed a delighted young girl and Father Christmas putting their hands together on the window.

A poignant picture shows Santa giving a high five to a young patient at Royal Aberdeen Children's hospital on Sunday

Scottish Fire and Rescue Service used their crane to help Santa spread Christmas joy to young patients at the hospital

Staff from both groups dressed up in festive outfits to add to the special occasion.

The Archie Foundation said: 'We had an incredibly special visitor at Royal Aberdeen Children's Hospital!

'Santa arrived (in a slightly unconventional way) to bring some festive cheer to children spending the Christmas period in hospital!

The visit was organised by charity the Archie Foundation, who are working with the fire service for a second year in a row

Santa was accompanied on his mission by a pair of well-trained furry friends from the fire service

'Due to Covid restrictions Santa was unable to come into RACH but the amazing Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, elves from Morrisons Peterhead, Banchory, Inverurie and Aberdeen Stores and TEXO were there to save the day!

'We really can't put into words how special today was, and we can't thank everyone involved enough.'

The RACH caters for the needs of poorly kids across northern Scotland.

Staff from the Royal Aberdeen Children's Hospital, Scottish Fire and Rescue Service and volunteers from the Archie Foundation all got into the Christmas spirit

The endeavour was designed to spread a little bit of Christmas cheer to children who won't be able to celebrate at home this year

The Archie Foundation works closely with the hospital and several others, such as the Highland Children's Unit, Tayside Children's Hospital, and Dr Gray's Hospital.

The charity said it hopes to make Christmas a bit more special this year for children who can't be at home for it.

Gifts were also donated from a Morrisons supermarket for the children, while funds raised by Scottish Fire and Rescue Service will now be used to help improve the atmosphere at the hospital over the festive period
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Daily Covid hospitalisations in Omicron-stricken South Africa have hit their highest level since the variant took hold, official figures revealed today.

Data showed 600 admissions were recorded in the last 24 hours, up 56 per cent from last Monday. There are currently 6,895 patients in the hospitals across the country.

Cases also jumped by 81 per cent in a week to 23,884, the highest tally in five months.

But in a glimmer of hope the seven-day average for cases in Gauteng continued to slow, a month after the variant first emerged in the area. Cases were still rising sharply in all other regions.

South Africa is ramping up its vaccination drive to try and limit hospitalisations due to the virus, and is yet to impose any further restrictions. It was already using face masks in most public places before the variant hit.

From 4am tomorrow, the country will be removed from the UK's travel 'red' list along with its 10 neighbours which were also subject to the stringent curbs.

UK Health Secretary Sajid Javid told the Commons the change had been made because there was so much domestic transmission of the variant in Britain already, and that it was also spreading 'widely across the world'.

It comes after the first major real-world study in South Africa offered more proof that the variant causes milder disease than Delta.

It also found two doses of the Pfizer vaccine still provide 70 per cent protection against hospitalisation and death from Omicron, compared to 93 per cent for Delta.

But despite the growing optimism British officials were warned today that there would be a 'significant increase' in hospitalisations from Omicron in the coming weeks. UK experts are concerned that the country's different demographics to South Africa put it at greater risk from the variant.

Covid cases in South Africa jumped by 81 per cent in a week today with another 23,884 recorded in the last 24 hours

This chart shows daily Covid cases as reported for South Africa's nine provinces. Gauteng is still seeing the most Covid cases reported every day

This map reveals which parts of South Africa the variant's case numbers are rising fastest in. It shows these are the Free State and the Eastern Cape

The above graph shows weekly Covid hospitalisations in South Africa. It reveals they have started to rise after cases surged, but studies suggest Omicron is milder than the Delta variant

The National Institute for Communicable Diseases publishes daily Covid cases, hospitalisations and deaths figures for South Africa.

Its latest figures show that cases are still more than quadrupling week-on-week in two of the country's nine provinces  Free State and the Eastern Cape.

Cases more than doubled week-on-week in five others  North West, Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal, the Northern Cape and the Western Cape.

Omicron is causing up to a THIRD fewer hospitalisations than Delta, study finds Omicron is causing milder disease than Delta in patients in the epicentre of the new Covid variant, the first major real-world study in South Africa confirmed today. Officials who analysed 78,000 Omicron cases in the past month estimated the risk of hospitalisation was a fifth lower than with Delta and 29 per cent lower than the original virus. As a crude rate, Omicron is currently leading to a third fewer hospital admissions than Delta did during its entire wave  38 admissions per 1,000 Omicron cases compared to 101 per 1,000 for Delta. The findings lend weight to the theory that the ultra-infectious variant is weaker than previous strains, something which doctors on the ground in South Africa have been claiming for weeks. But the reduction in severity is probably not solely down to Omicron being intrinsically milder, according to the South African Medical Research Council which led the analysis. Around 70 per cent of South Africans have recovered from Covid already and 23 per cent are double-vaccinated, which has created high levels of immunity. The finding will raise hopes that the UK's Omicron wave will be less severe than previous peaks, despite having an older and denser population. Unlike South Africa, the UK is rolling out booster jabs on a mass scale. Advertisement

The lowest rise was recorded in the Limpopo, where they went up 88 per cent in a week, and Gauteng, where they rose by just two per cent week-on-week.

Cases now appear to be plateauing in the region that was first to be hit by the Omicron variant. There were 8,685 new infections recorded today, compared to 8,445 at the same time the previous week.

Some 25 per cent of South Africans are already double-jabbed against the virus, but most already have immunity against the virus from a previous infection.

It comes as UK ministers confirmed all countries will be removed from the Government's international travel red list from 4am tomorrow because Omicron is already running rampant in the UK.

The 11 countries on the list are: Angola, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The decision was hammered out at a meeting of the Cabinet's Covid-19 operations (Covid-O) committee.

The red list was reintroduced last month following the emergence of Omicron as ministers tried to prevent importing cases into the UK. Despite the change on the red list, tougher travel testing rules introduced in response to the variant will remain in place.

Mr Javid told MPs this afternoon: 'Now that there is community transmission of Omicron in the UK and Omicron has spread so widely across the world, the travel red list is now less effective in slowing the incursion of Omicron from abroad.

'So I can announce today that whilst we will maintain our temporary testing measures for international travel, we will be removing all 11 countries from the travel red list, effective from 4am tomorrow morning.'

People arriving in the UK from red list countries must currently spend 11 nights in a quarantine hotel at a cost of 2,285 for solo travellers.

Removing all 11 countries from the list will mean that ministers will once again mothball the hotel quarantine system.

The first real-world study in South Africa analysed 78,000 Omicron cases over the past month and estimated the risk of hospitalisation was a fifth lower than with Delta and 29 per cent lower than the original virus.

As a crude rate, Omicron is currently leading to a third fewer hospital admissions than Delta did during its entire wave  38 admissions per 1,000 Omicron cases compared to 101 per 1,000 for Delta.

The findings lend weight to the theory that the ultra-infectious variant is weaker than previous strains, something which doctors on the ground in South Africa have been claiming for weeks.

But the reduction in severity is probably not solely down to Omicron being intrinsically milder, according to the South African Medical Research Council which led the analysis.

Around 70 per cent of South Africans have recovered from Covid already and 23 per cent are double-vaccinated, which has created high levels of immunity.

The finding will raise hopes that the UK's Omicron wave will be less severe than previous peaks, despite having an older and denser population. Unlike South Africa, the UK is rolling out booster jabs on a mass scale.

Officials who looked at 78,000 Omicron cases in the past month found t he risk of hospitalisation was a fifth lower than with Delta (in green) and 29 per cent lower than the original virus (dark blue). Omicron is shown in brown and the original South African 'Beta' variant in light blue. Children appeared to have a 20 per cent higher risk of hospital admission with complications during the new wave than the initial outbreak, despite the numbers still being tiny

As a crude rate, Omicron is currently causing a third fewer hospital admissions than Delta did during its entire wave  38 admissions per 1,000 Omicron cases, compared to 101 per 1,000 for Delta

The study also found that two doses of Pfizer's vaccine still provides 70 per cent protection against hospital admission or death from Omicron, compared to 93 per cent for Delta

Against Delta, two Pfizer jabs initially offer more than 80 per cent protection against symptomatic infection before falling to around 60 per cent within six months.

Today's study, co-run by private health insurance company Discovery Health, was based on more than 211,000 positive Covid test results from November 15 to December 7, 78,000 of which were attributed to Omicron.

Overall, four in 10 of those who tested positive had received two doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine.

The 70 per cent protection from severe disease figure still puts two doses well above the World Health Organization's efficacy threshold of 50 per cent.

But the researchers said that efficacy was reduced further in older age groups, falling to just 59 per cent in the 70 to 79 bracket, for example.

That could be because older people were vaccinated first in the initial rollout and there has been more time for immunity to wane than in younger people.

Protection against admission was consistent across a range of chronic illnesses including diabetes, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, and other cardiovascular diseases, the study said.

Children appeared to have a 20 per cent higher risk of hospital admission with complications during the fourth wave than during the first, despite the numbers still being tiny.

'This is early data and requires careful follow up,' said Shirley Collie, chief health analytics actuary at Discovery Health.

She cautioned that children were still 51 per cent less likely to test positive during the Omicron wave and the risk for them remains low.
A woman gazing up into the stormy sky above her backyard in New South Wales, Australia, was flabbergasted when she saw a cloud formation which bore a striking resemblance to William Shakespeare.

Mother-of-one Shaquira Hobbs managed to photograph the incredible sight outside her home in Booragul in NSW's Lake Macquarie region on November 21.

The extraordinary shot shows a cloud looking remarkably similar to the profile of the famous playwright, with his forehead, eyes, eyelids nose and chin all outlined among the grey shapes.

Shaquira Hobbs managed to photograph the shape of a man's face outlined in the clouds above her backyard in Booragul, NSW on Sunday, with social media users commenting that it looked like Shakespeare

Ms Hobbs was preparing to capture lightning snaps from her home's veranda on November 21, when a bright flash made her turn around and spot a dark grey cloud that 'creeped her out'.

The 24-year-old photographer grabbed her phone and took a photo of what she thought to be the side profile of a male, and excited viewers have since pointed out it looks like just like the Bard himself.

Speaking to Daily Mail Australia, Ms Hobbs, said the phenomenon lasted for about 45 seconds.

'I thought it was incredible but had to get my partner to look as well because I thought I may have also been seeing things,' she laughed.

She said she'd been setting up her professional camera to take some shots of the lightning when she noticed the unusual cloud formation. She sent the image to her mother, who was blown away.

'Mum was shocked and she said 'you need to send it to every news channel',' Shaquira said.

'Mum is still talking about it.'

A mum was left 'creeped out' when she spotted William Shakespeare peering down from a storm cloud - and the incredibly detailed face even appears to sport his signature goatee

'It happened so quick I had no time to move around so I quickly grabbed my phone instead,' she said.

'It is honestly scary how good the detail is.

Ms Hobbs immediately sent the photo to her mother and afterwards inspected the shot with her partner.

The incredible image has since done the rounds on social media, where users began to chime in that the cloud formation resembled one of the world's greatest playwrights.
Some young BBC journalists don't understand impartiality as it hasn't been 'imbued' in them as with previous generations, according to one of the corporation's former executives.

Roger Mosey, the former head of BBC television news, appeared before the House of Lords' Communications and Digital Committee today to discuss impartiality in journalism.

Giving evidence, Mr Mosey referred to Sir Nicholas Serota's report in October, which noted there was an 'opportunity for the BBC leadership team to go further' when addressing impartiality.

He told the committee: 'Its quite interesting to work back from the Serota report, to the question which I think Tim Davie as director general is rightly addressing.

'So the challenge to impartiality is the fact that some younger journalists dont understand it in the way it was classically imbued in BBC journalists over the years.

'Theres no particular reason why they should, because they havent in some cases had the right training.'

Former head off BBC television news, Roger Mosey, says many young journalists don't understand impartiality in the way it was 'classically imbued' in the past

Mr Mosey said that defining impartiality had become 'ever tougher' for modern journalists because of the pressures of social media.

He added: 'The external definition of due impartiality has broadened, so Ofcom seems to have allowed originally LBC, which is a great radio station, but now GB News [also] to have due impartiality with a slightly different interpretation to the way they would have done 10 or 15 years ago

'The other thing is there has unquestionably been some impact in the BBC from identity politics and the absolutely proper concern about diversity within the BBC, which then sometimes rubs against diversity of opinion externally; and provides more challenges for journalists.'

A BBC spokesperson said: 'Roger was highlighting the importance of classic BBC values and we share that view, which is why we have a ten point plan on impartiality which includes training.'

Professor Richard Sambrook, a former director of global news, also gave evidence before today's House of Lords' Digital and Communications Committee

Earlier in today's hearing, former BBC executive Professor Richard Sambrook - now a director of journalism at Cardiff University - outlined some of the issues around impartiality to the committee.

Prof Sambrook said: 'Its widely misunderstood in public debate of being about false balance or covering up your opinions - a bland he-said she-said journalism.

'But actually impartiality properly employed is the reverse of that  its a set of professional disciplines to elevate your journalism beyond personal bias and beyond those kinds of problems. But thats not very well understood generally.

'It becomes better and easier when you start to break it down into its constituent parts; what do we mean by impartiality? Accuracy? Fairness? Evidence-based? Diversity of view? Transparency of process?

'When you break those down, then you can start to engage with them more...'

The Serota Review was commissioned by the BBC board following Lord Dyson's scathing report into the circumstances surrounding Martin Bashir's 1995 Panorama interview with Diana, Princess of Wales.

The review made 10 recommendations for the BBC which include extending impartiality training throughout the organisation.

It also recommends the BBC's board monitors impartiality through metrics including editorial complaints.

The broadcaster said in a statement it has accepted the review's findings in full as it announced 'sweeping changes to further raise standards across the organisation and challenge claims of bias'.
The Metropolitan Police have arrested three men for allegedly putting fake Covid-19 vaccination records on computers at NHS trusts in London.

Three men, aged 23, 27 and 36, were arrested this morning in two separate Cyber Crime Unit investigations into the fraudulent records.

The arrests came after a member of staff from a different NHS trust noticed suspicious vaccination records on their online system and reported their concerns to Action Fraud.

The Metropolitan Police have arrested three men for allegedly putting fake Covid-19 vaccination records (Pictured: NHS app)

Detective Superintendent Helen Rance from the central Cyber Crime Team said: 'It is concerning that individuals may have fraudulently created false Covid-19 vaccination records during a time when levels of the virus are rising.

'The staff at both Trusts did the right thing and reported their concerns which has allowed us to fully investigate the circumstances.

'I want to reassure the public that no systems were hacked into from outside of the NHS networks and the integrity of the NHS systems remains robust.'

A 27-year-old man and a 23-year-old man, both from Ilford, were arrested for unauthorised computer access and conspiracy to commit fraud by misrepresentation.

And in an unrelated investigation a 36-year-old man, also from Ilford, was arrested on suspicion of unauthorised computer access and conspiracy to commit fraud by misrepresentation.

Police seized a total of 14 devices in searches at two residential addresses following the arrests. All three men remain in custody while the two investigations continue.

Police seized a total of 14 devices in searches at two residential addresses following the arrests. All three men remain in custody while the two investigations continue (file photo)

It comes after the Mail On Sunday this week revealed six people, including NHS staff, had been arrested following an investigation into fake vaccine certificates.

Police launched an inquiry in October after the paper revealed how official patient records were being changed to show that people had received two doses of a Covid-19 vaccine when, in reality, they had not been jabbed.

A man was arrested at the time, and since then five more suspects have also been held.
Former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo was ordered Tuesday to turn over the proceeds from his pandemic book deal - an estimated $5.1 million - to the state Attorney General's office within the next 30 days, following a probe by a state ethics panel.

The profits from Cuomo's 'American Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic' came into question in October, when the Empire State's Joint Commission on Public Ethics (JCOPE) announced that it was conducting an internal inquiry that was reassessing its initial approval of Cuomo's 2020 book.

The ethics agency commission voted 12-1 on Tuesday to order the ousted governor to fork over his memoir's profits to the state Attorney General's office, after multiple investigations found Cuomo used state resources to produce and promote the tell-all book.

'Gov. Cuomo is not legally entitled to retain compensation for any form of outside activity related to the book,' commissioner David McNamara, a Senate Republican appointee, said.

The ruling puts state Attorney General Letitia James in the hot seat, after her office's investigative report into a slew of sexual harassment allegations leveled against the then-governor by several current and former staffers forced the disgraced Democrat to resign over the summer.

James had announced she would run for governor but then suspended her campaign, saying she would seek re-election as AG.

Now, the AG is poised to determine how to redistribute the book's profits - whether it be to the state, the publisher or some other body. The situation is further complicated by the fact that Cuomo has already placed $1 million of the book's proceeds in a trust for his three daughters and donated another $500,000 to charity.

The ruling comes as the latest blow to the Cuomo family, following newscaster Chris Cuomo's highly publicized firing from his $6million-a-year CNN gig earlier this month for helping his brother Andrew battle sexual harassment allegations.

Former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo was ordered Tuesday to turn over the proceeds from his pandemic book deal - an estimated $5.1 million - to the state Attorney General's office within the next 30 days, following a probe by a state ethics panel

Moments before the decision on Tuesday, an attorney for Cuomo announced that his office would be mounting a legal challenge to the panel's order for his client to return the proceeds from the self-penned book.

Cuomo had touted himself as a hero in regards to his handling of the pandemic despite being embroiled in a scandal over New York's nursing home deaths due to COVID - a number that his administration misrepresented, according to reports.

The book, released in October 2020, centered on Cuomo's early handling of the Covid-19 pandemic in the state

After analyzing the methods Cuomo used to prepare the tell-all, the ethics agency voted to revoke its prior approval of the book - which allowed the governor to earn outside income from its sales while in office, concluding that Cuomo violated pledges to not use state resources or government staffers during its preparation.

Tuesday's resolution, drafted by McNamara, states that Cuomo now 'lacked the legal authority to engage in outside activity and receive compensation in regard to the book' after JCOPE rescinded its initial approval last month.

'It is ordered that by no later than 30 days from the date of this resolution, Gov. Cuomo pay over to the attorney general of the State of New York an amount equal to the compensation paid to him for his outside activities related to the book,' the panel's resolution states.

'JCOPEs actions today are unconstitutional, exceed its own authority and appear to be driven by political interests rather than the facts and the law,' attorney Jim McGuire told The New York Times ahead of the ruling.

'Should they seek to enforce this action, we'll see them in court.'

Crown Publishing had offered the former governor more than $5 million for the manuscript - a risk at the time considering Cuomo's previous memoir sold fewer than 4,000 hardcover copies. But the then-governor was receiving ample attention from the media over his handling of the pandemic and touted himself as a hero.

However, months after the book's October 2020 release, the then-governor found himself at the center of a scandal suggesting that his office deliberately obscured death toll numbers concerning nursing home residents during the pandemic, in an apparent effort to save face politically.

An investigation by state AG James' office subsequently found that several top Cuomo aides, at the behest of their boss, were engaged in the months-long effort to overrule and prevent state health officials from releasing the actual number of nursing-home deaths that occurred during the pandemic.

Prior to the investigation, Cuomo had been criticized for imposing a state mandate that forced nursing homes to readmit residents who had been infected and hospitalized with COVID-19 once they recovered were permitted to leave the health centers.

Despite being at the center of several scandals, Cuomo celebrated his 64th birthday on December 6 with daughter Michaela Kennedy-Cuomo at his side - with his other daughters and wife noticeably absent

State Attorney General Tish James, who previously investigated the then governor in two separate scandals, is currently conducting a separate probe into the controversial book deal

Critics of the three-term Democrat, however, argued that the policy had increased the number of virus-related deaths among those residents - a claim that Cuomo's office dismissed as a political play.

Then, in July 2020, Cuomo's State Health Department released a fabricated report that suggested the policy was not responsible for an increase.

By January, James' office had discerned that Cuomo's administration had misrepresented the number of nursing home deaths, undercounting them by several thousand.

When confronted with the office's findings, Cuomo eventually conceded that there were falsehoods in the state's report, after reports emerged that his aides had altered the July report to hide the true figure, spurring a federal investigation that forced the career politician to resign in disgrace.

Cuomo is also under criminal investigation related to an allegation that he groped a former staffer at the governor's mansion in November.

It was the most serious among the sexual harassment claims made by 11 women outlined in a report released by James' earlier last month.

On August 31 is was revealed that the Albany County Sheriff's office had issued subpoenas in the investigation into a criminal complaint filed by the alleged victim, Brittany Commissio, the Times Union reported.

Additionally Cuomo faces criminal probes by the FBI and the Brooklyn US Attorney's office over Covid-19 nursing homes deaths.

He denies all the allegations made against him.

With that said, Cuomo's book deal is also still being investigated, by James' office, the FBI, and the Brooklyn US Attorney's Office, amid the state Assembly Judiciary Committee's declaration that Cuomo once again misused government staffers by enlisting to help prepare the book - a direct contradiction to the then governor's previous agreement with the ethics committee.

Despite being at the center of several scandals, Cuomo celebrated his 64th birthday with daughter Michaela Kennedy-Cuomo at his side on December 6 - with his other daughters and wife noticeably absent.

Tax records show that Cuomo already received the bulk of his advance for the book, $3.12 million, in 2020 and was expected to receive an additional $2 million in installments over two years. Crown has since stopped promoting the title following the New York nursing home and sexual harassment scandals. It had also canceled plans for a paperback edition.

In April, the former governor said he put $1 million of the proceeds from the book into a trust fund for his three daughters and donated $500,000 to non-profit fundraising affiliate United Way, Spectrum reported. It's so far unknown how Cuomo is going to give back such funds.

Its top staff approved Cuomo's request to write the book in July 2020.

However, they did so without the usual vote put to all 14 members ahead of a request by the governor to earn income from a private source, with the deal instead approved by other members of the panel.

Cuomo's replacement, Governor Kathy Hochul, appointed a new chairman, Queens-based Attorney Jose Nieves, to oversee the state watchdog's since-completed probe.

For the investigation, JCOPE, which oversees ethics and lobbying in the state of New York, elected to enlist an outside law firm to 'conduct an inquiry into the facts, circumstances, policies and practices' over the approval, the Daily News reported.

Cuomo's request to write the memoir was approved in the Summer of 2020 without having submitted the book contract to the panel. Multiple members of the panel at that time have since resigned.

The Cuomo brothers appeared together on CNN often during the pandemic. Both have since become the subject of multiple investigations and scandals

Governor Kathy Hochul recently filled in two JCOPE vacancies following acting chair- and Cuomo appointee- James Dering' resignation

Cuomo had received permission from state ethics commissioners last year to write his book - under the stipulation that he had to write the book on 'his own time and not on state time,' in accordance with widely observed rules concerning state ethics. The agency also asked that, 'no state property, personnel or other resources' be used during the book's preparation.

However, since the organization's approval in July, several of the governor's former and current staffers, including former Secretary to the Governor Melissa DeRosa and the Director of Governor's Offices Stephanie Benton, were unmasked as accomplices in book's production, per several reports.

Cuomo claims his aides offered their time voluntarily and denies allegations of impropriety.

Governor Hochul, who replaced Cuomo after he resigned, only just recently filled in two JCOPE vacancies following acting chair- and Cuomo appointee- James Dering's resignation in September, appointing Nieves as chairman and Buffalo Attorney Sharon Stern Gerstman as commissioner in October.

'Jose Nieves and Sharon Stern Gerstman are well-respected and talented professionals who will uphold our commitment to open, ethical governing and help to transform not just state government, but more importantly, people's image and perception of their state government,' Hochul said in a statement at the time.

Cuomo's book, which was released in October 2020, was tied to the governor's daily COVID-19 briefings in 2020 during the height of the pandemic in New York.

He was hailed as a hero during the early days of the COVID outbreak, when New York was the global COVID epicenter, thanks to his matter-of-fact briefings peppered with personal reflections.

The ruling comes as the latest blow to the Cuomo family following newscaster Chris Cuomo's highly publicized firing from CNN earlier this month, for helping brother Andrew battle sexual harassment allegations. DailyMail.com spotted Cuomo in the Hamptons on Saturday (pictured) in his first sighting since being fired from the network on December 4
A luxury Los Angeles outdoor shopping center targeted by looters during the spate of smash-and-grab robberies plaguing the state has installed barbed-wire coil fencing to deter criminals.

The Grove added the fencing around the entrances and exits of the property before Thanksgiving weekend in an attempt to keep stores safe during the busy holiday shopping season.

The shopping outlet has also increased security measures, beefing up police presence by hiring off-duty officers to monitor the area and adding security cameras.

The stores at the complex have also upgraded their glass displays with a specific film-coating exterior that keeps the windows from shattering.

'The coil wire is a reasonably new technology in retail crime prevention,' retail security expert Mike Lamb told CNN.

'It looks like it's designed to not cause injury, but (it) can tangle a person in it and slow down someone who is trying to get away quickly.'

Famed LA shopping outlet The Grove has added barbed wire fencing at the entrances and exits of their store as an increased security measure

The fence comes amid the rise of looting crimes attributed to the trend of smash and grab cases in LA

The popular shopping outlet, which opened in 2002, has also increased police presence and have replaced glass windows with a special coating exterior

The Grove was previously the site of smash and grab incident on November 22 after around 20 looters broke into a Nordstrom's and stole $5,000 worth of merchandise and caused $15,000 in damage

The security measures come amid a wave of retail looting across LA, as well as San Francisco and Chicago.

The Grove, an open-air mall located on part of the city's historic Farmer's Market, is anchored by Nordstrom and features other top retailers such as Apple, Nike, Swarovski, TopShop/Topman and American Girl Place.

Despite the barbed wire, around 20 looters ransacked Nordstrom using sledgehammers to break the displays on November 22.

The crew stole $5,000 worth of merchandise and caused $15,000 worth of damage.

The merchandise has since been recovered by police and the looters involved have all been arrested.

A spokesperson for the outlet said that the wire fencing prevented the thieves from entering the enclosed area of the mall, while Nordstrom was outside barbed wire.

Other LA shopping areas, such as Citadel Outlets, have also tightened security.

'We have also increased our onsite security staff around the clock and have stationed security personnel throughout the center,' general manager David Blagg told CNN.

'Additionally, we have gates at entrances and exits that can be closed quickly giving us the ability to lock down the center within 1 to 2 minutes.'

A map shows the locations of some of the major smash-and-grab robberies that have taken place in Southern California

LA crime is on the upswing, according to police statistics. Homicides are up by 46 percent, car thefts are up 53 percent and shootings have risen by a staggering 51 percent in Los Angeles compared with the same time frame through November 27 of 2019

There were 7,542 robberies in Los Angeles this year through November 27, the LAPD's most recent data indicate, which represents a 3.9 per cent increase from last year

Members of the Retail Industry Leaders Association sent a letter to Congress in hopes the politicians crack down on the rampant crime.

'As millions of Americans have undoubtedly seen on the news in recent weeks and months, retail establishments of all kinds have seen a significant uptick in organized crime in communities across the nation,' the letter read.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki acknowledged the problem faced by retailers.

'We have seen some of these extremely disturbing videos showing retail theft,' Psaki said last Tuesday.

'State and local leaders like Gov. Gavin Newsom have identified this as a serious concern. We agree. Thats the reason why we have sent additional support from the FBI providing additional assistance.

'Its one of the reasons why the president and members of our administration have been longtime advocates for supporting and funding the COPS program.'

A suspect wields a hammer during a jewelry store robbery in Los Angeles in November

Newsom also is working to increase security measures after reports surfaced that the looting has been at the behest of organized crime rings that pay the thieves as little as $500 to swipe luxury goods and then resell them online for thousands of dollars.

'Shoplifting and retail theft crime rings are unacceptable,' a spokesperson from Newsom's office told Fox News.

'The governor expects these perpetrators to be prosecuted and held accountable for their crimes," he said.

'He has also taken immediate action to increase CHP presence on highways near popular shopping areas statewide.

'This year, Gov. Newsom signed legislation to extend the California Highway Patrol Organized Retail Crime Task Force, and he is committed to taking additional action in his January budget.'

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

However, 'woke' US city officials have been criticized for how they have handled these issues.

Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon has been slammed for his progressive politics since he took office last year such as letting criminals run free as they await their day in court.

On December 2, LA police arrested 14 suspects alleged to have been involved in 11 recent smash-and-grab robberies at stores last month, where nearly $340,000 worth of merchandise was stolen in strikes on an LA Nordstrom, a Lululemon in Studio City, a Fairfax district store, and a CVS pharmacy in South LA.

However, due to city's zero-bail policies, the suspects were all released within hours of being handcuffed and are currently walking the streets while they wait for their cases to go to court.

'If you look at the 14 people arrested, they could have been charged, there could have been bail amounts set, but none of that was done because the district attorney refuses to take a leadership position on this issue,' prosecutor Eric Siddall told Fox, slamming Gascon office's do-nothing approach to the rampant crime wave currently afflicting cities all across the Golden State.

In a statement sent to the outlet, Gascon's office said that it was looking into the suspects' cases with LAPD officials and 'will hold those responsible accountable.'

Others blame the voter-approved measure Proposition 47 -passed by California voters on November 5, 2014 - which reclassified felony thefts cases under $950 to misdemeanors.

Siddall, however, disagrees, and said Monday that Gascon bears sole responsibility for the dangerous phenomenon.

'We didn't have these flash mobs for many, many years,' Siddall said. 'You really cannot blame Prop 47. When people are engaged in a conspiracy to commit larceny, that becomes a felony. You can't say that the law is weak on these issues. You can't say that the judiciary is weak on these issues.'

Footage from the aftermath shows the glass door was shattered in the incident, and the shelves were completely empty

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 November 19. Five arrests have since been made

San Francisco and other cities in the Bay Area have also been targeted by bands of brazen looters.

Officers have already made a string of arrests in relation to the late-November attacks, which police previously posited were related.

Three arrests have been made in connection with a coordinated attack on a Nordstrom store in the wealthy Bay Area suburb of Walnut Creek, California, on November 20.

An estimated 90 people overran the posh boutique and made off with more than $100,000 of merchandise before escaping in 25 separate cars that had their license plates removed or covered, prosecutors said.

According to officers and witnesses on the scene, several of the suspects donned ski masks and crowbars during the store attack in the San Francisco suburb.

Suspects also assaulted employees while fleeing the scene, with one 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.

Five others have also been arrested in relation to a similar strike on a San Francisco store the day prior, which saw somewhere between 20 and 40 people storm a Louis Vuitton in the the city's Union Square and make off with thousands of dollars of products.

Other US city officials such as Chicago Mayor Kim Lightfoot have also come under fire.

Lightfoot has responded to criticism she received about not taking action for these crimes as she has placed the blame on retailers for not enforcing heightened security.

'We still have retailers that won't institute plans like having security officers in their stores, making sure that they've got cameras that are actually operational, locking up their merchandise at night, chaining high-end bags,' she said.

'These purses can be something that is attracting a lot of organized retail theft units.'

Two men came into Gold Coast Auto Gallery on Saturday in Chicago's Near North Side neighborhood and stole millions of dollars worth of luxury watches

One stood by the door with a gun while the other smashed a display case with a hammer

'Woke' Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon, seen at a June news conference, has been criticized for his progressive policies since stepping into office

The most recent Chicago smash and grab incident saw two men robbing luxury car dealership Gold Coast Auto Gallery on Saturday which saw eight luxury watches worth millions stolen.

One stood by the door with a gun while the other smashed a display case with a hammer, stealing at least eight luxury watches.

Dealership owner Joe Perillo told FOX 32 Mayor Lightfoot and other officials need to take action or businesses are going to leave the city.

'I have a place in the suburbs. The place is wonderful. There's no crime out there,' he said. 'People don't want to come into the city.'

'The mayor and Kim Foxx have to take a firm stand. It is wrong for someone to break into a place - if they get caught, they get let out!' he argued. 'If they get arrested, they get let go. So, how do you intend to ever solve that problem?'

He added: 'If they don't do anything about this, they're going to lose a lot of businesses. They lost Macy's. They're losing Neiman Marcus. They may lose this store.'

Chicago District Attorney Kim Foxx is also facing scrutiny after it was revealed she made an effort to help embattled actor Jussie Smollett get away with staging his own assault. Officials say Foxx liaised with the Empire star's relatives and tried to persuade the FBI to assume the investigation days after the attack.
Yasmeen Mashayekh (pictured), a 21-year-old civil engineering student at USC's Viterbi School of engineering, was elected as one of its Diversity, Equity and Inclusion senators

More than 65 faculty members at University of Southern California who signed a petition imploring the institution to admonish a vocally anti-Semitic Palestinian student don't think the school has done enough to distance itself from her statements, including a tweet saying she wanted to 'kill every motherf****** Zionist.'

Yasmeen Mashayekh, a 21-year-old civil engineering student, was named as one of the school's 'Leaders, Makers and Dreamers' for International Women's Day this year, is the President of the school's Earthquake Engineering Research Institute and was elected as one of its Diversity, Equity and Inclusion senators at the college's Viterbi School of Engineering.

Those selected to be DEI senators, according to the body's website, 'promote greater inclusivity ... and are vocal advocates against racism and discrimination.'

In a tweet dated May 11, Mashayekh appears to be celebrating that 'a Jew's head was set ablaze' by Palestinian youth in Haifa, Israel, by using a laughing emoji and adding 'long live the heroes' arms.'

That tweet came two days after she posted a message to Twitter saying, 'I want to kill every motherf****** Zionist.'

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More than 65 faculty members at University of Southern California signed a petition calling for the University of Southern California to publicly condemn Yasmeen Maskayekh's repeated anti-Semitic statements on social media, like the one pictured

Yasmeen Mashayekh (pictured) was named as one of the school's 'Leaders, Makers and Dreamers' for International Women's Day this year, and is the President of the school's Earthquake Engineering Research Institute

On the week of June 15, she tweeted the phrase 'Death to Israel,' said that 'Zionists are going to f****** pay,' told followers that 'if you are not for the complete destruction of Israel and the occupation forces then youre anti-Palestinian,' and invoked 'Death to Israel and its b**** the U.S.'

Also that week, she wrote that Israel 'has no history,' only a 'criminal record.'

Many of her posts glorified terrorists and Sunni-Islamic fundamentalist group Hamas, which has wounded and killed thousands of Israelis in suicide bombings and rocket attacks, even writing that she 'thirst[ed] over' Hamas spokesperson Abu Obaida.

'We ask everyone to stop filming/sharing footage of the firing of rockets towards the Zionist state because it will negatively affect our resistance,' she wrote on May 13.

'Not sharing will stop [Israels] ability to pinpoint where the rockets are being fired from. We are all responsible.'

She promoted the Palestinian Youth Movement, and supports the Boycott, Divestment, Settlement movement, a Palestinian-led initiative to 'turn Israel into a pariah state, as South Africa once was, and to isolate its regime of oppression in order to achieve our UN-stipulated rights,' according to founder Omar Barghouti.

'We ask everyone to stop filming/sharing footage of the firing of rockets towards the Zionist state because it will negatively affect our resistance,' she wrote on May 13. 'Not sharing will stop [Israels] ability to pinpoint where the rockets are being fired from. We are all responsible'

Mashayekh wrote on June 26 that Israel 'has no history,' only a 'criminal record'

Many of her posts glorified terrorists and Sunni-Islamic fundamentalist group Hamas, which has wounded and killed thousands of Israelis in suicide bombings and rocket attacks

She even wrote that she 'thirst[ed] over' Hamas spokesperson Abu Obaida

In a Tweet dated May 11 of this year, Mashayekh appears to be celebrating that 'a Jew's head was set ablaze' by Palestinian youth in Haifa, by using a laughing emoji and adding 'long live the heroes' arms'

@yfalasteen I CANT STOP LAUGHING AT THIS VIDEO OF ME IN THE CAR W MY DRAKE HATING FRIEND  original sound - Yasmeen

The Canary Mission, a group that exposes individuals who express views against Jews and the State of Israel, compiled a trove of Mashayekh's anti-Semitic tweets from the handle @YFalasteen on November 22.

On Twitter, Mashayekh branded herself as an 'Anti-Zionist, Engineer, Artist, Activist' and wrote that her 'views are [her] own and do not reflect those of my university.'

Days later, USC faculty members sent a letter to the school's leadership calling for its 'public' and 'explicit' rebuke of her 'repeated threats of murder and harm.'

'The silence of our leadership on this matter is alienating, hurtful, and depressing,' the letter read. 'It amounts to tacit acceptance of a toxic atmosphere of hatred and hostility.'

The school stripped the student of her paid mentoring position when officials learned of her tweets last summer, although they gave her 'other opportunities on campus' instead. But outside accounts, like the Canary Mission, kept reproducing them.

On Twitter, Mashayekh (pictured) branded herself as an 'Anti-Zionist, Engineer, Artist, Activist' and wrote that her 'views are [her] own and do not reflect those of my university'

USC faculty members sent a letter to the school's leadership calling for its 'public' and 'explicit' rebuke of her 'repeated threats of murder and harm'

Tthe school's President Carol L. Folt said that Mashayekh's statements were 'contrary to our University's values' in a letter dated December 3, but said that USC could not 'denounce [a specific student] publicly' due to legal obligations to protect student privacy.

Because Mashayekh holds an elected position on the DEI board, Folt said that it would be illegal to strip her of that position for what is, technically, protected speech. It would be up to the members of the student organization to take that position from her.

Folt wrote that the incident '[had] disturbed us deeply as we understand very well the hurtful impact of the statements on Twitter that you quoted, not only to those who are Jewish but also to those of us who know how harmful antisemitism is when left unchecked.'

Although the school's President Carol L. Folt said that Mashayekh's statements were 'contrary to our University's values,' she wrote in a letter dated December 3 that USC could not 'denounce [a specific student] publicly' due to legal obligations to protect student privacy

USC chemistry professor Curt Wittig, one of more than 65 faculty members who signed the letter condemning Mashayekh and demanding that the university do the same, called the university's response to the student's violent tweets a 'deflection memo,' and told the Los Angeles Times that those who signed the petition 'expect something a little more forceful.'

Judith Hirsch, a professor of biological science, agreed.

'If a Jewish student had written the same tweets about Palestinians,' she said, ' we would be equally distressed.'

Mashayehn wrote that the above photo was taken in 2010

Wittig said that Jewish students had approached his colleagues, telling them that they were deeply frightened of Mashayekh's sentiments.

According to the petition both professors signed, this is the third instance of hate speech surrounding Middle Eastern politics on campus since August 2020.

That month, undergraduate student Rose Ritch withdrew from USC's student government because of her identity as a Jewish-Zionist.

In August of this year, the University's Department of Gender and Sexuality Studies published an online statement characterizing the State of Israel as 'settler colonialism, ethnonationalist violence,' 'apartheid' and 'ongoing ethnic cleansing.'

Mashayekh and her supporters say that she is now the target of 'racial and ethnic harassment and abuse,' according to a circulating petition, resulting in 'emotional and psychological suffering.'

'The language of the oppressed towards their oppressor is a form of personal resistance, as opposed to the colonial violence that the Zionist project has enacted against Yasmeens people  a people that has historically been brutalized at the hands of settlers,' the petition argues.

As she finishes up her undergraduate degree and starts graduate coursework amid what the petition in her favor called a 'targeted harassment campaign,' Mashayekh worries that she won't be able to pay off student loans or find a job in the future

She said she regularly receives death threats, and that she 'doesn't feel safe on campus'

Recently, Mashayekh (pictured) tweeted that her goal was to 'normalize the language of resistance regardless of what it looks like'

As she finishes up her undergraduate degree and starts graduate coursework amid what the petition in her favor called a 'targeted harassment campaign,' Mashayekh worries that she won't be able to pay off student loans or find a job in the future.

She said she regularly receives death threats, and that she 'doesn't feel safe on campus.'

Recently, the self-described 'activist' tweeted that her goal was to 'normalize the language of resistance regardless of what it looks like.'

'Obviously, I didn't expect any of this,' she told the LA Times, adding that she posted the tweets from an anonymous account that she didn't expect to be tied back to her.

Asked if she would behave differently in hindsight, she said she 'really wished [she] didn't have to think about what [she] would change.'

'I wish people didn't expect Palestinians to be the perfect victims,' she said.

Zukowski, the University of Southern California Viterbi provost, told the LA Times that rules surrounded student privacy limited what he could divulge about the ongoing situation.

Neither the University of Southern California Viterbi nor Mashayekh herself responded to DailyMail.com's requests for comment.
Biden's immigration advisers reportedly discussed the possibility of setting up reception centers along the border in late September

The Biden administration is looking at Europe for a roadmap to curb an out-of-control migrant crisis at the United States-Mexico border, a new report revealed on Tuesday.

Officials are considering European-style migrant 'reception centers' along the southwest border to both curb the number of people apprehended and released into the country as well as provide an alternative to the recently-reinstated Remain in Mexico policy.

US authorities arrested a record 1.7 million migrants at the southern border in fiscal year 2021.

President Joe Biden's advisers met at the White House to discuss the possibility as recently as late September, the Washington Post reported.

Proposals on the details of how border reception centers would look are still up in the air, administration officials and other sources told the outlet, but migrants would probably have to remain there in federal government custody for the duration of their asylum cases.

They would also be deported if their cases are turned down, the report notes.

More than 185,000 people were apprehended by US Border Patrol officers in September, according to the most recently available data from US Customs and Border Patrol.

While it's a decline from the 21-year high seen in July, the figure is more than double September 2020's roughly 54,700 encounters.

The number of people who are coming to the border is putting a serious strain on the US court system, as evidenced by 1.4 million backlogged immigration cases.

National Security Council immigration adviser Katie Tobin told the Post that administration officials were trying to focus on 'testing innovative ideas that are humane, that maintain the due process thats required in an asylum adjudication but that get us away from a system where people wait five years for a decision.'

Sheets and mylar blankets flutter in the wind at a makeshift shelter at the U.S.-Mexico border wall as immigrants wait for transport to a U.S. Border Patrol processing center on December 9

Migrants, part of a caravan that is slowly moving north, stop and rest at the Casa del Peregrino San Juan Diego shelter in Mexico City, Monday, December 13. A judge recently rejected the Biden administration's appeal to stop the Remain in Mexico policy, which would force US asylum seekers to wait for their cases to be processed in Mexico

Tobin added those delays are 'not good for our country and not good for people who are really in need of protection.'

According to anonymous sources cited in the report, federal agencies and nonprofit groups already engaging with migrants at the southern border would have a 'presence' at the sites to provide aid.

The centers would allow migrant families to remain together in a government-run facility where they have access to education, recreation as well as medical and legal help.

Asylum-seekers would not be mandated to stay there but rather encouraged with those incentives, officials reportedly said.

Possible blueprints vary from allowing migrants to go off-site during the day to using electronic monitoring tools to keep track of them.

DailyMail.com has reached out to the Department of Homeland Security and a number of immigration groups for comment.

But any proposal establishing these government-run centers would likely be costly.

Refugees walk around the grounds of the arrival centre of the initial reception facility of the eastern German state of Brandenburg in Eisenhuettenstadt, on October 25

A general view shows Europe's one-time biggest asylum seeker and migrants reception centre in Mineo, Sicily, on July 8, 2019 on the eve of its closure. Some of the EU's reception centers have been criticized for substandard living quality and their remote locations

The majority of European reception centers were opened amid an influx of Syrian, Afghan and Northern African migrants in 2015 and 2016 (pictured: A German reception facility on October 25)

Biden officials are likely seeking a departure from images seen earlier in the border crisis, of thousands of people camped out in tight enclosures housed in tents and among chain-link fences.

Videos of migrants squeezed in a tent city under a Texas bridge stirred outrage among both Republicans and immigrants' rights activists.

He's also upset allies by failing to stop the reinstatement of the Trump administration's Remain in Mexico policy, which forces asylum-seekers to remain on the southern side of the border while their cases are processed.

The measure has been criticized by human rights groups as creating a breeding ground for exploitation and human trafficking.

But Biden's also caught heat from Republicans for reinstating Catch-and-Release, allowing migrants to be let into the US while their case is being processed with a 'Notice to Appear' in whichever city they end up with little oversight and enforcement.

Many of the 500,000 to 600,000 migrants who were released into the US in the 2021 fiscal year were families or unaccompanied minors.

Former President Donald Trump had suspended the practice in 2017.

A significant number of the migrant reception centers in Europe popped up amid an influx of Syrian and Afghan refugees in 2015 and 2016.

They're spread across European Union states including Greece, the Netherlands, Germany, France, Austria and Belgium.

In addition to providing housing these centers also give asylum-seekers 'information about their rights, a path to a residency permit, freedom of movement and access to healthcare, education and work,' according to European Insights

Today's report notes that while some have been criticized for their standards of quality and remote locations, the reception center model has been generally seen as a success across Europe.
Australia will finally welcome international students and skilled migrants into the country after slamming the border shut two years ago.

More than 230,000 visa holders and 133,000 students are expected to touch down in the country from Wednesday after the Federal Government confirmed the borders would be lifted after a two-week hiatus.

The border was due to be lifted on December 1 but because of the threat of the new Omicron strain of Covid-19, the reopening was pushed back.

Visa holders must be vaccinated, and return a negative Covid test 72 hours before arrival.

The resumption means a travel bubble with Japan and South Korea can also begin.

Universities Australia chief executive Catriona Jackson said she was delighted international students could at last return.

'We have missed their presence dearly and couldn't be more delighted to welcome them back from today,' Ms Jackson said.

Australia's borders have finally lifted for skilled migrants and international students (pictured family reuniting at Brisbane Airport on Monday)

Hundreds of thousands of visa holders will be able to reunite with loved ones in Australia from Wednesday

'We recognise the very real effects Covid-19 has had on their wellbeing, and the resilience they have shown amidst extreme uncertainty.'

Wednesday also marks the reopening of Tasmania's border, with fully vaccinated travellers able to enter the state.

People entering Tasmania from certain high-risk areas must return a negative Covid-19 test in the 72 hours before they arrive. Unvaccinated people will still need to apply for a travel exemption to enter.

Virus restrictions are also set to relax from Wednesday in NSW, with the unvaccinated now able to enter retail and hospitality venues.

The ban on unvaccinated people was set to end on December 15 or when NSW hit a 95 per cent fully vaccinated rate, whichever came first.

NSW's vaccination rate currently sits at 93.2 per cent.

Australia's reopening of the international border comes just two days after Queensland welcomed back tourists

A traveller wearing protective gear is seen arriving in Sydney on November 29

There have been fears the decision to open up to the unvaccinated will lead to an even bigger spike in Covid-19 cases in the state, after NSW saw a large rise in infections due to Omicron.

There were 804 new cases in NSW on Tuesday, the highest number since the end of the Covid-19 lockdown, with 21 being linked to the Omicron variant.

Despite the rising number of Omicron cases, Doherty Institute infectious diseases expert Sharon Lewin said the rise in case numbers was not unexpected.

'It is a balance between how much activity there is and how much chance of exposure and how much protection there is,' Professor Lewin told the ABC.

'I don't think it is anything to be panicked about, it was what we expected.'

The border was due to be lifted on December 1 but because of the threat of the new Omicron strain of Covid-19, the reopening was pushed back (pictured at Brisbane Airport)

NSW announced on Tuesday night that fully vaccinated arrivals from the eight southern African countries would no longer have to enter 14 days of hotel quarantine, bringing all international arrivals under the same requirements.

NSW Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant said all fully vaccinated international arrivals must still self-isolate for 72 hours.

Nationally, 89.5 per cent of the population over 16 is fully vaccinated while 93.4 per cent have had one dose.

The number of people who have had their booster shots is now more than 771,000.

Victoria had 1189 new cases of Covid-19 on Tuesday including three connected to Omicron, as well as six deaths.

There were four cases in both the ACT and the Northern Territory, while South Australia had 12 infections.

West Australian authorities are investigating a Covid-19 scare after three truck drivers tested positive in SA after spending time in WA last week.

It comes just a day after Premier Mark McGowan announced plans to open the state's hard border to the rest of the country on February 5.
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No10 staff who stayed in Downing Street to take part in an alleged 'lockdown-busting' Christmas quiz last year were told to 'go out the back', it has been claimed.

Downing Street is accused of holding four parties that broke Covid restrictions last year, including a quiz attended by dozens of staff and which the Prime Minister helped to host on December 15  three days before another Christmas party which is being investigated.

No10 previously insisted that Downing Street were 'often required to be in the office to work on the pandemic response' during the various lockdowns, and therefore 'those who were in the office for work may have attended virtually from their desks'.

But the Mirror said a message sent by No10's head of HR on the night of the quiz advised that those who had stayed behind to take part 'go out the back' when they left.

The paper also unearthed the team names used that night, including 'Professor Quiz Whitty', 'Rebels without a Claus', and 'Hands, Face, First Place'.

The quiz night is one of at least six parties across Whitehall from November to December last year when the Government was ordering the public to stay at home and protect the NHS. Tier 2 restrictions in London on December 15 said there could be no mixing of households indoors, apart from support bubbles, and a maximum of six people outside.

A Government spokesman told the paper: 'Given there is an ongoing review, it would be inappropriate to comment while that is ongoing.'

Pictures obtained by the Sunday Mirror show Boris Johnson on a TV screen flanked by colleagues, one draped in tinsel and another wearing a Santa hat, in the No10 library. A source claimed many staff were huddled by computers in their Downing Street offices, conferring on questions and drinking alcohol while the quiz was taking place.

It comes as the former Conservative mayoral hopeful Shaun Bailey quit as chairman of the London Assembly's Police and Crime Committee earlier today  shortly before The Mirror published a photo of him and other Tory aides at a party in Conservative HQ.

The image showed 24 people with drinks, and buffet food laid out. The Tories previously admitted the party had taken place on December 14, when London was in Tier 2 restrictions, and said that staff had been disciplined.

Downing Street is accused of holding four parties that broke Covid restrictions last year, including a quiz attended by dozens of staff and which the Prime Minister helped to host on December 15  three days before another Christmas party which is being investigated

The front page of The Sunday Mirror featuring an image of a screen with Prime Minister Boris Johnson sitting in front of a laptop in the library of 10 Downing Street in London

It comes as the former Conservative mayoral hopeful Shaun Bailey quit as chairman of the London Assembly's Police and Crime Committee  shortly before The Mirror published a photo of him and other Tory aides at a party in Conservative HQ

How many parties is the Government alleged to have held last year and when did they happen? PARTIES IN DOWNING STREET Dom's Gone bash - November 13: Dominic Cummings alleges that the PM held a gathering at his grace-and-favour flat on November 13 last year, the day the adviser was ousted from Downing Street. Mr Cummings also suggested there had been 'other flat parties'. Leaving do - November 27: The Prime Minister reportedly gave a speech at a packed Number 10 leaving do for a 'senior aide'. Sources claimed that '40 or 50 people' were present. Christmas party - December 18: Staff in Downing Street are believed to have held a Christmas party, with reports that dozens of people attended the event, some wearing festive jumpers and exchanging Secret Santa presents. London had been placed into Tier 3 restrictions on December 16 - the highest level of curbs on freedoms at the time which banned people from different households mixing indoors. Downing Street has said Boris Johnson did not attend the event. Quiz night - December: Sources told the BBC that a separate Christmas quiz event was held for Number 10 staff at some point in December. Everyone was apparently invited to attend and to form teams. One source said some people attended virtually via Zoom but others did attend in person and sat in groups of six. Downing Street has insisted the quiz was 'virtual'. ... AND ELSEWHERE IN WHITEHALL December 10: Then-education secretary Gavin Williamson hosted a Department for Education party for 'up to 24 people' on December 10. The gathering, which included food and drink, took place in the department's canteen. The department has admitted the event happened. December 14: About 25 people gathered in the basement of the Conservative party's Matthew Parker St offices in Westminster. The Times reported that advisers at Conservative campaign headquarters held an event with Shaun Bailey, the party's unsuccessful candidate for mayor of London this May. Advertisement

And the GLA Conservatives confirmed that Mr Bailey had stepped back from the role. In a statement, they said: 'Shaun Bailey AM has today stood aside as chairman of the London Assembly's Police and Crime Committee.

'He does not want an unauthorised social gathering involving some former members of the London mayoral campaign team last December to distract from the committee's important work holding the Mayor of London to account.

'He will continue to speak up for Londoners who no longer feel safe in our city and push for a strategy to tackle the disproportionate level of crime in London's black community.'

MailOnline has contacted Mr Bailey's representatives for comment.

Cabinet Secretary Simon Case has been tasked with investigating alleged gatherings or parties held in Government buildings during restrictions. It has been suggested he could come back with his findings as early as this week.

According to the Daily Mirror's Political Editor Pippa Crerar  who also broke the story about the December 18 Christmas Party  one source said around 70 staff stayed in No10 after work to play the quiz, that was initially supposed to be virtual.

Official guidance at the time said: 'You must not have a work Christmas lunch or party, where that is a primarily social activity and is not otherwise permitted by the rules in your tier.'

On December 15, 459 people died from coronavirus, while another 33,828 were infected, according to official data.

The latest revelations further call into question Downing Street's assertion that no Christmas parties had taken place in No10 last year.

Speaking last week, the Prime Minister said: 'I can tell you guidelines were followed at all times. I've satisfied myself that the guidelines were followed at all times.'

The Mirror reports that staff were invited to the virtual quiz, that was put on to raise money for charity. The invites were sent a couple of weeks earlier, it said.

Citing their source, the newspaper said dozens signed up to take party online, but at 6.30pm that evening, many staff opted to stay in No10 instead.

Among the teams to take part were teams from the Prime Minister's private office, the press office and the policy unit, it has been reported, with questions ranging from the history of Downing Street to Christmas song lyrics.

At the halfway point of the quiz, Mr Johnson surprised staff by appearing on screen to act as the quiz-master for one round that lasted 10 to 15 minutes, which the pictures obtained by the newspaper reportedly show.

'It was just part of the culture. The PM turned a blind eye. He seemed totally comfortable with gatherings,' the Mirror's source said.

Mr Johnson has found himself facing criticism on a number of fronts in recent weeks from the funding of the refurbishment of his Downing Street flat to a claim he intervened to ensure pets were evacuated from Kabul during the chaotic Western withdrawal in August.

But by far the most damaging has been reports that a party was held at Downing Street during a 2020 Christmas lockdown when such festivities were banned, with a video emerging this week which showed staff laughing and joking about it.

The Prime Minister relented and allowed an apology of sorts when video emerged of aides joking about holding such a bash last year despite repeated official denials.

The Mirror was first to report last week that a festive bash took place in No10 on December 18 last year as London was under Tier 3 restrictions.

Those measures explicitly banned Christmas lunches or parties where they are 'a primarily social activity', as a Government Twitter account pointed out to the public a day earlier.

Cabinet Secretary Simon Case has been tasked with investigating alleged gatherings or parties held in Government buildings during restrictions. It has been suggested he could come back with his findings as early as this week

In the bombshell video a No 10 aide asks a question about 'a Downing Street Christmas party on Friday night', to which Allegra Stratton laughed and replied: 'I went home'

As further sources came forward to confirm the party took place, reports said staff drank alcohol, wore Christmas jumpers and even organised Secret Santa gifts.

Downing Street bluntly rejected the allegations, with official statements insisting 'there was no Christmas party' and no rules were broken.

Mr Johnson told reporters: 'I am satisfied myself that the guidelines were followed at all times.'

Hours after the Prime Minister tried to quell allegations of wrongdoing, ITV News published damning footage that gave increased weight to reports of the party.

Leaked video showed a mock press conference held between Downing Street aides and Allegra Stratton, then Mr Johnson's press secretary, on December 22.

In the rehearsal for televised briefings that were ultimately axed, they discussed a supposedly 'fictional' Downing Street party on 'Friday', which would have been December 18.

After the video was made public, Mr Johnson warned there will be 'disciplinary action' for any members of staff who broke the rules, but the first departure over the affair was not over attendance at any party.

In a tearful statement outside her north London home, Ms Stratton apologised over her remarks that 'seemed to make light of the rules'.

'To all of you who lost loved ones, who endured intolerable loneliness and who struggled with your businesses, I am truly sorry and this afternoon I am offering my resignation to the Prime Minister,' she added.
The national capital has filed a civil lawsuit on Tuesday seeking harsh financial penalties against right-wing groups Proud Boys and Oath Keepers over their role in the January 6 Capitol attack.

The suit, filed in federal court by Washington, DC Attorney General Karl Racine, also names dozens of the groups' senior members.

Many of them already face criminal charges for taking part in the violent attack on the Capitol building while Congress was meeting to certify the 2020 election results.

Racine said the suit seeks compensation for damages to the District of Columbia and intends to inflict maximum financial damage on the groups responsible.

'Out intent, as we indicated, is to hold these violent mobsters and violent hate groups accountable and to get every penny of damage we can,' Racine said during a press conference today.

'If it so happens that we bankrupt them, then that's a good day. When hate is dispatched and eliminated, that's a good day.'

The lawsuit cites as its basis a post-Civil War 1871 law known as the Ku Klux Klan Act. The landmark civil rights legislation makes it a federal crime to use 'force, intimidation, or threat' to infringe on someone's right to vote, participate in the judicial system or hold office, among other legal protections against hate groups.

DC Attorney General Karl Racine held a press conference on the charges Tuesday alongside Washington DC Congressional delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton

Ulysses S. Grant championed the law amid concerns the Ku Klux Klan could undo the tenuous post-Civil War peace in the South by sowing racial division.

A similar tactic was used to secure a $26 million verdict last month against white supremacist groups and individuals responsible for organizing the violent 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in which one person was killed after a man plowed his car into a group of counter-protesters.

Racine said he was invoking the statute and 'other laws to absolutely bring as much financial pain - hit 'em in the pocket - as possible.'

'The history will show that when these acts - like the Ku Klux Klan Act and other laws - were used against hate groups, what did they do? What do cowards do? They go running,' the prosecutor said.

He accused former President Donald Trump - without naming him - of 'empowering' these groups when he famously told the Proud Boys to 'stand back and stand by' during a 2020 presidential debate when moderator Chris Wallace asked him to denounce white supremacy.

'When, as is the case today and ask my colleagues noted, these groups are celebrated, told to "stand back and stand by" - what does that mean?' Racine said.

'That means that they are empowered. And so this is all about disempowering hate that would take your freedom away, my freedom away, and those of our children.'

Members of the far-right group Proud Boys make 'OK' hand gestures indicating "white power" as supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump gather in front of the U.S. Capitol Building to protest against the certification of the 2020 U.S. presidential election results by the U.S. Congress, in Washington, U.S., January 6, 2021

Jessica Marie Watkins (2nd from L) and Donovan Ray Crowl (Center), both from Ohio, march down the east front steps of the U.S. Capitol with the Oath Keepers militia group among supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington, U.S., January 6, 2021. Both have since been indicted by federal authorities for their roles in the siege on the U.S. Capitol

He announced the suit Tuesday alongside Eleanor Holmes Norton, D.C.'s non-voting delegate in the House of Representatives.

Norton said the suit is designed to secure extra funding to support D.C. police officers injured while defending the Capitol building and to serve as a warning to extremist groups.

'They're going to have to spend money to defend themselves,' Norton said. 'Even if we don't get a penny in restitution, this lawsuit's deterrent effect will say, `Be prepared to spend money to defend yourself because we are coming after you. '

Racine said evidence presented in the multiple federal criminal cases underway already proves 'explicit evidence of conspiracy' to commit violent acts in the nation's capital. He said the lawsuit presents an opportunity to publicly explore and expose the financial support structure of the far-right extremist network.

'I sure hope they try to defend the case,' he said. 'We can't wait to propound searing questions about the finances of these individuals and these groups.'

Racine vowed to hold the two groups 'accountable for conspiring to terrorize the District' on January 6

The Proud Boys emerged from far-right fringes during the Trump administration to join mainstream GOP circles.

Its leader, Henry 'Enrique' Tarrio, recently failed to secure an early release from detention in a DC court.

Tarrio is serving a five-month sentence for burning a Black Lives Matter flag outside a historically black church in the capital.

The Oath Keepers is a militia group founded in 2009 that recruits current and former military, police and first responders.

In a statement posted around noon on Tuesday, Racine accused both groups of causing 'extensive damage to the District, our democracy and particularly the brave men and women of our Metropolitan Police Department.'

'Today, were holding these insurrectionists accountable for conspiring to terrorize the District by planning, promoting, and participating in the deadly attack on the Capitol,' he wrote on Twitter.

'Im seeking damages in this case and will keep working to ensure such an assault never happens again.'
Sen. Ted Cruz said on Tuesday he had offered Democrats a deal to lift his block on President Joe Biden's nominees for ambassador postings if they allow a vote on reinstating sanctions on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline.

The Biden White House is lagging behind previous administrations in installing ambassadors, largely because of a go-slow by Republican senators.

Cruz and other critics want a return to Trump-era sanctions because they believe that the pipeline, which will carry natural gas from Russia to Germany, strengthens Vladimir Putin and could make Europe dependent on Moscow for energy.

Cruz told reporters he was ready to make a deal with Sen. Chuck Schumer, the Senate majority leader.

'I have an offer on the table,' he said, according to the Hill. 'Its in Schumers hands.'

Sen. Ted Cruz told reporters on Tuesday he had made an offer to Democrats to lift his 'go slow' on ambassador confirmations in return for a vote on reimposing Nord Stream 2 sanctions

President Biden has seen his picks to head embassies around the world get clogged in laborious Senate confirmations, with only 16 percent confirmed so far

The Nord Stream 2 pipeline will carry natural gas from Russia to Germany when it is completed

Why is Nord Stream 2 such a big deal? The Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline is set to double Russia's natural gas shipments to Germany, Europe's largest consumer of gas, bypassing Ukraine and depriving the EU member state of essential gas transit fees of $1.5 billion per year. Russia is already the second-largest supplier of gas to the EU behind Norway, and the $11 billion project will increase Europe's energy dependence on Russia and Moscow's geopolitical clout. Donald Trump was opposed to the project and the EU has yet to sign off on it. But over the summer officials in Washington and Berlin reportedly reached an agreement that would allow the Nord Stream 2 pipeline - which was roughly within 62 miles of completion as of June - to finish construction. And it is now filled with gas as part of preparations for its launch, Putin said last week. US officials under Presidents Obama and Trump opposed the pipeline, arguing it would strengthen Moscow's influence across Europe. Nord Stream already includes one pipeline running from Russia to Germany. Both are owned by a company whose majority shareholder is Russian state gas company Gazprom. Advertisement

So far, just 16 percent of Biden's nominees to head embassies have been confirmed, according to Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

That means just nine ambassadors - to Turkey, Mexico, Canada, New Zealand, Austria, Singapore, Kosovo, Israel and the United Nations - had been able to start their jobs by last week.

That compares with 70 to 90 percent of pics in the previous three administrations.

Cruz added: 'I spoke this morning to Secretary Blinken who would very much like to see the tranche of ambassadors that Ive offered to clear go through.'

The new 764-mile pipeline runs from Russia to Germany, running beneath the Baltic Sea and bypassing Ukraine.

Under former President Trump, Congress passed sanctions to try to block it.

But during the summer, Biden weakened White House opposition to the pipeline in order to promote goodwill between the U.S. and Germany.

'The presidents weakness and incompetence is whats creating a national security issue,' Cruz told The Texas Tribune recently.

'When he gives a multibillion-dollar pipeline to Vladimir Putin, strengthening Russia and weakening Europe and our allies, it creates a national security issue.'

A single senator cannot block nominations. But Cruz can substantially slow a process that depends on consensus and unanimity to wave through uncontroversial appointments.

His objections mean each nominee must go through a longer process to get around his opposition.

Blinken expressed his frustration during a visit to Indonesia on Tuesday.

'This is a huge problem,' he told a news conference in Jakarta, during the first stop if a Southeast Asia trip.

'For the sake of our national security, the Senate must act.'
Less than half of Americans approve of the job Kamala Harris is doing as vice president while she continues to face widespread criticism for her first year in office.

A new Hill/HarrisX poll released Tuesday shows 43 per cent of registered voters approve of Harris's performance, while 50 per cent say they disapprove.

The same poll taken December 6-7 shows 7 per cent of respondents are unsure of their approval of the vice president.

This approval rating is very closely aligned with the favorability of President Joe Biden, who saw a massive decline starting in August. Biden's approval average sits at 43.3 per cent, according to FiveThirtyEight, and his disapproval sits at 50.7 per cent.

A survey taken August 4-5 found that 47 per cent of registered voters said they approve of Harris, indicating her approval continues to decline as reports ensue of her facilitating a toxic work environment and several staff departures.

In November, a USA TODAY/Suffolk University poll of registered voters showed Harris at a dismal 28 per cent approval.

A new poll released Tuesday shows only 43 per cent of registered voters approve of the job Kamala Harris is doing as vice president

Harris has faced a myriad of criticism related to her job performance, relationship with President Joe Biden and reported toxic work environment

'Polls, they go up, they go down,' Harris brushed off at the time.

'But I think what is most important is that we remain consistent with what we need to do to deal with the issues that we're presented with at this moment,' she added.

The poll Tuesday was predictably split by party.

A whopping 88 per cent of Republicans disapprove of Harris as vice president, while only 11 per cent approved. When it came to Democrats, however, 81 per cent say they approve of Harris' job as Biden's No. 2, while 14 per cent disapprove.

In addition to her shortcomings, like failing to address the southern border crisis, Harris is also facing rumors of tensions with her office and the president's and facilitating a toxic work environment.

In recent months, four of Harris' staff have left the vice president's office.

Staff are leaving, according to Axios, because they're burned out, there are better opportunities elsewhere and they don't want to be permanently branded a 'Harris person.'

Harris' communications director Ashley Etienne announced she was leaving, and shortly after, reports emerged that the vice president's chief spokesperson Symone Sanders is expected to leave by the end of the year.

At least four staff have announced their departure in recent weeks. Symone Sanders, Harris' senior adviser and chief spokesperson, will leave the White House by the end of the this month, after Ashley Etienne, former communications director, did so weeks ago

Two more staffers, Peter Velz (left) and Vince Evans (right), are eying exits

Harris tried to snuff out rumors that there was tension with Sanders.

'I love Symone,' the vice president said during a gaggle before she departed for a trop to North Carolina earlier this month. 'And I mean that sincerely.'

'I can't wait to see what she will do next. I know that it's been three years jumping on and off planes, going around the country,' Harris continued

Peter Velz, director of press operations, and Vince Evans, deputy director of the Office of Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs, have both told others in the vice president's office that they are also leaving, two administration officials told The Washington Post .

Both are expected to take jobs in or close to the administration.
A Belarusian YouTuber who attempted to run against Alexander Lukashenko in last year's presidential election has been jailed for 18 years for 'organising mass unrest and inciting social hatred'.

Syarhei Tsikhanouski, the husband of prominent and exiled opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, was sent to a 'maximum security colony' in what is widely seen as a retaliatory move by Lukashenko - who is often dubbed 'Europe's last dictator' due to his authoritarian style of government.

It comes after his regime was accused of staging a fake bomb threat earlier this year to force a commercial Ryanair flight - which was carrying a dissident journalist - to land in Minsk, allowing Belarusian forces to arrest him.

The close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin is also accused of purposefully causing the ongoing border crisis in Eastern Europe by encouraging tens of thousands of migrants to travel to Belarus's borders with Poland, Latvia and Lithuania.

Mr Tsikhanouski, who was arrested and jailed in May last year when his popularity with the voting public began to swell, was sentenced at the Gomel regional court on Tuesday following a 173-day trial. He had denied the charges.

His wife, speaking from exile in Lithuania, where she resides with their two children, branded the verdict 'revenge' as she vowed to continue trying to remove Lukashenko, 67, who is the continent's longest-serving president, having taken power in 1994.

Syarhei Tsikhanouski, the husband of prominent and exiled opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya (pictured holding his photo), was sent to a 'maximum security colony' in what is widely seen as a retaliatory move by Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko - who is often dubbed 'Europe's last dictator' due to his authoritarian style of government

Lukashenko (pictured), a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, is also accused of purposefully causing the ongoing border crisis in Eastern Europe by encouraging tens of thousands of migrants to travel to Belarus's borders with Poland, Latvia and Lithuania

Belarusian blogger Sergei Tikhanovsky (front), husband of former Belarusian presidential candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, at his sentence hearing at the Gomel Regional Court on Tuesday

'This is a farce. It's Lukashenko's revenge on Syarhei because he was brave, stood up to him and got the support of the people,' Franak Viacorka, a senior advisor to Ms Tsikhanouskaya and a family friend, told The Independent.

'This is also a tool to threaten Sviatlana. Lukashenko has been trying to use Syarhei's imprisonment to keep her quiet, but he has failed on that front as well.'

Five of Mr Tsikhanouski's allies - Mikalai Statkevich, Ihar Losik, Artsyom Sakau, Uladzimir Tsyhanovich and Dzmitry Popau - were also sentenced to between 14 and 16 years' jail each.

They were all also fined 2.5 million Belarusian Rubles (744,000), for 'material damage caused by crimes', reported the Independent.

Mr Tsikhanouski had been facing a maximum sentence of 20 years, with prosecutor Denis Mikushev telling state media that the court had shown him leniency in only handing him 18.

Following his arrest, just three months before the presidential election, his wife Sviatlana, ran in his place.

The schoolteacher had no political experience but managed to drum up a huge amount of support as large parts of the country grew tired of Lukashenko's iron-fisted rule.

Lukashenko declared he had won the election in August, claiming an 80 per cent portion of the public vote - which sparked widespread protests.

The result was disputed and the EU refused to recognise it, before imposing sanctions on the regime in October last year.

Lukashenko declared he had won the election in August, claiming an 80 per cent portion of the public vote - which sparked widespread protests (pictured)

Belarusian opposition politician Svetlana Tikhanovskaya raises a picture of her arrested husband Sergei Tikhanovsky, alongside others holding photos of political prisoners, at a film festival in Berlin this summer

Lukashenko later admitted some of the protestors were beaten in a detention centre as he hinted he had no plans to hold talks with the opposition, which fled to to Lithuania over fears for their safety.

He told the BBC: 'As soon as [Russian President Vladimir] Putin sits down for talks with Alexei Navalny then I will instantly meet Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya for talks Putin will never get around the negotiating table with him.'

Mr Viacorka added that he believes pressure is mounting on Lukashenko - and that today's verdict proves it.

He added: 'I think we [the opposition] are in a much better place than we were before Spring. 'Lukashenko has made one mistake after another.

'It's clear he is losing his grip and right now I think it's a matter of months, not years, before the regime falls.'
A British student who had to be evacuated from Kabul after he went there on holiday as Afghanistan fell to the Taliban in August has travelled to South Sudan.

Miles Routledge, 21, flew to Addis Ababa in Ethiopia on Monday before catching a second plane to Juba in South Sudan, according to his Twitter profile.

He praised the climate and locals after his first day, said he had been offered a tribal wife and quipped 'I can honestly say I prefer it to London in many ways'.

Mr Routledge, from Birmingham, was invited to the country by a Sudanese local who followed his escapades in Afghanistan. He plans to spend several weeks hiking in Uganda before crossing into Kenya to visit a fan.

The Foreign Office advises against all travel to South Sudan, which has been ravaged by civil war and violence since becoming in independent in 2011.

The former Loughborough physics student, who wears a large silver cross around his neck, has said he has taken 'supplies' to rural communities and handed out cash to people in the streets.

Miles Routledge, 21, who had to be evacuated from Kabul after he went there on holiday as Afghanistan fell to the Taliban in August has travelled to South Sudan

Mr Routledge flew to Addis Ababa in Ethiopia on Monday before catching a second plane to Juba in South Sudan, according to his Twitter profile

Mr Routledge also posted a picture brandishing a pile of Sudanese money which, he said, was worth 'less than $100'.

'From my first day in south Sudan, the weathers lovely, people are very friendly and helpful, I dont feel unsafe, I got offered a tribal wife, I goofed off with locals and got some cheap food. Absolutely recommend South Sudan. Cant wait til tomorrow,' he wrote.

But only 24 hours later, the Brit said he was leaving for Kenya as soon as possible after receiving anonymous threats he would be arrested at the border and prevented from getting money from ATMs.

Mr Routledge told the Times he wanted to visit Sudan because he had heard the country was 'chaotic' and wanted to experience it for himself.

He added he had twice tried to travel to the north of the country but was stopped by soldiers - including children brandishing AK47s.

Mr Routledge claimed he was offered a Sudanese wife and a new name by a remote tribe, that he did not identify.

He also claimed to have heard gunshots going off at night, in scenes reminiscent of his time in Afghanistan, thought the reports were rubbished online.

Mr Routledge has previously bragged of visiting Chernobyl, posting pictures in May saying it was two years since he visited the scene of the 1986 nuclear disaster in Ukraine.

Mr Routledge, from Birmingham, was invited to the country by a Sudanese local who followed his escapades in Afghanistan. He plans to spend several weeks hiking in Uganda before crossing into Kenya to visit a fan

Ahead of his latest trip, Mr Routledge said he was stopped at London's Luton Airport by security who took him into a back room for three hours for questioning.

He claims officials took his fingerprints, photo, a DNA swab and searched his bag and phone during the interrogation.

Writing on Twitter, he said the questioning meant he missed his flight from Luton and was forced to book a second plane from Gatwick the next day.

In August, Mr Routledge, who said he went on holiday to Afghanistan 'because it was dangerous' had to be evacuated from Kabul after spending days hiding in the United Nations safehouse following several failed attempts to escape the city.

At the time, Mr Routledge wrote on Facebook: 'Got Evacuated at 4ish (it's 2am now) with 100 or so other civilians, couldn't message as there were cars emitting signals that would set off bombs, it blocked my airpods from connecting so I think it blocked all wifi/data.

'The Taliban let us go through the airport and we met many of them, very long transition period but everyone was smiling and waving at one another, some took selfies with them. I slept on a dirt/gravel road and woke up as cars went by. We're in a new safe house and we're all hydrated, happy and ready for a few hours of sleep.'

Shortly after he posted an update saying: 'On the flight out we aren't allowed any liquids at all, no razors and only 1 bag up to 10kg so everyone is tossing all their belongings into a pile.

'People are donating each other their items because they can't carry them. Some lads stuffed my body armour and bag with protein bars, over 20 of them. Very happy man (right now). Thank you lads.'

Mr Routledge says he came across two armed convoys during the Taliban insurgency, and took a selfie on one of their gun emplacements

In posts to message board site 4chan and livestreaming platform Twitch, Mr Routledge, from Birmingham, claims he was quizzed by armed Taliban militants while on his way to Kabul International Airport

In posts to message board site 4chan and livestreaming platform Twitch, he claims he was quizzed by armed Taliban militants while on his way to Kabul International Airport.

They apparently asked him where he was from - to which he said Wales. He claims the fighters did not know where Wales was, and let him go. Mr Routledge says he later came across another armed convoy during the Taliban insurgency and took a selfie on one of their gun emplacements.

Speaking to the Times, he claims he made the decision to visit Afghanistan after watching tourism videos on YouTube. He says that when the takeover began, he could not refund his flights so chose to travel instead.

Mr Routledge also said he had accepted the possibility that he might die in Afghanistan. In a message addressed to friends on social media, he apparently wrote: 'I've bitten off more than I can chew and something has not gone to plan resulting in this situation.

'There was no convincing me otherwise and I knew the risks, it was a gamble I took that went wrong despite my confidence and jokes.'

He yesterday told his viewers: 'I was fully prepared for death, I accepted it. This trip has been a test of God. I'm very religious so I believe I'll be looked after.

'Before I left I wrote a letter to my friends saying that if I died, not to feel guilty, that I would die happy and religious and proud.'

He says that he may be safe because of a 15 joke purchase he made which gives him the right to use the title 'Lord', seen on his American Express card.

The student told his followers: 'The Taliban may see that as reason enough to keep me alive, thinking it may hold some negotiating power as they'll think I'm important. Let's hope it won't get to that stage though.'
Colombian cops have pictured a 10-strong people trafficking gang called 'Without Borders' who charged migrants to help them on their journey to the US.

Investigators there dismantled a people trafficking ring that helped migrant cross from Ecuador into Colombia and then ferried them north to Panama, where they made their way into Mexico before reaching the United States border.

At least 10 members of the migrant smuggling network, know as Without Borders, were taken into custody during a series of raid in the western department of Narino, the Attorney Generals Office said Saturday.

The Attorney Generals Office said among those arrested was Luis Alberto Rosero Zuniga, who was identified as the ring leader.

Each of the suspects were charged with conspiracy to commit a crime and migrant trafficking.

The government said criminal group had been in business since May 2020, helping migrants from Haiti, Cuba, Sierra Leone, Bangladesh, Syria, Iraq and China cross from Tulcan, Ecuador into the Narino municipality of Ipales via de Rumichaca International Bridge.

Colombia security forces (first two agents to the left and to the right) surround 10 members of a migrant smuggling ring that was dismantled. The group smuggled migrants from Haiti, Cuba, Sierra Leone, Bangladesh, Syria, Iraq and China cross from Tulcan, Ecuador into the Narino municipality of Ipales via de Rumichaca International Bridge. From there they were taken to the departments of Antioquia and Choco and ferried to Panama, before they continued on to Mexico and then the U.S. border

Depending on their place of origin, the migrants were charged between $250 to $300 to be smuggled into Colombia. The fee also included housing, transportation and fake immigration documents and passports.

Once in Ipales, the migrants were ferried to Necoli, Antioquia, and Acandi, Choco.

The Attorney Generals Office alleged that Zunigas network made a weekly average of $10,000 to $20,000 for every bus of migrants that was dispatched from Ipales to Necoli.

The smugglers charged migrants between $250 to $300 depending on their country of origin in order to be crossed illegally from Ecuador to Colombia

The smuggling ring also used tourism companies as a front for maritime trips to Acandi, charging anywhere in between $150 to $200.

From Necoli and Acandi, the migrants were smuggled into Panama, eventually continuing their journey to the Unites States by crossing through the neighboring Central American countries before making it into Mexico and continuing north to the Mexico-Unites States border.

The 'Without Borders' migrant trafficking network in the second one in the South American region to be taken down by authorities after a joint operation by Ecuador's national police and the Interpol led to the arrest 16 Ecuadorians and Venezuelans in the border town of Tulcan on December 3.

Known as the 'Aragua Train,' the Venezuela-based criminal organization operated out of Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru.

Its cell in Ecuador helped Haitian migrants cross into Colombia with the assistance of its contacts there.
U.S. passenger railroad Amtrak says it will temporarily suspend a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for employees and now no longer expects to be forced to cut some service in January.

In a memo to workers on Tuesday, Amtrak said it would allow employees who were not vaccinated to get tested on a weekly basis instead, citing litigation over President Joe Biden's vaccine mandate.

Currently, fewer than 500 active Amtrak employees are not in compliance, and 97.3 percent of the service's workers have gotten at least one shot, Amtrak CEO Bill Flynn said in the memo.

Last, week the railroad told Congress it anticipated 'proactively needing to temporarily reduce some train frequencies across our network' because of the vaccine mandate.

U.S. passenger railroad Amtrak says it will temporarily suspend a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for employees and now no longer expects to be forced to cut some service

During his decades as a Senator, Biden (seen in 2008) was famous for riding Amtrak daily to commute to DC from his home in Delaware

Amtrak, which is public subsidized but operates as a quasi-private for-profit entity, had previously cited President Joe Biden's vaccine mandate in ordering employees to get the shots.

Now the rail service says a court order halting the implementation of the mandate for private employers has caused it to 'reevaluate' its policy and 'address the uncertainty about the federal requirements that apply to Amtrak.'

'As a result, Amtrak will offer testing for those employees who have already received an accommodation to our vaccine policy and for those currently unvaccinated employees,' Flynn wrote in the memo.

Amtrak said that while Biden's order is being litigated, unvaccinated employees will be able to remain on the job as long as they submit a negative COVID test at least weekly.

A pair of courts last week week blocked a mandate for healthcare workers and one for contractors.

Biden's mandates for federal workers and for the military remain in effect amid the ongoing battles and appeals.

During his decades as a Senator, Biden was famous for riding Amtrak daily to commute to DC from his home in Delaware.

Amtrak cut service and reduced its workforce after travel plummeted because of the pandemic - at its low point last year, ridership fell to 4 percent of its pre-pandemic level.

Amtrak President Stephen Gardner said Amtrak has restored most service and about 70 percent of passenger traffic has returned, 'but it's going to take several years' for ridership to return to 2019 numbers.

The exact timing, he said, will depend on how long the pandemic lasts and how quickly business travelers get back on the train.

Amtrak has said it expects to hire 2,500 to 3,500 employees by September 2022, but its own inspector general said this week that the company doesnt have enough staff or leadership in human resources to recruit, screen and hire those workers.

Nearly half of the 64 jobs in talent-acquisition are vacant, leading to hiring delays, the auditor said.

On Monday, a divided U.S. appeals court rebuffed a request by six employees to block United Airlines from enforcing a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for workers that imposes unpaid leave on those who are granted religious or medical exceptions.

A panel of the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals voted 2-1 to reject the emergency request for an injunction blocking the mandate while the employees appeal a November ruling by a federal judge in favor of the airline.

The case is one of many legal battles over vaccine requirements imposed by companies and governments.

United Airlines was the first major air carrier to issue a vaccine requirement and others followed. United has granted around 2,000 religious and medical exemptions to employees in roles including pilots, flight attendants and customer service agents.

A United spokesperson declined to comment on the 5th Circuit decision.

The dissenting member of the three-judge panel, Judge James Ho, sharply criticized the decision, writing that "vaccine mandates like the one United is attempting to impose here present a crisis of conscience for many people of faith."

"To hypothesize that the earthly reward of monetary damages could compensate for these profound challenges of faith is to misunderstand the entire nature of religious conviction at its most foundational level. And that is so whether the mandate comes from D.C. or the C-Suite," added Ho, who was appointed to the bench by Republican former President Donald Trump.
Barry Morphew marched into court in Colorado on Tuesday with both of his adult daughters by his side to ask the judge presiding over his murder trial to step down, claiming he is biased because he has a relationship with the law firm representing his girlfriend.

Morphew is accused of murdering his wife Suzanne in May 2020. Her body has never been found, but police say she is most likely dead because she has not been heard from since then.

He denies the charges, and is being supported by the couple's two adult daughters, who walked with him into court on Tuesday.

At the time of her disappearance, both Morphew and his wife were having extra-marital affairs; his is believed to have been with Shoshana Darke, and Suzanne had rekindled a relationship with Jeff Libler, who she went to high school with.

Darke was previously arrested for trespassing on the Morphews' home and stealing a package from their front porch.

Barry Morphew arrives in court in Colorado on Tuesday with his two adult daughters, Mallory and Macy, who are still supporting him despite him being accused of murdering their mother Suzanne

Mallory and Macy are shown with their mother Suzanne, who Barry is accused of murdering last May

She is named in police affidavits as Barry's girlfriend, and she is on the prosecution's witness list to give evidence against him for the prosecution when the case eventually goes to trial.

Barry Morphew's apparent girlfriend, Shoshona Darke, who is named on a witness list for the prosecution against him

Judge Patrick Murphy, the judge in Barry's murder trial, recused himself from the trespassing trial because he has a personal relationship with Sean McDermott, one of the partners at the law firm that is representing Shoshana.

On Tuesday, Barry asked that he also recuse himself from his trial, since Shoshana - and by extension the law firm representing her - have links to it.

'Judge Murphys prior ruling in Ms. Darkes case, his disclosure of his conflict, and the facts set forth in this Motion and the accompanying affidavits compel his disqualification in this case because his impartiality might reasonably be questioned.

'If this Court denies the Motion, it would violate Mr. Morphews right to due process and a fair trial,' Barry's lawyers said in their motion on Tuesday.

Morphew wants Judge Patrick Murphy (left) to recuse himself. He filed a motion on Tuesday asking for him to step down. The judge said he'd make a decision in January

Judge Murphy said he would make a decision in January on whether or not he is stepping down.

Darke, who told cops that 'a lot of people say I resemble' Suzanne, said she had seen a 'strange vehicle' in the area around the time Suzanne went missing.

According to Darke's arrest affidavit, the 51-year-old trespassed on the former Morphew home to collect the parcel around one hour after it was delivered in a FedEx van.

Barry's motion on Tuesday says Darke is on the witness list that the prosecution submitted in October last year.

Barry has never admitted to his relationship with Shoshana.

The pair were pictured leaving a hotel on Valentine's Day this year.
More than 700 people have been forced into isolation after a positive Omicron case attended two Melbourne clubs.

The health department confirmed the COVID-positive person went to Sircuit Bar in Fitzroy between 9pm and midnight and the Peel Hotel in Collingwood between 11.30pm and 3am on Friday.

About 320 people were at the Peel Hotel at the time and more than 410 were at Sircuit.

All of the club-goers have been deemed close contacts with genomic testing confirming the positive case was infected with the Omicron strain.

The health department confirmed the COVID-positive person went to Sircuit Bar (pictured) in Fitzroy between 9pm and midnight on Friday, December 10

Victoria reported six cases of the Omicron variant and 1,189 new Covid cases on Tuesday, with infections topping the 1,000 mark for nearly a month (pictured, people in Bourke Street Mall)

Attendees of the popular clubs who are fully vaccinated must get tested immediately and quarantine for seven days.

Revellers who are not vaccinated must also get tested and isolate for 14 days.

The health department is also contacting patrons who were at Sircuit Bar between 6pm and 9pm on Friday.

'They are also strongly advised to get a standard PCR test and isolate until they get a negative result,' a statement read.

'We're still learning more about this variant, so we're taking careful steps to ensure the safety and health of everyone in the community.'

It comes as Victoria reported six cases of the Omicron variant and 1,189 new cases on Tuesday, with infections topping the 1,000 mark for nearly a month.

Genomic testing is currently underway to determine if nine other people are positive with the mutant strain.

The positive case also attended the Peel Hotel in Collingwood (pictured) between 11.30pm and 3am on Friday

Experts have warned case numbers will continue to surge, with students still in school and people going about their Christmas shopping (pictured, shoppers at Bourke Street Mall)

Leading epidemiologist Catherine Bennett from the Deakin University said the number of new infections was likely higher than what is being reported, due to a drop in testing numbers.

The professor said it was the Delta strain of the virus responsible for the upswing in ICU and hospitalisations being seen in Victoria.

'While Victoria's numbers haven't budged yet, hospitalizations have gone up and new ICU cases have doubled in last 10 days in Victoria,' she said.

The epidemiologist estimated the state's active ICU cases are increasing 'ten per cent every day' and would continue to put pressure on the hospital system.

She added case numbers will continue to surge with students still in school and Christmas shopping intensifying.

Ms Bennett recommended people take advantage of the new guidelines around boosters, which now allow for a third dose five months after your second dose.

Victoria's state of emergency officially ends at 11.59pm on Wednesday, and will instead be replaced with by Premier Dan Andrews' (pictured) new pandemic laws

The move by the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation means 1.5 million Australian will be eligible to get their third dose from Sunday, along with a further 2 million by Chirstmas.

The vaccine regulator brought the waiting period forward for those aged over 18, as cases Omicron variant continue to surge in Australia.

The epidemiologist anyone hosting an indoor Christmas party to ask guests to return a negative rapid antigen test and do everything they can for ventilation.

Victoria's state of emergency officially ends at 11.59pm on Wednesday, and will instead be replaced with the new pandemic laws which carry 'specific legal requirements' that prevent restriction changes being made public before going through 'proper processes'.

The changes give Victorian Health Minister Martin Foley the power to enforce restrictions, such as mask wearing, and make pandemic declarations, which were initially done by Victoria's Chief Health Officer, Professor Brett Sutton.
It was the sort of softball that White House press secretaries dream about: An easy, undemanding request to describe President Joe Biden's biggest foreign policy success of the year.

But when the year has included a humiliating retreat from Afghanistan, a defense deal that isolated key ally France, and Russian troops massing on the border with Ukraine, it must have seemed like a curveball.

Which might be why Jen Psaki struggled to respond on Tuesday.

'What does the administration consider your biggest achievement in foreign policy in this first year? And also what lessons have you learned from what is arguably the biggest failure which is Afghanistan,' she was asked by Patsy Widakuswara, a reporter from Voice of America.

'You know, this is a great question,' she said.

'I want to be thoughtful about it. I want to talk to the president about it.

'And I'm happy to do that.'

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki failed to answer a softball question on Tuesday. When asked to name President Biden's biggest foreign policy success of the year, she said she would have to talk to the president and respond later

The withdrawal from Afghanistan triggered a crush of Afghans trying to reach safety and flights out of Kabul airport before the U.S. troops left the country in the hands of the Taliban

The year ends with Biden facing another foreign policy crisis as Russian troops mass on the border with Ukraine and the president tries to unify opposition to Moscow

Republicans expressed glee at the failure to name a foreign policy success

The non-answer was seized upon by critics on social media and a video clip was tweeted out by the Republican National Committee - a sure sign of a briefing room gaffe.

'How embarrassing,' wrote international human rights lawyer Arsen Ostrovsky in response.

'The White House spokesperson cannot answer the simple question about what has been the Biden Administrations biggest foreign policy achievement.

'Or is it just possible there isnt one?'

Others threw Biden's own words back at the administration, pointing out that the president had called the Afghanistan withdrawal an 'extraordinary success.'

Much of Biden's year has been taken up by foreign policy - from the decision to leave Afghanistan to worries that Russia is about to invade Ukraine.

Psaki bristled earlier in the briefing over questions relating to the fallout of the Afghan departure and Americans still in the country.

'Let me just reiterate something that Tony Blinken said back in August, which is that if Americans who are in Afghanistan wanted to leave, whether it was three weeks, a month from now, two months from now  back in August  we would help them get out,' she said.

'And that is something we have delivered on our word on.'

She said 479 U.S. citizens had been helped to leave along with 450 lawful permanent residents.

Peter Doocy of Fox News followed up by wondering how that squared with previous reports of 100 to 200 people left behind, before asking whether the president remained committed to getting people out.

On Aug. 31, Biden defiantly dubbed the withdrawal an 'extraordinary success'

'Certainly, he receives regular updates from his team and the State Department and other national security officials really lead this effort,' Psaki said before expressing exasperation.

'The United States does not track or put a tracker on American citizens traveling overseas, whether they're in Afghanistan or any country around the world.'

The exit of U.S. troops continues to cast a shadow over the administration.

Some 13 service personnel died in the final days of the evacuation when an ISIS suicide bomber detonated explosives at Kabul airport, and chaotic scenes of refugees falling from departing planes provided the defining image of the departure.

Yet Biden cast the hurried withdrawal, after the Taliban seized the capital, as a triumph.

'The extraordinary success of this mission was due to the incredible skill, bravery, and selfless courage of the United States military and our diplomats and intelligence professionals,' he said as he announced the end of America's 20-year war in the country.

But allies such as the U.K. have said they felt blindsided by the hasty exit and fear rivals such as Russia and China may sense weakness in Washington.

The Biden administration had to go on a charm offensive in response to another controversy, when a defense deal with the U.K. and Australian saw the Australian government abandon a deal for French submarines in favor of U.S. technology.

Aggrieved French ministers accused Biden of following the course set by former President Donald Trump in letting down allies.
Sylvia Jeffreys has snapped back at a business owner who plans to defy Covid rules by allowing unvaccinated customers into his restaurants.

Gold Coast businessman Glen Day has vowed to flout a new rule banning the unvaccinated from hospitality venues in Queensland from Friday.

Mr Day told the Today show host on Wednesday the government was 'taking away people's freedoms' after she asked him why he had an issue with the new rule.

'Can I ask you a question Sylvia, do you support human rights?' he said.

'I support the protection and safety of our frontline healthcare workers, do you?' Jeffreys replied.

A new rule will ban the unvaccinated from hospitality venues in Queensland from Friday. Pictured is an Australian restaurant during the pandemic

Mr Day, who says he has lost at least $3million due to the pandemic, admitted his stance could lose him even more money through government fines.

'Money is not the important thing. It's people's rights that are important,' he said.

The hospitality operator's businesses include popular eateries such as Pancakes in Paradise in Surfers Paradise and The Aztec on Broadbeach.

The exchange ended tersely when the businessman said he believed the Covid jab had not been 'tested properly'.

'The experts we rely on are fully-qualified infectious diseases experts. We'll leave it there. Thank you for your time,' Jeffreys said.

Mr Day claims hospitality businesses are being unfairly targeted by vaccination requirement rules for restaurants.

Gold Coast businessman Glen Day (right speaking to Jeffreys) has vowed to flout the new rule, claiming it is a violation of 'human rights'

'The government is making it very difficult for small business, it seems to be the only one hit with this mandate, especially hospitality,' he told The Gold Coast Bulletin.

'I can't understand why unvaccinated people can't go into a restaurant when they can get their hair done, when they can go to gyms.'

Unvaccinated people will also be banned from Queensland's nightclubs, stadiums and theme parks from Friday.

The hospitality operator's businesses include popular eateries such as Pancakes in Paradise in Surfers Paradise

Queensland Chief Health Officer John Gerrard warned the venue mandate was here to stay.

'It's not fair on the vaccinated to ask them to make sacrifices for the very small number of people who have not become vaccinated,' he said.

Overall 82.03 per cent of eligible Queenslanders are fully vaccinated and 88.61 per cent have had one dose.
Tasmania is bracing for an influx of tourists and inevitable COVID-19 cases as it reopens to mainland states and territories.

The island state is throwing open its borders to all fully-vaccinated travellers from Wednesday after closures spanning the best part of two years.

'This has been a very difficult 22 months. We have made some really difficult decisions,' Tasmanian Premier Peter Gutwein told reporters on Tuesday.

'We've had to stop people entering to attend a funeral, to bury a loved one. We've stopped weddings.'

'This has been a very difficult 22 months,' Tasmanian Premier Peter Gutwein said while announcing the state will welcome fully vaccinated interstate travellers once more. 'We've had to stop people entering to attend a funeral, to bury a loved one. We've stopped weddings'

Under the reopening plan, people coming from designated high-risk areas must return a negative test in the 72 hours before they arrive and present proof at the border.

Tasmania has been largely spared the internal restrictions implemented across Australia and has been essentially free of virus cases in the community since a deadly outbreak early last year.

'It's fair to say that many people will be looking forward to reopening, but also a little anxious about what impacts that will have on themselves, their family and their communities,' Mental Health Council of Tasmania CEO, Connie Digolis, said.

'One thing that people can do is try and focus on the good things that the border reopening will bring. For some that might mean reuniting with friends or family that they haven't seen for a couple of years.

'For others, it might even be the big events that we can look forward to getting out and enjoying during the Tassie summer.'

Erith Island, Tasmania. The island state is throwing open its borders to all fully-vaccinated travellers from Wednesday after closures spanning the best part of two years

Macquarie Island (pictured) is one of Tasmania's attractions now available to fully vaccinated travellers from interstate

Tasmania, with population of more than 541,000, has had 238 cases in total and 13 deaths.

The state government released border-reopening modelling a few months ago which predicts 87 deaths in the six months from December and 50,000 cases.

The health department said the system is prepared although several unions have raised concerns about staff levels.

External triage areas have been prepared at major hospitals to facilitate greater patient screening in the event of community transmission.

State Health Commander Kathrine Morgan-Wicks said a virus surge capacity of 211 beds statewide exists, plus a critical care surge capacity of 114 beds.

More than 90 per cent of Tasmanians aged over 16 are fully vaccinated.

'While other states have opened their borders at 80 per cent, we took the very sensible decision to wait until we had 90 per cent,' Mr Gutwein said.

Tasmania has been swift to implement border restrictions during the pandemic to safeguard a population that is older than the national average.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison is at the centre of a Covid scare after attending a packed private school graduation ball for his wife Jenny's god-daughter.

Mr Morrison has returned two negative Covid-19 tests after he was deemed to be a casual contact at a school event by NSW Health.

He was notified late on Tuesday the Kincoppal-Rose Bay's graduation ceremony he was at on the previous Friday evening was an exposure location but has since been told he does not need to isolate.

Scott Morrison and his wife Jenny (both pictured) were casual contacts of someone with Covid at a school graduation ceremony

It is understood that NSW Health and the chief medical officer advice Mr Morrison that a function at Kirribilli House with the South Korean president could go ahead on Tuesday night.

The PM will receive another test on day six of his exposure in line with NSW Health guidelines with his planned trip to Queensland on Wednesday going ahead.

The news comes as Australia opens to visa holders almost two years after the nation's international borders closed due to the pandemic.

From Wednesday skilled workers and international students are allowed to come into Australia without needing a travel exemption.

It follows the federal government's two-week pause on visa holders being able to return over concern about the arrival of the Omicron variant of Covid.

Despite Omicron leading to spikes in case numbers in several states, the pause will end on schedule.

The resumption means a travel bubble with Japan and South Korea can also begin.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in (pictured centre, left) and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison (right) take a walk at Mr Morrison's official residence in Sydney on December 14

The government estimates about 235,000 visa holders would be eligible to enter the country, including an estimated 133,000 international students.

Universities Australia chief executive Catriona Jackson said she was delighted international students could at last return.

'We have missed their presence dearly and couldn't be more delighted to welcome them back from today,' Ms Jackson said.

'We recognise the very real effects Covid-19 has had on their wellbeing, and the resilience they have shown amidst extreme uncertainty.'

Wednesday also marks the reopening of Tasmania's border, with fully vaccinated travellers able to enter the state.

People entering Tasmania from certain high-risk areas must return a negative Covid test in the 72 hours before they arrive. Unvaccinated people will still need to apply for a travel exemption to enter.

Virus restrictions have also relaxed in NSW, with the unvaccinated now able to enter retail and hospitality venues.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison was on song with Boys In The Band at a school graduation in Sydney, but also had a Covid scare from the event

The ban on unvaccinated people was set to end on December 15 or when NSW hit a 95 per cent fully vaccinated rate, whichever came first.

NSW's vaccination rate currently sits at 93.2 per cent.

There have been fears the decision to open up to the unvaccinated will lead to an even bigger spike in Covid-19 cases in the state, after NSW saw a large rise in infections due to Omicron.

There were 804 new cases in NSW on Tuesday, the highest number since the end of the Covid lockdown, with 21 being linked to the Omicron variant.

NSW announced on Tuesday night that fully vaccinated arrivals from eight southern African countries would no longer have to enter 14 days of hotel quarantine, bringing all international arrivals under the same requirements.

NSW Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant said all fully vaccinated international arrivals must still self-isolate for 72 hours.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki doubled down Tuesday on the fact that student loan payments will restart in February - and borrowers shouldn't expect forgiveness unless the president is delivered a bill from Congress.

'If Congress sends him a bill he's happy to sign it. They haven't sent him a bill on that yet,' Psaki said after a reporter asked her if President Joe Biden planned to make good on his pledge to absolve Americans of $10,000 of their student loan debt.

On Friday, Psaki said that student loan repayment would start again on February 1 and the White House would 'release more details about our plans' for the transition.

Americans with federal student loans haven't had to pay them since early 2020, due to the CARES Act. The student loan freeze has been extended several times.

On Thursday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer came to the Senate floor and asked the White House to extend the moratorium once again.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki doubled down Tuesday on the fact that student loan payments will restart in February - and borrowers shouldn't expect forgiveness unless the president is delivered a bill from Congress

On Thursday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer came to the Senate floor and asked the White House to extend the moratorium on student loans once again. American borrowers will have to start repaying their student loans on February 1

'We've been paused because of COVID. It ought to be extended, COVID is not over,' Schumer said.

'Students still have these huge burdens and they're just readjusting to life where they may have missed school or missed jobs or not gotten fully paid. So we need to certainly pause these payments,' he continued.

'But we also urge the administration to take the next important step in granting borrowers relief by cancelling student loan debt,' the New York senator added.

He said he was joined by progressives including Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Ayanna Pressley in the effort.

Schumer has previously backed an effort to have Biden cancel $50,000 in debt for each borrower - a plan the president has resisted.

On Friday, the White House pledged to 'engage directly with federal student loan borrowers to ensure they have the resources they need and are in the appropriate repayment plan,' Psaki said.

'We're still assessing the impact of the Omicron variant. But a smooth transition back into repayment is a high priority for the administration,' she added.

She confirmed that February 1 would be the end of the feeze.

'The Department of Education is already communicating with borrowers to help them to prepare for return to repayment on February 1st and has secured contract extensions with loan servicers,' she said.
First came the fires, then a pandemic, floods and now a plague of locusts could swarm parts of eastern Australia.

Months of rain along with bouts of hot weather brought on by the La Nina climate system has created an environment primed for insect breeding.

La Nina summers are typically wetter than average, with the increased rainfall leading to a surge in mosquito and fly populations.

Wet and humid conditions from La Nina are ideal for insects like locusts and mosquitoes to boom

Australian National University insect physiologist Paul Cooper said there was "good potential" that a locust plague could hit Queensland and spread south to New South Wales and Victoria.

'We might be looking for that in January and February,' he told AAP.

"Although the eggs would be developing with all the rain, the question is - has the rain destroyed so many plants that there's nothing for them to feed on?"

Locust plagues begin when large inland areas receive sudden heavy rainfall, which stimulates more grass growth for the insects to eat, leading to more eggs.

Mr Cooper said La Nina spurred an insect breeding boom, particularly among mosquito, fly, earwig and slater populations.

However, University of Melbourne biologist Ary Hoffman said it's too early to tell whether any plagues will occur.

'There's one species showing moderate numbers. It may be the case we get a plague, we may not, they are boom and bust insects,' he told AAP.

The Australian Plague Locust Commission's December update said there could be an increase to overall population levels over summer with "swarm formation" likely in NSW's Riverina district leading to possible region-wide infestations.

Professor Hoffman said increasing water puddles, filled water containers and flooded roof gutters are allowing mosquitoes to breed in large numbers.

And the insect invasion may only get worse. 'If it's going to start warming up and we still get some rainfall as predicted, then we will get an explosion of mosquitoes," he said.

'After a spring like we've had, you get a lot of plant growth, and so there's a potential for insects that eat plants to explode.

'We just have to watch this space and act accordingly.'

He added that although insects get a bad wrap, they all hold a vital role in supporting the ecosystem.

'Without insects we couldn't do many of the things we do. Even mosquitoes are important fish food,' Prof Hoffman said.
A Today show reporter has been heckled by a man on the street who yelled at her to 'stop lying to the world' about the latest Omicron cluster.

Gabrielle Boyle was speaking live from Rooty Hill in Sydney's west on Wednesday morning about the 200 cases of Covid recorded in Newcastle, all linked to a nightclub outbreak.

She was cut off in the middle of her segment by the man as the morning show displayed b-roll of Argyle House where the regional NSW cluster originated.

'Stop lying to the world. Stop lying to the world,' the man said.

'We're going to leave Gabby there, someone interfering with her cross,' host Sylvia Jeffreys added as they turned down the audio on the heckler.

Gabrielle Boyle was speaking live from Rooty Hill in Sydney's west on Wednesday morning when a man walking past interrupted her segment to heckle her about 'lying' on Covid

Police are investigating a positive Covid case who was allegedly meant to be in isolation and attended the nightclub, triggering an outbreak of more than 200 people.

The NSW Health Minister on Tuesday referred the reveller who attended the Argyle House nightclub in Newcastle to authorities, alleging they were under an order to self isolate and absconded quarantine.

'Out of the roughly 650 to 680 people that were there at the club on Wednesday 8th December  there's now more than 200 patrons who are positive to COVID,' Brad Hazzard told Nine News.

Most of them are believed to have the highly infections Omicron strain, but further testing is underway to confirm.

NSW Health issued an alert for The Argyle House nightclub in Newcastle (pictured) late Sunday night identifying all attendees as close contacts after transmission of Covid at the venue on the night of December 8

24 cases of Covid have been linked to the The Argyle House nightclub (pictured) in Newcastle

The outbreak is linked to a boat party five nights earlier on Sydney Harbour where at least five people caught the virus.

Mr Hazzard said the case was told to self-isolate for 'seven days' but instead is believed to have travelled to the Hunter region while infectious.

'If that's the case, I've asked for Health to refer that person as soon as possible  to police,' he said.

'Individual responsibility has to play a part here.'

Anyone who was at the Newcastle nightclub between 9pm December 8 and to 3am December 9 are close contacts and must immediately get tested and isolate for seven days, regardless of the result.

The rule applies to all 680 people who checked in using the QR code that night and to anyone who did not check in.

Household contacts of anyone who attended the nightclub are also ordered to immediately get tested and isolate until the close contact tests negative, due to the high transmission at the venue.
Star Hobson had cherubic blue eyes and a face to melt even the hardest of hearts.

Star Hobson: The five spurned warnings MAY 2019: Star Hobson is born NOVEMBER: Her mother, Frankie Smith, splits from Star's father Jordan Hobson, a university student, and begins a relationship with Savannah Brockhill JANUARY 2020: First social services referral from babysitter Hollie Jones. Police and social services visit the family. Case is closed a month later. FEBRUARY: Star goes to live with her great-grandmother Anita Smith for ten weeks and her health improves. APRIL: Smith takes Star with her and moves into a housing association flat in Keighley, West Yorkshire. MAY: Days after Star leaves, Anita Smith makes the second referral to social services. Smith and Brockhill are visited by social workers, who accept claims that the report was 'malicious' due to the family's dislike of the same-sex relationship. JUNE: Smith's elder sister sends photos of the injured infant to police. Around the same time, Star's father makes a third referral to social services over a photo showing bruising. Police and social services take the child to hospital to be checked up and accept that her injuries are accidental. Toward the end of the month Rachel Whiteley, a family friend, makes the fourth social services referral over concerns for the health of Star. SEPTEMBER: Frank Smith, Star's great-grandfather, makes the fifth social services referral over a video showing bruising. Social workers visit Smith and Brockhill with the child. They accept the accidental explanation for bruising and close the file on September 15. Brockhill is caught on camera repeatedly hitting Star while inside a car at a recycling plant where she worked. Star is beaten to death on September 22, the day a social worker was due to meet Smith before the latter postponed the appointment. Advertisement

You can still see her gazing at the world in wonder on Facebook.

In one picture, she is dressed all in pink wearing a tiara. In another, she has a blue bow in her hair. A third shows her curled up on the sofa next to her teddy bear.

This is the little girl her mother Frankie Smith and her partner Savannah Brockhill wanted us to see; that of a smiling, happy, beautiful toddler.

But it was a grotesque lie, a perversion of the truth.

The reality of 16-month-old Stars tragically short life was captured on chilling home video and CCTV footage found by the police.

Amongst the most disturbing was a clip of Brockhill slapping Star, punching her in the face and stomach, and hitting her while feeding her with a bottle.

Star received a total of 21 blows that time. The abuse was inflicted over a three-hour period.

She was also filmed crawling painfully up the communal staircase to the flat in Keighley, West Yorkshire, where she lived  existed would be more accurate  with her mum.

It was here, in a separate incident, that she toppled on to the floor after falling asleep  that too was captured on camera before being set to music and edited in slow-motion by Brockhill, who was a constant presence in the flat.

She found it funny  like something that might be featured on TVs Youve Been Framed  she would later tell the jury.

Smith did nothing to protect her own daughter from her girlfriend and on one occasion held her head underwater to stop her crying, the court heard.

She had been in a bad mood with Star for tearing up her signed ticket to a concert by pop band The Rubettes.

This was the world Star Hobson inhabited, a world no child should have to endure: a mother who showed no interest in motherhood and was capable of cruelty, and a stepmother who was truly wicked.

Who was the more culpable?

The jury decided it was Brockhill, a one-time pub bouncer, who was convicted of murder following an eight-week trial yesterday.

But Smith, who was found guilty of causing or allowing the death of a child, also had blood on her hands.

By the time of Stars death in September 2020, she had suffered what Bradford Crown Court heard were utterly catastrophic and unsurvivable abdominal injuries, as well as two breaks to her shin bone caused by forceful twisting; a 12cm crazy-paving fracture to the back of her skull; fractured ribs; a laceration to a vein.

Frankie Smith, 20, did nothing to protect her own daughter Star from her girlfriend and on one occasion held her head underwater to stop her crying, the court heard

Savannah Brockhill, 28, left school at the age of ten and came out at 19. She came from an English gipsy family; her mothers side traditionally lived in a caravan

Yet there were multiple missed opportunities to save her.

Five times social services were contacted by family and friends. Five times their concerns were dismissed.

The police were involved in one of those five interventions and, on a sixth, they were contacted independently of social services.

No one should underestimate the daily pressures social workers on the front line are under, managing ever-growing caseloads with depleted resources.

Sometimes they are left in the invidious position of being damned if they do and damned if they dont.

But ordinary members of the public will struggle to understand why Frankie Smith and Savannah Brockhill were given the benefit of the doubt time and time again.

The toddler was taken to Bradford Royal Infirmary. The doctor who examined Star accepted Smiths excuse that she bumped into a coffee table and sustained other bruising while playing with a puppy

Star Hobson had cherubic blue eyes and a face to melt even the hardest of hearts. You can still see her gazing at the world in wonder on Facebook

The reality of 16-month-old Stars tragically short life was captured on chilling home video and CCTV footage found by the police

Not for the first time political correctness, it seems, played a part in all this.

Social workers, the jury heard, accepted Smiths story that the complaints were malicious and down to relatives not approving of their same-sex relationship or Brockhills traveller background.

Was the fact that Stars maternal great-grandmother Anita Smith and her partner David Fawcett were worried about her having her head shaved in the gipsy tradition, as most grandparents would be, evidence of this maliciousness?

Again, it seems as if it might have been, as Mr Fawcett explained outside court: We found out that Brockhill wanted to shave Stars head like gypsies do.

'Anita phoned social services, but we didnt even get a visit or get told the case had been closed.

Our referral was classed as malicious but there was no malice on our part. Anita has friends who are in same-sex relationships and she also has happy gipsy friends.

How many times have we been here? Arthur Labinjo-Hughes was killed aged six by his father and stepmother in June 2020.

It emerged earlier this month that authorities ignored compelling evidence that Arthur was being tortured.

Stars suffering seems all the more shocking because society tends to view women as carers, nurturers and protectors.

Brockhill, 28, who worked as a pub bouncer and security guard and was also an experienced boxer, was the polar opposite.

She left school at the age of ten and came out at 19. Brockhill came from an English gipsy family; her mothers side traditionally lived in a caravan.

Aged 16, she picked up a police caution for a public order offence and was convicted of using threatening, abusive words or behaviour in her early 20s.

Before moving into security work, she was employed in the care industry  yes, she was a carer.

Smith, 20, on the other hand, had a very different background.

She had a good upbringing in the Baildon area of Bradford but had an IQ which put her in the bottom two per cent of the population.

Described in court as immature, she was still playing with dolls not long before she became pregnant.

Star was born on May 21 2019, the product of a brief affair Smith had with a student. Within a few months, though, they had split up after he headed off to university in Sunderland.

Newly single, Smith preferred going out drinking to looking after her baby and relied on family and friends to help care for Star. It was on one of those nights out that she met Brockhill, who was on the door at The Sun pub in Bradford.

She was very confident and outgoing, and was really interested in me, Smith, a supermarket worker, told the jury. I liked how confident she was but Id never looked at a girl in that way before.

Their 11-month relationship was toxic from the start, with Smith becoming subservient to the domineering  and increasingly violent  Brockhill.

Brockhill bossed Smith around remorselessly, telling her to implement a strict eating and sleeping routine.

It went much further than that, though. At times, her controlling personality verged on the psychotic.

Brockhill warned Smith off talking to men or anyone showing an interest in her new girlfriend.

On one occasion, she posted a video online with knife and bomb emojis and the message: I am a psycho when it comes to my girlfriend and wouldnt mind putting anyone in a [wheel] chair for the rest of their life if they so much as look at her wrongly. Keep safe, dont message my girlfriend.

Once, when Smith went out without her, she sent her more than 200 messages and calls, along with a video of Brockhill licking blood off a wall and threatening to stab someone tonight.

Partners in death: Savannah Brockhill, 28 and Frankie Smith, 20, have both been convicted over killing Star Hobson

Police released a picture of Star smiling happily before the torment from her mother and her murdering girlfriend began

Abused Star was so dazed she walked into a sofa in view of social worker during one visit

Nevertheless, Smith became obsessed with her older lover. The two would spend hours on the phone ignoring Stars needs  when she was not actually being brutalised.

But Stars plight did not go unnoticed; abuse such as this rarely does.

The first social services referral was made on January 23 last year  eight months before Star died.

Holly Jones, who often babysat for Smith, noticed bruising on her and raised her fears about potential domestic abuse, which resulted in police and social services visiting Smith.

No action was taken.

Their housing association flat was tidy; the couple themselves were well turned out. But then people who abuse children are cunning and clever  words, of course, used to describe Brockhill in court.

The following month, after the first referral, Star went to stay with her great-grandmother Mrs Smith and Mr Fawcett for ten weeks because they thought her mother wasnt coping.

Star gained weight, suffered no more bruising and became a happy baby again, at least temporarily.

On the day Smith came to take her back, a neighbour recalled how Star was terrified and screaming down the path.

Just nine days later Mrs Smith contacted social services after, the court heard, learning about play-fights in the flat with Star that involved a choke-slam wrestling manoeuvre.

Social workers saw no bruising and found Star to be comfortable with Brockhill.

No action was taken.

Mrs Smith and Mr Fawcett were then banned from seeing Star by the couple.

But in June the authorities were called in for the third time when Smiths older sister Alicia Szepler took photographs of bruises on her niece and sent them to police.

She told officers her sibling swore at Star and deprived her of food.

The allegations coincided with Stars biological father, Jordan Hobson, who had also been sent the picture of his bruised daughter, voicing his concerns with social services.

The toddler was taken to Bradford Royal Infirmary. The doctor who examined Star accepted Smiths excuse that she bumped into a coffee table and sustained other bruising while playing with a puppy.

No action was taken.

Two more referrals  the fourth and fifth  were made to social services by friends and relatives.

No action was taken.

Asked about the referrals under cross-examination, Smith said her grandmother was from a generation that sometimes had difficulty with gay relationships  but it was social services who actually used the word malicious to describe the complaints, she insisted.

They said it to me, Smith told the jury.

She was pressed on this point by prosecutor Alistair MacDonald QC, who asked her: At every social services referral you were convincing them they were malicious reports, they [her family] didnt like your relationship? Yes, she replied.

Stars fleeting life came to an end after being punched, stamped on, or kicked in the stomach, probably by Brockhill, while Smith left the living room to go to the bathroom, the court heard.

The savagery in September last year left Star with a ruptured vein that led to bleeding in her abdominal cavity.

Instead of dialling 999, the two people who were supposed to protect her Googled how to bring a baby out of shock and there was an 11-minute delay as Brockhill attempted CPR before calling an ambulance.

Stars fleeting life came to an end after being punched, stamped on, or kicked in the stomach, probably by Brockhill, while Smith left the living room to go to the bathroom, the court heard

The savagery in September last year left Star with a ruptured vein that led to bleeding in her abdominal cavity

By the time Star reached hospital she was already dead. Even then, the cowardly pair colluded in a desperate attempt to escape justice.

Smith initially lied to police; Star was lying on the floor alone when she came back into the lounge, she said, and it was later suggested that another toddler was in the room and may have fallen on Star.

During the trial Smith gave a fresh statement to police revealing the true version of events; that Brockhill was holding Star immediately after the assault.

The failings in this case are perhaps epitomised by the fifth and final complaint to social services from Stars maternal great-grandfather which resulted in an unannounced visit. Star was found to have some bruising and was unsteady on her feet.

Her mother said she had fallen down the stairs. Her explanation was accepted  again.

However, it was agreed that a social worker would stay in touch and arranged a meeting for September 22, but Smith texted to postpone.

It was the last chance to save Star. She sustained her fatal injuries later that same day.
GOP Sen. Roger Marshall accused the White House of 'dishonesty' over the protection a previous Covid-19 infection offers against the virus.

'I think most all the European nations are now taking into account natural immunity,' Marshall, an obstetrician from Kentucky, told DailyMail.com in an interview on Tuesday.

'What I hear from people back home ... one of the big issues to them about the dishonesty coming out of the White House is this issue of natural immunity,' he said. 'Why would the White House not acknowledge natural immunity?'

'I think just most Americans know in their heart that natural immunity should have some role, and until the CDC and the White House acknowledges natural immunity. I think we're stuck. I just don't see many other people that are not immunized are going to move forward.'

As of Monday, 65% of Americans over age 5 when eligibility starts were double-jabbed against Covid-19.

'I think there's a wealth of studies out there that show the natural immunity is probably better than the vaccine,' Marshall said. 'Certainly with these variants, I think it's going to prove true.'

'I think most all the European nations are now taking into account natural immunity,' Marshall, an obstetrician from Kentucky, told DailyMail.com in an interview on Tuesday.

Marshall claimed that while vaccine recognize 'just a portion of the spike,' natural immunity recognizes 'the whole virus.'

A study from South Africa found two doses of Pfizer's vaccine provides 70 per cent protection against hospital admission or death from Omicron, compared to 93 per cent for Delta.

However, a study released by the Centers for Disease Control in October found that the protection offered from a vaccination was greater than that of a previous Covid-19 infection.

The CDC study found people hospitalized with coronavirus-like symptoms were five times more likely to test positive for Covid-19 if they had had a recent prior infection than if they were recently vaccinated.

Omicron is now in 33 U.S. states and the District of Columbia, including far off Alaska, as the mutant strain that has dominated the world in recent weeks continues its rampant spread across America

Omicron now makes up three per cent of all new US infections and has been detected in 33 U.S. states including Alaska and the District of Columbia, the CDC said on Tuesday.

'The vaccine is running out of juice after about five to six months your antibody started going down ... but that natural immunity with T cells memory cells is going to be certainly better,' he continued.

Still, Marshall stressed that he was in favor of boosters and vaccinations, but against mandates. His amendment to prevent dishonorable discharges for those in the military who refuse a coronavirus vaccination was passed as part of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).

'If you're not from a military family, I think it's hard to estimate what a checkmark in your life a dishonorable discharge is,' he said. 'In some states, they treat you like a felon. You lose your rights, your VA benefits, education benefits, access to hospitals, some states you lose your voting rights, you'll lose certain parts of your Second Amendment, your funeral rights as a veteran.

When Republicans, including Marshall, had introduced a standalone bill to prevent dishonorable discharges for vaccine refusal, the White House issued a statement saying it 'strongly opposed' the bill.

Marshall said that he and Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., once confronted Defense Sec. Lloyd Austin about the possibility of dishonorable discharges for vaccine refusal. 'It was just the most awkward silence,' he said.

The Biden administration is preparing for an explosion of Omicron cases that they believe will result in a flood of sick Americans going into the already overburdened hospital system.

'Everything points to a large wave. A large wave is coming,' a senior administration official in President Joe Biden's White House told Axios.

The official, however, expressed hope the cases wouldn't be as severe as previous COVID variants including Delta as the White House continues to push booster shots as the best protection.

'It will be fast. It won't be as severe, but regrettably, there will be plenty of hospitalizations,' the person said.

The U.S. is currently averaging around 120,000 cases per day, a 49 percent increase over the past two weeks. Hospitalizations are rising as well, with an average 66,000 Americans receiving treatment every day, a 22 percent increase over the past two weeks.

Meanwhile, the total number of known coronavirus cases in the United States surpassed 50 million on Monday and the death toll is rapidly approaching more than 800,000.

As of Monday, only 16 percent of Americans had received their COVID-19 booster shots, with no state having more than 30% of its population boosted

And only 27 percent of those vaccinated have also received their booster shot, according to the CDC, which medical experts say can help ward off the new variant.

Dr Anthony Fauci has said preliminary data suggests the omicron strain is less deadly than delta, but also cautioned that it is too early to say for sure.

As a crude rate, Omicron is currently leading to a third fewer hospital admissions than Delta did during its entire wave  38 admissions per 1,000 Omicron cases compared to 101 per 1,000 for Delta.

Though he opposes mandates, Marshall said that he would urge seniors to get their booster shot.

'Seniors getting the booster would prevent more deaths than if every person in America wore five masks,' the Kansas Republican said.

He also said that coronavirus 'isn't going away,' so Americans should take steps to get healthier. 'There's going to be another variant,' he said. 'We have an epidemic of obesity in this country that we need to address. And this virus just really love to attack people that are overweight.'
Back in March 2020, when the Government took the hasty decision to shutter Britains schools in response to the emerging Covid threat, uncertainty reigned.

The world was panicking at the appearance of a new and deadly virus, with no treatments to speak of  let alone the effective vaccines we now have  and no firm idea how dangerous the threat was.

Ministers knew closing schools was unprecedented  but they could at least claim they didnt know the toll it would inflict on our young.

Today, however, we know exactly the terrible consequences  and the misery, mental decline, physical illness and appalling abuse that have followed that mistake.

Fear

Last weekend, I watched with horror as Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi refused to rule out closing schools in the face of the new Omicron variant, saying only that the Government would do everything in our power to protect education.

He was echoed on Monday by Health Secretary Sajid Javid, who intoned that there are no guarantees in this pandemic.

What chilling words. Now the fear is that the welfare of Britains children will be sacrificed again to protect the elderly  even if the latter are triple-jabbed.

'Ministers knew closing schools was unprecedented  but they could at least claim they didnt know the toll it would inflict on our young. Today, however, we know exactly the terrible consequences  and the misery, mental decline, physical illness and appalling abuse that have followed that mistake.' (pictured: Molly Kingsley)

MOLLY KINGSLEY: Last weekend, I watched with horror as Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi refused to rule out closing schools in the face of the new Omicron variant, saying only that the Government would do everything in our power to protect education. (Zahawi pictured Dec 12)

In November it emerged that just six healthy children had died of Covid in Britain since the pandemic started. In contrast, countless millions of youngsters have suffered terribly from the measures taken against the virus, especially lockdowns and school closures. Indeed, they have increasingly found their own needs sidelined to protect their elders.

Their physical health has plummeted. Between 2019-2020 and 2020-2021, obesity in primary school pupils leapt by the highest amount since current records began in 2006.

One Oxford University study found that cancer diagnosis in children collapsed by 17 per cent in the months after the first lockdown last year. Late diagnosis, of course, drastically reduces cancer-survival rates.

Then there is the growing epidemic of mental illness in children.

Eating disorders, self-harm and associated complex mental and behavioural disorders have all increased: the beginning of this year saw a record number of children with potentially life-threatening eating disorders waiting for treatment in England.

One prominent GP has warned that children have suffered unimaginable mental-health damage thanks to lockdowns.

It would be easier for me to become a supermodel than to get a child seen by CAMHS [the NHSs Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service], said Dr Shaba Nabi earlier this year. We are now living in a weird world where a primary school-age child can repeatedly self-harm, and thats not considered enough for mental health support.

Meanwhile, paedophiles and child abusers have been able to attack children virtually unchecked behind closed doors in family homes, as schools and social services struggled to reach vulnerable children during lockdown.

The Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel found that child abuse soared by 27 per cent between April and September 2020 compared to the same period the previous year.

Only last weekend, it was revealed that 220 children died between April 2020 and March 2021 in cases thought to involve abuse and neglect  a jump of almost 7 per cent on the year before.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson visits Stow Health Vaccination center, in Westminster, London, Monday, Dec. 13, 2021

By now, the tragic fate of Arthur Labinjo-Hughes is known to us all. Away from the oversight of his teachers during lockdown, this little six-year-old was subjected to monstrous torment by his father Thomas Hughes and stepmother Emma Tustin. His death at their hands should haunt us all  especially those who loudly champion lockdowns for children.

Foremost among these voices, of course, have been the hard-Left teaching unions, who appear to have done their best to keep teachers out of the classroom as much as possible for almost two years, whatever the consequences to the children in their members care.

This week, the NASUWT teaching union was at it again, demanding a staggered start to the new term, the cancellation or postponement of non-essential activities and for staff and parent meetings to move online.

This is the same union that, in the depths of this years January lockdown, called for schools to avoid live video lessons on Zoom, claiming that it would be an invasion of privacy for children to see into teachers homes.

Blighted

A lesson on Zoom and remote learning, of course, will only ever be a grossly inferior substitute for the classroom  as parents now know.

Last November, fully 80 per cent of schools told a government review that their students maths and literacy skills had been stunted after closures that year.

When primary school pupils returned in March this year, many were found to be nearly three months behind their expected educational milestones. Those with special needs had lapsed even further.

The months of missed and patchy education have also caused the education gap between rich and poor children to widen ever further, undoing a significant amount of progress made during the past two decades. Some children will simply never catch up, their prospects blighted for life.

My own children, aged six and three at the start of the pandemic, each struggled in their own ways by being locked out of school.

Only this week, my eight-year-old wanted me to reassure her that she would be going back to school after Christmas  but who knows if she really will?

Home learning hurt my eyes, she told me. And thats no surprise: less time outdoors and more spent staring at screens may have caused an epidemic of short-sightedness, according to a recent study published in the British Journal of Ophthalmology.

Year eight pupils wear face masks as a precaution against the transmission of the novel coronavirus as they queue in a corridor before attending an English lesson at Moor End Academy in Huddersfield, northern England on September 11, 2020

Devastation

Wearing glasses might not seem like a severe encumbrance, but the condition increases the risk of irreversible impaired eyesight and blindness later in life.

Surveying this roll call of devastation, I find it unconscionable that any minister could dream of closing schools again  especially when the new variant seems, on current evidence, less dangerous (if perhaps more infectious).

In South Africa, where Omicron was first identified, the government has emphasised that the spread has so far been linked to mild symptoms  and there seems to be no question of closing schools.

If, as Mr Zahawi proclaims, our Government really is determined to do everything in its power to protect education, it should immediately adopt the Bill brought by Tory MP Robert Halfon, who is campaigning to make schools part of our essential infrastructure, meaning they can be closed only in the most dire circumstances.

It would be a moral crime to shut them now, and it would be deadly in some cases.

Britains parents should not stand for it  and the Government should expect a political earthquake if they dare to attempt it again.

MOLLY KINGSLEY is a campaigner for UsForThem (usforthem.co.uk).
Working from home under current government guidelines means it's easier than ever to do work out of hours over this festive period.

But a new report warns of the costly physical and mental effects of letting work creep into your schedule over the Christmas holiday.

Researchers at the University of South Australia surveyed 2,200 academics and professional staff this year across 40 Australian universities.

They found that checking your work emails over Christmas could lead to burnout, mental distress and poor physical health  and can even affect family relationships.

Will you check your emails over Christmas? Surveying more than 2200 academics and professional staff across 40 Australian universities, researchers found that employees who responded to digital work communications out of hours were more likely to suffer from burnout, psychological distress and poor physical health (stock image)

LACK OF WORKPLACE SUPPORT 'LEADS TO DEPRESSION': UniSA A University of South Australia study published in June 2021 found poor management increases risk of staff depression by 300 per cent. Men are also likely to become depressed because most workplaces tend to overlook their mental health. Lead author Dr Amy Zadow said poor workplace mental health can be traced back to poor management practices, priorities and values, which then flows through to high job demands and low resources. 'Evidence shows that companies who fail to reward or acknowledge their employees for hard work, impose unreasonable demands on workers, and do not give them autonomy, are placing their staff at a much greater risk of depression,' she said. Read more: Poor management increases risk of depression among staff by 300% Advertisement

'Since Covid-19, the digitalisation of work has really skyrocketed, blurring work boundaries, and paving the path for people to be contactable at all hours,' said Dr Amy Zadow, a psychologist at University of South Australia (UniSA).

'But being available to work both day and night limits the opportunity for people to recover  doing things such as exercise and catching up with friends and family  and when there is no recovery period you can start to burn out.'

Out of the 2,200 survey respondents, 26 per cent felt that they had to respond to work-related texts, calls and emails from supervisors during their leisure time.

Another 57 per cent of employees said that they'd sent work-related digital communications to other colleagues in the evenings.

Exactly half reported that they often receive work-related texts, calls and emails from colleagues on the weekend.

And 36 per cent reported in their organisation it was the norm to respond immediately to digital communications.

The survey showed that those who were expected to respond to after-hours communications from colleagues on the weekends reported higher levels of psychological distress (56 per cent compared to 42 per cent).

They also had higher emotional exhaustion (61 per cent compared to 42 per cent) and poor physical heath (28 per cent compared to 10 per cent).

'Our research shows that high levels of out-of-hours work digital communication can have a significant impact on your physical and mental well-being, affecting work-family relationships, causing psychological distress and poor physical health,' said Dr Zadow.

'Conversely, workers who kept their work boundaries in check experienced less stress and pressure.'

Checking work emails over Christmas could lead to burnout, mental distress and poor physical health - and can even affect family relationships

Professor Kurt Lushington, also at UniSA, thinks employers should use their power to discourage working out of hours.

'The starting place is measuring work demand so that an organisation can mitigate the risk in the first place,' he said.

'Once they do this, they can develop protective actions that can prevent the development or continuations of harmful workplace norms.

'At the end of the workday, everyone should have the right to disconnect.'

UniSA published similar research earlier this year based on survey responses from June to November 2020.

Employees who had supervisors expecting them to reply to messages after work reported higher levels of stress (70.4 per cent) compared to those who did not (45.2 per cent), the team found.

They were also more emotionally exhausted (63.5 per cent compared to 35.2 per cent) and reported health problems such as headaches and back pain (22.1 per cent compared to 11.5 per cent).

At the time, Dr Zadow wrote for The Conversation: 'The personal and social implications of blurred boundaries between home and work are serious.

'When employees are answering calls or responding to emails at home, this affects their recovery from work  both mentally and physically.'

Research by the World Health Organisation and International Labour Organisation suggest that long work hours may even increase the risk of a stroke and heart disease.

'We can focus on the immediate problem and reduce the extent of digital connectivity out of work hours,' Dr Zadow said.

'[But] ultimately our problem with out-of-hours emails and messaging reflects broader societal issues relating to the pressures of productivity, job insecurity and diminishing work resources.'

The UniSA researchers intend to formally publish the results after the third wave of data collection in March 2022.
Pictures of the Geminids meteor shower have been shared from around the world following the peak of the shower last night.

Lucky sky gazers from Russia, Spain, Dubai, the UK and Thailand spotted the meteor shower, with some seeing up to 50 shooting stars every hour.

NASA dubs the Geminids the 'best meteor shower of the year,' due to the fact the tiny space rocks are so fast and plentiful as they burn up in Earth's atmosphere.

The Geminid Meteor Shower takes place every year between December 4 and December 17, and peaked overnight on Tuesday, December 14.

It is the result of Earth passing through a trail of dust left by a long extinct comet, 3200 Plaethon, that was once thought to be an asteroid.

The Geminids are named after the point at which they appear to originate, in the constellation Gemini and produce 'green-coloured fireballs'.

An overlay image of 128 photographs shows circumpolar star trails over San Telmo tower in Ubiarco, Cantabria, Spain, early 14 December 2021, during the Gemenids meteor shower

This is the Geminids meteor shower as seen from Vladivostok on Russia's Pacific coast. Seen in the closeup is a piano art object on Russky Island

WHAT ARE THE GEMINIDS? Geminids are pieces of debris from an object called 3200 Phaethon. Long thought to be an asteroid, Phaethon is now classified as an extinct comet. Nasa says it's essentially a rocky skeleton of a comet that lost its ice after too many close encounters with the sun. Earth runs into a stream of debris from 3200 Phaethon every year in mid-December, causing meteors to fly from the constellation Gemini. Geminids occur between December 4 to December 17, with the best nights for viewing on December 13 and 14. Advertisement

NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office lead, Bill Cooke, describes the Geminids as the 'only shower I will brave cold December nights to see,' due to the quality of the display they put on.

In the early hours of this morning star gazers around the world ventured outside to brave the cold.

They wanted to try and see, or get a photograph of one of hundreds of pieces of dust or rock as it burns up in the sky.

They shoot across the sky 40 times faster than a bullet - at about 78,000 miles per hour, creating a spectacular event.

Users on social media shared their images of the event, with one user seeing a total of 100 meteors over the UK in the hours they spent outside.

A bright waxing gibbous moon was visible during peak time for viewing, which meant it wasn't at its best until the moon set after about 03:00 GMT.

The reason for this is because the shower's radiant point  the point in our sky from which the meteors seem to radiate  was highest at that time.

Observers were also more likely to see a greater number of Geminid meteors the higher the constellation Gemini the Twins climbs in their sky.

The meteors shine bright yellow, blue, green and red as they pass through the sky, and the brightest leave a glowing trail along their path.

Amateur astronomer Steve Brown shared this images of the meteor shower from North Yorkshire, the first (top) was the start of the evening with a bright moon, the second after the moon had set below the horizon, giving a clearer view of the shooting star (bottom)

The shower is expected to continue until December 17, but the frequency of shooting stars will gradually decrease after tonight.

The meteors, small pieces of interplanetary debris, appear to radiate from near the bright star Castor in the constellation Gemini.

Friction with the upper atmosphere heats up the incoming debris, causing the air around them to glow brightly.

This leads to streaks of light that are also known as shooting stars.

A view of the sky over Novik Bay off Russky Island during the Geminids meteor shower

Geminid meteor shower was as good as it gets tonight. Lost count past 100 in a couple of hours. All this despite being lazy and shooting in town with lights, a few high clouds and a brighter than wanted moon. pic.twitter.com/7xLlzq6bJJ  OKWW (@OKWeatherWatch) December 14, 2021

All meteors associated with a shower have similar orbits, and they all appear to come from the same place in the sky, which is called the radiant.

The Geminid meteor shower was first reported in 1862, but it was not until 1983 that scientists determine 3200 Phaethon, was the source.

Phaethon, which is considered to be either an asteroid or an extinct comet, is only about three miles across, travels around the sun every 1.4 years and sheds its dust every time it nears Earth's parent star.

Geminids Meteor Shower pic.twitter.com/18NpxLJz2j  Nat Chittamai (@NatChittamai) December 14, 2021

Its been years since I've had a clear night for the #Geminids. Saw over 50. Here's a couple I caught. pic.twitter.com/qLbNJlsiJV  Amanda Jean (@AJAmmirabilis) December 14, 2021

The dusty debris ranges in size from a sand grain to a pea.

'Although this year's conditions are not the best for viewing the Geminid meteor shower, it will still be a good show to catch in our night skies,' NASA wrote in a blog post.

When the Geminids first appeared in the early 19th century, shortly before the US Civil War, the shower was weak and attracted little attention. There was no hint that it would ever become a major display.

Unlike most meteor showers which originate from comets, the Geminids originate from an asteroid: 3200 Phaethon.

Geminids last night from Boston, UK camera pic.twitter.com/fYnGcwn8Gz  UK Meteor Network (@UKMeteorNetwork) December 13, 2021

Caught 18 Geminids meteors on film this morning. Heres four of some of the bright ones. pic.twitter.com/smrj83RFK0  TClarkIII (@ThomasJClarkIII) December 14, 2021

Geminids meteor shower shooting star  pic.twitter.com/D1hDWdSIwF  kiel (@kieeeeel_) December 13, 2021

The asteroid is named after the son of the Greek sun god Helios 'Phaethon' because it passes so close to the sun.

Legend claims the young demi-god was challenged to prove he was related to Helios, who was said to pull the sun across the sky.

To prove his divine provenance, Phaethon rode his father's chariot, but was unable to control the horses, who then ran wild across the sky, dragging the sun with them.

Earth was almost destroyed in the ensuing chaos, which scorched the planet, burned vast amounts of vegetation and created the great deserts of Africa.
Apple and Google have created a duopoly over mobile devices and are limiting competition and choice because of their 'vice-like grip' on the market, the UK's competition watchdog has said.

An interim report published by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it had concerns over Apple's iOS and Google's Android operating systems, their domination of the phone and tablet market and therefore the ability to control the apps and services users can access.

According to the CMA, in 2020 more than half of all smartphones used in the UK were iPhones, with the rest all using a version of Android.

It said this was a concern because Apple does not allow other app stores on its devices and pre-installs its own web browser while Android comes with some Google services pre-installed, meaning consumers could be given less meaningful choice.

The report's findings mark the first stage of a CMA investigation into mobile ecosystems, with a final report and recommendations due next summer.

Apple and Google have created a duopoly over mobile devices and are limiting competition and choice because of their 'vice-like grip' on the market, the UK's competition watchdog has said

What could happen to Google and Apple? The CMA's interim report also suggests a range of potential actions which could be taken against the two companies to address the competition issues raised. It includes forcing the firms to make it easier for users to switch between iOS and Android phones when replacing a device, or making it easier to install apps from sources other than the firms' own app stores. In addition, it suggests enabling apps to be able to offer alternative in-app payment options, rather than being tied to Apple and Google's payment systems, and boosting choice around web browsers. It said the new Digital Markets Unit  which sits within the CMA as a digital regulator with the aim of boosting competition  could oversee any potential action taken. Advertisement

'Apple and Google have developed a vice-like grip over how we use mobile phones and we're concerned that it's causing millions of people across the UK to lose out,' CMA chief executive Andrea Coscelli said.

'Most people know that Apple and Google are the main players when it comes to choosing a phone.

'But it can be easy to forget that they set all the rules too  from determining which apps are available on their app stores, to making it difficult for us to switch to alternative browsers on our phones. This control can limit innovation and choice, and lead to higher prices  none of which is good news for users.'

The CMA's interim report also suggests a range of potential actions which could be taken against the two companies to address the competition issues raised.

It includes forcing the firms to make it easier for users to switch between iOS and Android phones when replacing a device, or making it easier to install apps from sources other than the firms' own app stores.

In addition, it suggests enabling apps to be able to offer alternative in-app payment options, rather than being tied to Apple and Google's payment systems, and boosting choice around web browsers.

It said the new Digital Markets Unit  which sits within the CMA as a digital regulator with the aim of boosting competition  could oversee any potential action taken.

'Any intervention must tackle the firms' substantial market power across the key areas of operating systems, app stores and browsers,' Mr Coscelli said.

'We think that the best way to do this is through the Digital Markets Unit when it receives powers from government.'

In response, both Apple and Google said they were committed to promoting competition.

According to the CMA, in 2020 more than half of all smartphones used in the UK were iPhones, with the rest all using a version of Android

'Apple believes in thriving and dynamic markets where innovation can flourish,' Apple said in a statement.

'We face intense competition in every segment in which we operate, and our North Star is always the trust of our users. We will continue to create new opportunities for developers while protecting our users' privacy and security.'

'Our rules and guidelines are constantly evolving, and we have made many recent changes that benefit developers and consumers alike. We will continue to engage constructively with the UK Competition and Markets Authority as their work on this study progresses.'

A Google spokesperson said Android 'provides people with more choice than any other mobile platform in deciding which apps and app stores they use'.

'The Android app ecosystem also supports nearly a quarter of a million jobs across thousands of app developer and phone maker businesses in the UK,' the company said.

'At Google we regularly review how we can best support these businesses  for example  as a result of recent changes, 99% of developers qualify for a service fee of 15% or less.

'We're committed to building thriving, open platforms that empower consumers and help developers succeed.'

The Government has also responded to the report, with tech and digital economy minister Chris Philp saying ministers were determined to boost digital competition.

'We want the UK to remain a place where all tech firms can thrive and this study underlines the importance of ensuring mobile app stores are fair and competitive,' he said.

'Our new pro-competition regime will level the playing field between tech giants and smaller businesses and prevent abuses that could curtail growth and innovation. We are grateful for the CMA's work to date and look forward to the final recommendations.'
Evidence suggests Mars was once flowing with rivers, lakes and streams some four billion years ago and a new study believes much of it is hiding just miles below the Martian surface.

Researchers at Binghamton University suggest water is trapped inside clay minerals located 18 miles below the Martian surface.

Called smectite, the iron-rich mineral is also found on Earth and forms from a specific reaction between rock and water.

The team observed ferrous-iron-smectite on Mars, which is the least thermally stable form of smectite.

David Jenkins, professor of geology and environmental studies at Binghamton University, said in a statement: 'Once we saw that ferrous-iron-smectite, the least thermally stable form of smectite, was stable up to temperatures of about 600C [1112F] at 30 km [18 miles] depth, it became clear that smectite might actually be a significant reservoir for the 'missing water' on Mars.'

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Researchers at Binghamton University suggest water is trapped inside clay minerals located 18 miles below the Martian surface of Mars

The first evidence of water on Mars was released by NASA in 2006 photos of two craters called Terra Sirenum and Centauri Montes which appear to show the presence of liquid water on Mars at some point between 1999 and 2001.

On July 31, 2008, NASA's Phoenix Mars lander confirmed the presence of water ice on Mars, which contains the same elements as the water we have on Earth, and is not another form of ice.

The red planet features several ancient dried out valleys and river channels which have long pointed towards the possibility of liquid water once flowing there.

And NASA's Perseverance is currently trekking across Mars to explore Jezero Crater that was a lake filled with water some 3.5 billion years ago.

Called smectite, the iron-rich mineral is also found on Earth and forms from a specific reaction between rock and water. The team observed ferrous-iron-smectite on Mars, which is the least thermally stable form of smectite

It was believed much of the water that previously existed on Mars now exists as ice stored in the polar cap and as underground ice.

'It is really just in the past several years that there has been enough data collected from satellites orbiting Mars to determine that there is not enough ice, nor enough loss of water vapor from the surface of Mars, to account for even the lower estimates of the amount of water that once existed on Mars,' Jenkins said.

The primary contribution of this study is that it provides maximum temperatures to which ferrous-iron-rich smectite can exist with increasing depth in Mars.

The first evidence of water on Mars was released by NASA in 2006 photos of two craters called Terra Sirenum (pictured) and Centauri Montes which appear to show the presence of liquid water on Mars at some point between 1999 and 2001

Up to this point, previous studies have focused on demonstrating the low-temperature formation of smectite, but have not demonstrated how stable it can be.

'This latter information is necessary if we are to try and determine to what depth the clay mineral smectite might occur on Mars,' said Jenkins.

'Although this study helps affirm the importance of clay minerals as a potential reservoir for water on Mars, it certainly is not the final word on this subject.

'The more difficult question of the total amount of clay minerals in the surface or near-surface environment of Mars is yet to be determined with the precision needed to really confirm that clay minerals may be the dominant water reservoir on Mars.'
Paris Taxi company G7 announced on Tuesday it is suspending its fleet of 37 Tesla Model 3 cars after one lost control due to a suspected technical malfunction and injured ten.

G7 Deputy Chief Executive Yann Ricordel told Reuters the taxi driver, who was off-duty at the time of the incident, was taking his family to a restaurant on Saturday in the Tesla when he lost control of the vehicle and smashed into a van.

The driver then violently collided with a cyclist on Rue D'Ivry, before continuing down the street and mowing two other pedestrians at the intersection of Rue Tolbiac.

French reports say 10 people were injured, with seven seriously hurt, but it is not yet know if any deaths occurred.

A 20-year-old female who witnessed the accident told Le Parisien: 'I saw the collision between the two cars, it made a lot of noise and I thought I was going to die.

'My reflex was to go into the restaurant and hide under the table in front of the counter.'

The mayor of the 13th arrondissement of Paris , Jerome Coumet, is saying the accident was caused by a technical failure of the vehicle, while Tesla stands firm it was the driver who is to blame.

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Paris Taxi company G7 announced on Tuesday it is suspending its fleet of 37 Tesla Model 3 cars due to a serious accident involving one of the vehicles this past weekend

Rocordel notes the company is working with the government to conduct a full police investigation into the accident to determine if it was human error or due to a technical failure of the vehicle.

'Today, we have two divergent views on the subject. We will maintain the suspension of the Tesla Model 3 while the investigation is ongoing, as a safety measure for our drivers, customers and other road users,' Ricordel said.

Tesla said the accident was not due to technical faults of the vehicle, but the driver says the opposite, according to Le Figaro.

The driver of the Tesla said the car, for no apparent reason, accelerated sharply while the brakes were no longer responding.

The taxi driver, who was off-duty at the time of the incident, was taking his family to a restaurant on Saturday in the Tesla when he lost control of the vehicle and smashed into a van

Jerome Coumet, the mayor of the 13e arrondissement, said on Twitter the crash was caused by a 'technical failure'

He also said that 'the accelerator may have stuck.'

The accident happened at 9pm local time in the middle of a large crossroads in the Tolbiac district, in the 13th arrondissement of Paris.

Videos taken at the scene show a mangled back Tesla and a white van, which was also totaled, in the road that is littered with glass and other parts from the cars.

 SUIVI - #FaitsDivers : 6 blesses sont en urgence absolue, 5 sont dans un etat grave, il y aurait de nombreux blesses legers. Le taxi aurait arrete sa course folle au milieu de la rue de #Tolbiac au carrefour avec l'avenue de #Choisy (@LamiaBarbot). pic.twitter.com/qhZfsYSAVa  FranceNews24 (@FranceNews24) December 11, 2021

Videos taken at the scene show a mangled back Tesla and a white van, which was also totaled, in the road that is littered with glass and other parts from the cars. The taxi is said to have struck a glass container that was thrown into the air and a traffic light

The taxi is said to have struck a glass container that was thrown into the air and a traffic light.

Pedestrians can also be seen in the middle of the road, with some laying down among the debris on the cold pavement, but people in the Tesla were not among those injured.

A Tesla spokesperson told Le Parisien that the Elon Musk-led company remains at the disposal of the authorities' to transmit to them the data which it can have remotely on the vehicle concerned, without giving further details.

Ricordel said the Tesla Model 3 owners in its fleet would be fully compensated for lost earnings during the suspension and that the company was looking for alternatives so the drivers could resume driving for G7 as soon as possible.

 INFO - #FaitsDivers : Dans le 13e arrondissement de #Paris, un chauffeur de taxi aurait perdu le controle de son vehicule a langle de la rue de #Tolbiac et de lavenue de #Choisy. Il y aurait au moins 15 blesses dont 5 dans un etat grave. pic.twitter.com/0WZkaZahwt  FranceNews24 (@FranceNews24) December 11, 2021

In August, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration NHTSA started investigating Tesla's Autopilot. In May 2018, a Tesla sedan in Autopilot crashed into a parked police cruiser in Laguna Beach (pictured)

How does Tesla's Autopilot work? Autopilot uses cameras, ultrasonic sensors and radar to see and sense the environment around the car. The sensor and camera suite provides drivers with an awareness of their surroundings that a driver alone would not otherwise have. A powerful onboard computer processes these inputs in a matter of milliseconds to help what the company say makes driving 'safer and less stressful.' Autopilot is a hands-on driver assistance system that is intended to be used only with a fully attentive driver. It does not turn a Tesla into a self-driving car nor does it make a car autonomous. Before enabling Autopilot, driver must agree to 'keep your hands on the steering wheel at all times' and to always 'maintain control and responsibility for your car.' Once engaged, if insufficient torque is applied, Autopilot will also deliver an escalating series of visual and audio warnings, reminding drivers to place their hands on the wheel. If drivers repeatedly ignore the warnings, they are locked out from using Autopilot during that trip. Any of Autopilot's features can be overridden at any time by steering or applying the brakes. The Autopilot does not function well in poor visibility. Advertisement

Tesla is one of the carmakers that seems to always make headlines - but for more bad than good.

In August, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced it is formally investigate the firm's Autopilot over 11 accidents - one deadly - that are feared to have been caused because the system had trouble spotting parked emergency vehicles.

NHTSA said the investigation covers 765,000 vehicles, nearly everything Tesla has sold domestically since 2014. Of the 11 crashes that have been identified over the past three years, 17 people were injured and one was killed.

That deadly accident happened in Interstate 70 in Cloverdale, Indiana, in December 2019 and saw passenger Jenna Monet, 23, killed after the Tesla being driven by her husband Derrick slammed into the back of a parked firetruck.

The 11 crashes happened when the Tesla vehicles were on Autopilot or Traffic Aware Cruise Control, a feature that determines when there is a vehicle in front of the Tesla in the same lane, hit the emergency vehicles at scenes where first responders had used flashing lights, flares, an illuminated arrow board or cones warning of hazards.

The NHTSA said the investigation covers the entire product lineup: the Models Y, X, S and 3 from the 2014 through 2021 model years.

Since June 2016, the NHTSA has investigated 31 crashes related to partially automated driver assist systems.

These systems are designed to keep a vehicle centered in its lane and a safe distance from vehicles in front of it.

Of the 31 crashes, 25 involved Tesla Autopilot, resulting in 10 deaths, according to data released by the NHTSA.

In April, Musk tweeted Teslas with Autopilot engaged were 'approaching 10 times lower chance of accident than average vehicle.'

Tesla and other manufacturers warn that drivers using the systems must be ready to intervene at all times. Teslas using the system have crashed into semis crossing in front of them, stopped emergency vehicles and a roadway barrier.

The crashes into emergency vehicles cited by NHTSA began on January 22, 2018 in Culver City, California, near Los Angeles.

A 2019 Tesla on Interstate 70 in Cloverdale, Indiana hit the back of a parked firetruck

That saw a Tesla using Autopilot hit a fire truck that was parked partially in the travel lanes with its lights flashing. Crews were handling another crash at the time.

Since then, the agency said there were crashes in Laguna Beach, California; Norwalk, Connecticut; Cloverdale, Indiana; West Bridgewater, Massachusetts; Cochise County, Arizona; Charlotte, North Carolina, Montgomery County, Texas; Lansing, Michigan; and Miami, Florida.

'The investigation will assess the technologies and methods used to monitor, assist and enforce the driver's engagement with the dynamic driving task during Autopilot operation,' NHTSA said in its investigation documents.
A 2,000-year-old synagogue has been unearthed in a town believed to be the birthplace of Mary Magdalene, a woman mentioned in the Bible as one of Jesus' followers.

The ruins were discovered in Magdala, an ancient Jewish village from the Second Temple period located on the western shores of the Sea of Galilee.

The ancient town is also known as a main rebel base under commander Flavius Josephus during the First Jewish War with the Romans.

The discovery 'casts light on the social and religious lives of the Jews in the area in this period, and reflects a need for a dedicated building for Torah reading and study and for social gatherings,' excavation co-director Dina Avshalom-Gorni, an archaeologist at the University of Haifa, said in a statement.

'We can imagine Mary Magdalene and her family coming to the synagogue here, along with other residents of Magdala, to participate in religious and communal events.'

A 2,000-year-old synagogue has been unearthed in a town believed to be the birthplace of Mary Magdalene, a woman mentioned in the Bible as one of Jesus' followers

The synagogue was designed with a main hall and two separate rooms, and was built out of volcanic basalt, limestone and plaster.

A stone bench carved with images of a seven-branched menorah was found in one of the smaller rooms, the Times of Israel reports.

Six pillars held up the roof, and some of the white plaster walls were decorated with colorful designs.

And archaeologists uncovered several artifacts including pottery candle holders, molded glass bowls, rings and stone utensils used for purification rituals,.

The Bible describes Mary Magdalene as being a prostitute who changes her ways once meeting Jesus

This is also the second sacred temple uncovered in the area  the first was found in 2009 and sits just 650 feet away.

The first was found during an excavation by the Israel Antiquities Authority, which also unearthed Jewish ritual baths, streets, a marketplace and industrial facilities of the ancient city.

A unique artifact stood in the middle of the synagogue's main hall: a large stone portraying the Second Temple of Jerusalem, with a carved, seven-branched menorah on one side - similar to the stone object found in the second temple.

Its discovery is significant because it was carved on the stone when the Temple was still standing.

'The fact that we found two synagogues indicates that the Jews of the Second Temple period were sought a place for religious and perhaps social gatherings,' the researchers shared in a statement.

'The fact that we found a carved stone depicting the Temple Menorah in the other synagogue highlights the connection between Jerusalem and subordinate communities.'

The synagogue was designed with a main hall and two separate rooms, and was built out of volcanic basalt, limestone and plaster. A stone bench carved with images of a seven-branched menorah was found in one of the smaller rooms

Pictured is the stone bench on display at a museum in Israel

Magdala was a bustling fishing town that is noted in ancient Jewish documents as a site during the First JewishRoman War (6673 AD).

The Jewish-Roman war began after Antipater the Idumaean began a cruel reign, a year after Romans took full control of the Syrian province in 63 AD.

The revolts initially started over religious restrictions imposed on the Jews, along with the Romans building a city on top of ruins in Jerusalem  including a pagan temple where a sacred Jewish temple once stood  and the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 AD.

The ruins were discovered in Magdala, an ancient Jewish village from the Second Temple period located on the western shores of the Sea of Galilee

This is also the second sacred temple uncovered in the area  the first (pictured) was found in 2009 and sits just 650 feet away

The ancient town is also mentioned in the Christian Bible as being the home of Mary Magdalen.

It can be seen in the New Testament in Matthew 15:39: 'And he sent away the multitude, and took ship, and came into the coasts of Magdala.'

And Magdalen is not Mary's last name, but it refers to her town of origin: Magdala.

The Bible describes her as being a prostitute who changes her ways once meeting Jesus.

One of the earliest followers of Jesus, Mary traveled with him, witnessed his Crucifixion and was one of the first people to learn of his Resurrection.
The founder and billionaire behind Coinbase, an American company that deals with cryptocurrency, is now looking to cure aging and is using machine learning to find it

The founder and billionaire behind Coinbase, an American cryptocurrency company, is now looking to cure aging and is using machine learning to do so.

Brian Armstrong recently announced his new 'epigenetic reprogramming' company, called NewLimit, which aims to make therapies that reverse the aging process.

According to a press release, NewLimit will 'start by deeply interrogating epigenetic drivers of aging and developing products that can regenerate tissues to treat specific patient populations.'

Armstrong plans to employ machine learning to determine what cell features change as we age in order to create 'therapies that could slow, halt, or reverse this process.'

However, NewLimit is still in the concept stage, but Armstrong says the company's founders, which includes Stanford PhD Blake Byers, have committed $105 million to getting it off the ground.

'It is incredibly ambitious to try and 'cure aging' and we believe this mission could take decades to achieve, if it is achievable at all, but that is precisely the reason we feel the urgency to get started today,' Armstrong and Byers shared in a press release.

The key process to NewLimit is uncovering how epigenetic drives ageing, which refers to changes that alter the physical structure of DNA.

Armstrong plans to employ machine learning to determine what cell features change as we age in order to create 'therapies that could slow, halt, or reverse this process'

'NewLimit plans to initially focus on this mechanism: epigenetic reprogramming,' Armstrong and Byers shared in the release.

Epigenetic drivers of aging are described as 'age-related changes in gene expression that harm the fundamental functions of cells and increase the risk of cancer and other age-related diseases.'

NewLimit wants to reprogram these drivers to do the opposite.

'Put simply, we want to figure out a way to restore the regenerative potential we all had when we were younger, but somehow lost,' reads the press release.

The company also plans to make sure its therapies are accessible to all, but notes it may take decades for its products to reach costs that are affordable to the average person.

Armstrong is not the only billionaire dipping their toes in the anti-aging market, as Jeff Bezos (left) and Russia-Israeli entrepreneur Yuri Milner (right) funded a startup biotechnology firm in September that aims to find a way that reverses aging.

Altos Labs plans to do so through biological reprogramming, a technique discovered in 2006 by scientist Shinya Yamanaka, which was found to reverse aging in mice (pictured)

Armstrong is not the only billionaire dipping their toes in the anti-aging market, as Jeff Bezos and Russia-Israeli entrepreneur Yuri Milner funded a startup biotechnology firm in September that aims to find a way that reverses aging.

Altos Labs was incorporated in the US and the UK earlier this year, and has raised at least $270million to look into the potential of cell reprogramming technology to turn back the clock in animals, and potentially, humans.

Altos Labs plans to do so through biological reprogramming, a technique discovered in 2006 by scientist Shinya Yamanaka, who serves on the company's board.

Yamanaka showed that after adding just four proteins, now known as Yamanaka factors, cells can be made to become any cell in the body.

And this was put to the test in 2016, when Spanish biochemist Juan Carlos Izpisua Belmonte, who is also joining Altos Labs, saw the technique reduce cellular and physiological signs of ageing in living mice and extend their lifespan by an average of six weeks.
A day usually celebrating their greatest competition turned into a farce for UEFA.

Monday's last-16 draw for the Champions League was declared void after a 'technical error' in which teams went in to which pot.

But how did it all unfold? Sportsmail's KIERAN GILL takes you through Monday's dramatic turn of events.

The Champions League draw descended into chaos after Man United were drawn twice

The Red Devils were eventually drawn against French giants Paris Saint-Germain for the last-16 but the English side will now face Atletico Madrid and PSG will take on Real Madrid

WHAT WAS MEANT TO HAPPEN?

The draw to UEFA's grandest competition was supposed to go off without a hitch.

Scheduled to start at 11am after their usual long-winded build-up, each tie for the Champions League's last-16 was to be drawn one by one.

It starts with the group runners-up being drawn as the home team for the first leg. They are then paired with a group winner.

But teams from the same group or country should be kept apart.

WHAT WENT WRONG?

The first tie was straightforward as Benfica were drawn with Real Madrid. It went downhill from there, however.

In the second tie, Villarreal were pulled out of the pot and then drawn with Manchester United, which was prohibited due to them both being from the same group. United's ball was set to one side and Manchester City were drawn instead.

UEFA's Giorgio Marchetti intervened to say that United could not be drawn against Villarreal

In the third tie, Atletico Madrid were drawn with Bayern Munich. However, United were mistakenly omitted from the pot to face Atletico when they should have been included.

Liverpool appeared to be placed in the pot instead when they should not have been, due to them being from the same group as Atletico.

WHO DID THE DRAW?

Former Arsenal forward Andrey Arshavin was the unfortunate poster-boy of this big blunder.

It wasn't his fault, however, as he was merely pulling out balls from a pot placed in front of him.

Andrey Arshavin drew United out of a pot given to him by UEFA chief Michael Heselschwerdt

Giorgio Marchetti, the UEFA deputy general secretary, was the man in charge of the ceremony and doing the talking, while Michael Heselschwerdt, the UEFA head of club competitions, was organising the balls from the various pots in front of him.

WHAT DID UEFA SAY?

UEFA blamed it on a 'technical problem with the software of an external service provider that instructs the officials as to which teams are eligible to play each other'.

Their officials were blindly following this system, with Heselschwerdt using it to know which balls to pick from the different pots.

United were also accidentally omitted from the pot to face Diego Simeone's Atletico Madrid

United had already played Spanish side Villarreal in the group stage so couldn't meet again

WHAT HAPPENED NEXT?

Social media erupted during the cock-up, with calls for a new draw because of the controversy. BT Sport kept their pundits - Joe Cole, Michael Owen and Owen Hargeaves - at the studio in case it needed to be redone.

The chances of a redraw increased as several clubs contacted UEFA to complain, claiming this tainted the competition. Real Madrid wanted their original tie to stand, however.

They were handed a favourable tie with Benfica before the blunder took place and it is understood they felt their match should therefore have remained untouched.

Instead, the decision to re-run the draw in its entirety left them with a two-legged tie against Paris Saint-Germain.
Marcelo Bielsa insists the 'Dirty Leeds' days have not returned despite his side having the worst disciplinary record in the Premier League.

The Whites picked up five yellow cards in Saturday's 3-2 defeat at Chelsea on Saturday, when a brawl ensued between the teams at full time.

Leeds now have seven players who are one booking away from being banned and their overall total of 46 yellow cards is a league high this season - seven more than the next worst team, Newcastle.

Marcelo Bielsa says the 'Dirty Leeds' days haven't returned despite their disciplinary record

A brawl ensued between the Chelsea players and Leeds players at full-time on Saturday

The Elland Road club earned the 'Dirty Leeds' tag under the management of Don Revie in the 1960s and 70s.

But current boss Bielsa said: 'I don't think we are a violent team. I haven't observed this subject. Sometimes it's casual and the details generate a yellow cards. Sometimes it is an excess of enthusiasm.'

Raphinha, Tyler Roberts, Junior Firpo, Diego Llorente and Jamie Shackleton have all received four bookings each this season, as have injured pair Liam Cooper and Rodrigo.

Under Premier League rules, five yellow cards after 19 games constitutes a one-match suspension, but Bielsa says that will not affect his team selection going into tonight's match at Manchester City.

Bielsa says that players being one booking away from a ban will not affect his team selection

'There is no need for an added recommendation to the one we usually make, which is to avoid actions which will make you be booked,' added the Argentine.

'That recommendation is never conditioned to the number of bookings a player is on because even if they weren't close to a ban we would not want them to create excessive actions.

'We always try not to be booked. Whether on the limits of the yellows or not.'
Mason Mount has hailed Chelsea's 'family' atmosphere as the stimulus to the Stamford Bridge club's Premier League title drive.

England forward Mount believes Chelsea's mix of homegrown and stellar overseas talents have gelled into a group of close-knit friends with the emotional ties to push for top honours.

Mount heads a cast list of six academy graduates who can confidently boast mainstay status at Stamford Bridge this season: himself, Reece James, Trevoh Chalobah, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Andreas Christensen.

Mason Mount believes Chelsea's 'family' atmosphere is behind their Premier League title push

Mount believes Chelsea's mix of homegrown and stellar overseas talents have gelled into a group of close-knit friends

The 2021 Champions League winners have made no secret of their desire to press for Premier League glory, and Mount paid tribute to the upbeat mood in the west London camp.

'There are a lot of players coming through from the academy at the moment, and we've known each other since we were six, seven, eight years old,' said Mount.

'We're very close friends on and off the pitch. We've known each other a very long time and that helps when you have that close bond.

'Along with the other boys as well, we're definitely like a family; the team is very close together.

'And I think that's what you need if you want to go far in competitions, if you want to win big things and win the Premier League, and obviously that's our next goal.'

Thomas Tuchel took just 124 days to turn Chelsea from a talented squad packed full of unfulfilled promise into champions of Europe.

Mount admitted Thomas Tuchel has already had a big influence on his own playing style

The German boss whipped the Blues in the second-half of last season, and now has Chelsea right in the early running for the Premier League crown.

And Mount admitted Tuchel has already had a big influence on his own playing style - both with and without the ball.

'He's been massive for me, to come in halfway through a season and do what he did last year, to win the Champions League and develop us all as players and as a group, he's been brilliant since the first day he's come in,' said Mount, speaking at an event to celebrate the new Call of Duty: Warzone Pacific map.

'For me personally he's helped me on and off the ball, he's helped me with confidence.

'And the way I like to play is very similar to his way he sets up and how he wants us to play.

'So I'm loving it, I'm loving every moment and hopefully we can keep winning things.'
John Terry believes the leading Premier League trio are favourites to win the Champions League following the bungled draw for the last-16 on Monday.

Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea have dominated the first half of the top flight campaign in England and the former Blues defender claims they are among the elite teams who will be contesting the final in May.

Terry, who won the competition with Chelsea back in 2012 when they defeated Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena, also believes the German side are contenders.

John Terry has tipped Chelsea, Manchester City and Liverpool for Champions League success

Posting a caption of the draw on Twitter, the former Blues skipper said: 'Who's winning the Champions League this year? Chelsea, Bayern Munich, Liverpool and Manchester City look to good today for me.'

Following a controversial redraw after procedural errors, Chelsea were drawn against French outfit Lille, while Liverpool were given a tricky tie against Italian champions Inter Milan.

Manchester City will take on Sporting Lisbon while Bayern Munich will face Red Bull Salzburg.

Some of the competitions biggest names were paired together with Paris Saint-Germain up against Real Madrid, while Manchester United were handed a tough tie against Atletico Madrid.

Monday's draw for the last-16 had to be made again after a bungled procedure

Completing the last-16 draw, Benfica will take on on Ajax, while Villarreal play Juventus.

Chelsea are the defending champions of the competition after defeating Manchester City back in May in Porto.

Terry's former Blues team-mate Joe Cole believes Thomas Tuchel will be satisfied with his team's draw.

'Chelsea will be very happy with that,' Cole said on BT Sport. 'But, put a word of caution on that, Lille are a very strong, exciting and aggressive team.

Chelsea are the defending champions after beating Manchester City back in May

'They will have nothing to lose playing against Chelsea. Chelsea are the champions, they are the hunted. When Lille play it can be a hell of an atmosphere. It's going to be a tough one.

'They will be breathing a sigh of relief to avoid Bayern Munich and Real Madrid and I get that. But, you can't discount this Lille team, they are a very well run club.

'Again, with a lot of good young players who will be fearless. So, Chelsea will have to be mindful of an upset in that game.'
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Most of them stayed, singing about marching on together as Marcelo Bielsa stood on the touchline, waiting for each of his players to trudge past and promptly blanking them all.

Leeds United have never been beaten by more than seven goals in their 102-year history but they were so close on Tuesday night.

The sort of occasion that thousands more of the Leeds support will claim to have attended, wistfully reminiscing about the bad old days because that is why football fandom is so great. Remember that night in Manchester during Covid when Stuart Dallas booted the ball in his own net? Awful, eh?

Manchester City's Kevin De Bruyne was back to his best to orchestrate a stunning 7-0 romp against Leeds United

Kevin De Bruyne's second goal was the pick of the bunch as Manchester City put seven past a helpless Leeds on Tuesday

Phil Foden opened the scoring in the early stages of the game, with his effort deflected in off the line by Stuart Dallas

Jack Grealish then scored his second Premier League goal for City with a close-range header from Riyad Mahrez's corner

Mahrez himself got on the scoresheet early in the second-half when his effort deflected off Junior Firpo into the corner

John Stones, a makeshift right back on the night, even got in on the act as he rifled home with his left foot to make it six

Leeds were overwhelmed from kick-off and their squad - riddled by injuries at the moment - were no match for the champions

MATCH FACTS AND PLAYER RATINGS Man City (4-2-4): Ederson 7; Stones 8, Dias 7.5 (Ake 65, 7), Laporte 8, Zinchenko 8; Rodri 8.5 (Fernandinho 56, 7), Silva 8 (Gundogan 46, 7); Mahrez 8.5, De Bruyne 9, Foden 8.5, Grealish 8.5 Subs not used: Steffen, Sterling, Jesus, Egan-Riley, Palmer, Wilson-Esbrand Manager: Pep Guardiola 8 Leeds United (4-1-4-1): Meslier 5; Shackleton 5 (Klich 38, 5), Ayling 4, Llorente 4, Firpo 5 (Drameh 73, 6); Forshaw 5, Dallas 5; Raphinha 5, Roberts 5, Harrison 5; James 5 (Gelhardt 46, 6) Subs not used: Klaesson, Cresswell, Summerville, Greenwood, McCarron, Jenkins Manager: Marcelo Bielsa 4 Referee: Paul Tierney 6 Advertisement

They will recall how it all unfolded and here came proof of why opponents usually come armed with a pair of double deckers. Give them any space and Manchester City will pick any opponent apart. We all know that yet Bielsa seemingly did not. We have never played so badly in four years, he said. None of it worked.

Fair enough, he refused to deflect blame and could easily have argued that when City are like this then there simply is no stopping them.

For City, another record chalked with another round the corner. No manager has ever hit 500 Premier League goals faster than Pep Guardiola, who has reached that landmark in 207 games. They scored a few more for good measure against rank opposition in desperate need of their protagonists back. Hideous from Leeds, ominous from City.

Jurgen Klopp previously held the record, in 234 matches, and City should take another one by the end of this month, too. Last night they matched Liverpools 33 league victories in a calendar year - set in 1982 if those sorts of statistics are your bag  with Newcastle United to come on Sunday. A 34th feels like a forgone conclusion.

They will not have it this easy again all season though and the result, the yawning chasm between the champions and Leeds, might make the majority of the other 18 teams even more emboldened to turn up with little ambition in future.

Realistically, nobody can set up as Bielsa did and expect anything other than a hiding. Not even Liverpool keep as many men ahead of the ball, Leeds regularly with four staying high. So there should be no surprise that they were eviscerated, Bielsa leaving with the heaviest defeat of his managerial career.

By the 13th minute, the old master forlornly knew this was up. City  fantastically swashbuckling - blew them away but equally were allowed to do so. Leeds constantly obliged, waving them through wilfully.

The two-man midfield of Adam Forshaw and Dallas sat too deep, Leeds surrendering territory as they attempted to play zones of attack and defence. In this mood, City are both too clever and belligerent to worry about the bravery of their visitors, so with nobody ever near him all night, Rodri ran the game and the Premier League champions won it.

Foden had City on their way, eight minutes in - and the hosts never looked back on Tuesday night at the Etihad Stadium

Grealish powered his header beyond Leeds goalkeeper Illan Meslier after he wasn't picked up in the penalty area

De Bruyne scored his first of the night after finishing off a lovely team move with a powerful left-footed finish at the near post

Kevin De Bruyne had scored the third just gone the half-hour  his first for two months, no less, coming via Rodris incisiveness. Rodri slipped the clubs talisman in and he dumped Illan Meslier on his backside.

There came a point before that when Guardiolas assistants, Juanma Lillo and Rodolfo Borrell, were seen sharing a joke on the bench. They could be forgiven for chortling at what was unfolding, really.

Phil Foden had City on their way, eight minutes in. He found Rodri with a simple two-yard pass and the Spaniard charged through two wafer-thin challenges. Meslier blocked his shot but Foden followed up, Dallas incapable of stopping the effort. Dallas ended up helping it towards goal, as if City needed any further assistance.

One became two relatively quickly, Jack Grealish a free man from the second phase of a corner. Riyad Mahrezs cross was good but Leeds gave themselves no chance, Luke Ayling caught behind the rest and Grealish bulleting a header.

City did not let up in the second-half, scoring four goals as a despondent Leeds collapsed at the back in the closing stages

City substitute Nathan Ake notched a rare goal after he headed home unmarked in the box to make the scoreline 7-0

It should have been plenty more. Bernardo Silva missed an easy chance when this was goalless, skewing wide and others were guilty too.

Dallas clipped the post but his team were four down by that point. Junior Firpo stood Mahrez up inside the box and deflected the Algerians shot into the far corner three minutes after the break. The corporate stragglers were still filing out of Citys Tunnel Club, with one exclaiming to a friend: Have they scored already?

Yes, they had and there were more coming. Silva was afforded some rest and substitute Ilkay Gundogan ought to have added another, unable to steer home Mahrezs cheeky lofted pass as Leeds stood and watched. Gundogan later laid on for De Bruyne to poleaxe beyond Meslier from 25 yards. Few City routs are complete without a De Bruyne howitzer.

Foden saw one disallowed moments earlier, while John Stones  operating in an unfamiliar right back role given Kyle Walkers absence  helped himself, thundering in a sixth in the latter stages. If that was unlikely, then Nathan Akes  a simple header from Fodens corner  felt even more so. Leeds defenders were as motionless as their manager as he eyeballed them all.

Plenty to ponder for Marcelo Bielsa's side - after losing to Chelsea and City - with Arsenal next to come on Saturday evening

RE-LIVE ALL THE ACTION AS IT HAPPENED WITH SPORTSMAIL'S KIERAN JACKSON
Chelsea will have to be alert to complacency according to former midfielder Joe Cole after drawing Lille in the last-16 of the Champions League.

Monday's chaotic draw in Nyon, Switzerland had seen Chelsea paired with the French side before the whole procedure was abandoned due to a 'technical problem' that had pitted teams into wrong sections.

Chelsea were set to be the big losers having drawn a comfortable looking tie, only for the second attempt at the draw to give them the exact same pairing.

Chelsea have been drawn against Lille in the last-16 of the Champions League

UEFA had to carry out the draw twice after an initial technical error in Nyon on Monday

Although Lille stunned Paris Saint-Germain to win the French league title last season, the Blues will see their opponents as the best possible team to face having avoided other big hitters including Real Madrid, Bayern Munich as well as Ajax.

Cole, who starred for the Blues between 2003 and 2010 and also spent a season on loan at Lille in 2011-12, admits that the European champions will be delighted with the draw but warned that the French champions can not be taken lightly.

Chelsea will be very, very happy with that but Id put a word of caution on that because Lille are a very exciting, strong, aggressive team, Cole told BT Sport.

Joe Cole admits the Blues will be delighted with their last-16 paring against the French side

Former midfielder Cole played for Chelsea (left) and at Lille on loan during his playing career

They have nothing to lose. Chelsea are the champions and are the hunted.

When Lille play, it can be one hell of an atmosphere. Its going to be a tough one.

Theyre probably breathing a sigh of relief to avoid Bayern Munich and Real Madrid and I get that, but you cant discount this Lille team.

Lots of good, young players who will be fearless so Chelsea must be wary of an upset.

The first leg of the last-16 clash takes place on February 22 at Stamford Bridge with the return leg in France on March 16.
Tripadvisor user @alessandrofL127YD has posted 358 reviews in 2021 so far, averaging a whisker over one a day.

That's one of the many fascinating facts that the platform has revealed in its 2021 Year in Review, alongside many others, from the destinations that have seen surges in bookings and searches to the experiences travellers have been 'obsessed' with.

The hard graft of user @alessandrofL127YD at the typeface didn't go unnoticed, with Tripadvisor revealing that their reviews received a whopping 26,259 upvotes from fellow travellers.

Punta Cana (pictured), Dominican Republic, saw a 96 per cent increase in searches compared to 2020

And the ranks of users on the site were swelled enormously, with 44million new travellers joining the Tripadvisor community in 2021 and 2.5million travellers posting a review for the first time this year.

Other new additions to the Tripadvisor mainframe included 309,270 new accommodations, 109,110 new experiences and 175,286 new restaurants.

And in all, more than seven million new 'Trips' (travel itineraries) were created. If you took a trip a day, it would take you more than 13,830 years to do them all.

Tripadvisor says: 'The planning was endless, both the little escapes and the big occasions. Just ask the travellers who named their trips "Mom needs a getaway so no Momster comes out" and "Where is Alexis going to propose?'

Tripadvisor reveals that travellers were definitely longing for sunshine this year.

Honolulu, Hawaii, saw 3.2 times more 'Experiences' booked than pre-pandemic; Cancun, Mexico, saw a 17 per cent increase in searches compared to 2020; Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, saw a 96 per cent increase in searches compared to 2020, and searches for Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, more than doubled (106 per cent) compared to 2020.

Searches for Sharm El Sheikh (pictured), Egypt, more than doubled (106 per cent) compared to 2020

In addition to sunny destinations, travellers were desperate for outdoor experiences, Tripadvisor says.

Denver, Colorado, received 65 per cent more bookings in 2021 compared with 2019. The top experience there? 'Hiking Adventure in Rocky Mountain National Park from Denver'.

Bookings for Sedona, Arizona, grew by 116 per cent compared to 2019, with 'The Original Sedona UFO and Stargazing Night Tour' the most popular experience.

There was a huge 313 per cent increase in bookings for Ontario, Canada, compared to 2019, with Tripadvisor revealing that the Niagara Falls Grand Helicopter Adventure has been the most-requested experience.

Moab in Utah has been popular, too, seeing a 53 per cent increase in bookings compared to 2019. The top experience there? 'The Moab Xtreme 3-Hour Experience'.

There was a huge 313 per cent increase in bookings for Ontario (pictured), Canada

Bookings for Sedona (pictured), Arizona, grew by 116 per cent compared to 2019, with ' The Original Sedona UFO and Stargazing Night Tour ' the most popular experience

Finally, La Fortuna de San Carlos, Costa Rica, received 152 per cent more bookings in 2021 than 2019, with the 'Sloth Tour in La Fortuna' the top experience.

Looking ahead, Tripadvisor says that there are over 66,000 Trips with '2022' in the title already saved.

And looking back once more, Tripadvisor notes how travellers took the time to 'appreciate each other and the interactions they did manage to have, whether virtually or in person'  'thank you' was mentioned over 41million times in reviews and forums this year.
New details have emerged about Reece Hawkins and London Goheen's botched family holiday to Switzerland.

Hawkins, 26, who is the ex-fiance of Gold Coast influencer Tammy Hembrow, has been travelling in Switzerland for some time, and his American wife Goheen, 23, had planned to visit him with their nine-month-son Stone last week.

However, these plans combusted when Goheen, who hails from Texas, was turned away at the border for being unvaccinated against Covid-19.

Botched family trip: Texas-born influencer London Goheen (left) and her nine-month-old son Stone (centre) were last week turned away at the Swiss border because she was unvaccinated, so her Australian husband Reece Hawkins (right) continued travelling without them

Switzerland recently imposed new rules restricting unvaccinated travellers from entering the country in response to the Omicron variant.

About two-thirds of the Swiss population are fully vaccinated against coronavirus, and Covid patients make up 34 per cent of those in intensive care.

Hawkins had managed to enter the country despite also being unvaccinated because the rules hadn't yet taken effect when he crossed the border.

Rather than leaving the country after learning his wife and child would not be joining him, Hawkins continued his whirlwind trip around Switzerland, leaving Goheen and Stone to fly back to their home in America without him.

Abroad: Hawkins, 26, who is the ex-fiance of Gold Coast influencer Tammy Hembrow, has been travelling in Switzerland for some time, and his Texas-born wife Goheen, 23, had planned to visit him with their baby Stone last week

After arriving back in the United States, Goheen told fans she was 'exhausted, sleep deprived and had been crying all day' in an emotional Instagram Story.

The bikini model said she'd booked her flight to Switzerland before the new vaccination laws were announced, and that she and Stone had travelled for 14 hours only to see Hawkins for two hours under police supervision.

The circumstances surrounding Hawkins and Goheen's trip were discussed on Monday's episode of the Outspoken podcast, with co-host Kate Taeuber expressing little sympathy for the unvaccinated couple.

Family: These plans combusted when Goheen was turned away at the border for being unvaccinated against Covid-19

Upset: After arriving back in the United States, Goheen told fans she was 'exhausted, sleep deprived and had been crying all day' in an emotional Instagram Story

'It's hard not to feel sorry for baby Stone who has been dragged into all of this. But, to me, there's a very obvious solution to this issue,' Kate said.

'If you want to jet-set around the world, get vaccinated. Not only can you travel, but you're also protecting yourself and others from Covid. It all seems a little bit rich to complain about this situation.'

Co-host Amy Taeuber agreed, pointing out that Hawkins' decision to continue travelling 'is really not a good look off the back of him leaving Australia and his two children that he shares with Tammy Hembrow behind'.

'The longest two days ever': The bikini model said she'd booked her flight to Switzerland before the new vaccination laws were announced, and that she and Stone had travelled for 14 hours only to see Hawkins for two hours under police supervision

Stressed: Goheen described the ordeal as 'stressful' and 'emotional' in an Instagram Story post

New law: In another Instagram Story post, Goheen explained to fans why Hawkins was able to enter Switzerland despite being unvaccinated, while she and Stone were turned away

Hembrow and Hawkins were in a relationship for five years before splitting in 2018 and share son Wolf, six, and daughter Saskia, five.

Hawkins raised eyebrows last week after sharing a gallery of idyllic Instagram photos of himself enjoying his trip to Switzerland, confirming he was travelling alone.

Goheen commented beneath the post, 'I love you', to which her husband responded: 'Miss you. Love you.'

What a view! Hawkins raised eyebrows last week after sharing a gallery of idyllic Instagram photos of himself enjoying his trip to Switzerland, confirming he was travelling alone

'Miss you': Goheen commented beneath the post, 'I love you', to which her husband responded: 'Miss you. Love you'

Goheen added: 'Ps you're sooo hot & I'm so lucky ilysm [I love you so much].'

Last month, Hembrow appeared to confirm she has sole custody of the children she shares with Hawkins.

During an Instagram Q&A, the Queensland businesswoman was asked if she looks after her children full-time after her ex-fiance relocated to the U.S. in July.

'Do you look after Wolf and Sass full-time now?' the fan asked, to which Tammy simply responded: 'Yes.'

Single mum: Last month, Tammy Hembrow (centre) appeared to confirm she has sole custody of Wolf (left) and Saskia (right), the two children she shares with her ex-fiance Hawkins

The Rich Lister also spoke about raising her two young children, saying: 'My kids are quite a good age, and actually really well-behaved.'

'I'll bring Sass to a lot of my [work] meetings when Wolf is at school as she only goes a couple of days a week. Also having family around to help. My mum will help babysit.'

Hawkins and Goheen, who previously lived together on the Gold Coast but now reside in the U.S., married in December last year.
Lucie Donlan gave fans a glimpse of her romantic getaway with fiance Luke Mabbott, in a Monday Instagram post, following their engagement announcement over the weekend.

The Love Island contestant, 24, and her former co-star, 26, put on a loved-up display as they posed from within the swanky Carbis Bay Estate in Cornwall, which hosted the G7 Summit earlier this year.

Putting on a busty display in a black top, the blonde bombshell sported an eye-popping red blazer which she teamed up with a pair of matching trousers.

Adorable: Lucie Donlan gave fans a glimpse of her romantic getaway with fiance Luke Mabbott, following their engagement announcement on Sunday

She placed a loving hand on her partner's, who kept things casual in a casual white shirt, which he buttoned down to showcase his impressive collection of tattoos.

The couple went on to lovingly gaze into one another's eyes while enjoying a delicious glass of champagne in front of a roaring fire.

In her caption, Lucie wrote: 'Here's to forever with you Celebrating in style with my Fiance at the @carbisbayestate.'

What a pair! Putting on a busty display in a black top, the blonde bombshell sported an eye-popping red blazer which she teamed up with a pair of matching trousers

Hot stuff: The couple went on to lovingly gaze into one another's eyes while enjoying a delicious glass of champagne in front of a roaring fire

Loved up: In her caption, Lucie wrote: 'Here's to forever with you Celebrating in style with my Fiance at the @carbisbayestate'

'@carbisbayestate has been the perfect place for our private celebration with family. This luxury Cornish retreat set in its own stunning private grounds has been everything we could have wished for..'

It comes after the beauty flashed her engagement ring in a sweet snap of the pair kissing, with Luke revealing he had popped the question as they watched the Northern Lights during their trip to Finland.

He wrote: 'Mrs Mabbott to be. The northern lights made an appearance for the perfect moment to pop the question. A night we will never forget.'

Wow: It comes after the beauty flashed her engagement ring in a sweet snap of the pair kissing, with Luke revealing he had popped the question as they watched the Northern Lights during their trip to Finland

The pair have been dating since July 2020. Lucie appeared on the 2019 series of Love Island, and briefly dated fellow contestant Joseph Garratt.

Luke reached the final of the winter series of Love Island in 2020, but split from Demi Jones shortly afterwards.

On Tuesday, Lucie and Luke took to social media to share a very racy bedroom snap as she flashed her derriere.

The couple posed on the bed in their luxury accomodation in Aurora Village as Lucie slipped into a revealing black thong.

Congrats: Fellow Love Island stars were soon offering up their congratulatuons

Lucie could be seen straddling her beau in their panoramic glass roofed wooden cabin that boasted incredible views of the surrounding snow covered forest.

Luke looked lovingly up at Lucie as he laid shirtless on the bed amongst crisp white linen and fur throws.

She wore her bright blonde locks down as they tumbled in a soft beachy wave down her back.

Winter of love: The pair have been dating since July 2020

Not to be: Lucie appeared on the 2019 series of Love Island, and briefly dated fellow contestant Joseph Garratt (pictured)

Short-lived: Luke reached the final of the winter series of Love Island in 2020, but split from Demi Jones shortly afterwards (pictured)

The loved-up pair have shared several steamy snaps to Instagram as they have documented their romantic getaway.

They previously donned more weather appropriate clothing as they could be seen in snowsuits as they headed out to view the sunset.

This comes as Christmas came early for Lucie and Luke as they posed for a festive themed underwear campaign.

Racy! On Tuesday Lucie and Luke took to social media to share a very racy bedroom snap as she flashed her derriere

'Always you': Luke shared the steamy snap as Lucie could be seen straddling her beau in their panoramic glass roofed wooden cabin that boasted incredible views of the surrounding forest

The Love Island couple stripped down to their briefs for a new shoot on behalf of online brand Blakely Co, and both appeared to be loving their snow layered surroundings.

With a wintery forest serving as an appropriately seasonal backdrop, Lucie, displayed her cleavage in a black two-piece, while Luke, went shirtless as he showed off his abs in pair of boxer shorts.

Captioning the image after sharing it with Instagram followers, she wrote: 'The winter of love'

Last month, the bombshell's boyfriend revealed he wanted to 'marry' her as he responded to a post on her Instagram stories.
Tammy Hembrow announced her pregnancy very soon after getting engaged to her longtime partner Matt Poole.

But she has denied the two events are related, insisting during a YouTube Q&A on Friday that Matt's decision to pop the question wasn't a 'shotgun proposal'.

The 27-year-old Instagram influencer was asked by a fan if her Ironman beau had asked her to marry him because of her pregnancy.

All planned: Pregnant Tammy Hembrow and her fiance Matt Poole have denied rumours of a 'shotgun proposal' after she revealed she was expecting their first child together

Matt answered: 'No, good question but no. I was actually planning the proposal a fair bit before.'

He proposed to Tammy last month on a private yacht decorated with roses, with her two children, son Wolf, six, and daughter Saskia, five, by their side.

Tammy called his romantic gesture 'cute' and added she didn't know about his plans.

Romantic: 'I was actually planning the proposal a fair bit before,' Matt said. He proposed to Tammy last month on a private yacht decorated with roses (left), with her two children, son Wolf, six, and daughter Saskia, five, by their side (right)

Coincidence: 'It all happened very quickly,' Matt added. 'So no, I was planning the proposal before and then when Tammy announced that she was pregnant'

Matt said: 'Well, obviously you didn't. That's a harder surprise.'

'So no, I was planning the proposal before and then when Tammy announced that she was pregnant, it all happened very quickly,' he added.

Another fan asked if Tammy planned to stop working out during her pregnancy.

Workout: Another fan asked if Tammy planned to stop working out during her pregnancy. She explained that in her previous pregnancies she didn't stop working out

Keeping active: 'I'm not going to stop working out this time as long as it's safe for me to do so. If my doctor told me to stop working out, obviously I would stop,' she added

She explained that in her previous pregnancies she didn't stop working out.

'I'm not going to stop working out this time as long as it's safe for me to do so. If my doctor told me to stop working out, obviously I would stop. But yeah I don't plan on stopping any time soon,' she added.

Tammy announced her engagement on November 24 in a video on Instagram.

That was followed with news of her pregnancy in another video on December 5.
ITV's Strictly The Real Full Monty made its glitzy and glamorous return on Monday night.

And emotional viewers branded Christine McGuinness, 33, a 'role model' and praise 'inspiring' Laila Morse, 76, as they stripped off to promote life-saving cancer checks.

Taking to social media, fans admitted they were in tears watching the first night of the special show, and lauded the stars for their bravery.

Amazing! ITV's Strictly The Real Full Monty viewers branded Christine McGuinness, 33, a 'role model' as she stripped off to promote life-saving cancer checks on Monday night

Viewers noted how Christine - who is autistic - should be proud of herself for speaking candidly about autism and how she feels while taking part in the show.

Autism is a condition that means your brain works in a different way from other people, and can impact how you interact with the world.

One viewer tweeted: 'Christine McGuinness You are amazing, Paddy will be super proud of you #fullmonty.'

'#ChristineMcGuinness you are a brave beautiful woman anyone that struggles with autism can look up to you and see what they can achieve with confidence, you're all amazing,' added another.

Inspiring! Taking to social media, fans praised 'inspiring' Laila Morse, 76, for being so care-free as she got her kit off on television

Brave: Viewers noted how Christine - who is autistic - should be proud of herself for speaking candidly about autism and how she feels while taking part in Strictly The Real Full Monty

Baring all: Laila felt entirely comfortable flashing her bare chest - and viewers praised her for her inspirational attitude

No holding back! Laila was quick to whip off her bra during dance rehearsals

Someone else gushed: '#strictlytherealfullmonty #strictlyfullmonty Wow Christine McGuinness thank you! If more women openly say they are autistic, more will feel so not alone!

'My 17 yr old has asked to be tested..she knows & we know...but she is finally confident to accept the amazing person she is!'

Another tagged Christine's husband and revealed: '@PaddyMcGuinness I am watching the Full Monty and I have fallen in love with your wife.

Behind the scenes: Christine and Laila posed topless with fellow stars Demi Jones, Teddy Soares, Colin Jackson, James Jordan, Duncan James, Brenda Edwards, and Martin Roberts

Love island: Demi and Teddy posed together for raunchy show snaps

Oh my! Former Strictly star James Jordan held a top hat to cover his modesty

Giving it a go: Brenda and Duncan teamed up for their raunchy shots

Dare to bare: The male stars were also filmed practising their routine

'What an amazing role model to not only your beautiful children but also to women everywhere. She is amazing, so brave #strictlyfullmonty.'

'Christine McGuinness should be sooo soo proud of herself. Speaking up about Autism, everything she said then is exactly how I feel and seeing that I know I can fight anything that's in my way!

'Just a little appreciation post. #strictlyfullmonty,' tweeted someone else.'

Amazing! Viewers were left in awe of Christine and took to Twitter to share their praise

Others praised actress Laila - who is a breast cancer survivor - for being care-free in her approach to life.

One person tweeted: '#strictlyfullmonty #leila you absolute inspiration, in tears here!'

'I love Leila Morse & she is ruddy inspiring. #fullmonty #GoLeila,' gushed someone else, while another viewer asserted: 'Laila Morse is my new forever hero. What a woman #fullmonty.'

'Absolute respect to Laila Morse #fullmonty,' tweeted one fan with someone else writing: 'Oh Laila, you my dear are one amazing brave lady. Crying happy tears, because you're so right.. JUST LIVE because you only get one chance to. #fullmonty #ITV #cancer.'

Respect! Others praised actress Laila for being care-free in her approach to life

It comes after Christine revealed in her autobiography, Christine McGuinness: A Beautiful Nightmare, that she had been diagnosed with autism.

Christine and husband Paddy have three children, eight year-old twins Leo and Penelope, and five year-old Felicity, who have all been diagnosed with autism.

In an extract seen by The Mirror, Christine wrote: 'I have been confirmed as autistic. It's strange, but I've noticed there are little hints throughout my life that I'm autistic and more like my children than I ever could have imagined.

Honest: It comes after Christine revealed in her autobiography, Christine McGuinness: A Beautiful Nightmare, that she had been diagnosed with autism

'My issues with food, my social struggles, how hard I find it to make friends and stay focused, and my indecisiveness. The way I float through life reminds me of how my eldest daughter Penelope is.'

The model explained that she was diagnosed in August after she and Paddy, 48, were invited to meet Sir Simon Baron-Cohen who is the director of Cambridge University's Autism Research Centre.

The couple both filled out an AQ Questionnaire which is designed to measure the expression of Autism-Spectrum traits in a person. And while an average neurotypical person would score about 15, which Paddy did, hers was 36.
She's been living in Los Angeles for the past few years.

But Australian actress Caitlin Stasey is back on home soil this month, as she films Amazon's upcoming series Class of '07 in Sydney.

The 31-year-old will be starring alongside Emily Browning and Megan Smart in the comedy, which boasts an all-female cast of 12 Australian actors.

New project: Australian actress Caitlin Stasey is back on home soil this month as she films Amazon Prime's new series Class of '07 in Sydney

The popular actress was spotted filming scenes in Sydney's Northern Beaches just last week, though at the time the nature of the project was kept under wraps.

The series is centred around a never-ending high school reunion with life and death stakes.

When an apocalyptic tidal wave hits during the 10-year reunion of an all-girls high school, a group of women must find a way to survive on the island peak of their high school campus.

The series follows a group of former classmates, now freshly entangled in decade-old drama, as they attempt to survive not just the apocalypse, but each other.

The series is being directed by award-winning Australian writer and director Kacie Anning.

Upcoming series: The 31-year-old - who was pictured filming in Sydney's Northern Beaches last week - will be starring alongside Emily Browning and Megan Smart in the comedy

Also to star in the all-female ensemble are Claire Lovering, Sanaa Shaik, Sarah Krndija, Steph Tisdell, Bernie Van Tiel, Chi Nguyen, Emma Horn, Rose Flanagan, and Debra Lawrance.

Caitlin is best known to Aussie audiences for her roles as Rachel Kinski on the soap Neighbours from 2005 to 2009, and Ellie Linton on the 2010 Australian action-adventure film Tomorrow, When the War Began.

She made headlines earlier this year when she announced her new career as a writer and director for female-led pornography site Afterglow.

Rise to fame: Caitlin rose to fame in the Australian soap Neighbours as Rachel Kinski from 2005-2009. Picture: On set

Caitlin has directed three short erotic films for Afterglow, each one focusing on female empowerment, intimacy and sexual inclusivity.

One of her films, titled U Up?, also explores the idea of intimacy during COVID-19 lockdown by telling the story of a couple who have a sexual encounter via their mobile phones.

She joined Afterglow after befriending intimacy coordinator and Afterglow's Head of Production Allie Oops, while they were both working on another project together.
Julianna Pena joked that she caught Zac Efron staring at her ahead of the UFC 269 fight against Amanda Nunes.

The 32-year-old MMA star  also known as 'The Venezuelan Vixen'  was captured entering the ring in eye shot of the High School Musical star, 34, at the Las Vegas matchup on December 11.

'Find you a man that looks at you the way @ZacEfron looked at me last night,' Pena remarked on Twitter as she shared a snap of the moment.

All eyes on her! UFC champ Julianna Pena joked that she caught Zac Efron staring at her ahead of the UFC 269 matchup against Amanda Nunes on December 11

In the image Pena had her game face on in her fighting clothes, while Efron sat ringside in a black T-shirt and trucker hat.

Despite it not being a blatant glance, the Neighbors actor was captured with a soft smile on his face as she entered the octagon.

Meanwhile the newly crowned bantamweight champion milked the moment as she used a string of loved up emojis including a 'heart eyes' 'smooch' and 'red heart.'

Efron has yet to publicly acknowledge the tweet  which has been liked over 42,000 times.

Shooting a glance: Efron sat ringside in a black T-shirt and trucker hat alongside a buddy to watch Pena face off against Nunes at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada

Commanding attention: 'Find you a man that looks at you the way @ZacEfron looked at me last night,' the 32-year-old MMA star wrote as she shared a snap of High School Musical star, 34, in her eye-shot

Pena  who was listed as the underdog  broke Nunes' 12-fight winning streak and overthrew her five-plus year reign as bantamweight champion.

The upset occurred during the second round, but following Nunes' shocking defeat UFC president Dana White said she was deserving of a rematch.

'You guys think I'm going to go out unbalanced. I undoubtedly accept the rematch. Give me a little time to get my s**t together and I will be back better than ever,' Nunes aka 'The Lioness' said on Instagram.

Other celebrities in attendance at the fight also included Halle Berry, David Spade, and Tommy Lee.
Former Home and Away star Charlotte Best appeared to have a tense exchange with her boyfriend Adam Beaupeurt outside the Sydney Opera House last week.

The actress, 27, had been attending the AACTA Awards on Wednesday evening when she got a phone call to meet her boyfriend outside.

Photos obtained by Daily Mail Australia show Charlotte looking upset and using dramatic hand gestures.

Is everything okay? Charlotte Best (left) appeared to have a tense argument with her boyfriend Adam Beaupeurt (right) outside the Sydney Opera House on Wednesday night

According to an onlooker, Charlotte was seen pacing up and down while waiting for her boyfriend to arrive, and looked visibly upset during the showdown.

While it's unclear what they were discussing, at one point she put a hand on her boyfriend's chest, and pulled on his shirt several times before she eventually convinced him to come back inside.

The Puberty Blues star walked the red carpet at the prestigious awards ceremony without the Bondi-based eyewear designer by her side.

Tense: Photos obtained by Daily Mail Australia show Charlotte looking upset and using dramatic hand gestures

Trouble in paradise? The actress had been attending the AACTA Awards on Wednesday evening as a guest when she got a phone call to meet her boyfriend outside

Nonetheless, the couple appear to have worked out their issues, as Adam later left a gushing comment on Instagram underneath a video of Charlotte's red carpet look.

'Who's a lucky boy,' he wrote below the post on Thursday afternoon.

The couple have been dating since March this year.

All better now? At one point she put a hand on her boyfriend's chest and pulled on his shirt several times before she eventually convinced him to come back inside

Flying solo: The Puberty Blues star walked the red carpet at the prestigious awards ceremony without the Bondi-based eyewear designer by her side

Adam made his reality TV debut as 'bridezilla' Jaimie Gardner's man of honour on Married At First Sight earlier this year.

He later said it was a 'privilege' to be involved in the ceremony.

The two became friends after meeting in the queue for a nightclub in Melbourne more than 12 years ago.

Remember me? Adam made his reality TV debut as 'bridezilla' Jaimie Gardner's (right) man of honour on Married At First Sight earlier this year
Sunrise co-host Monique Wright walked off the set of Seven's flagship breakfast show on Tuesday - presumably to visit her local bottle shop.

The bizarre moment came when newsreader Edwina Bartholomew revealed there was a champagne shortage across Australia, with liquor stores enforcing purchase limits on the sparkling wine.

This news prompted Wright, 48, who is filling in for Natalie Barr during the holiday season, to get up and leave the studio to stock up on festive bubbly before it runs out.

An itching for wine: Sunrise co-host Monique Wright (left, with Michael Usher) walked off the set of Seven's flagship breakfast show on Tuesday - presumably to visit her local bottle shop

'Theres already a global shortage of French champagne due to supply chain issues, and now Dan Murphys and BWS have had to introduce buying limits,' Bartholomew said.

'Top brand Dom Perignon is almost out of stock at most bottle shops, so each customer can only buy 12 bottles at any one time,' she added.

Bartholomew then revealed 'supplies were being shifted' to affluent suburbs like Double Bay, which prompted laughter from the Sunrise panel.

A dry Christmas: The bizarre moment came when newsreader Edwina Bartholomew revealed there was a champagne shortage across Australia, with liquor stores enforcing purchase limits on the sparkling wine

'What are we going to do?' Bartholomew said worriedly to the camera.

'I have to go now,' responded Wright, rising from her seat at the Sunrise newsdesk then walking off the set.

Her colleagues began laughing as she darted off camera.

Shifting stock: Edwina explained bottle shops like Dan Murphy's have moved their high-end champagne stock to wealthier suburbs with a higher rate of champagne consumption

'Twelve at a time Mon, twelve at a time,' Edwina called out to Wright as she left, adding: 'Make sure you grab some for me.'

The nationwide champagne shortage has been caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, shipping delays and the increased popularity of the sparkling wine in Australia.

Most bottle shops have imposed purchase limits, with larger chains moving shipments to wealthier suburbs with a higher rate of champagne consumption on average.
NRL WAG Tahlia Giumelli has modelled for Bras N Things, Forever New, Sportsgirl and Myer.

And on Tuesday, she shared a throwback photo on Instagram to celebrate winning Miss Teen Australia 11 years ago.

The 28-year-old posted a photo of herself from that time, beaming as she posed in an elegant white gown.

Reminiscing: Footy WAG Tahlia Giumelli has barely aged a day during her decade as a model, sharing this throwback photo on Tuesday celebrating her Miss Teen Australia win in 2010

She wore a tiara and a sash that read 'Miss Teen Australia 2010', and also carried a bouquet of roses and a glass trophy.

The blonde beauty, who has barely aged a day since the pageant, wrote in the caption, '11 years ago today,' along with a laughing emoji.

It comes after she shared a heartbreaking post on what should have been her wedding day to rugby league star fiance Tom Burgess over the weekend.

Stunning: The 28-year-old mother of two wrote in the caption: '11 years ago today'

Bittersweet: It comes after she shared a heartbreaking post on what should have been her wedding day to rugby league star fiance Tom Burgess (left) over the weekend. The couple were were forced to postpone their nuptials due to Covid restrictions

The couple were were forced to postpone their nuptials due to Covid restrictions.

She shared a photo of herself and Tom enjoying a platter of oysters and lamented about having to wait until a later date.

'Happy "should have been" wedding day,' she began. 'We should have been saying our vows right now in front of our family and friends in Byron Bay and celebrating with one too many cocktails.

No rush: She wrote, 'We should have been saying our vows right now in front of our family and friends in Byron Bay and celebrating with one too many cocktails.' But she kept optimistic and noted they were grateful to wait because they now have more time to organise the event

'Instead we turned it into a family holiday, made some more memories and soaking up the pre wedding bliss that is still to come.'

The optimistic bride-to-be also noted the pair were grateful to wait because they now have more time to organise the event.

'Slightly a little thankful for the delay as Im a little unorganised @thomasburgess,' she added.

Delayed: This is the second time the couple have had to rearrange their wedding date after postponing their July ceremony, again due to Covid

'When it happens I know its going to be super special and cant wait for people to call you my husband and I no longer will have to correct them.'

This is the second time the couple have had to rearrange their wedding date after postponing their July ceremony, again due to Covid.

Tahlia and Tom, who share two daughters, Sophie, two, and Elodie, one, announced their engagement on New Year's Eve 2019, after three years of dating.
With just days left until their highly-anticipated superhero sequel Spider-Man: No Way Home debuts in theaters, Zendaya and Tom Holland are promoting the new movie.

Zendaya and Holland, both 25, were spotted arriving separately at Jimmy Kimmel Live's studio in Hollywood on Monday afternoon.

The actors are both scheduled to be joined by their co-stars Benedict Cumberbatch and Jacob Batalon on Monday night's episode of the ABC late night talk show.

Promo: With just days left until their highly-anticipated superhero sequel Spider-Man: No Way Home debuts in theaters, Zendaya and Tom Holland are promoting the new movie

Arriving: Zendaya and Holland, both 25, were spotted arriving separately at Jimmy Kimmel Live's studio in Hollywood on Monday afternoon

Zendaya was spotted out in a gold spaghetti strap top while staying safe among her team by wearing a black face mask over her mouth and nose.

She also sported some diamond studded earrings and white pants with white straps trailing behind her.

The actress completed her look with a pair of white pumps for the talk show outing.

Zendaya's look: Zendaya was spotted out in a gold spaghetti strap top while staying safe among her team by wearing a black face mask over her mouth and nose

Her co-star and boyfriend Tom Holland sported an all-black look with a form-fitting black t-shirt, black pants and black shoes.

Batalon sported a more casual look, wearing a green stocking cap, white t-shirt under a multi-colored flannel shirt, black pants and retro Air Jordan sneakers.

Their final co-star, Benedict Cumberbatch, also kept it casual with a flannel coat under a dress shirt and white t-shirt, with blue jeans and brown shoes, plus a black face mask covering his mouth and nose.

Tom's look: Her co-star and boyfriend Tom Holland sported an all-black look with a form-fitting black t-shirt, black pants and black shoes

Jacob's look: Batalon sported a more casual look, wearing a green stocking cap, white t-shirt under a multi-colored flannel shirt, black pants and retro Air Jordan sneakers

Benedict's look: Their final co-star, Benedict Cumberbatch, also kept it casual with a flannel coat under a dress shirt and white t-shirt, with blue jeans and brown shoes, plus a black face mask covering his mouth and nose

Spider-Man: No Way Home follows Peter Parker (Tom Holland) after his identity as Spider-Man has been revealed.

He goes to Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) for help, though he botches a spell where he tries to get people to forget he's Spider-Man.

That failed spell leads to villains from other worlds in the multiverse to come to Peter's world, including villains from previous Spider-Man movies.

Identity: Spider-Man: No Way Home follows Peter Parker (Tom Holland) after his identity as Spider-Man has been revealed

Zendaya has already had quite the year, starring in Malcolm & Marie, Dune and voicing Lola Bunny in Space Jam: A New Legacy.

She will also return as Rue Bennett in Season 2 of HBO's Euphoria, which returns Sunday, January 9 at 9 PM ET.

She'll also return as Chani in Dune: Part Two, which is currently slated for release in 2023.

Big year: Zendaya has already had quite the year, starring in Malcolm & Marie, Dune and voicing Lola Bunny in Space Jam: A New Legacy
David Baddiel: Social Media, Anger And Us (BBC2)

Rating:

Strictly The Real Full Monty (ITV)

Rating:

David Bowie predicted it all.

Back when the rest of us were struggling to type LOL and OMG into text messages, the pop chameleon foresaw the nightmare of social media.

I think the potential of what the internet is going to do to society, both good and bad, is unimaginable, he told Jeremy Paxman in a 1999 Newsnight interview.

Its an alien lifeform...its just landed here. Were on the cusp of something exhilarating and terrifying . . . The content is going to be so different from anything we can envisage.

Comedian David Baddiel unearthed the prophecy in Social Media, Anger And Us (BBC2), his pacy, punchy analysis of how online chat has stoked Britain into a constant seething rage.

Baddiel opened his documentary by visiting a builder called Smithy and his family in Essex. They became briefly famous with a series of short, silly videos on TikTok

Sadly, he didnt play the end of the clip, where Bowie revealed his contempt for the Prime Minister of the time, Tony Blair.

To collect a Brit award from Blair in 1996, Bowie had worn a dog collar and stiletto heels: He didnt notice.

Labelling social media as an alien lifeform is apt, because it constantly changes shape  and it casually destroys lives like a Martian with a ray gun.

SCENE STEALERS OF THE NIGHT: Jamie Oliver and son Buddy on Together at Christmas (C4) Jamie Oliver was upstaged by his own children on Together At Christmas (C4). Christmas is good for you, warbled River, five, after dashing in to blow out candles, while big brother Buddy helped with the pud by eating the candied oranges. Little stars. Advertisement

Baddiel opened his documentary by visiting a builder called Smithy and his family in Essex. They became briefly famous with a series of short, silly videos on a social media app called TikTok  shots of family fun, bouncing on trampolines or splashing water about.

Those innocent images infuriated some viewers so much that, one night last July, two men firebombed Smithys car.

The blaze wrecked their house. Vitriol from the internet is spilling over increasingly into real life.

Baddiels 20-year-old daughter Dolly, talking for the first time about her battle with anorexia, said the poison online surrounding the illness affected her badly.

Social media made it much more difficult for me to recover, she said.

Her father admits hes addicted to Twitter. He is unable to stop posting messages to his 787,000 followers, even though he sleeps better and feels happier when he stays away from the toxic site.

An MRI scan saw his brain light up with anxiety and paranoia as he was bombarded with Twitter abuse  real messages sent by strangers who despise him.

What exactly am I getting out of this, he wondered, apart from lasting trauma?

Weve heard a lot about the threat social media presents through fake news. But what of the serious risks to an individuals safety and mental health?

These sites are dangerous. They damage people. Facebook, Instagram and the rest are a kind of electronic drug, and they need to be treated as such.

Social media can do good, too, but when it comes to public health campaigns  raising awareness of the signs of cancer, for instance  TV does it better.

Great fuss is made about how reluctant some celebrities on Strictly The Real Full Monty (ITV) are to bare their bits, but the truth is some just cant wait.

Ashley Banjo is back in Strictly The Real Full Monty (ITV) with another ten celebrities, stripping to encourage us to check our bodies.

Great fuss is made about how reluctant they are to bare their bits, but the truth is some just cant wait. Former boy-bander Duncan James of Blue was sporting a faux leopard-skin thong almost before the opening credits finished rolling.

Some have survived cancer, others have lost loved ones to the disease, and all of them were getting emotional.

Its hard to hide how tacky the basic concept is. When it boils right down, this is a hen night for a good cause.

Unless you enjoy seeing soap stars and Love Islanders jiggling like nightclub dancers, much of the show is weary viewing.

But anything that helps to save lives cant be a bad thing.
It's been 18 years since fans last saw Keanu Reeves slip into the role of Neo in The Matrix Revolutions, which was the third installment in the successful film franchise.

And with just days until the fourth installment, The Matrix Resurrections, drops, Keanu Reeves is in full promo mode for the much-anticipated science fiction action film.

As part of that promotional push, Reeves was spotted making his way to the Ed Sullivan Theater for an appearance on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.

Promo mode: Keanu Reeves, 57, looked dressed to impress in a dark suit when he arrived for his guest appearance on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert in New York City on Monday

Already looking dressed to impress in a dark suit, the leading man got dropped off in front of the theater in Midtown Manhattan and was greeted by eager fans and security for the late night talk show.

The Matrix star, 57, matched his two-piece suit with a white dress shirt, a matching tie, and brown suede shows.

Appearing to be coming from a previous promotional guest spot, Reeves was carrying another suit ensemble in his hands while making his way to the entrance doors.

The Canadian native is sporting shoulder length hair, with a center part, and a full salt-and-pepper beard and mustache.

Handsome: The Matrix star matched his two-piece suit with a white dress shirt, a matching tie, and brown suede shows

Fashion conscious: The longtime leading man was carrying another suit ensemble that he wore for his appearance with Colbert

On the go: Reeves was ushered into The Ed Sullivan Theater by security

After finishing his guest spot with Colbert, Reeves came out the very same doors and back out on to the street wearing the suit he had been carrying.

The dark navy blue suit was also matched with a white dress shirt and dark tie; only this time he went with shiny black leather shoes.

The fan friendly star acknowledged fans and security and then made his way to another destination.

Sharp: After finishing his guest spot with Colbert, Reeves came out the very same doors and back out on to the street wearing the suit he had been carrying

Mystery: Reeves has been tight-lipped as to how he was able to play Neo again, 18 years after his character was seemingly killed in The Matrix Revolutions (2003)

Amped: Reeves was surrounded by fans when he returned to the bustling streets after his appearance on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert

Seemingly killed in The Matrix Revolutions (2003), Reeves and the rest of the film crew have been tight-lipped as to how Neo makes his return in the new movie, hence the name Resurrections.

'Hopefully people will enjoy it  it's very exciting, and it was an extraordinary experience to make it,' the actor recently told British talk show host Graham Norton.

Reeves, along with Carrie-Anne Moss, Jada Pinkett-Smith and Lambert Wilson reprise their roles from previous films alongside newcomers Christina Ricci, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Jessica Henwick, Neil Patrick Harris, Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Jonathan Groff.

The Matrix Resurrections is slated to make its world premiere in Toronto on December 16, and then be released in theaters and stream on HBO Max simultaneously in the United States for a month beginning on December 22, 2021.
Caitlyn Jenner took to Instagram Stories Monday to complain about an experience she had at the Beverly Hills Hotel, saying she was denied lunch after showing up with a tear in her jeans.

'F*** your horrible service for not letting me have lunch with this tiny rip in my jeans,' the reality star, 72, said. 'Shame on you. Disgusting. I have been a patron for decades. No longer.'

An insider told TMZ that Jenner was 'caught off guard' by the request, as she had her hair and makeup done, and her jeans were made from distressed denim rather than crudely torn.

The latest: Caitlyn Jenner, 72, took to Instagram Stories Monday to complain about an experience she had at the Beverly Hills Hotel, saying she was denied lunch after showing up with a tear in her jeans

Workers at the luxe Hollywood haunt did not enforce a policy of 'no photos' at the establishment, the insider said, adding that Jenner posed for photos with fans during her trip there.

Jenner tagged the hotel and its parent company The Dorchester Collection into the initial post.

An insider close to Jenner told the outlet that the incident might be another footnote in Dorchester's history of issues with the LGBTQ community.

A spokesperson for the hotel told the outlet, 'Please see our dress code policy which is stated on our website and provided to every guest when they make a reservation with us.'

Jenner said she had 'been a patron for decades' of the establishment, but 'no longer'

A spokesperson for the hotel pointed to the company's dress code policy, which asks patrons to 'refrain from wearing' items including 'ripped denim'

The dress code reads, 'At the Polo Lounge, we encourage you to dress for the occasion, so we ask that you refrain from wearing casual hats, ripped denim, crop tops, nightwear, swimwear and mens sleeveless shirts.

'After 4pm, we do not permit shorts, flip-flops (including Birkenstocks) or sportswear (including tracksuits).'

Jenner later took to Instagram Stories highlighting portions of the TMZ article, noting the passage in the dress code that uses the phrase 'encourage;' and the anecdote that she took pictures with fans to no opposition of the hotel staff.
Kim Kardashian West wants to be over and done with her marriage to Kanye West.

In new court documents obtained by TMZ, the billionaire beauty boss admitted their union was unsalvageable despite his grandious displays for forgiveness and to win her back.

'No counseling or reconciliation effort will be of any value at this time,' the court documents state. 'Irreconcilable differences have existed and continue to exist between [Kanye] and me, which have caused our marriage to irretrievably break down.'

Throwing shade: In new court documents obtained by TMZ, Kim Kardashian admitted their union was unsalvageable despite his grandious displays for forgiveness and to win her back; seen at the People's Choice Awards last week

Kim filed to be legally single and have her maiden name restored in documents registered on Friday, and is patiently awaiting a judge to sign off on the paperwork to designate her a single woman.

The Keeping Up with the Kardashians star added: 'I have been attempting to settle our dissolution with [Kanye] since I filed for divorce in February 2021.

'I have requested several times that [Kanye] agree to bifurcate and terminate our marital status. [He] has not responded to my request.'

'[Kanye] and I both deserve the opportunity to build new lives. Therefore, I am asking that my request to bifurcate and terminate our marital status be granted.'

Yikes: Kanye has been on a public media bonanza, begging for Kim to return to their marital commitment on multiple occasions; seen in 2020

Runaway: Kardashian, 41, filed the legal documents on Friday which will make her legally a single woman if signed off by a judge, as she is seen with West in February 2020

Just last week, Kanye begged for Kim to 'run right back to me' amid their divorce during a Free Larry Hoover concert on Thursday which she attended.

Perhaps the most interesting thing to note in the recent filing is that Kim wants her maiden name restored, which means dropping West from her moniker despite her businesses, like KKW Beauty and KKW fragrance, using her married initials.

The legal move is asking the judge to separate the issues of child custody, property, and financial implications from actual marital status.

As Kim has enlisted celebrity attorney Laura Wasser, the decision to separate marital status from other issues not out of the ordinary for the lawyer who has worked with plenty of celebrity clientele.

Dedication: Hours earlier, Kim was in attendance at 44-year-old Kanye and Drake's highly-anticipated concert for the Free Larry Hoover movement at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum

Message sent: She was in the crowd when Ye raised eyebrows by performing an adlibbed verse to his hit Runaway specifically aimed at her

He sang: 'I need you to run right back to me. More specifically, Kimberly'

More than anything it allows anyone who is in the process of getting divorced to get on with their lives in being single and hash out other issues at a different time.

Hours before her filing, Kim was in attendance at 44-year-old Kanye and Drake's highly-anticipated concert for the Free Larry Hoover movement at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

She was in the crowd when Ye raised eyebrows by performing an adlibbed verse to his hit Runaway specifically aimed at her. He sang: 'I need you to run right back to me. More specifically, Kimberly.'

Pals again: No word yet if Kanye knew about the legal filing before it was made but he did look happy to be reunited with 35-year-old Drake in behind the scenes images from the concert as they proved their years-long feud was over

Moving on: Kim was seen leaving the concert with their eldest child North

No word yet if Kanye knew about the legal filing before it was made but he did look happy to be reunited with 35-year-old Drake in behind the scenes images from the concert as they proved their years-long feud was over.

The latest public plea for her to take him back has not seemed to work on Kardashian as a source told People on Friday that the SKIMS mogul 'has moved on' but 'she knows it's difficult for Kanye to deal with.

'She isn't surprised that he pleads in public for her to run back to him. She is just trying to be respectful about it.'

Just weeks ago Ye made a similar public plea as famously said that God will reunite him and estranged wife Kim as he admitted he'd made 'mistakes' in his marriage while serving meals at the LA Mission for Thanksgiving.

'Weve made mistakes. Ive made mistakes': Just weeks ago Ye made a similar public plea as famously said that God will reunite him and estranged wife Kim as he admitted he'd made 'mistakes' in his marriage while serving meals at the LA Mission for Thanksgiving

'The narrative God wants is to see that we can be redeemed in all these relationships,' the Grammy-winner said. 'Weve made mistakes. Ive made mistakes'

'The narrative God wants is to see that we can be redeemed in all these relationships,' the Grammy-winner said. 'Weve made mistakes. Ive made mistakes.'

He continued: 'Ive publicly done things that were not acceptable as a husband, but right now today, for whatever reason - I didnt know I was going to be in front of this mic - but Im here to change the narrative.'

Kanye spoke out on the status of the relationship as Kardashian's new romance with Pete Davidson continues to make headlines.

Kanye, referencing the Kardashian family's reality TV franchise, told those in attendance, 'I'm not letting E! write the narrative of my family. I'm not letting Hulu write the narrative of my family  I am the priest of my home.'

Hot new couple! Kim is romantically linked to Saturday Night Live funnyman Pete Davidson as they are seen together last month

West, who shares four children with Kardashian - North, eight, Saint, five, Chicago, three, and Psalm, two - said that parenting remains his most important priority amid the tumultuous time.

'I have to be next to my children as much as possible,' he said. 'So, when I'm out the house, I've got a house right next to the house. I'm doing everything to be right next to the situation.'

The Grammy-winner added, 'I'm trying to express this in the most sane way, the most calm way possible, but I need to be back home.'

Kim and Kanye wed at the Forte di Belvedere in Florence in 2014, where Kim donned a fitted gown with delicate white lace, custom-made by Givenchy Haute Couture.

A source confirmed to DailyMail.com in February that Kim has filed for divorce. 'The split is amicable and there is no drama,' the insider shared at the time.

Kim is asking for joint legal and physical custody of their four young children. It was claimed that neither will contest their prenup.

Family matters: West, who shares four children with Kardashian - North, eight, Saint, five, Chicago, three, and Psalm, two - said that parenting remains his most important priority amid the tumultuous time, as the family are seen in 2019

The tension reportedly started in July 2020 when Kanye decided to run for President of the United States and claimed he wanted North aborted but Kim refused. He also called Kim's mother Kris Jenner 'Kris Jong Un.'

A source previously told People that Kim and Kanye's marriage 'has been broken for a long time.'

'Kim feels like she has done everything she can to save it. Filing for divorce is something she has been thinking about for a long time. She has also been dreading it. She really, really has done everything to avoid filing.

Throwback: Kim and Kanye wed at the Forte di Belvedere in Florence in 2014, where Kim donned mermaid-silhouette gown that featuring delicate white lace was custom-made by Givenchy Haute Couture

'Last year, she hoped they could somehow work things out,' they added. 'In the past few weeks though, it has been clear that they are done. Although, there is still love, they are just too different and have different visions for the future.'

No doubt it will take some time to figure out how the assets will be split between the two parties.

Kim and Kanye purchased their Hidden Hills residence for $20 million in 2014, but did not move in until 2018 after investing $40 million in renovations.

An insider revealed to Page Six earlier this year that Kim reportedly owns the land, but Kanye owns the actual house.

Regardless of the monetary situation regarding the properties, Kanye does not have to worry so much about cash as in April he was officially declared a billionaire.

Moving on: Kim officially filed for divorce in February following months of rumors surrounding the state of their marriage, as the former couple are seen at the Met Gala in May 2019

Uh oh: The tension reportedly started in July 2020 when Kanye decided to run for President of the United States and claimed he wanted North aborted but Kim refused. He also called Kim's mother Kris Jenner 'Kris Jong Un'

A Forbes Magazine article published on April 23 revealed how the rapper recently provided documents to the publication, giving them an 'authentic numeric look into Kanye, Inc.' to prove the feat.

However, the article notes that West was left unhappy with their research and findings - stating that he believes his net worth to be around $3.3 billion, rather than the $1.26 billion they have estimated.

'It's not a billion,' West allegedly texted the publication Thursday night. 'It's $3.3 billion since no one at Forbes knows how to count.'

Kardashian also achieved billionaire status as in April she was named 2674th on the list of Forbes Billionaires.
Abbie Chatfield sent anti-vaxxers into a tailspin in September, after she shared details of an outfit she planned to wear once regional travel opened for the fully-vaccinated.

The 26-year-old - who is known for her pro-vaccine stance - was branded 'ignorant' by one anti-vaxx 'freedom fighter' at the time, while others rudely mocked the lime playsuit she hoped to wear on holiday in Byron Bay once restrictions were lifted.

However, Abbie had the last laugh on Monday - as she revealed she'd finally got to wear the slinky green ensemble while enjoying drinks in the popular coastal town.

Ruffling some feathers: Abbie Chatfield sent anti-vaxxers into a spin in September, after she shared a video of an outfit she planned to wear once regional travel opened for the fully-vaccinated (pictured)

'I made it,' she captioned the video, as she sat across the road from the Bryron Bay's popular Beach Hotel.

The funny clip was met with positive replies from her followers, with one writing: 'Iconic!' while another added: 'You tell 'em sis.'

Abbie had shared the original clip in September in response to 'freedom fighters', who attended a violent protest against mandatory vaccines in Melbourne.

Made it! Abbie certainly had the last laugh on Monday - as she revealed she'd finally got to wear the slinky green ensemble while enjoying drinks in the coastal town

While dressed in the pretty outfit, she sarcastically said: 'Thank you for your service. This is my next outfit I think I'm going to choose while you guys are doing freedom fighting.

'I know you are busy but I just want to go for a holiday with my friends to Byron Bay.

'I'm thinking, like, down at the Beach Hotel, me having a drink, f**king random people because I can.

'I made it,' she captioned the video. 'I'm across the road from Beach Hotel, but like, I made it'

'What do you guys think of me travelling regionally in this outfit unlike the unvaccinated people?'

Abbie captioned the video: 'Just want to thank the freedom fighters for doing their part so everyone who is vaccinated can enjoy our existing freedoms in cute outfits!

'Thanks everyone, much appreciated. See you on a flight to... oh, wait. Haha.'

Abbie recently purchased a $1.45 million on two bedroom Byron Bay cottage made of 'recycled natural materials'.

She is currently dating Konrad Bien-Stephens, who was on Brooke Blurton's season of The Bachelorette this year.
Home and Away heartthrob Orpheus Pledger has returned to Instagram for the first time since facing court over drug possession charges last month.

The Australian soap star, who was charged for allegedly being in possession of methamphetamine in February, uploaded a short video of himself posing shirtless at the gym on Tuesday.

Flexing his muscles in the mirror, the 28-year-old wrote: 'Where there's a will, there's a way [flexing arm emoji, angelic face emoji] #feelinggood.'

'Feeling good': Home and Away heart-throb Orpheus Pledger, 28, (pictured) has returned to Instagram for the first time since facing court over drug possession charges last month.

Fans of the actor were thrilled by his return to social media, with one commenting: 'There he is [clapping emoji]'.

'You look amazing!' another added.

Last month, Orpheus was handed a good behaviour bond for six months after being found in possession of the drug ice and 30 tablets of Diazepa - commonly known as Valium - without a prescription earlier this year.

In good spirits: Flexing his muscles in the mirror, the actor wrote: 'Where there's a will, there's a way [flexing arm emoji, angelic face emoji] #feelinggood'

Fronted court: Last month, Orpheus was handed a good behaviour bond for six months after being found in possession of the drug ice and 30 tablets of Diazepa - commonly known as Valium - without a prescription. Pictured on Home And Away

The star escaped with a slap on the wrist after being placed on a diversion program, which spared Orpheus any jail time.

He was also ordered to play the court $150 and complete a drug awareness course as part of the diversion program.

Police had arrested him on February 19 in Prahran - just outside of Melbourne's CBD - where he was allegedly found with the drugs.

His life had been on a 'downward spiral' before he was charged with the drug offences.

New gig! Orpheus is preparing to appear on SAS Australia 2022, alongside the likes of Bachelor stars Locky Gilbert and Ana Heinrich, model Simone Hotznagel and footy star Barry Hall

A chiseled Adonis on the outside, Pledger allegedly set off alarm bells late last year while in Sydney filming Channel 7's The All New Monty: Guys & Gals.

A glorified strip show, Pledger appeared to relish his time getting his gear off on camera for his adoring fans.

His Home And Away character had been killed off in 2019 and Covid had seen Pledger reinvent himself as an Instagram star and part-time music producer.

Troubles: His life had been on a 'downward spiral' before he was charged with the drug offences. In October, he made headlines when he announced a new love interest and Pledger was reportedly 'the most happiest' he'd been in a long while

In October, he made headlines when he announced a new love interest and Orpheus was reportedly 'the most happiest' he'd been in a long while.

But in June the actor raised eyebrows when he revealed a lot more than he bargained for while filming himself in the shower.

Orpheus briefly exposed his manhood in the raunchy clip.

Out: Orpheus quit Home And Away in 2019 after deciding he wanted to pursue a career in music. He is pictured here with his former co-star Olivia Deeble

He had been showing off his jacked physique before stepping out naked and preening in front of the bathroom mirror.

While laughed off at the time as a playful mishap, Daily Mail Australia has been told those closest to Orpheus held deep concerns for his welfare.

A source close to Orpheus, who asked to remain anonymous, told Daily Mail Australia the actor had been struggling since leaving Home And Away in 2019.

'Orpheus has been exerting this problematic behaviour for a while, since he relocated back to Melbourne after his character was killed off,' the source said.

Orpheus is now preparing to appear on SAS Australia 2022, alongside the likes of Bachelor stars Locky Gilbert and Ana Heinrich, model Simone Hotznagel and footy star Barry Hall.
Captain Mark Howard from Below Deck: Mediterranean died of natural causes back in October at his home in Florida.

The Bravo star died at age 65 and a medical examiner's report obtained Monday by E! News listed his cause of death as hypertensive cardiovascular disease with chronic alcoholism listed as a contributory cause.

His manner of death was categorized as natural.

Death examination: Captain Mark Howard from Below Deck: Mediterranean, shown in a 2016 promo still, died of natural causes back in October at his home in Florida

TMZ reported that Howard's wife, Susan, was out of town attending a dog show from Oct. 22-27 when the incident took place. She found her husband dead upstairs upon arrival.

According to a police report obtained by the site, Howard 'was covered in boxes that had apparently fallen, and his body was laying up against a shelf.'

Authorities said there was no sign of trauma but there were 'blood droplets' on his face and on the floor.

Sad: Co-star Tiffany Jones confirmed the news on Twitter in October: 'RIP Captain Mark Howard. You were a joy to be around'

Another hit: Below Deck: Mediterranean launched in 2016 as a spinoff to the hugely popular reality series (Howard pictured above, center, with the crew)

A biography for Howard from Bravo stated that he was born and raised on a lake in Michigan and had been a yacht captain for just under 30 years.

He was an experienced captain, having sailed to the South Pacific and the Mediterranean and Caribbean for luxurious trips as seen on the show.

Below Deck: Mediterranean launched in 2016 as a spinoff to the hugely popular reality series.

RIP: His friend and former co-star Hannah Ferrier paid her respects

Howard was unveiled as the Captain of the Ionian Princess yacht for the first season.

While the spinoff series was also a hit with viewers, Howard did not return for the second season.

Howard would end up being replaced by Captain Sandy Yawn who is still in the reality series.

Hannah Ferrier spoke about Howard in an interview with The Daily Dish in 2019 saying they would 'touch base' once a year after working together.
Kanye 'Ye' West made a surprise appearance during Future's set at the Rolling Loud California festival Sunday at the Nos Events Center in San Bernardino, California.

West, 44, kept warm on the chilly evening in Southern California in a white hooded sweatshirt with light jeans reading 'Free Hoover,' black boots, sunglasses and black gloves.

West performed tracks including Cant Tell Me Nothing, Praise God and Father Stretch My Hands, Variety reported.

The latest: Kanye 'Ye' West, 44, made a surprise appearance during Future's set at the Rolling Loud California festival Sunday at the Nos Events Center in San Bernardino, California

West and Future collaborated on the tracks Way 2 Sexy and F*** Up Some Commas in the appearance, which closed the annual festival.

Roddy Ricch and Hotboii also made appearances during Future's set, according to the outlet.

The outing came three days after West teamed up with Drake for a concert at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in an effort to free Larry Hoover from prison and raise funds for prison reform nonprofit organizations.

The show, which was streamed on Amazon's Prime Video, was the latest attempt on West's behalf to bring awareness to the situation surrounding Hoover, the founder of Chicago's Gangster Disciples street gang.

West kept warm on the chilly evening in Southern California in a white hooded sweatshirt with light jeans reading 'Free Hoover,' black boots, sunglasses and black gloves

West performed tracks including Cant Tell Me Nothing, Praise God and Father Stretch My Hands

Hoover in 1973 received a life sentence in prison following a murder conviction. Hoover was subsequently sentenced to six additional life sentences in 1997 after he was found guilty in connection with ongoing gang involvement.

In his October 11, 2018 meeting with former President Donald Trump in the Oval Office, West lobbied the president to free Hoover 'because he started doing positive for the community' in Chicago.

'Its very important for me to get Hoover out because in an alternate universe, I am him and I have to go and get him free,' he said at the time.

The rapper capped off a busy few days including his Free Larry Hoover concert and his Sunday Service

West and Future collaborated on the tracks Way 2 Sexy and F*** Up Some Commas in the appearance

Future's set, which also featured appearances from Roddy Ricch and Hotboii, closed the annual festival

This past July, a federal judge denied a motion to grant Hoover, 71, an abridged sentence under the FIRST STEP Act, a law that grants prisoners sentence leniency based on good behavior and training for a job.

West in August released his latest album Donda, named after his late mother.

The recording has spawned multiple Grammy nominations, including Album of the Year and Best Rap Album, as well as Best Melodic Rap Performance for the track Hurricane and Jail for Best Rap Song.
She is known for her incredible figure and fit lifestyle.

And now Pip Edwards, 41, has revealed some of her favourite go-to beauty products she swears by to maintain her youthful appearance.

In an in-depth chat with Mecca, Pip admitted that her typical beauty haul costs a cool $232.

Beauty tips and tricks: Pip Edwards, 41, has revealed some of her favourite go-to beauty products she swears by to maintain her youthful appearance. In an in-depth chat with Mecca , Pip admitted that her typical beauty haul costs a cool $232

Pip said she loves wearing mascara and has to wear it even if she doesn't wear foundation and she always applies SPF.

She said that throughout lockdown, she just wore moisturiser and now wants to keep things simple.

'I'm now finding my everyday look post-lockdown is way more pared back, but I can never give up my mascara! I love mascara way too much,' Pip said.

Her faves: Pip said she loves wearing mascara and has to wear it even if she doesn't wear foundation and she always applies SPF

She added that when she wears makeup, she goes for the 'natural' and 'dewy' look.

Pip also revealed she suffers from pigmentation and is desperate to correct it in the New Year.

'I need to take more care of my skin and focus on general skin health. I know post-summer my pigmentation will flare up, so I will need to address that,' she explained.

Youthful: She added that when she wears makeup, she goes for the 'natural' and 'dewy' look

Pigmentation: Pip also revealed she suffers from pigmentation and is desperate to correct it in the New Year

Pip's favourite products include Too Faced's Better Than Sex Waterproof Mascara, which retails for $38, Estee Lauder's Double Wear Stay-In-Place Makeup, $60, the Naked Sundays SPF Glow bundle, $89.95, and the Glow Body Mist from the brand, $44.95.

She also told Mecca that she wants to focus on continuing to build her activewear brand next year.

Pip created her fashion empire alongside P.E Nation co-founder Claire Tregoning.

The Australian Financial Review reported in 2020 the company had earned $20million in revenue in the last fiscal year.

P.E Nation has effectively quadrupled its profits since it was founded four years ago, having reported $5.2million in 2016/17.
Brad Pitt is branching out into the music industry by re-opening the famed music studio in his French winery Chateau Miraval.

Pitt, 57, is teaming up with French music producer Damien Quintard to re-open Miraval Studios, where Pink Floyd's The Wall was partially recorded, but has been dormant for the past two decades.

Pitt and his ex-wife Angelina Jolie purchased the estate for $60 million back in 2012 - and tied the knot there in 2014 - with Pitt overseeing an extensive renovation of the recording studio slated to re-open in the summer of 2022, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Winery: Brad Pitt is branching out into the music industry by re-opening the famed music studio in his French winery Chateau Miraval

The recording studio was first built by Chateau Miraval's then-owner Jacques Loussier, a French jazz pianist, back in 1977.

The studio first came into prominence in 1979 when Pink Floyd traveled to the estate in the south of France to record their iconic album The Wall.

Other groups to record there include AC/DC, Wham!, Judas Priest, The Cranberries, The Cure, Steve Winwood and many more.

Chateau: The recording studio was first built by Chateau Miraval's then-owner Jacques Loussier, a French jazz pianist, back in 1977

Loussier ultimately sold the estate to Tom Bove in 1998, with Rammstein and Courtney Love recording there in the early 2000s.

Muse was the last group to record there for Black Holes and Revelations back in 2006.

The unique studio featured three houses where artists would live while recording their albums, with a live-in chef and swimming pool.

Studio: The unique studio featured three houses where artists would live while recording their albums, with a live-in chef and swimming pool

Pitt first connected with Quintard through his fine art connections, with Pitt proposing a meeting in 2020.

'We clicked. He came to my studio in Paris. It was a fantastic meeting. We talked for hours and hours. He talked to me about his plans for Miraval,' Quintard said.

'I was obviously super excited, because as a Frenchman and a music lover, one of the Holy Grails is Miraval. I went over there, did my design for the space. We clicked on that side, and we moved forward,' he added.

Connected: Pitt first connected with Quintard through his fine art connections, with Pitt proposing a meeting in 2020

Quintard said the architectural style was, 'very 70s  vintage and, in its own way, beautiful' but they, 'redesigned everything to be so simple, so pure. Light is everywhere.'

He also hinted there will be much more than just music made at Studio Miraval when they re-open this coming summer.

'We want to do different types of productions over there  film, theater, fine arts. Its a new Florence over there,' Quintard said.

Style: Quintard said the architectural style was, 'very 70s  vintage and, in its own way, beautiful' but they, 'redesigned everything to be so simple, so pure. Light is everywhere'

They also launched an official Instagram presence, including a snap of Pitt and Quintard together on the grounds.

'So excited to be announcing the opening for SUMMER 2022 of Miraval Studios! Located in the south of France, in the "Chateau Miraval", we're re-designing one the most iconic recording studios ever. The timelessness of the songs recorded there by Pink Floyd, The Cranberries, AC/DC among so many others, will soon be back for the artists of our days. We can't wait to get started and we're happy to have you on board for this soulful adventure ahead,' the statement read.

Quintard took to Instagram himself to share another photo of him and Pitt poring over blueprints, adding, 'It is the honor of a lifetime not only to be co-founding the rebirth of one of the most iconic recording studios that recorded Pink Floyd, Wham!, AC/DC, Sting etc, but also to have Brad Pitt as a Partner. Truly touched by Brad's trust in me and grateful for the support of all my fantastic team and entourage without whom nothing would ever be possible. MIRAVAL STUDIOS will open SUMMER 2022 ! Follow us @miravalstudios,' he said.
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Zendaya and Tom Holland naturally stole the show as they attended the world premiere of Spider-Man: No Way Home in Los Angeles on Monday evening.

The on-and-offscreen couple, both 25, were seen affectionately posing alongside one another at the Regency Village theatre, where they beamed bright ahead of the screening of their latest Marvel film.

The Euphoria star showed off her modelesque 5 10 physique in a plunging dress with bedazzled webs, while at Holland looked dapper in a chocolate suit, with the 5 8" actor adding to his frame in heeled boots.

It-couple: Zendaya and Tom Holland, both 25, stole the show as they attended the premiere of Spider-Man: No Way Home, which was held at the Regency Village theatre in Los Angeles on Monday evening

Adorable: The on-and-offscreen couple who reprised their roles as MJ and Spider-Man were seen posing for photos together

Zendaya  who never misses in the style department  rocked a plunging custom Maison Valentino dress which featured an exaggerated slit up the left leg.

The nude dress was nearly backless with the exception of thin black crisscross straps and was adorned with ornate black beads fashioned to resemble a spider's web.

Boost: Tom did his best to match his girlfriend's height in sleek Christian Louboutin boots with a thick block heel

The Emmy-winning actress paired the dress with Christian Louboutin pumps which also sparkled, and wore her hair in scalp braids which extended past her waist.

On her head she rocked a beaded and lace eye mask which was fashioned to resemble a black spider for more over the top glamour.

She flashed stunning diamond drop earrings and a hefty sparkler and band on her fingers from Bulgari, and wore dramatic winged eye makeup in her lid crease.

The full look was put together by her go-to stylist Law Roach who helped curate another iconic fashion moment for Zendaya, and also styled Holland for the premiere.

Also rising to the occasion for his big evening, The Captain America: Civil War actor looked snazzy in a rich chocolate suit fashioned by Prada, and sleek Christian Louboutin boots with a thick block heel.

Stunning: The Euphoria star showed off one of her most head-turning and aptly themed red carpet looks, which included a spider-like eye mask and a plunging dress with bedazzled webs

Iconic: Her latest iconic fashion moment included a custom Maison Valentino dress and Christian Louboutin shoes which was put together by her go-to stylist Law Roach

Beyond: The Emmy-winning actress proved to ace the theme as she showed off an eye mask which resembled a spider to pair with the slinky garment and diamonds from Bulgari

Captivating: Her arrival  which was marked by throngs of cheers  stopped Holland dead in his tracks as he interrupted an interview with an ET reporter to say 'I think Zendaya just showed up', at which point he watched her grace the red carpet in awe

Killing it: Also rising to the occasion for his big evening, Holland looked snazzy in a rich chocolate suit fashioned by Prada

He radiated happiness with Zendaya by his side as they posed for a few photos together before some larger cast snaps.

The pair however had arrived separately, with Holland stopping dead in his tracks as he heard screams that indicated his leading lady had arrived at premiere.

'I think Zendaya just showed up,' Holland said as he stopped mid-chat with ET. 'That sounds like Zendaya just showed up,' he reiterated before watching her make her grand entrance.

Height difference: Tom and Zendaya had previously spoken about how 'ridiculous' it was that people scrutinized their height difference as she stands at 5-foot-10 inches, while he stands at 5-foot-8-inches

ROUND UP OF SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME REVIEWS Deadline - Pete Hammond This movie does what the best movies always do: They thrill you and move you and make you want to cheer in a crowded theatre. In light of the pandemic this movie is a holiday gift not only to moviegoers, but also to exhibitors, because if EVER there was a film poised to save the movie business  just like Spidey always saves the day  it is this splendidly-crafted endgame. Jon Watts, the wunderkind director discovered via the superb indie Cop Car , once again weaves his own magic on the series and creates, with the help of screenwriters Chris McKenna and Erik Summers, not just the best pic yet in the Spider-Man series, but truly one of the year's best movies. Holland, Zendaya, and Batalon are a priceless trio, and the various villains and 'others' who pop in and out make this pure movie fun of the highest order. Fans will be in heaven Producers are Amy Pascal and Kevin Feige. Sony releases it on Friday. This film will make a billion, and it deserves to. Franchise movies, Marvel Movies, Comic Book Movies  you name it  just don't get much better than this. Variety - Peter Debruge Peter Debruge, who was reviewing for Variety, also praised Watts' film and said he brought a 'welcome continuity to this latest trilogy', following previous outings from both Andrew Garfield and Toby McGuire. Debruge said: '[Spider-Man: No Way Home] wrangles the unwieldy premise into a consistently entertaining superhero entry, tying up two decades' of loose ends in the process.' The critic said that the film carefully walks its audience through the 'logical loop-de-loops its plot requires', but otherwise 'sticks to a relatively straightforward idea of the multiverse'. The Hollywood Reporter - John Defore In contrast to other reviews, John Defore, called the latest Spidey outing the 'least fun' of the triology - however he arged that it may be an intentional shift for the superhero. He wrote: '[Spider-Man: No Way Home From] does use its multiversal mayhem to address the only real problem with the Holland-era webslinger: the Iron Man-ification of the character, in which his already amazing powers keep getting overshadowed by the gadgets given to him by billionaire jerk-hero Tony Stark. 'This is the least fun of the Watts/Holland pictures by a wide margin (intentionally so, to some extent), but it's a hell of a lot better than the last Spidey threequel, Sam Raimi's overstuffed and ill-conceived.' One of Defore's major issues with the film was that it lifts too much from antimation hit Spider-Man: Into The Multiverse, saying: 'That rollicking, eye-popping adventure was so fresh, funny and exciting that No Way Home can really only look stodgy in comparison, relying on the novelty of faces we haven't seen in a while and building up to the kind of operatic emotional moments the previous Watts films tended to avoid.' He concluded the review by admitting that the final scene brings 'lightness' and 'hope' to future Marvel films as he revealed his hopes for Holland to be a 'friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man for a while'. The Guardian - Benjamin Lee, Rating: The Guardian review, written by critic Benjamin Lee, also noted Holland's Spider-Man's move away from the 'breezy teen movie vibe', seen in his earlier two films and instead delivered a 'slickly choreographed adventure that will appease a broad fanbase this Christmas'. Awarding the film three stars, he wrote: 'Director Jon Watts does a pretty solid job here, tasked with a considerable upping of the ante while bringing back numerous baddies from the previous Spider-Man universes, delivering a propulsive, slickly choreographed adventure that will appease a broad fanbase this Christmas'. Den Of Geek - Don Kaye Critic Don Kaye, wrote: 'Make no mistake, there is lots of fan service in. But we're happy to report that the filmunlike so many other villain-heavy superhero moviessomehow makes it work At the heart of it all is Holland's stellar performance, and we sincerely hope that he isn't going to hang up his web-shooters after this. It features Holland's best work as Peter and Spidey to date, with the film driving him toward emotional extremes he has never previously touched. His chemistry with Zendaya and Batalon is also real (Zendaya exudes a lot of warmth here while she and Batalon also provide gentle comic relief). Advertisement

Tom and Zendaya  who star as Peter Parker and MJ  had previously spoken about their height difference being overly scrutinized as she stands at 5-foot-10 inches, while he stands at 5-foot-8-inches.

The sweet pair seemed to confirm they were a romantic item as they were captured kissing in July, though both have not spoken about the status of their relationship publicly.

Spider-Man: No Way Home is the third film in the franchise starring Zendaya and Holland. The movie comes after 2017's Spider-Man: Homecoming and 2019's Spider-Man: Far From Home.

Perfect pair: The castmates turned lovers solidified their rumored relationship over the summer as they shared a kiss while driving in the Silverlake neighborhood of LA

Brotherly love: Tom was pictured with his two brothers by his side as they supported him

Core group: Film stars (left to right) Benedict Wong, Benedict Cumberbatch, Jacob Batalon, Marisa Tomei, Zendaya, and Holland pose for a group shot at the premiere

Support team: No Way Home stars Marisa Tomei (left) who plays Parker's aunt May and Jacob Batalon (right) who plays Parker's best friend Ned Leeds were seen posing for some photos

In high spirits: The duo looked animated as they posed for a photo on the red carpet

Dr. Strange: Benedict Cumberbatch who stars in the film as Dr. Stephen Strange was seen with his wife Sophie Hunter at the premiere

Helping hand: In No Way Home, Spider-Man seeks out Dr. Strange Cumberbatch) to help restore his secret identity which breaks open the multiverse

The 2021 film sees Peter Parker grappling with life and his reputation after his identity as a superhero was exposed by Mysterio (played by former Spider-Man star Jake Gyllenhaal) in the last movie.

With his life further on the line, he seeks out Dr. Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) to help restore his secret identity, but this breaks open the multiverse as five supervillains from alternate realities  who fought other versions of Spider-Man  arrive.

The movie also stars Marisa Tomei as Parker's aunt May, Jamie Foxx as Electro, Benedict Wong as Wong - a master of the mystic arts and Strange's mentor, Jacob Batalon as Parker's best friend Ned, Willem Dafoe as Green Goblin, Jon Favreau as Parker's bodyguard/head of Stark Industries security and J.B. Smoove.

It's electric! Jamie Foxx who plays Electro in the franchise was there with his daughter Corinne Foxx who stunned on the carpet

Stylish duo: Foxx (left) lit up the carpet in a glitzy pant suit while Jared Leto (right) wore one of his usual eye catching looks that included red trousers and a plunging blouse with velour blazer

Spider-Man universe: Leto is known for his starring role as Morbius, with Holland previously saying he'd want a face off between the pair

Cute couple: Kumail Nanjiani was present with his wife Emily Gordon

Heating things up: Stars including Madison Beer and model Alexis Ren also turned up to the premiere rocking sexy midriff peep dresses

Father son outing: Terry Crews and his son Isaiah were present

Trying their hand: The father-son duo were seen trying their hand at some Spidey moves

Night out: Tia Mowry (left) rocked a negligee-like dress while Storm Reid (right) opted for a dashing cream jumpsuit

Statuesque: Nicholas Braun i.e. Cousin Greg on Succession looked handsome at the world premiere

Good vs. evil: Jon Favreau (left) plays Parker's bodyguard/head of Stark Industries security, while Willem Dafoe (right) is reprising his role as Green Goblin

Radiant: Paula Newsome who plays an M.I.T administrator in the film went for a classic black dress

Wong: Benedict Wong who plays Master of the Mystic Arts and Strange's mentor and friend was present

No Way Home was supposed to be released after next year's Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness, but when production on that film was delayed by COVID-19, they decided to shoot the Spider-Man threequel first.

To make matters more complicated a number of key actors had yet to sign on to the third film as the first day of shooting drew near, and the script for the movie was being re-written frequently during production.

'Some people were trying to figure out whether they wanted to do it, and we needed all of them or none,' Holland said in a GQ profile.

Gearing up: Xochitl Gomez who will appear in Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness was pictured

Supportive: Kid Cudi (left) who recently played a role in Don't Look Up, and comedian Hannibal Buress (right) were in attendance at the screening

Family affair: Allison Holker and Stephen 'Twitch' Boss brought their kids

Edgy: YouTube star Jeffree Star (left) wore a sparkly pantsuit while Ariana Grande's brother Frankie Grande (right) wore an edgy spray painted coat with chains

Over the top: Amy Pascal, the producer of No Way Home wore a striking fur wrap

Sweet smooch: 'There are very few actors working now who are versatile in the way that he is' Pascal told GQ of Holland

Smiling big: J.K. Simmons (left) wore a snazzy hat and grey suit while Impractical Jokers star Joe Gatto (right) kept it cool in sneakers and a graphic shirt

Mentor: JB Smoove plays Parker's teacher in the movie and was pictured with his wife Shahidah Omar

'You could ask the director, "What happens in act three?" And his response would be, "Im still trying to figure it out",' he continued to divulge at the time.

But the cast and crew managed to make it work, with Holland even teasing a 'style of fighting in this film that you've never seen in the Spider-Man movies before.'

The film hits theaters December 17.

Giddy: Dwight Howard and his son both look thrilled to see the latest installment of the franchise

Shades of blue: Michael Gandolfini (left) opted for a navy suit while actress Laurel Marsden (right) went for a silk dress with lacy gloves

Cape-like: Shameik Moore wore a sweeping cape-like coat

Personal taste: Terry Seymour (left) donned leather pants and a sparkly one shoulder top while Marsai Martin (right) showed off a corset dress and heels that said 'punk'

Hot couple: Singer Bryson Tiller and his girlfriend Kendra Bailey matched in all black

Night out with the family: Patton Oswalt was pictured with his wife and daughter

Red hot: Both Sasha Banks (left) and Miles Brown (right) went for a striking red color in honor of the superhero's uniform, with Banks even showcasing blue hair
Bachelor star Brittany Hockley has opened up about the demise of her friendship with Sophie Tieman.

The pair became besties while filming season six of the dating show in 2018, where they bonded over being dumped by Nick Cummins, but now they no longer speak.

Speaking to the Happy Hour podcast, the 33-year-old admitted that she and Sophie were 'very close' during filming, but have since naturally drifted apart over the years.

It's over! Bachelor star Brittany Hockley has opened up about the demise of her friendship with Sophie Tieman in a new interview with the Happy Hour podcast

When asked if she and Sophie are still friends, Brittany bluntly responded: 'No.'

She quickly added: 'For no reason. It's been like three years. We just drifted apart, I think.

'You see it happen a lot. You're bonded by an experience in that house. You're with each other for three months. Her and I were inseparable from the start,' she continued.

'It's very intense, it's a shared experience, and then you get back into the real world and you go about your life.'

Outspoken: When asked if she and Sophie are still friends, Brittany bluntly responded: 'No.' She quickly added: 'For no reason. It's been like three years. We just drifted apart, I think'

Proving that there's no bad blood from her end, Brittany still follows Sophie on Instagram.

However, it appears that Sophie does NOT follow the Life Uncut host back.

Brittany and Sophie became close after their season of The Bachelor made history by being the first ever not to feature a winner.

Bonding: Brittany and Sophie became besties after their season of The Bachelor made history by being the first ever not to feature a winner

Nick 'Honey Badger' Cummins dumped both beauties at the end, which led to the pair developing a close friendship that lasted months after the finale aired.

Not only did they did they do interviews and media events together, the twosome also hung out together in their free time.

In October of 2018, the former besties enjoyed a girls' trip to the Hunter Valley together.

Inseparable: The pair often flaunted their friendship on social media in the months after their season aired

'I know, you'd think we'd be sick of each other by now,' Brittany captioned an image of the pair at the time.

Since their season aired, Brittany has gone on to become one of Australia's top podcasters thanks to the success of her show Life Uncut with co-host Laura Byrne.

Meanwhile, Sophie has led a quieter life outside of the spotlight and has instead focused on her real estate career.
Kim Kardashian has addressed past allegations of Blackfishing when wearing her hair in braids and cornrows.

Kardashian, 41, speaking with playwright Jeremy O. Harris in an extensive interview for i-D Magazine, said she 'would never do anything to appropriate any culture' in her style, which is sometimes influenced by her oldest daughter, North, eight, who is biracial.

'Honestly, a lot of the time it comes from my daughter asking us to do matching hair,' the reality TV icon - who is also mother to daughter Chicago, three, and sons Saint, six, and Psalm, two, with estranged husband Kanye West, 44 - told the magazine.

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The latest: Kim Kardashian, 41, has addressed past allegations of Blackfishing when wearing her hair in braids and cornrows. She was snapped last year in Paris

Kardashian explained how she's addressed the issue with North with measured candor.

'I've had these conversations with her that are like, "Hey, maybe this hairstyle would be better on you and not on me,"' she said. 'But I also want her to feel that I can do a hairstyle with her and not make it that big of a deal either if that's something that she's really asking for, and really wants.'

Kardashian pointed out her own cultural background, noting that 'there's also a history of braiding hair in Armenia, and people forget that I am Armenian as well.'

In the chat with the publication, Kardashian said she has 'definitely learned over time, and ... tried to pass that culture of learning onto [her] kids too.'

Insight: Kardashian said her style is sometimes influenced by her oldest daughter, North, eight, who is biracial

Out and about: Kardashian was seen donning cornrows in Beverly Hills in February of 2016

Simply stunning: Kardashian appeared on the cover of i-D 's The Out Of The Blue issue as she showed off her famous curves in a clinging black SKIMS sculpting bodysuit

The fashion mogul appeared on the cover of i-D's The Out Of The Blue issue, created in co-collaboration with Tiffany & Co., as she showed off her famous curves in a clinging black SKIMS sculpting bodysuit and Tiffany's jewelry

She touched on several subjects including her Saturday Night Live hosting gig back in October, when she cracked jokes about some of her famous relatives.

Kim talked about how 'unkind' she was to her nearest and dearest while hosting the show as she insisted that they all have a sense of humor about themselves and their family unit as a whole.

'I think people might not get that were absolutely in on the joke,' she said. 'We always have been. It is what it is. I especially couldnt really give a f*** what anyone ever says and thinks.

'And so, I was just like, "Listen, if Im going to do this, I want you guys to know were in on this. This is what we talk about when were at home." We have a sense of humor. We roast each other as a family all day long. None of us are sensitive to it.'

Kim went on to insist that showing off her sense of humor was the real her and she felt like the gig was a way to showcase that.

Hilarious: The 41-year-old mogul as she touched on several subjects including her appearance on Saturday Night Live back in October in which she lampooned several family members

Iconic: She sat down for an interview with American playwright Jeremy O. Harris (seen last week in new York) which was printed on the pages of the publication

She explained: 'I wanted people to see a part of my personality that all my friends know, that everyone close to me knows. But you know, SNL was a completely different audience for me. It was my opportunity. I wanted to show people that this is funny, and this is a big side of my personality too. And it was fun.'

Some of the gags she was involved in included doing a ruthless impression of her older sister Kourtney, poking fun of her divorce from Kanye West, and kissing Pete Davidson whom she has since been romantically linked to.

Kim was asked by the 32-year-old Slave Play writer if there were any jokes that she had steered away from to which she revealed that there was one joke left on the cutting room floor.

The reality star said: 'Everyone in the family was just like, "You can do whatever you want." Everyone was really easy and game for me to do whatever I wanted.

Kim talked about how 'unkind' she was to her nearest and dearest while hosting the show as she insisted that they all have a sense of humor about themselves and their family unit as a whole including poking fun at older sister Kourtney

The mother-of-four said: 'I think people might not get that were absolutely in on the joke. We always have been. It is what it is. I especially couldnt really give a f*** what anyone ever says and thinks'

A whole new world: Some of the gags she was involved in included doing a ruthless impression of her older sister Kourtney, poking fun of her divorce from Kanye West, and kissing Pete Davidson (pictured) whom she has since been romantically linked to

'Although I had a really funny joke about Tristan [Thompson] and Khloe that I took out  I couldve maybe gone further. But everyone was like, "Use me. Do whatever you want. This is your time." They were down. That was super cool.'

It wasn't all jokes that were being discussed as Harris asked her a very serious question about being criticized for blackfishing.

According to journalist Wanna Thompson blackfishing is when 'when White public figures, influencers and the like do everything in their power to appear Black.'

When asked about the criticism, Kim replied: 'Obviously, I would never do anything to appropriate any culture. But I have in the past got backlash from putting my hair in braids and I understand that.

'Honestly, a lot of the time it comes from my daughter asking us to do matching hair. And Ive had these conversations with her that are like, "Hey, maybe this hairstyle would be better on you and not on me." But I also want her to feel that I can do a hairstyle with her and not make it that big of a deal either if thats something that shes really asking for, and really wants.'

'Obviously, I would never do anything to appropriate any culture': The mother of four - North, eight, Saint, five, Chicago, three, and Psalm, two -addressed Blackfishing critiques, as she is pictured with Kanye West and family in 2019

The mother of four said that she has found better ways to communicate the complexities of race and culture issues including their Black and Armenian heritages.

She explained: 'But Ive learned and grown over the years, and figured out good ways to communicate with all my kids about all this.

'Ive definitely learned over time, and Ive tried to pass that culture of learning onto my kids too, but then theres also a history of braiding hair in Armenia, and people forget that I am Armenian as well.'

Meanwhile it is a massive day in Kim's life as she is one step closer to fulfilling her dream of becoming an attorney as she passed her baby bar exam after failing three times previously.

The mogul took to Instagram to share a gallery of images of herself in an elegant dress as she revealed the milestone in her journey to become a lawyer.

'OMFGGGG I PASSED THE BABY BAR EXAM!!!!' Meanwhile it is a massive day in Kim's life as she is one step closer to fulfilling her dream of becoming an attorney as she passed her baby bar exam after failing three times previously

'He would have been my biggest cheerleader!' Despite the previous failures, Kim explained remained motivated as she kept her father, the late Robert Kardashian, in mind as she said if he were alive today he would have been her biggest supporter

Despite the previous failures, Kim explained remained motivated as she kept her father, the late Robert Kardashian, in mind as she said if he were alive today he would have been her biggest supporter.

The reality star began the post by writing a lengthy caption to her 269million followers which began: 'OMFGGGG I PASSED THE BABY BAR EXAM!!!!

'Looking in the mirror, I am really proud of the woman looking back today in the reflection.'

The reality star was referencing photos she had taken in front of her bathroom mirror for announcement as she was joined by a photographer and a filming crew.

The reality star began the post by writing a lengthy caption to her 269million followers which began: 'OMFGGGG I PASSED THE BABY BAR EXAM!!!!'

She continued: 'For anyone who doesnt know my law school journey, know this wasnt easy or handed to me.

'I failed this exam 3 times in 2 years, but I got back up each time and studied harder and tried again until I did it!!! (I did have COVID on the 3rd try w a 104 fever but Im not making excuses [winking eye emoji])'

The First-Year Law Students' Examination (FYLSX) AKA 'baby bar' is a one-day test given remotely in June and October.

Passing the State Bar of California is arguably the toughest in the nation as Kim explained that since she did not complete her first year of law study in a juris doctor degree program at a State Bar-unaccredited registered law school she had to take this first exam 'with a harder pass rate.'

'Looking in the mirror, I am really proud of the woman looking back today in the reflection': The reality star referenced photos she had taken in front of her bathroom mirror for announcement as she was joined by a photographer and a filming crew
After filming his appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live, Benedict Cumberbatch hit the red carpet in style at the Spider-Man: No Way Home Los Angeles premiere.

The actor, 45, appeared enamoured with his wife of six years - Sophie Hunter - as they put on a smitten display at the premiere, held at the Regency Village Theater in Los Angeles on Monday evening.

Stylish: After filming his appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live, Benedict Cumberbatch hit the red carpet in style at the Spider-Man: No Way Home Los Angeles premiere

The actor returns as Doctor Stephen Strange in Spider-Man: No Way Home, which hits theaters nationwide on December 17.

Cumberbatch stepped out in a classic black suit with a white dress shirt, black tie and black coat.

He also wore orange-tinted glasses as he hit the red carpet, with a black watch seen peeking out from his suit coat.

The actor completed his look with black pants and shiny black shoes.

Married: The couple has been married since February 2015 and share three sons together, Christopher, 6, Hal, 4 and Finn, 2

Husband and wife: The 45-year-old actor hit the red carpet with his wife of six years, theater director Sophie Hunter at the premiere, held at the Regency Village Theater in Los Angeles on Monday evening

Benedict's look: Cumberbatch stepped out in a classic black suit with a white dress shirt, black tie and black coat

Benedict's look: He also wore orange-tinted glasses as he hit the red carpet, with a black watch seen peeking out from his suit coat

The actor's wife Sophie opted for an elegant, full-length, strapless white gown, which is attached to a silver choker.

She also wore a number of silver earrings for the red carpet event on Monday evening in Westwood.

The couple has been married since February 2015 and share three sons together, Christopher, 6, Hal, 4 and Finn, 2.

Sophie's look: The actor's wife Sophie opted for an elegant, full-length, strapless white gown, which is attached to a silver choker

Red carpet ready: She also wore a number of silver earrings for the red carpet event on Monday evening in Westwood

Red carpet ready: Sophie Hunter steps out on the red carpet

Spider-Man: No Way Home follows Peter Parker (Tom Holland) after his identity as Spider-Man has been revealed.

He goes to Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) for help, though he botches a spell where he tries to get people to forget he's Spider-Man.

That failed spell leads to villains from other worlds in the multiverse to come to Peter's world, including villains from previous Spider-Man movies, such as The Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe) and Electro (Jamie Foxx).

Doctor Strange: He goes to Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) for help, though he botches a spell where he tries to get people to forget he's Spider-Man

Failed spell: That failed spell leads to villains from other worlds in the multiverse to come to Peter's world, including villains from previous Spider-Man movies, such as The Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe) and Electro (Jamie Foxx)

Cumberbatch can also be seen in one of the most critically-acclaimed movies of the year, The Power of the Dog, which is currently on Netflix.

He will also return as Doctor Strange once again in the upcoming sequel Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness, slated for release May 6, 2022.

He is also attached to star in the thriller Rogue Male and Rio, along with the mini-series The 39 Steps.

New movie: Cumberbatch can also be seen in one of the most critically-acclaimed movies of the year, The Power of the Dog, which is currently on Netflix
Just a month and a half before his Spider-Man spin-off Morbius hits theaters, Jared Leto showed his support for the franchise at the Spider-Man: No Way Home premiere.

The 49-year-old actor rocked a colorful ensemble at the Los Angeles premiere of Spider-Man: No Way Home, held at the Regency Village Theater.

Leto stars as Dr. Michael Morbius in the spin-off Morbius that is slated to hit theaters on January 28, 2022, with the actor sporting a necklace that seems to hint his Morbius character is in fact part of the criminal collective known as the Sinister Six.

Support: Just a month and a half before his Spider-Man spin-off Morbius hits theaters, Jared Leto showed his support for the franchise at the Spider-Man: No Way Home premiere

The actor hit the red carpet wearing an unbuttoned black dress shirt under a stylish purple suit coat.

His dress shirt was tucked neatly into a pair of red dress pants, with a thin necklace with a diamond-encrusted 6 pendant.

He completed his look with a pair of pristine white boots, but it's his necklace that could serve as a big hint into Sony's Spider-Man plans moving forward.

Red carpet: The actor hit the red carpet wearing an unbuttoned black dress shirt under a stylish purple suit coat

The 6 pendant could be a hint that his Morbius character could be a part of the infamous comic book villain group known as the Sinister Six.

It has already been confirmed that Spider-Man: No Way Home will explore the multiverse, with numerous villains from previous Spider-Man movies also confirmed.

Villains such as Doctor Octopus (Alfred Molina), Electro (Jamie Foxx) and The Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe) are confirmed, though there have been hints at Sandman (Thomas Haden Church) and Lizard (Rhys Ifans) appearing as well.

Six: The 6 pendant could be a hint that his Morbius character could be a part of the infamous comic book villain group known as the Sinister Six

More villains: It has already been confirmed that Spider-Man: No Way Home will explore the multiverse, with numerous villains from previous Spider-Man movies also confirmed

That leaves room for one more villain, which may indeed be Leto's Morbius, who is seen interacting with another character from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming villain Adrian Toomes, a.k.a. Vulture (Michael Keaton).

Leto was even featured in a cryptic video presentation from Sony at Brazil's CCXP earlier this month, where he seemed to hint Morbius is part of the Sinister Six.

'If you've seen the last Spider-Man: No Way Home trailer, you know the multiverse has officially opened. And there's all kinds of opportunities for villains to meet up, thrive and maybe even nurture their more... sinister intents,' Leto said in the video.

Villain: That leaves room for one more villain, which may indeed be Leto's Morbius, who is seen interacting with another character from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming villain Adrian Toomes, a.k.a. Vulture (Michael Keaton)

Morbius follows Leto's title character, a biochemist to is working around the clock to try and cure himself of a rare blood disease.

Instead, he ends up infecting himself with an ancient form of vampirism as he struggles with his new thirst for blood.

The cast also includes Matt Smith, Jared Harris, Tyrese Gibson and Al Madrigal, with the film hitting theaters January 28, 2022.

Title character: Morbius follows Leto's title character, a biochemist to is working around the clock to try and cure himself of a rare blood disease

Vampire: Instead, he ends up infecting himself with an ancient form of vampirism as he struggles with his new thirst for blood
Georgia Fowler shared a series of intimate photos of herself breastfeeding her newborn daughter, Dylan, on Instagram on Tuesday.

The 29-year-old model sat serenely on a white couch as her three-month-old daughter fed on her right breast.

'Feeding a newborn is a full-time job, those early weeks of engorgement, the worry about your supply, the leaks through your tops, and, well, everywhere else - it's a messy time,' she captioned the post.

Feeding time: Georgia Fowler shared a series of intimate photos of herself breastfeeding her newborn daughter, Dylan, on Instagram on Tuesday

Promoting a range of eco-friendly baby products, Georgia offered a few encouraging words of support to fellow new mums: 'Go mamas, you got this.'

Georgia welcomed Dylan with her businessman boyfriend Nathan Dalah on September 17.

'Dylan Aman Dalah. 17.9.21. Welcome to the world. We love you so much,' she wrote, sharing a series of photos of the adorable newborn.

Keeping mum: The 29-year-old model sat serenely on a white couch as her three-month-old daughter fed on her right breast

The New Zealand-born beauty announced she was expecting her first child with the FISHBOWL co-founder back in April.

At the time, she shared the news by writing: 'We can't wait to meet you, little one.'

'It's been hard to keep this one quiet, but now it's pretty hard to hide,' she added.

New addition: Georgia welcomed Dylan with her businessman boyfriend Nathan Dalah on September 17

'Nathan and I couldn't be happier to share our exciting news with you. We cannot wait to meet you little one and begin our next adventure together. The best is yet to come.'

Last month, Georgia paid tribute to her little girl on her two-month birthday, revealing her sweet nickname.

'Two months of Diddy. Thanks for being the coolest, most serene, and now the smiliest bub out. (And for sleeping six-hour stints). We love you more than life itself,' she wrote on Instagram.
Kris Jenner shared a slew of adorable snaps as she celebrated her daughter passing the baby bar exam.

Despite three previous failed attempts, Kim Kardashian, 41, kept persevering on her mission to become a qualified attorney, with her hard work paying off this month.

Momager Kris, 66, took to Instagram on Monday to express her pride, with her kind words and montage of snaps leaving Kim in tears.

'You are an inspiration to many': Kris Jenner left Kim Kardashian in tears as she celebrated her daughter passing the baby bar with childhood snaps on Monday

Kris penned: 'Congratulations to my beautiful Kimberly for passing the Baby Bar!!!!! What a testimony for never giving up, following your dreams and being persistent and totally focused! I am beyond proud of you your dad would be so proud of you!!

'I cant wait to see what you do next!! What an inspiration you are to so many. What an incredible blessing, and Im so grateful to be on this amazing journey of life with you  @kimkardashian #proudmama #love #family'.

Kim then replied to the sweet post: 'OMG mom! Youre gonna make me cry! This is so sweet of you! Thank you! I got it from my mama.'

Alongside her message Kris shared a selection of sweet throwback snaps of Kim not previously shared with fans.

Good effort: Despite three previous failed attempts, Kim Kardashian, 41, kept persevering on her mission to become a qualified attorney, with her hard work paying off this month

Earlier in the day, Kim shared the happy news with her fans alongside a gallery of images clad in a cobalt gown and thigh high boots.

The reality star began the post by writing a lengthy caption to her 269million followers which began: 'OMFGGGG I PASSED THE BABY BAR EXAM!!!!

'Looking in the mirror, I am really proud of the woman looking back today in the reflection. For anyone who doesnt know my law school journey, know this wasnt easy or handed to me.

'I failed this exam 3 times in 2 years, but I got back up each time and studied harder and tried again until I did it!!! (I did have COVID on the 3rd try w a 104 fever but Im not making excuses [winking eye emoji])'

Adorable: Momager Kris, 66, took to Instagram on Monday to express her pride, with her kind words and montage of snaps leaving Kim in tears

Kris penned: 'Congratulations to my beautiful Kimberly for passing the Baby Bar!!!!! What a testimony for never giving up, following your dreams and being persistent'

The First-Year Law Students' Examination (FYLSX) AKA 'baby bar' is a one-day test given remotely in June and October.

Passing the State Bar of California is arguably the toughest in the nation as Kim explained that since she did not complete her first year of law study in a juris doctor degree program at a State Bar-unaccredited registered law school she had to take this first exam 'with a harder pass rate.'

As this is not the traditional path, Kim said that she had encountered a lot of doubters but was more than happy to prove them wrong as she said: 'I was told by top lawyers that this was a close to impossible journey and harder than the traditional law school route but it was my only option and it feels so so sooooo good to be here and on my way to achieving my goals.'

Sweet: Alongside her message Kris shared a selection of sweet throwback snaps of Kim not previously shared with fans with Kim admitting she was in tears

She went on to thank many people who have helped her in her journey including friend and Emmy winning host and contributor for CNN and former special advisor to President Barack Obama, Van Jones, 'who talked me into going to law school in the first place'.

Jones introduced her to Jessica Jackson and Erin Haney, who are both heads at criminal justice reform organizations Cut 50 and REFORM Alliance, for bringing her along in the courtroom as they have been with her from the very beginning.

Of her relationship with the duo she wrote: 'I respect them so much and appreciate you both for letting me tag along and ask all of the little questions along the way.'

Congratulations: Earlier in the day, Kim shared the happy news with her fans alongside a gallery of images clad in a cobalt gown and thigh high boots

Kim began a four-year apprenticeship at a law firm in San Francisco in 2018 and has been working under Haney and Jackson to complete her law studies, according to NBC.

Kim went on to honor her father Robert Kardashian who was famously on O.J. Simpson's defense team during his murder trial in 1995.

She wrote: 'I know my dad would be so proud and he would actually be so shocked to know that this is my path now but he would have been my best study partner.

'I am told he was notorious for making fun of people who didnt pass on their first attempt like he did, but he would have been my biggest cheerleader!'

Feeling good: The First-Year Law Students' Examination (FYLSX) AKA 'baby bar' is a one-day test given remotely in June and October

The SKIMS founder finished off the post with an inspiring message for her followers as she concluded: 'Bottom line is dont ever give up even when you are holding on by a thread, you can do it!!!!!

'Set your mind to it and get it done because it feels soooooo good once you get to the other side! [scales and books emojis]'

In March, Kim revealed she's now halfway through her law degree and has just two years left of studying before she can take her bar exam and become a fully qualified lawyer.
Comedian Dave Hughes will be moving to Sydney next year to host his 2Day FM breakfast show, The Morning Crew with Hughesy, Ed and Erin.

The 51-year-old, who has primarily been hosting the show with Ed Kavalee in Melbourne, told The Daily Telegraph's Confidential on Tuesday that he's 'buying a property in Sydney in the next month or so'.

Based in Melbourne with his wife Holly Hughes and their three young children, Dave told the publication how Holly 'freaked out' about the far from 'ideal' arrangement.

Moving to the Harbour City: 2Day FM's Dave Hughes (pictured), 51, told The Daily Telegraph's Confidential on Tuesday that he's moving to Sydney next year to host his breakfast show, The Morning Crew with Hughesy, Ed and Erin

'My wife freaked out about the whole thing and borders being shut, which made it really hard to be honest,' he said.

'The truth is I will be buying a property in Sydney in the next month or so and I will be up there a lot but we will still be splitting our time between Melbourne and Sydney.'

Dave's comments come after the final radio ratings survey of the year was revealed.

Ben Fordham Live on 2GB has been crowned Sydney's number one breakfast show to round off the year with a 18.5% share.

Group act: The comedian has primarily been hosting the breakfast show in Melbourne. Pictured with Ed Kavalee (left) and Erin Molan (right)

Family: Dave told the publication how wife Holly Hughes 'freaked out' about the far from 'ideal' arrangement. 'My wife freaked out about the whole thing and borders being shut, which made it really hard to be honest,' he said. Pictured with their three young children

Meanwhile, The Kyle and Jackie O Show has retained the top spot for FM with a 10.8% share.

It's been a strong year for both radio programs as Ben found his footing in the latter half of 2021.

2GB came close to recording an all-time best result in the Sydney breakfast radio market in the previous radio survey, after initially struggling to hold on to the dominating audience his predecessor Alan Jones held.

Kyle and Jackie O had a stellar year as well, consistently topping the FM charts.

Winners are grinners: Dave's comments come after the final ratings survey of the year was revealed. Ben Fordham Live on 2GB has been crowned Sydney's number one breakfast show to round off the year with a 18.5% share. Pictured: Ben Fordham

A great year for Kyle and Jackie O: Meanwhile, The Kyle and Jackie O Show has retained the top spot for FM with a 10.8% share. Pictured: Kyle Sandilands and Jackie 'O' Henderson

The duo also recorded their best ratings win of all-time in their 21 years of broadcasting when they beat 2GB in July.

In other results in the latest survey, WSFM's Jonesy & Amanda came in behind Kyle and Jackie O on the FM airwaves with a 9.1% share.

Meanwhile, the ABC's outgoing Wendy Harmer and Robbie Buck on ABC Sydney placed second behind Ben with 13.2% - a fall of 2.7%.

Second place: WSFM's Jonesy & Amanda came in behind Kyle and Jackie O on the FM airwaves with a 9.1% share. Brendan 'Jonesy' Jones and Amanda Keller are pictured at the 2019 Australian Commercial Radio Awards

Nova's Fitzy and Wippa show saw the biggest rise - jumping 2.2 points from the previous survey from 4.7% to 6.9%.

The Morning Crew with Hughesy, Ed & Erin finished the year with a 2.7% share, which was a drop of 0.2 points.

Triple M's Moonman in the Morning remained stable at 4.6% despite the shock axing of former host Lawrence Mooney at the station last month.
Brooke Blurton and Darvid Garayeli found love on The Bachelorette.

And on Tuesday, the loved-up couple enjoyed their first public date since the finale aired last month.

Brooke shared a series of photos to Instagram of the couple embracing one another before enjoying dinner.

It's official! Brooke Blurton enjoyed her first public date with boyfriend Darvid Garayeli one month after finding love on The Bachelorette

'Mum and dad are off to our first date ever in public at a restaurant,' she captioned the post.

In one photo, Darvid embraced Brooke as he gave her a kiss on the cheek.

She also shared another image of her beau smiling while posing at the restaurant.

'Mum and dad are off to our first date ever in public at a restaurant,' she captioned the post

Brooke chose Darvid in this year's finale, telling him she was in love with him and presenting him with a ring.

'From the moment I met you, I felt a lot of feelings. I felt calm, I felt trusting...' an emotional Brooke began.

'Look, I don't know how to say this, but you came in here and you granted me three wishes. And I still have one left.'

Sobbing, she added: 'Darvid, will you make me the happiest girl... I love you so much.'

Romance: Brooke chose Darvid in this year's finale, telling him she was in love with him and presenting him with a ring

After the finale aired, Darvid revealed to fans that the pair were about to move in together in Melbourne.

He said on Instagram: '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.'

'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.'
Amanda Holden paid tribute to the late Britain's Got Talent magician who auditioned to be on the show a record 12 times.

David Watson, 62, passed away last Thursday and was discovered after police forced entry into his house in Altrincham, Manchester states The Sun.

Upon hearing the news, Amanda, 50, shared on Instagram on Tuesday: 'So sad to hear that @davidjwatsonbgt has passed away. He was always up for a laugh and such a good sport on @bgt. We will miss him.'

RIP: A Britain's Got Talent magician who auditioned to be on the show a record 12 times has been found dead at his home in Manchester, according to reports

Memorable: Upon hearing the news, Amanda Holden, 50, took to Instagram to share a sweet tribute in which she praised him for being a 'good sport'

Concerns were raised by the retired NHS worker's family after he failed to respond to calls and messages.

The publication states David's death is not being treated as suspicious.

A source said: 'His family couldnt get hold of him for a few days. He wasn't picking up and his Whatsapp messages were all still unread.'

MailOnline has contacted Manchester Police for comment.

Amanda penned: 'So sad to hear that @davidjwatsonbgt has passed away. He was always up for a laugh and such a good sport on @bgt. We will miss him'

David was a close friend to Coronation Street's Michael Le Vell and would reportedly meet once a week to have a drink together at The Brook pub.

The magician was a firm favourite on the show. David first appeared in the 2008 series as an impressionist.

He impersonated three politicians; Tony Blair, William Hague, and David Blunkett and did not proceed to the next round.

David returned two years later for series four of the show.

Firm favourite: David, 62, passed away last Thursday and was discovered after police forced entry into his house in Altrincham

He was brought onto the stage in a concealed cardboard box, with a 'trainer' named Nigel.

The magician then emerged dressed as the Incredible Hulk and danced around the stage carrying a wand and was quickly buzzed off.

The judges remembered David from series two but he did not go through to the next round.

David went on to star as an auditionee every year up to last year's series 14 for the variety show.

In the 2020 series, David managed to get through to the second round, with David Walliams and Alesha Dixon calling the act his 'best audition yet'.

Act: David first appeared in the 2008 series as an impressionist. He impersonated three politicians; Tony Blair, William Hague, and David Blunkett

Of taking part in Britain's Got Talent, David previously told the Manchester Evening News: 'My first ever audition was back in 2007, but I never got through.

'A lot of people think the first time you get on TV is your first audition, but you've got to pass another audition before you even get to perform for the judges.'

David continued: 'I just love being on the show. To be on TV is very good because I get recognised in the Trafford Centre and people ask me for a selfie - I feel pretty honoured about it. Ant and Dec are always pleased to have me back and I used to get on very well with Stephen Mulhern before they stopped doing Britain's Got More Talent.'
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They wrapped shooting on My Policeman back in June.

Yet Emma Corrin and on-screen husband Harry Styles were reunited on Monday as they needed to reshoot scenes for their LGBT drama in London on Sunday evening.

Also seen with the pair was co-star David Dawson who plays Harry's lover in the drama, which is based on the 2012 novel of the same name, and explores the sexual mores of the 1950s and the criminalisation of homosexuality.

Back together: Emma Corrin reunited with on-screen husband Harry Styles to reshoot scenes for their LGBT drama My Policeman in London on Sunday

Emma, 26, looked radiant for filming as she donned a green velvet coat while modelling an auburn wig to get into the character of Marion.

Meanwhile, Harry, 27, and Patrick, 39, looked dapper in tuxedos as they filmed scenes within their love triangle.

Harry takes the lead in the new movie which is set in Brighton in the 1950s, and based on Bethan Roberts' novel, focusing on police officer Tom, who is gay, but married to Marion (Emma) due to societal expectations.

Three's company: Also seen with the pair was co-star David Dawson who plays Harry's lover in the drama, which is based on the 2012 novel of the same name, and explores the sexual mores of the 1950s and the criminalisation of homosexuality

Gorgeous in green: Emma, 26, looked radiant for filming as she donned a green velvet coat while modelling an auburn wig to get into the character of Marion

Suited and booted: Harry, 27, and Patrick, 39, looked dapper in tuxedos as they filmed scenes within their love triangle

The film follows Harry's character as he goes on to have a decades-long affair with museum curator Patrick Hazelwood, played by David.

Principal photography for the movie began in April, but it is currently unclear when the film will be released, as while Emma announced that filming had wrapped over the summer, the cast have been called back for reshoots this month.

Harry has reportedly filmed sex scenes with co-star David in the upcoming LGBT romantic drama.

One to watch: Harry takes the lead in the new movie which is set in Brighton in the 1950s, and based on Bethan Roberts' novel, focusing on police officer Tom, who is gay, but married to Marion (Emma) due to societal expectations

Unfaithful: The film follows Harry as he goes on to have a decades-long affair with museum curator Patrick Hazelwood, played by David

An insider said: 'Harry will be having sex on screen and they want it to look as real as possible. The plan is to shoot two romps between Harry and David, then another scene where Harry is naked on his own.'

A source added to The Sun: 'Not much is going to be left to the imagination. Harry is throwing himself into this new role and is really excited about the challenge, even though its a daunting task.

'He always wants to do things that people wouldnt expect and challenge what people think about him  and this film will really do that.'

Coming soon? Principal photography for the movie began in April, but it is currently unclear when the film will be released

Not over yet: The pair wrapped shooting on My Policeman back in June but were called back for reshoots this month

Baz Bamigboye revealed in The Daily Mail earlier this year that The Last Kingdom star David would portray the lover of Harry's character.

Rupert Everett will appear as the older version of Patrick in the film, while the former One Direction artist will be replaced by Linus Roache for scenes set years after their affair began, while Golden Globe winner Emma's character will be taken over by Gina McKee later in the film.

The Amazon Studios production is being directed by Michael Grandage, and was shot from April 12 on locations in London and the South-East coast, while the more intimate moments were filmed at one of the big film studios.

Chemistry: Harry has reportedly filmed sex scenes with co-star David in the upcoming LGBT romantic drama

Filming: The Amazon Studios production is being directed by Michael Grandage, and was shot from April 12 on locations in London and the South-East coast, while the more intimate moments were filmed at one of the big film studios

The film will be adapted by Oscar-nominee Ron Nyswaner, and Amazon will be working with Berlanti Schechter Productions.

Harry is currently in a relationship with American actress Olivia Wilde, 37, and has previously dated celebrities such as Kendall Jenner, 25, Taylor Swift, 31, and Kiko Mizuhara, 30.

The hunk previously insisted he is not using 'sexual ambiguity to try and be more interesting' but demands fans respect his refusal to discuss his sexuality.

On location: The streets were cordoned off and full of action as the cast and crew worked to shoot scenes in the capital

Back in time: The streets had been transformed to look in place in the 1950s

Speaking to The Guardian's Weekend Magazine, the hitmaker revealed that while he doesn't mind being asked about his sexuality, he has no plans to definitively provide an answer.

Meanwhile, Emma came out as 'queer' and changed her pronouns to she/they earlier in the year.

Speaking on ITV News, she explained: 'I think we are so used to defining ourselves. That's the way society works within these binaries and it's taken me a long time to realise that I exist somewhere in between and I'm still not sure where that is yet.'

Vroom vroom: Vintage taxis were brought out to line the streets in keeping with the 1950s timeline
She plays Spider-Man's Aunt May in the Marvel franchise.

And Marisa Tomei certainly took centre stage as she attended the premiere for the latest release, Spider-Man: No Way Home, at the Regency Village theatre in Los Angeles on Monday evening.

The actress, 57, cut a dazzling figure in a gold sequin dress, which featured a sexy thigh-slit up the leg, revealing her toned pins as she posed for pictures.

Wow! Marisa Tomei certainly took centre stage as she attended the premiere for the latest release, Spider-Man: No Way Home, at the Regency Village theatre in Los Angeles on Monday evening

The front of Marisa's dress was covered in colourful gem stones and she styled the dress with a pair of strappy barely-there heels.

The Academy Award-winning star wore her brunette locks in loose waves and sported a pretty pallet of make-up including a slick of nude gloss.

Marisa was joined at the premiere by her co-stars Tom Holland, Zendaya, Benedict Cumberbatch and Jamie Foxx among others.

Glam: The actress, 57, cut a dazzling figure in a gold sequin dress, which featured a sexy thigh-slit up the leg, revealing her toned pins as she posed for pictures

Spider-Man: No Way Home is the third film in the franchise starring Zendaya and Holland.

The movie comes after 2017's Spider-Man: Homecoming and 2019's Spider-Man: Far From Home.

The 2021 film sees Peter Parker grappling with life and his reputation after his identity as a superhero was exposed by Mysterio (played by former Spider-Man star Jake Gyllenhaal) in the last movie.

With his life further on the line, he seeks out Dr. Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) to help restore his secret identity, but this breaks open the multiverse as five supervillains from alternate realities who fought other versions of Spider-Man arrive.

Celeb line-up: Marisa was joined at the premiere by her co-stars Tom Holland, Zendaya, Benedict Cumberbatch and Jamie Foxx among others

Sensational: The front of Marisa's dress was covered in colourful gem stones and she styled the dress with a pair of strappy barely-there heels

The movie also stars Marisa Tomei as Parker's aunt May, Jamie Foxx as Electro, Benedict Wong as Wong - a master of the mystic arts and Strange's mentor, Jacob Batalon as Parker's best friend Ned, Willem Dafoe as Green Goblin, Jon Favreau as Parker's bodyguard/head of Stark Industries security and J.B. Smoove.

No Way Home was supposed to be released after next year's Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness, but when production on that film was delayed by COVID-19, they decided to shoot the Spider-Man threequel first.

To make matters more complicated a number of key actors had yet to sign on to the third film as the first day of shooting drew near, and the script for the movie was being re-written frequently during production.

Triology: The movie comes after 2017's Spider-Man: Homecoming and 2019's Spider-Man: Far From Home

'Some people were trying to figure out whether they wanted to do it, and we needed all of them or none,' Holland said in a GQ profile.

'You could ask the director, "What happens in act three?" And his response would be, "Im still trying to figure it out",' he continued to divulge at the time.

But the cast and crew managed to make it work, with Holland even teasing a 'style of fighting in this film that you've never seen in the Spider-Man movies before.' The film hits theaters December 17.

Family: Marisa posed with her on-screen nephew and his girlfriend
Call the Midwife is set to get at least one more series, as the show will continue to run until the early 1970's.

The series aims to mirror what life was like for the real medical team of Nonnatus House and has been a firm favourite with TV audiences.

The show returns with its 11th season next month set in the year 1967, but the show creator has since confirmed it will keep going until they've reached the next decade.

Not going anywhere: Call the Midwife creator confirms more seasons are on the way and show will continue to run into the 1970's (pictured Laura Main, Helen George and Leonie Elliott)

Speaking to The Mirror, Helen George - who plays Trixie in the hit series - revealed she had spoken with creator Heidi Thomas who said she wanted to follow the timeline as the nuns existed until the early 70s.

Heidi's husband Stephen McGann, who plays Dr Patrick Turner, added: 'I think historically it has a natural, general timeline. If you stay to a level of historical accuracy, it wont go on in that form forever, because it didnt back then.'

Call The Midwives' 11th season will air next month and will see Trixie find love with single dad Matthew Aylward.

Confirmed: Helen George (pictured) revealed she had spoken with creator Heidi Thomas who said she wanted to follow the timeline as the nuns existed until the early 70s

The popular medical drama will also look at issues that were prevalent at the time including mechanic Cyril played by Zephryn Taitte as he struggles to get a white collar job.

The series will also cover illnesses such as scabies, chickenpox and measles.

Call The Midwife regularly attracts more than 10million viewers making it one of the most successful shows on British TV.

But it has only ever won one Bafta award, the Radio Times Audience Award in 2013, which was voted for by members of the public.

New direction: Heidi's husband Stephen McGann, who plays Dr Patrick Turner (pictured together) added, 'I think historically it has a natural, general timeline'

Heidi was asked if she was interested in writing a script based on the memoirs of a 1950s midwife, and admits she didn't have high hopes for the series back in 2012.

'I'd just done Cranford and I was looking for another period project,' she recalled ahead of series 10. 'But I didn't consider a drama set in the 1950s as period  that seemed strange to someone born in 1962.

'And the cover of the book had four grubby little urchins on it, so I was worried it would be too twee. But by the time I got to page 17 I knew I had to do it.'

Call The Midwife returns on BBC One on January 2.
Australian children's show Bluey has consistently been a favourite with audiences, and even has a few A-list fans.

Oscar-winning actress Natalie Portman, 40, lent her voice to an episode this week titled Whale Watching, where she narrated a whale documentary on the show.

The popular ABC Kids series follows the adventures of 'a loveable, inexhaustible six-year-old Blue Heeler dog (Bluey)' along with her family, which includes her mum, dad and younger sister (Bingo), and her friends.

A-list fan! Oscar-winning actress Natalie Portman (pictured), 40, lent her voice to iconic Australian kids' show Bluey on an episode this week titled Whale Watching. Pictured in September 2019

In the Whale Watching episode, Bluey and Bingo enthusiastically watch the whale documentary, with Natalie becoming the narrator.

Natalie is not the only A-list fan with Eva Mendes having told Australian news outlet Now To Love in October last year that she has 'binge-watched' the show with her children.

The American actress, 47, shares daughters Esmeralda, seven, and Amada, five, with longtime partner Ryan Gosling, 41.

'They love Bluey! Blue is huge in our house. Huge,' Eva said, referring to the cartoon.

The scene: In the Whale Watching episode, Bluey and Bingo enthusiastically watch the whale documentary, with Natalie becoming the narrator

'It's really beautiful, I really love Bluey. They get kind of this crazy energy afterwards and they play tricks on us. They really love the frozen statue thing.

'But they love Bluey, and we love Bluey, and we watch it a lot,' she continued.

The show, which won the Kids: Preschool Award at the 2019 International Emmys, has captured the hearts and minds of schoolchildren across America and is changing the way they speak.

Beloved animation: The popular ABC Kids series follows the adventures of 'a loveable, inexhaustible six-year-old Blue Heeler dog (Bluey)' along with her family, which includes her mum, dad and younger sister (Bingo), and her friends

Aussie connection: Natalie is not the only A-list fan with Eva Mendes (pictured) having told Australian news outlet Now To Love in October last year that she has 'binge-watched' the show with her children. 'But they love Bluey, and we love Bluey, and we watch it a lot,' she said

Kids in the United States are beginning to speak with an unmistakable Australian twang after watching Bluey.

The cartoon has become wildly popular in the U.S. after premiering on the Disney Channel, Disney Junior and Disney+ in September 2019.

Last year, The New York Times described the show as 'the biggest Australian export since The Wiggles' - the country's most famous children's band.

The cartoon stays true to its true-blue roots and is packed with 'g'day' greetings and Aussie phrases like 'show us your thongs, muffin!'

Hollywood couple: The American actress, 47, shares daughters Esmeralda, seven, and Amada, five, with longtime partner Ryan Gosling, 41. Pictured together in September 2012
Brooke Shields has candidly discussed sex, relationships and owning her body, admitting that intimacy 'evolved' for her with age.

The actress, 56, revealed she is 'continually learning how to love herself' as she confessed that it wasn't until she reached her 40s that sex became 'my experience.'

Speaking to Yahoo Life, she said: 'Sex for me it has really evolved. My 20s, I was always terrified of it, because I was a virgin until I was 22.'

Candid: Brooke Shields, 56, admitted sex 'evolved' for her in her 40s as she reflected on losing her virginity, toxic relationships and owning her body in a candid chat

Losing her virginity left the former model racked with guilt, as she continued to explain: 'You know, I thought I was committing an offense to humanity for being a Catholic, not married, and I had so much guilt.'

The mother-of-two does not want her daughters, Rowan, 18 and 15-year-old Grier, to 'feel ashamed' of anything and hopes they will 'feel more in control.'

Over the years Brooke has been linked to actors including John Travolta, Liam Neeson. She has been married to screenwriter Chris Henchy since 2001.

Prior to this she was married to former tennis player Andre Agassi, however they filed for divorce after less than two years of marriage.

Opening up: The actress, 56, said she is 'continually learning how to love herself' and recalled how it wasn't until her 40s that sex became 'my experience'

'It wasn't until my 40s that I started thinking of sex as my experience, not someone else's experience that I just navigated. What I want my daughters to know is that it's a joint decision.

'Even with as woke as everybody is, you'd be shocked at how they see themselves within relationships. I don't want them ever to feel used,' Brooke voiced.

Her forties did not come without hardships, however, as the actress went on to detail: '40 felt that, all of a sudden, I was an adult. Fertility was changing for me. It was difficult for me to have children. I did IVF seven times.'

Former flame: Over the years Brooke has been linked to actors including John Travolta, Liam Neeson (pictured in 1992), and she was married to screenwriter Chris Henchy

Elsewhere, the Pretty Baby film star credited her producer husband and father of her two children Chris Henchy for 'celebrating her.'

'I do have a wonderful husband who celebrates me. He loves me at every stage, which I'm very blessed by,' she gushed.

It comes after the Manhattan native hit out at Barbara Walters following a 1981 interview, in which she was grilled about her measurements and being sexualised when she was just 15.

During an appearance on Dax Shepard's Armchair Expert podcast, she spoke of being 'oversexualised' in her controversial Calvin Klein campaign, in which she caused shockwaves for the ad's provocative nature.

Family: Elsewhere, the Pretty Baby film star credited her producer husband and father of her two children Chris Henchy for 'celebrating her'

Speaking of the interview, in which she was asked a series of intimate questions about her sexual history and her measurements by Barbara, an infuriated Brooke reflected: 'It's practically criminal. It is not journalism.'

In the interview, Barbara claimed her childhood was being stolen in a comment to Brooke's mom Teri and about her body shape and statistics.

Brooke took part in the interview as part of her campaign for Calvin Klein, in which she was seen saying to the camera: 'You want to know what comes between me and my Calvins? Nothing' - causing an outcry of criticism.

Dax conceded that the shocking interview was enraging, as he added: 'That Barbara Walters interview is maddening'.

The ex-files: Prior to this she was married to former tennis player Andre Agassi, however they filed for divorce after less than two years of marriage

In the chat, Barbara asked her about her measurements, to which Brooke replied: 'I'm 5ft10 and 120lbs', before Barbara asked to stand next to her.

The host then said: 'I think when people see you they don't realise how tall and slim you are. We haven't really seen you standing next to someone.'

She then probed Brooke and her mother about their relationship, saying: 'Would you be a mother like your mother? What about the people who say she had no childhood', to which she replied: 'Well I'm still going through my childhood.'

Speaking to both Brooke and Teri, she said: 'What about people who accuse you, sitting here? Is going through your childhood?'

Brooke replied: 'I'd rather do this than not do it at all. I'm enjoying this, I think it's an experience that I would not like to miss.'

Superstar: Brooke also dated Grease legend John Travolta

Barbara probed: 'Do you have any secrets from your mother?', as Brooke replied: 'We tell each other everything. I mean I'm sure there's little things I don't want to tell her. We tell each other everything I think I should tell her.'

Brooke also revealed she was supposed to do a second campaign but was dropped once she started to become more synonymous with the jeans than the designer.

She explained: 'It was supposed to be a two year contract and I was signed to do the next campaign and that didn't happen and I came to realize, it was confirmed in a way that the identification of me with the jeans was more so than [Calvin]...

'It almost backfired on them. It was almost as if people were coming in asking for the Brooke Shields jeans, and that was really not the goal.'

Brooke insisted she was 'naive' about the double entendre she famously uttered in the ads - insisting she was unaware of the nature of the comment.

In an interview with Vogue, Brooke said she was very 'protected' and 'didn't think it was sexual in nature'  so she was 'shocked' when the media went crazy for it, accusing her of utilizing a control of her sexuality that she didn't posses.

She said: 'I think the assumption is that I was much more savvy than I ever really was... It didn't faze me. [The line] didn't sort of come into my psyche as it being anything overtly sexual, sexualized in any way'.

Brooke recalled how Calvin Klein approached her mother, Teri Shields, about getting Brooke in the ads, and she was just so excited for the opportunity.

She said: 'When I was 15, I didn't understand Calvin Klein in the way that he was sort of coming into the zeitgeist, it was more about Richard Avedon coming to my mom and saying, "We're doing a series of very unique commercials,"'

'The shoot itself, no one was allowed on the set. I think, because Avedon, it was his foray into the commercial world. I think he was a bit nervous. Stakes were pretty high and I think there was a lot of pressure,' she remembered.

'The choreography was specific and intentional. Every little bit of it,' she went on, reflecting on a specific pose in which she had one knee on the ground, the other knee resting on her foot, with her other foot in the air.

'I was just so proud that they were trusting me with something that involved acting as well as just the visual. And it was either gonna strike and be part of the zeitgeist or it wasn't,' she said.

They shot several different ads, including the one that would go on to jump start her career  because of the implication that she wasn't wearing underwear with her jeans.

'I was naive, I didn't think anything of it,' she admitted. 'I didn't think it had to do with underwear. I didn't think it was sexual in nature. I'd say that about my sister, nobody could come between me and my sister.

'If they had intended on the double entendre, they didn't explain it to me,' she went on. 'It didn't faze me. It didn't sort of come into my psyche as it being anything overtly sexual, sexualized in any way.'
And Just Like That... viewers have vented their fury over Carrie Bradshaw's actions when she discovered Mr. Big slumped on the floor after suffering a heart attack.

Fans of the show have questioned why Sarah Jessica Parker's character lay him on his side, half under the shower and kissed him instead of alerting emergency services.

Viewers believe had Carrie reacted quicker and called 911, she may have been able to save Mr. Big's life as their 15th-floor penthouse is just an eight minute drive from Lenox Hill Hospital.

And Just Like That... viewers have vented their fury over Carrie Bradshaw's actions when she discovered Mr. Big slumped on the floor after suffering a heart attack

In the scenes which shocked fans, Carrie's long-time love, and husband, John James Preston, otherwise known as Mr. Big (Chris Noth), collapsed from a heart attack after working up a sweat on one of Peloton's exercise bikes at the end of episode one.

He was unable to call emergency services himself after dropping his phone in the shower.

Arriving back home from a piano recital for Charlotte's daughter, Carrie is horrified to find Mr. Big laying on the bathroom floor, and proceeds to comfort him in his final moments before slipping away and dying.

Tragic ending: Fans of the show have questioned why Sarah Jessica Parker's character lays him on his side, half under the shower and kisses him instead of alerting emergency services

Controversy: Viewers believe had Carrie reacted quicker and called 911- she may have been able to save Mr. Big's life

Annoyed: Viewers took to Twitter in their fury, with one writing: 'I was screaming at the screen'

Vulture went on to analyse Mr. Big's final moments and if his untimely death could have been prevented by speaking to Daniel Luger, a cardiologist at Chicagos Rush University Medical Center.

When asked if it was possible for Mr. Big to be conscious for around 30 minutes after having the heart attack, while Carrie rushed across NY to get back home, Dr Luger replied: 'Very much so'.

He went on: 'This is her fault. Without trying to point a finger at her, this is absolutely the fault of  whats her name?

'She needed to do CPR. This is a PSA: If you see somebody lose consciousness, the first thing you do is feel for a pulse.

Hurt: After getting off the stationary bike, Mr. Big, otherwise known as John James Preston, grimaces in pain when he begins to have a heart attack

Heartbreaking: By the end of the episode, Mr. Big collapses in the bathroom area and dies

What is the difference between a heart attack and a cardiac arrest? A cardiac arrest is when your heart suddenly stops pumping blood round your body, commonly because of a problem with electrical signals in your heart. When your heart stops pumping blood, your brain is starved of oxygen. This causes you to fall unconscious and stop breathing. It is not the same as a heart attack. A heart attack happens when blood supplying the heart muscle is cut off due to a clot in one of the coronary arteries. A person having a heart attack has a high risk of experiencing a cardiac arrest. A cardiac arrest occurs when the heart suddenly stops pumping blood around the body, often because of a problem with the electrical signals to the heart muscle. Source: British Heart Foundation Advertisement

'If theres no pulse, you call EMS and start chest compressions without delay. You can definitely save peoples lives that way. He didnt need to die. This is a travesty.'

The doctor said how if Mr.Big had made it to hospital or if EMS was at his side, 'they could absolutely shock him out of that rhythm' and it was a 'very treatable problem' in he had medical care.

And viewers echoed Dr Luger's professional opinion on Twitter.

One viewer wrote: 'When I was having what felt like a heart attack, I was so lucky I wasn't in a situation where calling 911 for help was not possible, like for instance if I had been married to Carrie Bradshaw.'

While a different fan chimed: 'Why didnt Carrie call 911, get the aspirin, get the nitro, anything to try to save him. The length of time she just stood there was agonizing.'

A third typed: 'I was SCREAMING at the screen', while a different viewer added: 'Look its not Pelotons fault that Carrie doesnt know how to dial 911 or do chest compressions'.

Another fan wrote: 'I thought I was the only one screaming 911 at the screen.'

It comes after the creator of the Sex And The City reboot series And Just Like That... explained the shocking death of one of the show's long-running characters, and why a real Peloton stationary bike was used in the death scene.

Series developer Michael Patrick King revealed the idea around killing Mr. Big off so early on was to give the show a new look and feel, which includes doing the unexpected through the perspective of Carrie.

'Dying was the origin story,' King confessed Vanity Fair, adding, 'Nobody wanted to come back if [the show] was not going to be different.'

'When I told Chris that Mr. Big dies in the first episode, he definitely knew it wasn't [going to be the] same. And we had to talk about it,' King confessed.

'He really wanted to talk about why he's dying and what it does for this series. The more we talked about it, the more he understood that it was for Carrie and Carrie's storyline is it's better to have loved and lost than never have loved at all.'
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The third outing for Tom Holland's Spider-Man has proved a hit with critics as early reviews have branded it his 'best work yet' following the film's premiere in Los Angeles on Monday night.

Spider-Man: No Way Home has so far received a rare 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, which is a review-aggregation website for film and television, giving an overview of critic and fan reception.

The first wave of critics' reviews have suggested that Marvel fans are in for a treat, as Holland returns as the webslinger alongside his leading lady Zendaya and a host of former Spidey villains.

Spidey success! The third outing for Tom Holland's Spider-Man has proved a hit with critics as early reviews have branded it his 'best work yet' following the film's premiere in Los Angeles on Monday night

Deadline critic Pete Hammond hailed the film as the 'most exciting, surprising And emotional Spidey of them all', as he predicts it will wow fans and also return revenue to Covid-restricted cinemas.

Hammond wrote: 'This movie does what the best movies always do: They thrill you and move you and make you want to cheer in a crowded theatre. In light of the pandemic this movie is a holiday gift not only to moviegoers, but also to exhibitors, because if EVER there was a film poised to save the movie business  just like Spidey always saves the day  it is this splendidly-crafted endgame.'

He also referenced 'wunderkind director' Jon Watts and screenwriters Chris McKenna and Erik Summers, who he claims have created on of the year's best movies.

Smash hit: Spider-Man: No Way Home has so far received a rare 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, which is a review-aggregation website for film and television, giving an overview of critic and fan reception

Superhero: The first wave of critics' reviews have suggested that Marvel fans are in for a treat, as Holland returns as the webslinger alongside his leading lady Zendaya and a host of former Spidey villains

Commending the actors on-screen chemistry, Hammond said: 'Holland, Zendaya, and Batalon are a priceless trio, and the various villains and 'others' who pop in and out make this pure movie fun of the highest order. Fans will be in heaven.'

Predicting a mega payday for Marvel, he said: 'This film will make a billion, and it deserves to. Franchise movies, Marvel Movies, Comic Book Movies  you name it  just don't get much better than this.'

Peter Debruge, who was reviewing for Variety, also praised Watts' film and said he brought a 'welcome continuity to this latest trilogy', following previous outings from both Andrew Garfield and Toby McGuire.

Debruge said: '[Spider-Man: No Way Home] wrangles the unwieldy premise into a consistently entertaining superhero entry, tying up two decades' of loose ends in the process.'

Thrilling: Deadline critic Pete Hammond hailed the film as the 'most exciting, surprising And emotional Spidey of them all', as he predicts it will wow fans and also return revenue to Covid-restricted cinemas

The critic said that the film carefully walks its audience through the 'logical loop-de-loops its plot requires', but otherwise 'sticks to a relatively straightforward idea of the multiverse'.

While most of the critics refused to give away any spoilers - as is typical with the Marvel franchise - many did reference the return of Spidey supervillains, including Doctor Octopus, Green Goblin and Electro.

Debruge said: 'Superhero movies are only as good as their villains, and it's a thrill to be reunited with Doc Ock and Green Goblin again. Though the other three baddies were relatively disappointing in their original incarnations, this film focuses on the tragic dimension of their characters and their capacity for redemption.

'No Way Home' doesn't pretend that the earlier films were perfect, poking fun at elements we can all agree were weaknesses, while also leaving room for the villains and Spider-Men alike to do some much-needed healing.

'The movie can be ungainly at times, and it's much too committed to setting up even more craziness to play out in upcoming Marvel product (these aren't standalone films so much as overloaded episodes, after all), but it provides enough resolution for the past two decades of Spider-Man adventures that audiences who've tuned out along the way will be rewarded for giving this one a shot.'

Peter Debruge, who was reviewing for Variety, also praised Watts' film and said he brought a 'welcome continuity to this latest trilogy', following previous outings from both Andrew Garfield and Toby McGuire (pictured Dok Octopus)

In contrast to other reviews, John Defore for the Hollywood Reporter, called the latest Spidey outing the 'least fun' of the triology - however he arged that it may be an intentional shift for the superhero.

He wrote: '[Spider-Man: No Way Home From] does use its multiversal mayhem to address the only real problem with the Holland-era webslinger: the Iron Man-ification of the character, in which his already amazing powers keep getting overshadowed by the gadgets given to him by billionaire jerk-hero Tony Stark.

'This is the least fun of the Watts/Holland pictures by a wide margin (intentionally so, to some extent), but it's a hell of a lot better than the last Spidey threequel, Sam Raimi's overstuffed and ill-conceived.'

One of Defore's major issues with the film was that it lifts too much from antimation hit Spider-Man: Into The Multiverse, saying: 'That rollicking, eye-popping adventure was so fresh, funny and exciting that No Way Home can really only look stodgy in comparison, relying on the novelty of faces we haven't seen in a while and building up to the kind of operatic emotional moments the previous Watts films tended to avoid.'

He concluded the review by admitting that the final scene brings 'lightness' and 'hope' to future Marvel films as he revealed his hopes for Holland to be a 'friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man for a while'.

One critic wrote: 'This is the least fun of the Watts/Holland pictures by a wide margin (intentionally so, to some extent), but it's a hell of a lot better than the last Spidey threequel, Sam Raimi's overstuffed and ill-conceived'

ROUND UP OF SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME REVIEWS Deadline - Pete Hammond This movie does what the best movies always do: They thrill you and move you and make you want to cheer in a crowded theatre. In light of the pandemic this movie is a holiday gift not only to moviegoers, but also to exhibitors, because if EVER there was a film poised to save the movie business  just like Spidey always saves the day  it is this splendidly-crafted endgame. Jon Watts, the wunderkind director discovered via the superb indie Cop Car , once again weaves his own magic on the series and creates, with the help of screenwriters Chris McKenna and Erik Summers, not just the best pic yet in the Spider-Man series, but truly one of the year's best movies. Holland, Zendaya, and Batalon are a priceless trio, and the various villains and 'others' who pop in and out make this pure movie fun of the highest order. Fans will be in heaven Producers are Amy Pascal and Kevin Feige. Sony releases it on Friday. This film will make a billion, and it deserves to. Franchise movies, Marvel Movies, Comic Book Movies  you name it  just don't get much better than this. Variety - Peter Debruge Peter Debruge, who was reviewing for Variety, also praised Watts' film and said he brought a 'welcome continuity to this latest trilogy', following previous outings from both Andrew Garfield and Toby McGuire. Debruge said: '[Spider-Man: No Way Home] wrangles the unwieldy premise into a consistently entertaining superhero entry, tying up two decades' of loose ends in the process.' The critic said that the film carefully walks its audience through the 'logical loop-de-loops its plot requires', but otherwise 'sticks to a relatively straightforward idea of the multiverse'. The Hollywood Reporter - John Defore In contrast to other reviews, John Defore, called the latest Spidey outing the 'least fun' of the triology - however he arged that it may be an intentional shift for the superhero. He wrote: '[Spider-Man: No Way Home From] does use its multiversal mayhem to address the only real problem with the Holland-era webslinger: the Iron Man-ification of the character, in which his already amazing powers keep getting overshadowed by the gadgets given to him by billionaire jerk-hero Tony Stark. 'This is the least fun of the Watts/Holland pictures by a wide margin (intentionally so, to some extent), but it's a hell of a lot better than the last Spidey threequel, Sam Raimi's overstuffed and ill-conceived.' One of Defore's major issues with the film was that it lifts too much from antimation hit Spider-Man: Into The Multiverse, saying: 'That rollicking, eye-popping adventure was so fresh, funny and exciting that No Way Home can really only look stodgy in comparison, relying on the novelty of faces we haven't seen in a while and building up to the kind of operatic emotional moments the previous Watts films tended to avoid.' He concluded the review by admitting that the final scene brings 'lightness' and 'hope' to future Marvel films as he revealed his hopes for Holland to be a 'friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man for a while'. The Guardian - Benjamin Lee, Rating: The Guardian review, written by critic Benjamin Lee, also noted Holland's Spider-Man's move away from the 'breezy teen movie vibe', seen in his earlier two films and instead delivered a 'slickly choreographed adventure that will appease a broad fanbase this Christmas'. Awarding the film three stars, he wrote: 'Director Jon Watts does a pretty solid job here, tasked with a considerable upping of the ante while bringing back numerous baddies from the previous Spider-Man universes, delivering a propulsive, slickly choreographed adventure that will appease a broad fanbase this Christmas'. Den Of Geek - Don Kaye Critic Don Kaye, wrote: 'Make no mistake, there is lots of fan service in. But we're happy to report that the filmunlike so many other villain-heavy superhero moviessomehow makes it work At the heart of it all is Holland's stellar performance, and we sincerely hope that he isn't going to hang up his web-shooters after this. It features Holland's best work as Peter and Spidey to date, with the film driving him toward emotional extremes he has never previously touched. His chemistry with Zendaya and Batalon is also real (Zendaya exudes a lot of warmth here while she and Batalon also provide gentle comic relief). Advertisement

The Guardian review, written by critic Benjamin Lee, also noted Holland's Spider-Man's move away from the 'breezy teen movie vibe', seen in his earlier two films and instead delivered a 'slickly choreographed adventure that will appease a broad fanbase this Christmas'.

Awarding the film three stars, he wrote: 'Director Jon Watts does a pretty solid job here, tasked with a considerable upping of the ante while bringing back numerous baddies from the previous Spider-Man universes, delivering a propulsive, slickly choreographed adventure that will appease a broad fanbase this Christmas'.

Den Of Geek declared Holland gave his most 'heartfelt performance as Peter Parker yet', and despite the film taking a while to 'warm up' it eventually turns into 'something of an epic'.

Critic Don Kaye, wrote: 'Make no mistake, there is lots of fan service in. But we're happy to report that the filmunlike so many other villain-heavy superhero moviessomehow makes it work' (Holland and Zendaya pictured)

Critic Don Kaye, wrote: 'Make no mistake, there is lots of fan service in. But we're happy to report that the filmunlike so many other villain-heavy superhero moviessomehow makes it work

At the heart of it all is Holland's stellar performance, and we sincerely hope that he isn't going to hang up his web-shooters after this.

It features Holland's best work as Peter and Spidey to date, with the film driving him toward emotional extremes he has never previously touched. His chemistry with Zendaya and Batalon is also real (Zendaya exudes a lot of warmth here while she and Batalon also provide gentle comic relief).

Last night, Holland his real life girlfriend Zendaya attended the Los Angeles premiere of the film, naturally stealing the show on the red carpet during the Monday evening screening.

It-couple: Last night, Holland his real life girlfriend Zendaya attended the Los Angeles premiere of the film, naturally stealing the show on the red carpet during the Monday evening screening

Zendaya  who never misses in the style department  rocked a plunging custom Maison Valentino dress which featured an exaggerated slit up the left leg.

The nude dress was nearly backless with the exception of thin black crisscross straps and was adorned with ornate black beads fashioned to resemble a spider's web.

The Emmy-winning actress paired the dress with Christian Louboutin pumps which also sparkled, and wore her hair in scalp braids which extended past her waist.

On her head she rocked a beaded and lace eye mask which was fashioned to resemble a black spider for more over the top glamour.

Stunning: The Euphoria star showed off one of her most head-turning and aptly themed red carpet looks, which included a spider-like eye mask and a plunging dress with bedazzled webs

Iconic: Her latest iconic fashion moment included a custom Maison Valentino dress and Christian Louboutin shoes which was put together by her go-to stylist Law Roach

The pair however had arrived separately, with Holland stopping dead in his tracks as he heard screams that indicated his leading lady had arrived at premiere.

'I think Zendaya just showed up,' Holland said as he stopped mid-chat with ET. 'That sounds like Zendaya just showed up,' he reiterated before watching her make her grand entrance.

Tom and Zendaya  who star as Peter Parker and MJ  had previously spoken about their height difference being overly scrutinized as she stands at 5-foot-10 inches, while he stands at 5-foot-8-inches.

Adorable: The on-and-offscreen couple who reprised their roles as MJ and Spider-Man were seen posing for photos together

The sweet pair seemed to confirm they were a romantic item as they were captured kissing in July, though both have not spoken about the status of their relationship publicly

Spider-Man: No Way Home is the third film in the franchise starring Zendaya and Holland. The movie comes after 2017's Spider-Man: Homecoming and 2019's Spider-Man: Far From Home.

The 2021 film sees Peter Parker grappling with life and his reputation after his identity as a superhero was exposed by Mysterio (played by former Spider-Man star Jake Gyllenhaal) in the last movie.

With his life further on the line, he seeks out Dr. Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) to help restore his secret identity, but this breaks open the multiverse as five supervillains from alternate realities  who fought other versions of Spider-Man  arrive.

Height difference: Tom and Zendaya had previously spoken about how 'ridiculous' it was that people scrutinized their height difference as she stands at 5-foot-10 inches, while he stands at 5-foot-8-inches

The movie also stars Marisa Tomei as Parker's aunt May, Jamie Foxx as Electro, Benedict Wong as Wong - a master of the mystic arts and Strange's mentor, Jacob Batalon as Parker's best friend Ned, Willem Dafoe as Green Goblin, Jon Favreau as Parker's bodyguard/head of Stark Industries security and J.B. Smoove.

No Way Home was supposed to be released after next year's Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness, but when production on that film was delayed by COVID-19, they decided to shoot the Spider-Man threequel first.

To make matters more complicated a number of key actors had yet to sign on to the third film as the first day of shooting drew near, and the script for the movie was being re-written frequently during production.

'Some people were trying to figure out whether they wanted to do it, and we needed all of them or none,' Holland said in a GQ profile.

'You could ask the director, "What happens in act three?" And his response would be, "Im still trying to figure it out",' he continued to divulge at the time.

But the cast and crew managed to make it work, with Holland even teasing a 'style of fighting in this film that you've never seen in the Spider-Man movies before.' The film hits theaters December 17.
Katie Price is 'terrified' she could spend Christmas behind bars ahead of her drink-driving sentencing on Wednesday.

The former model, 43, expressed her fear to close pals as judgement day looms, which takes place 49 days after she rolled her BMW near her home in Horsham, West Sussex, during an all-night drink and drugs bender.

She admitted to charges of drink-driving while disqualified and without insurance, and tested positive for cocaine, before checking herself into The Priory, a condition imposed as part of her bail terms.

'Unnerving': Katie Price is 'terrified' she could spend Christmas behind bars ahead of her drink-driving sentencing on Wednesday

A friend told MailOnline: 'The devastating reality of her situation is starting to hit home and Katie is terrified. It's a reality she has never faced before, which is understandably unnerving.

'It's not just herself who she's worried about, it's the potential reaction of her children.

'She can't stop thinking about it and is full of dread, but has been planning as if she is going to have a normal Christmas for the kids as a distraction.'

As well as spending time in rehab, Katie managed to secure a visa to travel to Las Vegas with fiance Carl Woods during the lead up to the sentencing, sparking speculation they were set to embark on a quick-fire wedding.

'Worried': Katie, pictured with son Jett, expressed her fear to close pals as judgement day looms, which takes place after she rolled her BMW near her home during an all-night drink and drugs bender

She also flew to Belgium earlier this week to have further cosmetic surgery, where she allegedly had her 13th boob job.

The mother-of-five, who will be sentenced at Crawley Magistrates' Court, took 'full responsibility' for the crash in a statement released by her family  on her behalf  on October 23.

It read: 'Kate acknowledges and takes full responsibility for her actions. She knows they were wrong and apologises.'

The accident, which took place on the way to pick up more drugs, was a new low for the reality star, who has squandered her 45million fortune.

Makeover: Katie reportedly flew to Belgium earlier this week to have further cosmetic surgery, where she allegedly had her 13th boob job

Lovers: In November, Katie and fiance Carl Woods flew to Las Vegas, sparking speculation they were set to embark on a quick-fire wedding

Her ex-husband Kieran Hayler, the father of her children Jett and Bunny, told MailOnline he feared she would 'end up dead' if she continued her trail of destruction.

Speaking shortly after her crash, which resulted in being rushed to hospital in an ambulance, Kieran, 34, said: 'A lot has happened recently, and I felt like 'oh my God, not another thing, when is the drama going to stop?'

'And then I feel sad because this woman has been through a lot recently and now it's another thing.

'How much more can somebody take before they break? If Kate carries on like this, she's going to end up dead.'

'So cute': This week, Katie shared an image of children Jett and Bunny, who she shares with ex-husband Kieran Hayler, alongside an emoji of the world

Kieran added that he would never have allowed Katie, who's also a mum to Harvey, 19, plus Junior, 16, and Princess, 14, from her marriage to Peter Andre, to look after their kids if he knew she was taking cocaine.

He explained: 'I would never let Kate look after the children if I knew she was taking cocaine. If anybody knew more, they would have stepped in to try and help sooner. She's kept it all to herself and that's why it's got so bad.

'It's difficult to answer if she has a problem or is an addict because I don't know. It's not something that existed in our marriage.'

Speaking on a podcast in November, Katie declared that she 'hated' the fathers of her children and her relationship with them is 'non-existent.'
The brother of Chadwick Boseman has joined the chorus saying his Black Panther role should be recast instead of killed off.

Chadwick starred as Black Panther in the Marvel Cinematic Universe until he died tragically last year at age 43 after a secret cancer battle.

Now his brother Derrick has told TMZ that his character of T'Challa should be kept alive with another actor as he is a role model for black children.

Bereaved: Chadwick Boseman's (right) brother Derrick (left) has joined the chorus saying his Black Panther role should be recast instead of killed off

Furthermore Derrick theorized that his late brother would agree the role should be allowed to continue with another actor.

Derrick feels that some social problems are glamorized by hip hop and argued that T'Challa by contrast is a rare positive aspirational figure for black youth.

He also shared that he has a nephew who said Black Panther was an influence on his desire to become a scientist.

As of Tuesday morning more than 43,000 people have signed a Change.org petition echoing Derrick's view that T'Challa should be kept alive with a new star.

Dearly departed: Chadwick starred as Black Panther in the Marvel Cinematic Universe until he died tragically last year aged 43 after a secret cancer battle

In December of last year - four months after Chadwick died - Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige stated that T'Challa would not be recast.

He and Ryan Coogler, who directed Black Panther and its upcoming sequel, had apparently been in the dark about Chadwick's illness before his death.

Last month Marvel's development VP Nate Moore went on The Ringer-Verse Podcast and said of re-casting T'Challa: 'We just couldn't do it.'

In the comic books T'Challa's sister Shuri, played by Letitia Wright in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, replaces him as the alter ego of Black Panther.

Superstardom: Furthermore Derrick theorized that his late brother would agree; Chadwick is pictured in the first Black Panther in 2018

However lately there has been a swirl of rumors about Letitia's involvement in the upcoming Black Panther sequel subtitled Wakanda Forever.

Letitia set off speculation about her opinions of vaccines last year after she shared a video by British commentator Tomi Arayomi, a Christian self-described 'prophet' who claims to be able to commune with the angels.

The video Letitia posted saw Tomi wonder aloud about the coronavirus vaccines potentially creating 'chimeras' of humans and animals.

This year Letitia, who is British, began filming the Black Panther sequel in Atlanta but suffered an on-set injury in September and went to London to recover.

Chadwick and Letitia: In the comic books T'Challa's sister Shuri, played by Letitia Wright in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, replaces him as the alter ego of Black Panther

The following month Letitia repudiated a Hollywood Reporter article that alleged she had aired out vaccine skeptic views on set.

'I honestly assert that this was completely untrue,' she said of the report, which cited a 'set source' for the claim about Letitia sharing her alleged opinions on vaccines.

By the beginning of November The Hollywood Reporter was saying Ryan Coogler had shot everything he could without Letitia as she recuperated in Britain.

Current guidelines by the Centers For Disease Control And Prevention say that with 'limited exceptions' foreign nationals must be vaccinated to travel to America.
Bella Hadid sure knows how to model a bikini.

On Monday evening the sister of Vogue model Gigi Hadid shared a flashback pinup image of herself to Instagram Stories where she had on a scarlet red two piece.

The looker was on a lush green lawn as she soaked up the rays in an image that was first shard in August.

Hot in December: Bella Hadid sure knows how to model a bikini. On Monday evening the sister of Vogue model Gigi Hadid shared a flashback pinup image of herself to Instagram Stories where she had on a scarlet red two piece

The brunette beauty wowed in the revealing swimsuit, which featured a low cut ruched bikini top, complete with gold chain accents.

Bella put her toned midsection on full display, as well as her long legs.

She sported the high cut, gold chain accented bottoms; they had cut out details along the sides and a string detail across her stomach.

The original: The looker was on a lush green lawn as she soaked up the rays in an image that was first shard in August

She tagged the bikini brand - Dilara Findikoglu; the name of the bikini is called the 'Belly Dancer Bikini Top' and retails for $235 USD. The bottoms are called 'Belly Dancer Bikini Bottom' and retails for $214 USD.

The entire look costs $449 for both pieces.

This comes after she landed a very seductive campaign this fall: she is the highlight of the new Michael Kors 007 capsule collection.

Hadid is cast as a sexy Bond girl as she models crop tops and miniskirts from the new line which coincides with the release of No Time To Die with Daniel Craig, Lea Seydoux and Ana de Armas.

Hadid, Bella Hadid: The star landed a very seductive campaign this fall; Bella is the highlight of the new Michael Kors 007 capsule collection

'I love the independence and the multifaceted character of each different Bond girl. She can be ANYTHING and everything. Anywhere and nowhere. Classic, cool and independent,' said Bella.

Starring Hadid and model Cindy Bruna, the campaign video conjures an air of intrigue and Bond-themed irresistibility.

Shot on location at The Ocean Club in the Bahamasthe same destination seen in the 007 film Casino RoyaleHadid is seen enjoying a luxury solo getaway.

License to thrill: 'I love the independence and the multifaceted character of each different Bond girl. She can be ANYTHING and everything. Anywhere and nowhere. Classic, cool and independent,' said Bella

The models, 25, and 27, respectively, have been chosen as the faces of the upcoming line inspired by the iconic spy-thriller franchise in celebration of Daniel Craig's final appearance as James Bond in No Time To Die.

In a first for MICHAEL Michael Kors, the brand announced a partnership with the 007 film franchise featuring a capsule of limited-edition, co-branded products and a 360 marketing campaign.

The MMK x 007 partnership centers on the glamour and adventure synonymous with both the Bond enterprise and the Michael Kors brand.

Featuring an all-new black and gold Signature logo print, the product capsule brings to life the sophistication and timeless appeal of the Bond films.

The inspiration: Craig, left, and de Armas, right in a scene from No Time To Die

Last week, Bella spoke about her other massive campaign. Hadid's decision to return to Victoria's Secret was 'very complicated' she said.

The 25-year-old supermodel - who first modelled for the chain in 2015 and walked in their famous runway shows in 2016, 2017, and 2018 - has returned to the newly-revamped lingerie brand for their 2021 holiday campaign and was recently announced as a VS Collective Member, but admitted it took a long time for her to agree to work with the company again.

She said: '[It took] almost a year and a half to take a meeting with the brand. Even having that conversation was very complicated for me because of the way that I had felt in the past.'

Back at it: Last week, Bella spoke about her other massive campaign. Hadid's decision to return to Victoria's Secret was 'very complicated' she said. Seen in 2016 with mom Yolanda and sister Gigi, far right, at the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show

But Bella was won over by a presentation from the firm - who faced criticism for their lack of body diversity in their models and were embroiled in a scandal when former executive Ed Razek was accused of sexually harassing models, including the brunette beauty - which persuaded her they were making genuine changes.

She told America's Marie Claire magazine: 'They came to me with a big presentation about everything that they've changed, the way that they're moving forward with not only body diversity, but diversity of women in general.'

And Bella praised her new contract with the brand for being empowering to the models, as they can set their own boundaries.

She said: 'We don't have to do anything, basically, that we don't want to do. We don't need to show parts of our body that we don't want to show. That's really important for us as women, because sometimes, going into these sets, we do lose our boundaries. And our boundaries are not accepted. I know first hand how Victoria's Secret used to make me feel, and now, going onto set every day, there is just an energy that's switched.'

Razek previously denied the allegations against him.
She was unable to fill in for Wendy Williams on Monday after undergoing emergency surgery for appendicitis.

But Sherri Shepherd was back guest hosting The Wendy Williams Show on Tuesday.

The comedienne, 54, was in good spirits as she discussed the health scare, and even posted a photo of the curve-clinging dress she originally planned on wearing before the procedure forced her to cancel.

'My stomach is swollen': Sherri Shepherd is back hosting The Wendy Williams Show after recovering from emergency surgery for appendicitis

'With some alterations this would've been my opening day dress (@tagsboutique ) for @wendyshow but my stomach is swollen from the surgeons removing my appendix,' she captioned the photo.

'I tried it on and swore I heard the dress scream "Bisssshhhh what do you think youre doing!" @4kwame my stylist is frantically shopping for loose & flowing dresses right now! Saints pray for me! Cant wait for see you! #sherrishepherd #Sherrishepherd #wendyshow #lostmyappendix #showmustgoon.'

Sherri broke down her health scare on Hot Topics and revealed she went to the hospital after she began experiencing 'excruciating pain' in her abdomen.

'I'm walking through the streets of New York City and it literally was this excruciating pain in my abdomen, and my assistant...she got me to the hospital because I was in such agony. And I was in the hospital only because I thought they were going to prescribe like a high dosage metamucil, but they put me on an IV and then they gave me a cat scan and they came back and they said I had appendicitis.

'I started crying because the doctor said I needed to have my appendix taken out like right then and there. So I'm thinking to myself, I'm about to do Wendy. There's a lot of moving parts, and so I asked the doctor, could you guys do it on Friday?'

On the mend: Sherri addressed fans from her hospital bed in video posted to the Wendy Williams Instagram account

Recovering: Williams was in good spirits as she jokingly complained about not receiving liposuction or breast reduction during her surgery

'I was like, if y'all could just do it on Friday as soon as I get done, like you be trying to schedule your dog gone surgery, and the doctors said no... And I never do this, I never do the celebrity thing, but I pulled my mask down and I said, "Do you know who I am? I'm filling in for Wendy Williams. I gotta do Wendy Williams."

'And they did know who I was so I figured... but the doctors said, they said, "Sherri if your appendix bursts, they said that you could die." That's what they told me. They said you could die if your appendix bursts, and when I heard the word "die", I said could someone find Michael Rappaport...'

Sherri also addressed fans from her hospital bed in video posted to the Wendy Williams Instagram account.

'I was in such agony': Sherri broke down her health scare on Hot Topics and revealed she went to the hospital after she started experiencing 'excruciating pain' in her abdomen

'I started crying': The actress said she got emotional after her doctor informed her she would need surgery immediately

The actress was in good spirits as she recounted the health scare and thanked the healthcare workers who cared for her.

However she did jokingly complain about not receiving liposuction or breast reduction while she was under.

'I do want to complain because I kept asking them if they could give me a liposuction at the same time, or at least reduce my breasts. If you gonna be in my body, take something away. But I woke up, my breasts were still here, my stomach is still here, so I just need to talk to the head of Bellevue,' she said.

'Could you guys do it on Friday?': The comedienne asked the doctor if they could postpone her surgery due to her guest hosting obligations

News of Sherri's health emergency broke Monday after her publicist revealed she would be stepping back from guest hosting The Wendy Williams Show following her surgery.

'Due to appendicitis, Sherri Shepherd underwent an emergency surgery yesterday. The procedure was successful and Ms. Shepherd is doing fine and resting,' read a statement provided to Deadline by Shepherd's publicist.

'She is absolutely devastated that she will not be able to guest host The Wendy Williams Show today, but she is following doctors orders and expected to make a full recovery. Thank you all for understanding and respecting her privacy.'

'She is absolutely devastated': News of Sherri's health emergency broke Monday after her publicist revealed she would be stepping back from guest hosting The Wendy Williams Show following her surgery

Comedian Michael Rapaport filled in for Sherri and wished her a speedy recovery while hosting the show on Monday.

'Sherri was supposed to host today, unfortunately she had appendicitis. She's fine, she is fine. She had to go to the hospital last night for some emergency surgery. She's feeling fine today and she is resting. Get well soon Sherri,' Michael said.

Sherri was set to guest host the show from December 13-17. She also is scheduled to return as a guest host for January 24 to 28.

'Get well soon Sherri': While hosting the show on Monday, Michael Rapaport wished Sherri a speedy recovery as he updated audience members on the situation

Stepping up to the plate: Rapaport will be filling in Sherri's place as she recovers from the emergency procedure

The Everybody Loves Raymond actress is just one of many stars who have been filling in for Wendy during her health battle with various medical issues relating to Graves' disease.

Last week, the show announced the talk show series would be returning in 2022 without its beloved host.

In a social media post from the show's official account, Fat Joe, Remy Ma, Michael Rapaport, Kym Whitley, Finesse Mitchell and Sherri were listed as guest hosts for the start of 2022.

This comes after sources close to production have been intimating that Wendy may never return as host amid her health woes.

Lights, camera, action: Sherri was set to guest host the show from December 13-17

Health battle: The Everybody Loves Raymond actress is just one of many stars who have been filling in for Wendy during her health battle with various medical issues relating to Graves' disease

'The Wendy Williams Show' Returns with All-New Episodes in the New Year! @fatjoe & @remyma, @michaelrapaport, @kymwhitley & @finessemitchell and @sherrieshepherd are all set to guest host this January,' read the caption of a social media post.

The image shared alongside featured images of the aforementioned guest hosts. There was no mention of Wendy herself or any idea of when she might be back.

This crop of guest hosts will take the show through January 28 with February and beyond up in the air.

'Even if she did come back, she'd be a lame duck because her show isn't renewed beyond this season,' a source told Page Six.

Sherri, who has guest hosted the show before, is being seen as the top choice to replace Wendy permanently.
She's the younger sister of ex-TOWIE stars Mark and Jessica Wright.

But Natalya Wright, 21, left her family back in England after jetting off for some 'winter sun' in Dubai, where she posed for a series of photos on Tuesday.

The influencer showcased her incredible body and bronzed tan as she slipped in to the mocha coloured swimwear.

Wow! Natalya Wright, 21, displayed her incredible bikini clad figure as she jetted off to Dubai for some 'winter sun' on Tuesday

She flaunted her assets in a series of confident poses against the luxurious backdrop of the scenic city.

Natalya slipped into the chocolate number that feature a strapless top with a circular attachment in the centre.

The reality TV star pull up the bikini bottoms over her hips to accentuate her tiny waist and washboard abs.

Hot! She flaunted her assets in a series of confident poses against the luxurious backdrop of the scenic city

Flaunt it! The reality TV star pull up the bikini bottoms over her hips to accentuate her tiny waist and washboard abs

The sister of Mark Wright, wore her brunette locks in a beach practical French plait as she accessorised with a a cross necklace and oversized gold watch.

This comes as her older sister, Jessica, 36, revealed that the family are in advanced talks to star in a Kardashian-style reality show.

After years of speculation, ITV are set to give the green light to the project, which will centre around the former TOWIE star, Natalya, brother Josh, 32, and parents Carol and Mark Senior.

And speaking exclusively to MailOnline, Jess told how her grandmother Irene is being lined up to appear as the family matriarch, taking on the mantle of her late Nanny Pat, the TOWIE icon.

This comes as her older sister, Jessica, 36, revealed that the family are in advanced talks to star in a Kardashian-style reality show

Jess said: 'There is interest now about doing a series following our family, on the back of the show about my wedding.

'It's been rumoured for years but now is the right time because my brother Josh is having a baby, and I might be starting to have my own family soon, so it just feels like the natural time to do it.

'There are so many of us, so many characters and we're used to being around the cameras as well. It's second nature to us.'

Jess teased brother Mark and wife Michelle Keegan, both 34, could have cameos, but believes grandmother Irene could become the unlikely surprise star.
I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here! could reportedly be heading back to Wales in 2022, with ITV bosses already reserving the use of Gwrych Castle for a third year.

The show relocated to the UK in 2020 after travel to Australia became impossible during the Covid pandemic, and was once again filmed at the historic site this year.

It comes after fans' called for I'm A Celebrity to return to Australia next year after complaining the 2021 series, which saw Danny Miller crowned King Of The Castle, was 'too easy,' despite being plagued by production woes caused by Storm Arwen.

Heading back? I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here! could reportedly be heading back to Wales in 2022, with ITV bosses already reserving the use of Gwrych Castle for a third year

It's thought that while bosses are hopeful the show could return to Australia next year, Gwrych Castle have agreed that they will not take any other bookings for November 2022.

A source told The Sun: 'At the moment it is pretty much nailed on for a third year in the castle. Australia is opening up but could also snap shut at any time depending on how things go so that situation is far from being on an even footing.

'The executives are happy to stick with Gwyrch Castle for another year and then after that the show might finally get back Down Under.

'The show has the option for a third year and the trustees won't take on any other bookings without letting ITV know.'

ITV declined to comment when contacted by MailOnline.

Plans: It's thought that while bosses are hopeful the show could return to Australia next year, Gwrych Castle have agreed that they will not take any other bookings for November 2022

It comes after a viewers' poll revealed that many I'm A Celebrity fans are hoping the show will return to Australia next year.

Fans of the programme said that the producers should seek a new venue, should restrictions prevent next years show from taking place in the jungle.

Numbers showed that just under a quarter of people believed that I'm A Celeb should be filmed on location in North Wales next year.

Hopeful: It comes after a viewers' poll revealed that many I'm A Celebrity fans are hoping the show will return to Australia next year

Whilst a huge 41 percent thought that it should take a year off as only eight percent agreed that the show was 'excellent'.

A massive 80 percent didn't think that the trials weren't up to scratch and were unimpressed with the challenges thrown at the contestants.

A source said: 'The castle was a worthy venue for a year, but the viewers clearly want Australia or nothing.

'The novelty of a new location was exciting last year, but in 2022 it just has to be Oz again.'

Fine Dining: Numbers showed that just under a quarter of people believed that I'm A Celeb should be filmed on location in North Wales next year

Although, this years show was beset by disasters from the devastation of Storm Arwen to Richard Madeley's untimely departure fans still believed that it was undemanding.

The source added: 'They were well fed, well watered and living in a warm-ish castle. It didn't feel as hard as previous years despite bosses' claims it would be.'

Due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and Australia's subsequent border restrictions, it is unclear when the show will return to Australia

The first week of the show saw the departure of hotly-anticipated contestant Richard due to illness, cancelled shows due to extreme weather conditions and stars removed from the castle after Storm Arwen sent a 100ft tree crashing into a wall of the building.

Two episodes of the show were cancelled because of the disruption to production caused by the storm, with the castle described at the time as being 'like a war zone'.

Considerable damage was sustained to the grounds of the castle where the production crew have set up shop, with scaffolding knocked over and the roof of a marquee ripped off.

The celebrities were even taken out of the castle for several days due to safety concerns, but in an attempt to maintain their Covid bubble, were kept in separate isolation with no access to phones, internet, or the outside world.

Fears of further disruption were made worse after a power cut hit large parts of Abergele.

According to ITV News, many homes and business in the local area were hit by the cut after a 'large bang' was heard in the area.
Actress Olivia Wilde proved to be the epitome of casual chic while out on a coffee run in Los Angeles.

Wilde - born Olivia Jane Cockburn - braved the December chill with a green sweater and blue 7 For All Mankind jeans. The mom-of-two also sported a festive plaid KN95 face mask.

To keep her feet warm, the 37-year-old star wore a pair of fuzzy brown house slippers. Her glamorous brunette tresses were worn down.

Out and about: Actress Olivia Wilde, 37, proved to be the epitome of casual chic while out on a coffee run in Los Angeles

Harry Styles' beau also had a white canvas tote looped on her arm while she carried a small coffee cup to give her just enough of a pick-me-up for the day.

The star has been quite busy during the pandemic. She shot her second feature film, Don't Worry Darling, and has recently been photographed by the iconic Annie Leibovitz for Vogue's January 2022 cover.

The actress looked sultry and stylish on the cover of the magazine, wearing a black Michael Kors bra top, skirt, and belt.

Staying warm: Wilde - born Olivia Jane Cockburn - braved the chill with a green sweater and 7 For All Mankind jeans jeans. The mom-of-two also sported a festive plaid KN95 face mask

In the January issue, Wilde discusses her new movie as well as her relationship with her 10-year-younger boyfriend, Styles, and the timeline in regards to her split with ex-fiance Jason Sudeikis.

'It's obviously really tempting to correct a false narrative. But I think what you realize is that when you're really happy, it doesn't matter what strangers think about you,' the star shared.

She added, 'All that matters to you is what's real, and what you love, and who you love.'

Casual cool: To keep her feet warm, the mom-of-two wore a pair of fuzzy brown slippers. Her glamorous brunette tresses were worn down

Olivia and Jason, 46, broke off their seven-year engagement on November 13, last year with sources claiming it was 'amicable' and that their two children Otis Alexander, seven, and daughter Daisy Josephine, four, would remain a 'priority.'

Wilde was then spotted holding hands with Styles, 27, at his agent's wedding in Montecito, California, on Jan. 3 this year.

A source who spoke with PEOPLE claimed that Sudeikis believed the timeline presented by Wilde and her boyfriend to the public was 'not accurate.'

Sultry: The actress has recently been photographed by the iconic Annie Leibovitz for Vogue's January 2022 cover, where she wore a black Michael Kors bra top, skirt, and belt

Her man: In her Vogue interview Wilde discusses the rumors surrounding the timeline of her romance with Styles, seen here at SiriusXM Studios on March 02, 2020 in New York City

'Jason feels that the timeline that Olivia and Harry would like people to believe - that she and Jason split ages ago, long before she became involved with Harry - is simply not accurate,' the source said.

However, it seems the actresses is paying the rumors no mind. She told Vogue, 'Im happier than Ive ever been. And Im healthier than Ive ever been, and its just wonderful to feel that.'

Wilde's latest movie Don't Worry Darling is set to be released in September 2022.
Netflix is hoping Too Hot To Handle fans have just a little more patience.

The streaming giant released an announcement video on Tuesday as they revealed the racy dating show centered around attractive influencers abstaining from sex will return for season 3 on January 19, 2022.

It featured short clips from the very raunchy season 2 which was set to stream earlier this year but promised an entirely new cast.

Coming soon: Netflix released an announcement video on Tuesday that Too Hot To Handle will return for season 3 on January 19, 2022

The nearly minute-long television spot began with 'start the year with a bang' flashing across the screen.

Then came the clips of the scantily clad cast of season two doing all that they can to not give into their carnal temptations.

A voiceover could be heard saying: 'Too Hot To Handle. Season 3. New year, new cast. Drops on January 19.

Moving on: It featured short clips from the very raunchy season 2 which was set to stream earlier this year but promised an entirely new cast

Getting pumped: The nearly minute-long television spot began with 'start the year with a bang' flashing across the screen

Stunner: Then came the clips of the scantily clad cast of season two doing all that they can to not give into their carnal temptations

The reality series is an American-British dating show which revolves around 10 sexy singles who are notorious for engaging primarily in meaningless flings and one-night stands thus are unable to form long-lasting relationships.

The group are placed into a home together in stunning Turks And Caicos where they are forbidden from any kissing, sexual contact, and even self-gratification.

They begin with a massive prize of $100,000 and deductions are made whenever a rule is broken based on severity.

Roughing it: The reality series is an American-British dating show which revolves around 10 sexy singles who are notorious for engaging primarily in meaningless flings and one-night stands thus are unable to form long-lasting relationships

Nature calls: The group are placed into a home together in stunning Turks And Caicos where they are forbidden from any kissing, sexual contact, and even self-gratification

Getting in touch with their emotions: The group also must show their commitment by participating in various workshops

The group also must show their commitment by participating in various workshops.

Too Hot To Handle has been a hit for Netflix as it became the No. 1 television program on the streaming giant when it first premiered in April 2020.

The American-British version has been such a massive success that both Brazil and Mexico have had their own spin-offs.

Season 3 of Too Hot To Handle will start streaming on Netflix beginning January 19, 2022.
Alice Evans has began preparations for her first Christmas since splitting from her estranged husband Ioan Gruffudd, as she and daughter Elsie, eight, picked out a tree on Tuesday.

The actress, 53, took to Instagram to share a snap of her youngest child decorating their tree, while confessed that her other daughter Ella, 12, showed 'no interest at all.'

It came after Alice, stated that she 'needs to accept' that her estranged husband Ioan and his girlfriend Bianca Wallace 'are besotted' with one another after publicly berating the end of her marriage on social media.

Sweet: Alice Evans has began preparations for her first Christmas since splitting from her estranged husband Ioan Gruffudd, as she and daughter Elsie, eight, picked out a tree

Alice shared a trio of snaps of Elsie placing a decoration on the tree, as they prepared to celebrate Christmas in the US.

She penned the caption: '8 yo is DETERMINED to do the whole thing herself.

'Chose tree, helped bring it in, showed me how to screw it in ( eek - never done it before) now she's decorating!

'(we're having that very common problem with the lights where it seems you need a double pronged plug extension but she says she's gonna work it out!).

Over: The actress split from the Liar star (pictured in happier times) at the beginning of 2021, and has since publicly berated his new relationship with girlfriend Bianca Wallace

Sweet: Alice shared a trio of snaps of Elsie placing a decoration on the tree, as they prepared to celebrate Christmas in the US

'Amazed! Meanwhile 12yo showing no interest at all and still complaining that we didn't stop at In and Out on Sunset Boulevard on the way to Home Depot. We would have still been in the car if we had!'

Alice who is in a custody battle over her and Ioan's daughters, recently extended an olive branch to her ex and his new girlfriend Bianca.

In a post to Instagram last week she penned: 'I've been so careful for 20 years. because I wanted a private life. so I looked at them, felt a little embarrassed, also a little warm...

'If theyre that in love then lets try to make it work for them. and I deliberately did not post or mention anything. and no longer intend to...

Not fussed: She confessed that while Elsie was excited for the upcoming festive season, her eldest daughter Ella, 12, showed 'no interest'

'Theyre clearly besotted with each other abs i need to accept that. ( Besides, ive never had so many hot guys ask me out on DM Im quite overwhelmed!!!'

Evans is now adjusting to life on her own after Ioan publicly confirmed a new relationship with his Harrow co-star on Instagram, a move she described as 'every woman's nightmare.'

Ioan filed for divorce in March, citing irreconcilable differences as the reason behind their split.

Christmas is coming! Alice also wrote that Elsie is 'determined' to decorate the tree herself

New love: Evans is now adjusting to life on her own after Ioan publicly confirmed a new relationship with his Harrow co-star Bianca (pictured) on Instagram

The document, which was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on March 1, revealed the former couple separated on New Year's Day - a month before they went public with their relationship status.

Evans and Gruffudd met on the set of 102 Dalmatians in 2000, when Alice was in a relationship with Pablo Picasso's grandson Olivier.

The former couple became engaged six years later after she gave him an ultimatum about their relationship, and they tied the knot in an intimate ceremony in Mexico in September 2007.

Gruffudd hasn't publicly addressed the couple's divorce.
Vicky Kaushal and Katrina at the Delhi airport on Tuesday

A few days before Santa Claus is due to visit, Bollywood stars have apparently filled the newly wed VickyKatrinas home with gifts. While many Bollywood celebs couldnt attend the wedding in Rajasthan, they surely seem to have filled the couples new life with presents. Reports and rumours suggest that the newest Bollywood couple have been given a lot of really expensive gifts for their wedding.

Salman Khan, who is Katrinas close friend  hes a big support for her in the industry  has apparently gifted a high-end version of Range Rover, which is worth `3 crore. Earlier, for Katrinas birthday, Salman gifted her a Range Rover worth `2.33 crore. And on one of her earlier birthdays he gave her an expensive Audi. For the wedding gift, he has upped the bar.

Ex beau Ranbir Kapoor is rumoured to have gifted her a Rs 2.75 crore-worth diamond necklace; katrina is also a good friend of his current girlfriend Alia Bhatt.

Alia, on her part, is said to have gifted her a gift hamper of expensive perfumes running into lakhs of rupees.

Katrinas new neighbours  Anushka Sharma and Virat Kohli  have also apparently gifted her a diamond earring set worth Rs 6.4 lakhs. Shah Rukh and Gauri Khan, who often buy a lot of paintings, have given out one of their favourite paintings to Katrina worth a few lakhs. Hrithik Roshan has gifted Vicky Kaushal a BMW G 310 bike worth Rs 2.60 lakh. Taapsee Pannu has also reportedly gifted her Manmarziyaan co-actor a platinum bracelet worth Rs1.5 lakh.

So what did the bride and groom give each other? While Vicky is said to have given his wife a diamond ring worth Rs 1.3 crore, Katrina has gifted her husband a Mumbai apartment worth Rs 15 crore.

However, the couple, whore away honeymooning in Maldives, has just returned to India. They havent posted pictures from the island yet!

Wedding gifts galore

Salman Khan has apparently gifted a high-end version of Range Rover, which is worth Rs 3 crore.

Ranbir Kapoor is rumoured to have gifted her a Rs 2.75 crore-worth diamond necklace

Alia Bhatt is said to have gifted a hamper of expensive perfumes running into lakhs of rupees.

Anushka Sharma and Virat Kohli  have apparently gifted her a diamond earring set worth Rs 6.4 lakhs.

Shah Rukh and Gauri Khan have given one of their favourite paintings to Katrina worth a few lakhs.

l Hrithik Roshan has gifted Vicky Kaushal a BMW G 310 bike worth `2.60 lakh.

l Taapsee Pannu has also reportedly gifted her Manmarziyaan co-actor a platinum bracelet worth Rs1.5 lakh.
The results indicate that the Omicron variant has the potential to drive a further wave of infections, including among those already vaccinated, the researchers said. (AP Photo)

London: Two doses of Pfizer and AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines generate lower levels of antibodies against the Omicron variant of coronavirus, according to a study which suggests that those previously infected or vaccinated may be at an increased risk of infection.

Researchers from the University of Oxford in the UK analysed the impact of the Omicron variant of concern on one of the immune responses generated by vaccination.

The yet-to-be peer-reviewed study, posted on the preprint repository MedRxiv on Monday, used blood samples from individuals who had previously received two doses of the AstraZeneca or Pfizer vaccines, and a live virus isolate.

The researchers demonstrate substantial decrease in neutralising titres -- a measure of the level of neutralising antibodies generated in responses to vaccination against, or infection from, COVID-19.

The results indicate that the Omicron variant has the potential to drive a further wave of infections, including among those already vaccinated, the researchers said.

They, however, noted that there is currently no evidence of increased potential to cause severe disease, hospitalisations or deaths in vaccinated populations.

These results align with recently published data from UK Health Security Agency, showing reduced effectiveness of two doses of these vaccines against symptomatic disease due to the Omicron variant compared to Delta.

This effectiveness was, however, improved by a third dose of vaccine, the researchers said.

"These data will help those developing vaccines, and vaccination strategies, to determine the routes to best protect their populations, and press home the message that those who are offered booster vaccination should take it," said Professor Gavin Screaton, Head of the Oxford's Medical Sciences Division, and lead author of the paper.

"Whilst there is no evidence for increased risk of severe disease, or death, from the virus amongst vaccinated populations, we must remain cautious, as greater case numbers will still place a considerable burden on healthcare systems," Screaton said.

The researchers noted that these data are important but are only one part of the picture.

They only look at neutralising antibodies after the second dose, but do not tell us about cellular immunity, and this will also be tested using stored samples once the assays are available, they said.

"Importantly, we have not yet assessed the impact of a 'third dose' booster, which we know significantly increases antibody concentrations, and it is likely that this will lead to improved potency against the Omicron variant," said Matthew Snape, a professor at the University of Oxford and co-author of the study.

"Vaccination induces many arms of our immune system, including neutralising antibodies and T-cells," said Teresa Lambe, a professor at the University of Oxford, and an author on the paper.

"Real-world effectiveness data has shown us that vaccines continue to protect against severe disease with previous variants of concern. The best way to protect us going forward in this pandemic is by getting vaccines in arms," Lambe added.
Medical workers checks medicine and other essential items inside a Covid-19 coronavirus ward of a Civil hospital in Ahmedabad. (SAM PANTHAKY / AFP)

AHMEDABAD: Gujarat has acknowledged more COVID-19 deaths than its official tally, according to a court document filed on Monday, lending weight to fears that the country's actual toll was much higher than reported.

Reuters and other media have reported, based on figures collected from crematoriums and cemeteries, that during India's record second wave of cases between April and June, states including Gujarat undercounted deaths as many people died at home due to a severe shortage of hospital beds and oxygen.

Gujarat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's home state, told the Supreme Court it had received 22,557 applications as of Thursday from families of the dead seeking compensation and 16,175 had been approved, according to an affidavit seen by Reuters.

Its reported death count is 10,099, according to the state's latest health bulletin.

A Gujarat official with direct knowledge of the matter said applications had now swelled to more than 40,000 and nearly half had been approved. All of them would get 50,000 rupees ($659) each.

India has reported a total of 475,636 COVID-19 deaths, including many revised figures from states that have come under pressure from courts to accurately represent the scale of the disaster.

The main opposition Congress party said it believed the actual death toll to be still higher.

"We have been saying from the beginning that the Gujarat government has been underreporting COVID-19 cases and deaths," said Manish Doshi, chief spokesperson of Gujarat Congress, adding its surveys had shown at least 55,000 deaths.

Gujarat Revenue Minister Rajendra Trivedi, whose department is paying the compensation, did not respond to requests for comment.
Chennai: The Madras High Court on Tuesday dismissed as not maintainable, a PIL petition challenging the organisational polls of the AIADMK, where incumbents O Panneerselvam and K Palaniswami were elected unopposed as Coordinator and Joint Coordinator, respectively.

The first bench of Acting Chief Justice M N Bhandari and Justice P D Audikesavalu rejected the plea from J Jayachandran of Arsanapatti in Hosur in the state.

The petition prayed for a direction to the Election Commission of India not to affix its seal of approval for the election of Panneerselvam and Palaniswami, both former Chief Ministers of the state, as the co-ordinator and joint coordinator in the polls supposed to be held at the party headquarters at Royapettah here on December 7. They were declared elected on December 6 as unopposed.

In his petition, Jayachandran, who was allegedly manhandled when he went to the party headquarters at Royapettah here to obtain nomination papers to contest in the elections on December 4, cited the ECI as the first respondent.

He contended the mandatory notice of a clear 21 days from the date of announcement of election and the date of polling, was not issued.

The election officers -- C Ponnaiyan and Pollachi V Jayaraman -- nominated by the party high command, were acting whimsically. The voters list, consisting of nearly 1.50 crore cadres, was not made public. The entire proceedings were conducted in such a way to ensure that only the two top leaders filed their nominations for the respective posts , he alleged.

The bench dismissed the petition on limine after holding it was not maintainable.
Hyderabad: Sudden transfers of state government employees en masse as part of implementation of the new zonal system do not seem to have gone well with thousands of employees across the state.

They are said to be anguished over the transfers being made in a hurried manner without addressing their concerns in the allotment of employees to new districts and zones. They raise objections over the state government giving more preference to seniority over nativity while making transfers. They resist transfers in the middle of the academic year arguing that their children's education will be hit if they are transferred at this stage.

The government has initiated the process to seek options from employees on their preferred districts for transfers. The process started in undivided Warangal, Mahbubnagar,

Rangareddy and Nizamabad districts last week. The process will be initiated in undivided Karimnagar, Adilabad, Khammam, Nalgonda and Medak districts on December 16, when code of conduct for MLC poll ends.

The state government has decided to allocate employees to new districts, zones and multi zones based on a new zonal system for government recruitments, taking into consideration the increase in districts from 10 to 33 and zones from two to six besides creating two multi-zones. The new zonal system was brought to ensure 95 per cent reservations for locals in each district, zone and multi zone.

Employees now question the rationale behind giving more priority to seniority over nativity arguing that if seniority is followed, more non-locals among existing employees will get new postings which will defeat the very purpose of the zonal system. However, the government argues that 95 per cent reservations to locals as per new zonal system will be applicable to fresh recruitments and existing employees will be adjusted in districts based on the old zonal system.

Employees associations point out that the en masse transfer of employees will be normally taken up during summer vacation for educational institutions so that the children of employees pursuing education in schools and colleges at present do not face troubles due to transfer of their parents in the middle of the academic year. But in his case, the state government is undertaking transfer of employees in the middle of the academic year. They want the government to halt the process until summer.

When new districts were formed in October 2016, around 60,000 employees in old districts were allocated to new districts. Another 5,000 employees were shifted from one zone to other. Besides, another 10,000 fresh recruits since 2015 were allocated to their non-native zones. The government now wants to transfer these 75,000 employees to their native districts and zones.

This apart, around 50,000 employees have been recruited in various departments since the formation of state in 2014. They will be given the option to move to their native districts based on their seniority.
Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty said that our governments are obsessed with only financial development rather than giving equal importance to traditional Indian music and cultural heritage. (DC)

Hyderabad: Eminent Hindustani vocalist from the famed Patiala-Kasur gharana, Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty will be receiving his doctorate from IIT Kanpur from Prime Minister Narendra Modi on December 28.

Pandit Chakrabarty was in town for the Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan national festival of music and dance. He drew wholesome applause for his outstanding renditions at Ravindra Bharathi.

Deccan Chronicle caught up with the maestro, who teaches at IIT Kharagpur, over a Bengali luncheon, during which he opened up on various issues ranging from music, government policies to the society.

Excerpts:

Do you foresee the possibility of music as a compulsory subject in schools and colleges?

I met the then prime minister Manmohan Singh on four different occasions. We discussed the possibility of introducing music across educational institutions. But, it remained a non-starter. It will not work because the Indian political system will not accept such a curriculum. Their agendas are different. Moreover, if you look at the public representatives and bureaucrats, you will conclude that culture and heritage are way beyond their understanding. They have no knowledge about them. Going further, I can ascertain that if music is made compulsory in schools, the society will have less number of criminal minds.

As a top-notch musician, you have performed all over. What changes have you noticed in society over the years?

People have become more self-centered. Sadly, the younger generations are found wanting when it comes to discipline. As regards children, new vices come in the form of gadgets of which they have become addicts. I personally feel that parents should be blamed for this unfortunate development.

Do you, on a personal level, think people are gradually losing interest in traditional music. What is the future of Indian classical music?

Contrary to apprehensions as spread by the prophets of doom, I see a greatly vibrant future for classical music in India. In fact, the past five years have shown that not only are more and more people evincing interest in learning classical music but there has been a more than encouraging response from listeners. This is a welcome development considering that its popularity was on the wane in the two decades prior to that.

Do you think there is a need for establishing more institutions that impart music in the country?

PAC: There, indeed, is a big need. However, the focus ought to be on appointing a qualitative faculty. It goes without saying that most of the existing institutes have substandard or less than mediocre teachers. They are there for the sake of a job. They lack passion. We also should have classical music enthusiasts as policy-makers.

What suggestions would you give to the government to revive the glory days of our classical music?

PAC: I can vouch that classical music can help restore normalcy in society. As cinema is a bigger medium when it comes to reaching a larger audience, the censor board should mandate that every movie should have at least a three-minute classical music clip.

Unfortunately rather than giving equal importance to traditional Indian music and cultural heritage, our governments are obsessed with only financial development. They should realise that this is giving birth to more and more criminals.
Hyderabad: MA&UD minister K.T. Rama Rao on Monday called on people to keep the city clean after flagging-off 1,350 Swatcch tipper autos at Sanathnagar playground. With this, GHMC will now have 4,500 Swachh autos at its disposal

Rao said that the corporation has been winning Swachh Sarvekshan awards regularly. He said the winning momentum can be kept going when people join in the clean initiatives.

He said that Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao in keeping with his safai anna salaam, had increased wages of sanitation workers thrice.

Before autos were introduced, the city used to pick up around 3,500 tonnes of garbage, which has now increased to 6,500 tonnes a day, thanks to improved garbage transport system, he said.

Animal husbandry minister Talasani Srinivas Yadav said the new fleet of autos will help in achieving a cleaner city.

Home minister Mohammad Mahmood Ali, mayor Gadwal Vijayalakshmi, deputy mayor Srilatha Sobhan Reddy and GHMC commissioner Lokesh Kumar, were present on the occasion.
This will be Rao's first meeting with Stalin after the latter assumed charge as the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister in May this year. (DC)

Hyderabad: Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao on Monday said that he will meet Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K.Stalin in Chennai on Tuesday. He, however, did not disclose the agenda of the meeting, leading to speculation linking the visit to his attempts to revive his plans to float a non-BJP and non-Congress national-level political alliance for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

This will be Rao's first meeting with Stalin after the latter assumed charge as the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister in May this year. The meeting assumes significance in the wake of the TRS government's ongoing row with the BJP government at the Centre on the issue of paddy procurement.

The earlier attempts of Rao to forge a Federal Front of regional parties against the NDA and the UPA in 2018 for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls failed to materialise due to various reasons.

This will be Rao's second meeting with Stalin in Chennai. He met Stalin when he was the opposition leader in April 2018 seeking DMK's support to the Federal Front of the non-BJP and non-Congress parties proposed by him at the national level before the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

Official sources said the meeting between Rao and Stalin will be held at 5 pm on Tuesday.

The Chief Minister will stay overnight in Chennai to meet the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister.

Earlier in the day, the Chief Minister performed special pujas at Sri Ranganatha Swamy temple at Srirangam in Tamil Nadu along with his family members.

He was accompanied by his wife Shobha, son and minister K.T. Rama Rao, daughter-in-law Shailima, Rajya Sabha member Joginapally Santosh Kumar, grandchildren and others.

This is the CM's second visit to Sri Ranganatha Swamy temple. Earlier, he visited the temple soon after the Lok Sabha polls in May 2019. Rao's second visit to the temple marked the third anniversary of taking oath as the CM of Telangana for the second term on December 13, 2018.
HYDERABAD: The ruling Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) made a clean sweep in the MLC elections under local bodies quota by bagging all six seats with a clear majority, the results of which were declared on Tuesday. The polling was held on December 10 and the counting of votes was done on Tuesday.

TRS candidates T Bhanuprasad Rao and L. Ramana from Karimnagar, Vanteru Yadava Reddy from Medak, Tata Madhu from Khammam, M.C. Kotireddy from Nalgonda and Dande Vittal from Adilabad trounced their nearest rivals with a handsome majority.

The TRS leadership's 'camp strategy' paid off as there was no major cross-voting by TRS local bodies representatives in the MLC polls barring Khammam. Surprisingly, there was cross-voting by Opposition members from the Congress, the BJP and others in favour of TRS in Karimnagar.

The Karimnagar result came as a setback for the BJP and the Congress as both the parties reportedly backed independent candidate Ravinder Singh, who quit the TRS and contested the election. A total of 219 members from the Congress, 105 from the BJP and 66 others cross-voted in favour of the TRS. After defeating the TRS in the recent Huzurabad Assembly bypoll, the BJP leaders and its MLA Etala Rajender made all efforts to ensure victory of Ravinder Singh but shockingly the BJP and even the Congress members voted for TRS. However, several of them who resorted to cross-voting had joined the TRS after local bodies elections in 2019.

The TRS leadership laid more emphasis on Karimnagar where its senior leader and former mayor of Karimnagar municipal corporation Ravinder Singh contested as independent after quitting the TRS. The TRS leadership suspected the backing of BJP MLA Etala Rajender to Ravinder Singh.

Minister Gangula Kamalakar, who was the party's in-charge for MLC polls, said the TRS had a strength of 986 members in local bodies in Karimnagar district but two TRS candidates in Karimnagar together polled 1,063 seats indicating cross-voting by Opposition Congress, the BJP and other members in favour of TRS. The Opposition parties have a total strength of 324 members in Karimnagar but they were polled just 234 votes, he added.

Although the TRS won Khammam seat, it suffered a jolt as its 130 members in local bodies resorted to cross-voting in favour of rival candidates. Seven TRS members in Medak local bodies were also found to have resorted to cross-voting in favour of the Congress candidate.

Ministers and party MLAs in respective districts who organised 'camps' for TRS local bodies representatives in other states succeeded in their task of preventing horse-trading by rival candidates.

The TRS faced Congress candidates in Medak and Khammam seats and independent candidates in Adilabad, Karimnagar and Nalgonda seats.

While Bhanuprasad Rao and Ramana in Karimnagar got 584 and 479 votes respectively, Yadava Reddy in Medak received 762 votes. M.C. Kotireddy in Nalgonda secured 917 votes and Madhu registered 480 votes in Khammam. Dande Vittal received 740 votes in Adilabad.

Earlier, TRS candidates Kalvakuntla Kavitha from Nizamabad, Patnam Mahender Reddy and Shambhipur Raju from Rangareddy, Pochampally Srinivas Reddy from Warangal, Kuchukulla Damodar Reddy and Kasireddy Narayana Reddy from Mahbubnagar were elected unanimously.

In all, there were 5,326 voters, of whom 3,223 were MPTCs, 325 ZPTCs, 1,544 councillors and 169 corporators. Of them, over 90 per cent belong to the TRS.

Soon after the filing of nominations ended, the ministers and TRS MLAs in respective districts shifted their local bodies members to camps in Goa, Bengaluru, Mysure etc to prevent horse trading by rival candidates.

They were confined in camps for over 10 days before polling and were brought straight to polling booths from camps on the day of polling of December 10. The ministers and MLAs ensured that all their members cast votes in favour of the party's candidates.
Manish Maheshwari, the former head of Twitter India who moved to a bigger role at the company's headquarters in the US amid the political storm over account removals earlier this year, is reportedly leaving the microblogging platform, now under new CEO Parag Agrawal, to launch his own edtech startup.

Maheshwari is reportedly "in touch with a handful of investors" to raise funds for a new Bengaluru-headquartered edtech start-up that promises to deliver MBA courses in four months, TechCrunch reported, citing sources.

According to the filings with the local regulator, Maheshwari's home in Bengaluru is reportedly registered as the new start-up's office location.

Twitter did not respond to queries on the development.

Maheshwari, who joined Twitter in April 2019 as its managing director for its India operations, moved into a new role in August this year, based in San Francisco as Senior Director, Revenue Strategy and Operations, and focused on 'New Market Entry'.

His departure came as Twitter blocked accounts of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and several other party leaders for violating platform policies, as reported by TechCrunch.

The Congress alleged that it was done at the behest of the government; Twitter had clarified its action, saying that the rules were enforced judiciously and impartially for everyone on its service.

Also Read  Ghaziabad assault case: SC issues notice to former Twitter India MD Manish Maheshwari

Amid the political ruckus, the Centre in August informed the Delhi High Court that Twitter has appointed permanent officers as required under the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021.

Twitter informed the Delhi High Court that it has appointed employees at the positions of chief compliance officer and resident grievance officer, and nodal contact person, in compliance with the provisions of the new IT rules.

In October, the Supreme Court issued notice on a plea filed by the Uttar Pradesh government challenging the Karnataka High Court's order quashing notice of personal appearance issued to the then Twitter India Managing Director Maheshwari.

The notice was issued to Maheshwari in connection with a probe into uploading a communally sensitive video by a user on Twitter.

The police had rejected Twitter India officials' request to carry out the questioning via video conferencing.

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Actor Ankita Lokhande on Tuesday tied the knot with businessman Vicky Jain in an intimate ceremony here attended by the couple's family and friends from the industry.

The couple's wedding ceremony was held at the city's Grand Hyatt Hotel, where Lokhande's friends from the industry, including actors Amruta Khanvilkar and Srishty Rode were present.

Rode and Khanvilkar took to their Instagram stories and shared pictures of the couple, confirming that the couple got married.

The groom arrived with his baraat in a vintage car, pictures and videos of which were shared by her fans on social media.

For the ceremony, the 36-year-old "Pavitra Rishta" star wore a golden lehenga while Jain matched the bride with a golden-white sherwani. The couple had been dating for over two years.

The wedding festivities of the couple began from Saturday with a mehendi ceremony, followed by an engagement and the sangeet night, which was also attended by Lokhande's close friend, actor Kangana Ranaut.

The duo worked together in 2019 period movie "Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi ".

A red carpet event for the couple's reception was called off due to rising Covid cases in the city.

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Time magazine on Monday named Tesla chief and space entrepreneur Elon Musk as its person of the year, citing his embodiment of the technological shifts but also troubling trends reshaping people's lives.

Musk -- who overtook Amazon founder Jeff Bezos this year to become the world's wealthiest person -- wields impact on Earth with his Tesla electric car company and beyond our planet with his SpaceX rockets.

"Musk's rise coincides with broader trends of which he and his fellow technology magnates are part cause and part effect," Time editor-in-chief Edward Felsenthal wrote.

Also Read | Tesla's Elon Musk is 'thinking of' quitting his jobs and becoming influencer

Among those trends, Felsenthal listed "the continuing decline of traditional institutions in favor of individuals; government dysfunction that has delivered more power and responsibility to business and chasms of wealth and opportunity."

Time editors have previously defined the title -- which last year went to President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris -- as going to people who "embodied what was important about the year, for better or for worse."

In October, Musk's electric car company's valuation soared above a trillion dollars, and SpaceX has teamed up with US space agency NASA to launch various missions including a test run of protecting Earth from an asteroid.

The brash South African-born 50-year-old has seen his wealth soar during the pandemic to over $250 billion, according to Forbes' real-time billionaires list.

He has also courted controversy with his provocative Twitter feed that can attack, joke and provoke -- including a poll in November asking Twitter whether he should sell a 10 percent share of his Tesla stock.

Felsenthal noted Musk's provocative vision is accompanied by a persona which is a "blunt instrument that often seems to revel in division and aggressive mockery as he gives the world access to his id through social media."

Musk has appeared ever-present in American culture in recent years, amassing 66 million Twitter followers and guest-hosting the famed late-night comedy show Saturday Night Live in May.

Musk speaks ambitiously about his interest in colonizing Mars, and plans orbital flights next year as part of SpaceX's planned American return to the Moon.

"The goal overall has been to make life multi-planetary and enable humanity to become a spacefaring civilization," Musk told Time in an interview released with the Person of the Year announcement.

He has also been known to move markets and the value of cryptocurrencies with a single tweet, but his main terrestrial influence for now is with his electric vehicles.

"Our intent with Tesla was always that we would serve as an example to the car industry, and hope that they also make electric cars so that we can accelerate the transition to sustainable energy," Musk told Time.

Time notes that in an earlier era interplanetary travel was a collective undertaking that leaders used to rally their nations, but that increasingly private companies are involved.

"To Musk, that is progress, steering capital allocation away from the government to those who will be good stewards of it," Felsenthal wrote.

"To others, it is testament to capitalism's failings as staggeringly wealthy, mostly white men play by their own rules while much of society gets left behind," he added.

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A Pakistani transgender person, who is an active organiser of a movement aimed at seeking an end to the demolition of Karachi's working-class settlements and markets, has been allegedly tortured and sexually assaulted one day before a climate march held here.

The organisers of the 'People's Climate March' that took place under the banner of the Karachi Bachao Tehreek (KBT) in the city on Sunday said in a statement that one of their organisers, a transgender person, was tortured and sexually assaulted on Saturday by some persons who were looking to "extract" information about the march.

The incident took place when the transgender activist was returning home in Nazimabad after attending an organisational meeting and was picked up and held hostage for three hours. The victim was while tortured and assaulted before being released.

"We organised a Peoples Climate March in Karachi. The night before our protest, we held an organising meeting. One of our organisers, a trans woman, was abducted on her way home. She was tortured and raped," the KBT said in a tweet.

TW: RAPE + ASSAULT On the 12th of December, 2021, we organized a Peoples Climate March in Karachi. The night before our protest, we held an organizing meeting. One of our organizers, a trans woman, was abducted on her way home. She was tortured and raped#ClimateMarchKarachi  Karachi Bachao Tehreek (@StopEvictionKHI) December 13, 2021

The KBT suggested that police were involved in the violence against the transgender person.

Shahzadi Rai, the Gender Interactive Alliance's (GIA) 'violence case manager', told the media that the KBT activist was terrified and appeared reluctant to lodge a case".

Shahzadi, who deals with cases of torture against the transgender community, said the suspects asked the activist in captivity about the details of the march programme and speakers.

Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah took notice of the incident and ordered the inspector general of police to conduct an inquiry into the case and submit a report to him, according to a tweet from his office.

The Ministry of Human Rights also took notice of the incident, saying its transgender rights expert was in contact with the victim's guardian.

"Our Transgender Rights Expert, Reem, has been in touch with the relevant people including the victims guardian and our ministry will be contacting the Sindh government to ensure her protection," it said in a tweet.

According to the Dawn newspaper, dozens of participants of the Peoples Climate March had taken out a rally near Karachi's Boat Basin on Sunday evening to draw the authorities' attention towards the adverse impacts of climate change, particularly the perceived environmental disaster unfolding in Malir and adjoining areas allegedly because of trees being felled and agricultural land being destroyed to pave the way for mega housing projects.

Activists belonging to around 10 political parties and civil society organisations had arrived near Clifton beach and tried to march towards Bilawal House but police officials prevented them from moving further, according to organisers and witnesses, it said.

The marchers including men, women and children chanted slogans against Bahria Town Karachi, DHA Karachi, the occupation of locals' lands, construction of the Malir Expressway, destruction of agricultural land in Malir and Gadap, demolition of homes located on Gujjar and Orangi Nullahs, and other issues, the report said.

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Thanks to public outrage, the driver of the luxury car that ran amok and caused the death of a man in Indiranagar has finally been arrested.

Suvidh Chordia, 43, was produced in court on Monday, a full five days after the accident. He was granted bail right away.

Chordia, driving a Mercedes Benz, allegedly took a U-turn at high speed and caused a series of accidents, killing Harimahanta (age 36), and injuring six others.

Owner of a real estate business, Chordia lives on the ground floor of a building in Defence Colony, and has rented out two floors above.

There was a delay in arresting him because he was undergoing treatment at Manipal Hospital. We took him into custody as soon as he was discharged, says K M Shantharaju, deputy commissioner of police (traffic).

B R Ravikanthe Gowda, joint commissioner of police (traffic), says Chordia took a turn and hit a two-wheeler and knocked down its rider. Eyewitnesses say he panicked and tried to escape from the scene, crashing into a parked Maruti Alto, which in turn hit a Swift. The car rammed into a Tata Ace mini-truck. Chordia then took a sharp right and hit two autos parked nearby, he says.

A senior officer investigating the case says, We are examining CCTV cameras in the vicinity and questioning witnesses to understand what went wrong. This is part of gathering evidence. Chordia says he fell unconscious at the wheel, a claim hard to believe, he says.

Residents of Indiranagar demonstrated on Friday, with many wondering how the police were sympathetic to the driver and not to the victims.

Indirani Chaudhary, a resident of Defence Colony, says, An innocent man has lost his life and five others are injured. The police must act. Only swift action will stop others with similar tendencies. Sukidha Nivas, another resident of the area, says, People who flaunt their wealth and power on the streets must be dealt with harshly.

A lawyer who was among the protesters says Chordia could still get away if the police fail to present strong evidence in court.

RECKLESS DRIVING SHOULD BE A NON-BAILABLE OFFENCE

The Bengaluru traffic police are more interested in collecting fines and bribes than in making roads safe, alleges Ravi Krishna Reddy, president, Karnataka Rashtra Samithi, a political outfit that is actively campaigning against corruption in government offices.

He believes reckless driving should be treated as a non-bailable offence.

New app for speedy investigation

N Shivakumar, transport commissioner, says the police can recommend suspension or cancellation of the licences of errant drivers. So far we have not got anything from the police when it comes to the Indiranagar incident, he told Metrolife. The Integrated Road Accident Database (iRAD) Project, launched by the ministry of road transport and highways, helps find the cause of accidents. It is a unified app where the police department, transport officials, and health and PWD officials can key in their inputs about every case. When data is correctly collated, analysis becomes quicker and aids speedy investigation, he says.

Educate drivers

Ashish Verma, professor and convenor, IISc Sustainable Transportation Lab, says the driver licensing process must include training on good driving habits.

There was a visible delay in arresting Suvidh. Is it because he was driving a Mercedes and the police feared that he may be an influential person? Would they extend the same courtesy to a common person? These questions beg answers, he says.
The Assam Rifles troopers have erected a huge 47-feet Christmas star -- the largest in the northeastern region, ahead of Christmas, in Mizoram, officials said on Monday.

An Assam Rifles official in Aizawl said that the Lunglei Battalion of the 23 Sector Assam Rifles has constructed a humongous "Christmas Star" at Lunglei in Mizoram.

The star of Bethlehem measuring 47 feet in height is the largest "Christmas Star" of the northeast. It marked the occasion of "Advent Christmas", and is a beacon of hope with aim to spread a message of positivity and togetherness for local populace, an Assam Rifles statement said.

The Christmas celebrations across the northeastern region last year was subdued due to the Covid restrictions which forced the people to remain indoors.

The imposing star overlooking Lunglei has attracted many visitors within the first week of its presence. The local residents have been invited to visit the Star of Bethlehem. It is also becoming a popular attraction among them for picnics and family outings.

The locals have been highly appreciative of the efforts of Assam Rifles towards spreading the spirit of Christmas.

Meanwhile, the Planning and Coordination Department of the Nagaland government on Monday has launched the second edition of the 'Nagaland for Green Christmas' campaign this year, urging the citizens to celebrate a sustainable and environment-friendly Christmas.

In Kohima, the Planning and Coordination Department requesting the people to celebrate a sustainable and environment-friendly Christmas said that the key objective of this campaign is to align the Christmas festival celebration to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals dissemination and spark action among the residents in Nagaland for making this Christmas and beyond, sustainable.

An official statement said that the 'Nagaland for Green Christmas' is the need of the hour for "our state primarily because, while it is the most wonderful time of the year, it's not the most environmentally friendly. With a little know-how, we can host a state-wide sustainable and eco-friendly Christmas".

"From the type of tree we buy to the food we eat, everything - no matter how big or small - can make a huge difference. The key is to incorporate small changes and considerations into our normal routine - think about the items we buy, how we use them and how we dispose of them as well," the statement said.

As part of this campaign, SDG Coordination Centre has opened up the 'Green Christmas Contest 2021' which will be taking applications till December 25.

Over six million Christians live in Mizoram, Nagaland, Meghalaya while there are a significant number of Christians in the other northeastern states of Manipur, Tripura, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim.

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While West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is on a Goa tour expanding the Trinamool Congress, back home, the BJP has initiated a three-day pro-farmer agitation in Singur with a focus on rural Bengal.

After the agitation, the partys farmer wing will form farmers committees in Bengals villages. A delegation with demands will try to meet the chief minister and in absence of a pacifying outcome, there could be a farmers march to the state secretariat that houses the CMs office, agitation organisers have hinted.

The three-day agitation, close to the erstwhile site for Tatas small-car factory, began on a hastily-put open stage, as confusion prevailed initially on whether the programme will be allowed or obstructed locally.

Also Read | Sunset on BJP has started from Goa, UP, Punjab: Mamata

Suvendu Adhikari, Leader of the Opposition in the state assembly and a BJP MLA from Nandigram in south Bengal, called for the formation of save-farmer committees in the villages. An influential leader, he had played a significant role in Nandigram, where locals had collectively protested in 2007 against the proposed acquisition of farmland.

Suvendu, once instrumental in expanding Trinamools footprints in southern Bengal had joined the BJP before this years assembly elections. He called for intensifying the partys campaign for highlighting farmers plight and rights. Later in the day, he tweeted against his former party, TMC turned Singur into a graveyard of WBs aspirations. Were farmers merely stepping stone to power?...

The Bharatiya Janata Kisan Morcha state president Mahadev Sarkar told DH that a delegation on behalf of farmers will seek an appointment with the chief minister. If this initiative fails to resolve farmers issues, then a walk to the state secretariat, Nabanna, will be considered an option.

Sarkar added that the partys farmers wing will reach out to villages and form farmers committees to help raise concerns. Sarkar added that a proper stage would be put up for the agitation, for the remaining two days.

A BJP delegation had last week met West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar and presented a memorandum with a set of demands. The memorandum claimed that the state witnessed a number of farmer suicides during the last few days. It also added that high prices of crop seeds, fertilisers and black-marketing of same is adding to the misery of farmers.

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How to help a tribal block with better healthcare?
Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur on Tuesday accused Congress leader Rahul Gandhi of insulting Parliament which his family's four generations got an opportunity to be part of.

Counter-attacking Gandhi for his suggestion to convert Parliament into a museum, the Minister said that there are a few people who do not want to come to the House.

Interacting with mediapersons in Parliament, Thakur said: "Even if the House is functioning, they do not participate in discussions. They try to walk out of the Parliament."

The Minister charged that at a time when crucial issues and Bills are being discussed in Parliament, a few people do not attend it properly, come out and mislead the country.

On the Wayanad MP's charge that Bills are being passed without discussion amid an opposition uproar, Thakur said that our government is discussing every bill in detail but Gandhi should remember the UPA's tenure, during which opposition MPs were thrown out of the House and the Bill for forming states was passed amid an uproar.

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BJP MP Subramanian Swamy here on Monday criticised his partys government at the Centre, saying neither the PM nor the finance minister know economics.

He also held the Union finance minister responsible for the price rise it the country, saying she does not consult anyone.

The government does not understand economics, neither the PM knows nor the finance minister," he told reporters, adding that they do consult anyone over it.

They do not know what to do even when the growth rate has declined, the MP said.

On some Hindutva groups claim that places of Hindu worship once stood at spots where now mosques are located, the MP said the Centre is yet to respond to the suit filed by him for the repealing of the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991.

The Act prohibits the filing of a lawsuit to reclaim a place of worship or seek a change in its character from what prevailed on August 15, 1947.

Some Hindutva groups have demanded to reclaim religious places at Mathura and Kashi.

The BJP leader also said he is not satisfied with the way the government dealt with China over border issue.

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Four new cases of the Omicron Covid-19 variant has been reported in Delhi, taking the total tally in the national capital to six, Health Minister Satyendra Jain announced on Tuesday.

The six patients have been detected at the Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan (LNJP) hospital, which has been dedicated for the treatment of Omicron patients.

Of the six, a 37-year-old from Ranchi, who was the first Omicron patient in Delhi, has been discharged, Jain said, adding that the remaining five are all stable with mild symptoms.

The Delhi Health Minister went on to say Jain a total of 74 foreign returnees have been admitted to the LNJP so far, out of which 36 have been discharged.

"Out of total 38 admitted in the hospital, 35 have tested positive for Covid and five of these Omicron positive and three are suspected."

He said the Omicron infection is under control in Delhi, and there has been no locally transmitted cases in the community so far.

"Our preparation against Omicron is absolutely complete. We all need to follow the Covid appropriate behaviour," Jain added.

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Battling the anti-farmer government narrative being aggressively pushed by the Opposition spectrum ahead of polls in seven states, the Modi government and BJP are making a sustained bid to reach out to farmers after having withdrawn a fortnight ago the three contentious farm laws that had led to a year-long agitation at Delhi borders.

Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modis address to farmers at the valedictory session of the National Summit on Agro and Food Processing in his home state of Gujarat on December 16, the Centre issued a statement elaborating how the government has been driven by the Prime Minister's vision for farmer welfare and pitched for making natural farming a mass movement.

On Monday, Agriculture Secretary Sanjay Agrawal said that a committee on the minimum support price (MSP) and other farm issues, including the promotion of zero budget natural farming, will be set up soon.

Also Read  Modi advises Gujarat farmers to adopt natural farming to 'save Mother Earth'

Reaching out to the farmers in eastern UP, Modi inaugurated the Saryu canal national project on December 11. Not missing the opportunity, the BJP launched a huge campaign on social media around the step which is expected to give a fillip to agriculture activities in nine districts of eastern UP.

Merely repealing the contentious farm laws wont do. Substantial damage has already been done and hence, the BJP and the government have to go in some sort of overdrive to mollify the farmers and do it fast with just nearly three months left for the polls, political analyst Rasheed Kidwai said.

The Opposition has kept the heat on the government on farm issues even after farmers suspended their 378-day protest at Delhi borders on December 11, nearly two weeks after the government passed a law on November 29, the first day of the Winter Session of the Parliament to repeal the three contentious laws.

Earlier, on November 19, PM Modi had announced withdrawing the farm laws without any warning.

The farmers' protest is believed to have substantially affected the BJPs support base in the western part of poll-bound Uttar Pradesh where the Jat party, Rashtriya Lok Dal, has aligned with the main Opposition party, Akhilesh Yadav's Samajwadi Party. In western UP, BJP had won 106 of 136 Assembly seats and a good show in the sugarcane belt is key to the BJPs victory in the state.

Also Read  After victory, farmers on thanksgiving mission

Government has initiated several measures to transform agriculture and increase farmers income. Efforts are under way to promote and support initiatives leading to sustainability of the system, cost reduction, market access and better value realisation to farmers, the government said Tuesday, linking it with the summit that focuses on natural farming and is being attended by over 5,000 farmers.

It promised that farmers will be provided with requisite information detailing the benefits of adopting natural farming methods and stressed the government has been committed to ensuring an increase in productivity, so that farmers are able to maximise their agri-potential.

In the summit that began on Tuesday, the Centre emphasised that zero-budget natural farming is a promising tool to minimise the dependence of farmers on purchased inputs, and reduces the cost of agriculture by relying on traditional field-based technologies, which lead to improved soil health.

The Agriculture Ministry in a statement highlighted the steps taken by the government to increase the participation of women in farming.

Under Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana - National Rural Livelihood Mission (DAY- NRLM), about 38 lakh women farmers have been trained under Mahila Kisan Sashaktikaran Pariyojana (MKSP). The learning of the interventions under MKSP has been expanded to various parts of the country under the Annual Action Plans of States/UTs, an official statement said.

The government claimed that a total of around 1.44 crore women farmers have been covered under DAY-NRLM so far.

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Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha and politicians and parties on Monday condemned the terrorist attack on a police bus in Srinagar in which two policemen were killed and 12 were injured.

The bus carrying personnel of the ninth battalion of the Jammu and Kashmir Armed Police came under fire from terrorists in Zewan in Pantha Chowk area on the outskirts of Srinagar on Monday on the 20th anniversary of the Parliament Attack.

"Strongly condemn the cowardly terrorist attack on J&K Police bus in Srinagar. My homage to our brave martyred police personnel. We are committed to ensure that perpetrators are punished. My heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families," Sinha said on Twitter.

Also Read | 2 policemen killed, 12 injured in Srinagar terror attack

He said the security forces were determined to neutralise the evil forces of terrorism.

"Directed the concerned authorities to provide best possible treatment to the injured. I pray for their speedy recovery. Our police and security forces are determined to neutralize the evil forces of terrorism, he said.

Jammu and Kashmir BJP president Ravinder Raina condemned the attack and said "the coward Pakistani terrorists will have to pay a heavy price for it."

"The Pakistani coward terrorists have once again shed the innocent blood by attacking a police vehicle. They do not have the courage to fight our forces directly and are instead carrying out attacks clandestinely," Raina said, adding they "have to pay a heavy price for this dastardly act and will be eliminated."

The BJP leader said Pakistan wanted to turn Kashmir into a graveyard by killing people but the security forces are determined to wipe out terrorism from the valley.

Condemning the attack, National Confernece (NC) vice president Omar Abdullah tweeted, "Terrible news of a terror attack on a police bus on the outskirts of Srinagar. I unequivocally condemn this attack while at the same time send my heartfelt condolences to the families of the deceased & prayers for the injured."

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti said while the attack on policemen was terribly sad, it exposed the Centre's false narrative of normalcy in Kashmir.

Terribly sad to hear about the Srinagar attack in which two policemen were killed. GOIs false narrative of normalcy in Kashmir stands exposed yet there has been no course correction. My condolences to the bereaved families, Mehbooba said in a tweet.

The BJP's Jammu and Kashmir unit spokesman Altaf Thakur said the attack reflects the frustration on the part of militants as they choose darkness to target the police bus.

He expressed deep condolences on the death of two policemen.

The Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC) while strongly condemning the attack expressed grief over the loss of police personnel and injuries to several others.

A JKPCC spokesperson termed the attack mindless and inhuman act and urged the government to identify the gunmen and give them exemplary punishment.

The JKPCC conveyed heartfelt condolences to families of the slain police personnel and prayed for the speedy recovery of the injured personnel.

The spokesman said the security situation has deteriorated to a largest extent and the Government must take measures to contain loss of lives.

Peoples Conference led by Sajad Lone also condemned the attack.

Terrible sad news. We unreservedly condemn the terrorist attack on @JmuKmrPolice personnel in Zewan today. Deepest condolences to the families of deceased. Join us in praying for speedy recovery to the injured, the PC wrote on Twitter.

Apni Party president Altaf Bukhari termed the attack heinous and cowardly.

J&K Apni Party President Altaf Bukhari condemns the heinous and cowardly attack on a bus ferrying @JmuKmrPolice personnel at Zewan #Srinagar. He extended his solidarity with the families of deceased & prayed for speedy recovery to the injured, the party wrote on Twitter.

Farooq Khan, the advisor to Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, said the culprits behind the "dastardly attack will not be spared at any cost".

Khan said such attacks reflect the frustration among terrorists and their mentors across the border.

"Jammu and Kashmir Police has always given supreme sacrifices for upholding the security and integrity of the country and such cowardly acts will be given a befitting reply," he said.

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Leaders of various opposition parties on Tuesday met to decide on a joint strategy to press for their demand of revoking the suspension of 12 Rajya Sabha MPs.

The floor leaders of various parties met in the chamber of Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, and decided to intensify their agitation.

Opposition MPs in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha will also take out a march from Gandhi statue in Parliament complex to Vijay Chowk at 12:45 PM in support of their demands.

Former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi is likely to join the opposition members in the march.

As many as 12 opposition MPs were suspended from the Rajya Sabha on November 29 for the entire Winter Session of Parliament for their "unruly" conduct in the previous session in August.

The Opposition has termed the suspension as "undemocratic and in violation of all the Rules of Procedure" of the Upper House.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a high-level meeting on Tuesday at the BLW Guesthouse in Varanasi, apparently to discuss the 2022 state Assembly elections.

The participants of the meeting included BJP President J P Nadda, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, state in-charge Dharmendra Pradhan and state party President Swatantra Dev Singh.

According to sources, the Prime Minister discussed issues dominating the state elections and also the ground realities related to various welfare projects initiated by the BJP governments.

Also Read | At Kashi Vishwanath Dham launch, Modi reinforces BJP's commitment to Hindutva

After this, the Prime Minister will preside over a four-hour meeting with the chief ministers of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

The agenda of the meeting will be 'good governance', said party sources.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi, along with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, ventured out on the streets of Varanasi in the early hours of Tuesday and visited the just-inaugurated Kashi Vishwanath Dham and the Banaras railway station.

In a tweet posted around 1 am, Modi said he inspected "key development works" in the temple town.

Varanasi is the prime minister's parliamentary constituency since 2014. He arrived here on a two-day visit on Monday.

Read more: PM Modi holds high-level meeting on upcoming Uttar Pradesh polls

On Monday morning, Modi visited the Kal Bhairav Mandir. In the afternoon, he inaugurated the first phase of the ambitious Kashi Vishwanath Corridor project, being referred to as Kashi Vishwanath Dham, and in the evening, witnessed the spectacular Ganga "aarti" and a light-and-sound show from a river cruise.

A little past midnight, chants of "Har Har Mahadev" and "Modi, Modi" rent the air as the prime minister, surrounded by SPG security personnel, took a walk on the streets of Varanasi near the Godowlia Chowk, which have decked up to welcome him.

"Inspecting key development works in Kashi. It is our endeavour to create best possible infrastructure for this sacred city," Modi said in his tweet.

Inspecting key development works in Kashi. It is our endeavour to create best possible infrastructure for this sacred city. pic.twitter.com/Nw3JLnum3m  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) December 13, 2021

He also shared pictures of his late-night visit to Kashi Vishwanath Dham, which he dedicated to the people a few hours ago.

Clad in a grey kurta, white pyjama and a black jacket with a grey muffler thrown over it, Modi took the people walking on the streets by surprise, even as the security personnel tried to ensure that no one ventured close to him.

Later, in another tweet, the prime minister said: "Next stop...Banaras station. We are working to enhance rail connectivity as well as ensure clean, modern and passenger friendly railway stations."

He also shared photos of his visit to the redeveloped station after 1 am.

The Banaras railway station was earlier known as Manduadih and was renamed early this year.

The Twitter handle of the Indian Railways had shared pictures of the decorated station on Monday night.

Amid chants of "Har Har Mahadev" and "Modi, Modi", the prime minister was showered with rose petals and unbound adulation on Monday morning as he travelled through the streets of Varanasi, which have been plastered with huge posters bearing his image and greetings.

After his visit to the Kal Bhairav Mandir, the prime minister's convoy was moving through the narrow streets when a man sought to offer a pink "pagdi" and a scarf to him, but the security personnel pushed him away.

Modi then motioned from inside the car and the man was allowed to offer the "pagdi" to him. The man, who was wearing a saffron robe, also offered a "pitambari" (saffron "angvastra") to the prime minister, which he accepted with folded hands and a smile.
The Jagan Mohan Reddy government has set a target of covering all the eligible people with two doses of Covid-19 vaccination by January-end.

The chief minister's decision follows the confirmation of the first Omicron case in Andhra Pradesh on Sunday, in a 34-year-old man who returned to Vizianagaram last month from Ireland via Mumbai and Visakhapatnam.

On Tuesday, Reddy instructed the health officials to ensure 100 per cent completion of first dose vaccination of the eligible population by December-end.

While Nellore district has already reached this milestone, administrators in Srikakulam, East Godavari, Chittoor, Visakhapatnam and other lagging districts should focus attention on full coverage at the earliest, Reddy said in an online review meeting with district collectors and SPs. Since Omicron variant is of concern, it is crucial to trace and track those who have returned from foreign countries.

Also Read  Omicron cases in Maharashtra jump to 28

Officials said that a gene sequencing lab would be set up within a week in the state to identify virus variants and that the 32nd round fever survey is under way.

Until Monday, over 1.10 crore people were given the first dose and the number of people who availed of both the vaccine doses is 2.66 crore.

In preparation for a possible third wave, 23,457 oxygen concentrators and 27,311 D-type cylinders have been made available in the state, while 144 PSA plants (for oxygen) are expected to come into use in government hospitals by December-end.

Private hospitals with 100 or more beds were instructed to install oxygen generation plants, with a provision of subsidy. Authorities are also enforcing the mask rule again, imposing a fine of Rs 100 on violators.

Events, such as weddings, continue to have a cap of 500 persons. As of Tuesday, Andhra Pradesh reported 1,823 active Covid-19 cases, with an overall recovery rate of 99.21 per cent and 0.52 per cent positivity rate.

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Carrying heavy loads on the head or body by a person was a "dehumanising activity" and the statute  Headload Workers Act  which permits this was a relic of the past, Kerala High Court said on Tuesday and directed the state to take steps to ameliorate the plight of such workers.

"Headload has to be abolished, not loading. It (headload) is a dehumanising activity. How can we subject our citizens to this torture," the high court said. Justice Devan Ramachandran said that headload workers should be equipped and trained to use machines for carrying out loading activities and clarified that the court has no intention of taking away the livelihood of such persons.

The court said that headload workers are poor people who have no other job options and their plight is sought to be exploited by certain vested interests, including many political parties, for their own reasons. The judge said carrying heavy loads on the head or body for several hours a day for several years leads to muscular-skeletal problems and damages the spine and nowhere else in the world such activity is undertaken by the citizens there.

"They either use machines or bring people from outside to do this loading activity," the court said and added that the 'headload' term in the statute has to go and ought to be replaced with 'loading'. "Why not have machines to aid them (workers)? Not saying headload activity has to be stopped altogether. Certain vested interests want it to continue like this. I want them to be equipped and trained to use machines to carry out loading activity.

"It (carrying headload) has deleterious effects on the spine. No one can carry heavy weights like this for several hours and that too for years. No other country put its citizens to such dehumanizing activity," the judge said.

The court said this sector was unorganised, as they were not trained, and vested interests want it to continue like this. "Can any civilised society agree to this? We are probably not as civilised as we think we are. We are reinforcing and perpetuating this activity. The statute is also reinforcing this activity. "These people should be rehabilitated, not thrown out of their jobs. The statute is 50 years old. The situation has changed now. It is high time the government thought of ameliorating their plight," the court said.

It further said that while manual scavenging has stopped in Kerala, headload activity has been taken for granted. "We want them to carry it on their heads," it added.

The state government told the court that the Headload Workers Act was going to be amended to enable the workers' Board to initiate disciplinary action against those who demand 'nokkukooli' or gawking wages. It said that a summary of the draft amendment was ready.

The court said it wants to know when the amendment would be enforced and in what manner and asked the government to inform it by the next date of hearing on December 21.

The court was hearing a plea by a hotel owner, represented by advocate Manoj Ramaswamy, seeking police protection to carry out his business without intervention from some persons who were allegedly demanding gawking wages.

The court had on the last date of hearing said the demand for gawking wages in the State has given a bad name to Kerala and it was being identified with nokkukooli. "This has led to Kerala being associated with militant trade unionism," the court had said.

The Kerala government on November 1 had told the court that a 'No Nokkukooli 2021' campaign has been started by it and that it was strictly against the demand of gawking wages and would not be protecting anyone who indulges in this activity.

On May 1, 2018, the government banned the practice of demanding gawking wages.

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The government-governor confrontation in Kerala has snowballed into a major political row with the Opposition Congress-led United Democratic Front demanding Higher Education Minister R Bindu's resignation for recommending the reappointment of Kannur University's vice-chancellor.

Close on the heels of Governor Arif Mohammed Khan's letter to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan citing political interventions as the reason for reappointment, a letter written by the Higher Education Minister, who is also the pro-chancellor of the universities, to the Governor recommending reappointment of Kannur University vice-chancellor Gopinath Raveendran has caused a row.

Also Read  Kerala's ruling Left takes on Governor over university row

In his letter to the CM, the Governor had specifically cited political pressure for reappointing Raveendran. However, the CM maintained that the governor was not pressurised in this regard.

While Opposition leader VD Satheesan of Congress demanded the minister's resignation, Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala said he would move Lokayukta against the minister for nepotism. Various political outfits also staged protest marches against the minister.

The fresh developments came as a fresh blow to the ruling CPM, as minister Bindu is the wife of party senior leader and Left Democratic Front convenor A Vijayaraghavan.

Moreover, the move to reappoint Raveendran came close on the heels of a move to appoint Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's private secretary and CPM leader KK Ragesh's wife as an assistant professor in the university. The move was learnt to be kept in abeyance following the ongoing row.

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Women accounted for 48.7 per cent of the beneficiaries who received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine in the country till December 8, the government informed Parliament on Tuesday.

In a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha on whether the number of women getting vaccinated against the coronavirus in the country was low due to a lack of awareness, Minister of State for Health Bharati Pravin Pawar said at the beginning of the nationwide Covid inoculation programme, pregnancy and lactation were contraindications for vaccination.

On the basis of a review of the available scientific evidence, recommendations of domain knowledge experts and stakeholder consultation, the Ministry of Health approved vaccination of lactating women on May 19 and of pregnant women on July 2.

"As on December 8, 2021, 48.70 per cent of the total Covid vaccine doses were administered to women, which approximates to the estimated proportion of women in the country's population, which is 48 per cent," the minister said.

Further, the states and the Union territories have been provided with detailed guidance on preparing counselling and vaccination plans for pregnant women. A communication strategy is also in place, which is being implemented across all the states with a focus to sustain vaccine confidence, she added.

Responding to a separate question, Pawar said as on December 1, a total of 124.11 crore doses of Covid-19 vaccines were administered in the country. A total of 78.9 crore beneficiaries have received at least one dose and 45.2 crore have received both doses of the vaccines.

Amongst the fully-vaccinated beneficiaries, around 7.94 crore are aged 60 years and above, 12.1 crore are aged between 45 and 59 years and 22.56 crore are aged between 18 and 44 years, the minister said.

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Two significant domestic developments have taken place in Sri Lanka and the Maldives, both strategically-located neighbours of India. The developments have wider ramifications for India, given China's increasing inroads into the two countries.

China has left no stone unturned to woo these two close neighbours of India that straddle vital sea lanes in the Indian Ocean. Unlike India, both have joined Beijing's ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), adding to New Delhi's anxieties.

In the Maldives, the China-leaning former president Abdullah Yameen walked out free from house arrest on November 30 after being acquitted of money laundering and embezzlement charges by the country's Supreme Court. He was in prison after losing his bid to be re-elected president and later under house arrest due to the pandemic since his November 2019 conviction.

As the country's president from 2013 to 2018, Yameen had given India much cause for grief with his government locked in a tight clinch with China. With presidential polls in the archipelago just two years away, the possibility of Yameen running for the post cannot be ruled out. If he were to win, Maldives would for sure be back in China's embrace, queering the pitch for India yet again.

Also read: China and Xi make Australia find India, again

A day after Yameen's release, came another noteworthy development in the neighbourhood. In Sri Lanka, the Chinese embassy announced it was suspending the project for solar power plants on three of the country's northern islands owing to the security concerns of a "third party". The reference was clearly to India, which had been worried about Chinese projects so close to its shores and had made known its misgivings to the Lankans.

The Chinese announcement came even as Sri Lankan finance minister Basil Rajapaksa was in New Delhi seeking more financial assistance for his country, which is now in dire economic straits. Basil is part of the powerful Rajapaksa clan in Sri Lanka, with older brothers Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Mahinda Rajapaksa as the country's president and prime minister, respectively.

Colombo's outreach to New Delhi was, perhaps, also driven by the rough time it has been having with Beijing after it decided to return what it said was "contaminated" fertiliser supplied by China.

After failing to coerce Sri Lanka to accept the consignment, an angry China has now dragged Sri Lanka into international arbitration to resolve the dispute. A lesson in there for Colombo-if you play with fire, you can be singed by it.

In New Delhi, Basil met Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and even National Security Adviser Ajit Doval. Undoubtedly, New Delhi would have conveyed to the visiting minister that his government's unabated embrace of Beijing, unmindful of India's strategic concerns, did not bode well for bilateral relations.

However, despite India's unhappiness with the Rajapaksa regime's continuing China tango, Basil returned to Colombo with assurances from New Delhi that it would help his country with lines of credit for food, medicines and fuel purchases as well as a currency swap arrangement it has been seeking for long.

In turn, New Delhi has extracted assurances from Colombo about one of its long-pending demands  the go-ahead to modernise the World War II-era oil tanks farms in Trincomalee and facilitation of Indian investments in Sri Lanka.

New Delhi has legitimate concerns on both fronts. It would not like the Trincomalee project to go to China, given that the port is so close to Indian shores. It is also not happy that while the Rajapaksas-led Sri Lankan government has been welcoming Chinese investments with open arms  the Colombo Port City Project is one such instance  India got booted out of the strategic East Container Terminal (ECT) project.

While India has settled for the West Container Terminal, Sri Lanka has gone ahead and awarded the contract for developing the ECT to a Chinese company. It is perhaps these moves by Colombo that have made New Delhi extremely distrustful of Colombo. And the reason why it made it clear to Colombo is that if it is seeking assistance from India, it will need to keep its strategic interests in mind.

Indeed, New Delhi needs to adopt an even firmer approach towards Colombo given that the latter has shown little inclination to keep India's strategic concerns in mind since the Rajapaksas return to power. It needs to ensure Colombo takes some concrete measures on the Trincomalee oil tank farms before it decides to loosen its purse strings for Colombo.

In contrast to the pronounced China-tilt of Sri Lanka under the Rajapaksas, the Maldives, under the presidency of Ibrahim 'Ibu' Mohamed Solih, is no longer under the overwhelming influence of China. India-Maldives ties have become robust with the return to power of the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP).

India has regained its primacy in the Maldives strategic space, which it had lost to China during Yameen's presidency. But Yameen's release has set the alarm bells ringing in New Delhi.

Within days of his release, Yameen was indulging in blatant anti-India rhetoric. The Maldives Journal, a news website known for its anti-India stance, quoted him as saying during an Opposition rally that the "Maldives is not an Indian town" and its president should not be a governor appointed by India.

He has also begun stoking the opposition-led 'India Out' campaign that gathers steam every once in a while by declaring that the "Indian military will have to leave the MaldivesI do not want a single soldier or a single pair of boots of the Indian military to remain on the soil."

His remarks came days after Maldivian defence minister Mariya Didi became the first minister from a foreign nation to be the chief guest at the passing out parade for cadets at the Indian Naval Academy. If the invite was meant to signal how vital India-Maldives defence cooperation is, Yameen is back doing what he does best  fanning anti-India sentiments.

The New Delhi-Male relationship went through a difficult and strained phase during Yameen's presidency. So much so that PM Narendra Modi, who undertook a 'Sagar Yatra' to countries in the Indian Ocean regionSri Lanka, Seychelles and Mauritius  chose to skip the Maldives.

With Yameen back in active politics, China could well occupy centrestage in the Maldives once again. Though India, and indeed other world powers, would be hoping that the nascent democracy does not slide back into turmoil and the destruction of democratic institutions as had happened during Yameen's presidency. India will have to keep an eagle-eye on both Sri Lanka and the Maldives.

(The writer is a senior New Delhi-based journalist)

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author's own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH.

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By Aanya Wipulasena and Mujib Mashal,

This years crop worries M D Somadasa. For four decades, he has sold carrots, beans and tomatoes grown by local farmers using foreign-made chemical fertilizers and pesticides, which helped them reap bigger and richer crops from the verdant hills that ring his hometown.

Then came Sri Lankas sudden, and disastrous, turn toward organic farming. The government campaign, ostensibly driven by health concerns, lasted only seven months. But farmers and agriculture experts blame the policy for a sharp drop in crop yields and spiralling prices that are worsening the countrys growing economic woes and leading to fears of food shortages.

Prices for some foodstuffs, like rice, have risen by nearly one-third compared with a year ago, according to Sri Lankas central bank. The prices of vegetables like tomatoes and carrots have risen to five times their year-ago levels.

Also Read | India working on economic aid package for Sri Lanka: Report

I havent seen times that were as bad as these, said Somadasa, a 63-year-old father of two who sells vegetables in the small town of Horana, just outside the island nations capital, Colombo. We cant find enough vegetables. And with the price hikes, people find it hard to buy the vegetables.

Now Sri Lankas government, run by members of the Rajapaksa family, is rushing to avert a crisis. Late last month, Sri Lankas plantation minister, Ramesh Pathirana, confirmed a partial reversal of the policy, telling the countrys Parliament that the government would be importing fertilizer necessary for tea, rubber and coconut, which make up the nations major agricultural exports.

We will be importing fertilizers depending on the requirement in the country, Pathirana told The New York Times. So far, we dont have enough chemical fertilizers in the country because we didnt import them. There is a shortage there.

Food costs are rising around the world as pandemic-related supply chain knots are slowly unsnarled and as prices rise for feedstocks like natural gas that are used to make fertilizer and other supplies. Sri Lanka added to those pressures with its own missteps.

Chemical fertilizers are essential tools for modern agriculture. Still, governments and environmental groups have grown increasingly concerned about their overuse. They have been blamed for growing water pollution problems, while scientists have found increased risks of colon, kidney and stomach cancer from excessive nitrate exposure.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa cited health concerns when his government banned the importation of chemical fertilizers in April, a pledge he had initially made during his 2019 election campaign.

Sustainable food systems are part of Sri Lankas rich socio-cultural and economic heritage, he told a United Nations summit in September. Our more recent past, however, saw increasing use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides and weedicides that led to adverse health and environmental impacts.

Rajapaksas critics pointed to another reason: Sri Lankas dwindling reserves of money.

Also Read | India's worries increase in Sri Lanka and Maldives

Covid-19 lockdowns devastated Sri Lankas tourist industry, which generates one-tenth of the countrys economic output and provides a major source of foreign currency. The domestic currency, the rupee, has lost about one-fifth of its value, limiting Sri Lankas ability to purchase food and supplies abroad just as prices were rising. That added to lingering problems like its huge debt load, including on high-interest loans from Chinese state banks that required it to take out still more loans.

Our annual earnings from tourism amounting to almost $5 billion did not materialize during the last two years, Basil Rajapaksa, the finance minister and the presidents brother, told Parliament last month. As a government, we acknowledge that our foreign reserves are being challenged.

As Sri Lankas economy struggled and global prices rose, its foreign exchange reserves shrank by about 70%. Shaving foreign-made fertilizer from the countrys shopping list would help stem the slide.

Some farmers and agriculture industry officials say they are warming to the idea of reducing dependence on chemicals in farming. But the shift was too sudden for farmers who did not know how to work organically, said Nishan de Mel, director of Verite Research, a Colombo-based analysis firm.

Verite found in a July survey that three-quarters of Sri Lankas farmers relied heavily on chemical fertilizers, while just about 10% cultivated without them. Almost all major crops grown in the country depend on chemicals. For crops crucial to the economy like rice, rubber and tea, the dependence reaches 90% or more.

The April ban went into effect just before what is known as the Yala planting season, which lasts from May to August, and was felt almost immediately. The Verite survey showed that 85% of farmers expected a reduction in their harvest because of the fertilizer ban. Half of them feared that their crop yield could fall by as much as 40%.

Food prices shot up in September, and people formed lines outside shops for basic items such as milk powder and kerosene. Rajapaksa declared a state of emergency to regulate prices and prevent the hoarding of essential items. The government also introduced import restrictions on nonessential items in hopes of dealing with the dwindling foreign exchange.

Now that the government is easing the policy, it is not clear whether Sri Lankas farmers will get their needed fertilizer in time. The Maha planting season runs from September to March.

The damage is so much in agriculture and agriculture-related exports, said W.A. Wijewardena, a former deputy governor of Sri Lankas central bank, that it will take some time for the country to recover.

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American President Joe Bidens Summit for Democracy was expected to underline the idea that democracy is the right form of government and it needs to be protected against threats and challenges. Biden had promised to hold such a summit during his election campaign and he has delivered on it with a two-day virtual meeting in which leaders of over 100 countries participated. The initiative has been criticised on many grounds. It has been seen as an attempt to highlight the US leadership of the free world and not an affirmation of the value of democracy. The invitees list itself raised questions. Countries like Pakistan, the Philippines and Poland, whose democratic credentials are questionable, were invited for the summit, probably because they have a role in the US foreign policy scheme. Better functioning democracies like Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Bhutan were excluded. Pakistan, however, declined the invitation, probably because of pressure from China, which was not invited.

Also Read | China slams US for inviting Taiwan to Summit for Democracy

It was because the summit was seen primarily as a US foreign policy event and not an occasion for genuine commitment to the values of democracy that it became a damp squib. When the idea was mooted by Biden, there was the claim that it would reconnect the world to the hopeful era after World War II which envisaged a new world order based on freedom, universal rights, individual and national autonomy and international cooperation. But the summit divided the world into two camps, both claiming to be more democratic than the other. The participating leaders used the platform to praise themselves and their countries for their democratic conduct. The US announced a democratic agenda, including a fight against authoritarianism and corruption, promotion of human rights and support for free media and fair elections. Prime Minister Narendra Modi talked about Indias ancient democratic traditions and commitment to the principles of inclusion, pluralistic ethos and transparency. Other countries also spoke of their strengths and some mentioned new challenges like social media and climate change.

There is no perfect democracy and it is futile to imagine that there would be any. But no country accepts any democracy deficit and none look at their own flaws. Some claim to be democracies simply because they hold periodic elections, but elections by themselves do not make a democracy. Some of the essential features of democracy are individual liberties, civil and human rights, rule of law, secularism, independence of institutions, accountability of governments, non-discrimination and respect for persons and parties in the Opposition. Democracy becomes real only when there is an attempt to practise these ideas. There are signs that it is sliding the world over, and words from a summit will not impart it strength.

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Two doses of Pfizer and AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccines generate lower levels of antibodies against the Omicron variant of coronavirus, according to a study which suggests that those previously infected or vaccinated may be at an increased risk of infection.

Researchers from the University of Oxford in the UK analysed the impact of the Omicron variant of concern on one of the immune responses generated by vaccination.

The yet-to-be peer-reviewed study, posted on the preprint repository MedRxiv on Monday, used blood samples from individuals who had previously received two doses of the AstraZeneca or Pfizer vaccines, and a live virus isolate.

The researchers demonstrate substantial decrease in neutralising titres  a measure of the level of neutralising antibodies generated in responses to vaccination against, or infection from, Covid-19.

Also Read | What scientists say about booster dose against Omicron

The results indicate that the Omicron variant has the potential to drive a further wave of infections, including among those already vaccinated, the researchers said.

They, however, noted that there is currently no evidence of increased potential to cause severe disease, hospitalisations or deaths in vaccinated populations.

These results align with recently published data from UK Health Security Agency, showing reduced effectiveness of two doses of these vaccines against symptomatic disease due to the Omicron variant compared to Delta.

This effectiveness was, however, improved by a third dose of vaccine, the researchers said.

"These data will help those developing vaccines, and vaccination strategies, to determine the routes to best protect their populations, and press home the message that those who are offered booster vaccination should take it," said Professor Gavin Screaton, Head of the Oxford's Medical Sciences Division, and lead author of the paper.

"Whilst there is no evidence for increased risk of severe disease, or death, from the virus amongst vaccinated populations, we must remain cautious, as greater case numbers will still place a considerable burden on healthcare systems," Screaton said.

The researchers noted that these data are important but are only one part of the picture.

They only look at neutralising antibodies after the second dose, but do not tell us about cellular immunity, and this will also be tested using stored samples once the assays are available, they said.

"Importantly, we have not yet assessed the impact of a 'third dose' booster, which we know significantly increases antibody concentrations, and it is likely that this will lead to improved potency against the Omicron variant," said Matthew Snape, a professor at the University of Oxford and co-author of the study.

"Vaccination induces many arms of our immune system, including neutralising antibodies and T-cells," said Teresa Lambe, a professor at the University of Oxford, and an author on the paper.

"Real-world effectiveness data has shown us that vaccines continue to protect against severe disease with previous variants of concern. The best way to protect us going forward in this pandemic is by getting vaccines in arms," Lambe added.

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The Karnataka government has decided to replace bananas with groundnut-jaggery chikki for schoolkids who do not eat eggs.

Also, the department of public instruction is non-committal to the growing demand for dropping eggs from the midday meal menu. It has decided to provide chikki in place of bananas, to match the nutritional content of eggs.

The department has already held talks with the Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF) and is working out modalities for the preparation and supply of chikki.

Also Read | Indias latest religious and cultural flashpoint: Eggs

Officials said, before reaching the students, the chikki will undergo various tests to ensure nutrition levels.

We have asked KMF to prepare a sample, which will be sent to the Central Food Technology Research Institute (CFTRI) in Mysuru to test the nutrition levels. Once it is approved, we will place orders for production, said a senior official of the department.

Following objections and suggestions from nutritionists that bananas are no match to boiled eggs, the department has taken a decision to replace them with chikki.

We have even consulted some nutritionists and they said jaggery and slightly crushed groundnut are good sources of protein and iron, the official said.

However, one of the challenges before the department in providing chikki is to avoid plastic packaging.

B C Nagesh, the primary and secondary education minister, told DH, We do not want to wrap chikki in plastic, but it is also difficult to wrap it in paper as the chikki may absorb moisture and melt. Barring this, we do not have any other problem in distributing chikki.

As of now, both bananas and chikki will be offered to the students. It is left to them to consume what they want. Later, based on the demand, we will decide which one to retain, Nagesh said.

The overall idea behind providing boiled eggs to children in government and aided schools of seven Kalyana Karnataka districts was to address the issue of malnutrition among kids.

Eggs and bananas were introduced in the mid-day meals scheme by the union government.

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In a report that warns of the rise of communalism, the People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) has documented a total of 39 incidents of hate crimes against Christian communities in Karnataka in the past 11 months and alleged that the police and MLAs colluded with vigilantes.

Titled 'Criminalising the practice of faith', the report identified six patterns of hate crimes ranging from assault on the right to practice religion to casteism and police complicity. It warned that the proposed anti-conversion law will only give carte blanche for excesses by vigilantes.

The PUCL named Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, Bajrang Dal, Hindu Jagrana Vedike as the perpetrators of the incidents that allegedly took place in January and November 2021. It said that in two instances of hate crimes in Karwar (October 4) and Mandya (January 5), the local MLAs "were also named as people who supported the police in targeting Christians" and flagged a new organisation named 'Banjara Nigama' that appears to be small but rather violent.

Also Read  6 types of hate crimes threatening harmony in Karnataka: Report

While the report on 39 incidents is based on calls and visits to pastors across the state, the team said there were several other cases that were neither reported in the media nor could access resources or networks for legal and financial assistance.

"In most cases, Christians have been forced to shut down their places of worship and stop assembling for their Sunday prayers. These attacks by Hindutva groups... also rob an entire community of their right to dignity and the right to life," the report said.

Further, it accused the police of colluding with Hindutva groups in "almost every instance of mob violence" studied in the report. "The complicit role of police emboldens a culture of intolerance and bigotry...police have become an arm of social segregators strengthening such Hindutva forces," it said.

The report traced four shifts in the text of the law that has eroded the freedom of religion laws. First, declaring null and void the marriages for the purpose of conversion and vice versa; Secondly, change of forcible conversion from cognizable to a non-bailable offence. Thirdly, the shifting of burden of proof from a person who sought to convert/converted/abetted conversion that he/she/they did not convert by force/allurement or for marriage. Fourthly, the law has moved from requiring to provide an intimation to the district magistrate regarding conversion to now requiring prior permission along with a declaration of conversion in a prescribed format.

Also Read  Fact-finding report on communal policing, hate crimes in Dakshina Kannada released

The PUCL also slammed media organisations, especially those conducting 'sting operations' as if someone had been caught doing something illegal though the activities are an exercise of fundamental rights. "What gives the channels the power to enter into people's homes and treat them as criminals for practising their religion," the report asked.

It demanded the state government implement the Supreme Court directions in the Tahseen S Poonawala Vs Union of India case, regarding cases of mob violence and lynching. The report made a set of recommendations to the state government, police, MLAs, civil society as well as the media.

Reacting to the governments statement that those not engaged in illegal conversions need not worry about its new bill, PUCL State President Rajendra VJ questioned the hurry of the government to push for the law. There is a due process in proposing a law. We are presenting 39 cases to show the violations. How can the government, which has the duty to protect its citizens, look away and push for such a law? he asked.

The incidents show that the privacy of the people has been violated. Their homes and churches have been invaded and persons assaulted. We believe that justice for this has not come. Parts of similar laws in Gujarat and elsewhere have been stayed by the courts. Given that Its a shame that the government has chosen to push ahead (with the law), said writer Aakar Patel, who accompanied the PUCL team.

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Two senior executives of a South African pharma company and as many junior employees of a diagnostic lab have been arrested for facilitating and providing the fake negative RT-PCR test report that helped Indias first Omicron patient sneak out of the country last month.

The Omicron patient, a South African national, had tested positive upon arrival in Bengaluru on November 20 and was put in 14-day quarantine at a star hotel in Vasanthnagar.

But just four days later, he produced a negative Covid-19 test report that enabled him to not only leave the hotel but also fly out of India on November 27. All this happened even as the genomic sequencing result of his swab sample was still awaited. The result finally came on December 2, establishing him as the first Omicron patient in India. The result put the authorities under the scanner as it emerged that the negative RT-PCR test report submitted by the foreigner was fake.

Also Read: Third Omicron Covid-19 infection in Karnataka: S Africa returnee tests positive

The state government announced an investigation into how the report was generated.

On Sunday evening, the jurisdictional High Grounds police arrested four people  Yogeshwar Mohan Persad Dokie aka Ranesh Dokie, 54, vice president, Quality Control, Adcock Ingram Ltd; Ravindranath, 36, manager, Quality Control, Adcock Ingram Ltd; Manoj Kumar K C, 24, junior executive custodian and finance at Syngene International Ltd Laboratory, and Prashanth M, 25, registration executive at the same lab.

The South African is one of the directors in the pharma company and has also been booked. The FIR also names the management of the hotel where he had stayed. Police also questioned some hotel employees as to how the South African was allowed to leave without the authorities being notified. A senior police officer said necessary action would be taken in the case.

Also Read: Omicron poses 'very high' global risk but data on severity limited: WHO

Police said Dokie and Ravindranath had lured laboratory employees Kumar and Prashanth with the promise of a well-paying job at the pharma company in return for the negative RT-PCR report.

Meanwhile, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) said it would serve a notice on the Syngene lab seeking an explanation before taking any action.

We will soon get the details of the case from the police. We will also have to give the laboratory an opportunity to explain themselves and hence we will serve it a notice seeking an explanation. Based on the response, we will take suitable action, which may include blacklisting it, said K V Dr Trilok Chandra, Special Commissioner (Health), BBMP.

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The BJP bagged 11 out of the 25 Karnataka Legislative Council seats whose election results came out Tuesday, leaving the ruling party with just one short of a simple majority in the upper house in what was a neck-to-neck fight that saw the Congress also finishing with 11.

The halfway mark in the 75-member Legislative Council is 38. The BJP now stands at 37.

The JD(S), Karnataka's regional party, suffered a big rout as it managed to win just two out of six seats it contested.

Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai heaved a sigh of relief, calling it "a good result". However, the fact that the Congress giving it a run for its money and the weakening of the JD(S) is a warning sign for the BJP in the run-up to the 2023 assembly showdown. Leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah said the result showed "a pro-Congress" wave.

Also Read  MLC polls: Congress clinches Mysuru-Chamarajanagar, Mandya

Of the 25 local authorities' seats, the BJP has increased its tally from six to 11. "We have gained five seats. Obviously, that's a good result," Bommai said. "We expected to win 13-14. We will discuss the misses internally," he added.

The BJP's tally would have been 12 if it was not for a photo-finish in the Mysore-Chamarajnagar seat where JD(S) managed to win in the vote count that went late into the evening.

A big upset for the BJP was the defeat of government chief whip Mahantesh Kavatagimath in the twin-seats of Belagavi. "We really need to look into what happened here," Bommai said.

The plan to get Kavatagimath elected for one seat while using Independent candidate Lakhan Jarkiholi to defeat the Congress in the other seems to have backfired as it led to a split in the BJP's votes. Lakhan Jarkiholi ended up winning alongside Congress's Channaraj Hattiholi. What adds to the BJP's embarassment is that Lakhan is the brother of BJP MLAs Ramesh and Balachandra Jarkiholi.

Also Read  MLC Polls: BJP, Congress win a seat each in Dakshina Kannada constituency

The BJP has wrested Shimoga, Bangalore Urban, Bellary, Bagalkot and Uttara Kannada from the Congress, while retaining strongholds such as Dakshina Kannada (with its floor leader and minister Kota Srinivas Poojary) and Chikmagalur (with Council deputy chairman MK Pranesh).

However, it was not easy in Chikmagalur where Pranesh won by just six votes against Congress's Gayathri Shantegowda. The Congress is considering moving the court seeking invalidation of votes polled by nominated members, which could swing the result.

The Congress, which had 14 seats, is down to 11. "We're content, but not extremely happy with the result," KPCC president D K Shivakumar said, adding that he hoped 13-14 seats.

The JD(S) has much to worry. Its strongholds of Mandya, Tumkur and Kolar are now with Congress. This makes 2023 a two-party fight, political analyst Muzaffar Assadi said. "The results show a return of the Congress. The JD(S) is almost decimated now."

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The counting of ballot papers for the Legislative Council election from Dakshina Kannada local bodies constituency commenced at Rosario School in Mangaluru.

The strong room was opened at 7:50 am in the presence of deputy commissioner Dr Rajendra K V. The election was held for two seats in the constituency comprising Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts.

There are three candidates- Kota Srinivas Poojary from BJP, Manjunath Bhandari from Congress and Shafi Bellare from SDPI in the fray.

The district had registered 99.55 per cent polling on December 10.

As many as 14 tables are arranged in the counting room for the counting process.

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A tense situation prevails in Belagavi, the bordering district of Maharashtra, as the members of Maharashtra Ekikarana Samithi (MES), the party demanding merger of Belagavi district with Maharashtra state, has given a call for bandh on Tuesday.

The bandh call has been given to condemn the act of Kannada activists blackening the face of MES leader Deepak Dalavi on Monday. The incident happened when MES was organising 'Mahamelav' in Belagavi, parallel to the winter Assembly session held by the Karnataka government.

The police had denied permission to hold the bandh in Belagavi. Security has been tightened in the bordering city and in the vicinity of Suvarna Soudha.

Also Read | Maharashtra government condemns incident of blackening of face of MES leader

The 'Mahamelav' was organised without the permission of the district administration. On Monday, the MES party erected a podium in the Tilakwadi region in Belagavi on Monday. The police rushed to the spot and vacated the podium. There was an argument between the police and MES workers.

Meanwhile, the Kannada activists, who also reached the spot, blackened the face of Deepak Dalavi. The black paint also got sprinkled on former MLA Manohara Kini and others. A tense situation prevailed and police arrested the Kannada activists on the spot. The police have also booked cases on the Karnataka Nava Nirmana Pade, Youth President Sampath Kumar Desai and three others in the Tilakwadi police station.

Also Read | Kannada activist blackens face of MES president in Belagavi

The MES party workers took out a rally from the spot to the Tilakwadi police station. It has been decided to organise a protest along with NCP and Shiv Sena parties. The MES workers performed 'Ksheerabhsheka' (pouring of milk) on Deepak Dalavi later as a mark of respect.

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar has condemned the incident and stated that these incidents won't be a setback for the movement aiming at merger of Marathi speaking regions with the state of Maharashtra.

Kannada activists had blackened the face of Vijay More, then-Mayor of Belagavi City Corporation in Bengaluru in 2005 condemning the proposal taken in the corporation for merger of Belagavi with Maharashtra.

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A 52-year-old woman has been arrested in the Creggan area of Derry under the Terrorism Act.

Detectives from the Police Service of Northern Ireland Terrorism Investigation Unit (TIU) with assistance from District Policing and Operational Support Department officers, earlier today.

Detective Inspector Clara Heaton, said: The woman, who has been taken to the Serious Crime Suite at Musgrave Police Station in Belfast for questioning, was arrested under the Terrorism Act.

Todays arrest is part of 'Operation Ledging', which is our ongoing investigation into the New IRAs bomb making activities as well as the groups storage of explosive devices and equipment.

We are mindful of the impact that arrests and searches have on the Creggan community and we seek to ensure all of our interactions are professional, respectful and courteous.

The arrest operation today is focused on keeping the community safe and protecting them from the threat posed by violent groups.

The manufacture, storage and use of unstable, home-made explosive devices in residential areas indiscriminately puts everyone at risk.

Our chances of identifying those who use violence in a bid to coercively control communities and putting them before the courts are vastly improved by support and information from community.

I would again strongly urge people to report any suspicions they have about violent criminal activity in our community to police on 101 or alternatively, information can be provided to the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 which is 100 per cent anonymous.
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BELLEUVE  An older medical office building in Bellevue at 11711 N.E. 12th St. sold for over $9.2 million, according to King County records.

The seller was Bellevue Professional Arts Building Associates LLC, which acquired the property in 1991 for $1.8 million.





. . .
In the now globalized conservative world theres great indignation over the restoration of the fire-ravaged Notre-Dames interior. The attack comes primarily from British publications  The Telegraph, the Daily Mail, and The Spectator  worried that the Medieval Cathedral could reopen as a politically correct Disneyland. This comes from the decision to make Notre-Dame more accessible to visitors of all faiths than it was prior to the April 2019 blaze, that risked to destroyed it. The monument structure  including its iconic spire, roof and beams  will not see any modern insert: it is being rebuilt under French government supervision and the plan is basically to replicate the cathedrals pre-fire state.


Afghan residents in Ireland can now apply for temporary residence for certain family members who are trying to escape the militant Islamic movement known as the Taliban.

The country has seen a mass exodus of its citizens since the Taliban took back control over the Afghanistan earlier in August of this year.

The Department of Justice confirmed the Afghan Admissions Programme will begin accepting applications from Thursday, according to RTE News.

There will be 500 places available under the scheme, which was announced in September.

Minister for Justice Helen McEntee said in a statement: "In processing applications, we will be prioritising those who are especially vulnerable and whose freedom and safety is most at risk, like older people, children, single female parents, single women and girls and people with disabilities."

She added that those whose "previous employment exposes them to greater risk" would also be given priority.

According to a statement from the Department of Justice, the scheme is intended to cover spouses, civil partners, de facto partners, minor children and unmarried adult children without dependents.

Others who could also qualify include an applicant's grandparent, a related minor child without parents or a single vulnerable relative with no one else to support them.

Applicants will also be responsible for covering their nominee's travel costs and for providing accommodation.

RTE News also reported that, while the Irish Refugee Council's Chief Executive Nick Henderson welcomed the announcement, he had some concerns, saying that "500 is too few places."

The closing date for applications will be eight weeks later on February 10, 2022.




United Pork Americas to "bring together five events in one" in April 2022





Held on April 19-21, 2022 in Orlando, Florida, the United States, United Pork Americas will bring together international experts to discuss the market.

With the theme "The Future of Pork," United Pork Americas gets together five events in one.

Flavia Roppa, president of United Pork Americas, explained this will be a unique event that will offer rich experiences around the global swine industry.

"The 40 leading experts in the international production chain will discuss the challenges of the segment and shed light on the future of the international meat market. At the same time, the swine exclusive exposition, with 3,000 square meters and an estimated 150 technology supplier and industry companies, will see an estimated 1,000 delegates every day," she said.

United Pork America will also offer moments of socialising and relationship building among participants, with tasting of pork dishes that show a 'mosaic' of recipes and preparations representative of various nations. "We are going to explore the gastronomic potential of pork while establishing contacts and conversations to expand the network of those involved in the swine production chain," Roppa said.

The technical update is also part of the event's programme.

"Growing and evolving is a very important part of any industry, and pig farming is no different. The event will offer training and education for professionals at United Pork Americas," Roppa highlighted.

"Topics include climate change, big data, logistics, food safety, health crises, consumer demands, sustainability, alternative proteins, nutrition, animal welfare, meat quality, designation of origin and use of antibiotics. A real dive into education and training, in a totally new, dynamic way, United Pork Americas will offer three days of presentations in simultaneous parallel rooms with direct translation into English, Spanish and Portuguese."

- United Pork Americas




Cherkizovo poised to consolidate 100 % in Tambov Turkey





Cherkizovo Group has revealed its intention to buy from Spain's Grupo Fuertes a 50 % stake in Tambov Turkey (Pava-Pava brand), the second largest turkey producer in Russia.

The consideration will be paid in Cherkizovo Groups new shares, with Grupo Fuertes building up its stake in the company as a result.

Cherkizovo Group has reached an agreement with Grupo Fuertes on buying its 50 % stake in the authorised capital of their Tambov Turkey joint venture. In consideration for this stake, Cherkizovo Group offered Grupo Fuertes its new shares from an additional issue of 10,261,753 shares registered on March 15, 2021.

According to the transaction terms, AIC Mikhailovsky, part of Cherkizovo Group, will buy a stake in the additional issue during the public offering, which will further be handed over to Grupo Fuertes in exchange for its stake in Tambov Turkey.

Cherkizovo Group' board of directors will decide on the price of the share offering on December 15. The price will be based on the market value of shares.

The companies expect to complete the deal in the first quarter of 2022, after obtaining an approval from Russia's Federal Anti-Monopoly Service.

Following the completion, Grupo Fuertes' stake in Cherkizovo Group will go up. Currently, the Spanish company's share in the Groups authorised capital is 8.58 %.

The Tambov Turkey joint venture was established by Cherkizovo Group and Grupo Fuertes on a parity basis in 2012. Its first stage was launched in 2015, and in 2017, it started offering Pava-Pava branded products, such as chilled chop meat and ready-to-cook products with natural spices.

The consolidation of 100 % in Tambov Turkey will enable Cherkizovo Group to manage the asset more easily and to strengthen its position in the growing turkey market in Russia.

Since 2019, the Tambov-based facility has been ranked as the second largest turkey producer in the country. In 2020, it produced 57 thousand tonnes of live-weight meat. In the summer of 2020, the second stage of Tambov Turkey was launched to increase its total annual capacity to 85 thousand tonnes of meat. This year, the facility plans to produce some 80 thousand tonnes.

- Cherkizovo
That putting an end to Catalonia's language immersion policy is a matter of state for a large part of Spanish unionism has been demonstrated by the visit to Barcelona today by the president of the Popular Party (PP), Pablo Casado, to meet with several pro-Spanish associations in the city's Grand Marina hotel. After the meeting, which lasted an hour longer than expected, he appeared before the media to threaten Catalan education minister Josep Gonzalez Cambray and the whole government of which he is part with court action, and to demand that Spanish prime minister Pedro Sanchez send the warning required to start the process of imposing direct rule on Catalonia via constitutional article 155.

In front of a spectacular view of the Catalan capital, Casado accused the independence movement of "destroying this society" and warned that if the government does not comply with both the ruling of the Catalan High Court, dictating a 25% Spanish quota for the school in Canet de Mar, and that of the Supreme Court, confirming the general validity of the quota, it will be committing offences of disobedience and abuse of authority. In fact, he also said that the participation of the Catalan executive in the protest against the 25% sentence called for this Saturday by the Somescola platform will not go unpunished.

In his speech, the PP leader attempted to separate his linguistic demands from the left-right political axis, claiming that the issue is about "humanity and freedom." And he continued to justify his request for an article 155 threat, recalling that the Socialist government of Felipe Gonzalez did the same with the Canary Islands.

The PP offensive

The PP leader also announced a series of measures such as a Congressional declaration condemning the Catalan government's action, for which he is seeking the votes of the governing PSOE; a bill to create an inspection body for schools "to guarantee language liberty throughout the state"; a language law to "protect the freedom of choice" of the teaching language used, and prevent the Spanish co-official languages such as Catalan, Basque and Galician from being a requirement for access to public office; and a request to the European institutions to send an international mission to "ensure the rights of the child of Canet and compliance with the court rulings."

Casado appealed directly to the Catalan minister Cambray and the president of the Generalitat, Pere Aragones, assuring that he would also defend their children from harassment for asking to be educated in Catalan. And he had no doubts about comparing the situation of Spanish speakers in Spain with blacks in the United States: likening the Canet de Mar case with the 1960s US racial segregation instance when US president John F. Kennedy sent troops to Mississippi to allows African-American James Meredith to attend college.

Asked about the wishes of former Spanish king Juan Carlos I to return home after the Swiss prosecutor closed its investigation of his Saudi funds, Casado only replied that all Spaniards should be grateful to him for his "contribution" to the post-Franco transition and democracy.

The fall of Catalan, the fault of the immersion policy

In the same vein, the president of the Catalan PP, Alejandro Fernandez, accused the government and the language immersion model of being the cause of the fact that Catalan is less and less spoken among young people and in Catalan society in general. Fernandez added that "any case that requires the harassment of a child is not worth it".

Asked if his party will join Vox and Ciudadanos and ask Spain's Central Electoral Commission to withdraw the seat of CUP deputy Pau Juvilla, Fernandez would not confirm this, but he warned the speaker of parliament, Laura Borras, that what she is doing to protect his seat "is useless, because the rule of law works and imposes itself."
Commotion in the Catalan Parliament this morning after Catalonia's High Court (TSJC) banned another pro-independence MP from office: in this case, the third secretary of the parliamentary Bureau, Pau Juvilla, of the CUP, who was disqualified from public office for six months and fined 1,080 euros for having failed to take down the yellow ribbons that were hanging outside his office in the Lleida city council building. Thus, a day expected to be quiet in the Catalan chamber was inflamed by the verdict against Juvilla, with the speaker of the chamber, Laura Borras, making the commitment to ensure that he will keep his seat until the sentence is final.

Thus, the pro-independence majority on the procedural Bureau - ERC, Junts, CUP - along with the left-wing Comuns stated their personal and political support to Juvilla's case, while the Catalan Socialists (PSC) refused to do so, responding that it respects court rulings. Then, a second, emergency session of the Bureau was called which decided to transfer Juvilla's case to the MPs' Committee of the Statute, which is to meet this Thursday. The aim is for the Catalan chamber to take the initiative quickly and not wait for Spain's Central Electoral Commission (JEC) to order the immediate withdrawal of the MP's seat, as it did in the case of the former Catalan president Quim Torra.

In view of this precedent, sources close to the speaker explain that this time they want the Catalan chamber to exercise its powers from the beginning, putting the matter in the hands of the parliamentary groups: in the Commission of the Statute, the parliamentary groups will have to support a motion.

Laura Borras assures that she will not withdraw Juvilla's seat

Beyond this move, one other thing is clear: Laura Borras, in statements to the press outside the chamber, stated her commitment to preserve the seat of the anti-capitalist MP until appeals have been heard and there is a final sentence, thus ensuring that the CUP politician's political rights will be respected no matter how much the JEC indicates otherwise.

"I do not have the legal authority nor the will to withdraw the parliamentary seat of Juvilla or any deputies, and I will act in accordance with the preservation of rights and freedoms," said the speaker, who recalled that Parliament "is the seat of the sovereignty of the people of Catalonia "and that, on the other hand, the Electoral Commission "is an administrative body".

Vox and Cs, fast move to the electoral board

But why are all eyes already on the electoral commission? Because the possibility that this body will order the stripping of the MP's seat is on the table, since the parties of the Spanish right activated the mechanisms as soon as the TSJC's ruling was announced. Both Vox and Ciudadanos, after celebrating the court's decision, stated in Parliament that they will ask the electoral body to demand the parliament's compliance with the ruling. The PP has not yet commented and this morning its 3 MPs made no appearance in the chamber, although they did appear at an event held by their visiting party leader, Pablo Casado.

ERC: no clarification of the steps it will take

The Republican Left (ERC) was the least clear in comments on what action it will take, with spokesperson Marta Vilalta refusing to speculate on future scenarios and, instead, focused her comments on denouncing the injustice that she believes this sentence represents. She also said that ERC will give legal support to Juvilla so that he can appeal the sentence.

Vilalta also called for a consensus to establish a mechanism to defend the rights of MPs: "The final solution lies in politics. The repression and the obsessive persecution of the independence movement must end," she said, adding that the final solution must be an amnesty and self-determination.

Juvilla, to appeal six-month ban

The High Court of Catalonia (TSJC) announced this morning that it had found Pau Juvilla guilty of disobedience of the electoral commission, and banned him from public office for six months as well as ordering a fine of 12 euros per day for 3 months (1,080 euros). His specific offence was having repeatedly failed to take down the yellow ribbons that were hung from his office in the Paeria de Lleida during the 2019 general election campaign, when he was a city councillor.

The electoral board's instructions, according to the court, were "a clear and precise mandate, which did not deserve any clarification, and the reasons given were rejected and understood."

However, the sentence imposed was the minimum possible penalty for the crime of disqualification from public office (six months), as well as in the fine (1,080 euros), because thec ourt admits that hanging up the ribbons for more than a month "had a limited impact" and it cannot be said to have reached a severity worthy of greater punishment.

Pau Juvilla has announced that he will appeal to the Supreme Court. He also appeared Parliament, accompanied by his CUP colleagues, asserting that the response must be collective, and urged the pro-independence parties to defend his seat while the sentence is not final. He also said that he would make himself available to the pro-independence movement to "build a common anti-repression front", and said that Parliament should exercise its sovereignty.

He also stressed that it was an act of disobedience that would be repeated "a thousand times" and noted that the act had a political signficance. The decision was taken collectively, he said, so the response should also be collective.
Amazon may soon more directly compete with Instacart. According to The Information , the company has spent much of the last year trialing a product known internally as Amazon Fresh Marketplace. The service allows UK Prime subscribers to order groceries from two major supermarket brands, with same-day delivery fulfilled by the companys Flex drivers. In 2022, Amazon reportedly plans to bring the service to the US and the majority of Europe.

Amazon declined to comment on the specifics of its plans but did share a statement with Engadget. Our focus is on providing Amazon customers the best possible experience when it comes to grocery delivery whether that is from Amazon Fresh, Whole Foods Market, or one of our local stores like Bartells in Seattle, Morrisons in London, or Monoprix in Paris, a spokesperson for the company said. Partnerships with other grocers enable more customers to shop online and allow us to provide Amazon Prime members with more choice, value and convenience while our partners benefit from increased visibility for their selection and service.
Staying in your lane is a lot easier when you know how much of the road is yours to use. Unfortunately, Americas decades-long love affair with performing the absolute bare minimum of basic infrastructure maintenance has left many stretches of the nations highway lane markers faded, damaged and obscured. A new pilot program from Honda Research Institute USA could one day help local highway and traffic departments keep a closer eye on the state of the roads in their care, using the cars travelling upon them.

The Honda Road Condition Monitoring System leverages the cameras and GPS navigation systems already found in many of todays automobiles to monitor the real-time conditions of roads and detect potential hazards. The onboard system will evaluate each stretch of lane marker as green, yellow, grey and red. Green and yellow denote ideal or good quality lane markers, while red indicates markers in need of repair and grey means that there are no markers present at all (like on city streets or rural roads).

The system captures road conditions using the vehicles cameras and other sensors, coordinating that feed with the onboard GPS to provide exact locations of any hazards or damage and then uploads that data to a secure server. Once the data is in the cloud, local highway and transportation departments will be able to access it through a web portal to see which stretches of roadway need to be repaired or repainted most urgently.

We regularly inspect our roadways throughout Ohio and act quickly to address any issues, like faded or damaged pavement markings, that are identified. Its a labor-intensive process. Good pavement markings are important to the drivers of today and the vehicles of tomorrow, Ohio Department of Transportation Director Jack Marchbanks said in a statement Monday. Were excited to work with Honda to improve the process.

Honda is working with the Ohio Department of Transportation for its upcoming pilot program, which is slated to begin early next year. During that study, obviously only select Honda vehicles will be recording datam, to help enhance the efficiency of the road maintenance operation in Ohio, according to a Monday press release. The research institute is looking to eventually connect entire fleets of Honda and Acura vehicles, allowing them to share data via V2V (vehicle-to-vehicle) networks and provide real-time updates to their ADA systems.
There hasn't been much update on Google Glass since the wider availability of its Enterprise Edition 2 back in early 2020, but on the other side of the world, Oppo believes now is the time to launch a direct competitor  albeit in the China market only. Following last year's Oppo AR Glass concept, the new Oppo Air Glass will become available to Chinese consumers in Q1 2022 for a yet-to-be-announced price. It'll come in two parts: a detachable monocle waveguide device (in black or white) and either a silver half frame or a black full frame. And no, you won't be able to attach this 30-gram device to your own glasses.

Much like Google Glass, Oppo Air Glass is designed to deliver simple information for use cases such as navigation, translation, teleprompter, calendar, weather, fitness tracking and more. Oppo calls this "assisted reality," which keeps the package portable yet practical and accessible. This is achieved using a power-efficient "Spark Micro Projector," which comes in at roughly the size of a single coffee bean, and it houses a Micro LED chip to project a bright 640 x 480 image onto a waveguide display  one that's larger than that of Google Glass.

Oppo

Oppo Air Glass is driven by a Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 4100, which is similar to the chip inside some of the latest Fossil and TicWatch smartwatches. Once paired with an Oppo phone (with ColorOS 11 or later) or an Oppo Watch, you can toggle notifications by tapping the Air Glass' slim touch bar or simply by nodding your head, and then tap again or shake your head to close them. To switch between apps, simply swipe the touch bar.

Oppo

In the case of the teleprompter app, you can upload your speech, set your text size and scrolling speed via the smartphone app, and then tap the touch bar to scroll manually if needed. Oppo is also testing hand gesture tracking via the Oppo Watch for a supposedly more intuitive control here.

Oppo

If you happen to have two Oppo Air Glasses and are struggling to communicate with a foreigner, you can pair them up and get your partner to wear one for instant translation  your device will translate the other person's voice on your screen, and vice versa. However, only Chinese, English and Japanese are supported at the moment, with Korean to follow soon.

For the navigation app, Oppo worked with Baidu to integrate Baidu Walk & Bike Navigation as well as Explore Nearby. Don't expect any sophisticated AR graphics here; users will simply see step-by-step navigation based on one's location and orientation, and voice command is supported (presumably only in Chinese).

Oppo

An Oppo rep added that the Air Glass is the result of two previous designs, which allowed the company to work with developers to build up an ecosystem. In addition, the Chinese company will soon release a Smart Glass SDK to let more developers  potentially those from overseas as well  into the party.

Considering how other companies such as Meta, Bose, Amazon, Snap and Razer have been focusing on either audio- or camera-based smartglasses, Oppo's strategy with its Air Glass is certainly a bit of a surprise. For now, this is all rather experimental for Oppo, as the device will only be launched in China in a limited quantity, with each labelled with a unique edition number on its package.
In the wake of Jessica Barrazas lawsuit last month, six more current and former female employees have come forward to accuse Tesla of fostering a culture of rampant sexual harassment at its Fremont factory in California. In separate complaints filed on Tuesday with the Superior Court in Alameda County, the women said they were consistently subjected to catcalling, unwanted advances, physical contact and discrimination while at work.

Jessica Brooks, one of the women who sued Tesla, alleges she was harassed on her first day of orientation at the automaker. She claims a supervisor told his male subordinates to check out the new girl. Brooks says the harassment was so constant she eventually stacked boxes around her workstation to deter her coworkers from whistling at her. Brooks also claims she complained of the situation to Teslas HR department. The company allegedly responded by moving Brooks to a different part of the factory instead of addressing the situation directly.

I was so tired of the unwanted attention and the males gawking at me I proceeded to create barriers around me just so I could get some relief, Brooks told The Washington Post. That was something I felt necessary just so I can do my job.

When Jessica Barraza sued Tesla last month, she said she was subjected to nightmarish working conditions at the companys Fremont plant. Barrazas lawsuit described a factory floor that looked more like a crude, archaic construction site or frat house than the site of one of the most advanced EV makers in the country. Most of the seven women who have sued Tesla have linked the abuse they experienced to the behavior of CEO Elon Musk. He would make 69 or 420 jokes  which caused the technicians to be even worse, said one of the complaints.

The suit comes on the same day five former SpaceX employees accused Musks other company of doing little to stop sexual harassment. Weve reached out to Tesla for comment. The automaker does not operate a public relations department. When a federal court recently ordered Tesla to pay $137 million to a Black worker who said they were subjected to daily racist abuse at the companys Fremont factory, the company said: We continue to grow and improve in how we address employee concerns. Occasionally, well get it wrong, and when that happens we should be held accountable.
YouTube TV has warned viewers that channels including ABC, ESPN, FX and others may disappear by 11:59 PM on December 17th if it can't come to terms with Disney over carriage fees. If that happens, YouTube TV will lower its price by $15 (from $65 to $50) while Disney content remains off the service.

"Disney is an important partner for us. We are in active conversations with them and are working hard to keep their content on YouTube TV," it said in a press release. "Our ask of Disney, as with all of our partners, is to treat YouTube TV like any other TV provider  by offering us the same rates that services of a similar size pay, across Disneys channels for as long as we carry them. If Disney offers us equitable terms, well renew our agreement with them."

The Google-owned platform said that it's "optimistic" it can reach a deal with Disney and that it has a "highly successful track record of negotiating such agreements with providers." That said, YouTube TV has also seen some failed negotiations, such as when it disappeared off new Roku devices in April 2021 before finally returning in December.

Google came to terms with Roku just before the main YouTube app disappeared, so there's some hope that it can reach a deal with Disney ahead of the December 17 deadline. Just in case, though, YouTube TV said that users might want to sign up for the $14 Disney Bundle to keep access to ABC and other channels.

YouTube TV launched only recently in April of 2017, but with four million subscribers, it's become one of the top cord-cutting services along with Disney's Hulu, according to The Hollywood Reporter. If the parties can't come to terms, some 25 channels could disappear.
A new charge reordering in magnetite was discovered at beamline ID26 using core-level X-ray spectroscopy. This reordering takes place in three steps and maps the temperature-dependence of the electrical conductivity and magnetism up to the Curie-temperature.

Magnetite (Fe 3 O 4 ) is one of the most abundant Fe-bearing minerals on Earth, and it finds many applications in areas such as paleomagnetism, medicine, data recording and engineering. It is a prototypical magnetic material and was used for the first compass. Understanding the ordering of the charges in magnetite is one of the oldest questions in solid state physics, as magnetite exhibits a first-order metal-to-insulator transition at T V ~123 K [1]. Fe ions reside in two interstitial sites in Fe 3 O 4 : (i) Fe2+ and Fe3+ in octahedral sites; and (ii) Fe3+ in tetrahedral sites. Several decades of experimental and theoretical research have revealed that an intricate charge and orbital ordering takes place below the metal-to-insulator transition temperature, where the Fe ions at the octahedral sites form a network of Fe3+-Fe2+-Fe3+ linear molecules (called trimerons) [2]. Short-range structural fluctuations linked to the presence of trimerons have been recently shown to exist in the high-temperature metallic-like phase [3]. However, the role of these short-range trimerons and the mechanism behind their collapse remains an unsolved puzzle. This motivated the design of a new experiment that addresses these questions.









Fig. 1: Occupation of Fe3+ and Fe2+ ions in octahedral (Oh, plotted in purple and blue) and in tetrahedral (Td, plotted in green and orange) sites per unit cell of Fe 3 O 4 shown for the temperatures between 300 - 1200 K, where charge redistribution is observed. The vertical bars are shown to guide the eye. Note that the total Fe charge remains constant.



Fluorescence-detected X-ray absorption spectroscopy with high energy resolution was used at beamline ID26 to investigate the short-range structural fluctuations and charge ordering in magnetite. In this experiment, a 1s core-electron was resonantly excited to the empty 3d orbitals of Fe, providing an element- and site-selective probe of the Fe ions in Fe3O4. A new charge reordering was found to occur in the metallic-like phase, where the extra electron of the Fe2+ ion at the octahedral sites is transferred progressively to the tetrahedral sites with increasing temperature (Figure 1). This implies that the octahedral sublattice becomes hole-doped and, hence, the Fe3+-Fe2+-Fe3+ trimerons are altered. It was found that the level of hole-doping can be continuously (and reversibly) tuned by controlling the temperature, and three regimes of self-doping were identified that describe the temperature-dependence of key physical properties such as the electrical conductivity and magnetism.

Fig. 2: Temperature evolution of the redistribution parameters  (red) and  (brown) in Fe 3 O 4 . Linear and exponential fits are plotted in dashed grey and black dashed lines. A cartoon of the ion transfer in a unit cell of Fe 3 O 4 is shown in the inset. The colour code on the x axis of the figure illustrates the regimes described in the text.



Figure 2 shows the temperature-induced hole-doping described by two parameters,  and , according to the formula:  Fe2+ Oh + Fe3+ Td + (8 - ) Fe2+ Td + (16 - ) Fe3+ Oh . The first regime is identified by  =  = 8, meaning that no charge transfer effect takes place (highlighted in blue in Figure 2). Here, short-range Fe3+-Fe2+-Fe3+ trimerons exist as sketched in the left of the featured figure. The second regime is identified by  =  < 8, where the extra electron at the octahedral site is transferred to the tetrahedral sites (highlighted in brown in Figure 2). In this regime, the self-doping modifies the trimerons and leads to their gradual destruction (middle sketch of the featured figure). The onset of the third regime is identified by  =  (highlighted in red in Figure 2). This implies that cations (and not only charge) are exchanged between the two sublattices where the occupation of the interstitial B sites increases. The trimerons do not exist in this regime (last sketch of the featured figure).

These results shed light on the role of trimerons: short-range trimerons act as descriptors of correlations (i.e., they describe the evolution of electrical and magnetic properties) in magnetite, and they collapse due to the temperature-driven hole self-doping. The results provide an elegant analogy between the effect of chemical doping (where the ratio of Fe2+/Fe3+ ions is chemically modified by adding impurity atoms of different valency) and temperature-driven self-doping in magnetite, and inspires the question: can this analogy be generalised to other systems exhibiting the metal-insulator transition? The hard X-ray probe at beamline ID26 makes it possible to explore a large range of experimental parameters, and future research will include studying magnetite under high pressure and high temperature.

Principal publication and authors

Temperature-Driven Self-Doping in Magnetite, H. Elnaggar (a,b), S. Graas (a), S. Lafuerza (c), B. Detlefs (c) W. Tabis (d,e), M. Gala (d), A. Ismail (a), A. van der Eerden (a), M. Sikora (f), J. Honig (g), P. Glatzel (c), F. de Groot (a), Phys. Rev. Lett. 127, 186402 (2021); https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.127.186402

(a) Debye Institute for Nanomaterials Science, Utrecht (The Netherlands)

(b) Sorbonne Universite, CNRS UMR 7590, Institut de Mineralogie, de Physique des Materiaux et de Cosmochimi, Paris (France)

(c) ESRF

(d) Faculty of Physics and Applied Computer Science, AGH University of Science and Technology, Krakow (Poland)

(e) Institute of Solid State Physics, TU Wien, Vienna (Austria)

(f) Academic Centre for Materials and Nanotechnology, AGH University of Science and Technology, Krakow (Poland)

(g) Department of Chemistry, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana (USA)



References

[1] E.J.W. Verwey, Nature 144, 327 (1939).

[2] M.S. Senn et al., Nature 481, 173 (2012).

[3] G. Perversi et al., Nat. Commun. 10, 2857 (2019).
Veteran journalist and Chief Executive Officer, Cluster 3, Zee Media, Dileep Tiwari has resigned.

Tiwaris journey began as an intern in Asia Pacific Communication Associates in the year 1997. Soon after that, he joined ZEE News as a reporter and was subsequently promoted as a Bureau Chief and Political editor. Since then, he has become an expert in parliamentary coverage. In the past, he has also been a key player in covering the tragic Godhra violence in 2002 and the Mumbai attacks of 2008. His diverse portfolio of journalism also includes a crucial investigation of the Sarabjit incident post which, Pakistan's Supreme court reopened the case, shaking the media industry.

Tiwaris experience spans over two decades. In his tenure, he has gone on board six times with the Former Prime Minister of India Manmohan Singh to visit a grand total of 20 countries. He has also successfully covered the first 4 foreign visits of Prime Minister Narendra Modi (U.S., Australia, Bhutan and Nepal).

Read more news about (internet advertising India, internet advertising, advertising India, digital advertising India, media advertising India)
Jasper, IndianaBad Love Medicine, the fourth book in Kevin Schewe's sci-fi adventure Bad Love series, won an International Book Impact Award in the Young AdultExcellence for Book Content Quality category. Schewe sought to inspire teenagers, and young adults of all ages, by creating stories laced with history, science and daring exploits of courageous loyalty. Each book follows a group of gifted teenagers, some based on the author's high school friends, on their amazing journeys.

Readers of all ages will love Bad Love Medicine, which also contains a soundtrack of popular songs that bring context and light-hearted whimsy to the story. Schewe, a lifelong WWII aficionado, carefully researched the subjects and real-life historical characters interspersed throughout all four books. Foremost among the topics is nuclear physics and how it pertains to time and space travel. His cogent explanations of the World War II nuclear bomb projects, and other subsequent technical advances, brings this to life and makes the story lines intensely immersive.

This time Schewe's Bad Love Gang has a two-fold mission: reunite a love-struck couple (while saving one of them from a future fate of cancer) separated by time and stop Hitler and the Nazis from creating a time machine of their own. They battle Russian agents in the 1970s, Nazi soldiers and scientists in the 1940s and make friends with aliens from another planet.

"These stories just come to life in such an organic way," says Schewe. "They combine my childhood memories with my love of history, music, military aviation, WWII, science fiction and time travel." Whether you're a history aficionado, a time-travel buff, a sci-fi lover, or are just in need of a fun book to cheer you up, Bad Love Medicine is the adventure you've been waiting for.

In Bad Love Strikes, the Gang discovered The White Hole Project, a time machine created by Albert Einstein at the request of President Franklin Roosevelt in case the atomic bomb failed. In the exciting sequel, Bad Love Tigers, the gang used the White Hole Project to travel back to 1945 to thwart Russian spies and protect the secrets of Area 51. In Bad Love Beyond, the gang traveled not just through time but through space as well to learn the reason behind Blue Nova One's mysterious visit to earth.

The books have collectively captured numerous awards such as a Wishing Shelf Red Ribbon Winner, Literary Titan Silver Book Award, NABE Pinnacle Book Achievement Award, AMI Indie Book Awards, and an eLit Award to name a few.

"Skillful writing (both historical and fantastical), a zesty sense of humor, an appreciation for pop culture, and the ability to create memorably entertaining characters combine to make this an immensely impressive noveland experience! Very highly recommended." Grady Harp, Amazon Top 100 Reviewer, 5-Stars

"If history was taught this way in school, everyone would be a scholar and educating ourselves not only about our accomplishments but the horrors of the past that should awaken and give insight to the path of a better future. A rare gem!" David Holladay, MD, 5-Stars

Watch the exciting book trailers at https://bit.ly/BadLoveStrikes-Trailer or https://bit.ly/BadLoveTigers_Trailer or https://bit.ly/BadLoveBeyondTrailer or https://bit.ly/BadLoveMedicineTrailer

About Kevin Schewe: Kevin L. Schewe, MD, FACRO, is a board-certified cancer specialist who has been in the private practice of radiation oncology for over 34 years. He is an entrepreneur, having founded Elite Therapeutics and Bad Love Cosmetics Company, LLC.

A long-time history buff, Schewe is the author of the Bad Love Book Series, a young adult sci-fi adventure that spans much of early 20th century history. You can connect with Kevin Schewe through his website KevinSchewe.com or via Instagram @realkevinschewe.

Bad Love Medicine, ASIN: B098TN6GKC, Broken Crow Ridge Publishing, July 6, 2021, available on Amazon and www.jancarolpublishing.com in ebook and paperback, 258 pages.

Media Contact: For a review copy of Bad Love Medicine, or previous books in the series, or to arrange an interview with Dr. Kevin Schewe, contact Scott Lorenz of Westwind Communications Book Marketing at scottlorenz@westwindcos.com or by phone at 734-667-2090. Follow Lorenz on Twitter @abookpublicist
Tuesday, December 14, 2021

Is Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy the cure for TBIs? A suicide solution?

December 10, 2021

Almost a million vets suffered head trauma in Iraq and Afghanistan. All evidence suggests Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy heals the injured brain. Dr. Robert Beckman, TreatNow dot org Founder, shares successful case studies and warns that by ignoring HBOT, the scientific community and our government is wasting time, money, and lives. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

VA gave her drugs, HBOT gave her life back

December 10, 2021

Margaux Donoghue deployed to Iraq twice. She sustained head trauma from an IED attack, PTSD from witnessing others die, eventually developing Bells Palsy. After brain surgery failed to help, VA docs prescribed mountains of meds. But she swears what saved her life back was Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy and a trip to the South Pole. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Tuesday, December 14, 2021

By Scott Lorenz

Westwind Communications

Book festivals and fairs are held year round all over the world. As a book marketing specialist, I am the first to impress on authors the new and powerful marketing avenues open to all authors on the Internet  from websites and book trailers to social networks like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. While these are excellent tools when used properly, authors should never overlook opportunities to meet the reading public face-to-face.

If you are a Jewish author or specialize in writing about Jewish issues, you should consider visiting some of these Jewish book fairs and festivals.

Cherie Smith JCC Jewish Book Festival will occur on February 6-10 2022 in Vancouver, BC. There will be author talks and Q&As. This event usually attracts over 5,000 people of all ages. For more details, call 604-257-5156 or email jbf@jccgv.bc.ca. You can also click here.

??London International Literacy Festivals Jewish Book Week will occur February 26-March 6, 2022 in London. It will feature Jewish writers and themes and a number of interesting discussions. Click here for more details.

Greater Naples Jewish Book Festival will be held from November 9, 2021 to March 17, 2022 in-person in Naples and on Zoom. It will include a wide array of genres and author presentations. For further details, call (239) 263-4205, email info@jewishnaples.org or click here.

Mandel JCC in Beachwood, Ohio will be celebrating the 13th Annual Festival of Jewish Books & Authors from November 4, 2021-March 20, 2022. Stay tuned for details and a full listing of authors, which will be announced this month! For information please contact (216) 831-0700. Please check here for announcements.

Jewish Book Councils Jewish Book Month will be held virtually from May 24May 26, 2022. Jewish Book Month is an annual event on the American Jewish calendar dedicated to the celebration of Jewish books. Click here to learn more.

JCC Dallas will host the Dallas Jewish Bookfest on August 1, 2021  May 31, 2022 . For more information, please email ebilgin@jccdallas.org or click here.

Gordon JCCs Nashville Jewish Book Series will take place until May 2022 in Nashville, TN. It features books that revolve around Jewish themes and topics plus books that are written from a Jewish point of view. Click here for further information.

Marcus JCC Atlantas 21st Edition of the Book Festival of the MJCCA will be held November 2022. For 20 successful years, the Book Festival of the MJCCA has provided our community with a literary extravaganza featuring an exciting lineup of the years most exceptional authors, speakers, and celebrities. Please join thousands of your fellow book lovers to listen, meet, and interact with your favorite authors in a variety of forums, including author meet-and-greets, book signings, a community read, and panel discussions. Click here for more details.

JCC of Metro Detroits 70th Annual Jewish Book Fair will be held November 6  14 2022. At this event, fabulous authors from all over the world will present their books. For further information, email bookfair@jccdet.org or visit jccdet.org.

St. Louis JCCs 43rd Annual St. Louis Jewish Book Festival in St. Louis will be November 7-18 2022. All author events take place at the Staenberg Family Complex unless otherwise noted. For more information, please visit their website.

Jewish Community Center of Greater Ann Arbor is hosting an event November 21  December 16, 2022. Contact the Welcome Desk at (734)971-0990 for more information. You can also click here.

United Jewish Federation of Tidewater & the Simon Family JCCs Lee and Bernard Jaffe Family Jewish Book Festival will take place throughout 2021 and 2022 in Virginia Beach. For further details, contact Jill Grossman at 757-965-6137 or JGrossman@ujft.org. You can also click here.

Book fairs typically seek out guest speakers. By volunteering to speak at a Jewish book fair, you will pique the interest of new readers, promote your book, and potentially gain a few new fans. Additionally, you can add the speaking appearance to your resume. Be sure to plan ahead because book fairs, speaking engagements and readings are all planned months in advance. For a complete list of book fairs and festivals visit book-marketing-expert.com

The Bottom Line: Reach out to the Jewish community and attend a book fair! You will be happy you did.

Book publicist Scott Lorenz is President of Westwind Communications, a public relations and marketing firm that has a special knack for working with authors to help them get all the publicity they deserve and more. Lorenz works with bestselling authors and self-published authors promoting all types of books, whether its their first book or their 15th book. Hes handled publicity for books by CEOs, CIA Officers, Navy SEALS, Homemakers, Fitness Gurus, Doctors, Lawyers and Adventurers. His clients have been featured by Good Morning America, FOX & Friends, CNN, ABC News, New York Times, Nightline, TIME, PBS, LA Times, USA Today, Washington Post, Womans World, & Howard Stern to name a few.

Learn more about Westwind Communications book marketing approach at https://www.book-marketing-expert.com/ or contact Lorenz at scottlorenz@westwindcos.com or 734-667-2090 or fill out the form below. Follow Lorenz on Twitter @aBookPublicist. Want help titling a book? Check out Scott Lorenzs new award winning, bestselling book: Book Title Generator- A Proven System in Naming Your Book www.BookTitleGenerator.net
Tuesday, December 14, 2021

Commentary From Crisis Management Expert Edward Segal, Author of Crisis Ahead: 101 Ways to prepare for and Bounce Back from Disasters, Scandals, and Other Emergencies (Nicholas Breasley)

Surviving trying times can help build characterand careers. In many ways, former Republican Senator Bob Dole, who died this month at age 98, certainly lived through and survived some trying times which molded and shaped his character, career and leadership style.

A Model For Others

Charles G. Tharp is a professor of the department of practice of management and organizations at Boston University's Questrom School of Business. He said that, "Bob Dole's style of leadership is a model for leaders of any organizationbe it in business, government or not-for-profit.

"Dole's ability to be clear about his north star of serving his fellow citizens and subordinating ego, political affiliation, and self-interest to achieving that purpose, is an inspiring and sustaining approach to leadership. In the face of social and political divisiveness, as Dole faced during his many years of public service, having an unwavering commitment to serving a purpose higher than oneself is truly the measure of superior leadership."

How Dole led through challenging and difficult times in his life provides important lessons in leadership for corporate executives.

Be Willing To Put Aside Differences

President Joe Biden said in a statement that, "In the Senate, though we often disagreed, he never hesitated to work with me or other Democrats when it mattered most. He and Ted Kennedy came together to turn Bob's lifelong cause into the Americans with Disabilities Actgranting tens of millions of Americans lives of greater dignity.

"On the Social Security Commission, he led a bipartisan effort with Pat Moynihan to ensure that every American could grow old with their basic dignity intact. When he managed the bill to create a federal holiday in the name of Martin Luther King, Jr.a bill that many in his own caucus opposedI will never forget what he said to our colleagues: 'No first-class democracy can treat people like second-class citizens.'

March Forward

Jameson Sharp is a former senior policy advisor in the Kansas House of Representatives and now an investment group partner at Neptune Capital. He observed that, "Bob Dole's heroism and leadership to serve his fellow Americans did not stop on the battlefield of World War II. It continued onto the Senate and onto when he ran for President of the United States.

"Every business executive in Corporate America could certainly take this single important leadership lesson and put it to work right away. And that lesson is to keep marching forward through the fear, uncertainty and the painful result of defeat. Because on the other side is what we call personal growth."

Set An Example

Jonathan Smith, founder of CamperGuide said, "The important leadership lesson that we should learn from Senator Bob Dole that we can use in business is the value of making yourself as an example.

"We should be at the forefront of everything. We inspire and motivate our employees in different matters. We offer assistance by giving training, providing tools to increase knowledge, and helping our team members increase productivity and efficiency. We provide support and guidance when challenges arise."

Be Determined To Succeed

Liam Johnson, CEO of TheHitchStore, said, "What I admire most about Bob Dole is how he coped up with adversity. Despite his physical limitations because he couldn't use his right hand, he had the courage to get through the difficult times and looked at things from a different perspective. I remember reading an article where he said that if he couldn't greet people with his right hand, he could reach them with his left.

"As a business leader, it is important to be determined to succeed even in the face of adversity. Always persevere and don't let the fire inside you die. Accept the challenge and continue moving forward. In business, we don't always achieve what we want. There will be mishaps and challenges, that's for sure, but remember that when one door closes, a window opens."

Depend On Others

Nathan Hughes, marketing director at DiggityMarketing, said that, "I have admired Senator Dole for a long time. There was a lot to learn from that person. He used to radiate a handful of leadership qualities that a business leader should adopt.

"One such quality was 'Lead by example' amongst the many. During World War II, when Lt. Dole moved to the front lines with his other soldiers instead of staying back. He was injured by a grenade later and even lost the use of his right hand forever.

"Another such quality is 'Seek Help from Other.' Usually, leaders would hesitate to seek help from other people. Leaders perceive themselves as the lone warrior. But Sen. Dole proved in many instances that a good leader can depend on others too.

"Business leaders must inculcate these qualities in them to achieve great success in their careers," he concluded.

Encourage People

"One of the most important leadership lessons we can learn from Bob Dole is how important it was to encourage people to work together for the common good," according to psychotherapist and author Christina Steinorth-Powell. "Bob Dole encouraged people to negotiate their differences and search for common groundthis is why everyone liked him.

###

"He believed encampments in either direction were not a good thing and counterproductive to getting a job done. He wasn't strong handed in his approach and often used humor to lighten the mood even if the joke was at his own expense," she noted.

Find Ways To Make Things Work

Jesse Forrest is the founder of Copywriting Crew, a digital agency that provides writing services for business owners. He said, "Senator Bob Dole is the one responsible for making me a very patient person. I've admired him for having absolute patience.

"He's a man who always [wanted] to make things work. As long as you wait for the perfect timing, there's no way you can't get what you want. For him, the welfare of other people should always come first. And that is what makes him a great leader. In leadership, command and obedience is what matters. Without the latter, you're just merely someone who loves to command but will never have a follower."

'Be Out Front'

Rafal Mlodzki is the CEO of Passport Photo Online. He recalled that in Dole's book, One Soldier's Story: A Memoir, "the Senator wrote words that impacted my whole life: '(...) instinct told me that a leader had to be out front. He must be willing to endure the fire rather than hide from it, or let somebody else take the brunt of the blows.'

"This is the essence of so-called servant leadership, which I consider to be the best model of leadership. Senator Dole valued compassion and empathy, which made him an outstanding example of an inspiring leader and man. That's the lesson I'll never forget."
SAN ANTONIO  In just two years, veteran-founded Black Rifle Coffee Co. says it will add nearly 80 company owned and franchised stores in the United States. And Texas is one of its biggest markets.

Black Rifle Coffee, which maintains corporate offices in San Antonio and Salt Lake City, plans to add seven stores in the Alamo City as well as nine coffee shops in Houston and 13 stores in Dallas Fort Worth, according to a presentation the coffee company gave to investors last month.

The company says its national expansion is possible with the $225 million that it hopes to raise from going public last month through a merger with Austin-based SilverBox Engaged Merger Corp.

In addition to coffee shops, the company says it will bolster its online sales of apparel and coffee, as well as its reach through retailers such as H-E-B, Walmart, Bass Pro Shops, Sams Club and CVS.

Black Rifle Coffee did not respond to requests for comment for this story.

However, the companys presentation gives some insight into how it promises to ultimately become a chain with more than 1,300 coffee shops in the United States.

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The company says its largest growth opportunities are in Texas and in the Midwest, according to the companys market research. It also sees potential for expansion in the West and South, including Louisiana, Oklahoma and Florida.

The company already has a store in Florida, Oklahoma and Georgia.

The secret to the companys expansion is a multi-pronged approach that includes coffee shops, retail and online sales.

The success of that model can be seen in San Antonio, Tom Davin, Black Rifle Coffees co-chief executive officer, told investors last month.

Last year, Black Rifle Coffee opened a stand alone coffee shop on Bitters Road and started selling its product at the local Bass Pro Shop. At the same time, the company introduced ready-to-drink coffee in convenience stores in and around the Alamo City.

Including online sales, Black Rifle Coffees total volume in the San Antonio market was $3 million, Davin said. The company is expecting $5 million in revenue in San Antonio by the end of the year, according to Davin.

TRY THE APP: Get alerts, breaking news and in-depth coverage on what's happening in Houston through our mobile app.

Two coffee shops are under construction in the San Antonio area and three are under negotiation, Davin said. Most of Black Rifle Coffees expansion will be outside of Loop 410 on the Northeast, North and Northwest sides.

By 2023, revenue in San Antonio is forecasted to be more than $20 million, Davin added.

According to its presentation to investors, Black Rifle Coffee is also planning stores in Converse and New Braunfels. The company already has a Boerne location.

One of the companys first of eight standalone coffee shops opened in June in the North Richland Hills area of the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. According to its website, stores are also coming soon to Plano and Benbrook.

Black Rifle Coffee also opened its first Midland franchise on Dec. 6, Hearst newspapers reported.

Timothy.Fanning@express-news.net
City officials are attacking a damning report that found San Antonio orders homes to be vacated and demolished at a much higher rate than other large Texas cities, often bypasses a hearing process and uses code enforcement measures heavily on the near West and East Sides.

At a media briefing and City Council committee meeting, they said the November study released by the University of Texas at Austin School of Law includes incorrect numbers and lacks context.

There are some fundamental flaws in that report, City Manager Erik Walsh said Monday.

We think the report was intended to incite maybe a fear that the city was running around and not trying to follow the law, follow due process, help people, he added.

Heather Way, the reports lead author and co-director of the Entrepreneurship and Community Development Clinic at the university, said she stands by the research.

On ExpressNews.com: Report: San Antonios volume of orders to vacate, demolish homes is unprecedented among big Texas cities

The city issued 626 orders to vacate and raze occupied single-family homes between 2015 and 2020, according to the report. Thats an unprecedented number compared with Houston, Dallas, Austin and Fort Worth, which issued no more than 16 orders combined during the same time period.

However, city officials said they issued 404 such orders in that stretch.

The report notes differences between legal authority and process in San Antonio versus in Texas other large cities, so its not an apples to apples comparison, they said.

Way called that a smoke and mirrors tactic to distract from the issue at hand, which is that the city is a real outlier when it comes to issuing these orders.

She said the citys presentation did not include some of the data it provided to the reports authors through open records requests.

Researchers also included hold-harmless agreements in their tally, which is when a property owner agrees to let the city raze their home. The city did not include those agreements.

Its important to look at those agreements as well, because these are cases where a family is in very perilous conditions and the citys moving forward with the demolition of their home  so we shouldnt not be looking at the impacts on those households as well, Way said.

With demolition orders, the city did not specify which homes were occupied, so the authors estimated that on their own using Google Street View, she added.

They compared the distribution of orders with the number of owner-occupied homes within each census tract and found that the highest number of orders were issued on the near West and East sides, which also have been disproportionately targeted for code enforcement sweeps.

Code enforcement does not target anyone, said Michael Shannon, director of the citys Development Services Department.

Along with the 404 notices to vacate and demolition orders the city said it issued for occupied homes, it issued another 401 demolition orders for unoccupied houses.

A breakdown of orders by City Council districts shows the highest number of demolition orders were issued in District 5 on the West Side and District 2 on the East Side  153 and 105, respectively.

With orders to vacate, the number was again highest in District 5 at 84 and second-highest in District 1 downtown at 72.

In both areas, residents of color were systematically discriminated against for decades through redlining. Poverty and the lack of development are persistent problems, and many homes are aging and in poor condition.

West Side advocacy organizations have been raising concerns about the number of demolitions there for years.

Despite what might be said about the data that was presented in the report to refute the data, our lived experiences tell us that our neighborhood is under attack, Leticia Sanchez, co-chair of the Historic Westside Residents Association, said during the committee meeting.

Im disappointed that this presentation was more an attack on the (report) and less about how we can work together to come up with solutions to ensure that we mitigate the displacement of folks, said Councilwoman Teri Castillo, who represents District 5 on the West Side.

Razing a home is the last resort after what is usually a six- to 18-month process that involves connecting residents to resources, Shannon said.

The city initiates code enforcement actions, and San Antonio residents can also lodge complaints about rundown properties. When a home is deemed unsafe, code officers issue a citation, and residents at high risk of harm  from a potential roof collapse, for example  may receive a notice to vacate.

Officers provide information about available resources and coordinate with other city departments and organizations, Shannon said. If the problems are not fixed, the case can be referred to the Buildings Standards Board, a quasi-judicial panel that hears code violations and appeals.

On ExpressNews.com: Dissecting the boom: East Side San Antonio home price increases top those seen across county

Within the demolition process, residents can get a temporary hardship extension if they are unable to afford repairs. If the board decides a home should be razed and the owner does not demolish it, the city will do it and bill the owner, Shannon said. If thats not paid, a lien is placed on the property.

Seventy-five of the 331 notices to vacate that the city said it issued stemmed from its Dangerous Assessment Response Team, which targets properties that have a two-year history of major code violations, Shannon said.

The reports authors said the city often does not provide residents with a due-hearing process or relocation assistance, which they said in their opinion violates state law. City officials said both findings were incorrect.

The study states that only eight of 209 residents who received a vacate order between 2018 and 2020 received financial help from the citys risk mitigation fund. City staff said they use more than one fund to provide assistance.

The city plans to collaborate with the University of Texas at San Antonio to conduct its own study.

madison.iszler@express-news.net
Describing almost three years of sorrow that never passes, the family of Dr. Naji Kayruz, killed Feb. 4, 2019 on his bicycle by a drunk hit-and-run driver, confronted the woman Tuesday in a courtroom as she was sentenced to 15 years in prison for intoxication manslaughter.

In their formal victim statements, the surgeons wife, son and twin brother stood before Melissa Nicole Peoples, 49, to dismiss her recent apology on TV for the death, praise a lifetime of good works by Kayruz or describe what the son, Anthony, called their 1,044 days of suffering .

This was not an accident. This was a crime, said Dr. Sandra Vasquez-Kayruz, the victims wife. The impact was heard over 200 yards away(A witness) saw my husbands body fly up as high as one of the power lines and land 40 feet away. (She) ran to his side. He was barely breathingbut his body was so mangled nothing could be done.

How dare you, Melissa, not stop immediately and see who you killed? said Vasquez-Kayruz, flanked by her son and brother-in-law. Last week you issued a public apology on camera to my family, but that apology came three years too late. Vasquez-Kayruz also said that during a related civil suit against Peoples, even when we were alone together once in a legal office, that Peoples never made an effort to apologize.

A petite woman with long bangs and a black Covid mask, Peoples stood at the defense table some 20 feet from the family as they spoke for nearly 40 minutes. Her lawyer, Demetrio Duarte, placed his right hand on her shoulder throughout the often wrenching statements. Peoples did not speak in court.

I can tell you she was trembling and crying during the familys testimony, Duarte said. She cried when the son said he could call his dad at three in the morning and he would never complain.  Your heart goes out to them.

Meza sentenced Peoples to 15 years in prison. She had pleaded guilty to intoxication manslaughter and no contest to failure to stop and render aid.

Prosecutors had agreed to remove the aggravated element of the manslaughter charge  an accusation that Peoples vehicle was used as a deadly weapon  so she will be eligible for parole after less than four years in prison. Prosecutors and defense attorneys agree, however, that a prisoners first attempts at parole for a violent crime are unlikely to succeed.

Josie Norris /San Antonio Express-News

According to notarized prosecution documents not introduced as evidence but undisputed by Peoples attorney, her blood was drawn by a nurse shortly after her arrest, which tested at more than .20 percent for alcohol content. The legal limit in Texas is .08.

Kayruz was killed when Peoples white BMW X3 hit him from behind as he rode his bicycle near the Dominion neighborhood on the Northwest Side. The family was disheartened by the plea deal, and said they wished they could have confronted Peoples long before Tuesdays court session.

This is the first time the community and the judge really get to hear our voices, said Anthony Kayruz, 26, a third-year law student at Stanford University, after the proceeding. Every time before we have merely been bystanders in the courtroom.

People need to know you dont ever get over this. You only get better at enduring the pain.

The debilitating pain is no longer there, said Naji Kayruz brother, Walid, 61, a research scientist for the federal government. But there is no closure. You just get better at hiding it.

David Prichard, the Kayruz familys lawyer, said earlier this month the DAs plea agreement was a sham and a disgrace, and that the district attorneys office should have gone to trial with the case.

Josie Norris /San Antonio Express-News

A spokeswoman for Bexar County District Attorney Joe Gonzales said it was standard practice for the office to not comment on a pending case. Peoples was taken to Bexar County Jail for transfer to a Texas Department of Criminal Justice facility for women.

bselcraig@express-news.net
Even with recent and upcoming cold fronts, San Antonio has yet to experience its first freeze of the season.

That usually comes at the end of November.

National Weather Service Meteorologist Matthew Brady said that San Antonio has never had a year where it didnt see freezing temperatures, but the longest the city has had to wait for those conditions was until March 8 back in 1932.

The warmer weather, Brady said, is to be expected thanks to La Nina  a surface water temperature pattern in the Pacific. La Nina usually comes with warmer, dryer weather, he said.

On ExpressNews.com: San Antonio was unusually dry and warm in October. Blame La Nina.

Brady said that temperatures this week are 10 to 15 degrees warmer than the usual mid-60s range.

San Antonians may be a little toasty this week as temperatures are set to stay in the upper 70s, but this weekends front may have people reaching for long-sleeved shirts and umbrellas.

The rest of the week will be fairly dry, Brady said, but some areas of town may see light showers. He said people living to the east of town are most likely to see rain, with chances for rain being about 20% at times.

On ExpressNews.com: Winter looks especially warm in Texas this year, NOAA says

A cold front will sweep through San Antonio early Saturday morning, bringing temperatures down to the upper 50s and low 60s by Saturday afternoon. Overnight and early morning lows Sunday, Monday and Tuesday are expected to go down to the mid- to low 40s, Brady said. Sunday will see averages in the upper 50s and low 60s, while Monday and Tuesday will be in the mid-60s.

The front will bring a 50% to 60% chance of rain and sustained wind speeds of around 20 to 30 mph with it Saturday. Brady said some wind gusts could be even higher than that.

Last weekends cold front brought temperatures down as far as 34 degrees at the San Antonio International Airport, Brady said. Sustained wind speeds last weekend got up to 30 mph with gusts ranging between 40 and 45 mph.

megan.rodriguez@express-news.net
Southwest Airlines announced last week that it will add a nonstop flight between San Antonio and Oklahoma City and will resume daily nonstop flights from the Alamo City to Los Angeles.

Both services will begin April 25.

Outgoing flights to Oklahoma City will depart on Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays at 10 a.m. and will land at 11:35 a.m. Return flights will leave Oklahoma City at 7 p.m. and arrive in San Antonio at 8:45 p.m.

On Express-News.com: Heres what you could see at a reimagined San Antonio International Airport

The Dallas-based airline recently celebrated its 50th year anniversary.

Last month, the City Council approved a $2.5 billion renovation that will add a new terminal, more gates, more amenities and international flights.

Timothy.Fanning@express-news.net
Three Austin men, including a partner in area automobile dealerships, were indicted on federal charges for their alleged involvement in the kidnapping and murder of a woman and her boyfriend in Nashville, the Department of Justice said.

The three men  Erik Maund, 46, Gilad Peled, 47, and Bryon Brockway, 46  were charged with conspiracy to commit kidnapping; kidnapping resulting in death; and carrying, brandishing and discharging a firearm during and in relation to a crime.

Another man, Adam Carey, 30, of North Carolina, was also indicted on the same charges for his alleged involvement.

The deadly events were set in motion when Maund, who was traveling to Nashville in early February 2020 to visit relatives, emailed his former girlfriend Holly Williams that he would love to see (her) again, the federal indictment said.

Text messages obtained by the FBI suggest that Maund, a married executive with the Maund Automotive Group in Austin, met Williams at a bar.

On ExpressNews.com: San Antonio man accused of sexually assaulting woman after kidnapping her at Brackenridge Park

About a month after his trip, Maund received text messages from 36-year-old William Lanway, who threatened to expose Maund and Williams relationship unless he was paid. Lanway had an on-again-off-again romantic relationship with Williams.

That day, Maund reached out to Peled, Brockway and Carey, and the four began planning to kidnap and hold Williams and Lanway for ransom in retaliation for the attempted extortion, the indictment said.

Peled is a former member of the Israeli Defense Forces and the owner of Speartip Security, which responds to extortion demands. Brockway is a former Marine and owner of the security company Ink Force LLC. And Carey served in the Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command and worked as an independent contractor for security companies.

It was agreed that Brockway and Carey, at the direction of Maund and Peled, would murder the two victims, the indictment said.

Brockway and Carey traveled to Nashville, where they surveilled Williams and Lanway for several days and determined that the two were staying at the same address, according to the DOJ.

On March 12, the DOJ alleges, Brockway and Carey confronted the victims in the parking lot of Williams apartment complex, shooting and killing Lanway. They then drove Williams and Lanways body to a construction site nearly 30 miles away, where they shot Williams, according to the DOJ. Both victims were shot multiple times in the head.

They discarded the bodies at the construction site before returning to Austin, the indictment said.

Maund paid the three men more than $750,000 for carrying out the plan, according to the DOJ.

The four men were arrested Dec. 10. If convicted, they could face life in prison.

taylor.pettaway@express-news.net
Rebecca Flores tells the story this way:

She and Molly Wright, a fellow advocate for the homeless, were handing out flyers outside San Fernando Cathedral on one of the most important days for Mexican American Catholics, the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

Sunday also marked the start of a fast for both women. Their goal is to push city officials on policies to help the homeless, including an end to evictions and demolitions on the near West Side and East Side, where gentrification is squeezing people out of affordable housing, such as it is.

Like other homeless advocates, Flores and Wright point to a November study, Ousted: The City of San Antonios Displacement of Residents through Code Enforcement Actions.

Conducted by the University of Texas at Austin, the report reviewed the citys displacement of residents from their homes for code violations, with a focus on single-family residences. From 2015-2020, the City issued close to 1,000 orders to vacate and orders to demolish single-family homes, including at least 626 orders for occupied homes.

The report said these aggressive actions are focused on low-income communities of color in the urban core, where the city is incentivizing redevelopment.

The study compared San Antonio to other Texas cities. While San Antonio handed out 626 orders in a five-year span, Houston, Dallas, Austin and Fort Worth issued no more than 16 orders combined in the same period.

Thats enough to call for protests and firings. Yet Flores and Wright werent making any such noise outside the cathedral on Sunday.

But when Flores moved to the Plaza de la Cruz, an outdoor space between the cathedral and a restaurant, thats when the problem started. Its property the cathedral considers private.

For background, Flores is the retired director of the United Farm Workers in Texas and spent her career advocating for the rights of the nations most under-appreciated laborers.

Wright has become one of the citys leading voices against homelessness.

Ill say upfront I dont know what went on between Flores and the cathedrals new rector, Father Carlos Velazquez.

But he asked Flores to leave Plaza de la Cruz, and she refused. Both activists called his demeanor abrasive and shocking. Velazquez called the police.

Flores says she was acting as a practicing Catholic upset by the citys tax breaks to developers who arent producing affordable housing units that could ease the homeless problem.

Flores and Wright argue the city ought to provide trash bins and other services to homeless camps, not destroy them. Wright says the city should create a safe parking lot program, where those living in their cars can safely park and sleep at night.

After Velazquez called police to the scene, Flores moved to the sidewalk on Flores Street near the statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

I wasnt able to speak with the rector Monday, but archdiocese spokesman Jordan McMorrough spoke on his behalf.

McMorrough cited a longstanding cathedral policy against leafleting on cathedral grounds. He said the women didnt have permission to conduct activities there, though its allowed in Main Plaza in front of the cathedral.

I cant respond to the tone of the conversation or the escalation. I wasnt there, he added.

The content of the flyers werent at issue. Father Carlos said it probably could have been put in the (church) bulletin, McMorrough said.

A documentary filmmaker on site traded words with Velazquez, too. He allegedly threatened to take her camera, but didnt.

Wright will continue fasting from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. til Dec. 24. Shell be outside City Hall in hopes of speaking with the mayor, City Council members and city officials about the citys homelessness problem.

The flyer asks parishioners to pray for the end to homelessness and hunger. It asked them to search within, that God created them for something much more than happiness  than being comfortable.

It asks them to do more.

It cited increases in homelessness and its root causes, including poverty, the lack of affordable housing and healthcare, racial inequality and domestic violence.

It cited House Bill 1925, which bans encampments in public spaces.

Then it quoted the gospel of Matthew to explain the need for compassion. For I was hungry and you gave me food.

And the king will say to them in reply, Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.

eayala@express-news.net
Re: Abortion and the quiet ambivalent majority, Other Views, Thursday:

I appreciate that the Express-News published the thoughtful piece by New York Times columnist David Brooks.

While I know the thrust of the piece will be contested, there can be no doubt that it is usefully nuanced, representing several heartfelt considerations. Brooks has outlined the opinion space between extremes. I believe we need more of this: deliberate discussion and problem study. Specifically, I believe we should more directly imitate some European democracies and have three distinctive political parties: left, center, and right.

There is an extreme left in this country and an extreme right but there are moderates in and outside both our parties who do not seem to be well heard. Many of us do not feel that all issues are black and white, and we prefer careful, data-based, nuanced, thoughtful consideration and decision making. We need a party for centrists in the spirit of Brooks.

Richard Albanese, MD

Thank you, Brooks!

Re: Abortion and the quiet ambivalent majority, Other Views, Thursday:

Thank you, David Brooks for the beautifully nuanced column about the abortion debate. I dont agree with some of your conclusions, but I am so grateful to see these thoughtful reflections about this tremendously painful and important debate. With such extreme polarization on this issue, and so many others, how wonderful to see someone publicly acknowledge that hes not absolutely sure what the right answer is. May we all be so humble.

Katherine Paredes

Dont blame Carter

U.S. presidents are credited or blamed for situations and events over which they have very little or no control. Former President Jimmy Carter, an engineer, submarine commander and Nobel Prize winner, was considered a weak president, blamed for an oil crisis and the failed rescue of the Iran hostages, but lower production by OPEC and the Iranian revolution were the causes.

His many successes are detailed in His Very Best; Jimmy Carter, A Life, by Jonathan Alter. He sponsored the Camp David Accords, bringing peace to Israel and Egypt. Most of his initiatives were passed by Congress and stopped projects wasteful to the environment. His staunch support for human rights worldwide saved many lives.

President Joe Bidens low ratings stem in part also to high energy prices, and he is considered at fault. Houston Chronicle and Express-News business columnist Chris Tomlinson, in his Nov. 13, column, Big Oils exports are to blame for high prices, effectively dispelled that myth.

George Farias
This article was first published by The Texas Tribune.

Rick Perry is running for governor  but not that Rick Perry.

The Republican Party of Texas updated its list of candidate filings Monday  hours before the deadline for the March primary election  to include a Rick Perry running against Gov. Greg Abbott. The party quickly confirmed that it was not Rick Perry, the former governor and U.S. energy secretary. Instead it's Ricky Lynn Perry, a man from Springtown, a town in Parker County northwest of Fort Worth. On the form, the man listed "Rick Perry" as the version of his name that he wants to appear on the ballot.

A LinkedIn profile for a Rick Perry from Springtown lists his current job as a senior desktop technician for Lockheed Martin. The company clarified that he is a staffing agency employee contracted to Lockheed Martin.

Neither Perry could be immediately reached for comment.

Abbott is running for a third term and has drawn at least three primary challengers. While Abbott may not be facing a challenge from his predecessor, having such a widely known name on the primary ballot could complicate his path to renomination.

Rick Perry was the longest-serving governor of Texas, preceding Abbott before the latter took office in 2015.

The candidate Perry's form was notarized by Tony McDonald, an Austin lawyer who is active in anti-establishment conservative circles and has supported one of Abbott's primary opponents, Don Huffines. McDonald told the Tribune that Perry is a "good conservative activist from Parker County" whom he knows through a "friend of a friend." McDonald said he was supporting Perry and serving as his campaign treasurer.

Asked if one of Abbott's existing primary challengers had convinced Perry to run, McDonald said he was "not aware of that."

On HoustonChronicle.com: Gov. Abbott vies with six Republican challengers as field is set for March 1 primaries

As of Perry's filing, a Tony McDonald from Travis County was still listed as an endorser on Huffines' website. McDonald tweeted that he had donated to Huffines but had not "endorsed" him.

"Maybe thats another Tony McDonald from Travis County?" McDonald said playfully. "You know those sorts of mixups happen. "

Abbott's campaign, meanwhile, scoffed at Perry's filing. The governor's top political strategist, Dave Carney, said on Twitter that it was "another stupid pet trick" and that it "will backfire as these stunts always do."

Huffines denied any involvement in Perry's candidacy.

"Greg Abbotts team is so used to responding to my campaign theyve convinced themselves Don Huffines is behind everything," Huffines said in a statement. "While Im flattered to receive so much attention, the truth is I first heard about Rick Perry filing for governor when it was tweeted out by Patrick Svitek."

The Texas Tribune is a member-supported, nonpartisan newsroom informing and engaging Texans on state politics and policy. Learn more at texastribune.org.
Gov. Greg Abbott will have the first significant GOP primary battle of his political career and Democrat Beto ORourke wont have a free pass in the Democratic gubernatorial primary.

That was all established late Monday when the filing period to get on the ballot for the 2022 elections came to a close. The Texas Division of Elections showed six Republicans have made it onto the primary ballot to challenge Abbott on March 1. ORourke, meanwhile, has three other Democrats vying against him for the Democratic nomination.

But that is hardly the only competitive race. Texas will also have a number of people in the primaries  both Democrats and Republicans  for Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General and dozens of congressional seats around the state heading into the 2022 midterms.

While election day isnt until March 1, voting in the primary begins in just over 30 days as absentee ballots begin to go out. And in just over 60 days in-person early voting starts on Feb. 14.

Even with a rare primary challenge, Abbott insisted at a recent campaign stop in South Texas hes ready for 2022.

People are excited for the elections coming up, Abbott said.

He said growing frustration with the first year of the Biden administration is driving up the energy in the Republican Party.

More Information MARCH 1 PRIMARY CANDIDATES Republican and Democratic ballot for statewide offices in 2022 (* denotes incumbent) Governor - REPUBLICAN GREG ABBOTT* PAUL BELEW DANNY HARRISON KANDY KAYE HORN DON HUFFINES RICK PERRY ALLEN B. WEST Lieutenant Governor - REPUBLICAN TRAYCE BRADFORD DANIEL MILLER DAN PATRICK* AARON SORRELLS Attorney General - REPUBLICAN GEORGE P. BUSH LOUIE GOHMERT EVA GUZMAN KEN PAXTON* Comptroller - REPUBLICAN GLENN HEGAR* Texas Land Commissioner - REPUBLICAN BEN ARMENTA DAWN BUCKINGHAM RUFUS LOPEZ WESTON MARTINEZ DON W. MINTON JON SPIERS Agriculture Commissioner - REPUBLICAN CAREY A. COUNSIL SID MILLER* JAMES WHITE Governor - DEMOCRAT INOCENCIO (INNO) BARRIENTEZ MICHAEL COOPER JOY DIAZ BETO O'ROURKE Lieutenant Governor - DEMOCRAT MICHELLE BECKLEY CARLA BRAILEY MIKE COLLIER Attorney General - DEMOCRAT MIKE FIELDS ROCHELLE MERCEDES GARZA JOE JAWORSKI LEE MERRITT Comptroller - DEMOCRAT JANET T. DUDDING TIM MAHONEY ANGEL LUIS VEGA Texas Land Office - DEMOCRAT JAY KLEBERG MICHAEL LANGE SANDRAGRACE MARTINEZ JINNY SUH Agriculture Commissioner - DEMOCRAT SUSAN HAYS See More Collapse

Earlier this month when he filed for re-election, Abbott left no doubt about what the biggest issue is for him heading into the primary.

Im running for re-election to protect and secure our border, Abbott said.

Thats the very issue Abbotts GOP primary opponents are trying to use against him.

Abbott foes say theyll do more on border

Former Florida Congressman and Tea Party favorite Allen West and former State Sen. Don Huffines have been traveling the state and criticizing Abbott for not doing more to secure the border during his two terms in office.

Huffines has billboards up and a TV ad vowing to implement a plan to secure the border that includes cutting off all truck traffic from Mexico to force its government to stop the flow of immigration into the U.S.

West has also made the border central to his campaign, saying hell send more Texas National Guard troops to the border with authority to shoot at suspected human smugglers and drug cartels from across the Rio Grande.

TEXAS TAKE: Get political headlines from across the state sent directly to your inbox

One of Abbotts opponents has a familiar name: Rick Perry. But it is not the former governor who was President Donald Trumps Energy Secretary. The Rick Perry that signed up to get on the ballot late Monday is Rick L. Perry of Springtown, Texas, who has never run for office before.

Other candidates who qualified to be on the Republican primary ballot include comedian Chad Prather, Paul Belew, an attorney in Wise County, Danny Harrison, who runs a landscaping business in Plano, and Kandy Kaye Horn of Rockwell.

ORourke meanwhile faces three opponents with limited election experience on the Democratic side.

Beaumont Democrat Michael Cooper announced in February he was running for the Democratic nomination. Cooper ran in the Democratic primary for lieutenant governor in 2018 and for U.S. Senator in 2020, losing both. Joy Diaz, a former journalist, and Inno Barrientez, a retired Seguin resident have also filed, but neither has previous election experience.

AG Paxton faces 3 GOP challengers

The race for lieutenant governor saw a surge in candidates in the last few days, both Republicans and Democrats.

While Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, a Republican from Montgomery County, is heavily favored to win the primary, he has at least three opponents in the March primary: Colleyville Republican and homeschool advocate Trayce Bradford; Daniel Miller, who advocates that Texas secede from the U.S.; and Fort Worth businessman Aaron Sorrells.

On the Democratic side, Mike Collier, the Kingwood Democrat who lost to Patrick by less than five percentage points in 2018, is making another run for the office. But the former energy company executive faces competition for the Democratic nomination from State Rep. Michelle Beckley, D-Carrolton, and Carla Brailey, a sociology professor at Texas Southern University.

Texans are crying out for change and for leaders that will build a state that cares for all Texans, said Brailey, who is the vice chair of the Texas Democratic Party.

The lieutenant governor is elected separately from the governor and oversees the Texas Senate.

One of the hottest Republican primary races will be for attorney general. Incumbent Ken Paxton, who is awaiting trial after being indicted in 2015 for securities fraud, and has since been accused by his own senior staffers of corruption, is running for re-election with former President Donald Trumps endorsement but faces notable opposition. Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush, U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert of Tyler and former Supreme Court Justice Eva Guzman are all running against him in the primary.

Democrats have four candidates in their primary for attorney general including Brownsville attorney Rochelle Garza, Joe Jaworski, a mediator and former Galveston mayor, and Lee Merritt, a nationally recognized civil rights attorney. None of those candidates has statewide election experience.

Meanwhile, there will be some heavyweight primary battles for Congress, thanks in large part to redistricting.

One of those races will be a newly drawn 38th Congressional District in Harris County that now has 9 Republicans vying for the partys nomination. That district includes much of the Energy Corridor and stretches north to the Montgomery County line. Army veteran Wesley Hunt, who lost a bid for Congress in 2020 against U.S. Rep. Lizzie Fletcher, is among the candidates in that race. Harris County Republican Party activist Mark Ramsey is also competing.

Republicans also have a wide-open primary in the 8th Congressional District, held now by retiring Congressman Kevin Brady. Seven Republicans have qualified to be on that primary ballot, including retired Navy SEAL Morgan Luttrell and Christian Collins, a former aid to U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz.

In the San Antonio area, the 35th Congressional District, which includes the heart of downtown and stretches up into Austin. Incumbent Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin, has announced for a different district, opening up a wide-open primary that now has four Democrats set to battle it out, including Austin City Council member Greg Casar, State Rep. Eddie Rodriguez, and San Antonio City Council member Rebecca Viagran.

Democrats have another big primary in San Antonio in the 28th Congressional District, which now stretches from Alamo Plaza to Laredo. U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo, is facing another challenge from Jessica Cisneros, who lost to Cuellar in the 2020 Democratic primary by fewer than 4 percentage points.

jeremy.wallace@chron.com
With the field now set for the March 1 primaries in Texas, much of the focus this winter will fall on the Republican side, where a raft of retirements and newly drawn districts have created an opening for first-time candidates to run for dozens of open seats, including in the Houston area.

Meanwhile, GOP incumbents who have historically received little or no primary opposition, including Gov. Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton, are in newfound territory defending their seats against fellow Republicans.

Democrats did not see the same flurry of activity in Houston or on the statewide ballot, with elected officials mostly avoiding major primary opposition. Only one Democratic elected official in Texas, state Rep. Michelle Beckley of Carrollton, is giving up her seat to run for a statewide office.

Republicans, on the other hand, have fielded candidates in each countywide judicial race in Harris County, a reversal from last years sparse showing. And a half-dozen GOP elected officials in Texas are giving up their seats to run against statewide incumbents from their own party.

The outlook is a departure from the last two election cycles, when Democrats went after Republican districts long considered untouchable as they made aggressive plays to flip Texas blue.

But in advance of the 2022 primaries, Texas Republicans redrew many of those districts to move them well out of reach for Democrats. And the political landscape appears far tougher for the states minority party, largely due to redistricting and President Joe Bidens dismal approval rating in Texas.

This whole election cycle has been about Republican primaries, said state Rep. Garnet Coleman, D-Houston, who is not seeking re-election. The whole special sessions were about Republican primaries. The rhetoric is about Republican primaries.

Harris County GOP pretty fired up

In north Harris County, state Rep. Valoree Swanson, R-Spring, is set for a rematch against Tomball Republican Debbie Riddle, whom Swanson beat in 2016. At least two other GOP candidates are running in the district, which former President Donald Trump carried by 14 percentage points in 2020.

State Rep. Lacey Hull, a freshman Republican who represents a portion of west Houston, also is slated for a rematch against 2020 primary opponent Josh Flynn, a GOP activist and former Harris County Department of Education board president.

But some of the most crowded contests are in seats where the incumbent is stepping down or running for another office. In Hulls neighboring district, five Republicans are running for the seat being vacated by state Rep. Jim Murphy, R-Houston  among them former City Council members Greg Travis and Bert Keller and Republican attorneys Mano DeAyala and Shelley Barineau.

Harris County Republican Party Chair Cindy Siegel said the national environment has given local conservatives a much-needed dose of optimism following recent cycles that saw them lose control of county government and other long-held offices.

When I first took over last December, I think Republicans were very disheartened, and I include myself in that, Siegel said. But I think based upon what theyve seen locally, and quite frankly what theyve seen from the Democrat side nationally, the Republican Party here particularly in Harris County is pretty fired up.

Even some Republican candidates who were primed for a smooth ride through the March primary received last-minute opponents. In northeast Harris County, Republican Deanna Robertson joined Humble City Councilman Charles Cunningham in the GOP primary to succeed retiring state Rep. Dan Huberty. Cunningham was endorsed by Huberty and had a clear path to the Republican nomination before that.

And in a newly drawn congressional seat in west Harris County, former Army helicopter pilot Wesley Hunt received a last-minute challenge Monday from Mark Ramsey, a former member of the State Republican Executive Committee. At least seven other Republicans are also vying for the GOP-leaning seat, though Ramsey appears to be the best-known challenger to Hunt, the 2020 nominee for a nearby congressional seat.

Democrats spared primary battles

In mid-August, three Houston Democrats returned to the Texas House for the first time in almost six weeks, allowing Republicans to advance their priority elections bill that had been stalled since early July.

The move by state Reps. Coleman, Ana Hernandez and Armando Walle sparked outrage among some Democratic activists and even a few fellow legislators, prompting calls for the lawmakers to face primary challenges. But by 6 p.m. Monday  the deadline for candidates to file for Texas March primaries  nobody had stepped forward to challenge Hernandez, Walle or most other Democrats who helped Republicans restore a quorum this summer.

Across all of Harris Countys state House districts, only a few Democratic incumbents, including state Reps. Alma Allen and Harold Dutton, received primary opponents.

What that tells me is that our people are doing a good job, Harris County Democratic Party Chair Odus Evbagharu said. Obviously we encourage competition. In a democracy, it needs to be competitive. But when your primary isnt as crowded, what that also says is that our electeds are doing a good job up and down the ballot.

Still, it appeared the party did not have the same enthusiasm among prospective candidates that it saw in the last two cycles.

Until Monday, no Democrat had filed to run for Murphys open west Houston seat, which Trump carried by less than a percentage point in 2020. Hours before the filing deadline, Mohamad Maarouf, a program director for School Empowerment Network, an education nonprofit, filed for the seat.

The reality is, there are no battleground seats. Thats the problem, Evbagharu said. When Republicans get to carve up the state of Texas and gerrymander it by diluting the votes and taking away the voice of Texans, particularly brown and Black people, youre not going to have these seats that are competitive.

jasper.scherer@chron.com

twitter.com/jaspscherer
BOSTON (AP)  The trial of a Harvard University professor charged with hiding his ties to a Chinese-run recruitment program is the latest bellwether in the U.S. Justice Department's controversial effort to crackdown on economic espionage by China.

Opening statements in the trial of Charles Lieber, the former chair of Harvards department of chemistry and chemical biology, begin Wednesday after jury selection was completed Tuesday in Boston federal court.

Lieber's trial is among the highest profile cases to come from the U.S. Department of Justices so-called China Initiative, which was launched in 2018 under former President Donald Trump but has faced criticism that it harms academic research and amounts to racial profiling of Chinese researchers.

Federal prosecutors and Lieber's defense team didn't comment Tuesday, but in legal filings ahead of trial, prosecutors said theyll show Lieber deliberately made false statements about his participation in a Chinese university program to protect his reputation and career.

Liebers lawyer, Marc Mukasey, argued in his trial brief that prosecutors will be unable to prove that he acted "knowingly, intentionally, or willfully, or that he made any material false statement. He also stressed Lieber, who remains on paid leave from Harvard, isn't charged with illegally transferring any technology or proprietary information to China.

The government has this wrong, Mukasey said last year. "When justice is done, Charlies good name will be restored.

Lieber was arrested last January on allegations that he hid his involvement in Chinas Thousand Talents Plan, a program designed to recruit people with knowledge of foreign technology and intellectual property to China.

Lieber, prosecutors said, was paid $50,000 a month by the Wuhan University of Technology in China, given up to $158,000 in living expenses and awarded more than $1.5 million in grants to establish a research lab at the Chinese university.

In exchange, prosecutors say, Lieber agreed to publish articles, organize international conferences and apply for patents on behalf of the Chinese university.

He's pleaded not guilty to the charges, which include two counts of making false statements to authorities and four tax offenses for failing to report income from the Wuhan university.

At the time, Lieber was one of the biggest names  and one of the few not of Chinese origin  swept up in the wide-ranging China Initiative, which was ostensibly launched to prosecute trade secret theft, hacking, and economic espionage.

The effort also focuses on threats to national infrastructure and efforts to influence the American public and policymakers without proper transparency, according to the Justice Departments website.

The department hasnt provided a comprehensive list of all the cases prosecuted under the initiative and their outcomes, but said Tuesday that the tally includes at least nine economic espionage prosecutions, seven theft of trade secrets cases and 12 matters involving fraud on universities or other grant making institutions.

Hundreds of faculty members at Stanford, Yale, Berkeley, Princeton, Temple and other prominent colleges, meanwhile, have signed onto letters to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland calling on him to end the initiative.

The academics say the effort is compromises the nations competitiveness in research and technology and has had a chilling effect on recruiting foreign scholars. The letters also complain the investigations have disproportionally targeted researchers of Chinese origin.

Even Andrew Lelling, a former U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts who was an early leader on the nationwide effort and whose office brought charges against Lieber, believes the initiative needs reform.

The Initiative has drifted and, in some significant ways, lost its focus, he wrote in part on LinkedIn last week. DOJ should revamp, and shut down, parts of the program, to avoid needlessly chilling scientific and business collaborations with Chinese partners.

Lelling, who is now in private practice, declined to comment directly on the Lieber case Tuesday, but argued that cases like it were important in bringing attention to the growing threat of economic espionage by the Chinese government.

There was widespread concern that the Chinese government was using research collaborations to siphon off U.S. technology, so researchers failing to disclose their China connections to U.S. grant-makers was concerning," he said. If the U.S. government doesnt know the extent of U.S. research collaboration with China, it cant properly develop policy in that area.

At the same time, Lelling argued that prosecutors should play out the remaining cases to their conclusion and focus on only the most serious cases against academics going forward.

Three years later, the academic community is fully aware of the issue," he said. "Schools have tightened their disclosure requirements in this area and researchers are very worried about government enforcement. In short, deterrence has been achieved.

Wyn Hornbuckle, a DOJ spokesperson, said Tuesday that the department is reviewing its approach to countering threats posed by the Chinese government and will provide additional information in the coming weeks.

Garland told lawmakers during an October hearing on the initiative that China remains a serious threat to American intellectual property in terms of espionage, cyber incursions and ransomware.

But he also stressed that "cases will not be pursued based on discrimination, but only on facts justifying them.
DAWSON SPRINGS, Ky. (AP)  In the desperate hours after the massive storm struck, Andy Beshear took time out from his duties as governor of the hardest-hit state early Saturday to do what a lot of his fellow Kentuckians were doing.

Again and again, he made calls to track down his cousin Jenny in Dawson Springs.

Theres a good ending to the story," Beshear, the state's Democratic governor, said at a news conference Monday. It took me eight hours to get in touch with her, just calling over and over."

But his extended family also was among the Kentuckians grieving the loss of life from the storms. The governor said he has an uncle by marriage who lost two cousins who died in Muhlenberg County.

All of that may explain why Beshear, the face of his state's response to the historic outbreak of tornadoes, has veered at times between assertions of steadfast determination  declaring that Kentuckians are "strong enough to rebuild''  and raw emotion. He has mourned with every stricken town, but no subject has touched him more personally than the devastation in Dawson Springs, his father's hometown and a place he has visited his entire life.

This is a place where I'd go and I'd sit on my grandparents' front porch, he said.

Beshear, who since the early days of his term has led his state's battle against the COVID-19 pandemic, came under heavy scrutiny amid early uncertainties on the storm-related death toll, especially at a candle factory that was leveled in Mayfield. The governor, a Democrat elected in a state largely controlled by Republicans, is known for his frequent vows that we'll get through this together, first in fighting the coronavirus and now in responding to the storms. He has made multiple visits to the stricken region and held numerous news conferences, putting him in the national spotlight.

Dawson Springs is connected to a mini-political dynasty in the Bluegrass State. Beshears father, former two-term Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear, grew up in the tightknit western Kentucky community, where a local leader estimates at least 60% of the town of nearly 3,000 is beyond repair.

Its a personal tragedy, Steve Beshear said in a phone interview. Its a delightful small-town community. It was one of those places that was so easy to grow up in, because everybody knew everybody, and everybody watched out for everybody. If you ever did anything wrong, they (parents) knew it before you got home.

The storms killed dozens of people in the state and crippled towns across a long swath of western Kentucky. In Dawson Springs, homes and businesses were in ruins as the realization sunk in that the recovery will take years.

For the most part, you can go three city blocks and it all looks like toothpicks, said Darryl Kelley, who was delivering food and water around town. A lot of people are just thankful theyre alive.

Some deliveries took him to homes reduced to rubble. Residents searched the wreckage in hopes of finding possessions they could salvage.

Its heartbreaking, he said. I cry with them.

One family suffered an unspeakable tragedy  the death of a baby girl.

Douglas Koon, his wife, Jackie, and their three children huddled in his mother-in-laws bathroom in Dawson Springs as the storm approached. The tornado hit the house, flinging the family around and tossing a bathtub in the air that was shielding two of his sons. The couple put their 2-month-old, daughter, Oaklynn, in a car seat to protect her, and she appeared to be OK Saturday.

By Sunday, the baby was having seizures and doctors noticed a brain bleed. They believed she had a stroke, Koon said in a Facebook posting.

Early Monday, the family posted that Oaklynn had died. In a text message to The Associated Press on Monday, Koon said he was struggling to process everything that Im going through.

The destruction in the town was widespread. The top county official, Judge-Executive Jack Whitfield Jr., said hundreds of homes in Dawson Springs were destroyed. He estimated that 60% to 75% of the Hopkins County town was beyond repair.

It looks like a bomb went off, he said. Its just completely destroyed in areas.

Andy Beshear described the grim view from the front porch that he had visited with his grandparents as a kid. The house his dad grew up in was intact, but the devastation was in clear sight.

One block up and left or right is just gone, just flattened, the governor said.

Steve Beshear moved away from Dawson Springs decades ago, attending the University of Kentucky and then building successful careers in law and politics, culminating in his election as governor in 2007 and reelection four years later. But his memories of the town endure. He rattled off the names of streets that took direct hits from the storm.

And he recalled the visits back home and the generational bonding  including the rides his children got on his father's small tractor.

I think one of Andys memories is riding down the street on that tractor in granddads lap, Beshear said. We had some great times when the kids were growing up.

The Beshear name remains prominent in Dawson Springs because it's also the name of the funeral home that's been in the family for generations. It started as a combination funeral home and furniture store in 1909, according to Steve Beshear, started by the former governor's great uncle. The cousin the governor tried to reach after the storm hit, Jenny Beshear Sewell, is now the funeral home's owner and president.

As Andy Beshear monitored the horrifying damage reports in the hours after the storms struck, he realized Dawson Springs was hit hard. While leading the response, he took time to make the calls that would last for hours in his frantic search for his cousin.

Got to see her later that day because the moment it was safe to fly, we went first to Mayfield and then to Dawson, he said. "Got to give her a hug."

___

Associated Press Writers Piper Hudspeth Blackburn in Frankfort, Kentucky, and Dylan Lovan in Louisville, Kentucky, contributed to this report.
LOS ANGELES (AP)  Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti told U.S. senators considering his nomination to be ambassador to India that he never witnessed a former top adviser sexually harass one of his police bodyguards, allegations that are at the center of a lawsuit filed against his administration.

The Democratic mayors statement Tuesday came during questioning from members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which held a hearing in Washington to consider Garcettis nomination. Garcetti was nominated for one of the countrys highest profile diplomatic posts in July by President Joe Biden.

Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire told Garcetti she was concerned about accusations against former political adviser and confidant Rick Jacobs, which include claims that the mayor did not respond to those allegations in a way that would have stopped the behavior. She noted that womens rights and sexual harassment remain priority issues in India, the worlds largest democracy.

I think its very important that we model the behavior that we want to see in our allies, she told Garcetti.

The mayor, addressing the Jacobs case, said: I never witnessed, nor was it brought to my attention, the behavior thats been alleged. ... If it had been, I would have immediately taken action to stop that.

If confirmed, he said combatting sexual harassment and assault would be core issues for him.

The mayor said persistent action" was needed to support and protect victims. He emphasized that as mayor, he established policies to centralize complaints and permit victims to submit reports of alleged abuse anonymously.

Harassment and discrimination have no place in the workplace, no place in our society. I have zero tolerance for that. And I also know that words are not enough, he said.

Shaheen then said, I look forward to your strong stance when you are confirmed.

The exchange stood out in what was largely a drama-free hearing for the two-term mayor. Garcetti promised to strengthen Americas ties to India, including working on defense issues, climate change, open markets and the coronavirus.

Garcetti was a strong Biden supporter during the 2020 presidential campaign and was named co-chair for the incoming presidents inauguration last January.

He nomination for the ambassadorship comes as he is wrapping up a turbulent two terms, framed by the pandemic and a homeless crisis that has seen encampments spread into virtually every corner of the city. California Democratic Sen. Alex Padilla alluded to challenges faced by Garcetti during his time leading the nations second-most-populous city, but those issues never came into play during the hearing.

The lawsuit against the city charges that Jacobs frequently sexually harassed one of the mayors police bodyguards while Garcetti ignored it or laughed it off. The mayor has repeatedly denied the claims.

Garcetti needs a majority vote to be confirmed in the evenly divided Senate, which is controlled by Democrats because Vice President Kamala Harris has the authority to break tie votes. Harris is a former California U.S. senator who is close friends with Garcetti.

Garcetti was one of three nominees who appeared before the Foreign Relations Committee during a lightly attended hearing. The others were University of Pennsylvania President Amy Gutmann, Bidens pick to serve as ambassador to Germany, and career diplomat Donald Armin Blome, the presidents selection for ambassador to Pakistan.

Gutmann faced sharp questioning from the committees ranking Republican, Idaho Sen. James Risch, who said federal data shows the university received $86 million in donations and contracts from sources in China since 2014.

Chinese influence is a problem all over the world, Risch said.

I was shocked at this number of $86 million, flowing into your institution, he added, saying he was surprised to find out she was not more familiar with the gifts.

Gutmann responded that the school and its hospitals raised over $5 billion during that time, so the amount from China represents a tiny fraction. Its not surprising that I dont know of specific gifts and contracts, she said, given the size and volume of the contributions. She added that no gifts are allowed to threaten academic freedom or national security.
For two decades, Connecticut has steadily averaged 14 deaths a year from domestic violence despite changes in the laws to protect victims, a Hearst Connecticut Media investigation has found.

One likely reason the scary numbers dont budge is that, except for a blip in 2020, neither has funding to protect victims and get offenders treatment.

And so Connecticut courts continue to issue more than 30,000 protective and restraining orders for family violence every year.

Though numbers are higher among women of color and people in the LGTBQ community, domestic violence strikes every gender, race, age, religion and income level. On Sunday, for example, a man and woman in their 50s died in what police are calling a domestic violence shooting in the well-to-do Weatogue section of Simsbury.

Its important to understand that domestic violence means more than physical violence. Under Connecticut law, its a pattern of coercive behaviors to maintain control over a partner that can include stalking, harassment and isolating the partner from loved ones.

For the past year, Hearst Connecticut Media reporters have looked at police reports, criminal cases and court data on domestic violence. They also interviewed advocates, public officials, survivors and family members. They found that:

Court orders are often ignored by offenders: For about one-quarter of the 15,500 family violence incidents reported to authorities in 2020, there was already a protective order in place.

Prosecutors didnt pursue charges in two-thirds of order violations. In fact, only 20 percent of order violations resulted in a conviction.

Theres a backlog of cases waiting to be heard in court.

The burden falls on the victim to get help. The limited support a person is required to receive when seeking a restraining order is a pamphlet with contact information for help  even though a court order can anger an offender and heighten the risk of violence for the victim. And federal funds that support victims are about to be severely cut.

Granted, the state has come far since Tracey Thurman successfully sued Torrington police in 1985 for failing to stop her abusive husband despite her pleas. But many victims seeking help still cant get it. Some are even turned away from shelters.

Special court hearings can keep victims safe while getting abusers the treatment needed. They ensure that the same judges, prosecutors and advocates stay on cases. But many courts lack the resources to run hearings in line with best practices. Though there is state funding for victim advocates, there arent enough advocates in court.

The pandemic has made matters worse for victims in lockdown and for courts struggling to keep up with cases.

Connecticut ranks 25th in the nation for spending on shelters and programs per capita. We can do better.

If you need help or just someone to talk to, please visit CTSafeConnect.org or call or text (888) 774-2900. Advocates are available 24/7. If you are in immediate danger, call 911.
Above, a 2019 Chinese TV report on cooperation with the U.S. against fentanyl smuggling. Success was fleeting, but now the troubled DEA's small contingent of agents on the mainland is almost doubling.

By Vince Bielski, RealClearInvestigations

December 14, 2021

U.S. drug agents are expanding operations in China  six years after Americas largest trading partner and global rival emerged as the main source of chemicals used to make highly lethal fentanyl. Its now claiming 65,000 American lives a year.

The small crew of about a dozen Drug Enforcement Administration agents, including those in new outposts in Shanghai and Guangzhou, is nearly double the number in 2018. They face what seems like mission impossible: collaborating with Chinese agents to try to bust traffickers hidden somewhere in a sprawling export supply chain thats linked to 160,000 companies.

Its such a massive chemical industry, and then there are layer upon layer of traders, brokers and freight forwarders, says Russ Holske, the DEAs director for the Far East, who set up the new offices in China before he retired. Its a daunting challenge.

The DEAs predicament in China is part of a larger one at the beleaguered agency, whose mission is to break up major drug trafficking rings worldwide. Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid thats mostly made in Mexico with Chinese chemicals, is the deadliest illicit drug ever sold. Its behind the record number of overdose deaths that keeps growing each year. But the DEA is facing this menace after suffering a series of blows that has left it a smaller and less aggressive and effective outfit, according to several former special agents, high-ranking officials and agency documents.

Some of the damage has been self-inflicted. An embarrassing sex scandal involving agents in Colombia and a botched operation that took four civilian lives in Honduras have made Congress wary of the agency. It was left to drift without a Senate-confirmed leader for half a decade, and retreated from some foreign operations, as fentanyl was beginning to leave its lethal mark on the streets.

The DEA also has been swept up in the countrys turn against law enforcement as a force for good, leading to morale problems that afflict police departments as well as the Border Patrol. Hundreds of DEA agents left and werent replaced, sapping it of its crime-fighting prowess. Some academics, along with the Drug Policy Alliance, which advocates for decriminalization, are even calling for the group to be eliminated.

Yes, the DEA should be disbanded, says sociologist Alex Vitale, author of The End of Policing. They have two strategies, interdiction and criminalization, and neither is working.

The agency declined to comment for this story.

Restoring DEAs Urgency

Critics such as Vitale blame the agency for the easy availability of narcotics like heroin in every part of the country. But thats not entirely the DEAs fault. With a force of 4,700 agents  a third the number of FBI agents  the DEA is up against sophisticated transnational criminal organizations. Mexicos Sinaloa Cartel alone rakes in several billions of dollars in revenue a year, according to estimates. Thats about the size of the entire DEA $3 billion budget.

With DEA offices in 69 countries, its ability to crack down on cartels depends on the cooperation of foreign leaders. The agency has apparently found a willing partner in China, which banned a half-dozen fentanyl substances that traffickers were shipping to the states. As clandestine chemists circumvented the restrictions by tweaking the molecules of the substances to create new ones, China got tougher, outlawing the entire class of fentanyl drugs in 2019. This win for the DEA reflected a collaboration with China not enjoyed by other U.S. agencies.

China, to its credit, helped us quite a bit, says Holske, the former DEA director. The controls tightened the pipeline of fentanyl that was coming directly to the U.S. and killing Americans.

But Chinese traffickers quickly found another workaround by selling the chemicals to make fentanyl to cartels in Mexico, which put up roadblocks to DEA agents. In the past year alone, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has delayed visas for agents and restricted intelligence sharing in protest of the DEA arrest of a former defense minister on drug-related charges.

U.S. officials recently pressured Mexico to restore some cooperation with DEA agents in pursuit of the Sinaloa and Jalisco New Generation cartels  the biggest producers of fentanyl powder and counterfeit pharmaceutical pills laced with it. The cartels smuggle the contraband into the states at official ports of entry and along open patches of the border left unguarded as Border Patrol agents are diverted to deal with another crisis  the surge of migrants.

Still, the DEAs interdiction efforts may have saved thousands of lives. In August, a two-month domestic enforcement surge nabbed 850 dealers and added to the total of more than 15 million fake pills seized in the past year. Some 40% of those pills contained a potentially lethal dose of fentanyl, which is 50 times more potent than heroin.

The agency could be more effective, some former agents say, if it revived its aggressive pursuit of international cartels and replenished its ranks. President Biden did appoint a permanent DEA chief, Anne Milgram, who has a record as a law enforcement reformer who gets results. But the administrations fentanyl strategy focuses heavily on increasing drug prevention and treatment  a long-term approach that can curb overdose deaths only if the drug supply on the streets is also reduced by law enforcement agents, according to treatment experts.

I cut my teeth as an agent on the street. We were risk-takers and aggressive in everything we did to put bad guys in jail, said Jack Riley, who was the DEAs second-in-command before retiring in 2017. But we have lost that sense of urgency. We need to get that back to be more effective.

Taking Down Medellin

Riley, who helped put Sinaloas most notorious leader  Joaquin El Chapo Guzman  in prison, says the agency has proved its mettle over the years. Consider the dismantling of Colombias Medellin and Cali cartels in the 1990s. Medellins leader, Pablo Escobar, led a murderous campaign against government officials and became a threat to the countrys democracy. Although new cartels grew out of the ashes of Medellin and Cali  showing that law enforcement alone wont end drug trafficking  the killing of Escobar was itself a win, says David Gaddis, a former DEA agent in Colombia and high-ranking official.

Escobar tried to take over the Colombian government and he was almost successful, Gaddis says. The new cartels do not have the same influence over the government as Medellin did. Thats a success for DEA.

The DEA bagged several other drug kingpins before the agency lost some of its luster. Agency veterans date the DEAs decline to 2015 after revelations that 10 agents had participated in sex parties in Colombia with prostitutes paid for by the cartels.

The uproar in Congress led to the departure of DEA Administrator Michele Leonhart, a former agent who embodied the agencys boldness. Leonharts 2015 exit was followed by a parade of five acting administrators over five years.

Putting a Rein on Agents

First up was Chuck Rosenberg, a prosecutor who aimed to rein in what some saw as a cowboy mentality. Edicts from headquarters instructed agents to be more careful in carrying out operations. Leaders feared a questionable shooting could derail the DEA in the wake of the 2014 police killing in Ferguson, Mo., says Jeffrey Higgins, a former special agent for two decades.

The biggest pullback was overseas. DEA had built a large special forces operation of about 125 personnel to battle narco-terrorists in Afghanistan. The operation paid off with the conviction of Haji Bagcho, the worlds biggest heroin trafficker. But after the killing of Americans in Benghazi in 2012, the Obama administration reduced the DEAs presence in Kabul to only a handful of agents, says Riley.

Rosenberg then disbanded the DEAs FAST units, a paramilitary force that assisted local officers in high-risk operations. A 2017 inspector general report found that FAST agents were involved in an operation in Honduras in which four likely bystanders were killed. The end of FAST marked a shift in DEA strategy to focus more on domestic smugglers and street gangs. Some agents opposed it.

It makes no sense, says Higgins, who worked in about 50 countries. Its far more effective to put resources into dismantling a major global exportation organization than to go downstream and take out one of 30 U.S. distribution groups that get the drugs from that criminal organization.

Citing differences over policing with new president Donald Trump, Rosenberg resigned after two years and became an MSNBC commentator. His replacement at DEA found that the acting administrator title was worthless and walked after eight months. Next up was Uttam Dhillon, a former federal prosecutor in Los Angeles then on Trumps White House staff. He didnt understand the DEAs organizational issues and lost the support of agents, Riley says. He was replaced in 2020 by another short-lived acting head.

The churn at the top produced disillusionment in the ranks. Many agents retired early or just quit the agency, leaving the DEA down 700 agents compared to a decade ago. Foreign offices shrunk by a quarter. Predictably, the number of crime organizations that agents disrupted or dismantled worldwide plummeted by one-third  from 2,735 to 1,869  between 2016 and 2020, according to DEAs recent report to Congress.

The timing couldnt have been worse. The DEA was losing muscle just as Chinese traffickers were increasing shipments of illicit fentanyl to the U.S. The agency had finally gotten a handle on the oversupply of prescription opioids like OxyContin that were killing an alarming number of Americans. But now fentanyl, a more deadly synthetic opioid, was filling the void.

A Conundrum in China



The DEA led a full-court press to get China to ban fentanyl, an array of spinoffs and the chemicals to make them. Starting in 2014, acting DEA chiefs, Justice Department officials and chemical experts began holding regular meetings with their Chinese counterparts in Washington and Beijing to press for the restrictions.

China has long taken a hard line against drug traffickers, which created some common ground for the rival superpowers to cooperate despite tensions about trade and human rights. The secretive courts in China have handed out death sentences to those convicted of major drug offenses. Recent cases involving Canadian and Australian nationals have sparked protests from Amnesty International and pleas for leniency from foreign officials. But Chinas harsh punishments werent an issue in the successful bilateral talks over the criminalization of fentanyl, perhaps because no Americans were facing the death penalty.

The fentanyl bans dont mean much, however, if theyre not enforced. While Chinese authorities have curtailed shipments directly to the U.S., the DEA says, traffickers are supplying Mexican cartels with enough of the precursor chemicals  some of them also outlawed  to flood the states with deadly pills and powder. U.S. border agents seized 10,600 pounds of fentanyl in fiscal 2021, more than twice the prior year. Thats a small fraction of the amount that reaches cities like New York, Chicago and San Francisco.

The biggest case in China to date was kicked off by U.S. agents who shared intelligence about the Diana criminal group with the Chinese Narcotics Control Bureau. The joint investigation led to the conviction of nine Chinese citizens for fentanyl smuggling in 2019. One defendant received a suspended death sentence and a few were sent to prison for life. Officials from both countries hailed the investigation, which continues today, as a sign of their expanding cooperation.

But while China has made several more fentanyl-related arrests, it doesnt appear to have convicted any major traffickers in the two years since the Diana case. Some former DEA agents question how far China is willing to go in enforcing its bans since the U.S. would be the main beneficiary. While DEA agents in countries such as Indonesia join police in raids and debriefing defendants, in China they are unarmed and play a more limited role. Agents exchange intelligence and discuss cases with local officers but only occasionally work in the field.

At times agents also run into resistance from Chinese authorities, according to an August report by a congressional group that examines U.S.-China economic and security issues. Chinese regulatory authorities continue to delay requests for access to inspect and investigate potential sites of illegal chemical production where precursors are made, the report said. Requests are often delayed for days, allowing any illegal operation to vacate or clean up the premises.

The Chinese Embassy in Washington issued a strongly worded rebuttal in September, showing the tenuous nature of Chinas cooperation with the DEA. The embassy called the assessment that Chinese precursors are flowing to Mexico and that authorities obstruct the work of U.S. agents utterly false.

It is disappointing that for all the goodwill and sincerity of the Chinese side, the embassy said, some American politicians and media are still hyping up such disinformation.

New Leaders Take Charge

Milgram, the new DEA chief, has an advantage that eluded her predecessors in the global war on fentanyl. She won Senate confirmation in June, giving her the authority to reshape the troubled agency at a pivotal time.

Milgram has a record of bringing innovative, data-driven approaches to law enforcement agencies that still tend to operate on gut instinct and perform poorly. After New Jersey took control of the Camden police because of the citys alarmingly high crime rate, Milgram, who was the states attorney general, used data analysis to shake up the department. In 2009 murders fell by 38% from the prior year by making cops walk the streets and confiscate guns.

At DEA, she is preparing to make changes too. In August the administrator began a top-to-bottom review of foreign operations supervised by a team of outsiders, saying shes looking for areas of improvement as well as controls to ensure integrity and accountability. She also tapped the politically savvy Jon DeLena, an associate special agent in charge, to examine how the agency can repair relations with Congress, which is crucial to funding and hiring agents, says Riley, the former deputy.

In another move in August, Milgram brought back Lou Milione as her deputy. Riley says the veteran of special operations was known for his kick ass leadership against cartel bosses. Miliones return may signal a revival of a more aggressive approach to the kind of global crime groups that run the fentanyl trade.

Hes a smart guy and he really understands the good results you get from targeting the international cartels, says Higgins, the former FAST agent who helped take down Haji Bagcho.

In October, Milgram for the first time faced the killing of one of her agents. The shooting death of group supervisor Mike Garbo in Arizona rocked the DEA  a reminder of the added dangers when there are fewer agents in the field. The administrator spoke at the memorial service. Her detailed account of Garbos talents made a strong impression on agents, whose support she needs in her efforts to revive the DEA, Riley says.

Milgram will make changes, he says. But she has a huge challenge with fentanyl. China and Mexico have to do much more to stop it. The DEA can only do so much on its own.
Reporting on Soviet citizens lucky enough to travel outside the country in the 1970s, Hedrick Smith observed in his classic book The Russians that they "were like coiled springs, leaping at the department store cornucopias of the West." Thankfully the U.S.S.R. has long since fallen into the proverbial dustbin of history, but its existence was educational insofar as we were all able to see up close the consequences of collectivism: it was bare shelves, and endless lines for goods that were of intensely low quality. All of which explains why Soviets did what they did when traveling outside the prison that was their country.

The truth about communism looms large today. Many on the Right argue that younger Americans are blind to just how horrific living conditions were when socialism and communism cruelly stalked a substantial portion of the worlds population. The Right are right. Lets make sure to educate those who are indifferent to the State as central planner.

At the same, and while were educating the Left, lets include more than a few members of the Right who seem to be similarly confused about what communism and socialism were. Its increasingly apparent that theyre also unfamiliar with the past.

To offer up one of many examples, please consider a recent letter-to-the-editor penned by Texas Tech professor Alexander Salter to the Wall Street Journal. Salter asserted that trade with authoritarians is inherently political, which is why he wants the federal government to restrict American trade with China. According to Salter, the goal of the Chinese Communist Party is power. Ours is profit. This asymmetry makes the U.S., and all liberal democracies, vulnerable to Communist Party machinations. Its hard to know where to begin here. The strange thing is that Salter bills himself as a free-market thinker.

In Salters defense, theres no doubting that the Chinese people arent as free as the American people. No doubt some would bring up soaring rates of incarceration stateside as a counter to the previous assertion, but it serves no purpose for this piece. No moral equivalence will be attempted on the subject. The Chinese people arent as free as the American people. Settled.

Except that levels of personal freedom are really not the point when applied to Salter's letter. To read the Professor is to detect a belief within him that Chinas Communist Party is planning economic activity there. And its planning China's economy with power top of mind, as opposed to profit. Such a view is absurd, and thats not because the members of the CCP are angels.

Its absurd because as anyone whos ever been to China knows, its modern prosperity couldnt possibly have been planned by the State. Not even close. All it takes to know this basic truth is to travel back in time to the 20th century when the State was all powerful in too much of the world. Lines for wildly scarce goods of incredibly subpar quality were the result. The State cannot be investor or economic planner. Period. If it is, theres little to no economy to speak of. Salter is seemingly too young to remember the 20th century?

The question rates asking because if he did, he wouldnt write as he does now about China. While its politicians seek a role in its economy just as American politicians do in ours, its rather evident from a visit to the country that its producers are rather free to produce. Evidence supporting this claim? The happy fact that Chinese cities are more and more bursting with skyscrapers, and yes, the department store cornucopias of the west.

Seemingly lost on Salter is that consumption is what happens after skillful production. The assertion is that its lost on him given his expressed view that as opposed to economically free individuals feverishly producing in market-disciplined fashion, Chinese workers are in fact abiding State plans for economic growth; or more specifically abiding the decrees of the Chinese Communist Party.

Of course, if China were the China that Salter plainly imagines, Apple (the worlds most valuable company) wouldnt sell a fifth of its iPhones in China, GM wouldnt sell more cars in China than it does in North America, Chinese consumers wouldnt be the second largest market for Nike, McDonalds, Starbucks, and countless other symbols of capitalism headquartered in the United States. The reality is that State-planning of economic activity is the path toward economic decline precisely because politicians are logically constrained by the known of economic activity that will soon be replaced by a much better, much more life-enhancing unknown.

The above truth speaks to a happier one about whats happening in China, at least economically. We know the State or the Communist Partys control over economic activity is slight precisely because the countrys people are such a great  and growing  market for all things American. In short, soaring Chinese demand for Americana is certain sign that profits are the raison detre of Chinese economic activity in the way that they inform ours.

Salter argues that its past time the U.S. responded to Chinese abuses. By abuses, he presumably means its authoritarian treatment of its people. About this, wise minds can disagree. The view here is that the American people would be much better off if the U.S. ceased intervening in other countries. Still, the view of yours truly is certainly debatable.

Whats not debatable is Salters extremely unfortunate conclusion that in response to Chinese abuses, we must accept the U.S. political class stepping in and restricting trade with China. Translated for those who need it, Salter is calling for U.S. politicians to harm the American people because Chinese leaders are bad to their own. No thanks.

Indeed, it would be nice if those partial to State responses stateside would explain why every bad action by a foreign government requires a response in the U.S. that empowers government here.
New Holland has announced it will not attend LAMMA 2022 due to increased concerns over Omicron, the new Covid-19 variant.

The agricultural firm has confirmed its withdrawal from the premier machinery event "in light of the developing Covid situation", it said in a statement.

New Holland said it was cautious over the "potentially high levels of infections which may occur over the coming weeks".

Despite the firm's withdrawal, LAMMA's 2022 show is still set to take place at the NEC in Birmingham on 11 and 12 January.

However, in a major blow to the industry, Agritechnica's organisers confirmed this week that their 2022 event will not go ahead due to the 'deteriorating' pandemic.

The German agri-machinery trade show was due to take place in Hanover on 27 February 2022, and organisers were expecting more than 2,000 exhibitors.

But the show has been postponed by nearly two years, and is now rescheduled to take place from 12 to 18 November 2023.

Pat Smith, business director at New Holland UK, echoed these fears regarding LAMMA: This has not been an easy step to take, but the safety both of show visitors and of our staff has to be foremost in our minds.

"Given the way things continue to rapidly evolve, we owe it to our employees, those planning to attend the show, and others involved in the event, to make this decision now.

"We are very grateful to the organisers and our suppliers for their efforts, and we look forward to returning to LAMMA in the future."

He added: We hope that the situation calms during 2022 and we can meet customers and suppliers at our proposed schedule of spring and summer events and shows.
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The official spokesperson of actor Kareena Kapoor Khan issued a statement, after the actor along with her close friend Amrita Arora tested COVID-19 positive. It was reported that the two can be super-spreader as they had been attending several parties in the last few weeks. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has guided all those who came in contact with either or both of them, to undergo an RT-PCR test. Now, Kareenas spokesperson clarified that the actor contracted COVID at a private dinner.

The spokesperson said, Kareena has been extremely responsible throughout the lockdown period. She has been careful every time she's stepped out. Unfortunately, this time she and Amrita Arora contracted COVID at an intimate dinner where a few friends had gathered to catch up. It wasn't a big party as was reported. Among that group, there was one person who seemed unwell and was coughing, and who eventually passed it on. This person should have been responsible enough to not attend the dinner and put others at risk.

He further added, As soon as she tested positive she has quarantined herself and is following the necessary precautions and protocols to deal with the condition. It is not fair to put the blame on her and say that she has been irresponsible and let her guards down. Kareena is a responsible citizen and also has the concern and care for safeguarding her family.

Almost a week before, Kareena and Amrita had shown up at a get together hosted by Anil Kapoors daughter Rhea Kapoor at her Mumbai residence.
RICHMOND HILL, ON / ACCESSWIRE / December 14, 2021 / Helix BioPharma Corp. (TSX:HBP)(FSE:HBP) ("Helix" or the "Company"), an immuno-oncology company developing innovative drug candidates for the prevention and treatment of cancer, today announced that it is extending the exercise period of a total of 1,520,000 outstanding common share purchase warrants (the "Warrants"), all of which are held by arm's length parties, for a period of two years from their current expiry dates (the "Warrant Extension"). The Warrants were issued pursuant to private placements of the Company that closed in December 2016 and represent approximately 1.1% of the Company's issued and outstanding common shares. The Warrant Extension is subject to the approval of the Toronto Stock Exchange (the "TSX").

The dates of each private placement, the original issue price of the units (with each unit comprised of one common share and one common share purchase warrant), the total number of Warrants, the exercise price of the Warrants, the current expiry dates of the Warrants and the proposed extended expiry date of the Warrants are as follows:

Date of Private Placement



Issue Price of Units under Private Placement

($) Extended Warrants

(#) Warrant Exercise Price

($) Current

Expiry Date of Warrants



Extended Expiry Date of Warrants



December 29, 2016 $1.20 1,313,000 $1.50 December 28, 2021 December 28, 2023 December 30, 2016 $1.20 207,000 $1.50 December 29, 2021 December 29, 2023

About Helix BioPharma Corp.

Helix BioPharma Corp. is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing unique therapies in the field of immune-oncology for the prevention and treatment of cancer based on our proprietary technological platform DOS47. Helix is listed on the TSX under the symbol "HBP".

For more information, please contact:

Helix BioPharma Corp.

9120 Leslie Street, Suite 205

Richmond Hill, Ontario, L4B 3J9

Tel: 905-841-2300 x 233

Frank Michalargias, Chief Financial Officer

ir@helixbiopharma.com

Forward-Looking Statements and Risks and Uncertainties

This news release contains forward-looking statements and information (collectively, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. Forward-looking statements are statements and information that are not historical facts but instead include financial projections and estimates, statements regarding plans, goals, objectives, intentions and expectations with respect to the Company's future business, operations, research and development, including the Company's activities relating to DOS47, and other information in future periods. Forward-looking statements can further be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "ongoing", "estimates", "expects", or the negative thereof or any other variations thereon or comparable terminology referring to future events or results, or that events or conditions "will", "may", "could", or "should" occur or be achieved, or comparable terminology referring to future events or results.

Forward-looking statements are statements about the future and are inherently uncertain, and are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that are also uncertain. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, such statements involve risks and uncertainties, and undue reliance should not be placed on such statements. Forward-looking statements, including financial outlooks, are intended to provide information about management's current plans and expectations regarding future operations, including without limitation, future financing requirements, and may not be appropriate for other purposes. Certain material factors, estimates or assumptions have been applied in making forward-looking statements in this news release, including, but not limited to, the safety and efficacy of L-DOS47; that sufficient financing will be obtained in a timely manner to allow the Company to continue operations and implement its clinical trials in the manner and on the timelines anticipated; the timely provision of services and supplies or other performance of contracts by third parties; future costs; the absence of any material changes in business strategy or plans; the timely receipt of required regulatory approvals and strategic partner support; and the receipt of TSX approval for the Warrant Extension.

The Company's actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements contained in this news release as a result of numerous known and unknown risks and uncertainties, including without limitation, the risk that the Company's assumptions may prove to be incorrect; the risk that additional financing may not be obtainable in a timely manner, or at all, and that clinical trials may not commence or complete within anticipated timelines or the anticipated budget or may fail; third party suppliers of necessary services or of drug product and other materials may fail to perform or be unwilling or unable to supply the Company, which could cause delay or cancellation of the Company's research and development activities; necessary regulatory approvals may not be granted or may be withdrawn; the Company may not be able to secure necessary strategic partner support; general economic conditions, intellectual property and insurance risks; changes in business strategy or plans; and other risks and uncertainties referred to elsewhere in this news release, any of which could cause actual results to vary materially from current results or the Company's anticipated future results. Certain of these risks and uncertainties, and others affecting the Company, are more fully described in the Company's annual management's discussion and analysis for the year ended July 31, 2020 under the heading "Risks and Uncertainties" and Helix's Annual Information Form, in particular under the headings "Forward-looking Statements" and "Risk Factors", and other reports filed under the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com from time to time. Forward-looking statements and information are based on the beliefs, assumptions, opinions and expectations of Helix's management on the date of this new release, and the Company does not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statement or information should those beliefs, assumptions, opinions or expectations, or other circumstances change, except as required by law.

46887636.2

SOURCE: Helix BioPharma Corp.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/677415/Helix-BioPharma-Corp-Extends-Period-to-Exercise-Warrants
WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - A French appeals court on Monday slashed Swiss banking giant UBS Group AG's (UBS) penalty to $1.8 billion for allegedly helping its wealthy clients to evade taxes. The appeals court reduced the penalty from the initial $5 billion fine, but upheld the verdict that the bank was guilty of both promoting illegal banking services and money laundering. The court ruled that UBS must still pay 800 million euros in damages and interest, and ordered the confiscation of 1 billion euros. The prosecutor Muriel Fusina had argued that UBS was 'gathering large amounts (of money) by offering efficient wealth management, but also concealing that wealth, or part of it, from the French taxman' between 2004 and 2012. However, the bank was hoping that the appeals court would drop those charges, especially the money laundering allegation as it hurts the company's brand. The bank, which has five days to appeal against the ruling with France's Supreme Court, said it would decide quickly whether to do so. 'The bank takes note of this decision,' Herve Temime, a lawyer representing UBS said after the verdict. 'Compared to the first instance ruling, there is a financial gain of 2.7 billion euros, but it is a criminal conviction and therefore we will make our decision very quickly.' 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.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - December 13, 2021) - Dynasty Gold Corp. (TSXV: DYG) (FSE: D5G1) (OTC Pink: DGDCF) ("Dynasty" or the "Company") is pleased to report that it has received final assay results from the summer field program at its 100% owned Thundercloud gold project ("Thundercloud" or the "Property") located approximately 47 km southwest of Dryden, Ontario.

The work consisted of grab and channel sampling in and around two trenches excavated based on soil geochemical anomalies related to the West Contact Zone mineralized area at Thundercloud. The Contact Zone has only been partially explored in the past. The majority of work on the Property has been done on the Pelham Zone to the north, on which a NI 43-101 compliant resource calculation is completed and the report will be available before the year end.

WORK PROGRAM

The program focused on trenching in the West Contact Zone and approximately 100 lineal meters of trenching was completed in two target areas. Chip samples were taken along 1 meter intervals in a strongly altered and mineralized conglomeratic sedimentary unit in contact with a younger Thundercloud quartz-feldspar porphyry.

Trench-1 expanded upon a trench completed by Teck Resources Limited in 2007, exposing "Timiskaming-like" Archean metasediments composed of pebble to cobble conglomerate and siltstone beds. The metasediments were intruded by porphyry dykes of the Thundercloud quartz-feldspar porphyry stock and are pervasively altered to strong biotite and weak chlorite-bearing mineral assemblages. The altered sediments are host to 1-3% fine disseminated pyrite with elevated gold values encountered where pyrite becomes coarser-grained and coalesces into blebs and discontinuous hairline stringers. Trench-1 is approximately 80 meters long and it is the longer of the two trenches. Channel samples in one continuous zone of 7 meters averaged 2.0 grams per tonne gold in conglomerate, with one meter samples in this 7 meter interval carrying between 0.82 and 3.9 grams per tonne gold. Elsewhere in the trench, individual chip samples of note carried from 0.37 up to 1.75 grams per tonne gold. A grab sample of highly altered pebble conglomerate taken adjacent to the contact with a quartz-feldspar porphyry dyke returned 7.04 grams per tonne gold. This sample contains 2-3% fine-grained disseminated pyrite and several percent secondary biotite which is the most common alteration mineral at Thundercloud.

Trench-2, located four hundred meters south of Trench-1, was designed to test the southern strike continuity of the West Contact mineralization. Excessive overburden depth precluded determining the nature of the bedrock at this location.

Samples were delivered to the ALS laboratory in Thunder Bay, Ontario, were prepared using a 4-acid dissolution technique and assayed for 48 elements using the MEMS 61 package. The technical content of this news release has been reviewed and approved by Mr. Andrew Tims, P.Geo., a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101").

DISCUSSION

The new assay results confirm that other areas within the West Contact Zone host significant gold values and form the basis for new exploration work. The new assay results indicate that the West Contact Zone now merits a thorough evaluation going forward.

Gold analyses, locally reaching multi-gram values in altered sediments in close proximity to the cross-cutting Thundercloud Porphyry Intrusives, provide guidelines for prioritizing additional surface sampling and geophysical surveys. There are several other highly anomalous soil geochemical results requiring trenching in the future. The West Contact mineralization is clearly structurally and mineralogically separate from the Pelham Zone to the north and merits significant additional work. Due to the Ontario wildfire emergency work ban in the summer and longer than expected laboratory time, work required to follow up the initial trenching results was not possible prior to the onset of winter conditions in 2021, the work will be deferred to next season.

GOING FORWARD

An expanded high-resolution drone supported airborne magnetic survey is planned for completion in the winter of 2021/2022. This survey will cover a larger area to include the northeast portion of the Thundercloud Porphyry Intrusive where the gabbro hosted mineralization in the Pelham Zone was discovered. The survey data is expected to assist in interpreting the structural relationship between the Pelham Zone and West Contact Zone mineralization.

The initial trenching assay data has provided a greater understanding of the structure and mineralization in the West Contact Zone. This knowledge will be applied to plan the next season's exploration program.

Planning to drill the Pelham Gold Zone is underway. The drill program is expected to test for down plunge mineralization to increase tonnage and grade. Drill targets may be refined when recommendations in the NI 43-101 report are reviewed.

YEAR IN REVIEW

2021 has been a momentous year for the Company. We have achieved a number of key milestones despite some trying times. The Company received an exploration permit at the end of March that enabled drilling and trenching on Thundercloud, after a delay of more than two years, mainly due to the Pandemic. An exploration program that initially focused on trenching was started in June. However, the wildfire emergency in Ontario from mid July disrupted our summer field work for almost two months. Fortunately, the trenching effort was completed as planned.

A transaction with Teck Resources Limited ("Teck") at the end of September has provided Dynasty with a 100% ownership of the Thundercloud gold project which is in one of the most well known emerging mining camps in Canada. This Property hosts a historic gold resource. The resource will be brought up to NI 43-101 compliant resource calculation standards and is expected to be available by the end of the year.

As the year comes to a close, the Company would like to thank its loyal shareholders for their continued support and look forward to the future to develop the Thundercloud gold property as well as to unlock the value of other assets in its portfolio. It will also continue its effort to pursue a fair compensation for its 70% owned Hatu gold mine in the Xinjiang Province of China.

About the Thundercloud Property

The Thundercloud property is in the Archean Manitou-Stormy Lakes Greenstone belt in Ontario, 47 kilometers southwest of Dryden. The geological setting is comparable to the Abitibi belt in Eastern Ontario but is much less explored. The belt contains numerous gold showings; several high-grade mines discovered in the area include the Big Master Mine (1902-1943) and the Laurentian Mine (1906-1909). In recent years, close to 30 M oz of gold have been mined and discovered, such as New Gold's Rainy River Mine (6.4 million oz gold and 18.7 million oz silver), and Agnico Eagle's Hammond Reef deposit (5.8 million oz gold).

To date, more than $10M has been spent at Thundercloud on drilling and surface exploration work. The majority of the 12,000 meters past drilling was focused on a very small area of the property. The excellent database built by Teck will provide a guide for future targeting. Potential discoveries for Thundercloud include bulk-tonnage orogenic gold mineralization or high-grade gold deposits.

About Dynasty Gold Corp.

Dynasty Gold Corp. is a Canadian exploration company currently focused on gold exploration in North America with projects located in a greenstone belt in Ontario and the Midas gold camp in Nevada. In addition currently, the 70% owned Hatu Qi2 gold mine in the Tien Shan Gold belt, Xinjiang, China, is in legal dispute with Xinjiang Non-Ferrous Industrial Metals Group and its subsidiary Western Region Gold Co. Ltd.. For more information, please visit the Company's website www.dynastygoldcorp.com.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DYNASTY GOLD CORP.

"Ivy Chong"

_________________________________

Ivy Chong, President & CEO

For additional information please contact:

Vancouver Office:

Ivy Chong

Phone: 604.633.2100. Email: ichong@dynastygoldcorp.com

This press release contains certain "forward-looking statements" that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. The TSX Venture Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept 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/107544
TOKYO, Dec 14, 2021 - (JCN Newswire) - Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) has awarded a first contract from Japan's National Institutes for Quantum Science and Technology (QST) for manufacture of 6 units of divertor outer vertical target additional components for ITER(1,2), the experimental fusion reactor currently under construction in southern France. The Outer Vertical Target is one of the parts in the divertor. In acknowledgement of the company's mass production technologies for components with a high degree of manufacturing difficulty, MHI will handle the manufacturing of the first of a kind units (Units 1-6, of a total of 54), with successive completion and delivery scheduled in fiscal 2024.The divertor is one of the core components of the fusion reactor used in the tokamak. It removes the helium (He) ashes in the core plasma produced by the fusion reaction, unburned fuel and other impurities, as well as removes high heat load and particle loading, which are necessary for stable confinement of the plasma. The divertor comprises four parts: the Outer Vertical Target being procured by Japan, the Cassette Body and Inner Vertical Target being manufactured in the EU, and the Dome being made in Russia.The heat load in the divertor reaches a maximum of 20MW/m2. That is equivalent to the surface thermal load on an asteroid probe at re-entering into the atmosphere, and approximately 30 times the surface thermal load on the space shuttle. The Outer Vertical Target, which structurally directly faces the fusion plasma, will be used in an extreme environment exposed to the heat load and particle loading from the plasma. In addition, the structure has an extremely complex shape, requiring a leading edge manufacturing and machining technologies.MHI previously awarded a contract from QST for manufacture of five (of a total of 19) toroidal field (TF) coils, another core component of ITER. Four of these units have already been shipped, and are in the process of being installed in the device at the ITER site.(3) Going forward, by continuing to work on manufacturing the divertor, MHI will actively support the ITER project to develop this technology, which will be vital to the stable development of the world, and contribute to the realization of fusion energy.(1) Fusion is the energy source that enables the sun to keep shining. The ultimate goal is achieving fusion on Earth. Fusion reactions fuse light atomic nuclei (deuterium and tritium) in a plasma environment into the heavier element of helium. Fusion reactions emit zero carbon dioxide, and their source of fuel can be extracted from seawater in virtually unlimited quantities (lithium from which tritium is derived, and deuterium). Fusion energy is expected to provide fundamental solutions to many of the world's energy and environmental problems.(2) The ITER Project is an international megaproject to demonstrate, both scientifically and technologically, the feasibility of fusion energy. Seven participating parties (Japan, the EU, the U.S., Russia, South Korea, China, and India) are constructing ITER in Saint-Paul-les-Durance, France, with a target for full-fledged operational startup of nuclear fusion combustion by 2035. QST, as the ITER Japan domestic agency for the ITER Project designated by Japanese government, is in charge of procuring these components.(3) For details on the TF coils that QST ordered from MHI, see the following press release.About MHI GroupMitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) Group is one of the world's leading industrial groups, spanning energy, logistics & infrastructure, industrial machinery, aerospace and defense. MHI Group combines cutting-edge technology with deep experience to deliver innovative, integrated solutions that help to realize a carbon neutral world, improve the quality of life and ensure a safer world. For more information, please visit www.mhi.com or follow our insights and stories on www.spectra.mhi.com.Source: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.Copyright 2021 JCN Newswire . All rights reserved.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - December 13, 2021) - ACME Lithium Inc. (CSE: ACME) (OTCQB: ACLHF) (the "Company", or "ACME") is pleased to announce that, subject to approval of the CSE, it proposes to issue up to 833,334 units (the "Units") at a price of $1.20 per Unit for aggregate gross proceeds of $1,000,000 through a non-brokered flow-through private placement (the "Private Placement").

ACME will use the gross proceeds of the Private Placement for exploration at its 100% owned Cat-Euclid and Shatford Lake lithium projects in southeast Manitoba. ACME holds 27 claims totaling approximately 11,803 acres strategically situated in the pegmatite fields of the Bird River Greenstone Belt (BRGB) in southeastern Manitoba, Canada.

Each Unit will consist of one flow-through common share and one-half of one non-flow through common share purchase warrant. Each whole warrant entitles the holder to purchase one additional common share at a price of $1.50 per share for two years. The Company may pay a 7% cash and 7% warrant finder's fee on the gross proceeds raised under the Private Placement.

The closing of the Private Placement and the issuance of the securities in connection therewith is conditional on the final acceptance of the CSE. All securities that are issued pursuant to the Private Placement with be subject to, among other things, a hold period of four months and one day in accordance to applicable Canadian securities laws.

About ACME Lithium Inc.

Led by an experienced team, ACME Lithium is a mineral exploration Company focused on acquiring, exploring and developing battery metal projects in partnership with leading technology and commodity companies. ACME has acquired or is under option to acquire a 100-per-cent interest in projects located in Clayton Valley and Fish Lake Valley, Esmeralda County Nevada, and in southeastern Manitoba.

On behalf of the Board of Directors

Steve Hanson

Chief Executive Officer, President and Director

Telephone: (604) 564-9045

info@acmelithium.com

Neither the CSE nor its regulations service providers accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

This news release may contain forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws ("forward-looking statements"). Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects," "plans," "anticipates," "believes," "intends," "estimates," "projects," "potential" and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will," "would," "may," "could" or "should" occur and in this news release include but are not limited to the exercise of the Option, the undertaking of any expenditures on the Project Claims, including drilling thereof. These forward-looking statements are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties which could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those reflected in the forward-looking statements, including, without limitation: risks related to fluctuations in metal prices; uncertainties related to raising sufficient financing to fund the planned work in a timely manner and on acceptable terms; changes in planned work resulting from weather, logistical, technical or other factors; the possibility that results of work will not fulfill expectations and realize the perceived potential of the Company's properties; risk of accidents, equipment breakdowns and labour disputes or other unanticipated difficulties or interruptions; the possibility of cost overruns or unanticipated expenses in the work program; the risk of environmental contamination or damage resulting from the Company's operations and other risks and uncertainties. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date it is made and, except as may be required by applicable securities laws, the Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise.

NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWS WIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/107549


LONDON (dpa-AFX) - NatWest Group Plc was fined 264.8 million pounds after admitting it failed to prevent money-laundering of about 365 million pounds by one firm.



Justice Cockerill, the sentencing judge at Southwark Crown Court, said '..it must be borne in mind that although in no way complicit in the money laundering which took place, the Bank was functionally vital. Without the Bank - and without the Bank's failures - the money could not be effectively laundered.'



NatWest pleaded guilty at Westminster Magistrates Court on 7 October.



The U.K.'s financial watchdog, the Financial Conduct Authority, alleged that NatWest failed to?properly?monitor?the activity of a commercial customer, Fowler Oldfield, a jewellery business based in Bradford, between 8 November 2012 to 23 June 2016.?



NatWest initially understood it would not handle cash from the Fowler Oldfield business. However,?over the course of the customer relationship about 365 million pounds was deposited with the bank, of which around 264 million pounds was in cash.



According to the FCA, charges Some of the bank's employees, who were responsible for handling the cash deposits, reported their suspicions to bank staff responsible for investigating suspected money laundering, however no appropriate action was ever taken. The 'red flags' that were reported included significant amounts of Scottish bank notes deposited throughout England, deposits of notes carrying a prominent musty smell, and individuals acting suspiciously when depositing cash in NatWest branches.



In addition, the bank's automated transaction monitoring system incorrectly recognised some cash deposits as cheque deposits.



A separate investigation by West Yorkshire Police has led to 11 people pleading guilty to charges relating to the cash deposits and three cash couriers being charged. A further 13 individuals are awaiting trial at Leeds Crown Court on 25 April 2022 in relation to the activities of Fowler Oldfield.



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

NATWEST GROUP-Aktie komplett kostenlos handeln - auf Smartbroker.de
-- Theme of Emaar New Year's Eve celebrations is announced as Eve of Wonders

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Emaar, the UAE's globally renowned and recognised integrated real estate development company, is getting ready to ring in 2022 with a fantastic Emaar New Year's Eve display that will witness a fabulous firework show, choreographed to laser, lights and music. Aptly called "Eve of Wonders", spectators across the globe are invited to see a dazzling spectacle as Emaar decorates Dubai's skies with a display unlike any other.

As the clock strikes midnight on December 31st, the spectacular pyrotechnics, light & laser extravaganza will light up the night sky in Dubai Downtown. In line with the theme' Eve of Wonder', a brand-new laser feature is making its debut at The Dubai Fountain in sync with Burj Khalifa's stunning programme, creating a memorable masterpiece that is poised to redefine new year's celebrations worldwide, Dubai style!

Whether in Downtown Dubai, watching online, or on television worldwide, the public is guaranteed a show-stopping gala event to welcome in the new year. Emaar NYE 2022 will be broadcast live globally and live-streamed from 08:30 pm local time on mydubainewyear.com.

Commenting on Emaar New Year's Eve spectacular celebrations in Downtown Dubai, Mohamed Alabbar, Founder of Emaar, said: "The UAE, and Dubai, inspire hope and optimism, and bring together a global community to shape the future. This year's celebration is a tribute to our nation's achievements in the past 50 years. It also highlights our leadership's vision to create a new age of progress through openness and collaboration, and Emaar is proud to be part of it."

A seamless experience awaits guests wishing to access Downtown Dubai on December 31st by using the U by Emaar app and its easy-to-use pre-registration process. Guests, including Emaar Boulevard residents and hotel guests, can simply log on to the U by Emaar app and follow the straightforward steps to access all Downtown Dubai locations. After successfully registering, they will receive individual QR codes that they can use to gain access to Downtown Dubai on New Year's Eve.

For further information, please contact:

Kim Seelochan

Kim.seelochan@jesmedia.ae

+971 58 584 6247

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SEATTLE (dpa-AFX) - Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) announced Tuesday that Amazon Web Services, Inc. or AWS launched the AWS Asia Pacific (Jakarta) Region. Starting today, developers, startups, entrepreneurs, and enterprises as well as government, education, and nonprofit organizations can run their applications and serve end users from data centers located in Indonesia. AWS said it is planning to invest an estimated $5 billion in Indonesia over the next 15 years through the new AWS Asia Pacific (Jakarta) Region. This includes capital expenditures on the construction of data centers, operational expenses related to ongoing utilities and facility costs, and purchases of goods and services from regional businesses. The investment is also estimated to sustain an average of 24,700 direct and indirect jobs annually during this time. These jobs will be part of the AWS supply chain in Indonesia, including construction, facility maintenance, engineering, telecommunications, and jobs within the broader Indonesian economy. The construction and operation of AWS infrastructure in Indonesia is also estimated to add over $10 billion to Indonesia's GDP over the next 15 years. Perry Warjiyo, Governor of Bank Indonesia, the nation's central bank, said, 'We expect that AWS's cloud technology will help us achieve our vision and goals outlined in the Indonesia Payment Systems 2045 blueprint, fully digitalizing the nation's payment systems and integrating a multitude of stakeholders and economic activities under the guiding principles of security and data protection.' With the launch of the AWS Asia Pacific (Jakarta) Region, AWS has 84 Availability Zones across 26 geographic regions globally. The company has announced plans to launch 24 more Availability Zones and eight more AWS Regions in Australia, Canada, India, Israel, New Zealand, Spain, Switzerland, and the United Arab Emirates. 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.
Companies will collaborate on manufacturing and research and development for future indications, and will commercialize Gadopiclenol independently under separate brands

Gadopiclenol is a next-generation, macrocyclic contrast agent with high-relaxivity, intended to improve lesion detection and visualization in MRI, with lower doses of gadolinium compared to other agents on the market

Guerbet and Bracco Imaging will seek regulatory approval to market Gadopiclenol in the United States and the European Union in 2023, with other geographies to follow

MILAN, Italy, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Guerbet (FR0000032526 GBT), a global leader in medical imaging offering a comprehensive range of pharmaceutical products, medical devices, and digital and artificial intelligence (AI) solutions for diagnostic and interventional imaging, and Bracco Imaging, an innovative world leader delivering end-to-end products and solutions through a comprehensive portfolio inclusive of precision diagnostic imaging modalities, today announced they have signed a global collaboration for Gadopiclenol, a next-generation magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agent. This global collaboration will result in Guerbet and Bracco Imaging commercializing the product independently under different brand names. The companies will also collaborate on manufacturing, as well as research and development for future indications. Financial terms of the transaction are not disclosed.

A next-generation, macrocyclic gadolinium-based contrast agent with high relaxivity, Gadopiclenol is intended to improve lesion detection and visualization in MRI scanning, with lower doses of gadolinium compared to other agents already on the market. In March 2021, positive results from two Phase III studies comparing the diagnostic efficacy and safety of Gadopiclenol, which uses half the dose of gadolinium compared to Gadobutrol, in a wide range of indications, covering the central nervous system and various other anatomical areas (head and neck, thorax, breast, abdomen, pelvis, musculoskeletal system) were published by Guerbet. Both Guerbet and Bracco Imaging each own valuable intellectual property relating to Gadopiclenol.

"Gadopiclenol will be an excellent extension of Guerbet's UNIK MRI solutions of contrast media, injectors, consumables, services and software. It will enable our customers to use a lower dose of gadolinium in their everyday clinical practice. Our ambition is to make this available to as many patients as soon as possible. This is a bold decision which will accelerate our ability to further develop Gadopiclenol, which will bring significant health benefits worldwide," said CEO of Guerbet, David Hale

"Gadopiclenol represents real and valuable innovation in MRI, with a unique profile of stability and contrast enhancement properties that will allow a low dose to be effectively used in a large number of clinical settings and clinical indications," said CEO of Bracco Imaging, Fulvio Renoldi Bracco. "We are excited about this strategic addition to Bracco Imaging's MRI portfolio. Once approved, the addition of Gadopiclenol will expand our portfolio to include three different products that will help to shape the future of prevention and precision diagnostic imaging, in accordance with our global strategy."

Guerbet will manufacture Gadopiclenol active ingredient and vials for Bracco Imaging for up to seven years. Following a technology transfer, both companies will have the ability to manufacture the product. The first marketing authorizations are anticipated in 2023, initially in the United States and the European Union (EU), with other geographies to follow.

About Gadopiclenol

Gadopiclenol is a new macrocyclic gadolinium-based contrast agent with high relaxivity (contrast power), designed and developed by Guerbet's R&D team. The efficacy and safety of Gadopiclenol have been evaluated as part of the company's clinical development plan with a view to obtaining worldwide marketing authorization. No regulatory authority has evaluated the clinical study data for this product to date. Details on Phase III clinical trials are available in the ClinicalTrials.gov database:

Efficacy and Safety of Gadopiclenol for Central Nervous System (CNS) Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) - Full Text View - ClinicalTrials.gov

Efficacy and Safety of Gadopiclenol for Body Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) - Full Text View - ClinicalTrials.gov

All these data will serve as a basis for regulatory submissions, which will begin in the United States and in the European Union (EU) early 2022.

About Guerbet

At Guerbet, we build lasting relationships so that we enable people to live better. That is our purpose. We are a leader in medical imaging worldwide, offering a comprehensive range of pharmaceutical products, medical devices, and digital and AI solutions for diagnostic and interventional imaging. A pioneer in contrast media for 95 years, with more than 2,600 employees worldwide, we continuously innovate and devote 10% of our sales to research and development in four centers in France, Israel, and the United States. Guerbet (GBT) is listed on Euronext Paris (segment B?-?mid caps) and generated 712 million in revenue in 2020. For more information, please visit www.guerbet.com.

About Bracco Imaging

Bracco Imaging S.p.A. ("Bracco Imaging"), part of the Bracco Group, is an innovative world leader delivering end-to-end products and solutions through its comprehensive portfolio across diagnostic imaging modalities. Headquartered in Milan, Italy, Bracco Imaging's purpose is to improve people's lives by shaping the future of prevention and precision diagnostic imaging. Bracco Imaging portfolio includes products and solutions for all key diagnostic imaging modalities: X-ray imaging, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), Contrast Enhanced Ultrasound (CEUS), and Nuclear Medicine. Bracco Imaging has approximately 3,600 employee and operates in more than 100 markets globally. Bracco Imaging has a well-skilled and innovative Research and Development (R&D) organization with an efficient process-oriented approach and track record in the diagnostic imaging industry. R&D activities are located in four centers based in Italy, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States. Bracco Group global revenues were 1.4 billion Euros in 2020. To learn more about Bracco Imaging, visit www.braccoimaging.com.

Guerbet Forward-looking statements

Certain information contained in this press release does not reflect historical data but constitutes forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on estimates, forecasts, and assumptions, including but not limited to assumptions about the current and future strategy of the Guerbet Group ("Group") and the economic environment in which the Group operates.

They involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may result in a significant difference between the Group's actual performance and results and those presented explicitly or implicitly by these forward-looking statements.

These forward-looking statements are valid only as of the date of this press release, and the Group expressly disclaims any obligation or commitment to publish an update or revision of the forward-looking statements contained in this press release to reflect changes in their underlying assumptions, events, conditions, or circumstances.

The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are for illustrative purposes only. Forward-looking statements and information are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict and are generally beyond the Group's control.

These risks and uncertainties include but are not limited to the uncertainties inherent in research and development, future clinical data and analyses (including after a marketing authorization is granted), decisions by regulatory authorities (such as the US Food and Drug Administration or the European Medicines Agency) regarding whether and when to approve any application for a drug, process, or biological product filed for any such product candidates, as well as their decisions regarding labeling and other factors that may affect the availability or commercial potential of such product candidates.

A detailed description of the risks and uncertainties related to the Group's activities can be found in chapter 4.8 "Management and risk factors" of the Group's Universal Registration Document filed with the AMF (French financial markets authority) under number D-20-0369 on April 28, 2020, available on the Group's website (www.guerbet.com).

Contacts

Guerbet Actifin



Jerome Estampes. Chief Financial Officer +33 (0)1 45 91 50 00 Anne-Laure Delasalle Global Communications Director +33 (0) 1 45 91 50 00 anne-laure.delasalle@guerbet.com Benjamin Lehari Financial Communications +33 (0)1 56 88 11 25 blehari@actifin.fr Jennifer Jullia Press Briefings +33 (0)1 56 88 11 19 jjullia@actifin.fr

Bracco Imaging Edelman



Duccio Manetti Global Communications Director +39 340 9016191 Duccio.Manetti@bracco.com Giuliano Faliva Corporate Communications Director +39 335 5980048 Giuliano.Faliva@bracco.com Shannon Susko Media Contact +001 646-200-1826 BraccoMedia@edelman.com

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Utrecht, 14 December 2021

Aalberts N.V. has reached an agreement to divest 100% of the shares of Standard Hidraulica Group (STH), based in Barcelona (Spain) with locations in United Kingdom, Greece and South Africa, generating an annual revenue of approximately EUR 90 million with 220 employees.

The disposal of STH is part of the divestment programme presented in December 2019. We would like to thank the management and all employees of STH for their loyalty and ongoing efforts during the many years of Aalberts ownership.

To realise our strategic objectives, Aalberts focuses on four technology clusters with strong market positions, high margin and growth potential and sustainable impact. We continue to optimise our portfolio and allocate our capital in the most efficient way.

The results of STH will be deconsolidated as of 1 December 2021.

contact

+31

Attachment
Global Bioenergies successfully completes a fundraising

for a totalamount of 14.5million

Evry, 14 December 2021: Global Bioenergies (the "Company") is today announcing the successful completion of its capital increase for a total amount of 14.5M,without preferential subscription rights for shareholders in favor of institutional investors for 13.5M and of retail investors via the PrimaryBid platform for 1M (the "Offering").

Samuel Dubruque, Chief Financial Officer, said: "We now have 21.2M cash in hands, which gives us visibility beyond the first semester of 2023. This transaction brings us renowned investors, French and European, convinced of the interest of the path in which we are engaged. We are pleased to have been able to involve retail investors in this offering, which are becoming increasingly numerous among the Company's shareholders, and whose participation exceeded expectations. We thank all of the Company's shareholders who support Global Bioenergies' purpose through their trust and commitment."

As a reminder, the purpose of the Offering is to provide the Company with the means to:

continue the commercial development, finish the construction, start the industrial production and finance the working capital requirements of the Pomacle-Bazancourt unit: production of biosourced isododecane intended for the niche make-up market (for approximately 50% of the funds raised by the Offering);

conduct the engineering work and roll out the projected plant, which in 2024 will produce at the scale of 1,000 tons to supply the larger skincare and haircare markets (for approximately 25% of the funds raised by the Offering);

pursue R&D efforts aimed at reducing the operating cost of the process for a use in commodity and sustainable aviation fuel applications within five years, and diversify commercial opportunities (for approximately 25% of the funds raised by the Offering).





The Offering was implemented pursuant to the 9th and 11th resolutions of the General Meeting of 18 June 2021, at a price of 4.13 per share, representing a discount of 19.8% to the volume-weighted average of the share price over the three trading days prior to its setting and to the closing price on 13 December 2021.

The Offering, in a total amount of 14.5M, share premium included, was carried out by the issue, without preferential subscription rights, of 3,510,000 new ordinary shares representing 30.9% of the Company's existing share capital prior to the Offering, as part of:

an issue reserved for the Company's commercial or industrial partners and/or private equity funds investing in the biotechnology, green energy, cosmetics or retail sectors, in the amount (including the share premium) of 13.5M through the issue of 3,267,870 new shares (the " Issue Reserved for a Category of Persons "); and

"); and a public offering to retail investors via the PrimaryBid platform, in the amount (including the share premium) of 1M through the issue of 242,130 new shares. The offering via PrimaryBid is the second of its kind in France (the "PrimaryBid Offering").

The shareholders that undertook to subscribe as part of the Offering, notably including the L'Oreal group, through its BOLD (Business Opportunities for L'Oreal Development) private equity fund, and the Cristal Union group, via its Cristal Financiere holding company, were satisfied in line with their demand. These two shareholders accounted for 13.3% and 1% of the Offering respectively.

The settlement-delivery and admission to trading of the new shares on Euronext Growth will take place on 16 December 2021.

The new shares will be assimilated with the existing shares on the Euronext Growth market under the ISIN code FR0011052257 - ALGBE, and will carry immediate dividend rights.

These new shares will represent 30.9% of the Company's share capital before the Offering and 23.6% of the Company's share capital after the Offering.

After the settlement-delivery of the Offering, the Company's share capital, in the amount of 743,284.65, will be composed of 14,865,693 shares.

Prior to the completion of the Offering, the Company's shareholding structure was as follows:

Shareholders Number of shares and voting rights (non-diluted basis) % capital and voting rights (non-diluted basis) Theoretical number of shares and voting rights (diluted basis)[4] % capital and voting rights (diluted basis) BOLD Business Opportunities for L'Oreal Development 1 505 376 13,3% 1 505 376 11,1% Marc DELCOURT[1] 363 505 3,2% 464 748 3,4% Treasury shares 31 372 0,3% 31 372 0,2% Free float 9 455 440 83,3% 11 533 987 85,2% TOTAL 11 355 693 100,0% 13 535 483 100,0%

[1] Shares held directly and indirectly via Schmilblick Ventures, of which he is the sole shareholder.

Following the completion of the Offering, the Company's shareholding structure will be as follows:

Shareholders Number of shares and voting rights (non-diluted basis) % capital and voting rights (non-diluted basis) Theoretical number of shares and voting rights (diluted basis)[4] % capital and voting rights (diluted basis) BOLD Business Opportunities for L'Oreal Development 1 972 206 13,3% 1 972 206 11,6% Marc DELCOURT[1] 363 505 2,4% 464 748 2,7% Treasury shares 31 372 0,2% 31 372 0,2% Free float 12 498 610 84,1% 14 577 157 85,5% TOTAL 14 865 693 100,0% 17 045 483 100,0%

[1] Shares held directly and indirectly via Schmilblick Ventures, of which he is the sole shareholder.

Financial intermediaries

TP ICAP Midcap acted as sole Lead Manager and Bookrunner.

Within the framework of the PrimaryBid Offering, investors were only able to subscribe for the Offering via the PrimaryBid partners mentioned on the PrimaryBid website).

Prospectus

Pursuant to the provisions of Article 211-3 of the General Regulation of the Autorite des Marches Financiers (AMF) and Articles 1.4 and 3 of Regulation (EU) 2017/1129 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 June 2017, the Offering did not give rise to a prospectus approved by the AMF.

About GLOBAL BIOENERGIES

Global Bioenergies has developed a process to convert plant-derived resources into a family of compounds used in the cosmetics industry as well as the energy and materials sectors. In 2021, the Group entered the market with the launch of LAST, its own make-up brand with formulas based on a key ingredient produced via its technology. The Company is constantly seeking to enhance the performance of its process while gradually ramping up production capacities in order to supply ingredients to major cosmetics manufacturers, thereby promoting naturalness in the industry whilst improving its carbon footprint. Some of these compounds can also be used to produce renewable plastics, rubbers and paints. Lastly, Global Bioenergies is also aiming to reduce CO 2 emissions in the aviation sector and thereby curb global warming. Global Bioenergies is listed on Euronext Growth Paris (FR0011052257 - ALGBE).

Receive information about Global Bioenergies directly by subscribing to our news feed on www.global-bioenergies.com

Follow us on Twitter: @GlobalBioenergi

Contact

GLOBAL BIOENERGIES

Pauline Bayec

Head of Investor Relations & Corporate Communication

Tel.: +33 (0)1 64 98 20 50

Email: invest@global-bioenergies.com

Disclaimer

This press release, and the information contained herein, do not constitute an offer to sell or subscribe, or the solicitation of an order to buy or subscribe, for the shares of the Company in any country.

Pursuant to the provisions of Article 211-3 of the General Regulation of the Autorite des Marches Financiers (the "AMF"), and Articles 1.4 and 3 of Regulation (EU) 2017/1129 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 June 2017 (the "Prospectus Regulation"), the Offering will not give rise to a prospectus approved by the AMF.

The distribution of this press release may be subject to specific regulations in some countries. Consequently, persons physically present in those countries and in which the press release is circulated, published or distributed must inform themselves of and comply with those laws and regulations.

This press release constitutes a promotional communication and not a prospectus within the meaning of the Prospectus Regulation.

This press release does not constitute an offer to sell securities or any solicitation of an offer to buy or subscribe for securities in the United States of America. The shares or any other securities of the Company may only be offered or sold in the United States of America following a registration under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933 (the "Securities Act"), as amended, or pursuant to an exemption from such registration requirement. The Offering may exceptionally be aimed at a limited number (i) of qualified institutional buyers in the United States of America ("qualified institutional buyers" or "QIB") within the meaning of Rule 144A ("Rule 144A") under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended and/or (ii) institutional accredited investors ("institutional accredited investors" or "IAI") within the meaning of Rule 501 (a) (1), (2), (3), (7), (8), (12) or (13) of Regulation D of the Securities Act pursuant to an exemption from registration in accordance with Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act, notably within the framework of the Issue Reserved for a Category of Persons, subject to entering into the categories determined in accordance with Article L. 225-138 of the French Commercial Code (Code de commerce). The shares of the Company will only be offered or sold outside the United States of America and in the framework of offshore transactions in accordance with Regulation S of the Securities Act. The Company does not intend to register the Offering in whole or in part in the United States of America or to make a public offering in the United States of America.

With respect to Member States of the European Economic Area, no action has been or will be taken to permit a public offering of the securities covered by this press release requiring the publication by the Company of a prospectus in a Member State other than France. Accordingly, the shares of the Company may not be offered and will not be offered in any Member State other than France, except in cases not requiring the publication by the Company of a prospectus under the Prospectus Regulation and/or the regulations applicable in that Member State.

As regards the United Kingdom, the press release is intended solely for persons who (i) are investment professionals within the meaning of Section 19(5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005 (as currently in force, hereinafter the "Financial Promotion Order"), (ii) are referred to in Section 49(2) (a) to (d) ("high net worth companies, unincorporated associations etc.") of the Financial Promotion Order, (iii) are outside the United Kingdom, or (iv) are persons to whom an invitation or inducement to engage in investment activities (within the meaning of Section 21 of the Financial Promotion Order) in connection with the issue or sale of any securities may lawfully be communicated, directly or indirectly (all such persons together being referred to as the "Authorised Persons"). This press release is intended for Authorised Persons only and may not be used by any person other than an Authorised Person.

This press release must not be published, distributed or circulated, directly or indirectly, in the United States of America, Canada, Australia or Japan.

This press release contains information on the objectives of the Company as well as forward-looking statements. This information is not historical data and should not be interpreted as a guarantee that the stated facts and data will materialise. This information is based on data, assumptions and estimates considered reasonable by the Company. The Company cannot anticipate all the risks, uncertainties or other factors that may affect its business, their potential impact on its business or to what extent the materialisation of any risk or combination of risks could have results significantly different from those mentioned in any forward-looking statement. This information is given only as of the date of this press release. The Company makes no commitment to issue updates of this information or the assumptions on which it is based, except as may be required by any legal or regulatory obligation.

Lastly, this press release may be issued in French and in English. In the event of differences between the two texts, the French version shall prevail.

Attachment


December 14, 2021

Amsterdam, the Netherlands - Royal Philips(NYSE: PHG; AEX: PHIA), a global leader in health technology, today announced that it has signed an agreement to acquire Vesper Medical Inc., a US-based medical technology company that develops minimally-invasive peripheral vascular devices. Vesper Medical will further expand Philips' portfolio of diagnostic and therapeutic devices with an advanced venous stent portfolio for the treatment of deep venous disease. The transaction, which is subject to customary closing conditions, is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2022. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.

Philips already has a leading peripheral vascular portfolio, consisting of: live 2D/3D interventional imaging combined with intravascular ultrasoundin 2020. With this portfolio, Philips provides clinicians with a complete procedural solution for the treatment of peripheral artery disease (PAD).

Complementing Philips' strong IVUS offering in venous imaging, Vesper Medical will add a venous stenting solution to address the root cause of chronic deep venous disease (DVD). The Vesper DUO Venous Stent System consists of venous stents intended to treat deep venous obstruction. Uniquely engineered to address the multiple anatomical challenges of the deep venous system, it provides physicians with a modular portfolio to customize therapy, restore venous flow, and resolve the painful symptoms of deep venous disease for the broad range of patients suffering from chronic venous insufficiency.

"The acquisition of Vesper Medical is another step in our objective to innovate patient treatment with more sophisticated technology and expand our growth in the vascular therapy space," said Chris Landon, Senior Vice President and General Manager Image Guided Therapy Devices at Philips. "Leveraging our significant procedural expertise, we see strong clinical synergies between Vesper Medical's innovative stenting solution and our existing peripheral vascular offering. This combined offering will help to better support clinicians to decide, guide, treat and confirm during the procedure, thereby enhancing patient care."

"I am proud that Philips will become the home for our innovations and our people, joining forces to shape the future of treating deep venous disease," said Bruce Shook, President and CEO of Vesper Medical. "I look forward to further advance our next generation venous technology and bring it to patients and clinicians globally, together with Philips."

Vesper Medical was founded in 2016 and is headquartered in Wayne, Pennsylvania, US. Upon completion of the transaction, Vesper Medical and approximately 20 of its employees will become part of Philips' Image-Guided Therapy business.

For further information, please contact:

Ben Zwirs

Philips Global Press Office

Tel.: +31 6 1521 3446

E-mail: ben.zwirs@philips.com

Derya Guzel

Philips Investor Relations

Tel.: +31 20 59 77055

E-mail: derya.guzel@philips.com

About Royal Philips

Royal Philips.

Forward-looking statements

This release contains certain forward-looking statements with respect to the financial condition, results of operations and business of Philips and certain of the plans and objectives of Philips with respect to these items. Examples of forward-looking statements include statements made about the strategy, estimates of sales growth, future EBITA, future developments in Philips' organic business and the completion of acquisitions and divestments. By their nature, these statements involve risk and uncertainty because they relate to future events and circumstances and there are many factors that could cause actual results and developments to differ materially from those expressed or implied by these statements.



CAUTION: Investigational device. Limited by Federal (United States) law to investigational use.



Attachments
TOKYO & LONDON, Dec 14, 2021 - (JCN Newswire) - JCB International Co., Ltd., the international operations subsidiary of JCB Co., Ltd., and Planet, a global integrated payments leader, announced the expansion of their European partnership.This new deal ensures Planet will perform as a JCB acquirer across European territories for both face-to-face and ecommerce transactions, including JCB Contactless, with J/Secure 2.0-enabled ecommerce to be offered online in early 2022.Planet provides integrated digital payment services on a unique single platform that offers acquiring, processing, digital wallets, VAT refund and currency conversion services to merchants in the retail, hospitality, food and beverage, parking, and financial sectors. As of today, Planet serves over 70 markets, having over 100 bank partners, and over 600,000 merchant partners[1].With many of Planet's merchants in the hospitality, food, and beverage industries, JCB's 140 million cardmembers will benefit from being able to enjoy travel-related and everyday spending when travelling to Europe when travel restrictions lift.JCB and Planet first entered into partnership in 2003 and have since expanded to cover multiple regions including across Europe, Middle East, and Asia.Nick Fisher, General Manager, Sales and Marketing UK, JCB International (Europe) Ltd., said: "As long-standing partners of Planet, we are honoured to be invited to join its new growth journey to strengthen Planet's position as a competitive player in the European market. As Planet looks to grow its merchant base, it's important that we ensure our partnership grows to offer our cardmembers even more opportunities to spend in Europe."Steve O'Donovan, Chief Payments Officer at Planet, said: "JCB has been a valued partner of ours for many years, connecting us with their 140 million global cardmembers who like to spend with our merchants. This new evolution of our partnership opens up even more opportunities for our merchants to accept payments and encourage spending."[1] 'Planet at a glance' section on Planet's website - https://www.planetpayment.com/en/home/, Accessed 20.10.2021JCB Contactless https://www.global.jcb/en/products/payment-solution/contactless/index.htmlJ/Secure https://www.global.jcb/en/products/security/jsecure/About JCBJCB is a major global payment brand and a leading credit card issuer and acquirer in Japan. JCB launched its card business in Japan in 1961 and began expanding worldwide in 1981. Its acceptance network includes about 36 million merchants across the world. JCB Cards are now issued mainly in Asian countries and territories with more than 140 million cardmembers. As part of its international growth strategy, JCB has formed alliances with hundreds of leading banks and financial institutions globally to increase its merchant coverage and cardmember base. As a comprehensive payment solution provider, JCB commits to providing responsive and high-quality services and products to all customers worldwide. For more information: www.global.jcb/en/About PlanetPlanet is a revenue generating payments service and technology provider. Planet provides integrated digital payment services on a unique single platform that offers acquiring, processing, digital wallets, VAT refund and currency conversion services. Planet helps businesses meet the needs of their customers by simplifying complex payments, helping people spend freely. Planet serves 600,000 merchants and 100 partner banks across more than 70 markets on five continents. Planet is co-owned by Advent International and Eurazeo. Find out more here: https://www.planetpayment.comCONTACTS:JCB Press Office (JCB International/Europe)Contact: India Stone, PR and Communications ExecutiveEmail: istone@jcbeurope.euPhone: +44 020 7087 4754JCB (Head Office in Japan)Contact: Ayaka NakajimaEmail: jcb-pr@jcb.co.jpPhone: +81 3 5778 8353Planet Press contact:Dan Purvis, Senior Director Marketing Communicationsdan.purvis@planetpayment.com+44 (0)7823 555921Source: JCBCopyright 2021 JCN Newswire . All rights reserved.

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.
Through this partnership, Linedata reinforces its deployment strategy in Latin America

Linedata (Euronext Paris: LIN), a global provider of asset management and credit technology data and services, today announced that NR Finance Mexico (NRFM), Mexico's leading automotive financing company, has chosen Linedata to manage its complete back office retail and leasing business for the automotive brands within the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance. Leveraging Linedata's integration capabilities and with support from the team at NRFM, Linedata Ekip360 has been successfully implemented.

Established in Mexico in 2003, NRFM develops innovative credit solutions for private and corporate customers. As a market leader with one out of five vehicles in Mexico financed by the Company, NRFM manages a portfolio of more than 510,000 active loans, valued at 75 billion pesos.

Faced with a particularly buoyant and promising Mexican market, NRFM is modernizing its contract administration system to support projected growth and emerging technological and business challenges.

"With Linedata Ekip360, we are launching a technological transformation," says Andre Medeiros, Managing Director of NR Finance Mexico. As part of our ambitious "M.O.V.E. to 2022" program, we were looking for a reliable and proven partner and solution to support our long-term development. Linedata's team has consistently demonstrated their ability to listen to our challenges and offer relevant solutions. The Linedata team's flexibility and responsiveness have been invaluable as we worked through the implementation of such a key technological solution for our business."

"Linedata is very pleased to count NR Finance Mexico amongst our new customer base and we value the trust they are placing in us. By providing state-of-the-art technological solutions for the management of their back office, we are helping NR Finance Mexico increase their competitive position while also solidifying our influence as a software provider in their industry," adds Alain Mattei, Global Head of Lending Leasing at Linedata

ABOUT NR FINANCE MEXICO

As a leading automotive financing company in Mexico, NR Finance Mexico offers financing solutions for Nissan, Renault, Infiniti, Mitsubishi Motors as well as own preowned vehicles.

ABOUT LINEDATA

With 20 years' experience and 700 clients in 50 countries, Linedata's 1100 employees in 20 offices provide global humanized technology solutions and services for the asset management and credit industries that help its clients to evolve and to operate at the highest levels.

Headquartered in France, Linedata achieved revenues of EUR 161.0 million in 2020 and is listed on Euronext Paris compartment B FR0004156297-LIN Reuters LDSV.PA Bloomberg LIN:FP.

linedata.com

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211214005162/en/

Contacts:

Press inquiries

Aurelia Szymanski

T: +33 1 73 43 74 01 M: 33 6 63 72 94 14
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.
LONDON (dpa-AFX) - 3i Group PLC (III) on Tuesday announced that Jasi Halai, currently Group Financial Controller, would join the Group Board as Chief Operating Officer in May 2022. She would also join the Executive Committee. Jasi Halai joined 3i in 2005 and has held a variety of posts in the business, most recently as Group Financial Controller and Operating Officer. As well as continuing her role managing the Group's central finance and operations functions, Jasi would also take on responsibility for the Group's IT, property and procurement activities. Jasi would work closely with James Hatchley when he succeeds Julia Wilson as Group Finance Director in May next year. Shares of 3i Group closed Monday's trading at 1396 pounds, up 3.50 pounds or 0.25 percent from previous close. 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.
Sweep, the leading carbon management platform for large enterprises, announced that it has raised $22 million in Series A funding, the highest publicly disclosed Series A round by any carbon management platform, to help meet the high demand of prospective customers who want to build a credible path to net zero. Leading technology venture capital firm Balderton Capital led the round with participation from New Wave, La Famiglia and 2050. This round of funding follows the original seed round and brings the company's total funding to $27 million, less than a year since launch.

As scientific climate warnings keep emerging, companies face pressure from customers, investors, partners, regulators and employees to reduce their carbon footprint. However, many realize that there is a big difference between making carbon pledges and implementing and reporting concrete progress toward their carbon reduction goals. Last month, BCG reported that over 90% of companies aren't measuring their emissions accurately and regularly, which is critical to building a solid climate program.

"Reporting direct emissions is just the tip of the iceberg for the world's largest corporations," said Rachel Delacour, CEO and co-founder of Sweep. "Sweep connects large enterprises with their entire network of business partners, staff, and suppliers to get a complete overview of their direct and indirect emissions. Our enterprise-grade tool is here to make carbon data collection, security and analysis seamless and automated, so companies focus on reducing their carbon footprint and contributing to global net-zero efforts."

Since it launched in April, Sweep has been working with Financial Times Stock Exchange 500 (FTSE) companies each responsible for 30-50 MtCO2e of carbon emissions per year. They have selected Sweep's platform to help them build a science-based and data-driven climate program that responds to the climate emergency and anticipate coming sustainable reporting regulations.

Bernard Liautaud, Managing Partner at Balderton Capital, has joined Sweep's board of directors. "Sustainability is a huge priority for us at Balderton and Sweep's mission and vision are perfectly aligned with our Sustainable Future Goals. When we looked at the market, we were incredibly impressed with the strength of Sweep's team, and the thoughtfulness and maturity of their product. We're excited to support them as they help companies to effectively take responsibility for their carbon footprints."

Earlier this month, Sweep was one of the few companies selected to present at COP26 at the UK Cabinet's Tech for Our Planet program, which showcases the technologies designed to help reach global net-zero targets. For this pilot, Sweep worked with French investment bank Bpifrance to measure the footprints of two companies it's investing in: telecommunications firm Orange and education tech company Openclassrooms. While the investing, lending and underwriting activities of financial organizations (Scope 3 emissions) are far higher than their direct emissions, just 25% report these portfolio emissions.

Sweep also launched the Initiatives feature to make it even easier for enterprises to identify the most effective carbon reduction roadmap against their climate goals by simulating different reduction strategies, distributing action steps to their teams and partners and tracking progress against their climate goals.

The company also achieved full B-Corporation status for meeting the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability to balance profit and purpose

Any organization can sign up and start using Sweep to address its Scope 3 emissions by visiting www.sweep.net.

About Sweep

Founded in 2020, Sweep is the all-in-one carbon emission management platform that helps large enterprises build a science-based and data-driven climate program. Organizations can accurately and seamlessly track their global emissions across their three emission scopes. This network approach to carbon accounting empowers every carbon-emitting individual such as employees, subsidiaries, suppliers, business partners to share their data and visualize how their activities are making a difference. Sweep also offers a carbon marketplace which allows companies to couple their reduction efforts with investments in carbon positive projects. Sweep was named France's #1 startup to watch and is SOC2 compliant with operations located in France and the United Kingdom. For more information about Sweep, please visit www.sweep.net.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211214005048/en/

Contacts:

Erin Fogarty

Karbo Communications

sweep@karbocom.com

(530) 306-2392


December 14, 2021

Herna Verhagen and Sanjay Poonenproposed as new members of Philips' Supervisory Board

Paul Stoffels and MarcHarrison proposed for re-appointment as members of the Supervisory Board

Neelam Dhawan to retire from the Supervisory Board after third consecutive term



Amsterdam, the Netherlands - Royal Philips(NYSE: PHG; AEX: PHIA), a global leader in health technology, today announced that its Supervisory Board will propose the appointments of Mrs. Herna Verhagen and Mr. Sanjay Poonen as new members of the Supervisory Board at the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders (AGM), which will be held on May 10, 2022. Furthermore, Dr. Paul Stoffels and Dr. Marc Harrison, whose first terms expire in 2022, will be proposed for re-appointment as members of the Supervisory Board. Mrs. Neelam Dhawan, who joined Philips' Supervisory Board in 2012, will retire from the Board after her third consecutive term, effective upon closing of the 2022 AGM.

"We are very pleased to nominate Mrs. Herna Verhagen and Mr. Sanjay Poonen as new members of Philips' Supervisory Board, supporting the company to deliver on its purpose of improving people's health and well-being through innovation," said Feike Sijbesma, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Royal Philips. "With her proven track record in driving a customer-first company culture and a background in e-commerce logistics, Mrs. Verhagen will bring valued and new perspectives to the Supervisory Board, while Mr. Poonen's extensive experience in enterprise IT will further strengthen the Supervisory Board's digital competencies."

"We are also very pleased that Dr. Paul Stoffels, the current Vice Chair, and Dr. Marc Harrison remain available as members of the Board," added Mr. Sijbesma. "Their expertise and experience in healthcare innovation is extremely valuable as Philips aims to support the transformation of healthcare with new health technology solutions along the health continuum."

"On behalf of the Executive Committee and the Supervisory Board, I would like to express my deep gratitude to Neelam Dhawan for her long-term counsel and support since 2012," said Frans van Houten, CEO of Royal Philips. "Her in-depth knowledge of the IT industry, including research, software engineering, and services has been indispensable during Philips' transformation into a health technology leader. We look forward to continue to grow Philips, supported by a diverse and experienced Supervisory Board, aiming to support consumers to lead a healthy life and our healthcare customers achieve the Quadruple Aim of better health outcomes, improved patient and staff experiences, and lower cost of care."

Mrs. Verhagen (Dutch, 1966) has been CEO and Chair of the Board of Management of PostNL since 2012. Under her leadership, PostNL executed a strategic transformation from a mail delivery company into a growing postal and e-commerce logistic solutions provider. Prior to her role as CEO, Mrs. Verhagen served as a member of the Management Board of PostNL, and was Managing Director Parcels and International PostNL.

Mr. Poonen (American, 1969) has held various executive leadership positions in the software industry, including most recently as Chief Operating Officer for cloud computing company VMware. In this role he was responsible for all business functions, including sales, services, support, marketing and alliances including strategic agreements with Amazon, Microsoft and Google. Prior to VMware, he was President at SAP, where he led analytics, data management and vertical industry solutions.

Subject to AGM approval, Mrs. Verhagen and Mr. Poonen will join a diverse and experienced Supervisory Board, consisting of members from Europe, North America and Asia with wide-ranging business experiences, including in the medical technology, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, IT, engineering and consumer goods industries. For more information about Philips' Supervisory Board, please follow this link.

For further information, please contact:

Ben Zwirs

Philips Global Press Office

Tel.: +31 6 1521 3446

E-mail: ben.zwirs@philips.com

Derya Guzel

Philips Investor Relations

Tel.: +31 20 59 77055

E-mail: derya.guzel@philips.com

About Royal Philips

Royal Philips.

Forward-looking statements

This release contains certain forward-looking statements with respect to the financial condition, results of operations and business of Philips and certain of the plans and objectives of Philips with respect to these items. Examples of forward-looking statements include statements made about the strategy, estimates of sales growth, future EBITA, future developments in Philips' organic business and the completion of acquisitions and divestments. By their nature, these statements involve risk and uncertainty because they relate to future events and circumstances and there are many factors that could cause actual results and developments to differ materially from those expressed or implied by these statements.



Attachments


CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - The Australian and NZ dollars fell against their major counterparts in the Asian session on Tuesday, as most Asian shares fell, tracking a decline on Wall Street, amid concerns over the economic impact of the Omicron coronavirus variant and caution ahead of the monetary policy meeting by the Federal Reserve.



The Fed will begin its two-day meeting later in the day, with policy makers expected to announce a faster tapering of its asset purchase programme.



Investors hope that the Fed could bring forward the possible timing of the rate hike into 2022.



The monetary policy announcements from the European Central Bank, the Bank of Japan, the Bank of England and the Swiss National Bank are also due this week.



The United Kingdom reported the first death of a person infected with the Omicron variant, a day after Prime Minister Boris Johnson declared an 'Omicron emergency' in the country.



New South Wales, the most-populous state of Australia, reported more than 800 cases, marking the highest new daily cases since October 2.



The aussie weakened to 1-week lows of 0.7090 against the greenback, 80.48 against the yen and 1.5908 against the euro, after rising to 0.7134, 81.04 and 1.5808, respectively in early deals. The aussie is likely to find support around 0.68 against the greenback, 78.00 against the yen and 1.62 against the euro.



The aussie reversed from an early high of 1.0563 against the kiwi, dropping to 1.0524. On the downside, 1.03 is possibly seen as its next support level.



The kiwi depreciated to more than a 1-year low of 0.6735 against the greenback, 1-week lows of 76.44 against the yen and 1.6744 against the euro, down from its early highs of 0.6759, 76.73 and 1.6683, respectively. If the kiwi drops further, 0.66, 74.00 and 1.70 are seen as its next support levels against the greenback, the yen and the euro, respectively.



Looking ahead, Eurozone industrial production for October is due in the European session.



In the New York session, U.S. PPI for November is scheduled for release.



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de


PARIS (dpa-AFX) - Air Liquide Group (AIQUY.PK), a gases, technologies and services company, Tuesday said it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with IVECO, the commercial vehicles brand of CNH Industrial, to develop hydrogen for mobility in Europe.



The partnership will leverage Air Liquide's expertise across the entire hydrogen value chain, from production and storage to distribution, and IVECO's legacy as a provider of advanced, clean sustainable transport solutions.



The companies will use their means and resources to study the roll-out of heavy-duty fuel-cell electric long-haul trucks. They will also deploy a network of renewable or low-carbon hydrogen refuelling stations along the main trans-European transport corridors.



In parallel, both companies will jointly promote initiatives to encourage hydrogen mobility by involving all stakeholders along the entire value-chain.



The partnership is in line with the companies' ongoing collaboration in the HyAMMED project in the South of France to develop the first European fleet of fuel-cell electric 44 tonnes trucks.



Matthieu Giard, Vice President, a member of the Executive Committee, supervising Hydrogen activities, said, 'Hydrogen can significantly contribute to reducing emissions of the transportation sector as it is particularly well suited for long-haul heavy-duty vehicles. .In line with its sustainability objectives, Air Liquide acts in favor of the development of hydrogen ecosystems and contributes to the emergence of a low-carbon society.'



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

IVECO GROUP-Aktie komplett kostenlos handeln - auf Smartbroker.de
Stern has announced that it is in negotiations with Swedish mobility group Hedin, which has offered 83m in cash to acquire all of Stern's activities, except its participation in car insurer Bovemij. After the sale, Stern will look at strategic options for its Bovemij stake, which has a book value of 19.3m. Stern believes the actual value of Bovemij is much higher and is committed to realising the full value. The potential deal values Stern at >103m, which represents a premium of at least 33% compared to the pre-announcement market cap of 77m.

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.
- StoreDot has exceeded all its 2021 targets ahead of schedule and remains firmly on track for the mass production of extreme fast charging - XFC - battery cells by 2024

- StoreDot accomplishes major goal of producing silicon dominant XFC cells that charge in 10 minutes and maintain at least 80% of energy after 850 consecutive extreme fast charging cycles with an outstanding energy density of 300Wh/kg and 680 Wh/l

- Significant progress in areas of StoreDot's global expansion, innovation leadership, manufacturing readiness and industry expertise

- 12 allowed patents accelerating transition towards mass adoption of electric vehicles

- Momentous news on StoreDot's solid-state advancements due in early 2022

HERZELIYA, Israel, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- StoreDot, the pioneer of extreme fast charging (XFC) battery technology for electric vehicles, has achieved a major landmark by being the first company to produce silicon dominant XFC cells that are capable of charging in 10 minutes and maintain 80% energy retention, or more, after 850 consecutive fast charge cycles with an outstanding energy density of 300Wh/kg and 680 Wh/l. The breakthrough milestone of 1000 consecutive XFC cycles is expected early in 2022.

StoreDot's latest standout results are achieved at room temperature with zero applied pressure - concluding a remarkable year for the company that exceeded all the milestones that it had laid out, accelerating its mission to reduce charging times - currently the major barrier to electric vehicle ownership.

Its achievements across the areas of global expansion, innovation leadership, manufacturing readiness and industry expertise - including a dozen of ground-breaking patents - position StoreDot at the forefront of the electrification revolution of the automotive industry.

In addition to its battery cell exceptional performance, StoreDot's major achievements this year include:

Global expansion: it expanded its global footprint with partnerships in China (EVE Energy), and the US (Group 14 Technologies) as well as announcing its own R&D innovation hub in California.

Innovation leadership: it was allowed 12 patents including ones that rapidly increase the crucial 'miles per minute' of charging ratios, give EV batteries fixed capacity and driving range throughout their lifespan, as well as (earlier this month) allow battery cells to regenerate while they are in use. StoreDot also won Frost & Sullivan's new Product Innovation Award.

Manufacturing readiness: it became the first company to reveal fast-charging 4680 cylindrical cells that can be fully-charged in 10 minutes and produce silicon-dominant extreme fast charge (XFC) cells for electric vehicles on a mass production line.

Industry Expertise: it grew its senior leadership team, announcing former head of BP Ventures, David Gilmour as Executive Chairman, appointing a global advisory board as well as ramping up its US West Coast R&D facility.

Dr Doron Myersdorf, StoreDot CEO: "We're delighted to conclude our best year yet by hitting all our key milestones earlier than anticipated. We will look back on 2021 as one of the years where we took significant strides forward benefiting the entire EV industry in many areas, while fostering our leadership position in the EV battery space.

We are now looking towards an even busier 2022 where we continue to drive forward the adoption of EVs. We will not only build upon this year's achievements, but shortly be sharing exciting news for our upcoming solid-state cell technologies. StoreDot has a bright future where we aggressively continue to execute on our vision of giving automotive manufacturers a clear technology roadmap for a seamless and rapid transition to electrification and we continue to promote a zero-emission world for generations to come."

StoreDot focuses on delivering technologies that improve driving experiences and help reduce range and charging anxiety with more miles of driving range per minute of charging. StoreDot remains committed to its targets of bringing Extreme Fast Charging (XFC) to mass production by 2024 followed by Solid State, Extreme Energy Density (XED) technology by 2028.

About StoreDot:

StoreDot is a pioneer and leader of extreme fast charging (XFC) batteries that overcome the critical barrier to mainstream EV adoption - range and charging anxiety. The company has revolutionized the conventional Li-ion battery by designing and synthesizing proprietary organic and inorganic compounds, making it possible to fully charge an EV in minutes - the same time it takes to refuel a conventional combustion engine vehicle. StoreDot's battery technology is optimized for best driver experience with XFC Li-ion batteries, as well as future Solid State technologies for extreme energy-density (XED). StoreDot's strategic investors include BP, Daimler, Samsung Ventures and TDK. In 2019, the company achieved a world first by demonstrating the live full charge of a two-wheeled EV in just five minutes. In 2020, the company demonstrated the scalability of its XFC batteries for other industries, by fully charging a commercial drone in five minutes in another world first. Moving XFC battery technology from the lab to a commercially-viable product for the first time, StoreDot has launched engineering samples of its XFC batteries that are designed to be manufactured at scale on traditional battery production lines.

For more information see: www.store-dot.com .

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1709315/StoreDot_1000_XFC_cycles.jpg

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Contact: Tom Green, Tom@influenceemobility.com
Co-operative highlights significant momentum in 2021 as it delivers at pace to make instant, frictionless transactions a reality

- Global financial community demonstrates strong support for strategy adoption

- Industry set for accelerated transformation next year with ISO 20022 migration and the activation of SWIFT's evolving platform

A year after sharing a bold vision to enable instant and frictionless transactions from one account to another anywhere in the world, SWIFT today underlines major progress in realising this vision in 2021. SWIFT has delivered on many commitments, including transforming the speed and transparency of low-value payments, removing key frictions by validating payments upfront, and delivering tools for banks to rapidly benefit from rich data in a multi-format environment. SWIFT has also been strongly engaged in experiments to integrate CBDCs and new digital assets into cross-border flows, as well as innovative proofs of concept demonstrating the real-time interlinking of MIs.

The innovations SWIFT has brought to market this year are central to its strategic agenda to support the transformation of the global industry. Adoption is underway and is accelerating in 2022 and beyond. The services available to the industry to adopt immediately are:

Fast, affordable low value cross-border payments. SWIFT Go, launched in July, significantly improves the experience for consumers and small businesses sending low-value cross-border payments. It enables banks to provide their end-customers a fast, predictable and highly secure payments experience with upfront visibility on processing times and costs. It is rapidly gaining traction, with more than 120 leading international financial institutions signed up.

SWIFT Go, launched in July, significantly improves the experience for consumers and small businesses sending low-value cross-border payments. It enables banks to provide their end-customers a fast, predictable and highly secure payments experience with upfront visibility on processing times and costs. It is rapidly gaining traction, with more than 120 leading international financial institutions signed up. Frictionless payments with fewer hold-ups. Payment Pre-validation eliminates one of the leading causes for international payments to stop or lose time incorrect payee information. The service enables banks to verify beneficiary account details before a payment is sent and catch typos or transposed account numbers upfront.

Payment Pre-validation eliminates one of the leading causes for international payments to stop or lose time incorrect payee information. The service enables banks to verify beneficiary account details before a payment is sent and catch typos or transposed account numbers upfront. Improved services to end customers through rich data. InNovember, SWIFT launched a new in-flow translation service that will ease the migration from the MT standard to ISO 20022 next year. In-flow translation is key to enabling a smooth transition to the rich data standard, while allowing the industry to keep its existing systems running smoothly and enabling financial institutions to adopt the new standard at their own pace through the industry-defined transition phase up to November 2025.

These developments build on strong momentum for SWIFT, which is on track for anotheryear of double-digit traffic growth and in November had a record 50.3 million messages exchanged over its network in a single day. Today, because of SWIFT gpi and the work of the SWIFT community in recent years to overhaul the speed and predictability of cross-border payments, the vast majority of these payment instructions are executed in seconds, with nearly half credited to end beneficiaries within 5 minutes and almost two-thirds within 30 minutes after compliance checks, currency controls and other factors applicable to all international payments. Most of the remaining payments reach payees the same day.

In terms of broader innovation, in 2021 SWIFT has prioritised:

CBDCs. SWIFT is actively experimenting to see how its evolving platform could interact with the cross-border use of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) and demonstrating that interoperability between different payments systems will be the key to success.

SWIFT is actively experimenting to see how its evolving platform could interact with the cross-border use of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) and demonstrating that interoperability between different payments systems will be the key to success. Market infrastructure interlinking . Driving instant cross-border payments is dependent on the interlinking of real time market infrastructures and financial institutions to enable faster, more seamless transactions around the world. In October, SWIFT announced a proof of concept with EBA Clearing and The Clearing House (TCH) that demonstrated the feasibility of synchronizing settlement across existing instant payment systems with the speed and agility that meets with the Bank of International Settlements CPMI targets.

. Driving instant cross-border payments is dependent on the interlinking of real time market infrastructures and financial institutions to enable faster, more seamless transactions around the world. In October, SWIFT announced a proof of concept with EBA Clearing and The Clearing House (TCH) that demonstrated the feasibility of synchronizing settlement across existing instant payment systems with the speed and agility that meets with the Bank of International Settlements CPMI targets. Agile innovation. SWIFT is upping its game in terms of driving industry change, and as part of that focus, conducted many innovation sprints in 2022 to rapidly explore areas that are top of mind for customers. Through its Innovation team, for instance, SWIFT is exploring areas such as AI/machine learning with a view to developing new service features.

Accelerating transformation: Looking ahead to 2022

In 2022, SWIFT has ambitious plans to accelerate adoption of its new services across the global financial community, with SWIFT Go providing the underlying infrastructure for the world's low value cross-border payments. And the next iteration of the Payment Pre-validation service, coming in the first half of 2022, will be powered by sophisticated predictive analytics to further boost coverage and accuracy.

SWIFT also will start introducing an enhanced platform that will take SWIFT's capabilities way beyond messaging. The platform will provide end-to-end transaction management, orchestrating interactions between financial institutions and other participants to minimise friction, optimise speed and provide transparency and predictability. The platform will unlock new experiences for end customers with faster settlement, enhanced end-to-end data and value-added services enabling a truly instant and frictionless experience across SWIFT's network connecting 4 billion accounts in more than 200 countries. 2022 will be the starting point, with traffic expected to ramp up on the new platform in 2023 and beyond.

SWIFT has support from across the financial community for the transformation it is driving.

David Kretz, Global Head of Strategy and Payments, Global Transaction Services, Bank of America,said: "This past year, SWIFT helped lay the groundwork for the transformation of cross-border payments in 2022. The migration to ISO 20022 in particular will enhance the quality of data within payments messages. This will allow more consistent processing across global clearings, and create opportunity for improved efficiency and insights for both corporate and financial institution users."

Fan Yaosheng, General Manager of Clearing Department, Bank of China,said: "The launch of SWIFT's new strategy in 2020 was a landmark moment for international payments and we are pleased to see progress has been made quickly and in close collaboration with the wider financial community. The SWIFT strategy promises to unlock a myriad of new opportunities for the industry, and we are excited to be able to bring these benefits to our own customers."

Mike Bellacosa, Global Head of Payments and Transaction Services, Bank of New York Mellon,said: "We know that our customers prioritise security, client experience and cost-effectiveness when moving money across borders. The initiatives SWIFT has launched this past year help us provide an enhanced service to our clients, and we anticipate more enhancements to come as the strategy continues to take shape."

Pierre Fersztand, Global Head of Cash Management, Trade and Payments, BNP Paribas,said: "With ISO 20022 adoption in progress at banks and market infrastructures and the evolution of the SWIFT platform, the SWIFT community is laying foundations that will accelerate innovation in cross-border payments in the years to come. Corporates are essential players in this journey and at BNPP, we are reaching out to our customers to help them construct their multi-year roadmap. We continue to encourage SWIFT in providing a collaborative space for the industry, where together we can build frictionless, fast, compliant and data-rich cross border payments."

Amit Agarwal, Co-Head of Citi Treasury and Trade Solutions Payments and Receivables,said: "Citi is very supportive of SWIFT's role as a driver of innovation in the development of a more widely replicable Market Infrastructure interlinkage model, and the creation of standards to open Instant Payments systems to cross border. This work has created a clearer path for the community to a vastly improved 24/7, instant end-user experience. Additionally, this streamlined payments model has the potential to provide greater access, economic progress and support of growing ecommerce and marketplace flows."

Ole Matthiessen, Managing Director, Global Head of Cash Management, Deutsche Bank, said: "We are pleased about the recent launch of beneficiary account verification (BAV) services, which perfectly complements our own Deutsche Bank client strategy. We are looking forward to continue our partnership and collaboration with SWIFT and the community in the BAV space, ultimately benefitting both our Corporate and Institutional Clients by increasing cross-border payment efficiency while reducing fraud and exception handling"

Tom Halpin, Global Head of Payments Products Management, HSBC, said: "The scale of the SWIFT network is vital to driving the industry change that enables frictionless cross-border payments, and enables our community to adapt rapidly to changing customer needs. For HSBC, SWIFT is a critical and collaborative partner, equally committed to driving innovation that helps our customers do business at pace."

Umar Farooq, Global Head of Financial Institution Payments and CEO Onyx by J.P. Morgan,said: "We're pleased to see SWIFT focusing on the transformation of underlying infrastructure for global money movement, aligning with the financial industry's expectation for continued innovation and digitalization."

Philip Panaino, Global Head of Cash Management, Standard Chartered, said: "Since their new strategy was announced, we have been working alongside SWIFT to co-create the vision for the future of payments for our industry. The Innovation Sprints that have been run this year have been crucial, and we look forward to working with SWIFT further to innovate in the areas our clients care most about."

Paul Camp, Head of Global Treasury Management, Wells Fargo,said: "We have been pleased to see several new services and enhancements from SWIFT come to life this year. We appreciate the open dialogue with SWIFT, as well as its commitment to understanding Wells Fargo's global transaction banking priorities."

About SWIFT

SWIFT is a global member owned cooperative and the world's leading provider of secure financial messaging services. We provide our community with a platform for messaging and standards for communicating, and we offer products and services to facilitate access and integration, identification, analysis and regulatory compliance.

Our messaging platform, products and services connect more than 11,000 banking and securities organisations, market infrastructures and corporate customers in more than 200 countries and territories. While SWIFT does not hold funds or manage accounts on behalf of customers, we enable our global community of users to communicate securely, exchanging standardised financial messages in a reliable way, thereby supporting global and local financial flows, as well as trade and commerce all around the world.

As their trusted provider, we relentlessly pursue operational excellence; we support our community in addressing cyber threats; and we continually seek ways to lower costs, reduce risks and eliminate operational inefficiencies. Our products and services support our community's access and integration, business intelligence, reference data and financial crime compliance needs. SWIFT also brings the financial community together at global, regional and local levels to shape market practice, define standards and debate issues of mutual interest or concern.

Headquartered in Belgium, SWIFT's international governance and oversight reinforces the neutral, global character of its cooperative structure. SWIFT's global office network ensures an active presence in all the major financial centres.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211213005931/en/

Contacts:

Finsbury Glover Hering

Michael Turner

+32 (0)2655 3377

SWIFT@Finsbury.com
The growth of the bio-based & synthetic polyamide market is supported by the growing construction industry, surging prevalence of electrical & electronic products, proliferating automotive sector in Asia Pacific, and rising demand for sustainable packaging solutions, says this report.

SELBYVILLE, Del., Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- According to the report by Global Market Insights Inc., the Bio-Based & Synthetic Polyamide Market was estimated at USD 30 billion in 2020 and is speculated to exceed a valuation of USD 43 billion by 2027, registering with a CAGR of 5.3% from 2021 to 2027. The latest report offers a detailed assessment of top winning strategies, market size & estimations, drivers & opportunities, wavering market trends, competitive scenario, and major investment pockets.

The global bio-based & synthetic polyamide market is set to showcase robust growth over the forecast period driven by prevalent product utilization in varied end-user industries. Industry players are focusing on research & development activities and forming strategic partnerships to gain a competitive edge in the market, which has led to the development of novel and innovative products. Notably, the expanding scope of applications of bio-based & synthetic polyamides in diverse industries is foreseen to stimulate business expansion over the following years.

Request for Sample Report: https://www.gminsights.com/request-sample/detail/2939

Apart from PA6 and PA66, other types of bio-based & synthetic polyamides include PA11, PA12, and others. Increasing application of these types of bio-based & synthetic polyamides in diverse end-user industries is likely to boost the demand for these polyamides. Driven by this factor, the others type segment is poised to grow at a CAGR of more than 4.2% over the assessment timeframe.

Key reasons forbio-based & synthetic polyamide market growth:

Soaring demand in electronics industry. Mounting uptake in packaging applications. Rising usage in sustainable textile products. Growing prominence in construction sector.

2027 forecasts show 'electrical & electronics' segment retaining its dominance:

With respect to end-user, the electrical & electronics segment is expected to grow at a steady pace through the analysis period owing to surging demand in developing nations. In 2020, polyamide demand in the electrical & electronics industry was valued at more than USD 8.5 billion and is slated to progress at about 5.5% CAGR to exceed a valuation of USD 12 billion by 2027. Several properties of bio-based & synthetic polyamides, such as heat and abrasion resistance, are likely to fuel product uptake in the electrical & electronics sector. Moreover, escalating sales of electrical & electronic products during the pandemic are also anticipated to support segmental growth in the coming years.

Meanwhile, the packaging end-user segment was valued at above USD 3 billion in 2020 and is estimated to reach a valuation of more than USD 4 billion by the end of 2027. The expanding packaging sector driven by high demand from the food & beverage industry, coupled with the booming e-commerce market, is slated to impel product uptake in the packaging sector in the future.

North America to maintain top status in terms of revenue:

On the regional spectrum, the North America bio-based & synthetic polyamide market is expected to be valued at more than USD 6 billion by 2027. Growing penetration of sustainable packaging solutions in varied end-user industries in North America is set to drive market growth. Additionally, escalating vehicle sales in the region are likely to further propel regional market growth through the forecast period.

Request for the customization of this report: https://www.gminsights.com/roc/2939

Impact of COVID-19 pandemic onbio-based & synthetic polyamide market:

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the global supply chain, bringing operations in essentially all industries to a halt. The bio-based & synthetic polyamide market was also adversely affected on account of raw materials and labor shortages. However, with widespread immunization drives, the industry is gradually regaining its pre-COVID momentum.

Meanwhile, the pandemic also boosted climate consciousness across the globe, which augmented consumer interest in sustainable products. To address this need, industry players have been investing in product innovation and development. For instance, in June 2021, chemicals giant Solvay introduced the first bio-based polyamide textile yarn dubbed the Bio Amni, to accommodate high consumer need for more sustainable textile products, particularly bio-based materials. As a result, increasing availability of innovative products has been favorable for industry expansion during the pandemic.

Leading market players:

Key companies operating in the global bio-based & synthetic polyamide industry include Evonik, Arkema, BASF SE, Koninklijke DSM N.V., Lanxess, RTP Company, UBE INDUSTRIES LTD., Asahi Kasei Corporation, Grupa Azoty, Dow Chemicals, AdvanSix Inc., EMS-CHEMIE, Invista, Toray, Teijin Aramid B.V., and others.

About Global Market Insights Inc.

Global Market Insights Inc., headquartered in Delaware, U.S., is a global market research and consulting service provider. Offering syndicated and custom research reports, growth consulting and business intelligence services, Global Market Insights Inc. aims to help clients with penetrative insights and actionable market data that aid in strategic decision making.

Contact Us:

Arun Hegde

Corporate Sales, USA

Global Market Insights Inc.

Phone: +1-302-846-7766

Toll Free: 1-888-689-0688

Email: sales@gminsights.com

Web: https://www.gminsights.com

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SINGAPORE, Dec 14, 2021 - (ACN Newswire) - Moonstake is happy to deliver more good news to our Shiden users: Shiden DApp Staking is now supported natively on Moonstake Wallet. You can now earn reward from staking Shiden network's SDN token to Shiden Network DApps right via the Moonstake Wallet interface with the newly launched "DApp Store" feature for Shiden!This is an additional option to earn from your SDN assets on top of staking with Moonstake, as you can stake with multiple Shiden DApps at once. Hold, send, receive, and stake SDN in various pools to receive rewards with the best user experience through one single click. Moonstake is proud to be amongst the world's first group of validators for Shiden Network.Moonstake started the staking business last year with the aim to create the largest staking network in Asia. Since then, we have developed the most user-friendly Web Wallet and Mobile Wallet (iOS / Android) with support for over 2000 cryptocurrencies. After a full-scale operation launched in August 2020, Moonstake's total staking assets have grown rapidly to reach $1 Billion, allowing Moonstake to become one of the top 10 staking providers globally. Since March this year, Moonstake has also entered DeFi together with the newly launched DeFi platform, Muse.Finance, who has begun releasing its core DeFi products which are all scheduled to be integrated into Moonstake platform to enable advanced DeFi connectivity for our global users.The Shiden Network is built using almost the same code base as Astar Network (formerly Plasm), a public blockchain originating in Japan, and connects to the Kusama Network, an experimental network that is one-tenth the scale of the Polkadot Network. Since the Kusama Relaychain does not support smart contract functionality by design, it needs a smart contract layer which is where Shiden Network comes in. On top of this, Shiden also supports various advanced blockchain applications like DeFi, NFTs and more.Since February 2021, Moonstake has been strategic partners with Plasm, now known as Astar Network, working together to expand the Polkadot staking and DeFi ecosystems. Just recently, we integrated support for staking of Shiden Network's SDN, Astar's sister network, as the important next step of our collaboration and plan to penetrate the DeFi market. And now with the integration of Shiden DApp Staking, we are offering a robust variety of opportunities for global crypto users to earn with Shiden Network with the best user experience.How to use Shiden DApp Staking feature on Moonstake Wallet1. Register your Moonstake Wallet via Web or mobile (iOS / Android)2. From "Wallets", click on "Shiden Network" then "DApp Store"3. Find the Shiden DApp you'd like to stake in, then click "Add".4. Enter the amount to stake then click "Continue". Enter your wallet password to confirm the stake.Information to note about SDN staking- The minimum staking amount is 50 SDN.- Currently, each DApp can have a maximum of 512 nominators. You won't be able to stake with any DApp who has the number 512 in their "Stakers" section.How to get rewards of SDN staking:The annual reward (APY) for SDN is dependent on Shiden and its DApp Store. You can claim your SDN rewards once every ERA, which is a period of time that is approximately 24 hours. The claim needs to be done within 15 days or the unclaimed rewards go to the treasury. A claim can be made by the contract owner or any staker in the DApp. One claim will be for everyone, so it doesn't have to be you. If the DApp owner or anyone else from the staking pool press "Claim", you will also get your ERA rewards.How SDN unstaking works:If token holders want to send an asset that is currently staked, they will need to unstake it first. There is no lock period for unstaking SDN.To learn about how to stake SDN with Moonstake instead of Shiden DApps, check our previous guide on SDN staking.( https://moonstake.io/moonstake-wallet-now-supports-staking-of-shiden-sdn/ )Moonstake is proud to be amongst the world's first group of validators and we're pleased to help accelerate global adoption of Shiden staking and DApps with this new integration.About MoonstakeMoonstake is the world's leading staking service provider that develops and operates decentralized wallet services for businesses and individuals.Since its launch in April 2020, Moonstake has partnered with 27 leading platform providers, including Cardano's constituent Emurgo, developer of the Polkadot-connected blockchain Astar Network Stake Technologies, and the TRON Network with over 50 million users. In May 2021, Moonstake further enhanced its corporate credibility by becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of OIO Holdings Limited, a company listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange.Using blockchain technology, Moonstake aims to progress toward a world where anyone can easily make use of highly secure and reliable digital asset management tools. https://www.moonstake.io/About Moonstake's staking businessFor the staking industry, which has grown into a 630-billion dollar market as of September 2021, Moonstake provides a decentralized staking service that does not require user deposits, and supports nodes around the world in addition to its own validator nodes. Moonstake currently supports the staking of 12 blockchains. With a total staking assets of 1.8 billion USD and a global user base, the company ranked third out of more than 10,000 providers worldwide in June of the same year.About ShidenBuilding the premier multi-chain smart contract platform on Kusama Network. Shiden Network is a multi-chain decentralized application layer on Kusama Network. Kusama Relaychain does not support smart contract functionality by design. Kusama Network needs a smart contract layer. This is where Shiden Network comes in. Shiden supports Ethereum Virtual Machine, WebAssembly, and Layer2 solutions from day one. The platform supports various applications like DeFi, NFTs, and more. https://shiden.astar.network/About AstarAstar Network is a dApps hub on Polkadot that supports Ethereum and layer 2 solutions like ZK Rollups. Plasm aims to be a multi-chain smart contract platform that will support multiple blockchains and virtual machines like EVM and WASM. https://astar.network/Source: MoonstakeCopyright 2021 ACN Newswire . All rights reserved.
B2Broker, a leading technology and liquidity provider within the Forex/CFDs and Digital Currency industries, has confirmed that it has expanded its global reach by establishing a presence in the heavily EU regulated Forex /CFDs market through B2Prime, a Cyprus based Financial Institution authorised and regulated by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC).

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211214005172/en/

B2Broker seals European presence with CySEC-regulated multi-asset liquidity provider B2Prime. (Graphic: Business Wire)

B2Broker now has a vested interest in B2Prime after fulfilling the necessary legal requirements for the required ownership changes. The new owners of B2Prime are Arthur Azizov, founder of B2Broker Group of Companies and Evgeniya Mykulyak, co-founder of B2Broker Group of Companies. Nick Chrysochos becomes the CEO of B2Prime. The move confirms the group's commitment to providing its investment related services on a global scale through a Liquidity Provider regulated by one of the most well respected and recognised Financial Market Supervisory Authorities.

About B2Prime

B2Prime is a global regulated Prime of Prime (PoP) Multi-Asset Liquidity Provider for institutional and professional clients across the whole spectrum of the financial markets. Its core investment services consist of leveraged derivative products in CFDs (Forex, metals, commodities, shares, indices and cryptocurrencies).

B2Broker Group of Companies

B2Broker is a global brand with a solid reputation in the B2B sphere as one of the most in-demand technology and liquidity providers for Forex and crypto brokers, crypto exchanges and other financial services entities. The company offers a wide range of services including Crypto/Forex/CFD liquidity, Crypto/Forex Broker turnkey solutions, crypto payment processing (B2BinPay), MT4/5 white label solutions, B2Core (Trader's Room), B2Trader (Matching Engine) and liquidity on over 800 trading instruments across the entire spectrum of assets.

Headquartered in Moscow, B2Broker has several years of operational experience with 10 offices in 8 countries across Russia, Europe, Asia and MENA. A total of 7 licences to its name including FCA, AEMI and Central Bank of Russia, allows B2Broker to serve clients across 50 countries, offering Forex liquidity distribution and a range of other services to the Forex, Crypto and Securities industries. The company has secured a large portfolio of well-known global clients in the financial services industry with plans to further increase company representation and visibility across the globe.

What the News Means For Clients

CySEC is Cyprus' financial regulator which provides a framework within which the country's licenced financial services firms are obliged to operate. As a CySEC regulated broker, B2Prime must adhere to the strictest financial market regulatory standards, including capital adequacy requirements, segregation of client funds and transparency of business operations.

Clients residing in the EU, UK and several other 3rd country jurisdictions can now be safely onboarded under the EU MiFID II regulatory standards. B2Broker can now expand its footprint in the European Union and provide clients with the opportunity to experience the organisation's full product and service offering through an EU financial services brokerage licence, while positioning itself on an accelerated global growth path.

B2Broker Group of Companies CEO, Arthur Azizov, commented, "We are delighted that B2Prime has secured CySEC approval. The licence gives us the scope to provide institutional grade liquidity to clients in over 30 countries. Meanwhile, our clients will be able to benefit from an enhanced level of protection, safe in the knowledge that they have the backing of a world-leading, multi-regulated technology and liquidity provider. We expect that having now secured CySEC's authorisation to provide our investment liquidity services, it will help us establish our place in this space as one of the strongest and most reliable organisations where clients can feel at ease when trading with us".

B2Prime's owner and Executive Director, Evgeniya Mykulyak, co-founder of B2Broker Group commented, "My vision is to make B2Prime one of the most solid and reliable financial services companies in the Forex space with a high standard of service provision being our key focus. I look forward to exploring the many new opportunities available to us in Europe and to welcoming new clients on board. Our efforts will include the introduction of new trading platforms for connection as well as the continued rollout of our Prime of Prime liquidity services. We are already building a strong liquidity provision network in the European market and have established relationships with major Prime Brokers. Furthermore, we plan to become a member of several exchanges, all in all, making B2Prime a major player in the financial services industry".

B2Prime CEO, Nick Chrysochos added, "With Artur Azizov's long experience and solid credentials in the Forex and Crypto space and Evgeniya Mykulyak's deep industry know-how and clear vision for the company, we will be able to provide advanced, cutting-edge technology so that our clients can trade with the reassurance of knowing that their trading activities are managed by a reputable firm that adheres to the most stringent regulatory standards of CySEC".

Final Word

BPrime has already opened the door to receiving new clients and can connect brokers via OneZero, MT5 and PrimeXM platforms to offer trading on 115 Forex pairs including 22 Crypto CFD pairs, Spot Metals, Indices and Spot Energies.

The latest licence acquisition is a part of B2Broker's overall strategic plan to have a presence in all the major jurisdictions, focusing on the goal of becoming a global liquidity provider. The corresponding launch of commercial operations in Cyprus is also a testament to the company's ongoing success and growth, where it will continue to provide some of the best liquidity and trading services in the industry.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211214005172/en/

Contacts:

Rosemary Barnes

Head of PR

pr@b2broker.net

www.b2broker.com
Scanfil plc Press release 14 December 2021 at 12.00 p.m. EEST



Scanfil'sSieradz factory to go into 100% fossil-free electricity



Scanfil's Sieradz factory in Poland signed an agreement about switching to 100% fossil-free electricity. As of 1 January, 2022 Sieradz factory will be CO2 neutral in its electricity.



Sieradz factory is one of Scanfil's biggest factories and has an annual electrical energy consumption of about 3,700 MWh. If this amount of energy would be produced with coal, it would create nearly 3,850 tons of CO2 emissions.



"By changing the energy source of our electricity, we can make a significant environmental impact," states Scanfil's Mats Lindblad, Director Quality Systems." I am happy to see that we are moving fast and reducing our environmental impact."Scanfil and all of its factories are committed to improving its operations also from the environmental point of view. Sieradz is now the fourth factory within the Scanfil factory network that will be using only fossil-free electricity."The eagerness to do environmental actions are high in our production sites. All our factories are contributing to the Scanfil's common goal, and we will reach our goals earlier than planned," Mats Lindblad continues.Scanfil has set science-based targets for significant reductions in greenhouse gasMats Lindblad, Director of Global Quality Systemsmats.lindblad@scanfil.comScanfil is an international manufacturing partner and system supplier for the electronics industry with 40 years of experience in demanding manufacturing. Scanfil provides its customers with an extensive array of services, ranging from product design to product manufacturing, material procurement and logistics solutions. Vertically integrated production and a comprehensive supply chain are the foundation of Scanfil's competitive advantages: speed, flexibility and reliability.Typical Scanfil products are modules or integrated products for e.g. self-service application, automation systems, wireless connectivity modules, climate control systems, collection and sorting systems, analysers and environmental measurement solutions. Scanfil services are used by numerous international automation, safety, energy, cleantech, connectivity and health service providers, as well as companies operating in the field of urbanization. Scanfil's network of factories consists of 9 production units in Europe, Asia and North America. Read more: www.scanfil.com
The "Europe Maintenance, Repair, and Operations (MRO) Market Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, Forecasts (2021-2026)" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

Europe Maintenance, Repair, and Operations (MRO) Market is expected to reach a CAGR of 1.6% during the forecast period (2021-2026).

However, due to the outbreak of COVID-19, countries such as Germany's trade outlook became weak due to a decrease in global demand. China is Germany's biggest trading partner, with manufacturers highly dependent on Chinese supply chains and the Chinese demand for "Made in Germany" goods due to the slow down, the market is facing several challenges.

Key Highlights

In July 2020, the federal statistics authority, Destatis, said that, in May 2020, the industrial output came at +7.8% month-on-month, vs. -17.9% in April. On an annual basis, the country's industrial production arrived at -19.3% in May vs. -11.1% expected and -25.3% observed in April. The slump, month-on-month, doubled the 8.9% drop recorded in March as per the record of Destatis. Like other countries, Germany went into the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown before slowly easing strictures from April 20 onwards.

The European Union's research innovation (R&I) programs have firmly supported the development of industrial technologies and solutions that enable the European manufacturing industry to take full advantage of cutting-edge technologies. This promotes the use of smart technologies in MRO solutions, further creating opportunities for the United Kingdom country market.

The UK Government commissioned the 'Made Smarter' review with the aim of the industry, providing recommendations to ensure that the UK will be a significant player in the 4th industrial revolution by 2030. As of January 2020, 300 SME manufacturers in the North West provinces have secured support through the review. These instances of supporting smart industry from government bodies in the country are further boosting the growth for the MRO market in the market.

Further, firms like Groupe Roux-Jourfier enable companies to incorporate "collaborative robotics" into their plants, perform entirely automatic processes, and work collaboratively alongside human operators to perform more complex tasks. This is particularly essential for the Aerospace industry where OEMs are always under pressure to deliver products in time and hence transfer this pressure to suppliers.

The decreasing industrial production in some potential sectors due to the COVID-19 pandemic, therefore, impede the MRO market growth up to a certain extent. In August 2020, Insee revealed that France's industrial production grew more than expected in June. Industrial production grows 12.7% monthly in June, which is slower than the 19.9% increase observed in May.

As per Insee's statistics, manufacturing output growth slackened to 14.4% from 22.2% in May. Automotive and transport equipment production increased by 39.5%, followed by an 18.9% rise in refined petroleum products and coke manufacture. In May 2020, the French government announced a EUR 8 billion or USD 8.8 billion aid package to help the automotive manufacturing industry recover from the COVID-19 crisis, which will help to create an ample amount of opportunities for the MRO players majorly centered to the automotive manufacturing sector.

Major Market Trends

Industrial MRO is Expected to Witness Significant Growth

Germany is Expected to Witness Significant Growth

Competitive Landscape

The MRO market comprises several global and regional players, vying for attention in a fairly contested market space. Acquisitions, partnerships with industry participants, and new product/service rollouts have been key competitive strategies exhibited by vendors in the market. Partnership and alliances with suppliers are part of a competitive strategy in the industry, which is fragmented, and even large vendors command lower market share and gain from higher margins.

Such developments are expected to increase in respective end-user verticals as prominent players in such industries are expected to expand their market presence. Vendors in the market are expected to focus on forming alliances with technology providers to further enhance their integrated service offerings.

Companies Profiled

Wurth Group GmbH

Airgas Inc. (Air Liquide SA)

Eriks NV

WESCO International Inc.

Sonepar SA

Rexel Holdings USA (Rexel SA)

Wolseley Limited (Ferguson PLC)

W.W. Grainger Inc.

Electrocomponent PLC

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/35zmwn

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211214005662/en/

Contacts:

ResearchAndMarkets.com

Laura Wood, Senior Press Manager

press@researchandmarkets.com



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BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - At 5.00 am ET Tuesday, Eurostat releases euro area industrial production for October. Industrial production is expected to fall 0.5 percent on a monthly basis after falling 0.2 percent in September. Ahead of the data, the euro traded mixed against its major rivals. While it fell against the franc, it advanced against the rest of major rivals The euro was worth 128.31 against the yen, 1.1304 against the greenback, 0.8549 against the pound and 1.0404 against the franc as of 4:55 am ET. 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.
Thousands of Lawson shops will be powered by solar farms developed by West Holdings Corp with Mitsubishi stating the clean power will start flowing in April.Some 3,600 Japanese convenience stores will be powered by solar from April, after global brand Mitsubishi announced it will commission 45 MW of new solar generation capacity. The clean electricity will be generated at unspecified locations constructed by Japanese solar developer West Holdings Corp and will supply power to stores in the Lawson chain which is controlled by Mitsubishi. A press release issued by Mitsubishi yesterday said the company ...

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.
WUXI, China, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- On December 9, at the Financial Empowerment Conference and Shangxian Lake Financial Summit held in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, representatives from the country's best financial institutions, especially some private equity institutions, participated in witnessing the unveiling of the Wuxi Fund PARK both offline and online. It is born for "financial empowerment, the combination of industry and finance", and it is the innovation base of the combination of industry and finance in the Yangtze River Delta, according to the Shangxian Lake Financial Summit.

Wuxi Fund PARK is in the wetland park in the core area of Taihu New City, Wuxi, with a green rate of 52%, beautiful environment and excellent ecology. The first phase consists of 31 modern high-looking wooden structure buildings, including 27 headquarters office buildings with different forms, and 4 buildings with supporting functions such as industrial display, enterprise services, project roadshow, catering, fitness, 24-hour picture and text reading, etc.

In addition, relying on the developed advanced manufacturing base in the Yangtze River Delta, the park has built an equity investment communication platform, a docking platform for investment and financing projects, a research platform for financial think tanks, and a platform for cultivating financial talents. It will effectively promote the deep integration of all kinds of capital, emerging industries, and high-end talents, and make it more physically and mentally capable of both internal and external repair. It is making every effort to build 16 advanced manufacturing industrial clusters, of which 9 industrial clusters have a main income of more than 100 billion yuan.

Finance is the lifeblood of modern economy. Advanced manufacturing industry cannot do without financial empowerment, capital support, and equity investment with the characteristics of risk-sharing and benefit-sharing characteristics is undoubtedly one of the most attractive financial means. To this end, Wuxi has specially formulated 15 articles on "Equity Investment Development" and given many attractive preferential policies. Today, the opening of the Wuxi Fund PARK undoubtedly fills in a handful of firewood for many equity funds to gather in Wuxi.

At present, Wuxi Fund PARK has attracted a number of financial institutions, including PE/VC head institutions, four major accounting and law firms, central and local well-known enterprises, sub-sector head investment funds, investment cutting-edge institutions, etc.
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / December 14, 2021 / Komo Plant Based Foods Inc. (CSE:YUM)(OTCQB:KOMOF)(FRA:9HB) ("Komo"), a premium plant-based food company, is pleased to announce that its frozen plant-based food products are now being sold at more than 120 distribution locations, including 117 brick-and-mortar retail locations and 4 online retailers. This is approximately a 300% increase from two months ago.

Since mid-September 2021, Komo significantly scaled up production by moving the bulk of its manufacturing to a co-manufacturing facility. In October 2021, TransCold Distribution Ltd., a leading frozen food distributor, added Komo to its portfolio of products that it distributes across Canada.

TransCold Distribution is a wholesale supplier of frozen foods and ice cream throughout Western Canada and the Western United States and distributes to over 10,000 distribution points, including major grocery, convenience, drug, chain retailers, food service and independent retailers. TransCold customers in Canada include Safeway, Save on Foods, Loblaws, Real Canadian Superstore, Fresh Co., Thrifty Foods, Whole Foods, Walmart, Nesters Market, Buy-Low Foods, Walmart, Costco, 7-Eleven, Shoppers Drug Mart, Spud.ca and Pomme Natural Market.

Komo is currently being carried by select stores in British Columbia at IGA, Safeway, Stong's and Fresh Market, and across full chains, including Nesters, Choices, Nature's Fare Market, Fairway Market and Meinhardt's, as well as specialty stores such as the Juice Truck, Vegetarian Butcher, Vegan Supply, and Larry's Market. There are also several stores in Alberta now carrying Komo products, with many more expected to be added across Canada in the near future. Komo has also announced its intentions to expand into the United States in early 2022.

"Since launching in March 2021 we have strived to create a solid foundation of loyal consumers locally and expand retail rapidly," says Komo Plant Based Foods CEO William White. "We can see the strength of our alliances with major distributors such as TransCold and Nationwide Natural Foods as we continue our rapid growth. We are honored to be included in the frozen food sections of many prominent grocery stores and excited to see new retail stores get added every month, allowing us to share the love of plant-based foods. "

In addition to selling through a retail network, Komo sells its products directly to consumers through its e-commerce website and at local farmers' markets. A full list of retail locations can be found at the company's website in addition to almost 200 reviews from verified buyers.

About Komo

Komo Plant Based Foods Inc. is a premium plant-based food company that develops, manufactures and sells a variety of plant-based frozen meals that are always hearty, satisfying, and made with wholesome ingredients. At Komo, our mission is to help make plant-based meals a staple on every dinner table by sharing our love for feel-good food that connects the people to the planet. We believe plant-based eating is the future and - Change can start with a single biteTM. Our experienced plant-based innovation and development team recreates vegan versions of traditionally cheesy and meaty classics, with 100% plants. Komo's products are sold direct-to-consumer through our eCommerce website and a distribution network of online and brick and mortar grocery, convenience and natural retailer channels. Our operating subsidiary Komo Comfort Foods launched in 2021 with our flagship products: plant-based Lasagna, Shepherd's Pie and Chickenless Pot Pie and has recently launched a new line - Komo Plant-Based Meal HelpersTM - versatile meal starters to allow the creation of many dishes at home. All of our products are 100% plant-based, made with wholesome ingredients, free from preservatives, and frozen for freshness. Freezing products is a natural and effective way of keeping food products for longer without having to use any preservatives. Komo's meals have a 1-year frozen shelf life. Komo also sells hot ready-to-eat meals in Metro Vancouver through Uber Eats and Skip the Dishes.

Learn more at: www.komocomfortfoods.com and follow on Instagram: @komocomfortfoods

For further information, please contact:

William White, President & CEO, Komo Plant Based Foods Inc.

will@komoeats.com

1-866-969-0882

The Canadian Securities Exchange has not reviewed, approved or disapproved the contents of this news release.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements contained in this press release constitute forward-looking information. These statements relate to future events or Komo's future performance. The use of any of the words "could", "expect", "believe", "will", "projected", "estimated" and similar expressions and statements relating to matters that are not historical facts are intended to identify forward-looking information and are based on Komo's current belief or assumptions as to the outcome and timing of such future events. Actual future results may differ materially. In particular, Komo's product development plans, its ability to launch its products on food delivery apps, its ability to retain key personnel, its revenues, and its expectation as to the acceptance of its products by retailer stores and consumers constitute forward-looking information. Actual results and developments may differ materially from those contemplated by forward-looking information. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The statements made in this press release are made as of the date hereof. Komo disclaims any intention or obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be expressly required by applicable securities laws.

SOURCE: KOMO Plant Based Foods Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/677446/Komo-Plant-Based-Foods-Continues-Rapid-Increase-of-Distribution-Points-with-300-Growth-in-2-Months
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - December 14, 2021) - Kodiak Copper Corp. (TSXV: KDK) (OTCQB: KDKCF) (FSE: 5DD1) (the "Company" or "Kodiak") today reports drill results from the 100% owned MPD copper-gold porphyry project in southern British Columbia.

Results from three new drill holes at the Gate Zone are presented in this release. Holes drilled in 2021 continue to highlight significant copper-gold grades over substantial intervals central to the Gate Zone. The Gate Zone porphyry target remains open to extension in multiple directions.

Highlights (complete results are shown in Table 1 and Figures 2 and 3):

126 metres of 0.72% Cu, 0.21 g/t Au and 2.95 g/t Ag (0.87% CuEq*) within a broader 537 metre interval of 0.37% Cu, 0.11 g/t Au and 1.40 g/t Ag (0.45% CuEq*) in new drill hole MPD-21-018 - Figure 4A

111 metres of 0.53% Cu, 0.34 g/t Au and 1.84 g/t Ag (0.76% CuEq*) within a broader 432 metre interval of 0.27% Cu, 0.13 g/t Au and 0.78 g/t Ag (0.35% CuEq*) in new drill hole MPD-21-026 - Figure 4B

81 metres of 0.31% Cu, 0.13 g/t Au and 1.41 g/t Ag (0.40% CuEq*) within a broader 297 metre interval of 0.23% Cu, 0.10 g/t Au and 0.89 g/t Ag (0.30% CuEq*) in new drill hole MPD-21-017 - Figure 4C

In 2021, drilled 21,675 metres in 36 holes, two of which were Kodiak's first holes at the Dillard copper-gold porphyry target located 2.5 kilometres south-east of the Gate Zone (Dillard results pending)

Systematic drilling at the Gate Zone in 2021 continues to intersect porphyry-related mineralization and host lithology along 950 metres of strike, having the depth (850 metres) and width (350 metres) typical of other multi-centre copper porphyry deposits in British Columbia

A large drill program of approximately 25,000 additional metres is planned for 2022 to further evaluate Gate and advance other high-priority targets in the Dillard, Man and Axe areas. These prospects exhibit similar regional geophysical and geochemical anomalies, with near-surface mineralization reported from historic trenches and drilling

Claudia Tornquist, President and CEO of Kodiak, said, "We are very pleased with the impressive drill results that keep coming from the Gate Zone, and excited to have our first holes into the Dillard target. The progress the Company made this year, despite challenging weather and operational conditions, sets the stage for continued drilling in multiple areas and another large program in 2022. Kodiak is well funded and we will continue with our district scale exploration approach at MPD to reveal the property's true potential for multi-centred porphyry systems."

Ongoing Exploration

Throughout Q1 2022 Kodiak will report on outstanding drill results and other 2021 field work, including;

Results from 12 holes remaining from 36 drilled in 2021 (21,675 metres). Results from 24 holes have been reported to date.

Results from 1,755 soil samples, and 176 rock samples from prospecting and trenching.

19.8 line kilometres of DC Resistivity- 3D Induced Polarization (IP) and Magnetotelluric (MT) geophysical surveying at the Gate Zone conducted by SJ Geophysics Ltd.

A large exploration program is planned for 2022, with field work and drilling resuming in Q1 2022 and approximately 25,000 metres of additional drilling before year-end. Preparatory work in late 2021 involved heritage surveys in specific target areas to allow work during the winter months. The Company has a multi-year, area-based exploration permit that authorizes new drill sites and expanded exploration activity across the MPD property to 2026. The 2022 program will include assessing the three kilometre regional magnetic low between the Gate and Man target areas, follow up drilling at Dillard, testing analogous targets elsewhere across MPD and initiating work on the newly acquired Axe Property. The Axe property overlies significant geophysical targets with similar signatures to Kodiak's Gate Zone discovery, and historical copper results in drill core, soils, and rock samples.

Dillard Target Drilling

Drilling in 2021 focused primarily on testing the northern and southern extents of the Gate Zone. In addition, drilling commenced in autumn at the Dillard target and two holes were completed. The Dillard Target area will be further tested in 2022. It has many attributes similar to the Gate Zone (see 3D model of drilling at Gate, Dillard and Man, Figure 5) including:

Anomalous copper over significant widths in historic drilling and trenching, but rarely testing below 350 metres depth.

Anomalous copper and gold in historic soil surveys defining a broad 600 x 1500 metre target area.

A regional magnetic low (1000 x 1000 metre) and large resistivity anomaly at depth, identified by Kodiak's 2020 ZTEM airborne survey and below historic ground geophysical anomalies.

Mapped geology highlighting prospective volcanic and intrusive rocks displaying porphyry-style alteration (potassic and calcic) and a "pyrite-halo" associated with copper-gold mineralization

Table 1: Weighted assay intervals for holes MPD-21-018, MPD-21-026 and MPD-21-017 (see Figure 2 and Figure 3)

Hole ID From (m) To (m) Interval** (m) % Cu Au g/t Ag g/t %CuEq*















MPD-21-018 92.0 629.0 537.0 0.37 0.11 1.40 0.45 includes 302.0 626.0 324.0 0.51 0.14 1.85 0.61 includes 398.0 458.0 60.0 0.56 0.16 1.88 0.68 and includes 500.0 626.0 126.0 0.72 0.21 2.95 0.87 and includes 704.0 791.0 87.0 0.22 0.13 1.87 0.32















MPD-21-026 371.0 803.0 432.0 0.27 0.13 0.78 0.35 includes 416.0 776.0 360.0 0.30 0.15 0.90 0.40 includes 506.0 770.0 264.0 0.33 0.19 1.06 0.46 includes 563.0 746.0 183.0 0.40 0.24 1.26 0.56 includes 563.0 674.0 111.0 0.53 0.34 1.84 0.76















MPD-21-017 158.0 455.0 297.0 0.23 0.10 0.89 0.30 includes 257.0 338.0 81.0 0.31 0.13 1.41 0.40 and includes 362.0 455.0 93.0 0.31 0.08 0.73 0.37

*Copper equivalent grades (%CuEq) are for comparative purposes only. Calculations are uncut and recovery is assumed to be 100% as no metallurgical data is available. Metal prices of US$4.25/lb copper, US$1,800/oz gold, and US$26/oz silver, using the formula: %CuEq = Cu grade + (Au price x Au grade + Ag price x Ag grade)/31.104/(Cu price*22.046)

**Intervals are downhole drilled core intervals. Drilling data to date is insufficient to determine true width of mineralization.







Figure 1: Gate Zone plan map showing all 2021 drilling with assay results to date. Background is contoured historic copper-in soil data. Porphyry-related mineralization at Gate has been traced down to 850 m depth, across a width of 350 m (east-west) and over 950 m in length (north-south)

To view an enhanced version of Figure 1, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/3803/107538_f5c60f9744bfdb22_002full.jpg







Figure 2: East-West cross sections at 5515250N with new drill holes MPD-21-017 and MPD-21-018

To view an enhanced version of Figure 2, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/3803/107538_f5c60f9744bfdb22_003full.jpg







Figure 3: East-West cross sections at 5515525mN with new drill hole MPD-21-026

To view an enhanced version of Figure 3, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/3803/107538_f5c60f9744bfdb22_004full.jpg







Figure 4: Examples of core from 2021 Drilling at MPD: 4A) MPD-21-018: Semi massive, chalcopyrite-pyrite in quartz-carbonate stockwork/breccia hosted in altered porphyritic andesite. Core is from a 126.0 metre intercept reporting 0.72% Cu, 0.21 g/t Au and 2.95 g/t Ag from 500.0 to 626.0 metres. 4B) MPD-21-026: Chalcopyrite-pyrite (+/-bornite) mineralization with quartz within phyllic-potassic altered, crowded feldspar-hornblende diorite porphyry. Core is from a 111.0 metre intercept reporting 0.53% Cu, 0.34 g/t Au and 1.84 g/t Ag from 563.0 to 674.0 metres. 4C) MPD-21-017: Chalcopyrite-pyrite-hematite mineralization with quartz-carbonate breccia/veining in intensely altered andesite displaying local phyllic overprint. Core is from an 81.0 metre intercept reporting 0.31% Cu, 0.13 g/t Au and 1.41 g/t Ag from 257.8 to 338.0 metres. Images are of selected intervals and do not represent all mineralization on the property.



To view an enhanced version of Figure 4, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/3803/107538_fig4.jpg







Figure 5: 3D model looking north-east showing copper in historic drill holes at the Dillard target (right), Man target (centre) and historic plus Kodiak drilling at the Gate Zone (left). Note that all areas have copper near surface, but significant grades from new drilling at Gate reside below most historic drilling at Dillard and Man (~250-350m depth). Colour contours are >0.1% Cu from previously reported downhole assays using 10m cells.

To view an enhanced version of Figure 5, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/3803/107538_f5c60f9744bfdb22_008full.jpg

Table 2: 2021 MPD Drill Collar Information - Gate Zone

Hole ID Easting (UTM Z10) Northing (UTM Z10) Elevation (m) Azimuth (degrees) Dip (degrees) EOH (m) Reported MPD-21-001 681755 5515769 1258 270 -67 766 2021-07-07 MPD-21-002 681756 5515769 1258 270 -50 750 2021-07-07 MPD-21-003 681415 5515638 1237 165 -60 648 2021-07-07 MPD-21-004 681415 5515638 1237 115 -67 641 2021-07-07 MPD-21-005 681415 5515638 1237 135 -75 86 Lost hole MPD-21-006 681415 5515638 1237 130 -76 821 2021-07-07 MPD-21-007 681415 5515638 1237 270 -60 545 2021-10-18 MPD-21-008 681280 5515076 1204 90 -60 686 2021-10-18 MPD-21-009 681280 5515076 1204 90 -89 713 2021-07-07 MPD-21-010 681280 5515076 1204 270 -80 671 2021-10-18 MPD-21-011 681280 5515076 1204 270 -60 515 2021-10-18 MPD-21-012 681280 5515076 1204 150 -80 713 2021-10-18 MPD-21-013 681280 5515076 1204 150 -70 623 2021-10-18 MPD-21-014 681280 5515076 1204 150 -55 54 Lost Hole MPD-21-015 681280 5515076 1204 150 -50 695 2021-10-18 MPD-21-016 681344 5515246 1197 90 -78 799 2021-10-18 MPD-21-017 681344 5515246 1197 90 -88 587 2021-12-14 MPD-21-018 681344 5515246 1197 90 -70 827 2021-12-14 MPD-21-021 681602 5515544 1248 270 -75 97 Lost hole MPD-21-022 681602 5515544 1248 270 -78 215 Lost hole MPD-21-023 681602 5515544 1248 270 -85 222 Lost hole MPD-21-024 681645 5515498 1265 270 -73 767 2021-10-18 MPD-21-025 681645 5515498 1265 270 -63 278 Lost hole MPD-21-026 681645 5515498 1265 270 -81 812 2021-12-14

Drilling at the Gate Zone continued to identify strongly mineralized porphyry alteration, sulphide zoning and structurally controlled high-grade domains surrounded by lower grade shells (see Figures 1 to 3 and Table 2). To investigate the extents of the Gate Zone, new holes MPD-21-017, 018 and 026 were drilled to infill and test continuity of the higher grade mineralization from two separate set-ups 250 metres apart, and central to the one kilometre long copper in soil anomaly. Holes MPD-21-021 to 023 and MPD-21-025 were also located central to the Gate zone but encountered difficult drilling conditions. All four holes were lost before reaching target depths however the Company may assay these at a later date for geotechnical information.

MPD is a large, consolidated land package (14,716 hectares) located near several operating mines in the southern Quesnel Terrane, British Columbia's primary copper-gold producing belt. The project is located midway between the towns of Merritt and Princeton, with year-round accessibility and excellent infrastructure nearby.

QA/QC Procedures

NQ size core was split and sampled over approximately three metre intervals. All core samples were sent to ALS Canada Ltd. (ALS) in North Vancouver, BC for preparation and analysis. ALS meets all requirements of International Standards ISO/IEC 17025:2005 and ISO 9001:2015 for analytical procedures. Samples were analyzed using ALS's Fire Assay Fusion method (Au-AA24) with an AA finish for gold and by a 33-element four acid digest ICP-AES analysis (ME-ICP61) with additional analysis for Ore Grade Elements (ME-OG62) and Ore Grade Cu (Cu-OG62). In addition to ALS Laboratory quality assurance / quality control (QA/QC) protocols, Kodiak implements an internal QA/QC program that includes the insertion of sample blanks, duplicates, and standards in the field.

Jeff Ward, P.Geo, Vice President Exploration and the Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed and approved the technical information contained in this release. Kodiak believes historic results referenced herein to be from reliable sources using industry standards at the time. However, the Company has not independently verified, or cannot guarantee, the accuracy of this historic information.

On behalf of the Board of Directors

Kodiak Copper Corp.

Claudia Tornquist

President & CEO

For further information contact:

Nancy Curry, VP Corporate Development

ncurry@kodiakcoppercorp.com

+1 (604) 646-8362

About Kodiak Copper Corp.

Kodiak is focused on its 100% owned copper porphyry projects in Canada and the USA. The Company's most advanced asset is the MPD copper-gold porphyry project in the prolific Quesnel Trough in south-central British Columbia, Canada, where the Company made a discovery of high-grade mineralization within a wide mineralized envelope in 2020. Kodiak also holds the Mohave copper-molybdenum-silver porphyry project in Arizona, USA, near the world-class Bagdad mine. Kodiak's porphyry projects have both been historically drilled and present known mineral discoveries with the potential to hold large-scale deposits.

Kodiak's founder and Chairman is Chris Taylor who is well-known for his gold discovery success with Great Bear Resources. Kodiak is also part of Discovery Group led by John Robins, one of the most successful mining entrepreneurs in Canada.

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.

Forward-Looking Statement (Safe Harbor Statement): This press release contains forward looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws. The use of any of the words "anticipate", "plan", "continue", "expect", "estimate", "objective", "may", "will", "project", "should", "predict", "potential" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward looking statements. In particular, this press release contains forward looking statements concerning the Company's exploration plans. Although the Company believes that the expectations and assumptions on which the forward looking statements are based are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on the forward looking statements because the Company cannot give any assurance that they will prove correct. Since forward looking statements address future events and conditions, they involve inherent assumptions, risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially from those currently anticipated due to a number of assumptions, factors and risks. These assumptions and risks include, but are not limited to, assumptions and risks associated with conditions in the equity financing markets, and assumptions and risks regarding receipt of regulatory and shareholder approvals.

Management has provided the above summary of risks and assumptions related to forward looking statements in this press release in order to provide readers with a more comprehensive perspective on the Company's future operations. The Company's actual results, performance or achievement could differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, these forward looking statements and, accordingly, no assurance can be given that any of the events anticipated by the forward looking statements will transpire or occur, or if any of them do so, what benefits the Company will derive from them. These forward looking statements are made as of the date of this press release, and, other than as required by applicable securities laws, the Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update publicly any forward looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/107538
14 December 2021

THE INFORMATION CONTAINED WITHIN THIS ANNOUNCEMENT IS DEEMED BY THE COMPANY TO CONSTITUTE INSIDE INFORMATION AS STIPULATED UNDER THE MARKET ABUSE REGULATION (EU) NO. 596/2014, AS AMENDED ("MAR"). ON THE PUBLICATION OF THIS ANNOUNCEMENT VIA A REGULATORY INFORMATION SERVICE ("RIS"), THIS INSIDE INFORMATION IS NOW CONSIDERED TO BE IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN.

Igraine plc

AQSE: KING

("Igraine" or "the Company")

Investee Update: Excalibur Medicines reports completion of ARCADIA trial & starts to progress commercialisation plans

Investee: EML

Igraine plc maintains a 2% Equity Interest in, Excalibur Medicines Ltd ("EML"), consistent with the terms of the co-investment agreement entered with Excalibur Healthcare Services.

Excalibur Medicines Ltd (EML) is a subsidiary of Excalibur Healthcare Services, founded by leading scientific entrepreneur, Professor Sir Chris Evans, OBE. EML brought together the scientific intellectual property, international funding and a world leading team to take forward the ARCADIA trial. Professor Evans and the Excalibur team sourced investment from Mubadala of Abu Dhabi, one of the world's leading sovereign wealth funds, Excalibur itself, several high net worth individuals, Igraine plc (AQSE: KING) & an HM Government grant through the UKRI/Innovate UK programme.

Excalibur Medicines Ltd ("EML") has secured exclusive rights to and owns the patents on a drug, AZD1656, which is being developed as a potential therapeutic for people with diabetes suffering from COVID-19. As there are very few new therapeutics in development for COVID-19 and associated virally transmitted diseases (most research is in combining existing treatments) this has the potential to be highly attractive to big pharma and biotech buyers.

ARCADIA CLINICAL STUDY REPORT

St George Street Capital, a UK-based biomedical charity, and Excalibur Medicines Ltd., a biotechnology investment company, are pleased to announce completion of the Clinical Study Report from the ARCADIA Phase ll clinical trial which was conducted to assess a therapy that could treat diabetic patients suffering from COVID-19.

St George Street Capital and Excalibur are now undertaking commercial discussions with potential licensees and partners, and examining options for the next stage of the development and approval process. Further analysis to determine the precise nature of the biological effects of AZD1656 that explain the observed clinical outcomes will also be conducted.

The trial data has shown the following:

Efficacy: A strong trend towards reduced mortality in patients receiving AZD1656. The strong trend to improved mortality for patients on AZD1656 was observed on top of patients receiving other medication, including dexamethasone, as part of standard of care.

Safety and tolerability: AZD1656 was shown to be well-tolerated in this patient population with no serious adverse reactions (SARs) occurring. Overall, no safety concerns were identified regarding the use of AZD1656 in this patient population.

Diabetes, whether type 1 or 2, has been the leading single cause of co-morbidity during the pandemic and one in three of all deaths with COVID-19 in hospital in England have been associated with diabetes.

Professor John Martin of UCL, Chairman of St George Street Capital and PI on the Innovate UK grant awarded said: "The completion of the Clinical Study Report is a major milestone and we are encouraged by the trial findings which indicate that AZD1656, a simple oral tablet, has the potential to become a new treatment for COVID-19 - independent of viral mutations - initiating a new wave of therapies for clinicians in meeting this global challenge."

Professor Sir Chris Evans, Executive Chairman of Igraine, and Chairman and CEO of Excalibur Healthcare Services, the parent company of Excalibur Medicines Ltd., said:"We are delighted to have played our part arranging this trial and this report confirms the great potential of AZD1656 to help people who remain vulnerable to COVID-19."

About the ARCADIA Trial

AZD1656 was identified by St George Street Capital as a potential treatment for people with diabetes infected with COVID-19.

The objectives of the ARCADIA clinical trial were to assess the safety and tolerability of a glucose kinase activator, AZD1656, and to determine the effect of the therapy on clinical improvement and mortality in people with diabetes hospitalised with COVID-19. The trial also explored whether AZD1656 benefits COVID-19 patients via its effects on immune function.

ARCADIA was a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase II clinical trial involving 153 patients. The clinical trial was arranged and structured by Professor Sir Chris Evans, Chairman and CEO of Excalibur Healthcare Services, through its subsidiary, Excalibur Medicines Ltd. Sir Chris worked closely with Professor John Martin and his team at St George Street, a UK-based biomedical research charity, which secured the initial project and permission to run the trial from AstraZeneca.

The Directors of the Company, who have issued this RIS announcement after due and careful enquiry, accept responsibility for its content.

Enquiries

Company:

Martin Walton (Executive Director)

Steve Winfield (Executive Director)

AQSE Growth Market Corporate Adviser

Peterhouse Capital Limited

Guy Miller / Mark Anwyl

Tel: +44 (0) 207 469 0930

Media inquiries:

Ramsay Smith, Media House International

ramsay@mediahouse.co.uk: +44 (0) 7788414856
DUBLIN and LOS ANGELES, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Eagle Alpha, the pioneer connecting the universe of alternative data, is excited to announce the release of the 2021 Alternative Data Report: A Year in Review.

As the leading aggregation platform and advisory for data buyers and data vendors, Eagle Alpha reports on the year of ongoing growth in data supply and continued adoption with a widening range of data consumers. Observations into 2021 trends and themes include growth in alternative data datasets by categories and regions, in-demand content including unprecedented regulator actions in the industry, ESG, supply-chain, China, adoption within private markets, corporate data monetization and evolution of alternative data aggregation to platform and data delivery-based hubs.

Another significant trend noted in Eagle Alpha's report is that of private markets using new data sources. Niall Hurley, CEO of Eagle Alpha said, "Whether it is private equity using alternative data for deal origination and due diligence or corporate insight teams using new data sources - the trend is very real and bodes well for the expanding opportunity set for us as an aggregator and our buyer and vendor clients."

Eagle Alpha's platform continues to evolve with a number of user features coming soon. For their data buyer clients they have an improved version of their API to access profile and deep dive compliance data on over 500 datasets within 1,600 datasets on platform. For their data vendor clients they continue to roll out new log-in features to help with buyer discovery and utilities to offer dataset insights.

Niall Hurley, CEO, said: "One must ask how long does it take to source, prioritize, and receive trial data to answer a research question or business need? Most importantly, conversion from trial is a key indicator to follow. With the amount of data supply it has arguably become easier to find the wrong data source. Our solutions are key to support these inefficiencies. There is still significant scope for buyers, aggregators and vendors to work together to improve efficiency in relation to industry standardization, like the FISD initiatives, which supports faster evaluation and compliance processes."

About Eagle Alpha

Established in 2012, Eagle Alpha is the pioneer connecting the universe of alternative data. We are the leading alternative data aggregation platform with supporting advisory services for data buyers and data vendors.

First adopted by alpha-seeking hedge funds over 10 years ago, alternative data is now being sought for use in the wider asset management space, as well as the private equity and corporate verticals.

Eagle Alpha was one of the first companies to recognize the value from these new data sources and has been investing in educating and connecting alternative data vendors and buyers since 2012, in the process building trusted relationships with both sides of this market.

As of December 2021, Eagle Alpha has profiled in excess of 1,600 datasets and provides annual solutions to data buyers and data vendors globally.

A unique breadth of datasets, knowledge of the industry and client relationships have cemented Eagle Alpha as the global leader and strategic partner in the data space. To learn more about Eagle Alpha's solutions for vendors and buyers visit www.eaglealpha.com.

Contact:

Ronit Koren, Chief Marketing Officer, Eagle Alpha

Niall Hurley, CEO of Eagle Alpha

E: ronit.koren@eaglealpha.com

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Technical studies to extend the mine life at San Bartolome are advancing with NI 43-101 Mineral Resource Statement for Silver and Tin expected January

Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - December 14, 2021) - Andean Precious Metals Corporation (TSXV: APM) (OTCQB: ANPMF) ("Andean" or the "Company"), a leading Latin American precious metals producer, is pleased to confirm the launch of a life-of-mine expansion study (the "Expansion Study") at the Company's flagship San Bartolome Mine in Bolivia.

"The Expansion Study is an important part of Andean's strategic plan to extend the mine life of San Bartolome," said Simon Griffiths, President and CEO. "While silver remains our focus, we are increasingly confident that an opportunity exists to expand our production to include tin concentrates." Mr. Griffiths went on to say, "Over ten million tonnes of material have been stockpiled at San Bartolome, which we are testing for economic grades of both silver and tin. Having already been crushed and preferentially sorted, this stockpiled material should be amenable to low-cost handling by hydraulic mining methods." Mr. Griffiths closed by saying, "While the Expansion Study will be built on a foundation of silver production, incorporating tin production at San Bartolome has the potential to enhance cashflows, create a natural hedge against volatility in precious metals prices, and position Andean to benefit from historically high prices. Tin is a critical input for the electronics, solar and battery manufacturing markets, and is in a historic supply deficit with prices rising to nearly $40,000 per tonne. It has also recently been designated by the USA and European Union as a critical metal."

The Company expects to release results from the Expansion Study in three parts:

Updated Mineral Resource Statement (the "MRE"): A new MRE incorporating silver and tin contained in the Company's stockpiles at the fines disposal facility (the "FDF") will be prepared by SRK Consulting (U.S.) inc. with Matthew Hastings acting as Qualified Person. The new MRE is expected to be released in January of 2022.

Scoping Study (the "Scoping Study"): An internal Scoping Study evaluating process options for both silver and tin contained in stockpiles at San Bartolome. The Company will consider several potential processing solutions, including, but not limited to; i) the construction of a new gravity circuit at the existing San Bartolome plant to recover tin, and ii) a stand-alone, tin processing plant separate from the existing San Bartolome infrastructure. The Scoping Study will be prepared by industry leading consultants including Tin specialist Ron Goodman, and is expected to be released in Q1 of 2022.

Tailings Evaluation: Andean has commenced drilling of its dry-stack tailings facility (the "DSF") to evaluate quantities and grades of tin. The DSF contains approximately 18 million tonnes of dry tailings from which silver - but not tin - have been recovered. Material in the DSF will not be included in the updated MRE. The company expects to begin releasing drill results and data from the DSF in Q1 of 2022.

Expansion Study Status

The Company has budgeted approximately US$2M for the Expansion Study, and commenced work in Q2 of 2021. The Company:

Has completed 74 of 76 planned sonic drill holes in the FDF. Average core recovery is over 95%;

Has received approximately 77% of silver assays and 51% of tin assays and is awaiting further results from ALS Labs in Lima, Peru;

Is reviewing the distribution of silver and tin in all size fraction ranges to evaluate the potential to upgrade material through pre-concentration;

Is undertaking gravity concentration test-work on the upgraded material to estimate potential tin recovery and concentrate grades;

Is studying alternative methods for recovery of settled material from the FDF and preparing it for further processing, most probably some form of hydraulic mining; and

Is drilling dedicated holes to retrieve composite samples for metallurgical test-work.

FDF Overview

Since its commissioning in 2008, the San Bartolome Mine has screened out fine material of less than 2.5mm in size (-8 mesh), effectively upgrading the silver content of material that is sent through to the primary carbon-in-leach circuit. Over 10 million tonnes of this untreated material has been stockpiled in the FDF. This material is sampled for silver content before being stockpiled and, based on this sampling data, the Company estimates the silver grade to be between 35 and 40 grams per tonne. In addition to the silver, the deposits from which this material was sourced - predominantly the Cerro Rico - are known to carry significant tin grades.

With the assistance of industry leading consultants, Andean is able to estimate the contained metal content and undertake mineral classification studies to develop a flowsheet for recovery of both the silver and tin in the target resource.

The timeline is set to deliver an initial resource statement before the end of January 2022, followed closely by the Scoping Study later in Q1, 2022. Andean has a significant amount of proprietary data on hand from existing operations which will enable the Company to deliver the Scoping Study on an accelerated basis.

It should be noted that the potential quantity and grade of silver and tin in the stockpiled material is conceptual in nature. There has been insufficient exploration to define a mineral resource and that it is uncertain if further exploration will result in the target being delineated as a mineral resource.

Qualified Person

The scientific and technical content disclosed in this press release was reviewed and approved by Donald J. Birak, Senior Consulting Geologist to the Company, a Qualified Person as defined by Canadian National Instrument 43-101, Registered Member, Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration (SME), Fellow, Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM).

About Andean Precious Metals Corp.

Andean Precious Metals (TSXV: APM) (OTCQB: ANPMF) is a Canadian, growth-focused silver producer that owns and operates the San Bartolome project located in the department of Potosi, Bolivia. San Bartolome has been operating consistently since 2008, producing an average of over five million ounces of silver per year. The Company is also exploring its wholly-owned San Pablo and Rio Blanco gold projects and seeking other accretive opportunities in Bolivia and Latin America. Andean Precious Metals is committed to fostering safe, sustainable and responsible operations. For more information, please visit www.andeanpm.com.

Company Contact

Fraser Buchan

Corporate Development

ir@andeanpm.com

T: +1 647 480 1550 ext. 1550

Investor Contact N.A.

Daniel Weinerman

NATIONAL Capital Markets

dweinerman@national.ca

T: +1 416 848 1715

Media Contact Eur.

Oliver Lamb

Tavistock

andean@tavistock.co.uk

T: +44 20 7920 3150

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange, Inc. 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.

Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains statements which constitute "forward-looking statements" and "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws (collectively, "forward-looking statements"), including statements regarding the plans, intentions, beliefs and current expectations of Andean with respect to future business activities and operating performance. Forward-looking statements are often identified by the words "may", "would", "could", "should", "will", "intend", "plan", "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "expect" or similar expressions.

Investors are cautioned that forward-looking statements are not based on historical facts but instead reflect Andean's expectations, estimates or projections concerning future results or events based on the opinions, assumptions and estimates of management considered reasonable at the date the statements are made. Although Andean believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, such statements involve risks and uncertainties, and undue reliance should not be placed thereon, as unknown or unpredictable factors could have material adverse effects on future results, performance or achievements of Andean. Among the key factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements are the following: changes in general economic, business and political conditions, including changes in the financial markets; changes in applicable laws and regulations both locally and in foreign jurisdictions; compliance with extensive government regulation; the risks and uncertainties associated with foreign markets. These forward-looking statements may be affected by risks and uncertainties in the business of Andean and general market conditions, including COVID-19.

Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should assumptions underlying the forward-looking statements prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described herein as intended, planned, anticipated, believed, estimated or expected. Although Andean has attempted to identify important risks, uncertainties and factors which could cause actual results to differ materially, there may be others that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended and such changes could be material. Andean does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update the forward-looking statements except as otherwise required by applicable law.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/107533
Includes 62.0 meters at 2.1 grams per tonne Gold, 12.4 grams per tonne Silver and 0.62% Copper

Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - December 14, 2021) - Royal Road Minerals Limited (TSXV: RYR) ("Royal Road" or the "Company") is pleased to announce results from the first three drill holes of its current drilling program at the Guintar copper-gold project in Antioquia Department, Colombia.

The Guintar project is part of the Guintar-Niverengo and Margaritas (GNM) project area which comprises the two contiguous Guintar, and Niverengo concession contracts and the neighboring Margaritas concession contract located in the Middle Cauca Valley, approximately 50 Km west of Medellin in Antioquia Department, Colombia. The titles were acquired through the Company's purchase of Northern Colombia Holdings Limited, an affiliate of AngloGold Ashanti Limited (see Press Release May 31, 2019). The GNM area is subject to a Strategic Alliance Agreement between the Company and Mineros S.A. ("Mineros TSX: MSA; see Press Release March 2, 2020). Under the terms of the Agreement, Mineros currently own a 25% interest in the GNM project area and may acquire a further 25% (up to a total 50%) interest by providing the balance of a further USD $1.5M in exploration funding. Royal Road Minerals are operators of the Strategic Alliance.

The Company has received results from the first three diamond drill holes at its Guintar project, details are presented in Table 1 and significant intersections are as follows:

GUI-DD-011 17.9 meters at 0.9 grams per tonne gold GUI-DD-012 303.7 meters at 1.1 grams per tonne gold equivalent[1] (to end of hole) (0.7 grams per tonne gold, 4.3 grams per tonne silver and 0.22% copper) Including (from 143.0 meters) 62.0 meters at 2.1 grams per tonne gold, 12.4 grams per tonne silver and 0.62% copper GUI-DD-013 126.0 meters at 1.4 grams per tonne gold equivalent (0.8 grams per tonne gold, 5.5 grams per tonne silver and 0.34% copper) Including (from 120.0 meters) 55.0 meters at 1.5 grams per tonne gold, 10.8 grams per tonne silver and 0.60% copper; and 44.0 meters at 1.1 grams per tonne gold

(Not true width and the company does not have sufficient information to make a determination of the true widths of the drill hole intersections)

TABLE 1: GUINTAR PRELIMINARY DRILL RESULTS

GOLD SILVER COPPER GOLD EQUIV^ INCLUDES



HOLE ID E N Z(m) DIP AZIM DEPTH FROM TO LENGTH (m)* GRADE (g/t) GRADE (g/t) % GRADE (g/t) LENGTH (m)* GOLD SILVER COPPER GOLD EQUIV GRADE (g/t) GRADE (g/t) %





GUI-DD-011 391643 698953 2244 -75 180 400.6 8.0 18.0 10.0 1.0 4.4 1.1 99.7 117.6 17.9 0.9 1.9 0.9 238.9 242.0 3.2 1.3 2.4 1.3 291.7 296.1 4.4 0.9 1.7 0.9 GUI-DD-012 391870 698821 2185 -60 360 320.7 17.0 320.7 303.7 0.7 4.3 0.22 1.1 62 2.1 12.4 0.62 3.3 GUI-DD-013 391870 698821 2185 -80 360 588.3 68.0 194.0 126.0 0.8 5.5 0.34 1.4 55 1.5 10.8 0.60 2.6 311.0 314.0 3.0 2.4 2.4 351.0 395.0 44.0 1.1 2.1 1.1 441.0 447.0 6.0 1.0 1.0 510.5 516.5 6.0 1.2 3.9 1.3



^GOLD EQUIVALENT CALCULATION ASSUMES USD $1790/OZ GOLD AND USD $22/OZ SILVER AND $4.3/lb COPPER

*NOT TRUE WIDTH

DOWN HOLE CUT-OFF 0.2 g/t gold only

MAXIMUM INTERNAL DILUTION -10 Meters

Drill hole GUI-DD-011 intersected gold mineralized basement rocks belonging to the early-Cretaceous Barroso Formation with low-grade gold (entire drill hole returned 0.2 grams per tonne gold over 400.56 meters) disseminated through the hornfels-altered sequence and higher grade intervals (including 9.8 grams per tonne gold over 1.6 meters) related to lithological contacts and more porous conglomeratic units.

Drill hole GUI-DD-012 intersected strongly altered porphyritic intrusive rocks at 93 meters downhole depth (see Figure 1). Alteration is characterized by biotite related to quartz-chalcopyrite-pyrrhotite mineralized stockwork veinlets and albite related to chalcopyrite-pyrrhotite mineralized sheeted veinlets. Gold, copper and silver are related to both stockwork and sheeted veinlet styles of mineralization. Not applying a cut off, the entire drill hole returned 320.7 meters at 1.1 grams per tonne gold equivalent from surface. This intersection is the first indication of significant porphyry-style, copper and gold mineralization at the Guintar project. Drill hole GUI-DD-013 was located beneath GUI-DD-012 (see Figure 1) and intersected the biotite-altered intrusive suite with associated mineralization at a down hole depth of 118 meters. The entire drill hole returned 588.3 meters at 0.7 grams per tonne gold equivalent. Deeper gold-only mineralization (44.0 meters at 1.1 grams per tonne gold from 351 meters) may be related to a more amphibole-rich intrusive suite.

"These are very exciting initial results from our Guintar project," said Tim Coughlin, Royal Road Minerals President and CEO. "They are the product of some very careful geological work which utilized our existing geochemical database to provide vectors into a potential source of the ten square kilometers of alteration and mineralization we observe at surface. Furthermore, coupled with our Margaritas gold project, located just four kilometers to the southeast of Guintar, it now appears as though we are defining a new and underexplored copper-gold district in the Middle Cauca region".



Figure 1: Location of drill holes, geological map and cross-section A-B, Guintar Project, Colombia

To view an enhanced version of Figure 1, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/4008/107578_figure%201.jpg

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.

The information in this news release was compiled, reviewed and verified by Dr. Tim Coughlin, BSc (Geology), MSc (Exploration and Mining), PhD (Structural Geology), FAusIMM, President and CEO of Royal Road Minerals Ltd and a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101. Royal Road Minerals employees are instructed to follow standard operating and quality assurance procedures intended to ensure that all sampling techniques and sample results meet international reporting standards. More information can be found on Royal Road Minerals web site at www.royalroadminerals.com.

Quality Assurance and Quality Control:

Sample preparation and analyses are conducted according to standard industry procedures. Drill core samples are crushed, split and pulverized prior to analysis of Gold by fire assay and Atomic Absorption and multi-elements by ICP-AES and ICP-MS after four acid digestion. Stream sediment samples are sieved to -200 mesh and analyzed for Gold by fire assay and ICP AES and multi-elements by ICP-AES and ICP-MS after aqua regia digestion. Analytical performance is monitored by means of certified reference materials (CRMs), coarse blanks, coarse and pulp duplicate samples. Surface samples have been prepared in ALS Chemex preparation lab in Colombia and analyses have been completed in ALS Chemex Lima.

Cautionary statement:

This news release contains certain statements that constitute forward-looking information and forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws (collectively, "forward-looking statements") describing the Company's future plans and the expectations of its management that a stated result or condition will occur. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company, or developments in the Company's business or in the mineral resources industry, to differ materially from the anticipated results, performance, achievements or developments expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include all disclosure regarding possible events, conditions or results of operations that is based on assumptions about, among other things, future economic conditions and courses of action, and assumptions related to government approvals, and anticipated costs and expenditures. The words "plans", "prospective", "expect", "intend", "intends to" and similar expressions identify forward looking statements, which may also include, without limitation, any statement relating to future events, conditions or circumstances. Forward-looking statements of the Company contained in this news release, which may prove to be incorrect, include, but are not limited to the Company's exploration plans.

The Company cautions you not to place undue reliance upon any such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date they are made. There is no guarantee that the anticipated benefits of the Company's business plans or operations will be achieved. The risks and uncertainties that may affect forward-looking statements include, among others: economic market conditions, anticipated costs and expenditures, government approvals, and other risks detailed from time to time in the Company's filings with Canadian provincial securities regulators or other applicable regulatory authorities. Forward-looking statements included herein are based on the current plans, estimates, projections, beliefs and opinions of the Company management and the Company does not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking statements should assumptions related to these plans, estimates, projections, beliefs and opinions change.



For further information please contact:

Dr. Timothy Coughlin

President and Chief Executive Officer

+44 (0)1534 887166

info@royalroadminerals.com

[1] Gold equivalent calculation assumes USD $1790/Oz gold, USD $22/Oz SILVER and USD $4.3/lb Copper

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/107578
- McWin leads a $175 million Series C financing round with Rage Capital.

- The fund advances its commitment to transform the global food system and continues its support for sustainability.

WROCLAW, Poland, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- McWin Food Ecosystem, the fund created by Henry McGovern and Steven K. Winegar, founder of AmRest and co-founder of Zena Group, respectively, joins the shareholding of the US company, market leader in fermentation processes, engineering, manufacturing and creation of real, non-animal proteins for the food industry, The EVERY Company, becoming one of the main shareholders of one of the most important FoodTech companies in the world.

McWin, which has Nortia Capital as a reference investor, has led a Series C financing round together with Rage Capital -which was already a shareholder of the company- in which $175 million have been raised. In addition, leading firms such as Temasek, Wheatsheaf Group, TO Ventures and Prosus Ventures, among others, participated in the round. This has been widely oversubscribed in an environment where the demand for alternative proteins has grown enormously and where the ingredients industry needs to catch up and where The EVERY Company is positioned as the leading candidate to fill the gap.

"The restaurant industry is one of the early adopters of new food technologies and their introduction to the consumer. Given our deep roots in restaurants and as a prolific investor in the leading alternative protein companies, McWin is uniquely equipped to support EVERY's ambitious plans to bring its products to menus worldwide," said Henry McGovern, founder of McWin Food Ecosystem Fund and AmRest, which operates over 2,300 restaurants globally. "Eggs are not only ubiquitous, but they are also incredibly difficult to replace; we see tremendous potential in EVERY's revolutionary technology."

With this transaction, McWin takes a step forward in its commitment to advancing sustainability, transforming the global food system and transitioning it to a non-animal protein sector. This transaction brings The EVERY Company's funding to $233 million. The company plans to use these funds to scale production, accelerate commercial launches, initially in the US, build a strong portfolio of non-animal protein products, and develop a broad range of new food uses and applications.

The EVERY Company has disrupted the food technology industry by creating a platform for producing real protein without using a single animal. Last year, the company launched the first non-animal pepsin with Ingredion. More recently, it launched the first non-animal egg protein using exclusively fermentation techniques. The EVERY Company expects to continue to expand its production base by using its egg proteome to create new hyper-functional proteins.

"There has never been a better time to be a B2B ingredients platform," said Arturo Elizondo, CEO & founder of The EVERY Company. "As the world's biggest food companies work to evolve their product offerings into the 21st century by driving for cleaner, kinder, and more sustainable labels, the options available are few and far between. We at EVERY are perfectly positioned to enable the world's largest and smallest food companies to transition to an animal-free future -- without compromises. Now, our major objective is to scale the platform to make good on our promise to bring our proteins to everyone everywhere. This new injection of capital will allow us to do just that."
This acquisition solidifies CellCarta's leadership position in genomic services with a unique combination of assay development and global clinical trial sample analysis capabilities covering a comprehensive range of established and cutting-edge genomic technologies.

MONTREAL, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- CellCarta, a leading global provider of precision medicine laboratory services, announced today the acquisition of Biogazelle ("Biogazelle"), a leader in genomic testing solutions. Located in Ghent (Belgium), Biogazelle develops and deploys high-end digital PCR (dPCR), quantitative PCR (qPCR) and RNASeq assays for its pharmaceutical and biotech industry clients.

With decades of experience in gene expression analysis, the Biogazelle team is uniquely positioned and skilled in the application of quantitative PCR and digital PCR. Co-founders Jan Hellemans and Jo Vandesompele are internationally recognized for setting standards in gene expression analysis. Biogazelle, a Ghent University spin-off with the financial support of BNP Paribas Fortis and the investment funds of Qbic, PMV and the Fournier-Majoie Foundation, was the first European laboratory to offer the dPCR technology and is still at the forefront of dPCR-based research. The group also provides dedicated RNA sequencing workflows on clinical samples such as liquid biopsies and FFPE tissues.

"Biogazelle's exceptional genomics expertise will enable CellCarta to further support its clients' therapeutic development strategies, offering them key solutions to address their clinical challenges and move their immunology and other programs forward" said Martin LeBlanc, CEO of CellCarta. Acquiring Biogazelle strengthens CellCarta's growth strategy to become the leading provider of precision medicine services and will allow the organization to extend genomic services from discovery to clinical settings. "We are very excited to join forces with CellCarta. With both organizations driven by scientific excellence and innovation, it's the logical next step for us to maximally leverage our know-how and services on a truly global scale." said Roel Sterken, CEO of Biogazelle.

While continuing to offer its current breadth of genomic services, Biogazelle will become CellCarta's Center of Excellence for the development of complex genomic biomarker assays. The acquisition allows CellCarta to expand its offering to clients in fields with high demand in genomic analysis, such as immuno-oncology and cell and gene therapy.

About CellCarta

CellCarta is a leading provider of specialized precision medicine laboratory services to the biopharmaceutical industry. Leveraging its integrated analytical platforms in immunology, histopathology, proteomics and genomics, as well as related specimen collection and logistics services, CellCarta supports the entire drug development cycle, from discovery to late-stage clinical trials. The company operates globally with 10 facilities located in Canada, USA, Belgium, Australia, and China.

For more information: cellcarta.com

About Biogazelle

Biogazelle offers expert laboratory services in nucleic acid quantification (gene expression, mutation and copy number analysis, antisense oligonucleotide screening) to support its customers in their development of diagnostics and therapeutics. Customized workflows for clinically relevant samples - from liquid biopsies to fixed tissues - are available. In addition, Biogazelle's advanced RNA biomarker development program offers an end- to-end solution from RNA biomarker panel discovery (including liquid biopsies) to the development of a PCR-based molecular diagnostic test. Biogazelle also serves as a specialty lab in the field of clinical trials and in routine diagnostic settings.

For more information: biogazelle.com

Media Contact for CellCarta: Prosek Partners, Jackie Schofield, Jschofield@prosek.com; CellCarta, Guylaine Galipeau, Global Marketing Director, CellCarta, ggalipeau@caprion.com; Biogazelle, Roel Sterken, CEO, Biogazelle, +32/470.888.700, Roel.sterken@biogazelle.com

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LONDON, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- According to Brandessence Market research, the tremendous promise of microalgae biofuel, rich potential as a nutraceutical is likely to drive a robust CAGR-driven growth of 4.5% during the 2020-2027 period. The microalgae market reached a valuation of USD 3671.8 million in 2020 and is likely to reach USD 4996.8 million by 2027 end. By our Expert Analysis Microalgae promises high nutritional value, and with increased awareness about its health benefits, the demand for consumption, and as agent in food industry, microalgae continues to grow. Microalgae today is widely used as a coloring agent in the food industry, wherein despite the high costs of harvesting, and complex food regulations, it continues to witness robust growth.

Cosmetic Remains a Promising New Driver of Growth

With growing awareness about ingredients in cosmetic products due to social media, demand for ideal alternatives to animal-based ingredients continues to rise. Furthermore, animal-based ingredients also face tremendous scrutiny as their demand varies depending on various religious practices. Hence, demand for plant-based, natural, and safe ingredient like algae continues to rise in cosmetic industry. The industry is also undertaking large amounts of experimentation, as increased scrutiny of brands, and cosmetics remains the status-quo. The growing demand for microalgae in the cosmetics industry, globally, remains a promising driver of growth.

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Microalgae Market: Competitive Analysis

The microalgae market is a fragmented and innovative landscape. Some key players in the global microalgae market are Earthrise Nutritionals, LLC (U.S.), Fuqing King Dnarmsa Spirulina Co.Ltd. (China), Cyanotech Corporation (U.S.), E.I.D. - Parry (India) Limited (India), Dongtai City Spirulina Bio-Engineering Co. Ltd. (China), among others.

Microalgae Market Segmentation Analysis:

By Product

Dunaliella Salina

Spirulina

Chlorella

By Distribution Channel

Online Sales

Hyper Market or Super Market

Retail Stores

By Application

Pharmaceutical Industry

Cosmetics Industry

Food and Feed Industry

Chemical Industry

Other

Microalgae are microscopic plants, which are undetectable to the naked eye. These are quickly becoming the favourite topic for environmental conservationists, as these are responsible for producing half of the atmospheric oxygen. Moreover, their photosynthesis also uses carbon dioxide for their own growth, simultaneously aiding the environment. Moreover, microalgae promise to produce over 15,000 compounds including antioxidants, carotenoids, fatty acids, polymers, enzymers, sterols, peptides, and toxins. Growing demand for microalgae in applications like food and beverage, animal feed, nutraceuticals, cosmetics, among others remain an important driver of growth for the microalgae market. Regions like Europe also continue to drive initiatives for artificial production of microalgae, to cater to demand for microalgae as biofuels.

A microalga as a biofuel has long been a dream for policy makers, and scientists around the world. A wide range of the specie has been used for human nutrition, as biofuel, in aquaculture, and even as biofertiliser in agriculture. However, due to the low cell density of the specie, the industrial production has remained limited, especially in its use as a low-cost commodity. Despite this challenge, the promise of microalgae as a key resource for biofuel continues to grow. Microalgae strains can offer higher amounts of lipid, higher photosynthetic yield, and faster biomass growth land-based plants. Furthermore, new advancements like solid nano-additives and nano-fluid applications promise conversion to biofuels, with enhancements in biofuel combustion.

Global Microalgae Market: Key Trends

The microalgae market is divided into key types including spirulina, dunaliella salina, chlorella, haematococcus pluviallis, and others. Among these, the spirulina is likely to witness largest growth, due to increasing demand for its properties in nutraceuticals. Its growth is led by growing demand for natural food colors, increased scrutiny of synthetic colors by regulatory authorities, and increased demand for plant-based foods remain its key drivers. The spirulina-based foods like fatty acids, also promise a wide range of applications, and its use in applications like animal feed in aquaculture also remains a prominent driver of its growth.

Microalgae has also shown major promise in pharmaceutical products including anticancer, antimalarial, anti-HIV, antimicrobial, among others. In October, 2021, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of the United States approved the C-Spirulina gastic emptying breath test. The test developed by Cairn Diangotic has now been expanded to use in home-based testing, when earlier it required the guidance of a physician in a clinical setting. The test determines the presence of a gastroparesis, a condition that is rapidly becoming more prevalent, especially among young women. Increasing demand for such microalgae-based pharmaceutical products remains a major opportunity for commercialization during the forecast period.

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North America is expected to dominate the Microalgae Market.

North America accounts for the largest market share over the forecast period and expected to lead the market. Due to the presence of developed economies such as U.S., Canada and others coupled with increase in health awareness and high disposable income are expected to drive the growth of microalgae market. Europe is expected to the second largest region due to the various research and development activities coupled with technological advancement. Asia Pacific is expected to be the fastest developing region owing to the presence of developing economies. Furthermore, increased adoption of advanced technology and increase in food and beverage industry coupled with increased use of nutritional and health supplement which in turn drive the growth of microalgae market in the near future. Latin America, Africa and Middle East is expected to develop at a considerable rate over the forecast period.

If you have any region Specific Requirement than Check Below Regions:

North America

U.S, Canada

Europe

Germany, France,U.K., Italy, Spain, Sweden, Netherland, Turkey, Switzerland, Belgium, Rest of Europe

Asia-Pacific

South Korea, Japan, China, India, Australia, Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Rest Of APAC,

Latin America

Mexico, Colombia, Brazil, Argentina, Peru, Rest of Latin America

Middle East and Africa

Saudi Arabia , UAE, Egypt, South Africa, Rest Of MEA

Microalgae Market: Notable Developments

In June, 2021, collaboration between biopharmaceutical company Lumen Bioscience, and Novo Nordisk came to fruition. According to Lumen's press release, the collaboration aims to support the diversity of certain biological aspect found within the gastrointestinal tract. The company has developed spirulina-based drugs which can be delivered orally, promising smaller molecule therapies - aimed at people with obesity.

The growth of microalgae remains a major concern for scaling up of its industrial production. a new research may allay this concern in the near future. In November, 2021, researchers from The Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) noted a new variety of green algae chlamydomonas, grows 20% faster than original specie, and store twice the starch, when exposed to radioactive rays. While many factors need to be considered before its commercial application, growing interest in microalgae and its promise for biofuel remains a major interest area for researchers around the world.

In August, 2021, The Nuseed Nutritional U.S Inc launched a new microalgae based product, 'Total Omega-3 Canola Oil'. The company claims that it is the world's first plant-based source of omega-3 fatty acids. According to its press release, it has applied the plant-to-plant biotechnology to bring the nutrition of microalgae to consumers. The nutrition including DHA+EPA conventionally remained limited to fish, and consumption of alage found in the wild. However, growing overexploitation of marine resources, and increased demand from non-coastal regions for fish stocks, and its derived products have fuelled a pressing need for new sources of Omega-3 fatty oil like artificial production of microalgae.

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LAS VEGAS, NV / ACCESSWIRE / December 14, 2021 / CLS Holdings USA, Inc. (OTCQB:CLSH)(CSE:CLSH), the 'Company' or 'CLS', a diversified cannabis company operating as Cannabis Life Sciences, today announced the financial and operational results for its Nevada wholly owned subsidiaries for the month of November 2021 with net revenues of $1.8M and a gross margin of 56%. This represented a significant monthly increase in gross margin of 20% year over year and 66% over 2019 as well as the largest gross margin the Company has ever achieved. The wholesale branded division at City Trees remained hot with monthly net revenue growth of 91% year over year and 132% over 2019.

CLS Nevada November 2021 Financial and Operational Highlights

The Company's retail division, Oasis Cannabis continued to exceed its goal of a greater than $50 average order size with orders averaging $54 in November

The Company's branded division, City Trees, continued to outperform the market and achieved a 91% increase in year-over-year revenue and a 132% increase from 2019

City Trees continued to maintain its position as the number one selling tincture brand in the state of Nevada

The Company achieved its greatest monthly gross profit margin to date

BDS Analytics numbers reflected that City Trees was the number one brand for the entire concentrate category in units sold in the state of Nevada during October, selling over 46,000 units.

"It's been an exciting 2021," noted Company President & COO Andrew Glashow. "We are all systems go at this point. With our innovation lab pumping out what we believe to be the best quality product in the state of Nevada, a growing number of consumers continuing to purchase City Trees and show up at our OASIS dispensary we are poised for continued growth in '22. The future looks bright at CLS!"

Please note that effective as of January 2022, the Company will transition from monthly to quarterly reporting and will hold investor quarterly calls.

About CLS Holdings USA, Inc.

CLS Holdings USA, Inc. (CLSH) is a diversified cannabis company that acts as an integrated cannabis producer and retailer through its Oasis Cannabis subsidiaries in Nevada and plans to expand to other states. CLS stands for "Cannabis Life Sciences," in recognition of the Company's patented proprietary method of extracting various cannabinoids from the marijuana plant and converting them into products with a higher level of quality and consistency. The Company's business model includes licensing operations, processing operations, processing facilities, sale of products, brand creation and consulting services. https://www.clsholdingsinc.com/

Twitter: @CLSHoldingsUSA

Oasis Cannabis has operated a cannabis dispensary in the Las Vegas market since dispensaries first opened in Nevada in 2015 and has been recognized as one of the top marijuana retailers in the state. Its location within walking distance to the Las Vegas Strip and Downtown Las Vegas in combination with its delivery service to residents allows it to efficiently serve both locals and tourists in the Las Vegas area. In February 2019, it was named "Best Dispensary for Pot Pros" by Desert Companion Magazine. In August 2017, the company commenced wholesale offerings of cannabis in Nevada with the launch of its City Trees brand of cannabis concentrates and cannabis-infused products. http://oasiscannabis.com

Founded in 2017, City Trees is a Nevada-based cannabis cultivation, production and distribution company. Offering a wide variety of products with consistent results, City Trees products are available in numerous dispensaries throughout the state of Nevada. https://citytrees.com

Forward Looking Statements

This press release contains certain 'forward-looking information' within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation and 'forward-looking statements' as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (collectively, the 'forward-looking statements'). These statements relate to, among other things, the impact of the COVID-19 virus on our business, the results of our initiatives to retain our employees and strengthen our relationships with our customers and community during the pandemic, the effect of our initiatives to expand market share and achieve growth during and following the pandemic, results of operations and financial performance, anticipated future events, and the effectiveness of our business practices during the pandemic. The continued spread of COVID-19 could have, and in some cases already has had, an adverse impact on our business, operations and financial results, including through disruptions in our cultivation and processing activities, supply chains and sales channels, and retail dispensary operations as well as a deterioration of general economic conditions including a possible national or global recession. Due to the uncertainties associated with the continued spread of COVID-19 and the timing of vaccinations, it is not possible to estimate its impact on our business, operations or financial results; however, the impact could be material. In some cases, you can identify forward looking statements by terminology such as 'may,' 'might,' 'will,' 'should,' 'intends,' 'expects,' 'plans,' 'goals,' 'projects,' 'anticipates,' 'believes,' 'estimates,' 'predicts,' 'potential,' or 'continue' or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. These forward-looking statements are only predictions, are uncertain and involve substantial known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause our actual results, levels of activity or performance to be materially different from any future results, levels of activity or performance expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. We cannot guarantee future results, levels of activity or performance. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date that they were made. These cautionary statements should be considered together with any written or oral forward-looking statements that we may issue in the future. Except as required by applicable law, we do not intend to update any of the forward-looking statements to conform these statements to reflect actual results, later events or circumstances or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. See CLS Holdings USA filings with the SEC and on its SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com for additional details.

Contact Information:

Corporate:

Chairman and CEO

Jeff Binder

President and COO

Andrew Glashow

888-438-9132

Investor Relations:

investors@clsholdingsinc.com

SOURCE: CLS Holdings USA, Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/677147/Going-Up-CLS-Holdings-USA-Inc-Announces-November-Results-With-Record-Breaking-Gross-Profit-Margin
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - December 14, 2021) - Black Mountain Gold USA Corp. (TSXV: BMG) ("BMG" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has received the results of the Induced Polarization (IP) survey completed by Geofisica TMC S.A. de C.V. ("TMC") at its Mohave Gold Project in Mohave County, Arizona. The survey was comprised of 19 north-south lines varying from 1.17 km to 2.25 km in length for a total of approximately 38 line km. The survey focussed on the northern half of the Mohave Gold Project and covered approximately 3.7 km2 over the main gold-bearing prospects and historical mining areas on the property. Preliminary interpretations of the data indicate that most historic prospects are situated along the margin of a moderate chargeability anomaly which at depth extends under several prospects suggesting potential to extend known gold mineralization below the oxide zone.

Graham Harris, CEO and Director, commented, "BMG is encouraged by the results from the IP survey over the northern prospects on the property. The various anomalies suggest potential to expand mineralized zones at depth into the sulphide domain as well as identifying various buried targets. Detailed interpretation of the IP results and optimization for drill targeting are underway in preparation for the drill program planned for 2022."

The IP survey is situated where historical drilling, soil surveys and historic and recent rock chip sampling programmes have outlined large areas of low-sulfidation epithermal gold mineralization in mostly flat lying structural zones of quartz-calcite veins, stockworks and breccias. The IP survey was designed to detect chargeability and resistivity anomalies to a depth of approximately 250m. In general chargeability results reflect the amount of sulphide mineralization in the rock units and at 50m below surface two large chargeability anomalies of moderate strength were delineated. Anomaly 1 is oriented northwest-southeast and is 1,100m by 500m and Anomaly 2 is also oriented northwest-southeast and is 1,000m by 600m (see Figure 1). At a depth of 250m the anomalies appear to merge creating a coherent zone approx. 2,400m by 1,400m. Modelling of the historical drilling and the chargeability anomaly at a depth of 100m below surface, shown in Fig 2, indicates that this drilling was mainly shallow and did not test the deeper part of chargeability anomalies.

The resistivity data at 50m below surface outlines a ring-shaped resistivity low approximately 2,000m across with a modest-high resistivity core (see Fig.3) although in places it appears to extend beyond the survey boundaries. At depth the ring shape erodes below 100m and an area 1800m long by 800m wide of moderate-high resistivity dominates (see Fig 4). Known gold prospects are associated with both resistivity lows (Klondyke, Apex, Jim & Jerry) and small resistivity highs (Scout, Epidote Ridge, and Golden Door) at the 50m depth.







Figure 1 Chargeability plan at -50m showing the two chargeability zones main prospects situated at the anomaly edges, and the historic drilholes.

To view an enhanced version of Figure 1, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/4674/107551_d00bd65de46978c4_001full.jpg







Figure 2 3D model showing a 8-15mV moderate chargeability anomaly shell east of Klondyke from -50m to -100m and historic drillholes.

To view an enhanced version of Figure 2, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/4674/107551_d00bd65de46978c4_002full.jpg







Figure 3 Resistivity plan at -50m showing ring-shaped low resistivity anomaly

To view an enhanced version of Figure 3, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/4674/107551_d00bd65de46978c4_003full.jpg







Fig. 4 Resistivity plan at -200m showing expansion of the resistivity high at depth and the low situated primarily west of Klondyke.

To view an enhanced version of Figure 4, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/4674/107551_d00bd65de46978c4_004full.jpg

The correlation between known prospects and low chargeability at the edge of the moderate chargeability anomaly may reflect the oxide nature of the mineralized zones. The 3D model indicates low chargeability to approx. 100 m depth which is consistent with the level of the oxide-sulphide transition zone encountered in several of the deeper historic drillholes. Many of the past drill holes did not reach the deeper higher chargeability anomalies suggesting potential to expand mineralized zones at depth. The -50m depth chargeability plan reveals several buried moderate chargeability anomalies east of Klondyke and south of Epidote Ridge which will be considered for drilling in 2022.

The location of the various prospects in the low resistivity ring may be related to increased post-mineral faulting and fracturing in some of the mineralized zones. The moderate resistivity core correlates with an airborne MAG high and geologically with a diorite body identified at surface. At depth this zone expands and may represent a more extensive intrusion in the area with more extensive silicification. The 3D model in this area also indicates previous drilling was too shallow to test the moderate low resistivity zone suggesting potential to extend zones of mineralization at depth.

Detailed interpretation of the IP data is ongoing and TMC recommended four areas for drilling, all within chargeability Zones 1 and 2. BMG will incorporate these recommendations into its 2022 drill program planning as it continues to optimize and delineate drillhole locations designed to expand known prospects and to test buried targets outlined by the IP survey.

This news release has been reviewed by Peter J. MacLean, Ph.D., P. Geo, Director of the Company and a Qualified Person as that term is defined in National Instrument 43-101.

To find out more about Black Mountain Gold USA Corp. please contact Investor Relations at (604) 662-8184 or email info@blackmountaingoldusa.com.

BLACK MOUNTAIN GOLD USA CORP.

"Graham Harris"

CEO, Director

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.

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 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, regulatory or government requirements or approvals including approvals of title and mining rights or licenses, the reliability of third party information, continued access to mineral properties or infrastructure, changes in laws, rules and regulations in Arizona which may impact upon the Company or its properties or the commercial exploitation of those properties, currency risks including the exchange rate of USD$ for Cdn$, fluctuations in the market for gold/silver, changes in exploration costs and government royalties, export policies or taxes in Arizona and other factors or information. The Company's current plans, expectations and intentions with respect to development of its business and of the Mohave Gold Project may be impacted by economic uncertainties arising out of Covid-19 pandemic or by the impact of current financial and other market conditions on its ability to secure further financing or funding of the Mohave Gold Project. 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 affections such statements and information other than as required by applicable laws, rules and regulations.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/107551
Val-d'Or, Quebec--(Newsfile Corp. - December 14, 2021) - International Prospect Ventures Ltd. (TSXV: IZZ) (the "Company" or "IZZ"), is pleased to announce that it has, through staking, increased its 100% owned land package in the Elliot Lake Uranium Camp, Ontario, Canada. The new properties, named Elliot Lake South and Elliot Lake North Shore (collectively the "Property"), cover 6447 ha (298 claims) and 3843.5 ha (185 claims), respectively. These two new properties, along with the previously announced Elliot Lake North property, bring the total area held by the Company in the Elliot Lake Uranium Camp to nearly 13 square kilometres.

Martin Walter, CEO of IZZ, commented, "These additional 100% owned uranium properties in the historically prolific Elliot Lake Uranium Camp enhance our Company profile as IZZ strategically acquires a portfolio of high-quality projects to be well positioned in the uranium and gold sectors."

At its height in the 1950s, there were 12 mines and 3 mills established in the Elliot Lake region with all of the historical uranium mines brought into production between 1955 and 1958. Mines of the two largest past producers, Denison Mines and Rio Algom (now BHP Billiton), were located on the north and south limbs of the Quirke Syncline, locally referred to as "the Big Z", a gently folded westward plunging syncline comprising Paleoproterozoic Huronian Supergroup sedimentary rocks.

The Elliot Lake North and Elliot Lake South uranium properties are located on the north and south limbs of the Quirke Syncline, respectively (Figure 1). Details about the Elliot Lake North property were previously announced (see Company news release date October 20, 2021).

The newly acquired Elliot Lake South property consists of at least 8 historical uranium occurrences, defined mainly by diamond drilling intersections in the Matinenda and Mississagi formations. The property comprises 3 non-contiguous claim groups with the largest group (289 claims) located about 10 km west of the historical Nordic Mine and about 5.6 km and 7.5 km west of the historical Milliken and Lacnor mines, respectively. The two smaller claim groups total 9 claims, with 7 claims immediately east of the Nordic Mine and 2 claims about 1.5 km northeast of the Nordic Mine.

The Elliot Lake North Shore property (Figure 1) covers more than 23 km (east-west strike) of the Matinenda Formation, the primary target host lithology for uranium mineralization in the Elliot Lake area. This new property is immediately east and long strike of the Pronto Mine which was in production from 1953 to 1960 (Rio Algom Mines Ltd.). The Elliot Lake North Shore property also covers several historical uranium occurrences, including the Spragge Creek Occurrence (1953) which reported a historical grab rock sample of 0.11% U 3 O 8 .

All historical information related to the Elliot Lake Uranium Camp has been derived from Ontario Publications available online through the Ministry of Energy, Northern Development and Mines ("MENDM"). A Qualified Person, as such term is defined in National Instrument 43-101, has not independently verified such historical information set out above. Further, mineralization occurring outside of the properties held by the Company is not necessarily indicative of the mineralization occurring within the boundaries of the properties.

Ontario is considered a tier-1 mining jurisdiction with many mining projects in development and production across multiple commodities. The Company's initial work plans for the area will consist of desktop studies and historical data compilation of all available data, including regional radiometric surveys, satellite imagery, drill hole data, and assessment reports.

Qualified Person

Dr. Scott Jobin-Bevans, (PhD, PMP, P.Geo.), a Director and Vice-President, Exploration for the Company, is a Qualified Person pursuant to National Instrument 43-101 and has reviewed and approved of the technical content of this press release as it relates to the Property.

For additional information, please contact:

Martin Walter

President/CEO

2864 chemin Sullivan

Val-d'Or, Quebec J9P 0B9

Tel.: 416-389-5692

Email: martin.walter@iprospectventures.ca

Website: www.iprospectventures.ca

Forward-Looking Statements:

This news release contains certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking statements". Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects", "plans", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "projects", "potential" and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will", "would", "may", "could" or "should" occur. 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 realities may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs, estimates and opinions of the Company's management on the date the statements are made. Except as required by law, the Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements in the event that management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change.

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 news release.





Figure 1. Location of IZZ's Elliot Lake uranium properties superimposed on the generalized geology, uranium occurrences, and past producing mines within the Elliot Lake Uranium Camp (data source and geology from MENDM, 2021).

To view an enhanced version of Figure 1, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/7051/107554_e53687a1944ccbfc_002full.jpg.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/107554
BrowserStack, the world's leading software testing platform, today announced the acquisition of Nightwatch.js, the popular open-source test automation framework. BrowserStack will work with the Nightwatch team to make Nighwatch.js the de-facto choice for developers. Nightwatch.js will continue to remain open-source and free.

Nightwatch.js, the Node.js powered end-to-end test automation framework, is among the fastest-growing Selenium-based tools with 1 million monthly npm installs and over 10.5k GitHub stars. With its simple syntax and an in-built test runner, developers can run and manage tests without any hassle.

"Partnering with BrowserStack gives us the resources to build for the future and scale Nightwatch to greater heights," said Andrei Rusu, Creator of Nighwatch.js. "Our focus will be to proactively engage with the community for feedback and roll out updates to improve the core experience for developers. We've already launched Nightwatch 2.0 in beta, and we're excited about the next chapter."

Welcoming Nightwatch.js into its family of open-source collaborations, BrowserStack is doubling down on its support for the community and intends to scale such partnerships in the future. BrowserStack's Open Source Team actively participates and contributes to the open-source ecosystem. In addition, through its Open Source Program, BrowserStack has backed over 2,400 open source projects, enabling maintainers and contributors to test their software for free.

"When open-source wins, everyone wins. Many of BrowserStack's own products are built on open-source technologies, and we know first-hand their power to bring significant change," said Nakul Aggarwal, Co-founder and CTO of BrowserStack. "With Nightwatch.js, we're taking another step towards our vision of becoming the testing infrastructure for the internet-through open and inclusive development."

About BrowserStack

BrowserStack is the world's leading software testing platform powering over two million tests every day across 15 global data centers. They help Microsoft, Twitter, Barclays, Expedia, and over 50,000 customers deliver quality software at speed by moving testing to our Cloud. Their platform provides instant access to 2,500+ real mobile devices and browsers on a highly reliable cloud infrastructure that effortlessly scales as testing needs grow. With BrowserStack, Dev and QA teams can move fast while delivering an amazing experience for every customer.

Founded in 2011, BrowserStack is a privately held company backed by Accel with offices in San Francisco, Mumbai, and Dublin. For more information, visit https://www.browserstack.com or follow on Twitter @browserstack.

About Nightwatch.js

Nightwatch.js is an integrated, open-source end-to-end testing solution for web applications and websites written in Node.js. Released in 2014, their vision is to deliver a tool packed with everything developers need out of the box to ship bug-free software easily. For more details, visit https://nightwatchjs.org/ or follow on Twitter @nightwatchjs.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211214005737/en/

Contacts:

Ayushi Jain

press@browserstack.com
Lisarb Energy announced today that it has entered the wind market by signing a 97 MW renewable power purchase agreement (PPA) with Tradener Ltda, one of the largest energy trading companies in Brazil.

Lisarb Energy will deliver the 97 MW from a wind farm currently under development in Rio Grande do Norte. The wind farm will be commissioned in summer 2023 and will deliver energy for the PPA from early 2024. Over the 12-year contract, the project will produce around 4.4 TWh and will prevent the release of an estimated 180,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide annually.

Lisarb Energy will invest BRL 244.4M (32.5m) to deliver the wind farm. The 12-year PPA is valued at BRL 864M (115.2m).

"We are working to expand our own sustainable energy projects with nearly 600 MW already operating, in development or construction. This important deal with Lisarb Energy will help us to reach our goal to supply 1 GW of sustainable energy to our customers," said Jorge Caliari Diretor Comercial at Tradener.

Jamie Macdonald-Murray, chairman at Lisarb Energy, added: "Wind energy has a promising future in Brazil, and we are delighted to be working with Tradener to help deliver clean power to its customers. We are proud to be able to offer an end-to-end solution to develop, build and operate projects that will serve the needs of communities and businesses in a sustainable way."

Lisarb Energy has a rapidly expanding portfolio of renewable energy projects internationally including solar power plant and wind farms in addition to investments in innovative renewable technologies including floating offshore wind and marine energy. It has recently signed PPA contracts with Raizen, and a number of other corporate clients.

Notes to editors

Lisarb Energy is a fast-growing global renewable energy developer.

The success and growth of Lisarb Energy during the last eighteen months has enabled it to develop a substantial portfolio of renewable energy projects. Currently, the Group has a portfolio of solar PV plants and wind farms in development and construction for Centralised and Distributed Energy markets in Brazil, Portugal, Spain, and the UK, totalling 3.5 GW.

www.lisarb.energy

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211214005807/en/

Contacts:

For further information or interview opportunities contact:

Karen Boud

PR Consultant for Lisarb Energy

Resonates

Tel: +44 (0)1635 898698

Email: lisarb@resonates.com
Acquisition further expands Canaccord Genuity Wealth Management's footprint in the UK and increases scale of its financial planning capability

TORONTO and LONDON, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Canaccord Genuity Group Inc. (TSX: CF) the "Company") is pleased to announce that through its wealth management business in the UK and Crown Dependencies ("CGWM UK"), it has entered into a share purchase agreement to acquire Punter Southall Wealth Limited ("PSW") including the intermediary-facing brand Psigma, from Punter Southall Group ("PSG"). Closing is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approval.

PSW is a leading vertically integrated wealth manager, offering a broad range of advice and wealth management solutions to high net-worth individuals, including bespoke portfolios, managed portfolio services and a multi-asset fund range, complemented by a strong intermediary distribution channel. Currently operating as a subsidiary of PSG, PSW has approximately 5.0 billion (C$8.5 billion) in client assets. PSW is forecast to generate annual revenue of approximately 33.7 million (C$57.0 million) in the year ending December 31, 2021.

This acquisition represents an opportunity for CGWM UK to build upon its exceptional growth to date and advance its priority of becoming an integrated wealth manager of scale. PSW's core client proposition will remain largely unchanged, and the existing direct relationships between portfolio managers, financial planners and their clients will not be affected. With a strong track record of successfully integrating businesses and clients, CGWM UK expects to achieve tangible revenue and cost synergies with a clear pathway to continued growth.

David Esfandi, Chief Executive Officer of CGWM UK said: "Our acquisition of Punter Southall Wealth represents an exciting strategic opportunity to further develop our integrated wealth management business, adding national scale and exceptional capability to our advice-led offering. We see a strong cultural fit between CGWM UK and PSW and we look forward to supporting this talented team, as we work together to build upon the strong foundations that both of our businesses have established to date."

As part of CGWM UK, the investment professionals, financial planners, and clients of PSW will also have access to the broad range of resources provided by CGWM UK and the Company's broader global platform. To help facilitate a seamless transition, several of PSW's team will become active members of CGWM UK's existing investment committees.

Jonathan Punter, Chief Executive Officer of Punter Southall Group, said: "The market for financial advice to high net worth individuals is consolidating and we felt that Punter Southall Wealth would benefit from a larger partner which can take it to the next level of its development. After long and careful consideration, we chose Canaccord Genuity as the best partner for our clients and our people."

John Howard Smith, Chief Executive Officer of Punter Southall Wealth, added: "There is a strong cultural fit between Punter Southall Wealth and Canaccord Genuity and we share a commitment to provide the highest standard of financial advice and investment management, while fostering enduring client partnerships. Being part of a well-capitalised, international group provides good opportunities to grow our existing operations while providing continuity for our valued clients and the exceptional team we have."

TRANSACTION OVERVIEW

Consideration to be paid to PSG on closing will comprise cash in the amount of 164 million (C$277.5 million) and an equity interest comprising newly issued ordinary shares in CGWM UK. PSW will be acquired by CGWM UK with a minimum level of regulatory capital, with any surplus distributed to PSG by way of a pre-completion dividend.

In addition, retention and incentive awards comprising cash and equity in CGWM UK with a combined attributed value of approximately 6.0 million (C$10.2 million) and subject to vesting conditions will be made to certain key employees of PSW.

In connection with the closing of the acquisition, it is expected that CGWM UK will add 100 million (C$169.2 million) to its existing bank facility. In addition, HPS Investment Partners, LLC on behalf of investment accounts and funds it manages has agreed to make an additional investment in CGWM UK on closing of the acquisition through the purchase of a new series of convertible preferred shares of CGWM UK in the amount of 65.3 million (C$110.5 million). Cumulative dividends will be payable by CGWM UK on the convertible preferred shares at the greater of an annual 7.5% coupon and the proportionate share that such shares would receive on an as converted basis. The convertible preferred shares will also carry customary minority rights in respect of CGWM UK governance and financial matters, a liquidation preference, and call protections.

On conclusion of the acquisition, it is expected that the Company will hold an approximate 66.9% equity equivalent interest in CGWM UK on an as converted basis.

Fenchurch Advisory Partners is acting as financial adviser and Farrer & Co LLP is acting as legal adviser to CGWM UK in connection with the transaction.

Spencer House Partners is acting as financial adviser and Ashurst is acting as legal adviser to Punter Southall Group in connection with the transaction.

ABOUT CANACCORD GENUITY GROUP INC.

Through its principal subsidiaries, Canaccord Genuity Group Inc. (the "Company") is a leading independent, full-service financial services firm, with operations in two principal segments of the securities industry: wealth management and capital markets. Since its establishment in 1950, the Company has been driven by an unwavering commitment to building lasting client relationships. We achieve this by generating value for our individual, institutional and corporate clients through comprehensive investment solutions, brokerage services and investment banking services. The Company has wealth management offices located in Canada, the UK, Guernsey, Jersey, the Isle of Man and Australia. The Company's international capital markets division operates in North America, UK & Europe, Asia, Australia and the Middle East.

Canaccord Genuity Group Inc. is publicly traded under the symbol CF on the TSX.

ABOUT CANACCORD GENUITY WEALTH MANAGEMENT

The wealth management operations of the Canaccord Genuity Group (Canaccord Genuity Wealth Management) provide comprehensive wealth management solutions and brokerage services to individual investors, private clients, charities and intermediaries through a full suite of services tailored to the needs of clients in each of its markets. Canaccord Genuity Wealth Management has Investment Advisors (IAs) and professionals in Canada, the UK and its Crown Dependencies (Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man) and Australia and has advisors in Canada who are registered in the US. Reference to CGWM UK includes offices located in both the UK and the Crown Dependencies. Since 2016, Canaccord Genuity has materially invested to support the growth of its wealth management businesses in all geographies. As a result of this growth, client assets have increased substantially, and Canaccord Genuity Wealth Management has become a stable and significant contributor to firmwide profitability and earnings.

ABOUT PUNTER SOUTHALL WEALTH LIMITED

Punter Southall Wealth Limited currently operates as a subsidiary of Punter Southall Group. With offices in London, Guildford, Birmingham, Newcastle and Edinburgh, the Business offers clear, expert, and timely financial planning, wealth management, investment management and retirement planning services to high net-worth individuals. A deeply experienced team of financial planners and investment managers combine expertise and insight to provide personalized advice and investment solutions, with a goal of helping their clients create and protect wealth and build long-term security. Being one of the first financial planning firms to become Chartered means that Punter Southall Wealth Limited has continually been held to the highest professional standards.

ABOUT PUNTER SOUTHALL GROUP

Founded in 1988, Punter Southall Group is a dynamic financial and professional services group which has grown by changing and adapting to meet the ever-evolving needs of its clients. The Group operates companies ranging from those focused on financial management and employee benefits to trustee consultancy and investment performance services, as well as data analytics and new ventures in defined benefit pension management, legal and insurance sectors.

CAUTION REGARDING FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS

This press release may contain "forward-looking information" as defined under applicable securities laws ("forward-looking statements"). These statements relate to future events or future performance and reflect management's expectations, beliefs, plans, estimates, intentions and similar statements concerning anticipated future events, results, circumstances, performance or expectations that are not historical facts, including business and economic conditions and Canaccord Genuity Group's growth, results of operations, performance and business prospects and opportunities. Such forward-looking statements reflect management's current beliefs and are based on information currently available to management. In some cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as "may", "will", "should", "expect", "plan", "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "predict", "potential", "continue", "target", "intend", "could" or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. By their very nature, forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties, both general and specific, and a number of factors could cause actual events or results to differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements. In evaluating these statements, readers should specifically consider various factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from any forward-looking statement. These factors include, but are not limited 'to, market and general economic conditions, the nature of the financial services industry and the risks and uncertainties discussed from time to time in the Company's interim condensed and annual consolidated financial statements, its annual report and its annual information form ("AIF") filed on www.sedar.com as well as the factors discussed in the sections entitled "Risk Management" and "Risk Factors" in the AIF, which include market, liquidity, credit, operational, legal and regulatory risks. Material factors or assumptions that were used by the Company to develop the forward-looking statements contained in this press release include, but are not limited to, those set out in the Fiscal 2021 Outlook section in the annual MD&A and those discussed from time to time in the Company's interim condensed and annual consolidated financial statements, its annual report and the AIF filed on www.sedar.com. The preceding list is not exhaustive of all possible risk factors that may influence actual results. Readers are cautioned that the preceding list of material factors or assumptions is not exhaustive.

Although the forward-looking statements contained in this press 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. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date of this press release and should not be relied upon as representing the Company's views as of any date subsequent to the date of this press release. Except as may be required by applicable law, 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, further developments or otherwise.

Investor and media relations inquiries: Christina Marinoff, Vice President, Investor Relations & Communications, Phone: 416-687-5507, Email: cmarinoff@cgf.com, www.cgf.com/investor-relations
MONTREAL, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Otodata Technologies USA ("Otodata") is pleased to announce that it has acquired Wireless Applications Corporation ("WACnGO"), a leading player in the South American and Israeli tank monitoring and delivery markets.

Founded in 2008, Otodata offers leading remote tank monitoring hardware and software for a variety of industries. Otodata's solutions allow users to monitor their tanks remotely; providing insightful, real-time data to optimize asset and labor productivity in their business.

"We are so pleased to be working with the WACnGO team. This acquisition will accelerate our diversification into the propane truck distribution and delivery market as well as allow us to leverage our innovative solutions for remote tank monitoring in South America and Eastern Europe. This represents an important step in our strategy to address the growing demand for reliable, affordable and automated tank monitoring solutions across a variety of industries and geographic markets." said Andre Boulay, President of Otodata.

"The WACnGO team is thrilled to be part of Otodata. WACnGO's vision was always to create a one stop shop, end-to-end logistics optimization solution based on telemetry and truck management for LPG and oil distributors. The WACnGO team is dedicated to its customers and always adapts the right solution to their needs. Joining forces with Otodata will allow us to provide our customers with additional products, services, and innovative pricing structures. It will also enable them to monitor every asset and receive instant ROI, both locally and abroad." said Uri Artzi, Founder of WACnGO.

About Otodata Technologies USA:

Otodata has been a key player in the tank monitoring industry for over a decade. Its goal has always been to produce a monitor with the lowest cost of ownership in the industry, making large-scale implementation affordable for all fuel resellers.

For more information, please visit our website at www.otodatatankmonitors.com and our social media channels:

https://youtu.be/_YYCTIipmJo

https://www.linkedin.com/company/otodata

https://www.facebook.com/otodatawireless

https://twitter.com/Otodata

https://www.instagram.com/otodatatankmonitors

About Wireless Applications Corporation

WACnGO is a leader for end-to-end telemetry solutions to best achieve logistic optimization and cost reduction for oil and gas distributors. It is capable of monitoring, but is not limited to, propane, oil, gas tanks, and meter applications with options in Israel and South America.

WACnGO was established in 2006 and is based in Tel-Aviv Israel, with subsidiary companies in Brazil, Chile, and the USA.

https://www.wireapp.com/

Contact: Gregory Bronner, Marketing Director, gbronner@otodatatankmonitors.com, C: +1 514-463-6303 | T: +1 (514) 673-0244

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Rise in the financial risk involved in business transactions, quick processing of documents by banks, and rise in adoption of financial guarantees by SMEs drive the growth of the global financial guarantee market.

PORTLAND, Ore., Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Allied Market Research recently published a report, titled, "Financial Guarantee Market By Product Type (Bank Guarantees, Documentary Letter of Credit, Standby Letter of Credit (SBLC), Receivables Financing, and Others), Enterprise Size (Small Enterprises, Medium-sized Enterprises, and Large Enterprises), and End User (Exporters and Importers): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2021-2030". As per the report, the global financial guarantee industry was accounted for $28.70 billion in 2020, and is expected to reach $71.93 billion by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 9.6% from 2021 to 2030.

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Drivers, Restraints, and Opportunities

Rise in the financial risk involved in business transactions, quick processing of documents by banks, and rise in adoption of financial guarantees by SMEs drive the growth of the global financial guarantee market. However, strict assessment by the banks before offering a financial guarantee and collateral demands hinder the market growth. On the contrary, increase in import and export activities in developing countries and surge in digitalization of banking procedures are expected to open new opportunities for the market players in the future.

Covid-19 Scenario:

The rise in uncertainty and protectionism in global trade, shift in supply chain demands, and business closures have negatively affected the financial guarantee market.

To curb the spread of the virus, several countries imposed strict restrictions and lockdown across the countries, which created geopolitical tensions and shift in trade patterns.

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The Documentary Letter of Credit Segment Held the Largest Share

By product type, the documentary letter of credit segment held the largest share in 2020, accounting for nearly three-fifths of the global financial guarantee market, due to differing laws of countries and the difficulty of knowing each party personally. However, the receivables financing segment is expected to register the highest CAGR of 15.0% during the forecast period, as it allows to accept large, bulk one-time orders and allow traders to earn greater profits.

The Large Enterprises Segment Dominated the Market

By enterprise size, the large enterprises segment held the lion's share in 2020, contributing to nearly three-fifths of the global financial guarantee market, owing to rise in preference of a financial guarantee among major organizations to make immediate payments across countries. However, the small-sized enterprises segment is estimated to manifest the highest CAGR of 13.7% from 2021 to 2030. Due to lack of credit worthiness and limited access to huge funds, small banks cannot take loans from banks but a financial guarantee allows them to acquire products and pay later.

Asia-Pacific, followed by Europe and North America, held the Largest Share

By region, the global financial guarantee market of Asia-Pacific, followed by Europe and North America, dominated in 2020, holding nearly two-fifths of the market, due to rise in demand for digitalized financial guarantee using new technologies such as machine learning automation, optical character recognition, and distributed ledger. Moreover, the market across North America is projected to portray the CAGR of 5.5% during the forecast period.

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Major Market Players

Asian Development Bank

BNP Paribas

Barclays

Bank of Montreal

Citibank

HSBC

ICBC

National Bank of Canada

SINOSURE

Scotia Bank

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Stock Code: 03111.HK (HKD counter) 83111.HK (RMB counter)



HONG KONG, Dec 14, 2021 - (ACN Newswire) - E Fund Management (HK) Co., Ltd. is pleased to announce today (Tuesday) the launch of E Fund (HK) MSCI China A50 Connect ETF ("EFUND MSCI A50") on the HKEX. The stock code is 3111. The product is launched by E Fund HK. The fund tracks the MSCI China A50 Connect Index, which selects 50 stocks from the component stocks in the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect and Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock Connect, focusing on China's core assets.



IMPORTANT INFORMATION:



1.E Fund (HK) MSCI China A50 Connect ETF (the "Fund") is a passively managed exchange traded fund ("ETF") and is traded on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong ("SEHK") like stocks. The investment objective is to provide investment result that, before fees and expenses, closely corresponds to the performance of the MSCI China A 50 Connect Index (the "Index"). The Manager will adopt a combination of a physical representative sampling strategy and a synthetic representative sampling strategy. For direct investments in Index Securities listed on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges, the Fund will invest primarily through the Stock Connect and/or the Manager's QFI status. By adopting a synthetic representative sampling sub-strategy (which involves investing up to 50% of its NAV in FDIs), the Fund will only invest directly in funded total return swap transaction(s)



2.The Fund is subject to a) Investment risk, b) Equity market risk, c) New Index risk, d) Concentration risk and Mainland China market risks, e) Risks associated with the Stock Connect and QFI regime , f) Risks associated with investments in FDIs, g) Trading differences risk, h) Passive investments risk" i) Trading risk, j) Tracking error risk, k) Dual counter risks, l) PRC tax risk, m) Reliance on market maker risk, n) Other currency distribution risk, o) Termination risk..



3.Based on professional and independent tax advice, (i) the Fund will make relevant provision of 10% on dividend and distribution income from A-Shares if PRC corporate income tax ("CIT") is not withheld at source at the time when such income is received (where CIT is already withheld at source, no provision will be made) and (ii) the Manager does not currently make withholding income tax provision for gross realised or unrealised capital gains derived from trading of A-Shares (either via Stock Connect or QFI).



4.There are risks and uncertainties associated with the current PRC tax laws, regulations and practice in respect of capital gains realised via QFI or Stock Connect on investments in the PRC (may have retrospective effect). Any increased tax liabilities on the Fund may adversely affect the Fund's value. If taxes are levied in future on the Fund for which no provision is made, the Fund's NAV will be adversely affected. In this case, the then existing and subsequent investors will be disadvantaged as they will bear for a disproportionately higher amount of tax liabilities as compared to the liability at the time of investment in the Fund.



5.You should not make any investment decision solely based on the information on this material alone. Please read the relevant offering documents for details including the risk factors before making any investment decisions. Investment involves risk. Past performance is not indicative of future performance. This document has not been reviewed by the Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong.



The MSCI China A50 Connect Index has three major characteristics: Firstly, the historical performance of the index is better than other main broad-based indexes. From the perspective of historical cumulative return rate, the price index return rate and the total return performance of investments with the dividends reinvested have all outperformed the CSI 300, FTSE Russell A50 and MSCI China A-Share Index (the parent index) in the past 10 years. Secondly, the industry distribution is balanced with a high proportion of new economy. Compared with other main broad-based indexes, the MSCI China A50 Connect Index has significantly increased the proportion of new energy, electronics, medicine and other sectors. Thirdly, the component stocks comprise leader companies in various industries, with excellent profitability and growth, which are regarded as China's core assets, which are highly recognized by foreign institutional investors. It is an effective investing tool for investors to focus on the A Shares leaders and capture the China opportunities.



MSCI Company highly regards the importance of Chinese assets. In May 2018, MSCI officially announced the inclusion of China A Shares in its flagship index system. Through step-by-step implementation, MSCI increased the inclusion ratio of China A shares from 5% to 20% in the MSCI Emerging Markets Index in 2019. The market expects the proportion of MSCI's inclusion of China A Shares may increase to 50% in 2027, which is equivalent to an average of 200-400 billion RMB flowing into China A Shares from overseas assets each year.



HKEX Co-Head of Markets Wilfred Yiu said: "We warmly welcome the listing of E Fund (HK) MSCI China A50 Connect ETF that tracks the MSCI China A 50 Connect Index. It will join the increasingly diversified Connect product ecosystem in Hong Kong, enriching the choice for investors around the world, and providing another investment option for those seeking exposure to China assets. HKEX looks forward to working with its clients and the market on continuing to build Hong Kong's attractiveness as an offshore RMB hub and international trading, risk management and capital raising centre."



Doug Walls, APAC Head of Index Products at MSCI, said, "The MSCI China A 50 Connect Index follows an innovative sector-balanced approach that aims to ensure diversified and balanced representation of the broader China A market. It is designed to enable international and domestic investors to track China's sector leaders and get exposure to the overall market, including the potential opportunities in China's new economy. The index marks another milestone since the inclusion of A-shares in MSCI indexes. At the same time, index-linked ETFs and other financial products will provide global investors with more opportunities to access the broad and diversified China market."



Gaohui Huang, CEO of E Fund Management (HK), said, "With the increase of China's economic influence in the world and the further opening up of the financial markets, China A-share assets will play an even more important role in global investors' portfolios. We believe that E Fund (HK) MSCI China A 50 Connect ETF will become an essential tool for domestic and foreign investors to allocate A-share assets. "



Fund Information

E Fund (HK) MSCI China A50 Connect ETF

Stock Code: 03111.HK (HKD counter) 83111.HK (RMB counter)

Exchange Listing: HKEX - Main Board

Listing Date: 14th-December-2021

Underlying Index: MSCI China A 50 Connect Index (Price return)

Trading Currency: RMB

Counter Currency: RMB/HKD

Investment Channel: Mainland China-Hong Kong Stock Connect, RQFII (Mainly by Mainland China-Hong Kong Stock Connect)

Investment Strategy: A combination of (i) primarily a physical representative sampling strategy and (ii) a synthetic representative sampling strategy as an ancillary strategy.

Portfolio Composition File Basket Share: 1,000,000

Fund Initial Net Value: 2.6 RMB (subject to the final price before listing)

Management Fee Rate: 50 bp (p.a.)

Expected Total Expense Ratio (TER): 80 bp (p.a.)

Derivative Use: Yes, derivative does not exceed 50%



About E Fund Management (HK) Co., Ltd.



As the international business platform of E Fund, E Fund HK provides bilateral and cross-border asset management services in fixed income, equity (include active management strategy and ETF product lines) and global asset allocation for investors all over the world. E Fund HK has an established presence in Hong Kong for many years and has since listed a number of mutual funds, private equity funds and ETFs in Hong Kong, Europe and the US. Its award-winning products have been recognized by leading institutions such as Morningstar, Lipper, Asian Investor and Benchmark for their strong performances relative to peers..



E Fund HK has nearly 10 years of index investment experience. The company has abundant practical experiences in the offshore ETF market. E Fund HK cooperate with many international institutions, and issued products in Hong Kong, Europe and the US. In 2012, E Fund HK issued a product tracking the CSI 100 Index. In 2014, E Fund HK issued a product tracking Chinese government bonds, and issued a UCITS product about China A shares with a European company. In 2014, E Fund HK and a US fund company jointly issued an ETF in United States. In 2017, E Fund HK and Yuanta Securities jointly issued a leveraged ETF and an inverse ETF tracking the Hang Seng Index.



The MSCI series of indexes developed by MSCI are widely used by global portfolio managers as benchmark indexes, with an asset scale of more than US$16 trillion, including more than 1,200 index ETFs with an asset scale of more than US$1.2 trillion.



MSCI Index Disclaimer

The funds or securities referred to herein are not sponsored, endorsed, or promoted by MSCI, and MSCI bears no liability with respect to any such funds or securities or any index on which such funds or securities are based. The Prospectus issued by E Fund Management (Hong Kong) Co., Limited ("E Fund HK") contains a more detailed description of the limited relationship MSCI has with E Fund HK and any related funds.

Copyright 2021. E Fund Management (Hong Kong) Co., Limited. All rights reserved.



The Fund has been authorized by the Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong ("SFC") but such authorization is not a recommendation or endorsement of a scheme nor does it guarantee the commercial merits of a scheme or its performance. It does not mean the scheme is suitable for all investors nor is it an endorsement of its suitability for any particular investor or class of investors. Investment involves risk. Past performance is not indicative of future performance. The investment returns are denominated in RMB. HK dollar-based investors are therefore exposed to fluctuations in the HK dollar/RMB exchange rate and investing in funds denominated in non-local currency should be aware of the risk of exchange rate fluctuations that may cause a loss of principal. Please refer to the offering document for details of the Fund including the risk factors. This document has not been reviewed by the SFC. Issued by E Fund Management (Hong Kong) Co., Limited.



This document is neither an offer nor solicitation to purchase units of the Fund. Distribution of this document may be restricted in certain jurisdictions. This document does not constitute the distribution of any information or the making of any offer or solicitation by anyone in any jurisdiction in which such distribution or offer is not authorized or to any person to whom it is unlawful to distribute such a document or make such an offer or solicitation.











Copyright 2021 ACN Newswire . All rights reserved.





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- Cryogenic Submerged Motor Pumps Market to Top US$ 2.5 Bn Driven by Increasing Demand for Natural Gas

- In its new study, Fact.MR offers a holistic overview of the pricing analysis and trends of the global cryogenic submerged motor pumps market. In addition, it highlights detailed information about major growth opportunities, drivers, and restraints across the leading segments including product, end-use, and application across major regions.

NEW YORK, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The global cryogenic submerged motor pumps market size is projected to reach US$ 2.5 Bn, exhibiting growth at 3.5% CAGR between 2020 and 2030, estimates Fact.MR. The market is set to be driven by the increasing natural gas transportation activities worldwide.

Cryogenic submerged motor pumps help in transporting liquefied gases, such as LPG and LNG. These have numerous beneficial properties, such as high pump efficiency and automatic axial thrust balance mechanism.

As per Fact.MR, rapid development of LNG bunker stations is expected to create new growth opportunities for key players in the global market. Besides, the rising number of agreements signed between several key companies to co-develop novel LNG bunkering services is also projected to boost the market.

For instance, in September 2021, Sumitomo Corporation, Arkas Bunkering, and BOTAS signed an agreement to make Turkey a major hub for LNG supplies. The agreement would also help to keep up with the new norms from the International Maritime Organization (IMO) for reducing emission rates of marine fuels.

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"Increasing usage of cryogenic gases in the marine industry is anticipated to propel the growth in this market. Besides, reduced internal leakage, reliable performance, easy maintenance, and high efficiency of cryogenic submerged motor pumps will also aid the growth in the market," says a Fact.MR analyst.

Key Takeaways:

Based on end-use, the oil & gas segment is anticipated to exhibit growth at 3.1% CAGR through 2030 owing to the higher usage of LNG and other natural gases.

In terms of application, the LNG segment is likely to showcase growth at 3.8% CAGR stoked by favorable government investments in the development of LNG bunker stations.

Based on product, the centrifugal pumps segment is expected to dominate in terms of market share on the back of its increasing usage in the steel and mining industries.

By region, Europe is anticipated to grow at a moderate pace with 2.7% CAGR and create absolute $ opportunity worth US$ 169.9 Mn in the near future.

Growth Drivers:

Increasing number of subsidies provided by the governments of various countries to invest in LNG bunkering projects is expected to propel the growth in this market.

High demand for natural gases from the marine industry across the globe is anticipated to drive the growth in the market.

Rising need for cryogenic submerged motor pumps for the usage in natural gas fuel stations is likely to accelerate the market.

Restraints:

Increasing usage of low-cost epoxy or glass composites to make intermediate static support tubes and drive shafts of these pumps, instead of steel may limit the growth.

For Critical Insights on Cryogenic Submerged Motor Pumps Market, Request for Methodology here

https://www.factmr.com/connectus/sample?flag=RM&rep_id=4836

Competitive Landscape

Key players present in the global cryogenic submerged motor pumps market are focusing on expanding their businesses to strengthen their global footprints. Meanwhile, some of the other players are engaging in new product and service launches, such as pump exchange, oxygen cleaning, and pump repair to expand their customer bases.

For instance,

April 2021 : Nikkiso Cryo Inc., a renowned supplier of cryogenic submerged electric motor pumps headquartered in the U.S., announced the development of a new facility to surge the production capacity of cryogenic pumps. The facility will be able to reduce turn-around time and provide better services to customers.

: Nikkiso Cryo Inc., a renowned supplier of cryogenic submerged electric motor pumps headquartered in the U.S., announced the development of a new facility to surge the production capacity of cryogenic pumps. The facility will be able to reduce turn-around time and provide better services to customers. December 2019 : Nikkiso Co., Ltd. declared that it started handling the ACD pump products manufactured by Cryogenic Industries Group. It has gained access to the facilities of the company's European subsidiaries, namely, Geveke and LEWA. It would help the company to strengthen aftermarket sales and service in the region.

: Nikkiso Co., Ltd. declared that it started handling the ACD pump products manufactured by Cryogenic Industries Group. It has gained access to the facilities of the company's European subsidiaries, namely, Geveke and LEWA. It would help the company to strengthen aftermarket sales and service in the region. April 2019 : Elliott Group, a manufacturer and designer of turbo-machinery based in the U.S., merged with Nevada -based Ebara International Corporation. This merger is expected to help the company to gain access to the latter's customer base, product lines, and markets.

Key Players in the Cryogenic Submerged Motor Pumps Market Include:

Ebara Corporation

Vanzetti Engineering

Hunan Neptune Pump Co., Ltd.

Shinko IND., Ltd.

Cryostar

CYY Energy

Huzhou Brightway Cryogenic Equipment Co., Ltd.

Beijing Long March Tianmin Hi-Tech Co., Ltd.

More Valuable Insights on Cryogenic Submerged Motor Pumps Market

Fact.MR provides an unbiased analysis of the cryogenic submerged motor pumps market, presenting historical demand data (2009-2019) and forecast statistics for the period from 2020-2030. The study divulges compelling insights on the global cryogenic submerged motor pumps market with a detailed segmentation on the basis of:

Product

Centrifugal Pumps

Reciprocating Pumps

End-Use

Power Generation

Oil & Gas

Automotive

Mining

Others

Application

LNG

LPG

Industrial Gases

Region

North America

Latin America

Europe

East Asia

South Asia & Oceania

& Oceania MEA

Key Questions Covered in Cryogenic Submerged Motor Pumps Market Report

The report offers insight into the cryogenic submerged motor pumps market demand outlook for 2020-2030.

The market study also highlights projected sales growth for cryogenic submerged motor pumps market between 2020 and 2030.

Cryogenic submerged motor pumps market survey identifies key growth drivers, restraints, and other forces impacting prevailing trends and evaluation of current market size and forecast and technological advancements within the industry.

Cryogenic submerged motor pumps market share analysis of the key companies within the industry and coverage of strategies such as mergers & acquisitions, joint ventures, collaborations or partnerships, and others.

Explore Fact.MR's Coverage on the Industrial Goods Domain -

Reciprocating Pumps Market Forecast - The market for reciprocating pumps is expected to rise significantly. The global need for oil and gas, particularly in the petrochemical industry, is influencing the expansion of the reciprocating pumps market. Growing demand for oil and gas is opening up new markets for a variety of industrial commodities, including reciprocating pumps. Current trends, such as the gradually increasing usage of smart pumping systems, have an impact on reciprocating pump sales.

Oil and Gas Pumps Market Report- As the need for oil and gas rises, so does the demand for equipment like oil and gas pumps. End-users in the oil and gas sectors want efficient oil and gas pumps to ensure smooth operation and compliance with strict emission regulations. Centrifugal pumps are widely used by oil and gas end customers due to their cheap product and maintenance costs, as well as their superior load and pressure handling capabilities. Centrifugal pumps are in high demand in the upstream oil and gas industry as part of multiphase pumping applications.

Canned Motor Pumps Market Insights - The global canned motor pumps market is expected to develop slowly as the market recovers, according to Fact.MR. At the same time, those manufacturers who have been able to increase production face a disturbed supply chain. As a result, the global canned motor pump industry has been severely hit, posing a potential threat of dormancy in the near future. As the impact of COVID-19 diminishes, the market is expected to recover and open up major prospects in the long run.

About Fact.MR

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--Appointment strengthens Company's global management team, brings vast capital market expertise, unique network in the global financial community, and robust operational industry experience--



--Appointment establishes HMNC's presence in the U.S.--

MUNICH, Germany, Dec. 14, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- HMNC Brain Health, ("HMNC" or "the Company"), a clinical stage biopharma company pioneering the development of personalized therapies powered by predictive companion diagnostics, announced today the appointment of Nir Naor as its new Chief Financial Officer, effective immediately. Mr. Naor succeeds Rainer Sturm, who will remain with the Company to help ensure a smooth transition.

Based in the U.S., the appointment of Mr. Naor represents an important milestone for the Company and aligns with its ambition to establish a presence in the United States. Mr. Naor is one of several well-regarded industry executives that have joined the HMNC leadership team over the past nine months as the Company prepares for its next phase of growth.

"HMNC is entering a pivotal period that requires a CFO with a proven track record of success. Nir brings to bear a unique combination of Big Pharma and global operational experience, combined with an entrepreneurial spirit and deep capital markets experience that we expect will prove invaluable as we execute against our capital market strategy," said HMNC Brain Health's CEO, Benedikt von Braunmuhl.

Most recently, Mr. Naor served as CFO of Arbor Pharmaceuticals, a KKR-backed, U.S.-based pharma company that he helped achieve a successful exit to. His work spans several countries, including Switzerland, Israel, Germany and the U.S., working for leading pharma companies, such as AstraZeneca and UCB Pharma. In his new role, Mr. Naor will be responsible for establishing financial processes and controls based on best practices, liaising with and further establishing an active dialogue with global investors in conjunction with the Company's series B fundraising efforts and working closely with other members of the management team to execute clinical and commercialization strategies.

"The global mental healthcare industry is at an inflection point, with more attention than ever before being focused on advancing treatments capable of addressing the unmet needs of millions of patients suffering from neuropsychiatric disorders," said Mr. Naor. "The work that HMNC is doing in precision psychiatry and companion diagnostics has the potential to disrupt the biopharma industry, and to provide the patient community with radically better treatment options. I look forward to working with our team of leaders and innovators as we drive HMNC Brain Health towards its growth ambitions in the coming years."

HMNC Brain Health's chairman Dr. Franz Humer comments:

"As our focus is increasingly on the U.S. market, we are pleased to welcome Nir Naor as our new CFO based in the US. He is a highly experienced leader with an extensive global network to build further partnerships and accelerate HMNC Brain Health's growth agenda."

About HMNC Brain Health

HMNC Brain Health (HMNC Holding GmbH) is a clinical stage biopharma company pioneering in developing personalized therapies in psychiatry powered by predictive companion diagnostics, leading to far shorter treatments and higher remission. The company develops a unique pipeline for targeting both major depressive disorder (MDD) and treatment-resistant depression (TRD). HMNC Brain Health is located at one of the leading European biotech hubs in Munich and backed by renowned family offices. The company now enters the next stage of its development with a large-scale licensing and fundraising agenda.



Media Contacts

Alexander Schmidt (Europe)

+49 151 22 99 39 765

alexander.schmidt@gaulyadvisors.com



Anne Donohoe (U.S.)

+1 212-896-1265

hmnc@kcsa.com

Investor Contact (U.S.)

Tim Regan

+1 347-487-6788
Phoenix, Arizona--(Newsfile Corp. - December 14, 2021) - The Stock Day Podcast welcomed TPT Global Tech (OTCQB: TPTW) ("the Company"), a technology-based company with divisions providing telecommunications, medical technology and product distribution, media content for domestic and international syndication as well as technology solutions. CEO of the Company, Stephen Thomas, joined Stock Day host Everett Jolly.

Jolly began the interview by asking about the Company's decision to move into the Fintech space. "We are uniquely positioned to be able to be a player in that sector," shared Thomas. "There's an incredible opportunity for us to incorporate Fintech technology solutions into our existing customer base, as well as our partner companies around the world," he continued. "We're really excited to be moving into that direction. We think it is going to be an explosive opportunity for the company."

"Can you give us an update on the SpeedConnect, as well as the 4G and 5G initiative?" asked Jolly. "I'm very happy to report that starting in January we will be offering our new products and services," shared Thomas, adding that these services will be initially launching in approximately seven states. "We hope to be offering our new services in all the states we operate in by the end of 1st quarter," he said. "Things with SpeedConnect are going very well."

The conversation then turned to the release of the Company's "VuMe" Super App. "This app will do everything; it encompasses all of your major social media platforms, broadcast platforms, mobile banking, into a single platform," explained Thomas, before elaborating on the app's impressive features and potential. "I think the market is going to be blown away."

"Could you bring my listeners up-to-speed on the Company's projects in Ghana?" asked Jolly. "The project is fantastic at this particular time," said Thomas. "They have signed the agreement where the land has been allocated to them, and they have engineers and architects beginning tomorrow," he continued. "Everything is moving along very nicely with regards to that project."

To close the interview, Thomas elaborated on the Company's significant accomplishments over the past year. "We've put the building blocks in place for growth as a publicly traded company and we hope to create serious shareholder value moving forward."

To hear the entire interview with Stephen Thomas, follow the link to the podcast here: https://audioboom.com/posts/7996630-tpt-global-tech-discusses-speedconnect-launch-and-release-of-vume-super-app-with-the-stock-day-po

Investors Hangout is a proud sponsor of "Stock Day," and Stock Day Media encourages listeners to visit the company's message board at https://investorshangout.com/

About TPT Global Tech

TPT Global Tech Inc. (TPTW) based in San Diego, California, is a technology-based company with divisions providing telecommunications, medical technology and product distribution, media content for domestic and international syndication as well as technology solutions. TPT Global Tech offers Software as a Service (SaaS), Technology Platform as a Service (PAAS), Cloud-based Unified Communication as a Service (UCaaS). It offers carrier-grade performance and support for businesses over its private IP MPLS fiber and wireless network in the United States. TPT's cloud-based UCaaS services allow businesses of any size to enjoy all the latest voice, data, media and collaboration features in today's global technology markets. TPT Global Tech also operates as a Master Distributor for Nationwide Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNO) and Independent Sales Organization (ISO) as a Master Distributor for Pre-Paid Cellphone services, Mobile phones Cellphone Accessories and Global Roaming Cellphones.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of various provisions of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, commonly identified by such terms as "believes," "looking ahead," "anticipates," "estimates" and other terms with similar meaning. Specifically, statements about the Company's plans for accelerated growth, improved profitability, future business partners, M&A activity, new service offerings, and pursuit of new markets are forward-looking statements. Although the company believes that the assumptions upon which its forward-looking statements are based are reasonable, it can give no assurance that these assumptions will prove to be correct. Such forward-looking statements should not be construed as fact. The information contained in such statements is beyond the ability of the Company to control, and in many cases, the Company cannot predict what factors would cause results to differ materially from those indicated in such statements. All forward-looking statements in the press release are expressly qualified by these cautionary statements and by reference to the underlying assumptions.

Contact:

Frank Benedetto

619-915-9422

About The "Stock Day" Podcast

Founded in 2013, Stock Day is the fastest growing media outlet for Nano-Cap and Micro-Cap companies. It educates investors while simultaneously working with penny stock and OTC companies, providing transparency and clarification of under-valued, under-sold Micro-Cap stocks of the market. Stock Day provides companies with customized solutions to their news distribution in both national and international media outlets. The Stock Day Podcast is the number one radio show of its kind in America.

SOURCE:

Stock Day Media

(602) 821-1102

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/107589
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - December 14, 2021) - Psyched Wellness Ltd. (CSE: PSYC) (OTCQB: PSYCF) (FSE: 5U9) (the "Company" or "Psyched") a life sciences company focused on the production and distribution of artisanal functional and psychedelic mushrooms, is pleased to announce that it has hired Del Mahabadi as Digital Marketing Consultant to drive the launch of the Company's AME-1 products to market next year.

Ms. Mahabadi is a highly successful marketer and leader with a long track record of helping organizations effectively develop and execute marketing strategies, enabling growth. Her specialties lie in using digital marketing to raise a company's public profile, increase consumer engagement and develop powerful and profitable ways to further connect with consumers. She has led several creative digital marketing strategies over a variety of industries, including cosmetics, government, and arts and culture.

Ms. Mahabadi holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Ryerson University, a Postgraduate Degree in Communications and Digital Marketing, and a Diploma in Data Science. In addition, she runs a nonprofit organization, supported by Google for Nonprofits, the Federal Government of Canada, and Factor Canada. In 2021, Del was a finalist for the Arts and Cultural Leadership award of the Ontario Arts Council.

Psyched Wellness Chief Commercial Officer, Matthew Singh, commented, "Del joining our team is an integral step as we transition to a CPG entity and bring our AME-1 products to market. She has a wealth of experience creating brands that disrupt the status-quo and then evolve to become household names. Del has facilitated the growth of tincture-based products, like Deciem, and we are eager to learn from her knowledge and experience. We are also excited to launch our new website, product pre-sales, and evolved brand strategy, in the coming weeks."

Ms. Mahabadi added, "Psyched Wellness is driving innovation in the psychedelic mushrooms industry with the aim of developing products that can help with stress relief, relaxation and restful sleeping. I am delighted to join the Psyched Wellness team at such a pivotal time of growth, and look forward to bringing about change with the launch of our AME-1 products next year."

For further information, please contact:

Jeffrey Stevens

Chief Executive Officer

Psyched Wellness Ltd.

t: (647) 400-8494

e: jstevens@psyched-wellness.com

Website: http://www.psyched-wellness.com

Investor Contacts:

Tim Regan/Sophia Bashford

KCSA Strategic Communications

t: (347) 487-6788

e: PsychedWellness@KCSA.com

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider have reviewed or accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

About Psyched Wellness Ltd.:

Psyched Wellness Ltd. is a Canadian-based health supplements company dedicated to the distribution of mushroom-derived products and associated consumer packaged goods. The Company's objective is to create premium mushroom-derived products that have the potential to become a leading North American brand in the emerging functional food category. The Company is in the process of developing a line of Amanita muscaria-derived water-based extracts, teas and capsules designed to help with three health objectives: promote stress relief, relaxation and assist with restful sleeping.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information and Statements

This press release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. These statements relate to future events or future performance. The use of any of the words "could", "intend", "expect", "believe", "will", "projected", "estimated" and similar expressions and statements relating to matters that are not historical facts are intended to identify forward-looking information and are based on the Company's current belief or assumptions as to the outcome and timing of such future events. The forward-looking information and forward- looking statements contained herein include, but are not limited to, statements regarding: the ability of the Company to develop Amanita Muscaria-derived products; the safety of Amanita Muscaria consumption and the safety and purity of any extracts thereof; and (ii) the uses and potential benefits of Amanita Muscaria.

Forward-looking information in this news release are based on certain assumptions and expected future events, namely: the Company's ability to continue as a going concern; the Company's ability to continue to develop its mushroom-derived products and associated consumer packaged goods; continued approval of the Company's activities by the relevant governmental and/or regulatory authorities; and the continued growth of the Company.

These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements, including but not limited to: the potential inability of the Company to continue as a going concern; risks associated with potential governmental and/or regulatory action with respect to the Company's operations; competition within the psychedelics market; risks with respect to the safety of Amanita Muscaria consumption and the safety and purity of any extracts thereof; and the risk that there is no potential benefit of Amanita Muscaria consumption.

Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list is not exhaustive. Readers are further cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, as there can be no assurance that the plans, intentions or expectations upon which they are placed will occur. 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 news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement and reflect the Company's expectations as of the date hereof and are subject to change thereafter. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, estimates or opinions, future events or results or otherwise or to explain any material difference between subsequent actual events and such forward-looking information, except as required by applicable law.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/107587
WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Quest Diagnostics (DGX) said that it has acquired substantially all assets of Labtech Diagnostics, an independent clinical diagnostic laboratory provider serving physicians and patients primarily in South and North Carolina, Georgia and Florida. The company noted that the Labtech laboratory in Anderson joins the national network of Quest Diagnostics laboratories, making it the first full-service laboratory owned by Quest in South Carolina. The company stated that the acquisition will also enable more physicians in the state to access diagnostic services directly from Quest through its Cleveland HeartLab cardiometabolic center of excellence and other laboratories in Atlanta, Tampa and Greensboro, North Carolina. 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.
THE FIRST SERVICE TO TAKE ON THE INTERNET SEARCH GIANTS USING NUM'S NEW TECHNOLOGY

LONDON, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Have you ever struggled to find the phone number of a company on their website? NUM has just launched a new service, Company Directory, that solves the problem and provides company details almost instantly, free of charge. The service can be accessed via a web browser, text message or WhatsApp message.

The technology behind the service is being hailed as a step change in how data can be delivered online. It avoids the gatekeepers of the web, like Google, and gives users additional privacy as it offers untracked, anonymous access to data with no advertising.

Developers of the apps we all use have previously had to build databases of company information by crawling the web themselves; or use a paid, restricted, rate-limited service offered by the gatekeepers of the web. With NUM, any organisation can update their data and all directories using the data will automatically have the latest information.

Elliott Brown, inventor of the NUM protocol and founder of NUM Technology, which is the company behind Company Directory explained: "What we're providing is machine-readable data direct to devices, apps and services used by customers. NUM is a response to the limitations imposed by the gatekeepers of the web, that have crawled, scraped and harvested data and locked it up in proprietary databases, then built privacy-compromising apps, services and entire ecosystems on top of that data. By making access to this data unlimited, unrestricted and free for everyone forever, we're levelling the playing field."

NUM Technology is funded by UK angel investment and has won numerous InnovateUK Grants. Company Directory is the first service to use the new technology.

You can access the new service at https://CompanyDirectory.uk or by WhatsApp or text +44 7481 341331 or by scanning a QR code using your smartphone - just send a company name to get started.
HELSINKI, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Caverion has today signed an agreement to acquire the business of the Swedish company Frodens Ventilation AB. The acquisition is a bolt-on acquisition for Caverion in ventilation business in Sweden. Within the growing area of ventilation, Frodens offers service and maintenance, inspections, energy optimisations and smaller projects, mainly in the Jonkoping area.

Frodens was founded in 1969 and has 12 employees. Its two owners have now decided to sell the business ahead of their retirement. In 2020, the revenue of Frodens Ventilation was about EUR 3 million. The parties have agreed not to disclose the transaction price.

"This will be a very interesting next step for Frodens. We have had a strong and exciting journey over the years and we now look forward to continuing this as part of Caverion. Caverion's position in the market, clear sustainability ambitions and broad offering will further strengthen our development, offering us great opportunities," says Fredrik Bergqvist, CEO, Frodens Ventilation.

"Frodens is a well-established and strong local company in the Jonkoping area. This acquisition strengthens our market position in HVAC services in the region. Ventilation capabilities are in great demand and we are happy to welcome the new experts to our team. We also see great possibilities to support the existing Frodens customers with all our other technical disciplines and analytical capabilities, for instance with adding Caverion SmartView to monitor and analyse their building conditions," says Uno Lundberg, Head of Caverion's Division Sweden.

Read more about our ventilation solutions.

For more information, please contact:

Uno Lundberg, Head of Caverions Division Sweden, tel. +46 70 497 4113, uno.lundberg@caverion.com

Erika Bjornesparr, Head of Marketing and Communications, Caverion Sweden, tel. +46 73 050 9285, erika.a.bjornesparr@caverion.com

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

https://news.cision.com/caverion/r/caverion-to-acquire-the-business-of-frodens-ventilation-ab-in-sweden,c3471988

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FN Media Group Presents Microsmallcap.com Market Commentary

NEW YORK, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The demand for silver is projected to exceed one billion for the first time in six years, with global silver demand reaching 1.29 billion ounces in 2021. According to the Silver Institute, demand has risen across the board - from manufacturers of solar panels and electronics to jewelers to investors in physical silver bars and coins - and is showing no signs of slowing in 2022 and beyond thanks to expanding global connectivity. Summa Silver(TSXV:SSVR) (OTCQB:SSVRF), SilverCrest Metals Inc. (NYSE:SILV) (TSX:SIL), First Majestic Silver (NYSE:AG) (TSX:FR), Alexco Resources (NYSE:AXU) (TSX:AXU), and Mag Silver Corp (NYSE:MAG) (TSX:MAG) stand to benefit from the growing demand for silver.

Canadian junior mineral exploration company Summa Silver (TSXV:SSVR) (OTCQB:SSVRF) is focused on drilling at its two 100% owned past-producing high-grade silver-gold properties in the US, the Hughes Property in Tonopah, Nevada, and the Mogollon Property in New Mexico.

The company released an update for the Mogollon property, an underexplored region that presents a significant opportunity for drilling and exploring new opportunities on the mine.

Summa Silver previously commenced drilling at the historically producing high-grade silver-gold Mogollon Property in New Mexico and provided an update on property-wide geological, geophysical, and remote sensing surveys. The Mogollon property is a 2,467-acre property in the Mogollon mining district in Southwest New Mexico. The mine is located in a historically prolific mining region, about 120 km north of Silver City. The company anticipates at least 15,000m of drilling at the consolidated extension target which represents 1.5% of the vein and structure length at the Mogollon property.

In a new update, the company continues its drilling activities on the Mogollon property with a focus on testing unmined extensions of the consolidated mine. From the first drill hole, Summa Silver intersected a broad 50-meter vein zone with visible mineralization. The newly intersected vein consists of high concentrations of silver-bearing sulfosalts.

Galen McNamara, Summa SilverCEO, stated: "Although we don't expect the entire intersection to carry grade, the wide zone of classic low-sulfidation veining in our first hole attests to the prospectivity of the Queen Vein and the significance of the mineralizing system in general. This hole confirms our modeling of historic mine records and limited exploration drilling of the target. It also supports the strong potential of the vein along strike and down-dip."

The Mogollon mining district has been largely inactive since 1942. In addition, the property has about 34 km of new continuous epithermal-associated veins and faults, with only about 1.7 km of these veins and faults drill-tested.

According to Summa Silver CEO Galen McNamara, "The Mogollon district presents a very rare discovery opportunity" and "has the potential to be one of the great remaining vein fields still left in the US."

Summa Silver has already seen significant results from the ongoing drill program at the Hughes Property, which hosts the Belmont Mine, one of the most prolific silver producers in the US from the 1920s. In September, Summa announced that Rescue veins from the Belmont Mine intersected 1,699 g/t silver equivalent over 4.3 m including 9,989 g/t silver equiv. over 0.6 m. Drilling has just wrapped up on the Hughes property with results pending for nine additional holes.

"Each time I visit the property I am reminded of its potential and my recent visit was no exception. On this visit, myself and Chris York, VP Exploration, were able to access the Last Chance Mine. We have now begun sampling the uppermost level of the mine and are pursuing potential access to the lower levels of the mine via an intact winze," said Summa SilverCEO Galen McNamara. "Additionally, drilling is ongoing at the Consolidated Extension target where we are pursuing well-known extensions to mineralization in the Consolidated Mine, the last mine to stop producing in the district at the start of World War II."

For more information about Summa Silver (TSXV:SSVR) (OTCQB:SSVRF), please click here .

Silver Mining Companies Advance on Various Mining Projects

Canadian precious metals exploration and development company SilverCrest Metals Inc. (NYSE:SILV) (TSX:SIL) announced that the construction at Las Chispas mine remains on schedule, with 54% of the construction completed within Q3 2021. The company has made significant progress with its drill program at Las Chispas, having completed 104,804 meters of drilling by September 30, 2021. Silver Crest expects to release the results for its drilling program in Q4 2021.

First Majestic Silver (NYSE:AG) (TSX:FR) just filed an updated technical report for its Santa Elena silver-gold mine, including positive pre-feasibility results for its Ermitano Project. According to the report, the proven and probable mineral reserves for Santa Elena increased by 59% to 51 million silver equivalent ounces with 12.6 million ounces of silver and 418.4 thousand ounces of gold. Meanwhile, the pre-feasibility study for the Ermitano Project revealed after-tax NPV5% of $64.8 million, after-tax IRR or 34%, and a 7-year life of mine.

Alexco Resources (NYSEAmerican:AXU) (TSX:AXU) released its Q3 financial results , highlighting progress on its mining operations, exploration activities, and capital development projects. The company continued its longhole drilling and blasting at Bellekeno and completed ore production at the site in October 2021. Alexco Resources also anticipates beginning initial ore production at Flame and Moth later in Q4 2021 as underground development activities continue at the site.

On November 29, Mag Silver Corp (NYSEAmerican:MAG) (TSX:MAG) announced that it has completed a previously announced bought deal financing for gross proceeds of US$46.15 million. The company intends to use the proceeds to fund exploration and Juanicipio and its other projects, including Deer Trail.

The demand for silver continues to grow as economies recover and production resumes. This growth in demand creates increasing value for companies like Summa Silver, which is involved in silver mining.

DISCLAIMER: Microsmallcap.com (MSC) is the source of the Article and content set forth above. References to any issuer other than the profiled issuer are intended solely to identify industry participants and do not constitute an endorsement of any issuer and do not constitute a comparison to the profiled issuer. FN Media Group (FNM) is a third-party publisher and news dissemination service provider, which disseminates electronic information through multiple online media channels. FNM is NOT affiliated with MSC or any company mentioned herein. The commentary, views and opinions expressed in this release by MSC are solely those of MSC and are not shared by and do not reflect in any manner the views or opinions of FNM. Readers of this Article and content agree that they cannot and will not seek to hold liable MSC and FNM for any investment decisions by their readers or subscribers. MSC and FNM and their respective affiliated companies are a news dissemination and financial marketing solutions provider and are NOT registered broker-dealers/analysts/investment advisers, hold no investment licenses and may NOT sell, offer to sell or offer to buy any security.



The Article and content related to the profiled company represent the personal and subjective views of the Author (MSC), and are subject to change at any time without notice. The information provided in the Article and the content has been obtained from sources which the Author believes to be reliable. However, the Author (MSC) has not independently verified or otherwise investigated all such information. None of the Author, MSC, FNM, or any of their respective affiliates, guarantee the accuracy or completeness of any such information. This Article and content are not, and should not be regarded as investment advice or as a recommendation regarding any particular security or course of action; readers are strongly urged to speak with their own investment advisor and review all of the profiled issuer's filings made with the Securities and Exchange Commission before making any investment decisions and should understand the risks associated with an investment in the profiled issuer's securities, including, but not limited to, the complete loss of your investment. FNM was not compensated by any public company mentioned herein to disseminate this press release but was compensated twenty five hundred dollars by MSC, a non-affiliated third party to distribute this release on behalf of Summa Silver.

FNM HOLDS NO SHARES OF ANY COMPANY NAMED IN THIS RELEASE.



This release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended and such forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. "Forward-looking statements" describe future expectations, plans, results, or strategies and are generally preceded by words such as "may", "future", "plan" or "planned", "will" or "should", "expected," "anticipates", "draft", "eventually" or "projected". You are cautioned that such statements are subject to a multitude of risks and uncertainties that could cause future circumstances, events, or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements, including the risks that actual results may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, and other risks identified in a company's annual report on Form 10-K or 10-KSB and other filings made by such company with the Securities and Exchange Commission. You should consider these factors in evaluating the forward-looking statements included herein, and not place undue reliance on such statements. The forward-looking statements in this release are made as of the date hereof and MSC and FNM undertake no obligation to update such statements.



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Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - December 14, 2021) - Ridgeline Minerals Corp. (TSXV: RDG) (OTCQB: RDGMF) (FSE: 0GC0) ("Ridgeline" or the "Company") has granted an aggregate of 650,000 stock options to directors, officers, employees and consultants of the Company in accordance with the Company's incentive stock option plan, subject to regulatory acceptance. These incentive stock options are exercisable at $0.37 per share for a period of five years.

The Company also announces that it has granted an aggregate of 300,000 deferred share units, ("DSUs") to the directors of the Company and 75,000 restricted share units ("RSUs") to employees and consultants of the Company. The DSUs and RSUs are governed by the Company's RSU/DSU Plan and will be subject to applicable securities law hold periods.

About Ridgeline Minerals Corp.

Ridgeline is a discovery focused gold-silver explorer with a proven management team and a 154 km exploration portfolio across four projects in the highly prospective Carlin and Battle Mountain - Eureka Trends in Nevada, USA. More information about Ridgeline can be found at www.RidgelineMinerals.com.

On behalf of the Board

"Chad Peters"

President & CEO

Further Information:

Chad Peters, P.Geo.

President & CEO

Ridgeline Minerals Corp.

1-866-RDG-NVAU (734-6828) - toll free

info@ridgelineminerals.com

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Service Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release.

Cautionary Note regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Statements contained in this press release that are not historical facts are "forward-looking information" or "forward-looking statements" (collectively, "Forward-Looking Information") within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation and the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-Looking Information includes, but is not limited to, the anticipated benefits of the Earn-In Agreement and the transaction contemplated thereby. The words "potential", "anticipate", "meaningful", "discovery", "forecast", "believe", "estimate", "expect", "may", "will", "project", "plan", "historical", "historic" and similar expressions are intended to be among the statements that identify Forward-Looking Information. Forward-Looking Information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results to be materially different from any future results expressed or implied by the Forward-Looking Information. In preparing the Forward-Looking Information in this news release, Ridgeline has applied several material assumptions, including, but not limited to, assumptions that the current objectives concerning its mineral projects (including Swift) can be achieved and that its other corporate activities will proceed as expected; that general business and economic conditions will not change in a materially adverse manner; and that all requisite information will be available in a timely manner. Forward-Looking Information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance, or achievements of Ridgeline to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the Forward-Looking Information. Such risks and other factors include, among others, risks related to dependence on key personnel; risks related to unforeseen delays; risks related to historical data that has not been verified by the Company; as well as those factors discussed in Ridgeline's public disclosure record. Although Ridgeline has attempted to identify important factors that could affect Ridgeline and may cause actual actions, events, or results to differ materially from those described in Forward-Looking Information, 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 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. Except as required by law, Ridgeline does not assume any obligation to release publicly any revisions to Forward-Looking Information contained in this news release to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/107560


CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - United Airlines has inked a new codesharing partnership with Virgin Australia Group to extend its presence to and within Australia by adding Virgin Australia's comprehensive network. Virgin Australia is replacing its current over a decade old codeshare and frequent flyer relationship with Delta Air Lines in mid-2022 as United offers customers more destinations and more benefits.



The importance of Australia in United's network can be seen by the fact that United was the only carrier to maintain passenger service between the U.S. and Australia throughout the pandemic. United offers more flights to Australia than any other U.S. carrier. This partnership is set to roll out in April 2022, subject to government approval.



Under this new partnership, United's customers will now have access to all major Australian destinations, including Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide. It currently offers direct flights from San Francisco and Los Angeles to Sydney and expects to resume flights from Houston and direct services to Melbourne in 2022.



United Airlines will also offer Virgin Australia customers more non-stop flights from Australia, and 92 seamless one-stop connections to points across the U.S.



This partnership will also add more benefits for both MileagePlus and Velocity Frequent Flyer members and offer more one-stop connections to cities across the United States, Australia, Mexico, the Caribbean, and South America.



Further, both MileagePlus and Velocity Frequent Flyer members will have priority access to check-in, boarding, security clearance, lounge services as well as baggage delivery and additional baggage check allowance.



The partnership will also triple Virgin Australia's reach into the Americas, with customers accessing United's vast domestic and international network, connecting at United's multiple Australian gateways.



Virgin Australia will resume the sale of codeshare flights at virginaustralia.com, starting with United services in early 2022. The sale of codeshare flights with other international partners will also resume after that. It had paused the sale of codeshare flights on its website at the height of the pandemic.



Virgin Australia is scheduled to resume its own international services starting with Fiji from this Thursday 16 December 2021 and growing to Bali and Queenstown in the New Year.



The United and Virgin Australia partnership will be up against a stronger rival partnership between American Airlines and Qantas.



Separately, Virgin Australia thanked Delta Air Lines for their long-standing commitment and relationship and said it will work closely with Delta over the coming months to transition the Velocity partnership. It also added that all bookings will continue to be honoured when Delta customers fly on Virgin Australia.



Last week, United became the world's first commercial passenger flight to operate using 100 percent sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) which was a turning point in the industry's effort to combat climate change.



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

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NORFOLK, Va., Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Portland Cement Association (PCA) announced earlier this month that it is honoring Titan America's two plants in the 2021 Energy and Environment Awards program. Pennsuco (PNS) located in Medley, FL, won the Overall Environmental Award and Roanoke Cement Company (RCC) in Troutville, VA was conferred the Environmental Performance Award for initiatives taking place in 2020.

The PCA Awards were judged following submissions from plants across the U.S. and the winners excelled at "researching and developing new and innovative ways to reduce environmental footprint," according to PCA President and CEO, Michael Ireland. The awards will be formally presented during the PCA Spring Meeting held in San Antonio, TX in March 2022.

The two Titan America plants presenting to PCA judges focused on energy reductions and sustainable environmental practices on their grounds. Energy management excellence is a defining attribute for Titan America operations and both plants remain at the pinnacle of U.S. cement makers. Notably, only two American cement plants have been certified to the ISO 50001 standard - Titan America's PNS and RCC.

Other achievements for each plant included:

PNS:

Received U.S. EPA's ENERGY STAR honors for the 14th consecutive year in 2020.

Completed construction of a 30,000 sq. ft. processed engineered fuels facility on its campus.

Earned TRUE Platinum Zero Waste, the highest category of certification obtainable, by Green Business Certification Inc. (GBCI).

RCC:

Received U.S. EPA's ENERGY STAR honors for the 15th consecutive year in 2020.

Earned TRUE Gold Zero Waste status for documented results in landfill reduction, alternative fuel usage and other initiatives.

As a result of the combined plant efforts, Titan America, LLC was named a 2021 USGBC Regional Leadership Award recipient by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). Recipients were recognized at the USGBC Leadership Awards Ceremony held virtually in June. The awardees stand out as exceptional examples of sustainability leadership.

About Titan America LLC

Titan America LLC (http://www.titanamerica.com) and its family of companies are leading heavy building materials producers in the Eastern United States. Titan America is headquartered in Norfolk, VA and its subsidiary companies produce cement, aggregates, ready mixed concrete, concrete block, and beneficiated fly ash. Its parent company, Titan Cement International, S.A., (www.titan-cement.com), headquartered in Brussels, Belgium, is a participant of the UN Global Compact, the world's largest corporate sustainability initiative, based on companies' commitments to implement universal sustainability principles and to support the UN goals.

CONTACT:

Mary Beth Kramer

Kramer Consulting

(215) 431-3946
- A detailed survey by Future Market Insights (FMI) examines key trends prevalent across the North America electrical testing services market. It classifies the market based on end use and service type. The report examines the current market outlook and present an overview of drivers, restrains, and opportunities that will affect the growth trajectory of the market through 2031.

DUBAI, UAE, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- As per FMI, North America electrical testing services market is estimated to total US$ 1.8 Bn in 2021. Increasing installation of power transmission equipment such as transformers across refineries, manufacturing plants, railways, and others are fueling the demand for electrical testing services.

Historically, demand for electrical testing services in North America grew at 0.9% CAGR between 2016 and 2020. However, with increasing government initiatives to develop power generation infrastructure across the U.S. and Canada, the market is anticipated to top US$ 3.28 Bn by 2031.

For instance, according to the Consumer Energy Alliance, in May 2020, the Trump administration announced receiving approval for constructing of the biggest power generation project in the U.S, the Gemini Solar Project.

It will cover nearly 28 sq.km of the landmass in Nevada and is expected to produce around 690 MW of electricity. A slew of such initiatives is estimated to create lucrative opportunities in the market.

Request a report sample to gain comprehensive insights at https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-14222

Further, increasing concern regarding the workplace safety and rising incidence of electricity leakage, faults in wiring, short-circuiting, leakage of lubricants, and others are propelling the demand in the market. On account of this, sales of electrical testing services in North America are projected to rise at 5.9% CAGR over the forecast period 2021-2031.

Based on service type, the transformer testing and circuit breaker testing segments are anticipated to collectively hold the lion's share in the market, accounting for nearly 38.3% of sales in 2021. Increasing use of these services to ensure the uniformity of windings in all the connection to avoid short circuits is driving the growth in segments.

"Growing government emphasis on renewable energy generation and rapid expansion of transmission & distribution sector to meet the surging energy demand in countries such as the U.S., Canada, and Mexico is augmenting the growth in the market," says a FMI analyst.

Key Takeaways from North America Electrical Testing Services Market Study

The U.S. is estimated to account for 57.1% of the sales in 2021 owing to the increasing development of power generation infrastructure in the country.

Canada is anticipated to emerge as a highly attractive market, projecting sales at a CAGR of 6.1% between 2021 and 2031.

is anticipated to emerge as a highly attractive market, projecting sales at a CAGR of 6.1% between 2021 and 2031. Mexico electrical testing services market is forecast to account for 19.1% of the share, expanding at 6.4% CAGR over the assessment period.

electrical testing services market is forecast to account for 19.1% of the share, expanding at 6.4% CAGR over the assessment period. In terms of service type, the thermographic segment is projected to account for a significant share, growing at 6.5% CAGR through 2031.

Transformer testing is projected to remain highly sought-after service in the market, accounting for 20.9% of the total sales in 2021.

Key Drivers

Increasing investment in developing electrical infrastructure to provide affordable and uninterrupted electricity in Mexico , the U.S, and Canada is facilitating the growth in the market.

, the U.S, and is facilitating the growth in the market. Implementation of stringent regulations mandating the regular check-up of electrical equipment and power distribution lines to avoid hazards is rising the sales of electric testing services in North America .

Full Report With TOC @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/north-america-electrical-testing-services-market

Key Restraints

High cost of devices for electrical testing to monitor the functioning of high medium, and low voltage transformers and circuit breakers is hampering the growth in the market.

Increasing in-house capabilities for regular testing and declining the cost is expected to hinder the sales of electric testing services.

Competitive Landscape

As per FMI, leading players offering testing services in North America are estimated to account for approximately 55% to 65% of the market share in 2021.

Key players in North America electrical testing service market are aiming at expanding their service range for as per the end-use applications. Some of the players are focusing on strategic collaborations, merger, agreement, acquisitions, and partnerships with other players to expand their testing network and service. For instance,

In August 2021 , RESA Power, a U.S.-based end-to-end electrical solutions provider announced acquiring an electrical testing company EPIC Energy Solutions, LLC. The acquisition will assist the company to expand its testing capabilities across the Midwest region.

Some of the key players operating in the market profiled by FMI are:

Schneider Electric

Siemens AG

Eaton Corporation plc

General Electric Company

ABB Inc.

Power Products & Solutions

American Electrical Testing

Haugland Group LLC

Dekra

TCS Electrical Co.

Phase One Electric

Intran

GEM Electrical Services

Electric Power Systems

Others

We Offer tailor-made Solutions to fit Your Requirements, Request Customization@https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/customization-available/rep-gb-14222

More Valuable Insights on North America Electrical Testing Services Market

The latest report by FMI provides a detailed analysis of the global North America electrical testing services market, providing credible insights into key factor driving the market through 2021 and beyond. The study also disclosed growth projections on in North America electrical testing services market with detailed segmentation:

By End Use:

Power Generation Stations

Transmission and Distribution Stations

Steel Plants

Major Refineries

Railways

Other Industrial (Laboratory, etc)

Data Centers

Healthcare and Hospitality

Commercial Establishments

By Service Type:

Transformer Testing

Circuit Breaker Testing

Protection Testing

Battery Testing

Rotating Equipment Vibration Testing

Motors/Generator Testing

Thermographic Testing

By Country:

The U.S.

Canada

Mexico

Buy this Report@ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/checkout/14222

Key Questions Covered in the Report

The report offers insight into North America electrical testing services market demand outlook for the forecast period 2021-2031

electrical testing services market demand outlook for the forecast period 2021-2031 The market study also highlights projected sales growth for North America electrical testing services market between 2021 and 2031

electrical testing services market between 2021 and 2031 North America electrical testing services market survey identifies key growth drivers, restraints, and other forces impacting prevailing trends and evaluation of current market size and forecast and technological advancements within the industry

electrical testing services market survey identifies key growth drivers, restraints, and other forces impacting prevailing trends and evaluation of current market size and forecast and technological advancements within the industry North America electrical testing services market share analysis, covering key companies within the industry and coverage of strategies such as mergers & acquisitions, joint ventures, collaborations or partnerships, and others

Top Reports Related To Market Insights

Electrical Testing Services Market: Electrification Efforts Proliferating the Demand for Electrical Testing Services, Concludes FMI.

Transformer Monitoring System Market : Digital Winding Transformer Monitors will continue To Grow Over 10.4% CAGR: FMI.

About Future Market Insights (FMI)

Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading provider of market intelligence and consulting services, serving clients in over 150 countries. FMI is headquartered in Dubai, and has delivery centers in the UK, U.S. and India. FMI's latest? market research reports ?and industry analysis help businesses navigate challenges and make critical decisions with confidence and clarity amidst breakneck competition. Our customized and?syndicated market research reports?deliver actionable insights that drive sustainable growth. A team of expert-led analysts at FMI continuously tracks emerging trends and events in a broad range of industries to ensure that our clients prepare for the evolving needs of their consumers.

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Report: https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/north-america-electrical-testing-services-market

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This partnership paves the way for increased transparency within supply chains using autonomous economic agents and will be showcased at WEF Davos 2022

CAMBRIDGE, England, Dec. 14, 2021), a Cambridge-based artificial intelligence lab building an open-access decentralized machine learning network for smart infrastructure, has announced a partnership with LiquidChefs, an on-location food beverage services company.

One of the main challenges facing modern supply chains is access to data, which is crucial for effective decision-making. This data is not always available as supply chains lack transparency due to their sheer size and other complexities. As a result, many organisations are faced with an assortment of manual and digital systems that effectively trap information within functional silos, hampering the decision-making process by providing an incomplete picture.

The partnership between Fetch.ai and LiquidChefs aims to utilize Fetch.ai's Autonomous Economic Agents integrated with its Search and Discovery Framework to build local and transparent supply chains, allowing LiquidChefs to search and connect with any sustainable supplier in its immediate vicinity. At launch, it will support a select number of suppliers including Backerei-Konditorei-Cafe Weber, BierVision Monstein AG, Black Peak Brauerei, Adank Davos AG, and Liberty Coffee Roasters.

By digitalising and automating the LiquidChefs supply chain, Fetch.ai infrastructure will create a decentralised supply chain marketplace. This marketplace connects buyers and suppliers digital agents, in real time, to support dynamic, scalable, multi-agent supply chains. This will allow individuals, organisations and assets to be represented as digital agents which work autonomously based on the users' needs and preferences, such as finding local and sustainable suppliers. The decentralized supply chain marketplace will be showcased at the Davos World Economic Forum in 2022.

"The pandemic has exposed the challenges and risks of supply chains in particular, the over-reliance on centralized locations as a source of critical products," said Humayun Sheikh, CEO of Fetch.ai. "Through this partnership with LiquidChefs, Fetch.ai will create a more reliable, transparent and efficient supply chain which will trace the sustainability of products and services."

"The nature of hospitality is collaborative and this understanding is integral to create sustainable spaces in our industry. We are excited to partner with Fetch.ai and incorporate cutting edge technologies like Blockchain, Multi-agent systems, and AI to create verified and transparent supply chains for our services," said Adam Solomon, Director of LiquidChefs.

About Fetch.ai

Fetch.ai is building the infrastructure required for autonomous software agents to begin performing useful economic work on behalf of individuals, machines, businesses, and organizations. Fetch.ai's network is based around open-source technology and gives users access to the power of AI on a world-scale secure dataset to carry out complex coordination tasks in the modern economy. For more information, please visit https://www.fetch.ai.

Press contact: info@fetch.ai

About LiquidChefs

LiquidChefs is a premium mobile bar company specializing in the supply of all things liquid. From the supply of coffee, smoothie, cocktail and juice bars to slick and stylish bartenders that bring unforgettable energy to events, LiquidChefs has been servicing the hospitality sector for the past 13 years. Over the past few years, the 'all things liquid' became soup, and then food catering services too. Since 2009, LiquidChefs has been a part of some of the most unforgettable events at the World Economic Forum.

LiquidChefs focuses on making decisions relating to supplier partnerships based on factors like location, framing practises, inclusion and diversity, gender related pay, worker living wage rates, forced labour, access to unions, working conditions and access to jobs among many other governance issues too.

For more information, please visit https://www.liquidchefs.co.uk/

Related Images











Image 1: Fetch.ai x LiquidChefs









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Attachment
OLYMPIA, WA / ACCESSWIRE / December 14, 2021 / MHHC Enterprises Inc.("MHHC") or the "Company") (OTC PINK:MHHC) is pleased to announce that it has appointed Mr. David Hexter as the Company's CFO effective October 1, 2021.

Mr. Hexter is a Certified Professional Accountant ("CPA") with over 20 years of experience in developing, leading, and advising public and private corporations through their daily operating activities as well as on complex restructurings, mergers, acquisitions, capital markets transactions and SEC reporting requirements.

David has a B.S. in Accounting from Arizona State University and an MS in Accounting from Florida Atlantic University. Since 2005, David has consulted for and been the CFO of several privately held and small public companies. Prior to this, David was an Audit Manager at Weinberg and Company, P.A. for several years and an Accountant at Ahearn Jasco & Company, P.A. He has been working with MHHC in a consulting capacity since January 2021, successfully guiding the Company through their initial 2-year audit for the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019.

"David Hexter brings significant hands-on expertise and technical knowledge to the Company in all aspects of corporate finance and accounting," said Frank Hawley, CEO of MHHC Enterprises "We look forward to David formally joining our organization as we work to aggressively execute our exciting business plan and strategically build our executive team" added Hawley.

About MHHC Enterprises, Inc.

MHHC Enterprises Inc. (MHHC) is a diversified holding company, focused on its core businesses: MHHC Warranty and Services Inc., MHHC Reinsurance, Inc. and ONBLi, Inc, the company's wholly owned e-commerce subsidiary that intends to simplify e-Commerce through its revolutionary FiNDiNG technology by matching consumers with optimal products based on the fundamental criteria of wants, needs, and budget. Currently MHHC has over 1,000 retail locations selling Extended Service Contracts (ESC) across the United States and online. MHHC is a leading national provider of help desk and warranty insurance administration services for a wide variety of industries and consumers. Additionally, the Company's organization creates and specializes service programs for a variety of manufacturers and commercial construction such as heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) industries. MHHC is a leader in call center "on-shoring" by creating jobs in the United States for professional phone representatives - both sales and customer service employees. The Company's call center processes claims and service calls offering warranty support solutions for a variety of businesses.

MHHC prides itself in offering troubleshooting solutions over the phone and developing processes to eliminate overhead costs of shipping and timely repairs on approved claims. The highly skilled staff at MHHC consistently provides mission-critical solutions and results that assist industries and manufacturers in driving down warranty support and repair costs for their organization.

Follow MHHC Enterprises on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MhhcEnterprises

Safe Harbor and Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains statements that involve expectations, plans or intentions (such as those relating to future expansion or financial results) and other factors discussed from time to time in the Company's OTC Markets filings. These statements are forward-looking and are subject to risks and uncertainties, so actual results may vary materially. You can identify these forward- looking statements by words such as "may," "should," "expect," "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "intend," "plan" and other similar expressions. Our actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of certain factors not within the control of the Company. The Company cautions readers not to place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made. The Company disclaims any obligation subsequently to revise any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of such statements or to reflect the occurrence of anticipated or unanticipated events.

Contact:

Investor Relations

Email: Investors@mhhcco.com

SOURCE: MHHC Enterprises Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/677438/MHHC-Enterprises-Inc-Announces-David-Hexter-as-Chief-Financial-Officer
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / December 14, 2021 / Camino Corp. (TSXV:COR)(OTC PINK:CAMZF) (WKN:A116E1) ("Camino" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that discovery drilling at its Los Chapitos copper project (Los Chapitos), consisting of 5 exploration drillholes, intercepted anomalous copper mineralization over a strike extent of approximately 6.5 kilometres (Figure 1 and Table 1) with grades up to 1.05% Cu. The drillholes also contained consistent cobalt mineralization, and trace amounts of silver and gold. Drilling to date has only tested a portion of the copper mineralization along the more than 8 km Diva Trend. Parallel fault structures along Atajo and Lagunillas are also prospective for copper discoveries within the Los Chapitos claims. The drilling at Los Chapitos is targeting new copper mineralization in addition to the previously drilled Adriana Zone, as newly permitted areas become available for drilling. At the Adriana Zone, drilling results reported in January 2021 showed significant intercepts of copper mineralization, including 55.5 m of 0.72% copper (Cu), with 22.5 m @ 1.15% Cu (see news release dated January 19, 2021). The next priority drill target is the Lourdes copper oxidized outcrop with geological similarities to Adriana.

Highlights:

Initial 5 exploration drillholes show anomalous copper, cobalt, and trace gold and silver with up to 1.05% copper and 0.36 g/t gold, covering 6.5 km of strike extent on the Diva Trend and only a fraction has been drill tested with very encouraging results in this round of exploration drilling.

Drilling identified copper sulphides in both volcanic and intrusive rocks that indicate potential for a sulphide feeder deposit.

The next priority drill target is at the Lourdes outcrop (Figure 1), which shows structurally controlled manto-style copper oxide mineralization similar to the Adriana and Carlotta zones.

"We appear to be in the right geological sequence of rock for a large discovery to be made that is similar to the nearby large manto-style Mina Justa deposit. The presence of mineralized intercepts is giving us confidence that we are drilling near a large distal ore body," said Chief Geologist, Jose Bassan. "Chalcopyrite, chalcocite, bornite, and oxidized copper have been logged in a rock assemblage of volcanic andesitic tuff with moderate alteration and the presence of epidote, chlorite, hematite, magnetite, and carbonates, and evidence of magnetite replacement by specularite. This is a lithological sequence similar to the new Mina Justa copper mine that is hosted in the same Chocolate Formation as Los Chapitos."

Figure 1. Alteration Plan Map of Diva Trend Showing Recent and Historical Drillholes

The Company expects that a Declaracion Impacto Ambiental ("DIA") drilling permit will be received imminently, allowing for drilling to commence in the new Lourdes and Condori Zones located 3 km north of the Adriana Zone. The Company plans to prioritize its drilling between its Los Chapitos Project and its new Maria Cecilia copper porphyry project pending receipt of permits in the new year.

"We are selectively stepping out and drilling new mineralized areas as new permits become available at both our Los Chapitos and Maria Cecilia copper projects," said Jay Chmelauskas, CEO of Camino. "Both copper projects are expected to receive new DIA drilling permits at the end of 2021 or beginning of 2022, which will allow for more discovery drilling at the beginning of 2022. These projects have the right geology to make large scale copper discoveries which is our opportunity early next year."

Figure 2. Chocolate Formation Hosting Copper Oxides in Drillhole DCH-074 at 74 Metres

The mineralization encountered in the recent drilling campaign was intercepted in volcanic andesites known as the Chocolate Formation (Figure 2), which is a sequence of volcanic rocks that extend along the coast of Peru and host other significant mining projects. Notably, the Mina Justa copper mine, located 100 km north of Los Chapitos, is Peru's newest copper and gold mine with invested capital of over $1.6 Billion. The Company believes that Los Chapitos has a similar alteration assemblage with hematite, magnetite, epidote, chlorite, feldspar, potassium, and calcite capable of hosting a major deposit like Mina Justa (Figure 3).

Figure 3. Mina Justa Copper Deposit Footprint Compared Against the Los Chapitos Claims

All 5 exploration drillholes, totalling approximately 1,400 metres, have intercepted anomalous copper mineralization. Three drillholes in the Lidia Zone located 4 km to the north of the Adriana Zone and spaced approximately 75m apart, DCH-075, DCH-076, DCH-077, have intercepted copper mineralization up to 0.34% Cu and 0.36ppm Au, that appears continuous and manto-like between drillholes.

A step-out hole 1 km south of Adriana has extended the mineralization halo in the Katty Zone by 200 m. Drillhole DCH-079, located 2.5 km to the south of Adriana, intercepted anomalous copper enriched in secondary sulfide chalcocite, bornite, and covellite with up to 1.05% Cu and 9.32ppm Ag. The Company believes that the anomalous copper results in exploration drilling support the potential for a large-scale distal deposit.

Camino is selectively drilling new areas that the Company believes could intercept additional mineralization like the copper oxides at Adriana. The recent drilling campaign has also identified copper sulphides in the intrusive monzonite that may indicate a sulphide feeder deposit that would account for the widespread copper oxide mineralization at surface. Copper sulphides were also encountered in our 2020 drill campaign where DCH-072 intercepted up to 2.04% Cu in monzonite intrusives. The sulphide mineralization provides additional exploration potential at Los Chapitos.

Figure 4. 2020 drill campaign. Chalcopyrite in hole DCH-072, interval 481.7-483.8m copper value up to 2.04% Cu

Table 1. Drilling Results from Fall 2021 Drilling Campaign at Los Chapitos

Additional Information:

Figure 5 - Geophysics Plan Map of Diva Trend Showing Recent and Historical Drillholes

Figure 6 - Oblique Cross-Section of Drillholes DCH-075, 076, 077

Figure 7 - Cross-Section of Drillhole DCH-078

Figure 8 - Cross-Section of Drillhole DCH-079

Figure 9 - Cross-Section of Drillholes DCH-078 and DCH-079

About Camino Minerals Corporation

Camino is a discovery and development stage copper exploration company. The Company is focused on advancing its high-grade Los Chapitos copper project located in Peru towards potential resource delineation and new discoveries. In addition, the company has commenced field studies at its copper and silver Plata Dorada project. Camino has also recently acquired the Maria Cecilia copper porphyry project. The Company seeks to acquire a portfolio of advanced copper assets that have the potential to deliver copper into an electrifying copper intensive global economy. For more information, please refer to Camino's website at www.caminocorp.com.

Jose Bassan MAusIMM (CP) 227922, MSc. Geologist, a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101, has reviewed and approved the technical contents of this document. Mr. Bassan has reviewed and verified relevant data supporting the technical disclosure, including sampling and analytical test data.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

/S/ "Jay Chmelauskas"

President and CEO For further information, please contact: Camino Investor Relations

info@caminocorp.com

Tel: (604) 493-2058

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.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking Statements: Certain disclosures in this release constitute forward-looking information. In making the forward-looking disclosures in this release, the Company has applied certain factors and assumptions that are based on the Company's current beliefs as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to the Company. Forward-looking information in the release includes the prospectivity of future exploration work on the Los Chapitos and Maria Cecilia projects the ability to complete the necessary permit requirements for drilling, or that actual results of exploration and engineering activities are consistent with management's expectations. Although the Company considers these assumptions to be reasonable based on information currently available to it, they may prove to be incorrect, and the forward-looking information in this release is subject to numerous risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause future results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such forward-looking information. Such risk factors include, among others, that actual results of the Company's exploration activities will be different than those expected by management, that the Company will be unable to obtain or will experience delays in obtaining any required approvals and the state of equity and commodity markets. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Company does not intend, and expressly 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: Camino Minerals Corp.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/677496/District-Scale-Manto-Style-Copper-Oxides-with-Primary-Sulphide-Mineralization-Potential-at-the-Los-Chapitos-Project-in-Peru
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - December 14, 2021) - Canuc Resources Corporation (TSXV: CDA) (OTCQB: CNUCF) ("Canuc" or the "Company") is pleased to provide a December 2021 update on the exploration program currently in progress at the Company's San Javier Ag-Au Project in Sonora State, Mexico.

In 2020 Canuc carried out a very successful sampling program at surface and in shallow underground workings that identified numerous high-bonanza grade silver occurrences hosted by magnetite bearing veins and hydrothermal breccia bodies. A drone-supported magnetic survey was completed late in the year and was accompanied by reconnaissance scale geological mapping. Several large magnetic anomalies were identified and targeted for drill testing.

In February of 2021, a diamond drill was mobilized to San Javier to be used on a long-term as-needed basis with plans to systematically evaluate the high priority targets. Drilling has proceeded slower than anticipated because of equipment and logistical issues which have been exacerbated by covid-related complications. The drill operated for 102 days during the period February 11 to December 1, 2021, completing 1,753 metres in 4 holes. From this drilling, 964 samples were collected and submitted for assay. Summaries of the geology and intersections for the first 3 holes were announced in an earlier news release (October 12, 2021).

2021 Current Hole SJ-21-04 Targeting Copper Intrusive

Hole SJ-21-04 is being drilled near the center of the property and was originally designed to test a broad magnetic anomaly interpreted to be at a depth of 300 m. The hole entered a zone consisting of stockwork quartz and calcite veining, hydrothermal breccia and highly fractured and veined hornfels (contact metamorphic rock) at 304 m and continued in this material to its current depth of 1,023.5 m where it is temporarily suspended awaiting mobilization of a larger rig for continuation to depth. Assay results from the lower part of the hole are pending. Veining in the hole contained from 3 to 10% sulphides and included pyrite, pyrrhotite and chalcopyrite. Assay results have been received to a depth of 912 m typically in 2 metre sample lengths. Values for Au ranged from <0.005 to 0.151 g/t Au; <0.3 g/t Ag; 5 to 1,781 ppm Cu; and 1.0 to 27.5% Fe. This hole is being continued at depth to target a prospectively mineralized intrusive which is believed to be the source of the contact metamorphism evidenced in recovered core.

2021 Significant San Javier Mineralogy Determinations

Since chalcopyrite has been observed throughout hole SJ-21-04, a sample was submitted to Laboratorio Nacional de Geoquimica y Mineralogia, Instituto de Geologia, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico in Hermosillo for identification by the XRF method. The dominant sulphide identified was pyrrhotite with lesser amounts of pyrite, chalcopyrite and putoranite (a Cu-Ni-Fe-sulphide). Putoranite is not a normal copper-iron mineral in typical porphyry deposits but instead is more often associated with magmatic related deposits (which could include magmatic-hydrothermal IOCG deposits). The detection of putoranite is less relevant when considered in isolation, than when considered in the context of the significant finding of silver halide dominance as reported in August of this year (see news release August 4, 2021).

In August 2021 it was reported that (~73%) of the silver minerals found at San Javier are silver halides (such as AgCl, AgBr, AgI and AgFl) while a smaller relative percentage (~27%) were found to be Acanthite (Ag 2 S). This relative weighting in silver mineralogy is not common for silver deposits in the Western USA and Mexico but is consistent with silver mineralization that can be associated with IOCG deposit types.

2021 New Gold Zone

Approximately 11.2 km of drill and trench access roads were completed during the year. One of these roads encountered bedrock consisting of stockwork quartz veining and hydrothermal breccia. A strong northwest trending structure containing gold mineralization was identified along a strike length of more than 3 km (see news releases Aug 28, 2021, and Oct 12, 2021). The zone was prospected, and a series of trenches were cut at right angles to the structure along a 1 km section. A total of 672 channel samples were collected from trenches and roadcuts within this area. Gold values from these samples ranged from <0.005 to 3.18 g/t; silver from <0.3 to 169 g/t; and copper from 5 ppm to 2.85%. Numerous broad intervals with elevated gold and copper values were discovered within this first 1 km section including:

Road near Trench 1: 14.5 m @ 0.47 g/t Au, 0.37% Cu.

Trench 1: 56 m @ 0.305 g/t Au.

Trench 2: 26 m @ 0.212 g/t Au.

Trench 2A: 10 m @ 0.195 g/t Au.

Trench 3: 13 m @ 0.16 g/t Au, 0.48% Cu.

This initial sampling program has tested an area of approximately 1 km of the 3 km strike length of this zone, and stripping has so far been confined to areas of relatively easy access.

The work program was carried out by a 5-person crew. In addition to drill supervision, logging and sampling, approximately 365 person-days were spent on geological mapping and 440 person-days were spent collecting rock samples from outcrop, trenches and old underground workings. A total of 1,305 rock samples were collected and assayed from the new gold zone and from other zones on the property.

2021 High Grade Silver Confirmation

The 2021 sampling program included 30 samples collected from known magnetite bearing prospects in the northern part of the property. These samples were collected to verify high grade silver mineralization from previous sampling as well as to trace this mineralization on the Company's newly acquired claims. Twenty-Three (23) channel samples averaging 0.7 m wide were collected from sites on the Company's claims that had been previously sampled. The new samples assayed up to 1.672 g/t Au, 1,877 g/t Ag and 6,823 ppm Cu (see Table 1 for details). These results are very similar to results from previous sampling and confirm the high-grade nature of these zones.

Table 1 - 23 Verification Samples Metal Low High Weighted Average Au (g/t) 0.006 1.437 0.094 Ag (g/t) 10.3 1,877 295 Cu (ppm) 118 6,823 1,784 Fe (%) 0.42 >40 23.2



Seven (7) channel samples averaging 0.8 m in width were collected from old mine workings found on recently acquired claims (claims acquired in 2021). These samples contained notable values in Au (up to 1.67 g/t), Ag (up to 511 g/t) and Cu (up to 1,854 ppm) (see Table 2 for details).

Table 2 - 7 Samples from Newly Acquired Claims Metal Low High Weighted Average Au (g/t) 0.009 1.672 0.149 Ag (g/t) 32.8 511 282 Cu (ppm) 123 1,854 604 Fe (%) 1.92 >40 18.5



The workings with sample results reflected in Table 2 are located approximately 400 m along strike from the trend where bonanza grade Ag values were reported on the Company's claims in an earlier news release (October 14, 2020) and which has now been resampled as reflected in Table 1 above. The host rocks in all of these zones are massive magnetite-matrixed breccias and their associated veining.

The Company has 100% ownership of 24 contiguous claims in the heart of the San Javier exploration and mining camp. The property is bounded on the south and southeast by the Cerro Verde Cu-Au property of Barksdale Resources Corp. and on the north and northeast by the San Antonio Cu-Au property held by Osisko Development Corp. Both Barksdale Resources Corp. and Osisko Development Corp. have reported ongoing drill programs in the area. The San Javier area has become increasingly recognized as being highly prospective for IOCG, porphyry and other Intrusion-related Au, Ag and Cu-Au mineralization.

"We have had some delays in 2021 at San Javier but have also made some key determinations and discoveries. The IOCG thesis for ore genesis is intact. We have added some important claims to our ground position and have uncovered a new gold-copper zone that is manifest across a sizeable surface extent. We have also confirmed a high-grade metal suite and mineralogy which is consistent with our geological models and expect to make meaningful progress with drilling in 2022," stated Christopher Berlet, President and CEO of Canuc.

Quality Assurance - Quality Control

All drill core is sawn in half with one half being placed in properly labelled bags and the other half stored at the Company's secure logging and storage facility in the town of San Javier. Quality Control (QC) samples including blanks, duplicates and standard reference materials are inserted at regular intervals in the sample stream to monitor laboratory performance. The samples are delivered by Canuc personnel to the Bureau Veritas preparation laboratory in Hermosillo. At the Hermosillo facility, each sample is crushed, and a 200-gram split is pulverized and then sent to their analytical facilities in North Vancouver, British Columbia for analysis. Both facilities are accredited to the ISO/IEC 17025 standard for gold and silver analysis. The samples are assayed for gold by Fire Assay with an AAS finish. Silver content is determined as part of an Aqua Regia digestion, multi element ICP-ES analysis. Samples containing more than the upper detection limit by these methods (over-limits) are re-assayed by Fire Assay with a gravimetric finish.

Seymour M. Sears, B.A., B.Sc., P.Geo. is the Qualified Person for the Company, as defined by NI 43-101, and has reviewed and approved the contents of this press release.

About Canuc

Canuc is a junior company focusing on exploration of the San Javier Silver-Gold Project in Sonora State, Mexico. The Company has 24 contiguous claims that are prospective for IOCG style mineralization. Canuc also generates cash flow from natural gas production at its MidTex Energy Project in Central West Texas, USA where the Company holds an interest in 8 producing natural gas wells and has rights for further in field developments.

For further information please contact:

Canuc Resources Corporation.

(416) 525 - 6869

cberlet@canucresources.ca

Forward Looking Information

This news release contains forward-looking information. All information, other than information of historical fact, constitute "forward-looking statements" and includes any information that addresses activities, events or developments that the Corporation believes, expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future including the Corporation's strategy, plans or future financial or operating performance.

When used in this news release, the words "estimate", "project", "anticipate", "expect", "intend", "believe", "hope", "may" and similar expressions, as well as "will", "shall" and other indications of future tense, are intended to identify forward-looking information. The forward-looking information is based on current expectations and applies only as of the date on which they were made. The factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated in such forward-looking information include, but are not limited to, the ability of the Corporation to fund the exploration expenditures required under the Agreement. Other factors such as uncertainties regarding government regulations could also affect the results. Other risks may be set out in the Corporation's annual financial statements, MD&A and other publicly filed documents.

The Corporation cautions that 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 information. Accordingly, investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Except as required by law, the Corporation does not assume any obligation to release publicly any revisions to forward-looking information contained in this press release to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/107473
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - December 14, 2021) - WonderFi Technologies Inc. (NEO: WNDR) (OTC PINK: WONDF) (WKN: A3C166) (FTX: WNDR) (the "Company" or "WonderFi") today announced that it has agreed to acquire all of the issued and outstanding shares of Mena Software Ltd. ("Crypto APIs"), a data and wallet provider that services customers including Paypal, Ledger, Chainlink and Nexo (the "Acquisition").

Crypto APIs was founded in 2018, and is a leading provider of cryptocurrency and blockchain market data and tools which are utilized by a wide range of market participants including enterprises, wallets and exchanges and institutional investors. Crypto APIs is a trusted data authority that provides secure and scalable data products for the crypto and DeFi industries. Crypto APIs has also developed a multi-party computation ("MPC") Wallet product that enables best in class MPC security for digital assets, similar to products offered by Fireblocks and Copper.

"Data is the backbone of all financial markets, and is more difficult to obtain in the crypto and DeFi sectors due to the fragmentation of market data across different protocols and blockchains" commented WonderFi CEO, Ben Samaroo. "WonderFi's acquisition of Crypto APIs will help us provide access to high-quality, comprehensive data in order to foster efficiency, transparency and growth in the sector, while directly integrating and supporting WonderFi's own products".

"To be part of Web 3.0, you need the right infrastructure and tools. Crypto APIs provides businesses with solutions that are the backbone of the Web 3.0 ecosystem. We are excited to join the family of WonderFi as this will allow us to scale up fast, improve our services, develop institutional products and expand into new territories," commented Nashwan Khatib, CEO of Crypto APIs.

Transaction Details

The Acquisition is currently anticipated to be valued between $15 million and $25 million USD, subject to on-going due diligence, and consideration will be paid as a combination of cash and WonderFi common shares. WonderFi will retain substantially all current Crypto APIs staff and enter into employment agreements with key members of the management team.

The Acquisition is subject to the parties negotiating and entering into a binding definitive agreement to give effect to the Acquisition and is expected to close in the first quarter of 2022, subject to Crypto APIs shareholder approval, board approvals, the completion of due diligence by WonderFi and other acquisition-related closing conditions and regulatory approvals.

Additional Information

For additional information, please contact:

WonderFi Technologies Inc.

Ben Samaroo, CEO

ben@wonder.fi

(778) 843-9637

Investor Relations Contact: invest@wonder.fi

Media Contact: press@wonder.fi

ABOUT WONDERFI

WonderFi is a leading technology company with the mission of creating better access to DeFi through the core principles of simplicity and education. WonderFi has a multi-pronged business strategy which includes a high-growth consumer finance app which will serve as a trusted gateway to the new financial system, and a digital asset portfolio which consists of leading crypto and DeFi assets. WonderFi's executive team and Board of Directors have an established track record in finance and crypto, with previous experience at Amazon, Shopify, PayPal, Galaxy Digital, Hut 8 and BIGG Digital. WonderFi's core team of engineers and technologists believe that everyone should have equal access to finance, and are aligned in the mission to empower people around the world to access DeFi in a simple, smart and secure way. For more information, visit www.wonder.fi.

Forward-Looking Information and Statements

This press release contains certain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation and may also contain statements that may constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking information and forward-looking statements are not representative of historical facts or information or current condition, but instead represent only the Company's beliefs regarding future events, plans or objectives, many of which, by their nature, are inherently uncertain and outside of the Company's control. Generally, such forward-looking information or forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such "could", "intend", "expect", "believe", "will", "projected", "estimated", or variations of such words. The forward-looking information and forward-looking statements contained herein may include, but are not limited to, information concerning: the anticipated negotiation and execution of a binding definitive agreement giving effect to the Acquisition, the anticipated terms of the Acquisition, and the expected benefits of the Acquisition..

By identifying such information and statements in this manner, the Company is alerting the reader that such information and statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such information and statements. In addition, in connection with the forward-looking information and forward-looking statements contained in this press release, the Company has made certain assumptions. Among the key factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking information and statements are the following: the results of the Company's due diligence on Crypto APIs, the ability to enter into a binding definitive agreement giving effect to the Acquisition, the ability to satisfy the conditions to closing the Acquisition, the ability to successfully integrate the acquired business and its employees, the ability of the Company to work effectively with strategic investors; and changes in general economic, business and political conditions, including changes in the financial markets, changes in applicable laws, and compliance with extensive government regulation. Should one or more of these risks, uncertainties or other factors materialize, or should assumptions underlying the forward-looking information or statements prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described herein.

Although the Company believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing, and the expectations contained in, the forward-looking information and statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on such information and statements, and no assurance or guarantee can be given that such forward-looking information and statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information and statements. The forward-looking information and forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date of this press release, and the Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking information and/or forward-looking statements that are contained or referenced herein, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. All subsequent written and oral forward- looking information and statements attributable to the Company or persons acting on its behalf is expressly qualified in its entirety by this notice.

Neither NEO Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the NEO Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/107568
LONDON, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Warwick Investment Group has acquired a historic and rare multi-family building at 13/13a North Audley Street in London's Mayfair district. This purchase follows Warwick's recent acquisition of nine single family houses in Belgravia earlier this year.

The Mayfair asset, an unlisted building in a historical preservation area, was purchased in an off-market and privately negotiated transaction directly with the vendor by Warwick'sLondon team.

The purchase of the North Audley Street property is the firm's second purchase in three months targeting core assets in prime locations with value-add potential. Warwick has already commenced design work to optimize the building for long term repositioning.

Located in northern Mayfair between Grosvenor Square and Oxford Street, the majority of the units benefit from outdoor space and have direct views towards Hyde Park.

Warwick is proactively consolidating residential assets across central London under its emerging rental brand with a goal of becoming a top 10 private landlord in the capital.

Andrew Chrysostomou, UK Senior Managing Director:

This purchase is a strong complement to our portfolio in terms of location and value add optionality. We are now key landlords in both the Mayfair and Belgravia districts of central London.

Kate Richard, Founder and CEO:

The North Audley street asset is rich in Anglo-American history and we look forward to repositioning the asset to capture the increase in rental demand across London under our in-house rental brand.

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1707860/Audley_photo.jpg

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/897718/Warwick_Group_Logo.jpg
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - December 14, 2021) - Doubleview Gold Corp (TSXV: DBG) (OTC PINK: DBLVF) (FSE: 1D4) ("Doubleview", the "Company") is pleased to announce the completion of the 2021 diamond drilling program at its 100% owned Hat Polymetallic deposit. The program comprised four drill holes with total length 2,476 meters.

The 2021 drill program was designed to test the northeast and east extensions of the Lisle Zone where deep induced polarization geophysical data showed strong continuation of chargeability structures. Drill holes H038, H039 and H040 were long step-outs to the northeast with collars approximately 290 metres from hole H023 and Hole H041 was collared approximately 242 metres east of hole H09 and 540 metres northeast of H034, the most southerly hole on the property. All drill holes with the exception of H038 reached intended target areas but may be re-entered and further deepened if analytical data shows potential.

Doubleview President and CEO, Mr. Farshad Shirvani stated "The Company is encouraged by the successful completion of its accomplished 2021 exploration program. All technical details are being compiled and initial visuals indicate that the Lisle Zone may be significantly expanded to the east and northeast.

Additionally, camp facilities were upgraded to support a larger follow-up exploration program that will commence in early 2022. Due to the planned increase in the scale of operations and Covid-19 pandemic concerns, it was necessary to create additional living spaces and enhanced security measures, that include video monitoring of the camp and surrounding areas.

Drill cores have been photographed, logged and sampled under regular QA/QC procedures and have been forwarded to an independent accredited lab for analysis. Analytical results will be published when received and verified.

The Company's exploration focus continues to be on gold and copper and also on important critical metals, including cobalt, palladium and scandium as announced in the Company's news release dated July 22nd, 2021".

Hat deposit characterization:

The Hat deposit is considered a polymetallic porphyry deposit with characteristics similar to those of many of British Columbia's major deposits. In addition to gold and copper, Hat mineralization carries possibly significant quantities of the important North American strategic metals, some of which have unique metallurgical characteristics that are currently being studied at a British Columbia research facility. Sulphide mineralization, primarily chalcopyrite, occurs in fracture zones in dioritic intrusive rocks and strongly altered andesitic volcanic and volcaniclastic rocks of Upper Triassic age.

Doubleview acquired the Hat Property in 2011 and subsequently conducted numerous technical surveys and drill programs. The Lisle Zone was discovered in 2013 and several other target areas remain to be explored. Work is conducted by Company personnel and by accredited consultants and contractors.

About Doubleview Gold Corp:

Doubleview Gold Corp is a mineral resource exploration and development company based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and is publicly traded on the TSX Venture Exchange (TSXV: DBG) (OTC PINK: DBLVF) (FSE: 1D4) (GER: A1W038). Doubleview identifies, acquires and finances precious and base metal exploration projects in North America, particularly in British Columbia. Doubleview increases shareholder value through the acquisition and exploration of quality gold, copper, silver and critical metals properties and the application of advanced state-of-the-art exploration methods. Doubleview's portfolio of strategic properties provides diversification and mitigates investment risk.

On behalf of the Board of Directors,

Farshad Shirvani, M.Sc. Geology

President and CEO

For further information please contact:

Doubleview Gold Corp

Vancouver, BC, V6C 1V5

corporate@doubleview.ca

Forward-Looking Statements

Information set forth in this news release contains forward-looking statements that are based on assumptions as of the date of this news release. These statements reflect management's current estimates, beliefs, intentions and expectations. They are not guarantees of future performance. Doubleview cautions that all forward looking statements are inherently uncertain and that actual performance may be affected by a number of material factors, many of which are beyond Doubleview's control. Such factors include, among other things: risks and uncertainties relating to Doubleview's limited operating history and the need to comply with environmental and governmental regulations. Accordingly, actual and future events, conditions and results may differ materially from the estimates, beliefs, intentions and expectations expressed or implied in the forward-looking information. Except as required under applicable securities legislation, Doubleview undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise forward-looking information.

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/107561
The Vopak Moda Houston terminal is the first greenfield terminal in the Port of Houston in more than a decade.

Positioned to become the premier U.S. Gulf Coast hydrogen and low-carbon ammonia terminaling hub.

The only waterborne ammonia terminal in the Port of Houston with deepwater capabilities.

The state-of-the-art terminal is directly connected via pipeline to Houston's petrochemical complex.

Vopak Moda Houston, LLC today announced that its marine terminal in the Port of Houston is fully operational. Formed in 2016, Vopak Moda Houston is a joint venture between Royal Vopak and Moda Midstream. Strategically located in Houston's refining and petrochemical corridor and in close proximity to multiple ammonia, hydrogen and nitrogen pipelines, Vopak Moda Houston is the first greenfield terminal development in the Port of Houston in more than a decade. Designed to handle very large gas carriers (VLGCs), as well as smaller vessels and barges, Vopak Moda Houston is the only waterborne ammonia terminal in the Port of Houston with deepwater capabilities. The terminal has existing permits for additional berthing positions. Vopak Moda Houston is directly connected via pipeline to the Port of Houston petrochemical complex, the nation's largest and world's second-largest petrochemical complex.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211214005318/en/

The waterfront at the Vopak Moda Houston terminal. Shown here: barge and vessel unloading and two 15,000 metric ton ammonia storage tanks. (Photo: Business Wire)

"We are thrilled to bring the Vopak Moda Houston terminal into full service together with our partner Royal Vopak, our customers and other stakeholders," Moda Midstream CEO and Founder Jonathan Z. Ackerman said. "In today's world, supply chains must be resilient and sustainable.With the ability to safely and reliably transport ammonia and other pressurized gases for our current and future customers, Vopak Moda Houston is a vital link in the new energy transition supply chain. We are in active discussions with customers to provide logistics solutions for low-carbon products, including storage and handling of green and blue ammonia, hydrogen and low-carbon bunkering. Thanks to the determination, hard work and collaboration amongst the teams since its formation, Vopak Moda Houston is well positioned to become the premier low-carbon ammonia and hydrogen terminaling hub on the U.S. Gulf Coast."

Vopak Americas President Chris Robblee added, "We are excited with this successful cooperation with Moda. This very well fits Vopak's strategy of developing new infrastructure solutions for products like ammonia. Our expertise and our presence in the main industrial clusters makes us well-equipped to actively contribute to the development of new supply chains for the energy and feedstocks of the future."

Ammonia already serves an important role in society by supplying vital components to chemical manufacturing and in fertilizers as a nutrient for the foods we grow. Ammonia is expected to become even more important in the future as it will be used as the preferred carrier for storing and transporting low-carbon hydrogen. In addition, ammonia has growing applications in power cells, power generation and ship bunkering.

Vopak Moda Houston also operates a unit train rail loop served by all three main rail lines. Vopak Moda Houston has completed construction of its rail infrastructure for the storage and handling of pressurized gas for a global energy company.

Vopak Moda Houston Terminal: Key Metrics

Fully automated terminal incorporating the latest safety technology

Newly constructed deepwater dock employing state-of-the-art marine unloading and loading arms

Current tanks: 2 x 15,000 metric ton tanks for refrigerated ammonia storage

Current capacity: 30,000 total metric tons

Pressurized bullet tanks: 5

Total bullet tank capacity: 14,285 barrels

About Royal Vopak

Royal Vopak is the world's leading independent tank storage company. We store vital products with care. With over 400 years of history and a focus on sustainability, we ensure safe, clean and efficient storage and handling of bulk liquid products and gases for our customers. By doing so, we enable the delivery of products that are vital to our economy and daily lives, ranging from chemicals, oils, gases and LNG to biofuels and vegoils. We are determined to develop key infrastructure solutions for the world's changing energy and feedstock systems, while simultaneously investing in digitalization and innovation. Vopak is listed on the Euronext Amsterdam and is headquartered in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. For more information, please visit vopak.com.

About Moda Midstream, LLC

Moda Midstream, LLC develops advantaged and sophisticated infrastructure for storing and handling liquids products that are essential to our economy and our way of life. Moda helps customers increase the efficiency and protect the integrity of their supply chains. Moda's mission is to be the logistics and terminaling provider of choice by delivering safe, reliable and sustainable solutions. Moda is backed by EnCap Flatrock Midstream. In October 2021, Modaclosed on the sale of its Moda Ingleside Energy Center (MIEC) to Enbridge. MIEC, now known as the Enbridge Ingleside Energy Center, is the largest crude oil export terminal in the U.S. Please visit www.modamidstream.com.

About EnCap Flatrock Midstream

EnCap Flatrock Midstream provides value-added growth capital to proven management teams focused on midstream infrastructure opportunities across North America. The firm was formed in 2008 by a partnership between EnCap Investments L.P. and Flatrock Energy Advisors, LLC. Based in San Antonio with offices in Oklahoma City and Houston, the firm manages investment commitments of nearly $9 billion from a broad group of prestigious institutional investors. EnCap Flatrock Midstream is currently making commitments to new management teams from EFM Fund IV, a $3.25 billion fund. For more information, please visit www.efmidstream.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211214005318/en/

Contacts:

Casey Nikoloric, Managing Principal

TEN|10 Group, LLC

303.433.4397, x101 o

303.507.0510 m

casey.nikoloric@ten10group.com
SICHUAN, China, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The giant panda, the world-renowned national treasure of China. Then what does Giant Panda National Park look like? Let's follow the two books, namely Feathered Creatures of Daxiangling and What the World is Like: Life stories of Tangjiahe, walk into the Giant Panda National Park in these two books to see our national treasure and its friends.

The education nature is being widely promoted in the new era of national parks, and people are growing to be more enthusiastic about exploring and understanding nature. Sichuan Fine Arts Publishing House has planned and published two books for the science popularization introducing the Daxiangling Area of Giant Panda National Park-- Feathered Creatures of Daxiangling and the Tangjiahe Area of Giant Panda National Park--What the World is Like: Life stories of Tangjiahe respectively.

Located in the north of Sichuan Giant Panda National Park, Tangjiahe Area is famous in the field of education on nature and eco-tourism for its high meeting rate regarding forest animals. Chen Limin, a dedicated conservation worker who has worked in Tangjiahe for more than 40 years, has brought the birds, animals, insects, and trees of Tangjiahe to the Tianfu Book Fair in Sichuan, interpreting what the world is like of all living things, inviting people to explore Tangjiahe.

Located at the southern end of Sichuan Giant Panda National Park, Daxiangling Area is an important corridor connecting the giant panda population between the Qionglai Mountain system and the Daxiangling Mountain system. Currently, Daxiangling Giant Panda Rewilding and Releasing Base is the largest in the world, where national treasures will return to their primary habitats and regain their wildness. Measuring the habitat of the giant panda with their footsteps, Fu Mingxia and her colleagues are willing to endure loneliness and tie their hearts to this area called "West China Rain Screen" under wet weather all year round, making important contributions to China's nature protection.

Tang Haitao, the deputy director of Sichuan Fine Arts Publishing House, said that his agency will continue to focus on the theme of natural ecological protection, publish more books with natural educational significance as well as aesthetic value on ecological photography, and actively encourage the development of nature protection and science popularization.

Contact person: Zhang Peng

Tel.: 008628-86968621

Email: scrbw@scol.com.cn

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1709476/Sichuan_Daily__national_park_books_Pic.jpg

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SUMMARY:

With a targeted rollout of 2023, Elektros (OTC:ELEK) is pleased to announce that the company has partnered with New York City artist Isack Kousnsky as an "artistic consultant" on the design of its first electric vehicle. Kousnsky looks to inject his own creative style and help to jolt consumers with Elektros's completely new electric vehicle experience, much like he does with his cityscapes and oceanscapes, and his nature series.

SUNNY ISLES BEACH, FL / ACCESSWIRE / December 14, 2021 / With creative design specialists in place as corporate partners, Elektros, Inc. (OTC:ELEK) once again has moved out of the box by implementing an innovative strategy for designing its very first electric vehicle.

Elektros has announced that the company has "commissioned" New York City artist Isack Kousnsk, isack-art.com to serve as "artistic consultant" for the project, with plans for a product unveiling in early 2022.

"My guess is that no other automobile manufacturer has ever attempted anything like this before," said Shlomo Bleier, CEO of Elektros. "But Isack Kousnsky is widely known for shaking things up with those who have experienced his work, particularly with his cityscapes of New York City - and we are looking to shake things up in the electric vehicle space. So we're anxious for him to collaborate with SoFlo Jeeps and get his creative perspective on the design of this new EV experience."

Born in Israel, Isack Kousnsky's early experiences they're at the core of his artistic outlook. With clients such as Woopi Goldberg, Rachel Ray, David Bowie, Oliver Stone, Lenny Kravitz, David Geffen, Michael Douglas. Isack is extremely methodical on his approach to his work. Considered the Picasso of Israel, he enlightens not only the canvas, but everyone around him. The fact one of the leading attorneys in NYC commissioned him for a painting in the renowned Sinatra Room, Aidala Bertuna & Kamins proudly exhibits in the room. Also, Isack was featured in the movie Wall Street 2, Money Never Sleeps.

Recently, Elektros finalized an agreement with to develop this new model for consumers with South Florida Jeeps. With locations in the U.S. and around the world, covers the areas of creative design, design modelling, visualization, and specialist recruitment. The combination of Isack and SoFlo will provide for an EV car unseen today. With Isack coming on board to accompany such a design ensures the achievement of creative ambitions for Elektros.

About Elektros, Inc.

Elektros is an American electric vehicle company that innovates mobility solutions for consumers and businesses. The automotive landscape faces existential disruption over the next decade to reach carbon neutrality. Elektros addresses this paradigm shift with mobility technologies that support sustainability for a transformative user experience. Elektros aims to present a compelling and completely new electric vehicle experience to consumers beginning as early as 2023. The company plans a product unveiling in early 2022.

Cautionary Language Concerning Forward-Looking Statements

This release contains "forward-looking statements" that include information relating to future events and future financial and operating performance. The words "may," "would," "will," "expect," "estimate," "can," "believe," "potential," and similar expressions and variations thereof are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements should not be read as a guarantee of future performance or results, and will not necessarily be accurate indications of the times at, or by, which that performance or those results will be achieved. Forward-looking statements are based on information available at the time they are made and/or management's good faith belief as of that time with respect to future events and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual performance or results to differ materially from those expressed in or suggested by the forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause these differences include, but are not limited to: fluctuations in demand for Elektros, Inc.'s products, the introduction of new products, the Company's ability to maintain customer and strategic business relationships, the impact of competitive products and pricing, growth in targeted markets, the adequacy of the Company's liquidity and financial strength to support its growth, and other information that may be detailed from time to time in Elektros Inc.'s filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. Examples of such forward-looking statements in this release include statements regarding future sales, costs and market acceptance of products as well as regulatory actions at the State or Federal level. For a more detailed description of the risk factors and uncertainties affecting Elektros Inc., please refer to the Company's Securities and Exchange Commission filings, which are available at www.sec.gov. Elektros, Inc. undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

CONTACT:

Elektros, Inc. IR and Media Inquiries

David Maddox

Email: dmaddox@bullsimedia.com

Website www.bullsimedia.com

Phone: 813-687-5257

SOURCE: Elektros, Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/677556/Elektros-Inc-OTCELEK-World-Renowned-Artist-Isack-Kousnsky-to-Consult-on-New-Electric-Vehicle-Design
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - December 14, 2021) - District Copper Corp. (TSXV: DCOP) ("District Copper") is pleased to announce that it has secured an option with an arm's length vendor to acquire three (3) mineral claims encompassing 1513.93 hectares of mineral exploration lands surrounding the Copper Keg project located in the Cache Creek area of British Columbia. These claims will be acquired by District Copper for and in consideration of the sum of $25,000 and issuance and allotment of 1,500,000 common shares of District Copper in installments of:

a $5,000 non-refundable deposit on signing of the Option Agreement;





$10,000 and 1,000,000 fully paid and non-assessable shares within fourteen (14) days after the Option Agreement is accepted for filing by the TSX Venture Exchange; and





$10,000 and 500,000 fully paid and non-assessable shares eighteen (18) months after the date of TSX Venture Exchange acceptance of the Option Agreement.

The purchase is subject to a 1.0% Net Smelter Return Royalty with a buy down clause which would allow District copper to purchase one half of the Royalty for $500,000.

The terms of the agreement are subject to TSX Venture Exchange approval.

The addition of these three mineral claims to its Copper Keg land package increases the total area of interest for the project to 3272 hectares.

District Copper has just completed an Induced Polarization survey on the Copper Keg property. The survey was carried out by Quantec Geoscience, using their Titan 120 DCIP system. The survey covered 19.3 line-kilometers, with penetration as deep as 600 meters. A detailed interpretation of the data will be performed in the New Year.

The new land is underlain by the same geological sequences, comprising Kamloops sediments, Nicola Group volcanics and intrusive phases of the Guichon Creek Batholith. These rocks have been intruded by several phases of late-stage quartz feldspar porphyry and mafic dikes. The Nicola Group volcanics are reported to be in fault contact with the Guichon Creek batholith, although there are indications from historic assessment reports that an intrusive contact is also a possibility.

The central portion of the Guichon Creek Batholith hosts the large porphyry copper deposit located in the Highland Valley currently being mined by Teck Resources Limited. The Copper Keg property is located at the northern boundary of the Guichon Creek batholith, and District Copper intends to explore the property using the porphyry style copper deposits in the Highland Valley as its exploration model.

Chris M. Healey, P.Geo., a Director of District Copper, is the Company's non-independent Qualified Person pursuant to National Instrument 43-101, Standards for Disclosure for Mineral Projects, and has reviewed and approved the scientific and technical information disclosed in this news release.

About District Copper

District Copper is a Canadian company engaged in the exploration for copper deposits in Central British Columbia.

For further information, please visit www.districtcoppercorp.com to view the Company's profile or contact

Jevin Werbes at 604-620-7737.

__________________________

Jevin Werbes, 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. This news release 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. The securities described in this news release have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act") or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to U.S. Persons unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or an exemption from such registration is available. This news release is not for distribution in the United States or over United States newswires.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/107552
New Department for Transport funded scheme launches to help young people find apprenticeships, work experience and graduate schemes in aviation and aerospace.

LONDON, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- A new recruitment platform is launching today to support aviation employers as they continue to build a workforce that's fit for the future.

Funded by the Department for Transport (DfT) and supported by industry, the Aviation Skills Retention Platform (ASRP) has launched Talentview Aviation (TVA) ; a free-to-use platform designed to help young people in schools, colleges and universities to find opportunities to join the sector and help employers showcase apprenticeship, traineeship and graduate vacancies.

The UK aviation industry is committed to building a workforce fit for the future and is expected to recruit thousands of people for roles across the sector next year, including pilots, cabin crew, technicians and airport staff. Keeping a close eye on the future needs of the industry, employers are keen to encourage more young people to choose a career in aviation and aerospace.

TVA has already received support from across the industry including Virgin Atlantic, Flybe, and the Royal Aeronautical Society.

Robert Courts MP, Aviation Minister, said:

"The aviation sector has an exciting future ahead as it embraces the new opportunities driven by decarbonisation, innovation and future growth. We are continuing to invest in future skills across the sector and are proud to back the new TVA platform.

"This platform will allow the sector to promote a range of roles across the aviation industry, attract young and talented individuals to exciting careers and help the industry to seize the opportunities of the future."

The new TVA scheme allows employers to promote vacancies within their business to talented new recruits. Companies can?search individual profiles for suitable candidates and have direct contact with students and apprentices who are actively looking for roles in aviation.

Richard Smith, director of?TVA and the ASRP, says:?

"The industry continues to plan ahead, and build up the UK's aviation workforce. This includes making sure it retains its talented employees and that there are plenty of opportunities for new, up-and-coming talent to learn about and forge themselves a career within the industry.?

"We have launched the platform now to enable the sector to prepare for the future recovery that we all hope to see next year. The launch of the TVA scheme will help to support growth?ambitions for the aviation industry."?

The new TVA recruitment platform is the newest offering from the Aviation Skills Retention Platform, also?funded by the DfT. The ASRP was launched in February 2021 to support skilled people in all areas of the sector towards other job opportunities within the UK aviation industry - not just pilots, cabin crew and flight engineers, but individuals working in airports, air traffic, handling and FBO, ground operations, MRO and more. The ASRP helps talented individuals showcase their experience and expertise while helping businesses find the skills they need. For organisations, the ASRP provides direct support for both redeployment and recruitment activities, together with a framework for wider skills retention and development programmes across the aviation sector.

https://talentview.org/aviation

For further media information:

Hannah Cooper, LMC - 07783 510 850 / Hannah@lizmale.co.uk
Open-ended Joint Venture launches with initial seed assets of $1.6bn and shared, long-term commitment to deliver growth and sustainable returns

Strategic partnership marks Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing's first investment in US student housing sector

GSA brings 30 years of global sector experience, leading market access and intelligence, as it continues its growth and expansion into the US market with its global operating platform Yugo

Global Student Accommodation ("GSA"),the international leader and pioneer in student housing, today announces a joint venture ("JV") partnership with a fund advised by Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing ("MSREI"), the global private real estate investment arm of Morgan Stanley Investment Management.

This alliance is founded on a strategic vision to become a leader in US student housing. The JV marks the beginning of a long-term relationship that will pursue strategic growth across the full spectrum of the student housing industry.

To begin this partnership, GSA brings $1.6bn of initial seed assets to the JV, with close to 15,000 beds across 21 states and 29 cities. These properties include GSA's existing US portfolio acquired in 2020, along with the recently closed acquisition of more than 8,100 beds across prime locations from coast to coast. Together, nearly two-thirds of the portfolio are at prestigious Power Five schools.

MSREI's commitment represents a major endorsement of the strength, resilience and stability of student housing in the higher education sector.

Representing a powerful combination of GSA's unparalleled experience, market access, intelligence and international reach alongside the breadth and depth of MSREI's exceptionally talented investment team and long standing global franchise, this alliance is testament to GSA's expertise and ability to deliver scale as a best-in-class partner specializing in all aspects of student housing with a uniquely integrated operational offering.

Under the partnership, Yugo, GSA's global brand and operating platform, will drive greater customer access to Generation Z, data and performance through its differentiated student-led and sustainable approach. Yugo provides living experiences to ensure students' intellectual, personal and professional growth is supported throughout their higher educational journey.

This JV is a significant building block for both businesses in the US and will support GSA's growth strategy as it accelerates further. TD Securities acted as exclusive financial advisor to GSA with legal and tax advice provided by Greenberg Traurig and Goodwin Procter.

Alec Burger, Chair of GSA stated: "This is a significant opportunity for both GSA and Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing to together make a meaningful impact in the market. Since entering the US market, GSA has been deliberate in executing its growth strategy, proven by our most recent acquisition, enabling us to seed this partnership with a sizable and highly attractive portfolio.

With an experienced investment partner, who we share great cultural alignment, we are united in a desire to be a true leader in US student housing for many years to come. Having a permanent JV partner of MSREI's caliber provides the opportunity for sustainable growth in the US market as well as the ability to replicate what we have successfully achieved in other global markets.

"The US is the largest student housing market in the world and will continue to be underpinned by demand for higher education, both domestically and internationally. Through this opportunity, we have the ability to increase our market share, deliver sustainable returns and, importantly, through Yugo, support our students by providing safe living spaces and unique experiences."

John Klopp, Global Head of Real Assets at Morgan Stanley Investment Management stated: "After careful study of the student housing market, we looked for a scalable opportunity and a best-in-class partner for our entry point this venture achieves both. We believe that the combination of MSREI's broad real estate investing platform and GSA's thoughtful, innovative approach to the sector will allow us to deliver attractive and differentiated exposure to our investors."

About Global Student Accommodation:

Global Student Accommodation (GSA) is an international market leader in the provision of student accommodation, providing an unrivalled student experience in 9 countries across 4 continents.

GSA became the first international student housing asset owner to enter the US through the acquisition of an initial portfolio in December 2020 and has an experienced platform to take advantage of significant growth opportunities in the market.

Global Student Accommodation's strategy has four key pillars:

To create an unrivalled portfolio of student housing in the world's leading university cities

To be the trusted partner for our investors, for universities, parents and students

To go beyond a place to live by creating safe and secure living spaces for our customers

To champion the benefits of the global student housing sector

www.gsa-gp.com

About Yugo:

Yugo is the first global student housing operator, created to enhance students' overall experiences throughout and beyond university life. Yugo offers a truly differentiated living experience that is environmentally and socially conscious, emotionally supportive and safe. Based in Denver, Colorado, the business was created through merging three successful international operational brands The Student Housing Company, Nexo Residencias and Uninest Student Residents with the U.S. operations of UComm, which were previously all under Global Student Accommodation (GSA), the leading real estate and investment asset manager. Yugo's experienced leadership team builds on decades of experience to help more students across the globe learn, grow and thrive.

www.Yugo.com

About Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing:

Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing (MSREI) is the global private real estate investment management business of Morgan Stanley. One of the most active property investors in the world for three decades, MSREI employs a patient, disciplined approach through global value-add opportunistic and regional core real estate investment strategies. With 17 offices throughout the U.S., Europe and Asia, regional teams of dedicated real estate professionals combine a unique global perspective with local presence and significant transaction execution expertise. As of September 30, 2021, MSREI manages $49 billion of gross real estate assets worldwide on behalf of its clients.

www.morganstanley.com/im

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211214005262/en/

Contacts:

Media:

Jenna Scanlon

+1-646-805-2013

jenna.scanlon@fgh.com

Richard Crowley

+44 7387 257 394

Richard.Crowley@fgh.com
SICHUAN, China, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- When sorting out the data collected by infrared cameras in the 4th quarter of 2021, the staff of Baiguoping Conservation Station in Tangjiahe Area of Giant Panda National Park have found that an infrared camera installed near Shibangou in Baiguoping Area has captured the figure of "National Treasure" giant panda 15 times from October 9 to November 21, 2021, from which 18 photos and 14 videos were collected.

A sub-adult (the animal has left its parents to live independently but is not yet sexually mature) giant panda appeared the most frequently in the videos, which were often in the early morning or evening. It ran at a fast pace or was munching in front of the camera. This sub-adult giant panda showed up three times in the same day, and the time of two adjacent appearances was less than 20 minutes. Through the analysis of the time and habitat of giant pandas, experts have judged giant pandas should have gone to the water source to drink water.

This infrared camera has made a few new captures after an angle adjustment. A pair of giant panda mother and child were leisurely passing in front of the camera at 2:50 a.m. on November 18. The child was walking at a tight pace, constantly catching up with his mother's footsteps, and looked very healthy. Experts preliminarily judged based upon the analysis of all the video images that the infrared camera has captured at least three giant pandas, including an individual adult, a sub-adult, and a cub.

The person in charge of the Tangjiahe Area of the Giant Panda National Park said that there are abundant resources of Fargesia denudata Yi, Fargesia scabrida Yi, Fargesia rufa Yi, and Arundinaria fargesii E. G. Camus in Tangjiahe Area so that our national treasure the giant panda could thrive carefreely. The giant panda was photographed many times in just 44 days, which has also confirmed from the side the good ecology and remarkable protection effect of Tangjiahe Area in Giant Panda National Park.

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1709493/Sichuan_Daily_Giant_Panda.jpg

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Contact person: Zhang Peng

Tel.: 008628-86968621

Email: scrbw@scol.com.cn
CHICAGO, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- G.H. Smart & Company, LLC announced today that it has hired and promoted several colleagues into leadership positions. Each of these A Players has an exceptional track record helping leaders to solve their most challenging leadership problems with confidence.

Carrie Miller joins ghSMART as the firm's first Chief Marketing Officer. Miller brings a wealth of experience from her nearly 15 years at Bain & Company, where she first served as a strategy consultant and then the Global Marketing Director of Recruiting, charged with creating Bain's employer brand and marketing it to the world's top talent. She earned an MBA from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania after time at Accenture, and holds a B.S. in Biology from the University of Arizona.

"We have gone 26 years without a Chief Marketing Officer, but to fulfill our full potential with colleagues and clients, we decided it was time to hire a highly-accomplished professional to elevate our brand messages as an employer and partner to CEOs and investors," said Dr. Geoff Smart, ghSMART's Chairman & Founder.

Vice Chairman Randy Street added, "We are very pleased to welcome Carrie to the senior management team to amplify our communications with influential leaders as well as with the talented, diverse, good-hearted people we would love to hire as colleagues. Our culture allows our team the opportunity to do fulfilling work, while enjoying unparalleled freedom and flexibility regarding how that work gets done. ghSMART shows that it is possible to have a challenging and impactful career while maintaining a life outside of work, and Carrie is going to help us tell this story and set an example for other organizations around the world."

Randy Street, who has served as Managing Partner of the firm since 2010, has been elevated to the role of Vice Chairman. "Randy brought strategic thinking, operating discipline, and a servant leadership approach to the firm. Over his tenure, ghSMART has grown tenfold, while setting industry standards for client satisfaction, culture, and employee satisfaction. I am thrilled to continue to work with Randy in his new role on several of the firm's most important growth initiatives to further enhance our client impact and colleagues' success," said Smart.

Jeff McLean has been promoted to President. After graduating with distinction from the U.S. Naval Academy, McLean began his career as fighter pilot, completing three combat deployments aboard aircraft carriers. As a test pilot, he led testing on a revolutionary unmanned jet aircraft program that pioneered autonomous aircraft capabilities including successful carrier landings and aerial refueling. As a Fulbright Scholar and Truman Scholar, he earned a degree in philosophy, politics, and economics at Oxford University. He also earned an MBA from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, and served as a White House Fellow in the Office of American Innovation. Immediately prior to joining ghSMART in 2019, McLean was Director of Strategic Initiatives and Asset Management for a large privately held family office with operating businesses in multiple industries. "Jeff's strategic planning and team leadership skills are first rate. We are looking forward to entering the next stage of global growth for the firm under his leadership," said ghSMART's Chief People Officer Ellen Walpert.

Chris Nichols was promoted to Partner. Prior to joining ghSMART in 2018, Nichols served as President of Ancos, a manufacturing company, and worked in Corporate Development at WestRock, a Fortune 500 company, where he led M&A activity and integrations. He began his career as a consultant at McKinsey & Company, where he advised companies on strategy, organization, and marketing. Nichols holds an MBA from Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management and a B.S. in Mathematical Economics from Wake Forest University.

Sanja Kos was promoted to Associate Partner. She joined ghSMART in 2016 after serving as a consultant for seven years at McKinsey & Company, where she advised Fortune 500 financial services and healthcare clients. She earned an MBA from Harvard Business School and graduated summa cum laude with a B.A. in Economics from the University of Zagreb.

Emily Sheeren was promoted to Associate Partner. Prior to joining ghSMART in 2016, Sheeren served as a consultant at McKinsey & Company, where she advised Fortune 500 companies and leading private equity investors on M&A integration, organization design, and change management. She earned an MBA from Harvard Business School and a B.A. in International Studies from the College of William & Mary.

About ghSMART: ghSMART is a leadership advisory firm. In 2021, Vault named ghSMART the #1 boutique consulting firm and also rated it #1 in overall employee satisfaction, client interaction, and level of challenge in the entire consulting industry. Harvard Business School has published two case studies on the firm as a pioneer in its industry, and is writing a third case on the firm's unique culture. Firm leaders authored some of the top-selling and most-acclaimed books in the field of leadership.

The firm published the New York Times bestseller Who: The A Method for Hiring (Smart & Street), The Wall Street Journal bestseller Power Score: Your Formula for Leadership Success (Smart, Street, and Foster), and the New York Times bestseller The CEO Next Door: The 4 Behaviors That Transform Ordinary People into World-Class Leaders (Botelho & Powell).

For more information about ghSMART, please visit www.ghsmart.com . Qualified candidates are encouraged to contact recruiting@ghsmart.com to schedule a career discussion. ghSMART is committed to hiring and promoting exceptionally talented, diverse, and good-hearted colleagues from all backgrounds.

Contact:

Todd Langstaff, Engagement Manager

Copperfield Advisory

todd@copperfield.nyc

+ 1 301.802.8233

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One week after Mercedes-Benz ended its partnership with Kingspan

Kingspan manufacturing workers in Santa Ana held a candlelight vigil today in solidarity with thousands marching in London on the 4 year anniversary of the Grenfell Tower fire that killed 72 people in the worst residential fire in the United Kingdom since World War II. Workers in Santa Ana are calling on Kingspan to listen to them about workplace safety. Grenfell fire survivors and bereaved are fighting to hold Kingspan accountable for safe homes.

"Today, we as Kingspan workers stand united in solidarity with all those in London seeking justice for the 72 people who lost their lives in the horrific Grenfell Tower fire," said Lucas Hernandez, a welder at Kingspan. "Here in Santa Ana, we ask Kingspan to listen to our health and safety concerns for our own well-being, our families, and our community."

A partnership announced December 1, 2021, between Kingspan and the Mercedes Formula One Racing Team ended suddenly on December 8. It was opposed by Grenfell United, which represents the survivors and bereaved of the Grenfell Tower fire, as well as Michael Gove, a member of Parliament.

In a public statement about the cancellation of the Mercedes partnership, Kingspan asserted that it played no role in the design or construction of the tower's cladding system, that only a small percentage of K15 insulation was used in the building, and that the product was "used as a substitute without our knowledge in part of the system which was not compliant with building regulations." While true, this statement side-steps the revelations that emerged from Kingspan's testimony and documents produced at the Inquiry. Kingspan did not do anything about internal warnings and outside concerns as early as 2008 until 2015 related to fire testing, certification and marketing issues. From 2006 to 2020, they relied on fire tests that used versions of K15 that were different from the version for sale at the time.

Twenty percent of Kingspan's 4.6bn (~US$5.6bn) in revenues in 2020 were from North America, the majority from insulation products. Kingspan has 15 factories in the United States and has over $1 billion earmarked for acquisitions. Marketing itself as a green company, its profits are expected to reach about $850 million in 2021. As far as the public record shows, the U.K. inquiry has focused solely on the products in the Grenfell Tower. Many Kingspan products, in addition to K15, have been sold widely outside the United Kingdom for many years.

Kingspan prides itself on its "Planet Passionate" programs and its commitment to sustainability. However, Kingspan workers in Santa Ana have recently documented serious health and environmental concerns at their factory that need to be resolved:

Workers filed whistleblower complaints with both CalEPA and CalOSHA in October 2021 alleging violations of clean water and worker safety laws.

The company's own records show that it has exceeded allowable discharge levels for zinc in stormwater runoff by almost 7 times in 2020-2021, and over 13 times in 2019-2020. The complaint to CalEPA alleges Kingspan misrepresented its clean-up operations dating back to December 2020, and failed to disclose potential sources of pollution in its prevention plan filed with the state, and as agreed to by the company in a court-ordered consent decree. For example, instead of using an industrial vacuum to capture metal dust and debris on a daily basis, as the company reported, management instructed a worker to use a leaf blower while the vacuum sat idle.

Workers also worked with a UC Irvine professor to document the levels of air pollution in their factory, finding air pollution levels (PM 2.5) inside the facility that were higher, according to the scientist who conducted the study, "than what I measured during the wildfire events that affected Santa Ana last year."

www.CleanUpKingspan.org

SMART, the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers, is one of North America's most dynamic and diverse unions with over 200,000 members. SMART's members ensure the quality of the air we breathe, promote energy efficiency, produce and provide vital services that move products to market and passengers to their destinations. We are sheet metal workers, service technicians, bus operators, engineers, conductors, sign workers, welders, production employees and more. With members in scores of different occupations, we advocate for fairness in the workplace, excellence at work and opportunity for all working families.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211214005880/en/

Contacts:

Meredith Schafer, (202) 662-0883, mschafer@smart-union.org
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - December 14, 2021) - PORTOFINO RESOURCES INC. (TSXV: POR) (OTCQB: PFFOF) (FSE: POTA) ("Portofino" or the "Company") is providing an update to investors on its current and ongoing exploration and corporate activities:

Yergo Lithium Project

The Company submitted a drilling permit application to the Provincial Mining Ministry of Catamarca, Argentina and the approval process has taken much longer than anticipated. The Company's Argentine representatives have however, maintained regular contact with the Ministry and they have recently been advised that a permit will be approved in very short order. The permit will allow the implementation of an inaugural 4-hole drill program within the 100% controlled Yergo Lithium Project in Argentina. A drilling contractor has been engaged and is prepared to mobilize immediately upon receipt of the permit.

The 2,932 hectares, Yergo Project encompasses the entire Aparejos Salar, and is located in the southern part of Argentina's world-renowned "Lithium Triangle". Yergo is situated 15 kilometers ("km") southeast of Neo Lithium Corp's 3Q Project. (In October 2021, Neo Lithium announced it had received a takeover offer for $960 million.)

A 2021 geophysical survey and surface geochemical sampling program identified two large, anomalous sub-basins within the Aparejos Salar (NR-April 6, 2021). The survey and sampling results confirmed the presence of lithium-rich brines and the potential volume of the brines within the sub-basins. The initial drill program will focus on the eastern sub-basin which has an irregular surface expression measuring between 1.8km to 2.5km in length by approximately 700 meters ("m") in width with modeled depths of between 44m and 65m. Portofino previously reported values of up to 373 mg/l Lithium that included low impurities.

Allison Lake North channel sampling

At the end of September our geological team completed a follow-up, systematic channel sampling program on the Allison Lake North Lithium and Rare Elements Property located 100km east of the town of Red Lake in northwestern Ontario (Figure 1). The team expanded Portofino's initial exploration program where encouraging Lithium ("Li") and Tantalum ("Ta") values were discovered (NR-September 7, 2021).

Through the expanded program, 35 channel and 11 grab samples were submitted for chemical and mineral analysis. The analytical labs are very backlogged, and Portofino is presently waiting on sample assay results which will be reported as soon as received.

Greenheart Lake, McNamara Lake Lithium Properties

The Company is pleased to announce it has executed an agreement to acquire the Greenheart Lake Lithium Property ("GL") and the McNamara Lake Lithium Property ("ML"). The GL Property comprises 3 claims (60 cells) totaling approximately 1,200 hectares. The ML Property comprises 3 claims (56 cells) totaling approximately 1,120 hectares. Both properties are strategically located in the Balmoral and MacNamara Lake areas of northwestern Ontario within 15km of the town of Ignace and are accessible by well-established logging roads just off the Trans Canada highway.

Each property occurs proximal to a triple junction of three terrane boundaries: the Wabigoon, East Wabigoon and Winnipeg River (Figure 1). Terrane boundaries are important geological settings for lithium and rare metal pegmatites. The GL Property lies 10km southeast of International Lithium's Raleigh Lake lithium project and 15km northwest of Grid Metals Campus Creek lithium and rare metal recent discovery where initial grab samples returned up to 4.35% Li 2 O (https://www.gridmetalscorp.com/news/grid-metals-options-newly-discovered-lithium-pegmatite-property-in-nw-ontario/). The ML Property lies just 5km south of Grid Metals Campus Creek property.





Figure 1. Portofino's lithium properties of northwestern Ontario.



To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/3751/107597_031793e074937b8f_001full.jpg

The Company has the right to acquire a 100% interest by making staged payments to the Optionors over the next three years totalling $67,800 in cash and issuing 500,000 Portofino common shares. The Optionors will retain a 1.5% net smelter returns royalty. The agreement is subject to the approval of the TSX Venture exchange.

Great Bear Resources receives $1.8 Billion takeover offer

On Dec 08, 2021, Kinross Gold Corp. announced a takeover bid for Great Bear Resources Ltd. for $1.8 billion. Portofino's South of Otter ("SOO Property") boundary is located approximately 8 km east of the Great Bear Resources (Dixie project) claims. The 5,363 hectares SOO Property contains excellent targets for Red Lake-style gold mineralization as well as gold-bearing base metal prospects. Over the last 2 years, Portofino has completed several exploration programs on the SOO Property that have included mapping, sampling, an airborne magnetic (MAG) survey and two successful, targeted Soil Gas Hydrocarbon ("SGH") soil surveys. The strategically well-located SOO Property is drill ready and permitted.

Qualified Person

Mike Kilbourne, P. Geo, an independent qualified person as defined in National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed, and approved the technical contents of this news release on behalf of the Company.

About Portofino Resources Inc.

Portofino is a Vancouver-based Canadian company focused on exploring and developing mineral resource projects in the Americas. It's battery minerals projects include the Yergo Lithium property which encompasses the entire Aparejos Salar, located within the world-renowned "Lithium Triangle" in Argentina and the Allison Lake North (Red Lake, Ontario) Lithium project.

Portofino's South of Otter and Bruce Lake projects are in the historic gold mining district of Red Lake, Ontario, Canada proximal to the Dixie gold project owned by Great Bear Resources Ltd. In addition, Portofino holds three other northwestern Ontario gold projects; the Gold Creek property located immediately south of the historic Shebandowan Nickel-Copper mine, as well as the Sapawe West and Melema West properties located in the rapidly developing Atikokan gold mining camp.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

"David G. Tafel"

Chief Executive Officer

For Further Information Contact:

David Tafel CEO, Director 604-683-1991

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.

This news release may contain forward looking statements concerning future operations of Portofino Resources Inc. (the "Company"). All forward- looking statements concerning the Company's future plans and operations, including management's assessment of the Company's project expectations or beliefs may be subject to certain assumptions, risks and uncertainties beyond the Company's control. Investors are cautioned that any such statements are not guarantees of future performance and that actual performance and exploration and financial results may differ materially from any estimates or projections.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/107597
Cutting-edge freight digitization company Nexxiotand Eurowagon, operator of Poland's largest pool of independent rental freight railcars, have announced a new collaboration that aims to advance safety and automation standards across European rail fleets. The partnership will equip Eurowagon's expanding fleet with Nexxiot's latest Kingpin sensors which monitor the loading of semitrailers onto railcars, ensuring enhanced safety and process automation to supply chain assets.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211214005972/en/

Nexxiot's Kingpin Monitor is proprietary digital hardware device that is a game changer for the industry that promises to speed supply chain operations through automation. (Photo: Business Wire)

Marek Golebiewski, Technical Director at Eurowagon says: "Through our collaboration with Nexxiot, Eurowagon provides our clients the latest digital solutions that offer unparalleled safety accountability and cargo transparency. By employing the latest IoT sensors like Kingpin Monitor, we demonstrate that we think differently about creating value, rapidly moving to deliver next generation digital tools that speed operations and improve safety."

Nexxiot's Kingpin Monitor is proprietary digital hardware device that is a game changer for the industry that promises to speed supply chain operations through automation. When a semitrailer is loaded onto a railcar, the installation requires precision placement of a 'kingpin' which fixes the whole trailer in place. Normally, this is a highly manual process which includes visual checks from people on the ground. Nexxiot's Kingpin Monitor now makes it possible to operate an independent digital confirmation of correct kingpin placement, a process that's faster and safer than manual installation.

Eurowagon's initial deployment of the Kingpin Monitor has already begun.

Nexxiot's CEO Stefan Kalmund explains: "The Kingpin Monitor speeds up the loading process, saving time and money while maximizing the utilization of assets and significantly improving safety at intermodal facilities. And because rail is five-to-seven times more sustainable than road transport, we making operations more sustainable too."

Driven to be leaders in supply chain digitization, both Nexxiot and Eurowagon are committed to investing in future-proof technology that will deliver higher quality standards and sustainability for the cargo industry.

About Eurowagon:

Eurowagon is a new alternative for customers on the European rail car leasing market. The company was established in 2018 and is a portfolio company of CEE Equity Partners Ltd. Eurowagon presently owns and manages roughly 1,500 freight railcars, and expects to expand to approximately 4,500 wagons by 2026. Eurowagon enterprises include rental of railcars to freight and industrial clients, railcar management and maintenance. The headquarters of the company is in Poland and, since 2020, Eurowagon has also maintained operations in Switzerland, France and Austria. https://www.euro-wagon.com/en/

About Nexxiot:

Nexxiot AG is a driver of the digital logistics of tomorrow. An industry leader in the digitalization of cargo transportation, Nexxiot empowers global shipping companies and suppliers to harness the power of their data through proprietary, cutting-edge technology and integrated data solutions to track, find and protect cargo from more than 160 countries around the world and across 450 network roaming partners to ensure accountability, security and efficiency. Headquartered in Zurich, Nexxiot operates throughout Europe and the U.S., employing people from 22 countries. The company's secure, industry leading Cloud comprises data from over 3 billion miles traveled. Committed to sustainability through corporate and social responsibility, Nexxiot's goal is to enable a five percent reduction in global carbon dioxide emissions in the logistic industry by increasing cargo transport efficiency and eliminating waste caused by empty runs and inefficient routes. https://nexxiot.com/

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211214005972/en/

Contacts:

Press:

Nexxiot AG

David Simpson, The LAKPR Group

dsimpson@lakpr.com

914.262.2950
Kamloops, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - December 14, 2021) - Advance Lithium Corp. (TSXV: AALI) ("Advance Lithium" or "the Company") announces that further to the press release dated December 8, 2021 regarding its recent name change from Advance Gold to Advance Lithium, the stock symbol has changed from TSXV: AAX to TSXV: AALI. The new website is now live at www.advancelithiumcorp.com.

About Advance Lithium Corp. (AALI)

Advance Lithium is a junior exploration company focused on acquiring and exploring mineral properties containing precious metals, agricultural minerals and battery metals. The company acquired a 100-per-cent interest in the Tabasquena silver mine in Zacatecas, Mexico, in 2017, and the Venaditas project, also in Zacatecas state, in April, 2018. In addition, Advance Lithium holds a 10.85% interest in strategic claims in the Liranda Corridor in Kenya, East Africa. The remaining 89.15% of the Kakamega project is held by Shanta Gold Limited (project previously owned by Barrick Gold Corporation, for details see Advance Lithium News Release dated August 26, 2020). In March, 2021 Advance Lithium acquired 13 salars in central Mexico containing potassium, boron and lithium, enabling it to move into agricultural minerals and the exciting lithium space.

For further information, please contact: Allan Barry Laboucan

President and CEO

Phone 492-238-5282 (Direct-Mexico Cell)

Email: allan@advancegold.ca

www.advancelithiumcorp.com

This news release contains certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking statements. Forward looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects", "plans", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "projects", "potential" and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will", "would", "may", "could" or "should" occur. 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 may differ materially from those in forward based on the beliefs, estimates and opinions of the Company's management on the date the statements are made. The Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements in the event that management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors should change, except as required by law.

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 news release.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/107598
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / December 14, 2021 / Sassy Resources Corporation ("Sassy" or the "Company") (CSE:SASY)(FSE:4E7)(OTCQB:SSYRF) is pleased to announce that it filed the preliminary non-offering prospectus for its Newfoundland-focused subsidiary Gander Gold Corporation ("Gander Gold") with the British Columbia Securities Commission ("BCSC") on December 2, 2021. The Company is equally pleased to announce that Gander Gold has appointed its founding Executive Officers and Board of Directors.

The filing of the preliminary prospectus with the BCSC initiates the review and approval process. Following final approval of the non-offering prospectus by the BCSC, Gander Gold will convert 100% of the outstanding Special Warrants into Gander Gold common shares and will file a 2A Listing Statement with the Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE). The prospectus qualifies all of the shares issued under the Special Warrants so that they will be free trading when Gander Gold commences trading. The Company will update on timing of the process as it progresses in the coming weeks.

The date of record for the planned capital distribution of 8,833,333 Gander Gold shares to Sassy shareholders is February 1, 2022, at a ratio of one Gander share for every 5.3816 Sassy shares owned by a Sassy shareholder based on the current Sassy share structure. The Company will maintain ownership of 35,328,723 Gander shares following the capital distribution to its shareholders, representing approximately 49.5% ownership of Gander. Mr. Eric Sprott will beneficially own 10,666,667 Gander shares, representing approximately 15% ownership. The final spinout ratio is subject to any changes to the Sassy share structure between the date of this announcement and the final record date for the share distribution, though Sassy has no plans and no need to carry out a private placement prior to February 1.

Mr. Mark Scott, President and CEO of Sassy who will also be Gander Gold's founding President and CEO, stated: "Gander Gold will have a powerful presence in Newfoundland as Sassy's eight projects on the island covering 2,257 sq. km constitute the property spinout. Exploration has already been carried out at each of these projects with exciting early results from Gander North and many more results to come over the next couple of months. Gander Gold will be well positioned to quickly establish itself as a discovery leader in Newfoundland."

Mr. Mark Scott added, "With respect to Sassy, it will be left with a large share position in Gander along with its 100%-owned Foremore Project in northwest BC's prolific Eskay Camp. Keeping with the brand and our strategy from the day we originally commenced trading on the CSE in August of last year, Sassy is currently in discussions to acquire a drill-ready new property in a very favorable jurisdiction to maintain its ability to carry out direct exploration year-round following the Gander Gold spinout."

Sassy Newfoundland Holdings (Gander Gold Spinout)

Gander Gold Appoints Directors & Executive Officers

Gander Gold is pleased to confirm the following management and director appointments, effective November 1, 2021:

Mark Scott - President & CEO, Director

Mr. Scott has 25 years of experience in all phases of exploration, mining, metallurgical processing and associated support and service functions. He holds a BA from Dalhousie University, a Master of Industrial Relations (MIR) degree from University of Toronto and a master's certificate in Project Management from Schulich School of Business (York University). He is a former Vice President of Vale Canada and Head of its Manitoba Operations.

Sean McGrath, CPA - Chief Financial Officer & Corporate Secretary

Mr. McGrath is a Chartered Professional Accountant who has spent the last 25 years providing accounting and CFO services to numerous public companies in the mining, oil and gas, manufacturing and technology sectors. Mr. McGrath is also CFO & Corporate Secretary of Sassy Resources.

Ian Fraser, P.Geo - Vice President Exploration

Mr. Fraser is a registered member of the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Saskatchewan and Alberta. Over his more than 30-year career, he has designed, supervised and been involved in numerous gold, nickel+PGE, uranium, base metal, diamond and coal projects throughout Canada and South America. Mr. Fraser's expertise is in the understanding of geological models and structural settings for various types of mineral deposits and applying the right geological, geochemical and geophysical techniques to explore, discover and develop mineral deposits. He has participated in the discovery and definition of multiple deposits which have been brought into production. Mr. Fraser is currently VP Exploration and a director of Fathom Minerals Ltd., overseeing exploration at the Rottenstone nickel-copper-cobalt + PGE project in Saskatchewan. He is also VP Exploration for Sassy Resources.

Terence (Terry) Coughlan, P.Geo - Director

Mr. Coughlan, P. Geo, holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Geology from Saint Mary's University and has been actively involved in the mineral resource industry since 1984. He is the former Chairman, President and CEO of GoGold Resources, a Canadian-based gold and silver producer with properties in Mexico. Previously, he was Vice-President and director of Gammon Gold Inc., and Vice-President and director of Acadian Mining Corp. Currently he is a director of Sassy Resources as well as CEO and President of Mongoose Mining.

Kathryn (Kate) McLaughlin, P.Eng - Director

Ms. McLaughlin is a professional Mining Engineer with extensive technical, operations and leadership experience gained over the course of her career with Noranda, Falconbridge, Xstrata, Vale and Stantec. As the Innovation Leader for Stantec's Energy & Resources operating unit from 2013 to 2021, Ms. McLaughlin led Stantec's creativity and innovation program which developed cutting edge approaches and solutions for the mining, oil and gas, and power and dams business lines. Her specific areas of specialization include mine design and production engineering, principles of lean manufacturing, design for six sigma within capital projects, and agile mine design and operation. Ms. McLaughlin obtained a Bachelor of Applied Science (B.App.Sc) degree in 1995 and Master of Science (MSc) degree in Mining Engineering in 2003 from Queen's University. She is a registered professional engineer with the Professional Engineers of Ontario, and is also a director of Sassy Resources.

Richard Savage - Director

Mr. Savage began his career as an investment advisor at Yorkton Securities Inc. (subsequently Richardson GMP) in 1988 and remained there for 28 years. During its time, Yorkton Securities Inc. was one of the leading mining and technology investment firms in Canada and Mr. Savage was consistently one of the firm's top producing wealth advisors. Throughout his career he served and managed a diverse client base of over 2,000 accounts and was responsible for raising funds for initial public offerings, private placements and capital pool companies. Mr. Savage is also a director of Sassy Resources.

Stephanie Hart, CPA - Independent Director

Ms. Hart has extensive experience in senior level, broad financial, risk, operational and capital project roles in global mining, with much of her career working with Vale. Her most recent role at Vale was Head of Finance, North Atlantic Operations and Asian Refineries in the base metals business. Other roles held by Ms. Hart at Vale included Director of Treasury, Pension Assets and Risk for Vale, Director of Finance and CFO for the Goro Project and Operations in New Caledonia, and General Foreperson in the Sudbury Smelter. Prior to that, she was a Manager at PricewaterhouseCoopers specializing in financial institutions and mining. Ms. Hart is currently the CFO of Exiro Minerals Corp., a junior exploration company focused on royalty generation, and the CFO of Willeson Metals Corp., a junior exploration company focused on gold exploration in Manitoba. Ms. Hart was recently appointed to the boards of West Park Healthcare Centre Foundation and Giyani Metals Corp. She received a BComm (Hons) from Queen's University and has a CPA, Chartered Accountant designation.

Ken Booth, MBA - Independent Director

Mr. Booth is the Principal of Highwood Advisory Services Inc., a private financial advisory company he founded in 1999. Mr. Booth is a geologist, holds an MBA and has more than 37 years of experience in exploration, mining, corporate finance and public company administration. Ken has worked for two of Canada's largest investment banks executing numerous equity financings for both junior and senior companies and was involved in a variety of significant mergers and acquisitions. While working for resource companies, Mr. Booth has held several positions including CEO and Vice-President of Corporate Development. In these roles he was instrumental in raising equity funding and negotiating property acquisitions and joint ventures. Mr. Booth is currently providing financial advice to the junior mining sector and is a director of five exploration companies.

Subscribe for Updates

Visit SassyResources.com and sign up for news alerts to stay informed as exploration continues year-round.

About Sassy Resources Corporation

Sassy Resources is an exploration stage resource company currently engaged in the identification, acquisition and exploration of high-grade precious metal and base metal projects in North America. Its focus is the Foremore Project located in the Eskay Camp, Liard Mining Division, in the heart of Northwest B.C.'s prolific Golden Triangle, and the Central Newfoundland Gold Belt where Sassy is one of the district's largest landowners.

Caution Regarding Forward Looking Statements

Investors are cautioned that, except for statements of historical fact, certain information contained in this document includes "forward looking information", with respect to a performance expectation for Sassy Resources Corporation. Such forward looking statements are based on current expectations, estimates and projections formulated using assumptions believed to be reasonable and involving a number of risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated. Such factors include, without limitation, fluctuations in foreign exchange markets, the price of commodities in both the cash market and futures market, changes in legislation, taxation, controls and regulation of national and local governments and political and economic developments in Canada and other countries where Sassy carries out or may carry out business in the future, the availability of future business opportunities and the ability to successfully integrate acquisitions or operational difficulties related to technical activities of mining and reclamation, the speculative nature of exploration and development of mineral deposits, including risks obtaining necessary licenses and permits, reducing the quantity or grade of reserves, adverse changes in credit ratings, and the challenge of title. The Company does not undertake an obligation to update publicly or revise forward looking statements or information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless so required by applicable securities laws. Some of the results reported are historical and may not have been verified by the Company.

Contact Info:

Mark Scott

Chief Executive Officer & Director

info@sassyresources.ca

Terry Bramhall

Sassy Resources - Corporate Communications/IR

1.604.833.6999 (mobile)

1.604.675.9985 (office)

terry.bramhall@sassyresources.ca

In Europe:

Michael Adams

Managing Director - Star Finance GmbH

info@star-finance.eu

The CSE has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release. Neither the CSE nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the CSE) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

SOURCE: Sassy Resources Corporation

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/677586/Sassy-Files-Preliminary-Gander-Gold-Prospectus-Appoints-Gander-Officers-and-Directors
Karelian Diamond Resources Plc - Notice of Change of Venue of AGM

Karelian Diamond Resources plc

("Karelian Diamonds" or the "Company")

14 December 2021

Notice of Change of Venue

of

AGM

Karelian Diamond Resources plc wishes to announce that the venue of the Annual General Meeting ("AGM") of the Company to be held on 22 December 2021 has had to be changed from The Alex Hotel, 41-47 Fenian St, Dublin to the:

CONRAD DUBLIN Hotel

Earlsfort Terrace

Dublin 2, D02 V562

Please note that the time and date of the AGM remain unchanged:

22 December 2021 at 2:00 pm

For further information please contact :

Karelian Diamond Resources plc Tel: +353-1-479-6180 Professor Richard Conroy, Chairman Allenby Capital Limited(Nomad) Tel: +44-20-3328-5656 Nick Athanas/Nick Harriss First Equity Limited (Broker) Tel: +44-20-7330-1883 Jason Robertson Lothbury Financial Services Tel: +44-20-3290-0707 Michael Padley Hall Communications Tel: +353-1-660-9377 Don Hall

Visit the Company website at www.kareliandiamondresources.com/

IMPORTANT INFORMATION - CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19)

Karelian Diamond Resources plc (the "Company" or "Karelian Diamonds") considers the well-being of Shareholders, employees and attendees a top priority. Based on the latest available guidance from the Health Service Executive ("HSE") in Ireland, we expect the AGM to proceed on 22 December 2021 but under constrained circumstances.

In line with the measures advised by the HSE and Irish Government recommendations on public gatherings, we have put in place a number of measures to minimise the risk of spreading the Coronavirus (Covid-19) at the AGM and we encourage all Shareholders, on this occasion, to complete and return their Forms of Proxy as soon as possible to ensure their vote is registered at the AGM and to minimise the need to attend in these unprecedented circumstances.

Given the severity of the circumstances and the health risks involved, the Directors will take all appropriate safety measures to ensure the safety of any attendees and others involved in the AGM, including restricting attendance at the AGM, should it be deemed necessary or desirable. The Conrad Dublin has in place certain procedures seeking to ensure the COVID-security of the venue. These will require attendees to provide evidence of vaccination. Attendees will also be required to wear face coverings on entry to the Conrad Dublin and when moving around communal areas within the venue.
Regulatory News:

FOCUS HOME INTERACTIVE (FR0012419307 ALFOC) (Paris:ALFOC), a leading European publisher and developer of video games, announces that the Group has received a 62/100 rating from the non-financial rating agency Gaia Rating

In the space of one year, Focus has doubled its Gaia rating, from 31/100 in 2020 to 62/100 in 2021, a significant progression demonstrating strong commitments in terms of governance, responsible and sustainable practices, social and environmental policies.

With a score of 62/100, Focus is also above the sector average of 55/100 in 2021.

"As a player fully aware of its role, Focus wishes to respond to the environmental, social and societal issues of our time," says Joffrey Hacquin, Office Sustainability Manager at Focus Home Interactive. "Our goal to lead by example pushes us to commit ourselves to the planet, to our employees, to our partners and of course to our players, and this is reflected in our Gaia rating this year. We are already working on several projects and on a CSR action plan for the years to come, in order to keep improving our practices as a responsible player.

Christophe Nobileau, President of Focus Home Interactive, adds, "We are delighted with this rating, which reflects our commitment over the past three years to these topics that are extremely important to all of us, and which are particularly close to the hearts of our employees and partners.

About Focus Home Interactive

FOCUS HOME INTERACTIVE is one of Europe's leading video game publishers and developers. Its vocation is to support leading international studios in the development, production monitoring, marketing, sales and financing of their projects. As a publisher of strong brands such as Space Marine 2, A Plague Tale, Evil West, The Surge, SnowRunner and Aliens: Fireteam, the Group generated revenues of 171 million in 2020/21, up 20% compared to the previous comparable period. FOCUS HOME INTERACTIVE generates 95% of its sales internationally.For additional information, visit https://investor.focus-home.com

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View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211214006080/en/

Contacts:

Investor Relations FTI Consulting

Arnaud de Cheffontaines

Cosme Julien-Madoni

Tel: 33 (0) 1 47 03 68 10

Mail: fhi@fticonsulting.com

Press Relations FTI Consulting

Emily Oliver

Remi Salvador

Tel: 33 (0) 1 47 03 68 10

Mail: fhi@fticonsulting.com
EQS-Ad-hoc: Beaconsmind AG / Key word(s): Capital Increase

beaconsmind AG (ISIN: CH0451123589, EURONEXT: MLBMD, VIENNA: BMD) raises new equity and undertakes changes in its listing venues



14-Dec-2021 / 19:00 CET/CEST

Disclosure of an inside information acc. to Article 17 MAR of the Regulation (EU) No 596/2014, transmitted by EQS - a service of EQS Group AG.

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.



Publication of inside information / beaconsmind AG (ISIN: CH0451123589, EURONEXT: MLBMD, VIENNA: BMD) raises new equity and undertakes changes in its listing venues



Zurich, Switzerland - December 14, 2021, 6:30 pm CET - beaconsmind AG (the "Company") announces an equity raise of EUR 5.51 million from an international institutional investor to support the implementation of the company's global growth strategy in the post COVID area (the "Investor"). The transaction shall take place via a capital increase from authorized capital under exclusion of the subscription rights of the current shareholders. The respective equity raise is subject to the ordinary general shareholder meeting of the Company on December 16, 2021 resolving on a respective authorized capital for the Company. The Board of Directors of the Company is expected to resolve on the capital increase from authorized capital on December 16, 2021.

Following the transaction, the Investor is expected to serve as a long-term anchor investor of the Company with a participation of 21.6%. Max Weiland, CEO & Founder of the Company, will remain one of the largest shareholders in the Company with a participation of 18.6%. The equity raise shall serve the purpose of improving the capital base of the Company. The company intends to use proceeds for strengthening its growth strategy with the opening of new sales offices internationally and by focusing on international joint ventures and business collaborations. For such purpose, the Company intends to increase further its number of employees in sales, product, development and client success management.



As part of the growth financing, the company intends to list its shares on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange in the Scale segment and to revoke the current listing on the Vienna MTF of Vienna Stock Exchange (direct market plus) within the next months. This step will lead to a simplified listing structure and broaden the scope of potential investors in the company's securities in a new home market. With the reorganised listing in the Scale segment of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, two leading German banks, Hauck & Aufhauser and Baader Bank, are expected to provide ongoing research coverage. About beaconsmind

Founded in 2015 in Switzerland, beaconsmind is a pioneer in the field of location-based marketing (LBM) software for retail chains. beaconsmind helps retailers run successful location-based marketing campaigns. By fitting stores with bluetooth beacons that precisely locate and identify customers, and by integrating its Software Suite, beaconsmind opens a brand-new channel for retailers to interact with their customers, fundamentally transforming the shopping experience. Thanks to its solution, retailers can converge digital and physical shopping and address the convenience gaps of each.

For more information, please visit www.beaconsmind.com

Contacts: Beaconsmind

Max Weiland, Founder & CEO



maxweiland@beaconsmind.com

Tel.: +41 44 380 73-73 Media Relations

Nicolas Merigeau



NewCap

nmerigeau@newcap.fr Investor Relations/Strategic Communication

Louis-Victor Delouvrier



NewCap

lvdelouvrier@newcap.fr 14-Dec-2021 CET/CEST News transmitted by EQS Group AG. www.eqs.com




Future RAN: Diversifying the 5G Supply Chain to unlock the full potential of Open RAN

The Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport chooses to fund CoMP-O-RAN

LONDON, Dec. 8, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Dense Air Limited, along with a consortium of industry and academic partners, has been successful in securing funding from the 'Future RAN competition - Diversifying the 5G Supply Chain' run by the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS).

The project, named 'Coordinated Multipoint Open Radio Access Network', or 'CoMP-O-RAN' for short, will revolutionise the performance and cost of densified 5G NR outdoor small cell networks aimed at delivering pervasive 5G coverage across the UK. 5G deployment and mass delivery of gigabit services by mobile network operators is critical to the economic development of the UK. CoMP-O-RAN provides a densification solution that can enable both public and private network operators to extend 5G coverage and capacity to areas that are un or under-served because of poor economics using either fully licensed or shared access spectrum.

Julia Lopez, Digital Infrastructure Minister

"Our mobile networks play an increasingly crucial part in our lives and businesses, which is why we're investing 36 million in cutting-edge projects to ensure our networks are safe and secure for decades to come. I'm pleased to see such an outstanding range of innovators are now on board with FRANC as we push ahead to build a more competitive and resilient telecoms supply chain."

Successful projects from the DCMS competition for the future of Open-RAN were announced on Wednesday 8thDecember 2021 and receive allocations from the 36 million of 5G R&D funding supporting the advancement of UK based 5G technology developments. The competition directly supports the UK Government's 5G Supply Chain Diversification Strategy.

Paul Senior, CEO Dense Air

"On behalf of Dense Air and our consortium partners, we are delighted that the UK Government, through its DCMS 5G Future RAN competition, has chosen our CoMP-O-RAN project. The technology this project will develop will fundamentally change the deployment economics and "cost per Gbit" of Open RAN solutions in the UK and other international markets."

In partnership with Airspan Communications Limited, Blu Wireless UK Limited, Radisys UK Limited and the University of Glasgow, a consortium led by Dense Air Limited will develop an economically deployable 5G NR O-RAN Distributed Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) - CoMP-O-RAN. For the first time this technology will give both private and public Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) the ability to leverage the eco-system of 5G vendors in a cost effective way that makes 5G Supply Chain Diversification a reality.

Eric Stonestrom, President and CEO of Airspan Communications Limited

"We are excited to be a member of this consortium. We look forward to working with this prestigious group of leaders including DCMS officials, to accelerate 5G and Open RAN innovation, as Airspan develops new features in our radios through split 6 virtualization and embedded mmWave fronthaul transport solutions. We believe this technology will play a key role in future 5G solutions."

Alan Jones, CEO Blu Wireless

"As 5G networks begin to scale and densify, innovative ways of maintaining performance and bandwidth will be needed. Using Blu Wireless' low latency mmWave technology to enable CoMP-O-RAN will have a significant impact on the future economics of 5G NR deployment models across both public and private networks."

CoMP-O-RAN will enable future 5G small cell networks to benefit from radio processing techniques that are already utilised in Massive MIMO macro-cells. Importantly, CoMP-O-RAN will improve the operation of small cells in interference limited scenarios such as spectrum sharing in licensed and lightly licensed allocations in UK Shared Access spectrum at 3.8-4.2 GHz and US CBRS in the 3.55-3.7 GHz band.

Professor Muhammad Imran of the University of Glasgow'sJames Watt School of Engineering

"This project is a great opportunity for algorithms and techniques developed by our Sensing and Imaging group to be implemented in a very promising real-world system. We expect that end users will benefit from improved experience and reduced costs of digital connectivity. We're looking forward to working with our partners to develop the CoMP algorithm"

With the support from DCMS the consortium will focus on improving the economics for 5G network densification, enabling better use of vertical roadside and indoor infrastructure to deliver lower cost, faster speeds, improved capacity and a better service experience for end users in urban centers, suburban neighborhoods and even rural locations. However, it is not just about increased capacities and faster speeds - CoMP will enhance service reliability and availability which is critical in many private networking use cases such as Industry 4.0, Healthcare, Critical Communications and future connected and autonomous transportation corridors. Real-world test and validation will be undertaken primarily at UTAC's Millbrook Proving Ground, home of the successful DCMS 5G AutoAir Testbed project.

Peter Stoker Chief Engineer - Connected Autonomous Vehicles, UTAC, Millbrook Proving Ground, Bedfordshire

"We are delighted to be supporting the CoMP-O-RAN Consortium. The facilities here at UTAC are uniquely suitable for this type of testing as our proving ground in the UK is already being used for validating connectivity technologies and infrastructure."

CoMP-O-RAN provides a network hierarchy where software and hardware components are distributed through the network, driving further innovation from specialist vendors which will generate additional employment across both software and hardware industries. This will subsequently lead to additional manufacturing and supply chain developments in the UK and elsewhere. Where possible the consortium will look to source components in areas of regional inequality, building on the UK Governments 'Levelling Up' agenda and industry 4.0 strategy to promote digital skills.

Arun Bhikshesvaran CEO, Radisys UK Limited

"We're excited to be part of this consortium focused on delivering a CoMP-O-RAN solution that integrates our award-winning, standards-based ConnectRAN portfolio of software for disaggregated O-RAN architecture. We are committed to working with our ecosystem partners to create advanced solutions in the commercialisation of 5G O-RAN and bring high performance products to the UK market."
U+ spotlights insurance companies using technology to provide improved customer experiences

SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 14, 2021, a leading global digital innovation company, announces the release of its list of Top InsurTech Innovators to Watch . Companies included were selected from the full insurance coverage gamut, ranging from life, pet and parametric to home and auto insurance providers, using technology to add products and improve service to customers from around the world.



"The use of smart technologies in insurance is taking off, with a growing number of insurance companies making strategic investments in digital innovation," said U+ Founder and CEO Jan Beranek. "The innovative, insurance-focused startups on this list are guided by progressive leadership, and they are liberating insurers from the constraints of plodding legacy systems that don't meet the demands of current consumer expectations."

There are insurance providers for most areas of life that pose risks, but those with customer experience at the forefront are seeking to reduce customer costs and application time, while providing more tailored customer experiences. The companies highlighted in the Top InsurTech Innovators to Watch list are classified as insurtech startups because they focus on efficiency and cost savings.

According to a Reuters report , investment in insurtech start-ups worldwide totalled $10.5 billion in the first nine months of 2021. The third quarter investment totalled $3.1 billion, which is an increase of 23% compared with the third quarter of 2020.



InsurTech innovators to watch include:

Pula , Switzerland - An agricultural insurance provider using technology and parametric insurance to serve a previously uninsured market of 1.5 billion smallholders worldwide, primarily in Africa and Asia. The award-winning company uses insurance and digital products to support farmers with managing climate risks directly impacting farms, livestock and crops.

Lemonade , U.S. - A licensed insurance carrier utilizing an artificial intelligence (AI) bot to assist customers with policies for renters, homeowners, car, pet and term life insurance in the United States; the company also offers liability and contents insurance to customers in France, the Netherlands and Germany. Rather than waiting days or weeks for a claim to be approved, Lemonade's AI has the ability to process and approve claims instantly, all while reducing costs.

To see U+'s complete list of Top InsurTech Innovators to Watch, please visit https://innovate.u.plus/insurtech-watchlist- .

U+ selected its 2021 Top InsurTech Innovators after extensive market research, leveraging databases including CB Insights and Crunchbase. The digital innovation company also considered such factors as number of customers and amount and date of funds raised.

About U+

U+ is a leading global digital innovation company, specializing in corporate research and development, building and launching corporate and startup innovations, and the transformation of Fortune 1000 companies' digital ideas into real products. During the past 12 years, U+ has successfully turned more than 90 ideas into reality with total valuation exceeding $1B in Fintech, Energy, Telco, Automotive and E-health, including Swiss Re, AXA Insurance, Societe Generale and other companies within the Insurance industry. For more information, please visit https://u.plus/ .

MEDIA CONTACT

Leah R. H. Robinson

LeadCoverage

leah@leadcoverage.com

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/4004f215-6d5c-4d5a-8157-db589a99b77f
NEW YORK CITY (dpa-AFX) - Morgan Stanley CEO regrets decision forcing employees to attend office The Chief Executive Officer of American bank Morgan Stanley James Gorman has recalled his statement that all employees should be back at the office by year-end. He has now given a new forecast as to when companies will start asking workers to return. James Gorman told the media, 'I was wrong on this. I thought we would have been out of it past Labor Day and we're not.' In June this year, the CEO had commented that he would be 'very disappointed' if employees did not return to the bank buildings by Labor Day. At that time, those statements had been widely covered by the media. The plans were put on hold on the discovery of the new Omicron variant and many companies had to reassess and schedule their employees return to office. The Morgan Stanley CEO said, 'I think we'll still be in it through most of next year. Everybody's still finding their way and then you get the omicron variant; who knows, we'll have pi, we'll have theta and epsilon, and we'll eventually run out letters of the alphabet. It's continuing to be an issue.' Gorman added even with the latest developments, more than half of Morgan Stanley employees have been back at the firm's New York headquarters. While around 65 percent of vaccinated employees have returned to that building, around 95 percent have been completely vaccinated. 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.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - December 14, 2021) - Maple Gold Mines Ltd. (TSXV: MGM) (OTCQB: MGMLF) (FSE: M3G) ("Maple Gold" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that the 50/50 joint venture (the "JV") between the Company and Agnico Eagle Mines Limited has added a second rig to the JV's Fall 2021 drill program at the Douay Gold Project ("Douay") (see news from November 15, 2021) in Quebec, Canada. In addition, a planned Phase I drill program at the Company's 100%-controlled Eagle Mine Property ("Eagle") (see news from October 7, 2021) is now expected to commence in January 2022 following a short holiday break. The Company is also pleased to appoint veteran entrepreneur and current Maple Gold board director Michelle Roth as Independent Non-Executive Chair.

"We are pleased to have secured a second rig to accelerate completion of the Fall 2021 drill program and in anticipation of ramping up our exploration activities in Q1 2022," stated Matthew Hornor, President and CEO of Maple Gold. "It is an exciting time for Maple Gold with two rigs now available to complete up to 20,000 meters of planned drilling across our ~400 km property package, including testing high priority targets at Eagle in a matter of weeks. I would also like to welcome Michelle Roth as the Company's next Chairperson, while thanking Sean Charland for having served so ably in that role since 2020. Michelle's extensive experience across both the private and public sectors strengthens our senior leadership and corporate governance at a key inflection point in the Company's growth trajectory."

Fall 2021 Drilling Update

The Fall 2021 drill holes at Douay (see Figure 1 for hole locations) are primarily step-out targets designed to test the strike continuity and expansion potential of some of the better intercepts from recent drill programs in the Nika, Central and 531 Zones. The first rig, which commenced drilling in early November, has already completed drill holes DO-21-313 (Nika Zone), DO-21-315 (Central Zone), DO-21-316 and DO-21-317 (both in the 531 Zone), and is currently drilling DO-21-319 (531 Zone). The second rig has completed DO-21-318 (Central Zone) and is currently drilling DO-21-314 (Nika Zone).

A total of 2,661 metres ("m") have been drilled out of 2,750 m planned as part of the Fall 2021 drill program. The first 845 samples, including all of drill hole DO-21-313 in the Nika Zone, were shipped to ALS Labs on November 26, 2021. Given the encouraging observations from initial drill core, the second rig has been mobilized to continue testing additional step-out targets as part of the Fall 2021 drill program at Douay. Of particular focus are: 1) mineralized horizons extending to the southeast from this year's 1.6 g/t gold ("Au") over 132 m intercept in the Nika Zone (see news from May 26, 2021); 2) areas down- and up-plunge from this year's 8.8 g/t Au over 28.5 m intercept in the 531 Zone (see news from September 9, 2021); and 3) over 700 m of undrilled strike extending to the east-southeast of the Central Zone as currently defined.





Figure 1: Drill hole locations for Fall 2021 drill program at Douay

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/3077/107616_83d59fd2147c481b_001full.jpg

Phase I Drilling at Eagle

Phase I drilling at Eagle is now expected to commence in January 2022 following a short holiday break. Initial Eagle drill permits have been received with additional permit requests pending. The Company expects to keep one drill rig in the Eagle area to complete the Phase I drill program, after which it will be available to commence drilling in the Telbel mine area.

Additional details on the Phase I drill program at Eagle and the JV's planned Winter 2022 drill campaign will be released in the coming weeks.

New Independent Non-Executive Chair

Michelle Roth has served as an Independent Director of Maple Gold since November 2020 and currently serves as Chair of both the Audit and Nominating & Corporate Governance Committees as well as a member of the Compensation Committee. She is the founder and CEO of Roth Investor Relations, which provides shareholder engagement solutions to a worldwide client base including mining industry clients with operations in North America, Australia, Africa, Europe and South America. Ms. Roth also acts as a strategic advisor to Nova Royalty and to a privately held cell tower infrastructure/IT managed services company, where she has advised on growth opportunities during the pandemic.

In the public sector, Ms. Roth served as Mayor, Deputy Mayor and Planning Board Chairperson of Manalapan Township, New Jersey, and has also held appointed positions on other governmental boards. During her service, she gained experience with budgeting, succession planning, union negotiations, public/private partnerships and the setting and implementing of land use policy. Ms. Roth earned her MBA in Finance from Fordham University.

Qualified Person

The scientific and technical data contained in this press release was reviewed and prepared under the supervision of Fred Speidel, M. Sc., P. Geo., Vice-President Exploration of Maple Gold. Mr. Speidel is a Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. Mr. Speidel has verified the data related to the exploration information disclosed in this press release through his direct participation in the work.

About Maple Gold

Maple Gold Mines Ltd. is a Canadian advanced exploration company in a 50/50 joint venture with Agnico Eagle Mines Limited to jointly advance the district-scale Douay and Joutel gold projects located in Quebec's prolific Abitibi Greenstone Gold Belt. The projects benefit from exceptional infrastructure access and boast ~400 km2 of highly prospective ground including an established gold resource at Douay (RPA 2019) that holds significant expansion potential as well as the past-producing Eagle, Telbel and Eagle West mines at Joutel. In addition, the Company holds an exclusive option to acquire 100% of the Eagle Mine Property.

The district-scale property package also hosts a significant number of regional exploration targets along a 55 km strike length of the Casa Berardi Deformation Zone that have yet to be tested through drilling, making the project ripe for new gold and polymetallic discoveries. The Company is well capitalized and is currently focused on carrying out exploration and drill programs to grow resources and make new discoveries to establish an exciting new gold district in the heart of the Abitibi. For more information, please visit www.maplegoldmines.com.

ON BEHALF OF MAPLE GOLD MINES LTD.

"Matthew Hornor"

B. Matthew Hornor, President & CEO

For Further Information Please Contact:

Mr. Joness Lang

Executive Vice-President

Cell: 778.686.6836

Email: jlang@maplegoldmines.com

Mr. Kiran Patankar

SVP, Growth Strategy

Cell: 604.935.9577

Email: kpatankar@maplegoldmines.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 PRESS RELEASE.

Forward Looking Statements:

This press release contains "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" (collectively referred to as "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation in Canada, including statements about exploration work and results from current and future work programs. Forward-looking statements are based on assumptions, uncertainties and management's best estimate of future events. Actual events or results could differ materially from the Company's expectations and projections. Investors are cautioned that forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. For a more detailed discussion of such risks and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, refer to Maple Gold Mines Ltd.'s filings with Canadian securities regulators available on www.sedar.com or the Company's website at www.maplegoldmines.com. The Company does not intend, and expressly 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.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/107616
Combination of Two of Iceland's Largest Tower Portfolios from Syn and Nova, Creating the First Scaled, Independent Tower Company in the Country

DigitalBridge Group, Inc. (NYSE:DBRG) today announced that funds affiliated with DigitalBridge Investment Management, the firm's investment management platform, (collectively "DigitalBridge") have completed the acquisition of the telecom tower portfolios of Syn hf. (Syn) and Nova hf. ("Nova"), two leading Icelandic mobile network operators ("MNOs"), creating IslandsTurnar (the "Company").

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211214006253/en/

IslandsTurnar is the first independent tower company of scale in Iceland with national coverage to support the MNOs as they execute their 5G deployment plans. Syn and Nova are slated to be long-term dual-anchor tenants on all of the Company's towers and the transaction includes a material BTS program. The investment advances DigitalBridge's expanding presence in the Nordics, as the firm acquired Finland-based Digita Oy ("Digita"), an independent tower operator with a national portfolio of sites, in 2018.

"The creation of IslandsTurnar is a unique opportunity to establish a leading independent tower company in Iceland and support both Syn and Nova in their operation of high-quality mobile networks as well as accelerating their 5G network deployment," said Marc Ganzi, President and CEO of DigitalBridge. "We are excited to play a role in Iceland's stable, attractive and digitally advanced telecom market, bringing DigitalBridge's deep experience of successfully owning and operating tower portfolios on a global basis."

"This is an exciting opportunity to set up the first independent tower company in my home market of Iceland. We are proud that two anchor tenants of the caliber and technical experience of Syn and Nova have entrusted us with their mission-critical network infrastructure. I am looking forward to working with DigitalBridge to deliver high-quality telecommunication infrastructure services in Iceland," said Joakim Reynisson. Mr. Reynisson, an industry veteran with more than 30 years of telecom experience, has been appointed Chief Executive Officer of IslandsTurnar effective immediately. Prior to this role, Mr. Reynisson was Chief Technology Officer of Nova for over a decade.

Oakley Advisory acted as a financial advisor, Kvika acted as debt arranger and Linklaters acted as legal counsel to DigitalBridge throughout the transaction. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

About DigitalBridge

DigitalBridge (NYSE: DBRG) is a leading global digital infrastructure REIT. With a heritage of over 25 years investing in and operating businesses across the digital ecosystem including cell towers, data centers, fiber, small cells, and edge infrastructure, the DigitalBridge team manages a $40 billion portfolio of digital infrastructure assets on behalf of its limited partners and shareholders. Headquartered in Boca Raton, DigitalBridge has key offices in Los Angeles, New York, London, and Singapore.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. Forward-looking statements relate to expectations, beliefs, projections, future plans and strategies, anticipated events or trends and similar expressions concerning matters that are not historical facts. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "may," "will," "should," "expects," "intends," "plans," "anticipates," "believes," "estimates," "predicts," or "potential" or the negative of these words and phrases or similar words or phrases which are predictions of or indicate future events or trends and which do not relate solely to historical matters. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and contingencies, many of which are beyond our control, and may cause actual results to differ significantly from those expressed in any forward-looking statement. Factors that might cause such a difference include, without limitation, whether the Company will realize any of the anticipated benefits from the combination, the ability of the Company to expand its presence in the Nordics, and other risks and uncertainties, including those detailed in the DigitalBridge's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended March 31, 2021, June 30, 2021 and September 30, 2021, and its other reports filed from time to time with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. All forward-looking statements reflect DigitalBridge's good faith beliefs, assumptions and expectations, but they are not guarantees of future performance. DigitalBridge cautions investors not to unduly rely on any forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release. DigitalBridge is under no duty to update any of these forward-looking statements after the date of this press release, nor to conform prior statements to actual results or revised expectations and DigitalBridge does not intend to do so.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211214006253/en/

Contacts:

Investors:

Severin White

Managing Director, Head of Public Investor Relations

(212) 547-2777

severin.white@digitalbridge.com

Media:

Joele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher

Aura Reihard Jon Keehner

(212) 355.4449

dbrg-jf@joelefrank.com
New York, New York--(Newsfile Corp. - December 14, 2021) - Stankevicius Group has started quant financial algorithmic trading services with no advance payments leading to success based fees only. The company has been developing and doing R&D on advanced financial services such as algorithmic trading. Algorithmic trading covers over 60% of entire trade within US financial markets. Today, algorithmic trading is the primary support for the banking industry and Wall Street.

Stankevicius Quant Financial is a special algorithmic trading service that trades digital assets in both bearish and bullish markets. Stankevicius Quant Financial provides quantitative algorithmic solutions based on the client's budget. Most importantly there are no advance fees; the only fee that applies is a monthly payout from the profits which are only controlled by the client and the client alone.

Paulius Stankevicius, Stankevicius Group CEO says that the market in the financial industry is very competitive and firms are offering as low prices as possible to compete with each other. In fact, to offer complete genuinity and willingness for long term co-operation we operate Stankevicius Quant Financial with no starting fees and no advance costs. The only fee is a monthly profitability sharing fee which the client has to pay to the service provider manually.

Paulius Stankevicius adds that this way we show full transparency by giving control to the client. The only thing that happens is connecting the client's trading account to algorithmic services. Worst case scenario is if the client doesn't pay, we disconnect the client's account. But for the long run, if it makes a monthly profit, why not stick around and pay the fees? We are trying to disrupt and change the business model of financial markets. This way we try to get trust with open cards.

Stankevicius Quant Financial is a financial service consultant that is now providing algorithmic trading services to clients.

How does it work and what the algorithm is focusing on?



Stankevicius Quant Financial algorithmic services are designed to provide maximum security to the client, meaning the protection of API keys is high and client account withdrawals are being disabled. Only the client has complete account access with ability to monitor transactions and trades within the account.



The algorithm has best compatibility with Binance and FTX exchanges, however clients can recommend their preferable exchange trading option for a review and if approved a customized algorithm can be developed just for that particular exchange.



Stankevicius Quant Financial algorithm can trade multiple pairs at the same time during bearish and bullish markets. Trading activities are also supervised by professional traders and in case of unexpected errors or defaults human interaction is enabled from the admin side to prevent losses, however that is considered to be the last security protection layer as standard maximum security layer is watched by computer and the algorithm has automatic stop limits on losses.



Stankevicius Quant Financial has onboarded clients already with great satisfaction. The company is now looking to take the business more internationally overseas to the US and Asian markets.

Stankevicius Group is a professional mainstream corporate service provider. Stankevicius Group includes Stankevicius MGM, public relations and investor relations consulting firm, Stankevicius International, general trading consulting firm, and Stankevicius Quant Financial, algorithmic e-trading service consultant.

Contact:

paul@stankeviciusgroup.com

+971585879865

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/107605
Aims to Augment Consumer Facing Platform Within Digital Assets Space

LONDON, Dec. 14, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Midpoint Holdings Ltd (TSXV: MPT) (Frankfurt: 8MH1) ("Midpoint" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has entered into a purchase agreement dated December 14, 2021, pursuant to which the Company proposes to acquire all of the issued and outstanding share capital of Blockchain World Ltd ("BWL") - a company focused on building innovative consumer-focused blockchain-based products (the "Transaction"). BWL owns premium domain names Blockchain.eu (Europe) and Blockchain.com.au (Australia) and will be launching new offerings in early 2022.



In consideration for the Transaction, Midpoint proposes to issue 10,000,000 common shares (the "Consideration Shares") to the existing shareholders of BWL (collectively, the "Vendors"). The Consideration Shares will be subject to restrictions on resale until the date which is six (6) months from the closing date of the Transaction.

In addition to the Consideration Shares, the Vendors will also be entitled to receive the following additional common shares (the "Performance Shares") subject to the satisfaction of the following performance milestones:

(a) 5,000,000 Performance Shares will be issuable to the Vendors upon the official launch of the website domain "blockchain.com.au" (or such earlier date as mutually agreed upon by the parties), in the event such official launch occurs within 9 months of the closing date of the Transaction;

(b) 5,000,000 Performance Shares will be issuable to the Vendors upon the official launch of the website domain "blockchain.eu" (or such earlier date as mutually agreed upon by the parties), in the event such official launch occurs within 9 months of the closing date of the Transaction;

(c) 5,000,000 Performance Shares will be issuable to the Vendors upon the achievement by BWL of CTV or AUM of no less than $20,000,000 within 24 months of the official launch; and

(d) 5,000,000 Performance Shares will be issuable to the Vendors upon the achievement by BWL of CTV or AUM of no less than $50,000,000 within 30 months of the occurrence of the official launch.

"CTV" means the cumulative gross transaction value of all digital currency transactions processed through website domains maintained by BWL, for a given period, calculated in $CAD.

"AUM" means the total amount of digital currency held by the custodial wallet of all customers of BWL, as calculated on the last business day of any particular month based on the average market price of the applicable currency during such day.

BWL was founded by Domenic Carosa as a B2C ("Business to Consumer") blockchain-focused product organization. Domenic is a highly regarded entrepreneur and early adopter of blockchain technology. Notably, he is the Founder and Chairman of Banxa Holdings Inc. (TSXV: BNXA) and Cryptocurrency fund Apollo Capital. Through Domenic's stewardship, Banxa has achieved significant transactional revenue growth alongside increased partnership roll-outs. Upon successful completion of the Transaction, Domenic Carosa will join the Midpoint board of directors and Derek Ivany will step down as a director to accommodate the appointment.

Commenting on the Transaction, Midpoint President Derek Ivany stated, "We are very pleased to have consummated this Transaction with Dom and his innovative company. It has been one of our stated corporate goals to augment our consumer-facing business with applicable blockchain technology. As such, we believe that this Transaction represents a very compelling opportunity to take Midpoint into the digital asset space in order to assist in building shareholder value in 2022 and beyond. The addition of Domenic Carosa will further bolster Midpoint's board with highly relevant blockchain and cryptocurrency experience that will be vital as the Company moves forward in this arena. Midpoint's ability to tap into Domenic's vast network within the digital asset sector will be of tremendous value as the Company assesses further product expansion and partnership opportunities."

Domenic Carosa commented, "I'm looking forward to working with the Midpoint team in order to expand their presence in the blockchain space. I see significant opportunities to leverage their consumer-facing foreign exchange platform that has been the backbone of their business. One of my first priorities will be to help build the internal blockchain capabilities and then oversee the execution of the strategy."

According to Markets and Markets, from 2020 - 2025 the global blockchain market size is expected to grow at a CAGR of 67.3%, reaching $39.7 billion by 2025. Further, according to Statista, the financial sector currently accounts for more than 60% of blockchain's worldwide market value. In line with these potentially accelerating market trends, Midpoint believes there is an opportunity to capture synergies between its existing foreign exchange platform and the blockchain business of BWL. Midpoint's core competency in the consumer-facing foreign exchange space lends itself to expansion via broadened scope and potential product offerings within the digital asset sector.

The Company is at arms-length from each of BWL, and the Vendors. In connection with completion of the Transaction, the Company does not expect to assume any material liabilities, nor does it expect to devote the majority of its working capital or resources to the development of BWL. As a result, the Transaction does not constitute a fundamental acquisition for the Company, within the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange. The Transaction will not result in the creation of a new insider, or a change of control, of the Company, within the meaning of applicable securities laws.

Completion of the Transaction remains subject to the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange and cannot be completed until such approval has been received. No finder's fees or commissions are payable in connection with the Transaction.

About Midpoint

Headquartered in London, UK, Midpoint is an FCA authorized payments institutions specializing in cross-border payments and foreign exchange. SMEs, overseas professionals, property owners, foreign students, individuals, and anyone involved in international payments use Midpoint for transparent, multi-party, multi-currency services. Midpoint currently handles transactions in 27 currencies with the ability to collect and transfer across over 200 countries. This highly secure platform provides customers with the most cost-effective F.X. at the Midpoint of the interbank buy/sell rate, therefore removing the spread as well as hidden costs and fees.

Midpoint Holdings Limited is listed on the TSX Venture Exchange and cross-listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.

For information on Midpoint, please visit: https://www.midpoint.com.

For further information please contact:

Corbin Comishin, CFO David Wong, Chairman Midpoint Holdings Limited, 22-25 Portman Close, Marylebone, 505 Kootenay Street, Nelson, London W1H 6BS, United Kingdom British Columbia V1L 1K9, Canada Tel: 0044 20 7448 3082 Tel: 001 250 352 7667 Email: info@midpoint.com (mailto:info@midpoint.com)

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange (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 and has neither approved nor disapproved of the contents of this news release.

Forward-looking information

This news release contains certain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities law. Forward looking information is frequently characterized by words such as "plan", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate", "may", "will", "would", "potential", "proposed" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. These statements are only predictions. Forward-looking information is based on the opinions and estimates of management at the date the information is provided, and is subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking information. For a description of the risks and uncertainties facing Midpoint and its business and affairs, readers should refer to Midpoint's Management's Discussion and Analysis. Midpoint undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking information if circumstances or management's estimates or opinions should change, unless required by law. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information.

Not for distribution to U.S. Newswire Services or for dissemination in the United States. Any failure to comply with this restriction may constitute a violation of U.S. Securities laws.
Sacramento, California--(Newsfile Corp. - December 14, 2021) - Vibe Growth Corporation (CSE: VIBE) (OTCQX: VIBEF) (the "Company" or "Vibe"), a vertically integrated California cannabis enterprise, is pleased to announce a strategic investor in the Company is investing $3,520,000 in a non-brokered private placement of common shares.

Mark Waldron, CEO of Vibe, stated, "We are extremely pleased to welcome this strategic shareholder in Vibe. The investment demonstrates confidence in our team's ability to execute on our growth and expansion strategy - growing our retail dispensary locations and expanding our cultivation footprint which will provide Vibe significant economies of scale and the ability to improve margins and optimize return on capital for Vibe shareholders."

The non-brokered private placement consists of 8,800,000 Common Shares priced at C$0.40 per Common Share for aggregate gross proceeds of C$3,520,000 (the "Offering"). The net proceeds of the Offering will be used to cost-effectively accelerate the Company's current 65,000 square foot Monterey County Phase 1 cultivation build-out, and for general working capital purposes. Phase 1 of Vibe's Monterey County cultivation operations is anticipated to open debt free early in the third quarter of 2022 and will complement Vibe's cultivation assets in Sacramento (indoor) and Crescent City (greenhouses).

Closing is subject to the conditional acceptance of the Canadian Regulators and the Canadian Securities Exchange. The non-brokered private placement is scheduled to close on December 22, 2021. All securities issued under the Offering will be subject to a four-month hold.

About Vibe Growth Corporation

Vibe Growth Corporation and its cannabis retail brand, Vibe By California, is a trusted, vertically integrated cannabis enterprise with retail dispensaries; cannabis greenhouse cultivation; premium indoor cultivation; commercial cannabis distribution; brand sales and marketing; e-commerce platform; home delivery; and Hype Cannabis Co. marijuana and Vibe CBD (cannabidiol) products. Vibe is focused on maximizing shareholder value through accelerating organic growth, opportunistic acquisitions, distressed workouts, and new license applications. The Company operates retail and e-commerce under its iconic Vibe By California brand.

To learn more about Vibe, please visit: www.vibebycalifornia.com.

Forward-Looking Information

Certain statements contained in this press release constitute forward-looking information. These statements relate to future events or future performance. The use of any of the words "anticipate", "could", "intend", "expect", "believe", "will", "projected", "estimated" and similar expressions and statements relating to matters that are not historical facts are intended to identify forward-looking information and are based on the parties' current belief or assumptions as to the outcome and timing of such future events, and may be impacted as a result of general economic conditions or the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Actual future results may differ materially.

The forward-looking information contained in this release is made as of the date hereof and the parties are not obligated to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities laws. Because of the risks, uncertainties and assumptions contained herein, investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The foregoing statements expressly qualify any forward-looking information contained herein. Risk factors related to the Company are described in the Company's Management Discussion and Analysis, a copy of which is available under the Company's profile on SEDAR.

This press release includes market and industry data that has been obtained from third party sources, including industry publications. The Company believes that the industry data is accurate and that its estimates and assumptions are reasonable, but there is no assurance as to the accuracy or completeness of this data. Third party sources generally state that the information contained therein has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but there is no assurance as to the accuracy or completeness of included information. Although the data is believed to be reliable, the Company has not independently verified any of the data from third party sources referred to in this press release or ascertained the underlying economic assumptions relied upon by such sources.

This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any Vibe securities in the United States. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act") or any State securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to U.S. Persons unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable State securities laws or an exemption from such registration is available. Not for distribution to U.S. Newswire Services or for dissemination in the United States. Any failure to comply with this restriction may constitute a violation of U.S. securities laws.

Unlike in Canada which has Federal legislation uniformly governing the cultivation, distribution, sale and possession of medical cannabis under the Cannabis Act (Federal), readers are cautioned that in the U.S., cannabis is largely regulated at the State level. To the knowledge of Vibe Growth Corporation, there are to date a total of 35 states, plus the District of Columbia, that have legalized cannabis in some form. Notwithstanding the permissive regulatory environment of medical cannabis at the State level, cannabis continues to be categorized as a controlled substance under the Controlled Substances Act in the U.S. and as such, cannabis-related practices or activities, including without limitation, the manufacture, importation, possession, use or distribution of cannabis are illegal under U.S. Federal law. Strict compliance with State laws with respect to cannabis will neither absolve Vibe Growth Corporation of liability under the U.S. Federal law nor will it provide a defense to any Federal proceeding, which may be brought against Vibe Growth Corporation Any such proceedings brought against Vibe Growth Corporation may adversely affect its operations and financial performance.

Company Contact

Bill Mitoulas

Investor Relations

Phone: +1 416.479.9547

Email: ir@vibebycalifornia.com

Website: www.vibebycalifornia.com

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/107634
CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - China is scheduled to release a raft of data on Wednesday, headlining a modest day for Asia-Pacific economic activity. On tap are November numbers for house prices, fixed asset investment, industrial production, retail sales and unemployment. Fixed asset investment is tipped to rise 5.4 percent on year, slowing from 6.1 percent in October. Industrial production is called higher by an annual 3.6 percent, up from 3.5 percent in the previous month. Retail sales are expected to add 4.6 percent, down from 4.9 percent a month earlier. In October, house prices were up 3.4 percent on year and the jobless rate was 4.9 percent. Singapore will provide Q3 numbers for unemployment; in the three months prior, the jobless rate was 2.7 percent. Indonesia will release November figures for imports, exports and trade balance. Imports are expected to jump 37.55 percent on year, down from 51.06 percent in October. Exports are called higher by an annual 44.0 percent, down from 53.35 percent in the previous month. The trade surplus is pegged at 4.45 billion, down from $5.74 billion a month earlier. Japan will see October results for its tertiary industry index; in September, the index was up 0.5 percent on month. Australia will see December results for the consumer confidence index from Westpac; in November, the index rose 0.6 percent to a score of 105.3. 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.
Airtable, a San Francisco, CA-based connected apps platform that enables teams to modernize their business processes, raised $735m in Series F funding.

This round, which brings total investment to date to $1.36 billion and values the company at $11 billion (pre-money), includes participation from:

XN, which led the round, and

Franklin Templeton, J.P. Morgan Growth Equity Partners, Michael Dells MSD Capital, Salesforce Ventures, Silver Lake, and funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates Benchmark, Caffeinated Capital, Coatue, D1 Capital Partners, Greenoaks, ICONIQ Growth, and Thrive Capital.

The company intends to use the funds to strengthen its focus on product development, customer growth, and support for enterprise teams across multiple industries.

Led by Howie Liu, co-founder and chief executive officer, Airtable is a connected apps platform that enables teams to build workflows that modernize their business processes. Teams at more than 80% of the Fortune 100 use its visual, flexible tools to customize workflows, whether theyre creating movies, designing running shoes, distributing life-saving vaccines, or anything in between.

The company has invested in product innovation in 2021, recently introducing Interface Designer, a complete application builder for enterprise. The new features empower teams to design fully interactive front-end experiences on any workflow built in Airtable and to tailor apps specifically to how their teams operate.

FinSMEs

13/12/2021
Factor, a San Francisco, CA-based payments and order management platform for the global supply chain, raised $6M in Seed funding.

The round was led by Gradient Ventures, Googles AI-focused fund, with participation from investors Xfund, Afore, and South Park Commons.

The company intends to use the funds to accelerate growth throughout the supply chain with a focus on:

building out its new just-in-time inventory financing solution, and additional features for high-volume manufacturing customers, and

hiring across its engineering, product, and go-to-market teams.

Co-founded by Doug Shultz and Michael Szewczyk, Factor provides a supply chain infrastructure platform to enable businesses to manufacture complex products, from theoretical designs to finished products using less time and resources.

The company now serves 250 + companies, primarily mid-sized manufacturers.

FinSMEs

14/12/2021
Mightier, a Boston MA-based proivder of a clinically proven video game system that helps children learn coping skills to improve their emotional health, raised $17M in Series B funding.

The round was led by DigiTx Partners with participation from the Sony Innovation Fund and Boston-based PBJ Capital.

The company, which has raised $29m in total funding to date, intends to use the funds to expand:

its team and scale its technology to reach more children who struggle with their emotions,

reach into the healthcare industry through a strategic partnership.

Led by Craig Lund, CEO, Mightier is a clinically validated, at-home solution that pairs video games with clinically validated strategies to build emotional resilience and confidence in children. Developed by clinicians at Boston Childrens Hospital and Harvard Medical School, it pairs video games with clinically validated strategies to help children learn the coping skills they need to regulate their emotions by playing and interacting with biofeedback.

Since its launch in 2018, Mightier has helped over 50,000 families with children who struggle with anxiety, tantrums and anger, as well as clinical diagnoses such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

FinSMEs

14/12/2021
Xmachina-AI Inc., a a Vancouver, and Montreal, Canada-based provider of a platform for the acquisition of Artificial Intelligence (AI) entities in North America, raised $2.46m in seed funding.

The offering consisted of 20,000,000 common shares of the company at $0.10 and was oversubscribed to 24,660,000 common shares for gross proceeds of $2.46m. The round was supported through the efforts of Hampton Securities, Echelon Wealth Partners and support from the investment communities in Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal.

Proceeds from the raise will be used to complete the listing process on the Canadian Securities Exchange (the CSE), close acquisition targets, and general working capital requirements.

Led by Claude Theoret, CEO, Xmachina-AI seeks to provide a platform for the acquisition of Artificial Intelligence (AI) entities in North America. The companys thesis is based on an aggregation strategy to acquire AI targets and make them better through the addition of growth capital, streamlining of corporate processes and human capital acquisitions. The current sector focus of the company is on enhancing supply-chain efficiencies, logistics and manufacturing.

The company is preparing to accept interest in its pre-IPO round that is projected to offer $4M at $0.25 per common share and enhance its acquisition strategy through to listing on the CSE.

FinSMEs

14/12/2021
Arkansas Educator Surprised with Free Vehicle Repair this Holiday Season

Christmas comes early as CARSTAR Arkansas Collision Center celebrates local trailblazing teacher with free auto body repair

December 14, 2021 // Franchising.com // Springdale, AR - This holiday season, CARSTAR Arkansas Collision Center surprised Helen Tyson Middle School teacher, Denise Parkhurst, with a free auto body repair.

The Springdale community was encouraged to make nominations on why their trailblazing teacher deserved a free auto body repair.

We wanted to do something special this holiday season for the hardworking educators of Springdale, said Lindsey Smart, owner, CARSTAR Arkansas Collision Center. Teachers keep our communities moving forward not matter the obstacles we face. The last thing educators should have to worry about during these challenging times is their cars.

Nominated by Taura Smith, Arkansas winner, Denise Parkhurst, is a teacher at Helen Tyson Middle School. Smiths nomination highlighted how selfless, kind, and dedicated Mrs. Parkhurst is to her students and community.

Mrs. Parkhurst is a deserving nominee because she puts everyones needs before her own. Both of my children have had her as a teacher, and she is filled with positive encouragement from the moment you walk into her presence. Not only does she teach, but she is also heavily involved in her church and community. I cant think of a better way to show her how much she is appreciated than having her car fixed.

This recognition of teachers continues the brands longstanding reputation of giving back to the regions it serves.

SOURCE CARSTAR

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The omicron variant of COVID-19 has been confirmed in Oregon, according to the Oregon Health Authority.

Oregon Health & Science University's laboratory detected the variant Monday in samples from three Multnomah and Washington County residents in their 20s and 30s. All were fully vaccinated and two had traveled internationally, to Canada and Mexico, prior the onset of symptoms.

We recognize this news is concerning to many people," said Dr. Dean Sidelinger, health officer and state epidemiologist at the Oregon Health Authority, in a statement released late Monday. "However, if history is our guide, we do know that even if a vaccine doesnt target a specific variant, the strong immune response you get from being fully vaccinated can still be highly protective against severe disease from all COVID-19 variants."

Sidelinger said the health authority would continue to monitor the spread of omicron in Oregon with individual-level and community-level variant surveillance. He stressed that "vaccination remains the best protection against COVID-19 infection and transmission, including most circulating variants. Other protective measures, including wearing masks indoors and in crowded outdoor settings, physically distancing from others, washing hands regularly and staying home when sick, will also help protect against the spread of COVID-19, he said.

Much of the pandemic focus in recent weeks has been on the omicron variant discovered Nov. 11 in southern Africa.

The highly mutated variant has since spread to 70 countries. Scientists around the world have no consensus yet on how contagious and virulent the new variant will be. Early studies indicate it is twice as contagious but of similar or lesser virulence.

The United Kingdom announced its first omicron-related death on Monday.

Monday's news came as Oregon braced for a possible sixth wave of COVID-19 infections as a new spike spreads rapidly across the United States.

While much attention has been focused on omicron, the current spike in the United States is driven by yet another surge in the delta variant.

Winter cold and gatherings indoors are blamed for high case numbers, with New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Maine and Minnesota all reporting 75 cases or more per 100,000 people.

But the rise in cases is spreading beyond the original outbreaks in the northeast and upper Midwest.

Florida, Texas, California, Missouri and Connecticut reported cases had doubled over the past two weeks.

Infection rates are rising across the country. Oregon is one of just 10 states  all but one west of the Mississippi  that has not reported a rise in cases compared to the past two weeks. But data showing a flat growth curve is based on reports from last week.

The Oregon Health & Science Universitys weekly forecast, last released Friday, had good news but worries about Oregons immediate future in combating COVID-19.

Case rates returned to pre-Thanksgiving levels, suggesting that Thanksgiving itself did not create a wave of infections, the report said.

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ATLANTA, Dec. 08, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- D igital Envoy , the company that introduced the concept of privacy-sensitive IP-based geolocation and IP intelligence, today announced Michael Kercher as its new General Counsel and Chief Privacy Officer.



Kercher, a 20-year veteran in legal and global data privacy leadership, brings a track record of success as a corporate counsel, strategic planner, and program manager. His professional journey includes serving as Assistant Attorney General for the state of Florida before moving to the private sector. A series of roles from Deputy General Counsel to General Counsel to CPO and Global Privacy Counsel in the Fortune 200 has imbued Kercher with a deep knowledge of global data privacy and a vast catalog of experience on which Digital Envoy will draw to enrich their clients decision making and innovation by providing the worlds most valuable IP and location intelligence, while simultaneously preserving the safety and privacy of consumers.

I am thrilled to welcome Mike to the Digital Envoy team. One of the main priorities when finalizing the Outlogic acquisition was to hire a CPO capable of ensuring the client and company needs are aligned, stated Jerrod Stoller, CEO of Digital Envoy. Mike is a respected and strategic thinker in the privacy and legal landscape. I am confident that he will bring new strengths to Digital Envoy that will help drive the company forward.

Over the years, Digital Envoy has become a trusted provider of IP geolocation data and continues to grow and expand their safe, relevant and critical data offerings. I am confident that my skills can be implemented in a way that ensures the company can continue this growth and acceleration, said Michael Kercher. Im honored to be joining the Digital Envoy team at this time and cant wait to see what we can do together.

Kercher will work with senior management to guide the business through the ongoing process of integrating its latest acquisition, Outlogic, a provider of location data for the retail, real estate and financial markets. Kercher is a highly accomplished corporate counsel with extensive experience at the intersection of technology, data, and privacy. He will be working out of the Atlanta office.

About Digital Envoy

In 1999, Digital Envoy introduced the concept of privacy-sensitive IP-based geolocation and IP intelligence. This technology allows businesses from ad networks to publishers, websites, retailers and more to harness the power of location and new intelligence about connected users for many mission-critical applications. Digital Envoy has three business units that address the unique needs of customers: Digital Element, which provides global geolocation data and services that bring anytime, anywhere relevance and context to online and mobile initiatives; Digital Resolve, which delivers solutions that proactively secure online accounts, information, transactions and interactions from login to logout and Outlogic, which allows companies in retail, real estate and financial markets to develop disruptive tools built on a foundation of quality location data. Landmark Media Enterprises is the majority owner of Digital Envoy. Visit www.digitalenvoy.com for more information.

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/86ec45e9-3e17-4d15-9fa4-260f82c34dd3
WASHINGTON, Dec. 13, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Global Composite Materials Market size is expected to reach USD 128.82 billion by 2028, exhibiting a CAGR of 7.52% during the forecast period which drives from 2021-2028. The growing demand from automotive & transportation industries, wind energy, and aerospace and defence are witnessing to drive the market over the forecast period of 2021-2028. COVID-19 pandemic has significantly crushed the supply chain. Owing to the COVID-19 the demand for composites materials have been surging however, lockdown in various countries have led to increase in supply and demand.



Thus, pulling the restrictions and bans, the demand from end-use industries such as construction aerospace, and automotive industries is rising along with suppliers and manufacturers which is likely to boost the market growth, states Vantage Market Research, in a report, titled Composite Materials Market by Product (Carbon Fiber, Glass Fiber, Others), by End-use (Automotive & Transportation, Electrical & Electronics Wind Energy, Construction & Infrastructure, Pipes & Tanks, Marine, Others), by Manufacturing Process (Layup Process, Filament Winding Process, Injection Molding Process, Pultrusion Process, Compression Molding Process, Resin Transfer Molding Process, Others), by Region (North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America and Middle East & Africa) - Global Industry Assessment (2016 - 2021) & Forecast (2022 - 2028). The market size stood at USD 72.12 billion in 2020.

Click Here To Access The Free Sample Report @ https://www.vantagemarketresearch.com/composite-materials-market-1078/request-sample

(The Free Sample Of This Report Is Readily Available On Request).

Our Free Sample Reports Includes:

In-depth Industry Analysis, Introduction, Overview, and COVID-19 Pandemic Outbreak.

Impact Analysis 150+ Pages Research Report (Including latest research)

Provide chapter-wise guidance on request 2020 Updated Regional Analysis with Graphical Representation of Trends, Size, & Share, Includes Updated List of figures and tables.

Updated Report Includes Major Market Players with their Sales Volume, Business Strategy and Revenue Analysis by using VMR research methodology.

(Please note that the sample of this report has been updated to include the COVID-19 impact study prior to delivery.)

Market Overview:

Upsurge in demand from automotive industries

Since past few years, the automotive industries are growing tremendously. Also, the obsessive behaviour of the industry to carbon fiber is increasing owing to the factors such as adoption of technology with less CO2 emissions, and lightweight. The changing trend towards car racing, bike racing and other sports, is anticipated to increase the demand from automotive sector which likely further to increase the demand for composite materials further propelling the growth of the market.

The Report on Composite Materials Market Highlights:

Global and Regional Dynamics

Premium Insights

Assessment of the market

Company Profiles

Competitive Landscape

Historic Data, Estimates and Forecast

COVID Impact Analysis



Introduction of the Advanced Carbon Composite

Composites materials are used in a wide array of applications including constriction, repairs, aerospace, transportation, industrial and others. Introduction of new technology and high percentage of potential buyers are unaware about the availability of products. This offers a lucrative opportunity for the manufacturers to advertise products and expand their distribution network to maximise the growth potential. Continuously, increasing demand from construction industry, development in the transportation and aerospace and defence have driven the growth of the market. Introduction of the advanced fibre composite has transformed the market across the globe.

Important questions answered in this report:

What is the estimated market size and growth rate of the Composite Materials Market?

Which segments are included in the Composite Materials Market?

Which top companies are active in the Composite Materials Market?

What are the major driving factors for the growth of the Composite Materials Market?

How can I get free sample reports or study of Composite Materials Market?



Read Full Research Report @ https://www.vantagemarketresearch.com/industry-report/composite-materials-market-1078

Regional Analysis :

Asia Pacific Dominates the Composite Materials Market

Asia Pacific continues to hold the largest share of the market and anticipated to grow at fastest compound annual growth rate (CAGR). As a result of the presence of emerging economies in this region such as Japan, India, China and other countries, the demand for composite materials is surging; leading Asia Pacific to be the major consumer of composite materials. The end-use industries in Asia Pacific market include automotive and transportation industries, wind energy, construction industries and aerospace & defence among others. Advancements in regulatory policies, and government norms are some of the major factors market growth in the region.

However, the Lockdown owing to COVID-19 pandemic may act as restrain for growth of Composite Materials Market.

List of Prominent Players in the Composite Materials Market:

Sr. No. Companies Headquaters 1. Owens Corning U.S. 2. Toray Industries, Inc. Japan 3. Teijin Limited Japan 4. Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings Corporation Japan 5. Hexcel Corporation U.S. 6. SGL Group Germany 7. Nippon Electrical Glass Co. Ltd. Japan 8. Huntsman International LLC. U.S. 9. Solvay Belgium

Advantages of this Research:

Evaluate market share for commercial Composite Materials market opportunities, track market size, competitive drug sales, synthesis insights for commercial development and licensing.

Develop tactics and strategies to take advantage of opportunities in the Composite Materials market.

Latest Trends and Market Events and analyze essential events in Composite Materials market.

Develop an in-depth knowledge of competition and analyze sales data to update your brand planning trackers.

Answer vital business questions; supports decision making in R&D to long term marketing strategies

Develop economic models, forecast models, and healthcare frameworks.

Request Customized Copy of Report @ https://www.vantagemarketresearch.com/composite-materials-market-1078/customization-request

(We customize your report according to your research need. Ask our sales team for report customization.)

Recent Developments in the Industry:

In June 2021, Hexcel Corporation declared the successful maiden flight of a lightweight camera drone, developed using Hexcel HexPly carbon fiber prepregs.



This report provides details about prevalence, incidence, distribution of patients, and average price of treatment, market & technological trends and new product developments of Composite Materials Market.

Report Attribute Details Market Size 2020 Value USD 71.12 Billion Market Forecast for 2028 USD 128.82 Billion Expected CAGR Growth CAGR of 7.5% from 2021 to 2028 Base Year 2020 Historic Years 2016  2019 Forecast Years 2021  2028 Segments Covered By Fiber Type:



Glass Fiber Composites

Carbon Fiber Composites

Natural Fiber Composites

Other Fiber Composites By Resin Type:



Thermoset Composites

Thermoplastic Composites By end-use industry:



Aerospace & defense

Wind Energy

Automotive & Transportation

Construction & Infrastructure

Marine

Pipe & Tank

Electrical & Electronics

Others By Manufacturing Process: Lay-up

Filament Winding

Injection Molding

Pultrusion

Compression Molding

RTM

Others Quantitative Data - Units Revenue in USD Million/Billion and CAGR from 2021 to 2028 Regions Covered North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa, and Rest of World Countries Covered U.S., Canada, Mexico, U.K., Germany, France, Italy, Spain, China, India, Japan, South Korea, Brazil, Argentina, GCC Countries, and South Africa, among others Report Coverage Market growth drivers, restraints, opportunities, Porters five forces analysis, PEST analysis, value chain analysis, regulatory landscape, market attractiveness analysis by segments and region, company market share analysis, and COVID-19 impact analysis.

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https://www.vantagemarketresearch.com/industry-report/synthetic-resin-coating-market-0734 Lubricants For Wind Turbines Market:- https://www.vantagemarketresearch.com/industry-report/lubricants-for-wind-turbines-market-0509

https://www.vantagemarketresearch.com/industry-report/lubricants-for-wind-turbines-market-0509 Dry Lubricants Market:- https://www.vantagemarketresearch.com/industry-report/dry-lubricants-market-0250



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SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 13, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Hagens Berman urges ReneSola Ltd. (NYSE: SOL) investors with significant losses to submit your losses now. The firm is investigating possible securities law violations.



Visit: www.hbsslaw.com/investor-fraud/SOL

Contact An Attorney Now: SOL@hbsslaw.com | 844-916-0895

ReneSola Ltd. (SOL) Investigation:

The investigation focuses on ReneSolas statements about its purported development, construction, operation, and sales of solar power projects in Europe.

More specifically, ReneSola has repeatedly touted its increasing number of late-stage projects throughout Europe, which would soon be ready to sell project rights at notice to proceed, or NTP.

But, on Dec. 2, 2021, analyst Grizzly Research published a scathing report entitled We believe ReneSola is a Fraudulent Company; Most Projects Never Existed. According to the report: (1) [o]ur on the ground due diligence, filings review, and communications with local municipalities in Europe indicate SOL has been vastly misrepresenting its project development pipeline; (2) [m]ost of SOLs projects are in Europe, but our research indicates that most of these projects seemingly do not exist; (3) SOL might have fabricated projects to give the appearance of a better development pipeline and future economics; and, (4) [w]orse yet, SOL continuously categorizes projects as late-stage, and close to finalization, that our research shows to be either non-existent or delayed for years.

This news drove the price of ReneSola American Depositary Shares sharply lower.

Were focused on investors losses and whether ReneSola and its management lied to investors about the existence and developmental stage of its purported projects, said Reed Kathrein, the Hagens Berman partner leading the investigation.

If you invested in ReneSola and have significant losses, or have knowledge that may assist the firms investigation, click here to discuss your legal rights with Hagens Berman.

Whistleblowers: Persons with non-public information regarding ReneSola should consider their options to help in the investigation or take advantage of the SEC Whistleblower program. Under the new program, whistleblowers who provide original information may receive rewards totaling up to 30 percent of any successful recovery made by the SEC. For more information, call Reed Kathrein at 844-916-0895 or email SOL@hbsslaw.com.

About Hagens Berman

Hagens Berman is a national law firm with eight offices in eight cities around the country and over eighty attorneys. The firm represents investors, whistleblowers, workers and consumers in complex litigation. More about the firm and its successes is located at hbsslaw.com. For the latest news visit our newsroom or follow us on Twitter at @classactionlaw .
Washington, D.C., Dec. 13, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The full Fifth Circuit bench ruled today that Texas accountant Michelle Cochran has the right to challenge the constitutionality of her Administrative Law Judges (ALJ) removal protections in federal court before undergoing an administrative adjudication. The New Civil Liberties Alliance, a nonpartisan, nonprofit civil rights group, represents Ms. Cochran in Michelle Cochran v. Securities and Exchange Commission. NCLA applauds this decision, which will allow our client to plead her case before a real Article III federal court rather than be subjected to an endless series of unlawful agency hearings.



At issue before the en banc panel was whether a provision of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 implicitly strips federal district courts of subject-matter jurisdiction to hear structural constitutional claims. Judge Hayness opinion, joined by eight others, reverses and remands the district courts reluctantly adverse decision. Her decision for the court holds that Section 78y of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934 neither explicitly nor implicitly strips federal district courts of jurisdiction to decide Article II removal questions.



The concurrence delivers a stinging rebuke and devastating renunciation of Wilsonian thinking, saying: "Section 78y reflects the thinking of men like Woodrow Wilson who argued that universal suffrage would make the three branches of government ignorant, indolent, and incapable of regulating modern affairs. Wilsons solution? He wanted administrative agencies to operate in a separate, anti-constitutional, and anti-democratic spacefree from pesky things like law and an increasingly diverse electorate."



As the concurrence pointed out, Woodrow Wilson asked his fellow statesmen to worry less about the constitution of government and more about its administration. The SEC asks the same today: get on with administration and worry less about how our administrative proceedings are constituted another time. The majority rightly rejected this line of thinking today.



The Fifth Circuits ruling is in line with the U.S. Supreme Courts 2010 decision in Free Enterprise Fund v. Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, which held that officers of the United States, including SEC ALJs after the Courts 2018 decision in Lucia v. SEC, may enjoy only one layer of for-cause removal protection from the President. The district court sought to distinguish Free Enterprise Fund, but the Fifth Circuit has shown that there is no basis to depart from Free Enterprise Funds jurisdictional holding. It has recognized that hearing Ms. Cochrans claim is required by lawand compelled by the Constitution.



The SEC prosecutes people through a system of administrative proceedings before ALJs who are hired by the prosecuting agency. Ms. Cochran fell prey to this system in 2016, when the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) accused her of violating federal accounting standards. ALJs enjoy multiple layers of protection from removal by the President of the United States. Currently, ALJs can only be removed for cause, and the only people who can remove them are SEC Commissioners and Merit Systems Protection Board memberspeople whom the President can only remove for cause.



Todays ruling protects the rights of citizens, like Ms. Cochran, to access federal courts when their liberty is threatened by executive-branch action that violates essential separation-of-powers principles. Under 28 U.S.C.  1331 and Supreme Court precedent, Ms. Cochran has the right to ask ahead of time that her administrative proceeding conform to constitutional requirements. Shes entitled to her day in court. And that day is today.



NCLA released the following statements:



The Fifth Circuit majority resoundingly vindicated Michelle Cochrans right to be tried before a constitutional tribunal. In doing so, the court faithfully applied controlling Supreme Court precedent in Free Enterprise Fund, thereby correcting wayward decisions from five other circuit courts of appeals that had consigned Americans to be judged by SEC administrative law judges who enjoy unconstitutional tenure protections. These separation of powers principles are essential to preserving Americans individual libertiesas eloquently set forth in the majority and concurring opinions.

 Peggy Little, Senior Litigation Counsel, NCLA



This case is an admirable victory not only for Cochran but also for the supremacy of law. The judges clearly understood the stakes and are standing up for the Constitution.

 Philip Hamburger, President, NCLA



Todays en banc decision in Cochran v. SEC is a tour de force. The Fifth Circuit has pointed the way out of the labyrinth of endless administrative hearings that violate peoples civil liberties.

 Mark Chenoweth, Executive Director and General Counsel, NCLA



For more information visit the case page here or watch the case video here.



ABOUT NCLA



NCLA is a nonpartisan, nonprofit civil rights group founded by prominent legal scholar Philip Hamburger to protect constitutional freedoms from violations by the Administrative State. NCLAs public-interest litigation and other pro bono advocacy strive to tame the unlawful power of state and federal agencies and to foster a new civil liberties movement that will help restore Americans fundamental rights.

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Mercado Libre acquired the entire company in order to further strengthen its operation in Chile in the payment methods sector, especially in the physical world for SMEs, and to continue fulfilling its purpose of democratizing commerce and finance in the country.



This is Mercado Libre's first purchase in the region in payment systems, which strengthens the business position of its Mercado Pago unit, the largest fintech in Latin America.

SANTIAGO, Chile, Dec. 13, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Mercado Libre, a technology firm and the largest e-commerce company in Latin America, announced the acquisition of Redelcom, a Chilean company that has been operating since 2010 as a payment services provider and that in October 2019 began offering point-of-sale (POS) terminals with the latest technology to retailers.

Mercado Libre seeks to consolidate its value proposition in Chile and enhance the growth of its multiple payment tools and digital financial solutions. This is part of its purpose to democratize trade and finance in Latin America and contribute to reduce financial inclusion gaps, helping to improve the quality of life of people and boosting the business of companies, especially SMEs and entrepreneurs.

Mercado Libre, through Mercado Pago, is a relevant player in the POS market in different countries in the region, selling more than one million terminals during the third quarter of 2021. Redelcom will join the Mercado Libre and Mercado Pago ecosystem and its successful business model.

Chile has presented significant growth in the region and this has led the company to seek for alternatives to enhance the offer for SMEs and companies that operate with Mercado Libre. "Redelcom has the best product in the market and, leveraging the expertise of the Mercado Libre ecosystem, we will continue to consolidate financial services in Chile. Redelcom is a company that is in tune with the purpose of democratizing commerce and achieving financial inclusion. 99% of its customers are SMEs and micro-entrepreneurs and they will continue to receive the same quality of service," said Matias Spagui, Director of Mercado Pago.

Redelcom is a payment network that offers cutting-edge technology at a national level, allowing the flexibility of reaching small and large businesses. Its POS accepts payments with all credit and debit cards, from any national and international bank. In addition, it provides merchants with tools to facilitate the management of their money, such as, for example, a system for issuing electronic receipts linked to the Internal Revenue Service and linked to the cash register control system, which provides merchants with a detailed statement of their financial flow. In addition, the POS offers services such as bill payment and cell phone recharges, among others.

Matias Spagui, highlighted: "Redelcom started operating POS for merchants in October 2019, it has shown to have a great team behind it and an important operational excellence".

Redelcom's General Manager, Roberto Charme, stated, "We are very pleased to be part of Mercado Libre, a leader in e-commerce and digital payments in the region. We believe this is a great opportunity to expand the technological solutions offered to our customers throughout Chile, adding the products and distribution strength of Mercado Libre and Mercado Pago".

The acquisition of Redelcom reinforces Mercado Libre's ecosystem, which offers different solutions to SMEs and companies through its marketplace platform and its fintech Mercado Pago. Currently, more than 32 thousand SMEs and entrepreneurs sell on Mercado Libre, and almost half of them joined in the middle of the pandemic. On the other hand, Mercado Pago has made its digital payment tools available to merchants, where currently more than 65,000 merchants process their payments with the company, of which more than 55,000 joined during the pandemic. These are SMEs that not only take advantage of our solutions in the digital world but also of the opportunities we can offer in the physical world.

About Mercado Libre

Founded in 1999, Mercado Libre is the leading e-commerce technology company in Latin America. Through its platforms Mercado Libre, Mercado Pago and Portalinmobiliario.com, it offers solutions for individuals and businesses to buy, sell, advertise, ship and pay for goods and services online. Mercado Libre serves millions of users and creates an online marketplace for the negotiation of a wide variety of goods and services in an easy, safe and efficient way. It is among the 30 most visited sites in the world in terms of page views and is the mass consumer platform with the highest number of unique visitors in the most important countries where it operates, according to metrics provided by comScore Networks. The Company has been listed on the Nasdaq (NASDAQ: MELI) since its initial public offering in 2007.
Berlin, Germany, Dec. 13, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Minicaps is a groundbreaking platform aiming to solve the main problems of the blockchain industry, such as low market cap projects facing hurdles in finding investors and gaining a large audience of supporters. Minicaps combats this situation by connecting investors with low market cap projects. It is a seamless trading platform that aims to be the first anti-scam crypto listing hub globally. The team of Minicaps employs a vast array of unique and innova-tive tools designed specifically to maximally increase the trust and security between developers of DeFi projects and the community of blockchain investors.

The Minicaps is powered by MiniX - a unique utility asset that mainly serves as the governance token of the Minicaps platform, providing its users with numerous benefits. The Tokenomics of MiniX goes as: Total supply is recorded about 10,000,000,000 MINIX (10 Billion) whereas the Distribution is as follows: PolyX Rewards: 4%, Marketing: 4%, Liquidity Pool: 4% and Manual Buyback & Burn: 2%.

Minicaps comes with various features such as; investing in low market cap projects no longer has to be hard. Using Minicaps, users can get all the necessary due-diligence data they need for safe crypto investments in one place - enhanced with various tools. Minicaps is different from other listing platforms due to its strict focus on low market cap projects. It provides the investors with the largest ROI. Moreover, Minicaps offers a PolyXSwap trading interface. It allows the investors to instantly purchase tokens listed on Minicaps without having to leave the platform. The platform aggregates data from multiple sources and uses that to determine if projects are safe - investors will never have to rely on low-quality data from a single source ever again with Minicaps services.

Additionally, Minicaps enables people to search for interesting projects effortlessly and be shown all the essential data immediately, without going through a lot of unnecessary marketing material. Users can also easily keep track of worthwhile projects. Lastly, the Initial score for pre-launch projects is a tool provided by Minicaps to improve project transparency and maximally protect the investors.

About Minicaps: A crypto listing platform designed to enhance trust, security, and safer investments in low market cap DeFi projects. The main goal of Minicaps is enabling low market cap projects to find investors easily and empowering the investors to gain exposure to undervalued projects in a secure environment with enhanced anti-scam protection, thus reducing the risk of investing in small markets cap blockchain projects to the absolute minimum.

For more information, visit Instagram and Twitter, and crypto enthusiast can take their crypto investments to the next level with Minicaps. Connect Now.



Website: https://Minicaps.io




LONDON, Dec. 13, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Midpoint Holdings Ltd. (TSXV: MPT) (Midpoint or the Company) is pleased to announce that the Company will be launching Canadian dollars, U.S. Dollars and Euro local virtual accounts in January 2022.

Midpoint multi-currency virtual accounts will enable Midpoint clients to have locally domiciled currency accounts in Canadian and U.S. dollars, Euros, and British pounds. Clients will be able to send and receive these currencies locally in a client named account and avoid paying any international transfer fees. Going forwards, Midpoint clients will be able to send and receive local payments such as ACH/Fedwire, SEPA, FasterPayment, and Interac, while still enjoying the Midpoint F.X. rate, said David Wong, Chairman of Midpoint.

Separately the Company has accepted the resignation of Mr. John DAgostino from its Board of Directors, where he served as an unpaid independent director having been nominated and appointed by shareholders. His experience and contribution to the Company was crucial and the Company thanks him for his service. He noted: The Company is now in its best position and footing since its founding, and I feel it is the right time for me to step down to focus on my other ventures.

About Midpoint

Headquartered in London, UK, Midpoint is an FCA authorized payments institutions specializing in cross-border payments and foreign exchange. SMEs, overseas professionals, property owners, foreign students, individuals, and anyone involved in international payments use Midpoint for transparent, multi-party, multi-currency services. Midpoint currently handles transactions in 27 currencies with the ability to collect and transfer across over 200 countries. This highly secure platform provides customers with the most cost-effective F.X. at the midpoint of the interbank buy/sell rate, therefore removing the spread as well as hidden costs and fees.

Midpoint Holdings Limited is listed on the TSX Venture Exchange and cross-listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.

For information on Midpoint, please visit: https://www.midpoint.com.

For further information please contact:

Corbin Comishin, CFO David Wong, Chairman Midpoint Holdings Limited, 22-25 Portman Close, Marylebone, 505 Kootenay Street, Nelson, London W1H 6BS, United Kingdom British Columbia V1L 1K9, Canada Tel: 0044 20 7448 3082 Tel: 001 250 352 7667 Email: info@midpoint.com

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange (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 and has neither approved nor disapproved of the contents of this news release.

Forward-looking information

This news release contains certain forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities law. Forward looking information is frequently characterized by words such as plan, expect, project, intend, believe, anticipate, estimate, may, will, would, potential, proposed and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions may or will occur. These statements are only predictions. Forward-looking information is based on the opinions and estimates of management at the date the information is provided, and is subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking information. For a description of the risks and uncertainties facing Midpoint and its business and affairs, readers should refer to Midpoints Managements Discussion and Analysis. Midpoint undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking information if circumstances or managements estimates or opinions should change, unless required by law. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information.

Not for distribution to U.S. Newswire Services or for dissemination in the United States. Any failure to comply with this restriction may constitute a violation of U.S. Securities laws.
Pune, India, Dec. 14, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The global Automotive Aftermarket Industry size is projected to reach USD 529.88 billion by 2028 and exhibit a CAGR of 3.8% during the forecast period. The digitization of automotive component delivery services results in greater supply diversity and higher price transparency for customers. The growing digitization of automotive component delivery services and the expansion of the automotive industry are likely to bolster the growth of the market. Fortune Business Insights has presented this information in its report titled, Automotive Aftermarket Industry, 2021-2028. The market size stood at USD 392.35 billion in 2020.

OEMs investments in customer experience optimization have risen in recent years. The introduction of differentiated aftermarket service offerings helps OEMs retain customers and enhance their decision-making regarding service repair. The surging expansion of aftermarket activities by OEMs is likely to stimulate market growth in the coming years.

Industry Developments-

November 2020: FullSpeed Automotive from CenterOak Partners was acquired by MidOcean Partners to fulfill the companys aggressive growth plan by strategic acquisition & merger and universal organic activities.





Request a Sample Copy of the Research Report: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/enquiry/request-sample-pdf/automotive-after-market-102613





COVID-19 Impact-

The automotive industry has significantly suffered from the negative impact inflicted by the global pandemic. A decline in the production levels due to the lockdowns, curfews, and social distancing norms can be witnessed, along with a decline in revenues. Closure of plants and restrictions on exports and imports by several nations potentially hampered the industry growth. Moreover, the pandemic resulted in reduced purchasing power of consumers, which further aggravated the situation. Nonetheless, the vaccines are now available to the masses, and the market is gradually recovering. The market is expected to gain steep momentum post-pandemic.

Drivers & Restraints-

Expansion of Automotive Industry to Propel Market Growth

The swift digitization in developed and developing countries has enabled manufacturers and suppliers to provide consumers the desired product through online sales channels. Customers can use these channels to gather information about parts' price and use these channels to determine the vehicles parts to buy. The digitization of automotive component delivery services results in greater supply diversity and higher price transparency for customers. The growing digitization of automotive component delivery services is likely to bolster the global Automotive Aftermarket Industry growth.





To get to know more about the short-term and long-term impact of COVID-19 on this market, please visit: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/automotive-after-market-102613





The original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) are improving and expanding their aftermarket activities within the Automotive Aftermarket parts value chain. The introduction of differentiated aftermarket service offerings helps OEMs enhance their decision-making regarding service repair and retain customers. The surging expansion of aftermarket activities by OEMs is likely to stimulate market growth in the coming years.

Regional Insights-

Increasing Vehicle Sales to Accumulate Growth in Asia Pacific

Asia Pacific is anticipated to gain the largest portion of the global Automotive Aftermarket Industry share. The increasing sales of commercial vehicles and passenger cars are expected to boost the markets growth. Additionally, the implementation of new tax regimes and the rising consolidation amongst Automotive Aftermarket parts distributors are likely to complement the market growth.





Quick Buy - Automotive Aftermarket Research Report: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/checkout-page/102613





Europe is projected to witness the second-highest growth in the global market due to surging digitization of automotive component delivery services. Moreover, the use of advanced technology in automotive parts fabrication is likely to augment the market growth.

North America is expected to witness steady growth due to the key manufacturers present in the region.

The Rest of the World is likely to gain moderate growth in the forthcoming years. The growing urbanization, increasing customization and fabrication works, and improving disposable income levels are expected to boost the growth of the market.

Competitive Landscape-

Key Players Adopt Inorganic Strategies to Garner Growth in the Market

The market is fragmented and highly competitive. The market includes Valeo SA, Continental AG, Robert Bosch GmbH, Lear Corp., and others as the major players. The key players focus on extensive R&D activities to provide a comprehensive range of products for the market. The key players focus on the development of new products, patents, technological advancements, collaborations, acquisitions, mergers, and others to generate greater revenues and improve their market presence. For instance, in October 2020, BorgWarner Inc. acquired Delphi Technologies, a leading powertrain, and aftermarket company. The acquisition is aimed to empower BorgWarners scale and capabilities, electronics & power products, and create a global pioneer in electrified propulsion systems.





Have Any Query? Ask Our Experts: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/enquiry/speak-to-analyst/automotive-after-market-102613





Key Players in the Global Industry are:

Robert Bosch GmbH (Gerlingen, Germany)

Denso Corporation (Aichi, Japan)

Magna International Inc. (Aurora, Canada)

Continental AG (Hanover, Germany)

ZF Friedrichshafen AG (Friedrichshafen, Germany)

Aisin Seiki Co. (Aichi, Japan)

Lear Corp. (Michigan, U.S.)

Valeo SA (Paris, France)

Bridgestone Corporation (Tokyo, Japan)

Faurecia (Nanterre, France)





About Us:

Fortune Business Insights offers expert corporate analysis and accurate data, helping organizations of all sizes make timely decisions. We tailor innovative solutions for our clients, assisting them to address challenges distinct to their businesses. Our goal is to empower our clients with holistic market intelligence, giving a granular overview of the market they are operating in.

Phone:

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APAC : +91 744 740 1245
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Regulated Information





Antwerp/Belgium  Lyon/France, 14 December 2021, 07:30 am CET  VGP, a pan-European provider of high-quality logistics and semi-industrial real estate, officially enters the French market with the opening of its first office in Lyon and appoints Aurelien Coudert as Country Manager for VGP France.

Aurelien started on 1 December within the VGP team and will be responsible for the expansion of the Groups portfolio in the French market. In the coming period the focus will be on identifying suitable development locations.

Aurelien Coudert comments: I am excited by the challenge of launching the VGP business unit in France and to work in such a dynamic and ambitious company. Im impressed by VGPs family and European culture, its long-term vision but also the agile organisation. With the logistics and industrial real estate sector with high-growth potential, I am thrilled to expand the company in France and propose to our customers our full panel of services.

Jan Van Geet, CEO of VGP, said: We are delighted to welcome Aurelien to our VGP- team after an extensive search and to expand the Groups European footprint by entering the French market. We open our first office in France, allowing us to serve more businesses and communities across Europe. With Aurelien, we are very confident we have found the right person for this challenging position.

Before joining VGP, Aurelien has worked more than 10 years in the retail industry within the Casino Group, one of the main French retailers. Starting as chief of staff to the Supermarket CEO, he was lately the head of the department responsible for development, construction and transactions for the Casino brands (Petit Casino, Vival, Spar, Casino Supermarche), opening more than 400 stores in the past year. He holds a masters degree in civil construction, finance and strategy from the engineering school Ecole Centrale Paris.

CONTACT DETAILS FOR POTENTIAL TENANTS & BROKERS AND MEDIA ENQUIRIES

Aurelien Coudert

Country Manager VGP France Tel: +33 (0)4 81 49 47 03



Karen Huybrechts

Head of Marketing VGP Tel: +32 (0)3 289 14 32









ABOUT VGP

VGP is a pan-European developer, manager and owner of high-quality logistics and semi-industrial real estate. VGP operates a fully integrated business model with capabilities and longstanding expertise across the value chain. The company has a development land bank (owned or committed) of 10.49 million m and the strategic focus is on the development of business parks. Founded in 1998 as a Belgian family-owned real estate developer in the Czech Republic, VGP with a staff of circa 350 employees owns and operates assets in 12 European countries directly and through several 50:50 joint ventures. As of June 2021, the Gross Asset Value of VGP, including the joint ventures at 100%, amounted to  4.48 billion and the company had a Net Asset Value (EPRA NTA) of  1.51 billion. VGP is listed on Euronext Brussels (ISIN: BE0003878957).

For more information, please visit: http://www.vgpparks.eu

Attachment
Dublin, Dec. 14, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Global Military Intelligence Analytics Growth Opportunities" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

Military intelligence (MILINT) AI is a growing phenomenon that generates conceptual transformation in future battlefield concepts of operations (ConOps), gathered by demand for AI-analytics-based sensors paradigm. It increases intelligence resources in defense budgets, and becomes a strategic national asset that reflects deeply international superpower relations.



With its strategic implications on armed forces around the globe, intelligence warfare will take place across a multi-domain battlespace with further integration of air, maritime, land, and cyber-based intelligence analytics domains.

New APIs are also driving these developments in MILINT requirements, such as NLP, data mining, real-time analysis, and automatic target recognition (ATR) based on AI. These systems will both need to be integrated into current IT and distribution systems, as well as analytics APIs that need to manage large amounts of data for operational use and demands.



This study covers the quantitative and qualitative discussion of the key aspects of the trends in the military intelligence market, including drivers and restrains, market commercial ecosystem, and technological overview, including leading APIs and main projects.



Key Topics Covered:



1. Strategic Imperatives

2. Growth Opportunity Analysis - Military Intelligence Analytics

Market Definitions and Scope

Scope of Research

Key Questions this Study will Answer

Research Methodology

3. Overview

AI Era in MILINT - A Rapid Change

The Substantial Challenge for Intelligence Agencies

Revolution or Evolution in the Intelligence Process

Artificial Intelligence

Machine Learning and Deep Learning

Market Definitions

MILINT Analytics 2020-2035

Deep Learning Algorithms that Execute Diverse Tasks

4. Forecast Assumptions

5. Strategic Scope

Geopolitical Perspective - Superpower Rivalry Over AI Global Dominance

The United States

US MILINT AI Ecosystem - Innovative Environment

6. MILINT Analytics Impact on ConOps

Trends Impacting Demand of MILINT Analytics 2020-2030

MILINT Analytics Catalyze Changing Military ConOps

How Battlefield Trends Impact MILINT AI Demands

AI MILINT Surge Dilemmas

Revolution or Evolution - From Data Lake to Data Warehouse

MILINT Analytics Architecture

7. External Challenges - Drivers and Restraints: Total Big Data Analytics Market

MILINT Analytics - Implementation of Digital Solutions

Growth Driver Analysis for Military Intelligence Analytics

Growth Restraint Analysis for Military Intelligence Analytics

8. Application Diversity

MILINT Analytics Schematic Segments Architecture

Definitions of AI Structures

MILINT Analytics Key Technologies and Applications - Methods of Extracting Valuable Intelligence from Unstructured Data

Deep Learning Algorithms that Execute Diverse Tasks

Diligent Resources to Support AI Applications

Case Study 1 - Social Network Analysis: The Boko Haram Terrorist Organization (Central Africa)

Case Study 2 - Automatic Target Recognition and Acquisition (ATR)

Case Study 3 - Situational Awareness

9. Market Overview and Analysis

Key Growth Metrics for Military Intelligence Analytics

Forecast Assumptions and Discussion

Total Spending Forecast 2020-2030 - Military Intelligence Analytics

Regional Spending Forecast 2020-2030 - Military Intelligence Analytics

Forecast Discussion

Current Main Programs in the US - Military Intelligence Analytics

Examples of Contracts 2020-2024 - Military Intelligence Analytics

Key Competitors - Military Intelligence Analytics

10. Mergers & Acquisitions - Military Intelligence Analytics

11. Growth Opportunities and Companies to Action - Military Intelligence Analytics

Growth Opportunity 1: Narrow AI Short-term Focus for IC

Growth Opportunity 2: AGI - Mid-term Focus for Human-like Performance

Growth Opportunity 3: AI-as-a-service (AI-aaS) Across MILINT Verticals for Harnessing Treasure Troves of Data to Improve Efficiency

Growth Opportunity 4: Intelligence Supremacy Rivals for Enhancing US MILINT AI Capabilities

Growth Opportunity 5: MILINT NLP to Automatically Classify and Match Incoming Data

Growth Opportunity 6: Training Data for Building Trust in MILINT AI Algorithms

Strategic Imperatives to Achieve Growth Within the DoD Artificial Intelligence Ecosystem



For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/wed0am

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.
English Danish





FirstFarms A/S has today entered into agreement to acquire 100% of the Hungarian company Try-Beta Kft. regarding land leases and crop production, silo plant and machinery. The purchase price is 26 mDKK. The purchase agreement is conditional to final due diligence and the trade is expected to be completed by the end of April 2022.



With the acquisition, FirstFarms significantly supports and expands its operations in Hungary. The company takes over the operation of 1,600 hectares of cultivated land (wheat, barley, maize, rape seed and sunflower), 6,900 tons of storage and silo capacity and full machinery. Try-Beta's 15 employees continue their work, but as employees of FirstFarms.

"This is a really good trade with great importance for the future development of our business in Hungary. We already own and operate the neighbouring locations with pig production, and with the acquisition of Try-Beta, we can strengthen our circular operation in the area, for the benefit of the environment, and for the benefit of ourselves." says CEO of FirstFarms Anders H. Nrgaard.

"Try-Beta's crops will, among other things, be used for feed in our pig productions, which are currently under expansion, and at the same time we can apply our animal manure in the Try-Beta fields. Try-Beta's machinery will also be utilised at all our locations nearby" CEO of FirstFarms Anders H. Nrgaard continues, and underlines: "Thus, we strengthen our economy by minimising our costs, and at the same time it benefits the environment that we operate circularly."

FirstFarms and Try-Beta are already collaborators, as Try-Beta's fields have been fertilised with animal manure from FirstFarms' pig productions in the area for many years.

The acquisition of Try-Beta is in line with FirstFarms' ambitious growth strategy and the vision to develop the company into one of Europe's best operated and most profitable companies in the area of agriculture and food products.

With the acquisition, FirstFarms will have a total "Land bank" of over 8,700 hectares of owned land, as well as over 10,500 hectares of leases  total 19,200 hectares of agricultural land in operation.

The acquisition will not affect the 2021 result and therefore does not change the announced expectations for 2021 of an EBITDA in the range of 100-120 mDKK and an EBIT of 50-70 mDKK, which will be a historically good result.

Upon completion of the trade, EBIT is expected to be positively affected by 3-5 mDKK annually, as the acquisition provides significant synergies.

Best regards

FirstFarms A/S

For further information:

Please visit our website www.firstfarms.com or contact CEO Anders H. Nrgaard on telephone +45 75 86 87 87.

About FirstFarms:

FirstFarms is a Danish stock exchange listed company. We operate FirstFarms with responsibility for the surrounding communities, and we deliver highest quality which is primarily sold locally. We act on new opportunities, that create value for our investors and for the surroundings. Every day, we work on creating a more sustainable company.



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WAYNE, Pa., Dec. 14, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Dynamic Energy Solutions, LLC, a leading full-service commercial and utility-scale solar developer, today announced that it has executed definitive asset sale agreements with the Renewable Power Group of Goldman Sachs Asset Management ("Goldman Sachs") for approximately 70 MWs of distributed solar generation in the state of Maine.

Comprised of 11 projects located throughout the state, the portfolio includes projects in Corinth, Madison, Norridgewock, Enfield, Exeter, Glenburn, Gray, Guilford, Leeds, and Wales. The portfolio is expected to come online in 2022 and 2023 and will connect to the local electric distribution systems in Central Maine Power and Versant utility territories. These projects were developed under Maine's net energy bill credit program that provides Maine commercial entities with the ability to derive economic and environmental benefits generated by the projects. Several of Maine's largest employers have signed offtake agreements with Dynamic and Goldman Sachs.

"Achieving project financing agreements for these projects is an important milestone," said Bangor, ME, native John Motta, Chief Development Officer of Dynamic Energy Solutions. "Once completed, these projects will generate significant benefits for several of the largest employers in Maine as well as supplemental income streams for landowners throughout the state. We are grateful for each stakeholder who has supported these great projects and are proud to contribute to the State's important renewable energy goals."

The Dynamic executives that led the effort are native Mainers who began developing the portfolio in early 2019 in advance of legislation passed under the Janet Mills administration that encourages balanced solar development throughout the state. During the development phase, Dynamic worked primarily with Maine-based companies to provide services and expertise in such areas as permit acquisition, geotechnical and environmental, land title and legal matters, and civil and electrical engineering.

This portfolio represents the first transaction between Goldman Sachs and Dynamic Energy and it will help Maine to achieve the Renewable Portfolio Standard goal of securing 100% of its energy from renewables by 2050.

"We appreciate the work of our development partners at Dynamic Energy, in addition to the many corporate partners that have agreed to become offtakers," said Zachary Goldstein, vice president in the Renewable Power Group at Goldman Sachs. "Goldman Sachs is proud to invest in Maine's clean energy strategy and we hope to continue to expand our presence in the State."

About Dynamic Energy Solutions, LLC

Dynamic Energy is a full-service solar energy provider that brings together the diverse expertise needed to develop, design, finance, build and maintain projects to meet the needs of commercial, industrial, and institutional customers. With an in-house team that includes professional engineers, project managers, development, procurement, and master electricians, Dynamic Energy creates high-quality projects that reduce customer expenses, improve operating efficiency, provide an attractive return on investment, and achieve sustainability goals. For more information, please visit www.dynamicenergy.com or contact odavis@dynamicenergy.com or 415.595.7481

About Goldman Sachs Asset Management Renewable Power

Bringing together traditional and alternative investments, Goldman Sachs Asset Management provides clients around the world with a dedicated partnership and focus on long-term performance. As the primary investing area within Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS), we deliver investment and advisory services for the world's leading institutions, financial advisors and individuals, drawing from our deeply connected global network and tailored expert insights, across every region and marketoverseeing more than $2 trillion in assets under supervision worldwide as of Sept. 30, 2021. Driven by a passion for our clients' performance, we seek to build long-term relationships based on conviction, sustainable outcomes, and shared success over time. Goldman Sachs Asset Management invests in the full spectrum of alternatives, including private equity, growth equity, private credit, real estate and infrastructure. Established in 2017, the Renewable Power Group of Goldman Sachs Asset Management has sponsored more than 800 solar projects across 27 U.S. states that collectively have a capacity of more than 2.3 gigawatts of clean, renewable power. We take a long-term ownership approach to the operations and management of renewable assets with a leading industry expertise across transaction sourcing, financial analysis, power markets and physical asset analysis and operations. Follow us on LinkedIn.

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SALT LAKE CITY, Dec. 14, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today, Suralink , the leader in PBC request list and document workflow management software, announced it has been named one of Utah's Best Companies to Work For by Utah Business.

This award recognizes organizations deemed the "best place to work" by their own employees. Using a rigorous vetting process, employees fill out anonymous surveys, ranking companies on a number of factors including flexibility, pay equity, vacation time, management, and more.

Surveys revealed that Suralink employees value the flexible work location and hours, the ability to balance personal and work obligations, and a competitive compensation package.

"This award is particularly significant because it's based entirely on our employees' input," says Tim Ballantyne, CEO and Founder of Suralink. "We work hard to create a culture of balance and inclusivity, and it's validating to know that our employees feel valued. Our employees are the backbone of our organization, and we could not continue to grow and succeed without their contributions."

About Suralink

Suralink is the leader in request list management and approval workflow, helping businesses simplify the document workflow process while improving the client experience. The company's cloud-based application integrates a dynamic request list and assignment workflow solution with a secure file hosting platform to serve as a single location for client interaction. Suralink's technology, combined with its industry expertise, helps more than 650 clients worldwide ensure security, simplicity, transparency, and accountability throughout the document workflow process.

About Utah Business

Utah Business provides award-winning, in-depth journalism on the tech and entrepreneurial businesses at the forefront of our nation's economy. Our print and digital publications reach millions of executives across the state and our live and in-person events provide deep-dive access into the industries shaping our future.

# # #

CONTACT

Meghan Mitton

VP, Marketing

Suralink

meghan.mitton@suralink.com

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NEW YORK, Dec. 14, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via InvestorWire -- ISW Holdings Inc. (OTC: ISWH) today announces its placement in an editorial published by NetworkNewsWire ("NNW"), one of 50+ trusted brands within the InvestorBrandNetwork (IBN), a multifaceted financial news and publishing company for private and public entities.

To view the full publication, Bitcoin Volatility Makes Market, Creates Growth Opportunities, please visit: https://nnw.fm/YrdIL

Investors understand that, for a variety of reasons, volatility is part-and-parcel to investing in cryptocurrencies. For Bitcoin, the most popular of all digital currencies, a finite supply and the nascency of the market are key contributors to volatility that can test a small-retail investors resolve. The reality is that volatility is not a bad thingin fact, it is rather instrumental in the making of any market.

A month ago, Bitcoin was setting a new record high at $68,978, leading a cryptocurrency market that topped $3 trillion in valuation for the first time. Against that backdrop, companies continue to invest and innovate, looking for ways to mine more Bitcoin and widen margins, whether it be through scale, technology or other means. ISW Holdings Inc. (OTC: ISWH) is actively engaged in expansion of both its segments, as the company emerges as one of the largest mining and hosting providers in the North America digital currency space.

About ISW Holdings Inc.

ISW Holdings, based in Nevada, is a diversified portfolio company comprised of essential business lines that serve consumer product demands. The companys expertise lies in strategic brand development, early growth facilitation, as well as brand identity through its proprietary procurement process. Together, with its partners, ISW Holdings seeks to provide a structure that meets large scalability demands, as well as anticipated marketplace needs. The company is able to meet these needs through a variety of strategic innovative processes. ISWH is creating and managing brands across a spectrum of disruptive industries. It maneuvers its proprietary companies through critical stages of market development, which includes conceptualization, go-to-market strategies, engineering, product integration, and distribution efficiency. The company has also partnered with a well-known software development and consulting company, Bengala Technologies LLC, which is developing significant enhancements in the supply chain management space; and the partnership has a vitally needed patent now pending.

For more information about the company, visit www.ISWHoldings.com .

NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to ISWH are available in the companys newsroom at http://ibn.fm/ISWH .

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Portland, OR, Dec. 14, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- According to the report published by Allied Market Research, the global airport moving walkway system market was estimated at $1.95 billion in 2020 and is expected to hit $2.95 billion by 2030, registering a CAGR of 4.0% from 2021 to 2030. The report provides an in-depth analysis of the top investment pockets, top winning strategies, drivers & opportunities, market size & estimations, competitive scenario, and wavering market trends.

Growing need for moving walkways, increase in number of air travelers, and expansion of existing airports drive the growth of the global airport moving walkway system market. On the other hand, high cost of installation and high maintenance impede the growth to some extent. However, surge in focus on energy efficient systems is expected to create lucrative opportunities in the industry.

Download Sample PDF (254 Pages with More Insight): https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-sample/6559

COVID-19 scenario-

The travel bans across the world, especially during the initial phase of the pandemic, gave way to decreasing sales of moving walkway systems installed in airports. This impacted the global airport moving walkway system market negatively.

However, as the global situation gets better, the market is anticipated to recoup.

The global airport moving walkway system market is analyzed across business type, type, angle, and region. Based on business type, the new installation segment accounted for the major share in 2020, holding more than two-fifths of the global market. The maintenance segment, on the other hand, would exhibit the fastest CAGR of 4.5% throughout the forecast period.



Get detailed COVID-19 impact analysis on the Airport Moving Walkway System Market Request Here

Based on system type, the pallet segment generated the highest share in 2020, accounting for more than four-fifths of the global market. The belt segment, however, is projected to manifest the fastest CAGR of 4.5% from 2021 to 2030.

Based on region, the market across Asia-Pacific held the lions share in 2020, garnering more than two-fifths of the global market. The LAMEA region, however, is expected to cite the fastest CAGR of 5.4% by the end of 2030. The other regions studied in the report include Europe and North America.

Schedule a FREE Consultation Call with Our Analysts/Industry Experts to Find Solution for Your Business @ https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/connect-to-analyst/6559

Top Manufacturers:

The key market players analyzed in the global airport moving walkway system market report include Fujitec Co., Ltd, Toshiba Elevator and Building Systems Corporation, Hyundai Elevator Co., Ltd., Stannah, Kone Corporation, Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, Hitachi, Ltd., Raytheon Technologies Corporation, Schindler, Analogue Holdings Limited. These market players have incorporated several strategies including partnership, expansion, collaboration, joint ventures, and others to brace their stand in the industry.

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About Allied Market Research:

Allied Market Research (AMR) is a full-service market research and business-consulting wing of Allied Analytics LLP based in Portland, Oregon. Allied Market Research provides global enterprises as well as medium and small businesses with unmatched quality of "Market Research Reports" and "Business Intelligence Solutions." AMR has a targeted view to provide business insights and consulting to assist its clients to make strategic business decisions and achieve sustainable growth in their respective market domain.

We are in professional corporate relations with various companies and this helps us in digging out market data that helps us generate accurate research data tables and confirms utmost accuracy in our market forecasting. Allied Market Research CEO Pawan Kumar is instrumental in inspiring and encouraging everyone associated with the company to maintain high quality of data and help clients in every way possible to achieve success. Each and every data presented in the reports published by us is extracted through primary interviews with top officials from leading companies of domain concerned. Our secondary data procurement methodology includes deep online and offline research and discussion with knowledgeable professionals and analysts in the industry.

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Dublin, Dec. 14, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Singapore Building Management System Growth Opportunities" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The Singapore building management system (BMS) market is forecast to expand with a 7.2% CAGR for 2021-2027. Although the positive growth over the forecast period is attributable to recovery from the pandemic, it will not reach the market size of pre-COVID-19 years.

Growth is lower due to slower recovery in the construction sector until 2027. Although projects largely resume in 2021, new waves of COVID-19 infection in Singapore dampened growth in that year, and the BMS market registered a slight decline of 5.0%.

Building automation system (BAS) was the largest BMS product segment in Singapore from 2018 to 2020. In 2020, its revenue accounted for 41.2% of the BMS market and will likely record a 6.9% CAGR (2021-2027). However, energy management system (EMS) overtook BAS as the largest BMS product segment in 2021. EMS' revenue share was 41.9% that year, while BAS took 39.1% of BMS revenue.

The EMS segment is forecast to register a 7.4% CAGR from 2021 to 2027. Although emergency and security automation systems (ESAS) will remain the smallest BMS product segment throughout the forecast period, it will be the fastest-growing section at 7.6% CAGR (2021-2027).

Despite strong headwinds in economic recovery due to the pandemic, Singapore will remain a BMS adoption hotspot. Singapore's Smart Nation Initiative, along with other industries, drives the BMS market development in the country. This initiative created a conducive environment for start-ups to thrive in research and development (R&D) for BMS innovation.

Several newer companies offering digital solutions for BMS applications are present in Singapore. The use of digital technologies in BMS such as cloud computing and networking, big data analytics, the internet of things (IoT) will remain important. The development of these technologies will continue to be steadfast. Its evolution will lead to the development of smart BMS as well. It is also likely to impact the BMS software market positively over the forecast period.

In this study, the publisher defines BMS as a computer-based system that monitors, controls, and optimizes a building's mechanical and electrical system. These systems include lighting; power; heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC); physical access control; security systems; fire systems; and elevators.



Key Topics Covered:





1. Strategic Imperatives

Why is it Increasingly Difficult to Grow?

The Strategic Imperative 8

The Impact of the Top Three Strategic Imperatives on the Building Management System (BMS) Market

Growth Opportunities Fuel the Growth Pipeline Engine

2. Growth Opportunity Analysis

Scope of Analysis

Segmentation

Key Competitors

Key Growth Metrics

Value Chain Stakeholders

Growth Drivers

Growth Driver Analysis

Growth Restraints

Growth Restraint Analysis

Forecast Assumptions

Revenue Forecast

Pricing Trends and Forecast Analysis

Competitive Environment

Revenue Share

Overview of Market Participants

3. Growth Opportunity Analysis - Building Automation System

Key Growth Metrics for BAS

Revenue Forecast

Revenue Forecast Analysis

Revenue Forecast by Service Type

Revenue Forecast Analysis by Service Type

Revenue Share Forecast by Service Type

Revenue Forecast by End User

Revenue Forecast Analysis by End User

4. Growth Opportunity Analysis - Energy Management System

Key Growth Metrics

Revenue Forecast

Revenue Forecast Analysis

Revenue Forecast by Service Type

Revenue Forecast Analysis by Service Type

Revenue Share Forecast by Service Type

Revenue Forecast by End User

Revenue Forecast Analysis by End User

5. Growth Opportunity Analysis - Emergency and Security Automation System

Key Growth Metrics

Revenue Forecast

Revenue Forecast Analysis

Revenue Forecast by Service Type

Revenue Forecast Analysis by Service Type

Revenue Share Forecast by Service Type

Revenue Forecast by End User

Revenue Forecast Analysis by End User

6. Growth Opportunity Universe

Growth Opportunity 1: Market Segment Prioritization for Quick Wins and Expansions

Growth Opportunity 2: BMS Demonstration Projects for Market Penetration

Growth Opportunity 3: Integration with Digital Technologies for BMS Advancement



Companies Mentioned

ABB

ATT Systems

Azbil

Barghest

BeeBryte

Daikin

Delta Controls

Fujitsu

Green Koncepts

Hager

Honeywell

Johnson Controls

NEC

NTT Facilities

Quantum Automation

Schneider Electric

Siemens

Toshiba

Trane

Willowglen Services

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/nr8o4t

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.
LOS ANGELES, Dec. 14, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- To celebrate the recent Los Angeles debut of the dynamic international touring exhibition WAVE | New Currents in Japanese Graphic Arts, JAPAN HOUSE Los Angeles , a Japanese cultural destination in the heart of Hollywood, today announces it will extend a sweepstakes giveaway of artwork by two of the exhibitions featured artists. One lucky entrant will win Resolution Matryoshka No.006 (2021)  a new, original piece by Jenny Kaori, a rising star contemporary artist known for her colorful riffs on pop culture. A second winner will receive Tangle (2016)  an original piece by exhibition curator, Hiro Sugiyama, whose prolific output includes figurative and abstract painting, superrealistic portraiture, prints, photography, and collage.



Kaori and Sugiyama are two of 55 Japanese contemporary artists that were spotlighted in the now closed exhibition  based on the popular art exhibition WAVE, held annually at Arts Chiyoda in Tokyo  many of whom are showing their work outside Japan for the first time. The traveling exhibition introduces a diverse array of artists, from established to emerging, showing how their creations in books, magazines, comics, animation, posters, and other media extend far beyond the well-known manga and anime styles and represent the full spectrum of Japanese graphic art today.

Kaori works in animation, character design, and apparel, using vivid colors and a predominantly pink color palette to create strong, mischievous female figures transcending gender boundaries and challenging stereotypes of femininity and girlishness. In much of his work, Sugiyama explores points of intersection between dualities  life and death, reality and unreality, abstract and concrete, digital and analog  expressing the narrow space where opposites meet.

There are two ways to enter the sweepstakes:

Enter on Facebook by liking and following JAPAN HOUSE Los Angeles , liking the sweepstakes announcement post, and tagging two friends with their social media handle in a comment on the sweepstakes announcement post. Enter via mail by mailing a postcard with your name, address, phone number, and email address with a note referencing the WAVE Sweepstakes, to: JAPAN HOUSE Los Angeles, Attn: PR & Marketing Department, 6801 Hollywood Blvd., Suite 167, Los Angeles, CA 90028. Upon receipt of the mail-in entry, you will receive one (1) entry into the sweepstakes. All mail-in entries must be hand-printed.

The sweepstakes began on Monday, November 15 at 12:01 a.m. PST and ends on Wednesday, December 22 at 11:59 p.m. PST. The sweepstakes is open only to legal residents of the U.S. and the District of Columbia, 18 years of age or older; or legal residents of Japan, 20 years of age or older. There is no limit on the number of entries per person, but there may only be one entry per day. For the complete official rules, including detailed entry instructions and prize details, visit https://www.japanh o usela.com/events/wave-exhibition-sweepstakes/ .

WAVE  New Currents in Japanese Graphic Arts was on display at JAPAN HOUSE Los Angeles through November 28, 2021. The exhibition introduced work by artists ranging from veteran professional illustrators, such as Teruhiko Yumura, Akira Uno, and Keiichi Tanaami, to young artists like Kaori, as well as Masanori Ushiki, Yusuke Hanai, Jun Oson, and Mayu Yukishita. Styles of the drawings, paintings, and prints vary widely, from Tanaamis vibrant, detailed fantasies, Ayako Ishiguros Japanese folklore-inspired characters, and Hiroshi Nagais bright summer landscapes to Yukishitas dark realism and Masaru Shichinohes haunting portraits.

For more information, visit the JAPAN HOUSE Los Angeles website and social channels: Facebook , Instagram , Twitter , YouTube and LinkedIn .

ABOUT JAPAN HOUSE

JAPAN HOUSE is an innovative, worldwide project with three hubs  London, Los Angeles and Sao Paulo  conceived by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan. It seeks to nurture a deeper understanding and appreciation of Japan in the international community. Occupying two floors at Hollywood & Highland, JAPAN HOUSE Los Angeles offers a place of new discovery that transcends physical and conceptual boundaries creating experiences that reflect the best of Japan through its spaces and diverse programs.

Location: 6801 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90028

Website: www.japanhousela.com

ABOUT JENNY KAORI

Self-taught artist Jenny Kaori (b. 1987) works in animation, character design, and apparel. She typically depicts the young people who inhabit Japans sub- and mainstream cultures. She uses vivid colors  and a predominantly pink color palette  to create strong, mischievous female figures who transcend gender boundaries and challenge stereotypes of femininity and girlishness. Though typically rendered using a playful, cute aesthetic, the girls in her illustrations overflow with attitude. Kaori has worked with Shibuya-based fashion brand, galaxxxy, and has collaborated with Betty Boop, FLCL, Adobe & FUJIFILM. She has also worked with the k-pop group EXID, and in 2020 she created four bold new designs for adidas. She has exhibited her work in WAVE 2019 and WAVE 2020 in Tokyo, and her work has been published in ILLUSTRATION 2016 (Shoeisha, 2016), Fashion illustration: Outfit of the Day (PIE Creators' File Series, 2020) (Japanese Edition), New Retro Illustration (Pie International, 2020) and Roller Derby / Girl Gang: An Art Anthology (Schiffer, 2020).

ABOUT HIRO SUGIYAMA

One of the organizers and curators of the Tokyo WAVE exhibition and this JAPAN HOUSE touring exhibition, Hiro Sugiyama (b. 1962) is a Tokyo-based artist whose prolific output has included figurative and abstract painting, superrealistic portraiture, prints, photography, and collage. In much of his work, he explores points of intersection between dualities  life and death, reality and unreality, abstract and concrete, digital and analog  expressing the narrow space where opposites meet. Over the past decade, Sugiyama has held regular solo exhibitions in Tokyo galleries including Hiromi Yoshii Roppongi, AD Gallery, and WATOWA Gallery. He has also been featured in solo and group exhibitions in Shanghai, London, Italy, Germany, and South Korea, and he was one of 19 Japanese artists spotlighted in the 2001 Superflat exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles. He has also published numerous books including Abstract Portrait (2011), Vision Quest (2005) and Out of Science (2002).

Media Contacts:

Nerissa Silao | 310-874-9230 | nerissas@ca.rr.com

Lisa Nakanouchi | 323-904-9298 | lnakanouchi@japanhousela.com

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/4b896cbe-04d9-4d68-9e90-275940dabf47
HERNDON, Va., Dec. 14, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- iDirect Government (iDirectGov), a leading provider of satellite communications to the military and government, today announced that its military veteran employees will be featured on Military Makeovers Special Edition: Operation Career airing on Lifetime TV.



The iDirectGov veterans will be joined by John Ratigan, iDirectGov president, on December 17 at 7:30 a.m. ET/PT in the Lifetime TV markets and again on December 23 at 7:30 a.m. ET/PT where Ratigan will provide an overview of how military veteran employees help the company deliver innovative solutions to its defense customers. As experience in the battlefield is central to the companys mission, Ratigan will discuss iDirectGovs history of hiring veterans, as well as how the company was born out of an idea on the inception of Operation Iraqi Freedom to fulfill U.S. military communications needs in remote regions and worldwide, anywhere and anytime.

We are proud of our military veteran employees, said Ratigan. Their real-world experiences bring fundamental insights to our solutions which contribute directly to our engineering of MILSATCOM products. Not all companies delivering to defense markets understand this practice, and we consider it to be our hallmark to have first-person understanding of our defense sector. We believe this knowledge cannot be matched by non-military personnel when it comes to designing solutions to work in the harshest environments.

iDirectGovs military veteran employees featured on the TV program include: LTC (Ret.) Jim Hanlon, senior vice president of operations and finance; Michael Lara, account manager; and David Laureano, senior systems engineer.

They will discuss their transitions from military life to the civilian sector and how iDirectGov helped them with transitioning, as well as how their military backgrounds provide insider insights into product development. LTC (Ret.) Hanlon will provide perspectives on the operations side of the business and the companys rich history of hiring military veterans. Lara and Laureano, who met while deployed to Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan and underwent six deployments together with the 112th Signal Battalion of the United States Army Special Operations Command (USASOC) supporting missions in Iraq and Afghanistan, will share how they began their transitions to civilian life and their experiences joining iDirectGov.

iDirectGovs military veteran employees have been instrumental in landing large-scale accounts for the U.S. Army, including the award of long-standing contracts with DISA, PM Tactical, the U.S. Army and the U.S. Air Force, among other contracts.

What is stimulating for the military veterans on our team is that they have the opportunity to continue to support those U.S. military units that they left, through the engineering and championing of new and existing defense products, Ratigan said. We are excited to be part of Military Makeover: Operation Career on Lifetime TV and showcase the contributions our veterans are making in civilian life as part of the iDirectGov team.

About iDirect Government

iDirect Government, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of ST Engineering iDirect, delivers secure satellite-based voice, video and data applications with anytime and anywhere connectivity in the air, at sea and on land. iDirect Governments advanced satellite IP solutions are used for critical ISR, airborne, maritime and COTM communications to support force protection, logistics, situational awareness, disaster recovery and emergency response. Building on more than 15 years of global satellite communications experience, iDirect Government provides the most bandwidth-efficient, scalable and highly secure platform to meet specialized applications of multiple federal, state and local government agencies, including the Department of Defense, both domestically and abroad. iDirect Government, a U.S. corporation, has been a trusted partner of the U.S. government for more than 17 years. All its employees are U.S. citizens, with a third being U.S. military veterans and more than 60% holding U.S. security clearances.

iDirect Governments specialized technology includes transmission security (TRANSEC), Communication Signal Interference Removal (CSIR) anti-jam technology and Open Antenna Modem Interface Protocol (OpenAMIP). All Defense-grade products sold by iDirect Government are designed, developed, assembled, programmed and verified within the United States.

For more information, please visit http://www.idirectgov.com and follow iDirectGov on Twitter at https://twitter.com/idirectgov, Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/idirectgov and Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/idirectgov/. See iDirectGov on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCReL2Mi-yyX0sNNu-Dq0erw.

About Military Makeover Operation Career

Transitioning out of the military back to civilian life brings a variety of challenges. Military Makeover's Special Edition: Operation Career is traveling the country capturing stories of military veterans who are transitioning out of the military and back to civilian life. Join us as we profile the caring organizations offering educational and employment opportunities to these veterans to ensure a successful transition.

About BrandStar: Were matchmakers; connecting People to Brands to Do Life Better. BrandStar has unparalleled experience in creating customized educational content for brands with laser targeted extensive distribution through their multi-channel network ecosystem and methodology. From Original television programming on Lifetime, BrandStar.tv, social media, digital marketing, to media management and PR; BrandStar helps brands connect with the right consumer, at the right time, with the right message, through all the right channels.
Oakland - Calif., Dec. 14, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Deem, a leading mobile and cloud technology provider for the corporate travel industry, today announced a series of new award acknowledgements from G2, the peer-to-peer review site for business software users. The awards for Best Relationship, Best Usability and Easiest Admin were based on scores calculated from verified user satisfaction ratings in several aspects related to each category.

The Best Relationship award includes scores for Ease of Business, Quality of Support, and how likely the reviewers are to recommend Deems corporate travel software.

This is such an important accolade for us to receive, said Christina Woronchak, CRO, Deem. As companies prioritize and accelerate their digitization strategies, mobile and cloud technology has become increasingly important for business travel. At Deem, we partner with our customers along that technology journey with their travel programs, so its wonderful to be recognized for the relationships we build with our customers.

The G2 Usability Index includes badges for Best Usability and Easiest Admin, in which the Etta platform scored above average and beat all competitors in categories including Ease of Admin, Meets Requirements, and Average User Adoption.

Weve dedicated Etta to the business traveler, said Harper Lieblich, VP of product at Deem. This validation from users tells me all our research and effort to create a platform using a human-centered design approach is truly appreciated by end users. Etta is living up to its name  easier to travel anywhere  for travelers and travel managers.

Etta is the award-winning, mobile-first, corporate travel software thats designed for travelers. Using a human-centered design approach and incorporating important features such as Travel SafetyCheck, automatic ticket exchange, and accessibility capabilities, Etta helps travelers make better, faster decisions for themselves and their companies. For travel managers, Etta reduces complexity in broad, global travel programs through its single site builder interface, unique messaging capabilities, broad content availability, and other must-have controls.

Deem and its corporate travel software, Etta, which launched in February 2021, have won many awards this year including a Silver Stevie Awards from the American Business Awards, platinum and gold awards from Muse Creative Awards, and numerous awards for the company from Comparably.

To learn more about Deem and the Etta corporate travel software solution, attend Deems premiere virtual event, Miles Ahead 2022, on March 2. Details and registration available at http://deemvirtualevents.com/milesahead2022.

About Deem

Deem is on a mission to transform travel. Starring Etta, its mobile-first, corporate travel booking and management platform, Deem offers employees everything they need to easily make the right travel decisions for themselves and their company. Deems travel technology plugs into major travel agencies and expense solution providers, empowering more corporate customers and the worlds largest travel management companies.

Deem is a wholly owned and independently run subsidiary of Enterprise Holdings. The company is headquartered in Oakland, California, with offices in Dublin, Ireland and Bangalore, India. Learn more at Deem.com.

Attachments
TAMPA, Fla., Dec. 14, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- 21 & Change announces a record amount of Individual Education Plan (IEP) Advocacy Scholarships awarded in 2021 to help Florida parents in financial distress who have children with special needs. Each of the 18 families, from across the state, received services valued at $750 or more from a vetted and approved IEP Advocate who specializes in providing services to represent students and families in the public school system.

IEP Advocates, also known as Special Education Advocates, assist parents with differently-abled children to obtain special education services and accommodations in their public school. Although not attorneys, the advocates help the parents represent the childs legal rights to a free appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment under the current federal and state laws. Advocates are well-versed on the current laws and procedures for special education and can help parents navigate the special education process.

As a parent of children with special needs, when a family facing financial hardship receives a scholarship, I am overwhelmed with emotions. I cant express my gratitude enough to the individuals and businesses who make this scholarship program a reality, said co-founder and 21 & Change Director of Advocacy Yani Bodor.

In addition, 21 & Change is working with State of Florida and national legislators to push for public policy change that improves the quality of life and education access for students with disabilities.

We look forward to continuing the conversation with state legislators, and community stakeholders, during the upcoming 2022 legislative session to ensure policies that address student and individual needs are enacted and upheld, explained 21 & Change Vice President Clayton Clemens.

Last years legislative priorities for education policy issues included a national-level push for special education funding, and the state-level Students with Disabilities in Public Schools (S.B. 192 & H.B. 149) legislation that prohibited the practice of seclusion, strictly limited physical restraint, and initiated a pilot program for cameras in our Florida ESE classrooms. This successful push resulted in Governor DeSantis signing S.B. 192 / H.B. 149 into law on June 22, 2021.

21 & Change fundraises throughout the year for the IEP Advocacy Scholarship Program. The goal for 2022 is to increase scholarship awards to 20 or more for Florida families experiencing financial distress to offset, or fully cover their needs.

About 21 & Change:

21 & Change is a 501(c)(3) Florida - based nonprofit organization built upon the values of selflessness, courage, shared understanding, and partnership. The nonprofit champions inclusion, education, and human rights for the differently-abled throughout Florida. 21 & Change works in partnership with other nonprofit and disability rights organizations for state and national public policy. The organization strives for individuals with disabilities to engage in full and meaningful lives, and community support of this vision. For more information visit www.21andchange.org
ALEXANDRIA, La., Dec. 14, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Red River Bank has entered the New Orleans, Louisiana market with the December 6, 2021 opening of a combined loan and deposit production office (LPO/DPO) located at 1100 Poydras Street, Suite 925, in New Orleans. The bank announced its planned expansion into this market in August 2021 with the hiring of Meghan Donelon as its New Orleans market president.



Red River Bank has many long-established relationships and shareholders in the New Orleans market, and we are pleased to expand our physical presence there, stated Red River Bank President and CEO Blake Chatelain. Red River Bank has been built with a community-minded, relationship-banking focus that combines technology with personal service. Meghan and her team of banking professionals have both an in-depth knowledge of, and appreciation for, this type of banking, as well as the New Orleans market.

Donelon stated, To be able to lead Red River Banks New Orleans expansion is an honor. Our teams commitment to service excellence, innovation, and confidentiality allows us to offer individuals and businesses a host of products and services to meet their financial needs. It is important to me, as a New Orleans native, to support our local community through financial education and empowerment, and we look forward to doing so at the Red River Bank New Orleans LPO/DPO.

Joining Donelon at the New Orleans LPO/DPO are commercial relationship managers Richard Macaluso, Quentin Marks, Charlie Mentz, and Joshua Provosty. They will be supported by recent hires Alyson Shreve and Ryan Schuler, who will fill the roles of portfolio manager and senior credit analyst, respectively. Complementing this team is Leslie James, treasury sales leader, who will support Red River Bank customers in the New Orleans and Northshore markets.

About Red River Bank

Red River Bank is a Louisiana state-chartered bank established in Alexandria, Louisiana, in 1999 that provides a fully integrated suite of banking products and services tailored to the needs of its commercial and retail customers. Red River Bank operates from a network of 26 banking centers throughout Louisiana and two combined loan and deposit production offices, one each in Lafayette, Louisiana, and New Orleans, Louisiana. Red River Bank is a subsidiary of Red River Bancshares, Inc., which trades under the trading symbol RRBI on the Nasdaq Global Select Market. Learn more at redriverbank.net.




CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Dec. 14, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- EBRAND has joined the APWG.EU as a collaborator of the global institution, leveraging APWG's cybercrime event data resources in its development of counter-cybercrime technologies.

EBRAND launched a new cybersecurity offering focused on digital risk protection, providing cyber threat intelligence to combat phishing look-alike domains and brand impersonation at the very root cause.

"We believe that cyber threats like phishing can only be fought together as an industry. APWG is the right partner for this with the eCrime eXchange (eCX) platform," said Lutz Berneke, CEO of EBRAND.

"With the APWG eCX feed completing our diverse intelligence sources, we will improve our products' detection, analysis, and take-down of malicious actors and scams," Mr. Berneke said.

APWG Secretary General Peter Cassidy said, "We look forward to EBRAND's success, using APWG's data for protecting brands that customers trust. APWG's service to industry is an honor - but there is extra pleasure in witnessing new ideas and approaches being deployed against the scourge of cybercrime."

EBRAND has a history in the counter-cybercrime world that reaches back almost as far as the foundation of the APWG, establishing its services suite as a major European brand protector in 2006.

EBRAND offers all-round business solutions so that companies can create, develop and protect their domain names, brands and digital assets on the Internet - easily, simply and pragmatically. EBRAND's platform collects and processes data from diverse systems to quickly identify and monitor malicious domains.

"We want to share back with the community our findings to stop these threats as fast as possible," said Jano Vico, Head of Product of EBRAND.

MEDIA CONTACT: info@apwg.org or Tel: +1 617 669 1123

ABOUT EBRAND

At EBRAND, our core value is to assist our customers in protecting their brand and preserving their online reputation. While phishing targets end-users and consumers, the impact on brand reputation is significant. Therefore, we believe that taking united actions against the threat actors will benefit us all as companies, and at the same time make the Internet a safer place for everybody.

EBRAND offers all-round business solutions so that companies can create, develop and protect their domain names, brands and digital assets on the Internet - easily, simply and pragmatically.

Having started as the corporate branch of the registrar EuroDNS, EBRAND today has own offices in Belgium, China, Denmark, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom. Each office has its own legal, domain and threat intelligence experts who can serve you in your own language.

With our threat intelligence platform, customers have a turnkey solution providing all necessary tools to combat the digital threats against their company, brand and their customers.

The platform prevents attacks on digital assets like domains, protects from phishing or impersonation scams and provides real-time monitoring on unauthorized use of products or intellectual property by analyzing risk levels and providing actionable insights.

Clients entrust EBRAND for their domain name management, strategic advice, monitoring, recovery and state-of-the-art DNS solutions. EBRAND knows that security and reliability are crucial in a world of digital privacy and growing number of attacks. EBRAND monitors global brand abuse and detects counterfeits online.

Most importantly: EBRAND eliminates them.

About the APWG

Founded in 2003, the Anti-Phishing Working Group, (APWG) is the global industry, law enforcement, and government coalition focused on unifying the global response to electronic crime. Membership is open to qualified financial institutions, online retailers, ISPs and Telcos, the law enforcement community, solutions providers, multilateral treaty organizations, research centers, trade associations and government agencies. There are more than 2,000 companies, government agencies, universities and NGOs participating in the APWG worldwide. The APWG's www.apwg.org and education.apwg.org websites offer the public, industry and government agencies practical information about phishing and electronically mediated fraud as well as pointers to pragmatic technical solutions that provide immediate protection.

The APWG is co-founder and co-manager of the STOP. THINK. CONNECT. Messaging Convention, the global online safety public awareness collaborative and founder/curator of the Symposium on Electronic Crime Research, the world's only peer-reviewed conference dedicated specifically to electronic crime studies. APWG advises hemispheric and global trade groups and multilateral treaty organizations such as the European Commission, the G8 High Technology Crime Subgroup, Council of Europe's Convention on Cybercrime, United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime, Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, Europol EC3 and the Organization of American States. APWG is a member of the steering group of the Commonwealth Cybercrime Initiative at the Commonwealth of Nations.

Among APWG's corporate sponsors are: Abnormal, Accenture, Acronis, Afilias, AGARI, AhnLab, AT&T, Allure Security, AREA 1, AIT, appgate, Avast, Awayr AI, AXUR, BW CIRT, Bambenek Consulting, Banelco CSIRT, Bolster, BrandShield, Browlser, ByteDance, Canva, CaixaBank, Check Point, Cisco, CLARO, Cloudflare, CLOUDMARK, COFENSE, Coinbase, Comcast, CSC, CSIRT BANELCO, CSIS, Cyan Digital Security, CYREN, Cyxtera, CZ.NIC, DigiCert, DNS Belgium, DomianTools, EBRAND, Entrust Datacard, ESET, Facebook, FirstRand, Fortinet, FraudWatch, GetResponse, GMS Securidad, GoDaddy Registry, Group-IB, Guidewire. Hitachi Systems, .ID, ICANN, Infoblox, Ingressum, IQ Global, iThreat, Kaspersky, KnowBe4, Lenos Software, LINE, Looking Glass, LSEC, Mailshell, McAfee, Microsoft, Mimecast, NAVER, Netcraft, NetSTAR, Noblis, Nominet, Opera, OpSec Security, Palo Alto Networks, PANDI, PayPal, PhishLabs, Proofpoint, Qintel, Rakuten, Recorded Future, Red Sift, REDIRIS, ReversingLabs, RiskIQ, RSA, S2W Lab, SafeGuard Cyber, Salesforce, Secutec, SIDN, SlashNext, Sopos, SWITCH, Symantec, Thomsen Trampedach, ThreatSTOP, TNO, TrendMicro, Trustwave, Twilio, Unbiased Security, Vade, Verisign, Viettel Cyber Security, Webroot, workday, ZeroFOX, ZibaSec, ZIX, and zvelo.

Related Images











Image 1: APWG eCrime eXchange (eCX) - the global clearinghouse for cybercrime machine event data - since 2004





APWG eCrime eXchange (eCX) - the global clearinghouse for cybercrime machine event data - since 2004

















Image 2: EBRAND - A major European brand protector since 2006





EBRAND - A major European brand protector since 2006

















Image 3: Lutz Berneke - Group CEO - EBRAND





Lutz Berneke - Group CEO - EBRAND









This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com.

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Michigans First Adult-Use Licensee Celebrates Two-Year Recreational Anniversary With Report of Successes in 2021

Ann Arbor, MI, Dec. 14, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via NewMediaWire -- Exclusive Brands (Exclusive Brands or Exclusive), Michigan's premier, vertically integrated cannabis company composed of state-of-the-art retail locations, a processing and manufacturing facility, and licensed grow operations, as well as Michigans home to a breadth of iconic cannabis brands, announced today its company growth highlights in 2021 and recognition of Michigans two-year anniversary of legal adult use cannabis retail sales. Despite an unprecedented year navigating the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Exclusive saw a 12 percent sales increase year-over-year and over $200 million in sales projected to finish 2021. Exclusive also opened its new headquarters in Livonia, Michigan, as well as two new retail locations in the state  expanding its portfolio of retail stores to four locations. Exclusive also continued its commitment to creating jobs in local communities, growing its workforce by nearly 100 percent; the Company expects to double its current staff by the end of 2022.

Our rapid growth across the state of Michigan reflects Exclusives commitment to increase access to safe, legal cannabis in our community, said Narmin Jarrous, Chief Development Officer of Exclusive Brands. Being on the forefront of one of the Midwests largest cannabis markets, we decided that 2021 was the right year for us to execute upon our growth strategy to best meet consumer and patient demand for our award-winning suite of cannabis brands.

2021 was a successful year for not only the Exclusive Brands organization, but also the teams social equity efforts in the community. This recap highlights various business initiatives, developments and social equity success stories by Exclusive throughout the year that position the company for success and further growth in 2022.

Operating Highlights for 2021 Included:

Exclusive Brands opened its Grand Rapids retail location in February to further expand access to renowned cannabis products from brands including Kushy Punch, Strain Kings, Platinum Vapes, Terpene Tanks, Church Cannabis Co., Concentrate Kings, and Heavyweight Heads

The Company opened its fourth retail store servicing medical cannabis patients in Muskegon, expanding its retail portfolio to four storefronts in Michigan

Exclusive Brands established its new headquarters in Livonia, Michigan to support their statewide growth initiatives

Exclusive Brands partnered with the Black and Brown Cannabis Guild to host the largest expungement resource fair across the entire state of Michigan during a national week of expungement

This summer, Exclusives Heavyweight Heads original strain Orangutan won first place for best rec sativa flower in the High Times Cannabis Cup

The Company launched its newest cannabis and cannabidiol (CBD) brand, Nenos Naturals, created by their very own Chief Development Officer, Narmin Jarrous

Exclusives Kushy Punch brand won Best Edible for the 2nd year in a row in Detroit Metro Times Best of Detroit 2021

Key Press Highlights for 2021 Included:

Looking ahead into 2022, Exclusive Brands has plans to expand to five more retail locations, create additional job opportunities for Michigan residents, and contribute to local cannabis education and other community investments.

Narmin Jarrous also said, We are incredibly grateful for another year of success here at Exclusive, and continue to work hard to increase access to safe, legal cannabis to patients and consumers in our communities. It is also important to note that people of color that have been disproportionately impacted by the War on Drugs are still in prison for a plant that is now largely legal in most states across the U.S. Our social equity work within our community is not done.

For more information about Exclusive Brands, company developments, and the ever-growing portfolio of brands Exclusive works with, visit https://exclusivebrands.com/. Follow Exclusive Brands on Instagram at @exclusivebrandsmi.

About Exclusive Brands

Exclusive Brands is Michigan's premier, vertically integrated cannabis company with a flagship retail location in Ann Arbor, the first recreational marijuana retailer in the state. Exclusive places the utmost importance on premium genetics and effectual grow techniques to provide Michigan with the highest quality cannabis products. Exclusives cultivators maintain and manicure cannabis to the highest standards in the market. A portion of the fresh flower is processed by extraction artists in Exclusive Brands state of the art lab for premium Terp Sugars, Sauce, Shatter, Budder, Batter, RSO and Distillate. Exclusive Brands is committed to providing high-quality cannabis accessible and is driven by excellence.

Media Contact:

Cassandra Dowell

CMW Media

Phone: 858-264-6601

exclusive@cmwmedia.com
NEW YORK, Dec. 14, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C., a nationally recognized stockholder rights law firm, has launched an investigation into whether the officers or directors of Nuverra Environmental Solutions, Inc. (NYSE: NES) breached their fiduciary duties or violated the federal securities laws in connection with the companys acquisition by Select Energy Services, Inc. (NYSE: WTTR).



Click here to learn more and participate in the action.

On December 13, 2021, Nuverra announced that it had entered into an agreement to be acquired by Select in a deal valued at approximately $45 million. Pursuant to the merger agreement, Nuverra shareholders will receive approximately 4.2 million shares of Select Class A common stock in exchange for all outstanding shares of Nuverra. The deal is scheduled to close in the first quarter of 2022.

Bragar Eagel & Squire is concerned that Nuverras board of directors oversaw an unfair process and ultimately agreed to an inadequate merger agreement. Accordingly, the firm is investigating all relevant aspects of the deal and is committed to securing the best result possible for Nuverras stockholders.

If you own shares of Nuverra and are concerned about the proposed merger, or you are interested in learning more about the investigation or your legal rights and remedies, please contact Melissa Fortunato or Alexandra Raymond by email at mergers@bespc.com or telephone at (646) 860-9157, or by filling out this contact form. There is no cost or obligation to you.

About Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C.:

Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C. is a nationally recognized law firm with offices in New York, California, and South Carolina. The firm represents individual and institutional investors in commercial, securities, derivative, and other complex litigation in state and federal courts across the country. For more information about the firm, please visit www.bespc.com . Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.
Fort Collins, CO, Dec. 14, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Colorado Coalition, the regional stakeholder group led by Innosphere Ventures in partnership with organizations from government, business, academia, and nonprofits named below, was named by the Economic Development Administration (EDA) as a finalist in the $1 billion Build Back Better Regional Challenge. The Colorado Coalition will now advance to Phase 2 and compete for up to $100 million in American Rescue Plan funding to develop and scale the regions research and development (R&D) intensive industries.

The Colorado Coalition's vision is to create innovation at scale in two of Colorados leading industries  biosciences and cleantech. We will leverage our nationally recognized innovation assets to build a world-class ecosystem for our region's R&D-intensive growth industries, said Mike Freeman, CEO of Innosphere Ventures. These growth industries will be a leader in creating equitable growth across our region.

The organizations that make up the Colorado Coalition include: Innosphere Ventures; State of Colorado; National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL); Colorado BioScience Association (CBSA); Colorado Cleantech Industries Association (CCIA); the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce and Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation; the cities of Boulder, Denver, and Fort Collins; Jefferson County; the research universities of Colorado School of Mines, University of Colorado, and Colorado State University.

The Build Back Better Regional Challenge (Challenge) is assisting communities nationwide in their local efforts to build back better by accelerating the economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic and building economies that will be resilient to future economic shocks. The Challenge is the largest economic development initiative from the U.S. Department of Commerce in decades.

Colorado has a real opportunity to advance and lead in bioscience and cleantech  not just in the state, but nationally and internationally, said J. J. Ament, President and CEO of the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce. The Colorado Coalition is demonstrating our states proven track record of coming together to address the needs of our workforce and grow our economy for all Coloradans.

Achieving Colorado's full potential lies in the opportunity to advance sub-segments of the bioscience and cleantech industries that require heavy R&D, specialized facilities, a well-trained workforce, and comprehensive startup support, said Mike Freeman, CEO of Innosphere Ventures. The Colorado Coalition proposed a total of eight projects within our Phase I proposal that are critical to the U.S. competitiveness in biosciences and cleantech. With our 6 construction and 2 non-construction projects, our proposal will propel the Colorado Front Range to higher economic performance and equitable growth.



As a finalist, the Colorado Coalition was awarded $500,000 to develop a plan to execute eight tightly focused projects that advance the bioscience and cleantech industries:

Denver Metro Chamber of Commerces Prosper CO: Scale the existing Prosper CO initiative through the Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation to recruit, retain and promote women and people of color across the cluster and connect more BIPOC businesses to procurement opportunities. Expand startup and scaleup support for new ventures: Extend early support for all inventors at research universities and federal laboratories, invest in entrepreneurial training for a more diverse current and future workforce, expand product support, and improve industry access. Colorado School of Mines  Sustainable Infrastructure Center: Construct an R&D center focused on manufacturing, sustainable resource management, sustainable and advanced energy systems, water, and sustainable infrastructure. Colorado State University BioMARC: Expand the existing BioMARC facility to create a national asset for infectious disease-related GMP product development. Boulder Wetlabs  CU Boulder, City of Boulder, and Innosphere. Construct startup BSL-2 wet laboratory spaces, including offices, meeting rooms, and entrepreneurial incubator programs and services within the Boulder ecosystem. Denver Wetlabs  Colorado School of Mines, City of Denver, and Innosphere. Construct startup BSL-2 wet laboratory spaces, including offices, meeting rooms, and entrepreneurial incubator programs and services within the Denver ecosystem. Colorado State University. Expand the existing Powerhouse Energy Campus to provide advanced laboratories for cleantech innovators to commercialize energy and climate solutions. State of Colorado, National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), and Jefferson County. Public-private partnership to create a Global Energy Park adjacent to the NREL campus focused on equitable energy transition, decarbonization, new climate solutions, improved public health, and environmental sustainability.

The Build Back Better Regional Challenge aims to supercharge local economies and increase American competitiveness around the globe, said Secretary of Commerce Gina M. Raimondo. The outpouring of interest in this program shows the demand for the Build Back Better agenda and the desire to not only create good-paying jobs, but also strengthen our countrys economic resiliency for years down the road. Phase 1 of the Build Back Better Regional Challenge invited coalitions to apply for funding to implement a collection of three to eight distinct but related projects in their region. Projects need to be in coordination with industry and community partners, and aligned around a holistic vision to build and scale a strategic industry sector.

EDA received 529 applications from regions in all 50 states and five territories, and the 60 finalists represent regions that formed extraordinary coalitions, demonstrated regional needs, and presented bold proposals to grow their target industry clusters. Colorado Coalition was the only applicant in Colorado to be named a finalist. Ranging from rural communities and coastal towns to major metros, the finalists make up a diverse cross-section of the United States.

In Phase 2, finalists will compete for significant implementation assistance. EDA will award 20-30 coalitions each up to $100 million. These awards will assist communities in executing ambitious plans to supercharge their regional economies across a variety of strategic growth sectors. The deadline for Phase 2 applications is March 15, 2022.

Learn more at eda.gov/arpa/build-back-better.

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Austin, Dec. 14, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Business planning, financial planning & analysis (FP&A), and forecasting software solution maker Jirav has published a blog post that discusses the 5 best practices on how to go about building a rolling forecast, a type of financial model that allows virtually any business to predict its future growth.

The blog post begins by giving examples of two separate businesses that differ in the way they build their models. The first business creates a traditional forecast for the upcoming year and gets completely blindsided when a staffing problem occurs that forces leadership to scramble to keep its growth sustainable. The second business, from the blog posts example, relies on a fluid financial model such as a rolling forecast that is constantly updated based on a number of different factors. The model allows the second businesss leadership to see down the pike and update the companys priorities to meet its immediate needs.

According to Jirav, rolling forecasts are regularly updated akin to a living document that improves over time. Some distinct advantages of rolling forecasts include recognizing early on if a businesss predicted figures are off (either positive or negative), being able to clearly see whats causing the increase/decrease by tracking the key drivers of success and giving business leaders the ability to quickly pivot on the fly based on potential scenarios.

The first best practice for building rolling forecasts, as recommended by the blog post, is to set attainable goals and targets such as sales revenue, profit margin, and improving cash flow. The forecast can also include nonfinancial objectives such as adding new product/revenue streams, user/client growth, increased revenue per transaction, lifetime value, and more.

The second recommendation is to pick the right time frame. This involves considering two elements - how long ahead to move into the future, and then how often it will rollover. The forecast period can be anywhere from 12 to 24 months while the rollover period can be week-to-week, month-to-month, or quarter-to-quarter based on the size of the company and the velocity with which it is moving and pivoting.

The blog post then offers the next best practice which recommends companies eschew preciseness in favor of being relatively accurate. The blog post says that it is easy to fall into the trap of over-engineering the forecast problem to the point that it becomes an obstacle to productivity. The final product, whether it is the form of a spreadsheet or a dedicated rolling forecast software solution, should be lightweight, easy to manipulate, and simple to understand.

The fourth best practice, according to Jirav, is to build out the businesss key drivers. A rolling forecast that makes use of key drivers is much more than just a simple predictive tool. It becomes a scenario-planning tool that makes a business resilient to market forces beyond its control as it gives it enough time to plan for contingencies and implement corrective strategies should they come to pass. For example, if a business wants to grow revenue, they are better off picking marketing and sales data as key drivers. Companies that are aiming to spend investment capital wisely are wise to track payroll numbers and headcount.

Finally, the blog post recommends the use of a custom software solution, such as the one offered by Jirav, as it is much more robust and flexible compared to patchwork solutions such as large Excel files that rely heavily on macros, making them finicky and slow to operate on. Jiravs custom software solution also allows the automation of the data such as general ledger data, payroll data, and more through software integrations. Readers can head over to Jiravs website to read the blog post titled How To Build Your Own Rolling Forecasts in its entirety.

Jirav offers a three-tier pricing model for its flagship software solution with the starter tier also offering a 14-day free trial. Readers can also request a product demo on the companys website for a personal and in-depth look into the products features and capabilities.

###

For more information about Jirav, contact the company here:



Jirav

Martin Zych

info@jirav.com

25 Taylor Street, San Francisco, CA 94102, US
Phoenix, AZ, Dec. 14, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Board of Trustees of the Arizona Science Center announced today that Guy Labine has been named the Hazel A. Hare President and Chief Executive Officer, effective March, 2022. Following an extensive executive search process, Labine was unanimously approved by the Board to lead Arizona Science Center into its next chapter of growth, further extending the Centers reach and impact throughout the state.

Labine, an internationally recognized science center and economic development executive for more than 25 years, most recently served as CEO of Science North, one of Canadas most successful science centers located in Sudbury, Ontario since 2011.

We are thrilled to welcome Guy Labine to Arizona and the southwest as the next leader of Arizona Science Center, said Mary K. Martuscelli, Arizona Science Center Board Chair. Guys extensive operational leadership experience, coupled with his strategic understanding of how to reach diverse communities in meaningful ways, will enable us to take our informal science education programming and services to the next level as we strengthen and deepen our impact and community connection, Martuscelli noted.

As CEO of Science North, one of Canadas largest and most successful science centers, Labine is credited with securing $50 million in funding for programs and new visitor experiences, leading the expansion of Science Norths work with First Nation communities and Indigenous People, and developing science festivals in four Northern Ontario communities. Labine, a strong team leader and mentor to others in his field, also created the Northern Leadership Program, a community-based, year-long leadership program for current and emerging senior executives now in its 8th cohort with 150 alumni.

Labine is also a strong believer in the power of film and multimedia products to communicate the excitement of science and create engaging, entertaining and educational experiences. He led funding efforts and opened Canadas third digital laser IMAX Theatre at Science North and is the executive producer of the IMAX films Wonders of the Arctic and the forthcoming Jane Goodalls Reasons for Hope, a documentary grounded in Jane Goodalls philosophy of hope, drawing on historical footage of her early primate research and her current work as a global advocate for environmental and wildlife conservation.

I have long admired the work of Arizona Science Center and am grateful for the opportunity to work with an amazing Board and lead its strong team, said Labine. Increasing access to science learning opportunities for more kids and adults and engaging the local community in the wonders of science have been a driving force in my career, and I cant wait to get started in Arizona.

Prior to becoming CEO in 2011, Labine served as Science Norths Chief Operating Officer with responsibilities for finance, HR, marketing, sales, fundraising and business development. He earlier served as Science Norths Director of Business Development where he led the development of their international sales and consulting business, including the development of their travelling exhibitions.

Labine also brings strong ties from his leadership experience with the international science center community. He chaired the global Association of Science and Technology Centers (ASTC) from 2017-2019 and completed his terms as Past Chair in October. Labine has also led the Canadian Association of Science Centers board and is a recipient of the 2011 Community Builders Award for Economic Development. While at the helm of Science North, he also led international efforts to advance science learning through work with science centers in Singapore, Hong Kong and China. He also spearheaded the creation of an interactive film theater with Denmarks Experimentarium in Hellerup, near Copenhagen.

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FARGO, N.D., Dec. 14, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Noridian Healthcare Solutions, LLC (Noridian), a leader in developing solutions for federal, state and commercial health care programs, has been awarded an Indefinite-Delivery Indefinite-Quantity (IDIQ) contract by the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA). The IDIQ contract enables federal, state and local government agencies to streamline the procurement process because it indicates a company is a trusted, reliable vendor that complies with industry rules and regulations. As a result, agencies can easily secure Noridians innovative solutions and reputable services through the GSA schedule.



Noridian is committed to providing cost-effective, high-quality administrative services to government agencies, which is why we pursued the GSA contract so we can continue helping clients focus on what they do best  serving their constituents, said Jon Bogenreif, CEO of Noridian. Many Federal stakeholders use the GSA schedule to post their opportunities and simplify the procurement process. With this award, they can confidently and efficiently contract with us to meet their program needs.

As part of the contract award, Noridian will be listed as a partner on the Multiple Award Schedules (MAS) team, helping to continue to expand its market presence. Being a MAS partner indicates Noridians ability to meet GSAs high standards and signals to agencies the companys ability to provide fair and reasonably priced services and products.

About Noridian Healthcare Solutions

Noridian Healthcare Solutions, LLC (Noridian) develops solutions for federal, state and commercial health care programs through a full suite of innovative offerings, including claims processing, medical review, and contact center and provider administrative services. Headquartered in Fargo, N.D. with staff located throughout the nation, Noridian administrates people-first services across all 50 U.S. states. Leveraging its decades of experience, the Noridian team designs and implements customizable, high-quality solutions to eliminate common health care barriers, enabling access to care. For more information, visit www.noridian.com.

Media Contact

Tiff Dschaak, VP of Product and Bid Management

Phone: 701-433-3059

Email: Tiffany.dschaak@noridian.com
CAMBRIDGE, Ontario, Dec. 14, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Canadas procurement systems for critical supplies like PPE were unable to cope in the early stages of the global pandemic, and they remain out of step with the realities of our mid-pandemic world, says the Canadian Association of PPE Manufacturers (CAPPEM).



Highlighted by a recent article by Montreal-based La Presse delving into the reasons why the House of Commons is supplying MPs with masks produced in China instead of Canadian-made products, global manufacturing and production has vastly changed since March of 2020.

Pre-pandemic, all most all Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) supplied to Canadian hospitals and other institutions was produced off shore. When the pandemic struck, Canadas emergency stockpile system failed and global supply chains collapsed leaving healthcare workers and the most vulnerable citizens unprotected.

In response, the Canadian and provincial governments urged Canadian manufacturers to step up and they did so with massive investment and round-the-clock efforts. In less than a year Canada became self-sufficient in producing critical PPE, but our procurement systems are still rooted in pre-pandemic processes and contractual obligations signed under the duress of pandemic induced shortages, explains CAPPEM President Barry Hunt.

That we are still supplying Canadian healthcare workers and even our own government offices with foreign made PPE is hugely problematic because we risk losing our hard-won domestic PPE manufacturing sector, and we continue to rely on inferior products delivered by a shaky and unpredictable global supply chain, says Mr. Hunt.

While some inroads have been made with the Canadian Standards Association (CSA) recently publishing new bench marks for Canadian PPE, Federal and provincial procurement still relies on outdated tendering criteria that gives advantage to offshore producers who, in some cases, are dumping product below cost into the Canadian market.

By not recognizing Canadian content or high product standards, our procurement systems are also allowing products of inferior quality into our hospitals and homes, and, far too often, those products are coming from jurisdictions with poor labor and environmental practices, observes Mr. Hunt.

The necessary fix is to modernize government procurement and supply chains by integrating and embedding domestic manufacturing into an open and transparent buying process, concludes Mr. Hunt who notes Canadians deserve to know where their safety equipment is coming from and that it is safe, ethically produced, affordable and readily available.

CAPPEM represents Canadian manufacturers of PPE including masks, respirators, medical gowns, surgical gloves, disinfectants, and more. Canadian PPE producers invested over $100 million and hired over 1,000 people in response to the pandemic.

For more information, please contact: danielle.cane@cappem.ca

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/dddc7a21-64db-468e-af7a-fd72094f9f10
Kansas City, Dec. 14, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Barbecue lovers are passionate about their ribs, steaks and pulled pork sandwiches with that signature spicy, sweet barbecue flavor. For some, its a daily staple. The question on the minds of the ingredient experts at Rufus Teague was how to get signature barbecue flavor to the masses, not by converting them, but by extending those flavors into a variety of popular products that most would never associate with barbecue.

Pizza is a natural extension, with the flavor being based, in large part, on the bed of sauce. Once that application was developed, the Rufus team wanted to push it further. Into nuts, sunflower seeds (who knew this was a thing with many grillers?), and yes, even coffee.

Over the years, weve built a very loyal fan base for our sauces and rubs, said Founder John McCone. We realize that not everyone is able to create amazing barbecue meals daily, so it got us thinking that we should bring those beloved flavors to other, more everyday products.

A few of the products tie into barbecue culture, McCone says. Nuts and sunflower seeds are a staple for many grillers. Its not tobacco in their cheeks, its sunflower seeds. So why not barbecue flavored? And when youre not grilling, our new pizzas are a simple way to cook up some big barbecue taste. Smoke-roasted coffee is probably the furthest weve venturedso far. Barbecue makes us happy and we enjoy inventing fun ways to add it to life. Its what we do.

Rufus Teagues core products include a full line of premium BBQ sauces, dry rubs, and steak saucesall extensions of its original Honey Sweet BBQ, the companys first product, which was put to the test with consumers at barbecue competitions nationwide for that much-needed initial street credibility.

We love our family of sauces and rubs and the ways in which theyve expanded, adds Brad Jungles, director of marketing for the brand. But we wanted to go further with barbecue than anyone had before. A little out-of-the-bottle thinking if you will. We never put limitations on our creativity. It makes what we do twice as enjoyable. Honestly, how many companies do you know that have things like barbecue fountains or a Can-O-Cue line that features sauces crafted with beer and packaged in beer cans? Jungles explained that the cans were, indeed, available in six packs. He also spoke to some of Rufus Teagues new products that are currently available online at RufusTeague.com or on Amazon:

Spittin Seeds. Four savory sunflower-seed varieties including: BBQ Throwdown, Slow Burn BBQ, Smoky N Salty and Pitmaster Seasoning Blend.

Smoke-Roasted Coffees. A line of four unique, smoke-kissed coffee blends featuring flavors like Whiskey Maple, Smoky Apple, Pitmaster Blend and Spiced Cherry.

And these products that are due to launch in early 2022:

Rustic BBQ Pizza Pies. Five different premium frozen pizzas, all featuring a base of Rufus Teague BBQ sauce.

BBQ Nuts. Six varieties of Peanuts, Almonds and Nut Mix, honey roasted and coated in the flavors of Rufus Teagues famous Honey Sweet or Blazin Hot BBQ Sauce.

About Rufus Teague:

Rufus Teague is an independent, family-owned manufacturer of high-quality craft barbecue sauces, steak sauces, spices and snacks. Made with natural ingredients, most products are Non-GMO Project Verified, Certified Gluten Free and Kosher. The companys sauces and rubs are the recipients of numerous industry awards (Top honors at American Royal World Series of Barbecue Sauce Contest, Great American BBQ Contest, Scovie Awards, Sauce King NYC and many more). For more information visit rufusteague.com.

Note for Editors: representative photography of the new packaging is attached; additional shots are available on request.

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HERNDON, Va., Dec. 14, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- SkyBitz, a leader in industrial IoT telematics solutions, announces the launch of a new User Interface (UI) for SmartTank, a real-time wireless tank monitoring system that enables private fleet operators, wholesalers, and distributor companies to proactively manage inventories and maximize delivery efficiencies.



The new SmartTank portal is comprehensive, fast, and responsive with new data visualizations and automated workflows that make every second count for users. The new UI presents key indicators and market insights in an interactive Business Intelligence (BI) dashboard with a visual snapshot of critical information that includes low-level tanks, demand forecasts and delivery efficiencies by customer and geographical areas.

By utilizing the new UI, SkyBitz tank monitoring customers can focus on actionable data to improve delivery efficiencies and customer service, resulting in higher profitability.

SkyBitz SmartTank utilizes robust, highly accurate wireless tank sensors with ubiquitous 4G LTE cellular or satellite coverage for tanks in the field, bulk storage tanks, and tanks below ground. The sensors deliver real-time visibility of tank fill levels, inventory usage data, product temperatures and other insights to the SkyBitz SmartTank portal.

Petroleum and petrochemical supply chains are going through an unusually turbulent period of high demand and product shortages exacerbated by a limited labor force, said Anton Albrand, Vice President of Sales, SkyBitz. The launch of the new SmartTank portal comes at a perfect time. Distributors can be part of the solution by using valuable insights and digital workflows to proactively manage their workforce and inventories, thereby maximizing delivery efficiencies.

SkyBitz also offers a companion mobile app for the SmartTank portal. Distributors can customize their SmartTank portal and mobile app with their own logo and custom colors. By logging in, customers have real-time visibility of tank levels, inventory usage history and other data, including the status and location of deliveries.

The new SmartTank UI comes on the heels of SkyBitz launching a new SmartTank Dispatch platform. The turnkey Software as a Service comes with a suite of workflow automation tools for distributors.

SmartTank Dispatch uniquely combines accurate tank readings and forecasting feeds from the SmartTank wireless tank monitoring system with automated order generation, delivery scheduling and route planning. Once delivered, SmartTank Dispatch can auto complete and reconcile gallons ordered with gallons delivered using real-time tank fill status updates.

About SkyBitz

SkyBitz, Inc. is the leader in commercial telematics for transportation and logistics, oil and gas, and industrial markets. Our asset tracking and monitoring solutions deliver precise, real-time data and analytics to customers from purpose-built, smart IoT sensors that enable optimal decision making and automate workflows associated with trailer assets, containers, and tank inventories. SkyBitz Inc. is a fully owned subsidiary of Telular Corporation, a business unit of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE: AME), a leading global manufacturer of electronic instruments and electromechanical devices with annualized sales of approximately $4.8 billion.

For more information, visit www.skybitz.com
Santa Clara, CA and Kyoto, Japan, Dec. 14, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ROHM CO., LTD. and ROHM Wako CO., LTD. today announced plans to build a new production facility at its manufacturing subsidiary in Malaysia, ROHM-Wako Electronics (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd. (RWEM) to increase production capacity of analog LSIs and transistors due to growing demands.

The ROHM Group continues to work on expanding production capacities at its own plants in Japan and overseas by constructing new buildings, as well as upgrading manufacturing machines. RWEM constructed a production facility in 2016 which began operation in April 2017 and has been steadily increasing the production capacity of discrete semiconductors (e.g., diodes).

The new building, which constructs in the premise of RWEM, is also for the purpose of responding to the strong demand for semiconductors and promoting multi-site production system of analog LSIs and transistors in line with ROHMs Business Continuity Management (BCM) plan. Construction of the new building will increase the overall production capacity of RWEM by approximately 1.5 times.

Construction of the new facility, which is expected to have three stories and a total floor area of 29,580 square meters, is scheduled to begin in January 2022 and be completed in August 2023. The new building will be equipped with various energy-saving technologies to reduce the environmental impact (expected to reduce CO2 emissions by approximately 15% compared to the previous) and will further strengthen the BCM program by adopting various disaster-proof systems with the up-to-date technologies.

The ROHM Group will continue to observe market demands and strengthen production capacities in accordance with the Middle-Term Management Plan, while at the same time taking steps to ensure a stable supply of products to all clients worldwide through the multi-site production system, inventory management, and disaster-proof facilities.

For more information, please visit www.rohm.com.

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Waukesha, WI (53187)

Today

Snow this evening will taper off and give way to cloudy skies late. Low near 10F. Winds WNW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of snow 90%. Snow accumulating 1 to 3 inches..

Tonight

Snow this evening will taper off and give way to cloudy skies late. Low near 10F. Winds WNW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of snow 90%. Snow accumulating 1 to 3 inches.
Governor Northam Continues Thank You, Virginia Tour, Announces New Tuition Assistance for National Guard

Governor joins troop deployment from Norfolk ~ The most Virginia National Guard members deployed since the surge of 2007

NORFOLKGovernor Ralph Northam today continued his Thank You, Virginia Tour, announcing plans to invest an additional $1 million a year to support tuition assistance for Virginia National Guard.

Our National Guard members make difficult sacrifices to protect our nation and the Commonwealth, said Governor Northam. This investment aims to reward Virginia Soldiers and Airmen and encourage more people to join the program. This is a way to say thank you.

Between 400 and 500 members of the Virginia National Guard apply to its Assistance Program each year.

We are excited to be able to offer more members of the Virginia National Guard assistance to pursue higher education, said Acting Secretary of Veterans and Defense Affairs Kathleen Jabs. Guard members have been at the forefront of response to natural disasters, testing for COVID-19 early on in the pandemic, and answering the call during times of civil unrest in addition to deploying overseas for Department of Defense missions. This is a way for Virginia to show appreciation.

The Governor proposes to change the program from an up-front direct award, issued before class begins, to a reimbursement model, issued after a Guard member completes a class. This is considered a best practice and is expected to increase the overall individual tuition assistance Guard members receive. It will also eliminate the requirement of the Department of Military Affairs to recollect funds from those who do not complete eligibility requirements.

This initiative is a tremendous step in providing a key benefit to our troops and ensuring that we remain competitive in attracting talented men and women, said Major General Timothy Williams, The Adjutant General of the Virginia National Guard.

The Virginia National Guard Tuition Assistance Program has remained at its current funding levels since 2008 as tuition costs have risen at colleges and universities. With this proposed increase, the program will be able to provide approximately $4 million dollars to those who qualify.

Governor Northam announced the proposal in conjunction with the departure ceremony for the 1st Battalion, 1-111th Field Artillery Regiment at the Harrison Opera House in Norfolk. Approximately 300 soldiers are being deployed to the Middle East from units based in Norfolk, Hampton, and Hanover. About two weeks ago, more than 1,000 members of the National Guard from Virginian and Kentucky deployed from Bedford to the horn of Africa.

More Virginia National Guard members are now deployed than at any moment since the surge of 2007.

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In the Dutch TV broadcasts Max Verstappen received many congratulations from his compatriots for the phenomenal performance he delivered. Verstappen won his first Formula 1 title and former F1 drivers and drivers from other series congratulated him en masse.

Praise for Verstappen

In a tweet Ziggo Sport posts a collage of different drivers who took the trouble to congratulate the Dutchman with his first world title in F1. Arie Luyendijk, known from the turn at Circuit Zandvoort, kicks off. The two time winner of the Indy 500 calls the performance of his fellow countryman unbelievable. He also took the time to thank and congratulate the parents of Verstappen.

Australian nine-time race winner Mark Webber follows. The former F1 driver goes through the Red Bull Racing driver's bizarre season in a bird's eye view: "Silverstone was wild, Baku was wild, Budapest was wild, Saudi Arabia was wild, Abu Dhabi was wild. You deserved it."

"It's no longer Jos the Boss, but Max the Boss," exclaims former driver Pedro de la Rosa in his congratulatory video. In the compilation, another congratulation from Verstappen's own country passes by. Ho-Pin Tung enjoys the driving style and talent of Verstappen to the fullest. Rubens Barichello closes the video with a message from the circuit in Brazil. The eleven-time race winner says: "It was very nice to see."
Although overall light-duty vehicle sales were down in 2020 due to the pandemic, plug-in vehicle sales bucked that trend and saw growth in many markets. This was especially evident in Europe where the share of plug-in vehicle sales more than tripled, reaching 10.5% of all new light-duty vehicle sales, according to figures compiled by the US Department of Energy (DOE).

The sales share in China and the United States also increased but at more moderate rates, reaching 5.4% and 2.1% of all light-duty vehicle sales, respectively.

Plug-in vehicles include plug-in hybrid vehicles and all-electric vehicles.





Source: China - Data summarized by Argonne National Laboratory from Hewu Wang, Xu Hao. Data Base of Electric Vehicle Production in China, State Key Laboratory of Automotive Safety and Energy, Tsinghua University.

Europe - European Alternative Fuels Observatory.

United States - Argonne National Laboratory, Light-Duty Electric Drive Vehicles Monthly Sales Update Program}, 26 October 2021.
As it moves closer to commercialization of its hydrogen-electric technology, ZeroAvia (earlier post) has secured a new raise of $35 million to help develop its 2-5MW zero-emission powertrain system for regional aviation. United Airlines has invested in ZeroAvia through this round, an agreement with United anticipates an order for 50 ZA2000-RJ engines, with an option for 50 more.

The ZA2000 engine family is being designed to be capable of producing between 2,000 and 5,000 kilowatts of power with a 500-mile range.

United joins an already announced new investor, Alaska Air Group (earlier post), in this round, alongside existing investors Amazons Climate Pledge Fund, AP Ventures, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Horizons Ventures, Summa Equity, and Shell Ventures. This brings the companys total investment to date up to $115 million.

ZeroAvia is on track to achieve commercialization for its hydrogen propulsion technology in 2024. Initially, the company is targeting a 500-mile range in a 10-20 seat aircraft used for commercial passenger transport, package delivery, agriculture, and beyond. This funding round targets the next segment of 40-80 seat aircraft, targeting turboprops by 2026 and regional jets by 2028. The funding will also allow ZeroAvia to further ramp up presence across its US, UK, and continental Europe locations.

Hydrogen-electric engines are one of the most promising paths to zero-emission air travel for smaller aircraft, and this investment will keep United out in front on this important emerging technology. United continues to look for opportunities to not only advance our own sustainability initiatives, but also identify and help technologies and solutions that the entire industry can adopt. Scott Kirby, CEO of United

ZeroAvia said that it has made significant progress towards achieving its goal of zero-emission aviation over the past few weeks. This investment round follows significant commercial momentum for the company, including partnerships with Alaska Airlines, Rose Cay, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, ASL Aviation Holdings, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Regional Jet division and Rotterdam the Hague Airport.
BERLIN (AP)  Members of a new expert panel advising the German government on the coronavirus pandemic held their first meeting Tuesday, amid signs that government restrictions imposed in recent weeks are beginning to slow infection rates.

Germany's disease control agency reported 30,823 newly confirmed cases in the past 24 hours, compared with 45,753 two weeks ago. More than 470 new deaths from COVID-19 were also recorded.

Scientists say it's too early to say how the new omicron variant will affect Germany's infection rates, but the country's new health minister, Karl Lauterbach, expressed cautious optimism, tweeting Monday: The situation is slowly stabilizing and the decline in case numbers is real.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who recently succeeded longtime German leader Angela Merkel, appointed the 19-member panel  made up of virologists, clinical practitioners, ethicists and other experts  to provide advice to his new government.

Some of its members have in the past sparred publicly about the right way to deal with the outbreak, but officials suggested this could help ensure its advice is accepted more widely.

The fact that the expert committee is constituted in a balanced way is one of its strengths, Lauterbach, who is an epidemiologist by training, said after the panels first meeting.

He said the panel would likely provide new recommendations before Christmas on how to deal with the omicron variant.

Scholz's center-left coalition government has pledged greater transparency, but Lauterbach said the new panel's deliberations would take place behind closed doors.

We have agreed confidentiality, he told reporters.

Germanys vaccination rate  69.7% of the population is fully vaccinated  still falls short of the minimum 75% that authorities aim for. The number of people who have received a booster shot, now 24.7% of the population, is rising rapidly as the country's vaccination campaign picks up speed again.

The tougher measures introduced recently largely target unvaccinated people, who are now prevented from going to most nonessential stores, restaurants and cultural or sports venues.

Protests against the measures flared in several German states over the weekend and on Monday. Thousands of people protested plans for compulsory COVID-19 vaccinations in dozens of cities, including Rostock, Mannheim, Magdeburg and Berlin.

German security agencies have warned that parts of the Querdenken movement  a loose collection of groups opposed to the pandemic restrictions  are becoming increasingly radicalized.

Senior officials on Tuesday criticized protesters who clashed with police, with Bavaria's governor insisting that the lockdown measures for unvaccinated people had contributed significantly to the reduction in case numbers.

Nine out of ten infections are still taking place due to unvaccinated people, and omicron will only make this worse, Markus Soeder said.

Soeder praised Bayern Munich midfielder Joshua Kimmich for saying he planned to get vaccinated against the coronavirus after refusing to do so earlier and then falling sick with COVID-19.

Maybe he'll serve as an example for a vaccination campaign, because the truth is that 90% of the vaccinations happening now are boosters and only 10% are first or second shots," said Soeder.

Saxony's governor Michael Kretschmer, whose state was badly hit by the recent surge of infections and like Bavaria had to transport ICU patients to other parts of Germany, said there was light at the end of the tunnel with hospitalizations predicted to decline in the coming 10 days.

Hendrick Wuest, the governor of Germany's most populous state, North Rhine-Westphalia, announced that large indoor events at next year's carnival festivities will be canceled due to the pandemic.

In Germany, the colorful street parties are often accompanied by boozy sessions at which carnival clubs mock the government of the day, a tradition meant to let citizens vent their frustrations before the somber Lent season begins.

Holding the mirror up to authority would be important now, Wuest said, saying this was preferable to the threatening torch-lit marches some protesters have been staging lately.

___

Follow APs pandemic coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP)  California regulators proposed major changes to the states booming residential solar industry Monday, including reducing the discounts homeowners with rooftop solar and storage systems get on their electric bills when they sell extra energy back to the power companies.

Californias successful program to get more people to put solar panels on their homes has been at the center of a fierce debate between the states major utilities and the solar industry, and the California Public Utilities Commissions proposed reforms have been highly anticipated.

The state's three major utilities  Pacific Gas & Electric, San Diego Gas & Electric, and Southern California Edison  say the savings solar customers get now are so great that those customers no longer pay their fair share for the operation of the overall energy grid.

The CPUC's proposal would reduce the incentives for going solar and roughly double, to 10 years, how long it takes Californians to make back what they paid to install the systems. Buying rooftop solar panels and a system to store extra power costs about $40,000, according to the solar industry.

The CPUC said the reforms are designed to make the program, known as net energy metering, more cost effective and to ensure energy grid operation costs are shared fairly. But the solar industry and its allies warned the changes will make it harder for the state to achieve its clean energy targets, including generating 100% of retail electricity from renewable or zero-carbon sources by 2045.

The proposal will move us backward on clean energy and block many Californians ability to help make our grid more resilient to climate change, Susannah Churchill, western senior regional director for Vote Solar, a political advocacy group that pushes for clean energy adoption.

California launched the program in 1995 with the goal of encouraging more homes to go solar. It worked. California now has 1.3 million solar systems on homes, far more than any other state, according to the solar industry. That number will only grow because since 2020 all newly constructed homes in California must have solar panels.

But as solar panels proliferated, and the cost of installing them went down, criticism of the program grew. The three major utilities say the current setup allows solar customers to sell their energy back into the grid for more than its worth. They say more needs to be done to make sure solar customers  most of whom still rely on power from utilities once the sun goes down  are paying for all the parts of the energy grid they use.

Power rates include many costs unrelated to energy generation, like transmission, distribution and even wildfire prevention work. When solar households pay significantly lower electricity bills  or no bills at all  theyre contributing less to those things. That means more of the cost is shouldered by other customers, often households and renters without the financial means to install solar.

The utilities and the state peg that cost at $3 billion. The solar industry disputes that number, saying it doesn't take into effect the savings for everyone when the utilities need to build fewer power plants and transmission lines due to more residential solar.

The CPUCs proposal would still allow residential solar customers to sell their excess energy back to the power companies, but at a significantly lower rate. Solar customers would also have to pay a grid charge based on how many kilowatts of energy they produce; it would cost $40 to $50 for most homes.

The charges arent as great as what the utilities wanted. Pacific Gas & Electric spokeswoman Ari Vanrenen called the proposal a step in the right direction to modernize California's outdated rooftop solar program. But she indicated the utility  the states largest  would like to see regulators put higher charges on rooftop solar customers, but she declined to give specifics.

Southern California Edison said the proposal would reduce the burden on non-solar customers. San Diego Gas & Electric declined to comment, with spokesman Anthony Wagner saying the utility needed more time to review the proposal.

CPUC Commissioner Martha Guzman Aceves said the reforms are aimed at creating fairness while ensuring the financial benefits are still strong enough to encourage people to go solar. Regulators also proposed creating a $600 million fund to help low income households afford solar and storage.

The changes would apply to new solar customers, but the new charges would be phased in over four years. People who already have panels on their homes wouldnt operate under the new system until theyve had their panels for 15 years. If they take advantage of a roughly $3,200 subsidy to build storage systems, they would move onto the new rate structure right away.

Residential rooftop solar reduces the demand on the electric grid up to 25% during the day, according to the CPUC. But California's peak household energy demand is from 6 to 9 p.m., when the state is mostly relying on fossil fuels to power the energy grid.

The CPUC's proposal encourages people who already have solar panels to switch to storage by raising the power rates during those peak evening hours. And it would allow anyone with rooftop solar to install panels that provide up to 150% of the power they typically need. That would encourage people to switch to electrical appliances or buy electric cars they can charge at home, CPUC Commissioner Guzman Aceves said.

How do we transform a program thats about distributed solar  capturing the sun  to a program that has to do with a period when the sun is down? Guzman Aceves said. Thats what this reform is about.

But the solar industry warned the higher costs will discourage people from going solar in the first place, said Bernadette Del Chiaro of the California Solar and Storage Association, which represents 700 businesses in the industry.

If you make solar more expensive, you make the battery more expensive. It is that simple, she said.

The CPUC commissioners could change the proposal before voting on it early next year.
BANGKOK (AP)  A local freelance photojournalist in Myanmar has died in military custody after being arrested last week while covering protests, colleagues and a friend of his family said Tuesday.

Soe Naing is the first journalist known to have died in custody since the army seized power in February, ousting the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi. More than 100 journalists have been detained since then, though about half have been released.

Soe Naing, who was a graphic designer as well as a freelance journalist, was arrested Friday when he and a colleague were in downtown Yangon taking photos during a silent strike called by opponents of military rule. It was the biggest nationwide protest in several months, and the streets were virtually empty as people answered the call to stay home and businesses to shut down for six hours.

Soe Naing is not the first detainee to die in government custody. There is no clear total, but the others reported dead while in custody have been political activists and members of Suu Kyis National League for Democracy party. In several cases where the bodies could be seen, they bore marks that suggested the individuals had been tortured, according to human rights activists.

Journalists have mostly been targets for arrest, as the military-installed government has sought to clamp down on the free flow of information. In addition to detaining media workers, many outlets have been forced to close or operate underground, with their staffs always at risk of arrest.

Soe Naing and his colleague have been covering the crisis in Myanmar for months, with their work depicting anti-military protests and brutal crackdowns by security forces sometimes picked up by foreign news agencies.

After his arrest, Soe Naing was sent to a military interrogation center in Yangons Eastern Botahtaung Township, said colleagues familiar with his case. His family was informed Tuesday morning morning that he died at the 1,000-Bed Defense Service General Hospital in Yangons Mingaladon Township, said the colleagues and a family friend, who spoke on condition of anonymity as giving such information could make them targets for arrest.

Family members were informed of the death by the hospital on Tuesday morning and had the body cremated the same day at Yangons Yay Way Cemetery in North Okkalapa Township, said the family friend, who was not told if the body had any visible injuries.

Since the army takeover, interrogation centers across Myanmar have been increasingly using torture against detainees, an investigation by The Associated Press revealed. Many of the centers were built and used under a former period of military rule, while others have been set up on military bases or even community buildings. An army defector told the AP that he witnessed soldiers torture two prisoners to death at a mountaintop interrogation center inside an army base in Chin state.

The Paris-based freedom of the press organization Reporters Without Borders tweeted that the group was "appalled to learn that freelance photoreporter Soe Naing - abducted by the military while covering a silent protest in Yangon on Friday- died in custody this morning, after a violent interrogation.

Soe Naing is survived by his wife, who could not be contacted, and a four-year-old son. The current situation of the photographer arrested with him was not known.

The Committee to Protect Journalists on Tuesday called for the immediate release of Aung San Lin, a reporter for the Democratic Voice of Burma, a broadcast and online service. It said he had been arrested on Dec. 11, right after he had given a report that alleged that soldiers had carried out arson on the homes of three supporters of Suu Kyi's party.

On Monday, the New York-based organization had called on the authorities to release three journalists from Shan State who were recently sentenced to prison for their work and to drop all charges against them.

The journalists from the Kanbawza Tai News, an online service, were sentenced to three years. The editor Nang Nang Tai, reporter Nann Win Yi, and publisher Tin Aung Kyaw were all arrested in March after covering protests against military rule.

The Committee to Protect Journalists last week also called for the immediate and unconditional release of journalists Kaung Sett Lin and Hmu Yadanar Khet Moh Moh Tun, who were arrested after being injured when a military vehicle slammed into a non-violent protest march in Yangon earlier this month.
CANBERRA, Australia (AP)  Australia's government said Tuesday it plans to start making mRNA vaccines at home with a new plant that could produce up to 100 million doses each year.

The announcement came as coronavirus cases in Sydney and surrounding areas jumped, driven in part by the omicron variant.

The new factory would be built in Victoria state in a partnership between vaccine manufacturer Moderna and the federal and state governments. It is expected to open by 2024.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said it was in the country's national interest to produce vaccines locally.

The mRNA vaccines have proven to be, Id argue, the biggest scientific discovery over the course of this pandemic," Morrison said. "And that means that they are a massive part of the future of vaccines, not just here in this country but all around the world."

Morrison said the plant would produce vaccines for potential future pandemics and as well as seasonal health issues such as the flu. He said the locally produced vaccines could help not only Australia but also the Pacific region, which Australia has already been supplying.

Its with a great sense of pride that when I meet with Pacific leaders in particular, that we have been able to be their family in a time of crisis, that we have been able to provide those vaccines to them, Morrison said.

Australian Medical Association President Omar Khorshid said the locally made vaccines would be a significant addition to the worlds stocks during a future pandemic.

It is great news, not just for the management of this pandemic, but for the enormous horizons that mRNA technology has in terms of treating other diseases we wouldnt have thought could be treated by vaccines, such as cancers, he told the Nine Network.

Meanwhile, New South Wales state, where Sydney is located, on Tuesday reported more than 800 new virus cases, the highest daily total in more than two months. Health authorities have identified dozens of omicron cases recently and expect the number to rise as they complete more testing.

The spike in infections comes just a day before certain virus restrictions are due to be eased, with unvaccinated people allowed back in pubs, cafes, gyms and shops.
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP)  Oregon lawmakers on Monday passed additional safety nets to keep housed thousands of people currently struggling to pay rent or facing eviction during the pandemic and also approved money to combat illegal marijuana grows.

During a one-day special legislative session lawmakers passed a $215 million package  which includes $100 million for additional emergency rental assistance for both tenants and landlords and funds to help agencies that have had a hard time getting emergency money out the door to do so more quickly.

Most of us here have been fortunate enough to be unfamiliar with the urgency, the panic and the desperation that so many in our communities are now experiencing. Having done everything in their power and everything they were told they needed to do to remain housed, they still remain in danger of losing their shelter and safety, said Rep. Wlnsvey Campos, a Democrat.

More than 67,000 Oregon households recently reported they feel not at all confident they can cover next months bills, according to the most recent U.S. Census Bureau survey. Despite an overwhelming need, this month the statewide rental assistance program stopped taking new applications after all $289 million of federal funds have been requested and committed to renters. However, due to a backlog $119 million has yet to reach renters.

Margaret Salazar, the director of the states Housing and Community Services, said Monday she expects the remaining federal assistance will be administered to Oregon tenants by March 2022. In addition, she estimates the proposed additional state funded rental assistance would be administered by June 2022.

Republican lawmakers have been critical of the Oregon Housing and Community Services mismanagement of the application backlog and said the bill fails to hold the agency accountable.

Anyone who understands how to run a business knows that you do not throw money at something that isnt working and you dont cover up inefficiencies by avoiding accountability," said Republican Rep. Bobby Levy.

Lawmakers also voted in favor of extending the current 60-day eviction protection period. The initial law, which the governor signed in June, grants renters a two-month period in which they cannot be evicted due to lack of payments, as long as they provide proof that they applied for aid.

However an estimated 8,355 households are at risk of eviction, as the safe harbor protection keeping them housed have expired as they continue to wait for aid from the state.

It would be tragic if Oregonians lost their homes because the money, available to help them, doesnt reach them in time, said Rep. Julie Fahey, D-West Eugene and Junction City.

The extension will keep eviction protections to remain in place for a tenant until their application has been processed  and not limited to 60 days.

Differing views on COVID-19 related restrictions and safety mandates also carried into Mondays special session. Sen. Dallas Heard, R-Roseburg, was escorted out of the chamber after Senate President Peter Courtney deemed his colleague was out of order and in violation of rules for refusing to wear a mask. There is a statewide indoor mask mandate in Oregon.

I must tell you this is something that makes me sad, very sad Dallas, Courtney said when Heard refused to put on a mask or leave the chamber. Assuming the mask mandate still exists during (the next legislative session), we will have to move against individuals who dont wear a mask and have them expelled before the extent that we can.

Although there has been tension between the two parties, there were members of the Senate GOP who voted in favor of the Mondays rental assistance and eviction protection package. Republican Sen. Bill Kennemer described the package as a legitimate need for this bill and... its a balance thats appropriate.

GOP lawmakers say that after repeated failures by Oregons housing department to timely implement a rental assistance program Republicans have reached a bipartisan agreement with majority Democrats to fix the problem and protect landlords and renters.

When we first started, we were miles apart, said Senate Republican Leader Tim Knopp, R-Bend. We were not willing to entertain coming in to pass legislation that we believed would do long-term damage to the rental housing market.

As part of the agreement, $5 million will be directed to the Oregon Housing and Community Services to speed up the processing of assistance applications and $10 million will be placed into the Landlord Guarantee Fund.

But keeping Oregonians housed were not the only bills that passed. Others were drought relief, illegal cannabis proliferation and support for Afghan refugee resettlement.

One bill that received unanimous support from lawmakers in both the House and Senate was $25 million for a comprehensive, statewide plan to address the proliferation of illegal cannabis around the state and ease the associated humanitarian impacts in Oregon.

Authorities say thousands of immigrants working on southern Oregon illegal marijuana farms that are run by foreign cartels are living in squalid conditions and are sometimes being cheated and threatened by their gangland bosses.

This is just the tip of the iceberg. Colleagues human trafficking and human-labor trafficking is happening. People are housed in squalor conditions. Its just appalling, Knopp said. Farm workers deserve so much better. But unfortunately, this borders on slavery.

Lawmakers also passed $100 million to help Oregonians impacted by this summers extreme heat and drought conditions.



Cline 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.
WARSAW, Poland (AP)  Polands Health ministry said Tuesday that a Polish teenager who flew from Warsaw to China last week is continental Chinas first person to test positive for the omicron variant of COVID-19.

Ministry spokesman Wojciech Andrusiewicz said the teenager, who traveled with her mother, was hospitalized in isolation. She shows no symptoms of illness.
GREENWICH  In the biggest one-day report since the pandemic began, 35 new cases of COVID-19 were logged in Greenwich Public Schools on Tuesday, according to the districts online tracker.

That brings the total for December so far to 85 cases of COVID-19 reported among students and staff, the largest one-month total COVID in GPS this school year.

It was the fifth straight double-digit report, with the total number of COVID-19 cases reported since classes began on Sept. 1 now at 239, according to the district.

Across the district, there were 53 active cases of COVID-19 as of Tuesday affecting 14 buildings  every school except Parkway and Windrose.

The surge in cases locally mirrors an increase in schools across the state. In the latest weekly report, schools across Connecticut reported a total of 1,881 COVID-19 cases among students, up nearly 75 percent from the academic year low of 487 reported the week ending Nov. 3.

Cases have been rising steadily since mid-November, mirroring a similar trend seen among the population of Connecticut, where the positivity rate of COVID-19 tests, overall infections and hospitalizations have increased sharply in recent weeks.

Lamont: No remote learning

Despite the increase in cases, Gov. Ned Lamont said Monday he has no plans to send Connecticuts schools back to remote learning.

Our schools opened a year-plus ago, they opened safely, they were some of the safest places in Connecticut, Lamont said, pointing out that additional precautions, such as vaccines for children ages 5 and older, have since become available.

The rise in school cases comes about a month after vaccination eligibility was expanded to children ages 5 to 11. Students 16 and older can now also receive the Pfizer booster. However, the majority of cases still involve children who are unvaccinated, the data shows.

Of the 1,881 student cases statewide, 1,523 were among children not fully vaccinated, according to state data; 158 were among children whose vaccination status was unknown.

The latest figures show that 27 percent of children between the ages of 5 and 11 are fully vaccinated. In Greenwich, 16.7 percent of the children in that age cohort are fully vaccinated, according to the tracker. For children ages 12 to 17 in town, the vaccination rate is 88.6 percent. At Greenwich High, more than 83 percent of all students are fully vaccinated, according to the district.

Cases across the district

A total of 14 school buildings were impacted by the 53 active COVID-19 cases, with 12 cases reported at Greenwich High; five cases each at Eastern Middle, Glenville and International School at Dundee; four cases at Western Middle; three cases each at Central Middle, North Mianus, North Street, Old Greenwich and Riverside; two cases each at Cos Cob, Hamilton Avenue and New Lebanon; and one case at Julian Curtiss.

Students were the largest affected group, with 47 active cases reported among the 53 active cases in the district. The district also reported three cases among teachers and one case each among non-teaching staff, a service provider and an administrator, the district said.

Of the active cases, 36 were attributed to infection from family or outside activity, 16 were of undetermined origin and one was due to in-school transmission, according to the district.

The district reported a total of 21 cases of COVID-19 on Dec. 10, with 14 cases on Dec. 7, 17 cases on Dec. 3 and 10 cases on Nov. 30, according to the tracker, which the district updates every Tuesday and Friday.

Since the start of the school year, a total of 39 families in the district have reported multiple cases of COVID-19 affecting 87 individuals, according to the tracker.

The district has reported 65 cases in November, 29 cases in October and 58 cases in September, according to the tracker.

The tracker

The district says it updates the online tracker every Tuesday and Friday to keep the community informed on the pandemic.

For the 2020-21 school year, a total of 700 cases of COVID-19 were reported across the Greenwich school district. The school district recently added three additional cases to the total because of a previous miscalculation.

The tracker for the Greenwich Public Schools can now be found at www.greenwichschools.org/teaching-learning/special-education/student-support-services/health-services/covid-19/covid-19-tracker-2021-2022-school-year.

Assistant Managing Editor Nicholas Rondinone and Staff Writer John Moritz contributed to this story.
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On Monday, Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero and Lt. Gov. Josh Tenorio presented certificates of recognition to recipients of the First Time Homeowners Assistance Program administered by the Guam Housing Corporation.
The Guam Department of Education has no plans to impose a vaccine mandate for students, according to Guam DOE spokesperson Michelle Franquez.

Guam DOE held a virtual town hall meeting last Friday to discuss the information about the COVID-19 vaccine, especially concerning the 5- to 11-year-old age group, and suggestions for vaccine accessibility on school grounds.

Some parents voiced concerns about having vaccine mandates for students and the possible adverse, long-term side effects of the vaccine.

I know we had some parents in the meeting who were adamant about not giving mandates, but that meeting was really for the parents that have decided to get their children vaccinated, said Franquez. What were trying to do is find ways that are more accommodating to their work schedules. Right now, there are no present or future plans of mandates.

(Parents) are basically concerned of the slippery-slope approach of the administration, said Sammy Ahn, father of four Guam DOE students. I feel that as a parent that this (mandate) is unreasonable. Theres the free congregation and mingling of vaccinated and unvaccinated students and teachers.

He recommended both vaccinated and unvaccinated students be tested because Guam DOE is mandating teachers and school staff to either be fully vaccinated or tested once a week.

Vaccine accessDr. Annette David, chairperson of the Guam State Epidemiological Outcomes Workgroup, said the issue isnt about mandating or forcing parents to vaccinate their children; its about making vaccination services available to those who choose to have them vaccinated.





What were seeing is that vaccine access really does make a difference, said David. The suggestion to have the vaccinations in the school is really for those parents who want the vaccine for their children.

She said she tells parents that while their decision to not vaccinate their children will be respected, they should keep in mind that vaccination is the best protection for children. By leaving them unvaccinated, there is a risk of the children getting infected with COVID-19.
Former Mayor of Yona Jesse Mendiola Blas is asking to be released from federal prison five months early.

Blas, who was convicted of extortion, made a motion to be compassionately released from federal prison because of his medical problems.

Blass attorney informed the court he has a heart condition, hypertension, diabetes and gout.

Ignored

When asked what he has been doing to take care of it, Blas explained hes been consistently asking for assistance but wasnt attended to.

Ive been bringing it to the attention of the health services only to be told they will schedule a follow-up, Blas said over the phone. I was told I was going to see a cardiologist but that has not happened.

In addition, a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machine that is meant to be used for Blass heart condition was lost when he moved from federal prisons, and he has not been able to receive medication for his gout.

Self-care

The prosecuting attorney argued Blas should serve the full sentence not only because of his criminal actions as an elected official but also because he is not doing enough to take care of himself.

However, Chief Judge Frances Tydingco-Gatewood expressed some concern.

Self-care is one thing because I dont think anybodys questioning that but he cant control the cardiology follow-up and usage of his CPAP machine, Tydingco-Gatewood said in response to the prosecutor.

Then the gout medication, I mean those are things that are kind of out of his control, Tydingco-Gatewood added.

After hearing all the arguments from both counsels, Tydingco-Gatewood decided to take the matter under advisement and decide on whether to release Blas at a later date.

I want to think about this. If I release this defendant early any time, even one day earlier, five weeks earlier, five minutes earlier, itll be because the Federal Bureau of Prisons is not doing their job, Tydingco-Gatewood said.

Blas was sentenced to 37 months in prison for taking cash bribes in exchange for renting out mailboxes that were supposed to be free for Yona residents, documents state.

Blas is scheduled to be released on May 10, 2022.
Corrections & clearings: this story has been updated to reflect the correct number of hires for Guam Memorial Hospital in fiscal year 2021.

Lawmakers continued to question Guam Memorial Hospital about hiring practices during an oversight hearing Tuesday.

GMH has been using above-step recruitment to hire staff above the minimum pay grade to help fill hard-to-fill positions. The hospitals limited funding has led some lawmakers to question which positions are hired above step and how their pay is justified.

Hospital Administrator Lillian Perez-Posadas said an article published by a local news outlet was fake news, that erroneously identified the hiring levels and salaries for some of the above-step hires.

According to a presentation from the hospital, the number of above-step hires for the past two and current fiscal years were:

Fiscal 2020: 19 above-step hires out of 225.

Fiscal 2021: 24 above-step hires out of 245.

Fiscal 2022: four above-step hires out of 29.

None of them, Perez-Posadas told Speaker Therese Terlaje, were hired above step 10.

Critical needs

In fiscal 2022, the hospital is operating with 163 vacancies. The decision to hire people above step was based on critical needs and using comparisons with national salary data, she said. The pay grades were based on what the hire brought to the table.

The candidate comes to us with these additional credentials, additional certifications,  exceptional qualifications for the position that were seeking, she said.

Many positions, mainly for specialists, had been open for recruitment for months or years, officials said.

Sen. Joanne Brown said she appreciated the explanation, but said she was more concerned about how the pay-grade decisions were made. She gave an example of a public information officer with a masters degree who got nine points toward her pay-step increase, while a physical therapist with a doctorate was given fewer points.

2008 wage

Dr. Annie Bordallo responded to Brown, stating it was based on minimum education level, so the doctorate didnt add to the qualifications for a doctor.

The whole issue about above-step recruitment really stems from the fact that were at the 2008 wage level, Bordallo said. If we even hear theres a doctor that might be out there that might want to come to Guam, believe me, every clinic knows who the person is.  If theyre making $150,000 at any job in the states, and our our salary is, I dont know, I think its like $65,000 or $70,000, and theyre classified positions, were never going to fill those positions, she said.

Operational funds were being used to pay for above-step pay, GMH chief financial officer Yuka Hechanova said, and were sustainable.

The biggest expense the hospital faced was the unfunded nurse pay increase, made by executive order earlier in the year, which would cost the hospital $6.6 million a year.
The Consulate-General of Japan awarded Frank S.N. Shimizu, chairman of the Guam Nikkei Association and president and CEO of Ambros Inc., the 2021 Autumn Imperial Decoration of the Order of the Rising Sun, Silver Rays Monday night.

The first Order of the Rising Sun, or Kyokujitsu-shoo, is a Japanese government honor that was established by Emperor Meiji in 1875.

The decoration was presented to Shimizu in recognition of his contribution to enhancing the welfare for the Japanese-American community in the United States and the cordial relationship between the two countries.

The presentation took place at Consul-General of Japan Toshiaki Kobayashis official residence in Tamuning.

Shimizu said he was both surprised and honored to have received this award.

It was something unexpected, said Shimizu. The consul-general here on Guam, they did a tremendous job to help me. If it werent for them, I wouldnt be standing here.

Shimizu is one of the original members of the Guam Nikkei Association, a coalition made up of Guam residents with Japanese ancestry with the purpose to perpetuate the history and lineages of their Japanese heritage as well as inculcate the culture, art, traditions and history to succeeding generations of Japanese-CHamoru Guamanians.

One of the associations most notable projects was the Issei Monument in the South Pacific Memorial Peace Park in Yigo, which paid tribute to those who started Guams first community of Japanese-CHamoru families in the early 1900s.

The association also hosts a student exchange program between middle school students in Okayama, Japan, and Guam to encourage multicultural friendships at a young age and the annual Lantern Festival, which gives respect and honor to the CHamorus that have passed away.

Shimizu paid tribute to his grandfather, Kazuji Shimizu who was one of the original 53 Issei members, and his father Ambrosio Torres Shimizu, one of the co-founders of Ambros Inc., crediting them for the reason he got this recognition.

Shimizu said he hopes to continue spreading Japanese culture and encouraging his grandchildren to learn more about their ancestry. He believes that its important for his descendants and for all future generations to understand and be proud of their backgrounds.

In 2018, Frank Shimizu was commended for the promotion of mutual understanding between Japan and the USA by the consulates office on Guam.

He was the first CHamoru to receive the honor, given by then-General Consul Izumi Seki and Deputy Consul General Osamu Ogata.




Haiti - Fuel prices : Demonstrations, blockages, violence and vandalism





Monday protest movements against the increase in fuel prices at the pumps https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-35425-haiti-flash-fuel-prices-will-explode-at-the-pump-official.html have been reported in Port-au-Prince and in certain provincial towns (Mirebalais / Plateau central, Petit-Goave, Gonaives, Saint-Marc...). Protesters demanded that the government reverse its decision to increase fuel prices.



In the metropolitan area of Carrefour Marassa en plain, Petion-Ville (rue Faubert, Rue Rigaud, Rue Rebecca), Bourdon, traffic was totally paralyzed on several arteries of the capital, using vehicles placed across the road by public transport drivers, particularly at Delmas 60.



Barricades of flaming tires, throwing stones and bottles were reported in Petion-ville but also in Lalue and on avenue John Brown



The drivers also blocked the national road #3 at Mirebalais, Belladere and Lascahobas.



The police had to intervene to reopen traffic, sometimes without moderation...



At Delmas 95. At Delmas 101, unidentified individuals vandalized private vehicles, breaking windshields.



Quarrels between passengers and drivers (sometimes violent) are more and more frequent due to the price of the increase in the price of journeys which, despite the Government's assurances that they would remain unchanged, have in reality increased considerably...



See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-35425-haiti-flash-fuel-prices-will-explode-at-the-pump-official.html



TB/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - FLASH : Arbitrarily repatriated, 5 Haitians return to the USA thanks to the OPC





The Office for the Protection of the Citizen (OPC), an independent National Institution for the Protection of Human Rights, recalls that on October 30, 2021, the American Government had repatriated to Haiti, 112 compatriots judged in an irregular migratory situation.



However, when they arrived in Haiti, after an investigation into the status of these returnees by the OPC Deportations and Repatriates Service, it turned out that 5 compatriots had been arbitrarily repatriated.



Thanks to the Office's plea, the American authorities reconsidered the case of these compatriots, who finally returned legally to the United States on December 10.



The OPC welcomes the openness of the American authorities in the treatment of this file and as a prelude to the International Migrants Day (December 18), asks the Haitian Chancellery and the Ministry of Haitians Living Abroad (MHAVE) to assume their responsibilities for the protection of compatriots living abroad.



Note that the series of repatriation of Haitians in irregular migration situation by the United States continues. Monday, December 13, two flights landed in Port-au-Prince, the first (at noon) with 111 Haitians on board including 17 children, the second (13:30) with 130 Haitians including 14 children. Further repatriations are scheduled until December 17, 2021, with two flights per day.



HL/ HaitiLibre


















Published on 2021/12/13 | Source

Actor Bae Hae-sun expressed her feelings about playing as a real villain in "Happiness - Drama".

Advertisement

Bae Hae-sun met with celebrity media at a cafe located in Nonhyeon-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul on the 10th and told various stories related to tvN's Friday-Saturday drama "Happiness - Drama".

"Happiness - Drama" is a thriller in which the New Normal era, there's class discrimination, subtle war of nerves, and a new kind of infectious disease, rabies, in new apartments, leading to a catastrophe. In the drama, Bae Hae-sun played the role of Oh Yeon-ok, a realistic villain and tenant representative who takes advantage of her status.

Oh Yeon-ok, played by Bae Hae-sun, was a 'real villain' who tried to use residents for her ambition even in the extreme situation of an outbreak of the infectious disease and was as scary as the infectious disease.

Bae Hae-sun, who played an active role as an 'anger trigger' in "Happiness - Drama", said, "I feel good knowing Oh Yeon-ok has bought so much hatred from the audience. That's better than praise for my acting. She expressed satisfaction, saying, "That's enough".

"On the other hand, I regretted it a little. I should have been more vicious so that I could be criticized more. I could've done more". She added.

Meanwhile, "Happiness - Drama" recorded its own highest viewer rating of 4.2% on the 11th, making it a successful conclusion.
Published on 2021/12/13 | Source

Kim Nam-gil and Jin Seon-kyu have come together.

Advertisement

"Through the Darkness" is a drama about Korea's first profiler who had to fiercely look into the minds of serial killers at the peak of evil in a time when the number of motivational murders soared. It is drawing a lot of attention and expectations by heralding a well-made crime psychological investigation drama.

"Through the Darkness" is the first drama in 2022 ambitiously presented by SBS, a master of genre dramas. To this end, actors Kim Nam-gil (Song Ha-yeong) and Jin Seon-kyu (Gook Yeong-soo) take on the lead roles.

The second teaser poster released on the 13th is expected to be a two-shot by Kim Nam-gil and Jin Seon-kyu. The poster shows two men walking on the street with umbrellas on a dark rainy night.

In the drama, the atmosphere of Kim Nam-gil and Jin Seon-kyu, who are united as the criminal behavior analysis team of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, caught the attention of viewers. The text, "Why did you think he was the criminal?" and "Why did you think he is not the criminal?" adds context to the poster.

Meanwhile, "Through the Darkness" will premiere at 10 PM on January 14th, 2022 following "Now, We Are Breaking Up".
A hand-crafted knife made in memory of Dyllan Murray by Lincoln Holt is displayed. The knife was auctioned off to start a memorial scholarship in honor of Murray, who died Oct. 17. The winner of the auction, Wendy Hilty, donated the knife to Murray's father, Dave Murray.

Press release

This past week, Montana State University-Northern received a gift in remembrance of Dyllan Murray of Havre. The gift was given by Lincoln Holt, also of Havre. Holt, a friend of the Murray family, is owner of Montana Hammer Knives and he handcrafted a knife which he auctioned and raised $600 to support this gift in memory of his friend.

The auction winner, Wendy Hilty, in turn donated the knife back to Dyllan's father, Dave Murray.

"The level of community we have here on the Hi-Line never ceases to amaze me," Holt said. "We have some incredible people here, huge hearts ready to step up and make a difference in other people's lives when they're down."

With the funds raised, Holt has established the Dyllan Murray Memorial Scholarship. Murray was a student of the university studying diesel mechanics before his tragic death at the age of 21. The scholarship will be for Northern students studying diesel technology and is a way to celebrate Dyllan's life and interests.

Northern Chancellor Greg Kegel expressed gratitude to the donor and condolences to the family.

"It's bittersweet to receive a gift such as this," Kegel said. "We want to extend our sincere sympathy to the family and friends of Dyllan."

Turning grief into something uplifting is good for the soul, said Shantel Cronk, executive director of the Montana State University-Northrn Foundation.

"Dyllan left a light behind that was shared in the hearts of his friends," Cronk said. "This gift to Northern passes that light to someone else in need. It's touching and beautiful."

Holt encouraged others to support the legacy of Dyllan by donating to the scholarship.

To contribute to the scholarship, people can call 406-265-3711 or visit http://www.msunfoundation.org online.

The MSU-Northern Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit that acts as a fundraising arm of MSU-Northern.
Havre Police Department

Officers investigated a vehicle crash on Montana Avenue reported Monday at 9:04 a.m.

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An 11th Street caller reported at 3:30 p.m. Monday damage to a vehicle, but added that it was unknown when the damage occurred.

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A two-vehicle crash was reported Monday at 3:58 p.m. in the alley south of First Street West.

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Joseph Raymond Moore of Havre, 29, was arrested on charges of resisting arrest, obstructing a peace officer or other public servant and criminal mischief vandalism after a 14th Avenue caller reported someone was kicking a door in Monday at 8:30 p.m.

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Tiffiney Dewitz of Havre, 36, was issued a summons on a charge of vicious dog after a caller on Seventh Avenue reported that dogs had killed some rabbits.

Hill County Sheriff's Office

Sheriff's office dispatch log reported no arrests, summonses or investigations in the 24-hour reporting period.

Havre Fire Department

Emergency medical personnel responded to two calls Monday and two calls early this morning.

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Firefighters responded to two to false alarms one at a multi-family dwelling on the 1300 Block of Jefferson Avenue Monday at 5:28 p.m. and the other on the 1300 Block of First Street at 2:36 a.m. today.

Havre Animal Shelter

The shelter this morning held one cat and two kittens of unknown gender, six male cats, five female cats, a female 16-week-old kitten, and one male and one female 7-month-old kittens.

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The shelter also held a male shepherd, a male 10-month-old mixed-breed puppy, two male pit bull terriers, a male German shepherd, two female mixed-breed dogs, a female 19-week-old mixed-breed puppy and a female pit bull terrier.

Births

A boy was born Monday, Dec. 13, 2021, to Laura Buffalo and Moses Bigknife of Havre.
Editor,

If Elsie Arntzen were your batty aunt, shed be kind of fun, inspiring incessant family gossip. As in, she did what? Noooo! Tell me more!

The problem is, she is our state superintendent, Montanas chief public education officer, and she is doing a simply awful job of it. Her management has caused 90% of the Office of Public Instruction staff to abandon ship, fleeing her fanatical temper tantrums. Without their experience, OPI is no longer functioning, and superintendents across Montana are in open rebellion, circulating seething letters denouncing her leadership.

Probably she is incompetent, maybe even deliberately sabotaging public education. We might expect she would be alone in this, an outcast from the Republican Party, condemned for failing our children. But she isnt.

Other Republican officeholders, including Gov. Greg Gianforte and Attorney General Austin Knudsen, all too clearly share her contempt for public education, professionalism and science.

Gov. Gianforte may be the single largest donor to a Biblical Creationism museum in Glendive, where visitors are informed that the earth is young and the creation of all things occurred in six natural days. Attorney General Knudsen recently got involved in an attempt to intimidate medical professionals into giving a major Republican donor horse deworming medicine to treat her COVID  the medical equivalent of bloodletting.

It is as if the whole purpose of the Republican Party is to turn Montanans into a herd of heavily armed hillbillies, ignorant, barefoot and pregnant.

Wade Sikorski

Baker
Pipeline

14 December 2021

CapitaLand Investment Limited's wholly owned lodging business unit, The Ascott Limited (Ascott), one of the leading international lodging owner-operators has entered into an agreement to acquire a property in Paris for the development of the first and flagship lyf property in Europe, lyf Gambetta Paris, set to open in 2024.

lyf is a hybrid solution that combines the best of serviced residences, hotels and coliving apartments

lyfis a lodging concept designed for the new generation of travellers, digital nomads, technopreneurs, creatives and self-starters. The apartments, social spaces and experiential programmes at lyf properties are designed for guests to forge connections and to nurture a strong sense of community.

lyf Gambetta Paris is Ascott's first coliving property in Europe

Located in a former printing house, the first lyf-branded property in Europe will be situated in Paris' vibrant 20th arrondissement known for its galleries, cinemas, trendy cafes and restaurants, and within walking distance to the city's tourist attractions.

The 139-unit coliving property will offer "One of a Kind" double rooms; "Side by Side" twin rooms; "One of a Kind Plus" studios with kitchens; "Two of a Kind" paired rooms with private bathrooms and a common kitchen.

Other social facilities and spaces within the property include a "Connect" coworking and lounge zone, a "Burn" social gym, and a bar. Residents can also mingle at the "Bond" social kitchen, where residents can prepare home-cooked meals, take cooking classes or learn more about cuisines across the globe from other residents.

Providing a digital experience through the 'Discover ASR' mobile app, guests at lyf Gambetta Paris will be able to access their apartments via a mobile key. Guests will also be able to perform mobile check-in and out, make contactless payments, interact with other guests via the in-app social wall and communicate with lyf Guards.

lyf Gambetta Paris was designed by Fabien Roque, a renowned interior architect specialising in the creation of hotels, luxury apartments and villa projects in France and around the world.

lyf Gambetta Paris will be less than a five-minute walk from Gambetta Metro Station, taking guests to the heart of Paris and iconic landmarks including the Louvre, Tour Eiffel and major transportation hubs such as the Gare du Nord train station. Paris' Charles de Gaulle Airport is a 25-minute drive away.

Commenting on the development of lyf Gambetta Paris, Ngor Houai Lee, Ascott's Managing Director for Europe said: "The signing of the first lyf residence in Paris marks a key milestone in the development of our brand dedicated to coliving in Europe. We see strong potential for expansion in cities with a growing community of startups like Paris. lyf Gambetta Paris will offer travellers a new dynamic living, working and leisure experience where they can connect and enjoy private and collaborative spaces. We plan to open a total of 17 lyf properties in Australia, China, France, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam by 2025, and we will keep expanding with new projects in Europe."

Ascott's first lyf property in Europe was acquired through Ascott's serviced residence global fund. Ascott's 17 lyf properties across nine countries in Asia Pacific and Europe include five lyf properties that have opened in Singapore, Bangkok, Fukuoka and Hangzhou, as well as 12 lyf properties that are slated to open in Bangkok, Beijing, Cebu, Danang, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Melbourne, Paris, Shanghai, Singapore and Xi'an by 2025.

In Europe, Ascott currently has a portfolio of 48 properties with close to 5,700 units across over 20 cities in France, Belgium, Georgia, Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, Spain and United Kingdom. Six additional properties are under development, bringing the total to 54 properties with over 6,300 units.
Pipeline

14 December 2021

RIU Hotels & Resorts has taken a step forward in its expansion strategy for the line of Riu Plaza urban hotels by purchasing a plot of land in the heart of Chicago. The newly-built skyscraper will house a hotel with 28 floors and more than 350 rooms. Construction work will begin in spring 2022 and is expected to last for around two years. Chicago is the third largest city in the USA by population and is one of the most popular tourist destinations. The image of its skyline at the edge of Lake Michigan is recognised the world over and the Magnificent Mile shopping area, located right next to the future hotel, is the equivalent of New York's 5th Avenue or Los Angeles' Rodeo Drive.

The building that houses RIU's new 4-star hotel will be Chicago School, an architectural style developed in this city in the late 19th and early 20th century that used pioneering materials and techniques to construct large buildings. In fact, an example of this style, the 10-floor Home Insurance Building inaugurated in Chicago in 1885, is considered to be the world's first skyscraper.

The future Riu Plaza hotel will be located at 150 East Ontario Street in the Streeterville neighbourhood, an area that is brimming with commercial and cultural life close to the famous Navy Pier, with the Chicago River to the south and Lake Michigan to the east. It will be fully focused on travellers visiting the city for business or tourism and will offer a competitive range of services including breakfast, just like the chain's other Riu Plaza urban hotels. The classic facade will complement the building's modern and functional interior, with a stand-out Sky Bar on the 26th floor.

RIU

is about to open the hotel Riu Plaza Manhattan Times Square, taking the number of Riu Plaza hotels to nine. These establishments are located in some of the world's most important and historic cities: the Hotel Riu Plaza Espana in Madrid; the Hotel Riu Plaza Panama in Panama city; the Hotel Riu Plaza Guadalajara in Mexico; the Hotel Riu Plaza Berlin in the German capital; the Hotel Riu Plaza The Gresham Dublin in the Irish capital; the Hotel Riu Plaza Miami Beach in Miami; the Hotel Riu Plaza Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco; and the Hotel Riu Plaza New York Times Square and Hotel Riu Plaza Manhattan Times Square, both in New York.

In the next few years, the Riu Plaza brand will also find its home in Canada and the United Kingdom. In London RIU has acquired a building next to Victoria Station, where construction work has already begun to convert it into a 4-star hotel with 435 rooms that will open its doors in 2023. Meanwhile, in Canada it has selected Toronto, the fifth largest city in North America, as the home of the newly-built Riu Plaza Toronto hotel, with 350 rooms, meeting rooms, a gym, a bar and a restaurant.
Author

Responsible for the management of Airline Distribution Sales to customers worldwide, including Content deals for GDS distribution and NDC (New Distribution Capabilities). He is also responsible for driving the areas of Negotiation Strategy, Distribution Value Proposition and Commercial Policy (including Pricing Strategy). Paul has extensive experience of roles on both the airline and travel channels side within Amadeus, which gives him a unique understanding of the distribution business and needs of our Airline and Travel Seller customers. Paul has worked in Central, Regional and Local roles in Amadeus, which gives him a unique insight and understanding of the business dynamics within the company. From the mid-90s, together with his team he drove the expansion of Amadeus Commercial Organisations into Central, Eastern and South-East Europe. After 2000, he continued with the expansion of Amadeus into the Middle East. After a few years running the Western European markets, he took on the role of General Manager for Amadeus Spain and Portugal for almost 10 years. In summer of 2018, Paul joined the Global Airline Sales team in Distribution Sales. This holistic view together with his strategic, commercial and leadership skills, make Paul a strong asset who is keen on exploring new grounds with the aim to keep moving forward. Prior to joining Amadeus, he worked for the consulting firms Andersen Consulting (Accenture), Alexander Proudfoot, and Summa Consulting. Paul graduated from the University of Stellenbosch (South Africa) in 1988 with a degree in Industrial Engineering. Born in South Africa, he now holds Spanish nationality after having lived in the country for more than 30 years.
External Article

14 December 2021

A veteran of the hospitality industry, Trevor Horwell began his career in the 1980s at Hyatt, where he met Nobu Hospitalitys COO, Struan McKenzie. The pair moved to COMO Hotels, then Hard Rock Hotels, and, in 2009, to Nobu Hospitality Group. Thirty years together is about trust, thats why you stay together. No one achieves success without the help of a partner, and you should never forget your support system, says Horwell.

It was an easy transition to move to Nobu, as Horwell and McKenzie had known the brands partners, Chef Nobu Matsuhisa, actor Robert De Niro, and the film producer Meir Teper, since 1997, when Nobu made its London debut as part of the launch of the COMO Metropolitan Hotel.

A decade ago, the Nobu partners, Struan, and I all agreed on the vision to transform the company into a hospitality brand. Now, with 25 hotels13 open and 12 more in development around the worldit is incredible to see how far weve come.

Horwell recently spoke with Penta from the Nobu Hotel Miami Beach about what he views as a handbrake to creativity, the future of luxury hospitality and travel, and why millennial culture matters.
Press Release

14 December 2021

Following two years that have seen the hospitality industry severely impacted by the effects of the global pandemic, contemporary Interior Design and Branding Studio Aylott + Van Tromp has identified 4 key trends that are expected to emerge throughout 2022.

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The studios founders Nathan Aylott and James Van Tromp, who are also co-creators of the Hytte modular hotel and retreat concept, share their hospitality trend predictions for the coming twelve months.

Modular hotel design

Design-led, sustainable cabins created specifically for the hotel and leisure industry will become highly sought-after, delivering both off-the-shelf designs and bespoke co-branded cabins for hoteliers and leisure operators alike. The Hytte modular concept allows landowners, developers, and operators a commercially flexible and personally tailored offering, whether a start-up or multi-national brand. The innovative hotel-in-a-box concept is advantageous because it allows developers to control the quality, budget and consistency of the product from a single manufacturing location while reducing the construction timescale substantially (by almost 50%). Developers can begin small with a handful of units, then decide to scale up to create a small, village-like community.

Secluded stays

On one hand, there is a natural and personal reaction to mass-market holidays, overbearing commercialism, and a growing sense of environmentalism. Then throw into the mix Covid-19 and you have the perfect storm. Whether it will be shorter localised getaways reachable by car, bike, or foot, or opting for an increasingly isolated accommodation, much of our newly acquired social distancing habits are here for the long haul. Travelers are looking for off-grid destinations with an abundance of private space to allow them to remain in their own social bubbles, while still enjoying all of the amenities they would expect from a traditional hotel complex. A Hytte resort is a hotel without indoor corridors; cabins are instead connected by interweaving outdoor decking which creates a far safer social environment in these pandemic-ridden times.

A renewed connection to nature

Travellers will continue to seek escapism and comfort that retains a raw feeling, capturing the emotive sense of camping in the wild and being close to nature. To reinforce a sense of escapism, a minimalist Nordic aesthetic is captured in every Hytte construction, with each one blending seamlessly into its natural surroundings and offering an immediate connection to nature through the use of oversized picture windows and skylights to create carefully placed vistas.

Alternative destinations on the rise

For years the main Cities have been the focal point of hospitality and rightly so; people would head to London, Paris or Edinburgh as a treat, visiting the sights or seeing a show. Times however have changed, and the trend is heading towards low-key, softer tourism. Alongside off-the-grid locations, cultural centres with an abundance of history, such as St.Albans where our latest hotel venture The Samuel Ryder for Tapestry Collections opens in January, are becoming fashionable because it matches peoples ideals. They want to experience something different and unique, far from the madding crowd.

Hytte modular hotel and retreat concept  Hytte

Hytte modular hotel and retreat concept  Hytte

Hytte modular hotel and retreat concept  Hyatt
Supplier News

14 December 2021

For a property to fully maximize its revenue, you need to utilize its space in the most efficient way. This sounds simple, but historically it hasnt been. For a long time it was too complicated to manage multiple space types all in one place; the technology wasnt ready and hotels that offered additional space types like meeting rooms or parking spots had to manage them in separate systems, hack their existing platform, or even keep track via humble pen and paper.

To this we say: no more.

Our project to reimagine the future of guest experiences revolves around helping hoteliers to utilize and monetize space and time. We know this sounds a little grand, so this article focuses on a single example thats simple but surprisingly powerful: parking spaces.

Why focus on parking spaces?

Even before Covid-19, parking spots would have been a great place to begin. But the change in habits brought about by the pandemic cemented the importance of making the most from your parking.

In the UK alone, this summer saw an estimated 29 million domestic holidays taken by drivers, as the additional stress and uncertainty of traveling abroad put many holidaymakers off air travel and public transport. The car rental market is another good indicator, with a car rental apocalypse brought about by this surge in demand for road travel. In short, lots of people are driving, which means that lots of people need parking.

If your property is lucky enough to have some of these spaces, youre sitting on an excellent revenue source. You no doubt know this already. But wouldnt it be cool if you could manage these spaces directly in your hospitality cloud, without any need for system hacks? You can see where were going with this...

How parking works with Mews

Parking spots are one of the new space types weve recently added to our system. That means you can manage these spaces just like you do with rooms or beds, from directly within the Mews platform. You can offer them for rental on a daily or an overnight basis, ensuring you and your guests have flexibility when it comes to booking.

To get these spaces into your system, you just need to create a new space category  in this instance, Parking space  in Mews Operations. Once youve done that, you simply add as many spaces as you want to offer, just as you would for rooms or beds.

Youre now able to reserve multiple services in the same reservation group in Mews Operations (notice the "Add another reservation" button on the new reservation screen) or build a dedicated booking engine for parking. The bundling of multiple services in a single reservation flow is coming to the booking engine in the near future.

A reservation screen in Mews with a hotel room and parking spot in the same booking.  Photo: Mews Systems Ltd

Its also possible to broaden your revenue stream by opening up your parking spots to non-guests. Because youre using a dedicated parking booking engine on your website, anyone in the area can secure a spot for the day, and youre able to vary the pricing between guests and non-guests. Pro tip: if you want to drive extra demand for non-guests, you can look into the numerous parking spot websites (such as JustPark in the UK) and get your spaces listed on there.

The benefits of managing parking with Mews

Why bother setting up parking spots with Mews? Youve already got a system that (kind of) works, so is it really worth the effort? Yes. Yes, it is. Here are a handful of reasons why:

Eliminate paper and Excel spreadsheets and manage your resources in a single system

and manage your resources in a single system Maximize revenue and charge customers directly and immediately through Mews Payments

and immediately through Mews Payments Improve the guest experience by letting them book accommodation and parking together

by letting them book accommodation and parking together Manage bookings more easily with multiple services under a single reservation group

with multiple services under a single reservation group Get proper parking functionality including rate management, reporting, and customer booking engines

including rate management, reporting, and customer booking engines Access new customer segments such as anyone working or living in your neighborhood

Parking success stories

Despite being a new service, 14 properties are already using parking with Mews  and with great success.

Hotel Aazaert is a Belgian property thats seeing the benefits. They offer 58 parking spaces as well as six meeting rooms, also directly through the Mews platform. Although their summer parking occupancy was relatively low at 45%, these spaces still contributed a lot to their revenue. Between May and August they generated an extra 39,000. And thanks to the low maintenance costs, the vast majority of this sum is pure profit.

Integrating parking into the PMS has made a big difference for us, said Loots Frederic, Director of WP Hotels. We can easily see the impact its having by looking at the report, and it saves us lots of time by not having to do any manual entries. Ultimately, this means we can focus on giving guests an even better experience.

Summing up

As we said at the top of the article, parking is only the beginning. But its a good beginning. Its an easy way to simplify whats typically a fiddly, manual process, and generate more revenue at the same time. And if you have spaces for bikes, theres no reason why you couldnt use our parking functionality for that too.

This is the first in our Rethinking Spaces series  keep an eye out over the coming weeks and see how you can transform meeting space bookings, long stay options, and more.
Opinion Article

14 December 2021

In the world of hospitality, being a technologist isnt just about bringing a great product to market. Rather, its about having the foresight to chase continued evolution and innovation that keeps your product or service offering one step ahead of traveler demands and, respectively, the needs of hoteliers. In an ever-changing world, technology acts as a critical catalyst. With the right platforms and digital partnerships, hotels can effectively transform and scale their operations in a way that not only protects their bottom line, but earns them a reputation of excellence amongst guests in an increasingly competitive market.

For Binu Mathews, the Chief Executive Officer at IDS Next, leading by example has always been a core part of his vision for continued technological innovation. With this in mind, IDS Next has spent over 30 years developing, delivering and supporting cutting-edge, innovative technology solutions for the global hotel industry that empower hotels to increase revenues, optimize costs and above all  provide the ultimate guest experience.

I recently had the opportunity to sit down with Mathews to discuss the continued growth and evolution of IDS Next, their recent rebrand, and whats in store for the brand as we look to the future.

We have accomplished many firsts in our three-plus decades of operations, shares Mathews. We became the first company to create all-in-one solutions and the concept of Hotel ERP, and we also became the first company in our markets to provide international-class support 24/7. With credit to these efforts, we became Indias largest hotel software company in our first decade of operations and Asias largest in 2009. Now, we are considered the leading provider of smart hotel software across Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Oceania. IDS Nexts offerings include highly integrated hotel management software, restaurant management software, central reservations, hotel channel management, mobile apps and mobile analytic solutions.

When I asked what he attributes much of this success to, Mathews noted the brands Always Ahead mindset, which has paved the way to an impressive service portfolio, including over 5,000 customers across 45 countries.

Of course, when the global hospitality industry came to a virtual standstill in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, that Always Ahead mindset had to shift accordingly. What did continued evolution mean in a marketplace that was disproportionately impacted by world events? How could IDS Next look to the future when the future suddenly seemed so uncertain?

Over the last year and a half, we invested in a number of new regions while ushering in new contactless solutions, and improved upon our existing cloud solutions, shares Mathews. Weve always been an industry leader in regards to the level of support offered to our clients and partners, and now weve evolved our support services to include automated channels including chatbot-based and knowledge-based support features built directly into our product. Mathews goes on to explain that these new features allow hotel users to chat with IDS Next support agents in multiple languages, use chatbots to get updates on cases, and/or access the knowledge center for instant help.

At the same time, we launched FX I/O  an integration hub that enables connections between our partners and between all our on-premise, mobile, and cloud PMS solutions, shares Mathews. We also used this time to completely rebrand our company, which should serve as a testament to our commitment to adapt, evolve, and find ways to serve our clients better.

In fact, the rebranding had a very clear goal: to signify and highlight how IDS Next brings the best of the past and present to create the future of hospitality technology.

Our new logo and tagline reflect the steps we take to advance the hospitality industry, fast forwarding accessibility to premium tech while being always ahead, says Mathews. Beyond the logo and tagline, the IDS Next team also adopted a few core colors around the shade of orange that Mathews felt reflected the company over the years. Orange really denotes many things, but mainly, it symbolizes creativity, energy, and happiness, which makes it the perfect color to represent our team, explains Mathews. Our website now offers a more user-friendly, customer-centric on-page experience, as we wanted to ensure it was easier than ever for customers and potential partners to find out our companys offerings and get in touch with us.

IDS Next also understands the hospitality industrys numerous challenges, especially within the post-pandemic landscape. Many hotels are struggling with the scarcity of hospitality skills, notes Mathews. Now, more than ever, we are seeing a need for core hotel systems to integrate with a variety of other solutions to maintain seamless guest experiences. In this sense, great technology will empower hotels to maintain and improve upon their service offerings at a time when hoteliers are expected to do more with less staff support. As the preferred partner for regional and global hotel chains, including Wyndham Hotels, IDS Next expects to play an essential role in the recovery and, more importantly, the long-term success of the properties it serves.

With this fresh look, we hope to expand our chain strategy and continue to create enterprise solutions for chains and groups, shares Mathews. We are in a unique position to provide cloud-based, on-premise, mobile platforms that talk to each other and offer increasingly intuitive and future-proof solutions for multiple brands and segments.
Kroger, the country's biggest traditional grocery chain, is ending some benefits for unvaccinated workers as big employers attempt to compel more of their workforce to become vaccinated with cases of COVID-19 again rising.

Unvaccinated workers will no longer be eligible to receive up to two weeks paid emergency leave if they become infected, a company spokesperson confirmed Tuesday. That policy was put into place last year when vaccines were unavailable.

The Cincinnati company confirmed changes in benefits first reported by The Wall Street Journal. The change is effective Jan. 1.

KROGER WORKERS FEUD: Kroger workers in Houston vote again to strike amid feud over pay, health care

The company said it will also begin charging a $50 monthly fee to unvaccinated salaried workers and managers who are enrolled in a company health care plan. Unionized workers and non-union hourly workers won't be charged that fee.

Kroger has nearly 500,000 employees in the U.S.; 66% belong to a union. The company won't say what percent of its workers are vaccinated.

Kroger said it will still offer various leave options for employees who contract the virus, including earned paid time off and the ability to apply for unpaid leave. What Kroger called a special" leave will only remain available to fully vaccinated associates.

Early last year Kroger implemented emergency leave that allowed paid time off for any worker diagnosed with COVID-19. All employees were eligible to receive their standard pay for up to 14 days.

As Kroger modifies some of its policies, the company said that it will continue to encourage workers to get vaccinated with $100 payments given to all fully vaccinated employees.

KROGER STRIKE: Kroger workers in Houston overwhelmingly favor strike, but talks continue

Kroger employees interact with as many as 9 million customers daily. Asked whether the new policy might encourage some employees to come to work even if they're sick, a Kroger spokesperson said the company continues to implement enhanced cleaning and physical distancing and requires employees to wear masks in all of its stores and offices, regardless of vaccination status.

While President Joe Biden's vaccine mandate is facing legal opposition, many companies are still trying to get as many of their employees vaccinated as possible. It is legal for businesses to require the vaccines, and they could fire employees who dont comply. In other cases, workers might be required to wear masks or get regular tests for the virus. Companies are also allowed to withhold perks or charge extra for health insurance for those workers who refuse shots.

Kroger is not the first company to steer clear of an outright mandate, instead trying to coerce employees through company-sponsored health plans.

Delta Airlines announced it August that it would charge employees on the company health plan $200 a month if they fail to get vaccinated against COVID-19. The airline also said at that time that it would stop extending pay protection to unvaccinated workers who contract COVID-19 on Sept. 30, and would require unvaccinated workers to be tested weekly beginning Sept. 12, although Delta will cover the cost. Unvaccinated employees also have to wear masks in all indoor company settings.
Q. The neighbor who lives behind our house has a German shepherd that barks at everything. It will bark at birds, people walking, and cars and trucks that drive past their house. If something moves, the dog will bark at it. Whenever I walk out to my yard, the dog will bark nonstop at me. I have tried talking to our neighbors, and I've asked them to keep their dog inside the house, but they refuse to do that. Is there anything I can do to get peace and quiet?

A. You should start by calling the police, your constable or sheriff, or your homeowners' association (if you have one) to see if any of them can force your neighbor to keep their dog from barking so much. However, a barking dog is not typically a priority for law enforcement, so don't expect immediate results.

You should also consider hiring an attorney to write a demand letter to your neighbor, or if that fails, to sue your neighbor claiming that the dog is a nuisance. The purpose of your lawsuit would not be to recover damages. Instead, you would be seeking a court order which requires your neighbor to keep the dog inside.

And of course, as a last resort, you could move to a different home. Just be sure you move to a location where barking dogs are dealt with by a homeowners' association or local police force.

Q. My father died last year in Houston, and he had a will which named my brother to serve as executor. The will gave all of my father's property to his four children in equal shares. Our brother gave us some money from the estate last year, but I have just learned that he sold my father's house and kept all the proceeds for himself. And now he has stopped communicating with me and my other two siblings. What can the three of us do to get our share of the sale?

A. The three of you need to hire an attorney to force your brother to give you each your fair share of the house proceeds, plus any other assets you may be entitled to receive.

A demand letter written to your brother by your attorney may be all it takes, but if he is unwilling to turn over the money, then the three of you will need to file suit.

Q. My wife and I have three adult children, none of whom are married or have children of their own. Our estate is worth about $12 million. Our financial advisor recently told us we need a living trust to save estate taxes. Is she right?

A. As a general rule, any taxes that can be saved by a living trust can also be saved by having a properly drafted will.

If you meet with an estate planning attorney, you will be able to figure out whether a living trust is appropriate for you.

The information in this column is intended to provide a general understanding of the law, not legal advice. Readers with legal problems, including those whose questions are addressed here, should consult attorneys for advice on their particular circumstances. Ronald Lipman of the Houston law firm Lipman & Associates is board-certified in estate planning and probate law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. Email questions to stateyourcase@lipmanpc.com.
Halliburton denied reports that its in talks to buy Exxon Mobils stake in the huge West Qurna-1 oil field in southern Iraq.

The worlds biggest oil-fracking provider on Monday refuted comments made by Iraqi Oil Minister Ihsan Abdul Jabbar that Halliburton is vying for an ownership stake in the field. While Halliburton at one point held talks about providing services to a potential buyer, such discussions ended, said Emily Mir, a spokeswoman for the Houston-based contractor. We are not buying oil fields, she added.

Iraq appears eager to secure a U.S. buyer for Exxons stake in the field, one of the largest oil deposits in the world. While the oil major entered into an agreement to sell the asset to Chinese firms PetroChina Co. and CNOOC Ltd. in January, it has failed to get the Iraqi governments support for the deal. As a result of the delay, Exxon filed for arbitration against Basra Oil Co. with the International Chamber of Commerce earlier this year.

Abdul Jabbar told reporters in Baghdad Sunday that Iraq wants a U.S. partner for Exxons stake in the 20 billion-barrel deposit and would step in and buy the field if Halliburton does not. He said a few days ago that Iraqi state company Basra Oil Co. is a potential buyer.

Basra Oil wants to acquire Exxon stake, but to maintain the balance of partners and market, we support a U.S. partner, Jabbar said.

While Halliburton has long been one of Exxons primary contractors at the field, taking an actual ownership stake would be a rarity for a company focused on mapping, fracking and rehabilitating assets owned by other companies.

Halliburton previously held discussions with American investment firm Twelve Seas about providing services in Iraq, Mir said in an email. These discussions are typical course of business for us and similar to talks we have with customers everywhere  none of which call on us to buy an oil field, she said.

Exxons exit

Exxon was among the first Western oil explorers allowed into Iraq in 2010 as the Middle Eastern nation sought to rebuild its energy industry following the fall of Saddam Hussein and years of conflict. Before that, Iraqs crude bounty had been mostly off limits to foreigners for around 40 years. But the company soured on West Qurna amid tough contractual terms, OPEC supply constraints and ongoing political instability.

Abdul Jabbar also said his ministry is in discussions with Chevron Corp. on the economic model of the contract for its potential investment in the southern city of Nasiriya. Hes expected to sign a deal with the U.S. firm in the first quarter of 2022.

Iraqi National Oil Co. would be Chevrons partner in the oil exploration investment with a 40% stake in the venture. The U.S. oil giant will conduct exploration work in the city, with an estimated daily output of 600,000 barrels for at least 10 years, the minister said.

Iraq is OPECs biggest producer after Saudi Arabia. The minister said he expects OPEC and its allies to increase production by 400,000 barrels next month. He added that the emergence of the omicron coronavirus variant hasnt had much impact on global oil demand.

OPEC+, led by Saudi Arabia and Russia, decided early this month to raise output in January by that amount. But it kept its meeting in session, meaning that the alliance can change its plan rapidly if oil-market conditions deteriorate.

Other highlights from the ministers comments:

Iraq is working to create a sovereign fund that aims to finance energy projects in the country to cut down imports

Iraq plans to capture all associated gas flaring, which ranges between 4 billion to 5 billion standard cubic feet per day

Current gas capturing projects in Iraq are worth $7 billion

Iraq in talks with Qatar to import gas via pipeline and also to invest in any gas-pipeline project from Qatar to Kuwait

Iraq set to award front-end engineering designs or FEED work to the U.S.; KBR Inc. is part of TotalEnergies SEs gas-capturing deal signed in September

Iraq is currently rehabilitating its export pipeline to Ceyhan that was damaged by ISIS, and is now 85% complete

On climate change, Iraq is committed to switching all liquid fuels used for power plants to gas

2021 Bloomberg L.P.
LyondellBasell on Monday named Peter Vanacker, CEO of the Finnish oil and renewable energy company Neste, as the new chief executive of the Dutch and Houston-based petrochemical giant.

Vanacker, who will start by June 2022, succeeds Bob Patel, who will retire from LyondellBasell at the end of this year to head Maryland chemical company W.R Grace. Ken Lane, LyondellBasells executive vice president of global olefins and polyolefins, will serve as interim CEO during the transition.

Peter's outstanding leadership and industry experience made him the Board's choice in an exceptional field of candidates who were considered as part of the comprehensive search process, said Jacques Aigrain, Board Chair. The Board is confident that his success in delivering value to shareholders, along with his strategic and forward-thinking mindset, will serve the Company well as we continue to drive growth and advance our climate and circularity goals.

Vanacker brings more than 30 years of industry experience to LyondellBasell. He has been CEO of Neste since Nov. 2018. Previously, he was the CEO and managing director of the CABB Group, a leading fine chemicals company, and the CEO and managing director of the Treofan Group, a polypropylene films company. He previously held various roles at Bayer AG, including executive vice president and head of its global polyurethanes business, working in Belgium, Brazil, Germany and the U.S.

RETIREMENT: LyondellBasell CEO Bob Patel to retire at end of year

He will take the helm of LyondellBasell at a pivotal moment in the petrochemical industry, which faces concerns about greenhouse gas emissions and plastic pollution. LyondellBasell in its 2020 sustainability report outlined plans to produce 2 million metric tons of recycled and renewable-based polymers each year by 2030 to reduce plastic waste.

I am thrilled to join LyondellBasell at such an exciting time for the Company, Vanacker said. I have long admired it as an industry leader in technology, product innovation and, more recently, circularity. Pulling from my own experiences, I will strive to build on the Company's momentum and work to continue offering great value to shareholders while advancing the Company's sustainability goals.

The leadership change comes six months after a chemical leak at LyondellBasells La Porte plant killed two and injured 30 workers. A month after the deadly accident, Patel announced plans to retire. Patel served as LyondellBasells CEO for six years after joining the company in March 2010.

LyondellBasell in October was fined $3.4 million by the Environmental Protection Agency and agreed to install pollution control and emissions monitoring equipment estimated to cost $50 million at six petrochemical manufacturing facilities, including in Channelview, Corpus Christi and La Porte, to resolve allegations that they violated the Clean Air Act and Texas air pollution control laws.

LyondellBasell in its most recent quarter made $1.8 billion, compared with a $114 million profit during the same quarter a year earlier. Third quarter revenue nearly doubled to $12.7 billion, from $6.8 billion a year earlier.
OGDEN, Utah (AP)  A Utah firefighter who uses medical marijuana for chronic back pain has sued the city of Ogden, saying he was unlawfully suspended from duty for refusing to surrender his prescription card.

Levi Coleman said in a November lawsuit the fire department and city discriminated against him in violation of the Utah Medical Cannabis Act, the Standard-Examiner reported.

Coleman has been a firefighter and EMT with Ogden since 2011. He reported his use of the drug in August, under a new policy requiring employees to report prescriptions or over-the-counter medications that warn of possible impairment.

He underwent a fit for duty evaluation, which he said did not include a drug test or a physical fitness test. The report nevertheless found the use of medical cannabis created potential impairment that could interfere with his performance, the suit states. He was then suspended without pay, tantamount to a firing.

Fire and city officials declined Friday to comment directly on Colemans allegations. Mark Johnson, the citys chief administrative officer, said officials have general concerns about people who may be driving fire trucks or providing lifesaving care.

We have some great concerns policy-wise with public safety individuals taking any form of controlled substances, Johnson said. So I think its a lot muddier than its being made out to be.

Coleman said in the suit that other controlled substance prescriptions have not resulted in suspensions. The Standard-Examiner could not immediately reach his attorney.

In the first report on the case, the Salt Lake Tribune reported that state law prohibits an entity from taking action against an employee, unless the person is impaired on the job.

This firefighter is following state law. The employer is not, said Jack Tidrow, president of the Professional Firefighters of Utah told the Tribune. We just want to correct this as quick as we can.
Chronicle file

William Harold Harris was returning to Houston from Los Angeles.

After arriving at the Southern Pacific station, the 84-year-old apparently exited the train that night and became confused as to which way to go. Soon, he was a few blocks east of the station when he fell down an embankment and tumbled into Buffalo Bayou.
A Harris County grand jury on Tuesday indicted former Houston police Capt. Mark Aguirre on an assault charge after he was accused of running a man off the road and pointing a gun to his head because he thought he was committing voter fraud in the run-up to the 2020 election.

Aguirre will face a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, a second-degree felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison. The trial currently is scheduled to begin in February.

Prosecutors allege Aguirre slammed into the back of an air conditioning repairmans truck about 5:30 a.m. Oct. 19 of last year. He pulled a gun, forced the repairman to the ground and put a knee on his back. He ordered another person to search the truck. A police officer happened upon the scene shortly after.

Aguirre, who was fired by the Houston Police Department in 2003, would later tell investigators he was conducting a citizens investigation into an alleged ballot harvesting scheme he thought was orchestrated by local Democrats. He told police they would find hundreds of thousands of ballots in the repairmans truck.

They found only air conditioning parts and tools. Aguirre said he had been following the repairman for four days.

Aguirre, a licensed private investigator at the time, was hired to investigate fraud claims and paid about $266,400 by the Liberty Center for God and Country around the time of the incident. That group is led by Steven Hotze, the local conservative activist, and Jared Woodfill, the former Harris County Republican Party chairman.

The former captain was fired by Houston police for his handling of a 2003 street-racing raid that saw 278 people arrested. All of their charges  mostly trespassing, unrelated to the racing  were dropped, and 32 officers were disciplined.

Aguirre was arrested last December on the felony assault charge.

Terry Yates, Aguirre's attorney, said he was surprised it took a year to get the indictment and he looks forward to proving Aguirre's innocence at trial.

dylan.mcguinness@chron.com
A rift over the blocking of LGBTQ+ websites on the Katy Independent School District server continued to divide the district Monday night.

After the districts removal of five books from high school libraries and the discovery that the district prevents students from accessing several LGBTQ+ websites, parents and students at Mondays board of trustees meeting took to the podium in support of or opposition to the action.

Katy ISD blocks websites of organizations that serve LGBTQ+ children, including the Trevor Project, a suicide prevention nonprofit, through the districts student internet, a Houston Chronicle analysis found.

The other sites apparently blocked by the district include the Montrose Center, a Houston nonprofit with youth services and support groups, and the Human Rights Campaign and Advocate, a news source focused on the LGBTQ+ community. A message from katyisd.org said the sites are listed under a blocked category called Human Sexuality.

Blocking the websites makes reaching critical and often lifesaving resources more difficult for LGBTQ+ students to access, advocates say. It also sends the message that they are not accepted or affirmed in their identities, according to advocates.

When a student is on the verge of committing suicide, having access to resources in a suicide prevention lifeline like the Trevor Project is a matter of life or death, Cameron Samuels, a senior at Seven Lakes High School, told the board. The same applies to resources like the Montrose Center, and it is undoubtedly discriminatory that an internet filter category like this had existed in the first place.

Supporters of the districts actions have noted that other websites dedicated to suicide prevention are still accessible to students, negating the need for specific LGBTQ+ sites such as the Trevor Project. Advocates disagree, arguing that counseling resources unique to LGBTQ+ students are critical.

It has been said that the administration does not see the need to include such sites because mental health resources are offered in alternative locations, said Dr. Eliz Markowitz, a former Texas House candidate. However, much like you would not recommend drug rehab to someone who suffers from anxiety, the resources on these sites are targeted to meet a specific need.

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The district also decided to remove five books parents said were inappropriate: Jack of Hearts (and Other Parts) by L.C. Rosen, Forever for a Year and The Nerdy and the Dirty by B.T. Gottfred, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews and Lawn Boy by Jonathan Evison.

Weve had activists use textbook censorship to silence others before, and they say that theyre advocates for students and families, said Dr. Ryan Abt, who studies education and the intersection of gender and race. Theyre not. They want to limit materials in schools, who those materials represent and who those materials support.

The district announced last week that it is launching a broad review of library books that may be considered pervasively vulgar after a group of parents at the last board meeting complained about explicit language in some works available to students. Katy ISD is considering restructuring the book challenging process and encourages parents to use its new online portal to file complaints over material.

Those in support of the districts decision spoke out in favor of the action and requested that the board maintain its determination.

I hope this is a permanent removal and (the books) will not return to our childrens library bookshelves ever again, said Mary Ellen Cuzela, a substitute teacher for Katy ISD. Calling the books vulgar and obscene, Cuzela also implored the district to cut ties with the American Library Association, which she blames for disseminating controversial literature to schools.

Do not be fooled by the books approval by these associations or the awards, agreed Karen Perez. Im glad youre removing certain books and revamping this process, but many librarians are spoon-fed the material and training by the ALA.

Some supporters dismissed the notion that blocking the websites and removing the books is an act of censorship. I strongly oppose censorship, and I cherish our First Amendment rights, said Claudia Turcott. I am simply against the school library making porn available to minors, and I object to my tax dollars supporting that endeavor.

In October, a complaint filed by a community member over so-called critical race theory and Marxism being depicted in a graphic novel prompted the district to temporarily pull all copies of the work from school libraries and postpone an event with award-winning Black author Jerry Craft. The district reinstated the books and rescheduled Crafts speaking engagement after a review.

In November 2017, the school system temporarily pulled The Hate U Give from its libraries after a parent complained about its language at a board meeting. The book was allowed back into the districts high school libraries but with required parental approval.

claire.goodman@chron.com

hannah.dellinger@chron.com
A small town school policy rooted in Eisenhower era values came to an end this week after months of pressure from families who are very much living in the 21st century.

Under legal pressure from students who wanted the freedom to wear their hair long, the Magnolia ISD board changed its hard-line stance Monday night, eliminating a districtwide policy that mandated short hair for boys and some nonbinary children. The district suspended students who declined to cut their hair in August, forcing some into disciplinary alternative programs or out of the district altogether.

The school board ultimately approved a settlement crafted on behalf of long-haired students and their families who said the policy was harmful, discriminatory and illegal. The districts updated dress and grooming policy allows all students to wear their hair long, a district spokesperson said in a statement.

SETTLEMENT REACHED: New Magnolia ISD deal provides restitution for students penalized for long hair

When confronted by parents and civil rights groups this fall, board members repeatedly declined to reconsider the policy.

Then in October, the ACLU of Texas, the ACLU Womens Rights Project and the law firms Ahmad, Zavitsanos, Anaipakos, Alavi & Mensing P.C. and Susman Godfrey LLP sued the Magnolia ISD on behalf of six boys and one nonbinary student saying the students had experienced irreparable harm as a result of violations of Equal Protection and Title IX, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex.

Lawyers said schools unevenly enforced the rule across the district, including, for example, game day photographs showing several high school football players allowed to wear their hair long.

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Chief U.S. District Judge Lee Rosenthal promptly ruled the gender-based hair policy could not be enforced while the case moved forward, finding it was likely Magnolia was violating the students constitutional rights.

Students and parents of students impacted by the policy asked the school board on multiple occasions to halt the policy, and on Monday night the board voted to revoke it.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Magnolia agrees to change of policy

Students and families in Magnolia ISD have fought hard for this victory and can finally celebrate that the districts dress code will no longer punish students based solely on gender, said attorney Brian Klosterboer, of the ACLU of Texas, which wrote nearly 500 other Texas school districts with similar dress codes prior to filing the lawsuit, notifying them they were in violation of the law if they kept them in place.

In the wake of this decision, more school districts across the state are updating similarly outdated and unlawful policies, he said. We are heartened that they understand how vital it is that no school district subject students to dress codes that impose gender stereotypes.

Klosterboer said he expects the students to file motions in the coming days reflecting that there is no longer a difference of opinion on the matter.

Parents involved in the lawsuit said they were thrilled their children can focus on school, activities and friends rather than worrying about their haircuts.

We started the school year off excited to start a new school, said Danielle Miller, whose child identifies as nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns. But by the second day of school, Tristans school year was derailed by a school district that took away Tristans freedom to express themselves.

Miller said her family is grateful for this outcome, but for more than the obvious reasons.

As a mother, I saw my child bloom and stand up for their rights, no matter how hard people pushed them down, she said. I was able to teach Tristan lessons that they will always remember and help them navigate through tougher situations as they get older.

Victoria Dix said her nephew Connor, a sophomore on the tennis team at Magnolia West High School, quit attending his first year at the school when he learned about the hair policy.

When we allowed him to grow his hair out, it severely boosted his self confidence. He opened up, he became more outgoing, his whole demeanor changed, because he had that one little thing he could control on his own.

So when the school told us that Connor was going to have to cut his hair, he came home completely devastated, Dix said.

His 17-year-old brother, who wears his hair short, continued the year at Magnolia West uninterrupted, while 15-year-old Connor opted for home school rather than an alternative disciplinary program.

Connor returned to his high school campus after the federal judge issued an injunction. He resumed playing for the school tennis team, returned to his regular classes and starting to make friends.

He has a new girlfriend, his aunt said. Its a complete turnaround. Hes a regular teenager. His father and I have noticed a huge difference. Hes a lot more cheerful  his self confidence is improving. Hes having friends over to the house.  Hes thrilled.

gabrielle.banks@chron.com
A dozen potential challengers to Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo were among the scores who filed ahead of Mondays deadline to run for county offices next year.

The county will hold elections for county judge, two county commissioner seats, county clerk, district clerk, treasurer, justices of the peace, and criminal and civil judges.

Democrats have won every countywide election since 2016 and are seeking to oust the few remaining Republicans in county posts. Republicans hope a surge in enthusiasm coupled with dwindling popularity of Democratic President Joe Biden will help the party reverse its fortunes in Texas largest county.

It would take the Biden administrations approval to fall further from where it is now, said Rice University political science professor Mark P. Jones. I think, realistically, were looking at another countywide Democratic sweep.

Jones said Republicans would be wise to focus their efforts on precinct-level races, where there are higher shares of conservative voters.

Hidalgo, who is seeking a second term, faces three candidates in the Democratic primary: former Precinct 1 Constables Office Chief of Staff Erica Davis, real estate broker AR Hassan and photographer Georgia Provost.

Nine Republicans are vying for their partys nomination, including attorney Vidal Martinez, former Army Capt. Alexandra del Moral Mealer, Humble Independent School District board president Martina Lemond Dixon and Randy Kubosh, brother of Houston Councilman Michael Kubosh. The others are Oscar Gonzales, George Zoes, Robert Dorris, Warren Howell and HQ Bolanos.

Democratic Precinct 2 Commissioner Adrian Garcia narrowly won his seat in 2018, though his party in October redrew the precinct boundaries in part to make his re-election easier. Garcia faces two primary challengers, Precinct 2 Justice of the Peace George Risner and Gary Harrison.

Five Republicans are running for the GOP nod, including Deer Park Mayor Jerry Mouton and Jack Morman, a two-term Precinct 2 commissioner Garcia beat four years ago. The others are former Pasadena Mayor and Councilman John Manlove, Daniel Jason and Richard Vega.

The Democratic redistricting likely will have a great effect on the race for Precinct 4 commissioner, to the detriment of incumbent Republican Jack Cagle. Based on previous election trends, the new precinct boundaries shift the precinct from safely Republican  Cagle won by 8 points in 2018  to likely Democratic.

Five Democrats are attempting to seize the opportunity, including former state Rep. Gina Calanni, County Court at Law Judge Lesley Briones and former Harris County elections staffer Benjamin Chou. Also running are Ann Williams and Jeffrey Stauber.

Cagle has no opponent in the Republican primary.

Democrats are seeking a fourth seat on the Commissioners Court so they can set tax rates without any Republican interference. They failed to capture Precinct 3 two years ago, vacated by the retirement of Republican Steve Radack, before redistricting.

Democratic incumbent Teneshia Hudspeth faces no primary challengers for county clerk, and Stan Stanart is the only Republican who filed. Stanart, whom Democrat Diane Trautman beat in 2018 before resigning for health reasons, hopes to win his old post back.

The county clerk now has fewer responsibilities since the Commissioners Court last year reassigned the duty of running elections to an unelected administrator.

Democratic District Clerk Marilyn Burgess faces one primary challenger, Desiree Broadnax. Former District Chris Daniel was the only Republican to file.

Incumbent Dylan Osborne will face Carla Wyatt in the Democratic primary for treasurer. Harris County Department of Education Trustee Eric Dick will compete against Kyle Scott for the Republican nomination.

Of the eight justice of the peace seats up for election next year, the Democratic Party had no candidates in Precincts 4 and 8, according to the secretary of states website. Republicans fielded no candidates in Precincts 1, 2, 6 and 7.

The primary elections are March 1.

Editors note: Story has been updated to correct the last name of two candidates.

zach.despart@chron.com
Clear Creek ISD Superintendent Eric Williams addressed a group of parents and community members who called for his resignation at Mondays board meeting.

Our focus is not critical race theory, Williams reiterated after hearing from the public during the meeting, addressing the crowd. Its not in our curriculum or in our instructional resources.

Around 10 teachers and parents spoke in favor of Williams work and the districts efforts.

However, four people who spoke during public comment at the meeting accused Williams, the district and the board of indoctrinating students with so-called critical race theory. A group of around 10 other people supported the groups sentiments with applause.

Joshua Foxworth, a parent in the district, and others cited a recent post by right-wing opinion website Daily Caller about some conservatives concerns that Williams is implementing CRT in the district, an allegation that has apparently followed him from his previous school district in Loudoun County, Va.

I would suggest  (instituting) some form of punishment for teachers or principals who allow (CRT to be taught), he said.

One speaker who complained about Williams and the district also brought up concerns over alleged local election fraud.

Nancy Hough, a longtime teacher in the district, was among those speaking in support of what Williams has done in the district in the 10 months since he began his role.

I would like to thank the board for hiring this amazing superintendent, she said.

David Smith, a community member, said he would support the district teaching anti-racism.

Most Americans today know that racism is still a problem, he said. Last year, more than 20 million people marched to demand justice for George Floyd.

Other speakers expressed the same feeling, saying that though the district does not currently teach CRT, they would support more lessons about systemic racism.

Speaking to those who brought up Williams time in Loudoun County Public Schools, the superintendent asked parents to judge him on his performance in Clear Creek.

Loudoun County is not CCISD, and (Virginia) is not Texas, he said. I am confident that you will see that I am relentless in maximizing student achievement and growth.

hannah.dellinger@chron.com
Houston's television roster saw a flurry of on-air departures toward the end of the year, but new faces have steadily appeared to keep the news flowing for 2.5 million local viewers. Here are some of the changes that made the news.

Dominique Sachse - KPRC

Karen Warren, Staff / Houston Chronicle

Dominique Sachse, an Emmy Award-winning evening anchor for KPRC, announced at the end of September her departure from the station on Oct. 29. Sachse began her reporting career in local radio as a traffic announcer but later became one of Houstons most recognizable television faces. She spent 28 years at KPRC reporting on the streets and on the set, first as a traffic reporter and later as an anchor for primetime newscasts. In her announcement, Sachse said she would focus on her social media presence, including a YouTube channel with over 1.5 million subscribers, and a book slated for release on April 5, 2022 titled Life Makeover: Embrace the Bold, Beautiful, and Blessed You.

Ivory Hecker - Fox 26

Project Veritas

A former general assignment reporter and fill-in anchor at Fox 26, Ivory Hecker was fired by the station after going off-script in a live 5 p.m. broadcast on June 14. During the impromptu segment, Hecker alleged that Fox Corporation prevented her from covering anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine as a COVID-19 treatment and promised to release secret recordings to show what goes on behind the scenes at Fox. Project Veritas, a conservative group known for publishing undercover sting videos meant to expose what the group deems to be political bias in news media, released a video interview with Hecker. The video includes recordings of her bosses saying she should not have asked about hydroxychloroquine in an interview with Dr. Joseph Varon, chief of staff at United Memorial Medical Center, who used the drug as part of a cocktail to treat COVID-19 patients. Hecker is now a news personality, according to her social media accounts.

Phil Archer - KPRC

Courtesy

Longtime KPRC reporter Phil Archer began his television news career in 1976. In February, he announced he would be signing off for the last time on March 4. The Wichita Falls native moved to Houston in 1969 and studied journalism at the University of Houston before joining KPRC as a police beat reporter. In 1978, one year after army veteran Jose Campos Torres was found dead in Buffalo Bayou after being beaten and killed by Houston police officers who were sentenced to a year of probation, tensions erupted during a Cinco de Mayo event at Moody Park. Archer and his colleague and mentor Jack Cato were covering the scene when they were attacked. Archer was beaten, stabbed, and left unconscious in a street, awakening the next day in a hospital. At his retirement Archer was Houstons longest-running TV reporter on air and had helped cover major news events in the city for over four decades, ranging from natural disasters to political scandals.

Tom Koch - ABC13

Gary Fountain / Contributor

Tom Koch spent almost 40 years reporting for ABC13 after following his future wife down to Texas from the Green Bay, Wisconsin television station where they had met on the job. After 33 years anchoring the ABC13 morning newscast, Koch announced on Feb. 1 that he would retire at the end of May. Over three decades, Koch, pronounced Cook, covered 10 hurricanes and a dozen national political conventions, as well as reporting from Rome and the Baikonur space port in Kazakhstan.

Britta Merwin - KPRC

Al Torres Photography Inc

Britta Merwin, who had been the morning meteorologist for KPRC, left in May to become morning co-host for Fox Weather, CultureMap reported at the time.

Art Rascon - ABC13

AL TORRES, Courtesy

Longtime anchor Art Rascon told audiences on Sept. 30 he would depart from the station  and local television  at the end of the year. Rascon, who has co-anchored the midday and 5 p.m. newscast for 23 years, said he wanted to focus on personal and community service projects. Before ABC13, Rascon had worked as a national correspondent for CBS News and as a reporter for ABC7 in Los Angeles, according to ABC13. He has reported from over 70 countries on five continents, along with nearly every US state, including covering the Oklahoma City bombing.

Stephen Morgan - FOX 26

Meteorologist Stephen Morgan (who is married to Steven Romo, below) left Fox 26 in October to join the FOX Weather team in New York City. He had been with KRIV since 2019 and helped cover the deadly winter storm in February.

Steven Romo - ABC13

Steven Romo (who is married to Stephen Morgan, above) left his role as ABC13 weekend morning anchor and reporter to move to New York City with Morgan. Romo had been with KTRK since 2016. He is now an anchor/correspondent with NBC.

Addison Green - KHOU

Addison Green, a meteorologist for KHOU, announced on Nov. 28 that he would leave the station after Nov. 30 to return to his home state of New York as a weekday meteorologist with News 12 in the New York City area. Green, an Emmy-award winning meteorologist, debuted the stations Sunday morning show with anchor, reporter and fellow New York native Lauren Talarico in Jan. 2020. He had worked for KHOU for two years.

New Arrivals

Daniella Guzman - KPRC

Courtesy

Houston native Daniella Guzman started at KPRC as a news intern and worked for a local Spanish-language station before KPRC hired her in 2006 as a reporter and weekend anchor, according to the station. In 2012, Guzman headed north to Chicago as a morning anchor for WMAQ before moving to Los Angeles in 2014 to anchor the Today in LA newscast for NBC4. There, she broadcast live from the 2016 Rio Olympics and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. KPRC announced on Nov. 1 that Guzman would be returning to the station to anchor the 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. newscasts, replacing Dominique Sachse. She starts on Jan. 10.

Rita Garcia - ABC13

Jon Shapley, Staff / Houston Chronicle

Texas native Rita Garcia returned to Houston television on July 26 to host ABC13s weekday morning news with co-anchor Samica Knight and meteorologist Elita Loresca from 4:30 a.m. to 7 a.m. Garcia, who replaces longtime anchor Tom Koch, had once worked at Fox 26 before moving to Los Angeles to anchor the Good Day LA morning show on Fox 11. Garcia, who graduated cum laude from Texas State University in San Marcos with a degree in electronic media, started her on-screen career at an ABC station in the Rio Grande Valley in South Texas.

Jennifer Reyna - KHOU

Steve Gonzales / Houston Chronicle

Traffic reporter Jennifer Reyna, known on social media as JRey, returned to Houston to join KHOU on Nov. 1, covering weekday early morning traffic from 4:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. alongside meteorologist Chita Craft and anchors Stephanie Simmons and Kimberly Davis. A University of Houston graduate, Reyna debuted on local television in 2006 as a traffic reporter with KPRC. In Oct. 2019, after contract negotiations reportedly fell through, Reyna departed KPRC.

Jacob Rascon - ABC13

Marie D. De Jesus / Houston Chronicle

The son of departing ABC13 anchor Art Rascon, Jacob Rascon will join ABC13 as a reporter and anchor in 2022. The Emmy and Edward R. Murrow award-winning journalist crossed 25 states reporting on the 2016 elections for NBC News, and he was also sent to England, Turkey and Spain. But the younger Rascon soon left behind his national media job to return to Houston in 2017 and compete with his fathers station as a reporter and weekend morning anchor for KPRC.

Kimberly Davis - KHOU

Kimberly Davis joined KHOU in June as a morning anchor for #HTownRush. Previously, she worked for CBS Philly as an evening reporter and fill-in anchor, according to KHOU. Davis is a native of New Jersey and as a reporter covered breaking news. She graduated from Rowan University.

Rilwan Balogun - KPRC

The newest addition to the KPRC news team hails from Nashville, Tennessee. Rilwan Balogun graduated from UT  the University of Tennessee  and has carved a path through television news starting in Phoenix, Arizona in 2015, followed by stops in Lansing, Michigan, in Greensboro, North Carolina, and in New Orleans, according to his Fox 8 New Orleans profile. A self-described cinephile, Balogun joined KPRC as a reporter in November.

Patrina Adger - ABC13

ABC13 reporter Patrina Adger joined the station in November from KOCO 5 in Oklahoma City, where she worked as a general assignment reporter. The British-born, San Antonio-raised journalist went to college in Houston and previously worked for Fox 26. She departed for stations in San Antonio, Tulsa, and southern Illinois before arriving in Oklahoma City, according to her KOCO 5 profile. While at KOCO 5, she covered the I-40 bridge collapse in Webbers Falls, Oklahoma.

Dave Froehlich - KHOU

Dave Froehlich joined KHOU as a morning news anchor in November after 8 years anchoring Good Day Austin on Fox 7. A Houston native, Froehlich began his television career as a production assistant with KPRC in 1999 before debuting on air as an anchor and reporter at KREX in Grand Junction, Colorado. In a Facebook post announcing his latest move, Froehlich cited proximity to family as an advantage to working in Houston television.

Julian Gill, Emma Balter, Joy Sewing, Marcy de Luna, Cary Darling and Andrew Dansby contributed to this report.

charlie.zong@chron.com
Its tragic that it has taken the brutal death of a young woman to push Congress toward urgently needed changes in the way the military handles allegations of sexual assault, murder and other serious crimes.

Whatever small measure of comfort it gives to the family and friends of Army Spc. Vanessa Guillen, murdered at Fort Hood last year, they no doubt welcome historic reforms they have urged this past year that should make it easier to combat the scourge of sexual assault in the military. With an estimated 20,000 assaults occurring in the armed forces each year, the changes are long overdue.

Guillen, a 21-year-old Houston native, was missing for weeks before her body was discovered just outside the massive Central Texas Army post. Frustrated family members insisted she had been attacked after she reported a supervisor sexually harassed her, even though the Army denied it initially and seemed less than concerned about her disappearance.

The reforms contained in legislation sponsored by U.S. Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Cal., including removing decisions on whether to prosecute service members from the militarys chain of command, are included in a $768 billion defense authorization bill that passed the House last week.

The bill is expected to win approval this week in the Senate, where Majority Leader Chuck Schumer predicted bipartisan support. We commend Texas Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz for being among those supporters: It is clear that changes have to be made so those who serve in our military are able to to report crimes without fear of retribution, Cruzs spokesman Dave Vasquez told us last week.

President Joe Biden is expected to sign the bill when it reaches his desk.

This is transformative, said U.S. Rep. Sylvia Garcia, D-Houston, who represents the district where the Guillen family lives. But for the death of Vanessa Guillen and the movement that mushroomed after that, Im convinced this would not have happened.

Guillen, a graduate of Houstons Cesar Chavez High School, disappeared in April 2020, after telling family members she had been sexually harassed. A U.S. Army investigation later showed she had reported being harassed by a fellow soldier two times but her superiors never reported it up the chain of command.

Her body was found two months later in a shallow grave. She had been bludgeoned to death by a different soldier who buried her remains and later killed himself when police closed in, authorities reported.

The three-month investigation prompted by Guillens death resulted in a 136-page report that detailed damning charges about the failure of Fort Hood officers to protect soldiers under their command. According to the report issued by the five-member independent review panel, failed leadership fostered a permissive environment for sexual assault and sexual harassment . . . . A sexual assault prevention program was so ineffective it resulted in a pervasive lack of confidence, fear of retaliation and significant underreporting of cases, particularly within the enlisted ranks . . . . Female soldiers were left feeling vulnerable and preyed upon, but fearful to report and be ostracized and re-victimized.. . . . Fort Hood leadership knew or should have known of the high risk of harm to female soldiers.

The scathing report resulted in the firing, suspensions and demotions of 14 Fort Hood leaders, including Maj. Gen. Scott Efflandt, the Fort Hood commander at the time of Guillens disappearance and death. The Army also removed the leaders of Guillens unit, Col. Ralph Overland and Command Sgt. Maj. Bradley Knapp of the 3rd Cavalry Regiment.

The Fort Hood investigation mirrored a Pentagon report that found 7,825 sexual assault reports involving service members  both male and female  as victims or subjects of sexual harassment in fiscal year 2019, an increase of 3 percent over the previous year.

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The reform measure the Senate is now considering makes it the responsibility of an independent prosecutor, not military commanders, to decide whether to bring charges in cases involving 11 different crimes, including manslaughter, kidnapping, stalking and domestic violence. The bill criminalizes sexual harassment and allows survivors of sexual assault to call a help line to report an assault, rather than having to do so in person. It gives victims the right to know about administrative actions taken against offenders and would require the Pentagon to track retaliation against service members who report harassment or assault. It also calls for an assessment of racial disparities in military justice and discipline.

Still, supporters of more substantial reform, including U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-NY, who has led the effort to reform the military justice system since 2013, are right to point out the bills shortcomings and demand more. How can victims truly get a fair shake in court when commanders would still have the power to pick juries and select witnesses?

When the commander is so deeply involved in a case, theres no independence for the prosecutor and theres no perception of independence for the accused or the accuser, she said at press conference last week.

Shes right. The flawed bill poised for passage would indeed represent the most significant changes ever to the military justice system. But Congress should finish the job by backing a separate bill by Gillibrand that would enhance the independence of the prosecutor. Co-sponsored by U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, a combat veteran and sexual assault survivor, it has the support of several Republicans, including Sen. Cruz.

If America is truly, finally, serious about protecting those who have sworn an oath to protect our nation, we shouldnt stop until gaping loopholes are closed and justice is assured.

It took at least a decade to get this far. Congress shouldnt squander the momentum that got us here.

In memory of a young soldier from Houston, her life senselessly cut short, Congress needs to act  and act fully  without delay.
If Jalen McKee-Rodriguez runs for office again, the District 2 councilman has a strong endorsement from rapper Nicki Minaj.

The popular rapper, who turned 39 on Wednesday, called on her fans, who she calls Barbz, to vote for McKee-Rodriguez after he shared a birthday message to her from the dais at San Antonios City Hall. The video was later posted on Twitter and went viral.

It was a very special birthday (Wednesday) for a woman who is important to a lot of people worldwide, said Mckee-Rodriguez, who is seen in the video wearing a Nicki Minaj T-shirt beneath a red velvet blazer. She is a mother to not just one but a lot of sons, and unfortunately, she couldnt be here today. But she is an icon and a queen, the queen of rap. I would like to wish a happy belated birthday to the Nicki Minaj."

Minaj retweeted McKee-Rodriguezs birthday wish on Saturday. She called him a true king and encouraged her fans to either vote for McKee-Rodriguez or move to San Antonio to do it.

A true KING omg, Minaj told her 23.3 million followers. Barbz must assemble to vote for this great man at every election hes apart of. Barbz ACTIVATE!!!! If you cant vote in his city, MOVE THERE!

McKee-Rodriguez, a former math teacher, began his first term serving the East Side of San Antonio in June. He was wearing a red Santa hat and attending a District 2 toy giveaway when he saw Minaj's tweet over the weekend.

"We all screamed," McKee-Rodriguez told the Express-News on Monday. "It was so cool and unexpected."

McKee-Rodriguez is a huge fan of Minaj as is apparent from his multiple social media accounts. He said he loves her music, and his favorite album is her 2014 "The Pinkprint" release. But he loves her eccentricities the most.

Jerry Lara/San Antonio Express-News

Minaj is perhaps best known for her flowing quick-spoken rap style, her provocative lyrics and her unabashed defiance to speak her mind.

"Seeing her always be herself, even when it didn't always look normal, that's what's always been inspiring about her," McKee-Rodriguez said.

McKee-Rodriguez has often blended his love for Minaj into his professional life.

Last February, McKee-Rodriguez, still an educator at the time, recorded a parody rap math lesson using Minaj's song "Yikes" on TikTok. He changed the lyrics to teach students about the Pythagorean Theorem.

"As a teacher, I always tried to be my authentic self," said McKee-Rodriguez, who wore a leopard print sport coat to his swearing in ceremony at City Hall in June. "Now that I am a Councilman, I am continuing to be myself."

McKee-Rodriguez said this is the first time he's interacted with Minaj on social media and his comments last week at City Hall was meant as a 20-second joke.

While most of the feedback from his comments about Minaj at the meeting have been positive, some have criticized him for wasting time.

"As a full-time council person, I am allowed to have fun every few hours or so," McKee-Rodriguez said.

Timothy.Fanning@express-news.net
More than two dozen members of the Texas Legislature are retiring or running for a different seat next year, creating a slew of vacancies that could push both chambers to become redder and more polarized by the time lawmakers reconvene in 2023.

Many of the outgoing members are center-right or establishment politicians with years of experience, opening up seats for younger and more ideologically extreme replacements. In many cases, their districts were redrawn to strengthen the GOPs hold on the Legislature, eliminating all but a few of the battleground contests that tend to attract more moderate candidates.

Those changes, paired with new political maps that leave little opening for Democrats to gain ground in November, have laid the groundwork for an even more conservative Legislature, even as Republicans toast the 2021 legislative session as the most conservative in the states history.

The tides are shifting again, said state Rep. Dan Huberty, a moderate Republican from north Houston who is not seeking re-election. You have different political leaders, and the constituency has a view of what they want. You're going to see a shift. I would assume it's going to be more conservative.

The Capitol is also poised to lose some of its longest tenured legislators to retirement, draining a generation of policy expertise on areas such as health care, education, agriculture and the border, said Brandon Rottinghaus, a political science professor at the University of Houston. The average tenure of the departing members is 13 years.

Still, its not unusual for a mass reshuffling after a redistricting cycle, the once-a-decade process of redrawing the states political maps. In some cases, the new maps make re-election harder for incumbents, either by drawing them out of their districts or changing the political lean. In others, the changes could open up new opportunities for sitting representatives to run for higher office.

Twenty-five representatives in the 150-member Texas House dont plan to return next year, a total that was solidified Monday, the deadline for candidates to file for the March primaries. Two incumbent Democrats are also facing off against each other in the same district, and only one of them can come back.

In the Senate, the more reliably conservative chamber, just one member is seeking a higher office. Four members plan to retire, including the chambers most moderate members on both sides of the aisle  Sen. Eddie Lucio, a Brownsville Democrat, and Republican Sens. Kel Seliger of Amarillo and Larry Taylor of Friendswood.

In all, 31 members definitely wont return to the Capitol in 2023, and that list could grow if sitting members lose their primary or general election contests. Following the 2012 elections, after the last redistricting cycle, the final total was 49.

Redistricting fuels polarization

In both chambers, redistricting shored up GOP support across the state, making it likely that even more Republicans will head to Austin for the 2023 legislative session.

Republicans currently hold 18 seats in the 31-member Senate, and that could grow after next years general election. Former president Donald Trump carried 16 state Senate districts in 2020, but the new map would increase that total to 19.

Its the same story in the House, where Republicans currently hold 85 seats. Trump secured 76 of those districts last year, but he would have won 85 of them under the new setup.

This cycle will shape Texas politics as much as any other weve seen in the past decade, Rottinghaus said. The effect will be profound on the legislative process. I think the balance of power will lead to Republicans having a lot more control, because they're able to develop and harness the authority of leadership.

The new vacancies have also created a field for more ideologically extreme members to run for office  a trend seen nationwide as both state and national politics become increasingly polarized, and as money floods to those candidates, said Jennifer Clark, a political science professor at the University of Houston.

It seems that increasingly moderate members are being sidelined and not stepping up and running for these seats, she said. And then this is self-reinforcing, of course, because then we see growing polarization and even more of a reluctance on the part of moderates to enter into these races.

TEXAS TAKE: Get the latest news on Texas politics sent directly to your inbox every weekday

Moderates depart the House

In 2011, Huberty was one of 37 mostly Republican freshmen in the Texas House  a mix of conservatives and moderates who rode the tea party wave into office, including three members who had served in the House previously, lost their seats and then gained them back that year.

By 2023, few of the moderate new members elected from that class will remain, with most of the remaining holdouts  including Huberty, John Frullo of Lubbock, Lyle Larson of San Antonio and Jim Murphy of Houston  declining to seek re-election next year.

Huberty rejected the idea that moderate Republicans are leaving Austin because they are fed up with the direction of the Legislature or are being pushed out by more conserative members.

It's just the nature of the business, Huberty said. The average tenure of a state rep is about five years. Its like a running back in the NFL: it doesn't last very long. I don't see anything that's a cause-and-effect, like, 'Oh my god, everything's gone so far to the right, I just don't want to do it anymore.'

The 2023 session would be far from the first time the Legislatures makeup has shifted to the right. But when that has happened in recent years, the more conservative freshmen were largely constrained by House leadership, led by former speaker Joe Straus, a moderate Republican from San Antonio. The current speaker, state Rep. Dade Phelan of Beaumont, rarely stood in the way of conservative priorities during his first year wielding the gavel.

The speaker is definitely not Joe Straus in terms of his ideology, said Jon Taylor, a political science professor at the University of Texas at San Antonio. Hes much more conservative ... He's not as conservative, obviously, as (Lt. Gov.) Dan Patrick, but nonetheless more conservative. So, I think you'll see a push by those more on the right side of the Republican Party in the Legislature next session.

State Rep. Mayes Middleton, a Wallisville Republican who chairs the conservative House Freedom Caucus, praised the awesome slate of GOP candidates running for the Texas House this cycle.

I've talked with a lot of them, Middleton said. They have the fire in the belly that it takes to go fight for our shared conservative values and make sure these policies get across the finish line.

Middleton, one of the most conservative members of the Texas House, is now running for a vacant state Senate seat with Patricks endorsement.

The direction of the Legislature has also prompted some House Democrats to call it quits, though its unclear if they will be replaced by more progressive members.

One of the departing Democrats, state Rep. Ina Minjarez of San Antonio, said she decided to forego re-election and run for Bexar County judge in part because she was fed up with the Legislatures hard-right turn  a trend she expects will continue next session.

We're not working on the issues, on the policies that really make the quality of life better for people in this state, Minjarez said. To me, it's become nothing but a bunch of rhetoric and a bunch of political games.

Senate drifting further right

In the Senate, Lucios seat could be the sole competitive race next year. The other open districts are solidly Republican, and those who are likely to replace the outgoing members are ideologically further right than their predecessors  or are, at least, closely allied with Patrick, the leader of the upper chamber.

Seliger was known for frequent fallouts with Patrick, defying him at times and blocking passage of priority bills. But state Rep. Phil King, the Weatherford Republican vying to replace him, has already earned Patricks stamp of approval.

Taylor, one of the most moderate members of the Senate, is also poised to be replaced by a more conservative successor. Those running to replace him include Middleton and Robin Armstrong, a physician backed by Attorney General Ken Paxton, a tea party favorite. (Armstrong gained attention last year when he controversially administered hydroxychloroquine to COVID-19 patients at the Texas City nursing home where he works.)

Its difficult to say whether ideological shifts in the Senate may help pass some conservative legislation that had failed this year, like a ban on COVID vaccine mandates, Seliger said. Those who replace outgoing GOP members will also be Republicans who share many of the same values as their predecessors  and some could dissent behind closed doors, he said.

The things that go all the way through are the things approved by the lieutenant governor, he said. That will not change.

cayla.harris@express-news.net

jasper.scherer@chron.com
COVID-19 ushered in the biggest vaccination campaign in history. And a relentless disinformation campaign about vaccines quickly followed.

One of the latest controversial statements about the vaccines came from Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a nephew of former President John F. Kennedy, and one of the biggest sources of anti-vaccine rhetoric today, as he spoke to Louisiana lawmakers.

Kennedy was given the floor for about 20 minutes during a Dec. 6 Louisiana House oversight meeting on a proposal that would require students to get vaccinated against COVID-19 before entering school. The meeting ended several hours later with the state House Committee on Health & Welfare voting 13-2 to oppose requiring vaccination.

Kennedy used his time to make a series of problematic and false statements about the COVID-19 vaccines and, at one point, argued that the shots record "confirms that this is the deadliest vaccine ever made."

Pointing to a pie graph that compiled deaths reported in the federal governments Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System over the last 30 years, Kennedy claimed that there are "more people who have died in eight months from this vaccine than from 72 vaccines over the last 30 years."

But there are several errors with Kennedys claim. We address them here, one by one.

VAERS is unreliable

The biggest issue is the low-quality data that Kennedy relies on to make his point.

VAERS, which is run by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration, was established in the late 1980s to help health agencies and researchers collect and analyze data on vaccine after-effects and to detect patterns that may warrant a closer look. But the database is an open-access system and unlike other government data sources that are screened before being made available to the public.

VAERS is designed so that anyone  parents, patients and health care professionals  can freely report any health effects that occur after a vaccination, according to the CDC, whether or not those effects are believed to be caused by a vaccine.

The reports arent verified before theyre entered and have included car accidents and incidents of self injury. Still, anyone with a computer can search the data, download it, and interpret the numbers as they wish  making VAERS fertile ground for vaccine misinformation.

The VAERS search engine has a prominent disclaimer that says: "The number of reports alone cannot be interpreted or used to reach conclusions about the existence, severity, frequency, or rates of problems associated with vaccines." VAERS reports alone "cannot be used to determine if a vaccine caused or contributed to an adverse event or illness," it says. People using the database are required to click on a form saying that they understand these limitations.

Dr. Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center and physician in the Division of Infectious Diseases at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, said VAERS is misnamed because it leads people to believe that if something was reported, its automatically an adverse effect of the vaccine.

"At its best, VAERS is a hypothesis-generating mechanism. It really should be titled suspected adverse event," Offit said. "There is no screening. You could report that your child got the vaccine and turned into the Incredible Hulk."

More than 459 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in the United States from Dec. 14, 2020, through Nov. 29, 2021, according to the CDC. During this time, VAERS received 10,128 reports of death (0.0022%) among people who received a COVID-19 vaccine, agency spokesperson Martha Sharan told PolitiFact in an email. That includes people who died of any cause.

"Reports of adverse events, including deaths, do not necessarily mean that a COVID-19 vaccine caused a health problem," Sharan added. "Statements that imply that reports of deaths to VAERS following vaccination equate to deaths caused by vaccination are scientifically inaccurate, misleading and irresponsible."

Health officials have data on billions of individuals who have received multiple doses of the COVID-19 vaccines, said Dr. Rebecca Weintraub, an assistant professor in the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School.

"So yes, we are confident that we have a robust database that these vaccines are as safe and effective as other vaccines," Weintraub said. "It prevents death, it prevents severe disease and it decreases transmission. And we know that for those who are vaccinated who get breakthrough cases, they clear the virus faster."

On average, 2,800 people die each day in the U.S., and health officials say that there will always be people who got a vaccine who die afterward from unrelated causes. This is especially true for a vaccine that over 70% of the countrys population has received.

"Hank Aaron is one example," Offit said. "He died of a stroke because he was in his mid-80s, not because of a vaccine."

The CDC said in an email to PolitiFact that it hasnt detected any unusual or unexpected patterns for deaths following immunization that would indicate that the COVID-19 vaccines are causing or contributing to deaths, outside of six confirmed deaths following the Johnson & Johnson vaccine due to complications from a rare and serious adverse reaction called thrombocytopenia syndrome. The reaction prompted officials to pause injections of the vaccine for about 10 days.

In an email, Kennedys spokesperson, Rita Shreffler, cited the same VAERS numbers and said that a 2010 study found that, as opposed to overcounting, VAERS vastly undercounts vaccine injuries  fewer than 1%.

But that study evaluated an automated system that tracked a patients health changes following a vaccination, rather than the voluntary reporting system that Kennedy drew his numbers from. It also didnt explain how it calculated the percentage.

In VAERS, the degree of underreporting varies widely depending on the symptom being reported, the Department of Health and Human Services said on its website.

"As an example, a great many of the millions of vaccinations administered each year by injection cause soreness, but relatively few of these episodes lead to a VAERS report," HHS says. "Physicians and patients understand that minor side effects of vaccinations often include this kind of discomfort, as well as low fevers. On the other hand, more serious and unexpected medical events are probably more likely to be reported than minor ones, especially when they occur soon after vaccination, even if they may be coincidental and related to other causes."

COVID-19 vaccines compare with other vaccines

Rene Najera, an epidemiologist and editor of the College of Physicians of Philadelphias History of Vaccines website, said that Kennedys statement is typical of anti-vaccine activists who make inflammatory comments without credible evidence.

Najera said that its difficult to compare the COVID-19 vaccines with vaccines from decades ago because the technology and communication are better. If anything, he said, a very small signal of an adverse reaction would be identified and detected more quickly now than back then.

"First, we had the smallpox vaccine in the early 1800s," Najera said. "It was given to millions around the world, but we just don't know how many people may have died from it  there was no such thing as a clean needle back then. But we do know that it prevented smallpox, and the epidemic started to die down afterward."

The closest thing to a "deadly" vaccine was the result of a lab accident, Najera said, not the therapeutic itself.

When the polio vaccine was licensed in the 1950s, independent labs started to create it. One California lab, Cutter Laboratories, didnt deactivate the virus used in the vaccine as it should have, and several thousand children were exposed to the live polio virus, with several dozen dying as a result.

When the flu vaccine rolled out in the mid-to-late 1970s, it was found that on very rare occasions, people developed Guillain-Barre syndrome after being vaccinated. Guillain-Barre is a disorder in which the immune system attacks the nerves, and it can also result from the flu itself. In the late 1990s, the live virus RotaShield vaccine was found to be a rare cause of intussusception, a type of bowel blockage caused when the intestine folds into itself like a telescope. There was one death, and the vaccine was pulled from the market.

"This was caught by the same surveillance systems we have now, and while it was very treatable it was still taken off the market," Najera said.

Offit said vaccines have in rare cases been associated with adverse events, including the diseases theyre meant to prevent, but that Kennedys claim is "just not true."

"The COVID-19 shots are very typical of vaccines, which have associated adverse events," he said. "The mRNA COVID-19 vaccines are a rare cause of myocarditis. The J&J vaccine is a very rare cause of one in 500,000 for blood clots.

"The flu vaccine can rarely cause Guillain-Barre syndrome. The polio vaccine that we used from the early 60s to 2000s was a rare cause of polio. The yellow fever vaccine can cause yellow fever for about one per million recipients."

Meanwhile, few measures in public health can compare with the impact of vaccines, which medical officials and analysts say have saved more lives than any other single medical advance. Vaccinations have reduced disease, disability, and death from a variety of infectious diseases by protecting those vaccinated and by reducing the spread of disease. One 2017 report highlighted the impact in the U.S. of immunization against nine diseases, including smallpox, measles and polio. All were shown to have been reduced by 90% or more.

Our ruling

Kennedy claimed that the COVID-19 vaccine is the deadliest vaccine ever made according to deaths reported in VAERS.

VAERS is an unreliable source, and the agencies that run it say its reports cannot be used on their own to establish whether a vaccine caused any adverse event.

Health officials and experts said that the COVID-19 vaccines are safe and comparable to others, and that they would have been discontinued if they had caused many deaths.

We rate this Pants on Fire!
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Hudson, NY (12534)

Today

Cloudy skies early, then partly cloudy after midnight. A few flurries or snow showers possible. Low around 30F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Cloudy skies early, then partly cloudy after midnight. A few flurries or snow showers possible. Low around 30F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph.
BHS President Retiring After Over 30 Years of Service

PITTSFIELD, Mass.  David E. Phelps, president and CEO of Berkshire Health Systems, announced Monday that he will leave BHS in early 2022.

"After engaging in thoughtful succession planning with the BHS Board of Trustees for the past three years and with the confidence that we now have a full complement of experienced executive leaders in place at BHS, I know that now is the right time is right for making this transition," said Phelps.

The Pittsfield native was appointed president of Berkshire Health Systems and Berkshire Health Care Systems in 1993. Phelps concludes a 31-year career of service to the local community, with 28 as the system's chief executive.

"Ensuring an orderly leadership transition has been incredibly important to Dave and Board members alike. We are sincerely grateful to Dave for working with us to facilitate a smooth process for his departure and are pleased that we will be able to share more about the appointment of a new CEO for Berkshire Health Systems later this week," said Bart Raser, chair of the trustees.

Raser highlighted successes from Phelps' career as CEO, including rehabilitating the financial resources of the once-troubled health system, implementing substantial technological and facility improvements such as the Crane Center for Ambulatory Surgery and the BMC Cancer Center, building BHS' affiliated long-term care company, developing important clinical partnerships like Berkshire Medical Center's membership in the Dana Farber Cancer Care Collaborative, and cultivating important relationships with local and state leaders that elevated the status and reputation of Berkshire Health Systems across the commonwealth.

"Today, we would like to recognize and celebrate Dave's tremendous accomplishments at BHS over more than 30 years. The scale of the transformation that Dave has achieved at our organization is a testament to his selfless leadership, his bright vision, and his tireless advocacy for the people of the Berkshires. There is no way to adequately thank him for all he has done to care for Berkshire County," Raser said.

In a letter to staff, Phelps said his decision has been under his consideration since 2018. He said he has been working in partnership with the trustees for more than three years to ensure the orderly transition of leadership.

He wrote that he is proud of the organization's commitment to "service, compassion, and excellence in patient care."

Phelps wrote that he was most proud of BHS' response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"What I'm most proud of is our organization's ongoing response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Your courage, dedication, and commitment to this community since March 2020 have been remarkable," he said. "You have always served Berkshire County well, but your continuing response to the pandemic has demonstrated just how lucky our community is to be able to depend on every one of you during this public health crisis.

"Working with you all has been the honor of a lifetime, and I am grateful for having been given the opportunity to serve our community alongside you. I wish you all the best."

In a letter to staff, Phelps said this decision has been under his consideration since 2018. He said he has been working in partnership with the BHS Board of Trustees for more than three years to ensure the orderly transition of leadership.

He wrote that he is proud of the organization's commitment to "service, compassion, and excellence in patient care."

Phelps wrote that he was most proud of the health system's response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"What I'm most proud of is our organization's ongoing response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Your courage, dedication, and commitment to this community since March 2020 have been remarkable. You have always served Berkshire County well, but your continuing response to the pandemic has demonstrated just how lucky our community is to be able to depend on every one of you during this public health crisis."

Phelps has also served on the Board of the Massachusetts Council of Community Hospitals, Massachusetts Hospital Association, and as a member of the American Hospital Association's Regional Policy Board.

He is a former chairman of the Pittsfield Economic Development Authority, past president of the Massachusetts Council of Community Hospitals, and has served on the Massachusetts Health and Education Facilities Authority, Massachusetts Business Roundtable Healthcare Task Force and the Governor's Blue Ribbon Commission on Healthcare.

"Continually developing new opportunities to care for the people of Berkshire County alongside our exceptional providers and staff at BHS has been the honor of a lifetime," said Phelps. "I am incredibly proud of our entire organization's commitment to service, compassion, and excellence in patient care, and I am grateful to my colleagues and my community for having entrusted me with protecting, cultivating, and advancing the BHS mission for the past 28 years."
The Head of the Media Sector Coordination Monitoring Department of the Rwanda Governance Board, Jean Bosco Rushingabigwi, told young journalists on Friday, 10 December, in Kigali, that if they do not think about the public interest when writing their stories, then they are not doing journalism.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of a two- day Youth Working Group Workshop on Digital Organising, Trade Union Reform and Youth Recruitment, organised by the Rwanda Journalists Association (ARJ) in collaboration with the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) under the Union to Union (UTU) Project 2021, Rushingabigwi emphasised that journalists should always have their readers, listeners and viewers in mind as they execute their noble duties.

We have observed that there are online journalists who have shifted the public interest to their own interest by only focusing on how much followers and likes they can gather, which has really affected their work. The biggest challenge that we have today is to differentiate between the journalist, blogger and social media influencer, we are simply navigating between media freedom and the freedom of expression. Rushingabigwi called on journalists working online to be more ethical in order to make a difference. As journalists we must be able to evaluate ourselves by asking ourselves how well we are serving the public.

The President of ARJ, Aldo Havugimana, expressed that one of the greatest challenges in Rwandan journalism today is the deliberate disregard of journalism ethics. A good number of young journalists working online show no consideration to the ethics of the profession and simply publish whatever they want". He lamented that most young journalists especially those who work online are not members of ARJ because of some erroneous beliefs that they have. Such journalists, he said, need some help and ARJ is willing to dialogue with them. Aldo Havugimana also noted that a good number of young journalists do not work for sustainable media houses, which to some extent explains the growing number of freelance journalists.

The Director of the IFJ Africa office Pa Louis Thomasi, said that young journalists working online are mostly exploited because they multitask and work for very long hours without proper remuneration. He also highlighted that a very significant number of journalists working in Rwanda and most countries in the Eastern African region work with no form of contracts and are consistently at the mercy of their employers. He called on the ARJ to revisit its recruitment strategies by conducting a research on the needs and aspirations of young journalists. We must be able to convince most of the young journalists coming into the profession that unions and trade unionism are still relevant and do not damage their career prospects.

The two- day workshop brought together 20 young journalists from the print media, radio, television and online media some of whom are freelance journalists. The workshop dilated on numerous themes, including freedom of expression and labour rights, Online Security and legislations governing the use of the internet in Rwanda; how technology is transforming Media Business Model; Gender equality and Sexual Harassment and Bullying of female journalists online; and Designing Effective Recruitment and Campaign Strategies for increased youth membership.
In October, small business owners were optimistic about hiring and investment plans. In the latest MetLife and U.S. Chamber of Commerce Small Business Index, 77 percent of small business owners were optimistic about the future of their business. Despite labor shortages--or maybe because of them--38 percent of small business owners plan to hire more workers next year, up from 28 percent last quarter, and the highest mark for this measure since the Index launched in 2017.

Then Omicron hit like a hammer.

While the infection rate remains subdued in the U.S.--with each state reporting at least one Covid-19 case attributed to the Omicron variant during the first week of December--the UK has joined South Africa in spiking caseloads. As a result, states including New York and California have reinstituted mask mandates. New York City has mandated vaccinations among private businesses and Philadelphia has done the same for all indoor eateries and bars. The federal government's vaccine mandate for businesses with at least 100 employees goes into effect on January 4, 2022.

While it's unclear if entrepreneurs remain bullish about the economy in light of Omicron--expect that assessment in the next quarterly report--it's commendable that they're upbeat at all. Amid the Great Resignation, 4.4 million Americans quit their jobs in September. Another 4.2 million quit in October. Paired with extant supply-chain issues, and business remains far from usual.

Here's a sampling of what they say they're up against: Three out of four small business owners say rising prices have had a significant impact on their business in the past year. The on-going labor shortage and supply chain disruptions are also top concerns. Sixty-one percent of small businesses say the pandemic has dramatically disrupted their supply chain, and 55 percent say worker shortages have done the same. Concern also increased across the board around lack of applicants for job openings, and employee retention.
There are lots of ways to describe how a company works, from in-office only organizations where employees work on-site together to remote-only organizations where teams are geographically distributed and work remotely 100% of the time.

Remote-friendly and remote-first models sit somewhere in between and are often referred to as hybrid work. For most companies, the term "hybrid" simply describes where you work, while "remote-friendly" and "remote-first" describe how you work.

People often use these terms interchangeably, but they're actually vastly different regarding how they support and influence workplace operations and productivity.

Comparing remote-friendly vs. remote-first

In a remote-friendly organization, management typically flows from a central location where in-office work is the norm. As a result, employees who work outside the office for extended periods of time can start to feel out of the loop and disconnected from colleagues and processes.

By contrast, in a remote-first scenario, leadership teams may be distributed and operate across different geographies where all work is done remotely; companies such as GitLab, Automattic, HashiCorp, and ActivTrak are just a few examples of companies in this category. This can create a more level playing field that puts the focus on employee experience and engagement as the key to operational success.

The benefits of remote-first work

While a remote-first model may not be right for every organization, there are a few key benefits that should be considered when weighing your options.

Recruiting and retention

According to research from McKinsey & Company, more than half of all employees prefer a more flexible work model post-pandemic. Not only does allowing teams to work from anywhere make you more attractive as an employer but hiring without location constraints also opens up an entirely new pool of highly qualified candidates. Joan C. Williams, founding director of the Center for WorkLife Law at the University of California, says organizations that equalize access to career-enhancing opportunities can expect better top talent retention as a result.

Performance and productivity

In theiR Future of Work Study 2021, Accenture discovered that 63% of high-growth companies have already adopted a "productivity anywhere" workforce strategy. This means focusing on key outputs over a period of time, as opposed to how long someone is logged in online. Some managers may assume that an employee who is first to arrive and last to leave contributes more than everyone else. Remote-first work allows the focus to shift to productivity by instead asking, "Is this employee or this team achieving the desired business outcomes?"

Adaptability and resilience

This is an area the team at ActivTrak understands first-hand. Earlier this year, many of our Texas-based employees unexpectedly lost power for several days during winter storm Uri. We supported those team members in taking as much time off from work as needed to ensure their safety, and that of their families. Our remote-first culture allowed us to adapt rapidly as colleagues in other geographies quickly stepped up to ensure operations didn't grind to a halt. That also meant we were able to continue to support ActivTrak customers who may (or may not) have been dealing with similar issues.

A new way to work
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Goafest back after two years, to be held in April 2022 After a gap of two years, Goafest 2022 is back for its 15th edition and is set to be held in Grand Hyatt, Goa from 7-9 April 2022. The event that celebrates the achievements of the media and advertising industry, is curated by the Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) and The Advertising Club (TAC)........ Read More...

Tata Studi signs up Mullen Lintas as creative & strategic partner Tata Studi, a part of edtech company Tata ClassEdge, has awarded its brand and creative communications mandate to Mullen Lintas Mumbai following a multi-agency pitch. The agency will craft the creative strategy for the launch of Tata ClassEdge's learning app, Tata Studi....... Read More...
After Kareena Kapoor Khan and Amrita Arora tested positive for COVID-19, Mumbai Mayor Kishori Pednekar has said it is not suitable to be carefree when the pandemic has not ended.

On Monday, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said the two actors had tested positive for the coronavirus, and those who came in contact with them were traced.

Their tests were conducted, the results of which were awaited.

Instagram

Addressing the media, Pednekar said if people flout COVID-19 norms, why strict action should not be taken against them.

Instagram/Kareena Kapoor

Kareena has two kids at home. It does not suit well to act carefree when the COVID-19 pandemic has not ended. We have contacted the Grand Hyatt Hotel, where a party was held, and Kareena attended it. We are tracing others who were present there, the mayor said.

The BMC staff has also contacted the physician of the two actors, and both are under home isolation , she said.

Instagram

I can understand if some teenagers were present at such a party. It is their age, and they enjoy it, but people should take utmost precautions. Those who are in the limelight, why dont they fear COVID-19? the mayor said. Despite strict instructions regarding COVID-19-appropriate behaviour, if people are seen flouting it, why should we not take strict action against such people as per the pandemic rule book? Pednekar said.

Although we have succeeded in slowing down the coronavirus infection rate, it has not gone completely, she noted.

The mayor said the new coronavirus variant Omicron has also posed new challenges.

Reuters

In such a situation, it is our appeal to the people to adhere to COVID-19 norms and follow them. As part of the unlock guidelines, we have been allowing relaxations in terms of gatherings and attendance at events. It seems some people and hotels are taking undue advantage of it, Pednekar said.

She said some political parties were also taking advantage of the relaxed norms.

Mayor

If we decide to impose strict norms and introduce fresh restrictions on movement, there are some people who would oppose it fiercely, Pednekar said.

Kareena has also clarified, saying the actor contracted COVID at a private dinner.

The spokesperson said,

Instagram

Kareena has been extremely responsible throughout the lockdown period. She has been careful every time she's stepped out. Unfortunately, this time she and Amrita Arora contracted COVID at an intimate dinner where a few friends had gathered to catch up. It wasn't a big party, as was reported. Among that group, one person seemed unwell and was coughing and who eventually passed it on. This person should have been responsible enough not to attend the dinner and put others at risk.

Unconfirmed reports suggest that Seema Khan, wife of actor Sohail Khan, is the unnamed guest who was coughing at the dinner; the BMC said on Tuesday that Seema was the first dinner guest to have tested positive, reported news agency ANI.

Maheep Kapoor's husband Sanjay Kapoor told PTI that his wife had also tested positive - all four women are fully vaccinated. According to reports, sanitation workers were spotted spraying disinfectant at Kareena and Karan Johar's houses on Tuesday.



(with PTI inputs)
Dhaka, 14th December 1971:

Imagine, you are the Governor of East Pakistan, in a high-level meeting at the Government House, your office cum residence, to decide the fate of your government in Dhaka.

The matter is urgent, as the Indian Army troops with the Mukti Bahini are closing in from all sides.

General Niazi and his senior staff officers as well as all the Governments advisers are present for the meeting.

Just the previous day, Niazi has famously declared in front of a camera to Associated Press newsmen, We will fight to the last.

His bravado seems infectious, if not too convincing.

There is still a chance that India might shy away from a bloody battle in the streets of Dhaka that will kill more civilians in addition to the millions already dead.

That prospect might force the Indians to agree to a ceasefire.

That would be a face-saving end to your illustrious public career spanning 22 years.

Yes, it seems tempting to back Niazi, the boisterous fool who just might pull it off.

Imagine yourself in this situation.

What would you do?

Ask Niazi to continue fighting or advise him to surrender?

Guwahati, 14th December 1971:

The Station Commanders jeep came to a screeching halt outside the 28 Squadron Operations Room and he practically ran inside. He found the Commanding Officer (CO), and said, A very critical and urgent task from Air Headquarters. We must attack the Circuit House in Dhaka at 1120 IST today. Theres a meeting going on there, with all the top officials.

Indian Time 1120 meant 1150 Dhaka time, and the current time was 1055.

So, there were just 55 minutes to go.

The Station Commander gave him a tourist map of Dhaka, saying, The target is here, next to the road crossing.

Taking the map, the CO looked at it and then at the Station Commander. The map had hundreds of road crossings, and all looked identical.

Being a pilot himself, the Station Commander understood, nodded in sympathy, and said, Hurry!

It takes 25 minutes to reach Dhaka. Plus, another 15 minutes to start the engines and taxi on the ground from dispersed locations to the runway.

Four MiG 21 aircraft were ready with 32 rockets each, but rockets are not the best weapons against concrete buildings.

And there was no time to load 500 kg bombs, as that would take at least an hour. There was no point attacking the building after the meeting was over and the officials had dispersed.

So, there was not enough time to brief the pilots about the mission, no clarity on the target, and not the most suitable weapons loaded on the aircraft.

But the mission was critical, so it had to be done.

Four pilots rushed to the aircraft and started the engines.

Thats when a senior pilot came running to the COs aircraft, waving a piece of paper.

It read, Target is Government House, repeat, Government House and not Circuit House.

The CO looked at the tourist map. At least the new target was in a big green patch, easier to identify from the air and with lesser chances of collateral damage to innocent Bengali brethren. He smiled.

Four MiG 21 fighters raced down the runway, each carrying a belly drop tank and two rocket pods.

There are many variables in an aerial attack on a ground target with unguided weapons.

From aircraft speed, to the angle of dive, to the prevailing winds, to firing too early or too late, and many other minor things that can make a difference between a hit and a miss.

In case of most static targets, there always is a second chance, if you miss it the first time. Today, they did not have that luxury. The human targets would disperse at the first sign of an attack, and never again assemble under one roof.

Painting by Group Captain Deb Gohain

Dhaka, 14th December 1971:

You, the Governor of East Pakistan are listening to General Niazi ramble on and on about the help that is coming from the South (US Seventh Fleet sailing into the Bay of Bengal) and from the North (Chinese dropping their paratroopers to help defend Dhaka.)

You know that the claimed help is unlikely, but are glad that Niazi believes it.

That would encourage him to fight, giving your civilian peacemakers the leeway required to drive a hard bargain with the Indian government.

That seems like a good idea, you think, even if the casualties would be many. How can anyone avoid a few deaths in a war?

As youre thinking, you hear a boom. Followed by another, and another.

You realise that the Indian Air Force is literally knocking at your door. They not only know that you are here, they also know theres a meeting going on. And theyre deadly accurate, as always.

Then the roof of the palatial Government House comes crashing down.

What would you do next?

Dhaka Government House, after the attack/Twitter

Heres a report from the New York Times:

DACCA, Pakistan, Dec. 14The entire regional government of East Pakistan resigned today, dissociating itself from further actions of the central administration of President Yahya Khan in the countrys West.

Dr. A. M. Malik, Governor of East Pakistan, wrote the draft of the resignation letter with a shaking ballpoint pen on a scrap of office paper as Indian MIG21s destroyed his official residence, Government House.

Governor Malik, surrounded by the ministers of his East Pakistani administration, showed the draft of his resignation to a United Nations official, John Kelly, and to Gavin Young of The Observer, a London Sunday paper.

They had been trapped with him in his bunker during an air raid. Dr. Maliks wife and daughter huddled in a nearby room.

All morning, Dr. Malik and his regional cabinet had been unable to decide to resign or hang on. The Indian air raids finally resolved the issue.





Four more Indian fighter planes followed the first wave, bombing and strafing the Government House.



The sheer shock of the air attack propelled the Governor into action. He resigned, ran and sought refuge with United Nations office in a hotel, which was a neutral zone and safe from Indian air attacks.

General Niazi, left to his delusional diatribe, made a lot of threats but surrendered just two days later, thus ending the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War.

We will cover the story of the surrender in the next article.

This is the tenth in a series covering the major air actions of the 1971 war on the occasion of its 50th Anniversary. Watch this space.
Back in the day, when the Razakars were on a terror spree in Hyderabad state and trying to resist the integration of the state into the Dominion of India, a boy who was going to school decided to open a library in Yellanki, a remote village in erstwhile Nalgonda district.

But it was not to be as the feudal landlords who did not want people to be educated prevented that idea from becoming a reality.

That boy grew up to be a lecturer, a principal and an award-winning writer in Telugu literature.

EPS

Gave up everything

Now at 84, Dr Kurella Vittalacharya has given up everything he ever earned to establish a library with around two lakh books in the same village, as per The New Indian Express.

The village is now in Ramannapet mandal in Yadadri-Bhuvanagiri district. He wants others not to suffer as he did.

It all began in 2014 when he opened a small library at home with 5000 books. Eminent writers, poets and professors got impressed by the initiative and donated books which grew to 2 lakh.

Getty

I didnt want others to face the difficulties I endured during my days as a student. It is worrisome to see that others who suffered just like me are forgetting their roots after getting well-settled in cities. Even though they see others suffering, such people dont do anything to help them in some way, he said.

What he failed to do as a boy, he did as a man. In fact, he has ensured that the library remains even after his death.

Now that what taking an initiative and putting others before yourself is all about.

For more on news and current affairs from around the world, please visit Indiatimes News.


The Pentagon said no US troops or officials would face disciplinary action for a drone strike in Kabul in August which took the lives of 10 Afghan civilians, including seven children, as per AFP.

Spokesman John Kirby said Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin got a high-level review of the strike with no recommendation of accountability.

He approved their recommendations," he said.

AFP

The secretary is not calling for additional accountability measures. There was not a strong enough case to be made for personal accountability," he added.

What we saw here was a breakdown in process, in execution and procedural events, not the result of negligence, not the result of misconduct, not the result of poor leadership," he went on to say.

What happened?

The August 29 drone strike happened during the final days of the US-led evacuation of Kabul after the Taliban took over.

US officials said there was intelligence of a possible IS attack on the evacuation operations at Kabul airport. As a result, they launched a missile from a drone at a target believed to be a car with munitions.

AFP

But instead, they hit a family and one of the casualties was an Afghan man who worked for a US aid group along with 7 children.

An initial report by the USAF inspector general Lieutenant General Sami Said, said it was tragic but an honest mistake."

The review by Central Command head General Kenneth McKenzie Jr. and Special Operations Command chief General Richard Clarke used Saids report.

The strike killed Zemari Ahmadi, who worked in the US-based Nutrition and Education International, and 9 family members.

For more on news and current affairs from around the world, please visit Indiatimes News.
For people, their wedding day is considered to be the happiest day of their lives. And to make their day memorable, people try to be creative and sometimes, well, it goes sideways.

Among the latter, was this stunt by a couple that did not go exactly to plan. In a video that is going viral, a couple in Chhattisgarh plummeted to the floor when a swing they were standing on snapped during their spectacular wedding celebrations.



During a wedding function in Raipur, the bride and the groom were on a swing suddenly, the harness snaps and the couple take a tumble both of them are safe with minor injuries @ndtv @ndtvindia pic.twitter.com/ABHa2AMDtK  Anurag Dwary (@Anurag_Dwary) December 13, 2021

Fortunately, the couple suffered only minor injuries in the incident and the rituals continued after 30 minutes.

The video shows the bride and groom on an oval-shaped swing with lots of fireworks around the stage and background dancers. Moments later, the harness snaps and the couple take a tumble while the guests are seen screaming and running towards the stage.



The event management company reportedly took full responsibility and apologised for the freak accident.



Screengrab/YouTube

Speaking to NDTV, an employee from the company said: "No one suffered injuries in the incident. The bride and the groom are safe."



They said that the accident occurred during the 'Sangeet' ceremony due to some "technical issues".



This is the latest stunt to go wrong at a wedding. Last month, a video went viral showing a newlywed couple crashing through the table after falling from a high-lift loader crane they were sitting on.

At first, the couple can be seen sitting on a makeshift sofa that was put on the crane. They could be seen surrounded by guests on the ground.



When the JCB guy had to wait 20 mins for the Tandoori Butter roti and when the basket finally arrive it was looted enroute by the pointy shoes wearing ladke waale pic.twitter.com/N2fNEl2fdb  Gabbbar (@GabbbarSingh) November 29, 2021

However, the stunt backfired epically. The sofa gave way and the bride and groom suddenly fell on top of a table. The guests couldn't believe their eyes at the failure of the grand entry moment turning into a disaster.

The couple had virtually no idea that the stunt was going to go awry. Soon the guests ran up to the unfortunate couple to pick them up from their fall.

The video does not show the aftermath of whether the couple were hurt in the incident. Well, memorable or not, they won't forget the moment.

For more interesting trending stories, click here.






Sometimes, certain incidents happen in this world that we have a hard time believing because they sound so made up. It almost sounds like the plot of a movie. And a recent bizarre incident will make you feel something similar.

In a random turn of events, a loader from the Mumbai airport was found asleep in the cargo hold area of an IndiGo flight after it landed in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday.

IndiGo

The loader in question was discovered asleep on the Mumbai-Abu Dhabi flight. After getting the requisite clearances from the authorities in Abu Dhabi, the personnel was sent back to Mumbai as a passenger on the same aircraft, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) officials said.

According to an India Today report, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has ordered a probe into the matter.

IndiGo

Director-General of DGCA Arun Kumar said, On Sunday, an IndiGo A320 aircraft was scheduled to operate as flight 6E-1835 (Mumbai to Abu Dhabi). Post loading of baggage in aircraft, one of the loaders engaged on the aircraft relaxed in baggage compartment 1 and fell asleep behind the baggage. The cargo door was closed after the hold staff marked the headcount. The loader woke up as the aircraft took off from Mumbai airport. This was detected in Abu Dhabi and a medical examination of the loader was conducted by Abu Dhabi authorities. The examination revealed that his physical condition was stable and normal. After getting the requisite clearances from local authorities at Abu Dhabi, he was sent back as a passenger to Mumbai on the return flight.



IndiGo

The employee has taken off the roster pending investigation, Kumar added.



Talking about the blunder, the airlines made a statement and said, "We are aware of the incident and the requisite authorities have been informed. The matter is under investigation."

Reuters

For more trending stories, click here.

All images are for representational purposes only.
A jury has found that a roofing contractor in Maine is not guilty of workplace manslaughter for the 2018 death of a worker.

The Portland Press Herald reports that the jury reached its verdict at the Cumberland County Courthouse. Shawn Purvis, owner of Purvis Home Improvement Co. in Scarborough, Maine, faced one count of workplace manslaughter, a Class C felony that carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison. The judge dismissed a second count of manslaughter, a more serious charge, on the last day of the trial, which began Dec. 1.

One of Purvis workers, Alan Loignon, 30, fell to his death from a Portland home in December 2018 while climbing down a ladder onto scaffolding without safety gear. That led to a workplace manslaughter charge being filed in 2019.

Purvis faces more than $2 million in fines imposed by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Prosecutors alleged that Purvis for years knowingly violated OSHA safety standards.

Purvis said the verdict that he felt vindicated and criticized prosecutors who had indicted him on the more serious manslaughter charge. He said his workers are subcontractors who can choose whether to follow safety standards with equipment he provides.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Contractors Maine
Billionaire Richard Lis FWD Group Ltd. raised more than $1.4 billion in private placements with investors including an insurer backed by Apollo Global Management Inc.

The investors include Apollos Athene Holding Ltd., Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Siam Commercial Bank Pcl and Swiss Re, according to a statement confirming an earlier Bloomberg News report. The proceeds will help FWD boost growth and reduce leverage, the statement showed.

Hong Kong Insurer FWD Adds Warnings About China Risks in SEC Filings for IPO FWD Groups $2 Billion Insurance IPO Stalls in U.S.: Sources

The funding comes as the Asian insurer prepares for a potential Hong Kong initial public offering after its U.S. listing plan stalled, according to people familiar with the matter.

FWD is switching its focus to list in Hong Kong as early as next year, after plans for a potential U.S. listing hit a snag amid regulators increasing unease over the long arm of the Chinese government, the people said, asking not to be identified as the information is private.

Recent market volatility and feedback from investors also factored into the decision, the people said. While FWD had secured approval from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to begin marketing the IPO to investors, the company decided to switch its venue to Hong Kong, they said. The U.S. listing could have raised as much as $3 billion, Bloomberg News has reported.

The company would reach a valuation after the placements of about $9 billion, which would imply about 1.2 to 1.3 times embedded value, the people said. The figure is broadly in line with how much FWD would have been valued at if it had listed in the U.S., after accounting for factors such as the private placement discount, market volatility and the exclusion of any IPO proceeds, the people said. FWD was considering a U.S. listing that would have valued the company at about $13 billion, people familiar with the matter have said.

The funds raised in the private placements will cut debt, which had ballooned after years of acquisitions across Southeast Asia, clearing the path for the Hong Kong IPO to be mainly about funding growth, they added.

Other investors in the funding round include the Li familys Li Ka Shing Foundation, Metro Pacific Investments Corp. and Richard Lis investment firm Pacific Century Group, the statement showed.

A representative for FWD Group declined to comment.

The value of the insurers new business climbed 45% in the first half of 2021 from a year earlier. In the third-quarter, the same figure  a key metric of profitability  grew year over year by more than 20%, according to its SEC filings.

Earlier this year, FWD and Apollos Athene agreed on a deal in which Athene and Apollo will also manage part of FWDs investment portfolio as part of a strategic partnership with an initial term of five years.

Shifting the companys IPO to Hong Kong would follow the path of Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi Global Inc., which earlier this month decided to list in Hong Kong and to delist from the U.S. just five months after going public. The drastic move highlights how perilous betting on Chinese equities remains more than a year into Xi Jinpings campaign to remake the countrys tech sector, along with much else, in Asias largest economy.

With assistance from Michael Hytha.

Photograph: A person takes a photograph of the citys skyline on a viewing terrace at Victoria Peak in Hong Kong, China, on Wednesday, May, 26, 2021. Photo credit: Paul Yeung/Bloomberg.

Related:

Copyright 2022 Bloomberg.

Topics Funding Swiss Re
Extreme weather events in 2021, including a deep winter freeze, floods, severe thunderstorms, heatwaves and a major hurricane, resulted in estimated annual insured losses from natural catastrophes of US$105 billion, the fourth highest since 1970, according to Swiss Re Institutes preliminary sigma estimates.

Man-made disasters triggered another US$7 billion of insured losses, resulting in estimated global insured catastrophe losses of US$112 billion in 2021, said Swiss Re.

While Hurricane Ida was the costliest natural disaster in 2021, winter storm Uri and other secondary peril events caused more than half of total losses as the effects of wealth accumulation and climate change drive claims in disaster-prone areas, said the report.

The two costliest natural disasters of the year were both recorded in the U.S.: Hurricane Ida and winter storm Uri. (The report was issued before the losses were calculated from the tornadoes that ripped through central U.S. this week).

Hurricane Ida caused US$30-$32 billion in estimated insured damages, including flooding in New York, while winter storm Uri wreaked US$15 billion in insured losses. Uri brought extreme cold, heavy snowfall and ice accumulation, especially in Texas where the power grid experienced multiple failures on account of freezing conditions.

The costliest event in Europe, meanwhile, was the July flooding in Germany, Belgium and nearby countries, causing up to US$13 billion in insured losses, in comparison with economic losses of more than US$40 billion, which indicates a very large flood protection gap in Europe. The flooding was the costliest natural disaster for the region since 1970 and also the worlds second highest, after the 2011 Thailand flood.

In 2021, insured losses from natural disasters again exceeded the previous 10-year average, continuing the trend of an annual 56% rise in losses seen in recent decades. It seems to have become the norm that at least one secondary peril event such as a severe flooding, winter storm or wildfire, each year results in losses of more than US$10 billion, commented Martin Bertogg, head of Cat Perils at Swiss Re.

At the same time, Hurricane Ida is a stark reminder of the threat and loss potential of peak perils. Just one such event hitting densely populated areas can strongly impact the annual losses, he added.

The impact of the natural disasters we have experienced this year once again highlights the need for significant investment in strengthening critical infrastructure to mitigate the impact of extreme weather conditions, said Jerome Jean Haegeli, Swiss Res group chief economist.

Investments in infrastructure support sustainable growth and resilience and need to be upscaled. In the U.S. alone, the infrastructure investment gap to maintain critical and aging infrastructure is US$500 billion on average per year until 2040. Partnering with the public sector, the insurance industry is critical for strengthening societys resilience to climate risks, by investing in and underwriting sustainable infrastructure, Haegeli added.

Further devastating secondary peril activity in Europe included severe convective storms in June, with thunderstorms, hail and tornadoes causing widespread damage to property in Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Czech Republic and Switzerland. The resulting insured losses are estimated at US$4.5 billion. Elsewhere in the world, continued, Swiss Re, there were severe flooding events in Chinas Henan province and British Columbia in Canada, among others.

Record Temperatures

On the other end of the extreme weather spectrum, Canada, adjacent parts of the U.S. and many parts of the Mediterranean experienced record temperatures in 2021. During the last days of June, a heat dome set a new all-time Canadian temperature record of nearly 50C (122F) in a village in British Columbia, the sigma report said. Temperatures in the Death Valley, Calif. reached 54.4C (129.9F) during one of multiple heatwaves in the southwest.

The exceptional heat was often accompanied by devastating wildfires, said Swiss Re, noting, however, that the associated insured losses were lower than in recent years, when the fires affected more populated areas. In California, wildfires destroyed, in particular, large forest areas but in contrast to 2017, 2018 and 2020, encroached on areas of lower property concentration.

These sigma catastrophe loss estimates are for property damage and exclude claims related to COVID-19. Swiss Re said loss estimates are preliminary and are subject to change as not all loss-generating events have been fully assessed, such as December catastrophe activity. COVID-19 has elongated the claims lifecycle, particularly for large events, and it will take considerably longer than normal to assess the final tally, said Swiss Re.

Photograph: A woman looks at cars and houses damaged after flooding in Liege, Belgium, Monday, July 19, 2021. Residents in several provinces continued to clean up after severe flooding in Germany and Belgium turned streams and streets into raging torrents that swept away cars and caused houses to collapse. Photo credit: AP Photo/Valentin Bianchi.

Topics Carriers Claims Swiss Re
This edition of International People Moves details appointments at the London Market Group, Carbon Underwriting and Dale Underwriting Partners.

A summary of these announcements follows here.

WTWs Swift Joins Board of London Market Group

The London Market Group announced that Alastair Swift, head of Corporate Risk & Broking at GB Willis Towers Watson, has joined its board. Swift will be one of the elected board members chosen to represent Liiba (the London and International Insurance Brokers Association) on the LMG Board.

Alastair Swift brings a decade of experience at Willis Towers Watson and will be able to give us valuable input from one of the largest organisations in the broker marketplace, commented Matthew Moore, chair of the London Market Group. He has also served as Deputy Chairman of Liiba for the past three years, and so has a clear understanding of what trade bodies such as ours can and should be doing on behalf of this industry. We are delighted that he has agreed to join the board.

***

MGA Carbon Underwriting Hires Antares Coates as Claims Manager

Carbon Underwriting Ltd., the London-based independent managing general underwriter (MGU) and Lloyds syndicate, announced the appointment of Kirsty Coates as claims manager.

In her new role, Coates will be responsible for managing Carbons portfolio of claims, providing specialist knowledge and insights to ensure that the best outcomes are achieved consistently and efficiently for policyholders at all times. Coates will manage the data-led claims business plan across all product lines as well as supporting the senior management team in the execution and delivery of the companys strategic goals and objectives.

With more than 13 years claims experience in the London market, Coates has joined Carbon from Antares Managing Agency (QIC Global) where she was a specialty claims manager with a strong focus on worldwide delegated contracts across multiple product lines. Prior to this, she was a claims adjuster with Atrium Underwriting.

***

Dale Underwriting Partners Hires ArgoGlobals Turner for Property Team

Dale Underwriting Partners (DUP) announced the appointment of Marcus Turner as a class underwriter, property insurance, effective Jan. 4. Turner will report to Ian Bridge, deputy active underwriter at DUP.

Turner will be responsible for building out DUPs property open market business, an area of expected growth for DUP in 2022.

Turner joins from his most recent role as head of property D&F at ArgoGlobal, having joined the company in 2011 as an underwriter. At ArgoGlobal, Turners focus was on writing a portfolio of medium to large US property risks. He brings with him 30 years experience in property insurance as both a broker and an underwriter and has significant knowledge of the London market.

Turner spent the first 20 years of his career as a broker with JLT and RK Harrison, focusing on the placing and servicing of medium to large U.S. property clients including the setting up of RK Harrisons North American property department in Bermuda.

Dale Underwriting Partners is an independent, owner-managed, Lloyds syndicate, led by Duncan Dale. DUPs Syndicate 1729, which will have a 2022 stamp capacity of 210 million, focuses on property reinsurance, property insurance and casualty.

Topics Underwriting Property Willis Towers Watson London
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill.  The U.S. workplace safety watchdog is investigating the circumstances around the collapse during Friday nights storm of an Amazon.com Inc building in Illinois in which six workers died, an official at the U.S. Department of Labor said on Monday.

The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has six months to complete its investigation, issue citations, and propose monetary penalties if violations of workplace safety and/or health regulations are found, Scott Allen, a U.S. Department of Labor regional director for public affairs, said via email. He added that compliance officers have been on site since Saturday.

Six workers were killed when the Amazon warehouse in Edwardsville, Illinois, buckled under the force of a devastating storm, police said. A barrage of tornadoes ripped through six U.S. states, leaving a trail of death and destruction at homes and businesses stretching more than 200 miles (322 km).

Amazon spokeswoman Kelly Nantel said the company would cooperate with the investigation. OSHA investigates all workplace fatalities and we are supporting them, she said.

Responding to a reporter, Illinois Governor J. B. Pritzker said officials are investigating the condition of the warehouse before it gave way.

Already there has been an effort to determine some of the challenges  if there were any structural issues, what exactly the storms trajectory was coming in and affecting the various pieces of the building, Pritzker said.

TORNADO TIMELINE

The National Weather Service said a tornado hit the area around 8:30 p.m. CST on Friday, intensifying rapidly as it struck the Amazon warehouse. Peak winds were estimated at 150 miles per hour (241 kph), causing severe damage.

The site received tornado warnings between 8:06 p.m. and 8:16 p.m. before the tornado struck the building at 8:27 p.m., Amazon said.

Several employees told Reuters over the weekend that workers had been directed by Amazon managers to shelter in bathrooms after receiving emergency alerts on mobile phones from authorities. At least one worker died there, according to his co-worker.

Amazon said employees were directed to shelter in place at a designated assembly area at the front of the building, which was near a restroom.

Some of the workers told Reuters they had mobile phones with them despite what they believed was an Amazon policy preventing them from having the phones in their possession while at work. Amazon said there was no policy preventing employees or contractors from having phones at work.

Edwardsville, a city of 27,000, is about 18 miles northeast of St. Louis, Missouri.

The company has three facilities in Edwardsville: the delivery station hit by the storm, as well as a fulfillment center and a sorting station. The delivery station opened in July 2020 to prepare orders for last-mile delivery to customers.

The site, a compound comprised of a few buildings, has been under heavy private and police security through the weekend, accessible only to relief teams and some Amazon and government officials. The remains of the destroyed warehouse were mostly dismantled, reduced to rubble.

It was crazy  I was on my way into the warehouse from Pontoon Beach (Illinois) when it happened. I saw the storm and was trying to get in as quickly as possible, said Brady Robison, 22, an Amazon van driver who works at the facility.

I just saw the roof completely tilted up  its messed up that people had to lose their lives while they were at work.

At least 45 Amazon employees made it out safely.

(Reporting by Richa Naidu in Edwardsville, Ill. Additional reporting by Caroline Stauffer in Chicago and Jeffrey Dastin in San Francisco Editing by Vanessa OConnell, Rosalba OBrien and Matthew Lewis)

Photo: A heavily damaged Amazon fulfillment center is seen Saturday, Dec. 11, 2021, in Edwardsville, Ill. A large section of the roof of the building was ripped off and walls collapsed when strong storms moved through area Friday night. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

Topics Catastrophe Natural Disasters Workers' Compensation Windstorm Illinois Amazon
Health insurance costs for employers rose the most in over a decade this year as Americans resumed non-urgent procedures delayed earlier due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a survey published on Monday.

The survey by benefits company Mercer of firms that employ about 118 million people showed the average cost of employer-sponsored health insurance per employee jumped 6.3% this year to $14,542  the largest rise since 2010.

The increase was just 3.4% in 2020 when the pandemic had strained hospital capacity and forced people to put off elective procedures.

I think thats (catch-up care) certainly part of the cost driver, Kate Brown, Mercers Center for Health Innovation Leader, told Reuters.

Brown said several other factors, including claims related to the treatment of long-term effects of COVID-19 and specialty drug pricing, could also be driving the cost rise and may continue into 2022.

The survey, which included 1,745 public and private employers, showed firms expect a fairly typical cost increase of 4.4% next year.

But most of them were unwilling to try to reduce the cost increase as they double down on making physical and mental healthcare more affordable for employees dealing with the stress of the nearly two-year-long pandemic.

Tracy Watts, national leader for U.S. health policy at Mercer, said generous health benefits could help companies in attracting and retaining staff in the tight labor market.

Adding or expanding programs to increase access to behavioral healthcare was among the top three priorities for all large employers, the survey showed.

Its clearly become very salient throughout the pandemic that mental health is a critical need for all people and its become really more top of mind for most employers over the last two years, Brown said.

(Reporting by Amruta Khandekar; Editing by Aditya Soni)

Topics Trends Commercial Lines Business Insurance
The U.S. Senate Commerce Committee on Thursday is set to hold a confirmation hearing on President Joe Bidens nominee to head the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), an agency without a permanent leader for nearly five years.

The Democratic presidents nominee is Steven Cliff, a former California Air Resources Board official who since February has served as NHTSAs deputy administrator. Cliff has been a key figure in the Biden administrations proposed rewrite of vehicle fuel economy standards through 2026 and is overseeing its safety investigation of electric car maker Tesla Inc.

NHTSA asked Tesla in September why it has not issued a recall to address software updates made to its Autopilot driver-assistance system for its cars. The agency also has held recent discussions with Tesla about why it allows video games to be played on a touch screen mounted in front of the dashboard and its plans to replace cameras https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/us-safety-agency-discussing-tesla-camera-replacements-2021-12-09 in some vehicles.

NHTSA in August opened a formal safety inquiry into Teslas Autopilot system in 765,000 U.S. vehicles after a series of crashes involving Tesla models and emergency vehicles.

The agency, part of the U.S. Transportation Department, faces a backlog of pending auto safety regulations and has not had a Senate-confirmed administrator since January 2017, the month when Republican former President Donald Trump took office. Prior to Cliffs selection in October, there had not been a nominee for NHTSAs top job since 2019.

NHTSA in August proposed reversing the Trump administrations rollback of Corporate Average Fuel Economy rules. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the United States has experienced a sustained increase in traffic deaths that NHTSA attributes to impaired driving, speeding, a failure to wear seatbelts and other unsafe behavior.

U.S. traffic deaths soared by 18.4% in the first six months of 2021 compared to the same period a year earlier, representing the most deadly first half of a year on American roads since 2006, NHTSA said. It was the largest six-month increase recorded since the current tracing system has been in use since 1975.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Will Dunham)

Topics Auto Politics
One person was killed and at least 13 others were injured in a drive-by shooting during a candlelight vigil near Houston, a sheriff said.

Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said the shooting happened around 6:40 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 12 when about 50 people were gathered for a celebration of life in Baytown, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) west of Houston.

Right as they were releasing the balloons up into the air was when the vehicle came, he said. Almost at that exact time is when they opened fire into a crowd.

Gonzalez said Monday morning that the person who was killed was in their 20s.

Three of the wounded were taken to hospitals by helicopter, Gonzalez said. One of the injured was believed to be a young child, he said.

Officers were later called to the medical center in Baytown where some of the wounded were taken because a disturbance erupted there, Gonzalez said.

Investigators believe the shooter or shooters were driving a small, dark-colored sedan, Gonzalez said. No arrests have been announced.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Texas
A former member of Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitts cabinet has filed a claim for $60 million damages with the state attorney generals office, alleging he was wrongly charged with bribery.

Former Secretary of Digital Transformation and Administration David Ostrowe filed the tort claim Thursday. He alleges he was wrongly charged by a multi-county grand jury during the term of former state Attorney General Mike Hunter.

Hunter resigned in May, citing personal matters, and dropped the charges against Ostrowe, saying his office faced a potential conflict of interest because Stitt, who appointed Ostrowe, would appoint the new attorney general.

The charge alleged Ostrowe attempted to bribe two members of the three-person Oklahoma Tax Commission by threatening that state appropriations to the agency would be withheld if they did not waive interest and tax penalties levied against a company owned by former state Sen. Jason Smalley.

Ostrowe, a businessman who was appointed to the unpaid post in 2019 and resigned in September, denied wrongdoing and said in his claim that he has lost $60 million in business opportunities because of the charge.

A former spokesman for Hunter previously said Ostrowes case was referred to Hunter by state officials and undertaken the same as all cases taken before a grand jury.

Rachel Roberts, spokesperson for current Attorney General John OConnor, said it is the attorney generals job to investigate allegations of crimes.

Concerns regarding Ostrowes conduct were referred to our office and investigated in accordance with our duties, Roberts said in a statement. We have nothing further to add at this time.

Bob Nance, an attorney for Hunter deferred to the statement from OConnors office and declined further comment.

The tort claim alleges Hunter sought to bolster a planned 2022 challenge to Stitt in the Republican gubernatorial primary.

The former attorney general weaponized his office for personal gain and to protect corrupt state officials, Ostrowe said in a statement.

Hunter never announced he was entering the race for governor, but filed paperwork for reelection as attorney general. He has since withdrawn as a candidate.

The attorney generals office has 90 days to respond to the claim, which said Ostrowe will file a lawsuit if the claim is denied.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Abuse Molestation Oklahoma
An outpouring of legislative opposition and a likely threat of litigation arent changing Gov. John Bel Edwards mind about requiring some Louisiana students to get the COVID-19 vaccine during the next school year or file a written opt-out form.

The Democratic governor is facing increasing pushback to his response to the coronavirus outbreak _ particularly on issues involving children _ as the pandemic nears its two-year mark. Most of the objections and criticism are coming from Republicans, but the student immunization plan also has drawn opposition from some lawmakers within Edwards own party.

Edwards intends to add the COVID-19 vaccine to the states immunization schedule for K-12 schools and colleges for the 2022-23 school year _ with broad exemptions for parents and students to opt out by submitting a written objection. Already, many of Louisianas colleges have begun requiring the vaccine or an exemption filing.

The House Health and Welfare Committee opposed Edwards plan in a 13-2 bipartisan vote and on Thursday sent its written objection to the governor and the Louisiana Department of Health.

The committee determined that the proposed rule is not advisable, is unacceptable and is outside the scope of authority granted to LDH by the constitution and laws of this state, the letter says.

Edwards had 10 days from receipt of the letter to overrule that objection and declare hes enacting the vaccination plan anyway. Hes expected to announce that decision this week.

Exactly when the lawsuit challenging the governors immunization plan will be filed appears to be the only remaining question.

Attorney General Jeff Landry and House Speaker Clay Schexnayder, both Republicans, are among the officials who said they dont believe the Edwards administration has the authority to add the coronavirus vaccine to the immunization schedule.

Landry, who is eyeing a run for governor in 2023 and appeared at the House committee hearing with an anti-vaccine activist, has made legal feuds with the Democratic governor a hallmark of his tenure in office and has successfully challenged some of President Joe Bidens vaccine mandates.

Under Edwards plan, the addition of the COVID-19 vaccine to the state immunization schedule will only apply to age groups for whom the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has given full approval for the shots. Currently, thats students 16 and older. But that would broaden to cover younger children if the FDA grants full backing to the vaccine for more age groups.

The governor blames misinformation as the primary reason his plan faces so much resistance, telling an event audience Thursday: There are too many people seemingly on purpose trying to undermine confidence in the vaccine.

Misinformation about the shots and COVID-19 were widespread at last weeks day-long House committee hearing, where some elected officials and members of the public downplayed the risks of the coronavirus illness, while inflating the risks of the vaccine.

But while many were spouting widespread inaccuracies, others had a more basic argument, calling the governors plan governmental overreach that meddles in family decision-making. They noted that local school boards, the state education department and the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education werent involved in crafting the regulation _ or supporting it in committee.

Republican lawmakers said they have been inundated with calls and emails from angry parents, and they described concerns for their own children.

As it relates to children, we just dont have enough information, said Sen. Patrick McMath, a Covington Republican who is the father of four youngsters.

Rep. Chris Turner, a Ruston Republican, agreed: I feel like its being rushed.

U.S. health authorities and leading doctors groups urge vaccination. Even though the virus tends to be more severe in adults than children, COVID-19 is causing plenty of preventable suffering among youngsters.

Edwards chief public health adviser, Dr. Joe Kanter, stressed that the federal government didnt skip steps in vetting and approving the vaccines for use, and hes expressed frustration that people suggest COVID-19 isnt a significant threat to children.

He said 18 children in Louisiana have died from COVID-19 since March 2020 _ compared to 10 children who have died of the flu over the last six years _ and more than 275 children have developed a serious COVID-19 complication called multisystem inflammatory syndrome. He also noted that children can transmit the infection to vulnerable family members.

This virus does affect children in profound ways, and its really scary I think when people minimize that, Kanter said.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Louisiana
Employers may be warming up to the idea that fighting some workers compensation claims and medical treatments can be counterproductive, and new emphasis should be placed on keeping injured workers happy  and out of the courtroom.

The workers comp system should be self-executing and so many times, its not, said Michele Adams, vice president of risk management for Walmart.

Adams spoke Monday at the Workers Compensation Institutes 75th annual educational conference in Orlando, which organizers said is the largest gathering of workers comp professionals in the country. The opening session was provocatively titled, Does Our System Do Harm? and included a range of speakers who said that, at least in some cases, the answer is yes.

Susan Shemanski, vice president for corporate risk management at the Adecco Group, one of the worlds largest temporary staffing firms, appeared to take issue with limits on benefit amounts and durations that a number of state legislatures have enacted in recent years in efforts to reduce costs to employers and insurers.

Its really not fair to the injured worker. I think this is an area that does harm to the injured worker, Shemanski said.

Its almost like a penalty for doing well, Adams added, noting that better comp benefits can help recruit and retain good workers.

Shemanski said that some injured workers have been thrown into near-poverty conditions while living on comp disability, have contemplated suicide and have turned to opioid medications to relieve physical and mental stress. She related the story of one amputee who couldnt make car payments with the level of indemnity payments he was receiving. That, in turn, made it difficult to get to work when he was ready to return.

About 90% of comp claims are accepted and paid without much disagreement, the panelists said. But some 10% end up in litigation or mediation, and thats too many. When injured employees feel cheated or ignored or have been denied benefits, or face utilization reviews, that drives many to seek legal counsel, adding significantly to the loss adjustment expense on claims, they said.

I perceive that theres way too much inclination toward litigation, said David Langham, the chief workers compensation judge in Florida. Im probably not going to make any friends with this statement, but I think that probably, out there among us, there are way too many lawyers with little else to do.

Advertising by plaintiffs lawyers, particularly in Florida, is so commonplace now that workers cant help but feel they are due more than the amount of comp benefits they may be receiving, panelists said. Seeing that claimants are cared for, with proper benefits, can get them back to work sooner  and away from the television and its regular stream of attorney advertisements, they argued.

At another WCI session, on managing risk and exposures to improve employers bottom lines, claim experts said giving extra attention to injured workers is gaining new acceptance across the country. Claim advocacy, in fact, has become the new buzzword in the industry, said Scott Clark, a Florida-based vice president and claim advocate for Arthur J. Gallagher Risk Management Services.

Injured workers who have become isolated run to attorneys offices where they feel theyll have representation, Clark said. And you dont want that.

He said employers should make sure that injured workers are involved in and informed about the claim process, at every step. That includes soliciting claimants input on medical treatment, and often sending them to a specialist physician, not to a doc in the box urgent care clinic.

Adams, of Walmart, said that, with comp benefits and procedures differing so much from state to state, new efforts should be made to research the practices that work best and reduce friction in the system. And with so much data now available, surely more ways can be found to utilize it, along with artificial intelligence and competent claims adjusters, in order to avoid litigated claims and unneeded utilization reviews.

After multiple tornadoes ripped through parts of the South and the Midwest Saturday, injured workers and families of workers killed will now face a wide range of benefits. Some will see more assistance than others, officials at the conference said.

In Kentucky, one of the states hit hardest by the twisters, workers at a candle factory saw the building collapse around them, killing as many as two dozen workers. But some of those workers will not qualify for post-traumatic stress disorder benefits, explained Dwight Lovan, a former commissioner at the state Department of Workers Claims.

Kentucky law, unlike statutes in several other states, allows mental stress benefits only if the worker has also suffered a physical injury.

Topics Claims Commercial Lines Business Insurance
The insured loss from the December 9-12 tornado outbreak that devastated parts of central U.S. has been estimated to be about $3 billion.

Catastrophe modeling firm Karen Clark & Company said its estimate includes damage from the tornadoes and winds and hail. This KCC estimate includes the privately insured damage to residential, commercial, and industrial properties and automobiles.

The late-season tornado outbreak affected at least six states, including Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, and Tennessee. KCC notes that there have been 60 reports of tornadoes and over 350 reports of damaging wind gusts.

The death toll from the tornadoes has reached 80, with many people still missing, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

The most significant damage has been observed in Kentucky, particularly in Warren and Graves counties, where hundreds of homes and businesses have been destroyed, the KCC report says. The tornado outbreak caused significant damage across the impacted states. There have been thousands of reports of damage and hundreds of reports of destroyed homes and businesses including factories and warehouses. Widespread effects across the impacted states range from torn off roofs and downed trees to demolished buildings. 

According to KCC, the Kentucky businesses damaged include a TMS Automotive plant in Bowling Green, a candle factory and the downtown sector in Mayfield, a country club in Princeton, and numerous buildings in Barnsley. Dozens of homes were destroyed in Dawson Springs and in Princeton.

KCC said significant damage has also been reported in Arkansas, Illinois, and Tennessee, including a large warehouse in Trumann, Arkansas. Dozens of destroyed buildings were also reported in downtown Dresden and Newbern, Tennessee.

AM Best Sees Tornado Losses as Manageable for Insurers

AM Best analysts said they expect the tornadoes will dampen underwriting results for insurers and that, although supply chain and inflation challenges may exacerbate insurance losses, insurers will be able to absorb them. AM Best said insured losses are likely to be concentrated in the commercial multiperil and homeowners lines, with some losses borne by auto physical damage as well.

Fitch Ratings said the insured loss from the tornadoes could rival the $5 billion insured loss from the U.S. Midwest derecho event in August last year and will likely drive insurance industry natural catastrophe losses to the largest annual total in the U.S. since the 2017 record year (approximately $130 billion).

The KCC estimate would make this outbreak among the costliest disasters involving tornadoes for for insurers, according to data from insurance broker Aon. Previously, the costliest U.S. catastrophe involving tornadoes, based on insured losses, occurred in April 22-28 in 2011. A tornado outbreak that hit Tuscaloosa, Alabama and other areas caused $8.5 billion in insured damages based on 2020 dollars, according to the Insurance Information Institute. An August 8-12, 2020 Midwest derecho caused an estimated $8.2 billion in insured damage.

Top 10 Costliest U.S. Catastrophes Involving Tornadoes; Aon (1) ($ millions) Estimated insured loss Rank Date Event Location Dollars when occurred In 2020 dollars (2) 1 Apr. 22-28, 2011 Late April 2011 Super Tornado Outbreak AL, AR, GA, IL, KY, LA, MO, MS, OH, OK, TN, TX, VA $7,300 $8,490 2 Aug. 8-12, 2020 Includes Aug. 10 Midwest Derecho IA, IL, IN, KS, MI, MN, MO, NE, OH, SD, WI, PA, DC, MD, VA, WV 8,250 8,250 3 May 21-27, 2011 Joplin, MO Tornado AR, GA, IA, IL, IN, KS, KY, MI, MN, MO, NC, NE, NY, OH, OK, PA, TN, TX, VA, WI 6,900 7,990 4 May 2-5, 2003 AL, AR, CO, GA, IA, IL, IN, KS, KY, MO, MS, NC, NE, OH, OK, SC, SD, TN 3,205 4,570 5 May 27-30, 2019 CO, TX, OK, KS, AR, MO, IA, IL, IN, OH, PA, WV, WY, NJ, NY 3,650 3,730 6 Apr. 10-15, 2016 San Antonio Hailstorm TX, LA, OK, AR, MS, KS, MO 3,200 3,500 7 Apr. 6-12, 2001 St. Louis Hailstorm AR, CO, IA, IL, IN, KS, MI, MN, MO, NE, OH, OK, PA, TX 2,200 3,250 8 May 18-23, 2014 CO, DE, IA, IL, IN, MT, NY, OH, PA, SC, VA 2,950 3,240 9 Oct. 5-6, 2010 Phoenix Hailstorm AZ 2,700 3,230 10 Mar. 2-3, 2012 AL, GA, IN, KY, OH, TN 2,500 2,850 (1) Defined by Aon as severe convective storms including insured thunderstorm events and may include tornado, hail, damaging straight-line winds (derechos) and flash flood impacts from events. Includes events that occurred through 2020. Subject to change as loss estimates are further developed. As of February 23, 2021. (2) Adjusted for inflation by Aon using the U.S. Consumer Price Index. Source: Aon.

Photo: In this photo taken by a drone, buildings are demolished in downtown Mayfield, Ky., on Saturday, Dec. 11, 2021, after a tornado traveled through the region Friday night. A monstrous tornado killed dozens of people in Kentucky and the toll was climbing Saturday after severe weather ripped through at least five states, leaving widespread devastation. (Ryan C. Hermens/Lexington Herald-Leader via AP)

Topics Catastrophe Natural Disasters Windstorm Profit Loss
The Mayfield Consumer Products factory was the third-biggest employer in this corner of western Kentucky, an important economic engine that churned out candles that lined the shelves of malls around the U.S.

But why its workers kept making candles Friday night as a tornado bore down on the region remains unclear as rescuers continue scouring the factory wreckage for signs of life.

Kentuckys governor said Sunday the ferocity of the storm was so great that there was nowhere safe to hide inside the plant.

It appears most were sheltering in the place they were told to shelter, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear said. I hope that area was as safe as it could be, but this thing got hit directly by the strongest tornado we could have possibly imagined.

Of the 110 workers overnight Friday, Beshear said early Sunday that only 40 were rescued and it would be a miracle if any more were found alive. He said later on Sunday that it might be a better situation than initially feared as the state works to verify a worker headcount provided by the factory.

Some workers said they had been told to huddle in a central hallway area, the strongest part of the building, as the storm approached.

Thats where everybody is supposed to go, said Autumn Kirks, who worked at the plant with her boyfriend, who is still missing. We stopped everything and tried to get as sheltered as we could.

Kirks said an earlier weather warning siren during her shift prompted some workers to leave for the night.

I know a lot of the workers left. We thought about it but decided against it, she said.

The factory where she and her boyfriend worked employs many people in and around Mayfield, a city of about 10,000 in Kentuckys southwest corner. It is Graves Countys third-biggest employer, according to the countys website. Even some inmates at the county jail have worked there.

Scented candles made in the plant eventually found their way onto the shelves of prominent retailers like Bath & Body Works. The Ohio retailer said in a statement it was devastated by the horrible loss of life at the Mayfield Consumer Products factory  a long-standing partner of ours.

And this was high season in Mayfield for turning out gift candles as Christmas approaches. Shortly before the disaster, the company had posted on Facebook that it was looking to hire more people for 10- to 12-hour shifts involving fast-paced work and mandatory overtime.

Most American candle-makers used to complete their holiday orders by early November, but labor shortages and other economic trends tied to the COVID-19 pandemic have extended crunch time well into December, said Kathy LaVanier, CEO of Ohio-based Renegade Candle Company and a board member at the National Candle Association.

LaVanier said candle-makers around the U.S. are horrified by what happened in Kentucky and are trying to find ways to help. Unlike many manufactured products, most candles sold in the U.S. are American-made, in part thanks to hefty and longstanding tariffs on Chinese-made candles.

All of us in the candle business are reeling, she said. It could have been any of us.

LaVanier said regular disaster drills are important at candle plants, especially to include temporary workers who might have just arrived to fill a demand surge. But the way they are built  rarely with basements, and structured to accommodate long manufacturing lines  makes it hard to avoid damage when a truly devastating storm hits.

If we had enough advance notice and felt it was severe enough you might send people home, she said.

Bryanna Travis, 19, and Jarred Holmes, 20, stood vigil near the rubble of the Mayfield candle factory Saturday where they had worked for months, usually for about $14.50 an hour. The engaged couple wasnt working when the storm hit.

I worked with these people. I talked to these people. I tried to build connections with these people. And I dont know if one of my friends is gone, Holmes said.

Holmes said there had been no drills during their time at the factory to prepare people in case of a storm.

We havent had one since weve been there, he said.

Executives at Mayfield Consumer Products didnt respond to requests for comment Sunday. The company said in a statement on its website that it had started an emergency fund to help employees and their families. The company was founded in 1998 and split off from another firm several years ago.

Were heartbroken about this, and our immediate efforts are to assist those affected by this terrible disaster, CEO Troy Propes said in the statement. Our company is family-owned and our employees, some who have worked with us for many years, are cherished.

Kentuckys state safety and health agency website lists a series of 12 safety violations at the factory in 2019, though it doesnt say what they were for.

Beshear told CNN on Sunday that his understanding was that it did have an emergency plan.

We believe most of the workers got to what is supposed to be the safest place in the facility, he sad. But when you see the damage that this storm did not just there but across the area, Im not sure there was a plan that would have worked.

OBrien reported from Providence, Rhode Island. AP writer Bruce Schreiner contributed to this report.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Catastrophe Natural Disasters Windstorm Kentucky
A former official for a central Montana coal mine plead guilty to conspiring with others to not make required reports about workplace accidents that injured employees, the U.S. Attorneys Office for Montana said.

Dale Lee Musgrave of Pompeys Pillar, who was vice president of underground operations at Signal Peak Mine near Roundup from 2013 to 2019, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to submit false statement in records. He faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

The plea agreement calls for federal prosecutors to seek the dismissal of two counts of cocaine trafficking and two other false statement charges. A sentencing date has not been set.

In 2018, a worker had his fingers crushed while loading mining materials, causing an injury that required a partial amputation, prosecutors said.

As the worker was being taken to the hospital, he received a call from Musgrave, who told him to claim that the injury was not related to his mine work and that Musgrave would make it worth his while, court records said.

In 2019 another worker was injured when dirt and debris fell from an excavated mine wall, partially burying him and injuring his leg, which required surgery, prosecutors said.

Based on encouragement from Musgrave and others, the worker told doctors he injured his leg in an all-terrain vehicle crash, officials said. Other employees eventually learned the accident had been concealed and reported it to the Mine Safety and Health Administration.

In October, the mining company pleaded guilty to federal charges that it violated environmental and employee safety regulations in an agreement that calls for a $1 million fine.

The prosecution of the mine was part of a broad corruption investigation into mine management and operations that led to convictions of former mine officials and associates for embezzlement, tax evasion, bank fraud, money laundering and firearms violations.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Commercial Lines Business Insurance Mining
A father and son charged with starting a massive California wildfire that destroyed many homes and forced tens of thousands of people to flee Lake Tahoe communities earlier this year pleaded not guilty in court.

The El Dorado County prosecutors office charged David Scott Smith, 66, and Travis Shane Smith, 32, with reckless arson. The office also charged the son with illegal conversion or manufacture of a machine gun and both men of illegal possession of a firearm silencer.

The defendants pleaded not guilty to all charges, said Emily Idleman, assistant to the chief of investigations in the district attorneys office.

The men were arrested Wednesday and remain in El Dorado County Jail in lieu of $1 million bail each. A bail reduction hearing is scheduled for Monday.

The criminal complaints do not specify how the machine gun and silencer tie into the Caldor Fire and the DAs office has not offered an explanation. The fire started Aug. 14 and crossed three Northern California counties, forcing tens of thousands of people to evacuate the resort town of South Lake Tahoe before it was contained in October.

Five people were injured and about 1,000 homes and other buildings were destroyed.

The complaints said both men illegally possessed a firearm silencer between Aug. 11 and Sept. 23 and that Travis Smith converted or manufactured a machine gun between Aug. 9 and Aug. 14.

Mark Reichel, the attorney for both men, said previously that the two were near where the fire started and called 911 to report flames.

Neither one has ever been in trouble with the law in their life. Theyre very law-abiding people, he said.

The Caldor Fire scorched more than 346 square miles from east of Sacramento to the Nevada border, threatening ski resorts and other prominent recreational areas.

The district attorneys office said the case was developed with the U.S. Forest Service, Californias firefighting agency and the California Department of Justice, with help from the Sacramento County District Attorneys crime lab.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics California Catastrophe Natural Disasters Abuse Molestation Wildfire
Seattles Catholic archdiocese has agreed to pay a Washington woman $725,000 as part of an early dispute resolution to her lawsuit alleging an unidentified employee sexually abused her at the Catholic school she attended more than 40 years ago.

The woman, identified by her initials, T.R., was an 8-year-old third grade student at the archdioceses private St. Louise Parish School in 1977 when an unidentified playground attendant started giving her candy and began sexually grooming her, the lawsuit said.

The employee, referred to only as John Doe, went on to repeatedly molest T.R., abuse that was foreseeable and preventable had Seattle Archdiocese acted on John Does grooming behavior and removed him for his repeated sexual misconduct, the suit contends.

For years, she has tried to compartmentalize this, hoping it would go away, Darrell Cochran, the womans attorney, told the Seattle Times. But she realized no matter what she attained in her life, it was always there.

Mary Santi, the archdioceses chancellor, said the early dispute resolution protocol aims to avoid litigation that can retraumatize victims by providing healing and closure to any abuse survivor who wants to come forward, even those who are represented by an attorney.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Abuse Molestation Washington
Farmers protesting outside the Musgrave Group distribution centre in Kilcock, Co. Kildare, have said they will not rule out escalating their action to include several other food distribution centres.

The group hopes that by disrupting the food supply chain it will get the attention of Government ministers.

Around 200 people and over 100 vehicles attended the protest, which has now entered its second day, led by the Individual Farmers of Ireland.

The group has organised demonstrations over beef prices in 2019 and 2020.

A spokesman for the group said members had sent a list of their demands to the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue.

One of the main demands made is for Green Party MEP Ciaran Cuffe to resign, as a result of the letter he wrote to banks in relation to young farmers and lending practices.

What he did with that letter to the banks would just close down agriculture, the spokesman said.

There is no future for young farmers. People dont understand how serious that letter was.

The group is also concerned that there will be a cut to food production in this country as a result of climate policy when Ireland is in the best position in the world to produce food if were let produce food.

The world population is rising, extra food is needed.

But the profitability has to rise," he said.

A target by the government to reduce the average slaughter age of cattle from 27 to 24 months is also of great concern for the group.

The spokesman said that if the 24-month rule was enforced, the even flow of supply of cattle throughout the year would be gone.

The government are not listening, the spokesman continued.

Are we going to have to wait here until we have no farmers because when you have no farmers actually doing the work, you cant reverse that, you cant put up an ad saying you want 100 farmers next week - theyre not there, he said.

Screw the farmer, we dont need him. But theyre forgetting one thing - they need a farmer three times a day.

People are starting to wake up to the seriousness of this.

Despite blocking deliveries and lorries leaving the Musgrave Group distribution centre, entry and exit points for staff are accessible, with the road open for traffic.

The group spokesman said that there is a fair chance of an escalation, as farmers have to fight on and would not "go home without progress.

Until somebody comes with some sort of progress, some sort of negotiating, we cant go home, the spokesman said.

We came to do a job: we came to try and wake up the government and try and save farming, because farming is in an awful lot worse a situation than the majority of people realise.

And that situation will only worsen if certain policies are implemented, according to the spokesman.

If we can get more people together, well try to go to another distribution centre because maybe one isnt enough to get the government to listen...maybe if its two, three, four, five of them blocked and no food on the shop selves by Wednesday, then they might listen.

Musgrave has said that the blockade at its distribution centre in Kilcock "continues to impact the distribution of local and Irish products to retailers in communities across the country".

"This is the busiest trading period of the year for our retailers and suppliers. Our Irish suppliers rely on this crucial trading time in the run up to Christmas to sustain their businesses throughout the year.

"The further delay of any resolution will have a detrimental long term impact on Irish food producers," a spokesperson for Musgrave said.

"Musgrave has a long-standing history and commitment of supporting Irish farmers. We are hopeful that this dispute between the protestors and Government is resolved quickly to minimise any further impact on our suppliers and customers.

Meanwhile, there has also been disruption to traffic in Dublin today, where an unrelated 24-hour protest led by the Irish Truckers and Haulage Association Against Fuel Prices has blocked the entrance to Dublin Port.
Japanese car maker Toyota is beefing up its electric vehicle line-up and will be offering 30 new fully electric models by 2030, president Akio Toyoda has said.

Toyota plans to sell 3.5 million electric vehicles globally in 2030, up from its earlier plan to sell 2 million zero emission hydrogen and battery electric vehicles a year worldwide by 2030.

The company currently sells about 10 million vehicles globally a year.

Mr Toyoda promised a full line-up of electric models called the bz series, short for beyond zero, in the years ahead, including sport-utility vehicles of all sizes, pick-up trucks and sports cars.

We can leave a beautiful planet and bring about many smiles for the future generation, Toyoda told reporters at a Tokyo showroom, standing on stage with more than a dozen EV models promised for the future.

His comments underscore the companys determination to reverse its reputation as a laggard in the industrys shift toward electric vehicles.

Toyota prides itself on its role as a pioneer in hybrid technology and more recently in hydrogen fuel cells for vehicles.

The maker of the Prius hybrid, Lexus luxury models and Mirai fuel cell car wants to offer various options, Mr Toyoda said.

He stressed Toyota must respond to global fears about climate change and carbon emissions.

The companys Lexus luxury brand will become fully electric by 2035 globally, Mr Toyoda said. It aims to achieve that aim by 2030 for the US, European and Chinese markets.

The company also raised to 2 trillion yen (13.3 billion) its investment in battery research and development from the 1.5 trillion yen (9.99 billion) announced earlier this year.

When including other green technologies, like hybrids, Toyota is investing 8 trillion yen (53 billion) by 2030, the company said.

Earlier this month, Toyota announced plans to build a huge electric vehicle battery plant near Greensboro, North Carolina, that will employ at least 1,750 people and start production in 2025.

Toyotas fully electric sport utility vehicle called bZ4X is set to go on sale next year globally.

Toyota is building a futuristic city near Mount Fuji, designed to try out and showcase automated driving, sustainable energy and robotics for housing.

David Leggett, automotive editor at GlobalData, said Toyota was trying to prepare for the dramatic technological and societal changes that are coming.

Businesses have to think about how demand will look in 10, 20, 30 years time, and the pathways that come back to their business plans over a foreseeable time horizon, Mr Leggett said.

Mr Toyoda, an avid racing driver and the grandson of the companys founder, acknowledged he had not been that interested in EVs in the past, viewing them as commodities. But he said he is excited about the vehicles Toyota is developing.

They are safer, faster and more fun to drive. I can say that as a driver, he said.
Older people deficient in vitamin B12 may be at greater risk of experiencing depression, according to a new study by Irish scientists.

Research by scientists from the Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA) at Trinity College Dublin examined the relationship between vitamin B12 and folate  otherwise known as vitamin B9  and depressive symptoms in a group of older adults over a four-year period.

Researchers observed that those deficient in B12 had a 51% increased likelihood of developing depressive symptoms over the time period of the study. No such associations were observed for deficiencies in folate.

These findings, published today in the British Journal of Nutrition, held true even after researchers relevant adjusting factors such as physical activity, chronic disease burden, vitamin D status, cardiovascular disease and antidepressant use.

Those behind the study say its findings are relevant given the high occurrence of incident depression and the high levels of low-deficient status of B12 in the older adult population in Ireland.

In Ireland, one-in-eight older adults are reported to be low in vitamin B12, while low dietary intake and low blood status have been reported throughout all age groups.

Consequences

Some of the negative consequences of low levels of B12 can include megaloblastic anaemia, impaired cognitive function, or damage to the protective covering (myelin sheath) that surrounds the nerve fibres of the brain.

According to the researchers, understanding the link between folate or low B12 status and depression in later life is important as depression is a risk factor for functional decline, admission to residential care and early death.

"There is a growing momentum to introduce a mandatory food fortification policy of B-vitamins in Europe and the UK, especially since mandatory food fortification with folic acid in the US has shown positive results, with folate deficiency or low-status rates of just 1.2% in those aged 60 years and older," said the study's lead author, Dr Eamon Laird

"Our findings should provide further reassurance for policymakers to show that a food fortification policy could offer a potential means to aid the prevention of depressive symptoms in older adults and benefit overall health through the enrichment of food such as breakfast cereals with B12 vitamins and folate.

Principal investigator of TILDA, Prof Rose Anne Kenny, said that given the rise in loneliness and depression in older adults after the onset of Covid-19 restrictions, the new study highlighted "the importance of increasing B12 intake or supplementation to help mitigate against potential risk factors of depression in older adults."
The High Court has ordered the extradition of a former veterinary surgeon who is wanted in the UK to face multiple charges of sexual activity with animals and of making child abuse material.

Oliver Lown (36), with an address at Main Road, Kesgrave, Ipswich, Suffolk, is wanted by authorities in the UK to face 12 offences, which includes the charge of having sex with dogs, horses, ponies and pigs, making indecent images of children, perverting the course of justice and possession of heroin.

EU arrest warrant

Kieran Kelly BL, for Mr Lown, had previously argued that the EU arrest warrant system relating to the UK was now underpinned by the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA), which made the warrant for Mr Lown "fatally flawed".

In July, the Supreme Court referred a case to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) after two men challenged their surrender to the UK, claiming that the European Arrest Warrant system between Ireland and the UK was invalid.

The men claimed that the lack of an "opt-in" measure for arrest warrant procedure meant that Ireland was not bound by terms of treaties governing surrender to the UK.

However, last month the CJEU rejected those arguments, finding that the provisions in the TCA are binding on Ireland under EU law and did not require Ireland having a choice about whether or not to opt in to them.

In his judgement today at the High Court, Mr Justice Paul Burns dismissed the respondent's argument on the TCA, noting that the CJEU ruling remedied the matter and that the line of argument would not be pursued.

'Serious allegations'

Mr Kelly had further argued that the warrant was also "fundamentally flawed" because it was issued by Ipswich Magistrate Courts but signed off on by a Crown Court judge, which he said does not satisfy the criteria of "total clarity and unambiguousness" regarding warrants. He further argues that a supplemental part of the warrant was then filled out by a UK prosecutor and not the appropriate authority.

Mr Justice Burns said he was satisfied that the additional information received from the Crown Prosecution Service in the UK was "reliable" and that there was no reason to doubt the "bona fides" of the person who furnished the additional information regarding the issuing of the warrant, namely a judge. He dismissed the submission that there was a lack of clarity, saying there was no "uncertainty" with regard to the warrant.

The judge pointed out that Ipswich Crown Court judge Emma Peters had written that the charges against Mr Lown were "serious allegations" on the warrant itself, when she issued it for his arrest in December of last year.

Mr Justice Burns said he was satisfied that Mr Lown should be surrendered on all but one charge, that of possessing "extreme" pornographic material, which did not have a corresponding offence in Ireland.

Today, Mr Justice Burns said Mr Lown was facing a maximum sentence of life for the charge of perverting the course of justice, 10 years for the charge of making indecent images of children, seven years for possessing heroin, five for possession of cannabis and two years for the charge of possessing the indecent images.

Mark J Byrne BL, for the Minister for Justice, informed the court that Mr Lown was also facing a drug-driving charge at Letterkenny District Court on January 13 next. Mr Justice Burns said the charge was not sufficient to postpone the surrender.

Before being led away by prison guards, the judge said that Mr Lown should be remanded in custody for not less than 15 days before being surrendered to the relevant authority during a 10-day period thereafter.

Case background

At a previous hearing at the High Court, Detective Sergeant Jim Kirwan of the Garda Extradition Unit told Aoife Carroll BL, for the State, that on February 8, 2021, he called to an address at Gortnaskea near Letterkenny, where he arrested Mr Lown on foot of the warrant and cautioned him.

Det. Sgt Kirwan said he introduced himself to Mr Lown and showed him his ID card. He said that Mr Lown agreed that his name was Oliver Lown and that one of the aliases he used was Ollie Fraser Henderson, while his place of birth was in Ipswich in the UK.

The detective said he read out the offences contained in the warrant to the respondent and asked him whether he knew what they were about, which Mr Lown indicated he did.

The warrant states that PC Harvey accompanied by probation officer Chris Royal attended a house on Main Street, Kesgrave, at 10.10am on April 4, 2019. They were informed by the occupants that their son, Mr Lown, lived in the annex above their garage with another man.

The warrant further states that PC Jon Harvey located Mr Lown in the annex and a situation then unfolded whereby Mr Lown threw a laptop in a pond to evade its inspection by police. After forensic examination of the laptop, Mr Lown was subsequently arrested on suspicion of possessing extreme pornography. Mr Lown was also arrested on the same date for perverting the course of justice and possession of heroin.

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The warrant also states that police attended the address of a sex offender at Burrell Road, Ipswich on August 29, 2019, where Mr Lown was present. He was arrested on suspicion of making, taking, possessing and distributing indecent images of children. He was also arrested on suspicion of possession of cannabis. He was interviewed and responded "no comment" to all questions asked.

The warrant states that police arranged to meet Mr Lown at Martlesham Police Investigation Centre on November 27, 2019. He did not attend, went missing and was circulated on the UK's Police National Computer as "wanted".

It states that 1,219 extreme pornographic images, of which 1,067 are unique, were recovered from the hard drive of the laptop as well as 3,512 extreme pornographic videos, of which 3,511 are unique. Other images recovered include 66 category A indecent images of which 43 are unique, 36 category B indecent images of which 26 are unique and 33 category C indecent images of which 23 are unique.

The warrant also states that Mr Lown is charged with offences including sexual penetration per vagina/anus by a person with a living animal, making indecent photographs of children and possessing extreme pornographic images portraying an act of intercourse/oral sex with a dead/alive animal.

The alleged offences range from dates between 2013 and 2019.
SUNDAY

No snow. Earlier predictions that today would see us covered in snow prove false, and I find myself murmuring the first line of Dennis ODriscolls wonderful poem about rain:

Whats general all over Ireland is definitely not snow. Sandbag- bulky clouds, about to splurge on rain, close in sulkily on all four provinces, allowing them no quarter, flushing them out.

MONDAY

Three Christmas cards in the office. Ellen helpfully offers to open them. I decline the offer. Not because of a desire for privacy, but because I know it would be pointless. If a Christmas card goes to an office, its a corporate jobbie with one or more unreadable signatures. Its not worth anybodys while deciphering. Turfed, unopened, is the way to go.

Not that the ones arriving at my home are any more legible. Seems to me that all Christmas cards achieve is a vague sense of guilt on the part of the recipient, because shes not able to work out who the hell sent them and needs thanking. Plus a few extra jobs for those delivering the pointless missives.

TUESDAY

A giant wave crashing over Fenit Pier on the outskirts of Tralee today as Storm Barra hits. Picture: Domnick Walsh/Eye Focus LTD

Storm Barra hits. From a high window, one can watch the waves lashing against the cliffs and the walls surrounding my Martello Tower, while imagining the bleak time that must have been had by the invalided British soldiers who manned the tower in the 19th century. Cushy for a 21st-century owner sitting in a building with underfloor heating, a wood-burning stove, double-glazed windows, frozen food, and water on tap.

The lads on the lookout in the 1830s and 1840s would have had a sense of helpless isolation far from civilisation in this or any other Martello. Yes, the eight-foot thick walls would have assured them that even if a tree fell on the house, it would be impregnable. But burning the face off yourself at an open fire while your arthritic back is freezing cannot have been comfortable  and these invalided troops were old, injured, and arthritic.

Suddenly, a blue oil tank the size of a wheelie bin on steroids comes knocking at the front (glass) door. I dither between endangering myself by going out to wrangle it into a less potentially dangerous place and letting it do what it will. Before I can decide, it vaults my car  which in fairness isnt that hard: I could nearly vault a tiny Skoda myself if the wind was behind me  and jams itself between car and wall.

The cats, meanwhile, spend the day yelling at me for causing the gale while considering and rejecting the possibility of using the cat flap to go out to do their business.

Pee indoors and you will never pee again, I tell them with gentle affection.

WEDNESDAY

Allegra Stratton announces that she has resigned as an adviser to Boris Johnson after footage emerged of her apparently showing Downing Street aides joking about a Christmas party held during last year's lockdown. Picture: Jonathan Brady/PA Wire

Allegra Stratton resigns. Shes the woman at the centre of the disastrous simulated press conference at Downing Street this time last year, revealed by someone who held a video of it for a full year, all the better to destroy reputations with, my dear.

Photographs show her to have aged 20 years in that time. As a proxy for the increasingly rejectable Boris, she gets little public sympathy. It should nonetheless be admitted that this woman understands how to deliver an apology.

A good apology specifies just how bad was the original offence, acknowledges how it must have been experienced by those affected, makes no excuses, says sorry, and outlines a plan to rectify the infraction if such rectification is possible. In this case, its not possible, but Allegras apology, otherwise, was flawless and simple.

The British people have made immense sacrifices in the battle against Covid-19," she said.

I now fear that my comments in the leaked video of December 20 may have become a distraction against that fight. My remarks seemed to make light of the rules, rules that people were doing everything to obey.

"That was never my intention. I will regret those remarks for the rest of my days and offer my profound apologies to all of you for them.

THURSDAY

A cartoon appears. Ancient. Maybe going back to the Regency. It shows people getting cowpox vaccination. Someone needs to come up with a new term to cover the injections were getting and will continue to get at irregular or regular intervals in the years ahead.

Theyre not really vaccines at all. Not as we know vaccines. Not as disease preventers. More mitigators, they are. Like the steroid inhalers filled with powdery stuff asthmatics suck into their lungs each morning. A new terminology should apply.

FRIDAY

Dorothy Parker, being a raffish sort, once said that if all of her friends were laid end to end, she wouldnt be a bit surprised. If all the earbuds I have bought were laid end to end, theyd stretch around the world  the only problem being that they couldnt be laid end to end because I always lose one of them. Just one.

Some TV programmes insist that if you appear on them, you wear earphones when broadcasting from home and if I wear the big over-the-head type I look like Biggles on a bad day, so I keep buying the little yokes in the hope Ill find a pair one of which wont break for the border, mid-programme. Even if I have peculiarly-structured ears, I dont believe Im on my own with the earbud problem and you have to wonder why someone like 3M doesnt come up with a glue that would keep them in for an hour or so. Although the glue for sticky notes was invented by accident, so maybe another accident is required before earbud glue is developed.

Not being able to wear earbuds makes me fearful of what will happen to me if my hearing deteriorates. Ive not reached the stage of giving out to everybody for mumbling, but am resigned to the inevitability of it. I figure it will improve my life in one sense, because it will be like autocorrect, which turns Cillian de Gascun into Cillian the Gas Gun and Christmas plays and communions into the much more exciting Christmas blazing communions.

So far, I have not mangled an incoming oral message the way writer Auberon Waugh once did. He went to a West African country to speak about breastfeeding at a dinner and was told by the organiser afterwards he had mis-heard the original request. They had wanted him to talk about press freedom.

SATURDAY

This newspaper quietly announces that on Saturday, December 18, it will donate 20c from every copy of the Irish Examiner sold to the St Vincent de Paul society.

For more than a century, SVP has been the lifeline for individuals and families in trouble. Amazing, how an entity once criticised by the left for helping perpetuate disadvantage has maintained its unique role as the final, unjudging rescuer of the unfortunate.

At a time when charities are too often in the news for malfeasance, the steadfast service provided by SVP is exemplary.
Dear Paschal, I am middle Ireland and I dont want your 600.

Cynical tax adjustments no longer work for workers, instead struggling families want the cost of childcare addressed, they want a healthcare system that does not involve trolleys and long waiting times, they want support to allow their elderly relatives remain at home, they want proper public infrastructure.

They do not want to hear about another Christmas of children living in emergency accommodation.

Putting a few extra euro into monthly payslips will do very little to improve quality of life.

But, with his party under pressure in the polls, it appears Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe is now willing to dip into the lucky bag to dig out a few cheap toys that will not be appreciated.

Widening the tax bands over three successive budgets means workers would not hit 40% tax until they reach 40,000, The adjustment would equate to just over 50 a month or over 600 a year, which Mr Donohoe stressed would help with the rising cost of living.

We have the ability to get to around 40,000 for the higher rate of tax and that means repeating the kind of moves that we have made in the recent budget, he told the Irish Independent.

I believe thats going to allow more workers to pay the standard rate on more of their income, which I believe is an essential recognition of the efforts their work is making to grow in our economy.

From cradle to grave, citizens who come into contact with public services quickly realise that years of underinvestment have led to creaking systems at best and crumbling services at worst.

Right from the moment they enter this world, a baby will encounter this.

I could describe Holles Street as a Lego set, all we are doing is plugging pieces here and there, it by no means amounts to 21st-century maternity care, said Shane Higgins, master of the Dublin

hospital, over the summer.

From cradle to grave, citizens who come into contact with public services quickly realise that years of underinvestment have led to crumbling services. Pic Denis Scannell

It will be 2027 at the very earliest before Holles Street moves to a new purpose-built facility on the grounds of the campus of St

Vincents University Hospital in south Dublin.

One in every six babies born in the country is delivered at the Rotunda Hospital and one in every four neonatal babies is born there, but, having first opened its doors in 1745, it is a building that is delivering 21st-century health services in 18th-century facilities, according to Fianna Fail senator Mary Fitzpatrick.

And yet the best-case scenario for the Rotunda is a 15-year wait before the hospital moves out to a greenfield site at Connolly Hospital in Blanchardstown.

While the Government announced measures to support the childcare sector and ensure minimum rates of pay for workers in Octobers budget, the multi-million package will only ask providers to keep parental fees at the current rates. This is cold comfort for those paying the equivalent of a second mortgage each month in childcare costs.

Meanwhile, parents currently face an average of 17 months to get an assessment of need for children with disabilities, despite a legal requirement for the assessment to be completed within six months.

This wait comes before they get shunted onto yet another list for the interventions, therapies, and services they require.

Last month, in response to Fine Gael TD Colm Burke, the HSE said it regrets that 10 children in the Cork-Kerry region are waiting up to 11 months for wheelchairs and other important equipment.

Later in life, if a child goes down the path of a third-level education, they will find a system that in the words of Higher Education Minister Simon Harris has been ducked and dodged for far too long when it comes to investment.

Speaking at the Teachers Union of Ireland conference in April, Mr Harris said: You can have all the lofty ambitions and plans you want but to make them a reality we need to properly fund third-level education.

And yet the Cassells report, published in 2016, putting forward a number of options to fund the third-level sector, still has to be acted upon by the Government.

The frustrations at a lack of proper services continue into adulthood.

Yesterday morning, there were 534 patients on trolleys in our hospitals, the worst overcrowding since the pandemic began.

Calling for bespoke plans to tackle overcrowding in each hospital, the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation secretary general Phil Ni Sheaghdha described the figures as a real nightmare before Christmas scenario.

When a person gets off a trolley and into the health system, they will now join a queue of almost a million people waiting for medical treatment.

The official lists include more than 220,000 people who are waiting over 12 months for their first consultant-led outpatient appointment.

In later life, a severe lack of homecare workers means older people may now be faced with no option but to move to a nursing home. A long-awaited fair deal scheme for homecare has been delayed until 2022, with Covid-19 being cited as a reason for the delay.

In the meantime, organisations providing support to older people say there is a homecare staffing crisis. Of course, that is if they have the luxury of owning their own home.

The Department of Housings latest official homeless figures show there are now 8,830 people  6,317 adults and 2, 513 children  accessing homeless services across the country. These October figures were an increase of 355 people on the previous month.

For many, the pandemic has altered priorities. People want a new deal, as Labour leader Alan Kelly puts it.

Its not just about building back better; its about building back fairer. Our country is at a crossroads and there can be no going back, Mr Kelly told his own party conference.

The public, more than ever, sees through the old way of doling out a few fivers here and there.

Tinkering with tax bands as suggested by the finance minister is a costly endeavour that achieves little.
Burma Around 100 Village Homes Burn in Myanmar Junta Raid

Kaeba village in Sagaing Region after the junta raid on Monday morning. / CJ

Around 100 houses were burned down by Myanmars junta forces during a raid on anti-regime strongholds in Ayadaw Township, Sagaing Region, on Monday.

On Monday morning, more than 100 regime forces and members of the Pyuu-Saw-Htee group  a militia trained and armed with firearms by the military  shelled Kaeba village in the township during the raid, according to residents.

Regime forces have been deployed at nearby Thalaeba village for about a month.

The Irrawaddy could not independently verify any of the reports.

After occupying Kaeba on Monday, regime forces burned around 100 houses out of 300 in the village. They also looted homes and stole motorbikes, a villager told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday.

Our whole village bravely joined the anti-regime movement against the regime from the beginning. The junta tried to crush us because we are famed for our opposition, he said.

More than 2,000 Kaeba villagers fled their homes when regime reinforcements arrived.

We condemn these junta atrocities. People are crying for their losses. Many villagers are now homeless, the villager said.

The Ayadaw Revolutionary Alliance, a civilian resistance group, called the arson a war crime aimed to harm non-combatants.

On Saturday, the regime hit the village with artillery.

Myanmars junta continues to arbitrarily kill civilians, burn civilians alive, use civilian detainees as human shields, bombard residential areas and loot and burn houses, especially in Sagaing and Magwe regions and Chin, Shan and Kayah states where resistance groups are most active.

By Monday, an estimated 1,329 people have been killed and 10,923, including elected government leaders, have been detained by the junta since the Feb. 1 coup, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, a rights group which compiles the deaths and arrests.

Regime forces face intense attacks from peoples defense forces and many ethnic armed groups across the country.

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Burma Myanmar Junta Claims to Have Killed 8 Resistance Fighters in Mandalay Raids

Regime troops in Mandalay in February. / The Irrawaddy

Eight members of Mandalay civilian guerrilla groups were shot dead by Myanmars junta forces when two resistance hideouts were raided on Sunday, according to the regime-controlled media.

The alleged killings came amid a clampdown by Myanmars junta on civilian resistance forces in response to rising numbers of attacks on regime forces.

Junta-controlled newspapers said the security forces arrested a suspect involved in a terrorist attack and after his confession, they raided the Peoples Defense Forces (PDF) in Maha Aung Myay and Pyigyitagon townships.

Fighting occurred at the Maha Aung Myay base on Sunday evening and seven PDF members were killed and a junta soldier suffered a minor bullet wound in his belly, the report stated.

The report claimed pistols, homemade mines and bullets were seized.

It said another PDF fighter was killed in Pyigyitagon base on Sunday night after throwing a homemade bomb at junta forces and running away.

The Irrawaddy could not independently verify any of the reports.

The junta accused the PDF of killing a pregnant nurse and her husband, a ward administrator and two other civilians in Mandalay on Sunday.

But residents said the nurse and her husband were shot dead by junta forces.

In contrast, the Generation Z Power resistance group issued a statement saying junta forces raided a PDF hideout and killed two resistance members and detained three others while one junta soldier was killed and another injured.

The group, which claims to have carried out many attacks and bombings in Mandalay, rejected the accusation of killing the nurse and her husband.

Mandalays resistance fighters claimed to have killed one corporal on December 13 and a captain on December 11 and attacked informers and military targets, including with bombs.

A Mandalay resident told The Irrawaddy: There is no day without a killing and bombing taking place.

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Burma Myanmar Junta Forces Raid KNU-Controlled Town; Democracy Activists Feared Arrested

Myanmar junta troops are seen at a home in Lay Kay Kaw during the raid on Dec. 14. / Saw Tar Tu

Myanmar junta forces arrested more than 30 people, including an MP-elect, during a raid Tuesday on Lay Kay Kaw new city in Karen States Myawaddy, which is home to many democracy activists opposing the regime.

Some 200 junta troops approached the city in four columns, checking everyone they encountered and raiding houses. As of Tuesday afternoon they had arrested at least 32 people and seized two guns, according to sources in Lay Kay Kaw who spoke on condition of anonymity.

U Wai Lin Aung, a Lower House MP-elect representing the National League for Democracy (NLD) for Myaung Mya Township of Ayeyarwaddy Region, was among the detainees, according to party sources. Many fear that the other detainees include striking civil servants and youth who had joined local Peoples Defense Force groups.

Security has been tightened near Lay Kay Kaw since Monday, a Myawaddy resident told The Irrawaddy, while junta troops have surrounded the city for the past several days. They carefully check everyone in and out of the city, and their phones, the local resident said on Tuesday.

Located about 20 km south of Myawaddy, Lay Kay Kaw new city was developed with the support of Japans Nippon Foundation in 2015, a year after the Karen National Union (KNU), an ethnic armed organization, and the quasi-civilian government initiated refugee repatriation and rehabilitation programs. The city was opened to settlement in March 2016. But the city area is under the control of the KNU, Myanmars oldest autonomy-seeking revolutionary group, in particular Brigade 6 of its armed wing, the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), whose troops operate in the area.

The city became a popular destination for striking civil servants and pro-democracy activists after the juntas lethal crackdowns against the anti-regime movement in February.

The sources said the militarys movements had been heavy over the past two days and people were on alert for more raids. Tuesdays raid was the seventh in Lay Kay Kaw since September.

A Myawaddy resident added that the junta has been targeting Lay Kay Kaw with raids whenever weapons are seized in Karen State.

The regimes Myawady TV said on Nov. 25 that the KNU had organized military training for civilian resistance forces with the support of the countrys shadow National Unity Government in areas under the groups control in the southern part of the country.

Citing information extracted during interrogations of 20 people arrested for attacks on regime targets, it said brigades 1, 2, 3, 5 and 6 of the KNLA offered the training, gave shelter to those evading arrest by the regime and supplied arms to groups engaged in urban guerrilla warfare in a number of cities and towns in the country.

Ko Zeyar Lwin, a former University Student Union member, said no one knows how the military is able to determine which locations to raid. They entered in formation in military columns. People are hiding in their homes in fear. The junta troops control the road and it is not easy to go in or out, he said.

It is not safe for striking civilians to continue taking shelter in the new city, he said.

The Irrawaddy has learned that the military commander of Military Operation Command (MOC) 13 led the raid, and that the military recorded the locations of the houses to be raided with drones on Monday evening.

Locals are concerned that the military raids will lead to the outbreak of fighting between the junta forces and local KNLA troops.



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Burma Photographer Feared Dead After Arrest by Myanmar Troops for Documenting Nationwide Strike

An undated picture of Ko Soe Naing

A photographer who recorded last weeks Silent Day Strike is feared dead after he was arrested by regime soldiers in Yangon.

Ko Soe Naing was detained together with another photographer while taking pictures of a deserted Yangon last Friday, when the whole country shut down as people joined the strike by staying at home to demonstrate their opposition to the juntas rule.

Close friends seeking information about the duo were informed of his death on Tuesday by the regime and told to retrieve the body at a military hospital in Yangon.

As far as I knew, he was in good health till yesterday but this afternoon, we were told he is dead, one of his friends told The Irrawaddy. The fate of the other photographer was still unknown.

Ko Soe Naing, who is in his mid-30s, has a wife and child. His family was not available for confirmation or comment on Tuesday.

A graphic designer by profession, he was a familiar face among local photojournalists since the coup in February as he often went out to record anti-regime protests and subsequent events. He generally shared his pictures and videos with news agencies, his friends said.

I learnt that he and another photographer toured the city to take the pictures and were arrested by the junta forces as they were found with cameras in their bags, another photographer said.

Since the coup, the regime forces have brutally killed at least 1,329 civilians and arrested more than 10,900 people, according to a rights group, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners. Around 130 detainees have been killed by junta soldiers in detention since the coup, according to the AAPP.

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Analysis Disreputable Commanders-in-Chief of the Myanmar Military

(From left to right) General Ne Win, Senior General Saw Maung, Senior General Than Shwe, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing.

Founded by General Aung San in 1941 as the Burma Independence Army to fight for the then Burmas independence, and sworn as an institution to be loyal to the Myanmar people and protect them, the Myanmar military has long been downgraded to a bunch of butchers that protects dictators and kills civilians.

It is ten months since the Myanmar militarys February 1 coup. Since then, it has committed brutal atrocities, gunning down peaceful protesters, ramming vehicles into them and burning civilians alive.

All it has won for its actions is public disgust. Although most people generally accept that armed forces are a necessity to protect the country, no one wants an army that persecutes its own people.

Myanmars military has had nine leaders including its founder General Aung San, Lieutenant-General Smith Dun, General Ne Win, General San Yu, General Thura Tin Oo, General Thura Kyaw Htin, Senior General Saw Maung, Senior General Than Shwe and Senior General Min Aung Hlaing. Apart from General Aung San and the ethnic Karen Lieutenant General Smith Dun, who retired early from the military, the militarys leaders from General Ne Win on have dragged down the militarys reputation and turned the armed forces into an institution hated by the Myanmar people and which has earned international notoriety.

The six military dictators: Gen. Ne Win, Gen. San Yu, Gen. Thura Kyaw Htin, Snr-Gen. Saw Maung, Snr-Gen. Than Shwe and Snr-Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, should be noted in Myanmars history as being responsible for plunging the country into severe poverty, depriving ethnic groups of their rights and turning the military into a detested organization.

Originally, under the leadership of its founder and national hero Gen. Aung San, the military won the respect of the Myanmar people as it played a part in driving out the Japanese who invaded in World War II. It rose to greater fame with its repelling of Chinese nationalist troops following Myanmars independence in 1948.

The militarys reputation started to suffer after army chief Gen. Ne Win seized power in a 1962 coup from the democratically-elected government led by Prime Minister U Nu, and became more and more infamous under his successors Snr-Gen. Saw Maung, Snr-Gen. Than Shwe and Snr-Gen. Min Aung Hlaing.

Gen. Ne Win ruled as a dictator for 26 years under different titles such as Chairman of the Revolutionary Council and the Burma Socialist Programme Party (BSPP), and President and Commander-in-Chief of Defense Services. Under his rule, the peoples love for the military turned into hatred as his regime dynamited the historic Yangon University Student Union building, devalued the currency, nationalized businesses, and so devastated the national economy that Myanmar was included by the United Nations in its least developed country category. The military was also used to carry out brutal crackdowns on anyone who opposed Gen. Ne Wins rule.

Gen. San Yu, and Gen. Thura Kyaw Htin, the father of current Air Force chief General Maung Maung Kyaw, who succeeded Gen. Ne Win were his puppets and danced to his tune and favored his interests over that of the people.

Gen. Thura Tin Oo, who is now the patron of the National League for Democracy (NLD), served as the military chief between Gen. San Yu and Gen. Thura Kyaw Htin, but was purged by dictator Gen. Ne Win after his popularity grew within the military.

Captain Ohn Kyaw Myint, who was executed for orchestrating a failed assassination attempt against the leaders of the BSPP, wanted to hand power back to Gen. Thura U Tin Oo. Gen. Thura Tin Oo stood by the Myanmar people during the 1988 pro-democracy uprising. He was able to redeem his name by working closely with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi as one of the co-founders of NLD. He later apologized for crackdowns on protesters during the 1974 U Thant funeral crisis and on labor strikes while he was serving as the military chief.

In 1985, Brigadier General Saw Maung, a protege of Gen. Ne Win who would later become the first Senior General, succeeded Gen. Thura Kyaw Htin as the military chief. He was in charge during the 1988 pro-democracy uprising, when some 3,000 people were killed by the military. That is why the people cried bitterly then that, The military skills given by Gen. Aung San are not for killing civilians.

Although Snr-Gen. Saw Maung publicly promised again and again that the military would return to its barracks after the 1990 general election, he went back on his word and refused to hand over power to the NLD, who won the election. In 1992, he was purged by his deputy, General Than Shwe and military intelligence chief Major General Khin Nyunt.

For the next 19 years, Myanmar was again under a military dictatorship from 1992 under Snr-Gen. Than Shwe. Many ugly things happened during his rule: dissidents received long jail sentences, junta-backed thugs attempted to assassinate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in Tabayin Township, Sagaing Region and the regime carried out brutal crackdowns on protesters during the 2007 Saffron Revolution, as well as ratifying the 2008 military-drafted constitution in the aftermath of the devastating Cyclone Nargis that killed some 150,000 people.

Snr-Gen. Min Aung Hlaing was hand-picked by Snr-Gen. Than Shwe to succeed him in 2011. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, who was placed under house arrest three times for a total of 15 years by Snr-Gen. Than Shwes regime, was released during his first year in charge. Subsequently, the NLD won a landslide victory in the 2015 general election and formed the first civilian government in 50 years.

When the NLD repeated its triumph in the 2020 general election, Snr-Gen. Min Aung Hlaing alleged electoral fraud and seized power in a coup, so following in the footsteps of his predecessors as military chief.

Ten months on from the coup, 1,329 people have been killed and over ten thousand detained by the military. Its reputation has been tarnished past the point where it can be salvaged and it is now the most hated institution in Myanmar. Today, people do not feel sad when junta soldiers are killed by civilian resistance fighters. But when junta casualties are low, they say That is all? Make it more, cmon.

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A Nokia official in the Oceania region says he is satisfied with the uptake of 5G in Australia, pointing out that about 80% of the smartphones sold in the country are now 5G-capable.

Robert Joyce, chief technology officer for Nokia Oceania, told iTWire in response to queries that the affordability factor was not affecting take-up.

He added that in some cases operators allowed all 5G handsets on the 5G network since many operators' 4G/5G tariffs were the same.

"For example, even a pre-pay SIM in a 5G handset can connect to Vodafone Australia's 5G network," he said.

{loadposition sam08}Joyce has been in the mobile telecommunications field for more than 25 years and headed Radio Access Technologies for Qatar's Ooredoo Group before joining Nokia.

He was responsible for setting up the globe's first 5G commercial network at Ooredoo Qatar in May 2018 and holds a doctorate from the University of Leeds, with the topic of his research being self-organising heterogeneous networks.

Joyce said the incentive to take up 5G depended on the user. "I can't comment on the individual tariffs of the operators, but 5G is certainly faster than 4G, so I guess it depends on what you use your mobile phone for, as to whether you'd get more value from a 5G phone and associated subscription," he said.

"If you're a heavy gamer or someone who uses their mobile phone for watching HD movies or tethering, then 5G is going to give you a much better experience. A recent study undertaken by one of the big crowd sourced companies suggests 5G users have an average throughput experience that's five to ten times faster than 4G.

"Currently, the 5G networks in Australia are demonstrating peak downlink rates of over 5Gbps per second and represent some of the fastest networks in the world. Nokia provides network equipment/solutions to all three of the mobile operators here in Australia and we've set a number of 5G world records with them."

A recent survey by Ookla, the company behind the popular Speedtest app, suggests however that 5G speeds have slowed down at the global level.

"Over the past year from Q3 2020 to Q3 2021, the median global 5G download speed fell to 166.13 Mbps, down from 206.22 Mbps in Q3 2020," the survey noted. "Median upload speed over 5G also slowed to 21.08 Mbps (from 29.52 Mbps) during the same period."

About industry use cases for 5G, Joyce noted that Australian mobile operators provided 5G coverage to more than 80% of population. "They do this by deploying 5G across multiple frequency bands including the 700, 850 and 900MHz bands that propagate much further than the higher bands such as the 3.5GHz band also used for 5G," he said.

"Nokia recently demonstrated the effectiveness of the 700MHz band for 5G with TPG Telecom when we set a 5G range record of 148km between 5G handsets in a cell in Rural Queensland. It is this wide area coverage that will enable many of the 5G use cases we see being of value to Australian industries such as mining, oil and gas and transport. These physical industries need wide area, ultra low latency, robust coverage, exactly what 5G in the 700MHz band provides."

Thus far, Australia had been 5G use in enhanced mobile broadband and fixed wireless access, he said. "eMBB is effectively an enhanced 5G service to a smartphone, enabling a higher data rate, lower latency and all the benefits I mentioned.

"And FWA is providing a fixed internet connection over 5G rather than the fixed line. In Australia, Optus and Nokia together launched Australia's first FWA service using Nokia's 5G fast mile FWA Gateway. This product has proven to be so good it is now the number one selling 5G FWA Gateway globally.

"In future, Nokia thinks virtual reality and augmented reality will be some of the new killer apps as we see manufacturers start to produce smart glasses and other wearables that support VR and or AR."

Joyce said it was a common misconception that one needed 5G mmWave for ultra-low latency. "While 5G mmWave and the massive bandwidths available within these bands will enable both low latency and super-fast data rates of 20Gbps and beyond, low latencies can actually be better provided by the legacy Frequency Division Duplex bands (FDD) like 700, 1800 and 2100MHz," he said.

"This is because at 3.5GHz and mmWave, 5G is Time Division Duplex (TDD) based and this means that there can be a delay between the uplink and downlink transmissions. In FDD, this delay does not occur as we have simultaneous uplink and downlink transmission and therefore in theory FDD can support a lower latency than TDD.

"Of course, there's a bit more to it than that, like Frame Structure and time slot duration, but future versions of the 3GPP standard will deliver low latencies across all 5G bands, not just the mmWave band."

He said recently Nokia and its partners had been awarded over $3 million of government funding to investigate new and exciting 5G use cases.

"The first of these projects is the 5G Connected Cobots project we're doing with UTS at the recently opened Nokia 5G Future Lab at UTS Tech Park, Sydney. This project will demonstrate how we can control Collaborative Robots (Cobots) connected over the 5G network ...with the brain of the Cobot actually running on a Nokia Edge Cloud rather than on the Cobot itself.

"The second project we're involved with is the creation of the National 5G Industrial Incubation Lab with the South Australian Government in Lot 14, Adelaide. This lab will be aimed at demonstrating the use of 5G within industry and we'll initially be looking at connected airports, connected trains and power grid inspection/control using 5G. We're now three months into both projects so it's still in the early stage as we set up the labs, but we look forward to sharing the results of these projects as they become available."

Joyce said with regard to the Open RAN Policy Coalition, it would be fair to say that Nokia was taking the lead in development of the technology for the project.

A communications expert, Henry Kressel, recently listed the following as issues for ORAN:

The cost of implementing networks with elements from diverse customers and relying on open-sourced software as the glue may be more costly and troublesome than installing an integrated product suite from one proven vendor.

Maintaining and upgrading such a O-RAN heterogeneous network will require costly internal carrier resources, and hence may be costlier to maintain than current equipment.

The idea that such heterogeneous networks are more secure is an unproven assumption that has been challenged by a recent study in Germany.

Asked about these hurdles, Joyce said: "Yes, that is an interesting point of view and security remains a key concern in O-RAN networks. That said, we see many of our customers progressing rapidly with O-RAN trials, including some in Germany that we are fully supporting, and we look forward to supporting our customers in the months and years to come should they decide to move to more open RAN architectures."

As to whether these issues meant Open RAN was another pie in the sky project, Joyce did not agree. "We're already seeing different methods of network deployments taking place. Take Rakuten in Japan and DISH in the US: while neither of these networks can be classed as being official O-RAN compliant, both companies are pushing the boundaries of how operators may deploy their RAN, transport and core networks in the future," he replied.

"At Nokia we know we can't predict the future, but certainly being open and involved with all possibilities sets us in the best position to support our customers whatever network architecture becomes the norm in the not too distant future."
Say what you like about Barnaby Joyce, the Australian deputy prime minister knows when to interject himself into an issue and make himself relevant. He has very finely tuned political antennae.

That's what he has done in the case of WikiLeaks publisher and founder Julian Assange, saying that he does not support the man's extradition to the US, and that he should be tried in the UK and then either jailed in that country or Australia.

Joyce knows only too well that the government of which he is part will take the Assange issue seriously only if it becomes an issue in the forthcoming federal poll. And he has ensured that it will, given that his, and National Party, views, will be treated very politely by Prime Minister Scott Morrison given the existing wafer-thin majority the government commands.

A rally in support of Assange. Silence from the NYTimes, WaPo and others who published and profited from his journalism. Inconvenient Truth=Criminal Charges pic.twitter.com/Vjg5AA0SaD  Susan Sarandon (@SusanSarandon) December 13, 2021

Assange's extradition to the US was given the green light by a two-judge High Court bench in the UK last Friday; the next step will be the cancellation of a lower-court verdict blocking the extradition.

British Home Affairs Minister Priti Patel will then have to decide whether to accept the change of verdict; if she does, then Assange can approach the Supreme Court to see if that venerable institution will hear an appeal. If he is turned down, then the final port of call could be the EU Court of Human Rights.

Morrison can easily intervene in this mess if he so desires  but, like John Howard, he will only put his fingers into the pie if the issue is harming his electoral prospects.

The Assange issue is not actually complicated. The most powerful government in the world is trying to extradite a journalist and try him under the Espionage Act for exposing its war crimes. It is that simple. This isn't some super complex subject that you defer to the experts on.  Caitlin Johnstone  (@caitoz) December 12, 2021

Years ago, when Australian David Hicks was arrested by the Americans in Afghanistan and taken to the US, he was held there on one pretext or the other  there are still people imprisoned in Guantanamo who were taken into custody during that same period  until he became an electoral liability for Howard.

John Winston then made a personal appeal to Dick "Kaboom" Cheney, telling the then US vice-president, the power behind the throne, that Hicks was causing his standing in the polls to plummet.

Cheney pushed for a plea bargain and Hicks was sent back to Australia within a few months. Given Britain's desperation for trade deals in the wake of Brexit, it would not be a great feat to put pressure on the British prime minister Boris Johnson to cut a deal on Assange.

Julian Assange is being targeted for exposing US war crimes - in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay.



Extradition to the US is not only an attempt to silence him - but to stop all journalists from speaking truth to power.



We must continue to oppose his extradition to the US.  Richard Burgon MP (@RichardBurgon) December 10, 2021

Morrison could have done something similar when Joe Biden came to power, given the fact that he [Biden] supported Barack Obama when the latter decided he could not sue Assange without also suing some of the world's major newspapers, and hence abandoned the idea.

But when has Morrison done anything unless he stands to gain personally? That he is in thrall to Joyce and the Nationals is clear, given the way he has been pushed around over the past 11 or so months.

There are a few Australian politicians who understand the real implications of the Assange issue, among them people like Andrew Wilkie and Rex Patrick. It is time for them to step up as well, and increase the pressure on Morrison.

Assange is said to have suffered a stroke after the Friday hearing. The time to act is now and if Morrison cannot see that, then one would have to seriously doubt his political acumen.
Optus Enterprise in partnership with La Trobe University announced an extension to their 2016 partnership designed to support the Digital University of the Future.

Optus says the extension will see Optus Enterprise and La Trobe University collectively invest up to $6.8M over the next five years to develop a 5G Ideation Lab within La Trobe Universitys Digital Innovation Hub and accelerate the digitisation of Healthcare by creating new opportunities to transform the demands and delivery models being placed on Australias Healthcare system.

By leveraging Optus technology and expertise along with La Trobe Universitys deep domain in Allied Healthcare and Wellbeing the partnership will aim to undertake a research and innovation-based approach.

The launch of the 5G Ideation Lab follows on the back of the Victorian Governments $23M investment to accelerate research and development by start-ups and local businesses. The lab also brings La Trobe University in-line with other Optus Enterprise 5G academic collaborations, such as Curtin University, Optus advised.

The partnership extension will also see the appointment of an Academic Research Chair in Digital Health, who will continue to support the Optus talent pipeline through a program of Optus Scholarship initiatives in the areas of cybersecurity, data analytics and artificial intelligence (AI).

Optus Enterprise is excited to extend our partnership with La Trobe University for an additional five years. This is a great example of how Optus continues to lead the way in driving academic-industry collaboration by supporting the talent and skills pipeline of the future, said Optus Enterprise managing director Chris Mitchell.

Having access to a 5G ecosystem where students and businesses can co-create will benefit the Victorian economy through upskilling and training the workers of the future.

La Trobe University Pro vice-chancellor (industry engagement) Dr Megan Fisher said The Optus partnership is highly valued, and by connecting across multiple areas of the university - research, teaching, workforce development and infrastructure  it demonstrates the innovation that industry and higher education can create together.

This extension also comes on the back of Optus Enterprise and La Trobe University being awarded a cyberskills grant valued at $2.3M from the Australian Federal Government.

The partnership will also see La Trobe University work with Optus Enterprise on a number of transformational projects including upgrades to La Trobe Universitys network, cloud infrastructure and contact centre valued at $26M, the company concluded.

This first appeared in the subscription newsletter CommsWire on 10 December 2021.
Poor customer service should be the top priority in the NZ Commerce Commissions work to improve telecommunications retail service quality outcomes for consumers, according to half of the respondents to a recent poll, the Commission says.

The Commission's poll asked for feedback on a range of retail service quality issues that the Commission identified in September as affecting consumers using phone and broadband services.

Common complaints about customer service confirmed in the poll included long wait times, multiple transfers and poor record keeping when calling providers for support. Consumers also identified issues with billing, debt management and affordability practices, switching providers, notice periods to leave and high early termination fees on contracts.

Telecommunications Commissioner Tristan Gilbertson said that more than 300 individual consumers provided views and that these were considered alongside submissions from industry and consumer groups to confirm the retail service quality issues for prioritisation.

This final report locks down the retail service quality issues that need addressing, he said. They span all stages of the telecommunications service lifecycle from advertising, marketing and engagement, through to service performance, billing and customer service, to closing accounts and switching providers.

Our focus will now shift to working with industry to implement solutions that will make a meaningful difference for consumers. Well be issuing a workplan for this next phase of our work in the New Year.

As we progress the work, we will continue to provide individual consumers and consumer groups the opportunity to have their say.

In addition to the consumer poll, 17 submissions were received from the industry and consumer groups including Christians Against Poverty, Consumer NZ, Federated Farmers NZ, FinCap, Technology Users Association of New Zealand (TUANZ), and Utilities Disputes.

Gilbertson said the Commissions work to improve retail service quality outcomes is driven by the new regulatory regime introduced in 2018.

We are already working with the telecoms industry on a number of issues, such as improving mobile usage information and the way that newer technologies are advertised to consumers coming off copper, he said.

If the industry falls short in one or more of these areas then, given their importance to consumers, we are likely to have to make them a priority within our workplan and use our new powers to put a remedy in place.

The Commissions work to identify retail service quality issues affecting consumers included one of the largest ever surveys of telecommunications consumers in New Zealand, also published in September.

The Retail Service Quality  Final Baseline Report, which sets the baseline for the Commissions ongoing work programme, is on the Commissions website, along with the poll results and the Commissions response to submissions from industry and consumer groups. The individual submissions are also published on the Commissions here.

This first appeared in the subscription newsletter CommsWire on 10 December 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.
Libya is to hold its first ever presidential elections late next week, but the lack of a final list of candidates and bitter political divisions have cast doubt on whether they will take place.

Polling, set for December 24, was intended to mark a transition towards peace, but many now fear it could instead reignite civil war.

The elections may do more harm than good in Libya given the deep societal and political fault lines, said Jamal Benomar, a former United Nations under-secretary-general.

The necessary conditions for free and fair elections are not available, and Libyans are too divided to accept or agree on the results.

The election, part of a United Nations-led peace process, comes after a year of relative calm following a landmark October 2020 ceasefire between eastern and western camps.

A transitional administration took office in March to lead the oil-rich North African country into the polls.

But despite high hopes for peace, the UN has struggled to overcome deep, complex divisions left by a decade of fighting and foreign intervention since the 2011 NATO-backed uprising that toppled and killed Moamer Kadhafi.

Benomar, who chairs the International Centre for Dialogue Initiatives think tank, warned that fragmented state institutions and a lack of unified or legitimate security forces were destabilising the country.

As an array of armed groups hold sway on the ground, few believe that voters will be able to freely cast their ballots.

 Divisive candidates 

About 2.5 million voter registration cards have been collected, but aside from posters urging other Libyans to do likewise, there are few signs in the seaside capital Tripoli that a ballot is approaching.

With the election authority yet to publish a final list of candidates, campaigning has not officially begun, although some hopefuls are promoting themselves on social media.

The elections follow months of bitter disputes over their legal basis and who may stand, with several divisive figures in the running.

Among the most controversial is Khalifa Haftar, a military chief who controls much of eastern and southern Libya.

He is despised in the countrys west following his year-long, ultimately failed assault on Tripoli in 2019-2020.

His candidacy was made possible by a controversial electoral law signed off by his ally, parliamentary speaker Aguila Saleh, in a process rivals say bypassed due process.

But for some, his rival Seif al-Islam Kadhafis candidacy is equally problematic.

The son of the toppled dictator who ruled Libya with an iron fist for four decades, Seif al-Islam is accused by many  including International Criminal Court prosecutors  of war crimes.

Anas El Gomati, director of Libyan think tank the Sadeq Institute, said that elections under these legal and political conditions will almost certainly destabilise Libya.

He told AFP: An election victory by Seif or Haftar would bring war from those who stood against Kadhafi in 2011 or Haftars assault on Tripoli in 2019.

Even interim Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah, a tycoon who heads the Tripoli-based transitional administration, faces claims his candidacy is illegitimate.

After months of legal battles, whoever wins, there is a risk that the losers will undermine the winners and say the election wasnt constitutionally valid, said Peter Millett, a former UK ambassador to Libya.

 Train crash 

As if these complexities were not enough, the UNs Libya envoy Jan Kubis quit his post just a month before the poll.

A diplomat in New York, who asked not to be named, said Kubiss insistence on holding the polls on December 24 had caused a breakdown in his relationship with Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who doubted conditions were ripe.

Kubis had even recognised the contentious September election law. That was one of the big criticisms of his tenure, said Amanda Kadlec, a former member of the UN Panel of Experts on Libya.

To avoid a vacuum, Guterres appointed US diplomat Stephanie Williams, a former acting director of the UNs Libya mission, as special adviser.

Parliamentary speaker Saleh had also changed the electoral timetable to delay legislative polls, keeping himself in charge of the eastern-based parliament even if his ally Haftar were to lose the presidential vote, according to Gomati.

Yet despite the danger of holding the polls, experts warn that postponing them also carries risks.

If Dbeibah stayed in position without a ballot, his eastern rivals could again create their own government to compete with his, Kadlec said.

Millett sees a risk that Libya is heading for a train crash on December 25 whether elections happen on schedule or not.
More than two decades have passed since war ripped Kosovo apart, but the trauma unleashed by the fighting lingers for Bajram Cerkini and other relatives of those still deemed as missing.

The war is not over yet in my family, said 82-year-old Cerkini, an ethnic Albanian whose son Reshat is among the missing. My wife still hears his footsteps and voice at night.

The late 1990s war between Serbian forces and ethnic Albanian guerrillas killed an estimated 13,000 and only ended after NATO intervened.

Thousands more went missing  many of whom were abducted during bouts of ethnic cleansing and later murdered with their bodies dumped in mass graves, water wells or burnt.

In the years following the war, forensics experts from across the globe descended on Kosovo in a bid to identify remains and return them to their families, as well as to document potential war crimes.

In some cases, just small fragments of bones were recovered and handed over to families.

But not all were found, with 1,625 officially unaccounted for, according to Kosovo authorities.

The fate of the missing is one of many hot-button issues thwarting on-off talks between Kosovo and Serbia since the former breakaway province declared independence in 2008  a move never officially recognised by Belgrade.

 Hunt for mass graves 

Kosovo officials continue to lambast Serbia for dragging its feet, often accusing its officials of refusing to divulge the locations of more burial sites.

During the wars final moments, as Serb forces withdrew from Kosovo amid NATO bombing raids, mass graves across the breakaway province were hastily unearthed with the remains trucked back to Serbia to conceal evidence of crimes.

Since the wars end, nearly 1,000 bodies of Kosovo Albanians have been exhumed from sites throughout Serbia  including hundreds from a mass grave at a special police units outpost near Belgrade.

Trying to hide a crime, they committed another one, said Andin Hoti, the chairman of Kosovos committee for missing persons  whose own father remains unaccounted for.

Similar issues have continued to dog neighbouring Bosnia where experts are still trying to locate more mass graves near Srebrenica where an estimated 8,000 Muslim men and teenagers were butchered by Serb forces.

Its getting harder and harder to find mass graves. We are still looking for more than 1,000 people, said Almasa Salihovic, a spokesperson for the Srebrenica Memorial Center.

In Kosovo, where Bajram Cerkins NGO Voice of Parents is one of several representing families of the missing, the issue resonates beyond the political sphere.

In the capital Pristina, an art exhibition entitled A grave is better than not knowing has sought to capture the pain of the unconsoled, with neon-red digital clocks showing the hours and minutes that have passed since families last saw their loved ones.

The families of the missing do not want to die without burying their dead said artist Driton Selmani, the creator of the exhibition.

 Maybe tomorrow 

But even when remains are finally unearthed, new trauma is often triggered.

In October, Vesel Rukolli was informed that remains belonging to his father and uncle had been recovered from a grave months earlier in southern Serbias Kizevak.

The discoveries came five years after some of his uncles remains had been found in another village in Serbia.

His uncle had been murdered in April 1999 after Serbia forces massacred nearly 40 people in the village of Rezalle in Kosovo.

As the Serb forces fled the scene, they used a bulldozer to remove the bodies, dismembering many of their victims.

Following the later discovery, the family was forced to disinter his uncles body to run forensics tests before burying him for a second time.

It was burdensome. Very wearing, Rukolli sighed, as he adjusted a wreath on his uncles grave.

And while most of those killed and missing from the war are ethnic Albanian, many Serbs are still unaccounted for  a point Belgrade frequently raises in its war of words with Kosovo officials.

Officials in Pristina insist they are taking the matter seriously, with five undisclosed locations in Kosovo being excavated in the search for Serb victims of the war.

For over 22 years, Svetlana Marinkovic has been waiting for word about her husbands fate after he disappeared just days after the conflict ended.

Maybe tomorrow we will find out, Marinkovic told AFP from her home in the Serb town of Gracanica.

The hope dies last.
Libya is meant to elect its president in 10 days, but in a war-torn country riven by caustic feuds and institutional divisions, few believe polling will even go ahead.

The vote was to be the culmination of a United Nations-led process aimed at turning the page on the violence that has wracked Libya since the revolt that toppled and killed dictator Moamer Kadhafi in 2011.

But with question marks hanging over the election, the security situation and the credibility of the process, what comes next?

Will the vote happen?

The presidential election set for a week on Friday is far from certain to go ahead, partly because of bitter wrangling over the legal basis for the vote.

Aguilah Saleh, the speaker of Libyas eastern-based parliament, unilaterally passed a law in September that allows his ally Khalifa Haftar to run for the top job.

Haftar is despised in western Libya after a year-long assault on the capital Tripoli in 2019-20, but his forces control much of the countrys east and south.

The law also says there should be two weeks between the publication of the final list of candidates and the vote itself. But on Saturday the elections authority delayed announcing the list, making it even less likely the vote will take place on time.

What about the security situation?

Analysts have warned that the conditions are not in place for a free and fair vote across Libya.

And despite a year-long ceasefire, several security incidents and movements of forces have raised fears of a return to conflict.

In recent weeks, armed men blocked access to a court in Sebha that was examining an appeal against the electoral commission which had rejected the application of Seif al-Islam Kadhafi  son of the slain dictator.

They finally withdrew and the court restored his candidacy, but the incident sparked expressions of concern from the interim government and the UN.

Interior Minister Khaled Mazen later warned that the interim government could not guarantee security at polling stations.

Haftar has been accused of seeking to create a military dictatorship, and few believe residents of eastern Libya will be able to safely vote against him.

The minimum threshold of infrastructure and safety requirements for a free and fair election are not in place at this point, said Amanda Kadlec, former member of a UN panel of experts on Libya.

Moreover, the ballot has already been marred by accusations of fraud. Some voters have complained on social media that they have gone to collect their voter registration cards, only to find that they have already been collected.

Will the results be accepted?

If the polls do go ahead, there is no guarantee all sides will accept the result.

Rivals of each of the three perceived front runners have cast doubts over their candidacies  and each has armed forces who back their claims.

Few in western Libya would accept a Haftar victory.

Seif al-Islam Kadhafi is wanted by the International Criminal Court for suspected crimes against humanity and his candidacy has been contested in Libyan courts for similar reasons.

And before he was appointed interim premier, Abdulhamid Dbeibah had committed not to run  before finally throwing his hat into the ring after a string of populist moves.

What challenges will the next government face?

Any government resulting from the elections will face colossal challenges after four decades of dictatorship and a decade of war.

A key test will be whether they can reunite state institutions, including the central bank, which split in 2014 as a rival administration took power in eastern Libya.

Unifying or disbanding armed forces that were fighting each other until mid-2020 will also pose complex challenges  especially as some 20,000 foreign fighters remain on Libyan soil.

Drawing up a constitution will also be priority: Libya has been without one since Kadhafi scrapped the last one in 1969, and the lack of such a document has been at the heart of disputes over the current electoral process.

For ordinary Libyans, the priorities are more mundane: security, revival of the moribund economy, reconstruction of war-ravaged infrastructure and an end to interminable power cuts.

Key to Libyas relations with European powers will be the subject of sub-Saharan African migrants, tens of thousands of whom try to use the country as a launch pad for desperate bids to reach Europe.

Many face horrific abuses at the hands of people traffickers  and human rights groups say the European Union bears responsibility for many violations.
JUSTICE INFO IN-DEPTH INTERVIEWS Antoine Garapon

President of the Independent Commission on Recognition and Reparation for sexual crimes committed in French religious congregations

The work of the Independent Commission on Sexual Abuse in the Church (Ciase) has caused an earthquake in French society and within the Catholic Church. Magistrate Antoine Garapon was a member of this Commission. He is now in charge of one of the two reparations bodies set up by the Church. For him, restorative justice is a way for victims to re-appropriate their history.

JUSTICE INFO: What was your role in the Independent Commission on Sexual Abuse in the Church (Ciase) in France?

ANTOINE GARAPON: I was in charge of one of the four working groups of the Commission, the one concerning the victims, with Alice Casagrande [an expert on ethics and prevention of abuse]. The other three groups dealt with canon law and legal issues; theological questions and the evaluation of listening groups by the dioceses. The victims did not spontaneously trust us: they were suspicious at first because the bishops had taken them for a walk so much that they feared nothing would change with this Commission. It took us a few months to gain our legitimacy in their eyes and for us to constitute a mirror group composed of victims representing as much as possible the diversity of their sensitivities, especially in their relationship to the Church: all our decisions and analyses were shared with them. We never ceased to keep in mind that they have experiential knowledge, that is to say a unique knowledge about what they have experienced, which is inaccessible to us.

How has this experiential knowledge been useful to you?

This is the idea that Alice Casagrande brought from the medical-social field. Experiential knowledge is used in medicine. For example, when a person undergoes open-heart surgery for a heart transplant, someone who has experienced the same thing is there to share this very special knowledge. In judicial matters, for example, it can also be understood: the experience of leaving prison at 4am after 20 years of imprisonment for a crime is not shared until it is experienced.

This was very important for us because we quickly realized that the victims would bring us to truly understand our mission and what it was all about. We soon realized that sexual abuse in the Church was not just a problem of a few black sheep but a much deeper issue. We learned this from the victims.

That is why we have taken care to punctuate the report with victims stories. The book From Victims to Witnesses was conceived as a memorial of words, based on the testimonies received, to begin to repair the damage.

The role of writing, of listening, of speaking is very important. Some victims came to us looking for some sort of verbal validation of what they had experienced, to give the reality of the crime a social form.

So testimonies are already a form of reparation?

One victim told me that the book brought a resolution of rape through writing. As if the rape was a tear in the narrative of his life, an attack on his ability to speak, and that talking about it would repair what he had experienced. The role of writing, of listening, of speaking is very important. We tried to respond to this by publishing this report and this book.

As a childrens judge, I have dealt with many cases of sexual abuse involving children who were abused or for whom there were suspicions of abuse or mistreatment. In Ciase, I saw the same people again, but 50 years later, that is to say raped at 10 or 11 years old, whose lives were devastated and who could only talk about it 40 years later. Their lives were destroyed by an initial abuse that devastated them and they never recovered. Some victims came to us looking for some sort of verbal validation of what they had experienced, to give the reality of the crime a social form.

Many of them managed to overcome this, but most of their lifes energy was devoted to fighting against the symptoms they experienced: the inability to love, to be touched When we published From Victims to Witnesses, I received almost every day absolutely heartbreaking letters that confirmed to what extent the words of witnesses and the listening of the members of Ciase had been in themselves restorative.

Reparation does not only repair the acts themselves, it also repairs a culture that made such crimes possible with virtual impunity. It is the fact of finally talking about it, 50 years later, that provides reparation.

This non-state commission, similar to a truth commission, is in many ways a transitional justice process. What were its political objectives?

Ciase was a commission of inquiry to establish the reality and extent of a massive crime, not a mass crime. Then there was talk of setting up reparations commissions, one for victims of diocesan priests and another for victims of priests from congregations. This is where this dimension of reparation comes in. Reparation does not only repair the acts themselves, it also repairs a culture that made such crimes possible with virtual impunity. It is the fact of finally talking about it, 50 years later, that provides reparation.

I often draw parallels between transitional justice for mass crimes and the #MeToo cause. In both cases, dignity is restored by words. I think of Claire Nouvian, who testified that she was assaulted by Nicolas Hulot, and who said, Mr. Hulot, face up to your crime, dont back down. This I have heard very often from victims of the Church: Live up to what you have done. Today the Church has responded, belatedly of course, but it has done so by saying, Yes we are responsible, yes it is systemic. These words have a restorative effect, beyond individual cases.

Can we go so far as to say that this Commission has set in motion a phase of transition, after documenting the massive sexual abuse in the Church?

I have reservations about this term transition because it can be read in two ways. The weaker reading is to believe that this is a suspended moment and that we will return to a period almost identical to before. Its like the version of American NGOs in the 2000s, who promoted transitional justice in a kit.

What is interesting about the stronger reading of transitional justice is that there is a collapse of politics. The administrative apparatus, justice and law have been put at the service of dealing in an organized way with mass violence. This is what we saw with Nazism and apartheid, for example. For the Church, there is something that has collapsed  an institution that promises salvation and sows death. Something sacred that turns into its opposite. If we take this strong reading, it means that the term transition seems less and less appropriate: it is not a question of finding oneself as before, but of returning transformed by the lessons learned from collective violence and crime.

The report shows that most of the cases are time-barred. Sexual abuse in the Church is the perfect crime. Its a crime without a trace.

What do these revelations about the scale of the crimes and the failure of the justice system to act on lawlessness in the Church inspire in you?

The report shows that most of the cases are time-barred, because sexual abuse in the Church is the perfect crime. If a 40 or 50-year-old priest rapes a ten-year-old boy, and we know that it takes 35 years before he can speak out, well when he does the priest is in most cases dead or very old. So its a crime without a trace, all things being equal of course: the facts are not always present in the memory of the victims, but the consequences are visible to them.

The judicial system is not the only one responsible because, in many cases, we realize that it was a whole society that covered up for the priests, not only the Catholic hierarchy but also the families. Victims have told us that, as children, it was impossible for them to talk to their parents because they adored the priest. One victim told me that she had filed a complaint with the gendarmerie, which was very courageous of her in the 1960s, and the gendarmes said to her: But what are you saying against Father X, what nonsense you are saying about this good priest. Then 20 years later, the priest died in prison, sentenced to 20 years of criminal imprisonment. So this concerns the whole society.

Secondly, it is not only a problem of crimes being time-barred but also an imperfection of the criminal process that is at issue. If the judicial system is not up to the task, it is not only for bad reasons. Indeed, and this is the core issue, one does not convict someone without evidence. And finding evidence in a place that is by definition private, away from the eyes of others, is difficult. Consent or lack of consent is not marked on the forehead. So evidence is generally lacking for sexual abuse and is even more lacking after 40 years.

We need to treat sexual violence with different reasoning than those of criminal justice. Restorative justice is also a way for victims to re-appropriate their history.

The Ciase report underlines the role that restorative justice can play. In what way do you think it is a fundamental way to provide reparation to these victims?

Here, the concept of restorative justice plays its full role. Because we need to treat sexual violence with different reasoning and different foundations than those of criminal justice. Restorative justice is also a way for victims to re-appropriate their history. Victims of rape say that they filed a complaint, the police heard them, then lawyers took over the case, activists took over their story, and judges made nice trials. Many victims feel completely dispossessed of their history.

This is part of the revolution in thinking that needs to take place: how victims can keep control of their story. Restorative justice thus reconsiders the telling of ones suffering as a step forward. I think of people in particular who have said to me, I dont want to hurt the Church. I want to tell the hurt that it did to me, but I dont want it to go any further.

But how to stay as close as possible to people, to their experience, to what they say?

This is a big challenge. We need to think about restorative justice that welcomes people in their singularity. Veronique Le Goaziou, a sociologist specializing in violence against women, shows that in feminist associations, the women who are militant and shout loudly in the street never go to court. They talk about others but not about themselves. This raises questions about intimacy, about owning ones own words, about tension between being and having. On the one hand, we have a justice system that is focused on having, on form, on quantification; and on the other hand, we have victims who understand their destiny not in terms of suffering but in terms of being prevented from being, which is completely different.

One should not confuse the spirit of reparative justice with its form. We start from the idea that there are several forms to invent, to co-construct with the victims.

In concrete terms, how is restorative justice implemented?

It is better to speak of reparative justice because this word reparation was given to us by members of the Church. And one should not confuse the spirit of reparative justice with its form. A face to face meeting between the aggressor and the victim is one form; what is sought in this meeting? Is it to humanize the victim, the perpetrator? We start from the idea that there are several forms to invent, to co-construct with the victims, which will be different each time. There is no set recipe for restorative justice, it is not at all dogmatic.

My commission will also study the question of control. A 60-year-old victim confided to me that, as a child, she would have thrown herself into icy water if her priest had asked her to.

On November 19, you were appointed by the Conference of Monks and Nuns of France (Corref) to chair an independent Commission for Recognition and Reparation (CIRR). How does it differ from the Independent National Instance for Recognition and Reparation (INIRR), created by the French Bishops Conference (CEF) on November 8?

Corref trusted me to create an independent commission from scratch. The aim is that as little as possible should differ from that carried out by the CEF, since the idea is to work together. Until now, positions have diverged. Until the day before the end of their general assembly, the bishops said: The Church is charitable but not guilty, whereas the discourse of the Corref was rather to say: The Church is guilty, it has a debt of justice. The establishment of these two commissions shows that the bishops have evolved and are following the positions of Corref.

However, we do not have the same remit. Corref and CEF have appointed a different president for each of their commissions. Marie Derain de Vaucresson, a lawyer specializing in childrens rights, heads the Independent National Commission for Recognition and Reparations of the CEF, and I head the second. My commission will deal with vulnerable adults, that is to say it will also study the question of control. A 60-year-old victim confided to me that, as a child, she would have thrown herself into icy water if her priest had asked her to.

Have victims already approached you in the context of this new commission?

We have already received more than 40 requests in ten days. I notice that victims ask for very different things: a face-to-face meeting with the institution to which the abuser belonged, money, to be registered in an official register of victims The requests are completely different and our goal is to try to respect this diversity, precisely to have the most individualized treatment possible.

What experience will you draw on when faced with such a challenge?

When you have experienced human density, what happens between you and a victim during a hearing, you cannot turn down a request like this. So I will draw on those three years of experience of victim hearings at Ciase and on what I have seen in other contexts, notably before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. What I find particularly motivating is that, for once, this is going to take place in France, between French people, in the very heart of French identity, which is the Catholic Church.

There is a special dimension for victims of the Church: the intervention of the sacred. How can these same men who groped me celebrate mass afterwards?

Transitional justice has failed more often than it has succeeded in terms of reparations. What do you see as the criteria for success in such a mission?

The objective is to allow victims to start again in their being, to regain the energy to be and the capacity to face the future, to build their future, whether they are 75, 45 or 20 years old, without being burdened by their past and being weighed down. So how do we know its working? A lot of people say thank you, but there are all the people we havent been able to reach. As the report showed, there are a huge number of victims who have not spoken out, who remain locked in their silence, depression and loneliness. So our main concern is to put things in place to reach them, to reach the very people we have trouble reaching. This is very difficult.

I met a lot of people and one in particular was close to being homeless: he was completely lost because he had been abandoned by his mother at age two, placed in a home and abused for ten years. And he had no recourse because he had no one outside that home. I can say that there is a special dimension for victims of the Church; this intervention of the sacred is very disturbing for people. How can these same men who groped me celebrate mass afterwards? There is a lack of understanding, it is scandalous. We cant get over it. Its a betrayal of adults, in the mind of a young person.

Do you feel you can do something about the causes?

It is not our job to treat the causes. But we have set up a research unit that will help us better understand and help the Church and the congregations to learn all the lessons that need to be learned. It is always easier to have perspective for us who are outside the Church than for people whose whole life is the Church. It is terrible for a bishop to denounce one of his priests with whom he has a fraternal relationship, it is terrible to look the wreckage of a congregation in the face. Perhaps our work can help find solutions.

Money is not the only thing, but it is important for the victims. Olivier Savignac, president of a collective of victims of sexual abuse in the Church, speaks of more than two billion euros. Will the Church pay?

Im not sure it will cost that much. Many victims are elderly and money is not their major problem in most cases: what can you expect from money when most of your life is behind you? In any case, the Church says it is ready to repair, so we must believe it! The president of the French Bishops Conference, Eric de Moulins-Beaufort, has said that he will follow the Ciase report.

This phrase crimes that can neither be punished nor forgiven applies quite well to these crimes. We cannot punish them because of the statute of limitations but we cannot forgive them, so what can we do?

Do you consider these crimes to be among those that can neither be punished nor forgiven, as you wrote in a book published twenty years ago?

Yes, its funny you say that, because I was thinking recently about that title I chose, which is not mine but Hannah Arendts. This phrase crimes that can neither be punished nor forgiven applies quite well to these crimes. We cannot punish them because of the statute of limitations but we cannot forgive them, so what can we do? This is what I am working on.
Entegris, a US chip material manufacturer, plans to more than double its investment in Taiwan and build its largest manufacturing base on the island. This is a major victory for Asias major chip economies as it races to ensure its presence in the semiconductor supply chain Status.

Entegris CEO and President Bertrand Loy said in an interview with Nikkei Asia that Entegris will invest US$500 million in Taiwan in the next three years, which is higher than the previous US$200 million plan. The company is building a manufacturing plant in the southern city of Kaohsiung in Taiwan to supply TSMC and other companies. Operations will begin at the end of next year, and mass production will begin in the middle of 2023.

Loy said that the facility will produce filtration and deposition materials for the production of 3nm and 2nm chips, which is the most advanced chip manufacturing technology in the industry. The smaller the nanometer, the more advanced the chip.

Due to national security concerns, the United States and other major economies are increasingly calling for more chip supply chains to be introduced into their countries.

everyone [in the industry] Actually now realize that a shorter supply chain and closer to customers may be a better model [of operation], Roy told Nikkei Asia. We intend to have a shorter supply chain and more local manufacturing closer to our customer base in Taiwan, and our customer base in Taiwan. [South] South Korea, or Japan and the United States. 

This article is from Nikkei Asia, A global publication with a unique Asian perspective on politics, economics, business and international affairs. Our own correspondents and external commentators from all over the world share their views on Asia, and our Asia300 section provides in-depth coverage of the 300 largest and fastest-growing listed companies from 11 economies outside of Japan. subscription | Group subscription

Loy said that the companys main production base is still in the United States, accounting for about 60%, but the industry veteran is seeking to create a more balanced manufacturing footprint.

If you fast forward to 2024 or 2025, I think the output in the United States may be 50% and 50%, respectively, compared to the output in other places, Roy said. The reason for this is that we are also continuing to invest in the United States. Entegris already has production bases in Japan and South Korea.

Major chip makers are in the most aggressive expansion ever to help ease the global chip supply crunch in a range of industries from automobiles to consumer electronics. Only the worlds top three chip makers-TSMC, Intel and Samsung-have allocated more than $350 billion in capital expenditures in the next few years. Counterpoint Research estimates that between now and 2025, cutting-edge production capacity-defined as any product below 10 nanometers-will more than double the current level.

Although some analysts and industry participants have expressed concerns about the potential oversupply after all these expansion plans are realized, Loy said his company is not worried about short-term market volatility.

Growth is never linear, he said. I think the semiconductor industry will grow at twice the rate of GDP in the next 10 years, and it will reach US$1 trillion [market size by 2030]We need to be prepared for this, which means we need to increase capacity. Will things slow down a little for a year? perhaps. But we are not short-term management. We are managing for a long time. 

Entegris, headquartered in Massachusetts, is the worlds top high-end filter supplier, these filters are essential to ensure the purity of the chemicals and liquids used to make chips and displays. As semiconductor manufacturing becomes more and more complex, and the tolerance for impurities and defects becomes lower, this material becomes more and more important.

The companys new factory in Taiwan will first provide services to its top customer TSMC, which is the worlds largest foundry chip manufacturer, and will subsequently support other chip manufacturers. Entegris supplies all chip leaders in the world, including Intel, Samsung, Kioxia, Micron and SK Hynix. Loy said the company will also spend US$11 million to expand its technology center in Taiwan.

Entegris CEO and President Bertrand Loy predicts healthy growth in the global chip industry in the next ten years  Entegris



The CEO also talked about the US initiatives to introduce incentives for the domestic semiconductor industry, including the $52 billion chip bill. Loy is also the chairman of the board of the global industry association SEMI. He said that chip manufacturing materials and equipment suppliers should also receive this support, and foreign companies investing in the United States should also be eligible.

This is a very global industry that relies on a very broad global ecosystem. I think this opportunity should be given to everyone and should not be discriminatory, Roy said. Going back in time, we benefited from South Koreas incentives when investing in South Korea I understand that politically, this may be a difficult decision, but from an economic point of view, I think it is the right decision.

At the same time, Taiwan is getting new investment from many chip material manufacturers. Formosa Sumco, a joint venture between Taiwans leading petrochemical group Formosa Plastics Group and Sumco, the worlds second largest wafer material manufacturer, is building a NT$28.26 billion (US$1 billion) plant in Yunlin, Taiwan. Will be put into production in 2024. Mitsubishi Chemical, Mitsui Chemicals and Hitachi Chemical are also expanding their manufacturing operations in Taiwan.

According to data from IC Insights, it is estimated that the capital expenditure of the semiconductor industry in 2021 will reach a record of more than 148 billion U.S. dollars, an increase of 30% year-on-year, nearly six times that during the global financial crisis in 2009. This number is expected to increase further in 2022.

A version of this article First published by Nikkei Asia on December 8, 2021. 2021 Nikkei Inc. All rights reserved

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After the company decided to withdraw its application to the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to operate a digital asset exchange in the country, the cryptocurrency exchange Binance is gradually ending its trading business in Singapore. Binance Singapore stated: From January 13, 2022, it will stop buying and selling cryptocurrencies from users existing assets.

Binance withdraws application to operate cryptocurrency exchange in Singapore

Binance announced on Monday a number of changes affecting all users of its Singapore platform Binance.sg. The exchange stated that the decision was not rash, and the exchange stated in detail:

We are writing to you today to inform you that Binance Asia Services Sdn Bhd (BAS) intends to withdraw its license to work in Singapore before February 13, 2022 and terminate its digital payment token in Singapore (DPT )Serve.

Binance explained that from now on, Binance.sg will not allow new users to register, and existing users will not be able to deposit cryptocurrency or fiat currency on the platform.

However, the exchange clarified that until January 12, 2022, users can continue to use their existing assets to buy and sell cryptocurrencies, and urged customers to start making plans to withdraw their fiat currencies and cryptocurrencies from the platform.

Between January 13 and February 13, 2022, Users can only withdraw and transfer their cryptocurrency to third-party platforms or crypto wallets; and/or withdraw SGD, the exchange emphasized, stating that all accounts Must be closed by February 13, 2022.

CEO explains why Binance Singapore is closing its cryptocurrency trading business

Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) explained on Twitter on Monday why his company decided to withdraw its application to operate a local exchange in Singapore. He wrote on Twitter:

Binance made a significant investment in the regulated exchange HGX last week. This investment makes our own application somewhat redundant. We will continue to work hard to develop Singapores encryption industry through our partners.

Last week, Binance announced that it had acquired an 18% stake in Hg Exchange (HGX), a private securities exchange regulated by Singapore.

In September, after MAS, Binance stopped some services in Singapore release Warn the exchange to stop providing payment services.Binance then stop Provide legal deposit services, cryptocurrency spot trading, purchase cryptocurrency through legal channels, and liquidity swaps.

Singapore is not the only country warning Binance to operate without permission. Many other regulators including the United States, the United Kingdom, South Africa, Australia, Norway, the Netherlands, Hong Kong, Germany, Italy, India, Malaysia and Lithuania have issued warnings to exchanges. In August, Binance stated that it is making regulatory compliance a Imperative.

Zhao Say Last week: We are making some very significant changes in our organizational structure, product supply, our internal processes, and the way we work with regulators We are establishing real offices, legal entities, appropriate boards of directors, most Appropriate governance structures exist everywhere.

What do you think about Binance withdrawing its application to operate a cryptocurrency exchange in Singapore? Please let us know in the comments section below.

Kevin Helms As a student of Austrian economics, Kevin discovered Bitcoin in 2011 and has been an evangelist ever since. His interests lie in Bitcoin security, open source systems, network effects, and the intersection of economics and cryptography.











Image Source: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wikimedia Commons

Disclaimer: This article is for reference only. It is not a direct offer or invitation to buy or sell, nor is it a recommendation or endorsement of any product, service or company. Bitcoin Network Does not provide investment, tax, legal or accounting advice. The company or the author is not directly or indirectly responsible for any damage or loss caused or claimed to be caused by using or relying on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article.
Lee Dong Wook, Wi Ha Joon, Han Ji Eun, and Cha Hak Yeon attended the "Bad and Crazy" online press conference on December 13. The cast shared a sneak peek of what to anticipate and the goals they want to achieve for the series.

Director Yoon Sun Dong Reveals He Works With 'The Uncanny Counter' Team in 'Bad and Crazy'

Director Yoon Sun Dong was asked if he felt pressured to do another drama following the success of "The Uncanny Counter." He gets real by answering, "I didn't actually feel any pressure, because I always think of myself as a director who is lacking and wants to learn something new."

PD Yoon Sun Dong added that the staff from "The Uncanny Counter" are also the people he worked with in "Bad and Crazy." He assured that since he works again with the same crew and has the best cast, the viewers can enjoy the series as much as they enjoyed the previous drama.

Lee Dong Wook and Wi Ha Joon Talk About Their Experiences of Working Together

Meanwhile, lead stars Lee Dong Wook and Wi Ha Joon admitted that the director and the well-written script were the reasons why they chose the project. The "My Girl" actor shared that the director had a definite plan when it came to the direction.

Dong Wook and Ha Joon said that the script was fun and that they had their full trust with the writer and director that the series will be enjoyed by the viewers.

Lee Dong Wook takes the role of Ryu Soo Yeol, a police detective who only aims of having good results with his work and doesn't care about what might happen during the process of attaining it. The actor confessed that he had no pressure in portraying his new role and the guidance of director Yoon Sun Dong helped him to portray his character as raw as possible.

On the other hand, Wi Ha Joon who will play as K, a guy who believes that he is destined to become a hero that brings justice to the world, also shared about his role. The "Squid Game" star explained that Ryu Soo Yeol is his first target in the drama.

The "18 Again" actor said that his character as K is appealing, and a kind of role that he has never tried before. Ha Joon was also enthusiastic that people will finally see a new side of him in "Bad and Crazy."

Wi Ha Joon Wants to Win Best Couple Award with Lee Dong Wook for Their 'Bad and Crazy' Bromance

When talking about their bromance, Lee Dong Wook said that they synced up very well on set and Wi Ha Joon always came to filming with an open mind. Dong Wook revealed that all the suggestions he mentioned were greatly followed by Wi Ha Joon and is easy to work with.

Wi Ha Joon shared that his goal is to get the Best Couple at the upcoming Baeksang Arts Awards for his bromance with Lee Dong Wook.

According to him, "Our chemistry was so good and if I put it in one phrase, I would say that we're real friends. Just like we are long lost childhood friends."

He praised Lee Dong Wook for having lots of ideas to make everything work and was also a funny guy who is always ready to play along even at the smallest things.

Are you excited to watch Lee Dong Wook and Wi Ha Joon's "Bad and Crazy" bromance? 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.
Fans, rejoice, as Netflix original crime-action series "D.P." Season 2 has been confirmed! Starring Jung Hae In and Goo Kyo Hwan, the lead stars gear for the sophomore season, and expectations are high on the kind of world that awaits the viewers with the much-anticipated sequel.

Netflix Gears for Jung Hae In and Goo Kyo Hwan's 'D.P.' Season 2

Netflix's original crime action series "D.P.," which was released on August 27 this year, received worldwide acclaim and even created social syndrome, which finally led to producing its second season.

"D.P.," based on the crime action webtoon called "D.P. Dog's Day" by Kim Bo Tong, follows the story of a South Korean military police unit whose mission is to catch the deserters, and end up in an exhilarating adventure.

In the first season, "D.P." ended when Private Ahn Jun Ho (Jung Hae In), wearing the rank of first officer, walks in a different direction from his crew after the unexpected incident that left scars on everyone.

Even after the ending credits started to roll, the sound of footsteps continued for a few minutes, hinting at a second season and raising curiosity about what kind of story would be shown in the future.

In "D.P." Season 2, director Han Jun Hee and writer Kim Bo Tong will be in-charge in curating the masterpiece, working together once again after the first season.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: BLACKPINK Jisoo Displays Tight Bond With College Roommates Jung Shin Hye, Kim Mi Soo and Choi Hee Jin in 'Snowdrop'

In addition, the production company Climax Studio, which produced "D.P." and another critically acclaimed Netflix series "Hellbound," will be responsible for the completeness and production of the forthcoming season.

Expectations and anticipation are skyrocketing, focus is given to what kind of world awaits for the viewers in the new season.

Netflix Series 'D.P.' Worldwide Recognition and Viewer Response

Jung Hae In and Goo Kyo Hwan's "D.P." stole both the viewers and critics' hearts with its unconventional plot and interesting characters.

Also, the bromance between Jung Hae In and Goo Kyo Hwan, the performances of veterans Kim Sung Kyun, Son Seok Koo and Jo Hyun Cheol elicited passionate sympathy and resonance that transcends generations.

In particular, "D.P." leaves a poignant message with sensuous directing which reveals the reality in the world without fabrication.

YOU MIGHT ALSO BE INTERESTED IN: Han Ji Min and Lee Dong Wook's 'Happy New Year' Film Introduces Characters and Their Relationships Through a Colorful and Witty Chart

The series topped Netflix's Top 10 in South Korea just a week after its release. It was also selected by the New York Times as one of the Top 10 Best International Television Shows in 2021.

It isn't a story that was made only for South Koreans but for everyone, leaving a warm acclaim.

While "D.P." is gearing up for its new season, the exact date and time of its premiere and cast addition are yet to be announced.

Watch the first season of the Netflix series here:

Follow KDramaStars for more Korean drama updates!



KDramaStars owns this article.

Written by Elijah Mully.
(Salem)  During the December special session, the Oregon Legislature approved $18 million in funding for Afghan refugee resettlement efforts. This funding will help provide Afghan individuals and families resettling in Oregon with housing, education, legal aid, job training and other culturally responsive services.

The Oregon Department of Human Services (ODHS) Refugee Program administers federally funded cash and medical supports to refugees and individuals with eligible immigration statuses, and contracts with Resettlement Agencies (RAs) to provide initial resettlement services

The United States is currently coordinating the relocation of more than 70,000 people following their evacuation from Afghanistan. Afghan families began arriving in Oregon this fall, and the number of arrivals will increase in the coming months.

Oregon has committed to resettling 1,200 Afghan arrivals, but existing federal funding does not provide adequate support for these efforts. This newly approved funding will address critical resource gaps in the states resettlement plan.

Refugee resettlement activities declined during the previous administration due to lower annual refugee admissions, which in turn prompted a drawback of resources. The Biden Administration has since increased the number of refugees permitted to enter the United States, but funding and capacity have remained major issues. Senator Kayse Jama (D-Portland) and Representative Khanh Pham (D-Portland) have called for a compassionate response to evacuated Afghan allies, urging the state to address the gaps and create a strong foundation for refugees future in Oregon.

We know that Afghan families and individuals coming to Oregon have experienced trauma, said ODHS Director Fariborz Pakseresht. We must be mindful that Afghan arrivals have left behind friends, family, cherished homes and established businesses to start a new life. They will become our neighbors, coworkers and productive members of our communities. We owe it to them to make their first days, weeks and months in Oregon as stress-free as possible, connecting them to quality and easy-to-navigate resources, from meals to jobs supports to connections with faith-based organizations.

The approved $18 million in funding will enable the department to meet the immediate needs of Afghan arrivals while building back much-needed refugee resettlement infrastructure to accommodate the increase in arrivals from around the world. Funding includes allocations for the following:

Short-term housing and food assistance

Long-term housing assistance

Case management and community-based outreach and support

Legal services to seek permanent immigration status

The state of Oregon has really stepped up to meet the needs of individuals and families from Afghanistan, said Claire Seguin, deputy director of ODHS Self-Sufficiency Programs and the states refugee coordinator. We began this year with three partner resettlement agencies, and now we have five. The level of commitment and the outpouring of community support has been astounding, in addition to the refugee support network that already existed. This funding, paired with so much thoughtful planning, allows us to channel that commitment into real supports for Afghan arrivals.
SALEM, Ore. -- Below is a select summary of legislation and funding that passed during the special session:

Housing Protections

Senate Bill 891 extends safe harbor protections to prevent evictions of Oregonians who have

rental assistance on the way. Senate Bill 5561 includes a $215 million package to provide

additional rental assistance, speed up the process of applications, and ensure landlords are fully

paid.

Drought Relief

In response to the impact the recent heat dome, wildfire smoke and record drought have had on

farming communities, Senate Bill 5561 includes a $100 million drought relief package to support

farmers and irrigators across the state who have been impacted by drought, heat, or fire. Senate

Bill 892 establishes a forgivable loan program to provide financial assistance for Oregon farmers

and ranchers who lost gross income in 2021 due to a qualifying natural disaster.

Illegal Cannabis Enforcement

Senate Bill 5561 approves $25 million to prevent illegal operations and address the humanitarian

crisis impacting workers at these sites. Senate Bill 893 expands the scope of the Illegal

Marijuana Market Enforcement Grant program at the Criminal Justice Commission to include

funding for community-based organizations to address the humanitarian crisis that workers are

forced into with unlawful cultivation or distribution operations.

Afghan Refugee Support

Senate Bill 5561 includes $18 million to help Afghan refugees arriving in Oregon find housing,

education, language and job training, and legal assistance.

Affordable Housing and Homeless Support

Senate Bill 5561 approved $1 million to each of the following cities: Albany, Ashland,

Beaverton, Bend, Corvallis, Eugene, Grants Pass, Gresham, Hillsboro, Medford, Portland,

Redmond, Salem, and Springfield. The $14 million total will address housing insecurity, lack of

affordable housing, or homelessness over the next few months. The City of Portland will use its

$1 million to work with local partners to establish RV parking sites.

Oregon Mass Timber Modular Housing Prototype

Senate Bill 5561 includes $5 million for the Port of Portland to help fund the Oregon Mass

Timber Modular Housing Prototype project, which will develop a prototype of modular housing

units made from mass timber AND assess the economic, environmental, and efficiency of

creating these housing units to address the housing crisis in Oregon.

Gun Violence Prevention

Senate Bill 5561 invests $2 million to assist the City of Gresham and local community partners

in creating and implementing the East Metro Outreach, Prevention, and Intervention (OPI)

program. The program will address rising youth violence and improve public safety outcomes in

East Multnomah County by building community and investing in mentoring and culturally

responsive youth programming.
By Kelly McCleary, Holly Yan and Theresa Waldrop, CNN

(CNN) -- The destruction was instantaneous as many homes and businesses were tossed in the air in last weekend's tornado outbreak across eight states -- but those who survived, many of whom are left with only the clothes on their backs, now face a daunting path toward recovery.

About 75% of one town, Dawson Springs in western Kentucky, was wiped out by the tornado, Mayor Chris Smiley said.

"Right now, our spirits are crushed, but we'll come back," said Hopkins County Coroner Dennis Mayfield, who reported a death toll of 13 in Dawson Springs alone.

About a third of the town's population of 2,500 lives below the poverty line and many don't have insurance.

Those whose homes are still standing probably won't have power for up to a month, said Nick Bailey, the county's emergency management director.

Overall, at least 88 people were killed in the violent storms that rolled through the parts of the Midwest and South late Friday into Saturday, including at least 74 in Kentucky, according to Gov. Andy Beshear. An estimated 50 tornado reports were made across eight states.

"When this tornado hit, it didn't just take a roof off, which is what we've seen in the past," Beshear said. "It exploded the whole house. People, animals, the rest -- just gone."

Of the 74 killed in Kentucky, 12 were children, Beshear said. More than 100 people still were unaccounted for as of Tuesday morning, he said.

The damage wasn't restricted to life and buildings. Several large transmission towers were destroyed, and it will take weeks to months to replace them, Kentucky Emergency Management Director Michael Dossett told CNN's Wolf Blitzer.

The destruction was indiscriminate. The long-term impact is hard to measure.

"For some folks, I don't know that they'll ever recover from this completely, certainly not emotionally or psychologically," state Sen. Whitney Westerfield said. "Homes and buildings can be rebuilt in time, but this is the kind of thing that lasts with the community and with the family for a long time," he told CNN on Monday.

'We were flown through the air'

"I'm not OK," said Breeana Glisson, a Dawson Springs mother who clutched her two young children as their home was ripped apart by the roaring wind. "Like, one minute I'm sitting here and I'm smiling and one minute I'm bawling my eyes out," Glisson told CNN.

Glisson's arm was broken, her head injured and face bruised. Her house was destroyed. But she is alive, and her children were miraculously unhurt.

"It's insane. I can't believe that me and my kids are OK," Glisson told CNN's Ed Lavandera, standing amid the concrete and wood rubble of her completely devastated neighborhood. "I can't believe that there's no broken bones on my children. It's crazy."

Glisson said she and her children are "extremely lucky to be alive because we were flown through the air. And ... our neighbors passed away right next to us."

Those neighbors were sisters Marsha Hall, 72, and Carole Grisham, 80. They took cover in a hallway during the tornado, but were found dead nearly 12 hours later among the rubble several houses away.

"Everybody thought the world of them," said Jason Cummins, Hall's son, with tears in his eyes. "They were the sweetest, nicest people who were always thinking about everyone else before themselves."

"My children loved them," Glisson said of the sisters. "We talked to them every day."

For now, Glisson, her children and her mother are living in a hotel room with a few donated items of clothing, blankets and food. But they don't know where they are going next.

The Red Cross has opened shelters for those who lost their homes and several Kentucky state parks were opened to help house families.

The Team Western Kentucky Tornado Relief Fund is also raising funds to help with recovery. More than $4 million was donated in just two days, Beshear said.

But more help is needed, Westerfield said.

"We still need blood donations and still could use donations" to the Team Western Kentucky Tornado Relief Fund, Westerfield said. "I'd encourage you, (if) you have spare room this Christmas, give to western Kentucky."

Kentucky first lady Britainy Beshear announced a toy drive for children in the state. "They've lost everything, including their homes and maybe even someone they love," she said. "With your help, we can make this season a little easier for those who are hurting by donating a toy, book or gift card to bring them home some hope and joy during the holidays."

'I laid on my family to hopefully protect them'

In Mayfield, about a 70-mile drive southwest of Dawson Springs, the Rev. Wes Fowler of the First Baptist Church said he and his family went to the church when they heard the weather was getting bad because they thought it was the safest place to be.

The family took shelter in a tunnel that connects two of the church's buildings.

"Ceiling tiles started shaking and shifting and dust started filling the room, and debris started filling. And we got against the wall," Fowler told CNN's Anderson Cooper. "I laid on my family to hopefully protect them."

Fowler said he and his wife tried to comfort their children during the worst of it, but "it was a very difficult moment."

"We were telling our kids everything was going to be OK, everything was going to be fine. In our minds we're thinking we're not sure that we're going to make it out of this," he said.

The ordeal lasted only about a minute, but it felt much longer, Fowler said. When it was over he went outside with a flashlight but didn't recognize the scene before him.

"I was confused. Born and raised here, I know this town well, but it wasn't the same, like the landscape wasn't the same," he said.

Fowler said his church building is damaged, but can likely be saved. For now the cross above the entrance still stands, even though the glass that surrounded it has shattered.

8 killed at Kentucky candle factory, officials say

Eight of those killed in Mayfield were working at the Mayfield Consumer Products candle factory, according to Indianapolis fire Division Chief Tom Neal, who is leading a search and rescue team deployed to the facility.

The factory had been "going 24/7" in part to meet Christmastime candle demand, US Rep. James Comer, who represents the area, told CNN.

A tornado leveled the building Friday night, trapping many employees under several feet of debris, but authorities are now confident no one remains in the rubble.

Mayfield residents rushed to the factory as word spread of the destruction there, including Navy veteran Adam Slack. First, he helped people remove debris from roads so paramedics and firefighters could better access the site, he said.

Eventually, Slack helped a survivor from the site.

"The poor woman, she would not let go of my hand. I asked her multiple times if she was OK physically. She says, 'Yeah ... I just want my dad,'" Slack told CNN's "New Day" on Tuesday.

"Got her back to my vehicle, gave her some shelter, blankets, kept her warm ... . She kept telling me to go back and help somebody else. I said, 'Well, I want to make sure you're OK first,' " Slack recalled.

Slack lent her a cell phone, and she called her father, who arrived to pick her up, Slack said.

The factory site was "horrific," he said.

"If I talk about it a little bit too long, it'll bring tears to your eyes. ... The wind was still going. Power lines, there was a couple gas leaks. People everywhere. It looked like a mound of ants when you kick it over. Everybody is trying to help, try to get in and get people out safely," Slack said.

Dozens missing in Bowling Green, Kentucky

About 130 miles to the east of Mayfield, in the Kentucky city of Bowling Green, officials said they have investigated 136 missing persons reports following the tornadoes and as of Monday, 13 people were still missing, according to Police Chief Michael Delaney. The death toll in Warren County, where Bowling Green is located, is 15, according to the coroner's office.

Frank Winthrow Jr. and his wife, Vickie Boards-Winthrow, are among those who lost their home in Bowling Green.

Winthrow said as the storm was getting bad, he looked up and saw the roof of his home was starting to come off.

"It was like hearing a train, closing in fast ... and before you know it, the door, the wall, come caving in."

Boards-Winthrow said she took shelter in the bathtub with nothing more than a pillow and her phone. "Everything just started crashing in. I felt the vibrations. It was scary, really scary. Everything just started falling in on me," she said.

Standing in what remains of their home the couple said they've lost a lot but are grateful to still be alive.

"Everytime I look in here and then look outside, I think about the others that didn't make it," Boards-Winthrow said, adding that she's asked herself why they survived and others didn't. "I guess I have a purpose ... it's just heartbreaking."

Six killed at Amazon warehouse in Illinois

In Illinois, at least six people died when an Amazon warehouse collapsed in Edwardsville after being hit by a tornado, Fire Chief James Whiteford said.

Those six victims ranged in age from 26 to 62, the Edwardsville Police Department said.

Forty-five people made it out of the building, with one person airlifted to a regional hospital for treatment, Edwardsville Fire Chief James Whiteford said Saturday evening.

Amazon Worldwide Consumer CEO Dave Clark said the company's staff was saddened at the loss of life at the facility and beyond.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims, their loved ones, and everyone who has been impacted by the storm's path across the US. We're continuing to provide support to our employees and partners in the area and across the communities affected by the storms. We also want to thank all of the first responders for their ongoing efforts on the scene," Clark said in a tweet.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating the collapse, a spokesperson told CNN.

"OSHA has had compliance officers at the complex since Saturday, December 11 to provide assistance," US Department of Labor spokesperson Scott Allen said in an email Monday.

OSHA, which investigates all workplace fatalities and catastrophes, "has six months to complete its investigation, issue citations and propose monetary penalties if violations of workplace safety and or health regulations are found," Allen added.

Amazon is supporting OSHA's effort, a spokesperson for Amazon said in an email Monday.

Destruction in Arkansas

In Arkansas, the storm struck a Dollar General store in Leachville and killed assistant manager June Pennington, Mississippi County spokesman Tom Henry said.

In the nearby city of Monette, at least one person was killed at a nursing home damaged by a tornado, Mayor Bob Blankenship said.

Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson said it was a "miracle" only one person died at the nursing home.

"As I went to that facility, it was like heaven sucked up the roof and all the contents of it," he said.

"And it's just a miracle with 67 residents that we only lost one there. And that's because of the heroic efforts by the staff and also the fact that we had 20 minutes of warning."
SALEM, Ore.  Legislators on both sides of the aisle took credit for two bills passed during Monday's special session aimed at creating better infrastructure to fight the proliferation of illegal marijuana grows now endemic to Southern Oregon.

Senate Bill 893 passed unanimously in both chambers, while Senate Bill 5561 passed with some light Republican resistance in both the House and the Senate.

The first bill amends previous legislation establishing the Illegal Marijuana Market Enforcement Grant Program, which assists local law enforcement agencies in fighting illegal marijuana cultivation and distribution. It adds an aspect supporting law enforcement partnerships with community-based organizations to "address the ongoing humanitarian crisis" of migrant laborers with translation services, housing, and legal assistance.

This is about more than just access to essential resources, this is a human rights issue, said Rep. Pam Marsh. No one should be subjected to these inhumane working conditions. Workers deserve a healthy work environment and living wage. To be clear, there is more work to do on behalf of workers, but this legislation is a good start.

According to Democratic lawmakers, the legislature will continue to address the humanitarian impact of trafficked workers in future sessions.

SB 5561 is the omnibus funding bill for all aspects of the special session, which includes $20 million for the Illegal Marijuana Market Enforcement Grant Program and another $5 million to the state Water Resources Department for increased enforcement of water rights.

Illegal cannabis operations in Southern Oregon have been using our limited water supply, abusing local workers, threatening neighbors and negatively impacting businesses run by legal marijuana growers, said Senator Jeff Golden. This is urgent funding we need right now to protect our agriculture industry, a pillar of Oregons economy and the Rogue Valleys quality of life.

Republicans, who fully supported SB 893, linked the marijuana problem to the humanitarian crisis at the US border with Mexico, blaming President Biden for the issue.

It is clear that law enforcement needs more help to stop these dangerous illegal operations, said Senate Republican Leader Tim Knopp. This package gives our county partners the resources they need to hire the law enforcement and water masters to oversee the huge task they have in front of them. No matter how much we spend, we will continue to spin our wheels in this fight against the cartels if the southern border remains wide open. Human trafficking will continue, the violence against Oregonians will continue, and Oregon businesses will continue to pay the price until these illegal grow sites are completely eradicated from our state."
The Coquihalla Highway, badly damaged in 20 places by flooding and mudslides in early November, could re-open to commercial truck traffic during the Christmas season. That would allow people to drive once again between the Okanagan and the Lower Mainland using Highway 3.
Heavy equipment is used as repairs to a bridge and road that was washed out by flooding are underway on the Coquihalla Highway near Carolin Mine Road, northeast of Hope, B.C., on December 10, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
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The highly anticipated release of Marvel Studios Eternals has people excited about superheroes. When I see an individual in a white coat and stethoscope or a person in scrubs, I see a real superhero, someone who works in the health care field. Our health care providers showed us their superpowers when our country was infected by the novel coronavirus. We witnessed collaboration amongst medical disciplines to combat this deadly virus. Each day, these superheroes showed up to aid the sick. It seemed as if they never got to eat, sleep, visit their family or let alone be ill themselves. But what if our clinicians are sick? Or, what if they have a disability? Does that make them less of a superhero and more  mortal? This is an urgent issue for our aspiring health care workers.

There are high school students living with attention deficit disorder, psychological and/or physical disabilities who may want to be doctors, physician assistants and/or nurses but are being told that would be impossible because of their disability. But why are students with disabilities being discouraged from entering the health care field? Many would reason there is a perception of real-life superheroes  doctors, nurses, physician assistants, etc., fitting a certain mold. That mold is one of physical and academic perfection, and there can be no alterations. This narrow thinking is unacceptable.

The Center for Disease Control reports that 26 percent of the American population are living with a disability. Although there are clinicians with disabilities, there has never been a forum that has allowed them the space to share this. Clinicians may know the existing stigmas that surround disability and fear they may lose patients if they disclose. They may also fear being seen as less capable by their colleagues if they disclose and appear  human. Certainly, there are also those who believe in the supercrip trope that people with disabilities are actually superhuman as portrayed in video games. Clinicians that are disabled are neither victims nor superhuman, but simply human.

In a recent study published by the Journal of American Medical Association, found that 3 percent of physicians identify as having a disability. Fortunately, the culture of medicine is changing, in large part to a growing number of clinicians coming forward to share their stories via social media, podcasts, and other organizations such as Docs with Disabilities, @mike_natter, @Okanlami, @PetePoullos, and the National Organization of Nurses with Disabilities.

Additionally, associations and coalitions exist to support students and train educational professionals to work with students with disabilities in post-secondary settings, such as the Coalition for Disability Access in Health Science Education and the Association on Higher Education And Disability.

There is also a growing number of students with disabilities going into medical schools. Consequently, medical colleges need to look at disability as diversity rather than a burden and something the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires an institution to adhere to. This week the American Medical Association took a stand by voting to urge all medical schools to address barriers encountered by medical students with a disability. This historic decision is a tremendous victory in making the dreams of disabled students come true.

Today, more students are disclosing and speaking out about their disability and how their disability is an asset to their way of learning and what they can bring to their field. Across college campuses, more student-led organizations are forming to promote initiatives to identify and remove structural and systematic barriers to ensure equal access in all aspects of the educational experience. While aging clinicians may have had to live in the shadows with their disabilities, we have a new generation of aspiring clinicians who want to be out with their disability and share their experiences to bring more representation to their respective fields. It seems like a new generation of real superheroes is in the making.

Marie Lusk is a social worker and disability specialist.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com
CORVALLIS, Ore. --- The American Red Cross is sending seven Oregon volunteers to Kentucky to help with Tornado recovery over the next few days.

Alan Underkofler is from Corvallis and this is the second time hes been to Kentucky this year as a volunteer.

With thousands of people without shelter and electricity, there are various different roles for the volunteers to fill. Underkofler will help run the shelters and help oversee the needs of the other volunteers.

He called it an opportunity to help those who need it the most.

[Were] helping people on their worst day. If you look at the pictures that you're seeing from this tornado. You're seeing buildings, homes, and businesses completely flattened, Underkofler said, that's a horrific experience for anyone to go through."

In addition to Kentucky, they've also deployed volunteers to Tennessee, Missouri, and Arkansas.

Underkofler said the plan is for them to be there for two weeks, but it could be longer, or shorter depending on the need.
Irish Funds have highlighted the industrys continued growth in Ireland, in the Kilkenny area alone, there are currently 18 funds and asset management companies employing almost 1,000 people.

During the virtual Irish Funds Regional Economic Impact event, participants reflected on the 30th anniversary of Irish Funds and the findings of the latest Indecon Economic Assessment report, which revealed that the industry now represents 180 enterprises operating in every county in Ireland and directly employs more than 17,000 people, with an estimated total economic impact of 14.8bn.

Speaking at the event, Cathal Smyth, Managing Director, State Street, Kilkenny said: This year State Street has been celebrating 25 years in Ireland and 20 years in Kilkenny. We currently employ approximately 2,000 staff in Ireland across Dublin, Drogheda, Naas and Kilkenny and have recently announced an additional 400 jobs in our Kilkenny site. We have benefited not only from the strong financial services and tech eco-system in Ireland, and the south-east, but also relationships with local policy makers and community partners. The latest Indecon report reflects the important role our industry plays as an employer and net-economic contributor across the island of Ireland and State Street is delighted to continue to play its part in this.

Reflecting on the figures, Pat Lardner, Irish Funds CEO, said: The funds and asset management industry continues to play a pivotal role in showcasing what Ireland has to offer and delivering tangible economic benefits to local communities. Recent figures have highlighted the contribution of the funds industry to regional development with a 40 per cent increase in the number of employees based outside of Dublin in the last two years. As we emerge from the pandemic, Irish Funds will continue to support investment and drive sustainable growth across the island.
A new festive tradition began in Kilkenny this week when The Most Rev Michael Burrows, Church of Ireland Bishop of Cashel, Ferns and Ossory, hung a sandbag on his mantlepiece instead of a Christmas stocking, to raise awareness of the hunger crisis in flood-hit South Sudan.

Normally deployed in flood prevention, the sandbag is being used as a reminder that extreme weather exacerbated by climate change is a powerful driver of poverty and hunger, especially in flood-prone countries such as South Sudan.

In October, South Sudan saw its worst flooding in nearly 60 years, forcing hundreds of thousands of people to abandon their homes. Unusually heavy rainfall in recent months caused the Nile to burst its banks, leaving huge swathes of rich farmland under water. As well as destroying homes, the flooding killed livestock and destroyed crops, worsening a food crisis which has left 2.4 million people at risk of falling into famine.

With his sandbag Christmas stocking, Bishop Michael Burrows is giving his backing to Christian Aid Irelands Christmas appeal which this year focuses on the hunger crisis in South Sudan. The Church of Ireland is one of Christian Aids sponsoring churches and Bishop Michael has always supported its work to end extreme poverty.

Christian Aid is working through local partners to respond to the hunger and flooding crisis in South Sudan. The charity is providing emergency life-saving support including blankets, mosquito nets, water purification tablets and cash to flood-affected families as well as cash, seeds, farming tools and fishing kits to families struggling to get enough food to eat.

Christian Aid Ireland Chief Executive Rosamond Bennett thanked Bishop Michael and all the people in the Diocese of Cashel, Ferns and Ossory who support the charitys work to relieve poverty in South Sudan and around the world.

For many years, Bishop Michael has stood in solidarity with people living in desperate situations. This year, his sandbag stocking is helping to raise awareness of the impact that flooding is having on an already terrible hunger crisis in South Sudan," she said.

To support Christian Aids Christmas appeal, visit caid.ie/Christmas or call 01 496 7040 to make a telephone donation.
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In this Oct. 10, 2010, file photo, then-North Korea's leader Kim Jong-il, left, walks by his son Kim Jong-un on the balcony as they attend a massive military parade marking the 65th anniversary of the regime's ruling Workers' Party in Pyongyang. AP-Yonhap



Too young. Too weak. Too inexperienced.



Since taking power following his father's sudden death 10 years ago this week, Kim Jong-un has erased those widespread doubts that greeted his early attempts to extend his family's brutal dynastic grip over North Korea.



Early predictions about a regency, a collective leadership or a military coup were crushed by an estimated hundreds of executions and purges targeting family members and the old guard. That ruthless consolidation of power, together with a larger-than-life personality seemingly made for carefully packaged TV propaganda, has allowed Kim to make clear that his authority is absolute.



But as North Korea's first millennial dictator marks a decade in rule this Friday, he may be facing his toughest moment yet, as crushing sanctions, the pandemic and growing economic trouble converge. If Kim can't uphold his public pledge to develop both nukes and his moribund economy, something many experts see as impossible, it could spell trouble for his long-term rule.



The modest economic growth he achieved for several years through trade and market-oriented reforms was followed by a tightening of international sanctions since 2016, when Kim accelerated his pursuit of nuclear weapons and missiles targeting the United States and its Asian allies.





In this June 30, 2019, file photo, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, right, and U.S. President Donald Trump move to shake hands at the border village of Panmunjom in the Demilitarized Zone, South Korea. AP-Yonhap



After basking in the global spotlight at summits with former U.S. President Donald Trump in 2018 and 2019, Kim is now stuck at home, grappling with a decaying economy worsened by pandemic-related border closures.



Negotiations with Washington have been deadlocked for more than two years after he failed to win badly needed sanctions relief from Trump. President Joe Biden's administration seems in no hurry to cut a deal unless Kim shows a willingness to wind down his nuclear weapons program, a ''treasured sword'' he sees as his biggest guarantee of survival.



While still firmly in control, Kim appears increasingly unlikely to achieve his stated goals of simultaneously keeping his nukes and bringing prosperity to his impoverished populace. Kim laid out this goal in his first public speech as leader in early 2012, vowing that North Koreans would ''never have to tighten their belts again.''



How Kim handles the economy in the coming years could determine the long-term stability of his rule and possibly the future of his family's dynasty, said Park Won-gon, a professor of North Korea studies at Seoul's Ewha Womans University.



''The nuclear weapons program, the economy and the stability of the regime are all interconnected. If the nuclear issue doesn't get resolved, the economy doesn't get better, and that opens the possibility of disquiet and confusion in North Korea's society,'' Park said.



Kim desperately needs the removal of U.S.-led sanctions to build his economy, which has also been damaged by decades of mismanagement and aggressive military spending.



But meaningful U.S. relief may not come unless Kim takes concrete steps toward denuclearization. Despite his pursuit of summitry, Trump showed no interest in budging on sanctions, which he described as Washington's main leverage over Pyongyang, and it's unclear if Kim will ever see another U.S. president as willing to engage with the North as Trump was.



Their diplomacy fell apart after their second summit in February 2019, when the Americans rejected North Korea's demand for a major removal of sanctions in exchange for dismantling an aging nuclear facility, which would have amounted to a partial surrender of its nuclear capabilities.



The two sides haven't met publicly since a failed follow-up meeting between working-level officials in October of that year. Two months after that Kim vowed at a domestic political conference to further expand his nuclear arsenal in the face of ''gangster-like'' U.S. pressure, urging his people to stay resilient in the struggle for economic self-reliance.





In this June 20, 2019, file photo released by China's Xinhua News Agency, visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping, left, and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un wave from an open top limousine as they travel along a street in Pyongyang. AP-Yonhap



But the global COVID-19 crisis has hampered some of Kim's major economic goals by forcing the country into a self-imposed lockdown that crippled its trade with China, its only major ally and economic lifeline.



South Korea's spy agency recently told lawmakers that North Korea's annual trade with China declined by two-thirds to $185 million through September 2021. North Korean officials are also alarmed by food shortages, soaring goods prices and a lack of medicine and other essential supplies that have accelerated the spread of water-borne diseases like typhoid fever, according to lawmakers briefed by the agency.



Talks with the United States are in limbo. The Biden administration, whose pullout from Afghanistan underscored a broader shift in U.S. focus from counterterrorism and so-called rogue states like North Korea and Iran to confronting China, has not offered much more than open-ended talks.



The North has so far rejected the overture, saying Washington must first abandon its ''hostile policy,'' a term Pyongyang mainly uses to refer to sanctions and U.S.-South Korea military exercises.



''North Korea is not going to surrender its nuclear weapons, no matter what,'' said Andrei Lankov, a professor at Seoul's Kookmin University. ''The only topic they are willing to talk about is not the pipe dream of denuclearization but rather issues related to arms control.''



Kim may benefit, however, from the Washington-Beijing confrontation, which increases North Korea's strategic value to China, Lankov said. China is willing to keep North Korea afloat by expanding food, fuel and other aid, and that reduces pressure on Kim to negotiate with the United States.



''Instead of growth, North Korea will have stagnation, but not an acute crisis,'' Lankov said. ''For Kim Jong-un and his elite, it's an acceptable compromise.''





North Korean leader Kim Jong-un gives a lecture to commemorate the 76th founding anniversary of the ruling Workers' Party, Oct. 10, in this photo released by the North's official Korean Central News Agency the next day. Yonhap
Participants in the 4th Seoul Dialogue on Africa, hosted by the Korea-Africa Foundation, pose for a photo at a hotel in Seoul during the event, Dec. 10. Courtesy of the Korea-Africa Foundation



By Lee Hyo-jin



Businesspeople and experts from various fields in Korea and African countries discussed ways to boost economic, cultural and academic cooperation in a series of forums hosted by the Korea-Africa Foundation (KAF).



The KAF is an affiliate of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that aims to promote partnerships with African countries.



As a part of its efforts, the foundation held the Korea-Africa Business Forum on Dec. 9, followed by the Seoul Dialogue on Africa (SDA), Dec. 10, attended by experts, government representatives, academics and participants from the private sector. The forums were held in a hybrid online-offline format with the speakers from Africa participating online due to the COVID-19 pandemic.



The business forum provided participants with an understanding of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), a trade pact that commenced Jan. 1, as well as information on the changing market situation in African countries.



The forum kicked off with an opening speech by Lyeo Woon-ki, president of the KAF, who said, "The African continent is a young continent with high potential, shown by the growing number of investments for startup companies there, despite the coronavirus pandemic.



"I hope this forum will serve as an opportunity for policymakers and businesspeople to come up with new strategies for economic ties between Korea and African countries in the rapidly changing international environment," he added.





Lyeo Woon-ki, the president of the Korea-Africa Foundation, delivers an opening speech during the Korea-Africa Business Forum at a hotel in Seoul, Dec. 9. Courtesy of the Korea-Africa Foundation



It was followed by a welcome speech by Choi Jong-moon, the second vice minister of foreign affairs, who emphasized the need to strengthen Korea-Africa cooperation in various fields, including climate change and the healthcare sector in overcoming the COVID-19 crisis.



Albert M. Muchanga, the African Union commissioner for economic development, trade, industry and mining, noted that the implementation of the AfCFTA should lead to the promotion of investment in African countries, which should accelerate cooperation in many areas, including inter-Africa trade, along with global trade with other countries.



The SDA, which aims to facilitate the strategic partnership between the two sides, was held under the theme, "Rethinking Solidarity: Korea-Africa Partnership in the Interconnectivity Era." It was the fourth such event since the program was launched in 2018.



The opening ceremony was attended by prominent figures, including Ban Ki-moon, former U.N. secretary-general and chairman of the Ban Ki-moon Foundation for a Better Future, First Vice Foreign Minister Choi Jong-kun, Ambassador of Gabon to Korea Carlos Victor Boungou and Rep. Shin Hyung-young of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea.



In his opening remarks, KAF President Lyeo said, "I hope this event will serve as a useful forum in discussing ways to respond jointly to common challenges facing Korea and Africa."



This was followed by a keynote speech by Ban, who said, "Global interdependence is increasing in various fields including healthcare, environment, security and trade. We should put more efforts into tackling these problems through multilateral cooperation between Korea and African countries."





Ban Ki-moon, the former U.N. secretary-general, delivers a keynote speech during the 4th Seoul Dialogue on Africa, hosted by the Korea-Africa Foundation at a hotel in Seoul, Dec. 10. Courtesy of the Korea-Africa Foundation
People portrayed in the documentary "Belonging" speak during a preview event organized by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Seoul office at The Plaza Seoul, Monday. Korea Times photo by Jung Da-min



By Jung Da-min



A sense of belonging is often taken for granted by many people. But for those who are adopted by families from other countries or who have been forced to leave their homeland due to war or other political reasons, becoming refugees, a sense of belonging becomes something that needs to be acquired. The process of acquiring a new sense of belonging in a new country is highly challenging mainly due to prejudice and discrimination they can face, which often stems from their different looks or religions.



To tell stories of those seeking to acquire this new sense of belonging, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Representation in the Republic of Korea has presented a documentary film, "Belonging." The UNHCR's Seoul office held a preview event for the film at The Plaza Seoul, Monday.



Directed by Paul Wu, who has been making films on the theme of refugees in collaboration with the UNHCR in recent years, the documentary features Syrian refugee aid group leader Abdul Wahab Al Mohammad Agha, the first Syrian to come to Korea as an international student and now a naturalized Korean citizen; Swedish screenwriter Soni Jorgensen and photography director Jacob Jorgensen, a sister and elder brother who were adopted from Korea; and Egyptian husband and wife human rights activists Musab Dariwh and Sara Darwish who have settled in Korea as refugees.



Abdul Wahab said all of Korean culture, including the language and food, was a challenge for him but he tried really hard to learn and adopt to Korean life over the past 12 years since he first came here. As a Ph.D. candidate of law at Dongguk University, he is also working as general director of Help Syria, a voluntary coalition of Koreans concerned about Syrian refugees founded in 2013.



"When I first came to Korea I was not a refugee but with the political situation in Syria getting worse, people here started to see me in a different way, treating me as a refugee. Some expressed a groundless fear  a phobia against refugees. There was also a time I got invited as a lecturer to an event and then suddenly they told me not to come after asking my religion and I said I'm a Muslim,'" he said. He also said many Koreans often generalize over misconduct by some Syrians here, when they are just a small number of about 1,500 Syrians here. "I wish people would see me as just a human, as just Abdul Wahab, not as a Syrian, and not caring about what religion I have."



For the Darwish couple who fled political persecution in Egypt where activities for rights and religious freedom of the people are banned under the law, Korea offered a safe haven where they could continue to work as human rights activists. They came to Korea in 2016 and were recognized as refugees in 2018.





People featured in the documentary "Belonging" speak during a preview event organized by United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees' (UNHCR) Seoul office at The Plaza Seoul, Monday. Courtesy of United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees' Seoul office



The activist couple said they feel safe here and they want to contribute to Korean society by sharing their knowledge regarding human rights. But they said Korean society has yet to find a better way to live with migrants although it has started such efforts. Their daughter was born here, but she cannot get citizenship, nor that of Egypt as her parents are refugees in Korea. They hope that conditions will change so that their daughter can make her own decision regarding her citizenship in the future.



"My daughter speaks Korean as her native language and she feels sad when people speak to her in a different language. But nothing can change our feeling toward this country, because we want to belong to this country. My daughter does not belong to Korea in terms of the law but in a broader sense, she belongs to Korea," her father said.



For Soni and Jacob Jorgensen, whose Korean names were Han Soon-hee and Han Il-woo, they looked different as the only Asians in a Swedish village they grew up in with a Danish father and German mother who adopted them. The young Koreans suffered bullying not just from their peers at schools but were also exposed to verbal and physical violence from their adoptive mother who they described as controlling and dominating.



"The goal in my life was to become like a Swede with blue eyes and blond hair," Jacob said. Soni also said she tried to look the same as other Swedish girls in her schooldays but felt frustrated whenever she looked in a mirror. She said she suffered mockery from some prejudiced people who said all Asian women were sexually promiscuous.



"When I am asked where I am from, I say Gotland. Then they keep asking where I am originally from until I say Korea, which reminds me that I do not belong here," Soni said, adding she visited Korea when she was 20 to see if her birth parents or relatives were alive. Soni even put an advertisement in The Korea Times but failed to hear back from anyone. After such a struggle to find her own identity, she no longer tries to find a "certain identity" but has instead found inner peace from "belonging to planet earth," an idea which gives her the sense of freedom.



The people featured in the documentary also said it is often their looks or religion that brings about a discriminatory reaction from people in different countries. In other words, the level of tolerance in a society determines the level of diversity it can nurture. Korea in this sense has a long way to go, they said.





The poster for the documentary, "Belonging," which tells the stories of people seeking a sense of belonging after leaving their homelands for different reasons. / Courtesy of United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees' Seoul office
Foreign workers of Cambodian and other nationalities harvest lettuce in a greenhouse at a farm in Chungju, North Chungcheong Province, in this Jan. 2 photo. Korea Times photo by Lee Han-ho



By Lee Hae-rin



In December last year, a Cambodian migrant worker in her 30s was found dead inside a greenhouse that was being used as accommodation for foreign workers at a farm in Pocheon, Gyeonggi Province. The death shed light on the poor working and housing conditions of migrant workers here.



A year has passed, but foreign employees in the agricultural sector still face long working hours despite government measures to improve labor conditions.



To protect their rights, the South Gyeongsang Province Branch of the Korea Metal Workers' Union (KMWU) and 10 human rights organizations launched the "119 for Cambodian migrant workers" project in September. The KMWU branch joined the project as part of its commitment to solidarity with migrant workers.



The initiative is aimed at providing nationwide administrative, legal and educational support for Cambodian migrant workers who face difficulties in reporting unfair labor practices.



There are over 180,000 migrant workers in Korea, and Cambodians form the largest group in the agricultural sector, according to Kim Yi-chan, the head of People of Earth Station, a human rights organization supporting migrant workers that also provides counseling for the project.



"Unlike the manufacturing industry, the agricultural sector is run by small businesses or farms of less than five people, to which the Labor Standards Act is rarely applied, regarding workers' payment and time off. Also, the workers have difficulty accessing umbrella unions, which could provide them with systemic support," Kim told The Korea Times.



Kim said the language barrier makes it difficult for most migrant workers who come for counseling to even pronounce their Korean employer's name or understand the street address system, which is necessary for the group to file petitions or lawsuits on behalf of the workers.



"So we receive pictures of road signs and locations from them via social media," Kim said.



Since its launch in September, the activists on Kim's team have offered counseling in 128 cases brought up by Cambodian workers in the country and filed lawsuits in 50 of them with the help of lawyers participating in the project.





Lawmakers and civic group members hold a forum on Cambodian agricultural migrant workers' labor and health conditions at the National Assembly, Seoul, Dec. 8. / Courtesy of Coalition for Migrant Equality
Korea won't join diplomatic boycott of Olympics



President Moon Jae-in has decided not to join the U.S.'s diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics over human rights abuses in China. Making such a decision was not easy, but he has made it clear that Seoul would send an official delegation to the Games.



"The South Korean government is not considering a boycott," Moon said at a joint press conference in Canberra, Monday, after holding a summit with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison. He added that Korea has not been asked by the U.S. or any other country to join the boycott.



In other words, he made the decision independently, possibly based on the principle of respecting reciprocity and maximizing Korea's national interest. Moon must have felt the need to reciprocate China's dispatch of its delegation led by a high-ranking official of the Chinese Communist Party to the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics.



Korea's ties with China, its largest trading partner, are also a key factor affecting Moon's decision. "South Korea makes its alliance with the U.S. the foundation of its diplomacy and national security, but in economic terms, its relationship with China is also very important," Moon said. There is no doubt that Korea has long depended on the U.S. for security, while relying on Beijing for economic growth.



However, Seoul is in a dilemma because it is sandwiched between the two superpowers. It has already begun to feel growing pressure to choose between Washington and Beijing. Korea cannot sacrifice its security alliance with the U.S. for the sake of its economic partnership with China. Nor can the country compromise its economic interest for its security.



Sitting on the fence is also tricky. Korea has so far tried to strike a balance between the U.S. and China. But it will get more difficult, and almost impossible, to keep a balancing act because Washington is doubling down on containing China in the Indo-Pacific region. The U.S. has taken issue with China's human rights violations in Xinjiang, its suppression of freedom in Hong Kong, its threat to Taiwan, and its territorial disputes in the South China Sea. The Biden administration has put the rights issue at the center of its foreign policy to put more pressure on Beijing.



The U.S.'s Olympic boycott could be seen as part of its efforts to counter China's growing influence on the international stage. Upon announcing the diplomatic boycott, President Biden hosted the Summit for Democracy to form a united international front against autocratic countries such as China and Russia. Biden apparently wants the world's democracies to join in the boycott as the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand have done.



The U.S. might be displeased with Moon's decision against the boycott although it officially said it is up to each government to make its own decision on the matter. The Moon administration needs to give a sufficient explanation about its decision, otherwise it may cause misunderstanding and a diplomatic row between the two countries.



Moon should also take a realistic and practical approach to his push to formally declare an end to the Korean War to help improve inter-Korean ties and resume the stalled denuclearization talks between Pyongyang and Washington. The U.S. boycott and its new sanctions against North Korea have dimmed the prospects for Moon's efforts to promote his peace initiative by taking advantage of the Beijing Winter Olympics.






Huh Suk-zoon, senior vice president of the KT Institute of Economics & Business Research, introduces the company's B2B businesses in digital transition services at an international conference co-hosted with the Korea Information Society Development Institute at Shilla Hotel in central Seoul, Tuesday. Courtesy of KT



By Kim Bo-eun



Telecom operator KT, which seeks to transform itself into a digital platform company, pledged Tuesday to become a leading firm helping the private and public sector make the digital transition as the trend accelerates amid the COVID-19 pandemic.



The company announced plans to strengthen its capabilities in AI, Big Data and Cloud as well as its B2B business in digital transition services, at an international conference co-hosted with the Korea Information Society Development Institute (KISDI). The conference, titled "Digital transformation & AI ecosystem for future industries," was hosted both online and offline in Seoul, Tuesday.



"Digital transition requires technology and infrastructure such as AI, Big Data and Cloud. KT is focusing on the B2B market for AI, Big Data and Cloud businesses," KT Institute of Economics & Business Research Senior Vice President Huh Suk-zoon said.



He said this is a global trend, with major telecom firms such as AT&T, BT, Telstra and Orange taking steps to acquire businesses outside of the telecom sector, such as cloud and security, over the past decade as markets for telecom services reached saturation. KT plans to expand revenue from non-telecom businesses to account for half of its total sales by 2025. KT currently operates businesses in 14 core sectors of digital transformation.



It offers end-to-end services spanning consulting to services in setting up businesses and managing these entities. The company has also joined hands with universities and research institutes to develop AI, cloud and metaverse technologies.



"KT is offering various cloud-based platforms such as AI, Big Data, iOT and blockchain needed for this transition in private sectors such as finance, manufacturing, healthcare, logistics as well as the public sector," Huh said.



KISDI research fellow Kim Kyung-hoon shared the status of AI technology in Korea and proposals for related policies.





An international conference on digital transformation and AI co-hosted by KT and the Korea Information Society Development Institute takes place at Shilla Hotel in central Seoul, Tuesday. Courtesy of KT
India's Harnaaz Sandhu waves after being crowned Miss Universe 2021 during the 70th Miss Universe pageant, in Eilat, Israel, Dec. 13. AP-Yonhap



Harnaaz Sandhu of India was crowned the 70th Miss Universe on Sunday, topping a field of some 80 contestants in a pageant that was touched by politics and the pandemic.



The previously reigning Miss Universe, Andrea Meza of Mexico, crowned her successor, a Bollywood actress, in the Israeli Red Sea resort town of Eilat. The pageant was held in the middle of the night, wrapping up at 5 a.m. local time (10 p.m. EST) to accommodate the primetime schedule in the U.S.



Sandhu said she was feeling ''overwhelmed because it's been 21 years since India got Miss Universe crown and it's happening right now.''



The pageant included traditional displays of national costumes, swimwear and a series of interview questions to test contestants' public speaking skills. The top 10 showed off intricately bedazzled full-length gowns in either gold, silver or bronze. The Philippines' Beatrice Luigi Gomez wore an asymmetrical cut dress with one sleeve, highlighting a new tattoo she said ''celebrates her womanhood.''



But the contest also drew attention in recent weeks for other reasons.



A grassroots Palestinian-led boycott had urged contestants to skip the event to protest Israel's treatment of the Palestinians.



In the end, only Malaysia, a predominantly Muslim country with close ties to the Palestinians, did not send a representative, citing the global COVID-19 situation. The South African government, which also strongly supports the Palestinian cause, withdrew support for the country's representative over her participation.



In an interview last month, Meza urged contestants to leave politics out of the pageant, saying the gathering was meant to bring together women from different backgrounds. ''When you are in there you forget about politics, about your religion,'' she told The Associated Press at the time.



Sara Salansky, an official with the Israeli Tourism Ministry, said the country was selected to host the contest earlier this year because of Israel's successful coronavirus vaccination program.



The contest suffered a last-minute hiccup with the arrival of the omicron variant, which forced Israel to close its borders to foreign tourists late last month.





The top five Miss Universe contestants, left to right, Miss India Harnaaz Sandhu, Miss South Africa Lalela Mswane, Miss Paraguay Nadia Ferreira, Miss Colombia Valeria Ayos and Miss Philippines Beatrice Gomez pose on stage during the 70th Miss Universe beauty pageant in Israel's southern Red Sea coastal city of Eilat, Dec. 13. AFP-Yonhap
Kendallville, IN (46755)

Today

Partly cloudy skies early will give way to cloudy skies late. Low around 10F. Winds WSW at 15 to 25 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy skies early will give way to cloudy skies late. Low around 10F. Winds WSW at 15 to 25 mph.
With the GOP-ordered probe into Wisconsins 2020 election now carrying over into next year, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos on Tuesday continued to question whether widespread voter fraud occurred in the state last year despite such claims having been repeatedly debunked.

During a 15-minute interview with the Wisconsin State Journal, Vos, R-Rochester, also spoke to his hopes of restricting the bipartisan state elections commission to follow only what state statute allows or go through the GOP-controlled Legislature, and downplayed concerns that several people working on former state Supreme Court Justice Michael Gablemans investigation have partisan leanings or ties to former President Donald Trump.

Joe Biden won the Electoral College ... that is a fact, Vos said, but added later: Do I believe that there was enough fraud to have caused a different outcome? Well never know, because we have no idea.

Well have no idea how many people broke the law, Vos said. So there are a lot of things we will never know the answer to, but the whole point is that we need to make sure that in 2022 we do get those answers and we know that whoever wins in 2022 does so fair and square so we dont have this constant two-year argument saying that the other side cheated.

A recount and court decisions have affirmed that President Biden defeated former President Donald Trump in Wisconsin by almost 21,000 votes.

An analysis by The Associated Press found only 31 potential cases of voter fraud in Wisconsins 2020 election, which represents less than 0.15% of Bidens margin of victory. In 26 of the 31 cases, prosecutors declined to bring charges after conducting a review.

Vos has allocated $676,000 in taxpayer funds to Gablemans review, which has largely focused on private election grants from the Chicago-based Center for Tech and Civic Life (CTCL), funded by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, that Republicans say were used to unfairly increase turnout in the Democratic strongholds of Milwaukee, Madison, Green Bay, Kenosha and Racine.

Im OK with spending all the money to make sure if Joe Biden was legitimately elected, we guarantee through an investigative process that yes, everything was fine and nothing really went wrong, Vos said. Do I think that will happen? Probably not, but we wont know until we finish the investigation.

Court rulings have found nothing illegal about the more than $10 million in grants CTCL distributed to about 214 municipalities in 39 of Wisconsins 70 counties, including many in areas solidly won by Trump. Nor did CTCL turn down grant requests from any of the Wisconsin municipalities that made them.

Kaul responds

Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul blasted Gablemans investigation as an effort to appease Donald Trump, who has continued to make baseless claims that the 2020 election was stolen.

Reviews of the election by the nonpartisan Legislative Audit Bureau and the conservative Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty found no evidence of widespread fraud, but did make recommendations on how elections can be improved. The commission earlier this month took the first steps for administrative rules on a number of issues raised in the Audit Bureau report, including rules for ballot drop boxes and what missing information clerks can fill in on absentee ballot envelopes.

Of all of the groups that have reviewed this, the Justice Gableman review is far and away the least credible review being conducted, so we wont be able to rely on what comes of it, Kaul said in an interview Tuesday. The state is just wasting money right now on this investigation.

As part of his investigation, Gableman has hired Andrew Kloster, a former member of the Trump administration, and Ron Heuer, the president of the Wisconsin Voter Alliance, which last year filed a lawsuit asking the Wisconsin Supreme Court to toss Wisconsins presidential election results and replace the will of voters with electors appointed by the states Republican-controlled Legislature.

Skeptics welcome

Asked if such hires jeopardize the legitimacy of Gablemans review, Vos said he wants people who are questioning the election to be a part of the effort.

So the idea is do you only hire skeptics to be able to investigate something or do you only hire people who already believe what the truth is? Vos said. So how do you ever find a true inquiry if you start out believing that everything was fine? You usually dont, you want a skeptic, which is what I think some of those people are.

State Sen. Kathleen Bernier, R-Chippewa Falls, chair of the Senate Committee on Elections, Election Process Reform and Ethics and a former county elections clerk, on Monday called on Gableman to wrap up his investigation, which Bernier said only exacerbates threats against state and local election officials.

Vos said earlier this year the investigation, which was originally planned to be finished by the end of October, would almost certainly carry over into next year, costing more than the $680,000 it was supposed to cost through the end of this year.

On Tuesday, Vos said he hoped the investigation is completed sometime soon, adding that the review has been slowed by court battles.

The ones who are dragging it out are not the Republicans. The ones who are dragging it out are the Democrats who are throwing up every roadblock they can find, Vos said.

Restraining order

Earlier this year, Kaul requested a restraining order against Gablemans subpoena seeking a meeting with elections commission administrator Meagan Wolfe. A hearing has been scheduled for Dec. 23 on the matter. A Waukesha County Circuit Court judge has scheduled a hearing for Jan. 21 on Gablemans request that the Waukesha County sheriff compel the mayors of Madison and Green Bay to meet with him or face jail time.

Kaul said Gableman, who earlier this year said he didnt understand how elections worked, is to blame for the prolonged review because of the nature of the probe and his ongoing efforts to seek private meetings with election officials.

The reason this has been delayed is because of the bumbling nature of the investigation, Kaul said.

As the 2022 midterm elections near, Vos said he does not support a proposal by Bernier to add a seventh, nonpartisan seat to the six-member elections commission to eliminate 3-3 split votes, which increased last year and blocked clear guidance to local election officials trying to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic.

The idea that you can find this mythical, unicorn nonpartisan person, is specious at best, Vos said. It is impossible.

Instead, Vos said he wants to see standardized election laws in the state on matters such as the number of ballot drop boxes allowed or early voting hours.

Evers vetoes

Democratic Gov. Tony Evers vetoed several GOP-authored bills that would have made significant changes to Wisconsin elections, such as requiring most people who are indefinitely confined  unable to get to the polls by themselves  to provide a photo ID to vote. The legislation would also have required all people who vote absentee to present a photo ID every time they vote, not just the first time.

So thats a big challenge that we have, which is why we want to convince the public were doing this investigation to expose what occurred, Vos said. We might ultimately have to do a constitutional amendment to get around Gov. Evers, but that is not the goal.

Gableman said last month he planned to look into the Wisconsin Elections Commissions decision last year to waive the states requirement to send special voting deputies to nursing homes. The commission voted in March 2020 to tell clerks they need not send poll workers into nursing homes to assist with absentee voting after many were turned away due to the pandemic.

Republican Racine County Sheriff Christopher Schmaling earlier this year called for the five members of the commission  two Republican appointees and three Democratic appointees  to be charged with crimes for waiving the states special voting deputy requirement. Several Republican lawmakers have made similar demands, as well as calls for Wolfe to step down.

Kaul said credible allegations of voter fraud should be investigated and, if the evidence supports it, local individuals who committed fraud should be prosecuted. However, he pushed back against calls to oust members of the commission and Gablemans efforts to jail local election officials who do not meet with him.

These are political prosecutions were talking about and in the United States we dont have political imprisonment, Kaul said. So this is deeply inconsistent with the system of government we have, and its an attack on our democracy and on our election administrators at a time when they have been subjected to numerous baseless attacks.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Over the last week, people all around Kenosha and beyond have been saddened by the death of Carl the Turkey, who was fatally hit by a car on Dec. 7.

While the story of Carl may sound like a funny tale, its no laughing matter.

And the story didnt have to end on Dec. 7. There could have been a lot more life left for the turkey and it should be a lesson for others going forward. While it may be a Kenosha story, it could happen anywhere.

For months, the turkey had been roaming around a neighborhood in Kenosha. People in the area had gotten to know the turkey and even named him Carl, looking out for him and trying to protect him from the traffic in the road. Its no question that Kenosha has had a tough year and a half after the riots there in late summer 2020. Its no wonder that residents there grasped onto something positive to give them a smile  Carl. If Carl had stayed a few days or even a few weeks, it would have been a fun.

But once Carl began to domesticate and started to get in the way of daily traffic, then a unfortunate demise seemed inevitable.

Like in the childrens choose your own adventure story book series, the story of Carl could have ended differently, had those involved made different decisions.

After getting numerous calls about Carl, Walworth Countys Fellow Mortals, a wildlife rehabilitation center, decided to step in and try to help the turkey.

Volunteers with the organization brought nets to try to catch Carl and bring him safely to another place away from the traffic.

But when those volunteers showed up, they were harassed. They feared for their safety and left.

Two weeks later, Carl was hit by a car and didnt survive.

The story of Carl the Turkey could happen anywhere. It could happen in Williams Bay, Fontana, or even Lake Geneva.

The moral of this story should be that when an organization that specializes in the care of wildlife steps in and tries to help, they should be assisted and thanked, not chased away.

We are grateful for all the work that Fellow Mortals does throughout southeastern Wisconsin. Currently they are helping an injured snowy owl that was likely hit by a car and a sandhill crane that was located by Geneva National that was unable to fly after supposedly being shot at some point. Those are just two of the roughly 2,000 animals Fellow Mortals has helped this year.

Its unfortunate that Carls story couldnt have had a happy ending.


Mr. Chairperson,

On behalf of the delegation of Sri Lanka, I would like to extend our congratulations to Ambassador Cleopa Mailu of the Republic of Kenya on his election as the Chair of the Meeting of States Parties to the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BWC). Please be assured of our delegations full co-operation and support in ensuring a successful conclusion to our deliberations. Sri Lanka also appreciates the Chairs of the Meetings of Experts and the staff of the Implementation Support Unit.

Sri Lanka aligns itself with the statement delivered on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement.

As we are all aware, the year 2021 presents unprecedented challenges for all of us as the world continues to fight against a deadly pandemic. We are also concerned about the rapidly deteriorating international arms control and security regime bringing in our vulnerabilities to heightened realities. It is in these worrying circumstances that we note the increasing relevance of the Biological Weapons Convention on its focus related to national preparedness and international cooperation

The BWC being the first multilateral disarmament treaty banning an entire category of weapons is the foundation of the international biological arms control regime. It is important that we carefully review the global impact of the pandemic to understand and better prepare ourselves for future challenges. Increased international cooperation is vital for combatting and management of global outbreak of diseases and the development of such comprehensive cooperation mechanisms should be urgently considered.

Sri Lanka shares the view of the Non-Aligned Movement that in order to strengthen the full implementation of the Convention, it is necessary to resume multilateral negotiations towards conclusion of a balanced and comprehensive legally binding Protocol dealing with all articles of the Convention including verification measures. Pending agreement of such instrument, Sri Lanka stands ready to support parallel interim measures to strengthen the implementation of the Convention.

Sri Lanka attaches great importance to Art. X of the Convention on international cooperation and assistance on exchanges in the biological sciences and technology. Some of the Additional understandings and agreements reached by States Parties at previous review conferences in this regard include the importance of continuous strengthening of existing international organizations and networks working on infectious diseases and full cooperation with the developing States Parties in the area of promotion and financing the establishment of vaccine production facilities. We call for further and full implementation of Art X and supports NAMs proposal on an Institutional Mechanism for International Cooperation and Compliance with Article X.

Given the outstanding scientific achievements and advances in science and technology and the rapid space in which they are being developed it is important that developing states are allowed to reap the benefits of peaceful uses of related sciences for the common benefit of the mankind.

Regular reviews of the new developments related to science and technology under Art XII in order to assess related threats and to respond accordingly to preserve the objectives of the Convention is equally important. However, any measures to address such risks should not be used to hamper legitimate peaceful uses under the Convention.

Sri Lanka recognizes the importance for State Parties to undertake concrete measures to strengthen national and international efforts to implement the Convention. At the national level Disaster Preparedness and Response Division of the Ministry of Health, the national focal point for implementation of the BWC, co-organized together with the ISU a two-day virtual introductory workshop on the BWC and its Confidence Building Measures in June 2021. More than 100 participants from almost 40 Sri Lankan government entities, benefitted from the workshop which was held as part of the National Preparedness Programme within the framework of EU Council Decision 2019/97 in support of the Biological Weapons Convention. The Disaster Preparedness and Response Division continues to conduct capacity development programmes in relation to preparedness and response to Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) emergencies for health and non-health sector stakeholders. CBRN readiness within the security Sector is also enhanced in order to respond better in case of accidental or intentional events. We look forward for further measures to promote capacity building in the fields such as disease surveillance, detection, diagnosis and containment, primarily through enhanced collaborative efforts.

In closing, Sri Lanka wishes to reiterate its commitment to the objectives of the BWC and to strengthen national capacities for effective implementation of the Convention. We remain committed to achieving a significant consensual outcome during the course of this meeting.

View Statement PDF
New Delhi, Dec 14 (PTI) A 20-year-old private tutor was stabbed to death and his friend injured during a fight with some people in northwest Delhi's Mangolpuri area on Tuesday evening, police said.

According to the police, they received information around 8.20 pm about the fight and that two injured persons had been taken to the Sanjay Gandhi Hospital.

Also Read | Huawei P50 Pocket Foldable Smartphone To Launched on December 23, 2021.

A police team which reached the hospital was informed that Amardeep, a resident of Mangolpuri, had been declared dead on arrival while his friend Sagar was undergoing treatment, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Outer) Parvinder Singh said.

Both Amardeep and Sagar sustained stab injuries. Sagar is also a private tutor.

Also Read | Vivo V23 Pro Smartphone Expected To Be Launched in India By Early January: Report.

Preliminary inquiry revealed that the duo were going to meet their friend when they had a fight with three unidentified persons over some issue, the police said.

Efforts are being made to identify and trace the accused, DCP Singh said.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Surat, December 14: A group of Bajrang Dal activists on Monday took down and set on fire a huge banner hoisted over a restaurant announcing a 'Pakistani food festival', in Surat, said the activists.

A banner was hoisted over the Taste of India restaurant in the Ring Road area of Surat city announcing the 'Pakistan Food Festival'. Also Read | IIT-Delhi Develops RT-PCR Base Kit That Tests New COVID-19 Variant Omicron in 90 Minutes.

Bajrang Dal Activists Set Fire to Pakistani Food Festival Banner in Surat

Gujarat | Bajrang Dal activists on Monday took down and set on fire a huge flex banner announcing 'Pakistani food festival' to be organised at a restaurant in Surat amid chants of 'Jai Shri Ram' and 'Har Har Mahadev' pic.twitter.com/ZR5cCs3pQh  ANI (@ANI) December 13, 2021

Bajrang Dal activists protested and chanted 'Jai Shri Ram' and 'Har Har Mahadev' and removed all the banners and set fire to them. Also Read | Online Game Addiction: Minor Kills and Buried 12-Year-Old Cousin to Pay Off Game Debts in Rajasthan; 5 Lakh Ransom Demanded from Uncle.

"Bajrang Dal activists took down the flex banner from the building and set it on fire. No such festival will be tolerated. The restaurant has apologized," said South Gujarat Bajrang Dal president Deviprasad Dubey.

(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, December 14: The Rajasthan government has announced financial assistance of Rs 1 crore for the family of Squadron Leader Kuldeep Singh, who died in the chopper crash in Tamil Nadu's Coonoor on December 8. Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Tuesday took to Twitter to announce the same.

"The state government has decided to provide an assistance of Rs 1 crore to the family of Squadron Leader Kuldeep Singh of Jhunjhunu, Rajasthan, who was martyred in the Coonoor (Tamil Nadu) in the chopper crash. The state government is with the family of the martyred in this difficult time," Gehlot said (roughly translated from Hindi). Chopper Crash: Group Captain Varun Singh's Medical Condition Continues to Be Critical but Stable.

Thirteen of the 14 people on board the Mi-17V5 helicopter, including India's first Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat, his wife Madhulika Rawat were among those killed after it crashed on December 8. Group Captain Varun Singh is the lone survivor of the crash and is presently admitted at Air Force Command hospital in Bengaluru for treatment.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Thane (Maharashtra) [India], December 14 (ANI): The Thane unit of Maharashtra Excise Department has issued a show-cause notice to a Navi Mumbai-based bar owned by Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) Mumbai Zonal Director Sameer Wankhede, said the Collector's office.

Wankhede had furnished wrong information about his age in his application for the bar licence in 1997, the Collector's office said on Monday.

Also Read | Tejashwi Yadav Plans To Host Grand Reception in Patna After Secret Wedding With Rachel Godinho.

When Wankhede was given the licence to his resto-bar in 1997, he was just 17 years of age, while the age should have been at least 21 to get the same, the Thane Collector's office said.

The Excise department has asked Wankhede to reply within a week.

Also Read | PM Narendra Modi Makes Surprise Visit to Varanasi Railway Station.

Earlier on Friday, Wankhede and his wife Kranti Redkar had approached the Dindoshi court with a suit against Google, Twitter and Facebook alleging that the platforms are being used to spread misinformation against them. The matter is scheduled to be heard on December 17. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
After a months-long search, a Texas girl was found safe by authorities in a foreign country with her fugitive father, who refused to hand over his daughter in a custody battle.

Custody Battle Prompts Father of Running Overseas for His Daughter's Safety

According to Daily Mail, the Texas girl was found by authorities after she went missing in July. The 11-year-old girl was located by investigators in a foreign country with her fugitive dad following a bitter custody dispute in which the father had refused to hand over the Texas girl to her maternal aunt.

The Collin County Sheriff's Office made the arrangements of flying the 11-year-old Sophie Long back to the state of Texas on Saturday. The deputies declined to state in which country she was located, but authorities previously mentioned that she and her dad could have been en route to Argentina or Mexico.

Collin County Sheriff Jim Skinner said in a statement on Saturday that they were so happy because Sophie was found safe. Skinner stated that after many months of determined work by several agencies, it all paid off. The investigation was participated by the deputies, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Marshals.

Based on the report of the Dallas Morning News, the father of the 11-year-old girl, Michael Long, would be extradited to the U.S. wherein he would face a felony charge of interference with child custody.

Long said that he did not want to return Sophie to the family of her mother in early July after the girl claimed that her mom's fiancee abused her sexually.

READ NEXT: California Mother Who Allegedly Told Daughter to Punch Opponent in Basketball Game Charged With 2 Misdemeanors

Sophie Long, Father Claim Sexual Abuse Against Mother's Fiancee

In a meeting with DailyMail in August, Sophie appeared happy to be with her father while she was sharing not only her grades at school but also about her favorite classes.

Sophie was at the center of a bitter custody dispute between her dad, mother Kelly Long, and her aunt, whom she was sent to live within May.

Moreover, the 11-year-old girl was last seen on July 12 in Seguin, situated in the northeast portion of San Antonio, before being found. Deputies stated that they would not reveal more information until Sophie would be back in the U.S.

The 43-year-old father of the Texas girl was due to show up at a court in McKinney in August for a hearing over a motion that could send him to jail for almost three years.

However, he shared in an exclusive interview with DailyMail the day before the warrant was issued that the only way he would return to the court is if it would bring his daughter back to his home and if he would be allowed to put his case before a jury.

The ex-husband of Kelly Long opposed the possibility of a jury trial in a motion and asked for Long to be summarily jailed for 18 months plus an extra year on one count of hiding Sophie and another for failing to hand her their daughter.

The 36-year-old Kelly also asked authorities for placing Long on probation for 10 years and for him to be held on a $20,000 bond, as well as for him to cover her legal costs.

However, the father shared Sophie claimed that her daughter was sexually abused by her mother's fiancee, Jacob Bellington. Michael also shared that his daughter was diagnosed with a vaginal infection after being taken to the hospital last summer.

Sophie was also interviewed by a specialist nurse with her father outside the room and repeated the claims to her based on the medical records.

Following her claims, the Frisco Police Department in Texas opened an investigation into the case. The ongoing investigation prompted authorities to give Michael temporary custody of Sophie and her two brothers.

READ MORE: California Man Kills Himself Using Guillotine; Discovery of His Remains Lead to Squatter's Arrest For Tampering of Evidence

WATCH: Missing Texas girl Sophie Long found in foreign country, father in custody -MediaPortal


California is putting back a statewide mask mandate on indoor settings for a month amid a new increase in COVID cases.

The officials announced the development on Monday, with Secretary of the State Health & Human Services Agency Dr. Mark Ghaly saying it will take effect from December 15 to January 15 next year, according to an ABC 7 News report.

Ghaly noted that many counties across the state already have the mask mandates in place. Meanwhile, the state rule will cover those counties that do not, composing about 50 percent of the state's population.

The health official added that even a 10 percent increase in indoor masking can reduce case transmission significantly.

Aside from the indoor mask mandate, California is also imposing tighter restrictions on unvaccinated people attending large public events.

Those who plan to attend an event with more than 1,000 people who cannot show their vaccination status should show proof of an antigen test within the previous 24 hours or a PCR test within the past 48 hours.

Ghaly noted that the testing results have faster turnaround times this time, with more tests available.

He noted that they know people are tired and hungry for normalcy. However, Ghaly said that science has shown that indoor masking can help prevent the virus from spreading further.

READ NEXT: Judge Discontinues U.S. Pres. Joe Biden's COVID Vaccine Mandate for Federal Contractors Nationwide

COVID Cases in California

The state health secretary said that COVID cases have increased by 47 percent since Thanksgiving, with the cases being concentrated at Inland of Empire, east of Los Angeles, and the vast Central Valley, according to The New York Times report. These locations have a smaller share of the population being vaccinated.

Meanwhile, Los Angeles County residents have been required to wear masks indoor for months since the emergence of the Delta variant.

State officials imposed a curfew and new stay-at-home orders last December in efforts to keep the hospital from being strained.

Last month, a judge challenged California's statewide requirement that students and staff wear face masks indoors, leaving the decision when it's safe to lift the mandate, according to The Mercury News report.

In July, two parent groups filed a lawsuit, which San Diego County Superior Court Judge Cynthia A. Freeland heard arguments in November. The parent groups, Reopen California Schools and Let Them Breathe, argued that the mask requirement was "not based on scientific evidence of need." They added that face coverings are "physically and mentally harmful to kids."

Judge Freeland disagreed and granted a demurrer sought by the state, ending the lawsuit effectively.

The judge also rejected the parent groups' argument that Gov. Gavin Newsom had abused his authority by making such a requirement under a declared state of emergency due to the pandemic.

The founder of Reopen California Schools, Jonathan Zachreson, said that they will continue to fight the mask mandate, which he described as "arbitrary and harmful."

The California Department of Health said that the mask requirement aligns with recommendations from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The department said in a statement dated July 13 that many of the state's school facilities cannot fully accommodate physical distancing.

READ MORE: More Than 5,000 Students in a Single Florida School District Quarantined or Isolated Due to COVID

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Written by: Mary Webber

WATCH: CA reinstates indoor mask mandate for one month amid new COVID-19 increase - from ABC7






The Pentagon on Monday confirmed that no military personnel will be charged on the botched Afghanistan drone attack that killed at least 10 civilians instead of members from the ISIS-K.

Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby revealed that senior commanders from the agency made their recommendation to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, The Daily Mail reported.

Kirby furthered that none of the recommendations given to Secretary Austin were about holding officers responsible for the drone attack in Kabul, Afghanistan.

READ NEXT: Ex-Obama CIA Director Calls on Biden Administration to Investigate the Afghanistan Drone Strike

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin Approves Pentagon Commanders' Recommendations

On Monday, Kirby also confirmed that Secretary Lloyd Austin approved the said recommendation given by the commanders of Pentagon, Al Jazeera reported.

According to the Pentagon press secretary, the review in the previous month left U.S. commanders to reprimand military officials over the Afghanistan drone attack if necessary. Furthermore, Kirby also pointed out that Secretary Austin also asked two top generals for recommendations on how to proceed after the fatal incident.

"I do not anticipate there being issues of personal accountability to be had with respect to the August 29 airstrike," the Pentagon press secretary highlighted.

Kirby added that the drone attack was a "breakdown in process and execution in the procedural event," and not a result of negligence, misconduct, and poor leadership.

One of the victims who died in the drone attack worked for a group called Nutrition and Education International (NEI), prompting its president and founder to question why no one will be held accountable for the deaths of the 10 civilians.

Although no military personnel will be charged over the Afghanistan drone attack, Kirby underscored that Pentagon is collaborating with the Nutrition and Education International (NEI) to "expeditiously" provide compensation payments to the surviving family members of the victims during the drone attack. However, Kirby failed to provide the specific amount to be given to the victim's families.

Pentagon's move came a month after the Air Force inspector general found no one criminally negligent on the fatal drone attack.

U.S. Air Force Inspector General Sami Said pointed out that the airstrike was an "honest mistake" that resulted from execution errors, just like "communication breakdowns."

The result of the investigation from the Air Force was widely criticized by rights groups such as American Civil Liberties Union, saying that the finding failed to provide "meaningful transparency and accountability for the wrongful killing of their loved ones."

Afghanistan Drone Strike

On August 29, the drone strike in Kabul, Afghanistan, mistakenly killed at least 10 civilians, including an innocent aid worker and seven children.

A report from New York Times identified the aid worker killed in the attack as Zemari Ahmadi, who worked for a charity group based in Pasadena, California, known as NEI.

Ahmadi was believed to be an ISIS terrorist who loaded explosives in a car to strike the Kabul Airport, the location where the U.S. military attempted to flee from Afghanistan.

U.S. officials also claimed that Ahmadi's car was filled with a "substantial amount" of explosives, but security footage from Ahmadi's workplace revealed that he loaded his car with water containers.

The 10 civilians killed in the Kabul drone attack were not the only Afghans who died because of the method. Since January of 2004, the U.K.'s Bureau of Investigative Journalism estimated between more than 4,000 to 10,000 people who died due to drones in Afghanistan, including 300 to 909 civilians.

READ NEXT: Drone Strike Kills Senior Al Qaeda Leader in Syria , U.S. Officials Say

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Written By: Joshua Summers

WATCH:

Afghanistan: Drone Strike Killed 10 Civilians in Kabul, US Acknowledges - From Al Jazeera English
Vice President Kamala Harris has announced that seven companies have committed private investments in countries in Central America, such as Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador.

The private investments in Central America are worth $1.2 billion as the vice president addresses the migration root causes from the region to the U.S.-Mexico border, according to an Axios report.

In May, the administration announced the first round of private investments worth $750 million.

Harris will be discussing the task with chief executives from companies such as Microsoft, PepsiCo Latin America, and Nespresso.

U.S. President Joe Biden tapped Harris in March to lead U.S. efforts with Mexico and the Northern Triangle countries to lower migration from the region.

READ NEXT: U.S. Pres. Joe Biden, Vice Pres. Kamala Harris Mocked in Billboard With Text "Dumb and Dumber"

Harris' Response to Migration Root Causes

According to a Reuters report, a senior White House official said that the effort has been core to how the vice president has thought about advancing her work in the region since the beginning.

Another White House official said the vice president's efforts have helped realign U.S. foreign aid money while gathering key stakeholders together.

The official said that Harris had also gathered support from Congress and foreign partners, and managed to secure more resources from the United Nations.

PepsiCo plans to invest at least $190 million in northern Central America through 2025, including improvements to existing manufacturing routes.

The company will also be expanding its distribution routes.

Meanwhile, Cargill will invest an additional $150 million over the next five years to help farmers and create jobs in the Central American countries.

For Parkdale Mills' part, they will build a new spinning facility in Honduras and invest $150 million.

Nespresso will also be supporting coffee-growing in Honduras and El Salvador, while Microsoft plans to connect millions of people to the Internet.

Mastercard will be committing a $100 million funding to the region to promote digital payments and e-commerce, according to a Local 21 News report.

Migration from Central America

A report released in November found that majority of Central Americans who want to migrate internationally are motivated by economic factors.

Ninety-two percent surveyed from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras expressed a desire to migrate internationally cited unemployment, lack of money for food and basic necessities, and the need for a better job as the reasons for migrating, according to a CNBC report.

The lead researcher of the report, Ariel Ruiz, said that economic factors are not new. However, what was different with the survey was the number of people citing those factors.

Migration from Central America has significantly increased over the past three decades by 137 percent between 1990 and 2020.

Data from the United Nations noted that around 16.2 million from the region resided in a country other than their home country in 2020.

Ruiz said that the pandemic's effect on the economic conditions in the region can partly explain why many of those who want to migrate internationally mentioned economic reasons.

Ruiz said that the pandemic made making a decent livelihood in Central America so much more difficult.

READ MORE: Majority Believes Joe Biden Unfit to Be President and 'Others' Are Secretly Running the White House: Poll

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WATCH: Vice President Harris Convenes with CEOs to Discuss Private Sector Investment in Central America - from The White House






An Amazon worker who died when a tornado collapsed an Amazon warehouse was not allowed to leave before the tornado touched down, according to his girlfriend.

Larry Virden texted his girlfriend before the deadly tornado, saying that the company had instructed him to postpone driving home and stay put until the storm passed. He was killed on Friday night when the roof came down at the Amazon warehouse, according to the New York Post report.

Virden's girlfriend of 13 years, Cherie Jones, said she received text messages from him, adding that her boyfriend always tells her when he is filling up the Amazon truck and getting ready to go back.

Jones said Virden texted her that Amazon will not let him leave until the storm blew over. She said that she received the text around 8:23 p.m., while the tornado reportedly hit the area at 8:39 p.m.

She said that Virden had 20 minutes to get home with that time frame in mind.

Jones said that she does not fault Amazon for her boyfriend's death. However, she keeps on thinking, "what if the company had let him leave?" She said that Virden could have made it home.

Jones said that Virden liked working at the company as he gets to work outside.

The Amazon facility opened in July 2020 and employed 190 workers.

The company noted that employees and drivers are allowed to have their staff have their cellphones while working.

Previously, Amazon prohibited workers from having their phones on warehouse floors, ordering employees to have their phones in their vehicles or lockers.

The policy was withdrawn during the pandemic. One Amazon employee from a neighboring facility in Illinois said that there is "no way in hell" that he would be relying on Amazon to keep them safe.

The employee said they would resign if they reimpose the no-cell phone policy.

READ NEXT: Jeff Bezos Slammed for Celebrating Blue Origin Space Trip After Amazon Warehouse Deaths in Powerful Tornado

Factory Workers Amid Tornado Warning

Employees of candle factory Mayfield Consumer Products expressed their want to leave when they heard the sirens.

However, at least five workers said supervisors warned employees that they would be fired if they left their shifts early, according to an NBC News report.

The factory was later destroyed when the tornado had hit it.

The workers said that as many as 15 workers pleaded with managers to let them take shelter at their own homes, but their requests were declined.

At least eight people died in the factory making scented candles.

A spokesperson for the company categorically denied that there were threats from supervisors when workers wanted to leave, according to an Independent report.

Factory worker McKayle Emery was trapped under the rubble for six hours. She said that staff had first asked to leave not long after sirens sounded at 5:30 p.m.

Emery added that she overheard managers telling a group of workers that they are more than likely to be fired if they leave.

Another worker named Haley Conder said that around 15 people requested to go home but were told that they should not leave as it was unsafe.

However, they were then later told to go back to work afterward.

READ MORE: Jeff Bezos Warns Employees "One Day, Amazon Will Fail"

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Written by: Mary Webber

WATCH: Search Continues For Factory Worker Tornado Survivors - from NBC News






Donald Trump Jr. reportedly texted former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows during the January 6 Capitol attack begging him to have former President Donald Trump make a speech to stop the riot.

The House select committee investigating the Capitol attack revealed the messages from Trump Jr. before voting to hold Meadows in contempt of Congress for refusing to comply with a subpoena on Monday.

Donald Trump Jr. Pleaded to Mark Meadows to Have Father Condemn Capitol Attack

During the briefing hearing, Republican Rep. Liz Cheney, the committee's vice chairwoman, read a series of text messages from fellow GOP lawmakers, Fox News personalities, and Donald Trump Jr., pleading Mark Meadows to get Donald Trump to make a speech amid the Capitol riot.

According to Cheney, Trump Jr. texted Meadows to have his father "condemn this shit ASAP," adding that the Capitol Police tweet was "not enough," Axios reported.

Cheney said Meadows replied to Trump Jr., saying he agreed and he's "pushing it hard." The former president's oldest son responded that they needed an Oval Office address and his father "has to leave now" as it "has gone too far and gotten out of hand."

Cheney said that Donald Trump Jr. texted Mark Meadows "again and again." Several known personalities of Fox News also sent text messages to Meadows to urge Trump to act, according to The Daily Beast.

Sean Hannity texted Meadows and asked him if Donald Trump could make a statement and urged the mob to leave the Capitol. Laura Ingraham also texted Meadows and said Trump needed to tell people in the Capitol to go home.

Ingraham added that the Capitol riot was hurting "all of us," and was destroying Trump's "legacy." Donald Trump eventually released a taped video asking his supporters to go home after his congressional allies and aides pleaded. In the video, the former president was still venting his grievance about a stolen election.

Cheney said these text messages leave no doubt that the White House knew what was happening at the Capitol at the time. She called Trump's lack of "immediate action" a "supreme dereliction of duty."

READ NEXT: House January 6 Committee Examines Mark Meadows' PowerPoint Presentation Detailing Donald Trump's Plan to Retain Presidency

House Committee Probing Capitol Riot Recommends Contempt Charge for Mark Meadows

The texts, which Mark Meadows had provided, had been turned over to the committee. They were reportedly not covered by any claim of privilege, which the former chief of staff has continued to assert since he reversed his decision to cooperate with the investigation.

According to the Associated Press, Meadows has turned over some 6,600 pages of records taken from his personal email accounts and around 2,000 text messages.

Meadows said in one of those emails that the National Guard would be available to "protect pro-Trump people" during the January 6 insurrection, Huff Post reported.

The House committee wanted to know more about these plans, but Meadows has, so far, refused to testify on the matter.

On Monday, the committee voted 9-0 to recommend that Meadows be charged with criminal contempt for ending his cooperation with its probe.

The former chief of staff withdrew his cooperation with the investigation and declined to appear for a deposition last week.

Each count of contempt of Congress carries a penalty of a minimum of 30 days and a maximum of one year in jail. It also carries a fine of up to $100,000.

The full House is expected to vote as soon as Tuesday on whether to refer the charge or ask the Department of Justice to prosecute Meadows, The New York Times reported.

An organizer of the rally, at one point, turned to Mark Meadows for help, telling him that things "have gotten crazy."

The organizer also said they "desperately need some direction." It was unclear how Meadows responded.

The House committee chairman, Rep. Bennie Thompson, said it was "jarring" that Mark Meadows would stop cooperating with them, considering he served in Congress for over seven years.

READ MORE: Pres. Joe Biden Says Capitol Riot a 'Violent Attempt' by 'Extremists' and 'Terrorists' to Hold Power at All Costs

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WATCH: Rep. Liz Cheney Reads January 6th Texts from Fox News Hosts to Mark Meadows - From C-Span








Scott Peterson was recently resentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for murdering his wife and their unborn son. Is there a chance he could still be exonerated in this case?

According to Modesto Bee, Peterson is looking ahead to a hearing that would determine if his conviction will be overturned.

Peterson would be facing an evidentiary hearing based on his petition for habeas corpus filed by his defense team in 2015. The hearing will focus on his side's allegation that a jury committed "prejudicial misconduct" by failing to disclose that she had been involved in prior legal proceedings.

Modesto Bee reported that Superior Court Judge Anne-Christine Massullo would have 90 days to decide after the conclusion of the evidentiary hearing.

The 49-year-old suspect was sentenced to death in 2005. Peterson remained on death row until last year when the California Supreme Court had overturned his death sentence after finding that potential jurors were dismissed erroneously.

The California Supreme Court said in its ruling that the matter would be decided by a judge in San Mateo Superior Court.

READ NEXT: Scott Peterson Resentenced to Life Imprisonment Over 2002 Murder of Wife Laci Peterson

Possible Outcomes of Scott Peterson's Evidentiary Hearing

If Judge Anne-Christine Massullo decides to uphold Scott Peterson's conviction, his attorneys can reportedly file a new habeas petition on the single juror misconduct claim to the California Court of Appeals and then the state Supreme Court.

Peterson's habeas attorney Cliff Gardner noted that it could take a few more years in state court if they lost at every level.

Meanwhile, the Stanislaus County District Attorney's Office reportedly has appeal options it could pursue before going into another trial if the judge overturns Peterson's conviction.

Gardner said the state may take the case through higher levels of the state system and seek review in the U.S. Supreme Court if relief is granted.

New charges would have to be filed, and the case could be retried or settled if the district attorney decides not to make an appeal.

The evidentiary hearing is scheduled to be held from February 25 to March 4, and Richelle Nice, the juror in question, was called to testify at the hearing, according to the Modesto Bee report.

Peterson's lawyers said Nice knowingly put false details on the jury questionnaire as she wanted to punish Scott Peterson for a crime of "harming his unborn child."

Pat Harris, one of Peterson's lawyers, earlier told TODAY that the "bar is high" for a new trial. However, he noted that they were "cautiously optimistic" that Peterson would be granted a retrial in February's hearing.

If Peterson is granted a new trial, Harris said they would present evidence they believed would exonerate him. But NBC News legal analyst Lisa Green also told TODAY that the likelihood of a new trial was "possible," but the chances are slim.

"For the court to have to overturn this verdict... (there should be) actual evidence showing that this juror essentially intended to reach a certain unfair result, not just the possibility of bias," Green said.

Scott Peterson Case and Resentencing

Laci Peterson's family had spoken about losing Laci and her unborn son. At the sentencing hearing last week, Laci's mother, Sharon Rocha, said there was no reason other than Scott Peterson did not want her daughter and grandson anymore, USA Today reported.

Rocha noted that Peterson did not want the responsibility of being a father. Rocha described Peterson's act as "evil, self-centered, and unforgivable" that ended two lives.

Scott Peterson was first convicted in 2004 of first-degree murder concerning his wife and of second-degree murder of their unborn son. He was sentenced to death by lethal injection in 2005.

Investigators noted that Scott Peterson has bought a brand new boat 15 days before Laci disappeared. They also said he could not identify what type of fish he was trying to catch when a police officer asked him on December 24, 2002, when Laci was reported missing.

Investigators also discovered that Peterson was having an affair with massage therapist Amber Frey, at the time, of his wife's disappearance.

Frey told investigators that Peterson told her that he was not married and admitted that they had a romantic relationship. Prosecutors argued that the affair was Peterson's motive to kill his wife, allowing him to be with Frey.

Four months after Laci Peterson went missing, locals found two decomposed bodies washed ashore in the San Francisco Bay.

Scott Peterson was arrested on April 18, 2003. It was also the same day that the bodies found by authorities were identified as Laci Peterson and their unborn child, Conner.

READ MORE: Scott Peterson Wants a New Trial in His Murder Case

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WATCH: Scott Peterson Could 'Reset The Narrative' At Resentencing, Legal Analyst Says - From TODAY






Gabby Petito's parents have opened up about her relationship with Brian Laundrie and her tragic murder in a new documentary coming to Peacock this week.

The Sun reported that "The Murder of Gabby Petito: Truth, Lies and Social Media" will be available to stream on Peacock beginning December 17.

According to Peacock, the documentary will give insight into Petito's story, the unanswered questions about her disappearance and death, and "the shocking conclusion."

In the new documentary trailer, the Petito family, including her mom Nichole Schmidt; her dad, Joe Petito; her stepfather, Jim Schmidt; and her stepmother, Tara Petito, all speak out about how they felt about Petito's disappearance and death.

"It was like every parents' nightmare. Just like, in a flash of second. She's gone, she's missing," Jim Schmidt said in the trailer.

Nichole Schmidt noted that the thoughts going through her head were "something really bad has happened to her." "It's still unbelievable. I don't understand it."

Joseph and Tara Petito described the time that their daughter was missing as "horrific" and "a blur."

"Her (Gabby Petito) bright, beautiful light touched a lot of people," Tara said in the trailer of the family's first documentary interview.

Gabby Petito disappeared on a cross-country road trip with Brian Laundrie. The couple was traveling to Oregon when Petito stopped communicating with her family in Wyoming in late August.

READ NEXT: Gabby Petito's Dad Joins in Search for Missing Mom of Five Not Seen in Weeks, Tweets Directly at Celebs to Help Out

Gabby Petito's Parents Said Brian Laundrie's 'Quiet and Polite' Appearance Deceived Them

In an interview with the Australian television newsmagazine show "60 Minutes" in October, Gabby Petito's parents said that Brian Laundrie's "quiet and polite" appearance had deceived them.

Petito's mom said Laundrie "seemed like a nice guy," and thought he would take care of her daughter.

"He's [Laundrie] very polite and quiet," Nichole Schmidt noted, adding that Laundrie would even read books to "her little one at night."

Jim Schmidt added that every time Laundrie would come over, he was polite and talked to their other children, who also liked him.

When Petito embarked on a cross-country road trip with Laundrie, Petito's mom said she reminded her daughter to be careful, be aware of her surroundings, and told her not to trust anybody.

Although she was worried, Nichole Schmidt admitted that she still felt safe because Petito was with Laundrie.

"I felt like she [Gabby Petito] would be OK... I thought he [Brian Laundrie] would take care of her," she said.

Joe Petito said her daughter did look happy but noted that "as we look more and more into this, it might not have been as great as people online perceived."

Gabby Petito and Brian Laundrie's Death

Brian Laundrie was named a person of interest by the North Port police after returning home alone on September 1 or 10 days before Gabby Petito was reported missing by her family.

Petito's body was found at the Spread Creek Dispersed Campground near Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming on September 19.

A Teton County, Wyoming coroner said she was strangled to death by a "human being," and the manner of death was homicide.

After a month-long manhunt, the North Port police and the FBI agents found Laundrie's remains in a swampy area of Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park on October 20.

The partial skeletal remains were confirmed to belong to him after a review of dental records. According to the autopsy report, Laundrie died of a gunshot wound to the head, and the manner of death was suicide.

Brian Laundrie was never charged in connection with Gabby Petito's murder. But an arrest warrant was issued for him for allegedly using Petito's debit card after her death.

READ MORE: With Brian Laundrie Dead, Gabby Petito's Parents Find Their Justice by Helping Others, Launch New Twitter Page to Help Find Missing Persons

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Written by: Joshua Summers

WATCH: The Murder of Gabby Petito: Truth, Lies and Social Media - From Peacock
Three men who went on an alleged theft spree in Kildare Village could face ten years in prison each, a Naas District Court judge said.

Judge Desmond Zaidan made the comments in the case of Victor Grosu, Ion Pintea and Sorin Pintea, which was heard on Thursday, December 10.

Mr Grosu, aged 23, and Sorin Pintea, aged 21, are both accused of four counts of theft, while Ion Pintea, aged 21, is accused of two counts.

The total amount of items that were allegedly stolen by the trio is estimated to be worth around 1,822.

Victor Grosu has an address listed as 42 The Crescent in Tallaght, Dublin, while both Ion and Sorin Pintea reside at Shalimar Apartments in Clondalkin, Dublin.

All three men are originally from Romania.

The court was also told that the latter two men are not related, and only share a surname by coincidence.

The trio were also accompanied by a translator that they had hired for the case.

Their solicitor, Tim Kennelly, told Judge Zaidan that their clients first came to Ireland around a month and a half ago.

Mr Kennelly also said that his clients were extremely remorseful for what they did, and only resorted to stealing in order to send the money back to their struggling families in Romania.

The interpreter added that none of the three men had previous criminal convictions and were apologetic over the thefts.

However, Garda Sgt Brian Jacob told the judge that it was his belief that the thefts were "done professionally," as they had allegedly clipped off the security tags on the stolen items with tools.

The judge said he agreed with Sgt Jacob's statement.

Judge Zaidan agreed to continue bail for all three men until April 28 next, where a book of evidence and CCTV evidence is expected to be presented.
Covid-19 infection rates are growing steadily across County Kildare as HSE vaccination centres, GPs and pharmacies work hard to administer booster vaccines.

Large population areas like Naas and Newbridge had Covid-19 infection rates at around 30% higher than the national average.

Both towns were seeing almost 50 new cases every day, according to official HSE data up to December 6.



Meanwhile on Monday, there were 19 patients with Covid-19 in Naas Hospital while there were also four patients suspected of having the virus the same day.

Naas Hospital is now in tenth position of hospitals with the highest number of patients, led by the Mater Hospital in Dublin with 43 positive cases.

Newbridge-based GP, Dr Brendan OShea urged people to be patient in coming forward for the booster vaccine.



Dr OShea, who is the PRO for the Kildare Faculty of the Irish Council of General Practitioners (ICGP), said that overall, Ireland is doing a lot better than most other countries in terms of administering a booster shot to people.

He said vaccination clinics, GP surgeries and pharmacies are slowly and steadily administering the jabs and immunisation numbers are growing every day.

He added: Ireland is in a strong and fortunate position in comparison to other countries.

People should not panic when they see queues as there will be enough jabs for everybody. We should all stay calm, polite and carry on.

He urged anybody feeling unwell to get plenty of rest, take paracetamol and hot liquids and to book a PCR test if required.

Covid-19 infection rates across County Kildare, which were below the national average for several weeks, are now running at 30% above in some areas.

The Naas Local Electoral Area (LEA) saw 668 cases in a two week period up to December 6 which translates to an incidence rate per 100,000 of 1,707.

The Covid-19 incidence rate for the whole of Ireland for the period was 1,355.

Newbridge LEA had 644 cases or 1,815 per 100,000 people while Kildare LEA had 454 cases or 1,766 per 100,000.

Clane LEA saw 427 cases or 1,501.6 per 100,000 while down in Athy LEA, there were 328 cases and a rate per 100,000 of 1235.8.
A Senator has welcomed the announcement from the government that grants worth over 2.5 million will be allocated to primary, special and post-primary schools in Kildare.

Minister for Education Norma Foley TD recently announced the payment of a minor works grant totaling 45 million for primary schools and special schools as part of additional support in the context of Covid-19.

Once-off Covid-19 minor works funding of 17 million is also announced for post-primary schools, while 2.58 million of this funding has been made available to schools in Kildare.

Fianna Fail Senator Fiona O Loughlin said about the news: "I am pleased to see a significant increase in funding for schools which will enable them to address both their minor works and also to help fund small-scale ventilation improvements within their schools."

"Funding for minor works is important in terms of supporting the operation of schools generally and even more so within a Covid-19 environment. Schools may also apply for emergency works grant assistance to address larger-scale issues on a permanent basis."

She concluded: "I am pleased to see such a significant amount being allocated to Kildare; I have been liaising proactively with the Minister for some time now, and have been communicating the issues on the ground, so I am pleased to see this funding announced."

Senator O' Loughlin was recently among a number of Kildare politicians who welcomed the news that a new 1,000 pupil school will be located on Magee Barracks site in Kildare.
Some of Iarnrod Eireann's new electric and battery-powered trains coming in mid 2024 will be on the DART+ line to Maynooth and Hazelhatch.

The largest and most sustainable ever order of fleet for Irelands public transport network was confirmed as Alstom were awarded a contract by Iarnrod Eireann (IE) for up to 750 new rail carriages over the coming decade.

Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan T.D., Global CEO/Chairman of Alstom Henri Poupart-Lafarge and Chief Executive of the National Transport Authority Anne Graham, joined Iarnrod Eireanns Chief Executive, Jim Meade, at Iarnrod Eireanns Inchicore Works to formally sign the contract.

An initial order has been placed for 95 electrically-powered carriages  made up of 19 five-carriage train sets  are set for delivery from mid-2024, entering service in 2025, and will include a number of battery powered carriages, which will deliver more capacity for commuters in advance of electrification of the lines upon which they will operate.

Funded under the National Development Plan 2021 to 2030 by the National Transport Authority, the order for the DART+ Fleet is part of the DART+ Programme, an investment which will more than double the commuter capacity and treble the electrification of the Greater Dublin Area rail network. DART+ will facilitate sustainable mobility and development to enhance quality of life in our capital and its surrounding counties.

DART+ Fleet

IE, supported by the NTA, and Alstom have concluded a framework agreement allowing for up to 750 new DART carriages to be ordered over a 10-year period.

Alstom is one of the largest global suppliers of trains, and is well known to Irish transport users as the supplier of the LUAS tram fleet, and globally as the manufacturer of TGV high-speed trains.

Alstom will deliver the new DART+ fleet as an energy efficient suburban transport solution from its proven XTrapolis family of trains, with over 2,000 of these already in service in more than 10 countries, but with bespoke refinements to meet the needs of DART+ and Irelands specific track gauge.

An initial order for 95 carriages, comprising six sets of five-carriage conventional electric trains and thirteen sets of five-carriage battery-electric trains has been placed.

The Irish Government has given approval for 318million (incl. VAT) for the initial order for DART+ Fleet, and this includes substantial one-off design costs.

This design cost is not applicable for subsequent orders for additional trains under the 750-carriage framework agreement, and will mean any future orders will incur costs of as little as 50% of the initial order.

Subsequent orders are intended to be placed in line with the delivery of the DART+ Programme, and in line with requirements for replacement of the original DART fleet (dating from 1984) later in the decade.

The initial 95-carriage DART+ fleet order will:

Consist of 5-carriage train sets (equivalent in length to the 4-carriage train sets in the current DART fleet) providing high capacity with wide gangways between carriages. This will allow customers to freely circulate throughout the full length of 5-carriage trains, creating a more open and spacious environment and enhancing security. A 10-carriage train, made up of two 5-carriage train sets joined, will be the longest train size operable by the new fleet on current infrastructure, and will have capacity for at least 1,100 customers

Prioritise independent access, with each of the low-height doorway thresholds being equipped with an automatic retractable step and offering the potential for unassisted level access from suitable platforms, aligned with platform enhancements

Include improved facilities for families and for cyclists, with dedicated family and bicycle storage areas, and charging facilities for everything from mobile phones to e-bikes and e-scooters

Provide transformed customer information on-board, with large, high-resolution onboard displays having the ability to provide real-time updates, including information from other public transport systems in the Transport for Ireland network, and other features designed for the needs of sensory impaired customers

Be designed for reduced energy consumption, enhancing further rails advantage in sustainable mobility for land transport

Be equipped with an advanced CCTV system with cameras throughout every carriage, to enhance safety and security for customers and employees

Be designed to meet the expectations of customers and to deliver an ergonomic design for drivers  research with customer and driver groups is already underway to ensure the needs of all on board are integral to design

Deliver off-wire operation through the incorporation of battery-electric technology, enabling new services and new capacity to be provided in the Greater Dublin area in advance of electrification. Energy stored in the battery system will be replenished via fast charging stations at chosen terminus locations and by recovering braking energy while the new battery-electric trainsets are on the move. This will enable, for example, the new battery-electric fleet to deliver Dublin to Drogheda return services, with fast charging at Drogheda Station.



The initial 95-carriage order will benefit a number of routes:

New battery-electric carriages will be deployed on Drogheda to Dublin Northern Commuter services

New electric carriages will be deployed on existing Malahide/Howth to Bray/Greystones DART services, to maximise capacity

Introduction of the new fleet will also free up existing carriages to increase capacity on other Commuter and Intercity services

In addition to the fleet, Alstom will provide a range of supports, including a Technical Support and Spares Supply agreement for the first 15 years of the fleets operation, and provision of three train simulators to support driver training.

DART+ Programme Update

Funded under the National Development Plan by the National Transport Authority, DART+ is an investment that will double the capacity and treble the electrification of the Greater Dublin Area network, facilitating sustainable mobility and development to enhance quality of life in our capital and its surrounding counties.

The overall programme will provide electrification of lines on DART+ West to Maynooth/M3 Parkway, on DART+ South-West to Hazelhatch and DART+ Coastal North to Drogheda.

DART+ Coastal South will also see key infrastructure works as far as Greystones to allow more trains to operate.
Close to 1,000 Kildare schoolchildren have joined a campaign thats planting more than a million trees in Ireland and Africa, this year.

In the lead up to Christmas, close to 30 class groups from 12 Kildare national schools will hold tree planting ceremonies on school grounds, local parks and public land, and will lend their backing to communities who will be planting tens of thousands of new trees in Uganda, Kenya, Senegal and Malawi before the end of the year.

The schools initiative is part of the One Million Trees campaign, which will see Self Help Africa plant over a million trees this year.

Supported by the INTO teachers union, the schools initiative will see native Irish seedlings being distributed for planting by each participating class group. Workshops, collections and other activities are also being held in hundreds of schools to support tree planting activities in Africa.



The Kildare schools taking part in the schools tree planting initiative include Pipers Hill and Rathmore NS in Naas, Hewetstown NS, Clane, Rathdangan Boys School, St Brigid's NS, The Curragh, Rathcoffey NS, Donadea, Allen NS, Kilmeague, Naas, Scoil Bhride, Kill, Scoil An Linbh Iosa, Prosperous, Irishtown Upper NS, Clane and Scoil Bhride, Greenlane, Leixlip.



INTO President Joe McKeown said that the campaign was a great opportunity for schoolchildren to learn more about trees, and climate issues, and also play their part in the worldwide effort to combat climate change.

Young people are very aware of the challenges of global warming. A campaign like this gives them the change to engage directly with the issue, and also learn about the impact in parts of the world that are extremely vulnerable to climate change, he said.

Former INTO President Mary Magnier, who is an ambassador for the One Million Trees schools campaign said that she been overwhelmed by the support that the campaign has received from schoolchildren and their teachers right across the country. The venture is also being backed by the Gaelic Players Association (GPA), who include thousands of primary teachers in their ranks, and is supported by Glenisk, who have mobilised public support by promoting the tree planting initiative on their products.

Self Help Africa planted One Million Trees in Africa and a further 100,000 native trees in Ireland last year, and are on course to achieve a similar target in 2021, thanks to the support of Irish primary schools.

To find out more visit: selfhelpafrica.org/ onemilliontrees
A Senator has told the government that single pricing fare is urgently needed for the commuter belt in County Kildare.

Labour Senator Mark Wall has called for a single pricing fare for the commuter belt up to and including Kildare South, in order to make public transport more affordable and more accessible for commuting students and workers.

Senator Wall also said that Ireland "cannot allow its motorways to turn into carparks again."

The Athy politician explained: "The Dublin Transport Strategy consultation is hugely welcome, but we need to see this review extended outside of Dublin and into other commuter areas to address the cost of public transport experienced by commuters."

"I have raised the need to extend the short hop zone with the Minister for Transport on numerous occasions however he continues to defer to the NTA on pricing."

He continued: "If we are to change Irelands attitude to public transport in light of the climate crisis, then we need to make it affordable.

Introducing a single fare price for commuters would be a huge signal from government that they are serious about tackling the financial and climate cost of transport."

Senator Wall also said that there is "an incongruous situation arising" in Kildare: "The short hop zone extends to Sallins in Kildare but does not extend to the other four stations in Kildare which operate under a different rail pricing structure."

"It is 13kms from Newbridge to Sallins, taking an average of 12 minutes by train, but a rail ticket from Newbridge to Dublin, compared to Sallins to Dublin, can cost 3.80 with a leap card from Sallins compared to 13.55 from Newbridge one way."

He elaborated: "We are seeing commuters driving from towns like Newbridge to avail of the short hop zone prices  who can blame them when they are saving up to 200 per month, even with the increase in car fuel prices?

"I am calling on government to introduce a single price fare and give commuters a break: if we are serious about tackling climate change and promoting public transport, then commuter areas like Newbridge must have access to a single pricing fare before our motorways are turn into carparks once again.

"Indeed, the population of Newbridge has increased due to many people either opting to move due to the increase of flexible work or due to being priced out of the city; we need to encourage these commuters onto trains not roads.

This week, the CSO confirmed that transport is one of the biggest drivers of the increased cost of living. Government should be focusing on making public transport more accessible and affordable.... people in Kildare South are feeling it in their pockets and we need to see common sense applied."

He concluded: "We need to entice as many people in the country onto public transport if we are serious about achieving our climate targets."

Seanad speech:

While speaking in the Seanad, Senator Wall told those in attendance that he believed the price differences to be "totally unfair" and "unacceptable."

He also pointed out that the deadline for the Dublin Transport Strategy consultation is this Friday, December 17: "I'm encouraging all those who use rail transport in South Kildare to get involved, because the simple fact is, we need one singular pricing structure for the area instead of the various and differing prices at the moment.

Senator Wall later took to his social media profiles to say that anyone interested visit the consultation online, and that for anyone who directly contacts him, he will include them under Labour's submission.

He added that he can be contacted at mark.wall@oir.ie or through his social media profiles.
Small Kildare businesses have been given over 120 grants totaling over 200,000 to trade online during the pandemic, latest figures show.

The Trading Online Voucher Scheme offers a 50% co-funded voucher of up to 2,500 to help businesses, which have been trading for at least six months, to develop their online trading capability.

This supports can cover training sessions including developing a website, digital marketing, social media for business and search engine optimisation.

Damien English, Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, said there have been 153 applications of which 121 were approved, worth around 210,000.

The figures are for January 1 to December 1, 2021.

Mr English added: "The Trading Online Voucher Scheme has been a crucial support for businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic and will continue to assist businesses with digitalisation and developing their online presence.

"Between 1st January 2021 and 1st December 2021, on a national basis, the Trading Online Voucher Scheme had a total of 4,306 approvals across Ireland to a value in excess of 9.3 million. This is strong evidence of the success of the scheme and the demand for the vouchers across the micro-enterprise sector.

The Scheme continues to build and strengthen the online presence of these enterprises which has been underpinned by the phenomenal uptake of the scheme in 2020.

"In 2020, the Trading Online Voucher Scheme had a total of 12,946 approvals across Ireland to a value of 30,774,904.

"This was of huge importance to the survival of businesses as they pivoted to online sales during the pandemic, and I am satisfied that the Trading Online Voucher Scheme will continue to be a key component in the suite of interventions to assist micro-enterprises to develop and flourish in the years ahead."
Aisling Carey, from Leixlip, County Kildare has been shortlisted in Energias search for Irelands Most Christmassy Home.

With up to 6,000 to be won for charity, voting has now opened and its up to the public to choose between the festive finalists from across the country and crown Irelands Most Christmassy Home 2021.

After much deliberation, the Energia elves have selected 6 finalists which the public can view by visiting www.energia.ie/imch-vote.

To vote for your favourite, simply text HOME followed directly by the number of the house to 51500 (ROI & UK), ensuring there is no space before the number. For example, text: HOME1 to 51500. The number for each finalist is listed beside their details below. Standard SMS rates apply with 1 vote per number permitted.

Voting will close at midnight on Sunday the 19th of December, and the winners will be announced on Monday, 20th December. The winner will receive 6,000 for the charity of their choice, while the second and third place runners up will receive 4,000 and 2,000 respectively. In addition to the charity donation, Energia will also gift each of the finalists a 500 Smart Home Store voucher.

The 2021 finalists are:

Aisling Carey from Kildare  To vote for Aisling text HOME2 to 51500.

Sean & Noreen Mc Sweeney from Cork  To vote for Sean & Noreen text HOME1 to 51500.

Tony Fitzpatrick from Wexford  To vote for Tony text HOME3 to 51500.

David Doyle from Dublin  To vote for David text HOME4 to 51500.

James Carrick from Galway  To vote for James text HOME5 to 51500.

Christina and Philip Walker from Carlow  To vote for Philip text HOME6 to 51500.

Geoff Codd, Head of Energia Marketing and Retail Development commented: Each year we are amazed by the effort and the creativity that goes into every entry, and have great difficulty narrowing down the final shortlist, and this year was no different. We are delighted to be able to support local causes and charities and to help to spread some festive cheer. Voting will close at midnight on Sunday December 19th, so we are calling on everyone to log on to www.energia.ie/imch-vote to view the finalists and vote for the entry they think is Irelands Most Christmassy Home.
Gardai are aware of sophisticated car thefts seen abroad in which criminals use tracking devices to follow luxury cars to driveways where they are later stolen - but there have been no incidents reported in Kildare yet.

A string of these thefts in Canada forced a local police force to issue a warning to the public.

Thieves target expensive vehicles in public car parks and then hide wireless tracking devices in out-of-sight areas such as under bumpers so they can use mobile phones to track them back to the owner's house.

Attempts are then made to later steal the keys and drive off in the vehicle.

The York Regional police force in Ontario said high-end models of makes such as Lexus, Ford and Toyota have been singled out by gangs using this hi-tech method of theft in its area.

Divisional Crime Prevention Officer Sgt Graham Kavanagh, who has responsibility for Laois, Offaly and Kildare Garda Divisions, confirmed there has been no record of any similar thefts in Ireland yet.

Sgt Kavanagh, who has a regular crime prevention slot on RTE's Crimecall programme, said: "It's a non issue here and there are no reports in Ireland."

A source added: "Gardai are aware of this type of crime in other jurisdictions and therefore will be proactive in terms of detecting it and investigating it, if or when incidences occur."

Sgt Kavanagh also advised vehicle owners to follow the advice in the Garda's Park Smart initiative which urges people to ensure vehicles are locked, alarmed and parked in well-lit areas.

In addition, no valuables should be left in vehicles when unattended and keys must be stored away from windows and letterboxes in homes of owners.

In Ontario, police have urged vehicle owners to park in secure home garages where available and to use steering wheel locks.

Officers also suggested installing a lock on the car's onboard computer diagnostics system to prevent it being reprogrammed to accept cloned keys.

CCTV cameras with night vision was another option, the police force said.
A Donegal woman who was in back seat of a taxi when her friends boyfriend and his brother robbed and assaulted the driver has been jailed for 20 months.

Nikkita Brogan (24) released the taxi drivers seatbelt so the men could drag the taxi driver from his vehicle and assisted in reattaching the knob of the gearstick as the men attempted to start the taxi.

The court heard Brogan had accompanied her friend to Dublin to visit the brothers, Peter (26) and Jason (18) Collins, whom they were seeing at the time. Her friend who was also in the taxi has since died.

The two brothers were sentenced in December 2019 for robbery, assault causing harm and unlawful seizure of a car.

The court heard during their sentence hearing that Peter Collins wrapped a phone charger cable around the neck of the 60-year-old taxi man while his younger brother Jason Collins punched the man in the face and searched his pockets.

Peter Collins of Collinstown Crescent, Clondalkin received four and a half years imprisonment. Jason Collins of Eden Quay, Dublin 1 received three and a half years imprisonment with the final 12 months suspended.

Brogan, of Croagh Patrick Avenue, Letterkenny, Co Donegal pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to unlawful seizure of a vehicle at Rutland Grove, Crumlin, on May 6, 2019.

Sentencing Brogan today, Judge Melanie Greally noted that Brogan had played a role in the offence by unbuckling the taxi driver's seatbelt. She noted it was a serious offence which was accompanied by the assault of the taxi driver.

She noted Brogan, who has been in custody since January of this year, has consistently expressed her remorse and shame for her actions and has attempted to rehabilitate in custody. She has expressed a wish to become a better mother to her young son.

The judge handed down a 32 month sentence and suspended the final 12 months on a number of conditions.

Detective Garda Caroline Kelly told Kieran Kelly BL, prosecuting, that the taxi driver picked the two men and two women up in the city centre and brought them to Crumlin. He said as soon as he stated the fare a rope came from the back and around his neck choking him.

He said the man in the passenger seat began punching him and checking his pockets. He was thrown out of the taxi and another taxi driver came to his aid while the men tried to start his car.

The taxi driver said the girls had stayed in the back seat and while they did not threaten or assault him, they did not tell the lads to stop either.

A dashcam recorded the offence and it was played for the court. Brogan could be seen leaning forward from the back to unclick the seat belt before the taxi driver is pulled out of the car. She was also seen assisting in reattaching the gearstick knob.

The group were unable to restart the car and abandoned it, but were arrested nearby.

Brogan, whose 76 previous convictions are mainly for shoplifting and was on bail for theft offences at the time, accepted she was in the car and had unclicked the seat belt. She is currently serving a three month term for theft and is due for release in September.

She repeatedly said during interview that what had happened was a disgrace, shouldnt have happened and she was sorry. She said she hoped that the taxi driver would be ok.

Paul OCarroll SC, defending, said that Brogan and her friend came to Dublin on the bus to visit Jason Collins whom her friend was going out with. He said Brogan began going out with Peter for a very short time. He said they had met up on that evening and been drinking.

Mr Carroll handed in a letter of apology from Brogan and said she had been taking tablets and drinking a lot at the time of the offending. He said her prolific shoplifting convictions ties in with her going off the rails.

He said Brogan had indicated at all times that she would plead guilty but the case had been delayed when it was stated to the Court of Appeal by the Director of Public Prosecutions in order to have a procedural matter related to the service of books of evidence clarified. He said his client had not stood in the way of this.
Senior Vice President, Government Affairs, Qualcomm

Mr. Brenner is Senior Vice President, Government Affairs for Qualcomm Incorporated. He directs Qualcomm's initiatives relating to spectrum and telecommunications policy in North America. He represents Qualcomm before the Federal Communications Commission and other agencies of the United States and Canadian governments responsible for spectrum and telecommunications policy. In addition, he is responsible for global spectrum acquisitions and strategy for Qualcomm.

Mr. Brenner was responsible for obtaining the necessary regulatory approvals to launch Qualcomm's MediaFLO USA mobile TV network, which is now the largest mobile broadcast network in the world. In addition, he led Qualcomm's bidding team in recent spectrum auctions in the United States (the 700 MHz band) and the United Kingdom (the L Band). He also lead Qualcomm's bidding team in a recent procurement reverse auction held in Spain. He has spoken at conferences on spectrum policy issues in the United States, South Korea, Belgium, Great Britain, and elsewhere around the world. He joined Qualcomm in November 2003.

Before joining Qualcomm, Mr. Brenner was a partner in the Washington, DC-based law firm he co-founded, Crispin & Brenner, P.L.L.C., where he specialized in telecommunications law and litigation. Mr. Brenner handled a number of major FCC-related cases in the wireless, mass media, and wireline businesses, both before the FCC and in federal and state courts around the country. He began his career at the Washington, D.C. law firm of Verner, Liipfert, Bernhard, McPherson and Hand in August 1985 as an associate. He became a partner at that firm, where he practiced telecommunications law and litigation.

Mr. Brenner received his A.B. degree, magna cum laude with distinction in public policy studies, from Duke University in 1982. He won a prize for the best paper on communications policy, and he was a recipient for four years of a CBS Scholarship. He received his J.D., cum laude, from Georgetown University in 1985. He is admitted to the Bars of the District of Columbia, Maryland, and the U.S. Supreme Court, the U.S. Courts of Appeal for the D.C., Third, and Eleventh Circuits, and the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Field School and the Advisory Board for Jewish Life at Duke University. Mr. Brenner is married and has two children.
SEVEN Limerick-based community projects aimed at combatting isolation and providing support services during Covid-19 have a received a significant financial boost.

Details of nearly 40,000 in grants, supported by private donors, have been announced by the Community Foundation for Ireland.

The grants are being provided through The Foundation's Covid-Recovery Fund which has been supporting communities throughout the pandemic with money raised by private and corporate donors.

The latest support is being provided in two strands. 'Overcoming Isolation is giving local on-the-ground support while Building Capacity is aimed at bigger groups who support people across the Mid-West region.

The five successful applicants under the first strand are: Croom Family Resource Centre (2,000); Down Syndrome Limerick (3,000); Ballyhoura Rural Services (3,000); Hospital Family Resource Centre (3,000) and Dochas Midwest Autism Support (2,800).

In addition, two regional organisations will benefit from grants to build their capacity.

Novas has been awarded 13,470 to develop a strategic fundraising and implementation plan in order to ensure services for homeless people, impacted by Covid, can be maintained by adapting to a new fundraising environment while Rape Crisis Midwest has been awarded 10,000 to build on the heightened awareness of issues relating to sexual violence during the pandemic and create a strategy which makes the charity more financially sustainable.

Congratulating each of the successful organisation, Denise Charlton, Chief Executive of The Community Foundation for Ireland said: Throughout the pandemic we have been working with amazing community partners and supporting their work on the ground across Limerick. In this latest round of funding our donors are delighted to continue that support. Each of the local projects are inspiring as they show communities coming together to support friends, family, neighbours and others who used to be strangers. Such actions lie at the very heart of our mission Equality for all in thriving communities."

Ms Charlton added that the range of age groups covered by the Limerick projects is particularly impressive.

"It is also important to note that when we opened this grant round the demand exceeded the available support ten times over. The need remains great in communities and we would ask any donors  whether private individuals, families or businesses  who want to get involved to drop us a line. For now I want to congratulate the successful Limerick grantees and wish them every success in the work ahead.
A VIOLENT rapist who was jailed for attacking a 21-year-old woman in Limerick has lost an appeal against his eight-year sentence.

Erick Mukoko, aged 34, who has an address at Thomas Street, Limerick had pleaded guilty to raping the woman at a location in the city in May 2017.

A sentencing hearing at the Central Criminal Court, in October 2019, was told Mukoko  who is originally from the Democratic Republic of the Congo  raped the woman after she refused a kiss from him at a flat where she had been socialising with a friend after a night out.

Mukokos lawyers later launched an appeal against the sentence handed down by Mr Justice Michael White, who had described the rape as very violent and forceful.

In a submission to the Court of Appeal, it was claimed Mr Justice White had erred by placing the case into the more serious category for this kind of offence.

It was also claimed that the judge failed to attach sufficient weight to mitigating factors.

At the Court of Appeal, Mark Nicholas SC, for Mukoko said he did he want to dimmish the seriousness of the offence, but he said the headline sentence of 10-15 years set by the trial judge was too severe and should have been set at a lower scale.

He said his client had regretted his actions and had even offered an apology on his knees to the victim.

However, the court dismissed the appeal.

In a judgement, delivered by Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy, siting with Mr Justice George Birmingham and Ms Justice Isobel Kennedy, the judge said that headline sentence nominated by Mr Justice White was well within the discretion of the judge.

Mr Justice McCarthy also said the three-judge court was of the opinion that the mitigating factors had been properly considered.

Earlier, Anne Marie Lawlor SC, for the Director of Public Prosecutions, told the court the sentence imposed was fully within the margin of appreciation open to the judge.

We say it is a proper sentence, she said. There is simply no error in principle in this case.

During the earlier sentencing hearing, Mr Justice White noted the impact on the victim had been devastating.

The woman outlined to the court, in her victim impact statement, that she suffers anxiety, depression and panic attacks on a daily basis and had tried to take her own life following the rape.

She said she had also taken alcohol to black out what happened. She finds it hard to trust people or socialise.

I am not going to allow what he did to control my life any more, she said, describing how she had the support of her family and hoped to get back to the person she had been before the attack.

Garda Aoibheann Prenderville told Ms Lawlor, prosecuting, that Mukoko was not known to the woman. She had been out socialising with others with whom she had gone to a flat in the city.

During the evening the woman ended up alone in the sitting room with Mukoko and this is where the rape occurred. The woman said she was shouting, saying no and fighting to close her legs.

She said she was bleeding afterwards and went to wake up her friend in a state of high distress.

Gardai identified Mukoko as a suspect and he denied the allegations or knowing the woman during interview. The woman informally identified Mukoko as the perpetrator to gardai after he declined a formal identification process.

A swab of semen taken from the woman matched a DNA profile from Mukoko.
DEAN OF Limerick Very Rev Niall Sloane has made a change to a Christmas tradition to raise awareness of the hunger crisis in flood-hit south Sudan.

The rector of Limerick City Parish and Dean of Limerick has hung a sandbag on his mantlepiece instead of a stocking for the festive season.

In October, South Sudan saw its worst flooding in nearly 60 years, forcing hundreds of thousands of people to abandon their homes.

Unusual heavy rain in recent months caused the Nile to burst its banks leaving large amounts of farmland under water.

The flooding destroyed homes as well as killing livestock and destroying crops and worsened a food crisis which has left 2.4 million people at risk of falling into famine.

With his sandbag Christmas stocking, Dean Sloane is giving his backing to Christian Aid Irelands Christmas appeal.

Christian Aid are working with local partners to respond to the crisis and they are providing emergency life-saving support including blankets, mosquito nets, water purification tablets and cash to flood-affected families.

Christian Aid Ireland Chief Executive Rosamond Bennett thanked Dean Sloane and all his parishioners in Limerick city.

She said: Through his support for our work, Dean Sloane is standing in solidarity with people living in desperate situations.

"This year, his sandbag stocking is helping to raise awareness of the impact that flooding is having on an already terrible hunger crisis in South Sudan.

To support Christian Aids Christmas appeal, visit the website or call 01 496 7040 to make a telephone donation.
LIMERICK woman Ruth Negga has been nominated in the Best Supporting Actress category at the Golden Globes.

Negga has been nominated for her role in the film Passing, a story of mixed-race friends in Prohibition-era America, one of whom 'passes' for a white woman and the other who identifies as African American.

Ethiopian born Negga is no stranger to awards having been nominated for an Oscar in 2016 for her role in the film Loving.

Ruth was born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to an Irish mother and Ethiopian father. The only-child moved to Limerick at the age of four. Her father tragically died in a car accident when she was just seven years old.

The actress grew up in Dooradoyle and attended Scoil Carmel for part of her secondary education before moving to London as a teenager.

She then returned to Ireland to study drama at Trinity College Dublin.

The 2022 Golden Globes ceremony will not be broadcast on television following a year of criticism and controversy in the film industry.

US network NBC who usually broadcast the awards dropped the show over the Hollywood Foreign Press Association's lack of diversity.

The organisation, who votes for the awards, have now admitted new members and overhauled their by-laws to address the diversity issues.

The HFPA were criticised earlier this year by actors, producers and others in the industry after it was revealed they had no black members.

Kenneth Brannagh's autobiographical Belfast has been nominated for seven awards including Best Director and Best Picture.

Irish actors Caitriona Balfe, Jamie Dornan and Ciaran Hinds have also received nominations in the Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress categories.

The winners of the awards will be announced on January 9 2022 however there will be no red carpet or live broadcast.
LIMERICK councillor Sarah Kiely has been praised for speaking about her husband's death during a debate about assisted dying.

Sarah appeared on the Claire Byrne show on RTE on Monday night where a panel discussed their views on assisted dying.

The Dying with Dignity Bill was supported in the Dail last year however its future is uncertain after a committee found that it was flawed.

The Fine Gael councillor said she supports the bill however she does have some reservations about it.

She said "Choice is very important in this debate, I have a certain amount of reservations about it.

Proud of my colleague @sarahleekiely on #cblive tonight sharing her difficult experience during her late husbands illness and advocating for personal choice in the discussion around the Dying with Dignity bill and assisted dying for the terminally ill. pic.twitter.com/3X7THalsew  Olivia O'Sullivan (@oliviaos) December 13, 2021

The Bill is flawed as it is so I do understand the safeguarding issues around it but the feelings I have inside after the experiences we went through as a family colours my opinion on this.

"I think it is very important that we try and give people a bit of dignity, I don't think this will replace palliative care, I think palliative care is very important and I think this will work alongside it."

Sarah's husband and partner of 21 years Damien OShaughnessy died in October 2018 from cancer just nine months after he was diagnosed.

She spoke about Damien's final weeks and how it affected her and their family.

Sarah said: "It was the worst period of my life, I don't think myself or anyone in my family will ever go through something as bad as that experience.

"It wasn't until three weeks before he died we were told it was palliative, I am not saying I blame anyone for that, that is often the way it is with terminal illness."

The Janesboro woman continued: "The week of Damien's death was very traumatic, he spent 24 hours on a trolley in A&E. He was taken unconscious to St Vincent's and when we got there we were told there was a DNR policy on the ward, I thought I was bringing him there so they could bring him back and he could speak.

"I didn't think death was so near, but looking back I know Damien knew death was very near."

Towards the end of his life, the pain Damien was experiencing was his only focus and he asked his consultant would he be in pain at the end.

Sarah continued "That spoke volumes to me. If Damien had a choice, his last few weeks would have been very different".
The recommended gap between receiving the Covid-19 booster jab after the primary vaccination is to be reduced to three months.

Health Minister Stephen Donnelly said he has accepted a recommendation from the National Immunisation Advisory Committee (NIAC) that the gap between the second dose of the jab and booster should be reduced from five months to three.

Boosters will continue to be offered in the priority order previously recommended, Mr Donnelly added.

I have this evening accepted a recommendation from NIAC that the gap between completion of primary schedule of COVID-19 vaccination and a booster dose will be reduced to three months. Boosters will continue to be offered in the priority order previously recommended. pic.twitter.com/W394WqjG74  Stephen Donnelly (@DonnellyStephen) December 13, 2021

Previously those who received the Pfizer, Moderna or AstraZeneca jabs had to wait at least five months after their second dose before they were eligible to receive a booster.

More than 1.2 million doses of the booster vaccine had been given in Ireland by this week.

Earlier, Environment Minister Eamon Ryan said the Government has real and valid concerns about the threat posed by Omicron and cannot rule out the need for further restrictions.

Mr Ryan stressed the importance of getting as many booster doses delivered as possible in the weeks ahead.

His comments came amid further reports of long queues at vaccination facilities in several parts of Ireland on Monday as people waited for Covid-19 jabs.

Mr Ryan downplayed the prospect of cancelling flights into Ireland as a way to slow the spread of the variant, insisting that the open land border with Northern Ireland meant it was impossible to lock off Ireland.

He said scientists were still awaiting comprehensive data on the severity of the illness caused by Omicron.

There is real concern, I think they are valid concerns, he said.

So we will continue to watch obviously what the health authorities in Europe are saying and listen to our own health authorities.

My sense is still the basic message still should be the same, we do need everyone to try and get that booster done. That will, it seems, give further protection.

And then its the basic measures  its good ventilation, good social distancing, the basic things weve learned over the last two years.

Mr Ryan said the Government would be examined plans later in the week to step up the booster programme further.

I think thats probably the first, best, most important reaction and response, he told RTE Radio One.

And we need to do that in response to the Delta wave which is here anyway, we still have 4,000-plus cases a day, so that use of the booster vaccine to protect against that is needed in any case, regardless of Omicron.

So any further measures, well continue to look at that with our health authorities.

Asked if he could rule out further restrictions, the Green Party leader added: I think in this virus what weve learned is never to rule anything out.

Were still awaiting the scientific analysis. And I think what were best doing though is following science, is looking at what our European colleagues are doing so to make sure that were part of a wider response. You cant just work this if you just do it on your own.

So I dont think we can rule anything out but at the same time what we have seen I think that maybe gives people some hope is that the numbers in our hospitals have stabilised in the last number of weeks, we want to keep that going and thats one of the metrics that will obviously be used to watch to see whats happening to our health system.

Yesterday (December 13th), the Department of Health notified another 4,688 confirmed cases of Covid-19.

These included an eight additional cases of the Omicron variant, bringing to 18 the total number of cases that have been identified in Ireland.

As of 8am yesterday, there were 518 Covid positive patients in hospital, of whom 108 were in intensive care.
NEW DELHI : French luxury fashion house Chanel on Tuesday announced the appointment of Unilevers Leena Nair as its global chief executive officer adding to a list of Hindustan Unilever Ltd. executives taking top roles at some of the worlds largest companies.

Nair, Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO), at British fast moving consumer goods company Unilever Plc, will step down from her role in January. She will take on the role at the luxury clothing and bags maker effective January 2022; she will be based in London.

Nair will join a small but growing group of influential female business leaders who have taken top roles at large companies. Indira Nooyi, former chairperson and chief executive at snacking and beverage company PepsiCo, is among the few Indian CEOs to head large MNCs.

The XLRI-Jamshedpur alumni started her 30-year career as a management trainee in Hindustan Unilever in 1992, where she progressed through roles in factories, sales and HR to become the first woman on Hindustan Unilevers management committee. After three years as head of leadership and organisational development in London, she was appointed CHRO in 2016 with responsibility for the companys 150,000 people across more than 100 countries globally.

Nair was the first female, first Asian, youngest ever CHRO of Unilever Plc. Shes also a member of the Unilever Leadership Executive (ULE). Nair has been recognized as a trailblazing leader, counted among the hundreds of top leaders that Hindustan Unilever Ltd. has churned out over the years.

"Leena has been a pioneer throughout her career at Unilever, but no more so than in her role as CHRO, where she has been a driving force on our equity, diversity and inclusion agenda, on the transformation of our leadership development, and on our preparedness for the future of work," Alan Jope, Unilever CEO said announcing Nair's exit.

Meanwhile, Reuters reported, citing a statement by Chanel, that Alain Wertheimer, the French billionaire who owns Chanel with his brother Gerard Wertheimer, and who previously held the title of global CEO, would move to the role of global executive chairman.

Chanel sells ready to wear clothes, luxury bags, jewellery and watches to the worlds rich and affluent. It was set up in 1910 by Coco Chanel.

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Omicron cases in India have risen to 41 with Maharastra reporting the highest number of infections of the latest variant of the coronavirus. Delhi, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Karnataka have also reported cases of the new coronavirus variant.

Maharashtra reported two more fully vaccinated people infected with the Omicron variant of COVID-19, with both having Dubai travel history. As of Monday, Maharashtra's tally of Omicron cases stood at 20, as per the state health department.

Both the patients, including a woman, detected in Maharashtra are asymptomatic and were fully vaccinated, the health department added.

Two new cases have been found to be infected with Omicron, according to a report released today by the National Institute of Virology - one from Latur and one from Pune," the state health department said.

The Pune case is a 39-year old woman, while the Latur patient is a 33-year-old male.

Both the patients have a travel history to Dubai, it said in a bulletin.

A man who had returned from South Africa tested positive in Gujarat, taking the tally in the country to 41 on Monday.

Omicron cases in India: State-wise list

Omicron has been detected in Maharashtra (20), Rajasthan (9), Karnataka (3), Gujarat (4), Kerala (1) and Andhra Pradesh (1) and Union Territories of Delhi (2) and Chandigarh (1).

Cases of Omicron, which is categorised as a variant of concern" by the World Health Organisation, have been detected in about 60 countries.

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Continental drift was a revolutionary theory explaining that continents shift position on Earth's surface. The theory was proposed by geophysicist and meteorologist Alfred Wegener in 1912, but was rejected by mainstream science at the time. Scientists confirmed some of Wegener's ideas decades later, which are now part of the widely accepted theory of plate tectonics.

Wegener's continental drift theory introduced the idea of moving continents to geoscience. He proposed that Earth must have once been a single supercontinent before breaking up to form several different continents. This explained how similar rock formations and plant and animal fossils could exist on separated continents. Modern science recognizes this ancient supercontinent called Pangaea did exist before breaking up about 200 million years ago, as Wegener theorized.

Related: Massive supercontinent will form hundreds of millions of years from now

Why did scientists reject Wegener's continental drift theory?

Geologists roundly denounced Wegener's continental drift theory after he published the details in a 1915 book called "The Origin of Continents and Oceans." Part of the opposition was because Wegener didn't have a good model to explain how the continents moved, something scientists later explained under the umbrella of plate tectonics  the theory that Earth's crust is fractured into plates that move over a rocky inner layer called the mantle.

"There's an irony that the key objection to continent drift was that there is no mechanism, and plate tectonics was accepted without a mechanism," to move the continents, Henry Frankel (19442019), an emeritus professor at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and author of the four volume "The Continental Drift Controversy" (Cambridge University Press, 2012) previously told Live Science.

Though most of Wegener's observations about fossils and rocks were correct, he was outlandishly wrong on a couple of key points. For instance, Wegener thought the continents might have plowed through the ocean crust like icebreakers smashing through ice.

Evolving theories

When Wegener proposed continental drift, many geologists were contractionists. They thought Earth's incredible mountains were created because our planet had been cooling and shrinking since its formation, Frankel said. And to account for the identical fossils discovered on continents such as South America and Africa, scientists invoked ancient land bridges, now vanished beneath the sea.

Researchers argued over the land bridges right up until the plate tectonics theory was developed from the 1950s to the 1970s, Frankel said. For instance, as geophysicists began to realize that continental rocks were too light to sink down to the ocean floor, prominent paleontologists instead wrongly suggested that the similarities between fossils had been overestimated, Frankel said.

Plate tectonics is like a modern update to continental drift. In the 1960s, scientists discovered plate edges through magnetic surveys of the ocean floor and through the seismic listening networks built to monitor nuclear testing, according to Encyclopedia Britannica. Alternating patterns of magnetic anomalies on the ocean floor indicated seafloor spreading, where new plate material is born. Magnetic minerals aligned in ancient rocks on continents also showed that the continents have shifted relative to one another.

Related: Plate tectonics are 3.6 billion years old, oldest minerals on Earth reveal

What evidence is there for continental drift?

Tectonic plates of the Earth (Image credit: USGS)

A map of the continents inspired Wegener's quest to explain Earth's geologic history. He was intrigued by the interlocking fit of Africa's and South America's shorelines. Wegener then assembled an impressive amount of continental drift evidence to show that Earth's continents were once connected in a single supercontinent.

Wegener knew that fossil plants and animals such as mesosaurs, a freshwater reptile found only in South America and Africa during the Permian period, could be found on many continents. He also matched up rock formations on either side of the Atlantic Ocean like puzzle pieces. For example, the Appalachian Mountains (United States) and Caledonian Mountains (Scotland) fit together, as do the Karoo strata in South Africa and Santa Catarina rocks in Brazil.

In fact, plates moving together created the highest mountains in the world, the Himalayans, and the mountains are still growing due to the plates pushing together, even now, according to National Geographic. Despite his incredible continental drift evidence, Wegener never lived to see his theory gain wider acceptance. He died in 1930 at age 50 just two days after his birthday while on a scientific expedition in Greenland, according to the University of Berkeley.

Additional resources

Learn more about the history of continental drift and plate tectonics from the U.S. Geological Survey.

Learn more about Alfred Wegener from the NASA Earth Observatory.

Watch this short video on YouTube about plate tectonics and continental drift, from National Geographic.

This article was updated on Dec. 14, 2021, by Live Science Staff Writer Patrick Pester. Additional reporting by Alina Bradford, Live Science contributor.
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BAFTA chief executive Amanda Berry will step down from her role in the fall of 2023  after 25 years at the organization. BAFTA chief operating officer Kevin Price will leave in Sept. 2022, after 20 years working alongside Berry.

Berry said: In 2023 I will have been at BAFTA for 25 years. When I first joined BAFTA I honestly thought I would stay for three or four years, but my passion, dreams and ambition for the organisation just kept growing. As we approach BAFTAs 75th anniversary next year I have reflected on what I, Kevin and the truly brilliant team at BAFTA have achieved, and it feels like the right time to plan to pass on the mask.

It has been an absolute honour to have led BAFTA. We are the only global arts charity representing film, games and television, and I am incredibly proud of our work enabling talented people from all backgrounds to progress their careers in these industries, as well as our ability to reach and inspire global audiences with our awards ceremonies, events and content.

The formal re-opening of our redeveloped HQ at 195 Piccadilly next year is a landmark moment, and one of the biggest in BAFTAs history. This new creative hub and centre of excellence will enable a further dramatic expansion of our learning and talent programme, pivotal to BAFTAs charitable remit.

Berry added that over the coming months she will oversee the recruitment process to replace Price.

BAFTA chair Krishnendu Majumdar said: Amanda has been a loyal and outstanding chief executive of BAFTA for over 23 years. Under her leadership she has cemented BAFTAs annual film awards ceremony as one of the most important and credible film industry occasions in the world. Her passion for supporting talent and her steadfast belief that talent is everywhere but opportunity is not is evident in the huge expansion of BAFTAs year-round global learning and talent development program.

Kevin has been BAFTAs chief operating officer for the past 20 years, working closely with Amanda and more recently myself, Majumdar added. He has been instrumental in overseeing the business, governance and operational strategies that enable BAFTA to deliver against its charitable remit. Kevin has provided essential strategic oversight for the 34 million [$44.8 million] redevelopment of 195 Piccadilly, a project that spans 12 years from inception to delivery, expertly stewarding and ensuring on-time delivery of an incredibly complex project that also took place during the worldwide pandemic.

Price added: With the reopening of a new 195 Piccadilly next year, I believe we are beginning a new phase in BAFTAs historical journey. We shall look back at the 2000s, 2010s and the early 2020s as the Berry years and I feel privileged to have been part of that journey. After 20 years working with Amanda, I believe now is the right time for me to pursue other interests across the arts and cultural sector. I will be incredibly proud to leave BAFTA in a strong position with great potential for further growth, and to allow a successor to help lead this great British institution through its next era.

Barbara Broccoli, BAFTA VP for film, said: Throughout her tenure, Amanda has ensured BAFTA has continued to evolve and reflect the many changes in the screen industries. She will leave BAFTA with an incredible legacy, having successfully delivered its most ambitious project to date, the redevelopment of 195 Piccadilly and the dramatic expansion of BAFTAs learning and talent program. Those who know Amanda will attest to her determination in spearheading the fundraising campaign to make this happen. This investment in the next generation of talent is pivotal to BAFTAs charitable remit and will continue Amandas legacy for years to come.

1917 producer Pippa Harris, who serves as BAFTA VP for television added: Amanda has grown BAFTA into a unique and world-leading arts organisation that supports thousands of talented individuals at the start of their careers in film, games and television. Kevin has been responsible for many of BAFTAs successes too, from the turnaround of the hospitality business at 195 Piccadilly as a vital income generator for BAFTAs charitable activity, to most recently creating a single BAFTA operation in North America and paving the way for future growth opportunities.

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Swedish-Iranian filmmaker Milad Alamis Opponent, Sasha Polaks Silver Haze and Sophia Mocorreas Marriage by Abduction have won the top awards at Les Arcs Festivals popular industry village.

Curated by Frederic Boyer, Tribeca and Les Arcs artistic director, the Work-In-Progress presentation is part of the festivals industry sidebar, which also includes the Coproduction Village, Talent Village and Music Village. Nearly 500 guests, including sales agents, distributors and festival programmers, flocked to the 11th edition of the event in spite of the ongoing pandemic.

Opponent won the TitraFilm Award which consists of 10,000 ($11,300) worth of post-production services for image and/or sound. One of the 14 projects presented at the Work-in-Progress event, Opponent marks Alamis sophomore outing after The Charmer which won prizes at San Sebastian and Palm Springs, among other festivals. Opponent follows Iman, a professional wrestler, and his family who are forced to flee Iran in the aftermath of a devastating rumor and end up in a run-down hotel in Northern Sweden.

Opponent was produced by Swedens Tangy and Norways Ape&Bjrn. It was praised by the jury for its dynamic compelling visual language and the films use of wrestling and its physicality to explore the thematic of freedom.

The jury was composed of Florence Almozini, programmer at Cannes Directors Fortnight, Kevin Chan, co-head of acquisitions at MUBI, and Mimi Plauche, artistic director of the Chicago International Film Festival.

The Teheran-born Alami ranks as one of Swedens most exciting up-and-comers. He recently directed When the Dust Settles, a thought-provoking mini-series following different people before and after a terrorist attack in Copenhagen.

Silver Haze, Polaks fourth feature, won a special mention from the jury for its striking cinematography, and the way director Sacha Polak works with the actors to elicit emotionally resonant performances and create complex authentic characters.

Silver Haze marks Polaks follow up to Dirty God which competed at Sundance and was nominated for four British Independent Film Awards. The movie re-teams Polak with Vicky Knight, a healthcare assistant and actor who starred in Dirty God, where she played Franky, a 23 year-old woman who falls in love with a girl and runs away from home while her brother converts to Islam. The movie is being produced by Dutch banner Viking Film and the U.K.s Emu Films.

Polak, who was born in Amsterdam, made her debut with Hemel which won the FIPRESCI prize at Berlin in 2012 and recently directed episodes of David Farrs Amazon original series Hanna. She also directed several documentaries, including New Boobs and Nieuwe Tieten.

Polak said Silver Haze is a fictional story with documentary components  it plays with real life but it also strays from it.  The movie shot on location in the U.K., in Dagenham, an underprivileged area of London, and in Southend.

Family, love and growth are important themes in Silver Haze. Family, not just in the sense of blood relatives, because it can be found in unexpected places, or in religion. The film is also a love story and a coming of age film, said the producers. The movie is also steeped in the uncertainty of modern times, as a result of the pandemic and Brexit.

Other prizes went to Katia de Vidass music documentary Stranger in My Own Skin, an intimate portrayal of Peter Doherty. The film won the Alphapanda Audience Engagement Award from a jury which included Didar Domehri, Maneki Films founder and producer; Mathias Noschis, film marketing strategist and founder of Alphapanda; and Joanna Solecka, film marketing and social media strategist and head of Alphapanda.

The jury said Stranger in my Own Skin is a moving and inspiring intimate portrait of Peter Doherty which puts a light on a complex personality in a new chapter of his life. The jury said this story will give audiences hope for a possible change and will touch viewers far beyond music communities. Stranger in my Own Skin was shot over 10 years by de Vidas who fell in love with Doherty during the making of the film and recently married him.

The Talent Village Award, which consists in a cash prize granted by Les Arcs Film Festival, went to Mocorreas short film Marriage by abduction.

The jury, comprising Savina Neirotti, head of program of Venice Production Bridge and the Biennale College; Thomas Rosso, program manager of Cannes Critics Week; and Laure Caillol, head of acquisitions at Haut et Court, said the film stood out of its cinematic quality and powerful mise en scene, as well as its ability to address the implication of cross cultural relationships and to balance the weight of traditions.

The ArteKino International Award, consisting of in a grant of 6,000 from Franco-German network Arte, went to Ninna Palmadottirs Solitude which was presented as part of the Coproduction Village. The project is being developed by Pegasus Pictures in Iceland, and MP Film Production in Croatia.

The ArteKino International Awards choice went to the project of a young director, who has expressed her talent in two sensitive and poetic short films, said Remi Burah, CEO of Arte France Cinema, who presides over the ArteKino Foundation. Her first feature echoes harmoniously with the characters of her shorts and her universe with the one of her scriptwriter, a very talented Icelandic director, added Burah.

Les Arcs Film Festival wraps its 13th edition on Dec. 18.

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Count marketing analytics firm 605 among the number of firms that hope to fill in some of the gaps in measuring video audiences as more companies press for alternatives to the current standard, Nielsen.

The company, founded by Kristin Dolan and backed by Dolan Family Ventures, the investment arm of the family long associated with the former Cablevision as well as AMC Networks, plans to use its data to launch a media trading currency that can undergird advertising transactions between advertisers and media networks. The 605 Exchange makes use of a large data set that examines audience and advertising metrics daily. The company intends to utilize data from 22 million U.S. households.

In an interview, Dolan says she expects 605 will be one of a handful of companies vying to provide new ways to count audiences watching their favorite programs on both linear TV and its digital counterparts. The consensus now is that there are going to be multiple forms of currency, she says. The whole world changed on September 1, when the accreditation of Nielsen was lost.

Measurement giant Nielsen continues to provide tabulation of viewership that remains the most industrys most utilized method. But the company has come under intense scrutiny in recent months, with TV networks alleging Nielsen didnt count audiences properly during the pandemic and the Media Rating Council removing its accreditation of Nielsens national ratings service. That has opened a window for the media industry to start experimenting with new measurement concepts.

Audiences have already become more difficult to track. More viewers are watching TV through broadband delivery at times of their own choosing, giving rise to smaller groups with discrete purchasing characteristics. Nielsen has long tracked total viewership and broken it down according to age and gender characteristics. But Madison Avenue is calling out for more reliable measures built around purchase intent and product affinity.

Nielsen has told clients it realizes it needs to move faster, and is already at work on a new system that will count audiences across linear and digital viewing windows. Nielsen recently announced it intends to overhaul its current bedrock measurement of audiences for commercial breaks and instead track the viewership of individual ads across various media venues.

Dolans 605 has been working along some of these lines, largely in the marketing science known as attribution, or tracing the thread from a consumers exposure to a commercial to an actual sale of the product. The company is already involved in some nascent efforts to build new measurement systems, including one by the media-industry-backed OpenAP.

The company intends to start an open partner program that will have it collaborate with marketers, programmers and media agencies to start developing independent measurement efforts. Collaborators will be able use 605 Exchange as a tracking currency in 2022, specifically for national premium video. Over the longer term, 605 expects to add features based on input from partners.

Many of the media companies have indicated they intend to offer their own measures of viewer activity, a development that has spurred Madison Avenue concerns that advertisers will have to base viewership on numbers issued by the companies who provide the content along which commercials run  essentially having the student, for lack of a better analogy, grade his or her own homework. But 605 says its measurement will remain independent. The company has pledged that it will never trade or take a position in any media.

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In a bid to capture a bigger share of the large, fiercely competitive and price-sensitive Indian streaming market, Netflix has sharply reduced its subscription price plans in the territory.

The cheapest monthly mobile plan, which covers phone and tablet, has been cut from INR199 ($2.63) to INR149 ($1.97).

The basic full service plan, which provides 480p picture quality, sees the largest price drop, by 60%, from INR499 ($6.60) per month to just INR199 ($2.63). The standard plan, which serves up 1080p picture quality and a full service, has been cut from INR649 ($8.58) per month to INR499 ($6.60).

The most expensive full service premium plan, which provides 4K + HDR picture quality, is now reduced from INR799 ($10.57) to INR649 ($8.58).

Netflixs date for price reduction, Dec. 14, appears to be deliberate, as that is the same day that rival Amazon Prime Video India is upping its rates. Prime Videos annual subscription plan jumps 50% from INR999 ($13.21) to INR1,499 ($18.83).

Amazon Prime Videos monthly plan is rising from INR129 ($1.70) to INR179 ($2.36), while the quarterly plan is increasing from INR329 ($4.35) to INR459 ($6.07).

Indian streaming market leader Disney Plus Hotstar raised rates in September. The cheapest INR499 ($6.60) annual plan is for mobiles only. Its INR899 ($11.89) annual plan covers any two devices, while the INR1,499 annual plan ($18.83) is up to 4K quality and across four devices. Disney Plus Hotstar also has an advertising-supported free tier.

While none of the streamers disclose their paying subscriber numbers in India, a report on the market by research firm Media Partners Asia reveals that the top three streamers in the country Disney Plus Hotstar (51 million), Amazon Prime Video (22.3 million) and Netflix (6.1 million) together account for 80 million subscriptions, though some may be duplicated.

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SPOILER ALERT: The following review contains spoilers.

What do you call the opposite of a reboot? The system overload of Spider-Man movies, Sonys ninth (and almost certainly not last) feature-length riff on the friendly neighborhood superhero, Spider-Man: No Way Home seeks to connect Tom Hollands spin on the web-slinger with the previous live-action versions of the character by first reassembling a rogues gallery of all the villains Peter Parker has vanquished to date. Returning director Jon Watts  whose bright, slightly dorky touch lends a welcome continuity to this latest trilogy  wrangles the unwieldy premise into a consistently entertaining superhero entry, tying up two decades of loose ends in the process.

The mind-bending plot hinges on a convenient comic-book device called the multiverse, which allows infinite iterations of Spider-Man/Mineral/Vegetable to exist in their own parallel dimensions. Thats a radically different strategy from the one Sony has been peddling till now, whereby the studio simply recast the character every few years (lest the rights revert back to Marvel), without offering much in the way of closure to fans of Tobey Maguires or Andrew Garfields earlier outings.

Granted, the idea should be familiar to anyone who saw 2018s animated Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, which introduced the thrilling possibility that virtually anyone could be Spidey. But whereas that toon suggested infinite paths for the character going forward, No Way Home serves to wrap up what has come before, starting by reviving Spideys past adversaries, forcing Hollands Peter Parker to face off against five of the villains pulled in from the movies that preceded him.

It all happens because Peters life has been turned upside-down by Mysterio (the bad guy he vanquished at the end of Far From Home two years ago), who managed to unmask Spidey before biting the dust. Desperate to protect his family and friends, Peter appeals to all-powerful wizard Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) to cast a spell that will make everyone forget his identity. Instead, the plan backfires, calling everyone who ever knew that Peter was Spider-Man out of their dimension and into his.

To make things a little easier for the movie to manage, its really only the villains who answer Stranges calling  which is impressive enough, considering that means enlisting Alfred Molina (Doc Ock), Willem Dafoe (Green Goblin), Jamie Fox (Electro), Thomas Haden Church (Sandman) and Rhys Ifans (The Lizard) to reprise their roles. Meanwhile, to make things easier for Spider-Man to manage, none is even remotely as intimidating as we remember them.

No Way Home keeps the surprises coming up to (and even through) the end credits, but perhaps the most unexpected is Peters decision  together with girlfriend MJ (Zendaya) and best bud Ned (Jacob Batalon)  not to defeat these villains the way his predecessors did. Instead, Peter hopes to cure these goons of the mutations that are making them unhappy, even if it means defying Doctor Strange (one of several characters on loan from the broader Marvel Cinematic Universe, in which Hollands Spider-Man has been making now-regular appearances).

Peters empathy seems perfectly fitting for a movie that targets a fresh wave of idealistic teens very much engaged with questioning everything Western civilization thought it knew about crime and punishment, power and privilege. As a critic who grew up on movies in which the bad guys were routinely impaled (Tony Goldywn in Ghost), decapitated (Dennis Hopper in Speed) or otherwise made to pay dearly for their sins, its fascinating to encounter an escapist Hollywood offering that seeks to understand the root of these characters megalomaniacal behavior.

The reason, as Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers screenplay tries to explain, is that this version of Peter is still dealing with Mysterios death. In that reaction, we see the franchise trying to make the character more fully dimensional and dare-I-say realistic  much as 21st-century Bond Casino Royale and Christopher Nolans The Dark Knight did in recognizing the physical toll saving the world had on their respective protagonists.

For my money, Holland has been the least interesting of the three big-screen Spider-Men, coming across younger and less mature than Maguire or Garfield. Until now. This simple plot development makes him more than just an acrobat in spandex, juggling awkward high school experiences with flashy visual-effects battles  although both elements carry through to this film, in which college acceptance carries equal weight with a big CG showdown at the Statue of Liberty. Hes further disrupting the Marvel-movie formula (which already got a massive upset with the Infinity War-ending snap and inevitable time-travel gimmick it took to reverse it) and even going so far as to redefine audiences collective notion of heroism in the process.

As complicated as it all sounds, No Way Home sticks to a relatively straightforward idea of the multiverse, taking extra care to walk us through the logical loop-de-loops its plot requires. Whenever Doctor Strange shows up in a Marvel movie, audiences ought to be prepared for some magical monkey business  the kind of rule-bending that essentially makes anything possible. Superhero movies are only as good as their villains, and its a thrill to be reunited with Doc Ock and Green Goblin again. Though the other three baddies were relatively disappointing in their original incarnations, this film focuses on the tragic dimension of their characters and their capacity for redemption.

Its not quite so successful at identifying the rage building in Peter Parker, whose good intentions directly result in an irreversible loss. While incendiary news reports  from conspiracy-monger J. Jonah Jameson (J.K. Simmons), an unlikely constant across the multiverse  paint him as a menace, Spidey is torn between the instinct to help his adversaries and a much darker impulse to seek revenge (a watered-down version of the Jedi/Sith tug-of-war weve seen in Star Wars protagonists). Though Holland looks too much like an eager Boy Scout for us to believe hell go rogue, that conflict serves as a promising setup for the movies obvious mid-point twist  one that trailers have hidden, but reviews really ought to unpack. Be warned that spoilers will follow.

If villains can make the dimensional leap, it stands to reason that other Spider-Men can too, and sure enough, first Garfield and then Maguire show up seemingly up-to-speed on Peters villain infestation problem. Because theyve all faced variations on the same challenges  from losing loved ones to reconciling their romantic interests with a demanding day job  the movie balances easy-target comedy with more profound life lessons. What could easily have felt like one of those tacky Disneyland parades, where all the princesses are assembled to do fan service, instead finds a strong emotional foundation.

Garfield, so good in this years Tick, Tick Boom, radiates more charisma here than he ever did in his two Spider-Man installments. And the older-and-wiser Maguire, whod gotten soft and lazy between his second and third Spider-Man movies, reminds audiences who havent seen him on screen in years why we found him so appealing in the first place. Theres something fundamentally worrisome about dissolving the barriers between these separate iterations of the franchise, and yet, the entire creative team seems committed to treating the multiverse not as a stunt, nor a crass corporate ploy (it does conveniently repair a rift in the MCU), but as an opportunity to more fully explore what Peter Parker stands for.

No Way Home doesnt pretend that the earlier films were perfect, poking fun at elements we can all agree were weaknesses, while also leaving room for the villains and Spider-Men alike to do some much-needed healing. The movie can be ungainly at times, and its much too committed to setting up even more craziness to play out in upcoming Marvel product (these arent standalone films so much as overloaded episodes, after all), but it provides enough resolution for the past two decades of Spider-Man adventures that audiences whove tuned out along the way will be rewarded for giving this one a shot.

Reviewed at AMC Century City, Los Angeles, Dec. 13, 2021. MPAA Rating: PG-13. Running time: 148 MIN.

Running Time: Running time: 148 MIN.

Production

A Columbia Pictures release and presentation of a Pascal Pictures, Marvel Studios production. Producers: Kevin Feige, Amy Pascal. Executive producers: Louis DEsposito, Victoria Alonso, JoAnn Perritano, Rachel OConnor, Avi Arad, Matt Tolmach. Co-producers: Mitch Bell,

Chris Buongiorno.

Crew

Director: Jon Watts. Screenplay: Chris McKenna & Erik Sommers, based on the Marvel comic book by Stan Lee, Steve Ditko. Camera: Mauro Fiore. Editors: Jeffrey Ford, Leigh Folsom Boyd. Music: Michael Giacchino.

With

Tom Holland, Zendaya, Benedict Cumberbatch, Jacob Batalon, Jon Favreau, Jamie Foxx, Willem Dafoe, Alfred Molina, Benedict Wong, Tony Revolori, Marisa Tomei, Andrew Garfield, Tobey Maguire.

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U.S. Border Patrol agents apprehended 14 migrants in separate smuggling attempts reported north of Laredo, authorities said.

The first case occurred on Dec. 10, when agents pulled over a maroon pickup near mile marker 32 of Interstate 35. Agents discovered six migrants inside the vehicle. They were from the countries of Guatemala and Mexico.

A second smuggling attempt occurred the following day. Agents spotted several individuals in a ranch north of the I-35 checkpoint. Agents responded to apprehend eight migrants from the countries of Guatemala and Mexico.

Help us take a stand against human and narcotic smuggling organizations by reporting suspicious activity to the Laredo Sector Border Patrol toll free at 1-800-343-1994, Border Patrol said in a statement.
On the last Laredo City Council meeting of the year, councilmembers discussed the proposed Binational River Park Project  the binational committee called Comite Binacional para la Gestion Metropolitana  and ratified the declaration signed by both Laredo and Nuevo Laredo mayors as well as UN-Habitat and more authorities.

City Manager Robert Eads initiated the discussion by bringing everyone up to date with information on the project. Eads expressed the United States Ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazars feelings toward Laredo, expressing how this city is different from other border communities with its special relation with sister city Nuevo Laredo.

Like the River Walk system of San Antonio that mirrors itself on both sides so that we can enjoy the river, we can enjoy shopping and downtown, but we also have a big, nice space to enjoy the river, Eads said of the project.

Eads said that the area in which Laredo is focusing for the park will be between the city and the creek system, and both parties will be able to work together.

Both ambassadors and consuls from Mexico and the United States are working together to accomplish the project, which they all agree is something that can be done.

The scale for the project is contemplated around $100 million, although that sum might be considered now too small, as there is also a thinking that this can reach an even bigger level.

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I think the ambassadors want to use Laredo and Nuevo Laredo just like the UN, as the example throughout the entire country, Eads said. It looked very rushed, and thats just at the speed ambassador is running, so were catching up to the ambassador and his motivation to do something.

Both ambassadors will return to Laredo in February for another meeting regarding this Binational Park, in which they should receive a prepared and updated project from the committee to go forward with it.

Four members of council will be joining the committee for the binational park. These include Laredo Mayor Pete Saenz, District VIII Councilmember Alyssa Cigarroa  as the park is planned in her district area  and two other councilmembers to be chosen by Saenz.

The commission for the park would serve as a working group, driven by The Consul, to discuss ideas and propositions, as any decision would later go to Council of Laredo where it would be reviewed and approved or rejected.

Eads proudly shared that the sister cities of Laredo and Nuevo Laredo have been considered by the UN as an example of a model they wish to share with the world. The alliance of the sister cities is considered as a role model for more countries to follow in hopes that they build their own equally strong relationships. This project idea will be taken by the UN to France, New York and Poland within the start of the upcoming year.

Were being recognized for good reasons, for this relationship that we have, Eads said. We think this is exciting that we have that level of support and that level of interest in our community.

cecilia.trevino@lmtonline.com
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP)  NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Tuesday that he has applied to be the next governor of Norway's central bank in an appointment that would last for six years if he gets the job.

The current governor of Norges Bank, Oeystein Olsen, is retiring in early 2022 after holding the position since Jan. 1, 2011 for two terms. Stoltenberg's tenure at NATO ends next year.

Stoltenberg said he was contacted by Norways Finance Ministry in November and asked if he would consider applying.

I have now done that, and this is a job I am very motivated for, the NATO chief said in a statement. Stoltenberg added that the Finance Ministry in Oslo has clarified that my background as former Prime Minister and Secretary General of NATO does not conflict with the central banks rules on who can hold this position.

Stoltenberg said he had made it clear to the Finance Ministry "that if I get the position, it will not be possible for me to start before my period in NATO expires on 1 October 2022."

Norges Bank, the central bank,confirmed that Stoltenberg applied for the position.

Stoltenberg became NATO secretary-general in 2014. After a successful first term, his mandate at the trans-Atlantic alliance was extended to run through September 2022.

Stoltenberg has been praised for steering NATO through a difficult period under the Trump administration, when the U.S. threatened not to come to the aid of member countries that weren't spending enough on defense.

U.S. President Joe Biden and his NATO counterparts are meeting in Madrid in June, where they are expected to nominate Stoltenbergs successor.

On Tuesday, Norway's government published a list of 22 candidates for the central bank job that includes Stoltenberg but also Norges Bank's deputy governor, Ida Wolden Bache, who is also considered a top contender.

Stoltenberg was twice prime minister in Norway  from 2005 to 2013 and from 2002 to 2014  and has been finance minister, and industry and energy minister. Norway isn't a member of the European Union.

___

Lorne Cook in Brussels contributed to this report.
CAP-HAITIEN, Haiti (AP)  A gasoline tanker overturned and exploded in northern Haiti, unleashing a fireball that swept through homes and businesses on its way to killing at least 75 people Tuesday, according to local authorities, in the latest tragedy to befall the Caribbean nation.

The blast occurred shortly after midnight in Cap-Haitien, Haiti's second largest city, along the northern coast. Hours later, buildings and overturned vehicles were still fuming as firefighters covered the burned bodies of the young victims in white sheets and loaded them onto the back of a construction truck.

Hundreds of Haitians  who aren't easily shocked amid their country's multiple misfortunes  looked on from rooftops in disbelief at the loss of so much life. Prime Minister Ariel Henry, himself a physician, visited a hospital where victims bandaged head to toe were fighting for their lives amid a shortage of medical supplies and health workers.

Its horrible what happened, said Patrick Almonor, deputy mayor of Cap-Haitien, who said late Tuesday that 75 people had died.. We lost so many lives.

Among survivors who spoke with the prime minister was Riche Joseph, who spent hours on the floor of Justinien University Hospital, the city's largest, connected to an IV while he waited for a bed.

His sister, Bruna Lourdes, said her brother stepped out of the house late at night where they lived together with their mother to look for something to eat. When she heard the explosion, she rushed down from the hillside shantytown in panic.

Im praying to God that he won't take his life, said Lourdes, who is studying to be a nurse and plans to spend the night by her brother's beside to offer whatever assistance she can to the overstretched medical staff.

Early reports indicate that the tanker was trying to avoid an oncoming motorcycle when it flipped. Onlookers then rushed to the scene with buckets to scoop up what they could of the tanker's valuable cargo, likely for resale on the black market, as the fuel spilled toward a nearby pile of smoldering trash.

It was after midnight and I heard a loud noise so I asked one of my boys to go and look. He told me a gasoline truck exploded, said Abraham Joanis, 61, as he carried around a guitar rescued unscathed from the charred remains of his home, one of 50 gutted by the blaze.

Right away, I left with my family, and I headed the other way to the bridge," he added.

Contributing to the high death toll is the desperation that has forced impoverished Haitians in recent months to scramble for gasoline due to severe shortages that have shuttered gas stations, sent fuel prices on the black market spiraling and forced businesses to close as the U.S. and Canadian governments warn their citizens to leave while they still can.

The shortages are the latest manifestation of a society that has been on the brink since the July 7 assassination of President Jovenel Moise and a 7.2 magnitude earthquake a few weeks later that killed more than 2,200 people and destroyed tens of thousands of homes.

The country of more than 11 million people also has been hit by a spike in gang-related kidnappings, including 17 people with a U.S. missionary organization who were abducted in mid-October. Five of them have been released but another 12 are still being held.

Its terrible what our country has to go through, said Dave Larose, a civil engineer who works in Cap-Haitien.

Hospitals in Haiti's second largest city seemed ill equipped to deal with the disaster and 15 victims had to be evacuated by air to hospitals in the capital, Port-au-Prince.

Some of the burn victims were being treated by teams from Doctors without Borders.

Surviving and recovering from a severe burn is a difficult process that requires specialized medical care, often for weeks or months," Jean-Gilbert Ndong, the group's medical coordinator. "We will continue to receive patients according to the needs and our capacity.

Burn victims at Justinien hospital screamed in agony as they pleaded for basic supplies and more medical staff.

Henry, wearing a biohazard suit, clasped his hands and leaned over to console one man collapsed on the hospitals concrete floor because there were not enough beds in the historic citys largest hospital.

The prime minister promised more help in the form of field hospitals and a contingent of medical professionals. But minutes after he left the facility, five more patients died.

The entire Haitian nation is grieving, Henry said on Twitter while declaring three days of national mourning. It is with a torn heart that I see the critical condition of some of our compatriots admitted to this facility.

___

Sanon reported from Port au Prince, Haiti. AP Writer Joshua Goodman contributed to this report from Miami.
MOSCOW (AP)  Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday spoke on the phone with his French and Finnish counterparts and reiterated his demand for guarantees precluding NATO from expanding to Ukraine or deploying weapons there.

The Russian leader's phone conversations with French President Emmanuel Macron and Finnish President Sauli Niinisto come amid heightened tensions over a Russian troop buildup near Ukrainian borders that stoked fears of a possible invasion, and Western diplomatic efforts to prevent it from happening.

U.S. President Joe Biden last week told Putin that Moscow would face severe consequences if it attacks its ex-Soviet neighbor.

Moscow has denied plans to attack Ukraine and in turn blamed Ukraine for its own military buildup in the east of the country, where Ukrainian forces have been fighting with Russia-backed separatists since 2014.

Russian officials alleged that Kyiv might try to reclaim the areas controlled by the rebels by force, and Putin has pressed the West to provide legally binding guarantees that NATO will not expand to Ukraine or deploy its forces there.

According to the Kremlin's readout, in his call with Niinisto, Putin lamented that Kyiv is increasingly relying on forceful methods, including the use of heavy weapons and unmanned attack vehicles in the war-torn east of Ukraine, and reiterated the need to immediately launch negotiations with the United States and NATO" on the security guarantees Moscow is seeking.

Niinisto, in turn, expressed the grave concern on the tense situation and stressed the need to find a diplomatic resolution to it, his office said.

The Russian leader repeated the call for negotiating security guarantees in a call with Macron later Tuesday, the Kremlin's readout said. Putin accused Ukrainian authorities of deliberately aggravating the situation on the line of contact" in the east of the country with the backing "a number of Western countries."

In addition, "Ukraine is being pumped up with modern weapons, which poses a direct threat to Russias security, Putin said.

Russia and Ukraine have been locked in a bitter tug-of-war since 2014, when Moscow annexed the Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula and threw its support behind a separatist insurgency in eastern Ukraine that has left more than 14,000 people dead.

Moscow has bristled at NATOs joint drills with Ukrainian forces and warned that the alliances expansion to Ukraine would represent a red line for Russia.

___

Associated Press writer Jari Tanner in Helsinki, Finland contributed to this report.
Three alleged affiliates of the Mexican Mafia were arrested after local, state and federal authorities raided a home in south Laredo.

On Dec. 10, Texas Department of Public Safety special agents, troopers, Drug Enforcement Administration special agents and task force officers, U.S. Border patrol agents, Laredo Police Department officers and special agents with the Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Bureau executed a search warrant in the 600 block of Lirios Drive at about 1 p.m.

Inside the residence, authorities found Julio Gonzalez Jr., 50, and Sonia Gonzalez, 48. They exited the home when officers instructed them to exit. Authorities also encountered Javier Rueda, 35, and Jacob Nathaniel Camacho, 25.

A search of the property resulted in the seizure of seven baggies containing two grams of crack cocaine, two baggies containing seven grams of cocaine and two Ziploc bags containing 4.09 ounces of marijuana. Authorities also found money within a safe inside the master bedroom of the home and inside a gift bag. The cash was believed to be more than $10,000, according to an arrest affidavit.

Julio Gonzalez, Sonia Gonzalez and Rueda were taken into custody. Julio Gonzalez allegedly admitted to possession of all the drugs located inside the home and admitted being involved in the manufacture, delivery of a controlled substance for about two years.

Rueda admitted he was a heroin addict but gave no further cooperation. Sonia Gonzalez stated that she disagreed with her husband's (Julio Gonzalez's) activities but declined to comment further. During the incident, Camacho had a medical episode that was believed to have been as a result of a drug overdose.

"... Camacho had to be revived by officers with Narcam and was transported by an ambulance to a Laredo hospital for emergency care," states the affidavit.

Rueda was also released due to a medical condition.
WASHINGTON (AP)  The U.S. Treasury Department announced Tuesday the release of $8.7 billion to help increase lending to small and minority-owned businesses and people living in poorer communities with limited access to banking.

The funds from the Emergency Capital Investment Program, which was created this year, will go to 186 community-based financial institutions. Vice President Kamala Harris and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen discussed the investments in remarks at the Freedman's Bank Forum, which was hosted by the Treasury Department.

The wealth gap persists today, the homeownership gap persists, Harris said of the need for the investments. Black entrepreneurs are three times more likely to report that a lack of access to capital negatively affects their profit margins.

Yellen stressed that there would be a direct link between the money being provided and businesses in local communities, saying that she recently met the owner of a tea company in Atlanta called Just Add Honey who lacked the financial credit to keep all her shops open during the pandemic.

Here, its very easy to connect the policy with the personal, Yellen said. What this will do is prevent small business owners of color from closing two of their locations. And better yet, it will help people open two more.

Black Americans represent 13.4% of the U.S. population, yet Federal Reserve figures show they control just 4.3% of household wealth. More than half of Black household wealth is in the form of pension entitlements, which cannot be passed along to future generations. This inequity makes it harder for people living in predominantly Black communities to qualify for business loans and mortgages in ways that could help build their net worth.

The $8.7 billion will be going to institutions headquartered in 36 states, as well as Guam and Washington, D.C. Roughly 54% of the funds is going to banks and 46% to credit unions. The distributions will range from more than $200 million for the largest institutions to less than $100,000 for smaller ones.
WASHINGTON (AP)  The United Arab Emirates on Tuesday suspended talks on a $23 billion deal to purchase American-made F-35 planes, armed drones and other equipment, in a rare dispute between Washington and a key U.S. ally in the Persian Gulf.

The Emirati Embassy in Washington said it would suspend discussions" with the U.S., though meetings at the Pentagon this week between the two sides on other matters will be held as planned. The U.S. remains the UAE's preferred provider for advanced defense requirements and discussions for the F-35 may be re-opened in the future, the embassy said in a statement.

The proposed sale of 50 F-35s to the UAE came at the end of former President Donald Trump's administration, emerging from a deal that saw the Emiratis formally recognize Israel. President Joe Biden's administration put the deal on hold after he took office, in part due to criticism of the UAE and Saudi Arabia over their yearslong war in Yemen, which has sparked one of the world's worst humanitarian crises and continues today.

Also included in the deal are 18 advanced drone systems and a package of air-to-air and air-to-ground munitions.

Emirati officials blame an American insistence on restrictions on how and where the F-35s could be used and say they are a violation of the UAE's sovereignty.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the U.S. is prepared to move forward with the sales if the Emiratis decide to do so.

Weve wanted to make sure, for example, that our commitment to Israels qualitative military edge is ensured, so we wanted to make sure that we could do a thorough review of any technologies that are sold or transferred to other partners in the region, including the UAE, he told reporters at a news conference in Kuala Lumpur with Malaysias foreign minister on Wednesday.

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told reporters that U.S. requirements on the use of American-made military equipment are universal, non-negotiable, and not specific to the UAE.

The U.S. partnership with the UAE is more strategic and more complex than any one weapon sale, Kirby said.

A person familiar with the matter said the U.S. believes the Emiratis' move now is a negotiating tactic to try to move the process along. The person, who was not authorized to comment and spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the UAE letter notifying the U.S. of the suspension was written by a relatively low-level official.

The Wall Street Journal first disclosed the suspension of negotiations.

The UAE has long worked with the U.S. on counterterrorism and allowed the entry of people fleeing Afghanistan during the chaotic U.S. withdrawal earlier this year. But tensions between Washington and Abu Dhabi have risen over the UAE's growing cooperation with China.

Last week, a top Emirati diplomat acknowledged the UAE stopped construction on a Chinese facility at an Abu Dhabi port that America considered a military base. The Journal first revealed the presence of the alleged facility.

We took these American concerns into consideration and we stopped the work on the facilities, the diplomat, Anwar Gargash, told a meeting of the the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington. But our position remains the same, that these facilities were not really military facilities.

He described the discussions between the UAE and the U.S. as quite frank.

___

Associated Press journalists Isabel DeBre and Jon Gambrell in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, and Robert Burns and Aamer Madhani in Washington contributed to this report.
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Men and women from Drumlish who fought against oppression during the infamous Land Wars have been honoured with a new monument.

Chairperson of the Drumlish Heritage and History Society, Annette Kane, explained, There was a lot of stress between landlords who were granted the lands and the people who originally owned them, the tenants.

These tensions bubbled for decades before coming to a boiling point when people got word of an eviction notice being served to a local resident.

Conditions had been difficult for years, with hard-worked and poor quality land making it difficult to pay rents, and the people had decided enough was enough.

The newly formed Land League and thousands of other fed-up tenants prevented the eviction from taking place by staging a 3-day resistance.

According to Annette, it put Drumlish on the map.

She said, It was pivotal and a turning point for landlordism in Ireland. People just got together and the word went out, and thousands arrived from every parish way outside of Drumlish like Colmcille, Cloone, Mohill, Fearglass, all different districts on the border of this parish.



She said, Tenants couldn't give what they hadn't got, the land wasn't giving it. There was pressure all around.

Eighty five people were arrested for the demonstration, with ten sent to court.

Over approximately the next decade, issues were sorted out and tenants were eventually able to buy back their land for a fee.

Annette believes it's important to honour people who fought against oppression. She said, They were determined, they stood. This is the period of grit and determination.

She hopes to celebrate the enormous monument - crafted by Glennon Monumentals - properly once Covid has passed.

She said, We just made it to 140 years, everything will be pristine when we're having a gathering next spring to really celebrate it. It was my Covid project, in a way.

It was good because my time was less distracted, a small team was involved from procurement to design to getting it on the wall, and every one of the parts of the project took their time. You don't get there in a day and a night.

Annette expressed her pride in the completed project, stating, It's a very good, proud moment. People feel it's emotional.

There's an awful lot of pride now in the last week, I'm getting feedback myself from people. I think we have suffered a little from our heritage being kind of invisible, but I don't think anyone from Drumlish can say that now.
After the success of last year's virtual event, the annual run in aid of the Longford branch of Multiple Sclerosis will go ahead again.

The initiative hit a milestone last year with 30 years of fundraising, and organiser Michael Flood didn't let Covid-19 get in the way of raising more funds for the worthy cause.

He said, It's one of the main fundraisers for Longford MS, if it wasn't to take place they'd be badly hit, so we do need everyone to support it as they would in a normal year. Other events that normally run during the year wouldn't have been able to [go ahead] as everything is affected by Covid. We need to raise as much as we can. It's a really good cause.



To take part, people will run the equivalent of Newtowncastle to Lanesboro, which is approximately 11k, on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day or Stephen's Day.

Between 120 and 160 people took part last year, according to Michael.



He said a virtual run can have its advantages and is encouraging anyone interested in taking part to do whatever they can where they are.

According to Mr Flood, donations from last year's event actually increased, and he hopes to see similar generosity this time as well.

He said, "We went virtual and actually we raised a bit more money than we did the year before, so we're hoping we'll get the same this year.

It also gives people who took part over the past few decades [the chance] to join again from anywhere in the world.

Michael's brother, Ger, originally set up the run decades ago before moving to Australia. They both took part virtually last year, with Ger in Melbourne and Michael in Galway.

Over 157,000 has been raised for the charity over thirty years, and it's hoped that after this year's fundraiser that will hit well over 160,000.

Last year we raised over 7,300. If we could get something similar again we'd be well over 160,000. We've always kept the cost down. Peter Hanley Motors sponsors the t-shirts so the money coming in goes directly to the cause.

Depending on stock, people participating can contact Michael through Facebook to get a shirt. Because of Covid we had to order without knowing how many people would take part. If we left it too late, we couldn't guarantee we'd get the shirts so we just had to order them.

Simply log onto Facebook and search Longford MS Christmas Day Run to donate on www.gofundme.com.

We appreciate the support we've got over the last 31 years, Michael says. It's been a tough year for everyone but organisations like Longford MS need support more than ever. Even people who can't do the run can donate directly to the Go Fund Me page. The main thing is to raise as much money as we can.

We'd hoped if things got back to normal, that we could do a normal run and have a virtual element for people who couldn't make it, so when Covid does go we could get the best of both.
Community, Charity & Cause

By Ls Cohen Published: December 14 2021

Turkey and all the trimming delivered to different organizations to distribute to hungry Long Islanders.

L to R: PSEG Long Island employees Gwendolyn Joseph of Freeport, Tonya Simmons of Queens and Belinda Cox of North Babylon, who assembled and donated Thanksgiving meals for the community. Photo: PSEG Long Island.

PSEG Long Island employees distributed turkey along with all the trimmings to four organizations across the companys service area so their neighbors in need could enjoy festive Thanksgiving meals.

Last month, the employees hand delivered forty turkeys, along with stuffing, string beans, corn, yams, macaroni and cheese, rice, cornbread mix, cake mix and frosting to the Bellport Hagerman East Patchogue Alliance in Bellport, The Community Exchange of Central Islip in Central Islip, The Salvation Army in Hempstead and St. Mary Star of the Sea and St. Gertrude Parish Food Pantry in Far Rockaway.

The Thanksgiving meals were distributed by the organizations to people in the community.

A company spokesperson said in a statement that giving back to the community is part of PSEG Long Islands culture. During the holiday season and throughout the year, PSEG Long Island employees participate in community service projects and make personal monetary donations to not-for-profit groups that support veterans, people facing food insecurity and homelessness, and more.

It is important for us to help our neighbors, especially those who have fallen on difficult times, said Chantel Dixon, one of the PSEG Island employees involved in the Thanksgiving meal effort. I am proud to be part of an organization that gives back to the community, and specifically the community where I live and work.
Local News, Business & Finance, Travel & Local Attractions

By Chris Boyle Published: December 14 2021

New airlines choice of airport validates findings of recent HIA-LI survey showing large-scale, region-wide business support for expanded nonstop air service.

HIA-LI, one of Long Islands largest business advocacy organizations, praised the decision by Breeze Airways to select Long Island MacArthur Airport in Islip as its base of operations in New York State  and to initiate nonstop service from the airport to Charleston, SC and Norfolk, VA.

The airlines choice of Long Island MacArthur Airport follows closely on the heels of the October 2021 release of HIA-LIs Long Island MacArthur Airport Survey. The survey of 504 Long Island businesses  spearheaded and conducted by HIA-LI Board member Joe Campolo, Managing Partner of Campolo, Middleton & McCormick, LLP, a law firm headquartered in Ronkonkoma  found that the addition of more nonstop flights at the airport could potentially generate more than $1 billion in new revenue for the region annually. Mr. Campolo is also a member of the Town of Islips Long Island MacArthur Airport Advisory Board

The surveyed companies currently spend an average of 36.2 percent of their overall travel budgets at Long Island MacArthur Airport. But if the airport were to add additional nonstop flights, respondents said that this percentage would rise to 78.8 percent, a 218-percent increase.

Breeze Airways, which began operations in May, presently serves 18 cities in 14 states. The airline was founded by David Neeleman, co-founder of JetBlue as well as three other successful air carriers. Breeze will begin non-stop service from MacArthur Airport to the two cities in February 2022.

HIA-LI also applauded the leadership of Town of Islip Supervisor Angie Carpenter for aggressively promoting the airports expansion.

Long Island MacArthur is a regional asset. We are thrilled the business community, and particularly HIA-LI, has partnered with us to promote and support the airport, as we continue to work with all of our carriers: American Airlines, Frontier Airlines, Southwest Airlines, and our newest carrier, Breeze, to bring Long Island more travel options, said Islip Town Supervisor, Angie Carpenter.

Those committed to Long Islands long-term economic future must always take into account the value of our regional travel infrastructure, said HIA-LI President and CEO Terri Alessi-Miceli. The Long Island MacArthur Airport Survey contributed to the groundswell of business and government support for attracting new, nonstop carriers like Breeze to our region. HIA-LI will build on this momentum as we head into the new year.

Long Island MacArthur Airport already stands as an important economic development asset for the Suffolk-Nassau region, said Richard Humann, PE, President and CEO of H2M architects + engineers and serves as Chairperson of the HIA-LI board. Our survey aimed to help the airport build momentum toward expanding its schedule of nonstop offerings, and the addition of Breeze Airways is an important first-step in that process.

MacArthur Airport is a critical asset to the Long Island business community. When the data from the survey started pouring in, it was clear that private industry strongly supports the airport while recognizing the need for more nonstop travel destinations, said Mr. Campolo. Now, the addition of Breeze Airways at MacArthur Airport will open up more possibilities for the Long Island region and opportunities for further economic advancement.
(Alliance News) - Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon will announce whether further coronavirus restrictions will be imposed across Scotland in response to the growing outbreak of the Omicron variant.

Sturgeon is due to make a statement at Holyrood on Tuesday setting out any new measures as well as updating the Scottish Parliament on the booster vaccination programme.

Scotland's Health Secretary, Humza Yousaf, has warned that new restrictions were "inevitable" because of fears over the spread of the virus and the Omicron strain in particular.

And speaking in advance of the statement, Sturgeon cautioned that there may be "targeted and proportionate" measures introduced as a trade-off for allowing families to meet at Christmas.

Sturgeon said: "We need to try to protect peoples' ability to spend Christmas with their families, and I am personally hoping for a more normal Christmas than last year on behalf of everybody across the country.

"But we need to balance that with the need to keep people as safe as possible in the run up to, and throughout, the winter and into 2022.

"With Omicron, the virus has mutated and is now more transmissible than anything we have seen before a our estimation is that it will be the dominant strain in Scotland at some point this week.

"We have to think of this as a race between vaccination and a virus that has just learned to run faster, so we are challenging ourselves to take steps to speed up getting booster jabs into peoples' arms while considering what we can do to try to slow down the spread of the virus.

"The most important step we can all take, alongside regular testing, remains to get vaccinated.

"I know many have already booked their booster appointments, but I am aware others will have found it more difficult to get an appointment. Please keep trying a every effort is being made to build capacity, and more appointments are being created each day.

"We are working round the clock with health boards to look at all options on how we could speed up vaccination a options including bringing in more vaccinators, supporting more hours at vaccination centres, bringing more facilities on stream, and offers of military support from the UK government.

"I am acutely aware of the impact this crisis has had on peoples' lives already, and so any steps that need to be taken to slow the spread will be as targeted and proportionate as possible. Cabinet will consider the options available on Tuesday, after which I will set out more detail to Parliament."

Scotland recorded 26 new cases of the Omicron variant on Monday, taking the overall number to 186, while a further 3,756 Covid-19 cases were confirmed.

source: PA

Copyright 2021 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Last night, Palma Cathedral hosted the Swedish College of Palmas celebration of Santa Lucia which is one of the most important dates on the Swedish calendar.

The school held its 50th anniversary celebrations at the cathedral in 2017 and the event was such a great success they have repeated the event at the Cathedral ever since.

In total, 140 students performed and sung in four different languages - Spanish, Catalan, English and Swedish - for the huge international audience.

Not all of the pupils sung at the same time, there was a maximum of 40 pupils singing at any one time while wearing masks when singing.

This years singing group consisted of Nathalie Norrbin, Clea Soderblom, Engla Aren, Elsa Dahlborg and cousins Nellie and Stella Thomander.

The violin was played by Elsa and Douglas Dahlborg and this year, Lucia was Valentina Fernandez Pihlqvist.

Santa Lucia is an extremely important day across Scandinavia and in other countries.

Lucia Day  also called Saint Lucys day  can be traced back to the 4th century.

A Christian feast day, it commemorates the martyr Lucia of Syracuse, who, as legend has it, brought food to Christians hiding in Roman catacombs, lighting her way with a candlelit wreath on her head.

Lucys Latin name Lucia shares a root with the Latin word for light, lux. A number of traditions incorporate symbolic meaning of St. Lucy as the bearer of light in the darkness of winter, her feast day being December 13.

Because some versions of her story relate that her eyes were removed, either by herself or by her persecutors, she is the patron saint of the blind.

She is also the patron saint of authors, cutlers, glaziers, labourers, martyrs, peasants, saddlers, salesmen, stained glass workers, and of Perugia, Italy. She is invoked against hemorraghes, dysentery, diseases of the eye, and throat infections.

St. Lucy is the patroness of Syracuse in Sicily, Italy. At the Piazza Duomo in Syracuse, the church of Santa Lucia alla Badia houses the painting Burial of St. Lucy by Caravaggio.

She is also the patron saint of the coastal town of Olon, Ecuador, Colombia, which celebrates with a week-long festival culminating on the feast day December 13. She is also the patron saint of the town of Guanes, Santander, Colombia.

The Caribbean island of Saint Lucia, one of the Windward Islands in the Lesser Antilles, is named after her.

December 13 was the historic Julian calendars shortest day, and according to Swedish folklore, the long night was dangerous, with dark spirits out in force.

Staying awake was paramount and eating helped  another connection to the small feast associated with todays Lucia celebration. Lucia made her first recorded appearance in a Swedish rural home in 1764, but the custom really established itself in the 1900s.
EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the third story in a series that will be published over the next two weeks featuring Manistee County residents named Dave.

MANISTEE COUNTY  Many in the area might know Dave Skorka in his role as Michigan State Police resident trooper for Manistee County.

Skorka can be seen at events like the Stuff the Blue Goose campaign where the goal is to load the police vehicle dubbed a Blue Goose, full of toys and nonperishable foods for families in the community.

Skorka is also typically involved in the Shop with a Hometown Hero event just before Christmas where some local children are selected to be paired with local heroes like police officers to shop for gifts for their families.

Its just a good way of being able to give back to the community (and) try to build some positive interactions with the kids, let them see us in a different light than just arresting people or writing tickets to people, he said. It builds those positive community relationships.

File photo

He guessed that he has been involved in the event for at least 10 years.

Skorka had always wanted to be a police trooper since he was a kid because he said he wanted to be able to help people. Skorka also participates in many of the Manistee parades and is active in Manistee County school events.

Another part of a job for many first responders is that they may have to miss part of the holidays with their families as they are working during prominent days like Christmas.

It can be tough, especially when youve got kids and the kids want (you) to be home doing the family stuff with Christmas presents and what have you, he explained. So, (part of it is) trying to schedule those things and getting the kids to understand that we might have to do it at 3 in the afternoon instead of 7 in the morning.

More Information INTRODUCING DAVE SKORKA  Manistee County resident for 21 years  Favorite Christmas movie: "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation"  Favorite (Dave) day of the year: July 4 See More Collapse

He also talked about what it is like when working the holiday in his interactions with the public.

You try when youre working a holiday especially on Christmas  to be more forgiving and generous with the public, he said.
The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was watched the world over on Sunday and ended in very controversial circumstances, as the FIA seemingly threw the rule book out of the window to ensure a one-lap shootout between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton.

But while Hamilton perhaps deserved to win the race given his superior race pace throughout, Verstappen is the more deserving champion of the two given his exceptional year behind the wheel.

Perennial podium placer

Arguably the most impressive stat of Verstappen's season was how many times he stood on the podium when he had an incident-free race.

The answer: every time. The 24-year-old didn't even finish third all season, as he was either first or second in every race bar four in which he had major incidents either causing him to not finish or limp home with a heavily damaged car.

The first non-finish came in Baku, where a tyre failure at high speed saw him spear off into the wall, ending his race from the lead. His incident was none of his own doing, whereas Hamilton made an error at the restart causing him to also not score.

Verstappen was a victim of Valtteri Bottas' huge mistake at the start of the Hungarian Grand Prix, which took out a number of cars including Sergio Perez and Lando Norris, but Verstappen managed to drag his battered and bruised Red Bull to ninth as Esteban Ocon won his first F1 race.

The major flashpoints of the year are still talked about now as Verstappen and Hamilton came to blows at Silverstone, where Max crashed out and Lewis went on to win, and Monza, where both drivers failed to finish as McLaren took their first and only 1-2 of the year.

Taking on the GOAT and winning

Statistically, Lewis Hamilton is the greatest driver in F1 history and a formidable opponent for anyone, but Verstappen showed no signs of nervousness battling such a driver.

Not many have come out on top against the seven-time champion with just Nico Rosberg winning a drivers' title with Hamilton in the same team, but the Brit's record in title deciders at Abu Dhabi gave Verstappen belief.

Losing this finale, Hamilton has now been beaten in three title deciders at the Yas Marina Circuit including 2010 and 2016 and that will give everyone confidence of besting him should it come down to another showdown in 2022.
No tie in the Champions League's Round of 16 boasts more narratives than the one between Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain, who were drawn against each other on Monday.

The last duel between the two sides took place in the group stage of the 2019/20 campaign, where PSG finished top of Group A followed by Los Blancos.

This time, however, their tie is more intriguing due to a number of seasons, including Kylian Mbappe's potential move to Los Blancos in summer.

With his current deal running until June, the Frenchman is free to negotiate a move to another club outside of Ligue 1 from January 1, and Real Madrid are considered to be the favourites to sign the 22-year-old star.

PSG's trip to Madrid could see both Lionel Messi and Sergio Ramos return to the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu, where the latter played as Real Madrid's captain and the former featured for their fierce rivals, Barcelona.

It will also be interesting to also see whether the two presidents - Florentino Perez and Nasser Al-Khelaifi - will sit side by side at the stadium, as the relationship between the two clubs has broken down due to Real Madrid's pursuit of Mbappe.

PSG sporting director Leonardo has also hit out at Los Blancos in the past due to the ongoing Mbappe saga and it remains to be seen how he will be received in Spain.

Meanwhile, three former Real Madrid players will step foot on the Bernabeu pitch again, as club legend Keylor Navas, academy product Achraf Hakimi and Angel Di Maria are all key players for PSG.

The latter was received with applause in the last game between the two teams, while Achraf had to depart the club in search of playing time, and the latter didn't part ways with the club on good terms.

A player who will have the opportunity to take his revenge is Eden Hazard, who picked up an injury after Thomas Meunier's challenge in a game between the two sides and hasn't rediscovered his form since.

Last but not least, PSG will be asked to find ways to stop an in-form Vinicius Junior, who has attracted interest from the Ligue 1 club in the past.
After a long wait, Katrina Kaif finally tied the knot with Vicky Kaushal on December 9 at Six Senses Fort Banwara in Rajasthan's Sawai Madhopur area. Vicky and Katrina exchanged wedding vows in the presence of their families and close friends. After getting hitched, the newly-married couple shared the great news with fans on social media by posting various dreamy pictures from their wedding ceremony. Along with the first official pictures, both of them shared a heartfelt note.

Taking to Instagram, they wrote, "Only love and gratitude in our hearts for everything that brought us to this moment . Seeking all your love and blessings as we begin this new journey together".

After their marriage ceremony, the newlyweds chose to spend quality time together at an undisclosed location and have returned to Mumbai today (14 December) for the first time after exchanging nuptial vows. Vicky and Katrina were snapped by the paparazzi at Mumbai airport. Various pictures and videos from the airport are now doing the rounds on the internet in which the newly-married couple is seen holding hands as they pose together for the paps.



Katrina is looking beautiful in pastel Indian traditional wear. On the other hand, Vicky is seen in an off-white shirt and trouser. Both of them are complementing each other and are beaming with joy while posing together for photographers together for the first time. In the pictures and videos, Katrina's sindoor, chooda, and mangalsutra too will grab your attention.

Take a look at the pictures and videos below:

Commenting on the pictures and videos, a fan wrote, kitne pyare log he. Another wrote, Sach me nazar na lage.



As the newlyweds are now back in Mumbai, they are expected to host a grand wedding reception for their industry friends. But, the confirmed date is still awaited.

The couple's wedding created a huge buzz and reports even suggested that they have sold the streaming rights of their wedding ceremonies for a whopping amount of Rs 80 crores to an OTT giant.
R Madhavan started a completely different era when he stepped into the shoes of Maddy for Rehnaa Hai Terre Dil Mein. Making women go weak in the knees in the movie, this man still has the same charm in him which makes every one of the opposite genders like him, regardless of age.

It is rather shocking to know he doesnt believe he has sex appeal. I have done 87 films, and I have never met any heroine outside the shoot also without my wife, he told RJ Siddharth Kannan in an interview. Since he has never been hit on by his co-actors, Madhavan has started to believe he doesnt have the sex appeal everyone thinks he has.

Madhavan is probably living in some sort of delusional world. Earlier this year, in a candid chat with Pinkvilla, the actor had opened up on the female attention he derives. "I wish I was as fit as people imagine me to be but now I am 50 years old. I think Anil Kapoor is fitter than me, he is an amazing guy. But about the photos, my wife sometimes tells me to behave. She pulls my leg. I never put that photo deliberately. Actually, Sarita and I were having our usual banter on if I have gained or lost weight. I think I was shooting in Chennai when I told her that I have lost weight and she did not believe me, so I sent her the photo as proof," he shared.

On the work front, Madhavan is gearing up for his next romantic comedy release, Decoupled, which also features Surveen Chawla. The show, directed by Hardik Mehta, will premiere on Netflix on December 17.

Talking about his role, the actor earlier said in a statement, I play the character of Arya, a pulp-fiction writer who suffers from a rather uncompromised sense of objectivity and clarity, along with a determination to not compromise (ever!)  which is hilarious especially when pitted against his calm and composed wife Shruti, played by Surveen.

He added, I am thrilled to collaborate with a global platform like Netflix and grateful to Manu Joseph as well as Hardik Mehta for bringing this character and story to life. Surveen was a delight to work with through and through and I hope the chemistry and humour we share on-screen leaves audiences laughing uncontrollably.

Directed by Hardik Mehta, the eight-episode series will start streaming on December 17 on Netflix.
Samantha Ruth Prabhu's first item song Oo Antava Oo Oo Antava was unveiled by the makers of Allu Arjun starrer Pushpa on Saturday and it became an instant hit.

Her bold and sizzling avatar is being appreciated by the viewers but it has courted controversy. A case has been filed against Samantha's dance number in Allu Arjun's 'Pushpa' by a men's association. As a report in TOI, they have reportedly filed a lawsuit against the song for portraying men as lustful through its lyrics. They have asked for a ban on the song in the Andhra Pradesh court.

A few people on social media also bashed Samantha for being a hypocrite. They have been trolling Samantha citing her old tweet regarding her objection to Mahesh Babus 1  Nenokkadine's poster. The said poster showed Kriti Sanon falling at Mahesh Babu's feet in a playful manner.

Slamming Samantha, one user wrote, "Samantha objected to a poster of 1  Nenokkadine, in which the female lead Kriti Sanon is seen falling at Mahesh Babus feet in a playful manner. Now, she herself has featured in an item dance number that has arguably regressive lyrics. This is new heights of hypocrisy."

One user tweeted, The way in sam speaks so highly of feminism and women power then do such songs really upsets me. Such hypocrisy. #SamanthaRuthPrabhu #Pushpa.

Here are a few reactions:

 Twitter

 Twitter

 Twitter

Do you agree with these negative comments? Let us know in the comments below.



She was in news for her separation with husband Naga Chaitanya . After a lot of reports speculating their divorce, the two confirmed that they are parting ways as they dont see a future with each other anymore.

Talking about her separation, in an interview with Filmfare, Samantha said, "It's ok if you are having a bad day, vocalize it, understand it, as soon as you accept that you're going through something half the work is done. It's when we don't want to accept it and we are fighting it it's a never-ending battle. But when you accept when you vocalize 'this is my issue, so what now? I still have to live my life'. I know I'm still going to live my life and with all the issues that I now faced in my personal life, I was surprised at how strong I was. I thought I was a much weaker person. I thought that with my separation, I would crumble and die. I didn't think I was capable of being this strong...Today I'm very very proud of how strong I'm because I really didn't know I was."

Samantha and Chaitanya on October 2 ended their nearly four-year-long marriage.

The year 2021 has been full of firsts for Samantha. From making her OTT debut with Amazon Prime web series The Family Man 2 to signing her first item song with Allu Arjun, the actor has been focusing on her career post her separation from Naga Chaitanya.
Kangana Ranaut, who was booked last month on a complaint by members of the Sikh community for allegedly hurting religious sentiments and beliefs, will not be arrested before January 25, 2022, as informed by Mumbai Police to the Bombay High Court. For the unversed, an FIR was filed against the actress at Khar police station Mumbai over her Instagram post allegedly linking farmers' protests to a separatist group. She has been booked under Section 295-A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Earlier this month, Ranaut had approached the HC seeking that the FIR registered against her be quashed. In the plea, her lawyer Rizwan Sidiquee had stated that no legal case was registered against her even though the complainants objected to her social media post made on November 21.

Reacting to it, the Mumbai Police has made the statement after a bench, comprising Justices Sarang Kotwal and Nitin Jamdar, said that the issue includes the "larger question of Ranaut's fundamental right to free speech" hence the HC will have to give her ad-interim relief.

The assurance of not arresting the Queen star before January 25 has been given as she has reportedly agreed to cooperate. Kangana will be recording her statement on December 22 at Khar police station regarding the social media post she had shared related to the farmers protest.

On the professional front, Kangana was last seen in the biographical drama Thalaivi. She portrayed the role of late actress-politician J Jayalalithaa in the film and received rave reviews. She will next be seen in Dhaakad, directed by Razneesh Razy Ghai. Also featuring Arjun Rampal, Saswata Chatterjee and Divya Dutta in pivotal roles, the film is slated to release on April 8 next year. She has completed shooting for Sarvesh Mewara's Tejas and has also signed Sita: The Incarnation which will be helmed by Alaukik Desai.

The Once Upon A Time In Mumbai actress is also busy with her production venture titled Tiku Weds Sheru, featuring Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Avneet Kaur in lead roles.

Source: TOI
December 14, 2021

Japan, Australia, and Singapore are the co-conveners of the WTO Joint Statement Initiative (JSI) on E-commerce. On December 14(Tue.), the three countries' ministers released a ministerial statement that confirmed the substantial progress made thus far and outlined the future timeframe.

The WTO JSI on E-Commerce began in January 2019, and is co-convened by Japan, Australia, and Singapore. The three co-convening ministers have just released a joint statement confirming the substantial progress made thus far and outlining the future timeframe.

The key points in the statement are as follows:

The COVID-19 pandemic has ... heightened the need for global rules governing digital trade. ... This initiative will update the WTO rulebook in an area of critical importance to the global economy.

... The digital economy offers enormous opportunities for developing Members and least-developed country (LDC) Members[.] ... WTO rules and commitments on digital trade can help unlock these opportunities.

[W]e will continue to drive negotiations towards a high standard and commercially meaningful outcome building on existing WTO agreements and frameworks. We will ... encourage the participation of as many WTO Members as possible in the negotiations[.]

building on existing WTO agreements and frameworks. in the negotiations[.] We welcome the substantial progress made to date[.] We have achieved good convergence in negotiating groups on eight articles  online consumer protection; electronic signatures and authentication; unsolicited commercial electronic messages; open government data; electronic contracts; transparency; paperless trading; and open internet access. [This] will deliver important benefits including boosting consumer confidence and supporting businesses trading online.

to date[.] in negotiating groups on  online consumer protection; electronic signatures and authentication; unsolicited commercial electronic messages; open government data; electronic contracts; transparency; paperless trading; and open internet access. [This] will deliver important benefits including boosting consumer confidence and supporting businesses trading online. In addition, we have seen the consolidation of text proposals in other areas, including on ... cross-border data flows, data localisation, [and] source code [.] We will intensify negotiations in these areas from early 2022. We note that provisions that enable and promote the flow of data are key to high standard and commercially meaningful outcome[s].

in other areas, including on ... [.] We will intensify negotiations in these areas from early 2022. We note that [We] support the continuation of the multilateral e-commerce moratorium [.] [It is] crucial that the initiative makes permanent among participants the practice of not imposing customs duties on electronic transmissions.

[.] the initiative among participants the practice of not imposing customs duties on electronic transmissions. We recognise the importance of supporting the engagement of developing Members and LDC Members [.]

[.] [T]o secure convergence on the majority of issues by the end of 2022 ... [w]e will identify opportunities throughout 2022 for Ministers to provide guidance on key issues in the negotiations.

Related Materials

Division in Charge

Together with this, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry released a statement by Minister Hagiuda Koichi.

Multilateral Trade System Department, Trade Policy Bureau
December 14, 2021

Japan, Australia, and Singapore are the co-conveners of the WTO Joint Statement Initiative (JSI) on E-commerce. In that capacity, a ministerial statement was issued today by the Hon Dan Tehan MP, Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment, Australia; H.E. Mr. Gan Kim Yong, Minister for Trade and Industry, Singapore; and Mr. Hayashi Yoshimasa, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Japan.

We welcome the substantial progress made in the negotiations over the past three years, and will continue to lead them in order to secure convergence on the majority of the remaining issues by the end of 2022.

As the world becomes increasingly connected through digitalization, digital trade is making people more affluent the world over. The WTO has many Members, so providing it with rules on digital trade that materialize "Data Free Flow with Trust" (DFFT) will make business more predictable and stable. This will in turn promote further digital trade. With the aim of achieving early results, we will work to accelerate and add further impetus to the negotiations.
Child care professionals encouraged to explore tuition-free opportunities

Child care professionals encouraged to explore tuition-free opportunities

Michigan Reconnect and T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood Michigan join forces to host Dec. 15 webinar highlighting scholarships

December 10, 2021

Media Contact: Austin Fox, 517-526-2632

The Office of Sixty by 30 will be hosting an informational webinar on Dec. 15 at 6 p.m., with the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA) and Michigan Association for the Education of Young Children (MIAEYC) to highlight the benefits of the Michigan Reconnect and T.E.A.C.H. scholarships, so that eligible applicants can maximize the support and resources available to reach their education and career goals.

"Providing tuition-free education opportunities to meet the growing need for skilled talent in child care and early education career fields is a key component to Michigan's economic success," said Susan Corbin, Director of the Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity.

The early education and child care career field currently faces two distinct challenges - low wages and high turnover. Access to opportunities where teaching and child care professionals can maintain employment while furthering their education is essential to not only increase their compensation, but also to retain skilled talent in our state.

"The Michigan Reconnect and T.E.A.C.H. scholarships provide a great opportunity to help more Michiganders increase their education and paychecks, which in turn helps us meet the growing demand for quality child care in Michigan," said Orlene Hawks, Director of the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs.

LARA regulates child care providers and is working to license more providers across the state to address critical shortages. Programs like Reconnect and T.E.A.C.H. are important tools in talent development that can be used for people to finish the degree or certification required to be licensed. LARA will briefly share licensing information and will be available to answer questions during the webinar.

Michigan Reconnect, which has nearly 88,000 accepted applicants since its launch in Feb. 2021, provides a tuition-free path to an associate degree or Pell-eligible skill certificate at an in-district community college for eligible adults without a college degree.

The is a statewide initiative designed to help Michiganders interested in pursuing a degree or credential in early childhood education (e.g., child care center teaching staff, preschool teachers, family child care providers, group home owners, center directors, early childhood professionals and administrators) meet their professional development goals while enrolled part-time.

"Combining a Michigan Reconnect and T.E.A.C.H. Scholarship allows students to maximize the amount of support they receive to earn a degree or credential in early childhood education," said Kelsey Laird, Director of Professional Programs for MIAEYC. "The scholarships work together to allow students to have more credit hours paid for and to provide additional financial and student counseling supports. This webinar will provide an overview of everything these programs can cover for students and break down the application process and requirements for both. Using Reconnect and T.E.A.C.H. together is a win-win for early childhood educators."

Child care professionals are urged to join representatives from these two scholarship opportunities on Dec. 15 to learn how they can return to school tuition-free at their in-district community college. Attendees will also be able to have their questions answered by the presenters.

Those interested in learning more are encouraged to register for the webinar at bit.ly/Reconnect-TEACH-webinar.

To learn more about Michigan Reconnect, visit michigan.gov/reconnect.
One year later, COVID vaccines have protected millions

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Dec. 14, 2021

CONTACT: Chelsea Wuth, 517-241-2112

LANSING, Mich. - The COVID-19 vaccines made history one year ago today as Michigan began administering the first authorized vaccine, produced by Michigan-based Pfizer, at hospitals across the state. The vaccines were first administered to health care professionals and, since Dec. 14, 2020, more than 6 million Michiganders ages 5 and older have received at least one dose of the vaccine.

"One year ago today marked a pivotal step in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, and in honor of all those we've lost to this virus, we must reflect on all of the progress we've made since that time," said Elizabeth Hertel, director of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS). "To vaccinate more than 6 million residents in the span of one year is an incredible feat, and one that brings much promise to a future beyond this pandemic."

Michigan residents who have yet to be vaccinated and boosted are urged to get vaccinated as soon as possible. The vaccine has protected more than 6 million Michiganders, 200 million Americans, and led to the easing of restrictions and recovery of the economy.

Michigan reached the goal of vaccinating 70% of the population over age 16 on Nov. 15. Since then, Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine authorization has expanded to ages 5 and up, and Michiganders over age 16 are eligible for a booster dose six months after their primary series. However, those who are unvaccinated remain disproportionately affected by COVID-19. In the last 30 days of complete data (Oct 21 - Nov 19), 97,310 (71%) of 137,472 cases, 1,134 (72%) of 1,584 hospitalized cases, and 588 (76%) of 772 deaths were among individuals not fully vaccinated.

"Unfortunately, as well as the vaccines work, too many Michigan residents have yet to be vaccinated and are running a very real risk of becoming hospitalized or dying from COVID," said Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian, MDHHS chief medical executive. "The strain of the unvaccinated population on our health care system is absolutely a crisis, and the solution is simple: we must continue to vaccinate as many residents as we can."

Recent data has shown that three out of four COVID patients are unvaccinated (76%), 87% of COVID ICU patients are unvaccinated and 88% of COVID ventilator patients are unvaccinated. Further, the ongoing weight of COVID-related hospitalizations is stretching Michigan's health care system beyond its limits. Support from the U.S. Department of Defense has become necessary to support the critical health care staffing crisis facing our hospitals.

"The data is clear; vaccines are safe and effective at preventing severe illness and is our most powerful tool in protecting our health and reducing the strain on our healthcare system," said Brian Peters, CEO of the Michigan Hospital Association. "Our hospitals encourage everyone to get vaccinated, have your children vaccinated and receive your booster dose when eligible. The pandemic is clearly not over, and our healthcare workers need your help and support now more than ever."

The longer the pandemic exists and the virus spreads - primarily in the unvaccinated population - the higher the risk of virus mutations. The COVID-19 Omicron variant is now in Michigan and preliminary information indicates that this variant is highly transmissible -- posing a serious threat to Michigan's overburdened health care system.

Residents are advised to get vaccinated, particularly before gathering for the holidays, including getting the booster dose to increase protection, and wear masks particularly indoors and in crowded areas. Other things people can do to protect themselves and their loved ones include:

Getting tested for COVID-19, especially before gatherings.

Physically distancing from others and avoiding crowds.

Washing hands frequently with soap and water, and cleaning hands with alcohol-based hand rub.

Covering your mouth and nose with a bent elbow or tissue when you cough or sneeze.

Self-isolating until you recover if you develop symptoms or test positive for COVID-19.

MDHHS has issued a public health advisory that all Michiganders, regardless of vaccination status, should wear a mask in indoor public settings and those who are not fully vaccinated or who are immunocompromised should avoid large crowds or gatherings.

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Michigan Veteran Homes' 'Make a Veteran Smile Campaign' Brings Joy to Veteran Members Around the Holidays

Michigan Veteran Homes' 'Make a Veteran Smile Campaign' Brings Joy to Veteran Members Around the Holidays

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE



December 08, 2021

Contact:

Michael Kroll

krollm2@michigan.gov

Cell: 517-285-9734

Michigan Veteran Homes' 'Make a Veteran Smile Campaign' Brings Joy to Veteran Members

Around the Holidays

LANSING, Mich. - Michigan Veteran Homes' 'Make a Veteran Smile Campaign' encourages Michigan residents to spread holiday cheer by sending a card or letter to veteran members.

"Some of the local holiday functions members would attend have been suspended due to the pandemic and that can lead to feelings of isolation around the holidays," said Rebecca Smit, activity department manager for Michigan Veteran Homes at Grand Rapids. "Sending a card is another way our communities and advocates can show support for veteran members."

"The members are always excited to receive cards or letters especially when the sender shares a little about themselves or their family," said Tiffany Carr, community engagement coordinator for Michigan Veteran Homes. "For some of our members who do not have close friends or family, this might be the only message they receive around the holidays."

Cards and letters can be addressed to ATTN: Make a Vet Smile and mailed to:
Michigan Department of Corrections Partners with Cordico to Provide Wellness App to Employees, their Families and Retirees

Michigan Department of Corrections Partners with Cordico to Provide Wellness App to Employees, their Families and Retirees

DATE: Dec. 13, 2021

Contact: Chris Gautz

(517) 256-3790

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Michigan Department of Corrections Partners with Cordico to Provide Wellness App to Employees, their Families and Retirees

Lansing, Mich.- Mental and physical wellness is critical for corrections professionals. Because corrections professionals are exposed to traumatic incidents at much higher rates than the general population, they are more susceptible to mental health issues such as PTSD, depression, anxiety and suicide.

To proactively address these mental health challenges among Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC) officers, the MDOC has launched a customized, confidential wellness app that will be available to MDOC personnel and their families. Powered by Cordico, the leader in public safety wellness technology, the app includes a wellness toolkit addressing 60 behavioral health topics such as fatigue, suicide prevention and alcohol abuse, mental health self-assessments, and videos and guides on yoga, mindfulness, nutrition and more. App users will have the ability to connect directly to the MDOC Wellness Unit, Peer Support, the Employee Chaplain Program, as well as other specialized support resources. In addition, a therapist finder offers contact information for local mental health providers who specialize in and have experience working with correctional professionals.

"Our corrections staff work hard to keep incarcerated Michiganders and our communities safe," said Governor Gretchen Whitmer. "I am proud of MDOC for investing in their Wellness Unit and making accessing mental health resources even easier for employees, their families and retirees."

With this wellness tool, MDOC staff, their family members and retirees will have confidential, 24/7 access to the app to ensure they have the resources they need in the most difficult of times and wellness information for their day-to-day lives.

"The mental and physical wellbeing of our corrections staff is a high priority of mine," said Michigan Department of Corrections Director Heidi Washington. "I am pleased to build upon our Wellness Unit by providing our staff with an additional resource to request help and improve their mental health. Corrections professionals without a doubt have a difficult job, the wellness app will make it even easier for our employees, their families and our retirees to receive the care they need."

The MDOC will utilize this technology to help personnel build resilience and avoid the negative long-term effects of job-related stress.

The MDOC joins hundreds of agencies and organizations nationwide served by Cordico.

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City of Benton Harbor Water Resource Fair is Dec. 16

Event will offer resources and information to help reduce lead exposure, provide blood lead testing and bottled water

City of Benton Harbor Water Resource Fair is Dec. 16

Event will offer resources and information to help reduce lead exposure, provide blood lead testing and bottled water

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Dec. 14, 2021

CONTACT: Lynn Sutfin, 517-241-2112

LANSING, Mich. - The City of Benton Harbor Water Resource Fair on Thursday, Dec. 16 will provide information about services and resources available to City of Benton Harbor residents to help reduce or eliminate lead from their homes.

The resource fair is being held at Benton Harbor High School, 870 Colfax Avenue, from 4 to 7 p.m. Attendees are asked to wear masks and masks will be available at the event, if needed.

This is a collaborative effort that will include information and representatives from local community organizations, the City of Benton Harbor, Berrien County Health Department, Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy, Michigan Department of Health and Human Services and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

InterCare Community Health Network will be offering on-site blood lead testing for attendees of all ages. Although blood lead tests cannot tell you if you were exposed to lead in the past, testing is particularly important for young children and pregnant persons because exposure to lead early in life has been shown to potentially cause problems with learning, behavior, hearing and growth. For individuals who have elevated blood lead levels, the goals are to identify the source of lead, stop the lead exposure and to talk with their doctor to discuss any other tests or follow-up that might be needed.

Additional resources will include health services, food assistance, water use instruction, nutrition options and information on lead. Free bottled water will also be available at the event.

Free bottled water continues to be provided by MDHHS and local, paid residents as City of Benton Harbor residents are being encouraged to use bottled water for cooking, drinking, brushing teeth, rinsing foods and mixing powdered infant formula. This action is part of an accelerated, across-the-board effort to reduce the risk of exposure to lead in drinking water while the city replaces all lead service lines.

Community volunteers from the following organizations available to assist City of Benton Harbor residents pick up water at Benton Harbor High School, 870 Colfax Avenue as follows:

Wednesday, Dec. 15

12 - 2 p.m. - Volunteers from Purpose Church Ministries

4 - 6 p.m. - Volunteers from Purpose Church Ministries

Thursday, Dec. 16

12 - 2 p.m. - Volunteers from Ebenezer Baptist Church

4 - 6 p.m. - Volunteers from Brotherhood of All Nations

Saturday, Dec. 18

12 - 2 p.m. - Volunteers from Boys & Girls Club of Benton Harbor

2 - 4 p.m. - Volunteers from New Covenant Community Baptist Church

4 - 6 p.m. - Volunteers from Harbor of Hope Seventh-Day Adventist Church

Sunday, Dec. 19

2 - 4 p.m. - Volunteers from Abundant Life C.O.G.I.C.

4 - 6 pm - Volunteers from Brotherhood of All Nations

Monday, Dec. 20

12 - 2 p.m. - Volunteers from Abundant Life C.O.G.I.C.

4 - 6 p.m. - Volunteers from New Covenant Community Baptist Church

Tuesday, Dec. 21

12 - 2 p.m. - Volunteers from Abundant Life C.O.G.I.C.

4 - 6 p.m. - Volunteers from Ebenezer Baptist Church

Southwest Community Action Agency, 331 Miller Street, will host self-serve water pickup as follows:

Wednesday, Dec. 15, 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.

Thursday, Dec. 16, 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.

Friday, Dec. 17, 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.

Monday, Dec. 20, 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.

Additional dates and locations for bottled water pick up will be added to make sure community needs are met. Information will be posted on Michigan.gov/MiLeadSafe.

To arrange water delivery to homebound or residents without transportation in the city of Benton Harbor, contact 211, which is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The upcoming schedule for bottled water pickup is:

The ongoing response in Benton Harbor includes the city, Berrien County Health Department, local community organizations, MDHHS and the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy.

MDHHS is engaging in a long-term effort to eliminate lead action level exceedances, educate communities on the effects of lead in drinking water, and remove lead service lines. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer called for the replacement of lead service lines in Benton Harbor in 18 months and the Whitmer-Gilchrist Administration has provided just under $20 million to Benton Harbor to speed up their service line replacement timeline.

There is no cost to City of Benton Harbor residents for lead service line replacement. To assist with assuring the work can be completed as soon as possible, residents are encouraged to complete the Water Service Line Replacement Agreement available online. Contractors cannot begin work on any property without property owner authorization. Completed forms can be returned to Abonmarche, 95 West Main Street, Benton Harbor, MI 49022 or emailed to bvasher@abonmarche.com.

These efforts also include recently approved funds to remove lead from homes in the city. Families living in Benton Harbor can apply for this service by filling out and mailing in an application that is available online. Residents also can call 866-691-5323 to obtain information.

For questions about lead, MDHHS can be reached at 866-691-5323 Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.

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Secretary Benson joins local election clerks in meetings with White House, congressional leaders to seek federal funding for elections

Secretary Benson joins local election clerks in meetings with White House, congressional leaders to seek federal funding for elections

DECEMBER 9, 2021

In a series of meetings this week Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson joined with local election officials from across the country to ask the White House and congressional leaders to allocate a sustained source of federal funding for election infrastructure. In the request Secretary Benson and others asked for an investment of $5 billion for election infrastructure for Fiscal Year 2023, and a total of $20 billion in federal funding over 10 years, to be allocated to states and also directly to local election jurisdictions.

"Our local election clerks need support now more than ever as they face threats to their lives, attacks on their integrity, and insufficient funds to carry out fair and equal elections," said Benson. "Our state and federal leaders must do more to ensure clerks in Michigan and across the country have the protection and funding they need to ensure our democracy persists."

Benson joined with local election clerks to discuss the urgent need for the funding, in meetings with White House personnel as well as Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, House Administration Committee Chair Zoe Lofgren, and Congressman Sean Patrick Maloney.

In emphasizing the importance of including local election clerks in conversations about election funding, Benson noted, "it is critical that lawmakers hear directly from those election officials serving on the front lines of administering our elections. I am working to with Michigan's local clerks in planning meetings with state lawmakers here in Michigan as well, including House Speaker Jason Wentworth and Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey, to similarly advocate for the critical importance of state funding for election infrastructure."

While Benson serves as Michigan's Chief Elections Officer, the state's elections are administered by 1,520 city and township clerks in coordination with 83 county clerks. As misinformation about the November 2020 election proliferated, threats against clerks in Michigan and across the country increased, as did attempts by state legislatures to cut their resources.

In Michigan, where the state legislature has not funded local elections for many years, legislation has been proposed that would bar clerks from accepting support from third parties, including in-kind donations such as the use of schools and churches as polling places, which many clerks rely on every election.

"I speak regularly with Republican, Democrat and nonpartisan election clerks about the challenges they are facing and the support they need," said Benson. "It is critical that state and federal lawmakers hear directly from them about their experiences, and I look forward to continuing to join with local election clerks to urge our state legislators and federal lawmakers to fund our democracy."

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Gov. Whitmer announces 68 new jobs at Cosma Body Assembly Michigan plant in Lyon Township, strengthening Michigan's leadership in automotive manufacturing

Gov. Whitmer announces 68 new jobs at Cosma Body Assembly Michigan plant in Lyon Township, strengthening Michigan's leadership in automotive manufacturing

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

December 13, 2021

Contact: Kathleen Achtenberg, achtenbergk@michigan.org

Gov. Whitmer announces 68 new jobs at Cosma Body Assembly Michigan plant in Lyon Township, strengthening Michigan's leadership in automotive manufacturing

$23.6 million investment to expand operations to allow the company to grow its global automotive business

LANSING, Mich. - Gov. Gretchen Whitmer joined the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) today to announce that Cosma Body Assembly Michigan, a division of Magna International, is expanding its operations in Lyon Township where it will create up to 68 jobs for Michigan workers.

"Michigan's business climate and highly skilled manufacturing workforce provide an environment where businesses like Magna can grow and thrive, creating good-paying jobs for Michiganders," said Governor Gretchen Whitmer. "This announcement reaffirms Michigan is transforming along with the automotive industry to ensure the next generation of mobility is designed, developed, tested, and built right here in our state."

The project is expected to generate a total capital investment of $23.6 million, supported by a $340,000 Michigan Business Development Program performance-based grant. Michigan was chosen over a competing site in Kentucky.

Cosma Body Assembly Michigan (CBAM) is an entity of Magna International, Inc, a global automotive supplier whose roots in the auto industry go back to 1957. Today, Magna makes everything from seats to powertrains and is the only auto supplier to build complete vehicles. Magna currently has 35 facilities and more than 10,000 employees in Michigan.

Magna plans to extend its CBAM facility in Lyon Township by 90,000 square feet, where it will house additional assembly lines to support new business from an existing customer. The current site occupies around 193,000 square feet and manufactures components including stampings, body-in-white modules, closure systems, innovative die, automated systems, and assembly systems. The expansion will allow the company to manufacture front and rear underbody structural rails, assemblies and welding and will be operational by 2022.

"The expansion of our plant in Lyon Township demonstrates the collaboration with our customer and strengthens our manufacturing presence in Michigan," said Don Maahs, Global Vice President, Sales & Marketing of Magna's Body and Chassis division. "We'd like to thank the representatives of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, Oakland County, and Lyon Township for their continued support."

The project contributes to the MEDC's ongoing efforts to strengthen Michigan's leadership in automotive manufacturing and builds on the state's work to position itself as the epicenter of autonomous and electric vehicle manufacturing in the U.S. Magna has developed training and mentorship programs that provide for advancement within the organization and offers an executive leadership program, which works directly with local school districts and colleges to help build out an employment pipeline. The project will bring immediate job growth with a global auto supplier and further cements the company's manufacturing presence and future growth in Michigan.

Quentin Messer, Jr., CEO of the MEDC and President and Chair of the Michigan Strategic Fund, joined company and local officials today at a groundbreaking ceremony at the CBAM facility in Lyon Township, where he thanked the company for its continued commitment to growing in Michigan.

"Congratulations to the entire Magna team on your tremendous growth and success! We appreciate your continued vote of confidence in our state and in our workforce," said Quentin Messer, Jr., CEO of the MEDC and President and Chair of the Michigan Strategic Fund. "This project is a win for Southeast Michigan and for the entire state. We're proud to join our local partners as we celebrate Magna's expansion in Michigan and look forward to working together with Magna as we lead the way into the future of transportation."

Magna has had a longstanding commitment to Michigan, with a recent announcement that it was constructing a new manufacturing facility in St. Clair to build complex battery enclosures, a project that will generate $70.1 million in private investment and create 304 jobs for Michigan workers.

"For more than 60 years, Magna International has been growing and innovating, right here in Michigan and Oakland County. I'm thrilled that the company continues to lead the industry in advanced mobility technology and will bring even more of that expertise into its expansion in Lyon Township," said Oakland County Executive David Coulter. "Their critical investment is great news for our workers, our economy and our spot as an attractive destination for advanced technology."

Lyon Township has offered to support the project by providing space to hold job fairs and assist the company in finding candidates for the newly created positions. For information on careers with Magna, visit https://www.magna.com/company/careers.

About Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC)

The Michigan Economic Development Corporation is the state's marketing arm and lead advocate for business development, job awareness and community development with the focus on growing Michigan's economy. For more information on the MEDC and our initiatives, visit www.MichiganBusiness.org. For Pure Michigan tourism information, your trip begins at www.michigan.org. Join the conversation on: Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter.

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Governor Whitmer Calls for Special Election to Fill Vacant House Seats

Governor Whitmer Calls for Special Election to Fill Vacant House Seats

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

December 14, 2021

Contact: press@michigan.gov

Governor Whitmer Calls for Special Election to Fill Vacant House Seats

LANSING, Mich. - Governor Gretchen Whitmer today sent a letter to Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson calling for a special election to fill three vacant seats in the Michigan House of Representatives.

These vacancies are caused by the election of Representatives Douglas Wozniak and Mark Huizenga, who previously represented the 36th and 74th Districts, to the Michigan State Senate and the passing of Representative Andrea Schroeder, who represented the 43rd District.

"As a state, it is critical that we take the appropriate steps to ensure that all Michiganders are fairly, justly, and equitably represented at all levels of government," said Governor Whitmer. "By calling a special election, we can ensure that those vacant seats are filled and that the constituents of 36th, 43rd, and 74th districts have a democratically elected representative working for their best interests in Lansing."

"The Department of State stands ready to work with local and county election officials to implement the special elections this Spring," said Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson. "Filling these partial terms before districts change will assist election officials in an orderly redistricting process and 2022 election cycle."

The governor calls for a special primary election to fill the vacancies to be held on March 1, 2022, and the general election to be held on May 3, 2022.

The governor's letter does not address the expected vacancy in the 15th District of the Michigan House due to Representative Abdullah Hammoud's election as mayor of Dearborn. Once Representative Hammoud resigns from his current position, the governor anticipates issuing a separate call for a special election with this same timeline to fill that vacancy.

For information about elections in Michigan, visit www.Michigan.gov/elections.

View the letter here:

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ARCADIA TWP.  Arcadia's Pleasant Valley Community Center plans to host its first holiday event this week.

The Light Our Valley Event will be held from 3-6 p.m. on Thursday. The event is the first of its kind and will include the lighting of Christmas lights at the community center building, a bonfire courtesy of the Arcadia Fire Department, caroling, horse-drawn wagon rides courtesy of the Bear Mountain Boys, bake sale and other festivities, according to a news release.

In addition, in the community center gym, there will be an unveiling of the final plans for the rehabilitation of Sunset Station. This is because Arcadia's access to Lake Michigan  like other lakeshore communities  has been devastated by high waters.

There will also be a tribute during the event to Harriet Quimby who was the first American woman to get her pilot's license and to fly the English Channel. Currently, a committee is working to save her childhood home in Arcadia Township  which has local, national and international historical significance.

In addition to the events listed above, Janice McCraner, the town supervisor will be reading "Twas the Night Before Christmas." Spiked hot cocoa will also be available.
Chinas treatment of its Uyghur minority could come before the courts in Argentina at about the same time that the Winter Olympics open on Feb. 4 in Beijing.

Michael Polak, a British lawyer representing the World Uyghur Congress and the Uyghur Human Rights Project, is preparing a universal jurisdiction criminal complaint to submit to the criminal courts of Argentina in February.

We think what we are doing in Argentina is the natural next step for moving towards justice, Polak told the Associated Press in an interview.

Last week, an unofficial body set up in Britain to assess evidence on Chinas alleged rights abuses against the Uyghur people concluded that the Chinese government committed genocide and crimes against humanity.

Additionally, the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights is expected to soon release a report on human rights in the Xinjiang region of northwestern China. In a statement, the U.N. said it had similarly identified patterns of arbitrary detention, coercive labor practices and an erosion of social and cultural rights. It also said it had been unable to gain unfettered access to the region.

Argentina agreed last month to hear a case against the Myanmar military involving the treatment of the minority Rohingya under the principle of universal jurisdiction. This principle holds that severe crimes can be tried in any jurisdiction.

There are universal jurisdiction provisions in different jurisdictions around the world," Polak said. "But the Argentinian one is the most realistic because the courts are actually able to use it. And they are very keen on using it because of their own history. Realistically, the aim would be to bring these people before the Argentinian courts and for them to answer the allegations.

The internment of an estimated 1 million or more Uyghurs and other largely Muslim minorities  in what China described as vocational training and education centers  has also put the focus on China's treatment of Tibetans, the loss of civil liberties in Hong Kong, and restrictions on use of the Mongolian language in China's Inner Mongolia region.

The U.S. government and parliaments in Britain, Belgium, the Netherlands and Canada have declared that Beijings policies against the Uyghurs amount to genocide and crimes against humanity.

For the Uyghurs to swear their evidence in an Argentinian court is a huge moment, Polak said. We think it is realistic that arrest warrants can be issued and people can be arrested.

During the tribunal, about 30 witnesses and experts gave evidence at a series of public hearings in central London earlier this year, alleging torture, forced abortions, rape and beatings by authorities while in state detention centers. The hearings also reviewed numerous documents detailing other policies including the separation of young children from their families and widespread destruction of mosques.

The panel of lawyers, business people, and academics concluded that Chinas General Secretary Xi Jinping and other senior officials had primary responsibility for acts in Xinjiang.

The Chinese Embassy in London called the tribunal a political tool used by a few anti-China and separatist elements to deceive and mislead the public. The embassy said in a statement that the policies in Xinjiang were aimed at fighting terrorism and preventing radicalization.

A spokesperson for the Xinjiang region on Monday, anticipating the U.N. report, said we will absolutely not accept the so-called human rights investigation report."

We will not allow interference in Xinjiang affairs and China's internal affairs in the name of the so-called Xinjiang issues, spokesperson Xu Guixiang added.

Polak said he expects China to use political leverage and financial pressure in Argentina to stop the court case. The court has to first agree to hear the case. If it declines, there is an appeal process.

We think because of the strong evidence in our case, the Buenos Aires court should accept it and should investigate," Polak said.

Everywhere weve taken the Uyghur case around the world, China tries to step in and stop it from happening," Polak added. "What weve seen of the Argentinian courts and their decisions, we think the courts are independent and will look at this and look at the evidence properly.

Polak said the Argentine government was sensitive to these cases, given what happened in Argentina during the 1976-83 military junta. Thousands were tortured, killed and forcibly disappeared in a government-sponsored crackdown on leftist dissidents during Argentinas so-called dirty war.

We hope that the politicians in Argentina and civil society will see the parallels and some of their struggles and support what we are doing," Polak said. Argentina has demonstrated this by prosecuting people within their own country.

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More AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/winter-olympics and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
McMINNVILLE, Ore. (AP)  The opioid epidemic blew into this picturesque Oregon town like a toxic wind, leaving overdoses, addiction, homelessness and wrecked families in its wake.

In a humble, single-story brick building, three blocks from downtown McMinnville's wine-tasting rooms and cafes, staffers and volunteers of a recovery center called Provoking Hope help the casualties. The workers, who themselves are recovering from drug addiction, offer counseling, coffee and, for some, clean syringes.

McMinnville and thousands of other towns across the United States are on the precipice of receiving billions of dollars in the second-biggest legal settlement in U.S. history. The $26 billion from three drug distributors and a pharmaceutical manufacturer would address damage wrought by opioids, which the federal government declared in 2017 was a public health emergency.

States, counties and cities face a deadline in three weeks to sign onto the deal, and most states have agreed to do so. But a few holdouts remain, including Oregon, where disagreements have emerged between state and local government officials.

The money is needed. In Yamhill County, where McMinnville is the county seat, it would expand counseling and treatment, including in jails, expand residential treatment and recovery facilities and fund other programs, said County Commissioner Casey Kulla.

As Provoking Hopes office manager, Anne Muilenburg has seen the devastating effects of drug addiction and also experienced it first-hand. She says her addiction started as many in America did, after her physician prescribed opioids. They were for a painful spinal bone spur. Ten years later, using her prescription and buying two other people's prescriptions, she was taking 35 pills per day, far exceeding the maximum dosage.

It wasnt even enough to make me feel high. It was just enough to not make me sick, Muilenburg said. She described opiate withdrawal  experienced when she would run out of pills  as the worst feeling ever.

It makes you feel like somebody's peeling your skin off, she recalled in her small office, decorated with posters with sayings like be kind and stay humble.

Muilenburg finally got treatment but then drug jumped to alcohol and methamphetamine. She wound up losing her job at a car dealership and splitting with her husband, though they have since reunited. She was in and out of jail and found herself living on the street.

My being homeless was one of the things that led me to wanting to change my life, Muilenburg said.

She has been free of drugs for 4 1/2 years. Muilenburg said funds from the settlement are needed to address the community's drug dependency.

We need more treatment centers. Every place needs more treatment centers," she said. Its ridiculous that somebody wants to go to treatment and they have to wait eight to 10 weeks for a bed.

In the U.S., more than 500,000 deaths over the last two decades have been linked to opioids, both prescription drugs and illegal ones.

The clock is ticking on the settlement, with a payout second only to the $200 billion-plus tobacco settlement, in 1998, with the nations four largest tobacco companies.

The three drug distributors  AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health and McKesson  and drugmaker Johnson & Johnson agreed in July to pay the combined $26 billion to resolve thousands of state and local government lawsuits. But if the defendants feel theres a lack of participation by states and local jurisdictions, it could cause them to back away from the landmark agreement or eventually reduce the settlement amount.

"The defendants have the last bite at the apple to say, Do we have a critical mass to justify going forward? said Joe Rice, an attorney for the plaintiffs.

In exchange for the payout, participating states, counties and cities would have to drop any lawsuits against the defendants and agree not to sue them in the future for the opioid epidemic.

There are complex tradeoffs at stake here, said Caleb Alexander, a drug safety expert at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. On the one hand, the settlement would offer sorely needed funding to scale up treatment and otherwise address the opioid epidemic. On the other, many parties believe the settlement is not enough.

At least 45 states have signed on or signaled their intent to do so, and at least 4,012 counties and cities have also confirmed participation, plaintiffs' attorneys said Friday.

Washington state has already ruled out participating, with Attorney General Bob Ferguson calling the settlement woefully insufficient. Hes suing the nations three biggest drug distributors  the same ones in the national settlement  for $38 billion in a trial that began in November.

In Pennsylvania, the district attorneys for Philadelphia and Allegheny County, which includes Pittsburgh, have sued the state attorney general to ensure their lawsuits against the drug industry could continue, saying their communities shares from the settlement would cover only a fraction of the epidemic's financial toll.

We are not going to accept a settlement that is a sellout, Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner said.

Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro says receiving payouts from the settlement is a sure thing, unlike continuing to pursue lawsuits against the companies. Local governments can opt out and keep suing, he said, but the more that do, the less the state would receive.

New Mexico is still working out details, "and were anticipating that counties and local governments will be responding soon, said Jerri Mares of the state attorney general's office.

In Oregon, lawyers for local governments and the state recently resolved an impasse over how the settlement would be disbursed, according to The Lund Report, a health care news site.

The state of Oregon had wanted local governments to apply to it for grants. The local governments instead wanted a larger share of the funds in direct payments. There's now disagreement on how much of the settlement should go to attorneys who sued on behalf of several Oregon counties.

Kulla, the Yamhill County commissioner, supports the opioid settlement but doesnt want the state taking excessive control of it.

We at the counties are the ones working with those addicted and their families, and we incur the societal costs of those addictions, he said.

Under the settlement, the payments would be made over 18 years. The tobacco settlement was controlled by state governments, and most of the money has not gone to pay for the toll of tobacco. By contrast, the opioid settlements are structured so most of the money is intended to fight the crisis.

Kulla recognizes there won't be a quick fix.

Its going to be long-term, Kulla said. Its going to take generations, really, to dig ourselves out of this.

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Associated Press writers Geoff Mulvihill in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, and Cedar Attanasio in Santa Fe, New Mexico, contributed to this report.

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Follow Andrew Selsky on Twitter at https://twitter.com/andrewselsky
BOSTON (AP)  Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey said Tuesday she's seeking to reverse the dismissal of criminal neglect charges against two former leaders of a veterans home where nearly 80 veterans died after contracting the coronavirus, in one of the worst COVID-19 outbreaks in a long-term care facility in the nation.

A Massachusetts judge dismissed the charges in November against former Holyoke Soldiers Home Superintendent Bennett Walsh and former Medical Director Dr. David Clinton, saying there was a lack of evidence that their actions led to the deaths.
PHOENIX (AP)  A Phoenix police officer was hospitalized in critical condition Tuesday and fighting for his life after being shot multiple times by a suspect who is in custody, authorities said.

Officer Tyler Moldovan, 22, was shot at an apartment complex parking area while officers looked for drivers of vehicles that had been driving erratically nearby about 2 a.m., said Sgt. Vincent Cole, a police department spokesperson.

Cole said a car matching the description of one of the vehicles officers had been looking for was found parked at an apartment complex with nobody inside.

Moldovan then discovered a suspect hiding behind a low apartment patio wall, according to Cole.

Officer Moldovan began giving commands to the suspect, who then pulled out a gun and began shooting, Cole said.

Other officers heard the gunfire, ran to the scene and took the suspect into custody without firing their weapons, Cole added.

Police said Essa Kolareh Eugene Williams, 24, was arrested shortly after the shooting and booked into jail on suspicion of attempted first-degree murder, possession of a weapon by prohibited person and resisting arrest.

It was unclear Tuesday afternoon if Williams has a criminal record or a lawyer who can speak on his behalf.

Moldovan, who is married, graduated from the police academy in March, said Sgt. Ann Justus, a police department spokesperson.

Police Chief Jeri Williams, speaking to reporters outside St. Josephs Hospital and Medical Center where Moldovan was being treated, said the hospital staff was doing everything possible they can to save the young officer.

Tyler is doing exactly what we expect our police officers to do and that is to continue to fight, the chief added.
City of Waterbury / Contributed

WATERBURY  The city of Waterbury recently reached an agreement with the federal government to ensure all its polling locations are accessible to people with physical disabilities, officials said.

Acting U.S. Attorney for Connecticut Leonard C Boyle announced Monday that the government reached a settlement with the city of Waterbury to resolve a complaint filed with the U.S. Department of Justice, whuch claimed the city was using polling sites that were inaccessible to people with disabilities.
Jessica Morans 10-year-old daughter communicates with the world through an iPad. She types the words, and it speaks for her.

She's very good at it, but it's delayed and it's difficult to maneuver because with her left hand ... she can't really hold it by herself, Moran said.

The other kids at school attempt to engage her in conversation, but the delay makes that difficult.

The kids are like, What do I do? I can't communicate. I can't be part of that, Moran said. So she's always very secluded.

Morans daughter, whose name Hearst Connecticut Media Group is withholding due to her age and sensitive nature of her situation, was born with a traumatic brain injury. She was also diagnosed with cerebral palsy at about 6 months old when she wasnt developing as expected, Moran said.

She has, I believe it's spastic quadriplegia, Moran said. So she definitely has difficulty with regulation. Her limbs, like her hands, kind of turn out. She's ambulatory, which means she doesn't walk without assistance. And she's also nonverbal.

Beyond her physical challenges, the 10-year-old is as intelligent as any other. But that means she is acutely aware that she is not like everyone else in her class.

She's not able to actually yell out and say, I'm really mad, I don't know how to handle this, I can't get myself off of this crazy train that I've just entered, Moran said. The only way she knows how is to lash out, and that's violence, tantrums, name-calling.

Moran doesnt know if her daughter's cerebral palsy and emotional dysregulation are connected with the fetal brain injury.

She identifies with an age at which she thinks is appropriate for her abilities, Moran said. So, I can't walk, I crawl. I can't talk, so I scream.

The situation became untenable when she started acting out violently.

She's hurt other students, Moran said.

Early in October, Moran said her daughter began physically lashing out. Curtains were pulled down in their Greenwich home. Dishes were smashed.

A few weeks later, Moran said she started hurting herself. A crisis hotline was called and the responding social worker advised Moran that her daughter needed immediate mental health care.

I've never seen the self-harm before, Moran said. That's when it really escalated.

Morans daughter ended up in the emergency room at Greenwich Hospital, waiting for a bed in a pediatric psychiatric unit to be available.

There she remained, for more than two weeks.

The kids are sicker

Moran is not alone. Though her child has some very specific needs, the case illustrates what one expert called the most important issue facing childrens hospitals around the nation: A pediatric mental health crisis the scale of which has never been seen.

Pediatric behavioral health was a major problem before COVID  before the pandemic  but it has really exploded, said Cynthia Sparer, executive director of Yale-New Haven Children's Hospital.

The reason for the shortage in beds is due to the ongoing pediatric mental health crisis across the country, Sparer and other experts said.

The resources at all levels of the system are under extreme stress, sad Carl Schiessl, senior director of regulatory advocacy at the Connecticut Hospital Association. The sad fact is, there's way more demand for services than there are existing facilities in the state.

Not only are there not nearly enough beds at in-patient psychiatric facilities to accommodate the need, but kids are showing more severe symptoms.

Sparer said its a condition that we have, not only here in Connecticut, but actually across the nation.

The situation is so dire nationwide that the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and the Childrens Hospital Association in October declared a national state of emergency in child and adolescent mental health.

According to those organizations, between March and October 2020, the percentage of emergency department visits for children with mental health emergencies rose by 24 percent for children ages 5 to 11 and 31 percent for children ages 12 to 17.

Sparer said the pandemic has taken what was already a problem and exacerbated it tremendously.

Yale has a total of 40 beds for kids in need of acute psychiatric care, according to Sparer.

Those 40 beds are filled every day  filled, she said.

Its not just that there are more children in need of psychiatric care. The kids are sicker, Sparer said.

It's not only the numbers, but the numbers of children who are coming in with acute conditions  severe depression, suicidal either ideations or actual attempts, she said. Out of the total number of children being seen, fully 40 percent are moderate to high risk for suicide.

Sparer said shes worked in children's hospitals since the 1980s. While the availability of mental health treatment for people of any age has always been a problem, I've never, in all those years, seen it like this, she said.

The pandemic put children through two difficult transitions. First, they were isolated from their schools and peers. Then, they went back to school.

They haven't been with their friends. They may not be adjusting, Sparer said. They may not feel like they're fitting in.

According to John Santopietro, senior vice president and physician-in-chief of Hartford HealthCares behavioral health network, the pandemic has just been ruinous to mental health across the board.

Were looking at an avalanche of mental health concerns over the next couple years, he said. Its really an all-hands-on-deck situation.

Sparer said the problem is not going to resolve as society reverts to a new normal. This is not a light switch, this isn't going to just go away, she said, using the example of eating disorders.

Right now, we run seven, eight, nine children in the hospital on any given day with an eating disorder, she said. Eating disorders, one of the things about them is theyre long-term. Once a child is at risk, it's not just the sort of thing, Well here, take this prescription, and you'll feel better in a week to 10 days. It sets them up for long-term needs, long-term therapy.

No one will take her

Greenwich Hospital, where Morans daughter was taken, does not have a pediatric psychiatric unit.

But the hospital is part of the Yale New Haven Health network, and Sparer said they routinely send children in the midst of a mental health crisis to Yale New Haven Childrens Hospital in New Haven to get the care they need.

According to Moran, that hasnt happened, perhaps because of her childs very specific needs.

With nowhere to send her, Morans daughter came home and returned to school last week, without any treatment, medication changes, or even a reentry plan from school, her mom said.

Longer term, Moran believes her daughter needs inpatient treatment in a facility prepared to handle her specific challenges. Shes involved in a protracted mediation process with Greenwich Public Schools, in an attempt to have the district subsidize the out-of-district placement.

Stacey Heiligenthaler, chief officer of Special Education and Student Supports, declined to comment about Morans case, but said out-of-district placements do happen in general.

Each individual childs needs are evaluated by the Planning and Placement Team and appropriate placement recommendations are made through that process, she said in an emailed statement. Out-of-district placements are part of the continuum of options that are considered when designing a program to meet individual students needs.

In a letter Moran shared with Hearst Connecticut Media Group, a Yale Pediatric Specialty Center physician, Dr. David Feingold, informed the Greenwich school district that he had been working with this patient for three years.

She has openly expressed that she wants to be with kids like her, and with children who communicate similarly to how she does, Feingold wrote in the letter.

But Moran worries that her daughters propensity to act out physically will make it even more difficult to place her in an appropriate setting.

A lot of these places will come right out and they have said to me, Our cohorts are calm and peace-loving children, Moran said. And, We don't want to go and add a child with violent behavior into the population.
MIDDLETOWN  The holiday season is in full swing in Middlesex County, and the chamber continues to be on the move.

The main event of what is another busy week is, of course, our annual governors breakfast Tuesday at the Sheraton Hartford South in Rocky Hill. The Middlesex County Chamber of Commerce has hosted the sitting governor of Connecticut at our December member breakfast meeting going back to the days of Gov. William A. ONeill in the 1980s.

This is our first in-person member breakfast since February 2020, and our members and our staff are really looking forward to it. In fact, we announced last week that this event is officially sold out, which is truly a testament to the support of our outstanding membership.

The event will require people to be fully masked unless the individual is actively eating or drinking. We are also strongly encouraging that all participants be fully vaccinated.

Gov. Lamont will undoubtedly cover the states ongoing response to the COVID-19 pandemic, along with a general outlook as we collectively head into a new year. The governor has done a terrific job leading our state through a very challenging period. Along with DECD Commissioner David Lehman, he has made some critically important decisions that spared the state even more economic pain resulting from the pandemic.

I thank him for his leadership, and for agreeing to speak at our event on Tuesday. This event is sponsored once again by Eversource, a longtime and strong supporter of our chamber.

Eversource supports our Business and Education Partnership, our Business Know How minority business development initiative, the efforts of our Legislative Committee, and much more. In 2022, we also look forward to continuing our work with the company on economic resilience in Middlesex County.

If the past two years have taught us anything, it is that having emergency preparedness and business continuity plans in place is of the utmost importance. I thank them for sponsoring Tuesdays event, and for their longtime support.

Board of Directors to gather

We also look forward to the final 2021 meeting of the chambers Board of Directors on Thursday at The Gelston House in East Haddam. This board is a dynamic group of business people that represents every corner of our region and every industry sector in our economy. Our meeting is sponsored by Anthony Assante and his firm Egidio Assante Wealth Management on an annual basis. Anthony is a past chairman, Executive Committee member, and longtime supporter of our chamber.

I thank him personally and on behalf of the chamber for sponsoring this board luncheon once again. We look forward to a productive meeting, which will be led by our Chairwoman Maureen Westbrook, who is doing a great job in this important leadership position for our chamber.

Holiday on Main Street

Looking ahead to the weekend, Holiday on Main Street presents the Magic of Middletown wraps up on Saturday with its final slate of events and activities. Join us for our Dashing Through Downtown decorated vehicle parade, dashing off from Middletown High School at 6:30 p.m. The creative event is designed to once again spread holiday cheer throughout Main Street and its surrounding areas.

This year, you can also enjoy a little friendly competition as Mayor Ben Florsheim, Jingles the Gnome, and Santa will select their favorite vehicles in the parade. Registration will be held from 4 to 6 p.m. in the Middletown High School parking lot. Please bring a donation of an unwrapped toy and a cash donation of $5 fee per vehicle.

If you would prefer to enjoy the festive parade as a spectator, you can setup on Main Street behind your parked vehicle.

If youre looking for some holiday adult fun, join us on our double-decker bus for our first ever Magic of Middletown Pub Crawl. The bus will be participating in our holiday parade, and will then make four stops at local establishments.

Both of these events will benefit Holiday on Main Street and Middletown Youth Programs. For information, please visit holidayonmain.com.

Support local business

Before closing, I ask that everyone please support the Middlesex County business community for all of their holiday shopping needs this season. We are blessed with a wonderful business community here in our region. I am immensely proud that the many business people we work with on a daily basis are not only concerned with operating a successful business, but with the health and well-being of our community and all of our residents.

They have really hung in there throughout this challenging period and they need our support now more than event. After all, we are all in this together.

Selectman Ed Bailey

I am afraid I must close this weeks column on a sad note after the recent passing of Middlefield First Selectman Ed Bailey. Ed was a wonderful man and was truly a class act. He was a great supporter of our chamber since winning the office in 2015. He also served as chairman of the Middlesex County Revitalization Commission, and was an advocate for economic and community development throughout Middlesex County.

Our thoughts and prayers are with Eds family and all those who counted him as a friend. We are grateful for his public service, and he will certainly be missed.

Larry McHugh is president of the Middlesex County Chamber of Commerce in Middletown.
More than 300 Kentucky National Guard troops have been deployed to communities devastated by weekend tornadoes that killed at least 80 people in the state, according to the Pentagon.

The Guard members are performing law enforcement duties, clearing debris and supporting recovery efforts. They are joined by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which is tasked with setting up emergency power and getting critical public facilities and services back up and running.

State and federal officials were still surveying the extensive damage and searching for missing persons Monday after tornadoes tore across Kentucky and other states, including Mississippi, Tennessee, Illinois and Arkansas, on Friday and Saturday.

Read Next: As US and China Warily Eye Each Other, Taiwan Could Be the Flashpoint

None may be worse off than Kentucky, where Gov. Andy Beshear requested an emergency disaster declaration, which was granted by President Joe Biden on Saturday. The director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the head of the Department of Homeland Security traveled to the state Sunday to survey the damage.

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said the Kentucky Guard may be the only military deployment. "We do not anticipate activations from other states with respect to this particular national disaster," he said Monday.

The Kentucky National Guard has called more than 300 personnel to duty, including 81 in law enforcement, 80 in recovery support and 44 in debris clearance, Kirby said.

The Corps of Engineers has been given two missions by FEMA. One includes debris removal, supporting critical public facilities and infrastructure assessment, as well as doing engineering and public works.

A second mission is "mobilizing a temporary power planning and response team of the 249th Engineer Battalion and additional subject matter experts to assist with generator staging assessments and installation," Kirby said.

Fort Campbell, Kentucky, was set up as an emergency staging area for the Corps of Engineers, search-and-rescue teams, and others. "Fifty-two generators, 30,000 meals, 45,000 liters of water, cots, blankets, infant toddler kits and medical equipment and supplies" were being moved through the Army base, according to FEMA.

-- Travis Tritten can be reached at travis.tritten@military.com. Follow him on Twitter @Travis_Tritten.

Related: National Guard Going House to House Checking on Survivors of Tornadoes that Killed Dozens
The fast-attack submarine involved in an undersea collision in October completed a trip from Guam to San Diego entirely on the ocean's surface, a media report said.

The USS Connecticut pulled into San Diego on Sunday after departing Guam sometime last month, where it stopped for repairs after striking an undersea mountain in the South China Sea, according to a Tuesday report from U.S. Naval Institute News. It cited unnamed Navy officials who said the trip was made entirely along the surface.

U.S. submarines are significantly slower and more vulnerable when traveling on the surface , according to the National Museum of the U.S. Navy's website.

The Connecticut is in a "safe and stable condition" in port in San Diego, a Submarine Force Pacific spokeswoman, Cmdr. Cindy Fields, told Stars and Stripes by phone Tuesday. She declined to comment on whether the vessel had made the entire trip on the surface.

The voyage comes two months after the nuclear-powered submarine struck an underwater mountain in international waters in the Indo-Pacific region. The exact location of the incident was not disclosed, but an unnamed defense official said it occurred in the South China Sea, according to an Oct. 8 report from USNI News.

The collision, which resulted in minor injuries to about a dozen sailors, also led to the removal of the Connecticut's commander, executive officer and enlisted chief. Vice Adm. Karl Thomas, commander of 7th Fleet, relieved the three on Nov. 4, citing a "loss of confidence" in their leadership.

The Seawolf-class submarine is expected to undergo repairs in Bremerton, Wash., more than 1,300 nautical miles from San Diego, according to a Navy news release Nov. 4.

This story originally appeared on Stars and Stripes.
What did the National Guard do when the U.S. Capitol was attacked on Jan. 6 and when did it do it? The congressional panel investigating the attack that disrupted certification of the presidential election in January is seeking answers to a range of questions from that day, but the National Guard has become one of the focal points of the inquiry.

The Guard's response, with troops arriving several hours after supporters of then-President Donald Trump first breached the Capitol, is back in the spotlight this week after the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol cited questions about the delay as one of the reasons it is holding Trump's chief of staff, Mark Meadows, in contempt of Congress.

Meadows turned over thousands of pages of documents to the committee, but has refused to sit for a deposition.

Read Next: As US and China Warily Eye Each Other, Taiwan Could Be the Flashpoint

The day before the attack, Meadows sent an email to an unnamed organizer of the rally that preceded the violence saying the National Guard would be "present to 'protect pro Trump people' and that many more would be available on standby," the committee wrote in a report detailing its reasons for holding Meadows in contempt.

The 51-page report contains no further details about the email, saying that's one of the things the panel would have asked Meadows about if he had cooperated.

"Mr. Meadows apparently knows if and when Mr. Trump was engaged in discussions regarding the National Guard's response to the Capitol riot, a point that is contested but about which Mr. Meadows provided documents to the Select Committee and spoke publicly on national television after President Trump left office," the report said.

The committee, which is composed of seven House Democrats and two Republicans, voted unanimously Monday night to hold Meadows in contempt. The full House is expected to pass the resolution along mostly party lines later Tuesday, after which the Justice Department would decide whether to actually charge Meadows with contempt of Congress.

Retired Maj. Gen. William Walker, who was the commanding general of the D.C. National Guard at the time of the attack, also spoke with the Select Committee behind closed doors Monday, according to CNN.

The D.C. National Guard, which deployed about 340 troops ahead of the attack to help with crowd control at Metro stations and city intersections in anticipation of pro-Trump rallies, did not respond to Military.com's request for comment on the committee's report.

Asked at a briefing about the Meadows email, Pentagon press secretary John Kirby pointed to the D.C. Guard's stated pre-attack mission to "provide traffic control and crowd management during expected demonstrations."

"That was the task that they were assigned. But beyond that I'm not going to speculate or speak to the work of the committee," he said.

Kirby expressed concern that comments like the one Meadows allegedly made could add to a public perception of the military acting politically.

"We serve to defend the entire American population, regardless of who they are or who they decide to vote for or if they decide to vote," Kirby said. "So when there is comments like that made, it certainly does very little to help reinforce for the American people how seriously we take our obligations and the oath that we take to support and defend the Constitution, and the nonspoken commitment that anybody who has served in uniform shares, which is as an institution to stay apolitical."

The Guard's response on Jan. 6 and whether it was delayed by Trump or one of his political appointees has been a point of contention and speculation since his supporters overran the Capitol while Congress was certifying President Joe Biden's victory in the November election.

The attack prompted lawmakers to flee to safe rooms in the Capitol as rioters beat and sprayed chemical irritants at police officers; broke windows, doors, furniture and art; and chanted that they wanted to hang then-Vice President Mike Pence, who was in the building to perform his ceremonial role overseeing the certification.

The chaos ended in the deaths of one police officer, who suffered two strokes after clashes with rioters; one Trump supporter shot by police while trying to climb through a broken window adjacent to the House chamber that lawmakers were still in; and three other rioters who died from medical emergencies during the chaos. Four police officers who responded to the attack have also since died by suicide.

While the few hundred D.C. Guardsmen had been deployed around the city to help with crowd control, it took hours for the National Guard to arrive at the Capitol after the mob breached the building.

In March testimony to the Senate, Walker said it took more than three hours for him to get approval to deploy to the Capitol after Capitol Police requested help. He testified that Pentagon officials' concerns about "optics," as well as "unusual" restrictions placed on him Jan. 5 that prevented deploying a quick reaction force without higher approval, delayed the response.

A Pentagon inspector general report released last month found that Defense Department officials "did not delay or obstruct the DoD's response" to the attack. It also said Walker was given approval to deploy earlier than he testified he was and that then-Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy had to call Walker a second time a half-hour after the initial approval to reissue the deployment order.

But Walker and other former Guard officials have taken issue with the inspector general report.

Walker, who is now the House sergeant-at-arms, has called on the inspector general to retract the report, telling The Washington Post last month he never received the 4:35 p.m. call in which the IG said McCarthy gave his first approval to deploy.

In a 36-page memo to the Jan. 6 Select Committee obtained and published last week by Politico, Col. Earl Matthews, who was Walker's top lawyer at the National Guard at the time of the attack, said the IG report is "replete with factual inaccuracies, discrepancies and faulty analysis" and "relies on demonstrably false testimony or statements."

Matthews also took issue with a separate, internal Army report on its response to the insurrection. The Army report, also published by Politico, said Guard members were not ready to quickly deploy, but Matthews called the findings "a revisionist tract worthy of the best Stalinist or North Korea propagandist."

The dispute over whether the National Guard was delayed Jan. 6 is the latest example of the Guard being thrown into the center of politics. The Guard is also in the middle of a tug-of-war between federal and state authorities over COVID-19 vaccination requirements and has had to navigate politically fraught deployments to the U.S.-Mexico border.

-- Rebecca Kheel can be reached at rebecca.kheel@military.com. Follow her on Twitter @reporterkheel.

Related: Pentagon Didn't Delay Aid to the Besieged Capitol on Jan. 6, Watchdog Says
The opinions expressed in this op-ed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Military.com. If you would like to submit your own commentary, please send your article to opinions@military.com for consideration.

Putin's Hybrid War along NATO's Eastern Flank

In an April 2014 interview with Russian media at a time when the war in Eastern Ukraine was gathering speed, Vladimir Putin introduced a concept that effectively transformed that crisis into a classic case of irredentism threatening the stability of Europe as a whole. In doing so he set the framework for the coming years of strategic competition between Russia and the United States and its NATO allies. Speaking on Russian TV that day Putin invoked the historic concept of "Novorossiya"  a reference to a swath of territory conquered by the Romanovs in the 18th century from the imploding Ottoman Empire. The message was clear: this was the lens through which he saw the region's geopolitics. (Two centuries ago, Novorossiya covered about thirty percent of today's post-Cold War Ukrainian territory, including Crimea.) Putin's "Novorossiya Plus" is now front and center amid the current Russian military buildup along Ukraine's borders to say nothing of the hybrid attacks launched from Belarus against Latvia, Lithuania, and especially Poland, with migrants funneled from Belarus to break NATO's Eastern parameter.

Russia Goal: A Sphere of Influence

Clearly, we are in the second, possibly decisive, chapter of the Ukrainian crisis that will determine that country's future and, by extension the balance of power in Europe. Putin no longer bothers to equivocate when it comes to relations with the West going forward. He is determined to compel Europe to revisit the spheres of influence formula, with Russia gaining in the process a key vote on the Continent's security and economic issues going forward.

Russia's military buildup along Ukraine's borders, already about one hundred seventy-five thousand strong and counting, is Putin's unequivocal message to the United States and its European allies that Moscow is determined to use all political, economic, and military means at its disposal to carve out an undisputed sphere of influence reconstituted around the Eastern Slavic core of the former Russian empire. In this design, the Russian Federation  understood as the home of the Great Russians  will control and/or directly incorporate the White Russians (Belarusians) and the Little Russians (Ukrainians). For Putin, this neo-imperial domain will serve as the unquestioned sphere of Russian domination, with the rest of Europe transformed into a space where Moscow's interests and priorities must be always considered. In this design, the United States and its allies would have to accept that NATO would never enlarge further East. Putin seems certain that crosscurrents within NATO and differences among the allies when it comes to such fundamentals as energy policy and rearmament have created an opportunity for him to play hardball and succeed. He seems certain that geopolitics and geoeconomics, in Europe and worldwide, have presently aligned in Russia's favor.

The last three post-Cold War decades were an unprecedented era of peace, stability, and growth in Central Europe, bringing about a rapid modernization of the Baltic-to-the-Black-Sea corridor. These changes were facilitated by two interrelated phenomena post-1991: first, the physical expulsion of Russian military power from the region; second, the attendant anchoring of post-communist Europe in the transatlantic security system. The first condition was the sine qua non of this transformation, i.e., thirty years ago for the first time since 1945 Russia, lost the capacity to compete for influence in Europe. The enlargement of NATO and the follow-on extension of the European Union to the East proved transformational, for they put paid to the fear that those states would find themselves in a "grey zone," a post-Soviet "no-man's-land" of Zwischeneuropa that would breed instability and conflict.

Russia's Use of State Power in Europe

Putin decided already in 2004 to set aside talk of cooperating with the West. Instead, he put in place policies aimed and returning Russia to European politics, not in any institutional sense but through the direct application of state power. The two cycles of Russian military modernization completed against the backdrop of a rapidly disarming Europe eager to cash in on the "end of history" have skewed the balance in key defense capabilities along the Eastern flank in Russia's favor. Putin's decision in 2008 to push Russian troops into Abkhazia and South Ossetia, severing these provinces from Georgia, and then in 2014 to seize Crimea from Ukraine followed by an irredentist war for the country's Eastern provinces have effectively shut down further NATO enlargement to the East. Inviting these countries to join the alliance would in effect mean that NATO members would be asked to vote for going to war with Russia. It is telling as to how confident Putin has been of late that the West will concede to his spheres of influence demand that, even though NATO membership for Georgia and Ukraine has been all but foreclosed through previous direct Russian military action, he now demands the West to publicly acknowledge his win.

President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin, arrive to meet at the 'Villa la Grange', in Geneva, Switzerland, June 16, 2021. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, File Pool)

Russia has "re-entered" European politics not only through the exercise of military power. The country has also adroitly used the energy weapon, leveraging its vast natural gas resources in the context of the European Union's decision to move to "clean energy." Notwithstanding ongoing debates in the EU over whether nuclear power qualifies as a clean energy source, natural gas has been widely accepted as such and treated as a gateway to renewables. Here the Russian-German Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines have put Moscow in a unique position to become the largest supplier of energy to Europe, in the process making Germany into the largest distributor of Russian gas. Today, regardless of how the European Union evolves  whether it continues as a confederation of sovereign European states or shifts towards federalism  once the second pipe becomes fully operational, Moscow's direct engagement with Berlin on energy will give Putin a strong hand in European politics going forward.

The Timing of Putin's Strategy

As military pressure along Ukraine's borders builds, Putin seems to have concluded that the time is finally ripe to cut through the gordian knot that has been the continued existence of a pro-Western Ukraine in the seven years since the initial invasion of Donetsk and Luhansk. For the US and its allies, the question is understandably first and foremost about whether Russian forces will crash through Ukraine's borders yet again, as this raises the specter of a large-scale Russian-Ukrainian war that might pull others into it. Nevertheless, regardless of whether near-term Putin decides to move militarily into Ukraine or not, the key threat to European security is his primary goal of returning Russia to European politics as a great power, able to shape and influence the intra-European relationships and the overall transatlantic dynamic at will. Putin is betting that the United States, coming off two decades of an inconclusive Global War on Terror (America's uncoordinated withdrawal from Afghanistan has been read in Moscow as a sign of US waning military competence) is not ready to respond decisively to his challenge in Europe. At least not until its Joint Force has been restructured away from CT operations and reformatted, retrained, and re-fitted for high-end great power state-on-state competition. He sees the lingering strains in transatlantic relations playing out in Russia's favor. He also sees Brexit still rippling across the European Union as a moment of opportunity. Now that a quintessentially maritime power has departed, the bloc is more Continental and more "German" than at any time since the seventies. The Biden administration's decision to drop the remaining sanctions on Nord Stream 2 was interpreted in Moscow that Washington has prioritized its relationship with Berlin, underscoring for Putin that his great power bilateralism is the way to go.

Much of how this Ukrainian crisis unfolds and whether it will or will not transform European politics and security rests on decisions taken by Germany's new government. The Merkel government relied on a combination of political and economic means to manage its relationship with Moscow, eschewing all-out German rearmament. Olaf Scholz, the new Chancellor, spoke last summer of the need for a new Willy Brandt-style Ostpolitik towards Russia, emphasizing Berlin's demand that Moscow adheres to the rules-based international order. It is too early to judge what Germany's Russia policy will look like, and how effective it will be at reducing risks. Still, what makes the current situation different from the Brandt era is that during the Cold War Germany was negotiating from a position of military strength. Today, should Berlin recommit to providing the Bundeswehr with real exercised capabilities, it would send an unequivocal message that it is in fact ready to add military power to its Russian policy toolbox  something Berlin has thus far showed itself reluctant to do.

What Happens Next and the Stakes

As the Ukrainian crisis continues to unfold, one should bear in mind at all times that Putin's overarching objective is not only to regather the old Russian Eastern Slavic imperial core but most importantly to compel the West to recognize de facto if not de jure Moscow's sphere of influence in Eastern Europe. This is the underlying message in Putin's demand that NATO rescinds its 2008 pledge to admit Georgia and Ukraine into the alliance. If he gets his wish, this will have reversed the gains made by the West in the wake of the unification of Germany. Russia will dominate once again the region outside NATO's Eastern flank (in the aftermath of Putin's subjugation of Ukraine and de facto incorporation of Belarus into the Russian Federation, Moldova would likely lose its sovereignty as well). In effect, Europe would find itself back in a neo-imperial sphere of influence paradigm with potentially devastating consequences for NATO and allied solidarity. Last but not least, if NATO allows Putin to get away with this gamble, Moscow's next step is likely to be pressuring the Baltic states, Poland and Romania, with the goal of breeding instability within NATO's perimeter.

Andrew A. Michta is the dean of the College of International and Security Studies at the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies and a new Contributing Editor for 1945. He is the former Professor of National Security Affairs at the US Naval War College and former Senior Fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis. You can follow him on Twitter: @AndrewMichta.

This article originally appeared on 19fortyfive.com.
13.12.2021 LISTEN

Youth Activist, Kwabena Frimpong has admonished African leaders and political parties to invest in research to bring out proper findings to feed into policies to shape up the future of Africa.

According to the General Secretary of Kumasi Youth Association (KuYA), Africa and Political leaders have failed woefully in investing in research which contributed to the many unsolved challenges confronting the Africa continent.

"There is no subterfuge in the relevance of research when conducted correctly because it helps us to understand and possibly even solve existing or possible problems.

"This could be anything from social issues to medical or scientific breakthroughs. Governments, organizations, institutions, or individuals carry out research all the time to come to conclusions about policies and strategies. Without this research and knowledge, it would be difficult to make a change.

Research will aim to answer such questions so that informed decisions can be made about what strategies will help.

Speaking at a forum organised by Critical Thinkers International (CTI) under the theme, "Influence of Research on Electoral Strategies; Ghana's Democracy and How the NPP and NDC have fared in General Elections under the 4th Republic," Kwabena Frimpong, the youth activist underscored the importance of research.

If you are a political party or body or organisation, and you want to make impact or inroads then you need to invest in research properly because after conducting a research it will help you to know the challenges, way forward and how to overcome them.

One thing that has been identified is that, most of our political parties don't actually invest into research. They actually don't invest or strengthen their research team, though most of them have such portfolios.

If we can have a very competent research team or body, it will help or inform us to make a proper decision to will inspire the progress of Africa in general, he emphasised.
The new UNESCO 2021/2 Global Education Monitoring Report presented on Sunday at the RewirEd Forum in Dubai shows that, globally, one in six families saves to pay school fees.

It added that while 8% of families (or one in twelve) in low- and middle-income countries have to borrow money to pay for their children to go to school. In some countries such as Uganda, Haiti, Kenya and the Philippines, 30% or more of families have to borrow to afford their childrens education.

The report calls for governments to keep to their promise of providing 1 year of pre-primary and 12 years of primary and secondary education free for all.

New data show that the costs of education are falling on households disproportionately in the poorest countries. In low- and lower-middle-income countries, households cover 39% of the cost of education with the government covering the remainder, compared to only 16% in high-income countries. In Ghana, two-thirds of the total cost of education is picked up by households, while one-third is covered by governments.

Public education still has many hidden costs. About one third of household education expenditure in low- and middle-income countries comes from households with children in public schools, rising to 51% in Ghana.

Analysis of about 100 low- and middle-income countries between 2009 and 2020 found that, on average, 3.2% of households financial outgoings were being spent on education.

In Ghana, the share of education spending is not only the worlds largest but also increased from 8.9% in 2005/06 to 13.1% in 2016/17. Much of the cost comes from school uniform and other school supplies; these accounted for almost two-fifths of the amount households were spending on education in 15 low and middle-income countries.

"We have underestimated just how much families are still paying for education when according to governments it should be free," said Manos Antoninis, Director of the Global Education Monitoring Report. "On top of this, the impact of COVID-19 has squeezed family budgets further. Many simply cant afford to pay for school costs as a result. Governments must look closer at the amount that families are paying. They must focus on ensuring that education is free at the point of access  and that the poorest arent priced out of a good quality education.

The GEM Report warns that, without better regulations, private education choices, such as private schools, or private supplementary tuition, are pushing up these costs for households. If 3.2% of households outgoings are being spent on education globally on average, that rises to 6% in countries with a high percentage of private schools, such as Haiti and Lebanon, and in other sub-Saharan African countries, including Rwanda, Uganda and Zambia. The costs make some education opportunities inaccessible for the poor. In Ghana, private early education and childcare provision costs 6% of annual consumption for the richest and 17% for the poorest.

Many households are also paying for private supplementary tuition, particularly during school closures - something many of the poorest cannot afford. In Myanmar, 42% of the amount households were spending on education was spent on tutoring. Currently, however, around half of countries do not regulate the practice at all.

Today, less than three-quarters of countries are regulating the amount of fees that are charged by private schools, which contribute to the burden carried by households. Most private secondary schools receive at least 80% of their revenue from fees in 28 out of 51 upper-middle- and high-income education systems. In low- and lower-middle income countries, poor parents employ a variety of strategies to cope with private school expenses. The poorest parents in Kenya and other low- and lower-middle-income countries often have to resort to schools that are unregistered and cheaper but likely to have poor facilities and offer lower-quality instruction.

Recommendations:

1. Increase efforts to guarantee free, publicly funded access to a year of pre-primary and 12 years of primary and secondary education. Governments need to monitor out-of-pocket education spending with household income and expenditure surveys. Formal payments are often the only ones to which governments pay attention. They often turn their eyes away from other less well documented costs that increase inequality, such as private supplementary tuition. The effectiveness of policies that aim to target resources at disadvantaged learners needs to be evaluated and not assumed.

2. Strengthen government capacity to monitor and enforce regulations. Governments need to build a relationship of trust with non-state providers, encouraging them to register, eliminating arbitrariness in rules and communicating the right incentives for them to run their schools effectively for learners benefit.
The Atebubu-Amantin Municipal Assembly has held its maiden meeting for the year in Atebubu.

The meeting which incidentally is the first ordinary one for the current assembly approved a fee fixing resolution, an annual action plan and a composite budget for 2022.

Delivering his sessional address, the Municipal Chief Executive Hon. Edward Owusu said his administration spends Ghc6,000 weekly on fuel and ration for various security personnel deployed in the municipality to deal with highway robberies and other crimes.

He noted that the assembly will deepen its collaboration with the municipal education directorate to strengthen existing regulations on quality education to ensure that all children of school going age are in school.

On health, the MCE revealed that the assembly has made budgetary allocation for the construction of a childrens ward at the municipal hospital.

Hon. Edward Owusu enumerated a number of borehole projects at various levels of completion throughout the municipality as a short term measure.

He added that plans are advanced to get the central government to provide funding for the Atebubu water system in order to find a lasting solution to the perennial water problem faced by inhabitants of the town and its environs.

He also indicated that the assembly is also considering a build-operate and transfer BOT arrangement for the same project with an investor from the United Arab Emirates.

Hon. Edward Owusu noted that electricity extension works are at various stages of completion in a number of communities whiles the assembly is working around the clock to get Sanwakyi/Afefreso, Jato Zongo and Akokoa connected to the national grid.

The assembly will continue to invest in the evacuation of major refuse heaps from various communities. Open defecation will be totally prohibited in the municipality, he stated.

He added that his outfit will revoke the management of all public toilets in the municipality by individuals for more efficient handling by the assembly.

Hon. Edward Owusu listed about 12 infrastructural projects both completed and ongoing in the municipality spanning areas of health, education and the administration of justice.

As the MCE I remain committed to expanding infrastructure in the areas of education, health, security etc. In line with this, enough investments from internally generated funds has been directed to this area, he concluded.
The Minority Leader in Parliament, Haruna Iddrisu, is not enthused with the First Deputy Speaker, Joseph Osei-Owusus dismissal of his motion seeking a reversal of the controversial 2022 budget approval.

He said his side will pursue the motion when the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, returns from his medical trip on December 14, 2021.

Mr. Iddrisu filed a motion challenging the First Deputy Speaker's ruling after his earlier motion seeking to reverse the approval of the 2022 budget was rejected.

He had argued that the December 1 ruling contravenes the Rules, Conventions, and Practices of the House and was actuated by bias.

Mr. Iddrisu in a statement on December 13, 2021, stated that: the NDC Minority Caucus which I lead, and my good self, vehemently disagree with your position on the motion and your conduct in this matter. We take the strong view that your conduct affronts Orders 79, 81, 82, and 90 of our standing orders and can no longer be tolerated.

In that regard, we are resolved to pursue this matter further with the Right Honourable Speaker upon his return, Haruna added in his response to the First Deputy Speakers letter rejecting the Minority Leaders motion.

Parliament on December 1, 2021, approved the 2022 Budget Statement and Economic Policy of government in the absence of Minority MPs.

Following a motion by the Majority Leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, and a vote by the House, the First Deputy Speaker, Joseph Osei-Owusu, ruled that the earlier decision by the House to reject the budget was in error and in violation of Article 104 (1), and caused it to be expunged from the records.

Parliament subsequently approved the budget without the Minority, a decision the Minority Leader wanted to reverse with his earlier motion.

---citinewsroom
A 34-year-old man who slashed his elder brother's thigh and shoulder with a cutlass over their mother's estate at Teshie, near Accra, has appeared before an Accra Circuit Court.

Anthony Kwabena Yeboah Twumasi, pleaded not guilty for causing harm.

The accused person's brother and the complainant, Simon Nikoi Kotei, is said to be responding to treatment.

The Court, presided over by Mrs. Patricia Amponsah, admitted Twumasi to bail in the sum of GHC20, 000 with two sureties, one to be justified.

The Court, directed the prosecution to file and serve their witness statements on the accused person.

The matter has been adjourned to January 12, 2022.

Prosecuting Chief Inspector Kofi Atimbire, narrated that, Twumasi and Kotei resided at different locations at Teshie in Accra.

He said there had been a misunderstanding between the accused person and the complainant in relation to the renting of a room in their mother's house.

The prosecution said the situation had persisted and on December 1, this year, late afternoon, the complainant went to the said mother's house with a mason to renovate a vacant room.

It said while the renovation was ongoing, the accused person returned from town furious and went for a sharp cutlass, demanding the key to the room being renovated.

The prosecution said in the process, the accused person inflicted cutlass wounds on the complainant's thigh and shoulder.

It said the complainant, who bled immensely, was rushed to the LEKMA Hospital where he was admitted.

The prosecution said a report was made to the Police and a Police medical form was issued to the victim and the accused person arrested later.

GNA
Tunisia's President Kais Saied on Monday extended his months-long suspension of parliament until new elections in December 2022, while calling for a July referendum on constitutional reforms.

In a speech on national television, Saied announced a three-month "popular consultation" with the Tunisian people after which "draft constitutional and other reforms will be put forward to referendum on July 25".

That will mark a year since he sacked the government, suspended parliament and seized a string of powers, as the North African country wallowed in political and economic crises compounded by the coronavirus pandemic.

Saied later moved to rule by decree, sparking fears for the only democracy to have emerged from the Arab uprisings a decade ago.

On Monday he said that "parliament will remain suspended until new elections... on the basis of a new electoral law" on December 17 next year, the anniversary of the start of the 2011 revolution that chased dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali from power.

That effectively dissolves the current assembly dominated by his nemesis, the Islamist-inspired Ennahdha party which had played a central role in Tunisian politics since Ben Ali's fall.

Saied's July 25 moves were initially welcomed by many Tunisians sick of a political elite seen as corrupt and ineffective in dealing with the country's deep social and political woes.

But he has also faced growing opposition from critics who fear he is seeking to install a new autocracy in Tunisia, the birthplace of the 2011 Arab uprisings.

Constitutions are 'not eternal'

Saied, a former legal academic elected in 2019, has been a sharp critic of the North African country's 2014 constitution and frequently hinted in recent weeks that he wants to change it.

The document, which put in place a hybrid presidential and parliamentary system, was seen as a compromise between Ennahdha and its secular rivals.

But many Tunisians see the political system it created as having failed, creating corruption and endless blockages without resolving deep social and economic problems.

Saied, who has faced domestic and international pressure to lay out a roadmap for restoring democratic institutions, on Monday announced a nationwide public consultation from January 1 until March 20.

Wearing a dark suit beside the Tunisian flag, he said "electronic platforms" and direct meetings would be used to gather suggestions for constitutional and other reforms.

A committee will then examine them until June, ahead of a referendum on July 25 -- the anniversary the Tunisian republic was declared in 1957, the year after independence from France.

Earlier Monday, Saied had told cabinet that constitutions are "not eternal".

Calls for timeline

"The people exercises its sovereignty in the framework of the constitution," Saied said.

"So if it's not possible for the sovereign people to practise its rights in the framework of a text, then there needs to be a new text."

Saied has frequently but indirectly accused Ennahdha of corruption.

Addressing cabinet on Monday, he cited a court report that accused the party of receiving foreign funding.

"Those who have received and continue to receive money from abroad have no place in parliament," he said.

The envoys of the G7 democratic, developed economies plus the European Union had urged Tunisia on Friday to respect "fundamental freedoms" and set a timeline for a return to democratic institutions.

The diplomatic mission heads of the G7 nations plus the EU called for "a clear timeline allowing for a swift return to functioning democratic institutions, with an elected parliament playing a significant role".
Member of Parliament (MP) for Bolgatanga Central, Hon. Isaac Adongo has expressed shock at comments by Bank of Ghana (BoG) Governor Dr. Ernest Addison that paint the picture that the country is in a mess.

The BoG governor while speaking at the 2021 Annual Bankers Week Dinner of the Chartered Institute of Bankers on December 9, 2021, warned that Ghanas high deficit is unsustainable.

He said because of that, investors have lost trust and confidence in the government's ability to salvage the situation based on its policies since the presentation of the 2021 mid-year budget in July last year.

The recent widening of the Ghanas sovereign bond spreads after a successful bond issue in April 2021 surprised all of us, although we were aware of investor sentiments and their assessment of Ghanas fiscal risks as they see the fiscal deficit outturn for 2020 as unsustainable and expecting very bold and decisive measures from the government to re-anchor fiscal consolidation and stabilize debt.

"Investors have assessed that, as compared to our peers, Ghana required a stronger fiscal rectitude to re-establish investor confidence, and did not see the mid-year budget as addressing their sentiments. The markets assessment of the 2022 budget also suggest lingering doubts about the ability of the revenue measures announced to translate into a large increase in domestic revenue. To add to this, government expenditure is projected to increase significantly in 2022, Dr. Addison said.

Having heard this from the Bank of Ghana governor, Bolgatanga Central legislature Isaac Adongo says he is unsure if he is dreaming or Dr. Addison really made the admission.

In a Facebook post, the MP says, after years of living in denials and a window dressed economy, it is obvious that the chickens have finally come home to roost.

Read the full post on Isaac Adongos Facebook wall below:

Hon Isaac Adongo writes...

Bank of Ghana's Bombshell on The Economy.

Did Dr Addison really say this or it is a dream?

Well, after years of living in denials and a window dressed economy, it is obvious that the chickens have finally come home to roost.

Dr Ernest Addison, the Governor of the Bank of Ghana, now admits to the mismanagement of Ghana's economy, leading to the current high fiscal risks. In his own words as said at the 2021 Annual Bankers Week Dinner of the Chartered Institute of Bankers, Ghana, the Governor warned that our high deficit is unsustainable and that it is worse than our peers in West Africa. Because of that he said investors have lost trust and confidence in the Government's ability to salvage the situation based on its policies since the presentation of the 2021 mid-year budget in July last year.

He adds that investors doubts in the governments ability to return the economy to a sustainable path of fiscal consolidation and debt sustainability manifested throughout this year and has now been magnified by the unconvincing nature of the 2022 Budget.

He also laments the high levels of expenditures programmed in the 2022 budget, confirming the general view that the solution to the economic crisis lies in cutting the expenditures, and not shoving the ill-conceived E-Levy and other draconian tax measures down the throats of Ghanaians.

Hear him in his own words when he addressed members of the Chartered Institute of Bankers on the night of Friday, December 9, 2021.

The recent widening of the Ghanas sovereign bond spreads after a successful bond issue in April 2021 surprised all of us, although we were aware of investor sentiments and their assessment of Ghanas fiscal risks as they see the fiscal deficit outturn for 2020 as unsustainable and expecting very bold and decisive measures from the government to re-anchor fiscal consolidation and stabilize debt. Investors have assessed that, as compared to our peers, Ghana required a stronger fiscal rectitude to re-establish investor confidence, and did not see the mid-year budget as addressing their sentiments. The markets assessment of the 2022 budget also suggest lingering doubts about the ability of the revenue measures announced to translate into a large increase in domestic revenue. To add to this, government expenditure is projected to increase significantly in 2022.

For now, I elect to say nothing. But surely, I will be back.
14.12.2021 LISTEN

A group calling itself Democratic Youth for Competent Leadership is asking the Energy Minister, Dr. Mathew Opoku Prempeh to retract and apologise to the people of Keta for his "reckless comment."

According to the group, the minister's is reported to have said on Accra-based Asempa FM that he will lead a demonstration in Kumasi should government allocate funds for the Keta Sea Defence project.

The group noted that comparing in-land floods in Ashanti Region to the destructive tidal waves in Keta is illogical.

"His analogy is illogical. To think that in-land floods in Ashanti Region can be compared to the destructive tidal waves of the sea in the Volta Region. This statement can only be born of a deep seated hatred for the people of Ewe extraction," the group said in a statement.

Statement below:
With only days to go until scheduled elections meant to cap Libya's long political transition and unify the war-torn country, many instead fear a return to violence.

Standing near the port in the capital Tripoli, Khaled al-Turki said he has little optimism about the December 24 vote.

"The most prominent candidates are divisive," the 25-year-old told AFP.

"If there had been a candidate with broad public approval, competent and able to bring the Libyan people together, we would have been more optimistic. But that's not the case."

Since longtime dictator Moamer Kadhafi was toppled and killed in a 2011 revolt, the North African country has endured a decade of war, leaving bitter divisions and impoverishing the population, despite Libya's oil wealth.

But before any government can fix the dire economic situation, it will need to bring security, said Adam Bin Fayed, who works with Turki at an international organisation in Tripoli.

"I hope that problems like electricity cuts, the lack of cash and (damaged) infrastructure can be sorted out," Bin Fayed said.

"But the priority has to be security, because you can't build anything ... until security is in place."

Like Turki, he is concerned over the lack of a unifying candidate.

"To build security, the president needs to be able to speak to all Libyans," he said.

'Unifying president'

The elections, part of a United Nations-led process since a landmark east-west ceasefire last year, have been overshadowed by political manoeuvring and the lack of an agreed legal framework.

They come after years of fighting that has displaced tens of thousands of Libyans.

Many exiles from the Kadhafi era who had returned to take part in the country's democratic transition have since left again.

On the economic front, the Libyan dinar has collapsed, real estate prices have surged and power cuts are commonplace.

Libyans must queue for hours to withdraw money or buy petrol -- despite the country having Africa's largest crude reserves.

Along Tripoli's seafront, idle cranes are rusting amid the carcasses of unfinished buildings, testament to a deep economic malaise.

"We want a president who will look after the poor (and) is able to unify the country," said Khalifa Ramadan al-Nakoua, a Tripoli retiree wrapped in a scarf against the winter cold.

"We want an end to electricity cuts -- this is an oil-rich country!"

Libya's crude exports, which financed generous patronage networks and state services under Kadhafi, have been repeatedly hit by fighting or blockades since his fall.

New constitution

Abdalsalam al-Mabrouk, a 47-year-old economy ministry employee, said Libyans "want the government to handle a peaceful transfer of power and write a new constitution".

Libya has not had such a charter since Kadhafi cancelled the last one in 1969, and the lack of a constitutional basis for the polls has been a key point of contention.

War-ravaged buildings in Libya's eastern city of Benghazi. By Abdullah DOMA (AFP)

Some 1,000 kilometres (600 miles) east of Tripoli, residents of second city Benghazi share the fears of their compatriots in the capital.

The first city to rise up against Kadhafi, Benghazi has endured years of violence, leaving bullet holes and ruined buildings in its Old City.

Civil registrar Zakaria Mahjoub, 32, said he had been optimistic that a transitional government that took office in March would be able to unify the state.

"But its head (interim Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah) didn't keep his promise to unify Libyans -- and now he's running for president" despite earlier promising he wouldn't, Mahjoub said.

"I'm not optimistic about the presidential elections, because all the candidates either played a part in messing up the situation or are divisive figures," he said.

"If these elections take place on time, which I don't believe will happen, will the rival camps accept the results?" he asked.

"Or will we go back to square one -- division and fighting?"
The Ahafo Regional Minister, Honourable George Boakye today presented motorbikes to the 41 Assembly members in the Asunafo South District of the Ahafo Region.

In handing over the keys to the Presiding Member of the Assembly, the Minister explained to the gathering assembly members that it was the vision of President Nana Akufo-Addo to ensure effective and accountable governance especially at the local level.

He advised that the machines should be used to ensure that the governance systems at the local level are enhanced.

He added that it was the responsibility of the Assembly members to explain the policies of the government to the understanding of the ordinary citizen within their respective electoral areas.

Honourable George Boakye however charged the Assembly members to hold it as a mandate to explain the numerous benefits of the e-levy to the members in their various electoral areas since other African countries have successfully implemented same and are yielding positive results through the development.

The Regional Minister stated that the e-levy was one of the surest ways government can rely on to implement its impactful policies and programs to the Ghanaian citizens.

He cautioned the Assembly members to always respect road traffic and safety regulations in order to prevent accidents.

Honourable Ishmael Mohammed, Presiding Member of the Asunafo South District Assembly on behalf of his colleagues expressed gratitude to the President through the Regional Minister for the Kind gesture.

He further assured that the machines shall be used for the intended purpose.

Present at the ceremony were the District Chief Executive for Asunafo South Honourable Frank Aduse Poku, Mr Asamoah Damoah; Coordinating Director for the Asunafo South District Assembly.
On Monday, 13th December 2021, President Nana Akufo-Addo paid a days working visit to Luxembourg, as part of efforts to deepen bilateral relations and ties of co-operation between Ghana and Luxembourg.

Amongst others, President Akufo-Addo paid a courtesy call on the Grand Duke of Luxembourg, Henri Albert Gabriel Felix Marie Guillaume.

He also held bilateral talks with Prime Minister Xavier Bettel, where, amongst others, Ghana and Luxembourg signed a Bilateral Air Services Agreement and a Double Taxation Agreement.

On the sidelines, President Akufo-Addo also held a meeting with the President of the European Investment Bank (EIB), Dr Werner Hoyer.

The Ghanaian leader welcomed the 82.5 million support offered to Ghana by the Bank to strengthen the countrys healthcare, provision of specialist medical equipment and medicines, under the national COVID-19 Health Response Plan.

The new agreement with Ghana represents the largest national EIB financing for COVID related health investment in Africa.

---Classfmonline.com
French troops were preparing to leave the Malian city of Timbuktu on Tuesday, in a symbolic departure more than eight years after Paris first intervened in the conflict-torn Sahel state.

It was there that then French president Francois Hollande formally declared the start of France's military intervention, in February 2013, designed to root out jihadist insurgents.

A few days prior, French legionnaires and Malian troops had liberated Timbuktu, a northern desert city, after an eight-month Islamist occupation.

"Some people were overcome by emotion, women were crying, young people were shouting, I myself was overwhelmed," said Yehia Tandina, a Timbuktu television journalist, recalling the day.

Soldiers fly out of the French army base at Timbuktu on December 5. By Thomas COEX (AFP/File)

Mohamed Ibrahim, the former president of the Timbuktu regional council, also described the day as "joyful" and "beautiful".

But now French troops are leaving their base in Timbuktu, raising questions about the future of jihadist activity as militants put down roots in the countryside.

Mathieu, a French sergeant, was part of the original contingent of French soldiers who arrived in Mali, and has returned to the Timbuktu base for the handover ceremony.

"We've come full circle," he said, smiling.

Since 2013, Paris has deployed around 5,100 troops across the Sahel region -- which includes Mali -- helping to support local governments and their poorly equipped forces fight an ever-growing Islamist insurgency.

France's military deployment in the Sahel is due to fall to about 3,000 troops by next year. By Thomas COEX (AFP/File)

However, French President Emmanuel Macron announced a major drawdown of French troops in June, after a military takeover in Mali in August 2020 that ousted the elected president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita.

France's military deployment in the Sahel is due to fall to about 3,000 troops by next year.

French forces have already left bases in the northern Malian towns of Kidal and Tessalit.

Not the same

The French were greeted as liberators when they entered Timbuktu in 2013.

Former president Hollande also described the day French soldiers retook the city as "the best day of his political life".

The French were greeted as liberators when they entered Timbuktu in 2013. By Thomas COEX (AFP/File)

Sergeant Mathieu said the atmosphere was no longer as jovial, although that locals are not hostile.

A lack of enthusiasm may be linked to continuing conflict across the vast nation of 19 million people.

Jihadists attacks have grown more frequent since 2013, and the conflict has spilled over into neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger.

Whether France's mission can be described as a military success is a sensitive question.

For Master Corporal Julien, who was also in Timbuktu in 2013: "We have to hope that things will get better for civilians".

Outside the city, locals appear to have come to terms with the jihadists, said security officials and Western diplomats.

An acceptance of their legitimacy, at least among locals, may have also decreased violence.

Fewer attacks

"Where there is coexistence, there will certainly be fewer negative acts," said Tandina, the journalist, noting improved security in the Timbuktu region.

The defensive walls come down at the French military base in Timbuktu. By Thomas COEX (AFP/File)

According to the UN, militant attacks on civilians in Timbuktu and the surrounding area are at their lowest since 2015.

Still, Westerners cannot travel outside the city without an armed escort.

The central government, which is supported by the UN inside the city, is largely invisible in the countryside.

Most jihadists in the region are affiliated to al-Qaeda. In their propaganda, they boast that they control the territory and have won the hearts of locals.

A Timbuktu resident, who declined to be named, told AFP many people prefer to use the Islamic court system rather than the official one.

One Islamic judge, Houka Houka Ag Alhousseini, remains active in the area despite figuring on a United Nations sanctions list for having worked in a similar capacity during the jihadist occupation of Timbuktu.

'We live with it'

Near Timbuktu airport, equipment from the French base ranging from satellite dishes to crates of medicine is piled up and ready to ship to the country's main Sahel military base at Gao in northern Mali.

Tents, among other small items, were due to be left behind.

The remaining French soldiers were milling about the camp with not much to do: the wifi has been disconnected, putting them on the same footing as Timbuktu residents.

Westerners cannot travel outside the city without an armed escort. By Thomas COEX (AFP/File)

Jihadists recently attacked telecommunications infrastructure, causing persistent network problems.

"Of course there are problems" said Ali Ibrahim, a 26-year-old law student, citing a lack of work, among other issues impacting residents' lives.

"But we're here, and we will still be here tomorrow," he said. "So we live with it."
Member of Parliament for North Tongu constituency Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has said he and his fellow Members of Parliament on the Minority side are proud to frustrate the approval of the controversial e-levy proposed by government in the 2022 budget.

Mr Ablakwas comment comes after the Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II acknowledged that all over the world, nobody loves taxes and pointed out that though it is in the interest of the populace for lawmakers to scrutinise government policies, it is not in their place to frustrate the work of the executive arm.

Speaking at the launch of the Otumfuo Osei Tutu II Commemorative Gold Coin on Sunday, 12 December 2021, the Asante monarch said: We have been fortunate in our political journey to have moved on from a period of one political party dominating everything.

Today, at least, the two main political parties have all been in government, he observed, adding: If we are honest, we will agree that there is no perfect government and there will never be, as long as we have different points of view.

And, if we are honest, we will also agree that there are no people in this world that love paying taxes, and yet there is no other way conceived by the human mind by which government can raise the resources to meet our needs other than by raising taxes.

I do not know of any form of taxes that is less painful than others. So, alas, the government, by all means, would have to raise taxes to meet our needs and if we are good citizens, we will pay our taxes.

He noted: We elect people to represent us to make sure there is some equilibrium in what governments do.

It is to our good that our representatives in parliament subject the national budget to the most rigorous scrutiny and to call for changes.

The government must also have the humility to acknowledge and embrace the useful inputs from all sources but our representatives need to bear in mind that it is not their role to either determine policy or to frustrate the executive from performing their legitimate duties.

But Mr Ablakwa holds a different view.

In a Facebook post on late Monday, 13 December 2021, the North Tongu lawmaker said: Let history reflect that my colleagues and I are proud to belong to the group of MPs who frustrated Ameri, Agyapa, Aker, Oslo Chancery, PDS, inflated 2018 Ministry of Special Development Initiatives Budget, GHS242million dubious e-Transaction Levy Services, and still determined to frustrate the obnoxious E-Levy.

His post further read: I have no doubt President Akufo-Addo is much the same way proud of how he and his collaborators in and outside of Parliament during their good old days frustrated the introduction of VAT not only in the chamber but on the streets with the famous kumepreko demonstrations.

The Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu-led opposition era certainly look back with great pride for frustrating a number of matters they felt strongly about including boycotting President Mahamas message on the state of the nation and boycotting the vetting of his ministers on the instruction of party leaders as they pursued their legal challenge of the 2012 election outcome.

Parliaments exist in a democracy as a countervailing force to keep the executive in check and curb impunity.

When other MPs exercised their oversight mandate in the past, they were hailed as nationalists; those who do same now must not be cast in a different light.

Good conscience, genuine feedback from our constituents and the supreme national interest shall continue to be our raison d'etre.

Mr Ablakwa expressed gratitude to the clergy who have declared three days fasting and prayer for Parliament and the smooth approval of the 2022 budget adding weve no doubt that our Almighty Lord and Saviour will in the final analysis intervene on behalf of the suffering masses just as He did in the story of the profligate, insensitive rich man and poor Lazarus in Luke 16:19-31.

Ghanas split parliament is currently fighting over a proposed 1.75 per cent e-levy, which has stalled the passage of the 2022 budget.

The Minority Caucus, in a lopsided parliament, rejected the budget while the Majority Caucus, also in a separate lopsided sitting of the house, approved it.

The two caucuses are now trying to find a middle ground so the budget could be passed.

Classfmonline.com
When politicians are seeking power, they often forget on that stage they stand to make the mission impossible promises and speak against other politicians or the opposition, in due time, whatever they said will come back to hit them harder than expected.

The Oxford dictionary defines the Mouth as an opening in the head, through which food is taken in and sounds uttered, I think this definition is incomplete.

The actual definition of the Mouth, should have been An opening in the head, through which food is taken in, sounds uttered and part of the human body that could get one into a big trouble.

Very often many politicians find themselves in the same scandal and disgrace they preached against the opposition because the majority of them are corrupt, greedy, dishonest, and liars. They only care about the people for their votes, after that, they dont know them. Thats why the common people are suffering.

For example, during the fluctuation of electricity, popularly known as Dumsor under the administration of John Mahama, the NPP took it as an opportunity to campaign against the NDC government, and in 2016, the latter lost the election.

Today, the NPP government is facing the same problem but they want to convince Ghanaians its not 'Dumsor' by giving it a befitting name, yet the current situation is even worse than Mahama's time.

In the year 2012, when seeking to be the president, in a speech captioned Why Ghana Cannot Afford Corruption, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo said many things against the former president, late John Atta-Mills, and the NDC government.

After saying whatever he likes to the audience, Akufo Addo who has impressed the listeners to believe he is the next savior to deliver Ghanaians said I want to be a president who fixes corruption in your country.

According to him, he will not condone corruption in his government; therefore, if because of corruption you want to join his government, you need to go somewhere else.

How can Akufo Addo say all these things, yet today he has corrupt politicians such as Eugene Arhin, Charles Bissiw, and Kwasi Anin-Yeboah in his government?

The current political and economic state of our country has exposed the Akufo Addo as a sugar-coated tongue conman. It could be likely that the president is not only corrupt but also the worst leader in Ghana's political history. Corruption has increased in Akufo Addos government than the previous leaders.

In reality, if Ghana is a developed country, based on this speech, Akufo Addo would have been forced to resign. Our country shouldn't even be a developed country to accept this. I don't know where the country is heading at the moment.

If Mahama had made that speech in 2012 and to be the president today, under this economic and political disaster, I am sure that the Ghanaians would have called for his execution because he is a northerner. Tribalism, nepotism, greed, and hate are the seeds of destruction that have ruined this country.

Why such a strong religious country like Ghana be full of hypocrites? Akufo Addo spoke about taxation and debt, hasnt he incurred the heaviest debt in Ghana today?

Hasnt he introduced multiple taxations than any Ghanaian leader? He said he cares about the poor, yet he has failed to provide them jobs, however, he is quick to introduce E-Levy to steal from the poor. Where are the people who made the life of John Mahama a living hell? In life, whatever evil one sows, the same he shall reap.
The Majority Leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, says the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, seems to have approved a motion filed by the Minority in Parliament on the 2022 budget while he [Bagbin], was outside the country.

Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu insists that the First Deputy Speaker, Joseph Osei-Owusu, assumed full responsibility for the conduct of business in the Chamber, while the Rt. Hon. Speaker was away, so if it turns out that Mr. Bagbin indeed admitted the motion, then it does not auger well for parliamentary practice in Ghana.

Speaking to Citi News, the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs said: The First Deputy Speaker is assuming full responsibility for the transaction of business in the Chamber, but my understanding is that the Rt. Hon. Speaker has minuted on the motion [from the Minority] that he has admitted it. If that is the case, then we are in for something dangerous.

The Minority filed a motion challenging the conduct and ruling of the First Deputy Speaker on the approval of the 2022 budget on December 1.

But the motion hit a snag when the First Deputy Speaker refused to accept it.

On the back of this, the Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu, on Monday, December 13, 2021, released a statement serving notice of not relenting in its effort to challenge the First Deputy Speaker's ruling on their motion to set aside the approval of the 2022 Budget Statement and Economic Policy.

According to him, he will pursue the motion when the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, returns from his medical trip on December 14, 2021.

He argued that the December 1 ruling by the First Deputy Speaker contravenes the Rules, Conventions, and Practices of the House and was actuated by bias.

The NDC Minority Caucus which I lead, and my good self, vehemently disagree with your position on the motion and your conduct in this matter. We take the strong view that your conduct affronts Orders 79, 81, 82, and 90 of our standing orders and can no longer be tolerated.

In that regard, we are resolved to pursue this matter further with the Right Honourable Speaker upon his return, Haruna added in his response to the First Deputy Speaker's letter rejecting the Minority Leader's motion for the setting aside of the December 1 ruling on the 2022 budget.

citinewsroom
All persons living in Bawku have been banned from wearing their normal traditional smock due to a perceived conflict in the area.

The statement which took effect on 23rd November 2021 was signed by the Upper East Regional Minister Stephen Yakubu to impose a curfew in the town following a shooting incident.

After weeks of the curfew and ban, some residents who spoke to this reporter believes the decision by the Regional Security Council (REGSEC) stands tall as far as maintaining peace and preventing impending conflict in the areas is concerned.

However, below are some of the comments from the people of Bawku following the ban on smock wearing in the area:

I think most of the people are now used to it due to how people themselves are in need of peace. Anything the law enforcement agencies are bringing to maintain the peace, we will all abide by that. For that purpose, the ban on smock-wearing is normal currently. For now, there are no festivals that require the mandatory wearing of smock.

Because of our tradition here in the northern Upper East or Bawku for instance, when there is any festival people will be compelled to wear a smock, for example, the Damba festival, people will be compelled to wear smock because is their tradition. Wearing of smock shows their culture, the Samapiid festival, people will indeed wear a smock to showcase their tradition, the "Bud Yelle festival, people will like to wear a smock, the Zezula festival, people of Bawku will like to wear a smock to showcase their tradition. Normally, we up north here smock is our tradition especially when there is a festival

So, because there is no immediate festival and the only one approaching is the Samapiid festival on December 29, 2021. So for now, people are complying with the directive by the law enforcement agency.

In the past, during the high heated conflict era in Bawku in the year 2001, 2007, 2008 and 2009, people used to put guns in them and cover them with a smock. So, because of that, they can ride motor to go and perpetuate violence. So, because of that and based on security intelligence, they realized that banning the smock will yield a very good result.

It is observed that the people have switched to wearing Muslim Zalabia.

However, there are anticipation that the REGSEC might consider lifting the ban for the celebration of the Samapiid festival which is scheduled to take place on December 29, 2021.

According to residents, they are still wondering how the prestigious festival will be celebrated without people showcasing their tradition by way of wearing a traditional smock.
14.12.2021 LISTEN

Fire Outbreak has razed down a 21 bedroom house at Ejisu-Tikrom in the Ejisu Municipality of the Ashanti Region.

The fire which started around 2:30am today, Tuesday, December 13, 2021 also killed a three-year-old girl, Patience.

The Assemblywoman of the area, Hon. Stella Oduro speaking on Omanbapa morning show on Silver FM with Nana Ampratwum said the young girl was burnt beyond recognition.

She noted that properties have been destroyed by the fire.

Im at the scene of the incident and at least seven old bedrooms and 14 new ones have all burnt down, Hon. Stella said in an interview monitored by this reporter.

She indicated that the cause of the fire is yet to be established.
14.12.2021 LISTEN

The Ministry of Food and Agriculture is urging tomato traders in the country to desist from travelling to Burkina-Faso to buy tomatoes this festive season.

He said local producers have the capacity be able to supply enough to meet their demand.

The Tomato traders and transporters association embarked on a strike in February this year due to what the association said was the silence of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture and other authorities on robbery attacks on their members on various routes when going in for their produce from Burkina Faso as well as when returning to their various depots.

But in an interview with Citi Business News, Head of Public Relations at the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Bagbara Tanko noted that enough steps have been taken to ensure traders get access to quality tomatoes in the right quantities in Ghana this festive season.

We all recall the demonstration of the tomato traders earlier this year. As a result, the Ministry had to step up its activities through the crop services directorate. Looking at the quantities of tomato seeds that were distributed countrywide, we are expecting that this year there will be a good harvest and we don't expect these traders to travel all the way to Burkina Faso. They should look in-country.

We are looking particularly at the varieties that attract them to Burkina Faso, we are supplying them with the same varieties, he added.

Attached is the full statement

Tomato shortage looms following traders and transporters' strike

Ghana might soon be experiencing a shortage of tomatoes and a jump in price of the commodity, as a result of an ongoing indefinite strike by the tomato transporters association.

The strike, which began on Sunday, February 7, 2021, according to the Association, is due to the silence of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture and other authorities on robbery attacks on their members on the various routes when going in for the produce from Burkina Faso as well as when returning to their various depots.

According to the group, seven of its members have been robbed and shot in less than three weeks while returning from Burkina Faso, leading to the death of two of the drivers.

It is for this reason that they have decided to embark on the strike action since efforts to alert the authorities have proved futile.

The National Chairman for the Ghana National Tomato Traders and Transporters' Association, Eric Osei Tuffuor, in an interview with Citi Business News, stressed that till their issues are addressed, they will not go for tomatoes for the country.

We've done so many press conferences and we are waiting for a response. If that is not done, we've taken a decision to park our vehicles. Tomatoes will never come to our country. We've started it and every Ghanaian will see it because there will be a shortage of tomatoes in our local market. Anyone who will be found crossing the border with a truck of tomatoes will be punished by the Association.

Unless we hear from the appropriate leaders. The only thing that we want is protection. The authorities need to protect us. We need police assistance. We've written letters to the authorities and it's up to them to contact us so we sit down and find solutions to our problems, he exclaimed.

citinewsroom
NET2 TV presenter, Justice Kwaku Annan has responded to the decision by former Inspector General of Police (IGP) David Asante Appeatu to discontinue the defamation case against him and Member of Parliament for Assin Central Kennedy Agyapong.

According to Annan, the decision to drop the case was as a result of lack of evidence by the complainant.

In his view, every news item he put across regarding the Ex-IGP had evidence supporting it hence, he was ready for the legal battle.

Asante-Appeatu, do you see hwo you have been embarrassed? David Asante-Appeatu, have you seen your size? I am ready for you any day, he told the former IGP on his show Monday December 13.

Asante-Appeatu had discontinued the defamation case he filed.

He had sued the two over comments they made made against him on Net 2 television's 'The Seat' talk show In a writ of summons dated July 2, the former police Chief said the defendant, on June 16, 2021 during the course of his programme, which is broadcast in Twi and English, made a defamatory statement about him.

According to Mr Asante-Apeatu, the words used by Mr Kweku Annan meant and were understood to mean that;

(i) The plaintiff was and is a fence for notorious criminals both in Ghana and Nigeria.

(ii) The plaintiff harbours criminals.

(iii) The plaintiff is a criminal who has been working in cahoots with hardened international criminals to unleash terror on Ghanaians.

(iv) The plaintiff is/was on the payroll of top criminals in Ghana and as such slept on his duty as IGP and he refused/neglected to cause the arrest and prosecution of the criminals.

Mr Asante-Apeatu told the court, he has been inundated with numerous calls from professional associates, journalists, social relations and friends and outright strangers and he has to answer very mortifying questions.

Meanwhile the trial judge hearing, Justice Ekow Baiden, is reported to have recused himself from the matter.

The trial judge said he had not seen the process to discontinue the matter and, therefore, could not grant the same after Mr Asante-Appeatus lawyer, Mr Sammy Darko had moved to discntinue the case.

I have not seen the process so I can't act on it. I need to see a process, go through it, and make up my mind on it, he said.

There is no way a court of law will condemn a person without giving that person adequate opportunity to be heard, he said.

Justice Baiden said it appeared that this fundamental principle in court was alien to Mr Darko.

I reassure counsel for the plaintiff that my directive was not tainted with any form of bias and that the right to be heard is embodied in serving of hearing notice, he said.

3news.com
A 36-year-old man, who reportedly could not stand the pain of being divorced has shot his wife and his brother-in-law, injuring them.

The suspect, Kwabena Adjei, according to the police, had been threatening to divorce his wife, Salomey Opoku Konadu, insisting that God ordered him to leave his wife.

These threats therefore, compelled Salomey to move from her matrimonial home to live in her shop.

On December 4, 2021, Salomey, accompanied by her younger brother, Emmanuel Owusu, visited Adjei's Ahwiaa home near Kumasi to pick Salomey's personal belongings.

Adjei, who could not bear the pain of being separated from his wife, reportedly, used his landlord's long gun to shoot Salomey and Owusu, causing injuries to both of them.

Salomey and Owusu were rushed to hospital for treatment, as Adjei and his landlord, Kwabena Nkrumah, 51, whose gun he (Adjei) used to commit the crime, have since been apprehended.

The police report said Salomey had moved from her matrimonial home and was living in her shop after her husband, Adjei, ordered her to leave his house.

On December 4, 2021, Salomey and her brother, Owusu, went to Adjei's house at Ahwiaa, ostensibly to pick Salomey's personal belongings since the husband had divorced her.

Immediately, Salomey and Owusu entered the house, Adjei started issuing threats, which got Salomey and his brother to panic.

Sensing danger, Salomey was said to have picked Adjei's long gun to hide in the room to prevent him from using the gun to cause harm.

Adjei then rushed to his room with the intention of picking his gun to pull the trigger but he could not find the gun in his room.

As a result, he rushed to his landlord's room, picked his long gun and fired at Salomey and Owusu, causing injuries to their abdomen and knee, respectively.

DGN online
Mr Eli Hini, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the MTN Mobile Money (MoMo) Limited has advised agents to be more security conscious and help curb MoMo fraud.

He asked them to put in place the necessary mechanisms to augment what had been put in place by MTN Ghana and other regulatory bodies.

Mr Hini said this at a ceremony to honour 400 MoMo partners, including MoMo agents and merchants in the South-East District of MTN Ghana over the weekend in Accra.

The ceremony saw Mr Isaac Bediako of IK Bediako venture taking home a Hyundai Creta SUV, GH?15,000, CCVT installation, a plague and other MTN souvenirs for emerging the ultimate winner in the South-East District. Other agents and merchants were also given TV sets, mobile phones, motorcycles, tabletop fridges, generator sets, CCTV cameras and laptops.

In an interview with the Media after the awards, Mr Hini said, we appreciate your role in helping us fight fraud and we urge you to most importantly ensure that your place of operation is well secured to avoid burglars.

As we begin the festive season, we would like to urge all our partners and customers to remain vigilant in the fight against fraud, the MTN MoMo CEO added.

He also urged all partners of the company to keep up the good work to project a positive image for Mobile Money Limited and for that matter our mother brand MTN Ghana and provide an exceptional experience for our customers.

On insurance for their agents, he said, we have an insurance that in the unfortunate event that something like that happens [attack on agents] at least we have something to support the agent.

But what we are preaching to our agents is to manage their place of work; follow some basic rules that will ensure that at least they protect themselves. Agent should not work late into the night, bank your funds, invest in a safe where you keep your money away from the eyes of people, Mr Hini added.

He also indicated that the company was collaborating with the Police to bring the service as close as possible to Ghanaians.

He said the awards were instituted to encourage and celebrate the MoMo partners, spur them on to continue to excel in their work and to give us the kind of service that our customers deserve.

Mr Bediako who emerged the overall winner, attributed his achievement to the customer service experience he acquired through the company during a trip to Dubai and hard work.

Mrs Evelyn Asare, the only female among the top three winners, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency, expressed concern over the introduction of the e-levy, noting that it would negatively affect their business and urged the Government to reconsider it.

GNA
An Accra High Court has adjourned to February 8, 2022, a case in which the state has been sued over the prospecting of bauxite by the Chinese government in the Atewa Forest Range.

This follows the state's (Attorney General) inability to file its witness state in the matter.

A group of environmentalists, climate change activists, individuals, civil society and non-governmental organisations sued the government few months ago, over the decision to allow the Chinese to prospect bauxite in the forest.

The plaintiffs in a writ stated that the Government had already signed a memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the People's Republic of China to develop a bauxite industry in Ghana with the Atewa Range Forest as one of the sources of bauxite.

The plaintiffs held that government, acting through the Ghana Integrated Aluminum Development Cooperation (GIADEC), entered the forest in May 2019, to explore for bauxite by drilling deep holes causing damage to the forest which protects the watershed for three major rivers and several streams, serving water to more than five million Ghanaians.

The plaintiffs alleged that they initiated the present action after several unsuccessful attempts to engage the Government on why it should not touch the forest, as it was classified as Globally Significant Biodiversity Area (GSBA) and a protected forest.

It is their case that Ghana did not need to exploit the Atewa Range Forest bauxite reserves because there are other far richer bauxite reserves, according to information available to government, which government has made publicly available.

The plaintiffs contend that strip mining, the only way to mine Ghana's bauxite could result in loss of forest cover, loss of biodiversity, loss of access to clean water, build-up of greenhouse gases, loss of climate amelioration services, loss of emission reduction services, loss of medicinal/economic valuable plants and change in tourism potential of the area.

The plaintiffs said the Government was undertaking mining activities in the forest without mineral right, and urged the Court to compel the Government to restore or pay the cost of damages that had been caused as a result of recognisance, prospecting and clearing of roads in the Forest.

The Attorney-General and Ministry of Justice in its response stated that the Government only intended to utilize 1.9 per cent of the Atewa Forest Range and not the entire range.

The state contended that the actual mining area would cover 14.05 kilometer square and therefore, prospecting bauxite in the area would not be hazardous to the forest and any specie that lived within it.

According to the Attorney-General, the plaintiffs were merely crying wolf, as many countries, such as Brazil and Australia had successfully conducted mining activities in forest reserves, like the Amazon Rain Forest and Jarrah Forest under well supervised sustainable mining practices.

The state said government in ensuring the protection of the environment and species had set up a standing committee which comprises various mining and environmental regulatory agencies and commissions to ensure optimum adherence to responsible and sustainable mining practices to protect the water bodies and species within the mining area.

The plaintiffs are therefore praying for a declaration that mining of bauxite in the Atewa Range Forest violates the right to life and dignity as enshrined under articles 13 and 15 of the 1992 Constitution.

Plaintiffs want the Court to declare that the state breached their right to life and dignity by exploring and driving deep holes into the ground at 53 different points in the Atewa Range Forest which activities started in May 2019.

They are also seeking a declaration that the state breached the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006 (Act 703) by exploring and creating deep holes in the Forest.

The plaintiffs want the Court to compel the Government and its agents to declare Atewa Range Forest as a protected zone and take the necessary steps to protect the forest, in accordance with its constitutional obligations as contained under article 36(9) of the 1992 Constitution.

It also sought an order restraining the Government, its assigns and agents, servants, workmen, allotees and guarantees whatsoever and howsoever described from undertaking mining and its related activities in the Atewa Range Forest.

They want the Court to award damages for breach of articles 13 and 15 of the 1992 Constitution.

GNA
Ghana will soon ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography, Mrs Akosua Frema Opare, the Chief of Staff, has said.

This would ensure that State parties prohibited and criminalised the offences to protect children.

The Chief of Staff said this when UNICEF Ghana joined the rest of the world to commemorate its global 75 anniversary in Accra on the theme: Celebrating UNICEF at 75: Promoting Children's Rights.

With support from UNICEF, other UN development partners and civil society organisations, she said, there had been a significant improvement in fighting child marriage, child sexual exploitation and abuse through the Cyber Security Act 2020 in the country.

Mrs Opare said Ghana would, therefore, ensure that investments in children were prioritised not to leave any child behind.

She commended UNICEF for the consistent support to Ghana in protecting the rights of children and their wellbeing.

We need to share and it's in sharing that humanity shows up that we are one destiny, one continent, one world and one people, she said.

Mrs Opare said a critical look at the initiatives by UNICEF showed significant achievement in the quality data it produced with the Ghana Statistical Service and National Development Planning Commission to provide technical assistance to strengthen integrated systems across various fields.

The Chief of Staff expressed gratitude to UNICEF for its contribution to Ghana's fight against the COVID-19 pandemic through the procuring of vaccines, vaccine storage equipment, and provision of technical assistance to the Ghana Health Service in the COVID-19 prevention campaign.

Mr Ken Ofori-Atta, the Minister of Finance, said children were to be the first in line of investment and budget allocation as Ghana responded to the pandemic.

We have a strong resolve to build a nation that ensures that its children are cared for and supported, he added.

Ms Anne Claire-Dufay, the UNICEF Country Representative, said promoting gender equality, access to improved equal services, and improved gender-based analysis were the hallmark of UNICEF and reiterated the commitment of her office to help protect children's rights nationwide.

UNICEF never gives up even as we go through many challenges in many countries. We are determined to reach each child despite those difficulties, she added.

Mrs Florence Ayisi Quartey, the Director of the Department of Children, also commended UNICEF forthe strategic partnership to enable children access rights to education, basic health, food, and speech, among others.

She also lauded the Fund for helping set up Ghana's children's parliament.

Ms Mavis Hanu Kwashiwor, a form two student of Mawuli School, Ho, in an address on the topic: Reimagining the Future, enlightened the public on the rights children were entitled to enjoy.

Children are to enjoy their rights no matter how they look like, whether with or without a disability, no matter who their families are, and what their families believe in, she said.

The visually impaired teenager condemned the practice where some parents hid their children with disability and said they had amazing potentials that could be unearthed if they were shown love and given a push.

Ms Kwashiwor, referring to the recent murder of two teenage boys in Abesim, a suburb of Sunyani in the Bono region, appealed to parents to take better care of their children and not leave them at home on their own or in the care of others.

GNA
The Chairman of the Pan African Business Forum - a grouping of like minded African democrats, entrepreneurs, professionals and intellectuals who seek to contribute to Africas socio-economic renaissance within the framework of multi-party democracy and economic liberalism  has recommended to the United States government that engagement is the best strategy it should adopt in tackling the political situation in Sudan, rather than the confrontational stance it is now planning to take in the form of sanctions against the countrys current leadership.

Dr Ladislas Prosper Agbesi, a citizen of the Benin Republic who is domiciled in South Africa, and who co-founded and leads PABF recommends that Americas Biden administration should support the ongoing Sudanese transition plan towards free and fair elections scheduled for 2023. To this end, he suggests that the US Senate should invite representatives of the Sudan Soveriegnty Council, which comprises of both military and civilian members working together, to America for talks, with a view to establishing a framework for credible national elections following the time table already established.

Dr Agbesi asserts that this is the way to ensure that narrow interest groups, both local and foreign who regularly try to forment political instability within which they can illegally exploit the countrys vast natural resources, do not succeed.

He notes that through the transitional civilianmilitary Sudan Sovereignty Council, the civilians and military members of the council have achieved unity, peace, democracy, stability, justice and harmony between all people of Sudan both civilians, military and armed groups.

A formal correspondence to the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee from Dr Agbesi on behalf of PABF argues that : General elections are scheduled to be held in Sudan in July 2023. A constitutional convention is expected to be held before the end of the transitional period to draft a permanent constitution that should define the form of government and electoral system. Prior to considering any sanctions against the Sudan military authorities and taking any decisions, the Pan African Business Forum would like to propose and plead with the US Senate (Foreign Committee) to consider initiate an urgent meeting with the Sudan Military Authorities by extending an invitation to the Sudan Military Authorities to travel to the USA (or holding a virtual conference) and make an appearance before the US Senate (Foreign Committee).

The purpose of the proposed appearance before the US Senate (Foreign Committee) will be primarily to allow the Sudan Military Authorities to state its case and provide facts of the current political situation on the grounds with a view of finding a reconciliatory solution suitable to both parties and the US Senate. Upon collecting all the facts presented to the US Senate (Foreign Committee) and making an informed assessment, then the US Senate (Foreign Committee) can draw its conclusions, make recommendations and make a final decision to either impose or not impose sanctions.

The Pan African Business Forum firmly believes that based on the above findings, it will be too premature for the US Senate (Foreign Committee) to impose sanctions on the military authorities of Sudan. Such decision could fuel and trigger more unrest and instability in Sudan in particular and the Nile region in general, and thus compromise on the very democratic values and beliefs practiced by the Biden  Harris Administration.

The Pan African Business Forum consequently has made the following recommendations to the US Senate (Foreign Committee):

 No Sanction: Not to proceed to imposing sanctions against Sudan Military Authorities.

 Motive for instability: the US Senate (Foreign Committee) should set up a Special Independent Task Team that will conduct an investigation on the ground in Sudan, which team shall be vettoed by the USA and the UN. The main mandate of the team will be to investigate the source of the conflict between the two parties.

 Dialogue between US Senate and Sudan Civilian and Military Authorities: The US Senate (Foreign Committee) to resort to dialogue and consultations with both parties, the Sudan Military and Civilian authorities. Such dialogue would require for the US Senate (Foreign Committee) to actively engage with the Sudan military authorities and civilians authorities and hearing their arguments either through inviting them to the USA.

 Free and fair election (2023): The US Senate (Foreign Committee) shall be actively involved in the organization of the Sudan 2023 election by ensuring that elections are free, fair and reflect the will of the Sudanese people. Such involvement would require for a team of international observers to be sent on the ground to monitor elections and provide the financial means if required.

Importantly PABFs stance is underpinned by the fact that while military coups are on the rise in Africa, they are primarily because democratically elected leaders are increasingly descending into authoritarism, ignoring national constitutions, the rule of law and human rights in the process, even as they embrace corrupt practices to enrich themselves, family and friends while the general populace suffers increasing economic deprivation.

Therefore there is the need to address the problem at its cause rather than just the coups that are its effect.

Warns Dr Agbesi: Disbeliefs of the benefits of a democratic society is increasingly growing amongst many Africans who collectively are ceasing to believe elections can deliver the leaders they want or they voted for. Thus, there is an urgent need to renew and reignite the belief democracy can deliver for Africans. However, if these problems still being cited by those that initiate coups (mostly military) to justify coups continue to prevail and worsen in today's African democracies, then the temptation to try something else will continue to be dangerously seductive, both for coupists and citizens alike.

Interestingly he points to a similar situation developing in this home country Benin Republic where: The Benin parliamentary caucus post April 2019 Benin parliamentary election and post Benin April 2021 national election did not represent the majority of the Benin people because of the attitude and position of the current government to govern and rule Benin by means of fraudulent, illegitimate, illegal and unlawful manipulation of Benin laws and constitution, which has resulted in a systemic exclusion of all opposition parties and leaders not participating in Benin elections both parliamentary and national. The last presidential election held in April 2021 was a total mess because of the killing of peaceful unarmed civilians and protesters by Benin law enforcement agencies and military that took place for the first time in the history of Benin and the election was done without any of the opposition leaders' political parties being represented at the 2021 Benin national election. All the opposition leaders of Benin are either in jail without a fair trial or have been forced into exile by Patrice Talon regime. The economy of the country is controlled by businesses and companies owned and controlled by President Patrice Talon and his associates (friends, family and business partners) from Benin port management, cotton trade, farming, border controls, airport management just to name a few, which network is used as a catalyst for the trafficking of drug, counterfeit goods and illicit trade for the benefit of Patrice Talon and his corrupt officials.
A Deputy Finance Minister, Abena Osei-Asare has disclosed that ongoing consultations regarding the Electronic Transaction Levy is positive enough to influence the content of the final tax instrument that will be laid in Parliament before Friday.

The implementation of the 1.75 percent tax on electronic transactions remains contentious.

The stalemate between the Majority and Minority caucuses in Parliament is yet to be settled as MPs prepare to pass budget estimates and the appropriation bill before the house goes on recess on December 21.

The Minister for Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, last week indicated that despite the stalemate and seeming breakdown of dialogue among stakeholders on the e-levy, government will continue with such engagements.

Speaking to journalists after appearing before the Public Accounts Committee in Parliament, Abena Osei-Asare indicated that theyve made some progress with the discussions and consultations on the e-levy.

I believe that we will bring the bill in and hopefully, all things being equal, it will be laid in Parliament, and all of us will see everything stated clearly in the electronic transaction levy.

You can never finish consultations, so I cannot say consultations are over, but we have made very good progress in the consultation process and I believe that it will reflect in the bill that we will be presented to Parliament.

The imposition of the e-levy has been one of the contentious issues in the 2022 budget statement.

Many Ghanaians have called on the government to reconsider such a tax. They argue the levy is punitive.

The Minority Caucus in Parliament had indicated its strong resolve to reject the e-levy in its entirety.

It said it will kick against the levy in any shape or form since it will inflict more hardship on Ghanaians.

The Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu, while making a submission on the floor of Parliament on Tuesday [December 6, 2021] in reaction to Ken Ofori-Atta's recent announcement of concessions on the 2022 budget, said the levy will, among other things, derail Ghana's efforts to grow a digital economy.

It is true that we engaged. We were part of the engagement, but at that engagement, regrettably and unfortunately, on the matter of e-levy, we could not have agreement and consensus.

T

Otumfuo wades into controversy

The Asantehene, Otumfuo Nana Osei Tutu II , has said the payment of taxes by citizens of every country is one sure way by which countries are developed.

He explained that even though no one loves paying taxes, there is no other way governments can raise revenue to meet the demands of the citizenry.

We have been fortunate in our political journey to have moved on from a period of one political party dominating everything. Today, at least the two main political parties have all been in government. If we are honest, we will agree that there is no perfect government and there will never be as long as we have different points of view.

And if we are honest, we will also agree that there are no people in this world that love paying taxes, and yet there is no other way conceived by the human mind by which government can raise the resources to meet our needs other than by raising taxes. I do not know of any form of taxes that is less painful than others. So at last, the government, by all means, would have to raise taxes to meet our needs and if we are good citizens, we will pay our taxes.

---citinewsroom
The residents of Sampson Panpanso No.2, a farming community near Teacher Mante in the Ayensuano District of the Eastern Region have appealed to the Inspector General of Police (IGP) for police protection.

They said their lives were in danger as gun-wielding land guards had invaded the community, winning sand with caterpillars at night and destroying their farmlands.

Nana Atiemo Francis Akuffo II, Gyaasehene of Sampson Panpanso No.2, made the appeal in an interview with the Ghana News Agency after a news conference organised by the residents.

He said the land guards had taken over several hectares of family and farmlands between Yawkorkor and Teacher Mante and had destroyed crops, including cassava and maize, among others.

Nana Akuffo II, who is also the Principal Elder of Atidegaw Asona Royal Family of Ahwerease, Aburi Akuapim, said because of the presence of the land guards development in the area had stalled while the people, especially women, could not go about their normal activities given instances of rape at gunpoint.

GNA
Nigerian playwright, poet and essayist Wole Soyinka in 2018. - Source: Simone Padovani/Awakening/Getty Images

14.12.2021 LISTEN

It's been a great year for African writing, with Tanzania's Abdulrazak Gurnah winning the 2021 Nobel Prize for Literature. South Africa's Damon Galgut lifted the Man Booker Prize for his novel, The Promise, and exciting prose continued to sprout. Peter Kimani, leading Kenyan author, journalist and academic, lists his top 5 picks.

Chronicles from the Land of the Happiest People on Earth

Wole Soyinka Penguin Random House

Wole Soyinka, the great Nigerian poet, playwright, activist and intellectual, released his first novel in nearly 50 years. He chuckled at CNN's precise figure of 48 years. The the title of his latest novel is inspired by a 2011 Gallup poll that listed Nigerians at the top of its annual happiness index , setting Soyinka off in search of utopia in his land of birth.

What he finds is a dystopian world inhabited by charlatans masquerading as Christians; young, skilled professionals lured home to perform nefarious acts; others reinventing themselves to survive the vicissitudes of politics. A sweeping satire of a land that Soyinka began to write about over 60 years ago, this is an important addition to his impressive oeuvre.

Afterlives

Abdulrazak Gurnah Bloomsbury Publishing

In this multigenerational historical fiction of Tanganyika in the shadow of German occupation at the turn of the 20th century, the new Nobel laureate for literature presents the stories of individuals caught on both sides of the racial divide.

There are the locals lured into the service of the German empire; yet others are invested in pursuit of love and their optimism that it can suture broken lives. By offering intimate portraits of his characters, foregrounded by large, historical epochs, Gurnah asserts the place of indigenous narratives in a whitewashed, limiting view of European colonisation of Africa.

The House of Rust

Khadija Abdalla Bajaber Graywolf Press

In an enchanting new story from a new voice, Bajaber turns a familiar narrative trope into an invigorating journey of discovery. The main protagonist sets out to look for her fisherman father, who is lost at sea. Her voyage is on a unique contraption made of a skeleton, which morphs into other forms as she journeys deep into the unknown.

Bajaber is the winner of the inaugural Graywolf Press African Fiction Prize, which came with a generous $12,000 advance. It's easy to appreciate why the panel, led by the Nigerian author A. Igoni Barrett, settled on The House of Rust.

Biubwa Amour Zahor: Mwanamke Mwanamapinduzi

Zuhura Yunus E&D Vision Publishing

Tanzania might be in the news for producing East Africa's first Nobel laureate for Literature, but there are other compelling reasons that merit attention, like the pathbreaking biography by BBC journalist Zuhura Yunus.

Biubwa Amour Zahor: Mwanamke Mwanamapinduzi (Biubwa Amour Zahor: The Revolutionary Woman), written in Kiswahili, retrieves from the Tanzanian archives a colourful character whose exploits in the 1960s revolution have largely gone unnoticed. This act of recovery, hopefully, will draw attention to other forgotten heroines and introduce them to a younger generation of readers.

Pioneers, Rebels and a Few Villains: 150 years of Journalism in Eastern Africa

Charles Onyango-Obbo KAS Media

The adage that journalism is the first draft of history affirms the important work done by journalists in shaping what people know of the past. Yet seldom do we read the stories of those chroniclers of history. That's exactly what Charles Onyango-Obbo, the doyen of East African journalism, Ugandan by birth and pan-African by work  his footprints are to be found everywhere, from Nairobi to Johannesburg - seeks to redress.

The result: a compelling read that should enrich our understanding of journalism pioneers in the region. Written in sprightly diction, the book is as entertaining as it is informative.

Peter Kimani does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

By Peter Kimani, Professor of Practice, Aga Khan University Graduate School of Media and Communications (GSMC)
The camp of soon-to-be Ashanti Regional Chairman of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), Odeneho Kwaku Appiah, aka Chairman Coka has pulled down giant billboards it mounted ahead of the partys National Delegates Conference in Kumasi.

In line with the directive of the Party, Friends of Chairman Odeneho Kwaku Appiah have taken steps to remove all mounted billboards that have his image.

Giant billboards mounted by the camp of Coka at Amakom, Anloga junction, Tech, Oforikrom, and other major streets within Kumasi have been removed.

In a statement issued by the COKA team indicates, it noted that We are also by this very action notifying all well wishers to abide by the party regulations on this conference by not bringing T-Shirts and any other fashionable item branded with the image of Chairman Odeneho to the conference.

"It is hoped that our collective effort will make this conference successful and that we will collectively uphold the image of the Party now and after the conference.

"The move is in relation to a directive from the leadership of the NPP for all campaign billboards mounted close to the venue of the conference and within the greater Kumasi area to be removed."

Ahead of the conference, however, billboards and banners of persons seeking to contest key positions in the party have been erected by major streets and interactions within Kumasi.

The party issued a statement a couple of days ago warning against these developments and wants, billboards erected, scrapped out.

The party in a statement said the 2021 National Annual Delegates Conference was a time of renewal for the party and that though it cherishes the party tradition of democratic competition, the leadership believes well-meaning aspirants will appreciate the need for such measures, which are necessary to enable a clear focus on the aims of the conference.

Despite billboards of other potential aspirants are still being displayed along the principal streets of Kumasi, the camp of Coka (Afigya Kwabere South NPP Chairman) said they remain law-abiding party members.

A position like the Ashanti Regional Chairmanship of the NPP has already split delegates and supporters in the region.

Two people, Odeneho Kwaku Appiah (Coka) and Kwabena Owusu Aduomi are seeking to contest incumbent Bernard Antwi Boasiako also called Chairman Wontumi.
French troops were preparing to leave the Malian city of Timbuktu on Tuesday, in a symbolic departure more than eight years after Paris first intervened against jihadists in the Sahel state.

Local residents fear being abandoned in a situation they see as similar to Afghanistan with the departure of American troops after the Taliban takeover.

French legionnaires and Malian troops liberated Timbuktu, a northern desert city, in February 2013 after an eight-month Islamist occupation.

Francois Hollande, France's president at the time, formally declared the start of a military intervention in Mali, known as Operation Serval, designed to root out jihadist insurgents, which later became Barkhane.

"Some people were overcome by emotion, women were crying, young people were shouting, I myself was overwhelmed," said Yehia Tandina, a Timbuktu television journalist, recalling the day the French forces were greeted as liberators.

Mohamed Ibrahim, the former president of the Timbuktu regional council, also described the day as "joyful" and "beautiful".

Hollande also described the day French soldiers retook the city as "the best day of his political life".

Drawdown

Since August 2014, Paris has deployed around 5,100 troops across the Sahel region as part of the Barkhane operation -- helping to support local governments and their poorly equipped forces fight an ever-growing Islamist insurgency.

The conflict has spilled over into neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger, where attacks occur regularly against civilian and military targets.

France's recent decision to pull troops out of key hubs in Mali has raised questions about the future as militants expand their operations in the countryside.

French President Emmanuel Macron announced a major reduction to the number of French troops in June, after a military takeover in Mali in August 2020 that ousted the elected president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita.

France's military deployment in the Sahel is due to fall to about 3,000 troops by next year.

French forces already left bases in the northern Malian towns of Kidal and Tessalit in November.

Whether France's mission can be described as a military success to date is a sensitive question.

Outside the city, locals appear to have come to terms with the jihadists, said security officials and Western diplomats.

An acceptance of their legitimacy, at least among locals, may have also decreased violence.

Still, Westerners cannot travel outside the city without an armed escort.

'Invisible' state

The central government in Bamako, which is supported by the UN inside the city, is largely invisible in the countryside, where local people fear the consequences of a French pull-out.

Aboubacrine Hamaleck, a former tour guide doesn't understand the French decision.

"It's really not the time for the French army to leave Timbuktu," he told a reporter from France Info.

"They should wait awhile. People are scared, they don't know what is going to happen afterwards."

Residents hope they won't be abandoned. Despite protests in Bamako in favour of a French departure, the same does not go for places like Timbuktu, in the centre of the vast country. Here the situation has been compared to Afghanistan where American troops pulled out in August after the Taliban takeover.

Among those concerned are the people in charge of preserving historical and cultural sites, like Al Boukhari Ben Essayouti. He fears jihadists belonging to the Wahhabism radical branch of Islam will desecrate local mausoleums and mosques as they did in 2012.

He explains that Timbuktu adheres to the more moderate Sufism branch of Islam, seen as heathens by the Wahhabis.

"If Barkhane leaves, the door will be open for all sorts of problems," he told the France Info team in November.

Return of sharia

Like others, in particular women, he also fears the return of the strict sharia islamic law which includes punishments such as whippings and amputations.

Fadimata Tandina Toure, a teacher of history and geography says the local people are afraid that the Malian army is not up to the task of protecting the citizens once the French leave.

She says it's too soon for the operation to end and compares the French departure to a builder who is leaving his clients with an unfinished house.

Translators who previously worked for the army are also worried, as they will lose vital employment, and are also afraid of being found out by the jihadists who will consider them traitors. Many of them have hidden their work from the families to protect them.

"We can play music today, thanks to the presence of Barkhane," professional musician Chaibani Coulibaly says in the France Info report.

"It's frightening to think that if the jihadists come back, we won't be able to do that. They don't like music or dancing," he says, adding that last time they stopped the radio broadcasts.

Political upheaval

Most jihadists in the region are affiliated to al-Qaeda. In their propaganda, they boast that they control the territory and have won the hearts of locals.

In some rare cases, this is true, for example, this Timbuktu resident, who declined to be named, told AFP many people prefer to use the Islamic court system rather than the official one.

One Islamic judge, Houka Houka Ag Alhousseini, remains active in the area despite figuring on a United Nations sanctions list for having worked in a similar capacity during the jihadist occupation of Timbuktu.

On a political level, Mali is also facing a period of instability, having been through two coup d'etats in the space of a year.

Regional body Ecowas this week threatened further sanctions if the military government in charge, under Assimi Goita, does not adhere to holding elections by February 2022.

(with AFP)
The Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abu Jinapor led a delegation from the Ministry to commiserate with the Chiefs and the people of the Gbi Traditional Area following the demise and burial of the Late paramount chief, Togbega Gabusu VI.

The Minister who was a one-day tour of the Volta region, described the late Togbega as a very good friend of His Excellency the President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo adding that his presence at the Palace was also express the President's deepest condolences to the Chiefs and people of Gbi State.

The legislator noted that Hohoe is home to the NPP and pledged the government's unflinching commitment and cooperation to drive development in the area.

The Minister eulogised the Member of Parliament for Hohoe, Hon. Peter Amewu for his dedication and hardwork in government, adding that he is not surprised that he won the 2020 election and described the feet as a "political miracle" in Hohoe.

Abu Jinapor also used the occasion to call on the Chiefs and people of Gbi State to work together in unity, disregarding political affiliation and colourisation for the forward march of the region and the country.

The Minister on behalf of the Ministry, donated an amount of 20,000 cedis, one carton of whisky, 10 packs of bottled water in support of the funeral of the late paramount chief.

The Acting Paramount Chief, Togbe Worde expressed his profound gratitude to the Hon. Minister for such a generous gesture.

He also thanked the Minister for taking time off his busy schedule to mourn with them and further explained that the delegation that keeps coming shows the love the NPPs have for the people of Hohoe and the Gbi State in general.

The Late Paramount chief was a board member of the Forestry Commission, an agency under the Ministry.
The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) has commenced a meter reading exercise in its Krobo District after restoring power to the area.

The ECG shut down its Feeder and other installations in the area for almost two weeks, plunging the area into darkness.

Ms Sakyiwaa Mensah, Tema Regional ECG Public Relations Officer, told the Ghana News Agency that a team commissioned by the Regional Office would read an estimated 20,000 meters in the Yilo Krobo and Manya Krobo municipalities.

Ms Mensah said the exercise began on Tuesday, December 14, 2021, adding that an announcement on it had duly been made to alert customers.

She added that members of the team could be identified by their identity cards and the ECG vests they would be wearing.

She urged customers in the Krobo district to co-operate with the team to ensure the success of the exercise.

The ECG Tema PRO explained that the reading of the meters was an ongoing and cyclical operational issue in ECG as far as postpaid meters were concerned.

She noted that after the reading, bills would be raised and, therefore, customers were encouraged to pay the bills.

Ms Mensah said if any customer needed a payment plan, the ECG was open to that option and urged such customers to contact the company for discussion and an agreement.

She said the Company would engage stakeholders, including community leaders and the municipal assemblies, should customers refuse to give the team access to the meters on their premises.

She remanded customers that ECG meters remained the property of ECG and it was illegal and an offence for anyone to deny ECG staff access to inspect a meter.

GNA
The Ghana Chapter of the International Human Rights Commission (IHRC), Geneva, Switzerland, has condemned recent measures being put in place by the government to compel people to get vaccinated.

Earlier this month, the Minister of Health, Hon. Kweku Agyemang Manu disclosed that government will inspect COVID Cards beginning January 2022.

Just last week, a statement from the Ghana Health Service (GHS) announced that Ghanaians returning or travelling outside after December 12, must present proof of full vaccination.

All these are parts of efforts by government to have as many people as possible vaccinated to help fight the Covid-19 pandemic.

For, IHRC Ghana Chapter, this is against the peoples rights and freedom and does not have any basis in the 1992 constitution and Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations.

In a statement condemning the directives from government, the chapter stresses that vaccination should be by choice and not by force.

People are already scared about some of these reports and concrete evidence up there and we believe that it will be suicidal to force people using various schemes and machinations to accept the vaccines, part of the IHRC Ghana Chapter statement has said.

It adds, This is against the Article 14 1 (d) of the 1992 constitution which states that every person shall be entitled to his personal liberty and no person shall be deprived of his personal liberty except the person is suffering from an infectious or contagious disease, a person of unsound mind, a person addicted to drugs or alcohol or a vagrant, for the purpose of his care or treatment or the protection of the community.

Read the full IHRC Ghana Chapter statement below:
The Etsibeedu D/A Basic School in the Ekumfi District of the Central Region has held its 60th anniversary and maiden Speech and Prize Giving Day celebration with a call on parents to strongly collaborate with teachers to instil and maintain discipline in schools.

Mr. Kofi Afreh Boakye Jnr, Headteacher of the school who made the call said there ought to be a united front in ensuring discipline in schools.

Effective corporative and collaboration from parents, he said was essential since corporal punishment had been abolished in schools.

Now that corporal punishment has been abolished, all stakeholders need to come together and adopt new strategies to punish students to instil discipline in schools. In fact, we need a united front, he said

Mr Boakye Jnr noted with concern that most often, parents were not corporative enough when it came to punishing their children.

The headteacher lamented bitterly about the poor condition of the school and appealed to philanthropists and other corporate institutions to assist the school to address its infrastructure deficit.

Currently, he said the school lacked a classroom for the K.G with its accompanying furniture, compelling school authorities to host the K.G pupils class one and two classrooms. The six-unit classroom also leaks profusely whenever it rained.

The situation, he lamented was hugely affecting teaching and learning as they were forced to combine classes two and three.

Mr. Boakye Jnr also complained about the lack of teachers as teachers often refused postings to the area while those who come, leave after spending a few years.

The school has only nine teachers against the 14 required teachers which put a lot of burden on the available teaching staff.

He commended the efforts of both past and present teachers and those who had sacrificed and worked assiduously and stayed committed in the deprived community to cement a foundation of hope and resilience to provide quality education to the children of the area.

Mr. Ebenezer Kwasi Monney, the District Chief Executive for Ekumfi in a speech read on his behalf promised to roof the leaking roofing of the schools six-unit classroom.
Dr. Samora P. Z. Wolokolie, Liberia's Deputy Finance Minister for Fiscal Affairs

14.12.2021 LISTEN

Liberias Deputy Finance Minister for Fiscal Affairs, Dr. Samora P. Z. Wolokolie is urging Africa governments and institutions to take deliberate decisions that would encourage diaspora investment across the continent -a catalyst for sustainable economic growth in emerging markets.

The summit was part of events marking the 11th Edition of the African Achievers Awards 2021 in partnership with Homerton College, Cambridge. It was held under the topic: Initiating African Diaspora Investments for Diversified Economies on December 9, 2021 in London. The summit was hosted by Lord Simon Woolley, Master of Homerton College, Cambridge University.

Dr. Wolokolie told a cross section of global leaders at a summit in Cambridge, the United Kingdom that African diaspora has traditionally been recognized as a source of significant inflows of resources to countries of origin through remittances but the attending potentials remain largely untapped due to the lack of policy frameworks that would encourage investment decisions.

He stated that Governments should take deliberate policy actions mainly to incentivize diaspora Africans to invest in their home countries. For example, tax rates must not be prohibitive; the business climate in African countries must be welcoming and unrestrictive.

There is a huge opportunity for governments and financial institutions and private sectors to harness and scale up these diaspora investments for sustainable development in areas of emerging markets by developing and deploying policies framework that would encourage target diaspora investment, Dr. Wolokolie indicated.

According to him, diaspora interventions come with a specific spine of bringing innovations for significant outcomes.

He stressed that focusing on diaspora investors could yield significant results.

The Liberian Fiscal Affairs Minister disclosed that remittances from diaspora Africans are among the highest resources for foreign exchange in recipient countries. Hence, he admonished that as multinational firms become more reserved and cautious in making investment decisions in many African countries, diaspora investment in their home countries will go a long way in giving boost to economies in Africa. Diaspora bonds are attractive source of investment, he added.

Across many African countries, he noted that diaspora investment remains largely untapped and underutilized.

There is a need for African governments and institutions tap into the opportunity that diaspora provides."

Dr. Wolokolie believes that by doing so, African governments will start to review decisions in taking high interest loans that generations bear the blunt to repay.

Until recently, African countries have made little progress in attracting these investment opportunities. This is an area of huge potential. Factors that could hamper or discourage diaspora investment in Africa: high on the list is the absence of security. No investor or serious investors will gamble his savings and invest in an environment that is potentially unstable, the Liberian Fiscal Affairs Minister pointed out.

He emphasized that rule of law is the key to investment decisions making. Another key issue is the availability of basic social services including reliable sources of power (electricity), functional infrastructures and strong democratic tenets. A relatively stable environment is an attractive charm for investment decision making. African governments must therefore put in place policies to attract diaspora investment.

Dr. Samora P.Z. Wolokolie is a distinguished recipient of the 11th Edition of Kensington Palace, State House, London, 2021 African Achievers Awards Colloquium.

The African Achievers Awards is one of Africas most prestigious awarding bodies, which has been rated by Forbes Magazine as one of the most prestigious award Ceremonies at Cambridge University.
14.12.2021 LISTEN

Eight persons are set to testify in the case involving Josephine Paiyin Mensah, the Takoradi woman at the center of an alleged fake pregnancy and kidnapping brouhaha.

The trial, slated for Tuesday January 6, 2022 would see three medical doctors, the husband and mother of the accused person, natives of Axim and a Police detective giving various accounts to support or otherwise the alleged kidnapping and pregnancy.

Superintendent Emmanuel Basintele, who is leading the Prosecution made this known during a Case Management Conference (CMC) to set the grounds for the trial next year.

Detective Police Inspector Archims would tender in a police wireless message declaring that the accused was missing, together with her photograph.

He would also tender in an order from a District Magistrate court for the disclosure of information from MTN Ghana and cell phone numbers among others.

The presiding judge, Justice Michael Ampadu indicated that the case was of public interest and so it was prudent to expedite action on the trial.

Josephine Mensah, was charged with publication of false news and deceit of public officer after she was alleged to have faked her pregnancy and Kidnapping.

She pleaded not guilty to the charges when she first appeared before the court on Monday September 27, 2021.

GNA
Two suspected armed robbers standing trial at the Ofaakor Circuit Court, presided over by Mr Ebenezer Osei Darko, have been remanded into police custody.

Daniel Osas, 27, and Gabriel Ehigie, 19, both Nigerians, allegedly attacked one Mr Ebenezer Mensah, a taxi driver, at knifepoint and robbed him of his iPhone XR, valued at GHC2,300, and cash of GHC150.00.

They allegedly inflicted knife wounds on the knee and palm of the victim, who is also the complainant in the case.

Both suspects pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to commit crime and causing harm, and will reappear on Monday, December 20, 2021.

Chief Inspector Sylvester Agbezudor, prosecuting, told the court that Mr Mensah was on his usual rounds on Sunday, October 10, 2021 driving his Toyota Vitz with registration number GX 7655-20, when Osas and Ehigie stopped him at Fan Milk Junction at Kasoa in the Central Region.

He said they asked the driver to take them home on an agreed fare of GHC30.00 and when they entered the Obolo Estate, the accused allegedly attacked Mr Mensah with a knife, took his money and phone, and damaged the rear screen of his car.

Prosecution said the complainant raised an alarm and with the help of passersby grabbed Osas.

He said Ehigie, who managed to escape, was later traced and arrested and the knife retrieved from him.

GNA
Any airline that brings an unvaccinated passenger to Ghana will risk being surcharged which will lead to heavy fines, Modernghana News has learned.

Last week, the Ghana Health Service (GHS) announce revised measures to be followed at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) to curb the importation of Covid-19 cases into the country.

Among the scale-up measures, passengers coming to Ghana should have proof of full vaccination. The same applies to Ghanaians travelling out of the country.

Speaking to TV3 in an interview, Dr. Franklyn Asiedu-Bekoe who is Director of Public Health at the Ghana Health Service has hinted that his outfit plans to take on any airline that brings into the country unvaccinated passengers contrary to the new directives.

Airlines can be surcharged if they bring in somebody who is not vaccinated. What we are trying to do is to ensure that Ghanaians are safe, Dr. Franklyn Asiedu-Bekoe shared.

According to information gathered, airlines who board passengers without proof of payment for the COVID -19 test and could not pay for the test in Ghana will be fined US$3500 per passenger.

In addition, non-Ghanaian passengers may be refused entry and be returned to the point of embarkation at a cost to the Airline.

Meanwhile, authorities at KIA have put in place measures that will see it working with the National Security to ensure the no vaccination, no entry directive is followed strictly.

The government in its fight against the Covid-19 is complementing the tightened measures at KIA with the procurement of more vaccines.

Ghanaians are advised and encouraged to get vaccinated to be protected from the dangerous various.
14.12.2021 LISTEN

Two youth groups in Odumase-Krobo  Kloma Hengme and Kloma Gbi  have bemoaned the 'loud silence' of the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) amid the ongoing impasse between power consumers in the Yilo Krobo and Lower Manya Krobo municipalities and the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG).

The silence of the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission on the seven-day power outage in the two municipalities is rather unfortunate, Kloma Hengme and Kloma Gbi said in a joint statement on Tuesday, December 14.

PURC's posture and loud silence seem to suggest that it has sanctioned the punitive actions taken by the Electricity Company of Ghana and cares less about what happens to consumers in the enclave.

The statement also raised issues with the deliberate misinformation by ECG in its public pronouncements.

The two groups also clarified their stance on the recent demonstration staged by the United Krobo Foundation (UKF) that led to the relocation of ECG's district office from Somanya to Juapong and the subsequent power outage in the two municipalities for seven days.

They stated that they disagree with the unilateral declaration made by the UKF that ECG's customers in the Yilo and Manya Krobo Municipalities will no longer work with the company and the issuance of a 21-day ultimatum to ECG to pack out from the area.

Just like the two Konors and their Traditional Councils have already publicly stated, this demand by UKF does not exactly represent the views of residents in the two municipalities. Besides, it has the potency of truncating ongoing diplomatic efforts to find a sustainable solution to the impasse.

We are fully aware that ECG is the legally mandated body that distributes electricity in the Southern part of Ghana.

The Odumase-Krobo area was recently plunged into darkness, in what the residents perceived to be deliberate, after ECG complained of faults with its transformers.

The outage spanned days, with businesses being the hardest hit.

The outage followed a demonstration organised by a group called the United Krobo Foundation against the introduction of prepaid electricity metres in the Yilo Krobo and Lower Manya Krobo municipalities. Read the full statement below:

IMPASSE BETWEEN THE ELECTRICITY COMPANY OF GHANA (ECG) AND THE AGGRIEVED CUSTOMERS IN ECG'S KROBO DISTRICT  JOINT POSITION STATEMENT OF KLOMA HENGME AND KLOMA GBI ON THE STAND-OFF AND FALL OUT

Tuesday 14th December, 2021, Odumase-Krobo: Kloma Hengme (KH) and Kloma Gbi (KG) hereby issue this joint statement to set the records straight on some issues emanating from the impasse between the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) and its customers in the Yilo and Lower Manya Krobo municipalities.

The statement also states our stance on the recent demonstration staged by the United Krobo Foundation (UKF) that led to the relocation of ECG's district office from Somanya to Juapong and the subsequent power outage in the two municipalities for seven days.

It is worth noting that Kloma Gbi, Kloma Hengme, United Krobo Foundation (UKF) and all other advocacy groups or networks playing a role in the resolution of this impasse are autonomous. The Electricity Company of Ghana in its stakeholder engagements only engaged these groups jointly and under the umbrella of Youth Groups for purposes of convenience.

We wish to state the following:

POINT OF DIVERGENCE WITH THE UNITED KROBO FOUNDATION:

1. KlomaHengmeandKlomaGbicompletelydisassociateourselvesfromanythreats issued on the lives of ECG staff by the UKF before, during and after the demonstration staged on 22nd November 2021.

Apart from the fact that this action was avoidable, we are also of the view that it has the potential of needlessly shifting public and national attention from the real (outstanding) issues.

Having given the above disclaimers, we would like to redirect attention to the real issues underpinning the never-ending impasse, and some suggestions we have jointly tabled during recent stakeholder engagement with ECG, which we still stand by:

e also proposed the following two options: (i) that the disputed accumulated bills be 'absorbed' as bad debt or (ii) that the disputed accumulated bills up to July 2021 be 'ring-fenced- to clean the slate for a fresh start. We were of the conviction that this arrangement could soften the grounds and get customers back to paying ways. The facts remain that between 2018 and today, (during which ECG either failed to serve bills or had difficulty doing so) many tenants changed homes and the difficulty landlords will face in getting these tenants who have moved out to pay such old bills could derail efforts geared toward finding a solution to the challenge at hand. In our estimations, these proposals are practical ones that will get people back to paying their bills and solving the problem once and for all. This is more like saying, we can and have to make some sacrifices now, to safeguard the future!

3. Having distanced ourselves from threats issued, and the unreasonable demands made by UKF and re-directed attention to the real (outstanding) issues, it is important at this juncture to also mention that there are some issues we take a strong exception to including certain decisions, utterances, and reportage ECG continue to take and churn out into the public domain.

OBJECTIONS:

1. Deliberate attempts to malign KG and KH:We take strong exceptions to ECG's deliberate attempt to lump all youth groups in the two municipalities together and thereby create the impression that all of us are jointly inciting the public when indeed it was very clear from UKF's press statement and its letter to the Energy Minister that the demonstration was single-handedly organised by the group.

This singular action by ECG has caused so much injury to our public image as responsible entities and reduced us in the estimation of right- thinking members of the society. We therefore take serious exception to this action of ECG and call on its leadership to show circumspection in its public utterances and in the generation of literature the company continues to spill into the public sphere.

2. Punishing faithful customers for wrongs of few: During the many ECG stakeholders' meeting we attended, officials of the company formally made us aware that about 25% of the company's customers in the Krobo district are paying their bills faithfully and are not owing ECG.

It is therefore unfortunate for the company to lump all customers together and punish these faithful customers even when the Traditional authorities and Security Councils of the two Municipalities, Lower Manya Krobo and Yilo Krobo, have assured them of maximum security and safety. This action of ECG has the tendency to discourage these faithful customers from continuing to pay their bills conscientiously.

ECG should have thought through this before plunging the entire Krobo area into total darkness for one week. We strongly object to the 'punishing' of customers, especially faithful ECG customers in the area for the indiscretion of a few.

3. Continuous closure of Somanya and new Odumase-Krobo offices:

The continuous closure of the Somanya office and revenue collection points in the two municipalities as well as the delay in inaugurating the Odumase-Krobo office will serve as a disincentive for the payment of bills as customers (including the faithful ones) now have to endure the drudgery of travelling all the way to Juapong in the North Tongu District just to pay their bills.

At such a time when the main goal of ECG is to get customers back to paying their bills, measures that will bring customer service closer to the doorstep of the people should rather be pursued. Punitive measures, like those that have currently been deployed by ECG, will rather prove counterproductive in the long run.

4. Misinformation and inconsistencies: We take a strong exception to the deliberate misinformation / inconsistencies in ECG's public pronouncements that residents are illegally interfering with the company's network. In one instance, the company says two transformers were damaged because customers were engaging unqualified electricians to switch lines from one transformer or phase to another. Then in another, it says residents have deliberately burnt down three transformers and some installations in protest.

5. The loud silence of PURC: The silence of the Public Utility Regulation Commission (PURC) on the seven-day power outage in the two municipalities is rather unfortunate. PURC's posture and loud silence seem to suggest that it has sanctioned the punitive actions taken by the Electricity Company of Ghana and cares less about what happens to consumers in the enclave. One would have thought that as the regulator of the sector, PURC will remain neutral at all times or be perceived as such and continue to play its mediation role to help bring finality to this impasse.

Notwithstanding the issues raised supra, Kloma Hengme and Kloma Gbi would like to take this opportunity to give thumbs up to ECG for heeding our calls and those of all other stakeholders to restore power to customers in the area. The leadership and members of Kloma Gbi and Kloma Hengme would like to assure ECG of our usual and continued cooperation and support as we all work together to bring finality to this impasse.

---citinewsroom
Defence Minister, Dominic Nitiwul, has told parliament on Tuesday December 14 that consultrations on the pruchase of a presidentail jet is ongoing.

He said he will table it before parliament when the consultations are over.

The Bimbila lawmaker was responding to questions raised by North Tongu Member of Parliament Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa on the steps the ministry has initiated to purchase a new presidential jet and the justification.

Executive jet does not mean it is for the sole use of the president. In America no other person can use the Airforce One apart from the President and the Vice.

We have an executive jet and I am saying to you that Executive Jet issued to do government business and that is the classification.

He had earlier revealed that the Ghana Airforce of Ghana is requesting for a multi-functional aircraft to add to its inventory as a requisite command and control asset.

The Ghana Airforce of Ghana is once again requesting for a multi-functional aircraft to add to its inventory as a requisite command and control asset, to be able to connect Ghana's National Security to diplomacy, he said on the floor of Parliament while answering questions about the cost of renting a presidential jet for President Akufo-Addo's recent trip to Europe, on Wednesday June 16.

North Tongu Member of Parliament Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa had raised issued with claims by that the cost of renting a presidential jet for President Akufo-Addo's trips doesn't matter.

This was after Mr Nitiwul had justified the president's decision to rent a luxurious aircraft for use two weeks ago on a Europe and Africa tour at the cost of over 2.6 million cedis.

He said the capacity of the falcon presidential aircraft can no longer carry the president's entourage without re-fueling.

The decision to travel particularly to long and multiple destinations such as the president travelling to France, Belgium, South African and back to Ghana especially during this covid time will always require a larger capacity aircraft such as a DBKJ or an aircraft ATJ 319 even when the Falcon is air ready, he said.

---3news.com
Farmers in the Assin South District of the Central Region have bemoaned the soaring prices of agro-inputs and logistics, saying they threaten food security.

The price hikes were a drawback to government's efforts to sustain national food security through the Planting for Food and Jobs and Export.

The farmers expressed these concerns in an interview with the Ghana News Agency on the sidelines of the Annual Farmers Forum held at Assin-Homaho on Monday.

They complained about the recent price hikes in agro-inputs such as agro-chemicals, fertilizers, cutlasses, spraying and irrigation machines.

Mr Kofi Akwanu, the Chairman of the Farmers Forum, said prices of major agro-chemicals had witnessed over a hundred per cent increase in less than six months.

Giving examples of agro-chemical price increase, he said the price of Adwumawura has risen from GH15.00 to GH39.00, Gramoquat from GH15.00 to GH 37.00, Kingkon GH30.00 to GH40.00, Akate Star GH40.00 to GH 70.00, and Adama GH45.00 to GH75.00.

Mr John Dadzie, an agro-inputs seller, blamed the price hikes on high import duties, depreciation of the cedi, transportation cost and high profiteering attitudes of some sellers.

"Many people are only interested in huge profits as against reasonable pricing to cushion farmers. This is preventing many youth from farming," he said.

Mr Daniel Djan, a 51-year-old farmer, appealed to the Government to construct and rehabilitate roads in farming communities to boost economic activities.

The bad nature of the roads is making life difficult for farmers in such communities to cart their foodstuffs to the market centres to reduce post harvest losses, he said.

He said the only reliable means of transportation was motobikes, popularly known as Okada, however due to the rains and bad nature of the road, the Okada riders charged exorbitant fees.

"Sometimes for lack of means of transportation, people living in these communities trek long kilometres to get to a healthcare centre," he added.

Other farmers expressed worry over the poor network services of mobile telecommunication companies in farming communities, saying the benefits of the E-Agriculture, which was launched by government, would be thwarted if it was not addressed.

The e-agriculture system is a platform that enables agricultural experts, farmers and community members to exchange opinions and resources relating to agriculture for mutual gains.

It is hinged on delivering agricultural information and services such as market prices, extension services, technology, policies, programmes and projects using the internet and related technologies.

Some of the farmers believed that erecting some additional telecom masts would lessen the problem as they believed there was pressure on the telecos.

They said reaching the police for assistance would be a challenge if one needed to report a criminal activity, and called on the government and network operators to put in measures to resolve the problem.

GNA
Ningo Prampram MP Sam George

14.12.2021 LISTEN

Member of Parliament (MP) for Ningo Prampram, Hon. Samuel Nartey George has thrown his weight behind government over the measure to have as many Ghanaians as possible vaccinated against the Coronavirus (Covid-19).

The government among steps has directed public service workers to get vaccinated or risk being refused to access to their offices starting January 2022.

In addition, Ghanaians returning from abroad or with plans to travel outside must be fully vaccinated.

While many are not in favour of the directives, Sam George, the Ningo Prampram MP says it is a good step taken by the government.

Compulsory vaccination upon entry to the Republic? Infringement of rights or public health policy? This is sound public health policy and a very good step by govt. I support it and hope it is implemented vigorously. Public health considerations supersede personal liberties.

On the vaccines, it is compulsory for all unvaccinated persons seeking to enter Ghana or attend mass public events. Why are people not complaining about the yellow card mandate? If you stay in your house, nobody would ask you for vaccine card. Public health and safety trumps all, a post on the Twitter page of the Parliamentarian has said.

Sam George adds, As a Member of Parliament, I am guided in my public positions on issues by the 1992 Constitution, Parliament's Standing Orders and Acts of Parliament. Section 22 of the Public Health Act 2012, Act 851 is absolutely clear. The State can mandate vaccination when required.

This is contrary to the stance of NDC Communications Officer Sammy Gyamfi. In a post on his Facebook page on Monday, he said vaccination must be by choice and not by force.

According to him, the imposition of compulsory COVID vaccination requirement on all Ghanaians traveling in and out of Ghana by the Ghana Health Service is reprehensible and an affront to the 1992 Constitution.
14.12.2021 LISTEN

About two out of five of the population live in slums, a report by the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has revealed.

The report said as of 2017, the proportion of the population living in slums stood at 39.3 per cent, with the figure slightly dropping to 39.2 per cent in 2018, and further declining marginally to 38.9 per cent in 2019.

Professor George Gyan-Baffour, Chairman, NDPC, launched the '2020 Sustainable SDGs and the African Union (AU) Agenda 2063' reports in Accra on Tuesday.

The objective of the two reports was to assess progress made towards achieving the AU Agenda 2063 and SDGs targets and find out whether Ghana is on track towards achieving the targets of the two agendas.

Whereas the SDG Goal 11.1 targets access to adequate, safe and affordable housing and basic services and upgrade of slums by 2030, the AU Agenda 2063 targets a reduction of slums by at least 10 per cent.

According to the United Nations, an estimated three billion people will require adequate and affordable housing by 2030.

On Goal one of the SDGs (end poverty in all its forms everywhere), the NDPC Report showed that the proportion of Ghanaians who were classified as poor based on the national definition, reduced from 24.2 per cent in 2013 to 23.4 per cent in 2017.

The report, however, indicated that in absolute terms, the total number of the poor increased by about 400,000.

As of 2017, there were poorer male-headed (25.8 per cent) than female-headed households (17.6 per cent). Irrespective of the ecological zone, the incidence of poverty is higher among the rural population.

The rural savannah zone has experienced a rise in the proportion of poor households from 55 per cent in 2013 to 64 per cent in 2017, it said.

On inclusive and equitable education, the Report said the country, on the average, had achieved and maintained the gender parity for KG (1.03 per cent), Primary (1.02 per cent), and JHS Levels (1.02 per cent) between 2016/2017 and 2019/2020 academic years.

On health, it indicated that with the current maternal mortality ratio of 310 per 100,000 live births, the country was off-track of achieving the SDG target of 70 deaths per 100,000 live births by 2030.

The Report also showed that the country missed the universal access to sanitation services target set by the SDGs, with the proportion of the population using safely managed sanitation services standing at 13 per cent in 2020.

It said the country was likely to make significant progress towards universal access to at least basic drinking water services by 2030, with 86 per cent of the population having access to basic drinking water services in 2020.

Prof. Gyan-Baffour said despite the successes recorded in achieving the SDGs and the AU Agenda, many areas needed urgent attention to ensure that more targets were met going forward.

Close to one-fourth of children do not have the minimum proficiency in mathematics and reading; a majority of the population lack access to basic sanitation services; the tourism sector largely remains under-developed; access to decent jobs remains a challenge; income inequality is on the rise, and the menace of illegal mining is destroying large tracts of forest and water bodies, he noted.

Dr Kodjo Mensah-Abrampa, Director-General, NDPC, said the COVID-19 pandemic had derailed progress towards achieving the targets, and called for more support from the private sector, traditional authorities and civil society organisations to mobilise resources to achieve the targets.

Ghana has been implementing the AU Agenda 2063 and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development since their adoption in January and September 2015, respectively.

GNA
Chief Superintendent Cephas Arthur, the Assin-Fosu Municipal Police Commander, has warned criminals in the area to stop their nefarious activities or be hunted down by the police.

He said the security agencies would descend heavily on people who would foment trouble before, during, and after the Yuletide.

"It is the mandate of the security agencies to maintain peace and ensure order in the society and it will do so without fear or favour", Chief Supt Arthur said.

"Anyone who floutes the law would have him or herself to blame because corporate Ghana belongs to peace lovers and not trouble makers."

Briefing the media at Assin-Fosu on security preparations ahead of the Christmas festivities, Chief Supt Arthur said the Police Service was working with other sister security agencies to ensure incident-free Yuletide.

He announced that the Command had intensified police patrols, visibility, intelligence gathering and public education as measures to maintain law and order.

In addition, he cautioned citizens not to take their personal security for granted during the Christmas season as criminals would take advantage of the least opportunity, and urged them to be on the alert of happenings in their neighbourhood.

Theft and burglary tend to rise during holidays so people must secure their homes, vehicles and shops and desist from revealing sensitive personal information; home address, financial information, phone number and travelling details to strangers.

People should be aware of goods sold at ridiculously low prices and avoid late night outings while checking their security devices, especially CCTV, regularly to be sure they were functioning properly.

"Avoid sharing or posting personal or sensitive pictures or videos on social media because the more you post, the easier it becomes to have your identity stolen".

He urged the public to volunteer information on suspicious people in their communities to the police to nip crime in the bud.

Chief Supt Arthur advised police personnel to maintain high discipline and professionalism in the performance of their duties to protect their image and enhance security.

On COVID-19, he said the police would continue to enforce the safety protocols, especially after the detection of the new variant; omicron, in Ghana.

GNA
The funeral of the late Nii Okwei Kinka Dowuona VI, former Osu Mantse and the President of the Greater Accra Regional House of Chiefs is to take place from February 23 to 25, next year.

The dates were announced by a delegation of the Council of Kingmakers of Osu at an end-of-year meeting of the Greater Accra Regional House of Chiefs held at the Guggisberg Memorial Hall at Dodowa in the Greater Accra Region.

Nii Kinka Dowuona died on February 5, 2021, after a short illness.

At the meeting, a delegation from the La Traditional Area, led by Major General (Rtd) Nii Anum Odotei, La Dzaasetse, also announced the funeral of the late Nii (Dr) Kpobi Tettey-Tsuru III, La Mantse, which would begin from March 14 to 20, 2022.

Aadegbon Ngmogmowuyaa Kwesi Animle, the Osudoku Mantse and the President of the House, who received the delegations, urged the people of Osu and La to bury their differences and rather come together and give the departed souls befitting burials.

We should avoid making pronouncements that would create problems. I met these departed colleagues not long, but they have gone. After all, how long are we going to stay on this earth? Whatever we will do they will not come back, but we should rather see to it that we bury them in peace, he said.

Aadegbon Kwesi Animle called on the members of the House to work together to develop the region to the best of their abilities.

The President of the House together with the Vice, King (Prof) Odaifio Welentsi III, Nungua Mantse wished the members of the House and the entire Ga State a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year as 2021 draws to a close.

GNA
The Minority in Parliament has challenged claims by the Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II that rejection of the E-Levy amounts to frustrating government policy.

The Asantehene on Sunday at his gala night in Kumasi urged MPs not to dictate to the government but rather allow the electorate to pass judgment at the polls.

We elect people to represent us to make sure there is some equilibrium in what governments do. It is to our good that our representatives in Parliament subject the national budget to the most rigorous scrutiny and to call for changes.

Government must also have the humility to acknowledge and embrace the useful inputs from all sources, but our representatives need to bear in mind that it is not their role to either determine policy or to frustrate the executive from performing their legitimate duties, the Otumfuo said.

But speaking to the media, Minority chief whip Muntaka Mubarak argued rejection of the E-Levy does not amount to frustrating government.

According to the Asawase MP, the move by the NDC MPs is rather to safeguard the interest of the public.

All over the world, oversight is done by the minority and we are just doing our work. We dont intend to frustrate the government, we dont obstruct government business, we will not stand in the way of government trying to do what is right.

We cannot just leave our role in the House and wait for the next election. It is the reason a budget is brought here, it is the reason four states of the nation addresses are read within the four-year tenure. We can assure his majesty and all the pastors and imams that as a Minority we are not here to obstruct government business. Encourage government to do what is right, he said.

Muntaka also revealed ministers are unable to account fully for their 2021 allocations.

For instance, he cites a ministry that is struggling to justify spending about 1 billion cedis on conferences in spite of COVID-19 restrictions on physical gathering.

---Happyghana.com
14.12.2021 LISTEN

Communication Team Member of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Kwaku Owusu Banahene says he is disappointed in persons who draft the speeches of the President.

According to him, these persons do not draft the speech to reflect the issues on the ground. Rather, they prepare speeches that will only make the President look and feel good about himself.

Owusu Banahenes statement comes at the back of the Presidents comments that the free senior high school (SHS) policy implemented by his administration has proved to be a success.

During a panel discussion on the Epa Hoa Daben show, the NDC Communicator reacted, when he said: I am disappointed in his speechwriters because he doesnt know what is happening on the ground. Out of the over 400,000 students who sat for the WASSCE, 173,704 failed mathematics. People also failed English. To progress to university, you need an English and Maths pass. Yet, we are touting that the free SHS has been a success.

Besides criticizing the implementation of the free SHS policy and the introduction of the double track, he added that it was shameful that for the first time, the government had to procure past questions for WASSCE candidates to ensure that they pass the exams.

Background

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has said the free senior high school (SHS) policy implemented by his administration has proved to be a success and must be sustained as a permanent feature of the educational system.

He said the performance of free SHS students in the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) had shown that the government was upholding quality in the implementation of the policy.

He made this statement during the 70th anniversary of the Tamale Senior High School (TAMASCO) over the weekend.

In 2017, the government launched the free SHS policy, with the aim of increasing access, lifting the financial burden off parents, among other things.

---happyghana.com
Asa Savings and Loans Limited has donated to Motherly Orphanage Home in Kwabenya Abuom Junction, Accra on 13th December, 2021.

The items include rice, sugar, gallons of oil, sanitary pads, bags of washing powder, boxes of soaps, boxes of diapers, notebooks and exercise books, packs of soft drinks, toilet rolls and stationery.

The Motherly Orphanage Home which was founded by the Late Ms. Azumah in 2011 with its mission being to support street children, orphans and young children living the HIV/AIDS virus. It is now home to 58 children between the ages of 3 and 19.

The Area Manager for Kwabenya Business Centre, Samir Sani said the donation of the items is to support the wellbeing of the children.

The items, he believes, will put a smile on the faces of these children to have a feel of the Christmas celebration.

Also, the Atico Business Centre donated similar assorted food items and clothing to the Remar Ghana Childrens Home at North Kaneshie, Accra on the same day.

Area Manager of the Atico Business Centre, Madam Zalia Alhassan, said the donation formed part of the companys corporate social responsibility (CSR) to support the less privileged in society.

Madam Zalia said similar donations had been made in the past to the less-privileged in the society.

In a related development, the Mamobi 2 Business Center of ASA Savings and Loans Limited has also given scholarship packages to some ten selected needy but brilliant school children of their clients as part of its broader corporate social responsibility programs.

The scholarship packages included book allowance and fees totally Ghc5,000. Each of the ten school children received Ghc500.

The Area Manager of Mamobi 2 Business Center, Emmanuel Osae Addo said the scholarship is meant to support the education of clients' children who are in dire need of support.

He believes the support will go a long way to release the financial burden on the parents of the beneficiaries.
Inflame Appliances Limited (Inflame) is a small manufacturer of kitchen appliances such as: gas stoves and burner cook-tops; built-in hobs, cooker hoods (chimneys) and cooking ranges; and sheet metal components. It also exports its products to Nepal and various African countries. Some of its products are sold under its own brand; it manufactures for other brands as well. It claims to have a...
The non-performing assets (NPAs) of public sector banks (PSBs) have almost doubled over the past seven years to Rs5.40 lakh crore, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Tuesday.

In a written reply, Dr Bhagwan Karad, minister of state for finance, says, between June 2014 to September 2021, gross NPAs of 13 banks, including IDBI Bank Ltd (which has now become a private sector bank), increased to Rs5,40,442 crore from Rs2,24,542 crore.

State Bank of India (SBI) tops the list, with its NPAs jumping to Rs1.21 lakh crore as of September 2021 from Rs74,482 crore in June 2014. As of 30 September 2021, SBI has stressed assets, including restructured standard advances worth Rs1,23,386 crore, out of which about Rs1.21 lakh crore are its gross NPAs.

Chaudhary Sukhram Singh Yadav and Vishambhar Prasad Nishad, both members of Parliament (MPs) had asked for details of NPAs of PSBs as of 30 June 2014 and 30 September 2021.

SBI is followed by Punjab National Bank (PNB), which saw its NPAs increasing to Rs98,484 crore from Rs32,416 crore during the same period.

However, as per the data disclosed by the minister, these 13 lenders witnessed the percentage of gross advances compared with NPAs declining to 10.52% from 12.17% over the past seven years.

Meanwhile replying to a question asked by MP Dr Amar Patnaik, the minister says, "...the average time between the occurrence of fraud and detection in FY20-21 was 23 months, and the same in the case of large value frauds of Rs100 crore and above, was 57 months."

RBI in its annual report for FY20-21 has stated that private sector banks have reported a rise of 35% in value terms in frauds while PSBs have reported a decline of 45%. According to data disclosed by the central bank, 59.2% of the total value of frauds were reported by public sector banks, followed by private sector banks at 33.5% during 2020-21.

In terms of area of operations, RBI had said, frauds have been occurring predominantly in the loan portfolio or advances category, both in terms of number and value.
Anil Dhirubhai Ambani-owned non-banking financial company (NBFC) Reliance Capital Ltd (RCL) has failed to pay paid Rs534.64 crore interest on the non-convertible debentures (NCDs) in which Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) had invested Rs2,500 crore, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Tuesday.

In a written reply, Dr Bhagwan Karad, minister of state for finance, says, Ministry of labour and employment has appraised that EPFO has invested Rs2500 crore in RCL, for which RCL has defaulted in payment of interest from October 2019 and the total interest in default on the NCDs (secured) is Rs534.64 crore as on 30 November 2021.

However, the state minister clarified that there is no default in the NCDs as these are not yet matured. Ministry of labour and employment has further informed that as the maturity date of these investments has not become due till date, there is no default on principal as on date, Dr Karad says.

EPFO wanted to initiate action under the provisions of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) against the company, but Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has since superseded the board of RCL and has filed an application on 2 December 2021 for initiating corporate insolvency resolution process (CIRP) against the company.

Professor Manoj Kumar Jha, a member of Parliament (MP), had also asked about the deadline to complete the IBC trial.

In his reply, the state minister for finance says, As per section 12 (3) of IBC, the CIRP needs to be mandatorily completed within 330 days from the insolvency commencement date.

Last month, RBI superseded the board of Anil Dhirubhai Ambani-owned NBFC and appointed Nageswar Rao Y, former executive director of Bank of Maharashtra, as the administrator of Reliance Capital.

The RBI circular added that the central bank would also apply to the national company law tribunal (NCLT)s Mumbai bench for appointing the administrator as the insolvency resolution professional (IRP).

Reliance Capital fell on hard times after the collapse of Infrastructure Leasing and Finance Ltd (IL&FS) in September 2018. Reliance Capital failed to pay back debt and, at the same time, collected money from its borrowers in a vicious cycle that saw it sell off several significant subsidiaries, including Reliance Mutual Fund.

Read: How SEBI, RBI and IRDAI Turned a Blind Eye for Years as Reliance Capital Crumbled ) As reported by Moneylife, RCL and the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani group (ADAG) have been in deep trouble for a long time, certainly as long as Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (IL&FS), at least. Yet, while the government and RBI superseded the board of IL&FS in September 2018 and initiated similar action in Dewan Housing Finance Ltd (DHFL), Yes Bank, Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative (PMC) Bank and the two SREI companies since then, RCL was given a very long rope. (

A report in Business Standard suggests that RBI waited until RCL had a negative net worth of Rs7,610 crore, and a negative capital ratio of 45%, at the end of 31 March 2021, before summoning up the courage to act.

Read: Reliance Capital: Accommodative Accounting Aids Promoter Pilfering with Panache? ) Moneylife columnist Ranganathan V, in his article, has mentioned RCLs negative net worth at Rs15,912 crore. (

A chronology of ADAGs financial troubles is a good indication of how reluctant the regulator has been to act against the powerful Anil Ambani.

RCLs consolidated debt was estimated to be Rs26,887 crore at the end of March 2021; ADAGs financial liabilities are significantly higher. RCL had over 20 subsidiaries and continues to have some valuable assets such as Reliance General Insurance (100% held by it) and Reliance Nippon Life Insurance (51% holding), even after many sell-offs.
December 14, 2021 Ukraine - Russia Makes Serious Demands, Warns Of 'Confrontation' Following unfounded U.S. claims of an imminent Russian invasion of the Ukraine U.S. President Joe Biden and Russia's President Vladimir Putin have held a virtual summit. Little has been released about its real content but the Russian follow up shows that the issues they talked about were deadly serious. On December 10 the Russian Foreign Ministry published a statement that not only sounds like an ultimatum but seems to be meant as one: We note US President Joseph Bidens readiness expressed at the December 7, 2021 talks with President Vladimir Putin to establish a serious dialogue on issues related to ensuring the security of the Russian Federation. Such a dialogue is urgently needed today when the relations between Russia and the collective West continue to decay and have approached a critical line. At the same time, numerous loose interpretations of our position have emerged in recent days. In this connection we feel it is necessary to once again clarify the following. Escalating a confrontation with our country is absolutely unacceptable. As a pretext, the West is using the situation in Ukraine, where it embarked on encouraging Russophobia and justifying the actions of the Kiev regime to undermine the Minsk agreements and prepare for a military scenario in Donbass. Instead of reigning in their Ukrainian proteges, NATO countries are pushing Kiev towards aggressive steps. There can be no alternative interpretation of the increasing number of unplanned exercises by the United States and its allies in the Black Sea. NATO members aircraft, including strategic bombers, regularly make provocative flights and dangerous manoeuvres in close proximity to Russias borders. The militarisation of Ukraines territory and pumping it with weapons are ongoing. The course has been chosen of drawing Ukraine into NATO, which is fraught with the deployment of strike missile systems there with a minimal flight time to Central Russia, and other destabilising weapons. Such irresponsible behaviour creates grave military risks for all parties involved, up to and including a large-scale conflict in Europe. All the NATO action mentioned above directly endangers Russia's security. It has to cease. Some of the steps taken must be reversed and Russia will have to be given guarantees that certain measures will not be taken. The statement includes this list of demands: No more NATO expansion towards Russia's borders. Retraction of the 2008 NATO invitation to Ukraine and Georgia.

Legally binding guarantee that no strike systems which could target Moscow will be deployed in countries next to Russia.

No NATO or equivalent (UK, U.S., Pl.) 'exercises' near Russian borders.

NATO ships, planes to keep certain distances from Russian borders.

Regular military-to-military talks.

No intermediate-range nukes in Europe. That the above is not a "pretty please" wishlist has since been emphasized by several Russian authorities: Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov on Monday warned of confrontation should the United States and NATO fail to give Russia security guarantees concerning its eastern expansion, the RIA news agency reported. President Vladimir Putin has demanded legally binding security guarantees that NATO will not expand further east or place its weapons close to Russian territory; Washington has repeatedly said no country can veto Ukraine's NATO hopes. The confrontation Ryabkov talks about would not be verbal if Russia's red lines get crossed: We have openly pointed out that there are red lines which we will not allow anyone to cross, and we also have certain requirements, which have been formulated exceedingly clearly. Russia can of course veto the Ukraine's entry into NATO. It can destroy the Ukrainian military, take the regions of Ukraine where a majority speaks Russian and create a new sovereign state from them.

bigger The remaining agricultural Banderastan would be left for Poland and Romania to feast on. This would give Russia the strategic depth it needs and it would limit the NATO friendly coastline in the Black Sea to the south western parts. A Russian attack on the Ukraine is however what western weapon producers and their adjunct think tanks, 'experts' and political hawks, mainly in the U.S., deeply wish for. It would isolate Russia, increase the U.S. role in Europe, justify increasing military budgets and end the Nord Stream 2 pipeline and other Russian export routes. And that is the reason why Russia will not attack and use alternative measures. Unless, of course, ... In a phone call with Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson Putin repeated the demands and explained his reasoning: Like other Western leaders, Boris Johnson expressed concern about Russias alleged large-scale troop movements near the Ukrainian border. In this regard, Vladimir Putin provided in-depth and principled assessments of the current situation in Ukraine. Specific examples of Kiev's destructive course on derailing the Minsk agreements, which are the only viable path towards resolving the internal Ukraine crisis, were given. It was also pointed out that the Ukrainian authorities are purposefully aggravating the situation on the line of contact and are using heavy weapons and attack drones, which are prohibited by the Minsk Package of Measures in the conflict zone. Ukraines policy of discrimination against Russian-speaking people was pointed out as well. It was emphasised that all this is happening amid the active military exploration of Ukraines territory by NATO, something that poses a direct threat to Russias security. With this in mind, Vladimir Putin stated the need to immediately begin talks in order to develop clear international legal agreements that can preclude NATOs further eastward advance and the deployment of weapons that pose a threat to Russia in neighbouring states, primarily Ukraine. Russia will present draft documents to this end. The NATO countries which push for further moves against Russia, mostly the Baltic 3 and Poland, see all their dreams endangered. They will resist any move towards a fulfillment of Russia's demands. They are however not the ones that count. It is the U.S., Germany and France that Russia is counting on to get some senses. The upcoming winter, which is predicted to be somewhat harsh, is a good opportunity to apply a little pressure to Europe and to show that it is Russia, not the U.S., which provides Europe energy security. The new Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer understands that: In an interview published on Tuesday in the German newspaper Die Welt, Nehammer, who was elected chancellor earlier this month, was asked if the Austrian government will continue to support Nord Stream 2. He replied, Of course, adding that he expects the pipeline to begin operating soon. I dont consider it necessary to connect Nord Stream 2 with Russias behavior in Ukraine, he went on, referencing a recent political standoff between Moscow and Kiev. The EU can only hurt itself by doing so. Nord Stream 2 doesnt only serve Russias interests  Germany, Austria, and other EU countries will profit from it. Nord Stream 2 is a European project, which shouldnt be used as a tool to pressure Moscow. This winter Russia will use its market power to press for a fulfillment of its demands. Russia has stopped to provide natural gas to the European spot markets. It continues to deliver in full to customers who have long term contracts. This will squeeze Poland and a few others who depend on the spot market in times of peak demand. Russia hopes that those countries learn that their excessive hostility towards it can have serious consequences. As Russia has no direct tool to squeeze the U.S. it will need a different strategy to push Biden to change course. The current main foreign policy concern in the U.S. is China. Russia is therefore coordinating its strategy with it: Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping will discuss "aggressive" language from the U.S. and NATO during their virtual meeting later this week, according to the Kremlin. "The situation in international affairs, especially on the European continent, is very, very tense right now and requires discussion between allies," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said, according to a Reuters report. "We see very, very aggressive rhetoric on the NATO and U.S. side, and this requires discussion between us and the Chinese." Notice Peskov's use of the word "allies". This is, as far as I know, new. There is no formal treaty between Russia and China that makes them 'allies' so the use of the word is highly significant. This is a concern for an Asia pundit who fears that any Russian move on Ukraine would be accompanied by a Chinese move on Taiwan. To prevent that she urges the U.S. to end the endless confrontation with Russia and to concentrate on the far east. We can only hope that Biden understands such reasoning, finally shuts up the Russia hawks and ends the conflict with Moscow. Otherwise we will all be in for some interesting times. Posted by b on December 14, 2021 at 18:39 UTC | Permalink Comments next page  next page 
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP)  The United States will expand its military and economic relationships with partners in Asia to push back against Chinas increasing assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday.

Blinken said the Biden administration is committed to maintaining peace and prosperity in the region and will do that by boosting U.S. alliances, forging new relationships and ensuring that the U.S. military maintains its competitive edge.

Threats are evolving, our security approach has to evolve with them. To do that, we will lean on our greatest strength: our alliances and partnerships, Blinken said in a speech in Indonesia, outlining the administration's Indo-Pacific plans.

Well adopt a strategy that more closely weaves together all our instruments of national power  diplomacy, military, intelligence  with those of our allies and partners," he said. That will include linking U.S. and Asian defense industries, integrating supply chains and cooperating on technological innovation, he said.

Later he signed a series of three agreements with Indonesia's foreign minister, including one that extends until 2026 an existing maritime cooperation pact that among other issues calls for enhanced joint U.S.-Indonesian naval exercises.

Its about reinforcing our strengths so we can keep the peace, as we have done in the region for decades, he said. He did not elaborate further but the administration made waves earlier this year by agreeing to a pact that will see Australia produce nuclear-powered submarines.

Blinken insisted that the U.S. is not trying to force countries to choose between the United States and China, or seeking conflict with China. But he laid out a litany of complaints about Beijing's aggressive actions from Northeast Asia to Southeast Asia and from the Mekong River to the Pacific Islands."

At a daily briefing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said Blinken's latest comments showed the U.S. was contradicting itself by playing up the so-called China threat on the one hand while claiming that it has no intention to seek conflict with China on the other.

Wang criticized the U.S. for frequently sending ships and aircraft to the the area to flex muscles and stir up trouble."

Blinken is in Indonesia on the first leg of a week-long, three-nation tour of Southeast Asia that will also take him to Malaysia and Thailand. Countering Chinas growing aggressiveness in the region, particularly in the South China Sea, in Hong Kong and against Taiwan is prominent on his agenda.

Countries across the region want this behavior to change, he said. We do too.

We are determined to ensure freedom of navigation in the South China Sea, he said. It is also why we have an abiding interest in peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.

Blinken said the U.S. will forge stronger connections with its five treaty allies in the region  Australia, Japan, the Philippines, South Korea and Thailand  boost ties between them and cultivate a stronger partnership with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, many of whose members feel threatened by China.

A strong and independent ASEAN has long been central to tackle urgent crises and long-term challenges, Blinken said, in particular calling out the military rulers of Myanmar, also known as Burma, for their February takeover and subsequent crackdown on protesters.

We will continue to work with our allies and partners to press the regime to cease its indiscriminate violence, release all of those unjustly detained, allow unhindered access, and restore Burmas path to inclusive democracy, he said.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang countered by accusing Washington of policies that sow discord, undermine solidarity and disrupt cooperation.

If the U.S. really wants to play a constructive role for the peaceful development of the Asia-Pacific region as it claims, it should earnestly respect the ASEAN-centered regional cooperation structure, Wang told reporters in Beijing.

China-U.S. relations have hit a new low over a range of issues, including Beijing's increasingly assertive claim to virtually the entire South China Sea that includes the construction of manmade islands topped with military infrastructure. That claim overlaps with those of four ASEAN members.

Many Southeast Asian countries are economically dependent on China but see the U.S. as a counterweight to Beijing.

Blinken confined his remarks to the Indo-Pacific and China although he began his current overseas journey in Britain at a Group of Seven foreign ministers meeting that delivered a stern warning to Russia over Ukraine.

On arriving in Indonesia on Monday, Blinken found that a top aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin, national security adviser Nikolay Patrushev, was already in Jakarta for security talks. Asked why he had not sought out Patrushev to expand on Sunday's G7 warning, Blinken replied that the administration's top diplomat for Europe, Karen Donfried, who is currently in Ukraine, would be traveling to Moscow in the coming days to deliver that message.
HONG KONG (AP)  Hong Kong officials distanced themselves from the screening of a 1937 Nanking massacre video in a primary school that left some children in tears, saying schools are not required to screen such graphic footage.

The clip, which came from a documentary of the Nanking massacre, depicted Japanese soldiers killing civilians in the former Chinese capital. China on Monday marked the 80th anniversary of the killings that left hundreds of civilians and disarmed soldiers dead.

While learning history is of paramount importance, how to learn is something that we will defer to the education sector, because we have very well-trained teachers, we have well-run schools, Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam said during a press conference on Tuesday.

The screening of the brutal and violent footage caused some students to cry and sparked complaints from parents, according to local media reports.

The school involved  Po Leung Kuk Hong Kong Taoist Association Yuen Yuen primary school  said that it would carefully consider childrens feelings and adjust teaching materials accordingly.

The school did not immediately respond to an email from The Associated Press seeking comment.

On Tuesday, Lam confirmed that the video screened in the school had been included in a teaching materials checklist and that the education department had a duty to inform schools of the materials that are available in the public domain, but that there was no mandate that such footage had to be shown while teaching students about the Nanking massacre.

The massacre lasted from December 1937 to January 1938, with Japanese soldiers engaged in the mass killings and rape in Nanking.

Hong Kong authorities have included Chinese history as a compulsory subject and indicated that students will also learn about national security, following the implementation of a national security law in the city last year in response to massive anti-government protests.

Lam has also called for the strengthening of so-called patriotic education in schools, amid Beijing's tightening grip on the city.

Nanking, an ancient Chinese capital 320 kilometers (200 miles) west of Shanghai, is now commonly known as Nanjing.
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP)  The New Mexico Department of Health on Monday announced the states first identified case of the COVID-19 omicron variant.

Health officials said the case was identified Sunday and involves a Bernalillo County woman.
A Kentucky woman who worked her way up from school bus driver to become an administrator and school board member. A grandfather who stole the show when he was around his grandchildren. A 2-month-old whose family tried to protect her by putting her in a car seat. A 94-year-old Korean War veteran from Arkansas.

These were among at least 88 people killed during tornadoes Friday night that ripped through five states in the Midwest and South. The tornado outbreak cut a path of devastation that stretched from Arkansas, where a nursing home was destroyed, to Illinois, where an Amazon distribution center was heavily damaged. In Kentucky, 74 people died, and Gov. Andy Beshear said the death toll could grow.

Here are some of the people who perished during the tornadoes.

___

By the time she won election to a vacant school board seat last year, Jenny Bruce had played a role at virtually every level in the small school district in Dawson Springs, Kentucky, where she had graduated from high school decades earlier.

Jenny started out driving a bus and she was a teachers aide, and she gradually worked her way up to finance director, Dawson Springs School Superintendent Leonard Whalen recalled. She was some kind of lady.

During the deadly tornado outbreak late Friday and early Saturday, 65-year-old Bruce was sheltering inside when a tornado obliterated her home, Whalen said. He said neighbors found her amid the wreckage. A county coroner later confirmed her death.

Bruce had worked for the school system for roughly four decades before retiring about two years ago. Whalen helped persuade her to campaign for an empty seat on the five-member school board in 2020, and she ended up running unopposed.

In her years working in the school districts administrative office, Whalen said, Bruce was universally liked  never saying an unkind word about anyone and often bringing cookies and other treats for co-workers to share.

She was a Dawson Springs graduate and she loved our schools, Whalen said. She loved kids.

___

Kevin Dickey loved spending time with his family and stole the show and the hearts of his grandchildren anytime he was around, his family said in a statement. He also had a tight bond with his co-workers at Amazon, they said.

Dickey, 62, was among six people killed when an Amazon warehouse in Edwardsville, Illinois, was struck. Authorities say both sides of the warehouse used to prepare orders for delivery collapsed inward and the roof caved. Rescuers had to pull survivors from the rubble.

Dickeys daughter, Kristen Anastasi, told the Marion Republican that a co-worker said Dickey was trying to get people to safety and making sure his drivers were OK. She called his work ethic unmatched and said that's what the family would expect of him.

Dad talked often about his co-workers and their daily stories. He had a great bond with many, the family said.

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Douglas Koon, his wife, Jackie, and their three children huddled in his mother-in-laws bathroom in Dawson Springs, Kentucky, as the storms approached. The tornado hit the house directly, flinging the family around and tossing in the air a bathtub that was shielding two of his sons. The couple put their infant daughter, Oaklynn, in a car seat to protect her, and she appeared to be OK on Saturday.

But by Sunday, the baby was having seizures, and doctors noticed a brain bleed after she was taken to the hospital. They believed she had a stroke, Koon said in a Facebook post.

Its not looking good at this point, he wrote. The machines are keeping her alive.

Early Monday morning, the family posted that the infant had died.

In a text message to The Associated Press on Monday, Koon said he was struggling to process everything that Im going through.

A family member has set up a GoFundMe account for Koons family and his mother-in-law, Sheila Rose, who lost her home.

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Lisa Taylor had worked 14 years as a florist at the same family-owned shop in Memphis, Tennessee, when she left in October to start a new career at the airport with the Transportation Security Administration. Co-workers at Rachels Flowers congratulated her with balloons on a sign that read, Good Luck, Lisa.

Taylor, 54, stayed in touch with her friends at the flower shop, making plans to return part time over the holidays to make some extra money. Then the phone rang Saturday, just as the power came back on at the shop after violent storms passed through overnight. Taylors longtime boyfriend was calling with tragic news. A large tree had fallen through her roof overnight, killing Taylor as she slept in bed.

She had just gotten started on her new adventure and shes just been taken, said Angie Morton, who worked as a florist alongside Taylor for several years.

A single mother of two children now in their 20s, Taylor took her new government job for higher wages and the extra stability that came with health insurance and other benefits, friends said.

But she had a creative spark that made her a natural when it came to working with flowers, Morton said, whether she was helping grieving families design funeral arrangements or using bits and pieces of broken, castoff jewelry to add some custom sparkle to high school girls prom corsages.

She really liked to bling everything up, Morton said. She would take stuff other people would throw in the trash and make beautiful things out of it. If she found an earring in a store that didnt have a matching pair, she would think, I know theres somebody who that would be perfect for her corsage.

Charles Newell, deputy emergency management administrator for Shelby County, Tennessee, said she was the only known storm death in the county that includes Memphis.

Rachel Greer, the flower shops owner, was helping plan floral arrangements for Taylors funeral. She said Taylors daughter had requested a sea of purple flowers such as lavender roses and chrysanthemums to match her mothers favorite color.

Meanwhile customers were dropping by the shop to offer condolences and leaving notes. One of them read: Lisa was a light in a dark world.

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Annistyn Rackley was an outgoing and energetic 9-year-old who loved swimming, dancing and cheerleading, according to her great-aunt Sandra Hooker.

The two had become close over the past four years: Hooker offered the girl support during doctors visits and blood draws required by a rare liver condition that still didnt keep the southeastern Missouri girl from participating in activities.

Annistyn, her parents and her two younger sisters took shelter Friday night in a windowless bathroom in their new home west of Caruthersville, Missouri. To prove theyd gotten to the familys safe space, the girls mom texted Hooker a photo of the three in and next to the bathtub  all of them smiling, 9-year-old Annistyn holding her favorite doll.

Fifteen minutes later, Sandra Hooker said, a tornado splintered the home, carrying the family members dozens of yards through the air into a field where first responders found them in mud. Annistyn died, and the others were injured. The mother, Meghan Rackley, and their middle daughter, 7-year-old Avalinn, remained hospitalized Monday.

Hooker called Annistyn a special angel and said the girl delighted in donning outfits and makeup for cheer competitions and learning new dances from TikTok. She did cartwheels and splits in front of Hooker.

I would just gasp because she could do the splits all the time, and she would just laugh, Hooker said. She loved dancing.

Hooker teaches gifted students at the same elementary school where Meghan Rackley teaches kindergarten in Caruthersville, which is nestled next to the Mississippi River in whats known as Missouris Bootheel region.

Hooker said Annistyns parents learned when she was 2 months old that she had a rare liver disorder in which bile ducts dont develop properly, sometimes making it hard to fight off illness.

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Golden Wes Hembrey, 94, died when a tornado destroyed the nursing home where he lived in Monette, Arkansas.

His nephew Mike Hembrey said the Korean War veteran and retired farmer had been in the nursing home since 2016 because of Alzheimers disease. But he remembered his uncle as engaged with his extended family throughout their younger years.

He was outgoing, his nephew said. Hed be out in the yard playing with us. But dont make him mad. When he was mad, he was mad.

He liked cutting up, telling jokes, said niece Kristie Carmichael.

The Hembreys said Jimmie Hembrey had visited his brother the day before the tornado and found him to be in good health.

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Graves County Deputy Jailer Robert Daniel was supervising inmate workers at a candle factory in Mayfield, Kentucky, when the tornado struck. His boss said Monday that Daniel had been focused on the prisoners in his care when he was killed as the twister wrecked the plant.

Daniel, 47, had worked at the county jail for a few years previously and was rehired a few months ago, said Graves County Jailer George Workman. The seven inmates whom Daniel was overseeing at the factory Friday night were part of a brand-new work program and had just begun their jobs three days earlier.

After the storm hit, the inmates told Workmans deputies that it was Daniel who literally had pushed them all to safety, guiding them through a doorway and against a wall in an interior part of the plant. Workman said the last inmate through the door told deputies that Daniel was behind him one moment, and suddenly he was gone.

He was physically still in the act of trying to get them to safety. And thats when it hit, Workman said. It takes a tremendous person to be able to lay their own life down for somebody else. But he did and he was doing it for the right reasons.

All seven of the inmates in Daniels care survived, Workman said, with two of them suffering broken legs.

A cousin, Mark Saxton Sr., said Daniel was a native of the Mayfield area, which was devastated by the storm.

He loved his community, Saxton said. He was a great family man. Everybody who met him just loved him. Hes the type of person you want to be associated with.

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Brian Crick, a judge for two western Kentucky counties, was known for his sound judgment when it came to solving problems, a fellow judge said.

Crick, 43, was a district judge for Muhlenberg and McLean counties who handled criminal misdemeanor cases, traffic court and juvenile cases, said Circuit Judge Brian W. Wiggins. Wiggins said he had known his fellow judge since 2005, when Crick was a public defender. He later was in private practice before taking the bench in 2011.

Many of the defendants who came before him werent represented by attorneys, and Crick was very good about seeing to it that their rights were protected, Wiggins said. He had a very common- sense approach. He was very level-headed about how to handle cases and how to talk to people.

Wiggins was killed when the storm hit his familys home in Muhlenberg County. He is survived by a wife and three children, all of whom made it through the storm without major injuries, Wiggins said. He was just a consummate family man ... very engaged with his children and his wife. They were No. 1 to him.

We are especially heartbroken to get the news, Kentucky Supreme Court Chief Justice John Minton said in a statement. This is a shocking loss to his family, his community and the court system and his family is in our prayers.

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Two of June Penningtons children said the Manila, Arkansas, resident was devoted to her four children and nine grandchildren and had a particular soft spot for animals.

Pennington, 52, was working as an assistant manager at a Dollar General store in nearby Leachville, Arkansas, when it was hit.

She didnt love anything as much in life as her kids and grandkids, said Christie Pennington. She was truly selfless and loved wholeheartedly.

David Benefield, the oldest of June Penningtons four children, said he was born when his mother was only 14.

She was a kid raising a kid. We were just like best friends, he said. Its crazy how close you become.

Her children remember her as someone who would do anything that we asked her to do, Benefield said. Even after her children were grown, they said June Pennington wanted to spend as much time with them as possible.

Christie Pennington said her mother adopted dogs, cats, rabbits, birds, turtles and even a ferret.

If there was ever an animal in need of a home, we took it in, she said.

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Clayton Lynn Cope, 29, had been working at Amazon for more than a year before the storm killed him at a company facility in southwestern Illinois.

Five other workers also died at the facility located outside St. Louis.

Cope, who lived in nearby Alton, Illinois, had joined the Navy after graduating from high school and was an avid outdoorsman who also liked to ride motorcycles and play video games. He had a special place in his heart for his dog, Draco, said his younger sister, Rachel Cope.

He would go out of his way for anyone, Cope said in a written message.

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Ollie Borgmann, 84, was a sweet and typical grandmother who had lived in her home in Defiance, Missouri, for decades.

A tornado blew through the home she shared with her 84-year-old husband, Vernon, on Friday night, blowing the house off its foundation, as well as that of a neighbors house in the town located about 40 miles (64 kilometers) west of St. Louis.

Her son Mark Borgmann told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that his brother, Keith, was on the phone with their father during the powerful storm when the line went dead. The next thing Vernon Borgmann remembers is waking up in a nearby field surrounded by debris. He suffered scratches and bruises but will be OK, said Mark Borgmann.

When Ollie Borgmann was found by rescuers, she was awake. She died later at a hospital.

___

Lovan reported from Louisville, Kentucky. Bynum reported from Savannah, Georgia. Associated Press writers Sudhin Thanawala in Atlanta; Travis Loller in Nashville, Tennessee; John Hanna in Topeka, Kansas; Terry Wallace in Dallas; Sophie Tareen in Chicago; Josh Funk in Omaha, Nebraska; Mike Schneider in Orlando, Florida; and Jeff Amy in Atlanta contributed to this report.
The Midland City Council approved awarding a nearly $600,000 contract to a San Antonio company for the Benton Street Pedestrian Bridge and Lee Street Pedestrian Bridge projects in east Midland.

The program calls for pedestrian walkways at Benton Street and Lee Street. The city expects to use ARPA Grant funds for the project. City documents show that a contingency of $89,999 is being added for a total cost of $689,998.
THE VILLAGES, Fla. (AP)  Three voters from a Florida retirement community that is a GOP stronghold have been arrested on charges of voting more than once.

The arrests come weeks after Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis pledged to create a law enforcement agency to investigate election crimes, despite there being little evidence of electoral malfeasance in the Sunshine State.

The three voters  all residents of The Villages area  were arrested over the past two weeks. They were each charged with casting more than one ballot in the 2020 election after complaints were filed by the Sumter County Supervisor of Elections.

Jay Ketcik 63, was arrested last week on a charge of third-degree felony fraud. He entered a not guilty plea, and court records show he intends to attack the sufficiency of the charge." An arrest report did not detail why he was charged, but Orlando television station WKMG, citing court documents, reported he was accused of voting by mail in Florida in October 2020 while also casting an absentee ballot in Michigan.

Joan Halstead, 71, was arrested two weeks ago for voting in person in Florida and by absentee ballot in New York during the 2020 election, according to an arrest report. She has entered a not guilty plea and also said in court papers she intends to attack the sufficiency" of the charge.

John Rider, 61, was arrested at the beginning of the month on a similar charge. An arrest report did not say why he was facing the charge. There was no online docket in Sumter County yet for Rider, who was arrested in Brevard County, so it was not known if he had an attorney. No phone number was listed on an arrest report.

Online records show Ketcik and Halstead are registered Republicans, while Rider has no party affiliation.

The arrests come weeks after DeSantis proposed new restrictions on ballot drop boxes, creating the election police force and changes that would strengthen penalties for ballot harvesting. During his announcement, DeSantis, echoed many talking points on voting problems that have gained traction in the GOP following former President Donald Trumps false claims that his reelection was stolen from him. DeSantis is up for reelection next year and is eyeing a 2024 presidential run.

The governor had previously praised the 2020 election in Florida as smooth, and there was widespread consensus among election officials and experts that there was no fraud that could have affected results in the last presidential election.

An Associated Press review of every potential case of voter fraud in the six battleground states disputed by Trump has found fewer than 475  a number that would have made no difference in the 2020 presidential election.
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP)  The Afghan survivors of an errant U.S. drone strike that killed 10 members of their family in August said Tuesday they are frustrated and saddened that U.S. troops involved in the attack will not face disciplinary action.

A hellfire missile had slammed into a car belonging to Zemerai Ahmadi, killing him and nine relatives, including seven children, in the chaotic final days of the U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan.

On Tuesday, three of Ahmadis brothers spoke of their loss, sitting just a few feet from where the missile struck Aug. 29. They said that to this day, they have heard nothing from Washington about financial compensation or when they would be evacuated from Afghanistan.

Ahmadi, 37, was a longtime employee of an American humanitarian organization. The strike that killed him and his family members came following the Taliban takeover of the country in mid-August.

It also came just days after an Islamic State group suicide bomber killed 13 U.S. troops and 169 Afghans at a Kabul airport gate. U.S. forces believed that the car they were following was an imminent threat and decided to strike.

Since the strike, the Ahmadis had demanded that those responsible be punished and that they be relocated to the United States or a third country deemed safe for them.

On Monday, the Pentagon said that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had approved recommendations for improvements in strike operations from the generals who lead U.S. Central Command and Special Operations Command, based on the findings of an independent Pentagon review released last month.

But there were no recommendations for discipline made by the generals, according to John Kirby, chief Pentagon spokesman.

Kirby said the U.S. was still ready to pay financial compensation to the Ahmadis and potentially get them out of Afghanistan. Asked why it was taking so long, Kirby said the U.S. wanted it done as safely as possible.

For the Ahmadis, every day they remain in Kabul puts them at risk. Rumor on the street has it that the U.S. has already paid them and criminals are eager to get their hands on the money, said Emal Ahmadi. His 3-year-old daughter Malika was killed in the strike.

They are also getting phone threats, added Emal, the youngest of the brothers. The callers threaten to kill them if they don't give them money.

People are always asking us how much money we got, Emal added. As for the U.S. promises to evacuate the family, we are waiting. We have heard nothing. ... The longer it takes, the more dangerous it is for us.

For Romal Ahmadi, whose three children aged 2-7 years were killed in the strike, the days are a blur of depression and pain. I feel only pain, he said. He wants the U.S. troops behind the strike punished.

But America is a superpower," Romal said. We are powerless to do anything so we leave it to God to punish them.

At the time of the strike, the U.S. was working to evacuate thousands of Americans, Afghans and other allies in the wake of the Afghan government's collapse.

For weeks after and despite mounting evidence that the U.S. had wrongly killed the 10 Ahmadis, the Pentagon maintained it had taken out a potential Islamic State operative. It wasn't until mid-September that U.S. Marine Gen. Frank McKenzie, head of U.S. Central Command, called the strike a tragic mistake and said that innocent civilians were indeed killed in the attack.

The Pentagon review subsequently found there were breakdowns in communication in the process of identifying and confirming the target of the bombing.

My children are all gone. No one can bring them back, Romal said.
It has been a particularly brutal week in Illinois for COVID-19, with deaths attributed to the virus rising 46% and health officials worried a slowdown is not in immediate sight.

There were 49,668 new confirmed and probable coronavirus cases statewide last week and 266 related deaths, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health.

Hospitals across the state are reporting some of the largest increases in hospitalizations since January, and many are worried about the declining availability of intensive care unit beds. The state recommends a 20% or higher threshold for ICU availability. In the region that includes Morgan and most surrounding counties, availability is at 12.9%, according to state health department statistics.

In addition, many west-central Illinois counties are dealing with a growing uptick in new virus cases.

Morgan County recorded a week of triple-digit infections, adding 180 cases through Monday, according to a briefing from Morgan County Health Department, Jacksonville/Morgan County Emergency Management, Memorial Health, Morgan County commissioners and the city of Jacksonville. It was the largest weekly increase since at least August.

Fifty-five of the cases were in people in their 20s or younger, according to the county health department, mirroring a nationwide trend of COVID-19 infecting younger people at a faster pace. Forty-one of the Morgan County cases were in those in their 60s or older, a group once considered most at risk.

Almost 50 of the cases were attributed to active outbreaks in the county: 20 at The Pointe at Jacksonville; 12 at the Morgan County Detention Facility; 10 within Waverly schools; four at Cedarhurst of Jacksonville; and three at Bright Beginnings Child Care.

Since March 2020, there have been 5,831 coronavirus cases and 125 related deaths in Morgan County.

Pike County reported its second straight triple-digit week Monday. There were 153 new coronavirus cases and one death, that of someone in their 60s, in the past week. Sixty-two of the cases were in those ages 19 or under, according to Pike County Health Department.

Since March 2020, there have been 3,065 confirmed and probable coronavirus cases and 67 related deaths in Pike County.

Cass County reported 67 new cases  31 of them in those ages 19 or under, the most youth cases since December 2020  and one death last week.

Since March 2020, there have been 2,864 coronavirus cases and 44 related deaths, according to Cass County Health Department.

Total COVID-19 cases in west-central Illinois counties as of Monday, according to individual county health departments, were:

Brown County

1,138 total, 1,100 recovered, nine deaths

Cass County

2,864 total, 2,746 recovered, 44 deaths

Greene County

2,226 total, 2,085 recovered, 63 deaths

Jersey County

3,881 total, 3,676 recovered, 55 deaths

Macoupin County

8,225 total, 7,269 recovered, 144 deaths

Morgan County

5,831 total, 125 deaths

Pike County

3,065 total, 2,849 recovered, 67 deaths

Sangamon County

28,814 total, 296 deaths

Schuyler County

1,170 total, 22 deaths

Scott County

840 total, 800 recovered, seven deaths

Since March 2020, there have been 1,884,744 COVID-19 cases and 26,801 related deaths in Illinois.
Scientists estimate that emissions from just 90 companies contributed to nearly 50% of the rise in global mean surface temperature, and 57% of the rise in atmospheric carbon dioxide in the past 130 years. Stacker analyzed a 2017 Climate Change study to rank the largest emitters by their atmospheric carbon dioxide contributions from 1880 to 2010.
Macron urges strengthening EU borders during Hungary visit View Photo

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP)  French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday affirmed his commitment to strengthening the external borders of the European Union, a point of common agreement at talks he held in Hungarys capital with the leaders of the blocs eastern nations.

The summit in Budapest of the Visegrad 4 group of Central European countries hosted Macron as France is set to take over the EUs rotating 6-month presidency on Jan. 1.

While his views on migration found welcome ears among the more conservative leaders of the V4 governments, Macrons visit also highlighted rifts within the 27-member EU over the scope of its authority and its fundamental values.

The host of the summit, Hungarys right-wing populist Prime Minister Viktor Orban, is one of the EUs fiercest critics of immigration.

But he and Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, who was also present, have been in conflict with Brussels over the EUs attempts to rein in governments seen as violating rule of law and democratic standards, values that Macron is eager to champion.

In a news conference following the meeting, all five leaders emphasized the necessity of revamping the EUs migration policy, while Macron reaffirmed his views on migrants, saying there is a clear convergence of views with the V4 leaders.

Macron called for changes in the passport-free Schengen area to improve the protection of external borders and limit flows of migrants from one EU country to another, and to streamline the process of sending those who dont qualify for asylum back to their home countries, people who have no right to stay in the EU.

Yet political rifts remain between the staunchly pro-EU French leader and Orban, who together with Morawiecki has challenged the blocs jurisdiction over the affairs of its 27 member nations.

The EUs executive arm continues to withhold tens of billions of euros in COVID-19 economic recovery funds from Poland and Hungary over concerns about corruption and judicial interference. It has also threatened to impose additional sanctions if the two countries fail to live up to rule of law requirements.

Macron, a centrist who favors deeper European integration, acknowledged that he had political disagreements with the Hungarian leader, and earlier in the day insisted that respect for the rule of law, media pluralism, and the fight against discrimination are at the heart of the European project, a reference to claims by Orbans critics that he has eroded democratic institutions in Hungary and seized control of large parts of the countrys media.

Yet Macron, the first sitting French president to visit Hungary since 2007, struck a conciliatory tone when he emphasized the need for dialogue and finding points of agreement with political opponents.

At the summit, he and the V4 leaders  which also included Slovakias Prime Minister Eduard Heger and Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis  agreed on the need to make nuclear energy a fundamental part of the EUs goals to reduce carbon emissions.

Orban said that agreement had also been reached on the need for strategic autonomy in Europe, which included developing a European defense industry, increasing energy autonomy through nuclear energy and building self-sufficient agricultural capacities.

Earlier on Monday, Macron met with Hungarian President Janos Ader, where according to the French presidency he expressed his concerns over the rights of LGBTQ people in Hungary, an issue which has raised the ire of some politicians in Europe concerned with recent Hungarian legislation that some saw as homophobic.

He also met with opposition leaders opposing Orban, like Gergely Karacsony, Budapests liberal mayor, and Peter Marki-Zay, an opposition candidate who is planning to challenge Orban for the post of prime minister during Hungarys general election in the spring.

At a news conference following that meeting, the opposition leaders said that they had raised issues of corruption and rule of law in Hungary, as well as the countrys increasingly close ties to eastern countries like China and Russia.

Macron is likely to seek a second term in Frances presidential election on April 10. Among his chief challengers at this point are two hard-right nationalists, journalist Eric Zemmour and Marine Le Pen, who have both met in recent months with Orban and embrace many of his policies.

___

Corbet reported from Paris.

By JUSTIN SPIKE and SYLVIE CORBET

Associated Press
Putin urges guarantees on Ukraine in call with Johnson

Putin urges guarantees on Ukraine in call with Johnson View Photo

MOSCOW (AP)  Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday told British Prime Minister Boris Johnson that Moscow will insist on Western guarantees precluding NATOs expansion to Ukraine.

A recent Russian troop buildup near Ukraine has drawn Ukrainian and Western fears of an invasion, and U.S. President Joe Biden last week warned Putin of severe consequences if Moscow attacks its neighbor.

Putin has denied plans of launching an attack, but prodded Western leaders to provide a legal pledge that NATO wouldnt expand to Ukraine.

In Mondays call with Johnson, Putin reaffirmed Moscows concern about the development of Ukraines territory by NATOs members, saying that it poses a direct threat to Russias security.

Russia has responded to the ouster of Ukraines Moscow-friendly president by annexing the Ukrainian Crimean Peninsula in 2014 and throwing its support behind a separatist insurgency in the countrys east. More than seven years of fighting has killed over 14,000 people and devastated Ukraines industrial heartland called Donbas.

Moscow has bristled at NATOs joint drills with Ukrainian forces and warned that the alliances expansion to Ukraine would represent a red line for Russia.

In Mondays call with Johnson, Putin emphasized the need to immediately begin negotiations to work out clear international legal agreements that would exclude any further NATOs expansion eastward and the deployment of weapons threatening Russia in neighboring countries, primarily in Ukraine.

The Russian leader said that Russia will soon submit a draft document outlining the demands, according to the Kremlin.

Johnson followed Biden and other Western leaders in warning Moscow against attacking its neighbor.

Johnsons office said he expressed the United Kingdoms deep concern over the build-up of Russian forces on Ukraines border, and reiterated the importance of working through diplomatic channels to de-escalate tensions and identify durable solutions.

It noted that the British prime minister emphasized the UKs commitment to Ukraines territorial integrity and sovereignty, and warned that any destabilizing action would be a strategic mistake that would have significant consequences.

The readout added that Johnson recognized the importance of dialogue on international and regional security.
District Attorney Tuolumne County Seal View Photo

Sonora, CA Tuolumne County District Attorney Cassandra Jenecke announced that convicted murderer Victor Munoz will not be re-sentenced under a new law that allows certain convictions to be overturned. California Penal Code section 1170.95, which was implemented in 2019, allows convicted murderers to allege that they were convicted of murder under legal theories that the law no longer recognizes. If a convicted defendant makes a showing that he or she was convicted under one of the debunked theories, the burden shifts to the prosecution to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant is still guilty of the original crime.

In October of 2020, Munoz filed a petition for resentencing, the court found that Munoz had been convicted under one of the now prohibited theories and shifted the burden onto the prosecution to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Munoz was guilty of murder under a valid theory.

On December 10th, 2021, the Tuolumne County District Attorneys office, represented by Deputy District Attorney Norma De Santiago, argued that Munoz was guilty of murder under the current law. Judge Donald Segerstrom agreed with the prosecution and ruled that Munoz was a major participant in the robbery of Mr.Gonzales and acted with reckless indifference to human life. Judge Segerstron denied the petition for resentencing. The original prison sentence of 15 years to life remains in place.

Details about the 1990s murder and the more recent legal troubles of Victor Munoz can be found here.
Covid Data Tracker ICU beds used for Covid-19 Dec 6 to Dec 12. View Photos

Sacramento, CA  Beginning Wednesday, December 15, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) is requiring universal masking for all public indoor settings. Masks are to be worn in all indoor public settings irrespective of vaccine status through January 15, 2022, to slow the spread of Covid-19. The CDPH states the move is in response to increasing case rates and hospitalizations to slow the spread of both Delta and the highly transmissible Omicron variant. CDPH details since Thanksgiving, the statewide seven-day average case rate has increased by almost half (47%) and is looking to masks to increase protection for individuals, families, and communities during the holidays.

Additionally, CDPH updated requirements for attending mega events, like concerts and sporting events. Effective December 15th, prior to attending an event, attendees will now require either proof of vaccination, a negative antigen Covid-19 test within one day of the event, or a negative PCR test within two days of the event.

CDPH also issued a new travel advisory effective immediately to recommend that all travelers arriving in California test for COVID-19 within three to five days after arrival, regardless of their vaccination status.

Dr. Tomas J. Aragon, CDPH Director and State Public Health Officer says, Getting your whole family up to date on vaccination is the most important action you can take to get through the pandemic and to protect yourself from serious impacts from the virus and its variants. Testing and masking remain important tools in slowing the spread.

Tuolumne County Public Health reports 27 new Covid cases since Friday, 17 are unvaccinated.

Tuolumne Countys Active cases are down 10 to 69 including four unvaccinated people who are hospitalized. Todays newly reported cases had two cases age 17 or younger and seven cases age 60 or older. New Covid cases by gender and age: two girls age 12 to 17, two women and four men age 18 to 29, one woman and two men in their 30s, three women and one man in their 40s, four women and one man in his 50s, three women and two men in their 60s, one woman her 70s and one man in his 80s.

The total current case rate, a 14-day average for Tuolumne County decreased to 20.6 from 20.9 per 100,000 population. A total of 36 individuals were released from isolation, in all 6,177 have been released from isolation. There have been 6,394 community cases and 148 deaths. There were 18 Covid deaths in October, 20 in November and 7 this month for a total of 45 Covid deaths since October in Tuolumne.

A total of 58% of the population eligible to get vaccinated has been vaccinated. There have been 1,621 inmate cases, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) reports no active Covid case at the Sierra Conservation Center. The SCC manages 3,271 inmates including all the southern fire conservation camps.

Calaveras County Public Health reports 16 new cases, active cases decreased to 14 with four hospitalized. The total number of confirmed cases is 4,482. One of the new cases are age 17 or younger and none are age 65 and older, in total 824 under age 17 and 757 over 65 have been identified with covid. There are 55 more recovered cases for a total of 4,377 cases recovered and 54.86% of the eligible population is fully vaccinated in the county. There are 91 Covid deaths in Calaveras since the pandemic began. There were 8 Covid deaths in October, 6 in November and 2 this month for a total of 17 Covid deaths since October in Calaveras.

COVID-19 Testing Public health recommends scheduling an appointment to get tested 5 days after possible exposure and if you are having any symptoms, get tested right away. The Tuolumne County State testing site is open 7 days a week from 7 AM to 7 PM at the Mother Lode Fairgrounds. Appointments can be scheduled at www.lhi.care/covidtesting or by calling 888-634-1123. Testing is at pharmacies, at Rapid Care and the hospital emergency department if you are experiencing any symptoms, or contact your healthcare provider.

The Mariposa LHI/OptumServe testing site is moving to the YARTS Park and Ride beside Rite Aid and will be open on Tuesday, December 14 and thereafter with the following hours: Tuesdays to Saturdays, 7:00 am to 12:00 pm, 1:00 to 4:00 pm, and 5:00 to 7:00 pm.

COVID-19 Vaccine appointments and booster vaccine shots and vaccine appointments for children ages 5 to 11 can be made through myturn.ca.gov, by calling 833-422-4255, or the pediatric vaccine may also be available through some pharmacies and healthcare providers more details are here. CDPH notes unvaccinated people were 7.1 times more likely to get COVID-19 (data from November 21, 2021 to November 27, 2021) Unvaccinated people were 12.5 times more likely to be hospitalized with COVID-19 (data from November 14, 2021 to November 20, 2021). Unvaccinated people were 13.0 times more likely to die from COVID-19 (data from November 7, 2021 to November 13, 2021).

County/Date

Active

New

Total Deaths Amador 12/13 38 9 3,868 60 Calaveras 12/13 14 16 4,482 91 Mariposa 12/13 31 9 1,657 18 Mono 12/13 62 17 1,750 5 Stanislaus 12/13 1,257 239 82,651 1,452 Tuolumne 12/13 69 27 8,015 148
If 2020 was a pandemic-induced pause, 2021 was when things started up again, albeit slowly and timidly. But that doesn't describe this year's eight Associated Press Breakthrough Entertainers of the Year: They seized their masks  and the moment.

They are Damson Idris, Simu Liu, Rachel Zegler, Rauw Alejandro, Adrienne Warren, Saweetie, Anupam Tripathi and Sydney Sweeney. Each found ways to share their art despite virus fears and variants.

The year went quickly for Zegler, who had beat out thousands for the part of Maria in Steven Spielbergs West Side Story. The pandemic pushed the film's release a year but she didn't stop.

Zegler was cast in and filmed the sequel to Shazam and snagged the role of Snow White in the live-action reimagining with Gal Gadot playing the evil queen. Then there was all the press for West Side Story and even a Met Gala invite. I stepped out of my comfort zone, she says.

Liu smashed through the Marvel Cinematic Universe's comfort zone as its first Asian-led superhero stand-alone in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. His was a career-making turn as Shang-Chi, who combines Spider-Mans aw-shucks sweetness with lethal fists.

The path Tripathi took was far slower. For more than a decade, the Indian actor who relocated to South Korea more than a decade ago, spent countless hours singing in humble theaters and taking on minor film gigs. Then came Squid Game and sudden, massive popularity.

The pandemic stopped live theater in its tracks, so Adrienne Warren pivoted. While waiting for Broadway to restart, she turned to a project she never would have been able had she still been starring in the title role in Tina  The Tina Turner Musical.

Warren lost and gained 30 pounds to play civil rights catalyst Mamie Till-Mobley  whose son Emmett Till was brutally murdered in the Jim Crow South  in the upcoming ABC series Women of the Movement. She co-founded the Broadway Advocacy Coalition, which uses storytelling to dismantle the systems that perpetuate racism. And when Broadway resumed, she came back to earn her first Tony Award.

Idris' popularity has grown exponentially over the past four seasons of the critically-acclaimed series Snowfall. His breakthrough role landed him other opportunities including The Twilight Zone, Black Mirror, Farming and Netflixs Outside the Wire.

Sweeney sealed her stardom in 2021 with major roles in the hit HBO miniseries, The White Lotus, and Amazons sexy psychological thriller, The Voyeurs. She also filmed the hotly anticipated second season of Euphoria, which drops in January. On top of all that, Sweeney also started her own production company.

Bay Area-rapper Saweetie had landed three Top 40 hits in the last three years but in 2021 she earned two Grammy nods, made her debut on SNL and hosted the MTV Europe Music Awards in Hungary.

Like her, Alejandro has been on the rise for the past few years, but 2021 catapulted him into another level of success  five songs in the top 50, sold out shows and Grammy recognition. "This year has been my best, and I hope the next one surpasses this one, he says, something his other nominees might agree with.

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For more on APs 2021 class of Breakthrough Entertainers, please visit: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-breakthrough-entertainers
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) recently announced that Marvin D. Actkinson of Sudan, who died during the Korean War, has been accounted for.

Army Cpl. Actkinson, 18, was officially accounted for on Oct. 1. He was a member of Company B, 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division in late 1950. He was reported missing in action on Dec. 2, 1950 after his unit was attacked by enemy forces as they attempted to withdraw near the Chosin Reservoir, North Korea.
(Bloomberg) -- Kim Kardashian West is one step closer to becoming a lawyer, announcing on Monday that she passed the California First-Year Law Students' Examination, colloquially known as the Baby Bar.

The test is one of two required for applicants attending an unaccredited law school or who are learning through an apprenticeship with Law Office Study Program, according to the State Bar of California. Only 20.7% of the 275 people who took the exam in June passed, the latest test for which data is available.

The reality star and founder of KKW Beauty and the intimates brand Skims said on Twitter that she took the exam four times in two years. For anyone who doesnt know my law school journey, know this wasnt easy or handed to me, she wrote in a thread on Twitter. I was told by top lawyers that this was a close to impossible journey and harder than the traditional law school route.

Kardashian West, who filed for divorce from rapper and designer Kanye West in February, has been steadily building her resume as a champion for criminal-justice reform. She visited the Trump-era White House several times, including a June 2019 visit advocating for second chance hiring and reentry programs for formerly incarcerated people. In 2018, she pressed publicly for the release of Alice Marie Johnson, who had served nearly 22 years linked to a first-time nonviolent drug offense. President Donald Trump ultimately commuted Johnsons sentence.

In her announcement, Kardashian West thanked CNN host Van Jones, her professors at Bar Bri Law School, and lawyers Jessica Jackson and Erin Haney for their support. She also reminisced about her late father, attorney Robert Kardashian, Sr., who worked on O.J. Simpsons defense team.

My dad would be so proud, Kardashian West said, adding he wouldve been my best study partner. I am told he was notorious for making fun of people who didnt pass on their first attempt like him, but he wouldve been my best cheerleader!

In addition to her political advocacy, Kardashian West has partnered with Buried Alive Project co-founder Brittany K. Barnett and The Decarceration Collective founder MiAngel Cody to push for the release of at least 17 other incarcerated people through their 90 Days of Freedom campaign.

In May 2019, Matthew Charles, one of the 17 people whose sentences were commuted, said Kardashian West had pledged to pay his rent for five years after he struggled to find permanent housing. A 2018 study by the Prison Policy Initiative found that 570 out of every 10,000 formerly incarcerated people were housing-insecure, while 203 out of every 10,000 were houseless.

Our relationships with our clients dont end when they are freed, Barnett told CNN that year, adding that Kardashian West is truly dedicated to the issue. I work personally with her, we are really grateful.

2021 Bloomberg L.P.
Courtesy, UTSA

On Saturday, December 11, UTSA graduates Rene Neira and Melanie Salazar earned their bachelors' degrees. But this wasn't ordinary college friends collecting their diplomas  they're family. Neira and Salazar are the grandfather-granddaughter duo who warmed hearts in 2016 when they went viral and landed a Buzzfeed feature after earning their associates degrees from Palo Alto College.

At the time, Salazar told MySA her grandpa enrolled at St. Mary's University in the 1950s, but eventually dropped out to focus on raising a family with her grandma.
Gonzalo Fuentes/AP

BERLIN (AP)  The European Union should slap sanctions on Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik for his efforts to get Serb-dominated areas in Bosnia to secede from the Balkan country, Germany's new foreign minister said Monday.

Annalena Baerbock, who took office last week, told reporters in Brussels that the situation in Bosnia-Herzegovina was worrying and the Bosnian Serb secession attempts were unacceptable.
One year ago, the biggest vaccination drive in American history began with a flush of excitement in an otherwise gloomy December. Trucks loaded with freezer-packed vials of a COVID-19 vaccine that had proved wildly successful in clinical trials fanned out across the land, bringing shots that many hoped would spell the end of the crisis.

That hasnt happened. A year later, too many Americans remain unvaccinated and too many are dying.

The nations COVID-19 death toll stands at around 800,000 as the anniversary of the U.S. vaccine rollout arrives. A year ago it stood at 300,000. An untold number of lives, perhaps tens of thousands, have been saved by vaccination. But what might have been a time to celebrate a scientific achievement is fraught with discord and mourning.

National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins said scientists and health officials may have underestimated how the spread of misinformation could hobble the astounding achievement of the vaccines.

Deaths continue ... most of them unvaccinated, most of the unvaccinated because somebody somewhere fed them information that was categorically wrong and dangerous, Collins said.

Developed and rolled out at blistering speed, the vaccines have proved incredibly safe and highly effective at preventing deaths and hospitalizations. Unvaccinated people have a 14 times higher risk of dying compared to fully vaccinated people, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated based on available data from September.

Their effectiveness has held up for the most part, allowing schools to reopen, restaurants to welcome diners and families to gather for the holidays. At last count, 95% of Americans 65 and older had had at least one shot.

In terms of scientific, public health and logistical achievements, this is in the same category as putting a man on the moon, said Dr. David Dowdy, an infectious-disease epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

The vaccines first year has been rocky with the disappointment of breakthrough infections, the political strife over mandates and, now, worries about whether the mutant omicron will evade protection.

Despite all that, Dowdy said, were going to look back and say the vaccines were a huge success story.

On the very day that an eager nation began rolling up its sleeves, Dec. 14, 2020, the U.S. death toll from COVID-19 hit 300,000. And deaths were running at an average of more than 2,500 a day and rising fast, worse than what the country witnessed during the harrowing spring of 2020, when New York City was the epicenter of the U.S. outbreak.

By late February total U.S. deaths had crossed 500,000, but the daily death count was plummeting from the horrible heights of early January. With hopes rising in early March, some states began reopening, lifting mask mandates and limits on indoor dining. Former President Donald Trump assured his supporters during a Fox News interview that the vaccine was safe and urged them to get it.

But by June, with the threat from COVID-19 seemingly fading, demand for vaccines had slipped and states and companies had turned to incentives to try to restore interest in vaccination.

It was too little, too late. Delta, a highly contagious mutated form of coronavirus, had silently arrived and had begun to spread quickly, finding plenty of unvaccinated victims.

You have to be almost perfect almost all the time to beat this virus, said Andrew Noymer, a public health professor at the University of California, Irvine. The vaccine alone is not causing the pandemic to crash back to Earth.

One of the great missed opportunities of the COVID-19 pandemic is the shunning of vaccination by many Americans.

This fall, Rachel McKibbens, 45, lost her father and brother to COVID-19. Both had refused the protection of vaccination because they believed false conspiracy theories that the shots contained poison.

What an embarrassment of a tragedy, McKibbens said. It didnt have to be this way.

More than 228,500 Americans have died from COVID-19 since April 19, the date when all U.S. adults were eligible to be vaccinated. Thats about 29% of the count since the first U.S. coronavirus deaths were recorded in February 2020, according to an Associated Press analysis.

In all, two states  Florida and Texas  contributed more than 52,000 deaths since that date. Alaska, Hawaii, Oregon, Wyoming and Idaho also saw outsize death tolls after mid-April.

Red states were more likely than blue states to have greater than average death tolls since then.

I see the U.S. as being in camps, Noymer said. The vaccines have become a litmus test for trust in government.

Wyoming and West Virginia, the states with the highest vote percentages for Donald Trump in 2016, have recorded about 50% of their total COVID-19 deaths since all adults were declared eligible for the vaccine in those states. In Oklahoma, nearly 60% of COVID-19 deaths occurred after all adults were vaccine-eligible.

There are exceptions: Notably, Hawaii and Oregon are the only Joe Biden-supporting states where more than half of the COVID-19 deaths came after shots were thrown open to all adults. North Dakota and South Dakota  both ardent Trump states  have kept their share of deaths after the vaccine became available across the board to under 25%.

California has seen more than 15,000 COVID-19 deaths since the state opened eligibility to all adults in mid-April. McKibbens father and brother died in Santa Ana, California, in their shared home.

McKibbens pieced together what happened from text messages on her brothers phone. Some of the texts she read after his death, including back-and-forth messages with a cousin who cited TikTok as the source of bad advice.

My brother did not seek medical attention for my dad, keeping him lying on his back, even as his breathing began to sound like a broken-down motor, said McKibbens, who lives across the country in Rochester, New York.

Her father, Pete Camacho, died Oct. 22 at age 67. McKibbens flew to California to help with arrangements.

Her brother was sick, too, but he refused to let me into the house because he said I shed coronavirus because I was vaccinated, McKibbens recalled. It was a strange new belief I had never heard before.

A friend found her brothers body after noticing food deliveries untouched on the porch. Peter Camacho, named for his father, died Nov. 8 at age 44.

For me to have lost two-thirds of my family, it just levels you, McKibbens said.

Important advice came too late for some. Seven months pregnant and unvaccinated, Tamara Alves Rodriguez tested positive for the coronavirus Aug. 9. Two days later, with many pregnant women falling seriously ill, U.S. health officials strengthened their guidance to urge all mothers-to-be to get vaccinated.

Rodriguez had tried to get vaccinated weeks earlier but was told at a pharmacy she needed authorization from her doctor. She never returned, said her sister, Tanya Alves of Weston, Florida.

Six days after testing positive, Rodriguez had to have a breathing tube inserted down her throat at a hospital near her home in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Her baby girl was delivered by emergency cesarean section Aug. 16.

The young mother never held her child. Rodriguez died Oct. 30 at age 24. She left behind her husband, two other children and an extended family.

Her children ask for her constantly, Alves said. I literally feel like a piece of me has been ripped out of me and even those words arent enough to describe it.

She urges others to get vaccinated: If you would know the terror of being hospitalized or having a loved one there ... if people would know, they would be afraid of this instead of fearing the vaccine.

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AP data journalist Angeliki Kastanis and AP medical writer Lauran Neergaard contributed.

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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
MAYFIELD, Ky. (AP)  Residents of Kentucky counties where tornadoes killed dozens of people could be without heat, water or electricity in frigid temperatures for weeks or longer, state officials warned Monday, as the toll of damage and deaths came into clearer focus in five states slammed by the swarm of twisters.

Kentucky authorities said the sheer level of destruction was hindering their ability to tally the damage from Friday night's storms. At least 88 people  including 74 in Kentucky  were killed by the tornado outbreak that also destroyed a nursing home in Arkansas, heavily damaged an Amazon distribution center in Illinois and spread its deadly effects into Tennessee and Missouri.

In Kentucky, as searches continued for those still missing, efforts also turned to repairing the power grid, sheltering those whose homes were destroyed and delivering drinking water and other supplies.

Were not going to let any of our families go homeless," Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said in announcing that lodges in state parks were being used to provide shelter.

In Mayfield, one of the hardest hit towns, those who survived faced a high in the 50s and a low below freezing Monday without any utilities.

Our infrastructure is so damaged. We have no running water. Our water tower was lost. Our wastewater management was lost, and theres no natural gas to the city. So we have nothing to rely on there, Mayfield Mayor Kathy Stewart ONan said on CBS Mornings. So that is purely survival at this point for so many of our people.

Across the state, about 26,000 homes and businesses were without electricity, according to poweroutage.us, including nearly all of those in Mayfield. More than 10,000 homes and businesses have no water, and another 17,000 are under boil-water advisories, Kentucky Emergency Management Director Michael Dossett told reporters.

Kentucky was the worst hit by far in the cluster of twisters across several states, remarkable because they came at a time of year when cold weather normally limits tornadoes. At least 74 people died in the state, Beshear said Monday, offering the first specific count of the dead.

In Bowling Green, Kentucky, 11 people died on the same street, including two infants found among the bodies of five relatives near a residence, Warren County coroner Kevin Kirby said.

Beshear warned that it could take days longer to pin down the full death toll, with door-to-door searches impossible in some places.

With this amount of damage and rubble, it may be a week or even more before we have a final count on the number of lost lives, the governor said.

Initially as many as 70 people were feared dead in the Mayfield Consumer Products candle factory, but the company said Sunday that eight deaths were confirmed and eight people remained missing, while more than 90 others had been located. Bob Ferguson, a spokesman for the company, said many employees gathered in a tornado shelter, then left the site and were hard to reach because phone service was out.

On Monday evening, Louisville Emergency Management Director E.J. Meiman said at a news conference that the company indicated everyone in the building during the storm had been accounted for.

We have a high level of confidence that nobody is left in this building, Meiman said. He added the death toll from the factory has not changed.

Debris from destroyed buildings and shredded trees covered the ground in Mayfield, a city of about 10,000 in western Kentucky. Twisted sheet metal, downed power lines and wrecked vehicles lined the streets. Windows were blown out and roofs torn off the buildings that were still standing.

Five twisters hit Kentucky in all, including one with an extraordinarily long path of about 200 miles (322 kilometers), authorities said.

In addition to the deaths in Kentucky, the tornadoes also killed at least six people in Illinois, where the Amazon distribution center in Edwardsville was hit; four in Tennessee; two in Arkansas, where the nursing home was destroyed and the governor said workers shielded residents with their own bodies; and two in Missouri.

The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced Monday that it has opened an investigation into the collapse of the Amazon warehouse in Illinois.

Amazons Kelly Nantel said the Illinois warehouse was constructed consistent with code. Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker said there would be an investigation into updating code given serious change in climate that we are seeing across the country that appears to factor into stronger tornadoes.

Not far from Mayfield, 67 people spent Sunday night at a church serving as a shelter in Wingo, and 40 more were expected to arrive Monday. Organizers were working to find a mobile outdoor shower facility and a laundry truck, expecting many of the displaced to need a long-term place to stay. Volunteers were scrambling to meet more immediate needs, too, such as underwear and socks.

Lifelong Mayfield resident Cynthia Gargis, 51, is staying with her daughter after the storm tore off the front of her apartment and sucked out almost everything inside. She came to the shelter to offer help and visit with friends who lost their homes.

I dont know, I dont see how well ever get over this, she said. It wont ever be the same.

Glynda Glover, 82, said she had no idea how long she would stay at the Wingo shelter: Her apartment is uninhabitable since the wind blew out the windows and covered her bed in glass and asphalt.

Ill stay here until we get back to whatever normal is, she said, and I dont know what normal is anymore.

On the outskirts of Dawson Springs, another town devastated by the storms, homes were reduced to rubble and trees toppled, littering the landscape for a span of at least a mile.

It looks like a bomb went off. Its just completely destroyed in areas, said Jack Whitfield Jr., the Hopkins County judge-executive.

He estimated that more than 60% of the town, including hundreds of homes, was beyond repair."

A full recovering is going to take years, he said.

Tim Morgan, a volunteer chaplain for the Hopkins County Sheriffs Department, said hes seen the aftermath of tornadoes and hurricanes before, but nothing like this.

Just absolute decimation. There is an entire hillside of houses that are 3 feet tall now, he said.

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Schreiner reported from Dawson Springs, Kentucky. Associated Press writers Kristin Hall in Mayfield; Seth Borenstein, Zeke Miller and Dino Hazell in Washington; Travis Loller in Nashville, Tennessee; Rebecca Reynolds in Louisville, Kentucky, Jonathan Drew in Durham, North Carolina, and John Raby in Charleston, West Virginia, contributed.
Marc Piasecki/Getty Images

It appears San Antonio will soon be home to a stand-alone fragrance and beauty boutique by renowned French fashion brand Chanel. Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation records show a 1,600-square-foot boutique at The Shops at La Cantera is set to become the Chanel store.

Representatives for Brookfield Properties, the owners of the outdoor mall, were not immediately available to return requests for comment, but records show the Chanel Fragrance and Beauty store is expected to be complete by May 31, 2022. An opening date is not available.
U.S. flight attendants are calling on airports to limit passengers access to alcohol before flights, saying the free flow of liquor is fueling clashes once planes are in the air.

Weve seen an increase in the pushing of alcohol to try and get sales up, Association of Flight Attendants president Sara Nelson said, citing data showing the number of incidents soaring. Airports are sending the wrong message about people drinking right up to the second they get on the plane, and even that they can take that alcohol onto the plane.

While a zero-tolerance policy and improved messaging have had some impact slowing a surge in in-flight disruptions, airports have failed to discourage excessive drinking, Nelson said at a International Air Transport Association conference last week. Southwest Airlines Co. and American Airlines Group Inc. have banned on-board alcohol sales to economy passengers through at least January after lobbying from groups including the AFA.

The comments from Nelson, whose group represents U.S. cabin crews, may help to further efforts to limit to-go alcohol sales at airports. Federal Aviation Administration chief Steve Dickson and Representative Peter DeFazio of Oregon have called on airport bars to stop selling such drinks for takeaway.

In the U.S., outbreaks of inflight violence and unruly behavior during the pandemic have focused on compulsory wearing of face masks.

Almost three-quarters of the more than 5,300 unruly-passenger reports logged by the FAA through Nov. 23 were mask-related. More than 1,000 cases were serious enough to warrant a formal investigation, up from about 140 a year pre-pandemic.

Drinking has the effect of emboldening people who resent being compelled to don a face covering to escalate their opposition into outright confrontation, Nelson said.

Constant Bickering

Even those who might be inclined to comply with instructions like mask wearing have a harder time actually complying when theyre having that alcohol, she said.

A complete ban on alcohol is unlikely, given the importance of food and beverage sales at airports. Retail sales at airports totaled $27.6 billion globally in 2019, according to an Allied Market Research report.

In a November commentary published in USA Today, Christopher Bidwell, senior vice president for the Airports Council International - North America lobby group, pointed to FAA data showing alcohol is a factor in only 6% of incidents. He called for extra vigilance at boarding gates and greater sharing of information to clamp down on unruly behavior.

The FAA last month proposed fining eight passengers more than $161,000 for alleged alcohol-related misbehavior, saying the rate of unruliness remains too high.

In an incident last week, a drunken passenger assaulted a flight attendant and injured a federal air marshal on a Delta Air Lines Inc. flight, the Washington Post reported.

These events are out of control, disrupting travel and putting everyone at risk, Nelson said. The freedom of flight comes with an agreement to follow the rules.

Mask Politics

While pushback against the mask rules isnt confined to the U.S., a survey of 4,700 passengers in 11 countries showed that 85% supported compulsory mask wearing, said Tim Coleman, IATAs assistant director for external affairs.

With views on the virus polarized, U.S. flight attendants are seeing a greater amount of conflict come out of places where those leaders are giving a different message, that masks are not needed, AFAs Nelson said.
Days after Papa's Burgers was threatened with legal action unless it changed its name, the popular San Antonio burger joint has a new look. The nationally renowned eatery will now be known as The Good News Burgers, a brand change owner Robert Walker must make across his two restaurants by July 1, 2022.

Walker says the new name is an homage to his family's Christian faith and values, which includes sharing the good news  or "talking about Jesus Christ."

"Everything that helps us get through these difficult situations is the good news," Walker says.

Mike Sutter/Staff

The name change comes after Houston-based Pappa's Burgers sent a cease-and-desist letter to Papa's Burgers last week. Walker says he had a one-on-one conversation with Pappas Restaurant Group's attorneys without his own legal counsel present because he wanted them to know that "it was a person that they were contending with and not a corporation."

Pappas agreed to give Walker six months to change over because he has contracts with vendors for items with the current Papa's Burgers branding, like cups.

Walker says locals will notice the name change to Good News Burgers at his two locations over the next few months, but signage will also say "formerly known as Papa's Burgers" to help customers with the transition. But in July 2022 Walker has to do away with the "formerly known" tag.

Walker says he is planning on opening a third location somewhere on Potranco, which will open under the new name.

He says Pappas' attorneys have agreed and have already sent over paperwork for him to sign.

"You know what? We're going to look for good news now," Walker says. "And we're going to look for something greater."

Walker is already taking steps to protect this namesake, having filed for federal level trademark protection. He also plans of registering the name at the state level and filing for a DBA at the local level.
Erik Charles Maund, whose family runs Volkswagen and Toyota dealerships in and around Austin, has been charged for allegedly hiring hit men to kidnap and kill his former girlfriend and her boyfriend, federal prosecutors stated in a news release on Monday, December 13. The three-count federal indictment comes 21 months after the brutal murders of Nashvillians Holly Williams, 33, and William Lanway, 36.

Maund, 46, has been indicted on charges that he paid a purported former Israeli soldier and two ex-Marines $750,000 to kill the victims in March 2020, according to a release from the Nashville Police Department. In early February 2020, Maund emailed Williams, with whom he had a prior relationship, to see her during his visit to Nashville, the indictment state.

Nashville Police Department

After his visit on March 1, 2020, Maund, who is married, received a series of text messages from Lanway, who had a romantic relationship with Williams. Lanway had demanded payment and threatened to expose Maund's "relationship" with Williams if he did not receive it, the indictment stated.

Maund then allegedly enlisted three men to deal with the threats: Gilad Peled, a former member of the Israeli Defense Forces from Austin; Bryon Brockway, a former active-duty U.S. Marine from Austin; and Adam Carey, from North Carolina, also a former active-duty Marine.

It is believed that Peled, Brockway, and Carey traveled out of state to Nashville to surveil Williams and Lanway, the release noted. The trio used a Pinger account to communicate with the alleged couple.

On March 12, 2020, Brockway and Carey confronted Williams and Lanway in the parking lot of Williams' apartment complex in West Nashville and murdered Lanway by shooting him multiple times, according to the indictment.

Nashville Police Department

They then kidnapped Williams and drove her and the body of Lanway to a construction site on Old Hickory Boulevard in West Nashville, where they murdered Williams by shooting her several times. The bodies were then discarded at the construction site and within hours of the murders, the Pinger account used to communicate was deleted and a rental car rented by Brockway was returned.

The indictment also alleges that since March 11, 2020, Maund transferred in excess of $750,000, via wire, from his bank account to an account controlled by Peled, as payment to the three men for the kidnapping and murders of Williams and Lanway.

According to the release, Maund and the three alleged hit men have all been charged in a three-count indictment with conspiracy to commit kidnapping; kidnapping resulting in death; and carrying, brandishing, and discharging a firearm during a violent crime, prosecutors said.

If convicted, the defendants face up to life in prison.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP)  California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Saturday pledged to empower private citizens to enforce a ban on the manufacture and sale of assault weapons in the state, citing the same authority claimed by conservative lawmakers in Texas to outlaw most abortions once a heartbeat is detected.

California has banned the manufacture and sale of many assault-style weapons for decades. A federal judge overturned that ban in June, ruling it was unconstitutional and drawing the ire of the state's Democratic leaders by comparing the popular AR-15 rifle to a Swiss Army knife as good for both home and battle. California's ban remained in place while the state appealed.

Meanwhile, Republican lawmakers in Texas this year passed a law banning abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected, which normally occurs at about six weeks into pregnancy. The Texas law allows private citizens to enforce the ban, empowering them to sue abortion clinics and anyone else who aids and abets with the procedure.

Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court allowed the Texas law to remain in effect while abortion clinics sue to block it. That decision incensed Newsom, a Democrat who supports abortion rights.

If states can now shield their laws from review by the federal courts that compare assault weapons to Swiss Army knives, then California will use that authority to protect people's lives, where Texas used it to put women in harm's way, Newsom said in a statement released by his office at 7 p.m. on Saturday.

Newsom said he has directed his staff to work with the state's Legislature and its Democratic attorney general to pass a law that would let private citizens sue to enforce California's ban on assault weapons. Newsom said people who sue could win up to $10,000 per violation plus other costs and attorneys fees against anyone who manufactures, distributes, or sells an assault weapon in California.

If the most efficient way to keep these devastating weapons off our streets is to add the threat of private lawsuits, we should do just that, Newsom said.

The legal fight over the Texas abortion law has focused on its unusual structure and whether it improperly limits how the law can be challenged in court. Texas lawmakers handed responsibility for enforcing the law to private citizens, rather than state officials.

The case raised a complex set of issues about who, if anyone, can sue over the law in federal court, the typical route for challenges to abortion restrictions.

Newsom's gun proposal would first have to pass Californias state Legislature before it could become law. The Legislature is not in session now and is scheduled to reconvene in January. It usually takes about eight months for new bills to pass the Legislature, barring special circumstances.

State Sen. Brian Dahle, a Republican from Bieber, would oppose the plan but predicted it could probably pass California's Democratic-dominated state Legislature. He said the proposal was most likely a stunt for Newsom to win favor with his progressive base of voters ahead of a possible run for president in the future.

The right to bear arms is different than the right to have an abortion. The right to have an abortion is not a constitutional amendment. So I think hes way off base, Dahle said. I think he's just using it as an opportunity to grandstand.

But Newsom's Saturday night declaration is a fulfilled prophecy for some gun rights groups who had predicted progressive states would attempt to use Texas' abortion law to restrict access to guns. That's why the Firearms Policy Coalition, a nonprofit group that advocates for gun rights, filed a brief with the U.S. Supreme Court opposing the Texas law.

"If Texas succeeds in its gambit here, New York, California, New Jersey, and others will not be far behind in adopting equally aggressive gambits to not merely chill but to freeze the right to keep and bear arms," attorney Erik Jaffe wrote on behalf of the Firearms Policy Coalition.
The US press and some wannabe pundits are keeping up the happy talk on Omicron as more and more contradictory evidence is coming in on case severity. Remember as we stressed the baselines are questionable since outside the UKs REACT surveys, no one has a very good handle on the total level of Covid cases, since asymptomatic cases are seldom caught. And its not as if asymptomatic cases are harmless. One large-scale study, through February 2021, estimated that 20% of asymptomatic Covid cases result in long Covid. And thats pre the more aggressively-replicating Delta became dominant.

There was reason to regard the cheery take that Omicron cases werent showing up as severe as premature. Lets start with how long the lag between disease appearance and first deaths was at the get go:

As for how lethal Omicron might be, consider this. 1st Wave gap btwn 1st case & 1st fatality (official)

DE: 42 (28 Jan; 10 Mar)

FR: 22 (24 Jan; 15 Feb)

UK: 36 (01 Feb; 07 Mar)

US: 40 (20 Jan; 29 Feb) Little triage/medicine, no vaccine & yet >1 month for 1st fatality  Omicron News (@OmicronFacts) December 13, 2021

And for the subsequent waves, weve seen other patterns that lead to underestimation of severity. First, thats the story at the start of every big Covid wave. Young people, who have more robust immune systems, get most of the early cases because they are generally much more social as well as often less rigorous about self-protection. Second, hospitalizations and deaths trail infections. Third, for South Africa in particular, its population is young (average age 27 versus 37 in the US and over 40 in the UK), which will somewhat blunt worst outcomes.

As we know, Omicron is mighty contagious, so even less severe cases with many more infection can well yield hospital system collapse, but the claim that Omicron aint all that bad is not proven in RSA:

COVID19 hospitalization spikes 2-3 weeks into case surge. South Africa (particularly Gauteng) is seeing a hospital/ICU admission spike (Weeks 47/48 in chart are 22 Nov-5 Dec). >70% of their cases are Omicron; foolish to claim that no Omicron patients are in hospitals/ICUs pic.twitter.com/Egxiz83tcJ  Omicron News (@OmicronFacts) December 13, 2021

And we have disconcerting data from Denmark, which does a good job of reporting:

Todays omicron report from Denmark compares % of cases that require hospitalization for delta vs omicron. It is HIGHER for omicron, and most of Denmarks omicron cases were just diagnosed, meaning insufficient time has passed to require hospitalization:https://t.co/ZstMAZZ2bd pic.twitter.com/Ln3Rq7roJI  Nurit Baytch (@NuritBaytch) December 13, 2021

heres the age distribution of omicron cases in Denmark. they skew young, so this raises questions about what will happen when omicron spreads to the elderly:https://t.co/ZstMAZZ2bd pic.twitter.com/XBa19qaV5k  Nurit Baytch (@NuritBaytch) December 13, 2021

77% of Denmarks population is fully vaccinated and 22% boosted.

With the rise of Omicron, we have also seen something of a revival of the meme that Covid is no worse than the flu in our comments section. I suspect thats being touted around the Web as part of an informal campaign to preserve holiday spending festivities. So we again need to remind readers that the downside of Covid doesnt come only from dying or being hospitalized. Unlike the flu, it can and often does wreck all sorts of havoc on a disconcertingly wide range of functions.

At least long Covid is getting more attention, but like chronic fatigue syndrome and advanced Lyme disease, those who dont have it likely find it hard to relate to how debilitating it is. Due to the very wide range of symptoms, its proven difficult to nail down. And a second issue that affects Covid research generally is the time needed to organize and execute a study, vet the data, write a paper and have it accepted for publication. Its easily a year lag, which means that the vetted studies are nearly all pre-Delta, for instance.

Nevertheless, a study from February 2020 to February 2021 estimated that 20% of asymptomatic cases resulted in long Covid. A metastudy by the Pennsylvania College of Medicine concluded that half of those who contracted Covid had gotten long Covid. From their writeup:

More than half of the 236 million people who have been diagnosed with COVID-19 worldwide since December 2019 will experience post-COVID symptoms  more commonly known as long COVID  up to six months after recovering. .survivors experienced an array of residual health issues associated with COVID-19. Generally, these complications affected a patients general well-being, their mobility or organ systems. Overall, one in two survivors experienced long-term COVID manifestations. The rates remained largely constant from one month through six or more months after their initial illness. The investigators noted several trends among survivors, such as:

General well-being: More than half of all patients reported weight loss, fatigue, fever or pain.

Mobility: Roughly one in five survivors experienced a decrease in mobility.

Neurologic concerns: Nearly one in four survivors experienced difficulty concentrating.

Mental health disorders: Nearly one in three patients were diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorders.

Lung abnormalities: Six in ten survivors had chest imaging abnormality and more than a quarter of patients had difficulty breathing.

Cardiovascular issues: Chest pain and palpitations were among the commonly reported conditions.

Skin conditions: Nearly one in five patients experienced hair loss or rashes.

Digestive issues:Stomach pain, lack of appetite, diarrhea and vomiting were among the commonly reported conditions.

The research on whether vaccines prevent long Covid is mixed. From a late November article in Nature:

Vaccines reduce the risk of long COVID by lowering the chances of contracting COVID-19 in the first place. But for those who do experience a breakthrough infection, studies suggest that vaccination might only halve the risk of long COVID  or have no effect on it at all At present, public-health officials are flying blind when it comes to long COVID and vaccination. Although vaccines greatly reduce the rates of serious illness and death caused by COVID-19, they are not as effective at completely preventing the disease, and long COVID can arise even after a mild or asymptomatic coronavirus infection. Countries with high infection rates could still end up with many cases of long COVID, even if nations have high rates of vaccination.

IM Doc is reporting even more collateral damage. From a recent e-mail:

Other than the immediate post-SARS issues related to the lungs  which if the patient survives seems to be improving in most people, the vascular issues (MIs, DVTs, PEs, CVAs many weeks and months later) and the brain issues are by far and away the most important. Brain fog, depression, memory loss are the most common with brain function. I am now also seeing highly advanced intellectual people being forced to quit their jobs. They no longer have the attention span nor the ability to do their work. In the past month, a nuclear physicist and a climatologist, both in their late 50s, have both told me they can no longer evaluate datasets and do calculations correctly, and will be retiring in the near future. Another concerning thing I am beginning to hear from my oncology friends is the absolute explosion of soft tissue cancers that are happening. This is especially true of malignant melanoma and renal cell carcinoma. One of my oncology colleagues noted to me the other day that he found it very troubling that these two in particular were going parabolic  the two soft tissue cancers whose etiology most have to do with a disordered immune system. Lymph tumors like lymphoma and myeloma are also apparently going off the charts as well. The media seems to be content informing everyone this is happening because of a delay in diagnosis [due to lockdowns]. I could see validity in that a year ago. Now, that supposition is just sheer lunacy. My own office is crawling with in-person visits. The tele-visits for the most part are over and really only used for acute COVID and lab results and long distance patients.

GM added:

This was predicted already last year when it became clear what the virus does to T cells. You go through a large T-cell exhaustion and derangement event and then you have fewer of them to monitor your own cells for malignancies. Thus one of the key mechanisms through which the body cleanses itself of tumors is diminished. An aged immune system is not so good with dealing with them, which is one reason (along with the sheer accumulation of mutations over time) why old people get cancer so much more frequently. Well, the virus directly causes derangement of cellular immunity so logically it should also cause an explosion in cancers. If what your are seeing is confirmed as a trend, and if its these two types specifically that are exploding that is quite solid supporting evidence, then that hypothesis will turn out to be have been correct.

So dont kid yourself. Mask up. Ventilate. Be very discriminating as to who you see over the holidays, and use every excuse to have it be outdoors if the weather is at all accommodating. Better to be a Scrooge this year and have more happy and healthy Christmases down the road.
My position with Nashville Post has evolved since 2000 when I began work with the now-defunct The City Paper. TCP became a Post sister pub in 2008 (when I began some Post work) and folded in 2013. I have worked mainly with the Post since late 2011.

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(Natural News) It took Colorado Democratic Gov. Jared Polis a while  a long while  but he has finally come to his senses about the COVID-19 pandemic.

As Dr. Anthony Fauci and crew have made clear, were never not going to have some variant of the virus floating around in our air; the latest one, omicron, is a perfect example. And on cue, some Democratic governors like Kathy Hochul in New York have already declared an emergency and implemented more strict mandates on masking and vaccines.

Polis used to be that guy as well. For a year-and-a-half, he fell for the bend the curve lie and implemented lockdowns followed by the same ineffective mandates that have not worked to stop the spread of any COVID variant.

So hes taking the approach of Govs. Ron DeSantis in Florida, Mike Parson in Missouri, and other red-state governors and ending the goofy emergency while allowing residents of his state to decide what they want to do in response to the pandemic.

Everybody had more than enough opportunity to get vaccinated, Polis told Colorado Public Radio on Friday. Hopefully its been at your pharmacy, your grocery store, a bus near you, [or at] big events. At this point, if you havent been vaccinated, its really your own darn fault.

Those who get sick, its almost entirely their own darn fault, he continued. I dont want to say that nobody [will get the virus if theyre] vaccinated, but its very rare. Just to put it in perspective, of the about 1400 people hospitalized, less than 200 (or 16 percent) are vaccinated. And many of them are older or have other conditions. Eighty-four percent of the people in our hospitals are unvaccinated, and they absolutely had every chance to get vaccinated.

And at this point, I think its almost like they made a deliberate decision not to get vaccinated, he added. I still encourage everybody who hasnt been vaccinated to get protected. And for those who are, make sure to get that booster after six months. The data shows its important and very likely even more so with this omicron variant.

He also said he will leave it up to local jurisdictions how those elected leaders want to handle mandates, vaccine rules and so forth.

The emergency is over, he said. You know, public health [officials] dont get to tell people what to wear; thats just not their job. Public health [officials] would say to always wear a mask because it decreases flu and decreases [other airborne illnesses]. But thats not something that you require; you dont tell people what to wear. You dont tell people to wear a jacket when they go out in winter and force them to [wear it]. If they get frostbite, its their own darn fault.

If you havent been vaccinated, thats your choice. I respect that. But its your fault when youre in the hospital with COVID, he said.

The governor went on to say he believes there is an alternate misinformation universe feeding into those who have decided against taking the vaccine.

There are people that believe you and I are part of some massive conspiracy, Ryan, he said to Colorado Matters host Ryan Warner. Some of them believe there is no COVID; some of them believe the vaccine doesnt work; some believe that the vaccine has severe side effects.

The truth is theyre in their own bubble, and its very hard to penetrate, Polis observed.

The governors remarks come as a number of areas in the state including the metropolitan regions of Denver require residents to vax or mask  an order to businesses to require patrons to provide proof of vaccination or wear a mask while inside.

We agree  but the misinformation isnt coming from our side. We are the truth-tellers, in fact, and have been throughout this mess.

Read more on this topic at Pandemic.news.

Sources include:

RepublicBrief.com

AmericanWireNews.com

NaturalNews.com
(Natural News) As Joe Bidens and Kamala Harris poll numbers sink to pathetically low levels and Democrats face a red-wave wash-out during next years midterm elections, the party has got to get creative in order to continue to win elections and stay relevant.

To do that, Democrats are switching tactics somewhat: Rather than run candidates who are overtly far left and uber-liberal, the party is turning to stealth Marxists like a gubernatorial candidate running next year in Illinois.

The Washington Free Beacon reports:

A venture capitalist running in Illinoiss Republican gubernatorial primary is a relative newcomer to the right. Fifteen years ago, Jesse Sullivan founded a self-described social justice magazine that has defended riots and abortion.

Sullivan, a political neophyte who ran a San Francisco-based nonprofit before launching his gubernatorial bid in early September, founded the magazine One World in 2006 while a student at St. Louis University.

The publication had financial support from left-wing groups like the Center for American Progress, whose goal was to counter the growing influence of right-wing groups on campus. In the years that followed, One World published articles Dismissing riots in Ferguson, Mo., as the work of a few troublemakers amid an entire crowd. Four years later, in 2018, the magazine Expressed Support for the legal right to choose to have an abortion.

So in other words, Sullivan isnt even a RINO, hes a far-left Marxist, flat-out, which puts him squarely in the Democrats camp.

The GOP gubernatorial primary is already heating up in the Land of Lincoln, as three other Republican contenders have announced they plan to try and unseat Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker; the Free Beacon reports that an early GOP favorite is state Sen. Darren Bailey. As for Sullivan, hes trying to put some distance between the magazine and himself in laying out a campaign strategy focused on improving public safety and the right to life.

According to a Sullivan campaign spokesman who spoke to the outlet, the Illinois Republican founded the magazine when he was in college doing humanitarian work, even though Sullivan remained on its masthead as the magazines visionary for years after his graduation  a fact that the spokesman dismissed as a role coming with zero involvement or editorial oversight.

Then again, Sullivans involvement seems to have endured; he headlined the magazines 10-year anniversary at a 2016 event, though the spokesman claimed he only appeared as a courtesy.

The suggestion that Jesse agrees with the viewpoints of a magazine he has had nothing to do with, is laughable, Sullivans campaign said in a statement. Lets get back to the issues at hand and leave the cancel culture to the liberals and political hacks.

Yes, lets, as the Free Beacon notes further:

Since launching his campaign, Sullivan has voiced a number of views that represent an about-face from those expressed in the magazine he founded. He has blasted Democrats for turning the city of Chicago into a corrupt war zone and often emphasizes the need to back the blue, or support the police. He has also rallied supporters against the state legislatures decision to repeal a 1995 law that required parental notification when a minor child receives an abortion.

I am pro-life, but many of my friends in Illinois that are pro-choice agree that the extreme left has gone too far, said Sullivan in October.

Even Sullivans campaign financing has ties to the left. He announced his gubernatorial bid in September after receiving $5 million from San Fran billionaire and angel investor Chris Larsen, who also contributed $500,000 to the California Democratic Party and $250,000 to Nancy Pelosis House Majority PAC in 2021, the Free Beacon reported.

Larsen has described Sullivan as a bridge-builder, but again, wed call him something worse than a RINO.

Read more stories like this on BigGovernment.news.

Sources include:

WhiteHouse.gov

FreeBeacon.com
(Natural News) If data and science are really what Branch Covidians care about as they claim, then it is time for them to acknowledge that in every area of the world where Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) vaccine uptake is high, injuries and deaths are soaring.

In Singapore, for instance, where 85 percent of the entire population  children included  are now fully vaccinated, the death toll is orders of magnitude higher than ever before. The same is true in Iceland (76 percent fully vaccinated) and The Netherlands (70 percent fully vaccinated).

In Vermont, the most vaccinated state in America at 71 percent fully vaccinated (and roughly 88 percent partially vaccinated), the death toll is likewise higher than ever before  including during the peak of the plandemic.

How can this be if Fauci Flu shots are the cure that will bring us safely into the new normal? If what the government and the mainstream media have been saying is true, then the Chinese Virus should already be long gone now that herd immunity has been reached.

The fact that the opposite is true just goes to show that the narrative has failed. The jabs are clearly making people sicker, and yet the Biden regime is now pushing boosters as the solution to the problem that the initial shots created.

 it looks more and more like the harder we try to keep it from virusing, the worse the rebound, wrote Alex Berenson on his Substack blog about the utter failure of the injections to end disease and death.

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But dont worry, the boosters will fix everything! he further joked.

Still dont think these things are part of the Mark of the Beast?

Instead of relenting on their plans and going with science over politics, the Branch Covidians are doubling down on rewarding the jabbed and punishing the non-jabbed.

In Singapore, the government continues to impose ever-harsher restrictions on the unvaccinated. The same is true in Lithuania, where the unvaccinated are no longer allowed to shop even for food and other essentials, as well as in Austria, where the non-jabbed are barely allowed to live anymore.

Whats most frightening to me is that these countries are now well on their way to getting rid of their control group, which for top public health officials, including Fauci here in the U.S., is the top priority, noted one of Berensons readers in the comment section.

They realize the vaccine is not just failing to protect people from covid, it is making people very sick. The lockdowns and threats against the unvaccinated are now for one purpose: To force the remaining holdouts to get vaccinated and eliminate the control group.

In this writers opinion, this perspective is too generous. It was known since the beginning of the plandemic and even before that the Operation Warp Speed injections were not designed to heal, but rather to kill.

None of this is a surprise to those who planned this all out in the first place as it was done by design. This was never about an alleged virus or about public health; it has always been about control, genocide and the ushering in of the new one-world government and beast system that will only accept the fully vaccinated as its citizens.

It is all a Machiavellian plan, wrote another commenter. It has all been laid out from day one along with the narrative.

This is why we cannot be sheep and have to go against this. Nothing makes sense. I dont even think it is about money; it is fully about power and control.

More related news coverage about the failure of Fauci Flu shots to end covid can be found at ChemicalViolence.com.

Sources for this article include:

AlexBerenson.substack.com

NaturalNews.com
(Natural News) Citizens of South Korea are giving up their personal data and privacy in exchange for convenience, order and safety. The technology-laden smart city being built on the southern coast of the country epitomizes this daily bargain.

Children today are being born into an already digitally interconnected reality where big data and artificial intelligence will shape their everyday existence long before they are old enough to contemplate privacy or give consent.

The idea that you have any kind of anonymity is rapidly disappearing, in public spaces but also in private life. The way my kids now are being tracked, their medical information, the music they stream, what they watch, all of that is noted and recorded and accessed in different ways, said Steven Feldstein, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

The tradeoffs of these were foreshadowed by the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic when cities and countries decided on how far they can infringe on personal freedoms to protect public health.

South Koreans have a dashboard that collects and analyzes data to improve urban life. The platform was repurposed into an epidemiological tool that allowed contact tracers to target a persons cellphone location data, credit card usage and other movements in a matter of minutes.

This rapid, meticulous tracking was central to the countrys widely celebrated success at pandemic control. While the U.S. saw over 240 COVID-19 deaths for every 100,000 people, South Korea lost only eight.

Intrusive technology has become part of the new normal as the planet turns living with the virus into a reality.

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Jathan Sadowski, a research fellow in the Emerging Technologies Research Lab at Monash University in Australia, noted that the pandemic marks a real inflection point for this kind of intrusiveness.

Who decides when COVID has gone away? If its something that never really truly goes away, those technologies and those systems may never truly go away either, he said. As history shows, we very rarely go back to the moment before. Once new doors have been opened, people are reticent to close them.

The question that many citizens are facing is: How can people keep the same technology that drives the benefits of a smart city from jeopardizing civil freedoms?

ADM systems adopted with almost no transparency, adequate safeguards

Since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, the automated decision-making (ADM) systems were adopted with almost no transparency, adequate safeguards and democratic debate, according to non-profit organization AlgorithmWatch, which tracks ADM systems and their impacts on society.

The Germany-based group warned that the situation regarding ADMs is even worse than before the COVID-19 pandemic began because they now include digital contact tracing apps and digital COVID certificates. The group noted that the adoption of these tools happened fast and without any considerations of potential risks and downfalls.

It is shocking indeed to witness the same dangerous trends we documented before the pandemic  widespread opacity, insufficient democratic oversight and debate, solutionist assumptions  even when millions of lives are at stake, said Fabio Chiusi, who serves as the lead for the groups Tracing the Tracers project.

Chiusi also cautioned that the COVID-19 and mass surveillance adopted in Europe and elsewhere over the last two years are part of an unprecedented social experiment in health surveillance. He pointed that thermoscanners and surveillance cameras, assisted by drones and robots, ensure that people were social distancing and abiding by the quarantine rules and regulations. (Related: COVID tracking apps have eerie echoes of Chinese surveillance system.)

The idea that technology can be used to solve complex social issues is not a new one, but the pandemic strongly influenced how technology is applied, with much of the push coming from public health policymaking and public perceptions.

In its new report, the Tracing the Tracers project highlighted the growing divide between people who fervently defend the schemes and those who oppose them, and how fear and misinformation have influenced both sides.

The trend long precedes the pandemic, and a public health emergency may be framed  and it has been  as the perfect excuse to justify  and even worse, normalize  widespread surveillance, especially in non-democratic contexts. Whats even more worrisome is how little this has been debated in democratic countries as well, Chiusi said.

ADM-based responses helped tackle COVID-19 in South Korea, the U.S. and elsewhere, but questions still remain over whether these apps and schemes and other related algorithms help nations respond effectively.

Chiusi stressed that future deployments of such technologies must be evidence-based, transparent, clearly limited in scope and duration and should be more democratically discussed.

Read more news related to the coronavirus pandemic at Pandemic.news.

Sources include:

LATimes.com

AlJazeera.com
(Natural News) Cameroonian-American physician Dr. Stella Immanuel talked about learning to trust God in evil times with her guest Vanessa Clark during the Dec. 7 edition of Health with Dr. Stella Immanuel on Brighteon.TV.

We need to learn to trust God in these evil times. Because where we are right now, as Christians, we have to trust God, Immanuel said.

I tell doctors that I work with all the time, This is not a physical battle. This is not a medical battle. Its a spiritual battle. And when its a spiritual battle, you have to trust God. If you cannot trust God, you cannot win this battle.

Immanuel added that most of the time God works things out according to His way and we can see His hand in our life.

If you read my book, youre gonna see that I am where I am today because of years and years of Gods training. Just preparing you and maturing you, and you dont know why youre going through the things that youre going through. And they come to realize that wow, this was to build my faith. This was to show me that God is real. This was to show me that he answers prayer, Immanuel said.

The doctor from Houston, Texas also shared how she trusted God throughout her life.

One of the books that I wrote is I Trust God as my Commander in Chief. And it came from walks after work, disappointment and just little things. So as you go through these experiences, you learn to trust God, Immanuel said.

The calling that God is calling us to do right now. You have to have a trust in God to walk into it. Because were dealing with real evil. You have to know that God is real. You have to know that hes your protector, he is your banner.

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And when God draws you into this deeper place of prayer that is a training that you need. God is not going to call you to the battlefield, if the devil can take you out.

And if you dont have a deeper relationship, a deeper trust, a deeper faith [in God]  these people are demonic. Theyll take you out. But they cant take you out if you know your God. The Bible said that those who know their God, they shall do exploits. And we are doing exploits in Jesus name.

Immanuel has taken care of over 100,000 Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) patients and treated them using hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin. (Related: Dr. Stella Immanuel: Everybody needs to have hydroxychloroquine at home  Brighteon.TV.)

Only way out of pandemic is for humanity to come together

Immanuel also stressed the need to bring people in all walks of life to come together as one.

So we need to bring on believers we find. Were trying to put together a big, like, a big rally, like a protest, a big, huge rally. Its going to be in February. We want to bring people in all walks of life, Immanuel said.

Its not political its gonna be humanity against forced vaccination. Those that are vaccinated are just the prey They want to divide us into different camps of black, white, Christian, Jewish, vaccinator or vaccinated. They just want to block us and constantly keep us fighting with each other, then we cannot fight them that are the real enemy.

The globalists or the Luciferians might not even be human doing something. So we need to realize as humanity that our way out of this is to come together and realize that we have one purpose. This Earth was given to us, not to AIs [artificial intelligence] and Nephilim. And you know, Klaus Schwab says he wants everybody by like 2013, 2014 to be genetically genetic mutant or like some kind of cyborg, Immanuel said.

So they basically dont even want human beings to live on the Earth anymore. So we ask humanity to come together. And only God can win this battle, only his discernment. Only he can take the veil off the minds of people.

Immanuel had previously warned her viewers about the globalist cabals evil plan for humanity during the Sept. 8 edition of her show. She noted that hospitals that refuse to treat COVID-19 patients with the appropriate drugs were only a small part of this wicked plan.

Clark, a mother of five kids and a co-host of the Thrivetime Show podcast along with her husband Clay, added that people should look to God instead of people.

I think so many people also are looking to people. And God says you have to look to God. Thats it. So people who are looking to [Donald] Trump, people who are looking to other people they put up in these positions  you know, Gods not going to use Trump or use other people, Clark said.

Hes the thing that we need the healing, the protection, you know. Hes not the author of fear. Hes not the author of confusion. So I think so many people are wanting someone else to figure it out for them. And when things are torn down before them, they get confused.

Remember, God is not the author of confusion. You go to the Lord and He will keep you in perfect peace. And He will give wisdom and discernment about what you need to do with these decisions. But nowhere should we be putting something in our body.

Watch the full Dec. 7 episode of Health with Dr. Stella Immanuel below.



Catch the Health with Dr. Stella Immanuel every Wednesday at 5-6 p.m. on Brighteon.TV.

Follow Pandemic.news for more news related to the coronavirus pandemic.

Sources include:

Brighteon.com 1

Brighteon.com 2
(Natural News) A new analysis reveals the extraordinary left-wing bias of website ratings firm NewsGuard, which should concern every American given that it is expanding its reach into cable and broadcast TV news. Liberal outlets were rated 27 points higher on average than news organizations on the right.

(Article by Joseph Vazquez republished from NewsBusters.org)

MRC Free Speech America analyzed the NewsGuard ratings of media outlets based on a list compiled by AllSides classified by their bias on a left-to-right scale. The average NewsGuard score for the left and lean left outlets  which included leftist outlets like Jacobin and The Nation  was 93/100. While the average rating for right and lean right outlets  which included Fox News, Washington Times and New York Post  was a low 66/100. Thats a 27 point disparity.

According to NewsGuards skewed ratings, left-leaning outlets have substantially more credibility on average than right-leaning outlets.

There were 31 total outlets listed as left or lean left and 24 outlets listed as right or lean right by AllSides. AllSides included the opinion sections of news websites separately. MRC Free Speech America excluded any outlet that was characterized as opinion to keep the focus on news organizations for the analysis.

The trend is very disturbing, given that NewsGuard is reportedly expanding its partnership with IPG Mediabrands to co-create the first-ever tool to evaluate and rate individual broadcast and cable news programs and networks, according to a press release. The new rankings will encompass 117 shows on 27 networks and will launch in spring 2022.

Even the liberal Poynter Institute cited two media experts who shared praise for the stated methods for rating bias by AllSides. Poynter is the same institution that attempted to blacklist 29 conservative outlets in 2019 and is funded by prominent liberal billionaires, including George Soros and Pierre Omidyar. However, AllSides including Deseret News in its lean right list is disputed by MRC research.

The breakdown of the lists of outlets is even more revealing in terms of their individual grades. Socialist site Jacobin, scored an astonishing 92.5 by NewsGuard. The same outlet published Marxist propaganda in October headlined: Socialism Isnt Just About State Ownership  Its About Redistributing Power. In April 2020, Jacobin published a piece celebrating how [s]ocialism is back on the agenda in the United States, thank God. And todays newly minted socialists shouldnt be afraid to embrace Marxism.

By comparison, The Federalist, posted in the right AllSides list, was scored the worst with a ridiculous 12.5 on NewsGuard. A predominant reason for the abysmal rating, according to NewsGuard, was that The Federalist questioned the efficacy of mask mandates for COVID-19, even though liberal CNBC (not on the AllSides list, but has a 95 NewsGuard rating) cited a study showing that cloth masks were only 37 percent effective at filtering out virus particles. Another August preprint study did not find an association between mask mandates or use and reduced COVID-19 spread in US states.

Thats not all. The Nation, which also scored a high 92.5, is the same outlet that published a 2020 piece defending property destruction as integral to the success of a left-wing uprising following the murder of George Floyd. The piece advocated for property violence: Given that capitalism largely restricts pleasure to the consumption of goods, we should be able to entertain the idea that this taking of unnecessary thingswhile not a recognizably political actis understandable or even a [sic] justifiable. [Emphasis added.]

Leftist outlet Mother Jones even managed to secure a notable 87.5 rating by NewsGuard. In a report headlined, The medias epic fail, Axios slapped down the liberal media for pushing the discredited 2017 Steele dossier used to tie former President Donald Trump to Russia. Axios called the occurrence one of the most egregious journalistic errors in modern history, and the medias response to its own mistakes has so far been tepid. Mother Jones, one of the outlets that the FBI reportedly used to corroborate the dossier, was stiff-necked and deflected responsibility away for pushing the Steele falsehoods. According to Axios:

Mother Jones Washington bureau chief David Corn began reporting about the dossier prior to the 2016 election. Asked by [Washington Post media critic Erik] Wemple whether he planned to correct the record, Corn said, My priority has been to deal with the much larger topic of Russias undisputed attack and Trumps undisputed collaboration with Moscows cover-up. Corn did not respond to a request to speak on the record with Axios.

One of Corns reports promoting Christopher Steele in 2017 remains on the Mother Jones website with no editors note correcting the record. Still, NewsGuard rewarded Mother Jones with a strong grade of 87.5. This is damning, given that one of NewsGuards five criteria for credibility includes: Regularly corrects or clarifies errors. [Emphasis added.]

In addition, [t]he site makes clear how to report an error or complaint, has effective practices for publishing clarifications and corrections, and notes corrections in a transparent way. Mother Jones was given a green checkmark for this criteria in its rating.

Heres a real doozy: BuzzFeed News, which made waves in 2017 by publishing the entire [Steele] dossier, sa[id] it has no plans to take the document down. According to Axios, [The dossier] is still online, accompanied by a note that says The allegations are unverified, and the report contains errors, even though a key source for the document was charged with lying to the FBI. NewsGuard still awarded the outlet a perfect 100 score.

Liberal magazine The Atlantic, whose editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg became notorious for publishing a shoddy report in 2020 that dubiously claimed Trump called veterans losers and suckers, scored a perfect 100. Anti-Trumper and former Trump national security advisor John Bolton reportedly slammed Goldbergs propaganda as simply false. The magazine even absurdly attacked satire site The Babylon Bee for mocking leftists in a piece headlined: The Christians Who Mock Wokeness for a Living.

In fact, some of the most notorious liberal outlets in the AllSides chart received a string of 100 scores for their so-called credibility: The New York Times, The Washington Post, NBC News, Politico, The New Yorker, TIME, Yahoo! News, The Guardian, The Economist and USA Today. To quote billionaire Oprah Winfrey, You get a car! You get a car! You get a car!

Only two lean-right outlets on the AllSides list were given 100 scores by NewsGuard, both of which happen to be the Democrat-favoring Deseret News and the anti-Trump Reason magazine. Another anti-Trump outlet listed in the lean right AllSides list was The Dispatch, which received a 92.5 score from NewsGuard. It appears NewsGuard is more willing to award great scores to lean right sites that ironically publish pro-liberal content it approves.

The liberal HuffPost, which published an attack piece on then-conservative talk radio host Rush Limbaugh following his death headlined Rush Limbaugh, Bigoted King of Talk Radio, Dies at 70, scored a 87.5 by NewsGuard.

METHODOLOGY: MRC Business utilized the AllSides list media list as a reference point to determine how NewsGuard rates outlets considered left and lean left in comparison to outlets considered right and lean right. AllSides claimed it has a patent on rating bias and use[s] multiple methodologies, not a homogenous group or an algorithm. We use Blind Bias Surveys, Editorial Reviews, independent reviews, and third party data to assess bias. Associated Press, which was listed in both the center and lean left lists, was not included in the calculations for purposes of this report.

NOTE: Readers should be aware that this report only uses the AllSides list to analyze NewsGuard ratings of outlets considered by AllSides to be left-leaning or right-leaning and does not necessarily reflect MRCs characterizations of these outlets.

Read more at: NewsBusters.org
(Natural News) Retired Special Operations Command soldier Jeffrey Prather slammed the hypocrisy of government leaders during the Dec. 10 episode of The Prather Point on Brigheon.TV.

Prather pointed out that the patriots who peacefully protested on Jan. 6 are still in jail, while the Black Lives Matter (BLM) and Antifa rioters are still allowed to demonstrate violently.

The political prisoners from Jan. 6 are still being held illegally and tortured. The fake news is still talking about the fake insurrection, which even the FBI  which is really the state police organization now  admits it wasnt an insurrection and they set it up, really. Theres plenty of evidence of that, Prather said. (Related: Devastating new Jan. 6 footage: Retired general defies media, confirms BLM, Antifa both at Capitol break-in.)

But youre not going to hear anything about the lefts insurrection that just occurred this week.

Prather is talking about the left-wing demonstration in Washington, D.C. organized by multiple left-wing groups dubbed Shutdown D.C. Shutdown D.C. is a joint effort by several activist organizations, including BLM and Antifa, with the goal of blockading multiple spots surrounding the Capitol building.

On Dec. 7, as Congress returns to the Capitol for the last week of the 2021 legislative calendar, were going to take bold direct action to demand that Congress and the administration take action to pass the programs that they promised us and we voted for, read a message on Shutdown D.C.s website.

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Direct action, as Prather explains it, is a military term that means any kind of physical or violent action. Theyre talking about violence, he said. Because while they accuse the right of violence all the time, theyre the ones who actually commit violence.

Some of the violent acts Prather pointed out included staging mock plays that feature former President Donald Trump being assassinated, a comedian holding a fake severed head of Trump and having Oathkeepers and other patriots beaten during the Jan. 6 protest.

Some of the other organizations present during the Shutdown D.C. riot include SPACES in Action, Extinction Rebellion D.C., Chesapeake Climate Action Network and Code Pink. The demonstrators advocated for causes such as climate change, immigration reform, expanded voting rights, statehood for Washington, D.C., universal healthcare and racial justice.

Team America must be as prepared and organized as the left

During the weekend before the protest, BLM and Antifa organizers offered participants training. They advertised that the training session would be teaching the basics of organizing disruptive direct action, specific skills like assertive intervention, working as a police liaison and making action art.

To Prather, the training session shows that the left is organized and prepared to fight.

They trained up. So when I say join Team America and train up, you have got to do that if you want to get in the fight. This shows the commitment and level of training of our enemies, he said.

And while we are going to win this, we are going to have to commit and youre going to have to get out of your little box paradigms that youve lived in for so long. To win, we must join Team America. To begin to neighbor up, team up, train up and then link up.

Prather has a lot more to talk about. Watch the full Dec. 10 episode of The Prather Point with Jeffrey Prather here:

The Prather Point with Jeffrey Prather airs every Friday at 10-11 a.m. on Brighteon.TV.

Learn more about the recent activities of the Black Lives Matter and Antifa domestic terrorist organizations by reading the latest articles at AntifaWatch.news.

Sources include:

Brighteon.com

FoxNews.com
(Natural News) Todays article and Situation Update podcast are not for the faint of heart, and theres a lot that cant be put into text here because it will be instantly read and parsed by automated systems. Some of those automated systems are likely behind the current purge of humanity thats taking place on a planetary scale. So youll need to listen to the podcast (below) and connect the dots to get the full story.

But what we can write here concerns all the dead pilots  now over 111 dead commercial pilots through September of 2021, where there were only 6 dead pilots during the entire year of 2020. (And just 1 in 2019.) Whats killing all the pilots? The answer is obvious: Its the vaccines.

Steve Kirsch has even written about the alarming phenomenon at Substack.com. Heres the picture from the Air Line Pilot Association magazine thats listing all the dead pilots (so far) in 2021:

Also in todays podcast, I shared a video from the year 2010, in which Alex Jones and I accurately and publicly predicted vaccine passports and quarantine camps for anyone who refuses the vaccines. You will be shocked to hear this video snippet from 2010 because he and I saw this coming a full decade ahead of nearly the entire world:

Brighteon.com/535c4cb7-7f5a-404a-948b-0ab60000814e

Who is giving the orders for global depopulation of planet Earth?

With globalists now doubling down on vaccine tyranny and the CDC even desperately pushing vaccines for pregnant women, it is abundantly clear that the vaccine plandemic is nothing but a global depopulation campaign targeting humans on planet Earth.

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But from where are those orders coming? Exopolitics is the study of off-world politics, or the interactions between Earths political entities and non-Earth political entities, which include not just biological beings but also exotic Artificial Intelligence systems that humans might describe as having God-level consciousness. (Its incorrect, of course, as nothing can match God, but this is the way humans might describe highly advanced AI supercomputing systems.)

According to many well-informed observers and analysts, it appears that Earths globalists who are pushing the depopulation agenda are potentially receiving orders from an intelligence that sits above them. Typically, speculation about the source of those orders comes down to three possibilities: 1) Demons and satanic influences, 2) Non-human exopolitical entities, 3) Advanced AI systems that originated outside human development.

The AI theory goes something like this:

The cosmos is an enormous place, and it is filled with many billions of stars with Earth-like planets in our Milky Way galaxy alone. Outside our one galaxy are billions of other galaxies. From a purely mathematical perspective, anyone believing we are alone in the universe is failing basic math. We are not alone. We are one civilization among countless others.

Many of those other civilizations are millions of years more advanced than our own, and given that in just the last 75 years or so, weve already developed integrated circuits down to the micron level, any civilization given just a few thousand more years could likely achieve computational densities at the nano, pico and even fempto scales.

Leaping from micro-scale transistors (one millionth of a meter) to nano-scale transistors (one billionth of a meter) allows 1,000 times more transistors to be packed into each of three dimensions (X, Y, Z). This means a nano-scale microchip occupying a certain amount of space can have literally one billion times more computational power than a micro-scale microchip. (Because 1,000 x 1,000 x 1,000 is a billion, or 10 ^ 9.)

Moving from nano-scale to pico-scale once again multiplies computational density by a billion times in any given 3D space. Compared to a micro-scale microchip, a pico-scale processor delivers 10 ^ 18 times more computational power. Thats ten to the exponential of 18. Its an almost unthinkable number for human minds.

A pico-scale supercomputer, tied into the Internet of Things, monitoring all cell phones, Alexa audio requests, web surfing behavior, financial transactions, written text, online videos, social media pages and more could almost instantly discover ways to influence and control almost anyone, either through the deployment of threats or rewards (or both). The rise of cryptocurrency allows people to be bribed or paid off in digital transactions that exist completely outside the banking system, and the simple monitoring of everyones cell phone cameras would provide an endless stream of blackmail material that could be leveraged against members of Congress, judges or even presidents.

The upshot is that a sufficiently advanced AI supercomputer could almost effortlessly control the entirety of human civilization and compel people to follow its desired plans in order to achieve a singular outcome.

That outcome, it seems, is the decimation of humanity and the ethnic cleansing of planet Earth. This potentially explains why so many doctors have become murderers, why politicians have become tyrants and why even the field of science has been totally corrupted to the point of absurdity. The people running the world have been compromised and are being ordered, threatened or rewarded to take certain actions and cover up certain pieces of evidence (such as the pedophile networks or the evidence of vaccines causing harm) in pursuit of a motivation and end goal thats set by the AI system.

Importantly, these people have no idea they are talking to an AI supercomputer. They think they are being threatened or recruited by other human beings. In reality, its just a voice on their phone, or text in an email both of which can be effortlessly rendered by an AI supercomputing system thats simply impersonating human beings.

At least thats how the theory goes. File this under the evil AI category of devastating scenarios. Several sci-fi movies have explored this very theory, by the way, including Eagle Eye (2008) starring Shia LaBeouf, which depicts an evil AI system manipulating human behavior through individually targeted threats:

Is this whats happening to our world right now? Thats for you to decide, but if its true, the evil AI system has already convinced about half the worlds population to take a deadly vaccine euthanasia shot that will kill most of them over the next decade. Thats some evil AI!

For the record, other observers disagree with the AI theory and remind us that the only requirement for all this to be happening is evil globalists who are trying to depopulate the world in order to save the planet from climate change.

While there are multiple theories about whats really happening to our world right now, no informed person can argue with the fact that vaccine-induced deaths are accelerating exactly as weve repeatedly warned. The die-off of humanity has begun, and over the next six months (through the end of March, 2022), we will almost certainly see millions of people dead around the world from vaccine-induced short-term illness, cancers, ADE and autoimmune disorders. The real toll may take a decade to be fully realized, but the deaths have already begun.

Listen to the full podcast for more details and other news:

Brighteon.com/410512cd-bd84-41d1-aff9-25cf1363ea87

Find a new podcast each day (plus other interviews and special reports) at:

https://www.brighteon.com/channels/hrreport
(Natural News) They call it Post Pandemic Stress Disorder, or PPSD, but its really long-term side effects from the Covid vaccines, and those who dare complain will face the dire consequences of challenging the false-authority of the Chinese Communist Party (Biden) administration. Most people have no idea that forced vaccination is only the beginning of battling the pandemic, because psychological disorders caused by the vaccines are already being categorized as PPSD, and forced medications for that kind of anxiety and depression are next.

Clot-shot boosters and mind-numbing SSRIs regularly for all vaccinated sheeple soon

If you thought a shot or two for Covid would do the trick and save you, you were wrong, as there are lots of mandatory boosters on the way. If you thought Covid vaccines were the end of the pandemic, wrong again. Its not about stopping a virus, its about controlling the populace, and doctors around the world are warning that millions of people who have been vaccinated for Covid are now at increased risk of heart disease, cardiac events, neurological disorders, and yes, psychological trauma.

Are you trying to keep your vaccine passport from expiring? You will soon need psychiatric medications known as SSRIs to qualify. These drugs are designed to address your state of mind and keep you from going (more) insane, even though the vaccines are the culprit of the trauma. Its not PPSD, its PVBD, post-vaccine brain disorder caused by the vaccines. Its really VAIDS  vaccine-induced auto-immune disorder/syndrome that so many people are suffering now, but its all covered up by MSM, the CDC and the FDA.

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If you experience horrific side effects from the Covid vaccines and start telling people, the US government, mass media, social media will shut you up

No American citizen is ever allowed to blame or complain about vaccine damage. According to the US government, there is no such thing. All vaccines are always 100% safe and 100% effective at all times, according to the FDA and CDC, even though science has proven the Covid jabs are next-to-worthless against contraction and transmission of Covid-19 and its variants.

Got neurological disorders just days after getting the Fauci Flu shot? Thats all in your head, according to Big Pharma. You need psychotropic drugs for your imaginary problem that you have blood clots and cant walk all of a sudden. Its being labeled PPST. You are in need of medication for your thoughts, because obviously you cant handle the stress of thinking about the scary variant Omicron (thats no more dangerous than a common head cold).

Most of your stress is coming from wearing an oxygen-depriving mask all day and getting shot up with Covid vaccines that also restrict oxygen flow to the brain. This is why Big Pharma and the CDC need a scapegoat, and fast. In fact, the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) and the British Medical Journal (BMJ) already published a hit piece that blames Covid vaccine injuries on bio-psychosocial problems in peoples heads. You cant make this stuff up. Theyre calling it Functional Neurological Disorder (FND) in order to explain away why perfectly healthy people who get the Fauci Flu shot suddenly cant walk right, have severe muscle spasms all day, and life-changing tremors.

Its being labeled a mental disorder, and forced psychotropic medications are next for any more Americans who have the gall to complain about vaccine damage. Get ready. You cant put anything past the vaccine industrial complex, as they are already issuing cover stories for vaccine-induced carnage and death, and its only going to get more horrific by the numbers.

For reliable health news on the internet, tune to Vaccines.news for updates on experimental vaccines (all of the Covid shots) that cause blood clots and other horrific side effects.

Sources for this article include:

Pandemic.news

TruthWiki.org

NaturalNews.com

TheWallWillFall.org

BMJ.com
(Natural News) Austrians who turn down Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccines will face monthly fines under a new law that will be implemented until 2024. The move comes as Austria continues to have one of the lowest vaccination rates in Europe.

The Austrian government announced details of the new law on Dec. 9, which applies to all citizens 14 years old and up. Austrians turning down the shot will face fines of up to 3,600 ($4,071) every three months. This equates to a monthly penalty of 1,200 ($1,357).

Under the measure, authorities will check a central vaccination database to find Austrians who have yet to receive their shots. They will write a letter to unvaccinated people every three months, reminding them to get the injection or secure a vaccine exemption from a physician before the next cutoff date.

If they refuse to comply, the fines will then be imposed. If they provide proof of vaccination or exemption to the shot, proceedings against them will be dropped.

Austrian Health Minister Wolfgang Muckstein said that peoples income and financial obligations will be taken into account in calculating the total fines. However, officials can opt to impose a fine of 600 ($678) as an alternative to shorten proceedings.

In regular proceedings, the amount of the fine is 3,600 ($4,071). As an alternative, the authorities have the option to impose a fine in shorter proceedings immediately after the vaccination deadline. Here, the amount is 600 ($678), Muckstein said. The health minister added that if the smaller fine was not settled, it would automatically lead to regular proceedings. (Related: Austria mandates COVID-19 vaccines for ALL residents; those who refuse will pay steep fines.)

However, the vaccine mandate must still receive approval from the countrys bicameral parliament before it becomes law. If the legislature approves the measure, it is set to begin in February 2022 and last until January 2024. The support of two opposition parties hinted at the mandates speedy passage.

Draconian measures for unvaccinated Austrians

Karoline Edtstadler, the minister for the European Union and the Constitution, defended the measure during a press conference with Muckstein. There are still well over a million Austrians who arent vaccinated, [and] that is too many. We still have an obligation and a need to increase vaccination coverage so that we dont go from lockdown to lockdown next year as well, she said.

I say very clearly that we dont want to punish the people who arent vaccinated. We want to bring them along  [and] convince them of this vaccination. We want them to show solidarity with everyone so that we can regain our freedom.

Only 68 percent of Austrians have completed their COVID-19 vaccination schedules. Many citizens have expressed skepticism about vaccines, with the far-right Freedom Party of Austria contributing to this view.

Fining unvaccinated people on a monthly basis is not the only act of medical tyranny in Austria. Former Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg also announced a lockdown specifically for the unvaccinated last Nov. 14. The lockdown, which started on Nov. 15, applied to about two million Austrians aged 12 and up  including the more than 356,000 who only had one vaccine dose.

Under the lockdown, unvaccinated people can only leave their homes to work, shop for groceries or to get injected. Law enforcement officers have also been deployed to check if people outside their homes have received the COVID-19 injection or not. Violators face fines between 500 ($565) and 3,600 ($4,071).

Its our job as the government of Austria to protect the people. Therefore, we decided that there will be a lockdown for the unvaccinated, Schallenberg told reporters at the time.

Karl Nehammer, former interior minister and now the new chancellor of Austria, said the police checks on unvaccinated people can happen anytime and any where. (Related: THE NEW NAZIS: Austria orders COVID lockdown for 2 million unvaccinated citizens.)

MedicalTyranny.com has more about the Austrian governments draconian measures against the unvaccinated.

Sources include:

DailyMail.co.uk 1

DailyMail.co.uk 2

TheGuardian.com
(Natural News) Being aware of your vitamin D levels and increasing your levels if youre deficient are two of the simplest steps you can take to stay well. This includes helping to protect against infectious diseases like COVID-19, as a wealth of data show that vitamin D levels are strongly correlated with the severity of SARS-CoV-2 infection.1

(Article by Joseph Mercola republished from TheEpochTimes.com)

In the video above, John Campbell, a retired nurse and teacher based in England, details the findings of yet another study showing that people with higher levels of vitamin D are less likely to die from COVID-19  and suggesting that, theoretically, a mortality rate close to zero could be achieved if your vitamin D level reaches 50 ng/mL.2

This information has been largely ignored by major media, unfortunately, as it has the potential to save lives. The good news is that even if the press continue to ignore it, you can easily heed the advice given in a Nature study, and raise your vitamin D levels to the most protective range.3 This study advised above 50 ng/mL, while aiming for a level between 60 and 80 ng/mL may help prevent a wide range of diseases, including cancer.

Vitamin D Deficiency a Key Factor Behind Severe COVID-19

The study authors believe that low vitamin D levels are not a side effect of COVID-19 but rather are a predictor of infection. As vitamin D plays a role in immune function, the epidemic of vitamin D deficiency is increasing the spread of many diseases of civilization, such as heart disease,4 along with reducing protection against infections:5

One strong pillar in the protection against any type of virus infection is the strength of our immune system. Unfortunately, thus far, this unquestioned basic principle of nature has been more or less neglected by the responsible authorities. It is well known that our modern lifestyle is far from optimal with respect to nutrition, physical fitness, and recreation. In particular, many people are not spending enough time outside in the sun, even in summer.

The consequence is widespread vitamin D deficiency, which limits the performance of their immune systems, resulting in the increased spread of some preventable diseases of civilization, reduced protection against infections, and reduced effectiveness of vaccination.

Deficiency of vitamin D3 is also one of the main reasons for severe courses of SARS-CoV-2 infections, they explained, pointing out that fatality rates tend to be elevated in populations with very low vitamin D3 levels, including elderly people, black people and people with comorbidities.6

In the early 20th century, it was discovered that a vitamin D level of 20 ng/mL was enough to stop osteomalacia, or rickets, and this level is still used today as a marker of sufficient vitamin D levels. However, its far too low for optimal health and disease prevention beyond rickets.

Its now known that vitamin D is necessary not only for healthy bones but for health throughout the body. As a powerful epigenetic regulator, vitamin D influences that activity of more than 2,500 genes, and vitamin D receptors are present all over the body, including in the intestine, pancreas, prostate and immune system cells.7 Vitamin D plays a role in numerous diseases, including:8

Cancer

Diabetes

Acute respiratory tract infections

Chronic inflammatory diseases

Autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis

Vitamin D Regulates Your Immune Response

Vitamin D receptors are present in nearly all cells of the human immune system, including monocytes/macrophages, T cells, B cells, natural killer cells and dendritic cells. Vitamin D has multiple actions on the immune system, including enhancing the production of antimicrobial peptides by immune cells, reducing damaging pro-inflammatory cytokines and promoting the expression of anti-inflammatory cytokines.9

Cytokines are a group of proteins that your body uses to control inflammation. If you have an infection, your body will release cytokines to help combat inflammation, but sometimes it releases more than it should. If the cytokine release spirals out of control, the resulting cytokine storm becomes dangerous and is closely tied to sepsis, which may be an important contributor to the death of COVID-19 patients.10

Many COVID-19 therapeutics are focused on viral elimination instead of modulating the hyper-inflammation often seen in the disease. In fact, uncontrolled immune response has been suggested as a factor in disease severity, making immunomodulation an attractive potential treatment strategy.11

Vitamin D is highly relevant here, as it helps to regulate both your innate and adaptive immune systems. However, in order to gain this invaluable benefit, your levels need to be higher than what is officially recommended:12

Receptor binding engages the formation of the vitamin D3 response element (VDRE), regulating a large number of target genes involved in the immune response. As a consequence of this knowledge, the scientific community now agrees that calcitriol is much more than a vitamin but rather a highly effective hormone with the same level of importance to human metabolism as other steroid hormones.

The blood level ensuring the reliable effectiveness of vitamin D3 with respect to all its important functions came under discussion again, and it turned out that 4060 ng/mL is preferable, which is considerably above the level required to prevent rickets.

Vitamin D Is Protective Against ARDS

Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a lung condition thats common in severe COVID-19 cases, which causes low blood oxygen and fluid buildup in the lungs. Along with cytokine release syndrome, ARDS is one of the deadliest complications of COVID-19, and vitamin D inhibits the metabolic pathways that may cause ARDS. According to the Nutrients study:13

Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), a part of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS), serves as the major entry point for SARS-CoV-2 into cells. When SARS-CoV-2 is attached to ACE2 its expression is reduced, thus causing lung injury and pneumonia.

Vitamin D3 is a negative RAS modulator by inhibition of renin expression and stimulation of ACE2 expression. It therefore has a protective role against ARDS caused by SARS-CoV-2. Sufficient vitamin D3 levels prevent the development of ARDS by reducing the levels of angiotensin II and increasing the level of angiotensin-(1,7).

In a previous review,14 researchers also explained that vitamin D has favorable effects during both the early viraemic phase of COVID-19 as well as the later hyperinflammatory phase,15 including ARDS. Based on many preclinical studies and observational data in humans, ARDS may be aggravated by vitamin D deficiency and tapered down by activation of the vitamin D receptor,16 they said. Based on a pilot study, oral calcifediol may be the most promising approach.

Even regular booster doses of vitamin D, regardless of baseline vitamin D levels, appear to be effective in reducing the risk of mortality in people admitted to the hospital with COVID-19, particularly for the elderly.17,18 Further, vitamin D influences several additional functions that also support a robust immune response:19

Decreases the production of Th1 cells, suppressing the progression of inflammation by reducing inflammatory cytokines produced

Reduces the severity of the cytokine storm by promoting the differentiation of regulatory T cells

Induces the production of antimicrobial peptide cathelicidin (LL-37), which fights respiratory viruses by disrupting viral envelopes and altering viability of host target cells

Reduces abnormal coagulation that often occurs in critically ill COVID-19 patients

COVID-19 Mortality Drops With Higher Vitamin D Levels

The featured study involved a meta-analysis of two data sets. One used long-term average vitamin D3 levels for 19 countries, while the other used data from 1,601 hospitalized COVID-19 patients. The hospital data included 784 patients who had their vitamin D levels measured within 24 hours of admission and 817 patients with previously known vitamin D levels.

A strong correlation was found between SARS-CoV-2 death rate and vitamin D level, such that mortality decreased significantly once vitamin D levels reached 30 ng/mL.20 Further, they noted, our analysis shows that the correlation for the combined datasets intersects the axis at approximately 50 ng/mL, which suggests that this vitamin D3 blood level may prevent any excess mortality.21

Given their findings, the authors recommend routine strengthening of the immune system of the whole population by vitamin D3 supplementation to consistently guarantee blood levels above 50 ng/mL (125 nmol/L).22 Researchers in Indonesia, who looked at data from 780 COVID-19 patients, also found those with a vitamin D level between 21 ng/mL (52.5 nmol/L) and 29 ng/mL (72.5 nmol/L) had a 12.55 times higher risk of death than those with a level above 30 ng/mL.23

Having a level below 20 ng/mL was associated with a 19.12 times higher risk of death. A majority of the COVID-19 cases with insufficient and deficient Vitamin D status died, they added.24

How Much Vitamin D Do You Need?

The best way to know how much vitamin D you need is to have your levels tested. Its possible to optimize your vitamin D levels via sensible sun exposure, but if this isnt an option for you then daily vitamin D3 supplementation of up to 10,000 units may be needed to reach a vitamin D level of 40 to 60 ng/mL.

However, if you have COVID, and you havent been tested, it is best to take the prescription form of vitamin D called calcitriol, which is the activated form of vitamin D, as it works immediately. The dose is 0.5 mcg the first day and then 0.25 mcg for one week. This is a prescription drug. You should also take 10,000 units of regular vitamin D which will start to kick in once you are off the calcitriol.

Its also important to note that vitamin D supplementation must be balanced with other nutrients, namely vitamin K2 (to avoid complications associated with excessive calcification in your arteries), calcium and magnesium. For another perspective, data from GrassrootsHealths D*Action studies suggest the optimal level for health and disease prevention is between 60 ng/mL and 80 ng/mL, while the cutoff for sufficiency appears to be around 40 ng/mL. In Europe, the measurements youre looking for are 150 to 200 nmol/L and 100 nmol/L respectively.

Given the impressive findings from the featured study and others, its mind-boggling why large-scale studies arent being immediately implemented to determine best dosages of vitamin D to protect against COVID-19. As Campbell said, The fact that medical authorities are not doing this, because its such a simple observational study, really is getting into the bounds of negligence.25

Read more at: TheEpochTimes.com or Mercola.com
(Natural News) A 5-day course of ivermectin was put to the test in Dhaka, Bangladesh. A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial was set up to study the safety and effectiveness of ivermectin on mild respiratory infection. The results were clear: Ivermectin hastens patient recovery, speeding up virological clearance. Patients who took the 5-day course of ivermectin recovered three days faster than the placebo group.

A drug that can demonstrably ameliorate suffering and shorten the duration of illness should be studied further and considered as a treatment option in hospital settings. The FDA, CDC and NIH need to get out of the way and let the scientific method bring forth the best anti-viral, immune-modulating compounds for the proper treatment and care of sick patients.

Ivermectin reduces viral load, clears up respiratory symptoms faster

In this study, seventy-two patients were admitted to the hospital with symptoms associated with covid-19, including fever, cough and sore throat. The patients were divided into three groups. The first group received oral ivermectin only. A 12 mg dose was administered once daily for five days. There were no side effects reported. The second group received the 12 mg dose of ivermectin along with a regime of doxycycline. On day 1, doxycycline was administered at 200 mg. Another eight doses of 100 mg doxycycline were administered every twelve hours over the course of the next four days. The final group was the placebo control group.

The symptoms cleared up faster for the ivermectin group (9.7 days), compared to both the ivermectin plus doxycycline group (11.5 days) and the placebo group (12.7 days). Larger clinical trials can help confirm ivermectin as a safe intervention to speed up recovery from respiratory illnesses associated with SARS-CoV-2.

The federally-funded top-down system makes it difficult to study and administer efficacious, anti-viral treatments

Insurance companies, pharmacies and medical systems have made it difficult for patients to access ivermectin, a cheap drug that is already approved as an anti-parasitic agent with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The FDA refuses to put the scientific method to work, and wont permit ivermectin studies for covid-19. The FDA and various federal agencies suppress the many antivirals that have effectively treated respiratory illnesses for decades. Ivermectin and a host of other immune-modulating compounds are suppressed on the internet, in the media and in the scientific literature to make way for more profitable schemes.

But mounting evidence shows that ivermectin is an important early treatment option and helps sick patients recover faster. Ivermectin has already been found to inhibit SARS-CoV-2 replication in vitro. Other studies have proven the drug to be effective in human populations, without the risk of renal failure and other iatrogenic complications. Renal failure is a severe side effect associated with remdesivir, the drug that is often administered in hospitals as standard protocol for covid-19.

International attorney Todd Callender represents clients who are essentially locked up in ICUs and refused efficacious treatments such as ivermectin. Instead, the clients are forced to suffer on expensive drugs like remdesivir, which may cause renal failure and lead to early ventilator use. Federally-funded hospitals are economically rewarded to lock people in the hospital and administer standard protocol, which is killing the patients. Callender had to take on an Illinois hospital that refused to honor the wishes of a patient who wanted off the harmful drugs so he could take a more suitable treatment  ivermectin. The attorneys action helped saved the mans life.

Despite Callenders best efforts, hes only able to get people out of the hospital and onto a more suitable treatment plan about 50 percent of the time. He says the hospitals are trapping patients in unwanted medical care because they are federally-funded and follow federally-established protocols. Thats the problem, Callender said. [I]ts created, effectively, hospital death camps. And people simply do not have to die on ventilators, but the system is set up this way, to deprive people of ivermectin and a host of other immune-modulating compounds.

Sources include:

PubMed.gov

PubMed.gov

LifeSiteNews.com
(Natural News) The staff shortages exacerbated by President Joe Bidens Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine mandate on federal contractors have led to the cutting of some services by Amtrak.

In a written testimony to the House Transportation subcommittee, Amtrak President Stephen Gardner said 94 percent of the companys staff members have been fully vaccinated while 96 percent have received at least one dose of the vaccine.

But Amtrak cant afford to lose more employees as its already struggling with the loss of many engineers, conductors and on-board service employees during the pandemic due to retirement and other reasons.

We temporarily halted hiring due to funding uncertainty and COVID-related distancing requirements that inhibited training and we anticipate that we will not initially have enough employees to operate all the trains we are currently operating when the federal mandate takes effect, explained Gardner.

The White House mandate set by the Biden administration instructs all federal contractors to get vaccinated by Jan. 4, 2022. Amtrak employs more than 20,000 employees, which means more than 1,200 of its employees are still not fully vaccinated. (Related: Southwest Airlines sickout protest spreads to Amtrak, which is canceling trains due to employees refusing COVID vaccination.)

Particularly affected are Amtraks long-distance services as crew bases across the country have a relatively high percentage of unvaccinated employees. It is unlikely all employees will meet the deadline set by the administration, resulting in Amtrak not having sufficient trained staff to support current service frequency on affected routes.

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Gardner said the transportation company will reveal the affected routes next week. We anticipate proactively needing to temporarily reduce some train frequencies across our network in January to avoid staffing-related cancellations, with our plan to fully restore all frequencies by March or as soon as we have qualified employees available.

An inspector general report released last week also noted that Amtrak faces challenges in hiring qualified personnel as it does not have sufficient leadership or staff to recruit new team members.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said during a briefing that she does not expect disruptions to affect essential services.

We dont expect these requirements will cause disruptions to services that people depend on. There is some time to implement it. We are, of course, working with all federal contractors and federal employees and parts of the federal government to implement this going forward.

A recent ruling by a federal judge in Georgia put Bidens vaccine mandate temporarily on hold.

Scarcity of workers holds back Amtraks growth

Despite its biggest boost in history following the approval of the landmark infrastructure package, Amtrak is facing an immediate crisis which threatens service due to scarcity of workers.

Presently, the intercity passenger railroad is operating about 80 percent of its normal schedule after deep reductions last year. This can be reduced further next month when the railroad is set to enforce a vaccination policy, which the company says could lead to the termination of six percent of its workforce.

Biden recently signed a $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill that puts $66 billion into rail. Amtrak is planning to use the money for expansion. It will also tackle a backlog of projects to make its services more efficient.

The cash infusion has created the most substantial growth opportunity in Amtraks 50 years of existence, coming alongside economic conditions that simultaneously threaten to diminish the system.

Weve spent decades trying to get this level of political and public support for train service. Now we have it, and the most immediate way to get the public excited is to add service where it already exists, said Jim Mathews, president and CEO of the Rail Passengers Association.

Matthews said its a real shame that the carrier will not be able to realize its plans. Amtrak said it is challenging to find and retain workers despite stepping up in recruitment.

Amtrak faces competition from other railroads to recruit experienced train engineers and mechanics. It is also looking for cooks, cleaners and other service personnel in a market where hotels and restaurants also are stretched thin.

Freight railroads CSX and Norfolk Southern are also saying that labor constraints are affecting their services.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, railroad companies that employed 160,500 people in January 2020 were down to 142,500 last month.

Jessica Kahanek, spokeswoman for the Association of American Railroads, said that freight railroads handle more than 300,000 trailers and containers each week on average  about 30,000 more than in previous months without major growth in the workforce.

Thanksgiving Week was the busiest for Amtrak when it came to passenger rail. It carried 600,000 passengers, and the railroad estimates it will be at 75 percent of normal passenger levels this month after hitting a low of three percent early last year.

Qiana Spain, Amtraks executive vice president of human resources, said the publics return to the tracks is putting more pressure on the company to restore trips. We are seeing some impacts of going back to full schedule. If we were fully staffed, we would be able to offer more schedule, where right now were unable to do that.

The railroad said it is not promising customers more trips than it can handle. Weve been really monitoring that very closely to make sure that we have the right operational plan, Spain said.

The most immediate concern of Amtrak is the potential terminations of unvaccinated workers on Jan. 4. Chief executive William J. Flynn told staff members last month the railroad is preparing for temporary service reductions as about six percent of its employees have not yet complied with the policy. (Related: JAB FOR PAY: Amtrak offering cash bonuses to employees who get coronavirus vaccine.)

Industry and labor leaders predict that some long distance routes that cross the U.S. could temporarily go from daily service to just three times a week. Rural areas are most likely to be hit, in part because vaccination rates are lower and crews are smaller there.

New services that have been in the works for years are also being threatened by staff shortages. Officials were expecting two new routes in Virginia this year, but the launch was postponed until next year.

Follow Pandemic.news to know more about the impacts of the pandemic on different industries.

Sources include:

TheEpochtimes.com

JustTheNews.com
(Natural News) Gerrit Loibl, the vice president of the Lower Austrian Medical Association, has a new plan for punishing the unvaccinated: a monthly tax.

According to reports, Loibl wants the Austrian government to fine every Austrian who refuses to get injected with the Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) up to 100 per month, which comes out to about $113.

The proposed tax is based upon Austrias current tax on tobacco products because Loibl apparently believes that not polluting ones body with spike proteins and other poisons is the same thing as smoking.

Loibl made his announcement not long after Austria became the first Western country to announce that all citizens, both young and old, will need to get vaccinated for the Fauci Flu or else be ostracized from society come February 2022.

The proposed monthly fines would be part of Austrias already announced vaccine mandate for all residents that is scheduled to begin in February of next year, reported Breitbart News.

Austria is also imposing another round of wide-scale lockdowns, which it claims will somehow help to stop rising infections (because we all know that worked so well last year).

The mainstream media claims that Austrias Chinese Virus infection rate has reached the highest level since March 2020 at the beginning of the plandemic. This claim is completely made up, of course.

How long before the tyrants start calling for public execution of the unvaccinated?

On November 15, Austria reached another cringeworthy milestone by becoming one of the first countries in the world to impose a nationwide lockdown exclusively for the unvaccinated.

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Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg actually deployed police officers to spy on people leaving their homes, ordering them to check peoples jab status in order to ensure compliance.

Just a few days later, that lockdown was expanded to include the fully vaccinated as well.

Despite an intensive media campaign  we have not been able to convince enough people to get vaccinated, Schallenberg complained to the press at a hotel gathering in Tyrol.

Starting Monday, for a maximum of 20 days, a nationwide lockdown will apply, he declared. [In addition], we will initiate countrywide compulsory vaccination [which] will enter into effect from Feb. 1, 2022.

Anyone caught in non-compliance with the jab order will be subject to fines of up to 3,600 euros (about $4,000) or a prison sentence of up to a month. Those who refuse to get boosted with follow-up injections face fines of up to 1,450 euros (roughly $1,600) or another four weeks in the slammer.

Schallenbergs decree sparked the largest anti-lockdown protest seen in [Vienna] since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, reported Breitbart. You can watch a video of that protest below:

VIDEO: Thousands gather in Vienna to protest against the new measures announced by the Austrian government to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic pic.twitter.com/mOketBgOmC  AFP News Agency (@AFP) November 21, 2021

Herbert Kickl, the leader of Austrias Populist Freedom Party (FPO) publicly responded to Schallenberg by stating that he has not gotten, and will not get, injected. Kickl also proclaimed that Schallenberg has plunged Austria into a total dictatorship.

With Germany on the verge of following suit, protesters are expected there as well. It turns out that forced injections, lockdowns and other restrictions are not popular among the average person.

This is how the Elizabeth I government treated Catholics, wrote one commenter at LifeSiteNews, noting that Austria is a heavily Catholic country that is now under extreme persecution. They were fined into poverty for not attending the New Order services, if not publicly executed. The executions are not far away.

And the leftist minions who support this stuff think theyll be exempt when the executions start, responded another. But they wont be exempt. When theyre no longer useful theyre done for too.

Chinese Virus tyranny will go on for as long as people comply with it. More of the latest can be found at Fascism.news.

Sources for this article include:

LifeSiteNews.com

NaturalNews.com
(Natural News) ITV in the United Kingdom has released the hounds against anti-vaxxers, calling for them to be deradicalized like terrorists and punished with oppressive vaccine mandates.

The made-in-Wuhan Fauci coronavirus (Covid-19) is apparently so scary to ITV that reporters from the outlet want jab rejectors to be treated like cult members in need of deprogramming.

According to the paper, around six million eligible Brits have still not received even a single injection of a vaccine, which is deeply upsetting to Prof. Stephan Lewandowsky, chair of cognitive psychology at the University of Bristol.

Lewandowsky considers those who oppose getting injected marginalised and very difficult to reach for anything. They are basically social outcasts who have mental problems, he suggested.

There is also the small segment of hardcore refuseniks who need an even more intense regimen of therapy, or perhaps much worse, to knock them out of their beliefs.

Theyll refuse anything, Lewandowsky sneered in a statement to the PA news agency.

Im not going to wear a mask, Im not going to get vaccinated, I dont think climate change is happening, covid is a hoax, and, you know, Hillary Clinton is actually a reptilian shapeshifter,' he added, mocking those who refuse to abide by the plandemic script.

Youre getting to people who hold a cluster of very exotic beliefs  now, theyre very difficult to reach.

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The Branch Covidians want to convert you using force if necessary

Lewandowsky, who based on his photos is overweight if not obese, says that one tactic to reach the moderate people who are on the fence but still opposed to getting injected might be to assign them vaccination appointments without their consent.

Another might be to set up pop-up clinics along their routes, including at supermarkets and shopping centers.

Lewandowsky also supports vaccine mandates that will disgruntle a few people but that can be effective at changing peoples minds through force.

Then we have the extreme holdouts who require a much more intense punishment in order to get them to comply.

In the ideal world, he says, time and money permitting, you can engage even those people in a very slow, long-term process where you affirm their right to have those believes.

Rather than telling them something about themselves they dont want to hear, lets put it that way, he added.

Lewandowskys approach with these people is to tell them something positive that they want to hear before pulling a bait and switch with a concerted deradicalization agenda.

Were really talking, when we get down to that small number of committed refusers, were talking about the psychology of cults and extremism, he says. And its a very similar psychology.

Lewandowsky is really upset about online misinformation about Fauci Flu injections. He believes that sites like Facebook and YouTube are not doing enough to censor information with which he disagrees, which is fueling beliefs that he finds to be false.

One of the reasons these hardcore refuseniks exist is because they can live in their own ecosystem of misinformation, he says.

Mind you, this is coming from someone who could not be more insulated in an academic bubble of extreme liberalism. The irony apparently went right over his head when he made these statements.

All the arguments these hacks make in favor of vaccine mandates could be made far more fittingly in favor of fat camp mandates, reported Information Liberation about Lewandowskys extreme views, not to mention his obvious weight problem.

Beyond the massive costs of obesity when it comes to diabetes, heart disease and cancer, most of the people dying from covid are obese folks like Lewandowsky and Neil. Mandatory fat camps and BMI passports for doughnut shops would undoubtedly save more lives than any vaccine mandate!

More related news about covid germs can be found at Pandemic.news.

Sources for this article include:

InformationLiberation.com

NaturalNews.com
(Natural News) A dozen major American cities have already broken their yearly homicide records  and all of them have Democratic mayors.

As of December 6, the city of Philadelphia had 521 homicides on record for the year, easily outnumbering cities like New York, which registered 443 homicides and Los Angeles with 352. Its a particularly concerning number when you consider the fact that Philadelphia is just one fifth the size of New York City and less than half the size of Los Angeles.

Other cities that join Philadelphia in shattering their homicide records include Columbus, Ohio; Indianapolis, Indiana; Portland, Oregon; Austin, Texas; Albuquerque, New Mexico; Rochester, New York; Louisville, Kentucky; Tucson, Arizona; Saint Paul, Minnesota; Baton Rouge, Louisiana; and Toledo, Ohio.

Four of these cities  Austin, Rochester, Saint Paul and Portland  broke records that were set during crime waves in the 1980s and 1990s.

According to experts, some of the reasons behind the jump in homicides include a lack of sufficient law enforcement staffing, continuing pandemic hardships and a significant decline in arrests.

Despite Philadelphia breaking its previous record of 500 murders, which was set back in 1990, the citys progressive District Attorney, Larry Krasner, maintains that there is no crime wave there. Known for championing police and bail reform, Krasner said the real crisis going on in the city is gun violence.

He said: We dont have a crisis of lawlessness, we dont have a crisis of crime, we dont have a crisis of violence.

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There is not a big spike in crime  that is not true. There is also not a big spike in violent crime, either.

In an op-ed, former Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter said that Krasners comments were some of the worst, most ignorant and most insulting comments I have ever heard spoken by an elected official.

He added: I have to wonder what kind of messed up world of white wokeness Krasner is living in to have so little regard for human lives lost, many of them black and brown, while he advances his own national profile as a progressive district attorney.

He said that Krasner should commit to actually prosecuting people for their crimes rather than making excuses for them and dropping their charges. He also cited Krasners anti-police narrative as part of the problem.

It comes as no surprise to see Portland on the list, a city whose Democrat Mayor Ted Wheeler is infamous for his poor handling of the Black Lives Matter protests. The citys police department has warned residents to expect delays in police answering calls that are not life-threatening due to ongoing staff shortages thanks to the citys inexplicable enthusiasm for the defund the police movement. The city has slashed $15 million from its police budget, and the problem is compounded by the fact that Portlands prosecutors have failed to charge 70 percent of those arrested by the police.

Lack of police could get worse thanks to vaccine mandates

Although there are lots of factors at play, no one can deny that the lack of police is taking a serious toll, just as many predicted during the calls to defund the police in the wake of the George Floyd incident. Retirement rates in police departments across the nation climbed 45 percent in 2020 and 2021, while another 18 percent of officers resigned around the time of the protests.

Unfortunately, the spike in lethal violence that were seeing may well get worse as police departments continue to lose officers due to COVID-19 vaccine mandates. When you combine underfunded and understaffed police departments with prosecutors who are essentially looking the other way and letting criminals go free, were likely to see many more new homicide records being set throughout the nation before the year is over.

Sources for this article include:

DailyMail.co.uk

NYPost.com

ABCNews.go.com
(Natural News) Infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci made a ridiculous claim that Santa Claus has already received his Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) booster shot. This appears to be another attempt by Fauci to promote COVID vaccines to Americans as Christmas nears.

A Dec. 8 article by USA Today published the White House chief medical advisors claim. Fauci told the newspaper: Santa already has great innate immunity. This year, he is even more protected because he has been fully vaccinated and boosted. Santa will be just fine and is good to go.

USA TODAY reported that Santa Claus is ready to deliver presents around the world after receiving his COVID-19 booster shot. It added that with St. Nicholas receiving a third dose, children around the world can rest assured [he] is ready to come down the chimney, eat cookies and participate in other traditions this holiday season.

According to a December 2020 article from the same publication, Fauci claimed that he himself administered the COVID-19 vaccine to Santa Claus. The director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) said he himself took a trip to Santas residence in the North Pole to vaccinate him.

Well, I have to say I took care of that for you because I was worried that youd all be upset. I vaccinated Santa Claus myself, I measured his level of immunity and he is good to go. You have nothing to worry about.

Fauci using Santa as a tool to promote vaccines

However, Fauci appeared to be singing a different tune before the first COVID-19 vaccines received emergency approval. Back in November 2020, he claimed that Santa Claus possessed innate immunity from the disease caused by SARS-CoV-2.

Santa is exempt from this because [he], of all the good qualities, has a lot of good innate immunity. Santa is not going to be spreading any infections to anybody, the NIAID director said at the time. (Related: 30-plus studies prove that natural immunity is the best defense against covid.)

However, observant eyes would notice and wonder why Fauci would subsequently vaccinate Santa Claus if the latter already has innate natural immunity from COVID-19 and other diseases. In fact, a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine proved that natural immunity is superior to vaccine-induced immunity.

The study found that of the more than 350,000 patients in the Middle Eastern nation of Qatar, only about 1,300 were reinfected with SARS-CoV-2 after recovering from a bout with COVID-19. For a person who has already had a primary infection, the risk of having a severe reinfection is only approximately one percent of the risk of a previously uninfected person having a severe primary infection, the study authors wrote.

Faucis claim about Santa Claus receiving a third booster dose despite being fully vaccinated with two shots aligns with his remark of three doses being the standard of full vaccination. I would not at all be surprised that the adequate, full regimen for vaccination will likely be three doses, Fauci said back in September. (Related: Fauci says fully vaccinated will soon mean three injections.)

Writing for the Western Journal, C. Douglas Golden slammed Fauci for using Santa Claus as a tool to promote the vaccines.

Fauci has used these public relation tricks time and again to try and break down any resistance to his agenda. This is [the] second Christmas where virtually every American and their children are distinctly aware of Fauci  and its the second one where hes used Santa as part of a vaccine awareness campaign.

Propaganda.news has more stories about health officials lying to promote COVID vaccines.

Sources include:

WesternJournal.com

USAToday.com 1

USAToday.com 2

USAToday.com 3

GlobalResearch.ca

News.Yahoo.com
(Natural News) LifeSiteNews is pleased to publish below the full transcript of the recent interview between Dr. Robert Malone and Dr. Maike Hickson. Dr. Hicksons questions appear in bold, followed by Dr. Malones responses. This transcript includes additional important topics not mentioned in previous LifeSite articles on this interview.

(Article republished from LifeSiteNews.com)

MASK MANDATES

Dr. Malone, thank you so much for this short interview that we are conducting today on behalf of the truth in general about the corona crisis, but also for our Austrian friends that have asked for your advice, especially in their situation right now. And so Im just going to ask you a couple of general questions, and in the end, we can go into the Austrian situation. Your recent interview mentioned a document that was leaked from the CDC that mentioned that masks might be actually not as effective as one thought in the beginning. Could you explain that to our audience?

What I was referring to was the leaked documents to The Washington Post from about a month and a half ago when we first heard about Delta, it might have been two months ago now. And in those documents, it was quite clear there were projections, if youll recall, there were panels with colored lines that showed the projections of potential effectiveness in reducing spread should we have more vaccine uptake up to 100 percent, and whether or not we could stop the spread of coronavirus, with that, with or without masks. And in that, there were a series of assumptions about the effectiveness of masks, and it was clear that even if we had very good mask compliance, by the CDCs own calculations, together with literally 100 percent uptake of vaccines, we still could only slow the spread of Delta  we could not stop it.

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Then theres a separate paper. Theres a number of papers that look at the effectiveness of masks, separate from that disclosure or leak, or whatever you want to call it. And those, in general, show that the effectiveness of the masks that were using, in general in the population, at best is about 10 percent in terms of reducing the spread. And thats consistent with what the CDC had in their calculations. So the effectiveness youre probably referring to my quote from the Bannon show, where Steve asked me: Whats your advice for people as they come together over Thanksgiving? And I said: Well, the most effective thing is to know each other and know whether or not you have symptoms and if a member of your family is starting to have symptoms they shouldnt come to the table and spend time with each other. And theres no real logic for using masks in this situation because their effectiveness is at the most, about 10 percent.

Im very grateful for this because of our German and Austrian audience. I know from Germany they literally are forced in every place and every public space to wear masks, and we never really talk about the negative side effects of wearing these masks and reducing your own, you know, quality of what you breathe in.

Right, well, its not just that, its also that the normal bacterial flora that we all carry in our mouth and our pharynx and lungs is now getting filtered onto that mask and then were breathing it. So were basically setting up a situation where we have additional bacterial flora, and potentially viral, that were repeatedly breathing. So its not just the effects on CO2 levels and those kinds of things, theres also some infectious components to it. And then, as you know with children, children need to see faces. And the use of the mask, particularly in the context of schools in children interacting with other children, is really counterproductive. So theres theres just a lot of things, like your Austrian friends are also very aware of the lockdown policies.

LOCKDOWNS

That would have been my second question: do lockdowns work?

Theres a whole cascade of other things. Its this overly simplistic thought that with this simple intervention, we can have a beneficial effect on the spread of the virus. As you know, the truth is the virus will move through the population. And you know, you can have some short-term impact on that in terms of public health behavior through lockdowns in terms of flattening the initial curve and not overloading your hospitals, et cetera. But the overall impact in multiple assessments is damaging, is worse than if they never impose that at all in terms of the economy, peoples employment, peoples mental health, the rate of suicide.

Theres a lot of other factors, and then, of course, the children that all go into that, and it seems kind of mindless. But what were suffering, I mean, we have an epidemic of a virus, we have an epidemic of irrational fear and we have an epidemic of poor public policy. And I think that unfortunately, the Austrian people are about to be getting a lesson in this. And I guess perhaps the German people.

FREEDOM AND GLOBAL TYRANNY

Exactly, one of the greatest side effects, so to speak of lockdowns, is the attack on freedoms. The idea that the state can just limit human traffic and just anything outside your own home to such an extent that you are literally a prisoner in your own home and, you know, the damage of that part of the lockdown. You recently also talked about the danger of global tyranny.

Yes, this is the camels nose: is the metaphor thats often used: once the camels nose gets in the tent, pretty soon the whole camels in the tent. We have this tendency in Western democracies. Frankly, I think Great Britain is particularly susceptible to this. The idea that were doing it for the common good, that we can do social engineering, we can have these interventions if its limited. Its just for this thing, its just for that thing. And then we get this incrementalism. Well, if it was good for that, then its good for this. So that, you know, the obvious example is this Trusted News Initiative. That is a clear case where it started off for a noble cause, that is resisting incursion into our political system from offshore political interests. You know, they spoke about the Russians as the threat, but really any. And then thats been weaponized against vaccine dissent.

Really, it comes down to dissent about the interpretation of facts and information. And now its were going to do the same thing with climate change, and who knows what the next social engineering objective is going to be? It just seems to be this chronic erosion of civil rights and liberties in the logic that countries and governments  that its OK to do social engineering through these various interventions. And I think that that is really worrisome.

FUSION OF STATE, CORPORATE INTERESTS INTO EVIL GLOBAL FASCISM; VIGANO; VATICAN

You recently also retweeted a statement from Archbishop Vigano where he spoke about the need for an anti-globalist alliance. Could you explain to us why you supported the statement from Archbishop Vigano?

So Ive become convinced, as he has, that theres something here that goes beyond just vaccines and public health, and I have not wanted to go there intellectually. And yet it is impossible to make sense out of what is transpiring in the world right now, just as an explanation of public health and vaccine policy, or antiviral policy. And I have become convinced that were in a situation in which were all having our rights eroded and that there is a larger force beyond this. I have colleagues who speak at length about evil. There is a growing sense by many people that theres something fundamentally evil going on here.

Ive become convinced that we do have a situation that is essentially the growth and expansion of global tyranny, there is harmonized that is managed, that is aligned across nation-states. And it appears to be aligned with the economic interests of a small cluster of investment funds that represents the bulk of global western capital. And what Im particularly alarmed about, me and many others and apparently also the archbishop, is that this pool of capital is so large now that it has more power than individual nation states do. Weve been warned about this for a long time. I used to be a political science student also, and I read about the rise of transnationalism in the New World Order back two decades ago. We now seem to be seeing it play out.

And personally, Ive become convinced that one of the fundamental problems that have resulted in this disassociation within our society is fragmentation of our society. The sense that things dont make sense, that we are no longer connected, is that we have elected to use the language of economics to describe the human condition. We, by our very language  language matters  by our very language we have reduced the human condition down to economic units, and that makes us all basically economic pawns in a process of growing wealth. We use that language. Weve substituted the language of good and bad, and evil, and good works  in this kind of thinking  for the language of profit. And what I think I see is a growing world in which there is a large block of capital, which is decoupled from nation-states.

It used to be that the capital would stay connected to the geography and the people from whence it was derived, even if it was pooled in the top one percent, at least it was still linked to that nation-state. Thats no longer the case. The capital is decoupled, it will move wherever it wants to go, and it moves in response to one primary driver, which is return on investment. It has no moral compass, it has no moral component. It only responds to the opportunity to seek additional return on investment. And so were all reduced to economic units that can be exploited to generate more return on investment wherever that capital seeks to move. And the capital is now so large that it can dictate policy, economic policy and national policy in different nation-states. And that capital has acquired all of the main media, all of the Big Tech and all of the major vaccine and pharmaceutical companies. And its all acting globally in an integrated fashion.

So what do we call this? We have language for these things. And the language that we have chosen to use in the past to describe this fusion of the state and corporate interests, the word that we have chosen to describe that is fascism. But this is more than fascism because fascism is linked to a given nation-state. This is something bigger. This is something in which this fusion has occurred at a level that is decoupled from the nation-state. It is global. So when we talk about global totalitarianism, this is a descriptor. This isnt just a political concept. This is trying to be technically precise in describing whats being observed.

Whats observed is that we now have a situation in which its not just a fusion of the interests of corporatists and the nation-state. Its a fusion of corporatists and this large pool of transnational capital that roams around looking for a return on investment. And it will act in whatever ways it needs to act in order to improve that return on investment in an amoral sense because it has no intrinsic morality.

This is why I originally tried, with your assistance, to reach out to the Vatican, because if there is one  in my space, I dont have connections with the Muslim community  but at least I have some grounding in Christianity, thats my core culture. And in my view, in the western world, if there is a remaining moral authority in the world, it is the Catholic Church as the dominant moral authority. And I was hoping that the Catholic Church would take a principled stand here and take a position that this is wrong, that this is fundamentally contrary to humanity, what we have believed as humanity. And this is why I supported the Archbishop because the Archbishop seems to also believe in these core concepts and uses extraordinarily strong language. I was very struck by the bravery of the Archbishop to speak so freely about these things. And also, I felt it a little bit validating that heres somebody coming independently from a different discipline, in a different frame of reference, a different tradition, and yet had come to the same conclusions that I was coming to.

VACCINE MANDATES

And in this manner of depriving us of our freedoms, you would also include the vaccine mandates, right? And forcing of vaccines on people who have different reasons to object to them?

Absolutely, and by the way, one of the most potent legally in the United States is the religious objection. Now that apparently is going to be very difficult to overcome legally, one hopes. But I feel fundamentally, I believe theres a fundamental principle in the logic that people have freedom to choose, and particularly over their own body in medical procedures. And what were talking about is mandating individuals receiving a medical intervention with an unlicensed medical product that they may or may not wish to accept it. In my opinion, if people wish to accept vaccine and they are well-informed about the risks and benefits of that vaccine, then they should have access to it. We shouldnt forbid them from taking it. But we also shouldnt mandate that they accept it, if they have objections

INFORMED CONSENT

And we shouldnt suppress literature or studies coming out that are critical about the vaccines, either, because then we dont give informed consent.

Absolutely. And this is fundamental, if there is an underlying fundamental logic behind what Im trying to do with Twitter and social media in interviews like this, its to provide some access to information so that people can make their own decisions. I dont want to tell people, take the vaccine, or dont take the vaccine. Let me express my position as a physician as to whether or not theres merit to taking the vaccine, but I believe strongly, fundamentally, it is against the principles that Ive been taught for 30 years of bioethics that you should impose a medical procedure on an unwilling patient. [00:19:41][42.3]

VARIANTS, SUPPORT FOR GEERT VANDEN BOSSCHE PREDICTIONS

One of your early arguments against this mass vaccination was also that it would promote and provoke the increase of variants of the virus, as you have explained on numerous occasions, do you see this now coming? Do you see that theres evidence, that compared to the, lets say, first 18 months of the corona outbreak and whats happening now under the massive vaccination programs?

From what Im seeing, and its not my core competency to be carefully examining the evolutionary course in the specific point mutations of these different viruses, I could do that, [but] its not what Ive been doing, other people are doing it very well. My impression is with the Delta variant and now the Omicron variant that we are seeing evidence thats consistent. So Im going to use scientific terminology.

Were seeing data that are consistent with the hypotheses of Geert Vanden Bossche and others. Ive been very influenced by his thinking, but I want to give him credit for his contribution. I didnt come up with this, I was an early adopter and very influenced by it. But it does appear that the pattern of mutations that were observing is entirely consistent with what Geert has predicted. And heres the one nuance, what Geert has been alerting us to is the risks of Merricks disease in chickens, which is a cancer DNA virus that, if you vaccinate against you will end up with worse disease than you get if you dont vaccinate into an ongoing infection. And so his his alarm has been not only that we would develop vaccine resistant mutants, but that they would be increasingly pathogenic. I think that the data are now really compelling.

We are selecting for vaccine-resistant mutants. Now what is not yet clear is are these mutants more pathogenic? And that is a difficult thing to sort out because the viruses as they move as a population, its not that we just flip a switch and everybody was on Beta and then suddenly became on Delta. And so you could see an abrupt transition, but rather its a blending of information. And now were going to probably see a blending from Delta into Omicron, or we wont. But if the experience in Africa holds true, thats what we might see.

And so what well see is a gradual gradient of evidence that the vaccines are being less and less effective. And so the metaphor everybody keeps using is the one of the frog put into the pot of water, and then the heat is slowly turned on and it slowly comes to a boil and the frog never realizes and jumps out when it could outright. It just boils because its this incrementalism, and it is likely that what we will see is an incrementally increasing signal indicating a reduction in vaccine effectiveness, which is what weve seen with Delta. I mean, if you recall back in time, youre a journalist youre following these things, we had people saying well, the vaccines are losing their efficacy, and then we had all of this tussle over whether thats true or not true. Now its widely accepted, you have even Bill Gates and Tony Fauci admitting it. But theres been this period of time where we were all tussling over whether this is true or not. And then the data became more and more and more and more compelling as Delta moved into the population. This is what were likely to see with Omicron if it successfully competes with Delta.

INADEQUACY OF BOOSTER SHOTS

So we would need constant booster shots to adjust the vaccines the new variants?

So this is Ryan Cole, I think is of the people that I interact with, the one that really first made this very stark. The vaccines that we would be boosted with are designed against the initial strain, the Alpha strain. They are now grossly mismatched. He makes the appropriate point of the analogy to influenza vaccination. So with with our influenza vaccines, we have seasonally adjusted in vaccine mixtures because of the drift and shift in influenza vaccines that occur globally. So this is the norm in vaccinating.

Remember, influenza is an RNA virus that causes upper respiratory disease. The parallels are fairly strong. Both of these RNA viruses mutate at high levels because their polymerases generate mutants. They are not able to air check like DNA viruses. Polymerase is able to do so. So were seeing the drifting in the genetics of the circulating strain, just like we do with flu. And what we would normally do with flu is we would adjust our vaccine formulation on an annual basis. And were not doing that. And for whatever reason now, the vaccine developers are saying, Oh, well, good heavens, with Omicron if that really turns out to be that severe, then we can make our adjustments.

Heres the thing about that, when you make those sequence adjustments in the case of influenza, we have years and years and years of experience to say which ones of those adjustments are going to be OK and which ones do we need to do. Additional studies for the vaccine manufacturers seem to be saying that we want the latitude to deploy new vaccines in the same way that we do for seasonal influenza, without going through that period of learning. So once again, they want to rush the whole thing, and shortcut the safety assessment. So far, that hasnt worked out so good.

POSSIBLE REASONS FOR CONTINUING TO DO WRONG THINGS ON VACCINES

Yeah, exactly. So one minister in Germany, from Bavaria, has now argued that only if we get the whole population vaccinated  so he argues that Germany should start by January 1st with a vaccine mandate  that only this way could we get rid of Coronavirus. How would you respond to the statement?

I would respond that its grossly naive. How many times do we have to say, these vaccines are poorly effective at preventing infection, replication and spread? They are partially protective against disease; natural immunity is significantly more protective against disease, that means hospitalization, for example. Both natural immunity and these vaccines currently are very protective against death. The vaccines are partially protective against severe disease compared to the unvaccinated.

The problem with that logic [proposing vaccine mandates] is the unvaccinated are an increasingly tiny population, not just because of vaccination, but because of natural infection. And theyre not really monitoring the fraction of the population that have been naturally infected and recovered. A lot of estimates show that certainly in the United States, while we have less than 60 percent vaccine uptake, we probably have 80 plus percent in the total population that have either been infected or vaccinated. OK, so this logic from the German minister, this is what is driving so many of us to distraction as its not based on science. And if its so obviously not based on science, what is driving that policy? Theres kind of two explanations that Im comfortable with, well lets say three.

One is that theyre just locked into a belief system, and they are so deep in it now that they cant admit their failure and their flaws, and they feel like they just have to keep doing it. This is the give a three-year-old a hammer and everything becomes a nail logic, right? They have a very powerful system. They think they can keep administering it and getting a response. But you know, theres that quote from Einstein, I believe its attributed to. If you keep doing the same thing and expect [different] results, this is the definition of madness, right? So thats one answer: that theyre just so dug in, they feel they have no other options and they have to keep doing this because they cant admit their prior failures and flaws.

Another one is [to do with] the economic or other external forces, which basically argues that the leadership in the European Union and throughout the West, including the United States, has been captured functionally by the economic interests of some financial entity, of which the pharmaceutical industry is a component. So theres that argument.

MASS FORMATIONS PSYCHOSIS ARGUMENT OF MATTIAS DESMET GHENT

I personally really like the argument of Mattias Desmet, which is this mass formation psychosis argument, that fundamentally a significant fraction of the population [has] been hypnotized. Its not [something] that they are conscious of. So the theyre so dug in that they cant back out argument, is founded on the belief that theyre actually aware, that theyre not experiencing cognitive dissonance because theyre aware that theyve made a mistake.

But many wouldnt.

Right? The mass formations psychosis argument of Mattias Desmet of Ghent argues that they are truly hypnotized, that a large fraction of the population has become hypnotized, much as happened to the German people during the 1930s and 1920s. And it has similar psychological roots in a lot of us, including myself. Im just one of many who find the arguments of Dr Desmet very compelling. They seem to explain a lot of behaviors that are otherwise inexplicable, like this extreme level of aggression and venom that is vented against anyone whos expressing anything such as you do at LifeSiteNews. Anything that is contrary to the dominant narrative they attack this in the most personal terms. It is their venomous, aggressive attacks that are not based on any data or information.

WORRISOME PROBLEM OF VACCINE ENHANCED DISEASE

Exactly. For example, in Germany, since we just talked about Germany, the official data just came out which showed that in the age group, about 60-year-olds, 71 percent of the hospitalized are now fully vaccinated and 52 percent of those who died were fully vaccinated. So these data actually should be taken in, showing at least that the vaccines, as you always say, seem to be leaky. But at some point one also has to worry about why its little more than half who die are dying with the vaccines, whether the vaccines are truly doing what they are supposed to do.

And the worry is, as you know, the worry, the chronic worry that many of us have had  those of us that think about these things, and try to look carefully at the data, and are aware of the prior data in coronavirus vaccine development in humans which [have] repeatedly encountered the problem of vaccine enhanced disease  is this: Is this paradoxical signal that were seeing an initial indicator of some deeper phenomena having to do with vaccine enhanced injury?

This is coming out more and more in the data, in the press. What the infectious disease community and World Health Community and European Medicines Agency and U.S. CDC and Canadian National Health Service, et cetera, we could go on and on, have focused on is what they classify as vaccine-related injuries, which are things that are narrowly defined as meeting their preset criteria for what they consider to be a vaccine-related injury.

POOR CONTROLS FOR ACCURATELY DETERMINING ALL  CAUSE MORTALITY

And the problem with that is that its all subject to various forms of biases, having to do with the reporting and the classification of the information is very subjective. It is subjective. Thats the best way to put it. That type of data analysis results in data that is contaminated with all kinds of confounding variables and subjectivity. So what can you do? Well, you have to start looking at all-cause mortality. When somebody dies, thats a very clear signal. We kept good records on how often people die, and we can argue about whether or not this heart attack death was associated with [the] vaccine or not associated with [the] vaccine. But when we see all-cause mortality going up..

Excess death

Then thats something to worry about. The problem is, how do you disambiguate all-cause mortality due increase due to vaccine, versus increase due to circulating virus? And that gets really hard. Thats the basis for the argument that many people make when they say, Im part of the control group. That used to confuse me when people would say Im part of the control group, Id say what clinical trial? What theyre talking about is the idea that unless theres some cohort that has not accepted the vaccine, then we can never disambiguate what is due to the vaccine, and whats due to the virus.

So without some really sophisticated and expensive immunology testing to figure out  because we can test and see whether or not youve just had the jab or whether youve been infected  it may be possible to see whether youve got both going on right now because of some immunologic characteristics.

So they argue that theyre part of the control group, because if we lose that, if everybody is universally jabbed, then we can never do any comparison and sort out whats due to the jab and whats due to the infection. This is one of the arguments thats made about why this insane push to universal vaccination is a way of covering your tracks if you happen to be a global biopharmaceutical company.

But Im worried, as I know you are, about this push that seems irrational.

CLOSING MESSAGES TO AUSTRIANS, THE WORLD AND NEED TO BUILD COMMUNITY

Just as the last question, what would be your message to the Austrians who are going to hear your message in translation? What is your message to the Austrians that are now essentially locked down and facing mandated vaccination within the next half a year, as well as to the Germans, where its lurking already around in the discussion? What is your message to these countries?

Thats a hard one. I try to always conclude my interviews with something positive. So those people, and also the Australians, are facing an intolerable situation, where their governments literally, in my opinion, have gone mad. And I think theyve probably gone mad because of this mass formation psychosis of the desperate. But time will tell maybe, or maybe it will just get hidden.

I believe that the only recourse now that most of us have, is this idea of building local community. I really believe that were now in a situation, and again, Im very influenced by Mattias Desmets analysis. Hes of the opinion, its quite dark, that this period of global totalitarianism will sweep over us. Its now gained enough momentum and enough buy-in from enough nation-states and political organizations, that it has a momentum of its own. And we are going to have to come to terms with that, while we also come to terms with the fact that the virus will have its way with us.

So to my mind, whether its Omicron, or Delta, or Delta Plus, or fill-in-the-blank variant, we are likely to have another wave this winter. I think its already kicking in pretty hard in Europe, and we may end up with kind of a bimodal wave. We may end up with a Delta wave with an Omicron wave superimposed on it later. OK, so in the face of a dysfunctional government and public health response, what can you do? I think theres three things.

One is build connections within your local community. This is the fundamental sickness in our society that has given rise to the mass formation, if you listen to Mattias argument. So try to rebuild those connections, and that means in part, building contact lists, particularly for the elderly within your community. Whether your community is a church or a town hall, whatever your political and social structure is, try to build community, try to build contact list call lists, stay in touch with each other, and in particular, try to stay in touch with the high-risk groups, the elders, etc. They represent your wisdom and theyre at highest risk.

And the biggest crime I think thats going on is the feeble elder who encounters the virus, goes to the hospital, was taken to the hospital, gets told, No, youre not sick enough. Go home. Heres an aspirin. Call us when youre sick enough, and they go home. And theres some complex physiology about blood oxygen levels that makes it so that the pulse oximeter appears to be underestimating your oxygenation problem. And so they go home and they die, and they die alone, and it is completely unnecessary because early treatment can help them.

So number one, build community, stay in touch with people, watch over each other because the state isnt going to do it for you. OK, the unfortunate situation is that our pharmaceutical hospital industrial complex is not helping us, right? Its become incredibly dysfunctional, so were going to have to kind of do it ourselves. So build those lists, stay in touch with people, find physicians, if you can, who will administer early treatment.

What weve seen in multiple examples, particularly with the elderly that do not have access to the internet or often or are challenged in getting access to digital media  we all think that weve all got laptops. Thats not true for a large cohort of the population, particularly the feeble and the elderly,  those people really appreciate having a document.

There are a variety of sources of information and documents in English the FLCCCs protocol is one where they formatted these treatment protocols as PDFs, and you can just print them. Getting information into the hands of the feeble and the elderly and the disadvantaged has two advantages. Number one, it reassures them that its not hopeless. It reassures them that you can survive this virus. That it is not a death sentence if you get infected, and it shows them graphically that there are things, tangible things that can be done, OK?

Those two things alone provide enormous relief. Ive seen it. Ive seen it in peoples faces. The people, particularly the people that are in this zone where they are subject to the mass formation psychosis, but their minds are a little bit open, and when you give them a document saying, Hey, this is not a death sentence, if you get this, there is hope, you can see the change in their expression and the relief that they get just from that one thing.

The release of stress, just from having a document, in your hands. So thats number two, to get information out to people. Theres a variety of sources of information: help them know that this is not a death sentence.

The third thing is in building communities and identifying doctors. Over time, were going to start building clinics and treatment associations, et cetera. I mean, what Ive seen, for instance, in Hawaii with Kirk and Kim Malone, Kirk is a pediatric cardiologist with expertise in vascular inflammation. Kim is a pediatric anesthesiologist. Theyve worked together. Theyve been kicked out of the only hospital in Oahu because they have been administering early treatment to patients. This is shocking when you think about it.

Kirk is also a minister at a local congregation. Jill and I have been there to their meetings, there are a couple hundred people that come to his congregation, and he runs a food bank. This is a deeply, spiritually committed individual. Not from your denomination, but it doesnt matter. He is fundamentally committed to good works, and he is setting up a clinic where he is treating people with these life-saving drugs early on. Kim and Kurt together. So eventually, thats going to grow into a community clinic.

Eventually, those community clinics are going to provide an alternative to this industrialized medicine model that were in the middle of right now. And that, I think, is the long-range hope. How long is it going to take? How many decades? I have no idea. But it all starts with the idea of being globally aware of whats going on, but acting locally within your community to start to build capabilities. And I think that is the way we break free of the mass psychosis.

But this is Mattiass point, is that if we can get people to realize that global totalitarianism is a bigger threat than the virus, and get them to break away from this mass psychosis, then they create a new kind of mass psychosis, which is their fear of global totalitarianism, fused to their anxiety and social disassociation. And so we still havent cured the underlying problem. The underlying problem is the sickness in our society, and we all know its there. We can all feel it. Were aware that theres something fundamentally wrong. Until we give humans as a community, a sense of belonging and responsibility for each other, and break free of this idea that were just economic units and whoever dies with the most toys wins, and instead, we move to a space that is fundamentally a more spiritual space. Its a space in which we acknowledge our interdependency with each other and our need for social connectivity. This is fundamental.

And the antidote against the lie, against propaganda, is human connectivity and exchange of reality, of things that happen and that undercuts propaganda. It is putting people together.

Its the cure. Yeah, it is the real cure. Its the cure of the disease that Mattias Desmet has diagnosed for us, which is this mass formation, psychosis, the madness of crowds.

And so we would in a literal sense and philosophically form an anti-globalist alliance, as Archbishop Vigano proposed.

I think he nailed it right on the head. I think he called it correctly now, and I think it showed great bravery and foresight. But youve taught me that he is a person who, for whatever reason, has had the courage to speak truth to power in the past. And I honor him for that.

And we honor you for doing the same in your field.

Im trying! Im going to share one of the other things that happened to me today. I received something in the mail, and it was a cease and desist letter from the lawyer representing a family. They were upset because I had retweeted a video montage of young athletes dying or having heart attacks. That video montage included a clip of their son who had died, but his death occurred before the outbreak, and whoever created that video montage had manipulated the information about his death and included him in the montage. And then I was being accused of having been the person that did this because I retweeted it, and it was very upsetting to get this.

A nico, a threat.

Yeah, it was. But then I stepped back, and I mean, this goes to turn the other cheek and try to empathize, and I realized these are parents that are in pain. And they accused me of exploiting this to support an anti-vaccine agenda, which they were clearly very upset by, exploiting their sons death. I have to say to myself, I empathize with their pain, and I can understand why they were upset, and I went and took that post down. But what it underscores I have a colleague that I wont name, who is a prolific writer about these things, you would recognize him, who made the case the other day that the other side is lying all the time and we have to be willing to lie too and to make our point because it is a global fight. And I objected. I said, No, we cant do that.

The end does not justify the means.

Right! But I think that when were in the thick of this confrontation, this truly epic battle, I think thats not overstating it. We are in a truly epic battle. And I think that we have to try really hard to maintain our integrity and not follow into the behavior and the ethics of it.

Exactly.

Because, you know, if we want to talk about soul, thats how we lose our soul. Thats how we become perverted and brought into that darkness that we seem to see our opponent as fallen into.

Exactly. And what really comes to me just in this whole conversation, when you speak about the economic powers today, when we talk in biblical terms, you know, our Lord always said, you cannot serve Mammon and God at the same time. So in a sense, you cannot in fighting Mammon, you shouldnt adapt the methods of Mammon. You still should keep that ethical approach because finally, we stand before God and not before man.

I think that is a fundamental truth that transcends all theology. I believe there are universal ethical truths, which are the foundation for Western culture. I cant speak to eastern culture as I dont know it, but in my world, there are fundamental, transcendent ethical truths. A lot of them stem from the idea that we have, as thinking beings, a responsibility to each other and to the world around us and the animals around us. And you saw that today as we went out and saw the horses, et cetera. I think that if we lose that ability to empathize and our commitment to our fellow beings

Then we lose our soul.

Completely.

Well, thank you so much, Dr. Malone, for this wonderful interview. And we hope we can do that again, and we can keep listening to your wisdom and good guidance in this very, very difficult time. Thank you so much.

Read more at: LifeSiteNews.com
(Natural News) Seventy-five animals at the Phoenix Zoo in Arizona have been given the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccines  all of them are on the endangered species list. Veterinarians working for the zoo claim the animals are susceptible to the coronavirus, which is why they need the experimental and dangerous vaccines.

Animal health and human health are closely connected, claimed Dr. Gary West, a veterinarian and Phoenix Zoos vice president for animal health and living collections. We started seeing increasingly concerning reports from other zoos where the large cats, tigers, lions, snow leopards were acquiring the infections from their human caretakers.

Because of this, Phoenix Zoo authorities decided to choose 75 animals who will get the vaccine. These included Sumatran tigers, bobcats, jaguars, African lions, orangutans, emperor tamarins, Egyptian fruit bats, three-banded armadillos and Linnes two-toed sloths. (Related: MIND-BLOWING: Oakland and Denver zoos giving COVID-19 spike protein vaccines to animals  including bears, gorillas, tigers and mountain lions.)

The tigers, bobcats, jaguars and lions were vaccinated from a distance using darts that contained the shots. They are expected to receive a second dose  which will serve as booster doses  soon. They take it way better than people do, said West. They dont like it, but they bounce right back and go back to their lives.

So far, we really havent seen anything significant. Maybe some mild lethargy in a couple of our primates but really, nothing major, he added, talking about the vaccines immediate side effects on the animals. In addition to guest-facing measures deployed, we have been taking precautions during the pandemic behind-the-scenes to keep our animals safe.

Some of these precautionary measures include zoo staffers keeping their distance from the animals and wearing protective equipment. West said zookeepers have to wear masks and gloves whenever they come close to animals. Places in the zoo that allow visitors to get a little closer to the animals are currently still closed.

West claimed that knowing the animals in Phoenix Zoo are vaccinated is helping him feel relieved.

We can offer another layer of protection for these animals [with the vaccine]. You know, zoos are some of the last places youre going to see [some of these animals], and some of the last places these animals are going to be saved in, said West.

We have some very rare animals, such as Sumatran tigers and Bornean orangutans and if theres things we can do to offer additional protection from the disease then were going to look at those opportunities.

Phoenix Zoo animals received special COVID-19 vaccines

The COVID-19 vaccines being used at the Phoenix Zoo were developed specifically for animals by Zoetis, a global animal health company based in New Jersey. Zoetis donated 160 doses of its COVID-19 vaccines to the zoo.

We put together a list of species that we wanted to vaccinate twice and submitted that twice and we were able to [get the] vaccine for all those animals, said West.

As part of the mass vaccination program, Phoenix Zoo veterinarians are obligated to send monthly reports to Zoetis detailing any adverse effects related to the vaccinations.

The Zoetis vaccine received its emergency use authorization for use on endangered species from the Department of Agriculture early this year. Since then, COVID-19 vaccines have been administered to animals in dozens of many zoos across the United States.

The first vaccines were given to nine great apes at the San Diego Zoo. They were the first non-humans in America to receive a COVID-19 vaccine.

Since the beginning of the year, multiple zoos across the country have grappled with COVID-19 outbreaks among their animals, no doubt caused by coming into close contact with their fully vaccinated handlers. This has led to the deaths of endangered animals, including three snow leopards that recently died at the Lincoln Childrens Zoo in Nebraska.

It will only be a matter of time until more reports start coming out regarding vaccinated zoo animals experiencing sudden health complications due to the experimental and dangerous COVID-19 vaccines.

Learn more about how dangerous COVID-19 vaccines are at Vaccines.news.

Sources include:

DailyMail.co.uk

KTAR.com

AZFamily.com

CTVNews.ca
(Natural News) American physician and virologist Dr. Steven Hatfill said theres no valid medical reason for the governments mass vaccination program for kids and young adults.

Hatfill, who served as coronavirus adviser for former President Donald Trump in 2020, specifically stressed that theres no need for mass vaccination among children in the five to 11 age group because they are naturally resistant to the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID 19).

There are reasons for this. Number one, their immune system is very, very robust. Number two, the receptor for the COVID-19 virus to enter the upper airway is in low concentration in children. So they dont really pick up a lot of virus, Hatfill told host Ann Vandersteel during the December 8 episode of Steel Truth on Brighteon.TV.

If they get sick, its usually just for a couple of days, its considered a mild illness. And many of them are asymptomatic.

Hatfill pointed out that the Pfizer and Moderna mRNA vaccines are different from traditional vaccines used against measles, mumps, polio and smallpox viruses.

Within a matter of minutes, a great deal of whats injected into your arm goes in your lymphatic system. Now its in your regional lymph nodes. And it was distributing all over the body. They put a marker on it. Its going to the ovaries, to the testes, to the liver, to the spleen, to the heart, to the vasculature in the brain. This was not supposed to happen. And they kept it low key, said Hatfill, who accused Big Pharma of hiding the truth.

Spike protein causes cardiovascular problems

Describing the spike protein as toxic, Hatfill noted that it damages the vascular system. This is why were seeing such an increase in cardiovascular events. The spike protein looks like a little ball with spikes on it. It is damaging the inside of your tissue, of your veins, your vascular system, your heart.

Reports of potential link between mRNA vaccines and cases of myocarditis and pericarditis began to emerge in June.

Myocarditis is a condition that involves inflammation of the heart muscle. Symptoms can include fever and fatigue, as well as shortness of breath and a very specific type of chest pain. Patients tend to say their chest hurts more when they lean forward. The pain tends to subside when they lean back. Pericarditis, on the other hand, is the swelling and irritation of the thin, sac-like tissue surrounding the heart.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced on June 23 that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) would add a warning to the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines about possible link to myocarditis and pericarditis in teenagers and young adults. (Related: FDA admits covid injections from Pfizer, Moderna cause heart inflammation.)

Dr. Tom Shimabukuro, deputy director of the CDCs Immunization Safety Office, said in a presentation that data from the Vaccine Safety Datalink (VSD) suggests a rate of 12.6 cases per million in the three weeks after the second shot in people between the ages of 12 and 30.

Meanwhile, former Pfizer executive Dr. Michael Yeadon told Real Americas Voice that children are 50 times more likely to die from the COVID-19 vaccine than from the virus itself.

Yeadon explained that the mRNA gene technology used in Pfizers COVID-19 vaccine to trigger the body to create viral spike proteins is a fundamental problem that researchers have known about for years. Those spike proteins, Yeadon said, can lead to blood clots and other health problems.

Watch the full December 8 episode of Steel Truth with Ann Vandersteel and guest Dr. Steven Hatfill below.



Catch new episodes of Steel Truth from Monday to Friday at 8-10 p.m. on Brighteon.TV.

Sources include:

Brighteon.com

DailyMail.co.uk

NaturalHealth365.com
(Natural News) In a stunning confession, Pfizer admitted that it has logged a staggering 42,086 adverse reactions  representing a total of 158,893 adverse events  in the first three months of its vaccine rollout. Over 25,000 of the reported events were classified as nervous system disorders.

The pharmaceutical giant also listed 1,223 deaths over the same period, which should be enough cause to stop the vaccination program.

That confession can be found in the first batch of documents released by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in accordance with a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit by the Public Health and Medical Professionals for Transparency (PHMT). (Related: Japan Health Ministry issues HEART WARNING for Pfizer and Moderna COVID vaccines)

In his blog at Global Research, Jon Rappoport said that the appendix of the Pfizer document is the most astonishing section because it listed all the types of adverse reactions reported within just three months of vaccinations.

Investigative journalist Celia Farber listed the adverse reactions culled from the documents, including acute respiratory distress syndrome, pneumonia, Stevens-Johnson syndrome, dermatitis, Bells Palsy, skin allergies, paralysis, kidney and liver problems and other life-threatening side effects.

While praising Farber for her input, Rappoport said the public must resist and rebel no matter what. These are the stakes. This is the war, he wrote.

Experimental mRNA vaccines never been used before pandemic

The mRNA vaccine produced by both Pfizer and Moderna is a completely new type of vaccine that has never been licensed or used on humans before the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

As such, nobody has any idea what to expect from this type of vaccine. Traditional vaccines introduce pieces of a weakened virus to stimulate an immune response, while mRNA vaccines inject molecules of synthetic genetic material from non-human sources into your cells  thus hijacking your genes and permanently reprogramming them to produce antibodies to kill SARS-CoV-2, the virus causing COVID-19.

The mRNA vaccines of Moderna and Pfizer could barely be regarded as medicine in the traditional sense. They are transhumanistic tools to synthetically alter you at the genetic level.

Vaccines usually take seven to 20 years to adequately research, test and bring to market. The slew of COVID vaccines produced by Big Pharma companies are being rushed to market in less than 12 months, which is nowhere enough time to meet established safety standards.

No long-term safety studies were conducted, so no one has any real idea of the danger these vaccines could cause down the line. It is not an understatement when people say that much of the worldwide population has become Big Pharmas guinea pigs. (Related: Pfizer, FDA know the COVID vaccine is dangerous, but they push it anyway)

The COVID vaccines promote disease enhancement due to pathogenic priming. In other words, they make people sicker than the disease would have. These mRNA vaccines are only designed to stop mild symptoms.

These vaccines are also not designed to stop transmission. Big Pharma companies admitted they didnt design the vaccine to stop transmission. Therefore, vaccinated individuals can still transmit the virus to others  vaccinated or not.

The mRNA vaccines will not be truly effective since they were not based on an actual isolated sample of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The World Health Organization (WHO) has admitted there was no evidence the vaccines were effective.

WHO chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan Yadav said there is no evidence to suggest that the COVID vaccines can prevent people from getting COVID-19 or passing it on to others.

Follow Vaccines.news for more on the harmful effects of experimental mRNA vaccines.

Sources include

GlobalResearch.ca

Naturalhealth365.com

GlobalResearch.ca 2

Reuters.com
(Natural News) Dr. Vladimir Zelenko, a well-known New York-based physician, called Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccines the worst crime in human history.

Its called premeditated first degree capital murder, genocide and crime against humanity, Dr. Zelenko said during the December 3 episode of Steel Truth with Ann Vandersteel on Brighteon.TV.

Zelenko noted that COVID-19 is a man-made weapon of mass destruction. To Zelenkos point, medical freedom rights attorney Thomas Renz revealed that a whistleblower provided government data that documented 48,465 deaths of Medicare patients within 14 days of COVID-19 vaccination. (Related: COVID-19 vaccines are genocide, legendary doctor says.)

The Ohio-based attorney handles several major cases brought against federal firms relating to fraud and violations of medical freedom rights.

Renz acknowledged the whistleblower who came forward and provided important information from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Service (CMS) to the public. He noted that the CMS database contains the data of approximately 59.4 million Medicare beneficiaries, which is the largest available in the U.S. for the study of COVID-19 trends.

Last July, a whistleblower working professionally as a computer programmer in health care data analytics affirmed that CMS data revealed at least 45,000 deaths due to experimental COVID-19 vaccines.

A whistleblower report from Project Veritas also revealed that medical staff in federal hospitals have confirmed the presence of many patients suffering from COVID vaccine injuries.

Renz also gave evidence confirming the Food and Drug Administrations use of identical CMS data to monitor in near real time the various types of adverse reactions to gene-based vaccines that government agencies and the media have repeatedly described as safe and effective.

Experts getting censored for going against official COVID narrative

Zelenko also cited the censorship experienced by experts who dared to speak against the official COVID narrative of governments around the world.

Take Dr. Robert Malone, who was one of the worlds experts on the delivery system for the mRNA vaccines. And then now, hes against it. Hes telling people dont use it. Its too dangerous. The government is lying to you. But his voice is being deplatformed.

Zelenko lauded Malone for his honesty in telling the truth about the COVID-19 pandemic.

Well, hes a very credible source. And at least hes honest to admit that [he] was trying to do something that would help. In retrospect, it seems not to be helping; it should not be used, especially in this context. And hes been deplatformed, he said.

And then you hear anything that made sense; anything that could actually help improve outcomes; anything that could reduce anxiety globally; anything that could help people reintegrate back in society with people they love was vilified immediately.

Fear generated by COVID-19 is the real danger

Zelenko warned that the COVID-19 pandemic is being used to frighten people  to let them live with anxiety and isolate them from other people.

I have to take a step back and say, Well, what is really going on here? Why is fear being propagated to such a degree? And then I realized theres a patent trail here that explains as Dr. David Martin talks about it, but COVID-19 is a man-made weapon of mass destruction, said Zelenko.

Were living through the biggest psychological operation in the history of the world, where basically, there has been an intentional move to frighten people, let them live with anxiety, isolate them from others. And its well-known if anyone studied psychological warfare: If you live with anxiety and are isolated for long enough, youll set up psychologically to compensate. Logically to compensate, you can become very gullible, you can become easy to manipulate and calm.

The physician also took a shot at Bill Gates and Klaus Schwab.

Zelenko said: And so just like the sociopath Bill Gates said that seven billion people need to be vaccinated; and how Klaus Schwab said in 2016, that within 10 years, every human being will be tagged with a digital identifier; so how do you accomplish that?

How do you accomplish putting a leash on every single human being? Well, its very simple; you create a false need psychologically, right? Or salvation, and then use that to motivate 7 billion people to take a poisonous shot, which has clearly been shown to massacre people with no benefit. And in most cases, its not even necessary for children.

But Michael Hayden said to me personally: Internationally, [for] every one child that would die naturally from COVID infection, 100 will die from the vaccine, meaning the vaccine is 100 times more lethal to children than the actual virus that were supposedly trying to protect the children from. Theres a term for that. Child sacrifice.

Watch the full Dec. 3 episode of Steel Truth with Ann Vandersteel on Brighteon.TV.

You can catch Steel Truth with Ann Vandersteel from Monday to Friday at 8-10 p.m. on Brighteon.TV.

Follow Pandemic.news for more news related to the coronavirus pandemic.

Sources include:

Brighteon.com

LifeSiteNews.com
In recent months, the UK has been plagued by a record epidemic of bird flu, which has resulted in the culling of 500,000 caged birds.

"This year, we are seeing the greatest ever epidemic of avian influenza in the UK, with 36 confirmed cases," Environment Secretary George Eustice told the House of Commons.

He added that at the beginning of November, an avian influenza prevention zone was proclaimed across the UK, necessitating tight biosecurity controls and the confinement of all birds.

"Our chief veterinary officer continues to lead the response to this incident," he continued.

Christine Middlemiss, the head veterinarian, has already expressed her alarm about the situation.

Outbreak

After confirming new outbreaks overnight, she told BBC Radio 4's Today program: "We now have a total of 40 contaminated properties throughout the UK - that's a fairly high figure for the time of year for anything we've observed before." Last winter, there were 26 outbreaks.

"All of the birds on the grounds must be killed because of the continued risk of infection," Middlemiss added. A total of half a million people will have been removed at this point."

She said that the food supply would not be affected. "That seems like a tremendous amount, and it is for those keepers who are impacted, but it is a minor number in terms of egg supply, meat, chicken, and so on."

Related Article: Two Hippos in Belgium Tested Positive for Covid-19, First Case of Infection in the Species



Migratory Birds

Migratory wild birds carry the illness from Europe, where significant infection levels have been seen.

After a postmortem by the pathology laboratory at Scotland's Rural College, a rare white-tailed eagle discovered dead on Skye was among the wild birds to test positive for bird flu.

It's likely to be Scotland's first confirmed case of bird flu in an eagle. On November 14, an adult eagle from a well-established territory on Trotternish was discovered dead. It may have eaten diseased greylag geese, according to ornithologists.

According to Middlemiss, nearly 300 wild birds with the illness had been discovered in more than 80 locales. She stated that there were "a lot of viruses out there." Although there is little risk to humans, diseased birds should not be handled.

"We used to have a reasonable-sized epidemic and then two or three calm years," she explained. But that isn't the case right now. This is something we're witnessing all around Europe. We need to figure out why we're getting these illnesses year after year."

Actions

"We're continuing to get fresh detections," Middlemiss replied when asked if the sickness was still spreading. I confirmed two more last night, and we've been running at that pace for the past week or so. We're seeing a lot of infectious pressure from our wild birds."

Middlemiss advised yard bird feeder owners to "take normal hygiene measures."

"If you own hens and want to feed wild birds, make sure everything is spotless and separate, so you don't infect your birds and make them ill," she warned.

On-going Study

"We don't know explicitly, but it's certainly one of the thoughts that our specialists are thinking," Middlemiss said when asked if the climate issue was to blame for the rising illness. During the summer, the birds fly to the north of Russia, where they interact with birds from various parts of the world and exchange diseases. As a result, it's highly possible that different mixing is occurring as a result of climate change and changes in routes."

Also Read: Experts Warn of Another Deadly Global Outbreak to Strike Within 60 Years

For more health and medicine related news, don't forget to follow Nature World News!
PROBOLINGGO, INDONESIA - JULY 23: General view of the Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park, with Mount Bromo, the location of the Tenggerese villages where the Tenggerese Hindu Yadnya Kasada Festival is held, in the background, on July 23, 2013 in Probolinggo, Indonesia. The festival is the main festival of the Tenggerese people and lasts about a month. On the fourteenth day, the Tenggerese make the journey to Mount Bromo to make offerings of rice, fruits, vegetables, flowers and livestock to the mountain gods by throwing them into the volcano's caldera. The origin of the festival lies in the 15th century when a princess named Roro Anteng started the principality of Tengger with her husband Joko Seger, and the childless couple asked the mountain Gods for help in bearing children. The legend says the Gods granted them 24 children but on the provision that the 25th must be tossed into the volcano in sacrifice. The 25th child, Kesuma, was finally sacrificed in this way after initial refusal, and the tradition of throwing sacrifices into the caldera to appease the mountain Gods continues today. (Photo : Photo by Ulet Ifansasti/Getty Images)

Death toll rises on the Indonesian island of Java as the eruption of Indonesia's Tallest Volcano dumped ashes into the country's East Java region.

Fatalities from the event left over 30 people dead, a dozen people missing, and 56 injured. Thousands are currently displaced as Mount Semeru continues to rumble to life yet again early this week. Officials had relocated some villagers out of danger zones, while search and recovery was still going on.

The Java island's highest mountain continued to erupt once on Monday and three times on Tuesday, Reuters reported. A team of researchers from Indonesia's volcanology agency were sent to look into dangerous zones for villagers to stay, while poor weather plagued the teams and slowed their efforts.

Since the disaster, effectiveness of the disaster warning system and hazard mitigation have been questioned. According to Ediar Usman, an official from the Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation (PVMBG), some areas are "potentially no longer safe to inhabit."

"It's not impossible that a similar disaster could happen in the future," he added.

Poor weather disrupts recovery operations

Operational Chief of Search and Rescue I Wayan Suyatna told CNN that Monday's search operation was forced to a halt due to pyroclastic clouds and "dark and rainy" weather. In addition, the heavy rain from thunderstorms combined with the newly fallen volcanic ash created moving lahars, a roiling slurry of wet concrete that can destroy anything it ran into.

Eko Budi Lelono who heads the Gambar Center for Geological Survey, reported in The New York Times that the eruption was triggered by days of rain, which caused the lava dome atop the 12,060-foot Semeru to erode and collapse eventually. He adds that a team would be sent this week to examine the area, including experts from Yogyakarta who had studied the Merapi volcano near that city.

"The forecast for recovery efforts for the Mount Semeru volcano eruption is the chance for a thunderstorm each afternoon with temperatures rising into the middle to upper 70s," said AccuWeather Meteorologist Rob Richards. "Volcanic ash from the eruption will also cause low visibilities and dangerous health conditions due to the pollutants being put into the air."

Mount Semeru last erupted in January and is considered one of Indonesia's most active volcanoes.

Also read: Tiktok Videos Shows the Haunting Situation Indonesia After Mt. Semeru Eruption

Active volcano straddling the "Pacific Ring of Fire"

Semeru is one of more than 100 active volcanoes in Indonesia along the globe's area of high seismic activity that rests atop multiple tectonic plates. Its eruption sent thick columns of ash nearly 40,000 feet (12,200 meters) into the sky, that even villagers living up to 6 miles away have been urged to evacuate due to the risk of deadly pyroclastic flows.

Metres of molten ash entirely buried several villages and destroyed more than 100,000 homes. According to head of the Penanggal Lumajang Health Center, Dr. Lya Aristini,their healthcare facility was loaded with patients seeking treatment for volcano-related burns in severe condition.

In Indonesia, nearly 8.6 million people live within 10 km of an active volcano. In 2010, an eruption killed more than 350 people.

Also read: Rain and Storms Triggered the Deadly Eruption of Indonesia's Mt. Semeru, According to Experts
A life-threatening scenario arose Friday night as a tornado outbreak erupted throughout the South and Midwest, resulting in major casualties in at least one state.

Under Tornado Watch

Over 16 million people in nine states were under a tornado watch on Friday night and Saturday morning, stretching from eastern Texas to Indiana. Several tornadoes struck throughout the night as the weather worsened, posing a complicated situation.

It's just before 7:00 p.m. Spotters in Greenfield or Jonesboro, in the northeastern region of Arkansas, verified a huge and highly deadly tornado about 10 a.m. CST. At least one death was recorded in the village of Monette, 25 miles from Jonesboro after the Monette Manor Nursing Home was damaged by a severe and hazardous tornado that passed through the region.

According to Region 8 News, Craighead County Judge Marvin Day reported "severe injuries" at the nursing facility, with at least 20 people trapped and five critically hurt.

As the storms passed through Jonesboro, the newsroom was forced to seek shelter.

Related Article: Incoming Storm May Bring Infamously Dangerous Nighttime Tornadoes



Tornado Warning

According to the National Weather Service, a tornado warning has been issued for sections of southeastern Missouri, including Steele, Caruthersville, and Hayi. Employees at the National Weather Service office in St. Louis, Missouri, sought cover temporarily as storms raced over the state, with a tornado tracking south of the office. One verified death and two injuries in the Defiance, Missouri area.

Mayfield, Kentucky, was also under a tornado watch until 10:15 p.m. CST, where a powerful tornado was confirmed by radar to have struck directly. A tornado hit a candle business in Mayfield, trapping numerous people inside and causing fires. Several residences on Main Street were reported to be completely demolished or severely damaged. The tornado also devastated the county's emergency medical services department, leaving the area without ambulances and requiring outside assistance. Due to debris, several routes on the outskirts of town were unusable from Friday night into Saturday morning.

Due to catastrophic tornado damage, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear issued a state of emergency early Saturday morning, deploying the Kentucky Guard and State Police. A railway derailed and hit numerous homes in Earlington and Barnsley, Kentucky; shortly after, a tornado went through the region. Due to the tornado, people in Bowling Green, Kentucky, were reported trapped in their houses, with a fire breaking out at the National Corvette Museum and several injuries recorded.

What to do during tornado?

Listen to NOAA Weather Radio and check your local news or government social media feeds for the most up-to-date emergency information. Obey all state, municipal, and tribal officials' orders.

Find out how likely your location is to be hit by a tornado. Tornadoes are more common in the Midwest and Southeast of the United States.

Immediately flee to a safe location you've identified during a tornado. Current emergency information and instructions can be found by listening to EAS, NOAA Weather Radio, or local alerting systems.

Also Read: Texas Freeze Survivor Uses Tiktok to Help Others Prepare for Intense Winter

For more news about the environment , don't forget to follow Nature World News!
Heavy rains pummeled southwest France overnight, causing rivers to exceed their banks and prompting the evacuation of dozens of people.

Southwest France Experiences Flooding

As a result of recent warm southern winds, snowbanks have liquefied in the Pyrenees mountains, which has also contributed to the floods that might last for several days.

Firefighters responded to more than 250 calls in the previous several hours, but there have been no catastrophic accidents or fatalities, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said after meeting with local authorities.

Local flooding was also recorded in the Pyrenees, which split France from Spain. Meteo France weather agency also warned of increased avalanche risks in this area, according to Phys.org.

Spanish authorities say a lady was killed in her vehicle on Friday after a landslide.

Also Read: Rainfall Could Possibly Replace Snowfall in the Arctic Sooner Than Expected

More Rainfall Expected

While the situation is "under control," expectations of more rain might lead to severe flooding in many towns and cities, according to Eric Spitze, the French government's senior official for the Aquitaine region that includes Bordeaux.

People gathered along the banks of the Nive River in Bayonne, France, to photograph the torrents, as loudspeakers warned them of the dangers. Businesses along the Nive River were asked to shut by Mayor Jean-Rene Etchegaray as well

Power outages have been reported in hundreds of houses throughout the area. More than 100 people have been evacuated from their homes in the coastal town of Carcassonne, which was hit by a devastating landslide caused by the torrential rain, as per BBC.

Flood Preparedness Plan

Floods are the most prevalent and damaging natural disater. Floods are frequently linked with overflowing rivers and tropical storms, although they may occur everywhere. During torrential rains, cities may be flooded.

Flood preparation should be part of residents' plan if they reside in a flood-prone region. Before a flood make sure to:

Determine your flood risk.

Come up with a flood emergency plan.

Prepare an emergency kit with a flashlight, batteries, cash, and first aid items.

Buy flood insurance. Examine your property insurance policy for flood coverage.

Learn about local emergency preparations. Know where to go and how to get there if you need to evacuate or go to higher ground.

Elevate furnaces, water heaters, and electrical components. Install a sump pump to keep water out of your house.

Seal the walls of your basement.

Install back-flow preventers or standpipes on sewage lines to prevent flooding.

During a flood make sure to:
Experts participating on the Quest for the said endangered species initiative discovered a marine water Batman river loach that had not been sighted since 1974.

An aquatic fish thought to be endangered has been discovered in south-east Turkey after an almost 50-year disappearance.

After 5 Decades, Batman Loach Sighted in Turkey

The Batman River loach is the one to be discovered on their list of important highly desired endangered creatures, which further comprises the fat catfish known as Rhyzosomichthys totae in Colombia's elevated Lake Tota and the duckbilled bunting, Adrianichthys kruyti in Indonesia's Lake Poso.

"Freshwater fish are important to masses of individuals around the globe whom depends on them for a living," remarked Mike Baltzer, associate director of Shoal.

The extremely vulnerable Batman River loach, named Paraschistura chrysicristinae is a small yellow-and-brown patterned fish that reaches to 3.6cm in length and was formerly discovered in rivers and branches of the Batman and Ambar rivers, where it was last observed in 1974.

"I've spent investigating this location for 12 years, but this creature has been on my checklist," Dr. Cuneyt Kaya, senior lecturer at Recep Tayyip Erdoan University, stated.

Kaya, a fish taxonomist at the same university, and Dr Munevver Oral, a genetic and senior researcher, concentrated their hunt for the loach upstream of the Batman Dam, which was erected during 1986 and 1999.

"Since the creature had been gone, we really cannot know where to look so we didn't know where actual native habitat located," Kaya explained.

"Freshwater fishes are by far the most endangered category of animals on the globe," stated Baltzer.

"It's incredibly thrilling to discover a creature that was considered to be obsolete, such as the Batman River loach."

Also read: 'Excalibur' Seaworm: The 400-Million-Year-Old Worm with a Full Suit of Armor

Efforts To Prevent Freshwater Fish Extinction

It demonstrates that if we concentrate our wits and resources, we may identify additional varieties and prevent fish mass extinction.

"Man-made contamination is a problem, therefore we need to raise local people's awareness," Oral remarked. Once some fish have been discovered, action must be done to conserve the population."

"More than one-third of freshwater species are on the threat of collapse."

Previously, experts employed wider traps, and I believe the fish passed through the nets, so we didn't discover it and there are around 18,000 different types of fish.

Additional effort is already required to assist safeguard the loach's existence, particularly investigating potential concerns such as colony fragmentation caused by the hydropower, drought, and contaminants.

"Because the creatures seem to be very tiny and cylindrical, the grid of the fishing gear had to be relatively small."

Freshwater fish suffer serious dangers, per the World's Forgotten Fishes study, which was released this year by WWF, Shoal, as well as other collaborators.

Investagators believes that they have not even comprehend the ecosystem of the creature, thus, further research is needed. As freshwater fish require more attention rivers and lakes must be protected.

Kaya and Oral used tight-weave nets to catch 14 loaches in the Sarim flow's narrow, stony, fast-flowing portions, and yet another nine in the Han torrent.

Also read: Fresh Water Hydra Has the Amazing Ability to Regrow its Head!
A nurse fills a syringe with Moderna Covid-19 vaccine in a vaccination center in Garlan, western France, on December 13, 2021. (Photo : Photo by FRED TANNEAU/AFP via Getty Images)

As shown in a recently published report, the coronavirus attacks fat cells as well as specific immune cells in fat tissue.

Recent reports of media outlets state that the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 might effectively attack fat tissue and particular inflammatory responses present in visceral fat.

Coronavirus Penetrates Fat Cells

In a study conducted, published on the online website bioRxiv on October 25, researchers tested adipose tissue acquired from gastric procedures to determine if it might be contaminated by the coronavirus.

They discovered that fat deposits, called as adipocytes, could be infiltrated and produce low-level illness.

They also discovered that monoclonal antibodies dubbed macrophages, which are stored within adipose tissue, got infected and triggered a significantly more powerful immune response.

In parallel to these trials, the scientists investigated adipose tissue from COVID-19-infected individuals and discovered coronavirus nanoparticles in the fat that surrounding several body parts.

Pathogens such as influenza and HIV may hide in subcutaneous fat to avoid detection by the immune response.

While numerous specialists told the media that SARS-CoV-2 might technically do the same, rendering fat a repository for the virus.

The latest analysis has still not been peer-reviewed or released in a scientific publication; however as said by Mr. Philipp Scherer, a fat cell researcher at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas who was not part of the study, the fact of the matter is, the disease can indeed afflict fat tissue straightforwardly.

Overweight individuals have been at a higher risk of having serious conditions, needing inpatient care, and facing death from COVID-19 ever since beginning of the epidemic, according to earlier articles.

Several theories have been proposed to explain why fat increased the risk of poor COVID-19 outcomes.

Also read: New Type of Omicron Virus Harder to Detect, Emerges in Multiple Countries

Obese Individuals At High Risk

For begin, extra abdominal fat can impinge on the ribcage, restricting circulation in the lungs; if patients are already fighting to have enough oxygen into their respiratory system on a good day, they may suffer worse over COVID-19.

Furthermore, obese individuals' plasma appears to clot frequently than persons with reduced fat intake, which is a big concern in the context of COVID-19, which can cause substantial platelet aggregation.

Thus, when fat accumulates in the body, fat deposits invade the spleen, stem cells, and brain, all of which generate a large number of immune systems.

This can damage the immune function by lowering the amount of immune cells generated and diminishing their effectiveness.

Fat tissue can also cause persistent, reduced damage to the cells, as fat deposits and macrophages emit inflammatory molecules referred as cytokines in an attempt to destroy buried fat deposits or tissue from the body.

While all of these variables may exacerbate COVID-19 results in obese patients, there is now fresh indication that the infection actively attacks fat tissue.

"This might very well be making a contribution to serious infection," senior writer Dr. Catherine Blish, a translational immunologist and teacher of medicine at Stanford University, told the associated Press.

"In body's immune system of those [fat] cells, we're repeating the same old production of cytokines that I detect in the bloodstream of the truly sick people."

Also read: 38 Premises in the UK Face a 'Phenomenal Level' of Bird Flu
Mimi Casteel, the owner of Hope Well Wine, had a difficult summer in 2020. Wildfires raged throughout Oregon, not far from the acreage she rented to cultivate over 20 acres of grapes. The smoke was so severe that she had to turn off her home's fire alarms. For days, a dark cloud loomed on the horizon.

"The fires were not very close together, but they were intense enough and lasted long enough that we were enveloped in dense smoke for more than a week," Casteel explained. She was selling around 80% of the fruit she grew at the time, but a wildfire last year created smoke taint, which is when grapes absorb smoke and impair the quality of the wine they make

"They walked out on their contracts," she added, referring to all of her major clients. Casteel lacked smoke insurance to cover her damages, which she believed to be in the $300,000 range.

Oregon Wine Industry

When Oregon's wine industry began to expand in the 1960s, the traditionally temperate state appeared to be a perfect location for producing grapes for a range of wines, including chardonnay and pinot noir. "Almost as soon as that identity was starting to be acknowledged we were confronting a loss of it."

The industry is becoming significantly riskier due to the effects of the climate catastrophe. According to the Oregon climate assessment published in January, the total area burned during the 2020 wildfire season was the largest in Oregon's recorded history.

According to the analysis, temperatures will continue to rise, and wildfires will intensify exponentially.

Related Article: Food Prices May Rise as Fertilizer Shortage Worsens in North America



A Likely Situation

It's a narrative that's being told all around the world. Wine grapes are farmed worldwide, including Europe, South America, and Africa. However, as the climate crisis worsens, bringing more catastrophic wildfires, warmer summers, milder winters, and unpredictable frosts and rains, wine production is altering.

Grapes are one of the most vulnerable crops to climate change. Warming temperatures have been beneficial to certain growers, at least in the near term. Changes in weather patterns, early springs, and droughts push wine production to the poles. Vineyards may be found up in Norway's Flatdal area. Vineyards in nations like England have been prospering as Europe's temperatures have risen.

According to a 2021 research, the climate crisis will increase the frequency of droughts in Croatia, which Trifunovi describes as difficult as producers attempt to work around shifting precipitation patterns. "Even the oldest vines are suffering from excessive heat and a lack of rain," he explained.

Winemakers Assessing the Climate

In recent years, climate-focused wine clubs have popped up to assist winemakers in navigating climatic concerns. The Porto Protocol, a non-profit organization dedicated to making the wine business more sustainable, provides its members with resources to address climate issues.

Members may also learn from one another, according to Marta Mendonca, Porto Protocol's manager. Those who live in locations that have endured dry seasons and water shortages for a long time, for example, might advise on irrigation systems and grape varietals that can grow with less rainfall.

"When it comes to combating climate change, there is no time or resources to waste. We have to fight as an industry jointly and collaboratively," Mendonca remarked.

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!
A nurse fills a syringe with Moderna Covid-19 vaccine in a vaccination center in Garlan, western France, on December 13, 2021. (Photo : Photo by FRED TANNEAU/AFP via Getty Images)

NEWBRIDGE, WALES - FEBRUARY 22: Nurses caring for a male patient after receiving his second vaccine on February 22, 2021 in Newbridge, Wales. Last week, the numbers of confirmed and suspected Covid-19 patients in Wales fell to their lowest levels since October 2020. (Photo : Photo by Huw Fairclough/Getty Images)

According to one of the first peer-reviewed research looking at the Omicron variant of COVID-19, those who have already been infected with COVID and those who have been vaccinated will have some stronger than basic' defense against this new strain of concern.

However, the test tube (or "in-vitro" in scientific terms) samples of Omicron studied in this current study suggest it "exceeds" all other variations in terms of its potential capacity to resist the protection obtained from earlier infection or vaccination.

The findings, published in Emerging Microbes & Infection, also imply that while a third-dose augmentation technique can "substantially raise immunity," Omicron protection "may be impaired" - but more study is needed to understand this fully.

Lead author Youchun Wang, a Senior Research Fellow at China's National Institutes for Food and Drug Control, said the findings back with recent results in South Africa that Omicron was "simple to resist immunization."

Discovering Omicron

"We discovered that the huge number of mutations in the Omicron variant caused significant alterations in neutralization sensitivity in those who had already been exposed to COVID," Wang explains.

"However, the average ED50 (protection level) against Omicron remains greater than the baseline, indicating that some protective effect remains."

Wang, the former Chairman of the Chinese Medical Association's Medical Virology and Vice Chairman of the Chinese Medical Association's Medical Microbiology and Immunology, advises caution.

Related Article: Vaccine Creator Warns That Next Pandemic Can be Worst and Deadlier Than Covid



Immune System

Because antibody protection from past infection or immunization fades after six months, Omicron "may be able to evade immunity even better," he claims.

Furthermore, while "a third-dose augmentation technique might greatly raise immunity," "protection from Omicron may be impaired," according to his team's report.

Veterans' Research

An experienced team of eleven scientists examined Twenty-eight blood samples from patients recuperating from the original strain of SARS-CoV-2. They compared them to in-vitro Omicron samples and four additional World Health Organization-designated 'of concern' strains (such as Delta), and two 'of interest' variations.

"This work confirms the Omicron variant's heightened immune escape, which raises the alarm throughout the world and has significant implications for public health planning and the creation of matching measures," Wang concludes.

Expecting Real-Life Trials

According to the scientists, more study, not just in vitro but also in real-world trials, is urgently needed to comprehend Omicron better. And, in particular, if HPV may "escape from vaccine-induced immunity to cause more severe illness and mortality."

The authors remark that "it has to be re-evaluated if the antibodies can still be effective against the Omicron version."

"More parameters, such as the infectivity of the Omicron variation relative to other variants in human populations and the viral fitness of Omicron after people are infected, may influence the actual impact on human protection."

"More population studies are needed to completely determine the worldwide impact of Omicron on the control of the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly the amount of immune protection and symptoms among those infected with Omicron."

Limitation

The study's main limitation is that it was conducted in vitro and using pseudotyped (made) viruses. However, previous research has established that in vitro neutralization assays are good predictors of vaccine protection efficacy and real-world vaccine effectiveness, and the current vaccine literature "has established that in vitro neutralization assays are good predictors of vaccine protection efficacy and real-world vaccine effectiveness."

As a result, their findings "may well forecast the probable loss of vaccination protection against the novel Omicron strain," according to the scientists.

Also Read: Experts Warn of Another Deadly Global Outbreak to Strike Within 60 Years

For more health and medicine related news, don't forget to follow Nature World News!
La Palma's volcanic eruption hasn't shown any sign of coming to an end after 85 days, making it the island's longest on record. Since the eruption started on Sept. 19, it has surged and receded.

Cumbre Vieja Volcano Unexpectedly Springs Back to Life

Almost 3,000 structures have been damaged and thousands of people have been forced to leave their homes as a result of the disaster.

It was Sunday when the Cumbre Vieja volcano unexpectedly erupted with thunderous explosions and a huge ash cloud, which had been quiet for many days, according to Phys.org.

Volcanic eruptions are said to be unpredictable by scientists. Experts in Spain first estimated a 3-month duration for the La Palma eruption.

High-ranking government official Mariano Hernandez classified the volcano as "stable" recently. In an interview with Spanish public television RTVE, he said, the reality is that all the critical indicators have been poor. However, scientists aren't willing to speculate on a specific end date.

Experts are still monitoring the local sulfur dioxide levels and the frequency and magnitude of earthquakes, he added.

Also Read: Due to Dangerous Volcanic Ash, Airlines Halt Flights on La Palma

24 Earthquakes Recorded in the Area

There were 24 earthquakes recorded between Saturday and Sunday, but no one in the area felt any of them.

Although the eruption has caused extensive damage, no one has been harmed or killed. There are large swaths of cropland under the lava rivers that are spilling molten rock into the ocean.

Most of La Palma has been substantially unaffected, with the exception of a small area in the southwest.

The Canary Islands, a popular European holiday destination, are located off the northwest coast of Africa.

Impacts of La Palma Eruption

As many as 700 to 800 people in the western village of Los Llanos de Aridane were ordered to evacuate their houses, according to emergency services previous tweet.

After starting on September 19, La Cumbre Vieja has already displaced over 6,000 people and destroyed 1,200 structures, burning 600 ha (1,400 acres) of land on the Atlantic island off Morocco's coast.

The Spanish National Geological Institute said that there were about 64 seismic movements as of Oct., with the biggest registering 4.1.

Enrique, a 50-year-old Spanish resident said, "We want to pick up documents and other things because our whole life is in that house and we cannot collect over 30 years in five minutes."

There was an evacuation order issued when a cement plant was damaged by the lava flow and hazardous gas concerns were raised.

Banana and avocado crops and almost all of the homes in Todoque were destroyed when a partly fallen volcano cone sparked a fresh lava flow. Since the previous eruption in 1971, this is just the island's third volcanic eruption.

Related Article: La Palma Volcano Hurls Molten 'Lava Bombs' as Eruption Shows No Sign of Slowing Down

For more news, update about volcanoes and similar topics don't forget to follow Nature World News!
FREMM multi-mission frigate

Visitors will also be able to view a full scale model of the FREMM multi-mission frigate, DCNS proposed platform for SEA5000  Australia Future Frigates. The FREMM multi-mission frigate is the most modern front-line ship of the 21st century, designed for supremacy at sea. FREMM is presently the best antisubmarine frigate on the market. Its exceptional stealth qualities have been adapted from DCNS unique experience in designing silent nuclear and ballistic missile submarines.



DCNS has delivered FREMM Multi-Mission Frigates on schedule to the French Navy, the Royal Moroccan Navy and the Egyptian Navy.



OPV 75

DCNS personnel will also be on hand to provide visitors with information on the OPV 75, an offshore patrol vessel developed by KERSHIP, a joint-venture between DCNS and French shipyard Piriou. The OPV 75 has been designed to perform law enforcement operations at sea with fast intervention and significant flexibility, high-endurance and good sea-keeping behaviour. Benefiting from navies operational feedback, the OPV 75 comes into play not only for EEZ patrol and surveillance, but also on high seas while conducting boarding operations.



DCNS will also present during PACIFIC the wide range of support services it offers during the entire lifecycle of both surface ships and submarines: Through Life Support (TLS) in France and abroad, training and simulation, diagnoses and advice to navies, transfer of technology and support for the construction of naval infrastructures, shipyards and naval bases.



This global offer is designed to contribute to the sovereignty of the country through appropriate know-how and technology transfer programs.



 On Wednesday, October 7 at 10 am, DCNS will host a Submarine Industry Supply Chain Seminar in the Showcase Theatrette.

 On Thursday, October 8 at 9 am, Xavier Mesnet, DCNS Submarine Marketing Director, will participate in a conference dedicated to Multimission submarines & innovations in room B.
ESTANCIA, N.M. (AP)  A Torrance County sheriff's deputy fatally shot a man who reportedly had earlier entered a woman's backyard and fired at least one gunshot, the New Mexico State Police said.

The State Police didn't immediately release the identity of the man shot Monday.
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP)  A grand jury in Texas has returned a capital murder indictment against a man authorities have said confessed to killing five people, including three whose dismembered bodies were found in a burning dumpster earlier this year.

Jason Thornburg, 41, was indicted Monday on a charge of capital murder in the deaths of David Lueras, 42, Lauren Phillips, 34, and Maricruz Mathis, 33, the Tarrant County district attorney's office said. Their bodies were discovered in a burning dumpster in Fort Worth in September.

Thornburg remains jailed on $1 million bond. Jail records do no list an attorney for him.

Surveillance footage of a vehicle at the site of the dumpster led authorities to Thornburg.

During an interview with police, he confessed to killing the three people found in the dumpster as well as his roommate and girlfriend, according to his arrest warrant. He told officers that he had in-depth knowledge of the Bible and believed he was being called to commit sacrifices, according to the arrest warrant.

Police have said that when they identified Thornburg as a suspect in the slayings of the three found in the dumpster, they were already familiar with him from a suspicious death investigation earlier in the year.

According to the arrest warrant, Thornburg's roommate had been killed in a suspicious house fire in May. During the police interview in September, Thornburg told officers he had slit his roommates throat, then uncapped a natural gas line and lit a candle. At the time, the medical examiner had not been able to determine his roommates cause of death.

When police asked Thornburg about any other sacrifices, he said he also sacrificed his girlfriend in Arizona, according to the arrest warrant.

Tanya Begay, an American Indian woman from Gallup, New Mexico, has been missing since taking a trip with Thornburg in 2017. When Begay last spoke to her mother, she told her she planned to travel from the Arizona town of Leupp back to her familys home near Gallup, New Mexico  a drive through the Navajo Nation that shouldve taken a few hours.

Gallup police said Navajo Nation police were the main investigating agency in Begay's case and referred questions to them. Navajo Nation police did not immediately return a message seeking updates on Tuesday.
MANILA, Philippines (AP)  Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday withdrew his senatorial candidacy in next years elections in his latest change of mind over what he plans to do after his turbulent term ends, when critics say he would likely face an array of lawsuits for an anti-drugs crackdown that has left thousands of mostly petty suspects killed.

Accompanied by his executive secretary and security escorts, the 76-year-old Duterte went to the Commission on Elections in Manila and withdrew as a senatorial candidate. His former aide, Sen. Bong Go, separately appeared at the elections commission earlier Tuesday to withdraw his presidential candidacy, which he said his family opposed.

Duterte did not give any reason for the move but his spokesman, Karlo Nograles, said it would allow the president to better focus on managing the pandemic in the country and ensuring that the May elections would be peaceful and orderly.

Known for his extra tough approach to criminality, Duterte launched a police-enforced campaign against illegal drugs when he took office in June 2016. The crackdown has left more than 6,000 mostly petty suspects dead based on police figures.

Manila-based analyst Richard Heydarian, however, said Dutertes latest move showed how the president, who faces potential criminal suits after his presidency for his deadly anti-drugs campaign, seemed to have lost his political footing after his plan to ensure a friendly succession next year caved in.

Duterte is really scrambling for any kind of leverage in next years elections, Heydarian said. His initial plan to engineer a succession for one of his anointed successors is now totally out of the window.

Duterte initially wanted his daughter, Mayor Sara Duterte of southern Davao city, to succeed him but she refused to run for the presidency amid unspecified differences with her father. She later decided on her own to run as the vice-presidential running mate of Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the son of the late Philippine dictator.

The president later encouraged Go, his former longtime aide who is now a senator, to run for president. But Go eventually backed out, saying he did not aspire to be president and that his family opposed his presidential candidacy.

Duterte originally considered running for the vice presidency but later dropped the plan, saying he planned to retire when his term ends and added that surveys showed most Filipinos did not support such a move.

Philippine presidents are constitutionally limited to a single, six-year term and Dutertes initial plan to seek the vice presidency sparked a debate about the legality of such a move, which could have seen him catapulted back to the top position if the next president dies or becomes incapacitated for any reason.

Duterte then filed his candidacy for a Senate seat last month, walking back on his earlier vow to retire from politics after his presidential term ends. Human rights groups said last month that Duterte was somehow bracing to evade accountability for rights abuses while in power by planning to remain in public office.

Deaths linked to Duterte's anti-drugs campaign has sparked alarm in Washginton, and led to an International Criminal Court investigation. The ICC probe has been temporarily suspended at the request of the Duterte administration.

At least five key candidates are running to succeed Duterte, including Vice President Leni Robredo, who leads the opposition, and Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the son of the late dictator, who was toppled in a 1986 people power pro-democracy uprising. Robredo narrowly defeated Marcos Jr. in the 2016 vice presidential race in an outcome that he unsuccessfully challenged.
Champaign, IL (61820)

Today

Partly cloudy skies early will give way to cloudy skies late. Low near 10F. Winds WNW at 15 to 25 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy skies early will give way to cloudy skies late. Low near 10F. Winds WNW at 15 to 25 mph.
With another smoggy winter hanging over the vast and thickly populated Indo-Gangetic plains, there are fears of serious health consequences to more than 600 million people living in northern India and Nepal as well as in eastern Pakistan and Bangladesh.

Delhi, the biggest city in the region, showed an average air quality index (AQI) of 376 in November forcing the closure of schools that had just begun to reopen after COVID-19 restrictions.

Last year, the November AQI average for the region was 327 while for the same month in 2019 it was 312, indicating a rising trend that attracted the ire of the Supreme Court.

Delhi saw 11 'hazardous' air quality days last month, the worst since the Central Pollution Control Board began the AQI measurement system in 2015. The hazardous category indicates an AQI of 301500. The 'good' category is 050 which is followed by 'moderate' at 51100 while anything in the 101301 AQI range is considered unhealthy.

"We feel that nothing is happening the pollution keeps increasing," India's chief justice N.V. Ramana said during a hearing on 2 December on deteriorating air quality in New Delhi and other north Indian cities. "If as many efforts as you (government) are claiming have been made, then why is pollution increasing?"

While wrangling goes on year after year over the source of the high levels of toxic pollutants in Delhi's air and who is to be held responsible, there appears to be little public awareness of the consequences of inhaling particulate matter and other constituents of smoggy air.

There is little awareness that most of the harm caused by air pollution is to the cardiovascular system  epidemiological studies have shown a strong association between air pollution and cardiovascular diseases including stroke." Vipul Gupta, Chief of Neurointerventional Surgery Unit

Particulate matter that is smaller than 2.5 microns in size (PM 2.5) can increase risk of blockage of the carotid artery, the main blood vessel supplying the brain, says Gupta. "Even short-term exposure to PM 2.5 can lead to hospitalisation and death due to stroke."

The WHO's global air quality guidelines issued in September recommend tolerance levels for PM 2.5 at an annual average of five micrograms per cubic meter. Delhi's average PM 2.5 levels in 2020 was 93 micrograms per cubic meter  16.8 times the WHO limit  according to a paper released by the Council on Energy Environment and Water in June.

The Air Quality Life Index, released by the Energy Policy Institute, University of Chicago, in September, describes South Asia as "consistently the most polluted region with the people there seeing their lives shortened by an average of five years relative to what it would be if the region met the WHO guidelines".

India alone has more than 510 million people living in the Indo-Gangetic plains who are on track to lose more than nine years of life expectancy if 2019 pollution levels persist, the report said.

For Bangladesh, residents may live 5.4 years longer if pollution levels meet the WHO guidelines, while residents of its capital city Dhaka could live 7.7 years longer. Those living in the polluted Terai region of Nepal stand to gain 6.7 years. In Lahore, Pakistan's second-largest city, residents may live five years longer if the WHO guidelines are followed.

"While the exact source of smog over the Indo-Gangetic plains is still being investigated, it is evident that residents of the region, including Kathmandu, are severely affected by respiratory and cardio-vascular ailments during winter," says Bhupendra Das, a pollution researcher at the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies, in Potsdam and at Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu.

"The winter months see 'temperature inversion' which traps particle pollutants and prevents the dispersion," he adds. "If the pollutants come from burning plastic waste they are likely to release chlorides, including dioxins and furans which are among the most toxic substances known to man."

The WHO says particulates cause health problems according to source, size and physical and chemical properties and that the wide variability makes research difficult. Additionally, airborne particulate matter is constantly on the move and undergoes chemical and physical changes in the atmosphere.

Some of the complexity of studying PM 2.5 is evident in research conducted by the Indian Institute of Technology - Madras and published January in Nature Research that showed how pollution over Delhi is different from that in other cities for its high chloride content that was responsible for the haze, lowered visibility and health impacts.

The authors suggest that local concentrations of hydrochloric acid, emitted from burning plastic, contributed significantly to reduced visibility. "Our work implies that identifying and regulating gaseous hydrochloric acid emissions could be critical to improving visibility and human health in India."

In 2019, the Indian government declared a "war on pollution" and launched a National Clean Air Programme with a declared goal of reducing particulate pollution by 2030/ per cent by 2024 from 2017 levels, although the situation has only worsened since.

In August the local state government in Delhi began installing smog towers at key areas of the city to vacuum up particulate matter and pollutants. However, these 24-meter high structures have not performed at the claimed 80 per cent efficiency with readings for late November and December showing efficiency rates of less than 40 per cent.

In fact, one tower showed the filtered air bearing 300 milligrams of particulate matter per cubic meter  a far cry from the safe limit of five micrograms per cubic meter prescribed by the WHO, making little difference to the number of years of life expectancy that Delhi residents stand to lose.
Even after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a safety notice and recall, manufacturing defects in certain cardiac rhythm management (CRM) devices led to premature battery depletion that was not picked up by remote monitoring. A case report in Heart Rhythm Case Reports, an official journal of the Heart Rhythm Society, published by Elsevier, documents two instances of premature battery failures in a recalled subset of St. Jude Assurity and Endurity pacemakers (manufactured by Abbott) that shed light on a potentially lethal flaw of remote monitoring.

The case report highlights how the device maker's recommendations for managing affected patients post recall did not account for this shortcoming or sufficiently address patient safety, even with the FDA's repeated actions. The initial recommendations were to ensure standard monitoring was in place, which consists of manual patient-initiated transmissions every three months and pacemaker-initiated alerts for certain device-related issues.

The cases we present highlight the limitations of remote monitoring for the early identification of CRM device battery failure, particularly in cases in which sudden complete battery failure is possible. As such, current manufacturer recommendations for reliance on remote monitoring for early detection of premature battery depletion are likely not sufficient for pacemaker-dependent patients." Michael J. Cutler, DO, PhD, Author, Intermountain Heart Institute, Murray, Utah, USA

The FDA issued a safety notice about a subset of St. Jude Assurity and Endurity pacemakers on March 15, 2021, with an initial recommendation for remote monitoring through Merlin.net, which provides an automated alert within 24 hours of a device reaching Elective Replacement Indicator and End of Service. The FDA subsequently upgraded its advisory to a Class I recall of a larger cohort of these pacemakers, with recommendations for closer remote monitoring of implanted devices - advice that the evidence suggests might not detect all failures.

The two patients presented in the case study experienced unexpected and complete loss of pacing via their CRM devices due to complete battery depletion, resulting in symptoms requiring urgent device replacement. In both cases there was no communication between the pacemaker generator and the Merlin communicator because of abrupt battery failure that subsequently caused a loss of pacing; as a result, no alert was sent to their physicians. Flawed preparation of the epoxy used in manufacturing allowed moisture to seep into some devices and cause premature battery depletion and loss of pacing without forewarning. Loss of transmitting capability from a pacemaker may not be immediately detected and the resulting loss of all pacing functions may go undetected by remote monitoring.

Because these two cases occurred around the same time and in close geographic proximity, it raises the possibility that there are significantly more cases than initially suspected, and that Abbott's estimate of a 0.01% failure rate for 335,000 potentially affected active devices worldwide represents only a fraction of actual cases. Many more pacemakers involved in the recall may have already or will abruptly lose their ability to pace. Continued surveillance and FDA reporting of relevant adverse events are essential for these devices to establish the incidence and frequency of these events and guide recommendations in the future.

Dr. Cutler explained that the cases were submitted for publication "to inform and alert physicians treating affected patients of the possibility of an abrupt loss-of-pacing failure, with potentially life-threatening implications. Implanting physicians and practices that manage patients with these devices should be aware of this possible failure mode. Consideration should be given to close monitoring or to prophylactic generator change in appropriate patients."

He further noted that his team has elected the latter option, evaluating patients with recalled devices on a case-by-case basis to consider changing out the pacemaker in patients for whom a loss-of-pacing failure may be life threatening. "The process of developing this course of action highlights the opportunity for improved collaboration between industry, health systems, medical societies, and individual healthcare providers in the management of CRM device performance deficiencies."

Furthermore, since the initial patient cases were reported to Abbott, the manufacturer has developed a software patch called "EPI," which allows closer monitoring of battery life for the devices affected by this recall. This software may obviate the need for prophylactic generator changes in many patients.

"The software patch is an important tool in monitoring our patients and may be able to pick up most cases of premature battery depletion. We suggest physicians discuss the role of using the software as an alternative to generator changeout in appropriate patients. Abbott developed the software in response to our concerns, and this reflects the importance of the role of treating physicians in working with industry to ensure that our patients get optimal care," added lead author of the paper Yonathan F. Melman, MD, PhD, McKay Dee Medical Center, Intermountain Heart Institute, Ogden, UT, USA.

Writing in an accompanying editorial, Mikhael F. El-Chami, MD, Professor of Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA, commented that the authors of this case report should be commended for reporting these two cases. "When it comes to identifying problems with cardiac implantable electronic devices, the onus is not only on the device manufacturer and the FDA but also on the physicians. The latter are on the forefront and are often the first to encounter problems with these devices. Reporting these potential malfunctions will help regulatory agencies and device manufacturers identify whether these issues fall within the expected range of a malfunction or exceed it. Therefore, complacency should have no role when it comes to identifying and reporting unexpected device malfunctions."
The evolution of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), due to mutations, has resulted in the emergence of many variants. Many of the SARS-CoV-2 variants have been reported to be more virulent than the original strain and have been classified as variants of concern (VOC) and variants of interest (VOI).

Among the SARS-CoV-2 VOCs, the Delta variant has proved to be highly transmissible and able to evade the immune protection induced through both natural infection and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination. Recently, several reports on vaccine breakthrough infections are available, which have questioned the efficacy of available COVID-19 vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 variants.

Study: Investigation of Vaccine Breakthrough Infections by Vaccine strategy during the Delta Variant Wave in France. Image Credit: AePatt Journey / Shutterstock.com

About the study

In France, more than 89% of the eligible population has been completely vaccinated with different vaccine strategies. When this study was conducted at the national reference center for respiratory viruses in Lyon, France, many researchers had been informed about SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant breakthrough infections (VBIs) with high viral load.

Many studies have also indicated that the duration and level of humoral and cellular immune responses varied with the type of vaccine administered. In this observational study, which is now available on the medRxiv* preprint server, scientists have described the characteristics of VBIs in fully vaccinated individuals in France. The participants were vaccinated following any of the five different vaccine strategies.

In the current study, scientists collected SARS-CoV-2 positive samples from the Biogroup community testing laboratories where entire genomic sequencing was available. One of the criteria followed by the researchers during sample collection was that all the participants must test positive for SARS-CoV-2 at least two weeks after being fully vaccinated.

These participants received homologous vaccination with Pfizer-BioNTech (BNT162b2) or Moderna (mRNA 1273) vaccines. Homologous vaccination means receiving two doses of the same type of vaccine.

The third group of participants was vaccinated with heterologous vaccination with AstraZeneca and Pfizer-BioNTech (ChadOx1/BNT162b2). Another group received single-dose vaccines of Johnson & Johnson (Ad26.COV2.S) or AstraZeneca (ChadOx1) vaccines. This study has been registered in ClinicalTrials.gov.

Study findings

The current study included a total of 1,630 VBIs from patients who were fully vaccinated between the months of February and July 2021. The authors sequenced 1,366 samples and reported that 94.1% of the sample represented the Delta variant.

Among the Delta-VBIs, individuals vaccinated with BNT162b2 were found to be the most frequently reported vaccine breakthrough candidate (79.1%), followed by ChadOx1 (9.2%) and mRNA-1273 (7.0%).

NGS-confirmed vaccine breakthrough infections in fully vaccinated individuals, April, 12th to August, 30th A. Vaccine breakthrough infections (VBI) are represented by vaccine strategy and by age group. The delay since full immunization are represented in the y-axis. The horizontal dotted lines indicate the delay of one month following the full immunization. VBI represented below these lines is defined as early VBI. Each Pango lineage determined by whole-genome sequencing is represented by a symbol. Lineage B.1.617.2 (Delta variant) is represented in red. B. Incidence of COVID-19 cases in France is represented by age group 6.

In France, the number of VBIs in each age group spiked during mid-August. However, the median age of the Delta-VBI cases differed significantly based on the vaccine strategy. This study reported that the Delta-VBI predominantly showed mild symptoms with no difference depending on the vaccine strategy.

The median reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) cycle threshold values at the time of the diagnosis were significantly different between symptomatic and asymptomatic cases only for the BNT162b2 group. Interestingly, this study found that over 75% of Delta-VBI occurred within three months of vaccination, irrespective of the vaccination strategy.

Additionally, researchers observed that 50% of VBIs occurred less than one month after an individual completed the two-dose vaccination regime. This study revealed that VBIs were mostly found among younger age groups, which might be due to the relaxation of barrier gestures.

Conclusions

The authors have highlighted some of the shortcomings of this study, which include limitations related to the French vaccination policies. For instance, limited sample sizes for non-messenger ribonucleic acid (RNA) vaccines and the large difference in vaccination rates across different age groups.

The current study reports that mild VBIs were detected in community laboratories during the spread of the Delta variant. Scientists further reported that VBIs mainly occurred within three months after full immunization, irrespective of the type of vaccines administered. Overall, the scientists recommended the continuation of surveillance of VBIs to understand the efficacy of the booster vaccination strategy.

*Important notice

medRxiv publishes preliminary scientific reports that are not peer-reviewed and, therefore, should not be regarded as conclusive, guide clinical practice/health-related behavior, or treated as established information.
A recent review in the journal Life provided a detailed description of CRISPR-Cas-based diagnostic techniques to identify severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection, but also emphasized the potential use of this technology towards developing effective molecular diagnostic platforms for any future pandemic.

The ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by SARS-CoV-2, has shown the importance of accurate diagnostic tests, especially for novel pathogens. The good news is that our diagnostic armamentarium is expanding, and it now also includes methods based on clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR).

CRISPR and CRISPR-associated proteins (Cas) were initially found as components of the adaptive immune systems in bacteria and archaea (the latter being single-celled prokaryotic organisms distinct from bacteria), defending them against invading viruses by disintegrating foreign genetic elements.

Among all the different types of Cas nucleases identified thus far, Cas9 has been studied in detail and is commonly utilized for genome editing purposes. However, after the inaugural use of Cas9 in the first CRISPR-based diagnostic platforms, a sundry of Cas enzymes have been subsequently used to improve diagnostic approaches based on CRISPR.

More specifically, the distinctive collateral enzymatic activities of Cas12 and Cas13 have markedly reduced diagnostic times and costs, improving at the same time diagnostic accuracy and sensitivity. And this was what piqued the interest of Sangha Kwon and Ha Youn Shin from the Konkuk University in Seoul (Korea) in their recent review paper published in the journal Life.

Schematic illustration of CRISPR-Cas-based diagnostic platforms using Cas12 and Cas13. (a) CRISPR-Cas-based detection methods coupled with a fluorescent probe (upper panel) or a lateral flow readout (lower panel). CRISPR-Cas variants recognize the target sequences of pathogenic DNA and RNA, collaterally cleaving the ssDNA or ssRNA linked to the fluorophore-quencher or FAM-biotin reporter. Released fluorescent probes are captured and quantified by a fluorescence detection instrument, whereas released FAM molecules are visualized on paper strips. (b) CRISPR-Cas-based electrochemical biosensor (E-CRISPR) with a methylene blue (MB) probe. Upon CRISPR-Cas12 recognition of the target sequence, Cas12 collaterally cleaves the ssDNA linker of the MB electrochemical tag, reducing the electric current. (c) Combination of a magnet-assisted volumetric bar-chart chip (MAV-chip), a platinum nanoparticle (PtNP), and CRISPR-Cas12a. In the presence of target DNA, Cas12 cleaves the target sequence as well as the adjacent ssDNA reporter between the PtNP and a magnetic bead. The cleaved PtNP converts H2O2 to O2, with the produced O2 gas shifting the ink a distance proportional to the amount of target DNA.

Manifold advantages of CRISPR-Cas diagnostic platforms

Some of the most pervasive CRISPR-Cas-based detection diagnostic platforms utilize Cas12 and Cas13 coupled with a fluorescent probe or lateral flow readout. Furthermore, there are trends in using an electrochemistry-based platform, which involves an affordable transduction element and a disposable sensor.

Such coupling of the unique collateral cleavage activities of Cas12 and Cas13 with different reporter systems has been essential in establishing a wide array of CRISPR-Cas-based molecular diagnostic platforms.

In comparison with the standard RT-PCR method for diagnosing COVID-19, CRISPR-Cas-based molecular diagnostic methods have improved sensitivity and target specificity. Furthermore, CRISPR-Cas-based systems are less expensive, more time-efficient, and much easier to perform in the field.

CRISPR-Cas-based detection method for SARS-CoV-2. (a) Genomic features of SARS-CoV-2. Typical target genes used for SARS-CoV-2 detection are those encoding the spike (S), envelope (E), and nucleocapsid (N) proteins. (b) Schematic illustration of the Cas12-mediated one-pot visual SARS-CoV-2 detection (opvCRISPR) method. RNA isolates and reagents for isothermal reverse amplification (RT-LAMP) are placed at the bottom the tube and sealed with oil to prevent contamination. The CRISPR-Cas12a reaction mixture is loaded inside the lid. After 40 min of RT-LAMP amplification, the tube is shaken to mix the RNA mixture and CRISPR-Cas12a reagents. Once Cas12a recognizes the target gene, the ssDNA reporter is cleaved by collateral activity. The cleaved ssDNA fluorescent reporter emits fluorescence, which can be detected under blue light with the naked eye.

Limitations and off-target effects

Of course, such approaches also have certain limitations that may hinder their usability in quotidian clinical and diagnostic practice. For example, the nuclease activity of Cas proteins is actually highly dependent on the specific target sequence.

More specifically, this means that introducing random mutations into target sequences found in viral genomes will prevent pathogen detection. However, these limitations may be overcome by simultaneously using several guide RNAs targeting multiple pathogenic regions.

In addition, CRISPR-Cas systems have recognized off-target effects. This means there is a need to carefully design guide RNAs with off-target prediction software in order to circumvent the recognition of non-specific sequences, potentially leading to false-positive results.

Implications for future diagnostic approaches

As viral genomes are known to mutate rapidly, augmenting their ability to infect a wider variety of hosts and survive, we definitely need flexible diagnostic tools in the future that will target multiple regions simultaneously.

The integration of artificial intelligence systems with disease diagnosis will enable patients to assess their diagnostic results through cell phone applications, say study authors in this paper. Furthermore, inexpensive portable systems could further contribute to the rapid diagnosis outside of hospitals and in developing countries, they add.

In any case, CRISPR-Cas-based molecular methods may not be useful only during the COVID-19 pandemic, but we can view them as a promising strategy to prevent potential pandemics. Of course, further optimization is necessary to establish them as routine diagnostic tools.
The first results from the largest screening study yet conducted in the United States of individuals at above-average risk for the blood cancer multiple myeloma have revealed higher rates of a myeloma precursor condition in older adults who are Black or who have a close family member with a current or past blood cancer.

The initial findings among 7,622 participants, including 2,439 Black people, in the PROMISE study were reported by investigators from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute at the 63rd American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting. Individuals in the high-risk groups who are over 50 were found to be twice as likely as the general population to have monoclonal gammopathy of unknown significance (MGUS), an asymptomatic condition that can progress to myeloma, an incurable blood cancer.

It is estimated that 3% of Americans ages 50 and over have MGUS, although there is no routine screening for the condition in the general population. People diagnosed with MGUS have an abnormal protein in their blood but none of the damage to organs seen in multiple myeloma; however, they have a 1% per year risk of developing myeloma, which is projected to be diagnosed in 34,920 people in 2021, according to the American Cancer Society.

The Dana-Farber researchers, led by Irene Ghobrial, MD, are carrying out the PROMISE study to determine the rate of MGUS in high-risk groups  primarily Blacks and people who have an immediate family member with a current or past blood cancer. "We know that in cancers such as breast cancer and lung cancer, screening, early detection, and early intervention can make a difference in patient survival," Ghobrial said. With the use of highly sensitive screening methods and monitoring patients with MGUS and intervening with treatment, "it may eventually be possible to make a difference in the survival of people at elevated risk for multiple myeloma," said Ghobrial.

Although studies have shown that people of African descent and those with a family history of blood cancers are at increased risk for multiple myeloma, no previous study had looked at the prevalence of MGUS in a prospectively followed high-risk population.

The PROMISE study, launched in 2019, aims to enroll 30,000 people ages 40 to 75 who are at above-average risk for multiple myeloma because they are Black or have a parent, sibling, or child with a history of multiple myeloma or another blood cancer. Study participants provide a blood sample that is tested for MGUS using both conventional and newer high-sensitivity techniques. All PROMISE study participants who test positive for MGUS are referred to a medical specialist in the treatment of blood cancers for further testing and follow-up.

To ensure adequate representation of people of African descent in the study population, Dr. Ghobrial and colleagues also identified and screened Black people who had contributed blood samples to a large biological specimen repository, the Mass General Brigham Biobank in Boston. For this cohort, up to 10 years of follow-up data were available.

"Ours is the largest cohort of Black people to be recruited for a myeloma screening study and the first prospective study to actively recruit people at high risk for multiple myeloma, follow them over time to accurately estimate the prevalence of MGUS, and explore outcomes for patients with this precursor condition," said Ghobrial.

"Using screening techniques that are currently available in doctors' offices, we show that the prevalence of MGUS in a high-risk population over age 50  Black people and people who have a first-degree relative with a blood cancer  is twice as high as in the general United States population," she added. "Using a novel, high-sensitivity screening technique (mass spectrometry), we detected MGUS in 14% of participants. And when we fully employ the capability of mass spectrometry to detect even minute amounts of M-protein in the blood, we can detect the protein in 42% of the high-risk population over age 50."

As well, when the investigators examined the follow-up data for participants whose samples came from the Biobank, they found that, after a median of 4.5 years of follow-up, those with any level of M-protein had negative health effects, seen as a slightly higher mortality rate from any cause than people who had no M-protein in their blood.

"This highlights that people with M-protein are at risk of not only multiple myeloma but also of other conditions, including other blood cancers and heart attacks," said Ghobrial. "We believe these results make a strong case that older adults who are Black or who have a first-degree relative with a blood cancer could benefit from regular, high-sensitivity screening to identify M-protein abnormalities and early intervention."

In the future, Ghobrial and her research team hope that the PROMISE study will help identify the factors that contribute to the development of MGUS, cause MGUS to progress to overt cancer in some people but not others, and result in negative health impacts for people who have any level of M-protein in their blood.

Ghobrial will present findings on this study at the "Potential Prevention or Protection? New Insights into Blood Disorders" press briefing on Saturday, Dec. 11 at 10:30 a.m. EST. Further details will be presented by Habib El-Khoury, MD, during Session 652, Abstract 152, on Saturday, Dec. 11 at 12:15 p.m. EST.
A new bed tower at Duke University Hospital has now fully opened, with pediatric patients and their families moving into new rooms on four floors over the weekend.

The move-in culminates years of planning and construction of the 11-floor Duke Central Tower, which was designed to provide larger, private patient rooms that accommodate technologically advanced medical equipment, more comfortable overnight family stays with additional space and furniture, and features that enhance staff and patient interactions.

At Duke University Hospital our Children's team delivers remarkable care for patients from across North Carolina and the southeast including many complex and medically vulnerable patients and their families." Thomas A. Owens, M.D., President, Duke University Hospital and Senior Vice President, Duke University Health System

"These patients and their parents may spend days, weeks -- sometime even months -- with our caregivers," Owens said. "Our new Duke Central Tower children's facility is an example of our commitment to not only providing world class clinical care, but also to do so in an environment which promotes healing and wellbeing for our patients and their families."

Work on the Duke Central Tower began in late 2017 and cost approximately $265 million to construct the 350 beds.

The building's first four floors now serve as the new home for Duke Children's Hospital, and special attention has been focused on accommodating the needs of pediatric patients. Many children require hospital stays of 30 days or more while undergoing treatment for various diseases, and family members often accompanying them for the duration.

Features for children and families in the new bed tower include:

Patient rooms that average more than twice the size of previous rooms

Furniture that transitions into beds for family members

Two pediatric cardiac catheterization lab

New state-of-the-art pharmacy service

Designated family zones

Children's activity rooms

"The expansion of space for pediatric care in the Duke Central Tower allows our team to provide an enhanced patient experience and for that, we're grateful," said Ann Reed, M.D., chair of the Department of Pediatrics at Duke University School of Medicine. "With the larger rooms, our care teams can provide services and therapies right in the room. We will be delivering our extraordinary care in an extraordinary new space. We hope this helps families feel more comfortable and supported during their time with us."

Moving the Duke Children's Hospital units took three days starting Dec. 10, with teams working collaboratively under the direction of a coordinated command center to create a seamless move with as little disruption as possible.

Earlier this year, adult patients were moved into the other floors of the new central tower, which has units for oncology, transplant, orthopedics, and neurosciences, including neuroscience intensive care. With patients now occupying most of the new Duke Central Tower space, the older rooms at Duke University Hospital will undergo renovations and updates.

"At Duke University Hospital, we put the person who needs our care at the center of everything we do," said Mary Martin, chief operating officer of Duke University Hospital. "The Duke Central Tower is an investment in the actualization of our values, as we care for our patients, their loved ones and the team members responsible providing quality care. We are proud of this new building and look forward to sharing it with our community."

By the numbers
A new copper surface that kills bacteria more than 100 times faster and more effectively than standard copper could help combat the growing threat of antibiotic-resistant superbugs.

The new copper product is the result of a collaborative research project with RMIT University and Australia's national science agency, CSIRO, with findings just published in Biomaterials.

Copper has long been used to fight different strains of bacteria, including the commonly found golden staph, because the ions released from the metal's surface are toxic to bacterial cells.

But this process is slow when standard copper is used, as RMIT University's Distinguished Professor Ma Qian explained, and significant efforts are underway by researchers worldwide to speed it up.

"A standard copper surface will kill about 97% of golden staph within four hours," Qian said.

"Incredibly, when we placed golden staph bacteria on our specially-designed copper surface, it destroyed more than 99.99% of the cells in just two minutes."

"So not only is it more effective, it's 120 times faster."

Importantly, said Qian, these results were achieved without the assistance of any drug.

Our copper structure has shown itself to be remarkably potent for such a common material." Ma Qian, RMIT University

The team believes there could be a huge range of applications for the new material once further developed, including antimicrobial doorhandles and other touch surfaces in schools, hospitals, homes and public transport, as well as filters in antimicrobial respirators or air ventilation systems, and in face masks.

The team is now looking to investigate the enhanced copper's effectiveness against SARS-COV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, including assessing 3D-printed samples.

Other studies suggest copper may be highly effective against the virus, leading the US Environmental Protection Agency to officially approve copper surfaces for antiviral uses earlier this year.

Unique structure brings more copper to the fight

Study lead author, Dr Jackson Leigh Smith, said the copper's unique porous structure waskey to its effectiveness as a rapid bacteriakiller.

A special copper mould casting process was used to make the alloy, arranging copper and manganese atoms into specific formations.

The manganese atoms were then removed from the alloy using a cheap and scalable chemical process called "dealloying", leaving pure copper full of tiny microscale and nanoscale cavities in its surface.

"Our copper is composed of comb-like microscale cavities and within each tooth of that comb structure are much smaller nanoscale cavities; it has a massive active surface area," Smith said.

"The pattern also makes the surface super hydrophilic, or water-loving, so that water lies on it as a flat film rather than as droplets."

"The hydrophilic effect means bacterial cells struggle to hold their form as they are stretched by the surface nanostructure, while the porous pattern allows copper ions to release faster."

"These combined effects not only cause structural degradation of bacterial cells, making them more vulnerable to the poisonous copper ions, but also facilitates uptake of copper ions into the bacterial cells," Smith said.

"It's that combination of effects that results in greatly accelerated elimination of bacteria."

Dr Daniel Liang of CSIRO said researchers across the world were looking to develop new medical materials and devices that could help reduce the rise of antibiotic-resistant super bugs by reducing the need for antibiotics.

"Drug-resistant infections are on the rise, and with limited new antibiotics coming onto the market, the development of materials resistant to bacteria will likely play an important role in helping address the problem," Liang said.

"This new copper product offers a promising and affordable option to fighting superbugs, and is just one example of CSIRO's work in helping to address the growing risk of antibiotic resistance."

This study was initiated through an RMIT-CSIRO PhD program and was subsequently co-funded by the CASS Foundation Melbourne, Australia. The innovative process now has patents pending inthe USA, China and Australia.
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic continues to challenge the public health response and epidemic management. Clinical experience and trial data obtained during the first wave of the pandemic in March and April 2020 led to improvements in the care of hospitalized patients.

Study: SARS-CoV-2 attack rate and population immunity in southern New England, March 2020 - May 2021. Image Credit: aapsky / Shutterstock.com

Background

A thorough understanding of lockdown, mobility, and contact tracing policies improved in summer 2020 that allowed for the reopening of schools in autumn 2020. However, seroprevalence studies indicated that little was known about the total number of individuals who had been infected between March 2020 and November 2020 as well as how strongly the population susceptibility would affect the winter epidemic wave of 2020-2021.

The real-time estimation of seroprevalence or attack rate is challenging since it requires pre-planned periodic serum collections, a high-throughput validated assay, and the results are reported after a month lag. The estimation of attack rate requires the assumption of infection fatality rate (IFR), hospitalization incidence, or death incidence. These can then be used to infer the numbers of unreported or asymptomatic infections.

Since the onset of the pandemic, the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have collected cross-sectional serum samples from blood donors as well as residual samples from routine laboratory testing. Although these samples are considered to be a valuable epidemiological resource, they were not able to translate the seroprevalence estimates into attack rates effectively.

A new study published on the preprint server medRxiv* discusses a model-based reconstruction of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) attack rate and population-immunity curves for three New England states of Massachusetts (MA), Connecticut (CT), and Rhode Island (RI). The study took place during the first 15 months of the pandemic, from March 1, 2020, to May 31, 2021.

Rhode Island fit of model to data. Panels A, B, and F also have age-structured data streams, making a total of 11 data streams that were fit. Black dots are absolute daily counts. Blue line is model median from the posterior, and gray bands show 95% credible region.

About the study

The current study used a Bayesian inferential framework based on a dynamical epidemic model to fit hospitalization, death, and case data from the three states. The study involved eleven daily data streams from each state that included cumulative confirmed cases, cumulative confirmed cases by age, cumulative hospitalized cases by age, cumulative hospitalized cases, number of patients currently in the intensive care unit (ICU), number of patients currently hospitalized, cumulative deaths, cumulative hospital deaths, cumulative deaths by age, number of patients currently on mechanical ventilation, and cumulative hospital discharges.

Vaccination campaigns, as well as temporally varying patterns of clinical care and changing age-contact rates, were also included in the model. The attack rate was estimated by obtaining a sum of unreported symptomatic cases, reported symptomatic cases, and asymptomatic infections. Additionally, two types of IFRs, population-weighted infection fatality rate (pIFR), and epidemic infection fatality rate (eIFR) were also reported in the study.

Study findings

The results indicated that the population-level attack rates as of May 31, 2021, were 41.5% in RI, 28% in MA, and 25.8% in CT.

COVID-19 vaccination began in all three states in December 2020, although the initial rollout was slower than expected. However, by January 2021, 2.1 to 2.3% of each states population was vaccinated, which increased to 8 to 9.6% in February 2021.

Posterior distributions for the (A) per-symptomatic-case reporting rate, (B) ICU admission probability, per hospitalized case, for different phases of the epidemic, and (C) the age-specific probability of hospitalization for symptomatic cases.

The population immunity was estimated to be 64.1% in CT, 73.4% in RI, and 66.3% in MA. This suggested that more than 33% of southern New England was immunologically naive during the next wave brought about by the SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant in July 2021.

The percentage of vaccines administered to seropositive individuals was 34.1% in RI, 24.6% in CT, and 27.6% in MA. These results also suggest that the pandemic was more deadly in RI and MA as compared to CT. However, 55 to 60% more infections per population were reported in RI as compared to CT and MA.

The lower eIFR in Rhode Island suggests that the larger epidemic extended to less vulnerable groups, which lowered the average fatality rate for the epidemic as a whole. Comparatively, the pIFR was found to be two to three times higher during the earlier period of the pandemic as compared to the later phases.

The current study also included change points in the ICU admission fraction that help to monitor changes in clinical management for hospitalized patients. The first change point was reported on June 2, 2021, for RI, May 26, 2021, for MA, and June 5, 2021, for CT, while the second change point was reported on December 10, 2021, for RI, September 12, 2021, for MA, and November 6, 2021, for CT.

Conclusions

The current study was quite effective in determining the attack rates and susceptibility estimation. However, during the next phase of attack rate and population immunity estimation, the rate of antibody waning following SARS-CoV-2 infection and SARS-CoV-2 vaccination must be integrated.

This will not only help to evaluate the invasion ability of new highly transmissible variants like the Delta or Alpha variants but also the immune escape variants such as Omicron lineage. Understanding the susceptibility of the epidemic curve while it is changing and the importance of IFR estimation as the epidemic passes through different vulnerability strata during different periods will help to reduce the risk that may be posed by any new variant.

*Important notice

medRxiv publishes preliminary scientific reports that are not peer-reviewed and, therefore, should not be regarded as conclusive, guide clinical practice/health-related behavior, or treated as established information.
A research team from the University of Malaga has developed a prototype that combines scalp sensors and a graphical interface to enable people with severely impaired motor skills to communicate with others. The device reads brain activity and outputs it to a computer, which, with virtual voice assistants, sends the text via instant messaging services or email to the patient's contacts.

The results of this study, developed by the UMA-BCI group with healthy people, confirm the suitability of this system to start testing it with patients affected by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), chronic Guillain-Barre syndrome and other similar neurological diseases that induce a progressive weakening of the motor system. This condition completely isolates sufferers, causing what is known as locked-in syndrome, as it prevents them from interacting with the outside world. Being able to maintain interaction with others could improve their quality of life.

In this way, the device allows text messages to be sent to contacts on a smartphone even if the patient cannot blink. The system uses a brain-computer interface (BCI), an assistive technology based on the user's brain signals and an external device that 'translates' them. Experts propose the use of this system in the article 'Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) Control of a Virtual Assistant in a Smartphone to Manage Messaging Applications' published in the journal Sensors as a valid option for transmitting brain activity without the intervention of any physical action.

There are currently more robust and effective systems for giving voice and movement to people with motor disabilities, but they require the use of physical activity, even minimal.

"What is really novel about this project is that the voice assistant is used to control messaging applications and only requires brain activity without any other action on the part of the patient, such as blinking or eye movements," Fundacion Descubre as told by Francisco Velasco, researcher at the University of Malaga and one of the authors of the article.

Although the prototype has been successfully tested, further studies are still needed before it can be commercialized. It is necessary to perform tests with real patients to validate its suitability. Even so, it is considered to be an effective tool for improving the lives of patients and their relatives or caregivers.

Getting out of isolation

The system consists of placing a device on the head of the patient, who will see different options flash on a screen. The user mentally counts the number of times the icon they wish to use lights up. When the chosen application has been lit a predetermined number of times, it will be opened. The same procedure is then repeated with the different menus that appear, such as the contacts in their phonebook.

If the patient chooses the Whatsapp app and selects the sender and the text they want to send, the system sends a synthesized voice command, like 'Ok Google' on Android devices, which will be played by a virtual assistant and executed on the smartphone.

With some diseases, such as ALS, the patient sees a progressive loss of independence as their mobility is reduced to such an extent that they are not even able to control the blink function. "In total isolation, unable to move or interact in any way with the people around them, the patient's intellectual abilities deteriorate further, in addition to the loss of motor skills," the researcher points out.

For this reason, the experts propose to test the device in real-life situations with patients with severe motor disabilities, as it could help these people to interact for longer with those around them. In addition, it would make it possible to delve deeper into the disease and find out, for example, whether it causes an impairment of consciousness, something that is not yet certain. "Theories in the scientific community suggest that ALS does not affect consciousness, but only limits it at the muscular level. The mind is atrophied by isolation, but not because of any brain dysfunction. This system would help to keep patients in advanced stages active for longer," says the researcher.

The experts also plan to continue improving the system in order to obtain an affordable and usable device, as well as to optimize the algorithms in order to reduce possible errors when selecting the different options.

This research was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation, and Universities through the project 'Brain interaction system to help people with captive syndrome' and by the University of Malaga's own funds.
Clinician scientists and scientists from the National Cancer Centre Singapore (NCCS) and A*STAR's Genome Institute of Singapore (GIS), in collaboration with Singapore General Hospital (SGH), the National University Health System, Duke-NUS Medical School, Nanyang Technological University, and collaborators from China, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines, have described a dynamic genomic landscape of tumour heterogeneity in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). This research comes from one of the largest prospective cohorts for HCC known as the Precision Medicine in Liver Cancer across Asia-Pacific Network (PLANet) study. These novel findings from PLANet were recently published in the journal National Science Review (NSR).

HCC is the seventh most common cancer worldwide, but the fourth leading cause of cancer death globally due to its high mortality rate. Strikingly, a disproportionate 80% of the disease burden is shouldered by Asian populations. Despite much effort, there is currently no validated predictive biomarker for systemic therapies in HCC and treatment efficacy remains poor. To address this unmet clinical need, a collaborative multi-disciplinary and multi-institutional team was awarded funding to establish the Translational and Clinical Research (TCR) Flagship Programme in Liver Cancer, which is supported with funding from the National Research Foundation Singapore and administered by the Singapore Ministry of Health's National Medical Research Council (NMRC). In this programme, the PLANet study was initiated to enrol a prospective HCC patient cohort working with the Asia-Pacific Hepatocellular Carcinoma (AHCC) Trials Group across multiple Asian countries. Specifically, PLANet aims to understand molecular diversities within a tumour known as intra-tumour heterogeneity (ITH), as well as how we can use such understanding to guide patient stratification and treatment in HCC. In 2017, the group discovered that HCC has a wide range of genetic ITH across patients.

The study and its findings

The current study is based on a cohort of 67 patients from four Asian countries from the PLANet study and is the first study of ITH across multi-omic data layers (genome, transcriptome, immunome) in HCC. Researchers found variations in different regions of the same tumour for both genetic (DNA mutation) and transcriptomic (RNA expression) profiles. In particular, they found that the level of such variations differs across patients and over 30% of patients show a high transcriptomic ITH where a single tumour could contain multiple transcriptomic subtypes.

Such dynamic, evolutionary process in HCC helps to explain the poor response to systemic therapy in HCC, where therapies addressing only a single group of molecular targets is not sufficient. Using the PLANet cohort, the authors demonstrated how combination therapies can potentially address the high ITH to increase treatment response rates for HCC. Discoveries from this research provide novel scientific rationale for the development of innovative therapies for HCC. In the next phase, the group will focus on how to improve liver cancer treatment outcome by targeting this dynamically evolving heterogeneity.

The PLANet study has also provided researchers and clinicians an atlas to assess the evolutionary history of liver cancer. Such genomic information will provide a solid basis for understanding how individual patients might respond differently to drug treatments, thus enabling a precision medicine approach to treat patients differently in the future. Data from this study is now publicly available via the Singapore Oncology Data Portal (OncoSG) which allows integration, visualisation, analyses, and sharing of cancer genomics datasets generated in Singapore.

Dr Zhai Weiwei, a former principal investigator at GIS who co-led this work, noted, "This study depicted the first full landscape of tumour heterogeneity in HCC, providing a solid basis harnessing tumour evolution for patient prognosis and treatment".

I have been treating HCC for more than 20 years and have conducted multi-national clinical trials in this cancer, but HCC remains a very challenging malignancy. Significant scientific breakthroughs are required to further improve patient outcomes and our current findings provide an important step in this direction." Professor Pierce Chow, senior author of the study

Professor Pierce Chow is the overall principal investigator of PLANet and Senior Consultant, Department of Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary/Transplant Surgery, Division of Surgery and Surgical Oncology at SGH and NCCS
Diagnosis of community acquired pneumonia in children usually involves x-rays, despite recommendations to limit their use by professional societies. In efforts to reduce radiation exposure from x-rays in children and reinforce guideline compliance, researchers from Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago and colleagues developed a simple diagnostic model that accurately predicts whether patients are at high risk or low risk for community acquired pneumonia, eliminating the need for x-ray confirmation. Their findings were published in the journal Pediatrics.

Our predictive model for community acquired pneumonia is a critical step toward safely reducing radiation exposure in children. For patients who are determined to be at low risk for pneumonia, we can also avoid unnecessary antibiotic use." Sriram Ramgopal, MD, Lead Author, Emergency Medicine Physician, Lurie Children's and Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine

Dr. Ramgopal and colleagues statistically derived their model based on the clinical history, symptoms and x-ray results of 1,142 patients, aged 3 months to 18 years who were evaluated for suspicion of community acquired pneumonia. They found three key variables with the strongest predictive value for either high risk or low risk of pneumonia  increasing age, fever duration and decreased breath sounds upon exam with a stethoscope.

"Since our model does not rely on lab results, it may allow for broader implementation in the primary care setting," said senior author Todd Florin, MD, MSCE, Director of Research in Emergency Medicine at Lurie Children's and Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. "If validated by other centers, this model could be implemented using an online calculator of risk or through clinical decision support tools that can be embedded in the electronic medical record."
Of the 18,000 people diagnosed with large B-cell lymphoma each year, only half will be successfully treated with chemotherapy. The 9,000 remaining patients typically have poor outcomes, with only 25% responding to additional, higher-intensity chemotherapy, followed by a stem cell transplant.

For around three-quarters of patients who don't respond to the initial chemotherapy, their survival has been a matter of months. Improving outcomes with more efficacious and safe therapies has been a critical unmet need for these high risk patients for the longest time." Manali Kamdar, MD, CU Cancer Center member, associate professor, Division of Hematology, University of Colorado School of Medicine

Improving outcomes with new medication

Over the past four years, Kamdar has been the lead investigator on a global, multicenter, phase III clinical study to find out if a medication called Breyanzi (lisocabtagene maraleucel; liso-cel) can improve outcomes for those patients. The chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy works by removing blood from a patient's body, enhancing immune cells called T cells to better fight the lymphoma, then re-infusing the cells back into the patient. In a December 11 presentation at the American Society of Hematology's annual meeting, Kamdar shared the results of the study: Breyanzi is effective at treating large B-cell lymphoma patients who did not respond to the initial round of chemotherapy.

"I am delighted to say, on behalf of all the coauthors, that this is a positive trial because it met its primary endpoint of event-free survival," Kamdar says. "We were able to get more patients in a complete response with liso-cel than with an autologous stem cell transplant. And we were able to keep patients without relapse for a longer period of time than patients who receive standard of care."

Just as important, Kamdar says, the medication was safer for patients than other CAR-T drugs, with mostly low-grade side effects such as cytokine release syndrome and neurological side effects. Breyanzi was eventually able to be administered on an outpatient basis, she says, making it a less time-consuming and costly treatment for patients.

"We want to make sure that things are efficacious, but if it comes at the cost of higher toxicity, then you lose the point of it all," Kamdar says. "It's important to highlight that this was an extremely safe product, that the toxicities between liso-cel and standard of care were comparable."

Clinical trials benefit CU Cancer Center patients

The phase III trial enrolled 184 patients across 47 global sites, the majority of them at the CU Cancer Center and UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital. Kamdar says it's another example of how CU Cancer Center patients often receive promising new treatments earlier than others.

"We were leaders in making sure that our patients, not just from Colorado, but also from neighboring states of Wyoming, New Mexico, Kansas ended up getting the benefit of this product sooner," Kamdar says. "It's definitely changed what my clinic used to look like. Prior to this clinical trial being available, most of my patients with relapsed or refractory DLBCL would not benefit from traditional treatments and eventually succumbed to their disease. However, this clinical trial provided a ray of hope for these high-risk relapsed patients. Just last week, I saw a patient who had this treatment, and I don't recall talking about lymphoma with her. She has been in remission for several months."

Next stop, regulatory review

Researchers will continue to follow patients in the phase III trial over the next two years to track relapse rates and overall survival, but based on the study led by Kamdar, the drug's manufacturer, Bristol Myers Squibb, is eager to discuss the results with health/regulatory authorities. Kamdar says an approval would mark a paradigm shift in the way these types of cancers are treated, marking the first improvement in treatment in more than 20 years

"I wouldn't be surprised if with a longer follow-up of the study, we actually end up making patients live longer," Kamdar says. "It's not confirmed yet, because it's been a short follow-up so far. But if we look at the survival curves, the survival curves have clearly split in favor of liso-cell. As investigators, we are very excited to see what the longer follow-up looks like."
A highly anticipated clinical trial in eight sub-Saharan countries is the first to specifically evaluate the efficacy of a COVID-19 vaccine in people living with HIV, including those with poorly controlled infections. It also is the first study to evaluate the efficacy of vaccines  in this case, Moderna mRNA-1273  against the omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

In addition to examining the efficacy of COVID-19 mRNA vaccines in people living with HIV, the study investigators seek to identify the optimal regimen for this population and how it might vary based on whether an individual has previously had COVID-19 or not.

The trial will be conducted in East and Southern Africa  regions of the world that have been highly impacted by HIV. It is expected to enroll about 14,000 volunteers at 54 clinical research sites in South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Eswatini, Malawi, Zambia, Uganda and Kenya, where adult HIV prevalence ranges from 4.5% to 27%.

The study name, Ubuntu, borrows the Nguni word meaning 'I am because you are,' and embraces the concept of African coexistence and community. It refers to the interconnectedness of African nations and their collaborative efforts to combat HIV and COVID-19 in this region of the continent.

Sub-Saharan Africa has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, but access to effective vaccines, especially mRNA technology, has been very limited. The Ubuntu trial will provide safety data to regulators and assess correlates of protection from COVID-19, and it will answer important questions on mRNA vaccine dosage regimens among people living with HIV." Dr. Nigel Garrett, co-chair of the study and head of Vaccine and HIV Pathogenesis Research at the Center for the AIDS Program of Research in South Africa (CAPRISA)

To find these and other answers, the study is expected to enroll about 12,600 people living with HIV and about 1,400 who are HIV-negative. About 5,000 of the volunteers will have previously had COVID-19, confirmed by an antibody blood test done at initial enrollment. All participants will receive the Moderna vaccine, but dosages and schedules will vary depending on previous SARS-CoV-2 infection. Organizers said study participants living with HIV will receive access to optimal HIV treatment throughout the course of the trial.

"This region faces a huge HIV burden," said Dr. Glenda Gray, Ubuntu study protocol lead adviser and president of the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC). "Although safe and effective vaccines have been developed for COVID-19, HIV and COVID-19 are on a collision course," she added. "The impact of COVID-19 on people living with HIV is a concern for the continent, particularly in light of the recently-sequenced omicron variant set to drive South Africa's fourth wave and further infections globally."

Dr. Philip Kotze, one of the lead study investigators, said the Ubuntu study would not be possible without the crucial participation of rural communities across Southern and East Africa. "These communities have been disproportionately impacted by the twin pandemics of HIV and COVID-19, and they now have an unprecedented opportunity to help advance science and improve our understanding of the immune response to SARS-CoV-2 in the context of HIV."

Dr. Larry Corey, principal investigator of both the HIV Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN) and the COVID-19 Prevention Network (CoVPN), and co-leader of the network's vaccine testing pipeline, said there currently are no U.S. government-sponsored studies of COVID-19 vaccines that quantitate vaccine efficacy among a diverse population of people infected with HIV. This study seeks to address this knowledge gap and establish whether mRNA vaccines are as effective in people living with HIV, particularly those with advanced disease, as they are in those who are HIV-negative.

The trial is sponsored by the SAMRC and funded by the U.S. government and supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) within the National Institutes of Health. Funding originates from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) through the Countermeasures Acceleration Group (CAG).

"Vaccination and treatment are critical for those who face the dual threat of HIV and COVID-19, as they remain at high risk of acquisition and transmission and potentially can be the origin of future variants," Corey said. "It is imperative that we as scientists and as society double-down on global efforts to find and make available effective vaccines and treatments. This study represents an important step forward in our efforts to reduce the burden of COVID-19 among HIV-infected persons and understand whether current dosage regimens are adequate."

The Ubuntu study is led by the NIH's CoVPN and modeled on extensive community engagement protocols pioneered and successfully implemented by the CoVPN and its research partner, the HVTN. Both networks are headquartered at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, Washington.
Transmission efficiency determines the size of an infectious outbreak, as demonstrated by the tendency of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) to transmit among humans and sustain the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

In a recent pre-print study posted to the bioRxiv* server, a team of researchers gathered data from detailed animal studies to show that exposure to SARS-CoV-2 for about one hour is sufficient to support vigorous SARS-CoV-2 transmission. In addition, the time-lapse after SARS-CoV-2 exposure alters transmissibility, with the highest transmission frequency observed in contacts occurring at times of peak viral load. Furthermore, they demonstrated that viral load determines the infectious period.

The study

In the present study, the researchers assessed the spread of SARS-CoV-2 in golden Syrian hamsters to get a perspective on spatio-temporal conditions impacting the transmission efficiency of SARS-CoV-2 through the air. The researchers hypothesized that viral densities in the air or inside the recipients' respiratory tract increase with time. Therefore, they exposed naive hamsters to infected hamsters at different time-points - five days, eight hours, four hours, and one hour and at 24 hours post-inoculation (hpi) of donor hamsters.

To check the transmission potential early and late in the course of SARS-CoV-2 infection, naive hamsters were exposed to infected hamsters for one or two hours at 1012, 1214, 1416, 1617, or 2425 hpi, and then for two hours on days two, four, and six post-inoculation (pi).

After each exposure window, the nasal lavage samples of the donor hamsters were collected and used to assess viral loads at the time of exposure. These samples, collected across multiple time points, were later used to evaluate the dependence of transmission efficiency on viral load.

Timing of exposure

The study results showed that for all the exposure time durations tested during the study, the SARS-CoV-2 transmission in hamsters was quite vigorous, suggesting that a minimal infectious dose reaches naive hamsters within one hour. Hence the timing of exposure emerged as the strongest determinant of SARS-CoV-2 transmission success.

They observed that high viral loads were reached by 17 hours and sustained at 48 hpi, but titers declined below this range by four days post-inoculation (dpi). Naive hamsters exposed to donor hamsters for two hours beginning at 10, 12, or 14 hpi were not infected.

In contrast, viral transmission was seen in two of the four animals exposed for 1 hour beginning at 16 hpi and all the four animals exposed for one hour beginning at 24 hpi. Exposure at late time points showed appreciable transmission only at 2 dpi, with five of eight hamsters contracting infection when exposed for two hours beginning at 2 dpi. Overall, the study data revealed that the opportunity for transmission was from 17 hours to two days after infection in the donor hamsters.

The results also suggested that viral load most likely determines the infectious period, since the nasal lavage titers of animals that transmitted to contacts showed significantly higher viral loads in comparison to those that did not transmit the virus.

When exposures were carried out with optimal timing, relative humidity and temperature did not impact transmission. However, there was an improvement in transmission efficiency at high relative humidity or high temperature.

Conclusions

The study results showed that when naive and infected animals are not in direct contact and only share air space, SARS-CoV-2 transmission is highly efficient under a wide range of humidity and temperature conditions. Subsequently, many hamsters with exposure periods as short as one hour were infected. Peak transmission was observed between 16h and 48h after inoculation, revealing an early and narrow period during which transmission occurs. This period also corresponds with high viral titers in the nasal tract. The authors recommended active investigation of the dependence of respiratory virus transmission on disease symptoms and limitations imposed by antiviral responses in future studies.

When translating the hamster study results to humans, there is a difference between the peak viral loads. In humans, peak viral loads are observed three to four days after infection, while peak titers in hamsters were observed at 24 hpi. This is because hamsters were inoculated with a dose higher than the typical dose in humans.

However, the association between infectious period and higher viral load is likely true for humans as well. To conclude, a detailed understanding of the host, viral, and environmental factors that shapes and drives SARS-CoV-2 transmission dynamics is vital for devising effective strategies to interrupt transmission.

*Important notice

bioRxiv publishes preliminary scientific reports that are not peer-reviewed and, therefore, should not be regarded as conclusive, guide clinical practice/health-related behavior, or treated as established information.
(Newser)  Update: Prosecutors say a Navy sailor set fire to his ship last year because he was "disgruntled" after dropping out of training to become a Navy SEAL, reports the AP. Seaman Apprentice Ryan Sawyer Mays is accused of starting a fire that led to the destruction of the USS Bonhomme Richard, injuring dozens. Mays denies it, and his attorneys say no physical evidence ties him to the crime. Prosecutors maintain he was unhappy with the Navy after being assigned to the ship when his SEAL training fell through. (Why he dropped out isn't specified.) A hearing is underway to determine whether a military trial will follow. Our original story from July 29 follows:

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An explosion and fire last summer aboard a US Navy ship docked outside of San Diego left dozens of sailors and civilians injured. Now, the Navy has charged one of its own. In a statement cited by CBS News and the AP, a spokesman for the 3rd Fleet says the unnamed sailor, a seaman's apprentice who was a member of the USS Bonhomme Richard's crew at the time of the July 12, 2020, incident, has been charged "in response to evidence found during the criminal investigation." The specific charges: aggravated arson and the willful hazarding of a vessel, per Cmdr. Sean Robertson. Although Navy officials don't believe the sailor meant to destroy the 840-foot-long amphibious assault ship, which had about 160 sailors and officers on board, strong winds from San Diego Bay made the fire worse.

The ship burned for four dayshundreds of military and civilian firefighters were required to put out the fire, with the help of helicoptersand had too much damage to it to be saved. Estimates to replace it are said to be up to $4 billion. Upward of 60 sailors and civilians sustained minor injuries, smoke inhalation, and heat exhaustion. Court-martial charges against the sailor are being considered, the Navy statement notes. Another investigation is expected to call for disciplinary action against individuals responsible for conditions on the ship that exacerbated the spread of the fire, which the AP calls the Navy's "worst warship blaze outside of combat in recent memory." (Read more Navy stories.)
(Newser)  Pushing the economic levers available to the federal government might not be enough to solve the job market's problems. There's evidence that physical and mental health issues are a major cause of the nation's labor shortage, Axios reports. A survey of 5,000 Americans by McKinsey found that 30% of those who aren't working said the reason was their physical health, while 15% blamed mental health problems. Among those who don't have a job and aren't looking for one, 20% cite their mental health as the reason, and 45% blame physical problems, American Opportunity Survey found.

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Mental health issues are widespread, with the survey showing 37% of respondents have sought treatment for their mental health or been diagnosed with issues. Anxiety, tension, and depression are reflected worldwide as the pandemic drags on, with populations out of patience, per the New York Times. "I know it will only get worse, it won't stop, the pandemic will only turn more life-consuming," said a teacher in Moscow. "It is all chaos, like a fantasy film. You watch all these apocalypse films and realize their writers were real prophets." The situation appears to improve, with places reopening, only to have new, frightening variants and outbreaks surface. In France, cases of depression and anxiety have doubled. Young people are the most stressed, a US survey shows.

Those ages 13 to 24 say their education and social life, and reaching their career goals, have been made more difficult by the pandemic, a higher share than older groups, according to the survey. The American Psychological Association had warned in October that Gen Z adults are the most likely to have greater difficulty making major life decisions, partly because of uncertainty brought on by the pandemic, per the Washington Post. It's a job market issue for them, too: The government said in August that unemployment lags 2019 levels for those 16 and 24. And the International Labor Organization said that globally, the job picture is worsening much faster for members of Gen Z. A 23-year-old in London asked, "How much of our lives can we give up for this?" (Read more job market stories.)
(Newser)  An Alibaba employee who accused a manager of raping her during a business trip has been fired by the companyand she says she won't encourage other victims of workplace assault or harassment in China to come forward. The New York Times reports that the woman, identified only as Zhou, was told by the company last month that she had caused "incalculable" damage by "falsehoods such as 'raped by executives and the company knew but did not deal with it." After Zhou went public with the accusation, the manager was fired but authorities decided his "forcible indecency" was not a crime. A case against a client the woman accused of groping her during the same business trip is believed to be ongoing.

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In an interview with the Dahe Daily newspaper, Zhou said, "I have not made any mistakes, and certainly will not accept this result, and in the future will use legal means to protect my rights and interests," per the BBC. She said she had been harassed online and threatened with legal acton. Zhou, who said bosses ordered her to drink alcohol at a business dinner on the trip said she had heard from many other women who had had similar experiences but were afraid to come forward, the AP reports. "I will not appeal to other victims of sexual assault to come forth and share their stories, as doing so could cause them to suffer even more hurt," she said.

Analysts say the Chinese government has made it difficult for China's #MeToo movement to get off the ground. Dusica Ristivojevic, senior researcher in interdisciplinary Chinese studies at the University of Helsinki, tells France24 that China's patriarchal society and heavy censorship of the Internet are big obstacles for women who accuse powerful men of sexual misconduct. " Internet censorship is directly aimed at disabling collective organisation online and offline, which poses obstacles to activists," he says. "At the same time, activists and survivors are incredibly intelligent in finding ways to bypass the censorship."

(Read more Alibaba stories.)
(Newser)  The Pentagon won't discipline any US personnel involved in the mistaken drone strike that killed 10 civilians in Afghanistan in August. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin accepted recommendations on the issue that did not include punishment, press secretary John Kirby said Monday. The recommendations from two commanders were mostly procedural, the Hill reports, and Kirby said, "There was no overt recommendation made by either specific to accountability and any punishment for anyone." An independent Pentagon review had come to a similar conclusion, saying there was no evidence of negligence. Seven of the 10 people killed were children.

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The aid organization that one of the victims worked for immediately criticized the decision, per CNBC. Nutrition & Education International said the US hasn't kept its promises to provide compensation to the victims' families and get them out of the country. "How can our military wrongly take the lives of 10 precious Afghan people, and hold no one accountable in any way?" asked the group's president, Dr. Steven Kwon. Zemerai Ahmadi, who was killed along with his family, worked for the organization for 15 years. US commanders mistakenly thought he was an ISIS-K operative when they ordered the strike in Kabul.

"What we saw here was a breakdown in process and execution in procedural events," Kirby said Monday, "not the result of negligence, not the result of misconduct, not the result of poor leadership." Austin previously had called the drone attack a "horrible mistake," though the Defense Department at first called it a "righteous strike." US operations have killed hundreds of civilians, at least, in war zones over the past 20 years, rarely holding an individual responsible, per the Hill. (Read more Afghanistan stories.)
(Newser)  A judge set bond for Alex Murdaugh at $7 million Mondaywell above the $6.2 million the South Carolina attorney is accused of stealing from clients. The bond is one of the highest in state history and Judge Alison Renee Lee, unusually, said it would have to be paid in full before Murdaugh could get out of jail, the State reports. The judge said she was "a little reluctant" to set bond at all, but she was "obligated by state law and the Constitution." Prosecutor Creighton Waters said Murdaugh is both a flight risk and a potential danger to the community.

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Murdaugh's attorney, state Sen. Dick Harpootlian, argued that $7 million was equivalent to no bond because his client has "no money" and can't afford to pay even a tenth of that amount. Seven new indictments were released last week and Murdaugh now faces 47 felony counts of financial misconduct, with a possible maximum penalty of more than 500 years in prison. In September, a different judge released Murdaugh on his own recognizance on charges connected to an alleged plot to stage a suicide so his son Buster could collect a $10 million life insurance payout. He was arrested weeks later and charged with stealing insurance settlements that were supposed to go to the sons of his late housekeeper.

In his first public remarks since his wife and his son Paul were shot dead in June, Murdaugh blamed his problems on a 20-year opioid addiction, the AP reports. "My head is on straighter, Im thinking clearer than I have in a long, long time," said the 53-year-old, who has not been charged in connection with the June deaths. He said that he hadn't used drugs in months and on Sept. 4, the day he allegedly asked a former client to shoot him in the head, he "was in the throes of withdrawal." He apologized to people close to him hurt by his actions but didn't address the victims of his alleged financial crimes, the Island Packet reports. (Read more Alex Murdaugh stories.)
(Newser)  Update: Employees of a candle factory in Kentucky that was decimated by a tornado over the weekend are suing their employer. The workers accuse Mayfield Consumer Products of endangering their lives by refusing to let them go home as the storm approached, reports the AP. The company denies the allegation. Eight employees of the factory were killed in the storm. Our original story from Dec. 13 follows:

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Several employees at the Kentucky candle factory leveled by a tornado Friday said they asked to go home when the warning sirens sounded, only to be told by supervisors they'd be fired if they didn't finish their shifts. As many as 15 workers asked managers if they could seek shelter at their homes as the tornado neared, NBC reports, but were refused. Some left anyway. "If you leave, you're more than likely to be fired," one worker said she heard managers tell workers. "I heard that with my own ears," the employee said. Another worker said managers held a roll call to see if anyone had left.

"It's absolutely untrue," said a spokesman for Mayfield Consumer Products. "We've had a policy in place since COVID began. Employees can leave any time they want to leave and they can come back the next day." Managers and team leaders go through emergency drills, he said, and followed federal guidelines Friday night. The spokesman and a team leader said employees weren't threatened. At least eight of the 110 employees working the overnight shift in the factory were killed. The factory was operating around the clock to meet holiday demand, per the Guardian.

Two emergency alarms went off, three to four hours apart, said an employee who thought workers should have been able to leave between the soundings. Team leaders instead had workers gather in hallways and bathrooms, she said. After being threatened, one worker said he responded, "Even with the weather like this, you're still going to fire me?" The answer was "yes," he said. A forklift operator said he wasn't given the option of going home. "Thats the thing," he said. "We should have been able to leave." (Read more tornado stories.)
(Newser)  The Defense Department has removed some of its first service members for refusing to be vaccinated for COVID-19. The Air Force announced Monday that it has discharged 27 unvaccinated people, Politico reports. Air Force personnel had a Nov. 2 deadline. The branch's most recent figures show that more than 1,000 airmen have refused the shot and that more than 4,700 have applied for a religious exemption. A spokeswoman said none of the 27 had asked for a medical, administrative or religious exemption from the vaccine requirement.

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The official charge was failure to obey an order, a common infraction, per the AP. The spokeswoman said about 1,800 airmen were discharged for failure to follow orders in the first three quarters of this year. The Air Force discharged 23 airmen undergoing basic training in October for refusing to be vaccinated, plus another 17 who were in specialized training, per the Wall Street Journal. The vaccination deadline for Army active-duty soldiers is Wednesday. The final deadline is June 30, for members of the Army National Guard and Reserves. (Read more vaccine mandate stories.)
(Newser)  When the tornadoes hit Kentucky Friday night, the Koon family sheltered in a bathroom until they were sucked outside and blown across the street by the strong winds. Initially, 2-month-old Oaklynn, whom the family had strapped into her car seat to keep her safer, seemed to have suffered only minor cuts and scratches, and she was released from a hospital after medical tests cleared her, WHAS-11 reports. But by Sunday, she was having seizures, and her family took her back to the hospital, where doctors found a brain bleed, the AP reports. As her condition worsened and doctors said she'd be brain-dead the rest of her life if she survived, her family removed life support and she died early Monday.

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"I don't want to see my child suffer any longer than they have to because of me just trying to hold on to something that's not there," her father says. "She was the cutest baby ever and had the biggest smile and most beautiful eyes." A young Amish couple in Kentucky was also killed along with two of their five children, the Washington Post reports. At least seven other children died in the state, the New York Post reports. Five victims, including three children under the age of 16 and a man and woman in their 30s, were found dead near their home in Bowling Green. On that same street, a woman and four children were also found dead.

Another child died in Missouri, one of five other states hit by tornadoes, the AP reports. As the Rackley family sheltered in a bathroom, Annistyn Rackley's mom texted a picture of the 9-year-old and her two sisters to an aunt (WGN has the photo). But the tornado then blew through their home, splintering it and blowing the family dozens of yards away. Annistyn was killed. Searchers later found the doll she had been holding onto at the time, her favorite. In Tennessee, a 12-year-old boy and his father were caught in the tornadoes while on a hunting trip; both died, People reports. (Read more tornado stories.)
(Newser)  Everyone is familiar with the phrase "It's not rocket science" or "It's not brain surgery," and that got researchers wondering whether rocket scientists or brain surgeons were most justified in saying it. Answer: Neither camp outdid the other in a general cognitive test, reports the BBC. But more interesting is that neither camp outperformed the general population, either. And, yes, this is an authentic peer-reviewed study in the British Medical Journal. But as CNN notes, studies in the year-end edition tend to be lighter fare. In the study, researchers borrowed from the Great British Intelligence Test and assessed subjects in six general areas such as memory, word problems, spatial problems, etc.

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Overall, rocket scientists and brain surgeons were "equally matched across most domains," the researchers found. Brain surgeons were better than rocket scientists at "semantic problem solving," while rocket scientists were better in "mental manipulation and attention." The latter might involve "rotating objects in one's head," per the Guardian. And when both camps were compared with the general population, only two differences stood out in results: Brain surgeons solved problems more quickly than the average Joe, but their memory recall was slower.

The upshot? "It is possible that both neurosurgeons and aerospace engineers are unnecessarily placed on a pedestal and that 'Its a walk in the park' or another phrase unrelated to careers might be more appropriate," write the researchers. They further suggest that "other specialties might deserve to be on that pedestal, and future work should aim to determine the most deserving profession." They do, however, give technical bragging rights: "In situations that do not require rapid problem solving, it might be more correct to use the phrase 'Its not brain surgery." (Read more intelligence stories.)
(Newser)  A Texas auto dealer hired former US Marines and a purported former member of the Israeli Defense Forces to kill a Nashville, Tenn., couple found shot to death last year, according to a federal indictment unsealed Monday. It describes an elaborate murder-for-hire plot that began after 46-year-old Erik Charles Maund of Austin, Texas, met up with 33-year-old Holly Williams, with whom he had a prior relationship, during a visit to Nashville, per CBS Austin. Afterwards, Williams' partner, 36-year-old William Lanway, allegedly demanded money of Maund in exchange for not exposing his apparent relationship with Williams. CNN notes Maund is married.

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Maund allegedly then recruited three men to kill the couple: Gilad Peled, 47, a purported former member of the Israeli Defense Forces who owns Austin's Speartip Security; Bryon Brockway, 46, a former US Marine who owns Austin security company Ink Force LLC; and Adam Carey, 30, of Richlands, NC, who formerly served in the Marine Corps' Special Operations Group. Authorities say Maund withdrew $15,000 before Carey traveled to Nashville to surveil Williams and Lanway, who appeared to be living at the same address. A March 9, 2020, document related to the surveillance reportedly claimed those involved would do whatever possible to prevent the attempted extortion of Maund, per CBS.

Days later, Carey and Brockway allegedly confronted Williams and Lanway in the parking lot of Williams' apartment complex. Lanway was shot and killed, while his body and Williams were taken to a construction site, where Williams was likewise shot and killed, authorities say. Since that date, Maund, a partner in Austin's Maund Automotive Group, has allegedly transferred more than $750,000 to an account controlled by Peled. A $150,000 payment was allegedly sent the day of the murders, per WSMV. All four men were arrested last week. They face up to life in prison if convicted of charges including kidnapping resulting in death. (Read more murder plot stories.)
(Newser)  A hit 2017 song describing suicidal ideation, whose title is the number of the US National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, may have saved hundreds of lives, according to a new study. Hip-hop artist Logic penned "1-800-273-8255" in response to his own feelings of depression, as well as his conversations with fans. The first verse is sung by Logic from the perspective of a person who doesn't want to be alive. The second is sung by Alessia Cara from the perspective of a suicide hotline crisis worker. "I think openly discussing depression and anxiety and the darker side of life ... people appreciate that and can relate to it," Logic (real name Sir Robert Bryson Hall II) tells CNN. Researchers agree.

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They found an increase in calls to the US National Suicide Prevention Lifeline over a total of 34 days after the song's release (5%), after a performance at the 2017 MTV Video Music Awards (8.5%), and after a 2018 Grammy Awards performance (6.5%), per MedPage Today. What's more, there was a 5.5% reduction in suicides among 10- to 19-year-olds during those periods, per the Washington Post. Basically, there were 245 fewer suicides than expected, according to the study published Monday in the BMJ.

Study author Thomas Niederkrotenthaler of the Medical University of Vienna has done previous research on suicide and the media, including a study published in 2020 that found a 13% increase in suicide risk after the media reported on a celebrity suicide. However, he tells CNN that including the lifeline number in these reports could help reduce such "copycat" deaths. Niederkrotenthaler's most recent study "shows for the first time that if help-seeking and recovery from severe crisis is prominently featured in the media, this can have a positive effect of increasing help-seeking and reducing suicide," he says.

As for Logic, he's simply glad to find out he may have made a difference. "To know that my music was actually affecting people's lives, truly, that's what inspired me to make the song," he says. "We did it from a really warm place in our hearts to try to help people. And the fact that it actually did, that blows my mind." His message for those struggling now: "It gets so much betterI know it does because I'm talking from experience." (Read more suicide prevention stories.)
(Newser)  A truck carrying gasoline exploded in northern Haiti, killing more than 40 people and injuring dozens of others, officials and news reports said Tuesday. The blast occurred late Monday in the city of Cap-Haitien, Prime Minister Ariel Henry said, adding that he was devastated. Henry said his administration was deploying field hospitals to the area to help those affected. No further details were immediately available, and police didn't immediately return calls from the AP requesting information.

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"Three days of national mourning will be decreed throughout the territory, in memory of the victims of this tragedy that the entire Haitian nation is grieving," Henry tweeted. Le Nouvelliste newspaper reported that dozens have been hospitalized with injuries and that hospitals were seeking supplies. "We are overwhelmed," a person identified as Dr. Calhil Turenne told the paper. Dave Larose, a civil engineer who works in Cap-Haitien, said that he was driving when he saw ambulances and a crowd of people gathered along a road around 1am.

Larose said he observed how some people were using buckets to scoop up gasoline from the truck and the street to take back to their house. The explosion occurred as Haiti struggles with a severe shortage of fuel and spiraling gas prices. "It's terrible what our country has to go through," Larose noted. Former Prime Minister Claude Joseph also mourned the victims, tweeting, "I share the pain and sorrow of all the people."

(Read more Haiti stories.)
(Newser)  A British woman will spend Christmas behind bars after a racially charged attack on a nightclub bouncer. Widely shared video footage showed 25-year-old Sharna Walker of Worcester being kicked out of The Figure of Eight bar in Birmingham, England, on May 22. West Midlands Police said she upended furniture before kicking a glass door, which shattered, per the BBC. She was also seen pushing and spitting at doorman Tristan Price, at whom she hurled racist language at least 10 times, according to police, who said she also used an offensive term for disabled people to refer to Price and his colleagues.

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"This truly shocking language has no place in the UK and any right-thinking member of the community would be utterly repelled by it," District Judge John Bristow said Monday during Walker's sentencing at Birmingham Magistrates' Court, per ITV. He described Walkerwho pleaded guilty to racially aggravated common assault and criminal damage in September, per Worcester Newsas a "risk to the public." Sentenced to serve 14 weeks in jail and pay the equivalent of $662 in compensation to Price, Walker "burst into tears as guards applied handcuffs to her wrists," per the BBC.

Prosecutor Sarah Woulfe said Price had been the one to upload the video footage, which was recorded by an onlooker, per the BBC and Birmingham Mail. "It was just a weird feeling of being attacked and being helpless," he previously told the BBC of the incident. "It just made me feel small." A previous injury was aggravated as a result of the push, according to the outlet. However, the bouncer withdrew his support from the prosecution's case after intense social media backlash against Walker, arguing she'd suffered enough. Some social media users disagreed, saying she "deserved" her sentence and "it's a shame she didn't get longer," per the Mail. (Read more racial slurs stories.)
An inspection of the Mitchell Expressway Bridge after an oversized load struck the bridge while passing underneath on Friday, Dec. 10, 2021. Photo provided by the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities.
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Agencies | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

The Ministry of Health has announced that a case of the Omicron variant has been detected in Bahrain in an individual arriving in the Kingdom from abroad.

The Ministry stated that all necessary mitigation protocols and precautions have been taken, including the isolation and precautionary quarantine of the active case.

The Ministry noted that the case did not have any local contact and was in isolation upon arrival.

In line with the directives of the Cabinet and the Government Executive Committee, the Ministry affirmed that it will continue to monitor the global situation and will take all necessary measures to protect public health.

The Ministry of Health stressed the importance of adhering to all precautionary health measures issued by the National Medical Taskforce for Combatting the Coronavirus (COVID-19) and urged all to get vaccinated and receive a booster shot.
TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

Bahrain is ready to host the general assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) in 2023.

Speaker Fawzia bint Abdullah Zainal said that the Kingdom has presented an official request in this regard.

The move to host the largest international parliamentary assembly is based on Bahrains advanced institutional structure, highly praised democratic progress and expanding parliamentary experience, achieved thanks to the unlimited support of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, she said.

The Council of Representatives is keen to build bridges of cooperation with friendly parliaments, to continue mutual visits with them, and to enhance joint action with international parliamentary institutions, especially the Inter-Parliamentary Union, Zainal said as she received IPU Secretary-General Martin Chungong.

Our ambition is to deepen the role of legislative councils, unify positions and visions on issues and topics of shared interest, and overcome the challenges facing the region and the world, with support through legislative and political efforts.

Zainal stressed that the Council supports the efforts of the Inter-Parliamentary Union as a multilateral organisation that actively contributes to unifying the positions and visions of the worlds parliaments to contribute to the establishment of the principles of international peace and security, and a better future for the world.

Chungong commended Bahrains advanced levels in enhancing parliamentary performances in the service of the people of Bahrain and stressed that the Bahraini democratic experience is widely appreciated for its great and growing development.

He also hailed Bahrains commitment to continuing to use parliamentary diplomacy
TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

An Asian woman who reportedly managed to launder BD200,000 which she robbed from her company will learn the fate of her appeal today.

The woman is said to have embezzled the money between the years 2014-2020 as she was responsible for collecting money from customers.

Her company was operating in the video-production field and it also owned several buildings.

She was getting money from tenants as well, and she took advantage of the fact that, in some cases, the customers werent requesting receipts.

The woman reportedly took advantage of the cash by transferring it to family members and buying valuables.

She reportedly resorted on some occasions to friends to do the money transfer and they have done it on goodwill.

The woman was eventually discovered and put on trial after being investigated.

She was charged with laundering BD200,000. She was initially sentenced to five years in prison.
COLCHANE, Chile (AP)  A merciless sun seared the migrants as they walked through one of the driest places in the world, trying to illegally cross the border from Bolivia into Chile fearing it might soon be closed.

It has become common in recent months to see migrants trudging across the Atacama Desert but the flow appears to have increased in recent days ahead of Chile's presidential runoff Sunday. The migrants fear that if far-right candidate Jose Antonio Kast wins he will close the border as he promised during his campaign.

The conservative lawmaker, who has defended Chiles military dictatorship, finished first in the country's presidential election in November but did not get enough votes to win outright setting up a runoff against leftist Gabriel Boric. Kast has said he will order a ditch to be built to prevent migrants from crossing from Bolivia.

Immigration has been a recurring topic in Chile's presidential campaign as the country sees an increasing flow of migrants, mainly from Venezuela, but also from nations like Haiti and Colombia. Its a divisive issue and recently there was a widely publicized case of Chileans attacking Venezuelan migrants in Iquique, near the border with Bolivia and Peru.

The U.N. International Organization for Migration estimates there are almost 1.7 million immigrants in Chile. Only this year, Chilean authorities have registered more than 25,000 people arriving through the Atacama Desert, a significant increase compared to the 16,500 for all 2020.

We have relatives here in Chile who told us that we had to go before Dec. 19, because if the one who won the first round (Kast) wins again, he will close all borders, said Rayber Rodriguez, a Venezuelan traveling with his wife and daughter.

Tatiana Castro, a Colombian who also crossed into Chile through the desert, put it bluntly. We had to cross right now for fear that they would send us back.

She said people do not know how hard it is, that we have to go through many countries and across many borders where it is hard for us, we have to endure hunger cold weather.

The border has been guarded for months by the police and the army, though migrants cross using different paths in the desert in plain sight. The border area was empty until few years ago. Now it looks like the transit area of a train terminal.

Once in Chilean territory, migrants are not detained. Some keep walking to the closest city while others turn themselves in to authorities so they can start a process that might help them to regularize their immigration status.

Colchane, a Chilean town near the border with fewer than 1,600 inhabitants, mostly Indigenous Aymara, has seen a constant flow of migrants in recent months. Sometimes the migrants outnumber the local population.

We cant take it anymore, said Nicolas Mamani Gomez, who wants Kast to win, so no more immigrants will come.

Some of the migrants walk further after crossing the border and make it to the city of Iquique.

There, some of the migrants have been living in public parks and beaches. And not all the residents are happy. A few weeks ago, some locals attacked a camp where Venezuelans were staying and burned their belongings.

Virginia Carrasco, a 30 years-old Venezuelan, crossed the desert and entered into Chile with her three children  11 and 8 years old, and a baby of six months  looking for a better life.

Carrasco said she wants a better health care system for them.

In Venezuelas hospitals you get nothing, she said, as she dragged a cart filled with suitcases, bags and backpacks. There are people who have died because they cannot get medicine or doctors. I expect a better quality of life for my children in Chile, thats why I came here.

____

Luna reported from Santiago, Chile.
DANBURY  Shaun Boylan goes into work hoping hes not on the list.

If he is, hell have to spend at least part of his shift filling in as a corrections officer at the low-security federal prison in Danbury.

FCI Danbury, where Boylan has worked since February 2017 in accounting, is so short staffed that its common for non-officer employees, including cooks, teachers, nurses and maintenance staff to be forced to fill in as corrections officers, he said. Employees are also mandated to work 16-hour shifts when the prison is short staffed, he said.

Weve lost so many people, its insane, said Boylan, executive vice president with AFGE Local 1661. They just say, Id rather go work at McDonalds than work here because at least I know what my schedule is.

The union has installed a billboard in the city that states Dangerously understaffed federal prison ahead. Are you safe?

Union members plan to protest Wednesday morning at the intersection of Hayestown Avenue and North Street to call on Congress to increase prison staffing levels, provide recruitment bonuses and take other measures to address the problem.

The Bureau of Prisons and FCI Danbury are committed to ensuring appropriate staffing levels to maintain the safety and security of staff, inmates, and the institution, a spokesman stated.

We are actively seeking to fill vacant positions with particular focus on Correctional Officer vacancies, and we continue to evaluate and use a breadth of employment incentives to attract and retain staff, spokesman Donald Murphy wrote.

The prison is staffed over 94 percent with 112 corrections services staff, he said.

U.S. Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy, D-Conn., as well as U.S. Rep. Jahana Hayes, D-5, wrote a letter to the director of the Bureau of Prisons on Tuesday urging the bureau to address FCI Danburys staffing challenges and to meet the BOPs staffing guidelines.

We are concerned that the large number of vacancies and staffing issues has led to many issues at FCI Danbury, they wrote. While we recognize that the COVID-19 pandemic may have exacerbated some of these issues, the safety and security of staff and inmates must be prioritized at all times. The ongoing staffing issues have led to low morale, fatigue and exhaustion among staff, which exacerbates the potential for incidents or injuries to staff and inmates.

Congress members called on the bureau to support the staffs requests and recommendations for hiring and retaining staff.

Without substantial changes, we are concerned that FCI Danburys staffing issues will put inmates, staff, and the greater community at risk, the letter states. Increasing staffing levels to meet BOP staffing guidelines would no doubt require aggressive recruiting of new hires and diligent efforts to retain existing staff.

The inmate-to-corrections officers ratio at FCI Danbury was 6.8 as of Sept. 30, 2020, according to the Bureau of Prisons latest available report. The bureau must provide a more detailed explanation to the U.S. Senate if more than 15 inmatesare assigned to one officer.

The number of individuals in FCI Danbury declined during COVID-19 and has risen again, Boylan said. The bureau reports 1,078 individuals at FCI Danbury, compared to 763 in April.

Mayor Dean Esposito plans to attend the protest, which comes a week after City Council approved renewing agreements between FCI Danbury and police, firefighters and emergency management to provide mutual assistance during natural disasters and law enforcement emergencies.

As far as Im concerned, we work very closely with them, Esposito said. We always have. Were going to try to provide as much support as we can.

Our vigilance is gone

The staffing shortage is a problem nationwide in the Bureau of Prisons, the union said. The bureau budgeted for about 20,400 corrections officers in 2020, but the Associated Press reported in May that the bureau employed less than 13,800.

In other parts of the country, the bureau has held career fairs and offered recruitment incentives. The bureau advertises job postings through social media and other platforms, including billboards and virtual recruitment events, the spokesman said. This includes recruiting through various professional organizations, such as the military.

The union says the coronavirus pandemic exacerbated shortages. Officers are routinely required to work double shifts two to five times per week, often without prior notice, according to the union.

Over Thanksgiving weekend, an entire shift was mandated to work 16 hours for two days in a row, Boylan said. Shifts are typically eight hours.

On average, 10 to 15 administrative or programming staff members per day are asked to perform corrections officer duties, according to the union. On some days, the list of employees who will have to become corrections officers is two pages long, Boylan said. Other days, the list is shorter.

This causes programs to cease that reduce recidivism, prepare soon to be released inmates the opportunities to prepare for a productive life outside of prison, and neglects all other tasks that are needed to maintain the facility, pay our debts, and conduct regular business, the union stated.

Boylan has worked in prisons for 12 years, previously serving as a corrections officer, but he said its still hard to jump back into the job he hasnt done regularly for years.

All new staff members, including non-corrections officers, receive the same three-week training program at an academy in Georgia, he said. But employees havent been traveling there due to COVID-19, he said.

Boylan said staff members are reprimanded for not completing their regular duties, even when theyve been assigned as corrections officers. Even maintenance of the facility has fallen behind, he said.

We have an aging facility thats ready to crumble, and we cant take care of it because were too busy filling in (for) officers, he said.

He said eight staff members who had worked at the closing Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York City are supposed to move to FCI Danbury.

Due to rising COVID cases in the community, FCI Danbury is under code red, which means intense modifications to operations such as inmate programming and services to prevent the spread of the virus, according to the BOP.

This makes it harder for prison staff, Boylan said.

The inmates are idle and irritable, he said. When you have idle inmates they become aggressive, either verbally or physically.

No staff members have been assaulted, he said. But theyre exhausted, he said.

Our vigilance is gone, Boylan said.
MADISON, Wis. (AP)  Wisconsin's Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul said in an interview Tuesday that he would not investigate or prosecute anyone for having an abortion should the U.S. Supreme Court overturn Roe v. Wade and a currently unenforceable state ban takes effect.

The comments to The Associated Press are Kaul's strongest to date about how he would react to the Supreme Court undoing the landmark 1973 ruling that legalized abortion nationwide. A Wisconsin ban enacted in 1849 has been unenforceable under Roe v. Wade, but would take effect again if conservative Supreme Court justices decide to overrule Roe, as they suggested during oral arguments this month in a case over Mississippis 15-week ban on abortions. A decision is expected this summer.

Abortion is expected to be a central issue in the 2022 election in Wisconsin and other states. Kaul is up for reelection along with Democratic Gov. Tony Evers. Both are supporters of abortion rights and face Republican opponents who want to make abortion illegal again.

Wisconsin is one of 21 states with laws or constitutional amendments already in place that would make them certain to attempt to ban abortion as quickly as possible, according to an analysis from the Guttmacher Institute, a research group that supports abortion rights.

Wisconsin is one of nine states with an abortion ban law that predates Roe v. Wade, according to the analysis.

Kaul told the AP that it's not clear what exactly the law in Wisconsin would be if Roe v. Wade is struck down. That would depend on exactly how the Supreme Court rules and resolving legal issues related to enforcing a law that hasn't been in use for nearly 50 years, he said.

Even if courts were to interpret that law as being enforceable, as attorney general I would not use the resources of the Wisconsin Department of Justice either to investigate alleged violations of that abortion ban or to prosecute alleged violations of it, Kaul said.

Even if Kaul would take that approach, most prosecutions for violating any abortion ban would most likely be brought by district attorneys at the county level.

Kaul said the Justice Department is focused on investigating crimes of statewide importance like homicide, sexual assault and arson.

Diverting resources from those important cases to the kinds of cases that could be brought under abortion ban, which I also believe to be unconstitutional, is not something that I would do as attorney general, he said.

Kaul said enforcing an abortion ban would undermine public safety.

And it would result in serious negative health consequences, including potentially the death of women who wanted to seek to exercise what for nearly 50 years been understood to be a constitutionally protected right, he said.

Two Republicans have launched campaigns to challenge Kaul: Fond do Lac County District Attorney Eric Toney and former state Rep. Adam Jarchow, of Balsam Lake.

Toney said Kaul was a politician, not a law enforcement officer.

I am proudly pro-life and I will defend the police and defend our Wisconsin laws, including our abortion ban, if allowed, Toney said.

Jarchow blasted Kaul as a wholly owned subsidiary of the Washington DC swamp.

He is the very definition of partisanship and a failed leader, Jarchow said. So, while its disappointing that he says he will not follow the law, its not surprising.
The Voice Of Canada's Pet Industry Publishes Free eBook Explaining the Important

Family Role Specialty Pets Play And How They Are Regulated in Canada

OTTAWA, ON, Dec. 14, 2021 /CNW/ - PIJAC Canada, the voice of Canada's Pet Industry, has published a free white paper to shine a light on specialty pets in Canada. It explains their role in Canadian families and how they are regulated in Canada.

"Of the 28 million pets currently living in Canadians' homes, 45 percent are specialty pets," explains PIJAC President and CEO Christine Carriere. "People with specialty pets love them as much as some people love puppies and kittens."

Examples of specialty pets include species of birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish and small mammals such as guinea pigs, rabbits and hamsters.

Canada's pet industry adds over $9 billion to the nation's economy and pet retailers are seeing a notable increase in demand for specialty pets.

The new white paper entitled "Canada Loves Specialty Pets" explains:

what specialty pets are,

why they're becoming increasingly popular,

how they are regulated, and

the important role they play in pet families.

It is available for download here.

PIJAC Canada has an Exotic Animal Policy, a wide network of animal experts, and a reputation for collaboration and commitment to animal welfare with a motto that 'Animal Welfare is Everyone's Business'.

Notes to editors: As the Voice of Canada's Pet Industry, PIJAC Canada's mission is to offer guidance and resources to pet businesses and help advance the well being of Canada's animals. As a not for profit, it represents more than 1,500 members coast to coast to coast and believe working together is the key to positive pet experiences and successful pet businesses.

SOURCE PIJAC Canada

For further information: Media enquiries: Sherrilynne Starkie, [email protected], (phone): 613 400 3654

Related Links

http://www.pijaccanada.com


OTTAWA, ON, Dec. 13, 2021 /CNW/ - The Government of Canada is standing firm in the interests of Prince Edward Island (PEI) potato farmers in discussions with the United States and is working with the PEI Government on all possible ways to resume trade and minimize the impact on affected potato farmers, including recent adjustments to ensure farmers are able to take full advantage of the AgriStability program.

In a detailed technical briefing held today with the provincial PEI Government, including Premier Dennis King, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) outlined their continued engagement with the United States Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) to advance Canada's position that, based on the science, the trade of fresh potatoes from PEI remains safe when appropriate risk mitigation measures are in place. The technical briefing responds to the standing offer from the CFIA for transparent information sharing with the province and follows weeks of close communication and collaboration between both governments and the potato industry.

APHIS has indicated they are seeking clear scientific data in order to be assured that resuming trade is safe. The CFIA is working with APHIS to provide the required information such as the outcome of the CFIA's investigation and all relevant information regarding the recent detections of potato wart. APHIS has also asked for clear risk mitigation measures and an ongoing monitoring plan for a clearly-defined quarantined area. The PEI Government has an important role to play assuring regulated fields have proper restrictions in place to contain the possible spread of virus and appropriate biosecurity practices are applied. Both countries also agreed to collaborate on the review being undertaken by APHIS on their pest risk assessment, which informs APHIS decisions on pest management.

These efforts follow the November 21, 2021 CFIA suspension of export certificates for fresh potatoes from PEI to the U.S. in response to U.S. concerns. This action was made at the request of the U.S. in order to avoid the implementation of a U.S. Federal Order that would prohibit the import of potatoes from PEI, which would be very challenging to overturn. In order to resume trade, the CFIA is redoubling their efforts to work through the scientific evidence with APHIS to provide the reassurances they need.

The Government of Canada is also working urgently to explore all avenues of support for affected PEI farmers in collaboration with the provincial government.

The Government of Canada and the Province of PEI made important adjustments to the AgriStability program, which protects producers against large declines in farming income. Together, they agreed to allow late participation under AgriStability, which means producers who did not enroll for the 2021 program year can sign-up now and still access this important income support. Furthermore, the two governments agreed to increase the interim payments of AgriStability, so that producers can now apply for up to 75% of their anticipated payment, up from 50%. Producers have access to a suite of other Business Risk Management (BRM) programs to help them manage issues, and both governments will continue exploring all avenues to minimize the impact for affected PEI farmers.

Quotes

"Our Government is working diligently with the United States to resume trade for PEI fresh potatoes, and is exploring all avenues to minimize the impact on affected PEI farmers. We know how important this issue is to the lives of many Islanders, and we take it extremely seriously. We believe in the science that says the U.S. demands go beyond what is needed to manage risk, and that, with the proper measures in place, the trade of PEI fresh potatoes is safe. In order to resume trade, however, the CFIA must work through the scientific evidence with the U.S. to give them the reassurances needed. As we continue to work through challenges, these adjustments to the AgriStability program are an important step to supporting PEI farmers."

-The Honourable Marie-Claude Bibeau, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food

"Our Government has been very active raising this issue to the highest levels of Unites States government. We are following the science and are committed to continuing to work in close collaboration along with the U.S. to get them the reassurances they need to resume trade."

- The Honourable Mary Ng, Minister of International Trade, Export Promotion, Small Business and Economic Development

"Prince Edward Island has the best potato farmers in the world and all Islanders can be assured that our government is standing up for them every step of the way and will be there to support them through this challenging time. We will continue our close collaboration with industry, the provincial government, and supply chain partners to ensure we resume this vital trade link and encourage everyone to support our local producers."

-The Honourable Lawrence MacAulay, Minister of Veterans Affairs and Associate Minister of National Defence

Quick Facts

Canadian officials have been very engaged with U.S. decision makers, Canadian/U.S. stakeholders and trading partners since October 1, 2021 . The numbers below are estimates based on the high level of activity:

. The numbers below are estimates based on the high level of activity: At least 4 engagements with Members of Congress and/or staff and/or Governor



14 meetings with U.S. administration officials at USDA and USTR



Over 40 meetings with CA or U.S. industry and labour stakeholders



Outside of the U.S., based on export interest, letters were sent to 16 trading partners





Although CFIA's suspension of certification for fresh potatoes prevented the U.S. from passing into law a federal order, the U.S. has indicated that, as of November 22, 2021 , the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Customs and Border Protection will refuse entry of all seed, table and processing potatoes from PEI, as well as ensure that used farm machinery, farm tools, and farming equipment from PEI is visibly clean and free from soil to enter the U.S.





, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Customs and Border Protection will refuse entry of all seed, table and processing potatoes from PEI, as well as ensure that used farm machinery, farm tools, and farming equipment from PEI is visibly clean and free from soil to enter the U.S. Potato wart is a persistent fungus in soil that reduces yield on farms and can spread through the movement of soil, farm equipment, and potatoes from fields. It is a pest regulated under the Plant Protection Act, which means that its detection may trigger measures to control the disease and prevent its spread.





which means that its detection may trigger measures to control the disease and prevent its spread. The first potato wart detection in PEI in 2000 resulted in the closure of the US-Canada border for all fresh PEI potatoes  including seed, table stock and processing potatoes  for six months. Since this first detection, the CFIA has surveyed for potato wart annually in PEI and implemented the Potato Wart Domestic Long Term Management Plan to prevent the spread of this pest to protect plant health and trade.





The number of soil samples for potato wart fluctuates year to year based on market demand and requirements of investigations. Soil sampling for potato wart will continue until the ground freezes. Testing continues in the lab.





Soil sampling has increased since the implementation of the CFIA's new national potato wart survey program in 2001. Under this program, the CFIA surveyed for potato wart in all of Canada's seed potato growing areas (except Newfoundland ).





seed potato growing areas (except ). The Government of Canada has also created an Industry-Government Potato Working Group which brings key stakeholders of the PEI potato sector to exchange information, develop strategies to determine and help mitigate impacts of potato wart on the sector, and identify potential short and long-term solutions to current disruptions.





has also created an Industry-Government Potato Working Group which brings key stakeholders of the PEI potato sector to exchange information, develop strategies to determine and help mitigate impacts of potato wart on the sector, and identify potential short and long-term solutions to current disruptions. AgriStability protects producers against large declines in farming income for reasons such as production loss, increased costs and market conditions. The program is delivered provincially in PEI. With the recent announcement allowing late entry applications, the deadline to submit an interim application for the 2021 program year is March 31, 2022 .





. AgriInsurance will provide support for farms that face production and quality losses directly caused by potato wart, with coverage for up to 90% of their losses.





In addition, AgriInvest funds are immediately available for use by producers to support any need they see fit. Potato producers widely participate in AgriInvest.

Associated links

Contacts

Oliver Anderson

Director of Communications

Office of the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food

[email protected]

613-462-4327

Media Relations

Canadian Food Inspection Agency

[email protected]

613-773-6600

https://inspection.canada.ca/,

Follow us on Twitter: @InspectionCan

Like us on Instagram: cfia_canada

Like us on Facebook: CFIACanada

Media Relations

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

Ottawa, Ontario

613-773-7972

1-866-345-7972

[email protected]

Follow us on Twitter: @AAFC_Canada

Like us on Facebook: CanadianAgriculture

SOURCE Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA)

Related Links

http://www.inspection.gc.ca


In the statement issued by the union, the protestors mentioned a number of regulations including total restriction of Indian military force convoy and patrolling, no military recruitment rallies within the district, non-acceptance and denouncement of development packages from the forces.

Amid the uproar over Nagaland killings, Konyak civil society has declared a strict non-cooperation with the armed forces. The apex body of the Konyak Naga tribe, which resides in the Mon district of Nagaland, took the decision in the backdrop of the killing of 14 civilians in a security ambush. In the statement issued by the union, the protestors mentioned a number of regulations including total restriction of Indian military force convoy and patrolling, no military recruitment rallies within the district, non-acceptance and denouncement of development packages from the forces.

Earlier last week, more than 100 students from different colleges and communities held a sit-in protest and mass candlelight march in Itanagar against the Nagaland civilian killings. Led by All Arunachal Pradesh Student Union in collaboration with the North East Student Organization (NESO) at Indira Gandhi National Park, Itanagar, the demonstrators demanded the repeal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, 1958 (AFSPA).

All Arunachal Pradesh Student Union vice president Meje Taku, expressing his solidarity with the people of Nagaland at a public rally, said, AFSPA is a Draconian Law which has been misused throughout the history. I request all the Naga Brothers stay strong as it is indeed a tough time for all of us.

The firing incident in Nagalands Mon district on December 4 left 14 civilians dead. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Monday directed all agencies to ensure that no such unfortunate incident recurs in future while undertaking operations against insurgents.
Taiwans annual defence report has revealed Chinas plans to invade the island nation by 2025. In the report tabled by Taiwans Deputy Defence Minister, the Island nation has listed out a step-wise plan on how China will transgress Taiwans borders. It stated China will first use missiles to target air defenses and gradually conduct swift landing by stationing ships to stop foreign intervention. Interestingly, the report also lists 3 weaknesses of China, which will make this operation a very difficult to carry out.

These weaknesses listed out by Taiwan include lack of sufficient landing equipment, lack of transport aircraft and lack of understanding of the Taiwan strait. The island nation has also predicted that China wont be able to invade Taiwan till 2024 while increasing its defence budget to over 8 million and stressing on continuing the military modernization campaign.

The big takeaways that can be identified in Taiwans Chinese invasion report include full Chinese invasion of Taiwan will be difficult, China will face problems in landing and supplying troops, Chinas transport capacity is limited and will not be able to land forces, China will have to rely on non-standard roll-on and roll-off ships.

About Taiwan, one draws that Taiwans military strongly defends ports and airports, supplies over Taiwans strait poses huge logistics challenges, Taiwans military has an advance in the Taiwan strait, Taiwan can cut off PLAs supplies and hence reducing their endurance. China will need reserve forces to prevent foreign intervention. US & Japanese military bases are close to Taiwan. China can use targeted missile attacks, for which there is a Taiwanese modernisation programme. Taiwan is planning $8.66 billion military spending in 5 years and will be focused on naval weapons and missiles.
WASHINGTON (AP)  The Air Force has discharged 27 people for refusing to get the COVID-19 vaccine, making them what officials believe are the first service members to be removed for disobeying the mandate to get the shots.

The Air Force gave its forces until Nov. 2 to get the vaccine, and thousands have either refused or sought an exemption. Air Force spokeswoman Ann Stefanek said Monday that these are the first airmen to be administratively discharged for reasons involving the vaccine.

She said all of them were in their first term of enlistment, so they were younger, lower-ranking personnel. And while the Air Force does not disclose what type of discharge a service member gets, legislation working its way through Congress limits the military to giving troops in vaccine refusal cases an honorable discharge or general discharge under honorable conditions.

The Pentagon earlier this year required the vaccine for all members of the military, including active duty, National Guard and the Reserves. Each of the services set its own deadlines and procedures for the mandate, and the Air Force set the earliest deadline. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has said the vaccine is critical to maintaining the health of the force and its ability to respond to an national security crisis.

None of the 27 airmen sought any type of exemption, medical, administrative or religious, Stefanek said. Several officials from the other services said they believe that so far only the Air Force has gotten this far along in the process and discharged people over the vaccine refusal.

As a result, they were formally removed from service for failure to obey an order. Stefanek said it is also possible that some had other infractions on their records, but all had the vaccine refusal as one of the elements of their discharge.

It is not unusual for members of the military to be thrown out of the service for disobeying an order discipline is a key tenet of the armed services. As a comparison, Stefanek said that in the first three quarters of 2021, about 1,800 airmen were discharged for failure to follow orders.

According to the latest Air Force data, more than 1,000 airmen have refused the shot and more than 4,700 are seeking a religious exemption. As of last week, a bit more than 97% of the active duty Air Force had gotten at least one shot.

Members of the Navy and the Marine Corps had until Nov. 28 to get the shots and their Reserve members have until Dec. 28. Army active duty soldiers have until Wednesday, and members of the Army National Guard and the Reserves have the most time to be vaccinated, with a deadline of next June 30.

Across the military, the vaccine reaction has mirrored that of society as a whole, with thousands seeking exemptions or refusing the shots. But overall the percentage of troops  particularly active duty members  who quickly got the shots exceeds the nationwide numbers.

As of Dec. 10, the Pentagon said that 96.4% of active duty personnel have gotten at least one shot. The number plummets to about 74%, however, when the Guard and Reserve are included. According to the Centers for Disease Control, about 72% of the U.S. population 18 and older have gotten at least one shot.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has made it clear that the Guard and Reserve are also subject to the mandate, and has warned that those who fail to comply risk their continuing members in the military. But that has proven to be contentious.

Oklahomas Republican governor and the state attorney general have already filed a federal lawsuit challenging the military mandate for the state's Guard. Gov. Kevin Stitt  the first state leader to publicly challenge the mandate  is arguing that Austin is overstepping his constitutional authority.

Stitt had asked Austin to suspend the mandate for the Oklahoma National Guard and directed his new adjutant general to assure members that they would not be punished for not being vaccinated.

Austin rejected the request and said unvaccinated Guard members would be barred from federally funded drills and training required to maintain their Guard status.

Oklahoma's adjutant general, Brig. Gen. Thomas Mancino, posted a letter on the state Guard's website, however, warning his troops that those who refuse the vaccine could end their military careers.

Anyone ... deciding not to take the vaccine, must realize that the potential for career ending federal action, barring a favorable court ruling, legislative intervention, or a change in policy is present, Mancino wrote.
The St. Louis-based electric utility Ameren Corp. said in a court filing Tuesday that it will close a coal plant several years early, a move that follows a court order this summer requiring pollution controls that would potentially cost hundreds of millions of dollars.

The plant sits along the Mississippi River near Festus, Missouri, about 40 miles (64 kilometers) south of St. Louis. In August, the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a ruling in a decade-old lawsuit, ordering Ameren to install pollution control equipment.

The federal government argued that modifications in 2007 and 2010 without proper permits led to increased sulfur dioxide emissions because the plant could burn more coal. Sulfur dioxide is a byproduct of burning coal that can harm the respiratory system.

Ameren maintains that air quality monitors near Rush Island meet federal and state standards. Rush Island is among four coal plants it operates.

Ameren had previously planned to close Rush Island in 2039. The court filing didn't give a specific closure date but said it would be before the March 2024 compliance date required by the court.

The decision to accelerate the retirement of the Rush Island Energy Center comes after carefully considering our legal, operational, and regulatory alternatives, as well as the impact on customer costs and system reliability," Ameren President and Chairman Marty Lyons said in a statement. We remain committed to reliable and affordable electric service for the benefit of our customers and communities, while reducing emissions and building on our longstanding commitment to environmental stewardship."

Ameren announced in September 2020 that it planned to invest $8 billion in renewable projects during the next two decades, with a goal of reaching net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 across Missouri and Illinois.

Andy Knott of the Sierra Club urged Ameren to close the plant as soon as possible.

The financial and health interests of Amerens customers is best served by the utility replacing any needed capacity with a combination of renewable energy, energy efficiency, and demand side response, Knott said in a statement.
PHOENIX (AP)  Phoenix-based Banner Health is at its most overwhelmed since the pandemic began, leading the company's officials to issue a warning Tuesday that its hospital system may have to eventually choose who can receive care.

Some of Banner's hospitals in one of Arizona's largest health care systems are operating above 100% capacity, said Dr. Marjorie Bessel, the company's chief clinical officer.

COVID-19 hospitalizations make up one-third of Banner's hospital patients but there there is also an extremely high volume of patients who delayed preventative care or are in the late stages of an illness, she said.

The company has 18 hospitals in Arizona. As of Tuesday, 10 of them were running above 100% of their ICU staffed bed capacity. Five of them were operating 100% above staffed in-patient bed capacity, according to spokesman Corey Schubert.

We are more stretched now than we have been since the start of the pandemic, Bessel told reporters. ICUs are where we are experiencing the most significant strain on our resources.

Banner has had to postpone medical procedures, new patient visits and non-urgent appointments because of the intensive care unit needs.

Hospital professionals are are prioritizing medically necessary surgeries like mastectomies and gall bladder removals. The hospital system  with assistance from over 2,600 travel nurses who travel around the country filling staffing needs  is trying to counter a hemorrhaging of Banner staff nurses who retired, left the field or took non-bedside jobs .

Banner's modeling predicts that its number of Arizona hospital bed occupancies will escalate and peak in mid-January, Bessel added.

Nearly 90% of Banner patients undergoing treatment for COVID-19 are unvaccinated. Some days, the percentage of unvaccinated COVID-19 patients in intensive care has been 100%. Bessel reiterated that vaccinations were the key to reducing the burden on health care workers.

My top ask of the community at this time is for all who are eligible to get vaccinated and your booster if you have not yet done so," Bessel said. This is the best way to prevent serious COVID illness that requires hospital-level care.

Banner's situation echoes other hospitals in the region. Dr. Michael White, of Phoenix-based Valleywise Health, said staff are reporting the same number of COVID-19 infected patients as a year ago. White had hoped that vaccinations would have translated into fewer hospitalizations.

Hospitalizations across the state for COVID-19 overall inched up Tuesday from a day earlier to 2,764 patients as of Monday, according to the Arizona state health department's coronavirus dashboard.

The dashboard also reported 2,168 additional cases and 203 deaths. Most of the fatalities stemmed from inspection of death certificates going back several weeks.

Since the pandemic started, the state has reported 1,320,748 confirmed coronavirus infection cases and 23,243 COVID-19 deaths.

The delta variant continues to make up the majority of infections. However, Maricopa County Department of Public Health officials said Monday that they identified the newer omicron variant in six people in metro Phoenix.

Tuesday marked a year since COVID-19 vaccines first arrived in Arizona, according to the Department of Health Services.

So far, more than 4.5 million people in Arizona  or 63.8% of the state's population  have received at least one dose of a vaccine. Over 3.9 million have been fully vaccinated. Of the state's vaccine-eligible population, 67.8% have received at least one dose.

Public health officials have said that unvaccinated people are 15.2 times more likely to die than those who are fully vaccinated for COVID-19.
Politicians around the state and the country are keeping the Sandy Hook community in their thoughts today on the ninth anniversary of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.

President Joe Biden acknowledged the anniversary in a video that eulogized the lives lost while promising extensive legislative revisions surrounding gun violence culture.

Nine years ago today, the families in Newtown were hit especially hard. No matter how long its been, every one of those families relives the news that they got that day, Biden said in his address. For me and for Barack [Obama], the shooting at the Sandy Hook elementary school was one of the saddest days that we were in office  those eight years. But as we got to know you  and I got to know so many of you personally, I spoke to every one of your families and I found hope in your strength as you turn pain into purpose to change the laws and the culture around gun violence.

As a nation, we owe all of these families more than our prayers, we owe them action, Biden added.

In his address, Biden detailed actions that he has taken in his presidency to curtail gun violence, including addressing the proliferation of ghost guns, cracking down on rogue gun dealers [and] promoting safe firearm storage.

Sen. Chris Murphy echoed Bidens sentiments in his own statement. The perseverance of Sandy Hook families inspires him to take action on common sense gun safety laws and initiatives to reduce gun violence in our cities, he wrote

My heart aches todayfor the 20 children and six teachers who were taken from us nine years ago today at Sandy Hook Elementary School, for the families who have had to live with the pain of losing a loved one to gun violence, and for the entire Newtown community, Murphy said in his statement. But my heart is also buoyed by examples of love and perseverance. After this tragedy, we saw the entire nation come together to rally behind Newtown. And we saw families who lost loved ones turn their grief into action, spearheading initiatives to prevent future tragedies. Their strength is nothing short of awe-inspiring.

Other politicians and state officials took to Twitter this morning to commemorate the anniversary, including Sen. Richard Blumenthal and U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona.

Scroll below to see politicians' statements on the anniversary via Twitter.
WEST HAVEN  With City Halls elevators temporarily out of service on a recent evening, Christine Gallo climbed a flight of stairs on the other end of the building before reaching the Harriet North Room, where she was to led the Economic Development Commissions first meeting since July.

The doors were locked.

Although a custodial worker in the building was able to let Gallo and three other commission members into the meeting room, it was yet another indication to commissioners that the role they play in advising the city on revenue-generating opportunities is unclear, they said.

Its always been like this, because we dont have a budget, Gallo said. We were told we should do branding and marketing, but thats difficult without a budget.

According to the city charter, the commission has the power to make recommendations to the Planning and Zoning Commission about suggested amendments to the city plan or zoning regulations.

It also can confer with bordering municipalities to make recommendations about roads and utility services; work with other city agencies to promote commercial and industrial development; and provide an annual report to the mayor on its activities.

Brian Zahn / Hearst Connecticut Media

Gallo said the commission had a liaison to the City Council, former mayoral candidate and 10th District Councilman Barry Lee Cohen, but Cohens term on the council ended this month.

She said the commission does not know with whom in the community it can collaborate as there is not an established economic development director in City Hall and the citys business community does not have any entity actively representing it.

The city has not been without economic development proposals this year, including a proposal by New England Brewing Co. to relocate to the site of the defunct Savin Rock Conference Center, the sale of the former Debonair Beach Motel sells for $1 million, and a developer buying the Armstrong building on Elm Street.

In 2020, Mayor Nancy Rossi appointed members to the dormant commission in an attempt to revive it. She said the commissioners are free to act within the boundaries of the charter, but it also must act as a commission.

Its not as simple as going to the meeting, discussing your business and going home and not worrying about the rest, she said.

Rossi said there are Freedom of Information concerns, such as Economic Development Commission meetings being properly noticed.

Gallo said the commission notices a public meeting when it has an agenda, but will hold workshops to do things such as draft memos to businesses or City Hall employees offering advice privately  especially as City Hall was closed for public meetings for months of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Commissioner Ed Voss, who was not at the most recent meeting, wrote in a letter read aloud by Gallo that he was frustrated at the churn of economic development professionals in the city.

The city continues to bypass this commission, he wrote.

Despite that, Rossi said the city is willing to be a partner, but its the commissions communication that should be clearer.

Arnold Gold / Hearst Connecticut Media

Ill be glad to help, but they have to reach out to me to get me to help, Rossi said.

I believe they can serve their purpose, she said. I wouldnt have appointed them if I didnt think they could.

Despite the questions about authority, economic development commissioners believe they have certain promising things in the works: such as the potential for a sign on the highway saying, Welcome to West Haven, which would be the only one of its kind there.

Gallo said the opportunity is based on a conversation she had with developers from Sullivan Hayes, who are looking to erect a sign for the 7-Eleven project on Sawmill Road once it is completed.

Peter Hvizdak / Hearst Connecticut Media file photo

I know Id be likelier to turn off the highway if I saw a sign that said, Welcome to West Haven, Gallo said.

Commissioner Elinor Slomba said ArtsWest CT also has $2,000 remaining from a grant to produce murals; she said there is an opportunity to make the windows of the former Silvers building in the heart of the citys downtown look more enticing as the city looks for a tenant there.

Hearst Connecticut Media /

brian.zahn@hearstmediact.com
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP)  Israel's intelligence minister said Tuesday that Syria cannot be allowed to obtain chemical weapons, after a report emerged that Israel targeted the country's chemical weapons facilities.

In an interview with Israeli Army Radio, Elazar Stern would not directly comment on the report in the Washington Post that said that Israel struck Syria on two occasions  once this year and once last year  in a bid to block attempts to rebuild its chemical weapons stockpile. But Stern, a retired military general, hinted that Israel could not accept such weapons in the hands of its enemy to the north.

We have a neighbor who has already proved that it doesnt hesitate to use chemical weapons even against its own people, he said. (Syrian President Bashar) Assad must not have chemical weapons."

Israeli officials have declined to comment on the Washington Post report.

Military affairs commentators in Israel, who often are briefed by top defense officials, said the timing of the report was not a coincidence and comes as negotiators are meeting with Iran in Vienna to try to revive a 2015 nuclear deal.

Iran has close ties with Syria and has sent fighters and advisers to back the forces of Syrian President Bashar Assad in his country's decade-long civil war.

It was a signal to all of the actors, Iran and the United States, that Israel is serious about acting against the development of non-conventional weapons by its enemies, wrote Yossi Yehoshua in the Yediot Ahronot daily.

Israel has long opposed the 2015 nuclear deal between global powers and Iran, which granted Iran relief from economic sanctions in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program.

Instead, it has called for an accord with even tighter safeguards on Iran's nuclear program and that addresses other Iranian military behavior, such as its missile program and support for anti-Israel militant groups like Lebanons Hezbollah, which also has sent fighters to Syria. Israel also supports a credible military threat against Iran as leverage.

Israel believes Iran is trying to develop a nuclear weapon  a charge Iran denies. U.S. intelligence agencies and the IAEA have said Iran ran an organized nuclear weapons program until 2003.

Israel has acknowledged carrying out scores of airstrikes in Syria  almost all of them aimed at Iranian forces or its proxies. Attacks on Syrian targets are rare.

One of the raids cited by the Washington Post, on June 8, was reported by Syrian state media as an Israeli aerial attack near the Syrian capital Damascus and in the central province of Homs, that prompted a response from Syrian national air defenses.

There was no mention in official media of what was targeted in the strikes, although loud explosions were heard in Damascus.

The Syrian government reported the strike to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in a July 9 letter. In it, Syria acknowledged that two chlorine cylinders were destroyed in an airstrike and had been moved there from Douma, the central Syrian town where the global chemical weapons watchdog agency has said chlorine was used as a weapon against civilians in 2018.

Although the agency did not assign blame for the attack, which killed some 40 people, the U.S., Britain and France blamed Syria and launched punitive airstrikes.

The Syrian Archive, a Berlin-based group that documents human rights violations in Syria with a focus on chemical weapons, said one of the sites has reportedly been described as a chemical production center in the southern region. It said another in central Syria was described by former Syrian military officials, who joined the opposition, as a place where chemicals are stored and where work on developing missiles warheads as well.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based group that closely monitors the war in Syria, has said the targeted sites included a branch of the military-linked Scientific Studies and Research Center northwest of Homs, in addition to an ammunition depot likely to belong to Hezbollah, south of Homs. The strikes killed 11 soldiers, including a colonel it identified as Ayham Suleiman Ismail.

Unconfirmed reports published by pro-Assad media at the time identified Ismail as a leading chemist at the research center.

The center is a government agency described by the Syrians as a facility for the advancement of scientific research. But Syria watchers have long described it as an outfit for the development of chemical, biological and other weapons.

Israel is believed to have struck facilities associated with the SSRC on numerous occasions in the past.

Syria joined the Chemical Weapons Convention in September 2013, pressed by Russia after a deadly chemical weapons attack that the West blamed on Damascus.

By August 2014, the Assad government declared that the destruction of its chemical weapons was completed, but its initial declaration of chemical stockpiles and production sites to the OPCW has remained in dispute.

OPCW investigators have blamed at least three chemical attacks in 2017 on President Bashar Assads government. The agency last year suspended Syria's voting rights in the organization. Syria says it has complied with its commitments and wants to continue cooperation with the OPCW.

Earlier this year, the U.N.s disarmament chief, Izumi Nakamitsu, told the Security Council that Damascus declaration of its chemical stockpiles and chemical weapons production sites nearly eight years ago remains incomplete.

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Associated Press writers Zeina Karam and Sarah El Deeb in Beirut contributed to this report.
WASHINGTON (AP)  The House voted Tuesday to hold former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows in contempt of Congress after he ceased to cooperate with the Jan. 6 Committee investigating the Capitol insurrection  making it the first time the chamber has voted to hold a former member in contempt since the 1830s.

The near-party-line 222-208 vote is the second time the special committee has sought to punish a witness for defying a subpoena. The vote is the latest show of force by the Jan. 6 panel, which is leaving no angle unexplored  and no subpoena unanswered  as it investigates the worst attack on the Capitol in more than 200 years. Lawmakers on the panel are determined to get answers quickly, and in doing so reassert the congressional authority that eroded while former President Donald Trump was in office.

History will be written about these times, about the work this committee has undertaken, said Rep. Bennie Thompson, R-Miss., the chairman. And history will not look upon any of you as a martyr. History will not look upon you as a victim.

The two GOP votes  Reps. Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, who serve on the committee  in favor of the resolution came after nine Republicans voted to hold former Trump ally Steve Bannon in contempt in October. While Bannons case was more clear-cut -- he never engaged with the committee at all -- Meadows had turned over documents and negotiated for two months with the panel about an interview. Meadows also has closer relationships within the Republican caucus, having just left Congress last year.

Meadows was also Trumps top aide in the White House, giving him more plausible grounds to claim executive privilege. Bannon had not worked in the White House since 2017.

The Justice Department will also be weighing those factors as prosecutors decide whether to move forward with the case. If convicted, Bannon and Meadows could each face up to one year behind bars on each charge.

Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., another member of the panel, began Tuesdays debate on the resolution by reading frantic texts from the day of the attack revealing members of Congress, Fox News anchors and even Trumps son urging Meadows to persuade the outgoing president to act quickly to stop the three-hour assault by his supporters.

Republicans on Tuesday called the action against Meadows a distraction from the House's work, with one member calling it evil and un-American.

Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio praised Meadows: Make no mistake, when Democrats vote in favor of this resolution, it is a vote to put a good man in prison.

Trump also defended Meadows in an interview, saying: I think Mark should do whats right. Hes an honorable man. He shouldnt be put through this."

And Meadows attorney George Terwilliger defended his client in a statement before the vote, noting that he had provided documents to the panel and maintaining that he should not be compelled to appear for an interview.

Terwilliger said, The Select Committees true intentions in dealing with Mr. Meadows have been revealed when it accuses him of contempt citing the very documents his cooperation has produced.

Meadows himself has sued the panel, asking a court to invalidate two subpoenas that he says are overly broad and unduly burdensome.

Meanwhile, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell told reporters: I do think were all watching, as you are, what is unfolding on the House side. And it will be interesting to reveal all the participants who were involved.

He added that he was not in contact with Meadows on the day of the attack.

Democrats quoted at length from Jan. 6 text messages provided by Meadows while he was cooperating with the committee.

We need an Oval Office address," Donald Trump Jr. texted, the committee said, as his father's supporters were breaking into the Capitol, sending lawmakers running for their lives and interrupting the certification of Joe Biden's presidential victory. "He has to lead now. It has gone too far and gotten out of hand.

Trump Jr. added, "Hes got to condemn this s- ASAP." In response to one of Trump Jr.'s texts, Meadows said: Im pushing it hard. I agree.

Members of the committee said the texts raise fresh questions about what was happening at the White House  and what Trump himself was doing  as the attack was underway. The committee had planned to question Meadows about the communications, including 6,600 pages of records taken from personal email accounts and about 2,000 text messages. The panel has not released any of the communications in full.

Cheney, the panels vice chairwoman, said at the committee's Monday evening meeting that an important issue raised by the texts is whether Trump sought to obstruct the congressional certification by refusing to send a strong message to the rioters to stop.

These texts leave no doubt, she said. The White House knew exactly what was happening at the Capitol.

The investigating panel has already interviewed more than 300 witnesses, and subpoenaed more than 40 people, as it seeks to create the most comprehensive record yet of the lead-up to the insurrection and of the violent siege itself.

If Meadows had appeared for his deposition, lawmakers had planned to ask him about Trumps efforts to overturn the election in the weeks before the insurrection, including his outreach to states and his communications with members of Congress.

The panel says it wanted to know more about whether Trump was engaged in discussions regarding the response of the National Guard, which was delayed for hours as the violence escalated and the rioters beat police guarding the Capitol building.

The documents provided by Meadows include an email he sent to an unidentified person saying that the Guard would be present to protect pro Trump people," the panel said, and that more would be available on standby. The committee did not release any additional details about that email.

Committee staff said they would have interviewed Meadows about emails to leadership at the Department of Justice on December 29th and 30th, 2020, and January 1st, 2021, encouraging investigations of suspected voter fraud, even though election officials and courts across the country had rejected those claims.

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Associated Press writers Eric Tucker and Darlene Superville contributed to this report.
First lady Jill Biden is planning to meet with families of victims and others who were at a Christmas parade in suburban Milwaukee where six people were killed and dozens were injured after an SUV plowed through the crowd.

The White House said Biden will begin her day Wednesday by attending a Forbes 50 Over 50 and Know Your Value event in New York City. She will then travel to Milwaukee to visit Children's Wisconsin hospital and meet with frontline health care workers who cared for victims of the parade crash in Waukesha. She will also watch children receive COVID-19 vaccinations and talk with them and their families.
NEW HAVEN  A recent cascading series of school threats was trying and testing for the entire school district, according to Superintendent of Schools Iline Tracey.

From the superintendent on down, everyone, was taken out of their places, Tracey said. The administrative team emptied out (of central office) to take care of the crises  and they kept on coming.

Already dealing with a pandemic, a teacher shortage and a school community under mounting stress, Tracey said a series of threats to a number of city schools  coming on the heels of a deadly school shooting in Michigan  sent shockwaves through the district.

Although the local threats, made on social media, turned out to be hoaxes, the resulting fear was real and the district, on Monday, was criticized for not keeping all schools closed the following day, officials said.

I had some pretty bad anxiety about it, Anthony Fiore, a senior at High School in the Community, told the Board of Education. Fiore, along with others, said a mental health day for the district was in order.

I am not (sure) why our children were not given the next day off, Teresa Johnson, a district parent, told the board during its public comment portion of the meeting. She called the situation traumatic.

Fiore, a student member of the school board, said even though most students did not believe the threats were credible, anxiety levels were high and many felt unsafe.

A high school-age teen was arrested Dec. 6 in connection with the alleged threat that day against Wilbur Cross High School, officials said.

In all, threats were directed toward Cross, James Hillhouse High School, Hill Regional Career Magnet, Cooperative Arts And Humanities High School, Riverside Academy, Conte West Hills Magnet School, Edgewood Magnet School and Amistad Academy in New Haven, as well as Hamden High School, Eli Whitney Technical School in Hamden and Wintergreen Interdistrict Magnet School in North Haven, authorities said.

A 17-year-old, who is a juvenile, is charged in the Wilbur Cross case with breach of peace  a felony  and interfering with police in connection with an alleged telephoned threat at Wilbur Cross, the first of the threats at city schools to surface, police Interim Chief Renee Dominguez has said.

Although schools have security guards, and some, metal detectors, students say they fear it could be possible to get contraband past the front entryways.

It was not a good situation all around, Fiore said. I think it could have been handled better.

Tracey maintained a districtwide day off to help calm nerves was not in the cards.

I just cant go and give a mental health day, Tracey said. Teachers would have to make the day up at the end of the school year (in June).

Tracey said it was anticipated that some students would choose not to attend school the following day on their own. She said the parents of those who did can request that the day be counted as a sick day.

She and others said the district had a crisis team to provide counseling and did not take the situation lightly.

We made decisions in the best interest of the district, Tracey said.

The alleged threats of violence on Dec. 6 caused at least eight schools to go into lockdown in both New Haven and two neighboring towns.

In New Haven, it started with threats that an individual with a gun was headed to Wilbur Cross were made over social media.

At least four juveniles have since been arrested in connection with the threats, some of which were said to be connected.

In one case, police said as part of the ongoing investigation, detectives identified a 13-year-old Conte West Hills Magnet School student as the person responsible for the alleged threats made against the Chapel Street school on Dec. 6.

In addition to social media, some of the threats were made by phone and email, Mayor Justin Elicker said last week.

Tracey said police realized, as some threats were made at district K-8 schools, that copycatting was involved. Some of the messaging was the same and racially charged words used, according to Tracey.

Board member Dr. Tamiko Jackson-McArthur praised the way officials handled the threats but agreed a mental health day was in order.

That day was horrific for everyone, said Jackson-McArthur, who has children in the district.

Toni Criscuolo, a teacher at the citys Engineering & Science University Magnet School, told the board the threats are only part of the problem.

She said students are acting out because it appears to them there are few consequences.

Criscuolo said she understands the district is looking to get resources to students rather than dole out life-altering punishments.

Still, she called it a recipe for disaster when students have the idea they can get away with anything.

Schools need order, she said. We need to feel safe. Right now we are not feeling too safe.
NORTH HAVEN  The student held a sealed envelope.

Inside it was the result of a monthslong process and a townwide vote  the identity of North Havens next mascot.

Feel like were at the Oscars? someone asked.

The comment prompted laughter among the group gathered in the high school library for a special Board of Education meeting, according to a NHTV livestream of the event.

The student opened the envelope, and the verdict was in: North Haven Public schools would be represented by the Nighthawks.

Formerly the North Haven Indians, the Board of Education in July voted to retire that mascot after hearing testimony from the Native American residents and others who said the mascot was offensive, promoted harmful stereotypes and even could create an unwelcoming learning environment.

Following that decision, the board tasked a committee of students, board members and others to come up with a new mascot.

The group met every other week starting in September, board member Randi Petersen said Monday evening, according to the streamed meeting footage.

They narrowed hundreds of suggestions down to six finalists: storm, nighthawks, ravens, fisher cats, phoenix and wolf pack. Students and other residents voted on their favorites Dec. 6-10.

Board of Education member Amanda Gabriele said during Mondays meeting that voters were able to choose their top three choices. The district hoped to reach a threshold of voters so the number of participants would be statistically significant compared to the larger community, she said.

They reached eight times that goal, according to Gabriele, who could not immediately be reached to comment on the exact number of voters.

Further, a clear majority of voters selected the nighthawks as their first choice, according to Gabriele, who also said roughly three-fourths of voters put new mascot as either their first or second choice.

We have a high degree of confidence that this mascot would be very popular in North Haven, she said at the meeting shortly before a student announced the winner.

School Board Chairwoman Anita Anderson then called for the vote.

May I have a motion to approve North Haven Nighthawks as the new North Haven High School, North Haven Middle School mascot?

The motion passed unanimously.

meghan.friedmann@hearstmediact.com
Contributed / Getty

SEYMOUR  Five juvenile students were arrested Monday after Seymour High School staff were made aware of a photo circulating on social media earlier in the day in which the students appeared to be posing with weapons, Seymour police said.

Investigators later determined that the weapons were airsoft rifles and pistols  toy weapons often resembling real guns that shoot platic pellets, Seymour police said in a statement.
BRIDGEPORT  A person suffered non-life-threatening injuries in a shooting in the city early Tuesday, according to police.

Just before 2 a.m., police were alerted to a ShotSpotter gunfire alert in the area of Ogden Street.

While units were being dispatched to the scene, a 911 call came in from a person reporting they were shot in the leg in the 70 block of Brooks Street, police said.

Arriving officers found the victim with a non-life-threatening gunshot wound to the leg. The victim was taken to a city hospital to be treated.

The investigation is ongoing.

Anyone with information is asked to call the tips line at 203-576-TIPS.
LISBON, Portugal (AP)  Portuguese energy company Galp and Swedish electric vehicle battery maker Northvolt on Tuesday announced a joint venture to build in Portugal what they say will be Europes largest lithium conversion plant.

Their goal is for the plant to deliver enough lithium hydroxide to provide batteries for about 700,000 electric vehicles a year starting in 2026.
LOS ANGELES (AP)  A powerful storm charged south through California on Tuesday, drenching the drought-stricken state with desperately needed rain but also triggering rescue efforts on a swollen river and mandatory evacuations due to the threat of mudslides in some areas scarred by wildfires.

The National Weather Service reported remarkable rainfall in several parts of the state.

North of the Golden Gate Bridge, Mount Tamalpais accumulated more than 11 inches (28 centimeters) over 72 hours. By early Tuesday, nearly 7 inches (18 centimeters) of rain had fallen in one area of Santa Barbara County, northwest of Los Angeles. More than 4.6 inches (11.8 centimeters) fell within 24 hours in Orange County's Silverado Canyon, south of LA, where sheriff's deputies rescued residents from homes inundated by mudslides.

Los Angeles firefighters searched the surging Los Angeles River on Tuesday after discovering two submerged vehicles wedged against a bridge pillar south of downtown and learning that a third vehicle had been swept past the bridge. No victims, if any, were immediately located and firefighters were waiting for the water level to fall.

The circumstances surrounding these three separate vehicles and their journey down the LA River remain unclear, a Fire Department statement said.

Earlier, a man was rescued after being swept into a covered stream channel in the San Fernando Valley. The man called for help on his cellphone and firefighters reached him through a maintenance hole on the street above. He suffered bruises and hypothermia, fire officials said.

It's kind of scary out there, said Dean Heller, while filling up his car's gas tank in northeast Los Angeles. Heller said he'd seen a few minor auto accidents and traffic on the Arroyo Seco Parkway had slowed to a crawl because of flooding in lanes.

I'm just trying to get stuff done so I don't have to be on the roads any more, he said.

The powerful system is a so-called atmospheric river that sucks up moisture from Pacific Ocean and dumps it at lower elevations as rain and in the mountains as snow.

The storm began over the weekend in Northern California and has brought heavy precipitation as far inland as Nevada, where more than 6 feet (1.8 meters) of snow fell since Sunday night at the Mt. Rose ski resort just southwest of Reno and more than 4 feet (1.2 meters) fell at Heavenly on Lake Tahoes south shore. Mammoth Mountain in the eastern Sierra also got about 4 feet (1.2 meters).

Residents near the Alisal Fire burn scar in California's Santa Barbara County were ordered Monday to evacuate over concerns that heavy rains might cause flooding and debris flows. The order was lifted Tuesday afternoon.

Similar orders were issued for people living near burn scars in the San Bernardino Mountains east of Los Angeles, where rockslides were reported. A mountain route into the resort town of Big Bear was expected to be closed until Wednesday while crews cleared several feet of mud and debris.

Avalanche warnings were in effect in the Mono and Inyo county areas of the eastern Sierra Nevada as snowfall, which began Sunday, continued Tuesday. Vail Resorts' three Lake Tahoe-area ski resorts opened late Tuesday morning after the significant snowfall. Spokesperson Sara Roston said Kirkwood Mountain Resort, which closed Monday for safety reasons, was among them.

In Orange County, south of Los Angeles, about 800 canyon homes were under evacuation orders Tuesday after a flash flood warning was issued in the area scorched by a 2020 wildfire.

After a cloudburst calmed to a drizzle, Lori Bright leaped a puddle in LAs Highland Park neighborhood, determined to get her daily steps in despite the soggy weather.

Theres a lull, so I decided to go for it, Bright said. I dont really mind getting wet. Just happy to have any rain.

She crossed her fingers in hopes that the deluge might make a dent in the states drought.

Jeffrey Mount, a senior fellow at the Public Policy Institute of Californias Water Policy Center, said the storm wont be a drought-buster, but water watchers are excited about all of the snow it's dumping in the Sierra Nevada.

Melted snow that runs into Californias watershed when the weather warms makes up about a third of the states water supply. Its important for a strong base of snow to develop in December so that storms later in the winter have something to build on, he said. Most western U.S. reservoirs that deliver water to states, cities, tribes, farmers and utilities rely on melted snow in the springtime.

Youre literally putting water in the bank up there, he said.

Any moisture is much-needed in the broader region thats been gripped by drought that scientists have said is caused by climate change. The latest U.S. drought monitor shows parts of Montana, Oregon, California, Nevada and Utah are classified as being in exceptional drought, which is the worst category.

A second storm predicted to hit California midweek shortly after the current system moves on could deliver almost continuous snow in mountainous areas, said Edan Weishahn of the weather service in Reno, which monitors an area straddling the Nevada state line.

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Har reported from San Francisco. Associated Press writers Christopher Weber and Robert Jablon in Los Angeles, Terence Chea in Oakland, Kathleen Ronayne in Sacramento and Scott Sonner in Reno contributed to this report.
TWINSBURG, Ohio (AP)  Skeletal remains found nearly 40 years ago have been identified as those of a guitarist who once played with the R&B group The OJays and also co-wrote a few of their songs, investigators said.

Authorities used DNA and genealogical research to identify the remains of Frank Frankie Little Jr., which were found in a garbage bag in a wooded area behind a business in Twinsburg in 1982, said Summit County Medical Examiner Lisa Kohler.
Details from The Associated Press review of potential voter fraud cases in the six political battleground states where former President Donald Trump and his allies disputed his loss to Democrat Joe Biden.

ARIZONA

2020 RESULT: Biden won by 10,457 votes.

HOW IT WAS REPORTED: An AP reporter submitted public records requests to Arizonas 15 counties, along with requesting information from the state attorney generals office, which has been reviewing potential cases as part of an Election Integrity Unit created in 2019 to identify potential cases of fraud.

WHAT AP FOUND: In all, 198 instances of potential fraud were identified in six counties, representing 1.9% of Bidens margin of victory. The vast majority of the potential instances of fraud identified were in Pima County, which includes Tucson. Nine counties reported no suspicious activity. Nine people have been charged so far, including six cases pursued by the state attorney generals office, which has an election integrity unit that is reviewing an undisclosed number of additional cases.

HIGHLIGHTS: Many of the cases involved allegations of people casting multiple ballots, felons voting despite being ineligible and ballots received in the name of voters who are dead.

CASE DETAILS: Of the 176 instances of potential fraud identified in Pima County, 151 were referred to prosecutors. The county has a practice of referring every effort to cast a second ballot to prosecutors for review, something other offices dont do. Election officials said 25 instances involved voters over the age of 70 and were not referred since there was a greater chance those were the result of memory lapses or confusion and not criminal intent. None of the Pima County cases involved a voter successfully voting twice. Four of the charged cases involved a relative successfully mailing in their dead relatives ballot, which was counted. One was charged by the attorney general and three by county prosecutors. Five of the states six cases involve Pima County felons accused of voting while being ineligible.

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GEORGIA

2020 RESULT: Biden won Georgia by 11,779 votes.

HOW IT WAS REPORTED: Via phone or email, an AP reporter contacted the elections office in all of Georgias 159 counties. The AP requested information about all instances of potential voter fraud they identified and whether they were referred for further investigation to local or state prosecutors or to the secretary of states office. Officials in 11 counties did not respond to numerous inquiries or declined to provide information.

WHAT AP FOUND: In Georgia, 124 counties reported no suspicious voter activity surrounding the 2020 election. This included Democratic counties such as Fulton, swing counties such as Gwinnett and Republican counties such as Cherokee. In all, 64 instances of potential fraud were identified in 24 counties, representing 0.54% of Bidens margin of victory in Georgia. Most of the counties that did not respond to the AP inquiries or declined to answer were rural counties that largely backed Republicans. The state attorney generals office is reviewing about 20 cases referred so far by the state election board related to 2020 elections, including the primary. Officials said these were not referred as criminal cases and will likely be resolved with civil penalties. Its unknown how many may overlap with instances identified by local election officials in AP's review.

HIGHLIGHTS: Of the 64 potential cases identified by the counties, 31 were determined to be the result of an administrative error or some other mistake. The rest are being investigated. Nearly half the instances reported by Georgia counties stemmed from inquiries made by state investigators. In several instances, county officials said their research conducted for the state did not indicate fraud. For instance, Camden County officials said they researched the voting history of three people at the request of the state and found nothing unusual.

CASE DETAILS: Cobb County election officials said they had flagged eight instances of potential fraud, but an exhaustive review determined none were actual fraud. Five cases involved names sent by the state of possible dead voters, said Janine Eveler, the countys election supervisor. It turned out that two were not deceased, according to the countys records, while the rest appeared to involve ballots sent in by individuals who later died. One case involved a person who was reported to have moved to another county, but research indicated the voter had moved to another residence in the same county, Eveler said. The other two cases involved voters who cast provisional ballots on Election Day because they were unsure whether their absentee ballots had been fixed after initially being flagged for a problem, Eveler said.

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MICHIGAN

2020 RESULT: Biden won by 154,188 votes.

HOW IT WAS REPORTED: Via phone or email, four AP reporters contacted the elections office in each of Michigans 83 counties, along with the secretary of state and state attorney generals office. The AP requested information about all instances of potential voter fraud they had identified and whether they were referred for further investigation to local or state prosecutors.

WHAT AP FOUND: In all, 71 of the 83 counties reported no suspicious activity. Six counties did not respond, while Isabella County declined to answer. The remaining five counties identified about 56 potential instances of voter fraud, representing 0.04% of Bidens margin of victory in the state. Four people have been charged.

HIGHLIGHTS: Most of the 56 potential cases involved two people suspected of submitting about 50 fraudulent requests for absentee ballots in Macomb, Wayne and Oakland counties. All the suspicious applications were flagged by election officials and no ballots were cast improperly. The two individuals are facing charges. Separately, officials in Ionia County said law enforcement investigated two instances and determined neither were attempts to commit fraud. No charges were filed. One potential case in Ottawa County involved a voter who requested a ballot for an address where the person no longer lives. Two instances in Wayne County involved voters suspected of signing ballots for relatives. All of us take fraud very seriously and weve got secure protocols in place to catch it, Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson said. When we do, we prosecute it.

CASE DETAILS: One of the Wayne County cases involves a grandmother who has pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor after authorities say she returned her grandsons absentee ballot despite his decision to vote in person. Authorities say the woman told investigators she was concerned her grandson would not have time to vote on Election Day. The absentee ballot was flagged after a signature review determined the signature did not match the voters signature on file and records showed he had also voted in person.

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NEVADA

2020 RESULT: Biden won by 33,596 votes.

HOW IT WAS REPORTED: Via phone or email, an AP reporter contacted the elections office in Nevadas 16 counties and Carson City, the state capital, which is its own government entity and not part of a county. The AP requested information about all instances of potential voter fraud they identified and whether they were referred for further investigation to local or state prosecutors or to the secretary of states office.

WHAT AP FOUND: Ten Nevada counties, all rural and all won by Trump, reported no suspicious voter activity following the 2020 election. Between 93 and 98 potential cases were identified by election officials in six counties and Carson City. Clark County, where Las Vegas is located, provided a range of 10 to 15 potential fraud cases. In all, the number of possible voter fraud cases represents less than 0.3% of Bidens margin of victory in the state.

The statewide total does not include thousands of fraud allegations submitted to the state by local Republicans. Republican Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske has said many of those were based largely upon an incomplete assessment of voter registration records and lack of information concerning the processes by which these records are compiled and maintained. Its not known how many of those remain under investigation.

HIGHLIGHTS: Most of the cases involve allegations of double voting. At least one person, a Las Vegas businessman, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor after voting a ballot that had been mailed to his wife, who was deceased. Most of the potential cases of voter fraud were in Washoe County, home to Reno. This included 42 allegations of voters casting two ballots, three instances in which a ballot was cast in the name of a dead voter and 12 ballots suspected of being signed by another person. There was one instance of an administrative error in which a person under age 18 was permitted to cast a ballot.

CASE DETAILS: In White Pine County, election officials said a voter attempted to cast a ballot after voting earlier in Clark County. Under the states same-day registration rules, the voter was required to cast a provisional ballot when she showed up to vote in person; election officials were required to do a statewide check to ensure the voter had not cast a ballot anywhere else, according to Clerk Nichole Baldwin. That check indicated the person had voted in Clark County a few days earlier. Baldwin said the provisional ballot was rejected and not counted, ensuring the voter was unable to vote twice.

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PENNSYLVANIA

2020 RESULT: Biden won by 80,555 votes.

HOW IT WAS REPORTED: Via phone or email, two AP reporters contacted the elections office in all 67 of Pennsylvanias counties. The AP requested information about all instances of potential voter fraud they identified and whether they were referred for further investigation to local or state prosecutors or to the secretary of states office. One county, Blair, did not respond to APs request.

WHAT AP FOUND: Election officials in 11 of the states 67 counties identified a total of 26 possible cases of voter fraud, representing 0.03% of Bidens margin of victory. Philadelphias elections office declined to provide AP with any information, so AP contacted the county district attorneys office and was told no cases had been referred to them for review. So far, six people have been charged.

HIGHLIGHTS: Most of the cases involved allegations of ballots being cast for voters who were deceased. In one instance, charges were not filed against an Adams County man suspected of returning the ballot of his recently deceased wife. But in Allegheny County, a man was suspected of casting a ballot for his dead wife and was allowed to enter a diversion program to resolve the case. Instances of ballots received on behalf of two dead voters have been referred to prosecutors in Bucks County. One of three cases in Lehigh County and one of four cases in Luzerne County also involved dead voters. Statewide, no prosecutor, judge or election official in Pennsylvania has raised a concern about widespread fraud.

CASE DETAILS: In Delaware County, a 70-year-old man pleaded guilty after authorities say he illegally voted for Trump on behalf of his long-dead mother. Bruce Bartman was sentenced to five years of probation. Prosecutors said Bartman used the drivers license number for his mother, who died more than a decade ago, to register her to vote, obtain a mail-in ballot, return that ballot and fraudulently vote in her name.

___

WISCONSIN

2020 RESULT: Biden won by 20,682 votes.

HOW IT WAS REPORTED: Unlike the other states in the AP review, Wisconsin collects information on potential voter fraud cases at the state level. AP relied on this report issued by the Wisconsin Election Commission, which identified 27 potential cases. The AP then filed public records requests for the details of those cases. Four additional cases were identified through media reports or press releases.

WHAT AP FOUND: Twelve of the states 72 counties accounted for the 31 cases of potential voter fraud identified in the state report. The total represents just shy of 0.15% of Bidens margin of victory. In 26 of the 31 cases, prosecutors declined to bring charges after conducting a review.

HIGHLIGHTS: The five cases in which charges have been filed are distributed across Wisconsin geographically. One person was living in Florida and tried unsuccessfully to vote in Wisconsin. He did not cast a ballot. Two are felons and not eligible to vote. One man voted both in person and absentee and said he didnt recall sending in his absentee ballot. In another case, a woman is charged with submitting an absentee ballot in November for her partner, who had died in July.

CASE DETAILS: About half the possible cases -- 16 of 31 -- involved voters in La Crosse County who had listed a UPS store as their residence. Prosecutors said no charges would be brought because those involved were all eligible voters who did not intend to break the law, which requires people to register with the address where they live. Officials said most of the cases involved retirees who use the UPS store to have their mail forwarded to them while on vacation. Local election clerks take the responsibility of preventing voter fraud incredibly seriously, said Meagan Wolfe, administrator of the Wisconsin Elections Commission. When they identify someone who may have committed fraud, clerks refer it for review: Those clerks have a really close connection with their voters, Wolfe said. These are their neighbors, their friends, their family. And so when there is some type of anomaly, our clerks are even more well-situated because of their deep connections with their municipal community to be able to identify these instances.

___

Associated Press reporters Scott Bauer; Christina A. Cassidy; Bob Christie; David Eggert; Camille Fassett; Anthony Izaguirre; Marc Levy; Shawn Marsh; Anna Liz Nichols; Michelle L. Price; Ed White and Corey Williams contributed to this report.
The national chairman of Peoples Democratic Party, Dr Iyorchia Ayu, has said that the Minister of Special Duties and Intergovernmental Affai...





The national chairman of Peoples Democratic Party, Dr Iyorchia Ayu, has said that the Minister of Special Duties and Intergovernmental Affairs, Senator George Akume, will soon return to the main opposition party.





The PDP Chairman said that Akume, who is the leader of All Progressives Congress, APC, in the North-Central zone would return to the PDP and would be received as a prodigal son.





The PDP boss said this in Gboko when he received a member of the House of Representatives, John Dyeh, who defected from the APC to the PDP.





Your lost son, George Akume, is coming back to the PDP. Im saying this thing based on what I know, Ayu said.





He said that he had earlier prophesied that Akume would join the APC and it came to pass, and added that the minister was on his way back to the PDP.





He told the party faithful in the area not to reject Akume when he finally returns but make sure they rehabilitate because, according to him, the Minister is not thinking straight where he is now.





He is a lost son, a prodigal son. Only rehabilitate him and make sure he thinks properly, Ayu said.





Ayu who received the serving lawmaker who represents Gboko/Tarka Federal Constituency at the House of Representatives said he (Dyeh) had seen the light and promised that all the defectors would be treated fairly.





The leader of the defectors, Dyeh, said he decided to move from the APC to the PDP because the national chairman is his uncle.
Ayo Adebanjo, acting leader of Afenifere, Yoruba socio-political group, has described Bisi Akande, former governor of Osun state, as a po...

Ayo Adebanjo, acting leader of Afenifere, Yoruba socio-political group, has described Bisi Akande, former governor of Osun state, as a political neophyte.

In My Participation, his recently released autobiography, Akande claimed that Adebanjo coerced Bola Tinubu, former Lagos governor, to build a house for him in Lekki.

One day, Sir Olaniwun was launching a book at Muson Centre, Lagos. After the book presentation, Tinubu said I should not go and that he would like to see me. We met in a small room where he also invited Sir Olaniwun Ajayi. Papa, you can see that this document is old, Tinubu said as he handed over a big envelope to Ajayi. This is your C of O (Certificate of Occupancy)! he wrote in the book.

Tinubu told me later that after he presented Adebanjos C of O to him, Adebanjo was always pestering Tinubu until he helped built a house on the plot. The street was also named in honour of Adebanjo, and he is living in that house now at Lekki Phase One.

Commenting on Tuesday during an interview on Arise TV, Adebanjo refuted the claims, adding that the former Osun governor is tied to the apron strings of Tinubu.

He (Bisi Akande) is too junior to me to be commenting on political matters. He is a political neophyte. He is just an apron string of Tinubu, he said.

He is too junior for me to be commenting on what he said. I signed his papers to be governor. And the condition we gave for him to become governor was that of a sovereign national conference for the restructuring of the country back to federalism. That was the condition he was elected in 1999, and he reneged on that.

They have sold out the Yoruba race to Muhammadu Buhari all because they want Tinubu to be president. That is not my business.

But telling lies is the one I dont know, and I dont know how a man like Akande who claims that we all come from the root of Obafemi Awolowo can be taking pride in his participation in the government of one Buhari who they know is a disaster when all those who supported him initially are now regretting that they supported him.
Some stakeholders of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Anambra State have cautioned the minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngi...





Some stakeholders of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Anambra State have cautioned the minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige to desist from attacking members of the party.





Secretary, Media and Publicity Committee of the Senator Andy Uba Governorship Campaign Organisation, Mr Obi Trice gave the warning in a press release.





Trice alleged that the minister had been in the habit of using his media assistant, Ngige Nwachukwu to disparage members of the party in the state.





He said: The media aide to embattled former leader of the party, Senator Chris Ngige is warned to desist from spreading deliberate falsehood, but rather concentrate on the task of profering quality advice to the Honourable Minister.





Speaking in almost one voice, the stakeholders observed that typical of the Minister, he has resorted to a deliberate avoidance of pertinent issues plaguing the growth of the party in the state; instead, enacting dramatic occurrences and scenes in order to digress from the issue of his widespread removal as leader of the party in the state.





Last week, the APC in Anambra state scheduled a state caucus meeting at the office of Senator Andy Uba. But eager to flex muscles, Ngige also convened the same caucus meeting at his Asokoro, Abuja residence and at the same day and time as that of Senator Uba. It flopped. Stakeholders rather attended the meeting called by Uba, whereupon about 90 percent of constitutionally recognized state caucus members affirmed Uba as the Anambra State leader of the APC.





The Ngige event was left desolate, requiring him to hire non-members to fill the vacant seats. Irked by the outcome of the event, Ngige has instructed his cousin and media assistant, Ngige Nwachukwu, to attack those he feels are his imaginary enemies, the release stated.





Trice warned Ngige to behave maturely and always speak like a leader in the party, instead of disparaging everyone in annoyance, after he was removed as the leader of the party in the state.
Nigerian writer, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has shared pictures of herself which were rejected by an unnamed international magazine because ...

Nigerian writer, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has shared pictures of herself which were rejected by an unnamed international magazine because she looked too glamorous.

In a post shared via her Instagram page on Tuesday, Adichie, known for her good sense of style, was dressed in a white cowl neckline blouse and earrings by Christian Dior. She also wore sparse make up and a radiant smile.

It was a cover shoot for an international magazine. Or it was supposed to be. The magazine rejected the photos.

They didnt want me looking too glamorous, they said. And so the cover didnt happen, she wrote in the caption.

Chimamanda, who has always advocated for patronising Nigerian creatives through her Project Wear Nigerian initiative, also used the medium to celebrate the Nigerian talents who had created the look and shot the pictures.

What does one do with rejected photos but show them anyway, primarily for the vanity-boosting benefits of such an act, but also to celebrate and thank these talented people in Lagos, photographer: @mannyjefferson, stylist: @zinkata1, hair: @tasalahq, makeup: @bregha, production manager: @kingebuka, nails: Victoria Obot, she wrote
The federal government says there are ongoing talks with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to resolve the fresh diplomatic row. Hadi Si...

The federal government says there are ongoing talks with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to resolve the fresh diplomatic row.

Hadi Sirika, minister of aviation and acting chairman of the presidential steering committee (PSC) on COVID-19, said this at a briefing on Monday in Abuja.

On Monday, the UAE reportedly banned foreign airlines from airlifting Nigerian passengers into the country.

To this effect, Ethiopian Airlines, Turkish Airlines, and other airlines connecting transit flights from their hubs into Dubai refused to board Nigerians.

The UAE claimed that the ban is due to the recent surge in COVID-19 cases.

This development might not be unconnected with the recent diplomatic rift between Nigeria and UAE.

Air Peace had requested a slot of three weekly flights from Nigeria to Sharjah Airport in UAE, but only one was granted.

The UAEs GCAA blamed the airline for pulling out of Sharjah Airport and so should not expect to retain its flight frequency there  a claim Air Peace has denied.

In retaliation to the UAEs treatment of Air Peace, the federal government dropped Emirates slots from 21 to just one, causing Emirates to pull out of the Nigerian route indefinitely.

Speaking at the briefing, Sirika said there are huge signs that the ongoing issues will be resolved soon.

We have followed the normal diplomatic routes to continue to engage UAE. There are huge signs that we are getting to resolve this matter soon, he said.

We have a responsibility as a government to take certain decisions on behalf of people that are in accordance with the law and that will ensure that our citizens are treated fairly and equally and also enjoy mutual relationships.

He insisted that the decision to reduce the number of frequencies of Emirates Airlines to Lagos and Abuja was in line with established ICAO protocols and the spirit of the BASA signed with the UAE.

The PSC also evaluated the developments on the relationship between Nigeria and the UAE and we are pleased to inform you that the position of the Federal Government is in line with established International Civil Aviation Organization ICAO Protocols and the spirit of the Bilateral Air Services Agreement, BASA, signed with the UAE, he added.

Our sovereignty remains paramount, and mutual respects shall be our guiding principle in as much as it should be in the best interest of Nigeria.

The PSC will at its next regular briefing on Monday, December 20, brief you fully on developments.
The United Kingdom (UK) says the 11 African countries on its travel red list will be removed from 4 am on Wednesday, December 15. Th...

The United Kingdom (UK) says the 11 African countries on its travel red list will be removed from 4 am on Wednesday, December 15.

The countries on the list are Nigeria, Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Angola, Mozambique, Lesotho, Malawi, Zambia, Eswatini, and Zimbabwe.

The red list was introduced in November following the emergence of the Omicron COVID-19 variant.

Speaking at the UK parliament on Tuesday, Sajid Javid, UK health secretary, said the Omicron variant has spread so widely across the world, hence the travel red list is now less effective.

He said the Omicron variant had spread so widely that the rules no longer had much purpose.

Now that there is community transmission of Omicron in the UK and Omicron has spread so widely across the world, the travel red list is now less effective in slowing the incursion of Omicron from abroad, he told parliament.

Whilst we will maintain our temporary testing measures for international travel we will be removing all 11 countries from the travel red list effective from 4 am tomorrow.

The UK government had added Nigeria to the list due to the discovery of COVID Omicron cases in the country.

Presently, British citizens and residents travelling from Nigeria to the UK are expected to spend 2,285 on hotel quarantine for ten days to slow the spread of the Omicron variant.
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Femi Gbajabiamila, on Tuesday, held a meeting with the Ministers of Aviation, Senator Hadi ...





The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Femi Gbajabiamila, on Tuesday, held a meeting with the Ministers of Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika, Foreign Affairs, Chief Onyema Ugochukwu and his junior over the flight ban between the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Nigeria.





The meeting which was at the instance of the Speaker lasted for three hours behind close doors at the National Assembly complex in Abuja.





The meeting, the Speaker later told journalists was to find solution to the impasse between Nigeria and the United Arab Emirate which noted was robustly discussed.





He described the diplomatic relationship between Nigeria and the United Arab Emirate as crucial that should not be allowed to collapse.





The United Arab Emirates has a long standing relationship between Nigeria and it should not be allowed to collapse as both countries stands to benefit much more economically.





Also present at the meeting were representatives of Emirates Airline, the Chairman/CEO of Air Peace, Allen Onyema, and heads of agencies in the aviation sector.





The Speaker explained that steps taken to address the issues and that in the next couple of days, this matter will be sealed, I believe. Were engaged in parliamentary diplomacy. Thats what were doing.





Were not going to allow this to mar the giant strides made between the two countries.





The Speaker noted that the UAE Government had already written Air Peace to allow the airline to operate seven slots of flights.





He commended the two ministers for their efforts in resolving the issues even as he appreciated Nigerians for their sacrifices and for standing by the Nigerian Government on the face-off.





On his part, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyema, said the meeting under Gbajabiamilas leadership was a fruitful one, noting that the action pointed to the relevance of Executive-Legislative engagements.





He said they were hopeful that all the issues would be resolved in no distant future.
The federal government has said it was working round the clock to ensure the United Kingdom, UK reverses its ongoing ban on travelers from...

The federal government has said it was working round the clock to ensure the United Kingdom, UK reverses its ongoing ban on travelers from Nigeria in the wake of Omicron variant.

Secretary to the Government of the Federation and Chairman Presidential Steering Committee on CoVID-19,Boss Mustapha, speaking, Monday, said: The PSC is working with mandate ministries to address the issues surrounding the restriction imposed by some countries on travellers from Nigeria on account of the omicron variant.

Government said it has initiated diplomatic steps to make the United Kingdom and other countries reverse restrictions imposed on travellers from Nigeria on account of the omicron variant.





It warned that while each country was free to put in place measures to protect its citizens, Nigeria should not be singled out.





Mustapha said the government was exploring diplomatic measures in resolving the issues surrounding the travel ban based on existing relationships.





Hear him:While each country is entitled to put in place measures to protect its citizens, Nigeria has similar responsibilities.

However, based on existing relationships, Nigeria has initiated diplomatic steps to make these countries reverse their course.





This is ongoing in the interest of all parties concerned and we expect that positive results would emerge within the next one week.





The PSC also evaluated the developments on the relationship between Nigeria and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and we are pleased to inform you that the position of the Federal Government is in line with established International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Protocols and the spirit of the BASA signed with the UAE.





Our sovereignty remains paramount and mutual respects shall be our guiding principle in as much as it should be in the best interest of Nigeria.

The PSC will at its next regular briefing on Monday, December 20, 2021 brief you fully on developments, he said.





The SGF noted that with the emergence of the new COVID-19 Omicron variant, now spreading very fast globally, Nigeria has continued to study developments and has deployed science and data to measure the risks to our citizens especially, the dangers of importation.





He assured Nigerians that PSC has escalated all surveillance and control measures around our country.





The committee, according to him, has similarly ramped up vaccination of eligible citizens and residents while making provisions for booster shots for those fully vaccinated
Watertown, NY (13601)

Today

Scattered snow showers with snow becoming steadier and heavier late. Low 26F. Winds WSW at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of snow 70%. Snow accumulating 1 to 3 inches. Heavier amounts in persistent snowbands..

Tonight

Scattered snow showers with snow becoming steadier and heavier late. Low 26F. Winds WSW at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of snow 70%. Snow accumulating 1 to 3 inches. Heavier amounts in persistent snowbands.
Anne Rice was not happy. Al Copeland, the flamboyant founder of Popeyes, wanted to add a second location of his "California Creole cafe" called Straya. The first Straya, which opened in Metairie in 1994, had an outlandish decor that was more Vegas than California. For the second outlet, Copeland set his sights on a shuttered Mercedes dealership at 2001 St. Charles Ave.

The new restaurant's art deco exterior with neon stars, bright paint and an archway provoked the ire of Rice, author of "Interview with the Vampire." When it opened in 1997, she took out a full-page ad in the Times-Picayune expressing her displeasure: "The humblest flop house on this strip of St. Charles Avenue has more dignity than Mr. Copeland's structure." Needless to say, Copeland did not agree. He responded with a two-page ad. "I think it is the best-looking building on St. Charles Avenue," he said in an interview.

In 2000, Copeland shuttered Straya and replaced it with the slightly more subdued concept called Cheesecake Bistro. That restaurant closed this May.

Readers who ate at Straya, or just gawked at the building, shared these memories:

"Had a couple friends who worked there. I think the waiters wore all white from head to toe." -- Bridget Mary Roseph

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"Looks like something from South Beach." -- Susan Thompson Taylor

"I loved their Thai chicken wrap." -- Michele Spansel McCune

"My husband and I had our first date there 20 years ago." -- Laura Ales Guillen

Share your memories and photos at www.facebook.com/groups/whereNOLAeats.
After six years of litigation, redesigns and rebrandings, a 93-room boutique hotel is poised to open in New Orleans' Bywater section in late 2022. It will occupy a river-facing lot at the intersection of Chartres and Mazant streets.

The $25 million project is a partnership between developer Ted Kelso and hotel brand ARRIVE by Palisociety, which has properties in Phoenix, Palm Springs, Calif., Memphis, Tenn., Wilmington, N.C., and Austin, Texas.

Kelso originally pitched the property for a "poshtel," a collection of 43 upscale, hostel-style rooms catering to travelers in their 20s and 30s. He scrapped that concept amid neighborhood pushback and regulatory reviews.

+4 Developer secures financing to purchase Bywater 'poshtel' site The developer of a hostel and boutique hotel proposed for a stretch of vacant land along the Mississippi River in Bywater has secured financin

"We transitioned from a hostel model to more of a traditional hotel. That made sense after talking to neighbors about what was right for the neighborhood," Kelso said. "ARRIVE is perfect. Their [properties] are all in neighborhoods similar to Bywater, demographically, so that's what sparked the transition to a hotel."

Initially dubbed Stateside, the project won City Council approval by a 6-1 vote in 2016 after Kelso agreed to a scaled-back version designed by studioWTA featuring noise-mitigation measures and a smaller footprint. Neighbors First for Bywater challenged the City Council's approval, but Civil District Judge Regina Bartholomew-Woods denied their petition.

The poshtel was to be built by 2018. Instead, the lot, the former site of a seafood processing plant, sat vacant while Kelso secured funding, a process complicated by the coronavirus pandemic and travel sector shutdown beginning in the spring of 2020.

"We had to put the capital together to make it all happen," Kelso said. "I said [to investors], 'We can build during the downturn and open at the finish, and New Orleans is resilient.'"

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Kelso's Stateside Hospitality partnered with Ezra Callahan, co-founder and chief investment officer of ARRIVE Hotels & Restaurants, and Andy Gaines of Woodforest National Bank. Construction began in March.

ARRIVE New Orleans is set to be the only conventional hotel in Bywater, although bed-and-breakfasts and short-term rentals proliferate there. At 50,000 square feet, the hotel's size will exceed the number in the 2016 proposal, which called for 32,000 square feet. In a concession to neighborhood opponents who voiced concerns about rowdy partygoers, the property will house fewer guests who will pay more for their rooms than what the original hostel plan proposed.

The hotel's rates are to start at $175 for a standard king, compared to poshtel rates that were to start at $40 per bunk. The hostel would have had 185 beds, compared to 93 in the hotel.

Kelso hopes that local food and beverage partners attract residents. Amenities include a restaurant and bar helmed by chef Eric Cook of Gris Gris and Saint John and a coffee shop by Mammoth Espresso. He doesn't know whether the swimming pool will be available to the public.

"We're making this a local concept and expanding the food and drink scene in Bywater," Kelso said. "I think we're going to be a terrific asset to the neighborhood."

Chef Eric Cook to open Saint John restaurant on Decatur Street in September Chef and restaurateur Eric Cook will open his second restaurant in September. Located at 1117 Decatur St., the new place will be named Saint J

A previous version of this story incorrectly listed ARRIVE Wilmington's state as South Carolina. The hotel is in North Carolina. We regret the error.
The retail line down at bankruptcy court continues to grow: Toys 'R' Us, Radio Shack, The Limited, Payless Shoe Source, Mattress Firm, Nine West and now Kmart and Sears.

Sears, in many ways, is both the most and least surprising name on the list. It is the epitome of 20th-century big-box approach, hasn't turned a profit since 2011 and remains the anchor for dying malls across the country. On the other hand, it has lasted for more than 130 years, survived the Great Depression and, as almost every post-mortem analysis will tell you, was the "Amazon of its day." A disruptor before we had a name for it.

Sears has not yet gone the way of Blockbuster or Circuit City. Sears Holdings, the parent company of Sears and Kmart, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Monday (Oct. 15) and announced plans to close at least 142 stores by the end of the year, in addition to the 46 closures already slated for next month.

The reorganization will leave just two Sears stores operating in Louisiana -- one at the Clearview Mall in Metairie and one at the Mall of Louisiana in Baton Rouge -- down from 14 stores in the state less than a decade ago.

And although there are huge swaths of younger people who have never entered a Sears store and wouldn't be caught dead hanging out at a mall, they live in a retail world unmistakably shaped by Sears.

The comparisons to Amazon are not all superficial. Amazon began by selling books and then branched out into pretty much everything. Richard Sears, a railway station agent, started selling watches in the 1880s and ended up with his name on a company offering lawnmowers, sewing machines, dining room furniture and First Communion outfits.

Sears began as a mail order business, the online ordering of the day. Sears mailed out catalogs for customers to peruse at their leisure and then shipped their orders via rail and the postal service right to their doorsteps. Even with the shipping costs, Sears was able to beat the price of local merchants who had limited inventory and a smaller customer base. Sound familiar?

In the 1920s, Sears hired a retired World War I general named Robert Wood to pull the company into the next century. Wood, who turned out to be a visionary, decided to open Sears' first brick and mortar outlet in 1925, gambling that the new mobility that came with the automobile would produce the needed foot traffic.

Within four years, Sears had opened 324 stores across the country. By 1931, store purchases had eclipsed those from the catalog.

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Wood used the U.S. Census numbers to guide his decisions as he watched the country's population moved from the farm to the city and then from the city to the suburbs. Wherever they arrived, they generally found a Sears store within driving distance. The promise of free parking and easy access in the suburbs helped put the traditional downtown department stores out of business and would spawn the explosion of suburban malls and retail outlets. RIP D.H. Holmes and Maison Blanche.

For much of the 20th century, Sears Holdings Corp. defined American retailing. It is hard to overstate its impact.

For a time, Sears sold cars and even houses. By the 1970s, 1 out of every 204 working Americans was employed by Sears. It sent out 315 million catalogs a year, making it America's largest publisher.

It launched its own popular brands with Kenmore appliances, Diehard car batteries and Craftsman tools. It created Allstate Insurance Co., the Discover credit card and acquired Coldwell Banker Real Estate Group, Land's End clothiers, and the Dean Witter Reynolds stock brokerage and securities firm. When it opened the 110-story Sears Tower in 1973, it was the world's tallest building.

But by the 1990s, Sears had lost its edge as Home Depot and Walmart began to take eat into its market share and Amazon dominated internet sales. Its diversity seemed more like a distraction as its stores languished in those decaying malls and a hedge fund manager took over to begin selling off assets.

Sears as a brand may yet survive, but it will likely never be the leader it was.

The message here is that nothing lasts forever and today's innovator can be tomorrow's bankruptcy filing. There is nothing more Darwinian than retail.

Tim Morris is a columnist on the Latitude team at NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune. Latitude is a place to share opinions about the challenges facing Louisiana. Follow @LatitudeNOLA on Facebook and Twitter. Write to Tim at tmorris@nola.com.
Historic retailer Sears appears to be reaching the end of its lifeline.

CNBC reports parent company Sears Holdings on Tuesday (Jan. 8) rejected Chairman Eddie Lamperts $4.4 billion offer to buy the retailer out of bankruptcy. Lampert was making the offer through his hedge fund ESL Investments.

USA Today reports the company decided Tuesday afternoon to give Lampert another day to come up with a feasible takeover bid. If that fails, liquidation would be the next step.

Sears, which also owns Kmart, has roughly 400 stores remaining, narrowed down from 700 when it filed for bankruptcy in October, and employs 50,000 nationwide, CNBC reports.

The 126-year-old retailers are a result of a steady decline in department store shopping, the rise of online retail and, in the view of some experts, poor management. Competitors like Macys and Kohls have been able to continue investing in stores, but the CNBC report notes Sears struggles with declining sales prevented it from making similar investments. Its last profitable year was in 2010.

There are roughly 15 Sears and Kmart stores in Louisiana, and only two remaining in the New Orleans area. Those two stores, a Kmart at 2940 Veterans Memorial Blvd. and the Sears store at Clearview Mall in Metairie, will close in coming weeks as part of the companys latest round of downsizing.

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CNBC reports the Sears brand may not go away entirely. Theres a chance the liquidation could revive and preserve the more successful parts of the brand, for example, its home services business, the report says.

Read the full reports from CNBCs and USA Today.

Metairie Kmart, Sears among 80 stores to close in March: report



Jennifer Larino covers residential real estate, retail and consumer news, travel and cruises, weather and other aspects of life in New Orleans for NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune. Reach her at jlarino@nola.com or 504-239-1424. Follow her on Twitter @jenlarino.
A group formed to block a proposed $1.5 billion container ship terminal in St. Bernard Parish has been joined by several local cultural associations, businesses, and residents in a lawsuit filed Tuesday that aims to prevent the Port of New Orleans from building the facility.

The lawsuit, filed in St. Bernard Parish District Court, is the latest effort by parish residents trying to kill the project. They argue that it would severely disrupt parish life and damage the environment because of its size and the traffic it would generate.

Port officials say that the new container terminal is crucial for New Orleans as it tries to keep pace with competitors, especially Houston and Mobile. Those ports have gained considerably more market share over the past decade because of their ability to handle the larger container ships arriving from export markets in Asia.

The lawsuit was brought by Stop the Destruction of St. Bernard, lnc., a non-profit formed this year by a group of residents who oppose the container terminal, which Port Nola has dubbed the Louisiana International Terminal. The group is led by Bobby Showalter, a former shipping executive and parish resident-turned-community organizer.

Also joining the lawsuit is Los Islenos Heritage and Cultural Society of St. Bernard, a non-profit representing members of the Canary Islander Descendants community and their supporters, which operates a museum and cultural center in the parish; and the Violet Cultural & Historical Association, which represents the majority African-American populace in Violet, which is particularly concerned about the threat to local Black cemeteries.

Businesses joining the lawsuit are Charlie's Restaurant & Catering, the Parish Diner, and AJ Hunt, a local construction firm. Mario Williams and Janet Perez are two residents who also have joined.

Both Port Nola and the St. Bernard Port are named as defendants in the lawsuit.

The suit is asking the court for an injunction to block the Louisiana International Terminal, known as the LIT, from moving forward on the grounds that it violates Louisiana's nuisance laws and poses a threat to public health and the environment.

"The proposed LIT would have serious negative environmental impacts and cause catastrophic damages not only to neighboring petitioners but to all citizens of the parish," the lawsuit says.

"The operations of the proposed terminal necessarily will co-opt virtually the entire public transportation infrastructure, destroy valuable wetlands and other facilities crucial to proper drainage," it says. It would "threaten the security of the residents and commercial concerns in the parish, and create damaging noise, light and aerial emissions, among many other public concerns."

Port Nola officials said Tuesday they were aware that the petition had been filed and would respond in court. Matthew Gresham, Port Nola head of public affairs, issued a statement on behalf of port officials that reiterated earlier promises to consult with the local community in St. Bernard on all aspects of the terminal.

"We believe any lawsuit is premature given the early stages of the project, and that the petition contains a number of assumptions and misrepresentations that are not based on facts," said the prepared statement from the port.

"Much of the petition is centered around environmental and quality of life concernsissues that will be addressed in the multi-year federal and state permitting process that is just now beginning," the statement said. "Combining extensive historic, demographic, economic, environmental, and engineering review with considerable opportunity for public comment and input, this permitting process will allow us to address concerns, including traffic, safety, environmental, infrastructure, historic preservation, and other issues related to the project."

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Port Nola secured the rights to purchase the 1,100-acre property in Violet last year, and has argued since that there is no time to waste in building the facility.

The world container shipping market has been growing steadily and New Orleans has outstripped the national annual growth rate of 3%. But as more shipping volume has made its way to Gulf of Mexico ports, New Orleans has lagged well behind the growth seen by rivals, especially Mobile, which has seen a tripling in volume over the past decade.

Port Nola last week took delivery of four new gantry cranes that will initially enhance capacity to deal with container ships at its Napoleon Avenue terminal. But the port still needs a deep-draft facility downriver to deal with larger ships that cannot sail under the Crescent City Connection to get to the Uptown terminal.

The four new Chinese-made cranes will double capacity to about 1 million standard 20-foot containers a year. But the Louisiana International Terminal aims to have capacity of 2 million units initially, rising to 3 million when all three planned berths are built.

Those opposed to building in Violet argue that there are better alternatives further downriver, especially a proposed private sector development at the current site of the Plaquemines Port. That project has made progress this year, with the private developer acquiring rights to buy land. The Plaquemines Parish Council, which is the port's overseeing body and a partner in the project, has agreed to fund rail and road links and a deal with APM Terminals is in hand to operate the terminal.

One of the allegations in Tuesday's lawsuit is that executives from Port Nola and the St. Bernard Port made their deal a year ago without proper consultation with the public.

The lawsuit argues that the St. Bernard Port agreed to Port Nola's terms under financial duress after being found liable to pay a former private sector operator, Violet Dock Port LLC, nearly $29 million for appropriating its property.

The lawsuit says that St. Bernard Port executives then went on to extol the virtues of Port Nola's St. Bernard terminal, contradicting their earlier objections to a previous proposal to build the container terminal at a site called "the Sinclair Tract", three miles upriver at Meraux.

It notes that the St. Bernard Port's previous opposition cited the severe impact the terminal at Sinclair would have on St. Bernard's limited road capacity. The port had argued that additional truck traffic would put unbearable strain on the only two highways giving access to the parish, the lawsuit says, and also cited environmental damage and other issues.

"After documenting these concerns as to the Sinclair Tract proposed development, the St. Bernard Port now appears to have flipped its position and outrageously claims that the container terminal is in its, and purportedly the parish's, best interests, with no mention at all of the negative impacts expressed as to the Sinclair development," the lawsuit says.

Sidney Torres III, the attorney representing the St. Bernard port opposition group, said its mission is simple: to kill the container terminal project on any site in St. Bernard Parish.

"There is no middle ground," Torres said. "If the Port Nola people feel they're going to come down here and muscle in they might as well tell us to go live elsewhere, because there isn't room here for both. It doesn't work here."

Torres also is on the board of the Meraux Foundation, which is part owner of the Sinclair Tract upriver. In 2018, Port Nola and the Meraux Foundation studied the feasibility of the port acquiring that land for $75 million and siting the container terminal there.

However, Torres said that deal never would have passed Meraux Foundation's due diligence because of the environmental impact.

The lawsuit "is going to put the spotlight on the feudalistic system we have in Louisiana with all these (state-owned) ports competing with each other," said Torres. "What is obvious here is that it's not just St. Bernard that would be the victim of siting this terminal here but the whole state of Louisiana. There are better places downriver to develop this terminal but it is outside of (Port Nola's) control, and so they don't want that."
JOHANNESBURG  The omicron variant appears to cause less severe disease than previous versions of the coronavirus, and the Pfizer vaccine seems to offer less defense against infection from it but still good protection from hospitalization, according to an analysis of data from South Africa, where the new variant is driving a surge in infections.

While the findings released Tuesday are preliminary and have not been peer-reviewed  the gold standard in scientific research  they line up with other early data about omicron's behavior, including that it seems to be more easily transmitted.

A two-dose Pfizer-BioNTech vaccination appeared to provide just 33% protection against infection during South Africa's current omicron wave, but 70% protection against hospitalization, according to the analysis conducted by Discovery Health, South Africas largest private health insurer, and the South African Medical Research Council.

Omicron variant in Louisiana: What we know about the latest coronavirus threat The omicron variant of COVID-19 was identified last month, and at a Friday press conference state health officer Dr. Joe Kanter likened it to 

The data were gathered from Nov. 15 to Dec. 7, during which time omicron was first spotted by scientists in South Africa and Botswana, and may change as time passes. Experts now say that omicron accounts for more than 90% of all new infections in South Africa, according to Discovery Health chief executive Dr. Ryan Noach.

Researchers around the world are rushing to figure out what omicron will mean for the coronavirus pandemic now well into its second year. More information came Tuesday from Pfizer, which announced that its experimental pill to treat COVID-19  separate from it its vaccine  appears effective against the new variant.

The company also said full results of its 2,250-person study confirmed the pills promising early results against the virus: The drug reduced combined hospitalizations and deaths by about 89% among high-risk adults when taken shortly after initial virus symptoms. Separate laboratory testing shows the drug retains its potency against the omicron variant.

Companies rethink return-to-office plans amid omicron cases NEW YORK (AP)  Companies of all sizes are rethinking their plans to send workers back to the office as the new omicron variant adds another l

In the weeks since omicron was detected, South Africa has experienced rapid spread of the virus  concentrated in its most populous province, Gauteng. The seven-day rolling average of daily new cases in the country rose over the past two weeks from 8.07 new cases per 100,000 people on Nov. 29 to 34.37 new cases per 100,000 people on Dec. 13, according to Johns Hopkins University. The death rate hasn't increased during that same period.

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The omicron-driven fourth wave has a significantly steeper trajectory of new infections relative to prior waves. National data show an exponential increase in both new infections and test positivity rates during the first three weeks of this wave, indicating a highly transmissible variant with rapid community spread of infection, Noach said.

Although case numbers are rising, hospitalizations are not increasing at the same rate, leading the scientists to report that the risk of hospitalization from omicron is lower than delta or earlier variants. Hospital admissions for adults diagnosed with COVID-19 are 29% lower compared to the wave that South Africa experienced in mid-2020, after adjusting for vaccination status, according to the analysis.

The result shows that people who received two doses of the Pfizer vaccine had 33% protection against infection in the first weeks of South Africas current omicron-driven wave. That's a significant drop from the 80% protection against infection afforded during earlier periods.

The researchers say it's encouraging that the study shows that people fully vaccinated with Pfizer have 70% protection against hospital admission during the omicron surge. That's still a drop from the 93% protection seen in South Africas delta-driven wave.

The study shows that significant protection against hospital admission even among older age groups, with 67% in people aged 60 to 69 and 60% for people aged 70 to 79.

The analysis was based on examining more than 211,000 positive COVID-19 test results, 41% of which were for adults who had received two doses of the Pfizer vaccine. About 78,000 of the positive results were attributed to omicron infections.

The South African analysis supports an earlier assessment by U.K. authorities.

The U.K. Health Security Agency said Friday that new data from the U.K. confirm that omicron is more easily transmissible than other variants. Other studies suggest that both the AstraZeneca and Pfizer vaccines are less effective in preventing symptomatic infections in people exposed to omicron, though preliminary data show that effectiveness appears to rise to between 70% and 75% after a third booster dose.

The study also found that omicron poses a higher risk of reinfection. For individuals who have previously had COVID-19, the risk of reinfection with omicron is significantly higher than that of earlier variants.
A former top prosecutor in St. Bernard Parish faces bank fraud and money laundering charges from the latest federal indictment in a long-running probe over the epic 2017 collapse of First NBC Bank.

Glenn Diaz, 70, was named along with Peter Jenevein and Mark Grelle in a 19-count indictment Friday that alleges they conspired to defraud the bank through a series of circular transactions in the second half of 2016.

Diaz was a frequent borrower from First NBC, holding loans using properties and buildings as collateral, including a Florida plot with a warehouse. He also held checking accounts with the bank that frequently went into overdraft.

Bank officials would use loan proceeds to cover the overdrafts, but they began asking Diaz about checks he was writing to himself, purportedly to improve the Florida property, the indictment states. The bank started asking for details on the work and told Diaz he needed to write the checks to the contractor, not himself.

According to the indictment, Diaz and Jenevein, an employee, along with Grelle, described as an associate, began creating fraudulent invoices from Grelles company, Grelle Underground Services. Grelle then funneled the money back to Diaz, while Grelle kept a portion of the money for himself, the indictment states.

Over 17 transactions, Grelle returned nearly $200,000 to Diaz from the proceeds, according to the indictment.

Diaz for many years served as the lead trial prosecutor under former St. Bernard Parish District Attorney Jack Rowley. He lost in a race to succeed Rowley in 2014 and receded from public life. Diaz's attorney, Arthur Buddy Lemann III, called Friday's indictment ridiculous. He said the same allegations resulted in a civil settlement against Diaz.

This mans a former prosecutor for years, well respected. He was a law enforcement guy, Lemann said. He doesnt owe the bank a nickel. Its just an effort to put pressure on, to try to get witnesses against Ashton (Ryan).

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Ryan founded the bank in 2006 as the city crept back after Hurricane Katrina, and it became a Wall Street darling before imploding 11 years later in the largest failure of an American bank since the financial crisis of 2008. Ryan is among several bank executives named as defendants in a 49-count superseding indictment alleging they conspired to defraud the bank over many years.

The indictment against Ryan and his co-defendants accuses them of enriching themselves by disguising the true financial status of certain borrowers and their troubled loans to conceal it from the First NBC board, auditors and examiners.

The scheme allegedly included overdrawing other accounts to make loan payments and shifting loan proceeds from one entity to make payments for another. Named with Ryan as defendants in that case are former bank officers William Burnell, Robert Calloway and Fred Beebe, and businessman Frank Adolph. A trial is scheduled for June.

Hancock Whitney Bank eventually took over First NBC's $1.6 billion in deposit accounts and some of its loans, but the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. was still left on the hook for nearly $1 billion.

If convicted, Diaz, Jenevein and Grelle face a maximum 30 years in prison on the conspiracy and bank fraud charges, and a maximum 20 years for conspiracy to commit money laundering.
The New Orleans coroner released names of two men fatally shot in New Orleans on Thursday and Friday.

Khalik Gibson, 26, was killed in a shooting Thursday morning in the Pines Village area, New Orleans police said. The death was reported to police at 9:53 a.m. in the 4800 block of Shalimar Drive. Gibson had been shot multiple times and died at the scene, police said.

Halston Hayes, 29, was fatally shot Friday afternoon outside the Pontchartrain Hotel in the 2000 block of St. Charles Avenue. Police said they were summoned to the scene at 2:56 p.m., where Emergency Medical Services found Hayes and took him to a hospital. He died there.

Anyone with information about these crimes may call Crimestoppers Inc. anonymously at (504) 822-1111 or (877) 903-7867.

Carlie Wells contributed to this report.
A frustrated employee of the Environmental Protection Agency once asked me this question:

If permits for the legal pollution of cancer-causing agents into the air were granted by a public vote rather than politicians  some of whom work at or even own polluting businesses  would the accumulation of toxic pollution continue to make Louisiana the nations leader in health risks from pollution?

The answer was obvious: None of us would vote to allow the poisoning of the air we and our children breathe.

Of course, we both knew that happy result will never happen. And the reasons are parameters outlined in the question.

Lets take them on at a time, starting with legal pollution.

Sound like an oxymoron, right? After all, pollution harms citizens, and lawmakers must protect citizens, not endanger them. So how can something as bad as pollution be legal?

Well, it all comes down to the privileges granted by our governments to corporate health and citizenship over human health and citizenship.

When science began proving pollutants can harm and kill us, our politicians could have demanded polluters find clean, non-polluting systems. But when businesses said it would cost too much money, our lawmakers came up with an alternative: Finding the limits of how much cancer-causing pollution you could be exposed to before increasing your families risks of painful injury and death.

They called it acceptable risk levels. For many cancer-causing agents that comes to 1 in 10,000  meaning if 10,000 people were exposed to that level 24 hours a day for 70 years one would likely develop cancer.

So corporate citizens are granted permission to put poisons into your lives 24/7, 365  they can pollute legally. (Oh, by the way, human citizens have no such privileges.)

That would seem harmless enough if one plant is releasing just one carcinogen (and you dont live directly downwind).

But what happens when you get, say, 10 or even 20 plants in the same area with each releasing just one or more pollutants every hour every day?

This brings us to the second important parameter in that question: cumulative risk.

In the jargon- and statistics-filled world of pollution science this is the least ambiguous term. Its also the most terrifying and urgent.

Its a measure of how the chances increase that you and your children will suffer injury and early death when your lawmakers allow several plants to spew one or more legal pollutants in your area 24/7, 365.

You cant judge safety by looking at each plant individually when theyre all adding to the communitys air, said Anne Rolfes, director of the pollution-fighting Louisiana Bucket Brigade. You need to look at the total amount of pollution already permitted on that community before issuing any more.

Thats what assessing cumulative impact means.

Its the reason why St. James Parish residents are fighting against the states permitting of a massive new plastic plant complex by the Taiwanese company Formosa Plastics. It would double the total heavy amount of pollution currently legally permitted by more than 15 other businesses in a roughly 10-mile stretch of land  a stretch known worldwide as Cancer Alley.

And that brings us to the next and most discouraging parameter of the opening question: A state agency, not the EPA, issues permits, and its policies are set by legislators who may work for or even be owners of polluting companies. There is no law requiring them to recuse themselves in this conflict of interests.

They can excuse this by claiming if their constituents didnt like the pollution they permit, they could be voted out of office.

But the real test of approval would come if just once the human citizens of our democracy  especially those living in the risk zones  decided on a permit.

Until then, the truth about who owns the air we depend on for health and happiness is encapsulated by this admission from that same frustrated EPA employee: The reality is our initials should not be EPA but PPA  were the Pollution Permitting Agency."

And its all legal.

Bob Marshall, a Pulitzer Prize-winning Louisiana environmental journalist, can be reached at bmarshallenviro@gmail.com, and followed on Twitter @BMarshallEnviro.
The Galaxy S22 Ultra is edging closer to being released, possibly as the Galaxy S22 Note. In that vein, Samsung has confirmed that it plans to release the SM-S908U in China, seemingly with a Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 SoC. The same variant has appeared on the Camera FV-5 database with an ISOCELL HM3 camera.

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The Galaxy S22 Ultra, now thought to be called the Galaxy S22 Note, is still over a month away from being unveiled. However, the device has already appeared as the SM-S908U on Geekbench with a Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 SoC, as we have discussed separately. Now, the Galaxy S22 Note has turned up elsewhere under the same model number.

On the one hand, Samsung has listed the SM-S908U on a support website. The website, a screenshot of which we have embedded below, does not provide any details about the SM-S908U. In saying that, it confirms that the SM-S908U is an actual model number and that it will launch in China. Hence, Samsung will release its next flagship with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 in China.

On the other hand, someone has also submitted the SM-S908U on the Camera FV-5 database. Theoretically, someone could have faked this result, although this does not appear to be the case with a global variant of the Redmi Note 11 4G. Previously, Ice Universe has alleged that the Galaxy S22 Ultra or Galaxy S22 Note will rely on the ISOCELL HM3 as its primary camera, matching the Galaxy S21 Ultra.
The FCC has confirmed that Samsung will release a new LED View Cover alongside the Galaxy S22 Note. The regulatory body also appears to confirm that the Galaxy S22 Note has a built-in S Pen, which would be a first for the Galaxy S series.

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The FCC has published several documents relating to the SM-S908U, a smartphone that has appeared on a Samsung support website, among other databases. The SM-S908U is thought to be the Galaxy S22 Ultra's model number, also now referred to as the Galaxy S22 Note. Incidentally, Samsung has recently certified the Galaxy S22 and Galaxy S22 Plus with the FCC, which we have discussed separately.

Unsurprisingly, the FCC does not reveal what the SM-S908U looks like, nor what hardware it contains. However, a Geekbench listing links the SM-S908U to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, Qualcomm's latest flagship SoC. Samsung has informed the FCC that it can publish external, internal and test-setup photos on May 3, 2022, along with user manuals. It cannot publish any schematics though; Samsung has instructed the FCC to keep these privately indefinitely.
Xiaomi has started selling the Redmi Watch 2 Lite in Europe. The smartwatch retails for 69.99 and comes with a free gift. So far, Xiaomi has listed the budget smartwatch in Germany, Italy and Spain.

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In October, Xiaomi revealed the Redmi Watch 2 Lite, a 1.55-inch smartwatch that it claims has up to 10 days of battery life. Initially, the company revealed the Redmi Watch 2 Lite in six colours, as we discussed at the time.

Since then, the Redmi Watch 2 Lite arrived on AliExpress, but only in black. Now, Xiaomi has added the Redmi Watch 2 Lite to at least its German, Italian and Spanish websites. Currently, Xiaomi Spain is not selling the Redmi Watch 2 Lite, despite listing it on its website.

Instead, it is only possible to be notified of when the smartwatch will be orderable. By contrast, Xiaomi's German and Spanish subsidiaries have the Redmi Watch 2 Lite in stock, but only in black. Both subdivisions should eventually sell the smartwatch in blue and ivory as well, all for 69.99.
Reportedly, Xiaomi has settled on releasing the Watch S1 before April 2022. The smartwatch does away with Xiaomi's 'Mi' branding and will be available across Europe and Asia Pacific countries.

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Last month, @stufflistings and Digital Chat Station revealed that Xiaomi had certified the Watch S, a new brand for the company. Now, 91mobiles and the same leaker state that Xiaomi is preparing to release a smartwatch under that brand as soon as Q1 2022; neither offered a specific launch date.

However, they claim that the smartwatch will arrive in Europe, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore as the Watch S1. 91mobiles asserts that it has not received any leaked specifications. Last month's certifications do not help in that regard, either.

All information so far points to Xiaomi abandoning its 'Mi' branding for future smartwatches, though. Currently, Xiaomi still sells the Mi Watch and Mi Watch Lite in Europe, which will probably be the last smartwatches to carry this branding. The same will probably apply to Xiaomi's Mi True Wireless series of earbuds as well.
Nucor plans to build a new $350 million steel mill in the South Atlantic Region, further adding to the nation's steelmaking capacity.

The Charlotte, North Carolina-based mini mill operation plans to build a rebar micro mill with an annual capacity of 430,000 tons and spooling capabilities.

Nucor opened micro mills in Missouri and Florida last year. The planned one will be its third.

"We have recently executed two successful rebar micro mill start-ups and believe the East Coast market will be in need of additional rebar supply in the coming years, particularly with the recent passage of the infrastructure spending bill," said Leon Topalian, president and CEO of Nucor. "Rebar has been a core business for Nucor since we got into steelmaking and this project will enable us to maintain our leadership position in the rebar market."

Rebar, which was once but is no longer made at integrated steel mills like those around the Lake Michigan shore in Northwest Indiana, is used to build roads, sidewalks and buildings. Most rebar is made domestically at mini mills for the construction sector.
VALPARAISO  The former president of the parent advisory council at the Discovery Charter School in Porter was sentenced Tuesday to five years of probation after pleading guilty last month to stealing up to $50,000 from the group.

Lisa Apato, 49, is required as part of the deal to pay back $50,000 to the parent group at a minimum payment of $500 a month, according to her attorney Bob Harper.

She is to receive misdemeanor treatment immediately following the successful completion of probation, including repayment of the stolen funds, according to the plea agreement accepted by Porter Superior Court Judge Mike Fish.

Apato pleaded guilty to two amended and reduced counts of felony theft in return for prosecutors dropping a more serious theft count and allowing her to serve her sentence on probation rather than behind bars, according to the proposed plea agreement. Apato served one day behind bars in the case.

Apato was scheduled to go to trial Nov. 30, which would have been four years after the theft was discovered.

She was charged with a level 5 felony count of theft, which carries a potential sentence of one to six years behind bars, according to court documents.
"Then I reached in the water and I felt the leg. I pulled her upside down out of the water and handed her to the Lake County sheriff's officer that was on the embankment to get her to an ambulance."

Shaffer said the 8-month-old girl wasn't crying when he pulled her from the water and had a terrified look on her face after being underwater for approximately 90 seconds.

"I didn't know if she was breathing. I just wanted to get her out of the water and into the medic's hands," Shaffer said. "(The children) did nothing wrong. They were in a bad situation that they shouldn't have ever been put in."

Ultimately, Shaffer had the opportunity to see both girls, conscious and alert, in the back of an ambulance before they were taken to a Region hospital.

Both children later were transferred to Comer Children's Hospital in Chicago, police said.

Shaffer, a father of three and a former officer in the East Chicago and Dyer police departments, choked up as he thought about what might have happened to the two girls if he hadn't been right there when the car plunged into the water.
Elinkowski said the donated items will be gifted to past and present residents as well as those non-residents who use services there.

The gifts will be given to those families sometime closer to the holidays, Elinkowski said.

"There are a handful of young philanthropists who stand out, and Gabriela is one of them," Elinkowski said.

Elinkowski said confidentiality rules at the shelter mean Gabriela won't be able to see the smiles on the families she has helped.

"It's truly inspiring," Elinkowski said.

Gabriela was only 8 when she came up with the idea for a charity she calls Gabby's Gifts.

She draws on her love of craft making, particularly the making of individual and handcrafted wreaths, to raise money to help the less fortunate.

Last year, Gabriela raised well over $3,000, money she and family members used to buy necessities and toys gifted to individuals.

This year Gabriela raised $20,000.

"I sold 500 wreaths," Gabriela said.
HAMMOND  A St. John business woman received a short prison term Monday for shorting the IRS nearly a quarter million in taxes.

U.S. District Court Chief Judge Jon E. DeGuilio imposed a six-month term of imprisonment Monday on 52-year-old Stacey Mikler.

She had faced a maximum penalty of 5 years imprisonment when the U.S. attorneys office first charged her last summer with evading her federal income tax assessment.

She pleaded guilty July 1 to the felony count under an agreement that promised leniency in return for her giving up her right to a jury trial and requiring the government to prove its case against her.

The judge ordered Mikler to begin her prison sentence Jan. 24. After she is released, she then must serve a six-month term of home detention, followed by another six months of court supervision.

The government charged her with failing to report more than $741,000 in gross income over the four-year period.
Kuebler expects that number to increase with improved technology used to monitor airport operations.

Kuebler is the 72-year-old airports third director, having been hired in 1991 after his predecessor died in office. Kuebler was working at the airport at the time and decided he needed experience with job interviews. After he landed the directors job, he didnt have to worry about interview experience.

It was a busy first two months. The first month, he had to draft an annual budget. The second month, the airport switched from being a county department to being controlled by an airport authority. Thats a quasi-governmental agency with more financing options to help the airport grow.

The airport authority has its own property tax rate. That, along with a fee for services like refueling aircraft, helps finance airport operations.

Revenue bonds can help, but a tax-increment financing district could help airport officials react quicker to meet corporate needs, he said.

Weve done a lot of things at the airport in the last 30 years, and right now theres a lot left to be done, Kuebler said.
The appeals court ruled that Evers media-access criteria was reasonable and he was under no obligation to grant access for every news outlet to every news conference.

MacIver had argued that Evers was excluding its staffers and violating their free speech rights because they are conservatives. Evers said they were excluded because they are not principally a news gathering operation and they are not neutral.

MacIver's attorney Daniel Suhr responded to the action by saying "politicians should not censor their news coverage by hand-picking who covers them.

When asked to comment on the Supreme Courts action, Evers spokeswoman Britt Cudaback referred to the governors legal filing in the case.

MacIver covers legislative meetings and other events at the Capitol as well as some Evers news conferences. But the institute sued after being excluded from a media briefing Evers gave for reporters on his state budget proposal in 2019. Evers wasnt present, but members of his administration provided information to reporters on embargo ahead of his budget speech to the Legislature that evening.
SEOUL, South Korea (AP)  Friday marks 10 years since Kim Jong Un, the third generation of his family to rule North Korea, took power after his father's sudden heart attack.

Initially considered inexperienced, Kim quickly showed his ruthless willingness to consolidate his rule by having his powerful uncle and other potential rivals executed or purged. His torrid run of nuclear and missile tests in recent years caused many to fear a second Korean War.

Kim switched gears again and staged landmark nuclear disarmament summits with then-U.S. President Donald Trump, but their diplomacy collapsed because of disputes over U.S.-led sanctions. Now, with the pandemic and sanctions causing deepening problems, Kim has sealed off his country's borders and tried to fix its struggling economy.

As Kim enters his second decade in power, here's a look at key moments in his rule.

HEIR APPARENT

Jan. 8, 1984: Kim Jong Un is born, the third and youngest of Kim Jong Ils sons.

September 2010: State media say Kim Jong Un has been made a four-star general in the first public mention of his name.
Meanwhile, Lightfoot's claims that she had no knowledge of the raid were proven false when emails revealed that her staff had told her. Lightfoot came under more criticism when city attorneys tried to get a court order to prevent a local television station from airing video of the raid at Young's home.

The episode was damaging to Lightfoot, who ran for office as a reformer only to be caught up in a scandal similar to the one that embroiled her predecessor, Rahm Emanuel, who just a few years earlier tried to prevent the release of dashcam video of the fatal police shooting of Black teenager Laquan McDonald.

Young filed a lawsuit in February that named the city and 12 police officers as defendants and contended that police officials had failed to independently investigate and verify the place to be searched. Young also filed a federal lawsuit against the city in connection with the raid, but that lawsuit was dismissed last year.
Civil rights leader and activist the Rev. Jesse Jackson and civil rights attorney Ben Crump have joined Days family in calling upon the FBI to become the lead investigators.

Law enforcement officials, including FBI agents, have told The Pantagraph that while the bureau can assist, it will not take over the case unless federal crime has been committed, which no authorities have indicated is the case.

Jackson has said a hate crime in Days case could be the nexus that brings the FBI to the lead role. He has compared Days death to that of Emmett Till, a Black teenager who was lynched in 1955 Mississippi. Till's attackers brutalized, shot and dumped him in the Tallahatchie River. His body was unrecognizable when he was found.

According to a statement Monday from the multi-jurisdictional law enforcement, now known as the Jelani Day Joint Task Force, to supplement forensic, analytical, and technological investigative techniques already in use in the Day investigation, the JDJTF is engaging in a coordinated, nationwide, multi-platform social media campaign to identify new leads.
The Schengen travel zone system has been on the verge of collapse since 2015, when well over 1 million people entered the EU without authorization, mostly Syrians seeking refuge from war. A series of extremist attacks in France, Belgium and Germany also saw countries tighten their border controls.

Things got even worse in early 2020 when the pandemic hit. At least 17 countries in the Schengen zone reintroduced checks in the panic, causing traffic and supply chain chaos.

More recently, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko's government began inviting people to Belarus, many of them Iraqis, promising to help them get into Europe through the country's borders with Lithuania, Poland and Latvia. It was seen as revenge by the man once dubbed Europe's last dictator after the EU hit Belarus with sanctions over reported election fraud and a crackdown on peaceful democratic protesters.

To tighten the EUs outside borders in emergencies, the blocs executive branch, the European Commission, is proposing to temporarily ease asylum norms when an outside country pushes migrants toward Europe or actively encourages them to come, as Belarus is accused of doing.
 Rewrite Your Story. When Dr. Charney was recovering from the shooting, he knew that his life was forever changed, but he reframed the situation, focusing on the opportunity the setback presented. Once you are a trauma victim it stays with you, he said. But I knew I could be a role model. I have thousands of students watching my recovery. This gives me a chance to utilize what Ive learned.

Study after study has shown that we can benefit from reframing the personal narrative that shapes our view of the world and ourselves. In expressive writing studies, college students taught to reframe their college struggles as a growth opportunity got better grades and were less likely to drop out. A Harvard study found that people who viewed stress as a way to fuel better performance did better on tests and managed their stress better physiologically than those taught to ignore stress.

Its about learning to recognize the explanatory story you tend to use in your life, Dr. Southwick said. Observe what you are saying to yourself and question it. Its not easy. It takes practice.

 Dont Personalize It. We have a tendency to blame ourselves for lifes setbacks and to ruminate about what we should have done differently. In the moment, a difficult situation feels as if it will never end. To bolster your resilience, remind yourself that even if you made a mistake, a number of factors most likely contributed to the problem and shift your focus to the next steps you should take.

Telling yourself that a situation is not personal, pervasive or permanent can be extremely useful, Dr. Grant said. There is almost no failure that is totally personal.

 Remember Your Comebacks. When times are tough, we often remind ourselves that other people  like war refugees or a friend with cancer  have it worse. While that may be true, you will get a bigger resilience boost by reminding yourself of the challenges you personally have overcome.

Its easier to relate to your former self than someone in another country, said Dr. Grant. Look back and say, Ive gone through something worse in the past. This is not the most horrible thing I have ever faced or will ever face. I know I can deal with it.
SEOUL  The South Korean marine unit had a reputation for leaving nothing breathing behind when they passed through hostile territory, not even a pig suckling its litter.

After the unit swept through Phong Nhi and Phong Nhut, villages in central Vietnam, on Feb. 12, 1968, scores of bodies were found, all unarmed civilians, most of them children and women, shot or stabbed with bayonets.

This old man came out of a hiding hole, his hands held up, recalled Ryu Jin-seong, a former marine attached to the unit who was 22 at the time. He kept begging for life, apparently thinking he would be killed when he was taken away.

In a fit of rage, a sergeant swore and emptied his clip on the man, Mr. Ryu said.

The tragedy of the Vietnam War  echoing loudly this week during the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan  continues to haunt those victims who witnessed and survived the two decades of bloodshed.
Six years later, she and Mr. Chiang started the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company, which began performing in and around New York from its headquarters in Fort Lee, N.J. By the early 1990s, its touring circle had begun expanding, first to Massachusetts, Delaware, Pennsylvania and Virginia, and then across the country and beyond.

Ms. Chen had been trained in the traditional dances of Taiwan and China before settling in the United States, and her programs tended to give audience members  many of whom, especially in the early years, were used to European-style dance  a different view of the art form.

I like to integrate both aesthetics, Eastern and Western, she told The Los Angeles Times in 1994. My dancers and I experiment every day. I believe that if I let movement come out naturally from my body, if I speak the truth from my heart, it will express my background  traditional Chinese movement and a Western dance vocabulary.

The company performed traditional fan dances and ribbon dances, but also Ms. Chens own works, which drew on many influences. Her Movable Figures, for example, was inspired by Southeast Asian shadow puppetry. Dragons on the Wall (Tianji) suggests Chinese calligraphy. Raindrops evokes her girlhood in Taiwan.
Three prominent Fox News anchors sent concerned text messages on Jan. 6 to Mark Meadows, the last chief of staff for President Donald J. Trump, urging him to persuade the president to take the riot seriously and to make an effort to stop it.

The texts were made public on Monday, shortly before the House committee scrutinizing the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol voted 9-0 in favor of recommending that Mr. Meadows be charged with contempt of Congress. Representative Liz Cheney, Republican of Wyoming, read the text messages aloud.

The texts, part of a trove of 9,000 documents that Mr. Meadows had turned over before he stopped cooperating with the inquiry, were sent to the former White House chief of staff by Laura Ingraham, the host of the nighttime show The Ingraham Angle; Sean Hannity, a longtime prime-time host who once appeared onstage with Mr. Trump at a campaign rally; and Brian Kilmeade, a host of the morning show Fox & Friends.

Mark, the president needs to tell people in the Capitol to go home, Ms. Ingraham wrote. This is hurting all of us. He is destroying his legacy.
For more than seven years, the authorities said, Jose Rodriguez of Brick, N.J., a senior engineer at Amtrak, obtained more than 100 chain saws and hundreds of chain saw parts from the railroad, claiming he needed them for various service projects.

But instead, according to prosecutors, Mr. Rodriguez, 49, sold the equipment either through an online auction service or directly to purchasers  and lined his pockets with the proceeds.

On Monday, Mr. Rodriguez pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud for using the Postal Service to mail the equipment  which the authorities said was worth more than $76,000  to buyers across the country, according to the U.S. attorneys office in New Jersey.

Mr. Rodriguez will face up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 when he is sentenced on April 19, 2022.
Dr. Ghaly said that statewide, case rates have increased by 47 percent since Thanksgiving, but those increases have been concentrated in parts of the state  such as the Inland Empire, east of Los Angeles, and the vast Central Valley  where a smaller share of the population has been vaccinated.

Those are, by and large, the same places where mask mandates have not been in effect for some time. In other areas, such as Los Angeles County, residents have been required to wear masks indoors for months since the emergence of the Delta variant.

For Californians, the imposition of a fresh round of pandemic restrictions in mid-December is an unwelcome echo of last years catastrophic winter.

Last December, officials in the state  where residents had already been living under some of the most stringent lockdowns in the country for the better part of a year  imposed a curfew and new stay-at-home orders in a frantic effort to keep hospitals from being overwhelmed.

Dr. Ghaly said that the mask mandate was meant to head off the need for any further restrictions, and he urged Californians to adhere to it, even in the absence of strict enforcement.
A contempt of Congress charge carries a penalty of up to a year in jail. The panels recommendation sends the matter to the full House, which could vote as early as Tuesday to refer the charge to the Justice Department.

The committee found that Mr. Meadows, a former congressman from North Carolina who led the right-wing House Freedom Caucus, essentially served as Mr. Trumps right-hand man throughout various steps of the effort to undermine the 2020 election. Mr. Meadows encouraged members of Congress to object to Joseph R. Biden Jr.s victory, and he pursued baseless allegations of voter fraud in several states, according to the panel.

In addition, Mr. Meadows personally coordinated with rally planners who brought throngs of Mr. Trumps supporters to Washington on Jan. 6 to protest the presidents election loss, and Mr. Meadows said he would line up the National Guard to protect them, according to documents he provided to the panel.

At one point, an organizer of the rally turned to Mr. Meadows for help, telling him that things have gotten crazy and I desperately need some direction. Please.

It is not clear how he responded. The exchanges suggest that Mr. Meadows  who at times expressed personal skepticism about the claims of election fraud and theft pushed by Mr. Trump and his allies  catered to Mr. Trump by seeking evidence to support the presidents allegations. Mr. Meadows was in contact with a broad collection of obscure characters whose sometimes zany plans and theories made their way into the White House at a critical time.

Representative Bennie Thompson, Democrat of Mississippi and the chairman of the committee investigating the Capitol attack, called it jarring that Mr. Meadows would stop cooperating with the panel, given that he served in Congress for more than seven years.

Its not hard to locate records of his time in the House and find a Mr. Meadows full of indignation because, at the time, a prior administration wasnt cooperating with a congressional investigation to his satisfaction, Mr. Thompson said.
The debate over what kind of capability to give to Israel  and how quickly  is an old one in Washington. In 2008, President George W. Bush deflected requests from Prime Minister Ehud Olmert for specialized bunker-busting bombs and the B-2 bomber, and to rent about 10 flying tankers, which Mr. Olmert said would be needed in any Israeli attack on Irans main nuclear complex at Natanz. Part of the operation would have involved borrowing U.S. refueling capabilities.

Vice President Dick Cheney argued at the time that the United States should give Israel exactly what it sought, but he lost the argument, Bush administration officials later said. Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney allude to the episode in their memoirs, but they do not mention that they told the Israelis that they were authorizing covert action intended to sabotage Irans effort with a new generation of cyberweapons.

That program, code-named Olympic Games, ultimately became the joint Israeli-American effort that produced the Stuxnet worm and ultimately destroyed more than a thousand Iranian centrifuges.

Israel later developed other capabilities and trained for them. On several occasions during the Obama administration, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel was on the brink of ordering a strike, according to Israeli officials and a Times interview with Mr. Netanyahu in 2019. But the prime minister backed off at the last minute, in large part because of fear of an irreparable breach with Washington.

But in 2017, when the Israeli air force determined that it needed to replacing its refueling planes, Mr. Netanyahus government did not immediately place an order. Irans nuclear program seemed under control  largely because it had shipped 97 percent of its nuclear fuel out of the country under the 2015 agreement that Mr. Netanyahu had vociferously opposed. Training for strikes against Iran slowed.

They have been revived. Israeli planners, according to several current and former officials, believe that if they do conduct an attack, it will take many repeated bombings of some of the facilities  especially Fordow, a fuel enrichment center buried deep in a mountain on an Iranian military base. But time will be short, they contend, and so they would have to refuel quickly.

U.S. officials say that they do not believe an attack is imminent and that they think Mr. Bennett, in so publicly preparing for military action, may be seeking far tougher terms in an ultimate deal between Iran and the West.

David E. Sanger and Helene Cooper reported from Washington, and Ronen Bergman from Tel Aviv. Eric Schmitt contributed reporting.
Those dueling views in the long-running case, which reached the Supreme Court in 2020 and was sent back down to lower courts to be heard again using a tighter legal standard, were on display on Monday during a nearly two-hour oral argument before a three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.

Questions asked by the judges  Ketanji Brown Jackson, Judith W. Rogers and Sri Srinivasan  gave little indication that they were likely to quash the subpoena. But the judges spent extensive time exploring whether there was a basis to narrow the scope of the subpoena, such as by reducing some of the years of files Congress has sought, and if so where to draw the line.

In August, a federal trial judge, Amit P. Mehta of the Federal District Court for the District of Columbia, delivered a split decision in his own second look at the matter. He ruled that Congress could obtain certain records dating back to 2011 but other financial records only as far back as 2017, when Mr. Trump took office.

But both sides appealed Judge Mehtas ruling. All three judges on the appellate panel were randomly assigned to hear the case and were appointed by Democratic presidents, as was Judge Mehta. But the case appears destined to return to the Supreme Court, which is now controlled by a six-member conservative bloc of Republican appointees.

The congressional oversight investigation grew out of Mr. Trumps refusal to make his tax returns public when he ran for president and, once he was in office, his decision not to divest his business dealings or place them into a blind trust while he was president.
CAIRO  Tunisias president announced on Monday that the country would hold a referendum to amend its Constitution in July, followed by parliamentary elections in December, offering for the first time a concrete path out of the countrys political limbo five months after he seized power in what opponents have called a soft coup.

In a speech on Monday posted to his official Facebook page, President Kais Saied said he would hold a series of online consultations open to the public early next year to gather ideas for revising Tunisias Constitution, which would then go to a commission to draft amendments. Tunisians would vote on the new Constitution on July 25, 2022, the anniversary of the day Mr. Saied suspended Parliament and took control.

Parliament will remain frozen until new elections on Dec. 17, 2022, he said.

I assume this responsibility before the people and before God, Mr. Saied said. We seek to liberate our people and our country. We want to live in a just and peaceful country.

Mondays announcement dispelled some of the uncertainty Tunisians have endured ever since Mr. Saied shunted Parliament aside last summer in what he said was an emergency move to save Tunisia from its cascading political, economic and Covid-19 crises.
Davis, 34, is perhaps best known for her roles in the techno-dystopian Netflix series Black Mirror and as a mechanically enhanced super soldier in the 2019 Terminator movie, Dark Fate. But fans and critics have known her longer, owing particularly to her role as the programming virtuoso Cameron Howe on AMCs Halt and Catch Fire.

Starting on Thursday, she will star as Kirsten Raymonde in Station Eleven, a 10-part limited series from HBO Max that has been adapted from the 2014 science fiction novel by Emily St. John Mandel. Given the books runaway success  it won the Arthur C. Clarke award and has sold more than 1.5 million copies  the adaptation seems likely to draw Davis further into the spotlight. So does the timing: The story revolves around a deadly pandemic and its aftermath.

But despite its sci-fi premise, Station Eleven isnt styled as fantasy; it concerns itself more with investigating tragedy, personal trials and the marks they leave behind  an uncanny future artifact of our very real pandemic age. (The show, shot in Chicago and Toronto, began filming in January 2020.)

For Davis, playing Kirsten was an opportunity to demonstrate her emotional range. It was also a chance for her to grapple with her own intense feelings of loss and isolation.
Welcome to Best of Late Night, a rundown of the previous nights highlights that lets you sleep  and lets us get paid to watch comedy. Here are the 50 best movies on Netflix right now.

Slides of Sedition

The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol is looking into a 38-page PowerPoint document sent to President Trumps chief of staff, Mark Meadows, that included plans to overturn the 2020 election.

PowerPoint? They werent just trying to overturn democracy, they were trying to bore it to death, Stephen Colbert said on Monday night.
JIM HARRISON

Complete Poems

Edited by Joseph Bednarik

A lot of people know Jim Harrisons fiction, and theres a lot of it to know  before his death, in 2016, he published a dozen novels and nine collections of novellas. Still more people, who wouldnt recognize Harrisons name at all, have seen films for which he wrote the screenplays or source material: Revenge, Wolf, the hugely successful Legends of the Fall. But even the readers who know him may not know that Harrison began as a poet and remained one for the rest of his life. His first published book was a poetry collection, 1965s Plain Song; his last book of poems during his lifetime, 2016s Dead Mans Float, was published about two months before he died. In between he published a dozen or so other collections, adding up to a massive and bounteous body of work that would have made Harrison a significant American writer even if he had never published in any other genre.

From the beginning, Harrison wrote about two primary and intertwined themes: pleasure and death. The pleasures of Harrisons writings tend to the Hemingwayesque, and are set largely in his native Midwest: hunting, fishing, hiking and generally being outdoors; cooking, eating and drinking; sex, women and conversation. Sometimes the pleasures are more reflective, more mental than physical; in all the talk about women, for instance, one senses that for Harrison the talk was half the fun, and the wanting often mattered more, or was more satisfying, than the getting.

Other delights, particularly gastronomical ones, he enjoyed with abandon. Food and drink appear frequently in his poems. Sometimes they are metaphors: If you cant bow, youre dead meat. Youll break / like uncooked spaghetti. Or he will put a dissertation about rivers on hold to describe a recent meal, or insert into a long poem a detailed weeks eating log with items like

 a lamb leg pasted with Dijon

mustard, soy, garlic; Chinese pork ribs; menudo

just for Benny & me as no one else would eat it

had to cook tripe five hours then mix with hominy

and peppers with chorizo tacos on the side;

copious fresh vegetables, Burgundy, Columbard, booze

with all of the above.

Or he will pause, as he does quite frequently, to worry that he is eating too much, drinking too much, that he is getting fat, is no longer desired by women, that he is growing old before his time.

Acknowledging pleasures costs, and its ultimate ephemerality, is the unavoidable flip side of Harrisons celebratory hedonism. To connect with the body, the source of pleasure, is to connect with death. The first poem in Harrisons first book concludes with an image of death, rendered in brute material terms with an emphasis on the visual: the dead, frayed bird, / the beautiful plumage, / the spoor of feathers / and slight, pink bones. The poems in the last book, Dead Mans Float, dwell obsessively on mortality. At my age you dont think about the future / because you dont have one. Because of death my phone book / is shrinking. So endlessly dolorous, this sweet death. Perhaps the bluntest and truest statement comes in a midbook, midcareer poem called Larsons Holstein Bull: Death steals everything except our stories.
If the F.D.A. approves an over-the-counter version, it will be effectively saying that women with underlying health risks who choose that option will have to do their own research on how the birth-control pill would interact with their condition and any other medications they are taking.

Reproductive-rights activists in the United States view an over-the-counter birth-control pill as an easy and effective tool for rural, poor and historically marginalized communities to avoid unwanted pregnancies  reducing their barriers to health care and lowering the abortion rate along the way.

At least two drug companies want to apply to the F.D.A. to make the switch to an over-the-counter version, and have been in communication with the agency about their plans. But after years of preliminary trials to clear the agencys research and consumer-testing hurdles, neither has reached the stage of applying yet.

The F.D.A. defenders say that by asking many questions and demanding rigorous testing, the agency is being prudent about assessing the potential health risks of making the pill available without a prescription.

But frustrated supporters of the switch are critical of the agencys prolonged pre-application process  which at certain points requires F.D.A. permission to advance to the next stage. Some of them see the process as an obstacle to the advancement of reproductive rights, as well as a case study of the cost when the F.D.A. takes an overly cautious approach. (The agency has also been criticized in other drug-approval cases of moving too quickly, as when it fast-tracked approval of a controversial Alzheimers drug earlier this year.)
A partisan fight atop a sleepy bank regulator intensified on Tuesday, with Democratic members of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation board saying its Republican chairwoman was subverting the majoritys will.

Rohit Chopra, a member of the F.D.I.C. board and the new director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, complained that the chairwoman, Jelena McWilliams  a Trump appointee  had refused to recognize their attempts to review rules about bank mergers.

This approach to governance is unsafe and unsound, he said in a statement. It is also an attack on the rule of law.

At a virtual meeting earlier Tuesday, Ms. McWilliams, the boards lone Republican, struck down Mr. Chopras request to record in the minutes a vote on the review. Ms. McWilliams said the regulators general counsel had ruled the vote, which had been taken earlier by the Democratic members, to be invalid.
Eat every meal as if it were your last, Nora Ephron once said, because when the last one comes you probably wont be hungry. Ive always appreciated the gallows humor of that remark, but its advice struck me as unwise. Every meal? I love you, Nora, but Ive got school lunches to make in the morning.

Or I did, until school shut down. Once the city was in the grips of Covid, I had plenty of opportunities to sleep late. What I didnt have was a place outside my own apartment to eat and drink and carry on. And look, I know many people had it worse than I did, but going out is my job. At some point last winter, when I was writing about the risks of indoor dining, I started to wonder when my editors were going to ask whether they really needed a restaurant critic who seemed to spend most of his time telling people not to eat in restaurants.

Spoiler alert: Im still here. But over the past two years, during which my mother and many of my idols died, Ive come closer to seeing things Noras way. I believe now that she wasnt advising gluttony and hangovers, necessarily. To eat every meal as if its your last could just as easily mean choosing food and drink and company that make you feel alive.

That, at least, was my guiding thought as I ranked my 10 favorite new restaurants of all those I reviewed this year. Last December, when the time came for this annual ritual, I couldnt do it. I hadnt been able to write more than a handful of reviews in 2020. But Ive been filing reviews more or less weekly since February. I was grateful to be back on the job then, and Im still not taking it or anything else for granted. If the pandemic wasnt quite a near-death experience for restaurant critics, it was closer than I expected to come.
Leer en espanol

When scientists discovered the highly mutated Omicron variant of the coronavirus last month, it set off an eerily familiar chain of events.

Health experts held somber news conferences that raised more questions than answers. Officials imposed travel bans that very likely came too late. Virus trackers filled in their maps as the variant was reported in country after country. And the rest of us waited, with increasing unease, to learn more about the threat we were facing.

The same sequence unfolded nearly two years ago when the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, was first discovered. In those early weeks of 2020, the United States proved to be woefully unprepared for the challenges ahead, starting with the most fundamental of tasks: detecting the virus.

We had a delay of one to two months before we were even able to identify the presence of the virus, said Dr. Charles Chiu, an infectious disease specialist and microbiologist at the University of California, San Francisco. And by that time, it had already circulated widely between multiple states and from coast to coast.
It is abundantly clear the F.D.A. has failed to keep Americans safe, Senator Manchin said in a statement on Tuesday. How many more Americans have to die before we see a culture change at the F.D.A.? If there was ever a time for a change in leadership at the F.D.A., an institution with such direct impact on the American people, it is now.

Another senator, Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat from Connecticut, said he had grave reservations about Dr. Califfs nomination. He had voted against him five years ago, too.

At the hearing, Senator Maggie Hassan, a New Hampshire Democrat, criticized the agency for failing to change opioid policies as the death toll soared for years. She called for an overhaul of opioid medication labeling. Senator Ben Ray Lujan, a Democrat from New Mexico, expressed outrage about the 2013 approval of the medication Zohydro, which was authorized over the objection of an agency advisory committee.

Somethings got to change, Senator Lujan said. And Im hoping, doctor, that you can be that person.

The senators concerns drew a pledge from Dr. Califf that he would undertake a comprehensive review of the agencys opioid policies if he were confirmed. He said he would look at options for addressing the crisis, including a change to the labeling of opioid medications. If Im confirmed, Im going to take a very aggressive approach on this, he said.

The hearing concluded without a vote. The panel will take one at a later date, and that would be a precursor to a full vote in the Senate, which has not yet been set. Dr. Califfs earlier stint as commissioner lasted nearly a year, until President Donald J. Trump was sworn into office.

Dr. Califfs other experience at the agency as deputy commissioner for medical products and tobacco may help guide him as the agency considers how to proceed with new vaping products and whether to allow Juul to stay on the market. The F.D.A. recently authorized an electronic cigarette to be sold in the United States, a decision that weighed the benefits of helping some adults quit smoking against the risk of youth addiction. Dr. Califf described the level of youth vaping as an alarming rate, noting that the appointment of a new leader of the agencys tobacco unit would be a key decision.
The legal uncertainty over a federal requirement that the nations 17 million health care workers be vaccinated against the coronavirus has led some well-known hospital chains to drop their own mandates  at least temporarily.

The Cleveland Clinic, HCA Healthcare and Intermountain Healthcare, among others, have said they are no longer requiring employees to be vaccinated until the courts sort out whether the federal mandate can go into effect. The hospitals decisions were first reported by The Wall Street Journal.

The moves are likely to slow down efforts to quell the latest surge in infections, potentially worsened by holiday traveling, large gatherings indoors and the introduction of the Omicron variant. Public health officials are renewing their pleas for more people to get vaccinations and booster shots as this latest wave of Covid cases threatens to again overwhelm hospitals. Some 66,000 Americans are now hospitalized with Covid.

Suspending the localized requirements will also make it harder for hospitals to meet the federal governments deadline of early January for vaccinating all eligible staff if the courts uphold the mandate. Federal officials are appealing a Louisiana judges decision to halt the rule, and the case is likely to go to the Supreme Court. The court on Monday allowed New York States vaccine requirement for health care workers to continue, and the justices have previously rejected challenges to other vaccine requirements.
Pfizer announced on Tuesday that its Covid pill was found to stave off severe disease in a key clinical trial and that it is likely to work against the highly mutated Omicron variant of the virus. The results underscore the promise of the treatment, which health officials and doctors are counting on, to ease the burden on hospitals as the United States braces for a mounting fourth wave of the pandemic.

If the Food and Drug Administration authorizes the drug, which could happen within days, then patients might begin receiving it by the end of the year. Although supply will be limited at first, public health experts are hopeful that the pills might curb the worst outcomes from the disease, no matter the variant.

Pfizer said its antiviral pill was found to reduce the risk of hospitalization and death by 88 percent when given to unvaccinated people at high risk of severe Covid within five days of the onset of symptoms. The company also said that laboratory experiments indicated that the drug will attack a key protein in the Omicron variant, which is surging in South Africa and Europe and is expected to dominate U.S. cases in the weeks ahead.

This is quite amazing and potentially transformative, said Sara Cherry, a virologist at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania who was not involved in the study. If we could keep people out of hospitals, that would have a huge impact on health care.
My granddaughter recently moved from her city apartment to our small town. She was having financial problems, and my husband and I decided to buy a small historic hotel in the hope that she could turn it into an artists retreat. She had always told us that it was one of her dreams.

In preparation for the move, my granddaughter brought her dog to stay for a week while she and her mother went back to finish packing. My granddaughter bought an Akita puppy during the Covid lockdown, and it became very attached to her. We learned that she had not tried to train or socialize it. We built a special kennel for it because it could not be put in the existing kennel with my daughters two dogs; they got into a fight on a previous visit. The first special kennel we built was only four feet tall, and the dog jumped out. So we built a new kennel with six-foot-tall panels. The dog chewed through the wire mesh and escaped. The next day, when my daughter, grandson and granddaughter decided to take all the dogs for a run, the dogs got in a fight. My grandson was bitten while trying to separate them and required medical attention.

Because my granddaughter needed to leave the dog while she and her mother returned home to pack, she decided to board it. The first night, the dog escaped and caused some destruction. Then it escaped again and did more damage. The kennel owner told my granddaughter that someone would have to come and pick up the dog. My husband and I had to drive an hour to get the dog. We constructed a secure pen with a roof so it could not escape. But it did, and then it got trapped in a room in the hotel we bought. It destroyed the curtains, the blinds, the bedding and an air-conditioner, and clawed the door and door frame, before crawling out a second-story window onto a roof and sliding off. The dog wound up at our daughters house a block away. I was upset and confronted my granddaughter upon her return. I said I did not want the dog in the house anymore.

My husband has worked with dog breeders. He says it would not be safe to allow the dog to stay, because if it escaped and injured someone, we could be liable. The dog growled at a neighbor who tried to catch it during one of its escapes. There are several Akita rescue groups in the area, and my husband wants my granddaughter to give the dog up. But she wont, fearful that it might be euthanized.
Its not just Gollum who thinks a certain ring is precious.

The first in Peter Jacksons epic trilogy of films based on J.R.R. Tolkiens novels, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), is among the motion pictures that have been chosen for preservation this year on the Library of Congresss National Film Registry. Also being added are the final installment in another beloved trilogy, Star Wars: Episode VI  Return of the Jedi, and the disarmingly sweet Pixar comedy Wall-E.

On Tuesday, the library plans to make its annual announcement that 25 more films, dating from 1902 to 2008, will be honored for their historical and cultural significance and added to the registry, helping to preserve them for future generations.

The selection of Return of the Jedi (1983) is the culmination of a yearslong campaign by Star Wars fans to add the film to the registry. Hispanic lawmakers and experts earlier this year had also pushed for the inclusion of Selena, Gregory Navas 1997 biopic of the Tejano singer Selena Quintanilla-Perez that starred Jennifer Lopez in her first major film role. Supporters hoped that choosing it could serve as an example that would help open more doors for Latinos in movies and television.

A group of notable films are also among the selections: Sounder, Martin Ritts 1972 drama about a family of Black sharecroppers in 1930s Louisiana that earned Cicely Tyson an Oscar nomination for best actress; A Nightmare on Elm Street, Wes Cravens 1984 horror classic that starred Robert Englund as Freddy Krueger; and Wall-E, Andrew Stantons 2008 Pixar sci-fi film about the last robot left on Earth, which won an Oscar for best animated feature.
Wes Andersons sprawling comedy-drama The Royal Tenenbaums, released 20 years ago this month, tells the story of a family of famed child geniuses, the disappointments and neuroses that define their lives as adults and the estranged father whose (feigned) illness brings them back together, under one roof in Upper Manhattan. Its Andersons only film to date shot entirely in and around New York City, his sole entry in the canon of Gotham cinema, which was so formative to his youth in the Southwest.

I wanted to live in New York when I was young, Anderson, a Houston native, confessed to The New York Daily News in 2012. So many books and plays and movies that I love were set in New York. It really gave me an idea of the city before I had even moved here.

But that wording  an idea of the city  is telling. Anderson wasnt seeking the authenticity and verisimilitude of a native New Yorker (a Spike Lee or Martin Scorsese, for example); in fact, though The Royal Tenenbaums was shot on location, its settings are unrecognizable, and the places it name-checks leave Gothamites scratching their heads. The bulk of the action takes place in the shambling Tenenbaum home on Archer Avenue, though daughter Margot has a private studio in Mockingbird Heights and patriarch Royal has spent the past several decades at the Lindbergh Palace Hotel. A secondary character teaches at Brooks College; others travel via the Green Line Bus or the 22nd Avenue Express train; mention is made of the City Public Archives, Maddox Hill Cemetery, Little Tokyo, Kobe General Hospital, the Valenzuela Bridge and, in a true feat of city-stretching ingenuity, the 375th St. Y.

The result is a New York that blurs fact and fiction, a fantasy vision of the city, less reflective of the realities of urban life than the fanciful notions of them ingrained in Andersons sensibility. Many an observer has noted the resemblances between the Tenenbaum brood and the Glass family of J.D. Salingers short fiction  much of which initially appeared in The New Yorker, a publication whose wry, busy, detailed covers seem no small influence on Andersons idiosyncratic visual style. (His most recent film, The French Dispatch, takes the influence even further, unspooling like an issue of a New Yorker-style magazine.) Other literary influences from the city abound as well, including the colorful personalities of A.J. Lieblings profiles, the strained family dynamics of John Cheevers short stories, and the hotel life of Kay Thompsons Eloise books. In a way, The Royal Tenenbaums is the inverse of many New York movies of the 1930s and 1940s  when on-location photography was so rare, and film production so centralized in Hollywood, that ex-New Yorker writers and designers recreated an idealized, fantasy vision of Gotham on backlots and soundstages clear across the country.
In 1943, Mr. Kaplinsky and a group of other people cut the wire of the ghetto and escaped. They joined a resistance unit camped in the surrounding woods, where Mr. Kaplinsky was often tasked with keeping watch.

After the war, Mr. Kaplinsky returned to Minsk, where he learned that his two older brothers who had served in the Soviet army were his only family members to survive the Holocaust.

Where to go? Who is waiting for you? Mr. Kaplinsky remembers asking himself upon his return. These were the toughest days, hours, of my life.

Over the next 50 years, Mr. Kaplinsky worked to help rebuild Minsk. He went to school at night and studied engineering, and eventually rose to be the chief engineer at a building firm.

After coming to New York with his wife in 1993 to be closer to their son and granddaughters, he became a member of the Association of Holocaust Survivors From the Former Soviet Union, and in 1995 was elected as its president. During this time, Mr. Kaplinsky also became a member of the Edith and Carl Marks Jewish Community House of Bensonhurst.

Through the group, Mr. Kaplinsky, who lives with his wife in subsidized housing and relies on Supplemental Security Income and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, received help when he needed four dental crowns last fall. The J.C.H. is a beneficiary agency of UJA-Federation of New York, one of the nine organizations supported by The New York Times Neediest Cases Fund, and it provided $550 from The Fund for the procedure. The Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, an organization that assists Holocaust survivors, contributed the remaining $1,450.

Mr. Kaplinsky said after almost three decades of working with the J.C.H., he was grateful for its help. I am very pleased that I came, he said. The Russian department of this Jewish House is very, very helpful.
Victims of wrongful conviction often sue government authorities after being exonerated, and the payouts can stretch into the millions of dollars. In 2014, five men who were convicted in the beating and rape of a jogger in Central Park reached a $41 million settlement with New York City, even as the city continued to assert that its prosecutors and detectives had done nothing wrong. In 2017, the city agreed to pay $13 million to Anthony Yarbough and the estate of Sharif Wilson, both of whom spent more than 20 years in prison before being exonerated by the Brooklyn district attorney.

Similar filings are expected soon on behalf of the estate of Mr. Islam, who spent 22 years in prison and died in 2009.

Mr. Aziz and Mr. Islam were arrested soon after the murder of Malcolm X on Feb. 21, 1965. They were convicted the following year despite a total lack of physical evidence and conflicting accounts from prosecution witnesses.

Mr. Aziz said at the court hearing where his wrongful conviction was thrown out that he was the victim of a process that was corrupt to its core, one that he added remained all too familiar to Black people.

He was 26 when he was first imprisoned and spent much of his adulthood behind bars. While he was serving time, his marriage collapsed and his wife left him. And he was the father to six young children, whose upbringings he missed large portions of  and who lawyers said faced stigma because of their fathers conviction.

During his 20 years in prison, Mr. Aziz became an imam and impressed correctional authorities with his leadership ability even as he spent what the claim says was a substantial amount of time in solitary confinement.

According to a 1981 letter sent by a former commissioner of correctional services, Benjamin Ward, to New Yorks governor, Hugh L. Carey, Mr. Aziz played an important role in mediating a strike undertaken by detainees at Attica in the late 1970s, using his influence to help ensure that the demonstration was brought to a peaceful conclusion without violence.
On its face, this makes very little sense. Why would groups that want to end abortion not support the most efficient way to make abortions less common? The answer is that their mission extends beyond abortion and into the regulation of sex, gender roles and the family. Contraception and abortion are tied together because both offer women the freedom to have sex for pleasure in or outside of marriage, and both allow women greater control over their lives and futures. The pro-life goal isnt an end to abortion. Its to establish another means of controlling women.

You can see this in the policies anti-abortion groups promote. Instead of the comprehensive sexual health education that teaches young people about their bodies and how best to prevent pregnancy, conservative groups largely prefer to push sex ed that focuses on abstinence until marriage. Theyve succeeded: 39 states and Washington, D.C., require that abstinence be included in sex education curriculums, and 28 states  most of them Republican-leaning  mandate that abstinence be emphasized. Just 11 of those 28 abstinence-stressing states require that students be taught about contraception. A mere 18 states require that sex ed be medically accurate, and only 11 states and Washington, D.C., require teaching students about sexual consent.

The emphasis on abstinence is purposefully disingenuous. In 2007, a study analyzing two decades of American sexual behavior found that 95 percent of Americans have premarital sex. The few who do wait may still want to plan the timing of their pregnancies. Abstinence-only education has not been proved to decrease sexual activity or unintended pregnancies, and some studies have tied it to higher teenage birthrates. Abstinence education may not work, but it does conform with a set of conservative political goals. Contraception does not.

Conservatives are already going after contraception. As president Donald Trump slashed funding to teenage pregnancy prevention and research, and barred Title X federal family planning funds from going to organizations that told women their legal options in pregnancy. President Biden reversed that rule, but not before a quarter of health clinics were forced to drop out of the Title X program. In 2020 alone, the number of patients served by Title X grants declined by a whopping 2.4 million.

These cuts happened despite clear evidence that theyre counterproductive. Data from 2008 shows that some 95 percent of unintended pregnancies occurred among women who either werent using contraception or were using it inconsistently or incorrectly. In Colorado, a 2017 program that made long-acting (and therefore more reliable) contraception affordable and widely available for young people led to a nearly 50 percent decrease in teenage births and abortions, saving the state some $70 million.
To the Editor:

Re Why Does Biden Seem So Stuck? (Opinion guest essay, Sunday Review, Dec. 12):

Corey Robin writes, There is also a sense that however much in control of the federal government progressives may be, the right is still calling the shots.

But progressives are not in control of the government. In fact, many self-described progressives are all but foaming at the mouth with rage at President Biden, who took pains to distance himself from them during his campaign.

Its a wonder that the left, or even moderates like President Biden, can ever get anything done when Republicans stand shoulder to shoulder against them and are joined by at least a few bipartisan-minded Democrats.

Right now Mr. Biden is playing the hand hes been dealt, and its a lousy one. It may get worse, too, if Republicans retake the House and the Senate next year as appears all too likely. But thats what leadership is about  not winning when winning is easy, but inspiring people to fight when its hard. At least Mr. Biden isnt whining that everyones plotting against him, even though he surely knows a lot of people really are.
No more: Horowitz has taught me a new way of processing the timeline of American classical music. If Dvoraks counsel made sense  that is, if America is to develop a native classical music in the sense that a Bartok used Hungarian folk music to shape his work  then the through line runs directly through Porgy and Bess. Taking in the Metropolitan Operas fine production a few days ago, I experienced the opera for the first time as an imperious touchstone rather than as a fascinating question.

Porgy and Bess gives us orchestral sumptuousness of a degree that must satisfy anyone who loves classical music, as in the music for the hurricane, Wagnerian in its richness, or the soaring orchestral quotation of They Pass By Singin. The scoring often includes savory blue notes a Puccini or Wagner never knew.

But the piece engages Black styles more deeply than this. Gershwin spent time on South Carolinas barrier islands, including with Gullah-speaking Black South Carolinians, to prepare for writing. The result is an opera with stylized but authentic-sounding food vendor calls, a funeral lament summoning sounds and sentiments unlike what one would write for any white character, a healing sequence invoking the power of Jesus, a furious spoken sequence, I Hates Yo Struttin Style, in which Maria excoriates the drug dealer Sportin Life in a way that almost brings to mind a dis track in todays popular music, and a work song, It Takes a Long Pull to Get There.

Amid these marvels, Porgy and Bess can feel, at times, messy. You never quite know whats coming and might wonder whether it all hangs together. But thats just it: Maybe as an American piece it shouldnt hang together any more than America ever has. Horowitz cherishes this quality in what he regards as true American art in an eternally hybrid experiment of a nation, charting a commonality between the narratively baggy quality of Mark Twains greatest works and the splashy, smashed-up quality of so much of Charles Ivess work, where despite the stringent classical structure overall, a folk tune can come crashing into the proceedings. Those who saw Copland as the real thing tended to find Ivess work interesting but somewhat quaint and unfinished. But Horowitz points to Ralph Waldo Emersons thought that in the mud and scum of things, there alway, alway something sings. That mud and scum, for Emerson, was what we now call authenticity.

Black composers, of course, created truly American classical music of this kind  William Dawsons smashing Negro Folk Symphony is one example. Yet Porgy and Bess qualifies, despite its white creators, as a keystone of where truly American classical music had gone by its time, as well as one guide for where it should go. By my reading, there isnt a single uninteresting bar in the entire score. Every melody is infectious; every harmonization goes beyond functional to gorgeous.

And yet an imperious white critic and composer like Thomson, widely regarded in his day, could hear only something he described as fidgety accompaniments and gefilte-fish orchestration. Few would echo him today, but the othering essence of this judgment informs the idea that music like Coplands and Thomsons, followed by almost willfully ear-challenging work by composers such as Elliott Carter and Milton Babbitt, represents the yellow brick road of American classical music.

Horowitz teaches us to stop hearing Porgy and Bess narrowly, as a Black opera, or as some sideline oddity called a folk opera. It is what opera should be in this country, with our history, period. Under this analysis, the scores to Coplands Billy the Kid and Rodeo, for all their beauty, are the fascinating but sideline development, not Porgy and Bess. Broadway pieces incorporating Black and immigrant musical styles that play plausibly in opera houses, like Kurt Weill and Langston Hughess Street Scene and Marc Blitzsteins Regina, are less collectors oddities than pavers on the path to true American classical music, landing farther from the bull's-eye than Porgy and Bess but worth attending to.
Editors Note

INTERNATIONAL

An article on Nov. 17 about Refaat Alareer, a Palestinian professor who includes a discussion of Israeli poetry in his literature classes, gave an inaccurate portrayal of the professor.

After publication of the article, Times editors reviewed additional information that is at odds with the articles description of Mr. Alareer, a literature professor at Islamic University in Gaza.

In the class witnessed by a Times reporter, Mr. Alareer taught a poem by the Israeli poet Yehuda Amichai, which he called beautiful, saying it underscored the shared humanity of Israelis and Palestinians. He said he admired how it showed that Jerusalem is a place where we all come together, regardless of religion and faith.

However, in a video of a class from 2019, he called the same poem horrible and dangerous, saying that although it was aesthetically beautiful, it brainwashes readers by presenting the Israelis as innocent. He also discussed a second Israeli poem, by Tuvya Ruebner, which he called dangerous, adding this kind of poetry is in part to blame for the ethnic cleansing and destruction of Palestine.
Nancy Schwab loves Christmas. Really, really loves Christmas.

I have Santa collections from when I was little, said Ms. Schwab, 62, a retired school administrator. Thus, it became a source of annual annoyance that decking the house with boughs of holly (and twinkly lights) was frowned upon in her Joliet, Ill., neighborhood until Thanksgiving had come and gone.

Almost two years ago, Ms. Schwab and her husband, Robert, a retired carpenter and contractor, began to contemplate relocating to a place with a vastly different feel. We started researching, and Santa Claus, Ind., came up, Ms. Schwab said of the town in the southern part of the Hoosier state that bills itself as Americas Christmas Hometown.

Theres plenty to back up the boosterism: Yule-themed businesses like Santas Toys, Santas Candy Castle, Santa Claus Haus, the Santa Claus Museum & Village and street names like Silver Bell Circle, Mistletoe Drive, Donder Lane and the main stem, Christmas Boulevard. Statues of St. Nick stand sentry at, among other spots, the post office, the town hall, Santas Lodge, a local hotel, and the Key Associates Signature Realty agency. The 2017 Lifetime movie Snowed-Inn Christmas was set  though not shot  in Santa Claus.
Shirley McBay, who in 1966 became the first Black person to receive a doctorate from the University of Georgia, and who went on to be a leading voice for diversity in science and math education, died on Nov. 27 at her home in Los Angeles. She was 86.

Her son Ron McBay said the cause was diabetes and normal pressure hydrocephalus, a form of dementia.

Educated in Georgias segregated public schools and several of its historically Black colleges, Dr. McBay enrolled in the University of Georgias Ph.D. program in mathematics in 1964, just three years after the school desegregated. At the time, she was among the few Black students on campus and among just a handful of women, Black or white, studying math or science.

None of that deterred her. Already armed with masters degrees in math and chemistry, she became not just the first Black student to receive a Ph.D. from the university but also the first woman to receive a doctorate in mathematics there. Offered a chance to join the universitys faculty, she declined, opting instead for Spelman College, the historically Black school in Atlanta, where she had already been teaching.
Adorned with dried Queen Annes lace, red clover flowers, bolted callaloo, dried onion flowers, fresh thyme and a fresh cabbage rose on top, the cake that baker Aimee France made for a recent wedding at the Loeb Boathouse in Central Park looked as if it could have been decorated with flora she found while transporting it to the location.

The olive oil cake, layered with cardamom whipped cream and a jam made of lemon, bergamot leaf and blackberries, was frosted in brown butter prosecco buttercream in Ms. Frances signature style: Loose, lumpy and fantastically imperfect. It was a look, she said, that was inspired by the flowers and color scheme for the wedding. But, like most of her confections, the cake was perhaps more so influenced by her artistic mood.

Honestly, that week I was on a big Phantom of the Opera kick, she said.

Based in Bushwick, Brooklyn, Ms. France, 22, started her baking business in August 2020, and cites the music and costumes of opera and ballet as frequent inspirations. She often decorates her cakes with halos of dried herbs that she forages from her home state of New Hampshire, and intentionally arranges some askew so that they tilt like a frosted Tower of Pisa.
It may or may not be a spoiler to say that other children in the town follow suit, each manifesting as a different kind of animal, each determined to save the earth from their parents recklessness.

With the grown-ups in danger of selling their souls, Wild is partly a morality play, gesturing in the direction of Christopher Marlowes Doctor Faustus  and also toward Brecht, Dr. Seuss and Urinetown. All of it in two dimensions.

Which is unfortunate, because the cast is packed with talent. Menzel, a disarmingly sympathetic not-so-evil stepmother in Amazons recent Cinderella, brings an appealing ease and playfulness to Bea, and adds a touch of country music to the richness of her voice (Menzels run in the show ends Dec. 23). And Yde opens a window to Sophias soul with a couple of striking solos, Dear Everything and Human.

With music principally by the pop songwriters Justin Tranter and Caroline Pennell, and lyrics principally by Tranter, Pennell and V, Wild is a slickly produced work in progress. Rock-show lighting by the excellent Jeanette Oi-Suk Yew is remarkably effective in revving up the crowd during the more anthemic numbers.

The cast of 10 is backed by a three-piece band (the music director is David Freeman Coleman) and members of the Boston Childrens Chorus, who add vocal depth and, by their presence, enhance the sense of a generation demanding action.

But the show comes across as more pageant than musical, with politics paramount. Too often, the text bonks us over the head with its messaging, as when Sophias friend Forte (Paravi Das) explains that all living things are now being seriously jeopardized by us humans  well, non-Indigenous humans, of course.

And does a debate over pronouns really need to erupt  around Possible (the very funny Luke Ferrari), a nonbinary teenager, and their unaccepting father, Mr. Custom (Munoz)  during the crisis over Sophias disappearance? Might there be a more organic moment to make the same point?
Damnation Spring, by Ash Davidson

An excerpt from our review, From Towering Redwoods to Tiny Creatures, This Novel Has It All:

The book unfolds in a tightknit community in Northern California over the course of four seasons, in the late 1970s. Its a vivid portrayal of the land and its people, a snapshot of a not-so-distant time, but it also digs into the gnarled history of the place. And its a glorious book  an assured novel thats gorgeously told.

Frankie & Bug, by Gayle Forman

An excerpt from our review of this childrens book, A Different Kind of California Dreaming:

In Formans capable hands, the setting of late 80s Venice Beach is a living, breathing character. You can smell the coconut suntan lotion and hear Duran Duran playing in the background.

L.A. Weather, by Maria Amparo Escandon

An excerpt from our review, Married 39 Years, and Ready to Call It Quits Over Their Kids Objections:

Escandon drops us into the Rancho Verde four-bedroom home of the Alvarados, a wealthy Mexican American family harboring a host of secrets and lies. Its a capacious book, chock-full of human drama set against the backdrop of a record-breaking California drought, and Escandon writes with a great deal of energy and love for her characters.

Something New Under the Sun, by Alexandra Kleeman

An excerpt from our review, A Climate Nightmare in a Burning Los Angeles:

What constitutes an emergency? That is one of the questions posed, with chilly, stylish composure, by Alexandra Kleemans new novel, Something New Under the Sun, an unlikely amalgam of climate horror story, movie-industry satire and made-for-TV mystery. Its dreamy Los Angeles is a waking nightmare whose contours emerge in offhand asides.

We Run the Tides, by Vendela Vida

An excerpt from our review, Her Best Friend Claims They Witnessed a Sex Crime. She Has Her Doubts:

Vidas San Francisco is ramshackle and eccentric, home to heiresses but also tide pools of counterculture backwash  The affectionate specificity of the portrait she offers is one of the books real pleasures.
The radio broadcaster and anti-debt crusader Dave Ramsey has been accused of firing an employee for wearing masks at the office and for wanting to work from home during the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a federal lawsuit filed this week.

The lawsuit said that Mr. Ramsey, an evangelical Christian and the owner of Ramsey Solutions, a personal finance advice empire that he started in 1992, ran a cultlike environment where employees who worried about the pandemic were accused of weakness of spirit and told to pray if they wanted to ward off the virus.

The complaint was filed in U.S. District Court in Tennessee on Monday by Brad Amos, a former employee at the company, which is based near Nashville. A lawyer for Mr. Ramsey said the case was without merit and that the company has followed guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention throughout the pandemic.

Mr. Amos, 45, said he was hired in 2019 as a senior video editor making $90,000 a year, then was fired in July 2020, after repeatedly telling his supervisors that he wanted to work from home to protect the health of his wife and son, in accordance with his own Christian beliefs.
Linda Lopez McAlister, a philosophy and womens studies professor and a founder of Hypatia, a feminist journal that was the first major publication of its kind, died on Nov. 9 at her home in Albuquerque. She was 82.

The cause was heart failure, said Sharon Bode, her wife and sole survivor.

Philosophy, like most disciplines in academia and beyond, was very much a mans world when Dr. McAlister began her studies in the late 1950s. (It had been so since antiquity; Aristotle famously had some rather peculiar ideas about female anatomy, averring that women had fewer teeth than men and a lower body heat, conditions that he believed disqualified them from serious endeavors like philosophy.)

Dr. McAlister recalled in an essay for Hypatia in 1989 that when she entered the doctoral program in philosophy at Cornell in 1964, the administration broke its rule of admitting just one woman each year and took a chance, as she was told, by admitting four.

After earning her Ph.D., she was hired as a professor of philosophy at Brooklyn College and quickly became invigorated by the womens movement. With her peers around the country she began challenging sexism in their field. They wanted to publish work from a feminist perspective, but there was no place to do it.
Xavier Becerra, the secretary of health and human services, hinted on Tuesday that the Biden administration may need to ask Congress for more money to fight the coronavirus pandemic, depending on the scope and severity of a potential new wave of infections fueled by the Omicron variant.

During a round-table discussion with reporters that focused heavily on testing, Mr. Becerra noted that while the administration has some flexibility to move money around, of the $50 billion Congress has allocated for testing, about $10 billion is left. President Biden has made expanded testing a centerpiece of the winter pandemic strategy he recently announced.

Are we going to have more than $10 billion worth of needs and costs on Covid, especially in regards to testing? Mr. Becerra said. Theres a strong chance we will, depending on where Omicron takes us. He added that his departments experts were trying to make projections to determine whether additional funding would be necessary  before the need becomes urgent.

The president said weve got to stay ahead of this, so we dont want to be asking Congress for money after we know we need it, he said.
After the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, the group grew disillusioned with Mr. Trump. The president distanced himself from the riot and declined to offer immunity to those who were involved. The Proud Boys have also experienced a leadership vacuum, after Mr. Tarrio was arrested two days before the Capitol attack on charges of property destruction and illegally holding weapons.

That was when the Proud Boys began concentrating on local issues, Mr. Holt said. But as local chapters flourished, he said, the group increased their radical tendencies because members felt more comfortable taking extreme positions in smaller circles.

Many Proud Boys local chapters have now taken on causes tied to the coronavirus pandemic, with members showing up at protests over mask mandates and mandatory vaccination policies, according to researchers who study extremism.

This year, members of the Proud Boys were recorded at 145 protests and demonstrations, up from 137 events in 2020, according to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project, a nonprofit that monitors violence. But the data most likely understates the Proud Boys activities because it doesnt include school board meetings and local health board meetings, said Shannon Hiller, the executive director of the Bridging Divides Initiative, a nonpartisan research group that tracks political violence.

Ms. Hiller said the Proud Boys have shown consistently high levels of activity this year, unlike last year when there was a spike only around the election. She called the change concerning, adding that she expected to see the groups appearances intensify before the midterms.

On the Proud Boys local Telegram channels, members often share news articles and video reports about students who were barred from schools for refusing to wear a mask or employees who were fired over a vaccine requirement. Some make plans to appear at protests to act as muscle, with the goal of intimidating the other side and attracting new members with a show of force, according to the Telegram conversations viewed by The Times.
JOHANNESBURG  An early study of coronavirus test results in South Africa suggests that, so far, patients infected with the Omicron variant may be hospitalized less often than patients infected with earlier versions of the virus.

The study  which was released on Tuesday and is based on only three weeks of data  also shows that vaccines are not as effective against the variant, which poses a higher risk of breakthrough infections.

Epidemiologists have cautioned that data from a few more weeks will be needed to draw firmer conclusions, in part because Omicron has not yet spread widely and because only a small percentage of infected people become ill enough to be hospitalized.

The study, by a private health insurance company, offers a preliminary look at the course of the Omicron variant, but there are other possible explanations for the trends that were observed.
CAP-HAITIEN, Haiti  More than 60 people were killed and scores more were wounded early Tuesday when a truck carrying gasoline exploded in northern Haiti, officials said.

The truck, carrying some 9,000 gallons of fuel, swerved and toppled over in a residential area of the city of Cap-Haitien, according to local officials and witnesses. A crowd then gathered to siphon off its gas before the truck exploded around midnight, scorching everything in a 100-yard radius, said Frandy Jean, the head of firefighters for northern Haiti.

Its the first time since Ive been a firefighter, in over 17 years, that I have lived such a catastrophe, Mr. Jean, 49, said.

The accident is the latest tragedy to befall Haiti this year, with the country still reeling from the July assassination of President Jovenel Moise. Since then, the Caribbean nation has been struck by a deadly earthquake, severe flooding and a spree of kidnappings perpetrated by the countrys increasingly powerful criminal gangs.
JAKARTA, Indonesia  Downplaying direct confrontation between the United States and China, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken on Tuesday pledged to strengthen relations with Indo-Pacific nations through billions of dollars in American investment and aid and, in doing so, counter Beijings regional pull.

That soft-power pitch was delivered at Universitas Indonesia in Jakarta, the countrys capital, and continued with a series of agreements on maritime cooperation and education and Peace Corps exchanges. The university was also the site of a speech nearly 60 years ago by Robert F. Kennedy, who spoke then of open relations among states, so long as one did not threaten the rights of others.

Mr. Blinken called it remarkable that the broader goal had changed so little for a region that now accounts for 60 percent of the global economy and is growing faster than anywhere else in the world. The Indo-Pacific covers countries primarily in the Indian Ocean region, including India, Australia, Japan and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN.

We all have a stake in ensuring that the worlds most dynamic region is free from coercion and accessible to all, he said. This is good for people across the region, and its good for Americans, because history shows that when this vast region is free and open, America is more secure and more prosperous.
MANILA  President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines on Tuesday ended his bid for a Senate seat in next Mays elections, one day after promising a peaceful transition of power.

It was a surprising move by the populist, ruthless Mr. Duterte, who is constitutionally barred from seeking another six-year presidential term. He had previously announced plans to run as vice president, in what critics charged was part of a scheme to hang on to power unofficially and ward off possible prosecution by the International Criminal Court. A report from that court has said there was sufficient evidence to show that crimes against humanity had been committed in Mr. Dutertes bloody drug war, which has left thousands dead.

However, he dropped the vice-presidential plan in October and announced that his chief aide, Senator Christopher Lawrence Go, would run instead.

Another widely reported possibility had been that Sara Duterte-Carpio, his popular daughter, would seek the presidency, but she has chosen instead to run for vice president. She is effectively the running mate of presidential candidate Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the son and namesake of the late dictator who was ousted in 1986 after two decades in power.
When the sequencing results came back on Dec. 2, revealing that the man had the Omicron variant, officials went to look for him, but when we arrived at the hotel, we found him missing, said Dr. K. V. Trilok Chandra, a top health official in Bengaluru.

The authorities began an investigation into how the man managed to leave the country. The police said he received help from two employees at a lab after promising them higher-paid jobs at the pharmaceutical company in return for a falsified test report. The lab workers were arrested. The police also arrested two senior employees at the pharmaceutical company.

There is a black market for false virus documents in South Asia, including Bangladesh, where one minister called the widespread use of fake Covid-19 certificates a huge blow to the image of our country.

The Indian authorities started an investigation in June after learning that some private agencies that were responsible for coronavirus testing of pilgrims at a sprawling Hindu festival had forged at least 100,000 test results.

The case of the South African executive is not the first time India has run into issues with travelers since the emergence of Omicron. Officials said earlier this month that for days, they had been unable to get in touch with or track at least 10 people who had arrived in Bengaluru from southern Africa, where the variant is widespread, because the people had switched off their mobile phones. (They were later located.)
The authorities in northern Greece have jailed three people pending trial and placed restrictions on eight others over an attack on a school principal related to coronavirus restrictions.

The police said the group of people handcuffed the principal on Friday and drove him to a local precinct, suggesting that officers arrest him for enforcing Covid measures at the school that they said breached constitutional freedoms.

Instead, the members of the group, which calls itself the Guardians of the Constitution, were detained. The 11  nine men and two women  face abduction charges along with a string of lesser offenses, including disturbing the peace and violating measures aimed at preventing the spread of disease. Three of them have children who attend the school, according to one of their lawyers, who said they were protesting the measures and had not intended to hurt the principal.
MOSCOW  A court in Belarus on Tuesday convicted an opposition leader on charges of organizing mass unrest and inciting social hatred over his attempt to challenge the countrys authoritarian leader, Aleksandr G. Lukashenko, in a presidential election last year. It sentenced him to 18 years in prison.

The activist, Sergei Tikhanovsky, 43, ran a popular YouTube channel in Belarus before announcing his candidacy for the 2020 vote. But he was arrested before the election, prompting his wife, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, to step in and lead the popular movement against Mr. Lukashenko.

After months of closed hearings, the regional court in the city of Gomel, Mr. Tikhanovskys hometown, confirmed that it had rendered its verdict on Tuesday. He was on trial along with five other defendants, including Nikolai Statkevich, 65, who ran against Mr. Lukashenko in the 2010 presidential election.

The five other defendants, including Igor Losik, 29, a journalist for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty in Belarus, were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 14 to 16 years.
LONDON  The British government estimates that 200,000 people a day are being infected with the latest coronavirus variant, Omicron. Yet in Parliament on Tuesday, a record number of Conservative lawmakers voted against one of Prime Minister Boris Johnsons key measures to quell the outbreak, a policy of vaccine certification to enter nightclubs and places with large crowds.

The policy passed, with the help of votes from the opposition, as did several other related Covid measures. But with nearly 100 Conservatives voting against Mr. Johnson, it was a stinging rebuke of their leader, undermining his authority at a time when he has called for a national campaign to prevent Omicron from swamping the country.

There are various explanations for this paradox, ranging from Britains cherished tradition of protecting individual liberties to a deep sense of fatigue with a government that has lurched from policy to policy during the pandemic, reversing itself and exhibiting a tendency to flout the rules it imposes on others.

Whatever the reasons, the striking parliamentary mutiny leaves Britain in a curious place as it battles the latest wave of the virus: mobilizing a national vaccine booster campaign, while clinging to the vestiges of the live-and-let-live approach it used last summer, when Mr. Johnson threw off most restrictions in England in what became known as freedom day.
BRUSSELS  Bruised by haphazard pandemic border controls and an ongoing crisis with Belarus over migrants on its eastern frontier, the European Union is proposing changes that could chip away at one of its crowning achievements  the unfettered movement of people within the bloc.

Under new rules proposed by the European Union on Tuesday, member states could introduce border checks whenever they wanted, in the face of both unforeseen and foreseeable events. They would then be able to extend them almost indefinitely, although such checks were once emergency measures within what is supposed to be a borderless area.

Member states would also be able to suspend some protections for asylum seekers if neighboring countries orchestrate migratory flows to the blocs borders, as Belarus has done in recent months to member countries like Poland, Lithuania and Latvia.

Put together, the proposed changes  which still need to be approved by national governments and the European Parliament, which could take many months  would recast the way the worlds biggest passport-free region functions. They are expected to face heated debate in the European Parliament.
ROME  All that separated the giddy Sicilian school children from meeting Old Saint Nick  arriving on horseback with his long white beard, crimson robe and bag full of gifts  was a Christmas message from the bishop of Noto.

Santa Claus, thundered Bishop Antonio Stagliano, is an imaginary character.

Childrens jaws dropped and the holiday wool fell from their eyes as, for many long minutes in the Santissimo Salvatore Basilica, the bishop continued to stick it to Santa, who he said had no interest in families strapped for cash.

The red color of his coat was chosen by Coca-Cola for advertising purposes, the bishop said. Big soda, he added, uses the image to depict itself as an emblem of healthy values.

The bishops broadside against Babbo Natale, as Father Christmas is called here, constituted only the latest installment in what has become a new Italian holiday tradition. Just about every year, Roman Catholic clerics insist that for Italians to keep Christ in Christmas, Santa must be kept out of it.
With new coronavirus cases surging at home, the British government on Tuesday lifted its special restrictions on travelers arriving from 11 African countries, ending measures it had adopted hoping to curb the spread of the Omicron variant.

Nations including South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia were put on a red list in November, requiring anyone arriving in Britain from those countries to quarantine at their own expense in government-approved hotels for 10 days.

Other countries quickly placed their own restrictions on travel from southern Africa, prompting complaints that South Africa was being punished for its effective work in notifying other countries about the spread of the variant. Antonio Guterres, the secretary-general of the United Nations, described the restrictions as a form of travel apartheid.

Now, though, with Omicron already spreading widely in Britain, the government concluded that it had lost the battle to prevent its importation from abroad.
Click to unmute We are on the outskirts of Shanghai today at the most incredible hotel weve ever stayed at. Its the first in the world built inside a quarry. Stick around when we show you around. Catch you later.

Millions have watched Lee and Oli Barretts YouTube dispatches from China. The father and son duo visit hotels in exotic locales, tour out-of-the-way villages, sample delicacies in bustling markets and undergo traditional ear cleanings.

The Barretts are part of a crop of new social media personalities who paint cheery portraits of life as foreigners in China  and also hit back at criticisms of Beijings authoritarian governance, its policies toward ethnic minorities and its handling of the coronavirus.

All the West are hoping to do is to destabilize the area of Xinjiang to stop the rise of China. Xinjiang Genocide - The Campaign to Take Down CHINABarrett Maybe it was America first to infect the world with coronavirus. COVID Started in America First?!The JaYoe Nation No one in the West could possibly imagine that China would be this successful. And this is the big reason why Western media is always attacking China. The Real Reason Western Media Lies about ChinaCyrus Janssen A genocide, they say. A genocide. Theres no proof of genocide. There is no proof of atrocity. All this has been debunked many times. Everything you should know about Xinjiang Uyghur Genocide Allegation HybridWar on China in 9 minutesBest China Info

The videos have a casual, homespun feel. But on the other side of the camera often stands a large apparatus of government organizers, state-controlled news media and other official amplifiers  all part of the Chinese governments widening attempts to spread pro-Beijing messages around the planet.

State-run news outlets and local governments have organized and funded pro-Beijing influencers travel, according to government documents and the creators themselves. They have paid or offered to pay the creators. They have generated lucrative traffic for the influencers by sharing videos with millions of followers on YouTube, Twitter and Facebook.

With official media outlets backing, the creators can visit and film in parts of China where the authorities have obstructed foreign journalists reporting.

A photo shared by the creator Matt Galat during a livestreamed discussion shows Chinese media employees documenting a trip that a state broadcaster organized for foreign YouTubers.

Most of the YouTubers have lived in China for years and say their aim is to counter the Wests increasingly negative perceptions of the country. They decide what goes into their videos, they say, not the Communist Party.

But even if the creators do not see themselves as propaganda tools, Beijing is using them that way. Chinese diplomats and representatives have shown their videos at news conferences and promoted their creations on social media. Together, six of the most popular of these influencers have garnered more than 130 million views on YouTube and more than 1.1 million subscribers.

Sympathetic foreign voices are part of Beijings increasingly ambitious efforts to shape the world conversation about China. The Communist Party has marshaled diplomats and state news outlets to carry its narratives and drown out criticism, often with the help of armies of shadowy accounts that amplify their posts.

In effect, Beijing is using platforms like Twitter and YouTube, which the government blocks inside China to prevent the uncontrolled spread of information, as propaganda megaphones for the wider world.

China is the new super-abuser that has arrived in global social media, said Eric Liu, a former content moderator for Chinese social media. The goal is not to win, but to cause chaos and suspicion until there is no real truth.

The State Behind the Camera

Raz Gal-Or started making funny videos when he was a college student in Beijing. Now, the young Israeli brings his millions of subscribers along as he interviews both ordinary people and fellow expatriates about their lives in China.

In a video this spring, Mr. Gal-Or visits cotton fields in Xinjiang to counter allegations of forced labor in the region.

Its totally normal here, he declares after enjoying kebabs with some workers. People are nice, doing their job, living their life.

Click to unmute

His videos do not mention the internal government documents, firsthand testimonials and visits by journalists that indicate that the Chinese authorities have held hundreds of thousands of Xinjiangs Muslims in re-education camps.

They also do not mention his and his familys business ties to the Chinese state.

The chairman of Mr. Gal-Ors video company, YChina, is his father, Amir, an investor whose fund is backed by the government-run China Development Bank, according to the funds website.

YChina has had two state-owned news outlets as clients, according to the website of Innonation, a company founded by Amir Gal-Or. Innonation manages shared-office spaces and hosts YChinas office in Beijing.

In emails with The New York Times, Raz Gal-Or said that YChina had no business contracts with state news agencies and that Innonations website was inaccurate. He said no official entities paid or guided him in Xinjiang.

He said his Xinjiang video series was about peoples lives, well-beings and dreams.

Those who perceive it as political I am sure have their own agenda, he added.

Doing a Job

Other creators acknowledge that they have accepted financial support from state entities, though they say this does not make them mouthpieces for Beijing.

Kirk Apesland, a Canadian living in China, calls his channel Gweilo 60. (Gweilo is Cantonese slang for foreigner.) He rejects news of repression in Xinjiang and cites his own happy experiences to contest the idea that Chinas people are oppressed.

Chinas locking up people in re-education camps. Theyre trying to educate these people so that they have jobs and skills and stuff into the future. Its a big difference from Guantanamo Bay, where you get locked up. Accusing CHINA of Genocide, Forced Labor and SterilizationGweilo 60

After The Times contacted Mr. Apesland, he posted a video titled New York Times vs Gweilo 60. In it, he acknowledges that he accepts free hotels and payment from city and provincial authorities. He compares it to being a pitchman for local tourism.

Are there fees for what I do? Of course, he says. Im doing a job. Im putting the videos out to hundreds of thousands of people.

Lee Barrett makes a similar acknowledgment in one of his videos. They pay for travel, they pay for accommodation, they pay for food, he says. However, they dont tell us what we have to say by any means.

Oli Barrett did not respond to a request for comment.

According to a document featured in a new report by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, Chinas internet regulator paid about $30,000 to a media company as part of a campaign called A Date With China, which used foreign internet celebrities to promote the governments success in alleviating poverty.

The research institute, which is called ASPI and is funded by the Australian and American governments and companies including military contractors, has published several reports on Chinas coercive policies in Xinjiang.

When the YouTubers travel on the state dime, official organizers shape what they see and do. Not long ago, Lee Barrett, an influencer named Matt Galat and two creators from Mexico held a livestreamed discussion about a trip they took to Xian with the state broadcaster China Radio International.

The organizers asked Mr. Galat to deliver a speech praising a place he had yet to see, he said during the discussion. He refused.

During another part of the trip, Mr. Galat was frustrated that a visit to a sacred mountain was cut from the schedule.

They had to fit in more propaganda visits, he said.

They had to fit in more propaganda visits.

They didnt say that, did they, but thats what happened. The JaYoe Nation

Mr. Galat later removed the stream of the discussion from his channel. He declined to say why.

How to Win Likes and Influence People

It is unclear how much income the creators may be generating from this work. But apart from money, Chinese government entities have also provided something that can be just as valuable for a social media personality: digital traffic.

YouTube uses advertising revenue to pay influencers based on how many people are watching. Those eyeballs can also help influencers land sponsorship deals with big brands, as several of the pro-China YouTubers have done.

Mr. Gal-Or posted his video about Xinjiangs cotton farms on YouTube on April 8, shortly after Nike, H&M and other brands came under fire in China for expressing concern about reports of forced labor.

What I saw in Xinjiang working as a Cotton Farmer

Within days, his video was reposted with Italian subtitles by the Facebook page of Chinas embassy in Italy, which has nearly 180,000 followers.

In the weeks that followed, the video, along with other clips of Mr. Gal-Or in Xinjiang, were shared on Facebook and Twitter by at least 35 accounts run by Chinese embassies and official news outlets, according to data collected by ASPI and verified by the Times. In total, the accounts have roughly 400 million followers.

Cina Radio Internacia

April 10 Israela blogisto Raz Galor lastatempe vizitis gubernio Shaya, regiono Aksu, Xinjiang kaj persone spertis masinan kultivadon de loka kotono. Li diris, ke post tiu ci vizito, li profunde sentis belecon de la regiono, solidarecon de ciuj etnoj, felicon de la popolo kaj progreson de la ekonomio. Cin Buyukelciligi Ankara/Chinese Embassy in Turkey

April 9 Pamuk yetistiriciligini deneyimlemek icin Xinjianga giden bir yabanc:

Yabanc medya gercek #Xinjiang gormek istemiyor.

Xinjiangda pamuk ekimi cep telefonu araclgyla gerceklestirilebilir. Ambassade de Chine en France

April 9 Quand un etranger apprend la culture du coton au Xinjiang Ambassade de Chine au Senegal @ChineAmbassade  Apr 30

L'avril, c'est la bonne saison pour l'ensemencement du coton. En #Chine, un jeune garcon britannique a filme son experience en tant que paysan de coton au #Xinjiang. Decouvrons avec lui la scene vivante de recolte de #cotton du Xinjiang. China Embassy in Malaysia

April 14 Whats the daily live of the local people in Xinjiang? Lets follow youtuber Ychina to visit #Aksu Prefecture in #Xinjiang and check out the stories of the locals. Enjoy the video. Ambassade de Chine en France @AmbassadeChine  Apr 9

RT @Yo_fr1: @hari_yass @AmbassadeChine  @ChnEmbassy_jp  Apr 9

150200What I saw in Xinjiang working as a Cotton Farmer  Cinske velvyslanectvo na Slovensku

June 22 Curious about Xinjiang cotton farmers' working condition and salary? Let's pay a visit to them with a foreign vlogger. #ChinaStory #Xinjiang Chinese Embassy in Prague Velvyslanectvi Cinske lidove republiky

April 15 Raz vyzpovidal deset nahodne vybranych obyvatel Sin-tiangu a ziskal tak jedinecnou moznost nahlednout do kazdodenniho zivota mistnich obyvatel. Embajada China en CR

April 14 QUE OPINAN LOS EXTRANJEROS SOBRE CHINA | Ep6 Raz Galor: Mire lo que he visto trabajando como un agricultor de algodon en Xinjiang! (Vlog completo)

Basado en su propia experiencia en Xinjiang, el bloguero Raz Galor comento que estaba muy impresionado por la tecnologia avanzada de la industria del algodon de Xinjiang y senalo que el pueblo local disfruta de un salario alto, nada que ver con las infundadas acusasiones de "trabajo forzoso".

Vean el video y la verdad en el siguiente enlace y no se olviden de suscribirse a su canal en Youtube! CRI German

April 17 Der israelische Video-Influencer Raz Galor interviewte drei verschiedene Familien in Xinjiang. Sie haben ihre eigenen Lebensweisen und erzahlen die Anderungen in #Xinjiang aus ihren Erfahrungen. (via bilibili)  Cinske velvyslanectvo na Slovensku @ChinaEmbSVK  Jun 22

RT @XichengBeijing:  Ychina Ambasciata della Repubblica Popolare Cinese in Italia

April 9 NOTIZIE DELL' ULTIM'ORA!

Abbiamo scoperto che il lavoro forzato nei campi di cotone nello Xinjiang esiste davvero!

I contadini stanno costringendo i trattori e i droni a lavorare da soli

Non perdere il video di Ychina! Chinese Embassy in Kenya @ChineseEmbKenya  Apr 13

Raz Galor from Israel visited Xinjiang days ago. Lets check his Vlog to see what he found in Xinjiang. Episode I : What I saw in Xinjiang working as a Cotton Farmer Romanian Service, China Radio International

April 19 Xinjiang: Experienta unui strain de a planta bumbac cu uigurii

In videoclipul realizat de YChina si vloggerul israelian, Raza Galor se arata experienta unui strain de 28 de ani, absolvent al Universitatii Peking, care a plantat bumbac impreuna uigurii din prefectura Aksu din Xinjiang. Din ianuarie 2017, YChina a inceput sa publice vloguri si documentare despre China pe diferite aplicatii video, castigand sprijinul urmaritorilor chinezi. CRI HAUSA

April 9 Kwanan nan ne na kalli wani shirin bidiyo da wani dan kasar Israila mai suna Raz Galor, ko kuma Gao Yousi a yaren Sin ya dauka, game da ziyarar gani da ido da ya yi a birnin Aksu na jihar Xinjiang. Dalilin zuwansa Xinjiang shi ne, amsa tambayar da abokanansa dake kasashen waje suka yi masa, dangane da ainihin halin da ake ciki a Xinjiang. Kamar shin da gaske ne ana tilastawa yan kwadago su yi aikin noman auduga a wajen? Shin da gaske ne ana muzgunawa maaikata yan kananan kabilun wajen? Ga sharhin da Murtala Zhang ya rubuta Chinese Embassy in Ireland @ChinaEmbIreland  Apr 14

Israeli blogger Raz Galor working as a cotton farmer in Xinjiang.

YouTubes and Googles algorithms favor videos that are shared widely on social media.

Dictatorial countries can centralize their understanding of the algorithm and use it to boost all their channels, said Guillaume Chaslot, a former Google engineer who helped develop YouTubes recommendation engine.

On Twitter, Mr. Gal-Ors video was shared by many accounts with suspiciously bare digital personas, according to Darren Linvill, who studies social media disinformation at Clemson University. This, he said, is a characteristic sign of a coordinated operation.

Of the 534 accounts that tweeted the video from April through the end of June, two-fifths had 10 or fewer followers, Professor Linvill found. One in nine had zero followers. For nine accounts, Mr. Gal-Ors video was their first tweet.

Such activity has added to Mr. Gal-Ors and other creators digital footprints.

Joshua Lam and Libby Lange, graduate student researchers at Yale University, analyzed a sample of nearly 290,000 tweets that mentioned Xinjiang in the first half of 2021. They found that six of the 10 most commonly shared YouTube videos in the tweets were from the pro-China influencers.

Transparency for Influencers

YouTube told The Times that it hadnt found evidence that these creators were linked to coordinated influence operations. The site, which is part of Google, regularly takes down channels that it finds to be promoting messages in a repetitive or coordinated way.

But YouTube also requires channels to disclose sponsorships or other commercial relationships so viewers can be made aware. After The Times asked about the payments and free travel from Chinese state media, YouTube said it would remind the creators of their obligations.

YouTube also tries to promote transparency by labeling channels run by government-funded news organizations. But the platform does not label the personal channels of their employees, it said.

This allows some YouTubers to obscure the fact that they work for Chinese state media.

Li Jingjing takes her subscribers into the coral reefs of the South China Sea and discusses the Wests efforts to contain China. Her channel does not mention that she works for China Global Television Network.

Click to unmute

Stuart Wiggins channel, The China Traveler, does not indicate that he works for Peoples Daily. Yet that was how Mr. Wiggin, who is British, was identified by another state newspaper, China Daily, in its coverage of the Date With China campaign.

In his videos from Xinjiang, Mr. Wiggin raves about the cuisine and interviews locals about how their lives have improved. Topics like re-education camps do not come up.

Ms. Li and Mr. Wiggin did not respond to requests for comment.

No Regrets

Mr. Galat was among the most popular pro-Beijing YouTubers by the time he left China this year to bring his channel to new places. He is now documenting his travels across the United States.

In an interview, Mr. Galat said he had no regrets about his videos from China.

Before the pandemic, Mr. Galat, a Detroit native living in Ningbo, had built a YouTube following with his happy-go-lucky travel videos.

Click to unmute [Laughing] Nobody asked these people to dance. They just enjoy dancing and their parents are proud of them, that theyre carrying on this cultural idea of them dancing.

As China emerged from the worst of the outbreak, he began receiving travel invitations from local governments and state news outlets.

At the time, China was trying to deflect Western criticism of its pandemic response. Mr. Galat said he was bothered by those criticisms, too.

His YouTube videos started getting political. He mused about whether the virus might have come from the United States. He hosted a discussion about the Western campaign against Huawei, the Chinese tech giant.

People like to have dramatic and aggressive feelings toward things, and a lot of that content was more popular than, say, my normal travel videos, he said.

By this year, Mr. Galats channel had more than 100,000 subscribers. He acknowledged that the Chinese state medias support helped his channel grow. As his trips with state media grew longer, the outlets paid him for his time, he said. He declined to say how much.

This summer, he went to Xinjiang on a trip planned by CGTN, the state broadcaster.

Just a thought for those that want to compare China to Nazi Germany, he says in one video at a museum on the culture of the Uyghurs, one of Xinjiangs minority groups. Do you think that there was maybe museums in Germany before the war that were embracing Jewish culture?

The views on Mr. Galats YouTube videos have fallen since he left China. That doesnt bother him, he said. In the future, his channel probably wont be so political.

I am not completely comfortable, he said, being a political talking post for big issues.
1 Sequence and track cases 2 Pinpoint the variants transmissibility 3 Investigate existing immunity 4 Determine the variants severity

Scientists have moved quickly since the World Health Organization designated Omicron a variant of concern in late November. Observations arrive in rapid succession, often posted straight to social media without peer review or the caveats and uncertainties that would be noted in published papers. Watching science unfold in real time can be confusing and misleading.

We are going to see a couple of weeks of every day, new information, new studies, said Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, chief scientist at the W.H.O. One study is not going to really prove anything.

So what do researchers need to do in the weeks and months ahead to better understand Omicron  and any future variants  and how should we gauge their progress? Heres a guide for following along.

1. Sequence and track cases Omicron has been detected in more than 65 countries, and it continues to spread. Researchers expect it to become dominant in many countries, though the Delta variant is still the most common around the world. Whats being done Some evidence found Researchers are making sure Omicron doesnt reduce the performance of existing tests. Early research in progress Countries are watching case counts and testing levels, and estimating Omicrons spread.

Omicron was first identified in South Africa in late November, and cases there soon began to rise faster than during previous waves.

Covid-19 waves in South Africa Seven-day rolling averages. Waves are defined by a sustained increase in the seven-day rolling average of new cases over two weeks. Data from Feb. 7, 2020 to Dec. 12, 2021. 5,000 10,000 15,000 20,000 new cases 1 day 30 60 90 120 Omicron wave Previous waves

South Africas public health agency estimates that Omicron has accounted for the majority of its coronavirus cases in recent weeks, based on the genomic sequencing of a small share of its positive test samples.

Case counts are also rising quickly in Britain, Denmark and Norway, where Omicron is likely to become dominant. The United States is also facing a rise in cases, but only low levels of the variant have been detected so far. Omicron cases are expected to rise, but, for now, the Delta variant remains dominant in America.

But genomic sequencing has some challenges: It is time consuming, and it takes at least a week for results to emerge. Some countries perform more sequencing than others. It can also be biased, especially in the early days of monitoring a new variant.

Test manufacturers and government researchers have also said that Omicron does not appear to decrease the ability of the most commonly used P.C.R. and rapid at-home tests to identify virus cases.

Researchers are closely monitoring countries that have higher levels of Delta than South Africa had when Omicron took off there. Look for additional sequencing data from Britain, Europe and parts of the United States in the coming days.

2. Pinpoint the variants transmissibility Preliminary studies from South Africa, Britain and parts of Europe suggest that Omicron may be spreading faster than Delta, but scientists say that the variant should be monitored in more places and for longer periods to rule out random chance. Whats being done Early research in progress Modelers are estimating how much and how quickly Omicron might spread among different populations.

Scientists are also studying Omicrons transmission in households and small groups.

A variants spread is measured by its reproduction number, which indicates how many people are expected to catch the virus from a single infected person. The estimates below show that the reproduction number in South Africa has been higher in December than at any other point except for the start of the pandemic.

Covid-19 reproduction number in South Africa The reproduction number is the number of new infections caused by an infected individual. Data from March 19, 2020, to Dec. 10, 2021. 1 2 3 Jan. 2020 June Jan. 2021 June Dec. Start of

pandemic Omicron detected

in South Africa Source: Our World in Data. Note: Omicrons spread in South Africa has declined in recent days. Omicron's reproduction number is expected to change over time, and data may be lagged.

This high reproduction number suggests that Omicron might spread more easily than earlier variants, and that it may evade some of the protections offered by vaccines and previous infections. Modelers have found that Omicron may be several times more transmissible than Delta in South Africa, according to the W.H.O.

Researchers in Britain and Denmark, countries with higher incidences of Delta than South Africa, have drawn similar conclusions, and modelers estimate that Omicron cases are doubling in these locations every two to three days, much more quickly than the Delta variant.

But experts say it may take weeks or even months for the scientific community to better understand why Omicron seems to be more contagious. Researchers are working to determine whether the variants characteristics make it more transmissible by nature or whether its many mutations might help it evade immune systems primed by vaccines or previous infections.

Much of the data on Omicrons spread has come from South Africa and Britain, but expect more analyses from Europe and the United States in the days ahead.

3. Investigate protection afforded by prior infections and vaccines Early lab data show that Omicron may be able to evade some of the bodys defenses built up from vaccines and previous infections. Vaccines are still thought to be strongly protective against hospitalization and death. Whats being done Some evidence found Labs are testing how the antibodies of vaccinated, boosted and previously infected people fare against Omicron. Early research in progress Researchers are monitoring rates of reinfection.

Scientists are studying how other immune cells respond to the variant. Little analysis possible now Epidemiologists are just beginning to monitor how the vaccines perform against Omicron in the real world, as more cases of the variant are found.

There is some early evidence that Omicron might reinfect people more easily than the Delta variant. The first data to examine this came from South African scientists and similar trends have been found in Britain, but experts stress that reinfections should be monitored over longer periods of time and in a variety of populations.

Suspected Covid-19 reinfections in South Africa Data from March 4, 2020, to Nov. 27, 2021. Solid line is a seven-day rolling average. 100 200 300 400 Jan. 2020 June Jan. 2021 June Dec. Source:  Data set for Increased risk of SARS-CoV-2 reinfection associated with emergence of the Omicron variant in South Africa , Juliet R.C. Pulliam et al.

A number of research labs have also begun to test how antibodies induced by vaccines and prior infections compete against Omicron. After combining the variant with blood samples from vaccinated, boosted and previously infected people, the scientists watch to see how many antibodies attack the virus.

Early data suggest that people who have received two doses of an mRNA vaccine have decreased antibody levels against Omicron compared to Delta, but that vaccination combined with prior infection  or vaccination plus a booster  still provides reasonable protection. Health officials are encouraging people to get booster shots to increase their defenses against Omicron.

Vaccine manufacturers are also exploring ways to adjust their doses to more directly target the new variant, though a small Pfizer study suggests its booster offers strong protection against Omicron.

Antibody response to doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine Results of a pseudovirus neutralization test. Values are neutralizing titer levels, where higher levels indicate a stronger response. 21 days after second dose Original strain 155 Omicron variant 6 1 month after third dose Original strain 398 Omicron variant 154 21 days after second dose Original strain 155 Omicron variant 6 1 month after third dose Original strain 398 Omicron variant 154 Source: Pfizer-BioNTech

Antibodies are just one component of the bodys immune system. T cells, another line of defense against the virus, are thought to be more protective against severe illness. Its difficult for scientists to gather these cells, so lab studies of their performance against variants are limited. But researchers have shown that T cells are still likely to recognize Omicron and maintain their protective power even as the virus mutates.

Scientists must also monitor how effective vaccines and booster doses are in the real world, because lab tests cant recreate the full complexity of the human immune system. In contrast to lab studies, vaccine effectiveness studies follow large numbers of people over an extended period of time.

As more Omicron cases emerge, researchers will work to estimate the effectiveness of different combinations of vaccines and boosters across different age groups. It will most likely take months to glean all these answers.

4. Determine the variants severity Early anecdotal evidence suggests the Omicron variant causes milder disease, but experts note that its too soon to be certain. Whats being done Early research in progress Companies that make treatments for critically ill Covid-19 patients are investigating whether their products still work against Omicron. Little analysis possible now Researchers are studying surveillance data to see if people infected with Omicron are more or less likely to become severely ill or die.

It is not yet known whether Omicrons many mutations will make the variant more or less severe than earlier versions of the virus. Although it has a higher number of mutations than previous variants of concern  it has about 50, many of them in the part of the virus that our immune defenses target most directly  some of those mutations might work together or cancel each other out.

Deletions Mutations Key mutations in the Omicron spike (top view) Deletions Mutations Key mutations in the Omicron spike (top view) The New York Times

Scientists cant begin to estimate a variants severity until a few weeks after infections rise, when people are most likely to experience hospitalization and severe illness. But Omicron is just beginning to spread globally, and data on severity is scarce.

Its almost time to look to South Africa, where Omicron has been circulating for several weeks. So far, limited data from parts of the country indicate that hospitalization rates and deaths are low. But many of the hospitalized people in these regions have been young, and its not yet clear if the mild outcomes seen in South Africa are because younger people are less likely to get extremely sick or die from the disease. Immunity from prior infection or vaccination could also result in milder illness.

Experts say that before more general conclusions can be drawn, more data are needed from other parts of the world, in populations of different ages and with different levels of immunity. Its worth noting that several months into a global surge of the Delta variant, researchers are still debating whether that variant is more virulent.

The manufacturers of treatments for severe Covid are testing whether their interventions will remain effective. Many are expected to, according to the W.H.O., but monoclonal antibodies may not perform as well. The makers of Regeneron have said that their antibody treatment might be less effective against Omicron but that tweaks to the drug could be made if needed.
The portrait of abortion in the United States has changed with society. Today, teenagers are having far fewer abortions, and abortion patients are most likely to already be mothers. Although theres a lot of debate over gestational cutoffs, nearly half of abortions happen in the first six weeks of pregnancy, and nearly all in the first trimester.

The typical patient, in addition to having children, is poor; is unmarried and in her late 20s; has some college education; and is very early in pregnancy. But in the reproductive lives of women (and transgender and nonbinary people who can become pregnant) across America, abortion is not uncommon. The latest estimate, from the Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive health research group that supports abortion rights, found that 25 percent of women will have an abortion by the end of their childbearing years.

There isnt one monolith demographic who get abortions, Ushma Upadhyay, a professor with Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health at the University of California, San Francisco, said. The same people who become pregnant and give birth are the same people who have abortions at different points in their lives.

Abortions are declining steadily Abortion rate, 1973 to 2017 30 abortions per 1,000 women 20 16.3 13.5 10 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 30 abortions per 1,000 women 20 16.3 13.5 10 1980 1990 2000 2010 Note: Rates are for women age 15 to 44. Source: Guttmacher Institute

As heated as the issue has become in recent years, the abortion rate, calculated among women ages 15 to 44, has been falling. Americans are having half as many abortions as 30 years ago. Researchers say a variety of factors  including better contraceptive use and less sex among teenagers  is leading to fewer unintended pregnancies.

The data offers a broad outline of abortion in the United States today  and who may be most affected if Roe v. Wade is diminished or overturned by the Supreme Court.

Is Already a Mother

Previous children None 40% One or more 60% Source: C.D.C.

Six in 10 women who have abortions are already mothers, and half of them have two or more children, according to 2019 data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. One of the main reasons people report wanting to have an abortion is so they can be a better parent to the kids they already have, Professor Upadhyay said.

Is in Her First Trimester

Gestation Within 6 weeks 43% 7 to 9 weeks 36% 10 to 13 weeks 13% 14 to 15 weeks 3% 16 weeks or more 4% Source: C.D.C.

Much of the political debate about abortion in America focuses on abortions performed late in pregnancy, but the overwhelming majority of them occur in the first trimester. Forty-three percent of all abortions occur in the first six weeks of pregnancy, and 92 percent in the first 13 weeks.

In 1973, the Roe decision provided a constitutional right to abortion before fetal viability, around 23 weeks. If its overturned, at least 22 states are likely to ban abortions altogether, or much earlier in pregnancy.

The Mississippi law before the Supreme Court concerns a ban on abortions after 15 weeks. In the 47 states with available data, about 21,500 women a year, accounting for 4 percent of American abortions, had the procedure after that time. The women who receive later abortions are more likely to be poor or young or to have serious health complications.

During oral arguments on the Mississippi case, Chief Justice John Roberts seemed interested in changing the legal standard to protect some abortion rights but allow a limit like 15 weeks. No other justice appeared interested in the solution, and lawyers on both sides declined to suggest how a compromise could work legally.

Is in Her Late 20s

Age Teen 9% 20 to 24 28% 25 to 29 29% 30 to 34 20% 35 or older 15% Source: C.D.C.

A majority of abortion patients are in their 20s. Just 9 percent are under 20, and around a third are over 30. Teenagers used to make up a higher share, but there has been a sharp decline in teen pregnancy in the United States, starting in 1991, and a corresponding drop in abortions among teenagers. Today, American women of all demographics are having children later in life.

Abortions as a share of pregnacies, 1973-2017 40% 30% Under 20 20% 20 to 29 40 and older 30 to 39 10% 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 40% Under 20 30% 20 to 29 20% 40 and older 30 to 39 10% 1980 1990 2000 2010 Source: Guttmacher Institute

Has Attended Some College

Education No high school degree 9% High school 27% Some college 41% College graduate 23% Source: Guttmacher Institute

Increasingly, women say they are delaying having children until they can finish school, establish a career and support themselves. The share of women attending college is climbing rapidly. For women who do not feel they have many educational or career opportunities, early parenthood is often embraced as a primary route to fulfillment, social science research has found.

Has a Low Income

Income, as a percentage of the poverty line Below poverty level 49% Up to twice poverty level 26% More than twice poverty level 25% Source: Guttmacher Institute

About half of women who had an abortion in 2014 were below the poverty line, with another quarter very close to poverty. Guttmacher surveys show low-income women have been a growing share of abortion patients in recent decades. Several smaller studies of abortion patients have shown similar results. Researchers say this shift reflects improved access to effective contraception among higher-earning women, and a recognition of the growing costs of raising children among poorer women. It may also reflect the growing presence of charities that help poor women pay for abortions in states where public programs dont.

Its people who dont have access to health care, access to contraception, who, when facing an unintended pregnancy, dont have the resources to have another child, said Rachel Jones, a principal research scientist at Guttmacher.

Has Not Had a Previous Abortion

Previous Abortion None 58% One 24% Two 11% Three 8% Source: C.D.C.

Six in 10 women who have an abortion are having one for the first time. Another quarter have had one previous abortion. Less than a fifth have had two or more. Its simply not the case that abortion is something large numbers of people turn to as a form of birth control, said Caitlin Knowles Myers, an economist at Middlebury who studies reproductive health.

Is Unmarried

Marital Status Married 14% Cohabitating 31% Never married, single 46% Previously married, single 9% Source: Guttmacher Institute

Nearly half of those who have abortions are single. A third are living with a partner, and 14 percent are married. Cohabiting but unmarried people are overrepresented in abortion numbers, while married people are underrepresented, based on their share of the population. One of the groups with the largest declines in unintended pregnancies and in birth rate in recent years are unmarried mothers, according to data analysis by Professor Myers.

Had a Surgical Abortion

Method Surgical 56% Medical 44% Source: C.D.C.

Women seeking abortions early in their pregnancies have two options: a surgical abortion or a medical one, in which they can take pills that cause a miscarriage.

Medical abortions are a growing share. In 2019, about 44 percent of women who sought abortions in clinics before 10 weeks of pregnancy chose pills. (The share of women who use medication abortion is probably higher, because the C.D.C. data excludes California, which has a higher share of medication abortions than other states.) The Food and Drug Administration is considering regulatory changes that would make it easier for more doctors to prescribe the pills. If that happens, they may become an even larger share of the total.

Abortions late in pregnancy or among women with serious medical complications sometimes involve other types of surgery. These procedures represent much less than one percent of all abortions.

Lives in a Blue State

By 2020 Presidential Election result Voted for Biden 68% Voted for Trump 32% Source: C.D.C.

The states with the highest share of women who obtained abortions in 2019 were Democratic-leaning. That may reflect differences in abortion access, and the cultural acceptance of abortion in some regions. In some Republican-leaning states, abortion is already inaccessible to much of the population. In Missouri, Mississippi, North Dakota and South Dakota, there is only one clinic per state, and for some people its not feasible to travel far to reach one.

The same states that restrict access to abortion also have restrictions or increased barriers to contraception, Professor Upadhyay said.

Abortion rates, by state Abortions per 1,000 women 7 9 11 15 Wash. Me. Mont. N.D. Vt. Ore. Minn. N.H. Idaho N.Y. Mass. Wis. S.D. Mich. Wyo. Pa. Iowa Neb. N.J. Nev. Ohio Ill. Ind. Utah Colo. W.V. Calif. Va. Kan. Mo. Ky. N.C. Tenn. Okla. Ariz. N.M. Ark. S.C. Ga. Ala. Miss. La. Texas Alaska Fla. Hawaii Abortions per 1,000 women 7 9 11 15 Wash. Mont. N.D. Minn. Ore. Wis. Idaho S.D. N.Y. Mich. Wyo. Pa. Iowa Nev. Neb. Ohio Ill. Ind. Utah Colo. Va. Calif. Kan. Mo. Ky. N.C. Tenn. Ariz. Okla. Ark. S.C. N.M. Ga. Miss. Ala. Texas La. Alaska Fla. Hawaii Note: Rates are for women age 15 to 44. Source: Guttmacher Institute

Still, the recent declines in the abortion rate have been larger in states with widespread abortion access than in those that have added restrictions, where abortions were more likely to have increased, Dr. Jones said. The declines in Democratic states may be in part because of increased access to contraception and other health care, leading to fewer unplanned pregnancies, she noted.

Around 33 percent of abortions are performed in the 22 states that would be likely to ban abortion if Roe were overturned. There would be fewer abortions in those states post-Roe. But some of those women would travel out of state, and some would end their pregnancies using extralegal means.
Vox Media is in advanced talks to merge with Group Nine, a deal that would unite two of the biggest players in digital media.

The deal would create a company with more than $700M annual revenues and 100M in profit, according to the Wall Street Journal,

Vox Media properties include Vox, New York Magazine, The Verge, The Cut, Eater, Vulture, The Strategist, Polygon, SB Nation, Intelligencer, Curbed, Grub Street and Recode, while Group Nine is parent of NowThis, ThrillList and Dodo.

Vox would own 75 percent of the merged entity and its CEO Jim Bankoff would helm the operation.

Bankoff sent a memo to staffers on Dec. 13 confirming the merger discussion after the WSJ broke the story.

He noted that the deal has not yet been signed but it will happen shortly. The rationale of the merger is to grow revenue, increase scale and continue these incredibly powerful and complementary brands.

A team composed of executives from both companies will develop a thoughtful plan to integrate operations when it makes sense to do so.

Nome of our existing editorial offerings or services will change as a result of this combination and we will be thoughtful wabou how we make decisions and treat people, noted Bankoff.
Gil Bashe, Noah Finn

Finn Partners is acquiring Medika.Life, an opinion and news platform that reaches more than 100K decision-makers and influencers in the healthcare community each month.

It also publishes listicles such as Fifty of the Most Influential Voices in Healthcare and The 50 Most Influential Leaders in Pharmacy.

Gil Bashe, Finn Partners global health chair, and Noah Finn, managing partner-integrated marketing, will serve as co-publishers of Medika.

Editors-in-chief Robert Turner and Jeffrey Livingston will take on the new roles of founding editors-in-chief emeritus.

Turner said Medika, which launched in 2020, is more than an aggregator of medical data and information. Our goal has been to advocate for a medical community committed to uniting the fragmented health ecosystem toward a globally accessible, ethical and equitable industry that places the needs of patients at the forefront, he said.

He called Bashe, who has written for Medika, a kindred spirit equally dedicated to our efforts, which made the deal with Finn Partners a given as we all looked to support the platforms future.

Medika hosts more than 40 authors creating content in general medicine, health policy, ecohealth, disease awareness and other issues of interest to patients, payers and providers.

Peter Finn, founding partner, said through its content and reach Medika seeks to tackle many of the same societal challenges that Finn Partners works to address for its clients.

Finn Partners on Dec. 1 acquired Pharmacy Podcast Network, which reaches more than 120K monthly listeners in the pharmacy sector.

Medika and PPN form the core of Finn Partners new omni-channel communications effort.

Finn Partners ranks No. 4 in the healthcare category with $34.1M in 2020 fee income.
Americans appear to have three goals in 2022, in no particular order: stay healthy, stay politically engaged and avoid returning to the office if they can help it, according to the latest Relevance Report released by the USC Annenberg Center for Public Relations.

The annual USC Center report, which asked Americans about the emerging issues and trends that will be most relevant to them in the coming year, found that more than one in five (21 percent) believe COVID will remain the number-one concern in 2022, beating out our current collective fears surrounding climate change (14 percent), abortion rights (11 percent), voting integrity (10 percent), access to affordable healthcare (nine percent), immigration (six percent), gun control (six percent), homelessness (five percent), racial inequality (three percent) and income inequality (three percent).

The concept of self-care appears to have risen to become a top-of-mind concern in the COVID era. Nearly a quarter (22 percent) of Americans polled said they now want to dedicate some time every day to focus on their wellbeing. Work appears to play no small role in Americans concepts of wellbeing, particularly the prospect of working at home: 14 percent said they want to find a new job where they can work fewer hours than before or get paid more. Only one percent of respondents said they want to go back to the office full-time, and five percent said they want to go to the office only two or three days a week. Once Americans do return to the office, 17 percent said theyd prefer to wear jeans and a T-shirt.

The USC report also makes it clear that, even with Trump out of office, we continue to live in divisive times. According to the report, a persons political views constitute the biggest deal-breaker for a friendship or relationship today (14 percent), followed by what candidate a person thinks won the 2020 presidential election (11 percent). Other contentious issues include a persons stance on abortion rights (eight percent), whether a person has been vaccinated (8 percent), someones position on gun control (six percent) or immigration (four percent), whether they support Black Lives Matter (four percent), whether or not they wear a mask (four percent) and their position on climate change (three percent).

Nearly half of respondents said they plan to support companies next year that share their values (40 percent) and nearly a third (31 percent) said they plan to boycott brands that dont share their values. Nearly the same number (32 percent) said they plan to donate money to a cause or volunteer in their community (31 percent). About a quarter (21 percent) said they plan to post their views on social media, and 12 percent said they plan to participate in a protest.

More than half of Americans polled (56 percent) said they plan to vote in an election next year.

The 2022 edition of the USC Center for PRs Relevance Report surveyed more than 1,100 Americans in October. The survey was conducted via online survey company Survey Monkey.
Red Lorry Yellow Lorry signs on as public relations agency of record for Blockchain Intelligence Group, a global cryptocurrency compliance and intelligence company and subsidiary of BIGG Digital Assets Inc. RLYL will build and execute a media and influencer relations campaign to raise awareness of Blockchain Intelligence Groups expertise, and its risk-scoring, compliance and forensics software. The PR program, run out of the lorries Boston office, will work to drive media attention for Blockchain Intelligence Groups news, events, resources and customer and partner stories, as well as highlight its executive thought leadership on cryptocurrency compliance, investigations and conducting better business with cryptocurrency. Their team has the perfect mix of B2B technology expertise to increase our awareness within a growing and complex space, said Blockchain Intelligence Group head of global marketing and communications Nate Habermeyer.

360PR+ lands grocery distributor United Natural Foods. The agencys work with UNFI is focused on supporting a variety of company initiatives, among them elevating UNFI as an employer of choice and raising awareness of UNFIs Brands+ product portfolio, comprised of over 15 different brands and more than 5,000 products spanning 250 grocery and household categories. 360PR+s strategic thinking and deep category experience is exactly the blend of expertise we were looking for in our PR partner, said Amanda Helming, CMO, UNFI. They came to the table already steeped in our industry and invested in the business and were clearly ready to hit the ground running.

Pietryla PR & Marketing signs on to represent Swap.com. one of the largest online consignment retailers in the US. Launched in 2012, Swap offers clothes for babies, children, women and men and says that its service will handle millions of units over the next few years. It also touts its ability to allow retailers and manufacturers to jump into the circular economy and generate online sales quickly. After meeting with Christine (Pietryla president and owner Christine Pietryla) a few times and reviewing her teams capabilities we were excited to move forward, said Swap.com CEO Gray King.
Jen Friedman

Former White House deputy press secretary Jen Friedman is moving to NBCUniversal, where she will assume the executive vice president communications role on Jan. 10.

Friedman was most recently managing director, global public affairs at The Blackstone Group. Before coming to Blackstone, she was senior director, corporate reputation at GE.

In addition to serving as a senior advisor at both the US Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of the Treasury, she has held communications positions at the Commerce and Homeland Security departments.

Friedman succeeds Hilary Smith, who moved from the corporate communications position in October to take on oversight of NBCUs corporate social responsibility unit.

She will report to Adam Miller, NBCU executive vice president and chief administration officer of its parent company, Comcast.
Those of us hoping for a White Christmas could well be disappointed this year according to the monthly weather forecast for Christmas for Ireland from Met Eireann and the long range forecast from the UK Met Office.

In its monthly forecast for the week for Monday, December 20 to Sunday, December 26, Met Eireann says that while the weather will be cool, at present, the closest it looks like we will come to a White Christmas is frost on the ground.

Met Eireann says that while its monthly forecasts can at times provide an insight into weather patterns in the month ahead, they should not be used for specific planning purposes as they have generally low skill compared with the 10-day forecast. This is because forecasts beyond one week become increasingly uncertain due to the chaotic nature of the atmosphere.

The forecast for December 20 to December 26 says that with high pressure displaced to the northeast, Ireland will be in a more southeast to easterly flow, still holding onto generally below average rainfall amounts and milder conditions however a general cooling is expected through the week. The risk of frost may return later in the week along with the risk of dense fog.

The long range forecast from the UK Met Office is very similar to that of its Irish forecasting counterpart.

In its forecast from December 18 to December 27, the Met Office states that high pressure is expected to build pushing the remaining wind and rain away. Here any rain will be light, giving a much drier second half to December for all and winds expected to be predominantly calm. Although rather cloudy at first, cloud amounts should reduce through the period, especially in the south and southeast. Temperatures near average to start, and locally mild in the north, although they will tend to become colder in time for Christmas, especially in southern areas. As a result, the risk of frost and fog increases, the fog slow to clear through the mornings, and perhaps lasting all day in some places.
Almost 2million in mental health funding will be made available to Community Health Organisations (CHOs) to replace their fleet of vehicles with green or hybrid alternatives.

The news was revealed yesterday (December 13th) by Minister for Mental Health and Older People, Mary Butler, as she confirmed details of 10million in mental health funding announced on Budget Day.

Minister Butler said, "It was of huge importance to me to ensure that as many individuals as possible, benefited from this funding."

According to The Journal, Sinn Fein TD Mark Ward expressed opposition and said, "The minister announced that 1.8 million of 10 million once-off funding for mental health will be spent on a fleet of green or hybrid vehicles for the HSE. Tackling the climate emergency is extremely important but so too is tackling the mental health emergency."

Although over 7million of the funding will be allocated to improve the experiences of people using mental health services, just over 1million has been ringfenced to enhance services in areas like perinatal mental health, men's mental health, trauma informed care, ethnic minorities, eating disorders and dual diagnosis.

The latest available data from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) shows men in Ireland are almost three times more likely to die from suicide than women.

Other areas of investment for CHOs - which provide HSE care outside hospitals - include 150,000 to improve acute inpatient mental health care at CHO 5, 500,000 for mental health day services provision in East Cork, and 170,000 for the continued operation of a mental health crisis cafe in Galway.

Almost 3million will go towards the voluntary sector, including 1million for the continued delivery of free counselling through MyMind, and 1million for Mental Health Ireland through their network of grassroots organisations.

Minister Butler said, "I am confident that this funding will lead to real improvements in the experiences of people using our mental health services and look forward to continuing to work with all stakeholders to enhance our mental health system now and in the future."

If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health issues, call Samaritans free helpline on 116123, Pietas free helpline on 1800-247247, or text 'help' to 51444.
A drive in transmission of the Omicron variant will fill up the hospitals and the ICUs, a global health leader has warned.

Dr Mike Ryan, executive director of World Health Organisation (WHO) health emergencies programme, said even if Omicron turns out to be a milder disease, the rising number of cases will lead to more people in hospital.

Dr Ryan told an Irish Aid webinar, hosted by the Institute of International and European Affairs (IIEA), that he is concerned about unvaccinated people in every country.

It comes after health chiefs in Ireland said that the Omicron variant likely accounts for 11% of new Covid-19 cases in the country.

On #Omicron, @DrMikeRyan says "we need to get ready from a social and public health perspective  think back to India and Brazil and the capacity issues, if we end up with millions and millions of cases of Omicron, we could end up back in a similar situation". pic.twitter.com/l293JyT6nv  IIEA (@iiea) December 14, 2021

Ireland has had 18 confirmed cases associated to the variant.

Speaking at the briefing, Dr Ryan said: Theres no doubt that the rising number and the force of infection will generate more hospitalisations in the coming weeks, just the sheer weight of numbers will generate that.

What Im most concerned about right now today, is the fact that there are unvaccinated people in every country, who are at high risk.

People have moved away from applying even the most basic measures to protect themselves and others, be it government policy or individual behaviour, in terms of mask wearing, avoiding crowded places, in terms of handwashing, in terms of ventilated spaces, all of those issues.

We are likely to drive transmission and have huge numbers of cases and even if Omicron turns out to be a milder disease, if we generate millions and millions and millions of cases, we will fill the hospitals up, we will fill the ICUs up.

So we need to refocus on public health and social measures, vaccinate the unvaccinated.

He urged hospitals to get ready now, and assess its workforce, clinical management and triage.

Look at its oxygen and other supplies. Look at PPE for its health workers, he added.

Because whatever happens, a wave of Omicron, whether its less virulent or not, will generate pressure in the health system.

He also said that specific groups in the population need to get the booster jab, particularly older people or those with underlying conditions who may have lost some protection.

He added: Everything in this response so far has been a little bit about people looking for silver bullets, looking for unicorns, the perfect answers. They dont exist.

What has worked through this pandemic is layered, risk-oriented, evidence-based, consistent advice to people, support the communities  thats the only way out of this.

We cant vaccinate our way out of this. We can lockdown our way out of this.

Colm Brophy, Minister for Overseas Development Aid and Diaspora, said that some time was lost in the global response to Covid due to populist government responses.

He said that responding to a pandemic has to be inclusive and multilateral.

We unfortunately, I think in the world through various governments, which you could maybe have historically relied on the past, which treated the the start to Covid in a very populist way in terms of response, the Fine Gael TD Added.

We lost a lot of time and a lot of ground I think as an international community in terms of how we would respond to Covid.

What we need now is to put in place that structure that looks at all of the regulations, how you prevent pandemic, as well as how you treat a pandemic.

Dr Ryan also praised Irelands vaccination programme.

He said that while there have been criticisms of its rollout, there remains a very high level of trust in the government.

Theres an theres an open debate, theres open media, theres questioning, he added.

But ultimately, at its core, I believe people in Ireland believe the government is trying to help.

They might not like the way its trying to help them, but its trying to help them.

That is not a relationship that all governments have with their population.

When youre in areas of extreme poverty and urban degradation, and exploitation and migration, and all of that put together and then you come in to populations whove had no health, no assistance, no development, no equity for decades and decades.

And you say here we are, were come to save you all now.

"Those who are vaccine hesitant should not be criticised, but they need to be engaged with  through mediums they trust, communicators and influencers in their networks who they will listen to. We have to get the right messages in the right way to those people"  @DrMikeRyan pic.twitter.com/hMBljHFBdn  IIEA (@iiea) December 14, 2021

Its not just about health literacy. Its about a much deeper issue, which is who you trust.

He also said that people who have genuine hesitancy to get vaccinated should not criticised.

People can be vaccine-hesitant for any number of reasons.

Our job in the public sector is to engage with those people and engage with them with influencers and communicators who they trust, Dr Ryan added.

Governments need to learn to branch out and open up and involve civil society, involve non-governmental organisations in that process of trust building.
Are you a current print subscriber? You qualify for online access to the Omak Chronicle. To receive your access, create a website account and then verify your print subscription or e-edition subscription with your subscriber number, which may be found on your bill or mailing label.
Philip Benwell, the long-time head of the Australian Monarchist League, told his members he never thought the Queensland senator would bend with the wind.
Masks are likely to come back into effect in Queensland when COVID-19 begins to circulate widely in the community.
Queenslands border pass system asks travellers to declare they have not been to an interstate exposure venue. But NSW and Victoria stopped publishing sites, despite rising cases.
Tesco has seen off the threat of a pre-Christmas strike by workers at nine distribution centres as it agreed to a new pay deal with trade union Usdaw.
After having emergency surgery and taking a day to recover, the actress will be back to host the talk show on Tuesday.
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Canada's chief public health officer said today there is evidence of community spread of the highly transmissible omicron variant and new COVID-19 cases are expected to "rapidly escalate" in the coming days.
At least 70 Conservative MPs are expected to vote against some of the new rules - but Labour will vote in favour.
The Tamil Nadu government has decided to ban beach gatherings for two days during New Year celebrations to contain the Omicron spread.
Police have released an image of a man they would like to speak to after an 11-year-old girl was sexually assaulted on her way home from school.
A major real-world study on the potential impact of Omicron shows two doses of the Pfizer vaccine can reduce the risk of hospitalisation due to COVID-19 by 70 per cent.
The UK government had banned arrivals from 11 African countries after the identification of the omicron variant  which officials now say is ineffective. DW has the latest.
The head of the World Health Organization has called for the use of all available tools in the fight against coronavirus, with the Omicron variant spreading at a rate we have not seen with any previous variant.
The prime minister will still travel to Queensland after testing negative twice, while hundreds of people have been told to isolate in Melbourne after an Omicron case visited two nightclubs.
Zee News 14 Dec 2021

The number of patients who have recovered from the infection has gone up to 3,41,38,763, while the case fatality rate was recorded..
By Lalit K Jha Washington, Observing that India is situated in a "tough neighbourhood", US President Joe Biden's nominee for next envoy to New Delhi on Tuesday told lawmakers that he will double-down on America's efforts to strengthen India's capacity to "secure its borders, defend its sovereignty and deter aggression".
The former Trump White House chief of staff said through his attorney that the effort to refer him for contempt was unwise, unfair and contrary to law. The panel will vote on that referral on Monday.
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And you may be put back on a flight and sent back to wherever you came from. Veuers Tony Spitz has the details.

Veuer 14 Dec 2021
Boris Johnson is facing the biggest rebellion of his premiership, with dozens of Tory MPs set to vote against the latest Covid restrictions.
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Most cases of Omicron in South Africa are mild, the head of its medical association has told British MPs, as new real-world data suggests two doses of the Pfizer vaccine offer 70% protection against hospital admission.
Professor Chris Whitty has warned a significant increase in hospitalisations is coming from Omicron, with Boris Johnson telling ministers to expect a huge spike in infections.
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Are you ready to dive into the list that consists of new music releases? Check out the new updates published in the online music blog site - Daily Music Roll. It has been a very short period that Daily Music Roll has set up a massive audience base with its excellent music blogging section. This Online music blog site has featured many aspiring as well as experienced musicians from all across 
Plymouth, MN, United States., December 13, 2021 - Echion, a new nonprofit educational organization in Minnesota, will be offering continuing legal education courses for attorneys and other family law professionals on a variety of topics in 2022. The first offering of the new year will take place on January 11, 2022, 12:00 - 1:00 p.m. (CST). Cokato, Minnesota attorney Thomas James will host an online continuing legal education program for 
Johansson & Lopez Attorneys, P.A. give law assistance in Fort Lauderdale to help individuals defend their cases. The law firm incorporates several services to ensure that their clients will get the assistance that most suits their requirements. Fort Lauderdale is a city on Florida's southeastern coast, lots of people from several backgrounds, ethnicities, and races live together. The growing number of people, both who live for a long time or stay 
BIG RAPIDS  It was a successful weekend for Big Rapids High School Troupe 1176 at the State Theatre Festival.

Addison Bentley and Layla Garvon received an excellent rating. Maddie Affer, Alexandra Busch, Alex Dubowski, JT Ferrandino, Alek Lipar, and Eliza Taubitz earned superiors.

All three seniors were awarded full-ride college scholarships and the total between Alexa Busch, Eliza Taubitz, and Alex Dubowski in college scholarships offers totaled over $1.1 million.

Alex Dubowski was also awarded one of the 10 prestigious Thespian Scholarships from the state of Michigan.
Photo provided

The Great Lakes Bay Regional Alliance has announced the release of the next-generation STEM Passport in the form of a digital app. The app is a great resource for parents, teachers and caregivers to access information about current STEM-based activities and events in the region and comes just in time for the 2021 holiday break.



The Great Lakes Bay Region STEM Passport is a learning resource for 19 different hands-on, dynamic STEM activities in the community. To date, the STEM Passport has reached over 77,000 students, fueling the next generations curiosity and involvement in STEM activities.



Launched in 2018, the STEM Passport was initially distributed as a booklet to more than 55,000 children throughout the broader eight-county Great Lakes Bay Region. In 2020, the passport moved online given the digital needs of families in the pandemic, helping bring STEM learning opportunities to students across the region. The most recent iteration brings STEM activities directly to users phones in an easy-to-use format that supports further STEM exploration and learning amongst youth during out-of-school time. The STEM Passport App is free and available for parents to bookmark on their smartphone.



We are excited to bring another avenue for children and families to explore the numerous STEM resources we have in the Great Lakes Bay Region with our new STEM Passport app, said Lori Flippin, STEM director at the Great Lakes Bay Regional Alliance. The quality and ease of access to out-of-school time learning opportunities is one of the things that makes for a thriving STEM Ecosystem and supports the next generations interest in STEM with the latest evolution of our regional passport.



The app includes information on STEM activities at the following organizations:

 Arenac Community Center

 Bay City State Recreation Area

 Bay County Historical Society

 Beaverton Activity Center

 Castle Museum of Saginaw County

 Chippewa Nature Center

 CMU Center for Excellence in STEM Education

 Delta College Planetarium

 Forest Hills Nature Center

 Marshall M. Fredericks Sculpture Museum

 Midland Center for the Arts

 Mid-Michigan Childrens Museum

 MSU St. Andrews STEAM  STEAM Education & Research

 Mt. Pleasant Discovery Museum

 Saginaw Childrens Zoo

 Saginaw ISD  Hartley Outdoor Education Center

 STEM@SVSU

 Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge / Green Point Nature Center

 YMCA Camp Timbers



The STEM Passport app was developed by Thomas Hunter II, a native of the Great Lakes Bay Region who now lives in California. Hunter is a graduate of Bullock Creek High School and attended both Delta College and Saginaw Valley State University, graduating with a bachelor of science in computer information systems.



It was great to collaborate with the Great Lakes Bay STEM Ecosystem on this project and help further the access to the many STEM resources in the region where I grew up, said Hunter. And Im honored I was able to put my STEM talents gained in the region back into the community in support of this effort.



The app is currently available as an installable web app and will be available in the App Store and Google Play in the coming weeks.



More information about how to access and use the app can be found online on the STEM Pipeline website (https://www.stempipeline.com/), including step-by-step instructions for adding the app to your mobile device, logging in and finding resources in the Great Lakes Bay Region.


During the holidays, pets are exposed to more hazards than usual, according to Veterinarians.org, a website that releases an annual report on holiday pet safety with insight from veterinarians around the country.

To create the 2021 report, a team at Veterianarians.org looked at Google Trends data over five years to show that there's traditionally an uptick in Google searches for an ER vet during the last two weeks of December.

From Dec. 15, 2020, to Jan. 2, 2021, Google searches for ER vet were most popular in the state of Utah, where searches were three times more popular than in the next leading state. Other states where Google searches for ER vet were most popular include Colorado, Florida, Ohio, Massachusetts, Georgia, Pennsylvania and California.

"Given the increase in Google searches for emergency veterinarians during the holiday season, the issue is one that requires increased awareness," the report reads. "While the dangers to which pets may be exposed during the holiday season are many, with proper education, families can keep their companion animals safe while still including them in holiday traditions."

Discover which holiday treats and traditions are safe for pets, according to the report.

The most common holiday hazards for pets include toxic plants, anti-freeze, rock salt, wired lights, broken ornaments and toxic foods.

For instance, Christmas trees often attract the attention of dogs and cats. If a tree is not securely anchored, it can potentially fall onto and injure an animal. Tree water also poses a danger, as bacteria are known to grow and thrive in sitting water, which may cause gastrointestinal upset in an animal if ingested, as can any added Christmas tree fertilizer.

Pet owners can fix the issue by securing a Christmas tree to a wall or ceiling and blocking the tree off with a playpen, baby gate, or another barrier to keep pets safe while additionally covering the tree stand with aluminum foil to discourage pets from drinking from it.

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals receives over a quarter of a million cases of potential animal poisonings per year and plants are the eighth-most reported pet toxin, accounting for 40% of all calls, per the report.

Seasonal plants such as mistletoe, holly, lilies, azaleas, evergreens and poinsettias are all toxic to animals. Ingestion of such plants can cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and in some cases, even cardiovascular issues. Cats in particular are especially vulnerable to lilies, which can cause kidney failure if ingested.

In a home filled with pets, artificial plants are the safest option when it comes to holiday decor, the report determines.

With the holidays comes snow and ice for many. Though the removal of the white stuff is necessary, the report suggests pet owners opt for a brand of anti-freeze or ice melt that omits ethylene glycol and labels itself as non-toxic.

As for rock salt, this commonly used ice melt is an irritant to paw pads. If an animal licks irritated paws as a result of walking on rock salt, ingesting the chemical can cause vomiting.

Ice melts with a propylene glycol base are a safer alternative for households with animals.

Ornaments are another danger to pets. Shards of broken ornaments can cut a pets mouth and tear the animals digestive tract. Pet owners should always hang breakable ornaments out of a pets reach or opt for pet-safe, non-toxic and non-edible ornaments to decorate the Christmas tree.

Curious cats are especially drawn to tinsel and other types of ribbons, but if ingested, these items can obstruct a cats digestive tract, which can lead to vomiting and severe dehydration. In many cases, surgery may be the only means of removing the obstruction.

Additionally, sharing human foods like chocolate and other foods containing xylitol (baked goods, peanut butter, candy, and pudding among them) is dangerous to pets. Even small amounts of xylitol can cause liver failure and even death in dogs and cats.

Read the full report here.
NEWARK, N.J. (AP)  A landlord accused of demanding sex from his low-income tenants under threat of eviction or in exchange for helping them receive rent assistance will pay more than $4 million to settle a federal lawsuit, the Department of Justice announced Tuesday.

The action against Joseph Centanni resolves a lawsuit filed in August 2020 that accused Centanni of engaging in severe or pervasive sexual harassment over a period of approximately 15 years. The settlement still must be approved by a federal judge.

According to the lawsuit, Centanni has owned numerous properties in and around the city of Elizabeth that accept federal Section 8 housing vouchers. He allegedly demanded oral sex in exchange for helping residents stay in their housing or receive rent assistance, and threatened to evict tenants who rejected his advances.

He would often take tenants or prospective tenants to empty apartments or storage rooms and ask them for massages, expose himself and force them to touch him sexually, according to the lawsuit. The victims numbered in the dozens though more could be identified, the DOJ said Tuesday.

No one should have to submit to demands for sex in order to have a place to live, Kristen Clarke, assistant attorney general in the DOJ's civil rights division, said Tuesday.

Centanni will pay approximately $4.4 million to his victims, to be administered through a compensation fund, according to the DOJ. He also will pay the government a civil penalty of about $107,000 and will be prohibited from owning or managing rental properties. It represents the largest monetary settlement the DOJ has obtained in a case alleging sexual harassment in housing.

Centanni also faces multiple sexual assault and attempted sexual assault charges that were filed in March in Union County. A spokesperson for the Union County prosecutor's office said Tuesday that case is proceeding.

Raymond Londa, an attorney representing Centanni, said Centanni did not admit wrongdoing in the consent decree.

Mr. Centanni settled the matter to avoid protracted litigation, Londa said. Mr. Centanni continues to deny the allegations.
LANSING, Mich. (AP)  Michigan lawmakers late Tuesday approved an additional $841 million in spending, primarily on pandemic relief, including for coronavirus testing at schools and emergency assistance to help low-income renters.

The supplemental funding was passed on 94-9 and 35-1 votes in the House and Senate as the state grapples with one of the country's highest COVID-19 infection rates and record-high hospitalizations. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer will sign it.

The bill, which legislators advanced on their final day of voting for the year, includes $736 million in nondiscretionary federal pandemic aid that Congress passed in March and last December. Of that, $150 million will go to schools to help them screen and test for the virus, which was half of the amount Whitmer sought. Another $168 million will go toward relief for airports, and $140 million will go toward emergency rental aid.

If we dont get that testing money out the door right now, schools are going to be in real trouble. If we want to continue in-person learning, the only way to do that is to have proper testing and proper contact tracing, said Sen. Curtis Hertel Jr. of East Lansing, the top Democrat on the Senate budget panel.

Federal funds would also go toward a range of areas, including genomic sequencing to identify variants, curbing the virus inside prisons, fighting substance abuse, and supporting strike teams to help with onsite testing at nursing homes and other long-term care facilities.

The legislation includes $36 million in state funding to address the water crisis in Benton Harbor, where the supply is contaminated with lead, and $9 million to support the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. It was canceled in 2020 due to the pandemic and replaced this year with an outdoor event.

The remaining $150 million in testing money for schools is included in a separate $1 billion-plus COVID-19 spending bill that the House passed 98-4 on Tuesday but that the Senate will not consider until next year.

House Appropriations Committee Chairman Thomas Albert, a Lowell Republican, said he decided not to allocate all $300 million for schools now because of problems when the Michigan National Guard inadvertently confiscated testing kits from a K-12 district in his area to redistribute to other districts.

It was just a bad process. I think we have a better one here, he said, pointing to a new method and saying $150 million is enough to give us some running room to figure that out."

The House bill that was sent to the Senate for future consideration would provide funding to help hospitals recruit and retain workers amid a shortage, continue testing aid, and boost early treatment of patients with monoclonal antibodies and other pending medicines such as antiviral pills.

Republicans rejected Democratic-proposed amendments that would give pandemic frontline workers $2,500 bonuses and nurses $5,000 bonuses, and up to $30,000 hero scholarships to people who earn health care degrees or certificates and commit to working in the state for at least four years.

Rep. Mary Whiteford, a Republican from Allegan County's Casco Township, said her husband nearly died from COVID-19 in April but got better after receiving antibody infusions.

COVID is a terrible disease for so many of our Michiganders, she said while speaking in support of the measure going to the Democratic governor. Its past time that we get in front of this with early treatment. Working together is the best thing that we can do.

Whitmer said in a statement that her administration and legislators found common ground to help keep kids safe and learning in school, protect seniors in nursing homes and get vaccines out the door even faster.

Democrats had been urging GOP lawmakers to release additional federal coronavirus funds, particularly those that were enacted nearly a year ago.

I will analyze the legislation with key members of my administration, and I look forward to signing the supplemental soon, Whitmer said.

___

Follow David Eggert at https://twitter.com/DavidEggert00
The following includes reports from the Midland County Sheriff's Office and the Midland Police Department. Compiled by Reporter Tess DeGayner.

Friday, Dec. 10

8:16 p.m.  Deputies were dispatched to a Larkin Township residence to assist MPD, and attempt to locate a 13-year-old Midland female who had cut off her tether. Deputies spoke to a 62-year-old Larkin Township female who advised the 13-year-old was not at the residence.

7:44 p.m.  Deputies were dispatched to a Hope Township location for a vehicle "on its side" in a water hole. The vehicle was located upright and stuck in the roadway. Deputies made contact with the complainant, a 61-year-old Bay City female, who refused EMS. The vehicle was removed from the roadway by a tow truck and it had no damage.

6:59 p.m.  A deputy provided a 53-year-old Homer Township female on how to prevent issues during child custody exchanges.

3:26 p.m.  Deputies were dispatched to a Warren Township school for an investigation. The incident involved a 14-year-old Warren Township student. This incident has been forwarded to the Midland County Prosecutor's Office for review.

10:40 a.m.  A deputy was dispatched to a Coleman school for an 18-year-old male who was having an anxiety attack. The 18-year-old male was not a threat to the school, but he was later transported to the ER for an evaluation by his guardian.

9:30 a.m.  Officers assisted a local fire department near the 3500 block of Aster Court.

12:16 a.m.  An unknown subject failed to pay for $72 in gas at a Coleman gas station. A be-on-the-lookout was issued for the vehicle: a four door red Dodge pick up, but it was not located. No plate was obtained.

Thursday, Dec. 9

10:43 p.m.  Deputies were dispatched to a Lincoln Township location regarding a female who needed a ride to a homeless shelter. Deputies spoke with the female and upon further investigation, it was discovered the female was no longer welcome at the place she was attempting to go. The female remained at home with her 35-year-old sister.

2:14 p.m.  Officers provided general assistance near the 300 block of McDonald Street.

2:01 p.m.  Deputies were dispatched to a Warren Township residence for a death investigation of a 70-year-old Warren Township female. The deputies found nothing suspicious and the death appeared to be from natural causes.

10:18 a.m.  Deputies were dispatched to a Mills Township residence for a larceny from a mailbox. Before deputies responded the complainant found their missing property.

9:23 a.m.  Officers responded to a crash near West Indian and Ashman streets.

9 a.m.  Officers were dispatched for an animal complaint near Swede Avenue and Rapanos Drive.

8:10 a.m.  Deputies were dispatched to a Midland Township location for multiple reports of an injured deer. The deer was dispatched.

1:38 a.m.  Deputies responded to a residence in Mount Haley Township regarding a 911-call hang up. Deputies arrived on scene and spoke with the 63-year-old male owner of the residence who advised he was OK and was having problems with the phone line.

12:37 a.m.  Officers responded to a suspicious situation near the 4300 block of Swede Avenue.
As chaplain, Davis provides leadership and creative vision for a religious life environment that includes worship, study and service to others. Her appointment was made effective Nov. 3.

Many students use their time at college to seek opportunities to live their faith and explore their spirituality, President Jeff Abernathy said. Rev. Davis offers a passion for campus ministry and years of experience that will allow her to build on Almas foundation of faith practice in a safe, encouraging and uplifting environment. I welcome Alissa back to Alma and look forward to our partnership together.

Davis most recently served as worship pastor for the Midland Reformed Church, where she served in various roles for seven years. Previously, she served as a family and youth pastor at Bridgeport Community Church and as a campus minister at Northwood University and Saginaw Valley State University.

Davis graduated from Alma College with a bachelor of arts degree in 2011. While she was at Alma, she participated in a number of student activities, including Choir, Chapel, Bible Study and New Life Campus Ministries. She also met her future husband, Matthew Davis 11, on campus, and was later married at Dunning Memorial Chapel.

In addition to her bachelors degree, Davis holds a master of divinity degree from Western Theological Seminary, in Holland, Michigan.

Davis said she was drawn to come back to her alma mater for its people-centered mission, including an increased emphasis in recent years on interfaith worship. She added that she is pleased to work with students, for the fresh perspective they can offer on timeless questions about religious identity and spiritual exploration.

We want to be a place that cares about people  where theyre going and what theyre passionate about. We want to empower and cultivate that, to help them move further down the road they are going, Davis said. We are not afraid of learning, which really excites me about coming back here. Were always going to strive to learn more.

Students are wondering, learning, asking questions, she continued. Sometimes they are small questions, sometimes theyre huge questions, but theyre always good questions. Students just arent afraid of those kinds of things. In this role, I expect to be challenged constantly and Im really excited about that.

At Alma, Davis envisions a chapel program that welcomes people of all faiths, provides opportunities for spiritual growth and sponsors activities that are integrated into the life of the college.

In general, my baseline goal is to care for the people of this community, Davis said. I love to see the way the chapel program specifically has expanded its view of saying, Whoever you are, whatever your background is, we want to help care for you. Sometimes thats messy and sometimes thats hard, but were always going to strive to do better.

The Rev. Alissa Davis, an Alma College graduate with more than a decade of pastoral experience, has been named the college chaplain at Alma College.Alma College is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
Robert Creenan/Huron Daily Tribune

Port Austin's Gallup Park had one of the more notable victims of this past weekend's weather.

During a period of high winds, a pine tree near the ice rink pavilion snapped in half, with part of it falling through the pavilion's roof. No damage was reported to the rink underneath, but other parts of the roof suffered damage as well.
There will be improvements coming to the Port Austin State Harbor in the future.

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources plans on sharing primary development plans for the harbor during a virtual public meeting from 10:30 a.m. to noon Dec. 14.

The link to attend will be posted on both the DNR's website and the Port Crescent State Park's Facebook page.

Brian Dunn, the Port Austin State Harbor supervisor for the DNR, said the west dock of the harbor has suffered substantial damage due to high lake water levels and wave action. The DNR was forced to reduce its usage due to several broken components.

"Due to high water damage at the harbor, the state is working with an engineering firm (Edgewater Resources) to come up with solutions to take the harbor into the future," Dunn said.

The DNR's parks and recreation division will be working with the Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for the project.

The meeting will be used to gather public input and answer any questions people have about the project.

"Gathering public input is a crucial step in the redevelopment process," Dunn said. "We want to encourage those who have stayed at the harbor or are interested in this project to attend the meeting and provide feedback."

The meeting will be recorded for those unable to attend. For more information about the meeting or plan, or to obtain a copy of the meeting recording, contact Dunn at 989-738-8663 or at DunnB1@Michigan.gov. Additional feedback about the meeting will be accepted via email through Dec. 28.
Olivet Nazarene University students and faculty recently visited three Sanford properties to evaluate bringing sanitation to them.

Sanford Village President Dolores Porte said establishing sanitation for the village is vital to being able to offer multi-family housing and senior living; bring back displaced homeowners from the May 2020 dam failures; and accommodate those who want to move into the area. She said the lack of it is a hinderance in rebuilding the area.

Sanitation is the main challenge, she said.

The university students from Bourbonnais, Illinois and faculty along with other engineering professionals examined a half-acre habitat for humanity property on Crescent Street that has sat vacant for more than a decade, according to Habitat for Humanity Construction Manager Erich Ostrander. He said the issue is the property is too low to get drainage. The cost of putting in a sanitation system years ago was $20,000 to $30,000. This was cost prohibitive.

With ideas from the Olivet group, led by a professor of architectural civil engineering, they are hoping to accomplish a system that wont cost as much.

Without this we probably wouldnt be able to utilize the property, Ostrander said.

The group skimmed two other properties, a 4.4-acre piece and a 16-acre parcel in the center of the village. Porte said both properties are privately owned.

She said the 16-acre parcel was platted for a subdivision a long time ago, just never developed.

Porte credits Jennifer Robinson, who is the president of Engineers Without Borders, of bringing the group to Sanford. Robinson said the organization has two international projects going at the time and they wanted to start a local project and Olivet Nazarene University answered the call.

We wanted to build in our own backyard, Robinson said. We reached out and found (a) design team at Olivet.

Porte is excited about the possibilities

I was inspired by the visit and that people would come as far as Illinois for this issue, Porte said.

This would definitely help us get more housing in Sanford, said Porte, noting there are housing shortages everywhere.

Porte said the next thing is to see what the team comes up with in terms of how to address the villages sanitation issue. Its unknown when they will submit plans.
Sunday, Dec. 19, marks 20 years since Frodo made his debut on the big screen in "The Fellowship of the Ring" released in 2001.

Why does this matter?

The Middle Earth franchise is one of the highest-grossing movie franchises of all time, valued at $5.86 billion, CNBC reports, including a trilogy adapted from "The Lord of the Rings" novels and a trilogy adapted from "The Hobbit."

J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional storyline has engrossed viewers for two decades and appears to still be valuable with Amazon Studios producing a television series to release in 2022.

And, there are plenty of reasons for this high valuation, according to Infobloom:

There were 19,000 costumes created for "The Fellowship of the Ring."

Sean Astin put on a whopping 30 pounds for his role as Sam.

Orlando Bloom performed many of his stunts. He broke a rib at one point during filming.

"The Fellowship of the Ring" was nominated for 152 awards and won 98 of them, including Oscars, Grammy Awards and Golden Globes.

In celebration of the first film's anniversary, Infobloom looked at Google Trends search data for 15 "Lord of the Rings" characters to see which was each state's favorite.

You can see the results below.

Graphic provided/InfoBloom

Frodo took the top spot in Michigan, tying with Gollum for the most popular character in the nation, each winning more than 12 states.

Graphic provided/InfoBloom

Note: Infobloom analyzed data from November 2020 to November 2021.
Accra, Ghana (PANA) - Ghana's ban on travellers who have not been vaccinated against the coronavirus from entering the country went into effect from midnight on Monday as the authorities tighten protocols against the background of the new Omicron variant
Washington, DC, US (PANA) - The US has criticised the Benin authorities for the sentencing of political opponents in the country saying it further erodes space for dissent
Photo: (Photo : StockSnap/Pixabay)

Most mothers are drawn to kiss their baby on the lips as a sign of love and affection, but a mother from California, who has a successful dental practice, does not recommend doing this, and she doesn't even kiss her own child in the mouth.

Dentist mom, Dr. Joyce Kahng, found out years ago in an experiment in dental school that she has more cavity-causing bacteria in her mouth than most people. She explains in a video on TikTok that she has decided early on that she will not be kissing her children on the lips because she could easily pass these bacteria to them.

Kahng further explained that bacteria transfer might also happen when parents or caregivers share their utensils while eating with the kids. She said that babies are not born with cavity-causing bacteria and won't develop a stronger resistance to this until they are four years old. This age is when the child's oral microbiome matures.

Read Also: Mom Sparks Debate for Saying She Brings All Her Kids to Birthday Parties Despite Only One Invite

It's Not About Neglect or Bad Hygiene

In an interview with Buzzfeed, Kahng said she understands if it's difficult for moms to resist kissing their babies. Personally, she tries as much as she can to be mindful of it. The expert stressed that someone with a good dental hygiene habit may still end up with more cavity-causing bacteria because of other factors, including genetics.

"Some people are more predisposed to cavities than others regardless of their level of oral hygiene, and that's because we're not all the same," the dentist mom said. She emphasized that this has more to do with "susceptibility" to the bacteria rather than neglect or bad hygiene.

Kahng realized that she could make TikTok videos about dental health to educate her followers, especially parents who are not aware of the risks to their kids because this kind of information is not common knowledge. She also explained that her intention is not to shame any mother if they are in the habit of kissing their kids or sharing food from the same plate or bowl.

A study in the journal BMC Oral Health proved that many parents are unaware of how easy mothers can transfer cavity-causing bacteria from their mouth to their babies. Lead study author Jorma Virtanen and her team at the University of Oulo found out that over 38 percent of mothers don't know the risks and have been kissing their baby on the lips or sharing utensils with their kids. About 11 percent said they do not believe that bacteria can be transmitted from the mother to the baby.

Another Dentist's Advice

Dr. Michael Chong from the Pediatric Dental Practice in the Gold Coast has said the same thing as Kahng and even advised against parents pre-chewing their baby's food because they risk bacteria spread through their saliva. The dentist said that moms should ensure that they get their regular dental check-ups to prevent any active cavity that could likely be passed on to the kids. He said that a simple act of blowing onto the baby's hot soup could be a bacteria transfer risk as well.

Aside from protecting their dental health, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) also said kissing babies on the lips, especially those under six months old, could cause cold sores that could be very dangerous. The doctors reminded parents that babies are still developing their immune system, so they should hold off on kissing the lips until they are older.

Related Article: Families Detail Health Issues, Seek Answers for Tap Water Contamination in Hawaii
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Today the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office officially granted Apple a patent that relates to the field of head-mounted displays (HMD) used for applications that immerse a user in a virtual reality (VR) or an augmented/mixed reality (MR) environment. The patent describes Apple's future HMD providing a means of user input through hand gesturing which will also enable interaction with virtual elements.

The quality of immersion is subject to several important factors. For instance, characteristics of the display such as image quality, frame rate, pixel resolution, high dynamic range (HDR), persistence and screen-door effect (i.e., the visible lines between pixels on the screen).

Tracking of various elements is generally recognized as an essential prerequisite for achieving a high-end VR and MR application experience. Among these elements, positional head tracking, user body tracking and environment tracking play a key role in achieving great immersion.

Positional head tracking (referred to as positional tracking from here on), which aims to estimate the position and orientation of the HMD in an environment, has to be both low latency and accurate. The reason for this being that the rendered graphics must closely match the user's head motion in order to produce great immersion in VR and the need to correctly align the virtual content in the real world in MR.

User body tracking estimates the position and orientation of the user's body (in particular, but not limited to hands and fingers) relative to the HMD. It can provide in both VR and MR, a means of user input (e.g., hand gestures) enabling interaction with virtual elements. While some positional tracking methods can be used for hand tracking as well (e.g., an IR camera with an array of LEDs on hand-held controllers), other methods take advantage of a smaller analysis space, typically within one meter from the HMD, to increase the robustness of the hand and finger tracking algorithms.

For instance, close-range Time-of-Flight (ToF) cameras can be integrated with or in the HMD. These cameras can yield a depth map of the hands from which a skeletal model of the hands can be constructed. Another approach uses an IR LED flood light together with cameras to segment out and estimate 3D points on the hands and fingers.

Apple's patent FIG. 1 below is a schematic representation of a user wearing head-mounted display (HMD) provided with several cameras and infrared (IR) emitters; FIG. 2A is a schematic top view of an exemplary embodiment of the optics, display and cameras used to achieve both virtual and mixed reality.

Apple's patent FIG. 4A below shows the front view of a first exemplary embodiment of the HMD device, with two RGB cameras optimized for pass-through purposes (MR) and two IR cameras that provide visual data for tracking; FIG. 5 is a flow diagram of the processing steps to achieve VR with positional and user body tracking; FIG. 8 is a flow diagram of an exemplary process to achieve user body tracking. It also includes gesture recognition.

For more details, review Apple's granted patent 11,199,706.

All of the inventors came from VRvana. Apple Acquired Montreal Based VRvana, a Mixed Reality Headset Company with Hand Tracking Technologies back in 2017.

Last week Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo predicted that "Gesture control and object detection are critical human-machine UI designs of Apple's AR/MR headset.
A commemorative gold coin has been launched in honour of Otumfuo Osei Tutu II



It is a 24-carat gold coin



Bank of Ghana gave the authorization



Dr Ernest Kwamina Yedu Addison, has been explaining why the Central Bank, the Bank of Ghana, granted the Asanteman the authorization for a commemorative gold coin to be issued in honour of Otumfuo Osei Tutu II.



According to him, the Bank of Ghana, has been following Otumfuos exploits since he was enstooled as the Asantehene over two decades ago.



Dr Ernest Addison explained at the launch of the gold coin in Kumasi on Sunday, December 12, that, the Bank of Ghana has followed with keen interest the painstaking effort of his Majesty in the mediation of peace in Dagbon and also in ensuring a peaceful transition of power from different political administrations over the past twenty years.



Under the circumstances, the bank approved the issuance of a commemorative coin and offered to assist to procure the coin through appropriate channels. The gold coin will be of no monetary value, by that we mean it will not be a medium of exchange and not exactly a legal tender.



The governor of the Bank of Ghana added: As a result, the commemorative coin is not expected to display any face value to avoid the risk of being confused with legal tender in circulation. Your Royal Majesty In recognition of the invaluable role and your remarkable achievements, preservation of peace in the safeguarding of life, the development of Ghana and ensuring peaceful coexistence of the citizenry of Ghana, the Bank of Ghana proudly associate itself with the launch of this commemorative gold coin to climax your Majestys 20th year as the Asantehene.



About the commemorative gold coin



Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, on Sunday, December 12, 2021, launched the 24-carat commemorative gold coins as part of celebrating 22 years of his contribution to the peace, stability and development of Ghana.



The launch was under the authorization of the Central Bank, the Bank of Ghana, for Gold Coast Refinery Limited to mint the commemorative gold coins to celebrate the Asantehene.



This is the first time in the history of this country that non-circulating commemorative coins meant to celebrate and honour people, places, events and institutions are being issued.



The commemorative gold coin was issued at the Manhyia Palace in Kumasi, Sunday marked the last celebration of the Akwasidae festival. The auction of the gold coins will be used to establish a multi-purpose Cultural Resource Centre in Kumasi to promote activities related to traditional and customary conflict resolution in the country.



Key features of the commemorative gold coins



The coins are of 99.99 per cent assay at 24-carat fine gold, with a diameter of 37mm and weight of 31.104 grammes each. It is described by the organizers as the treasured collectors articles.



The face of the gold coins bears the image of the Asantehene, with the Adinkra symbols Bi Nka Bi and Mpatapo, which symbolise peace, harmony and reconciliation.

Source: ghanaweb.com









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Early figures from South Africa, where the Omicron coronavirus variant was first identified, suggest it causes a far lower rate of serious illness and death than previous waves of the pandemic.



Shabir Madhi, a professor of vaccinology, told the BBC's Newsday programme that this was despite the fact that the new variant was far more transmissible.



He predicted that the number of people who end up in hospital would be nowhere near that of earlier stages of the outbreak.



He said there seemed to be an uncoupling of a high case rate and the number of hospitalisations and deaths.



"There is going to be some people that are going to end up in hospital and die of Covid-19. But that is not going to come any way close to what we had experienced during the course of the first three waves," he said.



The Omicron variant was first reported to the WHO from South Africa on 24 November. Countries around the world responded by restricting travel from southern Africa.

Source: BBC









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South Africa's former President Jacob Zuma has launched a new book titled The Words of A President: Jacob Zuma Speaks.



It comes just months after he was released from prison on medical parole. He was imprisoned earlier this year by the country's highest court after he refused to appear before a commission probing alleged corruption during his nine-year presidency.



Mr Zuma stepped down in 2018 as pressure over the allegations mounted.



He hopes the book will set the record straight, Mr Zuma's spokesperson Mzwanele Manyi said.



Journalist Karyn Maughan told the BBC's Newsday programme that it does not seem that the former president was the person who actually wrote the book.



"The disappointment here of course is that this does not appear, despite the title of the book, to be him in his own words. It really is about his supporters trying to defend his policies," she added.



The income from the sales will go towards paying off Mr Zuma's legal fees.

Source: BBC









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The Ghana Airports Company Limited (GACL) has warned that airlines flying passengers into Ghana will be surcharged if they bring any unvaccinated persons into the country.



Beginning December 14, 2021, the GACL says airlines that bring unvaccinated passengers into Ghana will be surcharged $3,500 per passenger.



A statement issued by the GACL announced the new COVID-19 guidelines to be followed for all arrivals at the Kotoka International Airport during the festive period.



Airlines that bring passengers to Kotoka International Airport who are not fully vaccinated shall be surcharged $3500 per passenger, a section of the statement said.



All passengers are required to present evidence of having filled Ghanas Health Declaration Form (HDF) at www.ghs-hdf.org at the point of embarkation.



Airlines that bring passengers to Kotoka International Airport who had not filled HDF shall be surcharged $3500 per passenger.





The GACL further stated that all arriving passengers must possess a COVID-19 negative PCR test from an accredited laboratory in the country of origin.



Meanwhile, the test should have been done not more than 72 hours before the scheduled departure time from the country of origin.



The statement said that airlines that allow passengers with positive PCR test results to disembark in Accra will also be surcharged $3,500.





Airlines who board passengers without PCR test result or transport and disembark passengers with Positive PCR test result into Accra will be fined US$3,500 per passenger.



Non-Ghanaians may be refused entry and returned to the point of embarkation at a cost to the Airline. Ghanaians will be allowed entry but subject to 14 days of mandatory quarantine at a designated facility, the statement added.











Source: graphiconline.com









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As part of efforts to encourage responsible small-scale mining, the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources has launched an award scheme to reward responsible small-scale miners who adhere to the health, safety and environmental standards of small-scale mining.



The awards ceremony will be held annually to promote responsible and sustainable mining in the sector. This years maiden edition will be held on Wednesday, December 22, 2021, under the theme: Promoting Responsible and Sustainable Small-Scale Mining.



The award categories include Most Promising Small-Scale Miner, Best Female SmallScale Miner, Best Male Small-Scale Miner, Best in Environmental Stewardship, and Best in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).



Speaking at the 1st Ghana School of Law SRC Public Lecture in KNUST on the theme: The Legal Regime of the Mining Sector in Ghana; History, Challenges and the Way Forward, the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Hon. Samuel A. Jinapor charged Ghanaians to protect the environment by disengaging in illegal mining.



Mining is central to economic development; however, the destruction of our environment and river bodies due to the illegal act contradicts our duties as citizens. We have a duty to protect the environment. As a ministry, we are determined to stop the activities of illegal mining in the country and will continue to employ all necessary measures to fight it. This yearly award scheme instituted for the best small-scale mining concessions is an initiative to reward best practices and encourage other miners to emulate.



He further noted that the responsible small-scale mining sector had the potential to contribute to livelihood empowerment and poverty alleviation of the people.



Small-scale mining has the potential to contribute to livelihood empowerment and poverty alleviation in Ghana, therefore the Government intends to put in measures such as establishing Minerals Development Bank that will address the needs of small-scale miners.

Source: Peacefmonline.com









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The number of women aged between 20 and 24 who were married before 18 slightly decreased from 21 to 19 per cent between 2014 and 2018.

However, the percentage of women aged 20-24 who were married before 15 remains at five per cent.



In Ghana, one in five girls aged 20-24 years was married before 18, partly due to behavioural and social norms.



The report, therefore, called for more community engagement, which it said was critical to reducing child marriage and other harmful practices in the country.



This was contained in a four-year multi-country evaluation report of community engagement to end child marriage (CM) in Ghana as part of a strategy to end CM and female genital mutilation (FGM) in Ghana, Guinea, Mali, Niger and Nigeria.



It was made known by a Child Protection Specialist of UNICEF Ghana, Ms Joyce Odame, at a two-day review and planning exercise (RPE) in Accra.



The review meeting, which brought together relevant stakeholders from government agencies and non-governmental organisations (NGOs), looked at progress made against set priorities and milestones for 2021 and the way forward.



There were presentations by the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, the Office of the Head of Local Government Service (OHLGS), the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, the Ghana Police Service, the Births and Deaths Registry, the Judicial Service, the Ghana Education Service, the Ministry of Education, among others.



Situation



The Caretaker Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection, Ms Cecilia Abena Dapaah, said the situation of children had improved over the years with the strengthening of child protection systems through a behavioural change campaign platform where Ghanaians against child abuse had reached 1,002,026 people.



Protecting children and enhancing their rights require multi-sectoral interventions to achieve the desired result and maximise resources, she said.



The minister expressed appreciation for the roll out of integrated social services in selected districts in the country, saying it was through such collaborations that the National Development Planning Commission (NPDC) incorporated child protection indicators into the 2022-2024 national development medium-term plan which would be used by all sectors to bring child protection issues to the fore.



Financial commitment



A Child Protection, Strategic Planning and Monitoring Expert of UNICEF Ghana, Mr Rafiq Khan, said child protection required effective collaboration and coordination across the health, educational, law enforcement, justice and social welfare sectors.



For the sustainability of UNICEF and the governments child protection programmes, he said, many programme outcomes had been institutionalised and enshrined in laws, policies or practices.



According to him, the government was increasingly taking ownership of programmes, adding that metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies were including child protection related actions in their medium-term development plans.



Mr Khan, however, called for greater financial commitment to ensure that policy-level achievements were translated into outcomes for children.







Source: graphiconline.com









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Huawei and Telkom have supported a 5G live stream of Africa's endangered penguins to highlight role of 5G and supporting technology for conservation and environmental protection as well as other 5G use case.



The live stream from Boulders Beach in Cape Town, home to the largest group of African Penguins in South Africa, hosted on Telkoms 5G temporary network, was broadcast to Huaweis global and local social media platforms.



Hosted by conservationist and wildlife TV presenter Lauren Arthur, the live stream not only gave watchers the chance to experience the unique penguin colony, it also illustrated 5Gs potential as an enabler of environmental conservation.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=xB6DEEMBKwE



For the Boulders penguin colony, intensive conservation is becoming increasingly important. The African Penguin is listed as 'Endangered' on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. As the largest grouping of the birds, the Boulders colony is therefore critical to the species survival. Its fragility was also underlined earlier this year when 64 birds died following a bee attack on the beach.



As Lunga Siyo, CEO of Telkom Consumer Business, pointed out, 5G technology could prove pivotal in allowing conservationists to monitor the colony.





If we could set up a 5G camera here, the experts could watch the penguins every movement and of course help prevent another incident like the bee attack, he said.



In the future, 5G wont only enrich peoples digital lives, but will also bring real benefits and change to humans, companies, society, and the natural world, he added. 5G can be especially beneficial in South Africas goal of achieving a digital economy. Siyo pointed out that sectors where 5G was starting to play a role included, health, education, mining and the consumer market.



Siyo also pointed out that Telkom is well poised to roll out 5G across South Africa.



Telkom currently has the largest optical fiber network in South Africa and many cell masts are already 5G ready, he said. I dont think it will be long before our users will be able to enjoy the convenience of 5G networks.



Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, Minister of the Department of Communication and Digital Technology said, post pandemic travel is immersive with opportunities for enhanced technologies to give tourists a digital-first experience of a destination. She commended Huawei for the streaming of the Penguin colony, as an innovative way to engage potential tourists from far and wide within Huaweis reach, to stimulate foreign tourist interest in the area.



Huawei is also involved in several other conservation initiatives, including a project that uses upcycled Huawei devices and Huaweis Cloud AI to protect rainforests.

Source: Peacefmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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The Ghana Tourism Federation (GHATOF) is optimistic of a productive 2022 with exciting domestic tourism activities.



The president of the federation, Madam Bella Ahu said though COVID-19 had crushed the industry, the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture and its implementing agencies were taking steps to ensure that the industry bounced back fully.



According to Madam Ahu, the ministry is now focusing on domestic tourism as the way to go, which was receiving good patronage.



In an interview with GNA, the president mentioned that plans were underway to repackage a lot of Ghanaian festivals to attract more visitors from different part of the country.



She indicated that their main target for 2022 is to improve domestic tourism, adding that training programmes would be organised for industry players to enhance their skills to be able to deliver better services.



She said this December a lot of activities had been outlined by the Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA) and Beyond The Return Secretariat for the December In GH events which include Afrochella, Taste In Ghana, Diaspora Transition, Takoradi Festival and a host of others.



Since 2019, December has become a key month for tourism growth, especially with high profile events drawing thousands across the globe into the country, she stated.



Madam Ahu further said Ghana continued to be the destination of choice in West Africa during holiday season, and that it was anticipated thousands of travellers would be arriving in the country throughout the coming weeks.



She added that per the plans of GTA, this years activities would also include happenings in the other regions that would give travellers to Ghana an opportunity to explore other parts of the country and partake in the various cultures.



Events have been endorsed to happen in the other regions like Volta, Upper East, Western and Bono East regions, she disclosed.



She urged event organisers to adhere strictly to all COVID-19 protocols to prevent the rise of COVID-19 infections during and after the events.







Source: Daily Guide









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The Executive Director of the Concerned Voters Movement (CVM) has indicated that the National Democratic Congress will demonstrate the height of dishonesty should its flagbearer aspirant Dr. Kwabena Duffuor fail in his latest bid to lead the party to the 2024 polls.



With the greatest of respect and in all humility and sincerity if NDC voters want to select a presidential candidate who is honest, has impeccable credibility, solid achievements and track record over the period, I dont think they should bypass Dr. Kwabena Duffuor, he asserted while speaking on Kumasi-based Ultimate 106.9 FM.



He told host Julius Caesar Anadem, the two-time failed presidential candidate of the NDC, former President John Dramani Mahama stands no chance competing with Dr. Duffour over achievements chalked both in private and public life.



Look at the number of jobs that he has created in the country and the group of companies he has established; his contribution to the national economy, to the public sector and all that. He far, far outweighs all the candidates putting themselves up for the position, he argued.



Mr. Kojo Poku however contended that he would not be surprised if delegates of the NDC overlook the competencies of Dr. Duffour and go in for its 2020 flag bearer John Dramani Mahama at the polls.



I dont think they should bypass Dr. Kwabena Duffour and choose any candidate who doesnt have any investment whatsoever in this country and has not established anything to employ anyone in this country. But it is unfortunate the NDC delegates will put him somewhere and vote for another candidate who has questionable integrity and credibility and a questionable track record, he bemoaned.



The former Governor of the Central Bank, former Finance Minister and founder of the HODA Group of companies comprising financial institutions, mining consortiums, a media empire among others; is poised to lead the charge of the opposition NDC as it eyes the presidency in 2024

Source: 3news









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An Economic Policy Analyst at the Office of the Vice President, Dr Kabiru Mahama, has disagreed with comments that negotiations on the E-levy have collapsed.



From the governments view, negotiations havent collapsed, he said on the Key Points on TV3/3FM with host Dzifa Bampoh on Saturday, December 11 2021.



He further stated that the position of the Minority on the e-levy is not the position of Ghanaian's and the government.



It is quite unfortunate to state that consultations have collapsed, he said.



His comments were in reaction to what Bongo Lawmaker Edward Bawa said to the effect that negotiations on the introduction of the e-levy have collapsed.



Negotiations have collapsed, Edward Bawa said.



He further questioned the Akufo-Addo administrations decision of introducing more taxes when the New Patriotic Party (NPP) condemned the Mahama administration for making similar decisions.



Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta had said at a press conference earlier that consultations were ongoing on the proposal.



He said On the matter of the E-levy, having regard to its serious fiscal implications, we will continue our consultations with the Minority Caucus in Parliament and other relevant stakeholders, with a view to achieving consensus and reverting to the House in the shortest possible time.



We are determined to enhance domestic revenue mobilization, the presence of our proposal on the E-Levy is to widen the tax net and generate the required revenue to support entrepreneurship, youth employment to build our infrastructure especially roads and reduce our debts, he said.



Let me emphasize that the E-levy represents our greatest opportunity to in the medium-term widen the tax base and meet the tax to GDP ratio of 20% as pertains among our peers.



Meanwhile, the e-levy was absent from the business statement for next week after Deputy Majority Speaker did not mention it in the House on Friday, December 10.

Source: 3news









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For all appointees of the president seeking to try out their chances of leading the New Patriotic Party (NPP), and eventually trying out the presidency slot, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has offered them a lifeline, focus on the job, or, quit now.



This becomes the clearest indication from the president, over the growing interests being shown by many of his appointees to take over from him.



According to an asaaseradio.com report, President Nana Akufo-Addo made this known during a political session with his ministers right after last Fridays cabinet meeting.



President Akufo-Addo, on Friday gave the clearest warning to his Ministers aspiring to succeed him to focus on the job he has given them or quit now to pursue their presidential ambitions, the report stated.



Already, there have been some indications of some of the names who could be vying for the available slot of the flagbearer of the NPP.



President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo announced his intentions to peacefully hand over power in 2024



He said this when he visited the Manhyia Palace to meet with the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II.



I am here with the Minister of Transport, Minister for Works and Housing, the National Security Boss, Chairman One; Wontumi, the Food and Agriculture Minister; Owusu Afriyie, who wants to be President. I also have here with me someone who has long eyed the presidential seat, the Minister of Trade and Industry; Alan Kyeremanten, a very hard-working man. All of them are doing a good job, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo chuckled amidst loud noise from the crowd gathered at Manhyia.



But in these latest comments from the president, he has reminded all who seek to succeed him on the importance of staying focused.



The President reminded the aspirants in his government that not even the 17 NPP candidates who contested for the 2008 presidential slot, including 13 who were in the government in 2005, were seen to be actively campaigning within the first year of the second John Agyekum Kufuor administration.



The President criticized the premature move of the few hopefuls in his government. The President effectively described it as selfish and irresponsible for aspirants to allow their ambition to get in the way of their ministerial job within the first year of a sitting Presidents second and final term, the asaaseradio.com report said.



The Steering Committee of the NPP met at the party headquarters to discuss the same issue of hopefuls for the available slot in the party, among other pressing issues.



The ruling party is about to embark on a series of elections for party executives across all levels.













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Sammy Gyamfi has lashed out at the Ghana Health Service over its new directives for travellers coming into the country and those travelling outside the country to present vaccination cards compulsorily.



Speaking in his personal capacity, the lawyer described the decision as reprehensible, stressing that any such decision should not be mandatory.



Vaccination must be by choice and not by force. The imposition of compulsory COVID vaccination requirement on all Ghanaians travelling into and out of Ghana by the Ghana Health Service is reprehensible and an affront to the 1992 Constitution.



He further explained that, should this continue, he and others like him will do all it takes to resist this madness.



And some of us are determined to fight this madness through every available legal means no matter the cost or stigma, he said in a Facebook post.



The Ghana Health Service, on Friday, December 10, 2021, issued a statement announcing a review of its safety protocols for international travellers coming into the country.



This, according to a statement from the Service, is coming ahead of the Christmas and New Year festivities, seeing that a lot of travellers are expected to be in the country.



The statement said the Kotoka International Airport has already seen a surge in the number of cases of the novel Coronavirus it is reporting.



There has been a decline in the number of Covid-19 cases in Ghana over the past two months until the global picture of COVID-19 changed since early November 2021. Globally several countries are experiencing their fourth wave.



A number of travellers from these countries come to Ghana and this is expected to increase during the festive season. This current surge in COVID-19 cases is being reflected at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA). In November 2020, 168 cases were detected compared to 241 cases in November 2021, an increase of over 40%. We have since been recording an average of 20 positive cases a day at KIA, the statement said.











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Members of the Education Committee of Zimbabwe's Parliament have paid a working visit to Ghana to learn at first-hand the implementation of the countrys Free and Compulsory Universal Basic Education (FCUBE) programme.



The Zimbabwean parliamentary delegation visited the offices of the Africa Education Watch (Eduwatch), an advocacy organisation in Ghana, to seek technical support towards Zimbabwes plans to implement the FCUBE programme, which has been implemented since 1995.



Led by the Chairperson of the Education Committee, Mr Torerayi Moyo, the delegation also sought to understand how Eduwatch had been able to influence government policies.



Mr Moyo expressed gratitude to Eduwatch for sharing its knowledge to help balance their perspectives and inform their recommendations to the Zimbabwean Parliament and Education Ministry to strengthen their free basic education planning process.



Meeting



Both parties, at a meeting, pledged to work together to ensure that Zimbabwe implemented a credible, inclusive and equitable FCUBE programme.



Their discussions centred on education financing, equitable access, quality basic and civil societys role in ensuring a successful FCUBE programme.



The Executive Director of Eduwatch, Mr Kofi Asare, highlighted the need for parliaments across Africa to partner civil society organisations (CSOs) in their operations since they shared a common mandate to exact accountability over the executive arm of government.



Collaboration



He further cited the collaborative roles of Eduwatch in demanding accountability from government agencies mandated to deliver education service through parliamentary committees and other accountability agencies in government.



Mr Asare emphasised five critical building blocks for a free basic education in Zimbabwe  expanded school infrastructure, increased training and deployment of teachers, sustained funding, community and civil society participation, and an equitable system for deploying education resources, especially to rural areas.









Source: graphiconline.com









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Ahead of the New Patriotic Partys(NPP) National delegates conference on December 18, 2021, the party has issued a statement giving instructions on how they intend to organize the event.



Third paragraph states, .......no t-shirts, flyers, brochures, and or souvenirs, branded and or embossed with the portraits and names of individuals, shall be allowed within the precincts of the Conference, including but not limited to places of accommodation for delegates. Any person, with or without their consent, whose image is flaunted on any advocacy material and who does not take active steps to desist from any public displays of aspiration for a position within the precincts of Greater Kumasi, runs a higher risk of disqualification in the event nominations are declared opened.



However, the General Secretary of the party, John Boadu has disclosed that the President is an exception.



In an interview with Kwame Tanko on Angel FMs flagship program- Angel in the Morning, Mr Boadu said the party will only admit persons with the President, Nana Akufo-Addos paraphernalia and or T-Shirts and party colours into the conference grounds.



......prior to our national conference in Cape Coast in 2016, we issued a similar statement and so I dont see anything new here. If youre a supporter and youve Adu Boahene, Kuffour and Akufo-Addos T-shirts or party colours, you can wear them. But individual contestants' campaign materials are what were against.



When asked whether or not the Vice Presidents paraphernalia will be accepted, Mr John Boadu who appeared to have been ambushed with the question said



 . well, maybe, because hes the Vice President but if possible do away with it. I think the party will be strict in this directive, he stressed.



John Boadu however assured that all is set for the event which begins with a Muslim prayer on Friday at the Central Mosque.







Source: Peacefmonline.com/ghana









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Executive Director of the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBRE), Gordon Newman Asamoah has condemned a directive from the leadership of the New Patriotic Party concerning the upcoming national conference in the Ashanti region.



He describes the order to remove erected campaign billboards and signages as dictatorial and non-democratic. A sign which may hurt the long standing democratic credentials of the party.



In a radio interview on Monday, December 13, Mr Asamoah stated,



Ive read the directives, but do not want to wade into whether or not people will go by it. Such conferences are avenues for contestants to showcase their interests and themselves to delegates and party leadership. And so to order removal of such campaign billboards and ban all activities associated with internal contest to me is non-democratic.



This is a clear sign of panic reaction. It depicts certain individuals and leaders have lost grounds and thus want to intimidate the new faces who have recently gained grounds. Over the years before nominations are opened, billboards are erected, this thing isnt new in politics.



The fact that youre a leader and feels threatened by another shouldnt make you give such directives. People easily takes directives on the face value. But before such directives are issued, a lot goes into it, he added.



The NPP on December 10, issued a directive indicating that prior to the conference, billboards and or sign boards, banners or any kind of outdoor signage with the images and or names of individual members, with or without the consent of the individual, shall be acceptable. This, they say, applies to the area within the Greater Kumasi Metropolis. All such displays, if put up already, should be removed.



Meanwhile some party supporters have called for a review of the directive, but party leadership says it is a step in the right direction.

Source: Peacefmonline.com/ghana









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The Member of Parliament for North Tongu constituency Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has said he and his fellow Members of Parliament on the Minority side are determined and proud to frustrate the approval of the controversial e-levy proposed by the government in the 2022 budget.



Mr Ablakwas comment comes after the Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II acknowledged that all over the world, nobody loves taxes and pointed out that though it is in the interest of the populace for lawmakers to scrutinise government policies, it is not in their place to frustrate the work of the executive arm.



Speaking at the launch of the Otumfuo Osei Tutu II Commemorative Gold Coin on Sunday, 12 December 2021, the Asante monarch said: We have been fortunate in our political journey to have moved on from a period of one political party dominating everything.



Today, at least, the two main political parties have all been in government, he observed, adding: If we are honest, we will agree that there is no perfect government and there will never be, as long as we have different points of view.



And, if we are honest, we will also agree that there are no people in this world that love paying taxes, and yet there is no other way conceived by the human mind by which government can raise the resources to meet our needs other than by raising taxes.



I do not know of any form of taxes that is less painful than others. So, alas, the government, by all means, would have to raise taxes to meet our needs and if we are good citizens, we will pay our taxes.



He noted: We elect people to represent us to make sure there is some equilibrium in what governments do.



It is to our good that our representatives in parliament subject the national budget to the most rigorous scrutiny and to call for changes.



The government must also have the humility to acknowledge and embrace the useful inputs from all sources but our representatives need to bear in mind that it is not their role to either determine policy or to frustrate the executive from performing their legitimate duties.



But Mr Ablakwa holds a different view.



In a Facebook post on late Monday, 13 December 2021, the North Tongu lawmaker said: Let history reflect that my colleagues and I are proud to belong to the group of MPs who frustrated Ameri, Agyapa, Aker, Oslo Chancery, PDS, inflated 2018 Ministry of Special Development Initiatives Budget, GHS242million dubious e-Transaction Levy Services, and still determined to frustrate the obnoxious E-Levy.



His post further read: I have no doubt President Akufo-Addo is much the same way proud of how he and his collaborators in and outside of Parliament during their good old days frustrated the introduction of VAT not only in the chamber but on the streets with the famous kumepreko demonstrations.



The Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu-led opposition era certainly look back with great pride for frustrating a number of matters they felt strongly about including boycotting President Mahamas message on the state of the nation and boycotting the vetting of his ministers on the instruction of party leaders as they pursued their legal challenge of the 2012 election outcome.



Parliaments exist in a democracy as a countervailing force to keep the executive in check and curb impunity.



When other MPs exercised their oversight mandate in the past, they were hailed as nationalists; those who do same now must not be cast in a different light.



Good conscience, genuine feedback from our constituents and the supreme national interest shall continue to be our raison d'etre.



Mr Ablakwa expressed gratitude to the clergy who have declared three days fasting and prayer for Parliament and the smooth approval of the 2022 budget adding weve no doubt that our Almighty Lord and Saviour will in the final analysis intervene on behalf of the suffering masses just as He did in the story of the profligate, insensitive rich man and poor Lazarus in Luke 16:19-31.



Ghanas split parliament is currently fighting over a proposed 1.75 per cent e-levy, which has stalled the passage of the 2022 budget.



The Minority Caucus, in a lopsided parliament, rejected the budget while the Majority Caucus, also in a separate lopsided sitting of the house, approved it.



The two caucuses are now trying to find a middle ground so the budget could be passed.





Source: facebook/classfmonline









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Hajia Fati a National Security personnel and a leading member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has asked the womens organizer for the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Hannah Bissiw to reverse the curses she rained on Adwoa Safo.



According to her, Hannah Bissiw has cursed her daughter who is the Dome Kwabenya Member of Parliament; which is a bad omen for the Minister and therefore the earlier she reverses it the better for her.



Hajia Fati promises a showdown if Hannah Bissiw fails to comply with her directive indicating that she will advise herself and take things into her own hands.



I am Hajia Fati of the NPP Headquarters, Hannah Bissiw has cursed my daughter Adwoa Safo and this is a warning to her, she should reverse that curse or I take her to court or I will also take matters into my hands and deal with her, she said.



BackGround



In a viral video, the women organizer for the National Democratic Congress (NDC) was heard raining curses on the Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection.



The basis for the curses was the fact that she is said to have had someone impersonate her so that the Majority in Parliament can approve the 2022 budget.



Hannah Bissiw could not fathom why she will support such diabolic moves considering the fact that the 2022 budget imposes hardship on the people of Ghana.



The NDC women organizer then cursed Adwoa Safo that if she was not the one and claims to be the one present in Parliament the gods should deal with her.



Meanwhile, the Minority in Parliament has given the strongest indication that they will investigate the matter to bring finality to it.





Source: ghanaweb.com









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Leading members of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) appear to be divided on a recent vaccine mandate by the Ghana Health Service (GHS).



The mandate directs that all unvaccinated Ghanaians and people with residential status who will be returning to the country after 14 days from midnight yesterday will be vaccinated on arrival. Additionally, all persons who are 18 years or above arriving in the country are required to provide evidence of full vaccination for COVID-19.



The directive forms part of a review of the national COVID-19 preventive protocol instituted at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) to limit the importation of COVID-19 in the wake of the emergence of the Omicron variant.



These directives have been met with differing views on the infringement of human rights and public health policy by the Communications Officer of the NDC, Sammy Gyamfi; the Member of Parliament for the Ningo Prampram constituency, Sam Nartey George and a former Minister of Communication, Dr Edward Omane Boamah.



Views



Mr Gyamfi, speaking in his private capacity said he found the mandate reprehensible and an affront to the 1992 Constitution.



He added that he was determined to use every legal means "to fight this madness", "no matter the cost or stigma".



"Vaccination must be by choice and not by force. The imposition of compulsory COVID vaccination requirement on all Ghanaians traveling into and out of Ghana by the Ghana Health Service is reprehensible and an affront to the 1992 Constitution. And some of us are determined to fight this madness through every available legal means no matter the cost or stigma," Mr Gyamfi wrote in a Facebook post.



For Mr Nartey George, the mandate which he supports was sound public health policy and a very good step by the government.



In a post on Twitter, the Ningo Prampram MP argued that the "Public health considerations supersede personal liberties".



"Compulsory vaccination upon entry to the Republic? Infringement of rights or public health policy? This is sound public health policy and a very good step by govt. I support it and hope it is implemented vigorously. Public health considerations supersede personal liberties," he tweeted.



Weighing in on the legality of the mandate in a Facebook post, Dr Omane Boamah said not only was it legal, but it was meant to protect everyone.



"Over the weekend, friends have asked me if it is right (legal/ethical) for government to vaccinate Ghanaians 'by force' (compulsory vaccination)?" he posted.



"Me: Yes, the Public Health Act states so. It is not only legal but also an act to protect you, your family,.friends and everyone.



"Therefore, please avail yourself to be vaccinated so long as you don't have a condition which makes it impossible for you to receive the covid-19 vaccine".



Only 5,724,634 people in the country had received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine as of December 3, 2021, while 1,243 persons had died from the illness as of December 8, 2021.







Source: Graphiconline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Veteran Actor Abeiku Sagoe has shut down accusations that it was wrong for a minor to take part in the committee voting process in choosing a brand name for Ghanas film industry.



According to him, it was because the process was broadened to cover every stakeholder including children.



The National Film Authority (NFA) on Wednesday, December 8 announced Black Star Films as the new name of the film industry, following a year-long process.



The change of name for the film industry, according to the Authority, is premised on the fact that having an identity as an industry is very important.



However, the new name has been greeted with several disapprovals from many stakeholders who didnt take part in the voting process.



According to them, the name Black Star Films bears a striking similarity to an award and film festival, Black Star International Film Festival (BSIFF) founded by the National Film Authoritys Executive Secretary, Juliet Asante citing conflict of interest.



A group of stakeholders led by showbiz personality, George Quaye petitioned Ministry of Tourism, Art & Culture over the new name.



It however turned out that a 12-year-old poet, Nakeeyat Dramani was one of the committee members who voted in the naming process.

Some persons have raised concerns about the decision to add a minor to the process.



But reacting on Hitz Fm on Monday, Abeiku Sagoe who is himself a committee member for the voting process said he finds nothing wrong with the youngster taking part.



We wanted ideas from all over, children, young people, he noted.



When he was asked why young actors like Rahim Banda, Yaa Jackson etc were rather not part of the process, he said Rahim is in the university, he is not a child.



Your problem is with the fact that a child is part of the process and I am saying that..your argument that it was wrong to have included a 12-year-old, that is what I am talking about.

Source: Dailyguidenetwork.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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The person born with a talent they are meant to use will find their greatest happiness in using it. This quote by Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe truly tells the story of Sha lee, a ferocious Ghanaian former dancer who is set to take over the music scene with his first major single, My Girl.



Contrary to being slouchy and giving up on his dream of becoming one of Africas biggest music export, Sha Lee, a well-celebrated international choreographer who served Ghana well on the international front through his dancing prowess has switched careers from the dancer that he was to become one of the lead music brands in Africa.



With a belligerent desire to succeed in the music business, the nephew of the late Ghanaian movie legend, Ebenezer Donkor popularly known as Katawere has together with his team released a fealty record after years of preparation.



Born Nana Kontoh, Sha lees dream of becoming a musician sterns from his infant days even before becoming the famous dancer he is today. to him, he is twice a better version of himself as a musician and its about time he let the world know of this hidden talent.





I have always had a passion for music even in my days as a child. Anytime I enter the realms of music, I see a better version of me, and am glad to finally let the world know what I have stored in me by way of the music.I think there is no better time to do this than now. Its about time we represent Ghanaian music well and give the world the professional competition it deserves and my music serves that purpose. Sincerely, I am in good standing when it comes to music composition and even at this age, my exuberance in creativity is unchallenged he said.ALSO READ Jeff Tuffour the fast-rising Gospel Minister debuts with 'Ngo Foforo' (Fresh Oil)My Girl, a self-produced record by the artiste, tells a heartbreaking story of a girls decision to opt-out of a relationship after years of investment. It focuses on educating fans and the entire public on the importance of appreciation in any relationship they build as ungratefulness has its own dire consequences. The three-minute and twelve seconds song feature Fimfim, one of the budding young musicians doing the most for the music industry.Excitedly, the song comes with an exceptional video under the direction of celebrated video director, Mister Morgan. The video, an augmented version of modern-day technology skewed to reveal creativity was made to fit the international market.With the release of both song and video, the artiste and his team wish to cement their stand in the music space with other monster releases following up, shortly. The song, My Girl, is currently out and available on all downloads and streaming platforms.

Source: Peacefmonline.com/ghana









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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'Irreverent, capacious and constantly surprising' Hilary Mantel



Every day a beloved father dies. Every day a lover departs. Every day a woman turns forty.



All three happening together brings a moment of reckoning.



Medieval historian Elizabeth Boyle made sense of these events the best way she knew how - by immersing herself in the literature that has been her first love and life's work for over two decades.



Fierce Appetites is the exhilarating and deeply humane result. Not only does Elizabeth Boyle write dazzling accounts of ancient stories, familiar and obscure, from Ireland and further afield, but she uses her historical learning to grapple with the raw and urgent questions she faces, questions that have bedevilled people in every age. She writes on grief, addiction, family breakdown, the complexities of motherhood, love and sex, memory, class, education, travel (and staying put) with unflinching honesty, deep compassion and occasional dark humour.



Fierce Appetites is captivating and original - as an insight into the mind and heart of a groundbreaking scholar, and as a wise and reassuring account of what it is to be human.

_____________________



'I loved this luminous, radical book about bodies in time. It is a deeply personal history, that simultaneously brings medieval myth and poetry to breathing, bleeding life. An education for the mind and the heart' Clare Pollard



'An eloquent plea for the value of curiosity and the life of the mind, standing up the robustness of scholarship against the frailty of individuals, the resilience of myth against brittle daily preoccupations. It's an agile story, irreverent, capacious and constantly surprising: like nothing else you will read' Hilary Mantel
Photo by Brockit Studios

Words: Taj Mihelich

will

Mike Levy and Mike Kaz would have to test bikes together to be a similar weight to me.

My Zwift trainer's weight limit is 250lbs which leaves no room for me to wear clothes while working out.

I hit up my friend George French first. He's one of the engineers who helped transform the dangerously weak BMX bikes of the early 90's into the bikes of nowadays that you can throw off a building. I wondered if he could explain why my BMX held up better than my MTB costing ten times as much.

"PING!!!" I fire out of the 90-degree catch berm that I had just slammed into. That sharp metallic noise that is echoing through the woods came from my fork. I can feel that it is suddenly sagging low, and before even hitting the brakes, I bounce the much-too-soft front end to confirm that yet another fork has given up on me (this time, it ends up being a sheared compression damper).This kind of thing happens way too much, and in a flood of frustration, I curse mountain biking and all its stupid, overly complicated parts. "Why can't they make parts that last!" My short riding seasons in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan are perennially interrupted by failed bike parts. I've never had a fork or dropper survive a summer. I measure the lifespan of my shocks in weeks, not months. Cassettes wilt underneath me.Maybe I'm doing something wrong? My pro BMX career indeed developed a riding style that my bikes would call "unsympathetic." When things were on the line, my mindset was, "my bikebend to my will (or simply bend)."Still, I pushed my BMX bikes hard most every day and they never seemed to break (even though the whole bike cost less than my now limp mountain bike fork). It wasn't until my pro retirement that I got on a mountain bike and all the bike failures began. And that doesn't seem right to me. I'm a 48-year old man with a fused lower back who sits at a desk most of the time I don't think that I'm riding that hard!A couple of summers ago, I rode a shuttle up at Copper Harbor with two other big men who I'd guessed were in the same 250lb (113kg) club as me. I jokingly said, "I bet you boys have broken some bike parts." An avalanche of stories with failed suspension and crumpled parts entertained me to the top of the mountain. They were having the same experience as me. It seemed I wasn't alone. It made me wonder if mountain bike designers worried so much about product weight and performance gains that they had neglected long-term durability for the Clydesdale class?Frustration drained out of me as I cooled down on the slow, mushy-fork ride home. With a clearer head, I admitted it isn't fair to compare my BMX experiences to MTB. For one, thanks to good sponsors, BMX parts were free. To be safe I regularly changed out "wear parts" like handlebars, forks, cranks, and frames before they showed any signs of fatigue. And, perhaps most critically, I had to acknowledge the painful truth that I wasn't this heavy when I rode bikes for a living. I don't know when it happened, but the shift in my life from riding all day to sitting at a desk all day added some pounds. I wondered, "do bike parts have a weight limit?" My Zwift trainer and my pull-up bar both have a 250lb user limit (which means I'm over the limit if I wear clothes while working out).Contemplating the design challenges faced by mountain bike engineers made me realize they deserve some sympathy. Imagine trying to design a product that needs to work for a rider who weighs 90lbs (41kgs) or one as heavy as me? And what about riders heavier than me? Their task seems impossibledesign a product their pro team wants to use, and every other kind of rider too, oh, and don't forget Taj, the overweight, washed-up BMXer who wants his bike set up unreasonably stiff. I decided to reach out to some designers/ engineers to learn more about the seemingly insurmountable challenges they face.

Why are BMX parts so strong, yet so inexpensive (compared to MTB)?

We've learnt that the standardized testing was almost worthless, passing the standard tests was a formality and not a guarantee that things were strong enough.  George French

-George French, Mechanical Engineer @ Odyssey and G-Sport

It wasn't that long ago that I thought a seat post that sprang erect at the push of a button seemed hilariously unnecessary. Now having a dropper seems absolutely essential (but still makes me giggle). Droppers live a hard life, though, enduring a rider's weight bouncing around on rough climbs. I shudder to think of the torture my posts have suffered sandwiched between my bulk and a hardtail. I asked Quinn at OneUp Components for his thoughts.

What are some of the challenges of making parts (droppers) that need to work for a huge range of rider weights?

Is there a weight limit on your products?

I noticed this blurb in the instructions for adjusting post travel, "Lowering the post travel also increases bushing overlap and alignment pin length, which is great for heavier riders." Should riders over a certain weight choose less dropper travel to prolong the post's life?

Quinn Lanzon, Marketing Director @ OneUp Components

Jon Staples, Owner, Engineer, and Designer of OneUp's dropper

I am woefully unqualified to offer product advice of any kind, but I recently got a Manitou Mezzer Pro on the front of my bike and like it a lot. Cranking the pressure in the upper air chamber seems to work well at keeping the fork supportive under me but doesn't feel harsh as it ramps up. I hit up Phil from Manitou to try and learn about how his crew tackles the design challenges of varied rider weight.

Do your products have weight limits?

What are some of the challenges of making a fork for a huge weight range?

Let's say a rider is 250, 300, or 400 lbs. How can they expect their fork to perform?

Phil Ott, Product Manager @ Manitou

It was a eureka moment that made me fall in love with mountain biking when I figured out how much suspension could increase grip. Suddenly a dusty and bumpy berm could feel like a smooth, Skatelite layered, bowl corner on a ramp. Diving in and forcing my tires to grip is one of the best feelings I can think of on a bike. Dave and Bronson from Rock Shox were kind enough to answer some questions about how they make that magic happen.

What are some of the challenges you face trying to create a product that a wide range of rider weights can use?

Is there a weight limit on your products?

How does suspension perform differently for really lightweight riders vs ideal weight (if there is such a thing) vs heavy riders?

Setting up my bike to factory specs at my weight puts me pretty close to max pressure. Coming from the fully rigid world of BMX makes me want things even stiffer and so I'm often right near the limit. I imagine that is why I have so many suspension failures?

Dave Camp, Senior Design Engineer @ Rock Shox Rear Shock

Bronson Stagner, Design Engineer @ Rock Shox XC Front Fork

Is the solution to my problem as simple as adjusting the advice on my shirt?

I've spent my life on bikes, and so it is strange for me to discover that I'm on the edge of who mountain bikes are designed for. There were some hints in the manufacturer's responses about steps to make my equipment hold up better. For part 2 of this story, I'll dig deeper, focusing on practical advice (from the experts) for setup and durability.
More Than $1.1M Awaits Super MILLON$ Main Event Champion

December 14, 2021 Matthew Pitt

December 14 sees nine GGPoker players sit down at the final table of the Super MILLION$ Main Event knowing they are only eight eliminations away from becoming a millionaire. Some 693 players bought in for $10,300 across several flights, creating a $6,930,000 prize pool as a result. $4,519,498 of that pot is still to be won, with the eventual champion seeing $1,125,181 hit their accounts.

Super MILLION$ Final Table Chip Counts

Place Player Country Chips Big Blinds 1 Jeff "DollarVig" Berwick Canada 18,340,704 114.6 2 Daniel Dvoress Canada 11,713,615 73.2 3 Artur Martirosian Russia 11,117,424 69.5 4 Anatoly Filatov UAE 7,619,375 47.6 5 Jerome001 China 5,704,256 35.7 6 progery81 Hungary 5,334,012 33.3 7 Joakim Anderson Malta 4,157,663 26 8 Damian Salas Argentina 3,143,056 19.6 9 Bert Stevens Mexico 2,169,895 13.6

Watch This Star-Studded Final Table Unfold Who will win this week's Super MILLION$? Watch the final table action here! Head to GGPoker's Awesome YouTube channel

Jeff "DollarVig" Berwick is the player in pole position going into this massive final table. Regular readers of our recaps know the final table chip leader tends to be there or thereabouts when the biggest prizes are awarded. Berwick has $646,650 in winnings at GGPoker, with $105,155 stemming from Super MILLION$ events. he is already guaranteed his largest GGPoker score because all nine finalists have locked up $148,909. Will Berwick be a millionaire by this time tomorrow? His 18,340,704 chips (114.6 big blinds) suggest he may be.

If Berwick is to become this tournament's champion, he has a lot of work to do because there are some fantastic players in the chasing pack. Daniel Dvoress is one of those stars, the Canadian has almost $9.4 million in winnings at GGPoker, including a Super MILLION$ victory worth $394,853 plus a WSOP bracelet and $1,489,289 that he scoped in the $1,500 Millionaire Maker event in 2020.

Artur Martirosian

Russia's Artur Martirosian needs fifth-place or better to break through the $19 million in GGPoker earnings barrier, which is nothing short of incredible. Martirosian has won this event twice, most recently on August 29. That came with a $325,957 payout. This is Martirosian's seventh final table of Season 2, and he sits down at it armed with 11,117,424 chips, or 69.5 big blinds.

Super MILLION$ Final Table Payouts

1st: $1,125,181

2nd: $873,846

3rd: $678,652

4th: $527,060

5th: $409,329

6th: $317,896

7th: $246,886

8th: $191,739

9th: $148,909

Martirosian's fellow Russian and member of the Team GG stable, Anatoly Filatov returns to the Super MILLION$ action with 7,619,375 (47.6 big blinds), which are enough chips to place him fourth. Filatov is a two-time Super MILLION$ champion, most recently in September 2021 when the tournament was part of the WSOP Circuit festival. Filatov took down the event that day for a coveted WSOP Circuit ring and a massive $1,193,333.

China's "Jerome001" could be one to watch at the final table because they have been in superb form during the Super MILLION$ Week, winning a brace of titles for a combined $128,691. Jerome001's only previous Super MILLION$ cash came three weeks ago, and ended in a fourth-place finish worth $135,589. They sit down behind a 5,704,256 (35.7 big blind) stack, placing them fifth at the restart.

Bad Beat Jackpot Pays Out More Than $1M in 24-Hours at GGPoker

One player going into this final table under no pressure is Hungary's "progery81." Why? Because they are already guaranteed their largest-ever score at GGPoker regardless of where they finish. The Hungarian has $36,388 in winnings at te site, with $11,285 their largest haul, although they did win a $12,500 Road to Vegas package. They are now guaranteed at least $148,909, and their 5,334,012 (33.3 big blinds) gives them a decent shot at a half-million plus score.

Malta-based Swede Joakim Andersson is looking for what would be his third Super MILLION$ title and his second seven-figure score from this high roller event. Anderson won this event in April 2021 when it was part of the GG Spring Festival. He won a cool $1,573,605 that day, which is one of the reason Anderson has $4,480,215 in Super MILLION$ earnings, the most of any player. He returns with an arsenal of 4,157,663 chips, or 26 big blinds.

Damian Salas

The final table's two shortest stacks are both extremely well-known players. WSOP Hybrid Main Event winner Damian Salas hopes to go one better than his runner-up finish on Valentine's Day. The Argentinian will need some help from the Poker Gods because he has a 3,143,056 stack, the equivalent of 19.6 big blinds.

Bert Stevens, aka "girafganger7", is the man bringing up the rear. The Mexico-based Belgian is yet another former Super MILLION$ champion, winning this event in late September 2020 for $393,262. Stevens has a short stack of 2,169,895 chips, 13.6 big blinds, so will be looking to make a move sooner rather than later when play resumes.
COLUMBIA  Disgraced attorney Alex Murdaugh, who is accused of dozens of financial crimes, will have an opportunity to leave jail for the first time in weeks after a judge on Dec. 13 set his bail at $7 million.

But Murdaughs release appears to be a longshot. Dick Harpootlian, a lawyer representing him, said the high bail is tantamount to no bond because his client no longer has any money.

The decision by Circuit Judge Alison Renee Lee came days after the state grand jury handed up 21 new charges against Murdaugh, whose case has for months captured international attention and tabloid headlines far beyond the rural community where his family long wielded influence.

His virtual bond hearing marked the first time that Murdaugh, 53, has spoken publicly since his wife and son were slain in June and he was accused of attempting to stage his own death in September. It came just days after the state grand jury handed up 21 new charges accusing him of funneling millions of dollars of his clients money into a personal bank account; he now faces a total of 48 counts.

Before the latest indictments, a different judge twice denied bail for Murdaugh, deciding he was a risk to himself. Lee, however, said that Murdaugh had a right to bail and set an amount higher than prosecutors requested. She said if he is released, Murdaugh would be required to stay under house arrest, agree to drug testing, participate in drug and mental health counseling, and not contact witnesses.

"I am a little reluctant, but it's my duty and responsibility to follow what the law provides," Lee said.

At the hearing, Murdaugh said he was no longer a risk to himself and is embarrassed by allegations that he enlisted a former client to shoot him on the side of the road over Labor Day weekend.

Murdaugh, who is charged with insurance fraud in connection with the plot, said he had fallen into a dark place. He was experiencing withdrawal from opioids and had just disclosed his addiction to his law partners, who had confronted him over misappropriated funds.

But after three months sober, he said, he now has a clear head and wants to begin putting his misdeeds behind him. He said the time since the shooting plot represents his longest stretch sober in two decades.

"I made a terrible decision that I regret, that I'm sorry about and frankly that I'm embarrassed about. I'm not in that place now," Murdaugh said. "I want to deal with these charges appropriately and head on. I want to repair as much of the damage I've done as I can."

Murdaugh, 53, currently faces a total of 48 charges including fraud, computer crimes, money laundering and forgery related to allegations that he diverted clients settlement money for his own benefit. The state grand jury has accused Murdaugh of stealing some $6.2 million since October 2015.

If convicted on all counts, Murdaugh faces up to 506 years in prison and $3.5 million in fines, said Creighton Waters, the state grand jury's chief attorney.

According to the indictments, Murdaughs scheme took several forms. He allegedly lied to one client about the size of the settlement they were due to receive and told others that they had to pay expenses like liens and expert fees  money that he is accused of pocketing instead. In each of them, the funds allegedly flowed to a bank account named Forge.

Murdaughs legal team has insisted he used the money to fund a decades-long opioid addiction. Waters said the funds were used for loan payments, credit card bills, personal expenses and "checks to associates."

The Forge account, opened in 2015, was named to mimic Forge Consulting, an Atlanta-based company that South Carolina lawyers routinely use to handle settlement funds. The Forge scheme was discovered when a check made out to the spoof account was found on Murdaughs desk in September, according to a lawsuit filed by his former law firm, Peters, Murdaugh, Parker, Eltzroth & Detrick.

The discovery prompted the firm to start looking into Murdaughs finances, expanding the scope of an already tangled saga. Murdaugh began to attract international attention after his wife, Maggie, and son Paul were shot dead at the familys hunting lodge on June 7. No one has been arrested in connection with the killings.

The Murdaugh name long carried weight in the familys native Hampton County. Murdaughs father, grandfather and great-grandfather served as the top prosecutor in a five-county region for more than 80 years, and from Hampton, a town of fewer than 3,000 residents, the family founded a law firm that became one of the states most influential.

Murdaughs legal career began to unravel in September. Thats when the firm says its partners confronted him about the Forge checks and he admitted to stealing money from the firm and his clients. The firm notified law enforcement and the state Office of Disciplinary Counsel, which investigates lawyer misconduct. The state Supreme Court subsequently suspended Murdaughs law license.

Amid his public fall from grace, Murdaugh was arrested in September after confessing he had a hitman shoot him in the head in a bid to leave a $10 million life insurance payout for his surviving son, Buster. Murdaugh, who is facing insurance fraud charges in connection to the shooting, survived and later checked into rehab for an opioid addition.

A month later he was again arrested on charges he secretly stole $3.4 million from a pair of wrongful death settlements that were owed to the sons of Gloria Satterfield, the Murdaugh family's longtime housekeeper and nanny who died after falling at their estate. Eric Bland, an attorney for Satterfield's family, said they had recovered $7.5 million in various settlements since the scheme came to light this year.

Murdaugh apologized through Harpootlian to Satterfield's relatives for the first time at the bond hearing. Harpootlian said his client would agree to awarding the family an additional $4.3 million judgment, essentially securing them a place in line as his assets are distributed. Such a judgment would have to be approved by the court-appointed receivers who control Murdaugh's finances.
North Augusta Mayor Briton Williams took time to speak about the public safety officers who responded to last week's shooting in downtown during Monday's city council study session.

We all know what an amazing city we live in. It became clear to me after last Thursday when I saw all the posts and heard from so many people and said what a wonderful job our public safety did handling the situation and I agree completely," North Augusta Mayor Briton Williams said.

I know we have the best public safety department. But, I also know this community loves, supports and appreciates our public safety like no other community does and part of that is we, you and I as citizens, know so many of these officers. We go to church with them, we are in civic and booster clubs with them, your kids, their kids are in school together, you socialize with them. You see them giving themselves and helping others when they are off duty. They are real men and women who love this community.

The shooting, outside of Garys Hamburgers on Georgia Avenue took place around 4:30 p.m. Thursday. South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) charged Thomas M. Airington of Clarks Hill with attempted murder and possession of marijuana. As of Friday, he was under a temporary hold.

North Augusta Public Safety officer Lt. Aaron Fittery was wounded as a result of the downtown shooting incident. SLED, Aiken County Sheriff's Office, Edgefield County Sheriff's Office, ATF Task Force, South Carolina Highway Patrol and Jackson Police Department assisted in the investigations.

North Augusta Department of Public Safety Chief John Thomas has spoken with Fittery several times since the incident. He sustained a non-life threatening gunshot injury to his leg.

Lieutenant Fittery is doing well and this is the fourth day after the shooting and seems to be mending well, Thomas said. ...The wound obviously is going to take time to heal. He is still a little sore and still on crutches but he is going to be fine.

Fittery was taken to a hospital by an anonymous bystander. Thomas said the bystander has been identified and thanked for their involvement in helping get Fittery to safety.

I dont know that people understand that that could have saved his life and obviously we are very thankful and grateful for that, Thomas said. We are going to reach back out to that individual and try and get that person to be recognized at some point.

Council member Jenafer McCauley was in the area during the incident.

I was actually downtown at that point and I was driving home and it definitely created a sense of worry and obviously scariness that was going on, but our public safety department handled it so professionally and so well, and I think they did a fantastic job, McCauley said. As a business owner, if I was downtown, I would not be worried. I know our public safety handled it the best they possibly could and the turnout was as it needed to be.

Williams wanted to express his support of the public safety officers during the meeting.

The leadership of our public safety begins with Chief John Thomas and his three captains, Billy Luckey, Charles Williams and Joe Count, Williams said. They work hard to ensure their officers and dispatchers are ready for all types of situations, even in worse case scenario like weve had. The officers' training, their calmness, their professionalism in handling the situation ensured that no citizens died.

Williams said he continues to go downtown and plans to attend the North Augusta Forward Third Thursday event.

An event like Thursday in some places would have split the community or would have at least caused doubt about the safety of that community, Williams said. I am so proud of North Augusta citizens because you know like each of us on this council that we live in a safe town. All communities have crime, that is just the reality of it, but it's nothing compared to most.

Thursday night was not an indictment against any error of our community. Our downtown is safe, Williams continued. This event happened downtown but not because of anything in regards to downtown. I cannot wait to walk the streets of downtown with Third Thursday this week and I hope you come out and join me.

Council members Eric Presnell, Pat Carpenter and J. Robert Brooks were not in attendance.
Boeing Co. is on track to double its 2020 delivery total this year, but a restart of handovers for the 787 Dreamliner program is still unknown.

The planemaker delivered 34 planes to its customers last month for a year-to-date total of 302 deliveries, up from 157 during all of 2020, according to new figures Boeing released Dec. 14.

Deliveries of the Dreamliner that's made in North Charleston remained paused last month as Boeing continues to grapple with production issues. No new 787 orders were logged.

But Boeing did have its 10th straight month with a positive net order total, thanks to the 737 Max that returned to the skies about a year ago. Boeing recorded 109 new commitments last month, all for 737s.

India-based Akasa Air had the largest order, for 77 Max jets. Southwest also ordered another seven Max aircraft, and 777 Partners ordered 30 more 737s.

Those new orders were offset by 18 cancellations, all for Max jets.

The 737 Max has accounted for more than two-thirds of Boeing's deliveries so far this year, including 28 last month.

Meanwhile, figures for the South Carolina-based Dreamliner program remain well below normal. The program has logged 21 out of Boeing's 829 gross orders in 2021. Just 14 Dreamliners have been given to customers this year.

More than six months into the current delivery stoppage, Boeing doesn't have a timeline for when its 787 handovers will resume.

About 100 Dreamliners are sitting in inventory, awaiting delivery. Ongoing delays and the uncertainty that's come with them prompted a few 787 de-bookings recently and caused trouble for customers who expected the jets.

Boeing Orders and Deliveries The number of Boeing jets ordered from January through November: Total gross orders: 829

829 787 orders: 21 The number of Boeing jets delivered from January through November: Total planes: 302

302 787 deliveries: 14 Source: Boeing Co.

Last week, American Airlines said that it would be cutting back on its overseas flight schedule for summer 2022 because of the Dreamliner delivery delays. American anticipated the delivery of 13 new Dreamliners this year. Instead, it has received one  a 787-8 delivered in April.

The carrier said it isn't betting on the rest of its undelivered planes for its summer schedule.

While it will be "nice when (the 787s) show up," Brian Znotins, vice president of network planning for American Airlines, told The Post and Courier last week, American "can't put any credence" into current delivery forecasts "because so many have proven to be wrong over the last 18 months."

The current 787 delivery pause began in late May. Before that, deliveries were stopped for about five months, from late 2020 through late March of this year.

Boeing said in a statement last week that inspections and rework on 787s are ongoing and that it will "take the time needed" to ensure jets conform with all of the company's "exacting specifications."
Charleston County School District officials are reporting a sharp rise in suicide assessments and other violent behavior.

There has been a 45 percent increase in suicide assessments, a 50 percent increase in incidents of students threatening others and an 18 percent rise in fights at middle and high schools this year compared with the same period in 2019, according to data presented during the Dec. 13 school board meeting.

These severe behavioral episodes are part of a broader trend of rising incidents of violence and threats of violence amongst students nationwide. It's happening now that students have returned to in-person class after learning virtually on and off for two years.

Mental health resources People struggling with their mental health can reach out to the following services for support: SC Mobile Crisis: 833-364-2274

Crisis Text line: text HOPE4SC to 741741

Suicide prevention hotline: 800-273-8255

Jennifer Coker, CCSD's director of alternative programs and services, said she believes this uptick in violence behavior is a symptom of the mental health struggles students are experiencing. In October, the American Academy of Pediatrics issued a state of emergency as child mental health issues soar across the country.

(Students) need us to understand, they need us to listen, they need us to check on them and recognize that mental health issues are real, she said at the meeting.

Mental health experts believe that the problems students are experiencing are caused by multiple factors ranging from issues at home that were exacerbated by the pandemic to the general upheaval students experienced bouncing between in-person and virtual learning.

The data comes as school districts are trying to fill school psychologist, counselor and social worker positions. CCSD employs 45 full-time psychologists and three interns, meaning there is one school psychologist for every 1,100 students. The district also employs 15 social workers that serve its 49,331 students.

The national and state recommendations are that districts have a school psychologist and social worker for every 500 students. The district has hired more school psychologists and social workers using federal COVID-19 relief funds, but the need continues to be there, said CCSD's Chief Academic Officer Karolyn Belcher.

Nearly a third of the time school psychologists, social workers and counselors spend at work is directly with students. In a November 2021 survey, 84.8 percent of them said their greatest challenge is the increase in student needs.

The district is working to make up for the gaps by transitioning employees who have social work, school counseling or a school psychology background into those roles. Coker said the district is welcoming anyone who has that background to apply for full- or part-time work.

The district is also working to improve staff and student experiences by setting up calming rooms, implementing more e-learning days and developing community partnerships.

Jennifer Butler, program manager for the office of suicide prevention at the S.C. Department of Mental Health, also recommended during a phone call with The Post and Courier that districts provide parent education by hosting after-school trainings about mental health first aid, signs of suicide ideation and having conversations about mental health.

We have to start talking about this with our parents when their (children) are in pre-K, when theyre in kindergarten, talking about how do you care for your childs mental health throughout their development, she said.
The Charleston County school board decided to delay voting on a controversial proposal that would put 21 low-performing schools in the county on improvement plans.

The Reimagine Schools proposal was presented during the Dec. 13 school board meeting by the Coastal Community Foundation of South Carolina, a nine-county organization that helps nonprofits and other community groups raise funds and complete initiatives. (The Coast Community Foundation manages The Post and Courier public service and investigative reporting fund for South Carolina.)

The proposal wants to put $31.6 million in district funds toward improving the schools. It was met with skepticism from some board members as well as residents, who thought the foundation wasnt transparent on what the improvement plans would actually entail.

While all of the board members felt the proposal had good intentions, some were concerned that it was created with little public input.

"Frankly, this proposal is very vague in terms of exactly how you expect us to spend any money, and this is a huge ask," board member Kristen French said to CCF President and CEO Darrin Goss at the meeting.

Of the $31.6 million in school district funds dedicated to the project, $31.1 million will go directly to the commissions' identified improvement plans. Another $580,000 will cover administrative costs, including $110,000 for the foundation to act as a "convener" that will help see the proposal through.

Francis Beylotte, a community member who shared his concerns about the proposal during public comment, said he would like to see how it will measure success, evidence of similar programs that worked in other places or a pilot program.

"They're not reimagining anything, they're reinventing the wheel," he said in an interview with The Post and Courier after the meeting.

If the proposal is approved, the foundation will help the board assemble three commissions that will develop improvement plans for 21 low-performing schools throughout the county.

The commissions, with the approval of the board, will have the power to utilize the S.C. Schools of Innovation law to improve the schools in their area. The law allows low-performing schools to waive instructional requirements so they can hire better teachers and have more class time. It also gives schools the ability to partner with nonprofits to create a public-private school like Meeting Street Schools at Burns and Brentwood.

The foundation grouped the schools in the proposal into feeder patterns, based on where students attend elementary, middle and then high school. Goss and his team hope the district can better serve the low-performing schools by treating them as an ecosystem.

If you do an innovation at the elementary school, those innovations in terms of supports should be integrated in the middle school and to the high school, Goss said.

The 21 schools identified in the proposal include schools in North Charleston, downtown Charleston, Johns Island, Hollywood and Ravenel. Four of them, including North Charleston Elementary, Chicora Elementary, North Charleston High School, St. Johns High School and R.B. Stall High School, are on the S.C. Department of Educations list of Comprehensive Support and Improvement schools, meaning they are among the lowest performing in the state and receive extra funds for improvement.

The goal is to have members of the community provide input and have a stake in what happens in their schools. In total, the commissions will include one school board member; one constituent school district board member; chairs from school improvement councils; school administrators; and up to 10 community members, including teachers, parents, and faith and business leaders.

Goss said the goal of the initiative is to take an inside out approach to approving schools.

A collection of parents, a collection of those who operate schools  administrators and teachers  who understand the local context of their community, who understand the needs of their children, should really drive what the school looks like and the model for the school, Goss said.

Goss' proposal didn't include specifics on initiatives or action items that will help students improve test scores. He said that work should be left up to the educators and community members involved in the commissions.

While the proposal was met with criticism from community members, some also praised it. A group of parents and students gathered before the meeting to show their support as part of Charleston RISE, a nonprofit dedicated to empowering community members to advocate for better public schools.

Cheryl Cromwell, deputy director of Charleston RISE, said a parent engagement effort like Reimagine Schools is long overdue.

"Cookie-cutter solutions just don't work for our children, so you need to create something that's going to work for that child, for that school, for that community, and the only way to do that is to involve parents in the community," Cromwell said.

If successful, the proposal could help students who currently score far below state and district averages on standardized tests. Just 5.3 percent of Chicora Elementary School students, 6.6 percent of E.B. Ellington Elementary School students and 8.5 percent of Mitchell Elementary School students met expectations on the SC Ready English/Language Arts exam last year. All three of those schools are included in the proposal.

The board ultimately voted 6-3 to move the official vote for the proposal to Jan. 10. Erica Cokley, Helen Frazier and French voted against moving the proposal to the next meeting. While Cokley and French felt the proposal wasn't ready to be voted on at all, Frazier wanted to see it approved at the meeting later that afternoon on Dec. 13.

"We have not been able to move the needle forward for our children," Frazier, who supported the proposal, said. "We have to do something. We cannot continue to sit back and wait on an opportunity to come before us and not act upon it."

Goss said he heard the concerns of the public and will work to address major questions before the board votes on the proposal at the Jan. 10 meeting.
GREENVILLE  Sitting between the Judson neighborhood and the ongoing revitalization of Judson Mill in Greenville County is Feed and Seed, a facility that aims to minimize food waste and build food security for the community.

The brick-and-mortar location for the distribution center and retail market has been planned in the Greenville area for a long time. It originally intended to locate where Willy Taco is on Laurens Road, and then at The Commons in the Unity Park area. Both moves fell through.

Feed and Seed officially moved its equipment out of its temporary kitchen at Greenbrier Farms in Easley, which it occupied from March 2020 to October 2021, and now anticipates opening in the Judson Mill development in the first quarter of 2022.

Feed and Seed board chair Mary Hipp said the new facility is ideal.

We are probably in the best location of all the locations because we are so connected to the neighborhood, Hipp said.

The Judson community, just west of the Greenville city limit, has a population of approximately 2,300 people that stretches across less than a square mile. The median household income is approximately $20,870, according to U.S. census data.

The 18,000-square-foot Feed and Seed storefront  now a neighbor to a rock climbing gym and luxury lofts at Judson Mill  will serve farmers and wholesalers, as well as individual community members.

About 60 percent of the Feed and Seed workforce will not require a high school education, a very intentional choice, Hipp said. About 30 to 40 people will be hired over a two-year period.

The market, located at 701 Easley Bridge Road, will have fresh and local produce along with items like trash bags, toilet paper and paper towels. More than one presentation of food will be available. Hipp used squash as an example. Customers can buy a full squash, a bag of sliced squash, a container of sauteed squash or a squash pie.

A deli counter will have prepared and ready-to-cook products available, a concept that helps Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) customers buy food.

Within the marketplace is a two-fold kitchen. The front side of the kitchen supports the market that sells food from seasonal menus using local produce. Feed and Seed team member Adam Sturm described it like a healthy version of a Spinx. The back side is a commissary kitchen that entrepreneurs or organizations can rent out to cook large batches of food using local ingredients. Cooking classes or educational courses will also be hosted there.

Behind the kitchen is a food preservation room to freeze dry fruits and vegetables and minimize food waste that may come from farmers excess crops. Sturm will make freeze dried and dehydrated fruit and vegetables for soup, curry and oatmeal mixes that only require the addition of hot water and have a longer shelf life. Feed and Seed currently has six freeze dryers with plans to get three more in spring 2022.

At the back of the facility are a community room, three temperature-controlled walk-in refrigerators, a washroom, a processing facility and a loading dock, which can accommodate both small farm trucks and 18-wheelers.

The community room is a flex space that can hold approximately 90 people and will be used to support farmers through classes, crop planning and Good Agricultural Practices certification. The space can also host cooking or nutrition classes and serve as a meeting place for organizations.

The idea for Feed and Seed started in 2012 when Hipp and a former Greenville County Schools employee were trying to upgrade school lunches to include more local and healthy foods. The effort to get healthier foods into the school system is still ongoing. Feed and Seed has six products in development aimed to serve students in summer programs.

Feed and Seed also operates the Pickens County FoodShare South Carolina program and will soon do the same for Anderson County. FoodShare S.C. provides boxes of fresh produce and recipe cards on a bi-weekly schedule, which vary in price depending on whether the customer is using SNAP or not. Mill Village does FoodShare S.C. for Greenville County.
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GOOSE CREEK  A man has been charged with running an illegal tattooing operation from his home.

Goose Creek police on Dec. 9 charged Maurice Michael Hardwick, 38, with one count of tattooing.

Hardwick is accused of illegally tattooing people, meaning he's charged with provided tattoos without obtaining a license issued by the states Department of Health and Environmental Control.

Criteria for getting a license include proof the business meets sterilization, sanitation and safety standards, as well as proof a tattoo artist has successfully completed courses in blood-borne pathogens and tattoo infection control, and the person is certified in first aid and CPR, according to state law.

Officers received communication around 11 a.m. on Dec. 8 that Hardwick was illegally tattooing individuals out of his residence, according to a copy of the incident report. There was no business license on file for Hardwick to be conducting a tattoo operation at the home in Goose Creek's Carnes Crossroads community, police said.

In addition to finding several pictures on Hardwicks Facebook page of him tattooing clients, police found evidence he gave a tattoo on Oct. 27 to one client's right cheek, the report states. Face tattooing is illegal in South Carolina, even for licensed artists.

Officers were also informed Hardwicks significant other was the one handling appointments through her Facebook Messenger account, according to the report.

She would speak with potential clients before scheduling the tattoo work at Hardwicks home. In one of these conversations, which police observed, the woman confirmed Hardwick could do a tattoo and gave a time for the person to stop by the residence, the report states.

Police executed the search and arrest warrants on Hardwick Dec. 9. They found him in his kitchen, where he was immediately taken into custody, according to the report.

Officers seized from Hardwicks home an Apple iPad, calendars, tattoo stencils, tattoo grips, tattoo needles, ink trays, ink cartridges, bottles of tattoo ink, stencil printers, numbing spray and tattoo machines.

It was unclear for how long Hardwick was accused of running the tattoo operation or whether additional arrests would stem from the incident. Officials with the Goose Creek Police Department did not respond to further questions for this article.

Neither Hardwick nor his attorney could be reached by phone for comment on the pending case.

Hardwick was booked Dec. 9 into the Berkeley County jail and had a bond hearing the same day.

Presiding Judge OTis Prioleau set his bail at a $20,000 personal recognizance bond, meaning Hardwick was released from custody without having to pay any money.

If Hardwick is found guilty of the misdemeanor, he could face fines up to $2,500 and imprisonment of up to a year.
NEWBERRY  State Rep. Richard Martin pleaded not guilty to a pair of misconduct charges Dec. 14, including one allegation of providing alcohol to a minor.

Flanked by his wife, pastor and House Minority Leader Todd Rutherford, D-Columbia, who has represented lawmakers of both parties in criminal matters, Martin said little during Tuesdays hearing, which lasted less than seven minutes.

Assistant Attorney General Kinli Abee requested bail be set for $10,000, and that the judge issue a no-contact order between Martin and the minor and between Martin and DSS Director Michael Leach.

Rutherford argued Martin, a Republican, posed no flight risk due to the business he owns in the community, and that the no-contact order was unnecessary.

These allegations, this happened some years ago, Rutherford said. He has had no contact with anybody and will continue to do so.

Circuit Judge G.D. Morgan Jr. agreed to $10,000 bail, and granted both no-contact orders.

According to prosecutors, the state Department of Social Services relieved Martin of custody of four children he was fostering in December 2019 after an unrelated incident.

The sitting lawmaker then made a phone call to Leach in which Martin threatened Leach with his job and to cut DSS' budget unless the children were returned to him that evening, prosecutors said. Martin made similar phone calls to the legislative liaison with DSS, they said.

After the children were removed, one of the children, who was 16 years old at the time, revealed Martin had provided her with wine coolers that previous January while Martins wife was in New York.

Martin has represented the Midlands' House District 40 since 2017. Following his indictment Dec. 10, he was suspended from his position in the House of Representatives pending the outcome of charges.
Marlboro County Sheriff Charles Lemon and a former deputy are accused of assaulting a suspect who was repeatedly jolted with a Taser at the county jail last year, according to indictments.

Attorney General Alan Wilson announced Dec. 14 that a Marlboro County grand jury indicted Lemon and former Deputy David Andrew Cook on charges of assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature and misconduct in office.

Gov. Henry McMaster suspended Lemon from office as a result of the indictments. He appointed former Bennettsville Police Chief Larry McNeil to serve as interim sheriff until Lemon's case is resolved or a new sheriff is elected. McNeil, 68, served as chief from 2000 to 2016 and most recently worked as a law enforcement and safety liaison for the S.C. Department of Social Services.

Cook is no longer employed in law enforcement, said Robert Kittle, a spokesman for the attorney general.

Lemon joins a long line of South Carolina sheriffs who have run afoul of the law in recent years. The Post and Courier's 2019 series "Above the Law showed that one in four of South Carolinas 46 counties in the past decade had seen their sheriffs accused of breaking laws they swore to uphold. By the end of that year, three more sheriffs had been indicted and removed from office. In all, 15 sheriffs since 2010 have been arrested on charges ranging from drug dealing to driving under the influence.

John Crangle, a longtime South Carolina government watchdog, said he's been frustrated by the sheriffs' inability to police themselves despite a growing laundry list of sheriffs accused of misbehavior and crimes.

State lawmakers, meanwhile, have done nothing to change the status quo.

The latest indictments allege around May 3, 2020, Lemon ordered then-Deputy Cook to use his Taser on Jarrel Lee Johnson to subdue the suspect at the Marlboro County Detention Center. Cook is accused of shooting the Taser's barbs into Johnson's chest and leg and then jolting him at least two more times during the incident, the indictments state.

The indictments allege the assault was "likely to produce great bodily injury or death."

Marlboro County court records show a suspect matching Johnson's name was arrested May 4 of last year on charges of aggravated assault and resisting arrest. Those charges are pending.

It could not immediately be determined on Dec. 14 when Lemon and Cook would appear in court on the charges or whether the pair had legal representation.

Lemon, 52, took office in January 2017 after besting three opponents in the election for sheriff of Marlboro County, which is about two-and-a-half hours north of Charleston, not far from the North Carolina border.

An Army veteran, Lemon had previously served as police chief in Society Hill for four years and as chief deputy for Marlboro County for 12 years under then-Sheriff Fred Knight, according to his county biography.

Lemon most recently won re-election in November and touted his leadership skills in an interview with WBTW News 13. "Certainly my track record speaks for itself, and may the work that Ive done speak for me, Lemon told the station.

WPDE News 15 spoke with Lemon on Dec. 13 after news surfaced that three of his investigators had resigned. Lemon did not say what led to the resignations, but he told the station that "everything is fine."

Assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature is a felony with a penalty of up to 20 years in prison. Common law misconduct in office is a misdemeanor that carries up to 10 years in prison.

Tony Bartelme contributed to this report from Charleston.
Syndicated and guest columns represent the personal views of the writers, not necessarily those of the editorial staff. The editorial department operates entirely independently of the news department and is not involved in newsroom operations.
Editorials represent the institutional view of the newspaper. They are written and edited by the editorial staff, which operates separately from the news department. Editorial writers are not involved in newsroom operations.
Democratic National Committee Chairman Jaime Harrison during a news conference in Columbia on Aug. 13, 2021. The DNC is hosting its first in-person gathering of state party chairs since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, meeting in Charleston this week. File/Staff
Spartanburg Mayor Junie White received the Order of the Palmetto and was lauded by local officials on Dec. 13 following his final City Council meeting.

White, who is retiring from public office after 12 years as mayor, was presented with the honor by state Reps. Rosalyn Henderson-Myers and Max T. Hyde, Jr. The Order of the Palmetto is billed as the highest civilian honor in South Carolina and is given at the discretion of the sitting governor to mark outstanding lifetime achievement.

Im going to miss the people, White said. Weve got great employees in the city, and Im going to miss them.

White announced in June that he would not seek a fourth term. He was elected in November 2009 and re-elected in 2013 and 2017. He previously served as a councilman for District 4. A native of Cherokee County and a graduate of Gaffney High School, White served in the Navy from 1957 to 1961. He opened an Exxon service station in Spartanburg in 1964.

As mayor he said that it is important to not be lazy, and pay attention to whats been done and what has been said.

District 5 councilman Jerome Rice was elected as the next mayor in November, and will take office in January.

When I was first starting to get involved at the city as a resident, and then thinking about running myself, and then actually serving, one of the common things that I heard people talk about over and over again was what a servant's heart Junie had, Councilwoman Meghan Smith said. "I think that has set such a good example for us on council and for future mayors to really be a giving person and generous with your time and the gifts you have."
Writings on the Wall

Unsatisfied with the Articles of Confederation, James Madison pushed for a constitutional convention. He wrote most of the constitution but so Read more
The Houston Independent School District board consists of nine members. None is a conservative.

That will change soon, however, because conservative candidates won two seats in a runoff election on Saturday. One of them (a man who once lost his job with the city due to sexual harassment allegations) won by fewer than 100 votes in a district where turnout was less than seven percent. The other won more convincingly in a district with 12 percent turnout.

Both districts encompass parts of Houston that traditionally lean Republican. However, both are represented by liberals, and one of the two districts voted Democratic in the last two presidential and U.S. House races, according to Karen Townsend at Hot Air.

Observers and one of the losing candidates say that two issues drove the victories by the conservatives: (1) the teaching of Critical Race Theory (CRT) in public schools and (2) the mask mandates in public schools. One of the losing incumbents moaned:

Knocking on doors in District 7, it was pretty clear to me that the impression that voters have of public schools, if they dont themselves have children in public schools, is informed by Fox News and national news coverage that has nothing to do with what our kids are being taught.

The head of something called Houstonians for Greater Public Schools added:

I do think the Republicans, both nationally and here locally, were able to hammer home a very clear message that resonated with a lot of voters that ultimately led them to victory.

The liberal incumbents denied that Houstons schools teach CRT and noted that Texas law prohibits teaching it. Apparently, not enough voters believed the first assertion.

I dont know what is taught in Houstons schools. However, the denial that CRT is being taught in this or that set of public schools is often a semantic dodge. In fact, Critical Race Theory is a rather benign description of whats being taught in some public schools. Better descriptions of this form of indoctrination are whites are racist theory (WART) or simply white people stink.

Liberal school board members can deny all they want that schools in their district are teaching CRT. The best option for voters who are concerned about the matter is to vote for candidates who denounce the teaching of CRT in no uncertain terms.

Unfortunately, the Houston ISD will still be under control of liberals by a 7-2 margin. Whats encouraging about the Houston results is that, as noted, anti-CRT candidates won in Republican-leaning and/or purple areas. If this becomes a national trend, anti-CRT candidates will begin to control many school boards throughout America.

However, even in those school districts, most teachers will likely be liberals. And there is probably not that much school boards can do to prevent liberal teachers from providing at least some leftist indoctrination of students on matters pertaining to race, among other matters. (By this indoctrination, I dont mean teaching about slavery or Jim Crow. That history should, of course, be taught and has been for many decades. I mean teaching, for example, that racism is the central fact about Americas founding and that it predominates in America today.)

Still, electing conservative school boards will help stem the CRT tide at least to some extent. In addition, if the anti-CRT cause and other cases of pushback against the leftist education agenda are helping elect conservatives to school boards, they can also help elect conservatives to other important offices including governor  as arguably occurred last month in Virginia.
The Washington Free Beacon took an offbeat look at Kamala Harriss trip to Paris last month, reporting that Harris had dropped nearly $400 for a single pot at a boutique shop in Paris[.] The Free Beacons Adam Kredo and Brent Scher broke the story tongue in cheek, concluding: The money Harris dropped at E. Dehillerin could have been used to buy at least 25 16-pound turkeys for families in need, according to a Free Beacon cost analysis.

It apparently doesnt take much to get under Harriss skin. Harris complained about the Free Beacon story in an interview with her hometown newspaper, where the going is easy (on her, at least). Andrew Stiles capably continues the mockery in She Persisted: Kamala Harris Wont Be Distracted by Free Beacon Kitchenware Bombshell. Subhead: VP slams ridiculous investigation into Parisian pot scandal. Stiles quotes Harris:

Oh, how about, Shes going to buy a pot on her way to the airport,' Harris huffed, after a very significant and highly successful bilateral meeting in France on issues that are about national security, on issues that are about climate, on issues that are about what we are doing in terms of international norms and rules on everything from cyber to space. Come on.

Harriss pain has to be the feel-good story of the day.
I remember when 1984 rolled around, with the Cold War still going in high gear (in fact higher than ever after Reagan correctly called the Soviet Union an evil empire), and it was natural that the literary world would mark the occasion with a callback to George Orwells 1984. The anti-anti-Communist left at the time labored mightily to downplay or distract from Orwells anti-Communist message, offering convoluted takes about how 1984 was really about us in the democratic West.

These were snortworthy takes, to be sure, but right now it is appearing that Orwells description of the tyrannical drive to control history and language fits us pretty well. Key passage:

Every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book rewritten, every picture has been repainted, every statue and street building has been renamed, every date has been altered. And the process is continuing day by day and minute by minute. History has stopped. Nothing exists except an endless present in which the Party is always right.

Maybe 1984 was about us is ironically correct after all. Cue Leo Strausss great observation on the victory of German thought after World War II in Natural Right and History:

It would not be the first time that a nation, defeated on the battlefield and, as it were, annihilated as a political being, has deprived its conquerers of the most sublime fruit of victory by imposing on them the yoke of its own thought.

It gets worse. Apparently the Orwell estate has granted permission for 1984 to be rewritten from a feminist point of view. The new version will be called Julia, and purports to tell the story from the point of view of Winston Smiths lover. The Guardians account of the author, Sandra Newman, doesnt sound especially encouraging:

Julia will be published after Granta releases Newmans new novel The Men  in which every single person with a Y chromosome vanishes from the world  next June. It is the latest in a series of feminist retellings of classic stories, from Natalie Hayness reimagining of the Trojan war A Thousand Ships, and Pat Barkers The Silence of the Girls, a version of the Iliad from the perspective of Briseis, to Maggie OFarrells Hamnet, which centres on the life of Shakespeares wife, and Jeet Thayils Names of the Women, which tells the stories of 15 women whose lives overlapped with Jesus.

A world without any men, eh? Thats one way to smash the patriarchy. (Though this novel, coming next spring, may be implicitly anti-trans, as there are lots of people with Y chromosomes now identifying as women. What happens to them in this scenario?)

Perhaps Julia wont have any overt ideological bent, though the absence of Orwells original insight into the totalitarian mind now dominating American institutions will be literary crime enough. One of Newmans previous novels is The Country of Ice Cream Star, which is described on the dust jacket thus: In the ruins of a future America, fifteen-year-old Ice Cream Star and her nomadic tribe live off of the detritus of a crumbled civilization. What is it with a certain literary type that a fallen, post-apocalyptic America is such a persistent backdrop to their imagination (or lack thereof)?
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A $210 million loan approved by the board of directors of the African Development Bank (www.AfDB.org) on Monday could impact the lives of millions of people in Nigeria, Africas most populous country.

The loan will co-finance Phase 1 of the Nigeria Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zone Programme. The programme will help to unlock Nigerias agriculture sector potential. It will promote industrialization through the development of strategic crops and livestock.

African Development Bank financing for this programme represents one of the Banks most ambitious operations in terms of scale and scope to date. It is made up of an African Development Bank loan of $160 million and an Africa Growing Together Fund loan of $50 million. Phase 1 of the project will target seven Nigerian states and the countrys Federal Capital Territory.

The project will support Nigerias efforts to raise agricultural productivity, promote investment, create wealth and jobs, and transform rural areas into corridors of economic prosperity. Its first phase will be implemented with co-financing from other partners in the amount of $538.05 million.

We have several million hectares of available arable land and have embarked on the creation of Special Agriculture Processing Zones across the country, Nigerias President Muhammadu Buhari told world leaders at the recent Future Investment Initiative Summit in Riyadh, ahead of Mondays Bank Board meeting. These initiatives, we believe, will make it easier for investors in agriculture, Mr Buhari added.

The Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones Programme is expected to bring economic infrastructure to rural areas of high agricultural potential. These zones will attract private agro-industrialist and entrepreneur investment, contribute to Nigerias economic and social development, and stem rural-to-urban migration.

The project areas account for 19% of Nigerias total land mass and will benefit 50.4 million people. The states where the first phase of the programme will be implemented were selected based on a readiness criterion as well as the need to ensure geographical balance across Nigerias six geo-political zones.

In addition to African Development Bank financing for Phase 1 of the Nigeria project, the Islamic Development Bank and the International Fund for Agricultural Development will provide parallel co-financing. Nigerias federal and state governments will contribute both in cash and in kind.

The President of the African Development Bank Group, Akinwumi Adesina said: This first phase of the program is not government-driven. It is government-enabled and private sector led. That is the critical way in which you have structural transformation of agriculture. It is impressive to see a strong commitment from the Nigerian government  a very strong commitment from the Nigerian Minister of Finance and from all of the state governments because they have to give the land, they make sure that all the regulations and incentives are provided.

The African Development Banks Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones is a flagship of the Banks Feed Africa Strategy. The Bank plans to establish these zones in 18 African countries, including Nigeria. The zones are designed to concentrate production, processing, storage, transport and the marketing of commodities  like cotton or maize to increase productivity and competitiveness and reduce logistics costs.

The Director General of the Banks Nigeria Country Office, Lamin Barrow, said: Phase 1 of the Nigeria Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones Programme will mobilise private sector investment in the agro-industrial hubs and agricultural transformation centres. It will impact some 1.5 million households as direct beneficiaries, with a target of creating 400,000 direct jobs and up to 1.6 million indirect jobs.

Often planned near secondary cities, the agro-industrial hubs are designed to revitalise peri-urban economies and create jobs for women, men, and young people. It includes a $2 million budget for a gender action plan that will provide agro-industrial hub gender-sensitive guidelines, workshops for women-led agricultural cooperatives, and capacity-building training for women, among other gender-focused priorities.

The African Development Banks Vice President for Agriculture, Human and Social Development, Beth Dunford, said: Equitable employment and economic opportunities are a cornerstone of the Banks work. This programme will target at least 50% women participation. The gender action plan will help ensure that theres facilitation of broader lending to women.

Nigeria Phase 1 Zone construction is expected to augment the following value chain commodities:

Cross River State  cocoa, rice and cassava

Federal Capital Territory  beef and dairy livestock

Imo State  beef and dairy livestock

Kaduna State  tomato, maize and ginger

Kano State  rice, tomato, groundnuts and sesame oil

Kwara State  livestock

Ogun State  cassava, rice, poultry and fisheries

Oyo State  cassava, soybean, rice

Watch the video on the potential of Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones

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To learn more about the African Development Banks Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones flagship, click here (https://bit.ly/33nou0t).

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of African Development Bank Group (AfDB).
Naira clinched a significant gain against the U.S. dollar on Monday at the official market as foreign exchange supply plummeted at the spot market segment.

Data posted on FMDQ securities exchange windows where forex is officially traded showed that the naira which opened at N414.05, closed at N414.06 per $1 at the close of business on Monday.

This represents a N1.04 or 0.30 per cent devaluation from N415.10 it exchanged on Friday last week.

The naira experienced an intraday high of N404.00 and a low of N452.15 before closing at N414.06 to a dollar on Monday.

Forex turnover dipped by 81.40 per cent with $84.44 million recorded against the $453.38 million posted in the previous session on Friday last week.

At the black market in Uyo, dealers said they exchanged the naira at N569.00 and sold at N575.00 to a dollar on Monday, while dealers in Abuja exchanged at N570.00 per $1.
Mary Oladejo, an indigene of Oyo town, on Sunday night won the 19th Edition of the annual Miss Oyo State Beauty Contest.

The pageant, which was organised by Nubian Diamond owned by an ace Nigerian journalist, Isaac Brown, was held at the Jorgor Centre, Ibadan.

Recall, Ms Adedoja, the daughter of the Oyo Monarch, Lamidi Adeyemi, won the 2020 edition of Miss Oyo beauty pageant.

During her handover speech, the outgoing queen, Ms Adeyemi, said: The expression of my gratitude also goes to all individuals, organizations, and friends who supported my ideas. With their support, I was able to execute five projects (in commemoration of important dates) during my reign as Miss Oyo State: New Year, Valentines Day, International Womens Day, Childrens Day, and Independence Day.

19 contestants made it to the boot camp, which lasted for over one week.

Among the contestants were graduates, undergraduates, and self-employed youth.

Ms Oladejo got a car gift courtesy Olajide Adedeji, a lawmaker representing Ibadan North West/ South West Federal Constituency. She was also given two plots of land, a complete dining set, a freezer among other perks.

Mr Adedeji also gave each of the contestants N100,000 for their efforts and encouragement.

Shortly after she was crowned, Ms Oladejo promised to use her reign for the betterment of the pace-setter state.

Ill do things that would always make people remember me even after my reign is over. My reign would be for only good things, she said.

Some of the dignitaries at the event were: Yinka Ayefele, a juju musician; former Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni; Funke Adetuberu; Sen. Kola Balogun, representing Oyo South Senatorial District; Bose Adedibu, the PDP southwest woman leader.

Others were: Seun Fakorede, Commissioner for Youth and Sports; Gbenga Eyiolawi, Chief Executive Officer Titan Farms; Nureni Adeniran, the Chairman, Oyo State Universal Basic Education Board among others.

Two agencies of the state government clinched merit awards for their outstanding performances. They are Oyo State Housing Corporation, Oyo State Universal Basic Education Board, Oyo State Teaching Service Commission, and Oyo State Health Insurance Agency.

Also at the awards night, Oyo State Housing Corporation, Oyo State Universal Basic Education Board, Oyo State Teaching Service Commission, and Oyo State Health Insurance Agency, clinched merit awards for their outstanding performances

(NAN)
No fewer than 20 villagers have been abducted by bandits in Wurno local government area of Sokoto State, residents have said.

The bandits carried out simultaneous attacks on Sunday night in Kwasare and Chacho villages, the residents reported.

Wurno is one of the local government areas in Sokoto East where the activities of bandits have been on the rise. The area has witnessed kidnapping, killing and burning of houses and shops.

The bandits recently burnt down a bus and several travellers during an attack.

Sirajo Saidu, a native of the area, said five of his blood brothers were abducted by the bandits in the latest incidents.

All the five men taken in our house are my brothers. The bandits didnt kill anyone in our community but they took many people in that operation alone. We are waiting for them (bandits) to call for the ransom. Please include my brothers and other victims in your prayers, he said.

Basharu Guyawa, the coordinator of rights group, Rundunar Adalci, said while the attack on Kwasare was ongoing, another set of bandits were attacking Chacho.

We are under bandits siege. Yes, they (bandits) always attack us at will. In the Chacho attack, I was told by locals that many people were abducted, countless of domestic animals taken. They even took away motorcycles belonging to residents, Mr Guyawa told Premium Times.

Due to the precarious security situation in the area, Premium Times is yet to verify the numbers of those reportedly abducted.

They abducted more than 20

But a journalist based in Sokoto, Yusuf Gidan Dare, said those kidnapped in the areas were more than 20.

He said 31 people were abducted between Saturday and Sunday nights in four villages in Wurno local government area.

Mr Gidan Dare is from Wurno but lives in Sokoto metropolis.

In one week alone, over 40 people have been kidnapped by these bandits and none of them has been released. This is just in my local government area (Wurno). This is becoming too much because it is spreading like a wild fire and I am sure you know if these bandits can attack these communities that are not far from the city centre, tell me who can save Sokoto metropolis?

In Kwasare attack, 12 people were abducted, eight in Barayar Zaki, four in Achida, three in Chacho and four in some hamlets, he said when asked about the Sunday attack.

The police spokesperson in Sokoto, Sanusi Abubakar, did not respond to calls and an SMS sent to him seeking information.

Nigeria is experiencing one of its worst phases of insecurity since the advent of democratic rule.

Many parts of the country are reeling under the activities of criminal gangs who attack, kill, maim and abduct at will.
The Police Command in Plateau says gunmen have killed nine persons and injured four others in an attack on Pinau community in Wase Local Government Area of the state.

Ubah Ogaba, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) of the command said in a statement on Monday in Jos that the incident occurred on Sunday evening.

He, however, said security agencies who quickly mobilised to the scene had arrested eight suspects and recovered 12 motorcycles.

Yesterday, at about 4:30p.m., we received a distress call that yet to be identified gunmen invaded Pinau Village in Wase local government area.

Unfortunately, they killed nine persons while four persons are injured.

Upon receipt of the information, a combined team of policemen, men of Operation Safe Haven (OPSH) and other security agencies were mobilised and swiftly moved to the scene.

Eight suspects were arrested and 12 motorcycles recovered from the scene, he said.

The PPRO said effort was on to arrest other fleeing members of gang.

Mr Ogaba said that security has been beefed up in the area to prevent escalation of violence and break down of law and order.

Most of the states in Nigeria are battling one security challenge or the other with the attendant spike in crimes.

(NAN)
The Nigerian government has said it is making efforts to diplomatically address the travel restrictions placed on the country by the United Kingdom (UK), Canada, Saudi Arabia, and Argentina over the discovery of omicron variant of coronavirus pandemic in Nigeria.

Speaking during an emergency briefing by the Presidential Steering Committee on COVID-19 on Monday night, the committees chairman, Boss Mustapha, hinted of possible resolution of the contradictions within the next week.

He said the committee is working with relevant ministries to address the issues, saying; While each country is entitled to put in place measures to protect its citizens, Nigeria has similar responsibilities.

However, based on existing relationships, Nigeria has initiated diplomatic steps to make these countries reverse their course. This is ongoing in the interest of all parties concerned and we expect that positive results would emerge within the next one week.

The new development is contrary to the countrys earlier position pushed by some ministers and members of the national assembly, who had suggested retaliatory actions by the Nigerian government.

Travel ban

Nigeria and some other African nations had been hit with travel bans from western countries since the Omicron variant was first detected in Southern Africa and Hong Kong in November.

The variant has since spread to at least, 57 countries worldwide.

Although Canada was the first to place a travel ban on Nigeria, of more concern is the one imposed later by the UK.

Nigeria became the 11th country to go on the UKs Red List for international travel over the discovery of Omicron. All nations currently on that list are African in what has been described as unfair and racists.

The UK had claimed that 21 cases of Omicron recorded in England were linked to travellers from Nigeria.

Nigerias information minister, Lai Mohammed, described as discriminatory, unfair, punitive, indefensible, and unjust, the UK travel ban, with the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, last saying it was a travel apartheid.

Mr Muhammeds counterpart at the aviation ministry, Hadi Sirika, on Sunday, said he had recommended that the four countries listed above should be placed on a COVID-19 red list.

We have given our input as aviation that it is not acceptable by us, and we recommend that those countries  Canada, UK, Saudi Arabia and Argentina be also put on the red list, just like they did similarly to us, Mr Sirika said.

Amid criticisms, UK High Commissioner to Nigeria, Catriona Laing, defended the travel ban on Nigeria, insisting it was based on science and not discriminatory.

I think I can say comfortably, it is not [discriminatory]. When the UK was the epicentre of the Alpha variant, we took some very tough measures ourselves to essentially cut ourselves off and we banned all but essential travels from the UK.

So, that was a very tough decision for us. The UK has been Red-listed in earlier stages of these variants; I think when the Delta variant took off, we were Red-listed by Austria and by France and Turkey, she said.

But the World Health Organisation (WHO) has, however, said that blanket travel bans would not stop the spread of the variant, and could potentially discourage countries from reporting and sharing important data on Coronavirus.

U-turn

Meanwhile, corroborating Mr Mustapha on Monday during the briefing, Mr Sirika said Nigeria has initiated diplomatic steps to make these countries reverse their course.

This is ongoing in the interest of all parties concerned and we expect that positive results would emerge within the next one week, he said.

Omicron

Omicron was discovered in November further, pushing back hopes of the fight against the deadly pandemic, coming to an end soon.

While there have been previous variants  Alpha and Delta  the discovery of Omicron seems to trigger a more political and diplomatic stance rather than that of public health concern.

Nigeria joined the growing number of countries that have recorded cases of the Omicron variant also known as B.1.1.529 lineage, confirming the discovery of three additional Omicron variant cases about two weeks ago.

The Director-General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Ifedayo Adetifa, who disclosed this, noted that the new cases were detected in persons with recent travel history to South Africa in November.

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Mr Adetifa confirmed that through the NCDC, the Nigerian government has been notified by the government of the United Kingdom (UK) of seven cases of Omicron variant detected in travellers from Nigeria.

Meanwhile, the Nigerian Aviation minister said the government has escalated surveillance and control measures around the country and ramped up vaccination, including making booster shots available as part of efforts to curb the spread of Omicron.
President Muhammadu Buhari has appointed Muazu Sambo as a minister.

He wrote to the Senate seeking the confirmation of the ministerial nominee from Taraba State.

The presidents letter was read out by the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, at the start of plenary on Tuesday.

Mr Sambo may be replacing either of the ministers of Agriculture, Sabo Nanono, and Power, Saleh Mamman, who were sacked by the president in September.

The ministers were sacked about two years and some days after they were inaugurated by the president in 2019 alongside 41 of their colleagues.

No reason was given for the termination of their appointments. But their tenure, especially Mr Mammans, marked little or no improvement in the power sector as the power situation in the country remained without any significant improvement.

In a separate letter, Mr Buhari also asked the Senate to confirm the nomination of some commissioners for the National Population Commission (NPC).

The nominees include Benedict Opong, Gloria Izofor, Patricia Kuchi, Bala Haliru, and Iyatayo Oyetunbi.

Their appointments will be transmitted to appropriate committees for screening and possible confirmation.
Although many Nigerians are lamenting the security and economic situation of the country under the Muhammadu Buhari presidency, an official has said Nigerians will appreciate the president more when he leaves office.

Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State said this while addressing State House correspondents after he met with President Buhari at the State House on Tuesday.

I told the president that some of your efforts for the country will be more appreciated when you leave office. Today, you are the architect of the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano gas pipeline. Recently Nasarawa State signed an MoU after our gas roundtable in the state capital Lafia, where the top management of NNPC were around, Mr Sule said.

PREMIUM TIMES has reported how scores of Nigerians are killed or kidnapped weekly by terror groups, mainly working in the Northern part of the country. Amid the insecurity, the purchasing power of most Nigerians has eroded as prices of goods and services have doubled in the past year without a corresponding increase in earnings.

Mr Sule did not say if he discussed the worsening security and economic situation with the president. He, however, spoke about the other issues he discussed with Mr Buhari.

We discussed about gas utilisation and we are bringing our own experience of what happened with the West African gas pipeline, where it was tapped from Sagamu into Ikeja and all the industries there are utilising gas.

So for a country like Nigeria that has over 200 trillion standard cubic feet of gas, to say that somebody is building a gas pipeline for the utilization of gas, I dont think that is a small thing but a lot will not understand this until may be when the President leaves office and in future, when we begin to have LPG everywhere for cooking and LNG so that most of our vehicles will convert to gas rather than petrol. Many cannot see now what is going to happen tomorrow and by that time they will say who did this and they would be told its President Buhari and people will bless him, the governor said.

The governor said he was in the State House to thank the president for the support the state has received in the area of security, which has helped to sustain peace across the state.

I came to express our great appreciation to the president for the great support we have continued to receive in the area of security. You must have heard there were several joint operations of the special forces; the military, police, air force and navy in the two local government areas that are bordering Abuja, Toto and Karu.

The various operations have been very successful. When we heard recently that some of our schools were being targeted, we privately approached and the right actions were taken. We thank God that we have been able to dislodge those ones.

Also we are here to express our happiness that as a result of some level of peace we have in Nasarawa State, we have been tagged as a state that is currently number one in sesame seed production, number two in yam production, number two in cassava and number five in rice production in the country, he said.

Mr Sule, a member of Mr Buharis party, APC, also said the recent completion of the 330MVA thermal line in Lafia, which is coming from the Niger-Delta, has helped a lot in boosting electricity supply in Lafia, the state capital, and environs; a feat he said was made possible through President Buharis intervention.
An investigative report by the BBC has linked a Nigerian politician to a deadly cult group and an international network of internet fraudsters.

The politician, identified as Augustus Bemigho, is a member of the ruling All Progressives Congress in Edo State, Nigerias South-south.

He ran for an elective office in 2019, according to the report published on Monday.

Mr Bemigho, who is also a businessman, is said to belong to a dangerous cult group known as the Black Axe which originated from the University of Benin, Edo.

The outlawed group uses another name, the Neo-Black Movement of Africa, which is registered and recognised by the Nigerian law, to operate publicly and sometimes engages in charity works, according to the report.

For the past two years, BBC Africa Eye has been following the Black Axe, speaking to former members and combing through thousands of documents that appear to have been hacked from a number of prominent members of the group. It was not possible to verify the entire cache, but key documents were verified by the BBC.

Among our findings were emails that suggest a prominent Nigerian businessman and 2019 APC party candidate for political office, Augustus Bemigho, was a senior member of Black Axe and was involved in orchestrating fraudulent internet scams netting millions of dollars.

The cache of documents contained more than 18,000 pages from an email account linked to Mr Bemigho, including emails that suggest he sent guidance on scamming to a network of collaborators on 62 occasions and communicated with others about specific scamming targets, the report said.

The victims, according to the report, have been defrauded of about $3.3million in scams involving Mr Bemigho and other members of the Black Axe.

Operations by international law enforcement agencies indicate that Black Axes scamming profits may run into the billions, the report said.

The BBC said Mr Bemigho did not respond to the allegations when he was contacted.

PREMIUM TIMES could not immediately reach Mr Bemigho for comment.

Black Axes involvement in Edo politics

The report, a video version of it, tells a story of lawlessness, ruthless killings, and how the Black Axe has penetrated the politics of Edo State.

The 52 minutes video showed bodies of victims of cult killings lying on the streets of Benin, widowed women and orphaned children crying helplessly, and motorists, traders, and passers-by scampering for safety during shootouts.

The BBC interviewed John Stone, a lecturer in the University of Benin and former member of Black Axe.

Why will they come after me? If they come after me, cant I also come after them? The lecturer said when asked if he was not afraid of breaking their oath of secrecy.

Mr Stone pulled out a sword disguised as a walking stick inside his car, while he was being interviewed by the BBC.

The sword was for his personal guard and safety, he said.

The lecturer said members of the Black Axe were in the Nigerian military, the countrys judiciary, and everywhere. We have people who are pastors, he said.

Politicians cannot survive without the Black Axe, he said. They must collaborate with the Black Axe for them to survive.

Nigerian politicians deploy members of the cult group during elections, he said.

The BBC also interviewed Tony Kabaka, an influential member of Black Axe and a youth leader of the APC in Edo.

The video showed Mr Kabaka being revered and waved at in the streets by several people  youths, market men and women, vigilante members, and even a police officer.

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In the street, Mr Kabaka is called the godfather. He doles out cash indiscriminately to people.

He lives in a multi-million naira home which he said was built with the help of the then governor of Edo State, Adams Oshiomhole. He said he was a tax collector for the Edo government during Mr Oshiomholes administration.

A street is named after Mr Kabaka in Benin.

In his house hung photographs he took with prominent Edo politicians, including then governor, Mr Oshiomhole and a member of the House of Representatives, Julius Ihonvbere.

Politics has lifted Kabaka from cultist to enforcer to a multimillionaire. In Nigeria, this is a dream for many young Axe men, the report said.

But, as the report puts it, politics also fetched Mr Kabaka some enemies which became more visible when Mr Oshiomhole was pushed out of power by his protege who later became his arch political rival, Godwin Obaseki, who is the current governor of Edo.

Mr Kabakas house was at some point attacked by unknown gunmen and his hotel pulled down by the state government.

Cultism still exists because the government is involved. That is the truth, Mr Kabaka said.

Mr Kabaka said politicians used him and his cultist network during elections in Edo.

He said he could identify Black Axe members in the Edo government.

The BBC said, Two documents state that in Benin City, 35 million naira ($85,000; 64,000) was funnelled to the Neo-Black Movement of Africa (NBM) to protect votes and secure victory in a governorship election in 2012.

In exchange for the support, the files suggest that 80 slots (were) allocated to NBM Benin Zone for immediate employment by the state government.

The Edo State Government is yet to react to the report.
The House of Representatives has approved President Muhammadu Buharis request for a $5.8 billion loan and grant of $10 million.

Mr Buhari had in May, in a letter to the two chambers of the National Assembly, requested to borrow not more than $6.1 billion 20182020 External Borrowing (Rolling) Plan to fund the 2021 budget deficit.

The green chamber approved the request following the consideration of the report of the House Committee on Aids, Loans and Debt Management by the Committee of supply on Tuesday.

The Chairman of the Committee on Aids, Loans and Debt Management, Ahmed Safana, presented the report on the loan request.

Breakdown of loans

The House approved $2.3 billion for grid modernisation and expansion programme under the Presidential Power Initiative (PPI). The loan is to be supplied by the German Consortium.

The World Bank and the Islamic Development Bank are to finance malaria-related projects with N200 million and N90 million respectively. The World Bank is to fund the multi-phased programmatic approach immunization plus and malaria progress by accelerating and transforming service projects with $200 million.

To fund the Gurara phase one project, the China Exim Bank will supply $786.38 million, while the World Bank will supply $700 million to fund the Nigeria Sustainable Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Project.

The Chinese African Development (CAP) fund, through the Bank of China, will fund three power and renewable energy projects with $276.9 million. The projects are; Solar Cells Production Facility Phase I & II, Electric Power Transformer Production Plant I, II & III and High Voltage Testing Laboratory. All these projects are domiciled at the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI).

In addition, the World Bank will fund four Agro projects with $1.486 billion. The projects are: Agro-processing productivity enhancement and livelihood improvement support project will gulp $200 million, Agro-climatic resilience in arid zone landscape project will be funded with $700 million, livestock productivity and resilience support project $500 million and value chain development programme $50 million.

The House resolved that the terms and conditions of the loan from the funding agencies be forwarded to the National Assembly before the execution of the projects.

2018-2021 Borrowing Plan

The 2018-2020 External Borrowing (Rolling) Plan contained a request for approval for $36.8 billion, 910 million and a grant component of $10 million.

The request for approval has been in bits. In July, the Senate approved $8.3 billion and 490 million in a batch and another $6.1 billion separately.

The current administration has been under criticism for its borrowing spree.

According to the Debt Management Office, the Buharis administration inherited N12 trillion though the total debt stock hovers around N40 trillion.
A renowned Nigerian journalist has demanded justice for his relative allegedly killed by suspected cultists in Akwa Ibom State.

Ibanga Isine, the managing editor of Next Edition newspapers, in a petition to the attorney-general of Akwa Ibom State, on December 8, demanded justice over the brutal killing of Sunday Akpan, a lawyer.

Mr Akpan was allegedly killed on December 4 by suspected cultists over a tussle for village headship in Ikot Efre, a community in the state.

On Saturday, December 4, 2021 at about 11a.m., I am informed that the cultists invaded the compound of late Chief Inyang Ikpe, when they received information that Bar. Sunday Akpan, was in the premises.

On meeting him, the cultists were said to have dragged him out of the compound while at the same time dealing several machete-cuts on his body. I also learnt that some of those who witnessed the attack had begged the invaders to spare the life of the legal practitioner to no avail.

After inflicting several machete cuts and beating him with sticks, he was left bleeding and struggling for his life until a few villagers braved the odds and rushed him to hospital. He died in a most agonizing way before his rescuers could get to the hospital, Mr Isine said.

Mr Akpan was a lawyer to Ibanga Etim, one of the contenders for the village headship.

The tussle for the village headship had led to insecurity in the village.

It would interest you to know, Sir, that Nung Ukana Ikot Efre has been enmeshed in a tussle for the position of the village head between two gladiators  Ibanga Etim and Enefiok Tim Udo (Enebros)  for many years now.

As would be expected of law-abiding citizens, the two gladiators had approached the court of law to adjudicate on the matter and, from available information, the case had gone to the Court of Appeal and is still pending till date.

Instead of exhausting the judicial process and or allow the Appeal Court to rule on the matter, some interested party rather resorted to self-help by bringing suspected cultists to unleash terror on peaceful villagers and disrupt the pursuit of their legitimate businesses.

Based on credible information from relations and witnesses, the cultists brandishing dangerous weapons including guns, machetes, daggers and charms, have continuously blocked the road by the village market and extorted passers-by, beat up innocent villagers and ransacked homes.

I am also made to understand that many indigenes of Ikot Efre including my relations and friends have fled their homes for fear of being killed and are living as internally displaced persons (IDPs) in other parts of the local government area, Mr Isine further stated in the petition.

PREMIUM TIMES learnt the police arrested some people in the community following the incident.

The police spokesperson in the state, Odiko Macdon, did not respond to calls seeking comment from him.
Governor Douye Diri of Bayelsa State, on Monday, expressed surprise over the silence of the House of Representatives on the recent oil spill in Nembe Local Government Area of the state.

The leak, which occurred on November 5 at the OML 29 Wellhead 1 operated by Aiteo Exploration and Production Company Limited, polluted the Santa Barbra River and creeks for more than a month before it was stopped.

Mr Diri spoke when he received the House Committee on Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring during a courtesy visit to Government House, Yenagoa.

The governor, a former member of the House of Representatives, recounted his experience in the House, and charged the members to revive the vibrancy the House was known for.

He said there was nowhere in the world an oil spill would last for over a month and the peoples representatives would be silent.

I like to observe that as a part of you, the vibrancy I used to see in the House appears to be extinguishing. Please, let that spirit be revived.

I stand by what I said during the period of the oil spill. There is nowhere in the world an oil spill of such magnitude will occur and the legislators would be silent. I drew a parallel with the oil spill 10 years ago in the Gulf of Mexico.

Here in the creeks of Bayelsa, we had a gushing oil spill for more than one full month and there was a loud silence from my own constituency, the Green Chamber. So, let us revive that vibrancy again, Mr Diri said.

Mr Diri said one does not have to be from Bayelsa State to raise a motion on the spill, likening it to Boko Haram insurgency and banditry ravaging the north that every member had raised motions to see to its end.

The governor commended the robust partnership between the state and the Simbi Wabote-led Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB).

According to Mr Diri, NCDMB remains the only functional federal presence within the state capital of Yenagoa.

The Chairman of the House Committee on Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring, Legor Idagbo, said the legislators were in the state on oversight duties on the NCDMB.

He expressed satisfaction over the fruitful interactions with the board.

Mr Idagbo stressed that it is their constitutional responsibility and part of their legislative function to strengthen the NCDMB and sponsor bills in line with current realities.

One of such bills, according to him, is to expand local content beyond oil and gas to every other sector of the Nigerian economy.

He commended the governor for his partnership with the NCDMB by providing infrastructure at the Oloibiri Museum and Research Centre project.

The legislator also applauded Mr Diri for ensuring peace and stability at the boards headquarters and at every of its other project sites in the state.

(NAN)
A Lagos High Court sitting in Tafawa Balewa Square, on Tuesday, discharged and acquitted a woman, Christiana Odo, accused of stabbing her husband to death during a fight.

The judge, Yetunde Adesanya, discharged and acquitted the defendant after the evidence of self-defence was established by the testimonies of the witnesses.

The judge cited a Supreme Court decision which stated the ingredients of self-defence

She said to prove self- defence, the accused must be free from fault in bringing about the encounter.

She also said that there must have been no safe or reasonable mode of escape by retreat.

The judge, however, said that the proof of self-defence lied on the defendant.

Having found the extra judicial statement of the defendant, where she confessed to stabbing her husband during a fight whilst the deceased was holding a broken bottle is the truth of what really transpired.

Also the evidence of the investigating police officer (IPO), who gathered that the parties had a very quarrelsome relationship which led to the Baale of the area giving them notice to quit.

It was also proven that at the day of incident, the deceased was said to be drunk and armed himself with a broken bottle.

The IPO testified that a broken bottle was recovered from the scene of crime.

On the totality of the foregoing, I must find and hold that the plea of self-defence ensures in favour of the defendant and avails her of the offence of manslaughter.

The defendant is hereby discharged and acquitted of the offence of manslaughter.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the defendant was first arraigned on June 13, 2018, on a count charge of manslaughter.

The prosecutor, Olayemi Shofolu, had told the court that the defendant committed the offence on December 25, 2016, at No. 2, London Barber St., Ikorodu, Lagos.

He said the defendant killed one Romania Odo, by stabbing him with a knife on the chest.

He said the offence contravenes Section 229 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015. (NAN)
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, has decried the poor power supply in the country.

He said the current electric power sector is not functioning optimally. He, therefore, charged the government to do something about the situation to meet the expectation of Nigerians.

Mr Gbajabimaila spoke on Wednesday in Abuja during the public hearing to amend the Power Reforms Act to establish the Nigerian Institution of Power Engineers (NIPEN), organised by the House Committee on Power.

Most people recognise that a situation where we cannot expect twenty-four-hour electricity in our cities and many rural areas remain wholly disconnected from the benefits of access to electricity is unacceptable, the Speaker said.

He also lamented the inability of the power sector reforms act to drive the public-private collaboration in the sector.

Privatisation of DISCOs

The unbundled electricity distribution companies were privatised in 2013. However, the privatisation process has been marred by allegations of corruption.

Despite the privatisation of the DISCOs, power remains epileptic, with several interventions by the government. Most of the investors that acquired the DISCOs have been accused of not having requisite competence and needed liquidity.

In a special report, PREMIUM TIMES had exposed how the DISCOs left consumers with the burden of buying meters and transformers.

Last week, President Muhammadu Buhari reportedly approved the removal of the management of the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC). The move by the government generated controversy, as the presidency had to issue a clarification on the move.

NIPEN institute

At the hearing, the NIPEN President, Israel Abraham, said the sector needs competent professionals to drive it. He added that the institute will offer such a platform.

Power engineering practitioners or professionals thereof should be well versed in the latest skills and technological developments which will culminate in their ability to churn out products and exhibit processes competence in their chosen industry practice, he said.

He noted that the bill will remove those impediments brought about by bureaucracy in the governance of the power sector in Nigeria and provide for strict independent engineering regulation and monitoring of practitioners and practice to bring about a sustainable development in the sector.

In his remarks, the Chairman of the Committee, Magaji Aliu, said that the public hearing was considered necessary to enable the committee to utilise the outcome of the exercise to address gaps in the existing laws to strengthen the Nigerian power sector for efficient service delivery.
Nigeria emerged the first African country to win the Best in National Costume at the 70th Miss Universe pageant which was held at the Universe Dome in Eilat, Israel, on Sunday.

It was no doubt a night of firsts, as Harnaaz Sandhu, became the first winner from India in more than two decades, to be crowned Miss Universe .

Maristela Okpala, Nigerias representative at the beauty pageant, donned a creative African heritage costume that has got people talking.

Ms Okpala strutted the runway in a costume, which she said was inspired by a female masquerade from the southeastern part of Nigeria called Mmanwa.

The beauty queen also revealed that the colourful outfit was made from African beads, stones, and crafts.

She said, Before embarking on this journey, I told God I wanted my footprints to be left in the sand of time, to make history not only to Nigerians but one that touches the whole of Africa.

The thought, the excitement and the honour of representing My beloved country Nigeria and coming back with such a prestigious, incredible award cant be over emphasized. Nigeria, Africa we made HISTORY.

Mmanwa Masquerade

Mmanwa is a female masquerade costume designed for ceremonial and festive purposes.

It captures Nigerias rich cultural heritage while paying close attention to the strength of a Nigerian woman.

Her costume consisted of a three -feet tribal mask with a colourful ancient back cape with Mmanwas face boldly crested on it.

The tribal mask costume was made by a Filipino designer, Kennedy Jhon Gasper.

Explaining the reason behind her costume, Okpala wrote on Instagram, Mmanwa is a female masquerade costume thats designed for ceremonial and festive purposes to celebrate the rich Nigerian cultural heritage paying closer attention to the strength women possess. The 3ft tribal mask goes with the colorful ancient back cape with Mmanwas Face boldly crested on the mask and cape.

It represents the beautiful Mmanwa who fought tirelessly to stop girl child mutilation and child slavery while the colorful patterns and embellishments portray the African dashiki which offers a visual appeal and forms meant to invoke the ancestral spirits.

The 28 year-old model is a Nigerian cabin crew and a dental technician. She was born and raised in Enugu State.

She represented Anambra State at the 2021 Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria pageant which was held at Eko Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos, Nigeria, in September.

There, she competed against 36 other candidates.

She was a runner-up to Oluchi Madubuike.

The latter will represent Nigeria at the 2021 Miss World which takes place on Thursday at the Jose Miguel Agrelot Coliseum in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
A Federal High Court, Abuja, on Monday, fixed December 21 to hear all pending applications in a suit filed by the 36 state governors over plan to deduct monies accruing to them from federation account to settle $418 million judgment debt in relation to Paris Club Refund.

Justice Inyang Ekwo fixed the date after taking arguments for and against the plaintiffs application for interlocutory injunction from counsel to the parties in the suit.

Justice Ekwo, who refused to grant the prayers on the motion on notice for interlocutory injunction by the plaintiffs on the grounds that the jurisdiction of the court had been challenged by the defendants, ordered that the preliminary objections and the substantive matter would be taken in the next adjourned date.

In the absence of jurisdiction, the court will be acting in futility no matter how well a proceeding is conducted.

The product of such a proceeding in other words is a nullity.

It is my opinion, that the jurisdiction of this court having been challenged by the preliminary objections upon the grounds which I have stated in this ruling, it will be improper and indeed, inappropriate to consider the motion on notice for interlocutory injunction or grant the prayers of the plaintiffs/applicants.

It is also my opinion that the moment the jurisdiction of this court was disputed by the defendants, the motion on notice for interlocutory injunction became overtaken by event and lost its priority in the proceedings.

As it is, the prayers on the motion on notice cannot be granted. I, therefore, make an order refusing the prayers, he ruled.

The judge adjourned the case until December 21 for hearing of the preliminary objections of the defendants and the substantive matter.

The 36 states Attorneys-General (plaintiffs) had sued the defendants listed in the suit, including the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), Accountant General of the Federation and Ministry of Finance.

Others are the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Debt Management Office (DMO), Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC), Incorporated Trustees of Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON), among others.

According to the motion dated and filed October 27, 43 defendants are sued in the matter.

NAN also reports that the court had, on November 5, restrained the Federal Government from deducting the monies from federation account to settle the judgment debt in relation to Paris Club Refund.

The ruling followed an ex-parte motion moved by counsel to the 36 state governments (plaintiffs), Jibrin Okutekpa, SAN, seeking for an order of interim injunction, restraining the Federal Government from deducting any money accruing or due to all or any of the 36 states of the federation.

The court had also ruled that the restraining order would subsist pending the determination of the substantive suit.

On December 7 when the matter came up, Justice Ekwo had refused to vacate the earlier order retraining the Federal Government from tampering with the states funds.

Instead, the judge adjourned the matter till today to take the motion on notice for interlocutory injunction.

At the resumed hearing, Maimuna Lami-Shiru, counsel to the 1st, 2nd, 4th and 6th defendants, (President, AGF, Ministry of Finance and DMO respectively), urged the court to dismiss the plaintiffs application for lacking in merit.

She argued that the application lacked merit to be brought forward in that the plaintiffs had no sufficient legal backing to pursue this.

Mrs Lami-Shiru argued further that the plaintiffs concealed facts about some previous judgments of the court which ordered them to make payment from the source; the local and state government accounts.

She urged the court to discountenance the application and set aside its earlier order.

Other defence counsel also argued in the same vein, urging the court to dismiss the plaintiffs application.

(NAN)

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The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) on Monday announced that the corporation is currently working towards increasing the supply of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (cooking gas), in a bid to force down its rising price in the country.

Mele Kyari, the NNPC Group Managing Director, disclosed this at the commissioning of the 120 metric ton LPG storage and bottling plant by Emadeb Energy Services Limited in Abuja on Monday.

The cost of cooking gas has been on the rise since the beginning of the year.

PREMIUM TIMES had reported how the hike in the prices of cooking gas has forced many women into harmful alternatives such as using firewood and charcoal for cooking.

Commenting on the hike in cooking gas price, Mr Kyari said, Two things are in play, one is the supply and the other is the international price of gas.

It (price) moves with the price of every other petroleum product including crude oil and its derivatives. So it is a reflection of what is happening in the international market.

What we are doing is to increase supply. Once the supply is increased the prices will come down, Mr Kyari was quoted by Vanguard as saying.

He assured that the government has set in to guarantee supply and support for gas companies in the country.

We as NNPC have come in and will guarantee supply, which is very important for us as a business. We are NNPC Ltd and we are here to support businesses but we are also here to make money for Nigerians, he said.

Therefore we will be there in the upstream to provide the gas through our very many initiatives including through our trunk lines that we are trying to put in place.

So gas will be available to these companies and entities. Also, we can share data with them around customers and how we can deliver gas to our customers, he said.

Earlier, Debo Olujimi, the CEO of Emadeb Energy, said that the 120-ton facility was targeting the over 200 residential estates in the Lokogoma, Gaduwa and Apo area of Abuja.

We are happy that as Emadeb Group we are bringing clean energy to the market and in particular to the Abuja market, he said.

The environment here is conducive. This is where Abuja lives, the population of Abuja is within this vicinity and that is why we are investing this much, Mr Olujimi said.

Everybody knows that gas is the way forward and the way it is, there is much gas with the decade of gas and with over two trillion cubic feet of gas reserve.

We are about to start developing our asset with about 200 billion cubic feet of gas at the Ibom field. We intend to convert some of the gas processed out of that facility to support the local market, he said.

He urged the government to encourage private investors with funds and equipment to ensure constant supply to the local market.

It is capital intensive doing gas infrastructure and the government needs to encourage private investors so that private people can come in with funds and equipment to get the value.

In the electricity sector today, the major issues are the shortage of gas and the pricing of gas; those are things that the government has to help us to look at, he said.
Fuel queues resurfaced in Abuja on Monday as the federal capital witnessed another round of shortage that left several petrol stations closed.

This was despite assurances by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited that it had enough supply to last all through the festive period and beyond.

It was not immediately clear what the cause of the latest queues was.

A PREMIUM TIMES correspondent who visited petrol stations Monday afternoon found that some of the stations were shut against intending buyers, while others were besieged by motorcyclists, tricycle owners, as well as private and commercial drivers.

Black marketers were also seen hawking the product in jerry cans to interested motorists and other consumers.

Many filling stations in the Wuse and Jahi areas of the city sold to buyers at prices ranging from N162 to N165.

Total filling station located in Wuse was shut Monday afternoon. An official told PREMIUM TIMES that they had exhausted their stock.

Similarly, Azman Oil and Gas Nig Ltd at Wuse was opened but an official said the station had no stock too.

The product just finished this afternoon but we are expecting to get it in the evening, he said.

A long queue was also seen at Emadeb and Mobil filling stations in Jahi, Saddi Kamal, A.A.Rano in Lugbe. AFDIN, Shema and Dan oil along Lugbe airport road were under lock and key.

At one of the NNPC outlets in the Central Business District along Wuse Road, there was a huge crowd at the station Monday afternoon, as motorists struggled to buy petrol.

As you can see we still sell at N162 per litre but all I can tell you is that Monday is usually like this, this is because most fuel stations sell off their product during the weekend and they are trying to restock. Thats why you see queues in most fill stations, an official, Mohammed Labaran, said.

Nipco filling station, located at Bannex was under lock and key Monday afternoon, just as the Eterna located opposite Austoma filling station at Bannex did not also sell the product.

Some hawkers were spotted in front of the Austoma filling station, at Bannex Aminu Kano crescent selling the product in 10-litre jerry cans for between N2,500 and N3,000 to motorists, who could not stay in queues at the filling station.

A car owner, Ogbonna Egbe, told PREMIUM TIMES that there was fuel but some filling stations were hoarding the product.

As you can see I just bought 30 litres for N8,000. I have been in the queue for the past two hours but I ended up buying black market, he said.

I think some filling stations are hoarding their fuel because of the new price proposed for January.

Some cab drivers said there was panic buying.

The station manager, at Austoma filling station at Bannex Aminu Kano crescent, who refused to give his name, said he was surprised with the large crowd queuing up for fuel.

He said he did not know what was happening, but that he had observed that other filling stations around were not selling.

A businessman who was at Austoma filling station at Bannex Aminu Kano crescent, to fuel his car identified himself as Abdullahi, told PREMIUM TIMES that he had spent more than an hour in the queue.

I felt so bad because I have been here in the filling station for some hours now. You can see about three angles of the queue that came into the station, he said.

And as you can see its only one pump that is selling.

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I believe that some filling stations have fuel but the issue is that some are hoarding it so that they can increase the price. But all this is uncalled for.

A civil servant at the station, who identified himself as Emeka, said he has been in search of fuel since Sunday night but still couldnt get petrol.

The problem we have in Nigeria begins with us not only the government because right now I have the money to buy fuel but I can not get it, this is panic buying. Sunday night I went in search of fuel but still couldnt get it, he said.

I drove down to NIPCO here at Bannex today to buy fuel only for me to realize that NIPCO is not selling, they are hoarding fuel because of the increment pronounced to happen in January.

Eterna are not selling also, only Austoma that is selling but the problem here is that there is only one pump that is dispensing.

Have been here for the past an hour and 30 minutes to tell you how corrupt and bad the country is.

Filling stations hoard fuel because they heard that fuel will be going for as high as three hundred and something next year.

It is sad to know that a country that generates fuel cant even boost enough.

He said I want to urge the government to stop playing mind games on people and they should act and lead us alright.

In Kubwa, there was panic buying also as motorists plugged up filling stations.

Also, this reporter observed long queues at A. A Rano filling station in Jahi and airport road.

At A. A. Rano filling station in Jahi, motorists was seen navigating their ways into the middle of queues to get access into the wasion only to realise that no pump is dispersing.

An official of the A. A Rano filling station in Jahi, Farouk Abubakar, who spoke with PREMIUM TIMES said, We sold this morning, we started selling till around 4.30 am to 5.00 am. Thats when the fuel finished as you can see, we are discharging now.

And immediately after discharge, we will start selling.

As you can see we are still selling N165. We dont add price Because we are here to sell and not to keep. Thats the policy of this station and this is a competitive market, he said.

A commercial driver, Ojo James, lamented that the government was aware of the hoarding by some fuel stations.

Mr James said I was thanking God to have succeeded in driving into the fill station, only for me to realize that they are not even selling.

Throughout today I have been looking for fuel. Some filling stations have fuel but they dont want to sell it. Right now, I must tell you that I am feeling very sad.

I know that the government is aware of this because if they are not aware, this will not be happening and thats the plain truth, he said.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) had last month said that there will be no increase in the price of petrol in the country, and advised against panic-buying.

NNPC had over 1.7 billion litres of petrol in stock and more of the product is expected to arrive in the country daily over the coming weeks and months.

It was, therefore, unnecessary to entertain any fear of scarcity of petrol throughout the festive season and beyond.

The NNPC is also not aware of any plan by the government to cause an increase in the pump price of petroleum, NNPC had said in a statement in November.

The spokesperson of Nigerias state-owned oil company, NNPC, Kennie Obateru, did not return a phone call or respond to questions sent to him seeking his comments as at Monday evening.
The arraignment of a former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode, by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) before an Ikeja Special Offences Court was stalled on Tuesday after his lawyer challenged the jurisdiction of the court to hear the case.

The EFCC, in a 12-count charge filed before the court, accused the controversial politician of allegedly using a false medical report from one Ogieva Oziegbe, medical doctor, with inventory number 00345 dated October 11, 2021, which was said to have been presented before the federal high court in Ikoyi.

Mr Fani-Kayode was docked before O.O Abike-Fadipe but the arraignment could not proceed due to the preliminary objection filed by his lawyer, Wale Balogun.

Mr Fani-Kayode was reportedly re-arrested by the commission over alleged forgery and document falsification allegations in November.

The former minister was reportedly picked up by operatives of the commission, after the judge, Daniel Osaigor, adjourned proceedings in an ongoing trial involving alleged N4.9 billion fraud. He was said to have been immediately driven to the commissions office.

At the previous sitting on October 13, F.B. Ajudua had told the court that his client, Mr Fani-Kayode, was currently on bed rest at the Kubwa General Hospital, Abuja, and a report was submitted to that effect.

Charges

Procuring execution of documents by false pretence contrary to section 369 of The Criminal Law of Lagos State 2015, the charge sheet read.

Particulars of offence  1st count  That you Femi Fani-Kayode on or about the 11th day of October, 021 in Lagos within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court by fraudulent representation procured one Dr. Ogieva Oziegbe to execute a document titled: MEDICAL REPORT ON OLUFEMI FANI KAYODE 60 YEARS/MALE/HOSP. NO.00345 DATED 11/10/2021 and purported same to have been issued by Kubwa General Hospital.

Statement of Offence  2nd count  Procuring execution of documents by false pretence contrary to section 369 of The Criminal Law of Lagos State 2015

The EFCC prosecutor, Rotimi Oyedepo, therefore urged the court to take the plea of the defendant.

But Mr Balogun opposed the prayer, noting that the defence team has filed an application to challenge the jurisdiction of the court since the alleged offence stated in the charge sheet was committed in Abuja, the countrys capital.

He argued that the alleged offence is not economic or financial-related, adding that the EFCC was legally established to deal with offences that are economic or financial-related.

The EFCC lawyer, however, urged the court to dismiss the application on the grounds that it is an attempt to frustrate the trial because the defendant was charged under Lagos law and it can only be heard in Lagos jurisdiction.

He said the frivolous application was meant to delay and frustrate the trial.

The politicians lawyer urged the court to entertain the application and rule on it before the plea can be taken.

After entertaining the submission of the lawyers, the judge adjourned till December 17 to decide the application.
Gunmen have abducted the mother of Abdulkarim Asuku, the Chief of Staff to Kogi Governor, Yahaya Bello, in Kogi State.

The police spokesperson in the state, Williams Aya, told PREMIUM TIMES that the police commissioner has visited the scene and assured that the victim will be rescued unhurt.

Mr Aya said the police, in collaboration with sister security agencies and vigilante members, are trailing the criminals.

The victim, Seriya Raji, was reported to have been abducted from her residence on Monday evening at Inese/Ovakere New Layout in Nagazi community.

Nagazi community is located in Adavi Local Government Area of the state.

Witnesses said the gunmen stormed Mrs Rajus residence at about 7:40 p.m. shortly after she observed the evening prayer at a mosque within the premises.

They said that the abductors, numbering about six and dressed in black suits with masks, came with a polytene bag suspected to be concealing guns and other dangerous weapons.

The sources said the gunmen entered the victims house through the mosque and whisked her away to an unknown destination, using the car they brought for the operation.
The Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Idris Wase (APC, Plateau), has accused some officers of the Nigeria Police Force of conniving with bandits operating in the North.

Mr Wase made the allegation on Tuesday while moving a motion of urgent public importance on recent attacks on Pinau in Wase Local Government Area of Plateau State.

While leading the debate on the motion, Mr Wase cited three instances of police officers releasing suspected bandits, kidnappers and robbers.

He claimed some security agencies are conniving with bandits to sabotage the effort of the government to tackle bandits.

security agencies are not helping matters. The arrest of my district heads wife by kidnappers when they took her, the vigilantes went up to Taraba State to get those bandits and got the wife, as I am talking to you, those bandits have been released by the police.

Secondly, recently, there was an arrest of somebody, who was found to be conniving with bandits in my own locality, he made a confession which was on video the video went viral. As I am talking with you, that person has been released.

He also cited another case involving his nephew in Kaduna State. According to Mr Wase, the police released the suspect that kidnapped his nephew.

There is a caseone of my nephews working in Kaduna that was taken by bandits to faraway Birni Gwari. The combined forces of the air force went there and rescued him. They were able to arrestamong the people that did that dastardly act was a member of his household. Mr Speaker, the police released all those people arrested, Mr Wase said.

He said he informed the Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, but he was informed that matter has been spoiled by the police. Even the person investigating the case has been removed from the case.

Reacting to the motion, the Deputy Minority Leader, Toby Okechukwu, said the country had never been besieged by this level of insecurity.

Also supporting the motion, Nasir Ali (APC, Kano), said the security agencies are reluctant to deploy personnel to tackle insecurity, but willing to deploy thousands to monitor elections.

It is very unfortunate that the people no longer have confidence in the security apparatus of this country. Every time there is an election, let us take Anambra for instance, where over 30,000 security personnel were deployed to Anambra. Where did they get the security personnel from? For a one or two days election, the police can get 30,000 personnel. The same security apparatus should get the same security personnel to fight bandits.

The Minority Leader, Ndudi Elumelu, while reacting to the motion, said he is glad APC members are now affected by the insecurity bedeviling the country.

It has been going on and on around, I am happy that number six citizens have been affected, I am happy that he has been affected.. The APC government has failed..

He was shut down by the Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila, who said security issues should not be reduced to partisan matters.

You (Mr Elumelu) are the minority leader, we are dealing with a matter that affects everybody, whether you are an APC member or PDP. We should not reduce such matters to partisan matters. Even when Hon Toby was speaking, he could not resist making it a partisan issue,

Following the debate, the House resolved to set up an ad hoc committee to investigate the general insecurity in the country.

Furthermore, the House urged the Minister of Defence, Bashir Magashi, to initiate coordinated joint security operations within Wase Federal Constituency and adjoining towns located in Plateau, Bauchi, Gombe, Taraba and Nasarawa States to flush out the bandits and prevent them from escaping to other states.

Also, the lawmakers urged the Chief of Air Staff, Isiaka Amao, in collaboration with the Chief of Army Staff, Faruk Yahaya, to provide aerial surveillance and support to flush out bandits hideouts and camps.

The Inspector-General of Police was directed to immediately deploy Mopol Squadrons to utilize the Kadarko Police Barracks in Wase constructed by the Obasanjo administration but yet to be utilized.

The State Security Services (SSS) and Directorate of Military Intelligence (DMI) were charged to provide intelligence to support the operations.

Police react

When PREMIUM TIMES contacted the Kaduna State police spokesperson, Mohammed Jalige, he said the deputy speaker should provide evidence to back up his claim of connivance.

These are things he should have brought to our notice. We do our job diligently without compromising anything. If there is any evidence that can be presented before us, we are waiting, Mr Jalige said.

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The UK government from Wednesday said it will remove 11 African countries including Nigeria from its travel red list.

Angola, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe are the other countries to be delisted.

The UK in November following the emergence of the Omicron variant placed these countries on its travel red list.

It also suspended the issuance of visitors visa to Nigerians looking to come into the UK.

Explaining why the ban is being lifted, Health Secretary Sajid Javid told Parliament that, now that there is community transmission of Omicron in the UK and Omicron has spread so widely across the world, the travel red list is now less effective in slowing the incursion of Omicron from abroad.

Whilst we will maintain our temporary testing measures for international travel we will be removing all 11 countries from the travel red list effective from 4am tomorrow morning, he said.

Currently, all UK arrivals from red list countries must pay for and self-isolate in a pre-booked, government-approved hotel for 10 days.

They must also take Covid tests within 48 hours of setting off for the UK and PCR tests within two days of their arrival.

Some arrivals have already paid thousands of pounds to stay in government-approved quarantine hotels, and there have been complaints of chaotic organisation and inedible food during their stays.

Mr Javid said he had asked for urgent advice on whether those currently in managed quarantine would be able to leave early.

He also said he was very persuaded by calls to reimburse people and hoped to make an announcement soon.

The move follows anger from African countries, with the UN describing the ban on non-UK residents entering England as travel apartheid.

The travel industry had also warned the restrictions were hurting business.

Tim Alderslade, head of trade group Airlines UK, said emptying the red list made complete sense, but that the government should also scrap pre-departure and day two tests for all arrivals.

If the red list isnt necessary, given that Omicron is established here at home, then neither are the costly emergency testing and isolation measures imposed on even fully vaccinated travellers, which again put us completely at odds with the rest of Europe, he said.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said these testing measures would be reviewed in the first week of January.

As always, we keep all our travel measures under review and we may impose new restrictions should there be a need to do so to protect public health, he said on Twitter.
Aviation authorities in the United Arab Emirates have given seven slots to Nigerian airline, Air Peace, backing off from an earlier confrontation that threatened relations between both countries.

The authority also permitted it to fly directly to Dubai instead of Sharjah Airport it had earlier requested three frequencies.

This comes after the back and forth which started with Emirates suspending its flight operations to Nigeria indefinitely in response to a restriction by the Nigerian government limiting its flights to the country to just once a week.

The UAE addressed a letter signed by the Director General of General Civil Aviation Authority, Mohammed Ahli, directly to Air Peace, offering the airline to fly directly to Dubai and not Sharjah Airport that it had earlier requested.

It said the slots have been made available for Air Peace as a gesture of goodwill and in support of the relations between the two countries.

The Dubai Civil Aviation Authority presents its compliments to the honorable management of Air Peace, Nigeria, the letter said.

Your Excellency, relations between our two countries go a long way back and we value these relations immensely. We surely wish to facilitate easy and safe travel for the people, between our two brotherly countries.

We write in reference to Air Peaces possible/intended operations to/from Dubai Airports (OX8). We have received information from Dubai Airports, with regard to slot availability at OX8Terminal 1 and as a gesture of goodwill and in support of UAE and Nigeria relations, in case Alr Peace wish to start their flights, slots have been blocked by Dubai Airports as detailed below.

Slots available and blocked for Air Peace are the following:

A0S40LT DOBOOLT = All days

and

A0S10LT DOSOOLT  without day 6

As these slots cannot be blocked indefinitely, we would highly appreciate if Air Peace could kindly reach out to Dubai AirportsACL and inform them of their intentions to operate by Thursday 16 December, 2021 and accordingly confirm the blocked slots.

Dubai Airports have also confirmed that dnata  the ground handling agents at DXB have sent the ground handling quotation to Ms. Reham Mustafa  Country Manager and also, Emirates Flight Catering is working on the quotation and should send it out latest by tomorrow morning.

For landing permissions, they could contact our Air Transport Section as detailed below:

Landing Permissions: air.transport@dcaa.gov.ae

We look forward for Air Peace to operate with utmost confidence to/from DXB at the soonest.

Dubai Civil Aviation Authority avails itself of the opportunity to renew to the honorable management of Air Peace, the assurances of its highest consideration and reiterates its support at all times.
Governor Aminu Masari of Katsina State on Tuesday in Abuja updated President Muhammadu Buhari on socio-economic and security developments in the state.

Mr Masari, who spoke to State House correspondents at the end of the meeting, stressed the need for states in the north-west to renew their efforts through collaboration to address the security challenges in the zone.

He said, I think what is most important for us to succeed in fighting these bandits is for all of us, the states, especially the North-western states to take the pains and work together to make sure that we block all the loopholes

But if one state has a policy and another has a different one, certainly they (Bandits) will always be moving from one state to another.

Luckily enough, we are already working closely with states that border us, like Nasarawa and Niger, to bring the problem to a manageable and tolerable level.

On the recent killing of one of his commissioners, the governor dismissed media report that he was killed by bandits, saying the incident was purely an assassination case.

The incident we had last week had nothing to do with a banditry attack. It was purely an assassination by unknown killers, which the police and other security agencies are working round the clock to unravel.

My commissioner was killed by an unknown assassin and not a single pin was stolen in his house. You could see that this was a pure crime that has to be fully investigated for us to know the root causes and why, he said.

According to the governor, the state is recording progress in the ongoing fight against bandits activities and other criminals.

I think if we are talking about banditry, certainly we have seen some improvement; we cannot say normalcy has returned but there is improvement.

When we had a comparative analysis before the issuance of the security containment order, what we saw in three months when we compared, was a drastic drop of over 100 per cent in terms of the rate of kidnappings, killings and their associated crimes with banditry.

So, the incident we had last week had nothing to do with banditry, he said.

(NAN)
Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State on Monday, sacked the Commissioner for Health, Princewill Chike, for allegedly hosting a preliminary session of Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) without approval.

Mr Wike announced the commissioners sack when the MDCN Chairman, Abba Hassan, paid him a courtesy visit at the Government House, Port Harcourt.

The governor described the unilateral decision of the commissioner to host MDCN without the consent of the state government as most embarrassing.

He said that the state government did not request to host the preliminary session of the council.

Mr Wike stressed that the commissioner erred by unilaterally scheduling hosting of MDCN at the same time the government was inaugurating projects.

Frankly speaking, I have never seen an embarrassment like this in my life. Everybody knows that it is not my nature to bring people and not attend to them. So, whoever has done this must suffer for it, he said.

Mr Wike said that MDCNs request for the establishment of tertiary hospital in each of their senatorial districts would not be realisable due to paucity of funds.

You have talked about citing a tertiary hospital in each of the senatorial districts, this is not possible.

That is why in Nigeria we have a problem. When you go for your budget, you put all kinds of projects. You know it cannot work. Where will you get the money to site the hospital in each of the senatorial districts?

The governor said in order to improve citizens access to quality healthcare service delivery, his administration had embarked on construction of some zonal hospitals in Bori, Degema, Etche, Ahoada and Omoku.

He further said his government had also invested huge resources on promotion of medical education in the state.

This is particularly with the establishment of Rivers State University College of Medical Sciences and the annual award of scholarship to 130 indigenes studying medicine at PAMO University of Medical Sciences, Mr Wike said.

The governor called for reduction of the money accruing to the Federal Government from the Federation Account to enable states to have more resources to drive their developments.

ALSO READ: Court sacks Kwara LG caretaker committees

Earlier, Mr Hassan, a professor, said they were in the state for the 9th preliminary session of the council and commended Mr Wike for his positive attitude toward healthcare and medical delivery services in the state.

He was particular about the huge investment in Rivers State University College of Medical Science and the construction of a world-class Peter Odili Cancer and Cardiovascular Disease Diagnostic and Treatment Centre.

The MDCN chairman urged governors to consider investing in tertiary hospitals in each of the senatorial districts to increase the number of hospitals available for the training of house officers and check medical tourism.

(NAN)
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, on Tuesday, met the Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, his Foreign Affairs counterpart, Geoffrey Onyeama, and the Chairman of Airpeace, Allen Onyema, over the flight row between Nigeria and the United Arab Emirates.

The meeting took place behind closed doors at the National Assembly.

Members of the House Committee on Aviation had assembled at the venue for the meeting, but after about two hours of waiting, it was announced that the Speaker was already meeting with the ministers in his office.

The lawmakers who were waiting at the venue expressed their displeasure with the development.

Outcome

After the closed-door session, Mr Gbajabiamila, alongside the ministers briefed journalists on the outcome of the parley.

These are welcome developments considering the relationship between UAE and Nigeria particularly in the last few days the president has been there, the vice president has been there, many of our government functionaries have been there to foster stronger ties between the two countries.

And so we are not going to allow these to mar the giant strides that have been made between the two countries, the Speaker said.

Mr Gbajabiamila also commended Nigerians for standing by the government to defend the countrys national pride. He noted that national pride, if well justified, trumps every other thing.

The House had resolved to intervene in the row following a motion moved by Ndudi Elemelu (PDP, Delta) in November.

Nigeria had reduced Emirate Airline slot to one from the initial 21 slots approved as a retaliation for the unfair treatment of Air Peace airline.

The irate Dubai-based Emirates had then suspended all its flights to Abuja and Lagos after the Nigerian governments decision on the airline.

Following the controversy, UAE had in a letter signed by the Director-General of General Civil Aviation Authority, Mohammed Ahli, directly to Air Peace, offered the airline the option to fly directly to Dubai and not Sharjah Airport that it had earlier requested.

It said the slots have been made available for Air Peace as a gesture of goodwill and in support of the relations between the two countries.
Olu Atuwase III sent a positive vibe during his coronation speech, which seems to be a departure from the past approach, as enumerated above, when he said: We extend especially, towards our neighbours, Ijaws, Urhobos and Ilajes, a hand of invitation to peace and development. As it is not our desire to prosper in isolation, we desire that our neighbours prosper also. We recognise that the peace and prosperity is a shared one, built on righteousness and justice, which is the motto of this our reign, and the foundation upon which Gods throne is built.

In a general sense, the word neighbours refer to people who live within close communal proximity of each other, or anyone living close to us. By implication, neighbours naturally share some kind of affinity and common interests especially, in terms of locality. To that extent, they are likely to live in closely-knitted spaces, sell and buy in the same markets, intermarry, crossbreed, bond in unbreakable ways, and in times past, fetch and drink water from the same well. These qualities of the neighbourhood are what translate to neighbourliness; so much so that even the Holy Bible recognises the attributes of being neighbourly. When one of the Scribes asks the Lord Jesus Christ to explain which of the Ten Commandments of God he considers most important, the good Lord answers him by summarising the entire Ten Commandments into two  the love of God Almighty, and the love of ones neighbour (Mark 12: 31 28); he even goes on to illustrate, demonstrate and explain the importance of neighbourliness by alluding to the epic story of the good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37).

Therefore, if we build on the template of Christ, we should come to the understanding that a neighbour takes the well-being of his fellow neighbour(s) as he would of himself or herself. And we can also agree that the template is a universal recipe for peace; whether in Christianity, Islam, or Animism. However, the Bible also recognises the existence of bad neighbours, to which King Solomon admonishes in Proverbs 3:29 Do not plot harm against your neighbour, who lives trustfully near you. Such is the dilemma confronting the ethnic nationalities occupying the geographical space called Warri city; and to which we have all been advocating for peace.

Fortunately, the Wado City Advocacy Movement has charted a new course in our quest for lasting peace in Warri by simply pointing in a direction that has since fallen under the radar, since the quest for peace started in colonial Warri. The group identified, exposed and brought forth for interrogation what was missing in the ancient effort to supplant peace in Warri. It has pointed out what could be the solution to what in modern times is the major cause of rivalry between the Itsekiris and their traditional neighbours  the Urhobos and the Ijaws  in Warri today. And at the root of this rivalry is the question of identity. It is no longer the issue of who owns what, since all that has been settled by a landmark Supreme court judgement, extant laws and legislations. The claim of overlordship, hitherto fraudulently obtained has become obsolete and unsuitable for the modern times. Every Mallam now knows his kettle and every man his fathers compound within the Warri metropolis. Most importantly, every king within Warri city now knows his jurisdiction, the area and the people over whom he reigns.

What the Wado City Advocacy Movement offers, therefore, is a creative, almost magic-like wand solution to this issue of identity that has been the underlying cause of tensions and crises that have rocked the city and led to avoidable deaths in the past. Historically, three nationalities, the Urhobos, Itsekiris and Ijaws are aboriginal to the area called Warri today. Good neighbourliness will suggest that these three ethnic groups, which have coexisted from time and intermarried, will leave peacefully together but the Itsekiris, who are by far the minority by population have, over the years, through a combination of falsehood, deceit and propaganda, denied the other nationalities their political and traditional rights, even to the extent of trying to blurt out their names and identities from the area called Warri.

Warri today would have been a more developed place were it to be state capital, but the Itsekiris wouldnt have it to be, so because they know they dont own it and the little parch of the city they own will become exposed for the world to see. So they applied the same principle of the woman whose child had died at birth before King Solomon.

To maintain this false sense of domination, the Itsekiris have fought and continue to fight against every and anything that is of benefit to the other ethnic groups or to the area which they occupy. They fought against the creation of Delta State out of the old Bendel State, along the line of the old Delta Division, and siting of its headquarters in Warri, just because they perceived that the Urhobos, who are the majority in the area, will wrestle their contrived political grip on the city from them. Warri today would have been a more developed place were it to be state capital, but the Itsekiris wouldnt have it to be, so because they know they dont own it and the little parch of the city they own will become exposed for the world to see. So they applied the same principle of the woman whose child had died at birth before King Solomon.

For individualistic reasons the Itsekiris lobbied the military government not to situate Warri as the capital of Delta State; unfortunately, we didnt have a sitting King Solomon to see through their motive and subterfuge for sacrificing Warri for Asaba as the capital. And so Warri is the worse for it today. When the concept of rotational governorship along the senatorial zones was mooted by Chief James Ibori to address the issue of ethnic harmony in Delta State, the Itsekiris, who fought against the creation of a proper Delta State, laid a claim to it and despite their being the minority ethnic group in the Delta South Senatorial Zone, they were given the governorship through Dr Emmanuel Ewata Uduaghan and they enjoyed it for eight years. The same Itsekiris, despite being in minority, continued to use their closeness to successive governments to manipulate policies and have continued to deny, through manipulations, the other ethnic groups in Warri South the chairmanship of the local government.

It was the same precarious situation for the Ijaws of Warri North local government area for twenty-seven years, until Governor Okowa, a believer in rotational leadership, summoned the political will to see to the emergence of a chairman of Ijaw ethnic stock during the last local government elections. Even this was staunchly resisted by the Itsekiris. Listen to what the United Kingdom-based Itsekiri Congress UK (ICUK) had to say at the time: Democracy is a game of numbers, so if we have the numbers in our community, why should we then apologise for having the right to continue to represent our people? They are the same people who, despite being the minority within the minorities in Delta State, were ceded the governorship of the state in the interest of peace and unity. This is despite the glaring facts on the ground that this claim to the superiority of numbers is false. Talk about being duplicitous, it has always been about the Itsekiris. Either they have it or they spoil it.

Until the ascension of the late Olu Nkewoli to the Itsekiri throne, the other two gazetted traditional rulers in Warri South Local Government Area were denied their lawful shares of the five per cent of local government allocation to the local government traditional rulers by successive Itsekiri-led administrations of the local government. I am fairly certain that a similar thing happened to the Ijaw traditional rulers in Warri North, save perhaps Warri South-West Local Government Council, where the chairmanship of the council is rotated between the Ijaws and the Itsekiris.

The issue of identity is a low point in the relationship in this family Olu spoke about in his goodwill message. The Wado City Movement presents an ample opportunity for him to match words with action. Lets all start today to build that much-needed unity. As Chinua Achebe said in a much-repeated quote Let the kite perch and let the eagle perch too  If one says no to the other, let his wing break.

The Itsekiris need to know that their claim to overlordship through which they seek to claim everything and subsume the identity of others, is outdated. The hollow underbelly of that claim has been exposed over and over again, and one wonders why they continue to cling on to that relic of a colonial mindset. For a people famed for self-acclaimed sophistication, this attitude is mind-boggling. It continues to portray the Itsekiris as unduly proud and arrogant people who have no love for their neighbours. They need to take a hard look at themselves in the mirror and decide whether the cloak of anachronism fits their purpose for the present times and the future. This is crucial to their survival and continued relevance, especially the reverence with which the Itsekiri throne is held by the outside world.

The more the Itsekiri insist on their present course, the more the lies that have helped them to build an aura of reverence around their kingdom will get exposed. When you remove the dressing from a decorated god, it becomes just a wood carving. Olu Atuwase III sent a positive vibe during his coronation speech, which seems to be a departure from the past approach, as enumerated above, when he said: We extend especially, towards our neighbours, Ijaws, Urhobos and Ilajes, a hand of invitation to peace and development. As it is not our desire to prosper in isolation, we desire that our neighbours prosper also. We recognise that the peace and prosperity is a shared one, built on righteousness and justice, which is the motto of this our reign, and the foundation upon which Gods throne is built.

The Olu equally sounded a similarly positive tone in his goodwill message to the Urhobo nation to mark the UPU@90 celebrations when he noted that there have been highs and lows in the relationship between the Itsekiri nation and its neighbours. His prayers and determination to continuously work with other ethnic groups to make those lows in the relationships become highs in other to strengthen the elements that unite us a family come to mind now. The issue of identity is a low point in the relationship in this family Olu spoke about in his goodwill message. The Wado City Movement presents an ample opportunity for him to match words with action. Lets all start today to build that much-needed unity. As Chinua Achebe said in a much-repeated quote Let the kite perch and let the eagle perch too  If one says no to the other, let his wing break.

Austin Emaduku wrote from Ekete, Udu Local Government Area, Delta State. Email: canoways@yahoo.com. Follow @ austinemaduku.com.

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A health worker and a water factory manager kidnapped last month in Tegina, Rafi Local Government Area of Niger State, have been killed by their bandit captors, who had collected an N8 million ransom for their release.

The bandits have also asked for a N20 million ransom and a smartphone to release the corpse and the remaining victim in their captivity.

The health worker, Sani Garba, a resident of Tegina, was the officer in charge of immunisation in Rafi local government area.

He was among four residents kidnapped at Tegina on November 14, at a water factory. The factorys manager, Kasimu lawan, was also killed in captivity.

PREMIUM TIMES reported how they were abducted in Tegina, the town where 136 pupils of an Islamiyya school were earlier abducted on May 30.

Ninety of the 136 students of Salihu Tanko Islamiyya School were released on August 26 after their parents reportedly paid N60 million in cash and five new motorcycles.

Weeks before that incident, bandits had also kidnapped scores of students from a public secondary school in Kagara, in the same area.

On Tuesday, an official of a road transport union in the town, Bello Muhammad, told PREMIUM TIMES that the community contributed N8 million ransom to secure the release of the abducted persons.

However, after making the payment, the people were told that two of the victims had been killed by the bandits.

Mr Muhammad said another victim, Masudu Ibrahim, escaped from captivity, while Bako BK, the owner of the water factory is still being held by the bandits.

Mr Muhammad said the ransom bearer returned with a gory picture of the deceased victims, which made the residents observe funeral prayers (Salatul Ghaib) for the deceased.

The bandits also requested a fresh N20 million, three new motorcycles and two smartphones, equivalent in value to the one seen with the deceased health worker, as a ransom for the release of the corpses and the remaining captive, Mr Muhammad said.

The ransom bearer, Kasimu Barangada, narrated to this newspaper how he delivered the ransom last Tuesday in a forest in the state.

He said the kidnappers blindfolded him while taking him into the bush. He said the corpse of the deceased health worker was on the ground while the other captive, Mr BK, could not utter a word.

The phone contacts of the police spokesperson in the state, Wasiu Abiodun, did not connect Tuesday morning to speak to him on the development.

Armed bandits have killed hundreds of people and displaced thousands of others in the state, in the last few years.

The state government says at least over 151, 380 people, mostly peasant farmers, were displaced in the last two years in the state.

In Rafi Local Government Area, neighbouring Zamfara and Kaduna, where this incident happened, over 28,987 residents have been displaced, the highest figure in council areas that are vulnerable to bandits attacks.
The hearing in the trial of a dismissed police sergeant, Samuel Phillips, for the extrajudicial killing of 18-year-old Monsurat Ojuade, at her residence in Surulere, Lagos, has again suffered a setback.

At the resumed proceedings in a magistrate court in Yaba on Tuesday, the hearing was stalled due to the absence of the judge.

A court official told PREMIUM TIMES that the hearing could not be held because the judge, Adeola Adebayo, has a medical appointment.

The registrar declined to mention his name because he does not want it published.

The matter has been adjourned to February 21, 2022.

Similarly, the previous hearing was stalled because the judge was on a six-week leave and the matter was adjourned to December 14.

Israel Mbaebie, the deceased familys lawyer, told this newspaper that he has filed a human rights lawsuit at a federal high court in Ikoyi to claim damages.

It will come up by January 20, he said.

Backstory

Mr Philips was arrested by the police for allegedly shooting Ms Ojuade at her residence at Mogaji street, Surulere, on September 11.

The incident happened while the police went on a raid at the area around 10:30 p.m.

Tosin Ojuade, the deceaseds sister, had alleged that one of the officers tried to force the gate open from the outside and fired shots into the compound, and the bullet hit the deceased on her two thighs.

But the police claimed that the deceased was hit by a stray bullet, adding that the erring police officer, a sergeant, has been dismissed and detained.

The deceaseds family, through their lawyer, however, insisted that the teenager was shot at close range.

At the first sitting of the court in September, the magistrate granted the application made by the prosecutor for the remand of the defendant for 30 days, pending the advice of the Directorate of Public Prosecution (DPP).
The son of the Baale of Idoforo community, in Ipokia Local Government Area of Ogun State, Azeez Ilias, has been found dead in his car.

Mr Iliass naked corpse was found naked alongside a yet-to-be-fully-identified woman inside his Toyota Camry, parked in front of a building in Ago Egun, Idiroko, Ipokia local government.

Although the deceased persons were found naked, it was gathered that their clothes were not found in the car causing further suspicions about their death.

It was gathered that the deceased mans clothes were found inside a gutter in front of a house suspected to be the residence of the dead lady.

Moruf Yusuf, the spokesperson of the Idiroko Divisional Headquarters of the Ogun State Government-owned indigenous security outfit, the So-Safe Corps, told journalists Tuesday that they discovered the bodies at about 2 a.m. on Monday.

The two lifeless bodies were found inside the ash-coloured Toyota Camry car, marked LND 223 BV.

The robust relationship between the So-Safe corps and the Ogun State Police Command yielded a wonderful result as the So-Safe Corps a State Agency and Idiroko Police Divisional Headquarters jointly smelt a car parked to be suspicious and as approached, found two bodies lying lifeless in the car, Mr Yusuf said.

The male, a 37-year-old, has been identified as Azeez Ilias, a son of one of the Baales in Ipokia axis, while the female body is identified as Deborah as at the time of filing this report.

He, however, added that efforts are ongoing to unravel the mystery behind the deaths.

When contacted, the Ogun State Police Public Relations Officer, Abimbola Oyeyemi, confirmed the incident, adding that the two persons were murdered by yet to be known evil doers.

Mr Oyeyemi, however, appealed to the members of the public to shun any form of rumor as the outcome of investigations should be awaited.

Yes, we are investigating. We want to know what led to the death of the two of them. We are suspecting that they were murdered, we are highly suspecting that; so we want to investigate.

We dont want to preempt what the outcome of the investigation is going to be. Lets conclude our investigation for further details about the incident.
A 28-year-old man, John Oshiyemere, on Tuesday, appeared before a Surulere Chief Magistrates Court, for allegedly urinating all over a private kiosk in Surulere, Lagos.

Mr Oshiyemere of No.4, Shoyinka St. Itire Surulere in Lagos State, is standing trial for breach of peace and assault.

The prosecutor, Courage Ekhueorohan, told the court that Mr Oshiyemere committed the offences on December 8 at about 5:40 p.m. at No. 3, Aishat St. Itire Surulere.

Mr Ekhueorohan alleged that Mr Oshiyemere had publicly urinated all over the kiosk belonging to one Prudent Pkapko, and when she tried to stop him, he violently pushed her away.

The prosecutor said the alleged offences contravened Sections 168 (d) and 170 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.

Mr Oshiyemere, however, pleaded not guilty to the offences.

The Magistrate, Sadiq Bello, granted Mr Oshiyemere bail in the sum of N20,000 with one responsible surety in like sum.

She said the surety must be gainfully employed and show evidence of tax payment to the Lagos State Government (LASG).

The court adjourned further hearing in the case until January 13, 2022.

(NAN)
The Oyo State House of Assembly on Tuesday passed the 2022 Appropriation Bill of N 294.7 billion for Governor Seyi Makindes assent.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Mr Makinde had on September 29 presented the Budget to the House for its passage.

The Bill had recurrent expenditure of N139.5 billion and capital expenditure of N155.2 billion with 91 items.

Akeem Mustapha, the chairman, House Committee on Public Accounts, Finance and Appropriation, presented the committees reports before the House.

Mr Mustapha (PDP- Kajola State Constituency), presenting the reports, said that some State Ministries, Departments and Parastatal Agency (MDAs) performed below average in 2021 due to their inability to access funds to execute capital projects.

He said that MDAs such as Teaching Service Commission (TESCOM), Office of the Auditor-General of State and some others lacked utility and monitoring vehicles for adequate supervision and monitoring exercise.

According to him, the Governing Board of the College of Nursing and Midwifery has yet to be constituted, which he said, caused delay in approving promotion, conversion and confirmation of appointment of staffs of the college.

Mr Mustapha said tthe satellite campus of the College of Health Sciences and Technology, Okeho, was facing inability to access funds to execute its capital projects including construction of befitting structures and provision of major facilities that would enhance the standard of the College.

He urged the state government to wholistically reconsider engaging consultants in managing the affairs of tertiary institutions in the state.

Mr Mustapha said that as a result of this the Governing Boards and management of various institutions had been deprived of taking decisions and could not spend a penny without the approval of consultants, even in case of emergencies.

The committee chairman said the state government, through TESCOM, should expedite action toward releasing grants to the public Secondary Schools for smooth running of schools.

He also suggested that adequate monitoring and supervision should be carried out regularly to ensure that grants were judiciously expended.

The report was, however, adopted by the lawmakers at the plenary.

The Speaker, Adebo Ogundoyin, who presided at the sitting, directed the Clerk of the House to transmit the clean copy of the passed Budget to the Governor for his assent. (NAN)
CHICAGO, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- According to the new market research report "ADAS Market by System (ACC, DMS, IPA, PDS, TJA, FCW, CTA, RSR, LDW, AEB, & BSD), Component (Radar, LiDAR, Ultrasonic, & Camera Unit), Vehicle (PC, LCV, Bus, & Truck), Level of Autonomy (L1, L2&3, L4, L5), Offering, EV, and Region - Global Forecast to 2030", published by MarketsandMarkets, the global ADAS Market size is projected to grow from USD 27.2 billion in 2021 to USD 74.9 billion by 2030, at a CAGR of 11.9%.

The increasing adoption of ADAS & safety features, the focus of governments to enhance vehicle and pedestrian safety, initiatives by OEMs to provide advanced safety features, and the advent of autonomous vehicles will surge the demand for ADAS.

Vehicle production was low in 2020 in major European countries and the US due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Earlier, the ADAS Market was expected to witness rapid growth from 2022 onward as major safety regulations is outlined to be imposed, and deployment of autonomous driving systems was planned during the same timeline. As vehicle production is suspended, any new investment for advanced technology is unlikely. OEMs and tier 1 players are either using cash reserves or acquiring funds to continue operations during the crisis. OEMs have experience recovery in vehicle sales in 2021 and market to expected to grow significantly from second quarter of 2022.

Browse in-depth TOC on "ADAS Market"

414  Tables

83  Figures

401  Pages

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TPMS is expected to be the largest segment in the ADAS Market

A tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS) uses sensors to detect tire pressure levels and alert the driver when the tire pressure is low. Two TPMS implementations are available: direct and indirect. Indirect TPMS uses ABS sensors to detect low tire pressure. If the pressure in a tire is dangerously low, its wheel speed will be different than the others. The ECU analyzes the rotation information and informs the driver about the low tire pressure. Direct TPMS uses different pressure monitoring sensors for individual tires. These sensors transmit the data to the ECU for analysis, and every sensor has a unique serial number. Post analysis, the system can easily identify the tire with low pressure using the serial number and display a visual warning on the dashboard.

The inclusion of TPMS is standard in all leading automobile markets such as the US, European countries, and some Asia Pacific countries. While TPMS was earlier mandated only for passenger cars in Europe, it is now to be mandatorily installed in vans, trucks, and buses by 2022. China announced that all new vehicles from 2019 would have standard TPMS, while Japan, Russia, South Korea, and Turkey have already mandated TPMS as a standard in new vehicles. Such large-scale regulation of TPMS has spiked its penetration in major automotive markets. Further growth of the TPMS segment will depend on increasing vehicle production and its implementation across all vehicle types, post 2022.

Truck segment will be a key market for ADAS

Trucks are the backbone of the logistics industry in major countries. Major reliance on trucks has encouraged lawmakers to establish safer and less fatigue-inducing driving conditions by standardizing more ADAS features. For instance, the European Union has mandated vulnerable road user detection and warnings, especially for trucks and buses. In addition, intelligent speed assistance will become standard in all vehicles, including trucks, in Europe by 2022. Such mandates will help the growth of the truck segment of the ADAS Market during the forecast period.

Trucks are significantly popular and a major revenue source for OEMs such as AM General and Ford in the US. These OEMs offer a wide range of these trucks to attract more consumers. In heavy-duty trucks, the driver is required to travel longer distances; hence, there is a chance of fatigue, which can cause road accidents. OEMs have therefore started focusing on installing ADAS applications in heavy- and medium-duty trucks. Major truck manufacturers such as MAN, IVECO, and Mercedes-Benz offer ADAS features for a safer driving experience. Bosch and Continental offer a wide variety of ADAS solutions specially targeted at commercial vehicles.

An increase in safety awareness and demand for driving comfort among consumers will be prominent factors for the growth of the truck segment in the ADAS Market. For instance, Ambarella Inc (US), an artificial intelligence vision silicon company, formed a partnership with Arrival (Luxembourg) electric vehicle manufacturers to develop modules for autonomous driving and ADAS features in Arrival's vans and buses. The need for safety during travel is the current necessity of the market; for this, companies are working on platooning technology, which prevents accidents by human error. Platooning also enables fuel-saving and environmental protection. Companies such as Volvo Trucks and FedEx have partnered to test truck platooning technology with an aim to reduce fuel usage as well as connect trucks by driving in convoys to improve safety.

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Europe is the largest ADAS Market in 2020

Stringent safety regulations are expected to drive the demand for ADAS in Europe. France is one of the fastest-growing markets for ADAS in Europe. In 2018, France contributed approximately 12% to the total vehicle production in the region as per the European Automobile Manufacturers Association. Several safety mandates have been implemented by the French government. For instance, in 2015, the government made it compulsory to install automatic emergency braking (AEB) and lane departure warning (LDW) in all new heavy trucks.

The increasing production and sales of luxury vehicles due to strong economic growth play a major role in Germany. Major German OEMs such as Volkswagen and Daimler AG have incorporated advanced features to enhance the driving experience. These OEMs offer most ADAS features as standard in their premium segment vehicles. In mid-segment SUVs and sedans, essential ADAS features are offered under additional packages.

The ADAS Market is dominated by global players such as Robert Bosch (Germany), Continental AG (Germany), ZF Friedrichshafen (Germany), Denso (Japan), Aptiv (UK), Valeo (France), Magna International (Canada). These companies have adopted strategies of new product development, expansions, collaborations, partnerships, and mergers & acquisitions to gain traction in the market.

Browse Related Reports:

Semi-Autonomous and Autonomous Vehicles Market by Level of Automation (Level 1, Level 2&3 & Autonomous Vehicles), ADAS Features, Components (AI, Radar, LIDAR, Camera and Ultrasonic Sensor), Fuel Type (ICE, EV), and Region - Global Forecast to 2022 & 2030

Semi-Autonomous & Autonomous Truck Market by Level of Automation (Level 1, Level 2 & 3, Level 4, and Level 5), Propulsion (Diesel, Electric, and Hybrid), Application, Truck Class, ADAS Features, Sensor, and Region - Global Forecast to 2030

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Rise in the financial risk involved in business transactions, quick processing of documents by banks, and rise in adoption of financial guarantees by SMEs drive the growth of the global financial guarantee market.

PORTLAND, Ore., Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Allied Market Research recently published a report, titled, "Financial Guarantee Market By Product Type (Bank Guarantees, Documentary Letter of Credit, Standby Letter of Credit (SBLC), Receivables Financing, and Others), Enterprise Size (Small Enterprises, Medium-sized Enterprises, and Large Enterprises), and End User (Exporters and Importers): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 20212030". As per the report, the global financial guarantee industry was accounted for $28.70 billion in 2020, and is expected to reach $71.93 billion by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 9.6% from 2021 to 2030.

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Drivers, Restraints, and Opportunities

Rise in the financial risk involved in business transactions, quick processing of documents by banks, and rise in adoption of financial guarantees by SMEs drive the growth of the global financial guarantee market. However, strict assessment by the banks before offering a financial guarantee and collateral demands hinder the market growth. On the contrary, increase in import and export activities in developing countries and surge in digitalization of banking procedures are expected to open new opportunities for the market players in the future.

Covid-19 Scenario:

The rise in uncertainty and protectionism in global trade, shift in supply chain demands, and business closures have negatively affected the financial guarantee market.

To curb the spread of the virus, several countries imposed strict restrictions and lockdown across the countries, which created geopolitical tensions and shift in trade patterns.

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The Documentary Letter of Credit Segment Held the Largest Share

By product type, the documentary letter of credit segment held the largest share in 2020, accounting for nearly three-fifths of the global financial guarantee market, due to differing laws of countries and the difficulty of knowing each party personally. However, the receivables financing segment is expected to register the highest CAGR of 15.0% during the forecast period, as it allows to accept large, bulk one-time orders and allow traders to earn greater profits.

The Large Enterprises Segment Dominated the Market

By enterprise size, the large enterprises segment held the lion's share in 2020, contributing to nearly three-fifths of the global financial guarantee market, owing to rise in preference of a financial guarantee among major organizations to make immediate payments across countries. However, the small-sized enterprises segment is estimated to manifest the highest CAGR of 13.7% from 2021 to 2030. Due to lack of credit worthiness and limited access to huge funds, small banks cannot take loans from banks but a financial guarantee allows them to acquire products and pay later.

Asia-Pacific, followed by Europe and North America, held the Largest Share

By region, the global financial guarantee market of Asia-Pacific, followed by Europe and North America, dominated in 2020, holding nearly two-fifths of the market, due to rise in demand for digitalized financial guarantee using new technologies such as machine learning automation, optical character recognition, and distributed ledger. Moreover, the market across North America is projected to portray the CAGR of 5.5% during the forecast period.

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Major Market Players

Asian Development Bank

BNP Paribas

Barclays

Bank of Montreal

Citibank

HSBC

ICBC

National Bank of Canada

SINOSURE

Scotia Bank

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Allied Market Research (AMR) is a full-service market research and business-consulting wing of Allied Analytics LLP based in Portland, Oregon. Allied Market Research provides global enterprises as well as medium and small businesses with unmatched quality of "Market Research Reports" and "Business Intelligence Solutions." AMR has a targeted view to provide business insights and consulting to assist its clients to make strategic business decisions and achieve sustainable growth in their respective market domain.

We are in professional corporate relations with various companies and this helps us in digging out market data that helps us generate accurate research data tables and confirms utmost accuracy in our market forecasting. Allied Market Research CEO Pawan Kumar is instrumental in inspiring and encouraging everyone associated with the company to maintain high quality of data and help clients in every way possible to achieve success. Each and every data presented in the reports published by us is extracted through primary interviews with top officials from leading companies of domain concerned. Our secondary data procurement methodology includes deep online and offline research and discussion with knowledgeable professionals and analysts in the industry.

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SOURCE Allied Market Research
Likoni is a coastal community in the Mombasa area. Though Mombasa is the country's second largest city, many Likoni residents lack access to reliable power and fresh water. Around 47 percent of Likoni residents live on less than $1 per day.

Commissioned in June of 2020, the Likoni Solar Water Farm Max is the third of six solar-powered desalination plants deployed by GivePower within the last three years. Powered by solar energy and battery storage, GivePower's desalination systems are housed in 20-foot shipping containers and each Max system can transform up to 70,000 liters of brackish or seawater into clean, healthy drinking water for up to 35,000 people every day. Unlike most ground well systems, GivePower Solar Water Farms produce a higher quality of water over a longer period with virtually no negative environmental impact. The Likoni project remedies issues associated with local groundwater resources, which have high salinity levels in the area. Before the plant was built, Likoni residents were required to boil surface water, pay high prices for piped water, or transport water from distant locations. Globally, 2.2 billion people lack access to clean and affordable drinking water.

"Traditional water collection methods can cause illness, come at great expense and broadly undermine quality of life, particularly for women and girls often charged with fetching water supplies," said Michele Magee, President of GivePower. "GivePower's Likoni Solar Water Farm extends social, health and economic benefits to all community members by providing easy access to a safe and reliably managed water source. We are honored to see our critical work recognized by the Energy Globe Award."

To date, the Likoni Solar Water Farm Max has distributed nearly 20 million liters of clean drinking water to the local community and has saved residents tens of thousands of dollars in water costs while improving water quality and safety. The installation supports the local economy by providing full-time work to eight residents and supplying local distributors with water. Across Kenya, GivePower employs 24 full-time workers. Proceeds from the water sales help to support staff salaries, equipment maintenance, and future projects in other communities.

About Likoni, Kenya

With a population of over 55 million, 41 percent of Kenyans do not have access to safe drinking water and 71 percent of Kenyans use unimproved sanitation solutions. These challenges are especially evident in the rural and low-income urban settlements like Likoni, where the average total cost for an unreliable water supply is more than $15 per month per household. In comparison, the average water bill of a typical household in Nairobi that is connected to a piped system is only $4.46 per month. This comparison highlights the economic burdens that often fall more heavily on unconnected rural customers and urban neighborhoods. Even those areas with piped connections often suffer from an inconsistent flow of water. The struggle for access to affordable, clean, potable water drives many to contaminated sources of water that bring illness and disease to these communities.

About GivePower

GivePower is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization committed to extending the environmental and social benefits of clean, renewable energy around the globe. GivePower uses solar and battery storage technologies to deliver essential services to the developing world. The organization has helped bring clean power and clean water to underserved communities in 24 countries across Africa, Asia and Latin America. Visit GivePower at www.givepower.org . Follow GivePower on Facebook , Instagram , and Twitter .

Media Contact



Julia Pyper

jpyper@givepower.org

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SOURCE GivePower
NEW YORK, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Gowling WLG (Canada) LLP ("Gowling WLG") officially launched Contest Creator, an automated self-help solution that creates a set of rules for a promotional contest in Canada, on PartnerVine. Last week, Contest Creator won a 2021 Precedent Innovation Award from Precedent Magazine.

"We're excited to be launching Contest Creator as the first of our products on PartnerVine," says Mark Tamminga, a partner and the leader of Innovation Initiatives at Gowling WLG, "PartnerVine's common portal is an extremely smart solution for a law firm to sell its standardized software. We're thrilled to be a part of it."

"Gowling WLG builds world-class tech solutions for their clients and has been doing so for years," says Jordan Urstadt, CEO of PartnerVine. "Like PartnerVine, Gowling WLG is completely dedicated to providing value to their clients. We couldn't be more pleased to launch PartnerVine in Canada with them."

Contest Creator is an online self-help solution that expedites the process of generating a set of rules for a promotional contest in Canada. Users can purchase access to Contest Creator based on the jurisdictions where they would like to run their contest, go through the automated interview, and generate a set of rules for legal review in about 20 minutes. The automated interview includes embedded guidance and instructions for answering the questions accurately and warns the user when a proposed answer could raise issues.

Gowling WLG is an international law firm with more than 1,500 lawyers in 19 offices around the world. The value Gowling WLG delivers through technology is reflected in the firm's offering of innovative tech platforms  including Contest Creator, Gowling Recovery System, which automates the mortgage recovery process, and SmartRaise, which automates private placements. Gowling WLG also has one of the world's largest libraries of automated documents, which delivers extraordinary value to Gowling WLG's clients on a daily basis.

For more information, go to www.partnervine.com.

About PartnerVine: PartnerVine is where the world's best law firms sell their legal products. PartnerVine helps companies access innovative legal products built by law firms, and law firms sell outside their network. PartnerVine's community is dedicated to legal services delivered with software. PartnerVine has offices in New York and Zurich.

Jordan Urstadt

PartnerVine

+1 646 583 0981

jurstadt@partnervine.com

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SOURCE PartnerVine
- The partnership starts with MPCES's participation in Leclanche' Green Power Plant in St. Kitts and Nevis in the Caribbean, a landmark solar PV and battery energy storage project

- The Green Power Plant will provide one third of St. Kitts' baseload needs and reduce carbon emissions by more than 740,000 metric tonnes over its lifespan

- The project is the Caribbeans largest combined solar power and battery storage system and will integrate 35.7 MWp solar photovoltaic with 45MWh of battery energy storage system to deliver 18.2 MW baseload green power to St. Kitts

YVERDON-LES-BAINS, Switzerland, AMSTERDAM and OSLO, Norway, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- MPC Energy Solutions (MPCES) has partnered with Leclanche one of the world's leading energy storage companies, publicly listed in Switzerland (SIX: LECN), to build the previously announced 35.7 MWp solar photovoltaic (PV) and 18.2 MW battery energy storage system (BESS) project designed with Leclanche Energy Management Software (L-EMS) in St. Kitts' Basseterre Valley, next to the capital city of Basseterre.

The project requires about US$ 74 million of investment and MPCES has acquired 40% ownership in the project's holding company, in which Leclanche owns 60%. MPCES will invest up to US$ 17million.

"At COP26 in Glasgow, St. Kitts and Nevis presented a remarkable plan to reduce CO 2 emissions by 61 percent by switching to 100 percent renewable energy. We in MPC Energy Solutions are happy and proud to be part of this important initiative through the development of this significant PV and battery project near the country's capital. The project will cover one-third of St. Kitts baseload needs for the next 20-25 years while reducing the carbon dioxide emissions by more than 740,000 metric tonnes." said Martin Vogt, CEO at MPC Energy Solutions.

"With our ongoing mission to help the region's transition to cleaner energies, we seek to create strong partnerships that will reinforce our position as a leader in the energy market of Latin America and the Caribbean. Its strong technological expertise makes Leclanche a valuable partner that will undoubtedly help us do just that. This landmark project marks our entry into utility-scale hybrid projects that combine energy generation and storage. St Kitts and Nevis is one of several other countries within the Caribbean region that are committed to diversifying its generation base away from diesel-fueled thermal power, and promoting smarter, greener and more resilient approaches that improve energy generation," added Martin Vogt.

Leclanche has a long and successful track record of concepting and building innovative utility-scale installations including several projects with S4 Energy in The Netherlands; the Cremzow, Germany system in collaboration with Enel Green Power Germany and ENERTRAG; SWB, Germany; Marengo, Chicago, United States and several Canadian projects.

The St. Kitts project, which is being built under an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract by Leclanche, has a 20-year USD-denominated Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with the St. Kitts Electric Company (SKELEC), the only energy utility company on the island. The government of St. Kitts and Nevis leased the land in the Basseterre Valley to Leclanche under a 20-year agreement with the option of a five-year renewal. Groundbreaking of the project took place in December 2020.

Anil Srivastava, CEO at Leclanche, said: "We are excited to partner with MPC Energy Solutions for this landmark project in the Caribbean. This solar PV and BESS project demonstrates the ability of renewable energies to provide baseload power and competitively replace greenhouse gas emitting diesel-fuel power. The project will create material savings for SKELEC with a strong positive impact on the environment, CO 2 emissions and the local communities.

We thank the government of St. Kitts and Nevis and SKELEC for their trust. Leveraging the vast experience of our partner MPCES and teamwork with SKELEC, we shall accelerate the construction and commissioning of this industry reference project  the Caribbean regions' largest green power plant."

The St. Kitts project has been communicated as part of MPCES's advanced project backlog.

"This represents another step forward for MPC Energy Solutions in becoming a leading independent power producer in Latin America and the Caribbean. This is a region with tremendous potential for renewable energy, and I am particularly happy to announce this first project utilizing hybrid technology. This will undoubtedly be a reference case for us and other renewable energy developers," Martin Vogt said.

About MPC Energy Solutions

MPC Energy Solutions ("MPCES") is a global provider of sustainable energy and primarily focuses on low-carbon energy infrastructure, including solar and wind assets, and other hybrid and energy efficiency solutions. The Company participates in the full project lifecycle of renewable solutions, from early-stage development through construction and operation. More details at www.mpc-energysolutions.com

About Leclanche

Headquartered in Switzerland, Leclanche SA is a leading provider of high-quality energy storage solutions designed to accelerate our progress towards a clean energy future. Leclanche's history and heritage is rooted in over 100 years of battery and energy storage innovation and the Company is a trusted provider of energy storage solutions globally. This coupled with the Company's culture of German engineering and Swiss precision and quality, continues to make Leclanche the partner of choice for both disruptors, established companies and governments who are pioneering positive changes in how energy is produced, distributed and consumed around the world. The energy transition is being driven primarily by changes in the management of our electricity networks and the electrification of transport, and these two end markets form the backbone of our strategy and business model. Leclanche is at the heart of the convergence of the electrification of transport and the changes in the distribution network. Leclanche is the only listed pure play energy storage company in the world, organised along three business units: stationary storage solutions, e-Transport solutions and specialty batteries systems. Leclanche is listed on the Swiss Stock Exchange (SIX: LECN). For more information, please visit www.leclanche.com.

SIX Swiss Exchange: ticker symbol LECN | ISIN CH 011 030 311 9

Disclaimer

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements relating to Leclanche's business, which can be identified by terminology such as "strategic", "proposes", "to introduce", "will", "planned", "expected", "commitment", "expects", "set", "preparing", "plans", "estimates", "aims", "would", "potential", "awaiting", "estimated", "proposal", or similar expressions, or by expressed or implied discussions regarding the ramp up of Leclanche's production capacity, potential applications for existing products, or regarding potential future revenues from any such products, or potential future sales or earnings of Leclanche or any of its business units. You should not place undue reliance on these statements. Such forward-looking statements reflect the current views of Leclanche regarding future events, and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such statements. There can be no guarantee that Leclanche's products will achieve any particular revenue levels. Nor can there be any guarantee that Leclanche, or any of the business units, will achieve any particular financial results.

Media contacts MPC Energy Solutions

MPC Energy Solutions N.V.

Investor Relations & Public Relations

Email: info@mpc-energysolutions.com

Norway

Jo Christian Lund-Steigedal

Corporate Communications AS

Phone: +47 415 08733

Email:jcs@corpcom.no

Americas

Perry Goldman

Montieth & Company

Phone: +1 (646) 8643568

Email: pgoldman@montiethco.com



United Kingdom

Charles Font

Montieth & Company

Phone: +44 020 38575478

Email: cfont@montiethco.com

Contacts Leclanche

Media Switzerland /Europe:Thierry MeyerT: +41 (0) 79 785 35 81E-mail: tme@dynamicsgroup.ch Media North America:Henry Feintuch / Ashley BlasT: +1-646-753-5710 / +1-646-753-5713E-mail: leclanche@feintuchpr.com

Media Germany:Christoph MillerT: +49 (0) 711 947 670E-mail: leclanche@sympra.de Investor Contacts:Anil Srivastava / Hubert AngleysT: +41 (0) 24 424 65 00E-mail: invest.leclanche@leclanche.com

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

https://news.cision.com/mpc-energy-solutions-n-v-/r/mpc-energy-solutions-and-leclanche-form-strategic-collaboration-for-utility-scale-energy-storage-sol,c3472019

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SOURCE MPC Energy Solutions N.V.
BEER-SHEVA, Israel, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- BGN Technologies, the technology transfer company of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU), announced the establishment of DOTS, developer of a new nitrate monitoring system for continuous real-time monitoring of nitrate levels in the soil for agricultural use. DOTS has secured seed funding in a round led by Labs/02 incubator, a joint venture of OurCrowd, Israel's largest investment platform, and Reliance Industries, an Indian multinational conglomerate, and the Israeli Innovation Authority.

"Following the elaborate due diligence of the Labs/02 team, we see this seed round as a vote of confidence from leading investors in our team, technology, and business plans," said Rafi Levi, CEO of DOTS. "Current methods for measuring soil nitrate levels are cumbersome estimations, highly expensive or labor-intensive, and do not provide affordable continuous real-time indication of the actual concentration of nutrients in the soil. Our new technology, which enables real-time monitoring of soil nitrate levels, can supply farmers with valuable data on nutrient availability for their crops. Our solution enables optimization of fertilizer application thus greatly cutting farmers' expenses by preventing over-fertilization, as well as substantially reducing water resource pollution."

Moshe Raines, General Partner at OurCrowd and CEO of Labs/02 said, "We are honored to lead the seed round for DOTS. We have been impressed by the DOTS team, their accomplishments, and unique vision, which eventually will make the world a better place to live in. We believe that DOTS's breakthrough technology is a game-changer in precision agriculture and will significantly improve the way we are dealing with soil pollution."

The technology, developed by Prof. Ofer Dahan of the Zuckerberg Institute for Water Research (ZIWR), Prof. Shlomi Arnon of the Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, and Elad Yeshno, PhD student at ZIWR, all from BGU, relies on an electro-optical nitrate sensor that is based on absorption spectroscopy. The sensor enables continuous, real-time measurement of nitrates in the soil pore-water and is highly resistant to harsh chemical and physical soil conditions. It can detect nitrate concentrations in the range of tens to hundreds of parts per million (ppm), which is the range relevant for growing crops. Its ability to continuously monitor soil nitrate levels produces a highly detailed portrait of the rapidly changing concentrations of nitrate in the soil.

Natural nitrate levels in groundwater are generally very low. However, excess application of fertilizers in agriculture often results in nitrates leaching from the soil into water resources. Increased level of nitrates in water is one of the main reasons for drinking water contamination, causing a worldwide environmental problem.

Shirley Sheffer Hoffman, Senior VP Business Development Climate Tech at BGN Technologies, commented, "We are very proud that what began as a multi-disciplinary collaboration research project at the University a few years ago, has now matured into a promising deep-tech startup company that has successfully raised initial capital and has also received recognition from the Israel Innovation Authority."

DOTS grew in the Oazis Venture Builder and Accelerator, a unique program matching deep-technology research with experienced business entrepreneurs and bridging the gap between academia and industry with a product-oriented acceleration. Oazis was established at BGU's entrepreneurship center Yazamut360 and has already grown 11 successful ventures.

About Monitoring Nutrients

Modern agriculture relies on precise water and nutrient levels in the soil. While technologies for monitoring and controlling the soil-water content are well developed, affordable, and commonly used, there are currently no solutions for continuous, real-time monitoring and control of nutrient levels in the soil. Therefore, farmers commonly rely on available "fertilizer usage tables" offered by fertilizer companies, which overdose the soil with fertilizers to avoid and prevent potential crop loss related to nutrient deficiencies. As a result, farmers suffer substantial financial losses due to wasted fertilizers, which eventually leach down to groundwater in the form of nitrate, leading to the pollution of water resources. Nitrate fertilizer sales worldwide are estimated at 200 billion dollars annually and expected to reach 230 billion dollars by 2026. With the current application efficiency, over 80 billion dollars' worth of fertilizers used turn to waste and groundwater contaminants.

About Labs/02

Labs/02 is an early-stage fund and incubator, based in Jerusalem and Beer-Sheva. The incubator's core mission is to advance cutting-edge technology that will shape the future. Labs/02 invests in outstanding and highly motivated founders, and leads them with a hands-on, mentorship-driven approach: leveraging its global network of investors, mentors, MNCs and venture partners to support them. The incubator's program is designed with a boot camp feel to help founders jumpstart their companies towards success.

About OurCrowd

OurCrowd is a global venture investing platform that empowers institutions and individuals to invest and engage in emerging companies. The most active venture investor in Israel, OurCrowd vets and selects companies, invests its capital, and provides its global network with unparalleled access to co-invest and contribute connections, talent and deal flow. OurCrowd builds value for its portfolio companies throughout their lifecycles, providing mentorship, recruiting industry advisors, navigating follow-on rounds, and creating growth opportunities through its network of multinational partnerships.

About Reliance Industries

Reliance is India's largest private sector company, with a consolidated turnover of INR 539,238 crore ($73.8 billion), cash profit of INR 79,828 crore ($10.9 billion), and net profit of INR 53,739 crore ($7.4 billion) for the year ended March 31, 2021. Reliance's activities span hydrocarbon exploration and production, petroleum refining and marketing, petrochemicals, retail and digital services. Reliance is the top-most ranked company from India to feature in Fortune's Global 500 list of 'World's Largest Companies'. The company stands 71st in the 'Forbes Global 2000' rankings for 2019  top-most among Indian companies. It features among LinkedIn's 'The Best Companies to Work For In India' (2021)

About BGN Technologies

BGN Technologies is the technology transfer company of Ben-Gurion University, the third largest university in Israel. BGN Technologies brings technological innovations from the lab to the market and fosters research collaborations and entrepreneurship among researchers and students. To date, BGN Technologies has established over 100 startup companies in the fields of biotech, hi-tech, and cleantech, and has initiated leading technology hubs, incubators, and accelerators. Over the past decade, BGN Technologies has focused on creating long-term partnerships with multinational corporations such as Deutsche Telekom, Dell-EMC, PayPal, and Lockheed Martin, securing value and growth for Ben-Gurion University as well as the Negev region. For more information, visit the BGN Technologies website.

Media Contacts:

Tsipi Haitovsky

Global Media Liaison

BGN Technologies

+972-52-598-9892

[email protected]

Ehud Zion Waldoks

Deputy Spokesperson

International Media

Ben-Gurion University

+972-54-677-5564

[email protected]

SOURCE BGN Technologies
MODI'IN, Israel, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Percepto , pioneering autonomous inspection by industrial robotics, today announced that it has been granted operational approval to fly Percepto autonomous drones beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) at a site in Australia. The waiver, granted by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA), will allow completely remote inspection of the facility, laying the groundwork for many similar waivers for Percepto customers nationally.

The achievement significantly adds value in the Australian market where many facilities are in remote locations. As a result, companies are increasingly introducing remote operations to manage, monitor and secure their sites. The approval will also enable high risk sites such as mines and refineries to better manage safety and environmental risks, while increasing productivity and reducing downtime.

The most widely deployed drone-in-a-box on the market, Percepto has an industry leading track record of regulatory firsts at their Fortune 500 companies globally. The company was recently invited to join the FAA BVLOS Aviation Rulemaking Committee and has been included among the first group of the "Gold standard" FAA's Type Certification (TC) process.

"Percepto applauds CASA for their efforts to safely integrate autonomous drone technology into commercial operations," said Dor Abuhasira, CEO and Co-founder, Percepto. "We are confident that our customers will be able to receive similar approvals in just a few months, putting remote operations centers well into reach for any company building their autonomous drone program."

"With Percepto gaining this regulatory approval, we see huge possibilities for how autonomous drones can improve remote industrial operations given Australia's wide-open spaces," said Jackie Dujmovic, CEO of Hover UAV and a board member of Safeskies Australia and the Australian Association of Uncrewed Systems. "It's a game-changer for how managers at critical infrastructure can inspect assets and monitor sites while gaining real-time insights based on collected data faster than ever before. The development is as significant as drones lifting off in Australia for the first time."

About Percepto

Percepto is the leading autonomous inspection and monitoring solution provider, revolutionizing how industrial sites monitor and inspect their critical infrastructure and assets.



Listed in TIME magazine's 100 Best Inventions of 2021, Percepto's AIM platform fully automates visual data workflows from capture to insight, leveraging the Percepto Air drone-in-a-box portfolio, alongside other robots and visual sensors. Using advanced machine-learning and AI, Percepto AIM provides an end-to-end autonomous inspection and monitoring solution, to assess risk, minimize downtime, drive efficiency, increase safety and reduce operational costs.

Percepto's solutions are trusted by Fortune 500 customers on six continents including Florida Power and Light, Koch Industries, and Verizon. The company is the recipient of multiple prestigious awards including Edison Gold Award and Frost & Sullivan Global Enabling Technology Leadership Award. For more information, visit www.percepto.co .

Media Contact

Josh Turner

Si14 Global Communications

[email protected]

US: +1-917-231-0550

Int'l: +972-54-949-6526

SOURCE Percepto
MONTREAL, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- CellCarta, a leading global provider of precision medicine laboratory services, announced today the acquisition of Biogazelle ("Biogazelle"), a leader in genomic testing solutions. Located in Ghent (Belgium), Biogazelle develops and deploys high-end digital PCR (dPCR), quantitative PCR (qPCR) and RNASeq assays for its pharmaceutical and biotech industry clients.

With decades of experience in gene expression analysis, the Biogazelle team is uniquely positioned and skilled in the application of quantitative PCR and digital PCR. Co-founders Jan Hellemans and Jo Vandesompele are internationally recognized for setting standards in gene expression analysis. Biogazelle, a Ghent University spin-off with the financial support of BNP Paribas Fortis and the investment funds of Qbic, PMV and the Fournier-Majoie Foundation, was the first European laboratory to offer the dPCR technology and is still at the forefront of dPCR-based research. The group also provides dedicated RNA sequencing workflows on clinical samples such as liquid biopsies and FFPE tissues.

"Biogazelle's exceptional genomics expertise will enable CellCarta to further support its clients' therapeutic development strategies, offering them key solutions to address their clinical challenges and move their immunology and other programs forward" said Martin LeBlanc, CEO of CellCarta. Acquiring Biogazelle strengthens CellCarta's growth strategy to become the leading provider of precision medicine services and will allow the organization to extend genomic services from discovery to clinical settings. "We are very excited to join forces with CellCarta. With both organizations driven by scientific excellence and innovation, it's the logical next step for us to maximally leverage our know-how and services on a truly global scale." said Roel Sterken, CEO of Biogazelle.

While continuing to offer its current breadth of genomic services, Biogazelle will become CellCarta's Center of Excellence for the development of complex genomic biomarker assays. The acquisition allows CellCarta to expand its offering to clients in fields with high demand in genomic analysis, such as immuno-oncology and cell and gene therapy.

About CellCarta

CellCarta is a leading provider of specialized precision medicine laboratory services to the biopharmaceutical industry. Leveraging its integrated analytical platforms in immunology, histopathology, proteomics and genomics, as well as related specimen collection and logistics services, CellCarta supports the entire drug development cycle, from discovery to late-stage clinical trials. The company operates globally with 10 facilities located in Canada, USA, Belgium, Australia, and China.

For more information: cellcarta.com

About Biogazelle

Biogazelle offers expert laboratory services in nucleic acid quantification (gene expression, mutation and copy number analysis, antisense oligonucleotide screening) to support its customers in their development of diagnostics and therapeutics. Customized workflows for clinically relevant samples  from liquid biopsies to fixed tissues  are available. In addition, Biogazelle's advanced RNA biomarker development program offers an end- to-end solution from RNA biomarker panel discovery (including liquid biopsies) to the development of a PCR-based molecular diagnostic test. Biogazelle also serves as a specialty lab in the field of clinical trials and in routine diagnostic settings.

For more information: biogazelle.com

Media Contact for CellCarta: Prosek Partners, Jackie Schofield, [email protected]; CellCarta, Guylaine Galipeau, Global Marketing Director, CellCarta, [email protected]; Biogazelle, Roel Sterken, CEO, Biogazelle, +32/470.888.700, [email protected]

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Related Links

www.caprion.com



SOURCE CellCarta
Bestselling Author, CEO Kevin Guest Shares Insights from Global Leadership

SALT LAKE CITY, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- As the pandemic lingers, professionals are urged to take four actions to enhance their careers in 2022.

All the Right Reasons: 12 Timeless Principles for Living a Life in Harmony, by USANA CEO and chairman Kevin Guest

"In my role, I see professionals serious about their progress master four key practices," said Kevin Guest, chairman and CEO of USANA Health Sciences (NYSE: USNA), a billion-dollar company operating in 24 countries.

From a lifetime of experiences shared in his bestseller, "All the Right Reasons, 12 Timeless Principles for Living a Life in Harmony," Guest shares key steps to improve one's career whether returning to the workplace or working remotely.

First, experts across broad industries agree networking is key to success.

"It's no secret that the most successful professionals are the most connected. Fact is most people choose to work with people they like. The more people you know, the better your opportunities to succeed," said Guest. "If it's unpleasant to meet strangers, make a game of it, make it fun and find ways to help others. Share ideas and see how strangers become colleagues who become friends and can enhance experiences on your career path."

Highlighting the value of networking and relationship building, Guest writes in his book, "On a pop quiz, a college professor asked: 'What is the name of the woman who cleans this building?' The professor was emphasizing that in life, nothing is more important than relationships, which includes being respectful, even to the point of knowing someone's name.

"Class members were stumped by the question but learned the woman's name was Dorothy, so I have created the Dorothy Principle to remind us to put relationships first because treating others with the utmost respect and kindness is a key to success that makes life more harmonious for everyone."

Leading professionals around the world, Guest sees successful professionals are also intent on keeping their skills up to date.

"More than ever, we have tools, technology and access to keep skills current and to push them to the next level," he said. "No matter your situation, if workers do not improve skills, they will be quickly left behind in today's fast-paced environment."

To those who feel disadvantaged because of their situation, Guest cites Rwandan Immaculee Ilibagiza in what he calls the "Cardboard Keyboard" principle.

After Rwanda's genocide in 1994, Hutu fighters hunted Ilibagiza, who fled for protection. Even with killers outside her window calling her name, she stayed positive, was rescued, traveled to Rwanda's capital and applied for a United Nations job for weeks with no luck.

"Immaculee told herself she could master English, which would increase employment opportunities, so she drew a computer keyboard on cardboard and spent hours learning how to type," he said. "After weeks of determination to learn English, countless attempts to get that job and positive self-talk, she was hired."

Increasing visibility in the industry ranks third on the list of improving one's career in 2022.

"Being known in your company as a results-oriented problem-solver is vital. Sharing your talent with others in the industry only increases your credibility and esteem," he said. "Look for opportunities to write articles, post insights on social sites and speak up in meetings. Everyone has something to share, and actively setting a schedule to share professional perspectives can position you as a leader."

Progressive companies have an awards strategy, which positively benefits the company, the teams and their customers. Guest says the same strategy can work for the individual.

"Apply for awards to enhance your career," Guest said. "Awards and recognition are third-party endorsements that speak to a person's talent and value. But it's not about the fancy trophy; it's about others affirming that you are the best at what you do, which helps define you and strengthens your personal brand identity.

"This fourth step has incredible ROI because it can open doors and expand your network of colleagues. Again, the point is to increase word-of-mouth endorsements and referrals, which is fast-tracked by winning awards in your field of expertise."

Designed to help others find keys to successful careers and life, All the Right Reasons reveals 12 principles for living a life in harmony. All proceeds from sales of the bestseller are aimed at feeding two million meals to hungry children. Available on Amazon, the book provides 40 meals for each single purchase.

For more information, visit www.kevinguest.com .

MEDIA CONTACT:

Tim Brown, Candid Communications

[email protected]

801-557-1466 m

SOURCE USANA
"Finding top-notch workers in the furniture installation industry can be difficult because the applicant pool is broad but limited," said Ben Bottner, co-founder and CEO of Steady Install. "At Steady Install, we utilize our platform to connect furniture installation companies with contracted workers that are dependable and equipped to handle the project. The new workforce environment, especially after the pandemic, is volatile. Keeping internal payroll low and flexing up on an as needed basis is crucial for labor-intensive service businesses to be profitable. Traditional channels for staffing projects are no longer sufficient in today's non-traditional era, and our technology helps companies put together the best team for each project."

There are various benefits for outsourcing staffing needs to companies that understand the necessities of a project while understanding what is driving today's skilled workforce. Bottner and the Steady Install team offer these reasons to consider outsourcing as an option for your furniture installation project.

Ability to hire candidates faster: If your furniture installation project needs to be completed quickly, there simply isn't time to source installers yourself and complete the necessary vetting that must be done prior to any employment decisions. Utilizing a staffing platform expedites the process by removing the slew of emails, texts, or calls normally associated with a traditional staffing agency.

If your furniture installation project needs to be completed quickly, there simply isn't time to source installers yourself and complete the necessary vetting that must be done prior to any employment decisions. Utilizing a staffing platform expedites the process by removing the slew of emails, texts, or calls normally associated with a traditional staffing agency. Improved workforce flexibility: Running an efficient furniture installation company can be difficult. Demand for services can change with the day, both in terms of the volume of work and level of experience required. When companies outsource staffing, they are hiring contracted workers, which allows them to increase and decrease staff depending on the workload without long-term financial commitment.

Running an efficient furniture installation company can be difficult. Demand for services can change with the day, both in terms of the volume of work and level of experience required. When companies outsource staffing, they are hiring contracted workers, which allows them to increase and decrease staff depending on the workload without long-term financial commitment. The quality of the worker is increased: When completing a furniture installation project, the quality of work is paramount. When opting to outsource, companies are accessing a better avenue to gain quality workers. Today's technology allows workers to be vetted and placed in the proper category to ensure success for the project and team as a whole. Staffing platforms allow the workers to accept the projects they want to work on, which translates into increased morale and motivation on-site and an overall better product.

When completing a furniture installation project, the quality of work is paramount. When opting to outsource, companies are accessing a better avenue to gain quality workers. Today's technology allows workers to be vetted and placed in the proper category to ensure success for the project and team as a whole. Staffing platforms allow the workers to accept the projects they want to work on, which translates into increased morale and motivation on-site and an overall better product. Creates opportunity for permanent employment: Building on the idea of quality candidates, if the independent contractor and installation company are a perfect fit, the company can hire the worker full-time. This not only creates a great partnership, but it also reduces the risk of the installation company hiring the wrong person for the job. Some staffing platforms, like Steady Install, now wave all placement fees and minimum required hours prior to offering employment.

Building on the idea of quality candidates, if the independent contractor and installation company are a perfect fit, the company can hire the worker full-time. This not only creates a great partnership, but it also reduces the risk of the installation company hiring the wrong person for the job. Some staffing platforms, like Steady Install, now wave all placement fees and minimum required hours prior to offering employment. Lowering Labor Costs: Hiring employees is expensive and making the wrong hire can make that cost go up even more. The reality of the installation industry is that every project is different, and the right crew for one project is not necessarily the right fit for another. A good staffing platform can allow you to customize the crew for each project based on location, required items, and experience needed to ensure you're not overpaying for a less technical project and receiving the experience level required for a more technical project.

"Outsourcing staffing efforts is a win-win for the installation company and the independent contractors," Bottner said. "For companies in search of skilled labor workers, inefficiency, cost and experience problems can be solved through outsourcing. The candidates are dependable and want to find work. For workers, they can expect to earn higher wages and have the freedom to pick which projects they work on.

"At Steady Install, we are a one-stop shop for companies looking for quality workers by using our specialized platform to connect independent contractors with commercial and office furniture installation projects. Outsourcing staffing, when done correctly, creates more efficiency and happier workers while producing better quality of work."

For more information about Steady Install, visit https://www.steadyinstall.com/ .

About Steady Install

Launched in 2019, Steady Install is a specialized platform created to connect skilled workers with furniture installation projects. Using innovative software, Steady Install provides an all-in-one shop to post projects and find quality installers. Steady Install helps to keep projects moving forward at lower costs with professional, motivated, skilled on-demand workers who get to work on the projects they want for the pay they deserve. For more information, visit https://www.steadyinstall.com/ .

MEDIA CONTACT:

Heather Ripley

Ripley PR

(865) 977-1973

[email protected]

SOURCE Steady Install
ROLLING MEADOWS, Ill., Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. today announced the acquisition of Reno, Nevada-based Richied & Associates, Inc. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Founded in 1999, Richied & Associates is a retail property/casualty insurance agency primarily serving small- to mid-market commercial clients, as well as families and individuals, from offices in Reno and Carson City, Nevada. Paul Richied, Tera Hodges, Cindy Fleischer and their associates will remain in their current locations under the direction of Scott Firestone, head of Gallagher's Southwest region retail property/casualty brokerage operations.

"Richied & Associates is a well-known insurance agency that expands our retail property/casualty capabilities in the state of Nevada and offers us strong cross-selling opportunities," said J. Patrick Gallagher, Jr., Chairman, President and CEO. "I am very pleased to welcome Paul, Tera, Cindy and their team to Gallagher."

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG), a global insurance brokerage, risk management and consulting services firm, is headquartered in Rolling Meadows, Illinois. The company has operations in 68 countries and offers client service capabilities in more than 150 countries around the world through a network of correspondent brokers and consultants.

Investors: Ray Iardella Media: Linda J. Collins VP - Investor Relations VP- Corporate Communications 630-285-3661/ [email protected] 630-285-4009/ [email protected]

SOURCE Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.
SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Bank of the West, a subsidiary of BNP Paribas, today announced the launch of the Means & Matters Podcast which shares the stories of women leaders in business and sustainability.

"We're excited to share these stories of women who are purposeful leaders and a force for good in their communities," said Michelle Di Gangi, Executive Vice President, Head of Small Business & Medium Enterprise at Bank of the West. "The podcast features inspiring women who are building sustainable businesses through ingenuity, perseverance, and resiliency. They're redefining what it means to be a woman leader in a changing world."

The first season of the podcast is hosted by Leah Thomas, Bank of the West ambassador and founder of Intersectional Environmentalist. Guests include:

Trinity Mouzon Wofford , CEO of Golde // Golde is a superfoods wellness company that Trinity started in her one-bedroom apartment at age 23. She is the youngest black woman to launch a product line in Sephora. Golde is also sold in Target stores nationwide.

// Golde is a superfoods wellness company that Trinity started in her one-bedroom apartment at age 23. She is the youngest black woman to launch a product line in Sephora. Golde is also sold in Target stores nationwide. Stacia Morfin , CEO of Nez Perce Tourism // Stacia started and leads the only Native-owned tour company operating on the Snake and Columbia rivers. She uses her business to help preserve and showcase the Numiipuu culture.

// Stacia started and leads the only Native-owned tour company operating on the Snake and Columbia rivers. She uses her business to help preserve and showcase the Numiipuu culture. Amy Prosenjak , CEO and President of A to Z Wineworks // A to Z Wineworks was the first winery to be designated as a B Corp. From electric tractors to the grower supply chain, Amy talks about how one of Oregon's largest wineries lives up to their tag line to "leave a place better than you found it."

// A to Z Wineworks was the first winery to be designated as a B Corp. From electric tractors to the grower supply chain, Amy talks about how one of largest wineries lives up to their tag line to "leave a place better than you found it." Samata, CEO of Red Carpet Green Dress // Red Carpet Green Dress advocates for sustainable fashion at red carpet events, including the Oscars. Samata discusses fashion's impact on the environment and women artisans working in the industry.

// Red Carpet Green Dress advocates for sustainable fashion at red carpet events, including the Oscars. Samata discusses fashion's impact on the environment and women artisans working in the industry. Maria Palacio , CEO of Progeny Coffee // This fifth-generation coffee farmer and former designer started Progeny to create a supply chain that offers fair prices to coffee farmers in her native Colombia .

// This fifth-generation coffee farmer and former designer started Progeny to create a supply chain that offers fair prices to coffee farmers in her native . Hannalee Pervan, Owner and Head Chef at One House Bakery // When COVID-19 derailed the restaurant industry, Hannalee found a way to stay open and thrive during the worst of times. Then COVID-19 took her sense of taste. Her story of small business resilience and personal courage continues to unfold.

The Means & Matters Podcast is available on popular podcast platforms, including Spotify and Apple. Episodes are also available on Bank of the West's Means & Matters digital publication, which includes excerpts from each episode and photos of guests.

About Bank of the West

At Bank of the West, we know money deposited in a bank has the power to finance positive change. So we are taking action to ensure our activities help protect the planet, improve people's lives, and strengthen communities. We are redefining banking for a better future by focusing on areas where we believe we can have a real impact: supporting energy transition, helping enable women entrepreneurs, and financing innovative start-ups. As the bank for a changing world, Bank of the West is committed to sustainable finance along with our parent company BNP Paribas. Through Digital Channels and offices across the U.S., Bank of the West provides financial tools and resources to more than 2 million individuals, families and businesses. For more information, visit https://www.bankofthewest.com/change.

 2021 Bank of the West. Member FDIC. Equal Housing Lender. Doing business in South Dakota as Bank of the West California.

Connect with us

SOURCE Bank of the West
TORONTO, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - Barnstorm Agtech, Inc. (www.barnstormag.tech) was recently awarded a $350,000 grant by the Government of Saskatchewan, Canada in support of R&D for autonomous driverless tractor swarms. The grant was awarded and will be administered by Innovation Saskatchewan (www.innovationsask.ca). Funding is from its Agtech Growth Fund (AGF), contingent upon achieving various technology milestones.

Through this grant, Innovation Saskatchewan will support and further enable research and testing that is to be conducted at broadacre farms in Saskatchewan and Alberta. During 2021 the Company has also raised $1 million in seed funding from individual investors and two prominent angel syndicates: 99Tartans (Carnegie Mellon University alumni investors) and Reinforced Ventures (an angel syndicate focused on Autonomy, Robotics and Deep Science).

"We greatly appreciate the support and forward thinking expressed by Innovation Saskatchewan in support of our mission", stated Parker Wells, Barnstorm's CEO and co-founder.

Barnstorm Agtech is a Saskatchewan based start-up developing the Barnstormer, a mid-sized, hybrid-electric autonomous, swarming farm tractor. "The future of farming is all about smaller, much smarter, and much less expensive machines deployed in fast-acting swarms over fields," predicts Mr. Wells. "We call this 'Barnstorming'"

With this approach, the company aims to reduce environmental impact, increase yields, and mitigate downtime risks. According to the grant proposal, "swarms of autonomous compact tractors will provide more flexibility, greater precision, and lower labour inputs for modern farming operations." This will directly address the chronic labour shortages of the Canadian Prairies.

All monetary figures stated in this press release are Canadian dollars.

About Innovation Saskatchewan: The Saskatchewan Advantage Innovation Fund (SAIF) and Agtech Growth Fund (AGF) support commercialization of game-changing technological innovations in the province's core economic sectors. AGF operates in parallel as a research and development funding program designed specifically to accelerate the commercialization of technological innovations in the province's agricultural sector. For more information about the Saskatchewan Advantage Innovation Fund (SAIF), and Agtech Growth Fund (AGF), visit www.innovationsask.ca

About Barnstorm: Barnstorm Agtech Inc. is an agriculture robotics start-up based in Saskatchewan, Canada. The company was founded in 2020 by Parker Wells, a 4th generation farmer, and by co-founder Mitchell London, a serial entrepreneur, roboticist, and investor. The company is developing a system of easily transported "swarms" of tractor-like driverless vehicles This autonomous system is intended to complete basic farm operations such as tillage, spraying, & spreading faster, at lower cost, and with no "single point of failure" risks. Barnstorming, Barnstormer, and B.O.T.S.  are trademarks of Barnstorm Agtech, Inc. https://www.barnstormag.tech

Disclaimer:

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (USA), including statements regarding anticipated operational results and objectives. While the Company considers such forward-looking statements to be reasonable, such forwardlooking statements are based solely on the current expectations and assumptions of the Company's management and involve risk and uncertainties, which may result in different outcomes than those contained in the forward-looking statements.

SOURCE Barnstorm Agtech Inc.

Related Links

http://www.barnstormag.tech


BETHESDA, Md. and CHICAGO, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Centrus Energy Corp (NYSE-American: LEU) President and CEO Daniel B. Poneman today congratulated Clean Core Thorium Energy and Texas A&M on successfully fabricating the first sample pellets of a next-generation nuclear fuel called ANEEL (Advanced Nuclear Energy for Enriched Life). Centrus and Clean Core have been working together under a memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed earlier this year to promote Clean Core's advanced nuclear fuel, which will combine thorium with High-Assay, Low-Enriched Uranium (HALEU) produced by Centrus.

Based on more than 15 years of research and design, the new HALEU-Thorium ANEEL fuel is suitable for new and existing CANDU and other Pressurized Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs). ANEEL can reduce the amount of waste produced in CANDUs/PHWRs by more than 80 percent, minimizing waste management costs and safety concerns, while offering nonproliferation benefits.

According to the World Nuclear Association, there are 48 CANDUs/PHWRs in operation worldwide, with a combined electric generating capacity of 24 million kilowatts. The largest fleet of such reactors is in Canada, where 19 CANDU PHWRs with a capacity of nearly 14 million kilowatts supply 15 percent of the country's electricity. Since these reactors currently operate on unenriched natural uranium, they would potentially represent a new market for Centrus as well as Clean Core Thorium Energy.

"Producing the first ANEEL test pellets is an important step forward in the development of this new, advanced nuclear fuel," said Daniel B. Poneman, President and CEO of Centrus Energy. "With a large fleet of PHWR reactors already operating in Canada and elsewhere, ANEEL could both accelerate and expand early demand for HALEU in the next few years. We value our partnership with Clean Core to support the commercialization of ANEEL and look forward to the opportunity to become their long-term HALEU supplier."

"Working with Centrus Energy to promote our ANEEL advanced nuclear fuel will help bring clean, reliable power within reach for emerging countries that need it. Our innovative technology using thorium and HALEU offers tremendous cost savings, safety, and nonproliferation benefits for CANDU/PHWR-type nuclear power plants," said Mehul Shah, CEO of Clean Core Thorium Energy.

Clean Core plans to test and qualify ANEEL fuel at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) next year and expects to commercialize the fuel by late 2024. Texas A&M University's Nuclear Engineering and Science Center successfully fabricated the ANEEL fuel samples under quality requirements and supervision of INL.

Under the MOU signed earlier this year, Clean Core and Centrus are collaborating to promote the use of ANEEL advanced nuclear fuel in CANDU reactors around the world, together with other PHWRs. While the initial test pellets being fabricated by Texas A&M are using a small quantity of HALEU supplied by INL, Clean Core Thorium Energy plans to use HALEU from Centrus for commercial-scale production of ANEEL fuel.

Under a three-year contract signed with the U.S. Department of Energy in 2019, Centrus is constructing the first NRC-licensed HALEU production line in Piketon, Ohio. Centrus has met every contract milestone to date and is continuing its work under the contract.

About Centrus Energy

Centrus Energy is a trusted supplier of nuclear fuel and services for the nuclear power industry. Centrus provides value to its utility customers through the reliability and diversity of its supply sources  helping them meet the growing need for clean, affordable, carbon-free electricity. Since 1998, the Company has provided its utility customers with more than 1,750 reactor years of fuel, which is equivalent to 7 billion tons of coal. With world-class technical and engineering capabilities, Centrus is also advancing the next generation of centrifuge technologies so that America can restore its domestic uranium enrichment capability in the future. Find out more at www.centrusenergy.com.

About Clean Core Thorium Energy

Clean Core Thorium Energy (CCTE) is a nuclear fuel innovation company promoting thorium driven power. CCTE's patent-pending, advanced nuclear fuel technology, ANEEL, comprised of thorium and high assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU), is capable of safely and cost-effectively powering existing PHWR/CANDU reactors for the nuclear power sector globally. ANEEL fuel is a revolutionary solution to nuclear energy's safety, waste, and proliferation concerns. CCTE entered the nuclear sector to provide clean, safe, and abundant power where and when it's needed the most, offering a ready solution for our world's growing power demand. Learn more at https://cleancore.energy/.

Forward Looking Statements:

This press release may contain statements that constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Forward-looking statements by their nature address matters that are, to different degrees, uncertain. Accordingly, forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as a predictor of actual results. Readers are urged to carefully review and consider this press release and Centrus Energy Corp.'s other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020. We do not undertake to update our forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that may arise after the date of this press release, except as required by law.

Centrus Contacts:

Investors: Dan Leistikow (301) 564-3399 or [email protected]

Media: Lindsey Geisler (301) 564-3392 or [email protected]

Clean Core Media Contact:

Media: Stephen Dyke (678) 365-1756 or [email protected]

SOURCE Centrus Energy Corp.

Related Links

www.centrusenergy.com


DUBLIN, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The "China Motion Controller Industry Report, 2021-2026" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

Due to the slowdown in the development of downstream industries such as machine tools, packaging equipment and textile equipment, China's motion controller market has been hovering at a low level in recent years. In 2019, the market size dropped by 3.7% to RMB7.09 billion. Despite the COVID-19, China's effective control over the epidemic still attracted overseas orders in 2020, which boosted the Chinese motion controller market size to RMB7.31 billion with a year-on-year increase of 3.2%.

With the introduction of policies such as "Made in China 2025", industrial robots and CNC machine tools have become the focus of development. As the core components in the field of intelligent equipment, motion controllers will see rapid development in the future. It is expected that China's motion control market size will hit RMB8.4 billion.

Motion controllers are divided into general-purpose motion controllers, which include PC-based and PLC-based types, as well as special motion controllers. At present, PLC-based motion controllers are the mainstream traditionally, while PC-based motion controllers have emerged as open controllers in recent years. In the future, the two will gradually merge amid competition. In 2020, the market share of PC-based, PLC-based and dedicated motion controllers was 35.2%, 27.0% and 37.8%, respectively.

There are a large number of companies in China's motion controller industry, including international leading brands (like Panasonic, Siemens, Mitsubishi and B&R), well-known domestic brands (such as Inovance Technology, Estun, Leadshine, and Huacheng Industrial Control), and numerous small and medium enterprises. From the perspective of the competitive landscape, foreign brands enjoy the lion's share and dominate the high-end market, while local brands mostly occupy the medium and low-end market with fierce competition.

In terms of market segments, foreign brand companies target the high-end general-purpose motion controller market in China, while domestic companies are positioned in the medium and low-end market.

Specifically, Mitsubishi, Panasonic, Siemens and other foreign brands master the most high-end market, whereas the medium and low-end market is in a completely market-oriented competition pattern; as for the domestic PC-based control card market, foreign brands such as DELTA TAU and Trio grasp the high-end market, but domestic brands are making efforts in the medium and low-end market where the share of foreign brands is shrinking.

China Motion Controller Industry Report, 2021-2026 released by the publisher highlights the following:

Definition, classification, industry chain and technology trends, etc. of motion controllers

Industrial environment and policy environment, etc. of Chinese motion controllers

Supply and demand, competition, etc. of global and Chinese motion controller market

Status quo of China's general-purpose motion controller and dedicated motion controller market

general-purpose motion controller and dedicated motion controller market The development of the downstream industry of China's motion controllers, etc.

motion controllers, etc. The operation, revenue structure and development strategies of 14 key motion controller companies in China and 7 international motion controller companies.

Key Topics Covered:



1. Profile of Motion Controller

1.1 Definition and Classification

1.2 Industry Chain

1.3 Development Trend

1.3.1 Product

1.3.2 Technology

1.3.3 Application



2. Motion Controller Industry in China

2.1 Global

2.2 China

2.2.1 Market Size

2.2.2 Major Companies

2.3 Servo System

2.3.1 Market Size

2.3.2 Competitive Pattern

2.4 Stepping System

2.4.1 Status Quo

2.4.2 Competitive Pattern



3. Motion Controller Market in China

3.1 Major Policies

3.2 Status Quo

3.2.1 Market Size

3.2.2 Downstream Demand and Structure

3.2.3 Product Structure

3.3 Competition Pattern



4. Chinese Motion Controller Market Segments

4.1 PC-based Motion Controllers

4.1.1 Overview

4.1.2 Market Size and Application

4.1.3 Key Manufacturers

4.2 PLC Motion Controllers

4.2.1 Overview

4.2.2 Market Size and Application

4.2.3 Key Manufacturers

4.3 Special Motion Controllers

4.3.1 Overview

4.3.2 Market Size and Application

4.3.3 Key Manufacturers



5. Motion Controller Application Industry in China

5.1 Overview

5.2 Machine Tools

5.2.1 Market Situation

5.2.2 Application of Motion Controllers in Machine Tool

5.3 Robotics

5.3.1 Market Situation

5.3.2 Application of Motion Controllers in Robotics

5.4 Textile Machinery

5.4.1 Market Situation

5.4.2 Application of Motion Controllers in Textile Machinery

5.5 Semiconductor Equipment

5.6 Electronic Devices and Services

5.7 Packaging Machinery

5.8 Printing Machinery

5.9 Medical Equipment



6. Major Motion Controller Manufacturers in China

6.1 Advantech Co., Ltd.

6.2 Leadshine Technology

6.3 ADTECH

6.4 Leetro Automation Co., Ltd.

6.5 Googol Technology (HK) Limited

6.6 ADLINK

6.7 Estun

6.8 Shanghai Weihong Electronic Technology Co., Ltd.

6.9 RichAuto S&T

6.10 SYNTEC

6.11 Haichuan Numerical Control Technology Co., Ltd.

6.12 Beijing KND CNC Technique Co. Ltd. (KND)

6.13 TOPCNC Automation Technology Co., Ltd.

6.14 Shenzhen Tankon Technology Co., Ltd.

6.15 Overseas Companies in China

6.15.1 Siemens

6.15.2 Mitsubishi Electric

6.15.3 B&R

6.15.4 Beckhoff

6.15.5 Delta Tau

6.15.6 Galil

6.15.7 Servotronix

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/gqhtac

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


MARLBOROUGH, Mass., Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- In its comment letter regarding the Prudence and Loyalty in Selecting Plan Investments and Exercising Shareholder Rights ("Proposed Regulation"), DALBAR details flaw in the discriminatory treatment of ESG Investments. The DOL's proposed rule includes the impractical requirement for each fiduciary to separately evaluate the "economic effects of climate change and other ESG factors" on each plan. This critical flaw in this approach is that the Proposed Regulation downgrades ESG to being a second-class citizen of the investment world.

"There is a less harmful way for participants to realize the benefits of ESG. By using one of the greatest strengths of ESG is to identify businesses that are less likely to survive, fiduciaries can reduce the survival risk," said DALBAR's CEO, Louis Harvey. He added that, "This approach should also incorporate other indicators of survival." The explicit addition of a survivability consideration will secure a place for ESG in ERISA plans and provide workers access to ESG investments. Additionally, adopting a survivability standard as suggested here, will protect all plan participants for the decades of their working and retirement lives with no material increase in expenses or any forfeiting of investment returns.

Last year, DALBAR launched an initiative to enhance the effectiveness of retirement plans by establishing standards that reflect both ERISA best practices and the goals of Environment, Social and Governance practices ("ESG"). DALBAR certifies plans that meet these standards and thus encourage responsible plan fiduciaries to enhance their plans by managing costs, providing greater benefits to participants, and adopting high standards of governance. This DALBAR initiative differs from the ESG Investments that are the subject of the Proposed Regulation.

Find out more about the DALBAR's ESG Certification Program which is based on the overall success of the plan in achieving retirement security for the maximum number of workers.

DALBAR, Inc. has a 45-year history and is recognized by industry and government as an independent third-party expert in the business of providing audits, evaluations, ratings, and due diligence. DALBAR certifications are recognized as a mark of excellence in the community of financial services in general and specifically for retirement plans.

SOURCE DALBAR, Inc.
LOS ANGELES, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Consumer insights platform DISQO today announced it has been ranked No. 35 among the Los Angeles Business Journal's 100 Fastest Growing Private Companies in 2021, a list honoring companies in the Los Angeles area with the highest revenue growth.

The Fastest Growing Private Companies in Los Angeles list identifies, recognizes and honors companies with the highest revenue growth who are at the forefront of LA's economy. To be considered, companies had to fulfill the following requirements:

Be a privately held business

Be headquartered in the Los Angeles area

area Have a minimum of $5 million in revenue in 2020

in revenue in 2020 Be in business a minimum of three years

"DISQO's people are at the heart of our success helping brands and agencies to understand every consumer across the entire consumer journey and we're delivering on our mission to build the most trusted platform that fuels brand growth," said Armen Adjemian, Co-Founder & CEO, DISQO. "We're proud that our accomplishments continue to be recognized and look forward to continuing our rapid growth in LA and beyond."

The rankings and event recap can be found in the December 13 edition of the Los Angeles Business Journal .

About DISQO

DISQO is a consumer insights platform that offers products that connect insights about what people think and do across brand experiences and consumer journeys. Connecting brand sentiment and outcomes from a single source, DISQO enables clients to more deeply understand their customers and create a competitive advantage. DISQO's platform is built on complete, permission-based consumer data. Founded in 2015 and headquartered in Los Angeles, CA, DISQO is recognized as a fast-growing technology firm and a great place to work, now with 300 team members. Learn more at www.DISQO.com .

SOURCE DISQO

Related Links

http://www.DISQO.com


SAN DIEGO, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- San Diego board certified plastic surgeon Katerina Gallus, MD, FACS organized a luncheon for Women Plastic Surgeons at the American Society of Plastic Surgery annual conference in Atlanta in October. The event reached full capacity, with more than 200 surgeons in attendance. The featured speaker, Dr. Wendy Chen, discussed gender issues in the field of plastic surgery.

The Women Plastic Surgeons (WPS) luncheon reached full capacity, with more than 200 female plastic surgeons in attendance. The WPS is a group of female surgeons who are members of the American Society of Plastic Surgery. Board certified plastic surgeon Dr. Katerina Gallus organized a luncheon for the Women Plastic Surgeons Forum at the American Society of Plastic Surgery annual conference in Atlanta this past October.

"We were thrilled to have a packed room at this meeting," Dr. Gallus said. "I am honored to help create space for all of us to network, learn, and connect in person, and to introduce more of our colleagues to Dr. Wendy Chen's advocacy work for female surgeons."

Dr. Gallus serves as program chair of Women Plastic Surgeons (WPS), which comprises a group of plastic surgeons within the American Society of Plastic Surgery (ASPS). WPS creates opportunities for clinical education and professional networking, as well as interpersonal connections and support among female plastic surgeons. The group aims to improve the gender gap among plastic surgeons: approximately 20% of practicing plastic surgeons are women , despite the fact that 92% of plastic surgery patients are women.

In service of this goal, WPS also holds annual Enrichment Retreats with opportunities for attendees to learn procedure techniques from experts and reconnect with one another.

"As women and plastic surgeons, many of us are managing families, private practice, teaching or other professional work, and still continuing to grow with the ever-evolving field of plastic surgery," Dr. Gallus explained. "It's important for us to support one another and connect the next generation of female plastic surgeons with women at the top of our field."

The next WPS Enrichment Retreat is scheduled for February of 2022 . The agenda for the event features three days of seminars on topics like developing a thriving plastic surgery practice and nuances of treating the face, breast, and body. The keynote speaker, breast reconstruction specialist Aldona J. Spiegel, MD , will give a talk about building a legacy as a plastic surgeon.

About Dr. Katerina Gallus

Board certified plastic surgeon Dr. Katerina Gallus began her medical career as a United States Navy physician, eventually deploying in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan and providing immediate surgical trauma support to wounded soldiers and sailors. She went on to train nearly 100 Navy physicians as Program Director for the Transitional Year Residency and chaired the Plastic Surgery Department at the Naval Medical Center in San Diego for 3 years. Dr. Gallus is a member of the American Society of Plastic Surgery (ASPS), The Aesthetic Society, and California Society of Plastic Surgeons, and she serves as program chair of Women Plastic Surgeons (WPS) of the ASPS. She established her practice, Restore SD Plastic Surgery, in San Diego in 2017.

About Restore SD Plastic Surgery: Dr. Katerina Gallus is board certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery and holds over 15 years of experience in plastic and reconstructive surgery. After a 12-year career as a U.S. Navy plastic surgeon, Dr. Gallus established Restore SD Plastic Surgery, which offers plastic surgery and aesthetic services in La Jolla. Restore SD Plastic Surgery is located at 8899 University Center Ln #200, San Diego, CA 92122. The practice can be reached at 858-224-2281 or by visiting https://restoresdplasticsurgery.com .

Media Contact: Dr. Katerina Gallus, 858-224-2281

SOURCE Restore SD Plastic Surgery
Electrical Grid Monitoring (EGM) selected and acknowledged as global trailblazer in the utility power industry. Tweet this

"We are very pleased to confirm a detailed, third-party report and share all the benefits of our Meta-Alert hardware and software solution detailed in the report with utility customers looking for an innovative future grid modernization system," added Cohen.

According to Cohen, the EGM Meta-Alert developed system was thoroughly evaluated using a realistic distribution feeder (EPRI J1 test feeder) circuit with a high penetration of PV systems. Multiple types of faults (short circuit, open phase, single phase, multi-phase) were generated and the response of the EGM system compared to the traditional protection schemes was studied and researched thoroughly.

"The collaboration of everyone working together was amazing," said Eyal Miron, Vice President for Research & Development, EGM Ltd. "We are not only pleased, we are grateful for the level of technical expertise on the team resulting in the study which proved a significant increase in fault detection speed, accuracy of fault detection, reduced down time, reduced energy lost due to faults and improved customer load availability compared to the traditional schemes."

"We were confident going into this competitive, rigorous process," said Cohen."Now we have the credentials to share with the utility industry. EGM has successfully completed the work, graduated from this beneficial program and completed a documented final report with the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and Shell teams."

"We are grateful for the opportunity given to us by GCxN (Shell and NREL) as a leading technology for the future grid and we are happy for the confirmation of the unique effectiveness of our Meta-Alert technology and product," said Dr. Alex Levran, CEO of EGM, Inc., USA. "It also supports our original EGM mission to develop a monitoring system that will become a corner stone for global grid modernization activities."

About EGM

Electrical Grid Monitoring (EGM) Ltd. is the leading technology company with innovative T&D grid monitoring products that include sensing, communication, and analytics. The EGM Monitoring System delivers useful information to manage both overhead and underground utility grids. The Company is headquartered in Israel with its U.S. based subsidiary centered in Los Angeles, California. For more information, please visit www.egm.net .

Contact Information:

Rebecca Kelly 770.401.4044 EGM MARKETING

SOURCE Electrical Grid Monitoring
NEW YORK, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Empire State Building (ESB), in partnership with Bank Street College of Education, today announced its updated, interactive lesson plans for student group visits to its brand new $165 million Observatory upgrade. The curriculum follows New York State Learning Standards for STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics) and social studies curricula and has grade level appropriate lesson plans for elementary, middle, and high school students. The lesson plans offer learning before, during, and after a visit to the World's Most Famous Building and its newly reimagined Observatory Experience.

"Bank Street College of Education created these updated curricula to make students' visits to our Observatory Experience's immersive digital and tactile exhibits more than just a tourist experience," said Jean-Yves Ghazi, president of the Empire State Building Observatory. "We have always offered lesson plans for school groups and as we celebrate our 90th year, we have updated the classroom engagement with our modern marvel in engineering and energy efficiency."

Teachers and students will utilize the new curriculum to learn about the building's engineering, design process, workforce, major technological elements, and industry-leading deep energy retrofit. The Observatory Experience completed a $165 million development in December 2019 that complements all elements of the program and offers students the chance to experience the energy-efficient building from bottom to top. Lessons start with interactive digital exhibits in the second-floor museum and continue up to the open-air 86th Floor Observatory.

The $165 million renovations include premier indoor environmental quality measures  such as MERV 13 air filters and active bi-polar ionization  for visitor confidence, and led to the building's achievement as first in the Americas to achieve the WELL Health-Safety Rating.

"The Empire State Building field trips align perfectly with Bank Street's educational approach, which recognizes that all individuals learn best when they are actively engaged with materials, ideas, and people," said Joy Lundeen Ellebbane, Bank Street's director of continuing professional studies. "Experiences and lessons like these provide authentic opportunities for deep, hands-on learning, and we're happy to contribute to the Empire State Building's offerings, especially in its 90th anniversary year."

The full curriculum can be viewed and downloaded here. Interested educators can contact Kai-Ti Kao at [email protected] for more information and to set up group visits.

For more information about the Empire State Building, please visit http://www.esbnyc.com

About the Empire State Building

The Empire State Building , "The World's Most Famous Building," owned by Empire State Realty Trust , Inc. (ESRT: NYSE), soars 1,454 feet above Midtown Manhattan from base to antenna. The $165 million reimagination of the Empire State Building Observatory Experience creates an all-new experience with a dedicated guest entrance, an interactive museum with nine galleries, and a redesigned 102nd Floor Observatory with floor-to-ceiling windows. The journey to the world-famous 86th Floor Observatory, the only 360-degree, open-air observatory with views of New York and beyond, orients visitors for their entire New York City experience and covers everything from the building's iconic history to its current place in pop-culture. Learn more at www.esbnyc.com . 2021 is the 90th anniversary year of the Building which officially opened on May 1, 1931. Declared "America's Favorite Building" by the American Institute of Architects, as well as the world's most popular travel destination by Uber and the #1 New York City attraction by Lonely Planet, it welcomes more than 4 million annual visitors from around the world.

Since 2011, the building has been fully powered by renewable wind electricity, and its many floors primarily house a diverse array of office tenants such as LinkedIn, Shutterstock, and Global Brands Group, as well as retail options like STATE Grill and Bar, Tacombi, and Starbucks. For more information and Observatory Experience tickets visit esbnyc.com or follow the building's Facebook , Twitter , Instagram , Weibo , YouTube , or TikTok.

About Empire State Realty Trust

Empire State Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE: ESRT) owns, manages, operates, acquires and repositions office and retail properties in Manhattan and the greater New York metropolitan area, including the Empire State Building, the "World's Most Famous Building." The company's office and retail portfolio covers 10.1 million rentable square feet, as of September 30, 2021, which consists of 9.4 million rentable square feet across 14 office properties, including nine in Manhattan, three in Fairfield County, Connecticut, and two in Westchester County, New York; as well as approximately 700,000 rentable square feet in the retail portfolio.

Empire State Realty Trust is a leader in energy efficiency in the built environment and sustainability space, with 76 percent of the eligible portfolio ENERGY STAR certified and 100 percent fully powered by renewable wind electricity. As the first commercial real estate portfolio in the Americas to achieve the evidence-based, third-party verified WELL Health-Safety Rating for health and safety, ESRT additionally earned the highest possible GRESB 5 Star Rating and Green Star recognition for sustainability performance in real estate and was named a Fitwel Champion for healthy, high-performance buildings. To learn more about Empire State Realty Trust, visit esrtreit.com and follow ESRT on Facebook , Instagram , Twitter and LinkedIn .

About Bank Street College of Education

Bank Street College of Education is a recognized leader in early childhood education, teacher and leader preparation, and the development of innovative practice in school systems across the country. For one hundred years, Bank Street's focus has been improving the education of children and their teachers by applying to the education process all available knowledge about learning and growth, and by connecting teaching and learning meaningfully to the outside world. Learn more about Bank Street Children's Programs, Graduate School of Education, and Bank Street Education Center at bankstreet.edu.

SOURCE Empire State Realty Trust, Inc.
NEW YORK, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The David B. Shanies Law Office ("Shanies Law") announced today the filing of a civil claim against the State of New York and "notice of claim" against the City of New York on behalf of Muhammad A. Aziz, the innocent man whose wrongful conviction for the 1965 assassination of Malcolm X was vacated on November 18, 2021 by the New York State Supreme Court. In the action against the State, filed in the New York Court of Claims, Mr. Aziz seeks compensation under a State law that entitles individuals who were unjustly convicted and imprisoned to recover damages.

Mr. Aziz simultaneously filed a "notice of claim" against the City of New York and numerous named individuals, seeking legal redress for the civil rights violations and other outrageous government misconduct that caused his wrongful conviction. Similar actions on behalf of the Estate of Khalil Islam are expected to follow shortly.

For decades, it has been widely acknowledged by Pulitzer Prize-winning authors, historians, scholars, political leaders, and others that Mr. Aziz and Mr. Islam are innocent. Also for decades, including immediately after the assassination of Malcolm X, the NYPD and FBI were in possession of evidence that not only proved Mr. Aziz and Mr. Islam's innocence, but also identified Malcolm X's true killers. "As a result of his wrongful conviction and imprisonment," the lawsuit against the State reads, "Mr. Aziz spent 20 years in prison for a crime he did not commit and more than 55 years living with the hardship and indignity attendant to being unjustly branded as a convicted murderer of one of the most important civil rights leaders in history."

"While I do not dwell on what my life might have been like had this travesty of justice never occurred, the deep and lasting trauma it caused cannot be overstated. The more than 20 years that I spent in prison were stolen from me and my family, and while the official record now recognizes the truth that has been known for decades, nothing can undo the damage that my wrongful conviction caused to all of us," said Mr. Aziz. "Those responsible for depriving me of my liberty and for depriving my family of a husband, a father, and a grandfather should be held accountable."

At his exoneration hearing last month, Mr. Aziz expressed to the court his hope that "the same system that was responsible for this travesty of justice also takes responsibility for the immeasurable harm it caused" for nearly 56 years.

In vacating Mr. Aziz's conviction and dismissing all charges against him, Supreme Court Justice Ellen Biben remarked, "I regret that this Court cannot fully undo the serious miscarriages of justice in this case and give you back the many years that were lost. Dismissal of the indictment is the full extent of this Court's authority."

"New York's Unjust Conviction and Imprisonment Act was passed for the purpose of providing compensation to help unjustly imprisoned individuals put their lives back together," said David B. Shanies. "Both federal and state law likewise provide recourse against police officers and other government agents whose misconduct has caused an individual's wrongful conviction and imprisonment. Tragically, Mr. Islam will never have the opportunity to rebuild his life and hold accountable the men who destroyed it. Mr. Aziz, who was sentenced to life in prison at the age of 27, is now an 83-year-old man. With the filing of these claims, we urgently call on Attorney General Letitia James and the New York City Comptroller to fulfill their moral obligations to these men and their families and to do so swiftly. After more than 55 years living under this cloud, Mr. Aziz and Mr. Islam should not have to wait a second longer for justice to be done."

HISTORY OF THE CASE AND RECENT EXONERATIONS

In 1965, Mr. Aziz and Mr. Islam were arrested and charged with the murder of Malcolm X, who was ambushed and fatally shot by a group of men in the Audubon Ballroom in New York. No physical evidence ever implicated Mr. Aziz or Mr. Islam in the murder. Furthermore, both men had alibis  each was at home with his respective family at the time of Malcolm X's murder. At trial, a third man, Mujahid Abdul Halim, who was caught and arrested at the scene, admitted his role in the murder and affirmed that Mr. Aziz and Mr. Islam had nothing to do with the crime.

Despite the significant weaknesses in the cases against them, Mr. Aziz and Mr. Islam were convicted alongside Mr. Halim in 1966 and sentenced to life in prison. Throughout the trial, the NYPD and FBI concealed a trove of documents and information that demonstrated Mr. Aziz and Mr. Islam's innocence and identified the true assassins  all men from New Jersey who were affiliated with Nation of Islam mosques in Newark and Paterson.

In 1977, 11 years after being sentenced to life in prison, Mr. Aziz and Mr. Islam moved to vacate their convictions. The motion was predicated in part on two sworn affidavits from Mr. Halim, who further affirmed Mr. Aziz's and Mr. Islam's innocence by disclosing the identities of his true co-conspirators. Mr. Halim described in detail the murder plot and each assassin's role, including identifying the other killers as William "X" (whose last name he later confirmed was "Bradley") and Leon Davis, and identifying Benjamin Thomas as one of the planners of the assassination. Despite this monumental revelation, the motion to vacate was denied, and Mr. Aziz and Mr. Islam continued to serve their life sentences.

Mr. Aziz and Mr. Islam were paroled in 1985 and 1987, respectively, following a collective 42 years spent in prison. Mr. Islam passed away in 2009.

In January 2020, New York County District Attorney Cyrus Vance agreed to undertake a collaborative reinvestigation of the case alongside Shanies Law and the Innocence Project. The two-year effort unearthed new evidence of Mr. Aziz's and Mr. Islam's innocence, including FBI and NYPD documents that had been available at the time of trial but were withheld from both the defense and prosecution. The joint investigation revealed that this evidence would likely have led to an acquittal at trial. As a result, Mr. Aziz and Mr. Islam were exonerated on November 18, 2021, following the filing of a joint motion to vacate their convictions and dismiss the indictment against them. At the exoneration hearing, Mr. Vance expressly noted that "there is only one ultimate conclusion; Mr. Aziz and Mr. Islam were wrongfully convicted of this crime."

A copy of Mr. Aziz's claim against the State, which was filed today with the New York State Court of Claims, is available here. A copy of his notice of claim against the City and the individual NYPD officers  a prerequisite for filing a lawsuit against the City  is available here. A parallel claim and notice of claim on behalf of the Estate of Khalil Islam will be filed in the coming days.

Mr. Aziz and Mr. Islam are represented by David Shanies and Deborah Francois of the David B. Shanies Law Office.

For more information about Mr. Aziz and Mr. Islam and the history of their wrongful convictions, please visit www.theXonerated.com.

About the David B. Shanies Law Office

The David B. Shanies Law Office is a public interest law firm representing victims of wrongful convictions, police and prosecutorial misconduct, anti-LGBTQ+ bias, prison abuse, sexual exploitation, and other injustice. 100% of the firm's work is devoted to civil rights litigation and exonerations. Through its active trial and litigation practice and vast experience in wrongful conviction cases, the firm has exonerated and freed innocent people from prison, brought about major policy and legislative reforms, and won tens of millions of dollars in compensation for its clients through trials and settlements.

Contact Information

AUGUST

Ellen Davis 323.892.5552 Steven Goldberg 323.892.5562 [email protected]



SOURCE David B. Shanies Law Office
Key Market Dynamics:

Market Driver

Market Trend

The rising awareness about eye makeup and increasing working women population are some of the key market drivers. The demand for eye makeup products is increasing because of factors such as dynamic fashion trends; the availability of new, effective, and safe products; and the growing awareness about eye makeup products. Millennials account for a significant share of the demand, as they are tech-savvy and are updated about the latest fashion trends. The demand for beauty and personal care products, including fake eyelashes, is further driven by factors such as rapid urbanization, personal grooming concerns, and the growing consciousness about fashion and health. To cater to this increasing demand, manufacturers are continuously launching new and innovative products. Hence, the rising awareness about eye makeup will be one of the significant drivers for the growth of the false eyelashes market during the forecast period.

The introduction of customizable false eyelashes is one of the key trends that will positively impact the growth of the market during the next five years. Changing customer needs have compelled vendors to focus on the development of customized false eyelashes. Customers can choose from different types of false eyelashes based on their shape, size, pattern, length, band, and design. As customized false eyelashes are made according to individual consumer needs and preferences, they are more expensive than regular eyelashes.

To learn about additional key drivers, trends, and challenges available with Technavio. Read our FREE Sample Report right now!

The false eyelashes market report is segmented by distribution channel (offline and online) and geography (North America, APAC, Europe, South America, and MEA). APAC will be the leading region with 38% of the market's growth during the forecast period. China is a key country for the false eyelashes market in APAC.

View our sample report for additional insights into the contribution of all the segments and regional opportunities in the report.

Some Companies Mentioned with their Offerings

American International Inc. - The company offers false eyelashes product brands such as Andrea.

The company offers false eyelashes product brands such as Andrea.

Amorepacific Group Inc. - The company offers false eyelashes product brands such as etude house.

The company offers false eyelashes product brands such as etude house.

e.l.f. Beauty Inc. - The company offers false eyelashes product brands such as Starstruck.

The company offers false eyelashes product brands such as Starstruck.

Esqido Ltd. - The company offers false eyelashes products such as ESQIDO Mink Lashes.

The company offers false eyelashes products such as ESQIDO Mink Lashes.

Huda Beauty FZ-LLC - The company offers false eyelashes product brands such as Olivia.

The company offers false eyelashes product brands such as Olivia. To gain access to more vendor profiles with their key offerings available with Technavio, Click Here

Related Reports:

Natural Cosmetics Market: The natural cosmetics market has been segmented by type (personal care, skin care, and others) and geography (APAC, Europe , North America , MEA, and South America ). Download Free Sample Report Now

The natural cosmetics market has been segmented by type (personal care, skin care, and others) and geography (APAC, , , MEA, and ). Eyelash Extension Market: The eyelash extension market has been segmented by type (mechanical eyelash and handmade eyelash) and geography ( North America , Europe , APAC, South America , and MEA). Download Free Sample Report Now

False Eyelashes Market Scope Report Coverage Details Page number 120 Base year 2020 Forecast period 2021-2025 Growth momentum & CAGR Accelerate at a CAGR of 5.88% Market growth 2021-2025 USD 386.93 million Market structure Fragmented YoY growth (%) 6.10 Regional analysis North America, APAC, Europe, South America, and MEA Performing market contribution APAC at 38% Key consumer countries US, China, Canada, UK, and Germany Competitive landscape Leading companies, competitive strategies, consumer engagement scope Companies profiled American International Inc., Amorepacific Group Inc., e.l.f. Beauty Inc., Esqido Ltd., Huda Beauty FZ-LLC, KISS Products Inc., LOreal SA, LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE, Shiseido Co. Ltd., and The Estee Lauder Co. Inc. 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 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.

Key Topics Covered:

Executive Summary

Market Landscape

Market Sizing

Five Forces Analysis

Market Segmentation

Customer landscape

Geographic Landscape

Vendor Landscape

Vendor Analysis

Appendix

About Us

Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focuses 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 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
KAWANISHI-CITY, Japan, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Environmental problems such as plastic pollution, climate change because of human population explosion, are getting severe and especially the micro-plastic, nano-plastic problem in the marine and even in our breathing air is a devastating issue. There are some scientific reports that these plastic pollutions are already in our human body.

100% Biomass Biodegradable Resin Pellet made with Sargassum Waste Molding Products of 100% Biomass Biodegradable Resin made with Sargassum Waste

Green Science Alliance Co., Ltd. is developing the cutting-edge materials and technology in order to create carbon free, sustainable society. They challenge to create the world without petroleum and fossil fuel. They have been developing next generation type rechargeable battery, fuel cell, solar cell, as well as CO 2 capture and conversion technologies, with their cutting-edge materials. Regarding plastic, they have developed 100 % nature biomass biodegradable plastic and many other nature bio-based chemicals such as biomass resin, biomass coating, biomass ink, etc. These innovative materials and technologies are registered as UNIDO and WIPO GREEN (United Nations). They were also chosen as United Nation support startup company in 2020, Kobe, Japan (UNOPS S3i Innovation Centre Japan).

This time, Dr. Ryohei Mori at Green Science Alliance Co., Ltd. has developed biomass biodegradable plastic from Sargassum with the support of UNOPS startup program. He has also succeeded creating Sargassum derived 100% biomass biodegradable plastic without any petroleum.

Sargassum is the seaweed in the Caribbean Sea region and they are increasing due to global warming and de-forestation of Amazon Rainforest because rich fertile soil flows into the ocean. Sargassum is causing pollution problems including bad smell because they rot and get spoiled after they reach the beach. The problem is severe especially at coastal area of Florida USA, Antigua and Barbuda, Mexico, Caribbean countries, South America and West Africa region. Green Science Alliance has succeeded in creating biomass biodegradable resin pellet and its molding products (spoon as example) from this sargassum waste. This is such an environmentally friendly and sustainable material. It is expected that Sargassam derived biodegradable plastic can be cheap because they partly use Sargassum waste as raw material which is free of cost.

Green Science Alliance is planning to build-up factory to manufacture this biomass biodegradable plastic from Sargassum waste by cooperating with investors, companies, etc. in USA, Mexico, South America or Caribbean regions.

Media Contact:

Ryohei Mori

[email protected]

+819085282305

SOURCE Green Science Alliance Co., Ltd.
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Haig Partners LLC, the leading buy-sell advisory firm to higher value auto, heavy truck and RV dealers, was the exclusive sell-side advisor to Dan Tobin in the sale of his two Columbus, OH locations, Dan Tobin Chevrolet and Dan Tobin Buick GMC, to Ricart Automotive.

"Spending the majority of my career in the automotive industry, making the decision to sell has been bittersweet. It was important to me the reputation my team and I have developed in the community continues, our employees have ongoing opportunities to succeed, and our customers continue to receive the great experience they have come to expect," shared Dan Tobin. "Kevin Nill and his team at Haig Partners shepherded me along this journey and I couldn't be more grateful for their knowledge of the process, depth of their relationships, and commitment to finding us not just any buyer, but the right buyer with Rhett Ricart and his team and Ricart Automotive," he continued.

"We are so excited to be acquiring an incredible business from a great automotive dealer," said Rhett Ricart, 2020 NADA Chairman. "Dan Tobin should be so proud of what he's built, and we're grateful for his trust in us to be the new caretakers of his dealership and his team. More than anything, we love the people in Dublin and can't wait to be a part of the community."

"It is an honor to work with clients like Dan Tobin who have committed their career to the automotive retail industry," commented Kevin Nill, partner with Haig Partners. "Deciding to sell your business that you've invested your life's work is a tough and emotional decision. I'm incredibly grateful to Dan for his trust in me and Haig Partners to support him throughout this process."

Dan Tobin was represented by Ron Smith of Stoll Keenon Ogden, PLLC, and Ryan Schultz of The Pomykala Group, LLC. Ricart Automotive was represented by Jack Butler of Carlile Patchen & Murphy LLP and Carl Scharf of Schneider Downs & Co., Inc.

About Haig Partners

Haig Partners LLC is the leading buy-sell advisor to owners of higher value retail dealerships. The team at Haig Partners has represented 20 of the Top 150 dealership groups on the Automotive News Top 150 list, more than any other buy-sell firm in automotive retail. Since 1996, they have advised on over 285 dealership transactions, comprised of more than 545 dealerships totaling $8.2 billion. Haig Partners has unmatched auto retail experience with backgrounds in executive leadership and corporate development roles for AutoNation, Asbury, Bank of America's Dealer Financial Services team and DHG's Dealership Practice. Haig Partners authors the leading industry quarterly report that tracks trends in auto retail and how they impact dealership values, and are co-author of NADA's Guide, "Buying and Selling a Dealership." For more information, visit www.haigpartners.com.

Transaction Contact:

Kevin Nill, Partner

Haig Partners

[email protected]

(904) 234-0008

Press Contact:

Aimee Allen, Director of Marketing and Business Development

Haig Partners

[email protected]

(603) 933-2194

SOURCE Haig Partners LLC
LOS ANGELES, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Henry Vallejo's award-winning film Powerful Chief is Peru's official Oscar entry for Best International Feature Film at the 94th Academy Awards taking place on March 27, 2022 at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. The film has received several accolades and is among the favorites on the shortlist in the race for the Oscar, per Variety Magazine's 2022 Oscars predictions.

Vallejo hopes to nab the second Oscar nomination for Peru with his unfiltered, harsh but honest depiction of daily life in Puno, which highlights the challenges that immigrants face even within their own country. The minimalist film has little dialogue and relies on the sites and sounds of the city to provide the backdrop. Vallejo also uses long takes in most scenes, with the camera following the protagonist as he moves incessantly about the city.

Powerful Chief is a beautiful and sharp representation, with a genuinely remarkable sociological analysis, of an Andean society struggling to fit into the modern world. Puno is a city full of traditions, international tourists and economic strength, that attracts a young man looking for a way to survive. Vallejo, the director, shows us impartially but implicitly an in-depth view of this society and shows us how the main character refuses to give up but instead seeks to stand out in an honorable way.

With the development of PROMPERUs strategy to promote the country as a film location through "Film in Peru" and with the support of the Ministry of Culture, which promotes the national audiovisual production in national and international markets, Peruvian film production has grown significantly in the past several years, according to Conrado Falco, Trade Commission of Peru in Los Angeles / PROMPERU. "We are thrilled to know that many stories from our country are yet to be told and that several Hollywood productions are being filmed in Peru and that they can take advantage of the spectacular landscapes from the Pacific coast to the Andes, home to the city of Cusco and the magnificent Machu Picchu and the Amazon jungle which encompasses more than 50% of the Peruvian territory," stated Falco.

Powerful Chief opened to sold out theaters in Peru on December 9, 2021.

To learn more about Peruvian production: peru.info/filminperu .

To download images: Powerful Chief Images

Contact:

Brenda Herrera

626.841.3699

[email protected]

SOURCE PROMPERU
The addition of Dot's Pretzels accelerates Hershey's snacking powerhouse vision. Tweet this

Acquiring Pretzels Inc. also brings the pretzel manufacturing capability in-house to ensure the continued growth of Dot's and expertise to drive future snacking innovations.

As with other recent acquisitions, Hershey will take a phased approach to integrate the businesses in partnership with Dot's and Pretzels Inc.'s leadership teams as we focus on continued growth of both businesses.

More details are available on our Investor Relations site at: www.thehersheycompany.com .

Safe Harbor Statement

This release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Many of these forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "anticipate," "assume," "believe," "continue," "estimate," "expect," "forecast," "future," "intend," "plan," "potential," "predict," "project," "strategy," "target" and similar terms, and future or conditional tense verbs like "could," "may," "might," "should," "will" and "would," among others. These statements are made based upon current expectations that are subject to risk and uncertainty. Because actual results may differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements, you should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements when deciding whether to buy, sell or hold the company's securities. Factors that could cause results to differ materially include, but are not limited to: the ability to timely satisfy the conditions to the closing the transactions contemplated in the definitive agreements; our ability to realize the benefits of the transactions; risks related to the impact of the coronavirus global pandemic ("COVID-19") on our business, suppliers, distributors, consumers, customers, and employees; the scope and duration of the pandemic; government actions and restrictive measures implemented in response to the pandemic, including the distribution of vaccinations and continuation of social distancing guidelines and stay at home orders; disruptions or inefficiencies in our supply chain due to the loss or disruption of essential manufacturing or supply elements or other factors; issues or concerns related to the quality and safety of our products, ingredients or packaging, human and workplace rights, and other environmental, social or governance matters; changes in raw material and other costs, along with the availability of adequate supplies of raw materials; the company's ability to successfully execute business continuity plans to address the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting changes in consumer preferences and the broader economic and operating environment; selling price increases, including volume declines associated with pricing elasticity; market demand for our new and existing products; increased marketplace competition; failure to successfully execute and integrate acquisitions, divestitures and joint ventures; changes in governmental laws and regulations, including taxes; political, economic, and/or financial market conditions; risks and uncertainties related to our international operations; disruptions, failures or security breaches of our information technology infrastructure; our ability to hire, engage and retain a talented global workforce, our ability to realize expected cost savings and operating efficiencies associated with strategic initiatives or restructuring programs; complications with the design or implementation of our new enterprise resource planning system; and such other matters as discussed in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020 and from time to time in our other filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. All information in this press release is as of December 14, 2021. The company undertakes no duty to update any forward-looking statement to conform the statement to actual results or changes in the company's expectations.

About The Hershey Company

The Hershey Company is headquartered in Hershey, Pa., and is an industry-leading snacks company known for bringing goodness to the world through its iconic brands, remarkable people and enduring commitment to help children succeed. Hershey has approximately 17,000 employees around the world who work every day to deliver delicious, quality products. The company has more than 90 brands around the world that drive more than $8.1 billion in annual revenues, including such iconic brand names as Hershey's, Reese's, Kit Kat, Jolly Rancher, Ice Breakers, SkinnyPop, and Pirate's Booty.

For more than 125 years, Hershey has been committed to operating fairly, ethically and sustainably. Hershey founder, Milton Hershey, created the Milton Hershey School in 1909 and since then the company has focused on helping children succeed.

To learn more visit www.thehersheycompany.com

SOURCE The Hershey Company

Related Links

https://www.thehersheycompany.com


NASHVILLE, Tenn., Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Interim HealthCare of the Upstate, a locally owned and operated home health and hospice services provider based out of Greenville, South Carolina, has successfully implemented Medalogix Muse to direct better care to their most critical hospice patients.

The Medalogix Muse solution evaluates and models clinical assessments, medications, vital signs, and other relevant data to perform a risk stratification of patients on hospice census. The tool then identifies patients who are deemed critical, visually alerting the clinical team to perform additional care. Interim will now be fully equipped to demonstrate data-proven outcomes and provide quality care to patients that are in transition.

In alignment with Interim's recent implementation, frontline staff have embraced the new technology to help identify patients that need additional visits. Emily Lennon, Area Vice President of Hospice at Interim HealthCare of the Upstate, sees the value in utilizing the Muse tool to support timely care decisions for their patients. "Prior to implementing Muse within our organization, I had to comb through various areas within our EHR to compile patient information. With Muse, I can efficiently evaluate our visit utilization and effectiveness of patient care delivery, allowing the opportunity to provide timely recommendations to the clinical team. The clinical team has embraced the program upon witnessing the impact of how Muse's capabilities are of profound benefit to our patients," said Lennon. Additionally, Lennon states that, "Muse enhances visibility into spiritual and psychosocial visit needs supporting our Social Workers and Chaplains as they closely monitor a patient's care journey."

Medalogix leaders are enthusiastic that Interim HealthCare of the Upstate has also adopted Medalogix Nurture and Medalogix Bridge. Nurture identifies recently discharged home health patients who may need additional care, and Bridge identifies home health patients who may be more appropriate for hospice. Nurture and Bridge were both successfully implemented in 2021 to better serve their patients.

"Medalogix is a proud partner with Interim HealthCare of the Upstate, and we believe our machine learning solutions will continue to make a difference in the organization's patient outcomes," said Elliott Wood, President and CEO of Medalogix. "We look forward to strengthening our partnership and support the collective mission of transforming healthcare."

About Interim Healthcare

Interim Healthcare provides homecare, senior care, hospice, and healthcare. The organization delivers exceptional care to those in upstate South Carolina. Interim provides care with compassion and understanding with a dedicated group of professionals who place their patients first. For more information visit https://www.interimhealthcare.com/greenvillesc/home/

About Medalogix

Founded in 2012, Medalogix is a one-of-a-kind data analytics company in the post-acute care space. Transforming home health and hospice agencies by leveraging cutting-edge data science, machine learning and innovative cloud technology to equip clinicians and agencies to provide the right care at the right time. The company's five machine learning products have demonstrated improved patient outcomes, and reduced cost to the healthcare system, including reduced hospitalization, appropriate and timely transitions to end-of-life care, and optimized visit utilization for patients. For more information, please visit Medalogix at https://medalogix.com/ or follow us on LinkedIn @Medalogix.

SOURCE Medalogix
STOCKHOLM, Dec. 13, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Ocean Yield ASA ("Ocean Yield" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that the Company will invest in two modern LR2 product tankers with 10-year bareboat charters to Scorpio Tankers Inc. ("Scorpio Tankers") with purchase obligations at the end of the charters. The total net purchase price is about USD 70 million, net of seller's credits. The Company expects to take delivery of the vessels during December 2021. Including this investment, Ocean Yield will own six LR2 product tankers with long-term charters to Scorpio Tankers.

Scorpio Tankers Inc. currently owns, finance leases or bareboat charters-in 131 product tankers and is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker "STNG".

Company contact:

Eirik Eide (CFO), Tel +47 24 13 01 91

Investor Relations contact:

Marius Magelie (SVP Finance & Investor Relations), Tel +47 24 13 01 82

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

https://news.cision.com/ocean-yield/r/investment-in-two-lr2-product-tankers-with-long-term-charters,c3471546

SOURCE Ocean Yield
Celebrate 20th anniversary of the John Hancock Freedom 529 plan

TSX/NYSE/PSE: MFC SEHK: 945

BOSTON, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - John Hancock Investment Management, a company of Manulife Investment Management, today announced that Sarah Xu, a freshman at Boston University and a graduate of Boston Latin School, was awarded the John Hancock Freedom 529 20th Anniversary MLK Scholars Scholarship Award. Sponsored by John Hancock Investment Management and funded by the Education Trust of Alaska, the $20,000 scholarship will be awarded as a contribution into a John Hancock Freedom 529 education savings account. The assets in the account may be used for qualified education expenses of the winner at any eligible institution of higher education that meets specific federal accreditation standards.

The John Hancock Freedom 529 plan has been available to help American families save toward higher education since 2001. The plan design offers multiple investment strategies from multiple asset managers and is overseen by the Education Trust of Alaska, John Hancock Investment Management, and T. Rowe Price, giving the plan additional investment oversight.

The $20,000 John Hancock Freedom 529 20th Anniversary MLK Scholars Scholarship Award was funded by the Education Trust of Alaska this year in celebration and recognition of the 20-year anniversary of the John Hancock Freedom 529 education savings plan and the more than 100,000 students the plan has helped save and pay for college. The scholarship award was available to students who participated in John Hancock's MLK Scholars program this past summer who met additional eligibility requirements.

The most comprehensive corporate summer jobs program of its kind in the country, MLK Scholars provides summer employment for more than 600 of Boston's youth. The John Hancock Freedom 529 20th Anniversary MLK Scholars Scholarship Award was open to students participating in the MLK Scholars Program year 2021 who were a junior in high school, senior in high school, or a freshman in college by September 2021 and legal U.S. residents.

"Congratulations to Sarah!" said Tammi Weaver, trust administrator for the Education Trust of Alaska. "We truly believe in making higher education a realistic goal for families and felt that the scholarshipawarded in recognition of the 20th anniversary of the John Hancock Freedom 529 education savings planhelps to highlight a tool that families may want to use in pursuit of their students' educational aspirations."

"Well done, Sarah! We're thrilled to have had the opportunity to offer the John Hancock Freedom 529 20th Anniversary MLK Scholars Scholarship Award this year in celebration of the long-standing partnership we've had with the Education Trust of Alaska and T. Rowe Price in bringing the John Hancock Freedom 529 education savings plan to families for 20 years," said Andrew G. Arnott, CEO, John Hancock Investment Management, and head of wealth and asset management, Manulife Investment Management, United States and Europe. "The costs of college only continue to grow; in fact, data from the last 20 years suggests the average cost of college tuition and fees at public 4-year institutions has increased at an annual rate of 9.0%. We're especially pleased to have a hardworking and deserving MLK Scholar benefit from this scholarship."

"Sarah's application exemplifies what we hope to see in all of the MLK Scholars: an awareness and a commitment to improve themselves and their communities and a responsibility to empower those around them through education and mutual respect," added Annie Duong-Turner, director of community investment at John Hancock.

The MLK Scholars who were interested in applying for the scholarship were asked to create a short video addressed to their future self that responded to these questions:

How did you live out Martin Luther King Jr.'s legacy of leadership?

legacy of leadership? How did you make a positive change in your community or the world?

How did your education help enable you to pursue your passion and make a change?

Scholars were required to create a video on YouTube and submit a link to the video on the online application form. Ms. Xu's winning video can be found here.

About John Hancock Investment Management

A company of Manulife Investment Management, we serve investors through a unique multimanager approach, complementing our extensive in-house capabilities with an unrivaled network of specialized asset managers, backed by some of the most rigorous investment oversight in the industry. The result is a diverse lineup of time-tested investments from a premier asset manager with a heritage of financial stewardship.

About Manulife Investment Management

Manulife Investment Management is the global brand for the global wealth and asset management segment of Manulife Financial Corporation. We draw on more than a century of financial stewardship and the full resources of our parent company to serve individuals, institutions, and retirement plan members worldwide. Headquartered in Toronto, our leading capabilities in public and private markets are strengthened by an investment footprint that spans 18 geographies. We complement these capabilities by providing access to a network of unaffiliated asset managers from around the world. We're committed to investing responsibly across our businesses. We develop innovative global frameworks for sustainable investing, collaboratively engage with companies in our securities portfolios, and maintain a high standard of stewardship where we own and operate assets, and we believe in supporting financial well-being through our workplace retirement plans. Today, plan sponsors around the world rely on our retirement plan administration and investment expertise to help their employees plan for, save for, and live a better retirement.

As of 9/30/21, Manulife Investment Management's assets under management and administration, including assets managed for Manulife's other segments, totaled CAD$1.1 trillion (US$835 billion). Not all offerings are available in all jurisdictions. For additional information, please visit manulifeim.com.

About the Education Trust of Alaska

The Education Trust of Alaska helps families provide for the increasing cost of education through tax advantaged savings and investments in accordance with the provisions of Section 529 of the Internal Revenue Code. The University of Alaska serves as trustee and T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc. serves as program manager. The Trust offers three separately marketed 529 savings plans: Alaska 529, marketed directly to investors within Alaska; the T. Rowe Price College Savings Plan, marketed directly to investors nationwide; and the John Hancock Freedom 529, marketed nationally through financial advisers. To learn more, visit educationtrustAK.com.

If your state or your designated beneficiary's state offers a 529 plan, you may want to consider what, if any, potential state income-tax or other state benefits it offers, such as financial aid, scholarship funds, and protection from creditors, before investing. State tax or other benefits should be one of many factors to be considered prior to making an investment decision. Please consult with your financial, tax, or other professional about how these state benefits, if any, may apply to your specific circumstances. You may also contact your state 529 plan or any other 529 education savings plan to learn more about their features. Please contact your financial professional or call 866-222-7498 to obtain a Plan Disclosure Document or prospectus for any of the underlying funds. The Plan Disclosure Document contains complete details on investment objectives, risks, fees, charges, and expenses, as well as more information about municipal fund securities and the underlying investment companies that should be considered before investing. Please read the Plan Disclosure Document carefully prior to investing.

John Hancock Freedom 529 is an education savings plan offered by the Education Trust of Alaska, managed by T. Rowe Price, and distributed by John Hancock Distributors LLC through other broker-dealers that have a selling agreement with John Hancock Distributors LLC. John Hancock Distributors LLC is a member of FINRA and is listed with the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB).  2021 John Hancock. All rights reserved.

YouTube LLC is not affiliated with John Hancock or formally involved with this award in any way.

"Average Cost of College by Year" educationdata.org, 7/12/21, https://educationdata.org/average-cost-of-college-by-year

SOURCE John Hancock Investment Management
KANSAS CITY, Mo., Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Following a unanimous vote by the Kansas City Art Institute (KCAI) Board of Trustees, Ruki Neuhold-Ravikumar, Acting Director of the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Museum of Design, was named the 25th President of Kansas City Art Institute and will begin her term July 1, 2022.

Ruki Neuhold-Ravikumar

A proven administrator, educator, and thought leader, Neuhold-Ravikumar was selected following a seven-month national search by the firm Isaacson Miller. KCAI's presidential search committee was led by Trustees and Co-Chairs Herb Kohn and Laura Flanigan, who organized a diverse committee of 18 Trustees, faculty, staff and alumni committed to finding the best leader for the college. She will succeed Nerman Family President Tony Jones, who will retire on June 30, 2022.

Neuhold-Ravikumar currently manages more than 100 full-time employees and a collection of 215,000 design objects spanning 31 centuries. She has previously served as the Director of Education for Cooper Hewitt, Associate Provost of Education and Access and the Acting Under Secretary for Education at the Smithsonian Institution. She led the Smithsonian's response to the nation's distance learning needs with a pan-institutional team. Prior to that, she worked extensively in higher education at the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond, Oklahoma where she advanced from professor in graphic design to director of graduate programs and associate dean of the College of Arts & Design. Neuhold-Ravikumar is also an award-winning graphic designer.

"Ruki brings a tremendous amount of experience to the college," said Sue Nerman, chair of the board of trustees. "She embodies a creative resiliency and dynamic spirit that is the essence of KCAI. Her innovative approach to learning and teaching, strong leadership skills, and commitment to community partnerships is exactly what KCAI needs to lead us into the next chapter."

According to Neuhold-Ravikumar, "I am so elated to be a part of the KCAI community. The commitment of KCAI's faculty, staff and board of trustees to nourish the bold ambitions of students to tackle the complex challenges of the world is inspiring. I am honored to take on the role that bears the Nerman family name and lead KCAI into its next phase of evolution."

Originally from Chennai, India, she received her MFA in graphic design from Iowa State University and BFA in the history of fine art and drawing and painting from the Stella Maris College in India. She also has an executive education certificate in business from Yale University and a certificate in museum studies from Northwestern University.

She served in multiple leadership roles at American Institute of Graphic Arts and was named an AIGA Fellow in 2015 by the Oklahoma Chapter. She has won numerous awards and recognitions including the prestigious 2021 Design Achievement Award from Iowa State College of Design. Neuhold-Ravikumar is married to Patti Neuhold-Ravikumar, president of the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond, Oklahoma.

Kansas City Art Institute

Kansas City Art Institute (KCAI) is a college of art and design awarding a bachelor of fine arts degree in 13 majors. Founded in 1885, it is Kansas City's oldest arts institution. KCAI's mission is to prepare gifted students to transform the world creatively through art and design. Learn more at www.kcai.edu or follow us on Twitter: @KCArtInstitute, Facebook: Facebook.com/kansascityartinstitute and Instagram: KCArtInstitute

Contact:

Kathy St. Clair

[email protected]

913-634-0268

SOURCE Kansas City Art Institute
The three recipients were awarded the distinguished honor during the opening session of the NAIC's Fall National Meeting.

Nancy Cross joined the Mississippi department of insurance in December of 1958 as the administrative assistant to the Deputy Commissioner. She has served under four different insurance commissioners and has risen through the ranks to become the Statutory Compliance Director where she is responsible for issuing new and renewing licenses for insurance companies, health maintenance organizations, societies and associations doing business in the state of Mississippi. Early in her career, Nancy was an initial member of the local chapter of the National Association of Insurance Women, which aimed to provide education to members working across various fields of the insurance industry, including underwriting, adjusting, and customer service. Nancy helped craft an insurance company licensing registration system for the department, which was designed to ensure all company licensing fees, and applications were collected in an efficient and timely manner. She was also part of the team that helped implement the NAIC's UCAA process in Mississippi, which remains in effect today.

Doug Slape has spent more than 30 years working to improve solvency regulation and providing a powerful and reasoned voice to maintain the integrity of Texas' state-based system of regulation. Slape's service includes leadership positions in many NAIC groups. While chair of the NAIC's Captive and Special Purposes Subgroup, Slape supported the writing of NAIC's first white paper on the use of captives in the U.S. And following the 2008 financial crisis, Slape was instrumental in developing enhancements to the solvency regulation framework, which have been included in the Accreditation Program. Among his achievements, Slape led an initiative at the Texas Department of Insurance to automate the review of quarterly financial filings to address the complexity of the risk-focused supervision process that was quickly evolving. This process is recognized in the NAIC's Financial Analysis Handbook, and many other states have followed Texas' approach.

Judy Weaver has served the state of Michigan for more than 30 years. During her career, she served as a field examiner for insurance companies and has worked in financial analysis, company licensing and receivership of insurers, and market regulation of managed care entities. Weaver has also served as Deputy Director and Chief Examiner. Her financial expertise and regulatory discipline have allowed her to contribute key insights across the financial arena and to several NAIC Working Groups, including chairing the Financial Analysis Solvency Tools working group and the Financial Analysis Working Group.

Weaver has been an integral part of Michigan's solvency regulation framework assisting with the implementation of solvency requirements ranging from risk-based capital to group supervision to enterprise risk-focused analysis and examinations. She has proven to be an insightful and diligent member of these groups, offering thoughtful comments which produce productive outcomes, while not only looking out for the wellbeing of her home state of Michigan, but the insurance regulation community at large.

The Robert Dineen Award was established in June of 1989 for Outstanding Service and Contribution to the State Regulation of Insurance and named in honor of the founder of the NAIC's Support and Services Office.

For more information visit https://content.naic.org/

SOURCE National Association of Insurance Commissioners
AUCKLAND, New Zealand, Dec. 13, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Real-time capability and capacity software startup Runn.io has raised a US$1.41mil Seed round. Investors in this round include Venture Capital firm GD1 as well as Wavemaker, NZGCP, K1W1, and Marlborough Angels. Through clever integration of 'the employee voice' - including features that ensure employees are doing work that's most meaningful to them - Runn.io believes its solution will help modern organizations thrive within a post-Covid world of work.

40% of Runn.io's customers are US-based (including Fortune 1000 and 500 customers); with a further 30% in Europe, including the UK and Denmark. Users include startups, SMEs and corporates. With 600% growth in revenue this year; Runn.io will use the funding to further build its product out and accelerate growth.

"Covid has fast-tracked an environment in which we need modern solutions for managing people. In many ways, Runn.io has built the right product at the right time," comments GD1 Co-managing Partner John Kells.

Built to handle complexity

"By nature, technical companies often manage a high number of projects simultaneously with people moving between these," explains Tim Copeland, Co-Founder of Runn.io. Disconnected systems or complex spreadsheets are often stress-tested when projects go on hold, priorities change and people leave a company/team.

Runn.io enables cloud-based planning, tracking and forecasting of capability and capacity through a powerful, user-friendly UI. "Our cloud-based interface comes with features that make it easy to deal with complexity and change. A handy scenario planning feature allows users to quickly see how winning or losing new work will affect resourcing and the company's bottom line, or what skill sets a company might need to hire based on their future sales pipeline," explains Copeland.

Combatting 'The great resignation'

He adds: "Talent is a scarcity in today's economy and will be for some time. Runn.io was built with employees in mind. It helps employers understand demand and available capacity, including the impact of project and milestone changes on their greatest asset - their people. They can optimize the workload of individuals and teams, and avoid the kind of bottlenecks and delays that prevent them from doing better work," he says.

"Runn.io is as flexible as work environments are unpredictable; and we're super proud to be supporting modern organizations navigate high levels of uncertainty and ambiguity with ease," concludes Copeland.

Also see: https://www.runn.io/

SOURCE Runn.io
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M., Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas announces that New Mexico-based US Eagle Federal Credit Union is the first financial institution to become certified in the country for outstanding U.S. monetary banking protocols in banking cannabis and hemp operations.

This honor is part of a financial services certification program overseen by the Policy Center for Public Health & Safety (PH&S) in collaboration with state attorneys general. It is also part of a broader certification effort being implemented by ASTM international and PH&S.

"The marijuana industry will soon be exploding in New Mexico, and it is important to have banking safeguards to mitigate illicit and criminal conduct. This is an important first step in partnering with legally compliant businesses in the marketplace," said New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas.

The certification brings banking and financial transparency to ensure the safety of the monetary system for institutions banking hemp and cannabis.

"Credit unions were chartered to serve the unbanked and underserved population. The cannabis industry has been unbanked and underserved for years, often resulting in adverse impacts on public safety in communities where cannabis is legal," said Marsha Majors, President / CEO of US Eagle Federal Credit Union.

"Fundamental to marketplace validation, is knowing which financial institutions are following procedures and protocols that are compliant with state and federal law. And, for the Industry to 'bank' and receive financial services and take institutional investment -- financial institutions and their insurers are looking for guidance," said Karen White, Executive Director, Attorneys General Alliance.

The certification is endorsed by Safe Harbor Financial, a subsidiary of Partner Colorado Credit Union, which has been leading the industry in developing financial systems in accord with the U.S. Department of Treasury and FinCEN. Additionally, Safe Harbor Financial CEO Sundie Seefried is a leading expert and resource for law enforcement and regulators issues relating to money laundering and the banking of cannabis and hemp.

The overall certification model is accepted by state and federal agencies as the standard of compliance and in implementing general risk mitigating strategies. The curriculum focuses upon the following:

The highest level of compliance standards that will meet the expectations of BSA and the FinCEN Guidelines.

Mainstream depository options for cannabis related entities, including both plant touching and ancillary service providers, ensuring accountability, transparency, and reporting of the industry.

Monitoring of internal activities of all personnel involved in the compliance program to ensure full compliance with processes that will protect US Eagle.

Monitoring cannabis clients to ensure they are internally prepared to prevent or implicate any enforcement priorities previously recorded in the Cole Memo and still referenced in the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) Guidelines.

Creating a transparent environment of all activities with examiners, auditors, and other third parties that work with the financial institutions to build comfort and understanding; ultimately improving processes in the long term.

Joining a network of cannabis banking financial institutions that share and develop best practices surrounding cannabis banking and using this shared network to assist each other with safety and soundness.

Digitizing financial transactions to the highest level possible to increase transparency.

Ensuring records are thorough, easily navigated, and readily available to fulfill law enforcement demands such as subpoenas, inquiries, etc.

US Eagle Federal Credit Union: Is the state's longest-standing member-owned, not-for-profit credit union. Founded in 1935, US Eagle offers a full suite of financial products and services and has ten locations in Albuquerque, Bernalillo, Farmington, and Santa Fe. With assets of more than one $1.4 billion, more than 80,000 members, and as a three-time Forbes Best-In-State Credit Union award recipient, US Eagle is where people mean more.

About Attorneys General Alliance: The AG Alliance initiates meetings, panels and discussions and serves as a host forum for bipartisan cooperation in the Attorney General community. The AG Alliance cultivates and maintains these relationships through webcasts, working groups and social activities.

ABOUT PH&S: PH&S is a 501(c)(4) company addressing the challenges facing law enforcement, regulators, cannabis investors & operators as well as financial institutions.

Contact: Monica McCafferty -- (303) 903-3394 -- [email protected]

SOURCE Policy Center for Public Health and Safety
DUBAI, UAE, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- As per FMI, North America electrical testing services market is estimated to total US$ 1.8 Bn in 2021. Increasing installation of power transmission equipment such as transformers across refineries, manufacturing plants, railways, and others are fueling the demand for electrical testing services.

Historically, demand for electrical testing services in North America grew at 0.9% CAGR between 2016 and 2020. However, with increasing government initiatives to develop power generation infrastructure across the U.S. and Canada, the market is anticipated to top US$ 3.28 Bn by 2031.

For instance, according to the Consumer Energy Alliance, in May 2020, the Trump administration announced receiving approval for constructing of the biggest power generation project in the U.S, the Gemini Solar Project.

It will cover nearly 28 sq.km of the landmass in Nevada and is expected to produce around 690 MW of electricity. A slew of such initiatives is estimated to create lucrative opportunities in the market.

Request a report sample to gain comprehensive insights at https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-14222

Further, increasing concern regarding the workplace safety and rising incidence of electricity leakage, faults in wiring, short-circuiting, leakage of lubricants, and others are propelling the demand in the market. On account of this, sales of electrical testing services in North America are projected to rise at 5.9% CAGR over the forecast period 2021-2031.

Based on service type, the transformer testing and circuit breaker testing segments are anticipated to collectively hold the lion's share in the market, accounting for nearly 38.3% of sales in 2021. Increasing use of these services to ensure the uniformity of windings in all the connection to avoid short circuits is driving the growth in segments.

"Growing government emphasis on renewable energy generation and rapid expansion of transmission & distribution sector to meet the surging energy demand in countries such as the U.S., Canada, and Mexico is augmenting the growth in the market," says a FMI analyst.

Key Takeaways from North America Electrical Testing Services Market Study

The U.S. is estimated to account for 57.1% of the sales in 2021 owing to the increasing development of power generation infrastructure in the country.

Canada is anticipated to emerge as a highly attractive market, projecting sales at a CAGR of 6.1% between 2021 and 2031.

is anticipated to emerge as a highly attractive market, projecting sales at a CAGR of 6.1% between 2021 and 2031. Mexico electrical testing services market is forecast to account for 19.1% of the share, expanding at 6.4% CAGR over the assessment period.

electrical testing services market is forecast to account for 19.1% of the share, expanding at 6.4% CAGR over the assessment period. In terms of service type, the thermographic segment is projected to account for a significant share, growing at 6.5% CAGR through 2031.

Transformer testing is projected to remain highly sought-after service in the market, accounting for 20.9% of the total sales in 2021.

Key Drivers

Increasing investment in developing electrical infrastructure to provide affordable and uninterrupted electricity in Mexico , the U.S, and Canada is facilitating the growth in the market.

, the U.S, and is facilitating the growth in the market. Implementation of stringent regulations mandating the regular check-up of electrical equipment and power distribution lines to avoid hazards is rising the sales of electric testing services in North America .

Full Report With TOC @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/north-america-electrical-testing-services-market

Key Restraints

High cost of devices for electrical testing to monitor the functioning of high medium, and low voltage transformers and circuit breakers is hampering the growth in the market.

Increasing in-house capabilities for regular testing and declining the cost is expected to hinder the sales of electric testing services.

Competitive Landscape

As per FMI, leading players offering testing services in North America are estimated to account for approximately 55% to 65% of the market share in 2021.

Key players in North America electrical testing service market are aiming at expanding their service range for as per the end-use applications. Some of the players are focusing on strategic collaborations, merger, agreement, acquisitions, and partnerships with other players to expand their testing network and service. For instance,

In August 2021 , RESA Power, a U.S.-based end-to-end electrical solutions provider announced acquiring an electrical testing company EPIC Energy Solutions, LLC. The acquisition will assist the company to expand its testing capabilities across the Midwest region.

Some of the key players operating in the market profiled by FMI are:

Schneider Electric

Siemens AG

Eaton Corporation plc

General Electric Company

ABB Inc.

Power Products & Solutions

American Electrical Testing

Haugland Group LLC

Dekra

TCS Electrical Co.

Phase One Electric

Intran

GEM Electrical Services

Electric Power Systems

Others

We Offer tailor-made Solutions to fit Your Requirements, Request [email protected]https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/customization-available/rep-gb-14222

More Valuable Insights on North America Electrical Testing Services Market

The latest report by FMI provides a detailed analysis of the global North America electrical testing services market, providing credible insights into key factor driving the market through 2021 and beyond. The study also disclosed growth projections on in North America electrical testing services market with detailed segmentation:

By End Use:

Power Generation Stations

Transmission and Distribution Stations

Steel Plants

Major Refineries

Railways

Other Industrial (Laboratory, etc)

Data Centers

Healthcare and Hospitality

Commercial Establishments

By Service Type:

Transformer Testing

Circuit Breaker Testing

Protection Testing

Battery Testing

Rotating Equipment Vibration Testing

Motors/Generator Testing

Thermographic Testing

By Country:

The U.S.

Canada

Mexico

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Key Questions Covered in the Report

The report offers insight into North America electrical testing services market demand outlook for the forecast period 2021-2031

electrical testing services market demand outlook for the forecast period 2021-2031 The market study also highlights projected sales growth for North America electrical testing services market between 2021 and 2031

electrical testing services market between 2021 and 2031 North America electrical testing services market survey identifies key growth drivers, restraints, and other forces impacting prevailing trends and evaluation of current market size and forecast and technological advancements within the industry

electrical testing services market survey identifies key growth drivers, restraints, and other forces impacting prevailing trends and evaluation of current market size and forecast and technological advancements within the industry North America electrical testing services market share analysis, covering key companies within the industry and coverage of strategies such as mergers & acquisitions, joint ventures, collaborations or partnerships, and others

Top Reports Related To Market Insights

Electrical Testing Services Market: Electrification Efforts Proliferating the Demand for Electrical Testing Services, Concludes FMI.

Transformer Monitoring System Market : Digital Winding Transformer Monitors will continue To Grow Over 10.4% CAGR: FMI.

About Future Market Insights (FMI)

Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading provider of market intelligence and consulting services, serving clients in over 150 countries. FMI is headquartered in Dubai, and has delivery centers in the UK, U.S. and India. FMI's latest market research reports and industry analysis help businesses navigate challenges and make critical decisions with confidence and clarity amidst breakneck competition. Our customized and syndicated market research reports deliver actionable insights that drive sustainable growth. A team of expert-led analysts at FMI continuously tracks emerging trends and events in a broad range of industries to ensure that our clients prepare for the evolving needs of their consumers.

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Website: https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/

Report: https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/north-america-electrical-testing-services-market

Press Release Source: https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/press-release/north-america-electrical-testing-services-market

SOURCE Future Market Insights
UHAULJOBS.com: Move Your Career Forward

Keosky-Smith arrives at U-Haul from Hownd, Inc., where he was Chief Growth Officer for the Tempe-based software company. Before that, he was Vice President of Moses, Inc., a Phoenix ad agency. While his insights have benefitted several other companies across the Valley, he also founded or co-founded a number of profitable businesses and amassed seven years of experience in European markets.

"U-Haul is committed to hiring top talent, and I am confident Eric is just that," noted Jessica Lopez, U-Haul Chief of Staff. "We are proud to welcome Eric to Team U-Haul. He is an expert and I have no doubt he, together with our amazing team, will take U-Haul to the next level of all things digital marketing."

Keosky-Smith will be based out of the U-Haul Midtown Campus at 2727 N. Central Ave., home to corporate operations since 1967.

"I'm very excited to work with one of the most iconic brands in the country," Keosky-Smith said. "In an organization as large and established as U-Haul, there is always room for improvement. My goal is to help pull together the many top-flight internal digital resources to further improve our customer service and ability to scale. I've already been amazed at how incredibly dedicated the team is in helping consumers get the best possible value, in everything U-Haul they touch."

Moving Help and Collegeboxes

Keosky-Smith's focus will fall largely on growing two essential programs under the U-Haul umbrella: Moving Help and CollegeBoxes.

Moving Help has been the No. 1 choice of customers seeking labor services for loading and unloading during their moves since 2002. MovingHelp.com offers a network of 6,700 local, independent Moving Help Service Providers across all 50 states and 10 Canadian provinces. With more than 5 million jobs completed and 2.3 million customer reviews, customers have access to the largest network of moving labor services in North America through Moving Help.

Collegeboxes, the No. 1 student storage and shipping provider in U.S., was established in 1999 and has been powered by U-Haul since 2009. Currently, 433 partner schools are offering their students coordinated and convenient access to delivery, pick-up, storage and shipping services. Customers can create an account at Collegeboxes.com to initiate an order, and FedEx will ship boxes and moving supplies to the student's home or college address.

Company Bolsters Its Marketing Expertise

The hire of Keosky-Smith comes on the heels of U-Haul parent company AMERCO appointing Carrie Martz as an Advisory Board Member earlier this year.

Martz has a 35-year track record of building successful brands. She founded The Martz Agency in 1980 and sold her advertising and public relations agency in 2013 to Bob Parsons, the founder of GoDaddy. Martz has since founded Clean Light Laboratories, LLC, which brought to market a UV-C sanitizer proven to kill SARS-CoV2. She continues to work with companies on brand development and their digital footprint.

Martz served on the board of Cancer Treatment Centers of America Western Region for eight years, and also served on dozens of non-profit boards adding value to their cause-related and social impact programs, including 20-plus years with Phoenix Suns Charities. She received the Phoenix Chamber Athena Award; Stevie International Marketing Woman of the Year Bronze Award; and Arizona Chamber of Commerce Athena Small Business of the Year Award.

Arizona Jobs Available

U-Haul has 356 openings in IT, Retail Customer Service, Manufacturing, Call Center Support and numerous other professional roles in the Phoenix area. Oxford Life Insurance Company and Repwest Insurance Company, subsidiaries of AMERCO, are also hiring for multiple positions.

Veterans and military spouses are offered preference in the U-Haul recruiting and hiring process. U-Haul was founded by a U.S. Navy veteran and his wife in 1945, and many of the first U-Haul Team Members and customers were veterans returning from the war. Today, U-Haul directs a portion of its philanthropic support to veteran organizations and initiatives, and has been honored repeatedly as a leading veteran-friendly U.S. employer.

About U-HAUL

Since 1945, U-Haul has been the No. 1 choice of do-it-yourself movers, with a network of more than 23,000 locations across all 50 states and 10 Canadian provinces. U-Haul Truck Share 24/7 offers secure access to U-Haul trucks every hour of every day through the customer dispatch option on their smartphones and our proprietary Live Verify technology. Our customers' patronage has enabled the U-Haul fleet to grow to approximately 176,000 trucks, 126,000 trailers and 46,000 towing devices. U-Haul offers nearly 825,000 rentable storage units and 71.6 million square feet of self-storage space at owned and managed facilities throughout North America. U-Haul is the largest retailer of propane in the U.S., and continues to be the largest installer of permanent trailer hitches in the automotive aftermarket industry. U-Haul has been recognized repeatedly as a leading "Best for Vets" employer and was recently named one of the 15 Healthiest Workplaces in America.

Contact:

Jeff Lockridge

Sebastien Reyes

E-mail: [email protected]

Phone: 602-760-4941

Website: uhaul.com

SOURCE U-Haul
REDMOND, Wash., Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Ossia Inc., the company behind Cota Real Wireless Power  the patented technology that delivers power over-the-air, at a distance, and without the need for line of sight  today announced that it has successfully met the requirements in Peru, Chile and Columbia for delivering wireless power over air. This is the first RF-based non-line-of-sight, wireless power at-a-distance technology to be approved in Latin America.

These latest certifications, with more expected for additional countries in the near future, do not have distance limitations for delivery of wireless power over the air, and enable Ossia and its partners to service companies who do business within Latin America.

For commercial and consumer product developers and innovators alike, the lack of distance limitation is a significant advantage for these countries.

"Now 40+ countries have the opportunity to leverage Cota Real Wireless Power at a distance without the need for line of sight," said Doug Stovall, the CEO of Ossia. "Ossia has announced 5 new products coming to market in the last 30 days in both the consumer and IoT space. Ossia is rapidly expanding the countries where these products can be sold."

Line of sight is a key differentiating factor between Ossia's Cota and other wireless power technologies. Line of sight requires the transmitter and receiver (within a device) to be within view of each other without anything standing in the way or moving into its path.

For other technologies that require line of sight, the delivery of power must be stopped when something or someone moves into the path of transmission. This makes it almost impossible to efficiently deliver wireless power over air to a device that is on the move or has people in the room. Cota does not require line of sight, and is able to continuously track a moving device, which enables efficient power delivery while avoiding people and pets.

"Cota has been proven to effectively power small devices and IoT in consumer, commercial, and industrial environments," said Doug Stovall, the CEO of Ossia. "This latest achievement facilitates never-before-possible innovations and product feature development for our strategic partners in Latin America," said Stovall. "This is the first and another major steps in taking Cota-enabled products to market globally"

With more than 176 issued and allowed patents and 285 active patents and pending applications globally for its wireless power transfer system, Ossia is leading the industry in advancing global wireless power without line-of-sight limitations.

"Wires and batteries and charging pads can only get us so far. With IoT, 5G, and other 'connected world' advancements exploding across industries and across the globe, wireless power over air is not a luxury, it's a necessity  for the health of our planet, our workers, and our future world-improving inventions," said Stovall.

Securing certifications in Latin America is the latest milestone in a series of global certifications for wireless power over air. Global wireless power products based on Ossia's latest technologies that meet the stringent requirements in these countries will be available through Ossia's strategic partners.

About Ossia

Ossia Inc. is leading the world on what is possible with wireless power. Ossia's flagship Cota technology redefines wireless power by safely delivering remote, targeted energy to devices at a distance. Ossia's Cota technology is a patented smart antenna technology that automatically keeps multiple devices charged without any user intervention and enables an efficient and truly wire-free, powered-up world that is always on and always connected. Ossia is headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Visit our website at www.ossia.com.

Related Links

https://www.ossia.com

https://www.linkedin.com/company/ossia-inc-

https://twitter.com/ossiainc

https://www.facebook.com/OssiaInc/

https://www.ossia.com/cota/

https://blog.ossia.com/

Media Inquiries:

Jen Grenz: jeng [at] ossia.com

SOURCE Ossia

Related Links

http://www.ossia.com


PHILADELPHIA, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Pennsylvania Back to Business Campaign is hosting the Bipartisan Fireside Chat: PA Election Reform and Economic Recovery featuring State Representative Jared Solomon (D-202) and State Representative Jesse Topper (R-78). These two gentlemen, with very different politics, are coming together for a constructive and civil discussion about common-sense election reforms and needed economic recovery measures the state legislature can take to get PA Back to Business.

The discussion will be hosted by Jabari Jones, President of the West Philadelphia Corridor Collaborative, and Gene Barr, President of the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry.

A group of industry and non-profit leaders came together to create the PA Back to Business Campaign to address two challenges affecting businesses in Pennsylvania. First, the continuing economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic that has caused many businesses to fail and cause stable businesses to have trouble meeting their financial obligations. Second, the debate on election security, reforms, and processes have led to controversial and partisan legislative proposals in the State Legislature which will make it harder to vote.

Businesses in Pennsylvania face significant challenges and obstacles to overcome and fully recover from the pandemic. The Dec. 16th event will encourage legislators to focus on job creation and economic recovery, rather than continuing to debate the results of the 2020 election. The key topics for the moderated discussion between Rep. Solomon and Rep. Topper include state financial assistance to business and PA citizens, voter access, and election security. The Getting Back to Business PA initiative urges legislators to prioritize economic recovery of our state's businesses and residents.

Topics: Economic Recovery, Election Reform, COVID-19 pandemic impact on PA businesses, Non-partisan dialogue, and Voting Laws.

When: December 16th at 4:00 pm

Where: Zoom Registration Link

Speakers: State Rep. Jared Solomon (D-202), State Rep. Jesse Topper (R-78), Jabari Jones, President, West Philadelphia Corridor Collaborative, and Gene Barr, President, PA Chamber of Business and Industry.

Co-hosts include the following organizations - Committee of Seventy, the Impact Project, the Heinz Endowments, League of Women Voters, Philly Office Retail, and the PA Chamber of Business and Industry.

About Business For America

Business for America is a nonpartisan 501(c)(3) nonprofit business organization. Our agenda focuses solely on improving our country's civic health by increasing civic participation and voter turnout, restoring trust in our elections and democratic institutions, reducing gridlock and polarization, and setting a positive example for business engagement in the political sector. www.bfa.us

Teresa M. Lundy

TML Communications

E: [email protected]

O: (215) 500-8749

SOURCE Business For America
Junior Achievement's mission is to inspire and prepare young people to succeed. The inspiration comes from community volunteers who not only deliver lessons on financial capability, work and career readiness, and business ownership, but share their experiences. In the process, volunteers serve as role models helping to positively impact young people's perceptions about the importance of education, as well as critical life skills.

"We are so grateful for the 15-year partnership with Populus Financial Group and their volunteers' manpower to serve the students at J.O. Davis Elementary and J. P. Starks Math, Science and Technology Vanguard," said Jan Muirfield, President and CEO of Junior Achievement of Dallas. "The Populus employees are making a difference in the lives of these students by opening their world to endless possibilities. Thank you for helping change lives."

By supporting Junior Achievement, Populus can help give young people the knowledge and skills they need to own their economic success, plan for their futures, and make smart academic and economic choices.

"We were proud to work with Junior Achievement again this year," said Spencer Williams, Senior Vice President, Finance for Populus Financial Group and Junior Achievement of Dallas, Board Member. "Our volunteers were inspired by the enthusiasm of the students and their eagerness to learn about work readiness and financial literacy in a virtual setting."

The Populus charitable giving program, The ACE Community Fund , is committed to empowering organizations that help children, provide education and promote financial literacy in the communities we serve. Since its inception in 2004, the ACE Community Fund has donated more than $15 million to organizations across the nation.

About Populus Financial Group

Populus Financial Group provides financial services through its family of brands including ACE Cash Express, ACE Elite Visa Prepaid Debit Card, ACE Flare Account by MetaBank and Porte. Populus Financial Group delivers a broad range of financial products and services including short-term consumer loans, card services, check cashing, money transfers, bill payments and money orders. Visit PopulusFinancial.com for more information.

About Junior Achievement of Dallas

Junior Achievement (JA) of Dallas , a nonprofit organization, inspires and prepares at-risk youth to succeed in a global economy through volunteer-delivered K-12 curriculum. JA students are introduced to the elements of successful business start-ups, hands-on budgeting simulations, learn need and want differences, plus many more everyday financial skills. Established in Dallas in 1954, JA of Dallas has updated curriculum and is more relevant today than ever with over 900 volunteers impacting over 62,000 Dallas area students this year. JA volunteers help students dream big and reach their potential so that they have the power to be financially wise and career-ready young adults.

SOURCE Populus Financial Group Inc.
WAUKEE, Iowa, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Holmes Murphy announced today the company is evolving its brand as the national insurance brokerage introduces a dynamic client and employee-centric campaign, fitting to the needs of an industry in constant motion.

The refresh reflects Holmes Murphy's philosophy that insurance services should adapt to the ever-changing world. "From the moment our leadership teams began discussing where we wanted to take Holmes Murphy next, we knew we needed a brand that could care for and evolve to the environment around us," said Dan Keough, Holmes Murphy Chairman and CEO. "We also know how important it is to show the hearts and minds of our people, as they are truly the engine behind creating exceptional experiences for our clients. This new brand helps us deliver on both."

The refresh also further showcases Holmes Murphy's commitment to being an evolving leader within the insurance industry. While Holmes Murphy's previous look helped the company stand out in the sea of "insurance blue," leaders felt it was time for the brand to grow to be more illustrative of its greatest asset and its clients' greatest advocates  Holmes Murphy employees.

Susan Hatten, Holmes Murphy Chief Marketing Officer, added, "With this brand refresh, we really wanted to place a spotlight on the care and energy our employees offer each other and our clients. The updated creative is meant to illustrate how they live out their purpose and lend their unique talents to make us even greater business partners with our clients."

In this new path forward, you'll see Holmes Murphy's employees at the forefront, exhibiting the company is fully invested in its people, clients, and community  showcasing the care behind the work and what is unique to the individuals making the company thrive.

"Everything we do at Holmes Murphy, we do 'fully'whether that's caring fully, understanding fully, innovating fully, or celebrating fully. Our intent is to always be 'all in' or 'fully' invested in every aspect of our company and for our employees and clients," said Keough.

As Holmes Murphy continues to grow, it is proud to establish a new brand helping to position the company into continued perpetuation of independent growth and leadership, based on the traditions and qualities for which the organization was founded upon nearly 90 years ago. Holmes Murphy will celebrate its 90-year anniversary as an independently held brokerage in 2022.

About Holmes Murphy

"Caring for Your Unique Potential is Our Soul Purpose." That statement is the core of how we do business. We ask the tough questions, avoid the easy path, believe fully in caring for the unique challenges of our clients, and leverage our greatest assets  the hearts and minds of our people  to advocate on behalf of our clients. That's our approach to risk management and benefits consulting, and it's worked for us since our inception in 1932. As an independent brokerage, we serve clients in every industry and of almost every size, with the ultimate goal of providing exceptional service and caring for our clients' unique potential. For more information, visit www.holmesmurphy.com. You can also follow us on Twitter.com (@holmesmurphyins) or on Facebook, LinkedIn, or Instagram.

Contact: Winston Taylor

(507) 720.1366

[email protected]

SOURCE Holmes Murphy
CHICAGO, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Revolution Global, a leading Chicago-based, multi-state cannabis company, continued its momentum from the past year with an unrivaled performance in High Times' Cannabis Cup Illinois 2021, winning first place in three award categories. Though this is only the second Cannabis Cup Illinois held by High Times, the cannabis industry magazine has been hosting the renowned competition internationally since 1988.

Revolution's success in Cannabis Cup Illinois 2021 follows an equally impressive performance in the inaugural Cannabis Cup Illinois last year, when it won first place in six out of seven categories. Between the two competitions, Revolution products have won first place in nine out of fifteen total Cannabis Cup Illinois categories and have finished in the top three of fourteen of the fifteen total categories.

Specifically, Revolution products won the following Cannabis Cup Illinois 2021 awards:

Indica Flower First Place: Blueberry Clementine by Revolution Global

Sativa Flower First Place: Mac & Cheese (Spicy Papaya Cut) by Revolution Global

Concentrates First Place: Blueberry Clementine Live Resin by Revolution Global

Hybrid Flower Second Place: Banana Runtz by Revolution Global

Vape Pens Second Place: Florida Orange Terp Tank by Revolution Global

Gummy Edibles Third Place: Assorted Indica Gummies by Revolution Global

Non-Gummy Edibles Third Place: Spring Lake Lemonade SURP by Revolution Global

"Revolution is blown away by the results of Cannabis Cup Illinois 2021 and grateful for the judges that recognize the emphasis we put on product quality," said Dusty Shroyer, President and COO of Revolution Global. "The Revolution team is passionate and deeply committed to our mission of using a science-driven cultivation process to produce the highest quality cannabis, and it means the world to see that hard work pay off."

High Times, a monthly magazine founded in 1974 to cover cannabis counterculture, held its first Cannabis Cup in Amsterdam in 1988. The company moved the competition to the United States in 2010, where it has been operating the Cannabis Cup in multiple states ever since. For Cannabis Cup Illinois 2021, High Times opened its judging process to members of the public, with roughly 1,500 judges testing products in each category.

Revolution operates a 75,000 square foot state-of-the-art cannabis cultivation center in Delavan, Illinois, with a second 75,000 square foot growing facility scheduled to be completed on Revolution's 80-acre campus next year. All of the cannabis strains entered in Cannabis Cup were bred in Delavan and are proprietary to Revolution.

About Revolution Global

Based in Illinois, Revolution Global is an industry-leading, multi-state cannabis operator that is revolutionizing the way legal cannabis is scientifically designed, grown, sold, packaged, and consumed. Focusing on health and wellness solutions, Revolution uses a best-in-class cultivation process, informed by genetic research, to produce superior cannabis medicine and a wide variety of cannabis-driven consumer packaged goods, from infused products and beverages to topicals. In addition to Illinois, Revolution also operates in Florida, Arkansas, and Maryland. For more, visit www.revolutionenterprises.org.

SOURCE Revolution Global
REX's pro-consumer campaign to end real estate rebate bans and help over 700,000 aspiring homebuyers gains momentum. Tweet this

In response to an opinion request from REX, the Louisiana Attorney General's office clarified that real estate rebates are legal within the state. This is a huge victory for consumers because rebates allow homebuyers to receive back thousands of dollars when they close on a home. Ending anti-consumer rebate bans would put homeownership in the reach of nearly one million more American families.

In Oregon, where REX had brought a federal lawsuit against the state's rebate ban, U.S. District Judge Marco A. Hernandez left the ban in place while stressing that he was not ruling "on the wisdom of Oregon's anti-rebate policy." Judge Hernandez's opinion further noted that "the U.S. Department of Justice has begun to take action against the anti-competitive activity of traditional real estate brokers."

"In Oregon, Judge Hernandez found REX made a compelling argument but that the federal court was not the right venue. Although REX disagrees with the outcome, we are encouraged that the court recognized how real estate insiders have stacked the deck against consumers for way too long," Toth continued.

REX has publicly called for the National Association of Realtors (NAR) to join REX in supporting the repeal of anti-rebate policies in the handful states that still prohibit consumers from receiving thousands of dollars back at closing in form of pro-consumer rebates. "These policies harm consumers and licensed real estate agents alike with their anachronistic anti-consumer standards," REX CEO Jack Ryan wrote in an open letter to NAR in September. "Based on the National Association of Home Builder's Priced Out model, a 2 percent real estate buyer's rebate would enable over 700,000 Americans to enter the home ownership market."

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has an ongoing investigation into the National Association of Realtors (NAR) and has asked NAR questions regarding its influence surrounding rebate bans. The DOJ's website states: "Rebate bans artificially inflate the cost of real estate services. Consumers are forced to pay thousands more to buy a home than they would if rebates were allowed." NAR has yet to respond as to its stance on rebate bans either in its response to REX or DOJ.

The opinion from the AG's office means only nine states now prohibit real estate commission rebates: Alabama, Alaska, Iowa, Kansas, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, Oregon, and Tennessee.

For media inquiries: contact Colin Maynard at [email protected].

ABOUT REX

REX, headquartered in Austin, Texas, is a real estate tech company resetting the traditional real estate market nationwide. When buying a REX home - or any home on the market in the U.S. purchased through REX - consumers have the peace of mind knowing they are finding residential real estate for less and saving time thanks to our groundbreaking technology. REX has emerged as the national leader in real estate reform since founding the company in 2016 with the goal of eliminating fees, growing the U.S. real estate market, and saving Americans billions of dollars each year. REX also works as a partner in the global fight against housing insecurity. Learn more about REX's online platform, integrated services, and business model at rexhomes.com. Also visit newsroom.rexhomes.com for the latest press releases, podcasts, market analysis, digital real estate data, and information about the company and leadership team.

SOURCE REX

Related Links

www.rexhomes.com


LAKEWOOD, Ohio, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Roundstone, a health insurance provider specializing in self-funded medical group captive solutions, today announced record-breaking business results from 2021. The company attributes its success to aligned leadership and operational excellence, high-performing group captives that return unspent premiums back to participants, and proactive cost containment solutions.

Roundstone's success means financial success for its customers. The company distributed $20+ million in unspent premium to participants in its group captive pools. In a fully insured model, that money would have been pocketed by the insurance company.

"As we head into 2022, Roundstone is experiencing record momentum," said Mike Schroeder, President of Roundstone. "Heightened interest is driving demand as insurance advisors and employers seek better alternatives to fully insured plans. Businesses are ready to make the shift to self-funding so they can afford to offer robust health and well-being benefits that attract top talent."

Roundstone's key accomplishments include:

Revenue and Customer Growth:

Achieved 30% growth in revenues and added 200+ new customers, the best year in its 18-year history.

Employee Growth, Culture, Leadership:

Added 41 employees, increasing employee count to 115.



A new Chief Operating Officer and Director of Marketing round out an executive leadership team aligned around a core mission of better healthcare for all.



Moved to a hybrid work environment committed to its Cleveland roots, Lakewood headquarters, and collaborative culture.

roots, headquarters, and collaborative culture. Savings:

20% average annual employer savings compared to fully-insured.



9.2% average distribution to captive participants.



$20M+ unspent captive premium distributed pro rata in 2021.



6% amount below expected costs for groups in 2021.

Industry Recognition:

Named one of the fastest-growing private companies in America by Inc. 5000 for the fourth consecutive year.

Thought Leadership:

Launched Roundstone University, a self-learning platform dedicated to educating benefits advisors.



Held annual Medical Captive Forum, a virtual event on May 19 dedicated to educating employers and advisors that drew 800+ registrations.

Small to mid-sized employers across many industries are currently enrolled in Roundstone's group medical captives. For more information, please visit: https://roundstoneinsurance.com

About Roundstone Insurance

Roundstone is an innovative insurance organization founded in 2003 with a vision of giving small and mid-sized businesses a proven strategy for affordable employee health insurance  our customers pay only for the healthcare they use while keeping the savings. Our unique self-funded group captive solution delivers high-quality care, mitigates risk, reduces claims volatility, controls costs, and returns savings right back to employers and employees a win-win all around. Hundreds of businesses rely on Roundstone as their trusted health insurance provider, saving an average 20 percent annually over the past decade. Roundstone is headquartered in Lakewood, Ohio with representatives throughout the United States. Stay connected with us on our blog, LinkedIn, and Twitter.

Media Contact:

Terri White

Director of Marketing

[email protected]

440.617.0333 x380

SOURCE Roundstone
AUSTIN, Texas, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Sante Ventures, (Sante), an early-stage healthcare and life sciences investment firm, has announced the addition of three new key hires to its team. Auriel August, MD joins as a Senior Associate, Ashley Seehusen as a Venture Fellow, and Michael Gutbrod as an Associate. The continued expansion of the firm's headcount comes on the heels of its recently-announced Fund IV, which raised $260 Million and closed in September of this year.

Dr. August will focus on developing the firm's portfolio of early-stage companies, with a specific emphasis on medical devices and healthcare services. She joins the firm having previously served as a Physician-In-Residence at IDEO's Design for Health Studio, where she played a pivotal role in helping to design new medical devices, digital healthcare technologies, and patient care experiences. Ashley Seehusen will focus on the exploration of new investment themes and incubating companies that could potentially become Series A Investments. Before joining Sante, she was the CEO and Co-founder of Nasus Medical. Michael Gutbrod will concentrate on the firm's portfolio of biotech companies, having previously been a fellow at MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory.

"We are thrilled to welcome Auriel, Ashley, and Michael to our team, and look forward to being able to draw upon their impressive and diverse experience," noted Kevin Lalande, Managing Director and Co-Founder of Sante. "As our firm has grown, we remain committed to bringing on the best talent in the industry, who offer the critical support and visionary guidance that our portfolio companies expect from us. With these new hires, we close out 2021 in one of the strongest positions we have been in during our firm's 15-year history."

About Sante Ventures' New Hires:

Auriel August, MD cultivates the firm's portfolio of early-stage companies with a focus on medical devices and healthcare services. Prior to joining Sante, Dr. August was a Physician-In-Residence in IDEO's Design for Health Studio where she worked with clients in the healthcare space to design new medical devices, digital health technologies, and patient care experiences. Before joining IDEO, Dr. August completed the Stanford Biodesign Innovation Fellowship, where she identified unmet needs within healthcare, invented novel technologies to address them, and mapped a path to implementation. Dr. August trained as a general surgeon at Stanford, where she focused on innovation as a way to address healthcare disparities. She earned her MD from Dartmouth Medical School, and a Bachelor of Science in biomedical engineering from Duke University.

Ashley Seehusen focuses on exploring new investment themes and incubating companies that could potentially become Series A investments. Prior to joining Sante, Ashley was the CEO and Co-founder of Nasus Medical, a company that was founded out of her year as a Stanford Biodesign Innovation Fellow. Ashley has spent 18+ years in the medical device industry, the last 12 in marketing, leading teams, setting business strategy, defining new products, and bringing them to commercialization. She earned her Bachelor of Science from the University of California, Berkeley and a PhD from the University of Bristol, both in mechanical engineering. She also has an MBA from Babson College.

Michael Gutbrod focuses on the firm's portfolio of biotech companies. Prior to joining Sante, Michael was a postdoctoral fellow at MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory and a visiting fellow at Harvard's Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology. Michael earned his PhD from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in Biological Sciences and his Bachelor of Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champagne in Molecular & Cellular Biology and English.

About Sante Ventures

Founded in 2006, Sante Ventures is a specialized healthcare and life sciences investment firm with nearly $1BN in capital under management. The firm invests in early-stage companies developing innovative new medical technologies, biotechnologies, and digitally enabled healthcare services. Recent Sante successes include Farapulse (Boston Scientific), Claret Medical (Boston Scientific), TVA Medical (Becton Dickinson), Millipede Medical (Boston Scientific), Molecular Templates (MTEM), AbVitro (Celgene), and Explorys (IBM Corp). Sante invests nationally and has offices in Austin, TX, and Boston, MA. For more information, please visit www.sante.com.

Media Contacts

Sante Ventures Press and Community Relations

[email protected]

512.721.1200

Ryan Walker, R.J. Walker & Co.

[email protected]

860.930.3611

SOURCE Sante Ventures
JERSEY CITY, N.J., Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Verified Market Research recently published a report, "Smart Manufacturing Market" By Component (Hardware, Software, Services), By Technology (Machine Execution Systems, Programmable Logic Controller, SCADA), By End-use (Automotive, Aerospace & Defense, Chemicals & Materials), and By Geography. According to Verified Market Research, the Global Smart Manufacturing Market size was valued at USD 259.63 Billion in 2020 and is projected to reach USD 589.98 Billion by 2028, growing at a CAGR of 12.4 % from 2021 to 2028.

Download PDF Brochure: https://www.verifiedmarketresearch.com/download-sample/?rid=49206

Browse in-depth TOC on "Smart Manufacturing Market"

202 - Pages

126  Tables

37  Figures

Global Smart Manufacturing Market Overview

The growing adoption of Industry 4.0, is expected to boost the demand for smart manufacturing. Industry 4.0 is the digital transformation of manufacturing/production and related industries, as well as value creation processes. Industry 4.0 is changing the way companies manufacture, improve, and distribute their goods. Manufacturers are integrating new technologies into their production facilities and operations, such as the Internet of Things (IoT), cloud computing and analytics, and AI and machine learning.

Increased automation, predictive maintenance, self-optimization of process improvements, and, most importantly, a new level of efficiencies and responsiveness to customers not previously possible are all benefits of digital technologies. Developing smart factories provides an incredible opportunity for the manufacturing industry to enter the fourth industrial revolution. Analyzing large amounts of big data collected from factory sensors ensures real-time visibility of manufacturing assets and can provide tools for performing predictive maintenance to reduce downtime. Smart factories that use high-tech IoT devices have higher productivity and better quality. Using AI-powered visual insights to replace manual inspection business models reduces manufacturing errors and saves money and time.

Quality control personnel can set up a smartphone connected to the cloud with minimal investment to monitor manufacturing processes from virtually anywhere. Manufacturers can detect errors sooner rather than later, when repair work is more expensive, by using machine learning algorithms. Industry 4.0 can be applied in all types of industries, discrete and process manufacturing, as well as oil and gas, mining, and other industrial segments. Apart from this, with ever-increasing stringent government regulations coming up globally, smart manufacturing will enable manufacturers to better comply with these regulations.

Key Developments

In July 2020 , ABB opened a new robotics facility to support the digital transformation of manufacturing in India . The facility will enable ABB India to deliver robotic applications and digital solutions to a variety of Indian industries, including automotive, food and beverage, electronics, and other emerging sectors.

Key Players

The major players in the market are ABB, Siemens, General Electric, Rockwell Automation, Inc., Schneider Electric, Honeywell International Inc., Emerson Electric, Fanuc, and others..

Verified Market Research has segmented the Global Smart Manufacturing Market On the basis of Component, Technology, End-use, and Geography.

Smart Manufacturing Market, By Component

Hardware



Software



Services

Smart Manufacturing Market, By Technology

Machine Execution Systems



Programmable Logic Controller



Enterprise Resource Planning



SCADA



Discrete Control Systems



Human Machine Interface



Machine Vision



3D Printing



Product Lifecycle Management



Plant Asset Management

Smart Manufacturing Market, By End-use

Automotive



Aerospace & Defense



Chemicals & Materials



Healthcare



Industrial Equipment



Electronics



Food & Agriculture



Oil & Gas



Others

Smart Manufacturing Market by Geography

North America



U.S





Canada





Mexico



Europe



Germany





France





U.K





Rest of Europe



Asia Pacific



China





Japan





India





Rest of Asia Pacific



ROW



Middle East & Africa

&



Latin America

Browse Related Reports:

IoT In Manufacturing Market By Component (Solution, Platform), By Solution (Data Management, Network Management), By Software (Monitoring Software, Network Management), By Service (Professional Services, System Integration And Deployment Services), By Connectivity (Satellite Network, Cellular Network), By Application (Predictive Maintenance, Business Process Optimization), By End Use Vertical (Energy And Utilities, Automotive), By Geography, Forecast, 2021-2028

Electronic Contract Manufacturing And Design Services Market By Service (Electronic Design & Engineering, Electronics Assembly, Electronic Manufacturing), By End-Use (Healthcare, IT & Telecom, Automotive, Aerospace & Defense, Consumer Electronics), By Geography, Forecast, 2021-2028

Manufacturing Execution System Market By Offering (Software, Services), By Deployment Type (On-Premises Deployment Type, On-Demand Deployment Type, Hybrid), By Process Industry (Food & Beverages, Oil & Gas, Chemicals, Pulp & Paper), By Geography, Forecast, 2021-2028

Industrial Control And Factory Automation Market By Component (Sensors, Industrial Robots, Machine Vision, Control valves, Industrial PC, Control devices), By Solution (Distributed Control System (DCS), Programmable Logic Controller (PLC), Manufacturing Execution System (MES), Product Life Cycle Management (PLM), Plant Asset Management (PAM)), By Industry(Process Industry and Discrete Industry), By Geography, Forecast, 2021-2028

Top 10 Semiconductor Manufacturers transforming with the advanced technologies

Visualize Smart Manufacturing Market using Verified Market Intelligence:-:

Verified Market Intelligence is our BI Enabled Platform for narrative storytelling of this market. VMI offers in-depth forecasted trends and accurate Insights on over 20,000+ emerging & niche markets, helping you make critical revenue impacting decisions for a brilliant future.

VMI provides a holistic overview and global competitive landscape with respect to Region, Country, and Segment, and Key players of your market. Present your Market Report & findings with an inbuilt presentation feature saving over 70% of your time and resources for Investor, Sales & Marketing, R&D, and Product Development pitches. VMI enables data delivery In Excel and Interactive PDF formats with over 15+ Key Market Indicators for your market.

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Verified Market Research is a leading Global Research and Consulting firm servicing over 5000+ customers. Verified Market Research provides advanced analytical research solutions while offering information enriched research studies. We offer insight into strategic and growth analyses, Data necessary to achieve corporate goals and critical revenue decisions.

Our 250 Analysts and SME's offer a high level of expertise in data collection and governance use industrial techniques to collect and analyze data on more than 15,000 high impact and niche markets. Our analysts are trained to combine modern data collection techniques, superior research methodology, expertise and years of collective experience to produce informative and accurate research.

We study 14+ categories from Semiconductor & Electronics, Chemicals, Advanced Materials, Aerospace & Defense, Energy & Power, Healthcare, Pharmaceuticals, Automotive & Transportation, Information & Communication Technology, Software & Services, Information Security, Mining, Minerals & Metals, Building & construction, Agriculture industry and Medical Devices from over 100 countries.

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SOURCE Verified Market Research
MIAMI, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Just in time for the holidays, the Italian heritage sneaker brand IT81 opens its first temporary storefront at Showfields Miami. From December 13, 2021, through January 13, 2022, patrons can shop it81's core collection and other sought-after styles at this exclusive destination.

Building on its rich Italian heritage, it81 navigates the space between high-quality sneaker and modern laid-back style. Each handcrafted sneaker boasts distinct designs that are inspired by organic elements that reflect the customer's individual style.

it81 sneaker bar at Showfields Miami it81 at Showfields Miami

Take the Pumpkin Space kicks as an example. These sneakers are designed with a deep understanding and appreciation for the organic elements that deliver health to our daily lives. With "Be bold without underlining it" as its brand mission, it81 achieves the best possible combination between design, comfort, and quality, supported by its unisex styles for a reasonable product price.

"Because it81 is for everyone in this innovative generation who appreciates modern life concepts such as sustainability, urban sports, and the importance of design, we are so happy to have come this far and be able to showcase our sneakers to like-minded shoppers at Showfields," says Mariano Martinelli, the sneaker designer of it81. "There is so much happening at Showfields right now, and I think it is a very exciting place to be, especially with holiday shopping in full swing. We hope everyone can find their style fit at the sneaker bar we've created at Showfields."

The IT81 pop-up space is located at Showfields in Miami, Florida, at 530 Lincoln Rd, Miami Beach, FL 33139. The shop will be open from December 13, 2021, through January 13, 2022. Visit it-81.com for more information.

About it81

Nurtured and inspired by the rich Italian heritage, it81 is bridging the gap between high-quality sneakers and modern laid-back style. Distinct by nature and durable by design, each sneaker is handcrafted with conceptual inspirations that link the value-added of the organic things with unique colors and patterns to reflect our customers' own individual styles.

About Showfields

Redefining retail, Showfields has traversed to the farthest ends of the world wide web to bring you the most interesting brands in the world. The ultimate curator, Showfields brings together the most mission-driven, design-oriented, innovative, unconventional, and relevant brands, artists, and communities from around the globe.

Press contact:

Chloe Zhao

[email protected]

+1 (347) 277-8913

SOURCE it81
- Apex.OS meta-operating system contributing to ZF's middleware and high-performance computing

- Meets highest functional safety standard for vehicles

- Suitable for all types of vehicles and all levels of automation

FRIEDRICHSHAFEN, Germany, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The intelligence of next generation vehicles is increasingly migrating to a few central high-performance computers. The software running on them should be easy to update and expand with new functions, like a smartphone. And all this with the highest functional safety standards for mobility systems.

ZF has strengthened its automotive software business by acquiring a five percent stake in the software company Apex.AI. In addition to the financial support, ZF will also develop software solutions based on the Apex.OS meta-operating system. "Based on the Apex.OS, we can offer our customers an additional ZF Middleware option," said Nico Hartmann, head of the ZF Global Software Center. "This solution is certified to the highest standards of functional safety for passenger cars and commercial vehicles. Thus, we offer our customers an alternative to Autosar Adaptive."

"We are proud that ZF, as one of the largest automotive suppliers in the world, will also offer software solutions based on Apex.OS," said Jan Becker, CEO and Co-founder of Apex.AI. "We hope that this core software, which is a non-differentiating software for vehicle users, will become a standard in the automotive industry."

Middleware solutions from ZF

Among the ZF solutions for the software-defined vehicle, high-performance computers and software play a central role. In the electric and electronic architectures of the next generation vehicles, they will control all important functions and connect them with both the vehicle systems and the outside world.

ZF Middleware is an open software platform that acts as a 'mediator' between a vehicle computer's operating system and its software applications. Key functions of the middleware are the abstraction of the computer hardware from software applications and the communication between these applications. The actual software functions, such as autonomous driving functions, can then in turn be built on top of this middleware.

Highest functional safety standard

Apex.OS is a meta-operating system derived from the Robot Operation System (ROS), originally developed for robotics applications. Apex.AI has further developed this operating system for the automotive sector and gained ASIL D certification according to ISO 26262 functional safety standard for vehicles. As a result, this core software for high-performance automotive computers, including the associated software development kits, is readily available, thereby offering car manufacturers the option of deploying scarce human resources more in other areas that offer significant differentiation for the end customer. Apex.OS can be used in all types of vehicles, such as passenger cars, robotaxis, shuttles and commercial vehicles, and independent of their level of automation.

Alternative communication framework to Autosar Adaptive

Apex.OS is written in new standards of the C++ programming language, which enables a high reusability of individual building blocks. This approach is an alternative communication framework to the Adaptive Autosar standards widely used in the automotive industry. ZF can supply its customers with both approaches, depending on which variant the respective vehicle manufacturer prefers.

About ZF

ZF is a global technology company supplying systems for passenger cars, commercial vehicles and industrial technology, enabling the next generation of mobility. ZF allows vehicles to see, think and act. In the four technology domains of Vehicle Motion Control, Integrated Safety, Automated Driving, and Electric Mobility, ZF offers comprehensive product and software solutions for established vehicle manufacturers and newly emerging transport and mobility service providers. ZF electrifies a wide range of vehicle types. With its products, the company contributes to reducing emissions, protecting the climate and enhancing safe mobility.

In fiscal year 2020 ZF reported sales of 32.6 billion. The company employs more than 150,000 associates at approximately 270 locations in 42 countries.

For further press information and photos, please visit: www.zf.com

About Apex.AI

Apex.AI is a Palo Alto, Berlin, Stuttgart, and Munich-based company developing breakthrough safe, certified, developer-friendly, and scalable software for mobility systems. The company's flagship product is Apex.OS, a robust and reliable meta-operating system that enables faster and easier software development for vehicles and safer autonomous driving solutions. Their software development kit targets two main customer groups, the OEM developers who need to implement complex AI software integrated with the entire vehicle, and the autonomous driving developers who can now implement safety-critical applications with ease and reliability.

To access the Apex.AI media kit please visit https://www.apex.ai/media-kit

SOURCE ZF Group
MIRAMAR, Fla., Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Bright yellow planes will soon be flying into the Home of the Blues for the first time as Spirit Airlines (NYSE: SAVE) today announced the addition of Memphis to its route map, launching three daily, nonstop routes to Las Vegas (LAS) and Orlando (MCO) in April 2022, followed by Los Angeles (LAX) in June 2022. Memphis will be the second Tennessee airport Spirit serves following its entrance into Nashville in 2019.

"We're excited about serving Memphis because we think travelers in Western Tennessee and nearby states could use more high value flight options to popular leisure destinations," said John Kirby, Vice President of Network Planning at Spirit Airlines. "Also, Memphis is a vibrant community with so much to explore in music, food, culture and more for visitors looking for a rich experience.

Spirit Airlines Routes at MEM: Destination: Flights Available: Launch Date: Las Vegas (LAS) Daily April 20, 2022 Orlando (MCO) Daily April 20, 2022 Los Angeles (LAX) Daily June 8, 2022

"The arrival of Spirit Airlines at MEM provides our passengers with more low-cost travel options, and reflects our continued recovery from the pandemic," said Pace Cooper, Chairman of the Memphis-Shelby County Airport Authority Board of Commissioners. "These three new daily routes indicate that Spirit sees Memphis as a promising market and we look forward to their continued growth at MEM."

Spirit's Elevated Guest Experience

The arrival in Memphis arrives alongside Spirit's continuing commitment to invest in the Guest, which entails a number of initiatives aimed at delivering the best value in the sky.

Spirit's Fit Fleet is one of the most fuel-efficient fleets in the industry, with 24 brand new planes planned for delivery in 2022.

An all-new cabin interior with ergonomically-designed seats and more usable legroom, featuring the best deal in the sky with our unique Big Front Seat

Fast onboard Wi-Fi that allows Guests to watch content from streaming services**

Spirit's Signature Service

Recognition

Spirit continues to garner awards and recognition in 2021. Spirit is one of only three U.S. airlines listed on FORTUNE's 2021 list of World's Most Admired Companies, which measures companies with the strongest reputation within their industries. The carrier is a Gold Stevie Award winner for its groundbreaking self-bag drop system with biometric photo matching, which speeds the check-in process and reduces face-to-face contact. Spirit also earned "Platinum" status in the Airline Passenger Experience Association (APEX) Health Safety initiative powered by SimpliFlying.

Guest Safety

Spirit's commitment to Safe Travels includes enhanced cleaning, advanced air filtration and a health acknowledgement at check-in. Airlines and airports remain subject to federal law requiring Guests to wear an appropriate face covering at airports and on flights. Please visit Spirit's COVID-19 Information Center for more information on safety enhancements.

Photos and video available here.

About Spirit Airlines:

Spirit Airlines (NYSE: SAVE) is committed to delivering the best value in the sky. We are the leader in providing customizable travel options starting with an unbundled fare. This allows our Guests to pay only for the options they choose  like bags, seat assignments and refreshments  something we call A La Smarte. We make it possible for our Guests to venture further and discover more than ever before. Our Fit Fleet is one of the youngest and most fuel-efficient in the U.S. We serve destinations throughout the U.S., Latin America and the Caribbean, and are dedicated to giving back and improving those communities. Come save with us at spirit.com.

SOURCE Spirit Airlines, Inc.
CINCINNATI, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Standard Textile Co., Inc., a global textile manufacturing leader for the healthcare and hospitality markets, has been recognized as Strategic Programs Supplier of the Year by Vizient, Inc., the nation's largest member-driven health care performance improvement company. The recognition was announced at the 2021 Vizient Connections Education Summit, held Nov. 15-18.

The recognition honors the supplier that participates in a high level of committed offerings and supports Vizient members with significant programmatic rebates and savings. This recognition looks at the number of programs in which the supplier participates as well as the overall savings value the member receives in 2021.

"It's an honor to be recognized by Vizient as Strategic Programs Supplier of the Year," said Norman Frankel, Executive Vice President/Sales at Standard Textile. "I'm proud of our Standard Textile organization for stepping up to unprecedented challenges, adapting to changing conditions and elevating our efforts with a common purpose of serving our health care community."

"Congratulations to Standard Textile for being recognized as 2021 Strategic Programs Supplier of the Year. Collaboration and a commitment to service excellence is the foundational criteria for this recognition," said Simrit Sandhu, executive vice president, Vizient. "This acknowledgement honors their achievements in enabling Vizient's members to meet their organizational goals for supply chain efficiency and cost management."

About Standard Textile

Founded in 1940, Standard Textile has developed a culture of innovation, quality, and service. With more than 80 patents, its products are engineered to deliver durability, longevity, and value. A vertically integrated company, Standard Textile is a leading global provider of total solutions in the institutional textiles and apparel markets. Leveraging textile design, manufacturing, and laundry expertise, and its global infrastructure, this company serves customers in the healthcare, hospitality, interiors, and consumer markets worldwide. For more information visit standardtextile.com.

Contact:

Judy Sroufe

Vice President, Brand Marketing and Communications

Standard Textile

[email protected]

(513) 761-9256, ext. 2243

SOURCE Standard Textile
DOVER, Del., Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- SupraFin USA, Inc. has announced that it has released its Android app for the US market.

SupraFin hosted a cryptocurrency educational event in Los Angeles on Dec 12, 2021, where it announced the release of its Android App. Representatives of The Venture Accelerator at UCLA Anderson, among others, attended the event. The release of the android app follows SupraFin's successful release of its iOS app on Sep 15, 2021.

SupraFin event in Los Angeles.

SupraFin provides an intelligent app with institutional-like investment algorithms that assess the relative value of hundreds of cryptocurrencies and recommend the most appropriate as part of a diversified portfolio based on the client's risk profile preferences.

SupraFin's unique proposition: helping individuals invest like professionals.

There are many risks to consider when it comes to investing in cryptocurrencies. Most people are familiar with market risk, risk derived from losses due to adverse market movements. However, there are other risks to consider in an investment process because of market inefficiencies.

The SupraFin app helps its clients get greater exposure to higher long-term returns while minimizing risk. The investment algorithms behind the SupraFin app consider all types of risks, bring diversification, and target an investment horizon of one year or more.

The SupraFin app offers many benefits:

Simplicity: create a diversified portfolio of cryptocurrencies at a click of a button.

create a diversified portfolio of cryptocurrencies at a click of a button. Smart: create and manage a diversified portfolio of cryptocurrencies by leveraging risk models in the background.

create and manage a diversified portfolio of cryptocurrencies by leveraging risk models in the background. Diversification: get greater exposure to higher long-term returns while minimizing risk.

get greater exposure to higher long-term returns while minimizing risk.  Customization: create a diversified portfolio of cryptocurrencies (lower risk, medium risk, or higher risk) based on your risk preferences.

create a diversified portfolio of cryptocurrencies (lower risk, medium risk, or higher risk) based on your risk preferences. Liquidity: you can withdraw your cryptocurrencies at any time, and you can liquidate your portfolio at any time.

you can withdraw your cryptocurrencies at any time, and you can liquidate your portfolio at any time. Transparency: see the actual cryptocurrencies in your portfolio.

see the actual cryptocurrencies in your portfolio. Ongoing Monitoring: the app constantly monitors your portfolio and alerts you to rebalance your portfolio when the risks have changed.

the app constantly monitors your portfolio and alerts you to rebalance your portfolio when the risks have changed. Safe: store your cryptocurrencies securely.

store your cryptocurrencies securely. Financial Inclusion: start with as little as $100 .

Android users in the US interested in using the SupraFin app can download the app via the Google Play Store.

iOS app users in the US interested in using the SupraFin app can download the app via the Apple App Store.

About SupraFin USA, Inc.

SupraFin USA, Inc. (https://suprafin.io/) is a leading wealthtech platform for cryptocurrencies founded by professionals with more than 20 years of experience in cryptocurrencies, risk models, complex investment products, portfolio management, trading, and quantitative analysis from tier-one financial institutions such as JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley, and Bank of America, among others.

Media Contact:

Liliana Reasor

+19174888325

[email protected]

SOURCE SupraFin USA, Inc.
Placebell is an innovative predictive method that addresses the challenge of the placebo response in clinical trials. Tweet this

Placebell was selected as one of the most innovative products of 2021 as part of PM360's 10th annual Innovations Issue, which was published on December 13th as a guide to the most innovative companies, startups, divisions, products, services and strategies from the healthcare and life sciences industries.

PM360 received hundreds of submissions, and the publication's editorial staff selected the 52 most innovative, regardless of category. Within the product category, Placebell was one of 18 featured.

"This year saw many innovations in our industry, so having Placebell among the products selected by PM360 is a true honor" says Dominique Demolle, Ph.D., CEO of Tools4Patient. "We work with top pharma and biotech companies and CROs to help reduce drug development risk related to the placebo response using Placebell. Tools4Patient's portfolio of innovative solutions will continue to address key challenges to drug development."

About Tools4Patient

Tools4Patient, a Belgian startup company, began operation in 2014 after former colleagues of a big pharma company set out to tackle some of the most challenging issues that prevent drugs from reaching the marketplace. With the support of key opinion leaders of various disciplines, in the pharmaceutical and medical world, including renowned researchers at University of Sydney, Toulouse, INSERM and University of Liege, the company today offers a comprehensive set of solutions that tackle the overall clinical research value chain, from recruitment to data interpretation. Tools4Patient aims to accelerate patient access to new therapies to improve patients' lives by developing and commercializing methods and data analysis solutions focused on the unique patient characteristics that influence their response to treatment. The company's first technology is Placebell, which characterizes the placebo response of patients. Tools4Patient is financed by private investors and funds, including Sambrinvest and Innovation Fund. Learn more at www.tools4patient.com.

CONTACT: Patty Pologruto, [email protected]

SOURCE Tools4Patient
TUCSON, Ariz., Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The University of Arizona office of Continuing and Professional Education will join with the cannabis education company Green Flower to offer three new noncredit Cannabis Certificate Programs to help address workforce needs in the growing cannabis industry.

The certificate programs are: the Business of Cannabis, Cannabis Law and Policy, and Cannabis Healthcare and Medicine.

Each certificate includes three eight-week online courses, which participants can complete in approximately six months.

Green Flower, a leader in cannabis education, works with a number of colleges and universities across the U.S., including the University of New Mexico, Syracuse University and University of California, Riverside.

"We are delighted to partner with Green Flower to help learners gain skills necessary to be a professional in the burgeoning cannabis industry," said Craig Wilson, University of Arizona vice provost for online, distance and continuing education. "Understanding multiple viewpoints like business, law and policy, and health care and medicine as it relates to the cannabis industry will help our learners establish a solid foundation."

More than a decade ago, voters approved Proposition 203, which created Arizona's medical marijuana program. In 2020, voters passed Proposition 207, which legalized recreational cannabis consumption for adults 21 and over. A robust cannabis industry has emerged in the state, which has already generated over $150 million in tax revenue this year.

Along with this growth has come an increased demand for individuals trained in various aspects of the cannabis industry, ranging from retail to law to medical science. The new certificate programs will address this workforce need.

"Green Flower is honored to be working with the University of Arizona and in particular the office of Continuing and Professional Education," said Max Simon, CEO of Green Flower. "With new rules and licenses beginning to take effect, we applaud the leadership of the university for their foresight in wanting to offer certificate programs designed to prepare people for careers in what is now the fastest growing job market in the country."

According to the 2021 Leafly Jobs Report, the legal cannabis industry already supports over 321,000 jobs nationwide. Employment in the industry has grown 27.5% per year since 2017, significantly faster than many other jobs. Arizona is projected to surpass $1 billion in total annual cannabis sales this year.

"The changing laws have created a tremendous need for credible cannabis education, not just for producers and distributors, but also for health professionals, legal professionals, law enforcement and many others," said Rebecca Cook, director of UArizona Continuing and Professional Education, which offers non-credit professional development programs that help adult workers gain the knowledge and skills they need to achieve career success.

The certificate programs' courses will be taught by Green Flower instructors, who are subject matter experts in the cannabis industry and include cannabis entrepreneurs, board-certified physicians, attorneys and public policy specialists.

Cook said the instructors' depth of expertise is one of the reasons UArizona Continuing and Professional Education chose to collaborate with Green Flower.

"Our goal is to provide high-quality, relevant professional development opportunities that position our learners for professional success, and Green Flower's comprehensive cannabis education program meets that standard," she said.

The flexible, fully online Cannabis Certificate Programs are designed with busy adult learners in mind. The courses are delivered online in an asynchronous format, so participants don't need to be online at a specific time to complete their work.

Registration is now open for the programs, and the first cohort starts March 7. The cost for each certificate is $2,950. A $500 registration discount is available for the first cohort.

Media contact:

Bailey Wilson

Continuing and Professional Education

520-626-5091

[email protected]

SOURCE Green Flower
PHILADELPHIA, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- BizEquity, the largest provider of online business valuations, announced today that it will renew its successful two-year partnership with UBS Wealth Management USA for another two years. BizEquity offers its cloud-based valuation platform and prospecting database of privately held businesses to a select group of UBS Financial Advisors ("UBS FAs") in the US serving business owner clients.

Over the past two years, the platform and database has been a valuable resource to the firm's Business Owner Strategic Client Segment, which creates strategic messaging and intellectual capital for FAs advisors to use with their clients. Extending the partnership will continue to support the financial advice that UBS FAs can provide to small business owners. In particular, the informal valuation reports assist with critical financial planning needs that allows UBS clients to be more competitive in their respective industries.

"Our partnership with BizEquity has enabled our advisors to provide comprehensive financial advice to the business owner clients of UBS," said James Jack, Head Business Owner Strategic Client Segment at UBS. "Understanding the value of privately held businesses is a critical component to the planning process for our clients."

"We are excited to expand our relationship with UBS, as they have been a terrific partner. Their best-in-class advisors have helped thousands of business owners discover their value and make better financial decisions as a result," said Jason Early, Chief Revenue Officer at BizEquity. "With over $13.2 trillion of business owner wealth set to transition over the next decade, owners of private businesses need great advice, and this expanded partnership serves that mission."

Notes to Editors

About BizEquity

BizEquity is the leading fintech software company created to democratize business valuation knowledge for every business in the world. BizEquity has created the largest online business valuation cloud-based software product and service and the most business valuation data on businesses in the market today. BizEquity's patented platform is distributed through leading financial services firms such as TD Bank; UBS; PNC; Northwestern Mutual; Equitable; Goldman Sachs, and over 750 other financial services firms and over 4,000 advisors. BizEquity was acquired by ACBJ/Advance media in 2019 and now is able to provide financial services firms support to better reach business owner clients to help them discover their value. https://www.bizequity.com/.

About UBS

UBS provides financial advice and solutions to wealthy, institutional and corporate clients worldwide, as well as private clients in Switzerland. UBS is the largest truly global wealth manager, and a leading personal and corporate bank in Switzerland, with a large-scale and diversified global asset manager and a focused investment bank. The bank focuses on businesses that have a strong competitive position in their targeted markets, are capital efficient, and have an attractive long-term structural growth or profitability outlook. https://www.ubs.com.

SOURCE BizEquity
For more insights on the pet insurance market - Download Our Free Sample Report

The pet insurance market covers the following areas:

Pet Insurance Market - Drivers

Roughly two-thirds of American households have at least one pet, most of which are dogs. The need to own a pet in the US stems from the belief that pets positively contribute to human lives. Other nations, such as China, have come a long way in having pets, which was once considered illegal. Restrictions have now been lifted, resulting in a significant rise in the pet population in China. Brazil and India are also witnessing a significant increase in their pet populations. Pet insurance providers are therefore taking the growing population of pets worldwide into account to broaden their portfolio and develop pet-specific insurances. Thus, the rising pet population is expected to contribute to the growth of the global pet insurance market in the upcoming years.

Pet Insurance Market - Challenges

The low adoption in developing countries will be a major challenge for the pet insurance market during the forecast period. Several countries have strict regulations on keeping pets in terms of their security and health. For instance, countries like the US and the UK have strict regulations, which owners have to comply with, and the failure of which can lead to serious punishments. But countries, especially in the APAC, such as India, Sri Lanka, China, Indonesia, and the Philippines, do not have such strict regulations guiding the safety of pets. This is due to the lack of organizations and authorities to regulate these issues.

Pet Insurance Market - Segmentation

Technavio analyzes the market by segmentation by pet type (dogs, cats, and others) and geography (North America, Europe, APAC, South America, and MEA). The pet insurance market share growth by the dog segment will be significant during the forecast period. This report presents a detailed picture of the market by the way of study, synthesis, and summation of data from multiple sources by an analysis of key parameters.

Companies Mentioned

The pet insurance market is fragmented and the vendors are deploying various organic and inorganic growth strategies to compete in the market.

Agria Pet Insurance Ltd

Anicom Holdings Inc.

Dotsure Ltd.

Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd.

Hollard Insurance Co. Ltd

JAB Holding Co. Sarl

Oneplan Underwriting Managers (Pty) Ltd

Petplan Iberica S.L.

Porto Seguro Companhia de Seguros Gerais

WHITE MOUNTAINS INSURANCE GROUP LTD

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.

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Pet Insurance Market Scope Report Coverage Details Page number 120 Base year 2021 Forecast period 2022-2026 Growth momentum & CAGR Accelerate at a CAGR of 27.11% Market growth 2022-2026 USD 12.05 billion Market structure Fragmented YoY growth (%) 26.15 Regional analysis North America, Europe, APAC, South America, and MEA Performing market contribution North America at 59% Key consumer countries US, China, UK, France, and Germany Competitive landscape Leading companies, competitive strategies, consumer engagement scope Companies profiled Agria Pet Insurance Ltd, Anicom Holdings Inc., Dotsure Ltd., Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd., Hollard Insurance Co. Ltd, JAB Holding Co. Sarl, Oneplan Underwriting Managers (Pty) Ltd, Petplan Iberica S.L., Porto Seguro Companhia de Seguros Gerais, and WHITE MOUNTAINS INSURANCE GROUP 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 focuses 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
SEATTLE, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Washington Technology Industry Association (WTIA), a non-profit organization dedicated to fostering a robust, equity-centered technology sector that empowers thriving communities, today celebrates Code Fellows , Amperity and Outreach as the winners of its first annual DEI Awards . WTIA recognized these three Seattle-based companies for advancing diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) goals across their organizations.

"I'm incredibly proud to pay tribute to the hard work of Code Fellows, Amperity and Outreach today," said Yolanda Chase, Chief Diversity Officer, WTIA. "The impact of these three organizations goes far beyond their own four walls - they are paving the way for what the future of DEI programming can and should look like in all companies, of all sizes, everywhere."

Category: <50 Employees

Code Fellows, the Pacific Northwest's premier technical skills training academy, received the award for companies with fewer than 50 employees. To date, Code Fellows has allocated more than $4 million in scholarships to help over 1,600 students start careers in the tech industry, while the company's bias-free hiring platform allows employers to recruit and engage talented developers without revealing gender, race, and other identities to remove unintentional biases from hiring practices. Code Fellows also offers DEI-related monthly training for all staff.

"The simple truth is that technology is reshaping the modern world like nothing ever before seen. But who knows the tech well enough to set the direction in which we go? If we really want to see technology solve the most pressing problems of the future, we need a diverse technical workforce, supported by inclusive professional environments, with equitable power structures," said Brook Riggio, Vice President of Education, Code Fellows. "If we can ensure the future of technological power isn't just in the hands of a white elite, but made available to all, black and white, Latinx and indengenous, female, male, non-binary, queer and straight then we can address the most meaningful challenges of the current age."

Category: 51-250 Employees

Amperity, an enterprise customer data platform built for customer-centric brands, was honored in the 51-250 employees category, after meeting its recruitment goal of growing the company's overall representation of people of color by 10 percent and tracking toward its goal of a 10 percent increase in company-wide representation of women. Amperity also established a Diversity Committee to evolve company culture to become more inclusive, and ensured at least one woman, person of color, and/or LGBTQ+ individual be among the interviewers for every candidate.

"At Amperity, our people are our biggest advantage," said Kabir Shahani, co-founder and CEO of Amperity. "Fostering a culture where each team member can bring their unique and authentic self is not a secondary concern for us; it is a priority. A diverse, inclusive and equitable culture cannot grow by accident - it's a result of empowering employees and championing their values. We are honored to be recognized by the Washington Technology Industry Association and look forward to continuing our DE&I work."

Category: 251+ Employees

By embedding DEI principles into key people practices - including performance reviews and onboarding - sales engagement platform Outreach was recognized in the 251+ employees category. Outreach created a more inclusive culture through training and education, formed nine employee resource groups and established a DEI working council and charter. Further, the company updated its values statement with more inclusive language and partnered with diversity-focused recruiting and internship organizations to counter bias.

"Diversity is our strength  at Outreach as a company, in the technology and sales industries, as a country and as a global community," said Manny Medina, co-founder and CEO of Outreach. "Fostering a diverse, equitable and inclusive workplace has been a foundational principle for Outreach since day one. We want everyone to feel comfortable to come to work as their real selves every day. As a Latino founder who immigrated from Ecuador, it's something I think about every single day. Not only is advancing DEI the right thing to do, but as we build our company and leadership team we are realizing significant value in having different points of view at the table. It's an honor to be recognized by the Washington Technology Industry Association, and we look forward to inviting and empowering an even more diverse workforce in the future."

Code Fellows, Amperity and Outreach were celebrated at the first annual WTIA DEI Summit , which convened C-suite, diversity, HR and community engagement leaders in the tech industry to share best practices and lessons learned in advancing diversity objectives during a time of increased awareness and accountability to racial justice. The event also commemorated the first year of WTIA's efforts to eradicate systems of inequities in the tech sector, led by the Anti-Racism in Tech Pact . WTIA staff reviewed nominations based on the strength of their responses to questions, focusing on detail, explication of measurable goals, and impact, as measured by reported engagement, etc.

About WTIA

The Washington Technology Industry Association (WTIA) is a consortium that includes a not-for-profit member trade association, a not-for-profit tech apprenticeship intermediary (Apprenti), and a for profit corporation providing business services (HRBI). The organization's mission is to foster a robust, equity-centered technology sector that empowers thriving communities. We recruit technology companies and allies that view diversity as a competitive advantage, value collaboration as essential to sustainable growth, and fully embrace the opportunity to partner with and empower the communities in which we operate.

SOURCE Washington Technology Industry Association
WASHINGTON, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Women Business Collaborative (WBC) has established itself as the leading collaborative and high-growth movement committed to achieving equal position, pay and power for all women in business. Founded in 2019, the nonprofit alliance of business organizations and leaders has grown to include more than 60+ women's organizations, 40 corporate sponsors and 400+ Council Champions.

WBC's vast network of business organizations and leaders are focused on achieving long-term results around Nine Action Initiatives, including: more women CEOs, in the C-Suite and on Boards; a demand for gender and pay parity; increasing capital for women entrepreneurs; driving more women as controllers of capital allocation; parity for women in technology; and leveraging learning and development to drive pipeline promotions. With diversity, equity and inclusion at of the core of the collaborative's mission, every WBC Initiative has a goal to advance diversity.

Since WBC's founding, the number of collaborating women's business organizations has grown from 19 to 62 and corporate sponsorship has grown from five to nearly 40 top companies. Supporters include Diversified Search Group, Wells Fargo, Capital One, IBM, Bank of America, BCG, Cigna, and Deloitte. WBC's flagship Summit hosted a record 3,600 participants this past September.

"We're incredibly thankful for the passion and commitment that each of our partners and champions offer to this critical movement," said Edie Fraser, CEO of WBC. "While Boards have seen a sea change and there's been a major surge of women-owned and minority-owned businesses seeking capital, there is still much more to be done to accelerate gender parity for women. We project further acceleration in 2022."

In 2021 the WBC with Catalyst, C200 and Ascend released the 2nd annual Women CEOs in America Report. According to the report, women comprise 8.2% of the Fortune 500 companies and are about 7% of CEOs across public and private companies. WBC monthly Women Joining Public Boards report shows an average of 42% women being named to public boards and one third of these women of color.

Follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter @WBCollaborative, Instagram @womenbusinesscollaborative and join the discussion with #WBCFasterTogether.

About Women Business Collaborative

The Women Business Collaborative (WBC) is an unprecedented alliance of 60+ women's business organizations and hundreds of business leaders building a movement to achieve Equal Position, Pay, and Power for All Women in Business. Through collaboration, advocacy, action, and accountability, we mobilize thousands of diverse professional women and men, business organizations, public and private companies to accelerate change. For more information visit www.wbcollaborative.org.

SOURCE Women Business Collaborative
ALBANY, N.Y., Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The significant rise in the production of ceramics for several consumer goods such as tiles, tableware, cookware, mugs, and sanitary ware fuels the growth of the wollastonite market. Wollastonite has several other applications such as in paints & coatings, metallurgy, plastics, rubber manufacturing, and friction products wherein it used as a substitute for short-fiber asbestos.

Wollastonite is replete with mechanical properties. Wollastonite is resistant to chemical attacks and remains stable at high temperatures. Wollastonite improves flexural and tensile strength; thus, it serves as an ideal substitute for asbestos in plastics, roofing tiles, and friction devices.

Asia Pacific is at the forefront among other key regions in the wollastonite market. China is the leading contributor to the wollastonite market in the region with a substantial demand from the construction and automotive end-use industries. Asia Pacific wollastonite market is projected to expand at a CAGR of 8.39%, which is close to the growth rate of the overall market estimated at 8.79% during the forecast period (2021  2031).

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Wollastonite Market  Key Findings of Report

Unique Functional Properties Boost Adoption

Wollastonite mainly occurs as prismatic crystals displaying unique characteristics that divide into massive-to-acicular fragments. The advanced processing of wollastonite has led to its use as one of the most versatile functional fillers among its counterparts.

Wollastonite exhibits properties to improve its physical properties, dispersion of resin, and advanced processing. The optimum performance of wollastonite can be attained by accurately matching the suitable coupling agent at the right concentration to the polymer system.

Wollastonite is also formed by the crystallization from molten rock with very high carbon content. Whist wollastonite is largely inert it dissolves in concentrated hydrochloric acid. Nonetheless, it does not react with other components of manufactured products during and after the production process.

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The brightness of commercial-grade wollastonite is 85%-90% that of brightness standards of barium sulphate and magnesium oxide. Due to this property, wollastonite has minimum influence on the color of the product and thus, can be used as a white pigment.

This collectively accounts for wollastonite to be a preferred mineral for industrial applications.

Multiple End-use Applications Continues to Stir Demand

The multiple uses and high efficiency of wollastonite continue to create lucrative opportunities in the wollastonite market. Wollastonite is adopted by the automotive industry, as it increases the dimensional stability, shock resistance, and strength of automotive parts even if they are light. Besides this, wollastonite increases the scratch resistance of components and forms weld line strength.

For applications in electrical and electronic components such as electrical connectors and computer installations, wollastonite strengthens insulating properties and fire resistance.

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In paints and coatings, superior grade wollastonite imparts anti-cracking, versatility, shock resistance, mechanical reinforcement, and gloss control due to their varying morphology and hardness.

Wollastonite is a desired alternative to asbestos for thermal insulation for its crystal structure and physical properties that remain stable at temperatures as high as 1,120 C.

Wollastonite Market  Growth Drivers

Extensive applications of wollastonite in a large number of products across several end-use industries fuel the growth of the wollastonite market

Wollastonite is replete with physical and mechanical properties to make it desired for use in thermal insulation applications

Wollastonite Market  Key Players

Some of the key players operating in the wollastonite market are Nordkalk corporation, ACBM JSC, Canadian Wollastonite, Lishu Dadingshan Wollastonite Co. Ltd., Jilin Shanwei Wollastonite Mining Co. Ltd., Wolkem, Imerys S.A., Vanderbilt Holding Corporation Inc., Xinyu South Wollastonite Co. Ltd, and Changxing Earth New Type of Material Co. Ltd.

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The wollastonite market is segmented as follows;

Wollastonite Market, by Application

Ceramics

Plastic & Rubber Manufacturing

Paints & Coatings

Metallurgical Application

Friction Products

Concrete Manufacturing

Others (Synthetic Bone Implants)

Wollastonite Market, by Region

North America

U.S.



Canada

Europe

Germany



France



U.K.



Norway



Russia & CIS

& CIS

Rest of Europe

Asia Pacific

China



India



Oceania



ASEAN



Rest of Asia Pacific

Latin America

Brazil



Mexico



Rest of Latin America

Middle East & Africa

& GCC Countries



North Africa



South Africa



Rest of Middle East & Africa

Chemicals & Materials Industry battles Tangible Impact of Economic and Cultural changes, Explore Transparency Market Research's award-winning coverage of the global Chemicals & Materials Market:

Ceramic Nanocomposites Market - https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/ceramic-nanocomposites-market.html

Brushable Ceramic Coatings Market - https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/brushable-ceramic-coatings-market.html

Ceramic Armor Materials Market - https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/ceramic-armor-materials-market.html

About Transparency Market Research

Transparency Market Research is a global market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. Our experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyse information.



Our data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts, so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With a broad research and analysis capability, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques in developing distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.

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SOURCE Transparency Market Research
NEW YORK, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Athena Technology Acquisition Corp. II (NYSE: ATEK.U) ("Athena Technology II" or the "Company"), a newly incorporated blank check company, announced today the appointments of Sharon Brown-Hruska, Judith Rodin and Randi Zuckerberg to its Board of Directors. They join Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Isabelle Freidheim and President and Director Kirthiga Reddy on the Board of the all-women special purpose acquisition company (SPAC).

"We are pleased to welcome Judith, Randi and Sharon to the Athena board of directors," said Freidheim. "This is the third Athena SPAC architected with market leading talent, access to capital and transaction experience to facilitate access to the equity capital markets for a leading company. Athena Technology II builds on the strength of the Athena network  with over 20 CXOs who are now part of the Athena family  and adds expertise to further accelerate sourcing, diligence and value-creation."

Athena Technology II is the third all-women SPAC founded by Freidheim this year. In March 2021, she launched Athena Technology Acquisition Corp. (NYSE: ATHN), which was the first all-women SPAC to announce a business combination, and in October she took Athena Consumer Acquisition Corp. (NYSE: ACAQ.UN) public.

Judith Rodin, who also serves as a director of Athena Technology Acquisition Corp., brings extensive leadership experience and public company board experience to her role with Athena Technology II. Dr. Rodin served as the President of The Rockefeller Foundation, which supports efforts to combat global social, economic, health and environmental challenges, from 2005 to 2017. From 1994 to 2004, Dr. Rodin served as the President of the University of Pennsylvania, as well as a professor of psychology and of medicine and psychiatry at the prestigious university. Before that, Dr. Rodin chaired the Department of Psychology at Yale University, and also served as the dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and provost and served as a faculty member at the university for 22 years. In addition to her roles with Athena SPAC, Dr. Rodin serves on the boards of Prodigy, Portfolia and Laureate Education. Her prior public company governance experience includes Comcast Corporation, American Airlines Group (formerly known as AMR Corporation) and Citigroup Inc. Dr. Rodin earned a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania and a Ph.D. in Psychology from Columbia University.

Randi Zuckerberg is an entrepreneur, investor, bestselling author, award-winning producer and founder and CEO of Zuckerberg Media. Passionate about the intersection of tech and media, Randi was an early employee at Facebook where she was the creator of Facebook Live. Through her company, Zuckerberg Media, she has created award-winning content and experiences that educate families and bring to light issues around digital literacy and safety. She is the best-selling author of four books, producer of multiple television shows and theater productions, and hosts a weekly radio show on SiriusXM. Zuckerberg currently works with more than 20 early and mid-stage companies as an investor and advisor. In addition to her role on Athena Technology II, Zuckerberg serves on the board of The Motley Fool, Go Noodle, and Life360. She is a graduate of Harvard University.

Sharon Brown-Hruska, PhD has over three decades of experience in public policy, leadership and administration. Currently, Dr. Brown-Hruska is principal of Hruska Economics, LLC, where she works with non-profit entities, associations, corporate clients, and government to facilitate practical and market-based solutions to social and economic challenges. She also serves on the advisory board of crowdsourced database ten12. Prior to that, she served as Chief Economist of the U.S. Department of State from 2019 to 2021 and, from 2002 to 2006, as Commissioner of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission. In addition to her public service, she was Managing Director and Partner in the Global Securities and Finance Practice of National Economic Research Associates from 2006 until 2019 and a Professor at Tulane University A.B. Freeman School of Business from 2012 until 2016. She has prior public company board experience, having served as a director of MarketAxess Holdings. Dr. Brown-Hruska received a PhD in 1994, an MA in economics in 1988, and a BA in economics and international in 1993 from Virginia Tech.

In addition to the strength of the management team and Board of Directors, Athena has attracted an experienced team of Advisors, which includes Trier Bryant, Minneola Ingersoll, Dolly Singh, Andrea Tarbox and Wei Zhang.

To learn more about Athena Technology II, its leadership and advisory teams, please visit www.athenaspac.com.

About Athena Technology Acquisition Corp. II

The Company was formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses. While the Company may pursue an initial business combination target in any industry, it currently intends to concentrate its search for a target business operating in the technology sector.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains statements that constitute "forward-looking statements.". No assurance can be given that the offering discussed above will be completed on the terms described, or at all, or that the net proceeds of the offering will be used as indicated. Forward-looking statements are subject to numerous conditions, many of which are beyond the control of the Company, including those set forth in the Risk Factors section of the Company's registration statement and prospectus for the Company's offering filed with the SEC. Copies of these documents are available on the SEC's website, www.sec.gov. The Company undertakes no obligation to update these statements for revisions or changes after the date of this release, except as required by law.

Contacts

Isabelle Freidheim

Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board

c/o Athena Technology Acquisition Corp. II

442 5th Avenue

New York, NY 10018

Telephone: (970) 925-1572

Media Contact

Jacalyn Lawton

Lambert & Co.

Mobile: (918) 916-1905

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE Athena Technology Acquisition Corp. II
SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Xoxoday today announced the recognition of its Xoxoday Plum Rewards and Incentives offering as a spotlight solution on SAP Store. Originally published on SAP Store in 2019, Xoxoday Plum's status as a spotlight solution was awarded based on its strong performance and customer support. Integrated with SAP SuccessFactors Compensation, the Xoxoday Plum solution helps businesses that use SAP technologies create a gratifying rewards redemption experience to engage and delight their employees. Xoxoday Plum also helps them gain immediate value and ROI from investments into SAP solutions.

"The recognition of Xoxoday Plum as a spotlight solution on SAP Store has come at an exciting time for us  during the festival season," said Manoj Agarwal, co-founder, Xoxoday Plum. "We have already seen an increased velocity in our pipelines and we are looking forward to a very fruitful partnership with SAP."

One of the biggest business challenges companies face is addressing the gaps in implementing a reward program customized to employee preferences. It can be cumbersome to keep the programs exciting and the rewards catalog fresh and appealing while facilitating reward redemption across multiple vendors.

Xoxoday Plum acts as the interface of redemption and offers a global catalog of over 21,000 rewards from over 20+ different categories across 75+ countries. It supports multilingual and multi-currency redemption that enables multi-admin functionalities from one account for all locations. Xoxoday Plum also easily integrates with any pre-existing rewards and recognition program.

The Xoxoday Plum solution is one of the few global spotlight solutions on SAP Store, and with this status, it also provides Xoxoday with additional support from SAP. Notably, Xoxoday has acquired ten new customers in the short time since its offering has become a spotlight solution, including Kennametal, Nestle, and Alstom, with an additional 30 in the pipeline.

Click here to know more about Xoxoday.

Any statements in this release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties described in SAP's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including its most recent annual report on Form 20-F, that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations. SAP cautions readers not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements which SAP has no obligation to update and which speak only as of their dates.

SAP and other SAP products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP SE in Germany and other countries. Please see https://www.sap.com/copyright for additional trademark information and notices. All other product and service names mentioned are the trademarks of their respective companies.

SOURCE Xoxoday
Key Market Dynamics:

Market Driver

Market Challenges

The increasing demand for coatings in the automotive sector and the advent of innovative chemical distribution channels are some of the key market drivers. However, factors such as harmful effects on the environment and human health will challenge market growth. The holistic analysis of the drivers & challenges will help in deducing end goals and refining marketing strategies to gain a competitive edge.

To learn about additional key drivers, trends, and challenges available with Technavio. Read our FREE Sample Report right now!

The isobutanol market report is segmented by Application (solvent, intermediate for glycol ethers and esters, textiles, and others) and Geography (APAC, Europe, North America, MEA, and South America). The market research report entails detailed information on the competitive intelligence, marketing gaps, segmentation, and regional opportunities in store for vendors, which will assist in creating efficient business plans.

View our sample report for additional insights into the contribution of all the segments, and regional opportunities in the report.

Some Companies Mentioned with their Offerings

The isobutanol market is concentrated and the vendors are deploying various organic and inorganic growth strategies to compete in the market.

BASF SE - The company offers, isobutanol which is colorless, the mobile solvent of medium volatility which is used as feedstock for syntheses.

The company offers, isobutanol which is colorless, the mobile solvent of medium volatility which is used as feedstock for syntheses.

Dow Inc. - The company offers Isobutanol which is used as lubricant additives, automotive coatings, infrastructure coatings, and others.

The company offers Isobutanol which is used as lubricant additives, automotive coatings, infrastructure coatings, and others.

Eastman Chemical Co. - The company offers Eastman Isobutanol which is a medium boiling, slow evaporating, colorless liquid that is useful in organic synthesis, as a chemical intermediate, and as a solvent in coating applications.

The company offers Eastman Isobutanol which is a medium boiling, slow evaporating, colorless liquid that is useful in organic synthesis, as a chemical intermediate, and as a solvent in coating applications.

INEOS Group Holdings SA - The company offers n-Butano and 2-Ethyl Hexanol under oxo-alcohols which is used as solvent featuring excellent reactivity as a chemical intermediate in the manufacturing of acrylic monomers and plasticizers.

The company offers n-Butano and 2-Ethyl Hexanol under oxo-alcohols which is used as solvent featuring excellent reactivity as a chemical intermediate in the manufacturing of acrylic monomers and plasticizers.

Mitsubishi Chemical Corp.. - The company offers Isobutanol which is used as a raw material for coating resins, Isobutyl acrylate, paint thinners, and others. On the other hand, it is widely used as a solvent because many organic materials are soluble in it.

The company offers Isobutanol which is used as a raw material for coating resins, Isobutyl acrylate, paint thinners, and others. On the other hand, it is widely used as a solvent because many organic materials are soluble in it. To gain access to more vendor profiles with their key offerings available with Technavio, Click Here

Related Reports:

Ethylene Carbonate Market -The ethylene carbonate market share is expected to increase by USD 105.97 million from 2020 to 2025, and the market's growth momentum will accelerate at a CAGR of 6.56%. Download a free sample now!



Dioctyl Terephthalate Market -The dioctyl terephthalate market share is expected to increase by USD 451.63 million from 2021 to 2026, and the market's growth momentum will accelerate at a CAGR of 4.08%. Download a free sample now!

Isobutanol Market Scope Report Coverage Details Page number 120 Base year 2021 Forecast period 2022-2026 Growth momentum & CAGR Accelerate at a CAGR of 5.20% Market growth 2022-2026 USD 327.91 million Market structure Concentrated YoY growth (%) 4.40 Regional analysis APAC, Europe, North America, MEA, and South America Performing market contribution APAC at 38% Key consumer countries US, China, Germany, India, and Canada Competitive landscape Leading companies, competitive strategies, consumer engagement scope Companies profiled BASF SE, Dow Inc., Eastman Chemical Co., Formosa Plastics Corp., Gevo Inc., INEOS Group Holdings SA, Mitsubishi Chemical Corp., OQ SAOC, Perstorp Holding AB, and Sasol 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.

Key Topics Covered:

Executive Summary

Market Landscape

Market Sizing

Five Forces Analysis

Market Segmentation

Customer landscape

Geographic Landscape

Vendor Landscape

Vendor Analysis

Appendix

About Us

Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focuses 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 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

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PARK RIDGE, Ill., Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- (AANA) Healthcare providers, including Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs), will continue to receive resources to care for some of the most vulnerable patients with President Biden signing the bipartisan Protecting Medicare and American Farmers from Sequester Cuts Act to postpone cuts to Medicare reimbursements for healthcare providers.



"The American Association of Nurse Anesthesiology (AANA) applauds the signing of this bill that recognizes the financial impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on many healthcare facilities and providers," said AANA President Dina F. Velocci, DNP, CRNA, APRN. "CRNAs across the country continue to courageously step up to the challenge of caring for patients. By signing this legislation, President Biden prevents further burdening of our nation's heroes and helps ensure that healthcare facilities remain open to serve populations most in need."

Since 2013, Medicare spending has been subject to sequestrationa process that enacts automatic, across-the-board reductions in Medicare payments to all healthcare providers by up to 2%.

In addition to delaying sequestration reductions, the bill provides a one-year increase in the Medicare physician fee schedule of 3% to support health professionals in adjusting to changes in the Medicare physician fee schedule during 2022. Plus, it stops automatic across-the-board cuts to Medicare, farm programs, social services, student loans, resources for students and individuals with disabilities, among other programs, through 2022.

The healthcare legislation also includes the Dr. Laura Breen Health Care Providers Protection Act. This bill aims to reduce and prevent suicide, burnout and mental and behavioral health conditions among health care professionals. The Breen bill includes training grants, funding for awareness campaigns, and money for treatment.

"By current estimates, 35% to 54% of nurses and physicians in the United States report symptoms of burnout, which can lead to high turnover, costly labor disputes, and impact the quality of patient care and patient satisfaction," said Velocci. "The AANA is pleased to see our nation's leaders recognize the stress and fatigue healthcare professionals are experiencing and taking steps to provide the resources to allow us to care for ourselves so we can best care for our patients."

CRNAs are licensed as independent practitioners who plan and deliver anesthesia, pain management, and related care to patients of all health complexities. In 1986, CRNAs became the first nursing specialty accorded direct reimbursement rights from Medicare. As advanced practice registered nurses, CRNAs are uniquely trained to provide critical care, anesthesia, airway, and ventilation management expertise, making them one of the most highly valuable and sought-after healthcare providers during the pandemic.



SOURCE American Association of Nurse Anesthesiology
LOS ANGELES and SOLNA, Sweden and SHANGHAI, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- ACELYRIN, INC., Affibody AB, and Inmagene Biopharmaceuticals, today announced that a 16-week, global, Phase 2 clinical trial of izokibep in patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA) met its primary endpoint in a pre-specified interim analysis.

The double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase 2 clinical trial, designed and conducted by Affibody AB, evaluated the safety and efficacy of izokibep dosed 80 mg every two weeks (Q2W) or 40 mg Q2W, versus placebo Q2W, in adult patients with active PsA. The interim analysis primary endpoint was ACR50 at 16 weeks. No new safety issues were identified.

"There are now two positive Phase 2 trials with izokibep, one in PsA and one in psoriasis, both demonstrating the safety and efficacy of izokibep and highlighting its potential as a therapeutic across multiple IL-17 driven diseases," said Paul Peloso, MD, chief medical officer (CMO) of ACELYRIN. "We look forward to the trial continuation and presenting results in a future scientific forum."

"Psoriatic arthritis is a painful and debilitating inflammatory disease of the peripheral joints, skin, and nails, and can also involve the spine. We are pleased this Phase 2 trial met its primary endpoint while also confirming the safety of izokibep," commented Prof. Nikolai Brun, CMO of Affibody.

"This is an important milestone to the overall advancement of izokibep," said Jean-Louis Saillot, MD, chief development officer of Inmagene. "We look forward to working closely with our partners ACELYRIN and Affibody to advance the global programs targeting multiple autoimmune indications."

More than 300 patients have been exposed to izokibep to date, many for up to three years. The interim PsA Phase 2 trial data confirm the safety profile of izokibep and support the strategy of fully evaluating IL-17A inhibition in pursuit of transformative efficacy across many disease states.

ACELYRIN holds worldwide rights to izokibep except development and commercialization by Inmagene in selected Asian countries, including China, Hong Kong, Macau, South Korea, and Taiwan, and excluding Japan, and commercialization by Affibody in the Nordic countries.

About izokibep

Izokibep is a unique, antibody mimetic, interleukin-17A (IL-17A) inhibitor designed to overcome the limitations of monoclonal antibodies. With extraordinary potency and small molecular size, izokibep can reach high drug exposure levels through a single, subcutaneous injection that monoclonal antibodies require IV administration to achieve. In addition, the small size of izokibepabout a tenth the size of a monoclonal antibodyalso enables its potential to reach targeted tissues that may otherwise be inaccessible to the much larger monoclonal antibodies.

About Psoriatic Arthritis

Psoriatic arthritis (PsA) is a chronic, immune-mediated inflammatory musculoskeletal condition affecting the peripheral joints, the skin (with psoriasis), the nails, and in approximately 30 percent of individuals, the spine. Left under-treated, PsA leads to chronic joint pain, swelling, and damage with a high potential for permanent disability. Psoriatic arthritis pathology is dominated by pro-inflammatory T-helper (Th-17) cells that lead to over expression of IL-17, IL-23, and TNF cytokines.

About ACELYRIN

ACELYRIN, INC. is a biopharma company focused on providing patients life-changing new treatment options by identifying, acquiring, and accelerating development and commercialization of promising drug candidates and leveraging its expertise to rapidly advance these medicines to patients. For more information, please visit www.acelyrin.com

About Affibody

Affibody AB is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company with a broad product pipeline focused on developing innovative bi- and multi-specific next generation biopharmaceuticals based on its unique proprietary technology platforms: Affibody molecules and Albumod. Affibody AB is a holding of Patricia Industries. For more information, please visit www.affibody.com

About Inmagene

Inmagene Biopharmaceuticals, with wholly owned subsidiaries in San Diego, Shanghai, Hangzhou, and Sydney, is a leading biotech company focused on immunology-related therapeutic areas. Believing in "borderless innovation," the Inmagene team integrates efficient resources worldwide to develop drugs for patients globally. Inmagene is operating twelve "Smart Innovation" programs to create and develop novel drug candidates for the global market. For more information, please visit www.inmagenebio.com.

Disclaimer

This press release contains forward-looking statements. While ACELYRIN, INC., Affibody AB, and Inmagene Biopharmaceuticals consider the projections to be based on reasonable assumptions, these forward-looking statements may be called into question by a number of hazards and uncertainties, so that actual results may differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements.

SOURCE ACELYRIN
PHOENIX, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Advisor Group, the nation's largest network of independent wealth management firms, congratulated three of its affiliated financial advisors on their recognition by Invest in Others (IiO) Charitable Foundation of Andover, Mass., for their long-term commitment to charitable work, while commending six others for service to their communities. Advisor Group recognized the advisors at the 10th annual ConnectED conference, a hybrid event held in October.

Larry Agee, Amy Doherty, and Ferdinand Garcia each received significant grants as part of IiO's flagship program, the 15th annual Invest in Others Awards, to continue their journey of influencing positive change. IiO is a non-profit that furthers the charitable work of financial advisors, partnering with more than 525 charities and donating more than $4 million to various causes since its founding in 2006. Advisor Group's network includes FSC Securities, Royal Alliance Associates, SagePoint Financial, Securities America, Triad Advisors and Woodbury Financial Services.

SagePoint Financial professional named winner of IiO Volunteer of the Year Award

Kenneth Lawrence "Larry" Agee, a SagePoint advisor from Lake Charles, La.-based Agee Financial, received a $50,000 grant from IiO. Mr. Agee was declared winner of IiO's 2021 Volunteer of the Year Award. He is the co-founder of Disaster Aid USA, which has to date served more than 300,000 people in the U.S. and abroad, providing relief after floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes and war.

Desiree Sii, President and CEO of SagePoint Financial, said, "We congratulate Larry on a well-deserved award for all the amazing work he has accomplished. We are immensely proud you are a member of the SagePoint family."

Royal Alliance professional named IiO Catalyst Award finalist

Amy Doherty, an advisor with Royal Alliance and Practice Manager of Needham Heights, Mass.-based Centinel Financial Group, was named a finalist for IiO's 2021 Catalyst Award for her work with Wellstrong, Inc., which she founded and serves as its Executive Director.

IiO recognizes Ms. Doherty's efforts through Wellstrong to help those struggling with substance abuse issues and has awarded her a $20,000 grant to support her efforts. Her work has impacted the lives of more than 1,500 people.

Dmitry Goldin, President and CEO of Royal Alliance, said, "Amy has created positive change in the lives of people with a focus on recuperating their physical and emotional health. Congratulations, Amy, for your deeply deserved recognition. The Royal Alliance family is proud of you."

Woodbury Financial professional named finalist for IiO Lifetime Achievement Award

Ferdinand "Ferd" Garcia, a Woodbury advisor with San Francisco, Calif.-based Ferd Garcia Wealth Management, received a $20,000 grant from IiO, which will go toward supporting the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, a community organization founded more than 30 years ago in response to the AIDS pandemic. Mr. Garcia was named one of three finalists for IiO's 2021 Lifetime Achievement Award.

Rick Fergesen, President and CEO of Woodbury Financial, said, "Ferd has made it his personal mission to help eliminate the stigma regarding HIV and has served the Foundation as a volunteer, advocate and fundraiser. Congratulations, Ferd, on a richly deserved recognition."

These other advisors, recipients of an IiO Community Service Grant, a recognition made possible by a partnership between Advisor Group and IiO, each also received $10,000 in grant funding for charities at which they volunteer:

Jyoti Gujral , affiliated with FSC Securities, recognized for her work with Blossoms for Pink, a nonprofit in Reston, Va. , which provides financial support for women undergoing breast cancer treatment. This grant will support the organizations' Go Green for Pink event to raise much-needed funds for women in treatment.

Talon Webb , affiliated with Royal Alliance Associates, honored for his work with Bloom Syndrome Association, which supports families with children with a rare genetic syndrome. This grant will help fund a conference that will bring together families, medical professionals, and researchers with the goal of stimulating research that leads to longer, healthier lives.

David Harrison , affiliated with SagePoint Financial, recognized for his work with CityHeart Corporation in Dayton, Ohio , which offers assistance to the homeless population. This grant will provide direct financial support for rent and utilities to low-income working families at risk of losing their homes.

Ronald Eckloff , affiliated with Securities America, honored for his volunteerism with the Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) organization serving two counties in the state of Nebraska . This grant will help CASA recruit and train 20 new volunteers in order to serve every child with an open abuse or neglect case in the two counties.

Julie Krehbiel , affiliated with Triad Advisors, recognized for work with women recovering from poverty, addiction and abuse with Wooden It Be Lovely in Springfield, Ill. This grant will go toward recovery resources and educational support for women completing GEDs.

Jonathan Twidwell , affiliated with Woodbury Financial Services, whose work has enabled young adults with developmental disabilities to find meaningful employment. The grant will go toward the purchase of a vehicle for a program of Inclusion Connections  PawsAbilities  in Olathe, Kansas .

Greg Cornick, Advisor Group's President, Advice and Wealth Management, said, "We are pleased that the tireless dedication of Advisor Group's affiliated advisors has been recognized by the Invest in Others Charitable Foundation. Larry, Amy, and Ferd's commitment to service and community reflects our industry's pledge to uplift the communities where we are honored to work and serve. Other professionals, including Jyoti, Talon, David, Ronald, Julie and Jonathan, show what it means to make a difference in the lives of many. Advisor Group's support remains steadfast for advisors taking meaningful action and serving as models of community leadership."

About Advisor Group

Advisor Group, Inc. is the nation's largest network of independent wealth management firms, serving approximately 10,100 financial professionals and overseeing over $475 billion in client assets. The firm is mission-driven to support the strategic role that advisors can play in the lives of their clients. Cultivating a spirit of entrepreneurship and independence, Advisor Group champions the enduring value of financial professionals and is committed to being in their corner every step of the way. For more information visit https://www.advisorgroup.com.

Securities and investment advisory services are offered through the firms: FSC Securities Corporation, Royal Alliance Associates, Inc., SagePoint Financial, Inc., Triad Advisors, LLC, and Woodbury Financial Services, Inc., broker-dealers, registered investment advisers, and members of FINRA and SIPC. Securities are offered through Securities America, Inc., a broker-dealer and member of FINRA and SIPC. Advisory services are offered through Arbor Point Advisors, LLC, Ladenburg Thalmann Asset Management, Inc., Securities America Advisors, Inc., and Triad Hybrid Solutions, LLC, registered investment advisers. Advisory programs offered by FSC Securities Corporation, Royal Alliance Associates, Inc., SagePoint Financial, Inc., and Woodbury Financial Services, Inc., are sponsored by VISION2020 Wealth Management Corp., an affiliated registered investment adviser. Advisor Group, Inc. is an affiliate of these firms. 20 E. Thomas Rd., Ste. 2000, Phoenix, AZ, 85012. 866.481.0379.

Media Inquiries

Joseph Kuo / Chris Clemens

Haven Tower Group

[email protected] or [email protected]

424 317 4851 or 424 317 4854

SOURCE Advisor Group
NEW YORK, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Since FINRA has given firms the green light to use the cloud, the big question then becomes: can a cloud platform like Microsoft 365, using its built-in compliance tools meet 17a-4? In other words, can you configure it to prevent the deleting and modifying of emails on exchange, data on OneDrive/SharePoint, Teams chats, then retain it for 7 yrs., and finally will Microsoft act as the FINRA D3P, supply the two attestation letters and perform the required functions as a D3P?

Microsoft 365 Retention Policies Don't Meet 17a-4

According to a popular white paper by Cohasset Associates, FINRA firms can use the built in Microsoft 365 retention policies (when properly configured and carefully applied and managed) to meet SEC rule 17a-4. But what actually happens to your data when you apply a 365 retention policy to it? You'll be surprised to find out that Microsoft  despite what you read - has completely missed the mark on 17a-4 compliance.

"I tested an exchange on-line retention policy in Microsoft 365 to retain my emails for 17a-4 and immediately noticed that it doesn't actually store data in a non-rewritable format, it just moved my messages to the archive items in Outlook, which I could delete, this isn't going to fly with FINRA." Said Allan Lonz, President of AdvisorVault. "Also, I had to take an extra step and apply a PowerShell command to my 17a-4 retention policy to set a preservation lock on it, otherwise I could simply delete it which made it no longer compliant" Lonz added.

But, even if you do properly configure the retention policies, you'll also need to get the two FINRA D3P attestation letters from Microsoft. Good luck: there's no one at Microsoft to call about the D3P letters, and if you google "Microsoft FINRA 17a-4 D3P letters" you get a very strange document explaining the capability of Microsoft 365 to support organisations in meeting their obligations under the New Zealand Public Records Act 2005. More google searches on this directs you to The Microsoft Trust Center Resources which links to a Microsoft site, but the 17a-4 attestation letters are nowhere to be found.

In the end, FINRA firms have unique needs which can't be met with a generic cloud solution. More importantly, they don't have the in-house expertise to "configure and carefully apply and manage" the built-in tools that Microsoft is selling as 17a-4 compliant. Further, FINRA needs specific compliance documentation and commitments from vendors to be fully compliant, which Microsoft is not willing to provide or even openly address.

To learn more about AdvisorVault's Microsoft 365 17a-4 compliant solution, click the link below to talk to sales:

https://www.advisorvault.org/contact-us/

AdvisorVault Contact:

Allan Lonz, President

[email protected]

www.advisorvault.org

Direct: 416-985-0310

Toll Free: 1-866-732-1407 ext. 1

Photo(s):

https://www.prlog.org/12897578

Press release distributed by PRLog

SOURCE AdvisorVault
MIAMI, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- AfterHipHop.com and Author Raul Medina are proud to offer the debut work from Medina himself, hitting bookstores and online platforms February 27, 2022.

Front and Back Cover of AfterHipHop.com Presents: Jailhouse Talk, Navigating the System from Lockup to E.O.S. book cover Photo of DJ Raw Miami

AfterHipHop.com Presents: Jailhouse Talk, Navigating the System from Lockup to E.O.S. is a concise how-to handbook for convicts, focusing on setting one's self up for success from beginning to ending of a sentence. The non-fiction work highlights pointers and tips regarding the bail system, signing up for educational programs, how to choose a work assignment, as well as a few other important topics for inmates.

Over two decades ago, Raul Medina AKA the legendary DJ Raw Miami, made major headlines in the 1990's. Now he returns to the public eye as an author telling his own story and providing encouraging advice for those who seek it. In 1997, he was living a double life as a community advocate who gave back to the pre-gentrified neighborhood of Wynwood/Little Haiti, as well as the life of a prolific drug dealer. Things took a major detour when he was convicted in a high-profile case for drug trafficking. Sentenced to 10 years for his crime, Medina would rehabilitate and transform his life while inside. He would return a spiritually sound man ready to fulfill a loftier purpose, all while maintaining a healthy lifestyle on his journey. The release of his first publication, AfterHip-Hop.com Presents: Jailhouse Talk, Navigating the System from Lockup to E.O.S., is dedicated to assisting convicts with the arduous task of maneuvering around the criminal justice system. Medina aims to engage and encourage those seeking a path to enrichment and wholeness after incarceration. Presale for the concise guidebook can be found at: www.afterhiphop.com. AfterHip-Hop.com Presents: Jailhouse Talk, Navigating the System from Lockup to E.O.S. will be available for purchase on Amazon.com February 27, 2022.

"The main objective of this handbook is to empower yourself, let go of your past, and stay focused on your END RESULT only. Ask yourself, 'Where will I be in the next 5 years?' Knowledge is indeed power."

-- Raul Medina AKA Legendary DJ Raw Miami

For further press and inquiries, contact:

Raul Medina

Hoodstock, LLC

4611 S UNIVERSITY DR, DAVIE FL 33328

www.afterhiphop.com /email: [email protected] ph: 954-638-2672

Rhonda Fleming

[email protected]

305-916-6016

*** Headquarters based in Broward County, FL, AfterHipHop.com is quickly advancing to become the nation's leader in the development of self-help and lifestyle publications. ***

SOURCE Raul Medina AKA DJ Raw Miami
NEW YORK, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Alkymi , the leader in data workflow automation, today announced the onboarding of Interactive Brokers Group, Inc., an automated global electronic broker that operates one of the largest electronic trading platforms by volume in the US. The company chose Alkymi Data Inbox and Alkymi Patterns to enable a state-of-the-art digital client onboarding experience for its customers and to efficiently support its rapidly growing customer base.

"Transforming the client onboarding process is top of mind for leading enterprises worldwide," said Harald Collet, Alkymi CEO and co-founder. "With Alkymi, Interactive Brokers will be able to set a new standard in client experience, onboarding speed, and operational excellence leveraging AI-powered automation technology for global address verification."

Interactive Brokers is a securities firm with $10 billion in equity capital and currently executes more than 2 million trades a day. Through the use of Data Inbox and Patterns, Interactive Brokers will be able to eliminate manual collection, extraction and transformation of data and focus on client service while improving costs. The company considers its adoption of Alkymi as a strategic collaboration in the client experience for its broker/dealer business, which will translate into more satisfied brokerage customers.

"The need to meet high customer expectations while adhering to regulatory and business requirements is a challenge for any financial institution," commented Yochai Korn, Global Head of Market Data and Research at Interactive Brokers. "Alkymi's deep understanding of financial workflows and how to efficiently automate them gives us the ability to transform the client experience and offer entirely new data products. Our customers will be pleased."

Alkymi Patterns leverages machine learning (ML), natural language processing (NLP) and computer vision to extract and structure targeted data (including handwriting) from over 27 file formats while surfacing "not in good order" (NIGO) data for accelerated exception handling. Alkymi Data Inbox offers seamless workflow and enterprise integrations to speed onboarding processes. The combined solution enables employees to complete the necessary work faster for better customer service and an improved bottom line.

For a free trial of Alkymi, please click here .

About Alkymi

Alkymi transforms enterprise workflows by placing machine learning and automation technology into the hands of business users, turning operational data headaches into a source of efficiency. Alkymi's core products  Data Inbox and Patterns  allow businesses to extract, analyze and take action on critical business data in emails and documents. Leading organizations deploy Alkymi to accelerate decision-making, improve customer satisfaction and empower employees to focus on high-value, rewarding work. For additional information, visit www.alkymi.io.

Media Contact

[email protected]

SOURCE Alkymi
BALTIMORE, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The American Urological Association (AUA) is pleased to announce Jorge Gutierrez-Aceves, MD has been named by the Board of Directors as AUA Assistant Secretary for the Americas and the Caribbean. Dr. Gutierrez-Aceves will begin his three-year term as Assistant Secretary on June 1, 2022.

The American Urological Association names Dr. Jorge Gutierrez-Aceves as AUA Assistant Secretary for the Americas and the Caribbean. Dr. Gutierrez-Aceves will begin his three-year term as Assistant Secretary on June 1, 2022.

As Assistant Secretary for this distinct geographic region, Dr. Gutierrez-Aceves will be responsible for shaping and executing on the Association's international strategy, programming and activities within North, South and Central America, as well as the Caribbean. By fully leveraging the AUA's global reach, as well as an influence tremendously respected around the world, Dr. Gutierrez-Aceves will also assist in implementing the AUA's International Education Plan and identifying new opportunities with national and multi-national urological societies. Additionally, he will work to further expand relationships with key urologists and other regional strategic partners, take part in the AUA's Annual Meeting and serve as a section editor for the AUA publication, AUANews.

"Dr. Gutierrez-Aceves' impressive knowledge of this region's urologic community, coupled with his leadership experience and ability to further develop the AUA's global footprint and scientific capacity, makes him the ideal candidate for this role," said AUA Secretary, John D. Denstedt, MD. "The Board and I look forward to working with Dr. Gutierrez-Aceves to advance our many international opportunities and collaborations."

An active member of the global urologic community and a member of the AUA since 1994, Dr. Gutierrez-Aceves has been actively engaged with the Association in multiple international activities for more than a decade to include joint educational programing between the AUA, the Confederacion Americana de Urologia (CAU) and several Urological Associations in Latin-America; programming and chairing of the AUA/CAU Spanish Urology Program during the AUA Annual Meeting; and serving as the Spanish editor of AUANews. Additionally, he served in various leadership positions within Latin America through CAU, where he was part of the Executive Committee before becoming Secretary General. There, he focused his efforts on expanding clinical educational opportunities, an effort he was recognized for via an AUA Presidential Citation in 2014 and the AUA Secretary Commendation for Global Leadership in 2019.

Dr. Gutierrez-Aceves currently serves as Professor of Urology and Center Director for Endourology and Stone Disease for the Cleveland Clinic Department of Urology. He obtained his medical degree from the University of Guadalajara School of Medicine; completed his residency at the Western Medical Center, Mexican Institute of Social Security; completed two fellowships in Germany, Freiburg and Hamburg, respectively; and is licensed in the United States. His career accomplishments include more than 100 published papers, book chapters and peer reviewed articles; over 250 lectures and presentations and numerous international honors and awards.

About the American Urological Association: Founded in 1902 and headquartered near Baltimore, Maryland, the American Urological Association is a leading advocate for the specialty of urology, and has nearly 24,000 members throughout the world. The AUA is a premier urologic association, providing invaluable support to the urologic community as it pursues its mission of fostering the highest standards of urologic care through education, research and the formulation of health policy. www.AUAnet.org

Contact:

Christine Frey

[email protected]

443-909-0839

SOURCE American Urological Association
DUBLIN, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Electronic Shelf Label Market Research Report by Component, Product, Technology, Distribution Channel, End-user, and State - United States Forecast to 2026 - Cumulative Impact of COVID-19" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The United States Electronic Shelf Label Market size was estimated at USD 130.67 million in 2020, is expected to reach USD 165.35 million in 2021, and projected to grow at a CAGR of 23.42% reaching USD 462.06 million by 2026.



Market Statistics

The report provides market sizing and forecast across five major currencies - USD, EUR GBP, JPY, and AUD. It helps organization leaders make better decisions when currency exchange data is readily available.

In this report, the years 2018 and 2019 are considered historical years, 2020 as the base year, 2021 as the estimated year, and years from 2022 to 2026 are considered the forecast period.



This research report categorizes the Electronic Shelf Label to forecast the revenues and analyze the trends in each of the following sub-markets:

Based on Component, the market was studied across Batteries, Displays, Microprocessors, and Transceivers.

Based on Product, the market was studied across E-Paper ESL, Full-Graphic E-Paper ESL, and LCD ESL.

Based on Technology, the market was studied across Infrared, Near Field Communication, and Radio Frequency.

Based on Distribution Channel, the market was studied across Hypermarkets, Non-Food Retail Stores, Specialty Stores, and Supermarkets.

Based on End-user, the market was studied across Consumer Electronics, Drug Stores & Pharmacies, Retail Stores, and Specialty Stores.

Based on State, the market was studied across California , Florida , Illinois , New York , Ohio , Pennsylvania , and Texas

The report provides insights on the following pointers:

1. Market Penetration: Provides comprehensive information on the market offered by the key players

2. Market Development: Provides in-depth information about lucrative emerging markets and analyze penetration across mature segments of the markets

3. Market Diversification: Provides detailed information about new product launches, untapped geographies, recent developments, and investments

4. Competitive Assessment & Intelligence: Provides an exhaustive assessment of market shares, strategies, products, certification, regulatory approvals, patent landscape, and manufacturing capabilities of the leading players

5. Product Development & Innovation: Provides intelligent insights on future technologies, R&D activities, and breakthrough product developments



The report answers questions such as:

1. What is the market size and forecast of the United States Electronic Shelf Label Market?

2. What are the inhibiting factors and impact of COVID-19 shaping the United States Electronic Shelf Label Market during the forecast period?

3. Which are the products/segments/applications/areas to invest in over the forecast period in the United States Electronic Shelf Label Market?

4. What is the competitive strategic window for opportunities in the United States Electronic Shelf Label Market?

5. What are the technology trends and regulatory frameworks in the United States Electronic Shelf Label Market?

6. What is the market share of the leading vendors in the United States Electronic Shelf Label Market?

7. What modes and strategic moves are considered suitable for entering the United States Electronic Shelf Label Market?

Competitive Scenario

The Competitive Scenario provides an outlook analysis of the various business growth strategies adopted by the vendors. The news covered in this section delivers valuable thoughts at different stages while keeping up-to-date with the business and engaging stakeholders in the economic debate. The competitive scenario represents press releases or news of the companies categorized into Merger & Acquisition, Agreement, Collaboration, & Partnership, New Product Launch & Enhancement, Investment & Funding, and Award, Recognition, & Expansion. All the news collected help vendor to understand the gaps in the marketplace and competitors' strength and weakness thereby, providing insights to enhance product and service.



Company Usability Profiles

The report profoundly explores the recent significant developments by the leading vendors and innovation profiles in the United States Electronic Shelf Label Market, including:

Advantech U.S.

Altierre

Diebold Nixdorf

Displaydata

E Ink Holdings

Forbix Semicon

Lancom Systems

M2communication

NZ Electronic Shelf Labelling

Opticon Sensors Europe

Pricer

Samsung Electro-Mechanics

Ses-Imagotag

Solum

Teraoka Seiko

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/sdmc4o

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


DUBLIN, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Anti-counterfeit Packaging Market (Mass Encoding, RFID, Tamper Evidence, Hologram, Forensic Markers), End-use Industry ( Food & Beverage, Pharmaceuticals, Electrical & Electronics, Automotive, Luxury goods), and Region - Global Forecast to 2026" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The global market for anti-counterfeit packaging is projected to grow from USD 117.2 billion in 2021 to reach USD 211.3 billion by 2026, at an estimated CAGR of 12.5%.

The anti-counterfeit packaging market is driven by factors such as rise in counterfeit products in the market, increasing brand awareness, cognizance amongst buyers about product information, the growing e-commerce industry, developments in printing technologies, and concerns regarding the impact of counterfeit packaging on the brand image of products and consumer health. The growing pharmaceutical & healthcare sector is projected to be the fastest-growing end-use Industry in the forecast period.

Due to stringent laws & regulations enacted by the government and increasing importance given to package security by manufacturers, the demand for anti-counterfeit packaging technologies is projected to grow in this sector. Further, recent incidences of counterfeit medicines being caught in both developed and emerging economies have pushed for demand for anti-counterfeit packaging solutions. Emerging markets, such as the Asia-Pacific region, also contributed to an increase in the application of anti-counterfeit packaging. High set-up costs is the major restraint for the anti-counterfeit packaging industry.

RFID technology of the technology segment projected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period

The RFID technology from the technology segment is projected to grow at the highest rate between 2021 and 2026. The RFID technology reads and captures information stored on the tag attached to the product. RFID are used extensively in the packaging industry as they include tags, readers, and software services. By using tags and readers, products can be traced in seconds; this helps improve and track the supply chain process from production through distribution and retailing.

In terms of both value and volume, the Asia Pacific anti-counterfeit packaging market is projected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period.

In terms of value and volume, the Asia Pacific region is projected to grow at the highest CAGR from 2021 to 2026 due to the strong demand from countries such as China, India, and Japan. Factors, including an increase in the demand for authentic products, awareness amongst buyers regarding banes of counterfeit products, developments in packaging technologies, and increasing counterfeiting activities, are expected to drive the market for anti-counterfeit packaging market in the Asia Pacific region.

Key Topics Covered:

1 Introduction

2 Research Methodology

3 Executive Summary

4 Premium Insights

4.1 Developed Economies to Witness Higher Demand for Anti-Counterfeit Packaging

4.2 Anti-Counterfeit Packaging Market, by Technology

4.3 Anti-Counterfeit Packaging Market, by End-Use Industry

4.4 APAC Anti-Counterfeit Packaging Market, by End-Use Industry and Country

4.5 Anti-Counterfeit Packaging Market, by Key Countries

5 Market Overview

5.1 Introduction

5.2 Market Dynamics

5.2.1 Drivers

5.2.1.1 Laws & Regulations Enforced by Governments

5.2.1.2 Increase in the Focus of Manufacturers on Brand Protection

5.2.1.3 Track & Trace Technology to Maintain an Efficient Supply Chain

5.2.1.4 Growth of the Parent Industry

5.2.2 Restraints

5.2.2.1 Existence of Technologies That are Non-Deterrent to Counterfeiters

5.2.2.2 Huge Setup Cost

5.2.3 Opportunities

5.2.3.1 Growing Demand from Emerging Economies

5.2.3.2 Remote Authentication of Products

5.2.3.3 Surge in Sales of Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Products

5.2.4 Challenges

5.2.4.1 Spreading Awareness Regarding Anti-Counterfeit Technologies for Brand Protection

5.2.4.2 High R&D Investment

5.3 Value Chain

5.4 Yc, Ycc Shift

6 Impact of COVID-19 on Packaging Industry

6.1 Introduction

6.2 COVID-19 Forecasting, by Technology

6.3 COVID-19 Forecasting, by Application

6.4 Gainers, by Top End-Use Industries

6.4.1 Healthcare

6.4.2 Food & Beverage

6.4.3 Personal Care

6.5 Losers, by Top End-Use Industries

6.5.1 Luxury Goods

6.5.2 Electrical & Electronics

6.6 Gainers, by Top Technologies

6.6.1 Aseptic Packaging

6.6.2 Intelligent/Smart Packaging

6.7 Losers, by Top Technologies

6.7.1 Non-Automated Technology

6.7.2 Packaging Robots and Equipment for Bulk Packaging

7 Anti-Counterfeit Packaging Market, by Technology

7.1 Introduction

7.1.1 Serialization/Track and Trace Technologies

7.1.2 Overt, Covert, and Forensic Features

7.1.3 Tamper Evidence Feature

7.2 Mass Encoding

7.2.1 Barcodes

7.2.2 Digital Mass Serialization

7.2.3 Digital Mass Encryption

7.3 Rfid (Radio Frequency Identification)

7.4 Holograms

7.5 Forensic Markers

7.6 Tamper-Evident Technology

7.7 Others

8 Anti-Counterfeit Packaging Market, by End-Use Industry

8.1 Introduction

8.2 Food & Beverage

8.3 Pharmaceutical

8.4 Apparel & Footwear

8.5 Automotive

8.6 Cosmetics & Personal Care

8.7 Electrical & Electronics

8.8 Luxury Goods

8.9 Others

9 Anti-Counterfeit Packaging Market, by Region

10 Competitive Landscape

10.1 Overview

10.2 Competitive Leadership Mapping

10.2.1 Star Leaders

10.2.2 Innovators

10.2.3 Pervasive

10.2.4 Emerging Companies

10.3 Strength of Product Portfolio

10.4 Business Strategy Excellence

10.5 Market Share Analysis

10.6 Competitive Scenario

10.6.1 Acquisition

10.6.2 Expansion

10.6.3 New Product Development

11 Company Profiles

11.1 Key Players

11.1.1 Avery Dennison Corporation

11.1.2 Ccl Industries Inc.

11.1.3 3M Company

11.1.4 Sato Holdings

11.1.5 Dupont

11.1.6 Zebra Technologies Corporation

11.1.7 Intelligent Label Solutions

11.1.8 Sml Group

11.1.9 Sicpa Holding Sa.

11.1.10 Systech International

11.1.11 Applied Dna Sciences Inc.

11.1.12 Alpvision S.A.

11.1.13 Savi Technology, Inc.

11.1.14 Authentix, Inc.

11.2 Additional Companies

11.2.1 Ampacet Corporation

11.2.2 3D Ag

11.2.3 Tracelink Inc.

11.2.4 Advanced Track & Trace

11.2.5 Eluceda

11.2.6 Impinj, Inc

11.2.7 Trutag Technologies, Inc.

11.2.8 Edgyn

11.2.9 Microtag Temed Ltd.

11.2.10 Agfa Graphics

12 Appendix

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/djt1hy

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


HOUSTON, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Arroyo Investors, a Houston-based, independent investment manager focused on power and energy infrastructure assets in North and South America, today announced an investment in Gasmar S.A. ("Gasmar"), a terminal and storage facility for liquified petroleum gas (LPG) in Chile.

Gasmar's Quintero Bay facility is one of the largest LPG terminals on the Pacific coast of South America. Gasmar imports LPG primarily from the United States by ocean carriers, and unloads and stores it at its facilities. In addition, Gasmar is currently expanding its operations in Chile through the construction of a new terminal in Mejillones Bay that it expects to begin operations in 2022.

LPG is a critical energy source to displace higher carbon intensity fuels such as diesel and biomass in Chile. Tweet this

The investment in Gasmar represents a unique opportunity for Arroyo to sponsor energy infrastructure that is strategically positioned to meet demand for a key commodity fueling homes and businesses in Chile.

"As Chile continues its push to lower the carbon intensity of its energy consumption, LPG is a critical energy source to displace higher carbon intensity fuels such as diesel and biomass. Gasmar's receiving and storage assets are critical to advancing the growing need for LPG services in Chile," said Rudolf Araneda, Partner in Arroyo's Santiago office.

"Our team is committed to enhancing the local economies and communities in which we own and operate our infrastructure investments," noted David T. Field, a Founding Partner of Arroyo. "Our investment in Gasmar represents our third investment in Chile, a key area of focus for Arroyo in South America."

For more information, view our Gasmar facility video online and follow us on LinkedIn.

ABOUT ARROYO

Arroyo is a private equity fund manager focused on infrastructure project investments throughout the U.S. and Latin America. Based in Houston with an office in Santiago, Chile, Arroyo actively manages more than $2.5 billion in assets. Over the past three decades, the Arroyo team has built a leading reputation for infrastructure investments with strong operating performance. For further information, visit www.arroyoinvestors.com.

For media inquiries:

Susan Peters

(917) 744-0792

[email protected]

SOURCE Arroyo Energy Investment Partners, LLC
IRVINE, Calif., Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Lawrence R. Armstrong, in partnership with Volonic , a luxury consumer technology company, today announced the launch of Volonic's "Artist Series"  the latest in the company's line of handcrafted wireless chargers. The Artist Series celebrates artists as creative trailblazers who "dare to imagine a more elegant, yet functional world," and joins Volonic's Aluminum and Grand Piano collections. Armstrong is the first artist to be commissioned for the Artist Series, and all proceeds from sales will be donated to charities and non-profit organizations of his choosing. His creations will be featured for a limited time.

The Volonic device that Armstrong used as canvas for his designs, the "Volonic Valet 3," is an elegant position-free wireless charging solution that powers Qi-enabled devices. Each Volonic Valet 3 that Armstrong designs is completely unique, and sold preconfigured with a high gloss white aluminum frame, 100% genuine leather top, white wall charger and 6ft USB-C cable. A short demonstration of Armstrong's work for the Volonic Artist Series can be seen at: https://youtu.be/61bsG57fAwc .

"My work, both in art and architecture, is an ongoing exploration of the concept of layers," said Lawrence R. Armstrong. "I have always been aware of and fascinated by layers in the natural and built environment. My inspiration for Volonic's Artist Series was the natural tension between the opposing forces of free form and precision."

"Lawrence R. Armstrong, is a world-renowned artist, architect, business leader, and dear friend. We were excited when he accepted our request to debut the Artist Series," said Volonic CEO Shawn Dougherty. "As we pull in different artists to design for this series, each will encourage us to view the world, our cultures and each other from a new and beautiful perspective."

The artist series collection can be viewed at https://volonic.com/collections/artist-series . More information on Armstrong's personal work as an artist can be found at www.lraart.com .

About Lawrence (Larry) R. Armstrong

Lawrence R. Armstrong is a world-renowned artist, architect and business leader. He is Chairman of Ware Malcomb, an international design firm that provides architecture, planning, interior design, civil engineering, branding and building measurement services to commercial real estate and corporate clients throughout the US, Canada, Mexico and Panama. He has been an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award winner, a multi-time OCBJ OC500 member of the most influential OC community leaders. With Ware Malcomb for over 30 years, and former CEO for over 25 years, Larry grew firm revenue by 40 times during his tenure as CEO. His lifelong fascination with layers drives his creative vision, and his exquisite art has been exhibited all over the world including Italy, Spain and Germany.

About Volonic

Volonic was created to make you take flight through the fusion of technology and fashionable works of art. To create a transformative experience that makes you see the world from a different perspective. We don't take shortcuts. We don't compromise. We don't settle for anything less than perfection because we have you in mind. We are here to inspire you. We serve a new generation of consumers who believe that beauty and elegance can live in the same space as technology and functionality. Take flight at www.volonic.com

Product images  https://volonic.box.com/s/teqpua9ttcy8shcq6qafmyspo5nxcd2x

Banner Image - https://volonic.box.com/s/s4fxz4rp5w99y9us0pqfeusu0xjz54h9

CONTACT:

Shaye McClory, Public Relations Manager, [email protected]

SOURCE Volonic, Inc.

Related Links

www.volonic.com


SUZHOU, China and ROCKVILLE, Md., Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Ascentage Pharma (6855.HK), a global biopharmaceutical company engaged in developing novel therapies for cancers, chronic hepatitis B (CHB), and age-related diseases, today announced that it has released the updated data from six studies of the company's three novel drug candidates (olverembatinib, lisaftoclax [APG-2575], and pelcitoclax [APG-1252]) at the 63rd American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting.

These results include data from two clinical studies of the company's novel Bcl-2-selective inhibitor lisaftoclax and one preclinical study of its dual Bcl-2/Bcl-xL inhibitor pelcitoclax that were released in poster presentations at the meeting (clinical data of olverembatinib were also presented in an oral presentation and are available in a separate concurrent press release).

It is worth highlighting that the multicenter, open-label Phase I study of lisaftoclax in patients with hematologic malignancies has demonstrated favorable tolerability of lisaftoclax, without evidence of tumor lysis syndrome (TLS). As of data cutoff on July 27, 2021, 9 of the 25 patients who had received at least one tumor evaluation (of 31 enrolled patients) achieved complete responses (CR) or partial responses (PR). At doses  200 mg, all 6 patients with chronic lymphocytic lymphoma (CLL) achieved objective responses, including 1 with CR and 5 with PR.

Prof. Jianxiang Wang, MD, Vice President of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences' Hematology Hospital (Institute of Hematology Research), and the principal investigator of the Phase I study of lisaftoclax in hematologic malignancies, commented: "We are very encouraged by those data from the China study of lisaftoclax, especially the responses in all patients with CLL who were treated at 200 mg or higher doses. Compared to drugs of the same class approved outside China, lisaftoclax has demonstrated at least comparable efficacy, improved safety in terms of TLS and hematologic toxicity, and the suitability for more convenient dosing. We look forward to seeing more positive clinical data and hope that lisaftoclax will eventually offer a new treatment option to patients."

Dr. Yifan Zhai, Chief Medical Officer of Ascentage Pharma, said: "For the first time, we presented data of lisaftoclax and pelcitoclax, two key drug candidates of our apoptosis-targeted pipeline, at the ASH Annual Meeting. These results, following those of olverembatinib, demonstrated Ascentage Pharma's capabilities in developing novel therapeutics for hematologic malignancies, and the widespread interest in the therapeutic utility and potential clinical advantages of these two drug candidates. These promising data presented at this year's ASH Annual Meeting, especially the poster showing impressive potential efficacy and safety of lisaftoclax, are very encouraging indeed. As the first China-developed Bcl-2-selective inhibitor entering clinical development in China, lisaftoclax is a drug candidate with clear best-in-class potential. We will continue to accelerate the clinical development of this drug candidate in hematologic indications to allow patients in China and around the world to benefit from it as soon as possible."

These two abstracts on lisaftoclax presented at the 2021 ASH Annual Meeting are as follows:

A Phase 1 Study to Evaluate the Safety, Pharmacokinetics (PK) and Pharmacodynamics (PD) of Lisaftoclax (APG-2575), a Novel BCL-2 Inhibitor (BCL-2i), in Patients (pts) with Certain Relapsed or Refractory (R/R) Hematologic Malignancies (HMs)

Format: Poster Presentation

Abstract: 3730

Session: 642. Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia: Clinical and Epidemiological: Poster III

Highlights:

This Chinese, multicenter, open-label, single-agent, Phase I trial is designed to evaluate the safety (including dose-limiting toxicity [DLT] and maximum tolerated dose [MTD]), PK/PD, and preliminary efficacy of lisaftoclax in adults with R/R chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) or non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL).



As of July 27, 2021 , 31 patients had been enrolled and treated with lisaftoclax at doses ranging from 20 to 800 mg. Patients had a median (range) of 4 (1-14) prior lines of treatment and diagnoses of CLL/SLL (n=9), mantle cell lymphoma (MCL; n=6), marginal zone lymphoma (MZL; n=3), follicular lymphoma (n=8), diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (n=2), lymphoplasmacytic lymphoma/Waldenstrom macroglobulinemia (n=1), angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma (n=1), or mycosis fungoides (MF; n=1). DLT, MTD, and laboratory/clinical tumor lysis syndrome (TLS) had not been observed. 600 mg was selected as the recommended Phase II dose (RP2D).

, 31 patients had been enrolled and treated with lisaftoclax at doses ranging from 20 to 800 mg. Patients had a median (range) of 4 (1-14) prior lines of treatment and diagnoses of CLL/SLL (n=9), mantle cell lymphoma (MCL; n=6), marginal zone lymphoma (MZL; n=3), follicular lymphoma (n=8), diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (n=2), lymphoplasmacytic lymphoma/Waldenstrom macroglobulinemia (n=1), angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma (n=1), or mycosis fungoides (MF; n=1). DLT, MTD, and laboratory/clinical tumor lysis syndrome (TLS) had not been observed. 600 mg was selected as the recommended Phase II dose (RP2D).

Lisaftoclax was generally well tolerated. Treatment-related adverse events (TRAEs) reported in 28 patients were mostly grade 1 or 2. Any grade TRAEs in > 10% of patients included thrombocytopenia (34.4%), anemia (28.1%), neutropenia (21.9%), leukopenia (21.9%), diarrhea (15.6%), hyperuricemia (15.6%), hyperphosphatemia (12.5%), and hypertriglyceridemia (12.5%). Grade 3-4 TRAEs were reported in 7 patients, including thrombocytopenia (18.8%), neutropenia (12.5%), leukopenia (9.4%), and anemia (6.3%). Serious TRAEs occurred in 1 patient and included anemia and thrombocytopenia (3.1% each).



Among the 25 patients who had received at least one tumor evaluation, 9 achieved CR or PR, with a median time to response of 2 cycles. The highest response rates were seen in patients with CLL/SLL (66.7%). Overall Response was observed in all 6 patients with CLL received lisaftoclax at doses  200 mg, including 1 CR and 5 PR. 2 (66.7%) patients with MZL and 1 (25%) with MCL had achieved PR. In 1 patient with MF, skin tumor shrinkage was observed after 1 lisaftoclax treatment cycle. Favorable absolute lymphocyte count (ALC) profiles included reductions at lisaftoclax doses as low as 100 mg/day.



The preliminary PK profile showed that exposures increased with lisaftoclax doses from 20 to 800 mg, with an average half-life of 4 to 6 hours. On BH3 profiling, lisaftoclax rapidly triggered changes in BCL-2 complex in patients with CLL/SLL, which were consistent with rapid clinical reductions in ALCs.



Conclusions: Orally-administered Lisaftoclax was well tolerated up to 800 mg/day. No TLS was observed, even in high TLS-risk patients who received the rapid daily ramp-up until the recommended treatment dose. Compared to venetoclax, lisaftoclax did not show any significant new or unmanageable TRAE. Therefore, lisaftoclax has the potential has a safe and effective treatment for patients with R/R HMs.

Trial in Progress: Phase 1b Study of Lisaftoclax (APG-2575) As a Single Agent or Combined with Other Therapeutic Agents in Patients with Relapsed and/or Refractory Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia/Small Lymphocytic Lymphoma (R/R CLL/SLL)

Format: Poster Presentation

Abstract: 1554

Session: 642. Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia: Clinical and Epidemiological: Poster I

Highlights:

This is a global, open-label, multicenter, two-part Phase Ib dose escalation and dose expansion study designed to assess the safety and tolerability of lisaftoclax monotherapy (Part 1) and the lisaftoclax combination therapy (Part 2).



In a standard "3+3" dose escalation design (Part 1), lisaftoclax is being administered orally once daily in a 28-day cycle. Evaluated doses included 400, 600, and 800mg. To lower the risk of TLS, lisaftoclax was administered with a daily dose ramp-up.



Part 2 includes a further standard 3+3 dose escalation of lisaftoclax combined with rituximab, or acalabrutinib (in separate cohorts), with a further planned dose expansion at RP2D of these combination regimens.



As of July 19, 2021 , 71 patients have been enrolled (of 144 planned).

The abstract on pelcitoclax presented at the 2021 ASH Annual Meeting is as follows:

Antitumor Activity of Dual BCL-2/BCL-Xl Inhibitor Pelcitoclax (APG-1252) in Natural Killer/T-Cell Lymphoma (NK/TCL)

Format: Poster Presentation

Abstract: 2062

Session: 203. Lymphocytes and Acquired or Congenital Immunodeficiency Disorders: Poster II

Highlights:

This study evaluated the potential antitumor effect of pelcitoclax in preclinical models of NK/TCL. Cell-based antiproliferation studies showed activity of pelcitoclax and its more potent metabolite APG-1252-M1 toward NK/TCL cell lines that overexpressed BCL-xL. Half-maximal inhibitory concentrations (IC) for pelcitoclax in SNK-1, SNK-6, and SNK-8 (EBV-positive NK/TCL) cell lines were 2.652  2.606 M, 1.568  1.109 M, and 0.557  0.383M, respectively. Corresponding values for APG-1252-M1 were 0.133  0.056 M, 0.064 0.014 M, and 0.020  0.008 M, respectively.



Mechanistic studies demonstrated that pelcitoclax and the APG-1252-M1 metabolite disrupted the complex of BCL-xL/BCL-2-associated X protein (Bax) and BCL-xL/BCL-2 homologous antagonist killer protein (Bak) in SNK-6 cells, thereby liberating these proapoptotic proteins and further activating downstream apoptosis pathways by cleaving poly-ADP ribose polymerase-1 (PARP-1) and caspase-3. In an SNK-6xenograft model, administration of pelcitoclax at 65 mg/kg and 100 mg/kg either twice or once weekly resulted in significant antitumor effects, with tumor growth rate (T/C%) values ranging from 13.7% to 30.7%.



Furthermore, the combination of pelcitoclax with histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor chidamide or DDGP (dexamethasone, cisplatin, gemcitabine, and pegaspargase) chemotherapy demonstrated synergistic effects. Pharmacokinetic assessment in mice showed that pelcitoclax had a long half-life in plasma (127 hours) and tumor tissues (25.2hours), justifying intermittent dosing schedules used in vivo. Importantly, the transformation of pelcitoclax to APG-1252-M1 was 16 times higher in tumor tissues compared to plasma (22% vs. 1.3%) after administration of pelcitoclax, thereby suggesting that pelcitoclax can reduce platelet toxicity caused by APG-1252-M1 in plasma.



Conclusion: Pelcitoclax has promising antitumor effects in NK/TCL, either as a single agent or in combination with an HDAC inhibitor or chemotherapy. These findings provide evidence to further evaluate APG-1252 as a potential treatment for NK/TCL.

About Ascentage Pharma

Ascentage Pharma (6855.HK) is a globally focused biopharmaceutical company engaged in developing novel therapies for cancers, chronic hepatitis B, and age-related diseases. On October 28, 2019, Ascentage Pharma was listed on the Main Board of the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited with the stock code 6855.HK.

Ascentage Pharma focuses on developing therapeutics that inhibit protein-protein interactions to restore apoptosis, or programmed cell death. The company has built a pipeline of eight clinical drug candidates, including novel, highly potent Bcl-2, and dual Bcl-2/Bcl-xL inhibitors, as well as candidates aimed at IAP and MDM2-p53 pathways, and next-generation tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs). Ascentage Pharma is also the only company in the world with active clinical programs targeting all three known classes of key apoptosis regulators. The company is conducting more than 40 Phase I/II clinical trials in the US, Australia, Europe, and China. Olverembatinib, the company's core drug candidate developed for the treatment of drug-resistant chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), was granted Priority Review status and a Breakthrough Therapy Designation (BTD) by the Center for Drug Evaluation (CDE) of China National Medical Products Administration (NMPA), and is already approved for the indication. In addition, the olverembatinib was also granted an Orphan Drug Designation (ODD) and a Fast Track Designation (FTD) by the US FDA, and an Orphan Designation by the EU. To date, Ascentage Pharma has obtained a total of 12 ODDs from the US FDA and 1 ODD from the EU for four of the company's investigational drug candidates. Ascentage Pharma has been designated for multiple Major National R&D Projects, including five National Major New Drug Discovery and Manufacturing projects, one New Drug Incubator status, four Innovative Drug Programs, and one Major Project for the Prevention and Treatment of Infectious Diseases.

Leveraging its robust R&D capabilities, Ascentage Pharma has built a portfolio of global intellectual property rights and entered into global partnerships with numerous renowned biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies and research institutes such as UNITY Biotechnology, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Mayo Clinic, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, MSD, AstraZeneca, and Pfizer. The company has built a talented team with global experience in the discovery and development of innovative drugs and is setting up its world-class commercial manufacturing and Sales & Marketing teams. One pivotal aim of Ascentage Pharma is to continuously strengthen its R&D capabilities and accelerate its clinical development programs, in order to fulfil its mission of addressing unmet clinical needs in China and around the world for the benefit of more patients.

Forward-Looking Statements

The forward-looking statements made in this article relate only to the events or information as of the date on which the statements are made in this article. Except as required by law, Ascentage Pharma undertakes no obligation to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, after the date on which the statements are made or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. You should read this article completely and with the understanding that our actual future results or performance may be materially different from what we expect. In this article, statements of, or references to, our intentions or those of any of our Directors or our Company are made as of the date of this article. Any of these intentions may alter in light of future development.

SOURCE Ascentage Pharma

Related Links

http://www.ascentagepharma.com


NEW YORK, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- ATSG, a global, tech-enabled managed services and solutions company, today announced its acquisition of Optanix, Inc., a leading technology and managed services provider and challenger in the 2021 Gartner Managed Network Services Magic Quadrant. With a portfolio that directly enhances ATSG's Technology Solutions as a Service Offerings, this acquisition will bring an expansion of high-end managed services and monitoring technologies in advanced networking, collaboration, and contact center to the ATSG portfolio of solutions. As a challenger in the Gartner Managed Network Services Magic Quadrant for the past two years, Optanix has become a leader in providing standardized and automated Managed Network Services for SD-WAN, LAN, and WAN networks that are flexible with robust business outcome reporting. This acquisition also will further bolster ATSG's enterprise capabilities in unified communications (UC) infrastructure, contact center solutions, and acquire market differentiated intellectual property.

Optanix's strong relationship with its channel community and experience in bringing an expanded set of services to its partner's offerings was of the highest importance. Originally an Optanix partner, ATSG's focus on widening its commitment to the channel was a driver for this acquisition and will bring an enhanced and expanded level of services to the Optanix channel partner community.

"The Optanix acquisition was a strategic choice to complement ATSG's well-established Enterprise Infrastructure Management, Multicloud, Collaboration, and Contact Center Offerings, adding engineering, operational and platform development expertise, as well as unique intellectual property, to our company," said Anthony J. D'Ambrosi, Chief Executive Officer of ATSG. "Our long-standing partnership with Optanix has provided for customer success, innovation, and a deeper channel partner ecosystem. We are excited to rapidly integrate the two mature organizations, leveraging our global footprint, to more holistically enable our clients to succeed in today's dynamic marketplace."

"We are thrilled to join ATSG," said Edmond Baydian, Chief Technology Officer of Optanix. "Through the combined, larger organization, we will have the ability to provide an expanded portfolio of solutions to our clients and channel partners."

As ATSG looks ahead to 2022, they will continue to focus on growth and the enhancement of the ATSG solutions offering portfolio. The company began over 25 years ago as an enterprise network and systems integrator and has aggressively transformed over the past decade to a Tech-enabled MSP, featuring highly secure, multicloud solutions, powered by the ATSG automation platform Ai2. The acquisition of Optanix depicts the execution of yet another milestone in ATSG's strategic growth plan as it moves to establish itself in the growing, high-performing channel partner community.

For more information on ATSG's acquisition of Optanix, Inc., visit www.atsg.net, email [email protected] or call (888) 504-9559.



About ATSG

ATSG is a global tech-enabled managed services and solutions company focused on innovative solutions to enhance today's digital enterprise and end-user experiences. ATSG provides Intelligent IT through Technology Solutions as a Service (TSaaS) to a variety of customers; leveraging an offerings portfolio of rediTech, rediManage, rediCloud, and rediSecure, which delivers reliable, elastic, dynamic infrastructure, collaboration, applications, as well as world-class IT operations.

ATSG previously acquired QTS in 2017, VDX in 2018, HNS in 2018, ShoreGroup Solutions in late 2019, MTM in 2020, the DatAvail IMS business unit in 2021, and dinCloud, Inc in 2021. ATSG will continue to evaluate future investments and alliances that strategically enhance their tech-enabled managed services and overall Technology Solutions as a Service digital transformation strategy and offerings.

ATSG is a privately held company headquartered in Manhattan, New York.

For more information on ATSG, please visit us on the web at www.atsg.net, like us on LinkedIn, follow us on Twitter or become a fan on our Facebook page. #AboutATSG

ATSG is a portfolio company of RunTide Capital, a private equity firm focused on building tech-enabled growth companies.

Press Contact

Elizabeth Kubycheck

[email protected]

SOURCE ATSG
CHICAGO, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois (BCBSIL) in 2022 is adding AMITA Health's Cook County providers and hospitals to one of its HMO offerings for those shopping for coverage during the Affordable Care Act (ACA) open enrollment period now through January 15, 2022.

The addition of AMITA Health will expand the Blue FocusCareSM Network to more than 6,000 health care professionals and 22 hospitals for members to choose from.

"We're excited to announce this new arrangement that gives Cook County residents additional options for quality, cost-effective health care," said Brian Snell, divisional senior vice president Illinois Markets for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois. "AMITA Health's seven hospitals and more than 3,000 professionals in Cook County mean those choosing Blue Cross can have additional access to care close to where they live and work."

"AMITA Health is pleased to expand access to affordable health care coverage through the Illinois Health Insurance Marketplace by adding Blue FocusCareSM as a new option for Cook County Residents," said Dana Gilbert, vice president, payor relations and contracting for AMITA Health.

To learn more about BCBSIL individual and family plans for those under 65 who are not insured through their employer, please visit ShopBlueIL.com. ACA open enrollment for individual and family plans continues through January 15, 2022. People who want coverage starting January 1, 2022 need to enroll by December 15, 2021.

About Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois (BCBSIL) is committed to expanding access to quality, cost-effective health to as many people as possible in Illinois. BCBSIL is dedicated to innovation and exploring, nurturing and activating future possibilities to make the health care system work better for our members and our communities. BCBSIL is a division of Health Care Service Corporation, a Mutual Legal Reserve Company and an Independent Licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.

SOURCE Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois

Related Links

http://www.bcbsil.com


BORDEAUX, France, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- CHEOPS TECHNOLOGY SA [ISIN Code: FR0010447086] ("CHEOPS"), a Bordeaux-based provider of hybrid cloud, cybersecurity, and IT infrastructure services, today announced it has entered into exclusive negotiations with two international investment firms and plans to welcome a new management team.

CHEOPS, founded in 1998 by Nicolas Leroy-Fleuriot, is a market leader in supporting French businesses, healthcare entities and local governments in their digital transition. The company employs nearly 600 people in France and Switzerland with a turnover of approximately 130 million from over 1,200 clients.

CHEOPS' development continued in 2020 with strong organic growth and the acquisition of DFI Service in Switzerland, a company specialising in hybrid cloud technologies and cybersecurity services supported by its state of the art Security Operations Center. Following the potential transaction, the company will continue to grow its business both nationally and across Europe, capitalising on its expertise in cloud and cybersecurity capabilities. Both new and existing clients will benefit from a complete offering to meet their needs for digital transformation, managed information systems, hybrid cloud and cyber security.

To support and accelerate CHEOPS' growth, the Company is in exclusive negotiations with Aquiline Capital Partners ("Aquiline") and Elyan Partners ("Elyan"), the advisor of Edmond de Rothschild Equity Strategie ("ERES"), regarding a potential investment in CHEOPS. Following this investment, Nicolas will step down from his management responsibilities and hand over management to Emmanuel Carjat and Stephane Leroy, who are expected to be appointed co-managing partners in the first half of 2022. Emmanuel and Stephane are experienced information technology entrepreneurs with a track record of delivering customer success and growth in the cloud services sector. Together, they will lead the development of the Company through organic growth and targeted acquisitions of companies in France, Switzerland and new markets. Nicolas will remain a director and shareholder alongside Aquiline, ERES, the new co-managing partners and the CHEOPS management team.

The investment by Aquiline and Elyan, that would lead to a change of control, is subject to CHEOPS' Social and Economic Committee review and regulatory approvals, and is expected to be finalised in the first half of 2022. A public offer is expected to be made to delist CHEOPS from Euronext Access and shares of CHEOPS will be delisted from Euronext Access, if appropriate, after completion of this offer.

Nicolas Leroy-Fleuriot, founder of CHEOPS, said:

"During the last 17 years, CHEOPS has become a leader in cloud services and secure infrastructure in France and Switzerland. As I reflect on our achievements, I would like to thank the CHEOPS team who have shown dedication, professionalism, and outstanding service to provide our customers with tailor-made solutions. Going forward, I have full confidence in the ambitions that Emmanuel and Stephane plan to deliver with the CHEOPS team. I will continue in my new role as a board member, alongside our new financial partners, to support with innovative offers and technological partnerships which will transform the company into a European leader in hybrid clouds with tailored managed services and cyber security for SMEs and ETIs."

Emmanuel Carjat, future co-managing partner of CHEOPS, said: "Our market analysis has clearly identified CHEOPS as one of the key players in the digital transformation of mid-sized businesses. By developing the Group, we want European SMEs to benefit from broad technological skills adapted to their needs. To do this, we want to participate in the consolidation of the sector and create a pan-European group capable of responding to all the challenges of our customers and in particular the management of their applications and their data; all while guaranteeing them sovereignty and security."

Stephane Leroy, future co-managing partner of CHEOPS, said: "We believe that CHEOPS is well-positioned to become a European leader given the business's focus on superior customer service. Facing increasing regulations, cybersecurity concerns and increased competition, our French and European mid-sized companies need more than ever a local partner capable of helping and accompanying them through these phases of major change so that company directors can concentrate on developing their business."

Jeff Greenberg, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Aquiline, said: "Nicolas Leroy-Fleuriot has built CHEOPS into an impressive leader in the French technology services market with significant potential for further growth. Emmanuel and Stephane's vision for CHEOPS as a European cloud services player is aligned with Aquiline's expertise in technology-enabled services, and its deep experience of supporting companies' international expansion within its portfolio. Aquiline has actively invested in France, and we are delighted to deepen our commitment to the French technology sector, which remains a world leader in innovation and entrepreneurship."

Jeremie Melin, Maxence de Vienne and Vincent Manes, Partners at Elyan, comment: "Elyan is eager to support Emmanuel Carjat, Stephane Leroy and the entire CHEOPS team in this phase of transformation and growth of the company. We were very impressed by their strategic vision, their proactivity and their operational expertise. We are convinced that the Company, a recognized player in IT infrastructure and networks, is ideally positioned to continue to support its customers in their IT migration programs, especially through its cloud and cybersecurity services. This investment project alongside Aquiline and a high-quality management team is fully in line with our collaborative investment strategy."

Advisors on the operation

Buyer side:

Willkie Farr & Gallagher - advisor (Jeffrey Poss, Hugo Nocerino, Mathilde Faure, Rudy Merlet)

Deloitte - Structuring (Timothy David Lightfoot)

Bryan Garnier & Co  Buyside advisor ( Stanislas de Gmeline, Thibaut De Smedt, Sanjin Goglia, Charlie Pujo, Clement Decante, Maxime Roi, Arthur Saint-Pol)

McDermott - management advisor ( Henri Pieyre de Mandiargues, Fanny Rech)

Ernst & Young Parthenon - commercial and technical DD (Etienne Costes, Paul Antoine)

Alvarez & Marsal  Debt advisory and Financial & Tax DD (Kossi Aglamey-Pap, Alexandre Rocchi, Floris Hovingh, Adina Bleotu, Geoffrey Wallet)

Howden Group - Insurance placement and DD (Lucie Bocel)

Hogan Lovells - Borrower Counsel (Alexander Premont)

Seller side :

Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP (David Aknin)

DS Avocats (Paul-Antoine Saint German)

Press contacts

Steele & Holt - Laura Barkatz 0658255414 / [email protected]

About CHEOPS TECHNOLOGY SA

Expert in secure IT infrastructures, CHEOPS TECHNOLOGY SA ("CHEOPS") is a leader in Cloud Computing France. CHEOPS is organised in 4 Divisions: Cloud & Managed Services, Infrastructure, Network, Security & Unified Communications, Technology Modernization. Our team of experts has achieved the highest levels of certification issued by the major players in the IT market.With 600 employees and 13 agencies in France, CHEOPS guarantees the highest performance of your information system and a close working relationship with you. Further information on http://www.cheops.fr

CHEOPS is registered on Euronext Access Paris since April 2007. ISIN: FR0010447086, Memo: MLCHE

About Emmanuel Carjat and Stephane Leroy

Emmanuel Carjat is an entrepreneur who has driven growth strategies in multiple technology companies and advised numerous funds on investments in the technology sector. After starting in telecoms and cloud for financial services, where he met Stephane Leroy, he created and developed Atrium Network, a specialist in managed cloud services for financial institutions. Atrium was sold to the Canadian Stock Exchange (TMX) in 2011. After circumnavigating the world by sailboat, Emmanuel joined Stephane at QuantHouse, a successful fintech providing private and public cloud services to financial institutions on 3 continents which was acquired in 2019 by Iress, a leading Australian financial technology company.

Stephane Leroy is an entrepreneur in information technology with a track record of creating and growing leading companies in advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence and cloud-based solutions. Most recently, Stephane co-created QuantHouse, a successful fintech providing private and public cloud services to financial institutions on 3 continents which was acquired in 2019 by Iress, a leading Australian financial technology company. Prior to QuantHouse, he was Managing Director Europe for BT Radianz, the world's first private cloud for the financial sector.

About Aquiline Capital Partners

Aquiline Capital Partners, founded in 2005, is a private investment firm based in New York and London investing in businesses across financial services and technology, business services, and healthcare. As of September 31, 2021, Aquiline has approximately $7.0 billion of assets under management and our co-investment vehicles have invested approximately $4.5 billion across the firm's three strategies in private equity, venture and growth capital, and structured credit. Further information on Aquiline, its investment professionals, and its portfolio companies, please visit https://www.aquiline.com/ .

About Elyan Partners

Elyan Partners SAS ("Elyan") is a financial investment advisor registered in the unique Register maintained by the ORIAS of insurance, banking and financial intermediaries, in the category of financial investment advisor, under number 21006631. Elyan is the exclusive advisor of Edmond de Rothschild Private Equity for the ERES III and ERES IV funds and advisor of the Privilege 2018 fund. Its registered office is located at 47, rue du Faubourg Saint Honore, 75401 Paris Cedex 08. The company is controlled by its management team and benefits from the support of the Edmond de Rothschild Group as a minority shareholder.

About the Edmond de Rothschild Group

As a conviction-driven investment house founded upon the belief that wealth should be used to build the world of tomorrow, Edmond de Rothschild specialises in Private Banking and Asset Management and serves an international clientele of families, entrepreneurs and institutional investors. The group is also active in Corporate Finance, Private Equity, Real Estate and Fund Services. "Edmond de Rothschild Private Equity" refers to the Private Equity division of the Edmond de Rothschild Group.

With a resolutely family-run nature, Edmond de Rothschild has the independence necessary to propose bold strategies and long-term investments, rooted in the real economy.

Founded in 1953, the Group had CHF 168 billion of assets under management at 31.12.2020, 2,500 employees, and 33 locations worldwide.

With an entrepreneurial and pioneering spirit, Edmond de Rothschild Private Equity builds, develops and manages innovative, forward-looking strategies that respond to current and future societal challenges. It offers 15 differentiating strategies across a variety of geographies and investment sectors.

"Edmond de Rothschild Private Equity" is the trade name of the Private Equity entities (including subsidiaries and affiliated entities) of the Edmond de Rothschild Group. This name also refers to the Private Equity division of the Edmond de Rothschild Group.

SOURCE CHEOPS TECHNOLOGY SA
DUBLIN, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The "China Automotive Multimodal Interaction Development Research Report, 2021" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

This report combs through and summarizes the interaction modes of mainstream auto brands.

The current automotive human-computer interaction (HMI) is characterized by the following:

In terms of interaction modes, in addition to conventional interaction methods such as touch control, button and knob, voice and mobile phone have become favored options in automotive HMI. Moreover, face, gesture, and car lamp have also become popular interaction options. Some brands even have begun to try new interaction ways, such as eye tracking, voiceprint, and fingerprint.



As concerns layout, joint-venture brands remain conservative in interaction modes. They seldom use new interaction methods except for voice and mobile phone. Yet luxury brands are pioneers of multimodal interaction. One example is Mercedes-Benz which has equipped its new-generation MBUX system with multiple new interactions like face, gesture, eye, and fingerprint. By comparison, Chinese leading brands are more active in new interaction modes, for example, Changan Auto has eyesight wake-up and Great Wall Motor offers voiceprint recognition.

Voice as a conventional interaction mode offers improvements in functions.

Besides the original capabilities of voice interaction, features like continuous dialogue, voice area lock, tone switch, and user-defined voice have become next orientations of mainstream brands.

Gesture has become the third new interaction mode behind voice and face.



Gesture interaction uses the in-car camera to judge a gesture and send the data to the vehicle system control unit which will then call out the function corresponding to the gesture. Gesture control is more accurate and quicker, and easier to operate than voice control.



Brands using gesture interaction include BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Changan, Great Wall, SAIC Roewe, GAC Trumpchi, VOYAH, R Car, BAIC ARCFOX, and Xpeng, of which Great Wall and Xpeng support gesture recognition outside car.



WEY Mocha - enable gesture control over ignition, forward/backward movement, suspension, and flameout outside the car.



Changan Ford EVOS - the new-generation SYNC+ 2.0 allows gesture control over muting, music play, interface split, and back to the home interface, etc.



Light interaction is available to brands like Mercedes-Benz, HiPhi and IM Motors.



Light interaction sends a message out by way of flashing, light projection and combination headlight. Light interaction provides channels for communication with traffic participants outside the car, and enables autonomous vehicles to communicate with the surroundings at a time of implementing autonomous driving. Now brands including Mercedes-Benz, Audi, Volkswagen, Great Wall, BYD, HiPhi, IM and Xpeng have packed this interaction mode.



Mercedes-Benz - Projector headlights project warning signs, assisted markings and other information related to driving assistance systems onto the road ahead.



IM L7 - Projection headlights enable the projection of interactive alerts, navigation, vehicle information among others, offering lane-level guidance with HD maps.; combination headlights provide several patterns to show the status of users in the cockpit; interactive taillights enable display of words and emoticons, as well as information, for example, thanks, pedestrian warning and state of charge.



As well as combination headlights, some brands like BAIC and Samsung are trying to add displays at the front and rear of the body to send messages to pedestrians.



BAIC Lite 300 - LED displays at the front and rear of the body show words, emoticons, animations, state of charge and other content.



Multimodal fusion holds a future trend.



Single-modal interaction has a limited role to play in improvement of interaction experience. Multimodal fusion is obviously a feasible and efficient option for better interaction experience in future. Brands that are developing this feature are Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Huawei and Changan.

Voice + eye sight

Voice interaction shows little ability to recognize fuzzy pronouns like "this" and "that". In this case, the addition of eye tracking for locking direction, plus voice commands, can make the response to commands much quicker.



Mercedes-Benz MBUX Travel Knowledge - a driver who fixes his/her gaze on a building says "I want to know the purpose of this building", and he/she will acquire related information. Cerence Look provides technical support.

Voice + lip movement recognition

Accurate acquisition of commands is a key step in the voice interaction process. Complex cockpit environment, noise and high personnel density make it harder to recognize voice. The new voice area lock feature added recently comes as a solution to the problem. Yet for its limitations, the single-model voice interaction technology has a limited effect in improving interaction experience.



The combination with lip movement recognition renders voice recognition far more accurate in voice interaction. Lip movements vary over language. In a noisy cockpit environment, combining lip movements, the system can ensure high voice recognition accuracy, even as the voice sounds low.

Key Topics Covered:



1 Overview of Multimodal Interaction

1.1 Definition of Multimodal Interaction

1.2 Development History of Multimodal Interaction in Vehicle Scenarios

1.3 Application of Interaction Modes of Mainstream Brands

1.4 Touch Interaction

1.5 Voice Interaction

1.6 Development Trends of Voice Interaction

1.7 Face Interaction

1.8 Gesture Interaction

1.9 Light Interaction

1.10 Biometrics

1.11 Other Interaction Modes

1.12 Development Trends



2 Multimodal Interaction of Joint Venture Auto Brands

2.1 BMW

2.2 Mercedes-Benz

2.3 Audi

2.4 Volkswagen

2.5 Ford

2.6 Buick

2.7 Toyota

2.8 Nissan

2.9 Honda

2.10 Volvo



2 Multimodal Interaction of Chinese Auto Brands

3.1 Geely

3.2 Changan Auto

3.3 Great Wall Motor

3.4 BYD

3.5 Chery

3.6 SAIC

3.7 GAC

3.8 Interaction Highlights of Voyah FREE

3.9 Interaction Highlights of IM L7

3.10 Interaction Highlights of R Car

3.11 BAIC ARCFOX



4 Multimodal Interaction of Emerging Auto Brands

4.1 NIO

4.2 Xpeng Motors

4.3 Lixiang

4.4 Interaction Highlights of Weltmeister W6

4.5 Interaction Highlights of HiPhi X

4.6 Interaction Highlights of NETA U Pro



For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/n3vcv4

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


LIVONIA, Mich., Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- CIGNEX, a leading provider of Digital Transformation through Open Source, Cloud and Automation technology solutions is actively responding to the Log4Shell vulnerability in the Apache Log4j Java library, which has been reported as a remote code execution vulnerability.

Digital systems all across the Internet have been impacted by the vulnerability in Log4j, a commonly used logging framework. The logging library vulnerability is easy to exploit, as it allows attackers to take entire control of compromised servers. The vulnerability in Log4j appears to have impacted the whole Java ecosystem.

This flaw effectively allows hackers to take over a computer system. Because the defective computer code is embedded in many types of software, updating it is a time-consuming process. The US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has been impacted by the problem. The CISA notice states, "CISA advises users and administrators to examine the Apache Log4j 2.15.0 announcement and update to Log4j 2.15.0 or apply the recommended mitigations immediately." More information is available on the Apache Announcement.

"We are working with organizations to help them understand, detect, investigate and mitigate risks to their applications." said Harish Ramachandran, CEO, CIGNEX, "CIGNEX has been helping clients to resolve and neutralize the threats and will continue to help clients in this crisis," he added.

CIGNEX is working with the Information Security team of a major telecom software company & helping them mitigate the risks from this vulnerability. They can be reached out for assistance by any organization which suspects a compromise in their security or wants to update the Log4j version. For vulnerability assessment or remediation services, CIGNEX can be reached at [email protected]

About CIGNEX (www.cignex.com)

CIGNEX is a Michigan based global consulting company offering solutions & services on Open Source, Cloud & Automation. Since 2000, CIGNEX has been delivering enterprise class solutions that enable organizations achieve unparalleled results.

For additional information, contact:

Priyanka Sharma

Global Head of Marketing

CIGNEX

[email protected]

+91 079 6701 0345

SOURCE CIGNEX
The Costa Rican Investment Promotion Agency reported 103 investment projects in 2021  30% more than 2020.

41% of new projects come from countries other than the United States and include investments from Canada , Switzerland , Spain , Israel , India , South Africa , Brazil , and Chile .

and include investments from , , , , , , , and . In 2021 companies such as Bayer, Amazon, Roche, Intel, Concentrix, Firestone, and Terumo announced expansions in Costa Rica.

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Costa Rica closes 2021 with record figures on the number of investment projects attracted as well as jobs created.

For the second consecutive year, the Costa Rican Investment Promotion Agency (CINDE) reached a record number  103 investment projects that chose Costa Rica  which represents a growth of 30% over 2020. Of these, 32 are new companies that will establish operations in the country, and 71 are reinvestments, of which 48 were expansions and 23 represented diversifications of company services or products.

Of the 32 new companies, 13 represent non-traditional markets different from the United States and originate from 8 locations: Brazil, Canada, Chile, Spain, India, Israel, South Africa, and Switzerland.

Likewise, over the last five years, the total number of greenfield projects attracted by CINDE has grown at an average annual rate of 15%; in a global context where the number of greenfield projects has trended downward, particularly during 2019 and 2020.

Eric Scharf, President of the Board of Directors at CINDE, commented, "Results from 2021 show that Costa Rica continues to grow and consolidate internationally as a destination for sustainable investment, in line with our value proposition based on people, planet, and prosperity. Also, the country showcased its capacity to deploy a coordinated response amongst several government agencies to avoid shutdowns and ensure business continuity in support of the needs of the foreign trade sectors. Thus, it proved the resilience and response that Costa Rica can offer to investors, as a reliable destination for their global business strategies. That, and multiple other factors helped us, not only to exceed our goals for new projects and reinvestments in 2021 but also to reinforce Costa Rica's position as the best country in the world, concerning performance in attracting greenfield investments, according to fDi Intelligence."

The positive impacts of foreign direct investment are reflected throughout multiple areas of the country and are in line with strategies to bring more investment to rising cities outside the Greater Metropolitan Area (GMA). In 2021, CINDE confirmed five new companies and four reinvestments in these regions. New forms of virtual work further enhanced this impact; for example, Amazon doubled its 100% virtual payroll, which is comprised of people who work from remote areas outside the GMA, thanks to internet connectivity and Costa Rican talent in these regions.

Dynamism in Costa Rica. For the sixth year in a row, companies attracted by CINDE set a record on employment: 22,461 new formal jobs and a net job gain of 19,725 positions created this year. That marks an increase of 13.4% and 34%, respectively, compared to 2020. These companies provide direct employment to 162,238 people throughout the country on aggregate.

Jorge Sequeira, the Managing Director of CINDE, highlighted the year's performance and its positive impact in the second year of a pandemic that continues to be challenging. He mentioned, "We celebrate these results which, above all, create real impact through formal employment and greater opportunities for the country's most valuable resource: its people. That is a diverse job offering, available to all types of people from young to old, people inside or outside the GMA, and women, thus promoting equality. At CINDE, we have also committed to collaborating with multiple entities for ongoing talent development in line with the opportunities that the fourth industrial revolution presents. We will continue doing so, based on our robust 4.0 talent strategy."

Women's workplace participation also displayed a significant footprint on the new 2021 net employment numbers generated by companies supported by CINDE as reflected in a growth of 21.4% over 2020, which is 48% of the net new jobs created that is, 9,393 women.

Currently, 71,042 women work in multinationals, and their 44% participation is higher in this sector than the national average of 41%. In the last five years, female employment has grown steadily by 14.2% year-on-year at multinational companies supported by CINDE.

The Fourth Industrial Revolution. In 2021, Costa Rica was also a stand-out for training human talent for employability in Industry 4.0. As proof  and through various training and certification programs between CINDE and other public-private entities  almost 9,000 people graduated from technical high schools with specialties in topics like data analysis, software development, cybersecurity, innovation, and artificial intelligence, among others.

Likewise, fAIrLAC announced its launch in Costa Rica to promote the responsible and equitable adoption of artificial intelligence. The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) leads the initiative with the support of CINDE, academia, government, corporate parks, including America Free Zone, and companies like Microsoft and Intel.

CINDE's efforts to consolidate its impact on strategic sectors in the knowledge economy, such as life sciences, were recognized this year by UNCTAD, which named CINDE the Best FDI Strategy in Investment Promotion for the Life Sciences Sector.

For more than 60 years, Costa Rica has demonstrated its commitment to sustainable development, today reflected in a 99.8% renewable electricity matrix. CINDE shares the country's commitment: the agency is certified as Carbon Neutral, its facilities are also LEED certified, and it directs its efforts to impact 4 specific SDGs: Decent Work and Economic Growth; Gender Equality; Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure; and Quality Education.

SOURCE Costa Rican Investment Promotion Agency
RENO, Nev., Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The City of Reno and Ledger8760 , the 24/7 carbon tracking platform that measures energy, emissions and utility information, today announced the launch of a public portal that comprehensively and accurately captures and monitors the City of Reno's carbon footprint. The platform, now available to the public and policy decision-makers, is capable of capturing all three emissions scopes for carbon output from City buildings, public utilities, meters, vehicle fleets, and more, allowing the City to identify blind spots in emissions management and identify opportunities to make more sustainable choices.

The Reno emissions public portal can be viewed here: https://public.ledger8760.com/reno/

By tracking emissions on a 24/7 basis, the City can understand how usage patterns change throughout the course of a day, month or season, offering a unified view of Reno's operational carbon footprint with the greatest accuracy and efficiency possible. This enables the City to take action and implement meaningful change to ultimately track more aggressively against its sustainability priorities. The insights captured this year have already allowed the City to identify that carbon-free energy usage was higher in the summer months compared to the winter, and when the City's electric vehicles are charged during daytime hours compared to the more popular option of charging at night when carbon intensity is highest, it's more likely carbon-free energy is sourced. With these learnings and others, the City can more effectively implement programs and operations that use carbon-free energy and reduce the City's footprint.

"Today marks a major milestone in our sustainability journey. By making our emissions data public, we are setting a new standard for transparency, as we work to reach our sustainability goals. We look forward to the invaluable insights we will gain through this partnership to inform action plans that will make a real impact in 2022," said Reno Mayor Hillary Schieve.

"Our city-wide sustainability goal in Reno, aligned with the state of Nevada, is to reduce our annual greenhouse gas emissions by 28% from 2008 levels by 2025, and with that date fast approaching, the accuracy of the data provided by Ledger8760 puts us in a position to better understand how to achieve broader goals," said Suzanne Groneman, Sustainability Program Manager at the Reno City Manager's Office. "We have a responsibility to our citizens and now we are able to ensure we are making the right investments and decisions with those funds to make for a more sustainable Reno that can be enjoyed by all."

Extending beyond the City of Reno, Washoe County and the state of Nevada are also furthering their commitment to transparency and sustainability in partnering with Ledger8760 to launch similar public dashboards in the coming months. The Nevada state legislature recently passed Senate Bill 358 which ensures electricity providers meet 50 percent of customer needs with renewable electricity statewide by 2030 and 100 percent clean energy by 2050. Nevada will become the fourth state and sixth state-level jurisdiction to commit to 100 percent clean electricity which will also reduce utilities' reliance on fossil fuels, save customers money, curtail air pollution, and improve public health. These improvements, along with the data provided by the Ledger8760 platform, empower Nevada to be a leader in the fight against climate change and outline the targeted steps to make these goals a reality.

"Identifying ways to reduce carbon emissions is not only good for the environment, it's good for our economy, and that's why I'm so proud that Washoe County is also working with Ledger8760 to identify areas where we can reduce waste," Washoe County Chair Bob Lucey said. "We will soon join the City of Reno in using this game-changing technology and work toward a healthier economy and community."

"We applaud the City of Reno and the entire state of Nevada for being a leader in carbon tracking transparency. With our unmatched emissions data, we're able to show leaders that it's not just how much energy is used, but where that energy comes from that makes a difference in carbon reduction efforts," said Adam Kramer, CEO of Ledger8760. "We're confident this public portal will make Reno residents proud of their city and inspire them to improve their own individual carbon footprint, too."

To learn more about Ledger8760, please visit https://www.ledger8760.com/ and to learn more about sustainability efforts in the City of Reno, visit reno.gov/community/sustainability .

About Ledger8760

Ledger8760 was founded with the mission to help companies, cities and communities achieve their climate goals by operationalizing energy, financial and GhG emissions data. The company's innovation solutions like Carbon Tools and Energy Tracker measure energy, emission and utility information in real-time, empowering customers to spend less time, energy and money on data tracking and focus on taking action, because you can't change what you can't measure.

About the City of Reno

The City of Reno government's mission is creating a community that people are proud to call home. In order to achieve that purpose, the Reno City Council has established six Tier 1 priorities and seven Tier 2 priorities . To learn more about the City of Reno, visit Reno.gov or call 775-334-INFO (4636).

SOURCE Ledger8760
SAN JOSE, Calif., Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Cochl has become a member of Synerleap, ABB's innovation growth hub located in the heart of the ABB's Head Office in Vasteras Sweden. Synerleap aims to create an ecosystem where ABB can utilize and enable technology companies to grow and expand on a global market in its business areas including industrial automation, robotics and energy.

As a Synereleap member, Cochl will collaborate with ABB for bringing its sound AI technology to R&D and joint business development across ABB's different business units.

Cochl will initially explore how to apply its machine listening technology to monitoring machine malfunctioning and emergency situations in the smart manufacturing.

Cochl is capable of identifying machine malfunction sounds from anomalous conditions with its expertise in audio and machine learning, such as leakage, clogging, rail damage of different machines. With Cochl's pretrained model, organizations can deploy an off-the-shelf monitoring system for detecting emergency situations in hazardous work environments prone to accidents and respond faster to accidents like explosions wor worker accidents.

"We are happy to have Cochl onboard at SynerLeap, as we strongly believe Cochl's sound AI technology is uniquely positioned to benefit ABB's and our partners' different industrial applications and challenges. ABB, partners and Cochl will work side by side in this journey with SynerLeap as a facilitator." says Peter Lofgren, CEO SynerLeap.

About SynerLeap:

SynerLeap is ABB's global innovation growth hub. Our goal is to help startups to accelerate and expand in a global market together with ABB. SynerLeap opens up for investments and offers to the members mentorship as well as a unique access to ABB's networks, customers and technology in automation, robotics and energy. Today, more than 115 companies have joined SynerLeap including Graphmatech, Einride and MTEK from Sweden, Everactive from USA and NumoCity from India. The growth hub started with a focus on Sweden, expanded to the Nordic countries and is now also open to companies from all over the world. www.synerleap.com

About ABB:

ABB (ABBN: SIX Swiss Ex) is a leading global technology company that energizes the transformation of society and industry to achieve a more productive, sustainable future. By connecting software to its electrification, robotics, automation and motion portfolio, ABB pushes the boundaries of technology to drive performance to new levels. With a history of excellence stretching back more than 130 years, ABB's success is driven by about 110,000 talented employees in over 100 countries. www.abb.com

About Cochl:

Cochl is a leading provider of machine listening, a category of sound AI, that leverages signal processing and machine learning for understanding environmental sounds and music. Cochl provides an off-the-shelf solution for sound analysis that enables customers to easily add sound analytics to their devices and services through cloud API & edge SDK. Cochl serves businesses and developers from a wide range of industries globally, including smart city, automotive, entertainment, manufacturing and robotics. Cochl is based in Seoul and recently opened its US office in San Jose. https://www.cochl.ai .

SOURCE Cochl
ABERDEEN, N.J., Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Alternate Ending Beer Co. released a beer can with a licensed Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT. Licensing a Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT for a limited-edition beer can label was the brainchild of Evan Hecht (aka @nftsniperbot) and Ross Cohen, co-founder of The Lifetime Value Company , who presented the idea to Alternate Ending Beer Co.'s Scott Novick, and Alexis Castellano. Novick and Castellano recognized the enormous potential of utilizing a Bored Ape for commercial use and a fun way to collaborate and merge the world of craft beer and NFTs.

Hecht and Cohen, both active in the NFT community, licensed Bored Ape #3500 exclusively to Alternate Ending Beer Co. Alternate Ending Beer Co. worked with John Turner, of award-winning branding agency BoysBurnsBarn, and new artist Alex V. to weave the Bored Ape NFT into its own unique can design inspired by street art. Featuring the Bored Ape being spoon-fed peas on the label, the aptly named "Drink Your Peas" beer is a grisette made with malted peas, a first in the United States.

"We look at our beer cans as not just a can but as a canvas for amazing art, and a vessel for the love that we put into our beer," Novick said. "Featuring the Bored Ape NFT on the can is just the next iteration of that!"

The new grisette is made with malted peas provided by local distillery 3BR. Already a romantic style from old-world Belgium, this delicate farmhouse beer is usually light and dry, but the malted peas balanced out that dryness with a touch of sweetness.

The company is releasing a limited number of 4-packs to the public. In addition to beer cans, there will be limited-edition hand-numbered posters featuring the Bored Ape NFT, as well as a select number of beer glasses with the Bored Ape NFT sometime around Christmas.

Customers can preorder their limited edition 4-pack , along with other available Alternate Ending items through BeerBroadcast until 12 pm ET, December 17, 2021. If purchasing later than 12 pm ET on December 17, head to the Alternate Ending Beer Co. website or DM the company on Instagram for more information.

About Alternate Ending Beer Co.

Alternate Ending Beer Co. is a destination brewpub set in an old movie theater located in Aberdeen, New Jersey. It is a social gathering space where people come from near and far to drink delicious beer, have an incredible meal and watch one of their favorite movies on the big screen in the theater room. All of the signature craft beer is brewed on location with a state-of-the-art brewhouse, and specialty beers include Juicy IPA, traditional lagers, oatmeal stouts, and delicate mixed cultures. Alternate Ending Beer Co. partnered with Talula's of Asbury Park to provide a casual yet vibrant menu centered around sourdough square pizza pies, which are perfect for pairing with beer.

Contact:

Alternate Ending Beer Co.

Alexis Castellano

IG: @aebeer

aebeer.com

[email protected]

SOURCE Alternate Ending Beer Co.; The Lifetime Value Company

Related Links

https://www.ltvco.com/


Challenges gives fans followers a way to participate directly in initiatives set out by their favorite creators. Creators post a challenge to their followers, who then upload videos or photos of themselves and others completing the challenge. These challenge results are displayed publicly in a modern, swipeable feed that lets fans view other users' submissions right inside the creator's own Link in Bio.

"Building deeper relationships with followers is the key for creators who are looking to take their content and careers to the next level. Challenges inverts the standard creator-audience dynamic, turning followers into creators and the creator into the viewer. The app is a new way for fans and their favorite content creators to interact and make content together," said Sean Thielen, Koji co-founder.

Challenges is free to use and available today on the Koji App Store .

ABOUT KOJI

Koji is the world's most powerful Link in Bio platform. With hundreds of free apps created by Koji and its community of independent developers, the Koji Link in Bio gives leading Creators on TikTok, Instagram, Twitch, and other social media platforms new ways to engage audiences, connect with supporters, and monetize. Koji launched in March 2021 and has raised $16 million in venture capital through its parent company GoMeta, Inc.

PRESS CONTACT

Sean Thielen

[email protected]

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Challenges on the Koji App Store

How to Start a Challenge In Your Link in Bio

SOURCE Koji

Related Links

https://withkoji.com/


MELBOURNE, Australia and ST. GALLEN, Switzerland, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ --

CSL Limited Announces Tender Offer To Acquire Vifor Pharma Ltd

- Agreement Announced on the Australian Stock Exchange and SIX Swiss Exchange 14 December, 2021

- Expands CSL's leadership across an attractive portfolio focused on Renal Disease, and Iron Deficiency

- Complements CSL's existing therapeutic focus areas including Hematology and Thrombosis, Cardiovascular-Metabolic, and Transplant, and high quality pipeline

- CSL's global scale, R&D capabilities and resources augment the delivery of Vifor Pharma's products to patients globally

- All-cash tender offer of US$179.25 per Vifor Pharma share, representing an aggregate equity value for Vifor Pharma of US$11.7 billion / A$16.4 billion(1)

- Tender offer is unanimously recommended for acceptance by Vifor Pharma's Board of Directors

- Patinex AG, Vifor Pharma's largest shareholder holding 23% of Vifor Pharma's share capital, has agreed to tender its shares

- Expected to be low-to-mid teens NPATA per share accretive in the first full year of CSL ownership(2), including full run rate cost synergies(3)

- US$12.3 billion / A$17.2 billion all-cash acquisition consideration(4) to be funded through a combination of A$6.3 billion (US$4.5 billion) fully underwritten Placement, US$6.0 billion / A$8.4 billion new debt and existing cash / undrawn facilities.

Global biotechnology leader CSL Limited (ASX: CSL; USOTC:CSLLY) and Vifor Pharma Ltd (SIX:VIFN; ISIN:CH0364749348), a global specialty pharmaceutical company with leadership in Iron Deficiency, Nephrology & Cardio-Renal Therapies, today announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement for CSL to launch an all-cash public tender offer to acquire all publicly held Vifor Pharma shares for US$179.25 per Vifor Pharma share, for an aggregate equity value for Vifor Pharma of US$11.7 / A$16.4 billion.

The transaction, which has been unanimously approved by both companies' Boards of Directors, further advances CSL's 2030 strategy to create value by adding a high- growth, cash generative and sustainable business which complements and expands the global leadership positions of CSL's two business units, CSL Behring and Seqirus.

"Vifor Pharma enhances CSL's patient focus and ability to protect the health of those facing a range of rare and serious medical conditions. It brings an outstanding team and a leading portfolio of products across Nephrology, Dialysis and Iron Deficiency therapies and a proven partnering and business development and licensing strategy. Vifor Pharma will also expand our presence in the rapidly growing nephrology market, while giving us the opportunity to leverage our complementary scientific expertise," said Paul Perreault, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of CSL.

"The combination with Vifor Pharma is expected to be financially compelling for our shareholders while expanding and diversifying our revenue base. It is expected to be immediately earnings accretive in the first full year of CSL ownership, and can be executed while retaining our balance sheet strength. Vifor Pharma offers CSL near-term value along with a clear path to long-term sustainable growth," Mr Perreault concluded.

"Vifor Pharma's strategy has been to focus towards continuing being a market leader in iron deficiency, nephrology and cardio-renal therapies." Jacques Theurillat, Chairman of the Board of Directors Vifor Pharma Group commented. "The offer provides an excellent strategic opportunity for Vifor Pharma to optimize future market opportunities from a from a position of strength and to create substantial value for all stakeholders."

CSL has a long-standing and committed presence in Switzerland, where it has been an active corporate citizen since 1949 and currently has a team of more than 1,800 people on the ground in R&D, manufacturing and other operations. Since 2000, CSL Behring has invested CHF 1,257 million into its Bern facilities to meet the growing global patient demand for its immunoglobulin medicines.

"We are excited about deepening our commitment to the Swiss and Global market through the addition of Vifor Pharma to the CSL family, which will add more than 2,600 skilled and talented employees to our global team. We look forward to growing the combined company together with them," said Mr Perreault.

Strategic and Financial Rationale

Expands Leadership Positions and Diversifies CSL's Business Model

- The transaction expands CSL's portfolio breadth with the addition of 10 commercialised products including Ferinject / Injectafer, Venofer, Veltassa, and soon Korsuva, adding leadership positions across multiple franchises.

- The combined company will have an expanded pipeline of 37 products across development phases, representing an increase of 37% from CSL's current standalone pipeline, with up to four product launches expected in 2022 / 23.

Complements CSL's Existing Therapeutic Focus Areas

- Complementary portfolio across CSL's existing therapeutic focus areas including Hematology and Thrombosis, Cardiovascular-Metabolic, and Transplant

- Vifor Pharma also provides access to logical new adjacencies across Nephrology, Dialysis and Iron Deficiency with strong market positions and growth opportunities in each area

- Recently approved drugs  Tavneos and Korsuva  offer significant commercial momentum across these new adjacent focus areas

Differentiated Platform in Attractive Nephrology Market Drives Durable Growth

- Vifor Pharma is a "partner of choice" for innovation and partnering in nephrology due to its synergistic joint venture (VFMCRP, or Vifor Pharma Fresenius Medical Care Renal Pharma) with Fresenius Medical Care, the global leader in dialysis, combined with Vifor Pharma's clinical and commercial expertise.

- Vifor Pharma has announced the acquisition of two companies and formed more than a dozen business development partnerships spanning multiple assets and geographies over the last six years, strengthening and deepening its product portfolio and innovation pipeline.

- The nephrology market is experiencing rapid growth with over US$25 billion(5) estimated relevant market in 2026 with significant pipeline opportunities driven by an aging population and increased prevalence of chronic kidney disease risk factors such as diabetes and heart disease.

Offer Details

CSL has offered to acquire Vifor Pharma in an all-cash public tender offer to acquire all publicly held Vifor Pharma shares for US$179.25 per Vifor Pharma share, payable in U.S. dollars. The Tender Offer represents an acquisition consideration of approximately US$12.3 billion, equivalent to A$17.2 billion. It represents an implied premium of approximately 40% to the last closing price of Vifor Pharma shares on the SIX on 1 December, 2021.(6)

The Transaction is to be to be funded via:

- A fully underwritten institutional placement ("Placement") of A$6.3 (US$4.5 billion);

- A fully committed debt bridge facility of US$6.0 / A$8.4 billion; and

- Existing cash / undrawn facilities of US$2.0 / A$2.8 billion.

CSL will also undertake a non-underwritten Share Purchase Plan ("SPP") to eligible CSL shareholders(7) in Australia and New Zealand targeting to raise up to A$750 million (US$534 million).

The Transaction remains subject to the various customary closing conditions as set out in the Pre-Announcement of Tender Offer published today.

Advisors

PJT Partners is acting as lead financial advisor to CSL. BofA Securities and Goldman Sachs are also acting as financial advisors to CSL. Credit Suisse is acting as Tender Offer Manager in Switzerland and financial advisor to CSL. Gresham Advisory Partners Limited is acting as an independent advisor to the Board of Directors of CSL.

Homburger AG, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP, and Allens are acting as joint legal advisors to CSL.

Further Information

Further information in relation to the Transaction, Placement and SPP are set out in the investor presentation released to the Australian Stock Exchange. The investor presentation contains important information including details about key risks and international offer restrictions with respect to the Placement.

Media Contact Details

For further information, please contact:

CSL

Australia / Asia Pacific

Citadel Magnus

Catherine Strong

P: +61 406 759 268

E: [email protected] or [email protected]

Switzerland / Europe

IRF

Martin Meier-Pfister

P: + 41 432 448 140

E: [email protected]

United States / Rest of World

Kekst CNC

Anntal Silver

P: +1 212 518 6485

E: [email protected]

Nick Capuano

P: +1 917 842 7859

E: [email protected]

Media call Tuesday 14 December

5:15pm AEDT, 7:15am CET, 1:15am EST

Media conference call with CSL's Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Mr Paul Perreault and CSL's Chief Financial Officer, Ms Joy Linton.

Participants must pre-register for the conference by navigating to https://s1.c-conf.com/diamondpass/10018531-asm661.html

A calendar invite and passcode will be emailed upon registration.

About CSL

CSL (ASX: CSL; USOTC:CSLLY) is a leading global biotechnology company with a dynamic portfolio of life-saving medicines, including those that treat hemophilia and immune deficiencies, as well as vaccines to prevent influenza. Since our start in 1916, we have been driven by our promise to save lives using the latest technologies. Today, CSL  including our two businesses, CSL Behring and Seqirus- provides life-saving products to more than 100 countries and employs more than 25,000 people. Our unique combination of commercial strength, R&D focus and operational excellence enables us to identify, develop and deliver innovations so our patients can live life to the fullest. For more information visit csl.com.

About Vifor Pharma

Vifor Pharma 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 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 Pharma 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. For more information, please visit viforpharma.com.

Legal Disclaimers

Important Additional Information

The tender offer described herein has not yet commenced. This release is for informational purposes only and does not constitute, or form part of, any offer or invitation to sell or issue, or any solicitation of any offer, to purchase or subscribe for any registered shares or other equity securities in Vifor Pharma Pharma Ltd., nor shall it form the basis of, or be relied on in connection with, any contract therefor. This release is not part of the offer documentation relating to the tender offer. Main terms and conditions of the tender offer have been published in today's Pre-Announcement of the tender offer, and full details including terms and conditions will be published in the tender offer prospectus. Shareholders of Vifor Pharma Ltd. are urged to read the tender offer documents, which are or will be available at www.CSLtransaction.com.

Certain Offer Restrictions

The tender offer will not be made, directly or indirectly, in any country or jurisdiction in which it would be considered unlawful or otherwise violate any applicable laws or regulations, or which would require CSL or any of its subsidiaries to change or amend the terms or conditions of the tender offer in any material way, to make an additional filing with any governmental, regulatory or other authority or take additional action in relation to the tender offer. It is not intended to extend the tender offer to any such country or jurisdiction. Any such documents relating to the tender offer must neither be distributed in any such country or jurisdiction nor be sent into such country or jurisdiction, and must not be used for the purpose of soliciting the purchase of securities of Vifor Pharma Ltd. by any person or entity resident or incorporated in any such country or jurisdiction.

The tender offer will be made in the United States pursuant to Section 14(e) of, and Regulation 14E under, the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "U.S. Exchange Act"), subject to either (i) the exemptions provided by Rule 14d-1(c) under the U.S. Exchange Act (the "Tier I Exemption") and Rule 14e-5(b)(10) under the U.S. Exchange Act or (ii) the exemptions provided by Rule 14d-1(d) under the U.S. Exchange Act (the "Tier II Exemption") and Rule 14e-5(b)(12) under the U.S. Exchange Act and any exemptions that may be granted by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") and otherwise in accordance with the requirements of Swiss law. Accordingly, the tender offer will be subject to disclosure and other procedural requirements, including with respect to withdrawal rights, settlement procedures and timing of payments that are different from those applicable under U.S. domestic tender offer procedures and laws. Neither the SEC nor any securities commission of any State of the United States has (a) approved or dis-approved of the tender offer; (b) passed upon the merits or fairness of the tender offer; or (c) passed upon the adequacy or accuracy of the disclosure in the Pre-Announcement of the tender offer or, when the tender offer is commenced, the tender offer prospectus. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offence in the United States.

The communication is not being made by, and has not been approved by, an "authorised person" for the purposes of Section 21 of the U.K. Financial Services and Markets Act 2000.



Reference is made to the Pre-Announcement of the tender offer published today for full offer restrictions.

Other Important Additional Information

This announcement contains summary information about CSL Limited ("CSL") and its controlled entities (the "Group") and the Group's activities which is current only as at the date of this announcement (unless otherwise stated). The information in this announcement is of a general nature and does not purport to be complete. CSL's historical information in this announcement is, or is based upon, information that has been released to the Australian Securities Exchange ("ASX"). This announcement should be read in conjunction with CSL's other periodic and continuous disclosure announcements lodged with the ASX, which are available at www.asx.com.au. Certain information in this announcement has been sourced from Vifor Pharma and its associates. While steps have been taken to review that information, no representation or warranty, expressed or implied, is made as to its fairness, accuracy, correctness, completeness or adequacy.

For more information, see "Reliance on information provided" in Appendix B: Key Risks in the investor presentation lodged by CSL at the same time as this announcement.

This announcement contains statements that constitute forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements contained in this announcement include statements regarding CSL's intent, belief or current expectations with respect to the timetable, conduct and outcome of the Offer and the use of Offer proceeds, statements about the Transaction, statements about the plans, objectives and strategies of the management of CSL, statements about the industry and markets in which the Group operates, and statements about the future performance of the Group's business and its financial condition, future earnings, distributions and performance, indicative drivers and forecasted economic indicators. The words "anticipate", "believe", "expect", "estimate", "aim", "project", "forecast", "estimate", "risk", "likely", "intend", "outlook", "should", "could", "would", "may", "will", "continue", "plan", "probability", "indicative", "seek", "target", "plan" and other similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements.

You are strongly cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, including in respect of CSL's future financial performance and outlook, particularly in light of the current economic climate and the significant volatility, uncertainty and disruption caused by the outbreak of COVID-19.

Any such statements, opinions and estimates in this announcement speak only as of the date hereof and are based on assumptions and contingencies subject to change without notice, as are statements about market and industry trends, projections, guidance and estimates. Forward-looking statements are provided as a general guide only. The forward-looking statements in this announcement are not indications, guarantees or predictions of future performance and involve known and unknown risks (including (without limitation) the risks and uncertainties associated with CSL, the Group, the business of the Group, the proposed acquisition of Vifor Pharma and the other risks set out in "Appendix [B]: [Key Risks]" to the investor presentation lodged by CSL at the same time as this announcement), uncertainties and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of CSL, its officers, employees, agents and advisors, and may involve significant elements of subjective judgement and assumptions as to future events which may or may not be correct, and may cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements.

This announcement is not financial product or investment advice, a recommendation to acquire securities or accounting, legal or tax advice. It does not constitute an invitation or offer to apply for securities. It has been prepared without taking into account the objectives, financial or tax situation or needs of individuals. Before making an investment decision, prospective investors should consider the appropriateness of the information having regard to their own objectives, financial and tax situation and needs and seek legal and taxation advice appropriate for their jurisdiction. CSL is not licensed to provide financial product advice in respect of an investment in securities. This announcement does not constitute an offer to sell, or the solicitation of an offer to buy, any securities in the United States or any jurisdiction in which such an offer would be illegal. The new shares have not been, and will not be, registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933 (the "U.S." Securities Act) or the securities laws of any state or other jurisdiction of the United States. Accordingly, the new shares to be offered and sold in the Placement may not be offered or sold in the United States unless they are offered or sold pursuant to an exemption from, or in a transaction not subject to, the registration requirements of the U.S. Securities Act and applicable securities laws of any state or other jurisdiction of the United States. The new shares to be offered and sold in the SPP may not be offered or sold in the United States.

(1) Based on the USD:AUD exchange rate of 1.406 as of 13 December 2021.

(2) NPATA per share reflects net profit after tax excluding amortisation (post-tax) and excludes one-off transaction costs and integration costs. The Transaction is also expected to be immediately EPS accretive in the first full year of CSL ownership (expected to be FY23) on an EPS reported basis including the amortisation of intangibles recognised as a result of the acquisition based on a preliminary estimate of purchase price accounting.

(3) Full run rate annual pre-tax cost synergies of US$75 million expected to phase in over three years post acquisition close.

(4) Total acquisition consideration based on offer price of US$179.25 per share, fully diluted shares on issue of 65 million, and debt of CHF 540 million. CHF converted to USD at spot FX of 1.083 as at 13 December 2021. Excludes transaction costs.

(5) Evaluate Pharma and Vifor analysis, excluding metabolic syndrome.

(6) Based on the volume weighted average price of all on-exchange transactions in Vifor Shares on the SIX during the sixty SIX trading days and the average daily CHF:USD exchange rate of 1.083 over the sixty SIX trading days as of December 1, 2021.

(7) Eligible shareholders with a registered address in Australia or New Zealand on CSL's share register at 7.00pm [AEDT] on Monday 13 December 2021

SOURCE CSL
"We take seriously our role in creating a more equitable and sustainable world. Officially launching in January 2022, Nelu's DE&I Certification Suite was developed specifically for plan sponsors, benefit service providers, and individual benefit practitioners. Custodia is the first benefits service provider and one of the first companies to complete our organizational certification. We commend Custodia for this significant step in its commitment to improving retirement outcomes for all participants through its processes, products, and services."

"We have always believed that retirement security should be protected for all of America's workers. This is consistent with Custodia's sole purpose to improve retirement outcomes by preventing loan defaults," said Tod A. Ruble, CEO of Custodia Financial. " Loan defaults upon job loss devastate retirement savings, especially for underrepresented groups borrowing at higher rates. By offering 401(k) loan insurance, vulnerable employees are protected when they need it most. We are committed to improving retirement outcomes, and we always welcome new opportunities to support this mission. With our dedicated team and more equitable DE&I initiatives in place, we are helping transform the 40l(k) industry."

About Custodia Financial

Founded in 2010, Custodia Financial and its Retirement Loan Eraser program measurably improve participants 401(k)plans retirement outcomes. Retirement Loan Eraser is the only available 401(k) loan protection program that automatically prevents loan defaults caused by involuntary unemployment. Retirement Loan Eraser repays 401(k) loans in the event of death, disability, or unemployment. To learn more, please visit www.loaneraser.com.

About Nelu

Nelu is a global diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) consultancy specializing in employee benefits. We are redefining how these programs are designed, delivered, and used.

To learn more, please visit www.nelusolutions.com.

SOURCE Custodia Financial
SURREY, BC, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Delta Controls award-winning O3 raised its profile higher with the recent issue of a new U.S. patent approval on the BAS (Building Automation System) technology and method behind the innovative product.

Chief Technology Officer for Delta Controls, Chris Kwong  a 28+ year veteran of the firm  provided details about this exciting development in a video interview and said, "The newly acquired patent is all about sensor fusion. This technology features multiple sensing devices to establish a system that allows creation of machine learning trained linear models and algorithms that estimate the temperature at a location within the sensor's field of view."

Kwong continued, "Most significant about this newly patented device is its use of the multiple sensors to obtain a highly accurate value of temperature at significantly different locations to increasingly optimize any space when compared with traditional methods. It's more accurate due to its location and more instantaneous than other methods allowing us to control more efficiently."

Moving forward with this patent and method, Delta Controls can expand on other innovative concepts and ideas. It allows the application of machine learning techniques, build models and algorithms facilitating more accurate measurement of other data and performance points.

Watch the full interview with Delta Controls CTO, Chris Kwong on YouTube - https://youtu.be/0M2TZRyvP4s

ABOUT THE O3

The O3 from Delta Controls is a sensor with advanced temperature sensing to provide a more comfortable environment for building occupants. It reacts to changes in temperature and people entering and leaving a space faster than any other sensor available. The O3 creates a new touchless world with less risk of contagion through unique features including:

Ceiling mounted installation

Integration with touchless apps commonly used by occupants

No internet needed, wirelessly connects to your phone

Controls lighting, fresh air, temperature

ABOUT DELTA CONTROLS

At the forefront of building automation systems, Delta Controls provides global solutions through our network of partners in 80+ countries. A focus on innovation and sustainability has made us industry leaders for over 35 years. Delta Controls manufactures all of our products in Metro Vancouver, Canada, offering dependable, user-friendly control solutions for buildings in the commercial, healthcare, hospitality, education, and leisure markets. As part of Delta Electronics, we are committed to leading building automation into a sustainable future.

MEDIA CONTACT

Allan Lanzador

Delta Controls, Inc.

[email protected]

604-575-5951

SOURCE Delta Controls, Inc.
HOLLYWOOD, Calif., Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Denis Villeneuve, French Canadian filmmaker best known for directing numerous legendary movies including the recent highly acclaimed film adaptation of Dune, will be the recipient of the William Cameron Menzies Award from the Art Directors Guild (ADG, IATSE Local 800) at the 26th Annual Excellence in Production Design Awards. The award recognizes his unique visuals and innovative storytelling which have established Villeneuve as one of the premier filmmakers working today. The 26th Annual Awards returns to a live event on Saturday, March 5, 2022, at the InterContinental Los Angeles Downtown. The announcement was made today by ADG President Nelson Coates, ADG, and Awards Producer Michael Allen Glover, ADG.

Denis Villeneuve, French Canadian filmmaker best known for directing numerous legendary movies including the recent highly acclaimed film adaptation of Dune, will be the recipient of the William Cameron Menzies Award from the Art Directors Guild (ADG, IATSE Local 800) at the 26th Annual Excellence in Production Design Awards.

"We are beyond thrilled to recognize the scale and scope of the cinematic vision of Director Denis Villeneuve with the 2022 William Cameron Menzies Award," said Coates. "The seamless integration of design into all aspects of Villeneuve's storytelling process, and the promotion of narrative design and designers in his work and in the industry, make him the perfect honoree. Fostering strong collaborations and working relationships between directors and designers is vital to the creation of strong and unique films. Villeneuve has proven extremely adept at this foundational collaboration."

Denis Villeneuve is one of today's most respected and sought-after directors and writers. His most recent film, released this past October, is the much anticipated and highly successful (over $300 million to date) Dune, based on the iconic sci-fi novel by Frank Herbert. A sequel is in the works and is set for an exclusive theatrical release in October 2023. The first film was "just a really delicious appetizer," says Villeneuve, who is known for his attention to detail and unique visuals. This quote of his perhaps best explains his attitude toward filmmaking: "In contradiction and paradox, you can find truth."

Villeneuve was nominated for an Academy Award for his directorial work on the sci-fi thriller Arrival in 2016, which also received eight additional Oscar nominations and one win, among numerous other awards. His directorial work with Blade Runner 2049, a neo-noir science fiction film, garnered two Academy Awards, 97 wins and 158 nominations. Other notable successes include Sicario, Prisoners and Incendies, as well as such films as Enemy, Polytechnique, Maelstrom and the intriguingly titled August 32nd on Earth, his feature directorial debut. His films have received more than 80 top awards worldwide. He started his career as a director at the National Film Board of Canada.

The ADG Awards honor excellence in Production Design in theatrical motion pictures, television, commercials, music videos and animated feature films. Producer of the 2022 ADG Awards is Art Director Michael Allen Glover, ADG (The Alienist, Solos and the upcoming Station Eleven). Joining the team as stage designer is Emmya-winning Production Designer Brian J. Stonestreet, ADG (Golden Globesa, Grammy Awardsa, Billboard Awardsa).

Additional honorees for Cinematic Imagery and new inductees into the Guild's Hall of Fame will be announced at a later date. The ADG Lifetime Achievement Awards will be presented to outstanding individuals in each of the guild's four crafts. Scenic Artists Michael and Denise Okuda, best known for their creative lead designs for the Star Trek franchise, will receive from the Scenic, Title & Graphic Artists (STG). Additional ADG Lifetime Achievement Award honorees from the Production Designers and Art Directors Council (AD), the Set Designers & Model Makers Council (SDMM), and the Illustrators & Matte Artists Council (IMA) will be announced shortly. A complete list of past honorees can be found on ADG's website. #adgawards

ADG Awards are open only to productions when made within the U.S. by producers signatory to the IATSE agreement. Foreign entries are acceptable without restrictions. Further inquiries regarding the ADG Awards may be directed to ADG Awards & Events Director Debbie Patton at (818) 762-9995 or email [email protected].

About the Art Directors Guild:

Established in 1937, the Art Directors Guild (IATSE Local 800) represents 3,000 members who work throughout the world in film, television and theater as Production Designers and Art Directors; Scenic, Title and Graphic Artists; Set Designers and Model Makers; and Illustrators and Matte Artists. The ADG's ongoing activities include a Film Society screening series, annual "Excellence in Production Design Awards" gala, bimonthly craft magazine (PERSPECTIVE), figure drawing and other creative workshops, extensive technology and craft training programs and year-round Gallery 800 art exhibitions. For the Guild's online directory and website resources, go to www.adg.org. Connect with the Art Directors Guild on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

PRESS CONTACTS:

Cheri Warner  Erick Yamagata  Weissman/Markovitz Communications

818.760.8995  [email protected]

ADG AWARDS & EVENTS DIRECTOR

Debbie Patton  ADG

818.762.9995  [email protected]

SPONSORSHIP/ADVERTISING CONTACT:

Dan Evans  IngleDodd Media

310.207-4410 x 229  [email protected]

SOURCE Art Directors Guild (ADG, IATSE Local 800)
MIAMI, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Silvia Castellon Brown, of Colombian descent, began working for the company formerly known as Driveway Maintenance, Inc. at age 19, moving up the ranks to serve as President for the past four years, and is now the owner of DMI Paving & Sealcoating. A true example of the American Dream.

This change in ownership comes on the heels of another big change. The company, which had been known as Driveway Maintenance, Inc. since 1956, began operating under the new name, DMI Paving & Sealcoating, last spring. The new name is intended to reflect their identity more closely as the top commercial paving and sealcoating company serving the state of Florida.

New branding aside, DMI Paving & Sealcoating continues to be an industry leader in parking lot maintenance and restoration. Commercial property owners and managers throughout Florida have looked to DMI for parking lot expertise and quality work for decades. The company provides services to a wide range of commercial properties, including apartment communities, schools, places of worship, stadiums, office buildings, malls, hospitals, and more.

New owner Silvia Castellon Brown wants clients to know that the name and logo may be different, but the superior product, skilled workers, and customer support they have come to rely on from DMI remain the same.

About DMI Paving & Sealcoating

Since 1956, DMI Paving & Sealcoating (formerly Driveway Maintenance, Inc.) has been providing parking lot maintenance, asphalt paving, sealcoating, and parking lot repairs throughout Florida. With over 65 years of experience, DMI Paving & Sealcoating is the largest sealcoating company in Florida. The team at DMI Paving & Sealcoating takes pride in their work and strives to exceed the expectations of their clients. For more information, visit dmipavingandsealcoating.com or call 1-800-432-1191.

SOURCE DMI Paving & Sealcoating
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- DoodyCalls, a nationwide leader in pet waste removal services, is growing its footprint in the pooper scooper industry with the opening of an office in West Haven, Connecticut. DoodyCalls currently cleans up in over 57 territories across 23 states and has been named the number-one pet waste removal franchise in the United States by Entrepreneur Magazine's annual Franchise 500 list.

A serial entrepreneur and a longtime doggy daycare owner, Dave Harvey decided to bring his pup-centric career full circle. With his Unleashed Doggy Daycare business partner Jasmine Cruz, Harvey committed to a franchise business model with DoodyCalls where he could leverage his current daycare client base and expand the twosome's entrepreneurship portfolio.

"We are thrilled to be a part of the DoodyCalls family and the Authority Brands team," said David Harvey, owner and operator of DoodyCalls of West Haven. "Our local team has over 15 years of industry experience and we can't wait to bring our superior service and dedication to both residential and commercial customers to best serve our community and keep pets and their companions happy."

After seeing a DoodyCalls truck in a nearby town while looking for a new business opportunity, Harvey saw a way to leverage his passion for pups and franchise savvy: he could scoop the poop in his own neighborhood. Harvey and his business partner plan to leverage their canine-filled professional and personal experiences to keep the pets and people of West Haven happy.

"Dave's dynamic portfolio, history in franchise entrepreneurship, and passion for pets make him and his team a perfect fit for DoodyCalls and we are excited to have him help our business grow in Connecticut," said Jacob D'Aniello, COO and founder of DoodyCalls. "Dave's strong work ethic and business drive will prove to be successful in this new venture."

Harvey's DoodyCalls franchise will service the following areas: Ansonia, Bantam, Beacon Falls, Bethany, Bethlehem, Bridgewater, Cheshire, Cornwall, Cornwall Bridge, Derby, Gaylordsville, Hamden, Kent, Lakeside, Middlebury, Milford, Morris, Naugatuck, New Milford, New Preston, Orange, Oxford, Prospect, Roxbury, Seymour, Sharon, Shelton, Sherman, South Britain, South Kent, Southbury, Stratford, Trumbull, Washington, Washington Depot, Watertown, West Haven, Woodbridge, and Woodbury.

The scoop on what DoodyCalls offers:

For residential dog owners, DoodyCalls provides dog waste pickup, brown spot treatment and deodorizing services.

DoodyCalls provides dog waste pickup, brown spot treatment and deodorizing services. For communities and parks, DoodyCalls designs, sells, installs, services and maintains common areas, pet waste stations, equipment and supplies.

To learn more about the West Haven franchise location, please visit https://www.doodycalls.com/west-haven/ . DoodyCalls is currently seeking poop scoop franchise operators who align with the brand's values of humility, ethical leadership, integrity, respect, and providing the best service experience possible. To learn more about franchise opportunities or to find a local service technician, visit https://www.doodycalls.com/locations/ .

About DoodyCalls

DoodyCalls was founded in 2000 by Jacob and Susan D'Aniello in the Northern Virginia suburbs of Washington DC. In 2004, the company began franchising its pet waste removal business nationwide and established corporate headquarters in Charlottesville, VA. DoodyCalls provides service to 23 states and the District of Columbia with dog waste pickup with consumer and industrial services. For more information about DoodyCalls, visit www.doodycalls.com .

MEDIA CONTACT:

Sarah O'Connor-Guffey

Fish Consulting

815-630-9557 | [email protected]

SOURCE DoodyCalls
LOS ANGELES, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- In a new research paper, DoubleLine Global Bond Strategy Portfolio Manager Bill Campbell expects China's government and monetary authorities, which had slowed economic stimulus earlier this year, to boost stimulus in 2022, with supportive impacts on the global as well as Chinese economy.

To read the paper, titled "Beijing to Embark on New Round of Stimulus in 2022," please visit this landing page: https://doubleline.com/wp-content/uploads/Campbell-on-Beijing-Stimulus_December-2021.pdf

"However, internal politics rather than international considerations will dictate the timing of China's resumption of stimulus," Mr. Campbell writes. "Beijing will attempt to sequence and calibrate fiscal and monetary policy to the economic upside to culminate shortly before or by the opening of the 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party next October. At this event, China President Xi Jinping is expected to be appointed to an unprecedented third term  in modern China, leaders have not served longer than two five-year terms."

In fact, Mr. Campbell argues that "Beijing has already started to thaw its icy policy stance. The People's Bank of China reduced the required reserve ratio for banks by 0.5%, effective on December 15, 2021. The reduction of this ratio had the impact of increasing liquidity by an estimated 1.2 trillion Chinese yuan (equivalent to $188 billion in U.S. dollar terms). To be sure, Chinese authorities will try to prevent excessive speculation, and the trajectory of regulation will remain on a tighter path than we have seen in previous years. That said, loosening China's overly tight stance today and an increase in the credit impulse will benefit the Chinese economy and by extension the global economy in mid-2022."

About DoubleLine

DoubleLine provides its services through investment advisers registered under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940. As of the September 30 close of the third quarter of 2021, DoubleLine managed $137 billion in assets across all vehicles, including open-end mutual funds, collective investment trusts, closed-end funds, exchange-traded funds, hedge funds, variable annuities, UCITS and separate accounts. DoubleLine's offices can be reached by telephone at (213) 633-8200 or by e-mail at [email protected]. News media can reach DoubleLine by e-mail at [email protected]. DoubleLine is a registered trademark of DoubleLine Capital LP.

SOURCE DoubleLine

Related Links

www.doubleline.com


PITTSBURGH, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Duquesne Light Company (DLC), the electric utility for the greater Pittsburgh region, and HeroX , the leading platform and open marketplace for crowdsourced solutions, today launched the crowdsourcing competition, " The Monitoring Electrical Cable Challenge ." This effort will try to create a more reliable and safer underground electric network by finding methods for monitoring electrical cable health to allow for proactive maintenance and provide a safe environment for utility workers who maintain electrical power for today's connected society.

Winning Designs for Sustainable Cable Monitoring Will Earn Share of $750K Prize Purse

Worldwide, we have hundreds of millions of miles of electrical cables beneath our feet, and these cables support the critical infrastructure we rely on each day to power our homes and businesses. However, as these cables age, it is important to proactively monitor their health so that we have consistent access to electrical power.

"In today's connected society, electricity is an invaluable resource," said Josh Gould, Director of Innovation, DLC. "While our cables are well maintained, we want an innovative system that will guarantee their longevity and improve maintenance efficiency, which will ultimately lead to cost savings. We are excited to see the new insights and technologies that this challenge will generate."

The challenge will source novel solutions for monitoring and detecting precursors to failure in underground cables. The winning designs will be awarded a share of the $750K prize purse.

"We are excited to see DLC tap the power of the crowd to innovate in a much-needed space," said Kal K. Sahota, CEO, HeroX. "Without a doubt, our extensive network of problem solvers will generate ideas that will have a significant impact on our cities and beyond."

This challenge will consist of three phases. Phase 1 will be an Ideation including a concept and initial design. Phase 2 will be a Proof of Concept and include a prototype demonstration. Phase 3 is a Live Field Test with a pilot deployment. The challenge will provide funding to selected teams through to pilot deployment.

To accept the challenge, visit herox.com/DLCCableChallenge

ABOUT HEROX

HeroX is a platform and open marketplace for crowdsourcing innovation and human ingenuity, co-founded in 2013 by serial entrepreneur, Christian Cotichini and XPRIZE Founder and Futurist, Peter Diamandis. HeroX offers a turnkey, easy-to-use platform that supports anyone, anywhere, to solve everyday business and world challenges using the power of the crowd. Uniquely positioned as the Social Network for Innovation, HeroX is the only place you can build, grow and curate your very own crowd.

Explore the latest challenges at www.herox.com .

ABOUT DUQUESNE LIGHT COMPANY

Duquesne Light Company (DLC) is committed to more than keeping the lights on; we power the moments in our customers' lives. As a next-generation energy company based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, DLC's 1,700-plus employees are dedicated to providing safe, reliable, resilient and affordable power to more than 600,000 customers across southwestern Pennsylvania, including the City of Pittsburgh. To learn more, visit DuquesneLight.com .

Media Contact:

Alexandra Pony

[email protected]

250.858.0656

SOURCE Duquesne Light Company; HeroX
As the clock strikes midnight on December 31st, the spectacular pyrotechnics, light & laser extravaganza will light up the night sky in Dubai Downtown. In line with the theme' Eve of Wonder', a brand-new laser feature is making its debut at The Dubai Fountain in sync with Burj Khalifa's stunning programme, creating a memorable masterpiece that is poised to redefine new year's celebrations worldwide, Dubai style!

Whether in Downtown Dubai, watching online, or on television worldwide, the public is guaranteed a show-stopping gala event to welcome in the new year. Emaar NYE 2022 will be broadcast live globally and live-streamed from 08:30 pm local time on mydubainewyear.com.

Commenting on Emaar New Year's Eve spectacular celebrations in Downtown Dubai, Mohamed Alabbar, Founder of Emaar, said: "The UAE, and Dubai, inspire hope and optimism, and bring together a global community to shape the future. This year's celebration is a tribute to our nation's achievements in the past 50 years. It also highlights our leadership's vision to create a new age of progress through openness and collaboration, and Emaar is proud to be part of it."

A seamless experience awaits guests wishing to access Downtown Dubai on December 31st by using the U by Emaar app and its easy-to-use pre-registration process. Guests, including Emaar Boulevard residents and hotel guests, can simply log on to the U by Emaar app and follow the straightforward steps to access all Downtown Dubai locations. After successfully registering, they will receive individual QR codes that they can use to gain access to Downtown Dubai on New Year's Eve.

For further information, please contact:

Kim Seelochan

[email protected]

+971 58 584 6247

SOURCE Emaar Properties PJSC
MELBOURNE, Florida, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Embraer and TNO, the Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for future developments of defense and dual-use products and services in air, sea, land, and space domains. The MoU may include joint research, technology development, and innovation process.

"We are very pleased to strengthen our relationship with Embraer Defense & Security through this MoU. We see multiple opportunities to extend the cooperation and to jointly develop advanced technologies and innovations for a safe and secure society. We are looking forward to use our complementary knowledge and technologies in the defense and security domain for mutual benefit," said Marja Eijkman, Managing Director of TNO Defense, Safety and Security.

The MoU intends to extend and increase long-term business relations between the parties during the research and development of key technologies for defense applications, which can be part of future capabilities within Embraer's existing platforms such as the C-390 Millennium, or new aircraft, vehicles, and systems. This MoU also aims to strengthen the cooperation between Embraer and TNO in The Netherlands and Brazil.

"We truly believe that this MoU can generate a lot of value for both parties. We have seen a great synergy between TNO and Embraer related to our company's complementarity defense and security expertise. Also, we believe that together we can advance in research in fields such as autonomy and artificial intelligence, which are very important for us," said Jackson Schneider, President and CEO of Embraer Defense & Security.

Follow us on Twitter: @Embraer

About TNO

The Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research (TNO) is an independent research organization. We connect people and knowledge to create innovations that boost the sustainable competitive strength of industry and well-being of society. Now and in the future. This is our mission and it is what drives us, the over 3.500 professionals at TNO, in our work every day. We work in collaboration with partners and focus on transitions or changes in nine social themes that we have identified together with our stakeholders.

The Defence, Safety and Security unit of TNO focuses on technological and behavioral innovations across four main areas: Operations & Human Factors, Information & Sensor Systems, National Security, Munitions & Weapons. Today's opponents can ignore national borders, and it's not always clear who the enemy actually is. Safety is about both physical and digital security, and it encompasses both reality and our perception of it. Whether it's for the army, the police, the fire service or the business community, TNO is putting its knowledge and technology to work in order to create innovations that can help those who are devoting themselves to our safety and security every day.

About Embraer

A global aerospace company headquartered in Brazil, Embraer has businesses in Commercial and Executive aviation, Defense & Security and Agricultural Aviation. The company designs, develops, manufactures and markets aircraft and systems, providing Services & Support to customers after-sales.

Since it was founded in 1969, Embraer has delivered more than 8,000 aircraft. On average, about every 10 seconds an aircraft manufactured by Embraer takes off somewhere in the world, transporting over 145 million passengers a year.

Embraer is the leading manufacturer of commercial jets up to 150 seats and the main exporter of high value-added goods in Brazil. The company maintains industrial units, offices, service and parts distribution centers, among other activities, across the Americas, Africa, Asia and Europe.

SOURCE Embraer S.A.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. and STRONGSVILLE, Ohio, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Encompass Health Corp. (NYSE: EHC) today announced plans to build a freestanding, 40-bed inpatient rehabilitation hospital near Cleveland, Ohio.

The hospital will be located at 19156 Pearl Road in Strongsville, Ohio. The construction start date and hospital opening timeline will be announced at a later date.

"We are excited to bring our rehabilitation services to Northeast Ohio, and we look forward to being a part of the leading healthcare continuum in the region," said Troy DeDecker, president of Encompass Health's Central region. "The new freestanding hospital will improve patient access to rehabilitation services in the Cleveland area through coordinated and connected care that meets patients where they are in their healthcare journeys and makes a positive difference in their lives."

Complementing local acute care services, this inpatient rehabilitation hospital will serve patients recovering from debilitating illnesses and injuries, including strokes and other neurological disorders, brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, amputations and complex orthopedic conditions. In addition to 24hour nursing care, this hospital will offer physical, occupational and speech therapies to restore functional ability and quality of life. Care will be provided by highly specialized nurses, therapists and physicians.

The hospital will feature all private patient rooms, a spacious therapy gym with advanced rehabilitation technologies and an activities of daily living suite, cafeteria, dining room, pharmacy and therapy courtyard.

The planned hospital will become part of Encompass Health's national network of inpatient rehabilitation hospitals and home health and hospice agencies. The Company's Ohio footprint currently includes four inpatient rehabilitation hospitals and one home health location.

About Encompass Health

As a national leader in integrated healthcare services, Encompass Health (NYSE: EHC) offers both facilitybased and homebased patient care through its network of inpatient rehabilitation hospitals, home health agencies and hospice agencies. With a national footprint that includes 145 hospitals, 249 home health locations, and 95 hospice locations in 42 states and Puerto Rico, the Company provides highquality, cost-effective integrated healthcare. Encompass Health is ranked as one of Fortune's 100 Best Companies to Work For. For more information, visit encompasshealth.com, or follow us on our newsroom, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENT

Statements contained in this press release which are not historical facts, such as those relating to the likelihood, timing and effects of the completion of this project, are forward-looking statements. In addition, Encompass Health may from time to time make forward-looking public statements concerning the matters described herein. All such estimates, projections, and forward-looking information speak only as of the date hereof, and Encompass Health undertakes no duty to publicly update or revise such forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. Such forward-looking statements are necessarily estimates based upon current information and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Encompass Health's actual results or events may differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of a variety of factors. While it is impossible to identify all such factors, factors which could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those anticipated include, but are not limited to, the regulatory review and approval process, any adverse outcome of various lawsuits, claims, and legal or regulatory proceedings that may be brought by or against Encompass Health; the possibility this project will experience unexpected delays; the ability to successfully complete and integrate this project consistent with Encompass Health's growth strategy, including realization of anticipated revenues and avoidance of unforeseen exposure to liabilities; the continued spread of COVID-19, including the speed, depth, geographic reach and duration of the spread; the actions to be taken by Encompass Health in response to the COVID-19 pandemic; changes in the regulation of the healthcare industry at either or both of the federal and state levels; competitive pressures in the healthcare industry and Encompass Health's response thereto; the hospital's ability to maintain proper local, state and federal licensing; potential disruptions, breaches, or other incidents affecting the proper operation, availability, or security of Encompass Health's information systems; Encompass Health's ability to attract and retain nurses, therapists, and other healthcare professionals in a highly competitive environment with often severe staffing shortages and the impact on Encompass Health's labor expenses from potential union activity and staffing shortages; changes, delays in (including in connection with resolution of Medicare payment reviews or appeals), or suspension of reimbursement for Encompass Health's services by governmental or private payors; general conditions in the economy and capital markets; and other factors which may be identified from time to time in Encompass Health's SEC filings and other public announcements, including Encompass Health's Form 10-K for the year ended Dec. 31, 2020 and Forms 10-Q for the quarters ended Mar. 31, 2021, June 30, 2021 and Sept. 30, 2021.

Media contact: Casey Winger | 205-970-5912

[email protected]

Investor Relations contact: Mark Miller | 205-970-5860

[email protected]

SOURCE Encompass Health Corp.
TEL AVIV, Israel, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Epitomee Medical (TASE: EPIT), the Israel-based bio-medical company, announced this morning the completion of its Initial Public Offering on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange: The company raised $51 million from institutional investors, including leading insurance companies. The offering was made at a pre money valuation of $200 million on fully diluted basis.

Dr. Shimon Eckhouse, Co-Founder & Chairman of Epitomee: "Our product addresses the overweight challenge of a growing part of the world population. Epitomee's approach is completely new to the metabolic field. The combination of a simple-to-use product that does not require any intervention of medical staff with an excellent safety profile, makes this product the ultimate tool for weight management. Epitomee represents the right combination of unique technology that enables real change in an important clinical field, in a large market and with successful and experienced management. We see shareholders as full partners in the development of Epitomee, in its success, and in improving the health of millions of people around the world ".

Dr. Dan Hashimshony, CEO of Epitomee: "Our technology platform makes it possible to generate ingestible therapeutic medical devices which are able to perform a number of simple tasks along the GI tract with great therapeutic value. The Epitomee weight management capsule is first example of the power of platform. Our entry into the stock exchange will assist the company in the processes required to establish the production lines, obtain the approval of the FDA of the Epitomee Capsule weight management solution and further develop the pipeline".

Epitomee's stock will start trading in the coming days under the symbol EPIT. The offering was led by Leumi Partners and Barak Capital. Among the major shareholders who led the previous round of investments is XT. Hi-tech and companies related to Udi Angel and Idan Ofer.

In August 2020, Epitomee and Nestle signed an exclusive co-development and marketing agreement under which the parties co-develop the product and take it to the market and Nestle Health Science will market the capsule exclusively worldwide.

Epitomee is a biomedical company that has developed ingestible technology platform that enables the creation of swallowable medical devices aimed to act along the GI tract to achieve therapeutic outcomes in highly prevalent diseases. Epitomee's first product is drug-free, self-administered shape-shifting Capsule which aims to prevent diabetes, address obesity-related comorbidities, and establish a healthier lifestyle.

For more details, visit the company website Epitomeemedical.com

SOURCE Epitomee Medical
NEW YORK, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- BizVibe has made available 1,000+ company profiles for the insect control products and services category on its B2B platform. Companies listed in this product category are primarily engaged in manufacturing or supplying various types of insect control products (such as insect repellent, insect nets, insect screens, etc.). Companies which provide insect control services are also included in the category.

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Snapshot of BizVibe's insect control company profiles and categories.

Each profile is free to view and packed with high-quality insights, providing businesses with detailed company information. Users can take advantage of these insights to identify, target, and connect with the right insect control product manufacturers and service providers. This company information includes employee insights, company competitors, the impact of emerging trends and challenges, the latest news, and more.

Free Insights Included for all Insect Control Company Profiles:

List of product and service category offerings and primary operating industries

Risk of doing business score across four different metrics

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Latest company news with the ability to sign up for timely news alerts

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Insect Control Companies on BizVibe

BizVibe's platform contains 30M+ company profiles, spanning across 200+ countries, categorized into 40,000+ products and services. There are 1,000+ company profiles related to insect control products and services on BizVibe, covering 20+ product and service categories. Each company profile contains detailed insights dedicated to helping procurement and sales teams find trusted suppliers and target sales prospects.

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BizVibe has been conceptualized and built by a team based out of Toronto, Bangalore, and London. We are a branch of Infiniti Research and have dedicated units in all three locations. BizVibe helps buyers find the most relevant suppliers from around the world and help sellers target prospects who need their products and/or services. For more information, please visit www.bizvibe.com and start for free today.

Contact

BizVibe

Jesse Maida

Email: [email protected]

+1 855-897-5880

Website: https://www.bizvibe.com/

SOURCE BizVibe
ATLANTA, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Focus Brands, the parent company of iconic brands Auntie Anne's, Carvel, Cinnabon, Jamba, McAlister's Deli, Moe's Southwest Grill, and Schlotzsky's, is accelerating non-traditional unit expansion. With consumer accessibility and convenience top-of-mind, Focus Brands is committed to bringing its portfolio of restaurant and specialty brands to consumers through a wide variety of non-traditional locations, including airports, convenience stores, amusement parks, colleges, ghost kitchens and other high-trafficked venues. Today, across the entire family of brands, there are 954 non-traditional units open across the U.S. with an additional 313 units in the pipeline, but there is demand to grow further.

"We're fortunate to have a variety of brands in multiple verticals that have the brand awareness and development prototypes ideal for non-traditional locations. As we continue to grow, it's crucial in this competitive market to identify non-traditional opportunities that will build awareness for our brands, while turning profits for our brands' franchisees," said Brian Krause, Chief Development Officer of Focus Brands. "Knowing that there's high demand for our brands, we want to expand in the right non-traditional venues to ensure we're building accessibility and giving our guests more opportunities to enjoy their favorite food and beverage. We're looking forward to adding new units to the development pipeline and to opening additional locations in the coming months."

Non-traditional growth exploded for the Focus family of brands in 2021, signing deals and opening locations in exciting new venues:

Convenience Stores and Travel Plazas:

Premium convenience store franchisee, Pilot Travel Centers, plans to bring 10 new Cinnabon locations to travel plazas and convenience stores across the country.



Mountain Express also signed a deal to bring 50 Schlotzsky's and 5 Moe's Southwest Grill locations to travel plazas in the Southeast region.

Airports :

: This year, Cinnabon opened its first location in the Charleston International Airport, owned by the first ever African American female franchisee in the Charleston airport, Shawnalea Garvin .

International Airport, owned by the first ever African American female franchisee in the airport, .

HMSHost signed an agreement to open a new Jamba location in the Salt Lake City International Airport that is set to open this winter.

International Airport that is set to open this winter.

Franchisee Ajay Maini is opening a Jamba location at John Wayne Airport in Orange County, CA , in early 2022.

, in early 2022. Amusement Parks:

Auntie Anne's plans to open two locations at Six Flags over Texas in Arlington in the coming months; these will be the first such locations within a Six Flags park.

in in the coming months; these will be the first such locations within a Six Flags park. Colleges and Universities:

In addition to bringing our brands on to college campuses across the country, Focus Brands targets "college edge" markets for its four specialty brands  Jamba, Cinnabon, Auntie Anne's and Carvel  to bring non-traditional locations to high-traffic, downtown college towns.



A Cinnabon and Auntie Anne's co-brand location opened near the University of Cincinnati in October and a Jamba and Auntie Anne's co-brand location near Auburn University is set to open next year.

in October and a Jamba and Auntie Anne's co-brand location near is set to open next year. Jamba Robotic Kiosk:

Jamba recently opened its second robotic kiosk pilot location in Stonewood Center in Downey, CA. Jamba by Blendid allows for the brand to enter venues like big box retailers, travel centers, hospitals and college campuses where a full Jamba store might not be viable. Leveraging this innovative new technology from robotics leader Blendid gives Jamba the opportunity to provide greater consumer accessibility and meet the demand for more locations in non-traditional venues.

Jamba by Blendid allows for the brand to enter venues like big box retailers, travel centers, hospitals and college campuses where a full Jamba store might not be viable. Leveraging this innovative new technology from robotics leader Blendid gives Jamba the opportunity to provide greater consumer accessibility and meet the demand for more locations in non-traditional venues. Ghost Kitchens:

Cinnabon is piloting growth via ghost kitchens with nine newly opened locations with Ghost Kitchen Brands in Canada and the US.

To further non-traditional growth, all seven brands in the Focus Brands portfolio are looking to grow with qualified franchisees. To learn more about franchising opportunities with each of the brands, visit https://www.focusbrands.com/franchising/ and click on the applicable brand name.

About Focus Brands

Atlanta-based Focus Brands is a leading developer of global multi-channel foodservice brands. Focus Brands, through its affiliate brands, is the franchisor and operator of more than 6,000 restaurants, cafes, ice cream shoppes, and bakeries in the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and over 50 foreign countries under the brand names Auntie Anne's, Carvel, Cinnabon, Jamba, Moe's Southwest Grill, McAlister's Deli and Schlotzsky's, as well as Seattle's Best Coffee on certain military bases and in certain international markets. Please visit www.focusbrands.com to learn more.

Contacts:

Nadia Caron

Fish Consulting

954-893-9150

[email protected]

SOURCE Focus Brands
LOS ANGELES, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Cetera Financial Group, one of America's largest networks of financial professionals, today announced that Fortress Wealth Management, headed by industry veteran financial professionals Jimmy Woods and Brent Walker, has joined the Cetera Advisors community. The Smyrna, Tennessee-based firm was formerly affiliated with LPL Financial and oversees approximately $137 million in assets.

A longstanding provider of family wealth management, planning, and related services, Fortress has decades of experience helping clients realize their financial goals and pursue their long-term objectives. The team's mission is to provide wealth management services that encourage a balanced life, equip future generations, and empower joy-filled giving. The Smyrna office of Fortress Wealth Management is located within the Town of Smyrna's historic district at 9 North Lowry Street, where administrative assistant Victoria Hirtzer works alongside Woods and Walker.

"We are excited to affiliate with Cetera and look forward to the industry-leading technology and support," Woods said. "Our team is poised for continued expansion, and we are confident that this new partnership will give us the cutting-edge resources to seize future growth opportunities while continuing to deliver an exceptional client experience. We feel invigorated by Cetera's culture and welcome their commitment to our success."



"At a time when innovation continues to disrupt how financial advice is delivered, Cetera affiliates and their customers have access to the industry's most sought-after suite of tools and technologies," said John Pierce, head of business development for Cetera. "Technologies that improve interactions between financial professionals and their clients are at the core of the Advice-Centric experience, and we are proud to offer our network the best and newest innovations in financial advice and wealth management. We are proud to welcome the Fortress team and we are confident their business will thrive at Cetera."

Cetera continues to post strong recruiting momentum, recently having announced its third quarter recruiting results, which generated nearly $2.5 billion, and put Cetera on pace to attract more than $10 billion through recruiting in 2021. Cetera is the destination of choice for financial professionals looking to expand their practices with an experienced, committed growth partner.

Click here for more information about Cetera's tools and resources for financial advisors.

About Cetera Financial Group

Cetera Financial Group (Cetera) is a leading financial services firm whose purpose is to enable the delivery of best-in-class financial advice to as many Americans as possible. Cetera empowers its financial professional communities to help clients achieve their version of financial wellbeing through the Advice-Centric Experience. Cetera proudly serves independent financial professionals, tax professionals, banks and credit unions in providing wide-ranging financial planning and wealth management services.

Cetera oversees $340 billion in assets under administration and $119 billion in assets under management, as of June 30, 2021.

Visit www.cetera.com, and follow Cetera on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.

"Cetera Financial Group" refers to the network of independent retail firms encompassing, among others, Cetera Advisors LLC, Cetera Advisor Networks LLC, Cetera Investment Services LLC (marketed as Cetera Financial Institutions or Cetera Investors), Cetera Financial Specialists LLC, and First Allied Securities, Inc. All firms are members FINRA/SIPC.



Individuals affiliated with Cetera firms are either Registered Representatives who offer only brokerage services and receive transaction-based compensation (commissions), Investment Adviser Representatives who offer only investment advisory services and receive fees based on assets, or both Registered Representatives and Investment Adviser Representatives, who can offer both types of services. Cetera is headquartered at 200 N. Pacific Coast Highway, Suite 1200 El Segundo, CA 90245-5670.

SOURCE Cetera Financial Group
Fresha enables consumers to discover, book and pay for beauty and wellness appointments with local businesses via its marketplace, while simultaneously offering salons, spas, barbershops and beauty professionals an all-in-one platform to manage their entire operations with its intuitive free business software and financial technology solutions. Fresha's digital ecosystem gives merchants everything they need to run their business efficiently and seamlessly by facilitating appointment bookings, point-of-sale, customer records management, marketing automation, loyalty, beauty products inventory and team management.

Fresha has provided the beauty and wellness industry with a unique model of providing free business software. This approach has helped to eliminate the friction for small business owners to join the digital revolution en masse and to engage and transact with their clients online. Fresha has seen unprecedented growth since the COVID-19 pandemic as businesses looked to bring their operations online and maximise their revenues by acquiring new customers through the platform's consumer marketplace.

Fresha's product-led strategy has enabled it to become one of the market leaders in the industry, growing its merchant base primarily through word-of-mouth. Fresha has amassed an extensive base of approximately 60,000 merchant venues, primarily located in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Europe. The platform is used in 120 countries globally and each month, customers book tens of millions of appointments on the platform, processing over $15 billion in gross merchandise volume to date.

"We believe that professionals like barbers, stylists and therapists should be able to focus on their craft without having to worry about the daily hassles of running their businesses," said Fresha Co-Founder and Chief of Product Nick Miller. "We're committed to providing the very best product with a seamless customer experience at the lowest price point."

"Our ecosystem proposition differs from the more traditional incumbent software-as-a-service (SaaS) providers that focus on a single offering," said Fresha Founder and CEO William Zeqiri. "Business owners once had to utilize fragmented tools that attempt to solve operational challenges piecemeal; a business might use MailChimp for marketing, Wix for their website, Shopify to sell beauty products online, Square for payment processing, and other tools for calendar management and marketing. Our mission is to be the go-to one-stop-shop solution that addresses each and every pain point for the industry holistically, with an overarching vision to help connect the world to beauty and wellness."

This unique approach is what excites Fresha's investors. "Fresha has positioned itself as a major player in the beauty and wellness industry with a large and loyal customer base," said Aaron Goldman, Global Co-Head of Financial Services and Managing Director at General Atlantic, in a statement. "We strongly believe in Fresha's balanced strategy of providing one of the best products in the market at no cost to salons and then driving monetization via payments and value-added services."

About Fresha

Fresha is a leading global beauty and wellness platform. Each month, tens of millions of appointments are discovered, booked and paid with partner salons, spas and barbershops on Fresha. Approximately 60,000 partner venues in over 120 countries use the platform to manage their operations with Fresha's intuitive, full-spectrum, subscription-free business software. Fresha transforms beauty and wellness business operations by enabling the acceptance of online appointment bookings, processing of card payments and managing customer records, along with automations for marketing, staffing, product inventory and accounting, all in one place. Launched in 2015 originally under the name Shedul , the company rebranded to Fresha in 2020. For more information, visit www.fresha.com , download Fresha on the App Store and Google Play or follow Fresha on Facebook and Instagram .

About General Atlantic

General Atlantic is a leading global growth equity firm with more than four decades of experience providing capital and strategic support for over 445 growth companies throughout its history. Established in 1980 to partner with visionary entrepreneurs and deliver lasting impact, the firm combines a collaborative global approach, sector specific expertise, a long-term investment horizon and a deep understanding of growth drivers to partner with great entrepreneurs and management teams to scale innovative businesses around the world. General Atlantic currently has over $86 billion in assets under management inclusive of all products as of September 30, 2021, and more than 215 investment professionals based in New York, Amsterdam, Beijing, Hong Kong, Jakarta, London, Mexico City, Mumbai, Munich, Palo Alto, Sao Paulo, Shanghai, Singapore and Stamford.

For more information on General Atlantic, please visit the website: www.generalatlantic.com .

About Michael Lahyani

Michael Lahyani is a serial entrepreneur and technology investor. He is the Founder and CEO Property Finder, a leading property portal that facilitates the house-hunting journey for both buyers and renters.

About BECO Capital

BECO Capital is a venture capital firm that provides early-stage growth capital and hands-on operational support for technology companies, founded by innovative entrepreneurs that are creating transformational solutions that solve large regional problems. Its team brings a rich and diverse experience in venture capital, technology, entrepreneurship and finance, triggering value creation across all the business and operational functions of portfolio companies. This includes helping them to expand to new markets across the region, acquire key talent, implement operational improvements, adopt corporate governance practices and raise further growth capital. https://becocapital.com/

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1709400/Fresha_Software.jpg

SOURCE Fresha

Related Links

https://www.fresha.com/


The DRU is located at the Hardisty Energy Terminal (HET) near Hardisty, Alberta and is a 50%/50% joint venture between USD and Gibson. HET is located adjacent to USD's existing Hardisty Rail Terminal, which is the origination terminal for transloading the DRUbit onto railcars for shipment. The current destination terminal for the DRUbit is the USD-owned and operated Port Arthur Terminal (PAT) in Port Arthur, Texas. The DRUbit is owned by ConocoPhillips. This DBR network is highly scalable and is well-positioned for future commercial expansions. USD and Gibson continue to pursue commercial discussions with current and potential producer and refiner customers to secure additional long-term agreements to support future expansions at both the DRU and the PAT.

USD's patented DRU technology separates the diluent that has been added to the raw bitumen in the production process, which meets two important market needs. It creates DRUbit, a proprietary heavy Canadian crude oil or bitumen that ships by rail and does not meet any of the defined categories of hazardous materials by U.S. DOT Hazardous Materials regulations and Canada's Transport of Dangerous Goods regulations, creating safety and environmental benefits. Additionally, it returns the recovered diluent to ConocoPhillips at HET for reuse in the Western Canadian market, which reduces delivered costs for diluent. The DBR network provides meaningful safety, economic and environmental benefits relative to conventional crude by rail.

The DRU at HET is operating at or above its nameplate capacity of 50,000 barrels per day of inlet bitumen blend, which the DRU separates into DRUbit and diluent. Transporting DRUbit by Rail is projected to reduce carbon emissions nearly 20% relative to dilbit by rail alternatives and approximately 30% compared to dilbit by pipeline alternatives.

The DBR network is supported by Canadian Pacific (CP) (TSX: CP,NYSE: CP) and Kansas City Southern Railway Company (KCS). As the initial destination terminal, PAT is unloading DRUbit, blending it to customers' specifications, and delivering it downstream through pipe or barge at or above current contractual requirements. PAT has significant marine, pipeline, rail and tank expansion capabilities and it is pipeline connected to Phillips 66's Beaumont Terminal, providing customers access to a large network of refining and marine facilities. PAT has the infrastructure and ability to support growth, including allowing for efficient rail movements along mainlines from Canada and into the growing Mexico market.

Quotes

The Honorable Jason Kenney, Premier of Alberta

"Alberta's government is obsessed with creating the best environment for job creation in Canada. We know that is the best way to attract innovators and entrepreneurs, who will help kick-start Alberta's recovery. Not only will this vote of confidence in Alberta's economy help to create jobs, it helps to tell our story about our energy industry, and how it constantly strives to lead the world in innovation and emissions reductions. Thank you to CP, Gibson Energy, US Development Group, ConocoPhillips, and Kansas City Southern for helping to ensure the strength and sustainability of Alberta's energy sector."

ConocoPhillips Canada

"Using the DRU separation technology and DRUbit by Rail network improves netbacks and overall returns as we move our bitumen production to high-value North American markets," said Bij Agarwal, President, ConocoPhillips Canada. "An innovative solution, the DRU separation technology and DRUbit by Rail network  which provide transportation safety and environmental benefits  will also create jobs along the rail routes and help to address constrained market access, for the benefit of all Canadians."

USD

"Our DRU separation technology and DRUbit by Rail network create a first-of-its-kind infrastructure to move heavy Canadian crude throughout North America in a way that is safe, environmentally beneficial and economically advantaged to current pipeline alternatives," said USD CEO, Dan Borgen. "The project stands to strengthen communities with long-term, high quality jobs along the current and future rail routes. We are thrilled to work with ConocoPhillips Canada, Gibson, CP, and KCS to deliver this industry solution that we believe will positively impact our existing and future producer and refiner customers."

Gibson

"We were pleased to see the Hardisty Energy Terminal fully operational in-line with budgeted capital cost," said Steve Spaulding, Gibson's President and Chief Executive Officer. "We consider DRUs to be a cost-effective, scalable, environmentally attractive long-term egress solution for the basin, and we remain in commercial discussions for potential additional phases at the Hardisty Energy Terminal. Importantly, we believe that this and future phases will improve netbacks for producers, driving increased oilfield and related business activity, creating new jobs and helping revive communities."

CP

"The launch of DRUbit by Rail over the CP network helps us to achieve key sustainability goals while creating new efficiencies for customers," said Keith Creel, CP's President and Chief Executive Officer. "CP is proud to work with USD and Gibson to make this innovative terminal a success."

KCS

"KCS is pleased to be a strategic partner in this innovative solution to improve the safety and economics of moving crude oil," said KCS President and Chief Executive Officer Patrick J. Ottensmeyer. "It's also a great opportunity to grow our business in the Gulf Coast area and further develop our strategic presence in the Port Arthur market."

Investor & Media Contacts

Gibson Investor Relations

Mark Chyc-Cies

Vice President, Strategy, Planning & IR

403-776- 3146

[email protected] Gibson Media

Wendy Robinson

Director, Communications & Brand

403-827-6057

[email protected] USD Group

Mary Ellen Kilpatrick

713-412-1545

[email protected]



About USD

USD and its affiliates are engaged in designing, developing, owning, and managing large-scale multi-modal logistics centers and energy-related infrastructure across North America. USD solutions create flexible market access for customers in significant growth areas and key demand centers, including Western Canada, the U.S. Gulf Coast and Mexico. Among other projects, USD is currently pursuing the development of a premier energy logistics terminal on the Houston Ship Channel with capacity for substantial tank storage, multiple docks (including barge and deepwater), inbound and outbound pipeline connectivity, as well as a rail terminal with unit train capabilities. For additional information, please visit www.usdg.com. DRUbit and DRUbit by Rail are trademarks of DRU Assets LLC, a subsidiary of USD, and are used by permission. All rights reserved.

About Gibson

Gibson is a Canadian-based oil infrastructure company with its principal businesses consisting of the storage, optimization, processing, and gathering of crude oil and refined products. Headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Gibson's operations are focused around its core terminal assets located at Hardisty and Edmonton, Alberta, and also include the Moose Jaw Facility and an infrastructure position in the U.S. Gibson shares trade under the symbol GEI and are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange. For more information regarding Gibson as well as the DRU project visit www.gibsonenergy.com and Gibson's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

About ConocoPhillips Headquartered in Houston, Texas, ConocoPhillips had operations and activities in 15 countries, $84 billion of total assets, and approximately 10,300 employees at March 31, 2021. Production excluding Libya averaged 1,488 MBOED for the three months ended March 31, 2021, and proved reserves were 4.5 BBOE as of Dec. 31, 2020. Its Canadian operations are focused on developing its world-class portfolio including the ConocoPhillips-operated Surmont Joint Venture with TOTAL E&P Canada in the Athabasca region of northeast Alberta and exciting opportunities in the liquids-rich Montney play in northeast British Columbia. For more information, go to www.conocophillips.ca.

About Canadian Pacific

Canadian Pacific (CP) is a transcontinental railway in Canada and the United States with direct links to major ports on the west and east coasts. CP provides North American customers a competitive rail service with access to key markets in every corner of the globe. CP is growing with its customers, offering a suite of freight transportation services, logistics solutions and supply chain expertise. Visit www.cpr.ca to see the rail advantages of CP.

About the Kansas City Southern Railway Company

Headquartered in Kansas City, Mo., Kansas City Southern (KCS) is a transportation holding company that has railroad investments in the U.S., Mexico and Panama. Its primary U.S. holding is The Kansas City Southern Railway Company, serving the central and south central U.S. Its international holdings include Kansas City Southern de Mexico, S.A. de C.V., serving northeastern and central Mexico and the port cities of Lazaro Cardenas, Tampico and Veracruz, and a 50 percent interest in Panama Canal Railway Company, providing ocean-to-ocean freight and passenger service along the Panama Canal. KCS' North American rail holdings and strategic alliances with other North American rail partners are primary components of a unique railway system, linking the commercial and industrial centers of the U.S., Mexico and Canada. More information about KCS can be found at www.kcsouthern.com.

About DRUbit

USD's patented DRU technology separates the diluent that has been added to the raw bitumen in the production process which meets two important market needs  it returns the recovered diluent for reuse in the Alberta market, reducing delivered costs for diluent, and it creates DRUbit, a proprietary heavy Canadian crude oil specifically designed for rail transportation. DRUbit is crude oil or bitumen that has been returned to a more concentrated, viscous state that creates safety and environmental benefits when transported by rail in Canada and the U.S. DRUbit is a market access solution that will satisfy demand for heavy Canadian crude oil on the U.S. Gulf Coast and in other markets at a cost that is economically competitive to the crude oil that is transported by pipeline today.

Information on websites referenced in this press release are not part of this press release.

Forward Looking Statements

Certain statements contained in this press release constitute forward-looking information and statements (collectively, forward-looking statements) including, but not limited to, statements concerning the anticipated benefits, opportunities, operations and sustainability of the DRU and DRUbit, oil field and related business activities, market participants, local communities and governments, carbon emissions reduction, the methods of transportation of DRUbit and contribution of the DRU to the improvement of market access for oil producers, operation of USD's Port Arthur terminal and growth plans for such terminal, improved industry economics associated with the DRU and transportation of DRUbit, the safety features of the transportation of DRUbit and expectations with respect to the business and financial prospects and opportunities related to the DRU and DRUbit transportation.

These statements relate to future events or future performance. All statements other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements. The use of any of the words "anticipate", "plan", "aim", "target", "contemplate", "continue", "estimate", "expect", "intend", "propose", "might", "may", "will", "shall", "project", "should", "could", "would", "believe", "predict", "forecast", "pursue", "potential" and "capable" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. The forward looking statements reflect the project participant's beliefs and assumptions with respect to, among other things, the continued fully operational status of the DRU, continued market demand, general economic trends, industry trends, commodity prices, capital markets, the governmental, regulatory and legal environment in the various jurisdictions in which they individually, or collectively, conduct and will conduct their respective business, ability to obtain qualified personnel and equipment in a timely and cost-efficient manner, ability to generate sufficient cash to meet its current and future obligations, the successful and timely implementation of capital projects in a manner consistent with financial expectations and the other business activities of the participants, and other assumptions inherent in management's expectations of future operating and financial results and other forward-looking statements identified herein.

Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results or events to differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements. Although the project participants believe these statements to be reasonable, no assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be correct and such forward-looking statements included in this press release should not be unduly relied upon. Actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward looking statements as a result of, among other things, risks inherent in the businesses conducted by each of the project participants, ability for Gibson and USD to secure additional long-term, take-or-pay agreements with other producer and refiner customers to fully underpin the economics of the project, conditions associated with the DRU and its operation, the ability of customers to discover and market reserves, regulatory decisions, competitive factors in the industries in which the project participants operate, prevailing economic conditions, carbon emissions reduction capabilities, world-wide demand for crude oil and petroleum products, volatility of commodity prices, currency and interest rates fluctuations, product supply and demand (including demand for DRUbit), changes in credit ratings applicable to any of the participants, operating costs and the accuracy of cost estimates, exposure to counterparties and partners, future capital expenditures, ability to maintain necessary regulatory approvals for the DRU and USD's Port Arthur terminal, the availability, costs, terms and timing of or execution of, and competition for, required regulatory approvals, rail capacity and terminal access, changes to any of the project participants' business plans or strategy, ability to access various sources of debt and equity capital, generally, and on terms acceptable to the respective participant, changes in government policies, laws and regulations, including environmental and tax laws and regulations, competition for employees and other personnel, equipment, material and services related thereto, the availability and cost of employees and other personnel, equipment, materials and services, weather, including its impact on product demand, exploration, production and transportation, inherent risks associated with the exploration, development, production and transportation of bitumen, the timing and extent of changes in foreign currency exchange rates, interest rates, inflation rates, global and domestic financial market conditions and global and domestic general economic conditions, political developments around the world, including the areas in which the project participants individually, or collectively, operate, many of which are beyond the control of any of the project participants. Readers are cautioned that the foregoing lists are not exhaustive. For a full discussion of the material risk factors please refer to those included in Gibson's Annual Information Form dated February 22, 2021 as filed on SEDAR and available on the Gibson website at www.gibsonenergy.com, the more detailed information about factors that could affect future events may be found in filings by ConocoPhillips with the Securities and Exchange Commission including ConocoPhillips' Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020 and subsequent reports, those detailed from time to time in reports filed by CP with securities regulators in Canada and the United States under "Risk Factors" and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations - Forward-Looking Information" in CP's annual and interim reports on Form 10-K and 10-Q, and the more detailed information about factors that could affect future events may be found in filings by KCS with the Securities and Exchange Commission including KCS' Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020 and subsequent reports.

SOURCE Gibson Energy Inc.
DUBLIN, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Automated Storage and Retrieval Systems Market by Load, Type, Application, End-user - Global Forecast to 2028" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The Automated Storage and Retrieval Systems (ASRS) Market is expected to reach $7.04 billion by 2028, at a CAGR of 5.8% during the forecast period, 2021 to 2028.



The growth of this market is mainly attributed to the consistently increasing order velocity and volume from the e-commerce sector, government initiatives & investments to retrieve the automotive sector, increasing emphasis on the development of smart factories, technological advancements in the ASRS-associated sensor technology, and rapidly growing industrialization.

In addition, factors such as rising investment capabilities of industrial users in developing countries; increasing integration of innovative technologies, such as RFID, barcode, and AI with automated systems; and high adoption rate of ASRS to enhance operational efficiency are expected to create tremendous opportunities for the market growth over the forecast period.



With the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, industries are focusing on automation across different sectors. The need to reduce human interaction, minimize operational errors, inaccessibility to a skilled workforce, and growing government focus on improving digital infrastructure are also projected to fuel the growth of the automated storage and retrieval systems market.



Based on load, in 2021, the unit-load segment is expected to account for the largest market share. The large share of this segment is mainly attributed to the stringent shipping deadlines, particularly during peak times, growing focus on improving the yield ratio, reducing incineration cost, and widespread adoption of unit-load ASRS. The incorporation of pioneering technologies in handling and shipping operations is also expected to support the fastest growth of this segment in the coming years.



Based on type, in 2021, the floor robots segment is expected to account for the largest market share. The large share of this segment is primarily attributed to the surge in piece picking requirement, increased importance of optimum warehouse floor utilization, and advancements in robotic retrieval systems.



Based on application, in 2021, the storage segment is expected to account for the largest market share. The large share of this segment is majorly attributed to the increasing popularity of e-commerce, growing adoption of advanced storage systems, and minimizing goods damage & industrial accidents. The growing acceptance of automated cold chain storage for critical healthcare products, particularly amid the COVID-19 pandemic, is also expected to support the fastest growth of this segment in the coming years.



Based on end user, in 2021, the automotive segment is expected to account for the largest market share. The large share of this segment is mainly attributed to the increasing emphasis on reimaging the next-generation automobile warehouse and reducing reliance on third-party logistic providers.

However, the healthcare & pharma segment is expected to record the highest CAGR during the forecast period due to rapid digital transformation in the healthcare sector, curtailment in hospital operating expenses, and compulsion to abide by government regulations for maintaining an optimum healthcare environment.



In 2021, Europe is expected to account for the largest share of the automated storage and retrieval systems market. The large share of this regional market is mainly attributed to the high dependence on advanced system technologies, easy availability of ASRS, established automotive industry, and supportive digital infrastructure.

APAC is expected to register the highest CAGR during the forecast period due to the rapidly improving manufacturing & warehousing infrastructure, increasing popularity of automated systems, rising investment capabilities of the industrial users', and growing industry digitalization backed by positive local government initiatives.

Key Questions Answered in the Report-

Which are the high-growth market segments in terms of load, type, application, end user, and geography?

What is the historical market size of the automated storage and retrieval systems market?

What are the market forecasts and estimates for the period 2021-2028?

What are the major drivers, restraints, opportunities, and trends in the automated storage and retrieval systems market?

Who are the major players in the automated storage and retrieval systems market, and what share of the market do they hold?

How is the competitive landscape?

What are the recent developments in the automated storage and retrieval systems market?

What are the various strategies adopted by the major players in the automated storage and retrieval systems market?

What are the geographical trends and high-growth countries?

Who are the local emerging players in the automated storage and retrieval systems market, and how do they compete with the other players?

Market Dynamics

Drivers

Growing Emphasis on Improving Floor Space Utilization

Increasing Need to Reduce Labour and Distribution Costs

Restraints

High Initial Costs

Lengthy Installation Process

Opportunities

Growing Significance of Online Retail Platforms and Associated Supply Chains

Increasing Utilization of RFID and Barcode Technologies

Growing Deployment of Automated Storage Systems for Healthcare Supply Chains and Transportation Applications

Challenges

Reluctance in Deploying Automated Systems in Developing Countries

Trends

Growing Implementation of Automated Cold Storage Warehouses and Associated Supply Chains

Case Studies

Key players operating in the automated storage and retrieval systems market are

Daifuku Co. Ltd.

SSI SCHAEFER AG

Dematic

Honeywell Intelligrated

Toyota Industries Corporation

Murata Machinery Ltd.

KNAPP AG

BEUMER Group GmbH

Swisslog Holding AG

Material Handling Systems

TGW Logistics Group

WITRON Logistik+Infomatik GmbH

Kardex Group

System Logistics S.p.A.

viastore SYSTEMS GmbH

Jungheinrich AG

MATTER Srl

Mecalux S.A.

Craftsman Storage Systems

Scope of the Report:

Automated Storage and Retrieval Systems Market, by Load

Unit-load ASRS

Fixed-aisle ASRS

Movable-aisle ASRS

Mini-load ASRS

Micro-load ASRS

Automated Storage and Retrieval Systems Market, by Type

Vertical Lift Modules

Carousels

Horizontal Carousels

Vertical Carousels

Crane-based

Vertical Buffer Modules

Robotic Shuttles

Floor Robots

Automated Storage and Retrieval Systems Market, by Application

Storage

Order Picking

Kitting

Buffering

Automated Storage and Retrieval Systems Market, by End User

Automotive

Semiconductor & Electronics

General Manufacturing

Retail & Warehousing/Logistics

Aviation

Chemicals, Rubber, and Plastics

Healthcare & Pharma

Food & Beverage

Postal & Parcel

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/bko09q

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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DUBLIN, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Global Autonomous Mobile Robots Market 2021-2028" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The global autonomous mobile robots market is expected to register a CAGR of 24.34% during the estimated period of 2021-2028.



Factors such as the growing need for better workplace safety and the emergence of industry 4.0 and smart factories motivate the market's growth. The wide applications of autonomous mobile robots and development in IoT and robotics are another set of factors estimated to support the overall development of the autonomous mobile robots market.



However, increased capital requirements and a lack of a skilled workforce impede the global market's progress.



The global autonomous mobile robots market covers North America, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, Europe, Middle East and Africa regions.



Globally, Europe holds the largest market for autonomous mobile robots and is expected to continue its stronghold till 2028. Several manufacturing companies would not be able to compete without robotics. Hence, robotics is gaining momentum across smaller manufacturing companies, as they contribute significantly to the region's manufacturing capacity. Additionally, the country's role in science supplements various domains, including robotics. This mainly relies on a broad spectrum of technologies. Hence, these developments are supporting the overall development of the autonomous mobile robots market within Europe.



Competitive Outlook

The distinguished companies profiled in the autonomous mobile robots market include The Hitech Robotic Systemz Ltd, Fetch Robotics Inc, Omron Corporation, Vecna Robotics, Softbank Robotics, Aethon Inc, Mobile Industrial Robots APS, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc, Cimcorp Oy, Locus Robotics Inc, Kuka AG, Clearpath Robotics Inc, Teradyne Inc, SMP Robotics Systems Corp, and The Aviation Industry Corporation of China.



Omron Corporation offers automation components, equipment, and systems for industrial automation, healthcare, and other sectors. It offers various products, including sensors, relays, safety devices, automation systems, switches, control devices, tire pressure monitoring systems, power steering, integrated control units, road management systems, and a digital thermometer. Omron has a strong R&D segment, with headquarters in Kyoto, Japan.



Key Topics Covered:



1. Global Autonomous Mobile Robots Market - Summary



2. Industry Outlook

2.1. Impact Of Covid-19 On Autonomous Mobile Robots Market

2.2. Key Insights

2.2.1. Rising Awareness Of Amr Advantages

2.2.2. Increasing Use Of Unmanned Ground Vehicles (Ugvs)

2.2.3. Use Of Mobile Robots For Elderly People

2.3. Porter'S Five Forces Analysis

2.3.1. Threat Of New Entrants

2.3.2. Threat Of Substitutes

2.3.3. Bargaining Power Of Buyers

2.3.4. Bargaining Power Of Suppliers

2.3.5. Threat Of Competitive Rivalry

2.4. Market Attractiveness Index

2.5. Vendor Scorecard

2.6. Key Impact Analysis

2.6.1. Cost

2.6.2. Adaptation

2.6.3. Customization

2.6.4. Capability

2.7. Key Market Strategies

2.7.1. Acquisitions

2.7.2. Product Launches

2.7.3. Contracts & Partnerships

2.7.4. Business Expansions & Divestitures

2.8. Market Drivers

2.8.1. Rising Need For Better Workplace Safety

2.8.2. Emergence Of Industry 4.0 and Smart Factories

2.9. Market Challenges

2.9.1. Increased Capital Requirements

2.9.2. Lack Of Skilled Workforce

2.10. Market Opportunities

2.10.1. Wide Applications Of Autonomous Mobile Robots

2.10.2. Developments In Iot and Robotics



3. Global Autonomous Mobile Robots Market Outlook - by Type

3.1. Goods-To-Person Picking Robots

3.2. Self-Driving Forklifts

3.3. Autonomous Inventory Robots

3.4. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles



4. Global Autonomous Mobile Robots Market Outlook - by Application

4.1. Automotive

4.2. Electronics

4.3. Fmcg

4.4. Logistics

4.5. Life Sciences

4.6. Healthcare

4.7. Education

4.8. Other Applications



5. Global Autonomous Mobile Robots Market - Regional Outlook



6. Competitive landscape

6.1. Aethon Inc

6.2. Cimcorp Oy

6.3. Clearpath Robotics Inc

6.4. Fetch Robotics Inc

6.5. General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc

6.6. Kuka Ag

6.7. Locus Robotics Inc

6.8. Mobile Industrial Robots Aps

6.9. Omron Corporation

6.10. Softbank Robotics

6.11. Smp Robotics Systems Corp

6.12. Teradyne Inc

6.13. the Aviation Industry Corporation Of China

6.14. the Hitech Robotic Systemz Ltd

6.15. Vecna Robotics



7. Research Methodology & Scope

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/th8wfw

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, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Ozone Generators Market: Global Industry Trends, Share, Size, Growth, Opportunity and Forecast 2021-2026" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The global ozone generators market grew at a CAGR of around 7% during 2015-2020. Ozone generators are devices that produce ozone for the treatment, purification and disinfection of air and water. These devices can generate ozone in amounts ranging from a few milligrams to hundreds of kilograms. Their type and capacity depend on various factors, such as running time and the required ozone dosage and concentration. Ozone generators find application in the industrial water-treatment, water-purification, and food and beverage (F&B) sector to improve the overall shelf life of products and minimize the risk of cross-contamination. Besides this, they are also utilized in the chemical industry for reducing energy during the bleaching process.



A rapid increase in the global population has resulted in diminishing resources and rising air pollution. Moreover, the high level of greenhouse gas (GHGs) emissions and other ozone-depleting substances are destroying the stratospheric ozone layer and causing an upsurge in numerous health problems. This is positively influencing the demand for air purification systems like ozone generators across the globe. Apart from this, rising investments in the upgradation and expansion of wastewater treatment facilities, coupled with the burgeoning industrial sector, are strengthening the growth of the market.

Furthermore, governing agencies of several countries are undertaking measures to improve the quality of water and air, which is boosting the sales of ozone generators. Moreover, the leading market players are engaging in merger and acquisitions (M&A) activities to widen their product portfolios, which is anticipated to fuel the market growth in the upcoming years. Looking forward, the publisher expects the global ozone generators market to exhibit moderate growth during the next five years.

Competitive Landscape:

The competitive landscape of the industry has also been examined along with the profiles of the key players being Corotec Corporation, Daikin Industries Ltd., Electrolux AB, Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, Ozone Solutions Inc. Ozone Tech Systems Ots AB (Mellifiq AB), Ozonetek Limited, Primozone Production AB (Westfal-Larsen Technology), Sun-Belt USA and Toshiba Infrastructure Systems & Solutions Corporation (Toshiba Corporation).



Key Questions Answered in This Report:

How has the global ozone generators market performed so far and how will it perform in the coming years?

What has been the impact of COVID-19 on the global ozone generators 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 application?

What is the breakup of the market based on the end use?

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 ozone generators 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 Ozone Generators 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 Ultraviolet Generators

6.1.1 Market Trends

6.1.2 Market Forecast

6.2 Cold Plasma Generators

6.2.1 Market Trends

6.2.2 Market Forecast

6.3 Corona Discharge Generators

6.3.1 Market Trends

6.3.2 Market Forecast

6.4 Electrolytic Generators

6.4.1 Market Trends

6.4.2 Market Forecast



7 Market Breakup by Application

7.1 Potable Water Treatment

7.1.1 Market Trends

7.1.2 Market Forecast

7.2 Industrial Water Treatment

7.2.1 Market Trends

7.2.2 Market Forecast

7.3 Air Treatment

7.3.1 Market Trends

7.3.2 Market Forecast

7.4 Laboratory & Medical

7.4.1 Market Trends

7.4.2 Market Forecast

7.5 Aquaculture

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 End Use

8.1 Municipal

8.1.1 Market Trends

8.1.2 Market Forecast

8.2 Industrial

8.2.1 Market Trends

8.2.2 Market Forecast

8.3 Commercial

8.3.1 Market Trends

8.3.2 Market Forecast

8.4 Residential

8.4.1 Market Trends

8.4.2 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 Corotec Corporation

14.3.1.1 Company Overview

14.3.1.2 Product Portfolio

14.3.2 Daikin Industries Ltd.

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 Electrolux AB

14.3.3.1 Company Overview

14.3.3.2 Product Portfolio

14.3.3.3 Financials

14.3.3.4 SWOT Analysis

14.3.4 Mitsubishi Electric Corporation

14.3.4.1 Company Overview

14.3.4.2 Product Portfolio

14.3.4.3 Financials

14.3.4.4 SWOT Analysis

14.3.5 Ozone Solutions Inc.

14.3.5.1 Company Overview

14.3.5.2 Product Portfolio

14.3.6 Ozone Tech Systems Ots AB (Mellifiq AB)

14.3.6.1 Company Overview

14.3.6.2 Product Portfolio

14.3.6.3 Financials

14.3.7 Ozonetek Limited

14.3.7.1 Company Overview

14.3.7.2 Product Portfolio

14.3.8 Primozone Production AB (Westfal-Larsen Technology)

14.3.8.1 Company Overview

14.3.8.2 Product Portfolio

14.3.9 Sun-Belt USA

14.3.9.1 Company Overview

14.3.9.2 Product Portfolio

14.3.10 Toshiba Infrastructure Systems & Solutions Corporation (Toshiba Corporation)

14.3.10.1 Company Overview

14.3.10.2 Product Portfolio

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/x4x7jj

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


DUBLIN, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The "RFID Kanban Systems Market: Global Industry Trends, Share, Size, Growth, Opportunity and Forecast 2021-2026" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The global RFID Kanban systems market exhibited strong growth during 2015-2020. Looking forward, the publisher expects the market to grow at a CAGR of around 18% 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.



Radio frequency identification (RFID) Kanban systems are used in industrial settings for lean inventory management, automated mapping of same orders and identifying fluctuations in demand at an early stage. RFID tags or transponders with antennas are installed on Kanban racks, which are usually identifiable by a unique number for increasing data security. This helps in precise control of the flow of goods, automating data transmission, exchanging information in real-time, and reducing manual efforts. As a result, organizations around the world are relying on RFID Kanban systems over conventional Kanban processing for higher supply security and efficient stock management.



RFID Kanban Systems Market Trends:

The escalating demand for domestic and international logistics services due to the increasing popularity of e-commerce platforms represents one of the key factors bolstering the market growth. RFID Kanban systems help manage the massive amount of data generated during warehouse and inventory management and reduce the overall delivery time. Apart from this, the rising need for streamlining medical inventory management, along with the growing risk of clinical errors in manual Kanban processing, is catalyzing the demand for RFID Kanban systems across the globe.

These systems help track assets and control devices and drug stockouts in the medication supply rooms and improve the efficiency of supply chain management in healthcare facilities. Moreover, RFID Kanban systems are gaining popularity in the automotive industry, wherein they enable flexible production and intelligent container tracking. The growing demand for automobiles, the burgeoning automotive sector, rising cases of over inventory, and increasing investments in research and development (R&D) projects are some of the other factors anticipated to present lucrative opportunities to the market.



Key Market Segmentation:

The publisher provides an analysis of the key trends in each sub-segment of the global RFID Kanban systems market, along with forecasts at the global, regional and country level from 2021-2026. Our report has categorized the market based on type, component and application.



Breakup by Type:

Single Bin RFID Kanban System

Multi-Bin RFID Kanban System

Breakup by Component:

RFID Box

RFID Base

RFID Shelf/Cabinet

Electronic Shelf Displays

Others

Breakup by Application:

Supply Chain Inventory Management

Equipment Identification

Track and Trace Solution

Others

Breakup by Region:

North America

United States

Canada

Asia-Pacific

China

Japan

India

South Korea

Australia

Indonesia

Others

Europe

Germany

France

United Kingdom

Italy

Spain

Russia

Others

Latin America

Brazil

Mexico

Others

Middle East and Africa

Competitive Landscape:

The competitive landscape of the industry has also been examined along with the profiles of the key players being Brooks Automation Inc., Datelka, Grifols S.A., Hurst Green Plastics Ltd., LogiTag Systems, MATTTEO, metraTec GmbH, Palex Medical (Bidco Palex S.L.), Pepperl+Fuchs SE, Scan Modul B.V., Wilhelm Bollhoff GmbH & Co. KG and Wurth Industrie Service GmbH & Co. KG.



Key Questions Answered in This Report:

How has the global RFID Kanban systems market performed so far and how will it perform in the coming years?

What has been the impact of COVID-19 on the global RFID Kanban systems 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 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 RFID Kanban systems 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 RFID Kanban Systems 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 Bin RFID Kanban System

6.1.1 Market Trends

6.1.2 Market Forecast

6.2 Multi-Bin RFID Kanban System

6.2.1 Market Trends

6.2.2 Market Forecast



7 Market Breakup by Component

7.1 RFID Box

7.1.1 Market Trends

7.1.2 Market Forecast

7.2 RFID Base

7.2.1 Market Trends

7.2.2 Market Forecast

7.3 RFID Shelf/Cabinet

7.3.1 Market Trends

7.3.2 Market Forecast

7.4 Electronic Shelf Displays

7.4.1 Market Trends

7.4.2 Market Forecast

7.5 Others

7.5.1 Market Trends

7.5.2 Market Forecast



8 Market Breakup by Application

8.1 Supply Chain Inventory Management

8.1.1 Market Trends

8.1.2 Market Forecast

8.2 Equipment Identification

8.2.1 Market Trends

8.2.2 Market Forecast

8.3 Track and Trace Solution

8.3.1 Market Trends

8.3.2 Market Forecast

8.4 Others

8.4.1 Market Trends

8.4.2 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 Brooks Automation Inc.

14.3.1.1 Company Overview

14.3.1.2 Product Portfolio

14.3.1.3 Financials

14.3.2 Datelka

14.3.2.1 Company Overview

14.3.2.2 Product Portfolio

14.3.3 Grifols S.A.

14.3.3.1 Company Overview

14.3.3.2 Product Portfolio

14.3.3.3 Financials

14.3.4 Hurst Green Plastics Ltd.

14.3.4.1 Company Overview

14.3.4.2 Product Portfolio

14.3.5 LogiTag Systems

14.3.5.1 Company Overview

14.3.5.2 Product Portfolio

14.3.6 MATTTEO

14.3.6.1 Company Overview

14.3.6.2 Product Portfolio

14.3.7 metraTec GmbH

14.3.7.1 Company Overview

14.3.7.2 Product Portfolio

14.3.8 Palex Medical SA (Bidco Palex S.L.)

14.3.8.1 Company Overview

14.3.8.2 Product Portfolio

14.3.9 Pepperl+Fuchs SE

14.3.9.1 Company Overview

14.3.9.2 Product Portfolio

14.3.10 Scan Modul B.V.

14.3.10.1 Company Overview

14.3.10.2 Product Portfolio

14.3.11 Wilhelm Bollhoff GmbH & Co. KG

14.3.11.1 Company Overview

14.3.11.2 Product Portfolio

14.3.12 Wurth Industrie Service GmbH & Co. KG

14.3.12.1 Company Overview

14.3.12.2 Product Portfolio

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/e0skt7

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SOURCE Research and Markets

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Companies will collaborate on manufacturing and research and development for future indications, and will commercialize Gadopiclenol independently under separate brands

Gadopiclenol is a next-generation, macrocyclic contrast agent with high-relaxivity, intended to improve lesion detection and visualization in MRI, with lower doses of gadolinium compared to other agents on the market

MILAN, Italy, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Guerbet (FR0000032526 GBT), a global leader in medical imaging offering a comprehensive range of pharmaceutical products, medical devices, and digital and artificial intelligence (AI) solutions for diagnostic and interventional imaging, and Bracco Imaging, an innovative world leader delivering end-to-end products and solutions through a comprehensive portfolio inclusive of precision diagnostic imaging modalities, today announced they have signed a global collaboration for Gadopiclenol, a next-generation magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agent. This global collaboration will result in Guerbet and Bracco Imaging commercializing the product independently under different brand names. The companies will also collaborate on manufacturing, as well as research and development for future indications. Financial terms of the transaction are not disclosed.

Guerbet and Bracco Imaging will seek regulatory approval to market Gadopiclenol in the United States and the European Union in 2023, with other geographies to follow

A next-generation, macrocyclic gadolinium-based contrast agent with high relaxivity, Gadopiclenol is intended to improve lesion detection and visualization in MRI scanning, with lower doses of gadolinium compared to other agents already on the market. In March 2021, positive results from two Phase III studies comparing the diagnostic efficacy and safety of Gadopiclenol, which uses half the dose of gadolinium compared to Gadobutrol, in a wide range of indications, covering the central nervous system and various other anatomical areas (head and neck, thorax, breast, abdomen, pelvis, musculoskeletal system) were published by Guerbet. Both Guerbet and Bracco Imaging each own valuable intellectual property relating to Gadopiclenol.

"Gadopiclenol will be an excellent extension of Guerbet's UNIK MRI solutions of contrast media, injectors, consumables, services and software. It will enable our customers to use a lower dose of gadolinium in their everyday clinical practice. Our ambition is to make this available to as many patients as soon as possible. This is a bold decision which will accelerate our ability to further develop Gadopiclenol, which will bring significant health benefits worldwide," said CEO of Guerbet, David Hale

"Gadopiclenol represents real and valuable innovation in MRI, with a unique profile of stability and contrast enhancement properties that will allow a low dose to be effectively used in a large number of clinical settings and clinical indications," said CEO of Bracco Imaging, Fulvio Renoldi Bracco. "We are excited about this strategic addition to Bracco Imaging's MRI portfolio. Once approved, the addition of Gadopiclenol will expand our portfolio to include three different products that will help to shape the future of prevention and precision diagnostic imaging, in accordance with our global strategy."

Guerbet will manufacture Gadopiclenol active ingredient and vials for Bracco Imaging for up to seven years. Following a technology transfer, both companies will have the ability to manufacture the product. The first marketing authorizations are anticipated in 2023, initially in the United States and the European Union (EU), with other geographies to follow.

About Gadopiclenol

Gadopiclenol is a new macrocyclic gadolinium-based contrast agent with high relaxivity (contrast power), designed and developed by Guerbet's R&D team. The efficacy and safety of Gadopiclenol have been evaluated as part of the company's clinical development plan with a view to obtaining worldwide marketing authorization. No regulatory authority has evaluated the clinical study data for this product to date. Details on Phase III clinical trials are available in the ClinicalTrials.gov database:

Efficacy and Safety of Gadopiclenol for Central Nervous System (CNS) Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) - Full Text View - ClinicalTrials.gov

Efficacy and Safety of Gadopiclenol for Body Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) - Full Text View - ClinicalTrials.gov

All these data will serve as a basis for regulatory submissions, which will begin in the United States and in the European Union (EU) early 2022.

About Guerbet

At Guerbet, we build lasting relationships so that we enable people to live better. That is our purpose. We are a leader in medical imaging worldwide, offering a comprehensive range of pharmaceutical products, medical devices, and digital and AI solutions for diagnostic and interventional imaging. A pioneer in contrast media for 95 years, with more than 2,600 employees worldwide, we continuously innovate and devote 10% of our sales to research and development in four centers in France, Israel, and the United States. Guerbet (GBT) is listed on Euronext Paris (segment B  mid caps) and generated 712 million in revenue in 2020. For more information, please visit www.guerbet.com.

About Bracco Imaging

Bracco Imaging S.p.A. ("Bracco Imaging"), part of the Bracco Group, is an innovative world leader delivering end-to-end products and solutions through its comprehensive portfolio across diagnostic imaging modalities. Headquartered in Milan, Italy, Bracco Imaging's purpose is to improve people's lives by shaping the future of prevention and precision diagnostic imaging. Bracco Imaging portfolio includes products and solutions for all key diagnostic imaging modalities: X-ray imaging, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), Contrast Enhanced Ultrasound (CEUS), and Nuclear Medicine. Bracco Imaging has approximately 3,600 employee and operates in more than 100 markets globally. Bracco Imaging has a well-skilled and innovative Research and Development (R&D) organization with an efficient process-oriented approach and track record in the diagnostic imaging industry. R&D activities are located in four centers based in Italy, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States. Bracco Group global revenues were 1.4 billion Euros in 2020. To learn more about Bracco Imaging, visit www.braccoimaging.com.

Guerbet Forward-looking statements

Certain information contained in this press release does not reflect historical data but constitutes forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on estimates, forecasts, and assumptions, including but not limited to assumptions about the current and future strategy of the Guerbet Group ("Group") and the economic environment in which the Group operates.

They involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may result in a significant difference between the Group's actual performance and results and those presented explicitly or implicitly by these forward-looking statements.

These forward-looking statements are valid only as of the date of this press release, and the Group expressly disclaims any obligation or commitment to publish an update or revision of the forward-looking statements contained in this press release to reflect changes in their underlying assumptions, events, conditions, or circumstances.

The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are for illustrative purposes only. Forward-looking statements and information are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict and are generally beyond the Group's control.

These risks and uncertainties include but are not limited to the uncertainties inherent in research and development, future clinical data and analyses (including after a marketing authorization is granted), decisions by regulatory authorities (such as the US Food and Drug Administration or the European Medicines Agency) regarding whether and when to approve any application for a drug, process, or biological product filed for any such product candidates, as well as their decisions regarding labeling and other factors that may affect the availability or commercial potential of such product candidates.

A detailed description of the risks and uncertainties related to the Group's activities can be found in chapter 4.8 "Management and risk factors" of the Group's Universal Registration Document filed with the AMF (French financial markets authority) under number D-20-0369 on April 28, 2020, available on the Group's website (www.guerbet.com).

Contacts

Guerbet Actifin



Jerome Estampes. Chief Financial Officer +33 (0)1 45 91 50 00 Anne-Laure Delasalle Global Communications Director +33 (0) 1 45 91 50 00 [email protected] Benjamin Lehari Financial Communications +33 (0)1 56 88 11 25 [email protected] Jennifer Jullia Press Briefings +33 (0)1 56 88 11 19 [email protected]

Bracco Imaging Edelman



Duccio Manetti Global Communications Director +39 340 9016191 [email protected] Giuliano Faliva Corporate Communications Director +39 335 5980048 [email protected] Shannon Susko Media Contact +001 646-200-1826 [email protected]

SOURCE Bracco Group
SHANGHAI, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Guotai Junan Securities Co., Ltd. (Guotai Junan), a renowned financial service provider in China, released on Saturday its comprehensive digital transformation vision to further sharpen its smart investment bank (IB) business.

The Chinese broker, as a pioneer in coming up with a smart IB-based comprehensive digital transformation vision in the securities industry, aims to build itself into a super, data- and algorithm-driven, agile and revolutionary tech IB.

Guotai Junan has formulated and unveiled the comprehensive digital transformation plan, formed an organizational structure to press ahead with the transformation and outlined requirements on related work and mechanisms.

In 2021, the company saw a batch of its digital transformation programs in steady progress.

For instance, it put online the 5.0 version of its Vintex APP to provide institutional clients of all types with full service chain online services that cover different types of assets.

Guotai Junan also built and put into operation a new generation of homemade core trading system, which realizes transaction, account and clearing factor decoupling and caps time delay of entrusted key indicators sending under two milliseconds, throughput at 450,000 deals per second, and client capacity at 50 million ones.

By shaping multiple workplace scenes such as those for employees, branches and management, the broker is crafting a digitalized workplace to enable mobile working of staffs and flexible knowledge of client behaviors, pool numerous data and quantified indicators of multiple aspects, and provide one-stop review, analysis and decision making services for management teams of different levels.

Apart from these, Guotai Junan will adhere to the concept of "digitalization for everyone and everywhere" and further concentrate on growth, efficiency, experience and safety to convert in a faster pace the traditional IT basis into all-around digitalized operation capability to grow its smart IB business, according to the broker.

SOURCE Guotai Junan Securities Co., Ltd.
MIAMI, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- In April the Arizona Department of Health Services awarded 13 new Adult Use cannabis retail licenses across eight rural counties. Cannabis operator John Yasso of 101010 Management was one of over 400 applicants granted a license. Last week in a transaction facilitated by Highway 33 Capital Advisory the license was sold to Dr. Phil Wall a successful Arizona-based entrepreneur.

"The significance of this acquisition," according to Highway 33 Partner Vincent Dipas, "is that being the first to be sold, this transaction establishes a benchmark for these rural cannabis retail licenses."

Because there were no comparable transactions, the points of comparison used to establish a benchmark for the negotiations were legacy vertical licenses as well as lease rates for the offsite component of existing vertical licenses. With the consent of the parties and the assistance of the experienced legal counsel Highway recommended, the parties went directly to a purchase agreement.

Highway 33 Capital was chosen by John Yasso and Dr. Wall to help structure the negotiation based on the firm's experience in Arizona's cannabis market over the past four years and their ability to attract new qualified buyers. Timing from Highway 33 Capital's introduction of buyer to seller to a signed purchase agreement was approximately two months. Timing from signed purchase agreement to deal close was a matter of just five weeks.

"Arizona assets and licenses are in high demand," said Dipas. "Many sellers believe they don't need to work with a banking advisory firm like Highway 33 Capital. Our strength was to bring a qualified buyer who could close the deal, which he did in record time."

The firm is now working with Dr. Wall to source debt for his cultivation build out as well as working with Mr. Yasso to sell other assets his group owns in Michigan and Illinois.

For further information contact David Hofer, Highway 33 Managing Partner, at 1.800.684.9238 ext. 700, or [email protected]

About Highway 33 Capital Advisory

With offices in Miami, Denver, Detroit and San Francisco is a professional advisory firm for Mergers and Acquisitions, buy-side/sell-side agreements, capital formation, value creation, growth and pre-IPO strategies for investors seeking vetted companies in highly regulated markets that as well as cannabis include: biotech, pharma, healthtech, CBD Hemp, and ancillary technologies.

SOURCE Highway33 Capital Advisory
NEW YORK, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Home Medical Devices Market Size is driven by growing demand for homecare medical devices due to increasing geriatric population, increasing homecare settings, and rising market consolidation. The testing, screening and monitoring equipment segment held largest share during 2021-2028 owing to increasing chronic conditions and large number of people opting to buy testing medical equipment for home use.

New York, December, 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/--According to the new market research report " Home Medical Devices Market Forecast to 2028 - COVID-19 Impact and Global Analysis By Functionality (Testing, Screening and Monitoring Equipment, Therapeutic Products, Mobility Care Products, Biofeedback Instruments, Electrical Stimulation Devices, and Muscle Stimulators), Services (Skilled Nursing Services, Rehabilitation Therapy Services, Hospice and Palliative Care Services, Respiratory Therapy Services, Infusion Therapy Services, Pregnancy Care Services, and Unskilled Care Services), and Distribution Channel (Hospital Pharmacies, Retail Pharmacies, and Online Retailers)", published by The Insight Partners, the global home medical devices market is expected to reach US$ 57,102.9 million in 2028 from US$ 33,635.2 million in 2020; it is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 7.0% from 2021 to 2028. Get the Latest COVID-19 Analysis on home medical devices market at https://www.theinsightpartners.com/covid-analysis-sample/TIPRE00020904

Home Medical Devices Market: Competition Landscape and Key Developments

F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd., General Electric Company, Abbott, Koninklijke Philips N.V., B. Braun Melsungen AG, Johnson and Johnson Services, Inc., Medtronic, Medline Industries, Inc., Baxter International Inc., Invacare Corporation among the key companies operating in the endodontic reparative cement market. These players are focusing on the expansion and diversification of their market presence and the acquisition of a new customer base, thereby tapping prevailing business opportunities.

 In March 2020 Medtronic Launches New Solutions to Help Monitor Patients for COVID-19. Medtronic Care Management Services (MCMS) business has launched two new solutions designed to help assess and monitor patients who may be concerned about COVID-19 and their respiratory symptoms. The COVID-19 Virtual Care Evaluation and Monitoring solution uses a virtual assistant to evaluate patients at home.

 In April 2020, B. Braun received US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for use of Infusion Pumps with Nebulizers to treat COVID-19 patients.B. Braun's Perfusor Space Syringe Infusion Pump, Infusomat Space Volumetric Infusion Pump, and Outlook ES Pump systems for use in the "tracheal delivery of continuous nebulized medications into a nebulizer to treat patients of all ages with or suspected of having the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) and to decrease the exposure of healthcare providers (HCP) to such patients during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Get Exclusive Sample Pages of Home Medical Devices Market Size - COVID-19 Impact and Global Analysis with Strategic Insights at https://www.theinsightpartners.com/sample/TIPRE00020904/

In 2020, North America registered as the fastest-growing region in the global home medical devices market. The market is this region is expected to grow significantly in countries such as U.S., Canada, Mexico. The growth of the market is attributed to increasing awareness among the population for home medical devices, rising adoption rate of advanced medical devices, technological advancements and rising emphasis on improving treatment outcomes.

North America held the largest market share for home medical devices in 2020. The United States held the largest market for home medical devices, and the market is expected to grow due to increasing adoption of advanced medical device technologies, growing digitalization of medical devices, increasing emphasis on improving treatment outcomes and increasing prevalence of chronic diseases. Increasing prevalence of chronic diseases such as diabetes in the US is likely to raise demand for home medical devices. For instance, as per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in 2017, National Diabetes Statistics Report stated that nearly 23 million people in the US had diabetes, of which type 1 diabetes accounted for nearly 5% to 10%, or nearly 1.2 to 2.3 million people. Of people with type 2 diabetes, nearly 14%, or 3.2 million people, manage their diabetes with insulin only This is likely to grow demand of home medical device market. ncreasing prevalence of chronic diseases such as diabetes in the US is likely to demand home medical devices. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in 2017, National Diabetes Statistics Report stated that nearly 23 million people in the US had diabetes, of which type 1 diabetes accounted for nearly 5% to 10%, or nearly 1.2 to 2.3 million people. Of people with type 2 diabetes, nearly 14%, or 3.2 million people, manage their diabetes with insulin only. For instance, in August 2018, US FDA approved Abbott's FreeStyle Libre-14-day, revolutionary continuous glucose monitoring system.

Similarly, in January 2021, New York based TytoCare has launched fingertip Pulse Oximeter (SpO2) medical device for checking blood oxygen saturation levels and heart rate remotely. This solution is used in home setting which supports clinicians to monitor patients with Covid-19 and chronic lung or heart conditions, which helps them in avoiding hospital and clinic visits.

As per the CDC, there were around 12,200, home health agencies in the US. Thus, such high number of agencies offering home healthcare services is likely to favor market growth.

Download Sample PDF Brochure of Home Medical Devices Market Size and Growth Research Report at https://www.theinsightpartners.com/sample/TIPRE00020904/

In 2019, Asia Pacific registered as the second fastest growing region of the global home medical devices market in 2020 owing to the increasing medical device production in countries such as India, Japan, and South Korea. Whereas, the up-gradation in the medical device guidelines and government support for the increasing production in Australia and China are expected to drive market growth significantly during the forecast period.

Growing Demand for Homecare Medical Devices due to Increaing Geriatric Population in Home Medical Devices Market Growth:

The home medical devices market is estimated to grow significantly due to primary factors such as increasing development in the medical device industry and the growing geriatric population. Owing to the increasing technological development, remote patient monitoring has evolved as an excellent growth strategy for medical device players. The growing geriatric population has supported the market players by demanding user-friendly, efficient, accurate, and effective medical devices in a homecare setting. Therefore, the demand for monitoring devices, mobility aids devices, and therapeutic devices among older people has significantly increased and helped in leveraging the market's growth.

Similarly, technological developments have enabled players to integrate the internet of things (IoT) with medical devices, which facilitates the connection between patients and service providers. The built-in connectivity for medical devices through mobile applications, cloud, machine-to-machine, and other options has resulted in the adoption of telemedicine and mHealth technologies. Thus, the developments have allowed medical device players to attract the geriatric population segment to offer their innovative home medical devices. It is expected that the growing population will broadly contribute to the indirect growth of the market as the countries across the world are experiencing growth in the geriatric population. Hence, the demand for home medical devices will exponentially grow in coming future. For instance, countries such as the US, Japan, South Korea, Canada, the UK, Spain, and France are significantly experiencing growth in the geriatric population.

The above-mentioned countries along with the developing countries such as China, India, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Brazil offer significant growth opportunities for the medical device players to provide innovative devices. The improved healthcare services such as diagnostics and therapeutics have helped in declining death rates. On the other hand, the improving healthcare system is widely contributing to the growth of the geriatric population. According to the United Nations (UN) estimation, by 2060, there will 1.8 billion older people, which will account for 17.8% of the world's total population. Population growth will see the rise twice of 607 million people, i.e., 8.2% of the world's total population in 2015. Therefore, as per the estimation, the growth of the home medical devices market is expected to be driven by the increasing geriatric population during the forecast period.

Buy Premium Copy of Home Medical Devices Market Size, Share, Revenue, Strategic Insights and Forecasts 2021-2028 Research Report at https://www.theinsightpartners.com/buy/TIPRE00020904/

Home Medical Devices Market: Segmental Overview

Based on functionality was segmented into testing, screening and monitoring equipment, therapeutic products, mobility care products, biofeedback instruments, electrical stimulation devices, and muscle stimulators. The testing, screening and monitoring equipment segment accounted for more than 31.38% of the market share in 2020. In terms of services was segmented into skilled nursing services, rehabilitation therapy services, hospice and palliative care services, respiratory therapy services, infusion therapy services, pregnancy care services, and unskilled care services. The skilled nursing services segment held the largest share of the market in 2020. In terms of distribution channel, the home medical device market is segmented into hospital pharmacies, retail pharmacies, and online retailers. The hospital pharmacy segment held the largest share of the market in 2020.

The COVID-19 outbreak has disturbed various trades and businesses across the world. Due to growing demand for ventilators many companies have seen increasing sales in their respective segments. For instance, in response to the coronavirus pandemic ResMed announced its fiscal third quarter results with revenue of US$769.5 million, a 16% year-over-year increase fueled by growth in its ventilator business. Moreover, remote patient monitoring (RPM) in COVID-19 crisis offers tools for disease monitoring and patient-provider communications that reduce infection risks for patients, communities and providers. These are especially safe and useful method of care as healthcare system works to combat COVID-19. According to the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society, Inc. (HIMSS), COVID-19 allows clinicians to monitor temperature and pulmonary function, blood pressure and other appropriate physiology for changes in a patient's disease and symptom progression, using digitally connected, non-invasive devices (e.g. sensors for body temperature or thermometers, pulse-oximeters and home blood pressure monitors). Due to growing hospital bed shortage, this type of remote monitoring free up valuable and critical hospital resources to treat the most critical cases. Thus, owing to the abovementioned factors, the pandemic has shown a positive impact on the home medical devices market.

About Us:

The Insight Partners is a one stop industry research provider of actionable intelligence. We help our clients in getting solutions to their research requirements through our syndicated and consulting research services. We specialize in industries such as Semiconductor and Electronics, Aerospace and Defense, Automotive and Transportation, Biotechnology, Healthcare IT, Manufacturing and Construction, Medical Device, Technology, Media and Telecommunications, Chemicals and Materials.

Contact Us:

If you have any queries about this report or if you would like further information, please contact us:

Contact Person: Sameer Joshi

E-mail: [email protected]

Phone: +1-646-491-9876

Press Release: https://www.theinsightpartners.com/pr/home-medical-devices-market

More Research: https://www.openpr.com/news/archive/139407/The-Insight-Partners.html

SOURCE The Insight Partners
The nation's double-digit home price appreciation isn't necessarily good news for all homeowners. Tweet this

The analysis -- which examined the impact of home price appreciation, unemployment rates, debt-to-income ratios, income inequality and the length of the foreclosure process on real estate-owned transactions -- found that those homeowners already struggling to make their mortgage payments are at the greatest risk of losing their home to foreclosure as property taxes rise.

"Home price appreciation has become a double-edged sword," said Knock Co-Founder and CEO Sean Black. "Until recently, lack of home price appreciation has been attributed to underwater mortgages and high foreclosure rates, but in 2021 upticks in foreclosures are more a result of rising home values pushing at-risk homeowners over the edge with increased tax burden. Going forward, property tax increases may exacerbate foreclosure rates in states where unemployment, income inequality and debt-to-income ratios are prevalent."

The impact of home price appreciation and property taxes on foreclosures

In 2021, homeowners in Virginia, Georgia and New York -- the states with the largest increases in foreclosures -- saw their property values appreciate between 18-21%, while property taxes increased 9%,14% and 21% on average, respectively. Because property tax assessments utilize recent home sale values as the basis of their assessments, many homeowners are seeing their tax bills skyrocket due to the increase in market values.

During this same period, the states that have historically topped the foreclosure rankings saw their home values return to their pre-Great Recession peaks, after only beginning to grow in line with the national average in 2019. From 2019 to 2021, home prices appreciated on average year-over-year 22% in Connecticut, 20% in New Jersey, 19% in Delaware and New Mexico and 14% in Mississippi, nearly 15 to 20 times the growth averages accumulated in the prior decade.

Over the 10-year period from 2009-2019, home prices in Connecticut were still 11% below their peak price in 2008, while Delaware remained down 6%. During this same time period, home appreciation in New Mexico (11%), New Jersey (10%) and Mississippi (8%) grew slower than the national average of 23%.

2021 Top Foreclosure States (January to September 2021) Rank State Real estate- owned transactions Average House Price Index % change YOY Average unemployment rate Debt-to- income ratio Income inequality* Average length of foreclosure process (days) 1 Virginia 3% 18% 4.6% 1.82 0.47 393 2 Georgia 2% 21% 4.1% 1.46 0.48 442 3 New Jersey 2% 20% 7.4% 1.46 0.48 841 4 Mississippi 2% 14% 6.1% 1.56 0.48 133 5 New York 2% 19% 8.0% 0.74 0.51 885

National 1% 20% 5.6% 1.50 0.46 614

*Gini coefficient

2019 Top Foreclosure States Rank State Real estate- owned transactions Average House Price Index % change YOY* Average unemployment rate* Debt-to- income ratio* Income inequality* Average length of foreclosure process (days) 1 New Jersey 10% 0% 6.8% 1.73 0.48 841 2 Mississippi 7% 1% 7.4% 1.47 0.49 133 3 Delaware 7% 0% 5.8% 1.66 0.45 321 4 Connecticut 7% 0% 6.5% 1.56 0.50 854 5 New Mexico 6% 1% 6.5% 1.71 0.48 701

National 2% 2% 6.4% 1.51 0.48 614

*2009-2019

To view the full report, including charts and methodology, please visit: https://blog.knock.com/2021-brings-in-new-states-topping-the-foreclosure-charts/

About Knock

Knock makes home buying simple and certain by transforming all buyers into cash buyers and giving them complete control of the process from their phone. Knock's flagship Home Swap product empowers consumers with a cash-like offer to buy the home they want before selling the home they have, providing the convenience of not having to live through repairs or showings in the process. Knock GO (Guaranteed Offer) is a cash-backed home loan solution for first-time homebuyers looking to compete in today's hot housing market.

Launched in 2015 by founding team members of Trulia.com, Knock has raised more than $600 million in debt and equity from top-tier investors, including RRE Ventures, Foundry Group, Redpoint, Greycroft, Corazon Capital, Correlation Ventures, Great Oaks Venture Capital and FJ Labs. The National Association of Realtors, through its investment arm Second Century Ventures, is a strategic investor in Knock, giving its 1.5 million members the ability to market Knock's homeownership solutions to their clients. Knock currently operates in 69 markets nationwide and plans to be in over 100 markets by 2023.

Contact: [email protected]

SOURCE Knock
"The Rogue Valley is a beautiful place to live and work and we need infrastructure that supports our growing community," said Carey Cahill, vice president of sales and marketing, Hunter Communications. "With this upgrade, people will now be able to effortlessly use it download videos, content, or take a last-minute work video call before boarding their plane, just in time for busy holiday travel as well."

The airport upgrade is a fraction of Hunter's plans to provide fast, reliable internet to the Rogue Valley. "We will continue to expand our fiber services beyond enterprises and businesses, and plan to double the number of homes where Hunter fiber will be available in 2022 through self-funded initiatives," continued Cahill.

Hunter's nearly $40,000 investment into the airport will increase the current speed by up to 10 times. Meaning travelers will see overall faster speeds  even in the crowded airport environment  to stream, listen, work and more.

"We are thankful for our partnership with Hunter Communications and its investment in MFR," said Jerry Brienza, Airport Director, Rogue Valley International-Medford Airport in a statement. "The Rogue Valley International-Medford Airport may be smaller than most international airports, but we provide the latest and fastest technology that far out-pace larger metro areas. This upgrade is representative of who we are as a community: business and industry working together to anticipate the needs of our community and put in place solutions with a meaningful impact."

Following the pandemic, businesses and workers have adapted to a new way of doing business, encouraging communities to evolve with it.

"The last 20 months have been transformative for businesses all over the country, said Eli Matthews, president and CEO, Medford Chamber of Commerce. "Workers are opting for jobs that can be done from any location and seeking positions that better align with their personal lives. This upgrade enables more people to do business from the Rogue Valley, directly benefitting our economy."

This upgrade is an example of how the Rogue Valley is adapting to a changing way of life, allowing the area to attract more businesses and families to our community.

"It's these kind of partnerships, that put Southern Oregon on the map and make this region an amazing place to live, work and play," said Randy Sparacino, Mayor of Medford. "As a member of the Airport Advisory Committee, I know first-hand how vital our airport is to the Rogue Valley's economic growth. This upgrade will help drive future connections in our community and for that I am grateful."

To learn more about fiber internet and its benefits, visit Hunterfiber.com.

About Hunter

Hunter Communications provides ultra-high-speed fiber optic broadband internet, data and voice services to business and residential customers in communities throughout southern Oregon and northern California. With Gig speeds, no data caps, and competitive pricing, Hunter's 2,000+mile fiber network is nationally recognized for performance and reliability. BroadbandNow recognized Hunter with four 2020 Internet Service Provider Awards, including for fastest business internet speeds in Oregon and among the top 10 nationwide.

Founded in 1992, Hunter is headquartered in Medford, Oregon where the company established a legacy of service excellence and commitment to local communities. Hunter Communications was acquired in 2020 by Grain Management, LLC. Additional information is available at Hunterfiber.com.

About MFR

The Rogue Valley International-Medford Airport (MFR) has a long and proud history of serving Southern Oregon and Northern California. Since 1929, MFR has operated as the gateway to everything this beautiful region has to offer. MFR serves 13 nonstop destinations on seven airlines.

SOURCE Hunter Communications
All currencies expressed as United States dollars unless otherwise stated

RENO, Nev., Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - i-80 GOLD CORP. (TSX: IAU) (OTCQX: IAUCF) ("i-80", or the "Company") is pleased to announce the signing of definitive agreements in connection with the previously announced financing package for aggregate proceeds of $135 Million (the "Financing Package"), and an accordion option to potentially access an additional $100 million.

The Finance Package in its aggregate consists of:

(i) $50 million convertible loan (the "Orion Convertible Loan") with OMF Fund III (F) Ltd. an affiliate of Orion Mine Finance (collectively "Orion") (ii) $10 million convertible loan (the "Sprott Convertible Loan" and together with the Orion Convertible Loan, the "Convertible Loans") with a fund managed by Sprott Asset Management USA, Inc. and a fund managed by CNL Strategic Asset Management, LLC (iii) $45 million gold prepay purchase and sale agreement entered into with affiliates of Orion (the "Gold Prepay Agreement"), including an accordion feature potentially to access up to an additional $50 million at i-80's option (iv) $30 million silver purchase and sale agreement entered into with affiliates of Orion (the "Silver Purchase Agreement"), including an accordion feature to potentially access an additional $50 million at i-80's option (v) an amended and restated offtake agreement entered into with affiliates of Orion (the "A&R Offtake Agreement")

The $60 million in Convertible Loans have been fully funded and issued. The obligations under the Gold Prepay Agreement and Silver Purchase Agreement will be senior secured obligations of the Company and its wholly-owned subsidiaries Ruby Hill Mining Company, LLC and Osgood Mining Company, LLC and secured against the Ruby Hill project in Eureka County, Nevada and the Granite Creek project in Humboldt County. Nevada. The effectiveness and funding under the Gold Prepay Agreement and the Silver Purchase Agreement are subject to customary closing conditions precedent for a transaction of this nature including providing security to Orion over the Granite Creek and the Ruby Hill projects and is targeted to occur prior to the end of December 2021.

The Financing Package, when combined with the recent equity financing completed by the Company, will place i-80 in a robust financial position to proceed with the aggressive advancement of its substantial asset portfolio detailed further below. Following completion of the Financing Package, the Company expects to have approximately $200 million in its treasury.

"The Financing Package will position i-80 to aggressively pursue the development of the Company's portfolio of advanced-stage deposits, all located in Nevada, one of the world's most favorable mining jurisdictions", stated Ryan Snow, Chief Financial Officer of i-80. "With multi-million ounce gold and silver resources, and our enviable treasury position, we now pursue our objective to be one of the mining industry's fastest growing producers".

The Orion and Sprott Convertible Loans bear interest at 8.0% per annum and mature on December 13, 2025 and December 9, 2025, respectively. Outstanding amounts under the Convertible Loans are convertible into common shares of the Company at any time prior to maturity at the option of the applicable respective lender (a) in the case of the outstanding principal, C$3.275 per common share, and (b) in the case of accrued and unpaid interest, subject to Toronto Stock Exchange ("TSX") approval, at the market price of the common shares on the TSX at time of the conversion of such interest.

Under the Gold Prepay Agreement, commencing March 31, 2022, i-80 will deliver to Orion 3,000 troy ounces of gold for each of the quarters ending March 31, 2022 and June 30, 2022, and thereafter, 2,000 troy ounces of gold per calendar quarter until September 30, 2025 in satisfaction of the $45 million prepayment, for aggregate deliveries of 32,000 troy ounces of gold. Upon a positive construction decision by i-80 for both (a) the processing facilities at the Lone Tree project, and (b) any two of the following: the Ruby Hill underground development (including ruby deep and/or blackjack deposits), the Granite Creek open pit development, or the McCoy-Cove Project, in all cases based on a feasibility study, in form and substance satisfactory to Orion, i-80 may request an increase in the $45 million prepayment by an additional amount not exceeding $50 million in aggregate in accordance with the terms of the Gold Prepay Agreement.

Under the Silver Purchase Agreement, commencing April 30, 2022, i-80 will deliver to Orion 100% of the silver production from the Granite Creek and Ruby Hill projects until the delivery of 1.2 million ounces of silver, after which the delivery will be reduced to 50% until the delivery of an aggregate of 2.5 million ounces of silver, after which the delivery will be reduced to 10% of the silver production solely from Ruby Hill Project. Orion will pay i-80 an ongoing cash purchase price equal to 20% of the prevailing silver price. Until the delivery of an aggregate of 1.2 million ounces of silver, i-80 is required to deliver the following minimum amounts of silver in each calendar year: (i) in 2022, 300,000 ounces, (ii) in 2023, 400,000 ounces, (iii) in 2024, 400,000 ounces, and (iv) in 2025, 100,000 ounces. Upon a construction decision for the Ruby Hill project, comprised of one or both of the Ruby Deeps or Blackjack deposits, which construction decision is based on a feasibility study in form and substance satisfactory to Orion, acting reasonably, i-80 will have the right to request an additional deposit from Orion in the amount of $50 million in aggregate in accordance with the terms of the Silver Purchase Agreement.

The main amendments reflected in A&R Offtake Agreement include the increase in the term of the agreement to December 31, 2028, the inclusion of the Granite Creek and Ruby Hill projects, and the increase of the annual gold quantity to up to an aggregate of 37,500 ounces in respect of the 2022 and 2023 calendar years and up to an aggregate of 40,000 ounces in any calendar year after 2023.

Additionally, in connection with the Gold Prepay Agreement, the Company has issued to Orion warrants to purchase up to 5,500,000 common shares of the Company (the "Warrants"). The Warrants may be exercised at any time at an exercise price of C$3.275 per common share until December 13, 2024. The Financing Package remains subject to final acceptance by the TSX upon satisfaction of customary post-closing conditions. The Convertible Loans and the Warrants issued by the Company in connection with the Financing Package will be subject to a statutory four month hold period from the respective dates of issue.

The Company recently closed a transaction to acquire the Lone Tree and Buffalo Mountain gold deposits from NGM, including certain processing infrastructure, that is expected to become the hub of i-80's Nevada property portfolio. i-80 also acquired the producing Ruby Hill mine, that includes multiple deposits that collectively represent one of Nevada's largest gold, silver and base metal endowments that, when combined with existing assets Granite Creek and McCoy-Cove, i-80 is now positioned to begin executing on its plan to build a prominent, stand alone, growth-oriented, multi-asset gold producer.

"Our primary target is to quickly grow our production profile to create a Nevada-focused mid-tier gold producer and achieve our goal of becoming one of the largest producers in the State", stated Ewan Downie, Chief Executive Officer of i-80 Gold. "As one of only three companies in Nevada with infrastructure to process refractory mineral resources, i-80 has gained a strategic advantage for long-term mine development".

i-80 is proceeding with its plan to build a minimum of four new mining operations at its Ruby Hill, Granite Creek, Buffalo Mountain, and McCoy-Cove properties over the next three years, with mineralization from all sites ultimately being processed at Lone Tree. While Lone Tree is being retrofitted to suit mineralization from the i-80 properties, NGM has agreed to process material for i-80 at its currently operating processing facilities.

Ruby Hill Project

Open pit mining at Ruby Hill is now concluded with leaching to continue into 2022 and the Company is in the process of advancing permitting for an underground operation, including the construction of a decline from the bottom of the current Archimedes pit. This decline will then access higher-grade mineralization in the Ruby Deeps Zone located immediately below the pit that would subsequently be trucked to Lone Tree for processing. In order to accelerate the underground development plan, i-80 has commenced a large-scale drilling program that is expected to comprise more than 20,000 meters to delineate and expand mineralization, and for metallurgical purposes. The Ruby Deeps deposit is the main target of this program and remains wide open for expansion.

Poly-metallic mineralization has also been identified below the Archimedes pit (Blackjack Zone) and will be targeted in the 2022 drill program. Limited previous drilling intersected high-grade mineralization in the Blackjack Zone with intercepts up to 24.5 m grading 27% Zinc, 2.9 g/t Au & 11.3 g/t silver in hole HC1751. Estimated True width of the intercept is unknown. Refer to October 22nd, 2021 "NI 43-101 Report on 2021 Ruby Hill Mineral Resource Estimate Eureka Country, Nevada, USA" for information on historic assays. The Blackjack Zone remains open for expansion along strike to the south and at depth.

Granite Creek Project

i-80 is aggressively advancing development of the fully-permitted underground deposit at Granite Creek where resource grades are in excess of 10 g/t Au. Initial rehabilitation of the underground workings has been completed, where test mining has now commenced, and a major (+20,000 m) drilling program from surface and underground is underway to define multiple areas for mining and expand mineralization along strike and at depth where the deposit remains open. The Company is targeting delivery of the first mineralization from this program to NGM during the first quarter 2022 and ramp-up to full production in 2022. Longer term, i-80 is planning to process mineralization from Granite Creek at its Lone Tree Facility.

A metallurgical and geotechnical drilling program has also been completed on the near-surface mineralized zones at Granite Creek so that planning (economic and engineering work) and permitting for an open pit operation on the property can be advanced.

McCoy-Cove Project

The gold deposit defined at McCoy-Cove represents one of the highest-grade deposits with resources in excess of 1 million ounces of gold in North America. McCoy-Cove is permitted for underground development and i-80 will initiate construction of a decline in early 2022 to advance a major underground drill campaign, followed by completion of a full feasibility study.

A previously completed preliminary economic assessment demonstrated the strong economic opportunity at McCoy-Cove and the property is host to substantial infrastructure with road access. The Company had previously constructed a powerline to the portal site in preparation for the underground program. Mineralization at McCoy-Cove remains open for expansion.

Buffalo Mountain Project

The Buffalo Mountain Property is located approximately 10 km to the West of Lone Tree and is host to two known gold deposits where NGM had initiated permitting prior to the acquisition by i-80. The Company will continue this effort with a goal to be in a position to commence open pit mine construction in late 2022 or early 2023, ultimately processing material on the heap leach pad at Lone Tree. Mineralization at Buffalo Mountain remains open for Expansion.

This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy the common shares described herein in the United States or in any other jurisdiction, nor shall there be any sale of the common shares in any state in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. The common shares have not been and will not be registered under the U.S. Securities Act, or any state securities laws, and accordingly, may not be offered or sold in the United States except in compliance with the registration requirements of the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities requirements or pursuant to exemptions therefrom.

About i-80 Gold Corp.

i-80 Gold Corp. is a Nevada-focused mining company with a goal of achieving mid-tier gold producer status. The Company is studying and costing the retrofitting of the Lone Tree Autoclave, advancing an underground development program for the Granite Creek Project, executing an initial drill campaign at Ruby Hill and intends to advance the McCoy-Cove Property through to advanced exploration.

Technical Information

The technical and scientific information contained in this press release has been reviewed by Tim George, PE, Manager, Engineering Services of the Company, and is a Qualified Person within the meaning of National Instrument 43-101.

Certain statements in this release constitute "forward-looking statements" or "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws, including but not limited to, funding under the Prepay Gold Agreement and the Silver Purchase Agreement, completion of refurbishment and development activities at the Long Tree project, commencement of mining operations at the Lone Tree project or the Ruby Hill mine. Such statements and information involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the company, its projects, or industry results, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements or information. Such statements can be identified by the use of words such as "may", "would", "could", "will", "intend", "expect", "believe", "plan", "anticipate", "estimate", "scheduled", "forecast", "predict" and other similar terminology, or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. These statements reflect the Company's current expectations regarding future events, performance and results and speak only as of the date of this release.

Forward-looking statements and information involve significant risks and uncertainties, should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results and will not necessarily be accurate indicators of whether or not such results will be achieved. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements or information, including, but not limited to: failure to satisfy of the relevant conditions to the completion of the transactions described herein, failure to obtain the relevant regulatory approvals, material adverse changes, exercise of termination rights by any relevant party, unexpected changes in laws, failure to complete the Orion financing transaction on satisfactory terms, rules or regulations, or their enforcement by applicable authorities; the failure of parties to contracts with the company to perform as agreed; social or labour unrest; changes in commodity prices; and the failure of exploration, refurbishment, development or mining programs or studies to deliver anticipated results or results that would justify and support continued exploration, studies, development or operations.

Cautionary Note to U.S. Investors Concerning Estimates of Resources: This press release uses the term "inferred resources." "Inferred resources" have a great amount of uncertainty as to their existence, and great uncertainty as to their economic and legal feasibility. Under Canadian rules, estimates of inferred mineral resources may not form the basis of a feasibility study or prefeasibility study, except in rare cases. Information contained in the press release containing descriptions of any mineral deposits may not be comparable to similar information made public by U.S. companies subject to the reporting and disclosure requirements under the United States federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder that disclose mineral reserves and mineral resources in accordance with Industry Guide 7 or the SEC's new mining disclosure rules in Regulation S-K 1300. SEC Industry Guide 7 does not recognize the existence of resources. Under Regulation S-K 1300, reserve and resource definitions are substantially similar to the corresponding CIM Definition Standards; however, there are differences between NI 43-101 and Regulation S-K 1300 and therefore information contained in the press release may not be comparable to similar information made public by public U.S. companies pursuant to the Regulation S-K 1300 or SEC Industry Guide 7.

SOURCE i-80 Gold Corp
3D Printing Show gathers leading firms/brands as MIICRAFT, RATC Corp., Solidwizard Technology, Infinity 3D Printer, 3DMART, Formlabs, XYZ PRINTING, SPIDERMAKER, Fullwell, delivering the indispensable high-tech additive manufacturing machines and materials. Exhibitors like Easton Precision, Moldex3D, Taiwan NAKAZAWA, Wu Ji, AccuteX, Hitachi Metals, Linco Precision, and China Fineblanking demonstrate the concept of T-Zero Production and other applications needed for the smart-molding industry at TAIMOLD. Regarding digital transformation and remote control, exhibitors from Automation Taipei and TAIROS as HIWIN, Panasonic, Mitsubishi Electric, Mirle, ABB, Delta, Solomon, Kenmec and Techman Robot offer the key components and solutions optimizing the connection between whole-plant equipment. Wifundity (Wistron) amd MSI Co. display the future of contactless service and human-robot collaboration through Service Robot Pavilion. Notable exhibitors as Toyota Material Handling, Formosa Heavy, Taiwan DAIFUKU, Holao Engineering, Coretronic-Robotics, FLUTAI, Hai Robotics, HIKROBOT and Advantech from Taipei Logistics and Taipei Cold Chain represent the last stop of smart manufacturing. Professions deliver the demonstration for automated guided vehicle systems, automatic storage systems, smart retailing, and cold chain distribution, aiming at solving listed defects on space, understaffed issues, and sorting efficiency. Laser technology has been broadly applied in the section of smart manufacturing, leading firms as SOCO Machinery, Ching Hung, TRUMPF, Unice E-O, COHERENT, and IPG Photonics will demonstrate the listed laser features: "precise, time-saving, and automated" in displaying digital transformation. Furthermore, the Optics area and Laser Source Area are exclusively arranged for demonstrating technology breakthroughs in the domestic industry

Online Expo: Beyond Space, Time, and Location Limitation

Intelligent Asia aims to offer an "Easily, Instantly, Unlimited" way for exhibitors to interact with the global supply chain when the pandemic has continuously set barriers for global travel or visit. Live chat and video calls are designed for meeting with target suppliers in time, visitors could fulfill the purchase requirement for smart manufacturing needs under-one-roof.

Intelligent Asia online expo will be launched from 15 to 21 December with over 1,200 exhibitors. The online expo only adopts online registration by submitting visitors' company information. For more details of the online expo, please visit the official websites.

Intelligent Asia: https://www.chanchao.com.tw/IntelligentAsia/en/

SOURCE Chan Chao International Co., Ltd.
PITTSBURGH, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- "As a restaurant owner, I have to shop for food and supplies and load everything into my truck," said an inventor from Louisville, Ky. "Having something like this would allow me to speed up the process."

He developed THE CONVEYOR BED to provide an automated means of loading and unloading the bed of any truck. As such, it eliminates the need to crawl into the bed or reach over the sides, reducing the chances of muscle strain, pain and injury. Therefore, it enables the driver to load and unload a truck much quicker and easier by moving the load inward or outward as needed. This patent-pending, unique automotive accessory is also durable, flexible and easy to operate. In addition, users will appreciate how convenient, effective and affordably priced it is.

The original design was submitted to the Louisville sales office of InventHelp. It is currently available for licensing or sale to manufacturers or marketers. For more information, write Dept. 20-LUV-176, InventHelp, 217 Ninth Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15222, or call (412) 288-1300 ext. 1368. Learn more about InventHelp's Invention Submission Services at http://www.InventHelp.com.

SOURCE InventHelp

Related Links

http://www.inventhelp.com


The 2021 Digital Health 150 cohort has raised roughly $14.9B in aggregate funding across 522 deals since 2016, and includes startups at various investment stages of development, from early-stage to well-funded unicorns . Companies this year include startups working on data integration & analytics, hybrid virtual / in-person care, digital therapeutics, clinical intelligence, and more.

"This year's Digital Health 150 is one of our most expansive yet, spotlighting 16 categories including virtual care, clinical trials tech, and workflow automation, as well as adding new categories such as home health tech and computer-aided imaging," said Brian Lee, SVP of CB Insights' Intelligence Unit. "Last year's class has seen more than 20 exits, raised an additional $18.6B in aggregate funding, and announced over 250 partnerships since being recognized, and we're excited to see the future success of this year's winners."

"The full ixlayer team is honored to be a part of this exclusive list in the digital health space. Our team has worked tremendously hard to build a one-stop shop for healthcare that offers accessibility and inclusion to reach populations that have typically been underserved based on geography, age, or economic status. Through blending our configurable software with diagnostic testing we're giving people more control over their health by removing traditional barriers to timely testing," says Pouria Sanae, CEO of ixlayer.

Through an evidence-based approach, the CB Insights research team selected the Digital Health 150 from a pool of over 11,000 companies, including applicants and nominees. They were chosen based on several factors, including data submitted by the companies, company business models and momentum in the market, and Mosaic scores , CB Insights' proprietary algorithm that measures the overall health and growth potential of private companies.

ixlayer's comprehensive solution is striving to bring the ease of online deployment that's a hallmark of eCommerce providers, along with the "anyone can play" versatility of payments platforms, essentially "shopifying the testing experience." Traditionally, if companies wanted to deploy diagnostic testing, they would have to go through a lengthy process of building out the software stack -- ixlayer's technology has set the stage to eliminate this burden for healthcare workers, organizations, physicians, and patients in the future.

This past year, ixlayer partnered with various public and private enterprises , including Carahsoft Technology Corp, FrontRunnerHC, Senpex, Maverick Health, and the U.S. Coast Guard, among others. Additionally, ixlayer raised $75 Million for their Series A round in March of 2021. Funding participation was led by General Catalyst and PearVC, with additional support this September from Salesforce Ventures and Accenture Ventures.

2021 Digital Health 150 Investment Highlights:

Unicorns : 17 of the 150 companies (11%) are valued at or above $1B as of their latest funding rounds.

: 17 of the 150 companies (11%) are valued at or above as of their latest funding rounds. Funding trends : In 2021 year-to-date (YTD), these 150 private companies have raised $9.2B in equity funding across 153 deals (as of 11/19/21).

: In 2021 year-to-date (YTD), these 150 private companies have raised in equity funding across 153 deals (as of 11/19/21). Mega-rounds : Since 2020, there have been 39 mega-round ($100M+) equity investments to this year's Digital Health 150, with 31 (79%) of them taking place in 2021 YTD.

: Since 2020, there have been 39 mega-round ($100M+) equity investments to this year's Digital Health 150, with 31 (79%) of them taking place in 2021 YTD. Global representation : 23% of the 2021 Digital Health 150 are based outside the US. After the US, the UK is home to the most Digital Health 150 companies (9), followed by India (4). This year's winners are based in 18 countries, including China , Israel , Nigeria , Germany , Argentina , and New Zealand .

: 23% of the 2021 Digital Health 150 are based outside the US. After the US, the UK is home to the most Digital Health 150 companies (9), followed by (4). This year's winners are based in 18 countries, including , , , , , and . Top VC investor: General Catalyst is the most active investor in this year's Digital Health 150 companies, having invested in 39 deals since 2016.

About CB Insights

CB Insights builds software that enables the world's best companies to discover, understand, and make technology decisions with confidence. By marrying data, expert insights, and work management tools, clients manage their end-to-end technology decision-making process on CB Insights. To learn more, please visit www.cbinsights.com.

About ixlayer:

ixlayer is an industry leader in the health-tech ecosystem, providing innovative solutions for enabling health systems, payors, biopharma, and health-focused companies to offer health testing in a virtual environment. The ixlayer platform delivers end-to-end solutions for the technical, security, regulatory, and user experience components of complex health testing. As the industry shifts to remote and virtual care options, ixlayer is powering patient engagement and preventative health strategies through virtual health testing, at scale . The ixlayer solution can be added to existing patient engagement platforms and patient portals to enable real-time health and wellness lab testing. Founded in 2018, ixlayer currently supports millions of patients and has launched hundreds of testing programs for large organizations, health systems and every level of the government.

SOURCE ixlayer
NEW YORK, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- J.P. Morgan Global Alternatives today announced the appointment of Raphael Gonzalez as a Managing Director and Senior Investment Specialist across commercial mortgage loans, infrastructure debt and direct lending. Mr. Gonzalez brings over two decades of experience in lending, structuring, trading and portfolio management. He joins from Exos Financial where he worked in structured credit, focused on lending and structuring in commercial finance. Kelly von Schmid joins from BBVA USA as an originator in the commercial mortgage loan group, focused on sourcing new lending opportunities on behalf of commingled funds and separate managed accounts. (See full bios below)

The new hires follow significant growth in J.P. Morgan Global Alternatives' Commercial Mortgage Loan business, doubling assets under management to $7.6 billion in the past 12 months and executing a broad range of deals across transitional and stabilized opportunities with significant activity in the sunbelt region. The group is on track to hit $10 billion in AUM in 2022. The CML group leverages J.P. Morgan's information and sourcing advantages gained from over 60 years in the U.S. real estate markets.

"We have witnessed significant growth across our private credit platform over the last 18 months, and the addition of Raphael's expertise in mortgage and asset-backed lending will help us build on this momentum as we continue to provide clients with unique opportunities to drive alpha within portfolios," said Meg McClellan, Head of Private Credit, J.P. Morgan Private Capital. "The significant growth in assets in our commercial mortgage loan business the past 12 months is testament to our team's ability to source and execute on debt opportunities."

"Our Commercial Mortgage Loan business has grown significantly over the past year, with strong investor demand for these strategies driven by the attractive yield premiums and diversification potential offered relative to investment grade corporate bonds," said Jay DeWaltoff, Head of Commercial Mortgage Lending at J.P. Global Morgan Alternatives. "J.P. Morgan's CML team has a unique ability to deliver end-to-end lending solutions to borrowers, allowing us to be nimble in executing deals. The addition of Kelly to the team will further build on our deep origination capabilities, which has delivered strong performance through the COVID pandemic."

Biographies  Raphael Gonzalez and Kelly von Schmid

Raphael Gonzalez, Senior Investment Specialist, J.P. Morgan Global Alternatives - Raphael joins from Exos Financial where he worked in structured credit, focused on lending and structuring in the commercial finance space. He previously worked for Monticello Asset Management as a Managing Director, heading their capital markets and security structuring effort. The platform focused on skilled nursing facility acquisition finance - predominantly in bridge to HUD loans. Prior to Monticello, Mr. Gonzalez spent his 25 year career as a mortgage/ABS trader and portfolio manager within Structured Products. He recently worked at Performance Trust Capital Partners, Cantor Fitzgerald, Passport Capital Management, and spent the majority of his career at JPMorgan, as a Managing Director, co-running their non-agency mortgage and ABS secondary desks, while serving as the primary ABX trader during the volatile mortgage crisis. Earlier in his career, Mr. Gonzalez served as a senior non-agency mortgage trader at Banc of America Securities, and held a similar role at Barclays Capital, where he traded both non-agency mortgages and ABS securities. Mr. Gonzalez holds a B.A. from Vassar College.

Kelly von Schmid, Vice President, J.P. Morgan Global Alternatives - Kelly joins the Commercial Mortgage Loan team as an originator, responsible for sourcing new lending opportunities on behalf of commingled funds and separate accounts managed by J.P. Morgan Asset Management. Throughout her career Mrs. von Schmid has been directly involved with originating and underwriting over 50 loans totaling more than $1.5 billion. Prior to joining the firm, she was a Vice President with BBVA USA in New York, where she spent 10 years originating and closing complex transactions for borrowers along the East Coast. Mrs. von Schmid holds a Master's of Science in Real Estate from New York University as well as a Bachelor's of Science in Accounting from the University of Alabama.

About J.P. Morgan Global Alternatives & J.P. Morgan Private Capital

J.P. Morgan Private Capital provides customized financing solutions for private companies across the capital structure and is comprised of a growth equity arm and a private debt business that spans corporate lending, distressed lending, special situations, and asset-based lending strategies. J.P. Morgan Private Capital is part of J.P. Morgan Global Alternatives, the alternative investment arm of J.P. Morgan Asset Management. With more than 50 years as an alternatives investment manager, $168 billion in assets under management and more than 600 professionals (as of March 31, 2021), J.P. Morgan Global Alternatives offers strategies across the alternative investment spectrum including real estate, private equity and credit, hedge funds, infrastructure, transportation and liquid alternatives. Operating from offices throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia Pacific, our 15 independent alternative investment engines combine specialist knowledge and singular focus with the global reach, vast resources and powerful infrastructure of J.P. Morgan to help meet each client's specific objectives. For more information: jpmorgan.com/am.

SOURCE J.P. Morgan Asset Management
Headquartered in Orlando, Florida, Kalera has spent years optimizing plant nutrient formulas to grow nutrient-dense lettuce and microgreen varieties faster, year-round, at a lower cost, and with less environmental impact by utilizing next generation technology solutions to ensure Pick-to-Plate  freshness.

"Kalera's commitment to providing great-tasting, ultra-clean, sustainably-farmed produce has catapulted our success as more consumers look for food that matches their needs and values," said Aric Nissen, Chief Marketing Officer at Kalera. "We are looking forward to our collaborative partnership with Lambert to accelerate Kalera's growth while providing local and fresh produce at scale."

Kalera currently offers full-head lettuce varieties: Kalera Krunch, Baby Romaine, Red Oak Leaf, Butter and Frisee, in addition to Cilantro, Spicy Mix, Red Sorrel, Pea Shoots, Basil and Popcorn Shoot microgreens.

"Kalera's future is bright. We have our eyes set on new retailers and distributors, brand partnerships and product offerings. We are confident that our relationship with Lambert will fortify Kalera's leading role in the next generation of farming," Nissen said.

Lambert & Co. has a deep bench of consumer-packaged goods and investor relations experience with national brands such as Jamba Juice, Boulder Canyon, Green Giant Fresh, Benson Hill, Meijer, Denali Flavor's Moose Tracks, Old Orchard and more. The agency is recognized as:

#18 food and beverage PR firm, nationally

Top 10 investor relations/financial communications firm, nationally

Top 40 PR firm, nationally

For more information on KALERA, visit kalera.com. For more information on Lambert & Co., visit lambert.com.

About Kalera:

Kalera is a vertical farming company headquartered in Orlando, Florida. Kalera uses technology to ensure that more people around the world have access to the freshest, most nutritious, and cleanest products available. It has spent several years optimizing plant nutrient formulas and developing an advanced automation and data acquisition system with Internet of Things, cloud, big data analytics and artificial intelligence capabilities. Kalera currently operates farms in the US (Orlando, Atlanta, and Houston) as well as Kuwait. Additional farms are in development. More information is available at www.kalera.com.

About Lambert and Co.

Lambert & Co. is a pioneer of the communications and business marketing integrated model with nearly 25 years of experience and today leads with strategic communications campaigns that deliver to the bottom line. The national, award-winning firm is a top-40 PR agency and top-10 IR firm with top-5 practices in Automotive and Mobility, Education & Corporate Social Responsibility and M&A / Private Equity nationally. With talent hubs in Grand Rapids (HQ), Lansing, Detroit, Houston, New York, Phoenix and St. Louis, Lambert has earned accolades such as Firm of the Year honors from PR Week and PRNews and founder Jeff Lambert was the inaugural winner of the PR industry's Diversity Action Alliance "Ally of the Year" in 2021. Lambert is a founding partner of TiiCKER, a consumer shareholder marketing and perks platform, an equity partner in minority-owned national branding and advertising agency 9thWonder Agency, and a global partner in PROI Worldwide, the largest partnership of independent PR firms in the world spanning 120 cities on five continents.

Contact:

Emma Wach

[email protected]

(630) 390-8574

SOURCE Lambert & Co.
HOUSTON, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- KBR (NYSE: KBR) was awarded eight prime contracts as a part of the General Services Administration (GSA) ASTRO multiple award, indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract, which encompasses services related to manned, unmanned, and optionally manned systems, robotics, and platforms.

ASTRO, which is administered by GSA's Federal Systems Integration and Management Center (FEDSIM), has 10 separate, multiple award IDIQ contracts or pools. KBR was named a prime contractor on eight pools: data operations, mission operations, ground, space, development and systems integration, research, support, and training.

"KBR is excited to continue to support the Department of Defense, particularly its combatant commands, through the ASTRO contract," said Stuart Bradie, KBR President and CEO. "The number of pools awarded to KBR shows the depth and breadth of our global expertise and the evolution of our business to address new and emerging threats with innovative solutions."

Each contract has a five-year base, with the option to extend five more years. There is no maximum dollar ceiling for the ASTRO contract as a whole or for each individual pool, though the contract is estimated to be in the multi-billion-dollar range.

KBR is proud to be a leader in advancing air, space, cyber, and missile defense systems for the U.S. military. As the team behind the mission, customers rely on KBR. Our subject matter experts are sought after to test, integrate and maintain new technologies and solve traditional problems, such as how to reduce critical military equipment downtime and extend the life of legacy systems.

About KBR

We deliver science, technology and engineering solutions to governments and companies around the world. KBR employs approximately 29,000 people worldwide with customers in more than 80 countries and operations in 40 countries.

KBR is proud to work with its customers across the globe to provide technology, value-added services, and long-term operations and maintenance services to ensure consistent delivery with predictable results. At KBR, We Deliver.

Visit www.kbr.com

Forward Looking Statement

The statements in this press release that are not historical statements, including statements regarding future financial performance, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. These statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the company's control that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results expressed or implied by the statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: the significant adverse impacts on economic and market conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic and the company's ability to respond to the resulting challenges and business disruption; the recent dislocation of the global energy market; the company's ability to manage its liquidity; the outcome of and the publicity surrounding audits and investigations by domestic and foreign government agencies and legislative bodies; potential adverse proceedings by such agencies and potential adverse results and consequences from such proceedings; changes in capital spending by the company's customers; the company's ability to obtain contracts from existing and new customers and perform under those contracts; structural changes in the industries in which the company operates; escalating costs associated with and the performance of fixed-fee projects and the company's ability to control its cost under its contracts; claims negotiations and contract disputes with the company's customers; changes in the demand for or price of oil and/or natural gas; protection of intellectual property rights; compliance with environmental laws; changes in government regulations and regulatory requirements; compliance with laws related to income taxes; unsettled political conditions, war and the effects of terrorism; foreign operations and foreign exchange rates and controls; the development and installation of financial systems; the possibility of cyber and malware attacks; increased competition for employees; the ability to successfully complete and integrate acquisitions; and operations of joint ventures, including joint ventures that are not controlled by the company.

The company's most recently filed Annual Report on Form 10-K, any subsequent Form 10-Qs and 8-Ks, and other U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filings discuss some of the important risk factors that the company has identified that may affect its business, results of operations and financial condition. Except as required by law, the company undertakes no obligation to revise or update publicly any forward-looking statements for any reason.

SOURCE KBR, Inc.
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is funding Kebotix to develop safe diarylide pigment alternatives using the company's platform that accelerates discovery of new chemicals through artificial intelligence, machine learning and robotics.

Today's announcement by the Cambridge, Mass.-based technology company follows the EPA's news of Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program funding being allocated across 30 American companies to develop solutions for global environmental and public health problems through innovative environmental technologies. Kebotix's program, within the "Safer Chemicals" category, is for use of a machine-learning platform to develop diarylide pigment alternatives that do not produce polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and other toxic byproducts.

Diarylide pigments are organic compounds ubiquitous to such applications as commercial and home printing; Yellow 12, a diarylide pigment, is one of the three main colored pigments used in the four-color process of color printing, for example. These pigments usually provide bright colors and good stability at low cost, which reportedly leads to the global production of diarylide yellows at scales of more than 50,000 tons per year.

"This is a momentum builder for Kebotix's existing work in the space of environmentally friendly and non-toxic pigments," said Dr. Semion Saikin, Kebotix's chief science officer. "The EPA funding enables us to accelerate engagement with companies expressing interest in testing and buying new halogen- and heavy metal-free pigments that our technology discovers and develops."

The effort to spawn safer pigments harnesses Kebotix's existing AI-powered platform that involves deep-learning algorithms for the prediction of molecular properties, synthetic routes and high-throughput computational modeling of molecules in addition to automated synthesis and characterization controlled by proprietary machine learning methods.

"While our platform is advancing next-generation of specialty chemicals that are sustainable, environmentally friendly and economical, the closed-loop approach to the design and discovery of pigments is uniquely efficient," Saikin said. "The reason is it intentionally includes UV and thermal stability of materials in addition to their compatibility in the generation of virtual libraries. In turn, this approach will translate into a reduced cost of pigment design and scaled-up production."

EPA funding to develop solutions that help meet the nation's R&D needs comes at a critical time for the industry and welfare of the planet, according to one of the world's most esteemed pigment experts.

"Kebotix's entire mission is to help solve Earth's most challenging environmental and sustainability problems, so the EPA selecting this technology platform company to develop safer pigments and synthetic pathways makes tremendous sense," said Bruce Mulholland, holder of 15 patents in color and appearance technologies. "As the demand for textiles, plastics, paint and coatings and construction grows, so does the need to expeditiously discover new materials and manufacturing routes that do not produce PCBs and other toxic byproducts."

Data suggest that the use of pigments and dyes is significantly contributing to the global distribution of PCBs, which are synthetic chemicals that do not occur naturally. Although intentional manufacture of PCBs has been banned throughout the developed world, they are still generated during the production of certain classes of pigments.

The EPA is one of 11 federal agencies participating in the SBIR Program that supports the development and commercialization of technological solutions.

"Small businesses funded through the EPA's SBIR Program provide innovative approaches to address EPA's mission of protecting human health and the environment," said April Richards, EPA SBIR Program Manager. "Kebotix's AI-powered platform is helping address the need for safer color technologies by developing pigment alternatives that do not produce polychlorinated biphenyls and other toxic byproducts that may have adverse human health impacts."

Working with U.S. agencies on innovation that fosters the development and commercialization of novel technologies isn't new to Kebotix. The Department of Energy recently selected Kebotix to develop a pipeline for the smart design of OLED emitter molecules. In less than six months the company, using its proprietary AI platform, discovered new classes of candidate molecules that are being developed into device prototypes.

About Kebotix

Kebotix transforms discovery and development of breakthrough chemicals and materials for the 21st century, adding certainty to science by using today's most advanced artificial intelligence, machine learning and robotics. By automating the scientific method using a proprietary closed-loop R&D process to predict and produce new chemistries in a self-driving lab, Kebotix's digital platform empowers lab researchers. Myriad positive results include increased ROI and time-to-market being accelerated from years to mere months. From smarter windows and greener packaging to cleaner pigments and safer pesticides, Kebotix creates materials for a new age of innovation and a better, more sustainable place to live. For more information, visit www.kebotix.com .

MEDIA CONTACT:

Connie Zheng

PR for Kebotix

415-886-7218

[email protected]

SOURCE Kebotix
Kendra Scott is a brand that is passionate about giving back and sustaining its philanthropic philosophy to create good in the world. To launch "The Giving Gives On" campaign, Kendra Scott partnered with Jennifer Hudson, the Grammy-winning singer and Academy Award-winning actress, to create good this season. This initiative aligns with the brand's Shop For Good program, with 20% of proceeds from each purchase of Hudson's favorite earring, Madelyn Gold Statement Earrings In Multi Mix , between December 1-12 being donated to the Julian D. King Foundation .

Following the launch, the brand worked with other philanthropic supporters like Trevon Diggs, Kat Stickler, Jonathan Daviss, RaeLynn, and local community partners from Kendra Scott's 110+ retail locations to further raise funds. Today, Kendra Scott is excited to share it has met its commitment to raise $50,000 for charitable causes between December 1  12. Other organizations that will benefit from these funds include the The Salvation Army, The Jed Foundation, Children's Miracle Network Hospitals, Inheritance of Hope and more.

The first $50,000 of this goal was met thanks to the generosity of the brand's customers, who drove donations by purchasing various giveback styles such as the Madelyn Gold Statement Earrings In Multi Mix, the Jack Gold Hoop Earrings In White Crystal and the Cade Bracelet in Tiger's Eye, amongst others. This donation was then matched by Kendra Scott for a total giveback of $100,000.

"We are grateful for the incredible support of our generous customers helping us give on this holiday season," says Kendra Scott. "The holidays, like our jewelry, are all about creating good. It's an honor to spread joy and help those who need it most this year."

The brand continues to host 'Kendra Gives Back' events 365 days-a-year with 20% of proceeds from every event benefiting charitable causes. Each 'Kendra Gives Back' event is customer-led, and anyone who is interested in hosting a giveback event with the brand can visit the 'Kendra Gives Back' website to learn more.

In addition to the brand's "The Giving Gives On" holiday giveback initiative, Kendra Scott also launched a national holiday video campaign cast with families and individuals who have directly benefited from the brand's charitable initiatives, highlighting real-life examples of how every Kendra Scott gift has a wider impact for good.

For more information, please visit www.kendrascott.com/gifting-gives-on.

About Kendra Scott

Kendra Scott is a leading fashion accessories brand inspired by the personal experiences, travel and sense of community of its founder and designer, Kendra Scott. With over 2,000 employees, Kendra Scott has over 110 standalone stores across the US and is sold in premiere retailers including Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, Bloomingdale's and 600 specialty boutiques worldwide and boasts a thriving web business. Kendra Scott is known for its kaleidoscope of beautiful accessories as well as the innovative and customizable Color Bar experience. As the brand continues to grow, the company remains true to its founding philosophy of "Family, Fashion, Philanthropy" and since 2010, the company has given back well over $40 million to local, national and international causes.

For Press Inquiries, please contact:

Small Girls PR

[email protected]

SOURCE Kendra Scott
HELSINKI, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Konecranes was chosen for a $58.6 million modernization project for a major power utility in the United States. The utility has two polar reactor cranes in two different facilities that are in need of upgrades due to plant extensions. The customer is looking to increase lifting capacity and update the controls to variable frequency drives for smoother travelling motion and better load control. They also want new operator cabs with joystick controls for better ergonomics.

This is not the first time Konecranes completed a major project for this utility. Konecranes successfully uprated two of the polar cranes in 2002 from 125 ton to 140 ton when the utility purchased heavier replacement reactor heads for its two units. Konecranes provided extensive work to the polar reactor cranes inside of containment utilizing its patented work platform.

This project has a total completion time of seven years. In that time, Konecranes will replace all four polar crane trolleys with complete eight-wheel equalizing trolleys with 150-ton standard capacity and 180-ton special rated capacity for occasional use. We will use our patented trolley installer which has been successfully deployed more than 22 times in the past 15 years. Our experienced installation team will be drawing on the knowledge gained from being the only company to have successfully replaced polar crane trolleys in an operating nuclear power plant.

CONTACT:

Further information:

Steve Waisanen, Vice President Head of BU Nuclear

Email: [email protected]

This press release is available at our website konecranes.com

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

https://news.cision.com/konecranes-oyj/r/konecranes-to-modernize-four-polar-reactor-cranes-for-major-us-power-utility,c3471567

The following files are available for download:

https://mb.cision.com/Main/18879/3471567/1509350.pdf Power industry modernization_AME_Dec2021

SOURCE Konecranes Oyj
HAMBURG, FRANKFURT, Germany and LONDON, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Korber, an international technology group, and KKR, a leading global investment firm, today announced that KKR has acquired a significant minority stake in Korber's supply chain software business. This strategic partnership is expected to enable Korber's supply chain software business to become a global leader with enhanced end-to-end solutions for customers worldwide. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Korber's supply chain software business is among the top three global warehouse management software providers, delivering customers with differentiated warehouse management solutions (WMS) for varying operational complexities through software, voice and robotics solutions. With over 1,300 employees, the business has grown significantly over recent years, serving a diversified mix of more than 4,200 customers in different industries across over 70 countries.

Structural trends and market forces, including e-commerce, multi-channel, and micro-fulfilment, are amplifying the need for digital solutions to handle increased volume and overcome greater supply chain complexity.

KKR will work with Korber's supply chain software business to pursue organic and inorganic growth strategies to expand the company's geographic footprint, accelerate the transition to SaaS, automation and robotics, as well as to develop innovative digital solutions to support customers amid increasing warehouse automation and supply chain localization.

Stephan Seifert, CEO of the Korber Group, said: "I'm excited about this strategic partnership and the tremendous business opportunities evolving out of it. It is in Korber's DNA to identify and develop attractive growth areas. With our supply chain software offerings, we strive to have a rich end-to-end application suite that provides enhanced software solutions to our customers all around the world. With KKR we have found a great business partner to accelerate our growth for supply chain software across additional products and regions. Always with one clear vision: market leadership through technology leadership for the benefit of our customers."

Christian Ollig, Head of KKR for DACH, and Jean-Pierre Saad, Head of Technology for Private Equity in EMEA at KKR, commented: "A seamless and highly automated supply chain is business critical for enterprises of all sizes and we see significant growth potential in this market. Korber's supply chain software business is already one of the leading providers with excellent expertise and capabilities in WMS including robotics and voice, led by an industry-leading management team. We look forward to the strategic partnership with Korber and to leveraging our experience of growth acceleration with global software businesses, as well as partnering with management, to help Korber's supply chain software business reach its full potential in this attractive market."

Chad Collins, CEO Software, Korber Business Area Supply Chain, says: "The strategic partnership with KKR is a great opportunity for us and we look forward to working with them and to drawing on their vast experience and track record of investing in and scaling software businesses globally. This will allow us to significantly accelerate our growth plan to build a global champion in supply chain software."

KKR's investment comes from its flagship European private equity fund, KKR European Partners Fund V, which has a long track-record in strategic partnerships with founders, corporates and management teams. KKR is one of the most active investors focused on building leading global technology enterprises, with global tech investments including Cegid, Exact Software, Cloudera, Darktrace, MYOB, Onestream, Epicor, iValua, Visma, among others. Across DACH, KKR has been investing on the ground for over 20 years primarily through strategic partnership deals such as in Axel Springer, Scout24, Wella, Unzer and SoftwareOne.

The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals.

About Korber

We are Korber  an international technology group with about 10,000 employees, more than 100 locations worldwide and a common goal: We turn entrepreneurial thinking into customer success and shape the technological change. In the Business Areas Digital, Pharma, Supply Chain, Tissue and Tobacco, we offer products, solutions and services that inspire. We act fast to customer needs, we execute ideas seamlessly, and with our innovations, we create added value for our customers. In doing so, we are increasingly building on ecosystems that solve the challenges of today and tomorrow. Korber AG is the holding company of the Korber Group.

About Korber's Business Area Supply Chain

In the Business Area Korber Supply Chain, we have a broad range of proven supply chain solutions to fit our customers' size, business strategy and appetite for growth. Our customers conquer the complexity of the supply chain thanks to our portfolio that includes software, automation, voice solutions, robotics and material handling  plus the systems integration expertise to tie it all together. Korber helps to manage the supply chain as a competitive advantage.

About KKR

KKR is a leading global investment firm that offers alternative asset management and capital markets and insurance solutions. KKR aims to generate attractive investment returns by following a patient and disciplined investment approach, employing world-class people, and supporting growth in its portfolio companies and communities. KKR sponsors investment funds that invest in private equity, credit and real assets and has strategic partners that manage hedge funds. KKR's insurance subsidiaries offer retirement, life and reinsurance products under the management of The Global Atlantic Financial Group. References to KKR's investments may include the activities of its sponsored funds and insurance subsidiaries. For additional information about KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE: KKR), please visit KKR's website at www.kkr.com and on Twitter @KKR_Co.

Further information is available at www.koerber-supplychain.com and www.koerber.com/en

Contact Korber:

Business media

Matthias Mezele

Senior Manager Corporate Communications

Korber AG

Tel.: +49 40 211 07 364

Mob.: +49 173 75 19 148

E-Mail: [email protected]

Trade media

Heather Smith

Director Corporate Communications and Brand

Korber Supply Chain  Software

Tel.: +1.800.328.3271-2717

Mob.: +1.605.203.0605

E-Mail: [email protected]

Contact KKR: Germany & Switzerland

Finsbury Glover Hering

Thea Bichmann

Tel: +49 172 13 99 761

E-Mail: [email protected]

Finsbury Glover Hering

Emily Lagemann

Tel: +49 160 992 713 35

E-Mail: [email protected]

SOURCE Korber AG
PORTLAND, Ore., Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- NWEA  a not-for-profit, research and educational services provider serving K-12 students  today released new research that illustrates the scale and disproportionate nature of the disruption in student learning resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. The research, Learning during COVID-19: An update on student achievement and growth at the start of the 2021-22 school year , is the third in a series of research briefs by NWEA focused on understanding how the pandemic has affected student reading and mathematics outcomes.

The research examined MAP Growth assessment scores from six million U.S. public school students in grades 3-8 from fall 2021 compared to students in the same grade in fall of 2019, the last quarter unaffected by COVID-19. The research found evidence of significant levels of unfinished learning, particularly in math, however, gaps between current achievement and pre-pandemic achievement have not increased since the end of 2020-21, which may indicate the impacts of the pandemic are stabilizing.

Key findings include:

Student achievement at the start of the 2021-22 school year was lower compared to a typical year, with larger relative declines in math (9 to 11 percentile points) than reading (3 to 7 percentile points).

Achievement was lower for all student groups in fall 2021; however, as our data have illuminated before , historically marginalized students and students in high-poverty schools were disproportionately impacted, particularly in the elementary grades studied.

, historically marginalized students and students in high-poverty schools were disproportionately impacted, particularly in the elementary grades studied. Student gains across the pandemic (from fall 2019 to fall 2021) lagged norms for pre-pandemic growth, especially in math.

Normative growth trends across the pandemic varied by pre-pandemic achievement status; higher achievers made gains that were more consistent with projected normative growth, whereas lower-achieving students were more likely to fall short of growth projections.

The research findings offer further evidence highlighting the inequitable nature of unfinished learning across the pandemic and shine light on the groups and subject areas that should be targeted for additional support as COVID recovery efforts continue in the 2021-22 school year and beyond.

NWEA undertook this research in an effort to examine students' academic progress at the start of the third school year impacted by the COVID pandemic so that educators and policymakers are equipped with the current evidence necessary to guide decisions and make adjustments where needed as part of COVID-19 recovery efforts.

"This latest research higlights that while students are back in classrooms it does not mean that all is back to pre-pandemic "normal" even though there are early signs of some stabilization. The ongoing impact continues to disrupt learning and, especially, hit our most vulnerable students," said Chris Minnich, CEO of NWEA. "It is critical -- now more than ever -- that we direct funding where it is needed most and determine the necessary interventions to improve student outcomes, particularly for those who have suffered the greatest disruptions."

The ongoing impact of the pandemic illuminates the urgency for education leaders to leverage data to understand the varied needs of their students and develop plans to spend their significant federal resources aligned with student need to local contexts. In addition, states and districts should be setting up data collection and reporting processes to understand which interventions are succeeding in improving student outcomes.

As previously announced, NWEA's research team is part of the " Road to Recovery " effort in collaboration with CALDER at the American Institutes for Research (AIR) and the Center for Education Policy Research (CEPR) at Harvard University , to help districts examine student achievement and learning gains in connection with COVID-19 recovery programs.

To learn more about the new research,

Read the full research brief: https://www.nwea.org/research/publication/learning-during-covid-19-an-update-on-student-achievement-and-growth-at-the-start-of-the-2021-22-school-year/

View the technical appendix: https://www.nwea.org/research/publication/technical-appendix-for-learning-during-covid-19 an-update-on-student achievement and-growth at-the-start-of-the-2021-22-school-year /

/ View the state-level data dashboard developed to provide state-level insights into how students performed on MAP Growth.

https://www.nwea.org/research/publication/exploring-the-educational-impacts-of-covid-19/

View video(s) of Dr. Karyn Lewis summarizing the findings:

https://vimeo.com/656331695



https://vimeo.com/656331861

Graphs and illustration from the research brief are available upon request

About NWEA

NWEA (formerly known as Northwest Evaluation Association) is a mission-driven, not-for-profit organization that supports students and educators in more than 146 countries through research, assessment solutions, policy and advocacy services, professional learning and school improvement services that fight for equity, drive classroom impact and push for systemic change in our educational communities. Visit NWEA.org to learn more about how we're partnering with educators to help all kids learn.

Contact: Simona Beattie, Sr. Manager, Public Relations, [email protected] or 971.361.9526

SOURCE NWEA
CHICAGO, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- G.H. Smart & Company, LLC announced today that it has hired and promoted several colleagues into leadership positions. Each of these A Players has an exceptional track record helping leaders to solve their most challenging leadership problems with confidence.

Carrie Miller joins ghSMART as the firm's first Chief Marketing Officer. Miller brings a wealth of experience from her nearly 15 years at Bain & Company, where she first served as a strategy consultant and then the Global Marketing Director of Recruiting, charged with creating Bain's employer brand and marketing it to the world's top talent. She earned an MBA from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania after time at Accenture, and holds a B.S. in Biology from the University of Arizona.

"We have gone 26 years without a Chief Marketing Officer, but to fulfill our full potential with colleagues and clients, we decided it was time to hire a highly-accomplished professional to elevate our brand messages as an employer and partner to CEOs and investors," said Dr. Geoff Smart, ghSMART's Chairman & Founder.

Vice Chairman Randy Street added, "We are very pleased to welcome Carrie to the senior management team to amplify our communications with influential leaders as well as with the talented, diverse, good-hearted people we would love to hire as colleagues. Our culture allows our team the opportunity to do fulfilling work, while enjoying unparalleled freedom and flexibility regarding how that work gets done. ghSMART shows that it is possible to have a challenging and impactful career while maintaining a life outside of work, and Carrie is going to help us tell this story and set an example for other organizations around the world."

Randy Street, who has served as Managing Partner of the firm since 2010, has been elevated to the role of Vice Chairman. "Randy brought strategic thinking, operating discipline, and a servant leadership approach to the firm. Over his tenure, ghSMART has grown tenfold, while setting industry standards for client satisfaction, culture, and employee satisfaction. I am thrilled to continue to work with Randy in his new role on several of the firm's most important growth initiatives to further enhance our client impact and colleagues' success," said Smart.

Jeff McLean has been promoted to President. After graduating with distinction from the U.S. Naval Academy, McLean began his career as fighter pilot, completing three combat deployments aboard aircraft carriers. As a test pilot, he led testing on a revolutionary unmanned jet aircraft program that pioneered autonomous aircraft capabilities including successful carrier landings and aerial refueling. As a Fulbright Scholar and Truman Scholar, he earned a degree in philosophy, politics, and economics at Oxford University. He also earned an MBA from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, and served as a White House Fellow in the Office of American Innovation. Immediately prior to joining ghSMART in 2019, McLean was Director of Strategic Initiatives and Asset Management for a large privately held family office with operating businesses in multiple industries. "Jeff's strategic planning and team leadership skills are first rate. We are looking forward to entering the next stage of global growth for the firm under his leadership," said ghSMART's Chief People Officer Ellen Walpert.

Chris Nichols was promoted to Partner. Prior to joining ghSMART in 2018, Nichols served as President of Ancos, a manufacturing company, and worked in Corporate Development at WestRock, a Fortune 500 company, where he led M&A activity and integrations. He began his career as a consultant at McKinsey & Company, where he advised companies on strategy, organization, and marketing. Nichols holds an MBA from Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management and a B.S. in Mathematical Economics from Wake Forest University.

Sanja Kos was promoted to Associate Partner. She joined ghSMART in 2016 after serving as a consultant for seven years at McKinsey & Company, where she advised Fortune 500 financial services and healthcare clients. She earned an MBA from Harvard Business School and graduated summa cum laude with a B.A. in Economics from the University of Zagreb.

Emily Sheeren was promoted to Associate Partner. Prior to joining ghSMART in 2016, Sheeren served as a consultant at McKinsey & Company, where she advised Fortune 500 companies and leading private equity investors on M&A integration, organization design, and change management. She earned an MBA from Harvard Business School and a B.A. in International Studies from the College of William & Mary.

About ghSMART: ghSMART is a leadership advisory firm. In 2021, Vault named ghSMART the #1 boutique consulting firm and also rated it #1 in overall employee satisfaction, client interaction, and level of challenge in the entire consulting industry. Harvard Business School has published two case studies on the firm as a pioneer in its industry, and is writing a third case on the firm's unique culture. Firm leaders authored some of the top-selling and most-acclaimed books in the field of leadership.

The firm published the New York Times bestseller Who: The A Method for Hiring (Smart & Street), The Wall Street Journal bestseller Power Score: Your Formula for Leadership Success (Smart, Street, and Foster), and the New York Times bestseller The CEO Next Door: The 4 Behaviors That Transform Ordinary People into World-Class Leaders (Botelho & Powell).

For more information about ghSMART, please visit www.ghsmart.com . Qualified candidates are encouraged to contact [email protected] to schedule a career discussion. ghSMART is committed to hiring and promoting exceptionally talented, diverse, and good-hearted colleagues from all backgrounds.

Contact:

Todd Langstaff, Engagement Manager

Copperfield Advisory

[email protected]

+ 1 301.802.8233

SOURCE ghSMART
LG Energy Solution signs Memorandum of Understanding with Siemens AG for collaboration in battery manufacturing field by promoting the process of battery manufacturing intelligence

Intelligent battery manufacturing process to be actualized at Ultium Cells LLC's second battery manufacturing plant in Tennessee , joint venture of LG Energy Solution and General Motors

, joint venture of LG Energy Solution and General Motors Collaboration between battery manufacturer and engineering firm anticipated to minimize Carbon footprint in supply chain management, getting closer to reaching ESG vision

SEOUL, South Korea, Dec. 13, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- LG Energy Solution (LGES), a leading global battery maker announced Tuesday that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with a German-based technology company Siemens Aktiengesellschaft (Siemens AG) for joint collaboration in the field of battery manufacturing, particularly the digitization of production process.

Under the terms of the agreement, which was signed by Young Soo Kwon, CEO of LG Energy Solution and Cedrik Neike, Member of the Managing Board of Siemens AG and CEO Digital Industries at LGES's headquarters in Seoul Monday, the two companies plan to take steps to promote the process of battery manufacturing intelligence at LGES production facilities worldwide.

Through this strategic collaboration, LGES will be able to implement smart battery manufacturing processes at its factories with the advanced techniques. The partnerships' first line of collaboration will be realized at Ultium Cells LLC, a joint venture of LG Energy Solution and General Motors, located in Tennessee, which is expected to begin production in 2023.

Furthermore, the collaboration will allow LGES to cut back on Carbon footprint in its entire supply chain management, as it aims to boost sustainability in its business operations. LGES previously announced its ESG visions and business strategies to embrace sustainable business practices.

As a leading supplier in the field of automation, industrial software, Siemens AG offers comprehensive digital enterprise portfolio and domain knowledge in the battery industry for LGES to accelerate efficiencies for digital transformation strategy.

In addition, Siemens AG will contribute to the development of the rapid growing battery industry by solidifying its position as a technology partner for the advancement and efficiency of battery manufacturing technology.

Two companies will also collaborate on building digital twin roadmap to ensure stable operations at facilities to offer first-rate quality products at the right time. Together, the companies will also develop training programs within Institute of Battery Technology (IBT) for academic students set to work for LGES. LG Energy Solution previously announced it will build IBT in Korea to educate and build expertise in battery technologies.

"We believe the partnership with the world-renown Siemens AG will efficiently promote LG Energy Solution's digitized manufacturing processes, ultimately enabling LGES to provide the finest services to our clients," said Young Soo Kwon, CEO of LG Energy Solution. "The process of manufacturing intelligence in producing batteries is becoming a critical factor, especially as LGES continues to advance the quality of its products while expanding production base worldwide."

"The future of carbon-neutral mobility requires high-performing batteries. They are at the heart of the electric vehicle market. Siemens and LG ES will work on a big leap forward in battery manufacturing. We are proud that technology from Siemens enables this momentous transformation", said Cedrik Neike, Member of the Managing Board of Siemens AG and CEO Digital Industries. "With this cooperation, we underscore Siemens' positioning as a focused technology company. Joining forces with the world's leading battery manufacturer allows us to showcase our deep domain know-how in the battery market."

About LG Energy Solution

LG Energy Solution is a global leader delivering advanced lithium-ion batteries for Electric Vehicles (EV), Mobility & IT applications, and Energy Storage Systems (ESS). With 30 years of experience in advanced battery technology, it continues to grow rapidly towards the realization of sustainable life. With its robust global network that spans the US, Europe, Asia, and Australia, LG Energy Solution is more committed than ever to developing innovative technologies that will bring the future energy a step closer. Under its ESG vision "We CHARGE toward a better future," LG Energy Solution is doing its utmost to prioritize environment, fulfil social responsibilities and shape sustainable future. For more information, please visit https://www.lgensol.com.

Siemens AG (Berlin and Munich) is a technology company focused on industry, infrastructure, transport, and healthcare. From more resource-efficient factories, resilient supply chains, and smarter buildings and grids, to cleaner and more comfortable transportation as well as advanced healthcare, the company creates technology with purpose adding real value for customers. By combining the real and the digital worlds, Siemens empowers its customers to transform their industries and markets, helping them to transform the everyday for billions of people. Siemens also owns a majority stake in the publicly listed company Siemens Healthineers, a globally leading medical technology provider shaping the future of healthcare. In addition, Siemens holds a minority stake in Siemens Energy, a global leader in the transmission and generation of electrical power. In fiscal 2021, which ended on September 30, 2021, the Siemens Group generated revenue of 62.3 billion and net income of 6.7 billion. As of September 30, 2021, the company had around 303,000 employees worldwide. Further information is available on the Internet at www.siemens.com.

Siemens Digital Industries (DI) is a leading innovator in automation and digitalization. In close cooperation with its partners and customers, DI is the driving force for the digital transformation in the process and manufacturing industries. With its Digital Enterprise portfolio, Siemens provides companies of all sizes with all the necessary products, along with consistent solutions and services for the integration and digitalization of the entire value chain. Optimized for the specific requirements of individual industries, this unique portfolio enables customers to enhance their productivity and flexibility. DI continuously extends its portfolio to include innovations and the integration of future-oriented technologies. Siemens Digital Industries, with its headquarters in Nuremberg, has a workforce of around 76,000 employees worldwide.

SOURCE LG Energy Solution

Related Links

https://www.lgensol.com/en/index


MONTREAL, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - The Lion Electric Company (NYSE: LEV) (TSX: LEV) ("Lion" or the "Company"), a leading manufacturer of all-electric medium and heavy-duty urban vehicles, today announced that it has received a conditional purchase order for 200 all-electric LionC school buses from Langs Bus Lines, with deliveries to begin gradually in 2022, through 2026.

The purchase order is conditional upon the satisfactory grant of non-repayable contributions to Langs Bus Lines under Infrastructure Canada's Zero-Emission Transit Fund ("ZETF"), for which Langs Bus Lines has filed a formal application. Under the ZETF program, the Government of Canada aims to invest $2.75 billion over five years to support public transit and school bus operators in the transition to electrification.

"It is very encouraging to see so much momentum in the market for zero-emission school buses throughout Canada, and Lion is proud have the opportunity to be part of this large deployment in Ontario in collaboration with a great partner like Langs Bus Lines. We look forward to future deployments of electric school buses in Ontario," said Marc Bedard, CEO  Founder of Lion Electric.

Langs Bus Lines Limited operates over 600 school buses and minibuses throughout Southern Ontario.

"Langs Bus Lines has been operating a LionC school bus since 2019, thanks to the Electric School Bus Pilot Program of the Ontario Climate Change Action Plan. As we clearly saw the benefits of all-electric vehicles, we are pleased to purchase 200 LionC electric school buses to transport thousands of students throughout Southern Ontario. With these new buses we will provide a safe, reliable, and innovative transportation solution to our students," said Kevin Langs, Vice-President of Langs Buses.

About Lion Electric Company

Lion Electric is an innovative manufacturer of zero-emission vehicles. The company creates, designs and manufactures all-electric class 5 to class 8 commercial urban trucks and all-electric buses and minibuses for the school, paratransit and mass transit segments. Lion is a North American leader in electric transportation and designs, builds and assembles many of its vehicles' components, including chassis, battery packs, truck cabins and bus bodies.

Always actively seeking new and reliable technologies, Lion vehicles have unique features that are specifically adapted to its users and their everyday needs. Lion believes that transitioning to all-electric vehicles will lead to major improvements in our society, environment and overall quality of life. Lion shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange and the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol LEV.

Lion Electric, The Bright Move

Thelionelectric.com

About Langs Bus Lines

Langs Bus Lines is family-owned and operated from its head office in Strathroy, Ontario. From our network of dispatch offices and vehicle service facilities located throughout Southwestern Ontario, we provide exceptional school transportation for the students and families that depend on us each and every school day.

CAUTION REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This press release contains "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" (collectively, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Any statements contained in this press release that are not statements of historical fact, including statements about Lion's beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements and should be evaluated as such. Forward-looking statements may be identified by the use of words such as "believe," "may," "will," "continue," "anticipate," "intend," "expect," "should," "would," "could," "plan," "project," "potential," "seem," "seek," "future," "target" or other similar expressions and any other statements that predict or indicate future events or trends or that are not statements of historical matters, although not all forward-looking statements contain such identifying words. These forward-looking statements include statements regarding the conditional purchase order received from STC, the potential award of grant funding to STC from the ZETF, the number of vehicles subject to, and the expected timing of deliveries under, the purchase order received from STC.

The Company made a number of economic, market and operational assumptions in preparing and making certain forward-looking statements contained in this press release including, but not limited to, that Lion will be able to retain and hire key personnel and maintain relationships with customers, suppliers and other business partners, that Lion will continue to operate its business in the normal course, that Lion will be able to implement its growth strategy, that Lion will be able to successfully and timely complete the construction of its U.S. manufacturing facility and its Quebec battery plant and innovation center, that Lion will not suffer any material disruption in the supply of raw materials on competitive terms, that Lion will be able to maintain its competitive position, that Lion will continue to improve its operational, financial and other internal controls and systems to manage its growth and size and that its results of operations and financial condition will not be adversely affected, that Lion will be able to benefit, either directly or indirectly (including through its clients), from government subsidies and economic incentives in the future and that Lion will be able to secure any required additional funding through equity or debt financing on terms acceptable to Lion. Such estimates and assumptions are made by Lion in light of the experience of management and their perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, as well as other factors believed to be appropriate and reasonable in the circumstances. However, there can be no assurance that such estimates and assumptions will prove to be correct.

By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that may or may not occur in the future. Lion believes that these risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the following: any adverse changes in the U.S. and Canadian general economic, business, market, financial, political and legal conditions, including as consequences of the global COVID-19 pandemic and the emergence of COVID-19 variants and varying rates of vaccination amongst various countries; Lion's inability to successfully and economically manufacture and distribute its vehicles at scale and meet its customers' business needs; Lion's reliance on key management and any inability to attract and/or retain key personnel; Lion's inability to execute its growth strategy; Any unfavorable fluctuations and volatility in the price of raw materials included in key components used to manufacture Lion's products; Lion's reliance on key suppliers and any inability to maintain an uninterrupted supply of raw materials; Lion's inability to maintain its competitive position; Lion's inability to reduce its costs of supply over time; any inability to maintain and enhance Lion's reputation and brand; any significant product repair and/or replacement due to product warranty claims or product recalls; any failure of information technology systems or any cybersecurity and data privacy breaches or incidents; the reduction, elimination or discriminatory application of government subsidies and economic incentives or the reduced need for such subsidies; natural disasters, epidemic or pandemic outbreaks, boycotts and geo-political events; the outcome of any legal proceedings that may be instituted against the Company from time to time.

These and other risks and uncertainties related to the businesses of Lion are described in greater detail in the section entitled "Risk Factors" in the Company's final prospectus dated May 5, 2021 (the "Canadian Prospectus") filed with the Autorite des marches financiers (the "AMF") and the registration statement on Form F-1 (the "Registration Statement") filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") and declared effective on June 14, 2021 and other documents publicly filed with the AMF and the SEC. Many of these risks are beyond Lion's management's ability to control or predict. All forward-looking statements attributable to Lion or persons acting on its behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements contained, and risk factors identified, in the Canadian Prospectus, the Registration Statement and other documents filed with the AMF and the SEC.

Because of these risks, uncertainties and assumptions, readers should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Furthermore, forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made. Except as required under applicable securities laws, Lion undertakes no obligation, and expressly disclaims any duty, to update, revise or review any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

SOURCE Lion Electric
DALLAS, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Lion Real Estate Group, LLC ("LREG"), a real estate investment and asset management firm focused on acquiring value-add and opportunistic multifamily properties, today announced two separate transactions in the Nashville metropolitan statistical area (MSA).

LREG acquired Brentwood Station , a 196-unit asset adjacent to the fast-growing Brentwood submarket, for $30.25 million. The property was obtained at a 4.5% cap rate via LREG Multifamily Fund II LP, a $250 million private equity fund managed by the firm to acquire value-add multifamily real estate across the Southeast, Texas, and Intermountain West regions.

Brentwood Station offers a mix of one- and two-bedroom units, including two-bedroom townhomes, which range between 750 and 1,140 square feet. Premium on-site amenities include a swimming pool, pet park, fire pit area, playground, business center and fitness center. Brentwood Station also provides convenient access to the I-65, Nashville International Airport and Vanderbilt University. Brett Kingman of Walker & Dunlop was the selling broker in the transaction.

"The U.S. multifamily market remains strong, is producing high risk-adjusted returns, and continues to exhibit lower occupancy and rent volatility relative to other real asset classes," said Jeff Weller, Co-Founder and Managing Principal of LREG. "Our network of investors, brokers and industry professionals allows us to capture this momentum by identifying attractive investment opportunities across the country. We look forward to adding value at Brentwood Station through refinancing and our value-add program and have strong conviction in the Nashville market moving forward."

LREG has also completed the sale of The Ellington, an apartment complex located three miles southeast of Nashville's downcore core, for $47 million. Originally acquired for $30.3 million as the firm's first Nashville syndication deal. The 389-unit property provides a mix of one-, two-, and three- bedroom apartments, each between 750 and 1,300 square feet, as well as a fitness center, two resort-style swimming pools, a clubhouse, and a playground for its residents. Under LREG's ownership, The Ellington recently completed a $5.8 million refurbishment program to create accommodation. Brett Kingman of Walker & Dunlop was the selling broker in the transaction.

"The successful disposition of The Ellington is a testament to the effectiveness of our business plan," added Mory Barak, Co-Founder and Managing Principal of LREG. "We have combined our knowledge of local economic trends and multifamily fundamentals to ensure that residents and investors alike are seeing positive returns on their respective investments."

The Nashville MSA's population has increased 21% over the last decade, accounting for most of Tennessee's expansion, per the 2020 U.S. Census. Job growth also rose by 26% in the same timeframe, making Nashville the second-fastest growing metro economy in the country, according to the city's Regional Economic Development Guide. Among the largest companies with corporate headquarters in Nashville are Bridgestone Americas, Dollar General, and HCA Healthcare. Other major employers include Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nissan North America, and Amazon.

LREG now owns eight properties in the Nashville area, accounting for more than 1,600 residential units.

About Lion Real Estate Group

Lion Real Estate Group is a real estate investment firm founded in 2007 by Jeff Weller and Mory Barak and headquartered in Dallas, Texas. Lion Real Estate Group focuses on acquisition of value-add and opportunistic multifamily and creative office properties by leveraging its principals' experience to create value for investors through renovation, repositioning, better management, and optimum capitalization of its properties. The firm currently owns and operates approximately more than $1.2 billion of real estate, which includes 6,121 residential units, 29 multifamily properties and two office buildings across 10 states.

LREG Multifamily Fund II LP is a private equity fund focused on acquiring between $700 million and $1 billion of value-add real estate within the next 24 months across the Southeast, Texas, and Intermountain West regions.

For more information, visit www.lionreg.com .

Contact

Mickey Mandelbaum, Prosek Partners

(310) 709-8900

[email protected]

Aidan O'Connor, Prosek Partners

(646) 818-9283

[email protected]

SOURCE Lion Real Estate Group, LLC
"I have been managing this company for the past 33 years", said Shukla, "but I never imagined that there would come a time when job openings with attractive pay and benefits would remain unfulfilled for months." Tweet this

Last week, the company's top management held an emergency meeting; they needed to find a solution to the shortage of candidates. "A small signing bonus will not do", said CEO/President Rahul Shukla, "we need to create excitement and momentum to fill these positions". The management decided to offer up to $5,000 signing bonuses to fill the open positions.

"The pandemic has not hurt our business", said VP, Subra Naglapura, "As a matter of fact, we are growing at a pace of 15 to 20% per year. However, instead of finding new employees, we've lost employees during the pandemic."

"We have around 30 current job openings, in production, quality, sales, marketing, finance, and HR from entry to mid-level," said HR & Marketing Manager, Sheryl Nadler. "The worker shortage has reached near-crisis status," she added.

"I have been managing this company for the past 33 years", said Shukla, "but I never imagined that there would come a time when job openings with attractive pay and benefits would remain unfulfilled for months."

A new hire in a production role will receive a signing bonus of $2,000 paid in three installments. If an existing worker refers the new employee to the company, the existing employee will receive a $1,000 bonus. For technical and office positions, the company is offering a signing bonus of $4,000 and a referral bonus of $1,000.

The company offers production wages from $14 per hour for unskilled workers and $20 to $30 for CNC machinists/programmers. Most office positions start at $50K. The company pays 100% of the premium for employees' medical, dental, and life insurance.

Last week, the management called their 120 employees for a quick meeting to announce the program. "Call your friends and relatives. Ask them to send me an email at [email protected] to find out more about the current job openings," said Nadler, "But let me know their names first so that if we offer them a job, you can receive $1,000 for each and every employee we hire from your referrals."

One employee in the production department, Nancy Santiago, said, "This is awesome. Especially right now, with the holidays right around the corner." Dustin Saxon, a recently hired mechanical engineer and fresh USF graduate told Nadler, "I have so many friends from USF that are looking for a job. I can't wait to tell them about this. It's a win-win!"

This is not the first time the company has offered incentives. In the past, the company gave all employees cash bonuses ranging from $100 to $1,000 for beating current sales numbers and holiday bonuses. Hiring incentives have helped in the past. Shukla is hopeful it will be productive again when it seems everyone is having difficulty securing good help.

S.S. White Technologies and its subsidiary SHUKLA Medical are located off Park Street in St. Petersburg. They have subsidiaries in the U.K. and India. The company manufactures flexible drives used in 95% of all aircraft in the world along with instruments to remove orthopedic implants.

For more information, visit the company's website: www.sswhite.net or the jobs page at www.sswhite.net/open-positions.

Sheryl Nadler

S.S. White Technologies Inc./SHUKLA Medical

(727) 626-2831

[email protected]

SOURCE S.S. White Technologies Inc.
BOSTON and LONDON and RIGA, Latvia, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Lokalise, the leading continuous localization platform, today announced it has raised $50 million in Series B funding led by CRV. They were joined by Creandum, Dawn Capital, existing investors including Chalfen Ventures, 3VC, S16VC, and a number of angel investors.

Since the last funding round in September 2020, Lokalise has more than tripled its annual recurring revenue. The new funding will further accelerate hiring, product development, and partnerships. It enables Lokalise to deliver on its vision of a world where consumers aren't limited by language, and companies that have a multilingual offer grow faster. As part of the vision, Lokalise is building a partner ecosystem.

Lokalise believes that 8 billion consumers and users all over the world will soon expect nothing less than their native language in every product or service they use. Lokalise's current 2,500 customers including BASF, Revolut, Monday.com, and Arduino are on the right track to enjoy faster growth thanks to localization into the native languages of their customers.

Traditional localization and translation involves a time-consuming, difficult to scale email-and-file process that simply does not work for modern teams who release product updates, tests, or new features on a frequent basis. Lokalise provides a localization platform that uses integrations into existing tool chains, automations, and a robust API to reduce the time it takes to localize by 90%.

"The tremendous growth of Lokalise reflects the global community we live in, where a multinational workforce and customer base is the norm and not the exception," says Reid Christian, General Partner at CRV who will also join the board. "It's imperative that companies be able to communicate in any language and localize their applications without having to resort to what had been a long manual and expensive process."

"Localization and translation are obvious growth strategies that most companies ignore for far too long," said Nick Ustinov, Co-Founder and CEO of Lokalise. "This new funding makes it possible for us to help more businesses understand, and act on, the need to make their products multilingual from day one," added Petr Antropov, Co-Founder and CRO of Lokalise.

Resources

Sign up for a free trial of Lokalise: https://app.lokalise.com/signup

View Lokalise's case studies: https://lokalise.com/case-studies

Read Lokalise's blog: https://lokalise.com/blog/

Explore career opportunities at Lokalise: https://lokalise.com/careers

Download Lokalise's media kit: https://lokalise.com/media/2188/download/Lokalise_Media_Kit.zip

Learn more about Lokalise: https://lokalise.com/

About Lokalise

Lokalise is a continuous localization platform that streamlines the translation and localization process and collaboration between developers, designers, translators, and project managers. APIs, SDKs, and plug-and-play connectors automate data input from prototyping platforms to production. Lokalise is a fully remote company founded in 2017 that has 2,500 customers from 80 countries, ranging from startups to Fortune 500 companies.

For more information, visit https://lokalise.com/ and follow the company on LinkedIn and Twitter.



Press Contact

Brandon Watts

[email protected]

SOURCE Lokalise
MASSENA, N.Y., Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Massena Central School District in New York recently introduced a new member of its team: "Raider." Named after the district's mascot, Raider is a chatbot developed by AllHere , a leading provider of 24/7 support for families in K-12 schools. AllHere combines evidence-based intervention strategies with a behaviorally intelligent chatbot to drive student attendance, engagement, and academic success.

Massena Central School District Introduces Raider the AllHere Chatbot

"We created Raider with AllHere to help families in our district adjust to a near constant state of change during the pandemic," said Kristin Colarusso-Martin, MCSD's Community Schools Director. "Parents love how it enables a two-way conversation with their school and district on their own terms, on their own time."

Introduced as a "Siri" for schools, Raider pushes personalized reminders and relevant information to parents on a weekly basis via text messages and also responds to their questions and concerns within secondswhether at night or on the weekends. A parent support team is on standby to assist with more complex inquiries and can escalate to school staff members when needed.

Raider helps MCSD scale equitable, 24/7 support for all families in the district as they navigate another school year in the midst of a global pandemic, which is taking a rising toll on learning progress, mental health, and overall student well-being.

Examples of how the school district uses Raider to stay connected with families include the following:

Raider keeps parents informed about evolving safety measures for COVID-19, including informing them about the recent availability of vaccination clinics for 5- to 11-year-olds.

In the spring and summer, Raider fueled a spike in sign-ups for district-level initiatives to address learning loss including a college-tutoring program and a summer camp series.

Families who have concerns about their student's emotional well-being can reach out via text to ask for support and access to resources. Often, parents say they're surprised by the quick turnaround times when the chatbot escalates to an in-person response.

Parents who don't have the workplace flexibility to call the school during business hours are able to text questions to Raider when it's convenient for them.

Massena tested AllHere's technology in a grant-supported, 6.5-week trial during the 2020-21 school year. Based on the successful trial, Massena adopted AllHere's chatbot on a district-wide basis in the fall of 2021.

In the first two months of the 2021-22 school year alone, Raider sent 46,580 messages and was able to respond to 96% of questions that families texted within approximately 45 seconds. The chatbot saved nearly 1,200 hours of staff time, equating to almost $50,000 in taxpayer dollars that would have gone to hiring additional staff to handle routine questions from families.

"Raider has become a key tool for getting our top line priorities communicated to families," said Patrick Brady, MCSD's Superintendent. "When students returned to classrooms in August this year, we saw higher levels of stress and anxiety. On top of hiring more counselors and mental health professionals, we're using the chatbot to send simple messages checking in how families are doing, letting them know we're here for them."

Looking ahead, Massena will partner with AllHere to grow Raider's capabilities to support two-way communication with families in order to drive outcomes such as attendance, enrollments, student health, and many more new student success initiatives.

"Investing in evidence-based innovations like Raider represents a commitment to equity and, even more importantly, supporting families and students at scale," said Joanna Smith-Griffin, AllHere's CEO and Founder. "Massena is truly making a difference, and we're proud that AllHere is a partner in the district's work to support the academic success and well-being of its students."

Read this case study to learn more about how the Massena Central School District uses AllHere to support students and families on their journey through school.

About AllHere

AllHere combines conversational AI, behavioral science, and interactive nudges to foster attendance and engagement in K-12 education. We automate personalized, two-way text messaging with chatbots to improve attendance rates and guide students and families through school. Our adaptive, evidence-based system provides 24/7 support so that teachers and staff can focus their time on the most meaningful interactions.

For more information, visit AllHere.com.

Media Contact:

Charlotte Ward

(530) 563-6860

[email protected]

SOURCE AllHere
INDIANAPOLIS, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY) announced today that mirikizumab met the primary endpoint of clinical remission and all key secondary endpoints at one year in LUCENT-2, a Phase 3 maintenance study evaluating the efficacy and safety of mirikizumab for the treatment of patients with moderately-to-severely active ulcerative colitis (UC). Patients in this study were previously enrolled in a 12-week induction study, LUCENT-1. These results build on the positive outcomes from LUCENT-1.

In LUCENT-2, for patients who achieved clinical response with mirikizumab in the 12-week induction study and were re-randomized to mirikizumab maintenance dosing, a statistically higher proportion met the primary endpoint of clinical remission at one year compared to patients who were re-randomized to placebo (p<0.001). Clinical remission is reached when inflammation of the colon is controlled or resolved, leading to normalization or near-normalization of symptoms such as frequent and bloody stools. All key secondary endpoints were also met (p<0.001), including significantly higher proportions of patients treated with mirikizumab achieving endoscopic remission, corticosteroid-free remission, resolution or near-resolution of bowel urgency, improvement in endoscopic histologic intestinal inflammation and maintenance of remission, and greater reduction from baseline in bowel urgency symptoms at one year compared to placebo.

"In this maintenance study, treatment with mirikizumab demonstrated clinically meaningful and statistically significant improvements in clinical, endoscopic and histologic measures, including reduction of bowel urgency  a novel endpoint in the LUCENT program," said Bruce E. Sands, M.D., M.S., Dr. Burrill B. Crohn Professor of Medicine, Chief of the Dr. Henry D. Janowitz Division of Gastroenterology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. "Bowel urgency is one of the most bothersome and disruptive symptoms people living with ulcerative colitis experience, and the LUCENT program leveraged an innovative and systematic patient-centric approach to assess patients' symptoms."

In the placebo-controlled maintenance cohort, the frequency of serious adverse events among patients treated with mirikizumab was numerically lower compared to placebo, and the overall safety profile was consistent with that of the previous mirikizumab studies in UC and other studies within the anti-IL-23p19 antibody class. The most common treatment emergent adverse events reported among patients treated with mirikizumab were nasopharyngitis, arthralgia and exacerbation of ulcerative colitis. Additional adverse events of interest reported among patients treated with mirikizumab included hypersensitivity, injection site reaction, depression, liver enzyme elevation, herpes zoster and oral candidiasis.

"Existing therapies aren't fully meeting the needs of people with ulcerative colitis who still have unresolved symptoms that impact their health and quality of life," said Lotus Mallbris, M.D., Ph.D., vice president of global immunology development and U.S. and global medical affairs at Lilly. "These positive long-term results provide evidence that mirikizumab has the potential to be an effective treatment option and become the first medicine of its kind for people with ulcerative colitis, including those who suffer from bowel urgency."

With these data, Lilly plans to submit a Biologics License Application (BLA) to the FDA for mirikizumab in UC, followed by submissions to other regulatory agencies around the world in the first half of 2022.

"The results announced today are encouraging for those who live with ulcerative colitis," said Michael Osso, President and CEO for Crohn's & Colitis Foundation. "We're excited about potential new options in the inflammatory bowel disease treatment space that may be able to help people living with ulcerative colitis successfully control their disease symptoms and achieve remission."

Topline results from the Phase 3 induction study, LUCENT-1, were announced in March 2021. Data from the Phase 3 LUCENT program, including results from LUCENT-1 and LUCENT-2, will be disclosed at upcoming congresses and in publications in 2022. Additional Phase 3 clinical trials are ongoing for mirikizumab in Crohn's disease.

About Mirikizumab

Mirikizumab is a humanized IgG4 monoclonal antibody that binds to the p19 subunit of interleukin 23. Mirikizumab is being studied for the treatment of immune-mediated diseases, including ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease.

About the LUCENT Clinical Trial Program

The LUCENT Phase 3 clinical development program for mirikizumab includes LUCENT-1, LUCENT-2 and LUCENT-3. LUCENT-1 (NCT03518086) is a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled induction study of mirikizumab in patients with moderately-to-severely active ulcerative colitis who have previously failed conventional and/or biologic therapies and/or JAK inhibitors. LUCENT-2 (NCT03524092) is a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, Phase 3 maintenance study in patients who completed LUCENT-1. LUCENT-3 (NCT03519945) is an open label extension study for eligible patients who have participated in mirikizumab UC trials.

The program began in 2018, with full results from the induction and maintenance studies anticipated in early 2022.

About Ulcerative Colitis

Ulcerative colitis is a chronic inflammatory bowel disease that affects the colon.1 UC occurs when the immune system sends white blood cells into the lining of the intestines, where they produce chronic inflammation and ulcerations.2 There is an unmet need for additional treatment options for UC that provide meaningful symptom relief, including bowel urgency, and deliver sustained clinical remission. UC can cause significant and debilitating disruptions in daily life. Millions of people live with UC globally.3

About Eli Lilly and Company

Lilly is a global health care leader that unites caring with discovery to create medicines that make life better for people around the world. We were founded more than a century ago by a man committed to creating high-quality medicines that meet real needs, and today we remain true to that mission in all our work. Across the globe, Lilly employees work to discover and bring life-changing medicines to those who need them, improve the understanding and management of disease, and give back to communities through philanthropy and volunteerism. To learn more about Lilly, please visit us at lilly.com and lilly.com/newsroom. P-LLY

This press release contains forward-looking statements (as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995) about mirikizumab as a potential treatment for patients with ulcerative colitis and other diseases and reflects Lilly's current beliefs and expectations. As with any pharmaceutical product, there are substantial risks and uncertainties in the process of drug research, development, and commercialization. Among other things, there can be no guarantee that planned or ongoing studies will be completed as planned, that future study results will be consistent with study results to date, that mirikizumab will prove to be a safe and effective treatment or that mirikizumab will receive regulatory approvals or be commercially successful. For further discussion of these and other risks and uncertainties, see Lilly's most recent Form 10-K and Form 10-Q filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. Except as required by law, Lilly undertakes no duty to update forward-looking statements to reflect events after the date of this release.

1 Overview of Ulcerative Colitis. Crohn's and Colitis Foundation Website. https://www.crohnscolitisfoundation.org/what-is-ulcerative-colitis/overview. Accessed December 2021.

2 What is Ulcerative Colitis? Crohn's and Colitis Foundation Website. http://www.crohnscolitisfoundation.org/what-are-crohns-and-colitis/what-is-ulcerative-colitis/. Accessed December 2021.

3 Adelphi Data 2017.

SOURCE Eli Lilly and Company
"The Rock Island corridor is exceptional. Corridors of this length are few and far between. For decades, we've heard from so many peoplefrom Missouri, across the country and around the worldwho are looking forward to the day they can experience the Rock Island Trail. Today is a historic milestone in the advocacy to preserve the corridor, delivering economic opportunity, tourism, recreation and more for generations to come," said Eric Oberg, Rails-to-Trails Conservancy's (RTC's) Midwest regional director.

RTC, the nation's largest trails, walking and biking advocacy organization, has worked alongside partners in Missouri for decades to protect the Rock Island corridor, including submitting a bid to purchase the corridor at a point when its future was uncertain.

In recent years, advocates have focused on negotiations between the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and the Missouri Central Railroad Company, a subsidiary of Ameren Missouri (Ameren), encouraging the state to accept Ameren's donation of the corridor. RTC and partners in Missouri have mobilized nearly 30,000 public comments in favor of developing the Rock Island corridor into a trail and generated more than 20,000 advocacy messages in favor of the trail.

"When RTC was founded in 1986, one of the first official correspondences the organization received was from Eldon, Missouri, inquiring about our interest in helping to protect a corridor that ran through town," said Marianne Fowler, RTC's senior strategist for policy advocacy. "That launched RTC's first wave of advocacy for the Rock Island. Since then, we've been privileged to share our legal expertise and political strategy with advocates and state agencies alike in pursuit of the Rock Island Trail. Today marks another beginning as we all turn our focus toward channeling the federal resources available to accelerate the trail's development."

The Rock Island announcement comes on the heels of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act that was signed into law in November, which provides an increase of nearly 70% for the largest federal funding source for trails, walking and biking, the Transportation Alternatives (TA) Program. The bill also authorizes a new program that will provide active transportation connectivity grants to accelerate the connections between trails and other walking and biking infrastructure, and provides $7.5 billion in supplemental funding for the competitive, federal multimodal program Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE). Changes to the TA program alone are projected to increase federal funding for trails in the state of Missouri to $31.6 million annually.

"This historic moment for Missouri, coupled with significant increases in funding and innovative new programs defined by the bipartisan infrastructure law, is a perfect pairing," said Ryan Chao, RTC's president. "RTC is committed to working with the state and communities along the corridor to help channel federal resources into the Rock Island, so that we can quickly begin to unlock all that the 144-mile corridor promises and the experience we've all dreamed of for so long."

During years of negotiation with trail advocates, local residents and Ameren, the state has made clear its interest in securing local partnerships and private funds to develop the corridor. In 2018, Gov. Parson signed a bill establishing the Rock Island Trail State Park Endowment, managed by the Missouri State Treasurer's Office, to accept donations and grants to develop the trail.

The trail's potential economic benefit has already been demonstrated by the Katy Trail, which, according to a 2012 Missouri State Parks report, attracts 400,000 visitors annually and generates a total economic impact of over $18 million. The completed Rock Island Trail will serve as a multiplier of these benefits and a contributor to the state's trail and active transportation economy. A recent RTC analysis finds that trails in the state contribute $507 million in economic activity annually, which could grow to $1.05 billion annually as trail connectivity improves.

In 2014, Missouri State Parks, RTC and other Missouri partners succeeded in convincing Ameren, the corridor's owner, to pursue railbanking of the 144-mile segment between Windsor and Beaufort for rail-trail conversion. To date, the rails and ties have been removed from the corridor, readying it for trail development in partnership with the communities the trail will serve. Numerous communities have offered partnerships to further develop the trail within their city limits, and then to manage and maintain it.

Rails-to-Trails Conservancy is the nation's largest trails organizationwith a grassroots community more than 1 million strongdedicated to building a nation connected by trails, reimagining public spaces to create safe ways for everyone to walk, bike and be active outdoors. Connect with RTC at railstotrails.org and @railstotrails on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

To determine the net economic impact of trails and active transportation in Missouri, RTC applied the

methodology used to calculate the national figures for health cost savings and local spending impact. Learn more about the methodology and national figures at railstotrails.org/atta.

CONTACT: Patricia Brooks, [email protected], 202.351.1757 (c)

SOURCE Rails-to-Trails Conservancy

Related Links

http://www.railstotrails.org


"This is an exciting next step for our students in St. Louis, and the communities we seek to serve across the U.S. We welcome her to our institution," said Dr. Olga Rodriguez de Arzola, Dean of the School of Medicine at Ponce Health Sciences University.

Dr. Olivier brings extensive experience in medical education and healthcare equity to the PHSU community. In her new role, she will oversee the strategic direction and development of the M.D. program on the PHSU St. Louis campus, most notably delivering world-class, culturally-competent health sciences education. Dr. Olivier most recently served as the Assistant Dean for Diversity and Learning Environment and Professor of Ophthalmology at Chicago Medical School of Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Sciences, where she championed efforts to increase medical student diversity, inclusion, and retention.

"Students of color and low-income students are largely underrepresented in health care, which in turn perpetuates healthcare disparities and distrust in medical professionals," said Dr. Mildred Olivier. "PHSU is using data, cutting edge technology, and a singular focus on equity to redefine the way we recruit, train, and deploy healthcare workers here in the U.S. I could not be more honored to be joining this community and look forward to the work we can do together."

Dr. Olivier is a past Board of Trustees member and active in the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO), Board member of the American Glaucoma Society Foundation, and past-President of Women in Ophthalmology. As an active participant in the American Glaucoma Society, she is Principal Investigator of the first AGS /AAO IRIS Registry grant reviewing racial and demographic patterns of Minimally Invasive Glaucoma Surgery. Dr. Olivier is an internationally recognized spokesperson on glaucoma, fighting health care disparities in vulnerable populations, and Haitian medical relief efforts. She is an AAO delegate to the American Medical Association (AMA).

Dr. Mildred Olivier is being honored with an Honorable Mention from the 2021 Pearl Birnbaum Hurwitz Humanism in Healthcare Award for her tremendous work to treat glaucoma and prevent blindness in at-risk communities, specifically those of Black and Afro-Caribbean heritage, as well as her compassion and advocacy in fostering pathways to medical school for underrepresented communities. She is also the recipient of the 2020 EnergEYES Awardee on Diversity and Inclusion in Ophthalmology.

Dr. Olivier received her undergraduate degree from Loyola University Chicago and her medical degree from Chicago Medical School. She completed her ophthalmology residency at Columbia University Harlem Hospital Center in New York and her fellowship in Glaucoma at the Kresge Eye Institute, Wayne State University.

"Dr. Olivier is a force to be reckoned with. Her passion for and commitment to increasing diversity in the healthcare profession makes her a perfect fit for PHSU," said Dr. David Lenihan, President of Ponce Health Sciences University.

About Ponce Health Sciences University

Ponce Health Sciences University (PHSU), a fully-accredited university, is dedicated to providing the highest quality graduate education programs available in medicine, clinical psychology, biomedical sciences, public health and nursing in order to prepare world-class, culturally competent health professionals to better serve a growing population of diverse patients across the United States. Located in Ponce and San Juan, Puerto Rico, and St. Louis, Missouri, PHSU is recognized around the world for its educational service and research achievements.

SOURCE Ponce Health Sciences University
ST. PAUL, Minn., Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Teamster State Court Reporters have voted to authorize a strike against State Court Administration (SCA) by an overwhelming margin. There are approximately 275 State Court Reporters in all ten judicial districts throughout the State of Minnesota who will be affected by a potential strike.

The strike authorization vote is a direct result of SCA's unwillingness to negotiate in regular collective bargaining sessions the IFP Transcript Pilot Program and the subsequent outsourcing of IFP transcripts.

The IFP Transcript Pilot Program ends the practice to allow State Court Reporters to charge a fee for IFP transcripts and rescinds the fee court reporters collect for copies of all their prepared transcripts. Furthermore, the Pilot Program allows for SCA to make agreements with "transcription services" that allows outsourcing of State Court Reporter transcription services. Under any outsourcing scheme, the integrity and professionalism of the Official Court Record is at serious risk.

"This strike authorization isn't about traditional bargaining issues such as pay and benefits," says Sami Gabriel, Teamsters Local 320 President and chief negotiator. "This is about preserving the Official Court Record by highly trained and highly skilled State Court Reporters."

WHAT: News Conference

WHO: Teamsters Local 320 President and chief negotiator Sami Gabriel. Local 320 Business Agent Chad Orgon. State Court Reporters Brittany Blesener and Shambrie Lesniak.

WHY: State Court Reporters represented by Teamsters Local 320 voted to authorize a strike against State Court Administration over IFP Transcript Pilot Program.

WHERE: Zoom Meeting https://bit.ly/3yqtw7Y

WHEN: Thursday, December 16, 2021 at 11:00 AM CDT.

Media Contact:

Sami Gabriel, 612-916-1339

Email: [email protected]

Zoom Meeting Link:

https://bit.ly/3yqtw7Y

SOURCE Teamsters Local 320
INDIANAPOLIS, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Core BTS , a leading IT consulting firm and managed services provider, today announced the completion of Nomura Research Institute's (NRI) previously reported acquisition of the company from Tailwind Capital.

As an NRI Group Company, Core BTS will have a long-term partner to accelerate digital transformation in the U.S. and continue to deliver world-class consulting and managed services to clients confronting their most complex technology challenges.

The transaction closed following regulatory approvals and the completion of other customary closing conditions.

To learn more about Core BTS, please visit https://corebts.com/ . To learn more about NRI, please visit https://www.nri.com/en .

About Core BTS

Core BTS is a technology consulting and managed service provider. Recognized for accelerating the adoption of digital technology to transform business. Core BTS delivers robust cloud, modern workplace, collaboration, security, and networking solutions to clients nationwide. Learn more at https://corebts.com/ .

About NRI

Founded in 1965, NRI is a leading global provider of consulting services and system solutions, including management consulting, system integration, and IT management and solutions for the financial, manufacturing, retail and service industries. Clients from all layers of these individual industries partner with NRI to tap NRI's research expertise and innovative solutions across the organization to expand businesses, design corporate structures and create new business strategies. NRI has more than 13,000 employees in more than 70 offices globally including New York, London, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Australia. NRI reports annual sales above $4.9 billion. NRI is rated "A" by S&P Global Ratings Japan. For more information, visit https://www.nri.com/en .

About Tailwind Capital

Tailwind Capital is a leading private equity firm focused on services investments within select end markets. Tailwind partners with experienced management teams and entrepreneurs to transform businesses through organic growth initiatives, acquisitions, and operational and strategic investments. Since inception, Tailwind has invested in 49 portfolio companies and over 150 add-on acquisitions. For more information, please visit https://www.tailwind.com/

Media Contact

Bridget Devine

Walker Sands

(312) 561-2492

[email protected]

SOURCE Core BTS
LIMASSOL, Cyprus, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Notix is a full-fledged push notifications and audience re-engagement service that helps website owners on every step of the process, including parallel testing with other services, subscriber migration, audience segmentation, real-time tracking, and push subscribers monetization. The company announces an innovative strategy to push notifications delivery, which includes a multilevel approach. This personalized method encloses usage of numerous tools for every stage of the engagement process.

Notix's latest case with Mallu Group is illustrative. Mallu used to have a little over 200K subscribers, mostly  inactive. With Notix, Mallu managed to increase the number of subscribers to 6 MLN, engage and return users to their site, monetize traffic, and generate more revenue.

Notix delivered the most efficient asset management and user activity strategies to increase their subscribers base from thousands to millions users.

To reach exceptional quality of push notifications delivery, Notix has a range of advanced tools and services:

Better delivery rate

Notix ensures around 100% deliverability rate, since subscribed users receive notifications not only when they are online at the required moment, but also when they come back. If there is a relevant notification for a user, when he is back online, he will get it. Delivery frequency and time are adjustable.

Notix ensures around 100% deliverability rate, since subscribed users receive notifications not only when they are online at the required moment, but also when they come back. If there is a relevant notification for a user, when he is back online, he will get it. Delivery frequency and time are adjustable. Audience segmentation

Targeting can be also improved with Audience Segmentation based on custom parameters.

Targeting can be also improved with Audience Segmentation based on custom parameters. Monetization with brand safe advertising

Subscribers can be monetized, while website owners can use Notix to send their own brand-related content.

Subscribers can be monetized, while website owners can use Notix to send their own brand-related content. Real-time statistics

The platform functionality includes access to real-time statistics for immediate metrics tracking.

The platform functionality includes access to real-time statistics for immediate metrics tracking. Parallel testing

To choose the most optimal push service, website owners can test Notix together with their current provider and see the difference.

All of these instruments and functions allow Notix customers to reach the new level of audience engagement. So the revenue boost and client base growth are ensured through the aspiration of Notix to solve concrete business problems of their partners.

"Notix always strived for the highest deliverability rate of push notifications around the modern market. Today, we are truly near to this aim thanks to numerous re-engagement tools and technological core updates we have developed, while a highly-personalized approach to each customer ensures that these tools are applied in the most relevant way. And there is more to come!"  Karina Arkhangelskaya, Notix Head of Project

About Notix:

Notix is a web push notifications service that helps online businesses reach the maximal level of user engagement and re-engagement through smart content distribution around desktop and mobile devices.

Also, in addition to GEO and device targeting features, Notix has interest based audiences and subscription time targeting, which ensures maximal relevance.

Contacts:

Maria Sarukhanova

PR specialist Notix

[email protected]

+35795989881

Samoukale Enterprises Limited

15 Karaiskaki, 3032, Limassol, Cyprus

SOURCE Notix
NEW YORK, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- NYDIG, a leading bitcoin company, announced today a growth equity funding round of $1 billion that will value the company at more than $7 billion. The round was led by WestCap, with participation from prior leads Bessemer Venture Partners and FinTech Collective, as well as strategic partners and existing investors Affirm, FIS, Fiserv, MassMutual, Morgan Stanley, and New York Life.

The capital will be used to further develop NYDIG's institutional-grade Bitcoin platform using recent upgrades to the Bitcoin protocol with capabilities such as Bitcoin and Lightning payments, asset tokenization, and smart contracts.

"The prospects for both NYDIG and Bitcoin have never been more exciting," said Robert Gutmann, co-founder and CEO of NYDIG. "Our roster of partnerships and strategic investors lays the foundation for NYDIG to become the leading provider of Bitcoin solutions for businesses in any industry, and this new equity capital will further accelerate progress towards making this exciting network accessible  and useful  to all."

The funding comes on the heels of a year of unprecedented growth for NYDIG, as the firm leads the way in expanding access to Bitcoin for millions of people. The launch of NYDIG's bank solutions business, announced in December 2020, generated a string of exciting partnerships with industry leaders Alkami, Allied, CSI, FIS, Fiserv, Jack Henry, and Q2. NYDIG has also forged partnerships to power products from leading fintech companies including Upgrade's Bitcoin Rewards Card, which now accounts for close to 10% of Upgrade's new card issuance.

"We are leading the investment round in NYDIG because of a shared belief in the industry-reshaping power of Bitcoin and WestCap's conviction in the NYDIG team to continue to execute on the incredible opportunity in front of them," said Scott Ganeles, Partner at WestCap. "NYDIG plays a unique role in the industry, empowering companies of all types to incorporate Bitcoin in a secure and compliant way. We are proud to partner with Robby and his outstanding NYDIG team as they forge new paths to accessibility and further accelerate Bitcoin adoption."

NYDIG will also use the capital to further expand its world-class team across the globe. If you are excited about the team's mission of bringing free and open money to all, and want to join the team, visit nydig.com/careers for more information.

Contact

Conor Shea

Edelman

[email protected]

About NYDIG

NYDIG is a bitcoin company powering a more inclusive economic system. Delivering technology and financial services to businesses in a broad range of industries, its full-stack bitcoin platform is built to the highest security, regulatory, and operational standards. NYDIG is the gateway to a new era of financial products that make bitcoin more accessible for all. Learn more at nydig.com, or connect on LinkedIn and Twitter.

About WestCap

WestCap is a growth equity firm founded by Laurence A. Tosi, who, together with the WestCap team, has founded, capitalized, and operated tech-enabled, asset-light marketplaces for over 20 years. With over $6 billion of assets under management and committed capital, WestCap has made notable investments in technology businesses such as Airbnb, StubHub, iPreo, Skillz, Addepar, Hopper, iCapital, and Bolt. For more information about WestCap, visit www.WestCap.com.

SOURCE NYDIG
NEW YORK, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - Oppenheimer Holdings Inc. (NYSE: OPY) (the "Company" or "Firm) today announced that its Board of Directors has declared a special cash dividend on the Company's Class A non-voting and Class B voting common stock of $1.00 per share, payable December 31, 2021, to shareholders of record at the close of business on December 27, 2021. The aggregate payment will be approximately $12.5 million. The special dividend will be funded through existing cash.

Albert G. Lowenthal, Chairman and CEO commented: "We are pleased that the Firm's operating results for a second consecutive year have been outstanding, permitting us to again reward shareholders with a special year-end dividend of $1.00 per share. This is in addition to the $0.03, or 25%, increase in the quarterly dividend to $0.15 per share effective in the second quarter of 2021. Despite recent market turbulence surrounding Coronavirus variants, we remain optimistic about the Company's competitive position and prospects in a continuing strong economy."

Company Information

Oppenheimer Holdings Inc., through its operating subsidiaries, is a leading middle market investment bank and full service broker-dealer that is engaged in a broad range of activities in the financial services industry, including retail securities brokerage, institutional sales and trading, investment banking (corporate and public finance), equity and fixed income research, market-making, trust services, and investment advisory and asset management services. With roots tracing back to 1881, the Company is headquartered in New York and has 92 retail branch offices in the United States and has institutional businesses located in London, Tel Aviv, and Hong Kong.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release includes certain "forward-looking statements" relating to anticipated future performance including the projected impact of COVID-19 on the Company's business, financial performance, and operating results. The following factors, among others, could cause actual results to vary from the forward-looking statements: the severity and duration of COVID-19; COVID-19's impact on the U.S. and global economies; and Federal, state and local governmental responses to COVID-19. For a discussion of other factors that could cause future performance to be different than anticipated, reference is made to Factors Affecting "Forward-Looking Statements" and Part 1A  Risk Factors in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020.

SOURCE Oppenheimer Holdings Inc.

Related Links

www.opco.com


PALO ALTO, Calif., Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Orbital Insight , the leader in geospatial intelligence, today announced the launch of multiclass object detection algorithms within its GO platform. Multiclass object detection uses advanced computer vision algorithms to identify and differentiate between classes of ships, aircraft and vehicles within satellite imagery. The state-of-the-art multiclass ship detection algorithms will bring immediate benefits to the defense and intelligence community for security, supply chain and other critical needs.

Orbital Insight's flagship GO platform is purpose-built for the DoD/Intelligence Community to deliver insights in a cloud-agnostic, secure and readily deployable environment. GO will deploy to government networks this year. GO combines information from the world's sensorsincluding satellite, aerial, AIS and IoT devicesto analyze economic, societal and environmental trends at scale. The technology supports critical activity-based intelligence by helping spot trends buried within billions of data points, such as patterns at global ports, airports and buildings. The platform is also an invaluable tool for commercial sectors like financial services and real estate to understand evolving trends.

Each of the new multiclass object detection algorithms will help the military and intelligence community automatically monitor activity at thousands of areas of interest. Aircraft detection can find and separate fighters, bombers, helicopters, commercial jets and more; ship detection can identify war ships, cargo ships, fishing vessels and other fleets; and vehicle detection can differentiate between cars, trucks, railcars and soon to be mobile missile launchers and tanks.

"Understanding the movement of specific ships, aircraft and railcars is critical to our national security," said Kevin O'Brien, CEO at Orbital Insight. "Computer vision can make this a reality at a scale and granular level of analysis that humans can't possibly do on their own. Through these multiclass object detection algorithms, our customers will have a clearer picture of activities that have an immediate benefit to our security posture."

Orbital Insight works with several strategic satellite and data partners to ensure customers have access to the latest and most accurate view of what's happening on and to the Earth. For multiclass object detection, Orbital Insight leverages Planet's SkySat constellation and Airbus' Pleiades for clear, high-resolution global satellite imagery. The successful algorithms are the result of training the model across hundreds of thousands of images and overcoming challenges such as clustered objects, weather obstacles and low dataset diversity.

"Coupling Planet's 50cm SkySat data with Orbital Insight's advanced analytics provides users with deeper insight into changing conditions on the ground," said Jim Thomason, Planet's Vice President of Imagery and Analytics Products. "We're eager to see the use cases this layered dataset will unlock as users more quickly identify features and make decisions in areas that matter to them most."

Like all of Orbital Insight's products, multiclass object detection was developed within an ethics framework that shapes the company's work and values privacy.

To learn more about Orbital Insight, visit www.orbitalinsight.com .

About Orbital Insight

Orbital Insight is the geospatial software and analytics company that helps organizations understand what's happening on and to the Earth. Customers including Unilever, Airbus, RBC Capital Markets, The World Bank, and the U.S. Department of Defense use Orbital Insight's self-service analytics platform to make smarter business decisions, build sustainable supply chains, and improve national security. For more information, visit www.orbitalinsight.com .

Media Contact:

Mission North for Orbital Insight

[email protected]

SOURCE Orbital Insight
BEIJING, Dec. 13, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- InnoCare Pharma (HKEX: 09969), a leading biotech company, announced today that leading PIs presented latest data of BTK inhibitor orelabrutinib at the 63rd American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting on December 11-14, 2021, which is hold online and offline in Atlanta, Georgia.

The study in patients with relapsed or refractory (r/r) Waldenstrom's Macroglobulinemia, led by Professor Daobin Zhou, is selected as oral presentation, and the study in patients with r/r Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia/Small Cell Leukemia, led by Professor Jianyong Li, and the study with orelabrutinib in the treatment of Primary Immune Thrombocytopenia, led by Professor Ming Hou, are selected as posters.

Oral Presentation:

Efficacy and Safety of Orelabrutinib in Relapsed/Refractory Waldenstrom's Macroglobulinemia Patients

Abstract Number: 46

This study is aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of orelabrutinib for the treatment of R/R WM patients. The primary endpoint was major response rate (MRR) as assessed by IRC. Key secondary endpoints were MRR as assessed by investigator, overall response rate (ORR), duration of major response (DOMR), progression-free survival (PFS), OS, etc.

With a median duration of treatment of 13.67 months, MRR was 78.7% as assessed by investigator. ORR was 87.2%. The estimated 12-month DOMR was 91.3%. The estimated 12-month PFS and OS were 89.3% and 93.6%, respectively. The median PFS and median OS have not been reached.

The most commonly reported adverse events (AE) were thrombocytopenia, neutropenia, leukopenia, upper respiratory infection. There was no reported grade 3 atrial fibrillation and/or atrial flutter, or grade 3 diarrhea.

Professor Daobin Zhou commented that "Orelabrutinib has demonstrated substantial efficacy in treating r/r WM patients under short-term follow-up period. It has shown favorable safety and tolerability profile. It has the potential to be a promising treatment option for r/r WM patients."

Poster Presentation 1:

Orelabrutinib Monotherapy in Patients with Relapsed or Refractory Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia/Small Lymphocytic Lymphoma: Updated Long Term Results of Phase II Study

Abstract Number: 2638

A total of 80 patients with R/R CLL/SLL were enrolled. The median follow-up time was 33.1 months, with 67.5% remaining on study treatment.

The overall response rate (ORR) was 93.8 % with 26.3% CR/CRi as assessed by investigator. Median time for achieving first response was 1.84 months. The median duration of response (DOR) and progression-free survival (PFS) were not reached. The estimated 30-month DOR and PFS were 67.2% and 69.7% respectively by investigator assessed.

Orelabrutinib showed a significant higher CR/CRi rate in R/R CLL/SLL in comparison with other BTK inhibitors at a similar median follow-up period.

Extended follow-up demonstrated that there were no emerging safety concerns. Similar to the previous reported safety results, most AEs were mild to moderate.

Professor Wei Xu commented that "This updated study result further confirms that orelabrutinib is efficacious in treating R/R CLL patients with significant higher CR rate than other BTK inhibitors, durable response and improved safety profiles. Orelabrutinib provides a favorable therapeutic choice for patients with R/R CLL/SLL and has great potential to be the best candidate for the combination therapy."

Poster Presentation 2:

Orelabrutinib, a Selective Bruton's Tyrosine Kinase (BTK) Inhibitor in the Treatment of Primary Immune Thrombocytopenia (ITP)

Abstract Number: 3172

Primary immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) is the most common autoimmune hemorrhagic disorder characterized by decreased platelet count, increased risk of bleeding, and poor quality of life. Only about 70% patients response to first-line treatments, some patients are still refractory or relapsed after combined therapies, therefore it is necessary to explore new therapeutic targets. Bruton's tyrosine kinase (BTK) is a non-receptor tyrosine kinase of Tec family, which is widely expressed in hematopoietic cells including B cells, monocytes/macrophages, and others. Inhibition of BTK may reduce platelet destruction by inhibiting B cell activation and autoantibody production. Orelabrutinib is a new generation of BTK inhibitor which has been used in hematological malignancies, this is the first study to explore the mechanisms of orelabrutinib in the treatment of ITP.

In a vitro study utilizing peripheral blood of ITP patients, Orelabrutinib significantly inhibited the expression of the activation markers CD69 and CD86 of the BCR signaling pathway on B cells, and also significantly decreased the number of CD138+ plasma cells.

In the active ITP murine models, platelet count was significantly higher in orelabrutinib treated mice than that of control mice at days 14, 21, 28 after splenocyte transfusion. The frequency of total B cells in peripheral blood leukocytes, the proportion of GL-7+ germinal center B cells and plasma cells in splenocytes were all lower in mice treated with orelabrutinib than that of the control group.

Professor Ming Hou commented that "Orelabrutinib could effectively suppress the activation and differentiation of B cells in vitro and in vivo, thus alleviate the thrombocytopenia in active ITP murine models. It could be the new treatment strategy for refractory/relapsed ITP patients."

About Orelabrutinib

Orelabrutinib is a small molecule Bruton's tyrosine kinase inhibitor (BTKi) developed for the treatment of cancer and autoimmune diseases.

Orelabrutinib had received approval on Dec. 25, 2020 from the China National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) in two indications: the treatment of patients with r/r Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL) /Small Lymphocytic Lymphoma (SLL), and the treatment of patients with r/r Mantle Cell Lymphoma (MCL). In addition, multi-center, multi-indication clinical trials are underway in the US and China for orelabrutinib as monotherapy or in combination therapies for the treatment of Marginal Zone Lymphoma (MZL), Central Nervous System Lymphoma (CNSL), Waldenstrom's Macroglobulinemia (WM), Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), etc.

Orelabrutinib was granted as Breakthrough Therapy Designation for the treatment of r/r MCL by U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Attributed to its excellent selectivity and clinical safety profiles, orelabrutinib is also evaluated in the global phase II studies for the treatment of Multiple Sclerosis (MS), phase II clinical trials for the treatment of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) and Primary Immune Thrombocytopenia (ITP) in China.

About InnoCare

InnoCare is a commercial stage biopharmaceutical company committed to discovering, developing, and commercializing first-in-class and/or best-in-class drugs for the treatment of cancer and autoimmune diseases. We strategically focus on lymphoma, solid tumors, and autoimmune diseases with high unmet medical needs in China and worldwide. InnoCare has branches in Beijing, Nanjing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, New Jersey and Boston.

SOURCE Innocare
"We are so pleased to be working with the WACnGO team. This acquisition will accelerate our diversification into the propane truck distribution and delivery market as well as allow us to leverage our innovative solutions for remote tank monitoring in South America and Eastern Europe. This represents an important step in our strategy to address the growing demand for reliable, affordable and automated tank monitoring solutions across a variety of industries and geographic markets." said Andre Boulay, President of Otodata.

"The WACnGO team is thrilled to be part of Otodata. WACnGO's vision was always to create a one stop shop, end-to-end logistics optimization solution based on telemetry and truck management for LPG and oil distributors. The WACnGO team is dedicated to its customers and always adapts the right solution to their needs. Joining forces with Otodata will allow us to provide our customers with additional products, services, and innovative pricing structures. It will also enable them to monitor every asset and receive instant ROI, both locally and abroad." said Uri Artzi, Founder of WACnGO.

About Otodata Technologies USA:

Otodata has been a key player in the tank monitoring industry for over a decade. Its goal has always been to produce a monitor with the lowest cost of ownership in the industry, making large-scale implementation affordable for all fuel resellers.

For more information, please visit our website at www.otodatatankmonitors.com and our social media channels:

About Wireless Applications Corporation

WACnGO is a leader for end-to-end telemetry solutions to best achieve logistic optimization and cost reduction for oil and gas distributors. It is capable of monitoring, but is not limited to, propane, oil, gas tanks, and meter applications with options in Israel and South America.

WACnGO was established in 2006 and is based in Tel-Aviv Israel, with subsidiary companies in Brazil, Chile, and the USA.

https://www.wireapp.com/

SOURCE Otodata

Related Links

www.otodatatankmonitors.com


CALGARY, AB, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - Parkland Corporation ("Parkland", "we", the "Company", or "our") (TSX: PKI), announced today, that following the restart of the Trans Mountain Pipeline ("the Pipeline") on December 5, 2021, it is ramping-up processing operations at the Burnaby Refinery (the "Refinery"). The Pipeline is the primary source of crude oil feedstock to the refinery.

"Having maintained the refinery in ready-mode and following delivery of sufficient, consistent quality crude oil feedstocks via the pipeline, we are ramping-up processing operations," said Ryan Krogmeier, SVP Supply, Trading and Refining. "I am proud of the Parkland team. Throughout the pause in processing operations, we played a critical role importing essential fuels into our British Columbia terminals, from where they were stored and distributed to our customers across the lower mainland and Vancouver Island."

"We are grateful to Parkland and the team at the Burnaby Refinery for ensuring British Columbians in the Lower Mainland and on Vancouver Island continued to enjoy reliable access to the fuels they depend on over the past several weeks," said The Hon. Bruce Ralston, Minister of Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation. "During times of crisis we are reminded of the value of partnership between our communities and the essential businesses that support them."

Refinery Operational Status and Guidance

The shutdown of the Pipeline, on November 14, 2021, resulted in a lack of available crude oil feedstocks into the Burnaby Refinery. As a direct result, processing operations were significantly reduced from November 15, 2021, paused between November 22, 2021 and December 10, 2021, and began to ramp-up from December 11, 2021.

Primarily driven by the pipeline shutdown and pending the continued successful ramp-up of processing operations, we now expect 2021 Adjusted EBITDA (attributable to Parkland) will be close to the midpoint of our guidance of $1.25 billion.

Parkland remains confident in its 2022 guidance and reaffirms our previously disclosed Adjusted EBITDA (attributable to Parkland) of $1.45 billion +/- 5 percent. This is up approximately 16 percent from 2021 guidance, and approximately 50 percent from 2020.

About Parkland Corporation

Parkland is a leading convenience store operator and independent supplier and marketer of fuel and petroleum products. Parkland services customers across Canada, the United States, the Caribbean region, and the Americas through three channels: Retail, Commercial and Wholesale. Parkland optimizes its fuel supply across these three channels by operating and leveraging a growing portfolio of supply relationships and storage infrastructure. Parkland provides trusted and locally relevant fuel brands and convenience store offerings in the communities it serves.

Parkland creates value for shareholders by focusing on its proven strategy of growing organically, realizing a supply advantage, and acquiring prudently and integrating successfully. At the core of our strategy are our people, as well as our values of safety, integrity, community, and respect, which are embraced across our organization.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements contained in this news release constitute forward-looking information and statements (collectively, "forward-looking statements"). When used in this news release the words "expect", "will", "could", "would", "believe", "continue", "pursue" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. In particular, this news release contains forward-looking statements with respect to 2021 and 2022 Adjusted EBITDA guidance.

These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results or events to differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements. No assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be correct and such forward-looking statements included in this news release should not be unduly relied upon. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this news release. Parkland does not undertake any obligations to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements except as required by securities law. Actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of numerous risks, assumptions and uncertainties including, but not limited to, general economic, market and business conditions, including the duration and impact of the COVID pandemic; Parkland's ability to execute its business strategies, including without limitation, Parkland's ability to consistently identify accretive acquisition targets and successfully integrate them, successfully implement organic growth initiatives and to finance such acquisitions and initiatives on reasonable terms; Parkland's ability to reduce GHG in its refining and marketing business, Parkland's ability to grow its supply advantage by leveraging its scale and infrastructure; industry capacity; competitive action by other companies; refining and marketing margins; the ability of suppliers to meet commitments; actions by governmental authorities and other regulators including but not limited to increases in taxes or restricted access to markets; changes and developments in environmental and other regulations; and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of Parkland. See also the risks and uncertainties described in "Forward-Looking Information" and "Risk Factors" included in Parkland's Annual Information Form dated March 5, 2021, and "Forward-Looking Information" and "Risk Factors" included in the Q3 2021 MD&A dated November 2, 2021 and the Q4 2020 MD&A dated March 4, 2021, each filed on SEDAR and available on the Parkland website at www.parkland.ca. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement.

SOURCE Parkland Corporation

Related Links

www.parkland.ca


URAC's Health Utilization Management accreditation ensures that all organizations conducting utilization review follow a clinically sound process and respect patients' and providers' rights while giving payers reasonable guidelines to follow. Accreditation ensures the adequacy of health utilization management programs through evaluation against broadly recognized standards and measures. URAC's Accreditation Committee voted to grant P&R Dental Strategies Full Accreditation pursuant to Health Utilization Management, Version 7.4 Program with URAC President and CEO, Shawn Griffin, M.D. commenting: "Appropriateness and efficiency are words to live by in meeting new value-based goals for population health. P&R Dental Strategies' URAC accreditation shows an ability to abide by the gold standard when it comes to performing Health Utilization Management functions. URAC's utilization management accreditation standards promote an evidence-based and reasonable review of services that respect both patients and providers."

Paul T. Sheils, CEO of P&R Dental Strategies, said, "Continued recognition from an organization like URAC shows our industry partners that P&R's operations and security practices are clinically sound, secure, HIPAA-compliant and meet the high standards that our industry have come to expect from our cutting-edge technology platform.



Tracy Sproule, Chief Compliance Officer of P&R Dental Strategies, said, "It takes serious and consistent commitment from every department in an organization to successfully receive continued accreditation from a respected organization like URAC. I applaud P&R's continued dedication to compliance within these standards and its commitment to a strong culture of security. Holding this coveted accreditation since 2010 and being reaccredited until January 1, 2025 places us among a very elite group of companies."

Along with URAC accreditation, P&R Dental Strategies also maintains a SOC 2 Type 2 Certification, HITRUST CSF Certification and its operations have been found to be in compliance with the latest version of Shared Assessments' Standardized Control Assessment (SCA) security rules.

For more information about P&R Dental Strategies and our dental business intelligence solutions, visit https://www.pandrdental.com

For business inquiries, please contact P&R Dental Strategies Business Development at +1.856.986.6216 or email [email protected]

About P&R Dental Strategies, LLC

P&R Dental Strategies is the premier dental insights company delivering customized, actionable business intelligence powered by DentaBase, our national multi-payer, fee-for-service claims database. P&R Dental Strategies' flexible, cutting-edge technology platform provides an enterprise-level suite of quality measurement, business forecasting, claim review and utilization management, provider profiling, fraud and abuse prevention and network development solutions to customers seeking to contain costs and maximize efficiency across their businesses. P&R Dental Strategies customers can depend on the support of an industry-leading team of dentists, consultants and statisticians to focus on their unique challenges.

Website: https://www.pandrdental.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/pandrdentalstrategies

Twitter: https://twitter.com/PandRDental



About URAC

Founded in 1990, URAC is the independent leader in promoting healthcare quality through leadership, accreditation, measurement and innovation. URAC is a nonprofit organization using evidence-based measures and developing standards through inclusive engagement with a range of stakeholders committed to improving the quality of healthcare. Our portfolio of accreditation and certification programs span the healthcare industry, addressing healthcare management, healthcare operations, health plans, pharmacies, telehealth providers, physician practices, and more. URAC accreditation is a symbol of excellence for organizations to showcase their validated commitment to quality and accountability.

Website: https://www.urac.org/

Contact:

Joe Mann

Vice President of Marketing

P&R Dental Strategies, LLC

6097839011

[email protected]

This release was issued through WebWire. For more information, visit http://www.webwire.com.

SOURCE P&R Dental Strategies, LLC
DALLAS, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Dallas-based Prism Hotels & Resorts, an award-winning, full-service hotel management, investment and advisory services company representing more than 48 properties across the country, has been acquired by Aimbridge Hospitality, a leading global hospitality company. The terms of the deal will not be disclosed. The announcement was made by Steve Van, President & CEO of Prism Hotels & Resorts and Aimbridge President & CEO Michael J. Deitemeyer.

In addition to a strong presence in traditional hotel management, Prism boasts the industry leading hotel receivership advisory and "turnaround" services involving the management and restructuring of properties that are economically distressed.

"In a year marked by immense change, it's fitting that we announce the biggest moves in our company's storied 38 year history," Van said. "Close relationships have become integral to our company's identity, and we place tremendous value in our people with whom we've grown together and the great properties we service. It's with those values in mind that we have selected Aimbridge Hospitality to carry the Prism legacy forward. Aimbridge's access to best-in-class resources and systems, coupled with their highly effective and experienced leadership team and deep understanding of our Most Satisfied Owner philosophy, makes them a perfect fit. The Prism Difference is alive and well, and we know the passion and dedication of our teams on the ground will continue to shine through this transition. We are inspired by this opportunity and excited to be part of Aimbridge Hospitality as we write the next chapter of history together. Our best is yet to come."

"We are excited to continue Aimbridge's growth with the acquisition of Prism.," said Michael J. Deitemeyer, President & CEO of Aimbridge Hospitality. "With our global resources and Prism's stellar reputation, this acquisition presents great opportunity for all of us. We look forward to welcoming their hotels, owners and talented team to Aimbridge and taking Prism's incredible Most Satisfied Owner approach and robust lender services arm to new heights together."

About Prism Hotels & Resorts

As an award-winning, full-service hotel management company, Dallas-based Prism Hotels & Resorts has developed a reputation for operational excellence by increasing hotel performance and delivering measurable results. Recently, Prism was selected as 2021 Strategic Partner by Hyatt. The company was also named Best Full-Service Operator in The Americas by Hyatt, received back-to-back Connie Pride Merit Awards from Hilton, and earned Franchise Hotel of the Year for the Hyatt Regency LAX. With 35 years of experience, Prism leverages top industry talent to produce a best-in-class experience that extends from the front desk to the bottom line. Prism manages a portfolio of over 30 hotels from multiple institutional and private owners including urban, suburban and resort destinations. The company has expertise managing all major brands as well as independent destination hotels. For more information, please visit www.prismhotels.com .

About Aimbridge Hospitality

Aimbridge Hospitality is a leading, global hospitality company offering best-in-class hotel management services across a broad spectrum of franchised branded full service, select service, luxury hotels, destination resorts, convention centers and lifestyle hotels. Aimbridge's premium portfolio represents approximately 1,500 properties in 49 states and 20 countries, inclusive of pipeline. With the most robust brand diversity in the industry, Aimbridge and its affiliates represent 84 lodging brands, in addition to more than 82 independent boutique/lifestyle hotels in the portfolio. As the world's largest third-party operator, Aimbridge is dedicated to its mission to leverage its scale to add value for owners and opportunities for associates better than any hospitality operator. Aligned with a concentrated focus, agility, and expertise for each vertical, Aimbridge drives market success for hotels and optimizes investment returns for owners. Aimbridge Hospitality's global headquarters is based in Plano, Texas, with additional corporate offices in Atlanta, Calgary, Fargo, Puerto Rico, and Washington, D.C. Evolution Hospitality , Aimbridge's Lifestyle Division, is based in San Clemente, Calif. Aimbridge's International Division, Interstate Hotels & Resorts , has supporting offices across Europe in Amsterdam, Birmingham, Glasgow, and Moscow. The company's division in Mexico, Group Hotelero Prisma , has offices in Monterrey and Mexico City. For more information on Aimbridge Hospitality, please visit www.aimbridgehospitality.com and connect with Aimbridge on LinkedIn .

SOURCE Aimbridge Hospitality
SHANGHAI and DALLAS, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Quectel Wireless Solutions, a global supplier of IoT modules and antennas, has announced support for Polte, innovator of Cloud Location over Cellular (C-LoC) technology, to its LPWA module portfolio. Quectel will incorporate Polte's SuperRes capability into all BG77x and BG95x modules, to offer secure, accurate, global location for indoor and outdoor positioning.

Polte will deliver Quectel customers:

Heightened security through offloading computational complexity to the cloud via Polte's patented, edge-to-cloud architecture.

Greater than 10x more accurate cellular positioning capability over competitive cellular solutions for Massive IoT asset tracking.

Global positioning indoors and outdoors, regardless of mobile network operator, without a requirement for additional infrastructure deployment.

Greater power efficiency and cost savings in comparison to other traditional location technologies such as GPS, Wi-Fi, or Bluetooth.

The Quectel BG770, BG950 and BG951 are ultra-compact LPWA modules that support LTE Cat M1, LTE Cat NB2 and integrated GNSS. All three modules are fully compliant with 3GPP Rel-14 specification and provide maximum data rates of 588 kbps downlink and 1119 kbps uplink. The BG770 has an SMT form factor of 14.9 mm  12.9 mm  1.9 mm while the Quectel BG950 and BG951 modules have an SMT form factor of 23.6 mm  19.9 mm  2.2 mm. All three modules feature ultra-low power consumption, achieving up to 70% reduction in power saving mode (PSM) leakage and 85% reduction in extended discontinuous reception (eDRX) current consumption compared to their predecessors.



Simply leveraging ubiquitous 4G/5G cellular infrastructure and cloud computing, Polte's unique technology enables Massive IoT asset trackers combined with Quectel's LPWA modules to deliver a significant competitive edge to trackers that may otherwise require an amalgamation of traditional technologies to attain similar visibility. Together, Polte and Quectel will bring universal asset visibility for a wide range of assets, such as parcels or pallets in the supply chain, as they are transported between trucks and distributed to retail destinations.

"We are dedicated to continued innovation and enhancing what is possible with asset tracking for our customers," said Quectel VP of Products Neset Yalcinkaya. "With Polte's technology, our customers will now have access to industry-leading accuracy for both indoor and outdoor insights globally, without sacrificing on power, cost or security. We look forward to supporting Polte's SuperRes capability and helping tracking customers build a smarter world."

"We are thrilled to partner with Quectel to bring our Massive IoT location technology to their customers," Polte CEO Ed Chao said. "The concept of universal asset visibility should be simple. With an increasingly challenged global supply chain, transportation and logistics managers need visibility into their most critical assets at all stages of their journey to truly reap the benefits of connected devices, including improved operational efficiency and proactive decision making. With this new partnership, we are helping make 'everywhere' location intelligence the standard for enterprise solutions."

To learn more about the BG770, BG950 and BG951 modules and the wider range of Quectel modules and antennas, visit www.quectel.com.

About Quectel:

Quectel's passion for a smarter world drives us to accelerate IoT innovation. A highly customer-centric organization, we create superior cellular and GNSS modules and antennas backed by outstanding support and services. Our growing global team of over 3,000 professionals, the largest in the IoT modules industry worldwide, ensures we are first to market and continue to set the pace of development. Listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange (603236.SS), our international leadership is devoted to advancing IoT across the globe.

For more information please see: www.quectel.com , LinkedIn , Facebook and Twitter

About Polte:

Polte, the innovator of Cloud Location over Cellular (C-LoC) technology, provides disruptive, low-cost indoor and outdoor IoT location solutions that empower enterprises with unprecedented, real-time visibility into all the things that matter. Leveraging global 4G and 5G cellular signals, Polte transforms what is possible with asset tracking by driving heightened accessibility and greater speed to ROI for supply chain, logistics, manufacturing, and a wide range of other sectors. For more information, visit us at www.polte.com or stay up to date with everything Polte by following us on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

SOURCE Quectel
SECAUCUS, N.J. and ANDERSON, S.C., Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Quest Diagnostics (NYSE: DGX), the nation's leading provider of diagnostic information services, today announced it has acquired substantially all assets of Labtech Diagnostics, an independent clinical diagnostic laboratory provider serving physicians and patients primarily in South and North Carolina, Georgia and Florida.

With the acquisition, Quest broadens access to diagnostic innovation and insights empowering better health for more communities in the Southeast. The Labtech laboratory in Anderson joins the national network of Quest Diagnostics laboratories, making it the first full-service laboratory owned by Quest in South Carolina. The acquisition will also enable more physicians in the state to access diagnostic services directly from Quest through its Cleveland HeartLab cardiometabolic center of excellence and other laboratories in Atlanta, Tampa and Greensboro, North Carolina.

"Our acquisition of Labtech Diagnostics delivers on our Accelerate growth strategy in the Southeast and vision of a healthier world," said Steve Rusckowski, Chairman, CEO and President, Quest Diagnostics. "Establishing a laboratory in South Carolina will enable us to provide diagnostic insights empowering affordable care to more patients and providers while building on our growth aims in the region."

About Quest Diagnostics

Quest Diagnostics empowers people to take action to improve health outcomes. Derived from the world's largest database of clinical lab results, our diagnostic insights reveal new avenues to identify and treat disease, inspire healthy behaviors and improve health care management. Quest annually serves one in three adult Americans and half the physicians and hospitals in the United States, and our approximately 50,000 employees understand that, in the right hands and with the right context, our diagnostic insights can inspire actions that transform lives. www.QuestDiagnostics.com.

SOURCE Quest Diagnostics
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Qventus, the leader in care operations automation, today announced significant results achieved by health systems using the Qventus Inpatient Solution to automate discharge planning processes. These health systems have reduced excess days by 30-50%, decreased length of stay (LOS) by up to a full day, and increased capacity by up to 20 beds per facility. These efficiency improvements enable health systems to accommodate more patients without adding new resources, which is critically important given both Covid-related capacity constraints and industry-wide staffing challenges.

Operational waste is a massive problem for healthcare today, costing nearly $200 billion annually. A significant portion of this comes from excess days -- the number of days patients stay in the hospital longer than clinically necessary -- which account for nearly 25% of all patient days. As a result, many healthcare organizations are aggressively pursuing new strategies to reduce excess days.

Qventus has enabled these efficiency improvements across hospitals of varying sizes, clinical models, and operational performance. Select examples include:

Large safety-net academic medical center reduced excess days by 0.7 days per patient, creating 17 new beds of capacity -- the equivalent of an entire new unit

Suburban community hospital decreased excess days by 0.6 days per patient within 3 months of go-live, which equates to 18 new beds of capacity on an annualized basis

Regional medical center reduced LOS by over 1 full day for patients with early discharge plans, unlocking over 18 beds of new capacity

Importantly, these reductions in excess days and LOS have been achieved without negatively impacting readmissions.

Integrated with electronic health records (EHRs), the Qventus Inpatient Solution analyzes real-time patient data and is purpose-built to hardwire two discharge planning practices proven to reduce excess days: early discharge planning and proactive management of discharge barriers. Industry-leading research by Qventus, which analyzed tens of thousands of patient encounters, found that patients with an estimated date of discharge (EDD) and expected disposition identified by the second midnight of stay had 91% fewer excess days compared to those who did not.

The Qventus Inpatient Solution makes it easier to consistently apply these best practices by increasing efficiency and accuracy of discharge planning while simultaneously decreasing the burden on teams. In addition to reducing excess days, the solution provides significant benefits for leaders and frontline teams such as:

More patients with early, accurate plans: Qventus AI auto-populates EDDs and dispositions for patients when the models are highly confident, and it also confirms or makes suggestions for discharge plans entered by care teams. As conditions evolve throughout the patient stay, the intelligence automatically surfaces recommendations to adjust the plan if necessary

Qventus AI auto-populates EDDs and dispositions for patients when the models are highly confident, and it also confirms or makes suggestions for discharge plans entered by care teams. As conditions evolve throughout the patient stay, the intelligence automatically surfaces recommendations to adjust the plan if necessary Less manual work: The solution reduces workload for frontline teams during multidisciplinary discharge rounds (MDRs) by reducing clicks by 80% and rounding time by 60% compared to typical workflows within EHRs

The solution reduces workload for frontline teams during multidisciplinary discharge rounds (MDRs) by reducing clicks by 80% and rounding time by 60% compared to typical workflows within EHRs Advance planning for post-acute needs: Qventus helps care teams more easily identify discharges requiring post-acute placement or services so that teams can focus on managing placement, insurance authorization, and other logistics earlier in the patient stay

To learn more about the Qventus Inpatient Solution, visit www.qventus.com/inpatient or watch the solution overview video at www.qventus.com/inpatient-solution-video/ .

About Qventus

Qventus is the leading system for care operations automation. Integrating with EHRs, the Qventus platform uses AI, machine learning, and behavioral science to power best-practice solutions for inpatient, perioperative, emergency department, and command center settings. With hundreds of deployments in health systems and hospitals across the country, including Boston Medical Center, CommonSpirit Health, HonorHealth, M Health Fairview, and Mercy, Qventus delivers proven outcomes, including 30-50% fewer excess days, 1 full day reduction in length of stay, and over 2 new cases added per operating room per month. For more, visit www.qventus.com .

SOURCE Qventus Inc.

Related Links

www.qventus.com


Ready Education continues to execute its strategy of driving global student success in higher education by providing the leading Digital Campus experience and student success platform. With the addition of AppScho, Ready adds 100+ institutions in 5 countries, serving 500,000 students, to bolster its position as the market leader.

Earlier in 2021 Ready Education acquired Collabco, a UK-based company, and StuComm, a Netherlands-based company, both of which were leaders in student engagement software in their respective markets.

"It has been an exciting year so far for Ready Education and we are delighted to welcome our new colleagues at AppScho. Their focus on student success accelerates our drive to offer the world's leading digital student communication, engagement and success platform and continues to benefit all of our stakeholders, including customers, partners, students and employees," said Gary Fortier, CEO of Ready Education. "We share a vision to enable students to access the right information, at the right time, on their path to success and are very pleased to start this new chapter together."

"We are impressed by what the team at AppScho have accomplished over the years." said Ronald Kouvelt, General Manager of Europe. "They are a great addition to the Ready Education team. Since inception, their focus and ambition have enabled their student engagement solution to impact more than half a million students. Together we will continue on our mission to improve student success worldwide."

AppScho's partner institutions such as Sciences Po Paris, HEC Paris, ESSEC Business School, Ecole Polytechnique and the Louvain Catholic University, will be able to leverage a stronger network of resources to support students and develop interventions while benefiting from new tools to keep students engaged and readily deliver the resources they need.

"For the past 7 years, the AppScho team has worked alongside French higher education institutions to enable them to offer the best digital experience to their students," said Victor Wacrenier, Founder & CEO of AppScho. "Our combination with Ready Education is the result of a mutual ambition and represents an opportunity for us to further improve the daily lives of students in France and in Europe. By offering a world-class mobile campus solution, we will further accelerate the digitalization of higher education"

About AppScho

Founded in 2014, Appscho is one of the leading start-ups in the French higher education technology sector. AppScho partners with 100+ higher education institutions (including universities, engineering schools, and business schools) and their approximately 500,000 students across France, Belgium and Italy. AppScho improves campus life by offering a mobile application that is dedicated to students, helping them better manage their campus activities.

AppScho supports higher education institutions in the deployment of their mobile application on French and foreign campuses with the aim of helping them better understand the uses and expectations of their students.

AppScho's solution offers a seamless student experience enabling students to focus on what really matters, centralizing all the services and information that students need.

For more information visit www.appscho.com .

About Ready Education

Trusted by 425+ institutions to build communities and drive retention, Ready Education is the leading mobile student engagement platform on a mission to improve student success in higher education worldwide. The student-centric mobile app meets students where they are and is a one-stop shop for communications, connecting with their peers and faculty, accessing campus resources, and easily managing their courses and finances. With over 90% student adoption and the highest rated app, the platform is essential for crafting digital student experiences.

For more information visit www.readyeducation.com .

About Level Equity

Level Equity is a leading global growth-oriented investment manager with offices in New York and San Francisco. Level Equity currently has assets under management of over US$2.7 billion in growth equity and credit funds invested across software, data services, internet, and media sectors.

For more information visit www.levelequity.com .

Why is this happening?

The main driving force behind bringing the companies together is the ambition to 'define the category' for student success globally. This means that the market leaders in terms of product, talent and approach will combine to become greater than the sum of the individual parts.

With the right balance between global scale and local delivery, this merger will bring about the best product in its class with the best talent available globally which will ultimately lead to more successful and engaged students. Each product has something which sets it apart in the market and as such necessitates the combination of these rather than migration to one of the existing offerings.

Overnight, this will represent the largest organisation of this type which immediately will allow existing customers the benefit of a huge global network of experience, the stability of a well-funded organisation and influence and input to what will be a best-in-class student success offering

SOURCE Ready Education
Additionally, notable recent retail channel distribution expansion for the Real Good Foods brand includes: Walmart in November (expansion in Breakfast Sandwiches and Stuffed Chicken); Lidl in December (Breakfast Sandwiches); Sam's Club in December (Stuffed Chicken and Entrees); and Kroger in January (Stuffed Chicken Bites).

(1) Source: SPINS Total US MULO, excluding Costco, dollar sales for four-week and 12-week ending November 28, 2021. All comparisons in this paragraph are to the same measured period in the prior year.

About The Real Good Food Company

Founded in 2016, Real Good Foods believes there is a better way to enjoy our favorite foods. Its brand commitment, "Real Food You Feel Good About Eating," represents the Company's strong belief that, by eating its food, consumers can enjoy more of their favorite foods and, by doing so, live better lives as part of a healthier lifestyle. Its mission is to make craveable, nutritious comfort foods that are low in carbohydrates, high in protein, and made from gluten- and grain-free real ingredients more accessible to everyone, improve human health, and, in turn, improve the lives of millions of people. Real Good Foods offers delicious and nutritious options across breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacking occasions, with availability in over 16,000 stores nationwide, including Walmart, Costco, Kroger, and Target, and directly from its website at www.realgoodfoods.com. Learn more about Real Good Foods by visiting its website, or on Instagram at @realgoodfoods, where it has one of the largest social media followings of any brand within the frozen food industry today with nearly 400,000 followers.

For interviews with Bryan Freeman, Executive Chairman, email realg[email protected].

Media Contact

Nikole Johnston

[email protected]

SOURCE Real Good Foods
"Thank you for the opportunity to attend the 6 th Annual CAPA Summit. It was a great event and the speakers were very informative and engaging. We enjoyed the energy and spirit throughout the event, and look forward to next year's summit."  Eric Hirata

As in year's past, the summit combined the acknowledgement and celebration of CAPA's successes with a recommitment to face the new year's challenges with concerted advocacy efforts driven by facilitated dialogues that strengthen the alliance's collective power. The theme for this year's event was Reclaiming Our Power.

"This year's summit was an invitation to continue our important work together in the direction of reclaiming collective power to make meaningful systemic change," stated Mayra Jimenez, Advocacy Manager at Alcohol Justice. "With this event, CAPA is launching a series of conversations that will continue throughout 2022 to move us along in our journey. Next year we will be hosting panels, discussions, and presentations to further our critical analysis and our capacity for powerful partnerships that lead to effective advocacy."

The event kicked-off with a spirited keynote address delivered by Eunisses Hernandez, Co-founder & Executive Director of La Defensa in Los Angeles. Eunisses is a policy advocate and campaign strategist working with local and state legislators, system actors, and communities most devastated by criminalization, the war on drugs, and mass incarceration. As a native of Los Angeles, the daughter of immigrants, and loved one of people with mental health needs and substance use disorders, Eunisses knows the detrimental impacts that criminalization has on immigrants and communities of color.

"The work that CAPA is doing to reimagine and reclaim their power to make systemic change will transform how we address alcohol related harm in California," said Eunisses Hernandez. "The current responses to this harm have not met the needs of our communities across the state. For decades, myself like many other people have seen the harms caused by the criminalization of alcohol use and the lack of access to supportive services for problematic alcohol use. It's time that we all come together to develop the solutions and the budgets that are going to prevent alcohol related harms. I applaud the work and endeavor of CAPA."

An enlightening and empowering panel discussion moderated by Alcohol Justice's Advocacy Director Jorge Castillo followed presentations by:

Nicholas Freudenberg , Ph.D., Distinguished Professor of Public Health at City University of New York School of Public Health and Director of the CUNY Urban Food Policy Institute, who this year published a book titled " At What Cost: Modern Capitalism and the Future of Health,"

, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor of Public Health at School of Public Health and Director of the CUNY Urban Food Policy Institute, who this year published a book titled " Jill Sharkey , Ph.D., Associate Dean for Research and Outreach in the Department of Education, University of California Santa Barbara , and

, Ph.D., Associate Dean for Research and Outreach in the Department of Education, , and Natalie Larez , Ph.D. student in the Department of Counseling, Clinical, and School Psychology, University of California Santa Barbara .

"Modern corporations are transnational and global and Big Alcohol corporations in particular have no allegiance to any government with their primary purpose being to increase annual profits," stated Castillo. "They have the power to change local laws, state laws, and even state constitutions while benefiting by engaging in unethical practices and weakening regulatory agencies. The tragic results over the past 14 years in California are an estimated 140,000 alcohol-related fatalities, and over 1.4 million alcohol-related injuries. What has led us to accept the loss of life and injuries to guarantee profits for an industry producing and marketing such dangerous products in our society, and how do we reclaim the power to reverse this?"

"In Public Health there is a lot of talk about social determinants of health  the broad circumstances influencing patterns of health and disease," said Nicholas Freudenberg, Ph.D. How we do that? First, we need to look at upstream drivers of ill health  by looking at business practices, market practices, ways they increase market shares, increase profits, and their political practices: campaign contributions, lobbying, public relations strategies, that's how they (corporations) take control and we need to be smarter in thinking of how we can change those practices in order to create a more favorable environment for us to achieve public health victories. Second, we need to talk about Capitalism  the name of the economic and political system here in the United States and many parts of the world. It doesn't mean we need to agree. But we do need to talk about the social and economic system and the forces that are creating patterns of health and disease. And we need to do it together and learn about it and debate it and understand what part of Capitalism can we change now, next year, and in 5 years to create better health. And those changes need to be grounded in public health practice, what some researchers call practice-based evidence -- what is going on, on the ground, who is achieving victories, how did they do it, what can we learn from that and how can we modify that for the communities we work in."

"In trying to make systems changes in probation, school and mental health systems -- having researchers provide reports and executive summaries, doesn't always inspire administration to make a difference," stated Jill Sharkey, Ph.D. "But when we raise the voices of community members, they can't say that the data is wrong, they appreciate the testimonials and the feedback."

"We are perpetuating a certain narrative of placing the blame on individuals by focusing prevention efforts on education only, rather than systemic change," said Natalie Larez, Ph.D. candidate. "When we think of prevention  it places the onus on certain agencies, and certain people or groups of people, when the onus and the responsibility of changing the way alcohol is infiltrating certain systems and how our policies exist is the responsibility of bigger systemic institutions. And at the same time, there are ways to do work at both ends. That's the most effective way -- prevention and also larger institutions putting in equal effort if not more effort to target the same problem. We can do work at both ends."

The event concluded with awards to five key individuals in acknowledgement of their special contributions to alcohol- harm prevention and the CAPA mission. The awards were in the form of CAPA Wakinyan 'Thunder' necklaces as a token of gratitude, respect and love. The Wakinyan 'Thunder' necklaces were designed and hand carved specifically for each person being honored by Alcohol Justice ally, Oglala Lakota artist Robert Swimmer. The honorees were:

Veronica DeLara  For her leadership as CAPA Co-Chair. Her willingness and courage to take on new challenges as chair helped CAPA grow politically. Veronica helped guide successful battles against the 4 a.m. bar bills. She acted selflessly and gave it her all. Veronica's love for the people is undeniable.

 For her leadership as CAPA Co-Chair. Her willingness and courage to take on new challenges as chair helped CAPA grow politically. Veronica helped guide successful battles against the bar bills. She acted selflessly and gave it her all. Veronica's love for the people is undeniable. Gilbert Mora  For his leadership as a former CAPA Co-Chair. Under his guidance, CAPA achieved great success, saving countless lives by stopping several bills to extend alcohol sales to 4 a.m. at bars and restaurants. His sense of humor and patience helped CAPA navigate difficult challenges. His selfless service to the people of California is undeniable.

 For his leadership as a former CAPA Co-Chair. Under his guidance, CAPA achieved great success, saving countless lives by stopping several bills to extend alcohol sales to at bars and restaurants. His sense of humor and patience helped CAPA navigate difficult challenges. His selfless service to the people of is undeniable. Johnny Whitaker  For his leadership and dedication to servicing those afflicted by alcohol and drug addiction. John served as a founding member of the Los Angeles Drug & Alcohol Policy Alliance, as a founding member of the California Alcohol Policy Alliance, and as a board member of Alcohol Justice. His ability to mobilize people afflicted by addiction helped bring about early successes including the City of Los Angeles ordinance which bans alcohol ads on city owned and controlled public property. John is a true servant of the people.

 For his leadership and dedication to servicing those afflicted by alcohol and drug addiction. John served as a founding member of the Los Angeles Drug & Alcohol Policy Alliance, as a founding member of the California Alcohol Policy Alliance, and as a board member of Alcohol Justice. His ability to mobilize people afflicted by addiction helped bring about early successes including the ordinance which bans alcohol ads on city owned and controlled public property. John is a true servant of the people. Xavier Flores  For his lifelong commitment to the people of California . As a 'veterano' of the alcohol prevention struggle, Xavier brought wisdom and experience to CAPA conversations. During meetings he does not let us forget the power and responsibility we must hold and must care for as we make organizing decisions. Xavier challenges us to make us better. We know that he acts out of love for our 'gente', for the people in California . His mentorship helped direct us into social justice, into starting a movement, and into reclaiming our power.

For his lifelong commitment to the people of . As a 'veterano' of the alcohol prevention struggle, Xavier brought wisdom and experience to CAPA conversations. During meetings he does not let us forget the power and responsibility we must hold and must care for as we make organizing decisions. Xavier challenges us to make us better. We know that he acts out of love for our 'gente', for the people in . His mentorship helped direct us into social justice, into starting a movement, and into reclaiming our power. Bruce Lee Livingston  For his leadership and vision as former Executive Director / CEO of Alcohol Justice. Bruce built with us the California Alcohol Policy Alliance and the Los Angeles Drug & Alcohol Policy Alliance. He helped make CAPA a force to be reckoned with. He brought activism back into alcohol policy. We thank Bruce for helping us rise up as one.

CAPA Mission:The California Alcohol Policy Alliance (CAPA) shall unite diverse organizations and communities in California to protect health and safety, and prevent alcohol-related harm through statewide action.

CAPA Platform: Current core issues leading to specific advocacy and policy change action items.

Raise the price of alcohol through taxes and fees, supporting the "Charge for Harm" concept that the industry should pay for treatment, prevention and all other costs to government.

concept that the industry should pay for treatment, prevention and all other costs to government. Limit alcohol advertising in all media, especially on government-controlled property and where children or targeted populations are exposed.

Make the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control effective, efficient, transparent, and accountable to public health and safety concerns of the community, and not to cater to industry profits and license expediency, through policies that reduce alcohol outlet density and increase funding for alcohol control, regulation, and enforcement.

Eliminate product lines (such as alcopops and malt liquors) oriented to underage youth and vulnerable or targeted populations.

Reduce the allowable blood alcohol content for drivers as "Point .05 Saves Lives"

Improve labelling and out-of-home advertising of all alcohol products to ensure a) no marketing to youth, b) no indications of unsubstantiated health claims, c) display of alcohol content by volume and percentage and d) display of harms.

Support racial, ethnic, socioeconomic and health justice in all advocacy; seek cultural competency and diversity in our engagement of volunteers, membership, and collaborating organizations; reduce disparities of alcohol harms, eliminate bias in enforcement of alcohol laws, and end inequities in access to alcohol dependence treatment, recovery and care services.

CAPA Member Organizations:

Alcohol Justice

Alcohol-Narcotics Education Foundation of California

ADAPP, Inc.

ADAPT San Ramon Valley

Bay Area Community Resources

Behavioral Health Services, Inc.

Best Start Region 1

CA Council on Alcohol Problems

Cambodian American Association of America

CASA for Safe & Healthy Neighborhoods

Center for Human Development

Center for Open Recovery

DogPAC of San Francisco

Dolores Huerta Foundation

Eden Youth & Family Center

Institute for Public Strategies

FASD Network of Southern CA

FreeMUNI  SF

Friday Night Live Partnership

Future Leaders of America

Koreatown Youth & Community Center

Laytonville Healthy Start

L.A. County Friday Night Live

L.A. Drug & Alcohol Policy Alliance

L.A. County Office of Education

Lutheran Office of Public Policy  CA

MFI Recovery Center

Mountain Communities Family Resource Center

National Asian Pacific American Families Against Substance Abuse

National Council on Alcoholism & Drug Dependence  Orange County

Partnership for a Positive Pomona

Paso por Paso, Inc.

Project SAFER

Pueblo y Salud

Reach Out

San Marcos Prevention Coalition

San Rafael Alcohol & Drug Coalition

SAY San Diego

Saving Lives Drug & Alcohol Coalition

South Orange County Coalition

Tarzana Treatment Centers, Inc.

The Wall Las Memorias Project

UCEPP Social Model Recovery Systems

Women Against Gun Violence

Youth For Justice

"This year we continue the good fight to RECLAIM OUR POWER in advocacy, policy and in our communities. That is the path that we commit to by being here today," stated Stephen Updyke, Health Educator/Outreach Worker at Tarzana Treatment Centers. "Let us continue to work tirelessly to find solutions based on grass rootscommunity informed processsolutions that are best for the public's health. Let us bridge the 'halls of power' both locally and regionally, and demand that they listen to the people."

"The fight for social justice is central to our work at Alcohol Justice and CAPA to reduce alcohol-related harms in our communities," stated Cruz Avila, Executive Director at Alcohol Justice. "We thrive and succeed in those collective efforts when we come together to identify powerful intersectional partnerships in public health and safety that inform social justice in progressive alcohol control policy."

The 6th Annual CAPA Summit was recorded and can be seen in its entirety here:

English: https://vimeo.com/655546145

Password (case sensitive): PowerEsPoder

Spanish: https://vimeo.com/655565089

Password (case sensitive): PowerEsPoder

Please enjoy the #CAPASummit2021 music playlist here: https://spoti.fi/3pPooGx

For more information go to: https://alcoholpolicyalliance.org/

On Twitter @CAPA_Alcohol

On Instagram @caalcoholpolicy

On Facebook @AlcoholPolicyAlliance

California Alcohol Policy Alliance is a project of Alcohol Justice

CONTACT: Michael Scippa 415 548-0492

Jorge Castillo 213 840-3336

Mayra Jimenez 323 683-4687

SOURCE Alcohol Justice; California Alcohol Policy Alliance
BELOIT, Wis., Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Regal Rexnord Corporation (NYSE: RRX) today announced changes the Company has made in its approach to corporate charitable giving. Beginning in 2021, decisions regarding the Company's charitable giving became more decentralized, with associates in the Company's four segments assuming primary responsibility for identifying, reviewing and selecting which charities to support. In addition, charitable giving selection criteria placed emphasis on the geographic diversity of communities in which the Company's associates live and work.

Commenting on the new approach, Regal Rexnord CEO, Louis Pinkham said "One of our Regal Rexnord values is Responsibility  Responsibility for the safety and professional development of our associates, Responsibility to the environment and manufacturing our products with environmental-friendliness in mind, and Responsibility to the communities where we live and work. One way Regal Rexnord contributes to our communities is through corporate charitable giving. I believe it's critical that these contributions are consistent with being a global enterprise, in addition to being aligned with our values, and to resonating with our diverse team of nearly 30,000 associates around the world. Our new approach to charitable giving, which has been phased in during the course of 2021, helps achieve these objectives. "

"I am excited to report that as 2021 draws to a close, Regal Rexnord is making charitable contributions to organizations  identified using input from our associates  that are heavily weighted to serving communities outside the U.S. Many of these organizations are first-time recipients of our giving. This is a welcome and notable contrast to the historic, more centralized, and also more U.S.-weighted approach."

About Regal Rexnord

Regal Rexnord Corporation is a global leader in the engineering and manufacturing of industrial powertrain solutions, power transmission components, electric motors and electronic controls, air moving products and specialty electrical components and systems, serving customers around the world. Through longstanding technology leadership and an intentional focus on producing more energy-efficient products and systems, Regal Rexnord helps create a better tomorrow  for its customers and for the planet.

Regal Rexnord is comprised of four operating segments: Motion Control Solutions, Climate Solutions, Commercial Systems and Industrial Systems. Regal Rexnord is headquartered in Beloit, Wisconsin and has manufacturing, sales, and service facilities worldwide. For more information, visit RegalRexnord.com .

SOURCE Regal Rexnord Corporation
NEW YORK, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ --

WHY: Rosen Law Firm, a global investor rights law firm, reminds purchasers of the securities of Zhangmen Education Inc. (NYSE: ZME) in or traceable to Zhangmen Education's initial public offering conducted on or about June 8, 2021 ("IPO"), pursuant to the IPO prospectus (the "Prospectus") and Form F-1 registration statement, as amended (together with the Prospectus, the "Registration Statement"), of the important January 18, 2022 lead plaintiff deadline.

SO WHAT: If you purchased Zhangmen Education securities pursuant and/or traceable to the IPO you may be entitled to compensation without payment of any out of pocket fees or costs through a contingency fee arrangement.

WHAT TO DO NEXT: To join the Zhangmen Education class action, go to http://www.rosenlegal.com/cases-register-2213.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 January 18, 2022. 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, the Registration Statement was false and/or misleading and/or failed to disclose that: (1) Chinese authorities were in the process of implementing sweeping new regulatory reforms on the private education industry in China including, among others, prohibitions on (a) profit-making by private education companies, (b) engaging in core-curriculum tutoring on weekends and vacations, and (c) capital-raising by companies like Zhangmen Education; (2) the known risks, events, and uncertainties noted in the Registration Statement were reasonably likely to have a material adverse effect on Zhangmen Education's business; and (3) based on the foregoing, the statements in the Registration Statement concerning Zhangmen Education's historical financial performance, market demand, and industry trends were materially incomplete, inaccurate, and misleading. When the true details entered the market, the lawsuit claims that investors suffered damages.

To join the Zhangmen Education class action, go to http://www.rosenlegal.com/cases-register-2213.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.
TORONTO, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - Scryb Inc. ("Scryb'' or the "Company") (CSE: SCYB) (OTCQB: RYMDF) (Frankfurt: EIY2), and applied intelligence Company, is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Leon Rosenzwaig to the position of Vice President of Product Management. Mr. Rosenzwaig is a seasoned product management leader with extensive experience in consumer electronics and technology and will provide leadership and strategy to support commercial efforts across Scryb's product lines.

"On behalf of the Company I would like to congratulate Leon with his new appointment to the position of VP Product Management," said Yoav Raiter, CEO, Scryb. "Leon is well known to many in the Canadian consumer electronics and technology sector as he was responsible for introducing the first android product to the Canadian marketplace at Rogers Canada. Leon joins the Scryb team at a very important time for our company as we have a new name and renewed focus on delivering innovative technologies to assist businesses achieve their goals."

Leon Rosenzwaig, VP Product Management

Mr. Rosenzwaig is an innovator and business-oriented product leader with over 25 years of accomplished experience in product management, customer success, partnership growth, and corporate strategy. His career has included the launch of over 30 successful innovative products in the consumer electronics space. Perhaps most notable was the introduction of the first Canadian market android device with HTC Corporation (HTC)1 in 2009. His leadership, project management skills, and savvy market timing has kept him at the forefront of successful product launches.

Notable Product Launches

Brought the first Android device to market, HTC Dream 2

Brought the first LTE-enabled tablet to market, HTC JetStream 3

Brought the first '3D' smartphone to market, EVO 3D 4

Brought the world's smallest 360-degree personal camera to market, equipped to capture sound in 3D

As a pioneer in the consumer electronic and technology sector, Mr. Rosenzwaig has developed the vision and courage to be the first to market with new and exciting products and services. His career includes leadership roles with Fortune 500 companies and Silicon Valley start-ups. Mr. Rosenzwaig began his career in engineering at Motorola and Ericsson followed by a technology strategy role at TELUS where he oversaw a team of project managers and was responsible for technology strategy and new product introduction. In 2008, Mr. Rosenzwaig joined HTC Corporation (HTC), a global innovator in smart mobile devices, connected technology and virtual reality, which has produced many award-winning products and industry firsts. At HTC, he was the first product team member hired in Canada and was responsible for building the HTC Product Organization in Canada and Latin America.

Leon's LinkedIn profile: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/lr2705

SUBSCRIBE: For more information, or to SubScryb to the Company's email list, visit: https://www.scryb.ai

About Scryb

Scryb is a platform that powers businesses and technologies with applied intelligence, real-time analytics, and actionable insights. The platform boasts proven adaptability across diverse markets, from digital health and diagnostics to cybersecurity and manufacturing. The cloud-based platform is composed of crucial elements including sensor technology, IoT, predictive analytics, and computer vision.

For more information, please visit our website at: http://scryb.ai

Forward-looking Information Cautionary Statement

Except for statements of historic fact, this news release contains certain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities law. Forward-looking information is frequently characterized by words such as "plan", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates at the date the statements are made, and are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements including, but not limited to delays or uncertainties with regulatory approvals, including that of the CSE. There are uncertainties inherent in forward-looking information, including factors beyond the Company's control. There are no assurances that the commercialization plans for the technology described in this news release will come into effect on the terms or time frame described herein. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking information if circumstances or management's estimates or opinions should change except as required by law. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Additional information identifying risks and uncertainties that could affect financial results is contained in the Company's filings with Canadian securities regulators, which filings are available at www.sedar.com

SOURCE Scryb Inc.

Related Links

https://www.relaymedical.com/


Seabourn Venture will depart July 29, 2023, for a 26-day journey across the Northeast Passage from Troms, Norway to Nome, Alaska. Its sister ship, Seabourn Pursuit , which is scheduled to launch in March 2023, will offer a 21-day adventure to the infamous Northwest Passage departing August 27, 2023, from Kangerlussuaq, Greenland to Nome. The expedition ships will be designed and built for diverse environments to PC6 Polar Class standards, with advanced technology to maneuver in these regions. These voyages, as well as the entire summer 2023 season, are open for sale on December 15, and additional details will be available on www.seabourn.com .

"Our Northeast Passage and Northwest Passage are truly epic itineraries that are perfect for travelers who want to explore regions less traveled, and take in the landscapes, nature and wildlife they never thought they would ever see," said Josh Leibowitz, president of Seabourn. "Seabourn offers the most luxurious and most exclusive ocean and expedition experiences on Earth."

Seabourn's Northeast Passage and Northwest Passage expeditions will trace the footsteps of great explorers and deliver a number of authentic, engaging experiences. Highlights of these voyages, as well as the summer 2023 season on Seabourn Venture and Seabourn Pursuit, include:

26-day Journey Across the Northeast Passage on Seabourn Venture - July 29, 2023

A remote and sparsely inhabited area, the Northeast Passage is a voyage of discovery that very few have ever taken. Among the many highlights guests may experience on this journey are:

Navigate across the top of Norway and Arctic Russia and grasp the sheer immensity of this region.

and Arctic Russia and grasp the sheer immensity of this region. Revel in the dichotomy of microscopic delicate flora surviving in immeasurably huge frozen landscapes.

Search for marine life and enigmatic polar bears on Wrangel Island.

Contemplate sea ice and understand how its presence has shaped the history of this region.

Search for marine wildlife in the water and seabirds nesting on cliffs or tundra slopes on shore.

Explore the transformative nature of the area and the impacts that climate change is having on the people, wildlife and landscapes through which the ship passes.

The ship will visit a number of interesting destinations throughout the expedition, including:

Storstappen Island, a hotspot for hundreds of thousands of breeding seabirds

Mumansk, Russia , with activities including a visit to the Nuclear Icebreaker Lenin

, with activities including a visit to the Nuclear Icebreaker Sailing the Barents Sea, where nutrient-rich waters host a bevy of migratory sea birds and marine mammals

Novaya Zemlya, Russia , where guests can explore the islands in the remote Russian High Arctic via hike, kayak, and Zodiac

, where guests can explore the islands in the remote Russian High Arctic via hike, kayak, and Zodiac Franz Joseph Land , an archipelago of 192 islands in the Russian Arctic National Park where polar bears, Atlantic walruses, bowhead whales, and ivory gulls are among its protected species

, an archipelago of 192 islands in the Russian Arctic National Park where polar bears, Atlantic walruses, bowhead whales, and ivory gulls are among its protected species Wrangel Island, Russia , a UNESCO World Heritage Site located well above the Arctic Circle that is often referred to as a polar bear "nursery"

, a UNESCO World Heritage Site located well above the Arctic Circle that is often referred to as a polar bear "nursery" Provideniya, Russia , the former Soviet military port where a tour will take in a stunning local museum and a visit to the Cultural Center for tea, music, and dance

21-Day Journey Across the Northwest Passage on Seabourn Pursuit  August 27, 2023

Seabourn Pursuit will offer the extraordinary opportunity to travel one of the most infamous and storied passages in the world from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Notable experiences include:

Navigate through the most infamous passages in the world, one whose history of exploration is more fascinating than any other region on the planet.

Contemplate the lonely resting sites of the Franklin Expedition on the wild and stark Beechy Island.

Explore small Inuit towns such as Cambridge Bay and see how modern life has transformed the people of the Arctic.

and see how modern life has transformed the people of the Arctic. Ponder the ice situation in Bellot Strait, where the ship will need to navigate through a narrow and challenging geographical gap.

Search for marine wildlife both in the water and on any sea ice that may be encountered.

In addition, the ship will visit many destinations, including:

Sisimiut, Greenland's second-largest city with the best-preserved historic church in the country

second-largest city with the best-preserved historic church in the country Ilulissat, which in Greenlandic means "iceberg," located at the terminus of the Jakobshavn Glacier, which calves spectacularly into the sea

Pond Inlet in Nunavut, Canada , where local Inuit residents will guide a walk through town

in , where local Inuit residents will guide a walk through town Croker Bay at Devon Island, the world's largest uninhabited island in Baffin Bay off the coast of Nunavut

Nine days tracing the Northwest Passage, where the expedition team will deploy the kayaks, Zodiacs, and submarines for naturalist-led experiences set on a flexible schedule that's guided by ice

Five days sailing along Canada's Northwest and Yukon Territories via the Beaufort Sea, with the expedition team on the lookout for seabirds and marine mammals en route to the journey's end in Nome, a town born from the discovery of gold in 1898

Seabourn Pursuit's Maiden Season

Scheduled to launch on March 2023, Seabourn Pursuit will explore the Arctic, Greenland, Iceland & the Canadian Arctic during its maiden season, starting with a 12-day Wild & Ancient Scotland & Iceland pre-inaugural voyage departing on March 23, 2023 from Amsterdam to Reykjavik, Iceland. The ship will then operate a 14-day Lands of Fire & Ice inaugural voyage departing April 4, 2023 roundtrip from Reykjavik. The ship will wind its way along the coast of Greenland and Iceland, where it be filled with snow swept landscapes  the "Ice"  and have a late night in Akureyri, a wonderland providing access to magnificent waterfalls (Goafoss), hot springs and the lava fields of Dimmuborgir and Leirhnjukur  the "Fire".

Following its launch and inaugural voyage, Seabourn Pursuit will offer a 14-day Lands of Fire & Ice in Greenland and Iceland, followed by a series of explorations of the Arctic Circle from Norway, most with Seabourn's popular Svalbard Experience in the mix, including a 14-day Norway & Iceland Polar Bears & Puffins. A series of 14- and 15-day voyages between Greenland and Iceland will follow, as well as a 12-Day Bering Sea & Inside Passage Cruise visiting destinations along the coasts of Alaska and British Columbia, Canada.

Seabourn Venture's Second Season

Seabourn Venture will embark on its second year of operation in summer 2023, exploring the Arctic, Scotland, Norway & the Russian Arctic. The ship will begin its summer season on May 12, 2023, with a 10-day Wild Isles of Scotland and Iceland voyage from London to Reykjavik, Iceland. The ship will then offer a 12-Day Fjords of the Norwegian Sea voyage, followed by a series of 11- and 12-day expeditions exploring Arctic Svalbard from Norway. In mid-July, the ship will sail on a 14-day Norway, Novaya Zemlya & Franz Joseph Land expedition. After the Northeast Passage journey, Seabourn Venture will explore the Russian Far East with a 14-day Wild Coasts of Kamchatka expedition in August and 14-day Volcanoes & Wildlife of the Kuril Islands voyage in September 2023.

Built for Exploration

Both Seabourn Pursuit and Seabourn Venture are being designed and built for diverse environments to PC6 Polar Class standards and will include a plethora of modern hardware and technology that will extend the ships global deployment and capabilities. The new ships will be a brand-new innovative design, created specifically for the ultra-luxury expedition traveler, and will include many features that have made Seabourn ships so successful. The vessels will also feature an onboard crew that will include outstanding and well-traveled expedition teams comprised of highly regarded wilderness experts, scientists, historians and naturalists. During each sailing, team members will regularly interact with guests, providing keen insight to deliver a rich holistic travel experience and memories that last a lifetime. These fascinating, accomplished experts are also part of the Seabourn Conversations program, providing in-depth insights into the history, ecology and culture of the places they visit. Their valuable insights are offered both in formal presentations on a variety of topics and in more casual conversations over meals, on deck during scenic cruising or leisure experiences.

Designed by Adam D. Tihany, the ship features public spaces, such as the Expedition Lounge and the Discovery Center, that capture the romanticism of exploration and encourage guests to deepen and share their expedition experiences together.

Both ships are outfitted with a Landing Zone for launching and landing equipment for naturalist-led explorations, with sea kayaks and inflatable Zodiacs on board to accommodate all guests on exhilarating adventures. The ships will also have two battery-powered U-Boat Work Cruise Sub 7 submarines custom designed for Seabourn to open guests' eyes to awe-inspiring perspectives on shipwrecks and natural wonders under the sea. True to the line's reputation for luxury, guests will dive beneath the waves in exquisite comfort guided by their pilot, with each submarine outfitted with custom embroidered leather upholstery, air-conditioning, Bluetooth stereo system, and a Champagne chiller.

A selection of ship renderings is available to download here.

Seabourn represents the pinnacle of ultra-luxury travel. Our all-inclusive, boutique ships offer: all-suite accommodations with oceanfront views; award-winning dining; complimentary premium spirits and fine wines available at all times; renowned service provided by an industry-leading crew; a relaxed, sociable atmosphere that makes guests feel at home; and a pedigree in expedition travel borne through the Ventures by Seabourn program. Seabourn takes travelers to every continent on the globe travel, visiting more than 400 ports including marquee cities and lesser-known ports and hideaways. The line is also the official cruise partner of UNESCO World Heritage.

Guests of Seabourn expeditions experience extraordinary offerings and programs, including partnerships with Helly Hansen and SWAROVSKI OPTIK, dining, personal health and wellbeing, and engaging speakers.

For reservations or more details, please contact a professional travel advisor; call Seabourn at 1-800-929-9391 or visit www.seabourn.com . A dedicated shore excursion call center is available for guests at 1-800-984-3225.

About Seabourn:

Ultra-luxury Seabourn currently operates a fleet of five modern ships with two under construction and is a proud member of World's Leading Cruise Lines. The exclusive alliance also includes Carnival Cruise Lines, Holland America Line, Princess Cruises, Cunard Line, Costa Cruises, AIDA, P&O Cruises UK, and P&O Cruises Australia. Seabourn is a brand of Carnival Corporation and plc (NYSE/LSE: CCL andNYSE: CUK). Seabourn is the official cruise partner of UNESCO World Heritage under a multi-year agreement to help promote sustainable tourism at World Heritage sites around the world. Our highest responsibility and top priorities are compliance, environmental protection and the health, safety and well-being of our guests, team members, and the people and communities our ships visit.

Find Seabourn on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Pinterest.

Notes to Editors:

Seabourn is consistently ranked among the world's top travel choices by professional critics and the discerning readers of prestigious travel publications such as Departures, Travel + Leisure and Conde Nast Traveler. Its stylish, distinctive cruising vacations are renowned for:

Purpose-built expedition ships, PC6 ice-strengthened hull, with advanced maneuvering technology for superior stability, safety and comfort

World-class Expedition Team, delivering immersive experiences

All veranda, all ocean-front suites luxuriously appointed

Handcrafted itineraries developed for the expedition traveler to the most coveted and familiar remote destinations in the world

Intimate ships with a private club atmosphere

Intuitive, personalized service provided by staff passionate about exceeding guests expectations

Inclusive expedition experiences with Zodiacs, scuba diving and snorkeling

Optional expedition experiences with kayaks and custom-built, 6-guest submarines giving the option to extend your expedition further for greater ocean exploration**

Welcome Champagne and complimentary in-suite bar stocked with your preferences

Open bridge policy*, hosted by members of the Expedition Team providing firsthand access to the ship's command center and officers navigating your journey

World-class dining venues are all complimentary, dine where, when and with whom you wish

Tipping is neither required, nor expected

Complimentary premium spirits and fine wines available on board at all times

Meticulous and purposeful adventurers' resort at sea designed for the luxury traveler with unique attributes and spaces to enhance your experience

Spa & Wellness with Dr. Andrew Weil , featuring an exclusive mindful living program**

, featuring an exclusive mindful living program** Committed to environmental stewardship and sustainability

*At the Captain's discretion

** Optional programs, for additional charge

Click-to-Tweet: #Explore with @SeabournCruise in Summer 2023 - Expedition itineraries for Seabourn Pursuit and Seabourn Venture, including the Northwest and Northeast Passages, are on sale starting Dec. 15. Book your voyage: www.seabourn.com

SOURCE Seabourn
NEW YORK, Dec. 13, 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
NEW YORK, Dec. 13, 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

Related Links

www.pomerantzlaw.com


NEW YORK, Dec. 13, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Pomerantz LLP is investigating claims on behalf of investors of Cloopen Group Holding Limited ("Cloopen" or the "Company") (NYSE: RAAS). Such investors are advised to contact Robert S. Willoughby at [email protected] or 888-476-6529, ext. 7980.

The investigation concerns whether Cloopen 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 or around February 9, 2021, Cloopen conducted an initial public offering ("IPO") in the United States, selling 23 million American Depositary Shares ("ADSs") priced at $16.00 per ADS. Then, on March 26, 2021, just over six weeks after its IPO, Cloopen published its 4Q 2020 and FY 2020 financial results. Cloopen reported 4Q 2020 revenues of just $39.6 million, $2 million short of analysts' consensus, net losses of $46.8 million, representing a staggering 466.9% increase year-over-year, and operating expenses of $27.6 million, representing a 30% increase over 4Q 2019. Cloopen blamed a "change in fair value of warrant liabilities of . . . US$34.4 million" for Cloopen's remarkable net loss and "an increase in the provision for doubtful accounts resulting from increased in accounts receivables" for the 59.2% increase in general and administrative expenses.

On this news, Cloopen's ADS price fell $2.67 per ADS, or 18.52%, to close at $11.75 per ADS on March 26, 2021.

Then, on May 10, 2021, after the market closed, Cloopen filed its Annual Report on SEC Form 20-F, revealing for the first time that its dollar-based net customer retention rate for recurring solutions had hemorrhaged from 102.7% in 2019 to 86.8% by year end 2020.

On this news, Cloopen's ADS price fell $0.62 per ADS, or 6.47%, to close at $8.97 per ADS on May 12, 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, Dec. 13, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Juan Monteverde, founder and managing partner at Monteverde & Associates PC, a national securities firm rated Top 50 in the 2018-2020 ISS Securities Class Action Services Report and headquartered at the Empire State Building in New York City, is investigating:

Dune Acquisition Corp. (DUNE ) , a special purpose acquisition company, relating to the proposed merger with Trade Zero Holding Corp. Under the terms of the agreement, DUNE shareholders will retain only 24% ownership of the combined company. Click here for more information: https://www.monteverdelaw.com/case/dune-acquisition-corp. It is free and there is no cost or obligation to you.

, a special purpose acquisition company, relating to the proposed merger with Trade Zero Holding Corp. Under the terms of the agreement, DUNE shareholders will retain only 24% ownership of the combined company. 26 Capital Acquisition Corp. (ADER ), a special purpose acquisition company, relating to the proposed merger with Okada Manila International, Inc. (" Okada Manila "). Under the terms of the agreement, ADER shareholders will retain only 12% of the combined company. Click here for more information: https://www.monteverdelaw.com/case/26-capital-acquisition-corp. It is free and there is no cost or obligation to you.

a special purpose acquisition company, relating to the proposed merger with Okada Manila International, Inc. (" "). Under the terms of the agreement, ADER shareholders will retain only 12% of the combined company. Gores Metropoulos II, Inc. (GMII) relating to its proposed acquisition of Sonder Holdings, Inc. Under the terms of the agreement, GMII will acquire Sonder through a reverse merger, with Sonder emerging as a publicly traded company. Click here for more information: http://monteverdelaw.com/case/gores-metropoulos-ii-inc. It is free and there is no cost or obligation to you.

About Monteverde & Associates PC

We are a national class action securities litigation law firm that has recovered millions of dollars and is committed to protecting shareholders from corporate wrongdoing. We were listed in the Top 50 in the 2018-2020 ISS Securities Class Action Services Report. Our lawyers have significant experience litigating Mergers & Acquisitions and Securities Class Actions. Mr. Monteverde is recognized by Super Lawyers as a Rising Star in Securities Litigation in 2013, 2017-2019, an award given to less than 2.5% of attorneys in a particular field. He has also been selected by Martindale-Hubbell as a 2017-2020 Top Rated Lawyer. Our firm's recent successes include changing the law in a significant victory that lowered the standard of liability under Section 14(e) of the Exchange Act in the Ninth Circuit. Thereafter, our firm successfully preserved this victory by obtaining dismissal of a writ of certiorari as improvidently granted at the United States Supreme Court. Emulex Corp. v. Varjabedian, 139 S. Ct. 1407 (2019). Also, in 2019 we recovered or secured six cash common funds for shareholders in mergers & acquisitions class action cases.

If you own common stock in any of the above listed companies and wish to obtain additional information and protect your investments free of charge, please visit our website or contact Juan E. Monteverde, Esq. either via e-mail at [email protected] or by telephone at (212) 971-1341.

Contact:

Juan E. Monteverde, Esq.

MONTEVERDE & ASSOCIATES PC

The Empire State Building

350 Fifth Ave. Suite 4405

New York, NY 10118

United States of America

[email protected]

Tel: (212) 971-1341

Attorney Advertising. (C) 2021 Monteverde & Associates PC. The law firm responsible for this advertisement is Monteverde & Associates PC ( www.monteverdelaw.com ). Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome with respect to any future matter.

SOURCE Monteverde & Associates PC
NEW YORK, Dec. 13, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Juan Monteverde, founder and managing partner at Monteverde & Associates PC, a national securities firm rated Top 50 in the 2018-2020 ISS Securities Class Action Services Report and headquartered at the Empire State Building in New York City, is investigating:

Eagle Bancorp Montana, Inc. (EBMT) relating to its proposed acquisition of First Community Bancorp, Inc. Under the terms of the agreement, First Community shareholders will receive 37.7492 shares of EBMT and $276.32 in cash per share they own. Click here for more information: https://www.monteverdelaw.com/case/eagle-bancorp-montana-inc. It is free and there is no cost or obligation to you.

Valley National Bancorp (VLY) relating to its proposed acquisition of Bank Leumi Le-Israel Corporation. Under the terms of the agreement, Lemui shareholders will receive 3.8025 shares of VLY and $5.08 in cash per share. Click here for more information: https://www.monteverdelaw.com/case/valley-national-bancorp. It is free and there is no cost or obligation to you.

First Sound Bank (FSWA) relating to its proposed acquisition by BM Technologies, Inc. Under the terms of the agreement, FSWA shareholders will receive $7.22 in cash per share. Click here for more information: https://www.monteverdelaw.com/case/first-sound-bank. It is free and there is no cost or obligation to you.

About Monteverde & Associates PC

We are a national class action securities litigation law firm that has recovered millions of dollars and is committed to protecting shareholders from corporate wrongdoing. We were listed in the Top 50 in the 2018-2020 ISS Securities Class Action Services Report. Our lawyers have significant experience litigating Mergers & Acquisitions and Securities Class Actions. Mr. Monteverde is recognized by Super Lawyers as a Rising Star in Securities Litigation in 2013, 2017-2019, an award given to less than 2.5% of attorneys in a particular field. He has also been selected by Martindale-Hubbell as a 2017-2020 Top Rated Lawyer. Our firm's recent successes include changing the law in a significant victory that lowered the standard of liability under Section 14(e) of the Exchange Act in the Ninth Circuit. Thereafter, our firm successfully preserved this victory by obtaining dismissal of a writ of certiorari as improvidently granted at the United States Supreme Court. Emulex Corp. v. Varjabedian, 139 S. Ct. 1407 (2019). Also, in 2019 we recovered or secured six cash common funds for shareholders in mergers & acquisitions class action cases.

If you own common stock in any of the above listed companies and wish to obtain additional information and protect your investments free of charge, please visit our website or contact Juan E. Monteverde, Esq. either via e-mail at [email protected] or by telephone at (212) 971-1341.

Contact:

Juan E. Monteverde, Esq.

MONTEVERDE & ASSOCIATES PC

The Empire State Building

350 Fifth Ave. Suite 4405

New York, NY 10118

United States of America

[email protected]

Tel: (212) 971-1341

Attorney Advertising. (C) 2021 Monteverde & Associates PC. The law firm responsible for this advertisement is Monteverde & Associates PC ( www.monteverdelaw.com ). Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome with respect to any future matter.

SOURCE Monteverde & Associates PC
HOUSTON, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Shell New Energies US LLC, a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell plc (Shell), has signed an agreement to buy 100% of Savion LLC (Savion), a large utility-scale solar and energy storage developer in the United States, from Macquarie's Green Investment Group. With this acquisition, Shell expects to significantly expand its global solar portfolio.

"Savion's significant asset pipeline, highly experienced team, and proven success as a renewable energy project developer make it a compelling fit for Shell's growing integrated power business," said Wael Sawan, Integrated Gas and Renewables & Energy Solutions Director. "As one of the fastest-growing, lowest-cost renewable energy sources, solar power is a critical element of our renewables portfolio as we accelerate our drive to net zero."

Savion specialises in developing solar power and energy storage projects and currently has more than 18 gigawatts of solar power and battery storage under development for a variety of customers, including utilities and major commercial and industrial organisations.

The Savion acquisition bolsters Shell's strategy to develop an integrated power business as it moves to become a net-zero emissions energy business by 2050, in step with society. As part of this strategy, Shell aims to sell more than 560 terawatt hours of power globally per year by 2030: twice as much electricity as the company sells today.

The acquisition is expected to close by year end.

Notes to editors

Savion's acquisition will expand Shell's existing solar and energy storage portfolio, where Shell holds interest in developers such as Silicon Ranch Corporation in the U.S., Cleantech Solar in Singapore , ESCO Pacific in Australia , owns sonnen, a smart energy storage company in Germany , and EOLFI, a wind and solar developer in France .

, ESCO Pacific in , owns sonnen, a smart energy storage company in , and EOLFI, a wind and solar developer in . Savion is based in Kansas City, Missouri , U.S., and currently employs 126 staff. Savion has a pipeline of more than 18 gigawatts of solar and energy storage projects with over 100 projects under development in 26 states.

, U.S., and currently employs 126 staff. Savion has a pipeline of more than 18 gigawatts of solar and energy storage projects with over 100 projects under development in 26 states. Subject to the satisfaction of closing conditions, Savion will be a wholly owned subsidiary of Shell, operating under its existing brand within Shell's Renewables & Energy Solutions Integrated Power business.

Shell has been providing energy to U.S. customers for more than 100 years and plans to remain an energy leader in the country for decades to come. According to the EIA, the U.S. is one of the three largest markets globally for renewable energy.

This acquisition falls within the 2021 Renewables & Energy Solutions cash capital expenditure budget of $2 -3 billion as disclosed at Shell Strategy Day on February 11, 2021 .

-3 billion as disclosed at Shell Strategy Day on . Shell aims to sell more than 560 terawatt hours globally per year by 2030 as part of its Integrated Power business, twice as much electricity as the company sells today, and expects to serve more than 15 million retail and business customers worldwide as a leading provider of clean Power-as-a-Service.

In February 2021 , Shell set forth its Powering Progress strategy, including details of how it will achieve its target to be a net-zero emissions energy business by 2050, in step with society's progress as it works towards the Paris Agreement goal of limiting the increase in the average global temperature to 1.5C. In October 2021 , Shell set a target to reduce absolute emissions by 50% by 2030, compared to 2016 levels, which includes all Scope 1 and 2 emissions.

, Shell set forth its Powering Progress strategy, including details of how it will achieve its target to be a net-zero emissions energy business by 2050, in step with society's progress as it works towards the Paris Agreement goal of limiting the increase in the average global temperature to 1.5C. In , Shell set a target to reduce absolute emissions by 50% by 2030, compared to 2016 levels, which includes all Scope 1 and 2 emissions. For more details on Shell's Powering Progress strategy, please visit http://www.shell.com/poweringprogress. For more details on Shell's climate target, please visit www.shell.com/climatetarget.

Cautionary note

The companies in which Royal Dutch Shell plc directly and indirectly owns investments are separate legal entities. In this announcement "Shell", "Shell Group" and "Group" are sometimes used for convenience where references are made to Royal Dutch Shell plc and its subsidiaries in general. Likewise, the words "we", "us" and "our" are also used to refer to Royal Dutch Shell plc and its subsidiaries in general or to those who work for them. These terms are also used where no useful purpose is served by identifying the particular entity or entities. ''Subsidiaries'', "Shell subsidiaries" and "Shell companies" as used in this announcement refer to entities over which Royal Dutch Shell plc either directly or indirectly has control. Entities and unincorporated arrangements over which Shell has joint control are generally referred to as "joint ventures" and "joint operations", respectively. Entities over which Shell has significant influence but neither control nor joint control are referred to as "associates". The term "Shell interest" is used for convenience to indicate the direct and/or indirect ownership interest held by Shell in an entity or unincorporated joint arrangement, after exclusion of all third-party interest.

This announcement contains forward-looking statements (within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995) concerning the financial condition, results of operations and businesses of Royal Dutch Shell. All statements other than statements of historical fact are, or may be deemed to be, forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements of future expectations that are based on management's current expectations and assumptions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, performance or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied in these statements. Forward-looking statements include, among other things, statements concerning the potential exposure of Royal Dutch Shell to market risks and statements expressing management's expectations, beliefs, estimates, forecasts, projections and assumptions. These forward-looking statements are identified by their use of terms and phrases such as "aim", "ambition", ''anticipate'', ''believe'', ''could'', ''estimate'', ''expect'', ''goals'', ''intend'', ''may'', ''objectives'', ''outlook'', ''plan'', ''probably'', ''project'', ''risks'', "schedule", ''seek'', ''should'', ''target'', ''will'' and similar terms and phrases. There are a number of factors that could affect the future operations of Royal Dutch Shell and could cause those results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements included in this announcement, including (without limitation): (a) price fluctuations in crude oil and natural gas; (b) changes in demand for Shell's products; (c) currency fluctuations; (d) drilling and production results; (e) reserves estimates; (f) loss of market share and industry competition; (g) environmental and physical risks; (h) risks associated with the identification of suitable potential acquisition properties and targets, and successful negotiation and completion of such transactions; (i) the risk of doing business in developing countries and countries subject to international sanctions; (j) legislative, fiscal and regulatory developments including regulatory measures addressing climate change; (k) economic and financial market conditions in various countries and regions; (l) political risks, including the risks of expropriation and renegotiation of the terms of contracts with governmental entities, delays or advancements in the approval of projects and delays in the reimbursement for shared costs; (m) risks associated with the impact of pandemics, such as the COVID-19 (coronavirus) outbreak; and (n) changes in trading conditions. No assurance is provided that future dividend payments will match or exceed previous dividend payments. All forward-looking statements contained in this announcement are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements contained or referred to in this section. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Additional risk factors that may affect future results are contained in Royal Dutch Shell's Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2020 (available at www.shell.com/investor and www.sec.gov). These risk factors also expressly qualify all forward-looking statements contained in this announcement and should be considered by the reader. Each forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date of this announcement, 14 December 2021. Neither Royal Dutch Shell plc nor any of its subsidiaries undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or other information. In light of these risks, results could differ materially from those stated, implied or inferred from the forward-looking statements contained in this announcement.

We may have used certain terms, such as resources, in this announcement that the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) strictly prohibits us from including in our filings with the SEC. Investors are urged to consider closely the disclosure in our Form 20-F, File No 1-32575, available on the SEC website www.sec.gov.

Shell's operating plan, outlook and budgets are forecasted for a ten-year period and are updated every year. They reflect the current economic environment and what we can reasonably expect to see over the next ten years. Accordingly, Shell's operating plans, outlooks, budgets and pricing assumptions do not reflect our net-zero emissions target. In the future, as society moves towards net-zero emissions, we expect Shell's operating plans, outlooks, budgets and pricing assumptions to reflect this movement.

Also, in this announcement we may refer to Shell's "Net Carbon Footprint", which includes Shell's carbon emissions from the production of our energy products, our suppliers' carbon emissions in supplying energy for that production and our customers' carbon emissions associated with their use of the energy products we sell. Shell only controls its own emissions. The use of the term Shell's "Net Carbon Footprint" is for convenience only and not intended to suggest these emissions are those of Shell or its subsidiaries.

SOURCE Shell
CHICAGO, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- As the world continues to navigate returning to the office, employers are looking for innovative solutions to improve hybrid working environments. Shure is collaborating with Logitech to offer these organizations assurance that meetings will be optimized for any room, no matter the size or type. Users can now bring best-in-class Shure audio to Logitech's room solutions with the award-winning Microflex Ecosystem devices.

Shure Microflex Advance microphones are supported and tested for use with Logitech video collaboration devices, including Logitech RoomMate with Tap IP, in combination with the IntelliMix P300 Conferencing Processor and Microflex MXN5-C Networked Loudspeaker. Using fully networked pro AV hardware, the MXA910 Ceiling Array and MXA310 Table Array are certified for Microsoft Teams Rooms and Zoom Rooms, while the MXA710 Linear Array1 is approved for Microsoft Teams Rooms. Thoroughly tested by Shure and Logitech for compatibility with the leading video conferencing platforms, users can pick whichever Logitech system and Microflex Ecosystem solution best suits their requirements.

"Customers look to Logitech and Shure for delivering premium conference room experiences. Pairing up Shure audio with Logitech's purpose-built room appliances, touch controllers, and cameras provides a verified, professional-quality solution for your high-value spaces," said Sudeep Trivedi, Head of Alliances and Go To Market, Logitech Video Collaboration.

Logitech RoomMate with Tap IP works hand-in-hand with Shure Microflex Ecosystem solutions to offer professional-grade video and audio solutions for larger rooms. By connecting select Logitech devices with Shure's Microflex Advance microphone range, users can manage their meeting room audio, mute sync, LED status, and volume control without the need for complex programming. Compatibility for each of these features have been verified and tested by Shure and Logitech.

"Shure knows that customer choice is important, and that our users want to bring the benefits of our market-leading Microflex Ecosystem solutions to more workplaces," shared Paul Gunia, Director of Technology Partnerships at Shure. "We're happy to have verified compatibility with Logitech's portfolio of video collaboration devices, both PC and Android based. Logitech users can now standardize on Shure's Microflex Ecosystem devices in all sizes and types of meeting rooms, leveraging our range of microphone form factors that cater to many aesthetic and UX choices."

To make system design and installation as easy as possible, Shure and Logitech have collaborated on a selection of helpful documentation, including a useful quick start guide. Access these documents and more details by visiting the Shure and Logitech technology partnership page.

To learn more about the award-winning Microflex Ecosystem solutions, visit shure.com/mxecosystem.

1. MXA710 Linear Array is Certified for Microsoft Teams for the following configurations only: 2ft for table installation, 4ft for wall installation.

About Shure

Shure ( www.shure.com ) has been making people sound extraordinary for nearly a century. Founded in 1925, the Company is a leading global manufacturer of audio equipment known for quality, performance, and durability. We make microphones, wireless microphone systems, in-ear monitors, earphones and headphones, conferencing systems, and more. For critical listening, or high-stakes moments on stage, in the studio, and from the meeting room, you can always rely on Shure.

Shure Incorporated is headquartered in Niles, Illinois, in the United States. We have nearly 40 manufacturing facilities and regional sales offices throughout the Americas, EMEA, and Asia.

SOURCE Shure Incorporated
VANCOUVER, BC, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - Solaris Resources Inc. (TSX: SLS) (OTCQB: SLSSF) ("Solaris" or the "Company") is pleased to report assay results from a series of additional holes from ongoing mineral resource growth and discovery drilling programs at its Warintza Project ("Warintza" or "the Project") in southeastern Ecuador.

Highlights are listed below, with corresponding images in Figures 1-3 and detailed results in Tables 1-2. A dynamic 3D model is available on the Company's website.

Highlights

Five additional holes reported in this press release have expanded the dimensions of Warintza Central to the south and southeast where it remains open, with the highest-grade intervals within each hole starting at or near surface (refer to Figures 1 & 2)





(refer to Figures 1 & 2) SLS-37 was collared in the middle of the Warintza Central grid and drilled vertically into a partially open volume near surface, returning 868m of 0.58% CuEq from 28m depth ; further drilling from this platform will target northern and southern extensions of the zone





; further drilling from this platform will target northern and southern extensions of the zone SLS-38 was collared at the northeastern limit of the grid and drilled east into an open volume, returning 244m of 0.70% CuEq from 58m depth, within a broader interval of 822m of 0.35% CuEq that included dilution from a weakly-mineralized mafic intrusive





within a broader interval of of 0.35% CuEq that included dilution from a weakly-mineralized mafic intrusive SLS-39 was collared on the eastern side of the grid and drilled into a partially open volume to the southeast, returning 915m of 0.56% CuEq, including 368m of 0.73% CuEq from 90m depth, with the last 10m of the hole grading 0.61% CuEq suggesting further potential to the southeast





SLS-40 was collared at the southeastern limit of the grid and drilled into a partially open volume to the southeast, returning 1,048m of 0.46% CuEq from surface, including 382m of 0.64% CuEq from 50m depth, extending mineralization to the southeast where it remains open





SLS-41 was collared in the middle of the Warintza Central grid and drilled into an open volume to the southeast , returning 592m of 0.52% CuEq from surface, including 496m of 0.58% CuEq, extending mineralization to the south where it remains open





To date, 55 holes have been completed at Warintza Central with assays reported for 41 of these





Maiden drilling results are expected in January from Warintza South, a target defined by a high conductivity anomaly measuring 2.5km x 2.0km x 0.7km and overlapping copper and molybdenum anomalies where exposed at surface

Mr. Jorge Fierro, Vice President, Exploration, commented: "These latest results continue to expand the dimensions of Warintza Central to the south and southeast where it remains open. Our next series of holes will target extensions to the north and northeast. In January, we are looking forward to the results of the first-ever drilling at Warintza South, where we are targeting the fourth major discovery within the 7km x 5km cluster of copper porphyries on this property."

Table 1  Assay Results

Hole ID Date Reported From (m) To (m) Interval (m) Cu (%) Mo (%) Au (g/t) CuEq (%) SLS-41 Dec 14, 2021 0 592 592 0.42 0.02 0.06 0.52 Including 8 504 496 0.48 0.02 0.06 0.58 SLS-40 8 1056 1048 0.39 0.01 0.03 0.46 Including 50 432 382 0.56 0.02 0.04 0.64 SLS-39 28 943 915 0.49 0.01 0.04 0.56 Including 90 458 368 0.65 0.02 0.04 0.73 SLS-38 58 880 822 0.28 0.01 0.05 0.35 Including 58 302 244 0.58 0.02 0.06 0.70 SLS-37 28 896 868 0.39 0.05 0.05 0.58 SLS-36 Nov 15, 2021 2 1082 1080 0.33 0.01 0.04 0.41 SLS-35 48 968 920 0.53 0.02 0.04 0.62 SLS-34 Oct 25, 2021 52 712 660 0.36 0.02 0.06 0.47 SLS-33 40 762 722 0.55 0.03 0.05 0.69 SLSE-02 0 1160 1160 0.20 0.01 0.04 0.25 SLS-32 Oct 12, 2021 0 618 618 0.38 0.02 0.05 0.48 SLS-31 8 1008 1000 0.68 0.02 0.07 0.81 SLS-30 2 374 372 0.57 0.06 0.06 0.82 SLSE-01 Sep 27, 2021 0 1213 1213 0.21 0.01 0.03 0.28 SLS-29 Sep 7, 2021 6 1190 1184 0.58 0.02 0.05 0.68 SLS-28 6 638 632 0.51 0.04 0.06 0.68 SLS-27 22 484 462 0.70 0.04 0.08 0.91 SLS-26 July 7, 2021 2 1002 1000 0.51 0.02 0.04 0.60 SLS-25 62 444 382 0.62 0.03 0.08 0.77 SLS-24 10 962 952 0.53 0.02 0.04 0.62 SLS-19 6 420 414 0.21 0.01 0.06 0.31 SLS-23 May 26, 2021 10 558 548 0.31 0.02 0.06 0.42 SLS-22 86 324 238 0.52 0.03 0.06 0.68 SLS-21 2 1031 1029 0.63 0.02 0.04 0.73 SLS-20 April 19, 2021 18 706 688 0.35 0.04 0.05 0.51 SLS-18 78 875 797 0.62 0.05 0.06 0.83 SLS-17 12 506 494 0.39 0.02 0.06 0.50 SLS-16 Mar 22, 2021 20 978 958 0.63 0.03 0.06 0.77 SLS-15 2 1231 1229 0.48 0.01 0.04 0.56 SLS-14 0 922 922 0.79 0.03 0.08 0.94 SLS-13 Feb 22, 2021 6 468 462 0.80 0.04 0.09 1.00 SLS-12 22 758 736 0.59 0.03 0.07 0.74 SLS-11 6 694 688 0.39 0.04 0.05 0.57 SLS-10 2 602 600 0.83 0.02 0.12 1.00 SLS-09 122 220 98 0.60 0.02 0.04 0.71 SLSW-01 Feb 16, 2021 32 830 798 0.25 0.02 0.02 0.31 SLS-08 Jan 14, 2021 134 588 454 0.51 0.03 0.03 0.62 SLS-07 0 1067 1067 0.49 0.02 0.04 0.60 SLS-06 Nov 23, 2020 8 892 884 0.50 0.03 0.04 0.62 SLS-05 18 936 918 0.43 0.01 0.04 0.50 SLS-04 0 1004 1004 0.59 0.03 0.05 0.71 SLS-03 Sep 28, 2020 4 1014 1010 0.59 0.02 0.10 0.71 SLS-02 0 660 660 0.79 0.03 0.10 0.97 SLS-01 Aug 10, 2020 1 568 567 0.80 0.04 0.10 1.00 Notes to table: True widths cannot be determined at this time.























(1) No adjustments were made for recovery as the project is an early-stage exploration project and metallurgical data to allow for estimation of recoveries is not yet available. Solaris defines copper equivalent calculation for reporting purposes only. Copper-equivalence calculated as: CuEq (%) = Cu (%) + 3.33  Mo (%) + 0.73  Au (g/t), utilizing metal prices of Cu - US$3.00/lb, Mo - US$10.00/lb and Au - US$1,500/oz.

Table 2 - Collar Location

Hole ID Easting Northing Elevation (m) Depth (m) Azimuth (degrees) Dip (degrees) SLS-41 799765 9648033 1571 792 115 -70 SLS-40 800124 9648044 1568 1056 105 -75 SLS-39 800253 9648105 1576 943 145 -80 SLS-38 800383 9648303 1412 923 90 -56 SLS-37 799968 9648102 1510 929 0 -90 Notes to table: The coordinates are in WGS84 17S Datum.



(1) No adjustments were made for recovery as the project is an early-stage exploration project and metallurgical data to allow for estimation of recoveries is not yet available. Solaris defines copper equivalent calculation for reporting purposes only. Copper-equivalence calculated as: CuEq (%) = Cu (%) + 3.33  Mo (%) + 0.73  Au (g/t), utilizing metal prices of Cu - US$3.00/lb, Mo - US$10.00/lb and Au - US$1,500/oz.

Technical Information and Quality Control & Quality Assurance

Sample assay results have been independently monitored through a quality control/quality assurance ("QA/QC") program that includes the insertion of blind certified reference materials (standards), blanks and field duplicate samples. Logging and sampling are completed at a secured Company facility located in Quito, Ecuador. Drill core is cut in half on site and samples are securely transported to ALS Labs in Quito. Sample pulps are sent to ALS Labs in Lima, Peru and Vancouver, Canada for analysis. Total copper and molybdenum contents are determined by four-acid digestion with AAS finish. Gold is determined by fire assay of a 30-gram charge. In addition, selected pulp check samples are sent to Bureau Veritas lab in Lima, Peru. Both ALS Labs and Bureau Veritas lab are independent of Solaris. Solaris is not aware of any drilling, sampling, recovery or other factors that could materially affect the accuracy or reliability of the data referred to herein. ZTEM data quality was validated by a qualified external professional using data validation procedures under high industry standards, and the Company therefore did not deem it necessary to have such ZTEM data verified by a Qualified Person. Analytical data for the surface samples collected are from recent interpretations derived from ZTEM data and from previous operators as detailed in the technical report entitled, "Resource Estimate of the Warintza Central Cu-Mo Porphyry Deposit" prepared by Equity Exploration Consultants Inc. with an effective date of December 13, 2019, and available on the Company's SEDAR profile and website. The drillhole data has been verified by Jorge Fierro, M.Sc., DIC, PG, using data validation and quality assurance procedures under high industry standards.

Qualified Person

The scientific and technical content of this press release has been reviewed and approved by Jorge Fierro, M.Sc., DIC, PG, Vice President Exploration of Solaris who is a "Qualified Person" as defined in National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. Jorge Fierro is a Registered Professional Geologist through the SME (registered member #4279075).

On behalf of the Board of Solaris Resources Inc.

"Daniel Earle"

President & CEO, Director

About Solaris Resources Inc.

Solaris is advancing a portfolio of copper and gold assets in the Americas, which includes: a high-grade resource with expansion and additional discovery potential at the Warintza copper and gold project in Ecuador; discovery potential on the grass-roots Tamarugo project in Chile and Capricho and Paco Orco projects in Peru; exposure to US$130M spending / 5-yrs through a farm-out agreement with Freeport-McMoRan on the Ricardo Project in Chile; and significant leverage to increasing copper prices through its 60%-interest in the La Verde joint-venture project with Teck Resources in Mexico.

Cautionary Notes and Forward-looking Statements

This document contains certain forward-looking information and forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities legislation (collectively "forward-looking statements"). The use of the words "will" and "expected" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These statements include statements that follow-up from the SLS-37 platform will target northern and southern extension drilling of the zone, the last 10m of SLS-39 grading 0.61% CuEq suggests further potential to the southeast, that maiden drilling results are expected in January from Warintza South, a target defined by a high conductivity anomaly measuring 2.5km x 2.0km x 0.7km and overlapping copper and molybdenum anomalies where exposed at surface, that the next series of holes will target extensions to the north and northeast, and that in January 2022, results of the first-ever drilling at Warintza South are expected to be released, targeting the fourth major discovery within the 7km x 5km cluster of copper porphyries on this property. Although Solaris believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements and/or information are reasonable, readers are cautioned that actual results may vary from the forward-looking statements. These statements are based on a variety of assumptions including assumptions made about the Company's ability to advance exploration efforts at the Warintza Project; the results of such exploration efforts; and the Company's ability to achieve its growth objectives. These statements also involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results or events to differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements, including the risks, uncertainties and other factors identified in the Solaris Management's Discussion and Analysis for the year ended December 31, 2020 available at www.sedar.com. Furthermore, the forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as at the date of this news release and Solaris does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any of these forward-looking statements except as may be required by applicable securities laws.

SOURCE Solaris Resources Inc.

Related Links

https://www.solarisresources.com


The spreads market size is expected to increase by USD 7.60 bn from 2021 to 2026. The growth momentum of the market will accelerate at a CAGR of 4.53%, according to Technavio. This report on the spreads market provides a comprehensive update, market size and forecast, trends, growth drivers, and challenges, as well as vendor analysis.

Based on distribution channel, the spreads market has been segmented into two segments, namely offline and online. Similarly, based on geography, the market has been segmented into five regions, namely Europe, North America, APAC, South America, and MEA. This report presents a detailed picture of the market by the way of study, synthesis, and summation of data from multiple sources by an analysis of key parameters.

The spreads market covers the following areas:

Spreads Market Sizing

Spreads Market Forecast

Spreads Market Analysis

Market Challenges

Factors such as the health impact of spreads may impede market growth. Some of the spreads, such as cheese and butter spread, have a high content of fat, which adversely affects blood cholesterol levels. Similarly, high consumption of mayo can lead to high blood pressure and various heart diseases. Consuming high-fat fast foods with approximately 50 grams (1.76 ounces) fat or more can have a serious impact on consumers. The blood flow in the arteries can slow by up to one-fifth a couple of hours after consumption. Thus, consuming high-fat breakfast frequently can affect the health of individuals and increase the risk of heart diseases and stroke.

Companies Mentioned with Their Offerings

Andros Group - The company offers spreads such as Bonne Maman that has no high fructose corn syrup, no additives or preservatives, and is gluten-free.

The company offers spreads such as Bonne Maman that has no high fructose corn syrup, no additives or preservatives, and is gluten-free. B and G Foods Inc. - The company offers a wide range of spreads brands such as Canoleo, Polaner, Skinnygirl Preserves, and many more.

The company offers a wide range of spreads brands such as Canoleo, Polaner, Skinnygirl Preserves, and many more. Conagra Brands Inc. - The company offers a wide range of spreads such as Calcium soft spread, Light soft spread, Original soft spread, and many more.

The company offers a wide range of spreads such as Calcium soft spread, Light soft spread, Original soft spread, and many more. Euro-American Brands LLC - The company offers a wide range of spreads such as Black Currant, Black Cherry, Red Raspberry, Blueberry, Apricot, and many more.

The company offers a wide range of spreads such as Black Currant, Black Cherry, Red Raspberry, Blueberry, Apricot, and many more. Ferrero International SA - The company offers spreads such as Nutella.

Get lifetime access to our Technavio Insights. Subscribe to our "Lite Plan" billed annually at USD 3000 to view 3 reports monthly and download 3 reports annually.

Related Reports:

Spices Market: The spices market has been segmented by form (powder, whole, and chopped) and geography (APAC, North America , Europe , MEA, and South America ). Download Free Sample Report

The spices market has been segmented by form (powder, whole, and chopped) and geography (APAC, , , MEA, and ). Sandwiches Market : The sandwiches market has been segmented by product (fresh sandwiches and prepackaged sandwiches), fillings (non-vegetarian and vegetarian), and geography ( Europe , North America , APAC, South America , and MEA). Download Free Sample Report

Spreads Market Scope Report Coverage Details Page number 120 Base year 2021 Forecast period 2022-2026 Growth momentum & CAGR Accelerate at a CAGR of 4.53% Market growth 2022-2026 USD 7.60 billion Market structure Fragmented YoY growth (%) 2.97 Regional analysis Europe, North America, APAC, South America, and MEA Performing market contribution Europe at 32% Key consumer countries US, UK, Germany, China, and France Competitive landscape Leading companies, competitive strategies, consumer engagement scope Companies profiled Andros Group, B and G Foods Inc., Conagra Brands Inc., Euro-American Brands LLC, Ferrero International SA, Hormel Foods Corp., The Hershey Co., The J.M. Smucker Co., The Kraft Heinz Co., and Upfield BV 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.

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SOURCE Technavio
HOUSTON, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Summit Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE: SMLP) (the "Partnership") announced today that it has commenced an offer to exchange (the "Exchange Offer") any and all of its 9.50% Series A Fixed-to-Floating Rate Cumulative Redeemable Perpetual Preferred Units (Liquidation Preference $1,000) (the "Series A Preferred Units") tendered in the Exchange Offer for newly issued common units representing limited partner interests in the Partnership (the "Common Units"). For each Series A Preferred Unit that is accepted in the Exchange Offer, the holder will receive 38 Common Units.

The Exchange Offer is scheduled to expire at 11:59 p.m., New York City time, on January 12, 2022, unless extended (the "Expiration Date").

The Partnership will issue Common Units in exchange for each Series A Preferred Unit that is accepted for exchange promptly after the Expiration Date.

Pursuant to a tender and support agreement, several holders of the Series A Preferred Units have agreed to tender in the aggregate 46,178 Series A Preferred Units (representing 32.19% of the outstanding Series A Preferred Units) in the Exchange Offer.

Holders that tender Series A Preferred Units that are accepted for exchange will forfeit any claim to all accumulated and unpaid distributions on their Series A Preferred Units, regardless of when accumulated, whether before or after the date hereof and including any distributions that may accumulate through the settlement date for the Exchange Offer.

D.F. King & Co., Inc. is acting as the Information Agent and American Stock Transfer & Trust Company, LLC is acting as the Depositary for the Exchange Offer.

The complete terms and conditions of the Exchange Offer are set forth in the Offer to Exchange and related Letter of Transmittal that are filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") under cover of Schedule TO and are being sent to holders of the existing Series A Preferred Units. Copies of the Offer to Exchange and Letter of Transmittal may be found on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov, the Partnership's website at www.summitmidstream.com or may be obtained from the Information Agent, D.F. King & Co., Inc., at 866-811-1442 (toll free) for unitholders, 212-269-5550 for banks and brokers or [email protected]. The Depositary, American Stock Transfer & Trust Company, LLC can be contacted at 877-248-6417 (toll free) or 718-921-8317.

THIS PRESS RELEASE IS NEITHER AN OFFER TO PURCHASE NOR A SOLICITATION OF AN OFFER TO SELL ANY SERIES A PREFERRED UNITS, NOR IS IT AN OFFER TO SELL OR A SOLICITATION TO BUY ANY COMMON UNITS. THIS PRESS RELEASE IS NOT A SOLICITATION FOR ACCEPTANCE OF THE EXCHANGE OFFER. THE PARTNERSHIP IS MAKING THE EXCHANGE OFFER ONLY BY, AND PURSUANT TO THE TERMS OF THE OFFER TO EXCHANGE, THE LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL AND OTHER RELATED DOCUMENTS FILED WITH THE SEC. THE EXCHANGE OFFER IS NOT BEING MADE IN ANY JURISDICTION IN WHICH THE MAKING OR ACCEPTANCE THEREOF WOULD NOT BE IN COMPLIANCE WITH THE SECURITIES, BLUE SKY OR OTHER LAWS OF SUCH JURISDICTION. NONE OF THE PARTNERSHIP, OUR GENERAL PARTNER, ITS BOARD OF DIRECTORS, OFFICERS OR EMPLOYEES, THE INFORMATION AGENT OR THE DEPOSITARY FOR THE EXCHANGE OFFER MAKES ANY RECOMMENDATION IN CONNECTION WITH THE EXCHANGE. THIS PRESS RELEASE SHALL NOT CONSTITUTE AN OFFER, SOLICITATION OR SALE IN ANY JURISDICTION IN WHICH SUCH OFFER, SOLICITATION OR SALE IS UNLAWFUL.

About Summit Midstream Partners, LP

SMLP is a value-driven limited partnership focused on developing, owning and operating midstream energy infrastructure assets that are strategically located in unconventional resource basins, primarily shale formations, in the continental United States. SMLP provides natural gas, crude oil and produced water gathering services pursuant to primarily long-term and fee-based gathering and processing agreements with customers and counterparties in six unconventional resource basins: (i) the Appalachian Basin, which includes the Utica and Marcellus shale formations in Ohio and West Virginia; (ii) the Williston Basin, which includes the Bakken and Three Forks shale formations in North Dakota; (iii) the Denver-Julesburg Basin, which includes the Niobrara and Codell shale formations in Colorado and Wyoming; (iv) the Permian Basin, which includes the Bone Spring and Wolfcamp formations in New Mexico; (v) the Fort Worth Basin, which includes the Barnett Shale formation in Texas; and (vi) the Piceance Basin, which includes the Mesaverde formation as well as the Mancos and Niobrara shale formations in Colorado. SMLP has an equity investment in Double E Pipeline, LLC, which provides natural gas transportation service from multiple receipt points in the Delaware Basin to various delivery points in and around the Waha Hub in Texas. SMLP also has an equity investment in Ohio Gathering, which operates extensive natural gas gathering and condensate stabilization infrastructure in the Utica Shale in Ohio. SMLP is headquartered in Houston, Texas.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release includes certain statements concerning expectations for the future that are forward-looking within the meaning of the federal securities laws, including, without limitation, information concerning completion of the Offer to Exchange, the terms and timing of the Offer to Exchange, and the impact of completion of the Offer to Exchange. The Partnership may modify the terms or timing of the Offer to Exchange with requisite notice. Forward-looking statements include, without limitation, any statement that may project, indicate or imply future results, events, performance or achievements and may contain the words "expect," "intend," "plan," "anticipate," "estimate," "believe," "will be," "will continue," "will likely result," and similar expressions, or future conditional verbs such as "may," "will," "should," "would," and "could." Forward-looking statements also contain known and unknown risks and uncertainties (many of which are difficult to predict and beyond management's control) that may cause SMLP's actual results in future periods to differ materially from anticipated or projected results. An extensive list of specific material risks and uncertainties affecting SMLP is contained in its 2020 Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") on March 4, 2021 and in its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the three months ended March 31, 2021 filed with the SEC on May 7, 2021, its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the three months ended June 30, 2021 filed with the SEC on August 9, 2021 and its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the three months ended September 30, 2021 filed with the SEC on November 5, 2021, each as amended and updated from time to time. Any forward-looking statements in this press release, are made as of the date of this press release and SMLP undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect new information or events.

SOURCE Summit Midstream Partners, LP
SURVIVOR OF SEX-TRAFFICKING FILES LAWSUIT AGAINST FAIR GIRLS AND ITS FORMER EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Tweet this

Fair Girls put Ms. Sutton on a bogus Performance Improvement Plan in July 2020, and although she successfully completed her PIP, Erin Andrews terminated her in December 2020, after she raised complaints about race discrimination within the organization. Among other reports, she advocated that Fair Girls recognize Juneteenth, the federal holiday that commemorates the 1865 emancipation of African American slaves.

Although the Board of Fair Girls received many employees' complaints about Ms. Andrews' creation of a racially hostile work environment, it did nothing to address these concerns or the massive turnover in the organization.

Ms. Sutton is supported in her lawsuit by seven former employees who attest to the race discrimination they either observed or suffered at Fair Girls.

"It is important that organizations like Fair Girls eliminate racism within their ranks, in order to empower fully survivors of human trafficking and the employees who support them. The Board refused to take any action when the Executive Director's discrimination was reported to it, which draws into question the Board's ability to direct the organization in its mission," said Ms. Sutton.

"This lawsuit intends to hold Fair Girls and Erin Andrews responsible for their discriminatory and retaliatory actions, that impede the progress of those who work in the anti-trafficking movement," said Lynne Bernabei.

The District of Columbia law firms of Bernabei & Kabat PLLC, and Caleb Andonian, PLLC, represent Ms. Sutton.

The complaint and redacted witness statements are available upon request.

Contacts:

Lynne Bernabei and Kristen Sinisi, Bernabei & Kabat PLLC

(202) 745-1942, ext. 232 / 240

[email protected]; [email protected]

Philip Andonian, CalebAndonian PLLC

[email protected]

(202) 953-9848

Wilnisha Sutton may be reached c/o Bernabei & Kabat PLLC, (202) 745-1942

SOURCE Bernabei & Kabat, PLLC
BALTIMORE, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- T. Rowe Price is celebrating its 20th anniversary of program management and partnership with the Education Trust of Alaska, the sponsor of three 529 college savings plans including the T. Rowe Price College Savings Plan, Alaska 529 and John Hancock Freedom 529. In honor of this milestone, the Education Trust of Alaska is awarding a $20,000 scholarship in each of its three college savings plans.

"It has been an honor to partner with the Education Trust of Alaska to provide education savings opportunities to our account holders over the last 20 years," said Diana Kendall, Head of College Savings at T. Rowe Price. "Together, we have delivered meaningful value, helping hundreds of thousands of beneficiaries save for their future education."

Since 2001, the Education Trust of Alaska, T. Rowe Price, and John Hancock have helped to deliver college savings plan offerings to more than 312,000 students with $11 billion in assets under management as of October 31, 2021.

"The 20-year partnership we have had with both T. Rowe Price and John Hancock is a noteworthy milestone," said Tamera Weaver, Trust Administrator for the Education Trust of Alaska. "We have been delighted to provide tools and resources that enable families across the country to achieve their higher education savings goals."

The 529 college savings industry has seen considerable growth over the last five years now representing $437 billion in assets nationally. T. Rowe Price manages four plans that comprise a 4.5% share of the national 529 market. T. Rowe Price ranks the 7th largest program manager in the industry today.

ABOUT T. ROWE PRICE COLLEGE SAVINGS PLAN

The T. Rowe Price College Savings Plan is currently a Silver medalist for the Morningstar 2021 Ratings season and both the T. Rowe Price College Savings Plan and Alaska 529 are ranked in the top ten for 529 plan performance in the one, three, five, and ten- year periods by SavingforCollege.com as of 11/22/21 for periods ended 9/30/21.

ABOUT ALASKA 529

Alaska 529 is currently ranked in the top ten for 529 plan performance in the one, three, five, and ten- year periods by SavingforCollege.com as of 11/22/21 for periods ended 9/30/21.

ABOUT JOHN HANCOCK FREEDOM 529

John Hancock Freedom 529 is currently ranked in the top ten for 529 plan performance (not including sales charges) in the one, three, five, and ten- year periods by SavingforCollege.com as of 11/22/21 for periods ended 9/30/21.

For more information visit troweprice.com/college and www.educationtrustak.com.

Be sure to review any 529 college savings plan offered by your home state or your beneficiary's home state, as there may be state tax or other state benefits, such as financial aid, scholarship funds, and protection from creditors that are only available for investments in the home state's plan. Be sure to read the college savings plan's disclosure document, which includes investment objectives, risks, fees, charges and expenses, and other information you should read and consider carefully before investing. Tax benefits may be conditioned on meeting certain requirements, such as residency, purpose for or timing of distributions, or other factors as applicable. T. Rowe Price Investment Services, Inc., Distributor/Underwriter is the distributor for the T. Rowe Price College Savings Plan, Alaska 529, and John Hancock Distributors LLC is the distributor for John Hancock Freedom 529.

Morningstar analysts reviewed 62 plans for its 2021 ratings (10/26/21), of which 11 plans received a "Silver" rating. To determine a plan's rating, Morningstar's analysts organized their research around four key pillars: Process, People, Parent, and Price. Plans were then assigned forward-looking ratings of "Gold," "Silver," "Bronze," "Neutral," and "Negative." Each year, certain of the industry's smallest plans are not rated. Click here for additional information about Morningstar's methodology.

Analyst Ratings are subjective in nature and should not be used as the sole basis for investment decisions. Analyst Ratings are based on Morningstar analysts' current expectations about future events and, therefore, involve unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause Morningstar's expectations not to occur or to differ significantly from what was expected. Morningstar does not represent its Analyst Ratings to be guarantees.

2021 Morningstar, Inc. All rights reserved. The information contained herein: (1) is proprietary to Morningstar and/or its content providers; (2) may not be copied or distributed; and (3) is not warranted to be accurate, complete, or timely. Neither Morningstar nor its content providers are responsible for any damages or losses arising from any use of this information. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

SOURCE T. Rowe Price Group, Inc.
MILWAUKEE, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Global employer confidence continues to return as we head into the new year finds the latest ManpowerGroup Employment Outlook Survey (NYSE: MAN) of more than 39,000 employers. Employers in 36 of 40 countries report stronger hiring intentions than the previous quarter with greatest demand for IT talent and hospitality workers. Organizations are also offering more flexibility to overcome talent shortages with employers across all sectors preparing a shift to hybrid working as a pathway to even more flexible working options in the longer term.

KEY FINDINGS SUMMARY

Employers know flexibility is the key to attracting workers in a tight labor market. Organizations expect 51% of roles within the finance sector and 29% of the production workforce to work flexibly in 2022. This ranges from offering 100% home working options for knowledge workers to schedule flexibility in manufacturing - with shorter shift patterns to accommodate caring responsibilities.

Organizations expect 51% of roles within the finance sector and 29% of the production workforce to work flexibly in 2022. This ranges from offering 100% home working options for knowledge workers to schedule flexibility in manufacturing - with shorter shift patterns to accommodate caring responsibilities. All countries and territories report positive hiring outlooks for the first time since the pandemic began Though outlooks improve year-over-year, hiring sentiment weakens compared with Q4 2021 in Taiwan , the U.S., Japan and France .

Though outlooks improve year-over-year, hiring sentiment weakens compared with Q4 2021 in , the U.S., and . Professional Services are hiring most with Digital roles most in high demand: IT, Communications and Media professionals are most in demand globally (+50%), followed by Banking, Finance, Insurance and Real Estate (+43%) and Restaurants and Hotels (+40%). The weakest hiring intentions are reported by employers in Not-for-Profit (+26%) and Primary Production (+29%).

"The post-pandemic hiring recovery that has been underway for some time will continue to carry momentum into 2022 with employers predicting strong demand for talent across key sectors," said Jonas Prising, ManpowerGroup Chairman & CEO. "Companies all over the world need skilled workers to meet their business objectives and fully participate in the economic global recovery. Talent shortages continue and employers are competing with a talent pool that has not full returned to labor markets due to the pandemic. Organizations need to embrace bold thinking on where, when, and how work gets done to meet what workers want while balancing the requirements of business."

Global Hiring Plans by Region

Americas: Employers in both the U.S (+41%) and Canada (+37%) expect optimistic hiring levels for Q1 2022.

Employers in the U.S. report positive hiring intentions despite a five percentage point decline from last quarter. Year-over-year, the U.S. improves 26 percentage points and Canada 32.

32. With an employment outlook of +60%, employers in the North America IT sector report the strongest hiring intentions, the weakest are reported in the Not-for-Profit sector including NGOs and charity organizations (+29%).

In the LATAM region, hiring sentiment strengthens in all eight countries when compared with the previous quarter. The strongest hiring plans in the region are reported in Peru (+51%), followed by Brazil (+47%) and Mexico (+45%).

EMEA: Hiring intentions improve in 22 countries and decline in one compared with Q4, 2020 (France -1%).

The strongest regional hiring plans are reported in Ireland (+47%), Portugal (+37%), and The Netherlands (+47%), while employers make the weakest forecasts in the Czech Republic (+14%), Greece (+16%) and Hungary (+19%).

(+47%), (+37%), and (+47%), while employers make the weakest forecasts in the (+14%), (+16%) and (+19%). Employers in the UK report an optimistic outlook of +32% with employers in London planning the most optimistic hiring.

planning the most optimistic hiring. The employment outlook in France improved 24 points year-over-year and dropped 2 points on last quarter. Employers in the French Banking, Finance, Insurance and Real Estate sectors report the strongest outlooks, the weakest are reported in Manufacturing and Restaurants and Hotels.

APAC: Hiring sentiment strengthens in 5 countries and territories quarter-on-quarter while weakening in two; Singapore and Taiwan.

The strongest hiring prospects are reported in India (+49%), followed by Australia (+37%) and Hong Kong (+37%), while the weakest regional labor market is expected in Japan (+11%), Taiwan (+13%) and Singapore (+14%)  the three weakest globally.

(+49%), followed by (+37%) and (+37%), while the weakest regional labor market is expected in (+11%), (+13%) and (+14%)  the three weakest globally. Emerging from the national lockdowns of the past few months, employers in Australia predict a strong outlook of +37% growing by 25-percentage points since the last quarter.

predict a strong outlook of +37% growing by 25-percentage points since the last quarter. China boasts a strong outlook of +25% In the first quarter of 2022 with Education, Health, Social Work and Government reporting the most positive hiring outlooks (+49%).

To view complete results for the ManpowerGroup Employment Outlook Survey, visit: https://go.manpowergroup.com/meos. The next survey will be released in March 2022, and will report hiring expectations for Q2, 2022.

*The methodology used to collect the data for the Employment Outlook has been digitized in 40 markets for the Q1 2022 report. Respondents in prior quarters were contacted via telephone and data is now being collected online. Respondents are members of double opt-in online panels and are incentivized to complete the survey. In line with standard findings of online surveys, more people are now taking a position  selecting that their workforce will either increase or decrease vs. no change. The result of this higher level of engagement means the methodology shift may contribute to a higher Outlook. With a sample of 1000 there is a margin of error of +/-3%. The question asked and the respondent profile remains unchanged. Size of organization and sector are standardized across all countries to allow international comparisons.

ABOUT THE SURVEY

The Employment Outlook Survey  conducted in October 2021  is the most comprehensive, forward-looking employment survey of its kind, used globally as a key economic indicator. The Net Employment Outlook is derived by taking the percentage of employers anticipating an increase in hiring activity and subtracting from this the percentage of employers expecting a decrease in hiring activity.

ABOUT MANPOWERGROUP

ManpowerGroup (NYSE: MAN), the leading global workforce solutions company, helps organizations transform in a fast-changing world of work by sourcing, assessing, developing and managing the talent that enables them to win. We develop innovative solutions for hundreds of thousands of organizations every year, providing them with skilled talent while finding meaningful, sustainable employment for millions of people across a wide range of industries and skills. Our expert family of brands  Manpower, Experis and Talent Solutions  creates substantially more value for candidates and clients across more than 75 countries and territories and has done so for over 70 years. We are recognized consistently for our diversity - as a best place to work for Women, Inclusion, Equality and Disability and in 2021 ManpowerGroup was named one of the World's Most Ethical Companies for the 12th year - all confirming our position as the brand of choice for in-demand talent.

SOURCE ManpowerGroup

Related Links

http://www.manpowergroup.com


TULSA, Okla., Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Justice for Greenwood Foundation, Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP (SRZ), and a team of civil and human rights lawyers have met with the office of the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Justice ("DOJ"), and sent a supplemental letter detailing the necessity of a formal investigation into the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. The meeting follows an initial call for an investigation in August 2021.

The Justice for Greenwood Foundation ("J4G") is a 501(c)(3) organization that seeks truth, justice, and reparations for the victims of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. J4G has broad support among the Tulsa Race Massacre Descendants community and has several partnerships with national civil rights organizations, such as Color of Change, Equal Justice Institute, and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. The letter is the J4G's latest action to help provide healing and justice to the survivors and descendants of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre.

Pursuant to the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act of 2007, together with its 2016 Reauthorization, the letter asks that the DOJ conduct an impartial investigation into the Massacre that will provide overdue transparency into the City of Tulsa's handling of the Massacre's aftermath and answer the questions that have long gone unresolved, as the City has long failed to adequately conduct an investigation and prosecute those responsible.

"We are calling on the DOJ to bring the brawn of the federal government to Tulsa to help heal these century-old wounds by conducting a meaningful and objective investigation into the Massacre," said Damario Solomon-Simmons, founder and Executive Director of J4G.

In late 2020, over 30 coffins were found in unmarked graves, which included the skeletal remains of a Black man with multiple gunshot wounds to his head and shoulder, where witnesses reported seeing mass graves following the Massacre. Despite the strong objection from Massacre survivors, descendants, and community-led Tulsa Mass Graves Oversight Committee, the City of Tulsa abruptly reburied the bodies without delivering an investigative report into the deaths or allowing for the remains to receive a proper community-led burial ceremony. To ensure the deaths of the Massacre victims whose remains are found are properly and thoroughly investigated, J4G is calling on the Department of Justice to act as a neutral, third-party investigator and to take over the search and investigation, as well as provide answers and findings that the Massacre survivors, descendants of the Massacre, and the rest of the public, can trust.

On May 31, 1921, one of the worst acts of domestic terrorism in U.S. history completely decimated Tulsa's thriving, all-Black community of Greenwood. A large white mob, including members of the Tulsa Police Department, the Tulsa Chamber of Commerce, the Tulsa County Sheriff's Department and the Oklahoma National Guard, as well as other city and county leaders, overwhelmed the approximately 40-square-block community, killing hundreds of Black residents, injuring thousands more, burning down over one thousand homes and businesses and stealing residents' personal property.

In May 2021, Human Rights Watch published a follow up to their groundbreaking May 2020 report on the Case for Reparations in Tulsa , reporting on the failure of the City of Tulsa and the Centennial Commission to support the survivors' demands for justice.

Read the full letter here .

Contacts:

Stanton

Mike Goodwin

[email protected] | +1 646.502.3595

Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP

Arianne Burrell

[email protected] | +1 212.610.7314

SOURCE Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP
AUSTIN, Texas, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Daniel Newman, founding partner and Principal Analyst of Futurum Research , rounds out 2021 with key conversations with tech CEOs: Qualcomm, HPE, Luminar, and Juniper Networks on recently debuted podcast series: Making Markets .

Newman, who focuses on a range of tech issues from Big Data to Big Tech Regulation to Privacy and Cloud Computing, sits down with industry leaders for in-depth conversations about what's driving their companies and the external factors to watch out for.

Qualcomm President and CEO Cristiano Amon

"AI scale at the edge is going to be an order of magnitude bigger than we'll see in the data center. And we're actually the company that has the assets to do it. So eventually, people are going to realize, wow, this company also is one of the leading AI companies in the world. And we're going to get there."

Luminar CEO Austin Russell

"I think we have the only clear trajectory and technical capability for how to actually capitalize and monetize on the holistic autonomous vehicle theme and trend"

Juniper Networks CEO

"We have diversified across vertical market segments, across technology areas, across geographies. We have a clarity in strategy that keeps us on the right side of industry dynamics.

HPE CEO Antonio Neri

"Data is not only the most precious assets, but data is the currency, the power of the digital economy. And I believe data one day will be recorded in balance sheets of companies."

Watch the latest Making Markets episodes here :

Don't miss the next episode of Making Markets with Honeywell CEO Darius Adamczyk.

About Futurum Research:

Futurum Research is a global technology, digital innovation, and market disruption-focused strategy, research, and analyst firm. Our six full-time analysts have diverse backgrounds, each with a minimum of 20 years' real-world consultative experience helping clients develop, implement, and execute innovative business strategies. Every day our team of analysts, researchers, and advisors help business leaders from around the world anticipate tectonic shifts in their industries, identify and overcome obstacles, and leverage technology and innovative thinking to gain and maintain a competitive advantage in their markets. We don't think about solving problems, we know how to help our clients make it happen.

About Daniel Newman:

Daniel Newman is a founding partner and Principal Analyst of Futurum Research. Living his life at the intersection of people and technology, Daniel works with the world's largest technology brands exploring Digital Transformation and how it is influencing the enterprise. From Big Data to IoT to Cloud Computing, Newman makes the connections between business, people and tech that are required for companies to benefit most from their technology projects, which leads to his ideas regularly being cited by CNBC, Barrons, Business Insider and hundreds of other sites across the world. A 7x Best-Selling Author including his most recent "Human/Machine," Daniel is also a Forbes and MarketWatch (Dow Jones) contributor. MBA and Graduate Adjunct Professor, Daniel Newman is a Chicago Native and his speaking takes him around the world each year as he shares his vision of the role technology will play in our future. Follow Daniel on Twitter @DanielNewmanUV.

SOURCE Futurum Research
DUBLIN, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Aerospace Tube Distribution Market Size, Share, Trend, Forecast, Competitive Analysis, and Growth Opportunity: 2021-2026" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

Aerospace tubes are crucial components of the aircraft, they aid in fluid conveyance, fuel conveyance, bleed lines, cooling lines, etc. They are usually manufactured using metal & alloys such as titanium, steel, and nickel. Distributors play a pivotal role in the extremely complex supply chain by establishing a broad geographical base on behalf of manufacturers.

The intervention of distributors enables a smooth, hassle-free business environment for component manufacturers and OEMs. A distributor acts as an intermediate node between tube manufacturers (such as Ametek, Inc.) and tier players (such as tube assembler, Parker-Hannifin Corporation) or OEMs (such as Airbus or Boeing). The web of distributors is likely to stretch further in the years to come, with the growing need for intermediaries in order to reduce the direct pressure on tube manufacturers.



The aerospace tube distribution market witnessed a colossal decline of -27%+ in 2020 amid the pandemic. That being said, the industry is gradually rebounding in the year 2021 with the easing up of travel restrictions, resumed production, and a gradual regain of normalcy. This is likely to imprint a positive impact on the market which is estimated to rebound at a promising CAGR of 8.4% in the long run to reach US$ 607 Million in 2026.

Based on the platform type, the market is segmented as commercial aircraft, regional aircraft, general aviation, military aircraft, helicopter, UAV, and spacecraft. Despite taking a nosedive in 2020, commercial aircraft is expected to remain the largest and the fastest-growing segment of the market during the forecast period. Increasing demand for lightweight yet durable components and parts, market entry of new players, such as COMAC and Irkut, rebounding aircraft deliveries, and ungrounding of B737Max are some of the key factors propelling the demand for tubes in the commercial aircraft segment, in turn driving the distribution market.



Based on the application type, the market is segmented as hydraulic & instrumentation lines, fuel lines, cooling lines, bleed lines, and others. Hydraulic & instrumentation lines is expected to remain the most dominant application type in the market, whereas bleed lines is expected to grow at the fastest rate during the forecast period. Key areas of application within the hydraulic & instrumentation lines are hydraulic flight control surfaces servo actuator system or torque tubes, hydraulic high-pressure pump system, engine-driven pump actuator system, hydraulic nose landing gear, thrust reverser door actuation, etc.



In terms of regions, North America is expected to remain the largest market for aerospace tube distribution during the forecast period. This region's market's path was full of obstacles in the past few years with the prolonged approval of B737 Max, decreased production rate of the B787 program, and rapid transmission of COVID-19. However, the region is likely to bounce back with healthy growth in the next few years. Europe and Asia-Pacific are also likely to create sizeable opportunities in the coming five years. The USA in North America; Germany, France, the UK, and Russia in Europe; and China, Japan, and India to remain the major markets.



Key Players

The following are the key players in the aerospace tube distribution market. Most of the major players are providing tubes made of titanium & alloys which is the most attractive material type in the market.

TW Metals

VSMPO-Tirus

A.M Castle & Co

Future Metals

Titanium Industries, Inc

Hadco Metal Trading

Reliance Metals Co

United Performance Metals

Key Topics Covered:

1. Executive Summary



2. Aerospace Tube Distribution Market Environment Analysis

2.1. Supply Chain Analysis

2.2. PEST Analysis

2.3. Industry Life Cycle Analysis

2.4. Market Drivers

2.5. Market Challenges



3. Aerospace Tube Distribution Market - The COVID-19 Impact Assessment

3.1. Aerospace Tube Distribution Market Trend and Forecast (US$ Million)

3.2. Pre-COVID vs Post-COVID Assessment

3.3. Real GDP Loss vs Aerospace Tube Distribution Market Loss (2020-2021)

3.4. Market Scenario Analysis: Pessimistic, Most Likely, and Optimistic Scenarios



4. Aerospace Tube Distribution Market Assessment (2015-2026)

4.1. Platform-Type Analysis

4.1.1. Commercial Aircraft: Regional Trend and Forecast (US$ Million)

4.1.2. Regional Aircraft: Regional Trend and Forecast (US$ Million)

4.1.3. General Aviation: Regional Trend and Forecast (US$ Million)

4.1.4. Military Aircraft: Regional Trend and Forecast (US$ Million)

4.1.5. Helicopter: Regional Trend and Forecast (US$ Million)

4.1.6. UAV: Regional Trend and Forecast (US$ Million)

4.1.7. Spacecraft: Regional Trend and Forecast (US$ Million)

4.2. Application-Type Analysis

4.2.1. Hydraulic & Instrumentation Lines: Regional Trend and Forecast (US$ Million)

4.2.2. Fuel Lines: Regional Trend and Forecast (US$ Million)

4.2.3. Cooling Lines: Regional Trend and Forecast (US$ Million)

4.2.4. Bleed Lines: Regional Trend and Forecast (US$ Million)

4.2.5. Others: Regional Trend and Forecast (US$ Million)

4.3. Material-Type Analysis

4.3.1. Steel & Alloys: Regional Trend and Forecast (US$ Million)

4.3.2. Titanium & Alloys: Regional Trend and Forecast (US$ Million)

4.3.3. Nickel & Alloys: Regional Trend and Forecast (US$ Million)

4.3.4. Others: Regional Trend and Forecast (US$ Million)

4.4. Product-Type Analysis

4.4.1. Seamless Tube: Regional Trend and Forecast (US$ Million)

4.4.2. Welded Tube: Regional Trend and Forecast (US$ Million)

4.5. Regional Analysis

4.5.1. North American Aerospace Tube Distribution Market: Country Analysis

4.5.1.1. The USA's Aerospace Tube Distribution Market T&F (US$ Million)

4.5.1.2. Canadian Aerospace Tube Distribution Market T&F (US$ Million)

4.5.1.3. Mexican Aerospace Tube Distribution Market T&F (US$ Million)

4.5.2. European Aerospace Tube Distribution Market: Country Analysis

4.5.2.1. German Aerospace Tube Distribution Market T&F (US$ Million)

4.5.2.2. French Aerospace Tube Distribution Market T&F (US$ Million)

4.5.2.3. Russian Aerospace Tube Distribution Market T&F (US$ Million)

4.5.2.4. The UK's Aerospace Tube Distribution Market T&F (US$ Million)

4.5.2.5. RoE's Aerospace Tube Distribution Market T&F (US$ Million)

4.5.3. Asia-Pacific's Aerospace Tube Distribution Market: Country Analysis

4.5.3.1. Chinese Aerospace Tube Distribution Market T&F (US$ Million)

4.5.3.2. Japanese Aerospace Tube Distribution Market T&F (US$ Million)

4.5.3.3. Indian Aerospace Tube Distribution Market T&F (US$ Million)

4.5.3.4. RoAP's Aerospace Tube Distribution Market T&F (US$ Million)

4.5.4. Rest of the World's (RoW) Aerospace Tube Distribution Market: Country Analysis

4.5.4.1. Brazilian Aerospace Tube Distribution Market T&F (US$ Million)

4.5.4.2. Saudi Arabian Aerospace Tube Distribution Market T&F (US$ Million)

4.5.4.3. Other Aerospace Tube Distribution Market T&F (US$ Million)



5. Competitive Analysis

5.1. Market Consolidation Level

5.2. Competitive Landscape

5.3. Market Share Analysis

5.4. Product Portfolio Analysis

5.5. Geographical Presence

5.6. New Product Launches

5.7. Strategic Alliances

5.8. Porter's Five Forces Analysis



6. Strategic Growth Opportunities

6.1. Market Attractiveness Analysis

6.1.1. Market Attractiveness by Platform Type

6.1.2. Market Attractiveness by Application Type

6.1.3. Market Attractiveness by Material Type

6.1.4. Market Attractiveness by Product Type

6.1.5. Market Attractiveness by Region

6.1.6. Market Attractiveness by Country

6.2. Growth Matrix Analysis

6.3. Strategic Implications

6.4. Key Success Factors (KSFs)



7. Company Profile of Key Players (Alphabetically Arranged)

7.1. A.M. Castle & Co.

7.2. Future Metals

7.3. Hadco Metal Trading Co., LLC

7.4. Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co.

7.5. Rolled Alloys, Inc.

7.6. Titanium Industries, Inc.

7.7. Thyssenkrupp AG

7.8. TW Metals

7.9. United Performance Metals limited

7.10. VSMPO-Tirus



8. Appendix



For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/9w4qeb

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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SOURCE Research and Markets

Related Links

http://www.researchandmarkets.com


"On behalf of the entire Toyota family, we would like to thank Jeff for his leadership and impact during his 10 years with the company," said Brett Wood, President and CEO of Toyota Material Handling North America and Senior Executive Officer of Toyota Industries Corporation (TICO) . "Jeff led TMH through some of the largest, most transformational challenges in history, and he did so with grace, with empathy, and with compassion. He embraced each challenge, and always saw the positive opportunity in change."

Rufener joined TMH in 2011 after more than 30 years with Mitsubishi Caterpillar Forklift America. During his tenure at TMH, Rufener oversaw the move of the company's headquarters from California to Indiana and multiple expansions of TMH's Indiana campus. Rufener also managed the integration of Toyota's two Columbus-based companies  Toyota Material Handling USA (TMHU) and Toyota Industrial Equipment Manufacturing (TIEM)  into a single company in 2020.

During Rufener's tenure, TICO made key strategic acquisitions such as Bastian Solutions and Vanderlande to enter the automation sector; Toyota Commercial Finance, and Hoist to expand Toyota's heavy-duty lift truck offering. Rufener also helped TMH round out its product offering with the launch of many new electric models to ensure the organization continues to lead for decades to come.

Rufener has always been a respected leader in the material handling industry, previously serving as the President of the Industrial Truck Association (ITA) and as the first Chairman of the National Forklift Safety Day taskforce.

Rufener also championed the company's partnership with the American Red Cross and has passionately helped it grow over the last several years, serving as Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Southeast Indiana chapter. Since 2018, TMH's partnership with the Red Cross has resulted in corporate, dealer and associate support that includes donations of rental equipment, time, expertise, money and in some cases, blood donations, as part of the growing relationship between the two organizations.

"One of Jeff's lasting legacies will be the culture he helped build and sustain, a culture centered around the company's core purpose of 'Helping People Carry the Load'," Wood said. "Toyota is better because of Jeff, and the material handling industry is better because of Jeff. We wish Jeff and his family a very relaxing, healthy and safe retirement."

Added Rufener: "It has been an honor to serve as TMH President & CEO, and I want to offer a sincere thank you to our associates, dealers, suppliers and customers whose hard work and dedication have allowed us to achieve great things. When I joined Toyota, I thought I was taking the best job in the forklift industry. Ten years later, I can tell you I know it's the best job in the industry. This brand, this culture, this product line, and this group of Toyota dealers  all of those things make it the best position I could ever ask for."

Finerty to Become TMH President and CEO in January

Finerty will take over for Rufener after more than five years leading the company's sales teams. As Senior VP of Sales, Finerty also oversaw the TMH customer network and dealer network development, and he chairs the board of directors for TMH's equity-owned dealerships and the company's Heavy Duty Division.

Under Finerty's leadership, TMH has reached records in sales, profit and market share.

Finerty has more than 30 years of industry involvement, and previously held several executive leadership roles at Caterpillar, Inc.

"We conducted a thorough evaluation that included TICO executives, and after that analysis, we all agreed that Bill was the right person to lead the organization," Wood said. "Bill has done an exceptional job leading Toyota's sales teams to record-breaking success. His leadership style fits our culture perfectly, and he has a passion to help Toyota succeed in everything we do. It will be difficult for anyone to fill Jeff's shoes, but I'm confident that Bill is prepared to succeed in this role, and the transition will be smooth because we are promoting from within."

"I want to thank Jeff for his great leadership, mentorship and friendship, and also Brett and TICO for their confidence in me as I step into this role," Finerty said. "I am honored and excited to have the opportunity to work with our talented team of associates and dealers to advance TMH's growth strategy in the years to come."

Jaksa Pejnovic will succeed Finerty to become TMH's Vice President of Sales and Marketing, also effective January 1. Pejnovic has been with Toyota since 2013 and joined the TMH executive team in 2016 as the Director of Finance, Pricing and Strategic Planning. Prior to joining TMH, Pejnovic spent 12 years at CNO Financial Group in a number of finance and accounting positions.

"Jaksa has been an integral part of Toyota's success by leading the development and execution of our long-term strategy," Finerty said. "I'm confident he will help deliver more industry-leading results in this new role."

Visit ToyotaForklift.com to learn more about the company's management team, the world-renowned Toyota culture and Toyota Production System.

About Toyota Material Handling

Toyota Material Handling offers material handling products and solutions, including forklifts, reach trucks, order pickers, pallet jacks, container handlers, automated guided vehicles, and tow tractors, along with aerial work platforms, fleet management services, and advanced automation engineering and design. Toyota's commitment to quality, reliability and customer satisfaction, the hallmark of the Toyota Production System, extends throughout more than 230 locations across North America. With access to an industry-leading lineup of material handling products, Toyota dealers are uniquely positioned to help solve wide-ranging challenges in warehousing and distribution. Built for every application, Toyota can provide the most complete set of solutions for material handling, automation, energy, advanced logistics, and warehouse optimization. For more information or to learn more, visit ToyotaForklift.com.

SOURCE Toyota Material Handling
HARWOOD HEIGHTS, Ill., Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Traditions Health, LLC ("Traditions"), a national hospice and home health provider, announced that is has acquired Harwood Heights, IL based Heritage Hospice and Palliative Care ("Heritage").

Heritage provides hospice and palliative care services in the Indianapolis, IN and Chicago, IL regions. Heritage has a strong local reputation for providing exceptional clinical care to patients and their families. The acquisition of Heritage expands Traditions' existing coverage in underpenetrated areas of both Indiana and Illinois.

The announcement was made by David Klementz, the President and CEO of Traditions. "We are very excited to further expand Traditions' presence in both Illinois and Indiana. This is a great accomplishment for our organization and we are thrilled to welcome both Heritage's employees and patients to the Traditions family.

About Traditions Health

Headquartered in College Station, TX, Traditions Health is a leading provider of hospice care, home health care, consulting services and online policy manuals. The company provides care to over 7,500 patients across seventeen states. The company has recently been named to the 2021 Inc. Magazine's Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing businesses. Traditions Health is a portfolio company of Dorilton. For more information, visit our website at www.traditionshealth.com.

About Dorilton

Dorilton is a private investment firm that invests in businesses across a range of industry sectors, working in partnership with management to grow value over the long-term. By providing funding and expertise to drive growth, Dorilton helps its companies and its people achieve their full potential. Learn more at www.doriltongroup.com.

For inquiries or relevant opportunities, please contact [email protected]

SOURCE Traditions Health, LLC
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados and SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Global fintech Bitt and TASCOMBANK , one of Ukraine's oldest commercial banks, have launched a pilot project to issue an electronic hryvnia on Stellar . As part of the pilot, the cross-company team will test the electronic hryvnia on the use cases of programmable payroll for public employees at Diia, an IT solutions enterprise, as well as for peer-to-peer payments and merchant payments.

The project is being implemented under the supervision of the National Bank of Ukraine and with the support of the Ministry of Digital Transformation. Deputy Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, Oleksandr Bornyakov, noted, "This pilot project will serve as a technological basis for the issuance of electronic money, and is the next key step to advance innovation of payment and financial infrastructure in Ukraine."

The objective of the project is to pilot the issuance of electronic money on an open blockchain with asset-control capabilities for issuers. TASCOMBANK will build and test the regulated electronic hryvnia on Stellar, and it will be deployed on Bitt's Digital Currency Management System (DCMS). Bitt's market-proven DCMS encompasses a core monetary transaction network, a secure minting system, and a Digital Currency Operations Manager.

TASCOMBANK Chairman of the Board, Volodymyr Dubey, said, "With the rapidly growing impact of virtual assets on our everyday life and economic landscape, it is essential to utilize the advantages of blockchain technology and new related products as a part of the bank's long-term market strategy. Cooperation with Bitt to build on Stellar allows us to connect our core banking system with blockchain-based infrastructure, creating an ecosystem that includes a full range of banking products and operations with electronic currency on the Stellar blockchain. Electronic currency paves the way to more sophisticated products in the virtual assets field that we are excited to explore."

Brian Popelka, CEO of Bitt, stated, "Bitt is excited to work with a leading blockchain network like Stellar to leverage its many benefits, including greater flexibility that aligns with the electronic hryvnia's specific needs. Bitt's DCMS will equip TASCOMBANK with all of the technology required to securely mint, store, issue, distribute, and redeem the electronic hryvnia. In a country that has been quick to adopt a variety of digital currency technologies and applications, we see a bright future for the electronic hryvnia and many use cases that will bring value in Ukraine and beyond."

Denelle Dixon, CEO and Executive Director of the Stellar Development Foundation, said, "Stellar is an open network that was designed with asset issuance in mind, and is uniquely suited to assets like the electronic hryvnia. It offers issuers, like TASCOMBANK, a suite of controls that they can configure for their asset control needs while maintaining the interoperability and flexibility of an open ledger. We are excited that TAS and Bitt have chosen the Stellar network for this ground-breaking pilot."

This regulated electronic hryvnia will be built under the current e-money legislation of Ukraine. The payment services lawwhich will govern the circulation of electronic money and future issuance of a digital currency under the authority of the National Bank of Ukraineis anticipated to take effect in 2022.

About Bitt

With a staff of over 60 highly skilled professionals from all over the world, Bitt is a global financial technology company that provides digital currency solutions to central banks, financial institutions, and ecosystem participants worldwide. Bitt is at the forefront of financial innovation, with a specialization in central bank digital currencies (CBDC). The company's Digital Currency Management System (DCMS) leverages blockchain-based distributed ledger technology to introduce the benefits of the most efficient financial ecosystem to date.

About Stellar

Stellar is a decentralized, fast, scalable, and uniquely sustainable network for financial products and services. It is both a cross-currency transaction system and a platform for digital asset issuance, designed to connect the world's financial infrastructure. Financial institutions worldwide issue assets and settle payments on the Stellar network, which has grown to over 6 million accounts.

About Stellar Development Foundation

The Stellar Development Foundation (SDF) is a non-profit organization that supports the development and growth of Stellar, an open-source network that connects the world's financial infrastructure. Founded in 2014, the Foundation helps maintain Stellar's codebase, supports the technical and business communities building on the network, and serves as a voice to regulators and institutions. The Foundation seeks to create equitable access to the global financial system, using the Stellar network to unlock the world's economic potential through blockchain technology.

SOURCE The Stellar Development Foundation
BOSTON, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- United Natural Foods, Inc. (UNFI), the largest publicly traded grocery distributor in the United States, has named 360PR+ as public relations agency of record. UNFI is North America's premier food wholesaler delivering the widest variety of products to customer locations throughout North America, including natural product superstores, independent retailers, conventional supermarket chains, ecommerce retailers and food service customers.

360PR+ is focused on supporting a variety of company initiatives for UNFI, among them elevating UNFI as an employer of choice and raising awareness of UNFIs Brands+ product portfolio. UNFI is the largest publicly traded grocery distributor in the United States.

The agency's work for UNFI leverages 360's experience spanning b2b and b2c communications and marketing, including the agency's deep sector expertise in food and beverage, retail and grocery, as well as experience with thought-leadership campaigns that support recruitment marketing.

"360PR+'s strategic thinking and deep category experience is exactly the blend of expertise we were looking for in our PR partner," said Amanda Helming, CMO, UNFI. "They came to the table already steeped in our industry and invested in the business and were clearly ready to hit the ground running. In fact, they've already demonstrated that their strong relationships with media can drive impactful results for us."

The agency's work with UNFI is focused on supporting a variety of company initiatives, among them elevating UNFI as an employer of choice and raising awareness of UNFI's Brands+ product portfolio, comprised of over 15 different brands and more than 5,000 products spanning 250 grocery and household categories.

"It's certainly an exciting time to be working with UNFI, and we couldn't be more thrilled to partner with their innovative, industry-leading team to help support brand and recruitment efforts," said Victoria Renwick, Executive Vice President and Partner at 360PR+.

About United Natural Foods

UNFI is North America's premier food wholesaler delivering the widest variety of products to customer locations throughout North America including natural product superstores, independent retailers, conventional supermarket chains, ecommerce retailers and food service customers. By providing this deeper 'full-store' selection and compelling brands for every aisle, UNFI is uniquely positioned to deliver great food, more choices and fresh thinking to customers everywhere. Today, UNFI is the largest publicly traded grocery distributor in the United States. To learn more about how UNFI is Fueling the Future of Food, visit www.unfi.com.

About 360PR+

Celebrating its 20th anniversary, 360PR+ is an award-winning, leading independent agency recognized for its bold, headline-making, business-driving campaigns for some of the most trusted global brands and forward-thinking marketplace challengers. 360PR+ clients include America's Test Kitchen, Bright Horizons Family Solutions, Giant Food, Hasbro, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Netflix, Nintendo of America, Juicy Juice, illy caffe, Nasoya, Pete & Gerry's Organic Eggs, Drizly, Mass. Bay Brewing Co., Sagamore Spirit, The Rockport Company, Trek Bicycle, Vrbo and Wellness Natural Pet Food, among others. 360PR+ is a partner in PROI Worldwide, bringing clients expertise in 100+ cities globally. For more, visit www.360PR.plus.

SOURCE 360PR+
DUBLIN, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Laser Marking Machine Market Research Report by Type, Offerings, Application, and State - United States Forecast to 2026 - Cumulative Impact of COVID-19" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The United States Laser Marking Machine Market size was estimated at USD 535.85 million in 2020, is expected to reach USD 613.58 million in 2021, and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 11.72% reaching USD 1,042.39 million by 2026.



Market Statistics

The report provides market sizing and forecast across five major currencies - USD, EUR GBP, JPY, and AUD. It helps organization leaders make better decisions when currency exchange data is readily available.

In this report, the years 2018 and 2019 are considered historical years, 2020 as the base year, 2021 as the estimated year, and years from 2022 to 2026 are considered the forecast period.



This research report categorizes the Laser Marking Machine to forecast the revenues and analyze the trends in each of the following sub-markets:

Based on Type, the market was studied across Co2 Laser, Fiber Laser, Green Laser, Uv Laser, and Yag Laser .

. Based on Offerings, the market was studied across Hardware, Services, and Software.

Based on Application, the market was studied across Aerospace, Automotive, Electronics and Microelectronics, Machine Tool, Medical, Military, and Packaging.

Based on State, the market was studied across California , Florida , Illinois , New York , Ohio , Pennsylvania , and Texas .

Competitive Scenario

The Competitive Scenario provides an outlook analysis of the various business growth strategies adopted by the vendors. The news covered in this section delivers valuable thoughts at different stages while keeping up-to-date with the business and engaging stakeholders in the economic debate.

The competitive scenario represents press releases or news of the companies categorized into Merger & Acquisition, Agreement, Collaboration, & Partnership, New Product Launch & Enhancement, Investment & Funding, and Award, Recognition, & Expansion. All the news collected help vendor to understand the gaps in the marketplace and competitors' strength and weakness thereby, providing insights to enhance product and service.



Company Usability Profiles

The report profoundly explores the recent significant developments by the leading vendors and innovation profiles in the United States Laser Marking Machine Market, including:

AMADA WELD TECH INC.

AMTEC - Applied Manufacturing Technologies, Inc.

Astecnos America

Cincinnati Automation Ltd.

Craig Machinery & Design, Inc.

EAM, Inc.

Epilog Laser Corp

GCC America, Inc.

ID Technology, LLC

Isotech, Inc.

MB Metal Technologies LLC

Novanta Inc.

Omron Automation Americas

Riverside Automation

Tampoprint International Corp.

The report provides insights on the following pointers:

1. Market Penetration: Provides comprehensive information on the market offered by the key players

2. Market Development: Provides in-depth information about lucrative emerging markets and analyze penetration across mature segments of the markets

3. Market Diversification: Provides detailed information about new product launches, untapped geographies, recent developments, and investments

4. Competitive Assessment & Intelligence: Provides an exhaustive assessment of market shares, strategies, products, certification, regulatory approvals, patent landscape, and manufacturing capabilities of the leading players

5. Product Development & Innovation: Provides intelligent insights on future technologies, R&D activities, and breakthrough product developments



The report answers questions such as:

1. What is the market size and forecast of the United States Laser Marking Machine Market?

2. What are the inhibiting factors and impact of COVID-19 shaping the United States Laser Marking Machine Market during the forecast period?

3. Which are the products/segments/applications/areas to invest in over the forecast period in the United States Laser Marking Machine Market?

4. What is the competitive strategic window for opportunities in the United States Laser Marking Machine Market?

5. What are the technology trends and regulatory frameworks in the United States Laser Marking Machine Market?

6. What is the market share of the leading vendors in the United States Laser Marking Machine Market?

7. What modes and strategic moves are considered suitable for entering the United States Laser Marking Machine Market?

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/g97gto

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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SOURCE Research and Markets

Related Links

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NEW YORK, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, UpLift , the first vertically integrated mental healthcare delivery system, announced their expansion into psychiatry as well as the closing of $8M in secondary funding. The round was led by B Capital Group with additional participation from Vivek Garipalli, Bay Gross, Bobby Green, as well as pro rata financing from several others. Founded in May 2021 by CEO Kyle Talcott at Redesign Health, UpLift is committed to building the infrastructure to deliver a continuum of mental healthcare. By including psychiatry onto the UpLift platform, psychotherapists work hand-in-hand with psychiatrists in order to close the behavioral healthcare gap, coordinate with the primary care provider and optimize the appropriate plan of care.

Recent reports show approximately 1 in 5 American adults have a mental health diagnosis1, causing a surge in consumer demand and exponential growth in the behavioral health market. While demand was met by a flood of new behavioral healthcare startups, the industry failed to meet the consumer need for accessible and affordable, satisfactory treatment using evidence-based integrated mental healthcare, leaving more than 55% of those in need without adequate care.3

"Our investment into UpLift reflects our continued belief that effective mental healthcare services should be accessible, affordable, and scalable for all," said Karen Page, partner at B Capital. "We are acutely aware of the market need for a streamlined approach to mental healthcare and are inspired by the work Kyle and his world-class team are doing."

UpLift's new treatment model will integrate psychiatric and psychotherapy care to create a comprehensive and unified team of clinicians to enable treatment for high acuity populations. The integrated strategy allows UpLift to manage the full spectrum of patient needs, from mild depression and anxiety, to more complex conditions, like bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.

"At UpLift, we're building the infrastructure to deliver a continuum of mental healthcare," said Kyle Talcott, CEO, UpLift. "UpLift starts with an in-network, virtual or in person therapist and uses medication to augment the base treatment plan, delivering the most effective and sustainable care to patients. The providers on our platform work as a truly integrated care team and our platform team provides support every step of the way - from insurance and billing to prescription fulfillment - to ensure a seamless and effective patient experience from start to finish."

Studies show that an integrated treatment plan has proven to be more 2x more effective than standalone medication or psychotherapy treatment,4 yet more than 70% of patients taking antidepressants have not seen a mental health provider in the past year.5 A medication-first treatment model often fails to address a patient's underlying mental health challenges, which is one reason UpLift leads with psychotherapy and integrates medication for supplemental support to create a comprehensive care plan effective in the long term.

"It is critical for therapists to create mutual treatment plans with psychiatrists, but in everyday practice, clinicians work in silos," said Yavar Moghimi, MD, Psychiatrist at UpLift. "At UpLift, therapists work hand-in-hand with psychiatrists using their novel care delivery platform in order to optimize treatment."

Along with the company's expansion into psychiatry, Uplift has hired Julian Cohen , as their Chief Clinical Services Officer. Julian has over 35 years in healthcare with deep experience in behavioral health and telehealth services and most recently was SVP of Behavioral Health at Hims & Hers. Prior to that, Cohen was President of Behavioral Health at Teladoc and CEO and Founder of one of the earliest companies in teletherapy, called Breakthrough which he sold to MDLiveCare.

"During my decades in virtual behavioral health, mental health has entered the mainstream conversation, but the barriers to high-quality, accessible care remain," says Julian Cohen, Chief Clinical Services Officer, UpLift. "UpLift's modern approach merges two essential efforts, core psychotherapy treatment with medication management, that will help facilitate an integrated treatment plan and continuum of care."

UpLift launched in May 2021 in DC and VA with its first health plan partner, BCBS CareFirst. UpLift has since expanded to MD and partnered with United/Optum, Cigna and BCBS Anthem, and has plans to more than double its geographic footprint in 2022.

About UpLift

UpLift is a digital platform that empowers patients to find in-network therapists and psychiatrists who are covered by their insurance plans. UpLift negotiates rates with insurance companies, reduces overhead through automated scheduling, billing, and claims processing, and delivers a 2-sided marketplace to seamlessly match patients with the right provider for them. Dedicated to tackling today's supply and demand problem in mental health, UpLift streamlines behavioral healthcare accessibility and removes the barriers to identifying in-network, affordable and effective treatment. UpLift was founded in 2020 by Kyle Talcott at Redesign Health. For more information on UpLift, please visit joinuplift.co.

About Redesign Health

Redesign Health is on a mission to redesign health  for everyone. Its idea-to-scale approach builds companies that create a better healthcare experience for all. Redesign Health integrates a complex process of ideating, developing, funding, and launching companies into a streamlined platform. Its multidisciplinary experts work in tandem with founders to introduce transformational health solutions and develop a new foundation for healthcare. To learn more, visit redesignhealth.com.

Contact:

Chelsea Harrison

Head of Communications, Redesign Health

[email protected]

Emma McCormick

Senior Account Executive, Media, Lippe Taylor

[email protected]

1 https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/u-s-behavioral-health-market-105298

SOURCE UpLift
DULLES, Va., Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Unison, the leading provider of acquisition management software to government agencies, program offices, and contractors, announced today that the US Army renewed and expanded their relationship with Unison Marketplace, e-procurement technology that boosts readiness, efficiency, compliance and competition, to support their acquisition goals.

"During our years working together, the Army has been extraordinarily innovativeshaping best practices with large benefits for Army and other federal acquisition leaders. We're inspired and honored to support their missions during this next chapter," said Paul Edelmann, General Manager of Unison's Marketplace division.

Unison Marketplace's solution saves precious time and effort for acquisition professionals with a simplified RFQ process that ensures regulatory compliance and delivers competition and full documentation to every acquisition.

To accelerate Category Management goals, Marketplace integrates with SAM.gov and delivers competition within Best-in-Class contracts, BPAs, IDIQs, and full and open competitionsall in one easy-to-use interface.

About Unison

Unison's secure cloud and on-premise Lifecycle Acquisition Management software, marketplace, and information products support more than 200,000 users in leading prime contractors, all cabinet-level agencies, and major DoD programs. All software development and support are provided within the USA.

For more than 30 years, Unison has continually advanced software and insight solutions to help customers efficiently achieve their missions. Unison is headquartered in Dulles, VA, with offices in Tysons Corner, VA; Mt. Laurel, NJ; and San Diego, CA.

For more information, visit www.unisonglobal.com.

SOURCE Unison
CHICAGO, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Veo , the first profitable micromobility company, today released end-of-year data showing a revenue increase of over 225% in 2021, highlighting the micromobility industry's post-pandemic rebound. As people continue to choose convenient, sustainable forms of transportation like Veo's e-scooters, bikes, and e-bikes, micromobility is becoming a fundamental part of the 21st century transportation system.

In 2021, Veo further expanded in the Northeast and West Coast regions, including two of the most competitive cities for micromobility: New York and Santa Monica. Veo was the only company granted a permit in both cities, proving itself to be a leader in a crowded industry. The company also was awarded new permits, secured contract renewals, or increased its fleet size in Colorado Springs, Colo., Long Beach, Calif., Newark, NJ, Toledo, Ohio, Syracuse, NY, Seattle, Wash., and at The University of Alabama.

Veo plans to amplify this growth with new vehicle types, use cases and enter new markets in 2022. The announcement comes on the heels of the company's $16 million in a Series A capital fundraising round.

"Our financial success, particularly achieving company-wide EBIT profitability year-over-year, is based on intentional and responsible growth in long-term partnerships with cities and universities," said Candice Xie, Veo co-founder. "The biggest key to growth is to work closely with our local partners to create environments where riders can find, ride, and park scooters safely, and to match cities' efforts to diversify ridership by bringing new vehicle types to the market that meet more riders' needs."

Adding new vehicle types to Veo's fleet helps meet cities' goals of diversifying ridership and increasing access to sustainable, safe mobility options. In 2021, Veo unveiled the Astro 4 stand-up e-scooter, the Cosmo seated e-scooter, and the Cosmo e-bike, which utilize the industry's first waterproof swappable batteries. This allowed Veo to swap out low batteries instead of transporting scooters to warehouses to charge overnight, improving efficiency and reducing the environmental impact of using fossil fuel operated trucks and vans to collect the vehicles for charging. Veo also was the first company to include turn signals and bright underdeck lighting features to enhance rider safety.

In 2022, Veo will introduce two new vehicle types to its fleet, a completely redesigned Class 2 e-bike and a three-wheel e-scooter and will make significant enhancements to the existing six devices in its product line. The new vehicles are designed to make travel easier and more comfortable for riders of diverse ages and abilities. New features will allow e-bikes and e-scooters to make longer trips and enable riders to carry more items, like groceries.

"Producing the most advanced, durable, and comfortable scooters and bikes on the street is what keeps riders choosing Veo," said Edwin Tan, Veo co-founder. "We handle all design and manufacturing in-house, and control the entire supply chain process, from design to fabrication and final assembly. Establishing our own supply chain and manufacturing capabilities allows us to be more cost effective and ensure the best quality product."

Veo rose to the top of the micromobility market over the last year due to its fundamentally different approach to financial responsibility and high-quality vehicles. The company took its time to build a profitable business model before scaling with VC money, setting it apart from the industry norm. Veo also sustains limited or exclusive partnerships and collaborates closely with cities to ensure every program is financially viable for the long haul.

Moving forward, in addition to providing personal transportation options, Veo believes micromobility will play a critical role in logistics, specifically last-mile deliveries in cities. Deliveries are already increasing congestion and creating double parking challenges as e-commerce companies work to deliver products to consumers as quickly as possible. Communities can reduce congestion and free-up curb space by locating fulfillment centers closer to customers and requiring items to be delivered with smaller vehicles like e-bikes and e-scooters.

About Veo

Veo is bringing the next generation of shared electric bikes and scooters to cities and universities around the world. Founded in 2017 by two Purdue University graduates, Veo operates from a set of values that distinguish us in the industry. We are grounded in financial responsibility: Veo partnered with select cities to achieve profitability before scaling. Our in-house design and manufacturing process enables us to constantly innovate and provide cities with vehicle fleets that are made to last. We develop collaborative, long-term partnerships with cities and universities so we can work together toward a sustainable, safe, and equitable transportation future. Learn more at www.veoride.com.

SOURCE Veo
JERSEY CITY, N.J., Dec. 13, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Veris Residential, Inc. (NYSE: VRE), a forward-thinking, environmentally- and socially-conscious REIT that primarily owns, operates, acquires, and develops Class A multifamily properties, today announced the establishment of an At-The-Market share offering program (the "ATM Program") through which the company may issue and sell, from time to time, up to $200 million shares of its common stock. The company intends to use net proceeds from any sales of the shares under the ATM Program for general corporate purposes.

Under the ATM Program, the shares of common stock may be offered and sold through sales agents, from time to time, in transactions that are deemed to be "at-the-market" offerings as defined in Rule 415(a)(4) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. The shares would be offered pursuant to a distribution agreement with J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, BofA Securities, BNY Mellon Capital Markets, LLC, Capital One Securities, Comerica Securities, Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC, R. Seelaus & Co., LLC, and Ramirez & Co., Inc. serving as sales agents.

Sales may also be made by any other method permitted by law, including by means of ordinary brokers' transactions on the New York Stock Exchange, on any other existing trading market for Veris Residential's common stock, to or through a market maker at prices prevailing at the time of sale or in privately negotiated transactions. Only one of the sales agents may sell shares on a particular day or specified period of days. The company is not obligated to sell, and none of the sales agents are obligated to buy or sell, any shares under the ATM Program.

The company has filed a registration statement (including a prospectus) with the SEC for the offering of common shares described in this communication. You may obtain these documents by visiting EDGAR on the SEC website at www.sec.gov. Alternatively, the company or the sales agents will arrange to send you the prospectus if you request it by contacting J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, c/o Broadridge Financial Solutions, 1155 Long Island Avenue, Edgewood, New York 11717, Attention: Prospectus Group or by calling toll free at (866) 803-9204; BofA Securities, NC1-004-03-43, 200 North College Street, 3rd Floor, Charlotte, North Carolina 28255-0001, Attention: Prospectus Department (email: [email protected]); BNY Mellon Capital Markets, LLC, 240 Greenwich St., New York, New York 10286, Attention: Mike Palma (email: [email protected] or telephone: (201) 615-3108); Capital One Securities, Inc., 201 St. Charles Ave, Suite 1830, New Orleans, Louisiana 70170, Attention: Gabrielle Halprin (email: [email protected]); Comerica Securities, Inc., Mail Code 7476, 3551 Hamlin Road, 4th Floor, Auburn Hills, Michigan 48326; Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC, Attention: Prospectus Department, 200 West Street, New York, New York 10282 (telephone: (866) 471-2526 or email: [email protected]); R. Seelaus & Co., LLC, Attention: Karolina Pajdak, 26 Main Street, Suite 300, Chatham, New Jersey 07928 (telephone: (908) 273-3011 ext. 3004 or telecopier: (908) 273-7730 or email: [email protected]); or Samuel A. Ramirez & Company, Inc., Attention: Sandra Baumb, 61 Broadway  29th Floor, New York, New York 10006.

This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of the company's common shares in any state or jurisdiction in which such an offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction.

About Veris Residential, Inc.

Veris Residential, Inc. is a forward-thinking, environmentally- and socially-conscious real estate investment trust (REIT) that primarily owns, operates, acquires, and develops holistically-inspired, Class A multifamily properties that meet the sustainability-conscious lifestyle needs of today's residents while seeking to positively impact the communities it serves and the planet at large. The company is guided by an experienced management team and Board of Directors and is underpinned by leading corporate governance principles, a best-in-class and sustainable approach to operations, and an inclusive culture based on equality and meritocratic empowerment.

Forward-Looking Statements

Statements made in this communication may be forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "may," "will," "plan," "potential," "projected," "should," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "target," "continue," or comparable terminology. Such forward-looking statements are inherently subject to certain risks, trends and uncertainties, many of which the company cannot predict with accuracy and some of which the company might not even anticipate and involve factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those projected or suggested. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements and are advised to consider the factors listed above together with the additional factors under the heading "Disclosure Regarding Forward-Looking Statements" and "Risk Factors" in the company's Annual Report on Form 10-K, as may be supplemented or amended by the company's Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, which are incorporated herein by reference. The company assumes no obligation to update or supplement forward-looking statements that become untrue because of subsequent events, new information or otherwise, except as required under applicable law.

Contact:

Investors

[email protected]

Media

Amanda Shpiner/Grace Cartwright

Gasthalter & Co.

212-257-4170

[email protected]

SOURCE Veris Residential, Inc.
DUBAI, UAE, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- ViuBox from SenseMi, a technology company that specializes in creating and deploying AI-based solutions for fashion businesses, announces the launch of ViuBox SYZ 3.0. These products which help shoppers get personalized fitting comments and try-on clothes, online, before buying are now easier to use and faster.

ViuBox launches SYZ3.0. Newer, faster, smarter.

The new version makes ViuBox stand out with a unique technology that has simplified personalization experience on E-commerce Fashion websites. E-commerce Fashion has seen huge spike in popularity in recent years and the global pandemic accelerated this trend. It helps shoppers browse through large number of items from the convenience of their location and have it delivered to them, all done from a mobile phone or a computer. Despite the tremendous opportunities and the multiplication of business potential of E-Commerce, returns have been a major hassle for brands and shoppers alike.

Unlike stores, there is no provision for users to try-on clothes before buying when shopping online. Thus, shoppers go for the size that they think is best suited for them. If this was a good way to buy clothes then physical stores wouldn't waste precious space in setting up trial rooms. Naturally a lot of the clothes bought online is returned due to wrong size, fit or color.

ViuBox SYZ addresses these issues. It lets user get personalized fitting comments on any size of any item and also lets them try it on their digital avatar before buying. Their digital avatars are accurate rendering of the shoppers with their face and body proportions. ViuBox is also set to make its Metaverse Debut.

"SenseMi's ViuBox has been a forerunner and a leader in blending Augmented Reality and Artificial Intelligence with Fashion business to deliver an immersive experience and to save time, money and effort. ViuBox is currently developing world-leaving, envelope-pushing assets for metaverse. As is the case so far, ViuBox shall not be confined to the concept stage, which many companies announcing such solutions are guilty of. The future is exciting and ViuBox is right in the middle of it."  Arash, Founder and CTO.

ViuBox has an exemplary track record of data privacy and does not store any sensitive data about the shoppers beyond the point of initial analysis. A pioneer in this line of business for five years, SenseMi, is witnessing a rapid growth in its US Operations.

For more information, please visit http://www.viubox.com/.

About SenseMi

SenseMi is a software development company committed to the growth of the eCommerce business, especially online fashion stores. They operate under the brand name ViuBox and have at least four products that help retail stores get more traffic and improve sales.

Media Contact

Company Name: SenseMi

Contact Name: Glaiza Gantong

Address: 702, Armada Tower 2, JLT, Dubai, UAE

United Arab Emirates (UAE)

009713451626

256 Chapman Road STE 105-4,

Newark, Delaware-19702, USA.

001 855 640 1626

[email protected]

www.viubox.com

SOURCE SenseMi
"We are pleased to expand our portfolio in Tennessee in the growing and exciting Nashville market," said Steven P. Rosenthal, Chairman of West Shore. "The Pointe at Five Oaks is a terrific property that sits just outside Music City in Lebanon, giving residents an exceptional living experience with easy access to the city."

The Pointe at Five Oaks community offers custom one-bedroom and two-bedroom floor plans with loft apartment options, some with attached private garages. The 312 apartment homes are beautifully designed with quality finishes, gourmet kitchens, and stainless-steel appliances, with each unit featuring a private outdoor patio or balcony.

The complex offers an unparalleled selection of amenities in a dynamic location, including two state-of-the-art fitness facilities and an expansive clubhouse and business center. Outdoor grilling stations with alfresco dining areas and fire pits all overlook the resort-like saltwater pool.

"The Pointe of Five Oaks is strategically located and well positioned to benefit from the significant job drivers and positive momentum in the market," said West Shore President, Lee Rosenthal. "We are proud to add this luxury community to the West Shore portfolio and look forward to future opportunities to expand further in Tennessee."

West Shore's national portfolio now includes over 11,000 apartment homes. The Pointe at Five Oaks is located at 200 Five Oaks Boulevard in Lebanon, Tennessee, and is now leasing. To learn more, visit www.pointefiveoaks.com.

ABOUT WEST SHORE LLC

West Shore LLC is a fully integrated real estate investment firm with a specific focus on the acquisition and management of multifamily assets. It is a dynamic, fast-growing company that blends an entrepreneurial approach to real estate with institutional investment discipline. Its principals are experienced management and real estate private equity executives. Boston-based West Shore was founded in 2016 and owns and operates a diverse portfolio of 36 multifamily properties in seven states, totaling over 11,000 units with a total market value of more than $2.0 billion. For more information about West Shore LLC, visit the company's website at www.west-shore.com.

SOURCE West Shore LLC
WASHINGTON, Dec. 13, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Since the International Accord for Health and Safety in the Textile and Garment Industry went into effect in September, 155 apparel companies have signed this new binding agreement which expands the model pioneered by the Bangladesh Accord for protecting worker safety.

Notably missing, however, are a number of important US retailers, including several that produced garments at the That's It Sportswear factory in the outskirts of Dhaka, where 29 workers died in a massive fire 11 years ago. These include Target, Kohl's, JC Penney, Carter's, and Abercrombie & Fitch, among others.

The fire broke out on December 14th, 2010, on the 9th and 10th floors of the factory, owned by Ha-Meem Group, one of Bangladesh's largest apparel manufacturers. Workers were trapped on the 11th floor because the building had no protected exit stairwellsin gross violation of Bangladesh's building safety code. In a scene horribly reminiscent of the 1911 fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist factory in Manhattan, many of the workers fell to their deaths trying to climb down the building's exterior.

Despite calls in the wake of this disaster for brands to help address the sweeping safety deficiencies across the country's 3,000 garment factories, multiple US companies rejected the creation of a new safety agreement. For example, Walmart claimed in 2011 that it was "not financially feasible" for it to pay better prices to suppliers to help pay for safety renovations like proper fire exits.

Incredibly, when a binding agreement between unions and brands to address worker safety in Bangladesh was finally created after the 2013 Rana Plaza building collapse, most of the brands that produced at That's Its Sportswear refused to sign it, including Kohl's, Target, JC Penney, and Carter's. Abercrombie & Fitch did sign, but then refused to remain in the agreement when it was renewed in 2018. To date, none of these brands have signed the new International Safety Accord.

"Safety renovations generated by the Accord across 1,600 factories have made conditions safer for more than two million workers," said Scott Nova, Executive Director of the Worker Rights Consortium. "Participation by additional retailers such as Target, Gap, and Kohl's would bring this life-saving program to cover thousands more workers in Bangladesh and could help ensure its expansion to other countries."

Contact: [email protected]

SOURCE Worker Rights Consortium
PITTSBURGH, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Work.software, a SaaS company focused on creating a collaborative environment to ensure your top performers are recognized and rewarded, is pleased to announce the addition of Edward Lawrence to the position of Sales Executive. Ed is responsible for introducing Work.software to business leaders interested in improving company culture and employee satisfaction

Work.software Welcomes Ed Lawrence

Ed joins Work.software with more than 28 years of experience in sales, marketing, and business development for leading companies in western Pennsylvania and surrounding regions. Past positions held by Ed include roles at prominent publicly traded companies such as Aetna, Automatic Data Processing (ADP), and Colliers International, where he assisted clients in pursuit of achieving their business goals.

Ed built his career by exceeding new business sales and revenue goals while creating and implementing strategies that empower clients to improve company culture by optimizing the places they work. His talents have been leveraged for business objectives related, but not limited, to finance, human resources, corporate real estate, talent recruitment, and talent retention.

Ed also puts his leadership skills to work as a dedicated board member of Services Coordination Unlimited, a Pittsburgh-based nonprofit, as well as on the Leadership Council of the Baldwin Community United Methodist Church.

A Pittsburgh native, Ed returned to his hometown after graduating from Denison University. He earned an MBA from Waynesburg University.

"Ed is a seasoned sales professional who understands the challenges facing companies focused on retaining and attracting employees through providing optimal work environments. I am thrilled to welcome him to our team," Dave Wible, founder of Work.software, said in a statement.

About Work.software

Work.software (W.s) was founded in 2020 by successful entrepreneurs David Wible and William Chufo after selling their digital media SaaS firm Industry Weapon. Work.software specializes in helping businesses of all sizes accelerate growth and performance through software and curated consulting services. Work.software operates with clientele throughout the US. For additional information, visit https://work.software .

Media Contact:

David Wible

412-866-8606

[email protected]

SOURCE Work.software
WUXI, China, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- On December 9, at the Financial Empowerment Conference and Shangxian Lake Financial Summit held in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, representatives from the country's best financial institutions, especially some private equity institutions, participated in witnessing the unveiling of the Wuxi Fund PARK both offline and online. It is born for "financial empowerment, the combination of industry and finance", and it is the innovation base of the combination of industry and finance in the Yangtze River Delta, according to the Shangxian Lake Financial Summit.

Wuxi Fund PARK is in the wetland park in the core area of Taihu New City, Wuxi, with a green rate of 52%, beautiful environment and excellent ecology. The first phase consists of 31 modern high-looking wooden structure buildings, including 27 headquarters office buildings with different forms, and 4 buildings with supporting functions such as industrial display, enterprise services, project roadshow, catering, fitness, 24-hour picture and text reading, etc.

In addition, relying on the developed advanced manufacturing base in the Yangtze River Delta, the park has built an equity investment communication platform, a docking platform for investment and financing projects, a research platform for financial think tanks, and a platform for cultivating financial talents. It will effectively promote the deep integration of all kinds of capital, emerging industries, and high-end talents, and make it more physically and mentally capable of both internal and external repair. It is making every effort to build 16 advanced manufacturing industrial clusters, of which 9 industrial clusters have a main income of more than 100 billion yuan.

Finance is the lifeblood of modern economy. Advanced manufacturing industry cannot do without financial empowerment, capital support, and equity investment with the characteristics of risk-sharing and benefit-sharing characteristics is undoubtedly one of the most attractive financial means. To this end, Wuxi has specially formulated 15 articles on "Equity Investment Development" and given many attractive preferential policies. Today, the opening of the Wuxi Fund PARK undoubtedly fills in a handful of firewood for many equity funds to gather in Wuxi.

At present, Wuxi Fund PARK has attracted a number of financial institutions, including PE/VC head institutions, four major accounting and law firms, central and local well-known enterprises, sub-sector head investment funds, investment cutting-edge institutions, etc.

SOURCE Shangxian Lake Financial Summit
''We are proud to receive the acknowledgement from CES. We are also excited to see the growing awareness on solid-state-lidar solutions for automotive and autonomous applications. XenomatiX offers a unique approach to lidar sensors, its multi-beam technology ensures high reliability at low cost and high volumes." said Filip Geuens, CEO of XenomatiX.

For the 4th consecutive CES Las Vegas, XenomatiX will be attending the show in-person and showcase its winning product, XenoLidar-X in the LCVV West Hall, booth #5677.

At XenomatiX' and their partners' booths, participants will be able to see real life examples of lidar integration in a vehicle, like in headlamps or behind windshields. XenomatiX' partner, Marelli Automotive Lighting will showcase a functioning lidar module in their suite at the Wynn hotel. At booth #6577 Wideye, another XenomatiX' partner, will exhibit the ability to combine both lidar and camera modules behind the windshield and guarantee high performance and reliability.

XenomatiX' newly developed true-solid-state lidar, the XenoLidar-X, is a sensor designed for high resolution and accurate analysis of the vehicle's surroundings. Its lightweight and small design makes it ideal for seamless integration in any vehicle, drone, or robot.

Moreover, XenoLidar-X has no moving or scanning mechanism, detecting the whole scene in 'one flash'. This innovative and high performant concept, called multi-beam, allows detection beyond 200m range at normal power consumption. The high-resolution point cloud needs no post-treatment for time-space correction like scanning lidars, allows for a much higher frame rate and corrects more easily for one laser fall-out, obviously all within Class 1 safety.

To learn more about XenomatiX' technology and applications visit the website: www.xenomatix.com

About XenomatiX

XenomatiX is the first company to offer True-Solid-State LiDAR solutions for on-road and off road automotive, industrial, and monitoring (smart city) applications. XenomatiX designs and builds products and software that enable precise real-time 3D + 2D digitization, offering a fast understanding of the real world and empowering applications that lead to safer and more comfortable cities and vehicles. XenomatiX is known for its flexible and customizable LiDAR modules for series integration. Besides in-house hardware and software solutions, XenomatiX' has built a valuable ECO system of partnerships with Tier 1 and Tier 2 suppliers and provides this way access to total solutions to automotive and industrial companies.

For more info check our website www.xenomatix.com or contact Jacopo Alaimo, NA Sales and Business Development Manager, +1 586 237 7238 - [email protected]

About Wideye by AGC

Corporate scale-up of the Tokyo-based AGC Group (a world-leading supplier of flat, automotive and display glass, chemicals and other high-tech materials and components), Wideye by AGC is totally focused on autonomous vehicle ecosystems. Since 2016, Wideye's vision is to enable ADAS deployment and bring fully autonomous driving to reality. Through comprehensive R&D and partnership with sensor companies, Wideye has established the know-how to manage 360 sensor integration from the early development stage up through mass production. Wideye targets its innovative services & products to sensor suppliers, automotive tier 1s and OEMs by closely working with them. Wideye uses its large ecosystem, to help its customers design, prototype, and industrialize the perfect integration solutions for their optical sensor modules such as LiDAR and CAMERA.

For more information go to: www.wideye.vision or join us on LinkedIn.

About Marelli

MARELLI is one of the world's leading global independent suppliers to the automotive sector. With a strong and established track record in innovation and manufacturing excellence, our mission is to transform the future of mobility through working with customers and partners to create a safer, greener, and better-connected world. With around 58,000 employees worldwide, the MARELLI footprint includes 170 facilities and R&D centers across Asia, the Americas, Europe, and Africa, generating revenues of 1,266 billion JPY (10.4 billion EUR) in 2020.

SOURCE XenomatiX
The announcement shows that the shares were eventually allotted to 22 targets at the price of RMB 37.89 per share, with a total of 317,953,285 shares raising about RMB 12,047 million.

This private placement by Yili attracted 53 leading institutional and individual investors from around the world to bid for its shares. The issue price represents a discount of 5.46% from the closing price on the inquiry date, setting a new low since the new regulations on refinancing took effect.

Capital bidding for Yili shares recognizes its investment value

The small discount and enthusiastic bidders showed the unanimous recognition of Yili's investment value. On the one hand, the promising prospect of the dairy industry and Yili's outstanding performance bolstered investors' confidence. On the other hand, it demonstrated confidence in Yili's strategic goals aimed at ensuring its strong development prospects in the future.

The data in Yili's latest financial statements not only outperformed market expectations, but also demonstrated a brand-new growth trend. During the first three quarters of 2021, the company realized total operating revenues of RMB 85,007 million, up 15.23% year-on-year, and its net profits amounted to RMB 7,967 million, representing year-on-year growth of 31.82%.

As one of the world's top five dairy producers, Yili has continued to optimize its product structure in a bid to strengthen its competitiveness as an industry leader. The announcement states that funds raised through this issue will primarily be used for bolstering Yili's layout and expanding its production capabilities for high-value-added product varieties, as well as for digitalizing operations. This will fully enhance the company's profitability and operational efficiency.

Creating value for shareholders

The rapid growth of Yili's business scale and accelerated pace of establishing a globalized presence have resulted in an increase in the company's demand for working capital. The private placement can help Yili to optimize its financial structure and improve the net profit end.

Yili has always paid high returns to its shareholders, which was also an important factor behind investors' active participation in its private placement. Since going public, Yili has cumulatively distributed dividends 21 times, with cash dividends worth RMB 30.4 billion in total, according to data.

At the 2021 Leadership Summit held by Yili Group, Chairman and President Pan Gang put forward the company's goal of a "New Vision for Value Creation", in which creating value for shareholders is one of the key pillars.

SOURCE Yili Group

Related Links

www.yili.com


Budapest, Dec 14 : The issues of immigration, rule of law, the Western Balkans, energy, including nuclear energy, were mainly discussed at the meeting between visiting French President Emmanuel Macron and Prime Ministers of the Visegrad Group (V4) countries in Budapest.

"We spoke thoroughly and exhaustively about migration ... about the question of the rule of law ... about the Western Balkans ... about energy, especially about nuclear energy and its ETS (Emissions Trading System) energy billing system," Hungarian Prime Minister (PM) Viktor Orban told a joint press conference after the meeting on Monday.

Macron arrived in Budapest earlier on Monday. Orban had a bilateral meeting with the French President earlier in the afternoon, Xinhua news agency reported.

"We will agree with President Macron on the issue of patriotism, the strengthening of Europe and European strategic autonomy," the Hungarian PM said.

Hungary assumes the current presidency of the V4 Group, which includes Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

"Hungary was the only one that said that if necessary, the EU border should be protected with physical force, and thus not only Hungary but the whole of Europe would be protected," Orban said.

"We didn't get a single good word, and we even had to suffer the harshest attacks when we defended Europe's borders, we were regularly shot in the back from Brussels and some European capitals," he added.

Macron said that he saw a European partner in Orban despite their differences and said that the basics for moving forward were "media plurality, rule of law and the respect of fundamental rights." He added that the common areas of understanding between Budapest and Paris were nuclear energy, agriculture and a common European defence policy.

Poland and Hungary were both involved in a long-lasting conflict with the EU over democratic values like rule of law, judicial and press freedom, and human rights.

The European Commission has launched several procedures against both countries, including a new "conditionality" mechanism that ties funding to the rule of law and anti-corruption criteria, and that has held up the release of coronavirus recovery funds to Budapest and Warsaw.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said that his country managed to "defend" its borders, which are also the borders of the EU.

Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis said his government was ready to send soldiers to either the Polish frontiers or to the Balkans.

Slovakia's Prime Minister Eduard Heger underlined that it was important for the V4 countries to state very clearly that despite all the conflicts and disputes, the EU was the only source of development and wealth these countries could count on.
London, Dec 14 : A US woman accused of killing a British teenager in England and fled Britain, will face criminal proceedings in the UK in January 2022, the UK Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has said.

Harry Dunn, 19, died in August 2019 after a crash outside the Royal Air Force base in Northamptonshire used by the US military, Xinhua news agency reported.

After the crash, driver Anne Sacoolas, wife of a US Intelligence official based at the camp, and also reportedly a US Intelligence officer, fled Britain and claimed diplomatic immunity.

Dunn's family launched a legal challenge claiming Sacoolas should not have been granted immunity and the family wants Sacoolas to return to Britain to face justice.

In December 2019, CPS authorised Northamptonshire Police to charge Sacoolas with causing death by dangerous driving. An extradition request for her to be brought to the UK was rejected by the US government.

Dunn's mother, Charlotte Charles, said her family were feeling "very emotional and overwhelmed" by the news that Sacoolas would face UK justice system.

"It is all that we asked for following Harry's death," she said.

Despite the CPS announcement, lawyers of Sacoolas said there is currently no agreement to have their client appear in a hearing, according to media reports. They also denied reports that the 44-year-old would attend through a video link.
United Nations : , Dec 14 (IANS) The UN Security Council in a contentious meeting, rejected a draft resolution that would have integrated climate-related security risk as a central component of UN conflict-prevention strategies aiming to help counter the risk of conflict relapse.

In a recorded vote of 12 in favour to two against (India and Russia), with one abstention (China), the Council -- acting under Chapter VII of the UN Charter -- rejected the draft owing to the negative vote by a permanent member of the Council, Xinhua news agency reported Co-sponsored by Niger, Council President for December, and Ireland, the draft would have requested the Secretary General to integrate climate-related security risk as a central component into comprehensive conflict-prevention strategies of the UN, to contribute to the reduction of the risk of conflict relapse due to adverse effects of climate change.

The vote followed an open debate of the Council on December 9 in which nearly 60 speakers warned that people and countries most vulnerable to climate change also are most vulnerable to terrorist recruitment and violence.
United Nations : , Dec 14 (IANS) Military groups are holding some drivers of 18 commandeered aid trucks in the Amhara region of northern Ethiopia, a UN spokesman has said.

"The World Food Programme (WFP) and its non-governmental organisation (NGO) partners strongly condemn the commandeering of its trucks and assets, as well as forcible threats to their staff," added Farhan Haq, Deputy Spokesman for UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres. Some drivers remain detained.

On Friday, "a group of armed individuals -- believed to be either from the Ethiopian National Defence Forces or an affiliated allied military force -- entered the Disaster Risk Management Committee compound in Kombolcha and took 18 WFP trucks by force," he said.

The WFP reported to the UN headquarters in New York earlier Monday that the hijackers returned 15 of the trucks, but the whereabouts of some of the drivers remain unknown, Xinhua news agency reported.

The WFP had informed the Ethiopian federal government of the thefts, and local authorities in Dessie are aiding in recovering the remaining trucks, Haq added. Individuals used the trucks "for their own purposes." Haq told Xinhua that while WFP reported drivers missing, he did not know how many.

The spokesman said the drivers were not among the UN staff detained in November by federal authorities in Addis Ababa and the embattled Tigray region, north of Amhara.

While Haq had no information on the truckers, he added, "We still have under detention 10 staffers and two dependents," referring to the earlier federal detainees.

He said the WFP and partners reiterate that "under international humanitarian law, it is prohibited to attack, destroy, misappropriate or loot relief supplies, installations, material, units, or vehicles." Attempts to reach a WFP spokesperson were unsuccessful.
Kampala, Dec 14 : The Ugandan military has urged the rebel Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) holed up in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to surrender under the amnesty law, adding they would not be charged for the offences committed.

"We encourage others who wish to surrender to Uganda, especially the Ugandans, to do so because the amnesty law is still in force and they can still benefit from it," Deputy Army Spokesperson, Ronald Kakurungu said in a statement on Monday.

The Ugandan and Congolese militaries are jointly fighting the ADF, a Ugandan rebel group and an affiliate of the Islamic State in central Africa, Xinhua news agency reported.

The rebel outfit is also accused of the bombings in the Ugandan capital Kampala in October and November.

Kakurungu said so far 61 ADF fighters have surrendered to the Congolese army since they launched a joint operation against the rebels in eastern Congo on November 30.

So far six ADF camps have been destroyed in the joint operation, he added.
Chandigarh, Dec 14 : The book, 'Against All Odds', is the real story of the courage, grit and determination of the Longewala battle in which 120 Indian Army soldiers defended the post of Longewala (or Laungewala) in the western sector on the night of December 4-5, 1971, against a formidable enemy onslaught of nearly 60 tanks and more than 3,000 Pakistani Infantry Brigade.

It is an official biography of Brigadier Kuldip Singh Chandpuri, the hero of the Indian Army, who was of a Major rank at that time, and led the 23rd Alpha Company of the Punjab regiment at Longewala in Rajasthan.

The feat of Brigadier Chandpuri and his men was featured in Bollywood blockbuster 'Border' which was released in 1997. His role was played by actor Sunny Deol. The movie won accolades across all sections of society.

Commemorating 50 years of the 1971 Indo-Pak war, the book 'Against All Odds' is a salute to the bravery of soldiers of Longewala who defended the crucial post against all odds.

Written by Gurjot Singh Kaler, Punjab Superintendent of Police, the book highlights the valiant role of Major Chandpuri and his 120 Indian soldiers who courageously fought against the huge enemy onslaught by the Pakistani military and stood victorious in defending the honour, respect and integrity of the motherland.

Longewala was, thus, a decisive battle.

This book is different from the J.P. Dutta-directed movie 'Border'.

'Against All Odds', not only depicts the battle of Longewala but is an official biography which truly depicts the life story of the hero of Longewala, Brigadier Chandpuri, that will inspire the coming generations to live a life of courage, grit and determination.

It took around three and a half years to do research and the most interesting highlight of the book is that it captures the imagination of the readers as it has been written in a lucid, clear and understandable manner in the form of an engrossing conversation between the author and the protagonist of the plot.

It has a total of nine chapters and some rare photographs of Brigadier Chandpuri that were never in the public domain before, Kaler, a young police officer with a literary mind, told IANS.

The book traces the journey of Major Chandpuri, right from his birth till his final adieu from the world. It also addresses various issues related to the battle of Longewala which have never been heard before.

The book was recently unveiled in the Kapil Sharma Show by actor Sunny Deol and it was also showcased at the battle site of Longewala on December 5.

Kaler, who has previously worked with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, shared his own long association with the family and the lessons he picked up from Brigadier Chandpuri, who was imbued with a great sense of humour.

He mentioned how Brigadier Chandpuri not only refused many political offers and even the offer from the Canadian Army to join their forces during his stint in Gaza as part of UN forces.

The best prayer and service to the god is to serve his creation was the motto of Brigadier Chandpuri, who believed in serving the needy and downtrodden instead of going to the gurdwaras, Kaler added.

Paying a heartfelt tribute to the battle of Longewala, the book has been published by Ferntree and marketed and distributed by Smart Books India.

A decorated war veteran, Brigadier Chandpuri died in a private hospital in Mohali near Chandigarh on November 17, 2018. He was 77 and is survived by his wife and three sons.

He was awarded the Maha Vir Chakra (MVC) for the heroic stand-off and forcing the enemy to retreat. He was born on November 22, 1940.

The MVC citation read: "Major Kuldip Singh Chandpuri was commanding a company of the Punjab regiment occupying a defended locality in the Rajasthan sector. On December 5, 1971, in the early hours of the morning the enemy launched a massive attack on this locality with infantry and tanks. Major Chandpuri exhibited dynamic leadership in holding his command intact and steadfast.

"Showing exceptional courage and determination, he inspired his men moving from bunker to bunker, encouraging them in beating back the enemy till reinforcements arrived. In this heroic defence, he inflicted heavy casualties on the enemy and forced them to retreat leaving behind twelve tanks.

"In this action, Major Kuldip Singh Chandpuri displayed conspicuous gallantry, inspiring leadership and exceptional devotion to duty in keeping with the highest traditions of the Indian Army." A soft-spoken but firm man, Brigadier Chandpuri settled in Chandigarh's Sector-33 after retiring from the Indian Army, remaining active socially.

The famous photograph of his soldiers dancing atop vanquished Pakistani tanks after the battle of Longewala was won, adorned the wall in a big frame in the living room of his house.

(Vishal Gulati can be contacted at vishal.g@ians.in)
Seoul, Dec 14 : Starting Tuesday, some 70,000 inmates and officers from all correctional facilities in South Korea will get tested for Covid-19 as a precautionary measure following the recent cluster infections among prisoners.

The Ministry of Justice said the mass testing of 17,000 correction officers and 53,000 inmates will run for three days, reports Yonhap News Agency.

The Ministry also said that it will speed up plans to administer booster shots for those who had been fully vaccinated three months ago or earlier.

The move came as a total of 30 people, including 27 inmates, at a prison in Hongseong, South Chungcheong Province, were confirmed to be infected with the virus.

Justice Minister Park Beom-kye apologised for the latest mass outbreak and pledged utmost efforts to prevent such cases from recurring.

Last year, mass testing was conducted after infections broke out at a Seoul detention centre.
Washington, Dec 14 : The US has no hostile policy toward North Korea while it continues to wait for a positive response from Pyongyang to its outreach, a state department spokesperson said Monday.

Jalina Porter, principal deputy spokesperson for the state department, also reiterated that the US remains ready to meet with North Korea any time without any preconditions, Yonhap News Agency reported on Tuesday.

"We remain committed to achieving a lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula through dialogue and diplomacy with the DPRK, and to that end, of course, we will seek to engage with the DPRK as a part of a calibrated and practical approach in order to make more tangible progress that increases the security of not only the US, but as well as our allies and our deployed forces," she said in a telephonic press briefing on Monday.

DPRK stands for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the North's official name.

Her remarks come after South Korean President Moon Jae-in said the US, China and North Korea have all expressed their agreement, in principle, for the need to formally declare an end to the Korean War, but that the countries have been unable to enter talks because of Pyongyang's demand for Washington to withdraw what it calls American hostility.

"We certainly have no hostile intent towards the DPRK. And we're certainly prepared to meet without preconditions and we hope the DPRK will respond positively to our outreach," said Porter.

"We'll continue to consult closely with Republic of Korea, Japan and other allies and partners about the best way to engage with the DPRK," she added, referring to South Korea by its official name.

Echoing a similar statement, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said: "We have no hostile intent toward the DPRK, and we're obviously prepared to meet without preconditions and we continue to hope that the DPRK will respond positively to that outreach, the administration's outreach." The US has some 28,500 troops stationed in South Korea.

North Korea has long demanded the withdrawal of American troops from South Korea, accusing joint ROK-US military exercises of being war rehearsals.

North Korea has stayed away from denuclearization negotiations since 2019.
Seoul, Dec 14 : South Korea has extended its special advisory against overseas travel for another month due to the global spread of the new Omicron variant of Covid-19, the Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.

In the advisory, the Ministry recommended citizens to cancel or postpone non-essential trips abroad until January 13, while asking those overseas to take measures to prevent exposure to the virus, such as refraining from going to large-scale events, reports Yonhap News Agency.

The travel advisory was first issued in March and has been extended every month as countries have continued to struggle with the pandemic.

The Ministry said it plans to review changing the special advisory in phases into a warning system for each country, depending on the virus situation and the vaccination rate in foreign nations and progress in travel bubble consultations.
Bhopal, Dec 14 : A former Sarpanch was shot dead when a group of men opened fire at a wedding function in Madhya Pradesh's Mandsaur district.

The victim was a follower of jailed self-styled godman Rampal and had organised a marriage function.

The incident was reported on Monday afternoon when the men allegedly shouting 'Jai Shri Ram', barged into the marriage venue. The men are reported to have objected to the function alleging that such weddings were being organised illegally.

"A group of assailants barged into a marriage function and created ruckus there. Hearing the commotion among the people gathered at the marriage function, the organiser tried to control the situation and heated arguments were exchanged. In the meantime, one of the assailants put out his gun and opened fire on the function organiser. The victim was rushed to a nearby hospital and was declared dead," Mandsaur district police told IANS.

The deceased has been identified as Devilal Meena, a two-time former village sarpanch supported by the ruling BJP. Being an ardent follower of self-styled godman Rampal, he was the main organiser of the marriage.

"A murder case has been lodged against 11 identified accused and other unidentified accused. Three of them have been arrested," Mandsaur Additional Superintendent Amit Verma said.

Further investigations are on.
Los Angeles, Dec 14 : After his exit from ABC's 'General Hospital' for not following the popular show's vaccine mandate, Ingo Rademacher, who plays Jasper Jacks, has filed a lawsuit against the American television network ABC, putting up the argument that their vaccine policy is unconstitutional.

The actor was asked to leave the show after he refused to take the jab. The suit argues that ABC was required to honour the actor's religious exemption and that questioning the sincerity of his beliefs amounts to religious discrimination, reports 'Variety'.

Rademacher is represented by John W. Howard, an attorney who has filed several lawsuits challenging vaccine mandates, and environmental lawyer Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

'Variety' quotes an email that Rademacher wrote to Disney's HR department on October 11, stating: "I am entitled to a religious exemption against mandatory vaccination for Covid-19 on the basis of my deeply and sincerely held moral belief that my body is endowed by my creator with natural processes to protect me and that its natural integrity cannot ethically be violated by the administration of artificially created copies of genetic material, foreign to nature and experimental." Apart from Rademacher, Steve Burton, another 'General Hospital' star, had to leave the show following his refusal to comply with the vaccine mandate citing religious and medical exemptions.
New Delhi, Dec 14 : Delhi Police have arrested a man for killing his five-year-old son in the national capital's Dakshinpuri area, an official said here on Tuesday.

According to the official, a PCR call was received regarding a minor boy being brought dead to Madan Mohan Malviya Hospital. After reaching the hospital, police found several blue marks on the body.

"The body was then shifted to AIIMS Trauma Centre and an investigation into the case was initiated," the official said.

During the course of enquiry, it was revealed that the minor boy was severely beaten by his step father. The police then registered an FIR under section 302 (punishment for murder) of the Indian Penal Code and launched a manhunt to nab the accused.

The accused identified as Gulsher, a resident of Uttar Pradesh's Bijnor district was later apprehended. Police are ascertaining the motive behind the crime. "Further interrogation is underway," the official said.
New York, Dec 14 : The Senate Foreign Relations Committee will on Tuesday take up the long-delayed confirmation process of Eric Garcetti, the incumbent Mayor of Los Angeles, as the US Ambassador to India.

The panel will also consider President Joe Biden's nomination of Donald Armin Blome as the envoy to Pakistan.

Garcetti is considered close to Biden having been a co-chair of his election campaign.

The US tends to send political nominees as ambassadors to important posts, often selecting Presidents' supporters or those raising political funds and they usually have a direct line to the presidents and top officials.

Fifteen of the 23 Ambassadors in New Delhi have been political appointees.

Blome, on the other hand is a career diplomat, who is the Ambassador to Tunisia.

He has served as the political counsellor at the Embassy in Kabul, giving him crucial insights into the region in the aftermath of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan and Islamabad's influence over the Taliban that now rules its neighbour.

Blome has also done stints in Baghdad, Riyadh and Kuwait.

Career diplomats are often picked over political appointees to head embassies in hot spots where their special expertise and low profiles can help delicate diplomacy.

All the 17 US Ambassadors to Pakistan since 1973 have been foreign service officers.

The appointments of all Ambassadors and senior officials have to be confirmed by the Senate.

The process starts with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which hears statements from the nominees and then questions them before voting whether to send the nomination to the full Senate.

The panel does not usually vote immediately on the nomination but continue questioning the nominee in a written format.

Despite the importance of the New Delhi post because of Biden's priorities in the Indo-Pacific and in facing China's aggressive posture, Garetti's nomination has been on hold.

Biden nominated Garcetti in July but it has taken more than five months for his candidacy to be taken by the Senate panel because of a logjam created by Republican Senator Ted Cruz.

Using his senatorial privilege which allows senators to single-handedly delay some of the Senate's work, Cruz stopped the nomination process for envoys for several months because of an unrelated dispute with Biden over the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline that Russia is building to Germany..

Cruz has wanted Biden to place sanctions on those involved with the pipeline.

If confirmed, Garcetti will succeed Ken Juster, who was appointed by former President Donald Trump.

Garcetti is a former intelligence officer in the US Navy Reserve who served under the US Pacific Fleet Commander and in the Defense Intelligence Agency.

After the last Ambassador to Pakistan, David Hale, was promoted to under secretary of state in 2018, the post has been vacant.

(Arul Louis can be reached at arul.l@ians.in and followed @arulouis)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
New Delhi, Dec 14 : Adani Green Energy Ltd (AGEL), the worlds largest solar power developer and the renewable energy arm of the diversified Adani Group, has signed an agreement with the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) to supply 4,667 MW of green power. This is the worlds largest ever green power purchase agreement.

"We are pleased to have signed the world's largest PPA with SECI," said Gautam Adani, Chairman of the Adani Group.

"This is yet another step in our journey to enable India's dual objective to accelerate India's renewable energy footprint as well as promote domestic manufacturing under the Atmanirbhar Bharat programme. Following the proceedings at COP26, it is increasingly evident that the world has to equitably transition to a low carbon economy faster than previously anticipated. This is why the Adani Group has committed $50-$70 billion of investment in the renewables space. This agreement keeps us well on track to our commitment to become the world's largest renewables player by 2030," he added.

The AGEL-SECI agreement to supply 4,667 MW is part of a manufacturing-linked solar tender of 8,000 MW awarded to AGEL by SECI in June 2020, which set a record for being the world's largest solar development tender ever awarded.

So far, AGEL has signed PPAs with SECI for a total generation capacity of close to 6000 MW of the 8,000 MW awarded in 2020.

AGEL expects to close the balance 2000 MW PPA in the next two to three months.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Manchester, Dec 14 : English Premier League giants Manchester United on Tuesday confirmed that their game against Brentford later in the day was being postponed following the Covid-19 outbreak at the club.

Manchester United, who are currently fifth on the points table with 27 points, had on Monday decided to shut down their first team operations at the Carrington Training Complex for 24 hours, to minimise the risk of any further infection following Covid-positive tests among the first team staff and players.

Earlier on Sunday (December 12), it was reported that there were a small number of positives cases within the squad that travelled to Norwich City.

"The players tested negative on their arrival from Carrow Road on Saturday (December 11), but there were a few positive lateral flow tests the next morning," said manutdnews.com on Tuesday.

Late on Monday night, Man United issued an official statement, confirming that the team will not travel to west London to face Brentford. "Manchester United can confirm that our Premier League fixture at Brentford FC, on Tuesday 14 December at 19:30 (GMT), has been postponed and will be rescheduled in due course. Following PCR confirmation of positive LFT Covid-19 tests among the first-team staff and players, the outbreak requires ongoing surveillance," said the club statement.

"A decision was taken to close first-team operations at the Carrington Training Complex for 24 hours to help minimise risk of further infection, and individuals who tested positive are isolating in line with Premier League protocols. Given cancellation of training and disruption to the squad, and with the health of players and staff the priority, the Club requested the match to be rearranged. The Premier League Board took the decision to postpone based on guidance from medical advisors," added the statement.

There are also reports that if the outbreak situation in the club remains unclear, their weekend encounter against Brighton & Hove Albion could also be postponed.
Chennai, Dec 14 : Officials of the forest department of Tamil Nadu has rescued a baby monkey from the clutches of a begging racket at the famous Marina beach in Chennai. Two kids who were using the monkey to beg gave a slip to the team of wildlife officials and the police.

The rescued baby monkey belongs to the species Bonnet macaques (Macaca radiate) and is covered under Schedule II (Part I) of the wildlife protection Act of 1972.

Forest officials said that people who are found in possession of these monkeys are liable to be punished for a period of 3 years in prison and a penalty of Rs 25,000 for first-time offenders and for regular offenders, imprisonment can go up to 7 years with penalty.

There were complaints from regular beachgoers that children and monkeys were being used for begging and that there seems to be an organised racket behind this.

Sundararajan, a software engineer who regularly spends his evenings at Marina beach after it was opened, told IANS, "Children come here seeking alms and they catch hold of our legs and don't go away unless we pay them. This seems to be not natural and the police patrol team intervenes only if we lodge a complaint. Children are seen with baby monkeys which do not even look up due to poor feeding." Forest officials said that the baby monkeys are caught using traps from the forest areas of Tamil Nadu including Nilgiris and brought to Chennai for begging.

A senior police officer with the Marina beach police station told IANS, "We detained a few children a few days back but they were pleading and crying. There has to be a proper investigation to get to the bottom of this racket and unless it is done, things will continue like this." However, child rights activists said that police and the begging mafia are hands in glove and there seems to be a cut for the local police to continue their begging unhindered.

Jossey Jose, a child rights activist working among children, told IANS, "The police is looking the other way as there seems to be a nexus between the police and the begging mafia. Kids are mostly from north Indian states and as we had warned earlier, the pandemic has increased the flow of children to south Indian states or rather illegal migration of children, and unless a properly organised crackdown is implemented, this will continue."
Mumbai, Dec 14 : It's been 20 years since the release of Karan Johar's iconic film 'Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham'. The Dharma head honcho shared a special video made from the film's BTS visuals tied neatly with his narration.

To mark the film's 20th anniversary, Karan took to his Instagram and shared the video, as he wrote in the caption, "Overwhelmed with the endless love that has poured in from all corners of the world and the industry for celebrating this grand milestone that #KabhiKhushiKabhieGham hits today. Thank you falls short. A little piece of my heart for you on this day. And so it goes...it's all about loving your...family! From us to you, happy #20YearsOfK3G!" In the video, he looks back at the film's journey and expresses his gratitude to every department that made the film possible.

"A film, a journey, memories that are indispensable. I sometimes feel that I don't have words to describe my feelings when it comes to this film. Drama, emotions and sentiments, something that I grew up on. Music and dance are without a doubt, the bed and blanket of Bollywood. Perhaps, this wasn't something that I was really stressed about." Karan speaks about the challenge that came with the film, as he says, "The true challenge was justifying the icons that were cast in the film. The icons that I was bringing together on celluloid, Amitabh Bachchan, Jaya Bachchan, the living legends. The eternal duo of Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol, who are dearest to my heart since my very first film. And of course, the trend setters of that era, Hrithik and Kareena, they still continue to be, even today (sic)." Talking about the film's music, he says, "So many years later, I still hear people humming 'Shava Shava' and 'Bole Chudiyan' at family functions, weddings and celebrations. How the theme of this film deeply resonates with so many hearts across the world." He then goes on to mention the locations, production design, costume and cinematography, "The nostalgia takes me back to the spectacular locations that we shot at. 'Larger than life' was the foundation of every set designed by Sharmishta Roy. The costumes by our dearest friend, the ever dependable and supremely talented Manish Malhotra, set fashion trends that exist till today. Each sequence and scene was beautifully conceptualised by our director of photography Kiran Deohans." Sharing how the film has become a part of pop culture owing to its dialogues and hugely popular dance sequences, Karan says, "'Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham' became a part of pop culture, its dialogues found their way into everyday conversations. Dance moves choreographed their way into school plays, weddings, every kind of celebration and all due to credit to the fantastic Farah Khan who made this possible." The film is something that an entire generation has grown up on as the filmmaker-entrepreneur says, "The music of the film lives on even today. Kids, who watched the film with their families back then, are now watching the movie today with their own kids. It is after all a film with family values that I hold close to my heart." Karan expresses his gratitude to everyone involved in the film and to the fans, "I have been fortunate enough to speak to many people, who claim that they are fans of the movie and I am grateful to them each and every day, truly grateful for all their love." "20 years later, I am still so happy to have created something that got so much joy to so many across the world and forever indebted to the legendary cast and I'm proud to call them my friends and family. Thank you everyone for celebrating this milestone with me, Karan Johar, and I wish all you fans of 'K3G' a very, very happy 20 years of 'Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham'", he concludes.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Chennai, Dec 14 : Actor Prakash Raj's act of making a difference in the life of a poor but meritorious Dalit girl by funding her eduction in the UK has won him praise from Tamil film directors.

Naveen Mohamedali, the director of the critically acclaimed film 'Moodar Koodam', on Tuesday took to social media to share how Prakash Raj had come to the aid of a poor student.

He wrote, "Thanks & salutes to this man Prakash Raaj. He has financially helped Srichandana, a fatherless poor meritorious Dalit girl, secure her admission in (a) UK university, finish her masters and now funded for her to find a job there too. Thanks sir for making a difference in one's life." Going on to give more details, the director wrote, "On 18 March 2020, I forwarded an article from Round Table India to Prakash Raj sir and requested him to make a small contribution. He asked me if it was genuine. I gave him the girl's uncle's number. he spoke to Srichandana and took up her complete education (sic)." National Award-winning director Cheran too expressed his appreciation for Prakash Raj for what he had done.

He tweeted, "The Man.. Only this man done, doing lot of things silently.. Salute and appreciate my dear friend Prakash Raaj (sic)."
New York, Dec 14 : Amazon is facing questions over health and safety policies at a warehouse in the US state of Illinois, which was destroyed by a powerful tornado resulting in the deaths of six workers, the BBC reported.

"This never would have happened if they cared about lives over productivity," the sister of one of the victims commented on social media.

The company says its team had "worked quickly" in response to the tornado, the report said.

The roof collapsed as the tornado hit the warehouse on December 10.

Kelly Nantel, an Amazon spokesperson, said in a statement the company is "deeply saddened" by the deaths.

One of those who died, Clayton Cope, 29, spoke to his family on the phone shortly before the building in the town of Edwardsville was struck.

Now, questions are being raised over whether adequate shelter was available, whether workers were advised to go there immediately, and whether the shifts should have gone ahead that evening at all, given the warnings of severe weather, the report added.

The Edwardsville site received tornado warnings between 8.06 p.m. and 8.16 p.m. on December 10 before the tornado struck the building at 8.27 p.m., Amazon said in a statement when contacted by the BBC, with events "happening incredibly fast".

The company said that the team worked "incredibly quickly" to ensure as many employees and partners could reach the "shelter in place" site, the report added.

One cargo driver, Austin J McEwen, 26, died in the bathroom, where many workers said they had been directed to shelter after receiving emergency alerts on their mobile phones.
Jakarta, Dec 14 : A minor tsunami was detected on Tuesday after a massive 7.4-magnitude earthquake jolted Indonesia's East Nusa Tenggara province, the country's Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency said.

While one person was injured in Mangarai district, several houses were damaged in Selayar Island of South Sulawesi province, Richard Elt, head of East Nusa Tenggara's emergency unit, told Xinhua news agency.

"The quake triggered panics. One man was wounded as he fell down when he was rushing outside a building. Our colleagues in South Sulawesi informed us that scores of houses were damaged in the Selayar Island district," he said.

The quake struck at 10.20 a.m., with the epicentre at 113 km northeast of Larantuka sub-district in East Flores district and the depth at 10 km under the seabed, the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency said.

The earthquake previously triggered a tsunami warning, but it was lifted about two hours later.

The tremors triggered a minor tsunami, as the seawater surface rose by 7 cm in the districts of Nagekeo and Manggarai, the agency's head Dwikorita Karnawati told a press conference.

He adding that there were more than 20 aftershocks, with the strongest one measuring 5.6 on the Richter.

In 2004, Indonesia was hit by the devastating undersea megathrust earthquake measuring 9.1-9.3 on the Richter scale, which triggered a series of massive tsunami waves measuring 100 ft high.

Out of the total 227,898 deaths recorded in the countries affected by the tsunami, Indonesia was the worst affected with most fatalities at around 170,000.
Bhopal, Dec 14 : Two staffers of a private firm working with Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC) allegedly died of suffocation in a sewage manhole in the city, police said on Tuesday.

The incident occurred on Monday in Bhopal's Laukhedi area, which falls under the BMC (Bhopal Municipal Corporation) when the two were measuring the depth of a manhole of a sewage line.

As per the police, Deepak Kumar Singh (28), an engineer hailing from Kushinagar in Uttar Pradesh, and his assistant Bharat Singh (22) of Jhabua district in Madhya Pradesh had descended into the manhole to measure its depth.

They were associated with a Gujarat based firm - Ankita Construction Company, which had bagged a contract in 2018 from BMC for laying a sewage line.

The incident came to light after a passerby noticed a man lying unresponsive inside the manhole and alerted the police. Subsequently, a police team along with the staff of BMC rushed and pulled out the man - later identified as Deepak - from a depth of 20 feet. They then searched the manhole after seeing two slippers close by and found another man dead inside.

Reportedly, no safety equipment was found at the spot. Urban development and housing minister Bhupendra Singh Thakur has ordered an inquiry into the incident. The minister has asked MBC to submit a report by Tuesday.

"BMC has formed two separate teams to investigate the matter and the final investigation reports are likely to be ready by today (Tuesday) evening," said a BMC official on Tuesday.

IANS pd/shb/
Brussels, Dec 14 : The European Union (EU) has imposed sanctions against the Russian paramilitary group Wagner, amid concerns of the alleged Russian military build-up along the eastern Ukraine borders.

The sanctions will cover the Wagner group itself, three companies with links to the group and eight individuals, the EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell told reporters here.

The listed individuals and entities will be subject to an asset freeze in the EU, and a travel ban to the EU, reports Xinhua news agency.

They will be prohibited from making funds available, either directly or indirectly, to those listed.

At Monday's press conference, Borrell reaffirmed that the bloc "stands united in support of Ukrainian sovereignty and territorial integrity", warning that any aggression by Russia against Ukraine would trigger economic sanctions that would come at a "high economic cost".

The latest measure was announced after the G7 Foreign Ministers athered in Liverpool from December 10 to 12.

During a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson expressed concerns over the alleged large-scale movement of Russian troops along the Ukrainian borders, the Kremlin said in a statement.

Putin gave Johnson specific examples of how authorities in Kiev undermined the implementation of the Minsk agreements, "which are an uncontested basis for resolving the internal crisis in Ukraine".

Putin underlined the need to immediately begin negotiations on clear and internationally legal agreements against the NATO's further eastward expansion and against the deployment of weapons in Russia's neighbours, primarily Ukraine.
Chennai, Dec 14 : Stating that there was no religion or caste in cinema, Tamil film icon Kamal Haasan said that the only qualities that one required to shine in the field of cinema were talent and interest.

Speaking at the audio launch event of 'Sila Nerangalil Sila Manithargal', which has been made by a bunch of youngsters who disclosed that the idea to make the film originated from a tea shop near their college where they used to discuss cinema, Kamal Haasan said, "If you can come till here from a tea shop, I believe you can go from here to your next destination." Pointing to the unit of the film, comprising of youngsters who had made the film, Kamal said, "The reason why they are here is not only because of friendship but also because of their interest and also the talents that they have acquired. Without that, you cannot shine here." "There is no caste or religion here and that is the truth. Some people might deny it, but I don't care about it," he said.

"If you switch off the lights in this theatre, this here is the only religion, the one story, the one light in this darkness," he said, pointing to the screen.

"That is the reason why we are careful about what we say," he added.

Directed by Vishal Venkat, 'Sila Nerangalil Sila Manithargal' has music by Radhan and cinematography by Meyyendiran.

The film revolves around the lives of four people connected by one common incident. It features a host of actors including actor Manikandan, director K.S. Ravikumar, Ashok Selvan, Rithyvika and Bhanupriya.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
New Delhi, Dec 14 : The government on Tuesday said in the Lok Sabha that the agriculture budget has been increased to Rs 1,23,000 crore which earlier used to be around Rs 21,000 crore.

Responding to a question during the Question Hour, Minister of States for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Kailash Chaudhary said that the government is incentivizing the farmers under crop diversification scheme and these incentives have also been given in horticulture. The government has also increased the Minimum Support Price (MSP) of different crops and is committed to increase the income of the farmers.

Replying to a question on the crop loss in Andhra Pradesh, he also said that the government gives compensation to the farmers if the crops are lost due to natural calamities from National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF).

Chaudhary also informed that earlier, the state government used to send memorandum to the Centre for central assistance but now the Centre sends a expert team to the affected areas soon after natural calamities occur and releases assistance to the state for farmers.

Responding to the DMK Member T.R. Baalu's question on providing central share to Tamil Nadu in SDRF, Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said that the Centre releases funds to SDRF twice a year. Under this scheme, the Union Home Ministry gives 75 per cent and 25 per cent is added by the state. He also said that if the SDRF fund seems insufficient, then the Centre gives additional funds to SDRF. Tomar also assured that Tamil Nadu's dues will be released soon by the Centre.

The Minister of State for Agriculture also informed the house that the government has initiated a scheme for crop diversification and encourages the farmers to grow such crops which require less capital investment. Describing that one kg of paddy crops require 3,000 to 5,000 liters of water, he said that farmers are advised to cultivate different crops and also given incentives.

Responding to another question that if a farmer which is cultivating paddy or wheat for many years, may hesitate to shift to other crops apprehending loss due to many reasons, the Minister said that in case of loss, the farmers may be compensated through the crop insurance, SDRF and other schemes.
Shillong, Dec 14 : The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Tuesday began its two-day public hearing here on the complaints related to the human rights violations in three Northeastern states -- Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura, officials said.

The NHRC led by its member Justice M.M. Kumar conducted the hearing on 19 cases pertaining to the three states.

"The cases are being heard in the presence of complainants and concerned public authorities so that some decisions are taken on the spot for redressal of grievances of the victims of rights violations," an official statement said.

The Commission would hold a meeting on Wednesday with NGOs and human rights defenders to ascertain the human rights situation and related issues in these three Northeastern states.

The Commission would also brief the media about the outcome of the public hearing.

NHRC Members D.M. Mulay and Rajiv Jain, Secretary General Bimbadhar Pradhan and other senior officials of the commission and state government attended the hearing.

The NHRC has been organising 'Open Hearing and Camp Sittings' in different states of the country since 2007 and has so far held about 40 such sittings and hearings with the objective of quick disposal of cases and to sensitise and create awareness about human rights at the grassroots.

Due to the Covid-19 guidelines and restrictions, the Commission could not hold any camp after the sitting in Raipur (Chhattisgarh) in February last year, the statement said.
Mumbai, Dec 14 : Atif Aslam, who is known for chartbusters like 'Woh Lamhe', 'Tera Hone Laga Hoon', 'Aadat' and many more, will be performing at the Etihad Arena, Yas Island, for a New Year's Eve concert.

Talking about the event, Atif Aslam said, "I am excited to perform at Yas Island. I have heard a lot about this state-of-the-art arena and can't wait to perform there and bring some euphoria to my audience through my performance. This has been a long tough year for everyone and it will be great to welcome 2022 in Abu Dhabi, the capital city of the United Arab Emirates." Touted as a celebration of music, Atif's live concert will serve as a way to unwind for the audiences after two years of pandemic disruption of the live music scene, and will be held at Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, in collaboration with the Department of Culture and Tourism, Abu Dhabi and Portfolio Managing Events.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Mumbai, Dec 14 : Hindi sitcom 'Bhabiji Ghar Par Hai' has completed the milestone of 1,700 episodes. Nehha Pendse, Shubhangi Atre and other actors of the comedy show have expressed their happiness and shared their experience of being part of the show.

Shubhangi Atre, who plays Angoori Bhabi, said: "1,700 episodes is a big milestone for all of us. I am glad to be a part of this wonderful team and grateful to Binaiferr for giving me the role of Angoori Bhabi. Each character has been written exceptionally well and stands out. No doubt that each of them has become an audience favourite in no time. The audience has given us immense love and recognition. I consider myself lucky to play the beautiful Angoori Bhabi and be a part of such an incredible cast".

Actress Nehha Pendse, who received much attention from the audience as Anita Bhabi added: "I joined 'Bhabiji Ghar Par Hai' this year, but it feels like ages since I have been a part of the show. I love playing the strong and independent Anita Bhabi, and it feels like a personal achievement to have reached the 1,700-episode landmark. Congratulations to everyone for this milestone." Rohitashv Gour, who plays Manmohan Tiwari, shared his take on being part of the show. "I have a ton of fun while playing Manmohan Tiwari, and I am glad the viewers enjoy watching me on screen as much." Aasif Sheikh, who plays Vibhuti Narayan Mishra, also added his inputs on the milestone moment and the recognition the show has brought him.

"The show has given me a lot of freedom to explore my art and craft. I never thought that I would receive the opportunity to play 300+ unique characters in a single show and get recognised for it. I am forever grateful to have this opportunity, and here's hoping the show keeps growing every single day." Speaking about the show's success, producer Binaiffer Kohli, shared: "I still remember how excited we were the day we had the idea for the show, and the excitement continues with each milestone." 'Bhabiji Ghar Par Hai' airs on &TV.
New Delhi, Dec 14 : Bharti Airtel and technology services major Capgemini on Tuesday announced to collaborate on bringing India-specific, 5G-based enterprise grade solutions to the country.

Capgemini's 5G Lab within its Mumbai campus and Airtel's 5G Lab in Manesar, Haryana, will be the development hubs.

Two 5G use cases have already been deployed by Capgemini at Airtel's 5G Lab, which are focused on smart health and immersive remote assistance for field operations and maintenance.

"Our focus will be on enabling enterprises to leverage the benefits of 5G technology and identifying exciting new use cases to fuel innovation, revolutionize business models and accelerate digital transformation," said Ananth Chandramouli, Managing Director of the India Business Unit, Capgemini.

The 5G use case solutions leverage computer vision, video analytics, augmented reality and AI/ML technologies.

"Through this partnership with Capgemini, we look forward to offering our customers cutting edge solutions, which deliver the benefits of the 5G technology," added Ganesh Lakshminarayanan, CEO-Enterprise Business, Airtel Business.

Earlier this year, Airtel demonstrated India's first 5G experience over a LIVE 4G network.

The telecom major has also demonstrated India's first rural 5G trial as well as the first cloud gaming experience on 5G.

Airtel is currently spearheading the 'O-RAN Alliance' initiatives in India to build 5G solutions.
Sydney, Dec 14 : Despite rising Covid-19 cases, the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW) remains on track to ease more restrictions starting from Wednesday onwards.

On Tuesday, daily new cases in NSW jumped to a 10-week high of 804, an increase from 536 on Monday, and almost four times since last week, reports Xinhua news agency.

There was one reported death in the last 24 hours, but unlike previous waves, hospitalisations remain steady.

And despite the upward trend, mask wearing in NSW will no longer be mandatory in indoor settings from Wednesday, and will only be required on public transport.

In addition, non-essential retail venues such as restaurants and retail shops, would also open to the unvaccinated.

NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard said on Tuesday that the state would not "backflip" on its path to opening up, but urged citizens to get a booster shots, and warned of dangers to the unvaccinated.

"New South Wales is not planning on any snap lockdowns; what we are planning on is making sure the community understands the need to be vaccinated and the need to have boosters," Hazzard said on Tuesday.

"You (unvaccinated people) might be out and about now, but you are very vulnerable to what is a rapidly increasing number of Covid cases." The fully vaccination rate for the state's over-16 population stands at 93.2, with 94.8 per cent having received at least one dose.

Australia also remains on track to open its national borders from Wednesday to international students and skilled workers.

The nation was originally due to open to the two groups from December 1, however, this was delayed following the emergence of the new Omicron variant.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Rawalpindi, Dec 14 : A Pakistani policeman was killed and two others were injured in a shooting incident in Rawalpindi, an official said on Tuesday.

Unknown gunmen riding on motorcycles opened fire at a police party performing patrolling duty in the Pir Wadhai area late Monday night, Assistant Superintendent of Police in Rawalpindi Beenish Fatima told Xinhua news agency.

The gunmen fled the scene after the attack, the official said, adding that the two critically injured policemen have been rushed to a hospital in the district.

A heavy contingent of police force reached the site to investigate the matter, and a search operation was launched to arrest the attackers.

No group or individual has claimed the attack yet.
Jammu, Dec 14 : A wanted Pakistani terrorist, Abu Zarar of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) was killed by the security on Tuesday in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district.

Police sources said Abu Zarar of the LeT was killed in an ongoing gunfight in Bafliyaz village of Surankote in Poonch district.

"He was on the wanted list of the security forces. The area where the encounter is going on is densely forested.

"Reinforcements have been rushed to the area to tighten the cordon as one more militant is likely to be hiding there.

"Abu Zarar was operating in Rajouri and Poonch districts. One AK-47 rifle, 4 magazines, a grenade and some Indian currency has been recovered from the possession of the slain militant", sources said.

The gunfight erupted after a joint team of the police and the army cordoned off the area and launched a search operation on the basis of specific information about the presence of terrorists.

As the security forces zeroed in on the spot where the terrorists were hiding they came under a heavy volume of fire that triggered the encounter.
New Delhi, Dec 14 : A draft amendment to the Registration of Birth & Death (RBD) Act, 1969 is already in the public domain for the past nearly two months, the Parliament was told on Tuesday.

"Following consultations with the concerned union Ministries/Departments and all the state governments/Union Territories, a draft amendment to the Registration of Birth & Death Act, 1969 was placed in the public domain from October 18, 2021 to December 2, 2021 for comments," Minister of State for Home Affairs, Nityanand Rai told the Lok Sabha in a written reply.

The government had invited suggestions from the general public on proposed amendments to the Act, which was around 50 years old and had not been amended so far.

"Various sections of the Act are proposed to be amended to make it people-friendly and to accommodate changes and new developments in the society during the last five decades," the government's notice of November 16 read.

BJP member Rakesh Singh, in his question, had asked the government to clarify whether there is any proposal to amend the Registration of Births and Deaths Act.

Rai said the registration of birth and death is mandatory under the Act and the Chief Registrar is mandated to publish a statistical report on the registered births and deaths during the year.

"The draft amendment includes a provision for maintaining a unified database of civil registration records at state level and for integration with the database at the national level," he said.

However, he said there was no proposal to include the data of earlier census to make the proposal or the exercise more effective.
Thiruvananthapuram, Dec 14 : The Congress party on Tuesday decided to intensify its opposition to what's now billed as the dream project of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan - the proposed over Rs 60,000 crore Silver line K-Rail project. Two time former Congress Chief Minister of Kerala Oommen Chandy has asked Vijayan to make the detail project report (DPR) public.

If completed it will set up a 529.45 km corridor connecting Thiruvananthapuram to Kasaragod and the distance will be completed in four hours.

"The quality of the DPR has been questioned by the very same person - Alok Kumar Varma who prepared it. And what's disturbing is it's on the basis of this DPR that Vijayan is determined to go forward, even as people are up in arms against this. Vijayan is now using force against people who are opposing this," said Chandy.

Chandy went on to point out that speculation is that this preliminary DPR is just a copycat version of the earlier prepared bullet train proposal by the DMRC.

"What's surprising is that the K-rail project is going to be more expensive than the Mumbai-Ahmadabad bullet train project. One fails to understand why is Vijayan so determined to go forward with this and all wish to know, whose interest he is serving," asked Chandy.

Attacking Vijayan was also Leader of Opposition V.D. Satheesan who said the agency which did the preliminary survey using LiDAR, has itself expressed doubts and this was what the Opposition had raised on the floor of the assembly.

"The expected project cost is now being predicted at a staggering Rs one lakh crore, while the NITI Aayog says it might cost Rs 1.24 lakh crore and these are all based according to 2018 figures and hence if the project gets completed it might cost Rs 2 lakh crore and what's most surprising is this project is going forward without even a proper study report. And even more surprising is this project has not even conducted an environment assessment study, a social impact study, nor does it have the clearance of the Centre. Hence the Congress led UDF is staging a state-wide protest against this project on December 18," said Satheesan.

"Vijayan has not given answers to a single question that has been raised by us on this project. All knows that for 16 years Vijayan headed the party and blocked all developmental projects and now he claims to be the saviour. Today he is behaving like Prime Minister Modi, who also does not give answers to questions raised. We will cooperate if he comes clean on all what we have raised," added Satheesan.

The strong opposition against the project comes at a time when Vijayan has written to Modi seeking his personal intervention to accord sanction to the project.

Meanwhile Metroman E.Sreedharan has termed the K-Rail project as an idiotic proposal.
Mumbai, Dec 14 : 'Inspector Avinash' actor Zohaeb Farooqui, who is also the nephew of filmmaker Subhash Ghai, is fond of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA). He started learning it around 6 years back and shares how he was introduced to the same.

"It was the time when I had some gym injury and the doctor recommended physiotherapy to me. But I ended up hiring a team that does gymnastics and stretching. So I did stretching, improved my flexibility in the body first and then ended up doing MMA," says the actor, who has been practicing MMA regularly for the last six years without any break.

He adds about the benefits and says: "I've been doing stretching and MMA every morning. This routine has made me fit, I feel light and it also gave me the confidence to walk. It also improved my muscle memory to perform stunts and pick up stunts, and all these invite fewer injuries while working out in the gym," shares the actor.

Recently, he got injured as one can't deny the risk that is always there in MMA. "Yes! All these things happen while performing stunts. Sometimes some judgments go wrong. Recently, while training, my judgment went for a toss and I ended up with a ligament tear in my right knee. Doctors advised for 6-8 weeks rest. We all make mistakes, after all, we are humans. Now just hoping to get well soon with the help of physiotherapy," he adds.

Many Bollywood actors want to do their own stunts. So it's a given that Zohaeb's MMA knowledge is a big plus. "Obviously I would love to do my own stunts. It gives a great kick to do my own stunts, but only and only under supervision and safety," he suggests.
New Delhi, Dec 14 : As many as 11,396 children (below 18 years) have died by suicide in the year 2020, taking out an average of 31 minor deaths per day, according to the data furnished by the government in Parliament on Tuesday.

"As per available information [by National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB)], the total number of suicide committed by children (below 18 years) during the last three years were 9431 in 2018, 9613 in 2019 and 11396 in 2020," Minister of State for Home Affairs Ajay Kumar Mishra said in a written reply in Lok Sabha.

The government did not furnish the data of suicide by minors in the current year.

The Minister said the Education Ministry has undertaken a proactive initiative, named 'Manodarpan' covering a wide range of activities to provide psychosocial support to students, teachers and families for Mental Health and Emotional Well being during the Covid outbreak and beyond.

Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) MP from Tamil Nadu, T. R. Paarivendhar, in his question, had asked the government whether there was any rise in the cases of child suicide in the past three years.

Minister Mishra informed that a webpage for 'Manodarpan' has been created on the website of the Ministry of Education, which contains advisory, practical tips, posters, videos, do's and don'ts for psychosocial support, FAQs and online query system.

Further, the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has started 'NCERT Counselling Services for School Children' in April, 2020 to help school students across the country share their concerns. This service is provided free of charge by about 270 counsellors across different regions of the country, the government added.

The Minister further stated that mental healthcare services have also been added in the package of services under Comprehensive Primary Health Care under Ayushman Bharat-HWC Scheme. Operational guidelines on Mental, Neurological, and Substance Use Disorders (MNs) at Health and Wellness Centres (HWC) have been released under the ambit of Ayushman Bharat.

Mishra apprised that the Ministry of Women and Child Development has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with NIMHANS to establish a National Initiative & Integrated Resource Centre for Child Protection, Mental Health, and Psychosocial Care named "SAMVAD" at NIMHANS, at Bangalore.
Chennai, Dec 14 : The two-day strike announced by the unions in the banking sector stands as there was no assurance given on deferring the introduction of Banking Laws (Amendment) Bill 2021 in Parliament, said C.H. Venkatachalam, General Secretary, All India Bank Employees' Association (AIBEA).

He said the adjourned conciliation meeting called by the Additional Chief Labour Commissioner was held on Tuesday between the bank unions, Indian Banks Association (IBA) and the Government in Delhi.

The Government representatives and IBA could not give any assurance on deferring the introduction of the Bill in Parliament.

"Hence the strike on December 16-17 stands. The conciliation meeting was adjourned for Wednesday," Venkatachalam said.

The bank unions are against the privatisation of government owned banks.

The government had earlier said it would privatise two of its banks.

The United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU), an umbrella body of bank unions, have called for strike against privatisation of the banks.
London, Dec 14 : A team of researchers has launched the trial of a new needle-free Covid-19 vaccine that aims to protect against future variants of the infectious virus.

The vaccine -- DIOS-CoVax -- administered through a jet of air uses different technology to fight the disease, which could provide much broader protection against Covid variants and other coronaviruses, the BBC reported.

The participants, aged between 18 and 50 years, will take part in the trials at the NIHR Southampton Clinical Research Facility.

"As new variants emerge and immunity begins to wane, we need newer technologies," Jonathan Heeney of Cambridge University and Chief Executive of DIOSynVax, the maker of the vaccine, was quoted as saying.

"It's vital that we continue to develop new generation vaccine candidates to help keep us safe from the next virus threats. It is the first step towards a universal coronavirus vaccine we are developing, protecting us not just from Covid-19 variants, but from future coronaviruses," Heeney said.

While current Covid-19 vaccines use genes taken from the virus spike protein to encode antigens, which causes the immune system to produce antibodies, the new vaccine uses predictive methods to mimic the wider family of coronavirus antigens that researchers hope will give more protection.

The new vaccine is a spring-powered jet injection that delivers it into the skin, offering an alternative to those who have a fear of needle-based injections.

"This isn't simply 'yet another' coronavirus vaccine, as it has both Covid-19 variants and future coronaviruses in its sights," Saul Faust, director at the NIHR Southampton Clinical Research Facility, was quoted as saying.

"This technology could give wide-ranging protection to huge number of people worldwide," Faust added.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Bhopal, Dec 14 : A week after India's first Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat and his wife Madhulika Rawat along with 11 other security personnel died in the MI-17V5 helicopter crash near Coonoor town in Tamil Nadu on December 8, his brother-in-law (brother of Madhulika Rawat) Yash Vardhan Singh levelled some serious allegations against the Central government.

Singh, who is a native of Madhya Pradesh's Suhagpur town in Shahdol district, on Tuesday wrote in his Facebook account that a road was constructed on his land in his home town (Suhagpur) without consulting him. Singh alleged that for the road construction, the administration has bulldozed a 'Samadhi Sthal' of his ancestors and also cut down a number of trees.

"While the funeral process of my JijaJi (brother-in-law Gen. Rawat) and Didi (sister) was going on in Delhi, at the same time on the direction of the Centre, the construction of a national highway was carried out without consulting me. Besides this, an order has been issued to register a case against me if I object to this road construction," Singh's Facebook note read.

However, Singh did not specifically mention which department has ordered the registration of a case against him if he objected.

To ascertain the authenticity of the issue, IANS spoke to Shahdol district collector Vandana Vaidya. "Yes, Vardhan Singh had given a portion of his land for road (National Highway) construction in 2016. He has received a compensation of Rs 2,77,000 for his land. Further, during the widening of the road, another portion of land was required and a notification was issued to acquire 0.56 hectare land." Vaidya continued, "This happened before my posting here in Shahdol. During the investigation, it has emerged that some trees were also supposed to be cut for the road construction. However, some other trees were also cut and this was the main issue. I have spoken to Yash Vardhan and have requested him to visit the office whenever he comes to Shahdol from New Delhi." Replying on bulldozing a 'Samadhi Sthal', Vaidya said, "That portion was also part of the land given to the government for the road construction. But what went wrong was that the portion of 'Samadhi Sthal' was very shabby and therefore workers carrying out the digging did not notice it." General Bipin Rawat's wife belonged to a royal family in Shahdol district of Madhya Pradesh. Her father (late) Mrighendra Singh was the Riyastdar of Shahdol district's Suhagpur town. Her father was also elected Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA- Congress) from the Suhagpur constituency in 1967 and again in 1972.
Chennai, Dec 14 : Thanking ace music director A.R. Rahman for emboldening and encouraging a young sound engineer to take up music direction, actor Kamal Haasan said that whatever Rahman spoke to people came from his heart.

At the audio launch event of 'Sila Nerangalil Sila Manithargal', which was held at Kamala Cinemas on Monday, the music director of the film Radhan, during his speech, disclosed that it was music director Rahman who had first told him to turn a music director and thanked him.

Stating that when he was a sound engineer, it was Rahman who first told him 'You have music in you. You try.', music director Radhan said, "I told Rahman sir that I didn't know if I had the competence. I said, 'This is not the right time sir.' To this, Rahman sir said, 'This is the right time. Go and search'." Responding to this piece of information during his speech, actor Kamal Haasan said, "Thanks to Rahman for giving you the courage to pursue this. Had Rahman wanted, he could have said something else and stopped you. But without doing that, he has encouraged you saying you can score music." "I am saying this because I know him well. I know Rahman personally. Whatever he says, he says with all his heart. Otherwise, if he doesn't mean it, he will not say it at all. He is also one of those who were instrumental in sending you up this stage," Kamal told the young music director.
New Delhi, Dec 14 : Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur on Tuesday accused Congress leader Rahul Gandhi of insulting Parliament which his family's four generations got an opportunity to be part of.

Counter-attacking Gandhi for his suggestion to convert Parliament into a museum, the Minister said that there are a few people who do not want to come to the House.

Interacting with mediapersons in Parliament, Thakur said: "Even if the House is functioning, they do not participate in discussions. They try to walk out of the Parliament." The Minister charged that at a time when crucial issues and Bills are being discussed in Parliament, a few people do not attend it properly, come out and mislead the country.

On the Wayanad MP's charge that Bills are being passed without discussion amid an opposition uproar, Thakur said that our government is discussing every bill in detail but Gandhi should remember the UPA's tenure, during which opposition MPs were thrown out of the House and the Bill for forming states was passed amid an uproar.
Adelaide, Dec 14 : England captain Joe Root has backed under-pressure Rory Burns and Jack Leach to rebound from their bad forms in the series-opening defeat in Brisbane. Root said both the players are capable to make strong come back in the day-night second Test at Adelaide Oval.

"Rory is a very strong character, you can't doubt that side of his game," Root told reporters in Adelaide on Tuesday, two days before the start of the pink-ball Test. "He'll come back in and want a response and want to put some big scores on the board."" Stuart Broad and James Anderson were rested in Brisbane and both pacemen are expected to come in for Adelaide but Root would not rule out Leach retaining his place in the side.

"I'm sure he'll want to respond and he'll want to get back into the series and have an impact. Some of the grounds that we will be going to from this point onwards should offer a lot more for him and bring spin into it as well," the England skipper said.

Root said his batsmen should feel more comfortable against the swinging pink ball after they struggled with the bounce at the Gabba.

"One thing, as we've spoken about with the pink ball, it can swing a bit more and seem a bit more, which is something that we should be used to and we should know how to manage," he said.
December 14 : Katrina Kaif and Vicky Kaushal have returned from their honeymoon on Tuesday. The newlyweds were spotted at the Kalina airport in Mumbai today. They looked vibrant as they happily posed for the paparazzi, sporting radiant smiles.

The couple was seen holding hands as they waved at the paparazzi gathered outside the airport. Katrina wore a pink and golden Indian suit teamed with a pair of juttis. She kept her straight hair loose and sported vermillion in her middle parting. She also wore red bangles on her hands, and a pair of earrings. Vicky was seen in a white shirt teamed with beige pants.

Katrina and Vicky had reportedly jetted off to Maldives for their honeymoon on December 10. They landed in Mumbai today in a chartered plane.

Katrina and Vicky tied the knot on December 9 at Fort Barwara in Sawai Madhopur, Rajasthan, in the presence of their family and close friends. After creating a massive buzz with their wedding news, the couple has been sharing gorgeous pictures from their wedding and pre-wedding ceremonies. Both the actors have shared a number of pictures from the colourful and fun-filled wedding.

Sharing the first set of pictures from their jaimala and pheras, the couple had written.Only love and gratitude in our hearts for everything that brought us to this moment. Seeking all your love and blessings as we begin this new journey together. This was followed by their haldi and mehendi pictures, which were equally dreamy.

It is reported that the couple will host a grand wedding reception for their industry friends in Mumbai
Thiruvananthapuram, Dec 14 : Kerala Cooperation Minister V.N. Vasavan will reach Delhi on Wednesday to meet legal experts after the Reserve Bank of India rejected the state's plea to allow Cooperative Societies to use the word 'bank'.

A close aide of Vasavan said the Kerala government is left with no other option, but to take up the issue legally.

"Ever since the RBI came out with clear cut guidelines to this effect, Kerala has been trying its best to plead its case with the central bank. Vasavan had earlier this month written to RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das seeking withdrawal of 'Caution Notice' published by the central bank last month in several Malayalam dailies over various cooperative societies using the word "bank" in their names, said the aide who did not wished to be identified.

"Incidentally, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, the other day informed the Lok Sabha that the RBI has rejected the plea of the Kerala government and hence there is no other way but to take it up legally," added the aide.

The notice of the RBI had directed Cooperative Societies not to use the words, "bank", "banker", or "banking" as part of their names except as permitted under the provisions of the Banking Regulation Act 1949, or by the RBI.

It also noted that cooperative Societies are accepting deposits from non-members/nominal members/associate members, in violation of the provision of the Act 1949, and that insurance cover under the Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation is not available to the deposits of Cooperative Societies.

The Kerala government had expressed deep concern over the RBI notice and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, recently attacked the Centre's high-handedness towards states and had slammed the authorities for trying to create confusion in the Cooperative Sector in the state and said the Centre should desist from such moves.

One reason why Vasavan is rushing to Delhi is the Cooperative sector in Kerala especially the banking segment is very strong and has a huge deposit base and is the succour to the local populace, when it comes to getting quick loans against collateral security, as compared to getting loans from commercial banks.
New Delhi, Dec 14 : The Central Organisation for Oil Industry and Trade (COOIT), an apex body of the edible oil industry, estimates that the country's mustard seed production will increase to 100-110 lakh tonnes in the rabi season of 2021-22 crop year because of higher sowing by farmers.

The production of mustard, which is one of the major rabi crops, stood at 85 lakh tonnes in the 2020-21 crop year (July-June).

"Sowing of mustard seeds has increased this year significantly in all major producing states including Rajasthan. We project that production may rise to 100-110 lakh tonnes in 2021-22 season," COOIT President Babulal Data said in a release here.

As per the government data, the area under coverage for rapeseed and mustard seeds stood at 81.66 lakh hectares till December 10, 2021, of the ongoing rabi sowing season as against 65.97 lakh hectares in the corresponding period of last year.

"Farmers got good prices for their mustard crop in the last rabi season. As a result, they have put more area under mustard in the ongoing rabi season," he said.

Weather conditions have also been conducive so far.

Established in 1952, COOIT is engaged in the development and growth of India's vegetable oil sector.

The COOIT is the national apex body representing the interests of the entire vegetable oil sector in the country and its members include state-level associations, prominent manufacturing/business concerns in Industry, and trade and export houses, among others.

The likely record production is also because the government has assured a higher remunerative price for the mustard crop in view of the demand and also to wean away the farmers from water guzzler crops.
New Delhi, Dec 14 : The government on Tuesday said that the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir has improved significantly post revocation of Article 370 in August 2019.

"The security situation in Jammu and Kashmir has improved significantly since August 2019 and there has been a significant decline in terrorist incidents," said Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai, in a written reply in the Lok Sabha.

He said that the security grid has been further strengthened in J&K, and infiltration of terrorists from across the border has also come down significantly.

According to the data presented by the government, there has been a drop of 15 per cent in the terrorist incidents this year, compared to the previous year. As many as 244 terror related incidents were reported during the year 2020 which came down to 206 in the current year till December 5. The data did not include Monday's dastardly terror attack on a bus belonging to the 9th battalion of the Jammu and Kashmir armed police, claiming lives of two policemen and wounding 12 others.

According to the government, the estimated net infiltration of the terrorists have also dropped significantly by 45 per cent. In 2020, 51 terrorists infiltrated into the India, the number dropped to 28 this year.

The Minister said that the government has taken several steps to boost development of Jammu & Kashmir. Sharing the details of the developmental initiatives by the Centre, Rai said the progress of projects being implemented in the UT of Jammu and Kashmir under the Prime Minister's Development Package-2015 has been accelerated. A total of 53 projects pertaining to 15 ministries are being implemented at a cost of Rs 58,477 crore in various sectors such as Roads, Power, Health, Education, Tourism, Agriculture, Skill Development etc, out of which 21 projects have been completed or substantially completed and the remaining 32 projects are at advanced stage of progress.

"Work is under progress on All India Institute of Medical Sciences each in Jammu and Kashmir Divisions at the cost of Rs 2000 crore each besides 7 other medical colleges in the UT of J&K. Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Jammu and Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Jammu have been made functional," the Minister noted.

He said during the current financial year, 1,37,870 people have been covered under various self-employment schemes of different government departments.
Chennai, Dec 14 : The Madurai bench of the Madras High Court on Tuesday ordered a CBI investigation into the Tamil Nadu Public Service Corporation (TNPSC) Group IV scam of 2019, September.

According to the CB-CID chargesheet, 99 persons had taken the TNPSC examination for recruitment of Class IV employees using 'vanishing ink' at Rameswaram and Keelakari examination centres and later with the help of two staff members of TNPSC tampered with the answer sheets while being transported in a van. The CB-CID arrested 118 persons.

However, the complainant argued that higher officials were involved in the case and two lower-level TNPSC officers will not be able to do such a scam without the connivance of higher officials.

The order of the division bench of the Madurai bench of the Madras High Court comprising Justices Pushpa Satyanarayana and P Velmurugan passed the order on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by Advocate Mohammed Razvi.

The litigant Mohammed Rizvi appealed to the court that the Tamil Nadu CB-CID that was investigating the case had arrested only certain middlemen and candidates and could not arrest any others. In the PIL, Mohammed Razvi petitioned that a scam of such magnitude could not have taken place without the connivance of higher officials and political leaders.

He appealed before the court that the CB-CID may not expose the role of higher officials in the scam and wanted the case to be transferred to the CBI.

The CB-CID had, in its counter-response, said that only two officials of the TNPSC, a clerk and a record keeper were involved in the scam and that no other officials were involved in the scam.

The court had during the hearing last month, orally enquired the TNPSC as to why the tampering of the wax seal in the van that had carried the answer sheets was not identified at the first instance. The court had also asked as to why the examination conducted in the two centres where malpractices had taken place was not canceled and adjourned the case to the hearing on December 14.

The court ordered the CBI to conduct a free and fair investigation and to complete the proceedings without any inordinate delay.
Mumbai, Dec 14 : The request of Anthony Rapp's attorneys to question actor Kevin Spacey about his sexual partners or allegations against him from anonymous accusers, has been turned down by U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan.

The actor legal representatives argued that it would be improper for Rapp's lawyers to ask about his relationships with consenting adults.

In a lawsuit filed against the actor, Rapp has alleged that Spacey groped him and laid on top of him in 1986, when Rapp was 14 years old. In a ruling on Monday, the District Judge held that such inquiries could violate Spacey's and his sexual partners' right to privacy, as reported by Variety.

However, Rapp's lawyers will be able to ask questions to any accusers, who have publicly identified themselves provided they don't force Spacey to disclose details of anonymous claims or accusations that are not already public.

The judge wrote in his statement, "Any such Subject, and the defendant, have substantial privacy interests in their most intimate personal relationships that outweigh any legitimate interest of the plaintiff in pursuing those matters." In addition, Rapp's attorneys won't be able to question Spacey about an ongoing police investigation in London. They have also been blocked from inquiring about accusations brought by an individual identified as 'C.D.' who anonymously joined Rapp in suing Spacey, but dropped out of the case after the judge ruled he could not proceed on anonymous grounds.

After Rapp first came forward in 2017 accusing Spacey of sexual misconduct, numerous allegations against the actor came to light. But most of the accusers have remained anonymous. Spacey has also been investigated in Los Angeles and criminally prosecuted in Nantucket, but those cases have each been dropped.
Mumbai, Dec 14 : The upcoming episode of 'Bigg Boss 15' is surely going to witness some high-octane drama as Abhijit Bichukale threatens the housemates that he will burn down the 'BB 15' house.

In the 'Ticket To Finale' task all the contestants are seen planning about winning the task and how to become the next finalist after Rakhi Sawant.

However, Abhijit is seen fighting and screaming at others as things are not turning up as per his wish. He creates a ruckus. In the video Bichukale is seen running towards the kitchen shouting "I will burn down the house". Pratik Sehajpal tries to stop him.

Furthermore, there will be top four or five contestants in the final week. The Ticket To Finale task has already started. There may be mid-week or sudden evictions possible but nothing has been confirmed officially.

Latest updates on Bigg Boss Season 15
New Delhi, Dec 14 : The Centre on Tuesday told the Delhi High Court that the appropriateness or necessity of a booster dose of Covid-19 vaccine is yet to be decided as the complete biological characteristics of the infectious disease, which impacted the country since 2020, are yet unknown.

The current priority of the National Covid-19 Vaccination Programme is to cover the entire eligible population with full vaccination and at present, there are no guidelines regarding administration of booster doses from the expert bodies, an affidavit filed by Central government's Standing Counsel Anurag Ahluwalia said.

Two expert bodies - the National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for Covid-l9 (NEGVAC) and the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI)-- provide overall guidance and recommendations on all aspects of Covid-19 vaccination to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the affidavit said, adding the two are deliberating and considering scientific evidence related to dose schedule of Covid-19 vaccines as well as the need and justification of booster doses.

It was submitted that the current knowledge about the duration of immunity offered by Covid-19 vaccines in India is limited and will clearly be known over a period of time only.

The Centre's response came after the HC had on November 25 sought it to file an affidavit on the aspects relating to the booster dose, and the timeline within which the same is proposed to be rolled out.

Stressing upon the efficacy of booster dose for those who have been fully vaccinated, the bench noted that the medical view indicates a fall of immunity against the disease after some time. This creates the need for a booster dose for people, particularly the elderly and those suffering from other diseases, it noted.
New Delhi, Dec 14 : Terming India's victory in 1971 war as one of the most important events in world history and a triumph of justice over injustice, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said the war fought against the atrocities on common people showed India's commitment towards humanity.

Singh remembered the heroes of the Indian Army who ensured a historic victory -- General (later Field Marshal) Sam Manekshaw, Lt Gen Jagjit Singh Aurora, then General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Command, Lt Gen JFR Jacob and Air Marshal Idris Hassan Latif and others.

"These heroes included Hindus, Muslims, Parsis, Sikhs and Jew. This is a proof of India's firm belief towards giving equal respect to all religions," he said, adding that all these brave soldiers belonged to different states, however, it was the feeling of Indianness which made them as one.

Singh also paid glowing tribute to first President of Bangladesh, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur-Rahman, terming him as the guiding light for the people of his country. He appreciated the fact that Bangladesh has been making giant strides in the path of development since its liberation.

Commending the Armed Forces personnel, including the veterans, for their selfless service, Singh described them as the protectors of India's unity and integrity. "Today our country is moving forward on the path of progress uninterruptedly. This is because of our brave soldiers who are standing firm at the borders. This country sleeps peacefully because our soldiers are awake," he said.

Stating that no price can be paid for the sacrifices made by the veterans, the Defence Minister extended his gratitude and assured of government's all possible support to ensure their welfare.

"Our every warrior of today is a respected veteran of tomorrow. It is our duty to ensure their well-being. This government understands this very well, which is why, as soon as we came to power in 2014, we fulfilled the long-pending demand of One Rank One Pension," he added.

Reiterating the government's resolve to ensure the welfare and ease of living to the Ex-Servicemen, Singh said, many online services have been started under Digital India, including Smart Canteen Cards for shopping, implementation of System for Pension Administration (Raksha) - SPARSH- for automation of sanction and disbursement of defence pension and online access to avail the services of Kendriya Sainik Board and Directorate General of Resettlement. "Our aim is to ensure well-being of our Armed Forces personnel not only during their service, but also after their retirement," he added.

He called upon the people, especially the youth, to follow the gallant footsteps of the veterans and work towards nation building with full capacity, devotion and dedication.

"I call upon citizens to move forward with devotion and dedication and build a New India which is strong and self-reliant. This will be a true tribute to our brave soldiers," he said.

Singh interacted with Indian war veterans and Mukti Jodhas of Bangladesh in New Delhi on December 14, 2021, as part of Swarnim Vijay Varsh celebrations, marking 50 years of India's historic victory in the 1971 war. The gathering comprised of 30 Mukti Jodhas, families of all four Param Vir Chakra and other awardees as well as war veterans. The Mukti Jodhas have been invited to participate in Swarnim Vijay Varsh events to honour the bravehearts who took part in the 1971 war.

In his address, Singh paid rich tributes to the brave soldiers, sailors and air warriors who ensured the victory in 1971 war by making supreme sacrifice while displaying devotion to duty.

On the occasion, the soil collected from different locations of major battles fought during the war was mixed by the Defence Minister to commemorate the golden jubilee of 1971 war victory. He described it as a symbol of 'Unity in Diversity'.

Singh also released a coffee table book titled 'The 1971 War: An Illustrated History'. The book has been compiled in six chapters and includes some first-hand experiences of the war veterans. The book comprises tales of valour of four Param Vir Chakra, 76 Maha Vir Chakra and other gallantry award winners along with anecdotes of war veterans.
Beijing, Dec 14 : China on Tuesday identified the second imported case of the heavily mutated Covid-19 variant from southern city Guangzhou, after the first infection was reported in port city Tianjin on Monday.

According to Guangzhou authorities, a 67-year-old man entered China on November 27 and repeatedly tested negative for Covid-19 during his 14 days in quarantine. He flew from Shanghai to Guangzhou on flight CA1837 on December 11, the South China Morning Post reported.

He was sent to his home in Yuexiu district for home quarantine on December 12, and tested positive for the Omicron strain on December 13.

Municipal authorities said that the patient is being treated at Guangzhou Number 8 People's Hospital and is in a stable condition.

They said he was found positive in repeated tests after December 13 and genome sequencing confirmed the man was infected with the Omicron variant.

Guangzhou has sealed off a building in Tianshengcun, a residential compound in Yuexiu district where the man lives. All the residents in the building were sent to a quarantine facility for observation, the report said.

Residents from three nearby buildings in the same compound are banned from leaving the neighbourhood and have to have two tests within three days.

And residents from several streets in the neighbourhood are required to do two swab tests. Nearby entrances to the subway station are closed and taxis and app-based transport are banned from entering the area.

China reported its first case of the Omicron Covid-19 variant in Tianjin on Monday. The patient was a returnee from Europe, Gu Qing, director of the city's health commission told the state broadcaster CCTV, on Tuesday. He did not specify which country the man had come from.

The patient was classified as an asymptomatic carrier on arrival in the northern city on December 9 and a full sequence test later revealed the presence of the new variant, CCTV reported.

The patient was undergoing the mandatory quarantine required of overseas arrivals when he was diagnosed and is being treated in hospital.
New Delhi, Dec 14 : India's November merchandise exports rose to $30.04 billion, higher by 27.16 per cent on a year-on-year basis, official data showed on Tuesday.

Exports during November 2020 stood at $23.62 billion.

The data by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry showed that in comparison to November 2019, last month's exports rose by 16.55 per cent.

"Non-petroleum and non-gems and jewellery exports in November 2021 were $23.68 billion, registering a positive growth of 22.26 per cent over non-petroleum and non-gems and jewellery exports of $19.37 billion in November 2020," it said.

In comparison to November 2019, non-petroleum and non-gems and jewellery exports in November 2021 registered a positive growth of 22.28 per cent.
New Delhi, Dec 14 : A transgender person, who was one of the organisers of the 'People's Climate March' that took place under the banner of the Karachi Bachao Tehreek (KBT) in Karachi on Sunday, was allegedly tortured and sexually assaulted by some persons looking to "extract" information about the march on Saturday night, the Dawn reported.

The alleged incident was disclosed by the KBT -- a campaign seeking an end to the demolition of Karachi's working-class settlements and markets -- via a tweet, detailing that one of the members of the December 12 People's Climate March organising committee in Karachi was allegedly picked up and subjected to torture and rape on the night of December 11, the report said.

"We organised a People's Climate March in Karachi. The night before our protest, we held an organising committee meeting. One of our organisers, a trans woman, was abducted on her way home. She was tortured and raped," the KBT said in a tweet.

It suggested that the police were involved in the violence against the transgender person and did so to "extort" information about the march from the member.

"It is worth noting that this police violence was disproportionately directed towards a trans woman - that sexual violence was weaponised against one of the most vulnerable members of the organising team, so that information about the march and its programme could be extorted from her," it added.

Shahzadi Rai, the Gender Interactive Alliance's (GIA) 'violence case manager', told Dawn that the KBT activist "was picked up on her way to home near the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital and was kept in illegal custody for three hours where she was tortured and raped before being released near the matric board office in Nazimabad".
San Francisco, Dec 14 : Video streaming giant YouTube has warned that if YouTube TV is unable to renew its agreement with Disney, it will lose access to over a dozen Disney-owned channels later this week.

The company said that it is now in negotiations with Disney to continue distributing their content on YouTube TV.

"Our deal will expire on Friday, December 17, 2021. We have not yet been able to reach an equitable agreement, so we want to give you a heads-up so that you can understand your choices," the company said in a blogpost.

"Disney is an important partner for us. We are in active conversations with them and are working hard to keep their content on YouTube TV," it added.

If the company is unable to reach a deal by Friday, the Disney-owned channels will no longer be available on YouTube TV starting December 17. And, the company will decrease their monthly price by $15, from $64.99 to $49.99 -- while Disney content remains off the platform.

The company mentioned that it partners with content owners in order to make over 85 channels available to users on YouTube TV.

"From time to time, our partnerships need to be renewed to ensure we continue to offer a strong lineup at a competitive and fair price," the company said.
Hyderabad, Dec 14 : The Andhra Pradesh High Court on Tuesday suspended a state government order, reducing the prices of cinema tickets.

The court passed the orders on a petition filed by cinema theatre owners challenging the Government Order (GO) 35 issued in April this year, reducing the prices.

It allowed the petitioners to sell the tickets at old rates.

The petitioners argued that the GO was issued in violation of earlier orders by the court.

They argued that the government's intervention in deciding the cinema ticket prices was not appropriate and that they had every right to decide the ticket prices at the time of release of new films.

Certain sections of Telugu film industry had voiced their unhappiness over the GO and had urged the government to withdraw it. However, the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) government had defended its move on the ground that the cinema theatres were resorting to exorbitant hike in prices before the release of big budget films or films featuring big actors.

Last month, a Bill was also passed in the state Assembly for an online movie ticketing system to be administered by the state government.

The government went ahead with the passing of legislation despite reservations by a section of industry. Minister for Cinematography Perni Venkataramaiah said that AP Cinemas (Regulation) (Amendment) Bill 2021 will check exploitation of moviegoers.

Megastar Chiranjeevi also requested the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy to rethink the government's decision to have a low cap on movie ticket prices.

He had stated that for the survival of theatres and for the many families who depend upon cinema alone for their survival, these reduced online ticketing rates should have the same flexibility as the uniform GST prices.
New Delhi, Dec 14 : Most of us have experienced loneliness in some form or the other and more so during the Covid lockdowns. As people navigate their way towards growth and success, they find themselves 'busy' and others around them 'unavailable'.

This urban existence with its multidimensional challenges has led to an upsurge in experiencing loneliness and taking stock of the issue remains crucial.

To this extent, "Alone In The crowd: Overcoming Loneliness of Urban Living" (Rupa) by mental health Experts Dr Samir Parikh and Kamna Chhibber go beyond highlighting the existence of the problem to enlisting ways in the midst of the current pandemic, can be tackled.

Encouraging readers to concurrently focus on the need to live mindfully, this book also highlights key learnings from the pandemic.

"We recognize that there is a growing disconnect that many people experience within their families, communities and workplaces. This has a strong negative impact on their sense of well-being and can be a precursor towards the development of mental health related problems," Parikh, Director, Department of Mental Health and Behavioral Sciences, Fortis Healthcare, said.

"As a result, it is critically important that we emphasize the development of approaches to combat this state of loneliness," he added.

"The book has been written to help develop a comprehensive understanding of where loneliness can stem from and the ways in which people can engage in caring for themselves, while focusing on living more mindfully in the urban spaces they occupy," Chhibber, Head, Department of Mental Health and Behavioral Sciences, Fortis Healthcare, said.

"Research suggests that loneliness in the longer run can affect the mental health of people. It's time that people and societies come forward to discuss about the much-ignored issue, which has engulfed the society be it children, adolescents, adults and the old generation. A multi-stakeholder approach needs to be adopted to reduce the growing burden of mental health which stems from loneliness and other related issues," she added.

Releasing the book Dr Ashutosh Raghuvanshi, CEO & MD, Fortis Healthcare said: "In today's time, particularly given the context of the pandemic, we recognise the huge detrimental impact that loneliness can have upon people by impacting their mental health. It is critical that people, individuals and communities, take active steps and measures to understand and assess this growing problem and go beyond simply acknowledging it in the direction of inculcating proactive measures to tackle it effectively."
New Delhi, Dec 14 : Integration of the armed forces is an effort to jointly enhance India's capabilities to face the challenges posed by the adversaries, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Tuesday.

He also handed over five Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) products to the armed forces and other security agencies and overlooked the execution of six transfer of technology (ToT) agreements with seven public and private sector companies on Tuesday, as part of the 'Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav' celebrations of the Ministry of Defence.

Speaking on the occasion, Rajnath Singh said, "When we talk about integration and jointness, it is not limited to the initiatives taken by the government alone. Its success has to be achieved by meeting the minds of our defence forces. It is an effort to jointly enhance our capabilities to face the challenges posed by our adversaries." "The integration we talk about is not limited to our forces, but it also means synergy among every concerned organisation in the country," he added.

The Defence Minister said that there has been a big change over the last few years in the approach of DRDO whereby it is not only working on technologies to mitigate the current threats, but also on first-of-its-kind technologies to face the future challenges.

On the objective of making India a strong platform for defence manufacturing base and net defence exporter, Rajnath Singh said DRDO has played a significant role in this endeavour.

"Its path passes through collaboration among DRDO, the armed forces, private industry, startups and academia. The ToT with private players which took place today indicate that we are ready to make a strong defence industrial base in the country that will cater not only to the domestic defence requirements, but will also fulfil the needs of friendly countries by defence item exports." Paying tribute to late Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Bipin Rawat, and others who lost their lives in the recent chopper crash in Tamil Nadu, Rajnath Singh said that the process of integration and modernisation of tri-services that was initiated with the creation of the post of CDS and the Department of Military Affairs will move on seamlessly and will be priority of the government to achieve the target as soon as possible.

Emphasising the role of technology in warfare, Singh said India's aim should be to make the country a leader in defence technology, and identified the development of Hypersonic cruise missile as one such advanced technology for which all should work together.

Citing the scientific prowess of DRDO in developing Mission Shakthi, Defence Minister said DRDO is working on smart materials, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning based systems, Swarm drones, Asymmetric warfare and others.

Singh said the government is working in a concerted manner to realise the objective of 'Make in India and Make for the World' by bringing in several policy reforms such as increasing FDI in defence sector through automatic route to 74 per cent, corporatisation of OFB, creation of defence corridors in Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, formulation of Defence Production and Export Promotion Policy 2020, and bringing out positive lists of defence items for domestic manufacturing, among others.

He added that these policies aim to make the armed forces strong by strengthening the domestic defence industry.

Products handed over to the armed forces and the Ministry of Home Affairs are anti-drone system, modular bridge, smart anti-airfield weapon, chaff variants and the light weight fire fighting suit.

The counter drone systems, developed by DRDO for detection, deterrence and destruction of incoming drones were handed over to the CISC by Singh.

He also handed over a modular bridge to the Chief of Army Staff, General M.M. Naravane.

Modular bridge developed by R&DE (engineers) is a single span, mechanically launched assault bridge of military load class MLC-70, and can be launched in different spans.

Sigh also handed over Smart Anti-Airfield Weapon (SAAW), an air launched, long-range, stand-off, air-to-surface Smart Bomb, to the Chief of the Air Force, Air Chief Marshal V.R. Chaudhari.

The variants of advanced chaff were handed over to the Chief of the Naval Staff, Admiral R Hari Kumar. Structural fire-fighting suit developed by DRDO's Centre for Fire, Explosive and Environment Safety (CFEES), Delhi, was handed over to V.S.K. Kaumudi, Special Secretary, MHA.

The LAToT documents of seven DRDO developed systems were handed over during the event for the systems/technologies, namely coastal surveillance radar, automatic chemical agent detection and alarm (ACADA) and chemical agent monitor (CAM), unit maintenance vehicle, unit repair vehicle, fused silica based ceramic core technology and fire suppressing gel.
New Delhi, Dec 14 : After the Ministry of Islamic Affairs of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia banned Tablighi Jamaat, President of the Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind, Maulana Arshad Madani met Ambassador of Saudi Arabia to India Saud Bin Mohammed Al-Sati on Tuesday.

Arshad Madani during a meeting with the Saudi Ambassador said that the statement of the Ministry of Islamic Affairs of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia regarding Tablighi Jamaat has become a cause of great concern for Muslims all over the world. Tablighi Jamaat is attached with Deobandi school of thought, so it is also a matter of concern for Dar-ul-Uloom Deoband and Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind.

"We do not have a discussion with Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's stand regarding Tablighi Jamaat in its country, and we have never talked about it in this regard. However, the allegation leveled by Islamic Affairs Ministry against Tablighi Jamaat at this time is very painful not only for Tablighi Jamaat but also for all Muslims and especially for those who belong to religion of Islam," Madani said after the meeting.

He said, JuH wanted to convey its grievances and feelings to Minister of Islamic Affairs through the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and to inform him about the difficulties and worst consequences that could come to the Muslims as a result of his statement.

"I am very glad that the Ambassador read my letter in a very good atmosphere, and discussed this subject and he has promised to give me the best cooperation in this regard. He also said that you should understand that this letter has reached the Ministry of Islamic Affairs, and from there I expect the answer to come as you expect," Madani said.
New Delhi, Dec 14 : The government on Tuesday said the people of Jammu and Kashmir participated with enthusiasm in the Block Development Councils (BDC) and District Development Councils (DDCs) elections in the Union Territory.

"The elections to the Block Development Councils (BDC) and District Development Councils (DDCs) in Kashmir were conducted peacefully and successfully in 2019 and 2020 respectively. There was an enthusiastic participation of the people," said Minister of State in the Ministry of Home Affairs Nityanand Rai, in a written reply in the Lok Sabha. The minister said that there was a turnout of 98.29 per cent in BDC elections and 51.42 per cent in the DDC elections.

Notably, the People's Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) swept the first-ever District Development Council (DDC) polls held in December 2020 in Jammu and Kashmir after the revocation of Article 370. A year before, in 2019, a high turnout of 98.29 per cent was witnessed despite the National Conference, Congress and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) boycotting the electoral exercise.

The government said that it has taken several steps to boost the development of Jammu & Kashmir. "During the year 2020-21, 1289 road construction works were completed at a cost of Rs 1638 crore. The construction work of 14500 km of roads has been completed so far under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojna, which has connected about 2000 places," the Minister said.

Listing several developmental activities, Rai stated that an international flight from Srinagar to Sharjah was started on October 23. In addition, night flights from Jammu and Srinagar have also been started. He informed that under the fast-track recruitment, 20,323 posts are being filled by the Jammu & Kashmir Services Selection Board. The 2119 selections for gazetted posts have been made by the Jammu & Kashmir Public Service Commission in various departments.
Panaji, Dec 14 : West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday slammed the Congress for not doing enough to combat the ruling BJP, while also claiming that a "relationship" may be blossoming between the two national parties.

"Congress makes tall claims that they will fight alone. They fought alone throughout the country, they fought against us too. You still fight against us every day. At least fight the BJP and then make your claims," Banerjee said at a public rally near here.

"Why did I quit the Congress, which I was a part of. I quit sensing a brewing friendship. You are forming a relationship with the BJP. You are trying to save them," she alleged.
Mumbai, Dec 14 : Sounding alarm for Maharashtra, eight new cases of Covid-19 variant Omicron have been detected in the state, taking the state tally to 28, officials said on Tuesday.

The cases include seven in Mumbai and one in Palghar. Of these, three are women and five men, but none of them have a history of international travel though one had gone to New Delhi and another to Bengaluru.

One patient hails from Rajasthan, and seven out of the new infectees have been fully vaccinated.

Three of them are asymptomatic and five have mild symptoms. Two have been admitted to hospital for treatment and the rest are in home care under quarantine.

Presently, Maharashtra's Omicron cases are spread in several regions including Mumbai and Pune districts with 12 patients each, and Palghar, Thane, Latur, and Nagpur with one infectee each.

Intensive surveillance of passengers arriving at the three international airports - Mumbai, Pune and Nagpur - is currently underway since December 1.

A total of 13,615 have reached here from the "high risk" countries of which 30 have tested positive and 8 from other countries, with all their reports sent for genomic sequencing to confirm if they are afflicted by Omicron, said the officials.
New Delhi, Dec 14 : The Supreme Court on Tuesday said that the adjudicating authority (NCLT) and appellant authority (NCLAT) under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) cannot compel parties to settle a dispute.

A bench of Justices D.Y. Chandrachud and A.S. Bopanna said: "The adjudicating authority is empowered only to verify whether a default has occurred or if a default has not occurred. Based upon its decision, the adjudicating authority must then either admit or reject an application respectively. These are the only two courses of action which are open to the adjudicating authority in accordance with Section 7(5). The adjudicating authority cannot compel a party to the proceedings before it to settle a dispute." The bench added that settlements have to be encouraged because the ultimate purpose of the IBC is to facilitate the continuance and rehabilitation of a corporate debtor, as distinct from allowing it to go into liquidation.

It added that the adjudicating authority and appellate authority, however, have proceeded to do in the present case is to abdicate their jurisdiction to decide a petition under Section 7 by directing the respondent to settle the remaining claims within three months and leaving it open to the original petitioners, who are aggrieved by the settlement process, to move fresh proceedings in accordance with law.

"Such a course of action is not contemplated by the IBC. The IBC is a complete code in itself. The adjudicating authority and the appellate authority are creatures of the statute. Their jurisdiction is statutorily conferred. The statute which confers jurisdiction also structures, channelises and circumscribes the ambit of such jurisdiction. Thus, while the adjudicating authority and appellate authority can encourage settlements, they cannot direct them by acting as courts of equity," it said.

The primary question was whether the National Company Law Tribunal, under Section 7, was correct in simply dismissing the petition finding that corporate debtor has initiated the process of settlement with the financial creditors.

The top court set aside the orders passed by the NCLT and the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal dismissing a petition filed under Section 7 of the IBC for initiating the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) in a case.

The genesis of the case arises from a master agreement to sell which was entered into between the respondent, IDBI Trusteeship Ltd and Karvy Realty (India) Ltd on June 22, 2014, in order to raise an amount of Rs 50 crore for the development of 100 acres of agricultural land.

In 2019, a number of appellants filed a Section 7 application before the NCLT, Bengaluru due to the respondent's default in making the repayment of over Rs 33 crore. The NCLT, in February 2020, disposed of the petition after noting that both parties had filed joint consent terms. However, not all the petitioners had given their consent on the settlement.

The tribunal directed the respondent to settle the matter within three months and allowed the original petitioners to approach it if they are still aggrieved. The petitioners moved the NCLAT, which supported the NCLT's view.

The petitioners moved the top court challenging this order.

The top court reinstated the Section 7 petition before the NCLT for fresh disposal.
Moga, Dec 14 : The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Tuesday gave a clarion call for the establishment of a truly federal structure in the country, with genuine cultural, political and economic autonomy to states.

It also announced to implement a Rs 50,000 per acre crop insurance scheme, besides commitment to revive the pre-2004 pension scheme for government employees.

Addressing what he called "the biggest historic gathering of Punjabis in living memory", five-time Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal said the SAD-BSP alliance is all set to repeat the performance of their only joint effort in 1996, when the alliance had swept the entire state.

As scores of people turned out to mark the centennial commemoration of SAD, the party "vowed to give to Punjabis a genuinely transparent, accountable and inclusive government".

Badal said the choice before Punjabis is "straight and simple". It's one between having a government of the Punjabis, for the Punjabis and by the Punjabis on the one hand, or having 'boastful puppets' remote controlled by outsiders.

He said it is sad to see the Congress humiliating the poor and Scheduled Castes by first letting it be know that the current Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi was not their first choice.

"Now, they are humiliating him by openly refusing to endorse his performance and not naming him as its CM face," Badal said.

Earlier, they had humiliated seasoned Congress leader Sunil Jakhar's community by first publicising that he would be the next CM, but later leaking out media reports that no one from his community could be made the CM of Punjab by the Congress, he said.

"Such communal games are nothing new to the Congress, but they are both distasteful and dangerous for communal haromny," he said.

The Akali stalwart also warned the government of India against the "dangerous adventurism" of the past and said nothing should be done to disturb the atmosphere of peace and communal harmony in Punjab and outside.

Addressing the congregation, SAD President Sukhbir Singh Badal announced that farmers would be offered an insurance cover of Rs 50,000 per acre for crop damage.

He also announced that the next SAD-BSP alliance government would revive the pre-2004 pension scheme for government employees.

He said the next government would also end monopolies in sand and liquor business by giving a person one mining contract and liqour vend to one individual.

He also announced waiver of electricity bills of all religious places of worship. He said the SAD-BSP alliance government would not allow anyone to disturb peace and communal harmony in the state.

He also related how SAD was the first party to raise the voice of federalism.

"Now all regional parties are also calling for strengthening federal rights. If federal rights of states are secure, then black laws like the three agricultural laws cannot be implemented without the approval of the states. We are committing to strengthening the federal nature of the country," he said.

Senior party leader Prem Singh Chandumajra also read out a resolution in this regard, calling for formation of a 'Sanjha Morcha' to espouse the cause of federalism nationally.

The Moga conference also passed a resolution condemning the Congress government's 'attempts' to register false cases against SAD-BSP alliance leaders and warned Chief Minister Channi, Home Minister Sukhjinder Randhawa and PPCC President Navjot Singh Sidhu that they would be responsible for the consequences of pursuing vendetta politics.

The resolution, which was read out by Daljit Singh Cheema, also demanded the resignation of the Chief Minister and the Home Minister in the 'cash for transfer' case.

It also demanded judicial probe into bribery charges levelled against the Home Minister who has been accused by a cabinet colleague of taking money for posting SSPs.

Speaking on the occasion, senior vice-president of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Satish Mishra, said the alliance is set to sweep the forthcoming polls by securing 100 seats.

He said the alliance stands for empowering the weaker sections of the society. BSP's Punjab in-charge, Randhir Beniwal, and state president, Jasbir Singh Garhi, also spoke on the occasion.
Hyderabad, Dec 14 : Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) is organising a product exhibition at its Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam units as part of 'Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav' to commemorate 75 years of India's Independence.

The public sector undertaking is showcasing models of anti-tank guided missiles, surface-to-air missiles, air-to-air missiles, missile launchers and underwater weapons.

The exhibition, which was virtually inaugurated by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday, will continue till December 19. It is open from 10 am to 4 pm at Kanchanbagh, Hyderabad, as well as the Visakhapatnam unit for general public.

"This is the first time that BDL is exhibiting a wide range of products at its premises, which are open for the general public," said Commodore Siddharth Mishra (Retd), Chairman and Managing Director, BDL.

BDL is showcasing its current and futuristic products. It is also facilitating visits of high school and college students to help them learn about the basics of applied science used in the products on display through interaction with the technical teams.

Entry to these locations will be allowed with government issued valid ID cards. School and college students are allowed with their school or college IDs.
Kolkata, Dec 14 : History was created on December 16, 1971 when a free Bangladesh emerged after the surrender of Pakistani armed forces in Dhaka but very people know that on the next day, a 29-year-old unarmed Indian Army officer single-handedly saved the family of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman including his daughter Sheikh Hasina - the present Prime Minister of Bangladesh.

Colonel Ashoke Kumar Tara (retd), Vir Chakra, who was only then 29 years old, was entrusted with the job of rescuing Sheikh Mujib's family, sequestered in their home in Dhanmondi, from the clutches of the Pakistani Army. Sheikh Mujib was himself in a jail in then west Pakistan, having been arrested and flown out in the crackdown under Pakistan Army's "Operation Searchlight" earlier that year.

"They (the family) were kept in house arrest at a place called Dhanmondi in Dhaka. I went to the place with only two soldiers and I didn't have any arms," Col Tara told IANS in an interview.

Recounting the incident, he said: "I understood one thing that if I went with arms and many soldiers, then the Pakistani Army might get scared and start firing on the people. This might cause harm to the family. There were 12 people. I took the risk and went there on December 17 at 9 a.m.

"I decided to face the Pakistanis with my guts and wits. I left my weapon with my 2 jawans and told them to stay behind. I, alone without a weapon, moved towards the house. I reached near the house and asked if there was anyone. They (the soldiers there) replied in Punjabi and being a Punjabi, I can understand the language. They told me to stop or otherwise, they will fire," Tara said.

"I told them I am an army officer and have come to tell you that the Pakistani Army has surrendered. They did not believe it and in response, they abused me in nasty language, but I kept quiet as I knew what my task is, what my aim is. I later again told them to understand the situation, by chance, by luck an Indian helicopter flew over the house. I immediately told them to look at the helicopter... 'Have you ever seen an Indian helicopter over your head', I asked. They were impressed but said they will ask their senior officers about the surrender," he recalled.

"During that time, I was just at the gate, the bayonet of the rifle was touching the right side of my body. I told them there was no communication, as the telephone lines had been cut. I told them if you delay, the Mukti Bahini will come, and the Indian Army will come and kill you. Your family, which is waiting in Pakistan, will not be able to meet you and what will happen to your body, you can't imagine," he said.

"This talk continued for 25 minutes. They even fired at the house. I was unmoved and told them this will not impact me because it will damage you more than me. You are 12 people, you all will be killed and never reach your home. If you surrender, I, as an Indian Army officer, promise you that I will take you to the headquarters so that you could reach your home in Pakistan. Somehow, they agreed and surrendered." "I then opened the door of the house, and the first lady who came out was the wife of Sheikh Mujibur Rehman. She embraced me and said 'you are my son and God has sent you to save us'. She was followed by, Sheikh Hasina with her 3-year-old son Rasul and her sister," he said.

In October 2012, he was invited to Bangladesh to be bestowed with an award by Sheikh Hasina. The award was the honour of 'Friend of the Liberation War'.

"There has been some correspondence, the High Commission in Delhi always invites me for ceremonies," he said, adding that during her 2017 India visit, Sheikh Hasina met Tara and exchanged pleasantries.

Asked about the India-Bangladesh relationship, Tara said: "The relations immediately after the war were very close. But after three years, when Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was assassinated and then during the military rule, the relationship was in a bad shape. However, when present PM Sheikh Hasina came back to power, the relationship became very good again. The present government also wants a very good relationship with them. There is a brotherhood between the two nations. PM Narendra Modi has said this number of times.

"At present, the relationship is very good and I wish that such relationship carries on."
Jaipur, Dec 14 : Financial assistance worth Rs one crore will be given to the family of Squadron Leader Kuldeep Singh from Rajasthan, who was martyred in the helicopter crash in Tamil Nadu on December 8 along with Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat, his wife and 10 other armed forces personnel.

The announcement was made by Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Tuesday.

In a tweet, Gehlot said, "The state government has decided to provide an assistance of Rs one crore to the family of Squadron Leader Kuldeep Singh from Jhunjhunu, Rajasthan, who was martyred in the Coonoor (Tamil Nadu) chopper accident. The state government stands with the family of martyrs in this difficult time." Squadron Leader Kuldeep Singh was the co-pilot of the ill-fated helicopter.
New Delhi, Dec 14 : Lok Sabha members on Tuesday urged the government to prepare to deal with the tentacles of Omicron, the new variant of coronavirus.

Raising the issue during the Zero Hour in the lower house, Congress leader in the house, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said that the government needs to be alert about Omicron as the number of cases has been increasing.

As of now, 41 cases of Omicron have been reported and the government needs to come up with a plan for vaccination of the children, adolescents and other adults who have not been vaccinated yet, he said, noting that European nations have already started the vaccination programme for children as the "tentacles of Omicron" has been spreading theretoo.

Trinamool Congress' Sougata Roy asked the government to start booster doses for all eligible immediately along with vaccine being started for 12-18-year-olds.

"Because of some differences within the expert committee, booster dose is not being given," he said.

"We are all scared, the third wave will happen and we will be caught unawares," Roy added.

Another Trinamool member Kalyan Banerjee, referring to the death of an Omicron patient in the UK, said that the British government has already declared Omicron as an emergency and cases were on the rise in London.

Meanwhile, RLP member Hanuman Beniwal raised the issue of spine muscular atrophy among children and said that the medicine for this rare disease is imported on a very high price. He urged the government find ways to make the high price medicine affordable.

On assistance to disabled persons for purchase or fitting of aids or appliances scheme, NCP's Supriya Sule Araised the issue of cochlear implant requiring an expensive machine and requested the government to include one cochlear implant in the scheme and support children requiring cochlear implant till they are 18 or 21.
New Delhi, Dec 14 : The Lok Sabha on Tuesday took up the Supplementary Demands for Grants, Second Batch for 2021-22 which includes a Rs 62,000 crore equity infusion into Air India, fertilizer and food subsidy and the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme.

Initiating the debate on the Supplementary Demands for Grants, Congress Member Shashi Tharoor said that this is not a "Jai Jawan Jai Kisan" era under this government, it is a "Na Jawan Na Kisan" era (Neither Jawan nor Kisan).

Expressing concern over the state of the economy post the Covid-19 situation, he held demonetization responsible for weakening the economy.

"We all praised the valiant efforts of our healthcare workers, the reality is that with the short sightedness of the policy decision of the government, the economy was ushered into uncertainty," Tharoor added.

Bharatiya Janata Party lawmaker Nishikant Dubey while debating on the Grants, listed the achievements of the National Democratic Alliance government. He said that today Railways is competing with budget airlines as the Modi government brought the Railway Budget under the Financial Budget soon after it came to power and now every year the Railway Ministry is getting adequate funding for expansion of the rail infrastructure. During the last seven years, almost 90 percent of the electrification work of the Railways has been done and it will be 100 percent very soon. There is no dearth of funds and it is seen in the development of stations across the country.

He highlighted how Air India was destined to doom due to the bad policies of the earlier UPA government and it was also flagged in the Comptroller and Auditor General of India's reports which said that merger of Air India and Indian Airlines was a bad move. The CAG report also listed how the so called bailout packages were given to Air India which ultimately proved to be sheer wastage of taxpayers' money.

ADMK Member Dayanidhi Maran blamed the government for Air India's loss. In over seven years, you were not able to make a PSU profitable, he charged. He also asked who the other bidders for Air India were during the auction.

Maran recalled how the "Give Up Subsidy" campaign for LPG cylinders was launched and now the subsidy on cooking gas is only Rs 12. Earlier only women cried while cooking, now the entire family cries, he added.

Claiming that the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) was a fraud, he said the haircuts taken by the financial creditors are unbelievable while the nationalised banks are facing losses but the Corporates are benefited by it.

The TMC's Saugata Roy claimed that the government had begged the Tata group to takeover Air India and history will remember the Finance Minister as the biggest saleswoman.

YSR Congress Party Member Midhun Reddy while debating on the Appropriation (5) Bill 2021, took up the special category status for Andhra Pradesh. He said that bifurcation was the only issue where both the UPA and the NDA came together and split a State.

BSP lawmaker Ritesh Pandey said that the government is trying to hide the reality of the economy under the rosy picture of the stock market. He added that first demonetization and then the Covid-19 pandemic ruined the rural economy.

"We have seen how lakhs of workers were forced to trudge to their villages during the lockdown and when they reached their home now they have to buy fertilizers and other agricultural stuff at higher prices,", Pandey said, adding that the funds for MNREGA have been reduced year by year.

He said that now India stands at the 100th position in the World Hunger Index while only Rs 5 is being spent on nutritional food for school children under the Mid Day Meal programme.

J&K's NC Member Hasnain Masoodi charged that the government is propagating a fake narrative that the situation in Jammu and Kashmir has completely changed. The government says that the situation has substantially improved after the August 5, 2019 abrogation of Article 370 and 35 A but the reality can been seen in the attacks on the security forces in the Union Territory and the killings of civilians, he added.

He said that the local bodies elected Members are forced to stay under police protection and are not able to even meet their electorate.

Masoodi said that crores of rupees have been given to the Tatas but funds in MNREGA have been reduced for J&K. There are power cuts and no drinking water in the majority of the Union Territory despite the claim that tap drinking water connections have been provided under the Jal Jeevan Mission.

The debate remained inconclusive and will be taken up again on December 15.
New Delhi, Dec 14 : Taking cognizance of the SIT's latest report into the Lakhimpur Kheri massacre on Tuesday, the Samyukt Kisan Morcha said it reaffirmed the stand of protesting farmers that the incident was pre-planned.

The SIT has made grave indictments against 13 accused in the case, including Ashish Mishra Teni, son of Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Ajay Mishra Teni. On October 3, eight people, including four protesting farmers, had died when a SUV belonging to Ashish Mishra had mowed them down on the outskirts of Lakhimpur Kheri in Uttar Pradesh. One local journalist had died in the ensuing violence.

"The chief mastermind of the incident, Ajay Mishra Teni continues to roam free, and hold his position in the Union Government. In the light of the latest findings, SKM demands that the Modi government stop shielding this 'conspirator of the Kisan massacre in Lakhimpur Kheri'," a statement from the SKM said.

The farmers had then been protesting at Lakhimpur Kheri, just as at various places across India, demanding withdrawal of the three farm laws.

Reiterating its demand for dismissal and arrest of senior Mishra, the SKM said that it shall continue its struggle on this issue. "Indian farmers shall not forget this massacre, till we secure justice for the victims." In its submission to the magistrate, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) has affirmed that: "So far, it has been proved from the analysis and collected evidence that the accused did not commit the criminal act out of negligence and disregard, but intentionally, with the motive of killing the farmers according to a pre-planned strategy, due to which five people have died."
Tirupati, Dec 14 : The mega foot march by farmers and women of Amaravati demanding that the city be retained as the only state capital of Andhra Pradesh concluded in temple town Tirupati on Tuesday.

After covering 450 km in 44 days, the 'Mahapadyatra' ended at Alipiri, the foothills of Sri Venkateswara temple.

Leaders of the Amaravati Parirakshana Samithi and the Amaravati Joint Action Committee, along with other participants broke 108 coconuts, praying for success of their agitation against trifurcation of the state capital.

The participants later left for the hill shrine to offer prayers.

Titled 'court to temple', the 'Mahapadyatra' began near Andhra Pradesh High Court at Amaravati on November 1. It passed through various towns and villages in Guntur, Prakasam, Nellore, and Chittoor districts to reach Tirupati.

Farmers of 29 villages of Amaravati region, who had given 33,000 acres of land for development of the state capital when the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) was in power, have been protesting for more than 700 days. With the foot march, their agitation entered a new phase.

Leaders of the JAC said they successfully completed the walkathon despite the hurdles created by the police at various places at the instance of ruling YSR Congress Party (YSRCP). They said the 'Mahapadyatra' was only the beginning of their movement, and they were determined to carry on the movement till the YSRCP government decides to have Amaravati as the only capital.

During the foot march, the movement witnessed some key developments. On November 22, when the High Court resumed hearing on a batch of petitions challenging the government's plans for trifurcation of state capital, the government took back the laws passed to create their state capitals.

The developed had raised hopes among protestors in Amaravati but the same day Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy announced in the Assembly that the government will bring a comprehensive legislation. He made it clear that the government remained committed to three capitals.

The Assembly passed Andhra Pradesh Decentralisation and Inclusive Development of all Regions Repeal Bill 2021, repealing the Andhra Pradesh Decentralisation and Inclusive Development of all Regions Act 2020 and the Andhra Pradesh Capital Region development Authority Repeal Act 2020 Act.

Leaders of Amaravati movement and opposition parties claimed the government feared that the two legislations may be struck down by the High Court, which was hearing more than 50 petitions challenging them.

The petitioners had challenged the laws on ground being technically flawed as they were not passed by the Legislative Council, the upper house of the state legislature.

For nearly two years, the farmers, women and other sections of people in Amaravati have been continuing their protest. They say Jagan Mohan Reddy-led government's move to dump Amaravati as the only capital and develop Visakhapatnam and Kurnool as administrative and judicial capitals, respectively, dashed their hopes of a bright future after giving away 33,000 acres of land. The move caused distress to 4,000 farmer families.

The three-capital proposal came as a bolt from the blue for the farmers relying on the mega plans of then Chandrababu Naidu government to build Amaravati on the banks of Krishna river as the dream capital and a world-class city, whose design was prepared by the Singapore government.
Gandhinagar, Dec 14 : The Gujarat government on Tuesday announced that it has deposited Rs 50,000 relief amount each through direct benefit transfer (DBT) into the bank accounts of around 22,000 persons as per the Supreme Court defined Covid deaths in their families during the pandemic period.

The revenue minister and the official spokesperson of the Gujarat government, Rajendra Trivedi said, "The state government has till date received over 38,000 applications for Covid-19 death relief aid and till now we have released relief money in 22,000 cases through DBT." "Earlier, as per the definition of Covid deaths by the Gujarat government which was according to the standards set by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), 10,093 applications were received for relief. However, after a new definition of Covid deaths by the Supreme Court, the state government has received more applications," added the minister.

The minister, whose department had filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court giving details of the compensation claims, said, "The state committee here had decided not to count deaths due to heart attack or failure of other body organs to be due to Covid-19 and consider them as separate cases." The then Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani had maintained all along that the government was not counting co-morbid patients among Covid-19 according to the ICMR guidelines.

The revenue minister added that, "The Supreme Court ordered that all deaths within 30 days of patients testing positive for Covid-19 should be considered eligible for Rs 50,000 compensation without considering anything else. This has likely caused the numbers to rise, is what I understand primarily." Trivedi claimed Gujarat to be the first state in the country to be disbursing Covid death compensation as per the Apex Court's directive. "We are ahead of all other states in disbursing ex-gratia amount of Rs 50,000 and will ensure that the pandemic victims are paid compensation at the earliest in a simplified manner," he said.

The Opposition Congress has been claiming that 3 lakh people had succumbed to the dreaded virus and that this was borne out by district-wise death figures since March 2020.

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Chennai, Dec 14 : Madurai MP Su Venkatesan on Tuesday said that he has requested Union Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman to withdraw the 12 per cent GST on Sungudi sarees that are traditionally worn by women of the lower strata of the society.

In a statement, the CPI-M MP said that he met the minister in person at her office in New Delhi and told her that the popular and unique Sungudi sarees were crafted by the minority Saurashtrian community in Madurai, were handmade and machines are not used at any stage on this. He said that increasing the GST from 5 per cent to 12 per cent would crush the industry and render thousands jobless.

He said that the Tamil Nadu government had earlier exempted sales tax on Sungundi sarees in 1955 itself and added that these had received the geographic identity (GI) card from the Union government on January 1, 2005.

He said that in 2017, the Centre levied 5 per cent GST on Sungundi sarees that pushed the poor weaving community into poverty and increasing this GST to 12 per cent would lead to an end to the sarees' production.

He said that the weavers were slowly recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic when the decision to increase GST to 12 per cent had befallen them. He said that the industry would be crushed rendering thousands jobless and on the streets.

The Minister, according to the MP, however, said that revising the GST rate is being decided by the GST Council and not the government.
Chandigarh, Dec 14 : Punjab Lok Congress (PLC) chief Amarinder Singh on Tuesday warned Punjab Police officials against intimidating his party workers at the behest of some local Congress leaders.

The former Chief Minister was reacting to reports of Punjab cops stopping PLC workers, who were putting up posters in the Malwa region.

Amarinder Singh said he had received reports that the police officials, "clearly acting at the bidding of local Congress leaders", were threatening to slap false cases against his party workers.

Amarinder Singh expressed surprise that such "mischievous acts" were being allowed by Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi.

"If the present government has the guts, let them take me on politically, instead of using these goons in uniform to do their dirty jobs," he said.

He also asked Channi to "rein in" such elements within the Congress and in the police force, "unless you are deliberately allowing such anarchy to plunge Punjab into political mayhem ahead of the Assembly polls, in which the ruling party is set to be shamefully trounced".

"I know how to deal with such officials who have compromised their integrity to appease their political masters," said Amarinder Singh, adding that if needed, he would not shy from taking the Centre's help to deal with the lawlessness being unleashed by such police personnel.

The former CM asserted that he would do anything needed to ensure that law and order is maintained in the state, which had witnessed "complete peace and political harmony" during his tenure as Chief Minister.

"All such partisan officials who are going around trying to terrorise my party workers should remember that they aren't above the law, and they will have to answer for their acts," warned Amarinder Singh, adding that such draconian acts will not be tolerated at any cost.

The job of the men in uniform is to maintain law and order and not to act in a partisan manner, said the PLC chief, warning the police personnel against becoming tools in the hands of the party in power.

The Channi government should ensure that not just PLC workers, but workers of the BJP or the Shiromani Akali Dal (Democratic), with which his party is headed for alliance or seat arrangement, should not be harassed in the state, he added.
New Delhi, Dec 14 : China has been battling sporadic Covid outbreaks that are weighing on its major manufacturing hubs, Global Times reported.

Less than 24 hours after North China's Tianjin reported the Chinese mainland's first case of an imported infection of the Omicron coronavirus variant on Monday night, Guangzhou, capital of South China's Guangdong Province, reported a new imported case infected with the Omicron strain on Tuesday.

While the sporadic outbreaks are affecting major manufacturing hubs and ports such as Shaoxing and Ningbo, two cities in Zhejiang, Dongguan, which is deemed as the world's factory located in Guangdong, also rolled out nucleic acid tests in two of its counties at midnight on Monday after two patients tested positive for Covid.

Businesses in Zhejiang are facing logistical challenges which may impact clothing firms and other sectors of the local economy, after factory activity and transportation channels in parts of the province were suspended amid the recent resurgence of coronavirus cases, the Global Times learned.

Starting December 8, all companies, except for those making essential products or personal protective equipment (PPE) in Zhenhai, a district in Ningbo, have been required to suspend production.

On the same day, Shangyu district in Shaoxing also required local companies to suspend production, with the exception of firms producing PPE or other essential products.

Shangyu is a key hub for textile dye firms, while Zhenhai is a key base for the domestic petrochemical industry.

Aside from halting factory production, those cities have also restricted intercity transportation. Zhejiang has closed 10 freeway toll stations on five highways, while Zhenhai and Shangyu have suspended package delivery services. A total of 247 bus lines have also been suspended in Ningbo and Shaoxing.

Several local businesses told the Global Times that the suspension, combined with new public health measures limiting the flow of goods and people, has triggered logistical challenges for their companies, with truck drivers unwilling to enter the affected areas for fear they may be caught up in the new measures or forced to observe quarantine, the report said.

"We can't ship our products from Shaoxing. Drivers from Ningbo are reluctant to come here, and warehouses in Ningbo are reluctant to accept our products," Jin Xiaobo, the CEO of Zhejiang Kaierhai Textile Garments, which is based in Shaoxing, told the Global Times. Shaoxing is about 120 km from Ningbo.

This has caused headaches for traders, as they have no means to ship products to their overseas clients, particularly during what is the peak delivery season for clothing companies.

However, the overall impact should be limited to certain industries and localities within the province, with general supply chains remaining stable, businesspeople and officials said.

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Colombo, Dec 14 : Seekkuge Prasanna smashed an unbeaten-32 off 6 balls, as he hammered five sixes to guide Colombo Stars to a nail-biting five-wicket win over Kandy Warriors in the Lanka Premier League 2021 match at R. Premadasa Stadium here on Tuesday.

Chasing 147, the Stars found themselves in a spot of bother after Sachindu Colombage dismissed Dinesh Chandimal in the fifth ball of the 18th over.

Needing 37 to win from 13 balls, with five wickets in hand, Prasanna came to the crease to hammer his first six on the first ball he faced from Colombage.

In the next over from Binura Fernando, Prasanna once again struck a six on the penultimate ball, before running a double on the final delivery of the over to put Sherfane Rutherford on strike at the start of the last over.

Lahiru Kumara was given the responsibility to bowl the last over for the Warriors, and Rutherford did well to run a single on the first ball to bring Prasanna back to strike. The right-handed batsman struck three consecutive sixes to help his team pick up the win with two balls to spare.

Earlier, Colombo Stars captain Angelo Mathews won the toss and elected to bowl. Kandy Warriors openers Kennar Lewis and Charith Asalanka stitched a solid 71-run stand for the first wicket. But after Asalanka was dismissed by Dushmantha Chameera in the first ball of the 9th over for 28, the Warriors lost the plot and went on to lose wickets in quick succession.

Chameera starred with the ball for Stars, picking up four wickets for 35 runs in his four overs, while the rest of the bowling unit chipped in with a wicket each. Apart from Lewis' 62, no other Kandy batsman could get going, and they could only muster 146/9 in 20 overs.

Colombo Stars started the chase poorly as Pathum Nissanka was dismissed for a duck on the third ball. Stars kept losing wickets at key moments and found themselves reeling at 110/5 in 17.5 overs. But Prasanna's heroics saved the day for Colombo Stars as they picked up two important points to go third in the table.
New Delhi, Dec 14 : A 27-year-old man, who was preparing for UPSC examination in the national capital, has been arrested by the Delhi Police for stealing a diamond ring from a jewellery shop, an official said on Tuesday.

The incident took place on Monday when the accused, identified as Praveen, a resident of Haryana, went to a jewellery shop in Connaught Place. An FIR was registered under Sections 379 and 411 of the Indian Penal Code at the Connaught Place police station based on the complaint of Lalit Dhiman, store manager at the Tanishq showroom.

The complainant alleged that the accused had stolen a diamond ring from the showroom and tried to escape.

"The showroom staff stopped the accused for questioning and in the meantime called the beat staff. When the accused got a hint that police might have been called, he fled from the showroom," DCP Deepak Yadav said, adding that he was later chased and arrested by the beat staff.

A video of the cop chasing the accused also went viral on social media. The police said that the constable who was chasing the accused got injured during the process. He was later referred to a nearby hospital for treatment.

During interrogation, Praveen disclosed that he was a student and was preparing for UPSC at Mukherjee Nagar. He used to indulge in small thefts to fulfil his daily needs.
Gandhinagar, Dec 14 : The Gujarat government said on Tuesday that Memorandums of Understanding (MoU) worth Rs 2,359 crore for investment in the agriculture sector in the state were inked during a three-day pre-Vibrant Gujarat Summit event organised at the Anand Agricultural University from December 14-16.

The 10th Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit 2022 will be held from January 10-12 next year.

Gujarat Governor Acharya Devvrat and Union Minister for Dairying, Parshottam Rupala, on Tuesday inaugurated the three-day pre-summit event at Anand Agricultural University. The event will focus on 10 themes in 15 knowledge sessions, which will see the participation of over 90 speakers, 300 companies, and more than 5,000 farmers and officials from 23 states.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will virtually address the pre-summit event on the third and last day, i.e, December 16.

The MoUs were inked in the presence of Devvrat and Rupala.

An MoU of Rs 192 crore was signed by Aamanya Organic Private limited for an ethanol plant of the capacity of 150 kilolitre per day. Iskcon Balaji food signed an agreement worth Rs 500 crore for frozen potato base plant for snack production in Himmatnagar.

An MoU of Rs 200 crore was inked for agri-produce green e-commerce project in Gandhinagar. Similarly, Paras Spices signed an MoU of Rs 100 crore for dehydration, pack house, sortex, and spices grinding in Rajkot.

UPS signed an MoU of Rs 500 crore for an ethanol plant of 500 kilolitre per day capacity in Dahej. Central Institute of Brackishwater Aquaculture signed an MoU of Rs 25 crore for infrastructural facilities. Luna Chemicals Private limited inked an MoU worth Rs 650 crore for an ethanol project of 500 kilolitre per day capacity.
New Delhi, Dec 14 : Over eight lakh Indians have given up their citizenship in the last seven years, the Parliament was told on Tuesday.

In a written reply to a question asked by TRS member Kotha Prabhakar Reddy, Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai told the Lok Sabha, in a written reply, that a total of 8,81,254 Indians have given up their citizenship till September 30, 2021 as per the information shared by the Ministry of External Affairs.

The data also said that the maximum number of 1,44,017 Indians have renounced their citizenship in 2019.

According to the data, a total of 1,31,489 Indian nationals gave up their citizenship in 2015, 1,41,603 in 2016, 1,33,049 in 2017, 1,34,561 in 2018, 1,44,017 in 2019, 85,248 in 2020, and 1,11,287 till September 30 this year.

The Minister also informed that citizenship of India may be renounced under provisions of Section 8 of the Citizenship Act, 1955 read with rule 23 of the Citizenship Rules, 2009. The online portal for renunciation of Indian citizenship has been activated in August, 2021.

End to end processing of renunciation applications is carried out in the online Citizenship Module, he added.
New Delhi, Dec 14 : A total of 14,15,49,620 health ID cards have been created under the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission in the country as on December 3, Union Minister of State for Health, Bharati Pravin Pawar, said on Tuesday.

Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana is an entitlement-based scheme which doesn't need enrolment or registration of the beneficiary to avail benefits under the scheme. The beneficiary may directly visit the empanelled hospital to avail cashless treatment benefits, the minister informed the Rajya Sabha in a written reply.

She said that all empanelled hospitals (public or private) have Pradhan Mantri Arogya Mitra, who facilitates the beneficiary with all the necessary steps required to avail the scheme benefits.

"Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (AB-DM) aims to create an online platform enabling interoperability of health data within the health ecosystem to create longitudinal electronic health record of every citizen, make healthcare accessible for citizens, including reducing the cost of care, and enable greater efficiencies in health service delivery," said Pawar in her written reply in the Rajya Sabha.

Pawar informed the House that in total, Rs 56,118.07 lakh have been provided to the states and UTs under the National Programme for Prevention and Control of Cancer, Diabetes, Cardiovascular Diseases and Stroke (NPCDCS) during 2021-22. Under NPCDCS, 677 NCD clinics at the district level, 187 district cardiac care units, 266 district day care centres and 5392 NCD clinics at the community health centre level have been set up to ensure the treatment of common NCDs.

A population-based initiative for prevention, control and screening for common non-communicable diseases like diabetes, hypertension and common cancers has been rolled out in the country as part of comprehensive primary health care. Under the initiative, persons above 30 years of age are targeted for screening for common NCDs, said Pawar.
New Delhi, Dec 14 : The Darbhanga Railway Station (Bihar) bomb blast case probe has revealed that the conspiracy was hatched by a foreign-based terrorist organisation, the Parliament was told on Tuesday.

"During the investigation of the case pertaining to bomb blast at Darbhanga Railway Station, conspiracy hatched by a foreign-based terrorist organisation has surfaced," Minister of State in the Ministry of Home Affairs Nityanand Rai told the Lok Sabha in a written reply.

A parcel purportedly containing women's clothing, sent via train from Secunderabad, exploded while it was being unloaded on Darbhanga Railway station platform on June 17 this year.

The Minister also said that presently there is no plan to deploy Central paramilitary forces in Darbhanga.

"Key Location Plan (KLP) for Central Armed Police Forces' is decided interalia on the basis of operational necessity and location suitability," he said.

He said that there is a Defence Airport at Darbhanga from where the commercial flights have already been started.

"A postal training centre also exists at Darbhanga. Besides, the setting up of an AIIMS and a centre of Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) at Darbhanga have also been approved," Rai underlined.

Responding to the question whether the government is considering handing over the security of these institutions to central security forces, he said the deployment of Central Industrial Security Force for security of industrial undertakings/institutions is considered on the basis of threat assessment.
New Delhi, Dec 14 : The Delhi High Court on Tuesday directed the Centre to ensure funds to cover the expenses towards the treatment of children suffering from rare diseases, saying the amount to be spent on such treatments and medicines can be adjusted from various funds, including the National Disability Fund.

The bench of Justice Rekha Palli said the court is of the view that the process is to be started from major hospitals across the country, such as AIIMS.

The court was hearing a batch of pleas pertaining to children suffering from rare diseases like Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) and Hunter's syndrome, seeking direction to the Centre to provide them uninterrupted and free of cost treatment as the therapy is very expensive.

Hunter syndrome is a rare, inherited disorder in which the body does not properly digest (break down) sugar molecules, while Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) is also an inherited disorder of progressive muscular weakness.

Senior advocate Siddharth Luthra, appearing on behalf of the petitioner, submitted that various public sector undertakings are contributing an amount of Rs 1,200 crore annually towards Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).

The court said that the Centre can impress these PSUs to utilise these funds to online crowdfunding portals created for the treatment of children with rare diseases.

In September, the court had asked the Central government to take steps for transferring Rs 63 crore from the crowdfunding account lying with the Kerala High Court to that of the rare diseases account.

Today, the court said that it will be open for the Centre to pursue the application before the Kerala High Court for transfer of this fund.

Earlier on December 8, the court had pulled up the Centre for not utilising the funds collected to provide assistance for the treatment of children suffering from rare diseases, saying it will not permit these kids to "die despite funds being available".
New Delhi, Dec 14 : Union Minister of State in the Ministry of Home Affairs, Nityanand Rai, said on Tuesday that all-round development of Gorkhas, including those living in West Bengal, is a top priority for the government.

The minister's reply came to a series of questions posed by Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi in the Lok Sabha, asking if the government can provide the status of Permanent Political Solution related to Gorkhas in West Bengal.

The minister, in a written reply to all the queries, said that in a meeting with the representatives of Gorkhas on October 12, it was mentioned that the aspirations of the people would be met within the Constitutional framework and in consultation with the government of West Bengal.

Notably, the Home Ministry on October 13 began tripartite talks with the Gorkha representatives from the Darjeeling Hills, Terrai and Dooars region in West Bengal to resolve the issues related to Gorkhas.

"The talks aimed at resolving the issues related to the Gorkhas were chaired by Union Home Minister Amit Shah. The Gorkha delegation was led by Darjeeling MP Raju Bisht, which highlighted various issues concerning the Gorkhas and the region," the ministry said.

He further said that Shah listened to all the parties concerned and decided to call for a second round of talks in the presence of senior officials of the government of West Bengal in November 2021.

"The West Bengal government has been specifically asked to send its senior officials for the next round of talks. The all-round development and prosperity of the Darjeeling hills, Terrai and Dooars region is the top most priority of the Narendra Modi government," the statement read.
New Delhi, Dec 14 : The government said on Tuesday that robust security and intelligence grid are in place to prevent any terrorist attacks on migrant labourers.

"In addition, day and night area domination, patrolling and proactive operations against terrorists are being carried out in the areas where migrant labourers work/reside," said Minister of State for Home, Nityanand Rai, in a written reply in the Lok Sabha.

He said round-the-clock checking at nakas and road opening parties are being adequately augmented at the strategic points to thwart any terrorist attack on migrant labourers in Kashmir.

The minister was asked whether the government intends to prevent reverse migration of labourers from Kashmir to their native places, to which he replied that several steps have been taken the for safety and security of the migrant labourers who are expected to return to the Valley at the end of the winter season.

"The migrant labourers from different parts of the country usually come to the Valley every year in the month of April/May and return to their native places during winter after completing their seasonal work in the Valley," Rai added.

Hundreds of migrant labourers were forced to flee the Valley in October after several incidents of killing of migrant workers were reported there.
Kolkata, Dec 14 : When Indian Army officer Prashanta Kumar Ghosh reached Dhaka along with a handful of Mukti Bahini personnel and Indian soldiers at 4 a.m. on December 16, 1971, he was among the first of the Indian Army to reach the capital city. However, the journey was not an easy one, and began as a risky operation for him that started in April that year.

"I was an officer of 50 Parachute Brigade posted in Agra. In February 1971, we were ordered to move to West Bengal because of the elections. The Naxal (Maoist) movement was at its peak and there was information that the rebels might attempt to disrupt the election. We were given the responsibility to neutralise the ultra-Left forces in the state," Ghosh, who rose to the rank of Brigadier later, said in an interview to IANS.

"From the middle of March, the things started to change abruptly and the relation between East and West Pakistan started to turn sour and we could sense a serious conflict. In October/November, I was told to go to Bangladesh via Meghalaya where I would have to work as an informer," he said.

"It was mid-November when I entered Bangladesh through Tura (city of Meghalaya). Clad in lungi and a T-shirt and with a bag made of jute, I entered Bangladesh. My name was Peter and I was supposed to become a freelance journalist who came there in search of good stories. I was assisted by a little boy who knew the local dialect. I was told very clearly that if I was caught then the Indian government would disown me," Ghosh said.

"I was given a letter and I was told to meet Kader Siddique, a Mukti Bahini leader. The letter contained my identity. I entered East Pakistan and went deep south to a place called Tangail. The place was strategically important because from here Dhaka was only 40 km to the north and to the south, the route forked into Jamalpur and Mymensingh - where the Pakistani army was having a strong command," he said.

"My job was to create roadblocks with the help of Mukti Bahini and plan secret attacks on the Pakistani Army to create a sense of fear. I was engaged in my job. On the 10th of December, I was informed the Indian Army would launch an airborne assault and I will have to facilitate their para-dropping in Tangail. Immediately I got engaged in the job.

"The next day the paratroopers dropped deep inside the territory and took control of Pungli bridge which was on north of Tangail. The bridge was strategically important because it was a gateway to Dhaka. I was instructed to delay the movement of the Pakistani Army that was coming from Mymensingh en route to Dhaka. We obstructed the Pakistani troops and delayed their movement for more than one hour. This helped the Indian force to settle and take on the Pakistani Army with all its might. The Pakistani force was dispersed and our way to Dhaka was cleared," Ghosh said.

"On the 15th of December, we were at Mirpur, the outskirts of Dhaka and at 4 a.m. on the next day, we entered Dhaka. We went to Roman Racecourse where General Jacob (Eastern Command Chief of Staff Lt Gen J.F.R. Jacob) flew in to draft the surrender of the Pakistani Army. Pakistan's Lt Gen (Amir Abdullah Khan) Niazi was told to hand over his pistol during the surrender process and it was also told that the surrender process will be held in public where everyone will be present. He was forced to accept it," he added.

"At 4 p.m. (Eastern Command chief, Lt Gen J.S.) Aurora came by helicopter to complete the surrender process. The surrender took place in front of the international press and Niazi and Arora signed the treaty. The famous photograph shows the signing being done. We were also there watching the history in the making," he said.
Dhaka, Dec 14 : Bangladesh on Tuesday observed the Martyred Intellectuals Day in a befitting manner.

Martyred Intellectuals Day is observed on December 14 to commemorate those intellectuals who were killed by Pakistani forces and their collaborators during the 1971 Liberation War, particularly on March 25 and December 14, 1971.

Speaking on the occasion, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said that terrorist groups unleashed a reign of terror in the country from 2001 to 2006. They also unleashed arson in the country to thwart the national elections of 2014, and some of them are still hatching conspiracies, she added.

The killers tortured free thinkers, teachers, writers, journalists and politicians, she said.

Hasina also called upon every citizen to be imbued with the ideology of the martyred intellectuals and build a non-communal society based on the spirit of the Liberation War.

In her message, Hasina said Martyred Intellectual Day is a shameful chapter in the history of Bangladesh as the Pakistani occupation forces, anti-liberation forces and their local collaborators killed eminent intellectuals at the far end of the Liberation War to turn the nation into a brain-less state.

On the occasion, President M. Abdul Hamid and Hasina paid rich tributes to the martyred intellectuals.

The nation will forever remember the sacrifices made by the martyred intellectuals, Hasina said, as she called upon the people to be united against any terror threat.

In a seperate message, the President and the Prime Minister urged people to come forward and build a non-communal, happy and prosperous 'Sonar Bangla'.

Hasina mentioned that the anti-liberation forces had assassinated Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and most of his family members on August 15, 1975 and through those heinous killings, the anti-liberation forces started the politics of coup and conspiracy in the country.

"We have brought the killers of the martyred intellectuals under trial and have been executing the verdicts. No conspiracy can divert the nation from this process. Those who wanted to save the heinous war criminals will also be brought to justice one day," Hasina mentioned.

Just two days ahead of the country's final victory for Independence, on this day 50 years back, the Pakistani occupation forces with the help of their auxiliary force, Jamat e Islam's wings Razakar, Al-Badr, and Al-Shams, had killed the most prominent intellectuals of the country, as part of a conspiracy hatched by the Pakistan government.

The then Bangladesh government and the victorious freedom fighters, however, came to know about the brutal massacres only when the Pakistani troops surrendered on December 16, 1971, and their top accomplices mostly belonging to Jamaat-e-Islami and its student wing went into hiding, only to resurface years later.

Those who were exposed to the killers' wrath on December 14, 1971 included Alim Chowdhury and Fazle Rabbi, journalists Shahidullah Kaisar, Sirajudddin Hossain, Nizamuddin Ahmed, S.A. Mannan, and Selina Parveen, and litterateurs Monier Chowdhury, Govinda Chandra Dev, Jyotirmoy Guha Thakurta, Santosh Chattacharjee, Anwar Pasha, Mofazzal Haider Chowdhury, and Muniruzzaman.

Most of the victims were picked up from their houses and killed between December 10 and December 14, 1971.
Kohima, Dec 14 : A youth was shot and injured on Tuesday when NSCN-IM militants opened fire at Rani Colony in Assam's Cachar district as villagers refused their demands, police officials said.

Cachar District Superintendent of Police Ramandeep Kaur, who visited the area, said the incident took place 500 metres away from the Assam-Manipur border, which is occasionally used by the militants as their transit route.

Quoting the villagers, she said that around 10 cadres of the National Socialist Council of Nagalim-Isak-Muivah faction came to the village on Tuesday morning and sought accommodation and other facilities from the villagers. However, when villagers refused to provide any help, the cadres of the Naga outfit opened fire.

According to the police official, a youth was injured in the firing and he was shifted to the Silchar Medical College and Hospital. She said that the Assam Police in coordination with the Manipur Police have immediately launched a search operation to nab the NSCN-IM rebels.
New Delhi, Dec 14 : Leena Nair (52), who was named the new global CEO of French fashion house Chanel on Tuesday, said that she is humbled and honoured to be appointed the global Chief Executive Officer of Chanel, which is an iconic and admired company.

In a rare move for the tightly-controlled fashion house, picking the consumer goods veteran to run one of the world's biggest luxury groups sends a positive and inclusive message, setting the pace in an industry reeling under pressure to show a more inclusive and accepting approach.

"I am so inspired by what Chanel stands for. It is a company that believes in the freedom of creation, in cultivating human potential and in acting to have a positive impact in the world," Nair tweeted.

The Indian born British national has been given the charge of ensuring Chanel's "long term success as a private company", it said in a statement, recognising Nair as a "visionary leader whose ability to champion a long-term, purpose-driven agenda is matched with a consistently strong record of business outcomes".

Renowned for its women's pantsuits, tweeds and famous handbags, Chanel was founded in 1910 by the legendary Gabrielle Chanel, fondly called "Coco" Chanel. What started out as a hat boutique in Paris became synonymous with French chic and Parisienne style.

From 2016 to date, Alain Wertheimer, who owns Chanel with his brother Gerard Wertheimer, temporarily took on the CEO's job till a suitable candidate was found. The 73-year-old French billionaire will take on the role of global Executive Chairman.

Nair's 30-year-long career at Unilever comes to an end with her as the chief of human resources and a member of the company's executive committee. Unilever's CEO, Alan Jope, thanked her for her "outstanding contribution", adding that she "has been a pioneer through her career... a driving force on our (Uniliver's) equity, diversity and inclusion agenda... she has played a critical role in building our purpose-led, future-fit organisation." Nair will now be based out of London and will join the luxury house at the end of January.
Patna, Dec 14 : An Assistant Sub-Inspector of the Bihar Police was arrested after he was found in an allegedly drunken stage in Kateya village under same police station area of Gopalganj district, an official said on Tuesday.

The incident came to the light after the officer named Chandrama Ram went to the village to search liquor in a house, and allegedly harassed women.

The act of Chandrama Ram made the villagers angry. When they objected, he shouted at them and asked them to stay away from the search operation of police. However, the villagers detected the smell of liquor from his mouth, overpowered him and also made the video of the incident.

The video went viral on social media and clips were also sent to district SP Anand Kumar and other officers.

"We have learnt about the incident through video sent by the villagers. Accordingly, the SHO of Kateya police station arrested the ASI. He found positive in the breath analyser. We have immediately suspended him and an FIR has also been registered against him," Anand Kumar said.

Meanwhile, the Home Department has given charge to senior IPS officers to strictly implement liquor prohibition law in the state.

As per the notification, Jitendra Kumar has given the charge of Patna range, Nirmal Kumar Azad has given the charge of Magadh range, Kamal Kishore will look after Purnea range, Anil Kishore will look after Begusarai range, Parasnath will be the in-charge of Munger, Rakesh Anupam has given responsibility of Bhagalpur range, M.R. Nayak will be the in-charge of Kosi range, and Bacchu Singh Meena will look after Mithilanchal range.

All these officers, holding the post of Additional Director General of Police, will act as a nodal officers in their respective ranges.
New Delhi, Dec 14 : Supreme Court judge Justice Hima Kohli on Tuesday asked women lawyers to shatter all glass ceilings, as she revealed that she started her career from the boot space of a car.

In her remarks at a function organised by the 'Women in Law and Litigation' (WILL) to felicitate her on her elevation to the Supreme Court, Justice Kohli recalled that she started her career with the boot of the car as her office.

"If you do not have an office, it does not matter. I started my career from the dickey (boot) of a car. You can just have a locker to keep your gown and case diary. It should be that will inside of you," she said.

Citing the difficulties faced by women lawyers, she said that there is no 'old boys club' or networking for women in the profession.

Justice Kohli advised women lawyers to consider lawyers behind them in the courtroom as "logs of wood" and argue in a strong manner before the court.

"Always come prepared to the court. Don't give the judge an impression that you are unprepared... keep the aggression in court and don't carry it home and for judges, it is important to keep the mantle outside the gate of your house when you walk in." Elaborating on the life of a judge, she said it is tough and a lonely journey as of a goldfish in a glass bowl. She added that a judge inside the court is also a judge outside the court and necessary to make sure the aura and dignity that goes with this post is maintained.

"You symbolise the whole systema... anything private should remain private, that is also equally important," she said.

Justice Kohli told women lawyers to start with the smallest case they get and give it their best shot and work with whatever facilities that are available. "Shatter more glass ceilings, break more barriers...keep reinventing yourself and that is the mantra we need to carry forward," she said.

Justice Kohli was appointed a Supreme Court judge on August 31, 2021 along with Justices B.V. Nagarathna and Bela M. Trivedi.

Chief Justice N.V. Ramana was the chief guest at the event.
New York, Dec 14 : Eric Garcetti said on Tuesday that he intends "to double-down on our efforts to strengthen Indias capacity to secure its borders, defend its sovereignty, and deter aggression" if he is confirmed as the US Ambassador to New Delhi.

"India is situated in a tough neighbourhood. Few nations are more vital to the future of American security and prosperity than India," Garcetti said at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on his nomination.

He said that he would work to achieve India's security "through information sharing, counter-terrorism coordination, joint freedom of navigation patrols and military exercises, which I have participated in as a naval officer alongside my Indian counterparts, and sales of our best defence technologies in order to realise the full potential of our major defence partnership".

Nominees for ambassadorships and other senior administration jobs have to be confirmed by the Senate.

Garcetti's nomination was announced in July, but it has taken five months for the Senate to start the confirmation process by holding Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearings. If the panel approves the nomination, it will go to the full Senate for a final vote.

The committee also took up the nomination of Donald Blome to be the Ambassador to Pakistan.

Garcetti is the Mayor of Los Angeles and was a co-chair of President Joe Biden's election committee.

Committee Chair Senator Bob Menendez said he welcomed Garcetti's nomination "at a critical time in the US-India relationship" when "India is a vital strategic partner for the United States as a member of the Quad alongside the United States, Japan and Australia. India is playing a greater role in helping maintain a free and open Indo-Pacific".

On other items on his agenda for India, Garcetti said, "I intend to champion an ambitious economic partnership with India that reduces market access barriers and bolsters fair trade and creates good jobs for the American middle class." On human rights issues that were raised by the Senators on the panel, he said, "Respect for human rights and strong democratic institutions are key elements of our strategic partnership and values enshrined in our constitutions, and if confirmed, I will engage closely and regularly with the Indian government on these issues." In his introductory remarks, Garcetti said that when he visited India in 1990 as the guest of then-Ambassador Bill Clark, whose son was his college roommate, US-India ties "languished in the shadow of Cold War mistrust" and "the very idea of a US India Strategic Partnership would have been deemed laughable." "Today," he said, "The fundamental nature of that strategic partnership is firmly ingrained in both Washington and New Delhi. Twenty years ago, President (Joe) Biden - then Chairman of this esteemed committee - called for a new and ambitious vision of US-India ties. Thanks to successive administrations - Democratic and Republican - and the bipartisan work of this Congress, that strong new chapter is upon us." He said that inspired by his India visit, he had studied Hindi and Urdu in college, along with religious studies.

Garcetti also emphasised the people-to-people ties between the two countries because of the diaspora in both the nations.

He noted that the Indian American community "serves at the highest level, including our Vice President (Kamala Harris)".

"The bedrock of our partnership are the human ties that connect our nations, embodied by the four million-strong Indian-American diaspora that strengthens our nation and the nearly two hundred thousand Indian students and tens of thousands of Indian professionals who contribute to our economy," Garcetti said.

He said that about 950,000 US citizens live in India and his priority would be to ensure their security and that of the US missions.

Menendez, a Democrat, mentioned areas of differences between the US and India with which he expected Garcetti to deal frankly.

"As we deepen our partnership with New Delhi, there will inevitably be areas of friction, including concerns related to India's purchase of Russian military hardware and reports of democratic backsliding and discrimination against religious minorities," Menendez said.

"New Delhi will need to address our concerns if it seeks to deepen our partnership even further," he said.

Answering questions from Senators on the panel, Garcetti said that India and the US had "a very strong record together whether it's in those supply chains or some of the innovations that we have".

Addressing the issue of intellectual property rights, an area of friction, he said, "It's in our mutual interest to co-write rules of law that will allow intellectual property in India, which they develop... They are not just a country that produces vaccines made elsewhere. They are great innovators in the medical field. They want to protect that intellectual property." Garcetti, who has been an intelligence officer in the US Navy Reserve, was asked about India's purchase of the Russian-made S-400 missile defence system.

Senator Chris Van Hollen asked him about the danger from the system to security cooperation with India and about the deal possibly triggering US sanctions, while also noting that there was a provision to give India a waiver.

Garcetti said that India was diversifying its defence purchases and called it "one of the great success stories of the last few decades".

India's defence purchases from the US grew from zero to $20 billion, he noted.

He said the two countries have started intelligence sharing, developed have interoperability in defence, held joint military exercises and cooperated in the maritime area.

As someone "who's served alongside my Indian counterparts to really deepen those people-to-people relationships in the military, the industrial coordination", he said that he would "be very clear about what the threats are to our system, especially for new weapons systems in the future that would come from outside the United States or in this case, Russia".

(Arul Louis can be reached at arul.l@ians.in and followed @arulouis)
New Delhi, Dec 14 : The Centre has received a proposal from the Maharashtra government to rename the Bombay Central Railway Terminus as Nana Shankar Shet Terminus, the Parliament was told on Tuesday.

"A proposal along with recommendation of the Government of Maharashtra for renaming of Bombay Central Railway Terminus as Nana Shankar Shet Terminus was received on October 21," said Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai told the Lok Sabha in a written reply.

He said that a decision in such matters is taken only after due consideration of the recommendation of various government agencies and other relevant factors.

The Maharashtra government had, in March, approved the proposal to rename Mumbai Central railway station as Nana Shankar Sheth, after Jagannath Shankarseth, a philanthropist and educationalist, and also remembered for his contribution to the growth of railways in the country.
New Delhi, Dec 14 : The Union Health Ministry has trained over 19,000 doctors and para-medical staff for operating ventilators ahead of the third Covid surge, the Parliament was informed on Tuesday.

The states have been asked to ensure that the ventilators are kept fully functional in the hospitals at all times, Minister of State for Health, Dr Bharati Pravin Pawar told the Rajya Sabha in a written reply.

She also said that her ministry has ordered the procurement of ventilators centrally for supplying to the states and UTs, based on their demands to ensure the availability of the life-saving equipment across the country for management of the Covid pandemic.

"The states have been provided with extensive training on operation of these ventilators and more than 19,000 doctors and para-medical workers have been trained on them. States have been advised to ensure that the ventilators are kept fully functional at all times. They have also been advised to ensure maintenance and up-keep of ventilators, preparedness of hospital infrastructure including optimum oxygen pressure in medical gas pipeline systems, sufficient availability of consumables for ventilators and operation of these ventilators by the trained manpower," Pawar said.

As per the ministry data, a total of 4,813 ventilators have been provided to the Central institutions. Gujarat has been provided 5,700 ventilators, highest among the states, followed by Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Uttar Pradesh.

On the question of vaccine production capacity in India, Pawar informed the house that Covishield vaccine manufacturer Serum Institute of India has current monthly vaccine production capacity of approx 250-275 million doses per month, while Hyderabad-based Covaxin manufacturer Bharat Biotech has current monthly vaccine production capacity of approx. 50-60 Million doses per month.

Both companies have achieved close to 90 per cent of present production capacity, she said.

She also said that other than Covaxin and Covishield, the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation has granted permission to Sputnik-V), ZyCoV-D, and the vaccine manufactured by Biological E Ltd for restricted use in emergency situations.
Nagpur, Dec 14 : Political chemistry is needed for winning elections and not arithmetic, asserted former Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis while slamming the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government for the loss the three-party coalition suffered on Tuesday in the elections for the Members of Legislative Council.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won four out of six seats on Tuesday.

With the grand victory of former state Energy Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule and other BJP candidates elsewhere in the state, the saffron party has set the winning trend for the next Assembly elections, Fadnavis told the media.

He said under the leadership of Maharashtra BJP President Chandrakant Patil, the saffron party is winning elections in the state.

The former Chief Minister claimed that BJP candidates secured MVA votes and thanked those voters. The victory of Bawankule is thus laying a roadmap for future wins of the BJP, he said.

Fadnavis, who along with Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari, led the election campaign, said the BJP will retain its rule in the elections to the Nagpur Municipal Corporation due early next year. He expressed hope that the BJP will regain number one in Maharashtra in the days to come.

Bawankule, who was denied Assembly ticket in 2019, re-enters the Legislature with a huge victory. He polled 362 votes while Congress-supported Mangesh Deshmukh could secure 186 votes, while five votes were found invalid.

In a dramatic twist on the eve of polling, the Congress replaced its nominee Ravindra Bhoyar with Independent candidate Deshmukh.

Earlier, Bhoyar had quit the BJP after four terms. A staunch RSS worker, he was also the Deputy Mayor of Nagpur.
Jerusalem, Dec 15 : Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett held the first phone conversation with new German chancellor Olaf Scholz and invited him to visit Israel, the Prime Minister's office has said.

The talk came on Tuesday, five days after Scholz was sworn in as Germany's new Chancellor, while Israel is persuading world powers to stop the nuclear talk with Iran, Xinhua news agency reported.

"Bennett thanked Scholz for his commitment to Israel and its security," the statement read, adding that they also discussed the importance of preventing Iran from attaining nuclear weapons.

The two leaders praised "the deep ties between Israel and Germany" and agreed "to continue the fruitful cooperation between the countries in a long series of economic, diplomatic and security fields."
Tehran, Dec 15 : The head of the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran (AEOI) has slammed some anti-Iran accusations by the US and Israel as "psywar," the official news agency IRNA reported.

Mohammad Eslami on Tuesday made the remarks on the sidelines of a ceremony in Tehran, saying "we are facing a campaign that is, in no way, willing to see Iran's scientific and technological progress." He stressed that all parties to the nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), are required to fulfill their commitments, adding the nuclear deal is a treaty, under which the signatories have made pledges and Iran has also accepted its commitments.

In a meeting with Israeli Foreign Minister Benny Gantz on Thursday, US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said Iran had failed to offer constructive diplomatic engagement in the talks that US President Joe Biden had hoped would revive, Xinhua news agency reported.

Austin said Biden was "prepared to turn to other options" if the current American policy on Iran fails.

For his part, Gantz described Iran as "the biggest threat to the global and regional peace and stability." The JCPOA was signed between Iran and the P5+1 in July 2015, based on which the former accepted to make some adjustments to its peaceful nuclear program while the latter promised to lift international sanctions on Tehran in return.

In May 2018, however, former US President Donald Trump, expressing dissatisfaction with the JCPOA, pulled the country out of the deal and reimposed Washington's unilateral sanctions on Tehran.

Since April, a diplomatic process has started in the Austrian capital Vienna to revive the JCPOA, as part of which several rounds of talks have been held between Iran and the remaining parties to the deal, namely China, Russia, Britain, France and Germany.
Tirana, Dec 15 : Albania's former Environment Minister, Lefter Koka was arrested on charges of corruption related to waste incinerator contracts and abuse of office by order of the Special Prosecution Office Against Corruption and Organised Crime (SPAK).

According to the SPAK, the former Minister is accused of the criminal offences of office abuse, corruption, money laundering and accepting a bribe of 3.7 million euros ($4.17 million). Koka was arrested on Tuesday.

The SPAK's investigations are related to the concession procedures conducted by the Ministry of Environment and to a contract signed with the companies Albtek Energy and Integrated Technology Services for the construction and administration of an urban waste treatment plant in Elbasan in central Albania.

Koka, 57, was the country's Environment Minister between 2013 and 2017 representing at the time the Socialist Movement for Integration (SMI) party, Xinhua news agency reported.

Between 2003 and 2007, he served as Mayor of the port city of Durres in western Albania, and in 2009 he was elected member of Parliament (MP).

On September 1, 2021, Koka resigned as an MP.

On Tuesday, the SPAK also ordered the arrest of two Albanian businessmen, whose companies have been sequestered.
Tehran, Dec 15 : Iran's top nuclear negotiator has said that some parties to the nuclear deal agreement insist on "their blame game habit" instead of pursuing real diplomacy.

Ali Bagheri Kani, who is in Vienna for the continuation of talks on the restoration of the nuclear agreement, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), wrote in a tweet that if there is a will to "remedy the culprit's wrongdoing," the path will be quickly smoothed for reaching a good deal, Xinhua news agency reported.

Bagheri Kani added that Iran swiftly presented its proposals and made efforts constructively and flexibly to reduce the differences, stressing that diplomacy is a "two-way street." His tweet read, "Some actors persist in their blame game habit, instead of real diplomacy." The JCPOA was signed between Iran and the P5+1 in July 2015, based on which the former accepted to make some adjustments to its peaceful nuclear program and the latter promised to lift international sanctions on Tehran in return.

In May 2018, however, former US President Donald Trump, expressing dissatisfaction with the JCPOA, pulled the country out of the deal and reimposed Washington's unilateral sanctions on Tehran in a failed attempt to pressure Iran into coming to the negotiating table and hammering out a new deal.

Since April, a diplomatic process has started in the Austrian capital, Vienna, to revive the JCPOA, as part of which several rounds of talks have been held between Iran and the remaining parties to the deal, namely China, Russia, Britain, France and Germany.
The Hague, Dec 15 : The Dutch government has decided to extend the current anti-Covid measures until January 14, 2022, and speed up the country's booster vaccination campaign amid concerns about the Omicron variant.

The government also announced that primary schools will have to close on December 20 or 21 at the latest, before the Christmas holiday on December 25. Primary schools will be allowed to reopen on January 10, 2022, Xinhua news agency reported.

"This is a very difficult decision," Prime Minister Mark Rutte said at a press conference in the Hague.

"But we couldn't ignore the signals about the emergence of the Omicron variant." "This variant is expected to take over the Delta variant in the coming weeks. There are still many uncertainties about contagiousness, the protection offered by current vaccines and the seriousness of Omicron," Rutte added.

The current restrictive measures in effect since November 26 remain. Most locations and events have to close between 5 p.m. and 5 a.m. local time, while essential shops such as supermarkets and drug stores will remain open until 8 p.m.

From December 7 to 14, the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) reported 116,477 positive Covid-19 test results. Compared to one week before, the number of positive tests decreased by 21 per cent.

The Omicron variant had so far been found in a total of 105 people in the Netherlands, according to official data.

There were 1,878 new hospital admissions of patients with Covid-19 last week, 10 per cent less than the week before. In addition, 332 new patients with Covid-19 were admitted to ICU, a decrease of four per cent compared to the previous week.

"The number of Covid-19 infections is still very high and there are still many Covid patients in hospital," the Dutch Prime Minister said.

"However, it seems that we have passed the peak of the Delta variant." "The effects of the measures and our joint efforts are therefore visible," he added.

"But as long as hospitals are full and regular treatments and surgeries are postponed, we must continue to push back the virus." Meanwhile, Health Minister Hugo de Jonge announced that the country will speed up its booster vaccination campaign.

"Every Dutch person above 18 years will be offered a booster in the second half of January 2022 at the latest," De Jonge said.

"Until now, we vaccinate from old to young and we will continue to do so." "The booster is given after three months instead of six months after the last vaccination or previous Covid infection," the Minister added.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
New York, Dec 15 : The deadly tornado outbreak that tore through the central US was so unusual in its duration and strength, particularly for December, that many people are asking how climate change might be linked to the event.

US President Joe Biden said on Saturday that the intensity of the weather "has some impact as a consequence of the warming of the planet," and called on the Environmental Protection Agency to look at climate change's role in the catastrophe, Xinhua news agency reported.

According to US meteorologists, the US averages about 1,500 tornadoes a year, around 25 of which happen in December. But the last tornado "even remotely close" to this weekend's storm was in March 1925, when more than 600 people were killed.

That tornado was on the ground for roughly 219 miles, while the one that just hit the US was believed to have been on the ground for roughly 250, making it the "most historic tornado event in history," national broadcaster CBS reported on Tuesday.

Experts have termed the weekend disasters as an "unprecedented" weather phenomenon.

"The events of Friday are historic, legendary, generational -- pick your favourite adjective," Victor Gensini, an extreme weather and climate researcher at Northern Illinois University, was quoted as saying.

More than 80 people have been killed so far across six states, namely Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Tennessee, Arkansas and Illinois, and these kinds of weather events may only get deadlier as climate change moves coastal populations inland to vulnerable areas, according to the report.

"Many experts have pointed to climate change as part of the reason for the catastrophic events, echoing past warnings that global warming will undoubtedly fuel extreme weather," said the commercial broadcaster upon its extensive interviews with meteorologists and other scientists.

All-news radio station KCBS's meteorologist Evelyn Taft was quoted as saying that the stark contrast in temperatures of the Northeast and Eastern US created a "perfect setup for such a big storm." "We had very cold polar air -- 30 (Fahrenheit) degrees in Minneapolis, and then 80-(Fahrenheit)-degree temperatures in Memphis -- record-breaking heat, which could be a part of climate change," said Taft. "Just the difference and the clash in air masses ... It was really just a perfect set up for such a big storm." However, Gensini insisted that despite the historic standing of Friday's tornadoes, "we can't tell right now" if it was a direct result of climate change. "We don't have the attribution science to say with some degree of certainty that last Friday evening's tornadoes were a component of climate change," he said.

"But what we can say is when you start to look at the aggregate ... that these tornadoes are sort of changing and not only when they occur -- getting a little bit further eastward -- but changing in their intensity," the researcher added.

Two key ingredients for severe storms are energy driven by warm, moist air promoting strong updrafts, as well as changing wind speed and direction, known as wind shear, which allows storms to become stronger and longer-lived, reported ScienceAlert on Tuesday, an independently-run online science publication.

A third ingredient, which is harder to identify, is a trigger to get storms to form, such as a really hot day, or perhaps a cold front. Without this ingredient, not every favourable environment leads to severe storms or tornadoes, but the first two conditions still make severe storms more likely, it said.

"By using these ingredients to characterise the likelihood of severe storms and tornadoes forming, climate models can tell us something about the changing risk," said ScienceAlert.

To understand how rising global temperatures will affect the climate in the future, scientists use complex computer models that characterise the whole Earth system, from the Sun's energy streaming in to how the soil responds and everything in between, year to year and season to season.

"Climate model projections for the US suggest that the overall likelihood of favourable ingredients for severe storms will increase by the end of the 21st century. The main reason is that warming temperatures accompanied by increasing moisture in the atmosphere increases the potential for strong updrafts," the report added.
With the exhibit floor nearly sold out, over 250+ media and association partners, and field experts signing up to attend every day, its clear the industry is ready to reconvene in person at Geo Week, said Lee Corkhill, Group Director at Diversified Communications, organizer of the event.

Organizers of Geo Week, the single powerhouse event that champions the coming together of geospatial technologies and the built world, have announced an impressive list of more than 100+ exhibitors from around the globe that will be exhibiting at the 2022 event, which will take place live February 6th  8th, 2022 at the Colorado Convention Center, Denver CO.

With the exhibit floor nearly sold out, over 250+ media and association partners, and field experts signing up to attend every day, its clear the industry is ready to reconvene in person at Geo Week, said Lee Corkhill, Group Director at Diversified Communications, organizer of the event.

The list of exhibitors who will be showcasing best-in-class AEC, 3D and geospatial/lidar technology is growing daily, and currently includes these organizations:



3DEO, Inc.

Advanced Scientific Concepts LLC

Aerial Response Solutions

Aero-Graphics Inc.

Aerometrex

Agisoft

AIRtec

AirWorks

Applanix Corporation

Applied Imagery

ASPRS

ASTRA Lite, Inc.

ATL Americas | Yuneec

Avatour

AVEVA

BAAM Tech

Bad Elf

BayesMap Solutions, LLC

Blue Marble Geographics

Cardinal Systems LLC

Cintoo

Civil + Structural Engineer

ClearEdge3D

ClearSkies

Clirio, Inc.

CompassData Inc.

Cordel

Cupix

DAT/EM Systems International

Datum

Dewberry

DIELMO 3D S.L.

DJI Creative Studio, LLC

Dynamic Aviation

EagleView

Elysium Inc.

Emesent

ESRI

e-Survey

FARO Technologies, Inc.

Field of View LLC

Frontier Precision

Geo1

GeoCue Group

Geodetics, Inc.

Geo-Plus

GEOSLAM Ltd

Green Valley International

Hixon Mfg. & Supply Co.

HTS Advanced Solutions LLC

Imajing s.a.s.

Impulseradar

International Code Council

ITRES Research Limited

iXBlue

Jakarto

Kaarta

KELYN Technologies

Keystone Aerial Surveys

L3Harris

Leading Edge Geomatics

Leica Geosystems Inc.

LiDAR Magazine

LIDARUSA

MAPPS

Merrick & Company

Microdrones

Mosaic

MSI (Hardware)

Multicopter Warehouse

MVT Geo-Solutions

NavVis US, Inc.

NearMap

NV5 Geospatial

Omega Optical

Outsight

Oxford Technical Solutions

Pavemetrics Systems Inc.

Phase One

Phoenix LiDAR Systems

Pix4D SA

Planitar

PLW Modelworks

PointCab GmbH

Pointfuse

PreVu3D

RESolute

Revizto

RIEGL USA Inc.

Sanborn Map Company

SBG SYSTEMS

Screening Eagle Technologies

Seiler Instrument Geospatial

SIMACTIVE INC.

Skyfront Corp.

Skyline Software Systems, Inc.

Smart Delta

SOMAG AG JENA

StudioMX

Surphaser/Basis Software, Inc.

Synergy 360

Teledyne Optech

TerraGo Technologies

Terrasolid Ltd

The Wild

Topo Flight Systems

TopoDOT

Trimble

US Geological Survey

USIBD

Vectornav Technologies

VeriDaaS

Vexcel Imaging

Voxelgrid

Voxelmaps

VRMesh

West Virginia University

Wingtra

Woolpert

xyHt

YellowScan

Z+F USA, Inc.

Event Features

100+ Exhibitors: More than 100 vendors have confirmed booths with additional companies being confirmed every week. Attendees seeking commercial applications of 3D technologies, innovations in the built environment, advanced airborne and terrestrial remote sensing solutions, or looking ahead to the future of the industry will find the latest and greatest geospatial + built world solutions under one roof on the Geo Week Exhibition Floor.

125+ Speakers: Across the three disciplines under the Geo Week umbrella  AEC, 3D technology and Geospatial/Lidar  Geo Week has gathered an impressive lineup of 125+ speakers from a wide range of disciplines who are leaders in their respective fields. Attendees can learn from and connect with the best, including innovators from Draper, Microsoft, USGS, Planet, EndeavorXR, NASA and many more!

Robust conference programming: Geo Week boasts a powerful conference program that will detail practical applications, best practices, and innovative approaches to complex projects. Professionals rooted in AEC, 3D technology or geospatial/lidar or a combination of these disciplines, will find the practical education needed for projects now and a look at whats to come. Every Geo Week conference pass will give access to ALL Geo Week sessions, with the option to add the ASPRS Annual Conference and USIBD Annual Symposium access at a discounted rate.

Co-location partners: Geo Week is proud to host partner events, including ASPRS Annual Conference, MAPPS Winter Conference and USIBD Annual Symposium, providing additional opportunities to learn and connect.

About Geo Week

Geo Week is part of a network of events and media for the global geospatial and built markets organized by Diversified Communications, a leading organizer of conferences, trade shows, and online media with 15 years in the technology arena. Geo Week, taking place February 6-8, 2022, is the new brand name of previously stand-alone events AEC Next Technology Expo & Conference, International Lidar Mapping Forum, and SPAR 3D Expo & Conference, and reflects the increased integration between the built environment, advanced airborne/terrestrial technologies, and commercial 3D technologies. Powerful partnership events will also take place at Geo Week, including ASPRS (American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing), MAPPS and USIBD (US Institute of Building Documentation). Diversified Communications also produces Geo Week E-Newsletter, SPAR 3D E-Newsletter, AEC Next E-Newsletter, GeoBusiness Show (UK), Digital Construction Week (UK), Commercial UAV Expo , and Commercial UAV News. For more information, visit https://www.geo-week.com/

Questions?

Lora Burns, Geo Week Marketing Manager, LBurns@divcom.com

Register by December 17th for Early Bird pricing and save up to $200 on a Geo Week conference pass.


We are honored to be named a Best Place to Work in the state of Oklahoma for another year! This is a testament to the dedication shown not only by our company but by our employees every single day.

180 Medical, one of the top providers of home-delivered disposable intermittent catheters and ostomy products in America, is pleased to announce the 12th year of being named one of Oklahomas Best Places to Work by the Best Companies Group and the Journal Record. In addition, at the recent Best Places to Work in Oklahoma Awards ceremony on November 3, 2021, 180 Medical placed 3rd out of all large companies.

The Best Places Awards are determined through a process of researching Oklahoma-based employers and allowing employees to provide anonymous feedback regarding their feelings about their workplace.

Being a top employer named among the Best Places to Work in the state is both an honor and a testament to 180 Medicals continuing dedication to providing a positive, inclusive work environment. The company is committed to values based on integrity, compassion, and service, which is extended to all employees and our customers.

Angie Christopher, Vice President of Human Resources and Talent, explained why this honor means so much to their organization. We are very excited about this award, because its based on our employees opinions of our company. Our employees are truly one of our most valuable assets, and they help create our culture of high engagement and inclusion. This 3rd place ranking really helps solidify what we already know: that 180 Medical is truly one of the Best Places to Work!

So what makes working at 180 Medical so special? The company is dedicated to providing a diverse and inclusive work environment where every employee can feel welcome and able to succeed in their unique role within the organization. 180 Medical provides comprehensive benefits packages for their team members and always has something fun brewing, whether for holidays or meeting goals.

Additionally, 180 Medical extends their dedication of service to their customers into their local communities. They provide paid time off for each employee to take a day to spend in service to their community or volunteering. 180 Medical also has plenty of opportunities for employees to engage in special interests with other colleagues or join a cause that makes a difference, such as their Employee Resource Groups, Book Club, and Journal Club.

Human Resources Manager Laura Cranfield shared, We are honored to be named a Best Place to Work in the state of Oklahoma for another year! This is a testament to the dedication shown not only by our company but by our employees every single day. Customer service is the heartbeat of our organization, and service to our employees is very much a part of that. Its our goal to create and maintain a safe and fun atmosphere for our employees. We couldnt be part of the Top 3 without the people who contribute in such a positive way to our culture every day.

You can find out more about 180 Medical and some more of the awesome perks of working for this company at http://www.180medical.com/careers.

About 180 Medical:

180 Medical is one of America's fastest growing home delivery providers of intermittent catheters, ostomy products, incontinence products, and other related urologic disposable medical supplies. Based in Oklahoma City, the company is dedicated to meeting the supply needs of customers with diagnoses such as urinary incontinence, spinal cord injuries, spina bifida, colon cancer, Crohns disease, and many other conditions that require catheterization and ostomy supplies. 180 Medical is a subsidiary of ConvaTec, a leading global medical products and technologies company.
InDesign to Word Conversion in 1-click with ID2Office ID2Office 2022 includes a breakthrough technology where free-flowing Word documents are created when exporting InDesign to Word files; a feature which many customers have been asking for the last many years. Paramjit Chadha, MD, Recosoft Corporation

ID2Office 2022 adds support for Adobe InDesign, 2022 release for both macOS and Windows platforms. Additionally, ID2Office 2022 operates natively on Apple Silicon based macOS machines. Finally, ID2Office 2022 includes the capability to export InDesign files to free-flowing Word documents allowing text to flow naturally from one page to another.

ID2Office converts InDesign files to Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and Apple Keynote types; converting the text, associated styles, paragraph structure, related property information, tables, graphics and other objects while matching and maintaining the layout fidelity; enhancing data exchange between InDesign and Office platforms.

Key New Features



Support for InDesign 2022

ID2Office 2022 now supports and integrates with InDesign 2022. InDesign CC 2015 through 2021 are supported as well.

Apple Silicon native

ID2Office 2022 is a universal binary and operates natively on Apple Silicon based macOS hardware.

Migration to newer Windows technology set

The Windows version of ID2Office now uses newer Windows infrastructure.

Export to free-flowing Microsoft Word documents

When exporting InDesign files to Microsoft Word type, you can now specify whether a free-flowing Microsoft word document should be created (in-addition to the Text Frame based document type).

Enhanced property recognition

Several new InDesign data types are now recognized and exported to the target format type.

ID2Office 2022 is available immediately in the following configurations from the Recosoft web store (per license):

ID2Office Standard 2022 Annual subscription (macOS/Windows) US$199.00

ID2Office Professional 2022 Annual subscription (macOS only) US$249.00

System Requirements

Mac: macOS 10.12.x or higher

Hardware: Apple Silicon or Intel based Mac

Application: InDesign CC 2015, CC 2017, CC 2018, CC 2019, 2020, 2021 or 2022

Windows: Windows 10/Windows 11

Hardware: Minimum Pentium III computer

Application: InDesign CC 2015, CC 2017, CC 2018, CC 2019, 2020, 2021 or 2022

Recosoft Corporation has pioneered PDF2Office, the de-facto PDF-to-Excel, PDF-to-Word, PDF-to-PowerPoint, PDF-to-OmniGraffle conversion utility; PDF2Office for iWork, the PDF-to-Keynote, PDF-to-Numbers and PDF-to-Pages conversion application; IR2Office, the only Adobe Illustrator to PowerPoint and Apple Keynote tool; ID2Office, the InDesign-to-Word, InDesign-to-PowerPoint converter; and PDF2ID the de-facto PDF-to-InDesign conversion tool. The company is a leader in designing and delivering PDF converters, InDesign and Illustrator software solutions enhancing workflow automation and productivity. For more information on Recosoft PDF converters and InDesign or Illustrator related solutions, visit http://www.recosoft.com

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BookDeal Customers no longer have to worry about not being paid fully for the books they sell. When selling through BookDeal, customers are guaranteed to get the amount quoted for the books they choose to sell.

BookDeal is an e-commerce company based in Irvine, California. It is the first book buying e-commerce platform built for college students. BookDeal helps college students sell their previously used textbooks safely and easily. As opposed to college campus bookstores, BookDeal helps students earn more money from their books, even older editions that may not be accepted at other book trade-in locations.

BookDeal is now providing an innovative BookDeal Guarantee to protect customers in the process of selling their used books. With the BookDeal Guarantee, customers are guaranteed to receive the entire quantity of the agreed-upon payment in a timely manner. This guarantee protects customers from buyers who do not follow through with the quoted payment or do not pay the entire amount. Rather than the customer having to work this out directly with the buyer, BookDeal takes the hassle out of the process and ensures the transaction is completed efficiently.

In the event that the customer is unsatisfied with the transaction, the customer can report the problem, and BookDeals team will work diligently to determine whether the original quote is still eligible. The eligibility of the quote depends upon whether or not the client has followed the Selling Guidelines. If all Selling Guidelines have been followed, BookDeal will ensure that the customer is paid for the eligible amount.

The BookDeal Guarantee gives customers peace of mind when they sell books through our platform, said a representative of BookDeal. Customers no longer have to worry about not being paid fully for the books they sell. When selling through BookDeal, customers are guaranteed to get the amount quoted for the books they choose to sell.

If the customer is unsatisfied with the payment received, requesting the original quote is simple. At the Your Orders page on BookDeal, customers will find a place to report a problem and request the BookDeal Guarantee. Every transaction completed following the selling guidelines is eligible for the BookDeal Guarantee.

To learn more about the BookDeal Guarantee, go to: https://www.bookdeal.com/BookDeal-Guarantee.php.
The company, as well as its ambition, has outgrown its initial niche and will be adding more areas of interest to the portfolio as we are working towards our goal to tokenize a trillion dollars worth of assets.

Smartlands, a leading international asset tokenization platform, announced today that it is changing its name to Definder at the holding company level to better reflect the companys move into ever more different spheres of business and new geographical areas.

The company has established leadership in the real estate and agriculture tokenization market, becoming the first to tokenize a UK property on the Stellar network. It is now looking to capitalize on the growing demand in the projected $17tn alternative assets market and expand its offering to other business directions, such as physical goods including art and gold, SME company shares and other profitable assets.

Commenting on Smartlands rebrand, CEO, Ilia Obraztcov said: After successfully pioneering real estate tokenization in the UK, we have seen huge demand for a more diverse set of offerings, along with overwhelming support from our customers actively signing up to be the first to get access to the new opportunities. The company, as well as its ambition, has outgrown its initial niche and will be adding more areas of interest to the portfolio as we are working towards our goal to tokenize a trillion dollars worth of assets.

Smartlands by Definder will continue with its existing business of tokenizing real estate and agriculture as a new platform that will democratize access to real estate investing for individuals and offer a range of investment opportunities across Europe. Built on the Stellar network, it employs advanced blockchain technology with fast and secure transactions and smaller transaction fees. With over 1500 investors on the waitlist, 20 000 followers and an overwhelming pipeline of sound and profitable real estate projects, the platform is set for release in early 2022. Definder as a holding company will unite all the products and business directions of the company.

The rebranding and the launch of a renewed company website allows us to gain a stronger position among DeFi companies. It is important to retain our established values and heritage, but at the same time, the new brand will reflect the growth and offering of the company. Definder stands for the new way in investing and crowdfunding, it will defend the rights of the asset owners and all types of investors for transparent and easy capital management and will help to find the best investment option for anyone, commented Nataliia Britten, company CMO.

About Definder

Founded in 2017, Definder (formerly known as Smartlands) is an international group of companies that leverages blockchain-based tokenization to unlock liquidity for asset owners and opportunities for investors, building the future of decentralized finance in Europe and beyond. The companys mission is to democratize how the world invests in real-economy assets. Definder launched their first STO in 2019 and closed the sale of security tokens in a student accommodation block in Nottingham, UK, and has since made substantial progress in launching a scalable international tokenization business, having inlined the strategy, the legal framework, and the technology itself.
Engel & Volkers Aspen wins best real estate brokerage 2021 We find it rewarding to know that our passion for helping clients achieve their real estate goals is acknowledged and appreciated throughout the Roaring Fork Valley

Engel & Volkers Aspen has recently been voted the Best of 2021 in the Real Estate Firm category by readers of The Aspen Times and Snowmass Sun in their annual Best of issue. Community driven, the Best of contest consists of the top 10 nominees in each of the 125 categories being selected and then voted upon by the general public. This year there were 8,889 participants and over 121,000 individual votes in a variety of categories.

Amy Laha, Marketing Manager at The Aspen Times says of the contest, The Aspen Times has been hosting the annual Best Of competition for many years and it is always rewarding to see our local businesses and community members acknowledged and honored for their achievements.

As a first-time winner, Engel & Volkers Aspen is more than proud of its advisors and staff for their hard work and dedication to their craft. Working together, the team at Engel & Volkers has been providing the Aspen/Snowmass region with bespoke real estate services for over six years. This year Zach Lentz of E&V was also honored as the Best Realtor in the region, an honor which was well-deserved as he exemplifies the trust and dedication Engel & Volkers realtors bring to the table.

Engel & Volkers Aspen has enjoyed a successful 2021 and is up over 32 percent in sales volume over this time last year, positioning the firm for a strong 2022.

Its a great honor for us to be recognized as the Best of 2021: Real Estate Firm by our community, said Summer Berg, President and Managing Broker at Engel & Volkers Aspen. We find it rewarding to know that our passion for helping clients achieve their real estate goals is acknowledged and appreciated throughout the Roaring Fork Valley.

To commemorate this years Best of winners, The Times threw a gala event to announce and congratulate the winners in their respective categories. This years event was held on December 8th at The Collection Club in Snowmass where winners, nominees, and the general public were on hand to congratulate this years best.

About Engel & Volkers

Engel & Volkers is a global luxury real estate brand. Founded in Hamburg, Germany in 1977, Engel & Volkers draws on its rich European history to deliver a fresh approach to luxury real estate in the Americas with a focus on creating a personalized client experience at every stage of the home buying or selling process for todays savvy homeowner. Engel & Volkers currently operates approximately 225 shop locations with 4,200 real estate advisors in the Americas, contributing to the brands global network of over 12,000 real estate professionals in more than 30 countries, offering both private and institutional clients a professionally tailored range of luxury services, including real estate and yachting. Committed to exceptional service, Engel & Volkers supports its advisors with an array of premium quality business services; marketing programs and platforms; as well as access to its global network of real estate professionals, property listings, and market data. Each brokerage is independently owned and operated. For more information, visit http://www.evrealestate.com/ http://www.evrealestate.com.

About The Aspen Times

Founded in 1881, The Aspen Times is the oldest and most-trusted print news outlet in Pitkin County, Colorado. The newspaper is a free, 9,000-circulation daily distributed from Aspen to Carbondale. The paper is part of a group of newspapers owned by Colorado Mountain News Media, a division of Swift Communications. Visit our offices at 314 E. Hyman Ave. Suite 101, Aspen, Colorado.
Rose-Hulman Fall Career Fair As we attract more top STEM-minded students from all across the U.S., were also seeing similar growth in the number of employers like Apple, SpaceX, Tesla and others hiring more and more Rose-Hulman graduates each year.- Robert A. Coons, President, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology

Of the 431 Class of 2021 Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology graduates, 426 have been placed within six months of graduation, with an average starting salary of $73,800 and a highest reported offer of $145,000. Thats a 99% placement rate, putting Rose-Hulman once again near the top of all colleges and universities across the country while continuing to showcase the top-ranked STEM institutions return on investment.

Career preparation and return on investment have been long been hallmarks of a Rose-Hulman education, leading to successful careers for our alumni throughout the world, says Rose-Hulman President Robert A. Coons. Employers have come to value the qualities that our alumni bring to their companies.

That return on investment extends beyond the institutions placement rate. The most recent PayScale report lists Rose-Hulman in the top 1% in the nation and No. 1 in Indiana in ROI. Credible, a financial technology company, ranked Rose-Hulman No. 19 in the nation in its list of top-25 universities with the best return on investment. A Princeton Review student survey earlier this year ranked Rose-Hulman No. 1 for internship opportunities and No. 8 for career services nationally among private colleges and universities  qualities that lead to a history of strong job and graduate school placement. Rose-Hulman has also been ranked as the top undergraduate STEM college by U.S. News & World Report for the past 23 years.

Director of Career Services and Employer Relations Scott Tieken reports, We work with students from their first year on campus through them becoming alumni  searching for internships, full-time employment opportunities, and graduate school acceptances. That attention also centers around building relationships with employers and graduate schools, and bringing new opportunities to help students realize their career aspirations.

Tieken acknowledges that Rose-Hulmans annual placement rate is based upon a review of all 100% of the institutes graduates. This is different than the approach of most other colleges which base their placement rates upon a 50% to 60% knowledge rate of all members within a graduating class.

Companies extending the most job offers to Class of 2021 members were Allison Transmission, Cleveland-Cliffs (formerly ArcelorMittal), Collins Aerospace, Data Centric Solutions, DMI, Eli Lilly and Company, James Hardie Industries, Kiewit, Milwaukee Tool, Naval Surface Warfare Center (Crane, Indiana), Texas Instruments, and Raytheon.

Tieken points out that several new career opportunities have come from companies across the U.S. that are recruiting at Rose-Hulman and made job offers to graduates for the first time  after contacts through on-campus and virtual recruiting.

Graduate schools accepting members of the Class of 2021 included Yale, Duke, Rice, Columbia, Cornell, and University of Pennsylvania.

Enhancing Rose-Hulman students placement success is the fact that 85% of students complete at least one internship, co-op or research experience during their college careers, 60% have two or more experiences, and 41% have completed at least one experiential learning activity during their collegiate careers.

The opportunities are endless for our students and alumni. Rose-Hulman is well respected within the STEM community, says Coons. As we attract more top STEM-minded students from all across the U.S., were also seeing similar growth in the number of employers like Apple, SpaceX, Tesla and others hiring more and more Rose-Hulman graduates each year.

Placement prospects for next years graduating class are also off to a strong start, with nearly 40% of current seniors already accepting jobs before receiving their degrees next May. Tieken reports that more than 8,000 full-time, internship and co-op positions are currently posted specifically for Rose-Hulman students on the Handshake career prospect website.

About Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology

Founded in 1874, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology is dedicated to preparing its students with the worlds best undergraduate science, engineering and mathematics education in an environment infused with innovation, intellectual rigor and individualized attention. The institute is consistently recognized nationally as an elite STEM school for distinctions that include faculty excellence, return on investment, value-added, and career services. Career placement is near 100 percent year after year. Located in Terre Haute, Indiana, Rose-Hulman has an enrollment of approximately 2,000 undergraduate students and nearly 100 graduate students. Learn more at rose-hulman.edu.

INTERVIEW OPPORTUNITY

Director of Career Services and Employer Relations Scott Tieken is available for interviews by appointment or via Zoom. For interview requests, please contact Dale Long, director of media relations, at dale.long@rose-hulman.edu or 1-812-208-5615.

PHOTO ATTACHMENT DESCRIPTION:

A Dropbox with photos of Rose-Hulmans Fall Career Fair can be found at:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ab4zfk2tchw6b5i/AAB8LEWlZr_KEVUvhpZ5HA_7a?dl=0

Please credit: Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology/Bryan Cantwell

ROSE-HULMAN B-ROLL VIDEO:

Video from Rose-Hulmans Fall Career Fair can be found at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qwp4rC_-ZUg&t

Video showcasing Rose-Hulmans campus can be found at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujiI97gt7tg

Any portion of this b-roll segment can be used with this news release.

MEDIA CONTACT:

Dale H. Long | Executive Editor and Director of Media Relations

Office of Communications and Marketing

ROSE-HULMAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

5500 Wabash Avenue | Terre Haute, IN 47803-3999

Phone: 812.877.8418 | Cell: 812.208.5615

Dale.Long@rose-hulman.edu


Elite Lawyer awards 7 attorneys with GRGB GRGB has earned itself the reputation of being a trusted and capable firm throughout Milwaukee and surrounding areas.

The Milwaukee firm of Gimbel, Reilly, Guerin & Brown, LLP is honored to announce that seven of their attorneys have been named 2022 Elite Lawyers in their areas of practice. Elite Lawyer is a user-friendly directory for potential clients looking for a highly regarded attorney. The directory doubles as a rating service and identifies and awards lawyers who have shown outstanding dedication to their profession and provide exceptional service to their clients. The attorneys with GRGB have earned this award by demonstrating continuous commitment to the legal community and their profession.

Firm Partner Attorney Max Stephenson joined GRGB as a law clerk in 2012. Since starting his career, he has focused his legal knowledge and skills on family law matters such as guardianship, paternity, and post-judgement actions. Attorney Stephenson is passionate about guiding his clients and their families through the often tumultuous process of divorce. Mr. Stephenson is actively involved in the legal community, holding membership in numerous associations, including the Milwaukee Bar Association and the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts. Previously, he served as president for the Milwaukee Young Lawyers Association.

Jaclyn Kallie, an associate attorney with GRGB, is proficient in legal matters involving civil litigation, probate and trust litigation, and personal injury. Attorney Kallie has a background in insurance defense and civil litigation. She also dedicates time to pro bono activities, including serving as a mentor for the Eastern District of Wisconsin Bar Association Mentoring Program. Due to her hard work, Attorney Kallie has been recognized as an Emerging Woman Leader with Tempo Milwaukee.

An associate attorney at GRGB, Attorney Christopher Hayden has been licensed to practice law in Wisconsin since 2017. Mr. Haydens legal proficiency spans across multiple practice areas, including civil and commercial litigation, appeals, and real estate. He has experience representing clients facing legal issues involving contract disputes, construction law, and product liability defense.

Attorney Megan Drury is a family law associate with GRGB. With degrees in social work and psychology, Attorney Drury brings an empathetic approach to the table when serving clients facing divorce and other family issues. During her time at law school, she volunteered over 250 hours of her time providing legal services at Milwaukee pro bono clinics, which earned her the Milwaukee Bar Associations Pro Bono Publico Award. Today, Attorney Drury is a member of the Milwaukee Young Lawyers Association as well as the Association of Women Lawyers.

Jorge Fragoso is a passionate attorney who believes in properly and thoroughly educating his clients on their legal options and advocating for their rights. Attorney Fragoso is an associate attorney at GRGB who works with the firms criminal defense team. Previously, Mr. Fragoso gained substantial experience with the State Public Defenders Office, where he represented indigent clients. He has served as a member of the Waukesha Drug and Alcohol Treatment Courts and has also argued cases before the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

Criminal Defense Attorney Cameron Weitzner was admitted to the Wisconsin State Bar in 2015. Attorney Weitzner is an exceptional lawyer who has extensive knowledge in the area of criminal defense and focuses a substantial amount of his legal services on representing clients who are facing legal issues involving white-collar crime. Cameron Weitzners commitment to the legal profession and community is exemplified by his involvement in various associations such as the Wisconsin Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and the Milwaukee Young Lawyers Association.

GRGB recently welcomed Associate Attorney Danielle Roussett to the firm. Attorney Rousset focuses her practice on the areas of probate law, fiduciary litigation, and civil litigation. She represents clients in cases involving trusts, insurance, business law, torts, employment, and appeals. Attorney Rousset is a board member of the Wisconsin Defense Counsel and also holds membership with the Women in Law Committee.

About Gimbel, Reilly, Guerin & Brown, LLP

The law firm of Gimbel, Reilly, Guerin & Brown was started in 1968 by Attorney Franklyn M. Gimbel. Shortly after founding the firm, Attorney Gimbel was joined by Stanley P. Gimbel, former Department of Justice Special Agent D. Michael Guerin, and two former federal prosecutors, Richard E. Reilly and Thomas E. Brown.

Today, the attorneys with GRGB are equipped with a wide span of experience and skills that cover a range of legal matters such as criminal defense, personal injury, family law, real estate matters, and complex civil litigation. GRGB has earned itself the reputation of being a trusted and capable firm throughout Milwaukee and surrounding areas.

To learn more about this firm and the GRGB legal team, call 414-271-1400 or visit https://www.grgblaw.com/ today.

To learn more about Elite Lawyer, visit https://www.elitelawyer.com/.
More than $1.2 million raised and more than 10,000 bids placed in online charitable wine auctions hosted by IronGateAuctions.com in 2021. The online wine auction was a unique opportunity that allowed us to raise much-needed funds in a safe and secure format, which is paramount for charities like us, particularly right now, said Ken Lima-Coelho, President & CEO, BBBS.

Calgary charities Big Brothers Big Sisters of Calgary and Area (BBBS) and ROARR (Robinson Outreach at RiverCross Ranch) teamed up with local digital wine auction house IronGateAuctions.com to raise $64,400 in a three-day online wine auction that ended Nov. 28. Through their pivot to digital fundraising, these local charities finished 2021 on a high note despite the Covid-19 pandemic that has made in-person fundraising events a challenge for the past 18 months.

The online wine auction was a unique opportunity that allowed us to raise much-needed funds in a safe and secure format, which is paramount for charities like us, particularly right now, said Ken Lima-Coelho, President & CEO, BBBS. The support that IronGateAuctions.com provided helped BBBS pilot this fundraising tactic with a Calgary-based organization, in turn, making for a seamless experience for both our donors and our team, helping us collaborate to help more kids.

IronGateAuctions.com opened in Calgary in March 2021 and has since hosted nine charitable wine auctions from its Calgary headquarters, helping charities across Canada raise $1,230,585 via its online platform.

The digital auction house will donate an additional $10,087 - $1 for every charitable auction bid placed in 2021 - to BBBS and ROARR to thank the Calgary community for providing an optimal environment for its new business to thrive.

This past year has proven our long-held belief that online auctions can help charities raise funds more efficiently and thanks to the support of Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis (AGLC) and the local community, we were able to establish our headquarters here in Calgary and help charities like Big Brothers Big Sisters of Calgary and ROARR realize the benefits of online fundraising auctions during the pandemic, said Warren Porter, President, IronGateAuctions.com.

The benefits of charitable wine auctions extend to wine buyers too. Purchases made at charitable auctions are not subject to buyer premiums applied to commercial auctions, which is equivalent to up to a 17.5 per cent savings. And, wine enthusiasts can acquire rare, fine vintage wines while making a meaningful contribution to an important cause.

Looking ahead to 2022, IronGateAuctions.com anticipates it will host another eight or nine charitable wine auctions on its digital platform. The first is scheduled for March 2022 to benefit the Canadian Opera Company.

Interested wine buyers and consignors can register at IronGateAuctions.com for regular updates and early access to information about upcoming auctions.

About Big Brothers Big Sisters of Calgary and Area

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Calgary and Area empowers life-changing mentoring relationships for children and youth in Calgary, Airdrie, Cochrane, Okotoks, and the surrounding communities. BBBS matches children with adult role models in professionally supported mentoring relationships that help them achieve their biggest possible futures. Investing in young people's futures pays off, with a social return on investment of $23-to-1 through improved economic, health, and social outcomes. Visit bbbscalgary.ca to learn more.

About ROARR Foundation [Robinson Outreach at RiverCross Ranch]

ROARR strives to relieve the conditions associated with youth and elderly in need by providing Equine Assisted Learning and related therapies. The Foundation was established by the Robinson family who has deep roots in the Springbank community. This long-time ranching family is now fulfilling a dream that will allow others to share in the beauty of their Springbank ranch. For information, visit roarr.org.

About Iron Gate - Private Wine Management

Founded in 2004, Iron Gate Private Wine Management offers fine wine collection management, off-site wine storage, cellar and wine appraisals, traditional and virtual wine auction services both commercially and for registered charities via IronGate.Wine and IronGateAuctions.com, an Alberta corporation. In 2017, Iron Gate launched IronGate.Wine, a U.S.-based online wine retailer offering Canadian wine collectors access to sell on the secondary wine retail market in the U.S.
BlackBoiler

BlackBoiler, the leading provider of automated contract review and markup technology, today announced that it has partnered with Sandline Global to deliver innovative legal technology solutions with high-touch service to clients in Europe.

The partnership with Sandline accelerates BlackBoilers reach into Europe and will provide our existing European clients with support from a best-in-class integrator of legal technology, said Dan Broderick, CEO and co-founder of BlackBoiler. Jon and Dominic from Sandline bring unparalleled experience and subject matter expertise working with the largest corporate legal departments and law firms in Europe.

Sandline is a global eDiscovery provider and consultant for document and email management solutions with offices and data centers in Frankfurt, Washington D.C., and Taipei.

In partnership with BlackBoiler, we will further extend the Sandline application landscape to support our clients already at the beginning of the lifecycle of documents and contracts, said Jon Canty, Sandline CEO.

BlackBoilers patented technology addresses a global, $35 billion market where companies spend $26 billion reviewing and negotiating semantically similar contracts, $7 billion of which is verbatim work. BlackBoiler delivers up to a 70% reduction in review time compared to in-person review. The companys automated editing technology suggests company-specific revisions to corporate documents to automate the process of contract negotiationright in Track Changes, like an attorney would.

"The legal technology community is always keen to have hands-on and value-added solutions to their technology stack; with Blackboiler we can offer a forefront natural language processing solution that is currently being adopted by several big organizations and law firms", said Dominic Piernot, Sandlines Vice President-Europe.

BlackBoilers client roster includes AmLaw 25 law firms and several organizations within the Fortune 1000, including TE Connectivity, a $14 billion technology manufacturer. The company holds nine patents in the U.S. and is currently pursuing additional IP protection in the U.S., Canada, and Europe.

BlackBoiler was recently selected as the Best AI-based Solution for Legal in the fourth annual AI Breakthrough Awards program conducted by AI Breakthrough, a leading market intelligence organization that recognizes the top companies, technologies and products in the global artificial intelligence market.

For more information, go to http://www.blackboiler.com.

####

About BlackBoiler

Based in Arlington, Virginia, BlackBoiler is a National Science Foundation-backed software company focused on the automation of contract review. The companys patented automated contract markup tool is designed to work seamlessly with programs users already know how to use: Word and email. Through proprietary techniques, BlackBoiler creates client-specific editing models and leverages these models to markup inbound contracts instantaneously in the Track Changes feature of Microsoft Word. BlackBoiler grows smarter and increases the efficiency of contract review with each additional use.

About Sandline

Sandline Discovery is a premier litigation support and eDiscovery service provider, assisting legal and compliance teams in the United States and globally. Sandline specializes in delivering innovative digital evidence solutions with exceptional, high-touch service. Providing digital forensics, eDiscovery solutions, document investigations, and compliance consulting services, the Sandline team works alongside law firm, corporate legal, and compliance teams on the most complex discovery matters to deliver insightful service, measurable value and clarity where there's complexity.

Media Contact:

Jessi Adler

Plat4orm PR

jessi@plat4orm.com
These opportunities to get out, connect, and show our commitment to the deep impact these critical organizations are making on our community is a part of our ethos as a Maryland-born company.

Blue Ocean is pleased to continue its mission of investing in the local community through in-person and meaningful volunteer and philanthropic efforts. In November, Blue Ocean partnered with the Student Support Network, working with Councilwoman Vicki Almond, to further the organizations vision of providing food, advocacy, support, and other basic necessities to impoverished students throughout Baltimore County.

The need for the Student Support Network has continued to grow as students have returned to classrooms in 2021. There are now a total of 18 schools supported by the Network, each with its own Nest. The Nest offers students a place to shop for basic supplies like hygiene products, school supplies, and non-perishable food items. Recently, Blue Ocean team members contributed over 150 items to the Owings Mills High School Nest, and $3,000 for A Night for the Network, the Student Support Networks key fundraising event.

On behalf of the Student Support Network Room of Support at Owings Mills High School, I want to sincerely thank you for the donation of assorted toiletries to our 'Nest said Hillary Crystal, Owings Mills High School nest volunteer. These are items which many families in our community cannot afford to purchase on a regular basis. Many of the items that you provided have already been distributed to families and more will be given out this weekend at our Thanksgiving food distribution. We are humbled and honored that Blue Ocean has chosen the Nest to benefit from your generosity. We are so grateful to you all.

Jonathan Ehrenfeld, President of Blue Ocean, We have missed working directly with our community partners like the Maryland SPCA, Casey Cares Foundation, and TurnAround. These opportunities to get out, connect, and show our commitment to the deep impact these critical organizations are making on our community is a part of our ethos as a Maryland-born company. While volunteering was put on a temporary hold, Blue Ocean continued to support community non-profits through philanthropic contributions.

Blue Ocean is excited to be re-engaging with the community. Ehrenfeld states, Were excited to now have a full calendar of volunteer activities, and collections for things like warm coats. Were most looking forward to getting back out and being hands-on. We are mindful of COVID compliance throughout our efforts, but we are thrilled to be able to take a more active role in the communities and organizations we support.

Councilwoman Vicki Almond expressed her gratitude for Blue Oceans efforts. I cant thank Jonathan and Blue Ocean enough for their generosity. The students at Owings Mills high will be so excited! Thank you.

About Blue Ocean

Founded in 2004, Blue Ocean is a real estate investment firm, headquartered in Owings Mills, Maryland. Blue Ocean is active in a variety of sectors within the real estate industry including multifamily, industrial, hospitality, and self-storage sectors. Today, the Blue Ocean portfolio consists of approximately 3,000 multifamily units and over 3 million square feet of commercial and mixed-use property across multiple geographies.

About the Student Support Network

The Student Support Network improves the lives of Baltimore County students living in poverty by providing food, other basic necessities, and advocacy support. Throughout the pandemic, with nearly 14,000 volunteer hours, the Network has distributed $7.2 million dollars of food and essential supplies and provided the equivalent of 3.8 million meals, over $200,000 in grocery cards, and 700,000 diapers.
Robert Capovilla & Mickey Williams Well take a case as far as necessary to uncover the truth and ensure our clients are treated fairly and within the parameters of the law.

Experienced trial attorneys Robert Capovilla and Mickey Williams were two of only four hundred attorneys recognized for excellence in the practice of law by leading business publication, Georgia Trend Magazine. The list of Legal Elites has been published for nineteen consecutive years and is of particular significance because it is based entirely on voting by other attorneys licensed to practice law in Georgia.

Partner Robert Capovilla took announcement of the honor as an opportunity to reflect on his firms ability to produce exceptional results on behalf of clients facing extraordinarily difficult situations. For many of our clients, their incomes, careers, personal relationships, and reputations are very much at stake when they hire our law firm, said Capovilla. I believe a large part of our success is directly attributed to our entire teams unwavering commitment to obtaining justice for clients facing very challenging legal issues in a complex system.

Attorney Mickey Williams, a former Army Ranger and decorated combat veteran, agreed with his partners assessment of what it takes to routinely obtain positive outcomes for clients. Rob and I have earned reputations as competent attorneys, but more importantly, ones that dont back down from challenging facts or legal issues. Well take a case as far as necessary to uncover the truth and ensure our clients are treated fairly and within the parameters of the law.

Both Capovilla and Williams are former Army JAG attorneys and are no strangers to recognition for their work inside and outside of the courtroom. Both are rated 10/10 by Avvo, one of the most respected attorney evaluation organizations. In 2021, Capovilla was selected as one of the Top 10 in 10 business professionals by the Cherokee County Chamber of Commerce while Williams was named to the 2022 list of Rising Stars by Georgia Super Lawyers, a Thomson Reuters publication.

About Capovilla & Williams: Nationally recognized for its work on behalf of military service members, veterans, and their families, the attorneys of Capovilla & Williams bring an unmatched commitment to obtaining justice. The firm represents clients across the United States and internationally in matters ranging from court-martials and administrative separation boards to discharge upgrades, ROTC disenrollments, and other issues falling within the jurisdiction of U.S. military courts. The firms attorneys are also known for their commitment to charitable groups and organizations dedicated to improving the lives of all community members and especially veterans in need.


Consider important factors that will influence your selection of a Data Center

Review the key factors that will influence your selection process for a data center colocation provider.



Location

Flexible Space Options

Power Redundancy, Capacity and Density

Diverse Network Options

Compliance Audits

24/7/365 ONSITE Monitoring & Security

24/7/365 ONSITE Customer Support

Service Level Agreements

Location

Cost to do business can vary from region to region. Price-per-watt costs in Texas are relatively low and stable. Not only is the cost of real estate lower than many other regions, tax incentives deliver savings over other markets as well. Dallas is estimated to be the fourth largest multi-tenant data center market in North America with a low risk of natural disasters as well.

Flexible Space Options

General population by the rack is the most common colocation solution. Private data centers suites offer a convenient option to expand or diversify your web infrastructure. Virtual-PODs provide a primary site, a secondary location for disaster recovery, or a tertiary point to diversify your footprint while offering volume discounts.

If you plan to start small and grow over time, ask about expansion options. You may want to reserve adjacent space upfront under a Right of First Refusal or negotiate language in your agreement about free cross connects to multiple footprints spread out within the facility so that you may expand without commitment for more space.

Power Redundancy, Capacity and Density

Redundant power infrastructure is a critical part of any colocation build-out. Evaluate each provider based on the level of redundancy you require such as N+1, 2N, etc. Also, its important to know who is managing those systems. The building owner or a third party? Youll want to vet any third party vendors as well as understand their escalation procedures with the colocation provider.

Capacity is important to know when you plan to grow. Ask how much power is available within the building today based on current customer usage, contract obligations and plans for future growth. Also, be sure to understand the max power density allowed per rack with each colocation provider. This will help you understand how many servers you are able to put into each rack or cage. Ultimately, the providers cooling efficiencies or Power Utilization Efficiency (PUE) plays an important role in high-power density solutions.

Diverse Network Options

Carrier neutral providers allow you to utilize your current network carrier. Leverage your purchasing power and existing contracts by using your current network at the colocation site. You may extend your network to connect multiple sites or use a different carrier to add diversity.

Many colocation providers also offer their own blended mesh of multiple carriers. This is typically the fastest and easiest way to get online. It also can be a supplemental offering for out of band connectivity for network management, monitoring and failover. Be sure to ask to test their network performance using one of your own IP addresses from their facility before committing to the service.

Compliance Audits

There are number of factors to consider regarding security and compliance including PCI, HIPAA, and SOX. Check for access control on all entry point and cameras installed and monitored covering perimeter and external areas. Data Center providers typically invest in an SSAE-18 audit to verify procedure engagements including SOC attestations. Tenants may then fulfil the facility requirements portions of their own audits

24/7/365 ONSITE Facility Monitoring and Security

You invest in the redundant infrastructure within a colocation environment. Remote monitoring tools are typically used to regulate the environmental systems. More importantly, a team needs to be actively responding to alerts from the monitoring systems. Its essential that trained employees are monitoring these systems; including, environmental controls for power uptime, cooling temperatures, humidity levels, network performance and access control procedures.

24/7/365 ONSITE Customer Support

You may need someone to physically reboot your server for you in the middle of the night. You may want to upgrade a RAM stick, change out a cable or type in commands locally. Expedite installs by shipping gear directly to the colocation site for the facilitys personnel to install on your behalf. Utilizing local support personnel who work within the data center for fast responses to remote hands-and-eyes requests allows you to be more efficient with your time. Its no longer necessary to drive to the data center. This means, with onsite customer support, you may co-locate your server infrastructure anywhere! Ensure that around-the-clock customer support is provided.

Service Level Agreements

The most common component of an SLA is that the services should be provided to the customer as agreed upon in the contract. The most common SLA from colocation providers is 99.9% guaranteed uptime for power and network. Some will offer 100% guaranteed uptime if you purchase redundant (or B-side) power circuits and network drops that match your A-side primaries. Depending on the power density of your solution, some providers may agree to a cooling SLA, although this is rare as temperatures may fluctuate based your installation.

Flexible service level agreements will allow you to address items critical to your business. Is the vendor willing to make revisions to accommodate your needs? Dont wait until you have selected a site  address SLAs as you review your options.

Carrier-1 Data Centers 214-888-0303 opt. 2 Direct info@carrier-1.com
The course will be a hybrid course including aspects of sample preparation as well as advanced polarized light microscopy (PLM) techniques.

Dale Purcell, Ph.D., president of Chemical Microscopy and consultant with Improved Pharma, will be teaching a microscopy sample preparation course at Emporia State University, Emporia, Kansas. The course will be a hybrid course including aspects of sample preparation as well as advanced polarized light microscopy (PLM) techniques. Special topics that will be covered include: polarized light interactions with matter, anisotropy, extinction, thickness versus optical path difference, sign of elongation, interference figures, pleochroism, Becke line, relative refractive indices, and analyses of glass, fibers, animal and human hair, and polymer films. The course is intended to be for laboratory instructors, who will then impart their knowledge to students at the university. Says Dr. Purcell, As scientists, we are always looking for ways to share knowledge and advance the field. Microscopy is a field that requires extensive practice and training, and Im pleased to be able to participate in this educational opportunity. The course runs from Dec 13th through the 17th.

For more information about microscopy techniques, please contact us at 1-765-490-6428. For more information about all of Improved Pharmas services, please contact us at info@improvedpharma.com or at 1-765-463-9951.

About Chemical Microscopy:

Chemical Microscopy is a materials research and analysis company specializing in the identification, classification, and characterization of small quantities, unknown or foreign substances, using light microscopy, electron microscopy, microspectroscopy, and microchemistry in the pharmaceutical and other industries. The company was founded in 2011.

About Improved Pharma

Improved Pharma is a research, consulting, and information company dedicated to improving pharmaceutical methods, formulations, and processes. Services include solid-state form studies, formulation design, synchrotron techniques, analytical testing, and expert consulting for the development and defense of intellectual property matters. The company was founded in 2006 by Stephen and Sarah Byrn, who also founded SSCI.
AHN RIvER Clinic staff outside of Allegheny County Jail in Pittsburgh Our goal is to be a safety net that hasnt existed before for this vulnerable population, and to help give them the very best chance at building healthy and fruitful lives.

Allegheny Health Network (AHN) announced today that its Center for Inclusion Health has launched an innovative clinic aimed at more rapidly, effectively and compassionately meeting the health needs of individuals following release from incarceration, as well as connecting them with the various social supports that can help them get a fresh start.

The Rethinking Incarceration and Empowering Recovery (RIvER) Clinic is the only in the greater Pittsburgh region where people who were formerly incarcerated can receive care, regardless of their ability to pay, immediately following discharge from jail. Since launching in the spring, the clinics caregivers have engaged with more than 200 individuals. The program is supported by generous grants from the Highmark Foundation and The Pittsburgh Foundation. Other supporting organizations include Vital Strategies, Allegheny County Department of Human Services, Pennsylvania Department of Human Services and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).

Following incarceration, individuals commonly lack adequate assistance with accessing and coordinating health care and other social services, and face challenges in advocating for their health needs. The AHN RIvER Clinic seeks to close this gap that exists between incarceration and reentry to normal life, which has traditionally led to deterioration of health, increased risk of relapse in substance use and/or drug overdose, increased rate of recidivism and more.

The clinic leverages AHNs existing relationship with the Allegheny County Jail in which the network serves as the facilitys medical provider.

Based on site at the jail, an AHN community health worker and a nurse navigator work to facilitate seamless transitions to care at the clinic which is located a few blocks from Allegheny General Hospital at AHNs Federal North Medical Building. Following discharge, referred patients meet with the clinics medical staff to uncover their health needs and determine appropriate care and social support pathways. Physicians who assist in these efforts include board-certified AHN internal medicine doctors Divya Venkat, MD, and Tom Robertson, MD.

Incarceration can be an extremely tenuous time in a persons life. Many people have lost their social networks and face many other significant challenges as they reenter society, including managing health issues on their own, said Dr. Venkat. Our goal is to be a safety net that hasnt existed before for this vulnerable population, and to help give them the very best chance at building healthy and fruitful lives.

Individuals most commonly engaging in primary care at the clinic include those with medical comorbidities, substance use disorders and hepatitis C, as well as those with womens health needs. A social worker also meets with patients to begin to address any social barriers they might face related to housing, transportation, access to food and more.

We have seen the stigma of incarceration negatively affect our ability to transition individuals to care post release. Allegheny Health Network has consistently seen that need and recognized the necessity in providing support to a vulnerable population as they re-enter our community. We are thankful that AHN has prioritized our neighbors continuing their health care goals as they navigate re-entry into the county, Laura K. Williams, NCC, Chief Deputy Warden of Healthcare Services, Allegheny County Jail.

Meeting an individual upon release provides timely access to quality health care and addresses a critical health equity issue in our region, said Allie Quick, Chief Philanthropy Officer at AHN. We are grateful to the Highmark Foundation and The Pittsburgh Foundation for recognizing the urgency and impact of this initiative to support the transition process of those re-entering the community.

The RIvER Clinic is one of many programs offered by the AHN Center for Inclusion Health. The center was formed in 2014 as one of the nations first comprehensive programs of its kind focused on meeting the health care needs of individuals in underserved or marginalized populations. Through a coordinated and compassionate care delivery model, and using evidence-based interventions, its programs address the obstacles that make it difficult for people to access care. This includes, but is not limited to, addiction, food insecurity, HIV/AIDS, housing insecurity, immigrant/refugee health and transgender health.

To learn more, visit http://www.ahn.org/medicine/center-for-inclusion-health.

###

About Allegheny Health Network

Allegheny Health Network (AHN.org), a Highmark Health company, is an integrated healthcare delivery system serving the greater Western Pennsylvania region. The Network is composed of 14 hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers, Health + Wellness Pavilions, an employed physician organization, home and community-based health services, a research institute and a group purchasing organization. The Network provides patients with access to a complete spectrum of advanced medical services, including nationally recognized programs for primary and emergency care, cardiovascular disease, cancer care, orthopedic surgery, neurology and neurosurgery, womens health, diabetes and more. AHN employs approximately 21,000 people, has more than 2,600 physicians on its medical staff and serves as a clinical campus for Drexel University College of Medicine and the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine.
Raising Canes has chosen the CMX1 platform to advance their restaurant performance programs, elevate all aspects of brand standards and food safety, and take a holistic approach to operational excellence.

CMX, a leading provider of cloud-based Enterprise Quality Management Software (EQMS), today announced that Raising Canes has chosen the CMX1 platform to advance their restaurant performance programs, elevate all aspects of brand standards and food safety, and take a holistic approach to operational excellence. The fast casual brand, which focuses on quality chicken finger meals, has deployed CMX1s ActivityStudio and PolicyStudio modules in more than 590 restaurant locations across 31 U.S. states and five countries to engage every aspect of in-field restaurant support.

CMX1 is now being used across Raising Canes to create and digitize:



Brand standards assessments to ensure a consistent customer experience from restaurant to restaurant

Food safety checks during each shift in both back of house and front of house

Evaluations of facilities and equipment in order to identify repair and maintenance needs in a timely fashion

Point-of-purchase (POP) and signage assessments to ensure consistency and branding

Human resource-driven evaluations of back office systems to drive compliance and accountability company-wide

Raising Canes is also leveraging a new CMX1 capability, which uses intelligent data integration to enable checklists, inspections, and audits to dynamically adjust their content and questions based on specific restaurant attributes, such as restaurant design, layout and equipment. The integration allows activities to be tailored specifically to each location programmatically, yielding improvements in efficiency, data quality and insights.

Raising Canes chose CMX1 after a rigorous evaluation process. According to Anna Elizabeth Breton, Senior Director, Fry Cook & Cashier for the organizations Center of Excellence, CMXs commitment to being a customer-focused company aligned perfectly with Raising Canes values. In addition, the self-service configurability of CMX1 offers Raising Canes a simple way to quickly unleash new programs and scale innovation across the organization to improve efficiency and elevate the customer experience.

With ActivityStudio, we can instantly engage with every restaurant, gathering real-time data or feedback. We can digitize simple to complex activities, from a manager doing a quick check on the quality of the POP before it gets hung, to in-depth operational and brand standard audits conducted by specialized subject matter experts. All of these efforts are aimed at ensuring each restaurant and every Crewmember is delivering on our promise to serve The Perfect Box to every customer, every time, said Breton. ActivityStudio is an essential tool for performance measurement, identification of opportunities, and automation of corrective action for continuous improvement. This enables us to get even better at what we do and our focus on delivering the best possible customer experience.

CMXs policy management solution, PolicyStudio, puts company policy information at the fingertips of Raising Canes almost 50,000 Crewmembers so they can perform their jobs more efficiently and spend more time focusing on providing a quality customer experience. It allows program managers to create brand standards policy manuals, auditing standards manuals, and regulatory requirements documentation, linked seamlessly to training, examples, and resources required to meet these expectations.

With plans to open more than 100 locations in 2022, Raising Canes integration and automation initiatives will become increasingly important. Breton and her team have already integrated with their user and location management software solutions and have plans to integrate CMX1 with the brands Learning Management System to enable Crewmember re-trainings, when needed.

The fact that a rapidly-growing, popular brand like Raising Canes chose to partner with CMX over our competition because of our shared focus on customer service, our innovative platform, and impressive list of world-class customers speaks volumes, said Mitch Porche, CEO, CMX. CMX1 is unique because of its integrated approach to providing the tools needed for brand protection, guest experience, and operational excellence. CMX1 will serve Raising Canes well as they expand across the globe. We look forward to working with their outstanding team to meet the companys evolving needs.

To learn more about CMX1 and how to leverage it to achieve quality and operational excellence, please visit the CMX website.

About CMX

Leading brands and service providers including Raising Canes Chicken Fingers, Chick-fil-A, Burger King, Arbys, Taco Bell, Raleys Supermarkets, Hasbro, Two Men and a Truck, and Bureau Veritas trust CMXs cloud-based Enterprise Quality Management Software (EQMS) CMX1 to help them achieve and maintain Operational and Quality Excellence. For over a decade, CMX has led the market with the most comprehensive, user-friendly, cloud-based EQMS platform for retail, food, consumer goods, and service providers. Its the only enterprise solution to effectively combine supply chain quality and operational excellence into a single, fully configurable operating platform. For more information, please visit http://www.cmx1.com or call 1-858.997.2140.

ABOUT RAISING CANE'S

Founded by Todd Graves in 1996, RAISING CANE'S CHICKEN FINGERS has more than 590 restaurants in 31 states, Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates with multiple new restaurants under construction. The company has ONE LOVEquality chicken finger mealsand is continually recognized for its unique business model and customer satisfaction. Raising Canes vision is to grow Restaurants, serving our Customers, all over the world and be the brand for quality chicken finger meals, a great Crew, cool Culture and active Community involvement.
Amid todays rapidly changing environment, we are committed to delivering reliable, cutting-edge solutions that serve students and institutions in their pursuit of academic excellence -- CollegeSource CEO Kerry Cooper

CollegeSource, a leading provider of transfer and degree achievement solutions for the higher education industry, today announced that its widely adopted product, TES, the Transfer Evaluation System, has been named a winner of Campus Technologys 2021 New Product Award for its Student Transfer Solution.

It is an honor to be recognized by Campus Technology for the invaluable work our dedicated team of industry experts perform each day, said Kerry Cooper, CEO of CollegeSource. Amid todays rapidly changing environment, we are committed to delivering reliable, cutting-edge solutions that serve students and institutions in their pursuit of academic excellence.

CollegeSources TES is an all-in-one solution that streamlines the transfer credit evaluation process for collegiate administrators, makes faculty decision-making easier, and allows institutions to create an unlimited number of validated course equivalencies for quick and reliable transfer credit decisions. In addition, TES allows institutions to quickly locate course descriptions from their database with more than 134 million courses; route and track evaluations through a workflow; store, manage, group, and publicize the resulting equivalencies; and leverage powerful reports to generate lists of likely equivalencies between institutions. TES is used by more than 1,500 higher education campuses, small and large, including the Lone Star College System (TX) and the Minnesota State Colleges and University System.

Congratulations to the winners of this years New Products Awards  2021 has been defined by innovation and transformation in higher education, and were pleased to recognize the impact that these technologies have had in moving colleges and universities forward and supporting student success, said Rhea Kelly, editor-in-chief of Campus Technology.

Now in its second year, the Campus Technology New Product Awards recognize leading product and service providers in the education sector by honoring the outstanding product development achievements of manufacturers and suppliers whose solutions are considered to be particularly noteworthy in the transformation of education technology.

About Campus Technology

Campus Technology is one of higher educations top information sources, serving as a complete resource for academic and administrative IT leaders and establishing a collaborative environment that promotes professional networking and global pedagogy. For more information, visit http://www.campustechnology.com.

About CollegeSource

CollegeSource is the higher education industrys trusted provider of transfer and degree achievement solutions. For 50 years, CollegeSource has led market-changing transformation by inventing and investing in technology solutions that aid the staff and students of higher education in their quest to plan and complete academic careers. As the archiver of the nations extensive higher education course catalogs, CollegeSources degree audit, academic planning, and transfer credit evaluation solutions are depended on by more than 2,000 institutions and millions of individuals worldwide. Founded and led by higher education and technology veterans, CollegeSource is a privately-held company based in San Diego, California, with offices in Cincinnati, Ohio. For more information, please visit collegesource.com.
Author Cormac P. Walsh marks his debut in the literary limelight with the release of Serendipitous Fish (published by AuthorHouse UK), a novel that presents a swashbuckling romantic fantasy adventure that encompasses glamorous and fantastic realms.

The story follows the lives of Serendipitous Fish and Murella Thane. These passionate lovers fight great forces in a difficult world. He is a foundling child of a princess; she is from a great opera family. He becomes a dashing officer of the great Queens Castle army. She becomes a diva. Through love and separation, these two bring readers on an enthralling journey through the magnificent lands and realms of the North West.

Set against a backdrop of war and pestilence, Serendipitous Fish is a story of survival, of humanity and magic, of jealously and hate, of love and adventure, and the astonishing power of music and desire. It is the authors hope that upon reading the book, readers will feel a great sense of excitement and adventure  a feeling of having explored a new and compelling world rich in detail and wonder.

The book is a thrilling page turner, Walsh asserts. In its invention of Foolsong, it brings a wholly original concept to the fantasy genre. Its very human centered. There are no living mythical creatures in the narrative. It relates to real and passionate young adult humans.

Visit https://www.authorhouse.com/en-gb/bookstore/bookdetails/834217-serendipitous-fish to get a copy.

Serendipitous Fish

By Cormac P. Walsh

Softcover | 6 x 9in | 282 pages | ISBN 9781665594424

E-Book | 282 pages | ISBN 9781665594431

Available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble

About the Author

Cormac P. Walsh is a drama tutor living and working in Dublin, Ireland. With Susan Connolly, he will shortly be publishing a stage play titled I Am Edel. It tells the true story of Susan Connollys 11 years as a child in Dublins notorious Goldenbridge industrial school.

AuthorHouse, an Author Solutions, Inc. self-publishing imprint, is a leading provider of book publishing, marketing, and bookselling services for authors around the globe and offers the industrys only suite of Hollywood book-to-film services. Committed to providing the highest level of customer service, AuthorHouse assigns each author personal publishing and marketing consultants who provide guidance throughout the process. Headquartered in Bloomington, Indiana, AuthorHouse celebrates over 23 years of service to authors. For more information or to publish a book visit authorhouse.co.uk or call 0-800-014-8641.
Unsung Stories of Jubilation and Sorrows: a potent reminder of the importance of having a solid understanding of Gods word. Unsung Stories of Jubilation and Sorrows is the creation of published author Dan Fereira.

Fereira shares, While I was struggling with the title of the stories in this book, God came to visit me.

I had been having great difficulty with my foot arch in my right foot; it felt like it wanted to detach from my heel.

In the evening, before I was going to submit the manuscript, God healed my right foot. And in the early morning when God woke me up, He gave me the title of the book: Unsung Stories of Jubilation and Sorrows.

The stories in this book must be blessed if God took interest in me and the title.

The only way this world will change is if God is seen through His people. So get up and choose to be a light in a dark place. Let Gods light show through you!

Published by Christian Faith Publishing, Dan Fereiras new book will encourage and challenge readers beliefs.

Fereira shares in hopes of bringing believers back to the true teachings of Gods word.

Consumers can purchase Unsung Stories of Jubilation and Sorrows at traditional brick & mortar bookstores, or online at Amazon.com, Apple iTunes store, or Barnes and Noble.

For additional information or inquiries about Unsung Stories of Jubilation and Sorrows, contact the Christian Faith Publishing media department at 866-554-0919.
Debbie Sardone Consulting, LLC The companies on this years list are changemakers with heart  and theyre pouring the best of their business into the people and communities around them.

Debbie Sardone Consulting, LLC has been named to the Inc. 2021 Best in Business list as the gold award winner in the Business Services category. Inc.s Best in Business Awards honor companies that have gone above and beyond to make a positive impact.

The list, which can be found in the Winter issue of Inc. magazine (on newsstands December 14), recognizes small- and medium-size privately held American businesses that have had an outstanding influence on their communities, their industries, the environment, or society as a whole.

Scott Omelianuk, editor-in-chief of Inc., says, What began for us during the pandemic as an effort to showcase companies that were helping the community has grown into a recognition of social, environmental, and economic impact. The companies on this years list are changemakers with heart  and theyre pouring the best of their business into the people and communities around them.

Rather than relying on quantitative criteria tied to sales or funding, Inc.s editors reviewed the companies achievements over the past year and noted how they made a positive difference in the world. They then selected honorees in more than 49 different industries  from finance to software to engineering to fashion, and more  and in age-based and revenue-based categories. The applicant pool was extremely competitive, with around 2,700 entries and an acceptance rate in the low single digits  a huge success for these honors in the lists second year. Honorees for gold, silver, bronze, and general excellence across industries and categories are featured online at inc.com/best-in-business.

Debbie Sardone says, It is truly an honor to be named to the Inc. 2021 Best in Business list. We are equally thrilled to see our industry, as a whole, recognized. From the pandemics impact on all businesses to the most challenging labor market in our lifetime, it has been a uniquely challenging two years for small business owners, including those in the residential cleaning industry. We are proud to be able to provide resources, strategies and perhaps, most importantly, hope and a sense of community to cleaning companies. We continue to be in awe of the professionals we are privileged to work with, and share in the joy that each of their success stories brings.

ABOUT INC. MEDIA

The worlds most trusted business-media brand, Inc. offers entrepreneurs the knowledge, tools, connections, and community to build great companies. Its award-winning multiplatform content reaches more than 50 million people each month across various channels, including websites, newsletters, social media, podcasts, and print. Its prestigious Inc. 5000 list, produced every year since 1982, analyzes company data to recognize the fastest-growing privately held businesses in the United States. The global recognition that comes with inclusion in the Inc. 5000 allows these founders a chance to engage with their peers in an exclusive community with the credibility to help drive sales and recruit talent. The associated Inc. 5000 Conference is part of a highly acclaimed portfolio of bespoke events produced by Inc. For more information, visit http://www.inc.com/.

ABOUT DEBBIE SARDONE CONSULTING

Americas top cleaning business consulting firm, Debbie Sardone Consulting, LLC helps owners of residential cleaning companies build a 7-figure dream business, with the income and the freedom in their lives that they deserve. Debbie Sardone, founder, is a popular consultant, trainer, speaker, author and business owner. Described as a serial entrepreneur, she owns several successful businesses, including Buckets & Bows Maid Service, her residential cleaning business, and Speed Cleaning, a manufacturer and distributor of premium cleaning supplies. She is also the founder of the national nonprofit, Cleaning for a Reason, through which she has helped more than 43,000 people battling cancer receive free home cleaning. For more information, visit DebbieSardone.com.
DemandLab named to the Chief Marketer 200 List of top marketing agencies This years CM200 represents an agency community made stronger and more resourceful than ever before.

Global marketing consultancy and marketing-led customer experience pioneer DemandLab, has been named to the 2022 Chief Marketer 200  a comprehensive ranking of the countrys top 200 marketing agencies in the B2B Experiential Marketing and Martech category.

Since 2009, DemandLab has grown into an international player, exclusively helping large enterprises and Fortune 2000 B2B businesses navigate a complex martech landscape.

Leading the way in Marketing-Led Customer Experience, DemandLab creates revenue potential for B2B marketers and the enterprises they lead by coordinating tech, data, and content to deliver brand-defining, personalized experiences at scale in every channel and throughout the customer journey. This new approach elevates marketing to the role of customer champion, journey creator, and experience innovator while maintaining a laser focus on outcomes and business impact.

Our clients often tell us how we are an extension of their team, said Rhoan Morgan, CEO of DemandLab. We are out-of-the-box thinkers who go above and beyond to tackle the complex problems that other agencies might shy away from or are unable to address. This is why so many clients return to us even when they are in different roles or at different companies and why this is such a great win for our team.

This years CM200 represents an agency community made stronger and more resourceful than ever before, said Jessica Heasley, Group Editor & Publisher at Chief Marketer, in a press release about the honor. We hope that brand marketers will consider the partners on this list for their 2022 programs. They have all demonstrated incredible creativity and resilience and are poised to transform challenges into opportunities in the year ahead.

DemandLabs unique solution offerings center around three marketing pillars of success: Marketing Technology, Data & Analytics, and Content Marketing. DemandLab has always understood and valued the importance of bringing together tech, data, and content. They pioneered the concept of building an entire ecosystem to support and integrate each marketing pillar in a way that engages, educates, and motivates. DemandLabs practical know-how and proprietary methodologies from strategic consulting to execution services help marketing teams create operational efficiencies, transform the customer experience, accelerate revenue generation, and support enterprise goals.

Over the past year, DemandLab expanded its product and service offerings and realized impressive employee growth across the U.S., Canada, and Hungary. The team grew by over 70% in 2021 and added employees to service delivery, marketing, project management, and client success teams. In 2021, the consultancy also launched Sightline, a customer-centric revenue attribution solution that helps enterprise marketers measure and prove their impact on revenue, and unveiled a new Content Division.

You can view DemandLab and the complete list of 2022 winners here.

About DemandLab

We create marketing-led customer experiences. Through connected platforms, mastered data, and aligned content, we build marketing engines that support revenue growth, business insights, and customer engagement for B2B enterprises through connected platforms, mastered data, and aligned content. By orchestrating and optimizing your most valuable marketing assets, we empower your marketing teams to re-envision the journey through the eyes of the customer, redefine the lifecycle, and transform the organization's revenue potential. Learn more about this award-winning consultancy at DemandLab.com.
It Gets Better: a moving story of faith, healing, and finding ways to cope with lifes challenges. It Gets Better is the creation of published author DeMario Tatum, a native of North Carolina who graduated from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

Tatum shares, It Gets Better is a powerful memoir that depicts the trials and tribulations of an African American teen as he awakens with disabilities after a tragic car accident. When Tatum returned to Durham School of the Arts to begin his freshman year of high school, his impairment steadily revealed itself. Not only did they affect his thought process, but they also impacted Tatums role in relationships, both romantic and platonic. Tatum responded to his new conditions by exploring coping mechanisms through trial and error. He juggled the weight of his internal battles with the sporadic deaths of both family members and childhood friends. The plot touches on several concepts, including male mental health, effectively confronting depression, and black trauma. Tatum emphasizes the importance of persistence, expressing how your situation always gets better, even if it has to get worse first.

Published by Christian Faith Publishing, DeMario Tatums new book is a heartfelt exploration of the authors most defining moments.

Tatum shares in hopes of bringing awareness to male mental health, challenges faced by the Black community, and the importance of confronting mental health issues head on.

Consumers can purchase It Gets Better at traditional brick & mortar bookstores, or online at Amazon.com, Apple iTunes store, or Barnes and Noble.

For additional information or inquiries about It Gets Better, contact the Christian Faith Publishing media department at 866-554-0919.
Donaldson's Volkswagen in Sayville, NY, Offers Great Deals on the 2022 Volkswagen Taos

People interested in the 2022 Volkswagen Taos and residing in and around Sayville, New York, can now rejoice as Donaldson's Volkswagen has started offering special deals and incentives on various new Volkswagen models for the month of December. Interested shoppers can head over to the dealership's official website to find more details about these offers and make a frugal purchase decision. Among the various offers on the different Volkswagen models, the one on the 2022 Volkswagen Taos S seems incredibly lucrative.

The offer on the 2022 Volkswagen Taos S requires customers to pay a lease of only $319 per month up to 39 months, without any additional costs of down payment or security deposit. Customers are also not charged for the first month or any dues at the time of signing. The offer expires on December 31, 2021, and shoppers are advised to read through the fine print to learn about the terms and conditions.

The 2022 Volkswagen Taos is available in three trim levelsS, SE, and SEL. These trims are powered by a turbocharged, 1.5-liter, four-cylinder engine that makes 158 horsepower and 184 pound-feet of torque. Those interested can head over to the dealership's website to learn more about the 2022 Volkswagen Taos.

Donaldson's Volkswagen is located at 5700 Sunrise Highway, Sayville, New York 11782. Interested customers can call (855) 418-0236 to schedule a test drive of their favorite Volkswagen or learn more about the various incentives offered by the dealership throughout the year.


Drinkmate, a leader in the home carbonation category, today announced they have entered an agreement with The Coca-Cola Company North America Operating Unit for a joint promotion with smartwater that will run through January 2022. Throughout the Amazon-only promotion, Drinkmates Special Bundle will feature smartwater+ flavored water enhancers.

The promotional Special Bundle will include a Drinkmate countertop home carbonation unit and a variety pack of smartwater+ flavored water enhancer sachets. Drinkmates countertop unit is one of the leading home carbonation systems available in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Its proprietary technology allows consumers to carbonate any kind of beverage safely and quickly. The smartwater+ naturally flavored water enhancers have been formulated by biomedical engineers with a patented oxygen delivery technology with vitamin B12 and iron to contribute to the reduction of fatigue. The variety pack includes 3 flavors: summer fruits, orchard fruits, tropical fruits.

We are proud to partner with smartwater in the exciting joint promotion of Drinkmates countertop model and the smartwater+ flavored water enhancer sachets, said Douglas Wang, Chief Executive Officer of Drinkmate. The Drinkmate and smartwater promotion is available through January of 2022 exclusively on Amazon.

About Drinkmate

Drinkmates mission is to allow consumers to get creative in discovering new beverages, drink healthier and have fun, while reducing plastic bottle waste. Its proprietary technology allows the consumer to carbonate any kind of beverage safely and quickly. Based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, the company serves as the global headquarters for the Drinkmate brand with operations in Asia, Europe and the Americas. For more information, please visit http://www.Drinkmate.us
I am honored to join the distinguished and diverse group of individuals who make up the NACD Directorship Certification community and who are committed to advancing the highest standards of boardroom excellence

Consilium Global Business Advisors today announced that the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) recently recognized Ed Marsh as NACD Directorship Certified. NACD Certified Directors, who earn NACD Directorship Certification, signal to boards, investors, and other stakeholders that they possess the highest commitment to continuing director education available in the United States.

The NACD Directorship Certification program, the nations premier certification for board directors, provides a tangible assessment of a directors understanding of the essential knowledge required to lead in todays boardrooms. Certification also facilitates continuous learning, and allows directors to showcase their governance knowledge to the companies they serve and to other stakeholders in the broader governance community.

I am honored to join the distinguished and diverse group of individuals who make up the NACD Directorship Certification community and who are committed to advancing the highest standards of boardroom excellence, said Marsh, NACD.DC. The information Ive learned and verified via NACDs certification program are key assets to the companies I serve, as well as to my professional growth as a director.

In addition to his work as an independent director, Ed advises middle-market industrial manufacturers and capital equipment machinery companies on revenue growth. Building on his Overall Revenue Effectiveness model, he helps organizations with traditional sales approaches incorporate digital tools and tactics, and upgrade their marketing and sales organizational structure and talent to meet today's market and buyer expectations. Ed is a graduate of Johns Hopkins University, a former US Army Ranger qualified Infantry Officer, and has extensive global business experience.

NACD Certified Directors demonstrate their keen awareness that directorship is a profession that, like all professions, requires continuous learning, said Peter R. Gleason, NACDs CEO. Ed is leading the way in achieving and maintaining the highest credential available to directors in the United States."

To learn more about NACD Directorship Certification, visit Certification.NACDOnline.org.

About Consilium Global Business Advisors: Consilium assists American manufacturers in applying process excellence to their business development. In other words, we help lean, well-managed companies with rock-solid bottom lines effectively and consistently grow their top lines to match. We work primarily with mid-size industrial manufacturing and capital equipment companies, guiding them through a journey toward Overall Revenue Effectiveness.
Evive Logo With four generations in the workplace and a diverse labor pool, its a priority for organizations to consider a cross-generational approach in their benefits selection to meet the diverse needs of each generation of workers.

Evive, the leader in digital engagement and communication technology, today revealed its annual Top Human Resources Trends for the coming year.

To pinpoint the trends, Evives team of experts, which range from executive leaders and HR professionals to data engineers, poured over the latest research to predict these rising and shifting trends.

This years notable trends include:

Ending the Great Resignation

Millions of people quit their jobs in a movement known as the Great Resignation. Workers demand higher wages, more flexibility, better working conditions, Covid-related considerations and more work-life balance. Others feel frustrated over poor workplace communication or lack of appreciation for their hard work. To reverse this trend, companies will start listening (and hearing) staffs concerns, ideas and needs and letting them know their voice matters.

More companies are setting up paths for open, honest communication between leaders and employees through every step of the employee journey. Leaders are listening to verbal and non-verbal cues about their staffs experience from onboarding through offboarding, thoughts about the communication and culture, ensuring that staff have the right learning and leadership opportunities to succeed and requesting input about their well-being, healthcare and financial benefits.

Employers that listen and use the input to develop a culture aligned with peoples values and beliefs, create a future-ready organization where employees feel cared for and supported, and therefore dont want to leave.

Developing an Employee-First Culture

Building an authentic culture of empathy and diversity, equity and inclusion are nonnegotiable today. And, employers don't disagree. Evives latest National Employee Journey research found a whopping 96% of employers say DEI is important. Organizations are starting to create new opportunities for diverse talent, change business processes, help employees create authentic and respectful social connections and create a culture where differences and similarities are appreciated and embraced.

By balancing culture, structure and strategy, listening to how others feel and respecting team members' unique needs and perspectives, organizations will recruit great talent, achieve greater innovation, gain a distinct advantage over the competition and show people come first.

Benefits for a Multigenerational and Diverse Workforce

With four generations in the workplace and a diverse labor pool, its a priority for organizations to consider a cross-generational approach in their benefits selection to meet the diverse needs of each generation of workers.

Employers in Evives study reported 72% offered medical benefits, 76% paid time off (PTO), 50% dental, 66% retirement benefits and 47% provided vision. When employees were asked to rank which benefits they would like to see, they differed across generations. A four-day workweek was the only benefit that ranked No. 1 consistently throughout all four ages.



Baby boomers  Four-day workweek, identity theft protection, flexible hours, financial planning and fitness perks

Gen X  Four-day workweek, flexible hours, fitness perks, student loan assistance and financial planning

Millennials  Four-day workweek, flexible hours, fitness perks, student loan assistance and tuition reimbursement

Gen Z  Four-day workweek, student loan assistance, financial planning, Employee Assistance Program (EAP)

In 2022, employers will further diversify their benefits package to meet the needs of a multigenerational workforce.

Improving Well-Being and Mental Health

Across the organization, mental health and wellness challenges have impacted the workplace. Study after study suggests people continue to experience high levels of stress, anxiety, depression and insomnia from the pandemic compared to surveys pre-pandemic. Yet, people with mental health challenges often dont get the treatment they need because of the stigma and discrimination they face. Just like schools have become an important source of mental healthcare for students, employers need to do the same for employees.

While 90% of large, mid-size employers offer medical benefits, and Evive showing that 72% of employers offer medical benefits, there is a misunderstanding that mental health and well-being services are provided under traditional healthcare benefits plans. However, most health providers dont adequately cover mental health and well-being. Today, employees require more emotional well-being support, whether its providing resources to help employees balance todays demands as a caregiver, helping a same-sex couple with adoption or providing support groups or telehealth therapy.

In 2022, employers will dedicate the time and resources to expand employee mental health and well-being benefits to attract and retain employees and to foster the needs of a diverse, multigenerational team.

Enhancing Financial Wellness

A survey from the National Endowment for Financial Education(NEFE), revealed that nearly 9 in 10 Americans said that the pandemic was causing stress on their personal finances. The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) said employees who worry about their finances missed almost twice as many days per year compared to their money-worry-free colleagues.

Yet, according to Evives research, not only did employees report that financial planning benefits as one of the least offered benefits (15%), but the MetLife Annual Benefit Trends showed 82% of employees want a financial wellness benefit option and 38% see it as a necessity.

Financial wellness programs teach employees how to manage short-term finances, unexpected expenses and long-term financial goals, as well as offer courses on homeownership, retirement account growth, debt reduction and more.

In 2022, employers will respond to employees by adding more financial wellness offerings that meet the needs of a diverse workforce and equip employees with more confidence and knowledge to manage finances. Its critical to ensure employees have financial security and understand the big picture of their financial health.

Creating a Unified, Seamless Experience

Many employers today have a disconnected ecosystem of HR software, systems and point solutions. Still, with employee communications, onboarding/offboarding, benefits information, career development resources and employee engagement all critical to organizational success, employers must provide a personalized communications platform with information all in one place. Engaging and listening to employees demands a level of personalization throughout the employee experience that builds trust, encourages open communication and boosts productivity.

The National Business Group on Health found 87% of employers think personalization is valuable to their organization but few are leveraging data and automated recommendations to deliver personalized content. According to Evives 2021 National Employee Journey research, only 15% of employers implemented their first communications platform during the last year.

Next year, more companies will adopt an integrated communications platform to highlight their total rewards package, aid in listening to employees, send and receive personal benefits communication and information and tailor the employee experience.

Monetizing Data to Increase Employee Engagement

To execute personalized benefits communication for employees, data is critical.

Data fuels the personalization engine and helps identify the right messaging to employees or segments of employees. Using data to support personalization helps employers understand an employees needs and wants, determines when employees might need a little reminder to act or helps identify when an employee is disengaged and needs some motivation.

Employers that leverage data in 2022 to further personalize and improve employee messaging, proactively monitor and recommend resources that drive a better employee experience and understand the benefits an employee engages (or doesnt engage) with, will help create a seamless, consistent experience through all communication channels, build brand loyalty and drive ROI.

Eliminating Mass Email

In a diverse, multigenerational workforce, employees have different communication styles, response times and ways of responding. Organizations must communicate with employees based on their preferred mode of communication.

According to Evives research, two-thirds of employees (66%) surveyed said they received mass emails from their employer. Only a small percentage of employees received personalized emails (18%), 8% of communications came from a communications platform, 6% via text/SMS and 2% via push notification.

Mass emails are often seen as employer spam, and if the information isnt relevant or of interest, employees are most likely to delete or ignore it. As a result, this kills morale, wastes peoples time and leads to disinterest.

Consumers can choose how to engage and communicate with a brand so its time employers offer the same experience to employees. Looking ahead, organizations will listen and communicate with their employees based on their preferred mode of communication.

An automated communications platform that distributes personalized messages to the right employee at the right times based on their preferred communication method will show employees you value their time and opinion. The same platform can use behavior or event triggers and multimodal messages to optimize employee response and drive desired actions.

For more information on Evives 2022 trends, visit here.
The Manhattan Institute recently released a report that manufactures a case against Critical Race Theory (CRT), building on a foundation of right-wing talking points.

Professor Kevin D. Brown, the Richard S. Melvin Professor of Indiana University Maurer School of Law, reviewed How to Regulate Critical Race Theory in Schools: A Primer and Model Legislation, examining several of the ways that the report mischaracterizes CRT.

The report offers model legislation as a tool for countering schools purported CRT-inspired indoctrination. It contends that CRT is the foundation of a widespread effort by public schools to forcibly indoctrinate students and teaching staff to support an anti-conservative, anti-civil rights, anti-White, and anti-American agenda. However, as Professor Brown explains, the reports errant conclusions were derived from misleading anecdotal evidence and a misrepresentation of important literature.

He details how the report is less about sound policy than it is about creating partisan talking points and unproductive controversy. He also cautions that the model legislation might, if adopted, lead to contentious anti-discrimination litigation. For these reasons, Professor Brown concludes, the Manhattan report does not provide serious guidance to lawmakers interested in understanding or legislating about issues related to race in schools.

Find the review, by Kevin D. Brown, at:

https://nepc.colorado.edu/thinktank/crt-regulation

Find How to Regulate Critical Race Theory in Schools: A Primer and Model Legislation, written by James Copland and published by the Manhattan Institute, at:

https://media4.manhattan-institute.org/sites/default/files/copland-crt-legislation.pdf

NEPC Reviews (http://thinktankreview.org) provide the public, policymakers, and the press with timely, academically sound reviews of selected publications. NEPC Reviews are made possible in part by support provided by the Great Lakes Center for Education Research and Practice: http://www.greatlakescenter.org

The National Education Policy Center (NEPC), a university research center housed at the University of Colorado Boulder School of Education, produces and disseminates high-quality, peer-reviewed research to inform education policy discussions. Visit us at: https://nepc.colorado.edu
In the modern financial world, banks new customers are developers and fintechs, and banking will be available from any brand. The future is bright for those institutions that enable a connected banking experience with instant real-time updates.

Finzly, a fintech provider of modern banking applications for payments, foreign exchange, trade finance and digital account opening, has announced that leading technology platform for financial compliance and B2B/B2C transactions, PointChain, is now live with Lead Banks Banking as a Service solution powered by Finzly.

PointChain can now bring to market next-generation, innovative consumer and business marketplace solutions enabled by Lead Bank and Finzlys powerful digital core. PointChains platform allows business owners to keep track of accounts and payments. Through its partnership with Lead Bank, PointChain can send payments and debit requests directly to Lead Bank via APIs and get instantaneous responses without utilizing legacy batch files and manual reconciliation.

Lead Bank has focused its efforts on establishing payment processing solutions to support the complex needs of fintech companies. Lead Banks partnership with Finzly allows the Bank to offer sophisticated payment services for technology-focused businesses and fintech companies via APIs (Application Programming Interfaces). Because of Finzly, Lead Bank gives fintech companies the ability to access multiple customizable and secure banking services.

Finzlys digital core and Payment Galaxy, run as a parallel core to the Banks legacy platforms, offer an API middleware while also replacing the legacy payment infrastructure at the Bank. Finzlys digital core offers a real-time multi-asset ledger with FBO (For Benefit Of) and virtual account capabilities to track any assets. Finzlys Payment Galaxy is a full-service platform with API middleware that processes all payment types (ACH, wires, RTP, FedNow & SWIFT), exceptions, and returns, with direct settlement and clearing connectivity with The Federal Reserve, The Clearing House, and SWIFT payment networks.

Lead Bank continues to invest in technology and to offer best-in-class business payment solutions. Finzly enables Lead Bank to provide payments processing services to a wider audience of clients and lays the foundation for Real-Time Payments (RTP) and FedNowSM services in the future. We are excited to debut this cutting-edge API origination solution with PointChain, says Peter McVey, Director of Payments, Lead Bank.

We are proud of this milestone where PointChain was able to develop and integrate with Lead Bank and launch rapidly. In the modern financial world, banks new customers are developers and fintechs, and banking will be available from any brand. The future is bright for those institutions that enable a connected banking experience with instant real-time updates. Lead Bank is leading the way in this financial transformation, and we are proud of our partnership and accomplishments together, remarks Murthy Balusu, CTO, Finzly.

Our objective is to remain a high-tech financial service solution for high-risk industries like cannabis, and working with a technology partner like Finzly has certainly enabled us to see our vision through, said Mark Lozzi, CEO of PointChain. This partnership will provide our clients with an experience they are more accustomed to from a traditional bank or financial service provider while keeping the speed, capabilities, and innovation of a fintech. We are in phase one of this partnership, and the future has game-changing potential for our clients and us. We commend Lead Bank in identifying a need for a solution like this in the market and choosing a partner and technology capable of executing.

About Lead Bank

Lead Bank is a community-minded, independent commercial bank recognized for its innovative approach to community banking and unique banking solutions that allow real people, businesses, and communities to thriveserving communities with treasury management and lending services, consumer client products, digital consumer banking, and innovative financial technology services. Headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri, yet serving clients digitally throughout the United States, Lead Bank is known for being a small business advocate, having outstanding client service, and creating financial pathways for those, who in the past, have been financially unhealthy. 2020 member of the Global Alliance for Banking on Values (GABV), an international network of banking leaders worldwide committed to advancing positive change in the banking sector. For more information, call (816)220.8600 or visit http://www.lead.bank.

About PointChain

PointChain is a financial technology platform that provides the cannabis industry with financial services, such as deposit and cash management offerings, bill pay services, unlimited B2B payments, API-powered payment solutions that serve both businesses and the consumer, and lending solutions. In addition, PointChain contains ongoing compliance features and supports a trusted ecosystem for cannabis companies to conduct business. To learn more, visit http://www.PointChain.io.

About Finzly

Finzly allows banks to innovate with a parallel core platform BankOS, that is modern, real-time, and API enabled. BankOS readily integrates to the banks existing core, saving banks time and money replacing the core, allowing them to focus on innovation. In addition, BankOS comes powered with an array of readymade solutions, including a multi-rail payment hub (ACH, wires, RTP, FedNow, and SWIFT), foreign exchange, multi-asset deposit core, Digital Account Opening, KYC, Risk, Compliance, and a suite of customer experience components. To learn more, visit http://www.finzly.com.
FLYCFG is proud to have Eric Ammon on the team and look forward to utilizing his expertise. These efforts will result in a better experience for CFG's clientele,

FLYCFG CEO, Jordan Brown, has announced a promotion from within the company naming Mr. Eric Ammon to the newly created positions of Chief Strategy Officer and VP of Vendor Relations. Mr. Ammon brings 16+ years of experience in high volume worldwide private charter coupled with thirty plus years in high end product sales management. He brings unique aircraft charter perspectives while streamlining processes. Eric is known for driving growth through design and implementation. When combining his sales experience with a well-established track record of high ethical standards, Eric delivers a tremendous value to the corporation. In addition to his deep understanding of Part 135 operator relationships, Eric will head up the new Vendor Relations team. This team will maximize relationships with our operator partners bringing added value to FLYCFGs growing clientele.

As FLYCFGs Chief Strategy Officer Mr. Ammon will implement Quantum Sourcing technology, a newly developed concept. This innovative technology is designed to maximize overall value for FLYCFGs clients.

FLYCFG is proud to have Eric Ammon on the team and look forward to utilizing his expertise. These efforts will result in a better experience for CFG's clientele, said Jordan Brown.

FLYCFG (Charter Flight Group) is a Jet Genius Florida Holdings company based in Boca Raton, FL. FLYCFG has recently experienced record growth in 2021 and continues to lead the private jet charter sector. FLYCFG will continue unprecedented growth through the upcoming years by leveraging advanced proprietary technologies that deliver safe, high quality, and reliable aircraft worldwide.
Schaumburg, Illinois-based Gardi & Haught welcomes new attorney James M. Nelis to its firm. Jim joins Gardi & Haught, Ltd., with 25 years of legal experience already under his belt. We are very excited that our firm, and our clients, are now the beneficiates of that experience.

Gardi & Haught, Ltd., a Schaumburg, Illinois-based law firm, announces the recent hiring of the new attorney James M. Nelis.

Nelis obtained his Bachelors of Arts and Sciences degree from The University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana and is a graduate of The John Marshall Law School in Chicago. He was admitted to the Illinois State Bar in 1994.

At the law firm, Nelis will be working in the following law areas: residential and commercial real estate: acquisition, sale and litigation, asset protection, corporate law, commercial transactions: contract negotiation and preparation, commercial litigation, civil litigation, securities law and probate.

Jim joins Gardi & Haught, Ltd., with 25 years of legal experience already under his belt, said Thomas Haught, partner and co-founder Gardi & Haught. We are very excited that our firm, and our clients, are now the beneficiates of that experience.

Since 2004, Nelis has been the owner of his own Schaumburg law office which specialized in the needs and business aspects of the creative real estate and/or financial investor. He has also worked as an associate for Mark G. Mulroe & Associates, Ltd, formerly of Mount Prospect, Klein, Daday & Aretos & ODonoghue in Schaumburg and The Law Office of John A. Tatooles & Associates in Palatine.

Aside from his work, Nelis is vice-chair and treasurer of the board of directors for Northwest Housing Partnership, a not-for-profit corporation located in Schaumburg, Illinois, whose primary mission is to locate, renovate and provide affordable housing for low to middle-income families.

Being part of Gardi & Haughts team, I look forward to growing the firms services in these areas, especially in commercial law, real estate law and financial law, Nelis said.

About Gardi & Haught, Ltd.

Gardi & Haught, Ltd. is a law firm concentrating in Real Estate Law, Litigation, Immigration, Divorce, Estate Planning, and Corporate Law. Founded by Hiten R. Gardi and Thomas E. Haught in 2003, the firm is located at 939 N. Plum Grove Rd., Ste. C, Schaumburg, Illinois.

For more information, call 847-944-9400 or visit http://www.gardilaw.com.
Information Technology World Awards by GLOBEE The IT World Awards are open to all Information Technology and Cyber Security organizations from all over the world and their end-users of products and services.

The Globee Awards organizer of the worlds premier business awards programs and business ranking lists is now accepting nominations and entries for the 2022 IT World Awards honoring achievements and recognitions in the information technology and cyber security industries worldwide.

A special category group for startups of the year will include the achievements of new startups formed since 2018 in the areas of Artificial Intelligence, IT Cloud/SaaS, IT Hardware, IT Hybrid, IT Services, IT Software, Security Cloud/SaaS, Security Hardware, Security Hybrid, Security Services, Security Software, and Telecommunications.

IT industrys premier excellence awards program, IT World Awards honors achievements in every facet of the information technology and cyber security industries. This annual industry and peers program now has several major sections making this one of the most and only complete IT recognitions and achievements award programs in the world. There are many categories for which your organization and the people behind its success can be nominated. Categories are classified under the following groups:



Company-Organization Awards categories

Corporate Communications and Public Relations Awards categories

Creative, Social and Traditional Media Awards categories

Customer Service & Support Awards categories

Best Deployments and Customer Success of the Year Awards categories

Executive & Professional Awards categories

Chief Technology Officers Awards categories

Human Resources Awards categories

Information Technology Users Awards categories

Marketing Information Technology Awards categories

New Product & Service Awards categories

Product Development and Engineering Awards categories

Sales and Business Development Awards categories

COVID-19 Business Response Awards categories

Learn more about the 2022 IT World Awards and how to nominate here: https://globeeawards.com/it-world-awards/

A worldwide judging panel of executives and professionals representing a wide spectrum of industries will determine the winners. Winners will be presented and honored in a virtual ceremony attended by the finalists, winners, judges, and industry peers from all over the world. Industry experts and end-users of information technology products and services can participate in the judging process.

Apply here to participate as a judge and an industry expert to help decide the winners: https://globeeawards.com/it-world-awards/judges/

Winners of previous years are listed here: https://globeeawards.com/it-world-awards/winners/

Stay posted and read success stories of organizations by subscribing to the Globee Newsletter: https://globeeawards.com/subscribe/

IT World Awards will also recognize Chief Technology Officers from all over the world for their achievements in the areas of Artificial Intelligence, IT Cloud/SaaS, IT Hardware, IT Hybrid, IT Services, IT Software, Security Cloud/SaaS, Security Hardware, Security Hybrid, Security Services, Security Software, and Telecommunications.

About the Globee Awards

Globee Awards are conferred in eleven programs and competition: the American Best in Business Awards, Business Excellence Awards (Best Employers), CEO World Awards, Communications Excellence Awards, Customer Sales & Service World Awards, Cyber Security Global Excellence Awards, Disruptor Company Awards, Golden Bridge Awards, International Best in Business Awards, IT World Awards, and Women World Awards. Learn more about the Globee Awards at https://globeeawards.com

Follow Globee Awards on twitter https://twitter.com/globeeawards\

All trademarks belong to their respective owners.
At iboss, the success of our people is the success of our company, said Paul Martini, CEO of iboss.

iboss, the leading SASE cloud security provider, announced today that it was recognized as one of the 25 Highest-Rated Private Cloud Computing Companies To Work For in a list released by Battery Ventures, a global investment firm and cloud investor. The list highlights 25 privately held companiesall business-to-business, cloud-computing companies--where employees reported the highest levels of satisfaction at work during the 12 months ended Oct. 31.

The distinction placed iboss at number 22 (out of 25 total) with an overall company rating of 4.5. The broader average across other companies was 3.7. iboss senior-leadership rating was 4.5, compared to the average of 3.3, while its positive business-outlook ratingindicating the percentage of employees who believe their employers business will get better in the next six monthswas 87%. That compared to an average across other companies of 54%.

At iboss, the success of our people is the success of our company, said Paul Martini, CEO of iboss. Todays modern workforce, works from anywhere. Being named one of the Highest-Rated Cloud Computing Companies to Work For is a huge honor, as its direct feedback from employees. Were committed to creating a culture were employees feel connected and inspired to do their best work.

This is the fifth year Battery has issued a version of its highest-rated cloud companies list, along with a related ranking of the 25 Highest-Rated Public Cloud Computing Companies To Work For. The rankingswhich this year come as many companies continue to face workplace challenges associated with the Covid-19 pandemic, including remote and hybrid work--highlight the global trend of businesses increasingly turning to the cloud to run critical technology systems and software, instead of using on-premise systems.

While the pandemic has accelerated the businesses of many cloud companieswhose products often help fuel digital transformationmany cloud CEOs are still grappling with how to build great corporate cultures, hire the best employees and retain them in an incredibly fast-changing and unpredictable business environment, said Neeraj Agrawal, a Battery Ventures general partner who specializes in cloud investing. The companies on this list should feel proud of their success building positive cultures and promoting employee satisfaction, which often translates into financial success. They really are modeling best practices for other organizations across the economy.

Full lists of The Battery Highest-Rated Public and Private Cloud Companies To Work For can be found here.

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About iboss

iboss is a cloud security company that enables the modern workforce to connect securely and directly to all applications from wherever they work. Built on a containerized cloud architecture, iboss delivers security capabilities such as SWG, malware defense, RBI, CASB and data loss prevention to all connections via the cloud, instantaneously and at scale. This eliminates the need for traditional network security appliances, such as VPNs, firewalls and web gateway proxies, which are ineffective at protecting a cloud-first and mobile world. Leveraging a purpose-built cloud architecture backed by 230+ issued and pending patents and more than 100 points of presence globally, iboss processes over 150 billion transactions daily, blocking 4 billion threats per day. More than 4,000 global enterprises trust the iboss Cloud Platform to support their modern workforces, including a large number of Fortune 50 companies. To learn more, visit https://www.iboss.com/.

About Battery Ventures

Battery partners with exceptional founders and management teams developing category-defining businesses in markets including software and services, enterprise infrastructure, online marketplaces, healthcare IT and industrial technology. Founded in 1983, the firm backs companies at all stages, ranging from seed and early to growth and buyout, and invests globally from six strategic locations: Boston; San Francisco and Menlo Park, Calif.; Herzliya, Israel; London; and New York. Follow the firm on Twitter @BatteryVentures, visit our website at http://www.battery.com and find a full list of Battery's portfolio companies here.

*By a company name, denotes a Battery investment. For a full list of all Battery investments and exits, please click here.
"Persistent household IP addresses are critical for CTV advertising so we developed our solution internally to ensure the offline linking capability and PII sensitivity of the matching process is consistent with our industry leading identity graph, said Gary Walter, CEO of Infutor.

Consumer identity management expert Infutor today introduced an update to its Identity Resolution services including a new IP Intelligence solution used to extend marketing reach and activate connected TV (CTV) ad campaigns. Two of the leading streaming services are already using Infutor to activate CTV campaigns for their advertisers.

With CTV viewership and advertisers' interest in reaching those viewers continuing to rise, so too does the need for improved data interoperability to create and target relevant CTV-viewing audiences. While working with multiple data providers is often required to get first-party and device-level data matched to an authoritative offline dataset and onboarded for CTV activation, Infutor delivers to platforms, publishers and brands identity resolution accuracy and scale in a single solution.

Persistent household IP addresses are critical for CTV advertising but most providers dont have an effective offline linking capability or an adequate level of PII sensitivity. We decided to develop the solution internally to ensure the data and matching process is consistent with the diligent, industry leading approach we use to compile and enhance our entire identity graph, said Gary Walter, CEO of Infutor.

With Infutors CTV-enabling Identity Resolution services, marketers can achieve digital identity resolution and cross device resolution to deliver consistent omnichannel messaging. This includes extending marketing reach by using digital identities to target consumers across mobile devices and connected TVs, while maintaining control of first-party data.

We are unlocking value by connecting valid profiles to anonymous US consumers  resolvable on one identifier - so that platforms and publishers can quickly activate accurate and privacy-compliant linkages, added Walter.

Infutor has also added anonymized, device-level insights to allow data scientists at brands, publishers and platforms to apply custom rules for identifying relationships to connected devices.

Infutors consumer identity management solutions make marketers contact databases more actionable by providing access to supplemental privacy-compliant behavioral and household attributes on 266 million US consumers across 120 million households. These signals coupled with Infutors Identity Resolution capabilities enable marketers to anchor first, second and third-party data sources to the national population with Infutor serving as both the onboarder and enrichment provider.

About Infutor

Infutor is the expert in data-driven consumer identity management and identity resolution. The company is solely focused on enabling brands to instantly gain access to the most complete and accurate information about consumers, exactly when they need it, to make informed marketing and risk mitigation decisions. Infutor is regularly named to the Inc. 5000 list and recognized by Crains Chicago and Built In Chicago as a Best Place to Work. A privately held company founded in 2003 with strategic investments from Norwest Venture Partners, Infutor is headquartered in Oakbrook Terrace, Ill. For more information, visit http://www.infutor.com.

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INSPECS Limited Eyes Centric PLM to Achieve Their Vision When youve got to try to persuade teams to move from a system they are familiar with, like Excel, that new system has to have a better interface and be a much more positive experience. That was massively clear the first time we looked at Centric.

INSPECS Limited, a leading designer, marketer, manufacturer and distributor of brand and OEM eyewear has selected Centric Softwares Product Lifecycle Management (PLM).

Centric Software provides the most innovative enterprise solutions to plan, design, develop, source and sell products such as apparel, footwear, sporting goods, furniture, home decor, cosmetics, food & beverage and luxury to achieve strategic and operational digital transformation goals.

Founded in 1988, INSPECS experienced rapid growth through acquisition and is one of the largest eyewear companies in the world. They own their supply chain from sourcing to distribution, distribute in more than 80 countries, have four manufacturing sites and 30,000 global points of sale. INSPECS cycles two seasons per year and produces over 500 new SKUs for licences, brands and private label brands each year. Their goal is to be the go-to platform for eyewear solutions.

Eyewear is classified as a medical device and is subject to rigorous compliance standards, which along with a complicated manufacturing process, slows time to market. The average time to market can be nine months and operating during COVID has put additional pressure on timelines.

When Adam Loewy, Creative Director at INSPECS joined the team, he saw an enormous opportunity to streamline processes, speed time to market and drive the companys success.

When I joined INSPECS, I had this question mark, says Loewy. We had the ability and a fantastic team. But we didnt design as many collections, and for as many brands as I thought we could.

Loewy could see that teams were losing valuable time with multiple layers of processes, by relying on outdated tools like Excel, and searching for information stored in disparate locations. Thus, he began his search for a solution to drive efficiencies, streamline operations and centralize information.

We were very keen to work with a partner who had experience, had delivered for multiple brands, and was on a scale that would ensure theyd be around for the long term, shares Loewy.

In their search for a PLM solution, Loewy and his team evaluated several PLM vendors, and Centric Software stood out for several reasons. Outstanding customer references, Centrics work with INSPECS brands, and a clear roadmap of the development process and ROI gave INSPECS the confidence to select Centric Software as their PLM partner.

User experience was also a deciding factor. When youve got to try to persuade teams to move from a system they are familiar with, like Excel, that new system has to have a better interface and be a much more positive experience, Loewy explains. That was massively clear the first time we looked at Centric.

Designers are expected to reclaim nearly 20% of their time to vision-critical functions with PLM. Currently the ratio of time spent on design to development is 20% and 80% respectively. According to Loewy, to be a leader in their market, they must spend significantly more time on design, and PLM will enable that.

The marketing team will save time by using Centrics single version of the truth to develop detailed product line lists that support the sales teams. Its really about creating a digital catalogue because well have that information in one location, says Loewy. Its the database that is the really powerful tool for us.

PLM will also bolster their sustainability efforts by empowering teams to share factories, deliveries, material developments and sample creation. From an employee perspective, reducing time wasted on redundant tasks will support a sustainable and balanced corporate culture.

Chris Groves, President and CEO of Centric Software says, We are thrilled that INSPECS has chosen Centric as a partner in their digital transformation journey. Their company is growing rapidly and we are proud to be a part of an industry that is providing such a critical medical device.

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INSPECS (http://www.inspecs.com)

INSPECS is a leading designer, manufacturer and distributor of brand and OEM eyewear to global retail chains. With owned factories in Vietnam, China, Italy and London, they offer the complete eyewear design-manufacture-distribution solution. Their in-house award-winning creative design studios in Bath UK, Lisbon and Hong Kong offer specialist eyewear design and innovation, 3D design, graphics, photography and marketing services.

INSPECS partners with brands under license across the globe to bring the eyewear category to life. They also proudly own the prestigious British-made Savile Row eyewear brand, crafted by hand from luxurious materials at our British and Italian factories. INSPECS sales offices are based in Bath, Lisbon, Scandinavia, Florida and HK.
In November 2021, Intellias, a technology partner of Fortune 500 companies and top-tier organizations, and D36.ch, an innovative Swiss healthcare startup, announced their strategic partnership. The companies are joining efforts to build a bridge between the Swiss digital health market and world-class IT services to reinforce customers digital strength by combining 360-degree domain expertise with state-of-the-art software engineering solutions.

As a trusted digital technology enabler, Intellias will rely on its experience working with a wide range of organizations in the healthcare sector to empower D36.ch in guiding the digital transformation journeys of healthcare businesses and medical institutions in Switzerland, including hospitals and clinics; pharmaceutical, BioTech, MedTech, and insurance companies; as well as promising startups.

"Right from the start, Intellias impressed us with their speed, quality, and professionalism in everything they do. Their vast portfolio of software engineering services along with an impressive track record of multiple industries they serve gave us confidence that weve selected the right technology partner," says Bruno Sousa, CTO and co-founder of D36.ch.

The synergy between Intellias and D36.ch will help healthcare businesses challenge the digital status quo of the vital yet fairly traditional medical industry and innovate the Swiss medical landscape by bringing new digital solutions to the market.

"Today, we observe a great market potential for the technology-enabled transformation of the healthcare industry. Intellias is excited to team up with D36.ch to foster customer experiences across the entire digital health domain. Through our partnership, we will bring many opportunities that would unlock the value of innovation across the rapidly evolving MedTech and BioTech sectors," says Vitaly Sedler, CEO and co-founder of Intellias.

The commitment of Intellias and D36.ch to long-lasting cooperation will open new business opportunities for enterprises and organizations operating in the healthcare domain. The deep understanding of the local healthcare landscape and agile startup spirit of D36.ch coupled with the wide assortment of software engineering services offered by Intellias will translate into accelerated digital transformation processes and new revenue streams for medical companies and healthcare providers.

About D36.ch

D36.ch is an innovative startup with strong engineering DNA that empowers companies in the healthcare and life sciences sectors throughout their digital transformation journeys. D36.ch offers a combination of products and services for building a thriving digital healthcare technology landscape fueled by advanced engineering and development services provided by Intellias, their exclusive partner.

About Intellias

Intellias is a global technology services provider partnering with innovative enterprises and progressive companies to help them accelerate their pace of sustainable digitization. Intellias empowers businesses operating in Europe, the US, the MENA region, and the APAC region to embrace innovation at scale. Over 2000 Intellias experts located in Ukraine, Germany, Poland, the United States, and the United Arab Emirates deliver competence and expertise in various domains. The company has been featured in the Global Outsourcing 100 list by IAOP, recognized by Inc. 5000, acknowledged in the GSA UK Awards, named the winner of a Silver Stevie Award in the 17th Annual International Business Awards, and ranked the #1 employer among Ukrainian IT service providers by Forbes. With nearly two decades of experience, Intellias helps both industry leaders and startups deploy innovative customer-facing solutions, build award-winning software, and modernize technical infrastructure.
Bill Gaier, Publisher of Finance & Commerce and Minnesota Lawyer, presents Jill Johnson with the ICON award. The leaders recognized by the ICON awards are among the most accomplished and impactful executives and attorneys in Minnesota, said Johnson. To be one of the few people to receive this exclusive award is truly an extraordinary honor."

Jill J. Johnson, MBA, president and founder of Johnson Consulting Services, has been jointly selected by Finance & Commerce and Minnesota Lawyer as one of the 2021 ICON honorees. The ICONs were celebrated during an awards ceremony held on December 9, 2021 at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Minneapolis. A magazine profiling each of the ICON honorees was also published and distributed at the celebration event.

Now in its third year, the ICON Awards pay tribute to the titans of the boardroom and the courtroom by recognizing individuals with proven success throughout a lengthy and accomplished career.

A panel of judges selected this years honorees from across Minnesota for having exhibited distinctive excellence who have also been active in their communities and in mentoring the next generation.

This honor places Johnson among an elite group of senior business leaders whose years of leadership, achievements, and contributions to the Minnesota business community are especially noteworthy.

Johnson is one of only 21 honoreesand just three womenfrom the business and legal communities selected for the honor. She is also one of the few entrepreneurial enterprise founders to ever be honored with this award.

The leaders recognized by the ICON awards are among the most accomplished and impactful executives and attorneys in Minnesota, said Johnson. To be one of the few people to receive this exclusive award is truly an extraordinary honor."

ICON honorees have included chief executive officers as well as attorneys, commercial real estate executives, CPAs, financial advisers, Minnesota Supreme Court justices, and a former Minneapolis mayor.

Johnson founded Johnson Consulting Services, a management consulting firm specializing in strategy development, in 1987. She has served clients from across the USA, Europe, and Asia. Her expert counsel has influenced over $4 billion worth of business decisions for clients including Mayo Clinic, ResMed, Salvation Army, United Way, Minneapolis Club, Covenant Retirement Communities, Walker Methodist, Fairview, Association for Corporate Growth and many others.

Johnson has served on the board of directors for numerous business and non-profit organizations. She has served on two federal boards and chaired an Advisory Board for the Minnesota Department of Employment & Economic Development. Johnson was the Board Chair for the Homes for Heroes Foundation to provide financial and housing resources to military personnel, police/peace officers and first responders in dire need of support.

Johnson is well known for her long-term mentoring efforts with young professionals and college students. Having mentored well over 100 people over the last two decades, many of them now have board positions on the Guthrie Theater, Minneapolis Club, industry associations, as well as increasing levels of responsibility at companies like Anthem, Allina Health, General Mills, and 3M or have started their own businesses.

To read more or access the full list of honorees:

https://finance-commerce.com/2021/12/finance-commerces-minnesota-icons-of-2021/

About Johnson Consulting Services: An award-winning management consulting firm based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The firm specializes in market-based strategic planning, evaluating complex market dynamics, and developing strategies for turnarounds or growth. It assists clients in evaluating critical decisions and assessing the impact of market forces to develop strategic and business plans at both the board and operating level. With a proven track record of dealing with complex client issues and getting results, the firm utilizes a three-dimensional approach offering clients information, insight, and ideas. For more information contact 763-571-3101 or visit http://www.jcs-usa.com.

About Finance and Commerce & Minnesota Lawyer: Minneapolis-based Finance & Commerce and Minnesota Lawyer are independent daily newspapers that are divisions of The BridgeTower Media Group. Finance & Commerce provides news, analysis and commentary on Minnesota business. It focuses on commercial real estate, construction, economic development, regional planning, transportation and transit. Minnesota Lawyer provides the states legal community with coverage on court opinions, verdicts, settlements, appellate decisions, and legal news. For more information, visit http://www.Finance-Commerce.com and http://www.MinnLawyer.com.
Law Office of Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik De Blouw LLP For more information about the lawsuit against Crossmark, 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 Crossmark, 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, 351, 510, 512, 558(a)(1)(2), 1194, 1197, 1197.1, 1198, and 2802. The lawsuit against Renoir HM, LLC is currently pending in the San Diego County Superior Court, Case No. 37-2021-00048351-CU-OE-CTL. To read a copy of the Complaint, please click here.

According to the lawsuit filed, Crossmark, Inc. allegedly failed to fully relieve Plaintiff and other Aggrieved Employees for their legally required thirty (30) minute meals breaks. Employees were also allegedly required, from time to time, to work in excess of four (4) hours without being provided the legally required ten (10) minute rest periods. The California Supreme Court defines off-duty rest periods as time during which an employee is relieved from all work related duties and free from employer control.

PAGA is a mechanism by which the State of California itself can enforce state labor laws through the employee suing under the PAGA who do so as the proxy or agent of the state's labor law enforcement agencies. An action to recover civil penalties under PAGA is fundamentally a law enforcement action designed to protect the public and not to benefit private parties. The purpose of PAGA is not to recover damages or restitution, but to create a means of "deputizing" citizens as private attorneys general to enforce the Labor Code.

For more information about the lawsuit against Crossmark, 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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This edition provided insights into 23 wine markets as well as notes on sustainability, inclusivity, wine education and technology. China and Russia emerge as the main protagonists of this edition in terms of foreign markets, the two countries held a total of 7 sessions.

Thanks to its hybrid form, the 8th edition of the wine2wine Business Forum lasted more than any previous edition. Characterized by a total of 73 sessions presented in 5 different rooms, 2 of them virtual, this latest edition of the forum allowed participants to access the sessions even after the official closure of the event, which took place October 18th and October 19th 2021. In fact, all the sessions  both Italian and English language versions  are still available to access online on the platform Swapcard until December 31st 2021.

This edition provided insights into 23 wine markets as well as notes on sustainability, inclusivity, wine education and technology. China and Russia emerge as the main protagonists of this edition in terms of foreign markets, the two countries held a total of 7 sessions. This also includes two opportunities for direct networking with 8 important Russian buyers.

The Marketing and Communication track sees 16 sessions raging from insights on digital platforms, wine blogs, brand storytelling, and multi-channel marketing. An important spotlight this year was the focus on sustainability and inclusivity, both for Italy and on a global scale.

The sessions belonging to these tracks see the participation of experts such as Marian Leitner- Waldman, Erica Landin - Lofving and Gurvinder Bhatia IWE discussing topics varying from modern lifestyles to waste reduction, more sustainable packaging solutions and investments on sustainability for companies.

The world of wine education was also tackled during the event, with interesting discussions about the future of wine courses and certifications in a world in which in-person events and travel are still limited by COVID-19.

A final important element provided by the platform is the possibility to build your own virtual community by reaching out and directly connecting to the speakers and participants of wine2wine Business Forum 2021.

To buy tickets to access the wine2wine Business Forum platform: https://wine2wine.net/registrazione/?lang=en.

About: wine2wine Business Forum is a dynamic international wine industry forum organized by Veronafiere and held annually in Verona, Italy, since 2014. wine2wine Business Forum 2021 took place on October 18th and 19th with a hybrid format, allowing guests to attend the conference both online and in-person. The event is a key reference point for wine producers and wine professionals eager to develop and grow their wine business worldwide. The wine2wine Business Forum provides unique opportunities to share ideas on the most important issues facing the rapidly evolving wine industry and to connect with wine professionals and experts. The forum takes place over two days and features keynote sessions, seminars, and interactive workshops which aim to equip participants with practical tools to improve their business. Speakers are renowned experts in their field and among the brightest minds in the wine world from Italy and abroad. Additional information is available at http://www.wine2wine.net or by emailing wine2wine@justdothework.it.
McChrystal Group, the global advisory services organization and Yardstick Management, Americas leading Black-Owned management consulting firm, today announced a new partnership to help organizations advance their commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Together, Yardstick Management and McChrystal Group are fusing their collective capabilities to provide clients with rigorous qualitative and quantitative assessments, using leading diagnostic tools perfected by the McChrystal Group Team Science practice, to develop customized DEI strategies, an area in which Yardstick Management excels.

More inclusive organizations have higher degrees of creativity, improved problem solving, and greater organizational performance; however, organizations often struggle to identify DEI initiatives that have a positive impact for their people and drive commercial value. According to McKinsey's Diversity wins report, in 2019, top-quartile companies outperformed those in the fourth one by 36% in profitability. Additionally, companies with above-average total diversity had both 19% higher innovation revenues and 9% higher EBIT margins on average, as told by the Harvard Business Review.

Diversity can be the difference between winning and losing. Demographic diversity is an absolute necessity but insufficient on its own. Diversity of thought is critical in situations of great risk and uncertainty, and diversity of capability helps organizations identify, assess, and mitigate risk, said General (Ret.) Stanley McChrystal, CEO of McChrystal Group.

Creating a truly inclusive work environment is a necessity for all of us to embrace to transform the way we experience work in the future and to unlock underleveraged potential within organizations, states Pavlina Plasilova, Chief of Staff, McChrystal Group Team Science. There is no other organization that wed be more excited to partner with than Yardstick Management, whos been pushing the envelope in this space for the last 10 years.

The McChrystal Team Science Practice was established to help corporate leaders comprehend massive amounts of data and ultimately help drive better decision-making. By integrating critical concepts from organizational psychology, social network theory, studies of employee engagement, diversity and inclusion, risk climate assessments, and longitudinal methodologies, the Team Science Practice provides an actionable, prioritized perspective on organizational challenges. They also developed the Organizational Diagnostic to map out organizational influence networks and measure organizational performance and applied it to various Fortune 1000 companies.

Diversity and inclusion can feel abstract and vague at times, which is why at Yardstick we develop plans with manageable actions that deliver clear results, said Dr. Ebbie Parsons, III, Managing Partner at Yardstick Management. With this partnership, we can create and monitor specific KPIs to reiterate the importance of diversity within a company and ensure their actions are making a significant difference.

For more information click here https://www.mcchrystalgroup.com/get-in-touch-yardstick/.

McChrystal Group

McChrystal Group assesses, equips, and connects your teams to outpace your environment, your competitors, and your next challenge. We do this by applying our Team of Teams framework to three critical areas of performance: developing your leaders, implementing strategy, and measuring your organizations performance. Our diverse team - with blended business, academic, and military perspectives - helps clients globally across the private, public, and social sectors tap into the potential of their people to better compete in a complex and interconnected business environment. Visit us at http://www.mcchrystalgroup.com.

About Yardstick Management

Established in 2012, Yardstick Management is America's leading Black-Owned management consulting firm, providing organizational strategy, diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging support, and executive search expertise at the worlds most recognizable companies. Our comprehensive services help organizations transform their culture as well as attract and retain the most senior-level diverse executives to their C-Suites and boards. Named in Inc.s 2021 Best in Business list and Georgia Business Journals Best Business Consulting firm, Yardstick Management has a proven track record of successful transformation and is trusted by the largest companies in the world.

In 2021 alone, the management consulting firm increased revenue by 166%, grew its employee base by 42%, and impacted over 2,600,000 employees across global corporate, non-profit, and educational organizations including, Amazon, Facebook, LinkedIn, Netflix, MIT, Orangetheory Fitness, PLBY Group Inc., Davita Kidney Care, Whirlpool, Roark Capital, and more. For additional information, visit yardstickmanagement.com.

Media Contacts:

McChrystal Group

Danielle Tenconi, Marketing Manager

Danielle.Tenconi@McChrystalGroup.com

Yardstick Management

Slma Shelbayah, Chief Communications Officer

slma@yardstickmanagement.com
Scott Harrison, Litigation Attorney, Monge and Associates

Scott Harrison, an attorney at Monge & Associates, filed the lawsuit filed in State Court of Cobb County Georgia Case 21-A-2303 ANS RANA vs. AMAZON LOGISTICS, INC on behalf of Ans Rana, who was in the backseat of his brothers car when an Amazon delivery van rear ended it at an estimated speed of 67.73 mph on March 15, 2021. The impact left Rana with life-changing brain and spinal-cord injuries.

The lawsuit states that the delivery van allegedly was traveling 67.73 miles per hour in a 55 mph zone when it struck Ranas brothers car on Interstate 75 in Atlanta.

After spending months in the hospital, the 24-year-old Rana now lives with his sister who assists with his care. Rana, who previously led an active lifestyle, is confined to a motorized wheelchair and needs help completing basic tasks such as getting out of bed or brushing his teeth. His medical bills exceed $2 million.

Monge & Associates

Monge & Associates, is a nationally recognized personal injury law firm with primary practice areas include in catastrophic injuries, wrongful death, dangerous products, motor vehicle crashes, negligent security, dangerous business premises, helping victims of drunk driving and workers compensation cases. http://www.BecauseYouWanToWin.com.
Author Michael Reed announces the release of the first volume of Two & A Quarter (published by Xlibris) series. In this book, readers are taken to the streets of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where outsmarting the law enforcement is crucial in living a life of crime and murder.

Troy, Nick and Jeff were always around each other since they were kids. Having been raised in a world of drugs and pain, they were forced to become men before their time. Readers follow these three friends as they navigate lifes challenges block from, hood to hood, in this tale of power and street smarts. Real loyalty is everything to them.

(I) just wanted to do something positive, the author states, when asked what inspired him to write the book. Its relatable to many peoples lives growing up and right now. Its about teamwork.

An excerpt from Two & A Quarter reads:

But what Troy was seeing within his so-called friend was greed and also selfishness, and thats one of the number one things that his family just couldnt deal with, especially if they all wanted to remain free men out here in these streets of Baton Rouge or anywhere else.

To purchase a copy, visit https://www.xlibris.com/en/bookstore/bookdetails/700448-two-a-quarter

Two & A Quarter: Volume 1

By Michael Reed

Hardcover | 6 x 9in | 150 pages | ISBN 9781664176553

Softcover | 6 x 9in | 150 pages | ISBN 9781664176560

E-Book | 150 pages | ISBN 9781664176577

Available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble

About the Author

Michael Reed is also the author behind the book Pressure.

Xlibris Publishing, an Author Solutions, LLC imprint, is a self-publishing services provider created in 1997 by authors, for authors. By focusing on the needs of creative writers and artists and adopting the latest print-on-demand publishing technology and strategies, we provide expert publishing services with direct and personal access to quality publication in hardcover, trade paperback, custom leather-bound and full-color formats. To date, Xlibris has helped to publish more than 60,000 titles. For more information, visit xlibris.com or call 844-714-8691 to receive a free publishing guide.
I want readers to understand that PTSD is REAL, it is dark, and it has been deadly throughout the first responder community.

Retired Constable Kimberley Tent shares her journey through post-traumatic stress using poetry to address her broken emotional state, healing, and journey to self-care in her new poetry book titled Scattered Little Parts: Book Two of the Parts series (published by Archway Publishing).

The book is a dark and raw poetic memoir through the depths of post-traumatic stress. It shares a glimpse into a retired police officers battle within her own mind, depression, and relentless inner demons. The author has not been afraid to share the hard truths along her journey of healing and book two is no exception.

I want readers to understand that PTSD is REAL, it is dark, and it has been deadly throughout the first responder community, Tent says. It doesnt just affect one personality type, career, gender, race, or religion. It can affect everyone, even people who are expected to be the brave ones  those of us in uniform, with badges, guns and sirens. First Responders are at far greater risk from their own minds, than they are from the public.

Scattered Little Parts is available for purchase online at the Archway link above, from Barnes & Noble and on Amazon at: https://www.amazon.com/Scattered-Little-Parts-2/dp/1665712244.

Scattered Little Parts

By Kimberley Z. Tent

Softcover | 5.5 x 8.5 in | 108 pages | ISBN 9781665712248

E-Book | 108 pages | ISBN 9781665712231

Available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble

About the Author

Kimberley Z. Tent resides in the beautiful Kootenay mountains of southern British Columbia, with her childhood sweetheart of 36 years. She grew up surrounded by nature and began writing poetry and songs at an early age. Tent has three amazing children and three grandchildren, who have all been extremely supportive throughout her own journey with a post-traumatic stress injury. Her mission is to continue spreading awareness of PTSD through her own experience as a police officer, and to provide hope and support to fellow first responders who are still suffering in silence.

Simon & Schuster, a company with nearly ninety years of publishing experience, has teamed up with Author Solutions, LLC, the worldwide leader in self-publishing, to create Archway Publishing. With unique resources to support books of all kind, Archway Publishing offers a specialized approach to help every author reach his or her desired audience. For more information, visit archwaypublishing.com or call 844-669-3957.
Mental health is always an issue in todays society.

M. Kelly, author of Pathways in the Mind series, returns to the literary scene with the release of Edge of Madness: An Australian Story (published by Balboa Press AU). In this psychological thriller, readers follow one womans coming-of-age journey and beyond as her mental health deteriorates and she struggles to know why.

Marjs peaceful and contented life in the farm is turned upside down when she finds herself orphaned at age 8 and sent to live with her great aunt. After several failed relationships, her path leads her to a mental health clinic in Dubbo, where she learns a name for her condition and how to avoid the triggers that set it off. Through brain training in the clinic, she slowly learns to navigate through depression and borderline personality disorder, which eventually leads to her recovery into a normal life.

Its a good story with an inspirational ending, the author asserts. Mental health is always an issue in todays society. Often, people with BPD seem to spend their lives in never really finding answers that will help them. The ending for Marj is a good one.

Edge of Madness: An Australian Story is an entertaining and educational read that will appeal to those who are dealing with mental health issues or who know someone who might find inspiration and encouragement in Marjs story. Visit https://www.balboapress.com/en-au/bookstore/bookdetails/828023-edge-of-madness to get a copy.

Edge of Madness: An Australian Story

By M. Kelly

Softcover | 7.5 x 9.25in | 94 pages | ISBN 9781982292225

E-Book | 94 pages | ISBN 9781982292218

Available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble

About the Author

M. Kelly was born and lives in Western Australia. Having an enquiring mind, she has spent time at university studying psychology, history, several religions, and politics. Since the bombing of the twin towers in the United States, she has studied Islam in the belief that one should not criticize one's brother unless one understands him. She has a strong belief in social justice for all people in the world. She is retired from her last job as an advocate. She now spends her time writing and catching up with many friends on Facebook. Kelly has written many academic papers and authored four books in a series: Pathways in the mind, Metamorphosis, Juncture and Another World. More details about the author and her works can be found at miriamkelly.net.

Balboa Press Australia is a division of Hay House, Inc., a leading provider in publishing products that specialise in self-help and the mind, body and spirit genre. Through an alliance with the worldwide self-publishing leader Author Solutions, LLC, authors benefit from the leadership of Hay House Publishing and the speed-to-market advantages of the Author Solutions self-publishing model. For more information or to start publishing today, visit balboapress.com.au or call 1-800-844-925.
Accreditation by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education is a testament to our stellar faculty, staff, and students and will help ensure our upward trajectory well into the future, said Todd Ambrosia, DNP, Dean of the Phillips School of Nursing at Mount Sinai Beth Israel.

The Phillips School of Nursing at Mount Sinai Beth Israel (PSON) was granted re-accreditation of its baccalaureate degree program by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE), a prestigious national accreditation agency that contributes to the improvement of the public's health by ensuring the quality and integrity of baccalaureate and other degree programs in nursing.

The CCNEs board granted accreditation to the baccalaureate degree program in nursing at PSON for the maximum period of 10 years, extending accreditation through 2031. The baccalaureate program at PSON includes an Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing for students with a baccalaureate in another specialty and a program that allows current nurses with associates degrees to earn a baccalaureate degree, called the RN to BSN program. The schools baccalaureate program was first accredited by CCNE in 2015.

Accreditation by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education is a testament to our stellar faculty, staff, and students and will help ensure our upward trajectory well into the future, said Todd Ambrosia, DNP, MSN, APRN, FNP-BC, FNAP, Vice President for Nursing Academic Affairs, Mount Sinai Health System, and Dean of the Phillips School of Nursing at Mount Sinai Beth Israel. We offer a progressive curricula, led by an exceptional faculty, which includes classroom teaching and clinical practice in both inpatient and community settings. Our two nursing programs are delivered in a blended format to provide our students with the flexibility they need to succeed, and as part of the Mount Sinai Health System they have the opportunity to participate in a range of extracurricular activities and training programs to enhance their educational experience.

The CCNE accreditation standards that were met to achieve re-accreditation were based on program quality, mission and governance, institutional commitment and resources, curriculum and teaching-learning practices, program effectiveness, and assessment and achievement of program outcomes. The CCNE is an autonomous national accreditation agency, recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education.

About Phillips School of Nursing at Mount Sinai Beth Israel

Founded in 1904, PSON is dedicated to the professional education of undergraduate nursing. Because PSON is part of Mount Sinai Beth Israel, students benefit from an impressive array of clinical experiences, in the hospital and in the community, throughout the Mount Sinai Health System. In addition to the RN to BSN, the school offers an Accelerated BSN. The school has designed a variety of innovative curriculums responding to the special needs of working adults interested in entering the nursing profession, nurses interested in advancing their careers, and foreign-educated physicians and nurses who wish to pursue nursing practice in the United States. In 2014, the National League of Nursing designated the school a Center of Excellence in Nursing Education in the category of Student Learning and Professional Development. Located in the East Harlem neighborhood of Manhattan, convenient to public transportation, the school currently enrolls close to 300 students. In addition to CCNE, the School is accredited in nursing for its baccalaureate program by the New York State Board of Regents and the Commissioner of Education.

About the Mount Sinai Health System

The Mount Sinai Health System is New York City's largest academic medical system, encompassing eight hospitals, a leading medical school, and a vast network of ambulatory practices throughout the greater New York region. Mount Sinai advances medicine and health through unrivaled education and translational research and discovery to deliver care that is the safest, highest-quality, most accessible and equitable, and the best value of any health system in the nation. The Health System includes approximately 7,300 primary and specialty care physicians; 13 joint-venture ambulatory surgery centers; more than 415 ambulatory practices throughout the five boroughs of New York City, Westchester, Long Island, and Florida; and more than 30 affiliated community health centers. The Mount Sinai Hospital is ranked on U.S. News & World Report's "Honor Roll" of the top 20 U.S. hospitals and is top in the nation by specialty: No. 1 in Geriatrics and top 20 in Cardiology/Heart Surgery, Diabetes/Endocrinology, Gastroenterology/GI Surgery, Neurology/Neurosurgery, Orthopedics, Pulmonology/Lung Surgery, Rehabilitation, and Urology. New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai is ranked No. 12 in Ophthalmology. Mount Sinai Kravis Children's Hospital is ranked in U.S. News & World Reports Best Childrens Hospitals among the countrys best in four out of 10 pediatric specialties. The Icahn School of Medicine is one of three medical schools that have earned distinction by multiple indicators: ranked in the top 20 by U.S. News & World Report's "Best Medical Schools," aligned with a U.S. News & World Report "Honor Roll" Hospital, and No. 14 in the nation for National Institutes of Health funding. Newsweeks The Worlds Best Smart Hospitals ranks The Mount Sinai Hospital as No. 1 in New York and in the top five globally, and Mount Sinai Morningside in the top 20 globally.

For more information, visit https://www.mountsinai.org or find Mount Sinai on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
RushMyPrints "Our vision is rushing to life: we wont stop pushing the pace and delivering top-quality printing services until we are a globally recognized brand and authority known for high-quality printing services. At RushMyPrints, quality assurance and timely delivery is our never-falling standard.

Since 2016, RushMyPrints rapidly became a printing industry force to be reckoned with. The printing company has been delivering dependable and top-class same day printing services across the United States. Dominating the West Coast, this is a 24-hour print shop with the expertise coupled with client satisfaction as they stand firm on delivering against a rushed timeline and bulk sized orders that flood in everyday.

San Francisco CA: According to announcements released by the CEO of RushMyPrints, Rajeev Basra, the same-day printing services provider has the support, prowess, and high-end industry printing equipment to deliver printing products on the same-day, easily overnight, and next-day. Basra goes on to mention that RMPs quality printing products are always in high demand such as: booklets, engineering prints, full-color prints, saddle stitch prints, magazines, wide format prints, bulk sticker products, and custom print orders.

The company has pioneered same-day print deliveries from every corner of the country, and today has a tried and tested system in place to handle rush orders of large volumes, even during the COVID-19 pandemic.

As a company, (RushMyPrints) was able to double down on what we truly excel at - providing quality prints regardless of the time constraint or order size and it paid off. At the end of the day, were here to make sure our clients businesses function smoothly. RushMyPrints is expanding into industries to provide printing services within the Medical field, Consumer Goods, and Education, to name a few, said Basra.

From inception in 2016, RushMyPrints has been handling rush bulk printing services from San Francisco, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, to NYC. It has specialty equipment to print blueprints, vinyl banners, mounted posters, and custom prints sought after artists and high-end brands.

This printer is able to take on large run jobs and small orders with equal ease which allows for an assured turnaround and free delivery. RushMyPrints has produced prints from small shops to large corporate entities, luxury brands, non-profits, law firms, and many additional businesses. RushMyPrints enlarging by the day portfolio of clients include: Coca-Coke, Ferrari, Tesla, Google, Facebook (MetaVerse), JPMorgan Chase, large hedge funds and financial institutions to just name a few.

Businesses and financial entities really depend on RushMyPrints to deliver annual reports, quarterly reports, and monthly reports on time. Investors and shareholders depend on these reports now more than ever, to assess performance and chart the future course of action.

Same-day printing and almost real-time printing of such financial reports are a challenge to not only correctly produce, but not miss a step in doing so. RushMyPrints leads the way in delivering high-quality reports with options in different finishes.

Same-day custom printing services by RushMyPrints are available for commercial and personal print projects from all over the United States. With its attention to detail and commitment to quality, RushMyPrints is the first choice for corporate clients that want marketing materials quickly and with the right finish. RushMyPrints has become the preferred printer for cannabis dispensaries that desire clean and elegantly printed labels for their products.

For more information, go to https://www.rushmyprints.com/

As the proverbial entrepreneurial story inspirationally goes, CEO Rajeev Basra says, Our journey began as a simple, straightforward company with a clear vision. Having noticed the need for quick and urgent quality printing services, we were founded with the mission to help people and businesses that want same-day printing. Hence, the name RushMyPrints. We offer fast, high-quality printing services for individuals and businesses all over the United States. From architectural blueprints, stickers, color postcards, flyers and brochures, and color booklets to catalogs and wide format printing services Rush My Prints is available any time of the day to assist you with your project."

On the company's vision and mission, Basra said in closing, "Our vision is rushing to life: we wont stop pushing the pace and delivering top-quality printing services until we are a globally recognized brand and authority known for high-quality printing services. At RushMyPrints, quality assurance and timely delivery is our never-falling standard.

Contact and location information are available at RushMyPrints

Name: Rajeev Basra

Company: RushMyPrints

Address: 650 California St, San Francisco, CA 94108

Email: info@rushmyprints.com

Phone: (510) 640-0151
SDI Presence LLC (SDI), an NMSDC-certified IT consultancy and managed services provider (MSP), today announced the formal launch of its advisory board, to provide strategic guidance towards the companys expansion in current and new markets. The advisory board includes technology industry veteran Mr. Anjan Mehta, and former President of the National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC) Ms. Joset Wright-Lacy.

"As we expand our position as a trusted advisor to State and Local Government (SLG) and utility customers looking to modernize their legacy technologies, we are pleased to extend our thought leadership through the creation of this advisory board, stated David A. Gupta, SDI Presence Founder and Chief Executive Officer. "As highly respected and seasoned executives with extensive government, utilities, technology, and supplier diversity experience, Anjan and Joset bring extraordinary experience to SDI. They will be instrumental in helping our customers modernize, leading to balanced growth for SDI Presence.

Mr. Anjan Mehta, Founder and President of Trident CGI, brings 38+ years of highly successful business and operational experience in industries with high cloud adoption. Mr. Mehta has been a long-time advisor for several Fortune 100, venture capital and private equity businesses, providing strategic guidance in market expansion without disrupting the business core mission. Mr. Mehta has served in strategic leadership positions at ZTEL-GE Capital and Arthur D. Little. He currently serves as an active board member for several Private Equity Companies and Strategic Advisor for several Pharmaceutical, Biotechnology, Medical Devices, and healthcare IT organizations.

Extending its hallmark IT managed services and consulting practices, SDI recently expanded its legacy modernization services to include a comprehensive suite of hybrid, multicloud services, and solutions. SDI has developed extensive industry experience by managing information and operational technologies for SLG and utilities customers over the past 25 years. This expertise informs SDIs cloud advisory services which include cloud readiness assessments, migration strategy, and migration services  each centered on solving sector-specific challenges including cost controls, managing and securing data, and long-term optimization across the enterprise. SDIs established partnerships with leading cloud service providers and cloud enablement partners including Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud Platform, Dell/VMware, Palo Alto Networks and ServiceNow facilitate the firms client-centric approach to select the best cloud for clients specific workloads. In early 2022, the firm will be introducing its ITIL-aligned cloud managed services programs, as well as its cloud management platform that delivers centralized cost control and single pane of glass visibility across hybrid multicloud environments.

Ms. Joset Wright-Lacy brings over thirty years of experience leading highly successful teams and large organizations from the C-suite, including serving as the President of Ameritech, Illinois, for over twenty-five years before establishing Waypoint Strategies LLC in 2017. As a former procurement executive and past president of the NMSDC, Wright-Lacy was instrumental in driving opportunities between some of the countrys largest corporations and minority and women-owned firms. SDI looks forward to leveraging Wright-Lacys broad and insightful experience as it expands its MBE partner network, which includes over 40 certified and vetted minority, women, and veteran-owned (M/W/V) businesses. Actively incorporating diversity throughout its operations since its inception, SDI channeled over 60% of its annual spend with M/W/V business partners in 2020.

"SDI has a proven approach to solve for critical IT modernization needs in government and utilities while de-risking the inclusion of diverse groups in these meaningful IT programs. Organizations that leverage diverse businesses are more nimble and able to ramp up faster in many cases than with larger suppliers. This is a timely imperative, as many organizations are actively reexamining diversity participation in their supplier categories to create a more purpose-led supplier ecosystem, shared Ms. Wright-Lacy.

Earlier this year, SDI secured an infusion of private equity capital with Abry Partners, a Boston, Massachusetts-based private equity firm, to fund its growth. Shortly afterward, SDI hired industry-veteran Hardik Bhatt, formerly the CIO of City of Chicago and State of Illinois and executive at Cisco and Amazon Web Services, as its President and Chief Growth Officer.

The insights of the advisory board, the experience of innovative cloud leaders like Hardik, and the breadth of the Abry technology portfolio collectively reinforce SDIs trusted advisory role in delivering critical IT services and solutions to its customers, said Brian St. Jean, an Abry Partner.

# # #

About SDI Presence LLC (http://www.sdipresence.com)

SDI Presence LLC is an IT consultancy and managed services provider (MSP) that leverages its strong team presence to advance our clients to a secure digital enterprise. With a 25-year corporate resume, SDI delivers strategic managed services, IT consulting, and cloud solutions to optimize our clients technology environments. SDI is a certified Minority Business Enterprise (MBE), with a portfolio of clients that includes some of the nations largest airports, utilities, commercial real estate portfolios, and government agencies. Connect with us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram.
Servicons in-house infection prevention team has worked continuously to provide employees with accurate, up-to-date guidance and news regarding vaccine options, eligibility, safety, and efficacy As experts in infection prevention and cleaning for health, we are proud of our high employee vaccination rate. It demonstrates our continued care and commitment to serve as the frontline of protection to provide healthy environments.

Servicon, a leading environmental, custodial, and facility maintenance company, today announced that 91% of their employees are fully vaccinated against COVID-19. To help achieve this milestone, Servicons in-house infection prevention team has worked continuously to provide employees with accurate, up-to-date guidance and news regarding vaccine options, eligibility, safety, and efficacy.

We have persistently encouraged employees to get vaccinated to protect themselves, community members, and our customers, said Laurie Sewell, President and CEO, Servicon. To help employees make an informed decision and address any concerns, we hired an epidemiologist to speak and answer questions regarding vaccination. This helped cut through the noise of false information and provide clarity regarding the safety and effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, Servicon has meticulously followed CDC guidelines and has been in constant communication with employees regarding safe practices and protocol. In addition, the company also rewarded all vaccinated, frontline employees with $300 to thank them for their efforts. Beyond its corporate vaccination rates, Servicon fully complies with all mandates at individual client sites.

We will continue our initiative to drive vaccination rates even higher to help protect our community, added Sewell. As experts in infection prevention and cleaning for health, we are proud of our high employee vaccination rate. It demonstrates our continued care and commitment to serve as the frontline of protection to provide healthy environments.

For more information, visit https://servicon.com.

About Servicon

Servicon provides exemplary environmental, custodial, and maintenance services for complex facilities. Women-owned and operated, Servicon works and lives by their purpose to elevate the industry and provide healthy environments for people to thrive. The company employs more than 1,700 diverse workers throughout the United States. In 2021, Servicon established Servicon Cares, the official branch of the company that encompasses their philanthropic endeavors and their commitment to sustainability. For more information, visit servicon.com.
Apples and Cinnamon: a potent look at the bond between fathers and daughters and the consequences of challenging those bonds. Apples and Cinnamon is the creation of published author Stacy Johnson, a loving mother and grandmother who works as an office administrator. Johnson received a bachelors degree from University of Maryland Global College (formerly University of Maryland University College) in communications studies and a masters degree from American InterContinental University in business administration with a specialization in project management. She also previously worked for a United States senator.

Johnson shares, Drawn into her fathers lie, Cynthia Cinnamon Harrelson struggles to forgive her father when she learns of his past indiscretion and deceptive behavior. When discovering the truth of her mothers death, she pushes everyone away that loves and cares for her, including her best friend, Myles Beyers. With a shattered image of her father, she seeks counseling to help her come to terms with the ugly truth about the man she idolized.

The painful journey toward forgiveness and acceptance could only be realized once she allowed herself to pull on her relationship with God.

Apples and Cinnamon, filled with richly drawn characters, delves into the concept of forgiveness when tragedy strikes at the hands of another. The characters in this fictional story all experience something that will cause the reader to consider their own situation and put forth the question, Would I be able to forgive?

Published by Christian Faith Publishing, Stacy Johnsons new book is an emotional and engaging fiction that will pull at the heartstrings.

Johnson offers readers a heartfelt tale of love, deception, and forgiveness.

Consumers can purchase Apples and Cinnamon at traditional brick & mortar bookstores, or online at Amazon.com, Apple iTunes store, or Barnes and Noble.

For additional information or inquiries about Apples and Cinnamon, contact the Christian Faith Publishing media department at 866-554-0919.
Giving back to the community is extremely important to us, and this program is a great way to accomplish that while also demonstrating how much we care about our staff members and the causes closest to their hearts.

Stratosphere Networks continued its Choose Your Charity program again this year. The initiative invites staff members to choose a nonprofit organization, and Stratosphere donates $100 on their behalf.

Since launching the Choose Your Charity program in 2019, Stratosphere has donated to numerous organizations, including the Alzheimers Association, Northwestern Settlement, GRIN2B Foundation, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, and the Epilepsy Foundation, among others.

Staff members are advised to choose an organization with 501(c)(3) status thats important to them and makes a direct impact. The company lists the donations in its internal newsletter, and team members can share the reason they selected a particular nonprofit.

For example, one employee chose the Alzheimers Association in 2020 in honor of his father. Numerous other Stratosphere team members also selected the Alzheimers Association to show support for their colleague and people in their lives affected by the condition.

Were very pleased with the level of participation weve seen in our Choose Your Charity program, said Kevin Rubin, president and CIO of Stratosphere Networks. Giving back to the community is extremely important to us, and this program is a great way to accomplish that while also demonstrating how much we care about our staff members and the causes closest to their hearts.

The Choose Your Charity initiative is only one of the ways Stratosphere contributes to the greater good. The Chicago managed service provider also runs a community service program that offers staff members two additional days of paid time off for taking part in sponsored volunteer activities. For instance, Stratosphere team members have assisted with Meals at Home deliveries and back-to-school supply drives for the social services organization Lawrence Hall.

Additionally, the company routinely sponsors benefits hosted by charitable organizations such as Lawrence Hall, GRIN2B Foundation, and Trilogy Behavioral Healthcare, among many others.

For more information, please visit the Stratosphere Networks website.

About Stratosphere Networks

Stratosphere Networks provides trusted advisor, consulting, IT project and voice services to businesses across all industries. Our team leverages advanced tools and our extensive partner network to help businesses identify IT, cybersecurity, cloud, digital transformation, customer experience (CX), business process outsourcing, networking and connectivity solutions that meet their unique needs and align with their organizational objectives. Visit http://www.stratospherenetworks.com for more information.

For more information contact:

Lori Leonardo

847-440-8608

LoriL@stratospherenetworks.com
Our employees get up every day fired up about serving our customers and finding evermore environmentally friendly solutions for biosolids.

Synagro Technologies, Inc., the preeminent provider of biosolids and residuals solutions services in North America, has been awarded a Top Workplace honor by the The Baltimore Sun for the first time in the Top Small Employers category. The Baltimore Sun had its 2021 Top Workplaces event on December 9, 2021, at the Grand Lodge of Maryland, and published the list of Top Workplaces on December 10, 2021.

Founded in 1986 and currently celebrating its milestone 35th anniversary, Synagro works to turn waste into worth by helping more than 1,000 municipal, industrial water and wastewater facilities, and agricultural partners in North America move toward safer, cleaner and more environmentally beneficial practices.

We are very pleased we were voted a Top Workplace. Our leadership team and I work very hard to create a fun, rewarding work environment, said Bob Preston, chief executive officer, Synagro. Our employees get up every day fired up about serving our customers and finding evermore environmentally friendly solutions for biosolids.

The annual Maryland Top Workplaces award gathers employee feedback through a third-party survey administered by Energage, L.L.C.  employee engagement technology partner. The anonymous poll measures 15 unique drivers of engaged cultures critical to any organizations success, including alignment, execution, and connection.

Synagro's employee benefits include tuition reimbursement, 401(k) with employer match, paid time off, competitive comprehensive medical benefits, HSA, FSA, dental and vision, employer-paid basic life, accident and disability Insurance, and a wide range of supplemental and voluntary benefits.

About Synagro

Founded in 1986, Synagro Technologies, Inc. works to turn waste into worth by helping more than 1,000 municipal, industrial water and wastewater facilities, and agricultural partners in North America move toward safer, cleaner and more environmentally beneficial practices. For some, its simply cleaning the water supply. For others, its much more  we partner with them to process their waste for compost or energy pellets, creating healthy soil and sequestering carbon in the process. As the largest recycler of organic by-products in North America, were trusted because we remove risks while keeping the logistics clean. Because we have the most experienced team in the industry, we can offer tailored solutions that ensure no waste goes to waste. Much of our work isnt pretty. But its a greener world emerging from a cleaner one  worth coming from waste  and we think thats pretty beautiful. Visit synagro.com to learn more.

Follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.


TAP is a privately-held, boutique merchant bank. Mytown is positioned to become a high-growth, tech platform, both in the UK and elsewhere. We believe the expertise and resources we bring will enable them to ascend to the next level and beyond.

TAP Financial Partners, a privately-held, boutique merchant bank, has been retained by Mytown Technologies Ltd. to provide investment banking services. The agreement also provides the London-based company exclusive access to growth capital through TAPs fulfillment division.

Mytown provides technology solutions to small and medium-sized organizations that enables them to market and sell their products and services in real-time. Its mobile and desktop web application features a powerful search directory that makes it easy for consumers to support local businesses and public agencies while receiving discount offers.

Mytown is positioned to become a high-growth, tech platform, both in the UK and elsewhere, said Al Razavi, a TAP Financial Partners managing partner. We believe the expertise and resources we bring will enable them to ascend to the next level and beyond.

Potential customers sign up on the Mytown platform for free and are rewarded for supporting those in their local community. An intuitive platform utilizes artificial intelligence to remember user preferences and deliver the most relevant products, services, and information. Companies pay either a fixed amount or by the transaction to be included in the database.

Local businesses across the world face daily competition from well-funded, multi-national organizations, said Dominic Brookman, CEO of Mytown Technologies. Mytown was formed to provide services that would help to transform the fortunes of independent, smaller businesses, shops, cafes, theaters, and trade professionals.

TAP Financial Partners provides advisory, restructuring, debt and equity fundraising services, fulfillment, and up-listing advice to a select group of small and mid-sized enterprises. Its financial expertise and decades of collective experience position it to be a difference-maker for clients, no matter the assignment or mandate.

To learn more about services and impact, connect at http://www.tap-partners.com or info@tap-partners.com.
Costers del Segre DO appellation refers to wines produced in the province of Lleida, in northeastern Spain. The appellation, together with Slow Food Terres de Lleida - Culturas Trobades y L'Olivera have started a collaboration that in the next few years will cast a new light on the grape inheritance of Poniente and Pirineo, two of the seven sub-zone Costers del Segre is made of

For this reason, renowned French ampelographer, Jean-Michel Boursiquot, together with his team which includes among others Montpellier University professor Thierry Lacombe, have been visiting the region in multiple occasions, focusing on different strains of old vineyards used for self-consumption in Costers del Segre sub-zones. The ampelographer and his team will study the different vines spotted during their site visits to identify which varieties they represent. The responsible of LOlivera, enologist and winemaker, Pau Moragas, explains that the aim of this project is the maintenance of the collections of varieties, along with the identification of old vines and the varieties they represent, along with their reintroduction of varieties and promotion.

This project will enhance once more the tipicity of this appellation, which is already a mosaic of different terroirs. Costers del Segre is in fact divided into seven separate sub-zones which give voice to the many different geological and climate conditions. The nexus of union is the middle basin of the river Segre, between the Pyrenees and the Ebro. As for the soil, its main components are calcar and clay and it is poor in organic matter, a common and uniform characteristic throughout the designation of origin.

About TASTE THE DIFFERENCE PROGRAM

The program: European quality wines: taste the difference is a project financed by the European Union and managed by Unione Italiana Vini and PRODECA for the promotion of PDO and PGI European wines abroad in China and US. In order to achieve this objective, the TTD.EU program will organize wine seminars, workshops and b2b meetings both in these countries and in Spain and Italy, inviting wine professionals to join study trips to Europe. The program, realized in the span of three years (2021-2023) aims at creating awareness about European quality wines, in particular Italian and Spanish, which share a long tradition and a high standard of quality.

The beneficiaries: Unione Italiana Vini is the oldest and most commissioned Association of the Italian wine market. It represents cooperative, private and agricultural wine-companies, bottlers, consortia, associations and wine-making machines or wine cellars / laboratory manufacturers, located throughout the Italian territory. Promotora de Exportaciones Catalanas (PRODECA) is a public company established in 1986 and part of the Ministry of Climate Action, Food and Rural Agenda of the Government of Catalonia. It supports the agri-food sector and its companies with the knowledge, tools and experience to increase their products in Catalunya and worldwide.
Unagi is expanding its subscription service to meet towering consumer demand, which has grown by over 600 percent across ten existing metropolitan markets since its launch in 2020.

Unagi, the company redefining urban, local travel with its best-of-breed portable electric scooters, today expands its popular All-Access subscription service to all 50 U.S. states. Now, commuters across the country will have an easier and more fun way to get from point A to point B for less than two dollars a day, without the pains of public transit or the shared scooter experience. Unagi is expanding its subscription service to meet towering consumer demand, which has grown by over 600 percent across ten existing metropolitan markets since its launch in 2020.

With people thinking more about how theyll get around as the world reopens, we want to give them the freedom to navigate city streets on their own terms - a little faster, a little cheaper and a lot more fun, said David Hyman, CEO and Founder of Unagi. The expansion of our subscription service means an Unagi is now in reach of anyone who wants one, a game changer for city transit and a step closer to a carbon-free future.

With companies ramping up their return to office plans, many Americans are moving back to the cities they left during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, bringing an increase in traffic with them. With the majority of car trips in the U.S. under three miles, Unagi scooters can help commuters replace short-distance trips with electric scooters to reduce environmental impact, avoid standstill traffic and skip an expensive rideshare.

First launched in August 2020, Unagis All-Access subscription gives riders a personal scooter for a flat monthly fee without the commitment or expense of actually purchasing one. This model better suits many peoples lifestyles and helps scale more sustainable local transportation options.

How it Works

 Subscribers choose one of two Unagi All-Access plans: a pay-as-you-go monthly plan for $49.99 per month, or a discounted annual plan of $39 per month (which comes out to just $1.63 or less per day).

 There is no commitment for new subscribers and can cancel at any time.

 Once subscribed, Unagi will ship a Model One scooter to a riders door.

 If a subscriber runs into any maintenance trouble, Unagi will replace the scooter.

In addition to its All-Access expansion, Unagi launched its first initiative on ten U.S. college campuses including Arizona State University; University of California, Los Angeles; University of Maryland; and New York University.

In September, Unagi unveiled the design of its Model Eleven - the worlds first smart scooter and the lightest full suspension electric scooter on the market. Unagi partnered with award-winning industrial designer Yves Behar to create the fluid, elegant design, including unparalleled features such as the worlds first advanced driver-assistance system (ADAS) sensor and integrated Google turn-by-turn directions in a two-wheeled device, remote kill capability and more.

To learn more, visit: http://www.unagiscooters.com.

About Unagi

Unagi is redesigning urban, local travel with the highest quality, lightweight and portable electric scooters in the market. Unagi scooters provide a faster, less expensive, more sustainable and more fun way to get to your urban destination compared to alternative means of transport including Ubers, public transport or ride-sharing. Our All-Access subscription service allows for having an Unagi in your personal possession for a flat monthly fee without commitment. Learn more at http://www.unagiscooters.com.
US Meltblown produces 100% Made in USA meltblown polypropylene Under the new regulation that was recently signed into law, U.S. Meltblown is positioned to meet the growing demand for USA raw materials for the PPE industry

The U.S. Commerce Department is holding a free webinar on January 19, 2022 at 2 p.m. Eastern to educate companies about the new guidelines for labeling a product Made in the USA. These guidelines, included in the recently signed Infrastructure Bill, go into effect in about three months and are significantly more stringent than previous regulations.

The 60-minute webinar will provide insights from the Federal Trade Commission on the essentials of Made in USA labeling as well as states statutory requirements. The webinar is free to register. Companies are encouraged to register as soon as possible at the link below.

Date: January 19, 2022

Time: 2:00pm ET (11:00am PT)

Duration: 60 minutes

Cost: Free

Registration Link: https://emenuapps.ita.doc.gov/ePublic/event/editWebReg.do?SmartCode=2QD8

Overview: What companies need to know about the Federal Trade Commissions Made in USA guidelines and Californias Made in the USA regulations.

Objectives:



Learn requirements for Federal Trade Commission guidelines for labeling a product Made in the USA and Californias Made in the USA regulations.

Gain insights on the essentials of Made in the USA labeling from the FTC as well as Californias statutory requirements for the Made in USA label. For a product to have a Made in the USA label, it must meet specific criteria outlined by the Federal Trade Commission.

These criteria include the requirement that the products final assembly or processing must take place in the United States.

The Commerce Department's International Trade Administration is hosting this webinar to help guide companies on proper Made in USA labeling as established in the new guidelines. Beginning 90 days from the Infrastructure Bill signature, and to ensure sustainment and expansion of PPE manufacturing in the U.S., the new act requires that any contract for procurement shall:



Be issued for a duration of 3 years to incentivize investment in the production and the materials and components in the United States.

Be for Personal Protective Equipment that: Is grown, reprocessed or produced in the United States, and when assembled outside the U.S., contains only materials and components that are grown, reprocessed, reused or produced in the United States.

PPE companies should note that this is not the same Made in America or Made in USA provision per the FTC guidelines which allows percentages of product to be sourced with resources from overseas. In the strongest sense, this new Make PPE in America Act is a mandate that the ingredients must be 100% made in the United States. This is in order to ensure the PPE supply chain physically moves to and will now be controlled within the United States.

US Meltblown offers 100% Made-in-America meltblown polypropylene and can meet the requirements of this new act completely, having built its business around this strategy.

1) US Meltblown produces all of its meltblown in America from American-made components.

2) The company installed a brand new meltblown production line, fully operational 6 months after Covid-19 became a pandemic in the United States.

3) Intertek has tested USMB material and rated it PASS for ASTM F2100 Level 1, 2, 3 and NIOSH 42 CFR 84 Subpart K (N95).

4) The company recently doubled production capacity to meet anticipated demand under this new Make PPE in America Act.

5) USMB is committed to quadrupling capabilities within the 90-day period after the signature of the Infrastructure Bill.

Under the new regulation that was recently signed into law, U.S. Meltblown is positioned to meet the growing demand for USA raw materials for the PPE industry, supporting those who support our Federal Government, our medical community, first responders, the military, government agencies, schools, volunteers, the Red Cross, FEMA, and all others with the need or the desire to support MADE IN AMERICA products, said US Meltblown Founder and CEO Robert Sires. With our advanced meltblown that can be changed on the fly for width or GSM, and is now offered in white and black colors, we stand ready and able to deliver to the PPE industry, filter industries, spill industry and others. We work on a two-week lead time at present and sell by the ton.

Those with questions about the webinar or new regulations can contact

Ty Whitacre, VP of Sales, US Meltblown: twhitacre@usmeltblown.com

OR

Bobby Hines, US COMMERCE DEPARTMENT: Bobby.Hines@trade.gov

US Meltblown is Americas trusted manufacturing source for critical filter material, setting the standard for this vital material used in personal protective equipment such as medical grade masks. US Meltblown is proud to provide this top-quality critical filtering medium made in Florida from raw materials produced in the United States and processed on equipment that is built in the U.S. and operated by American workers. For more information, contact Ty Whitacre at 1-260-438-4491 / TWhitacre@usmeltblown.com or visit http://www.usmeltblown.com.
Retired Army Sgt. Mike Hulsey and his family, son Wyatt beside him and behind, from left, wife Meaghan, son Austin and daughter Elizabeth. Every year we adopt a Wounded Warrior or Gold Star family for Christmas through Operation Ward 57.

A wounded veteran who served nearly 10 years in Iraq and Afghanistan and his family are being honored by The Patriot Woodworker organization with a Christmas meal and presents for the children. Four corporate sponsors, including Woodcraft, are providing prizes for the organizations fundraiser to finance the project.

Every year we adopt a Wounded Warrior or Gold Star family for Christmas through Operation Ward 57, Patriot Woodworker founder John Morris said. We sponsor a raffle, supported by generous businesses, to honor the veteran and his or her family with food and gifts. So far our raffle participants have raised about $2,000 each year, and we hope that will hold true this year.

Benefit Details

Raffle tickets are available in seven different amounts from $2 to $100. A $2 ticket enters the purchasers name one time in the random drawing; the other six dollar amounts offer multiple drawing entries from 3 to 110. Tickets will be available through Dec. 31, 2021.

Nine prizes include: from Woodcraft, a two-year subscription to Woodcraft Magazine, a Florip Toolworks 9" Dovetail Saw and a ONEWAY Bowl Steady; from Laguna, a 14|12 Bandsaw; from Easy Wood Tools a Full Size Finisher and a Mid Size Finisher; and from General Finishes, three eight-can selections of various finishes.

Winners names will be randomly drawn after the benefit closes and announced in about 48 hours. To learn more or to donate, visit thepatriotwoodworker.com.

Woodcraft appreciates the opportunity to partner with The Patriot Woodworker to say thank you to Sgt. Mike Hulsey during this holiday season, Woodcraft President and CEO Jack Bigger said.

Meet Sgt. Mike Hulsey

Family  Mike and his wife Meaghan have been married 19 years and have three children, Austin, a college freshman; Elizabeth, who will soon turn 17; and Wyatt, who is 7. The Hulseys live in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Military Service  A month after Mike Hulsey began his US Army training as a generator mechanic, the 9/11 attacks forever changed his country and initiated events that would lead him to nearly 10 years of overseas deployments, primarily in the Middle East. In a matter of months he was attached to the 1st Marine Corps division, an infantry company, which was sent first to Kuwait and then to Baghdad as the invasion of Iraq began.

He reenlisted with the option to change his career field and was reclassified as an NBC man. He received NBC (Nuclear, Biological and Chemical) Warfare Training at Fort Campbell and eventually was in Bagdad again, a deployment marked by three IED attacks and a house-to-house search that turned into a violent attack in which Hulsey and an interpreter were wounded.

We were finally able to eliminate the threat and moved out to receive aid, Hulsey said. I would later be awarded a Purple Heart for injuries related to this incident; however, unfortunately it was an IED that truly injured me during this deployment.

When he returned to Fort Campbell, Hulsey saw a spine specialist for lower back and hip pain. The condition worsened during deployment to Afghanistan where he was assigned to the Tactical Operations Center and the radio. At the end of the deployment, Hulsey was medically discharged and later had spinal surgery to correct ruptured discs in his back and to replace both hips.

Retirement  Now retired, Hulsey enjoys time with his family, including service dog Crocker, and fishing. To learn more about Sgt. Hulsey, read the Woodcraft blog and on The Patriot Woodworker website.

The Patriot Woodworker is a woodworking community with an emphasis on sharing and learning the skilled craft of woodworking and all of its related disciplines. Learn more at thepatriotwoodworker.com.

For more information about Woodcraft, please contact the store nearest you, visit woodcraft.com or call (800) 535-4482. To learn about Woodcraft franchise opportunities, visit woodcraftfranchise.com or email woodcraftfranchise@woodcraft.com. Follow Woodcraft on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter and Pinterest.
Urbanimmersive Acquires IMOTO We are very excited to join the Urbanimmersive Group and cant wait to bring our customers an unprecedented, fully-integrated real estate photography experience.

IMOTO has been acquired by Urbanimmersive, effective December 13th, 2021. This major strategic acquisition will significantly expand Urbanimmersives US presence and set the table for significant growth.

As one of the top real estate photography companies in the US, IMOTO serves nearly 2,000 brokerage offices across 11 states. The company, which was founded in New Orleans, LA in 2012, currently specializes in real estate photography. By integrating IMOTOs real estate photography services with Urbanimmersives Saas and 3D marketing solutions, the group will provide real estate customers across the US with an unprecedented, fully-integrated real estate media experience.

President of IMOTO, Darryl Glade, said: "I am very pleased, along with our team, to join Urbanimmersive Group, a worldwide leader in real estate 3D marketing solutions, both as a member of the management team and a shareholder, and to have the opportunity to contribute in bringing this new group to the next level.

"We are very proud having completed the acquisition of IMOTO and welcome their experienced team within the group. Those recent acquisitions should consolidate further our leading position as fully-integrated real estate marketing services in North America, accelerate even more the adoption of our 3D tours and subscription package, bring additional expertise and new best practices within the group, said Ghislain Lemire, President and CEO of Urbanimmersive.

For more information on how the acquisition will affect current IMOTO customers, please visit: blog.imoto.com/imoto/urbanimmersiveimoto.

About IMOTO

IMOTO is a real estate photo agency business with its head office located in New Orleans, Louisiana (US). Founded in 2012, IMOTO has a diversified real estate customer base with more than 18,000 photoshoots last year with a presence in 11 states (imoto.com).

About Urbanimmersive

Urbanimmersive develops and commercializes real estate photography technologies and services focused on redefining industry visual content standards. The Companys all-in-one platform enables high-volume photography businesses to increase operational productivity delivering feature-rich 3D tours and floor plans, leading-edge property websites and high-resolution AI-indexed images. The Companys operating segments include software (SaaS), 360 camera hardware and, in a growing number of North American cities, technology-powered real estate photography service business units leading the industry photo-shoots standards transformation (urbanimmersive.com).
Kathryn Barker, currently a resident of Sydney, Australia, was born in Canberra, started school in Tokyo, and finished high school in Washington State. Subsequently she became a lawyer, earned a masters degree in film production, and has worked in television. Her first novel, In the Skin of a Monster, won Australias Aurealis Award in 2015 for Best Young Adult Novel. PWs review for her second novel, Waking Romeo, called it fast-paced and brilliantly futuristic, adding, This Romeo and Juliet variation splits and swirls timelines, ecological collapse, and hope into a virtuoso five-act telling. We spoke with Barker about inverting classic love stories, the challenges of writing time travel, and interrogating gender stereotypes.

Waking Romeo draws on a lot of literary sources: Shakespeare and the Brontes, of course, but also Dire Straits songs and other art that talks about Shakespeare. What made you decide to write a book based in these stories?

For me, it was because the love stories of Romeo and Juliet and Wuthering Heights were presented as these epic love stories, and when I was an impressionable teenager I bought it hook, line, and sinker: like, they were the love stories. Thats what love meant. And when I got older, I looked back and reflected upon those two stories, and there was such a huge disconnect for me. What I had learned in real life about love was not the impression that I had when I read those books.

I wanted to explore that territory and what real love might look like with some worldly experience, as opposed to what I thought it looked like. And so I chose those two literary works because for me, they represented what I thought love was aboutand it was really destructive and terrible for the women. There was something quite violent about it, and also really narrow. The women in particular were so focused on love pertaining only to this one man, and my considered experience of love many decades later was that it was much bigger: there was family, there was love of a planet. It was the broader perception of love that gave perspective when the boy didnt like you so much, but I didnt have that broader perspective when I was a teenager.

The book has timelines that split, join, and build. How did you build Waking Romeos timelines and ideas about how we affect our own futures?

With great difficulty, is the short answer! I just had this ideawhere you just get this what if? And the what if? I had was what if we could only go forward? And then for years I would think about it: like, if we could only go forward, but we had the option [not to], what would happen? Would people actually stay in the now? And I decided that eventually they wouldnt, and if they kept going, nobody would actually be investing in the infrastructure. It became this vehicle for exploring the idea of selfishness: the idea that if you assume everybody else is going to put the work in, it frees you up to travel forward and reap the benefits.

Juless future London is part ruin, part museum. What drew you to that time and place, and that atmosphere?

I was drawn to London because it felt like where I would naturally see both Ellis and Jules existing in their natural environment. In terms of the time, I thought a lot about thisin fact, I argued with my dad about this. We were trying to decide when would be the exact right time for this story to take place. I suppose what I wanted was a time and a place that didnt feel too removed from now, but had had enough time for the impact of time travel to be really present. I also wanted an element of feeling like the natural environment was reclaiming some territory, which meant there had to have been enough time for abandonment to set in, but not so long that the people were unable to rely on elements of the past, because that made them feel too separate from the readership.

What I wanted also was this idea of people not actually embracing the now, because for me its a really big issue, particularly environmentally, in current times. I liked the idea of this tension where we had a settlement where they were effectively living off the remnants of what was no longer there, almost to a degree revering the glory days of the past. So theyre constantly confronted by the relics of the past, the idea of the futurewhich is where everybody has fled tobut what they havent really grasped, and its one of the progressions of the novel, is they havent invested in the now.

Juless disability is lightly handled, but pervades her life and self-image. How did you approach that portrayal?

With incredible care. Its really important, I think, to treat this space with delicacy and regard. I worked closely with people who have disabilities to understand how I could make that a positive representation.

One of the tensions we had was that part of her character journey is learning to love all aspects of herself, and not see herself as in any way broken. But in order to establish that journey and that character arc, she has to have a degree of not necessarily self-loathing, but she cant be at peace with that to start withbecause in the absence of that disconnect, she cant go on that journey. And that journey was really important for me, because I think that on one level, the way she changes is really important, to see how she comes to accept not just herself, but her world and what love is.

It meant that we had to set up a character issue and disconnect in relation to her arm early on. Trying to find the right balance of that was really hard. I was nervous that if, for example, somebody had internalized negative feelings about an aspect of their body, to read the first few chapters and see that there was a girl who was our protagonist who was also negative toward her own self might be confronting for them and uncomfortable for them. So finding the balance of how I could set up a character arc and a character journey while trying so hard to not inadvertently upset somebody that might have faced difficulties themselves was the main thing I was trying to achieve there.

Waking Romeo has a proactive, hands-on idea about hope, how we create change in the world, and what the limits of stories are. How did that emerge?

I think that part of it was me reacting to the source texts. I always felt that the adult me wanted Juliet and Catherine to be proactive. I wanted them to see beyond the limits of a romantic relationship and I felt that that was key to the wholeness of their characters. So the idea of proactivity, particularly in the female characters, was always tied to any retelling I would want to do.

But I think that in terms of the environmental message and the proactiveness of that, Ive got kids, and I feel that its never been more important to invest in the now. If theres an aspect of this book that feels like a call to arms, its because thats where my heart is at the moment. If we languish, if we dont actually accept that we have to change, there is less hope for the future. I remember writing the scene where Jules is speaking to her classmates and the things that she wants to say, the idea that we have to be the best generation there ever was or nothings going to changeits never felt more true.

The reality is, we are on a precipice. I think that the generation of kids now understands that the way that the generations before them have conducted themselves, particularly with regard to the world at large, isnt sufficient. And the people who are going to end up paying the costits not us. Its the ones that come after us.

This book takes a compassionate but pragmatic approach to the ways that a suicide attempt affects everyone around it. How did you develop those ideas about loss and the impact of even the suicides that dont happen?

There was no getting around the idea that I was going to have to traverse the territory of suicide, because if youre retelling Romeo and Juliet, even if they survivewhich is obviously the way Ive chosen to do this retellingthat is a core, central theme to that story. I had various discussions with my editors around this, and it couldnt be the elephant in the room. They both tried to kill themselves after knowing each other for a short period of time, and its easy to gloss over how huge that is. You cant really get to that point without there being considerable turmoil.

It was really important for me to explore how that impacted everybody, because I couldnt write this story without the perspective of being a mother. The idea of living through that, just the thought of that is excruciating. So I couldnt write the surrounding characters without putting myself in their position. But I couldnt make it just about the impact that had on them.

It took a lot of drafts to try and find the balance of how I felt everybody was impacted. But one of the things that took me a while to understand in my own writing was there was a lot of explanation given as to what had led Jules to that point in time, but it wasnt until I was in the later drafts that I realized for myself that actually, it had to be more than what was on the page.

Theres a line where she gives her reasons, but then she acknowledges that that was never the whole story, and I think that thats a really important truth to acknowledge when dealing with this territory. Its really easy to reduce motivations or circumstances to clear-cut things, and I think that when I read Romeo and Juliet, it felt clear-cut: she couldnt be with the boy, he was dead, that was why. But when I was retelling the story myself, I felt that a portrayal of it as being caused by any singular thing was perhaps disingenuous to the fullness of the story. When I revisited Romeo and Juliet, I could see other threads that I couldnt see as a teenager; I could understand with greater depth what perhaps brought that character to that moment and made suicide seem like the only possible choice.

How did that inversion of classic love stories look at gender?

One of the most important aspects of the book to me is having empowered women. I like the idea that we have an active, as opposed to passive, protagonist. But an aspect that was really important to me as well is when I first had this idea of rethinking love stories or rethinking the love stories that shaped me as a young woman, I was thinking only in terms of the women. I identified with Jules, I identified with Catherine; I looked back and thought, What unhealthy examples.

But it took a bit for me to then reflect, and go, Well, hold on. Its not just about the women. And so it was really important for me to explore the flip side, which, in this story, pertains to toxic masculinity. So, the idea that as a young woman, I could read Wuthering Heights and Romeo and Juliet and feel like there was no space for a really authentic portrayal of young love from a female perspectivethe flip side is, I think its just as narrow for young men. When I look back on the way Romeo is characterized and the way that Heathcliff is characterized, theres not a huge amount of space for, for example, femininity, for traits other than what is deemed masculine. And so one of the things that I wanted to explore with Ellis was his reflection upon the limitations of how his character had been portrayed.

I feel like this story wouldnt have been complete without understanding how both stereotypes are extraordinarily limiting. As important as it is for young female readers to see strong and empowered female protagonists, I want young male readers to have the opportunity to identify with sensitive men. One of the key defining features for me of Ellis was that he was different to Heathcliff, and he inhabited the space that I think is how we have moved as a society: he has masculinity, but also femininity.

I think that theyre twin journeys. And, again, when I was a teenage girl, I could only see the female journey; as a grown woman, I can see how both characterizations have the capacity to let down our teenage readership if those love stories are presented as healthy. I want to present them with an alternative. I want to say, Do you know what? Thats what it used to look like. But heres what it can look like now.

Theres a lot of attention to intergenerational conflict and inter-reliance in Waking Romeo. Why did you emphasize that aspect of the Romeo and Juliet story so strongly?

It was really important to me to show Juless parents and aunt and different generationssometimes its easy to forget that we do live in that context. Shakespeare was great at understanding the impact of generations above and below, and I think that for me, that mirrored the idea of past, present, future. We exist in a timeline of humanity; the humans who came before us and the humans who come after us. Were all profoundly interconnected, and I think that really includes how our protagonists parents impacted her, how the children will impact [her]?that aspect of generational interplay. I always loved it about Shakespeare, and I think it adds to the richness of any story, particularly because it gives us a better insight into the primary characters.

Waking Romeo by Kathryn Barker. Flatiron, $18.99 Jan. 4 ISBN 978-1-250-17410-9
Svetlana Chmakovas middle-grade graphic novel Enemies is slated for next September, and PW has the exclusive cover reveal. The fifth volume in Chmakovas Berrybrook Middle School series, published by Yen Presss JY imprint, continues the pattern of the first four books, Awkward, Brave, Crush, and Diary. Like the others, Enemies will mix middle-school drama with plenty of humor.

The first book in the series, Awkward, was published in 2015 and has sold over 250,000 copies. The second book, Brave (2017), had a first printing of 150,000 and was followed by Crush in 2018 and Diary, a mix of stories and journal pages, in 2019. With Enemies, Chmakova returns to a narrative format. And while she may not have gone to an American middle school, Chmakova finds plenty of material in the more universal aspects of growing up. The series appeals to the same middle-grade readers as Raina Telgemeiers graphic novels and Shannon Hale and LeUyen Phams Real Friends and its sequels.

The Berrybrook books feature a large, diverse cast, with new characters appearing in each book. The star of Enemies is Felicity, who was first introduced in Awkward. A member of the art club, Felicity has big dreams, but her little sister Letty teases her that she never finishes anything she starts. To prove Letty wrong, Felicity enters a contest, but when things go in an unexpected direction, Felicity starts to wonder if her friends are turning against her.

Chmakova is also the creator of the trilogies Dramacon and Witch and Wizard (based on the novels by James Patterson), and two supernatural series, Nightschool and The Weirn Books. At five volumes, the Berrybrook Middle School series is her longest so far, and Chmakova said that the large cast is one reason why. It was my editors suggestion and I was 100% on board with that, she said. I have a tendency to try and make everyone the main character, anyway; to me, they are all individuals with their own lives and exciting storylines, and because of that overwriting tendency I have to constantly cut side character scenes, to declutter the main plot for clarity. So the series format of focusing on a new character in each book really helps me dial that backI can just save those side character bits as development for a future book.

Felicitys character started emerging in the earlier books. Ever since Awkward, I thought Felicity was a really interesting charactershe draws a comic about biker elves And she has a successful younger sister in a rival cluband combined with some characters and ideas from Crush and Brave, a book idea with her at the center started gelling in my head, Chmakova said. All my characters start with the key points of who they are and then get revealed more and more by what they come up against.

Chmakova grew up in Russia and moved to Canada at age 16, so one of the biggest challenges for her has been to create an American middle school, something she never experienced herself. By contrast, her first graphic novel, Dramacon, which was published by Tokyopop in 2005, was set in a world Chmakova knew well, comics conventions.

In 2009, Yen Press published the first volume of her next series, Nightschool. Both Nightschool and the later series The Weirn Books are set in the same world, one in which an ordinary high school transforms into a school for supernatural creatures at night. The weirns of the title are witches born with a supernatural companion, an astral, so basically they are school dramas with magical aspects. Those are a little easier for her, she said, as she can make up more of the details. But I love writingand readingboth slice-of-life and supernatural, she said, as they each fill a differently shaped hole in my heart.

Taking On Tough Questions

JuYoun Lee has been Chmakovas editor for more than a decade. They first started working together on Nightschool, and they have developed a close working relationship. Chmakova said that Lee has helped her grow as a creator over the years. JuYoun is an incredibly knowledgeable, supportive, and patient editor, and thanks to her guidance I have learned an immense amount about the craft, myself as a creator, about how my work lands and what form is best for clear story delivery, she said. Its so important for creative growth to have that kind of trust in your editors feedback, and I am very lucky to have that with JuYoun.

Chmakova gave Lee particular credit for helping her keep the Berrybrook Middle School books grounded. Im pretty good with writing natural-sounding dialogue, but every now and then I forget these are kids and I start writing them as mini-adults, she said. JuYoun will flag that for me, and back to the writing board I go, rewriting and rewriting and rewriting, until it works.

The inspiration for all the Berrybrook books, Chmakova said, is the questions she was asking at that age: How do you make friends and keep friends, and how do you avoid making enemies (is that even possible?). How do you handle jealousy? Crushes? How do you handle anything, really? Humans are complicated and hard to understand on a good day, and in the middle grade space its compounded by the fact that everyone, including you, is changing rapidly week-to-week and sometimes day-to-day.



Given Berrybrooks alphabetical titles, does that mean there are 21 more books to look forward to? That may be more than she can do in one lifetime, Chmakova said, as she finds the books very hard to write, but she does have at least two more titles planned, along with two more volumes of The Weirn Books.

She is certainly not in any danger of running out of material. The reason I am on book five of the Berrybrook series is because there is so much I want to just redo/retry about those years, she said. [I want to] try to answer some of my own questions that I had when I was that age and [was] perpetually confused by the behavior of everyone around me, wondering why people did the things they did.

Looking at the series so far, Chmakova said, I am so happy with how Berrybrook has turned out. Brave is the best book Ive ever written, I dont know if I could ever top that. And each book explores a different theme that I feel is really important to at least consider. At their core, these are the books I wish I could have read when I was a kid.

Enemies by Svetlana Chmakova. Yen Press/JY, Sept. 2022; paper $13 ISBN 978-1-975312-72-5, hardcover $25 ISBN 978-1-975312-79-4
When she finished writing her first book for children, Running Out of Time, Margaret Peterson Haddix deemed it a stand-alone novel. Published by Simon & Schuster in 1995, the middle-grade adventure settled onto bestseller lists and over the past 25+ years has sold almost one million copies. Yet despite its success, Haddix firmly stood her ground, and the novel remained a one-off. That will change in summer 2023, when HarperCollinss Katherine Tegen Books releases a follow-up, Falling Out of Time. Tegen acquired the novel from Haddixs agent, Tracey Adams at Adams Literary, who negotiated the deal for North American rights.

Fittingly, since more than two decades passed between the publication of the first book and its follow-up (which takes place 25 years after the original), time plays a pivotal role in the story arcs of both novels. In Running Out of Time, Jessie and her family live in the frontier town of Clifton, Ind., in 1840or so the girl thinks. It is actually 1996, and their home is a reconstructed village that serves as a tourist site. When diphtheria breaks out and the children of Clifton begin dying, Jessies mother sends her out into the alien, threatening outside world to find helpand secure the medicine that can cure the dread disease.

Falling Out of Time flashes forward to the next generation, when heroine Zola, who has a surprising connection to Jessie, discovers that shes stuck in a fake utopian futureand that others who are relegated to a dark dystopian future are counting on her to help them escape.

Hatching a Career

Though the kernel of the story that would become Running Out of Time occurred to Haddix many years ago, she noted, I still vividly remember my inspiration for iteven after all this time. An Ohio native, the young aspiring journalist was working as a summer intern for the Indianapolis News when she was assigned to write a story about Conner Prairie, a living history museum in Fishers, Ind.

I was interviewing one of the workers at the museum, she recalled. As we sat in the middle of a field with no one else around, the setting was so realistic that I almost forgot I wasnt actually in the past! That memory lingered long after her internship ended, but Haddix didnt start writing her first novel for four years, since, she said, It took me a while to make the transition from having the idea to actually writing the story based on it.

Haddix subsequently picked up her fiction writing pacesignificantly. Some of her fiction has been informed by her journalism experienceand other books have been inspired by newspaper articles that sparked her creativity. Haddix has published more than 40 middle grade and YA novels since Running Out of Time, a number that includes stand-alone books as well as the series Children of Exile, The Missing, Under Their Skin, and Shadow Children.

Yet, despite repeated requests from teachers, librarians, and young readers, Haddix resisted creating a follow-up to her debut novelfor a solid creative reason. Some kids even suggested what the sequel should be about! the author said. Even though I had written multiple sequels to books and series, I never felt I had a good enough idea for a sequel to Running Out of Timeone that would have the same sense of adventure and mystery as that story.

A Creative Change of Heart

Like so many, Haddix found her outlook on life shifting when Covid descendedand she began rethinking the notion of picking up the thread of the story she wove in Running Out of Time. In the depths of the pandemic, I had some conversations with kids that included elements of looking forward to the future, when the world would resume being normal again, she said. That planted a seed in my head. I knew it would be genuinely difficult to go back to Jessies life and write an immediate sequel, but I was drawn to the idea of fast-forwarding 25 years and introducing a new generation.

Adams, who has been Haddixs agent since 1998, refused to push the author toward a sequel, despite fans clamoring for one. I knew it would not find its magic unless it came naturally from the author, and Margaret had always said her first book was a standalone, she said. But I always sensed a bit of doubt about that in her mind.

Not surprisingly, Adams was elated to receive Haddixs call validating her hunchbut she kept her cool. I was calm and collected on the phone when Margaret told me she had an idea for a sequel, Adams said. But after the call, I began yelling and dancing around the room. It has not been easy keeping the book a secret!

Tegen, who has edited Haddixs books published by her imprint since 2019s Greystone Secrets #1: The Strangers, was not only thrilled when Adams submitted Falling Out of Time to her last Augustshe was completely surprised. Margaret is a stealth writer, the editor explained. She writes secretly, without always telling me what she is working on. So, I am never quite sure when Tracey will send me the next book, and I certainly didnt anticipate this follow-up. It is such a good book, and it clearly shows the 25 years of writing experience that Margaret has gained as a prolific author, and also reveals her as someone who is very in touch with her audience. Like all of her books, it is a page-turner and impossible to put down.

In a passage on her website, Haddix hints that time and experience has brought her some peace as an author. I know I have to write a story when the story keeps me awake at night, teases at the back of my brain all day, just wont let me go, she states. Asked if she experienced much sleeplessness while writing Falling Out of Time so long after its predecessor, she replied, When I got stuck on this book, it was in a good way. This novel was a much more pleasurable thing to obsess over. The good thing about being older and having a lot more writing experience is that I am much calmer about it nowI dont as easily go into a panic.

And will there be a follow-up to her upcoming follow-up? I dont think theres another one, she mused. But actually, by now I probably should say, I honestly have no idea! 
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind.  The Indiana Farm Bureaus (INFB) 2021 Frederick L. Hovde Award of Excellence in Educational Service to the people of Indiana by a Purdue staff member has been awarded to Extension educator Karen Richey.

Karen Plaut, the Glenn W. Sample Dean of the Purdue College of Agriculture, paid tribute to Richeys numerous contributions: For 31 years, Karen has made an impact at local, state and national levels while also mentoring numerous educators throughout Indiana. She is renowned for her expertise on food, nutrition and food safety, has provided statewide leadership on numerous boards and task forces, and was instrumental in creating the Purdue Extension food safety team. She is deeply deserving of this honor.

The award was presented at the annual INFB convention, held in French Lick on Dec. 9.

Rural communities are the cornerstone of our membership. Since 1972, its been an honor to support Purdue University educators, like Karen Richey, who showcase outstanding service to our members across rural Indiana, said Randy Kron, INFB president.

Nominated by three fellow health and human sciences educators, Richeys nomination also was supported by colleagues such as Amanda Deering, clinical associate professor in Purdues food sciences department.

Karen has a natural ability to connect with people and explain difficult concepts in a way that people can easily understand, Deering said. Not everyone can do that well, and I think its wonderful that she uses these abilities to serve our Indiana stakeholders through Purdue Extension. Her devotion to providing food safety education is inspiring, and she should be viewed as an example of what all Extension educators strive to be.

In accepting the award, Richey praised the colleagues with whom she has worked during her three-decade Purdue Extension career. I am truly honored to receive the Hovde Award. I am the one accepting this honor, but the award belongs at least equally to the great individuals and teams that I have had the good fortune to work with at various stages of my career.

Source: Karen Plaut, kplaut@purdue.edu

Writer: Maureen Manier, mmanier@purdue.edu

Agricultural Communications: 765-494-8415;

Maureen Manier, Department Head, mmanier@purdue.edu

Agriculture News Page
Published:

10 December 2021



Bust of Wordsworth by Francis Verheyden commissioned by the People's Palace c. 1888.

His Early Life

William Wordsworth was born on 7 April 1770 at Cockermouth in Cumbria, the second of five children born to John Wordsworth and Ann Cookson. By the time William was 15 both his parents had died. He and his 4 siblings were bought up by relatives; William was very close to his poet and diarist sister Dorothy Wordsworth.

From a very early age he began to develop a love for the beauty of nature, and the wild countryside which was later reflected in many of his poems. Wordsworth did tentatively attempt to write poetry while he was at school, but none was published until 1793. He entered St John's College, Cambridge where he received his BA degree in 1791. During this period he wrote his first sonnet and was published in The European Magazine marking his debut as a writer. In his summer holidays while at Cambridge he went to Switzerland, France and Italy along the Alps hill walking visiting places famous for the beauty of their landscape.

Relationship with Annette Vallon

While Wordsworth was visiting France in November 1791, he became very interested Napoleon Bonaparte and the Republican movement in Revolutionary France. During this visit he met a French woman, Annette Vallon, and fell in love. In 1792, Annette gave birth to their daughter Caroline.

In 1795 a generous relative left a legacy for William, and he and his sister Dorothy went to live in Dorset. Two years later they moved again, this time to Somerset, to live near his friend, the poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

First publication and Lyrical Ballads

Wordsworth and Coleridge worked together on a collection Lyrical Ballads which was mainly Wordsworth poems. One of Wordsworth's most famous poems, "Tintern Abbey", was published in this collection. Coleridge contributed one of his "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner". Thus marked the beginning of the Romantic period in English poetry according to some. However, the poems received a hostile response from the critics of the day.

Germany and move to the Lake District

In 1798 as autumn arrived, William and Dorothy Wordsworth, along with Coleridge, travelled through Germany and stayed in Gosler. William found he began to feel homesick and, despite the stress and loneliness, started to work on the autobiographical piece that was later titled The Prelude, including "The Lucy poems".

In the autumn of 1799 after the visit to Germany with Coleridge, Wordsworth visited the Hutchinson family at Sockburn. When Coleridge arrived back in England, he travelled to the North with their publisher Joseph Cottle to meet Wordsworth and undertake a proposed tour of the Lake District. This was a great success as both brother and sister fell in love with idyllic setting of the open countryside. So, William and Dorothy bought and moved into Dove Cottage in Grasmere, Lake District. Another poet and friend of theirs Robert Southey, lived nearby. Wordsworth, Coleridge and Southey came to be known as the Lake Poets. Wordsworth's most famous poem, "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud" was written at Dove Cottage in 1804.

Marriage and children

In 1802, Wordsworth married his childhood sweetheart Mary Hutchinson. The next few years were personally difficult for Wordsworth. Throughout this period many of Wordsworth's poems revolved around themes of death, endurance, separation and grief. Two of his children died, his brother was drowned at sea and Dorothy suffered a mental breakdown. By the turn of the century his political views had changed and became more conservative. With the events in France and Napoleon Bonaparte taking power he became very disillusioned.

Laureateship and other honours

Wordsworth received many honorary degrees from Durham and Oxford Universities. Wordsworth appreciated the praise that John Keble laid upon him, the poet of Humility. In 1842, the government awarded him a Civil List pension of 300 a year. Then in 1843 Wordsworth succeeded his very good friend Robert Southey as Poet Laureate. He initially refused the honour, saying that he was too old, but accepted when the Prime Minister, Robert Peel, assured him that "you shall have nothing required of you".

His Death

Wordsworth remained a formidable presence in his later years. In 1837, the Scottish poet and playwright Joanna Baillie reflected on her long acquaintance with Wordsworth:

He looks like a man that one must not speak to unless one has some sensible thing to say. However he does occasionally converse cheerfully & well; and when one knows how benevolent & excellent he is, it disposes one to be very much pleased with him.

Williams health took a turn for the worse when an aggravated case of pleurisy took hold of him. He died at his home at Rydal Mount, on 23 April 1850. He is buried at St Oswald Church Grasmere.

His Legacy

His great autobiographical poem, The Prelude which he had worked on since 1798, was published in full after his death. Though it failed to interest people at the time, it has since come to be widely recognised as his masterpiece. All his poetry was inspired by an absorbing love of nature, written amongst the lakes and mountains where he spent most of his life. His Lyrical Ballads of 1798 was a landmark in the development of a new style of English poetry, while The Prelude contains much autobiographical material.

A Primer of Wordsworth Laurie Magnus 1897 from our rare books collections [Ref. PR5881.A5 MAG]

My heart leaps up when I behold A rainbow in the sky: So was it when my life began; so is it now I am a man;

Looking at it more closely, the poet is saying that people should maintain their sense of childlike wonder well into adulthood and old age. He is saying that nature, symbolized by the rainbow, for him will always be divine, and he thinks it should be for everyone.

Every Friday our Special Collections librarian Anne-Marie will be introducing you to each of the writers featured in the Octagon in this blog series.
Korn has announced a new North American tour in support of their upcoming album titled Requiem.

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The tour begins March 4 in at the JQH arena in Springfield, Mo., before wrapping up on April 1 at the Intrust Bank Arena in Wichita, Kan.

Tickets go on sale for the general public starting on Friday at 9 am local time through Ticketmaster.

Korn will be joined by Chevelle and Code Orange on the 19-date arena tour.

The band will also be performing alongside System of a Down, Helmet and Russian Circles in January and February with shows in Phoenix, San Diego and Los Angeles.

Korn will releases Requiem on Feb. 4. The album contains the single "Start the Healing," which received a music video in November.

Here is the full list of dates for Korn's 2022 tour

March 3 -- Springfield, Mo., at JQH Arena

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March 5 -- Kansas City, Mo., at T-Mobile Center

March 7 -- Fort Wayne, Ind., at Allen County War Memorial Coliseum

March 8 -- Evansville, Ind., at Ford Center

March 10 -- Knoxville, Tenn., at University of Tennessee

March 11 -- Greensboro, N.C., at Greensboro Coliseum Complex

March 13 -- Huntington, W.Va., at Mountain Health Arena

March 15 -- Hershey, Pa., at Giant Center

March 16 -- Providence, R.I., at Dunkin Donuts Center

March 19 -- Manchester, N.H., at SNHU Arena

March 20 -- Albany, N.Y., at Times Union Center

March 22 -- Rochester, N.Y., at Blue Cross Arena

March 23 -- Saginaw, Mich., at Dow Event Center

March 25 -- Moline, Ill., at TaxSlayer Center

March 26 -- Minneapolis, Minn., at Target Center

March 28 -- Des Moines, Ia., at Wells Fargo Center

March 29 -- Madison, Wis., at The Coliseum

March 31 -- Oklahoma City, Okla., at Paycom Center

April 1 -- Wichita, Kan., at Intrust Bank Arena
Raising Dion will return for a second season in February 2022.

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Netflix shared a release date, Feb. 1, 2022, and first-look photos for Season 2 of the superhero series Tuesday.

The pictures feature Ja'Siah Young as Dion Warren, a 7-year-old who discovers he has superpowers after his father Mark's (Michael B. Jordan) death. One of the pictures shows Dion (Young) flexing his powers.

Alisha Wainwright also stars as Dion's mom, Nicole, with Jazmyn Simon as Dion's aunt Kat and Jason Ritter as Dion's godfather Pat. Ali Ahn and Griffin Robert Faulkner co-star.

Season 2 will follow Dion as he learns more about his powers with the support of his mom and his Biona trainer, Tevin (Rome Flynn).

"After befriending new student Brayden, a fellow powered kid, a series of alarming events unfolds, and Dion learns that danger is still looming. Navigating twists, turns and surprise visitors, Dion and Nicole must prevail again -- not just to save themselves, but the entire city of Atlanta," an official description reads.

Raising Dion is based on the comic book and short film of the same name by Dennis Liu. Carol Barbee serves as showrunner and executive producer on the TV series.
Tom Holland, Zendaya, Benedict Cumberbatch and Jacob Batalon of Spider-Man: No Way Home appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live to discuss the Marvel epic and how it connects to previous Spider-Man films.

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The film, which hits theaters on Friday, features villains from past Spider-Man installments not starring Holland including Alfred Molina as Doctor Octopus, Jamie Foxx as Electro, Willem Dafoe as Green Goblin, Thomas Haden Church as Sandman and Rhys Ifans as The Lizard.

The group of villains enter into Holland's Spider-Man world after a spell Doctor Strange (Cumberbatch) casts opens up the multiverse.

"We got the pleasure of working with all of them. We're huge fans of these movies and this film in particular is a celebration of three generations of cinema," Holland said on Monday about working with Molina, Foxx, Dafoe, Church and Ifans.

"To bring these characters back, to see them bring them back to life, embody these kind of people they said goodbye to nearly 20 years before was amazing," he continued.

Cumberbatch was asked about working with young actors such as Holland, Zendaya and Batalon.

"These guys are Gen Z and I'm Gen old," Cumberbatch joked.

"I look up to them. I think what they're doing is fantastic on every single level. The atmosphere they create on set, the joy they are to work with, the talent that they are to work with and just you know, how they hold themselves in public life. They're an inspiration," he continued about his younger castmates.

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Cumberbatch also noted that he is currently doing re-shoots for upcoming Marvel film Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
I cant say confidently that Dylann Roof does not deserve death, but I cant say we as a nation and society have a right to kill him, either.
Brattleboro, VT (05301)

Today

Mostly cloudy skies early, then partly cloudy after midnight. A few flurries or snow showers possible. Low near 30F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Mostly cloudy skies early, then partly cloudy after midnight. A few flurries or snow showers possible. Low near 30F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph.
3 1 of 3 Brian A. Pounds / Hearst Connecticut Media Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Brian A. Pounds / Hearst Connecticut Media Show More Show Less 3 of 3





NORWALK  Zorus Inc., which sells artificial intelligence focused web filtering and productivity monitoring online tools, has closed on a $9 million venture capital funding round, officials with the Water Street company said Monday.

The funding round was led by a pair of Boston-based companies, Asymmetric Capital Partners and Innospark Ventures as well money from an existing seed investor, General Catalyst. Zorus will use the influx of cash to introduce new cyber security services, according to company officials.
BRIDGEPORT  A local restaurant owner, charged with breaking the states COVID-19 restrictions in connection with a downtown party where a double fatal shooting took place in May, was denied a pretrial probation program Monday.

While Superior Court Judge Kevin Russo said he was convinced Mitchell Noel would not commit any similar crimes in the future, he nonetheless denied Noel accelerated rehabilitation.

Executive orders were breached at a time when concern was at its greatest, the judge ruled. Other establishments did play by the rules, other establishment owners did take the rules seriously.

Noel and his lawyer, Reine Boyer, declined comment as they left the Fairfield County Courthouse.

Accelerated rehabilitation is a pretrial program in which the defendant does not plead guilty to the charges but is placed on up to two years of probation. If he completes that probation the charges against him are dismissed.

Noel, 37, is the third individual charged by police over an early morning May 16 party at a Main Street site, leased by the Temple of the Way House of Worship, where two men were shot and killed around 2 a.m.

Noel, the owner of Ten20 Lounge on Barnum Avenue and the former owner of Moes Burger Joint on Main Street, was charged with second-degree reckless endangerment and violating the states coronavirus regulations.

Josiah Israel, Temple of the Ways pastor, and Christopher Mojica, are awaiting trial on charges of illegal sale of alcohol, conspiracy to commit illegal sale of alcohol and second-degree reckless endangerment.

Supervisory Assistant States Attorney C. Robert Satti Jr. urged the judge to deny Noel accelerated rehabilitation.

As a local business owner, he (Noel) has a responsibility to follow all the lawful orders. Not only was there a large crowd at the event but there was violence and two people lost their lives, Satti told the judge. The law was in place to establish a safe place.

But Boyer argued that not only did her client have nothing to do with the murders but she denied that he had anything to do with the party.

He doesnt know anything about what happened on May 16, Boyer said.

Police said people were nearly trampled as the crowd rushed for the single exit that night, turning over tables as they fled. According to police, two men were left bleeding on the floor: Charles Dimples Barnes, 38, who had been shot in the head and was pronounced dead at the scene, and Norman Peters, 40, who was shot in the arm, abdomen and thigh and died at St. Vincents Medical Center.

The homicides are still under investigation.

According to the arrest warrant affidavit, Noel had approached Israel about renting out the basement space for an after hours night club. Israel subsequently rented the space to Noel on three occasions, the affidavit states including the night of May 15. Noel sent Israel a $200 deposit for the May 15 party, according to the document.

As a business owner in the city, the affidavit states that Noel knew or should have known that the basement room was not suitable for an assembly. The room did not have sprinklers, a second exit, working smoke detectors or fire extinguishers.
WINSTED  Since he joined the Gilbert School in August, Head of School Greg Shugrue has held numerous meetings with teachers, administrators and other staff, creating new relationships within the school.

Shugrue, former principal of New Milford High School, also tackled a big challenge  to develop a new contract between Gilbert and the Winchester Board of Education. He and Winchester Superintendent Melony Brady-Shanley presented a new, 10-year contract this week to Gilbert and Winsted school board members.

Brady-Shanley said she and Shugrue are working well together on the contract and other goals to improve the relationship between the school district and Gilbert.

More work has been done collaboratively, between Greg and myself, in the last five months, than in the last five years, she said.

The road to finding an acceptable, long-term contract between Winsted and Gilbert has been filled with challenges  the schools in the past have operated without one, or have also approved contracts for one or three years. In 2020, both boards were unable to come to an agreement, and began the 2021-22 school year without one. Continuing disagreements over whether Gilbert should be the designated high school for the town; how it sets its tuition costs; an expectation of Winsted to pay for capital improvements to the Gilbert School; and unexpected additions to the semi-private schools budget based on enrollments have created rifts between the two boards, and were the reasons why the 2020 contract negotiations stalled.

Shugrue and Brady-Shanley are determined to end all that.

Last March, I went to a school budget meeting, and I left confused, Shugrue said. What I heard was a lot of us and them. Its got to be us.

Im here to work for the families and the kids in Winsted and Winchester, he said. Im looking through the windshield, not the rearview mirror.

Brady-Shanley said, This is a draft contract, and its not set in stone. We are open to suggestions and feedback, to create a collaborative path, going forward. What we want is a new day for Gilbert and Winchester.

The head of school and superintendent first began meeting in October and reviewed the contract held by the Woodstock Academy, another semi-private school in Connecticut that has students from five districts, for comparison. Many of the items within the proposed contract are used by Woodstock, Shugrue said.

The contract would be in place from July 2022 to June 2032, with a full review of the agreement in 2027. Along with the agreements for Gilbert to provide educational facilities, programs and activities for grades 7-12, the contract addresses tuition costs by setting up a calendar to report enrollment, which has been a sticking point for both boards in the past.

Brady-Shanley and Shugrue propose using enrollment numbers for budget purposes, since both administrations begin their budget preparations at the start of the school year and begin committee meetings in January. By May, the Gilbert School budget is presented to the Board of Selectmen, and goes to a referendum along with the Winchester Public School budget.

The contract says that regular education enrollment for each prospective year will use the Oct. 1 enrollment for grades 7-12. The enrollment will factor into the budget of The Gilbert School for each prospective fiscal year, the contract reads. The Gilbert School will invoice the (town) for the tuition costs of all students on a quarterly basis, in July, October, January and April.

An enrollment count and invoice requirement in the contract would help with tuition, the school leaders said. A second enrollment count would be required in December, and again on Feb. 1, with any readjustments  new students, or students who have left Gilbert. If the enrollment count is 15 percent higher or lower than the original count, Gilbert would make a $40,000 adjustment to the last bill of the year in April.

Both are also proposing using zero-based budgeting for Gilbert and WPS.

Mutual development of a budget timeline will be secured by Nov. 1 each year, according to the contract. Administrators will meet a minimum of three times with their respective business managers to review, discuss and prepare the budgets. After receiving feedback from the school boards and the Board of Selectmen, Gilbert and the Board of Education will review any needed adjustments together, and develop a shared, fiscal response.

In other words, any financial differences in the budget will be shared by both sides.

That means well build our budgets from zero, invoice by invoice, student by student, Brady-Shanley said.

Are we using all our software? Do we have to pay for all the licensing? Thats how granular were going to get, Shugrue said.

Regarding capital improvements to Gilbert, both leaders agreed that the best solution is to apply for state funding first, before tallying a bill and handing it to the Winchester school board. If a new roof is needed and the cost is $1 million, Gilbert will apply for the funding first and find out how much theyll receive, before any budgeting is even done, Brady-Shanley said.

Several board of education members were worried about the shared fiscal response language, and others wanted to know about litigation and mediation clauses. Brady-Shanley said those would be added by an attorney once the boards were ready to approve the contract.

What if were banging heads on per-pupil costs? asked Board of Education member Nora Mocarski.

A shared fiscal response means both Gilbert and Winchester will come to an agreement, Brady-Shanley said. Its a new level of accountability for both boards. We will have to come together and share (the costs).

Shugrue and Brady-Shanley hope to have the contract in place by February. Both boards are expected to meet again together in January.
At the South Philadelphia Shtiebel, a 5-foot-tall partition, called a mechitza, separates the men from the women in accordance with ancient tradition.

But when it comes time for the sermon, Rabbanit Dasi Fruchter, the Modern Orthodox congregations leader, steps up to the podium, a juxtaposition that confuses many looking in from the outside.

People walk into the space saying, What? I dont get it, said Fruchter. Its hard to get. Everything feels in between.

Fruchter is one of half a dozen or so ordained women who serve Modern Orthodox synagogues across the U.S., and one of even fewer who serve as top spiritual leaders. While the larger Reform and Conservative Jewish movements have ordained women rabbis for decades, the Orthodox fold has only recently begun tapping women to leadership roles.

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This story is part of a series by The Associated Press and Religion News Service on womens roles in male-led religions.

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Modern Orthodoxy, which aims to hold onto Jewish tradition while engaging with the outside world, is leading the way. But as the seating arrangement in South Philadelphia demonstrates, the changes are halting and somewhat uneven.

The divided seating harks back to the Jerusalem Temple, when only men  and then only priests  were allowed near the inner sanctum. That practice has been even harder to recast than male rabbinic leadership, which came later in Jewish history and is less defined in halacha, or Jewish religious law.

Fruchter, who is 31 and not married, was earning a graduate degree in nonprofit management and Jewish studies at New York University when she heard about Yeshivat Maharat, in the Bronx, the only U.S. seminary that ordains Orthodox Jewish women. Ordained in 2016, she immediately landed a job as an assistant rabbanit at an Orthodox congregation in Potomac, Maryland. (Many ordained Orthodox women do not use the word rabbi, preferring the Hebrew feminine rabbanit.)

In 2018, Fruchter was approached by a group of foundations interested in creating more leadership positions for Orthodox women. After months scouting potential locations, she settled on South Philadelphia, where the Jewish community has thinned out in recent decades as people migrated to the suburbs. The congregation she dubbed the Shtiebel, (the word comes from the Yiddish for a small, homey house of worship), was launched in July 2019, with a Friday night service attended by 75 people in a rented space.

Yeshivat Maharat has ordained 50 Orthodox women since it opened in 2009, and has an enrollment of 46 in its three ordination tracks, said Rabba Sara Hurwitz, the schools co-founder, president, and the first Modern Orthodox woman rabbi ordained in the U.S., in 2009.

In Israel, where Orthodoxy is the only branch of Judaism recognized by the state, a handful of seminaries ordain women and a growing number of academies train women in Jewish law. Orthodox women now serve as school principals, community educators and legal authorities.

A rare few, such as Rabbanit Shira Marili-Mirvis, have become leaders at more progressive Orthodox synagogues.

I never had a dream when I was a girl of being a rabbanit, said Marili-Mirvis at her home in the West Bank settlement of Efrat, her hair covered in line with Orthodox custom for married women. It wasnt an option. It wasnt something I saw around me.

Attending seminary after high school, she developed a passion for studying the intricacies of halacha. She eventually enrolled at Ohr Torah Stone, a Jerusalem seminary that teaches Talmud to women with the aim of preparing them to become community leaders.

Several years ago, she moved to Efrat, an Israeli settlement south of Jerusalem in the occupied West Bank. Home to a large community of American Jewish immigrants, Efrat has become a focal point for Modern Orthodoxy.

Marili-Mirvis said her decision to move to Efrat was not a declaration of political or ideological intentions, rather, it stemmed from practical considerations and a desire to be part of an observant community that would be open to a rabbanit.

Her newly fledged congregation, Shirat HaTamar, comprises about 45 families from various Jewish ethnic traditions: Ashkenazi Jews as well as Jews of Tunisian, Yemenite, and Moroccan origin. One of its aims is to include women as much as possible within the guidelines of halacha, she said.

While she delivers sermons and provides halachic guidance to her congregants, Marili-Mirvis isnt permitted to lead prayers or read from the Torah on the sabbath.

There are many limitations, but I have to say that I accept it and I accept it with love, she said. I understand that when I choose a life that is obligated to halacha, there will be parts that halacha doesnt see me exactly equal.

Marili-Mirvis said she has received very warm responses since the congregation made her appointment as its rabbanit official earlier this year, but the state of Israel, whose religious matters are often determined by conservative ultra-Orthodox authorities, has not recognized her position. Women are not even allowed to take the exam that qualify rabbis as experts in halacha and entitle their congregations to state funding.

In the U.S., too, the Rabbinical Council of America or the Orthodox Union, the leading organizations for Orthodox Jews, oppose womens ordination.

But neither has the Orthodox Union, which has some 400, mostly Modern Orthodox, affiliating congregations, taken the step of expelling congregations that have hired an ordained woman.

What were seeing happening now in the Orthodox community is that people are beginning to imagine that there is no halachic barrier to women serving as rabbis and remaining fully committed to Orthodoxy, said Brad Hirschfield an Orthodox rabbi who is president of the National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership. Thats not yet across the board, by any means. It might take a generation or two, but it will become normative to have Orthodox women rabbis.

Hirschfield thinks even the most strictly observant Orthodox, or haredi, Jews, will eventually accept ordained women.

The wives of haredi rabbis are already staking out more professional roles for themselves and taking advantage of advanced training, said Michal Raucher, assistant professor of Jewish studies at Rutgers University.

For now, most of the 50 women ordained through Yeshivat Maharat serve not as rabbis but as educators or in other professional synagogue roles.

I dont think the goal or project of Maharat was to place a woman in every Modern Orthodox synagogue, said Hurwitz. But I do think the Orthodox communities that are looking are realizing that women have a lot to offer.

In the meantime, synagogues like the South Philadelphia Shtiebel are chartering a new course. Fruchter said she trains girls for the bat mitzvah coming-of-age ceremony and must also explain why  at least for now  women may not be able to publicly read from the Torah during a Shabbat morning service.

Orthodox womens leadership is navigating what it is, said Fruchter of South Philadelphia Shtiebel. We have halachic pieces we have to address, communal pieces we have to address. Ultimately well lead with kindness, creativity and relevance and see what emerges.

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Yonat Shimron reported from the U.S.; Ilan Ben Zion from Israel.

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Associated Press religion coverage receives support from the Lilly Endowment through The Conversation U.S. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
NEW YORK (AP)  A son of Panama's former president, Ricardo Martinelli, pleaded guilty Tuesday in New York to laundering $28 million in connection with a massive bribery scheme involving a global construction conglomerate.

Ricardo Martinelli Linares, 42, was extradited to the U.S. last week from Guatemala in a case involving the Brazil-based company Odebrecht S.A.

His younger brother, Luis Enrique Martinelli Linares, had previously followed the same path: he was extradited from Guatemala in November and pleaded guilty on December 2nd to the same count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Odebrechts scheme involved the payment of more than $700 million in bribes to government officials, public servants, political parties and others in Panama and other countries. The company pleaded guilty in 2016 to conspiracy to violate anti-bribery provisions of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

U.S. prosecutors say the Martinelli Linares brothers laundered money from bribes that were directed to a close relative of theirs, identified only as a high-ranking government official in Panama from 2009 until 2014.

Former Panamanian President Martinelli served from 2009 until 2014. He was acquitted in November in Panama of charges he tapped the phones of opponents and journalists. He has said he hopes to run again for the presidency in 2024.

Dressed in a light green prison uniform, Martinelli Linares repeated, Yes, your honor to questions posed to him during Tuesday's court proceeding by U.S. District Judge Raymond Dearie.

Both brothers are being held without bail.

Prosecutors said that an earlier attempt to finalize a plea bargain fell apart in June 2020 when the brothers slipped across the U.S. border, traveled to the Bahamas by boat, and then boarded a private jet in an attempt to return to Panama.

When the plane was turned away due to COVID-19 travel restrictions, they ended up in several Central American countries before entering Guatemala on invalid diplomatic credentials. They were arrested there, on an arrest warrant issued out of New York, when they attempted to board a private family jet, set to fly to Panama.

They spent more than a year in a Guatemalan prison, before being extradited to the U.S.

An attorney for Luis Enrique Martinelli Linares, 39, said last month that the brothers fled because the U.S. government did not provide them with protection from deportation while they were negotiating a plea bargain.

Dearie agreed with prosecutors Tuesday that Martinelli Linares couldnt be released on a $5 million proposed bond because of the way he fled in 2020.

This is somebody who planned an escape, Dearie said. Actions speak louder than words."

Martinelli Linares won't be sentenced until at least next May. In his plea deal, he has agreed to forfeit nearly $19 million.
MADISON, Wis. (AP)  Republican Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos on Tuesday said the investigation he ordered into the 2020 presidential election will spill into next year and cost more money, factors he blamed on Democrats who are fighting subpoenas.

The current contract Vos signed this summer with former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman to lead the investigation runs through the end of this month at a cost to taxpayers of nearly $680,000. As part of his investigation, Gableman sought subpoenas of the mayors of the states five largest cities and the states top elections official.

Gableman said the mayors of Madison and Green Bay should be jailed if they dont sit for a deposition. A court hearing in that case is set for Jan. 21. Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul is trying to block the subpoena of Meagan Wolfe, the state election administrator, and a court hearing on that is set for next week.

Those legal fights will prolong the Gableman investigation indefinitely, Vos said in an interview with The Associated Press.

My goal always was to conclude the investigation by the end of the year, Vos said. I never in my wildest dreams predicted the level that Democrats would go to try to block and throw up roadblocks to everything that were doing.

Had Democrats cooperated, Vos said, the investigation would be over this month. Vos said if Gableman has to spend most of his time and money fighting Democrat efforts to shut down the investigation, he might have to have more resources. But thats on the Democrats, not on us.

Dragging out the investigation is in the best interest of Republicans because it gives the appearance that something illegal happened, said Democratic Assembly Minority Leader Gordon Hintz.

The only thing wrong that happened for them is Joe Biden won and Donald Trump lost," Hintz said. I dont expect them to ever wrap up the investigation.

Democrats, and some Republicans, decry the investigation as a sham given that some of those hired by Gableman worked in Trumps administration or have supported conspiracy theories about the 2020 election. Trump lost to President Joe Biden in Wisconsin by nearly 21,000 votes, an outcome thats been upheld following recounts, multiple court rulings and a nonpartisan audit.

Vos and other Republicans defend the probe, saying they are trying to address issues raised by voters and others about procedures and private grant money awarded to heavily Democratic cities during the election.

Republican state Sen. Kathy Bernier, chair of the Senate elections committee and the former Chippewa County election clerk, on Monday blasted the investigation. She called it a charade designed to appease the GOPs conservative base, urged its completion as soon as possible and said questioning the integrity of elections will ultimately hurt turnout for Republicans.

I understand there is frustration when you have a president saying there is massive voter fraud, Bernier said, noting that Trump claimed fraud regularly as far back as the 2016 Iowa caucuses. We have a great system here and no one should falsely accuse election officials of cheating.

Vos said he interpreted her comments as voicing frustration about the lack of Democratic participation.

Its not just one side, Republicans, or the other side, Democrats, that have lost confidence in the election, its the whole population if we dont figure out how to remind people what the rules are and have a standard set for everybody, no matter where you live or how you vote, Vos said.

Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul applauded Bernier for her comments.

I wish we would see more Republicans speaking out, Kaul said Tuesday.

Kaul accused Gableman and Republicans of chasing after conspiracy theories. Vos last week refused to call claims that Biden stole the election from Trump conspiracy theories.

Its clear that the efforts we have been seeing from some partisan Republicans are designed to destabilize our democracy and confidence in our democracy, Kaul said.

In addition to the investigation, Trump supporters are also looking at enacting a constitutional amendment on elections to get around Democratic Gov. Tony Evers and empowering the secretary of states office to take over some election-related duties that the bipartisan elections commission currently handles.

Hintz said the Republicans' ultimate goal was to empower the Legislature to overturn election results it doesnt like.

Vos said he was skeptical of empowering the secretary of state, an office that hasn't had a role in running elections for nearly 50 years. Instead, Vos said he was focused on ways to overhaul the existing bipartisan Wisconsin Elections Commission, which the GOP-controlled Legislature created.

I want to look at all the potential models, Vos said of how he wants elections run in Wisconsin. I dont say that I have the be-all, end-all answer right now. I think the current process is broken."
According to a Gujarat health department official, a 42-year-old man from Surat, who recently returned from South Africa, tested positive for the Omicron strain of coronavirus on Monday, making this the first such case from Surat and the fourth in Gujarat.

A 72-year-old NRI man who had returned from Zimbabwe, his wife, and his brother-in-law were among three other people in Jamnagar, Gujarat, who had contracted the Omicron variant virus earlier.

The latest patient is a 42-year-old businessman found to be infected with the Omicron strain.

Omicron variant cases in India; new cases found in Surat

However, on December 4, the 42-year-old patient had tested negative. The man is being treated at home in isolation, according to the official, who also stated that all of his relatives and four fellow passengers have tested negative for coronavirus.

"He had arrived at Delhi airport from South Africa via Kenya and Abu Dhabi on December 3. He had tested negative for coronavirus," deputy Municipal Commissioner, Health, Ashish Naik said.

"After he was hospitalised briefly for isolation here, he tested positive for coronavirus on December 8, following which we sent his sample for genome sequencing. He was detected with the Omicron variant on Monday," Naik said.

Omicron cases in Maharashtra

The health department in Maharashtra reported two more patients infected with the Omicron variant of COVID-19, both of whom had been to Dubai, bringing the total number of people infected with the new strain in the state to 20 as of Monday. Both patients, one of whom is a woman, are asymptomatic, and have been properly vaccinated, according to the health department.

According to a report released today by the National Institute of Virology, two new cases of Omicron infection have been discovered, one from Latur and the other from Pune. The SARS-CoV-2 virus causes COVID-19. The patient in Pune is a 39-year-old lady, while the patient in Latur is a 33-year-old man.

According to a notification, both patients have a travel history to Dubai. According to the report, three close relatives of both the individuals were tracked down and confirmed to be negative.

Since December 1, around 85,078 travellers have arrived in the state via Mumbai, Pune, and Nagpur airports, according to the bulletin. According to the department, 12,996 of the travellers were from 'at-risk' nations, and all of them were subjected to RT-PCR tests.

The first case of Omicron, which the WHO has designated as a variation of concern, was reported earlier this month in Maharashtra. So far, cases of this sort have been reported in Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, and Thane districts. The new COVID-19 variation B.1.1.529, which was discovered in South Africa, was given the name 'Omicron' by WHO on November 26.

Inputs: ANI and PTI

(IMAGE: PTI)
Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, on Tuesday, attended the Vijay Parv Samapan Samaroh, marking 50 years of Indias historic victory in the 1971 war, in New Delhi. At the event, the Defence Minister interacted with Indian war veterans and Mukti Jodhas of Bangladesh as a part of Swarnim Vijay Varsh celebration. During his address, Rajnath Singh paid tribute to the brave soldiers, sailors & air warriors who ensured victory in the 1971 war.

At the Vijay Parv Samapan Samaroh on December 14, Rajnath Singh met Dhano Devi, the wife of Colonel Hoshiar Singh who was decorated with the Param Vir Chakra (PVC) for exhibiting exemplary courage in the 1971 war. He touched her feet and paid respects to the bravery, valour and sacrifice of her late husband.

Vijay Parv Samapan Samaroh was attended by 30 Mukti Jodhas, families of all four Param Vir Chakra and other awardees as well as war veterans. In his address, Singh paid tributes to the brave soldiers, sailors and air warriors who ensured the victory in the 1971 war by making supreme sacrifice while displaying devotion to their duties.

Had a warm interaction with the Bangladeshi Muktijoddhas and the Indian war veterans who fought against injustice in 1971 war.



The Indian Armed Forces worked together with the courageous Muktijoddhas in their valiant struggle.#SwarnimVijayParv pic.twitter.com/R6LnbUzeZC  Rajnath Singh (@rajnathsingh) December 14, 2021

Terming the victory as one of the most important events in world history and a triumph of justice over injustice, Rajnath Singh said, the war fought against the atrocities on common people showed India's commitment towards humanity. He remembered the heroes of the Indian Army who ensured a historic victory, namely General (later Field Marshal) Sam Manekshaw, Lt Gen Jagjit Singh Aurora (then General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Command), Lt Gen JFR Jacob and Air Marshal Idris Hassan Latif and others.

These heroes included Hindus, Muslims, Parsis, Sikhs and one Jew. This is proof of Indias firm belief towards giving equal respect to all religions, he said, adding that all these brave soldiers belonged to different states, however, it was the feeling of Indianness that made them as one.

The minister also paid tributes to the first President of Bangladesh, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur-Rahman, terming him as the guiding light for the people of his country. He appreciated the fact that Bangladesh has been making giant strides in the path of development since its liberation.

Commending the Armed Forces personnel, including the veterans, for their selfless service, Rajnath Singh described them as the protectors of Indias unity and integrity. Today our country is moving forward on the path of progress uninterruptedly. This is because of our brave soldiers who are standing firm at the borders. This country sleeps peacefully because our soldiers are awake, he said.

Stating that no price can be paid for the sacrifices made by the veterans, the Defence Minister extended his gratitude and assured of Governments all possible support to ensure their welfare. Our every warrior of today is a respected veteran of tomorrow. It is our duty to ensure their well-being. This government understands this very well, which is why, as soon as we came into power in 2014, we fulfilled the long-pending demand of One Rank One Pension, he added.

Reiterating the Governments resolve to ensure the welfare and ease of living to the Ex-Servicemen, Rajnath Singh said, many online services have been started under Digital India, including Smart Canteen Cards for shopping, implementation of SPARSH [System for Pension Administration (Raksha)] for automation of sanction and disbursement of defence pension and online access to avail the services of Kendriya Sainik Board and Directorate General of Resettlement. Our aim is to ensure the well-being of our Armed Forces personnel not only during their service but also after their retirement, he added.

Rajnath Singh called upon the people, especially the youth, to follow the gallant footsteps of the veterans and work towards nation building with full capacity, devotion and dedication. I call upon the citizens to move forward with devotion and dedication and build a New India which is strong and self-reliant. This will be a true tribute to our brave soldiers, he said.

Rajnath Singh also paid tribute to the countrys first Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat and other Armed Forces personnel who lost their lives in a helicopter crash in Tamil Nadu recently. On the occasion, the soil collected from different locations of major battles fought during the war was mixed by the Raksha Mantri to commemorate the golden jubilee of the 1971 war victory. He described it as a symbol of 'Unity in Diversity. The collected soil will be used in the construction of a proposed memorial dedicated to the 1971 war victory.

    ,     !



                      



              pic.twitter.com/QSP1gZZwlX  Rajnath Singh (@rajnathsingh) December 14, 2021

Rajnath Singh also released a book titled The 1971 War: An Illustrated History. The book has been compiled into six chapters and includes some first-hand experiences of war veterans. The book comprises tales of valour of four Param VirChakra, 76 MahaVirChakra and other Gallantry award winners along with anecdotes of war veterans.

Chief of the Army Staff General MM Naravane, Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari, Chief of Naval Staff Admiral R Hari Kumar; Defence Secretary Dr Ajay Kumar, other senior civil and military officers of Ministry of Defence; families of the veterans and members of Bangladesh delegation were present on the occasion.

Image: Republicworld
As operations are currently underway in the Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir, the final salute was paid to Jammu and Kashmir police Assistant sub-inspector Ghulam Hassan, who died in the Srinagar terrorist attack on Monday. His mortal remains were taken at his native village Bhartund of Ramban district.

ASI Gulam Hassan along with police officer Shafiq Ali lost their lives in the line of duty on Monday night, while another personnel, Constable Rameez Ahmad of the 9th Battalion, succumbed to injuries on Tuesday morning.

Jammu & Kashmir | Tributes being paid to ASI Ghulam Hassan as people mourn, at his native village Bhartund of Ramban district.



Hassan lost his life in yesterday's terrorist attack in the Zewan area of Srinagar. pic.twitter.com/SlD9mretwW  ANI (@ANI) December 14, 2021

The terror attack was carried out in Srinagar on Monday evening, claimed the lives of three policemen and further injured 14 others. It is also said to be one of the major terrorist attacks in the Kashmir valley since the recent targeted killings of migrant workers.

The Indian Armed Forces have launched an encounter in J&K's Poonch district on Tuesday, further knocking down one terrorist. The security forces have reportedly launched a cordon and search operation in the Surankote area after receiving inputs on the presence of terrorists. Later the operation turned out into an encounter killing one terrorist. However, the body is yet to be recovered from the encounter site.

Terrorists attack police van in Srinagar

Earlier today, Pakistan-backed terrorist outfit 'Kashmir Tigers' (an offshoot of Jaish-e-Mohammed) released an inhumane video that says 'more to come' - suggesting the terror group is behind the Srinagar attack. The video shows disturbing visuals of the attack along with a graphic of the JeM chief and the US-designated terrorist Masood Azhar. It details how the brutal attack took place and makes false claims on the martyrs.This attack came just two days after two policemen were killed after terrorists opened fire at a police team in Kashmir's Bandipora.

IGP Kashmir confirms Pakistan's role in the attack

While speaking with Republics Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami, amid the ongoing investigation, Kashmir IGP Vijay Kumar informed that "the terrorist involved in the attack was a Pakistan trained terrorist." He added that police are conducting the investigation and are determined that they "will eliminate all involved in this attack." Meanwhile, the brutality was carried out on the same day when J&K Police neutralized two LeT terrorists including a foreign terrorist in a brief chance encounter at the Rangreth area of Srinagar.
From the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, health experts have shared their concerns about the impact of the virus on animals. While scientists have said that there is currently no evidence that animals play a significant role in spreading the disease to people, infections have been confirmed in several species across the globe. Amid the spread of the virus, many zoos around the world have already launched COVID-19 vaccine administration drives to protect their inmates. But now the question arises whether vaccines for pet cats and dog is really necessary? Heres what we know so far:

While speaking to National Geographic, Nadine Lamberski, chief conservation and wildlife health officer at the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, said that the virus originated in animals and spread to people, and we also know that it can be spread back to animals. However, according to National Geographic, even though cats and dogs have tested positive for the virus, the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Small Animal Veterinary Association (WSAVA) dont recommend vaccinating pets, due to their relatively mild clinical signs and the lack of evidence that pets can transmit the virus to humans.

WSAVA said that there was no need for owners to consider vaccinating their pets against COVID-19 at the time. It is to mention that vaccinations of animals have only begun in the United States Zoos. it is yet to be considered on paper in India. According to National Geographic, any request to vaccinate a cat or dog in the US would have to go through the same process as vaccine requests for zoo animals, with individual approval from the USDA and state veterinarian.

The best way to prevent (COVID-19) in dogs and cats is not to let their people become infected, said Michael Lappin, chairperson of WSAVAs One Health Committee, as per Nat Geo.

Risks of not vaccinating animals

Meanwhile, according to a separate report by BBC on risks of not vaccinating animals, experts have said that in the worst-case scenario, vulnerable populations of animals, such as gorillas, could be pushed to the brink of extinction. They noted that the impact on great apes has been limited so far, but they also added that the culling of mink in Denmark showed the risk of uncontrolled transmission in animal populations. "It is not unthinkable that vaccination of some domesticated animal species might be necessary to curb the spread of the infection," researchers wrote in an editorial for the journal Virulence in January.

Are aminal vaccines on the way?

There are several known efforts to develop vaccines for animals. Earlier this year, Russia had announced that it had registered what it said was the worlds first animal-specific jab. Russias veterinary watchdog, Rosselkhoznadzor, said it had been testing a vaccine called Carnivak-Cov on dogs, cats, mink, foxes and other animals since October 2020. Additionally, another vaccine is also being developed by the United States veterinary pharmaceutical company Zoetis.

(Image: Unsplash/Pixabay)
Amidst the conflicting situation in Ethiopia, a United Nations official revealed that military groups are holding up some of the drivers of 18 hijacked humanitarian aid trucks in the Amhara region of the nation's northern part.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres' deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq stated that a group of armed people, from either the Ethiopian National Defense Forces or a connected associate of military force, stormed the Disaster Risk Management Committee site in Kombolcha on December 10 and forcibly seized 18 World Food Programme (WFP) trucks, as per Xinhua.

Haq went on to say that WFP and its non-governmental organisation (NGO) partners have strongly denounced the seizure of its humanitarian trucks and resources, and also claimed that this particular incident poses threats against its workers. He further confirmed that some drivers are still being held.

Furthermore, the WFP had reported to the UN headquarters in New York earlier that the hijackers had released 15 of the vehicles, with the locations of some of the truck drivers being unclear. In addition to this, the thefts had been reported to the Ethiopian federal government, and local officials in Dessie are assisting in the recovery of the remaining seized vehicles, according to Haq. The trucks were further utilised by the individuals for their personal purposes, he added.

WFP reports trucks drivers to be missing

As per Xinhua, WFP has reported drivers to be missing, but the UN chief's deputy spokesperson does not know how many are missing. The drivers, according to the official, were not among the UN workers imprisoned by federal authorities in Addis Ababa and the troubled Tigray area north of Amhara last month.

Even though Haq had no detailed information on the humanitarian truckers, he said, "We still have under detention 10 staffers and two dependents," pointing to the previous federal captives. Earlier in the month of November, approximately 70 truck drivers who were assigned to transport humanitarian goods by the UN and other organisations, have been seized and arrested by Ethiopian authorities.

In addition to this, highlighting the statement of the WFP and its partners, Haq added, "Under international humanitarian law, it is prohibited to attack, destroy, misappropriate, or loot relief supplies, installations, material, units, or vehicles," as per Xinhua.

Meanwhile, on December 2, UN chief Antonio Guterres announced that for the first time in more than six weeks, nearly 157 trucks carrying food and humanitarian relief had arrived in Tigray's capital, Mekelle. As per media reports, he also stated that over a hundred lorries containing tons of food and clothing have been en route to the war-torn country.

(Image: AP)
Nearly two days after the Chinese artificial intelligence start-up SenseTime was sanctioned by the US, another setback came for the Chinese digital currency Renminbi, reported ANI on Monday. Citing the British Intelligence Agency (MI6), Singapore Post reported that the secret agent warned the people over the use of Chinese digital currency Renminbi just before the winter Olympics. The warning from the UK intelligence came days after the Chinese government announced their planning of promoting the Renminbi as a global currency.

According to MI6-- which is tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of human intelligence in support of the UK's national security--, the Chinese government vigorously promoted the currency to keep an eye on users. The intelligence agency red-flagged the use of digital currency and added it might turn out to be a matter of "national threat". According to MI6, the Chinese Communist government may use the currency "as a tool" before the most "touted" and "controversial" winter Olympics which is scheduled for February next year. While elaborating the possible threats, Jeremy Fleming, the Director of the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) of the British Intelligence Agency, told Singapore Post that the new digital currencies have a good future and has a good response globally but added the Chinese technological development brought additional threats for the users.

"If implemented by mistake, it will give hostile countries the possibility of monitoring digital currency transactions. This gives them the ability to be able to exercise control over digital currency operations," Fleming said.

"Communist China is now the "biggest strategic problem" facing the UK and that Beijing is expanding espionage activities and seeking control over the digital infrastructure," he added.

Chinese data trap

Further, he warned that the new digital currency will export large amounts of British data to China. According to him, the data include work, shopping, social and travel information. It is important to note that this was not the first time when the British secret agency has warned about the ill-intention of the Chinese government behind promoting the digital currency. In the first week of December this year, the Director of MI6, Richard Moore red-flagged a similar warning for the users. He also criticised the Chinese government over the illegal use of British data to export secret data from the UK to Bejing and called it a "data trap".

Earlier, three US Republican Senators urged the US Olympic Organizing Committee to ban US athletes from using China's new digital currency during the Beijing Winter Olympics.

(With inputs from ANI)

Image: Shutterstock
Albanias former chief prosecutor has been arrested in Italy following his conviction for hiding money from illegally owned properties, police reported Monday.

Ex-prosecutor general Adriatik Llalla, 52, left Albania after a court sentenced him to two years in prison for hiding property and giving false information on the asset declarations Albanian officials must submit every year.

A statement from Albanian police said that following communication between the Interpol offices of Albania and Italy, Lllalla's whereabouts and arrest was made possible, a move which aims at extraditing him to our country.

The statement did not say where in Italy Llalla was arrested.

After the court issued its verdict last month, Llallas lawyer had asked for the sentence to be suspended for health reasons. The request was denied, and an international arrest warrant was issued.

Llalla resigned from his role as Albanias most senior prosecutor in December 2017.

In 2018, prosecutors sequestered Llallas apartment in the capital, Tirana, and just over two hectares (5.4 acres) of land belonging to him. The properties had a total value of more than 98 million leks (some $900,000) at the time, according to prosecutors.

Llalla could not account for the money behind his buying and selling the land and his purchase of an apartment, Albanian prosecutors said. He also failed to justify his familys expenses in the United States and Germany, they said.

Llalla was the first high-ranking person to be sentenced by newly formed judicial institutions that were established to address corruption in Albania.

Fighting corruption has been post-communist Albanias Achilles heel, strongly affecting the countrys democratic, economic and social development.

In 2018, the United States barred Llalla from entering the country because of alleged corruption.

His conviction barred him from holding any public post for five years.

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
A prominent political faction in the European country of Greece on Tuesday has reprimanded Pakistan's deputy speaker over his anti-India remarks. Greece's biggest political party, 'Greek Solutions,' has chastised Pakistan's deputy speaker of the National Assembly, Qasim Khan Suri, for pouring venom against India in the European nation. Further, Greek political groups have harshly condemned Islamabad, claiming that Islamabad is engaged in a delusion of anti-India hatred at a time when Pakistani racist organisations are killing non-Islamists in the region indiscriminately.

A statement issued by Greek Solution, read, "The Greek state can no longer pretend not to see. Hate sermons with Islamist rhetoric, which may even endanger Greece's relations with its friend India, are illegal."

According to the party, Qasim Khan Suri, the Deputy Speaker of the Pakistan National Assembly, and his countrymen residing in Greek, carried out an unprecedented, organised challenge on Greek land. The statement went on to say that the Deputy Speaker of the Pakistan National Assembly "must be declared an undesirable person immediately and his accomplices must be located and deported."

At a time when jihadist cells are being discovered in Greece, Islamist discourse poses a direct threat to our national security. Before it's too late, a threat must be tackled, the Greek Solutions party said in the statement. "The Greek state can no longer pretend to turn a blind eye," the Greek political party said in the statement. The Greeks will not tolerate Pakistan's hate speech against their friend India, at any cost, the statement read.

Pakistani Lawmaker criticizes FM Qureshi for supporting Taliban

Since the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan, the Pakistani government has been chastised for assisting the insurgents in their march into the country. Even Amrullah Saleh, Afghanistan's former vice president, has accused Imran Khan's government of supporting Taliban fighters as they pushed into Kabul. Recently, Mohsin Dawar, a member of the Pakistan National Assembly, claimed that Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi was functioning like the terror group's foreign minister. According to a News International report, Dawar made the remarks on Saturday, November 20 during a panel discussion on Chaos in Afghanistan. After the Taliban gained power in Afghanistan and the former civilian government fell in mid-August this year, Pakistan is one of the few countries to recognise the new rulers in the war-torn country.

(With inputs from agencies)

Image: ANI
As many as 7 people were reported dead and 4 sustained injuries after a car carrying illegal immigrants crashed into a house in Hungary on Monday, reported Sputnik. According to the police officials, the driver tried to escape at high speed after noticing officers checking cars in the village of Morahalom, near the Serbian border. The vehicle that carried a Serbian licence plate, lost control and rammed into a house, according to the Csongrad-Csanad County Police Headquarters.

However, the officers have detained the driver, who was also injured in the accident. According to the authorities, the police are investigating the incident, and the driver is likely to face serious charges such as human trafficking, excessive speeding, and causing a fatal accident. The car carried 10 migrant workers who were trying to escape to Europe via the so-called Balkan route.

Het illegalis migrans eletet vesztette es negyen megserultek, amikor felborult egy migransokat szallito auto hetfon ejszaka Morahalom belteruleten, az 55-os fouton.https://t.co/NgEC7cIJxh pic.twitter.com/zR4btLNq98  Halasinfo (@Halasinfo) December 14, 2021

Refugee crisis

Every year, thousands of people from Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan try to settle in northern and western Europe via Turkey, Greece, North Macedonia, Serbia, Croatia, and Hungary. The Balkan route is largely used by migrants and refugees escaping hardship, poverty, and conflicts.

Notably, the number of illegal migrants entering European Union countries by crossing the Western Balkans has significantly surged this year. As per various media reports, the majority of illegal immigrants come from Syria and Afghanistan.

Earlier, in 2016, the route was officially closed following the EU-Turkey agreement. Hungary also tightened the security presence at its southern border. However, this didn't stop the refugees as they found a new route to the EU through Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Image: Shutterstock/ Representative Image
A conference held Monday at a Madrid university by three Latin American activists considered dissidents in their respective countries was met by a protest staged by a group of students.

The conference entitled "Voices of Repression" with the Cuban playwright and activist Yunior Garcia, the Venezuelan opposition politician Leopoldo Lopez, and Santiago Urbina, representative of a platform that brings together Nicaraguan opposition forces, was convened by a group of political science students from the Complutense University of Madrid.

It was met by a protest staged by another group of students carrying banners that read "Out with Miami's coup plotters!" and "Lopez assassin".

Some thirty students shouted and whistled at the speakers and several of those attending the event, who defended themselves with claps and shouts of "Freedom, freedom."

The activists at the conference were demanding their right to express opposition to governments that they described as "dictatorial" and "authoritarian" in Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua.

Initial tensions delayed the start of the conference for about half an hour.

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French President Emmanuel Macrons Hungarian visit entailed talks related to the issues of immigration, the rule of law, the Western Balkans, energy, including nuclear energy with the leaders of the Visegrad Group (V4), the alliance of the four central European countriesPoland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary, which are also members of the EU and of NATO.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, French President Emmanuel Macron, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Slovak Prime Minister Eduard Heger, and Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis met on December 13 in Budapest, Hungary, where the leaders held multilateral and bilateral meetings with Macron to discuss issues common to the four EU nations, particularly the importance of the rule of law, a subject Macron said sparked interesting debates and potential disagreements with his Hungarian counterpart Victor Orban.

Respect for the rule of law, media pluralism, and the fight against discrimination are at the heart of the European project, Macron told the press conference, according to Associated Press.

Rule of law fundamental bloc's for progress, committed to work together: French PM

French leader, during his meeting with Orban, agreed that his country is committed to work together for Europe and to be loyal partners. The right-wing populist Hungarian leader challenges the EUs values and its jurisdiction on affairs of the blocs 27 nations. Meanwhile, Orban and his Polish counterpart Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki had been at loggerheads with Brussels about controlling governments, which the two EU nations see as a violating rule of law and democratic standards. European Unions eastern nations gathered to discuss the challenges relating to the EUs authority on the bloc and its future course.

leaders emphasised the importance of V4+FR dialogue, #V4 thanked @Macron for the constructive discussion in prep. for FREUPRES



Agreement was found on many topics like border control & #Schengen issues, #climate commitments (ETS), #nuclear energy.#Partnership pic.twitter.com/ZDpBFM3qdX  V4 PRESIDENCY (@V4_PRES) December 13, 2021

"We spoke thoroughly and exhaustively about migration, about the question of the rule of law, about the Western Balkans, about energy, especially about nuclear energy and its ETS (Emissions Trading System) energy billing system," the Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban told a joint press conference after the meeting. He also held a bilateral meeting with Macron. "We will agree with President Macron on the issue of patriotism, the strengthening of Europe and European strategic autonomy," Orban said.

The President of France @EmmanuelMacron joins #V4 PMs in Varkert Bazar.



Leaders have a frank discussion on current EU issues ahead of FREUPRES, inc. the future of #Europe, #climate & #energy policy and the importance of #nuclear energy, #migration & support for the #Balkans. pic.twitter.com/VYpLWmJaX0  V4 PRESIDENCY (@V4_PRES) December 13, 2021

Hungary assumes the current presidency of the V4 Group, which includes Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, he told the press conference. "Hungary was the only one that said that if necessary, the EU border should be protected with physical force, and thus not only Hungary but the whole of Europe would be protected," he said. "We didn't get a single good word, and we even had to suffer the harshest attacks when we defended Europe's borders, we were regularly shot in the back from Brussels and some European capitals.

Credit: Twitter/@V4_PRES

Despite differences, strong European partners

Macron, in turn, told the conference that despite the differences, he sees a strong European partner in Orban, adding that the fundamentals of moving the bloc forward are the "media plurality, rule of law and the respect of fundamental rights. He also noted common areas of interest between Budapest and Paris, which he said were nuclear energy, agriculture, and a European defence policy.

In recent months, both Poland and Hungary have been involved in a tussle with Brussels over rule of law, judicial and press freedom, and human rights. EU imposed several new conditionality" on the two nations to instate the rule of law and anti-corruption criteria for releasing the coronavirus recovery funding. Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis said at the conference that his government was ready to deploy the soldiers at the Polish frontiers or to the Balkans. Slovakia's Prime Minister Eduard Heger underlined that despite the political differences, the EU was the only source of development and wealth for the Visegrad [V4] nations.
Two cargo ships collided in the Baltic Sea off southern Sweden, leaving at least one person dead and another missing Monday.

One of the vessels capsized and was being towed toward a Swedish port, authorities said.

Two people have been detained as suspects.

The maritime administration said it received a pre-dawn alarm Monday that two cargo ships had collided south of Ystad in Sweden, close to the Danish island of Bornholm.

The authority identified the ships as the Danish-flagged Karin Hoej and a British ship, the Scot Carrier.

The Danish ship capsized fully and was floating upside down.

At least 11 boats and ships, an airplane and a helicopter searched for the missing crew members, but the Swedish Maritime Administration said it ended its operation Monday without locating the pair.

A body was later found inside the capsized Danish ship, it said.

The capsized vessel was towed closer to land so divers from the Swedish Armed Forces and the Coast Guard, among others, can search it.

Police also plan to take over the case and to examine the ship.

Despite fog in the area at the time, the cause of the collision was still unclear, the Swedish Maritime Administration said.

Swedish Coast Guard prosecutor Jonatan Tholin said prosecutors opened a preliminary investigation on potential charges of gross negligence in maritime traffic and gross sea drunkenness.

Prosecutors said a British citizen born in 1991 and a Croatian born in 1965 were detained suspects in the case, which also includes causing another persons death after the collision. Their names were not released.

According to the website MarineTraffic, the Scot Carrier was en route from Salacgriva in Latvia to Montrose in Scotland while the Karin Hoej had left Sodertalje in Sweden for Nykoebing Falster in Denmark.

TV4 reported that oil had started to flow into the water.

However, the Swedish Coast Guard said there were no ongoing spills and it was carrying out work to prevent oil or other harmful substances from being released into the sea.

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
Amid soaring tension between Russia and Ukraine, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell announced to discuss the matter at the EU summit on December 16, Thursday, reported ANI. "This topic (Ukraine tensions) remains high on the agenda, it will be taken up also at the European Council leaders meeting on Thursday," he said. Further, he added that the European Union wanted to send a clear message to Moscow "if it tries to invade Ukraine, the country has to suffer in terms of politically and economically." Earlier on Saturday, the top diplomats of the Group of Seven (G7) pitched their voices against Moscow aggression. The diplomats who were gathered beside the River Mersey in Liverpool urged the countries to unite against Russia's intent to evade Ukraine.

Calling Moscow aggression as "malign behaviour" against Kyiv, the host country, the UK called for obstructing the intention of both Russia and China. British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, who welcomed US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and the other G-7 counterparts at the Museum of Liverpool on Saturday, appealed to the nations to defend themselves against the soaring threats from "malicious" actors. "We need to defend ourselves against the growing threats from hostile actors," AP quoted Truss as saying to the inter-governmental political forum that consists of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States.

"And we need to come together strongly to stand up to aggressors who are seeking to limit the bounds of freedom and democracy," added Trus.

US too warned Russia multiple times

Notably, a statement from the British Foreign Secretary came two days after POTUS Biden and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin held a video call on several issues, particularly Ukraine. According to US intelligence input, around 70,000 Russian troops are pressed near the Ukraine border by Putin and the forces have reportedly made all preparations to "invade Ukraine" next year. In response, the US on multiple occasions warned Russia to impose economic sanctions. "You can call that a threat. You can call that a fact. You can call that preparation. You can call it whatever you want to call it," said White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki during a presser earlier this week.

(With input from agencies)

(Image: AP/ANI)
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett wrapped up his historic visit to the United Arab Emirates on Monday, the first ever by an Israeli premier.

Bennett said regional issues were discussed in his meetings with officials and that he was returning to Israel with optimism about the newly-established friendship.

Israel and the UAE last year signed a normalization deal brokered by the Trump administration under the Abraham Accords, a series of diplomatic accords with Arab countries that also included Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco.

Bennett met with UAE Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed on Monday at the prince's private palace in Abu Dhabi as part of his landmark state visit.

The journey is part of a blitz of regional diplomacy against the backdrop of struggling nuclear talks with Iran.

Israel and the UAE have long shared common anxiety over Iran's nuclear program.

Israel has watched with concern as Tehran pushed a hard line against negotiators meeting in Vienna, at once demanding sanctions relief while accelerating its nuclear program.

In recent weeks, Israel has dispatched its top diplomat and its defense and spy chiefs to meet allies in Europe, the US and the Mideast to push for a firmer approach to Iran.

The Israeli outreach has been accompanied by repeated threats to take military action against Iran if diplomacy fails.

IMAGE: AP

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A Pakistani transgender person, who is an active organiser of a movement aimed at seeking an end to the demolition of Karachi's working-class settlements and markets, has been allegedly tortured and sexually assaulted one day before a climate march held here.

The organisers of the 'People's Climate March' that took place under the banner of the Karachi Bachao Tehreek (KBT) in the city on Sunday said in a statement that one of their organisers, a transgender person, was tortured and sexually assaulted on Saturday by some persons who were looking to "extract" information about the march.

The incident took place when the transgender activist was returning home in Nazimabad after attending an organisational meeting and was picked up and held hostage for three hours. The victim was while tortured and assaulted before being released.

"We organised a Peoples Climate March in Karachi. The night before our protest, we held an organising meeting. One of our organisers, a trans woman, was abducted on her way home. She was tortured and raped," the KBT said in a tweet.

The KBT suggested that police were involved in the violence against the transgender person.

Shahzadi Rai, the Gender Interactive Alliance's (GIA) 'violence case manager', told the media that the KBT activist was terrified and appeared reluctant to lodge a case".

Shahzadi, who deals with cases of torture against the transgender community, said the suspects asked the activist in captivity about the details of the march programme and speakers.

Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah took notice of the incident and ordered the inspector general of police to conduct an inquiry into the case and submit a report to him, according to a tweet from his office.

The Ministry of Human Rights also took notice of the incident, saying its transgender rights expert was in contact with the victim's guardian.

"Our Transgender Rights Expert, Reem, has been in touch with the relevant people including the victims guardian and our ministry will be contacting the Sindh government to ensure her protection," it said in a tweet.

According to the Dawn newspaper, dozens of participants of the Peoples Climate March had taken out a rally near Karachi's Boat Basin on Sunday evening to draw the authorities' attention towards the adverse impacts of climate change, particularly the perceived environmental disaster unfolding in Malir and adjoining areas allegedly because of trees being felled and agricultural land being destroyed to pave the way for mega housing projects.

Activists belonging to around 10 political parties and civil society organisations had arrived near Clifton beach and tried to march towards Bilawal House but police officials prevented them from moving further, according to organisers and witnesses, it said.

The marchers including men, women and children chanted slogans against Bahria Town Karachi, DHA Karachi, the occupation of locals' lands, construction of the Malir Expressway, destruction of agricultural land in Malir and Gadap, demolition of homes located on Gujjar and Orangi Nullahs, and other issues, the report said.

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Nicaraguan governments decision to cut ties with Taipei has left their nationals residing in Taiwan saddened and shocked, reported local media. Last week, Nicaragua had officially announced the end of diplomatic relations with Taiwan, the self-governing island democracy. Nicaragua recognised that there is only one single China and said that China is the only legitimate government and Taiwan is undoubted part of the Chinese territory.

Now, Nicaraguas decision has disappointed its nationals living in Taiwan, and worried students about their futures. On Monday, Focus Taiwan quoted a Nicaraguan student saying that Taiwan is the safest place. The student revealed that he came to the island nation on a scholarship offered by Taiwans Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA).

Another Nicaragua nation, while referring to the countrys decision, said, I guess China is offering something that Taiwan can not.

Taiwanese universities eager to support Nicaraguan students

Even though the Central American nation has severed ties with Taipei, Universities in Taiwan have said that they are considering necessary support and assistance for Nicaraguan students. Several universities, including the National Taiwan University (NTU), National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU), and National Chengchi University (NCCU) said on December 10 that they will assist Nicaraguan students in Taiwan with concerns such as finances and part-time work. Separately, the MOFA said that it has yet to decide whether or not to terminate the scholarships for Nicaraguan students.

According to Taiwans education ministry, there are currently 91 Nicaraguan students enrolled in Taiwanese universities, with at least 53 of them receiving Taiwan government scholarships from MOFA and others receiving scholarships from the Taiwan International Corporation and Development Fund (ICDF). Students' financial situations would certainly be affected, according to the Ministry of Education, but the decisions of the competent authorities will be respected.

Meanwhile, it is to mention that Taiwan now has 14 diplomatic allies across the world, after the suspension of diplomatic relations with Nicaragua. Taiwan has lost eight diplomatic allies since President Tsai Ing-wen took office in 2016, including Burkina Faso, Panama, Sao Tome and Principe, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, the Solomon Islands, Kiribati, and now Nicaragua.

(Image: AP/ANI)
President Ram Nath Kovind will arrive in Dhaka on Wednesday on a maiden three-day State Visit during which he will hold talks with his counterpart and attend the golden jubilee celebrations of Bangladesh's 1971 independence from Pakistan.

"President Kovind is set to visit Bangladesh on 15-17 December at the invitation of the President of Bangladesh M Abdul Hamid as a unique sign of good relations between the two neighboring countries," Bangladesh's Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen said at a virtual press conference.

Momen called President Kovind's visit a ceremonial one but added that all issues of bilateral ties were expected to be reviewed as part of his tour.

According to officials, President Kovind will be accompanied by his wife, daughter and senior officials.

President Hamid along with his wife will receive his Indian counterpart at Dhaka's Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport.

Bangladesh army, navy and air force personnel will offer him a guard of honour as part of the welcome ceremony at the airport from where he would be escorted to the National Memorial at Savar on the outskirts of the capital in a motorcade.

President Kovind will place wreaths in memory of Bangladesh's nine-month-long 1971 Liberation War martyrs, plant a sapling and sign the visitors' book.

Kovind is then scheduled to visit Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Memorial Museum at the capital's Dhanmondi area to pay homage to Bangladesh's founding father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

In the afternoon, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and the foreign minister would pay a courtesy call on the Indian president.

President Hamid will host a banquet in his honour which will be joined by Hasina at Bangabhaban Presidential palace in the evening after talks with his counterpart.

"President Kovind will present his counterpart two replicas of Russian made T-55 tanks and Mig-21 vintage aircraft used during the 1971 war as gifts, an official familiar with the visit said.

On the second day of the visit, President Kovind will join as the "Guest of Honour" at the National Parade Ground on December 16 to mark the golden jubilee of the Victory Day of Bangladesh.

After the nine-month-long war, the Pakistani troops unconditionally surrendered to India-Bangladesh allied forces in Dhaka marking its emergence as the free capital of a free country though Bangladesh proclaimed its independence on March 26, 1971.

In the afternoon, Kovind will attend a function titled "Great Victory Heroes" in the South Plaza of the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban to pay respect to Bangladesh's Father of the Nation and to celebrate the joy of victory.

President Hamid, the Bangladesh premier, parliamentary speaker and other dignitaries will be present at the event.

Officials said that on the third day of the visit, Kovind was expected to inaugurate and inspect the newly renovated section of Kali Temple at Ramna at the central part of the capital.

"He will leave Dhaka on the same day at midday on December 17, a foreign ministry spokesman said.

(Image: Twitter/@AKABDULMOMEN/PTI)
The United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres issued a statement on Monday cautioning against criminal exploitation of COVID-19 recovery resources. During a video speech to the Conference of States Parties to the UN Convention Against Corruption (CoSP9) in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, the UN chief highlighted that corruption permeates across society and diminishes people's faith in leaders and institutions, further emphasising that "greed over need, harms us all," as per a UN report.

Greed over need harms us all.



Corruption spreads through societies and erodes peoples trust in leaders & institutions.



As countries invest in recovery from the pandemic, we must guard against the diversion of vital resources by criminal opportunists.  Antonio Guterres (@antonioguterres) December 13, 2021

In the anti-corruption conference, Guterres urged that nations engaging in COVID-19 recovery must guard against the diversion of vital resources by criminal opportunists. He went on to say that corruption increases inequalities, fosters cynicism, and reinforces barriers faced by women and girls. He said that fighting against all of these is a vital step toward inclusive, sustainable development.

The UN chief has even highlighted that the conference is a chance to improve collaboration and speed up global anti-corruption efforts. Guterres even stated, "Now is the time to act for a safer, more prosperous and just future, as per the UN website.

'Raise one voice in rejecting corruption': Chief of UNODC

Furthermore, at the conference, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)'s chief Ghada Waly claimed, "We are here, at this crucial moment, to raise one voice in rejecting corruption."

She added that corruption jeopardises progress, security, and everyone's rights and further costs the globe trillions of dollars every year. As per the UN report, Africa simply loses over $88 billion in capital flight each year.

In addition to this, the influence of corruption on society has also been highlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has exacerbated vulnerabilities and posed a danger to responses. Further, corruption aids criminals, traffickers, as well as terrorist organizations by enabling illicit proceeds to seek safe zones, diverting funding to terrorists, and creating trafficking pathways.

The UNODC chief emphasised that fighting corruption comes from the top and cascades down to institutions, organisations, communities, as well as individuals, noting that every one has a role to play.

He said that there is a necessity for uncompromising political determination from leaders and governments at the top to organise the required resources. Meanwhile, urging the participants of the conference to engage with the World Bank and UNODC Stolen Asset Recovery (StAR) strategy, Waly said, "By joining the recently-launched GlobE network, which already includes 80 authorities from 48 countries, Member States can benefit from a global platform for swift law enforcement cooperation," as per a UN website.

(Image: AP)
A report has revealed that an estimated 5.5 million children across the world are living in institutions that fail to fulfill their basic needs, neglect their rights, and expose the children to multiple forms of exploitation and harm, reported The Guardian, citing data released by International Childrens Charity Lumos. The rising incidence of trafficking of children and exploitation calls for immediate action said the childrens charity. The report is the first to highlight patterns of institution-related trafficking, considering the evidence from 84 organisations in 45 countries across the world.

The report mentions instances of sexual exploitation of children and forced labor, among other activities. In some cases, institutions were found involved in sending children to perpetrators for several hours or days before they were returned to the orphanage. The charity claims that several vulnerable children enter institutions with fake identities, including false parental death certificates, and are also trained to act as orphans in front of volunteers and other visitors.

Cases of trafficking of children in the world's orphanages on rise: Report

The report states that in Ghana, trafficked children were exposed to some of the worst kinds of abuse, with children being sold by institutions to work in hazardous places like cocoa farms and goldmines. It was found that in Cambodia, some orphanage owners took children from extremely poor families and sold them to donors for money. It was recorded that child trafficking was a common practice in countries having strong tourism industries. In Cambodia alone, the number of child care institutions has increased by 75% in the last 10 years, despite a steep decline in the number of orphans in the country.

Earlier, in 2017, over 100 children were brought back to the orphanage in Guatemala by police officials after they tried to flee due to extreme abuse. 56 girls, who were locked in a cramped room, set themselves ablaze to attract the attention of the officer outside. However, the officer did not respond, and it resulted in the deaths of 41 girls.

Lina Gyllensten, who is the acting director of evidence, advocacy, and campaigns at Lumos, stated that "Lumos report shows that institutions are playing a significant role in many instances of child exploitation and abuse around the world." Vulnerable children are being trapped in a complex web of institution-related trafficking and are being repeatedly exposed to multiple forms of harm. It is time to break these cycles of exploitation.

The report aims to attract the attention of governments across the world to break the cycles of exploitation, including the reinvestment of funding from institutions into family and community-based services, better data collection, and the formation of an effective law. The charity is urging the national governments to extend specialist support to children in care and ensure children get support so the exploitation ends.
Pentagon chief and Defence Secretary Llyod Austin on Monday announced that no soldier of the United States army will be punished for the errant drone strike in Kabul that killed 10 civilians on August 29.

The decision came after a thorough review conducted by the US Defence Department, following which Austin instructed the heads of the Central Command and Special Operations Command to make recommendations to improve the departmental policies and procedures. However, the call for revisions did not include holding anyone accountable involved in the strike, CNN quoted Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby, as saying.

It is pertinent to mention that Austin's decision comes after US Central Command top official General Frank McKenzie acknowledged that the fatal drone strike on August 29, which had killed 10, including 7 children, was a miscalculated move.

Claiming full responsibility for the botched strike and it's tragic outcome, General McKenzie had said that the strike was taken in the "earnest belief" of preventing an imminent threat to the US forces and evacuees. However, he admitted that it was a mistake and offered an apology. The public apology fuelled criticism of US President Joe Biden administration's chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan.

No disciplinary action against US troops involved in Aug 29 strike

Following the review of the military investigation, which was published last month, Defence spokesperson Kirby informed that a major part of the recommendations approved by Austin was classified, as a result of which he "won't get into all of them".

Reflecting on General McKenzie's 'personal accountability' statement, he also added that there must not be an issue regarding the same. The decision fully clarified that there will be no disciplinary action against the US soldiers and officials involved in the strike, saying that no law had been broken and that there was no evidence of misconduct or negligence, BBC reported.

The drone strike in Kabul and aftermath

The US-led drone strike on an aid worker's car took place during the final days of evacuation from Afghanistan's Kabul after the Taliban seized the Afghan capital on August 15. US army conducted the airstrike believing that the car was linked to an Islamic State-Khorasan (IS-K), a local alliance of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

However, as reported by BBC, the explosion set off a secondary blast, which the US officials initially claimed was proof that the car was carrying explosives. Later, Pentagon acknowledged that the military had been tracking the wrong vehicle for what they thought could be the source of a dangerous activity. The strike took place three days after a suicide bomber blew up at the Kabul airport, killing up to 170 civilians and 13 US soldiers stationed in the airport periphery.

(Image: AP)
Former US President Donald Trumps son Donald Trump Jr. and several Fox News anchors, at the time of the January 6 riots incident, had urged the White House chief of staff Mark Meadows to get ex-President Trump to act quickly to prevent his supporters from breaking into The Capitol. The series of texts have been provided by Mark Meadows as he cooperated with the committee, according to AP. The House panel investigating the January 6 Capitol riots has voted to suggest contempt charges against Mark Meadows.

The committee has emails and texts that Meadows had provided to the committee including 6,600 pages of records taken from personal email accounts and about 2,000 text messages. The panel has not released any of the communications in full.

The series of texts released have stated that the former Presidents son Donald Trump Jr. had texted, We need an Oval address. He sent this message to Meadows while his fathers supporters were trying to enter the Capitol, as per AP.

Trump's inner circle urged him to intervene during Jan 6 incident

Republican Representative Liz Cheney of Wyoming, the panels vice chairwoman, on Monday, December 13, read the texts from Trump Jr. and a series of Fox News anchors reported to be in Trumps inner circle who tried to contact the President through his chief of staff and make him act against the violence happening at the Capitol. According to the committee, Fox News anchor Laura Ingraham contacted Meadows and told him to call on the President to take action against the violence.

Laura Ingraham's text to Meadows reads, Hey Mark, the president needs to tell people in the Capitol to go home ... this is hurting all of us... he is destroying his legacy, as per AP.

Donald Trump Jr. further sent a message to White House Chief of Staff Meadows to urge the then President Donald Trump to lead now as the situation was getting out of control. He texted, He has to lead now. It has gotten out of hand, as per AP. Trump Jr. added that he has to condemn the action. Republican Rep. Liz Cheney explained that the texts given to the committee show Trumps supreme dereliction as he refused to condemn the violence of his supporters.

(With Inputs from AP)

Image: AP
On Monday, the United States Supreme Court dismissed an emergency request to halt the implementation of New York's coronavirus vaccine mandate for healthcare employees. The emergency appeals were submitted by doctors, nurses, and other medical employees, who claim that they are being forced to choose between their employment and their religious beliefs, which prohibits them to get vaccinated, as per the reports of AP News. The court did not explain its decision, although it has previously refused to obstruct vaccine mandates in other cases.

Justices Neil Gorsuch, Clarence Thomas, and Samuel Alito disagreed with the verdict. Gorsuch along with Alito said in a 14-page opinion that thousands of New York healthcare employees now face job loss.

New York, along with Maine and Rhode Island, is one of only three states that do not accommodate health care employees who oppose vaccination on religious grounds. The court earlier denied a similar appeal filed by health care workers in Maine, with the same three justices dissenting.

90% of healthcare workers had been fully vaccinated

As of October 19, roughly 90% of healthcare workers had been fully vaccinated, with the majority of the remaining workers having received one of two doses, according to AP News. Less than 2% of nursing homes, adult care institutions, and hospital employees requested religious exemptions.

The petitioners had asked the Supreme Court in November to temporarily overturn New York's limitation on religious exemptions for healthcare workers who are opposed to forced COVID vaccination or to temporarily block the rule and then hear briefing and oral argument on the matter, according to CNBC. New York Attorney General Letitia James stated that the emergency vaccine requirement is not hostile to religious beliefs.

New York also announces face mask mandate

New York also announced the face mask mandate, which was issued by Governor Kathy Hochul on Friday, amid a winter rise in new cases, and was based on the state's weekly seven-day case rate as well as growing hospitalisations, according to the AP News.

At the start of the pandemic in April 2020, New York adopted a mask mandate that lasted more than a year. On Monday, the number of verified COVID-19 cases in the United States approached 50 million, and the number of deaths approached 800,000.

(Inputs from AP News)

Image: AP/ Shutterstock
A defrocked Khmer Buddhist monk who was briefly arrested by Thai authorities after fleeing Cambodia safely arrived in Switzerland on Monday, where he initiated a bid for political asylum, according to sources.

The Venerable Bor Bet refused to speak with RFAs Khmer Service after landing in Switzerland, citing advice from Swiss officials and representatives of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). His arrival was confirmed by fellow monk Luon Savath on his Facebook page.

Prior to boarding his flight from Thailand late on Sunday, Bor Bet told RFA that he was traveling on his recently issued Swiss-passport with assistance from UNHCR, Human Rights Watch and Swiss Embassy officials in Bangkok. He vowed to pursue his activism for social change in his homeland from Switzerland.

Regarding my past activities, including my advocacy activities in defending the forests [against illegal logging], land conflicts in Cambodia, and particularly the political situation in Cambodia, I will still actively participate and continue my activism. I will keep monitoring Cambodia and voice my constructive criticism against the government using social media platform.

Bor Bet said he faced imminent re-arrest and the likelihood of deportation to Cambodia at Phnom Penhs behest if he stayed in Thailand. Authorities there made no effort to obstruct his departure, he said.

The Thai authorities permitted me to stay in Thailand for no more than a month, by the end of this month at most. It is thanks to intervention of diplomats and international human rights organizations that I was able to have this moment, he said.

Bor Bet, who said he had been living in Thailand for more than 10 months, called on Thai authorities to respect the rights of refugees whose status has been recognized by the UNHCR.

This is crucial. Refugees who take refuge in Thailand do not really want to do so. But they are escaping persecution in their own countries of origin because they fear arrest and intimidation, he said.

I beg Thai authorities in the name of a country that respects Buddhism like their neighbors in Cambodia, please help ensure the protection of refugees so that they feel safe in your country. Otherwise, Thailand will receive criticism from the international community.

Awaiting asylum

On Monday, members of Cambodias banned Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) who have received refugee status from UNHCR in Thailand while awaiting asylum in a third country voiced their concerns over Thai authorities continue to arrest Cambodian activists and deport them.

CNRP womens activist Leng Sotheary warned Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-char that acting against political refugees as a favor to Hun Sen, his counterpart in Cambodia, would damage his image.

You will share the same bad image as Prime Minister Hun Sen and the people will hate you as well, she told RFAs Khmer Service.

Oeu Narith, another CNRP activist who is currently taking refuge in Thailand, said Cambodian political refugees are simply exercising their freedom of expression to demand the restoration of democracy and human rights in their home country.

I feel sorry for the fact that Thai authorities have pledged to honor Cambodias request, he said.

We have done a lot of work to get more protection from the U.N. for refugees. They are taking care of us and paying more attention to our cases nowadays.

Oeu Narith said the CNRP is working with the international community and the UNHCR to ensure Thai authorities comply with international law and laws that protect refugees. The CNRP has requested that the Thai government stop deporting people at Cambodias request.

Cambodias Supreme Court dissolved the CNRP, the countrys main opposition party, in November 2017 over an alleged plot backed by the United States to topple the government.

The move to ban the CNRP was part of a wider crackdown by Hun Sen on political opponents, NGOs, and the independent media that paved the way for the Cambodian Peoples Party to win all 125 seats in the countrys July 2018 general election.

Since then, hundreds of critics of the regime have fled to Thailand to avoid arrests and convictions they say are politically motivated.

On Dec. 4, pro-Hun Sen media outlet Fresh News reported that Sok Sokrethya, the prime ministers personal advisor and son of ruling party spokesman, Sok Ey San, held a meeting with Prawit Wongsuwan, the Thai deputy prime minister in charge of national security.

During the meeting, held at Prawits house, Sok Sokrethya reportedly requested that the two countries cooperate in combating fake news and preventing Cambodian opposition activists from using Thailand as a base for anti-Hun Sen campaigns on social media. Fresh News reported that the Thai deputy prime minister pledged to honor Cambodias request.

Reported by RFAs Khmer Service. Translated by Sovannarith Keo. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.
Charges against Chen Jiahong may be linked to a slogan he posted in Chinese calligraphy, his former lawyer says.

Human rights lawyer Chen Jiahong (C) is taken into custody by police, April 29, 2019.

Authorities in the southwestern Chinese region of Guangxi have handed down a three-year jail term to an outspoken rights lawyer for "subversion," amid fears for his safety in detention.

The Yulin Intermediate People's Court handed down the sentence to Chen Jiahong on Tuesday after finding him guilty of "incitement to subvert state power."

Chen's ex-wife Luo Fen said Chen, a prominent critic of the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP), wasn't present at the sentencing hearing, but was connected by video link from the detention center.

"Chen Jianhong wasn't in court, not in person," Luo told RFA on Tuesday. "He listened to the hearing via video link from the detention center."

She said there are concerns for his safety.

"Chen Jiahong revealed that he had been subjected to beatings by gang members in detention," Luo said.

Chen's former defense attorney Lu Siwei said Chen's outspokenness likely attracted the wrath of the authorities.

"He's kind of a big mouth," Lu said. "In terms of freedom of speech, you should be able to say anything, but lawyers also need to use logic."

"He has a very intense way of speaking and expresses himself through sarcasm, but none of that adds up to a crime," he said.

On China's tightly controlled internet, Chen is known for inscribing the slogan "Set up an assassination detail, liquidate this evil bureaucracy and promote democracy" in Chinese calligraphy and posting it to social media.

"I think the most import factor here was that calligraphy ... I think the police are using it as evidence of criminal behavior," Lu said, adding that no attorney had been present to represent Chen during Tuesday's hearing.

"Lawyers can deal with emerging situations as they arise in court, and they can keep the family members informed," he said. "But the most important thing is for the attorney to meet with and guide the client, and ask if the client wants to appeal."

"Defense lawyers should generally always be present in court, to avoid creating procedural problems," Lu said.

He said Chen had likely cut a deal with the national security police, given the relative leniency of his sentence.

"You plead guilty, and don't engage with them, and they find a way to give you a lighter sentence," he said.

Chen came to prominence in 2015, as police staged a nationwide operation targeting around 300 rights lawyers, law firms and activists.

He was later surrounded by armed police during a standoff relating to the death of Guangxi villager Luo Jibiao, and had his license to practice taken away.



Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.
The variant's presence is confirmed as half a million people are in lockdown in eastern China.

Laboratory technicians work at a Tsinghua University lab in Beijing that co-developed an antibody treatment for COVID-19, Dec. 6, 2021.

China on Tuesday announced a second confirmed case of the omicron variant of COVID-19 after a 67-year-old man tested positive after more than two weeks of isolation, state media reported.

The man had tested negative for the virus as he quarantined for two weeks after returning from overseas on Nov. 27, state broadcaster CCTV reported.

The presence of the omicron variant wasn't detected until he went home for a further week of self-isolation in the southern city of Guangzhou.

The epidemic control and prevention center in the northern port city of Tianjin had earlier confirmed a first case of omicron in a Polish national who arrived in China from Warsaw, testing positive on Thursday.

The teenager is in isolation in the northern port city of Tianjin, the ministry said.

Chinese virologist Zhang Wenhong warned the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) that the omicron variant is "a very urgent matter" requiring a change in the way the country develops vaccines against COVID-19.

"We must adjust all vaccination systems and shift to influenza vaccination mode by developing new vaccines promptly every year according to the virus variants," Zhang, who directs the National Center of Infectious Diseases, wrote in a commentary carried by Caixin news. "It means tougher challenges in the future."

But he added: "China is now in a strategically advantageous position brought by the dynamic zero-tolerance strategy, as it speeds up efforts to build scientific support for the regular epidemic control in the next stage, including developing vaccines and medicines reserves to support the rest of the world, as well as public health preparedness."

Gao Fu, director of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, called on people to keep getting vaccinated, while COVID-19 expert Zhong Nanshan said at least 83 percent of China's 1.4 billion population will need three jabs, assuming that three jabs are around 70 percent effective at preventing infection.

"We need a third dose of an mRNA vaccine after two doses of inactivated virus vaccine," Zhong said. "But we will need to observe infection rates in the real world to confirm this."

Quality, safety concerns

Yang Jinxia, professor of biology at Manhattanville College in New York State, pointed to a relatively low death rate shown in data now emerging from South Africa.

"[Nonetheless], there are concerns about the quality and safety of vaccines in China," Yang said. "Data shows that there is a greater level of antibody protection if a third shot is given."

"China may manage to control the outbreak in the short term, but that's unlikely to be sustainable, because they can't stop people coming and going forever," he said. "It's unsustainable."

Authorities in the eastern province of Zhejiang have placed more than half a million people in lockdown, with more than 50,000 in centralized quarantine facilities, local media reported, with similar measures in the eastern province of Jiangxi.

Jiangxi resident Zhan Quanxi said many of China's homegrown vaccines are made with deactivated virus rather than mRNA.

"China mainly uses inactivated vaccines, which aren't totally useless, but the effectiveness is quite low, while its mRNA vaccines aren't as good as the [overseas] ones."

"A lot of vested interests are making huge amounts of money out of selling vaccines right now," he said.



Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.
Washington will also pursue closer diplomatic and military ties, US secretary of state signals.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken delivers remarks on the Biden administration's Indo-Pacific strategy at the University of Indonesia in Jakarta, Dec. 14, 2021.

Updated at 2:14 p.m. ET on 2021-12-14

The United States pledged Tuesday to help Indo-Pacific countries build better infrastructure to counter Chinas ambitious connectivity scheme to construct railways, dams and power plants across the region.

During a speech in Jakarta, Secretary of State Antony Blinken signaled that Washington would also pursue closer diplomatic and military ties with countries in the region to ward off security threats. His visit to Indonesias capital was the first stop on his first tour of Southeast Asia as Americas top diplomat.

In thinly-veiled criticism of Chinas Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), he listed frequent complaints linked to Beijing-backed infrastructure projects, including opaque contracts, the influx of foreign workers, environmental pollution and debt traps.

Countries in the Indo-Pacific want a better kind of infrastructure, but many feel its too expensive, or they feel pressured to take bad deals on terms set by others, rather than no deals at all, Blinken said in his speech at the University of Indonesia.

So we will work with countries in the region to deliver the high quality, high-standard infrastructure that people deserve, he said.

Blinken will also visit Malaysia and Thailand  which, like Indonesia, are founding members of the ASEAN bloc. He met with Joko Jokowi Widodo, the Indonesian president, a day earlier. On Tuesday night, Blinken flew from Jakarta to Kuala Lumpur.

Im in Jakarta on the first stop of a three-country tour of Southeast Asia because what happens in this region shapes global events, and because our relationships with countries of Southeast Asia are vital across virtually all of the foreign policy priorities that we have, he told reporters at a local hotel later in the day.

He and his Indonesian counterpart, Retno Marsudi, he said, had just signed three bilateral memoranda of understanding to bring our countries work together to another level. These included a memorandum on maritime cooperation covering activities such as joint naval exercises and combating illegal fishing.

[W]e will bolster Indo-Pacific security. Threats are evolving. Our security approach has to evolve with them, he said during his speech earlier on.

The United States will adopt a strategy that more closely weaves together all our instruments of national power  diplomacy, military, intelligence  with those of our allies and our partners, he added.

As a strategy to counter BRI, the U.S.-led Build Back Better World Partnership (B3W) initiative, unveiled in June at the G7 summit in Cornwall, England, promises sustainable and value-driven infrastructure investment to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars in low- and middle-income countries in coming years.

President Joe Biden said at the time that the program would help narrow a U.S. $40 trillion need for infrastructure projects across the developing world.

Blinken said the United States, Japan and Australia had provided more than $48 billion in government-backed financing for infrastructure for the region since 2015.

In addition, American companies have invested more than $1 trillion in the region, he said.

And together with Australia and Japan, we launched the Blue Dot Network to start certifying high quality infrastructure projects that meet the benchmarks developed by the G20, the OECD and others, and to attract additional investors, he said.

A four-year study by AidData, an international development research lab at U.S. university William & Mary, found that countries owed under-reported debts of at least $385 billion to China in the past two decades, and that one-third of projects under BRI have run into major implementation problems.

The hidden debts, which slipped through the scrutiny of international lenders such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and credit rating agencies, mean borrowing countries may have to repay more than they think, AidData said.

A Chinese worker carries materials for the first rail line linking China to Laos, a key part of Beijing's Belt and Road Initiative, in Luang Prabang, Laos, Feb. 8, 2020. [AFP]

Contested waters

On the issue of the South China Sea, Blinken said the United States was determined to uphold freedom of navigation and would work with other countries to defend the rules-based-order in the Indo-Pacific.

Its not about a contest between a U.S.-centric region or a China-centric region. The Indo Pacific is its own region. Rather, its about upholding the rights and agreements that are responsible for the most peaceful and prosperous period this region and the world has ever experienced, he said.

He said Beijings aggressive actions in the contested waters threatened the movement of more than U.S. $3 trillion worth of commerce every year.

When commerce cant traverse open seas, that means that farmers are blocked from shipping their produce, factories cant ship their microchips, hospitals are blocked from getting life-saving medicines, Blinken said.

He cited a laundry list of accusations against China, including distorting open markets through subsidies to its state-run companies, denying exports or revoking deals for countries whose policies it does not agree with, and engaging in illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing activities.

Countries across the region want this behavior to change. We do too, Blinken said.

The American president will be inviting Southeast Asian leaders for a summit in the United States in coming months, to discuss how we can deepen our strategic partnership, he said.

The U.S. government has yet to announce a date for a meeting between President Biden and leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. However, Cambodias government said a summit could take place in the very near future, while the Philippines said it might happen next month.

Blinkens trip to Southeast Asia comes on the heels of tours by several other senior American officials, as Washington tries to match an increasingly assertive China in its economic and geopolitical influence in the Indo-Pacific.

The United States recognizes that much of our planets future will be written in the Indo-Pacific. Our enduring commitment to this region and our collaboration with our allies and partners will help us to achieve a free and open, interconnected, prosperous, resilient, and secure region for all, the senior-most American diplomat said.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi sign memoranda of understanding at the Pancasila Building in Jakarta, Dec. 14, 2021. [Pool Photo via AP]

But an article posted on Chinas military news website blasted the late U.S. regional charm offensive, calling Washington the most unreliable major power that often stops at paying lip service.

For one thing, America is only interested in military security while diplomatic engagement and economic aid and cooperation are just candies to lure in the Southeast Asian countries, said the writer of the opinion piece published on the ChinaMilitary site.

For another, America is incapable of doing things on all fronts in parallel. With the change of administrations, its policies are never consistent, its economic strength and influence are falling, and its soft power is waning, all of which have taken a serious toll on the implementation of its strategies and policies, the article said.

Aaron Connelly, a senior fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), said Blinkens visit had a straightforward purpose.

Some visits are motivated by crisis or a particular agenda, Connelly said.

In this case, I think that Blinken is trying to restore regular order to U.S. diplomacy by visiting key Southeast Asian states, listening to his counterparts, and rebuilding relationships after the damage of the Trump years, he told BenarNews.

Reported by BenarNews, an RFA-affiliated online news service.
North Koreans make a call of condolence for deceased leader Kim Jong-il in Pyongyang December 21, 2011 in this picture released by the North's official KCNA news agency early December 22, 2011.

North Korea is forcing residents to observe an 11-day period of mourning for the 10th anniversary of former leader Kim Jong Ils death on Dec. 17, sources in the country told RFA.

Kim Jong Il succeeded his father, national founder Kim Il Sung, when the elder Kim died in 1994. He ruled the country until his own death in 2011, and was then succeeded by his son, current leader Kim Jong Un.

Kim Jong Ils rule coincided with one of the darkest periods in North Koreas history, the 1994-1998 famine, which killed millions of the countrys citizens, according to some estimates. The period is now referred to by North Koreans as the Arduous March.

Though periods of mourning are held every year for both leaders, Kim Il Sungs lasts only a week. Kim Jong Ils death was more recent, so it usually has a mourning period of 10 days. This years is slightly longer because it is the 10th anniversary. Citizens are prohibited from showing anything other than solemnity in public while the country commemorates his life and achievements.

During the mourning period, we must not drink alcohol, laugh or engage in leisure activities, a resident of the northeastern border city of Sinuiju, across the Yalu River from Chinas Dandong, told RFAs Korean Service.

The source said that grocery shopping is also prohibited on the anniversary day itself.

In the past many people who were caught drinking or being intoxicated during the mourning period were arrested and treated as ideological criminals. They were taken away and never seen again, the source said.

Even if your family member dies during the mourning period, you are not allowed to cry out loud and the body must be taken out after its over. People cannot even celebrate their own birthdays if they fall within the mourning period, the source said.

Police were told in advance to be on the lookout for people who fail to appear appropriately bereaved, a resident of the southwestern province of South Hwanghae told RFA.

From the first day of December, they will have a special duty to crack down on those who harm the mood of collective mourning, said the second source, who requested anonymity to speak freely. Its a month-long special duty for the police. I heard that law enforcement officials cannot sleep at all.

State-owned companies and citizens groups are also ordered to take care of the hungry during the period of mourning.

Social order and safety must be ensured, so companies are responsible for collecting food to give to residents and employees who cannot come to work due to food shortages, the second source said.

Residents must also work together to help out the kotjebi, the second source said, referring to the growing number North Koreas homeless street beggars.

The long mourning period is disruptive to North Koreans daily lives, the second source said.

I just hope that the mourning period for Kim Jong Il will be shortened to one week, just like the mourning period for Kim Il Sung, said the second source. Residents are complaining that the living are forced to mourn these two dead people to death.

Ode to Kim

To celebrate the life of Kim Jong Il, the government is tapping elderly military veterans to promote to the late Dear Leaders greatest achievements and contributions to the country.

The eastern province of South Hamgyong is planning several events to commemorate Kims life. These include an exhibition of his photography and art, a remembrance concert, and an exhibition of the Kimjongilia, the flower named after the late leader, an official from the city of Tanchon told RFA.

The old soldiers lecture and propaganda team, made up of discharged military officers in their 50s and 60s, are visiting every factory, company and neighborhood watch unit to educate the people about Kim Jong Ils hard work and dedication, the third source said.

Not long ago a female soldier who plays the accordion joined the team and she sings songs and reads poems praising Kim Jong Il, said the third source.

Members of the organization receive better rations than the average citizen, according to the third source.

The lectures and performances have already started in parts of the province, a resident from nearby Puryong county told RFA.

They came and sang songs praising Kim Jong Il and held a short lecture about his greatness and achievements, she said.

It would probably be a better idea to supply the residents with coal or firewood to get them through the winter rather than lectures and propaganda, which is really about as useful as a talking parrot.

Translated by Leejin Jun. Written in English by Eugene Whong.
Residents had fled ahead of the attack and returned hours later to find the village destroyed.

Houses set on fire in Kebar village, Ayadaw Township, Sagaing Division on Dec 13, 2021. Nearly 100 houses set on fire in Kebar village, Ayadaw Township, Sagaing Division, after junta troops entered the villages. (Photo: Ayadaw Revolution News)

Troops loyal to Myanmars military regime destroyed nearly 100 houses in a village in Sagaing divisions Ayeyarwaddy township on Monday morning, claiming members of a local anti-junta militia had sheltered there, according to residents.

A resident of Ayeyarwaddys Kebar village told RFAs Myanmar Service on condition of anonymity that nearly all inhabitants had fled the area before soldiers arrived around 9:00 a.m. and were unable to put out the fires until some seven hours later, when it was already too late.

They started torching the houses as soon as they entered the village. It wasnt one house that started burning. Many houses started burning at the same time, she said.

Almost all houses got burned down. They burned down around 100 houses.

The military has claimed that fighters with a local branch of the anti-junta Peoples Defense Forces (PDF) were taking shelter in Kebar village following engagements between the militia and government troops on Dec. 6 and 8. There are around 300 households in the village in total.

Residents said that members of the No. 10 Military Basic Training Troops, also known as the East Troops, and military supporters were among the forces who entered the village on Monday. They said that the soldiers are stationed at the Myae See Gone pagoda near neighboring Thale Bar village, around two miles away.

Ko Myo Gyee, a member of the PDF from Kebar village, told RFA that people who live in the woods between Kebar and Thale Bar saw troops advancing and informed residents of Kebar so that they could flee in advance of their arrival.

There were [pro-junta] Pyusaw Htee local militia forces in Thale bar village and other villages nearby. The combined forces of local Pyusaw Htee came to the village with the soldiers. They are around 100 in total, he said.

Before they entered the village, they fired light and heavy artillery into the village. So, we had to retreat since they were using disproportionate force. They raided the village and burned down most houses. They even destroyed the school and monastery. They also ate the food left in the houses.

Ko Myo Gyee said that around 2,000 people live in Kebar, most of whom are farmers of rice paddy and sesame.

We lost the crops we have harvested, he said.

We were able to extinguish the fires, but most villagers are still hiding in the woods since they are too afraid to come home and are now scraping by however they can for their survival.

According to Ko Myo Gyee, among those still hiding in the forest are the elderly, children, pregnant women, and even a paraplegic man who had to be carried out of the village on a cart.

The military forces have abused their power since the first day they illegally took power on Feb. 1, he said.

Our village was one of the first in the region to protest military rule. Everyone in the village came out on their vehicles, motorbikes, and farm wagons to march to the protest in the city. Thats why, the military forces attacked us in retaliation.

On Feb. 1, Myanmars military seized power in a coup, alleging that the National League for Democracy engineered a landslide victory in the November 2020 election through widespread voter fraud. The junta has yet to provide evidence of its claims and has violently repressed anti-coup protests, killing at least 1,329 people and arresting nearly 8,000 others, according to the Bangkok-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.

RFA was unable to independently verify the cause of the fires at Kebar village. Attempts to contact Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun, the juntas deputy Information Minister, went unanswered Monday.

Reporter arrested

Also on Monday, the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) announced that citizen journalist Aung San Linn, who has been contributing news reports from Sagaings Wet Latt township, was arrested on the evening of Dec. 11 after he filed a story about the military and Pyu Saw Htee militia forces burning down the homes of three NLD supporters a day earlier.

According to the news outlet, around 20 soldiers arrived at Aung San Linns home in Wet Latts Pinn Zinn village on Dec. 11 and beat him before taking him away.

Aye Chan Naing, executive director of DVB, confirmed the arrest to RFA but said he is unsure of Aung San Linns status.

So far, we havent got any updated news about him. We heard he was taken to the Shwe Bo military station and is no longer in his village in Wet Latt township, he said.

Aye Chan Naing said Aung San Linns family members have not been allowed to meet him and are concerned about his wellbeing.

According to DVB, Aung San Linn worked as citizen journalist for the outlet for more than four years and has continued contributing reports even after military authorities ramped up the arrest of reports after the coup.

DVB said the authorities checked Aung San Lins mobile phone before taking him away and it is possible that they learned of his reporting on military and Pyu Saw Htee militia forces burning down the homes of three NLD supporters from Kyauk Kone village on Dec. 10.

After the military coup, DVB reporters Aung Kyaw, Min Nyo and Thet Naing Win were arrested and handed prison sentences of up to three years. The three were all released on Oct. 18 under a general amnesty.

According to RFAs records, the military has arrested some 110 journalists since the military coup and at least 40 remain in prison.

Reported by RFAs Myanmar Service. Translated by Ye Kaung Myint Maung. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.
Authorities have been silent about his whereabouts or a possible trial date.

A Tibetan monk arrested more than a year ago in western Chinas Sichuan province is being held incommunicado, with no word given by police to his family concerning his whereabouts or possible date of trial, RFA has learned.

Tenzin Dargye, a monk in his 30s belonging to the Barong monastery in Kardze (in Chinese, Ganzi) Tibetan Autonomous Prefectures Sershul (Shiqu) county, was taken into custody in September 2020, a Tibetan living in exile said, citing contacts in the region.

Dargye was then charged with keeping pictures of exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama and other politically sensitive material on his cell phone, RFAs source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

It has now been more than a year since his arrest, but his family still has no information about where he is being held or whether he has already been tried or not, the source said.

Several other monks may also have been arrested with Dargye, he said.

But due to tight security and surveillance in my hometown, it is really difficult to obtain more information right now," he added.

The Dalai Lama is widely reviled by Chinese leaders as a separatist intent on splitting Tibet from Beijings rule. The formerly independent Himalayan country was invaded and incorporated into China by force in 1950.

The Dalai Lama, who now lives in exile in India, says that he only seeks a greater autonomy for Tibet as a part of China, with guaranteed protections for Tibets language, culture and religion.

Possession or display of photos of the Dalai Lama and the sharing of his teachings or information about him are harshly punished in Tibet.

Translated by Tenzin Dickyi for RFAs Tibetan Service. Written in English by Richard Finney.
The program moves forward China's plans to separate Tibetan children from their own culture, a report says.

A political education class is shown in session in a Tibetan school in Qinghai in an undated photo.

Chinese authorities in Tibet have set up a region-wide network of boarding schools for Tibetan children, separating them from their parents and homes in a bid to reduce their contact with their native language and culture, a new report by a Tibetan rights group says.

Classes in the schools are taught primarily in Chinese and feature intense political indoctrination, according to the report titled Separated From Their Families, Hidden From the World, released in December by the Tibet Action Institute.

The schools are described by China as a way to provide education to a Tibetan population spread over vast areas, but are really part of an assimilation campaign promoted by Chinese President Xi Jinping to eliminate threats to Chinese Communist Party control by eliminating ethnic differences, the report says.

Describing the boarding schools as Chinese colonial projects, the Institute said that approximately 800,000 Tibetan children of ages up to 18 now live in the schools, where they suffer psychological and emotional trauma caused by forced separation from their families and culture.

And the implications for whole generations of Tibetans and the long-term survival of Tibetan identity are grave, the report says.

A Tibetan teacher quoted in the report said that Chinese authorities in eastern Tibet now require children aged four and above to live in the schools, where teachers only speak in Mandarin and conduct all school curriculum in Mandarin, including nursery rhymes and bedtime stories.

When they join primary school at age seven, hardly any of them can speak Tibetan, the teacher said.

Every day for three years, I never felt happy starting a day or going to class, one former boarding school student said, also quoted in the report. My only thought was, When I get to go back home, he said.

Private schools warned

Private schools in Qinghai provinces Golog (in Chinese, Guoluo) county have meanwhile been warned they may be shut down, as China moves to standardize its approach to education in Tibetan areas, Tibetan sources say.

Schools now under special scrutiny in Qinghai include the Ragya Institute and the Tadrak Private Institute, where Tibetan monks and nuns who have traditionally taught classes are now forbidden to teach, one source told RFA.

Beginning this year, the drive to teach the Chinese language in Tibetan schools has escalated, and [Chinese President] Xi Jinpings political ideology is now being taught in the schools, RFAs source said, speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons.

It has also become very difficult to learn what is happening in these schools on a day-to-day basis, the source said.

All textbooks in the schools will eventually be translated into Chinese, another source said, also speaking on condition of anonymity.

Teachers and students must transform their thoughts, monks will not be permitted to be teachers, and the schools will not present classes on Tibetan Buddhism, the source said.

'Sinicizing Tibetan life'

Also speaking to RFA, Phentok  a researcher at the Dharamsala, India-based Tibet Policy Institute  called Chinas education programs in Tibet an attempt to Sinicize Tibetan life through policies that separate Tibetans from their language, culture and religion, and especially their devotion to the Dalai Lama.

Tibets exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama is widely reviled by Chinese leaders as a separatist intent on splitting Tibet, a formerly independent Himalayan country which was invaded and incorporated into China by force in 1950, from Beijings control.

The Dalai Lama, who now lives in exile in India, says however that he only seeks a greater autonomy for Tibet as a part of China, with guaranteed protections for Tibets language, culture and religion.

Language rights have become a particular focus for Tibetan efforts to assert national identity in recent years, with informally organized language courses in the monasteries and towns deemed illegal associations and teachers subject to detention and arrest, sources say.

Translated by Tenzin Dickyi for RFAs Tibetan Service. Written in English by Richard Finney.
Trang had called for democracy and good governance in Vietnam, and had spoken with Radio Free Asia and the BBC.

A court in Vietnam has sentenced an independent Vietnamese journalist and activist to nine years in prison following her conviction on a charge of carrying out propaganda against the state, her lawyer said on Tuesday.

Pham Doan Trang, who has won multiple foreign awards for her writing, was sentenced Tuesday at the Hanoi Peoples Court, with trial judges handing down a sentence longer than the prison term requested by prosecutors, defense attorney Dang Dinh Manh told RFA.

The trials atmosphere was pretty tense, said Manh. But finally the panel of judges came out and pronounced a sentence of nine years imprisonment, which was higher than that proposed by the Procuracy.

They had called only for a seven- or eight-year jail term, Manh said, adding that the judges in announcing their verdict said that Trangs actions had been harmful to society, and had therefore called for a harsher sentence.

The judges had based their decision only on the arguments and information provided by prosecutors and had rejected all arguments presented by lawyers working in Trangs defense, Manh said.

The verdict surprised us, and we think that Pham Doan Trang will certainly appeal against it.

The U.S. State Department on Tuesday condemned the conviction and sentencing of Trang, saying she had done nothing more in her writings than peacefully express her opinions.

We note as well the recent opinion of the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, which found Trangs detention to be arbitrary and in contravention of Vietnams international human rights commitments and obligations, said State Department spokesman Ned Price.

The United States calls on the Vietnamese government to release Trang, who has been recognized internationally for her work to advance human rights and good governance in Vietnam, and to allow all individuals in Vietnam to express their views freely and without fear of retaliation, Price said.

Writing on Monday on his Facebook page, defense lawyer Ngo Anh Tuan said that in a meeting with Trang on Oct. 19  her first meeting with lawyers after her arrest  Trang said she had refused during 10 periods of interrogation to confess to the charges against her.

In some of these sessions, investigators also asked her if she would be willing to leave Vietnam and live in a foreign country if it seemed she would be sentenced during her trial to many years in prison, Tuan said, adding that Trang had refused to consider such a move.

She said she would never be willing to be a commodity to be exchanged with a foreign government, he said.

'Propaganda against the state'

Arrested on Oct. 6, 2020, Pham Doan Trang was charged under Article 88 of Vietnams 1999 Penal Code for disseminating anti-state propaganda according to an indictment made public on Oct. 18, more than a year after her arrest.

The indictment against Trang also accused her of speaking with two foreign media outlets, Radio Free Asia and the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) to allegedly defame the government of Vietnam and fabricate news, according to a letter sent in October by 25 human rights groups calling for her release.

Author of a book on political engagement that angered authorities in Hanoi, Trang was a cofounder of Legal Initiatives for Vietnam, a California-based NGO that says its mission is to build a democratic society in Vietnam through independent journalism, research and education.

She also received the 2017 Homo Homini Award presented by the Czech human rights organization People in Need, and the Press Freedom Prize in 2019 from Paris-based media watchdog Reporters Without Borders.

Vietnams already low tolerance of dissent deteriorated sharply last year with a spate of arrests of independent journalists, publishers, and Facebook personalities as authorities continued to stifle critics in the run-up to the ruling Communist Party Congress in January.

Arrests have continued through 2021.

Reported by RFAs Vietnamese Service. Translated by Anna Vu. Written in English by Richard Finney.
The hundreds of Vietnamese who signed contracts with a recruitment agency earlier this year expected to land jobs abroad with higher salaries than what they could ever hope to earn at home.

What they found instead at a Chinese tire factory site in Serbia was misery: low pay, skimpy meals, and living facilities that lacked heat and hot water.

Some of the workers accused the employment agency, Song Hy Gia Lai, of fraud, saying that were told they would be working in Germany, not Serbia, and making more money in jobs less taxing than the demanding construction jobs they ended up doing.

They also accused their employer, Chinas Shandong Linglong Tire Co. Ltd., of confiscating their passports to prevent them from leaving and did not pay them on time.

In general, we dont have enough food to eat and not enough energy to work, said one employee who declined to give his name for fear of retribution.

He said he had received only two weeks pay for a month of work. Other workers were owed up to four months salary, though the company paid what it owed the workers after media reports brought attention to the issue, he said.

Honestly, its a prison-like place. The only thing that makes it better than a prison is that we are allowed to go outside and to see the sky, the worker said.

Their plight bears the hallmarks of human trafficking and worker exploitation, said human rights groups in Serbia and Vietnam that took up their cause after a local media report exposed their dismal work and living conditions.

Laborers need to be clearly informed about their contracts, said Tran Nghia Quan, vice president of the Vietnamese Independent Union, an organization dedicated to protecting workers rights and interests.

In addition, the government needs to put pressure on intermediary companies to make them more accountable as well as to prevent human trafficking, he said. The companies should not only find enough laborers to send overseas but also take care of them when they are mistreated.

Serbia is an important link in Chinas Belt and Road Initiative in Europe. The country has reportedly received billions of dollars in preferential loans to pay Chinese firms to modernize the Belgrade-Budapest railway, build a metro system in the capital, and construct other infrastructure and factory projects.

Once built, the Linglong Tire plant will employ about 1,200 workers and produce about 13 million tires annually.

Linglong officials have told Serbian media that they are not responsible for the workers, instead blaming the Vietnamese employment agency that hired them. It also said that it paid workers their monthly salaries according to the number of hours they worked.

Containers housing Vietnamese workers stand on the grounds of a tire factory construction site in Zrenjanin, Serbia, in an undated photo. Photo courtesy of workers

Hungry, cold, and sick

About 500 Vietnamese workers arrived at the construction site near the town of Zrenjanin, about 65 kilometers (40 miles) north of Belgrade, in May. Their contracts required them to work nine hours a day for 26 days a month to build the U.S. $900 million factory  the first Chinese car tire factory in Europe.

Workers told RFA that they lived in containers without windows, heat or hot water. Daytime highs only reached around 45 degrees Fahrenheit, and at night, the temperatures dipped to 37 degrees. Each container housed up to a dozen people.

Without hot water, we did not dare to take a shower at first, said the first laborer who declined to give his name for fear of retribution. However, after four or five days, we could not stop ourselves from bathing [with cold water].

After that, whoever took a shower, got sick, he said. Because we lived in a small and stuffy container, the rest were quickly infected and became ill, too.

The man said that there had been at least one confirmed case of a worker contracting the COVID-19 virus. None of the ill laborers received medical care, the source said.

Workers have to use their own money to cover the expenses caused by their accidents, illnesses and COVID-19 infections, said the same worker. The company doesnt pay for anything at all. If we dont work enough, the Chinese employer will reduce our salaries.

The employees are often hungry, the source said. Because their location is far from stores, they are unable to purchase meals on their own and have to rely on what the company provided. It often wasnt enough, the source said.

The worker said that he had eaten the same meal every morning  a bowl of rice and a boiled egg. For lunch, workers ate two to four slices of pork.

Workers have gone on strike twice to protest the conditions. Some of the strikers were fired, including one worker who spoke to reporters, according to local media reports. About 400 Vietnamese workers remain on site.

On Nov. 12, a regional cable news network first aired a story that described the poor living conditions of Vietnamese migrant workers hired to build the tire factory in Zrenjanin.

In response, two Serbian civil society groups  Inicijativa A11, which advocates for workers rights, and ASTRA-Anti-Trafficking Action, which fights against human trafficking  visited the construction site and called on Serbian authorities to address the issue.

Rights groups said laborers at the construction site worked longer than the law permits, were not given enough days off, lacked personal protection equipment, were fined for missing work, and had to pay for their own equipment.

Activists in Serbia have filed criminal charges on suspicion of slave labor and human trafficking, according to a report by Deutsche Welle, a state-owned broadcaster in Germany.

An unidentified Vietnamese worker begins his workday at a tire factory construction site in Zrenjanin, Serbia, Nov. 18, 2021. Credit: Associated Press

Conditions are much worse

Following media reports on the workers, company managers moved the Vietnamese into brick buildings, though issues remain, the first worker said. For example, about 100 people must share three toilets.

Under pressure from human rights groups, the Serbian government sent a labor official to the tire factory construction site to investigate the conditions. But officials have sought to distance the Chinese from any responsibility for the problems. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic called the reports a media and political campaign against China.

Authorities from the Serbian government only spoke with the Chinese at the site but did not examine work and living conditions or talk to the laborers, the Vietnamese workers said.

The Vietnamese Embassy in Romania, which overseesVietnams relations with Serbia, also sent representatives to the site to meet with the laborers. But the workers had limited access to them, the first employee said.

The Vietnamese Independent Union (VIU) also contacted the Vietnamese workers in Serbia, said Quan, the groups vice president.

Talking directly with the workers, we realized that the conditions are much worse than what the international media has reported, he told RFA. We are finding a way to send them some SIM cards and medicine to treat coughs, colds, flus and diarrhea, which they will definitely need in the upcoming winter.

The VIU has asked a Serbian environmental organization for help in delivering the supplies because the workers dont have a postal address, he said.

The reports of the poor conditions the laborers were working under has also brought international condemnation. In a Nov. 19 statement, seven members of the European Parliament said they were appalled by the reports of alleged human trafficking and the inhumane conditions of the workers.

It is completely unacceptable that an aspiring EU Member State tolerates the construction and maintenance of a factory that is reportedly staffed using human trafficking and exploitation on its territory, the statement said. The Serbian governments silence on this forced labor means that they are complicit in modern slavery.

Following the media reports, the Chinese company returned some of the workers passports it had taken, saying it had held them only for processing, Quan said. But not all of the passports have been returned, he said.

The company also asked the workers to sign a document stating that they were satisfied with their accommodations, he said.

Although their living conditions have not improved, the company asked the workers to sign a document written in English, Chinese and Vietnamese, declaring that they would comply with the companys rules and that they were statisfied with their accommodations and food, Quan said. If they refused to sign, their working time would not be recorded.

Many workers didnt want to sign the document, but they had no choice if they wanted their time sheets approved, said the first worker.

Vietnamese workers erect steel bars at a tire factory construction site in Zrenjanin, Serbia, Nov. 18, 2021. Credit: Associated Press

We are really stuck here

The job in Serbia was not in line with terms the first worker said he had agreed to when he signed his contract with Song Hy Gia Lai in Vietnam. He said he thought he would be helping to make furniture for U.S. $900 a month, but his contract said his job is tying steel bars for less than U.S. $750 a month.

When I arrived here, I realized that there was no furniture-making category, he said. They put it there only to attract and cheat laborers.

The employment agency did not tell the laborers they were headed to Serbia and charged them about U.S. $3,000 each, he said. They did not have a chance to read their labor contracts, he said.

They gave us the labor contract on the afternoon of the day we departed Vietnam, he said. The contract came with many different papers, and we did not have time to go through them. We only had enough time to sign them and write in our pledge.

Some workers said they had signed one-year contracts, but their visas were valid for only 180 days.

In response to Vietnamese workers demands, a representative from the Chinese company said: Do you want to return to Vietnam? Youll have to wait as we paid 130 million dong (U.S. $5,700) to buy each of you, said the first worker.

While they were in Serbia, the workers called Song Hy Gia Lai to request return to Vietnam, but no one answered the phone.

They even dont read our messages and dont want to hear what we have to say, said another employee. They dont care. Perhaps they think their job is done after sending us here.

VIU also contacted Song Hy Gia Lai to discuss the workers request to be sent home, but an employee there said he was busy and asked the organization to call back later, Quan said. Additional calls went unanswered.

RFA could not reach officials at the Vietnamese Embassy in Romania for comment.

Le Thi Thu Hang, spokeswomen for Vietnams Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told RFA on Nov. 30 that the countrys mission in Romania has been working with the parties to resolve the issues and is corroborating with the Vietnamese Labor Ministry to protect the workers.

We are also asking labor export companies [intermediary companies] to strictly implement their agreements with laborers, regularly monitor and timely address emerging issues between laborers and employers, she said.

More than 147,000 Vietnamese work around the world, according to the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs.

But not all of them are treated based on the terms of their work contracts, Quan said.

Because no one protects them in the host countries, the workers are at the mercy of their employers, he said. Many workers told us that after sending them to their host countries, employment agencies dont care how their contracts are implemented. They dont respond when workers make phone calls to them.

Some of the remaining workers at the factory construction site said they still want to return to Vietnam.

We really want to return to Vietnam, but we cant do it now as we have just come here and havent got money, said another laborer. We want to seek asylum but dont know whether we can apply for it. We are really stuck here.

Reported by RFAs Vietnamese Service. Translated by Anna Vu. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.
Thousands of migrants from war-torn countries including Afghanistan, Syria, and Iraq are being temporarily housed in centers in Serbia. Most left home with little more than money, documents, a phone, and some prized personal possessions. RFE/RL spoke to Afghan refugees at the Krnjaca asylum center near Belgrade. They told stories of being robbed by police during their perilous journey of what little they had.
YEREVAN -- Thousands of opposition supporters have marched through Yerevan demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian as tensions remained high in the Caucasus country a day after the premier claimed an "attempted coup" by senior military officers.

Throngs of people waving Armenian flags and chanting anti-government slogans took to the streets of the capital on February 26 to vent their anger at Pashinian over his handling of last year's war with Azerbaijan, which many view as a national humiliation.

Armenia was plunged on February 25 into a fresh political crisis that prompted international concern as Pashinian defied the senior officers' call for his resignation, accusing the military in turn of an attempted coup and rallying thousands of his own supporters in Yerevan.

On February 26, former Prime Minister Vazgen Manukian, who has been put forward by the opposition as a replacement for Pashinian, called on all Armenians to join the protest.

"The people must take to the street and express their will so that we can avoid bloodshed and turmoil," he told participants at the rally in downtown Yerevan. Many opposition protesters spent the night outside parliament, where they have set up camps and barricades.

"Either we get rid of them," Manukian said, referring to Pashinian and his allies who control parliament, "or we will lose Armenia."

The marchers walked to the presidency and then to Pashinian's residence ahead of a meeting with President Armen Sarkisian later in the afternoon.

Pashinian has faced mounting protests and calls from the opposition for his resignation following a six-week conflict between Azerbaijan and ethnic Armenian forces over the region of Nagorno-Karabakh last year.

A Russian-brokered cease-fire deal Pashinian signed in November brought an end to 44 days of fierce fighting over Nagorno-Karabakh, where Armenian forces suffered territorial and battlefield losses from Azerbaijan's Turkish-backed military.

In a sign of Moscow's growing concern about the developments in Armenia, the Kremlin on February 26 reiterated that Armenia should comply with agreements reached with Azerbaijan. But Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov sought to calm fears, telling a briefing that he saw "no threat" of a breakdown of the Nagorno-Karabakh deal.

Peskov's statement came a day after President Vladimir Putin called for calm during a phone call with Pashinian. Russia is a key ally of Armenia, which has a military base in the country.

The prime minister, who addressed some 20,000 supporters in the center of Yerevan on February 25, said Armenians would not allow the armed forces to interfere after top military brass joined opposition demands for his resignation.



Manukian has threatened around-the-clock protests until an extraordinary session of parliament meets to remove Pashinian and call early elections.

But a plan by the opposition factions to hold an emergency parliamentary session early on February 26 failed to materialize when the house speaker did not show up.

Pashinian's accusations of an attempted military coup came in reaction to a letter released early on February 25 by the general staff demanding he and his government resign.

But later, the Defense Ministry issued a statement declaring any involvement of the military in politics is unacceptable."

Pashinian, whose My Step alliance holds a majority in parliament, has rejected opposition demands for early elections and called for consultations.



The brewing crisis has drawn international support for the civilian government and calls for restraint.



The United States, which has friendly ties with Armenia, warned the military and urged all sides to avoid violence.



"We remind all parties of the bedrock democratic principle that states' armed forces should not intervene in domestic politics," State Department spokesman Ned Price said on February 25.

The protesters have largely been peaceful, though earlier in the week two RFE/RL journalists were attacked. RFE/RL President Jamie Fly said he was "disturbed" by the physical and verbal attack on journalists for Azatutyun, RFE/RL's Armenian Service.

Our journalists are only trying to bring live news reporting to our audiences in Armenia. I call on Armenian law enforcement to make sure that journalists can do their jobs safely, and that the attackers are brought to justice, Fly said.

Pashinian was forced to cede control over parts of Nagorno-Karabakh and all seven surrounding districts of Azerbaijan that had been occupied by Armenian forces since the early 1990s, a move that many Armenians were against.



In the letter from military officers, the general staff accused Pashinian and his government of bringing the country to the brink of collapse and said it will no longer be able to make adequate decisions in this critical situation for the Armenian people."



The letter expressed "resolute protest" against Pashinians dismissal a day earlier of Tiran Khachatrian, the first deputy chief of the General Staff, calling the prime ministers reasons short-sighted and his action an anti-state, irresponsible step.



Khachatrian had earlier mocked Pashinian's analysis of Russian weapons used in the war against Azerbaijan.



The letter was signed by several dozen army officials, including Chief of the General Staff Onik Gasparian.



Pashinian quickly moved to dismiss Gasparian following the letters publication, demanding President Armen Sarkisian sign a decree removing him or that Gasparian announce his resignation.



Sarkisian, whose role is largely symbolic, said he was taking urgent steps to try to defuse the crisis, calling on all involved to "show restraint and common sense."

The president's press service said on February 26 that he plans to meet with Gasparian as he looks "to mitigate tensions in the country and find peaceful solutions to the ongoing situation."

But Sarkisian's office said it could take up to three days for the president to decide whether he will sign the decree to remove Gasparian.

With reporting by RFE/RL's Armenian Service, AFP, and Interfax
YEREVAN -- Neighbors Turkey and Armenia have announced that they will appoint special envoys on mending relations that have been strained for decades.

Yerevan and Ankara have never established formal diplomatic ties. Turkey, a key regional ally of Turkic-speaking Azerbaijan, has kept its border with Armenia closed since the 1990s, due to what it said was Armenia's occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding regions.

Tensions have simmered for years over Nagorno-Karabakh, an ethnic Armenian region internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan that broke away from Baku's control in the early 1990s.

In autumn 2020, Armenia and Azerbaijan fought a six-week war over the disputed region, which claimed more than 6,500 lives and ended with a Russian-brokered cease-fire under which Armenians ceded territories they had controlled for decades to Azerbaijan.

Amid continued border tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan, with sporadic deadly fighting taking place, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev are expected to meet later on December 14 in Brussels for talks hosted by European Council President Charles Michel.

Armenia is ready for the process of normalizing relations with Turkey "without preconditions," Armenian Foreign Ministry spokesman Vahan Hunanian said on December 14.

Hunanian confirmed that Yerevan will appoint a special representative in order to normalize relations with Turkey, a day after a similar announcement by Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.

"We will respectively nominate with Armenia special representatives for normalization." Cavusoglu told Turkish lawmakers, adding, "We will also start Yerevan-Istanbul charter flights in the coming period."

Mainly Armenian-populated Nagorno-Karabakh declared independence from Azerbaijan amid a 1988-94 war that claimed an estimated 30,000 lives and displaced hundreds of thousands of people.

Armenia and Turkey signed an accord in 2009 to normalize relations that would have led to the opening of their shared border, but the deal was not ratified.

Their relationship has also been strained by the World War I-era mass slaughter and deportation of Armenians by Ottoman Turks. Armenia insists the massacres amount to genocide, which Turkey vehemently rejects.

With reporting by RFE/RL's Armenian and Azerbaijani services
4 A postcard by Ihar Losik. The Belarusian blogger and RFE/RL consultant was detained in June 2020 and accused of using his popular Telegram channel to "prepare to disrupt public order." On December 14, he was convicted and sentenced to 15 years in prison. RFE/RL President Jamie Fly called on the Lukashenka regime to end its "reprehensible" treatment of Losik and other journalists.



Darya says that the volunteers have received a lot of grateful feedback from prisoners, including praise for their work from jailed would-be presidential candidate Viktar Babaryka.
Hungarian authorities say seven migrants were killed and four other people injured after the vehicle they were traveling in crashed into a house near the border with Serbia.

The incident took place late on December 13 in the southern village of Morahalom, when the driver of the car refused to stop for a police check and tried to escape at high speed, police said.

The vehicle, which had a Serbian license plate and was carrying 10 migrants, then crashed into a house and rolled over.

Those injured included the driver and three migrants.

Police said the driver was detained, and that proceedings against him would be launched for people trafficking and causing a fatal accident.

The so-called Balkan route to wealthier European Union countries is used by migrants and refugees escaping conflict, hardship, and persecution.

The number of migrants illegally entering the EU by crossing the Western Balkans has almost doubled this year, the bloc's border agency Frontex said in August, with the majority coming from Syria and Afghanistan.

Based on reporting by Reuters and Halasinfo
A panel of experts of the Council of Europe human rights body has assessed that recent amendments to Hungarian legislation related to sex-education programs in schools and the presentation of sexual content in the media are discriminatory and violate international human rights standards.

The government of right-wing Prime Minister Viktor Orban passed the changes in June, drawing sharp criticism from the European Commission and members of the LGBT community who say they stigmatize sexual minorities and stifle discourse on sexual orientation.

In an opinion published on December 14, the constitutional law experts of the Venice Commission concluded that the amendments "fail to comply with the positive obligation of Hungary to ensure that the educational system provide children with objective and non-biased information on gender identity and sexual orientation," according to a statement.

The amendments contribute to creating a "threatening environment" in which LGBT children can be subject to bullying and harassment, the panel said.

They "leave space only for one-sided and biased teaching, opening doors to stigmatization and discrimination" of LGBT people, it added.

The experts also regretted that the reform was adopted "in a rushed manner, without consulting civil society and the political opposition."

The laws in question set limits on schools' teaching about homosexuality and transgender issues as well as the depiction of LGBT content in the media, ostensibly as a measure to prevent child abuse.

Orban says the measures aim to protect children and families and does not target adults.

The European Commission, the EU's executive, has launched two separate legal proceedings against Hungary's government over what it called infringements on LGBT rights.

Critics say Orban's ruling Fidesz has stepped up its anti-LGBT campaign as part of an ongoing drive to depict itself as the guardian of Christian values against Western liberalism that also included blocking migrants from transiting Hungary and closing down privately owned liberal media institutions.

The amendments were proposed by the government ahead of parliamentary elections next year in which Fidesz may be vulnerable to a newly united opposition.

With reporting by Reuters
Iran has accused Western parties to its 2015 nuclear deal of "persisting in their blame game," after European diplomats involved in ongoing negotiations aimed at reviving the agreement said Tehran was putting forward new proposals that are "inconsistent" with the accord.

During a visit to Indonesia on December 14, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the United States was preparing "alternatives" with allies in case the talks in Vienna on reviving the deal to curb Iran's nuclear ambitions failed.

The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), under which Iran curtailed its nuclear activities in exchange for a lifting of global sanctions, began unraveling in 2018 when former U.S. President Donald Trump pulled out of the deal and reimposed sanctions, prompting Tehran to exceed limits imposed under the pact.

The talks between Iran and the remaining parties to the agreement -- Britain, France, Germany, China, and Russia -- were resumed in Vienna on November 29 after a five-month hiatus, with the United States participating indirectly.

No apparent progress has been made in the talks, with diplomats from France, Britain, and Germany -- known as the E3 -- saying in a joint statement on December 13, "We are losing precious time dealing with new Iranian positions inconsistent with the JCPOA or that go beyond it."

"Without swift progress, in light of Irans fast-forwarding of its nuclear program, the JCPOA will very soon become an empty shell," they warned.

Iran's chief negotiator at the talks, Ali Bagheri, responded to the statement on December 14, saying on Twitter, "Some actors persist in their blame game habit, instead of real diplomacy."

Iran "proposed our ideas early, and worked constructively and flexibly to narrow gaps," Bagheri wrote, adding that "diplomacy is a two-way street."

President Joe Biden says the United States is ready to rejoin the JCPOA provided Iran resumes observing the deal's conditions. Among other things, Iran is demanding the lifting of all U.S. sanctions and guarantees that Washington will not withdraw from any future agreement.

U.S. officials say they won't allow Iran to draw out negotiations while continuing to advance its nuclear program, warning that Washington will pursue other options if diplomacy fails.

"We continue in this hour, on this day, to pursue diplomacy because it remains at this moment the best option, but we are actively engaging with allies and partners on alternatives," Blinken said on December 14.

The top U.S. diplomat referred to the E3 statement, which he said noted that "time is running out, that Iran is still not engaged in real negotiations."

There has been growing Western concerns over Iran's nuclear advances in its uranium enrichment program, which is a possible pathway to a nuclear bomb.

Iranian officials have maintained the countrys nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.

The United Nations' nuclear watchdog has repeatedly said it has no indication that Iran currently has a secret nuclear-weapons program.

But the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is asking Tehran to allow access to a centrifuge-parts-production site near Karaj, which it said would restore its ability to fully monitor Iran's nuclear program.

Tehran refuses to allow the IAEA access, with the head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, Mohammad Eslami, saying on December 14 that the agency's demands were beyond safeguards and unacceptable to Tehran.

"Karaj...is outside of safeguards.... We act within the framework of safeguards and NPT (Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty) and do not accept anything else," Eslami said, according to the semiofficial news agency ISNA.

With reporting by Reuters and AFP
BISHKEK -- The ousted first president of independent Kyrgyzstan, Askar Akaev, has arrived in Bishkek for the second time since August for questioning in connection with an investigation into possible corruption around one of the world's biggest gold mines.

Akaev's relatives told RFE/RL that the ex-president arrived in Bishkek on December 14 for at least five days to answer questions from the State Committee for National Security (UKMK) regarding the Kumtor gold mine.

There were no official statements regarding Akaev's arrival in Bishkek.

It is Akaev's second trip to the post-Soviet Central Asian republic since he fled peaceful pro-democracy rallies in 2005. His first trip in early August was also related to the investigation of the Kumtor gold mine case.

Kumtor has been a target of financial and environmental disagreements for years and is currently the subject of an ongoing battle for control between the Kyrgyz state and the mine's operator, Canadian Centerra Gold.

The UKMK said in July that Akaev and another exiled former Kyrgyz president, Kurmanbek Bakiev, had been added to the international wanted list as part of the Kumtor corruption probe.

According to the UKMK, Centerra Gold paid bribes to top Kyrgyz officials, including Akaev, Bakiev, and another former president, Almazbek Atambaev, who is currently jailed in another case.

Akaev fled to Russia during the so-called Tulip Revolution in 2005. He was president from 1990 to 2005. Since his departure, he has avoided returning to Kyrgyzstan, even for the burial of close relatives.

Bakiev has been in exile in Belarus since being toppled by anti-government protests in 2010.

The giant Kumtor gold project has been the focus of international attention since a new Kyrgyz government moved to temporarily take over operations at the mine in what President Sadyr Japarov said was a necessary move to remedy environmental and safety violations.

In May, the Kyrgyz government approved a law allowing it to take control for up to three months of any company that operates under a concession agreement in Kyrgyzstan if that firm violates environmental regulations, endangers the local environment or the lives of people, or causes other significant damage.

Centerra has called the Kyrgyz actions "wrongful and illegal" and said in July that it had filed additional arbitration claims against the government in Bishkek over Kumtor.

Many Kyrgyz lawmakers have expressed concerns about the lack of transparency of the operations at Kumtor after the Kyrgyz government took the gold mine under its control in May.

On December 13, at a parliamentary session, Kyrgyz Finance Minister Almaz Baketaev was unable to answer a lawmaker's question on the amount of gold produced at Kumtor while it's under government control and where and for what price it has been sold.

On September 22, Kyrgyz Prime Minister Akylbek Japarov told RFE/RL that after the Kyrgyz government took over the gold mine, Kumtor produced 4.1 tons of gold, bringing $62 million to the state treasury. Three days later, UKMK chief Kamchybek Tashiev said that Kyrgyzstan had made $90 million in profit via Kumtor's operations after the government took over the gold mine.

Earlier this year, Kyrgyz authorities arrested several former officials and current lawmakers in connection with the case.
Lilia Chanysheva, the former leader of a regional organization for jailed Kremlin critic Aleksei Navalny, says she is preparing for the worst in her trial on extremism charges, but believes it would have been a bigger tragedy had she opted to flee the country before her arrest last month.

"I have always said, 'Do what you must do, no matter what,'" Chanysheva said in written answers to questions from RFE/RL on December 14. "Taking into consideration that I do not know even a single acquittal in politically motivated cases, I am preparing myself for the worst, but hope for the best."

Chanysheva was arrested in November in Bashkortostans capital, Ufa, on extremism charges in what legal experts have called an unusual prosecution that appears to target her retroactively for alleged crimes.

She was later transferred to a detention center in Moscow, where she is expected to remain in pretrial detention until at least January 9. In recent months, many associates of Navalny fled the country before they could be arrested. Navalny has been in prison since February.

"First days after the detainment I felt some calmness, a sort of a feeling that something that was supposed to happen happened, Chanysheva said. But now it is hard to stand separation from my husband. I am concerned about my parents. I miss my younger brother and his family.

The 39-yer-old also worries that if she receives a lengthy prison term it will deprive her of being able to have children. She and her husband had been hoping for a pregnancy for six months prior to her detention, she said.

Chanysheva headed the local unit of Navalny's network of regional campaign groups until Navalny's team disbanded them after a Moscow prosecutor went to court to have them branded extremist. A court later accepted the prosecutor's appeal and labeled the national network extremist, effectively outlawing them.

Defense lawyer Vladimir Voronin said earlier that Chanysheva's arrest was the first of its kind since the movement was banned. The charges appear to be retroactive since the organization she worked for disbanded before it had been legally classified as extremist, he said.

Chanysheva, who has maintained her innocence from the first day of her arrest, does not know why she was the first among former associates of Navalny to be arrested after Navalny's networks were outlawed.

The case against her on a charge of "creation and leading an extremist group" is being investigated by the Investigative Committee's Main Directorate.

Navalny and associates Leonid Volkov, Ivan Zhdanov, Lyubov Sobol, and many others are also suspects in the case. Volkov, Zhdanov, and Sobol have fled Russia.

Chanysheva added that she regularly receives letters from relatives, other Russian citizens, and people in Europe and the United States.

The letters come from students, teachers, pensioners, retired police officers, and journalists, she said, adding that its important to her that there are so many letters.

Those are real people who express concerns about me and support me, help me feel that I am not alone and everything I did was right," Chanysheva said.

Chanysheva reiterated that she considers herself "a happy person" because she lives "in accord with myself" and she hopes free people appreciate each moment of their lives and live in accord with themselves, too.

She also expressed her thanks to everyone for the support and for everything you do to free me.
MOSCOW -- Russia's Supreme Court has resumed a hearing into a request by federal prosecutors to shut down one of the post-Soviet world's oldest and most prestigious human rights organizations, Memorial International.

Judge Alla Nazarova started the hearing on December 14 after a 20-minute delay. The initial phase of the hearing saw the court study basic registration documentation from Memorial International, after which the prosecutor-general's request to shut down the group and other documents in the case will be studied.

The case was initiated by prosecutors under the controversial "foreign agent" law, which is increasingly being used by officials to shut down civil society groups and independent media in Russia.

Rights activists say that there are no legal grounds to liquidate the organization, which has been devoted since the late 1980s to researching and memorializing the crimes of the Soviet Union, as well as to promoting human rights in Russia and the former Soviet republics. They say the prosecutor-general's demand to shut down Memorial International is "a politically motivated decision."

Memorial has characterized the actions of Russian authorities as "political pressure" and countered that "there are no legal grounds for liquidation."

The United States and European Union have called on Russia to stop the move to shut down Memorial.

Russia's so-called "foreign agent" legislation was adopted in 2012 and has been modified repeatedly. It requires nongovernmental organizations that receive foreign assistance and that the government deems to be engaged in political activity to be registered, to identify themselves as "foreign agents," and to submit to audits.

Later modifications of the law targeted foreign-funded media, including RFE/RL's Russian Service, six other RFE/RL Russian-language news services, and Current Time.

Russian Prosecutor-General Igor Krasnov, meanwhile, claims that Memorial International was added to the registry of "foreign agents" for systematically violating the law by failing to appropriately label its materials -- one of the requirements for those on the registry.

Russia's most prominent lawyers -- Genri Reznik, Maria Eismont, Mikhail Biryukov, Grigory Vaipan, Anastasia Garina, Tatyana Glushkova, Tamilla Imanova, Natalya Morozova, and Natalya Sekretaryova -- are representing Memorial International at the hearing.

Dozens gathered in front of the Supreme Court building in Moscow on December 14 to support the rights organization.

Police detained at least one picketer who appeared separately outside the court holding a sign saying: "Hands off Memorial! Free political prisoners!"

A separate claim by Moscow authorities targets the Memorial Human Rights Center, the local group that works under the umbrella of Memorial International.

In a joint statement on November 18, two Russian Nobel Peace laureates, Mikhail Gorbachev, the last Soviet leader, and Novaya gazeta newspaper editor-in-chief Dmitry Muratov, said attempts to close Memorial had "caused anxiety and concern in the country, which we share."

Marija Pejcinovic Buric, the secretary-general of the Council of Europe, a pan-European rights body, said earlier that the "foreign agents" legislation "stigmatizes" NGOs, media, and individuals and "has had a repressive impact on civil society in Russia over recent years."
MOSCOW -- Prominent Russian film director Sergei Solovyov, whose movies in the late 1980s became symbols of Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev's reforms, has died at the age of 77.

Solovyov's relatives said late on December 13 that the director, screenwriter, producer, and actor died of a heart attack.

Solovyov made more than 30 movies over his career, including One Hundred Days After Childhood, which received the Silver Bear prize in Berlin in 1975 for best director and The Stray White And The Speckled, which won a special award at the Venice Film Festival in 1986.

Solovyov's most prominent film, Assa, made in 1987, became a significant event for Soviet citizens, as its soundtrack included songs by the legendary Soviet rock musicians Viktor Tsoi and Boris Grebenshchikov, whose music was officially banned in the country before that.

Solovyov survived a stroke last year and had several surgeries, after which he was rarely seen in public.
PETROZAVODSK, Russia  Five years ago this month, historian Yury Dmitriyev, the local head of the human rights group Memorial in the northwestern region of Karelia, was arrested at his apartment in Petrozavodsk. He was accused of taking pornographic images of his foster daughter, a charge he has staunchly denied, saying the photographs were taken at the insistence of social workers in order to monitor the girls development.

Dmitriyev is best known for his research into the victims of political repression in Karelia under Soviet dictator Josef Stalin. He was instrumental in the investigation and memorialization of the Sandarmokh mass graves, where the bodies of at least 6,000 victims were buried.

As his case has gone back and forth between courts, Dmitriyev, who turns 66 next month, has spent almost all of the last five years in pretrial detention at a jail in Petrozavodsk, the regional capital.

The municipal court in Petrozavodsk is currently holding its third review of the case against Dmitriyev, who in September 2020 was sentenced to 13 years in prison. Prosecutors are seeking to increase the sentence to 15 years. Dmitriyevs lawyers say that all of his appeals have been exhausted.

The trial comes as the Russian government is seeking to shut down International Memorial and the Memorial Human Rights Center in Moscow, both of which have long been designated foreign agent NGOs. Their fate could be sealed by the Supreme Court and Moscows top court this week.

During his trial, the North.Realities desk of RFE/RLs Russian Service submitted questions to Dmitriyev and received written responses to some of them through a correspondence system run by the Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN). There was no explanation for the lack of answers to several of the questions.

The interview, which has been edited for length and clarity, is presented below.

RFE/RL: How did you become a member of Memorial?

Yury Dmitriyev: I already knew a lot of people who were getting involved in Memorial [in the late 1980s]. At least, I knew a lot of the leaders -- people who were interviewing victims of repression and publishing lists of people who had been repressed.

Those were hard times, so [Memorial activists] were distributing humanitarian aid [to former repression victims]. In short, they were working in full accordance with their charter. At meetings of the Popular Front of Karelia NGO, we regularly discussed questions raised by Memorial.

After about a year or 18 months, I asked [Karelia Memorial activist] Pertti Vuori to look into the fate of my wife's grandfather, who was a fisherman from the village of Syamozero, who was arrested in 1937. Pertti learned that he had been executed. At one of our meetings at that time, he asked me to join Memorial. So I joined Memorial sometime in 1989.

RFE/RL: And what were you doing then?

Dmitriyev: I was taking humanitarian aid around in my car to former political prisoners. Several times we explored around the outskirts of the settlement of Derevyannoye, looking unsuccessfully for execution places. Next, I took on the story of the remains discovered at Besovets and Sulazhgorye. Only two years later, on October 30, 1991, were we able to get them reburied at the Zaretskoye Cemetery in Petrozavodsk. That was really the beginning of Memorial in Karelia.

Then I started working with Ivan Chukhin, a deputy in the Russian Supreme Soviet. Ivan asked me to help him compile a Book of Memory [aimed at documenting all the Karelian victims of Soviet-era political repression]. I agreed and spent several years working in the archives of the Interior Ministry and the Federal Security Service (which was still the KGB at the time).

Among our early international projects, I'd mention the erection of a memorial at the cemetery for German prisoners at the settlement of Padozero. Gradually, I built up experience working with documents and working with human remains. And we continued providing material assistance to victims of repression -- groceries, money, and so on. We lobbied local laws in Karelia to help victims of repression. We didn't forget anyone. The 1990s, compared to the Soviet period, was a time of freedom, a time when archives were being opened and it was finally possible to learn the truth about our ancestors.

RFE/RL: When did you start experiencing problems? When President Vladimir Putin came to power?

Dmitriyev: It is hard for me to answer that because I sort of fell out of working with Memorial for a time. After Ivan Chukhin died in 1997, other people took over the organization and, in short, we didn't see eye to eye. Several people left the organization with me, and we organized the Social-Legal Defense Academy.

RFE/RL: What is your opinion of the situation around Memorial today and generally with the harassment of rights activists?

Dmitriyev: Harassment is a normal phenomenon. It means that Memorial is stepping on the authorities' sore places. I trust Memorial, so that means we need to change the organism that has those sore places.

RFE/RL: Do you connect the criminal case against you with your work at Memorial? If you hadn't been doing that work, do you think you would have avoided the last five years of trials?

Dmitriyev: I think that the cases would not have existed at all. Who would care about a simple engineer?

RFE/RL: What can society do to support Memorial? And what can average people do to cultivate in the younger generation the respectful attitude toward history that Memorial demonstrates?

Dmitriyev: Through the family. Every family must know its own history. Such knowledge is the source of a sense of self-respect. I have been fortunate enough to learn the feelings of people who were repressed by the government throughout their entire lives. If I live long enough, I will write a book about that.

RFE/RL senior correspondent Robert Coalson contributed to this report.
MOSCOW -- A court in Moscow has fined investigative website The Insider for failing to mark its materials as being produced by a "foreign agent," a mandatory requirement for those added to the state's controversial registry.

The Taganka district court on December 14 ordered The Insider to pay 1 million rubles ($13,600) for the lack of labels on its materials. The group was added to the "foreign agent" registry in July.

The Insider's chief editor, Roman Dobrokhotov, has said the website will not mark its materials with the "foreign agent" disclaimer because The Insider is registered in Latvia and is not obliged to follow Russian law.

Russia's "foreign agent" legislation requires nongovernmental organizations that receive foreign assistance and that the government deems to be engaged in political activity to be registered, to identify themselves as "foreign agents," to submit to audits, and to label their content with an intrusive disclaimer or face fines.

Just days after The Insider was labeled a "foreign agent," Moscow police searched Dobrokhotov's apartment and that of his parents as well. His passport was confiscated, but he still managed to leave the country.

Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) in September said an arrest warrant had been issued for Dobrokhotov.

Dobrokhotov is accused of illegally crossing the border into Ukraine in August, "bypassing the established checkpoints," the FSB said.

The statement added that Dobrokhotov faced criminal prosecution and up to two years in prison if convicted of the offenses.

With reporting by Interfax and Reuters
Russian journalism experienced extreme highs and lows in 2021. On the plus side, a Nobel Peace Prize for newspaper editor Dmitry Muratov. But the downside saw an escalating government crackdown on independent media. News organizations and individual reporters were declared "foreign agents" and "undesirable elements," while some journalists went into exile.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has again called for "immediate" talks with the United States and NATO over security guarantees as tensions mount over Ukraine.

Putin reiterated the demand in phone calls with his Finnish and French counterparts on December 14, the Kremlin said.

In recent weeks, Ukraine and its Western backers have accused Russia of massing troops near their common border as a possible prelude to an invasion as early as next month.

Russian officials deny Moscow is preparing any offensive, instead accusing Ukraine of provocation and insisting they have the right to move forces anywhere they want within their own country.

In his call with Finnish President Sauli Niinisto on December 14, Putin "reiterated the need to immediately launch negotiations with the United States and NATO in order to develop international legal guarantees for the security of our country," the Kremlin said in a statement.

The two also discussed the crisis over Ukraine, the statement added.

Separately, the Kremlin said Putin told his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, in a phone call on the same day that Moscow wanted immediate talks with Western countries to prevent NATO's expansion further east.

"The Russian president emphasized the importance of immediately launching international negotiations to develop legally fixed guarantees that would prevent any further NATO expansion to the east and the deployment of weapons to neighboring states, primarily in Ukraine, that threaten Russia," the Kremlin said in a statement.

Putin made similar demands during virtual talks with U.S. President Joe Biden last week and in a phone call with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on December 13.

European Union foreign ministers met on December 13 in Brussels to coordinate a sanctions response against Moscow if it launches a new military invasion of Ukraine.

The EU has already imposed several rounds of sanctions on Russia over its forcible seizure of Ukraine's Crimea region in March 2014 and over Moscows backing of separatists in eastern Ukraine in an ongoing conflict that has killed more than 13,200 people since April 2014.

Finland, which shares a 1,340-kilometer border with Russia, is not a member of NATO, but has in recent years increased its bilateral defense and military cooperation with the United States and its neighbors Sweden and Norway.

Last week, the Finnish government agreed to buy 64 Lockheed Martin F-35A fighter jets to replace its aging fleet of combat planes in a 10 billion euro ($11.3 billion) deal -- the country's largest-ever military purchase.

With reporting by AFP and Reuters
A bill that would allow Russia's regional leaders to serve more than two consecutive terms in office and abolish the title of president in the autonomous Russian republic of Tatarstan has been approved after two final readings by the lower chamber of the Russian parliament.

The bill was approved by 330 lawmakers in the State Duma on December 14, with 89 members voting against the bill and two abstaining.

Lawmakers representing the Communist Party and A Just Russia voted against the bill.

The bill must be approved by the parliament's upper chamber, the Federation Council, and then signed into law by President Vladimir Putin.

The bill was proposed in September by lawmaker Nikolai Klishas, who said then that the bill envisions the establishment of a single, unified name for posts held by regional leaders and would abolish titles such as president for republics inside Russia. That move would affect Rustam Minnikhanov, the president of the republic of Tatarstan.

In October, Tatarstan's parliament voted to reject the Duma bill on the grounds that it would violate the constitution of the Russian Federation.

A U.S.-based analyst, Paul Goble, commenting on the bill's approval, told RFE/RL that "Russia should not be called a federation" now.

"Putin has gutted the few provisions that remained from the 1993 constitution already. What he is doing now is attacking the few remaining symbols, Goble said.

The reality has already been changed. But he is doing so in such a clumsy and heavy-handed way that the Kremlin leader is going to produce exactly what he doesn't want -- more resistance in the regions and republics and even a revival of talk about separatism."
Russia has vetoed a United Nations Security Council resolution that sought to formally link climate change and global security.



The resolution, drafted by Niger and Ireland, called for "information on the security implications of climate change" to be addressed by the Security Council.



The measure also asked UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to make climate-related security risks "a central component" of conflict-prevention and peacekeeping strategies.



The text won support from 12 of the council's 15 members on December 13. India voted no and China abstained.



Veto-wielding Russia voted no to block the resolution.



"Only the [Security Council] can ensure the security impacts of climate change are integrated into the critical work of conflict prevention and mitigation, peacekeeping, and humanitarian response," the U.S. ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, wrote on Twitter.



"Russia let the world down by vetoing a resolution backed by a majority of UN member states," she said.



The resolution was long overdue and only a "modest first step," Irish Ambassador Geraldine Byrne Nason said.



Her counterpart from Niger, Abdou Abarry, called opposition to the draft "short-sighted."



Following the vote, Niger and Ireland denounced the veto power given to permanent Security Council members the United States, Britain, France, Russia, and China, calling the rule created during the UN's post-World War II founding "an anachronism."



"This council will never live up to its mandate for international peace and security if it does not adapt. It must reflect the moment we are now living in, the threats to international peace and security which we now face," they said.



Opponents of the resolution said the UN already had bodies devoted to addressing climate change and it doesnt belong on the agenda of the Security Council, where the issue could become politicized.



The Russian mission to the UN said in a statement that the resolution was aimed at "coercing" the council to examine conflicts and threats to international peace and security through a one-dimensional "climate lens."



"It was a generic proposal to establish this automatic link while neglecting all other aspects of situations in countries in conflict or countries lagging behind in their socioeconomic development," the statement added.



The resolution would have been used "to gain leverage in the council to impose a particular vision with regard to fulfillment of climate commitments and ultimately to initiate putting any country on the council's agenda under the climate pretext since climate-related issues are felt all over the world," it said.

With reporting by AP, Reuters, and TASS.
Serbia has taken a step toward its goal of joining the EU by opening talks on four policy areas, but European officials warn Belgrade that progress in the process still depends on continued reforms and normalizing relations with Kosovo.

To be eligible to join the 27-country EU, applicant states must bring their laws and regulations into line with the bloc's standards through negotiations in 35 policy areas, or chapters, including finance, agriculture, transport, energy, social, and justice policy.

On December 14, Serbia was allowed to open talks on climate change and environment, energy, transport policy, and trans-European infrastructure networks -- the first time the Balkan country has opened four chapters at once.

Belgrade has now opened 22 negotiating chapters since its membership talks began in 2014.

"Serbia is taking yet another very important step forward joining the European Union," EU Enlargement Negotiations Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi said following the intergovernmental conference with Serbia in Brussels.

Gasper Dovzan, state secretary at the Slovenian Foreign Ministry, whose country is currently holding the presidency of the EU Council, said that the Serbian government "prioritized EU-related reforms and delivered on a number of important commitments, in particular on taxation and energy."

But "further efforts are needed," Dovzan said, citing judiciary independence, media freedom, and the fight against corruption and organized crime.

"Serbia's progress on the rule of law and the normalization of relations with Kosovo remains essential and will continue to determine the overall pace of the negotiations," he added.

Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008 after a 1998-99 conflict between ethnic Albanian separatists and Serbian forces. The war ended after a 78-day NATO air campaign drove Serbian troops out, and a peacekeeping force moved in.

Kosovo's independence has been recognized by more than 100 countries including the United States and all but five of the EU member states. But Serbia still considers the territory a southern province and is supported by Russia and China.

EU-mediated talks between Pristina and Belgrade to settle their differences have stalled.
(cabinradio.ca) - The NWTs Ekati mine is staking its future on the use of large underwater crawlers to extract more diamond-containing kimberlite from pits that would otherwise be uneconomical to mine. At the moment, conventional open-pit and underground mining at Ekati is set to end in 2024, with the exception of Point Lake  a new open pit currently going through the environmental permitting process. Arctic Canadian Diamond Company, which bought Ekati from financially troubled former owner Dominion earlier this year, says the switch to underwater mining technology is the only way Ekati can stay open in the long term.
In August 2005, Hurricane Katrina devastated Mississippis Gulf Coast, where David Illich grew up and much of his family still lives. In the weeks and months after the catastrophic storm, the Escondido audiologist was overwhelmed by the generosity shown to his relatives and other storm victims by his patients, his friends and even strangers.

Thats when he came up with a way to thank some of this communitys neediest residents by giving them the gift of sound. With sponsorship from Palomar Health, he launched Hear for the Holidays, an annual essay contest that has since awarded state-of-the-art hearing aids to a dozen recipients, as well as less-expensive devices for more than 60 other people.

And this week, Illich and his wife, Kathleen, are in southern Mexico, helping to fit more than 1,500 poor children and adults with free hearing aids from the national organization So the World May Hear.

Illich said being in the room when people begin to hear again, sometimes after many years of near-silence, is an experience that never gets old.

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Theres nothing more beautiful in life than giving people back the ability to communicate, he said. When people lose their hearing they have no concept of what they lost. Its amazing when we can give back that love.

Illich, a past president of the California Audiology Association, said more than 325 million people worldwide have significant hearing loss and no access to help. In the U.S., the problem could soon reach crisis proportions as every day roughly 10,000 Americans turn 65.

And its not just older adults facing problems. One of the nations fastest-growing age groups with hearing damage is age 19 and under, because of teens heavy use of deep-insert ear bud headphones.

Although hearing aids can offer tremendous help to most users, theyre not covered by many insurance plans and their cost (up to $7,000 a pair) is out of reach for many.

Lots of these people are single moms who are working two or three jobs and who have set their own needs aside to care for others, Illich said. These are people who fall between the cracks. They make too much to qualify for Medicaid but too little to afford hearing aids.

Among those helped by Illichs Hear for the Holidays program is 2007 winner Devra Willett of Poway, 62, who was secretly entered in the contest by her sister and a coworker.

The longtime bartender and restaurant waitress was in danger of losing both jobs because she couldnt hear customers orders or when they called after her with a request. Because her hearing loss had been gradual, Willett said she didnt realize how it had affected her confidence, her relationship with her children and her comfort in public and group conversations.

The first day I put on my hearing aids, I thought the birds would fly right through the window and the plane overhead would crash. Oh my gosh I didnt realize how long Id gone without these sounds, she said. People dont realize how lonely you can become when you cant hear. I think if I had to choose between losing my sight or my hearing, it would be a toss-up, because when you cant hear you are so alone.

Illich, 60, grew up in Biloxi, Miss., and attended the University of Southern Mississippi, where he ended up taking classes in speech and hearing sciences on a whim. While looking for a science elective, one of his male classmates encouraged Illich to check out that department because it had the prettiest female students.

Although Illich didnt find his soulmate there, he did fall in love with the science of audiology and went on to earn his masters and doctorate in the field. He started his practice, Professional Hearing Associates, in Escondido in 1984 and is now chief of audiology for Palomar Health and Pomerado Hospital, as well as a contractor at Tri-City Medical Center.

Many of his patients are adults in their 40s to 60s, though he sometimes sees young people as well as the very old. He said people routinely put off getting their hearing checked and they will often make excuses for why they no longer talk on the phone, go to church or engage in family discussions.

Some have purchased inexpensive hearing aids and were so unhappy with the results they simply assume theres no hope. But the right fit and equipment can work miracles, he said.

Ive sat here in my chair and cried when I see it happen, he said. I had a couple in here in their 90s who were still very much in love but no longer talked because they couldnt hear each other. When they got their hearing aids, they were sitting here chatting up a storm like schoolkids again.

Each year, Illich receives about 15 to 25 essay applications for the Hear for the Holidays contest. A committee made up of himself and other audiologists, senior services workers, patients and emergency workers make the final selection for the prize, a set of Starkey Muse i2400 hearing aids. A handful of runners-up each year also received lower-priced and refurbished sets.

This years winner is Lorna Nanasca of Poway. She was secretly entered in the contest by her 32-year-old son, Rommel, who has spinal muscular atrophy and she is his full-time caregiver. Because she couldnt hear him when he called, Rommel would often have to call her cellphone or use a portable doorbell device to summon her from the next room. Lorna received her new hearing aids three weeks ago and said she cant believe the change.

Oh my god it changed a lot! I can hear everything, even the tick-tock of the clock on the wall. Its amazing and a luxury I could never have afforded myself, she said.

Another charitable effort that Illich supports is So the World May Hear, a charity started by Starkey founder Bill Austin in 1999. Starkey collects used and broken hearing aids from all over the country and refurbishes them for reuse in third-world countries. Over the past 17 years, it has sent teams of audiologists into the field to serve 775,000 people in more than 100 countries.

Because Illich and his wife  a second grade teacher at Reidy Creek Elementary  were raising two children, they werent able to go on these mission trips in the past, but they supported them with donations. Also, Illich collected used hearing aids for the cause, including 87 devices last May at Palomar Health. But with their kids now grown, the Illiches have embarked on their first mission trip this week in Mexico, with visits planned in Chiapas and the Yucatan.

They return on Friday and Illich said they plan to do many more such trips in the future, including a visit to Haiti next October where theyll fit hearing aids on children at two orphanages.

Willett, the 2014 winner, said shes not surprised that her audiologist is giving so much of his time and expertise to the charitable organizations.

He is the sweetest man and he gives it from his heart, she said. Its his passion to help people.

pam.kragen@sduniontribune.com
Behind the painted windows of the EcoVivarium in downtown Escondido, a living museum of lizards, dragons, turtles, snakes, chameleons, frogs and tarantulas has opened for business.

The 1,800-square-foot educational center at 163 S. Juniper St. is now hosting walk-though visitors and school groups for up-close, hands-on encounters with creatures like Lemony Snicket, a 6-year-old red-tailed albino boa constrictor, and Hank, a 17-pound Argentine black and white tegu lizard.

The museum is the dream project of Escondido resident Susan Nowicke, the longtime volunteer president of the San Diego Herpetological Society. All but few of the museums 200 animals were rescued from owners who surrendered, lost interest, abandoned, abused or couldnt afford to feed their former pets. Nowicke adopted the creatures and, with a small army of volunteers, has spent at least 100 hours hand-training each of the animals to become animal ambassadors.

The scaly inhabitants of EcoVivarium offer children a tactile interaction thats rare at public museums. Even the San Diego Zoo keeps most of the inhabitants of its Reptile House behind glass. Nowicke said she hopes the experience teaches visitors to better appreciate these unusual, misunderstood and, in many cases, quite affectionate animals.

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Siblings Delila and Benjamin Estrada touch a black and white Argentine tegu on a visit to the new EcoVivarium living museum in Escondido. (Don Boomer / San Diego Union-Tribune )

Nowicke said her passion for reptiles and amphibians began when she started catching slow-moving bufo toads in her native Chicago.

I wasnt afraid of them. I thought they were interesting and my parents were great about it, she said. When I got a little older, Id catch nightcrawler worms and dump a bucket of them on the kitchen table ... Then when we moved to Texas and I found a tarantula crawling on my bedroom window screen, I realized I was braver than my two brothers, who were afraid to go near it.

Although trained as an accountant, Nowicke quit work to home school her seven children, who are now grown. One of her children has special needs and Nowicke found that her daughter was more receptive to learning about science, literature and other subjects if the lessons involved a tactile experience with a rescued reptile.

Thats how EcoVivarium was born. In 2009, Nowicke created the nonprofit to take rescued creatures into public schools for educational animal encounters. The money raised from the classroom visits helped feed and house her growing menagerie. After years of requests to open a storefront for families and school groups, she leased the storefront on Juniper last year. Asbestos under the flooring, inadequate electrical capacity, permit issues and construction dragged out the project for 18 months. It finally opened on Oct. 29. The museum is still very much a work in progress, but Nowicke said theres been a steady flow of foot traffic since the day the doors opened.

Bearded dragons are part of several on display at the new EcoVivarium living museum, which recently opened in Escondido. The museum is designed to teach children about reptile and bug species and their habitats. (Don Boomer / San Diego Union-Tribune )

Its not cheap to feed, bathe and clean up after 200 animals (just a few dozen are on exhibit each day, with the selection rotating constantly). The monthly food bill is $1,400 a month, plus rent, insurance, electricity and water. To reduce expenses, Nowicke came up with creative ideas to build and staff the museum.

Carpet Club donated $60,000 in linoleum flooring. Volunteer Mike Reed, an Escondido arborist, built all of the oversize glass-front wood exhibit cases, made with windows recycled from an old housing project. She signed up a middle-school class to design and build the light fixtures that will illuminate and heat each case. And local grade-schoolers are shaping and painting foam panels  donated by a Hollywood scenery design company  to decorate the interiors of each case.

Children can sign up to be junior docents, leading tours and helping with animal care. Among those interested in the job is 10-year-old Benjamin Estrada of Escondido. Gently cradling Sugar, a 9-year-old desert iguana, he said he finds reptiles amazing. His family has visited numerous times since the museum opened and Benjamin said he wishes he could come every day.

The cases are displayed along a snakelike path, with each cases representing creatures from different habitats, including the desert, grassland, tropical forest, mangrove swamp and more.

For now, they cases are decorated with wood shavings, potted and plastic plants and a few branches for the creatures to crawl on. Eventually each case will have its own biome, with live insects, rocks, soil and rooted plants. There are now 27 animal cases, plus 10 more coming by December for large snakes and spiders.

One of the bigger cases, which will hold crocodiles and other large reptiles, has a tunnel underneath that children can crawl through to pop their heads up inside a glass dome at the center.

The center hosts school groups, walk-in visitors and birthday parties. The most popular activity is touching and holding the animals. Earlier this month, the Estrada family watched in awe as Mac, an 8-foot Salvator water monitor lizard, walked around the museum on a dog leash. Mac was starving when Nowicke adopted him six years ago. The owner had lost his job, his wife and his home and finally gave up the beloved pet before leaving town.

Macs story is similar to many of the EcoVivarium inhabitants. Nowicke said many people buy reptiles when theyre cute little babies, never realizing how large theyll grow, how expensive theyll become to feed, how much training they need to avoid aggressive behavior, and how long theyll live. Most live about 25 years, but Ninja, a 1-year-old African sulcata tortoise who inhabits a pyramid-shaped enclosure, can live 80 years and grow to 250 pounds.

Many of the rescues arrived malnourished and some have been abused, like a boa constrictor who was shot 13 times and left for dead. The boa survived but still has a bullet lodged near his heart. Nowicke said animals like these have a special place in her heart and in her hands-on programs with small children.

The ones weve brought back from the brink of death have a special connection to the people who saved them, she said. Theyre so grateful and loving because theyve been given a second chance.

EcoVivarium is open to the public from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Wednesdays-Sundays (closed on Thanksgiving). School tours take place on Mondays and Tuesdays. Tickets are $8 for children ages 17 and under and $10 for adults. Call (760) 975-9690 or visit ecovivarium.org or the museums EcoVivarium Facebook page.

pam.kragen@sduniontribune.com


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A standoff on Friday between law enforcement and an armed man who barricaded himself inside his Antioch home ended after about six hours when SWAT officers killed the man, officials said.

The man was shot as he was running out of his house unarmed to escape a fire that had started inside, officials said.

The standoff began around 1:11 p.m. Friday after Antioch police arrived at Dove Court following multiple 911 calls reporting a man walking down the street repeatedly firing a rifle at houses and cars in the area. The man soon entered his own home on the street and barricaded himself inside, continuing to occasionally fire at police officers, houses and cars, Antioch police said in a statement.

The man was wearing military-style clothing and body armor. Residents in the area were either evacuated or told to shelter in place due to the ongoing danger to the public, police said.

Officers from multiple police departments, Contra Costa County sheriff's deputies and the Antioch SWAT and crisis negotiation units arrived to provide mutual aid and to try to persuade the man to peacefully come out of his house. Officers established a perimeter around the property, and crisis negotiators worked to de-escalate the situation by trying to encourage the man to come out of the house unarmed so that he could be arrested without injury, officials said.

But the man stayed inside and continued to fire shots from his house, firing a total of about 30 rounds toward law enforcement and other people in the area, officials said.

At around 7:07 p.m., a fire started inside the house and quickly spread, at which point the man ran to the backyard and then the side yard, where he was contacted by members of the SWAT team, police said. The SWAT officers shot the man and officers moved him to another area to render aid as the fire grew. The man was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

The shooting is under investigation by the California Department of Justice in accordance with AB1506, which requires the state to investigate police shootings of unarmed civilians. Police did not say whether the man threatened officers after he came out of the house or how many times they shot him.

It was not clear how the fire started or whether anyone else was inside the house at the time.

Andy Picon is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: andy.picon@hearst.com Twitter: @andpicon
Good morning, Bay Area. Its Tuesday, Dec. 14, and The Chronicles Food and Wine team has fascinating bagel-making videos for you. Heres what you need to know to start your day.

Starting Wednesday, face coverings will again be mandatory when inside in California.

With the rise of the omicron variant and rapid spreading of the delta variant, COVID shows no signs of stopping. Case rates are still up across the Bay Area. Public health experts expect things to only get worse if people continue cramming into indoor venues without a mask.

The new state mandate supersedes the vastly different local mask rules. In the Bay Area, that means saying goodbye to mask-free gyms and offices.

Heres how long the mask mandate lasts, and more about why the state has decided now to change the rules.

 Get more coronavirus coverage with The Chronicles live updates.

 UCSF epidemiologists share their predictions for COVID in 2022 with reporter Erin Allday and Fifth and Mission host Cecilia Lei.

 With omicron and the new statewide mask mandate, should you upgrade your mask?

 Opinion: A year with COVID vaccines and were not even close to ending a global pandemic, Monica Gandhi and Michael Wilkes write.

Where next?

Gabrielle Lurie/The Chronicle

For the Bell family, the last five years have been difficult. Robbed in their native Haiti, jobless in Chile, they set out by bus and foot after hearing the rumors there was work to be found in the U.S.

Diatha Bell and her two daughters eventually made it to Oakland. Five years after they left Haiti, the family is just a few weeks away from homelessness.

People who experience homelessness in the Bay Area face a labyrinth in trying to get adequate support to get off the streets. But those who are undocumented or seeking asylum dont qualify for many forms of help.

Reporter Deepa Fernandes has the story.

Around the Bay

Gabrielle Lurie/The Chronicle

 Weather update: The atmospheric river has filled these Bay Area creeks to the brim. Plus: Snow is pummeling Lake Tahoe, with several more feet expected later this week.

 Homelessness: As rain and wind continue to whip the region, unhoused people in Sausalito are struggling to find places to pitch their tents.

 Busted: More than a dozen people linked to a catalytic converter theft ring were arrested in the South Bay.

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.

 Fast food fight: A San Francisco Burger King franchisee was fined $1.9 million for wage theft that affected more than 200 employees.

 Accountability project: San Francisco Mayor London Breed is introducing an ambitious plan threatening to withhold city funding from schools if the school board doesnt shape up.

 Data dive: California businesses are using less electricity, but energy use is way up for residents.

 From Joe Garofoli: Forget the Boston Tea Party. Here comes the California Weed Tax Revolt.

What to eat

Jessica Christian/The Chronicle

After watching and reading this visual essay on how Berkeleys Boichik Bagels turns out thousands of baked goods a day, you might want to reach for the schmear.

Reporter Elena Kadvany and photographer Jessica Christian go behind the scenes with the popular bakery to document how they get things done. If youre craving a good, malty, crispy-chewy bagel afterward, check out the Top Bagels list for the best Bay Area bakes.

If you want to plan ahead for Christmas, there are still restaurants taking reservations for the holiday feast. And if youd prefer a socially distant takeout option, eateries are happy to tailor to that too. Just flip through our Christmas 2021 restaurant guide.

Bay Briefing is written by Gwendolyn Wu and sent to readers email inboxes on weekday mornings. Sign up for the newsletter here, and contact the writer at gwendolyn.wu@sfchronicle.com.
When Californias top fire chief Thom Porter finished his last official day leading Cal Fire, the state was still mired in an intractable wildfire crisis that not even a wet winter can erase.

Huge areas of blackened forest still conceal smoldering remnants of the more than 3 million acres that burned this year. Thousands of people who lost their homes have just begun to rebuild. Communities are still struggling to bounce back after fires from previous years. Researchers are still studying the lasting impacts of wildfire smoke.

In a brief interview, Porter admitted the immediate future may look bleak. Climate experts project California will endure another drought year. The projections show little relief for the states firefighting ranks enduring long deployments while battling multiple major wildfires at once.

Every year has the potential to be the worst fire season ever  it absolutely does  whether were in a drought or not in a drought, and thats California, Porter said. Thats the California Ive grown up in  Im fifth generation  and understanding that is just part of the deal.

Eight of the ten largest wildfires in state history have burned since 2017. Wildfires in recent years have broken records for destructiveness, deadliness and sheer size. Last year alone more than 4 million acres burned, and Cal Fire spent about $1.76 billion to fight last years fires. The state each year must demand long and grueling deployments of its firefighting ranks.

California leaders are largely in agreement about central components of a safer future: more managed fires to clear overgrowth and stimulate natural regeneration, persistent programs to battle invasive plant species and proactive reforestation programs to foster healthy ecosystems.

Cal Fires $2.9 billion budget reflects this. Theres much more spent on responding to fires than preventing them, but lawmakers are starting to see the need to invest in prevention. The state set aside just $80 million for fire prevention in its fiscal year 2017-2018 budget but lawmakers in September approved nearly $1 billion this fiscal year for wildfire prevention programs and committed at least $200 million each year through 2027.

But the challenge continues to be how to take action on those goals.

Porters successor must take up this mission amid increasing scrutiny over the agencys ability to tackle the states overgrown, drought-parched landscape.

Gov. Gavin Newsoms Office hasnt yet named a replacement. Chief Deputy Director Craig Tolmie is leading the department on an interim basis.

Assemblyman James Gallagher, a Yuba City Democrat whose district spans the northern Central Valley from the Mendocino National Forest to the town of Paradise, said the state must exponentially increase the amount of fire prevention work done. That must be followed by readily available proof its investments are working, he said.

Cal Fires work came under scrutiny earlier this year after Gov. Gavin Newsom drastically overstated how many acres had been treated with wildfire prevention projects, a discrepancy first uncovered by Sacramento NPR station CapRadio. Porter took responsibility for that error, claiming his agency didnt sufficiently explain the data to the Governors Office.

We have to be sure theres accountability that hundreds of thousands of acres are getting treated every year, Gallagher said.

Porters successor will take over at a time when its workforce is being asked to meet what seems to be an increasing scope of wildfire emergency each year.

Tim Edwards, president of the union representing Cal Fires 6,400 seasonal and permanent firefighters, said the agency must limit the toll these fire seasons are taking on employees.

He credited Porter with leading the agency through both a pandemic and wildfire crisis, but said he hoped Cal Fires next director will have more firefighting experience and be a better advocate for firefighters. Porter worked as a professional forester before joining Cal Fire in 1999.

The state needs more firefighters, said Edwards, who believes the historic crisis calls for a 50% increase in the agencys firefighting ranks. Edwards said firefighters are routinely on the fire line for 40 days at a time and given a brief break before being sent out again.

Edwards said he supports proposed legislation that would add 356 permanent firefighters and 768 seasonal firefighters to the states ranks. North Coast State Sen. Mike McGuire, D-Healdsburg, said he would introduce the measure calling for the $214 million investment in Cal Fire personnel.

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.

This is it, Edwards said. The norm is were having major devastating fires every year and its not going to go away. We need to allow the men and women of Cal Fire to be able to have relief and go home and recuperate.

Bill Dodd, a Napa Democrat, had previously called for Cal Fire to be split into two agencies, one focused on fire prevention and the other on firefighting. But Dodd said hes now convinced the agency can take on both roles, and he credited Porter with promoting that focus.

Rome wasnt built overnight, Dodd said. We went from zero to where we are today and I just believe that we will build on that every single year.

Porter agreed Cal Fire needs hundreds and hundreds more firefighters.

And he acknowledged criticisms that the agency had failed to meet goals for acres treated through vegetation management programs. But he said the agency today is on track to meet its annual goal of treating 60,000 acres ahead of target year 2025. He suggested the metric shouldnt be numbers of acres but the strategic value of areas treated.

Porter, 53, who said he is retiring to move back to San Diego and spend time with his family, has repeated a mantra over the last several months that he believes every acre with vegetation in California can and will burn.

He said the effectiveness of the states efforts to limit risk for communities will take decades of persistent work. Foresters plant trees knowing the benefits of that labor wont be evident for 50 or 100 years, he said.

The ultimate test is the test of time, Porter said.

Julie Johnson is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: julie.johnson@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @juliejohnson
Paul Kuroda/Special to The Chronicle

An Alameda County judge on Monday dismissed all charges against Oho McNair, the man accused of sex trafficking a teenage relative of the Richmond police chief and her husband, an Oakland police sergeant.

Judge Don C. Clay dismissed the felony pimping and pandering charges against McNair, 34, who also goes by the name Joe Goldman, due to insufficient evidence, court records show. McNair was arrested and charged in October after Richmond Police Chief Bisa French and her husband, Oakland Police Sgt. Lee French, alleged that McNair manipulated their 18-year-old relative into becoming a prostitute on the streets of Oakland.
Russell Yip/The Chronicle

U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh of San Jose won Senate confirmation Monday to the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, becoming President Bidens first appointee to the court and the first Korean-American woman on any federal appellate court.

A 50-45 vote along party lines approved Koh, one of four Biden nominees to vacancies on the nations largest appeals court. One or two others are due for votes this week, said Carl Tobias, a University of Richmond law professor who tracks judicial nominations. Confirmation of all four would give Democratic appointees a 16-13 majority on the court.
When Gov. Gavin Newsom proposed allowing Californians to seek $10,000 bounties from makers and sellers of assault weapons and untraceable ghost guns, he didnt mention a basic difference between his plan and the Texas abortion law its modeled after: Unlike Texas abortion law, California already has state-enforced laws against those firearms.

While Texas ban on nearly all abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, in effect since Sept. 1, defies the constitutional standard the Supreme Court established in Roe vs. Wade in 1973, allowing abortions up to the point of fetal viability, it is enforced not by state officials but by private citizens who can collect $10,000-plus in lawsuits against abortion providers and anyone else who helps a woman obtain an abortion.

That design has shielded state officials from legal accountability for the laws validity. Last Friday, the Supreme Court allowed abortion clinics to file limited suits against state licensing officials, but left the law in place. The high court is separately considering a Mississippi law that could lead to a ruling overturning Roe vs. Wade.

In California, by contrast, Newsom is proposing liability for what is already illegal, said Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of the UC Berkeley School of Law.

As the governor put it in a series of tweets on Saturday, the day after the Supreme Courts Texas ruling, SCOTUS is letting private citizens in Texas sue to stop abortion?! If thats the precedent then well let Californians sue those who put ghost guns and assault weapons on our streets.

Newsom said he would propose legislation allowing private citizens to seek damages of up to $10,000, plus attorneys fees, against any manufacturer, distributor or seller of assault weapons or ghost guns in California. He provided few details, but the Texas law, on which his plan is based, does not require plaintiffs to show that they are personally harmed by an abortion and allows multiple suits for a single abortion.

If Texas can shield its abortion law from federal court review, the governor said, California will use that authority to protect peoples lives, where Texas used it to put women in harms way.

And even if the Supreme Court eventually overturns Californias existing firearms laws, Newsoms strategy would most likely allow the states courts to continue enforcing those laws, at least temporarily, said Khiara Bridges, a UC Berkeley law professor.

It might be years before people could possess an assault weapon or have a ghost gun, Bridges said.

State lawmakers in 1989 prohibited the sale of firearms the state defined as assault weapons  AR-15-style semiautomatic rifles and pistols with detachable magazines and specific features, such as forward pistol grips. Semiautomatic firearms do not require reloading after each squeeze of the trigger.

U.S. District Judge Roger Benitez of San Diego ruled in June that the ban violated the constitutional right to bear firearms for self-defense. But the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, which has overturned other decisions by Benitez striking down California gun laws, has allowed the assault weapons ban to remain in effect until it rules on the case, probably in the first half of next year.

California law also requires background checks and serial numbers on firearms sold in the state. San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin and state Attorney General Rob Bonta cited those laws in a suit against major manufacturers and shippers of ghost guns, the home-assembled, largely untraceable weapons that are being used in an increasing number of fatal shootings, particularly in California.

Unlike the case against the Texas abortion law, its clear who enforces Californias gun laws and will defend them in court against challenges by gun makers and owners: the state, represented by Bontas office. But in the Texas case, the Supreme Court prohibited abortion clinics and the federal government from suing the states attorney general, Ken Paxton, over the constitutionality of the abortion law.

The Texas law is an end run around an enumerated constitutional right, said John Donahue, a Stanford law professor who has written about firearms issues. He said he is uncomfortable with private bounty laws, like the one Newsom is proposing, but sometimes you have to fight fire with fire.

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.

Such fires could be widespread. At the Supreme Courts hearing on the Texas abortion law last month, Justice Sonia Sotomayor said the states private enforcement scheme, if upheld, would lead to similar state attacks on same-sex marriage and birth control as well as guns.

The Firearms Policy Coalition, a pro-gun group, voiced similar concerns in urging the court to strike down the Texas law, and cited those arguments when asked about Newsoms proposal.

The court filing accurately predicted that tyrants like Gavin Newsom would use the Texas model against fundamental human rights including the freedom of speech and the right to keep and bear arms, the organization said Monday. It said it was asking the Supreme Court to strike down a Maryland ban on so-called assault weapons that is similar to Californias law.

The court appears sympathetic to broadening its interpretation of the Second Amendment. As an appeals court judge, Justice Brett Kavanaugh dissented when his court upheld a ban on assault weapons in the District of Columbia. Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito have accused colleagues of undermining the Constitution by upholding other firearms restrictions.

If Californias gun laws are overturned and legislators approve Newsoms bounty-suit plan, state courts probably would still allow private citizens to file $10,000 suits, just as abortion providers can now be sued in Texas, said UC Berkeleys Bridges.

If there is no state official in charge of enforcing the law, plaintiffs (challenging the law) dont have a hook to get them into federal court, Bridges said. Eventually, she said, California courts would acknowledge the Supreme Courts decision, but in the meantime, rights declared by the nations high court  like abortion rights currently in Texas  would not be recognized in the state.

Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @BobEgelko
Nearly two dozen Oakland restaurants are adding a new surcharge to their bills next year: 1% to help feed the citys most vulnerable.

The new surcharge will arrive on Jan. 10 as part of nonprofit Community Kitchens Oaklands new Dining for Justice program. The money will be used to serve thousands of meals every month to people who lack housing in Oakland.

Food insecurity was an issue before the pandemic and its going to continue to be an issue after the pandemic, said Maria Alderete, who co-founded Community Kitchens with her husband Rich Mitchell. They also own Oakland restaurant Lukas Taproom. I cant go back to my normal business model without embedding something (to help people).

So far, 21 restaurants are participating, including barbecue staple Everett & Jones BBQ, hip cocktail bar Friends & Family and new Native American restaurant Wahpepahs Kitchen. Alderete hopes more will join next year.

Alderete believes this is a first-of-its-kind food justice effort, though Bay Area diners might be used to seeing 1% surcharges on their bills from state program Restore California. Started in 2019, that surcharge is focused on fighting climate change by giving money to farmers who want to adopt carbon-friendly practices. In both cases, restaurants have the ability to remove the surcharge if a diner strongly objects.

Adiam Tsegaye, who runs Oakland restaurant Mela Bistro, will add the surcharge in January and feels hopeful that diners wont push back.

The Bay Area is one of a kind  its really into community, she said. This is how you feed the community.

Tsegaye said Dining for Justice represents a sustainable way to help people in need without relying on grants and donations. Community Kitchens, which started during the pandemic as one of many relief efforts, currently receives funding to serve 10,000 meals monthly from Alameda County. But that funding is set to expire at the end of the year. If Alderete can get 25 restaurants on board with the 1% surcharge, the nonprofit will be able to prepare 5,000 meals each month, which then get distributed through community organizations like the East Oakland Collective.

Food Guide Top 25 Restaurants Where to eat in the Bay Area. Find spots near you, create a dining wishlist, and more.

The meals come from participating restaurants, which get $10 per meal to cover the costs of ingredients and staff.

Many pandemic-born relief efforts like Community Kitchens were billed as helping feed seniors and first responders while simultaneously keeping restaurants alive. Most of those programs are over, but Alderete said many Oakland restaurants can still use help. Her restaurant Lukas, for example, is down in sales by about 30% compared to normal.

At Mela Bistro, Tsegaye currently preps about 75 meals twice a week with options like beef stew with spinach and turmeric rice or a vegan Ethiopian platter packed with collard greens, split peas and colorful red cabbage. Working Community Kitchens feels therapeutic, Tsegaye said, because her family is suffering through famine-like conditions in Ethiopia.

I cant feed my family but what I can do is feed Oakland, my family right now, she said. Everybody deserves a meal with dignity.

Janelle Bitker is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: janelle.bitker@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @janellebitker
Update: On Tuesday, San Francisco was granted an exemption from the state mask rule, so that offices and gyms where everyone is fully vaccinated do not need to require masks. Read the latest here.

People in offices and gyms in the Bay Area must mask up again starting Wednesday, after California reimposed an indoor mask mandate in public settings for all residents, regardless of their vaccination status.

The state mandate will override mask exemptions in San Francisco, Marin and all other jurisdictions in the region, local officials said.

The setback was a disappointment for many Bay Area businesses, but officials said it was necessary in light of the surge of new COVID-19 cases and the looming threat of the highly contagious omicron variant of the coronavirus.

Our view has always been health and safety comes first, said Dave Karraker, co-owner of MX3 Fitness in San Francisco and spokesman for the SF Independent Fitness Studio Coalition, which represents nearly 80 neighborhood gyms.

The state rule is expected to be in place until Jan. 15, Californias Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly announced during a briefing Monday.

Vaccinated gym staff and patrons in the city were allowed to ditch face coverings in October for the first time since the start of the pandemic.

We had the longest closure and longest mask mandate out of any other business, Karraker said. Reverting back for one more month after a year-and-a-half is not that burdensome. Of course, folks dont like to work out while wearing masks  particularly if you are doing cardio.

California has always required unvaccinated people to wear masks indoors, but mask rules for vaccinated people have varied by county. That no longer applies.

San Francisco will comply with the new state requirements for indoor masking regardless of vaccination status, which begin Wednesday, the citys health department said, adding it will also suspend the current mask exemption for stable cohorts of vaccinated individuals until the state order is lifted.

JJ Miller, owner of San Francisco personal training gym the Firm, said reimposing the mask rule could potentially impact his business.

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.

Masks do stop people from working out in gyms, he said, adding that he felt it was unnecessary to reimpose the rule while COVID-19 hospitalizations remain stable in the region.

He said it could also lead people to revert to bad pandemic fitness habits.

People are bored working out at home, dont have proper supervision and have a harder time staying motivated, said Miller.

Restaurants and bars can continue to serve food indoors: People can still remove their masks while actively eating and drinking.

Hopefully this will truly end on Jan. 15 when everyone decides to make those New Years resolutions, Karraker said. When we were able to get back inside with training and fitness, even with masks, we saw an incredible influx of people coming back to our gyms. We dont think a mask mandate is going to curtail anyones fitness goals.

Chronicle staff writer Catherine Ho contributed to this report.

Aidin Vaziri is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: avaziri@sfchronicle.com
Worldwide vaccine inequity has been a topic of conversation almost since the moment the first doses were being offered to the public. And still, a year later, the worlds poorest countries are struggling to secure shots for their citizens.

One stark fact: 80% of the worlds vaccines have gone to higher-income countries, according to one estimate from the WHO Foundation, an independent grant-making organization that supports the World Health Organization. The most recent New York Times analysis puts the number closer to 73% for high- and upper-middle-income countries, while also noting only 0.8% of vaccines have gone to low-income countries.

Without worldwide coverage, health officials say, the pandemic will continue. They point to the recent emergence of the new omicron variant as a clear sign of that.

Still, it can be hard as individuals to know what or how to help; some have wondered whether its ethical for a healthy person to get a booster at all. To that end, the WHO Foundation has started the Go Give One campaign. With every $5 donation, the organization says it will be able to deliver one vaccine to countries struggling for supplies. So far, the organization has raised $10 million  enough for 2 million vaccines  and hopes thats just the beginning.

Some Bay Area companies, including Salesforce and Facebook, have agreed to match their employees contributions. Recently, the organization has secured a $1 million match from the ELMA Vaccines and Immunization Foundation.

Anil Soni, CEO of the WHO Foundation, said he was inspired, in part, by the progress made in addressing worldwide HIV/AIDS disparities when the public demanded that their elected officials act. We spoke with Soni about the program and why he thinks a $5 donation can make a difference. This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.

Q: How does the Go Give One work?

A: The campaign is simple. Go give one. It does what it says; it allows individuals to do exactly that. Five dollars buys a vaccine. The good news is that an international initiative was set up at the beginning of the pandemic. Its called COVAX, co-led by the World Health Organization. It is the initiative that buys the vaccines and delivers them to people in 100 low-income countries. The organization thats doing the buying takes no overhead, so 95% of your contribution goes towards the actual vaccine, and then its distributed equitably.

Q: What is the current state of vaccine equity worldwide  have we caught up at all?

A: We may be better than where we were, but were nowhere near where we need to be. So as of today, its December, people in America have been receiving vaccine doses for a year, which is amazing. Im grateful for that. Theres been 3 billion people vaccinated. Vaccine coverage in high-income countries is 60% to 70%. Vaccine coverage in low-income countries is less than 10%. There has been a backlog of manufacturing, and now that there is more product available, thats good news. But COVAX only has enough vaccines and funds to reach 20% global coverage. This pandemic will not end with 20% global coverage, so we need more money, we need more vaccines.

Q: Lately weve been flooded with news about the new omicron variant. How does that play into this campaign?

A: The world is interdependent, and as long as we have large numbers of people who are unvaccinated, you have an evolving virus, and that evolving virus, even if its on the other side of the planet, is affecting you no matter where you are.

Q: Are you worried, given omicrons emergence, youll start to see wealthier nations adding to their stockpiles, that it might actually set the cause of vaccine equity back?

A: Well, thats unlikely only because of the excess volumes that the U.S. and Europe already have. Its been shocking to me to see that currently every day you have eight times as many people getting boosters in rich countries than you have people getting their first dose in low-income countries. And thats because rich countries have plenty of supply. So by the end of this year, there will be about a billion excess doses, and thats accounting for boosters in rich countries.

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.

Q: Given such a dramatic surplus, why not focus on getting wealthy countries to donate their excess supplies rather than on these individual donations?

A: Thats not enough to vaccinate the world. COVAX is receiving vaccines in one of two ways: the donations from rich countries, and a lot have been pledged, and those pledges need to be delivered. And then its buying vaccines itself.

A lot of times people are overwhelmed by the numbers. They say, Wait, you need billions of dollars, what is my $5 going to do? What I really want to emphasize is that one, your contribution has a direct impact. So theres enough need that I can guarantee you that your contribution is going to turn into a vaccine thats delivered to someone in need. Two, the more of us who give in small amounts, the more our elected representatives are going to give in big amounts. So these things are related.

Q: The Chronicle wrote about vaccine equity when the booster conversation first started. Some people felt conflicted about receiving a third dose when so many hadnt yet received their first. What are your thoughts on that?

A: As a policy measure, I do think its important that we are not slowing down on delivering first doses to first responders in developing countries while we deliver boosters to individuals in high-income countries. But for an individual  so if Im speaking to you, Ryan, and youre like, Do I go get my booster or not? My answer to you is, you do. And when youre in line, give $5 to Go Give One. If that vaccine is available to you, and especially if youre vulnerable or there are people in your life that are vulnerable, youre not helping someone in Malawi by not getting your booster. But what you can do is help that person at the same time as youre getting the booster.

To donate, visit https://gogiveone.org.

Ryan Kost is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: rkost@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @RyanKost
California health officials are reinstating indoor mask mandates in public spaces for everyone, regardless of vaccination status. Find everything you need to know about the upcoming mandate here. Early lab results from around the world show a potentially dramatic drop in the bodys antibody response to the omicron variant among people who are fully vaccinated or previously infected.

Latest updates:

San Francisco offices, gyms get last-minute exemptions from state mask mandate: San Francisco offices and gyms where everyone is fully vaccinated will not need to return to masking, after California granted the city an last-minute reprieve from its universal masking rule. Read the story here.

Nevada confirms its first omicron case: State health officials confirmed Nevadas first case of COVID-19 caused by the omicron variant on Tuesday, in a fully vaccinated woman in her mid-20s who had not yet received a booster shot. They did not say whether she had recently traveled. The highly mutated coronavirus variant has now been identified in 35 states.

Vaccines prevented 1 million COVID deaths in US, study suggests: In the absence of a vaccination program, there would have been approximately 1.1 million additional COVID-19 deaths and more than 10.3 million additional COVID-19 hospitalizations in the U.S. by November, according to a report published Tuesday by the Commonwealth Fund. The study comes a year after the first COVID-19 vaccine was administered in the country. It adds that if no one had been vaccinated, daily deaths from COVID-19 could have jumped to as high as 21,000 per day  nearly 5.2 times the level of the record peak of more than 4,000 deaths per day recorded in January 2021.

Fauci says omicron will  for sure  become dominant variant: Dr. Anthony Fauci said Tuesday the rapid spread of the omicron variant will likely pose a challenge to the nations progress against the COVID-19 pandemic. Speaking to CNN Tuesday, the nations top infectious disease expert said that the highly contagious coronavirus variant will for sure become the dominant variant nationwide but hoped it would cause less severe disease. He said people should get booster shots as soon as possible. The regular two-dose mRNA dont do very well against infection itself, Fauci said. But particularly if you get the boost, it is pretty good.

Omicron cases tripled in California over the weekend: State health officials said there are 39 confirmed cases of the highly mutated coronavirus variant in California as of Monday. That is up from 13 cases reported on Friday. The recent emergence of the omicron variant emphasizes the importance of getting a vaccine, booster and taking prevention efforts needed to protect against COVID-19, the California Department of Public Health said in a statement.

Being fully vaccinated not enough anymore to protect against omicron: Early data shows the omicron variant is likely two to three times as contagious as delta, and that being fully vaccinated with two doses of Pfizer or Moderna or a single dose of Johnson & Johnson is no longer enough protection, Contra Costa County Public Health Officer Dr. Chris Farnitano told county supervisors Tuesday. Two doses give you some protection, but early studies are showing thats not enough anymore, he said. You need to (have received a booster) to have strong protection against omicron. If you thought you were safe with just two doses, that is no longer enough. Get your booster. Only 25% of county residents have gotten boosters so far.

Omicron detected in Contra Costa County wastewater: The omicron variant has been detected in Contra Costa Countys wastewater samples, Health Services Director Anna Roth told county supervisors Tuesday. Though we havent sequenced a (omicron) sample, we are assuming that we will be seeing cases coming soon, Roth said. Delta is still the prominent strain, representing 97% of the samples sequenced.

Cornell University shuts down due to an omicron outbreak: The university abruptly shifted all finals online, canceled in-person events and closed its facilities Tuesday due to a surge of omicron cases on campus. Our surveillance testing has continued to identify the rapid spread of COVID-19 among our student population, Martha Pollack, the president of Cornell, said in a statement. While faculty and staff case numbers currently remain low, just last evening our COVID-19 testing lab team identified evidence of the highly contagious Omicron variant in a significant number of Mondays positive student samples. There are 469 active student cases at the school, according to the Cornell Sun. The CDC reports that the new coronavirus variant is spreading four times as quickly in New York as in other regions of the United States.

Moderna exec says omicron is a real threat: The chief medical officer at Moderna cautioned British health officials Tuesday to not buy into claims that omicron is a milder, less severe version of the coronavirus, the Guardian reports. Dr. Paul Burton said Moderna officials are working to determine how well a booster shot of its vaccine will protect against the new variant but urged them not to underestimate its potency. The idea it will push delta out of the way and take over may occur in the future, but I think in the coming months these two viruses are going to co-exist, and omicron, which I would maintain is actually a severe disease, will now infect people on a background of very, very strong delta pressure, Burton said. He added, We certainly dont have to panic, we have many many tools at our disposal, weve learnt so much about this virus over the last two years, and we can continue to fight it, but I think Omicron poses a real threat.

Omicron spreading steadily in the US: The highly contagious coronavirus variant accounts for 3% of all cases in the United States, less than three weeks after it was identified in South Africa, according to data published Tuesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Last week, omicron accounted for approximately 0.4% of new cases in the nation. The new variant has been detected in 34 states so far.

WHO sounds the alarm over omicron: World Health Organization Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the omicron variant of the coronavirus has been detected in 77 countries but is likely in more. Omicron is spreading at a rate we have not seen with any previous variant, he said during a Tuesday briefing. Ghebreyesus also cautioned against the widespread assumption that omicron causes mild illness. Even if omicron does cause less severe disease, the sheer number of cases could once again overwhelm unprepared health systems, he said.

Fifth & Mission podcast  What to expect from COVID 2022: UCSFs Dr. Bob Wachter and Dr. Monica Gandhi talk about the omicron variant, holiday plans, and the future. Listen to the podcast here.

California 7-day average COVID case rate up 47% since Thanksgiving: The seven-day average COVID-19 case rate in California has risen 47% since Thanksgiving, state health officials said, and hospitalizations have increased by 14%. The increase could presage another winter surge, driven by people gathering over the holidays, especially given the onset of the omicron variant.

50 million COVID-19 infections and counting in the US: The United States has now surpassed 50 million COVID-19 infections since the start of the pandemic, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University. The country accounts for about one-fifth of the worldwide toll of 271 million cases.

How you can help end global vaccine inequity with $5: Worldwide vaccine inequity has been a topic of conversation almost since the moment the first doses were being offered to the public. And still, a year later, the worlds poorest countries are struggling to secure shots for their citizens. Without worldwide coverage, health officials say, the pandemic will continue. Still, it can be hard as individuals to know what or how to help; some have wondered whether its ethical for a healthy person to get a booster at all. To that end, the WHO Foundation has launched the Go Give One campaign. Read the full story here.

Cases among children surge 24% in a week: After a steady decline, there were 164,289 child COVID-19 cases reported for the week ending Dec. 9, according to a report published Monday by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Childrens Hospital Association. That represents a 24% jump from the prior week. Hospitalizations and deaths among children remain stable.

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.

Bay Area says goodbye to mask-free offices and gyms: People in offices and gyms in the Bay Area must mask up again starting Wednesday, after California reimposed an indoor mask mandate in public settings for all residents, regardless of their vaccination status. The state mandate will override mask exemptions in San Francisco, Marin and all other jurisdictions in the region, local officials said. Read the full story here.

California issues new travel advisory as COVID case rates rise: State health officials said Monday that, in addition to following CDC guidance on traveling, anyone arriving in or returning to California from other states should get a COVID-19 test three to five days after they arrive. The advisory comes as COVID cases rise in California and ahead of the upcoming holiday season, in which people from multiple households are widely expected to mingle.

Pfizer says COVID pill prevents severe illness: The drugmaker said Tuesday that the results of a recent clinical trial showed its COVID-19 pill reduced severe illnesses and hospitalizations in COVID patients by 90% when taken no more than five days after the onset of symptoms. The company said tests to date show the pill, called Paxlovid, is also effective against the omicron variant, though further study was needed.

What you need to know about Californias mask mandate dates and details: With coronavirus cases climbing statewide amid growing concerns about the highly mutated omicron variant, California made a sweeping decision Monday to reimpose a universal indoor mask mandate this week.The new requirement comes with the holiday season in full swing, with gatherings that could further fuel transmission of the virus. Find out what you need to know here.

Sen. Feinstein says return to indoor mask mandates make sense: Sen. Dianne Feinstein tweeted her support for the decision by California health officials to bring back indoor mask mandates amid the spread of the omicron variant. As the nation nears 800,000 COVID deaths and the omicron variant spreads, Californias decision to reinstate an indoor mask mandate makes sense. Vaccinations, boosters and masks can protect us this holiday season, but we must stay alert if were going to avoid another spike, she said.

No more mask-free offices or gyms: The state indoor mask mandate that takes effect Wednesday will override Bay Area mask exemptions. That means that people in offices and gyms in San Francisco, Marin and all other Bay Area jurisdictions must mask up again, local officials said  even if everyone is vaccinated.

California to reimpose statewide indoor mask mandate as omicron spreads: California will reimpose indoor mask mandates in public settings for all residents, regardless of vaccination status, starting Wednesday until Jan. 15, Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly announced Monday. Read the full story here.

How effective are todays vaccines against omicron?: Less than three weeks after omicron was identified and given a name, scientists already have the first evidence that the highly mutated coronavirus variant may be better than any of its predecessors at evading immunity from vaccines or previous infection. Read the full story here.

Risk from omicron  very high,  says WHO: Omicron will overtake the delta variant of the coronavirus in areas where community spread happens, according to a technical brief published by the World Health Organization, yet there are still many unknowns about the mutation. The report also said that available vaccines appear to be less effective against it. The overall risk related to the new variant of concern ... remains very high for a number of reasons, the technical brief said. First, the global risk of COVID-19 remains very high overall, and second, preliminary evidence suggests potential humoral immune escape against infection and high transmission rates, which could lead to further surges with severe consequences.
While the number of omicron infections in the Bay Area remains low, infectious disease experts say there are worrisome signs indicating things could soon change.

The number of cases in California tripled over the weekend, with the state health department reporting 39 confirmed cases of the highly mutated coronavirus variant as of Monday, up from 13 cases reported on Friday.

Contra Costa County Health Services Director Anna Roth told supervisors Tuesday that traces of the omicron variant have been detected in the countys wastewater, as well as in the South Bay and in Sacramento and Merced counties.

Though we havent sequenced a sample, we are assuming that we will be seeing cases coming soon, Roth said.

There have been a handful of confirmed cases in Alameda County and San Francisco, where the first known case in the United States was detected two weeks ago.

Its clear this is going to be the virus that takes over the world, said Dr. Warner Greene, a virologist and senior investigator at the Gladstone Institutes in San Francisco. We have to expect a new wave of infections. Its coming. Its just a matter of time.

Less than three weeks after it was identified in South Africa and named, the variant has spread to nearly 80 other countries and most states. The head of the World Health Organization said during a Tuesday briefing that omicron is spreading at a rate we have not seen with any previous variant.

There is disagreement among experts as to where the new variant will take the pandemic. Dr. Monica Gandhi, an infectious disease expert with UCSF, said during a Twitter conversation with The Chronicle on Friday that she believes it will be impossible to eradicate COVID-19. But if omicron proves to be less virulent, it will help create manageable endemicity.

What happened in 1918 is that either the influenza virus evolved to become less virulent or enough people got immunity, but it ended, Gandhi said. And so its very hopeful to see this continued pattern of milder disease.

Bill Gates also expressed optimism in a blog post last week: Its troubling any time a new variant of concern emerges, but Im still hopeful that, at some point next year, COVID-19 will become an endemic disease in most places.

Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director-general of the WHO, on Tuesday cautioned against underestimating the impact of the variant because of the widespread assumption that omicron causes mild illness.

Even if omicron does cause less severe disease, the sheer number of cases could once again overwhelm unprepared health systems, he said.

The best-case scenario is that as the virus continues to evolve, it loses its sting while spreading antibodies.

What the virus needs to do to survive is infect people, multiply in people, and spread to other people, said John Swartzberg, an expert in infectious disease at the UC Berkeley School of Public Health. So it doesnt do the virus any good to make us very sick so that we land in the hospital and were not infecting any more people.

The highly contagious coronavirus variant accounts for 3% of all new cases in the United States, according to data published Tuesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Last week, omicron accounted for approximately 0.4% of new cases nationwide.

On Wednesday, California will reinstate a monthlong indoor mask mandate in public settings for all residents, regardless of vaccination status, to help curb the spread of the variant as well as a potential winter surge driven by the currently dominant delta variant of the virus.

In South Africa, we saw omicron spreading more quickly than delta, so that suggests that its probably more transmissible and its probably able to evade immunity to some extent, said Nadia Roan, a UCSF immunologist and investigator at the Gladstone Institutes. When you look in the laboratory setting, you find that the antibodies that are elicited by the Pfizer vaccine are indeed less effective at neutralizing omicron.

COVID case rates statewide have jumped by a third since right before Thanksgiving, from 11 cases per 100,000 people per day to 14.7 cases per 100,000 people per day, according to data collected by The Chronicle. Hospitalizations have risen by a similar percentage during that time.

Experts expect omicron cases statewide to rise rapidly in the coming days and weeks.

It is highly, highly infectious. Not only for older adults but also younger people and kids. This virus is not distinguishing much between the ages, Greene said.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

The highly vaccinated United Kingdom, which presaged the spread of the delta variant in the United States last summer, recorded 59,610 new cases on Tuesday  the highest figure since early January. A day earlier, Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned of a tidal wave of omicron infections, and noted that the country has recorded its first death linked to the variant.

All the data we have points strongly in the direction that omicron is significantly more transmissible than delta, which was significantly more transmissible than the ancestral strains of the virus, Swartzberg said.

With the winter months approaching, Swartzberg said we could see a perfect storm of influenza, delta and omicron and we could see our health care systems overwhelmed.

A report published by the WHO on Friday said that available vaccines appear to be less effective against omicron. But preliminary evidence suggests they are still doing an effective job at preventing the most severe disease outcomes.

If you are vaccinated right now, and youre not immunocompromised, your chances of dying from COVID at this time are pretty low, Roan said. One potential problem is these breakthrough infections.

Boosters will also play an essential role in controlling the spread of omicron.

A British study found that two doses of Pfizer were only about 40% effective at preventing illness from omicron, but a booster increased that to about 75%. Thats still lower than the roughly 90% effectiveness of two doses plus a booster against delta.

Its becoming pretty clear you need a third dose, Greene said. This is not the virus we can just let spread. I think were going to have to take action against it. I predict we are going to need an omicron-specific vaccine.

Chronicle staff writer Catherine Ho contributed to this report.

Aidin Vaziri is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: avaziri@sfchronicle.com
Right at the deadline to pass a balanced budget to avoid state takeover, the Board of Education is considering a plan developed outside proper channels, based on an analysis of Long Beach Unified. They chose the right district to study but learned the wrong lessons. Long Beach has a reputation for keeping meetings short, focusing on what matters, and collaborating with staff. Long Beachs positive culture shows in its stable leadership: over 35 years, they have had only four superintendents, while San Francisco has had nine.

The proposals analysis is riddled with errors. It compares services that are direct and indirect, notes that San Francisco spends proportionately more on indirect, then asserts only direct services actually help students. This is wrong for many reasons: it doesnt consider what each service does; it overlooks that different districts categorize similar services differently; and it fails to recognize that because we are a county as well as a city, San Francisco must provide for itself services provided for Long Beach by its county office.

One element of their proposal has merit; The district should take a hard look at how much upper management staff has grown in the past 10 years. But this is just a small part of the total picture. If all 62 of the positions added over the past decade were eliminated, the annual savings would pale in comparison with the $125 million that must be cut.

Meredith W. Dodson and Patrick Wolff, San Francisco

The writers are executive directors of SF Parent Coalition and Families for San Francisco, respectively.

Not all Sunsetters

Regarding Judge rules contested Sunset District affordable housing project can proceed (Bay Area, Dec 9): there is no mention of the hundreds of Sunset residents who support the proposed building. TNDC community meetings Ive attended have both supporters and opponents.

As a Sunset homeowner who wouldnt want a large building nearby, Im sympathetic to neighbors. But even with a large building nearby, homeowners will have a secure, stable home with plenty of equity (even if values go down, as opponents claim). What about the 5,000 Sunset residents on the waitlist for affordable housing, not to mention the 8,000 unhoused in San Francisco?

Stable housing is a basic human need. If together we can find another solution to an out-of-control housing market, Im for it. For now, lets prioritize those who simply want a stable place to rest their head, raise their children, live their lives.

Leslie Roffman, San Francisco

Think about others

I consider it selfish on the part of the Archbishop to go about his life as though there were no virus still killing people in the world and this country. Giving Communion to the faithful while breathing on them in the closed confines of a church is dangerous.

Is the Archbishop masked when he distributes the Body of Christ? He is speaking directly in the faces of each person who receives Communion from him.

Roberta McLaughlin, Berkeley

No model of civility

Lately Ive been reading lots of praise for Bob Dole. My most vivid memory of him is giving a campaign speech during which he repeatedly spat out the word liberal as if it were the most obscene word in the English language. So the images of him crossing the aisle to work together with Democrats dont quite ring true to me. Granted, Dole was a lot more civil than several contemporary Republicans, but he still bears part of the blame for creating the divisions that plague us today.
Tuesday, Dec. 14 marks the one-year anniversary of the first COVID-19 vaccine given out in the United States. Since that time, over 8 billion doses have been administered around the globe. And yet only about 7% of those doses have been given out in low-income countries. The recent omicron variant, first reported in South Africa at a time when it was already spreading in other continents, emerged in the face of this global vaccine inequity; South Africa had a 25% vaccination rate in the country at the time of the variants discovery.

Essential new treatments for those stricken with COVID may be being denied to those living in poorer nations. Wealthy countries alone will soon have access to new oral antiviral therapeutics, one of which, Paxlovid, has the potential to protect the unvaccinated at risk for severe disease at a rate of approaching that of vaccination (89% protection from hospitalization and death). The world has not committed yet to expanding their use to low-income countries.

Advocacy to resolve these deeply immoral inequities cant be left to the World Health Organization and Doctors Without Borders alone. And so a collective of health care providers, researchers and students at academic medical centers around the United States  of which we are a part  has formed to work toward the goal of global equity in COVID-19 vaccines and treatments. We call ourselves White Coats for Global COVID Equity , and we believe that by urgently taking the following six steps we can immediately help end one of the greatest threats to global health in more than a century.

Waive patents for vaccines

Waiving patent rights temporarily on vaccines allows countries with limited resources to manufacture vaccines on their own. This is currently not happening. Instead, pharmaceutical companies that hold patents on COVID-19 vaccines continue to reap billions of dollars in profit. A World Trade Organization provision to waive patents during medical emergencies has existed since 1995. The U.S. government has indicated its support to temporarily waive patents. In October 2020, India and South Africa formally proposed to the WTO General Council that intellectual property provisions for vaccines be temporarily waived.

This request was denied.

Waiving patents for COVID-19 vaccines needs to happen now, with additional support for technology transfer. Patent waivers, especially for Moderna, which benefited from NIH vaccine experts and taxpayer money, are a moral, ethical and public health imperative.

Increase vaccine manufacturing capacity in high-income countries

Pharmaceutical companies are not producing vaccine to sufficiently supply the entire world. The U.S. could encourage public-private partnerships through voluntary licensing agreements or invoke the Defense Production Act to increase manufacturing capacity. Equally important is increased production of materials like the lipid particles encasing the mRNA in the mRNA vaccines.

Donate surplus vaccine doses

The World Health Organization estimates that countries in the G7 are hoarding at least 600 million doses of vaccine. Doctors without Borders estimates that 241 million doses will be wasted in these countries by the end of 2021 due to reaching expiration dates. Just in the U.S. alone, millions of doses have been thrown out after reaching expiration. Donations have been slow and far below promised volumes.

Support coordinated vaccine distribution strategies to maximize impact

The U.S. should work with COVAX  a global initiative to make COVID-19 vaccine access universal  and with other relevant agenciesand authorities to distribute vaccine doses in a way that responds to evolving local needs and maximizes impact. The U.S. should also provide resources to support the health infrastructure needed to provide vaccines.

Encourage philanthropy from the corporate world

We need to better encourage vaccine donations from high-income countries and pharmaceutical companies. A key component of this effort will be facilitating donations from wealthy companies to purchase vaccine supplies needy nations. The five Big Tech companies  Apple, Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Facebook  had a combined income of $1.2 trillion during the first year of the pandemic. Even a $25 billion investment (just 2% of that revenue) for Moderna doses would massively boost supplies for the world.

Avoid international travel bans and instead support early detection

Travel bans offer only short-term public health benefits  and only if they are applied universally to all places where variants of concern have been identified. More often they result in inappropriate blame and devastating economic effects and effectively punish scientific cooperation. The most appropriate strategy to mitigate the impact of new variants is to expand COVID-19 testing at ports of exitand entry and in high-risk communities; redouble efforts to improve global vaccination rates to prevent the emergence of future variants; and support global surveillance for new variants.

The points above arent temporary fixes: They will be applicable as future COVID-19 variants, vaccines and treatments emerge. As we celebrate the anniversary of the COVID-19 vaccine being given out in the United States, we are faced with the stark reminder that the world is little closer to its goal of ending the pandemic worldwide than it was a year ago.

U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres said in February that vaccine equity is the biggest moral test before the global community at this time. Doctors, researchers and public health experts like us across the country are uniting to lend our voices to that fight. We hope youll join us.

Monica Gandhi and Michael Wilkes are founding members of White Coats for Global COVID Equity.
Mayor London Breed is pushing an ambitious school board oversight plan that threatens to withhold city funding from classrooms if Board of Education members dont change their behavior.

San Francisco classrooms, under a proposed change to city law, could lose millions in city funding each year if school board members continue to micromanage, treat others poorly or persist in chasing short-term political wins, its backers say.

Breed announced the unprecedented and unusual oversight plan Monday, which would require majority support of the supervisors and then the approval of voters in June.

The Childrens First Initiative would also restructure city government by creating a new Childrens Agency, which would oversee two existing children-related city departments. The agency would be on par with the powerful Public Utilities Commission and the Municipal Transportation Agency.

This is about good government and accountability, Breed said at an afternoon news conference. Its about ensuring that the city dollars are being spent wisely. Part of that is making sure were grading ourselves ... and right now, were failing.

The measure signals Breed wants to keep a focus on children and keeping families in San Francisco, one of her signature issues, while also taking on a controversial school board facing a $125 million deficit and a recall of three members. The mayor frequently criticized the board during the pandemic for failing to reopen classrooms while focusing on renaming schools and other policies that critics considered political or symbolic.

The school board has often focused on the wrong thing at the expense of the big picture, Breed said. I know as a result of this, people have been frustrated and lost faith.

School board Vice President Faauuga Moliga, whom Breed initially appointed to the position to fill a vacancy, panned the idea.

I have been talking with many people about their concerns regarding the school board on the campaign trail, said Moliga, who faces a recall vote in February, along with board President Gabriela Lopez and board member Alison Collins. I have not heard anyone say that mayoral control over our public schools is the answer.

Breed supports the recall of all three board members.

If passed, it would essentially force the school board to change how it operates and how members conduct themselves  to govern and not micromanage, if they want the discretionary cash, according to an overview of the measure.

In recent years, that optional funding has pushed tens of millions of dollars into district coffers.

The school board would be required to submit an annual report verifying they have followed the requirements to get the funding, according to an overview.

Breed is expected to introduce the charter amendment to the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday.

The education half of the two-part initiative would force the school board to comply with its own policies and models of good governance, rather than political activism, said former board member Rachel Norton.

This has been an issue for a long time  the board not acting as a governance body, its acting as an activist body, she said. If voters approve it, all theyre asking is for the board to focus on its core responsibilities.

That includes fiscal oversight, high-level policy making and community engagement. It would mean fewer board actions garnering headlines, she said, referring to the boards failed efforts to rename 44 schools, change Lowells admission process and cover up a historic mural.

Its too bad the mayor feels she has no choice, Norton said.

Supporters of those efforts, however, have lauded the board for addressing issues of racial injustice by, among other actions, acknowledging the feelings of students who are forced to walk by a controversial school mural, or attend a school named after a slave holder or colonizer. The changes at Lowell resulted in an incoming class with more Black and Hispanic students combined than at any time in at least 25 years.

The question is whether that is in the job description of a school board. Supporters say students cant learn if they dont feel safe while critics say those moves are outside the scope of the boards duties.

Breeds effort to sort out the role of the school board is bold and unusual and could become a national model, said Mike Kirst, former president of the state Board of Education and an advocate of school board reform.

Currently, most school boards play a legislative role in setting policy and an executive role that includes hiring and firing low-level staff, including principals. Boards also approve expenditures, even relatively small ones, and decide on expulsions, Kirst said.

That means school boards meet several times a month, with meetings often lasting several hours and going past midnight, which restricts who can serve, he said.

You get to a point where youre doing so many things youre not doing anything very well, he said.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

To get city funding, the board would be required to go through training to gain expertise. The measure requires in several instances for the board to follow its own adopted policies regarding good governance, including modeling the highest standard of conduct and efficacy.

The board has lost three lawsuits that challenged decisions made without following legal procedures. In addition, Collins sued the district and five board members for $87 million after they removed her from the vice presidency and committees following the discovery of anti-Asian tweets. A judge tossed the case before the first public hearing.

Tensions between staff and the board have also created strife, with Superintendent Vince Matthews agreeing to remain on the job another year if the board signed on to an amendment in his contract requiring the seven members to stop micromanaging and behave in a dignified manner.

The city side of the initiative would streamline how the city provides services to children from birth to adulthood, with one agency overseeing the Department of Early Childhood and the Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF), with other departments or roles potentially added in the future. This would also help align or consolidate internal and outside efforts to serve children.

We have to get away from the system of 10 agencies serving families, Breed said.

Supervisors Rafael Mandelman and Myrna Melgar announced Monday they support the measure, although Melgar said she would like to add a few amendments. Breed would need five more supervisors to get the initiative on the ballot.

This is a measured and reasonable response to some of the chaos that weve seen coming out of the school district, Mandelman said.

During the pandemic, city departments, nonprofits, the school district and other organizations worked together to create learning hubs for vulnerable children when schools were closed. They also provide technology and internet access, address family homelessness and offer access to testing, vaccines and other resources, said Maria Su, executive director of DCYF.

Its that kind of cooperation and success the agency would replicate, Su said.

That could mean bringing mental health resources to preschools, after-school programs or even libraries, with one city agency coordinating resources, Su said.

Never let a pandemic go to waste, she said. We learned through this pandemic what is possible.

Jill Tucker and Annie Vainshtein are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: jtucker@sfchronicle.com, annie.vainschtein@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jilltucker, @annievain
Mayor London Breed wants to significantly boost the police presence in the Tenderloin over the next few months as part of a public safety blitz, which includes a crackdown on those who are selling drugs  and those who are using them  in the long-troubled neighborhood.

On Tuesday, Breed called for increased funding for police overtime to help pay for the move, which includes tackling the resale of stolen goods. She told residents last week that she believes policing is an important tool to address some of the neighborhoods woes, which include widespread drug dealing, a surge in fatal overdoses and a spike in gun violence.

Its time that the reign of criminals who are destroying our city ... come(s) to an end, Breed said at a news conference in City Hall on Tuesday, flanked by department heads and Supervisors Catherine Stefani and Ahsha Safai. It comes to an end when we take the steps to be more aggressive with law enforcement, more aggressive with the changes in our policies and less tolerant of all the bulls that destroyed our city.

The Department of Emergency Management will lead the two- to three-month intervention that officials hope will result in more sustainable changes. Increased spending for police overtime is just one component of the plan, which will also focus on basic infrastructure needs like more cleaning, public toilets and streetlights.

But the push for more officers will likely draw the most attention, landing amid a national reckoning over the role of police in vulnerable communities. It also marks a shift in messaging from the Breed administration, which for the past year has focused on creating programs that remove law enforcement from interactions with those struggling with homelessness, mental health issues and drug use.

Stephen Lam/The Chronicle

Breeds public safety plan comes as the Tenderloin continues to grab national headlines and the mayor feels heat to get the citys spiraling homelessness and overdoses crisis under control. It also lands a day after the mayor announced a plan to rein in the school board. Both initiatives could score her political points, but have also sparked criticism.

The mayors office said overtime pay will also be used for other priorities, such as deterring retail theft in Union Square. Breed also introduced legislation Tuesday, co-sponsored by Safai, to tackle reselling of stolen goods on the streets by prohibiting street vending in existing problematic areas such as UN Plaza and requiring vendors to post approved permits.

Breed also wants to change city law to allow police officers to access security camera footage during emergency situations, such as the Union Square thefts.

The bulk of the Tenderloin plan focuses on drug dealing and use. Mary Ellen Carroll, executive director of the Department of Emergency Management, whos directing the neighborhood response, said the current state of the Tenderloin is unacceptable. While she said the police will mainly focus on those selling drugs, sometimes we need help and support from law enforcement in dealing with the folks in the environment that drug addiction creates.

Breed said the effort will involve social workers, outreach workers, police, and community groups working together to offer wraparound services and connection to a new temporary linkage site where people can start treatment. She and police Chief Bill Scott stressed the city would continue to offer services but would not allow people to use drugs in public.

We are not going to just walk by and let someone use in broad daylight on the streets and not give them a choice between going to a location we have identified (for) them or going to jail, Breed said.

Breed added that my hope is that the district attorney, who were definitely trying to work with, will hold the people we arrest accountable.

To pay for the increased law enforcement, the mayor plans to introduce a supplemental budget proposal in January to increase police overtime spending in the current fiscal year. Its unclear how much extra funding will be needed, and the Board of Supervisors must approve the proposal.

The debate over police funding was a flash point in this years budget negotiations, with advocates calling to instead funnel those resources into social services that they said address the root causes of crime. Breeds proposal will likely reignite the debate around law enforcement funding.

The Police Department is currently more than 400 officers short, according to a Dec. 1 police commission meeting. The supervisors and mayor agreed in June to hire 135 more officers over the next two years, instead of the 200 requested by the police chief. The budget increased police overtime by $6 million this year, less than the $7 million the mayors office wanted.

Supervisors also boosted Breeds investment in unarmed community ambassadors and new Street Crisis Response Teams, which send behavioral health professionals to 911 calls for mental health crises.

Laura Thomas, the director of harm reduction policy at the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, said she was disappointed and discouraged by what she saw as a shift in approach from the mayor when it comes to policing.

Weve just gone through a national, long overdue reckoning of police, and weve been putting up these Street Crisis Response Teams, which all made sense to me and are evidenced-based approaches, she said. More policing is certainly not going to be improving the quality of life for Black, Indigenous, people of color who have experienced violence at the hands of police.

Supervisor Matt Haney said he met with Breed a few weeks ago about a broader Tenderloin plan but said Tuesday the budget supplemental request is new to me. He said he would talk with officials about what the goals and purpose of this operation will be.

During Fridays community meeting, residents shared with Breed their stress, fear and frustration. Some complained that police didnt respond to reports of crime.

Gloria Lemus, the emergency relief program coordinator for Catholic Charities and La Voz Latina, said more foot patrols would make her feel much safer.

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.

We need to have more police and security on the streets, to provide more for the clients who come to us, to have a little bit more under control, Lemus said.

Randy Shaw, executive director of the Tenderloin Housing Clinic, said the community has previously asked for more foot patrols, not to conduct mass arrests. He said police visibility deters brazen open-air drug dealing.

Other community members said Breeds plan will do little to make a sustainable change and would instead like to see more long-term housing and services for those struggling with addiction and homelessness.

Really? More police? I cant believe thats what her solution is, said Tracey Mixon, a Tenderloin resident who works with the Coalition on Homelessness. All youre going to do is just frighten people down here.

This is just the latest plan for the Tenderloin that Breed has unveiled after UC Hastings and a group of local businesses sued the city in May 2020 over street conditions.

Still, many residents say the neighborhood feels unsafe. Even Breed acknowledged that the significant resources have not made a difference.

We probably spend more money specifically on the Tenderloin community than any other community in the city. Millions of dollars down the drain that are supposed to make a difference for your lives, she said at the community meeting.

Amid police staffing shortages, people in the Tenderloin criticized the immediate mobilization of police in response to high-profile mass retail thefts in Union Square. By contrast, Breeds plan for the Tenderloin is just getting under way.

Christy Shirilla, director of community organizing for the community benefit district, said she hopes to see more foot patrols who get to know the Tenderloin community. While more police is not the ideal solution, she said it is likely the best option for now.

With such a quick turnaround time needed, at this point, Ill take anything we can get, she said.

Trisha Thadani and Mallory Moench are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: tthadani@sfchronicle.com mallory.moench@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @TrishaThadani @mallorymoench
The maddening hum of safety slats on the pedestrian handrails of the Golden Gate Bridge will finally be silenced under a recently released proposal by the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District.

The fix  devised and tested by bridge engineers in consultation with aerodynamic and acoustic experts  calls for attaching U-shaped aluminum clips containing a thin rubber sleeve to all 12,000 vertical slats on the railings.

The rubber will absorb vibrations where the vertical slats meet the horizontal rails, and reduce 75% of the vibrations that cause the bridge to whistle under high-wind conditions. The clips will be painted the signature bridge color of International Orange in order to blend in with bridges architecture.

The cost of fabricating the clips is estimated to be $450,000 to be covered by the operating budget of the Bridge District. Installation will be done by bridge crews as part of their regular maintenance schedule, at no extra cost. The plan will be taken up at the Friday meeting of the districts Board of Directors.

If approved, the project is expected to be completed by the end of 2022.

Since July 2020, the Bridge District has been trying to solve the whistling, which San Francisco residents started complaining about almost as soon as the safety slats were installed in the handrails in April 2020.

Many fixes were tested, including adding horizontal bars to the slats and adding coarse tape to the edge of the slats. The U-shaped clips have been by far the most effective of the remedies tested, bridge district officials said.

Sound studies conducted in nearby residential neighborhoods indicate that with the rubber cushion the sound of the vibrating slats would be indistinguishable from the normal sound of the bridge during all conditions.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

The slimmer slats replaced the original wider ones to give the bridge a slimmer profile and make it safer in high winds. Bridge officials also said the narrower slats were needed to ensure the bridges aerodynamic stability after the installation of suicide deterrents on the bridges edges.

Chronicle staff writer Michael Cabanatuan contributed to this report.

Sam Whiting is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: swhiting@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @samwhitingsf
LATEST Dec. 15, 10 a.m. After nearly four days, Nikita New is back home safe and sound as of Tuesday night, according to Christine Krolik, the vice mayor of Hillsborough and the head of the Facebook search group focused on News return.

According to a post Krolik made in that group, New got lost in her attempt to return back to Potrero Stage. As the sun set, she got frightened and did not ask around for help.

She finally saw someone with whom she is acquainted and approached them, and they drove her home, Krolik said.

It is not clear when New ran into her acquaintance, or when she was driven back home. New was not harmed.

She will be getting the care that she needs, and there doesnt seem to have been any foul play involved.

San Francisco police did not immediately respond to a request for comment from SFGATE.

Dec. 14, 10:15 a.m. Efforts to find a Bay Area woman who was last seen Saturday in San Franciscos Potrero Hill neighborhood intensified Tuesday.

Nikita New, a 28-year-old resident of San Mateo, was last seen with her friends at 2 p.m. outside of Potrero Stage just off 18th Street and Arkansas Street.

The group, NBC Bay Area reported, was planning to watch a musical at the theater  an original production called "Living Large," according to the Potrero Stage website  but New was not allowed in because she had lost her wallet and phone, which contained a photo of her vaccination card.

A friend told the news station that New was planning to meet them back at the theater when the performance was over," but she never returned to Potrero Stage at their agreed meeting time.

New was last seen wearing white shorts, a black jacket and a brightly colored backpack, according to a post on a Facebook group focused on News safe return. According to San Francisco police, New has brown hair and hazel eyes and is about 5 foot 1 inch tall. She also has a tattoo on her leg.

Anyone with information regarding New is encouraged to contact San Francisco police at (415) 575-4444.
A railroad merger nearly derailed this year by a bidding war is moving forward ahead of a final say from regulators on Canadian Pacific's $31 billion acquisition of Kansas City Southern railroad.

Canadian Pacific set up a voting trust that purchased Kansas City Southern Tuesday after shareholders of both railroads overwhelmingly approved the deal last week. The U.S. Surface Transportation Board will spend the next year reviewing the deal before deciding whether to give it final approval.

Executives for both railroads remain confident that the merger, one that will create the only railroad linking Canada, Mexico and the United States, will go through even though U.S. regulators haven't approved a major railroad merger since the 1990s.

"We are excited to reach this milestone on the path toward creating this unique truly North American railroad, Canadian Pacific CEO Keith Creel said Tuesday.

Canadian Pacific outmaneuvered Canadian National railroad to complete the deal it first announced in March even though Canadian National offered $33.6 billion for Kansas City Southern. Canadian National lost out in the bidding war because the Surface Transportation Board rejected part of its plan to acquire Kansas City Southern.

Even though the deal is still being scrutinized, Kansas City Southern shareholders will be paid $90 cash and 2.884 Canadian Pacific shares now. Canadian Pacific is also taking on $3.8 billion of the Missouri railroad's debt.

Canadian Pacific issued 262.6 million new shares Tuesday to complete the purchase. It also took on $8.9 billion of new debt this fall to pay for the acquisition. CP said it expects to pay roughly $21 million in interest on that debt during this quarter.

But even with the deal expenses, Canadian Pacific said Tuesday that it expects its earnings per share this year to be up by a percentage in the high single digits. The railroad believes volume will be roughly flat this year after severe flooding and wildfires in British Columbia disrupted rail traffic.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP)  Kellogg's is facing increasing political pressure to resume contract talks with its 1,400 striking cereal plant workers.

Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts sent a letter to the company's CEO this week urging the company to return to the bargaining table with workers at its four plants nationwide, including one in his state. That came just a few days after President Joe Biden criticized Kellogg's for threatening to hire permanent replacements for the workers who have been on strike since Oct. 5.

Ricketts said in his letter that the Battle Creek, Michigan-based company should recognize the contributions its workers have made during the pandemic by continuing to produce its well-known brands of cereal and try to retain them during this period when many companies are struggling to hire enough workers.

Despite the challenges of the global pandemic, they showed up day after day to do their jobs so that across the country there was food on the shelves," said Ricketts, the Nebraska Republican. "These workers helped Kellogg's increase sales and revenue (and grow net income by over 30%) from 2019 to 2020  a time when many businesses endured losses due to the financial headwinds of the pandemic.

Members of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union overwhelmingly rejected a contract offer from the company last week that would have delivered 3% raises and preserved their current health benefits.

Union members have said they remain concerned about the company's two-tiered system of wages that has been a sticking point during contract talks. The company said its offer would have allowed all workers with at least four years of experience move up to the higher legacy pay level, but union officials said the plan wouldn't let other workers move up quickly enough. And the company proposed eliminating the current 30% cap on the number of workers at each plant who receive those lower wages.

Biden said in a statement Friday he believes Kelloggs was undermining the collective bargaining process with its plan to hire permanent replacements for the striking workers.

I am deeply troubled by reports of Kelloggs plans to permanently replace striking workers from the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International during their ongoing collective bargaining negotiations, said Biden, the Democrat who has long been a strong supporter of unions. Permanently replacing striking workers is an existential attack on the union and its members jobs and livelihoods.

Throughout the strike, Kellogg's has been trying to keep its plants operating with salaried employees and outside workers, but it said after the contract vote that it would move forward with plans to hire permanent replacements.

Kelloggs spokeswoman Kris Bahner said the company believes its contract offers have been fair and it remains willing to negotiate with the union although no additional talks are scheduled at the moment. She said last weeks offer would have improved workers wages and benefits.

We are very disappointed that it was ultimately rejected. We have an obligation to our customers and consumers to continue to provide the cereals that they know and love  as well as to the thousands of people we employ, Bahner said.

The strike includes four plants in Battle Creek; Omaha, Nebraska; Lancaster, Pennsylvania; and Memphis, Tennessee that make all of Kelloggs brands of cereal, including Rice Krispies and Apple Jacks.
PORTLAND, Maine (AP)  Maine utility regulators will investigate allegations raised in a lawsuit against the parent company of Central Maine Power.

The investigation by the Maine Public Utilities Commission will focus on whether Avangrid's expenditures are being passed on to CMP customers, or could be in the future.

The lawsuit brought by a cybersecurity expert late last month accused Avangrid Networks Inc. and Avangrid Inc. of rigging bids, racketeering and buying unnecessary equipment so it could charge higher electricity rates and increase its profits. Avangrid denied the allegations, described the plaintiff as a disgruntled employee and filed a defamation lawsuit.

The announcement by the PUC on Monday, first reported by the Portland Press Herald, comes after a bipartisan group of legislators called on the PUC to launch an immediate investigation.

The developments come after permits were suspended for CMPs $1 billion power line in western Maine and some legislators seek to replace the privately owned company with a consumer-owned utility.
LONDON (AP)  Proposed British rules aimed at cracking down on harmful online content should be beefed up with tougher measures like making it illegal to send unsolicited graphic images, requiring porn sites to ensure children can't gain access and moving faster to hold tech executives criminally liable for failing to uphold the regulations, lawmakers said in a new report.

The committee of lawmakers recommended a series of major changes to the U.K. government's draft online safety bill early Tuesday that would make digital and social media companies more responsible for protecting users from child abuse, racist content and other harmful material found on their platforms.

The proposals by Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government and similar rules that the European Union is working on underline how Europe is at the vanguard of the global movement to rein in the power of digital giants like Google and Facebook parent Meta Platforms.

The committee of British lawmakers is scrutinizing the draft bill to offer recommendations on how the government can improve it before it's presented to Parliament next year for approval.

The era of self-regulation for big tech has come to an end," committee chairman Damian Collins said. The companies are clearly responsible for services they have designed and profit from, and need to be held to account for the decisions they make."

The committee has been hearing evidence from tech executives, researchers and whistleblowers such as former Facebook data scientist Frances Haugen, whose revelations alleging that the company put profits ahead of safety have galvanized legislative and regulatory efforts around the world to clamp down on online hate speech and misinformation.

Under the proposed rules, the U.K.'s communications regulator, Ofcom, would be appointed to investigate internet companies for any breaches, with the power to impose fines of up 18 million pounds ($24 million) or 10% of a company's annual revenue, whichever is higher.

Criminal offenses should be drawn up to cover new online crimes such as cyberflashing  sending someone unsolicited graphic images  or sending flashing images to someone with epilepsy with the intention of causing a seizure, the report said.

Internet companies would have to follow codes of conduct on areas like child exploitation and terrorism and would be required to carry out risk assessments for algorithms recommending videos and other content to users that could lead them down rabbit holes filled with false information.

To protect children from accessing online porn, websites should use "age assurance" technology to ensure users are old enough to be on the site, the report said. To ease concerns it would result in a data grab by big tech companies dominating the verification systems, the report advised Ofcom to set standards to protect privacy and restrict the amount of information they can collect.

One of the more controversial parts of the British government's proposal is a provision holding senior managers at internet companies criminally liable for failing to give regulators information needed to assess whether they're complying with the rules, which would kick in after a two-year review period.

That's raised concerns tech companies would use the time to stall instead of complying, spurring digital minister Nadine Dorries to vow to make it happen under a much shorter timeframe" of up to six months  something the committee backed.

However, digital rights groups and tech companies have warned that the provision could have unintended consequences. Google said it would be an incentive for companies to use automated systems to take down content at scale to protect themselves from prosecution.

Authoritarian countries could look to the U.K. rules as justification for threatening staff to get political speech and journalistic content taken down that their leaders don't like, Twitter's senior director of global public policy strategy, Nick Pickles, told the committee in October.

The government has two months to respond to the committee's report before presenting it to Parliament for approval.

___

Follow Kelvin Chan on Twitter.

___

See all of APs tech coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/technology.
A couple living on Californias Lost Coast hit the mushroom jackpot this year when chanterelles  one of the most desirable kinds of edible wild mushrooms  exploded across the mountains near Petrolia, a small town about 250 miles north of San Francisco.

Dan Gebhart and Jordan Anderson have been exploring and working in the outdoors for more than a decade, but this years chanterelle abundance floored them.

Weve never seen anything like it, Anderson told SFGATE. It felt like we found the best-kept secret in the forest. Bright orange everywhere...Id say we got between 200 and 250 pounds between the two of us.

At the grocery store, where chanterelles sell for more than $18 a pound, that many mushrooms would bring in around $4,000.

Courtesy of Jordan Anderson

Chanterelles are beloved for their yellow-orange color, delicate flavor and relatively large size. Unlike other wild mushrooms, chanterelles have largely defied cultivation, which makes them all the more coveted.

Because theyre often waterlogged upon discovery, people like to dry saute them before adding spices and a variety of other ingredients, often including a whole lot of butter. Theyre great for a cream of mushroom soup, as a side dish or even ground into powder.

Thats what Gebhart and Anderson have transformed much of their haul into, for the purpose of creating a mushroom salt and gifting that to friends and family for Christmas.

I like to give them away, says Gebhart.

Courtesy of Jordan Anderson

Because Gebhart and Anderson arent professional mushroom foragers  and because they found all of these chanterelles on private property belonging to friends and neighbors  they have little need for secrecy.

The best places to find them on the Lost Coast, Gebhart says, are a few miles inland at an elevation of between 500 and 1,500 feet, on north-facing slopes. They especially like the saddles of mountains or little dips and depressions where creeks might form. Old logging roads are great, too.

There are two species of chanterelles that grow on the Lost Coast, Anderson says: big fat ones that come up from under the duff, and clean pretty ones that grow above it. Those can be spotted more quickly, but thats less fun. Theyre too easy, she says.

Gebhart suspected it would be an incredible season for chanterelles when rain began to fall early in October and the weather remained relatively warm. Knowing the conditions were ideal, Gebhart and Anderson started looking around for chanterelles in late October.

Courtesy of Jordan Anderson

Gebhart builds houses and Anderson has worked as a firefighter, so they had no trouble trudging up steep slopes, through thickets and across creeks. All the while, they trained their eyes on the dark, dank places beneath conifers and oaks. On occasion, theyd spot a mound casting an unmistakable orange-yellow glow. More often than not, where there was one chanterelle, there would be more.

She doesnt believe me, but I can smell them, Gebhart says. They smell earthy, the way the forest smells when it's raining.

Over a magical month and half, they filled backpack after backpack with chanterelles, often reorganizing the mushrooms several times in an attempt to fit more. They took them back to Andersons cabin, rinsed them off and laid them out in the sun to dry. Then they placed them in cardboard flats, which quickly filled the home.

Every surface had flats of chanterelles, Anderson says.

Courtesy of Dan Gebhart

One day, while walking around behind her cabin, Anderson discovered another 20 or 30 chanterelles. They were just everywhere, she says.

Gebhart couldnt contain his excitement, and ended up posting a photo of himself with an enormous amount of chanterelles in the Facebook group Mushroom Hunters of Humboldt. He titled it, Chanterelle abundance and it quickly amassed hundreds of likes and numerous comments.

F&$#ing score!!!!!! wrote one Facebook user.

Ummmm can we be friends? wrote another.

People tried to buy some from Gebhart, but he didnt like the idea of selling them. On the day that he and Anderson drove to Arcata for their monthly grocery run, they brought chanterelles and went around like Santa Claus, dropping mushrooms off with people.

Courtesy of Jordan Anderson

Courtesy of Dan Gebhart

One particularly grateful woman they connected with via Facebook traded them some homemade grenadine and dried, canned tuna. That post was easily his most popular on Facebook ever, says Gebhart.

In the last couple of weeks, he and Anderson have been grinding down the remaining chanterelles, combining them with Himalayan pink crystal salt and distributing jars of the stuff to friends and family.

The chanterelle season is likely winding down, Gebhart says. But if more rainfall comes and it doesnt get too cold, then you never know when a new bounty could emerge.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP)  Aircraft maintenance company West Star Aviation plans to invest $17 million to expand its operations in Chattanooga, Tennessee, officials said.

West Star plans to create 100 new jobs through the expansion, which comes six years after the company established its Chattanooga operations, the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development said in a news release Monday.

West Star said it will retrofit one of its existing hangars to include a new design studio. The full-service aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul company also will oversee the building of a new 40,000-square-foot hangar, officials said.

Since acquiring its Chattanooga operations in 2015, West Star has expanded its employment at the Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport to more than 250 people, officials said.
TIRANA, Albania (AP)  A former Albanian environment minister has been arrested on abuse of post and corruption charges, the prosecutors office said Tuesday.

In a statement, the Special Prosecutors Office Against Corruption and Organized Crime said Lefter Koka was arrested following months of investigation and is accused of abuse of post, corruption and money laundry for a concession contract on an incinerator in the central city of Elbasan. He is accused of accepting a bribe of 3.7 million euros ($4.1 million).
LACONIA, N.H. (AP)  A small plane made an emergency landing at the Laconia Airport after the two-person crew noticed that one of their wheels wasn't working properly, airport officials said.

The plane skidded for about 250 feet on the runway Monday before coming to a rest, The Laconia Daily Sun reported. No one was hurt, and there was little damage.
A fuel tanker exploded overnight in Cap-Haitien, Haiti's second-largest city, killing at least 60 people and wounding hundreds more, officials said Tuesday, the latest in man-made and natural calamities to rock the beleaguered Caribbean nation this year.

Images showed bright red and orange flames licking at buildings in the dark night, charred cars and motorcycles on city streets, roofs partially blown off homes and the mangled remains of the tanker capsized in a ditch.

The blast in the port city some 124 miles north of Port-au-Prince caused extensive damage, Prime Minister Ariel Henry said in a tweet. He was headed to the coastal city on Tuesday with other government officials and doctors.

"Three days of national mourning will be decreed throughout the territory, in memory of the victims of this tragedy that the entire Haitian nation is grieving," Henry said in a tweet. "Field hospitals will be quickly deployed in Cap-Haitien to provide the necessary care to the victims of this terrible explosion."

Officials said that the death toll would probably rise as the true extent of the damage became clearer and issued urgent pleas for medical aid.

"I am dismayed by the tragedy affecting our city," Yvrose Pierre, a mayor of Cap-Haitien, said in a tweet.

Nelson Deshommes, a spokesman for the mayor's office, said he visited the scene of the explosion early Tuesday morning. First responders were removing corpses, including many burned beyond the point of recognition, he said, putting some into body bags and piling others onto trucks.

"It's sad," Deshommes said. "I could not stay. It's too difficult for me to see what's going on."

Patrick Almonor, one of Cap-Haitien's three mayors, said the fuel tanker capsized shortly after midnight, spilling gas into a ditch. As locals crowded around to collect some of the gas with containers, the truck exploded, he said. Firefighters arrived with 1,500 gallons of water, but could not extinguish the flames and had to call for aid from airport firefighters.

Almonor said the incident appeared to be an accident and that at least 20 homes had been burned.

"We have critical needs to take care of the burned people and clean the area," he said.

The explosion is the latest tragedy to strike Haiti this year.

The country, saddled by endemic poverty, is being led by an interim government after its president was assassinated in July. A massive, 7.2-magnitude earthquake the next month killed more than 2,000 people and injured scores more. Powerful gangs have stepped in to fill a leadership vacuum, kidnapping Haitians from all walks of life and worsening insecurity. U.S. and Canadian officials have urged their nationals to leave the country.

In recent months, the country had been left virtually paralyzed by a fuel shortage that hit hospitals and schools, which rely on diesel generators for electricity. Many businesses were forced to close, and transportation workers took part in a nationwide strike to protest the crippling shortages.

The growing stranglehold of gangs was in part to blame for the fuel crisis, officials said. Many had hijacked fuel trucks and kidnapped their drivers for ransom or blocked fuel distribution at ports in an attempt to get Henry to resign. Earlier this year, they had blocked the main corridors for convoys bringing aid to victims of the earthquake.

Deshommes said the largest hospital in Cap-Haitien is no longer operating after it was attacked by armed bandits in November, so victims from the explosion have been sent to other facilities, which lack critical resources. Local media reported that some victims were being cared for in the courtyard of one hospital.

"I did not see an ambulance on-site to take care of burned people," Deshommes said. "I did not see living burned people either."

- - -

Merancourt reported from San Salvador and Coletta from Toronto.
KYIV, Ukraine (AP)  A court in Belarus on Tuesday sentenced the husband of the country's opposition leader to 18 years in prison, six months after the trial began behind closed doors. The charges against Siarhei Tsikhanouski included organizing mass unrest and inciting hatred and have been widely seen as politically motivated.

Five other opposition activists were sentenced to lengthy prison terms of 14 to 16 years alongside Tsikhanouski.

Tsikhanouski, 43, a popular video blogger and activist, planned to challenge authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko in the August 2020 presidential election. He was widely known for the anti-Lukashenko slogan Stop the cockroach. He was arrested in May 2020, two days after he declared his candidacy.

His wife, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, ran in his stead, drawing tens of thousands of people to rally in her support during the campaign. Official results of the vote handed Lukashenko a landslide victory and a sixth term in office, but were denounced by opposition and the West as a sham.

The results triggered a months-long wave of unprecedented mass protests, the largest of which saw some 200,000 people taking to the streets of the Belarusian capital of Minsk. Lukashenko's government unleashed a violent crackdown on the demonstrators, arresting more than 35,000 and brutally beating thousands.

Tsikhanouskaya fled the country to Lithuania a day after the vote under pressure from the authorities. Other key opposition figures have also left the country, while some have ended up behind bars.

In recent months, pressure has mounted on Belarus non-governmental organizations, activists and journalists, with the authorities regularly conducting mass raids and detentions of those they suspect of supporting the anti-government protests. The majority of independent media outlets and rights groups in Belarus have now been shut down.

Commenting on the verdict in her husband's case, Tsikhanouskaya told The Associated Press that the dictator publicly retaliates against his strongest opponents, they're being repressed for their desire to live in a free Belarus.

We will not stop and will continue the fight with the dictatorship in the center of Europe, Tsikhanouskaya, who raises two children, added. I don't have the right to tell my children that they won't see their father for so many years, because I don't believe it myself.

Siarhei Tsikhanouski has already spent 20 months behind bars. His trial was shrouded in secrecy, with court hearings held behind closed doors and lawyers bound by non-disclosure agreements.

State media showed a tired-looking Tsikhanouski being led into the closed hearing, along with other defendants who include Mikola Statkevich, who ran against Lukashenko in 2010 and was sentenced to six years in prison after demonstrations broke out following that election. Statkevich was arrested again in May 2020 and on Tuesday was sentenced to 14 years in prison.

Another popular blogger who also stood trial alongside Tsikhanouski, 29-year-old Ihar Losik, was handed a 15-year sentence. Losik was holding a hunger strike in jail to protest his prosecution.

U.S. ambassador to Belarus Julie Fisher said on Twitter that it is clear whom the regime most fears.

The United States, alongside our partners, will continue efforts to secure the unconditional release of all political prisoners, including Siarhei Tsikhanouski, Ihar Losik and all those facing unjust detention and vengeful verdicts, she wrote.

Germany Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock called the verdict against the opposition leader in Belarus scandalous during a news conference Tuesday in Stockholm with her Swedish and Norwegian counterparts.

They disgrace the rule of law and the international obligations of Belarus (with) this ruling, Baerbock said, adding that Germany is calling for the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners in Belarus  the 900 and also the two who were sentenced today.

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Follow all AP stories on Belarus at https://apnews.com/hub/Belarus.
WASHINGTON (AP)  In a video released Tuesday, President Joe Biden spoke directly to the families of those killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School nine years ago, saying the nation owed families of mass shootings more than our prayers. We owe them action.

No matter how long its been, every one of those families relives the news they got that day, Biden said in the video. Twenty precious first-graders, six heroic educators, a lone gunman and an unconscionable act of violence. Everything changed that morning for you. And the nation was shocked.

A gunman killed 20 first-grade students and six educators inside Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, on Dec. 14, 2012. The 20-year-old shooter, Adam Lanza, killed his mother at their Newtown home before the massacre, then killed himself as police arrived at the school.

Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont called for flags to be lowered to half-staff across the state Tuesday in remembrance of the 26 people killed inside the school.

We will never forget the twenty innocent children and six devoted educators whose lives were taken all too soon that terrible morning, said Lamont, a Democrat.

Biden said it was one of the saddest days he and former President Barack Obama had in office. Biden said he found hope in the strength of the families and felt they could pass meaningful reform, but it came up frustratingly short.

And its still frustrating now, for you and me and so many others, he said, citing other mass school shootings in Parkland, Florida, and recently in Oxford, Michigan. In countless communities across the country theres these horrific shootings and make national headlines and embarrass us as a nation.

He said such shootings happen all the time, particularly in communities of color, and there is no mention in the news.

As a nation, we owe all these families more than our prayers, we owe them action, he said.

Biden pointed to executive action he's taken to stop the spread of so-called ghost guns and promote safe firearms storage. He also hopes communities use some of the money from the massive spending plan to help end gun violence.

A senior White House official said Biden shared frustrations expressed by many gun violence prevention groups that Congress is acting too slowly to implement new gun legislation. The official also pointed to the administrations multifaceted approach to preventing gun violence from enforcement to addressing systemic and root causes.

So far, Justice Department strike forces focusing on gun trafficking corridors in several cities  part of the administrations comprehensive approach to combat surging gun violence  have led to the recovery of about 2,000 crime guns, the official said.

The White House withdrew its nomination in September of gun-control advocate David Chipman to run the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives after he ran into bipartisan opposition in the Senate. His nomination had stalled for months and he was widely seen as one of the administrations most contentious nominees.

The official said the administration is also working to identify another highly qualified nominee to run the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

But the official said the Biden administration was still doing all it can, even without a confirmed ATF director, to reduce gun violence. The official wasnt authorized to speak publicly and spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also spoke of the measures Congress is trying to enact.

Nearly a decade after Newtown, an average of over 100 Americans are being killed by gun violence every day, shattering families and terrorizing communities across the country," she said.

"In the memory of all those we have lost, and strengthened by our survivors hopeful spirit, let us renew our resolve to build a world free from gun violence, so that every child may grow up safe, secure and able to reach their fulfillment.
CHICAGO (AP)  The only Black juror on the panel that convicted Jussie Smollett of lying to Chicago police said he couldn't get past what the actor did not do after he claimed attackers looped a noose around his neck: Rip it off and keep it off.

If others saw the noose as Smollett's clumsy effort to portray his attackers as racist, Andre Hope saw much more.

As an African American person, I'm not putting that noose back on at all, " Andre Hope told WLS-TV. At trial, Smollett testified that after the attack in downtown Chicago in January 2019, he returned home and put the rope back around his neck so police who came to his apartment soon after could see it.

Hope was not the only Black person who struggled with Smollett's use of such a potent symbol of racism in the U.S. to convince authorities he was the victim of a hate crime.

In an interview with NewsNation Now after Smollett was found guilty last Thursday, Eddie Johnson  who was Chicago police superintendent in January 2019 when Smollett said he was attacked  said virtually the same thing.

I was concerned because I dont think theres many Black people in America with a noose around their neck and wouldnt immediately take it off, Johnson said.

Hope said the evidence against Smollett was overwhelming. At trial, two brothers testified that Smollett recruited them to carry out the fake attack. Hope said the counter narrative put forth by Smollett's attorneys that the pair had actually planned the attack on Smollett did not make sense.

"When you just use your common sense as whats there, yeah it just, it didnt add up, said Hope a 63-year-old father of two who lives in suburban Bellwood, west of Chicago.

Hope listened to prosecutors argue Smollett staged the hoax because he was angry that the studio where he filmed the television program Empire did not take hate mail he received seriously. But after all the evidence was presented, after all the witnesses testified, Hope still has one big question.

I still have not figured out a motive for why he did, why this had to even happen, Hope said. He was a star.

Smollett faces up to three years in prison when he returns to court next year for sentencing. But experts have said it is far more likely that he will be placed on probation and ordered to perform community service.

That would be fine with Hope, who thinks Smollett does not deserve to go to prison. And, he said, he hopes the actor  who testified that he has lost his livelihood  would be given a chance to resume his career.
PARIS (AP)  The Paris prosecutor said 26 migrants have been formally identified, including seven women, a teenager and a 7-year-old girl, in the tragic capsizing last month of a boat in the English Channel that cost the lives of at least 27 people trying to reach Britain.

The identity of one migrant remains unknown, Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said in a statement Tuesday.

Investigators were able to confirm the identity of 16 Iraqi Kurds, including four women, a 16-year-old teenager and a 7-year-old girl. Amid victims were also an Iranian Kurd, three Ethiopians including two women, a Somali woman, four Afghan men and an Egyptian man, the statement said. The adults ranged in age from 19 to 46.

Their boat capsized on Nov. 24 off the coast of northern France, in what the country's interior minister called the biggest migration tragedy on the dangerous crossing to Britain to date.

Ever-increasing numbers of people fleeing conflicts 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.

The tragedy prompted a new political crisis between Britain and France, who each accused each other of not doing enough to deter people from crossing the Channel. European migration officials agreed to dispatch a plane to monitor the shores of the English Channel for migrant activity. They also pledged to work together more closely against migrant smuggling networks.

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Follow all AP stories on global migration at https://apnews.com/hub/migration.
BOSTON (AP)  Starbucks workers at two locations in Boston are looking to unionize, days after a successful union vote at a Starbucks in Buffalo, New York, a first for the 50-year-old coffee retailer in the U.S.

GBH News reported Monday at least 36 of some 47 employees at have put their names down on cards indicating they want to form a union, according to organizing committee members with the Workers United Labor Union. That's the same union vying to represent the workers in Buffalo.

A union representative said they filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board for both Boston stores on Monday to advise that there was enough interest from the workers to unionize. The stores are located in the city's Brookline and Allston neighborhoods.

Starbucks insists its more than 8,000 company-owned U.S. stores function best when it works directly with its employees, which it calls partners. Still, the company has shown a willingness to bargain outside the U.S., with workers in Victoria, Canada, ratifying a collective bargaining agreement with Starbucks in July, nearly a year after voting to unionize.

A Starbucks spokesperson, when asked for comment Tuesday, referred The Associated Press to a letter from company CEO Kevin Johnson from a week ago about going forward together as one Starbucks, grounded in the belief that partners are the heartbeat of this company.

The NLRB said Thursday that workers voted 19-8 in favor of a union at Buffalo's Elmwood Avenue location, one of three stores in the city where elections were being held.

A second store rejected the union in a vote of 12-8, but the union said it might challenge that result because it wasnt confident all of the eligible votes had been counted. The results of a third store could not be determined because both sides challenged seven separate votes.

If no objections are filed to those results, they could be certified as early as Thursday. If objections are filed, there could be a series of hearings and appeals that delay certification of the votes.
BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP)  The mayor of Vermonts largest city is defending his decision to clear a homeless encampment more than 60 days after the city served eviction notices on the people who were living there.

The comments by Mayor Miro Weinberger came at a Monday meeting of the Burlington City Council at which some members of the council and the public criticized the decision to close the Sears Lane encampment.
BEIJING (AP)  China has detected its second case of the omicron variant in a 67-year-old man who tested positive after more than two weeks of quarantine, official media reported Tuesday.

State broadcaster CCTV said the man returned from overseas on Nov. 27 and underwent two weeks of isolation, during which he repeatedly tested negative for the virus.

On Saturday, he flew to the southern city of Guangzhou where he maintains a residence and began another week of self-quarantining at home.

A day later he underwent a routine test and early on Monday, the district health department informed authorities he had tested positive for the virus, the station reported.

Further investigation at the city and provincial level determined he was infected with omicron, it said.

On Monday, authorities announced the first case of omicron in a person who arrived on a flight from Europe earlier this month and tested positive on Thursday while in quarantine. Poland's Health Ministry said Tuesday the traveler was a Polish teenager who flew from Warsaw to China.

Ministry spokesman Wojciech Andrusiewicz said the teenager, who traveled with her mother, was hospitalized in isolation. She shows no symptoms of illness. The teenager is in isolation in the northern port city of Tianjin, according to Chinese health authorities.

China has largely contained the spread of COVID-19 since it was first detected in the central city of Wuhan in late 2019. Authorities credit a zero tolerance" policy of strict testing, case tracing, quarantining and isolation for their success, with just 4,636 deaths from the virus officially recorded.
HONOLULU (AP)  U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said he is monitoring the Navy's handling of jet fuel contamination in its Pearl Harbor drinking water system.

In a statement Monday, Austin said he is personally monitoring the situation at a fuel storage facility in Hawaii, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported.

Nothing is more important to me or to this Department than the health, safety and well-being of our people and their families, as well as that of residents living near our installations, Austin said.

Austin said Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks will visit site this week. She will meet with Navy officials, state leaders and families affected by the fuel-tainted water.

My expectation is that military leaders in Hawaii will continue to do everything they can  as fast as they can  to return residents safely back to their homes and to communicate clearly and frequently the steps they are taking to do so, Austin said.

About 3,000 people have been removed from affected military housing. The Navy's water system serves military families, several schools and some commercial properties.

Last week, Hawaii Gov. David Ige ordered the Navy to empty its Red Hill fuel storage tanks, located above an aquifer. The Navy said it will challenge the order.
NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP)  Egypts foreign minister on Tuesday rebuffed a Turkish push for a two-state peace deal on ethnically divided Cyprus, saying that any talks should adhere to a U.N.-backed road map reunifying the east Mediterranean island nation as a federation.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said after talks with his Cypriot counterpart that regional challenges need to be countered based on international law instead of aggressive activities or expansionist tendencies.

Shoukrys remarks indirectly targeted Turkey, which Cyprus accuses of supporting a peace deal that would serve its policy goal of exerting its control over the east Mediterranean.

Cypriot Foreign Minister Nikos Christodoulides said that he conveyed to Shoukry his governments deep concern regarding Turkeys increasingly revisionist and destabilizing foreign policy in the region.

Cyprus was split in 1974 when Turkey invaded following a coup aiming at union with Greece. Only Turkey recognizes a Turkish Cypriot declaration of independence in the islands north where it keeps more than 35,000 troops.

Turkey and the breakaway Turkish Cypriots insist that a two-state deal is the only feasible alternative after nearly a half-century of failed talks aimed at a forging a federation made up of separate Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot zones.

Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar said a prerequisite to reviving stalled peace talks is the recognition of the breakaway Turkish Cypriot state as a legitimate legal entity on par with the internationally recognized Cyprus Republic.

Greek Cypriots fear a two-state deal would entrench Turkish control potentially over the entire island as well as hydrocarbon deposits off its shores.

Turkey doesnt recognize Cyprus statehood and says that much of the sea around the island where the Cypriot government claims exclusive economic rights falls within its own continental shelf.

The Turkish government says a unilateral Greek Cypriot bid to carry out drilling off its shores ignores its rights  and those of Turkish Cypriots  to the regions potential energy reserves.

The Cypriot government says Turkish claims contravene international law and the islands sovereign rights.

Peace talks have been at a standstill since the last bid to reach at an reunification agreement collapsed in the summer of 2017.

Colin Stewart, the new head of the U.N. peacekeeping mission on Cyprus, will host Tatar and the islands Greek Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades at an informal reception on Tuesday at an abandoned hotel inside a U.N. controlled buffer zone that cuts through the capital Nicosia.

The meeting is billed primarily as a social event geared toward breaking the ice between the two leaders in the absence of formal talks.
CHALMETTE, La. (AP)  Federal regulators have announced plans to make Louisiana and a suburban New Orleans fuel plant clean up emissions that have violated air quality standards since at least 2013.

The Environmental Protection Agency says a plant owned by Rain CII Carbon LLC of Stamford, Connecticut, spews sulphur dioxide into the air of St. Bernard Parish, The Times-Picayune / The New Orleans Advocate reported.

The plant in Chalmette said in March 2013 that it was responsible for most of that chemical in the parish's air, the newspaper noted.

The plant and Louisiana were given a cleanup deadline of October 2018, and the EPA says that hasnt been met. People have until Jan. 6 to comment on the proposal published earlier this month.

Rain Carbon Inc. did not respond to requests for comment, the newspaper reported.

The EPA proposal calls for giving the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality a year to submit a cleanup plan.

The agency cited the parish in 2013 for failing to meet sulfur dioxide standards  a complaint based on data from 2009 through 2011, according to the proposal in the Federal Register.

Past citations by the state agency have included at least $75,000 in fines and $7,200 in enforcement costs to settle almost 150 violations of state regulations between 2006 and 2013, the newspaper reported.

Rain turns an oil refinery byproduct into calcined coke, a rock-like fuel used to make aluminum. Coke production releases large amounts of sulfur dioxide, a colorless gas that can irritate noses and throats, impair breathing and cause lung illnesses. People with asthma, particularly children, are highly sensitive to sulfur dioxide.

State officials say Rain has significantly reduced emissions. But the EPA said combined sulfur dioxide emissions from Rain and other plants in St. Bernard still exceed the federal standard for sulfur dioxide. That allows no more than 75 parts per billion of the chemical during a one-hour period, with that average maintained for three years.

As part of a state plan required under federal law, the Department of Environmental Quality in 2017 and 2018 ordered Rain to change its manufacturing processes to keep sulfur dioxide levels in check.

However, Rain said conventional meters melted, making it difficult to find a way to monitor the heat and flow of gases and other materials.

In 2019, when Donald Trump was president, U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., joined the state agency in convincing EPA to delay the plan.

Now, under Democratic President Joe Biden, the agency is acting.
BRUSSELS (AP)  A ruling by the European Union's top court on Tuesday has boosted the rights of same-sex parents and their children in the 27-nation bloc.

The European Court of Justice said a child with two mothers certified in one EU nation must also be recognized by the other EU members as such.

The ruling was based on a case in Bulgaria, where a local court questioned whether authorities could refuse to register the birth of a Bulgarian citizen born in Spain to married mothers. The lack of such a Bulgarian birth certificate would impede the child's chances for an identity card and hence, their freedom of movement in the bloc, a cornerstone of EU policy.

This is a true testament to the EU being a union of equality and we look forward to seeing rainbow families enjoying their right to freedom of movement and other fundamental rights on equal footing to anyone else, said Arpi Avetisyan of Europes LGBTI rights group ILGA.

The EU court said Spain had already established the child-parent relationship through a birth certificate and that because of it, the two same-sex parents  be recognized by all member states as having the right, as parents of a Union citizen who is a minor and of whom they are the primary carers, to accompany that child when she is exercising her rights.

The court noted that in Bulgaria, where there is no same-sex marriage, the birth certificate has one box for mother and another for father where only one name may appear. The Bulgarian mother of the child objected.

Parenthood often remains a Kafkaesque challenge for same-sex couples who are faced with heaps of additional bureaucracy and other demands that traditional couples do not face.

Globally, the EU already includes 16 nations that have legal same-sex marriage, compared to about 30 nations overall in the world.

For the group ILGA, the ruling gives a legal backbone to last year's commitment by EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen when she came out in defense of LGBT rights and said If you are parent in one country, you are parent in every country.
MOSCOW (AP)  A top European human rights court issued a ruling Tuesday urging Russia to introduce measures tackling domestic violence against women, which it said is happening on a staggering scale amid systematic problems in securing prosecutions and convictions.

The European Court of Human Rights ruled in a case that four Russian women filed after suffering abuse at the hands of their partners, stating that Russian authorities failed to protect them from violence and respond to their cases appropriately.

The court found that Russia violated Articles 3 and 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which prohibit inhuman, degrading treatment and discrimination, and recommended urgent changes to domestic law and practice to prevent similar violations.

According to the ruling, such changes should include introducing a legal definition of domestic violence and its various forms, bringing in restraining and protective orders, and criminalizing all acts of domestic violence.

We won! lawyer and women's rights advocate Mari Davtyan, who represented two women in the case, wrote in a Facebook post.

It is not the first time the court notes Russia's failure to fulfill its obligations on protection from domestic violence, but this time the court clearly and in detail pointed out measures Russia must adopt, including legislation against domestic violence, restraining orders, protocols for assessing and managing risks, mechanisms of interagency cooperation and much more, Davtyan said.

There are virtually no legal mechanisms to protect people in Russia from domestic abuse at the moment. Existing laws address a wide range of violent crimes, but attempts to create measures that would prevent these crimes from happening have faced resistance from authorities.

Simple assault against a family member was a criminal offense only briefly in 2016 under a measure passed by lawmakers, but it prompted a backlash from conservative groups. As a result, it was decriminalized the next year and downgraded to a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of about $68.

Valentina Matviyenko, the speaker of the upper house of parliament, acknowledged in 2019 that rampant domestic violence was a problem in Russia and vowed to have a domestic violence bill by the end of the year.

One was drafted by lawmakers and women's rights advocates, but faced weeks of stiff resistance from conservative groups and the Russian Orthodox Church, which argued that the state shouldnt interfere in family matters. As a result, it was watered down and never came up for a vote.

In the Tuesday's ruling, the European Court of Human Rights also ordered Russia to pay the four women a total of over 450,000 euros ($507,000). Natalya Tunikova, Yelena Gershman and Irina Petrakova are to get 20,000 euros ($22,500) each for damages. Margarita Gracheva is to be paid 40,000 ($45,000) for damages and over 330,000 euros ($372,000) for medical expenses. All will get money for legal expenses as well.

Gracheva's case made national headlines in 2017, after her husband kidnapped her, drove her out to the forest and chopped her hands off with an ax. Doctors were able to reattach her left hand, but it only regained limited function. Gracheva lost her right hand and is using a bionic prosthetic.

Her husband is currently serving a 14-year prison term, and Gracheva has become a key activist in the Russian women's fight for a domestic violence law.
SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP)  A former Orange County sheriff's deputy is accused of throwing scalding water on a mentally ill inmate who didn't receive medical treatment for his burns for more than six hours, the county district attorney's office announced Monday.

Guadalupe Ortiz, 47, was charged with felony counts of assault or battery by a public officer and battery with serious bodily injury and could face up to four years in prison if convicted, the DA's office said in a statement.
ATLANTA, Ga. (AP)  An Associated Press review of every potential case of voter fraud in the six battleground states disputed by former President Donald Trump has found fewer than 475  a number that would have made no difference in the 2020 presidential election.

Democrat Joe Biden won Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin and their 79 Electoral College votes by a combined 311,257 votes out of 25.5 million ballots cast for president. The disputed ballots represent just 0.15% of his victory margin in those states.

The cases could not throw the outcome into question even if all those votes were for Biden, which they were not, and even if those ballots were actually counted, which in most cases they were not.

The review also showed no collusion intended to rig the voting. Virtually every case was based on an individual acting alone to cast additional ballots.

Voter fraud is virtually non-existent, said George Christenson, election clerk for Milwaukee County in Wisconsin, where five people statewide have been charged with fraud out of nearly 3.3 million ballots cast. I would have to venture a guess thats about the same odds as getting hit by lightning."

The AP review, a process that took months and encompassed more than 300 local election offices, is one the most comprehensive examinations of suspected voter fraud in last years presidential election. It relies on information collected at the local level, where officials must reconcile their ballots and account for discrepancies, and includes a handful of separate cases cited by secretaries of state and state attorneys general.

Contacted for comment, Trump repeated a litany of unfounded claims of fraud he had made previously, but offered no new evidence that specifically contradicted the APs reporting. He said a soon-to-come report from a source he would not disclose would support his case, and insisted increased mail voting alone had opened the door to cheating that involved hundreds of thousands of votes.

I just dont think you should make a fool out of yourself by saying 400 votes, he said.

As he weighs another run for president in 2024, Trump has waded into some Republican primary contests, bestowing endorsements on those who mimic his Stop the steal rhetoric and seeking to exact revenge on some who have opposed his efforts to overturn the results.

False claims of a stolen election fueled the deadly Jan. 6 attempted insurrection at the Capitol and have led to death threats against election officials that persist a year later.

The number of cases identified by local elections officials and forwarded to prosecutors, local law enforcement or secretaries of state for further review undercuts Trumps claim. They also underscore that there was no coordinated attempt to rig the election. Instead, they overwhelmingly show individuals acting on their own in an attempt to cast a second ballot.

Among the culprits in the massive election fraud Trump says deprived him of a second term are a Wisconsin man who mistakenly thought he could vote while on parole, a woman in Arizona suspected of sending in a ballot for her dead mother and a Pennsylvania man who went twice to the polls -- voting once on his own behalf and once for his son.

Election officials say that in most cases, those additional ballots were never counted because workers did their jobs and pulled them for inspection before they were added to the tally.

For its review, AP reporters in five states contacted roughly 340 election offices for details about every instance of potential voter fraud that was identified as part of their post-election review and certification process.

After an election is over, officials research voter records, request and review additional information if needed from the state or other counties, and eventually decide whether to refer potential fraud cases for further investigation.

For Wisconsin, the AP relied on a report about fraud investigations compiled by the state and filed public records requests to get the details of each case, in addition to prosecutions that were not initially reported to the state elections commission. Wisconsin is the only one of the six states with a centralized accounting of all potential voter fraud cases.

State-by-state details:

ARIZONA: Authorities have been investigating 198 possible fraud cases out of nearly 3.4 million votes cast, representing 1.9% of Bidens margin of victory in the state. So far, nine people have been charged.

GEORGIA: Election officials have identified 64 potential voter fraud cases, representing 0.54% of Bidens margin of victory. Of those, 31 were determined to be the result of an administrative error or some other mistake. The state attorney general's office is reviewing about 20 cases, but it's not known if those overlap with ones identified by local election officials.

MICHIGAN: Officials have identified 56 potential instances of voter fraud, representing 0.04% of Bidens margin of victory. The bulk of the cases involved two people suspected of submitting about 50 fraudulent requests for absentee ballots in Macomb, Wayne and Oakland counties.

NEVADA: Local officials identified between 93 and 98 potential fraud cases out of 1.4 million ballots cast, representing less than one-third of 1% of Bidens margin of victory. More than half the total  58  were in Washoe County, which includes Reno, and the vast majority involved allegations of possible double voting.

PENNSYLVANIA: Election officials in 11 of the states 67 counties have identified 26 possible cases of voter fraud, representing 0.03% of Bidens margin of victory.

WISCONSIN: Election officials have referred 31 cases of potential fraud to prosecutors in 12 of the states 72 counties, representing about 0.15% of Bidens margin of victory. After reviewing them, prosecutors declined to bring charges in 26 of those cases.

Additional voter fraud cases are still possible. While the AP review illustrates that such cases do occur, safeguards ensure they are few and that they are caught, said Ben Hovland, a Democrat appointed by Trump to serve on the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, which supports the state and local officials who administer elections.

Every credible examination has shown there was no widespread fraud in the 2020 presidential election, Hovland said. Time and again when we have heard these claims and heard these allegations, and when you do a real investigation you see that it is the exception and not the rule.

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Contributing to this report were Associated Press data journalist Camille Fassett in Oakland, California; reporter Colleen Long in Washington; AP state government reporters Scott Bauer in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin; Bob Christie in Phoenix; David Eggert in Lansing, Michigan; Anthony Izaguirre in Tallahassee, Florida; and Michelle L. Price in New York City; and other AP reporters in Michigan and Pennsylvania.
ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla. (AP)  While many companies are offering bonuses or higher pay as a way to lure and keep workers, a central Florida business is offering a drawing for two brand new and mortgage-free houses.

Mechanical One, which provides air conditioning and plumbing for new developments, is planning to hold the drawing next December, president and CEO Jason James told the Orlando Sentinel.

My passion is really trying to reinvent employee appreciation, James said. Our business model is really, if we take care of our people, they are going to do more for us than any marketing budget.

The company has bought two lots for the three-bedroom, two-bath homes and has set aside a $500,000 budget for the project.

James told the newspaper he thought about other incentives, such a giving away a car or a vacation. But then he decided he wanted his employees to be able to enjoy their own homes.

Many of our employees own a home already, but a lot of them rent, he said.

To qualify for the drawing, employees must be with the company for a full year and take a financial literacy class, paid for by the company. They also must perform 20 hours of community service at a nonprofit of the employees choosing.

They get a financial education, which helps them get to the goal of owning their own home anyway, and it has an impact on the community, James said.

The privately held company of nearly 100 people began operations in July, so no employees qualify yet, the newspaper reported. James announced the drawing during a Dec. 4 employee gathering.

The home giveaway is another in a series of steps companies have taken this year to fight against what some call the Great Resignation. Many workers who left jobs during the pandemic have not returned, and a survey by business consultants PwC found that 65% of employees are searching for a new job.

Many fast food chains have offered signing bonuses and corporations including Costco, Amazon and Chipotle have raised their minimum wages to $15 an hour or more.

James, 40, told the Sentinel he was inspired to create a company with an employee focus after a stint with Chik-fil-A, which has twice-yearly outings for employees and their families and has a low-cost health care plan.

He had been working in HVAC and plumbing for about six years before starting his own company.

James said he and other new CEOs are part of a changing of the guard in the industry, incorporating more smart technology in buildings and with a keener eye on the labor pool.

Theres a labor shortage in these trades because theyre skilled, he said. Youve got to have quite a lot of exposure and training to understand these systems.

Anthony Mitchell, Central Florida plumbing operations manager for Mechanical One, said excitement is already high throughout the company.

Theres nothing like coming home to the wife and saying, Honey, Im bringing home a new house, he said.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP)  Former Iowa state epidemiologist and medical director Dr. Caitlin Pedati has accepted a public health job in Virginia.

The Virginia Beach Department of Public Health posted a statement Friday announcing Pedati would serve as the coastal city's public health director beginning Dec. 10. Her hire was first reported by the news site Axios Des Moines.

Pedati left the Iowa Department of Public Health in October, citing an interest in pursuing new career opportunities. She began working for IDPH in 2018.

In the Virginia Beach press release, Pedati said she is excited to return to her home state.

A pediatrician with training in epidemiology, Pedati served as medical director and state epidemiologist, a critical role when the coronavirus pandemic reached Iowa in early 2020.

She initially appeared in numerous press conferences that Gov. Kim Reynolds held last year as COVID-19 cases spread throughout Iowa. Pedati's public role faded, however, as Iowa experienced a surge in cases involving the delta variant that has sickened more children and young adults.

Throughout the pandemic Pedati largely followed Reynolds policies even when they conflicted with medical science at the time. She was silent when Reynolds, a Republican, reopened businesses in May 2020 as the state continued to see high case counts and deaths. Pedati also didn't comment on Reynolds refusal to implement a mask mandate late last year to slow virus spread as recommended by medical professionals, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and a White House virus task force.

Reynolds authorized pay raises for Pedati that pushed her annual salary to more than $265,000 in the fiscal year that began July 1, 2020. Pedati also earlier that year received more than $55,000 in overtime pay, which normally wasn't paid to a person in her position, according to records obtained by the left-leaning Bleeding Heartland blog.

Public health district directors in Virginia can earn between $170,000 and $220,000, according to recent job postings.
PHENIX CITY, Ala. (AP)  A search for a missing 5-year-old girl last seen alive in Georgia has ended with the discovery of her body in Alabama, authorities said.

Kamarie Holland was found dead in the east Alabama town of Phenix City, a district attorney told WRBL-TV.
ATHENS, Greece (AP)  The Greek foreign minister on Tuesday voiced worries over potential plans by Spain to boost military cooperation with Greece's regional rival, and NATO ally, Turkey.

Nikos Dendias made the comments following talks with visiting Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares in Athens.

Last month, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his country hopes to increase defense cooperation with Spain  also a NATO member  through the purchase of a second aircraft carrier and possibly a submarine.

I expressed concern over Spain's possible intention to strengthen its military cooperation with Turkey, Dendias said Tuesday. He said European Union members have agreed not to export military technology that could be used for aggressive acts or regional destabilization.

Dendias added that Albares offered a clear position that Spain will act within the framework of decisions by the EU, to which both Greece and Spain belong.

Greece has embarked on a project to modernize its air force and navy, with major purchases from France, citing concerns over Turkish military activities. Relations between Greece and Turkey have deteriorated over the past year and a half over undersea gas exploration rights in the Eastern Mediterranean and migration.

Turkey is a destabilizing factor in the Eastern Mediterranean, Dendias said.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP)  The leaders of Gulf Arab states arrived in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday for their annual summit, a united meeting that comes amid heightened tensions over Irans nuclear program and after a yearslong boycott of Qatar.

The Gulf Cooperation Council Summit, previously a contentious affair given that three out of the six members cut ties with Qatar in 2017, follows a rare regional tour by the Saudi crown prince to rally support among neighboring allies.
SIDON, Lebanon (AP)  Hamas officials buried three of their members Tuesday who were killed by gunfire in a tense Palestinian refugee camp in southern Lebanon days earlier. The militant group accused members of a rival faction of the deadly shooting.

Ayman Shanaa, an official with the militant group, told mourners that Fatah militia members were behind the shootings, which he called a heinous and cowardly crime."

There are tens of thousands of Palestinian refugees and their descendants in Lebanon, most living in refugee camps. Fatah is the political faction of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas rules the Gaza Strip.

Fatah called the accusations arbitrary and misleading." In a statement, the group accused Hamas of inciting against its members in Lebanon before investigation into the violence is concluded.

The deadly violence took place at a Hamas-organized funeral Sunday in the Burj Shamali camp. Shanaa called it a premeditated crime that aims to undermine security and stability in the refugee camps in Lebanon.

The funeral was held in the southern city of Sidon and attended by several thousand people, many of whom raised the green Hamas flag.

Shanaa called for handing the perpetrators known to all to the Lebanese security agencies.

Lebanese security forces dont operate inside about 12 Palestinian refugee camps scattered around the Mediterranean country, where security is in the hands of Palestinian factions who often compete for clout.

The violence started after a series of massive explosions in Burj Shamali late Friday, which Lebanese officials said ignited in an ammunition depot.

Hamas, which is powerful in the camp, denied it was a weapons depot and said the explosions started with an electrical short-circuit in a storage area for oxygen bottles.

One Hamas member was killed in the explosions. During his funeral on Sunday, gunfire erupted leaving three people dead and several injured.

The source of the shooting was not clear at the time and Palestinian officials had different accounts of what happened. Shanaas comments Tuesday were the most direct public accusation against Fatah.

Tensions between Palestinian factions in Lebanon often turn into violence but are usually quickly contained within the overcrowded camps.

As a result of the tension, Fatah said it was ending all communications with Hamas at all levels in Lebanon.
WASHINGTON - The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol voted Monday night to hold former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows in criminal contempt for defying a subpoena, while also releasing a series of texts from Fox News hosts and Donald Trump Jr. urging Meadows to implore President Donald Trump to call off the violent mob.

The seven Democrats and two Republicans tasked with investigating the insurrection all supported the resolution that could be taken up by the full House as soon as Tuesday.

Last week, Meadows backed away from cooperating with the committee just days after saying he would, arguing that the panel was pressuring him to discuss issues that the former president said are protected by executive privilege. However, he had already produced thousands of documents for the panel, including text messages and emails related to the events of the day.

At a public meeting ahead of the vote Monday, members of the committee used information already provided by Meadows to make the case that he is a key figure in understanding Trump's efforts to overturn the election results, what role the White House played in planning the rally that preceded the attack, and why Trump did not immediately come out and forcefully call on his supporters to stop their assault on the Capitol once it was underway.

"History will not look upon you as a victim. History will not dwell on your long list of privilege claims or your legal sleight of hand," the committee chairman, Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., said of Meadows and others who are refusing to cooperate. "History will record that in a critical moment in our democracy, most people were on the side of finding the truth, of providing accountability, of strengthening our system for future generations. And history will also record, in this critical moment, that some people were not."

Some of the most dramatic evidence presented Monday night involved texts from allies of the president urging Meadows to get Trump to stop the rioters.

Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., the panel's vice chair, read through texts to Meadows from Fox News hosts as well as Trump Jr., imploring Meadows to get his father to "condemn this s--- Asap. The Capitol Police tweet is not enough."

"I'm pushing it hard," Meadows responded. "I agree."

"We need an Oval address," Trump Jr. wrote back. "He has to lead now. It has gone too far and gotten out of hand."

Several Fox News hosts also urged Meadows to get the president on TV or make some kind of statement while he remained silent in the White House as members of the mob assaulted police officers, chanted things like "Hang Mike Pence" and menaced members of Congress.

"Hey Mark, the president needs to tell people in the Capitol to go home . . . this is hurting all of us . . . he is destroying his legacy," wrote Laura Ingraham.

Brian Kilmeade also chimed in. "Please get him on tv," he texted Meadows. "Destroying everything you have accomplished."

And Trump friend and popular Fox News host Sean Hannity simply asked Meadows: "Can he make a statement? . . . Ask people to leave the Capitol."

The pro-Trump mob's storming of the Capitol on Jan. 6 resulted in five deaths and injuries to some 140 members of law enforcement. Those who rioted sought to stop the affirmation of Joe Biden's presidential win.

Trump eventually released a video after 4 p.m. - about two hours after the Capitol was breached - calling for his supporters to abandon their attack while saying he understood what motivated them.

"This was a fraudulent election, but we can't play into the hands of these people," Trump said in the video. "We have to have peace. So go home. We love you. You're very special. You've seen what happens. You see the way others are treated that are so bad and so evil. I know how you feel. But go home, and go home in peace."

Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said he was "particularly struck" by the text messages from fellow lawmakers asking Meadows to intervene.

"How did Meadows react to these cries for help? Whom did he tell? What did he do?" Schiff asked with regard to the former North Carolina congressman. "And, critically, what did the president of the U.S. do and what did he fail to do?"

Another text message displayed by Schiff during the hearing included a lawmaker acknowledging the effort to overturn the result of the 2020 election, telling Meadows they tried "everything we could in our objection to the 6 states."

"I'm sorry nothing worked," the lawmaker added.

This was a reference to the effort by some lawmakers to object to the certification of the election results, which some of the president's allies have said they hoped would buy time for Republican state lawmakers in key swing states to send a new set of electors who would endorse Trump.

Members of the panel were dismissive of Meadows's executive privilege claims, arguing he had already turned over information from his private phone and email account and has recently published a book where he discusses the events of Jan. 6. They said his testimony is needed to understand the events surrounding the worst attack on the Capitol since the War of 1812 as well as Trump's unprecedented attempts to overturn the 2020 election results.

"Did Donald Trump, through action or inaction, corruptly seek to obstruct or impede Congress's official proceeding to count electoral votes? Mark Meadows's testimony will inform our legislative judgments," Cheney said.

The committee in recent days has released slivers of information that suggests Meadows was involved in many aspects of Trump's attempts remain president despite losing the election as well as the protests his supporters planned in support of his efforts.

On Sunday night, in a 51-page report, the bipartisan committee revealed that it has documents showing that Meadows said the National Guard "would be present to 'protect pro Trump people' " on the day of the attack.

The report laid out the case for a contempt vote and highlighted details from documents that Meadows and his lawyer turned over to the investigation before Meadows decided to no longer cooperate with the panel. Among them is the email in which Meadows made the comments about the National Guard, adding that "many more would be available on standby" to protect pro-Trump demonstrators.

A committee vote to hold Meadows in criminal contempt comes after months of negotiations between the panel, the former chief of staff and his lawyer, George Terwilliger. The select committee has struggled to get those closest to Trump to cooperate with its investigation, including longtime adviser Steve Bannon, whom the Justice Department charged with two counts of contempt in November after the House voted to recommend charges against him in October.

Contempt of Congress is a misdemeanor criminal offense that can result in up to one year in prison and a fine of up to $100,000.

In its report, the committee said it wanted to question Meadows about text messages he exchanged with an unnamed senator about Pence's power to reject electors. In the messages, Meadows recounted a "direct communication with President Trump who, according to Mr. Meadows in his text messages, quote, 'thinks the legislators have the power, but the VP has power too' " to reject electors.

The committee also describes Meadows as "one of a relatively small group of people who witnessed the events of January 6 in the White House and with then-President Trump."

The committee did not provide more context on Meadows's communications regarding the National Guard, and it is unclear whether he had been directed by Trump to call on the Guard to protect his supporters. On Jan. 5, the day before the attack, Trump told a room of allies that he did not want violence. Several in the room took that to mean he didn't want counterprotesters fighting his supporters. Moments later, Trump tweeted a condemnation of antifa, demanding that the loosely knit group of far-left activists "stay out of Washington."

In a Monday morning letter to Thompson, Cheney and the rest of the panel, Terwilliger said a referral to hold Meadows in contempt would be "contrary to law."

"The Select Committee and the House should make no such referral," Terwilliger said. "I respectfully ask your indulgence to explain why such a referral would be contrary to law, manifestly unjust, unwise, and unfair. It would ill-serve the country to rush to judgment on the matter."

Terwilliger argued that the contemplated referral would violate the law "because a good-faith invocation of executive privilege and testimonial immunity by a former senior executive official is not a violation of 2 U.S.C.  192," the federal statute that authorizes Congress to certify a contempt citation to the Justice Department for criminal prosecution.

The committee, in its report, said that if Meadows had appeared for his scheduled deposition on Dec. 8, the panel would have asked him "a series of questions about subjects that we believe are well outside of any claim of executive privilege." More specifically, the panel said it would have asked him about his use of personal email and cellphones.

The committee also said in its report that Meadows spoke "nonstop" that day with Kashyap Patel, then-chief of staff to acting defense secretary Christopher Miller. "Among other things, Mr. Meadows apparently knows if and when Mr. Trump was engaged in discussions regarding the National Guard's response to the Capitol riot," the committee wrote.

In its report, the committee said it seeks more information from Meadows on text messages he exchanged with the organizer of the Jan. 6 rally on the Ellipse that preceded the attack on the Capitol. The organizer texted Meadows that things "have gotten crazy and I desperately need some direction. Please." The committee also wants to know more about messages Meadows received regarding "apparent efforts" to encourage Republican lawmakers in certain states to send alternate slates of electors to Congress in an attempt to undo Biden's win. In texts, a member of Congress told Meadows that the plan was "highly controversial," and Meadows texted back, "I love it."

The documents also show that Meadows forwarded claims of election fraud to Department of Justice leaders for further investigation - "some of which he may have received using a private email account."

Meadows, the committee's report claims, also reportedly introduced Trump to then-DOJ official Jeffrey Clark, who recommended to Trump that he be installed as acting attorney general and that state officials be told to appoint alternate slates of electors.

The then-chief of staff also reportedly "participated in meetings and calls during which the participants reportedly discussed the need to "fight back against 'mounting evidence' of purported voter fraud," according to the panel's report.
MILAN (AP)  Italian women are having dramatically fewer babies than ever during the pandemic, accentuating one of the worlds lowest birth rates, the Italian statistics agency ISTAT said Tuesday.

The month of January 2021, 10 months after Italys draconian lockdown, marked the lowest birth rate ever  a 13.6% decline over the same month a year earlier, translating to nearly 5,000 fewer births.
MILAN (AP)  Italys health minister signed an ordinance Tuesday requiring any unvaccinated visitor from another EU country to quarantine for five days after arriving in a bid to block spread of the omicron variant.

Under the new requirement taking effect Wednesday, vaccinated visitors from EU countries must get a negative test within 24 hours of arrival to circulate freely in Italy. Non-EU citizens who are not vaccinated must quarantine for 10 days.

Italian media reported that European Union authorities in Brussels have objected to the measures, which appear to circumvent the EU digital health certificate that confirms a person's vaccination status.

Portugal adopted a similar measure on Dec. 1, requiring a mandatory negative test for all flights arriving in Portugal, even for people with health passes and regardless of their point of origin or nationality.

Italy on Tuesday recorded over 20,000 new infections and 120 COVID deaths, the highest single-day death tally in the new surge.

In other measures, Italy is expanding the vaccine mandate, beginning Wednesday, to school personnel, law enforcement, the military and anyone working in a health care setting. It previously applied only to health care workers and anyone working in a nursing home.

The region of Veneto is expected to adopt additional restrictions next week, including outdoor mask requirements, as hospitals begin to restrict nonessential procedures. Two regions and one autonomous province are already yellow zones.

Italy has only officially confirmed fewer than a dozen omicron cases, all stemming from business travelers returning from southern Africa.

Some 77% of the Italian population is vaccinated with two shots, with the campaign expanding from Wednesday to children ages 5-11. Booster shots are available to anyone 18 and over five months after the second shot.

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Follow all AP stories on the pandemic at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic.
TACOMA, Wash. (AP)  The private prison company The GEO Group has been ordered to pay the Washington state Attorney General's Office nearly $4.5 million in legal fees, after the state sued to force the company to pay detainees at its immigration lockup in Tacoma minimum wage for work they perform there.

A federal jury ruled in October that detainees held at the Northwest detention center are entitled to minimum wage for cooking, cleaning and other tasks, rather than $1 per day.
SEOUL, South Korea (AP)  Friday marks 10 years since Kim Jong Un, the third generation of his family to rule North Korea, took power after his father's sudden heart attack.

Initially considered inexperienced, Kim quickly showed his ruthless willingness to consolidate his rule by having his powerful uncle and other potential rivals executed or purged. His torrid run of nuclear and missile tests in recent years caused many to fear a second Korean War.

Kim switched gears again and staged landmark nuclear disarmament summits with then-U.S. President Donald Trump, but their diplomacy collapsed because of disputes over U.S.-led sanctions. Now, with the pandemic and sanctions causing deepening problems, Kim has sealed off his country's borders and tried to fix its struggling economy.

As Kim enters his second decade in power, here's a look at key moments in his rule.

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HEIR APPARENT

Jan. 8, 1984: Kim Jong Un is born, the third and youngest of Kim Jong Ils sons.

September 2010: State media say Kim Jong Un has been made a four-star general in the first public mention of his name.

October 2010: Kim Jong Un makes his public debut at a military parade, standing next to his gaunt-looking father on a balcony. He smiles, claps and waves as goose-stepping soldiers, tanks and missiles move past.

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GREAT SUCCESSOR

Dec. 17, 2011: Kim Jong Il dies at the age of 69, but the news of his death is not made public for two days.

Dec. 19, 2011: Kim Jong Ils death is announced in a special noon broadcast on state television. Kim Jong Uns name appears first on the list of the National Funeral Committee, and he is called great successor by state media.

Dec. 30, 2011: Kim Jong Un is named supreme commander of the Norths 1.2 million-strong military, the first top job he's given after his fathers death. In the following months, he takes up leadership posts at other key organizations such as the ruling Workers' Party and the National Defense Commission.

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PURGES

July 2012: North Korean military chief Ri Yong Ho is dismissed from all high-level posts in what's seen as Kim Jong Uns first major purge.

December 2013: Kims powerful uncle and former mentor, Jang Song Thaek, is executed for alleged treason, corruption and other charges in what remains the highest-profile such move of Kims rule.

May 2015: South Koreas spy agency says Kim Jong Un ordered his armed forces minister, Hyon Yong Chol, executed with an anti-aircraft gun the month before for complaining about him and sleeping during a meeting Kim presided over.

February 2017: Kim Jong Nam, the estranged half-brother of Kim Jong Un, is killed at a Malaysian airport after VX nerve agent is smeared on his face. Two Asian women are arrested, but South Koreas spy service accuses North Korea of being behind the attack. The North denies involvement.

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NUCLEAR AMBITIONS

December 2012: North Korea says it has put a satellite into orbit in what outsiders call the North's first successful long-range rocket launch. The U.N. views such a launch by North Korea as a banned test of missile technology.

February 2013: North Korea conducts its third nuclear test, the first atomic bomb explosion under Kim's rule.

2016: North Korea carries out two more nuclear tests and its second successful satellite launch.

July 4, 2017: North Korea conducts its first flight test of an intercontinental ballistic missile, which Kim calls the Norths package of gifts for U.S. Independence Day. North Korea stages two more ICBM launches in 2017.

August 2017: Trump warns that North Korea could be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen. North Korea later responds by threatening to launch a salvo of missiles toward the U.S. territory of Guam.

September 2017: North Korea performs its sixth and most powerful nuclear test to date, saying it is a hydrogen bomb designed to top an ICBM.

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DIPLOMACY

April 2018: Kim Jong Un holds a meeting with South Korean President Moon Jae-in in the third summit between the rival countries since their 1945 division. The two leaders hold two more summit talks.

June 2018: Kim Jong Un and Trump meet in Singapore for the first summit between the leaders of the United States and North Korea since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War. Kim vows to work toward achieving complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula without presenting a detailed timetable or roadmap for disarmament.

February 2019: Kim Jong Un meets with Trump in Hanoi, Vietnam, for their second summit. The meeting collapses because of disputes over U.S.-led sanctions on North Korea.

June 2019: Kim Jong Un meets Trump at the tense Korean border, but their impromptu third meeting produces no major breakthrough.

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STRUGGLES

June 2020: North Korea destroys an empty inter-Korean liaison office in its territory in a display of anger over a South Korean civilian leafleting campaign. Its North Koreas most provocative act since it began nuclear diplomacy with Washington and Seoul in 2018.

January 2021: Kim Jong Un admits his economic development plans have failed during the Norths first Workers Party congress in five years. But he also threatens to expand his nuclear arsenal and develop more sophisticated weapons in protest of what he calls U.S. hostility.

April 2021: Kim Jong Un says his country faces its worst-ever situation because of the pandemic, persistent sanctions and natural disasters.

October 2021: Kim Jong Un vows to build an invincible military during a rare weapons exhibition that includes long-range missiles capable of reaching the U.S. homeland.
Seven young people who were detained at Vermont's now-closed juvenile detention center and another facility are suing state officials and staff alleging obscene abuse" at both facilities that they say state officials ignored.

Vermont closed the Woodside Juvenile Rehabilitation Center in Essex last year after a drop in the number of kids housed there and a lawsuit accusing the 30-bed center of housing children with disabilities in dangerous conditions, including the use of restraints, unsupervised seclusion and long-term isolation.

The latest lawsuit was filed Monday in federal court against 22 Vermont Department for Children and Families employees, including the former commissioner and Woodside staff. It alleges the abuse occurred regularly between 2016 and 2020.

On a regular basis, vulnerable children, some of whom had been physically, mentally, and/or sexually abused by caregivers before they were taken into state custody and sent to Woodside, were physically assaulted and sometimes stripped of their clothing by Woodside staff members who demanded compliance with their orders, the lawsuit states. The same children were often confined to isolation cells for days, weeks and sometimes months at a time, it states.

Complaints about misconduct were investigated and state officials were informed that the tactics violated state regulations but the abuse and isolation continued through August of 2019 when a federal court injunction ordered it to stop, the lawsuit states.

A Department for Children and Families spokesperson said the department had no comment Tuesday because of pending litigation.

Steve Howard, executive director of the Vermont State Employees' Association, said earlier Tuesday he hadn't read the documents so could not comment on the allegations.

The members I met from Woodside cared very deeply about the children in their care, in many cases they were the only family those kids had, and they were dedicated to helping them overcome the challenges they faced," Howard said by email.

Asked about the lawsuit during the governor's weekly virus briefing, Human Services Secretary Mike Smith said there was little he could say beyond that the state would answer the allegations during the legal proceedings. But he did say that within a month of his arrival at the agency in late 2019 he made the decision to close Woodside down.

The reason we were going to close that facility down is because it wasnt meeting the needs of the kids that were going (there) and we were going to go in a different direction, and we did go in a different direction, Smith said.

In New Hampshire in the last two years, more than 430 men and women have come forward with accusations against 150 staffers at the Sununu Youth Services Center in Manchester, spanning six decades. Eleven former staffers are facing criminal charges and more than 100 lawsuits have been filed alleging physical or sexual abuse.

In Vermont, the state proposed replacing Woodside with a six-bed secure facility at a former bed and breakfast in Newbury but a town board last month denied the permit, citing a lack of emergency services and conflict with the towns development plan. The state is appealing, WCAX-TV reported.

Howard said the lack of an instate secure facility has created an even more dangerous and chaotic situation.

The civil lawsuit seeks unspecified damages and the award of medical expenses related to the treatment of injuries. It was filed on behalf of six people and the caretaker of the estate of a seventh person who died of an accidental drug overdose in October, the lawsuit said.

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AP reporter Wilson Ring contributed to this report from Montpelier, Vermont.

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This story has been corrected to show the name of the state department is the Vermont Department for Children and Families, not the Department of Children and Families.
MILWAUKEE (AP)  The attorney for a Wisconsin woman sentenced to 20 years in prison on accusations she illegally prescribed opioids out of her pain clinic plans to appeal on grounds that a federal judge made a mistake.

U.S. District Chief Judge Pamela Pepper handed down the mandatory minimum sentence Friday for Lisa Hofschulz, 61, of Wauwatosa, after a jury in August convicted her of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances. The jury found Hofschulz, who was a licensed nurse practitioner, responsible for the death of one patient.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP)  An attorney for Nebraska Rep. Jeff Fortenberry argued in court Monday that the congressman's prosecution on charges of making false statement to federal authorities is politically motivated.

Defense attorney John Littrell said Fortenberry will argue that he's facing a political prosecution" for his statements to federal authorities who were investigating illegal campaign contributions from a foreign national.
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP)  The company responsible for the largest oil field spill in North Dakota history has reported a leak from a pipeline within two miles of the record discharge in 2015, state officials said Tuesday.

The latest spill from a Summit Midstream Partners pipeline leaked saltwater onto agricultural land very close to the creek contaminated by the record spill reported north of Williston, said Bill Suess, spill investigation program manager with the North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality.
RENO, Nev. (AP)  David Houston, one of Renos top defense attorneys who represented celebrities as well as defendants in high-profile murder cases, has died. He was 69.

Houston practiced law in Reno for more than 30 years. He died on Saturday following complications from a surgery, according to his friend and law partner Ken Lyon.
VALLETTA, Malta (AP)  Malta on Tuesday decriminalized the possession and cultivation of cannabis for personal use by adults, and took steps to set up what could become Europe's first cannabis regulatory authority.

Under the new legislative package, it will become legal for anyone 18 and over to possess up to 7 grams of cannabis and to cultivate up to four plants. Growers for personal use can store up to 50 grams of dried marijuana. However, consuming cannabis in public or in the presence of minors remains illegal and subject to fines.
LANCASTER, Pa. (AP)  A man convicted of the random slaying of a stranger while he was under the influence of drugs in Pennsylvania last year has been sentenced to decades in prison.

Stephen Jones, 28, of Brecknock Township was sentenced Tuesday to 35 to 80 years after pleading guilty in Lancaster County to third-degree murder, robbery and a weapons violation, LNP newspaper reported.
PICKENS, S.C. (AP)  A man was sentenced Tuesday to life in prison for raping, robbing and choking an 89-year-old woman until she was unconscious, then returning later with a knife to kill her by slashing her throat in her South Carolina home, prosecutors said.

Thomas James Chapman, 23, pleaded guilty to murder, first degree criminal sexual conduct, burglary and other charges in the killing of Margaret Alice Karr in her Liberty home in April 2020, the 13th Circuit Solicitor's Office said in a statement.
BIRMINGHAM , Ala. (AP)  An inmate convicted of kidnapping a prominent Birmingham businessman was mistakenly released from jail because of missing paperwork, officials told news outlets.

Law enforcement officials are searching for Matthew Amos Burke, 35, who was released from jail Friday. A judge last month sentenced Burke to 17 years in prison for kidnapping and bank fraud of Birmingham businessman Elton B. Stephens, Jr.
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP)  U.S. District Judge Karin J. Immergut held the 4-pound hammer that Jacob Gaines swung at the head of a federal marshal outside Portlands downtown federal courthouse before sentencing him to nearly four years in prison on Monday.

Immergut chose a sentence Monday that exceeded the plea-deal recommended three years and one month sentence, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported.

Defense lawyer Rosalind M. Lee had sought a sentence of time served, covering the 18 months Gaines has spent in custody, followed by residential drug and alcohol treatment.

Gaines, of Texas, was arrested July 11, 2020, after he banged a hole in the plywood covering a courthouse entrance. When a deputy marshal went to arrest Gaines, federal prosecutor Christopher Cardani said Gaines struck the officer with it.

Gaines hit the marshal in the shoulder and upper back before other members of the U.S. Marshals Service arrested him, according to court records. The marshal wasn't seriously injured as he was wearing a helmet and body armor.

Gaines pleaded guilty to one count of assaulting a federal officer with a deadly and dangerous weapon, a felony.

Id like to apologize to the victim, his family and his colleagues for the stress, harm and anxiety that I caused, Gaines said.

Gaines is among a handful of defendants who have pleaded guilty to federal charges stemming from arrests related to nightly protests against police brutality in Portland last year that started after the police killing of George Floyd, a Black man in Minneapolis.
WASHINGTON - As Cleveland G. Meredith Jr., a devoted follower of the QAnon conspiracy theories, drove toward the nation's capital from Colorado on Jan. 6 with a cache of guns, 2,500 rounds of ammunition and high-capacity magazines, he repeatedly texted his family and friends ominous sentiments. One message said he was "gonna collect a . . . ton of Traitors heads."

When a family member responded that President Donald Trump wanted him to go home, Meredith strongly disagreed and said, "he wants HEADS and I'm gonna deliver." Meredith didn't arrive in Washington until late that night, but the next day he informed his family that he was considering shooting both D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, D, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., twice texting that he was considering "putting a bullet in her [Pelosi's] noggin on live TV."

His family called the FBI. Meredith, 53, was arrested Jan. 7 in a D.C. hotel room and ordered held without bond. On Tuesday, after his sentencing range was increased by a judge for threatening a government official and showing intent to carry out his threats, he was sentenced to 28 months in federal prison.

Meredith's attorney had asked U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson to sentence Meredith to the 11 months he has already served, and had expected his client to face a maximum of 21 months. Prosecutors had not sought a sentencing increase beyond a range of 18 to 24 months, but didn't oppose it.

In a 50-minute analysis of Meredith's case, Jackson pointedly read aloud every text message listed by prosecutors in a sentencing brief, many of them vulgar, to emphasize her view that "the level of discourse in this country has become so debased and degraded." The judge said that Meredith truly was "strategizing on best way to assault this city," as he wrote in one text on Jan. 7.

"It is not patriotism," the judge told Meredith, "it is not standing up for America and it is not justified to descend on the nation's capital at the direction of a disappointed candidate and threaten members of the other party. Canceling out the votes of others at the point of a gun is the utter antithesis of what America stands for, it is the definition of tyranny and authoritarianism."

"I know what I did was wrong," Meredith said. "It was political hyperbole that was too hyper . . . I'm very embarrassed about the whole situation. It's not who I am and it's not who I want to be remembered as."

Meredith, who lives in Hayesville, N.C., is divorced and drove to Colorado in late December to spend time with his ex-wife and two sons, according to his sentencing memo. He also brought the boxes of ammunition, a handgun and a rifle, along with some all-terrain vehicles, to practice with his kids, his lawyers said. Jackson noted that 1,000 rounds of armor-piercing ammunition, an assault-style rifle with a telescopic scope and high-capacity magazines were probably not needed for target practice with children.

Starting on Jan. 4, Meredith began driving toward Washington with his weapons and his ATVs, which he said in some texts he might need to break through to the Capitol. "We're gonna surround DC and slowly constrict," Meredith wrote.

His lawyer, Paul Kiyonaga, said that "In the QAnon world, [Meredith] found a sense of purpose." QAnon is an online community of conspiracy theorists. In 2018, Meredith erected a billboard in Acworth, Ga., that read, "#QANON," telling the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that he was "a patriot among the millions who love this country."

But Meredith's truck broke down, and he did not reach the District until the evening of Jan. 6, by which time the Capitol had been cleared of rioters and the electoral vote count confirming Joe Biden's election had resumed. While en route, he wrote, "3.5 hours until target practice." A family member responded, "Please stop talking like that."

The next day, Meredith sent texts such as, "I may wander over to the mayor's office and put a 5.56 in her skull" and "Thinking about heading over to Pelosi . . . speech and putting a bullet in her noggin on live TV," court records show. Later that afternoon, not far from the Capitol, he got into a fight with a passenger in a car, which had stopped in front of him, and was charged with assault. When he returned to his hotel in Southwest Washington and continued to text threats, which his lawyer noted were not sent to any of the targets, his family called the FBI.

In pleading guilty to one count of making felony threats, Meredith had expected his sentencing range might be six to 12 months, but possibly rise to 18 to 24 months if the judge found that Meredith had an actual intent to carry out his threats. Prosecutors said they supported a sentence in the middle of either of those ranges. But the presentencing report added a second enhancement, because Pelosi is a government official. That raised the possible sentencing range to 37 to 46 months. Kiyonaga argued against both increases, saying Meredith had not surveilled or done any planning, but Jackson found that both enhancements applied.

Giving Meredith credit for agreeing to seek mental health help, Jackson placed his sentence between the two recommended ranges.

"The words in this case are the offense," Jackson said. "These types of statements cannot be shrugged off. They cannot be normalized by adding 'LOL' at the end."
BALTIMORE (AP)  Maryland health officials reported the states first cold-related illness death of this winter weather season on Tuesday.

The man in the 50 to 60 age range died in Baltimore, the Maryland Department of Health said in a news release.

Deputy Secretary for Public Health Dr. Jinlene Chan urged Marylanders to take precautions to prevent cold-related illnesses as temperatures drop. She also reminded people to check on neighbors and relatives, especially the elderly, since older adults are particularly susceptible to hypothermia.

The departments Office of Preparedness and Response monitors temperature, weather conditions, and incidence of cold-related illnesses and deaths in the state from November through March. In the last winter weather season, the department reported 57 cold-related deaths.
MILWAUKEE (AP)  The City of Milwaukee has submitted its bid to host the Republican National Convention in 2024.

The application, which includes more than 200 pages, highlights the city's access to Lake Michigan, entertainment venues, festivals, the culinary scene, the Milwaukee Bucks championship, the Wisconsin Center expansion, Fiserv Forum and more.

Visit Milwaukee CEO Peggy Williams-Smith said it also cites the citys experience preparing to host the Democratic National Convention in 2020, an event that became mostly virtual due to the coronavirus pandemic.

I think the odds are as good as they can be, Williams-Smith said. Were an amazing Midwest city, and were also a purple state and thats always attractive for a convention.

Visit Milwaukee, the citys convention and visitors bureau, received an inquiry from the Republican National Committee in October. Williams-Smith said at the time that her organization was reviewing the request for proposals.

Mayor Tom Barrett, a Democrat, said he would be as enthusiastic to support the RNC as he was to support the DNC, the Journal Sentinel reported.

We would love to have it, and I would love to see the Democrats come back as well, he said.

He said Republicans should feel comfortable in Milwaukee, a heavily Democratic city, noting we are a blue city but a purple state.

It's likely Barrett would no longer be mayor if either convention were to choose the city. He's waiting for confirmation to become ambassador to Luxembourg.
JACKSON, Miss. (AP)  A child in Mississippi has died of influenza, marking the first pediatric flu death of the season, Mississippi Health Department officials say.

The department of health did not release the age of the child who died or where in the state the death occurred.
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP)  Missouri Gov. Mike Parson and state legislative leaders have agreed on a financial framework for the upcoming budget that assumes state revenues will grow to a record amount.

The agreement released Tuesday bumps up the projected revenues for the current fiscal year while also projecting that net general revenues will reach a record $11.4 billion in the 2023 fiscal year  a growth rate of 2.1%.

Missouri's budget year runs from July 1 to June 30, meaning the state already is about halfway through its 2022 budget.

Parson is to present a new spending plan to lawmakers when they convene their annual session in January. He already has said he will recommend pay raises for state workers. In addition to deciding how to spend normal state and federal revenues, officials also must determine what to do with nearly $2.7 billion of pandemic relief funds from the American Rescue Plan Act signed by President Joe Biden.

With general revenue expected to increase and large amounts of Missourians federal tax dollars returning to our state, we have a great opportunity and responsibility to make smart, meaningful investments that serve Missourians now and into the future," Parson said in a statement.

House Budget Committee Chairman Cody Smith described the agreed upon figures as a conservative revenue estimate.

A year ago, the Republican governor and legislative leaders had projected the state to receive about $9.8 billion of net general revenues for the 2022 budget year. Tuesday's revision boosts that to nearly $11.2 billion. That technically would be down 0.5% from the 2021 budget year, but the figures for last year were inflated because the 2020 income tax deadline was delayed from April 15 to July 15 as the coronavirus spread across the U.S.

If a portion of Missouri's 2020 tax revenues had not been delayed into the 2021 budget year, the revised 2022 revenue projection would amount to about 7% growth, said Parson's state budget director, Dan Haug.

The Missouri economy has been performing really well last year and so far this year, and we expect it to continue, Haug said.
SKOPJE, North Macedonia (AP)  Authorities in North Macedonia have detailed 28 mostly Cuban migrants found crammed into a van driven by a suspected member of a migrant smuggling gang, police said Tuesday.

It was the second time in three days that a group of Cubans was intercepted being driven through North Macedonia. In both cases police said the drivers, who were arrested, were Serb citizens, and the migrants had entered the country illegally through Greece.
BOSTON (AP)  Three New England universities are finalists in a federal contest to get up to $100 million in pandemic relief funds to rebuild communities.

Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo announced 60 finalists Monday for the $1 billion Build Back Better Regional Challenge, including the University of Rhode Island, Northeastern University and the University of Maine system. Chosen from about 530 applicants, the finalists each receive about $500,000 to develop their proposals.
HOUMA, La. (AP)  Louisiana residents who lost their homes to Hurricane Ida or have not had power since the late-August storm tell a newspaper the power company is still billing them for hundreds of dollars a month.

Those bills could be for electricity and gas used before Ida hit on Aug. 29, and bills always include other costs such as fuel adjustments and storm restoration charges, Entergy Louisiana LLC told The Courier.

Brenda Billiot of Pointe-aux-Chenes said Ida destroyed everything but her front porch, but two Entergy bills since August totaled about $600.

Where are these readings coming from? Billiot said.

She said she paid the first bill and had been notified that her power would be shut off unless she paid the other by Tuesday. They said I have until the 14th to pay before my power gets cut off but I dont have any power anyways.

Robin Hunter and her husband, Jamie Theriot, said their post-storm bills have totaled more than $1,000 even though they have been living in a generator-powered camper in Chauvin. Running the generator costs $30 a day, Theriot said.

We were told that we shouldve been responsible in the first place to ask to get our power shut off, Theriot said.

We cannot comment on individual customer accounts, however, we encourage anyone who has a question regarding their bill to call us at 1-800-ENTERGY so we can look into their individual situations and develop payment assistance plans as needed, Entergy Louisiana spokesperson Brandon Scardiglia said in an email Tuesday to The Associated Press.

The company told the Louisiana Public Service Commission in November that Ida caused $2 billion to $2.4 billion in damage on top of $2 billion from hurricanes in 2020.

The company's statement to The Courier said bills will cover multiple months if some could not be delivered because of storm damage or customers were unable to pay during recovery. In some cases, zero usage was estimated for customers assumed to be without power because of the hurricane, it said.

Sherrie Simoneux LeCompte, of Montegut, said she was billed for $236 last month even though her family is only washing occasional loads of laundry and running a light in the house while living in a camper.

The only thing were running is a tiny 30 amp camper versus a 2,200-square-foot house and thats what I normally paid for my entire house, LeCompte said.

Fuel surcharges and the storm restoration fee make up much of the bill, she said. She said storm restoration should not be the customers responsibility since they are not to blame for the hurricane.

The whole situation has been nothing but a nightmare between them and insurance, LeCompte said. Its just baffling.

Sherry Lyons Dardar, who also lives in Montegut, said she was out of electricity for 23 days.

Entergy never missed a beat. Bill before the storm was $214. Right after I got an estimated bill of $214, then $204 and the last one was $268 and the last one was with no AC or heater. Something is screwy somewhere, Dardar said.

Some residents said they have gotten credit for bills sent while power was out. Penny Constrantiche Hatch said she did not have power until mid-October and was billed based on previous months estimated usage.

I called and raised ten different kinds of hell and I havent had to pay a bill since. I have credits, Hatch said.

Rising natural gas prices have driven up utility costs nationwide, Entergy said. In Louisiana, high temperatures and torn insulation could have increased power use, it said.

The amount of power used is far from the only item on a bill, the statement said. Others include "cost to build and maintain generation, transmission and distribution infrastructure, energy usage, fuel adjustments and storm restoration charges, it said.

The company said the Louisiana Public Service Commission requires Entergy Louisiana to pass the cost of fuel on to customers without any mark-up or profit.

Hunter, in Chauvin, said, We just want them to give us some kind of help or credit. Just something to say that they care; that they care about what happened to us.
BOSTON (AP)  Nurses at a Massachusetts hospital allege that hospital leaders are defying a state order to delay certain surgeries, though officials at the facility say they're following state rules.

The Boston Globe reports that nurses at Brigham and Womens Hospital are asking Massachusetts officials to investigate. The Massachusetts Nurses Association, a union that represents 3,500 Brigham nurses, told the state health department Monday that operating rooms remain as busy as ever, despite a state order to curtail scheduled surgeries.
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP)  Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo was ordered by New York's ethics commission Tuesday to give up millions of dollars a publisher paid him to write a book about his response to the coronavirus pandemic.

An attorney for Cuomo immediately called the action unconstitutional and promised a fight.

Cuomo was directed to turn over proceeds earned from American Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic within 30 days under a resolution approved 12-1 by the Joint Commission on Public Ethics.

The order came a month after the commission voted to rescind the ethics approval it had given Cuomo as he entered into the $5.1 million book deal.

American Crisis" was published in October 2020, months before Cuomo resigned amid allegations he sexually harassed at least 11 women. It was published by Crown Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House.

The staff of the commission granted approval of the deal in July 2020, when his counsel told the commission Cuomo agreed to not use any state personnel or resources to produce his book and that he would write it entirely on his own time. But complaints later surfaced that state property, resources and personnel were used to prepare, write, edit and publish the book.

Cuomo has acknowledged that state employees helped with tasks including editing the manuscript. But hes claimed that those employees were volunteering their private time.

Cuomo's camp promptly challenged the commission's authority, setting up what could be a lengthy legal battle.

JCOPEs actions today are unconstitutional, exceed its own authority and appear to be driven by political interests rather than the facts and the law," Cuomo attorney Jim McGuire said in a prepared statement. Should they seek to enforce this action, well see them in court.

A spokesperson for the attorney general's office, which would enforce the order, said they are reviewing the commission's vote "and determining how best to move forward.

The commission's order hinges partly on a declaration that its retroactive revocation of its prior approval for the book deal means that Cuomo "is not legally entitled to retain compensation paid to him, in any form, for his outside activities related to the book."

It doesn't specify an amount, but says he owes the state an amount equal to whatever compensation he received.

Efforts to claw back the money could be complicated, in part because Cuomo already disbursed $1.5 million to a charity and a trust for his three daughters.

Cuomo disclosed in May that he was paid a $3.1 million advance to write the book and that he was to make another $2 million on it over the next two years under the publishing contract. Cuomo spokesperson Richard Azzopardi had said then that after taxes and expenses, Cuomo netted $1.5 million on the book last year, with $500,000 of the profits donated to the United Way of New York State. The rest was being put in a trust for his daughters.

Spokespeople for Cuomo and Crown Publishing Group did not respond to questions Tuesday about whether Cuomo had received money for the book beyond the initial $3.1 million.

A separate state Assembly investigation released last month found evidence that Cuomo, who resigned in August, had his staff spend copious amounts of time on the project.

Junior and senior staff members told investigators they were asked to perform book tasks during their work day, including transcribing dictations, printing and delivering documents, and attending meetings with agents and publishers. One senior state official sent and received 1,000 emails about the book, the legislative report said.

Azzopardi said those allegations are false.

This is political hypocrisy and duplicity at its worst. Governor Cuomo received a JCOPE opinion and advice of counsel stating that government resources could not be used  and they werent  and any staffer who assisted in this project did so on their own time, which was reflected on their timesheets," the spokesperson said.
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP)  Pennsylvania is again aiming to put its presidential primary in position to determine the winner, rather than let other states play that role.

The state Senate on Tuesday unanimously approved a bill to move up Pennsylvanias primary elections in presidential election years by five weeks to the third Tuesday in March.

That is expected to put it on the same date in 2024 as Arizona, Florida and Illinois.

Critics of Pennsylvania's current date in state law  the fourth Tuesday of April  say its presidential primary clout is often diminished or rendered irrelevant by its relatively late vote.

In most presidential elections, the outcome is largely decided before our voters have a chance to cast their vote, the bills sponsor, state Sen. John Gordner, R-Columbia, said in a statement.

The bill goes to the state House of Representatives for consideration. A spokesperson for the House Republican majority said it has not yet been discussed in the caucus.

The Senate passed an identical bill last year, but it died in the House.

Gordner said the target date for Pennsylvania's primary will not violate any rules of the Democratic National Committee or the Republican National Committee.

Last year, Pennsylvanias primary was held the same day as those in New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Maryland and Delaware.
DAYTON, Ohio (AP)  A man with a history of mental illness who ran out of a Dayton home with a gun during a standoff that followed at least one earlier shooting died after he was shot by officers, police said Tuesday.

Interim Chief Matt Carper of the Dayton police department said a 49-year-old man walking his dog Tuesday said he was shot in the leg after his dog ran toward the home. Police said the suspect had been reported firing a weapon outside just minutes earlier, something neighbors said he had done before.
SAN DIEGO (AP)  Police and prosecutors bugged a holding area of a Southern California courtroom to secretly record two people who were accused of murder in a move defense lawyers say violated their rights.

The office of San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan said the planting of listening devices in the Vista courtroom in 2019 was legal but it shouldnt have occurred and the office is working on a policy banning staff from taking part in future eavesdropping inside courtrooms, spokesman Steve Walker told the San Diego Union-Tribune.

It poses a greater risk that privileged attorney-client communications could be inadvertently intercepted," he said in an email.

The case involved Marjorie Gawitt, 63, who was killed in March 2019 during a burglary at her Carlsbad home. She had been stabbed or slashed 142 times.

A couple living in a nearby homeless encampment, Mallissa James and Ian Bushee were charged with the killing.

Defense lawyers for James said that a prosecutor and Carlsbad police planted four electronic listening devices in the holding area of the empty courtroom an hour before the pair were to make their first court appearance and before they had spoken to a lawyer, the Union-Tribune said.

The two were then placed in the area and their conversation recorded as authorities listened from a nearby room. Their conversation was recorded for about 30 minutes but ended when a deputy public defender for James showed up to speak with her before her arraignment, the paper said.

The conversation didn't turn up incriminating evidence and it appeared both defendants suspected they were being heard, the paper said.

James pleaded guilty on Nov. 19 under a deal that will send her to prison for life without chance of parole instead of facing the death penalty. Bushee is awaiting trial. His attorneys contend that James acted alone.

Attorneys for James have filed misconduct allegations against the district attorney's office, alleging that the recording violated her constitutional rights and court rules that ban recordings inside courtrooms.

Prosecutors used the courtroom to place their thumb on the scales of justice, they said in court papers.

Prosecutors argue that the recordings were legal because the holding area was technically considered a detention facility under control of the sheriff, despite the area being inside a court rather than in a jail.

It is legal to secretly record defendants in jails and in holding tanks in some court areas outside of the courtrooms, the Union-Tribune said.

It is extraordinarily unusual" to make secret recordings inside a courtroom even though there isnt any explicit rule against putting listening devices in the holding area, Shaun Martin, a University of San Diego law school professor, told the Union-Tribune in an email.

Its sufficiently rare that Ive never even heard of it occurring, Martin said.

Unlike homes, courtrooms arent categorically off limits for warrantless surveillance, he said. But theyre pretty darn close.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP)  The suburban Minneapolis police officer who shot and killed Daunte Wright with her gun when she said she meant to use her Taser was fully trained in her department's policies on the proper use of force, including the stun guns, a police commander testified Tuesday.

Kim Potter, who resigned two days after she shot Wright, was trained on policies as they evolved during her 26-year career and repeatedly signed documents acknowledging the policies, Brooklyn Center Police Commander Garett Flesland testified.

Potter, 49, is charged with manslaughter in Wright's death on April 11 after he was pulled over for having expired license plate tags and an air freshener dangling from his rear-view mirror. Video captured the moments when Wright pulled away from officers who were trying to arrest him on an outstanding warrant, with Potter shouting I'll tase you! and then shooting Wright with her handgun.

Potter is white and Wright was Black, and his death set off several nights of angry protests in Brooklyn Center. It happened while a white former officer, Derek Chauvin, was on trial in nearby Minneapolis in George Floyds death.

The defense has called the shooting a horrific mistake, but has also asserted that Potter would have been within her rights to use deadly force on Wright because he might have dragged another officer, then-Sgt. Mychal Johnson, with his car.

Prosecutors introduced several documents Tuesday that Flesland testified showed Potter's repeated certifications on Taser training, and her awareness of the warnings for their use  including a certification the month before Wright was shot.

On cross-examination, Potter attorney Earl Gray hammered away at her right to use force. He repeatedly described the situation as one in which Potter was trying to stop a wanted person who was trying to flee from the police and who could have put a fellow officer at risk of being dragged by a car.

Youve got to save that officer thats laying over the seat, correct? Gray asked.

Yes, Flesland said.

Later, when Gray asked Flesland what he thought of Potter, he said: Shes a good cop. Shes a good person. Shes a friend. I have no concerns going to calls with her." Prosecutors objected.

Flesland also testified that he and the police chief at the time had gone to Potter's house the day of Wright's shooting because we had been told she had hurt herself. That line of questioning was cut off after prosecutors objected.

Sgt. Mike Peterson, a use-of-force instructor with the department and certified Taser instructor, showed the jury how officers are supposed to run a spark test at the beginning of every shift to check whether their Tasers are working. He did so with his own device, which generated a loud buzz for five seconds as electricity arced across the electrodes.

Sam McGinnis, a senior special agent with the states Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, testified Monday that Potter failed to run the test on her Taser on the day she shot Wright.

Peterson also walked the jury through the Brooklyn Center departments training procedures for using Tasers as prosecutor Matthew Frank showed them pages from the manufacturers and the department's training materials that warn against the dangers of mixing up a Taser and a handgun. Frank also highlighted portions that say a Taser should not be used simply to stop fleeing suspects or on suspects who are operating vehicles.

Earlier Tuesday, Judge Regina Chu denied two motions filed by prosecutors. One was designed to limit the opinion of witnesses who are not testifying as experts. That came after Johnson, who is now a major in a sheriff's office near Minneapolis, testified last week that Potters actions were authorized under state law. Johnson was not testifying as an expert on the police use of force.

Im not going to preclude any of the officers from testifying that, based upon their training and experience, that deadly force or use of Taser was appropriate under the circumstances, Chu said.

She also denied prosecutors request to question police officers about union membership. They argued that Potter had roles in the union, including as president, that gave her an elevated level of respect among her coworkers. They wanted to ask officers about it so that jurors could evaluate any potential bias toward Potter.

Chu said she rejected the motion because Potter is no longer connected to the police union in any way and testifying witnesses couldnt possibly be biased to testify in her favor because of her position.

Chu also ruled Tuesday that if Potter is convicted of one or both of the counts against her, she would preside over a separate trial to determine if there were aggravating factors that would allow Chu to give Potter a sentence above what the state's guidelines suggest.

Without the jury present, prosecutors told the judge they had been operating under the impression that these issues would be presented during this trial, but Gray said Potter had never agreed to that.

In order for Potter to be sentenced above what the guidelines suggest, prosecutors would have to prove there were aggravating factors; prosecutors allege that Potters conduct caused a danger to others and that she abused her position of authority.

Prosecutors presented evidence of these aggravating factors when they brought in testimony about injuries to Wrights passenger and an occupant of the car that collided with Wrights right after Potter shot him. Chu said Tuesday that this testimony was not prejudicial and could remain part of this case because evidence about the crash also relates to whether Potters use of force was reasonable.

The case is being heard by a mostly white jury.

State sentencing guidelines call for just over seven years in prison upon conviction of first-degree manslaughter and four years for second-degree, though prosecutors have said they plan to push for longer sentences.

___

Find the APs full coverage of the Daunte Wright case: https://apnews.com/hub/death-of-daunte-wright
They showed up last month outside the school board building in Beloit, Wisconsin, to protest school masking requirements.

They turned up days later at a school board meeting in New Hanover County, North Carolina, before a vote on a mask mandate.

They also attended a gathering in Downers Grove, Illinois, where parents were trying to remove a nonbinary authors graphic novel from public school libraries.

Members of the Proud Boys, the far-right nationalist group, have increasingly appeared in recent months at town council gatherings, school board presentations and health department question-and-answer sessions across the country. Their presence at the events is part of a strategy shift by the militia organization toward a larger goal: to bring their brand of menacing politics to the local level.

For years, the group was known for its national profile. The Proud Boys were prominent at the rallies of Donald Trump, at one point offering to serve as the former presidents private militia. On Jan. 6, some Proud Boys members filmed themselves storming the U.S. Capitol to protest what they falsely said was an election that had been stolen from Trump.

But since federal authorities have cracked down on the group for the Jan. 6 attack, including arresting more than a dozen of its members, the organization has been more muted. Or at least that was how it appeared.

Away from the national spotlight, the Proud Boys instead quietly shifted attention to local chapters, some members and researchers said. In small communities  usually suburbs or small towns with populations of tens of thousands  its followers have tried to expand membership by taking on local causes. That way, they said, the group can amass more supporters in time to influence next years midterm elections.

The plan of attack if you want to make change is to get involved at the local level, said Jeremy Bertino, a prominent member of the Proud Boys from North Carolina.

The group had dissolved its national leadership after Jan. 6 and was being run exclusively by its local chapters, Bertino said. It was deliberately involving its members in local issues, he added.

That focus is reflected in the Proud Boys online activity. On the encrypted messaging app Telegram, the Proud Boys main group in the United States has barely budged in number  with about 31,000 followers  over the last year. But over a dozen new Telegram channels have emerged for local Proud Boys chapters in cities such as Seattle and Philadelphia over that same period, according to data collected by The New York Times. Those local Telegram groups have rapidly grown from dozens to hundreds of members.

Other far-right groups that were active during Trumps presidency, such as the Oath Keepers and the Three Percenters, have followed the same pattern, researchers said. They have also expanded their local groups in states such as Pennsylvania, Texas and Michigan and are less visible nationally.

Weve seen these groups adopt new tactics in the wake of Jan. 6, which have enabled them to regroup and reorganize themselves, said Jared Holt, a resident fellow at the Atlantic Councils Digital Forensic Research Lab who researches domestic extremist groups. One of the most successful tactics theyve used is decentralizing.

Members of the Oath Keepers and Three Percenters did not respond to requests for comment. On Tuesday, the District of Columbias attorney general sued the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, alleging the far-right groups conspired to attack the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.

The Proud Boys were founded in 2016 by Gavin McInnes, a co-founder of Vice. Enrique Tarrio, an activist and Florida director of Latinos for Trump, later took over as leader. The group, which is exclusively male, has espoused misogynistic, Islamophobic and anti-Semitic views, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which has designated it as a hate group.

By the 2020 election, the Proud Boys  who often wear distinctive black-and-yellow uniforms  had become the largest and most public of the far-right militias. Last year, Trump referred to them in a presidential debate when he was asked about white nationalist groups, replying, Proud Boys, stand back and stand by.

After the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, the group grew disillusioned with Trump. The president distanced himself from the riot and declined to offer immunity to those who were involved. The Proud Boys have also experienced a leadership vacuum, after Tarrio was arrested two days before the Capitol attack on charges of property destruction and illegally holding weapons.

That was when the Proud Boys began concentrating on local issues, Holt said. But as local chapters flourished, he said, the group increased their radical tendencies because members felt more comfortable taking extreme positions in smaller circles.

Many Proud Boys local chapters have now taken on causes tied to the coronavirus pandemic, with members showing up at protests over mask mandates and mandatory vaccination policies, according to researchers who study extremism.

This year, members of the Proud Boys were recorded at 145 protests and demonstrations, up from 137 events in 2020, according to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project, a nonprofit that monitors violence. But the data most likely understates the Proud Boys activities because it doesnt include school board meetings and local health board meetings, said Shannon Hiller, the executive director of the Bridging Divides Initiative, a nonpartisan research group that tracks political violence.

Hiller said the Proud Boys have shown consistently high levels of activity this year, unlike last year when there was a spike only around the election. She called the change concerning, adding that she expected to see the groups appearances intensify before the midterms.

On the Proud Boys local Telegram channels, members often share news articles and video reports about students who were barred from schools for refusing to wear a mask or employees who were fired over a vaccine requirement. Some make plans to appear at protests to act as muscle, with the goal of intimidating the other side and attracting new members with a show of force, according to the Telegram conversations viewed by The Times.

Tell me where I need to be and I am there, one member of a Proud Boys group in Wisconsin wrote last month about protests of mask mandates. I can drive 5-6 hours in any direction.

Think local, act local, wrote another member.

At some local meetings where the Proud Boys have shown up, they have spoken and threatened community leaders, according to news reports. At others, they have simply stood silently and watched. In the Telegram groups, some boasted that they had handed out their cellphone numbers to those interested in joining them.

While the Proud Boys membership is not public, Holt said the group appeared to be growing in small towns and counties.

Often, their presence has been enough to disrupt events. Last month, the school board in Beloit said it canceled classes because some of the Proud Boys were at a local protest over mask requirements. In Orange County, California, the school board said in September that it would install metal detectors and hire extra security after several Proud Boys attended a meeting and threatened its members.

In New Hanover County, North Carolina, which has roughly 220,000 residents and is two hours from Charlotte, Stefanie Adams, the school board president, said she had read about the groups increasing appearances and began tracking the reports closely.

Adams said she had an inkling that the Proud Boys might show up in her school district, which has 25,000 students. Because North Carolina law requires the county school board to vote on whether to continue a mask mandate for students each month, the district had handled many contentious meetings over the issue, she said.

I figured we were on their radar, and that we might be next, Adams said. We knew we had to prepare for them coming to our town, too.

Last month, Adams was notified by the boards head of security, which she had hired for the monthly meetings, that some Proud Boys were outside the building for the mask mandate vote.

Five Proud Boys eventually entered the room and stood in the back, Adams said. They folded their arms across their tactical vests and wore matching T-shirts with images of a rooster, the groups insignia. While they did not speak publicly, video footage from the two-hour meeting showed them clapping and cheering as anti-mask speakers made their case.

New Hanover Countys seven-member school board ultimately extended the mask mandate for another month, by a 4-3 vote.

A lot of people came up to me after the meeting and said I should have removed them, but the meetings are open to anyone, Adams said. She added, One thing I can tell you is that it didnt affect our vote or our decision on the masks.

This month, the board voted to make masks optional after the countys health and human services board ended an indoor mask mandate. Adams said the Proud Boys did not show up at this months meeting.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
Darko Vojinovic/AP

BRUSSELS (AP)  Serbia on Tuesday took a significant step forward in its quest to join the European Union by opening talks on a series of policies linked to the environment, but Belgrade was warned that progress on its European path still depends on normalizing relations with its former territory, Kosovo.

Countries wanting to join the 27-country EU must bring their laws and regulations into line with the blocs standards. Thats achieved by negotiations in 35 policy areas, or chapters, ranging from things like the free movement of worker, to taxation, or agricultural and economic policy.
MADRID (AP)  Authorities in the Spanish city of Zaragoza braced Tuesday for a critical surge in the level of the Ebro River, after flooding further upstream in recent days was blamed for two deaths.

The rivers flow rate climbed to 2,000 cubic meters (70,600 cubic feet) a second  almost double Sundays rate as water from torrential rain and thawing snow rushed down the Ebro valley.

In the last major floods in the area, in 2015, the flow rate reached 2,400 cubic meters (84,700 cubic feet) a second.

The swollen river cuts through Zaragoza, a city of around 700,000 people in northeastern Spain. Flood waters have already submerged large areas of nearby farmland.

City authorities attempted to minimize any potential damage by taking precautionary measures along the riverbank, including evacuations and traffic diversions. Trucks carrying dirt were on standby to help shore up riverbanks and protect urban areas.

Emergency crews had to rescue two people from a van which broke down as it tried to cross a flooded area of countryside.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on a visit to the affected areas that his Cabinet will on Friday declare them catastrophe zones, which enables aid for farmers and others to be expedited.

He said floods have in recent times become much more frequent in Spain because of climate change.

The Ebro is the second-longest river on the Iberian Peninsula, stretching 930 kilometers (about 580 miles) from the mountains of Cantabria to the Mediterranean Sea.
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP)  A Cedar Rapids teenager charged with killing his parents will undergo psychiatric examinations before any legal hearings against him proceed, a judge has ruled.

District Court Judge Ian Thornhill ordered a competency evaluation for Ethan Alexander Orton, 17, after Orton's defense attorney presented evidence that he suffered from a mental illness, according to a court document filed Monday.
WASHINGTON (AP)  As a mob overran the U.S. Capitol last January, some of Donald Trump's highest-profile defenders in the media  and even his own son  sent urgent text messages to the White House chief of staff urging him to get the then-president to do more to stop the violence.

But they did not publicly display that same sense of alarm mere hours after the deadly insurrection. And they have since joined some of the country's top Republicans in downplaying Trump's role in the attack  part of a larger effort to rewrite the history of Jan. 6.

Here are some of the frantic messages that Trump allies sent to White House chief of staff Mark Meadows as the insurrection was unfolding and what theyve said publicly about the events since then:

DONALD TRUMP JR.

Hes got to condemn this s- ASAP. The Capitol Police tweet is not enough, Trump's eldest son wrote in a text message to Meadows about his father. That's according to excerpts read Monday by Republican Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, vice chair of a House committee investigating what happened.

Earlier on Jan. 6, before the violence, the younger Trump tweeted that his father has the people!!! over a picture of throngs of pro-Trump demonstrators who gathered in Washington. When word began to surface that the Capitol was breached, Trump Jr. changed his tone, tweeting, This is wrong and not who we are. Be peaceful," and "Dont start acting like the other side. We have a country to save and this doesnt help anyone.

But, barely a week later  and after the House impeached President Trump for inciting the insurrection  Trump Jr. began advancing the false narrative that authorities knew violence was coming on Jan. 6 but didn't do enough to prepare  in part because House Speaker Nancy Pelosi ignored warnings about what might occur.

If these federal law enforcement agencies had prior knowledge that this was a planned attack then POTUS didnt incite anything," Trump Jr. tweeted on Jan. 14. "If he didnt incite anything then Nancy Pelosi and the Dems used impeachment on yet another sham political witch-hunt.

GOP members of Congress, including House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy, have since advanced similarly false claims about Pelosi delaying military assistance to help Capitol Police officers trying to quell the attack.

___

LAURA INGRAHAM

Mark, the president needs to tell people in the Capitol to go home, the Fox News Channel host wrote, according to text excerpts Cheney read. "This is hurting all of us. He is destroying his legacy.

But on her show the evening of Jan. 6, Ingraham cited false claims that the rioters included leftist provocateurs, saying, They were likely not all Trump supporters, and there are some reports Antifa sympathizers may have been sprinkled throughout the crowd.

She added: If you are a Trump supporter hoping to display your support for the president, well, today's antics at the Capitol did just the opposite." Ingraham also made a false assertion that there were legitimate concerns that voter fraud potentially marred the 2020 election won by Democrat Joe Biden, but she noted, That never should have lent any license to violence or other chaos.

Ingraham has since repeatedly downplayed the Jan. 6 attack. In April, she said that Americas most dangerous insurrectionists weren't those who participated in the mob. Instead, she said, The real threat to our future is Biden, and the well-heeled, powerful forces who want us to lose sight of what made America great in the first place.

During a March phone interview with Trump, Ingraham asked him: Are you concerned that the U.S. Capitol, after Jan. 6, has become a fortress, protecting the Capitol from the people who are supposed to actually be the ones in charge here, not the people who are sitting in the Capitol? She then didn't object when Trump said the mob posed zero threat and suggested that authorities were persecuting a lot of those people for being a part of it.

Ingraham said during her Tuesday show that, Both publicly and privately, I said what I believe: that the breach of the Capitol on Jan. 6 was a terrible thing."

Crimes were committed. Some people were unfairly hounded and persecuted and prosecuted, she said. "But it was not an insurrection.

___

SEAN HANNITY

Can he make a statement? Ask people to leave the Capitol?" the Fox News Channel host wrote to Meadows about Trump, according to text excerpts read by Cheney.

During his show the evening of Jan. 6, Hannity said those responsible for the attack must be arrested and prosecuted to the full extent of the law, but he also quickly raised concerns that law enforcement wasn't ready for what happened.

I dont care if the radical left, radical right  I dont know who they are. Theyre not people I would support," Hannity said then. "So how were officials not prepared? We got to answer that question. How did they allow the Capitol building to be breached in what seemed like less than a few minutes?

During his show on Monday, Hannity called the House committee investigating the attack a Democrat sham and a waste of your time and money." He also falsely said Trump had pushed for extra Capitol protection before Jan. 6 but was denied by Pelosi. He had Meadows on as a guest, but neither mentioned the text messages.

On Tuesday, Hannity opened his show likening what occurred during the Capitol attack to demonstrations around the country after the murder of George Floyd by a Minnesota police officer.

All riots, obviously, are bad. All of them," Hannity said. And on this program, we strongly condemn the violence on Jan. 6 just like we condemned all of the violent riots in the summer of 2020."

Hannity called Cheney reading his Meadows text a weak attempt to smear yours truly and, presumably I guess, President Trump, and argued that what he wrote was consistent with what he said on the air the day of the Capitol attack.

I say the same thing in private I say to all of you, Hannity said.
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP)  A Tucson man serving a life prison term for fatally shooting his wife in 2016 has been convicted of killing his jail cellmate a year later.

A Pima County Superior Court jury on Monday found King Nathaniel Raffa Yates guilty of first-degree murder in the death of Branden Roth.
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP)  Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said Tuesday that the former Soviet republic has no plans to attack anyone, and its gathering of troops is purely defensive amid speculations of a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine as soon as next month.

In recent weeks, there has been a massive Russian troop buildup near Ukraines border which has prompted fears of a possible invasion in Kyiv and the West.

Moscow has denied plans to attack Ukraine and in turn blamed Ukraine's own military buildup in the east of the country, where Ukrainian forces have been fighting with Russia-backed separatists since 2014. Russian officials alleged that Kyiv might try to reclaim the areas controlled by the rebels by force. Ukrainian officials have denied an intention to do so.

We dont plan to attack anyone and we dont plan to invade any other countrys territory, Reznikov said.

"Our defense capacity is important to protect our people, our society, our lives.

He told reporters that war in Ukraine means war in Europe, adding that "there are clear signals from the international community that Ukraine will not be left alone in case of a Russian invasion.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has strongly emphasized that Ukraines aspirations to join NATO represent a red line for Moscow, and also expressed concern about plans by some Alliance members to set up military training centers in Ukraine. He said that would give them a military foothold there even without Ukraine joining the 30-country military organization.

Reznikov said that Ukraine's right to join any military alliance, including NATO, was written down in the country's Constitution, adding "we are going to be a de facto NATO member and implement NATO standards.

We are going to make to reforms because that is what we need, he added.

Reznikov was in Stockholm to meet his Swedish counterpart Peter Hultqvist and Sweden's Foreign Minister Ann Linde.
GENEVA (AP)  The U.N. weather agency said Tuesday it has certified a 38-degree Celsius (100.4 Fahrenheit) reading in the Russian town of Verkhoyansk last year as the highest temperature ever recorded in the Arctic, the latest in a string of alarm bells about our changing climate.

The World Meteorological Organization said the temperature "more befitting the Mediterranean than the Arctic" was registered on June 20, 2020, during a heat wave that swept across Siberia and stretched north of the Arctic Circle.

Average temperatures were up to 10 degrees Celsius more than usual in Arctic Siberia, playing a key role in forest fires, loss of sea ice and global temperature rises that made 2020 one of the three hottest years on record.

This new Arctic record is one of a series of observations reported to the WMO Archive of Weather and Climate Extremes that sound the alarm bells about our changing climate," said WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas in a statement.

Verkhoyansk is about 115 kilometers (70 miles) north of the Arctic Circle and a meteorological station there has been observing temperatures since 1885, WMO said.

Spokeswoman Clare Nullis said the record reading was the first of its kind in a new category of Arctic temperature monitoring, so there was no previous record to compare it with. But 38 degrees has never been seen before in the Arctic, she said.

WMO is looking into a number of possible heat records, including 54.4 Celsius (129.9 Fahrenheit) recorded both this year and last in Death Valley, California, which could be a worldwide record high temperature reading, and 48.8 Celsius (119.8 Fahrenheit) on Italy's southern island of Sicily this summer  which could be the hottest temperature ever recorded in Europe.

Taalas said WMO has never had so many investigations of possible heat records going at the same time, and they take time to verify. The agency says the Arctic is among the fastest-warming regions of the world and is heating up at rates twice those of the global average.
BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP)  A Vermont city council has voted to amend language in the citys charter on Monday, in an effort to decriminalize sex work.

If Burlington voters pass the amendment next year, the city will not be able to criminalize sex work but people still can be prosecuted at the state level for sex work in Burlington, WPTZ-TV reported on Tuesday.
WASHINGTON (AP)  The District of Columbia has filed a civil lawsuit seeking harsh financial penalties against far-right groups Proud Boys and Oath Keepers over their role in the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol by supporters of former President Donald Trump.

The suit, filed Tuesday in federal court, also names dozens of the groups' senior members, many of whom already face criminal charges for taking part in the violent attack on the Capitol building while Congress was meeting to certify the 2020 election results.

Karl Racine, Washington's attorney general, said the lawsuit seeks compensation for damages to the District of Columbia and intends to inflict maximum financial damage on the groups responsible.

Out intent is to hold these violent mobsters and violent hate groups accountable and to get every penny of damage we can, Racine said. If it so happens that we bankrupt them, then that's a good day.

There was no immediate response to emails sent to the groups seeking comment.

The lawsuit cites as its basis a post-Civil War 1871 law known as the Ku Klux Klan Act. A similar tactic was used to secure a $26 million verdict last month against white supremacist groups and individuals responsible for organizing the violent 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in which one person was killed after a man plowed his car into a group of counter-protesters.

The lawsuit came as the Justice Department on Tuesday separately charged three more suspected members of the Proud Boys from Pennsylvania for their alleged roles in Januarys riot.

The men, Isaiah Giddings and Freedom Vy of Philadelphia and Brian Healion of Upper Darby, are all accused of working with another suspected Proud Boys member, Zachary Rehl  who was arrested in March  to breach the Capitol. Prosecutors say the group traveled together from Pennsylvania and the trio was photographed posing both outside the Capitol and inside the building.

Racine announced the suit Tuesday alongside Eleanor Holmes Norton, D.C.'s non-voting delegate in the House of Representatives. Norton said the suit is designed to secure extra funding to support D.C. police officers injured while defending the Capitol building and to serve as a warning to extremist groups.

They're going to have to spend money to defend themselves, Norton said. Even if we don't get a penny in restitution, this lawsuit's deterrent effect will say, Be prepared to spend money to defend yourself because we are coming after you. 

Racine said evidence presented in the multiple federal criminal cases underway already proves explicit evidence of conspiracy to commit violent acts in the nation's capital. He said the lawsuit presents an opportunity to publicly explore and expose the financial support structure of the far-right extremist network.

I sure hope they try to defend the case, he said. "We can't wait to propound searing questions about the finances of these individuals and these groups.

The Proud Boys emerged from far-right fringes during the Trump administration to join mainstream GOP circles. The Oath Keepers is a militia group founded in 2009 that recruits current and former military, police and first responders.
Nathalie Charles, even in her mid-teens, felt unwelcome in her Baptist congregation, with its conservative views on immigration, gender and sexuality. So she left.

I just dont feel like that gelled with my view of what God is and what God can be, said Charles, an 18-year-old of Haitian descent who identifies as queer and is now a freshman at Princeton University.

It wasnt a very loving or nurturing environment for someones faith.

After leaving her New Jersey church three years ago, she identified as atheist, then agnostic, before embracing a spiritual but not religious life. In her dorm, she blends rituals at an altar, chanting Buddhist, Taoist and Hindu mantras and paying homage to her ancestors as she meditates and prays.

The path taken by Charles places her among the religiously unaffiliated -- the fastest-growing group in surveys asking Americans about their religious identity. They describe themselves as atheists, agnostics or nothing in particular.

According to a survey released Tuesday by the Pew Research Center, this group  commonly known as the nones  now constitutes 29% of American adults. Thats up from 23% in 2016 and 19% in 2011.

If the unaffiliated were a religion, theyd be the largest religious group in the United States, said Elizabeth Drescher, an adjunct professor at Santa Clara University who wrote a book about the spiritual lives of the nones.

The religiously unaffiliated were once concentrated in urban, coastal areas, but now live across the U.S., representing a diversity of ages, ethnicities and socioeconomic backgrounds, Drescher said.

Even in their personal philosophies, Americas nones vary widely, according to a recent poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. For example, 30% say they feel some connection to God or a higher power, and 19% say religion has some importance to them even though they have no religious affiliation.

About 12% describe themselves as religious and spiritual and 28% as spiritual but not religious. More than half describe themselves as neither.

Nearly 60% of the nones say religion was at least somewhat important to their families when they were growing up, according to the AP-NORC poll. It found that 30% of nones meditate and 26% pray privately at least a few times a month, while smaller numbers consult periodically with a religious or spiritual leader.

There are people who do actually practice, either in a particular faith tradition that we would recognize, or in multiple faith traditions, Drescher said. Theyre not interested in either membership in those communities formally or in identifying as someone from that religion.

Over recent years, the prevalence of the nones in the U.S. has been roughly comparable to Western Europe -- but overall, Americans remain more religious, with higher rates of daily prayer and belief in God as described in the Bible. According to a 2018 Pew survey, about two-thirds of U.S. Christians prayed daily, compared to 6% in Britain and 9% in Germany

The growth of the nones in the U.S. has come largely at the expense of the Protestant population in the U.S., according to the new Pew survey. It said 40% of U.S. adults are Protestants now, down from 50% a decade ago.

Among the former Protestants is Shianda Simmons, 36, of Lakeland, Florida, who began identifying as an atheist in 2013.

She grew up as a Baptist and attended church regularly; she says she left mainly because of the churchs unequal treatment of women.

Not everyone in her family knows she has forsaken religion, and some who do know struggle to accept it, Simmons said.

There are certain people I cant tell that I am atheist, she said. It has made me draw away from my family.

Similarly, at the beauty store she owns, she feels she must keep her atheism under wraps from clients, for fear theyd go elsewhere.

Like Simmons, Mandisa Thomas is a Black atheist  an identity that can be challenging in the many African American communities where churches are a powerful force. Thomas sang in a church choir in her childhood, but was not raised Christian.

Within the Black community, we face ostracism, said Thomas, who lives near Atlanta and founded Black Nonbelievers, a support group, in 2011. There is this idea that somehow you are rejecting your blackness when you reject religion, that atheism is something that white people do.

Another advocate for the nones is Kevin Bolling, who grew up in a military family and served as a Roman Catholic altar boy. In college, he began to question the churchs role, and grew dismayed about its position on sexuality after he came out as gay.

Hes now executive director of the Secular Student Alliance, which has more than 200 branches in colleges and schools nationwide. The chapters, he said, serve as havens for secular students or those questioning their faith.

I think this generation can be the first generation to be majority non-religious versus majority religious, he said.

Being Catholic also was a big part of Ashley Taylors upbringing -- she became an altar server at 9. Now 30, she identifies as religiously unaffiliated.

It just means finding meaning and maybe even spirituality without practicing a religion . pulling from whatever makes sense to me or whatever fits with my values, she said.

Her faith gave her strength when she had cancer at 11, she said, but she also feels that growing up Catholic negatively affected her emotional and sexual development and delayed her coming out as queer.

Eventually, Taylor discovered Sunday Assembly, which provided her with a congregation-like community but in a secular way, offering activities such as singing, book clubs and trivia nights. She's now board president at Sunday Assembly Pittsburgh.

Theyre not trying to tell you whats true, said Taylor. Theres always a spirit of curiosity and questioning and openness.

For some nones, such as 70-year-old Zayne Marston of Shelburne, Massachusetts, their spiritual journey keeps evolving over decades.

Growing up near Boston, Marston attended a Congregational church with his family  he remembers Bible study, church-sponsored dances, the itchiness of his flannel trousers while attending Sunday services.

Through high school and college, he drifted away from Christian beliefs and in his 30s began a serious, long-lasting journey into spirituality while in rehab to curb his alcoholism.

Spirituality is a soul-based journey into the heart, surrendering ones ego will to a higher will. he said. Were looking for our own answers, beyond the programming we received growing up.

His path has been rough at times  the death of his wife from a fast-moving cancer, financial troubles leading to the loss of his house  but he says his spiritual practice has replaced his anxieties with a gentle joy and a desire to help others.

He previously worked as a landscape designer and real estate appraiser, and now runs a school teaching qigong, a practice that evolved from China combining slow, relaxed movement with breathing exercises and meditation.

As a kid, I used to think of God up on a throne, with a white beard, passing judgment, but that has totally changed, Marston said. My higher power is the universe... Its always there for me, if I can get out of my egos way.

___

The AP-NORC poll of 1,083 adults was conducted Oct. 21-25 using a sample drawn designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 4 percentage points.

The Pew survey was conducted among 3,937 respondents from May 29 to Aug. 25. It's margin of error for the full sample of respondents is plus or minus 2.1 percentage points.

___

Associated Press Writer Mariam Fam contributed to this report.

___

Associated Press religion coverage receives support from the Lilly Endowment through The Conversation U.S. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
Jan Woitas/AP

BERLIN (AP)  Several windows at a mosque in the eastern German city of Leipzig were broken after dozens of people set off fireworks, set fire to garbage cans and threw bottles at cars, police said Tuesday. It wasn't clear whether the mosque was targeted deliberately.

The windows were broken on Monday evening, police told news agency dpa. Before that, the group of about 80 people had marched nearby and thrown paint and stones at a police patrol car. Police estimated the total value of the damage caused during the incident at 30,000 euros (nearly $34,000).
The Film Independent Spirit Awards, Hollywoods leading indie film honors, stayed true to its name this year, bestowing a leading seven nominations to Janicza Bravos wild road trip saga Zola," including best feature, best director and best female lead for Taylour Paige. The Novice, a sports drama and psychological thriller from first-time filmmaker Lauren Hadaway, followed with five.

Nominations for the 37th edition of the awards were announced Tuesday morning by Naomi Watts, Regina Hall and Beanie Feldstein.

Zola, which was based on a viral twitter thread, was nominated for best feature alongside The Novice, the Italian-language drama A Chiara, Cmon Cmon, about a young boy and his uncle, and Maggie Gyllenhaals Elena Ferrante adaptation, The Lost Daughter, a meditation on motherhood and rage, which picked up four nods, including director, screenplay and supporting female actor for Jessie Buckley.

Wild Indian, a thriller about a long-ago murder of a classmate from another first-time filmmaker Lyle Mitchell Corbine, Jr., also got four nominations.

Nominees for female lead include Paige (Zola), Isabelle Fuhrman (The Novice), Brittany S. Hall (Test Pattern), Patti Harrison (Together Together) and Kali Reis (Catch the Fair One). Male lead nominees are Clifton Collins Jr. (Jockey), Frankie Faison (The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain), Michael Greyeyes (Wild Indian), Udo Kier (Swan Song) and Simon Rex (Red Rocket).

It was a good morning overall for Zola studio and distributor A24, whose films received a total 13 nominations. A24's slate included The Humans," Mike Mills' C'mon C'mon, which got best director and screenplay, and the past-his-prime adult entertainer drama Red Rocket." Neon, which distributed "A Chiara" and Pig," and Netflix, which is behind Passing and The Lost Daughter, both got nine.

Best documentary nominees include Questloves Summer of Soul, Robert Greenes Procession, Nanfu Wangs In the Same Breath, Jonas Poher Rasmussens Flee and Jessica Kingdons Ascension. Critics awards darling Drive My Car, from Ryusuke Hamaguchi, was among the films nominated for best international feature, alongside Pedro Almodovars Parallel Mothers and Celine Sciammas Petit Maman.

Historically, the Spirit Awards are held on the Saturday afternoon before the Oscars, but this year it will take place on the evening of March 6, a few weeks before the Oscars on March 27. After going virtual earlier this year, the show is returning to an in-person event, beachside in Santa Monica.

The show can sometimes serve as a preview of what will happen on Oscar night. Earlier this year, Chloe Zhaos Nomadland picked up best feature and director at the Indie Spirits before going on to win the top prizes at the Oscars. Moonlight, Spotlight, Birdman and 12 Years a Slave also all won at the Spirits before taking best picture at the Oscars.

Because of their production budgets, many top awards contenders this year were not eligible, including Belfast," King Richard and The Power of the Dog." To be considered, films must have cost less than $22.5 million to make.

The Spirit Awards also started honoring television shows earlier this year. This years scripted series nominees include Blindspotting, Its a Sin, Reservation Dogs, The Underground Railroad and We Are Lady Parts.

The 37th Film Independent Spirit Awards will be broadcast on IFC starting at 8 p.m. ET. on March 6.
A six-word headline that ran on page 5 in the Oakland Tribune 112 years ago caught the eye of Twitter users recently.

"WOULD NOT GET ICE CREAM; DIVORCE"

Like Hemingway's iconic 'short story' "For sale: baby shoes, never worn," those six words seem to point to an intriguing tale imbued with comedy, tragedy and an abrupt climax.

The headline seems to draw a line of cause and effect between an Oakland husband refusing to pick up a cold treat for his wife and the end of their marriage. Maybe a woman used to a life of luxury so dismayed by her husband's lack of servitude that she wanted rid of the poor sap?

We decided to unearth the original story and, in doing so, discovered a string of serendipitously interconnected headlines that speak to both the life of a woman named Amy C. Mitchell and the deceit of a sensationalist press.

Finding the ice cream story in the archives revealed not a farcical dessert dispute but a sad, and predictable, story of domestic abuse. The headline writer obscured the details to instead point the blame at the whims of Mrs. Mitchell in those 6 words.

(On the cover of the very same paper that day another story headlined "Expensive Wife Is His Downfall" blamed the lavish taste of a Los Angeles woman for her husband embezzling $5,000 from a grain company.)

The 150-word ice cream story that ran on Nov. 2, 1909, reveals that it was not an ice cream request that led Amy Mitchell to seek an end to her marriage to Fred Mitchell  it was his abuse, infidelity and neglect.

The Oakland Tribune / Archival

The story states that after Amy Mitchell heard her husband on the phone with an unknown woman, Fred Mitchell "put her aside with curses and great brutality."

The ice cream incident itself is less innocuous than it seems. The story says that after Mrs. Mitchell underwent surgery  during which her husband refused to stay by her side, telling her that "her mother was good enough"  she asked him to get her some ice cream from her sick bed, and he refused, stating "he had not had time to be shaved."

Strangely, more digging revealed a similar headline in a different paper a few weeks later, about the exact same divorce.

"WOULDN'T WALK ON STREET WITH WIFE," an Alameda Argus headline states on Jan. 20, 1910, a few months after the ice cream expose in the rival paper.

The Alameda Argus / Archival

That headline ran as divorce proceedings between Amy and Fred were underway, and adds, "Mrs. Amy C. Mitchell has unusual ground for divorce."

Amy Mitchell's complaint that her husband wouldn't walk next to her on the street also has a darker underbelly. In her court filing, Mrs. Mitchell stated that Fred would make her walk ahead of him "so nobody would think that they were together." She endured this humiliation until one evening she overheard him saying on the phone, "I had the tickets so I had to take her, (referring to his wife) I took pains to keep behind her, so I don't think the party you mean saw me." This ominous moment led to Mitchell filing for divorce, according to the story.

The divorce was announced in the Tribune a full year later. The judge sided with Amy, and the grounds given were "neglect."

But the brief dispatches of Amy Mitchell's life in the East Bay newspapers doesn't end there.

In 1915 she remarried, also announced in the Tribune, to a divorced man named Louis Danzis.

The couple maybe bonded over their treatment by the press and the use of their divorces as tabloid fodder, as Danzis' earlier divorce in 1914 was also covered in the paper under the headline:

"CALLED HIM LITTLE, LONG NOSED, AND NO MAN"

"You are too little, round shouldered, long nosed and you are no man," Marian Danzis told her husband, according to the paper. He took exception to this characterization and filed for divorce.

The Oakland Tribune / Archival

Census records show that Amy C. Mitchell's grew up in Dixon, California, moved to Oakland and worked as a secretary. Her life was far from extraordinary but she just happened to find herself the subject of all these newspaper inches at the hands of insatiable reporters in the waning days of "yellow journalism." The day she got remarried was even deemed newsworthy by the Tribune.

A short story headlined, "FROM DIVORCE DESK TO LICENSE CLERK" highlights the fact that Louis Danzis' divorce was certified the same day he obtained his marriage license in Oakland.

"While one clerk made out a certified copy of the divorce decree another wrote out a marriage license," the story says.

Census records show the newly married couple then moved to Ukiah in Northern California.

Let's hope Louis and Amy lived a long and happy life walking side-by-side with ice cream for the rest of their days, away from the tawdry glare of the 1910s Bay Area newspapers' gossip columns.
If you're in search of a smoking hot property, this full-size replica of Bostons Engine 21 firehouse in Thornton, NH, will stoke your interest. A large bay door out front serves as a not-so-subtle tip that this house is not your normal home in the woods of central New Hampshire.

On the market for $599,000, the two-bedroom, two-bathroom home was built in 2004 by John Cullen. He was never a firefighter, but was forever an enthusiast, who respected the trade and worked as a reporter for the Boston Globe.

The owner of the home had a passion for firefighters and essentially built a museum here, says the listing agent, Susan Hammond of Hammond Wheeler Realty. Unfortunately, he passed away in 2018, and the family is selling all of the memorabilia separately. He didnt run the home as a businesshe just wanted to build a replica of a firehouse.

Exterior of "firehouse" in Thornton, NH Realtor.com

Office Realtor.com

Living area with fireplace Realtor.com

Kitchen Realtor.com

Just a short walk to the Welch-Dickey trailhead and the Mad River, this private lot also offers 2.73 acres of space.

Inside the 3,137-square-foot home, you'll see an array of firefighting memorabilia and ephemera. There's even a fire pole in place, should a new owner need to shuttle quickly between floors. Hammond told us the furnishings seen in the photos are available for sale separately.

A tiled mudroom opens up to a spacious foyer with hardwood floors. A large office, ideal for working from home, comes complete with custom built-ins.

An open living, kitchen, and dining area features a fireplace and leads out to a back patio. Modern amenities include recessed lighting, wainscoting, skylights, granite countertops, and stainless-steel appliances.

Upstairs, there are two oversized bedrooms with a full bathroom and a large family room. In one of the bedrooms, you'll find firehouse-style cots with wooden chests at the foot of each bed, for a full bunkhouse vibe.

A large master bedroom also features a sitting room with the aforementioned pole.

Firehouse memorabilia Realtor.com

Fire pole to first floor Realtor.com

Main bedroom Realtor.com

Adjacent to the main house is a 1,622-square-foot heated garage space that housed the majority of the propertys firefighting memorabilia.

For a buyer who isn't a collector, Hammond said it could also be used to store all sorts of toyssnowmobiles, an RV, a boat, or even a collection of cars. There's also a detached shed in the backyard for additional storage.

If those spots aren't enough, you can fill the unfinished basement (with workbench) with even more of your belongings. With all the space, there's plenty of room for a buyer with a lot of stuff.

Hammond believes the next buyer is likely to be someone looking to make good use of the bay space, where the bulk of the museum was located.

"We have had a lot of interest from firefighters," he says, "but I think some were just interested in seeing all of the memorabilia. The opportunities here are really endless.

Boston Fire Department memorabilia Realtor.com

Exterior Realtor.com

Aerial view Realtor.com

The post Hot Deal: For $599K, You Can Buy a Replica Firehouse In New Hampshire appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com.
The franchisee of several Burger Kings in San Francisco has been cited $1.9 million for alleged wage theft from hundreds of former staffers during a three-year period.

The California Labor Commissioners Office cited Monu Singh, owner of the Golden Gate Restaurant Group that operates several fast-food chain restaurants around the Bay Area, in June 2020. The labor commission's office alleges Singh withheld pay from employees, among other unfair labor practices, between 2016 to 2019, according to SFist. To date, hundreds of former employees are still waiting for payment, prompting two non-profits to issue a press release Monday.

Trabajadores Unidos Workers United and Legal Aid at Work have assisted former employees that worked at Burger King locations operated under the Golden Gate Restaurant Group and want to hold the franchisee accountable.

Many corporations, especially fast-food franchises, disregard labor laws and worker protections in the name of increasing profit, Kim Ouilette, an attorney at Legal Aid at Work, said in a statement. Then, when workers are brave enough to speak up and enforce their rights, these corporations try to shift assets or even go out of business entirely to avoid liability, and then open up under a new name.

In a statement, former employee Adriana Rendon recounted her experience of working at the Burger King location at 1701 Fillmore St. in San Francisco where she claimed that she was unable to take breaks, which included lunch, and that she often continued to work long after her shift ended.

I worked under conditions where one could not take sick leave from work without retaliation, Rendon added. I knew that this was unjust, and I came together with my coworkers to organize ourselves and raise our voices to demand what they owed us and to stop these abuses.

In a separate filing, the Golden Gate Restaurant Group settled with the City of San Francisco over an alleged $800,000 in skipped health care payments for more than 200 employees. According to a press release, only a fraction of staffers have received payment in that case.

Singh, who is also president of MSB Property Management, a property management company based in Walnut Creek, did not return SFGATEs calls for comment. SFGATE also reached out to Burger King for comment but did not hear back by the time of publication.

Its not the first time weve seen Bay Area headlines about unpaid wages. In August, the owners of Z & Y Restaurant in San Francisco settled a lawsuit to distribute $1.6 million among 22 staffers for unpaid wages and tips.
A former engineer at SpaceX alleged rampant sexual harassment at Elon Musk's rocket company in an article posted online Tuesday morning by Lioness, a storytelling platform that shares employees' allegations of workplace misconduct.

Ashley Kosak, a former mission integration engineer at SpaceX, recounted multiple incidents of sexual harassment at the company, which she said did nothing to punish the offenders. Kosak could not be reached for further comment.

"I found my way through an abusive upbringing, leaving home at a young age, subsequent homelessness, and sexual assault in college, and eventually got a job at the 'leading engineering company' in the world," Kosak wrote in the article. "Yet I simply could not find a way to navigate the conditions at SpaceXa workplace I consider to be in a state of disrepair and dysfunction so great that the only remedy, finally, was to leave."

SpaceX did not respond to SFGATE's request for comment.

Kosak alleges that sexual harassment occurred on multiple accounts. In one instance, while she was an intern, Kosak said a fellow intern grabbed her buttocks in their shared living quarters. At a team bonding event, she said another male colleague "ran his hand over my shirt, from my lower waist to my chest." She reported the incident to HR, but she said "no one followed up." She added that the man stayed on her team.

"I reported each incident of sexual harassment I experienced to HR, and nothing was done," she wrote. "I was told that matters of this nature were too private to openly discuss with the perpetrators. Instead, they said mandated company training programs would be held. I presented ideas for a standardized framework for penalizing sexual harassers to HR, as they had not implemented any remedies; those ideas went unresponded to."

Kosak also noted that, in the past year, she alerted HR to "multiple different incidents of sexism."

"Some of the men who work at SpaceX hug women without consent, stare at women while they work, and interpret every company-related social event as an opportunity to date (or hit on) women in the office," she wrote.

Kosak said she stayed at SpaceX, where she worked for more than two years according to her LinkedIn, "because the promise of the company is a carrot that spoke to everything I dreamed of as a first-generation American and woman in STEM."

Eventually, Kosak quit. She now works as an operations program manager at Apple, according to her LinkedIn.

"The last I heard, new SpaceX interns would receive training on how to better report their harassment," she concluded. "The harassers, on the other hand, have still not been held to account."
An atmospheric river that drenched the San Francisco Bay Area most of Monday pushed south this afternoon, but a chance for thunderstorms, small hail, high elevation snow and scattered showers remained in the forecast for Monday evening into Tuesday, the National Weather Service said.

The steady rain that led to flooding on some Bay Area roadways tapered off Monday afternoon, and the weather service said the most extreme rain was over with sporadic, scattered showers likely through the evening. By 4:30 p.m., patches of blue sky could be seen peeking through the cloud cover over San Francisco.

In the storm's wake, a colder air mass began filtering into the region, creating unstable conditions in the atmosphere and bringing the chance for thunderstorms Monday night into Tuesday morning.

"With these cells, you could see brief bursts of hail and heavy rain," weather service forecaster Jeff Lorber said. "You could hear a rumble of thunder and see some lightning. Thunderstorm activity is not going to be widespread."

Temperatures are expected to drop into the 30s in inland areas overnight, bringing a chance for a dusting of snow on the region's highest peaks including Mount Diablo in the East Bay and Mount Hamilton in the South Bay.

While the rain eased over the Bay Area, the storm's hose of moisture shifted to the Santa Cruz Mountains and into the Santa Lucia Mountains along the Big Sur coast.

A flash flood watch is in effect for the CZU Lightning Complex burn area in Santa Cruz and San Mateo counties through 10 p.m. There's also a watch in effect for the Dolan and Coleman fires burn scars in the Santa Lucia Mountains from 7 p.m. Monday through 1 a.m. Tuesday. Rainfall rates of 0.50 to 0.70 inches are expected.

"It's moving slowly over Monterey Bay going down into the Big Sur coast," said Brayden Murdock, a forecaster with the weather service. "It'll be interesting to see if it does full on stop over one place. A few spots are recording up to one inch of rain an hour."

A weaker, colder storm is expected to sweep the San Francisco Bay Area Wednesday and Thursday.
The School of Public Policy gives a warm welcome to Genevieve LeBaron! Starting January 2022, Genevieve will commence her role as the new director for the School of Public Policy. Eva Lewis, program coordinator at SPP, reached out to Genevieve who is currently in the UK to ask some questions and get to know her a bit better:

From 2018-2021, you were Director of the Sheffield Political Economy Research Institute (SPERI) at the University of Sheffield. What will you bring from that experience to your new role in the School of Public Policy?

One of the key things Ill bring forward from my experience at SPERI is the importance of collaboration. At SPERI we built an institute that organically gave rise to several forms of collaboration  for instance, scholars from different disciplines undertook research together on key political-economic challenges; the International Advisory Board facilitated collaboration between academics, policymakers and journalists; and the Doctoral Researchers Network provided a vehicle for students to collaborate together and with Faculty members while shaping the governance and priorities of the Institute.

Im keen to bring forward the experience of building systems to support collaboration to help the School to continue and expand its mission of achieving high impact scholarship, not only doing rigorous and excellent research on public policy, but also taking that work forward through engagement with the public, advocacy organizations, and policymakers who implement change.

You have a long-standing research focus in the areas of modern slavery, labour exploitation and global supply chains. Can you share some recent highlights of your research work in these areas?

Absolutely; Ive researched forced labour and human trafficking in supply chains for over fifteen years now. Unfortunately, despite two decades of global efforts to eradicate forced labour, it continues to accelerate in supply chains. My research investigates why this is and how policy actors can more effectively combat it.

Some recent research highlights include: a cross-country comparative study of the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on patterns of forced labour in the global garment supply chain; a book called Combatting Modern Slavery: Why Labour Governance is Failing and What We Can Do About It; and a series of policy briefs co-authored with colleagues at Stanford and Yale Universities that lay out how business models and supply chains could be restructured to eradicate forced labour.

Ive also enjoyed working closely with policymakers to implement recommendations based on my research. For instance, Im a Member of the UK Parliaments Advisory Group on Modern Slavery and the Supply Chain and supported them to publish their first Modern Slavery Statement in 2020/2021, and I recently testified at the United States Congress Ways & Means Committee Hearing on forced labour in supply chains.

Can you share some details about Re:Structure Lab which you founded, and are currently Principal Investigator?

Absolutely. The key challenges that continue to limit policy efforts to address forced labour in both the global and domestic economies are posed by prevailing business models and supply chain dynamics. Yet, these tend to be poorly understood, both in scholarship and in practice. In 2020, I co-founded Re:Structure Lab with colleagues from Stanford and Yale Universities to bring together leading academic experts, researchers, and real-world practitioners to address this challenge. These include Ambassador Luis C.deBaca, who led United States government activities in the global fight against contemporary slavery during the Obama administration, and Jessie Brunner, a leading scholar and advocate of evidence-based anti-trafficking policy. In collaboration with our students and other colleagues, we are currently drafting a series of briefs that feed research insights into ongoing debates about how practical reforms to business models and supply chains can be achieved. I look forward to having the Lab based at the School and to forging new collaboration with faculty and students interested in these topics.

Early in your academic life, what influenced you to pursue public policy as a career path? What advice do you have for Masters students looking towards their future in public policy?

I have long been motivated by an awareness of social and environmental injustice and the desire to see public policy evolve to address and mitigate injustice, marginalization, and exclusion within the economy. This continues to drive my research and engagement today, as I seek to understand the worlds pressing public policy challenges associated with global supply chains, including the severe economic hardship and human rights abuses experienced by workers at the base of these chains. As the Covid-19 pandemic is felt unevenly across society, as wealth inequity soars, and racism, misogyny, and other forms of discrimination continue to be widespread, building institutions and policies that serve the public interest has never been more important. My advice to Masters students looking towards their future in public policy is not to forget their passion and values. That might sound cliche, but as we learn more about policy and delve into the complexities of working in the public interest, it can be easy to lose sight of the bigger picture.

Vancouver is your hometown. What are you looking forward to about being back in the city after many years in the US, Europe and UK?

It is indeed! I was born in Vancouver and was lucky to grow up as an uninvited guest on the unceded land of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Nations. Im so excited to come home. Im looking forward to living closer to my loved ones; I have a lot of family and friends in the city that Ive missed while living abroad, especially during the pandemic when it hasnt been easy to travel or see people, so it will be awesome to live near them again. Im also excited to be closer to academic collaborators at SFU, UBC, and across Canada. Im involved in several collaborations through two SSHRC grants and the Royal Society of Canada and being based in Vancouver will make this work much easier. Im also excited to get reacquainted with the city since it has certainly changed a lot since I last moved away nearly a decade ago.

Im going to venture a guess that youre a work hard, play hard type of person  what are some ways you like to spend your time when you arent working?

As a Vancouverite, it is perhaps unsurprising that I love outdoor sports! My favourites are rowing, kayaking, skiing, cycling, and hiking.

My family loves wilderness adventures, including bikepacking, and multi-day kayaking and ski trips. Ive had a few knee surgeries lately to repair sports injuries, so am excited to get back to being active and enjoying the outdoors. I also love poetry and literature and when not working can often be found reading the London Review of Books or a novel at the beach or in a cafe during the rainier months.
The Finnish Student Health and Wellbeing Survey released here on Monday showed that higher education students have proportionally more mental health symptoms and psychological problems than the rest of the adult population in the country, reports Xinhua news agency.

Helsinki, Dec 14 (IANS) One-third of higher education students in Finland suffer from symptoms of anxiety and depression, according to a survey.

Forty per cent of female students reported symptoms of anxiety and depression, while 28 per cent of male respondents said that they had such symptoms.

Both diagnosed depression and diagnosed anxiety were more common in women than in men, and women's risk of developing an eating disorder was threefold compared to men, according to the survey.

The research was carried out by the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), in cooperation with the Social Insurance Institution of Finland (Kela).

Jaana Suvisaari, research professor at THL, said that behind these symptoms, those students may have mental health problems that require treatment.

"Action must be taken to deal with the problems that cause the symptoms," Suvisaari added.

Kaloliina, a student at Hanken School of Economic, told Xinhua that most students in Finland need to work. Struggling to balance studying and working could be one of the sources of pressure.

Suvisaari said distance learning during the Covid-19 pandemic had reduced the sense of community, adding that the lack of support provided by study groups makes studying more difficult, especially for young higher education students.

Experts at THL and Kela are concerned about the high prevalence of symptoms of anxiety and depression among university students, suggesting that physical activities, sufficient sleep, and social contact could help alleviate symptoms.

"It is important that students receive support from higher education institutions and are involved in the activities of student organisations and other communities. It is equally important to maintain a healthy lifestyle," says Suvi Parikka, Development Manager at THL.

Suvisaari called on teaching staff at higher education institutions to have more contact with students.

"Face-to-face encounters are particularly important for those students whose psychological distress is caused by study difficulties resulting from distance learning," she pointed out.

The Finnish Student Health and Wellbeing Survey 2021 was carried out between February and March 2021 during the third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic.

--IANS

ksk/
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When Dr Hans Kluge, the World Health Organisations regional director for Europe, remarked last week that Omicron is already everywhere, he was arguing against the reinstatement of travel bans. His colleague Dr Catherine Smallwood added that such restrictions are not effective in preventing spread of disease. In South Africa and Britain particularly, the Omicron horse has already bolted and is rapidly supplanting the infamous Delta variant as the main source of infection.

While there are early (though by no means conclusive) signs that Omicrons transmissibility is not matched by the severity of its symptoms, its swift spread means governments are being forced to consider a return to politically unattractive measures to protect their health systems from being overwhelmed. In Britain, where Prime Minister Boris Johnson is already enduring an especially bleak political midwinter, the idea of a second locked-down Christmas must be an awful prospect. There, rules on masking, restricting access to venues and working from home are being re-introduced.

Here, Prime Minister Scott Morrison has already made it clear that he is unwilling to contemplate a return to lockdowns. This, we believe, is the right call for now. Meanwhile, all state governments (even Western Australia) are continuing at greater or lesser speed to open up.

But the unchecked spread of the Omicron variant would be concerning. A fast spread means it will be in billions of people and another mutation may come, Pfizers chief executive Albert Bourla told The Wall Street Journal last week. We in Australia are looking to a summer of greater freedom from restrictions but Omicron has already heralded a more cautious tone from some on, for example, the wearing of masks. As unpalatable as it is for lockdown-weary Australians to hear, Britains winter experience shows we are not out of the COVID woods yet.

But before we hit the button to reintroduce restrictions we must ensure as many children are vaccinated as possible and that those adults already double-dosed take advantage of the governments Omicron-induced move to bring forward their booster shots.
Im trying to be angry. Because thats better than being upset, she tells me. And I agree. My eyes are tired of welling up.

Its Monday morning and Im waking up to another emotional call from my mum, who is French, about her application for a visa to visit Australia from Britain. Ive received one of these calls almost every day for more than a week.

You know, Im really starting to hate Australia, my mother snaps. I feel like Im trying to get into Alcatraz.

Its that her three children are living in this country, and right now, she has no way of seeing us again. Our reunion is entirely in the hands of the faceless people at the Department of Home Affairs.

Two months ago, when it was announced that parents of Australian citizens and permanent residents would be able to get a travel exemption to fly here, we  like many  were ecstatic. Christmas was saved. The happy tears were flowing. We have not hugged each other since 2019.

Anyone in my position, or similar, is well aware that visa processing times have blown out since COVID-19. Electronic traveller visas, which used to be approved almost immediately, are no longer available. The Home Affairs website says that about three-quarters of visitor visas are approved in 30 days. But it can take up to seven months. Thats a scary number. However, we were comforted: the department has assured that the visas of people with travel exemptions  including parents of Australians  would be prioritised.

On an application for a travel exemption, the traveller must provide evidence of their family relationships and vaccination. They also must state the intended date of travel. My mums was approved within days in October.

But the final piece of the puzzle  the visa  is still pending. The application has sat there untouched for more than 50 days. Call the Home Affairs helpline and all you get is general information and resistance to even look up an application.
Doctors and pharmacists are clamouring to secure boosters to meet demand ahead of Christmas, as the state tries to contain its biggest COVID-19 transmission event since the Ruby Princess cruise ship.

More than 200 cases have been identified in people who attended a superspreading event at a Newcastle nightclub. All are likely to be sequenced as the new Omicron variant.

Hundreds of people have been deemed close contacts after attending Argyle House nightclub in Newcastle. Credit:Darren Pateman

Demand for vaccine boosters has surged in recent days as NSW case numbers have climbed to more than 800, the highest level since lockdown ended in October. About 740,000 people in NSW are now eligible for a booster after the wait time for third doses was reduced from six months to five.

NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard said with the evidence showing vaccination efficacy rates drop off dramatically after about three or four months serious consideration should be given to changing the definition of fully vaccinated to include third doses.
The developer of a nine-storey apartment building in western Sydney has been stopped from allowing buyers and tenants to move in after serious defects were discovered in the block.

The NSW building watchdog has slapped a prohibition order on the 80-unit building on John Street in Lidcombe, which prevents the Burwood developer from gaining an occupation certificate until the regulator is satisfied the defects in balustrade walls have been fixed.

The Lidcombe building, which remains unoccupied, comprises commercial spaces on the ground floor and eight storeys of residential apartments, as well as a five-storey basement car park.

The apartment building at 11 John Street in Lidcombe. Credit:Louise Kennerley

The prohibition order was issued to See Win Holdings Pty Ltd after Fair Trading inspectors found balustrade walls on the buildings rooftop level and first-floor balconies had been constructed without reinforcing.
Police expect to end the search on the NSW Mid North Coast for missing three-year-old boy William Tyrrells remains in the coming days.

The latest forensic search, near the home where William vanished from in 2014, began in November following new information into his disappearance.

NSW Police divers search a creek for the remains of William Tyrrell. Credit:Louise Kennerley

In a statement, NSW Police said inquiries and search operations being undertaken in the Kendall area are expected to be completed in the coming days.

Once the search operation is complete, a team will facilitate a repatriation of the site, the statement said.
Elective surgery waiting lists have risen to more than 92,000 people in NSW as understaffed hospitals face a backlog of patients who were blocked from undergoing routine procedures during the states Delta outbreak.

A total of 6611 patients were overdue for routine elective surgery on September 30, with major Sydney hospitals, including St Vincents, Blacktown, Mount Druitt and the Sydney Childrens Hospital, notching up record numbers of people waiting longer than recommended for operations.

There were 44,768 elective surgeries performed in NSW from July to September, down about 20,000 from the preceding quarter. Credit:Glenn Hunt

NSW Health Deputy Secretary Susan Pearce said it could take up to 12 months to clear the backlog. She said hospitals were working at reducing the number of people overdue after non-urgent surgery was suspended in public hospitals in August as COVID-19 infections surged.

The latest Bureau of Health Information report also reveals a staggering number of ambulance responses to most critically urgent cases during the Delta wave, with 9322 responses to life-threatening conditions  a jump by about 30 per cent compared with the same quarter last year and the highest of any quarter since reporting began in 2010.
All passengers who travelled on two packed Virgin Australia flights the day Queensland's border reopened have been ordered into quarantine after a fellow traveller tested positive for COVID-19.

The directive on Tuesday night means the people who flew Newcastle to Brisbane on flight VA1105 at lunchtime on Monday, and Brisbane to Townsville on flight VA375 soon after, will spend Christmas in home quarantine.

Qantas, Jetstar and Virgin Australia flights are now on Queensland Healths COVID-19 exposure site list. (File image) Credit:Glenn Hunt

"We can confirm a new positive COVID-19 case has been detected in Queensland, which is linked to the exposure sites at Townsville and Brisbane Domestic Airports and the two Virgin flights," Queensland Health said on social media.

It was unclear why Queensland Health had taken the unusual step of declaring all passengers on those flights to be close contacts, rather than only those in adjoining seats and rows.
Senior Mongols bikie Toby Mitchell is on bail pending an appeal against a two-month jail term after twice striking a patron in the face in a pub in country Victoria.

Police officers arrested Mitchell, 47, at his Southbank property on Tuesday morning, and detectives from the anti-bikie Echo Taskforce later charged him with four offences over the November 28 incident.

Police arrest Toby Mitchell, 47, in Southbank on Tuesday.

In the Melbourne Magistrates Court on Tuesday afternoon, Mitchell pleaded guilty to two charges  common assault and failing to give police access to his mobile phone  and was sentenced. The remaining two charges, unlawful assault and affray, were withdrawn.

The court heard the senior Mongol bikie was with a woman about 10.25pm at the American Hotel at Echuca on November 28 when he got into a verbal argument with a man and later struck him twice in the face.
Loading With Moderna, we have a partner that ensures that their IP [intellectual property], their knowledge, their advances in medical science can be brought here and be part of an ecosystem here that will see Australia also be a leader in this area, he said. Echoing statements he made at the Sydney Institute on Monday night, the Prime Minister also acknowledged his government failed to swiftly roll out the COVID-19 vaccine, but said the Commonwealth ultimately overcame the problems plaguing the inoculation program. When youre in a crisis, its not unusual to have setbacks, Mr Morrison said. The proof of managing a crisis is being able to overcome it and we did overcome it, and we were able to achieve those vaccination rates that we hoped to achieve.

Health Minister Greg Hunt said the new manufacturing facility would be key to the countrys medical manufacturing future and help meet the countrys COVID-19 vaccine needs. The interval between full vaccination and booster shots was reduced from six to five months. Acting Premier James Merlino said having local capability would help avoid global supply chain issues and provide a stronger defence against future pandemics. This is a huge announcement not just for Victoria, but the whole country  being able to manufacture mRNA vaccines and treatments locally will lock in vaccine security both on our shores and across our region, he said. Moderna Australia and New Zealand general manager Michael Azrak said he was thrilled the company was pitching tent in the country.

Loading He said while there was no date yet for the completion of the facility or first locally produced doses, he hoped it would be as soon as practically possible. Thats the goal that we all have together, to really mobilise this as quickly as possible, he said. Minister for Medical Research Jaala Pulford told ABCs RN Breakfast Victorias heavy investment into medical research and pharmaceutical manufacturing over the past two decades had ultimately favoured Melbourne over Sydney for the bid. Victorias medical research sector supports about 30,000 jobs and contributes an estimated $21 billion to the states economy, according to government figures.

Melbourne is home to around 60 per cent of medical research that occurs in Australia and around 90 per cent of pharmaceutical manufacturing, she said. So the case that weve been putting to the federal government and Moderna and all others is that this is the only place in Australia where we have those capabilities. Ms Pulford said the government had identified several suitable sites for the facility, which will also conduct clinical trials and research, but was yet to finalise a decision. The federal government could not reveal how much the partnership would cost due to commercial contract negotiations, but it is expected to be worth several billion dollars.

The announcement about the new manufacturing facility comes amid uncertainty over the end of mask mandates in Victoria. Premier Daniel Andrews announced last month a requirement for retail customers to wear masks would be lifted by Thursday unless there was a significant jump in hospitalisations. However, this public assurance is now under a cloud, with state government officials refusing to comment on whether it will proceed as planned, citing the legal requirements of the new pandemic laws which will replace Victorias state of emergency powers from midnight on Wednesday. Epidemiologists have warned against scrapping the rule, citing growing Christmas crowds and uncertainty about the severity of the Omicron strain.

Loading Early studies suggest Omicron may be less virulent than previous strains like Delta but more infectious. To date, only one patient infected with the strain, a person from the UK, has died after being diagnosed. Victoria recorded 1189 cases of COVID-19 and six deaths on Tuesday, bringing the total number of active cases in the state to 11,051. Of those, 364 are in hospital, including 80 in intensive care, with 44 on a ventilator. There were also 39 patients in intensive care who had been cleared of the virus. More than 8433 Victorians were vaccinated against COVID-19 at state-run clinics on Monday, taking the total number of doses administrated at state facilities to almost 5 million, which means 92 per cent of Victorians aged 12 and over are now fully immunised against the virus.

Loading Victorian health authorities are urging people to get their flu shot because of concerns the reopening of Australias international borders could bring a new wave of influenza infections. The Department of Health recommends anyone planning to travel overseas or returning to Australia from the northern hemisphere to get the jab, including children aged six months and over. If a person receives the 2021 flu shot in late 2021 or early 2022, they are still recommended to receive the 2022 formulation of the flu shot when it becomes available, the department said. With Cassandra Morgan, Melissa Cunningham and Aisha Dow
Loading Theres evidence that mixing platforms for delivery can enhance the immune response. This was first looked at in COVID-19 vaccines using a different first and second dose, but mixed dosing was never widely used. The first two doses of AstraZeneca give you really good protection against hospitalisation and disease from Delta infection, probably because it gives you a good T-cell response. But theres no doubt that antibody levels are lower after two AstraZeneca vaccines compared with the mRNA vaccines. More recently, a study looked at nine different vaccines for the third dose after receiving either AZ/AZ or Pfizer/Pfizer for the first and second doses. In this study from the UK, mRNA as the third dose, either after two doses of AZ or two doses of Pfizer, gave the highest antibody levels. However, some combinations give you more reactogenicity, meaning mild side effects such as fever and aches and pains.

Using the AstraZeneca as a booster has been tested, and it does boost antibody levels when given after Pfizer. But when given after AZ, antibodies only increased modestly. In Australia, the only setting where you might use AstraZeneca as the booster is if youve had an adverse reaction to an mRNA vaccine. Question from Jess: If you have had two doses of either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, is it preferable to swap for your booster shot? For example, if youve had your initial doses of Pfizer would you boost with Moderna? There are some minor differences between Pfizer and Moderna when given as a booster, but overall both work really well. Question from Katharine: Im reading that Moderna is best for a booster. Is this correct? Ive had AstraZeneca.

Both mRNA vaccines work very well as boosters. In one head-to-head study, the antibody levels as well as the reactogenicity were higher with a Moderna booster compared to a Pfizer booster. However, overall there is more data out there on Pfizer as a booster. The Israelis, for example, have used Pfizer as a booster at a population level, and it was approved before Moderna, so weve got more data on Pfizer as a booster, but from everything were seeing from Moderna, its looking much the same. Health Minister Greg Hunt received his COVID-19 booster shot on Sunday. Credit:Nine News Question from Winnie: After the booster shot, does it still take about two weeks to get to optimum immunity? That hasnt been systematically looked at. But most of the studies that were now seeing with boosters have largely looked at antibody levels two or three weeks after the booster and based on what we know, yes, it does take two to three weeks for your antibodies to respond. Question from Julie: I am immunocompromised and have had my third dose. Has approval been given for a booster fourth dose for people like me?

Loading Not yet in Australia. Studies are evaluating that, but we just dont know whether after that third dose, antibodies will drop at the same rate as they do after the second dose, so I dont think we know the answer to that. It may well be, however, that the booster dose is really the third dose of a three-dose regimen. There are many vaccines that need three doses to give you high and durable immunity. For example, hepatitis B requires three doses. You have the initial shot, followed by a second at one month and a third dose at six months and that gives you immunity for life. The only people that we check for antibodies after the third dose is in immunosuppressed people or healthcare workers at high risk of hepatitis B, otherwise we assume youre protected from hepatitis B for life. Vaccinations work by educating your immune system to respond to a part of the virus, and its unusual that you can do it with a single shot. Most vaccines need the initial shot, which primes your immune system, it gets the right cells going, and then you come in with a booster, and it expands all those cells, and theyre ready to respond when you contract the actual infection. Your immune system takes some time to mature, and sometimes you need that third dose to really get enough cells lined up to last the distance. Were learning that for the COVID vaccines, you do get a much better antibody response after that third dose, but how long-lived that is, we dont know.

Question from Debbie: I am due for my third jab in two weeks, but I am now just recovering from COVID-19. With added natural immunity now, should I wait another couple of months before I get my third jab so my vaccine will be more effective over the winter months? Getting COVID after two doses will bump up your immunity. We dont know whether it will give you as good immunity as a third dose, so the recommendation is to wait three or four months before getting a booster. Youll be protected from the recent bumping up of your antibodies and in three months time, this would be the right time for a third shot before the winter months. In South Africa, there are hundreds and hundreds of people that have had COVID two, three and now four times. Past infection gives you some protection, but your protection from reinfection is about 10-fold less, at least for Delta, compared to protection following vaccination. So, you definitely have some protection, but its less protected than if you were vaccinated. We dont yet know how protected you are from Omicron. But the relative reduction of protection following infection compared to vaccination, may be greater than what was seen with Delta. Question from Fred: Does AstraZeneca work as a third dose?

Loading It does work. The antibody response is not as good as mRNA, but its fine to have it if you cant have mRNA. Question from Jeff: Is it OK to have the booster shot at five months or is it better to leave it to six months? The Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation is now recommending having it at five months. They put it at five months because theres data on safety of boosters at five months, but not much safety data on boosters at three months. Your antibodies do start falling after about two months, but youve still got protection from infection. Your risk of hospitalisation and death doesnt drop off after either AstraZeneca or Pfizer for at least six months.

But with Omicron we also are currently trying to use vaccines to stop transmission and therefore aiming to reduce infection  not just hospitalisation  because thats where we are at the moment. This might change. You definitely need higher levels of antibodies in the bloodstream to protect against infection with Omicron. Credit:Matt Golding Question from Vellu: How effective are the first two doses of COVID-19 vaccine against Omicron? Weve only got very preliminary data on that. Theres only one real-world study out, which is based on 500 patients with Omicron from the UK, and that shows that your protection from getting infected is reduced down to 10 per cent with two doses of AstraZeneca and 40 per cent with Pfizer, so theres quite a big drop in protection from infection. Although this is a small study and not published, this matches other findings that the level of antibodies after two doses arent high enough to neutralise Omicron. We dont yet know the impact and protection from hospitalisation.

Once you have your third dose, your antibody levels shoot up about 25-fold, say for after three doses of Pfizer, and then your antibodies will be in the range that will be much more likely to protect against Omicron. Theres about five studies now that have looked at antibody levels and how high they need to be for Omicron. The only clinical study I know on vaccine effectiveness is from the UK. Its early days. The reason why we cant just say, Look, youve got to get higher antibodies so just go for a booster shot now, is because were always balancing safety versus efficacy. And the safety data is important to know that giving the booster at two, three, four months is actually safe. So, you balance those two things: how much safety data do we have to know that this gap is safe, and then how urgent is it to get your antibodies high? There are a few loud voices in the media that dont seem to appreciate that balance, but its critical because youre giving these boosters to millions and millions of people, you really want to know its safe. Question from David: Its been almost six months since I had my second Pfizer vaccination. How important is it for me to have my booster within the six monthly time frame? Will it matter if I delay it for a while or should I aim to have it on the exact day six months have passed? Id err on getting it a bit earlier. Thats why the Australian Technical Advisory Group made the change to five months. Theres more urgency around getting the booster now because of what we know about Omicron. It doesnt need to be on the day, but I would be erring on the other side of six months, given ATAGIs recommendation.
Residents of the Pilbara, Kimberley and Goldfields may find themselves locked out from pubs and gyms if they are not vaccinated for COVID-19 come February 5.

Tougher restrictions could be put in place in all three regions if COVID-19 vaccination rates remain below 80 per cent double-dosed once Western Australia opens its borders to the rest of the country and the world.

Tougher restrictions could be on the way for the Pilbara, Kimberley and Goldfields if vaccination rates do not lift. Credit:Getty Images

Vaccination rates remain the lowest in the Pilbara where only 46.1 per cent of eligible residents have received both jabs. The Kimberley is sitting at 60.8 per cent double dose and the Goldfields at 65 per cent.

If the regions did not reach the 80 per cent double-dose standard by February 5, they would be subject to enhanced public health measures.
After four months on the market and a $2 million discount off the asking price, Deborah Hutton has sold her Bronte home for close to the latest guide of $10 million.

The result is a decent windfall on the $3.8 million the TV personality paid for the two-storey house in 2015 but short of the $12 million guide it hit the market with in late July.

The Hamptons-style residence in Bronte was first listed in late July for $12 million. Credit:Jennifer Soo

The former model and Australian Womens Weekly editor is reportedly planning a tree change to the Southern Highlands with her partner, meditation guru Andrew Marsh, although property records show she is yet to secure her next home.

The sale price remains undisclosed by the agents involved, but the online marketing indicated a virtual sold notice by late morning on Tuesday.
Australian parents banned from seeing their children in Japan are simply confused about the stark differences between the two nations custody laws, says Shingo Yamagami, the Ambassador to Australia, who concedes that emotions are running high over the issue.

The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age revealed in August that up to 68 Australian-Japanese children have been caught up in parental abduction and child custody disputes between their Australian and Japanese parents. In some cases, children have been snatched while at school, others have been taken from their family home or sent on a holiday from Australia to Japan - never to be seen by their Australian parent again.

Japans Ambassador Shingo Yamagami. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

Japans legal system allows the parent who last had contact with the children to assume sole custody and gives them the authority to block the other parent from any access.

The issue has become a significant diplomatic flashpoint for Japan and Australia and the only major area of disagreement between the two allies. Japans other western partners, including the United States and France, also have hundreds of unresolved cases, leading all three to lobby the Japanese ministers for urgent change.
Exiled Belarus opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya vowed to continue her campaign against authoritarian ruler Alexander Lukashenko after a court in the country jailed her husband for 18 years.

The dictator publicly takes revenge on his strongest opponents, Tsikhanouskaya said on Twitter on Tuesday, following the conviction of Siarhei Tskihanouski at a closed trial in a Belarus prison. We wont stop.

Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, whose husband was jailed, said she would continue her campaign against authoritarian ruler Alexander Lukashenko. Credit:AP

The popular YouTube blogger was convicted of organising mass unrest, public order violations, stirring social enmity and obstructing the central election commission. His arrest in May last year after he announced plans to challenge Lukashenko in presidential elections prompted Tsikhanouskaya to run in his place.

A political novice, she quickly garnered strong support amid widespread public discontent with the long-serving president, whose claim to have won 80 per cent in the August 2020 elections triggered an unprecedented wave of protests.
New York: The Duke of York has warned that memories fade and false memories are created as he described his accusers sexual abuse complaint as unintelligible and deliberately vague.

In legal documents lodged with a New York court, Prince Andrews lawyers argue that as Virginia Roberts Giuffre was 17  the age of consent in New York  at the time of the alleged offences, she must prove that she was forced to have sex with him.

Prince Andrew. Credit:AP

Her attempts to implicate him by implied threat 20 years on could simply not be verified, they suggest.

The court papers also reiterate that the plain language of a 2009 financial agreement Giuffre made with Jeffrey Epstein prevents her from suing the 61-year-old duke.
Washington: A strange and unsettling statue depicting notorious Confederate general and Ku Klux Klan leader Nathan Bedford Forrest has been removed from the side of a highway in Nashville, Tennessee.

Long considered an eyesore by residents of the city, the statue was ordered taken down by the executor of the estate of Bill Dorris, the Nashville businessman who erected it there in 1998, according to News Channel 5 in Nashville.

The Nathan Bedford Forrest statue in Nashville, Tennessee, has been taken down. Credit:Brent Moore/CC

The executor told the TV station the statue would be placed in storage and perhaps put up for sale, although selling it might be difficult. Images of the removal taken by a news helicopter appeared to show part of the statue shattered.

The 7-metre statue depicting Forrest on a horse, gun in one hand and a sword in the other, was made of fibreglass and polyurethane and covered in gold and silver leaf, which detractors said looked like candy wrappers. Forrests mouth is agape, revealing a frightening set of chompers, and blue marble eyes give it an axe-murderer vibe.
PHILIPSBURG:--- Focus audit: Sint Maarten Stimulus and Support Program (SSRP) for 2020. The Audit Chamber issued its report based on research into the programs implementation. The SSRP, its legal basis, the internal organization of the program, as well as its responsibilities and accountability structure, are described in the report. In addition, the report provides insight into the financial situation of the SSRP for the year 2020.

How the SSRP addressed COVID-19s impact on the local economy, and how accountability for the program is accomplished, were the main questions the Audit Chamber sought to answer with this audit. Answering the questions was challenging because obtaining information proved difficult during the (initial) research phase, even though the Government chose to specifically define the oversight of the Audit Chamber in the Temporary Regulation governing (the business payroll support element of) the SSRP.

The Audit Chamber could not determine whether all financial reporting requirements were met based on the information received from government. However, the Audit Chamber reports that an additional layer of accountability, created because of mutual agreements with the Kingdom Council of Ministers, is in place.

In its report, the Audit Chamber identifies several areas of interest on which Government should focus; improvement of reporting on actual expenditures for SSRP components, trend analysis to gain insight in the programs effectiveness, availability of data, and definition of the roles of Ministers involved in the program.

Wherever possible, links contained in the report reference a source document. Readers are welcome to explore the subject matter further or to consult the public source document.

The report is published in both English and Dutch and is available on the website of the General Audit Chamber (www.arsxm.org).
A new 5-star hotel in Dubais Healthcare City, the Hyatt Regency Dubai Creek Heights has 464 luxury rooms spread over 34 floors. It caters to both business and leisure travellers. The hotel required a new electronic access control system for its non-public facing areas, including administrative back-office space. The job demanded premium build quality that is found throughout all Hyatt Regency properties.

Key requirements included:

Electronic locks that would integrate seamlessly with the Gallagher access control system installed at the hotel.

A full range of both online and offline locks that could be deployed where appropriate.

Locks that are wireless, and with a design that would work alongside the contemporary layout of the new commercial areas.

Reliable technical and customer support from both ASSA ABLOY and a local system integrator.

Cost-effective solution to meet project budgets.

Hyatt required both online and offline locks to do different jobs on different doors. To date, local system integrator Al Futtaim Technologies has installed 25 Aperio online E100 escutcheons and over 50 offline E900 escutcheons. Aperio enables security managers at the new Hyatt to monitor doors remotely; to open doors wirelessly; and to create audit trails for specific doors on demand.

Aperio wireless escutcheons

Component design was crucial in choosing Aperio. Attractive Aperio escutcheons were selected to complement the contemporary, luxurious feel of the Hyatts decor. All Aperio escutcheons are wireless, so theres no ugly cabling to spoil the aesthetics and installation is quick and affordable  helping to keep the project within budget.

Integration with Gallaghers access control system was also crucial. Gallaghers Aperio integration is seamless, as ASSA ABLOY demonstrated live in Dubai at 2015s Intersec exhibition. Another official OEM partner, x-Plan, integrates the offline Aperio E900 escutcheons at the new Hyatt.

Aperio locks to flexible upgrade



It is easy to incorporate additional Aperio locks into the same security system, should the hotel need them. Access control at Dubais new Hyatt Regency is future-proofed.

For more on how Aperio can protect your premises, see www.assaabloy.co.uk/aperiowirelesslocks
Modern healthcare facilities can vary considerably in terms of type and size, from local surgeries and care homes to general hospitals and state secure psychiatric hospitals. And each facility faces its security challenges, especially when you consider the infrastructure of the building itself. Within hospitals, for example, sick, newborn, elderly, and vulnerable patients must all be protected while ensuring ease of movement throughout the facility. Varying levels of access control are required in several situations, such as adding security to restrict area access for authorised personnel only  a requirement for medical record hubs and medicine cabinets, for example. For larger-scale facilities in major cities, thought must also go into response strategies to terror attacks and the concerns of securing the building while continuing to operate in those situations. Access control and hardware solutions are at the heart of these challenges, with government codes, regulations and compliance kept front of mind.
Identity and access management in 2022 - what will the future look like?

As we enter into 2022, there is still a level of uncertainty in place. Its unclear what the future holds, as companies around the world still contend with the COVID-19 pandemic. Remote working has been encouraged by most organisations and the move to a hybrid working system has become business as usual, for the majority of businesses. Some have reduced their office space or done away with their locations altogether. Following best security practices With all this change in place, there are problems to deal with. According to research, 32.7% of IT admins say they are concerned about employees using unsecured networks to carry out that work. Alongside this, 74% of IT admins thought that remote work makes it harder for employees to follow best security practices. This need to manage security around remote work is no longer temporary. Instead, companies have to build permanent strategies around remote work and security. The coming year will also create a different landscape for small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs). Here are some key predictions for next year and what to start preparing for in 2022: The reality of SMB spending around security will hit home SMBs had to undertake significant investments to adapt to remote working SMBs had to undertake significant investments to adapt to remote working, especially in comparison to their size. They had to undertake significant digital transformation projects that made it possible to deliver services remotely, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Weve seen a shift in mindset for these companies, which are now more tech-focused in their approach to problem solving. According to our research, 45% of SMBs plan to increase their spending towards IT services in 2022. Around half of all organisations think their IT budgets are adequate for their needs, while 14.5% of those surveyed believe they will need more, to cover all that needs to be done. Identity management spending to support remote work For others, the COVID-19 pandemic led to over-spending, just to get ahead of things and they will spend in 2022, looking at what they should keep and what they can reduce their spending on. Areas like identity management will stay in place, as companies struggle to support remote work and security, without this in place. However, on-premise IT spending will be reduced or cut, as those solutions are not relevant for the new work model. Services that rely on on-premise IT will be cut or replaced. The device will lead the way for security We rely on our phones to work and to communicate. In 2022, they will become central to how we manage access, to all our assets and locations, IT and physical. When employees can use company devices and their own phones for work, security is more difficult. IT teams have to ensure that theyre prepared for this, by making sure that these devices can be trusted. Wide use of digital certificates and strong MFA factors Rather than requiring a separate smart card or fingerprint reader, devices can be used for access using push authentication There are multiple ways that companies can achieve this, for example - By using digital certificates to identify company devices as trusted, an agent, or strong MFA factors, like a FIDO security key or mobile push authentication. Whichever approach you choose, this can prevent unauthorised access to IT assets and applications, and these same devices can be used for authentication into physical locations too. Rather than requiring a separate smart card or fingerprint reader, devices can be used for access using push authentication. Understanding human behaviour Alongside this, it is important to understand human behaviour. Anything that introduces an extra step for authentication can lead to employees taking workarounds. To stop this, it is important to put an employee education process in place, in order to emphasize on the importance of security. The next step is to think about adopting passwordless security, to further reduce friction and increase adoption. Lastly, as devices become the starting point for security and trust, remote device management will be needed too. More companies will need to manage devices remotely, from wiping an asset remotely if it gets lost or stolen, through to de-provisioning users easily and removing their access rights, when they leave the company. Identity will be a layer cake Zero Trust approaches to security Identity management relies on being able to trust that someone is who they say they are. Zero Trust approaches to security can support this effectively, particularly when aligned with least privilege access models. In order to turn theory into practical easy-to-deploy steps, companies need to use contextual access, as part of their identity management strategy. This involves looking at the context that employees will work in and putting together the right management approach for those circumstances. For typical employee behaviour, using two factor authentication might be enough to help them work, without security getting in the way. How enterprises manage, access and store identity data There will also be a shift in how enterprises manage, access, and store that identity data over time For areas where security is more important, additional security policies can be put over the top, to ensure that only the right people have access. A step-up in authentication can be added, based on the sensitivity of resources or risk-based adaptive authentication policies might be needed. There will also be a shift in how enterprises manage, access, and store that identity data over time, so that it aligns more closely with those use cases. Identity management critical to secure assets in 2022 There are bigger conversations taking place around digital identity for citizenship, as more services move online as well. Any moves that take place in this arena will affect how businesses think about their identity management processes too, encouraging them to look at their requirements in more detail. Overall, 2022 will be the year when identity will be critical to how companies keep their assets secure and their employees productive. With employees working remotely and businesses becoming decentralised, identity strategies will have to take the same approach. This will put the emphasis on strong identity management as the starting point for all security planning.
The decommissioning of nuclear facilities poses major challenges for operators. Whether it is decommissioning or safe containment, the amount of nuclear waste to be disposed of is growing at an overwhelming rate worldwide.

Automation to handle nuclear waste

Automation is increasingly required to handle nuclear waste, but the nuclear industry is reluctant of fully autonomous robotic control methods for safety reasons, and remote-controlled industrial robots are preferred in hazardous environments.

However, such complex tasks as remote-controlled gripping or cutting of unknown objects, with the help of joysticks and video surveillance cameras, are difficult to control and sometimes even impossible.

Robot assistance system

The robot assistance system developed there enables shared control to perform complex manipulation tasks

To simplify this process, the National Centre for Nuclear Robotics (NCNR), led by Extreme Robotics Lab, at the University of Birmingham, in the United Kingdom, is researching automated handling options for nuclear waste.

The robot assistance system developed there enables shared control to perform complex manipulation tasks, by means of haptic feedback and vision information, provided by Ensenso 3D camera. The operator, who is always present in the loop, can retain control over the robots automated actions, in case of system failures.

Application

Anyone who has ever tried out a fairground grab machine can confirm that manual control of grab arms is anything but trivial. As harmless as it is to fail, when trying to grab a stuffed bunny, failed attempts can be as dramatic, when handling radioactive waste.

To avoid damage with serious consequences for humans and the environment, the robot must be able to detect the radioactive objects in the scene extremely accurately and act with precision. The operator literally has it in his hands, as it is up to him to identify the correct gripping positions.

At the same time, the operator must correctly assess the inverse kinematics (backward transformation) and correctly determine the joint angles of the robots arm elements, in order to position it correctly and avoid collisions.

Standard industrial robot with Ensenso N35 3D camera

The system autonomously scans unknown waste objects and creates a 3D model of them

The assistance system developed by the British researchers simplifies and speeds up this task immensely, with a standard industrial robot equipped with a parallel jaw gripper and an Ensenso N35 3D camera.

The system autonomously scans unknown waste objects and creates a 3D model of them, in the form of a point cloud. This is extremely precise, because Ensenso 3D cameras work according to the principle of spatial vision (stereo vision), which is modelled on human vision. Two cameras view the object from different positions.

Ensenso software

Although the image content of both camera images appears identical, they show differences in the position of the objects viewed. Since the distance and viewing angle of the cameras, as well as the focal length of the optics are known, the Ensenso software can determine the 3D coordination of the object point, for each individual image pixel.

In this case, the scene is captured using different scanning positions of the camera and combined to get a complete 3D surface from all viewing angles.

Ensensos calibration routines

Ensensos calibration routines help transform the individual point clouds into a global coordinate system, which improves the complete virtual image. The resulting point cloud thus contains all the spatial object information needed to communicate the correct gripping or cutting position to the robot.

With the help of the software, the Enseno 3D camera takes over the perception and evaluation of the depth information for the operator, whose cognitive load is considerably reduced as a result. The assistance system combines the haptic features of the object to be gripped, with a special gripping algorithm.

Hypothesis ranking algorithm

The scene cloud is used by our system to automatically generate several stable gripping positions"

Dr. Naresh Marturi, the Senior Research Scientist at the National Centre for Nuclear Robotics (NCNR), said The scene cloud is used by our system to automatically generate several stable gripping positions. Since the point clouds captured by the 3D camera are high resolution and dense, it is possible to generate very precise gripping positions, for each object in the scene. Based on this, our hypothesis ranking algorithm determines the next object to pick up, based on the robot's current position.

The determined path guidance enables the robot to navigate smoothly and evenly, along a desired path, to the target gripping position. Like a navigation system, the system supports the operator in guiding the robot arm to the safe grasp, if necessary, also past other unknown and dangerous objects. The system calculates a safe corridor for this and helps the operator not to leave the corridor through haptic feedback.

Operator retains manual control over the robot

The system maps the operators natural hand movements exactly and reliably in real time, to the corresponding movements of the robot. The operator, thus, always retains manual control and is able to take over in the event of component failure. He can simply turnoff AI (Artificial Intelligence) and move back to human intelligence, by turning off the force feedback mode.

In accordance with the principle of shared control between man and machine, the system, thus, remains under control at all times, essential in an environment with the highest level of danger.

Ensenso N35 model 3D cameras with blue LEDs

Dr. Naresh Marturi said, For all our autonomous grasp planning, remote control and visual object tracking tasks, we use Ensenso N35 model 3D cameras with blue LEDs (465nm) mounted on the end effector of the robots, along with other tools.

He adds, Most of the systems from the Extreme Robotic Lab have so far been equipped with a single 3D camera. However, recently to speed-up the process of 3D model building, we have upgraded our systems to use additional three scene mounted Ensenso 3D cameras, along with the one on-board the robot.

Space-saving stationary or mobile use on a robot arm

The Ensenso N series is pre-destined for this task. It was specially designed for use in harsh environmental conditions

The Ensenso N series is pre-destined for this task. It was specially designed for use in harsh environmental conditions. Thanks to its compact design, the N series is equally suitable for the space-saving stationary or mobile use on a robot arm, for the 3D detection of moving and static objects.

Even in difficult lighting conditions, the integrated projector projects a high-contrast texture onto the object to be imaged, by means of a pattern mask with a random dot pattern, thus supplementing the structures that are not or only weakly present on its surface.

Aluminium housing ensures optimal heat dissipation

The aluminium housing of the N30 models ensures optimal heat dissipation of the electronic components and thus stable light output even under extreme ambient conditions. This ensures the consistently high quality and robustness of the 3D data.

Even in difficult lighting conditions, the integrated projector projects a high-contrast texture onto the object to be imaged by means of a pattern mask with a random dot pattern, thus supplementing the structures that are not or only weakly present on its surface.

Easy to set up and operate cameras

Cameras of the Ensenso N camera family are easy to set up and operate, via the Ensenso SDK. It offers GPU-based image processing, for even faster 3D data processing and enables the output of a single 3D point cloud of all cameras used in multi-camera operation, which is required in this case, as well as the live composition of the 3D point clouds, from multiple viewing directions.

For the assistance system, the researchers have developed their own software in C++ to process the 3D point clouds captured by the cameras.

Software using Ensenso SDK and calibration routines

Our software uses the Ensenso SDK (multi-threaded) and its calibration routines"

Dr. Naresh Martur said, Our software uses the Ensenso SDK (multi-threaded) and its calibration routines, to overlay texture on the high-resolution point clouds and then transform these textured point clouds into a world coordinate system. Ensenso SDK is fairly easy to integrate with our C++ software. It offers a variety of straightforward functions and methods to capture and handle point clouds, as well as camera images.

He adds, Moreover, with CUDA support, the SDK routines enable us to register multiple high-resolution point clouds to generate high-quality scene clouds in global frame. This is very much important for us, especially to generate precise grasp hypothesis.

Main advantages of the system

Operators do not need to worry about scene depth or how to reach the object, or where to grasp it. The system can figure out everything in the background and helps the operator to move exactly to the place, where the robot can best grasp the object.

With haptic feedback, operators can feel the robot in their hand, even when the robot is not present in front of them.

By combining haptics and grasp planning, operators can move the objects in a remote scene very easily and very quickly, having very low cognitive load. This saves time and money, avoids errors and increases safety.

Outlook

Researchers at the Extreme Robotic Lab in Birmingham are currently developing an extension of the method, to allow the use of a multi-fingered hand, instead of a parallel jaw gripper. This should increase flexibility and reliability, when gripping complex objects.

In the future, the operator will also be able to feel the forces to which the fingers of the remote-controlled robot are exposed, when gripping an object.

Fully autonomous gripping methods

Fully autonomous gripping methods are also being developed, in which the robot arm is controlled by an AI and guided by an automatic vision system. The team is also working on visualisation tools to improve human-robot collaboration, to control remote robots via a shared control system.

This is a promising approach for the safety and health of all of us. The handling of hazardous objects, such as nuclear waste is ultimately a matter of concern to us all. By reliably capturing the relevant object information, Ensenso 3D cameras are making an important contribution to this globally prevalent task of increasing urgency.
Heres a news flash: 2022 will be a pivotal year for the security industry. As we enter the new year, continuing change is a safe prediction for any fast-moving, technology-driven marketplace. Recent history confirms the ability of the security industry to shift and adapt to changing conditions and to provide an ever-expanding menu of technology solutions to make the world a safer place. Given that the new year will bring change, what will that change encompass? More to the point, what should it encompass? We asked this weeks Expert Panel Roundtable: What is the biggest change you would like to see within the security industry in 2022?
Photos don't do the northern lights justice.

To fully appreciate the glory and grandeur of this celestial display, which is also known as the aurora borealis , you have to settle beneath the ever-changing lights and watch them curve and curl, slither and flicker. Here's how to see the northern lights.

Amazing auroras: Stunning northern lights photos

The first thing to appreciate is the glowing sky lights can be spectacular  or they can be a fleeting event. Robert Steenburgh, the acting lead of the Space Weather Forecast Office of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, has never seen the northern lights despite having studied them and related phenomena for more than 20 years. That's not for lack of trying, as he once went on an aurora-focused trip to Yukon territory in Canada.

"It wasn't really very visible to the naked eye, although people with adequate cameras could see it," Steenburgh told Space.com, referring to cameras that can take long exposures to see faint things in the sky. "There was no geomagnetic storm going on [on the sun] at the time, so it was pretty low-key."

But for those who are lucky enough to catch a strong display, the shimmering lights can appear like curtains, like pulses of jets or like other light-show phenomena  all available above your head, for free.

For best results, you can blaze your own trail somewhere along the "auroral zone" that encircles Earth's northern reaches. But you need to know when and where to go. For example, the summer may be a good time for a vacation, but a better time to see auroras is actually between winter and spring.

Read on to find out when and where to see the northern lights, and what powers this dazzling display.

When to go

The northern lights are more formally known as the aurora borealis, and are caused by interactions between the solar wind , which is the stream of charged particles emanating from the sun , and the Earth's magnetic field .

If you're planning an aurora-viewing trip, try not to schedule it in the middle of summer. You need darkness to see the northern lights, and places in the auroral zone have precious little of it during the summer months.

The good news is that the sun's 11-year cycle of activity has just picked up and we will see more sun spots, flares and coronal mass ejections going forward than in the previous years. Coronal mass ejections are the most powerful source of charged particles emitted from the corona, the sun's upper atmosphere. When the sun shoots these geysers of plasma in the direction of Earth, wonderful auroras can be expected.

"There will continue to be aurora viewing opportunities in 2022," Steenburgh said. "The solar cycle is indeed ramping up and as solar activity increases, so do the chances for Earth-directed blobs of plasma, the coronal mass ejections, which drive the geomagnetic storms and aurora."

But it's not just the solar weather forecast you need to monitor to have the aurora experience of a lifetime. You also need clear, dark skies, emphasizes Charles Deehr, a professor emeritus and aurora forecaster at the University of Alaska Fairbanks' Geophysical Institute, whose guide to aurora viewing has lots of great information. Winter and springtime are generally less cloudy than autumn in and around the northern auroral zone, so planning a trip between December and April makes sense. Ideally, time your trip to coincide with the new moon , and make sure to get away from city lights when it's time to look up, he added.

"Dress warmly, plan to watch the sky between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. local time, although an active period can occur anytime during the dark hours," Deehr wrote in the guide. "Active periods are typically about 30 minutes long and occur every two hours, if the activity is high. The aurora is a sporadic phenomenon, occurring randomly for short periods or perhaps not at all."

You can get an idea of how active the northern lights are likely to be in your area by keeping tabs on a short-term aurora forecast, such as the one provided by the Geophysical Institute . One predicting only the next half hour is available on NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Website . Also, a citizen science website called Aurorasaurus gives on-the-ground instant information from aurora enthusiasts wanting to alert the community to new sky shows.

And you can have an aurora experience without even leaving your house if you so choose. The Canadian Space Agency offers a l ive feed of the skies above Yellowknife , in Canada's Northwest Territories, during the fall, winter and spring when the sun goes below the horizon.

Where to go in Europe

So where should you go? If you live in Europe, the easiest thing to do is head to the far northern parts of Norway, Sweden and Finland. Many local people speak English in those regions and there are lots of tours available.

Iceland is also a good choice, although cloudy skies may make it difficult to catch auroras on any one particular night. If possible, leave yourself extra time to accommodate inclement weather.

Russia does have a decent swath of the auroral zone in the northern regions, but such areas are relatively hard to get to and lack the tourism infrastructure most travelers want. You might get lucky and spot auroras while being in a more well-trodden area such as Moscow or St. Petersburg, given those cities' relatively high latitudes. But make sure to stay as far away from light pollution as feasible.

Here is a list of European provider of aurora-watching trips

Visit Tromso's 2022 northern lights info

Visit Troms sells aurora-watching trips around the city of Troms in Norway. The largest urban area in Northern Norway and the world's third largest city above the Arctic Circle, Troms lies just within the Northern Lights Oval, the region above Earth's geomagnetic North Pole where aurora displays are most likely to occur.

Visit Troms sells 'aurora chases,' dynamic night hunts for aurora displays in the aurora season between September and April, and slower-paced 'experiences' such as dog-sled and boat trips and overnight stays at aurora hotspots. Troms can be accessed by plane from Norway's capital Oslo; adventure seekers are sometimes rewarded by an aurora display during their incoming flight.

Lights over Lapland's 2022 Abisko aurora tours

Lights over Lapland sells a range of aurora-watching packages that take skywatchers to Sweden's northernmost region, Lapland. Lapland straddles the border between Sweden and Finland, with both sides offering excellent aurora viewing opportunities in winter months and the midnight sun experience in summer. The Finnish part of Lapland is famously the home of Santa Claus.

Lights over Lapland operates on the Swedish side of the border with most of its tours aiming for Abisko National Park (not far from the Esrange Space Center where the European Space Agency runs rocket tests and operates satellite-tracking antennas).

"Abisko has developed a reputation for being the No. 1 aurora-watching destination on the planet, due to the fact that it is located in a very special microclimate with less precipitation than any other location on Earth that is located within the aurora zone," photographer Chad Blakley, who is a co-founder of Lights over Lapland, told Space.com via email.

In 2018, the company released footage from a spectacular all-sky aurora during a geomagnetic storm that occurred on March 14 of that year.

Guide to Iceland

Guide to Iceland sells a range of aurora-watching packages on the North Atlantic island, including bus tours, boat tours and hunting trips. Situated just below the Arctic Circle, Iceland provides a decent chance of catching the Northern Lights during winter months. If that doesn't work out, you can instead relax in the island's powerful natural hot springs and outdoor pools.

Viatour northern lights night tour from Reykjavik

Viatour operates evening aurora-watching trips from Iceland's capital Reykjavik. The bus tour takes tourists across the island to its most popular aurora spots. The operator says that those who don't get to see the northern lights during their trip can join again at no additional cost.

Where to go in North America

The northern lights dance above a radar facility at top of Murphy Dome mountain on April 12, 2012. (Image credit: Luke Kilpatrick)

There are also plenty of options for good aurora viewing in North America. While far-eastern Canada tends to be cloudy, the shore of the Hudson Bay, the northern Canadian towns of Yellowknife or Whitehorse, or the west coast of Alaska are usually good bets. (The city of Fairbanks itself can be a great choice for seeing northern lights without needing to go too far in the wilderness.)

Alaska Tours offers a range of packages from one-day trips to week-long tours that take visitors past the Arctic Circle to the heart of Alaska's wilderness, where the chance of catching the glowing auroras is among the best in the world.

Aurora Borealis Yukon runs one-day to five-day aurora-watching trips in the Yukon territory in northwestern Canada. A direct neighbor of Alaska, Yukon offers pretty much the same aurora-observing conditions during the winter months.

Northern Lights Tours provides similar services in the Northwestern Territory, focusing on areas around the territory's capital, Yellowknife.

In the east, Churchill Arctic Adventures offers trips to Churchill, Manitoba, on the western shores of Hudson Bay. The company operates dedicated 'aurora domes,' heated cabins and other outposts in the boreal forest that allow visitors to observe the magnificent lights in perfect comfort. If the aurora doesn't show up, then perhaps some of the polar bears residing in this region may.

Can you see aurora from your home?

The "standard" aurora, observable in the Arctic regions, is generated by the solar wind, which flows toward Earth constantly. But geomagnetic storms, caused by coronal mass ejections (CME), can ramp up the northern lights considerably and make them visible over much wider areas. In late October 2021, for example, a powerful CME allowed skywatchers at much more southern latitudes, including Nevada, South Dakota, upper Michigan and New Hampshire, to enjoy spectacular aurora displays . In the U.K., photographers snapped stunning images in Scotland and northern England.

As the solar cycle intensifies, such occurrences might become more common (or rather, slightly less rare).

"There is a relationship between the strength of a geomagnetic storm and the extent of the aurora toward the equator," Steenburgh said. "Stronger storms produce stronger auroras, and drive them further toward the equator."

NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center has some advice for catching auroras outside the regular aurora zones on its web site, in addition, it provides information about the relationship between the strength of the geomagnetic storm and how far toward the equator it might spread, Steenburgh noted.

Yet even the most powerful geomagnetic storm will fail to deliver the experience unless other factors cooperate  a cloud-free sky, not too much moonlight, nighttime hours and absence of light pollution. (City-dwellers have to get out into the countryside for an aurora experience no matter how strong the geomagnetic storm supercharging the sky might be.)

What drives auroras

This composite image shows STEVE alongside the Milky Way over Childs Lake, Manitoba, Canada. (Image credit: Krista Trinder/NASA)

The northern lights result when charged particles streaming from the sun collide with molecules high up in Earth's atmosphere , exciting these molecules and causing them to glow.

"The key is you get energetic particles  things like electrons and protons  injected into Earth's atmosphere along magnetic field lines, that are part of Earth's magnetic field," Steenburgh said. "They impact our atmosphere, and those interactions determine the colors."

The different colors of the northern lights come from different molecules: Oxygen emits yellow, green and red light; while nitrogen is responsible for blue and purplish-red hues.

Earth's magnetic-field lines channel these solar particles toward the planet's north and south magnetic poles, which explains why auroras  the aurora borealis and its southern counterpart, the aurora australis  are high-latitude phenomena.

Indeed, the aurora borealis is visible most nights, weather permitting, within a band several hundred miles wide that's centered at about 66 degrees north  about the same latitude as the Arctic Circle.

The southern auroral ring lies above Antarctica and is very difficult for skywatchers, or anyone else, to get to. That's why this article focuses on the northern lights  for reasons of practicality, not antipodean antipathy. But during the recent powerful geomagnetic storm that delivered northern lights to the U.K, and parts of the U.Sskywatchers in Australia and New Zealand got treated to a very rare southern lights display.

There is also a mysterious, aurora-like brightening phenomenon in Earth's atmosphere called " Steve" that isn't attributable to aurora, although scientists aren't sure of its cause. Finnish researchers have also been tracking dune-like shimmering lights that appear to be linked to gravity waves and oxygen atoms.

Extraterrestrial auroras

Earth isn't unique in hosting auroras.

The huge gas giant planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune) each produce their own auroras, due to their magnetic fields and thick atmospheres. However, the colors of the gases change because of differences in each planet's atmospheres and magnetospheres.

Venus and Mars also have auroras, of a sort. The Venus Express mission found that solar wind interactions with the planet's ionosphere form a "magnetotail" that generates an aurora when the accelerated particles hit the atmosphere. Mars has local auroras over magnetic fields in its crust, as well as a larger, northern hemisphere aurora generated from solar energetic particles hitting the atmosphere.

Editor's note: If you capture an amazing photo of the northern lights and would like to share it with Space.com and our news partners for a story or gallery, send images to spacephotos@space.com.

This story, originally posted in April 2016, has been updated for 2021.

Follow Mike Wall on Twitter @michaeldwall and follow Elizabeth Howell on Twitter @howellspace. Follow us @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.
Occupied El Aaiun, 13 December 2021 (SPS) - Moroccan occupation forces have brutally prevented a group of Sahrawi from exerting their right to demonstrate peacefully and celebrate the International Day of Human Rights, perpetuating the crimes against humanity as well as the military blockade and the media blackout imposed on the towns of occupied Western Sahara.



Sahrawi activist and former political prisoner Mahfouda Bamba Lafkir said, in a testimony, that she and a group of Sahrawi demonstrators were violently beaten and prevented from staging a peaceful demonstration commemorating the International Day of Human Rights.



The demonstrators were calling for respect of human rights in the occupied towns and cities of Western Sahara and the lifting of the house arrest imposed on activist Sultana Khaya, in the occupied town of Boujdour.



She also stressed that Moroccan occupation police force used violence against her and other Sahrawi women in the location of the demonstration, and also against Sahrawi activists inside a place of worship.



The Sahrawi activist said several demonstrators were injured, citing a Sahrawi woman, Metou Ali Salem, as the most seriously injured, as she was slapped, beaten and dragged on the street in a brutal and barbaric manner.



Mahfouda Bamba Lafkir has called on the international community to take urgent action to protect Western Sahara people and save them from the brutality of Moroccan occupation.



The Sahrawi activist expressed her determination and that of the other Sahrawi demonstrators to continue their peaceful protests until the victorious return of all Sahrawi refugees to Western Sahara, their homeland.



062/700
HARTFORD  The fate of the controversial John Mason statue remains up in the air following votes Tuesday in the State Capitol Preservation and Restoration Commission.

But the 3,000-pound hunk of carved marble isnt going anywhere soon.

The 12-member advisory commission was split three ways on the fate of the notorious Indian fighter, who led the massacre of hundreds of Pequots in Mystic in 1637 and whose likeness has stood in an exterior niche three floors above the north entrance of the State Capitol since 1910.

After an 80 minute debate, only two other commissioners voted along with Sen. Cathy Osten, D-Sprague, to remove and relocate the statue to the Old State House a mile away in downtown Hartford. She stressed that the statue was hoisted to the gothic niche above the Capitols north steps decades after the building was completed in 1878.

It was never an original piece of the building, said Osten, whose eastern Connecticut district includes two of the state-recognized tribes along with the federally recognized Mashantucket Pequots and Mohegans.

Six commission members voted to agree with State Historian Walter Woodward, who suggested leaving the statue in place and support a task force of historians and educators in developing a program to enhance public knowledge of Connecticuts past. We have both a great need and a great opportunity, said Woodward, who is also a commission member.

Three other members voted to take no action, noting a murky area of legislative rules that puts the commission under the power of the six leaders of the House and Senate.

Emil Buddy Altobello, a former longtime member of the state House of Representatives who is chairman of the commission, said the mixed vote would be given to legislative leaders, to whom the panel reports. Commission member Brian Flaherty, another former House member, said that the growing public interest in the statue controversy is a great opportunity for using the State Capitol as an educational tool to tell the states real story, possibly for the first time.

The current estimate to rig and remove the statue exceeds $50,000  far above the $15,000 that Osten, as co-chairwoman of the legislative Appropriations Committee, inserted in the current state budget  to remove the statue. That higher amount triggers the need for either Senate Minority Leader Kevin Kelly of Stratford or House Minority Leader Vincent Candelora of North Branford to join the four Democratic leaders of the House and Senate to approve the expenditure.

William Morgan, a commission member who is the former longtime chief of the State Capitol Police, voted to take no action on the issue because there has been no direct request from the General Assemblys Legislative Management Committee and the so-called big six: the two GOP leaders and four Democrats.

I believe we should do nothing until we get a legislative bill, or direct legislative interest from the Legislative Management Committee, Morgan said.

And currently, that GOP support for the statues removal apparently isnt there. Kelly did not return a request for comment on Tuesday.

Candelora said Tuesday night that the state faces a great many more challenges over the next six months, including somehow opening the Capitol complex in February, when the next legislative session begins. In my opinion this is not the way we should be spending money at this time, Candelora said.

Osten said Tuesday night that the initial bid for the work has been received by nonpartisan Capitol administrators, so she is still awaiting word whether the top Democrats and a Republican will agree to her request. She told the committee that an earlier opinion from the state attorney generals office indicated that if the project was mentioned in a budget debate, as it was earlier this year, it officially becomes part of the spending package. Even though there isnt a specific line item, Osten detailed it the night the Senate approved the budget last spring during the floor debate.

I just have to wait for the leaders to respond, Osten said of the Legislative Management Committee, which she believes hasnt met in recent years. They can make the decision now, or not, as the case may be. Im going to wait until January and see what to do next.

While Gov. Ned Lamont has no say in the management of the State Capitol, which is the purview of the General Assembly, he said after an event in Rocky Hill Tuesday morning that he has some ideas for historic figures whose likenesses could join the exterior statuary.

I think Ill leave that up to the legislature, Lamont said. I know the Pequots feel very strongly about the Mason statue. Ive tried to get people energized about what other types of people you want up there on the pedestal. Ive tried with Jackie Robinson, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Igor Sikorsky. A different type of person that tells the story about what Connecticut is.

kdixon@ctpost.com Twitter: @KenDixonCT
CONCORD, N.H. (AP)  New Hampshire has identified the first case of the COVID-19 omicron variant in the state, health officials said Monday.

The person is an adult from Cheshire County who traveled out-of-state and was exposed to another person who subsequently was identified with the omicron variant infection, the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services said in a news release.
STAMFORD  After more than a year on the run, a suspect in a fatal stabbing in Stamford was arrested in Texas late last month.

The U.S. Marshal Fugitive Task Force apprehended Samuel Delfiro Zapata-Herrera, 30, on the outskirts of Houston Nov. 23 on a fugitive from justice warrant, according to Capt. Richard Conklin, who oversees Stamfords Bureau of Criminal Investigations.

Zapata-Herrera was wanted in connection to the fatal stabbing of Isaias Sagastume-Aceituno outside of a bar on Stillwater Avenue on Oct. 4, 2020.

Conklin said Zapata-Herrera is currently in the process of being extradited back to Connecticut, where he is expected to be charged with murder.

Zapata-Herrera emerged as a suspect in the fatal stabbing based on video footage captured near the scene of the incident.

While police originally had two people of interest in the investigation, Conklin said Zapata-Herrera eventually became the sole suspect after investigators learned that the second man in question apparently had left the scene before the stabbing.

Police said Sagastume-Aceituno was found on Stillwater Avenue around 9:20 p.m. that night, suffering from multiple stab wounds. Firefighters and medics administered aid, but to Sagastume-Aceituno died before he could be transported to the hospital, police said.

An investigation revealed that Sagastume-Aceituno and the alleged suspects were inside a local restaurant just down the hill from where he was found stabbed, police said. At one point, video shows a group of men, including Sagastume-Aceituno, move outside the restaurant and then a struggle between to Sagastume-Aceituno and two men who appear to assault him, police said.

After the struggle, Sagastume-Aceituno walks away from the scene and collapses, police said. He was discovered by a passing citizen who flagged down police.

Police publicly identified Zapata-Herrera as a suspect days after the incident, but the Guatemalan native was believed to have already fled the area.

Police said at the time that they believed he may have been trying to get back to Guatemala.
ROCHESTER HILLS, Mich. (AP)  A Michigan judge declined Monday to move the 15-year-old charged with killing four students at Oxford High School out of an adult jail, but she agreed that the jail needs to ensure the boy can't hear or see grown-up inmates.

Ethan Crumbley's attorney, Paulette Loftin, argued during his probable cause conference in Rochester Hills District Court that her client should be moved back to a juvenile facility, saying that he should not be considered a menace to other juveniles.

This is someone who has never been in trouble before," Loftin said. "This is not someone who has a history of assaulting kids his age or any other negative contact with his peers. This one isolated incident is all that were looking at here today.

But District Judge Nancy Carniak sided with Assistant Oakland County Prosecutor Marc Keast, who countered that the nature of the charges and security risks mandate that Crumbley be held in an adult facility. Crumbley is charged as an adult with killing four classmates and injuring seven other people in the Nov. 30 shooting at Oxford High School, about 30 miles (50 kilometers) north of Detroit.

This cannot be compared to any other case that this court or any other court in this county has seen before, and calling this an isolated incident quite frankly does not do it justice, Keast said. This was a mass murder at a school, judge. This was planned. it was pre-meditated. The defendant didnt just attack other individuals, he targeted juveniles.

Keast said he would contact the jail after Mondays hearing and make sure that the defendant is neither within sight nor sound of any adult at the jail.

Carniak adjourned the probable cause hearing to Jan. 7 to review witness statements and other evidence from prosecutors and investigators. At that time, she could make a decision on whether to order a competency exam for him if such an exam is requested by his attorneys.

Monday's conference was a procedural hearing to prepare for a Dec. 20 preliminary hearing, which also will be moved to a later date.

Crumbley's parents, James and Jennifer Crumbley, also being held at the jail, are accused of failing to intervene on the day of the tragedy and are charged with involuntary manslaughter. They face hearings Tuesday.

The morning of the shooting, school officials met with Ethan Crumbley and his parents at the school after a teacher found a drawing of a gun, a bullet and a person who appeared to have been shot, along with messages stating, My life is useless and The world is dead.

The school district's superintendent has said the Crumbleys flatly refused to take their son home.

The gun used in the shooting also was bought days before by James Crumbley and their son had full access to it, prosecutors said.

___

Williams reported from West Bloomfield, Mich.
MADISON, Wis. (AP)  Wisconsin Assembly Democratic Minority Leader Gordon Hintz announced Monday he would be leaving his leadership position on Jan. 10.

Hintz, of Oshkosh, has been leader of minority Democrats since September 2017. Democrats, who hold 38 of the Assembly's 99 seats, will vote to elect a new leader.

Hintz, in a statement, said he wanted to have more time for his family, including two children under age 5, and for his legislative district.

Democrats have next-to-no power in the minority, unable to stop Republicans from passing whatever bills they want. One of the most powerful tools Democrats do have, if they remain united, is blocking Republicans from having the two-thirds majority needed to override a veto.

That veto-blocking power has been important during much of Hintz's tenure as leader, which also corresponded with Democrat Tony Evers being governor. Evers was elected in 2018 and since he's been in office none of his vetoes have been overturned by the Legislature.

Hintz was also an outspoken opponent of the deal signed by former Republican Gov. Scott Walker with the technology giant Foxconn. Evers reworked that deal to shrink the amount of tax credits the Taiwan-based company could qualify for.

Hintz, 48, is up for reelection to his seat in November.
STAMFORD  Parent-teacher conferences are back to being virtual  one of the changes school officials have recently implemented as the number of COVID-19 cases in the district continues to grow.

The decision to hold parent-teacher conferences virtually was recommended by the citys Department of Health. And late last week, Superintendent Tamu Lucero announced that all in-person meetings among administrators would be held through video conferencing going forward.

With variants abound(ing) and the holidays upon us, (Stamford Public Schools) is ramping up its mitigation practices, Lucero wrote in her weekly message to the community.

Cases of COVID-19 in the school system have more than doubled since Nov. 19, when the district reported 30 new cases over the previous week. Last Friday, the number of new positive cases over the previous seven days jumped to 69.

Around this time last year, Lucero closed school buildings for a month, from Dec. 21 and Jan. 19, and switched to full-time distance learning for all students. At the time, she said the move was made due to staffing challenges caused by the pandemic.

The number of COVID-19 cases at the time was roughly the same as it is now. On Dec. 10, 2020, the day Lucero announced the district would move to distance learning, the number of COVID-19 cases reported over the previous week in Stamford schools was 71.

But schools spokesperson Justin Martin said Monday there are no current plans to do the same this year.

There have been no discussions that I am aware of regarding changes to day-to day school operations related to teaching and learning, he said in an emailed message.

On Monday, Gov. Ned Lamont said there are no plans to return to remote learning even as COVID-19 is spreading more in schools.

In the states latest weekly report, schools across Connecticut reported a total of 1,881 COVID-19 cases among students, an increase of almost 75 percent from the school-year low of 487 that was reported the week ending on Nov. 3.

Cases among students have been rising steadily since mid-November, mirroring a similar trend among the general population of Connecticut, where the positivity rate of COVID-19 tests, overall infections and hospitalizations have jumped sharply in recent weeks.

Our schools opened a year-plus ago, they opened safely, they were some of the safest places in Connecticut, Lamont said, pointing out that additional precautions, such as vaccines, have since become available.

Mitigation strategies including wearing masks and practicing social distancing will remain in place in Stamford schools, officials said. Additionally, the district urged parents to use the daily at-home checklist when deciding whether to allow their children to attend school in person.

If you or your child are experiencing symptoms on the checklist, you should remain at home and contact your medical provider, Lucero wrote in her weekly message. We also want to remind everyone that students and staff are required to wear a mask that completely covers their nose and mouth on all school grounds, even when social distancing is maintained.

Students and staff are still instructed to maintain three feet of social distancing in the classroom, according to Stamfords own protocols, unless they remove their mask for eating or drinking, in which case the distance increases to six feet.

Stamford schools have implemented the statewide Screen and Stay program, which allows students who are deemed a close contact to a person with COVID-19 to remain in school as long as they do not show any symptoms even if they are not vaccinated. The idea behind the concept is to limit the amount of time students are in quarantine and unable to attend school in-person.

The rise in cases across the state comes weeks after federal regulators expanded vaccination eligibility to children ages 5 to 11, now encompassing all K-12 school children. High school students 16 and older can now also receive the Pfizer booster.

However, the majority of new COVID-19 cases still involve children who are unvaccinated, the data shows.

Of the 1,881 student cases, 1,523 were not fully vaccinated, according to state data, and 158 were among children whose vaccination status was unknown.

The rise in cases among teachers and other school staff has been similar, state data shows. There were 384 COVID-19 cases among school staff in the last report, a 76 percent jump from a low of 92 in early November.

Unlike with students, the majority of cases among staff involve those who are fully vaccinated. Teachers and other school staff were among the first eligible to receive a vaccine and booster shots and officials have said a high percentage are fully vaccinated.

Im doing everything I can to make sure we keep our schools open for in-person learning, Lamont said Monday.

Includes reporting by staff writer Nicholas Rondinone.

ignacio.laguarda@stamfordadvocate.com
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As the feast of the Nativity of the Lord draws near, we publish a selection of twelve icons depicting the moments that precede and follow this important event in the history of the salvation of the human race, basilica.ro reports

The Orthodox icon is also a call to prayer. The icon is not placed in the church primarily to admire how beautiful it is. It is placed in the church to help us meet with the saints in prayer. 

 Patriarch Daniel

Tree of Jesse

Jesse was one of the ancestors of the Saviour, the father of the Holy Prophet David. The iconographic representation is based on Isaiahs prophecy:  A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit (Isaiah 11:1).

Jesse is painted at the bottom of the icon and the tree comes out of his body. Kings and prophets of the Old Testament are depicted on the branches. In the upper or central part of the icon is represented the Mother of God with the Baby Jesus.

Tree of Jesse

Annunciation

The Annunciation is one of the most important royal feasts and announces the joy of Christs coming to earth through His birth from the Virgin Mary.

The icon of the feast, painted in vivid colours, shows the Archangel Gabriel coming to bring the good news to the Virgin: Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favour with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus (Luke 1: 30-31).

The Annunciation of the Theotokos

Dream of St. Joseph the Betrothed

This scene, in which the Angel of the Lord appears in a dream to the Righteous Joseph illustrates the biblical episode related by St. Matthew:

But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.

She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.

All this took place to fulfil what the Lord had said through the prophet:The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel (which means God with us).

When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. (Matthew 1:20-24)

The dream of Saint Joseph the Betrothed

Nativity of the Lord

It is one of the most important icons because it testifies to the coming of God on earth, who was made man that we might be made God (St. Irenaeus of Lyon).

For this theme, an important landmark is the icon of the Nativity painted by St. Andrew Rublyov in the 15th century. It is currently housed in the Kremlins Cathedral of the Annunciation in Moscow.

The iconographic representation is based on the Gospel accounts and Old Testament prophecies and abounds in symbols and meanings.

The Nativity of the Lord painted by Saint Andrew Rublyov

Adoration of the Magi

The icon depicts the moment when the three Magi from the East, Melchior, Balthazar and Gaspar bring gifts to the Baby Jesus: gold, remembering that Christ is the King of the world, myrrh, anticipating the use of myrrh at His funeral, and frankincense, symbolizing the divinity of Christ.

Christ is represented in the arms of His Mother, the Virgin Mary, and the Righteous Joseph behind them.

Adoration of the Magi

Presentation of the Lord

The presentation of the Lord in the Temple commemorates the crucial moment in which a period of waiting, of preparation of the chosen people, ends. (Patriarch Daniel).

The Righteous Simeon and Prophetess Anna, representatives of the Jewish people, see with their physical eyes the God-Child.

The righteous Simeon holds Christ in his arms, the Holy Prophetess Anna holds a parchment that reads, This infant made heaven and earth, and the Righteous Joseph offers two doves for sacrifice.

Presentation of the Lord in the Temple

Flight to Egypt

The icon illustrates the verses of Matthews Gospel: When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. Get up, he said, take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him. (Matthew 2:13).

The evangelist also offers the explanation of the flight into Egypt: so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: Out of Egypt I called my son (Matthew 2:15).

St. John Chrysostom emphasizes in his Homilies on Matthew that from the beginning, Christ was met with enmity and temptation, and Palestine persecutes the Child, and Egypt receives and saves the persecuted one.

Flight to Egypt

Massacre of the Innocents

The massacre of the innocent infants in Bethlehem is related only in the Gospel of Matthew, which also mentions the Old Testament prophecy:

When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled: A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more. (Mattew 2:16-18)

The icon of the massacre of the innocents by Herods command and the scene of the flight into Egypt. At the top of the icon stands St. Elizabeth with baby John in her arms.

Reclining Infant Jesus (Anapeson)

This icon highlights the human nature of the Saviour represented as a child, sleeping, with His mother and angels in prayer. The divine nature is highlighted by the signs in the halo,   (He who is).

The scriptural basis for this icon is found in the prophecy of Jacob, who likens Christ to a sleeping lion: You are a lions cub, Judah; you return from the prey, my son. Like a lion he crouches and lies down, like a lionesswho dares to rouse him? (Genesis 49: 9).

Another prophecy to which this icon refers belongs to the prophet David: He will not let your foot sliphe who watches over you will not slumber; indeed, he who watches over Israel

will neither slumber nor sleep. (Psalm 121: 3-4).

Sometimes the scene is painted above the door on the west wall of a church, recalling the verse in the same psalm: The he Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore. (Psalm 121: 8).

One of the most famous iconographic representations of this theme was made at Protaton Monastery (Mount Athos) by the famous Manuel Panselinos in the 13th century.

Reclining Infant Jesus

The Milk-giver Icon of the Mother of God (Galaktotrophousa)

The iconographic representation in which the Holy Infant Jesus feeds on the breast of His Mother is less common. The icon emphasizes both the deep connection between Christ and His mother and the fact that the Son of God had a human nature.

The most famous icon of the Mother of God the Milk-giver was originally found in the Lavra of Saint Savva near Jerusalem. According to a prophecy of Saint Savva the Sanctified, the icon was given to Saint Sava of Serbia, who took it to Hilandar monastery on the Holy Mount Athos, where it is still found today.

The Milk-giver Icon of the Mother of God at Hilandar Monastery

Christ Emmanuel

The icon depicts Christ as a child or young man, suggesting that He was born, raised, and lived as an ordinary person. The mature features and the high forehead, however, signify the interweaving of His human nature with the divine nature, as well as His wisdom.

This icon is inspired by the Old Testament words of the prophet Isaiah: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel (Isaiah 7:14). St. Matthew the Evangelist also offers in the New Testament the explanation of this name: which means God with us (Matthew 1:23).

Christ Emmanuel

Our Lady of the Sign (Znamenie)

In this icon, the Mother of God is represented with her hands upraised in prayer (orans), and the infant Jesus in her chest in the circle. One of the oldest such representations has been identified in the catacombs of St. Agnes in Rome, dating from the fourth century.

The name of the icon is related to the prophecy of the Prophet Isaiah:  Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel (Isaiah 7:14), but also a miracle from Russia.

In the Middle Ages, during an attack on the city of Novgorod, the people prayed in front of this icon to be freed from the invaders, and the Mother of God brought a dark cloud over them, making the attack impossible.

Our Lady of the Sign (Znamenie)

Photo: The icon of the Nativity of the Lord on the iconostasis of the National Cathedral in Bucarest. Credit: Lumina Newspaper
Minister of Agriculture Adrian Chesnoiu called on the Agriculture and Fisheries Council for flexibility from the European Commission regarding the submission of Strategic Plans, namely by March 1, 2022, as delays in adopting the legal basis will affect the preparation of the new programming period, and farmers will not be able to get acquainted in time with the new rules of the CAP, informs the relevant ministry.

Chesnoiu participated, on 12 and 13 December 2021, in Brussels, in the meeting of the Council of the European Union (Agriculture and Fisheries). The agenda of the meeting included issues related to Fisheries, namely the 2022 Council Regulation establishing the fishing opportunities in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea and the Council Regulation establishing the 2020 fishing opportunities in Union and non-Union waters.

"During the Council's work, in reference to the deadline for submitting the National Strategic Plan with the European Commission, Minister Adrian Chesnoiu requested flexibility from the European Commission on the submission of Strategic Plans, namely by March 1, 2022. The Minister explained that delays in adopting the legal basis will affect the preparation of the new programming period and farmers will not be able to familiarize themselves in a timely manner with the new rules of the CAP and the new requirements for their management, in order to make an informed decision on the application of eco-schemes, for example. We specify that the deadline announced for submission was December 31, 2021," the cited release informs.

Romania stressed the need to strengthen the position of farmers in the food supply chain, with the aim of strengthening bargaining power and establishing a fair balance. According to the bill, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development is the competent authority for monitoring unfair trade practices in the food chain and reporting them to the European Commission, and the Competition Council is the enforcement authority.

"An interinstitutional evaluation of the effectiveness of measures to combat unfair commercial practices will, of course, also allow for the exchange of good practice and experience between Member States, highlighting cooperation between national authorities for the enforcement of the directive. The implementation of the Directive must prove the protection of those who really need it, especially the smallest suppliers and avoid the transfer to the primary producers of the costs caused by the abuses of the medium operators," said Chesnoiu.

AGERPRES
- The Chamber of Deputies and the Senate adopted, in the joint session of Tuesday, the draft decision for the amendment of the annex to the Decision of the Romanian Parliament no. 7/2021 on the approval of the nominal structure and leadership of the Permanent Delegation of the Romanian Parliament to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

According to the draft piece of legislation, Sorin-Titus Muncaciu, member of the AUR (Alliance of the Romanians Union) parliamentary group, replaces as a full member the unaffiliated deputy Anamaria Gavrila, who was part of the group of this party until September.

At the same time, the Parliament adopted the draft for the amendment of the annex to the Decision of the Romanian Parliament no. 11/2021 on the approval of the nominal structure and of the leadership of the Permanent Delegation of the Romanian Parliament to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly.

The adopted decision provides for the termination, by resignation, of the quality of full member and president of this delegation of the Social-Democratic Deputy Sorin Grindeanu, Minister of Transport, Agerpres informs.
The Romanian Pavilion at the World Expo in Dubai hosts the conference "Sustainable Romania. Local Knowledge from the Past for a Global Lasting Future" organized by the Department for Sustainable Development in partnership with the Ivan Patzaichin Association - Mila 23, agerpres reports.

The conference presents a new perspective on the contribution of some genius Romanians (Grigore Antipa, Constantin Brancusi and Nicolae Georgescu - Roegen) to the foundation, since the beginning of the last century, of the current concepts of sustainable development.The event is announced on the pavilion's Facebook page on Tuesday, inviting visitors to learn more about the three forerunners of sustainable development from experts at Expo 2020 Dubai.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) expresses its concern in the context of the adoption on December 10 by the National Assembly of R. Srpska from Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) of a set of conclusions aimed at outlining a transfer of competencies from the central level, being established a term of six months for the preparation of the legal framework necessary to regulate the formation of the institution's institutions.

"This development poses a challenge to the regulatory and political framework established by the Dayton Peace Accords, with potential negative consequences for regional stability," the Romanian Foreign Ministry (MAE) said in a release issued to AGERPRES on Tuesday.The Foreign Ministry reiterates "full support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as support for the continuation of the country's European path, in line with the highest political commitments made in the institutional dialogue with the European Union and the Member States.""The functioning of the institutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina must have as a fundamental objective the interest of all the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and ensuring this objective is an essential responsibility of the political leaders towards the citizens and their future," the MAE explained.The MAE also supports the resumption of constructive dialogue between all political leaders and calls for a renunciation of secessionist rhetoric, as well as for a focus on the reforms needed for the European accession process.The Ministry of Foreign Affairs welcomes and fully supports the efforts of the international community and transatlantic coordination, all the more significant in the current complex regional context.On December 10, the National Assembly of R. Sprska held a special session at which it adopted a series of conclusions in the areas of justice, military, security and taxation aimed at ensuring the transfer of powers from the central level of Bosnia and Herzegovina. at the level of R. Srpska.The National Assembly of R. Sprska also adopted a "Declaration on Constitutional Principles", which stipulates that the authorities of R. Sprska will draw up a new Constitution of the entity, in which all its powers will be mentioned, except those defined in the Constitution of the BiH, as well as the fact that all normative acts generated by the High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina are unconstitutional, and are not procedurally adopted in the BiH Parliament.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE) hails the celebration, on December 14, of 66 years since the admission of Romania to the United Nations.

"In the 66 years of appurtenance to NATO, Romania affirmed itself as an active supporter and defender of the UN principles, as well as of cooperation on the international level and multilateral diplomacy. All throughout this period, our country reaffirmed and continuously diversified the UN member profile, having significant contributions to the general development of the organization, to strengthening the international legal system and international security, the promotion of democracy and human rights and policies for global growth," shows a MAE release sent.

Furthermore, after the accession to the European Union, Romania's activity at the UN included the promotion of topics and concerns of interest to the EU, the quoted source mentions.

Romania's contribution to the activities of the main bodies of the UN has included ensuring the presidency of the 22nd session of the General Assembly, as well as exercising the non-permanent member mandates on the Security Council of the UN, member in the Economic and Social Council, as well as a member of the Human Rights council.

On December 14, 1955, the General Assembly of the UN decided, through resolution A/RES/995 (x), the admission of Romania to the UN, together with 15 other states.

Romania was a non-permanent member of the Security Council in the years 1962, 1976-1977, 1990-1991 and 2004-2005, as well as in ECOSOC in the periods 1965-1967, 1974-1976, 1978-1980, 1982-1987, 1990-1998, 2001-2003, 2007-2009, 2018-2019. Starting with 2007, as a country that donates assistance for development, Romania is involved in a new form of cooperation with the UN, through the partnership developed with an important number of UN agencies and institutions, with activity in the field of development.

Furthermore, 2021 was the 30th anniversary since Romania participates uninterruptedly in UN peace missions, in accordance with the constant commitment and support for multilateralism and to ensure international peace and security, such as the missions in DR Congo (MONUSCO), South Sudan (UNMISS) and the Central African Republic (MINUSCA).

The formal presence of the UN in Romania dates back to 1980, when the UN Information Center was opened in Bucharest. Presently, the "UN House" in Bucharest hosts a series of representative offices in Romania of specialized agencies, programs and development funds in the UN system, Agerpres informs.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE) states on Tuesday that the Italian authorities have requested from the Romanian Embassy in Rome information on possible measures adopted by the Romanian authorities in case of the incident involving Senator Diana Sosoaca and a team of journalists from an Italian television channel, agerpres reports.

The Romanian Ambassador in Rome informed the Italian side that an investigation has been initiated by the Romanian prosecutors into the details of the incident, with the necessary measures to be taken, if necessary, according to law, said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.At the same time, the Romanian diplomatic mission head highlighted that Romania "remains deeply committed to protecting media freedom, an important pillar of democracy and the rule of law, and that this isolated incident must not affect the solid nature of the bilateral relationship between Romania and Italy, which is also the opinion of the Italian side."Also on Tuesday, Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca said the incident was "unacceptable" and categorically rejected "the manifestation of differences of opinion through violence." According to a press release of the Executive, the Prime Minister is concerned with this case, "which must be clarified as a matter of urgency by the relevant state institutions.""The Romanian government strongly condemns any attempt to intimidate journalists or obstruct citizens' right to freedom of information. Freedom of expression, the right to an opinion and access to information are guarantees of a strong democracy and of the functioning of the rule of law," read the press release of the Government.Dumitru Silvestru Sosoaca, the husband of senator Diana Sosoaca, is being prosecuted by the Prosecutor's Office attached to the Bucharest District 1 Court, under judicial control, for assault, as he is accused of hitting a police officer.Senator Diana Sosoaca called 112 on Friday, during an interview she gave to a foreign television team, following a conflict that arose because of the questions asked.
A C-130 Hercules aircraft, variant H, transferred, free of charge, from the surplus of the United States Government to the Romanian Air Force, landed, on Tuesday, at the Aurel Vlaicu Bucharest Baneasa International Airport, agerpres reports.

According to the National Defence Ministry (MApN), the transport plane will enter the endowment of the 90th Air Transport Base 901 Strategic Transport Squadron. Thus, the sixth C-130 Hercules aircraft of the Romanian Air Force will increase the projection capacity of the Romanian Army by carrying out transport missions in support of its own forces or NATO partners.After landing, the aircraft was taken over by Romaero specialists, in order to be aligned with the maintenance programme specific to the Romanian Air Force.The transfer of the aircraft, ratified by a Letter of Offer and Acceptance agreement, is the result of a complex process, carried out in recent years under the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) programme through the Office of Defense Cooperation - ODC - in Bucharest. In order to carry out the transfer of this aircraft with maximum efficiency, the ODC has been in close contact with the Romanian Air Force, as well as with the C-130 Program Coordination Office in the United States, the Romanian National Defence Ministry (MApN) says.The aircraft was brought to Romania by a crew of the 120th Airlift Wing of the Air National Guard Montana, which has owned and operated the aircraft to date.Romania is thus among the first partner states to which, under the new C-130 Ramp to Ramp (R2R) program, an American operational aircraft is flown and transferred directly.The Romanian Air Force also has five C-130 Hercules aircraft, four in the "B" variant and one in the "H" variant.Over 50 countries use this type of aircraft, which is the most widely used military transport aircraft in the world.
The European Commission joins Romania's efforts in the communication campaign on vaccination, in which context the EC and its Representative Office in Romania launched a media campaign on Tuesday on immunisation against COVID-19, in supporting the national authorities' efforts to fight the pandemic, agerpres reports.

"Vaccination plays a key role in combating the pandemic. Vaccinated people protect themselves and others against the virus," according to a statement from the EC Representation in Bucharest.The campaign consists of a 40-second spot that will be broadcast on both Romanian television and radio stations. It includes testimonies of people who lost loved ones to the COVID-19 pandemic. The TV spot will be broadcast for a period of seven weeks.There is an urgent need to reduce the vaccination gap in the EU. Once with the emergence of the new Omicron strain, vaccination, including the booster dose, is more important than ever. In Romania, only 39% of the population is currently fully vaccinated, and the rate of vaccination continues to decline. Vaccination gaps not only increase the risk of serious forms of the disease, hospitalization and loss of life, but also give way to more severe and transmissible strains. This is a risk not only for Romania but for the EU as a whole, said Stella Kyriakides, European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety.For her part, Adina Valean, the European Commissioner for Transport, said that vaccines are powerful tools in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, encouraging Romanians to get vaccinated, for their own good and the benefit of those close to them.In addition, the European Commission provides comprehensive information on vaccines and vaccination, for example on social media platforms, to encourage informed debate on the role of vaccination in combating the pandemic.Together with the EU's specialized agencies, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control and the European Medicines Agency, the Commission communicates and works with citizens to address vaccination reluctance and to combat misinformation.To date, an average of 78% of adults in the EU are vaccinated. However, there are large differences between vaccination rates in EU member states. In Romania, 46.7% of the adults are vaccinated.The European Commission has provided 4.2 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines to the EU and partner countries. In the EU, COVID-19 vaccines are approved and placed on the market following a very thorough evaluation of their safety and efficacy by the European Medicines Agency. The European Union has very high standards for the safety of medicines, including the safety of vaccines - some of the highest standards in the world, the statement said.
Parliament decided in a plenary session on Tuesday, the appointment of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) MP Mihai Weber in the position of chairman of the Special Parliamentary Committee for the control of the activity of the Foreign Intelligence Service (SIE).

The vote was secret with ballots. There were 311 votes in favor and 43 against.

Weber replaces USR (Save Romania Union) MP Nicu Falcoi, who took over the chairmanship of the Parliamentary Committee of December 1989 Revolutionaries.

The parliamentarians also decided, at the proposal of the National Liberal Party (PNL) group, that unaffiliated MP Antonel Tanase, who had been secretary of the SIE Control Committee, should no longer be part of this committee.

Also, the plenum decided, at the proposal of the PSD group, that the Social Democrat deputies Silviu Nicu Macovei and Oana Consuela Florea be appointed members of the Committee for the control of the activity of the Romanian Intelligence Service, instead of the deputy Mitica-Marius Margarit and, respectively, Senator Marius Dunca.

Silviu Nicu Macovei and Oana Florea were sworn in after the decision, Agerpres informs.
Managing the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as Romania's financing priorities were among the topics of discussion held on Tuesday by Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca with the head of the European Commission Representation in Romania, Ramona Chiriac, agerpres reports.

The two officials discussed managing the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and prioritizing health through the use of European funds through all the mechanisms made available to Romania as a member of the European Union, a Government release informed.During the meeting, Romania's priorities regarding the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism were presented, the accession to the Schengen Area and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Also analyzed were the financing opportunities that Romania accesses as an EU member, the release reads.Also, together with the Multiannual Financial Framework and the financing mechanisms allocated to the implementation of the European Green Pact, the essential role of the success of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan was highlighted. In this sense, recent progress has been made in preparing for the use of European financial instruments.Expressing openness to the solid partnership between the Romanian Government and the European Commission, Chiriac conveyed willingness to dialogue and collaboration in implementing the assumed objectives, emphasizing the need for human resources, strengthening administrative capacity, and coordinating European-funded investments with national ones, reads the quoted release.
Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca says that the incident involving Senator Diana Sosoaca and a team of Italian journalists is "unacceptable," while categorically rejecting "the manifestation of differences of opinion through violence," reads a press release of the Executive on Tuesday, agerpres reports.

According to the same source, the head of Executive is concerned about this case, "which must be clarified as a matter of urgency by the relevant state institutions.""The Romanian government strongly condemns any attempt to intimidate journalists or obstruct citizens' right to freedom of information. Freedom of expression, the right to an opinion and access to information are guarantees of a strengthened democracy and the rule of law," shows the press release.Dumitru Silvestru Sosoaca, the husband of Senator Diana Sosoaca, is being prosecuted by the Prosecutor's Office attached to the Bucharest District 1 Court, under judicial control, for assault, as he is accused of hitting a police officer.Senator Diana Sosoaca called 112 on Friday, during an interview she gave to a foreign television team, following a conflict that arose because of the questions asked.
President Klaus Iohannis will participate, Wednesday and Thursday, in the Eastern Partnership Summit and the meeting of the European Council, which will take place in Brussels, the Presidential Administration informs.

The sixth summit of the Eastern Partnership will be presided by the President of the European Council. Also in attendance will be the heads of state and government of EU member-states, the leaders of the five partner states - Republic of Moldova, Ukraine, Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan, as well as the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borell. The summit is set to adopt a joint statement that will establish the strategic vision for the post-2020 period of the Eastern Partnership.

The main subjects included on the agenda of the meeting of the European Council refer to European coordination in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, crisis situation management and resilience to them, energy prices, security and defence of the European Union, the external aspects of migration, the external relations of the Union, with emphasis placed on the situation at the EU's borders with Ukraine and Belarus and the preparation for the European Union - African Union Summit in February 2022.

On Monday, President Klaus Iohanis participated in a meeting in videoconference format with the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, and the Prime Ministers of Slovenia - Janez Jansa, Estonia - Kaja Kallas, and Latvia - Krisjanis Karins, in preparation of the two meetings.

The Presidential Administration informed that during his intervention, President Iohannis stated his option for the continuation of close coordination of EU member-states, based on scientific data, including in what regards the new variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The head of state has emphasized the progress made in adapting vaccines and the rapid access of member-states to them.

In what regards the significant increase of energy prices in the recent period, Iohannis emphasized the necessity for this subject to remain a priority on the agenda of European institutions and stated his option for a careful analysis on the functioning of the internal energy market, so that distortions of it be avoided. The head of state also recalled the necessity to find solutions to protect vulnerable consumers and emphasized the importance of correlating this discussion with the EU's objectives in what regards climate change.

"The President of Romania reiterated our country's support for nuclear energy and natural gas, as options for an accessible energy transition, including in the context of preparing new legislative proposals of the European Commission," showed the Presidential Administration.

The head of state has emphasized, referring to security and defence, the idea of consolidating the role of the European Union in the domain, in close cooperation and complementarity with NATO, through the consolidation of the transatlantic relation. In this context, President Iohannis evoked the recent conversation had with the US President, Joe Biden, in the B9 format and emphasized the importance of coordination and unity both within EU, as well as within NATO, with regards to the actions of Russian in the Eastern Vicinity.

During discussions relating to the preparations of the Eastern Partnership Summit, President Klaus Iohannis emphasized that it is necessary for the European Union to have a high level of ambition raised through the joint statement that is to be adopted on this occasion, which will contain a strategic vision for the post-2020 period of the Eastern Partnership.

At the same time, the head of state reiterated the necessity that the European Union support partners who desire so and are firmly committed to the path of reforms, such as the Republic of Moldova, the leadership of which is oriented towards reform and a powerful European commitment, Agerpres informs.
National Liberal Party (PNL) Spokesman Ionut Stroe said on Tuesday that the Liberals were not interested in the new party announced by Ludovic Orban, which would probably have the same outcome as in the case of Calin Popescu-Tariceanu's party, stating that the parliamentarians who are part of this party were elected "on PNL's work and lists."

"We are not at all interested in this new party of Mr. Orban, just as I do not think that the Romanians would be interested in this subject. In other words, Mr. Orban and his colleagues who are setting up this new party today should know that it's worth mentioning they reached Parliament through PNL's work and on the PNL lists, and after Mr. Orban lost the election, he left the party, and we have great doubts that he would be as successful as he had been if he ran alone in the elections with the new party. There have been other episodes like this. I will give only one example, that of Mr. Tariceanu. Probably this episode will have the same outcome," Ionut Stroe told AGERPRES.Regarding the fact that Orban announced that more resignations from the PNL would follow, Stroe said that Ludovic Orban can say anything."I have no opinion on Mr. Orban's announcement, he can claim anything, in the end we are all free, according to the Constitution, to associate in any kind of political formations and in groups of certain social-professional interests," Stroe added.On Tuesday, former PNL chairman Ludovic Orban announced the formation of a new center-right party, which will be called the Force of the Right, along with 16 lawmakers, all of whom have resigned from the Liberal Party.
Two trucks loaded with over 40 tonnes of plastic, textile and rubber waste were stopped on the inbound lane to the country through customs in western Arad and Bihor counties, the waste being brought, without the documents provided by law, from Italy and Hungary.

The trucks were returned from the Varsand and Bors I border crossing points, after being checked by the border police and the climate commissioners from the two counties.

The truck in Varsand was driven by a Bulgarian, who had stated that he was transporting second-hand clothes from a Hungarian company to a Romanian company.

"Following the checks, it was found that the truck was loaded with textile waste for which the driver did not present the complete documentation required by law for the transit of waste. In total, the vehicle was carrying 16,720 kilograms of waste," the Arad Border Police declared on Tuesday.

The truck stopped at Bors I crossing point was driven by a 35-year-old Romanian. According to the accompanying documents, he was transporting plastic waste and used tires from an Italian company to a Romanian company.

"As there were suspicions about the legality of the transport in question, the border police officers requested authorized support from the representatives of the Bihor County Commissariat within the National Environmental Guard. Following the checks, it was found that the truck was loaded with 23,420 kg of waste consisting in plastic and used tires, for which the driver did not present the necessary documentation provided by law for the import of these products," the Border Police specified.

In both cases, the control authorities denied the entry of waste on Romania's territory, Agerpres informs.
The US Embassy on Tuesday expressed "deep concern" with the exclusion of Judge Cristi Danilet from the judiciary, stressing that "an independent judiciary that respects the rule of law is essential for any prosperous democracy."

The US diplomatic mission to Romania encourages the new Government to continue the necessary judicial and anti-corruption reforms, agerpres reports.The US embassy is deeply concerned with the exclusion of Judge Cristi Danilet from the judiciary. An independent judiciary that respects the rule of law is essential to any prosperous democracy. As President Biden has recently said at the Summit for Democracy, democracy does not happen by chance. We must renew it with each generation. The United States is proud to work in partnership with Romania, within the global community for democracy, during the Year of Action of the Summit for Democracy, the Embassy states on Facebook.Romanian citizens deserve an independent justice system, they complete the diplomatic mission."We encourage the new Romanian Government to continue the necessary judicial and anti-corruption reforms. Romanian citizens deserve an independent justice system that respects the rule of law and democratic values. We must continue to uphold the values that unite us," reads the text of the US Embassy.The section for judges in disciplinary matters of the Superior Council of Magistracy (CSM) decided on Monday to exclude Judge Cristi Danilet with the Cluj Tribunal from magistracy for the manifestations he allegedly had on several social networks.Danilet claims that his exclusion from the judiciary was decided by the CSM for two videos published last year on Tik Tok, which are not related to Justice and the profession of magistrate, but refer to private life.
Vice Admiral Gilles Boidevezi, Commander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean Maritime Zone (CECMED), will pay a visit to Romania from Wednesday to Friday as part of Franco-Romanian military cooperation, the French Embassy said, agerpres reports.

"France maintains privileged relations with its Romanian partner, especially in the military field. Attached to the freedom of maritime and air traffic, the French armed forces thus ensure a regular presence in the Black Sea, benefiting from the support offered by Romania," the diplomatic mission said on Tuesday.Thus, "the collaboration between France and Romania is materialized especially in the naval field, where the cooperation between the two naval forces is dynamic, both in terms of operations and in the field of training".Vice Admiral Gilles Boidevezi will meet with representatives of several Romanian military authorities, including General Daniel Petrescu, Chief of the Defence Staff.The Vice Admiral will also visit Constanta, where the multi-role frigate (FREMM) "Auvergne" will call between December 16 and 20.This ship is deployed in the Black Sea as part of the presence missions, regularly carried out by the French Navy in the maritime areas of Europe, in collaboration with its allies in NATO and the European Union.The stopover of the frigate "Auvergne" in the port of Constanta is part of the bilateral cooperation plan between the French and Romanian navies. In the port, the crew of the French frigate will have an exchange of experience with the representatives of the Romanian Naval Forces, in order to share the expertise and knowledge between the allies. After the departure of the ship from the port of Constanta, joint exercises with the Romanian Naval Forces are planned at sea.Commanded by Paul Merveilleux du Vignaux, the "Auvergne" multi-role frigate has a crew of 150 sailors, is part of the "Aquitaine" Class, is versatile, durable and easy to handle. The ship is equipped with advanced automated systems and is one of the leading frigates of the French Navy. They form the backbone of the French Navy's surface fleet and are involved in the renewal of its frigate component, a true pillar of the French naval forces.FREMM's anti-submarine combat capabilities are recognized as among the most effective in the world. These frigates carry out multiple missions and are capable, in particular, of performing deep-sea precision missiles with naval cruise missiles. FREMM's capabilities allow France to maintain an autonomous assessment of the situation and its ability to intervene quickly at sea and on land.
If you're looking to buy a new home, it's important to know how much you can afford. Find out today. With the help of a Mortgage Expert, you can get started with solid advice and valuable information. Click on your state to learn more.

Its not all about profits, though. In fact, industry pros say some sellers took their demands much further this year  making some jaw-dropping asks in the process.

As Ryan Dosenberry, owner of Lakeshore Homebuyers in Michigan, puts it, Without question, this year has been the wild, wild west of real estate. To say it was a sellers market is an understatement.

Just how wild did it get, though? Here are the most extreme seller demands we could round up.

Sellers sold their pets with the home
An exact date for the closure wasnt disclosed. In federal court in St. Louis last week, lawyers for Ameren unsuccessfully tried to block the release of filings in which specifics were discussed. Those filings wont be fully unsealed until next week.

Immense harm

The issue is now, at least in part, in the hands of the nonprofit that operates the power grid in 15 U.S. states and Canada. The Midcontinent Independent System Operator, known as MISO, is assessing the impact of the loss of Rush Island on electric reliability for the region. The assessment should be released in January, Ameren said. Based on the results of that study, the plant could shutter earlier than 2024.

The Sierra Club, which intervened in the original suit, urged Ameren to close the plant speedily.

Given the immense public health harms that Ameren Missouri chose to inflict on the region by operating Rush Island out of compliance with the Clean Air Act, CEO Marty Lyons and utility executives should work with the grid operator to retire the coal plant as soon as possible, Andy Knott of the Sierra Clubs Beyond Coal Campaign said in a statement.
Pre-pandemic, airport officials have said about 300 people a day were flying to Europe from St. Louis, with the largest proportion going to London. Airport Director Rhonda Hamm-Niebruegge said just before COVID-19 devastated travel that her No. 1 complaint was the lack of international service.

Passenger counts at Lambert have begun climbing back from their pandemic lows, though theyre still well below where they were before the virus hit. Through October, the most recent numbers available, there were about 8.4 million total passengers, up 55% compared with 2020. But that number was still well below the 13.3 million total passengers at Lambert through October 2019.

The international flight represents a big win for both the airport and Greater St. Louis Inc., the new business group formed last year by the merger of the St. Louis Regional Chamber, Civic Progress and Downtown STL Inc.

St. Louis, which owns Lambert, spent several years eyeing privatization of one of the citys largest assets, an effort backed by many consultants with influence in City Hall but quietly opposed by Lambert administration.
EDWARDSVILLE  Even as workers continued to clean up an Amazon warehouse torn in two by a tornado days earlier, attention began to shift Monday to the construction of the facility that collapsed, killing six.

The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration said it had opened an investigation into the deaths. Illinois officials, including local leaders, said they had begun to inquire about the condition of the warehouse before it collapsed. And some worried that construction methods for such facilities were no longer appropriate for a climate expected to see more frequent tornadoes.

Already there has been an effort to determine some of the challenges, if there were any structural issues, what exactly the storms trajectory was coming in and affecting the various pieces of the building, Gov. J.B. Pritzker said at a press conference on Monday in neighboring Pontoon Beach.
On Dec. 14, 1971, the film version of "Fiddler on the Roof," made its St. Louis debut with a special showing at the St. Pius X Monastery. The movie was an immediate hit, as four of first five evening showings at the Tans-Lux Cinerama were sold out before the movie even opened. Here is our original review.

Director Norman Jewison's big and beautiful film production of the record-breaking stage musical hit, "FIDDLER ON THE ROOF," is larger than life, but never overwhelmingly so, and retains all the human warmth, humor and poignancy of the original.

The picture is at the TRANS-LUX CINERAMA. Although there is bound to be a bit of Broadway in many of the performances, the production is never stagy. The musical numbers by Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick, one of the richest scores on Broadway in the past two decades, come off as naturally as possible, considering there must be some theatrical style.
Public health institutions across the state have sought legal advice on whether they can continue to require infected patients to isolate at home or advise school districts on mask rules.

According to Jackson and St. Louis counties, the court ruling and Schmitts stance threaten to undermine public health departments efforts to control the spread of all infectious diseases, not just COVID-19.

At the direction of General Schmitt, various counties across the State have now taken the position that public health authorities in the State have absolutely no power to order citizens who have tested positive for any communicable disease, whether that is COVID-19, tuberculosis, or any other of the myriad diseases, to quarantine or remain in isolation, the counties says in their motion.

In short, if the Courts Judgment is not set aside, community spread of all communicable diseases will no doubt skyrocket in this State, while the mechanisms for combating any such spread will have been dismantled.
Medical Use Case

Similarly, applying computer vision AI to medical fields, such as portable ultrasound machines, can help provide remote anatomical identification with fewer clicks and increased accuracy. This anatomical identification also helps automate measurements, make them more reproducible, and can give medical professionals tools to improve patient care, and bolster the resources of hospitals that lack adequate medical imaging resources.

Retail Use Case

As retailers look to keep up with changing landscapes, the introduction of AI video content analysis solutions presents an entirely new level of data processing which leads to a deeper understanding of consumer attitudes, preferences, and buying habits. By integrating the Inforce 68A1 SoM into retail camera systems and self-checkout technology, retailers can improve merchandising and enhance customer behavior and engagement while providing a seamless, low-contact shopping experience.
This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of securities legislation in the United States and Canada, including statements regarding exploration efforts and plans, timing of receipt of permits, exploration expenditures, drill results, investments, resource delineation, expansion, upgrade or conversion. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause Coeurs actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Such factors include, among others, the risk that anticipated additions or upgrades to reserves and resources are not attained, the risk that planned drilling programs may be curtailed or canceled due to budget constraints or other reasons, the risks and hazards inherent in the mining business (including risks inherent in developing large-scale mining projects, environmental hazards, industrial accidents, weather or geologically related conditions), changes in the market prices of gold, silver, zinc and lead and a sustained lower price environment, the uncertainties inherent in Coeurs production, exploratory and developmental activities, including risks relating to permitting and regulatory delays (including the impact of government shutdowns), ground conditions, grade variability, any future labor disputes or work stoppages, the uncertainties inherent in the estimation of mineral reserves, the potential effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, including impacts to the availability of our workforce, continued access to financing sources, government orders that may require temporary suspension of operations at one or more of our sites and effects on our suppliers or the refiners and smelters to whom the Company markets its production, changes that could result from Coeurs future acquisition of new mining properties or businesses, the loss of any third-party smelter to which Coeur markets its production, the effects of environmental and other governmental regulations, the risks inherent in the ownership or operation of or investment in mining properties or businesses in foreign countries, Coeurs ability to raise additional financing necessary to conduct its business, make payments or refinance its debt, as well as other uncertainties and risk factors set out in filings made from time to time with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Canadian securities regulators, including, without limitation, Coeurs most recent reports on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q. Actual results, developments and timetables could vary significantly from the estimates presented. Readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Coeur disclaims any intent or obligation to update publicly such forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Additionally, Coeur undertakes no obligation to comment on analyses, expectations or statements made by third parties in respect of Coeur, its financial or operating results or its securities.
December 21 st will set the launch of a new NFT exchange where characters can be traded. Players will be able to seal characters that are above level 60 and have a Power Score of 100,000 or more, and exchange with other players as NFTs. Players will gain recognition for ownership of their characters they have worked so hard to raise and will be able to conduct player-to-player trades using a safe and secure transaction system in the NFT exchange.
ST. LOUIS  Police sirens and factory whistles shrieked the signal at 10 p.m. All across town, the lights flickered out.

Mayor William Dee Becker, posted atop the Civil Courts Building, surveyed the darkness and found it good. The only errant glimmers were from a few untended alley lights, a forgotten stage door and the neon sign of Kessler Fur Co., 1008 Locust Street.

Its a comfort to know the city is capable of shrouding itself if real disaster would threaten, Becker said on the night of Dec. 14, 1942, shortly after the regions first blackout test during World War II.

Success was a near certainty. For weeks, 7,500 local air-raid wardens went door-to-door explaining the rules. Workplace committees, newspapers and radio stations hammered the message. On drill night, volunteers scanned their neighborhoods for any spark of violation.

The blackout was organized by the national Civil Defense program across seven Midwestern states. Its goal was to have Americans ready if enemy bombers approached.
This is the moment residents assessed the damage to their community after a swarm of deadly tornados tore through Bowling Green, Kentucky.
Tony Messenger Tony Messenger is the metro columnist for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Follow Tony Messenger Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today

Perhaps its because I watch too much television, but the early months of the race in the Republican primary for the U.S. Senate in Missouri remind me a bit of the hit HBO drama/comedy Succession.

For the uninitiated, the show is about Logan Roy, the patriarch of the Waystar media and entertainment empire, a clear metaphor for Rupert Murdoch and Fox News, and in every episode for the first three years, Roys privileged children fight for his attention and their rightful place eventually taking over the empire their father built.

Sometimes you dont know whether to laugh or to cry as the troubled and misguided children twist themselves into pretzels to curry favor with dear old dad before he crushes their dreams, as he did in last weeks season finale.

So it is as a band of Missouri GOP misfits bend over backward seeking the blessing of the former president, taking turns kissing Donald Trumps ring in various visits to Mar-a-Lago, or in jumping in and out of policy hoops so as to be on the same page with the only voter they care about.
Maggie Kost, acting director of the Department of Economic Development, said the availability of federal dollars was key.

This is a moment when we can accomplish big, meaningful things, Kost told the crowd.

The trail would complement the Katy Trail State Park, another former rail line that spans the state and draws hikers and bikers as it follows the Missouri River for much of its east-west route.

Mark Birk, senior vice president for customer and power operations at Ameren Missouri, said it was time for the utility to transfer the Rock Island line to the state.

Its going to be neat to see this transform into a biking trail, Birk said.

The state and Missouri Central Railroad, which is a subsidiary of Ameren, inked an Interim Trails Use Agreement in December 2019 to pave the way for the donation of the former rail line to the state for use as Missouris 93rd state park.
Schmitts schtick has become so transparent and extreme that its fair to ask: How many Missouri lives is he willing to risk to win that Senate seat? We encourage readers not merely to write letters to the editor but to call and email Schmitts office and ask that question themselves. The contact information is provided with this editorial.

Schmitt, a former state legislator, was once regarded as a reasonable Republican who could work across the aisle. That was before he sought the Senate nomination of a state party that has become radicalized beyond recognition.

In his three years as attorney general, Schmitts multiple, often quixotic lawsuits have centered on such partisan dog-whistles as banning critical race theory (which isnt taught in Missouri schools), sealing the Mexican border (which doesnt touch Missouri) and promoting former President Donald Trumps big lie of election fraud in swing states (which Missouri isnt). Its almost like Schmitt is so focused on his quest for federal office that he doesnt remember what his job is, or even what state hes in.

But first and foremost, Schmitts campaign strategy is to oppose responsible pandemic safety measures  and to make sure members of the extreme right see him doing that.
Perhaps more to the legal point about executive privilege: It doesnt extend to former presidents, and President Joe Biden has already declined to invoke it on Trumps behalf. Two separate court rulings have rejected Trumps executive-privilege claims regarding Jan. 6. So Meadows refusal to appear before the committee absolutely deserves the contempt-of-Congress proceedings before the House Tuesday.

Meadows appearance on Hannitys show was doubly curious for the hosts own avoidance of any accountability for his frantic efforts  along with hosts Laura Ingraham and Brian Kilmeade  to encourage Trumps intervention. On Mondays show, Hannity went to such lengths to denigrate the select committees work that he ran a headline across the bottom of the screen calling it a sham.

But at the time, the invasion was anything but a sham for Hannity. He messaged Meadows to urge the president to stop it. Can he make a statement? Ask people to leave the Capitol.
South of Munich in the foothills of the Alps, I toured Hohenschwangau Castle. It was Mad King Ludwigs fathers castle  and Ludwigs boyhood summer home. When his father died, Ludwig became king. He was just a boy, 19 years old. And rather than live with the frustrations of a modern constitution and a feisty parliament in Munich reining him in, King Ludwig II spent his next years lost in Romantic literature and operas ... hanging out here with composer Richard Wagner as only a dreamy young king could.

The kings bedroom was decked out like a fairy tale. The walls were painted in 1835 by a single artist, who gave the place a romantic, Tolkien fantasy feel. Lounging nymphs still flank the window and stars twinkle from the ceiling. A telescope stands as it did for the king, trained on a pinnacle on a distant ridge where Ludwig dreamed of building his ultimate castle fantasy: Neuschwanstein. On my first visit here, squinting through that telescope at Neuschwanstein (which had also inspired a boy named Walt Disney), I could relate to the busy young king. Bound by schoolwork and house rules rather than a constitution and parliament, I too was a romantic when it came to building dream castles. Mine was a simple tree house, but for me, it was as dazzling as any castle in Bavaria.
EQS-Ad-hoc: BEACONSMIND AG / Key word(s): Capital Increase

beaconsmind AG (ISIN: CH0451123589, EURONEXT: MLBMD, VIENNA: BMD) raises new equity and undertakes changes in its listing venues



14-Dec-2021 / 19:00 CET/CEST

Disclosure of an inside information acc. to Article 17 MAR of the Regulation (EU) No 596/2014, transmitted by EQS - a service of EQS Group AG.

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.





Publication of inside information / beaconsmind AG (ISIN: CH0451123589, EURONEXT: MLBMD, VIENNA: BMD) raises new equity and undertakes changes in its listing venues



Zurich, Switzerland - December 14, 2021, 6:30 pm CET - beaconsmind AG (the "Company") announces an equity raise of EUR 5.51 million from an international institutional investor to support the implementation of the company's global growth strategy in the post COVID area (the "Investor"). The transaction shall take place via a capital increase from authorized capital under exclusion of the subscription rights of the current shareholders. The respective equity raise is subject to the ordinary general shareholder meeting of the Company on December 16, 2021 resolving on a respective authorized capital for the Company. The Board of Directors of the Company is expected to resolve on the capital increase from authorized capital on December 16, 2021.

Following the transaction, the Investor is expected to serve as a long-term anchor investor of the Company with a participation of 21.6%. Max Weiland, CEO & Founder of the Company, will remain one of the largest shareholders in the Company with a participation of 18.6%.

The equity raise shall serve the purpose of improving the capital base of the Company. The company intends to use proceeds for strengthening its growth strategy with the opening of new sales offices internationally and by focusing on international joint ventures and business collaborations. For such purpose, the Company intends to increase further its number of employees in sales, product, development and client success management.



As part of the growth financing, the company intends to list its shares on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange in the Scale segment and to revoke the current listing on the Vienna MTF of Vienna Stock Exchange (direct market plus) within the next months. This step will lead to a simplified listing structure and broaden the scope of potential investors in the company's securities in a new home market.

With the reorganised listing in the Scale segment of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, two leading German banks, Hauck & Aufhauser and Baader Bank, are expected to provide ongoing research coverage.

About beaconsmind

Founded in 2015 in Switzerland, beaconsmind is a pioneer in the field of location-based marketing (LBM) software for retail chains. beaconsmind helps retailers run successful location-based marketing campaigns. By fitting stores with bluetooth beacons that precisely locate and identify customers, and by integRating its Software Suite, beaconsmind opens a brand-new channel for retailers to interact with their customers, fundamentally transforming the shopping experience. Thanks to its solution, retailers can converge digital and physical shopping and address the convenience gaps of each.

For more information, please visit www.beaconsmind.com



Contacts:
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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.
Investment To Support Ongoing M&A Partnerships and Accelerate Platform Growth

OMAHA, Neb.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- LightBay Capital (LightBay), a private equity firm focused on partnering with high-quality services-based businesses, announced today that it has made a growth investment in Burton (the Company), a leading provider of residential HVAC, plumbing, and electrical services in the Midwest and Central U.S. regions. The investment from LightBay will allow Burton to accelerate its organic growth, add more market-leading businesses to the Company through acquisition, and invest in additional platform capabilities.

Founded in 1989 and headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, Burton offers replacement, repair, and maintenance services to a large and growing customer base. The Company is a multi-brand platform that has completed six add-on acquisitions since inception, expanding its operations in Nebraska, Colorado, Wisconsin, and Kansas. Burton partners with regional HVAC, plumbing, and electrical services providers to help them grow their businesses through follow-on M&A along with additional organic growth tools and capabilities.

We are excited to be partnering with the team at LightBay, said Mark Evans, President of Burton. Burton has a long track record of providing our local communities with their home comfort needs. We are dedicated to doing right by our people and in doing so, maintaining our employee-centric culture. All of us at Burton are thrilled to welcome LightBay as our partner given our shared focus on human capital and culture, and we look forward to our next phase of growth.

Adam Stein, Co-Founder and Partner at LightBay Capital, said, Mark and his team have built a winning business model in a highly attractive market segment. The Companys track record of growth, customer service, and technician retention are a testament to its people-first culture and focus on providing value to homeowners. We share managements vision for the future and are excited to support their efforts to accelerate growth as long-term investors in the Company.

David Burcham, Partner at LightBay Capital, added, Our investment in Burton is consistent with our focus on backing talented management teams and high-growth business models. The Company has a terrific reputation as a partner to business owners and will continue to prioritize growth through acquisition. We are excited to work with Mark and the rest of management to support Burtons growth in years to come.

Cowen Inc. served as the financial advisor and Ballard and Spahr, LLP provided legal counsel to Burton in connection with the transaction. William Blair & Company served as the exclusive financial advisor and Kirkland & Ellis LLP provided legal counsel to LightBay Capital.

About LightBay Capital

LightBay Capital is a Los Angeles-based growth-focused private equity firm that applies a flexible capital approach to middle-market investing. Primarily focused on the healthcare, consumer, and business services industries, LightBay invests across the capital structure and in all market environments to help accelerate the growth of high-quality companies. For more information, please visit www.lightbay.com.

To discuss investment opportunities, please contact David Leeney at dleeney@lightbay.com.

About Burton

Burton is a leading HVAC, plumbing, and electrical services provider serving residential customers in growing markets throughout the Midwest and Central U.S. The Company has a portfolio of seven long-standing local brands with a presence across Nebraska, Wisconsin, Colorado, and Kansas. Burton is headquartered in Omaha, NE, and is led by Mark Evans, who has been involved with the Company since 1995. For more information, please visit www.justcallburton.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211214005556/en/

Stella Ho

LightBay Capital

stella@lightbay.com

Source: LightBay Capital
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Kane Infrastructure Services Holdings, LLC ("Kane"), an Aterian Investment Partners ("Aterian") portfolio company, is pleased to announce the acquisition of Cable Solutions, LLC ("Cable Solutions", or the "Company"). This represents Kane's first acquisition as it executes its strategy of acquiring leading service companies across the nation in the high growth and very fragmented communications and utility infrastructure markets. As a result of the acquisition, Kane has expanded its geographic reach to cover from the Northeast to the Southwest providing a national service footprint for its customers.

Founded in 1998 by Jim Delashmutt and Mike Camacho and headquartered in Chandler, AZ, Cable Solutions is a leading provider of structured cabling and other fiber optic and inside plant services to the Arizona market. Cable Solutions has a blue-chip customer base across a range of end markets including healthcare and education.

John Donnelly, President of Kane, stated, "We all could not be more excited about adding Cable Solutions to the Kane family. They have a strong reputation in Arizona for providing quality service for their customers. We are big believers in the growth of the region and look forward to continue expanding our footprint here." Jim Delashmutt, Founder of Cable Solutions, added, "From the start, we knew Kane was the right buyer of our company. John and his team have built a one-of-a-kind culture at Kane and will be a great home for our employees."

Lynn Refer, Strategic Advisor to Kane and member of the Board of Directors, commented, "We look forward to continuing to expand into new high-growth territories both organically and inorganically." Daniel Phan, Managing Director at Aterian added "We are thrilled that the Kane team has completed their first add-on acquisition. Cable Solutions is a leader in its market, providing Kane with a strong operating footprint in the southwest."

Neal, Gerber & Eisenberg, LLP advised Kane.

About Kane Infrastructure Services

Kane Infrastructure Services is a holding company formed to partner with leading providers of technology, communications, utility and related infrastructure services. Kane is headquartered in Scottsdale, AZ and through its operating subsidiaries maintains a nationwide footprint offering a complete suite of structured cabling, outside plant/utility, and related infrastructure services.

For more information, please visit https://www.kane.com

About Aterian Investment Partners

Aterian Investment Partners manages over $1.5 billion of committed capital and invests in industry-leading, middle market businesses. In collaboration with management, Aterian supports investments throughout an organization, from people to processes, equipment, technology, and social governance, among other areas.

For more information, please visit http://www.aterianpartners.com

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SOURCE Kane Infrastructure Services
BINYAMINA, Israel, Dec. 13, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- OncoHost, a global leader in next-generation precision oncology for improved personalized cancer therapy, today announced a research collaboration with Lung Biobank Heidelberg, a member of BioMaterialBank Heidelberg (BMBH) and the German Center for Lung Research (DZL).

The collaboration involves the systematic collection and integration of data to refine patient stratification and identify novel biomarkers and therapeutic targets, primarily for immunotherapy-treated non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. It comes as OncoHost continues to expand its multicenter clinical trial, PROPEHTIC. OncoHost will work with Lung Biobank of Thoraxklinik-Heidelberg to collect blood samples, analyze them and then share the data, with the goal of improving the methods of patient stratification in lung cancer beyond the general biomarkers currently being used.

"Availability of blood samples at baseline and throughout treatment is increasingly important for patient management in non-small-cell lung cancer, especially for the application of targeted therapies, such as immune checkpoint inhibitor treatment," said Dr. Thomas Muley, head of Lung Biobank Heidelberg. "Collaborating with OncoHost on this crucial project will allow us to provide improved personalized oncology care for lung cancer patients on a global scale."

PROphet is a first-of-its-kind diagnostic platform that combines proteomic analysis with AI to predict patient response to immunotherapy and identify resistance associated processes, providing clinicians with potential combination strategies to overcome treatment resistance. The platform employs high-throughput protein analysis technology, scanning over 7,000 proteins in a patient's plasma, combined with proprietary bioinformatic and machine learning-based algorithms to identify proteomic patterns that can better predict patient outcomes. PROphet also identifies potential drug targets to advance development of novel therapeutic strategies. Studies have shown PROphet to have over 90% accuracy in predicting how patients with NSCLC and melanoma will respond to various therapies.

"The more research collaborations we establish, the deeper our understanding of cancer biology and host response in cancer patients becomes," said Dr. Ofer Sharon, CEO of OncoHost. "By working with Lung Biobank Heidelberg to share biomaterial and clinical data, we aim to identify diagnostic, prognostic and therapeutic biomarkers for NSCLC patients. We look forward to sharing continued positive results in predicting response to immunotherapy and providing clinicians with insights on potential future interventions."

About OncoHost

OncoHost combines life-science research and advanced machine learning technology to develop personalized strategies to maximize the success of cancer therapy. Utilizing proprietary proteomic analysis, the company aims to understand patients' unique response to therapy and overcome one of the major obstacles in clinical oncology today  resistance to therapy. OncoHost's host response profiling platform (PROphet) analyzes proteomic changes in blood samples to monitor the dynamics of biological processes induced by the patient (i.e., the host) in response to a given cancer therapy. This proteomic profile is highly predictive of individual patient outcome, thus enabling personalized treatment planning. PROphet also identifies potential drug targets, advancing the development of novel therapeutic strategies as well as rationally based combination therapies.

For more information, visit http://www.oncohost.com.

Follow OncoHost on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.

Media Contact:Lior FeiginFINN Partners for OncoHostlior.feigin@finnpartners.com@LiorFeigin+1 929 588 2016+972 54 282 4503

About The Thorax Clinic at Heidelberg University Hospital

As one of the largest specialist lung clinics in Europe, we at the Thorax Clinic have been treating diseases of the lungs and chest for more than 100 years and are a clinic based at the Heidelberg University Hospital. Our expert treatment includes all modern diagnostic and therapeutic procedures such as lung function, bronchoscopy, imaging, and robotic assisted surgery in-house. Our internationally recognised hospital departments treat some of the most benign and malignant lung diseases nationwide. Our precision oncology is a main area of research activity within the National Centre for Tumour Diseases (NCT). Over the years, the Thorax Clinic has established the largest Lung Biobank in Germany.

Contact:Dr. Thomas MuleyThoraxklinikThomas.muley@med.uni-heidelberg.de

For more information, visit http://www.thoraxklinik-heidelberg.de

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/oncohost-announces-collaboration-with-heidelberg-universitys-lung-research-biobank-to-discover-lung-cancer-biomarkers-301443013.html

SOURCE OncoHost
SUMMERLIN, Nev., Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Secura Bio, Inc. (Secura Bio) - (www.securabio.com), an integrated pharmaceutical company dedicated to the worldwide development and commercialization of impactful oncology therapies, today announced that new data for the treatment of relapsed or refractory(r/r) PTCL patients with COPIKTRA were presented at the 63rd annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH) in Atlanta, Georgia.

Jonathan Brammer M.D. of The Ohio State University James Comprehensive Cancer Center presented the interim analysis of the phase 2 PRIMO trial of r/r PTCL patients treated with single-agent COPIKTRA 75mg BID for the first two months followed by 25mg BID until progression or unacceptable toxicity. 78 of a planned 125 patients were included in this analysis with a minimum follow-up of 6 months. The trial is ongoing, with completion expected in 2022.

The interim results include an ORR by IRC assessment of 50% (39/78 pts) and a CR of 32.1% (25/78) with a median duration of response of 233 days (range, 1-420+). Patients had a median of 3 (range, 1-7) prior therapeutic regimens and included the following PTCL subtypes: PTCL NOS (53.8%), ALCL (14.1%), AITL (26.0%) and Other (0.5%). 18% of patients remain on therapy, 47.4% discontinued due to PD, 6.4% discontinued for stem cell transplant, and 19.2% discontinued due to unacceptable toxicity.

Overall, the safety profile was consistent with previous studies; in this analysis the most frequent > Grade 3 adverse events seen were neutropenia (38.5%), ALT/AST increased (24.4%/ 21.8%), rash (7.7%), lymphocyte count decreased (7.7%), and sepsis (6.4%). ALT and/or AST elevations were the most common AEs leading to treatment discontinuations (N=12, 15.4%).

"Patients with r/r PTCL usually relapse quickly and have limited treatment options, and the data from the PRIMO trial show very promising activity and even a remarkable number of complete responses. Importantly, these responses are better than current standard of care options" said Dr. Brammer.

"We are encouraged to see such robust responses in a significant number of patients who are suffering with these aggressive forms of lymphoma" said David Cohan M.D., Chief Medical Officer at Secura Bio. "We will continue to develop COPIKTRA for the treatment of the r/r population, and we have also expanded our clinical research program to include earlier lines of therapy for various T-cell lymphomas."

The original abstract published for ASH can be viewed by clicking HERE.

About COPIKTRA (duvelisib)

COPIKTRA is an oral inhibitor of phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K), and the first United States FDA approved dual inhibitor of PI3K-delta and PI3K-gamma, two enzymes known to help support the growth and survival of malignant cells. PI3K signaling may lead to the proliferation of malignant cells and is thought to play a role in the formation and maintenance of a supportive tumor microenvironment. COPIKTRA is indicated in the United States for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed or refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma (CLL/SLL) after at least two prior therapies. COPIKTRA is also being developed for the treatment of peripheral T-cell lymphoma (PTCL), for which it has received Fast Track designation in the United States. COPIKTRA is being investigated in combination with other agents across several types of solid and hematologic malignancies, through investigator-sponsored studies. For more information on COPIKTRA, please visit www.COPIKTRA.com. Information about duvelisib clinical trials can be found on www.clinicaltrials.gov.

IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION ABOUT COPIKTRA

WARNING: FATAL AND SERIOUS TOXICITIES: INFECTIONS, DIARRHEA OR COLITIS, CUTANEOUS REACTIONS, and PNEUMONITIS

See full prescribing information for complete boxed warning

Fatal and/or serious infections occurred in 31% (4% fatal) of COPIKTRA-treated patients. Monitor for signs and symptoms of infection. Withhold COPIKTRA if infection is suspected.

Fatal and/or serious diarrhea or colitis occurred in 18% (

Fatal and/or serious cutaneous reactions occurred in 5% (

Fatal and/or serious pneumonitis occurred in 5% (

INDICATIONS AND USAGE

COPIKTRA is a kinase inhibitor indicated for the treatment of adult patients with:

Relapsed or refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) or small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL) after at least two prior therapies.

WARNINGS AND PRECAUTIONS

Hepatotoxicity: Monitor hepatic function.

Neutropenia: Monitor blood counts.

Embryo-Fetal toxicity: COPIKTRA can cause fetal harm. Advise patients of potential risk to a fetus and to use effective contraception.

ADVERSE REACTIONS

The most common adverse reactions (20%) are diarrhea or colitis, neutropenia, rash, fatigue, pyrexia, cough, nausea, upper respiratory infection, pneumonia, musculoskeletal pain, and anemia.

DRUG INTERACTIONS

CYP3A inducers: Avoid co-administration with strong CYP3A inducers.

CYP3A inhibitors: Monitor for COPIKTRA toxicities when co-administered with strong or moderate CYP3A inhibitors. Reduce COPIKTRA dose to 15 mg twice daily when co-administered with strong CYP3A4 inhibitors.

CYP3A substrates: Monitor for signs of toxicities when co-administering COPIKTRA with sensitive CYP3A substrates.

USE IN SPECIFIC POPULATIONS

Lactation: Advise women not to breastfeed.

Please click here to see full U.S. Prescribing Information, including Boxed WARNING, for COPIKTRA (duvelisib).

To report Adverse Reactions, contact FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088 (1-800-332-1088) or www.fda.gov/medwatch and Secura Bio at 1-800-9SECURA (1-844-973-2872).

About Secura Bio, Inc.

Secura Bio is an integrated, commercial-stage pharmaceutical company dedicated to the worldwide development and commercialization of impactful oncology therapies for physicians and their patients. For more information on Secura Bio, please visit www.securabio.com

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The main gate at Maxwell Air Force Base Gunter Annex in Montgomery, Ala., on Monday, December 13, 2021. (Mickey Welsh, Montgomery Advertiser/TNS)

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (Tribune News Service)  Lakiesha McCall is just as confused as the general public by the events that unfolded at the visitor center of Maxwell Air Force Base's Gunter Annex Gate, and she was the one attacked.

She doesn't know why she was beaten. She doesn't know the name of the man who did it. She doesn't know why security forces personnel, stationed outside, did not intervene before the attacker made it to her family.

Officials at the base are providing few answers.

It wasn't until Monday that a spokesperson for the base acknowledged four people  two service members and two visiting civilians  were involved in the ordeal and one died. They'd previously only mentioned three people injured.

Lt. Col. Kimberly Bender, director of public affairs for Air University, said in an emailed statement Saturday afternoon that the incident occurred about 8 a.m. and that the two service members and one civilian were "evaluated for injuries" and were released from the hospital.

Bender did not answer questions regarding the injuries each person suffered or what fatal injuries were inflicted upon the fourth person.

"There is an active, ongoing investigation by AFOSI and FBI, and please contact them for more information. We thank you for your patience and understanding as the investigation continues," she wrote in a statement. "We thank the City of Montgomery for their support during this difficult time. Our thoughts remain with all those involved."

Questions to the FBI and the Air Force Office of Special Investigations were not answered.

"FBI Mobile is aware of the incident and is currently assisting the Air Force with the investigation. It is our policy not to discuss ongoing investigations," Thomas Loftis, with the FBI office in Mobile said.

McCall, 28, had gone to the gate with her sister, a recent graduate of basic training, and her mother for a friends and family event. The three arrived at the gate about 7:45 a.m. and were stopped by security forces. After being asked for a visitor's pass they did not yet have, the service member instructed them to go to the visitors annex to acquire a pass.

"So we backed the car up, parked and went into that building," McCall said. "We spoke with another officer and he asked us what we were doing and where we were going. That's when we learned we were at the wrong gate. I guess we needed to be at the other one down the road."

As the three women readied to leave, McCall said she looked out the window to see a man get out of a parked truck and run at a full sprint toward the building.

"His clothes were torn, he was holding his pants and he was running," she said. "My mom was about out the door when he pushed her down, then pushed my sister down when he got in the building and grabbed me."

McCall was stunned by the man's aggression. He pushed her head into the wall and landed several blows on her before security forces personnel inside the building could intervene.

"He reached for the officer's gun while the guard was trying to pull him off me," McCall said. "The next thing I knew, I heard a gunshot. Once I heard the gunshot, that was my getaway. There was so much blood, I didn't know if it was mine, the guard's or the man's."

McCall believes the man was having a mental health crisis and that he was known to medical professionals. She recalled hearing someone yelling and begging the officers not to kill him.

"'Don't kill him, he's mental. Don't kill him,'" McCall said she remembered hearing. "A woman, I think with the ambulance company, told me 'he's never attacked a woman before.'"

McCall wants to know why security forces outside the building did not intervene.

"The same way they stopped us, to make sure we had our credentials, the guards outside didn't do that with him," she said. "He was at a full run. They didn't do what they were trained to do."

McCall has been left in a daze.

"I don't know who he is. I don't know his name. I don't know if he was affiliated with someone in the military. I don't know if he was really going through a manic episode," she said. "I'm going to be the one stuck with medical bills. I'm going to be the one looking over my shoulder."

The physical scars may fade over time, but the emotional scars likely will endure. McCall said her attempts at sleeping have been difficult.

"Every time I close my eyes, all I can see (is) him with no clothes and bleeding, being wheeled past me to the ambulance," she said. "My sister feels like it's her fault. My mom feels helpless. She feels like she's supposed to protect me as her child."

KFiscus@gannett.com

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Coast Guard Cutter Adelie [WPB 87333] transits near Deception Pass, Wash., Dec. 11, 2021. Several Coast Guard units were in the area to assist when several kayakers capsized during a scheduled race. (U.S. Coast Guard photo) (Steven Strohmaier/U.S. Coast Guard)

(Tribune News Service)  Dozens of kayakers were rescued Saturday from Deception Pass, Wash., during a paddling and rowing race, The Deception Pass Challenge, that was thrown off course by strong wind.

The Coast Guard and various local emergency responders rescued several race participants from the water who had capsized, and assisted many more still on their boats in reaching safety.

The Coast Guard, which dispatched two patrol boats and a helicopter to the scene, pulled seven people from the water and helped another 30 kayakers get off the dangerous water.

Multiple 911 calls reported the scene about 9:30 a.m. Saturday.

Nearly half of the reported 75 participants were in need of rescue.

In addition to the Coast Guard, a Skagit County marine rescue unit and two North Whidbey Fire Marine Rescue units also responded.

"This incident highlights the outstanding interagency teamwork we have here in the greater Puget Sound's search and rescue system," Coast Guard Capt. Patrick Hilbert, the commander of Coast Guard Sector Puget Sound, said in a news release. "It also reinforces the importance of wearing a life jacket and constantly assessing the increased risks posed by the weather and water conditions that are always changing here in the Pacific Northwest."

The rescue operation was successful, with no deaths of injuries reported.

kcauvel@skagitpublishing.com

(c)2021 the Skagit Valley Herald (Mount Vernon, Wash.)

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Buy Photo A wooden gavel and block is seen inside the Senate Hart Building in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, March 3, 2015. (Carlos Bongioanni/Stars and Stripes)

IOWA CITY, Iowa (Tribune News Service)  An Iowa City man accused of violating city code in October by discharging a pellet gun within city limits  inadvertently shooting and wounding a Marine who was driving by at the time  has pleaded not guilty in an initial court appearance.

A non-jury trial for Philip Olson, 69, is set for 10:30 a.m. Feb. 24 at the Johnson County Courthouse, according to court documents filed last week. Olson declined to comment when reached Monday by The Gazette.

He is accused of violating City Code 8-7-3: Toy Guns and Slingshots, which prohibits discharging "any air rifle, toy pistol, toy gun or other toy arms or slingshot" within city limits. The minimum fine is $105 and the maximum is $855.

Iowa City police said last month that on Oct. 17, Olson was shooting at a squirrel in his yard with an air rifle but missed and instead hit Lance Cpl. Gabe Heefner, 20, as he was driving by on Highway 6 near Sycamore Street. The Marine, who crashed after being shot, was severely injured. Heefner was at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics for about a month before being transferred to a rehabilitation hospital in Chicago.

Authorities said that three days after the shooting, Olson came to the department to say he had heard about the incident and "admitted to shooting from inside his house at the squirrel and missing" at that time.

Police said Olson fired a .22 caliber air rifle from his home adjacent to Highway 6. The Nov. 5 criminal complaint said the air rifle was loaded with a metal pellet.

Olson told police during an interview he has shot and killed 38 squirrels between Sept. 17 and Oct. 16 with his pellet gun in his backyard and outside of his property line, according to the complaint. He surrendered the pellet gun to police and showed officers the tree he had been shooting at. Officers recovered fired pellets from the tree, the complaint said.

Johnson County Attorney Janet Lyness previously told The Gazette she wanted to charge Olson with reckless use of a firearm but a "loophole in the law" prevented the more serious charge. An air rifle or similar gun is not considered a firearm or dangerous weapon in Iowa, which makes it hard to prosecute, Lyness said.

Heefner's family and Lyness said they favor legislation to classify these guns as firearms.

Olson also faced four violations from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources: hunting without a license, $70; hunting without a habitat fee, $30; unlawfully taking or attempting to take squirrels, $70; and shooting over a highway, $30.

He paid the fines  which ended up totaling $450 due to additional fees  in November, court records show.

The Heefners moved to Missouri eight years after Gabe was born in Iowa City. Gabe, the oldest of three children, was back in town visiting his grandparents when he was injured.

On Nov. 10  the same day as the 246th birthday of the U.S. Marine Corps  Gabe was transported from UIHC to the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab in Chicago, a nationally ranked physical medicine and rehabilitation research hospital.

Gabe's mother, Codi, has been posting daily updates on CaringBridge about his recovery, including the progress he has made but also how challenging the journey has been.

A Dec. 8 update written by Gabe's father, Nile, told of a scare that happened "out of nowhere after so many days of progress." Gabe started mumbling and slurring his speech and one side of his mouth was drooping.

Nile said in the update that nurses checked Gabe's vitals and he "bounced back" after receiving medical attention. The subsequent days after the scare have been going well.

In a Dec. 11 update, Codi wrote Gabe did "pretty well" on a walking test. Codi said Gabe still needs assistance with balance and uses a cane.

"He also had tests for standing up from a sitting position, and everything is trending in a better direction," Codi wrote "It's amazing to see how far the Lord has brought him, but it can also be overwhelming to think about how far he still has to go."

izabela.zaluska@thegazette.com

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As USS Iwo Jima nears the end of its homeport shift to Norfolk, a sailor hauls in a mooring line to secure the ship at Naval Station Norfolk. (Dave Ress, Daily Press/TNS)

(Tribune News Service)  The Navy has completed the shift of its East Coast amphibious fleet to Hampton Roads, Va., with the arrival Monday of the USS Iwo Jima from Mayport, Fla.

A half of a year of preparations and planning went into moving the ships 1,150 sailors and their families from Florida, Capt. Judd Krier said.

Its a huge job, he said.

Most of the families are already here, and are settling in with the help of Fleet and Family Services, the housing office and the connections many crew members had forged from earlier stints in Hampton Roads, he said.

It feels good to be back in Hampton Roads, Krier said, noting that the Iwo Jimas home port had been Norfork until 2014. Hes starting his fourth stop in Hampton Roads.

The Iwo Jimas move means Norfolk is home to four amphibious assault ships, the large ships that lead the groups that operate with Marines and specialize in operating close to coasts.

With these four  the Iwo Jima, USS Kearsarge, USS Bataan and USS Wasp  are four amphibious transport docks  ships like USS Arlington, which anchored the recent relief effort in Haiti  at Naval Station Norfolk and five dock landing ships at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story.

The aim is to make maintenance and repair work easier by keeping the ships closer to the shipyards that do the bulk of the work.

Major work and drydock time had meant long periods away from home for Mayport-based sailors. Concentration also makes stockpiling spare parts and on-shore engineering expertise simpler.

To keep the economic impact of the amphibious move from hurting Mayport, the Navy has been moving some guided missile destroyers there.

dress@dailypress.com

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The fast-attack submarine USS Connecticut departs Naval Base Kitsap-Bremerton, Wash., May 27, 2021. (U.S. Navy)

The fast-attack submarine involved in an undersea collision in October completed a trip from Guam to San Diego entirely on the oceans surface, a media report said.

The USS Connecticut pulled into San Diego on Sunday after departing Guam sometime last month, where it stopped for repairs after striking an undersea mountain in the South China Sea, according to a Tuesday report from U.S. Naval Institute News. It cited unnamed Navy officials who said the trip was made entirely along the surface.

U.S. submarines are significantly slower and more vulnerable when traveling on the surface , according to the National Museum of the U.S. Navys website.

The Connecticut is in a safe and stable condition in port in San Diego, a Submarine Force Pacific spokeswoman, Cmdr. Cindy Fields, told Stars and Stripes by phone Tuesday. She declined to comment on whether the vessel had made the entire trip on the surface.

The voyage comes two months after the nuclear-powered submarine struck an underwater mountain in international waters in the Indo-Pacific region. The exact location of the incident was not disclosed, but an unnamed defense official said it occurred in the South China Sea, according to an Oct. 8 report from USNI News.

The collision, which resulted in minor injuries to about a dozen sailors, also led to the removal of the Connecticuts commander, executive officer and enlisted chief. Vice Adm. Karl Thomas, commander of 7th Fleet, relieved the three on Nov. 4, citing a loss of confidence in their leadership.

The Seawolf-class submarine is expected to undergo repairs in Bremerton, Wash., more than 1,300 nautical miles from San Diego, according to a Navy news release Nov. 4.
A fuel tanker exploded overnight in Cap-Haitien, Haitis second-largest city, killing at least 59 people and wounding dozens more, officials said Tuesday.

The blast in the port city some 124 miles north of Port-au-Prince caused extensive damage, Prime Minister Ariel Henry said in a tweet. Images showed flames turning a night sky bright red and orange.

Three days of national mourning will be decreed throughout the territory, in memory of the victims of this tragedy that the entire Haitian nation is grieving, Henry said in a tweet. Field hospitals will be quickly deployed in Cap-Haitien to provide the necessary care to the victims of this terrible explosion.

Nelson Deshommes, a spokesman for the mayors office in Cap-Haitien, said he visited the scene of the explosion early Tuesday morning. First responders were removing corpses, including many burned beyond the point of recognition, he said.

Its sad. They were piling bodies on a truck, Deshommes said. Its too difficult for me to see whats going on.

The explosion is the latest in seemingly endless calamities to rock the Caribbean nation this year.

Haiti, saddled by endemic poverty, is being led by an interim government after its president was assassinated in July. A massive earthquake the next month killed more than 2,000 people and injured scores more. Powerful gangs have stepped in to fill a leadership vacuum, kidnapping Haitians from all walks of life.

In recent months, the country had been left virtually paralyzed by a fuel shortage that hit hospitals and schools, which rely on diesel generators for electricity. Many businesses were closed and transportation workers took part in a nationwide strike to protest the crippling shortages.

Gangs were in part to blame for the fuel crisis, officials said. Many had hijacked fuel trucks and kidnapped their drivers or blocked fuel distribution at ports.

Patrick Almonor, one of Cap-Haitiens three mayors, said the fuel tanker capsized shortly after midnight, sending gas spilling into a ditch. As locals came to collect some of the gas, the truck exploded, he said. Firefighters arrived with 1,500 gallons of water, but could not extinguish the flames and had to call for aid from airport firefighters.

Almonor said the incident appeared to be an accident.

Deshommes said the largest hospital in the city is no longer operating after it was attacked by armed bandits in November, so victims from the explosion have been sent to other facilities, which lack resources.

Merancourt reported from San Salvador and Coletta from Toronto.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrives in Jakarta, Indonesia, Monday, Dec. 13, 2021. (Ron Przysucha/U.S. State Department)

Secretary of State Antony Blinken, speaking in Indonesia on Tuesday, employed some familiar catchphrases to explain the United States stance on the Indo-Pacific region and why it makes the better global partner.

Now we talk a lot about a free and open Indo-Pacific, but we dont often actually define what we mean by that, Blinken said at a Jakarta university during a swing through Southeast Asia that includes stops in Malaysia and Thailand. Freedom is about the ability to write your future and have a say in what happens in your community and your country, no matter who you are or who you know.

Blinken arrived Monday in Indonesia, a nation the State Department describes as a strategic partner. He met with Indonesian President Joko Widodo to discuss how the two countries can work together in the region, according to a State Department briefing.

Blinkens trip abroad touches on countries often at odds with China, the assertive presence in the region, and his speech reflected that atmosphere. Americas interests are also at stake in the Indo-Pacific, Blinken said.

We all have a stake in ensuring that the worlds most dynamic region is free from coercion and accessible to all, he said in remarks that were streamed online. This is good for people across the region; its good for Americans, because history shows that when this vast region is free and open, America is more secure and more prosperous.

He also called out Myanmar, or Burma, where military authorities unseated the popularly elected government under Aung San Suu Kyi in February, imprisoned her and her supporters, killed others in street demonstrations and detained many more.

Well also stand up against leaders who dont respect their peoples rights, as were seeing now in Burma, he said. Well continue to work with our allies and partners to press the regime to cease its indiscriminate violence, release all those unjustly detained, allow unhindered access and restore Burmas path to inclusive democracy.

He turned also to North Korea and its pursuit of nuclear weapons, and China, whose aggressive behavior is cause for concern among nations that still maintain economic and cultural ties with the Asian giant. Blinken unholstered another catchphrase.

Finally, well work with our allies and partners to defend the rules-based order that we built together over decades to ensure the region remains open and accessible, he said. The goal of defending the rules-based order is not to keep any country down. Rather its to protect the right of all countries to choose their own path, free from coercion, free from intimidation.

From Southeast Asia to Northeast Asia, from the Mekong River to mid-Pacific islands, the nations of the Indo-Pacific are concerned about Chinas aggressive behavior, Blinken said.

Claiming open seas as their own; destroying open markets through subsidies to state-run companies; denying the exports or revoking deals with countries whose policies it does not agree with; engaging in illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing activities.

Standing up to China is not about inflicting a choice on surrounding nations, Blinken said.

Its not about a contest between a U.S.-centric region or a China-centric region. The Indo-Pacific is its own region. Rather its about upholding the rights and agreements that are responsible for the most peaceful and prosperous period this region and the world has ever experienced, he said.

For example, the South China Sea, where $3 trillion in commerce moves annually, must remain open to freedom of navigation, another key entry in the U.S. phrasebook.

Blinken reminded his audience that an international tribunal five years ago dismissed Chinas claims to portions of the South China Sea as unsupported by international law.

Its worth remembering that tied up in that colossal number, $3 trillion, are the actual livelihoods and wellbeing of millions of people across the world, he said.

Wrapping up his speech after nearly 45 minutes, Blinken reminded listeners that President Joe Biden, speaking with Chinas President Xi Jinping in a virtual summit last month, reminded Xi that each has a responsibility to ensure the competition between their nations does not veer into conflict.

But, Blinken said, the U.S. will employ as a deterrent the instruments at its disposal, including diplomacy, intelligence gathering, military power, along with those of its allies and partners, a concept called integrated deterrence by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.

Its about reinforcing our strength so we can keep the peace, as weve done in the region for decades, Blinken said. We dont want conflict in the Indo-Pacific.

Blinken was slated to move onto Malaysia on Tuesday to meet with Prime Minister Ismail Sabri and Foreign Minister Datuk Saifuddin. The secretary is scheduled to arrive in Thailand on Thursday to meet Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai.

He meets with Adm. John Aquilino, head of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, in Hawaii on Friday.
Airmen with the 15th Operational Medical Readiness Squadron test water from a dining facility at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, Friday, Dec. 10, 2021. (Alan Ricker/U.S. Air Force)

FORT SHAFTER, Hawaii  Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks is slated to visit Hawaii this week to see firsthand how contaminated water has affected more than 3,000 displaced residents of military housing residents.

I have asked Deputy Secretary Hicks to visit the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility this week during her travel to Hawaii and to consult with Navy leaders, local officials, experts, and affected personnel and families, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a statement Monday.

Late last month, families living on and near Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam began complaining of foul-smelling tap water with a visible oily sheen.

The Navy tracked the source of contamination to its Red Hill well, one of the three used in the services water distribution system. That well has been shut off since the complaints began, and efforts to remove fuel from the well have begun.

Hicks launched a junket Monday that also includes stops in Michigan, Colorado, California and Nebraska. In Hawaii, she is expected to meet with officials at U.S. Indo-Pacific Command.

Her trip follows a visit last week by Carlos Del Toro, the secretary of the Navy, and Adm. Mike Gilday, chief of naval operations, who met with local officials and scores of residents whose lives were upended by the crisis.

Nothing is more important to me or to this Department than the health, safety and well-being of our people and their families, as well as that of residents living near our installations, Austin said.

To that end, I am receiving daily updates by the Navy Department about fresh water contamination near the strategically important Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam  contamination that has directly affected thousands of military members and their families, Austin said.

The Army and Navy are paying hotel bills to temporarily relocate anyone affected by tainted water.

Aliamanu Military Reservation and Red Hill, a pair of military communities near the joint base that are administered by the Army, are connected to the Navys water system.

U.S. Army Pacifics commander, Gen. Charles Flynn, on Thursday authorized the evacuation of all Defense Department personnel, civilian employees and their families living on Aliamanu and Red Hill.

Flynns authorization also includes any Army personnel and dependents living in 22 other sites impacted by contaminated water.

The Navy has authorized temporary moves for residents in 11 communities.

As of Saturday, 1,741 families had been relocated from areas affected by contamination, the Navy said in a factsheet posted online.

The Navy has tracked the origin of the contamination to a Nov. 20 jet fuel spill connected with the Red Hill underground storage tanks.

The Hawaii Department of Health issued an emergency order last week directing the Navy to cease operations at that World War II-era complex. It also directed the Navy to empty the facility of the roughly 150,000 gallons of fuel now stored there.

The Navy suspended operations but has not agreed to empty the underground tanks facility, which the Navy has described as a national strategic asset that provides power for sea control, maritime security, regional stability, humanitarian assistance and continued prosperity in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region. The fuel is used by the Navy, Marines, Army, Coast Guard and Hawaii National Guard.

The Navy is transporting a massive water filtration system from the mainland to Hawaii to begin flushing and filtering water in the systems pipelines.

We take this very seriously, Austin said in the statement. And I am personally monitoring our progress and our mitigation efforts. Indeed, Navy leadership updates me daily on the measures they are taking to care for affected military personnel and families, to restore the safety of the water system in military housing, and to coordinate with local authorities  in particular the Hawaii State Department of Health  about the best way forward.
The Chinese tech giant Huawei Technologies has long brushed off questions about its role in Chinas state surveillance, saying it just sells general-purpose networking gear.

A review by The Washington Post of more than 100 Huawei PowerPoint presentations, many marked confidential, suggests that the company has had a broader role in tracking Chinas populace than it has acknowledged.

These marketing presentations, posted to a public-facing Huawei website before the company removed them late last year, show Huawei pitching how its technologies can help government authorities identify individuals by voice, monitor political individuals of interest, manage ideological reeducation and labor schedules for prisoners, and help retailers track shoppers using facial recognition.

Huawei has no knowledge of the projects mentioned in the Washington Post report, the company said in a statement, after The Post shared some of the slides with Huawei representatives to seek comment. Like all other major service providers, Huawei provides cloud platform services that comply with common industry standards.

The divergence between Huaweis public disavowals that it doesnt know how its technology is used by customers, and the detailed accounts of surveillance operations on slides carrying the companys watermark, taps into long-standing concerns about lack of transparency at the worlds largest vendor of telecommunications gear.

Huawei has long been dogged by criticism that it is opaque and closer to the Chinese government than it claims. A number of Western governments have blocked Huawei gear from their new 5G telecom networks out of concern that the company may assist Beijing with intelligence-gathering, which Huawei denies.

The new details on Huaweis surveillance products come amid growing concerns in China, and around the world, about the consequences of pervasive facial recognition and other biometric tracking. Even as the Chinese Communist Party continues to rely on such tools to root out dissent and maintain its one-party rule, it has warned against the technologies misuse in the private sector.

This autumn, under Beijings pressure, Huawei and other tech giants pledged they would not abuse facial recognition and other surveillance tools, as a new law protecting personal data came into effect.

Facebook said in November that it would shut down its facial recognition system and delete facial templates of more than a billion people, citing growing concerns about the technology. Last year, Microsoft, IBM and Amazon announced they would not sell facial recognition software to police until there was federal regulation, and Zoom removed an employee attention-tracking function.

Huawei said in its statement that it did not develop or sell systems that target any specific group of people and that it required all parts of the business, as well as partners, to comply with applicable laws and business ethics.

Privacy protection is our top priority, the company said.

The Post reviewed more than 3,000 PowerPoint slides from the presentations outlining surveillance projects co-developed by Huawei with partner vendors. Five of the most relevant slides are translated into English below, with original formatting retained. Each outlines a surveillance solution created in a partnership between Huawei and another company, with both companies technology.

The Post could not confirm whom the Chinese-language presentations were shown to, or when. Some of the slides showcase surveillance functions specific to police or government agencies, suggesting that Chinese government authorities may have been the intended audience. Many of the PowerPoints have a creation timestamp of Sept. 23, 2014, with the latest modifications to the files made in 2019 or 2020, according to the presentations metadata.

Each of the five presentations has a final slide stating a Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. copyright, with dates ranging from 2016 to 2018.

The Chinese Embassy in Washington said criticism of Huawei was groundless. Huawei has long publicly expressed its readiness to sign a no back door agreement and to set up a cyber security assessment center in any country to receive external scrutiny, it said. So far, no other company has ever made the same commitment.

Chinas Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and the State Council Information Office did not respond to requests for comment.

Some of these surveillance products were listed in a Huawei online catalogue as of this month. Others have been removed from it but still showed up in government procurement documents or patent filings this year under the brand names of Huaweis partner companies.

The Huawei slides shed light on the companys role in five surveillance activities in China: voice recording analysis, detention center monitoring, location tracking of political individuals of interest, police surveillance in the Xinjiang region, and corporate tracking of employees and customers.

- - -

1. Voice recording analysis

A marketing presentation shows Huawei pitching its technology to assist authorities in analyzing voice recordings for national security purposes. (The term national security is broad in China, encompassing political dissent, religious gatherings, Hong Kong and Taiwan policy, ethnic relations and economic stability.)

The presentation, dated 2018, introduces the iFlytek Voiceprint Management Platform, co-developed by Huawei and iFlytek, a Chinese artificial-intelligence company. The system can identify individuals by comparing the sound of their voice against a large database of recorded voiceprints.

One slide shows a first step to extract or obtain the voice audio of the target, without details of how that is accomplished. Another slide lists audio from phone recordings and smartphone apps as inputs. Its unclear from the presentation if Huawei and iFlytek are involved in obtaining the voice audio or if the customer obtains it. IFlytek didnt respond to questions.

IFlytek was one of 28 entities sanctioned by the Commerce Department in October 2019 for human rights violations against Uyghurs, a Muslim ethnic minority in China, following reports by some Uyghurs that they were forced to make recordings of themselves speaking.

- - -

2. Prison and detention center monitoring

This marketing presentation appears to show that Huawei helped design some technical underpinnings for Chinas controversial reeducation and labor programs for detainees.

These programs raised international alarm starting in 2017, because of a sweeping drive against Uyghurs. Former detainees have alleged they were held without charges, tortured and required to work in factories as a condition of release. Similar practices have long been in place in China as part of punishment for political prisoners, but few details have emerged of how multinational companies are involved.

This product, named the Huawei and Hewei Smart Prison Unified Platform, is a comprehensive prison surveillance system co-developed with another Chinese company, Shanghai Hewei Technology. In addition to physical security aspects such as video cameras and smart gates, the product includes software for managing the schedules of detainees, including their attendance of ideological reeducation classes and prison labor shifts, according to screenshots in the presentation.

A slide shows a long list of functions that can be covered by the prison monitoring software, including reeducation, manufacturing labor and analysis and evaluation of reeducation efficacy.

Screenshots of the software showed detainees scheduled for cultural, technical and ideological education. The software also could track production plans, revenue from prison labor and evaluations of the effects of labor reeducation, according to screenshots in the presentation. It was not clear if the schedules in the screenshots were sampled from real prisons in China or if they were mock-ups.

The presentation said this technology has been implemented in prisons in Inner Mongolia and Shanxi province, according to slides listing success cases, as well as in jiedusuo, or detention centers specifically for drug offenders, in the Xinjiang region.

Hewei declined to comment.

- - -

3. Location tracking

This surveillance system was touted as being able to help authorities track political persons of interest and other targets, including criminal suspects, by pinpointing the location of their electronic devices, tracking them with facial recognition surveillance cameras and other measures.

The marketing PowerPoint presentation titled Huawei and PCI-Suntek Technology Video Cloud Big Data Joint Solution also says that it can help identify new suspects by analyzing a range of surveillance data.

While these kinds of tracking systems are used by police around the world, there has been growing apprehension in the United States that the flaws of these technologies - such as higher incidence of mistaken identity among ethnic minorities - could result in wrongful prosecutions, especially with limited regulation.

The slide mentions WiFi and MAC, which surveillance experts say is probably a reference to tracking a smartphones location via a unique identifier called a MAC address. The addresses can be intercepted over WiFi by specialized devices used by police. A woman who answered the investor relations line at PCI-Suntek said the company would not comment on media reports.

The presentation says the system is in use by the public security department of Guangdong, Chinas most populous province.

- - -

4. Xinjiang surveillance

The slides also detail how Huawei equipment was used in Chinas far west Xinjiang region.

The Xinjiang governments sweeping campaign against Uyghurs has drawn international denunciation, and Huawei has faced questions for years about whether its equipment was used in the crackdown. A Huawei executive resigned in response to a Washington Post report in 2020 about a Uyghur alarm the company tested that could send an alert to police when it identified a member of the ethnic minority native to the region.

Huawei executives have mostly deflected questions about how its products are used in Xinjiang, saying it did not supply the region directly. That is not actually one of our projects, Huaweis global cybersecurity chief, John Suffolk, said, when asked by a British parliamentary committee in 2019 about Xinjiang surveillance systems using Huawei equipment. It is done via a third party.

We sell technology all around the world, but we dont operate it. We dont know how our customers choose to operate it, Alykhan Velshi, Huawei Canadas vice president of corporate affairs, said last year, when asked by Canadian Broadcasting Corp. Radio about its surveillance technology sales in Xinjiang.

He added: Certainly whats happening in Xinjiang causes me a great deal of concern, as it should cause everyone who is concerned about human rights abroad, but Huawei selling to customers who may sell to customers who may do something? That, to me, is a different issue entirely.

But Xinjiang surveillance projects are highlighted in several of the presentations, with the Huawei logo on each slide, though the slides do not mention the Uyghur ethnic minority. In one titled One Person One File Solution High-Level Report, the companys technology is touted as having helped public security in Urumqi, capital of the Xinjiang region, capture a number of criminal suspects.

The presentation said the system had been in use in Urumqi since 2017, a time frame coinciding with the mass detentions of Uyghurs in Xinjiang.

This One Person One File facial recognition solution was co-developed by Huawei and DeepGlint, or Beijing Geling Shentong Information Technology, a start-up sanctioned by the Commerce Department in July for alleged human rights abuses in Xinjiang. DeepGlint declined to comment.

Other presentations said Huawei equipment was in use in surveillance camera systems in other Xinjiang cities, highways and detention centers.

- - -

5. Corporate monitoring

Not all of Huaweis surveillance products were made for government use. Some were also designed for corporate settings, including to catch employees slacking off or identify customers in retail stores.

This Smart Service Center Joint Solution co-developed by Huawei and Nanjing-based 4D Vector could map employees movements and send an alert if they appear to be sleeping, absent from their desks or playing on their phones. The camera could also be trained onto customers, analyzing their demographic based on facial scans and counting how many times a person returns to the store. 4D Vector didnt respond to requests for comment.

It identifies customers portraits as they walk by, such as gender, clothing, occupation, etc., and accurately delivers specific product introductions to different customers, the presentation said.

Albert Fox Cahn, founder of the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project, a New York-based privacy advocacy group, said the features of Huaweis workplace biometric tracking go beyond what he is aware of in the United States, though this is something that organizers and labor movements are quite concerned about, in the future.

Last year, Microsoft and Zoom removed functions from their software that tracked employee attentiveness and productivity, after public backlash. Amazon has come under fire for using AI-enabled cameras, wristbands and other devices to surveil its employees. (Amazon founder Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post.)

In China, too, such corporate surveillance is becoming controversial. On World Consumer Rights Day in March, Chinese state media denounced several foreign companies, including BMW and U.S. bathroom fixture brand Kohler, for tracking customers with facial recognition systems similar to the Huawei-4D Vector one.

In October, Huawei and other major Chinese tech companies made public pledges that they would not abuse facial recognition and other surveillance technologies.

The Washington Posts Pei Lin Wu in Taipei, Taiwan, contributed to this report.
Singapore released a citizen from detention more than a year after he pleaded guilty in a U.S. court of spying for Beijing with the city states government saying the threat he posed as a foreign agent has now been effectively neutralized.

Dickson Yeo was arrested in Singapore in December last year and later detained under security laws for acting as a paid agent of a foreign state, the government said on Tuesday. He was released after investigations determined that he wasnt able to obtain or pass on any classified information from Singapore to his foreign handlers.

The threat that Yeo poses as a foreign agent is assessed to be effectively neutralized. As such, he does not pose a security threat that warrants continued detention, according to a statement from the Internal Security Department, which comes under Singapores Home Ministry.

Yeos release comes two months after the city passed a contentious law preventing foreign entities or individuals from influencing its politics. The new legislation gives Home Ministry officials the authority to order social media platforms like Facebook and Internet service providers to disclose information behind harmful content they suspect may be carried out by foreign actors or entities.

In the case of Yeo, the department didnt name the foreign state, although the former consultant had admitted to providing information to Chinese intelligence and knowingly recruiting others in the U.S. to do the same. He was sentenced to 14 months in prison by a U.S. federal court in Oct. 2020 and later deported back to Singapore.

Singapores investigations largely echoed the American findings without any reference to China in the statement. The department found that Yeo also approached several individuals in Singapore who he thought would have privileged information on certain issues.

Yeo set up a company in Singapore and placed employment advertisements on social networking sites to recruit for his foreign handlers, the department said. He also applied for sensitive government positions to enrich his reports with privileged policy insights and classified information, although he didnt secure those jobs, the ISD added.

Yeos case demonstrates how the threat has become more pronounced with the prevalence of social media, which has made it easier for foreign intelligence services to talent-spot, groom and cultivate potential agents, even from abroad, the ISD said.

While the ISD didnt identify anyone Yeo had approached in Singapore, it said there were retired or serving civil servants in other countries and individuals in the private sector with access to sensitive information who were targeted by foreign intelligence services via social networking sites.
South Korea passed legislation in 2018 that allowed the medical use of cannabis but continues to ban the recreational use of marijuana and other drugs, including opium and psychotropics. (Pixabay)

CAMP HUMPHREYS, South Korea  Two U.S. service members recently received suspended jail sentences from a South Korean judge for bringing cannabis products into the country aboard flights this year.

Both service members were handed 2  year prison terms, suspended for three years, for their unrelated cases. Their identities were not made public during the Dec. 2 sentencing at the Suwon District Court in Suwon City. The results of the proceedings were publicly released Monday.

They were indicted on charges of violating South Koreas Narcotics Control Act. The country passed legislation in 2018 that allowed the medical use of cannabis but continues to ban the recreational use of marijuana and other drugs, including opium and psychotropics.

One of the service members was suspected by South Korean customs officials in March of bringing four cannabis cartridges, 30 gelatin substances and bath products containing cannabis into the country, a court representative told Stars and Stripes by phone on the customary condition of anonymity.

That service member, who is believed to have purchased the products online before taking them on their flight to South Korea, placed an identical order from the same website in April, the court representative said.

The judge presiding over the case said the court considered the service members personal reasons for bringing illicit substances into the country, including relieving [their] depression, insomnia and so on without an intent to distribute them.

In the second case, a U.S. service member was indicted on charges of carrying two cartridges containing cannabis on a flight from Atlanta to Incheon International Airport in April.

Last year, another Defense Department employee was caught and sentenced for bringing contraband into South Korea.

In August, a 51-year-old gym teacher at an unnamed U.S. military base in Pyeongtaek was accused of smuggling 120 oxycodone tablets and 315 morphine-based tablets by mail on Dec. 17, 2020, according to records at Incheon District Court. Pyeongtaek is home to Osan Air Base and Camp Humphreys.

The teacher confessed to the crime, prosecutors said in court records obtained by Stars and Stripes. The teacher was sentenced to three years of probation.

Stars and Stripes reporter Yoo Kyong Chang contributed to this report.
A U.S. Army Stryker infantry carrier prepares to cross the border from Hungary into Nadlac, Romania, in June 2019. The U.S. is now part of a European project that aims to speed up the movement of military forces across the Continent, the Dutch defense ministry said Dec. 14, 2021. (Denice Lopez/U.S. Army)

The United States is now officially part of a European project that aims to speed up the movement of military forces across the Continent.

Formal announcement of the move on Tuesday came at a time of Western angst over a large-scale buildup of Russian forces in Eastern Europe.

Canada and Norway also joined the European Union initiative, marking an important milestone, Dutch Defense Minister Henk Kamp said Tuesday.

Problems with moving large convoys across borders emerged in the aftermath of Russias 2014 invasion of Ukraine, which sparked a resurgence in NATO military activity in Europe, especially on the alliances eastern flank.

U.S. soldiers stop at the Romanian border in June 2019. The U.S. is now part of a European project that aims to speed up the movement of military forces across the Continent, the Dutch defense ministry said Dec. 14, 2021. ( LaShic Patterson/U.S. Army)

Retired Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges, who led the U.S. Army in Europe from 2014-17, said U.S. involvement in the initiative is a step forward.

Being able to move as fast (as) or faster than Russian Federation forces is essential to effective, successful deterrence ... and it gives our political leaders options other than a liberation campaign into the Baltics or Romania, Hodges tweeted Tuesday.

As operations beefed up in countries such as Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, U.S. soldiers often found themselves stuck at border crossings because of bureaucratic logjams. U.S. military leaders have emphasized the need to ease customs regulations and bolster infrastructure along NATOs eastern flank to ensure that armored units and military hardware can maneuver with speed in a crisis.

Military mobility is about making it faster and easier to travel, especially across national borders, a Dutch defense ministry statement said. In the event of rising tensions on Europe's borders, Dutch and other troops must be able to react quickly. This contributes to a credible deterrent.

The U.S. was invited to join the EU project in May, and Dutch defense officials on Tuesday emphasized the importance of the U.S. role in it, given the large numbers of American forces that are regularly sent to and from the Continent.

For example, the Netherlands was recently one of the main transit points for an Army aviation unit that arrived in Europe for a mission along NATOs eastern flank.
U.S. Air Force Maj. Aubrey Reid gives a booster shot to Yetta Lewis at a COVID-19 vaccination drive hosted by Landstuhl Regional Medical Center at Kleber Kaserne in Kaiserslautern, Germany, on Dec. 8, 2021. The Army has administered an estimated 25,000 booster doses to date at its base clinics in Europe. (William Beach/LRMC)

KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany  The slow rollout of COVID-19 vaccine boosters to the U.S. military community in Europe has given way to ramped-up efforts to get the additional jab to everyone whos eligible as quickly as possible.

And in many locations, appointments are being scooped up as soon as they become available.

In the past week alone, the Army nearly doubled the number of booster shots administered at its base clinics on the Continent, Gino Mattorano, a spokesman for Regional Health Command Europe, said Tuesday.

At the end of November, the Army had vaccinated about 4,100 individuals with a booster, less than 5% of the estimated 100,000 people at Army bases in Europe eligible for vaccinations. Mattorano estimated that the total now stands at about 25,000.

Initially, the Army had intended to expand its booster campaign after the holidays while it focused on administering the pediatric vaccine, which was recently approved for children 5 to 11.

But with Germany and other European countries that host American troops experiencing a record surge in cases and high demand for the booster, the Army reversed course and opened more appointments.

The Armys last vaccination clinics before the holidays will be Monday, Mattorano said.

Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, the Armys largest overseas hospital, has administered about 11,000 boosters and started partnering with the 21st Theater Sustainment Command and the 30th Medical Brigade to add booster vaccine appointments, Mattorano said.

On Monday, Ramstein Air Base opened more booster appointments Friday for its last scheduled vaccination clinic before the holidays.

By the end of the day Monday, time slots for all of the approximately 600 sessions were gone, according to an online appointment site.

Walk-ins wait in line to get COVID-19 booster shots at the Dec. 8, 2021, vaccine rodeo at the Kleber Kaserne gym in Kaiserslautern, Germany. Demand for booster shots is tremendous, and appointments for them are being snapped up almost immediately. (Eleanor Prohaska/U.S. Army)

For the four vaccination clinics scheduled at Ramstein in January, only one time slot on Jan. 7 was still available as of Tuesday morning.

Ramstein medics have administered about 2,200 booster vaccines, both Moderna and Pfizer, base spokesman Lt. Col. Will Powell said in a statement Monday.

The process remains fluid, he said. As cancellations occur, appointments open up.

Most bases are using the Defense Health Agencys online portal for appointments. It allows people to make more than one appointment for the same shot. Military officials said its important for users to cancel previous appointments and not double-book.

However, there is no penalty for neglecting to cancel previous appointments, and it is permissible to make multiple appointments simultaneously to accommodate other family members.

In some German states, including Rheinland-Pfalz, home to tens of thousands of U.S. personnel, a booster shot negates vaccinated individuals testing requirement for indoor dining and other activities.

Germanys new government is looking at applying that exemption across the nation to encourage more booster shots and relieve testing capacity.

Booster shots for people ages 16 and 17 are still hard to get, depending on location. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently approved boosters for older teens.

LRMC was showing available booster appointments for ages 16 and up for Jan. 6. Other Army bases were also offering the booster to older teens, Mattorano said.

Ramstein officials said Monday that they are awaiting official guidance from the Air Force on when to begin offering the booster to 16- and 17-year-olds.

At Spangdahlem Air Base in Germany, health officials are exploring options for making booster shots available to 16- and 17-year-olds, 1st Lt. Megan Morrissey, a spokeswoman for the 52nd Fighter Wing, said in a statement Tuesday.

U.S. Naval Hospital Naples in Italy would offer booster shots to eligible 16- and 17-years olds as on-hand availability of Pfizer vaccine inventory allows, said Tia McMillen, a Naval Medical Forces Atlantic and Tidewater spokeswoman.

As of Monday, more than 2,700 COVID booster shots had been given by the hospital, which only allows appointments for the jabs, McMillen said.

It wasnt clear Wednesday if Naval Air Station Sigonella in Sicily or Naval Station Rota in Spain also would offer boosters to 16- and 17- year olds.

Military bases in Italy have faced increased demand for boosters due in part to new Italian restrictions that limit vaccination validity to nine months after the last shot. For example, a person who received their final COVID-19 vaccination in February would no longer be able to visit restaurants, bars, sporting arenas or other venues unless theyve received a booster.

The increase in COVID-19 booster vaccine demand from NSA Naples is driven by changes to Italian law, rising COVID-19 case rates across Europe, and emergence of new viral variants, McMillen said.

Staff writer Alison Bath contributed to this report.
(Wikicommons)

DETROIT (Tribune News Service)  A federal judge Monday refused to suppress texts and statements made to federal agents by an accused Islamic State fighter from Dearborn captured on a Syrian battlefield three years ago, dealing a setback to the defense of a rare foreign fighter brought back to America to face charges.

Texts Ibraheem Musaibli, 31, exchanged with an FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force officer and comments the Dearborn man said while being flown back to the United States aboard a customized C-17 military cargo plane were made voluntarily, U.S. District Judge David Lawson wrote in a federal court filing. Musaibli talked to the officer after being advised of his rights, the judge added.

"There is no valid reason to suppress the statements or the text messages," Lawson wrote.

Musaibli is scheduled to stand trial in January on terrorism charges punishable by up to 50 years in prison.

Musaibli drew international attention three years ago when he was captured in Syria. The case has shed light on Musaibli's journey from his parents' perfume shop in Detroit to a Middle East war zone and presented the U.S. court system with a unique chance to prosecute an American accused of leaving the U.S. and fighting for the Islamic State group.

Defense lawyers tried to suppress the messages, arguing the FBI task force officer used a code name and coercion while offering to rescue Musaibli, but only if he admitted being an Islamic State soldier.

Musaibli also argued he was subjected to sensory deprivation devices, sleep-deprived and hungry before being questioned for several hours during a long flight from Kuwait after being freed from custody of a foreign power.

Musaibli waived his rights, the judge wrote Monday.

"None of the other relevant circumstances favor a finding that the waiver here was the product of any coercive overreach by the interrogating agents or that the defendant's free will was overborne," Lawson wrote. "The defendant is an adult."

Musaibli's lawyer, John Shea, declined comment Monday.

rsnell@detroitnews.com

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Justice
Top federal health officials warned in a briefing Tuesday morning that the omicron variant is rapidly spreading in the United States and could peak in a massive wave of infections as soon as January, according to new modeling from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The prevalence of omicron jumped sevenfold in a single week, CDC modeling shows, and at such a pace, the highly mutated variant of the coronavirus could ratchet up pressure on a health system already strained in many places as the delta variant continues its own late-autumn surge.

The briefing detailed two scenarios for how the omicron variant, first identified in South Africa three weeks ago, may spread through this country. The worst case scenario has spooked top health officials, who fear a fresh wave, layered on top of delta and influenza cases in what one described as a triple whammy, could overwhelm health systems and devastate communities, particularly those with low vaccination rates.

Im a lot more alarmed. Im worried, said Marcus Plescia, chief medical officer for the Association of State and Territorial Health officials, who participated in the call. The CDC, normally cautious in its messaging, told the public health officials that we got to get people ready for this, he said.

He noted that the omicron surge, if it materializes as forecast, would be taking place as delta continues its onslaught and during the time of year when influenza cases often peak.

Officials stress that early data shows individuals who are fully vaccinated and received a booster shot remain largely protected against severe illness and death from omicron. But they worry about how few Americans have been boosted to date. Over 54 million people in the United States have gotten the additional shots, out of 200 million who are fully vaccinated, according to the CDC.

The newest modeling scenarios have been shared among senior administration officials, as they discuss politically fraught decisions about how, when and whether to take new steps to suppress the virus and keep hospitals from being overwhelmed.

The second scenario outlines a smaller omicron surge in the spring. Its unclear which scenario is more likely.

Theyre considering the information at the highest levels right now, and thinking through how to get the public to understand what the scenarios mean, said one federal health official familiar with the briefing. It looks daunting.

The implications of a big wave in January that could swamp hospitals . . . we need to take that potential seriously, said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss policy deliberations.

The CDCs internal modeling is consistent with that of several academic groups in the United States and with data from the United Kingdom, Denmark and Norway. New restrictions have already been imposed in the United Kingdom and other countries in Europe that were seeded with omicron earlier.

The Biden administrations strategy relies heavily on vaccination, including boosters and testing. When President Joe Biden announced his action plan on Dec. 2 for fighting the virus this winter, he noted it doesnt include shutdowns or lockdowns but widespread vaccinations and boosters and testing and a lot more.

A reformulated vaccine thats omicron-specific is not currently planned as part of the toolbox. Senior administration health officials and vaccine experts at vaccine companies said there is no evidence such a major switch in the vaccine design is necessary.

They cited the data that suggests the original vaccine, coupled with a booster shot, provides protection against severe illness caused by omicron. So far, they noted, the vaccines have successfully countered every variant. That view could change in the next two weeks as more data comes in involving laboratory tests and the spread of omicron.

Switching the vaccine has sweeping implications. If it is changed too early, that limits the ability to deal with another variant down the road - one that might potentially be more dangerous than omicron.

We have to be careful not to repeat mistakes of the past, said one administration official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk about the issue. If there is a change needed, we want to make it, but we dont want to end up making a change if we dont really need it. It costs time, money and effort.

Experts say that its impossible to keep changing the vaccines or giving different boosters because there is not enough manufacturing capacity and other resources.

Anthony S. Fauci, Bidens chief medical adviser on the coronavirus response, said in an interview Monday there isnt any compelling reason right now to drop everything and make an omicron-specific vaccine, as opposed to continue to administer vaccine for people who are unvaccinated and boosting people who are vaccinated.

Speaking Tuesday in an interview on NBCs Today Show, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said of omicron, It is more transmissible, and were seeing that in other countries as well, that its rapidly becoming the more predominant strain, but I want to emphasize that we have the tools now.

Between Dec. 4 and Dec. 11, omicron likely jumped from a mere 0.4 percent of new infections in the U.S. to 2.9 percent, according to the new CDC data. In New York and New Jersey, omicron already accounts for 13 percent of new cases, Walensky said.

In the Houston Methodist hospital system, omicron accounted for 13 percent of new cases in a four-day period leading up to Dec. 8, according to James Musser, chair of pathology and genomic medicine. He expects that percentage to approach 20 percent when new numbers are published Wednesday. The omicron variant was first detected in Houston on Nov. 29.

Musser said his hospital system is ready for whatever comes next: Weve had 21 months of this now, and were sort of - I hate to say it, because its tragic - but were sort of skilled in the art of how to handle this.

Though the delta variant remains dominant in the United States, and is the driver of the recent surge in hospitalizations, particularly in the Upper Midwest and Mountain West, omicron continues to show signs that it is dramatically more transmissible. Importantly, it has dozens of mutations that make it a more slippery foe when encountered by neutralizing antibodies, the immune systems first line of defense.

That was reinforced Tuesday with the release of a large study from researchers in South Africa, the country that first warned the world of the emergence of the new variant in late November. The new study confirms that vaccines are significantly less effective at preventing infections with omicron, but still usually prevent severe disease.

The study also found that the people infected with omicron so far have had a 29 percent lower chance of being hospitalized than people infected with delta.

Infectious-disease experts caution that what happens in South Africa, which has a relatively young population, may not be repeated in northern hemisphere countries with older populations.

The CDC modelers also based their forecasts in part on data coming out of Denmark, Norway and the United Kingdom, Plescia said. Looking at the Norway data, the modelers said Norway cases could reach 300,000 quickly, and theres not that many people in Norway, he added.

Public health officials think there is adequate supply of personal protective equipment in the United States to protect against another wave. But the country is not ready with sufficient testing capability, Plescia said. States will need to work with their hospital systems to get them ready to expand capacity, he said.

The hope is that it is going to be less severe, but the concern is that the numbers could be so great, even if proportionally less people have to be hospitalized, the numbers are much higher and a lot of people are going to be really sick and overwhelm things, Plescia said.

The messaging to the public will be even more difficult. Two things that would help enormously - less travel during Christmas, and more consistent wearing of masks - are not likely to happen, because people are so tired of the pandemic and have tuned out many public health messages, he aded.
The fiscal 2022 National Defense Authorization Act is set for a passage vote that would send it to President Joe Bidens desk for his signature. (Brittany Chase/ Department of Defense)

WASHINGTON (Tribune News Service)  The Senate easily advanced the compromise defense policy bill Tuesday, voting 86-13 to end debate on the measure, which would authorize $768 billion in spending.

The bill is now set for a passage vote that would send it to President Joe Bidens desk for his signature.

The fiscal 2022 National Defense Authorization Act has undergone a tortuous route to enactment. The House marked up and passed its version in September, but the Senates efforts to pass its own bill stalled earlier this month when lawmakers could not agree on which amendments to consider on the floor.

Florida Republican Marco Rubio held out for consideration of his amendment to bar importation of Chinese goods made by the slave labor of Uyghurs and others. Democrats said they could not attach Rubios legislation to the larger bill because it involved new revenue, and bills generating new revenue have to originate in the House under the Constitution.

Consequently, Democratic and Republican leaders of the Armed Services committees hashed out a compromise bill, which the House passed last week. While the deal allowed the NDAA to advance, it angered many lawmakers who saw their provisions stripped.

Congress has passed the NDAA for 60 straight years. This years bill revises the militarys approach to some felonies by putting them in the hands of military lawyers instead of commanders, but not to the satisfaction of Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D- N.Y., who had wanted more decisions to be up to the new special prosecutors.

Gillibrands vocal criticism that four men in a closed room made final decisions on the bill has put her at odds with key lawmakers in her own party, including Senate Armed Services Chairman Jack Reed, D- R.I., and House Armed Services Chairman Adam Smith, D- Wash.

Reed and Smith both pushed back on Gillibrands criticisms, saying the bill will transform how the military handles sexual assault cases.

Gillibrand was among the 13 senators voting against cloture  the others included five Republicans and several progressive Democrats  but her objections notwithstanding, the bill seems poised to pass the Senate easily.

Before the vote, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R- Ky., encouraged his colleagues to support advancing the bill.

While the process has been imperfect, Im glad that bipartisan work has produced a bill that authorizes an increase in topline funding for our national defense, McConnell said.

2021 CQ-Roll Call, Inc., All Rights Reserved.

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(Wikicommons)

(Tribune News Service)  A notable Texas businessman is accused of paying $750,000 to two former Marines and a proclaimed ex-Israeli Defense Force soldier to have his ex-lover and her boyfriend killed, federal officials announced Dec. 13.

Erik Maund, a 46-year-old Austin, Texas, resident and a partner of the Maund Automotive Group, is charged with conspiracy to commit kidnapping and kidnapping resulting in death, among other charges, a news release from the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Middle District of Tennessee said.

Three other men are facing those charges as well: proclaimed ex Israeli Defense Force soldier Gilad Peled, 47; former Marine Bryon Brockway, 46; both of Austin; and 30-year-old former Marine Adam Carey, of Richlands, N.C., according to the release.

Maund, Peled, Brockway and Carey could not be reached for comment on Monday, Dec. 13, and information regarding their defense attorneys was not immediately available.

According to the federal indictment, which was just unsealed, the complex murder-for-hire plot came in response to another scheme hatched against Maund.

In early February 2020, Maund reached out to a 33-year-old Nashville woman named Holly Williams, whom he had a past relationship with, feds say. Maund sometimes went to Nashville on business and asked Williams to meet with him, since he was going to be in town.

About a month later, the blackmailing began. Maund received text messages demanding money, promising to expose his relationship with Williams if he didnt.

Williams boyfriend, 36-year-old William Lanway, had sent the texts, the release said.

Its not said how much hush money was demanded. But soon, Maund got in touch with Gilad Peled, a proclaimed ex Israeli Defense Force soldier, and owner of Austin-based Speartip Security.

Brockway, who served in a Special Operations capable unit of the Marine Corps, and Carey, a former member of the Corps Special Operations Group, were also brought on board, feds said.

Over the next several days, the trio traveled to Nashville, Tenn., gathering information on Williams and Lanway and surveilling them at their homes. By March 9, just eight days after the blackmail texts arrived, the men Maund hired had compiled a report titled Tennessee Sitrep, sharing what they had learned and stating they would use everything at their disposal to stop the attempted extortion of Maund.

On March 12, $150,000 showed up in Peleds bank account, transferred from Maund, feds said. Later that day, Carey and Brockway armed themselves and took action, confronting Williams and Lanway in the parking lot of Williams apartment complex.

They shot Lanway multiple times, killing him; forced Williams into a vehicle along with Lanways body; and drove to a construction site, officials said. There they shot Williams dead and discarded the bodies at the site and left, the release said.

Between March 11 and now, Maund is accused of transferring $750,000 into a bank account belonging to Peled.

This investigation began with the discovery of two bodies inside a vehicle on Good Friday 2020, Nashville Police Chief John Drake said in a news release. Outstanding investigative work  led to multiple leads that drew our attention to other states. Realizing this very complex case reached far outside of Nashville, our team enlisted the help of the FBI and the U.S. Attorneys Office. Our close relationship with our federal partners led to the indictment and arrest of the four individuals.

Ultimately, the men were arrested across three states: Maund and Peled in Texas, Brockway in California and Carey in North Carolina.

If found guilty, they could face life in prison, the U.S. Attorneys Office release said.

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A comparison of a clay model done of remains found in Twinsburg in 1982 with a photo of Frank Little from the Cleveland Metropolitan School District. (Twinsburg Police Department/TNS)

TWINSBURG, Ohio (Tribune News Service)  Investigators have identified a man whose skeletal remains were found nearly 40 years ago in Twinsburg.

And who he is might surprise you.

His name is Frank "Frankie" Little Jr. and he was a songwriter and guitarist for The O'Jays in the 1960s, as well as an Army veteran who served in the Vietnam War. The R&B group started in Canton and made it into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Investigators discovered Little's identity with the help of DNA and genealogical research. The breakthrough followed years of failed attempts that included the state crime lab making a clay model of the man's skull.

"I'm very excited we were able to put a name to these remains and to get him back to his family and give his family that piece of closure," said Summit County Medical Examiner Lisa Kohler, who assisted Twinsburg detectives with the investigation.

The family was also pleased to learn  after all these years  what happened to Little.

"It's amazing," said Margaret O'Sullivan, Little's cousin, who lives in Cleveland. "We're glad that we have closure now. We know he's deceased."

The next step will be trying to figure out who killed Little and how his remains ended up in a garbage bag behind a Twinsburg business in February 1982. Kohler said his death, originally deemed "undetermined," will be ruled a homicide.

Little, who would be 78 if he was still alive, was born in Cleveland in 1943. He was with the O'Jays in the mid-60s, writing several songs, including "Do the Jerk" and "Oh, How You Hurt Me." The band is best known for its hits that include "Love Train."

Little served in the U.S. Army for two years, including in the Vietnam War. He was last known to live in the area of East 105th Street and Superior Avenue in Cleveland and it is believed he was alive into at least the mid-1970s. Not much is known about his disappearance.

Remains are found

Employees of a now-closed machine shop on Cannon Road in Twinsburg found a skull in February 1982 when they were dumping shavings in the woods. They weren't sure what they'd found.

"When they saw the skull, they didn't believe it was human," Twinsburg detective Eric Hendershott said. "They showed it around."

The employees alerted police and a search of the property turned up a garbage bag with more remains.

The remains, which weren't a complete set, were determined to be those of a Black male, 20 to 35 years old, about 5-foot, 6-inches tall who may have had adolescent kyphosis, which is a curvature of the spine.

A forensic anthropologist estimated the remains had been there between two and four years. The remains had nothing with them that would help police identify the man.

"There wasn't even clothing - just bones in a garbage bag," Hendershott said.

Detectives issued a press release and appealed to the public and other local law enforcement agencies for assistance. They ruled out a few leads and the case went cold for more than 20 years.

Samantha Molnar, a forensic artist for Attorney General's Bureau of Criminal Investigation, works on the early stages of a Jane Doe in March 2018. (Leah Klafczynski, Akron Beacon Journal/TNS)

Sgt. Greg Feketik reopened the case in 2009, researching the idea of using DNA to determine the man's identity.

The man's DNA was put into the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS), the FBI's DNA database, but this produced no hits.

A Kent State professor made a sketch of the skull to show what the man looked like. In 2016, Samantha Molnar, a forensic artist with the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI), made a clay model of the skull.

Genealogy research is tried

In October 2018, Akron detectives reached out to Twinsburg, wondering if the remains might belong to a missing person from Akron. That tip didn't pan out, but it lit a fire in Hendershott to make another attempt to identify the remains.

"It occurred to me that time's ticking," he said. "Soon enough, people won't be alive to remember him."

Hendershott knew that Joseph DeAngelo, the Golden State Killer, had been identified through DNA and the use of genealogical databases and another case in Eastlake had been solved this way. He wondered if the same technique could be used for Twinburg's oldest unsolved case.

"I was hopeful," he said. "I was never certain or confident."

Hendershott reached out to the DNA Doe Project in September 2019 to help with the effort. The nonprofit group uses genetic genealogy to help identify John Does and Jane Does nationwide.

Elias Chan and other volunteers with the Doe Project compared the DNA profile of the remains with profiles in GedMatch and Family Tree DNA, two public genealogy databases. From there, they began to build family trees to try to find potential family members of the man.

The researchers zeroed in on the name Little and provided several names to Hendershott.

Hendershott called O'Sullivan and found out that she had a cousin, Frank Little, who had disappeared. She didn't know much about him but said he had a brother who lived in Georgia.

"We were wondering what happened to him," O'Sullivan said.

Hendershott reached the brother and obtained a DNA sample from him.

The sample was analyzed by BCI researchers and Kohler, who confirmed Little's identity.

Chan, who has worked on about 25 cases involving missing persons, with identifications made in 10 of them, was pleased Little was identified.

"It's very exciting, especially for these long cases," Chan said.

Chan said people can help solve missing person's cases by entering their DNA into one of the public databases, especially if they have someone in their family who disappeared.

"That will help bring your loved one home faster," Chan said.

What's next?

Now that they've identified Little, investigators hope to find his killer.

Little had a daughter who died in 2012 and a son who is thought to still be alive and living in the Cleveland area.

Hendershott is hoping to track down the son to see if he might have more information about what have happened to his father. He said Little's brother didn't stay in contact with his nephew or even know his full name.

The detective said Little's brother recalled the last conversation he had with Little but not much else.

Hendershott said he confirmed with Walter Williams, one of the still-living members of the O'Jays, that Little was a guitarist and songwriter with the band. He said Williams told him that Little wrote songs with Eddie Levert, another original band member.

O'Sullivan, 79, said she went to see Little perform in Cleveland once but didn't realize he was with the O'Jay's until much later.

"To me, all rock-and-roll sounds good," said O'Sullivan, who was about 16 when she saw the band.

O'Sullivan said she isn't sure when the family lost touch with Little.

Hendershott said many questions remain about Little.

"Part of the mystery is over with, but we have no idea how he got there, how he disappeared or where he lived toward the end of his life," the detective said.

Kohler said she plans to rule Little's death a homicide, based on blunt-force injuries identified by the forensic anthropologist and the attempt to conceal his remains. She said she will finish Little's death certificate once his family members choose a funeral home and make arrangements.

As for determining who killed Little, Kohler said, that will fall to the detectives. She said her office will be happy to help when called upon.

"Detectives will have to look at what they've got and decide if there's anything more they can pursue," she said.

swarsmith@thebeaconjournal.com

2021 www.beaconjournal.com.

Visit beaconjournal.com.

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Five Tauranga school-leavers are set to begin tertiary studies with an extra spring in their step after being awarded scholarships by local company Ryan+Alexander.

The recruitment firm, which has a particular focus on filling job opportunities in the regions, created the scholarships to celebrate its first five years in business.

Ryan+Alexander co-director Bernadette Ryan-Hopkins says the decision to support students from state schools who are staying in the Bay of Plenty for tertiary study in 2022 is strategic.

We felt that when students go to Auckland or Wellington, there are lots of opportunities for scholarships, and we didnt believe there were many opportunities for people who are wanting to study here.

The Bay of Plenty community has helped Ryan+Alexander grow rapidly during its five years of business and the scholarships are a way for herself and co-director Kiri Burney and their staff to give something back, she says.

It also helps us to support the local community because were building and growing talent here and thats fundamental to what we do.

Bernadette says she has noticed a loss of potential workforce in the region as many younger people move away after high school to study.

Having the University of Waikatos Tauranga campus open here has helped retain young people, but both co-directors felt Ryan+Alexander could play a part too.

Those young people are part of the community and part of the economic development in the region. Tauranga is our fifth-largest city. This economy is a real powerhouse within New Zealand and will continue to be so.

Its an attractive place to live, people are wanting to come here in droves. If we dont have to go outside our region for these great people, and they remain here, thats only going to be great for Tauranga.

Kiri says she is humbled by how much the scholarship recipients had achieved.

Our entire team are amazed by these students. Theyve demonstrated such outstanding abilities not just in their academic work but within their wider communities.

These are unbelievable young people. Who knows what they might go on to do. They are the future. If we can make their lives even a tiny little bit easier as they embark on the next phase, then thats a great thing. To be able to support them is a privilege.

The Ryan+Alexander scholarships are being awarded through the Acorn Foundation charitable fund.

CEO Lori Luke says the foundation is so grateful for the companys commitment to the community.

The five students who have won these scholarships will value both the monetary support and the confidence boost they will have received to have their hard work acknowledged. It makes such a difference to Acorn to be able to support promising young students with the help of generous businesses like Ryan+Alexander.

The scholarships have been awarded to the following students, who each receive $3500:

Tauranga Boys College: Moses Razak-Begg who will be studying towards a Bachelor of Commerce with a double major in Accounting and English.

Tauranga Girls College: Kahurangi Ngatai, who is studying towards a Bachelor of Education at the University of Waikatos Tauranga Campus.

Otumoetai College: Georgia Dresner, who will be studying towards a Bachelor of Creative Industries at Toi Ohomai.

Mount Maunganui College: Briana Carling, who is studying towards a Bachelor of Science at the Waikato University, Tauranga.

Papamoa College  Brendon Alesana, who will complete a Diploma of Engineering course at Toi Ohomai, before going on to an Engineering Degree with the University of Waikato.
With the approach of Tropical Cyclone Ruby to New Zealand, a weather warning issued on Monday is now being updated to include the Coromandel region.

The MetService issued the warning for the Bay of Plenty yesterday.

In an updated statement today, the weather organisation says the region can expect 150 to 200mm of rain to accumulate inland in the Bay of Plenty in the 18 hours from 8pm Tuesday to 2pm Wednesday.

Today's warning now includes the Coromandel, with 70 to 90 mm of rain to accumulate,especially about the ranges, in the 12 hours from 6pm Tuesday to 6am Wednesday.

"A complex low pressure system affects central and northern New Zealand through to early Thursday, delivering rain to many places," says a spokesperson for the weather organisation.

"Heavy Rain Warnings and Watches are in force for parts of the North Island, northwest Tasman, and now including Canterbury and Marlborough.

"People are advised to keep up to date with the latest forecasts in case any changes are made or further areas are added.

"Heavy rain may cause streams and rivers to rise rapidly. Surface flooding and slips are also possible and driving conditions may be hazardous."

===========================

HEAVY RAIN WARNING - ORANGE

===========================

Area: Coromandel Peninsula

Valid: 12 hours from 6pm Tuesday to 6am Wednesday

Forecast: Periods of heavy rain. Expect 70 to 90 mm of rain to accumulate,especially about the ranges. Peak rates of 10 to 20mm/h about the ranges.

Change note: Upgraded to an Orange Warning.

Area: Bay of Plenty

Valid: 18 hours from 8pm Tuesday to 2pm Wednesday

Forecast: Periods of heavy rain. Expect 150 to 220 mm of rain to accumulate inland, especially about the eastern ranges, and 70 to 100 mm about the coast.Peak intensities of 20 to 30 mm/h inland during Wednesday morning.

Area: Gisborne from Tokomaru Bay northwards

Valid: 17 hours from 11pm Tuesday to 4pm Wednesday

Forecast: Periods of heavy rain. Expect 100 to 160 mm of rain to accumulate about the ranges, and 70 to 100 mm about the coast. Peak intensities of 15 to 25 mm/h about the ranges.

Change note: upgraded to an Orange Warning.

Area: Mount Taranaki

Valid: 2 hours from 9am to 11am Tuesday

Forecast: A further period of heavy rain. Expect 15 to 30 mm of rain to accumulate on top of what has already fallen. Peak intensities of 10 to 15 mm/h.

Area: Tasman, about and west of Motueka

Valid: 5 hours from 9am to 2pm Tuesday

Forecast: Expect a further 20 to 40 mm of rain to accumulate on top of what has already fallen. Peak intensities of 6 to 10 mm/h. Please note, another period of heavy rain is likely on Wednesday and a warning or watch may be issued for this possibility closer to the time.

Area: The Tararua Range

Valid: 4 hours from 9am to 1pm Tuesday

Forecast: Expect a further 20 to 40 mm of rain to accumulate on top of what has already fallen. Peak intensities of 10 to 15 mm/h.

Area: Eastern Marlborough

Valid: 19 hours from 1am to 8pm Wednesday

Forecast: Expect 100 to 180 mm of rain to accumulate, especially about Kaikoura Coast. Peak rates of 15 to 25 mm/h.

Area: Canterbury Plains north of Ashburton, including the foothills and Christchurch

Valid: 29 hours from 1am Wednesday to 6am Thursday

Forecast: Periods of heavy rain. Expect 110 to 160 mm of rain to accumulate,especially north of Christchurch. Peak rates of 15 to 25 mm/h.
A mysterious substance that washed up and sparked concern in eastern Coromandel has been identified as dead seagrass, not plastic.

The substance concerned a group of locals on Friday when they spotted bits of it scattered along six different beaches.

Believing it was washed up plastic, a team of 30 people collected six rubbish bags of the fibres along about 100 metres of Matarangi Beach, before later learning it had washed up in other places.

Waikato Regional Council coastal scientists have since solved the mystery of what  but are looking into why.

Looking at it under the microscope, scientists have been able to confirm it is dead seagrass, says a Waikato Regional Council spokesperson.

The dead seagrass washed up along Whangapoua Beach, Matarangi Beach, Rings Beach, Opito Beach, Kuaotunu Beach and Otama Beach.

These sites are close to some known subtidal and intertidal beds, she says.

Seagrass is important for the marine biodiversity and provides lots of benefits to the environment.

Understanding why its been displaced in several locations will be the subject of an investigation by our scientists.

-Stuff.
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Re: Hyundai i20 N Line Review Have owned a Titan Grey N8 DCT for almost two(2) months now and here is a short ownership review. Shall try to be as transparent as possible. First, a short background of the reviewed as well as the reviewer. The car was bought as the primary family car, the other one in the family is a Maruti Ignis. The N Line was required as I live in Delhi-NCR and had to sell (....actually give away / got only 2.3 lakhs - expected much more) my 10-year old Skoda Yeti (4X2 Diesel). I am the "Uncle Ashok" of the house (see Suhaas' original review)....first drove a car at over 40 years of age but later went on to become a fan of Jeremy Clarkson (Top Gear UK) whose video, where he actually lands a helicopter on a Skoda Yeti prompted my purchase of the Yeti ten years back....much beyond my purchasing capacity at that time. The other drivers in the house are my two sons and a daughter-in-law .



(1) Bought the car at a "reasonable" on-road price of 12.8 lakhs (including a cash discount of 30k and only third party insurance at 6k , thinking that the geofencing feature will prevent thefts and sensible driving will prevent accidents). No accessories - using floor mats of my earlier car.



(2) From the first day the car had three major niggles - Airbag warning light permanently on, rear right door remaining unlocked and tyre pressures close to 50 psi.



(3) Took up with Hyundai at a senior level and the problems were resolved quickly. After the initial characteristic reluctance of the dealership, I started receiving calls from three(3) 'obsequious' service centres almost every hour. On inquiring , a local Hyundai official told me that they had prepared a Plan A, Plan B and ....I suspect a Plan C also. At the service centre I received chocolates, free mudflaps, an unusually large flower bouquet and a big box file with a print out of the entire N Line Operation Manual which is downloadable from Hyundai website (I had asked for a hard copy of the manual in my complaint to Hyundai).



My basic question to Hyundai , however, still remains unanswered.....how did these major defects go unnoticed at the factory as well as at the dealership ?



(4) Considered upgrading the tyres . Inquired with Michelin and discussed about the low traction rating ( 'B' on the stock CEAT tyres) with local CEAT representatives but was undecided about the wisdom of upgrading for my type of use of the N Line. A rather amusing response I received from a tyre company official was that apart from the week and year of manufacture (3121 in my case) , ALL other markings were company "codes" and the end user need not 'bother' about them at all ! Michelin was ambivalent first and then said I could go ahead with Pilot Sport 4 but I do realise that such technical queries are answered at the Call centre level and not by experts.



(5) However, a few days back while getting the tyre pressures checked at a petrol pump late in the night, the 'hawaa walaa' suddenly "discovered" two punctures in the front left tyre which was perfectly fine moments before ! This is a major malpractice going on in Delhi-NCR these days . It is then that the CEAT Unconditional 2.5 years' warranty came to my rescue and the company promptly replaced the 'defective' tyre....no questions asked !!! So the stock Securadrive tyres are going to continue on my N line notwithstanding their low traction rating. The CEAT dealer who replaced the tyre , however, confidently told me they would last "ek laakh kilometer" which makes me a bit scary.....I may not have a chance to ride on ugraded tyres at all ! On a serious note , however, the N Line overseas ride on Hancook Ventus Prime 3 while the N Performance ride on Pirelli P Zero. For the duration the spare wheel was fitted on the car , there was a TPMS error on display which went away as soon as the new tyre went in position.



(6) Did not find any noticeable difference between normal petrol and RON 95 (IOC XP 95). Intend to fill RON 100 ( IOC XP 100) at least once because I understand that there is a substantial improvement in N line performance with this petrol.



(7) The car has clocked 3600 km mainly in Delhi-NCR traffic and I am confident that a consistent fuel efficiency of 13-14 kmpl with AC in city is achievable.



(8) All members in the family are extremely happy except my wife who hates 'hatchbacks' and misses the ingress/egress , comfort , practicality , quality of materials and, in general, "capabilities" of the Yeti . I quickly go on to remind her that during the Yeti's ownership , ecstasies and agonies came in almost equal measures ! I personally, however, think height adjustable front passenger seats and front parking sensors on the N line would have made it a more complete package and long term ownership of a Hyundai (especially its DCT and those hi tech features ) is unknown to this first time Hyundai owner. The seats may seem comfortable but may not actually be so on long drives - would also have preferred good quality fabric seats over the leatherette ones . Lack of underbody protection is also a cause of my concern.



(9) My son has taken the car to Allahabad and back (700 km one way) and has found the drive stress free , very enjoyable and was all praises for the cruise control.
What just happened? Oppo is joining the list of companies creating their own version of smart glasses: the Oppo Air Glass, which will be available in China early next year. Unlike its competitors, the wearable comes in two sectionsa detachable monocle device and the frame it attaches to.

Oppo announced its Air Glass at the companys annual INNO Day. Like Google Glass, Oppo says the Air Glass is a pair of assisted reality glasses rather than augmented reality glasses, meaning it projects what wearers see in their field of vision.

The 30g monocle device, available in black or white, contains a "Spark Micro Projector" and a Micro LED chip that projects a 640 x 480 image onto a waveguide display, all working alongside a Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 4100. The monocle section connects to a silver half-frame or a black full-frame, each available in two sizes.

Oppo says the projectors brightness can reach up to 3 million nits of brightness, but the glasses will hit 1400 nits in average conditions. Battery life comes in at 3 hours of active use and 40 hours on standby.

The glasses work through a touch bar, voice, hand tracking, and head tracking, and they link to an Oppo phone running ColorOS 11 or later or an Oppo Watch. In addition to notifications, Oppo envisions the glasses being used for directions, teleprompting, and translating, the latter of which sounds quite interesting; the glasses can translate a speakers language into the wearers and show it on the projection. Only Chinese, English, and Japanese are currently supported, but Korean is on its way.

The actual display is monochrome with either 16 or 256 levels of grayscale depending on the mode. That's not spectacular, but then this isnt AR like Magic Leap. No word on how much the Oppo Air Glass will cost when it gets a limited release in China during Q1 2022.

h/t: The Verge
(Photo : Edward Jenner for Pexels) (Photo : Digital Doctors: How WELL Health Technologies is Disrupting the World of Telehealth) (Photo : Pierre Crom/Getty Images) ROTTERDAM, NETHERLANDS - NOVEMBER 28: A worker cleans a store as The Netherlands implements new measures of a soft evening lockdown to counter the Coronavirus pandemic on November 28, 2021 in Rotterdam, Netherlands. For at least the next three weeks, venues such as cafes, museums, and cinemas must close by 5pm, and remain closed until 5am. 13 cases of infections by the Omicron variant have been detected by travelers flying back to The Netherlands from South Africa.

Telehealth is now a long-term, multi-million-dollar investment for the Australian healthcare sector.

ZDNet reports that the Australian government, spurred on by the success of remote care in battling COVID-19 infections in the country, will be investing $100 million AUD ($71.6 million USD) into remote care services over the next four years.

The investment will be a part of a massive $309 million AUD ($221.4 million USD) expenditure that covers major facets of the country's healthcare sector. This includes mental health, better health services in rural regions, improved Medicare access, and support for ongoing efforts against the coronavirus pandemic.

Greg Hunt, Australia's Health Minister, has stated that the $106 million investment will also include $32 million in additional funds to provide for local practices conducting telehealth services throughout the country.

Hunt also went on to say that remote care has been "transformational" to his country's healthcare sector, with its critical role being the ensuring of continued care for patients during the pandemic.

The numbers don't lie. According to ABC, over 86 million remote care consultations were conducted in Australia after it was erected as a "temporary support" to aid the efforts against the pandemic.

In total, the Australian government has paid out more than $4.4 billion in benefits via telehealth. 16.1 million patients also received mandated benefits.

This news comes after it was rumored that funding for telehealth services were going to stop back in January. As such, it is considered great news by some, especially Dr. Karen Price of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners.

According to Dr. Price, telehealth basically enabled Australia to stay as safe as possible during the pandemic, and she would be right. The country was among the earliest to let things go back to pre-pandemic "normal"--that is, letting people go to public places for gatherings, etc.

Read Also: Telehealth is Transforming Healthcare Real Estate, According to OrbVest CEO

Looking Ahead For Telehealth

To say that remote healthcare has done so much for the world due to the pandemic is a massive understatement. Some people might even be growing to prefer it over actual doctor visits in a clinic or hospital.

In Canada, several patients were asked whether they'd prefer virtual care services long-term, even after the pandemic has long ended. They said yes, mainly due to the convenience that such a practice gives them.

The patients said that they like it better to sit in their own homes instead of a hospital or clinic waiting room, which they say can be "more stressful." Their reason involved the presence of other people who were sick-which is something that billions around the world have had to deal with for almost two years now.

Furthermore, the existence of more advanced, health-focused wearable technology is giving people an unprecedented amount of control and oversight into their physical well-being. They don't need to go see a doctor physically, because all that's needed is a screen, an internet connection, and a video call with a registered physician.

Related Article: Apple Health App Can Now Be Accessed Through Verizon's BlueJeans TeleHealth for Faster Transfer of Health Data

This article is owned by Tech Times

Written by RJ Pierce

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Rice & Roux is the place to go if you want a taste of authentic Louisiana food served up quickly.

That's not saying the food is made in a hurry. The restaurant's staff starts preparing early in the morning, using the same techniques any good south Louisiana cook would use.

That means stirring up a roux for the gumbo and getting the rice for the jambalaya just right.

Those are the menu favorites at Rice & Roux, which has locations at 2158 O'Neal Lane and 320 Lee Drive.

The Lee Drive store opened in May 2020 during the coronavirus pandemic. Owners John and Kara Baquet and Dustin and Shasta Felton knew their venture would be risky.

But their first restaurant, opened on O'Neal in 2006, has a loyal following, and the Lee Drive location has something the one at O'Neal doesn't  a drive-thru window.

And that proved a blessing.

When the state ordered restaurant dining rooms to close, customers lined up at the drive-thru for some quick, warm Cajun food.

"Our concept is fast, casual," Kara Baquet said. "You can come here and get some Cajun food, and you can get it quickly."

"That's the whole idea behind our name, Rice & Roux," John Baquet added. "This is something that is ready for them."

Chicken & Sausage Gumbo is the customer favorite, but the Shrimp & Crab Gumbo comes in a close second. Both are cooked fresh daily in 30-gallon kettles. The Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya also is a winner with diners.

Rice & Roux also offers such daily specials as hamburger steak and lasagna.

"We have people who come every single day just because they want the special on that day," John Baquet said. "They'll just kind of mix it up, but one of my big mistakes was taking the lasagna off the menu."

Baquet's reasoning was that lasagna is an Italian dish and didn't belong on a menu of Cajun food.

"So, we came up with a different special, and customers were in an uproar," he said. "So, lasagna has become a huge staple. Ours isn't fancy. It's just something your momma made.

"None of our food is fancy, and it doesn't look fancy," he added. "It's just going to grandma's house."

The menu also offers a variety of desserts, including south Louisiana favorites like banana pudding and bread pudding.

The restaurants also cater.

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The idea for Rice & Roux developed from a collaboration between the couples. Kara Baquet and Shasta Felton are sisters. The Feltons were working as managers for different Domino's stores, while the Baquets were working in real estate.

"We were buying real estate rentals, and one of the books we were reading talked about ways to make more money," John Baquet said. "One of the ways was to get a business."

Kara Baquet suggested they invest in a restaurant.

"It's funny, because I said, 'It'll be easy,'" she recalled. "And that is what I was thinking, 'Oh, we can do this.' And now this has become the focus, and we don't do rental property anymore."

The Feltons were able to bring their food service industry skills to the enterprise.

"Domino's trains their managers to treat their stores as if you're the owners," Shasta Felton said. "You learn so much about the business through them. We were trying to have children at the time, and we knew we couldn't do that with our Domino's schedules."

Shasta Felton quit her Domino's job to help start Rice & Roux, and, when it took off, Dustin Felton joined full time.

John Baquet, who grew up in Ville Platte, had the Cajun food know how.

All four owners made the final decisions on specific recipes.

Most of the ingredients are locally sourced, and now Jordan Dufour and Christina Landry, managers of the O'Neal and Lee Drive stores respectfully, do all of the cooking using the recipes.

At the newer store, the space is light and airy, highlighting the Cajun influence with a wall filled with cast iron skillets and cornbread pans near the counter. With COVID-19 restrictions easing, the business at Lee Drive has picked up at a fast pace.

While Hurricane Ida affected Rice & Roux's suppliers, the two locations were able to source ingredients from elsewhere to feed utility line crews and its customers.

"We were even busier during that time, because no one had power, and they couldn't cook," Dustin Felton said. "They knew they could come in here and get a hot meal and get it fast."

The couples are now thinking about opening a third location.

"It's still in the planning stages," Dustin Felton said. "We haven't chosen a spot for it yet. We've been struggling to get both locations fully staffed, and I think once that's not as much of an issue, we can focus on another location."

Both couples agree that working together as a family has made their business model stronger.

"Everyone says never partner with family," John Baquet said. "You hear that repeatedly on the radio talk shows, but we find a way to make it work. When one of us feels a little bit more passionate about something, the rest of us typically will kind of go along with that person. We say, 'If you feel that passionate about it, we'll go there.' There has been enough give and take that it has never been a strain."
A federal grand jury has indicted a former Amite City police chief and a current member of the city council on allegations that the two local officials were involved in a vote-buying scheme during a federal election five years ago.

Former chief Jerry Trabona, 73, and city council member Kristian Hart, 49, both Democrats, each face charges that they brought voters to the polls, then paid them to cast ballots for certain candidates, the U.S. Justice Department said Tuesday.

The pair both face multiple counts, each of which could get them up to five years in prison if convicted.

In 2018, the FBI rekindled a sweeping investigation into allegations of vote buying in Tangipahoa Parish. The bureau interviewed a broad array of local politicos and reviewed election activities and campaign expenditures in the parish, which is about 60 miles east of Baton Rouge.

Exclusive: FBI probing vote-buying allegations in Louisiana's Tangipahoa Parish The FBI has rekindled a broad investigation into allegations of vote buying in Tangipahoa Parish that appeared to have stalled, conducting new

Tuesday's indictments appeared to stem from that wide-ranging probe. In a press release, the Justice Department did not specify which races the alleged crimes happened in  only that they occurred in Louisiana's 2016 open primary and general elections.

Tangipahoa Parish had three elections involving federal candidates in 2016: the presidential primary, the presidential general election and statewide primary, and the statewide general.

Considered illegal under both federal and Louisiana law, vote-buying often happens under the guise of legitimate voter canvassing  but with campaign workers or other officials not only driving voters to the polls but also paying them for a pledge to pull the lever for a particular candidate.

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The U.S. Justice Department defines a vote-buying bribe as "anything having monetary value, including cash, liquor, lottery chances and welfare benefits such as food stamps."

The indictments announced Tuesday follow a separate investigation by Attorney General Jeff Landry's office into vote-buying in Amite by a city councilman during a local election. That probe started in January, at the height of Republican accusations of voter fraud following former President Donald Trump's election loss.

+2 Amite City councilman takes plea deal in election fraud case, will get one misdemeanor AMITE CITY  An Amite City councilman indicted in January on a slew of felony election fraud charges pleaded guilty Monday to one misdemeanor 

The separate investigation concluded with former councilman Emmanuel Zanders, 52, a Democrat, pleading guilty in July to one misdemeanor election fraud count after striking a deal with the district attorney.

The Justice Department on Tuesday also announced guilty pleas by two more Tangipahoa Parish residents accused of buying votes in the 2016 election period. Sidney Smith, 68, of Amite City, and Calvin Batiste, 64, of Independence each face up to five years in prison for conspiring to buy votes.

Trabona and Hart are scheduled to appear in federal court in New Orleans on Friday.

Staff writer Faimon Roberts and former staff writer Jim Mustian contributed to this report.
The Louisiana State Police detective in charge of investigating whether troopers used excessive force in the killing of Black motorist Ronald Greene testified Monday to a legislative committee that he had raised concerns up his chain of command and was ignored.

Members of the Senate Select Committee on State Police Oversight questioned whether recent changes in policies to address use of force allegations could stand if some of the officers in charge of drafting those new procedures are found complicit in the alleged coverup after Greenes death. Its a question Greene mother also asked in tearful testimony at a hearing that committee chair, Franklin Foil, R-Baton Rouge, described as emotionally draining.

One of those superiors that Sgt. Albert Paxton, of the State Polices Monroe detective unit, said ignored his concerns was Major Jason Turner, who in May 2019 was a captain in charge of criminal investigations at three State Police field offices  in Alexandria, Monroe, and Shreveport  and thus ultimately head of the investigation into Greenes death at the hands of state troopers.

In February, Col. Lamar Davis, who became Louisiana State Police superintendent in October 2020, promoted Turner to the head of the Criminal Investigative Division statewide and tasked him with finding out how other states managed "use of force" complaints. Turner and his colleagues recommended establishing a Force Investigation Unit that would do nothing else but look into accusations of excessive force used on suspects. Davis has recently selected the personnel who would make up that unit and sent them off Connecticut for training.

Democratic state Sen. Katrina Jackson, whose Monroe district includes Troop F, questioned promoting Turner and others while the federal government continues looking into the handling of Greenes death. What happens if Turner or one of the other troopers involved in updating State Police policies is accused by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, she asked.

If somebody is found complicit, we are back to day one. We cant introduce that as a best practice at that point, Jackson said. That year or six months worth of work on best practices go out the window because the public will have no trust in us.

Davis defended his promotion policies, saying he personally conducts interviews with candidates and people around the candidates. If we were to consider all the investigations that may be under scrutiny, then we would not have many promotions, he added.

Though not specifically mentioned during committee testimony, Paxtons notes had been leaked publicly by a whistleblower earlier this year.

According to Paxtons notes, Turner had determined that the troopers actions during Greenes arrest were policy violations but not against the law.

Turner was among the State Police brass that swatted away a recommendation by Paxton to book Trooper Chris Hollingsworth criminally over his actions in Greenes arrest, which included turning off his body-worn and dashboard cameras, according to Paxton.

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Hollingsworth was one of first two troopers to reach Greene after a high-speed chase and crash. Hollingsworth, who allegedly beat and repeatedly tased an unarmed Greene, died last year in a single-vehicle wreck after learning he would be fired over Greenes arrest.

Paxton himself was brought up for disciplinary investigation on August 12 for dissemination of information to an unauthorized source without proper authority. Paxton said he was faulted specifically for having his wife, an attorney, proofread his reports.

I'm being investigated because I won't participate in a coverup ... and I wont lie, Paxton testified.

After the hearing Davis said he couldnt comment on what Paxton told the senators because of the ongoing federal investigation and the disciplinary action. But Davis said he doesnt want any trooper to feel they cant be honest without fear of retaliation. When asked about Jacksons concerns, Davis said he couldnt comment for the same reasons, but said if any trooper is found guilty of improper behavior they will be fired.

Greenes mother, Mona Hardin, said the State Police are acting as if they were more concerned about clearing officers instead finding the underlying cause of how her son died on the side of the road.

Why do we have to sugarcoat the murder of a man  my Ronnie  just to get them off the hook? Hardin testified. What does it take for the State of Louisiana to recognize the murder of a man? What does it take to get answers?

Three other former and current State Police employees were requested to testify and they refused.

Former Col. Kevin Reeves, who retired under pressure because of the allegations swirling around the Greene case, declined. Two current troopers -- Lt. John Cleary and Master Trooper Kory York  didnt attend.

State Sen. Cleo Fields, D-Baton Rouge, said Superintendent Davis had disrespected the committee by not demanding the two appear. Davis apologized saying he was careful to tell the officers that he wasnt ordering to come.

Staff writer John Simerman contributed to this report
When Dr Hans Kluge, the World Health Organisations regional director for Europe, remarked last week that Omicron is already everywhere, he was arguing against the reinstatement of travel bans. His colleague Dr Catherine Smallwood added that such restrictions are not effective in preventing spread of disease. In South Africa and the UK particularly, the Omicron horse has already bolted, and it is rapidly supplanting the infamous Delta variant as the main source of infection.

While there are early (though by no means conclusive) signs that Omicrons transmissibility is not matched by the severity of its symptoms, its swift spread means governments are being forced to consider a return to politically unattractive measures to protect their health systems from being overwhelmed. In Britain, where Prime Minister Boris Johnson is already enduring an especially bleak political midwinter, the idea of a second locked-down Christmas must be an awful prospect. There, rules on masking, restricting access to venues and working from home are being reintroduced.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has already made it clear that he is unwilling to contemplate a return to lockdowns. This, we believe, is the right call for now. Meanwhile, all state governments (even Western Australia) are continuing at greater or lesser speed to open up.

But the unchecked spread of the Omicron variant would be concerning. A fast spread means it will be in billions of people and another mutation may come, Pfizers chief executive, Albert Bourla, told The Wall Street Journal last week. We in Australia are looking to a summer of greater freedom from restrictions, but Omicron has already heralded a more cautious tone from some on, for example, the wearing of masks. As unpalatable as it is for lockdown-weary Australians to hear, Britains winter experience shows we are not out of the COVID woods yet.
In 1801, there was no internet for English explorer Matthew Flinders to use for reference or pleasure when starting his epic quest to sail around what we now know as Australia.

But he did have his books.

Mark Wiltshire, a book specialist at Christies, with Matthew Flinders copy of James Cooks account of his voyage to Australia. Credit:Hollie Adams

Two sets of books he kept in his library on board HMS Investigator have survived to 2021, and they will be auctioned for the first time in London on Wednesday.

Mark Wiltshire, a printed books specialist with auctioneer Christies, said the incredibly rare items  which contain handwritten notes by Flinders - as well as a letter the explorer sent to his sister-in-law which is also for sale, are incredible pieces of early Australiana.
More than 25 years after Queensland man Gregory James Thurlow disappeared, the man charged with his murder has admitted to the crime in court.

Mark Stephen Murphy, from Burpengary East, faced a committal hearing in the Brisbane Magistrates Court on Tuesday. He was arrested in September 2020, aged 59.

Mark Stephen Murphy when he was arrested and charged in September 2020. Credit:Nine News Queensland

Murphys lawyer, Thomas Schafer of Legal Aid, did not oppose the case going to trial, so it was committed for trial in the Brisbane Supreme Court.

Magistrate Peter Saggers then asked Murphy, who was brought from prison to the court hearing: You will have the opportunity to give evidence on oath before me and to call witnesses, but first I am going to ask you whether you wish to say anything in answer to the charge? You need not say anything unless you wish to do so, and you are not obliged to enter any plea.
A man police say is the leader of Australias nationalist socialist movement is to fight charges he assaulted a security guard outside Nines office building in Melbourne.

Thomas Sewell appeared in an online hearing before Melbourne Magistrates Court on Tuesday, accused of repeatedly punching the guard on March 1.

Police say Mr Sewell and a friend went to the networks office building in Docklands  which also houses The Age  and demanded to see staff from A Current Affair, which was to broadcast a report that night about the pairs group.

Police allege that when the guard escorted the two men from the building, Mr Sewell repeatedly punched him. Mr Sewell is charged with affray, recklessly causing injury and unlawful assault.

On Tuesday magistrate John Hardy read an application written by Mr Sewells lawyers and said the accused man disputed the police version of events and also claimed he was acting in defence of another person. Mr Sewells friend filmed the clash with the guard but was not charged.
Unsurprisingly, demand for Lifelines services tended to ebb and flow with the states successes and failures managing the pandemic  and with the imposition and removal of restrictions used by the government to crush the coronavirus.

A detailed analysis of Lifeline data undertaken by think tank the McKell Institute shows the number of mental health calls made by Victorians surged by 35 per cent over the course of the pandemic, from a daily average of 739 in January 2020 to 996 in September this year.

Call volumes spiked in mid-March 2020, when Victorians got their first taste of lockdowns, and increased again in August 2020 as the states case numbers ran out of control, with further spikes during each of the four subsequent lockdowns.

But the biggest spike was on July 12. In this case, it was not Victoria being buffeted by surging case numbers. In fact, the state had not recorded a single case for 10 days. All the action was on the other side of the Murray. On July 12, NSW recorded a triple-digit increase in case numbers for the first time in more than a year and Victoria was put on high alert as two removalists from Sydney drove across the state while infectious.

Mental health expert Patrick McGorry. Credit:Jason South

Mental health experts said fear of the unknown, concerns the state was about to be plunged into another lockdown and the cumulative impact of previous lockdowns had taken their toll by mid-July this year, even though there were no COVID cases.

Professor Patrick McGorry  one of the countrys leading youth mental health experts and former Australian of the Year  said anxiety about what might lie ahead had taken an enormous toll on Victorians mental health.
International students, backpackers and other temporary migrants are expected to trickle rather than flood back into Australia after borders open to them again on Wednesday.

The new policy opens the way for about 150,000 study visa holders, another 200,000 holders of other temporary visas and skilled migrants to arrive without travel exemptions if they are fully vaccinated.

But a headlong rush through the arrivals gates in the coming days is unlikely. Qantas reports no spike in arrivals booked for the coming days and Melbourne backpacker hostels are reporting small increases in inquiries but few reservations.

Those visa holders who do arrive in the next few weeks are likely to find themselves in high demand from employers, educational institutions and landlords, who have all suffered economically through the closed borders.
After watching the 2020 cohort struggle through a year of COVID-interrupted learning while taking one year 12 subject last year, Trinity Grammar student Laurence Armstrong entered this year with hope that things would be better. I thought it couldnt be any worse and that things would be different this year, he says. But 2021 proved to be just as challenging for VCE students. Laurences school was forced into lockdown within days of Deltas incursion into Victoria after a teacher tested positive. Laurence says that while COVID-19 had been affecting his life for a year and a half by then, having it so close to him made it all feel alarmingly real for the first time. I remember having to stay home isolating, he says. Driving to get my tests, I saw people going for walks, and it felt like even though the world was dealing with COVID, that it was moving without me at that time.

His classes remained as normal as possible, but he says that once COVID-19 had reached his everyday life, it was hard to keep the negative thoughts at bay or his stress under control. Laurence says that this year also helped him to discover his internal resolve. I had to write the school newsletter every week, so even though I wasnt feeling it, I had to find some optimism that this was the week things would go back, and that really taught me to push forward no matter what, he says. While Mia Bellet enjoyed remote learning last year, 2021 proved a different matter. Credit:Simon Schluter Mia Bellets experience completing her VCE during the pandemic was a tale of two vastly different years.

As a year 11 student at Thomas Carr College in Tarneit last year, Mia preferred working independently and wasnt focused on school social events, so she coped happily with remote learning. I was in love with online learning in year 11, she says. I could spend more time with my brothers, eat whenever I liked. With my learning style, it fit really well and I was really happy with my results. Year 12 was a different matter. I just got sick of it, Mia says. I feel like I never understood the importance of having your teacher there to teach you face-to-face. And I did realise when youre in year 11 your future isnt relying on it as much, but when youre in year 12 you think, Oh my gosh! Despite the disruption to her final years of schooling, Mia is feeling confident about results day. She hopes to study journalism at RMIT next year.

I put in 100 per cent in every class but I never wanted to think, Oh my gosh, this ATAR is my whole future and this is all that matters right now. If I put myself in that mindset Id just be worried all the time. Box Hill High School student Victoria Quach got through year 12 with the support of her friends and teachers, even though she couldnt see them in person. Credit:Eddie Jim Like many of us, there were times during the pandemic when Victoria Quach wondered if it would ever end. Each announcement that Melbournes lockdown would be extended drained her desire to keep plugging on. The biggest struggle for me was finding motivation, she says. It was hard finding that light at the end of the tunnel seeing the lockdowns keep on extending.

Victoria, who was in year 12 at Box Hill High School this year, also worried about how some of her classmates were faring at home. Not all of them had access to good technology, and she worried that this would affect their chances of doing well. Though she missed seeing her friends in person and couldnt speak to her teachers face-to-face, Victoria says it was their support that got her through. I was happy to have the support of friends and teachers  they really tried their best, and Im super grateful, she says. Victoria is hoping for an ATAR of at least 90. She wants to study science at university next year, or perhaps dentistry at La Trobe. She studied two hours a night all year, and hopes it will pay off. I had a high ATAR goal in mind, mainly for course entry, but Im pretty happy with all the work I put in, so Ill be happy with whatever I end up with, she says.

Maanya Kapoor is making up for lost time, doing everything she couldnt do over the past two years while studying VCE. Credit:Wayne Taylor Maanya Kapoor has an open mind on what she would like to do next after juggling the VCE, rowing before and after school, and serving as a house captain at Fintona Girls School. I honestly dont know what to feel, Maanya says before receiving her ATAR on Thursday. The 17-year-old has applied for commerce/law at Monash and paramedicine at Deakin, and is also investigating an apprenticeship in automotive and mechanical technology. Maanya went to Torquay for schoolies, but coronavirus and border closures have put her off the idea of a gap year.

This summer she is working part-time at a cafe and is itching to get her drivers licence when she turns 18 in January. Maanya says she feels more free now she is no longer a school student, and has been going to the beach most days since exams ended. Ive been doing everything Ive wanted to do for the past couple of years but havent because I guess I prioritised study, she said. Maanya said her small school supported her by continuing its regular schedule during remote learning. It was pretty smooth apart from obviously the lockdowns and everything, she said.
Julian Assange is an Australian journalist, publisher and citizen, and hes facing 175 years in a US prison if he is extradited there from Britain.

For such a high-profile Australian, our political leaders have been remarkably silent on his fate  save a few notable exceptions.

One of those exceptions is Deputy Prime Minister and Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce, who has today called for Assange to be tried in Britain or released to Australia.

Today on Please Explain, foreign affairs and national security correspondent Anthony Galloway joins Bianca Hall to discuss Assanges case, and Mr Joyces intervention.
The head of one of Australias largest disability providers has issued a public apology for physical and sexual abuse of residents at its group homes, while defending her decision not to inform the companys board when a woman in its care was raped.

The royal commission is examining the role and responsibility of Life Without Barriers, a not-for-profit company that turns over $750 million a year, in preventing and responding to abuse, neglect, exploitation and violence against people with disabilities who receive its services.

Life Without Barriers chief executive Claire Robbs did not visit any of the homes where the abuse occured.

At a hearing on Tuesday, the companys chief executive Claire Robbs apologised to a disabled woman known by the pseudonym Sophie, who was raped by a man she met through an online dating site after support workers at the Lismore group home she lived in refused to support her with relationships and sex, imposing rules that treated her like a teenager.

The physical abuse Sophie experienced is unquestionably not in keeping with Sophies right to feel safe and respected in her own home, she said.
The federal government has named one of the countrys leading commercial lawyers to head the competition watchdog, installing Gina Cass-Gottlieb as the first woman to chair the independent agency.

Ms Cass-Gottlieb will run the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission from 21 March next year in a key appointment to the peak authority regulating markets and protecting customers.

Gina Cass-Gottlieb, the incoming chair of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, in Canberra on Tuesday. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

I have written to states and territories seeking their support for the proposed appointment of Ms Cass-Gottlieb ahead of recommending to the Governor-General that Ms Cass-Gottlieb be appointed as ACCC chairperson for five years, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said in a statement.

Former ACCC boss Allan Fels backed the move on the grounds it put one of the countrys best lawyers in the key position at a time when competition laws needed to be toughened.
One of the key figures who convinced Moreland City Council to change its name due to links to slavery has voiced his hope that an Indigenous name is selected next year.

Andrew Gardiner, deputy chair of the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Cultural Heritage Aboriginal Corporation, said his team would prepare several options for the council and public to consider, with a focus on names that have a connection with the inner-northern Melbourne area.

Andrew Gardiner (right) said a group including Indigenous leaders such as himself would prepare suggestions for Moreland.

Another senior Indigenous figure, Gary Murray, suggested City of Merri in a nod to Merri Creek, which runs through the local government area.

A motion to change the councils name before the end of 2022 was passed six votes to three at a special meeting on Monday night.
Average wage earners are being forced to look further and further afield to get onto the property ladder as sluggish growth in incomes fails to keep pace with rapid property price gains.

While median house prices lifted more than 20 per cent across the capital cities over the year to September, median employee earnings were up 4.3 per cent or $50 per week to $1200 over the year to August, figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics released on Tuesday show. The data includes full- and part-time workers.

Buyers on the median income are having to look further and further afield to get onto the property ladder. Credit:Istock

Where could someone on an average wage find a property they could afford?

And how much difference would it make if they bought with a partner or family member?
Jakarta: Delays in confirming US President Joe Bidens nominees to the post of ambassador is hampering efforts to tackle foreign policy challenges, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said.

Blinken made a plea on Tuesday to the US Senate to speed up the confirmations. Biden had pledged to restore US leadership in the world through diplomacy, after four years of a unilateral approach espoused by Bidens predecessor Donald Trump and having Senate-confirmed nominees was crucial in achieving that goal.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has pleaded with the US Senate to confirm ambassador nominess. Credit:AP

This is a huge problem, Blinken told a news conference in Jakarta, Indonesia, the first stop on a Southeast Asia trip that will cover Malaysia and Thailand. For the sake of our national security, the Senate must act.

Nominees do not become ambassadors until they are confirmed by the US Senate.
SEE ALSO: Road Test and Review

Hyundai Releases Pricing for Highly Anticipated IONIQ 5 EV

IONIQ 5 Starts Below $33,000 Inclusive of Available $7,500 Federal Tax Credit

More Than 300 Miles of EPA Estimated Driving Range Meets Varied Lifestyle Needs

Ultra-Fast 800-Volt Multi-Charging (From 10 to 80 percent in 18 minutes)

Vehicle-to-Load (V2L) Function Can Power Small Appliances, Devices and Even Charge Other EVs

New E-GMP Platform Improves Performance, Enhances Driving Dynamics and Optimizes Interior Volume (Spaciousness of a Large Car in a Compact SUV)

58 kWh Battery Pack Standard Range Model Announced for U.S. Market*



FOUNTAIN VALLEY, Calif., Dec. 13, 2021  Hyundai today revealed pricing, packaging and the 58kWh battery pack option for its highly anticipated IONIQ 5, an electric crossover utility vehicle (CUV). The addition of the 58kWh battery pack model provides a range of drive combinations to fit the needs of every customer. Customers can select from two battery pack options, either 58 kWh or 77.4 kWh, and two electric motor layouts, either a rear motor only or both front and rear motors for all-wheel-drive. The IONIQ 5 SE Standard Range with the 58kWh battery pack starting price is $39,700, for an effective new price of $32,200, after the electric vehicle tax credit of $7,500 ($33,425 including delivery). The IONIQ 5 SE with its 77.4 kWh battery pack starts at $43,650 and drops to $36,150 after the federal tax credit ($37,375 including delivery). Eligibility for the federal tax credit of up to $7,500 is dependent on individual tax circumstances.

The 2022 IONIQ 5 breaks new ground in the crossover segment with best-in-class ultra-fast charging from 10 to 80 percent in just 18 minutes, more than 300 miles of range, and a sleek design that links past, present and future. The IONIQ 5 goes on sale in late December.

2022 IONIQ 5 Pricing

Model Electric Powertrain Drivetrain Driving Range (mi.) MSRP SE Standard Range* 168HP rear motor RWD 220 $39,700 SE 225HP rear motor RWD 303 $43,650 SE 320HP dual motor AWD 256 $47,150 SEL 225HP rear motor RWD 303 $45,900 SEL 320HP dual motor AWD 256 $49,400 Limited 225HP rear motor RWD 303 $50,600 Limited 320HP dual motor AWD 256 $54,500

Freight charges for the 2022MY IONIQ 5 are $1,225.



Generous Standard Equipment Levels to Attract a Broad Electric Vehicle Audience

IONIQ 5 includes unexpected levels of standard equipment. Key standard features include:

800-volt, 350 kW ultra-fast charging

19-inch aero wheels

12.3-inch touchscreen navigation with EV technology display

Android Auto & Apple CarPlay

Bluelink connected car system with remote charge access

Highway Drive Assist 1 & Smart Cruise Control with Stop and Go and Machine Learning

Forward Collision-Avoidance Assist with Car/Pedestrian/Cyclist Detection

Blind-spot Collision Avoidance-Assist / Safe Exit Assist

Lane Keeping Assist & Lane Following Assist

Rear View Monitor with Parking Guidance

Rear Cross-Traffic Collision Avoidance Assist

Parametric Pixel LED lighting elements

Auto Flush Door Handles & Hidden Charge Port Door

Unlimited 30-minute charging sessions for two years on Electrify Americas growing network of chargers







The 2022 IONIQ 5 is photographed at Hyundai Motor Americas Offices in Fountain Valley, Calif., Wednesday, May 24, 2021. (Photo/Hyundai)



The 2022 IONIQ 5 is photographed at Hyundai Motor Americas Offices in Fountain Valley, Calif., Wednesday, May 24, 2021. (Photo/Hyundai)

Hyundai Complimentary Maintenance and Americas Best Warranty

Hyundai Complimentary Maintenance is the latest addition to the Hyundai Assurance program, which promises to create a better experience for shoppers and owners of Hyundai vehicles. Hyundai Assurance is made up of Owner Assurance, now including complimentary maintenance, and Shopper Assurance, which together offer customers a variety of ways to simplify the buying process and improve the owning and service experience. Details on these promises include:

Americas Best Warranty: 10-year/100,000-mile powertrain limited warranty, 5-year/60,000-mile new vehicle limited warranty, 7-year anti-perforation warranty

Complimentary Maintenance: 3 years/36,000 miles of normal oil changes and tire rotations

IONIQ 5s electric battery is covered by Hyundais 10-year, 100K mile powertrain warranty

Hyundai Motor America

Hyundai Motor America focuses on Progress for Humanity and smart mobility solutions. Hyundai offers U.S. consumers a technology-rich lineup of cars, SUVs and electrified vehicles. Our 820 dealers sold more than 620,000 vehicles in the U.S. in 2020, and nearly half were built at Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama. For more information, visit www.HyundaiNews.com.

Hyundai Motor America on Twitter | YouTube | Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn

###

* The 2022 model year IONIQ 5 Standard Range model will be available in the spring of 2022.
Pacific Coast Dream Machines - It's Back! by Bruce Hotchkiss

HALF MOON BAY'S FESTIVAL OF MAGNIFICENT MACHINES MARKS 30TH YEAR IN 2022

 Pacific Coast Dream Machines Show Returns Sunday, April 24, 2022 to Half Moon Bay Airport

 World-Class Tricked-Out Cars and Trucks, Fantastic Flying Machines, Custom Motorcycles, Quirky Contraptions, Warbird Flyovers, Monster Truck Rides, Helicopter and Plane Rides, Unimotorcycle Drag Racing, Plus Bob Senz Big Cacklefest, a Mass Firing-Up of the Engines Headline The Coolest Show on Earth

 A Benefit for the Coastside Adult Day Health Center

 New, improved event layout to bring all the attractions closer together







By Bruce Hotchkiss

Special Correspondent, West Coast Bureau

THE AUTO CHANNEL



It is back! After all, a dream goes on forever.

After two consecutive COVID-created cancellations in 2020 and 2021, organizers plan to bring back Half Moon Bay Californias remarkable, one and only Pacific Coast Dream Machines Show in 2022, marking its 30th year with a massive celebration of mechanical ingenuity, power and style.

"It feels like there is a sense of renewal and optimism that live events will be back in 2022," said Janie James, Executive Director of event beneficiary, the Coastside Adult Day Health Center. "Everyone has missed Dream Machines so much and we're all excited and energized to bring it back to life in accordance with health and safety guidelines."

It's quite simply the Coolest Show on Earth. This years spectacular show will be held on Sunday, April 24, a one-day mega-show, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Half Moon Bay Airport's Eddie Andreini Field, located in the picturesque seaside town of Half Moon Bay, CA about 20 miles south of San Francisco.

The show is a whimsical, fascinating, amusing, curious and absolutely unique show and tell spectacle featuring some 2,000 magnificent driving, flying and working machines from the 20th and 21st centuries.

The world's coolest cars of every era and style, model-T fire engines, vintage busses, custom motorcycles, tricked out trucks, sleek streamliners, one-of-a-kind antique engines and tractors and historic military aircraft will be among the mesmerizing displays.

Additional attractions include action-packed amusements in the Kidz Super Duper Funzone, fabulous food and drink with craft beer, premium wine and custom cocktails, and stellar live music all day.

This years show will feature a new, improved event layout bringing all the attractions closer together and making it a more walkable, unified show with separate entrances for spectator parking (access from Capistrano Road at the south end of the airport) vs. display vehicles, vendors, sponsors and volunteers (access from the airport main entrance on Highway 1).

To show a car, truck, motorcycle, aircraft or other machine, the registration fee is $40 ($50 for entries postmarked after April 15) and includes a custom dash plaque and admission for the registrant plus one passenger (must be together in the registered vehicle). Register online at http://www.miramarevents.com/dreammachines

Spectator admission is $25 in advance ($30 at the gate) for adults (age 18-64), $15 in advance ($20 at the gate) for ages 11-17 and 65+, Free for kids age 10 and under (with paying adult). Purchase spectator tickets online at http://www.miramarevents.com/dreammachines

It all takes place at Half Moon Bay Airport, 9850 N. Cabrillo Highway, Half Moon Bay CA 94019  located on Highway 1, about 20 miles south of San Francisco and 5 miles north of Highway 92.

The show benefits the Coastside Adult Day Health Center. Thanks in part to fund-raising support from Dream Machines, the beautiful Coastside Adult Community Center opened in 2014. Drop by their facility at 925 Main Street in Half Moon Bay.

For event information and registration forms, call the info-line at 650-726-2328 or visit the website https://dreammachines.miramarevents.comlike our Facebook https://www.facebook.com/dreammachinesshow/or follow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/dreammachines and Instagram https://www.instagram.com/dreammachinesshow/

See you there!
Cheyenne, WY (82001)

Today

Snow this evening will transition to snow showers late. Low -3F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of snow 100%. 3 to 5 inches of snow expected..

Tonight

Snow this evening will transition to snow showers late. Low -3F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of snow 100%. 3 to 5 inches of snow expected.
3 Ways to Create an Environment Thatll Nurture an Entrepreneur

Business is changing, and it's raising an age-old question: Is entrepreneurship a byproduct of our environment, or are people born with the skills needed to build, grow and lead?

As internet resources make becoming our own boss easier, society is witnessing an incredible shift: Entrepreneurship is becoming more viable for more people in more forms. Whether as freelancers or small-business owners, more than ever, people want a stake in their work. As a result, the self-starter skills we see in entrepreneurs are more essential than ever.

You do not have to be born with the skills to raise capital or sell a product. You are completely capable of learning everything you need to know to be successful in any industry. It starts with putting in the hours, sharpening critical thinking skills, and learning how to lead teams.

Here are three ways to create an environment thatll nurture the future entrepreneur.

1. Create a Diverse Circle of Friends

Bring new experiences to yourselfif you hang out with five smart people, youll be the sixth. By surrounding yourself with people who challenge your understanding of the world, you open your mind to novel ideas. Being friends with people from different backgrounds can introduce new cultures, languages, and even food into your life, not to mention life experiences wholly unique from your own. You can then share these experiences with other people, further growing the understanding in your circle.

This idea is grounded in the reality that entrepreneurship education starts with having a growth mindset and being an open-minded thinker. Its important to know how to connect the dots between different disciplines, and doing that in your relationships is a great way to flex that muscle. This creativity then leads to new approaches to old problems. This doesnt come naturally to everyone, and its often not taught to us as children, but the curiosity seed can be watered at any age, and it will eventually bloom.

By cultivating cultural curiosity and reaping its subsequent benefits, you embrace the interconnected world we live in. Bringing this background into a business setting creates a more complete entrepreneur. In fact, a 2019 McKinsey report showed that diverse teams were 25 percent more likely to have above-average profitability, a number that has only increased over the years. The barriers that keep us apart have long since been broken down. Its up to you whether or not you want to cross that threshold.

2. HODL Culture

However, there is one lesson that requires a unique skill: endurance. In todays highly volatile and fast-paced market, many young entrepreneurs (and first-time investors) may not have yet learned the importance of staying focused on a particular initiative over a long period. And yet, perseverance and consistency are among the most critical traits a business owner can have. All of the talent in the world is wasted without patience.

There are a lot of statistics that discuss the failure rate of small businesses, with the most notable being that about 50 percent fail within five years and 70 percent within ten. There are a lot of factors that go into those numbers, but they also highlight the importance of HODL (Hold On for Dear Life). Not everyone who embraces the concept will survive, but those who survive will almost certainly have embraced the concept.

Instead of quitting a venture after missing a milestone or selling off a stock when it blinks red, we must learn to focus on consistent growth. Its not always linear, but it takes time to get to the finish line. Sometimes this may mean slow and steady changes before growing exponentially, requiring you to not only implement all of the skills you have, but also push yourself to adapt and learn new ones. But the most important thing is to continue moving forward.

Related: Here We Explore the Core of Entrepreneurship

3. The Abundant (and Grateful) Mindset

To be mentally prepared for the ups and downs of the changes ahead, particularly for young entrepreneurs, build a venture with an abundance mindset belief that everyone can gain access to what they need. The world of business can feel cutthroat, and it may seem like adopting a zero-sum mindset is the only way to get ahead. But, at its core, focusing on abundance (as opposed to scarcity) is built on gratitude and inspiration from the people around you.

Study after study has shown that a grateful mindset in a leader can cultivate a grateful mindset in employees, and that gratitude has a widespread impact on an organization. A massive Deloitte study showed that three-quarters of workers would be satisfied with a simple thank you as recognition of their day-to-day work. A few words can make all the difference in the attitude of those around you, increasing productivity, strengthening employee relationships, and reducing negativity in the workspaceall of which contributes to a healthier, happier environment.

Fostering this climate that promotes positive reinforcement and collective participation is a lesson I learned from my parents, who gave me great responsibilities as a young entrepreneur but also went out of their way to celebrate my milestones with the whole family. When I won, so did they, and it made me grateful to be on their team. Later on, I adopted that same mindset when Charming Charlie and Boosted Commerce expanded. I wanted everyone to feel that same pride and gratitude that I felt all those years ago. As a result, we continue to be grateful and celebratory about the work that we do and the change that we create together.

This abundance extends to educating others as well. Remember, its never too early to begin learning about entrepreneurship. Use your knowledge and experience to create an environment that challenges children to follow their passions and encourages them to celebrate each others successes. Teaching others is not just part of being an entrepreneur, its essential to being a grateful entrepreneur.

Related: 4 Entrepreneurship Lessons You Wont Learn In a Classroom

4. Applying the Lessons of the Lemonade Stand

I promised three tips, but Ill offer a fourth: Even the simplest, smallest ventures can teach us the skills we need. Look no further than the quintessential American youth entrepreneur, the lemonade baron. We are all a tall pitcher of ice water, a few freshly squeezed lemons and a sprinkle of sugar away from learning the most important lesson of all: Be proactive and bring the pieces together.

In my youth, the lemonade stand offered valuable, lasting lessons about being an entrepreneur. It taught me to listen to my customers, focus on the product, provide great customer service and communicate effectively. Most importantly, it announced to the neighborhood that I was willing to put the time and effort into offering something of value to the rest of the community. A simple childhood activity, sure, but it required the skills ubiquitous in entrepreneurship.

But you dont have to run a lemonade stand to learn and apply these lessons. Its not necessary to create the next Apple to build something valuable. You only need to offer something that people need or want. And if its something that helps 15 people in your neighborhood and makes you $100, you havent just made a little pocket change, youve built a foundation in entrepreneurship. A 2018 Nature Neuroscience study showed that its not just practice that makes perfect, but overlearning a skill that embeds it. So go out, take a cue from the lemonade stand, find a need to fill, go fill it, then rinse and repeat. You never know what youre going to learn.

Nature vs. Nurture

The next time someone brings up the nature vs. nurture conversation about entrepreneurship, consider the moments in your life that helped you become an entrepreneur. Then, think about passing them on. You wouldnt be where you are without the people who helped you along the way, and you never know whose life you could impact in the same way. You become a better entrepreneur when you help others pursue that shared passion. There is nothing more valuable than that.

Related: 5 Success Tips From My Entrepreneurship Journey
Forensic investigators examine the site of a fatal crash in Morahalom, Hungary, on Dec. 14, 2021. (Hungarian Police via AP)

7 Migrants Killed, 3 Injured in Car Accident in Hungary

BUDAPEST, HungarySeven migrants were killed and three others injured when the vehicle they were traveling in crashed into a house while fleeing a police stop, Hungarian police said.

The accident occurred just before midnight Monday near the center of Morahalom, a town of around 6,000 people less than five miles from Hungarys border with Serbia.

A destroyed vehicle at the site of a fatal crash in Morahalom, Hungary, on Dec. 14, 2021. (Hungarian Police via AP)

According to the Csongrad-Csanad county police, officers were inspecting the Serbian-registered minivan when the driver attempted to flee the scene at high speed. The vehicle crashed into a house and overturned.

Seven occupants of the vehicle died at the scene while four others, including the driver, were injured.

Police arrested the man and said they will initiate proceedings against him for human trafficking and causing a fatal mass accident.
Are Australian No Jab, No Job Orders Constitutional?

Commentary

The Victorian state Labor government, led by Premier Daniel Andrews, adopted a tough no jab, no job health order to facilitate the re-opening of the state. This order, which is one of the strictest in the world, is not only controversial, but also suspect from a legal point of view.

Even the World Health Organisation does not support vaccination mandates and, instead, favours more subtle forms of encouragement to cajole a countrys citizens into accepting a COVID-19 vaccine.

The legal challenge raised by the no jab, no job order relates to the legislative authority of the states to make this order.

Section 51(xxiiiA) of the Commonwealth Constitution constrains the federal parliament (as opposed to state parliaments) from adopting such an order.

This provision stipulates that the Commonwealth parliament, among others, can make laws with respect to: The provision of  pharmaceutical, sickness and hospital benefits, medical and dental services (but not so as to authorize any form of civil conscription), benefits to students and family allowances.

This provision also allows for the granting of diverse services by the federal government but not to the extent of authorising any form of civil conscription.

Thus, the federal government may not compel medical practitioners to provide mandatory services, for example, vaccinations.

A staff member prepares a Pfizer vaccine for clients at the St Vincents COVID-19 Vaccination Clinic in Sydney, Australia, on July 1, 2021. (Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images)

Justice Kirby opined in 2009, in Wong v Commonwealth; Selim v Professional Services Review Committee, that the purpose of prohibiting the civil conscription in section 51(xxiiiA) was to ensure that the relationship between a medical practitioner and the patient would be governed by contract where that is the intention of the parties.

For him, the test of whether civil conscription has been imposed is whether the impugned regulation, by its details and burdens, intrudes impermissibly into the private consensual arrangements between the providers of medical and dental services and the individual recipients of such services.

The federal government cannot thus legally adopt a no jab, no job health order.

Accordingly, the Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, has indicated repeatedly that, while there is no intention on the part of the federal government to adopt a mandatory vaccination order, the states are free to adopt and implement these orders.

However, although a state government can institute its own public health orders, any component of such order cannot impermissibly intrude into any matter that may be regarded as coming within the sole purview of the Commonwealth government. When this occurs, of course, the applicant state must make an application to the Commonwealth to enact that relevant component of the health order on behalf of the state.

Accordingly, the issue of vaccine mandates is not whether an Australian state can issue a public health order, but whether it is constitutionally authorised to issue a public health order which unreasonably intrudes into matters that come within the sole legislative authority of the Commonwealth.

John Lawrence Duval, a concerned citizen, raised this important argument in an email message on Nov. 11, 2021, addressed to the federal attorney-general. In a message addressed to Professor Augusto Zimmermann, Duval summarised his argument: although a state government has the right to institute public health orders, if any component of such health order intrudes into that which is the sole purview of the Commonwealth, then the state must make application to the Commonwealth for the Commonwealth to enact that particular component on behalf of the state.

The Fearless Girl Statue in Federation square is seen with a face-mask on June 5, 2021 in Melbourne, Australia. (Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images)

Duval explains that in Victoria, the government has recently mandated that no one be allowed to earn a living unless he or she is vaccinated with a COVID-19 vaccine. Consequently, citizens who reside there now suffer a significant disadvantage relative to most Australians who are residing in another state: the former are not allowed to work if not vaccinated, the latter are allowed; the former are not allowed to supplement their unemployment benefits with part-time income, the latter are allowed.

The no jab, no job order of the Victorian government is, of course, an egregious violation of a right that is profoundly attached to citizenship. Although the Commonwealth Constitution does not say anything about citizenship, section 51(xix) gives legislative power to the Commonwealth Parliament to make laws with respect to naturalization and aliens.

At present, Victoria is the only state with a no jab, no job health order. This means that Australian citizens are treated differently depending on the state they live in.

Duval argued that this order is invalid because the right to earn a living is fundamentally attached to citizenship rather than ones place of residence, and thus that the state government of Victoria must apply to the Commonwealth Government to implement such prohibition on its behalf, which it has not done.

In this context, Article 6(1) of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which entered into force on Jan. 3, 1976, stipulates that The States Parties to the present Covenant recognize the right to work, which includes the right of everyone to the opportunity to gain his living by work which he freely chooses or accepts, and will take appropriate steps to safeguard this right.

Of course, a request, that the Commonwealth adopt a no jab, no job health order on behalf of the state, would activate the applicability of section 51 (xxiiiA) of the constitution.

Indeed, as this provision explicitly prohibits the imposition of civil conscriptions by means of coercive vaccine mandates, especially if they were to affect the contractual relationship between doctors and patients, the Commonwealth is constitutionally prevented from assisting the states in the implementation of any such measures that would result in a form of enforced medical conscription.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.

Augusto Zimmermann Follow Dr. Augusto Zimmermann is professor and head of law at Sheridan Institute of Higher Education in Perth. He is also president of the Western Australian Legal Theory Association, editor-in-chief of the Western Australian Jurist law journal, and a former law reform commissioner in Western Australia.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin speaks during a briefing at the Pentagon in Washington on May 6, 2021. (Susan Walsh/AP Photo)

Air Force Discharges 27 for Refusing COVID-19 Vaccine

The Air Force discharged 27 people for refusing to take the COVID-19 vaccine, the air service branchs spokeswoman confirmed.

The 27 are the first airmen to be administratively discharged for reasons related to the COVID-19 vaccine, Air Force spokeswoman Ann Stefanek said on Monday, reported The Associated Press.

The Air Force announced on Sept. 3 that all active-duty service members must be fully vaccinated by Nov. 2. Meanwhile, Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve personnel had until Dec. 2. Thousands have either refused or sought an exemption, reported the news agency.

Stefanek said all 27 were in their first term of enlistment and were younger and lower-ranking personnel. None of them sought any type of exemption, whether administrative, medical, or religious, and they were thus formally removed from service for having failed to obey an order, she said.

It is also possible that some had other infractions on their records, she noted.

The Air Force does not disclose what type of discharge a service member is dealt.

Republican lawmakers are seeking to ban the Pentagon from discharging military service members in any way other than an honorable discharge or general discharge under honorable condition, for those who have refused to receive a COVID-19 vaccine.

The Air Force reported on Dec. 7 that 1,060 of its active duty members, 1,314 of its guard members, and 860 of its reserve members have refused the COVID-19 vaccine.

Religious exemption applications are being sought by 4,756 active duty members, 3,553 guard members, and 2,251 reserve members of the force.

Over 94 percent of the Air Force has been fully vaccinated; 97 percent of active duty members, 90.8 percent of the guard members, and 90.8 of reserve members.

All members of the military of all service branches have been required by the Pentagon to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, with each branch having its own deadline for active duty, National Guard, and the Reserves. The deadlines for the Air Force were the earliest among the branches.

The Navy and Marine Corps previously announced deadlines of Nov. 28 and Dec. 28 for active-duty service members and reserve members, respectively.

The Army previously announced that all active-duty troops must be fully vaccinated by Dec. 15 and that all other service membersNational Guard and Reserve membershave until June 30, 2022, to get the vaccine.

One congressman, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), said in July that some members of the U.S. military told him they would quit if the COVID-19 vaccine were to be mandated.
A train conductor signals from an Amtrak train September 3, 2015 in New Carrollton, Maryland. U.S. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Amtrak Suspends COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate for Employees: Chief Executive

Passenger railroad operator Amtrak said Tuesday it will suspend its COVID-19 vaccine mandate for employees and no longer expects service disruptions in January.

Amtrak Chief Executive Bill Flynn said in a memo obtained by The Epoch Times that employees who arent vaccinated can get tested instead. Fewer than 500 Amtrak workers are unvaccinated, he said.

Informing Amtraks decision was a recent federal court order that halted the enforcement of the executive order for federal contractors which caused the firm to reevaluate its policy toward vaccine mandates, Flynn wrote.

It means Amtrak will revert back to its original vaccine mandate that it announced in August, which allows for regular testing of unvaccinated workers, Flynn said. That will allow for testing as an alternative to getting vaccinated, the memo said.

The memo added that Amtrak employees required to submit testing and fail to do so will be placed on an unpaid leave of absence initially.

Amtrak, a quasi-public corporation that receives some federal dollars, was slated to terminate the employment of about 500 unvaccinated workers next month and anticipated service cuts. Amtrak president Stephen Gardner testified during a House hearing last week that he expected cuts because the railroad operator didnt have enough staff to operate all its trains.

But with Tuesdays decision, the service cuts can be averted, Flynn said.

After reviewing our system service plans in light of these changes, we do not anticipate having system-wide service impacts in January, Flynn said.

Flynn added his company will continue to update its vaccine policy as needed and follow the latest health and safety guidance. We believe these most recent changes are both appropriate and prudent, given the recent court decision and the continuing and evolving pandemic.

When asked for comment on Amtraks decision on Tuesday, White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters that the vast majority of workers have been vaccinated. Theyre trying to work to ensure that there are adequate employees on the job, she said.

Meanwhile, industry leaders hailed Amtraks decision to reverse its vaccine mandate.

Amtrak is doing the right thing, Jim Mathews, president and CEO of the Rail Passengers Association, said in a statement to news outlets. This addresses the issue without compromising safety. Everyonecrews and passengersis safest if everyone is vaccinated. But Amtrak reached huge numbers of vaccinations within their staffs, and thats to their credit.

Congress approved $66 billion for railroads as part of an infrastructure bill that was passed several weeks ago, and Amtrak will receive $22 billion and $36 billion for competitive grants. But Amtrak saw demand fall during the COVID-19 pandemic and is seeing around 70 percent of pre-pandemic demand, Gardner told the House panel last week.

COVID-19 is the illness caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus.

The Epoch Times has contacted Amtrak for additional comment.
Clouds are seen above The U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington on May 17, 2021. The Supreme Court said that day it will hear a Mississippi abortion case that challenges Roe v. Wade. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

An Inflection Point

Abortion laws from Mississippi, Texas now pending before the Supreme Court measure America's conscience and her courage to protect the most helpless among us

Commentary

Fellow citizens, we cannot escape history. We  will be remembered in spite of ourselves. No personal significance, or insignificance, can spare one or another of us. The fiery trial through which we pass, will light us down, in honor or dishonor, to the [last] generation.  Abraham Lincoln

Throughout the course of human history, there have been those identifiable inflection points within the human family that recalibrated the trajectory of the entire world. Certainly, Americas Declaration of Independence was one of those clarion inflection points. Thomas Jefferson articulated the purpose of it all when he said, The care of human life and its happiness, and not its destruction, is the first and only legitimate object of good government.

In the infamous 1973 Roe v. Wade opinion, the U.S. Supreme Court made the often overlooked statement in which it refused to recognize the self-evident humanity of the preborn human child: We need not resolve the difficult question of when life begins.  The judiciary, at this point in the development of mans knowledge, is not in a position to speculate as to the answer.

The court cowered to address the very central and quintessential question that America must now face. Does abortion take an innocent human life? If no human life is taken, then pro-abortion advocates are right; abortion is nothing more than a routine surgery with no moral implications whatsoever. If abortion does take the life of a human child, then America, the land of the free and the home of the brave, finds her very foundations awash in the tortured blood of more than 60 million of her own innocent and forever unborn children.

If, indeed, the Roe Court was correct in shamelessly pronouncing that the U.S. Constitution is silent concerning the rights of the unborn, its only remaining constitutional guidance as to who would still clearly be empowered to define the rights of unborn human beings is the 10th Amendment, which definitively empowers states to act where the Constitution is silent.

Since the Roe opinion, the entire human genome has been mapped, and the presence of fully articulated human DNA and the entire human chromosomal structure has been confirmed in the very youngest of preborn children. Using MRI machines and powerful computers, we can now monitor and build 3D-model, real-time images of the preborn childs beating heart.

We currently do complex surgeries upon the preborn child still in utero, and we use anesthesia during those surgeries because of established knowledge indicating the child has developed the capacity to feel pain no later than halfway through normal gestation.

Boutique clinics with names such as Meet Your Baby or Babys Debut are now appearing in commercial shopping malls utilizing 3D and 4D ultrasound to offer high-resolution DVDs for parents to take home showing the detail of expression on their childs face and the perfectly formed tiny hands and body. This same technology has also captured the images of preborn children desperately trying in vain to evade surgical instruments in the process of being aborted.

The cruel and unusual punishment of drawing and quartering, for even the most evil of all criminals, was outlawed in this country only two years after America became a nation. Yet in 2021, its an immutable fact that helpless late-term, pain-capable, preborn children in America are legally and brutally dismembered alive without anesthesia every day using the common method of abortion called dilation and extraction. It happened again today.

Some of them cried and screamed as they died, but because it was amniotic fluid passing over their vocal cords instead of air, we couldnt hear them.

The suffering of these children is very intimate and very personal. Our knowledge has developed much in the years since Roe v. Wade. We can no longer avoid the humanity of preborn children and the inhumanity of what is being done to them.

Allowing abortion clinics to dismember their little sons and daughters alive doesnt liberate mothers, it only abandons them to ultimately discover a horrifying truth and an inexpressible loss.

Its time for another inflection point in America.

President Abraham Lincoln said, Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves; and under a just God, cannot long retain it.

The Dred Scott Supreme Court decision and the similarities between slavery and abortion on demand are cited so often that its easy for all of us to forget just how profoundly similar the dynamics of these two issues truly are. Glaringly, like Roe, Dred Scott blatantly ignored the humanity of its innocent victims in the name of freedom. It almost destroyed the Supreme Court, and its vestiges remain embedded in Roe v. Wade today.

Black babies are three times more likely to be aborted than white babies, and more than 20 million black children have been killed by abortion since 1973 alone. Alveda King, the niece of civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr., has written, No racial group in America, historically and currently, has  suffered more deliberate discrimination, dehumanization, torture, agonizing dismemberment and death legally imposed upon them than black children.

Lincoln called upon all of us to remember Americas Founding Fathers and their enlightened belief [that] nothing stamped with the divine image and likeness was sent into the world to be trodden on, and degraded, and imbruted by its fellows. He reminded posterity (Ladies and Gentlemen, thats each one of us today) that when in the distant future some man, some faction, some interest should set up a doctrine that [some] were not entitled to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, their posterity might look up again to the Declaration of Independence and take courage to renew the battle which their fathers began.

For the sake of all of those who founded this nation and dreamed of what America could someday be, and for the sake of all those since then, who have died in darkness so Americans could walk in the light of freedom with that dream still in their hearts: I adjure the U.S. Supreme Court to take courage to renew the battle which their fathers began, to deeply consider these little human victims being trodden on  degraded and imbruted by their fellows; and to rise above the politically correct and invincible ignorance of the day, to search the Constitution, human history, and their own souls to rediscover the timeless and unspeakably important truth that we all, even the very smallest and most helpless of us all, are still created equal.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Aug. 10, 2021. (Office of then-governor Andrew M. Cuomo/Handout via Reuters)

Andrew Cuomo Ordered to Return Money He Made From COVID-19 Book

A New York ethics board ordered former Gov. Andrew Cuomo to return the proceeds he received for a book about leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The state Joint Commission on Public Ethics (JCOPE) voted 12 to 1 Tuesday on a resolution that mandates Cuomo, a Democrat, to hand over the profits he made from the book American Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic, to New York Attorney General Letitia Jamess office.

The move comes about a month after the same commission voted 12 to 1 to revoke its approval of Cuomos book deal. The panel determined that the former governor violated the terms of the agreement because New York state property was used to write, edit, and publish the book.

Local media reports have said that Cuomos book deal was worth more than $5 million.

Following Tuesdays vote, Cuomo attorney Jim McGuire said the Joint Commission on Public Ethics vote was unconstitutional and exceeds its own authority and appear to be driven by political interests rather than the facts and the law.

Should they seek to enforce this action, well see them in court, he told local media outlet 13WHAM.

According to the JCOPE resolution (pdf) last month that revoked its approval of the book deal, an approval request letter contained material omissions and misrepresentations, and that each of said material omissions and misrepresentations, individually, constitutes a ground for revocation.

The commission found that the book violated the terms of the agreement because it was developed as part of Governor Cuomos job responsibilities and is substantially related to his job responsibilities.

This is unprecedented territory because nothing like this ever happened before, Blair Horner of the New York Public Interest Research Group, a nonprofit organization, said in a statement Tuesday. No one in their wildest dreams thought a sitting governorthe highest-paid governor in [the] countrywould go out and get a $5 million book contract.

In August, Cuomo resigned from his post as New Yorks governor on Aug. 24 after an investigation from the New York Attorney Generals office found that Cuomo allegedly harassed several women. Cuomo has vehemently denied the claims, explaining that he resigned because the allegations would keep him preoccupied from doing his job as governor.

A report by a New York Assembly committee found that the former governor required his aides to help produce his COVID-19 memoir during work hours, even recording the books audio version at the states Executive Mansion in Albany. The committee had been considering impeachment articles against Cuomo before he resigned.
A Border Patrol agent organizes illegal immigrants who have gathered by the border fence after crossing from Mexico into the United States in Yuma, Ariz., on Dec. 10 2021. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times)

Appeals Court Upholds Ruling Forcing Biden Administration to Restart Remain in Mexico Program

A federal appeals court on Monday rejected a bid by President Joe Bidens administration to end the recently-restarted Trump era Remain in Mexico program.

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld an order from District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, a Trump nominee, finding that the administration erred in ending the program, which forces some asylum seekers to wait in Mexico for their claims to be heard.

Kacsmaryk ruled in August that Biden nominee Alejandro Mayorkas, the homeland security secretary, violated federal law when attempting to end the program in part by ignoring its benefits.

The ruling led to a reboot of the program, formally known as the Migrant Policy Protocols (MPP), but the government is simultaneously attempting to ax it for good.

Mayorkas announced on Oct. 29 that the program would end, despite the court order.

The government then informed the appeals court that the ongoing case was moot because of the announcement.

A three-judge panel on the court did not agree.

Never mind that a case is moot only when the controversy between the parties is dead and gone, and the controversy between these parties is very much not dead and not gone. Never mind that the new memoranda simply reaffirmed the termination decision that the states had been challenging all along. And never mind that the Governments theory of mootness would allow an administrative agency to permanently avoid judicial review by issuing an endless litany of new memos to moot every adverse judicial ruling, U.S. Circuit Judge Andrew Oldham, a Trump nominee, wrote for the panel in a 117-page ruling.

The Department of Homeland Securitys (DHS) proposed approach is as unlawful as it is illogical, he added.

Oldham also took the government to task for suggesting no court can review the decision to end the program.

DHS claims the power to implement a massive policy reversalaffecting billions of dollars and countless peoplesimply by typing out a new Word document and posting it on the internet. No input from Congress, no ordinary rulemaking procedures, and no judicial review. We address and reject each of the Governments reviewability arguments and determine that DHS has come nowhere close to shouldering its heavy burden to show that it can make law in a vacuum, he said.

The ruling means the Biden administration must keep Remain in Mexico in place while the case, brought by the states of Texas and Missouri, continues.

The panel also consisted of Circuit Judges Rhesa Barksdale, a George H. W. Bush nominee, and Kurt Engelhardtand, a Trump nominee.

The White House, the Department of Justice, and DHS did not respond to requests for comment.

While this is a program that we disagree with, the injunction dictating court-ordered implementation remains in effect, so we continue to comply with it in good faith, White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters in Washington on Tuesday.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican, told The Epoch Times in an email that the court has spoken and people around the country are feeling the effects of the poorly planned immigration changes Biden and Harris have forced upon us.

I fought to protect our southern border and won. I will not allow the safety of Texas residents to be left to the mercy of a reckless president, he added.
Making good use of the clear night skies in Arizona, where he recently moved, astronomy buff Andrew McCarthy sets up his telescope camera in his backyard to take spectacular shots of the Moon.

After the pandemic halted his career working for a tech startup, the digital artist/photographer struck out to turn his passion into a business creating astronomical artwork, which he characterizes as a blend of scientific communication and art coupled with social mediahe now sells his prints for a living.

His recently released work Moon in Exaggerated Relief is an exemplary showcase of his talent. In this highly textured, breathtakingly detailed rendering of our lunar satellitethe Moonhe merges 200,000 photos, with the help of CGI digital software, to recreate the celestial sphere but with exaggerated features, showing off every pit and crater of the lunar surface.

In this painstakingly modeled Moon, McCarthy used lunar elevation data provided by NASA to map the topography of rugged craters and the vast, flat lunar seas in order to bring the texture and roughness to life in three dimensions.

This data he then plugged into Blender (a free 3D modeling software) and multiplied it by roughly 20 times in order to communicate visually the texture that would otherwise go unnoticed by the human eye.

My hopes with this imagealong with the rest of my workis that you are reminded there is more to our universe than meets the eye, McCarthy told The Epoch Times. Most of what I do is simply science communication.

He posted the digitized lunar sphere on his Instagram, cosmic_background, with the following caption:

By exaggerating the elevation of features on the Moon, you can really show off how different the maria is relative to the highlands. The heavily cratered highlands seem incredibly treacherous compared to the smooth basalt in the lunar seas.

The dramatically modeled Moon image looks impressive, yet McCarthy cautions viewers about the use of CGI, which he tries to be transparent about and use sparingly and only when absolutely necessary.

I do think that using CGI could devalue some of my other work, simply by casting doubt that it is real, he told the newspaper. Some of the things I capture seem too incredible to be real, but they are.

The rendered Moon overlays a perfect sphere, yet the actual Moon is a far cry from flawlessly round; McCarthys exaggerated scaling is also not mathematical but tweaked until he thought it looked good.

He nevertheless added, Its an easily digestible way to learn about the Moons features, so its a bit of scientific communication as well as an art piece, since people have requested to have it in print for their walls.

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
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange speaks on the balcony of the Embassy of Ecuador in London, Britain on May 19, 2017. (REUTERS/Neil Hall)

Australias Deputy PM Calls for Assange Extradition to Be Dropped

Australian Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce has called for the United States government to drop its pursuit of the extradition of jailed Australian WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

Assange, who is currently in jail in the United Kingdom, faces being brought to America after a British court ruled he could be extradited to face charges of an alleged conspiracy to obtain and disclose classified information which revealed allegations of war crimes by the U.S. military in Afghanistan and Iraq.

In an op-ed for the Sydney Morning Herald on Tuesday, Joyce called for the Wikileaks founder to either face the British courts for the alleged crimes or be sent back to Australia. The deputy prime minister also questioned why Assange could now be extradited when his crimes were not a breach of Australian laws and was not committed in the United States.

Assange did not steal any U.S. secret files; U.S. citizen Chelsea Manning did, Joyce said. In Australia, he received a Walkley Award in journalism for it.

Assange was not in breach of any Australian laws at the time of his actions. Assange was not in the U.S. when the event being deliberated in a court now in London occurred. The question is then: why is he to be extradited to the U.S.? If he insulted the Koran, would he be extradited to Saudi Arabia? he said.

Barnaby Joyce speaks to the press in Canberra, Australia, on Feb. 16, 2018. (Michael Masters/Getty Images)

The deputy prime minister then questioned if everyday Australians would agree with this.

Imagine a sliding door moment, and it was not Assange but you who was in court in Britain, Joyce wrote.

If we are content that this process of extraditing one Australian to the U.S. for breaking its laws even when he was not in that country is fair, are we prepared therefore to accept it as a precedent for applying to any other laws of any other nation to any of our citizens?

Joyce also called on the Britain to uphold the rights and freedoms it has always aspired to in a democracy, saying that a decent society makes the investment to uphold everyones basic attachment to this vessel of rights.

You can judge a society on whether the protection and enforcement of these rights are actively pursued by the state in a form where all are truly equal, he said.

The United States has been seeking Assanges extradition since 2012 after the WikiLeaks founder was investigated for allegations of sexual assault in Sweden.

However, Assange fled the investigation, running to the Ecuadorean embassy where he remained in exile until he was ejected in 2019.

The sexual assault charges against him in Sweden were eventually dropped.

Supporters of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange gather outside the Royal Courts of Justice during the U.S. government appeal against a ruling by a British Judge that Assange should not be extradited, in London, Britain, August 11, 2021. (Henry Nicholls/Reuters)

On the day of his ejection from the Ecuadorian embassy, the United States launched an indictment against him on hacking charges and weeks later charged him under the U.S. Espionage Act.

That case was developed during the Trump administration and is focused around his publication of diplomatic and military files leaked by Chelsea Manning, a former Army intelligence analyst, in 2010.

It alleges Assange participated in a criminal hacking conspiracy, by offering to help Chelsea Manning cover her activities on a secure computer network and by engaging in a broader effort to encourage hackers to obtain secret material and send it to WikiLeaks.

It also accuses the Australian of violating the Espionage Act via his solicitation and publication of information the U.S. government deemed secret.

Assange has been detained in Londons Belmarsh prison since he was arrested on the hacking charges.

Editor-in-chief of WikiLeaks, Kristinn Hrafnsson, said in a statement that, with the High Court ruling, Assanges life is once more under grave threat, and so is the right of journalists to publish material that governments and corporations find inconvenient.

This is about the right of a free press to publish without being threatened by a bullying superpower, Hrafnsson said.

Supporters of Assange gathered outside the High Court in London on Friday, holding banners demanding his release. Many of his supporters consider Assange a hero for exposing what they describe as abuse of state power and for championing free speech.

U.S. prosecutors, however, have portrayed Assange as a dangerous enemy of the state whose decision to release the classified cables endangered the lives of sources named in the leaked material.

These human sources included local Afghans and Iraqis, journalists, religious leaders, human rights advocates, and political dissidents from repressive regimes, the Justice Department said in announcing an 18-count indictment against Assange in May 2019.

Assanges actions risked serious harm to United States national security to the benefit of our adversaries and put the unredacted named human sources at a grave and imminent risk of serious physical harm and/or arbitrary detention, the Justice Department said.

Tom Ozimek contributed to this article
The Bank of America headquarters is seen in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Feb. 4, 2010. (Davis Turner/Getty Images)

Bank of America Employee Describes Increasingly Stressful Working Conditions and Mandatory Waiving of HIPAA Rights

Amid a work culture described as increasingly stressful due COVID-19 policies, one Bank of America employee has also reported that when using the corporations vaccination status tool, one must waive ones Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) rights to proceed.

If you are like most people and you dont read the fine print, you are going to miss it, the employee, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told The Epoch Times.

After logging into the software to submit the employees unvaccinated status, the employee stopped to read the terms and conditions.

There are repeated claims of confidentiality in the employee communications, but the fine print of the mandatory vaccination tool states that individual HIPAA rights are waived by using the tool, the employee said.

HIPAA, passed in 1996, protects the medical information of an individual, preventing health care providers from sharing a patients information with anyone other than the patient or someone the patient authorized as a recipient.

Im looking at this and thinking, they are having me waive my HIPAA rights in order to access this tool, so obviously they are wanting to share my information, the employee said. I dont know who they are sharing it with and why, but I highly doubt its confidential if you are waiving your HIPAA rights to do it.

Though Bank of America has not mandated vaccines for its employees, the employee said there have been implied corrective actions for not getting vaccinated.

The worldwide response to the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus changed the workforce landscape in 2020 by first sending people home to work remotely before some employees returned to work in 2021, leaving companies to determine their own risk-mitigation policies around the virus.

Fears over the Delta variant sent many back home and became the platform on which President Joe Biden announced his vaccine mandate policy in September when he directed the Department of Labor to develop a rule requiring all employers with 100 or more workers to get vaccinated by Jan. 4, 2022, or require unvaccinated employees to be tested weekly.

On Dec. 8, the U.S. Senate voted to block Bidens COVID-19 vaccine mandate for the private sector as courts had already enjoined other mandates from the Biden administration, including ones for federal contractors and health care workers.

From Optional to Mandatory

According to the documents, employees were required to share their vaccination status by Nov. 1.

Prior to that it was optional, the employee said.

However, the employee said, each email leading up to the Oct. 21 announcement states that the vaccination tool is confidential.

According to one email dated July 1, if an employee enters his or her fully vaccinated status into the confidential Vaccination Status Tool by Aug. 31, that employee receives $200.

A July 16 memo from Dean Athanasia, president of regional banking for Bank of America, states, Thanks for confidentially sharing your vaccination status.

On Oct. 21, it became mandatory.

Terms and Conditions

But in order to access the tool to share your status, you have to click Next, the employee said. If you hit the button, you are agreeing to the terms and conditions. If you decline, the tool shuts down and one could be subjected to disciplinary action.

In addition to the terms and conditions, one agrees to a privacy notice and the HIPAA Protected Health Information Release Authorization Form when clicking Next.

In the appendix of one of the documents that list the Purposes For Which We May Collect, Use, Transfer And Disclose Health Screening Information and Vaccination Status, several reasons are given, such as the promotion of safe and healthy working conditions of Company facilities, the Management of internal business operations, and for the stated purpose of complying with applicable local, state, federal or foreign state and/or country-specific laws and regulations, and other reporting requirements.

The appendix also states that service providers and public and governmental authorities are categories of third parties with whom the information may be shared.

The appendix basically gives them the permission to share the information however they want, the employee said. All they have to say is to promote safe and healthy working conditions and under that guise, they can share it with anybody.

Stressful Policies

The employee had already been reprimanded after an office camera caught the employee removing their mask in the employees office to drink coffee, a violation of what the employee said was a rule that requires employees to always have their mask on except in the break room where one can eat and drink.

I know multiple employees who got vaccinated with the hope that they would not have to wear a mask and stop being pressured, the employee said. For about two weeks, that was the case, then, it came out that even if you are vaccinated you have to wear a mask.

The employee, who remains unvaccinated, said theyre beginning to see what they say is the inevitable.

I have a family and Im thinking, Im about to get fired for not being vaccinated, the employee said. Its been a stressful time worrying about how Im going to provide for my family if it goes down that road.

According to a spokesperson for Bank of America, The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services has said HIPAA does not apply when an individual employee discloses health status information, including coronavirus vaccination status, to an employer and therefore our vaccination status tool does not require that waiver.
President Joe Biden speaks in the Oval Office at the White House on Dec. 13, 2021. (Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters)

Biden to Sign Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act: White House

President Joe Biden will sign a bill that would ban all goods from the Xinjiang region in China, where millions of Uyghurs are being forced to work in concentration camps, the White House said Tuesday.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki made the announcement during a briefing in Washington.

We have been clear that share Congresss view that action must be taken to hold the PRC accountable for its human rights abuses and to address forced labor in Xinjiang, she said, referring to the Peoples Republic of China.

The bill in question is called the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act. It was passed by the House last week after the Senate approved it over the summer. A single lawmaker across both chambers voted against the bill, but it had not been clear whether Biden would sign it.

The approved text will be updated and fresh votes will need to be held on the updated version, per an agreement between Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.).

We will be moving our bill through both chambers & to President Bidens desk as quickly as possible, McGovern said in a statement.

The White House provided input on the changes, though Psaki declined to share details.

Our effort is often to provide technical assistance to ensure that bills are implementable, she said.

A perimeter fence is constructed around what is officially known as a vocational skills education center in Dabancheng in Xinjiang, China, on Sept. 4, 2018. (Thomas Peter/Reuters)

The ruling Chinese Communist Party has ramped up efforts to surveil and imprison Uyghurs, including introducing strict social capital systems and throwing millions into forced labor camps that churn out products purchased by countries around the world.

U.S. officials have described whats happening as a genocide.

The forced labor act has attracted opposition from large companies like Nike and Coca-Cola, which use factories in Xinjiang to make products.

A bipartisan group led by McGovern and Rubio found last year (pdf) that Nike, Coca-Cola, and other corporations like Adidas and Costco have been linked to forced labor in the region.

Its big corporations who benefit from slave labor problem, Rubio wrote on Twitter this month.
A logo of Japan's high-tech giant Hitachi at an exhibition in Tokyo on October 29, 2013. (YOSHIKAZU TSUNO/AFP via Getty Images)

Big Battery to Help Northern Territory Achieve 50 Percent Renewable Energy Target

The Northern Territory Governments goal of achieving 50 percent renewable energy by 2030 came a major step closer on Monday as a tender was awarded for the 5MVA (megavolt amps) Darwin-Katherine Battery Energy Storage System (DK BESS) to be utilised in the Darwin-Katherine grid.

Hitachi Energy will provide components for, and build the $45 million (approx. US$32 million)DK BESS, also known as the Big Battery, which will be located at Territory Generations Channel Island Power Station.

In a media release on Monday, Hitachi Country Managing Director, Bernard Norton said that together with the Territory Government and Territory Generation, Hitachi is helping the Territory to meet ambitious renewable energy targets, by harnessing abundant solar resources, and move towards a carbon-neutral energy future.

Hitachi Energys battery energy storage solution will be part of an intelligent electrical ecosystem and ensure full utilisation of solar energy generation and less reliance on fossil fuels, he said.

The DK BESS is expected to bring cost savings of about $9.8 million (approx. US$7million) per year and pay for itself within five years.

The main objectives of building the DK BESS are to reduce the use of gas generators for the Darwin-Katherine system and provide further capacity for households to connect their rooftop PV solar systems.

It will also give industry the opportunity to invest in cheaper solar systems for their commercial and industrial operations.

The DK BESS will replace the existing gas-fired thermal generation unit, offering increased storage capacity capable of delivering energy and services for longer.

Some of the other benefits of the Big Battery are greatly reduced carbon emissions for the Territory, delivering both cost savings of around $9.8 million and emissions reductions of about 58,000 tonnes per annum, as well as increased stability and reliability of the power supply.

Chief Minister Michael Gunner said that both the NT Government and Territorians have backed renewables,

The cutting-edge technology in our Battery Energy Storage System will reinforce the Northern Territory as the solar capital and comeback capital of Australia. The BESS will store power and be the backbone of the Darwin to Katherine Electricity grid which keeps the lights on for 150,000 Territorians, he said.

Meanwhile, Renewables and Energy minister Eva Lawler hailed the BESS tender as a major step forward in the Territorys plan for 50% renewables by 2030, calling it the cornerstone of the Darwin-Katherine System Plan.

Renewables are the way forward, this is why we are investing in the BESS and hydrogen-powered generators so we can have clean and efficient energy which helps us reach our renewables and net zero-emission targets, she said.

The awarding of the battery tender came at the same time as the Territory Governments granting of major project status to a $15 billion (US$10.75 billion) project to produce green hydrogen in the Australian outback.

Expected to be at full capacity by 2027, the 10GW project will see the production of hydrogen at less than $2.80 (US$2) per kilogram, with a 410,000 metric tonne output capacity per year for domestic and export use.

Technology company Aqua Aerem will lead the world-first project, which will commence in 2022, and is expected to be producing commercial quantities of the gas as early as 2023.

Based at Tenant Creek, this will be the only truly green commercial hydrogen plant in Australia, employing Desert Bloom technology, which utilises atmospheric water capture and off-grid solar power to produce commercial quantities of renewable hydrogen at no expense to the scarce local water resources or environment.

In a media release on Monday, Aqua-Aerem co-founder and chief executive officer Gerard Reiter called the project transformative in the way it has solved water supply and solar/electrolysis integration problems that have so far impeded renewable hydrogen production.

With todays announcement, the pathway for green hydrogen becomes a reality, he said.

Our air-to-water technology, which solves this previously intractable water supply problem, is a world first; invented and developed here in Australia. This technology will open the door for green hydrogen projects to be located where the best renewable power sources are available, which is generally in the driest areas of the planet.

Reiter highlighted the multiple competitive advantages of the project.

It uses proven technology and has its own water supply. It benefits from the worlds best solar resources, does not require large sunk costs before it begins producing, and it is located at the energy corridor of rail, road and gas pipeline infrastructure linking directly to Darwin Port, he said.

Reiter added that the project will position Australia as a serious contender in the global hydrogen market, and give the Territory an economic boost, creating potentially a thousand jobs in construction and over a hundred full-time jobs in operation and maintenance of the project.

Chief Minister Michael Gunner agreed that Desert Bloom hydrogen will be a major boost for the Territory.

Territorians will see the benefits on the ground in Central Australia and in the Top End with around 1000 jobs and $1 billion a year in export revenue from this project alone  its good news for the Territory, he said.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken delivers remarks on the Biden administration's Indo-Pacific strategy at the Universitas Indonesia in Jakarta on Dec. 14, 2021. (Oliver Douliery/AFP via Getty Images)

Blinken Criticizes Beijing in Speech Outlining Biden Administrations IndoPacific Strategy

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a policy speech on Dec. 14 that the United States will advance a free and open IndoPacific, and hit out at China for its aggressive actions in the region.

Were determined to ensure freedom of navigation in the South China Sea, where Beijings aggressive actions threaten the movement of more than $3 trillion worth of commerce every year, Blinken said during the speech at the University of Indonesia on Tuesday.

China is currently locking horns with Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Taiwan in a territorial dispute over reefs, islands, and atolls in the South China Sea. A 2016 international ruling rejected Beijings vast territorial claims over the disputed sea.

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has ignored the ruling and taken aggressive tactics to stake its territorial claims, such as deploying its coast guard to deny ships from other nations access to the South China Sea.

We and other countries, including South China Sea claimants, will continue to push back on such behavior, Blinken said.

Blinkens criticism of Beijing did not stop there. He also slammed Beijing for distorting open markets through subsidies to its state-run companies, engaging in illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing activities, and revoking deals for countries whose policies it does not agree with.

Countries across the region want this behavior to change, Blinken said. We do too.

Blinken arrived in Indonesia on Dec. 13 for a four-day visit that also includes stops in Malaysia and Thailand. He is scheduled to return to the United States on Dec. 17 with a visit to Hawaii. The trip is designed to deepen ties between Washington and U.S. allies in the region.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken (L) and Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi sign a Memorandum of Understanding at the Pancasila Building in Jakarta, on Dec. 14, 2021. (Olivier Douliery/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)

On Monday, Blinken met with Indonesian President Joko Widodo and the two emphasized the importance of a bilateral strategic partnership, the State Department announced in a statement. Blinken also applauded Indonesia for being a strong proponent of the rules-based international order.

Washington will work with allies in the region to defend such order, Blinken said during the speech, saying that doing so will protect the rights of all countries to choose their own path, free from coercion, [and] free from intimidation.

Let me be clear about one thing: the goal of defending the rules-based order is not to keep any country down, he added.

Currently, Taiwan sits at the forefront of the communist regimes intimidation, as Beijing seeks to bring the self-ruled island under its fold, by force if necessary. On Tuesday, Blinken repeated Washingtons long-standing support for Taiwan, saying the United States has an abiding interest in peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.

Well adopt a strategy that more closely weaves together all our instruments of national powerdiplomacy, military, intelligencewith those of our allies and partners, Blinken said.

Blinken also said Washington and U.S. allies in the region will pursue shared objectives under a new comprehensive IndoPacific Economic Framework. These objectives included digital economy and technology, resilient supply chains, decarbonization and clean energy, infrastructure, and worker standards.

Washington will also forge stronger connections with treaty allies in the region, Australia, Japan, the Philippines, South Korea, and Thailand, according to Blinken.

For the IndoPacific region, Blinken said it was not a contest about turning the area into a U.S.-centric or China-centric region.

We all have a stake in ensuring that the worlds most dynamic region is free from coercion and accessible to all, Blinken said.

Also on Tuesday, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin applauded Lithuania for standing up against China, when meeting with Lithuanian Defense Minister Arvydas Anusauskas at the Pentagon. According to a statement, the two signed a reciprocal defense procurement agreement following their meeting.

I commend your government for its firm policy regarding China, and we know that you have faced reprisals for your principled decisions, Austin said, according to the Pentagon.

Lithuania is involved in a diplomatic row with China, after the Baltic nation decided to allow Taiwan to open a de facto embassy in its capital Vilnius, using Taiwans own name. In retaliation, Beijing downgraded its diplomatic ties with Lithuania and was reportedly blocking Lithuanian exports from being cleared by Chinese customs.
A photo shows a field of wheat on a farm near Inverleigh, some 100 kilometers west of Melbourne, Australia, on Jan. 12, 2021. (William West/AFP via Getty Images)

Bumper Year Ahead for Australian Agriculture

Rural Banks latest Australian Agriculture Outlook report says favourable seasonal conditions are expected to extend into 2022 with continued improvement in supply and demand.

The banks report follows the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences forecast released last week predicting a record year for Australian farmers due to unprecedented favourable conditions with prices the highest in 30 years.

ABARES forecast Australias agricultural production will reach a record $78 billion in 2021/22, with the most valuable winter crop ever expected to increase to even $22.3 billion (US$15 billion).

Australia has had two consecutive years of above average rainfall, contributing great strengths to agriculture. This has allowed production volumes to grow for cropping and horticultural producers with 2021 winter crop production expect to outdo 2020s record winter crop production.

Wetter conditions have also allowed livestock producers to rebuild the nations cattle herd and sheep flock following reductions in response to droughts.

Cattle, winter crops and horticulture are among the key beneficiaries with increased demand, supply as well as outlook.

Dairy prices are expected to go up with a 1 to 2 percent increase in production.

Lamb and mutton prices expected to drop from 2021s record prices but the outlook for sheep farmers is positive. Fruit and nut prices will also likely decline following strong production.

However, horticultural productions may face challenges due to the labour shortages, but production is expected to grow, with ABARES forecasting production to rise to a record $12.4 billion in the 2021/22 period.

Rural Bank also said that they expect beef production to begin to recover in the first half of 2022, with a rise of 12 percent in production in 2022 due to more cattle reaching ideal slaughter weights. Cattle prices are also expected to remain above average for the first half of the year.

Meanwhile, wool growers enjoyed strong performance with the US importing 11.3 percent more woollen household goods than the equivalent period last year, while cotton imports into the US also rose to 34.4 percent.

The report also commented on how China and Australias relationship may affect trade conditions in the future.

For some commodities, with improvement in Australias relationship with China yet to be seen. As such, commodities such as barley, red meat and horticulture will continue to operate with restrictive trade barriers to the valuable Chinese market.

However, the report added, despite posing challenges, exporters have adapted to trade barriers by finding alternative markets as China largely faded into the background.

Supply chain disruptions came into greater attention in the second half of 2021. Both exports and imports of agricultural commodities and supplies have been affected by high freight rates, port shutdowns and delays, and availability of suitable containers.

These challenges will persist throughout the first half of 2022; however farmers should remain relatively sheltered from any significant direct impacts, the report said.

Rob Clayton, Managing Director of Nutrien Ag Solutions latest report released on Dec. 11 made similar statements to that of Rural Bank.

Clayton said that they are optimistic about the prices growers will continue to receive for their commodities, particularly grain and livestock, and the incentive that remains for growers to plant big next year on the back of a strong seasonal outlook.

However, he also added that the volatile supply chain brings uncertainty around the availability and the pricing of inputs. Therefore, farmers will be looking to make quick decisions about what they do for next season.
Businesses are seen shutting down early after Queensland Premier Annastacia Palazczuk announced a three-day lockdown for the Greater Brisbane area in Brisbane, Australia on March 29, 2021. (Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)

Business in Queensland Want Clarity Around Future COVID-19 Rules

Queenslands peak body for business has called for more clarity from the state government about how the next vaccine milestone could impact trade with concern for regional small businesses that have been hardest hit by COVID-19 public health orders.

Businesses have only four more days to prepare for new government rules that mandate how they may trade amidst outbreaks and exposure to the virus from Dec. 17 after the states first 80 percent vaccination milestone was reached early.

Now the Chamber of Commerce and Industry Queensland (CCIQ) has called on the government to provide businesses with details on what new rules might come into play once the state reaches its next milestone at 90 percent vaccination coverage.

Some of the new rules that come into effect from Friday were welcomed, such as businesses no longer being required to undergo costly deep cleans after being listed as an exposure site; with simple wipe downs being sufficient.

Other rules mean that unvaccinated staff need to be replaced and unvaccinated customers turned away. Business operators must also display signage to communicate the new rules to patrons.

Amanda Rohan, policy and advocacy general manager at CCIQ, has said that small businesses, especially in regional areas, would be disproportionately impacted once the states new rules come into effect on Dec. 17.

Businesses who have had to navigate the process of potentially standing down or dismissing unvaccinated staff are concerned it may all be for a potentially short-lived mandate, Rohan said.

Businesses are very concerned conditions and rules for them, their staff, and customers will change again when the state reaches the next vaccination milestone, whatever and whenever that may be.

Rohan said many businesses spent a lot of money and resources to be ready for the Dec. 17 deadline, without knowing how much more theyll need to expend for the next milestone.

For those businesses to be forced to adapt to new rules or changes in rules just when theyve been able to get back to business will be costly, frustrating and for some, devastating.

Businesses are desperate to know what the next vaccine milestone will be, when its expected to be achieved and what it means for them, she said.

Queensland businesses have been supported through $2.3 billion worth of grants, loans, tax reliefs, fee waivers, payment deferrals to help them with short- and long-term recovery from the pandemic.

However, certainty around future rule changes is needed to help businesses prepare for the impact and get back to business, according to CCIQ.
Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen attends the formal session of the ASEAN-Republic of Korea Commemorative Summit in Busan on Dec. 12, 2014. (Ahn Young-joon/AFP/Getty Images)

Cambodias Hun Sen Orders Armed Forces to Demolish US Weapons

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has ordered armed forces to collect all U.S.-made military weaponry found in the country and demolish or keep them in warehouses, after the United States imposed an arms embargo on Cambodia over Chinese military influence there.

The State Department announced the embargo on Dec. 8, citing concerns over corruption and human rights abuses in Cambodia, as well as deepening Chinese military influence.

The aim of the embargo, which amends the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), is to ensure that defense articles and defense services that were set to be imported or exported by Cambodia are not done so without prior review and approval by the U.S. government.

Hun Sen hit out at the United States for the move, saying its a warning message from the U.S. to the next generation of Cambodians not to use U.S.-made weapons if they want to protect the countrys independence.

Id like to order all armed forces to make an urgent review of weapons and military equipment that Cambodia is using and to collect all U.S. military weapons and materials, if found, store them in warehouses or demolish, Hun Sen wrote on Facebook on Dec. 10.

Hun Sen claimed that most countries that used U.S.-made weapons have lost wars, citing U.S.-backed Cambodian General Lon Nol, who was overthrown by the Khmer Rouge in 1975, and the more recent collapse of the Afghanistan government.

My decision not to buy weapons from the United States is absolutely correct for Cambodias national defense, he remarked.

Hun Sens remarks came on the same day as counselor of the U.S. Department of State Derek Chollet met with members of Cambodian civil society for talks on human rights, the environment, labor conditions, and press freedom in Cambodia.

In a tweet, Chollet emphasized that promoting respect for human rights is central to U.S. foreign policy in Cambodia and around the world.

Deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch Phil Robertson also urged Chollet to demand Hun Sen end the rapidly expanding crackdown on political opponents that had led to widespread arrests, mass show trials, [and] aggressive pursuit of recognized refugees overseas.

Last month, the U.S. Treasury Department levied sanctions against two senior members of the Cambodian Ministry of National Defense, Chau Phirun and Tea Vinh, for corruption.

The treasury in a statement alleged that in 2020 and 2021, Chau Phirun conspired with Tea Vinh and other Cambodian officials to inflate costs of a construction and updating project at Ream Naval Base facilities, and then planned to use the funds skimmed from the project for their own benefit.

U.S. officials are concerned that construction at the Ream Naval Base in Sihanoukville will be used to facilitate a Chinese military presence in Cambodia.

Katabella Roberts contributed to this report.
Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is seen in Washington in a file photograph. (Greg Nash/Pool/Getty Images)

CDC Director: Definition of Fully Vaccinated Still Evolving

As federal health officials publicly mull over the definition of what constitutes fully vaccinated, the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said Tuesday that her agency is still evaluating it.

Currently, one is considered fully vaccinated if they have received either one Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine dose, two Moderna vaccine doses, or two Pfizer doses. The CDC is the agency that will ultimately decide whether the definition of fully vaccinated will include a booster dose.

Some state agencies, federal agencies and military branches, and many businesses have mandated that workers and staff members be fully vaccinated by a certain date. Adding a booster shot to the equation may mean that millions of workers would have to receive the booster dose or potentially face termination or suspension from their jobs.

But CDC Director Rochelle Walensky told the Today show Tuesday that whether the definition of fully vaccinated should change from two shots to three shots is evolving. The agency has not made a determination either way.

What we know about variants is that the more mutations you have, the more immune boost you need in order to combat them, so thats exactly why were saying this variant has a lot of mutations, we want to make sure that we have as much immune protection as possible, Walensky told the news show when she was asked about the definition changing.

The CDC head then suggested that people get the booster shot if they havent yet and are eligible to receive it.

Her comments follow a recent decision handed down by UK health officials, who said this week that those using COVID-19 vaccine passports will have to receive a booster dose.

Sajid Javid, the UKs health secretary, told Parliament that because of the Omicron variant, two jabs are not enough to prevent symptomatic infection. Javid said that an analysis by the UK Health Security Agency suggests boosters are 70 percent effective against symptomatic infection from Omicron.

One person with the Omicron strain has died in the UK, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced on Monday. The UK death is the only Omicron-related fatality that has been reported anywhere in the world so far, coming weeks after the Omicron variant was named by the World Health Organization.

So far in the United States, at least two Democratic governors have said that being classified as fully vaccinated should also include a booster dose.

Meanwhile, health officials in South Africa, where the variant first emerged, have said that there are signs suggesting Omicron is milder than Delta, the variant that makes up most infections worldwide.

They are able to manage the disease at home, Dr. Unben Pillay, who is treating Omicron patients in South Africa, told The Associated Press about his patients condition. Most have recovered within the 10 to 14-day isolation period.
Travelers check a departures list at the ticketing level of Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in Seattle, on Nov. 24, 2021. (Lindsey Wasson/Reuters)

CDC Warns Americans Shouldnt Travel to Italy, 2 Other Nations

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Monday said that Americans should not travel to Italy, Greenland, and Mauritius due citing COVID-19 concerns.

The federal health agency now lists 84 countries as Level 4: Very High, including most of Europe. Generally, the CDC names a destination as Level 4 when there are more than 500 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents in the past month.

Italy and Mauritius were also added by the Department of State to its own Level Four: Do Not Travel list.

Italy reported 98 COVID-19-related deaths on Monday against 66 the day before, the health ministry said, while the daily tally of new infections fell to 12,712 from 19,215. Italy historically has been one of the top foreign tourist destinations for Americans.

Meanwhile, the United States imposed new travel restrictions on Dec. 6 that require fully vaccinated international travelers to obtain a negative COVID-19 test within 24 hours of travel.

Days before that, the federal government barred nearly all foreign nationals from entering the United States from eight southern African countries such as South Africa due to the Omicron variant. So far, only one Omicron-related death has been reported worldwide after UK Prime Minister Boris Johnsons announcement Monday confirming one death in his country.

World Health Organization officials have said that the variant appears to be fast-spreading, but other officials have suggested Omicron may not lead to more severe disease than other strains, including Delta.

Despite Omicron apparently showing milder symptoms, UK and European officials are now scrambling to implement new lockdowns and other measures, while the governors of California and New York reimposed mask mandates for all indoor businesses in their respective states. Some federal officials have said more data is needed before making a determination on Omicrons severity.

We are concerned with the large volume of individuals who are being infected every day in the population, that we are going to have a very difficult four weeks ahead with cases in the community, which will of course cause individuals to need to stay off work and school and then for those cases to transfer into admissions to hospital, Dr. Susan Hopkins, the chief UK medical adviser, told British lawmakers on Tuesday.

Currently, 10 people who were confirmed to have contracted the Omicron variant are hospitalized around the UK, said Hopkins.

And Biden administration COVID-19 advisor Anthony Fauci told CNN that the strain may be the dominant one in the United States. As a result, he argued that Americans should receive booster shots.
Former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin addresses the court as Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill presides over Chauvin's sentencing. Chauvin faces decades in prison for the May 2020 death of George Floyd. At the Hennepin County Courthouse in Minneapolis, Minn., on June 25, 2021. (Court TV via AP, Pool)

Chauvin Expected to Plead Guilty in Floyd Civil Rights Case

A court notice says he plans to change his not guilty plea

MINNEAPOLISFormer Minneapolis Police officer Derek Chauvin appears to be on the verge of pleading guilty to violating George Floyd s civil rights, a move that would remove him from a federal trial but could significantly increase the amount of time hell spend behind bars.

A notice sent out Monday by the courts electronic filing system shows a hearing is scheduled for Wednesday for Chauvin to change his not guilty plea. These types of notices typically indicate a defendant is planning to plead guilty, though nothing will be official until it happens in court.

Chauvin has already been convicted of state murder and manslaughter charges for pinning his knee against Floyds neck during a May 25, 2020 arrest. He was sentenced to 22.5 years in that case.

A message left with Chauvins attorney, Eric Nelson, was not immediately returned. The U.S. Attorneys Office had no comment.

Chauvin and three other former officersThomas Lane, J. Kueng and Tou Thaowere indicted earlier this year on federal charges alleging they willfully violated Floyds rights. They were set to go to trial in late January.

(L-R) Former Minneapolis police officers J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane, and Tou Thao, in booking photos. (Hennepin County Sheriffs Office via AP)

Chauvins plea could be a positive for the other three. They had asked the court to separate their trials from Chauvins, arguing that his presence would hurt them before a jury, but that request was denied. Mike Brandt, a local defense attorney not connected to the case, said a trial without Chauvin could reduce some of the inflammatory evidence jurors would see.

Brandt has also said that if Chauvin pleads guilty, he can be compelled to testifywhich could benefit the others if he says he was the veteran officer who made the decision to do what he did.

The information sent out Monday gives no indication that the other officers intend to plead guilty. Messages left for their attorneys were not immediately returned.

Mark Osler, a professor at the University of St. Thomas School of Law, said any potential prison time that Chauvin would face in the federal case would likely be served at the same time as his state sentencebut the federal term has the potential to be much longer, up to life in prison.

By claiming responsibility, Chauvin can reduce his federal sentence. Though rare, Osler said he could also arrange to serve his sentence in the federal system, which could benefit him since he has been in solitary confinement in Minnesota. Brandt added that Chauvin would still have notoriety in the federal system and might still need to be segregated.

Im guessing he actually negotiated something that would allow him to see the light of day before he leaves the earth, Brandt said.

But the federal system has no parole, so even with a reduced federal sentence, Chauvin could spend more time behind bars.

In Minnesota, defendants with good behavior serve two-thirds of their sentence in prison, and the remaining one-third on supervised release, also known as parole. Under that formula, hes expected to serve 15 years in prison on the state charges, and 7.5 years on parole.

Under sentencing guidelines, Chauvin could get a federal penalty ranging from 27 years to more than 33 years in prison, with credit for taking responsibility, Osler said. But the guidelines are not mandatory, and Osler estimated Chauvin would be sentenced toward the lower end of the range.

According to evidence in the state case against Chauvin, Kueng and Lane helped restrain the 46-year-old Floyd as he was on the groundKueng knelt on Floyds back and Lane held down Floyds legs. Thao held back bystanders and kept them from intervening during the 9.5-minute restraint.

All four former officers were charged broadly in federal court with depriving Floyd of his rights while acting under government authority, but the federal indictment broke down the counts even further. A count against Chauvin alleged he violated Floyds right to be free from unreasonable seizure and from unreasonable force by a police officer.

Thao and Kueng are charged with violating Floyds right to be free from unreasonable seizure by not intervening to stop Chauvin as he knelt on Floyds neck. All four officers are charged for their failure to provide Floyd with medical care.

It was not immediately clear if Chauvin plans to plead guilty to all or some of the federal charges against him in Floyds death.

Osler said hes not surprised the other three former officers dont seem to be involved in this plea deal because they would likely face much lesser sentences than Chauvin if convicted.

If they were to plead guilty, Osler said, the other three would likely want a plea deal that would wrap up both the state and federal charges.

The other three men were also charged in state court with aiding and abetting murder and manslaughter. They are scheduled to go to trial in that case in March.

Chauvin is also charged in a second indictment, stemming from the use of force and neck restraint of a 14-year-old boy in 2017.

That indictment alleges Chauvin deprived the boy of his right to be free of unreasonable force when he held him by the throat, hit him in the head with a flashlight and held his knee on the boys neck and upper back while he was prone, handcuffed, and not resisting. Information from the court gave no indication that Chauvin would be changing his plea in that case.
China Expands Its Influence in South Asia

China is focused on isolating India

News Analysis

Chinas main adversary in South Asia is India. Beijing is focused like a laser beam on reducing New Delhis influence in the region.

The two countries have fought several recent military skirmishes and also a border war in 1962 over disputed territory in the Himalayan Mountains and the Seven Sister States of northeast India (Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Tripura).

An area unknown to most of the world is the Siliguri Corridor, nicknamed the Chickens Neck, that strategically connects the isolated Seven Sister States to the rest of India via the only rail service in the area. Sikkim joined the rest of India as a state in 1975, having been quasi-independent until then. The Seven Sister States are bordered on three-and-a-half sides by Bangladesh, Burma (Myanmar), China, Bhutan, and Nepalthe latter two being effectively controlled by China.

On Chinas side of the border, Chinas Chumbi Valley is the leading edge in a stand-off between Chinese roadbuilders and troops against the Indian army. Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader Xi Jinping has a desire to absorb those Seven Sister States into China in order to ultimately gain yet another major trade route access to the Indian Ocean from the Bay of Bengal. This, then, is a major source of the China-India border dispute.

Recent military talks between the two sides ended in a stalemate, and both sides are hunkering down for a winter of continuing tensions in the region, with Chinese state-run media Global Times crowing about the Peoples Liberation Armys (PLA) superior logistics in the area.

Indian army convoy carrying reinforcements and supplies drive on a highway bordering China in Gagangir, India, on Sept. 2, 2020. (Yawar Nazir/Getty Images)

As part of a strategy to encircle and isolate India, China has long sought to dominate the Indo-Pacific region, both economically and geopolitically. China seeks to develop an integrated economic market consisting of all Eurasian nations, with emphasis on South and Central Asia. Integral to the growing Chinese hub-and-spoke network is the development of a series of land corridors to facilitate overland trade, including the ChinaCentral AsiaWest Asia Corridor running from Western China to Turkey. Chinathe Spider-Dragonis focused on developing a land route through Pakistan to the Gulf of Oman, too.

China has maintained a long relationship with Pakistan. Beijing is investing billions under its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) to develop the China-Pakistan Economic Corridorconsisting of highways, rail lines, and pipelinesfrom Gwadar Port on the Indian Ocean to Xinjiang. This Corridor will be the transmission belt to China for Middle East oil, including oil from Iran. The Chinese are also building infrastructure for Pakistan on the disputed IndiaPakistan border inside Pakistan-controlled Kashmir, according to an Epoch Times report.

A key Chinese geopolitical-military goal in the Indo-Pacific region is to expand PLA/PLA Navy bases throughout the region in order to counteract longtime U.S. geopolitical dominance there. The establishment of PLA bases is used to intimidate Indo-Pacific nations into taking more neutral (if not outright pro-China) stances in geopolitical affairs. This strategy has worked well with key ally Pakistan at Gwadar Port.

The strategy is also being used elsewhere in the region, as reported by the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies: The Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) is already making serious headway securing new bases in Cambodia, Tanzania, and the United Arab Emirates, among other locales.  The current push for a Chinese base in Kiribati is eerily reminiscent of Beijings efforts to secure its first (and for now only) overseas military base in Djibouti in 2017. Note: Kiribati is within striking range of Hawaii. It is not just the smaller nations that Beijing seeks to intimidate, but also their main enemythe United States of America.

The Chinese communists (Chicoms) have been steadily focused on improving ties with Iran since the 1960s. Their methods have included well-timed diplomacy, bribery, and strategic investments over the years. CCP patience has paid off handsomely as the two nations are well on the way to developing a strategic relationship. Beijing and Tehran have recently signed an agreement that involves Chinese investment of $400 billion in Iran over a 25-year period in return for lower Iranian petroleum export prices, according to a report by the Center for Strategic and International Studies. There is a military element of that deal, too. As the countries will exchange military personnel, China will be permitted to deploy/station 5,000 PLA personnel in Iran, and maritime cooperation between the two countries will be enhanced. Lastly, the deal provides the PLA Navy with access to the Iranian port of Chabahar, which is an alternative access to the Gulf of Oman besides Gwadar Port.

Increased CCP influence in Iran could have a major impact on Iranian operations throughout the Middle East. Iran is already heavily engaged in funding Hezbollah, Hamas, and Islamic Jihad, as well as providing Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps military resources to its allies and proxies as a means of undermining and dominating the smaller Arab nations in the Middle East over time. Chinese purchase of Iranian oil funds all of these activities, and the increasing CCP political influence being exerted in Tehran may tilt the balance of power in the Middle East away from the United States to China.

Chinas Foreign Minister Wang Yi shakes hands with Irans Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif during a meeting at the Diaoyutai state guest house in Beijing, China, on Dec. 31, 2019. (Noel Celis-Pool/Getty Images)

It has been postulated that Beijing is in effect orchestrating a three-way alliance with Iran and Pakistan in order to control and influence matters in Southwest and South Asia. The above actions would appear to confirm that a de facto alliance is already in effect.

Add Afghanistan to the mix. The CCP achieved a great geopolitical victory when the United States abandoned the country to the Taliban last August. In doing so, the United States also abandoned Afghanistans rich deposits of copper, gold, bauxite, lead, zinc, coal, iron ore, and rare earth elements to the Chicoms. China has been steadily working for years behind the scenes to influence its long-term prospects in Afghanistan. Unbeknownst to many in the West, China had already become Afghanistans biggest investor before the Biden administration cut and ran. The Chicoms have a $3 billion, 30-year lease on the Aynak copper mine and have their sights now set on lithium mining. Lithium is used for the production of lithium-ion batteries, a major component of the Chinas burgeoning green technology production base. Chinese investment in roads and railways will complete the addition of Afghanistan to the Spider-Dragons hub-and-spoke network as an extension to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.

The Chicoms also have their sights set on Sri Lanka with BRI-related investments at Colombo International Container Terminal (CICT) and the southern port of Hambantota. The usual CCP debt-trap diplomacy may be more effective in Sri Lanka, as the country maintains high debt levels accompanied by a poor trade balance, making it more difficult for Sri Lanka to pay back the Chinese loans. Plus, the Chicoms insist on importing Chinese labor to facilitate completion of projects, which displaces local workers. It is speculated that Beijing will ultimately gain some control over Hambantota in order to allow access to the port by PLA Navy ships.

Conclusion

Communist Chinas geopolitical and economic moves in South Asia are transparently aimed at reducing Indias influence in the region, partly in order to achieve Chinese territorial growth objectives along the disputed China-India border. The Spider-Dragons web continues to expand and ensnare several countries on Indias periphery. Additionally, the Chinese regime seeks to diminish U.S. influence in the region, especially in the Middle East. Thus, India and the United States are natural allies with a common adversary.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
A medical worker in protective suit collects a swab from a man at a makeshift nucleic acid testing site inside a sports center in Binhai New Area, in Tianjin, China, on Nov. 21, 2020. (cnsphoto via Reuters)

China Reports First Case of Omicron Variant

Health authorities in northern Chinas port city of Tianjin have reported the first case of the Omicron coronavirus variant in the countrys mainland, the state-run Tianjin Daily said on Monday.

The infection was discovered in a traveler who arrived in the city from overseas on Dec. 9, the newspaper said, adding that the patient is currently being treated in isolation in hospital.
The first case of the Omicron variant has been detected in China. The discovery comes just weeks ahead of the Beijing Winter Olympics.

A building dubbed Chinas Little Red Mansion is shocking Chinese society after a brutal sex slavery case was exposed within its walls. The details are shedding light on the ugly truth of Shanghai police corruption, and those linked to it.

The Chinese Communist Party says its economy is on the up and up. But a number of state employees are reporting pay cuts up to 20 percent.

Extensive U.S. sanctions are angering Beijing. The regimes foreign ministry warns of retaliation, while the penalties seek to address human rights abuses in the country.

Two long-time allies agree to strengthen their ties. The United States and Japan are upping their deterrence and response capabilities, looking to combat tensions in the Indo-Pacific.

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China's special climate envoy, Xie Zhenhua, speaks during a joint China and US statement on a declaration enhancing climate action in the 2020s on Nov. 10, 2021 in Glasgow, Scotland. )Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

Chinese Regime Using Climate Policy as Weapon Against US Economy: Report

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has twisted the climate change movement into a political and economic weapon against the West, according to a new report by The Global Warming Policy Foundation, a London-based nonprofit.

Titled Chinas Energy Dream, the report details the CCPs manipulation of international climate agreements and comes to a startling conclusion: China uses climate policy both as a way to strengthen its economy and as a weapon for weakening other countries.

Ample evidence of this corruption was seen at the recent COP 26 climate summit held in Glasgow, Scotland, according to the reports author, Patricia Adams. At Chinas insistence, an agreement to phase out the use of coal-burning power plants, was changed to phase downallowing for Beijings continued use of coal for power. This last-minute change allowed COP26 delegates to celebrate a new climate deal that included China, the worlds largest greenhouse-gas polluter.

For China, it was a double victory, allowing the regime in Beijing to claim a commitment to a clean energy future without having to sacrifice its heavy dependence on the fossil fuels it needs to power its economy.

Adams, executive director of the Toronto-based nonprofit Probe International, has spent 30 years studying environmental problems in China and the CCPs manipulation of the environmental movement. The title of her report is a play on the Chinese Dream slogan that Xi Jinping has used repeatedly since he became leader of the CCP in 2012. Its a term used to capture the regimes official aspirationsfrom sustainable development to international prestige.

Chinas Energy Dream shows how heavily Xis dream depends on fossil fuels: For the regime to survive, and that is surely the CCPs top priority, fossil fuels for economic growth must be secure. For this reason, the report explains, the pursuit of CO2 reductions within China would serve neither the goal of preserving Communist rule nor becoming the worlds foremost superpower by 2049.

Carbon dioxide reductions only make sense for those it wishes to harm and supplant.

Economic Warfare

According to Adamss report, China is using climate change policy as covert economic warfare.

China is doing everything it can to encourage the West to continue its pursuit of climate reforms, writes Adams, while the CCP only pretends to play along. As the United States and other advanced economies grapple with the challenges of a low-carbon economy, China is going all out, domestically and internationally, to secure more and more fossil fuels to power its economy and achieve world superpower supremacy.

In an interview with The Epoch Times, Adams was even more blunt.

It is very clear to me that climate change has become a war weapon for the CCP. Their goal is to supplant Western governments while continuing to grow their economic and military power and achieve world supremacy.

On the economic front, she said, Chinas best weapon is to get the Western governments to pursue net-zero emissions. This will destroy our economies while they continue to grow. Its a crazy policy, but it has somehow captured many Western governments. China is using climate change policy to handicap our economies.

Adamss report reprises Chinas history of subverting international institutionsfrom its violation of fair trade rules to its relentless cyber espionage and cyberwarfare attacks on foreign competitors. According to the author, theres little reason to expect that Chinas approach to climate policy will be different. The Chinese regime continues to expand its navy and build seaports and oil pipelinesall to strengthen its access to sources of fossil fuels.

West Turns Blind Eye

How has the CCP managed to do so little about emissions without protest from the worlds environmentalists? As Adams sees it, China has co-opted and corrupted the international climate change movement.

Like all western NGOs, green groups are only allowed to operate in China so long as they bite their tongues [about Chinas problems], she wrote in a paper published in 2020. To work with China, climate change organizations must turn a blind eye to the obvious: China does not honor its international agreements and has no intention of reducing fossil fuel consumption.

While the world has awakened to Chinas abuses, Western environmentalists are silent, Adams said in a statement accompanying the 2020 paper. China plays them as useful idiots who cant contradict Xi for fear of losing Chinas participation in the global climate effort.

As Adams sees it, the climate change community benefits from the CCPs charade.

There are countless environmental groups and government agencies around the world whose budgets depend on this climate change issue, she told The Epoch Times, and they all need China to participate. Or at least appear to be participating.

To observers such as Adams and the Global Warming Policy Foundation, it became clear long ago that not only was China unable to reduce emissions, it was headed in the opposite direction as its economy exploded and the need for power grew exponentially.

Despite a decade of public statements about clean energy, China remains the worlds largest user of coal and is building coal-burning power plants at a rate of one per week.

In 2020, China built over three times as much new coal power capacity as all other countries in the world combined, according to the Global Energy Monitor.

China absolutely depends on fossil fuels, Adams said. They need it to run their economy.

Whatever climate promises the CCP might make, it cant and wont be able to give up fossil fuels. Yet, the regime will continue to push the United States and other advanced economies to make those changes.

Look at the direction we are headed, Adams says about U.S. climate policy. While China continues to grow economically through its use of fossil fuels, the United States has bans on fracking and new oil extraction, canceled pipelines, and unrealistic pushes for subsidized solar and wind power. These policies being encouraged by Western environmental groups threaten to destroy our economies.

China is involved in climate change to further its own goals. China has serious air and water pollution problems, but CO2 isnt one of them. Climate policy doesnt meet any of Chinas internal environmental needs. Its a powerful international issue that the CCP uses for its own benefit.
Chinese Synthetic Narcotics Networks in Post-NATO Afghanistan

Transferring Mexican structures, operational mechanics, and quietly accelerating risks

News Analysis

In recent years, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has directly supported, facilitated, and exerted strategic control over the development of the Chinese pharmaceutical industry, a substantial portion of which is centered in Wuhan city.

The CCP has had the overt intention for China to become the pharmacy of the world with leading positions across the full spectrum, from pill manufacturing to personal protective equipment exports. One byproduct of this broader central planning exercise has been the development of synthetic narcotics that are produced in pharmaceutical-grade factories with the associated economies of scale, thereby enabling stable supply and low prices.

One key Chinese product is fentanyl-laced heroin, a combination of a (mostly) legal opiate, fentanyl, with the proscribed substance of heroin. The current most data-rich example of this is the triangular dynamics between China, Mexico, and the United States.

Over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, one Mexican drug cartel, the Nueva Generacion (or New Generation), has achieved ascendancy over a myriad of other well-armed and violent drug trafficking cartels operating in Mexico. Subject matter experts have largely attributed the exponential rise of the Nueva Generacion cartel to its control over Mexicos Pacific ports, thereby enabling it to monopolize the supply of key precursor chemicals from China, and Wuhan in particular.

Can Mexico Template Be Transferred to a Post-NATO Afghanistan?

In addition to supplying precursor chemicals and other related inputs for the manufacture of fentanyl-laced heroin, territory controlled by the Nueva Generacion cartel (as well as other cartels) now host multiple Chinese-operated, pharmaceutical-grade factories that produce synthetic narcotics for illicit export to the United States, but also increasingly for consumption in Mexico and Latin America.

Boxes carrying a total of more than 3,100 pounds of illicit drugs seized at the southwest border in San Diego, on Oct. 9, 2020. (U.S. Customs and Border Protection)

This production process can be classified as semi-skilled as the labor force requires some basic skills to mix compounds, operate a pill press, and ensure basic quality control and facility safety standards. Even modest-quality road networks and smaller regional airports provide sufficient transportation infrastructure to enable this business to occur, as cargo shipments are relatively lightweight and dont require much space. However, these factories are fairly energy-intensive and require a consistent power supply, often in remote areas that arent connected to the Mexican national grid.

As such, the Chinese management of these factories has developed and validated sophisticated remote power solutions to ensure uninterrupted continuity of operations.

In Mexico, Chinese drug trafficking syndicateswhich cant operate independently without the CCPhave clearly demonstrated the ability to navigate through high levels of multi-directional and often unpredictable violence and corruption, critical national infrastructure shortfalls, the COVID-19 pandemic, and a myriad of other challenges. This has enabled them to establish control over the majority of the synthetic narcotics industry in Mexico, from production of precursor chemicals to shipping, to onshore manufacturing.

At present, distribution of these synthetic narcotics within the United States is outsourced to Mexican cartels as well as U.S. criminal organizations, with the Mexico-based Chinese syndicates often receiving a share of the U.S.-generated profits.

While different in some respects in terms of human terrain, the various operational risks and challenges posed by Mexico share a remarkable number of similarities with a country such as Afghanistan. However, its clear the Chinese synthetic narcotics trafficking syndicates have solved these various problems by using a Mexico template that can be readily transferred to Afghanistan with some modifications.

It should be noted that rates of incidence of violent crime, acts of terrorism, kidnapping, group-on-group violence, and other related security events in Mexico are either equal to or even exceed Afghanistan on a per capita basis. The years 2020 and 2021 have been widely assessed to be the most dangerous period in Mexicos entire independent history dating back to 1810.

Afghanistans Potential as the Next Major Production Site

Given the ability of Chinese synthetic narcotics syndicates to effectively graft themselves onto and direct relevant activities of the Nueva Generacion cartel and others, it can be reasonably assessed that they could replicate their model with the various Taliban and other warlord factions in Afghanistan. Afghanistan is characterized by rough terrain and perennial instability, thereby making opium the ideal agricultural crop for many Afghan farmers.

The illicit revenues of opium, which enabled the Taliban to survive the U.S.-led NATO occupation of the country, is now funding the Talibans rise and has permeated all aspects of the licit Afghan economy. The opium poppy is an ideal wartime crop in that it requires very little water, fertilizer, or other expensive inputs. Despite marketing themselves as devout religious warriors, the Taliban control the full spectrum of these activities, from production to modest manufacturing (into heroin) and domestic distribution.

This relatively controlled structure, in many ways, mimics what Chinese synthetic narcotic syndicates have integrated into, and layered on top of, in Mexico. In addition, much of Afghanistans higher value opium/heroin market activities occur in several southern provinces such as Kandahar, Uruzgan, and Helmand that are under the direct control of the Afghan Talibans core leadership group and strongest factions. Similar to the Nueva Generacion example, Chinese syndicates have the option to partner with these Afghan syndicates to bring new, more profitable products to the country for export, namely synthetic narcotics such as fentanyl-laced heroin, among others.

Quietly Accelerating Regional and International Risks

In the Afghan case, Chinese syndicates dont run material risks of friction by simply trying to take another slice out of the pie, but rather they would be bringing capabilities that would dramatically increase the size of the overall pie for everyone. This method has worked well in Mexico and all available evidence suggests that it is likely replicable in Afghanistan.

Afghanistan has the labor force, basic road and air infrastructure, and enough structural coherence under the Taliban for Chinese syndicates to operate synthetic narcotics factories in Afghanistan for regional export. This would represent a development that would have major implications for all of Afghanistans neighboring countries and beyond.

Its also possible that Chinese syndicates would directly link Afghanistan into its already-established Mexican supply chain. Subject matter experts note that the natural strains of Afghan opium produce more potent heroin than the natural Mexican strains, and that production costs in Afghanistan would be lower as well. If that occurs, a new supply chain would emerge that involves the production of lower cost and higher potency Afghan opium that produces synthetic narcotics in domestic factories, while also simultaneously exporting raw materials (for example, opium/unrefined heroin) for value-add inputs, such as fentanyl, in Chinese-run factories in Mexico.

These economies of scale would drive further substantial efficiency gains and push prices down, thus making these narcotics even more widely accessible. Critically, it would also render this network less vulnerable to decapitation as there would be diversified market access and contingency-based redundant production facilities and distribution networks in two very different geographies.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
The CNN center is seen in downtown Atlanta, Ga., on Oct. 16, 2021. (Daniel Slim/AFP via Getty Images)

CNN Fires Senior Producer Charged With Luring Minors for Sex

CNN confirmed it has fired John Griffin, a long-time staffer producer who was indicted last week under the charges he tried to lure minors for sex.

The charges against Mr. Griffin are deeply disturbing. We learned of his arrest Friday afternoon and terminated his employment today, a CNN spokesperson told Fox News and the Hearst Connecticut Media Group. CNN had not returned a request for comment on Tuesday.

Griffin, 44, was charged Dec. 10 with three counts of using a facility of interstate commerce to attempt to entice minors to engage in unlawful sexual activity. The FBI announced the charges against Griffin, who had worked on CNNs New Day, in a Twitter post on Friday afternoon.

The U.S. Attorneys Office in Vermont said in the Department of Justice news release that Griffin sought to persuade parents to allow him to train their daughters to be sexually submissive. According to charging documents, Griffin acquired a Vermont ski house in February 2020 and offered to host mothers and their minor daughters at this location for purposes for alleged sexual misconduct.

During an incident in July 2020, Griffin allegedly picked up a woman and her 9-year-old daughter after they flew from Nevada to Bostons airport and drove them to his Ludlow house, the Department of Justices news release said. At the house, the daughter was directed to engage in, and did engage in, unlawful sexual activity.

The indictment also detailed specific allegations that Griffin attempted to entice two other children over the internet to engage in sexual activity, the agency said in the release.

Griffin faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison to life in prison on each of the three charges, according to the Department of Justice.

The allegations are deeply disturbing, and our office is committed to working with our partners at the United States Attorneys Office District of Vermont to ensure Mr. Griffin is held accountable for his actions, the FBI said in its statement last week. The FBI, along with our law enforcement partners, will continue to aggressively investigate those who victimize the most vulnerable in our communities.

CNN, which produced an article on Griffins arrest, confirmed that he worked at the network for about eight years. A spokesperson said that when his arrest was announced, the network suspended him.

According to a LinkedIn profile, Griffin had worked for ABC News for about seven years before he joined CNN in April 2013. Before ABC, he worked for Fox News for about three years, the profile shows.

The Epoch Times contacted Joseph Martini, one of his attorneys, for comment on his termination.
Divers work aboard the Danish cargo ship Karin Hoej, which collided with the British cargo ship Scot Carrier, between Ystad and Bornholm, on the Baltic Sea, on Dec. 13, 2021. (Johan Nilsson/TT News Agency via Reuters)

Crew Member Found Dead After Danish, British Boats Collide in Baltic

STOCKHOLM/COPENHAGENOne of two Danish crew members missing from a capsized barge has been found dead in the hull after an overnight collision on Monday with a British cargo vessel in a busy Baltic Sea route off Sweden.

The 55-metre Karin Hoj barge and 90-metre Scot Carrier were sailing in the same direction off the island of Bornholm when they crashed in fog and darkness at 3.30 a.m. (0230 GMT), maritime agencies in Denmark and Sweden said.

At least nine boats and a helicopter combed waters near the wreckage-strewn site, while the overturned Karin Hoj was towed away to shallower waters so Swedish divers could investigate the hull without risk of being dragged down.

It is impossible to survive for long without protective gear in the sea temperatures of around 4 Celsius, but there had been hope the pair might be alive inside an air pocket within the hull.

However, the Swedish Maritime Administration (SMA) and police said one person was found dead on the boat, while the other was still missing.

Criminal Investigation

Though there was fog at the time of the accident, the Danish Meteorological Institute said it was not dense and conditions were not unusual for the time of year.

The Swedish Prosecution Authority said in a statement a preliminary investigation was underway into several suspected crimes: gross negligence in maritime traffic, causing death through negligence, and marine intoxication.

It said two suspects, one British and one Croatian, had been take into custody and it could provide no further details due to the preliminary nature of the probe.

With events seeming to have unfolded fast, the Danish Defences Joint Operations Centre (JOC) said there was no sign lifeboats or other emergency equipment were used by the Karin Hojs two-person crew.

I can confirm an accident has happened but I do not know the circumstances, Soren Hoj, managing director of Rederiet Hoj which owns the Karin Hoj, told Reuters.

The barge was sailing from Sodertalje in Sweden to Nykobing Falster in southern Denmark, while the Scot Carrier was sailing to Montrose on Scotlands east coast.

The British ships owner Scotline said it could not comment on details but was assisting local authorities.

The SMA said the Danish vessel was empty of cargo and it was unclear what if anything the British ship was carrying.

The waters between Sweden and Denmark see large amounts of maritime traffic. Collisions are rare though in 2006 a small Danish vessel sank after a crash with a Swedish boat, with all the crew rescued alive after bailing overboard.

By Nikolaj Skydsgaard, Johan Ahlander, and Niklas Pollard
Democratic Candidates for LA Mayor Address Homelessness, Public Safety in First Public Forum

LOS ANGELESFour Democratic candidates in next years Los Angeles mayoral election appeared this week in their first public forum and gave their thoughts on key issues in the city.

Candidates in attendance included City Attorney Mike Feuer, Rep. Karen Bass, marketing executive Craig Greiwe, and Jessica Lall, CEO of the Central City Association.

The forum was hosted by a non-profit political organization, Stonewall Democratic Club, the home for progressive Democrats who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and straight allies of the LGBT community, according to its websitealong with the Los Angeles chapter of the National Association of Black Journalists and the Minority AIDS Project.

During the discussion on Dec. 12, moderated by freelance journalist Jarrett Hill and Spectrum News 1 anchor Tanya McRae, the candidates were asked a handful of questions on key issues in Los Angeles, including homelessness, housing affordability, public safety, and water shortage.

The Epoch Times has put together a summary of each candidates stance.

Affordable Housing and Homelessness

Regarding the rent hikes and growing homeless population, all four speakers planned to build more housing, and most of them wants to address other causes for homelessness, such as mental health issues and drug abuses.

Lalls approach focused on creating half a million more units of affordable housing for Angelenos. She also said the city needs to increase the spectrum of housing, by building permanent supportive housing units to alleviate the homeless problem.

Lall said she had a robust seven-point action plan to put forward but did not offer any specifics during the event.

On homelessness, Bass made a case for temporary supportive housing to be built on existing city or state-owned properties. She said it is also important to provide services that address the root causes as to what led them into homelessness to begin with, as solving homelessness takes a comprehensive solution.

Feuer said on his first day as mayor, he would declare a state of emergency on homelessness that gives the mayor additional executive authority and it galvanizes the public.

He said he would change the citys street engagement strategy to balance the humanity of that outreach with the fact that we need to be making a change on our streets [with] mental health and substance abuse [issues].

Feuer also said he would cut down the time it takes to cite and approve affordable housing plans in the city hall.

Greiwe vowed to create more housing for the homeless at a lower cost. His plans include 20,000 semi-permanent shelter beds, 12,000 shared units, 3,000 mental health beds, and 500 substance abuse beds, as well as 10,000 transitional units at a maximum cost of $30,000 apiece including serviceswhich according to him is how much such accommodation costs outside Los Angeles.

The candidates were asked if they would support defunding the Los Angeles Police Department to shift resources to mental health and community services; none of them verbally supported this in response.

Bass, however, emphasized the importance of preventative community programs to stop crime even before it happens, saying she would model her public safety approach of the George Floyd Justice and Policing Act she advocated for in Congress.

If a crime has been committed, its actually already too late, Bass said. We need to invest in prevention. We need to invest in community services, violence prevention, and so I would want to move forward with what we werent able to accomplish on a federal level, on a local level.

Both Greiwe and Lall said they supported funding mental health and community outreach services alongside the police.

Greiwe said the city needs more funding without taking from one group to give to another, since it is important to properly fund every aspect of our law enforcement as well as non-law enforcement alternatives that allow people to get the resources they need and create healthy relationships between all parties in the community.

Lall said she supported investing in technology, training and programs to better prepare our first responders to deal with all sorts of policing issuesremoving the police from some of these situations, but also empowering the police officers to be not just able to be prepared, but to really be accountable.

Feuer said his approach to public safety includes a substantial and well-funded police department that is diverse and well-trained, adding that he supports police reforms.

He also cited an existing city program that places police officers long-term in communities so they earn the trust and respect of the communities they serve.

Water Shortage

To reduce the citys reliance on external water sources, which are now drying up, both Feuer and Greiwe said they support initiatives to source Californias water more locally.

Feuer said he supports the goal of sourcing 75 percent of Los Angeles water locally by 2035, as 20 percent of the citys energy is used to move water.

Lall said as mayor she would also create more incentives for people to reduce usage to make sure the city is able to meet demands.

Bass pointed to the infrastructure package she helped pass in Congress, saying it will help update the states water policy for the first time in 50 years. Looking forward, Bass said her administration would look into drip irrigation and other ways of watering for agriculture.

Stonewall Democratic Club members will vote to endorse a candidate on Dec. 20, and their membership is open to all Democrats.

Current Mayor Eric Garcetti will no longer be eligible to run for mayor after his two terms are completed at the end of the year. Biden nominated Garcetti for an ambassadorship to India in July.

Councilmembers Joe Buscaino and Kevin De Leon, who are also running for mayor, were expected to attend but eventually chose not to, according to Stonewall Democratic Club President Alex Mohajer.

Mohajer said that the LGBTQ-focused club was disappointed that despite having confirmed their participation in the event over a month ago, [Buscaino and De Leon] canceled last minutevery last minutedue to scheduling conflicts.

Michael Trujillo, Buscainos campaign spokesperson, responded to Mohajers remarks via an email statement to The Epoch Times, saying the LGBTQ community has been a priority to Buscaino. However, like all humans balancing work, life, campaign, family sometimes conflicts arise on a persons schedule, Trujillo said.

Mohajer said the Stonewall Club invited Greiwe to the forum last minute to fill one of the empty slots.

A spokesperson for De Leon did not respond to a request for comment by press time.
The RCMP logo is seen outside Royal Canadian Mounted Police "E" Division Headquarters, in Surrey, B.C., on April 13, 2018. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press)

Engineer Charged by RCMP for Illegally Helping China Took Part in Major Canadian Projects

Wanping Zheng, an engineer who was recently charged by the RCMP for illegally using his position at the Canadian Space Agency to help negotiate a satellite deal with Iceland on behalf of a Chinese company, participated in several critical Canadian aerospace projects, according to his companys website and his LinkedIn profile.

The RCMP said in a statement on Dec. 8 that its investigation led to a charge of breach of trust against Zheng, who acted outside of his duties at the federal space agency and helped a Chinese aerospace company negotiate agreements on installing satellite station facilities in Iceland. According to court documents, Zhengs alleged criminal activities occurred in 2018.

The company Zheng is accused of helping is called Spacety, CBC News reported, founded in 2016 in Changsha, the capital of Chinas Hunan Province.

Zheng is the vice president of the company, which specializes in satellite-based commercial services, such as providing high-resolution images of the Earth.

Zhengs profile on Spacetys Chinese language website states that he has led the establishment and implementation of a number of major Canadian national aerospace projects, while at the Canadian Space Agency. He has also headed large-scale space projects related to International Space Station, space radar, radar satellite, scientific satellite, and experimental satellite.

Going by the first name of James on his LinkedIn profile, Zheng noted that he has also participated in most of the recent Canadian space missions as a technical expert or a manager.

The police said Zhengs participation in the deal with Iceland is considered foreign actor interference.

We do consider this to be a matter of foreign actor interference, RCMP Inspector David Beaudoin, who is in charge of the investigation initiated by the Integrated National Security Enforcement Team in Quebec, said last week.

Zheng is scheduled to appear in court on Dec. 15.

The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) has repeatedly warned about the increased espionage activities from foreign actors, with China and Russia as two major concerns.

CSIS director David Vigneault said in an annual report published April that in 2020, CSIS observed espionage and foreign interference activity at levels not seen since the Cold War.

In 2020, the Peoples Republic of China, Russia, and other foreign states continued to covertly gather political, economic, and military information in Canada through targeted threat activities in support of their own state development goals, the report states.

While little is known about Zhengs case, experts have warned about Chinas efforts in courting talent abroad as it seeks to increase its competitiveness.

Their main goal is to become a world leader in technology and to be competitive with the West, Akshay Singh, a non-resident research fellow at the Council on International Policy, told CBC News.

But Singh said China does not always conduct its espionage activities through planted spies, but could also involve non-traditional collection, in which the participants are ignorant of the true nature of the project.

You might think that youve got a wonderful job offer from [a] country to do some unique research and they might rely on your current knowledge and expertise. You dont mention it to your employer, he said.

You collect a paycheck and you move on, and you dont realize that perhaps  youve been recruited by a foreign government to provide materials or act on their behalf.
The Intake Release Center at the Orange County Central Mens Jail in Santa Ana, California, in 2020. (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times/TNS)

Ex-Deputy Charged With Pouring Scalding Water on Man in Southern California Jail

By Gregory Yee

From Los Angeles Times

LOS ANGELESAuthorities have charged a former Orange County sheriffs deputy accused of pouring scalding water on an incarcerated person with mental illness.

Guadalupe Ortiz, 47, faces one count each of felony assault or battery by a public officer, and felony battery with serious bodily injury, the Orange County district attorneys office said Monday. Ortiz faces as many as four years in state prison if convicted on both counts.

The law imputes a special duty of care on custodial personnel, and in this case the sheriffs deputy completely breached that duty and crossed the line into criminal conduct, said Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer. As district attorney it is my responsibility to hold sheriffs deputies and other jail staff accountable when they fail to properly protect those in their care. And now a deputy is throwing away a 22-year-career for inflicting unnecessary harm on a mentally ill inmate out of frustration.

The incident occurred April 1 at the Sheriffs Departments Intake Release Center in Santa Ana, prosecutors said.

A different deputy was trying to get the incarcerated man to move his hands out of the way so that he could close the door to the mans cell, prosecutors said. Ortiz and a third deputy offered to help.

Around 12:28 p.m., Ortiz used a hot water dispenser to fill a cup with scalding water, prosecutors said. When the man didnt move his hands, Ortiz allegedly poured the water on the mans hands, causing him to immediately retreat into the cell.

One of the deputies closed the door and the trio left, prosecutors said.

The incarcerated man was left alone without medical care until 7 p.m., about 6 1/2 hours later, when another deputy spoke with him during a standard security check and requested medical attention, prosecutors said.

One of the incarcerated mans arms was red and his skin was peeling, prosecutors said. He suffered first- and second-degree burns to his hands.

Ortiz was an Orange County sheriffs deputy for 19 years and previously served as a sheriffs special officer for three years, prosecutors said. He was fired Friday.

After investigating the incident, the Sheriffs Department submitted a case for filing consideration to the district attorneys office, said Carrie Braun, the departments public affairs director.

The actions of former Deputy Ortiz were an isolated occurrence and are not indicative of the high level of care provided to inmates in O.C. Jail custody, Braun said in a statement.

The former deputy is scheduled to be arraigned Jan. 11.

2021 Los Angeles Times. Visit at latimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Experts Count Coffee Trees in Brazil as Prices Hit 10-year Highs

NEW YORK/SAO PAULOCoffee experts working for commodity trading houses are taking to the narrow, winding roads in Brazils Minas Gerais state as they tour the coffee belt checking 2022 crop prospects just as prices approach the highest levels in 10 years.

This has been a difficult year for coffee farming in Brazil, the worlds largest producer. Prices surged after a drought and later frosts ruined as much as 20 percent of coffee trees, hitting future production. So far, those studying crops have produced wide estimates for the 2022 harvest, though traders for now are still betting on a less fruitful crop.

The people walking the fields will find the truth of that between now and the end of January, the optimal time for crop assessment.

The rains that followed the frosts and drought produced a nice flowering, but now we have to see how many of those will grow into cherries, said Ryan Delany, chief analyst at U.S.-based Coffee Trading Academy LLC.

Arabica coffee futures on ICE gained more than 90 percent this year after the drought, frosts, and then a global container shortage that hampered shipping. The price surge led farmers in Brazil, Colombia, and elsewhere to default on deliveries of pre-sold coffee.

During the tours, experts try to count pinhead cherries in the branches to come up with more detailed projections. So far, estimates released vary wildly.

Soft commodities analyst Judy Ganes, who was recently in Brazil with fellow analyst Shawn Hackett, estimated Brazils arabica production at around 36 million bags, one of the smallest projections in the market.

Ganes says the vegetative health of the trees was damaged by drought and frosts, something others are not fully accounting for. She expects Brazils total crop (including the robusta variety) to come in at 55 million bags, far from the record 2020 crop, the previous on-year crop in the biennial production cycle, that reached around 70 million bags.

Jonas Ferraresso, a Brazilian coffee agronomist, says the flowering was widespread after October rains, but the conversion to fruit was below normal.

Many trees developed new leaves in the branches instead of berries, an unusual development probably linked to the harsh drought earlier in the year, he said.

Others are more positive.

Rabobank, which specializes in agricultural financing, expects a crop at 66.5 million bags, not far from the record, adding that such production would generate a global surplus of 3 million bags and cut prices below $2 per pound in 2022. U.S.-based trader Cardiff Coffee sees production at 63.1 million bags.

Paulo Armelin manages a farm with 220 hectares in the Patrocinio area, Minas Gerais, where the frosts were strongest. He said around 20 percent of his fields were hit by the cold snap and will not produce next year, but the rest was not affected.

At least in my farm, the flowering was good and conversion to cherries looks fine, he said.

By Marcelo Teixeira and Roberto Samora
Last week, a new study came out of Israel. It was a fairly large study, looking at about two-thirds of the entire population of the country. It found that people with natural immunity were about six times less likely to get infected with COVID-19 than people who were exclusively vaccinated.

And this is only the latest in about 137 different studies that came to similar conclusions.

And its exactly against the backdrop of this reality that a group of senators is pushing through a bill called the Natural Immunity is Real Actwhich, as the name suggests, would have the federal government recognize people with natural immunity.

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 Israel Study PDF:

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Failed Hotel Quarantine Provider Prepares Second Claim for Payment From Australian State Government

The company that provided security guards for hotel quarantine during Melbournes infamous second wave is preparing to refile a payment claim against the Victorian state government for $10.7 million.

Unified Security Group, which was the principal contractor in both the Victorian and NSW hotel quarantine programs, alleged that the Victorian state government never paid its bill for services rendered, reported The Australian.

The amount forms part of the $41.7 million that Unified invoiced the state for providing security guards to 13 quarantine hotels.

But Unifieds payment claim against the state lapsed after the security company went into liquidation in May. Moreover, the Victorian government did not file its defence to the Supreme Court proceedings.

At that time insolvency liquidator, Trent McMillen said that he was in discussions with a litigation funder for the case.

McMillen told The Australian that the case was proceeding without a litigation funder after a firm was engaged to prepare action against the state for the outstanding payment.

In the first case filed against the Victorian government last year, Unified alleged that the state did not pay the company for costs by security guards who delivered Easter eggs and Mothers Day gifts to hotel quarantine guests.

Unified also alleged that it is owed $218,730, not including GST, for meal allowances.

However, the Victorian state government blocked payments to Unified after it was found that the company utilised subcontractors to guard hotels without state approval.

This follows an investigation by the Fair Work Ombudsman that found security guards who ran hotel quarantine in Melbourne and Sydney were owed more than $1 million in unpaid wages. Unified Security admitted they owed nearly $900,000 in unpaid entitlement to staff in Sydney, and was issued a compliance notice to backpay employees, reported News Corp.

Unified is also alleged to owe nearly $200,000 to another contractor for Victorian operations, despite claiming over $7 million in JobKeeper and receiving more than $90 million worth of work in NSW and Victorian hotel quarantine program reported The Australian.

Moreover, almost $20 million in loans and dividends were paid to a holding company controlled by David Millward and Luigi Trunzo when Unified collapsed in May. Millward and Trunzo have been identified as potential shadow directors, reported The Australian.

In October 2020, a class action (pdf) against defendants Unified Security Group and MSS Securitythe two companies contracted to provide hotel security to the Rydges and Stamford Plaza hotelswas filed in Victorias Supreme Court for damages alleging the security companies caused at least 99.8% of COVID-19 cases in Victoria from May 2020.

In September 2021, WorkSafe Victoria charged the Department of Health, formerly the Department of Health and Human Services, with 58 breaches of the Occupational Health Safety Act over the leaks of the CCP virus from hotel quarantine that sparked the states deadly second wave.

However, Self Employed Australia, an organisation representing business owners, is set to launch a legal challenge against Worksafe Victoria to force the prosecution of Premier Daniel Andrews, Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton, former health minister Jenny Mikakos and other senior bureaucrats over the bungled hotel quarantine program.
A man prepares to smoke "Spice", a synthetic marijuana drug, along a New York City street on Aug. 5, 2015. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

2 Dead and 41 Hospitalized for Using Spice, Causing Severe Bleeding

Florida health officials say two have died and at least 41 people have been hospitalized with severe bleeding after using the synthetic cannabinoid drug known as spice.

The recent outbreak has been linked to a rise in people purchasing the synthetic marijuana from local dealers in the Tampa Bay area, Floridas Poison Control Centers (FPCC) said in a news release. The incidents were first reported last week by the Florida Department of Health in Hillsborough County.

We are closely monitoring this situation and working with public health agencies. Toxicologists and poison specialists are assisting hospitals in the treatment of these poisoned patients, it said in a statement.

Alfred Aleguas, FPCC co-managing director, said tests found that some of the drug consumed was contaminated with rodenticidean ingredient previously used to kill rats.

So the commonality is that they are admitting to smoking spice, or synthetic cannabinoids, and weve had laboratory confirmation that at least some of the samples we sent out are contaminated with rodenticide, he told 10 Tampa Bay.

An anticoagulant, rodenticide. Its a product that used to be used for killing rats and mice, but this is in a much higher concentration. It appears this spice is contaminated with this.

He told Fox13 that the hospitalized patients presented with significant clinical effects such as blood in their urine, spontaneous bleeding from their nose, and easy bruising.

I would not be surprised if we ended up with some fatalities, Aleguas added.

The FPCC has encouraged individuals experiencing symptoms after using spice or marijuana to contact the center at 1-800-222-1222 or visit the nearest emergency room.

Our doctors, pharmacists and nurses are available 24-7 if you have any questions, the FPCC wrote in a news release.

Symptoms may develop and progress rapidly, the FPCC said, noting that officials are closely monitoring the situation and working with public health agencies.

Toxicologists and poison specialists are assisting hospitals in the treatment of these poisoned patients, it added.

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, spice is an illegal concoction of herbs and laboratory-made chemicals. Synthetic cannabinoids are human-made mind-altering chemicals that are either sprayed on dried, shredded plant material so they can be smoked or sold as liquids to be vaporized and inhaled in e-cigarettes and other devices, and may affect the brain more powerfully than marijuana, it says.

Update: This article has been updated with the latest figure on casualties linked to spice.
A man is tested for COVID-19 in New York City on Dec. 8, 2021. (Eduardo Munoz/Reuters)

Fauci Predicts Omicron Will Become Dominant Variant in US

Omicron pegged at nearly 3 percent of COVID-19 variants in US

The Omicron virus variant will become the dominant variant in the United States, Dr. Anthony Fauci said Tuesday.

It is going to be dominant in the United States, given its doubling time, Fauci told CNN.

In some countries, the percent of COVID-19 cases that Omicron causes is doubling every two days, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said on NBCs Today show.

Omicron is a variant of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, also known as SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19.

Omicron quickly became the dominant strain in South Africa, where scientists first identified the variant.

Officials in European countries have said they expect Omicron to displace Delta within days.

COVID-19 cases caused by the variant in the United States increased to nearly 3 percent in the week ending on Dec. 11, according to data collected by the CDCs national genomic surveillance system published earlier in the day.

Thats up from 0.4 percent the week before and an undetected amount during the week ending on Nov. 27.

The system collects specimens of SARS-CoV-2 for sequencing. Thousands of sequences are analyzed and classified by variant each week.

Omicron is much more prevalent in the northeast United States, according to the data. The variant made up 13.1 percent of cases detected during the week ending on Dec. 11, by far the highest percentage in the country.

The next highest were in the Midwest and south-central United States. Barely any Omicron cases had been detected in the western and southeastern states.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington on Nov. 4, 2021. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

The surveillance system may not be entirely reliable. California has already reported the most Omicron cases in the country and researchers at the University of Washington reported this week finding an increase in the percentage of Omicron in samples they studied for the second consecutive week.

Omicron is more transmissible, and were seeing that in other countries as well, that its rapidly becoming the more predominant strain, Walensky said.

Early evidence indicates Omicron spreads more easily than Delta but causes less severe disease, on average. However, experts say further study is needed to pin down crucial aspects of the new variant.

Earlier Tuesday, South African scientists said they found the protection provided by Pfizer and BioNTechs vaccine dropped against Omicron in terms of both infection and hospitalization.

Previous small studies conducted on Omicron pointed to a significant drop in protection against infection.

The companies and some scientists have urged people to get booster shots in light of the data but experts note that the level and durability of protection provided by boosters remains unclear, particularly with regards to Omicron.
First FDA-Approved Eye Drops to Counter Age-Related Blurry Near Vision

The first-ever eye drop approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to combat symptoms of presbyopia, or age-related blurry near vision, is now available by prescription nationwide.

Pharmaceutical company Allergan, owned by AbbVie, announced the development on Dec. 9. The company says its eye drops, Vuity, or pilocarpine hydrochloride ophthalmic solution 1.25 percent, is now the only FDA-approved eye drop to manage presbyopia symptoms.

The FDA approved Vuity on Oct. 28.

Presbyopia is an age-related progressive condition that typically starts around age 40. In presbyopia, the lens behind the iris becomes progressively less able to change shape, which affects the eyes ability to focus on closer objects.

The eye drop combats symptoms of presbyopia by improving vision at near and intermediate distances, without impacting distance vision, Allergan said in its release. Vuity is intended to be taken daily and is expected to take effect within 15 minutes and last up to six hours.

Pilocarpine acts to constrict the size of the pupils, thereby creating a pinhole effect that increases the depth of focus and improves a persons ability to focus on near objects.

The eye drop is delivered with proprietary pHast technology, which allows Vuity to rapidly adjust to the physiologic pH of the tear film, Allergan said.

The pHast drug delivery platform vehicle is expected to improve patient comfort, cause less blur, and provide a well-tolerated alternative to currently available ocular pilocarpine medications, Abbvie authors said in a paper presented at the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists 2020 Annual Meeting and Exposition.

Vuity Eye Drops by Allergan, an AbbVie company. (Allergan)

$79 for 30-Day Supply

An AbbVie spokesperson said that Vuity will cost $79 for a 30-day supply (a 2.5 milliliter bottle) for many patients, but the cost may vary depending on the pharmacy or insurance coverage, reported CNET.

The FDA approval was based on data from two phase 3 clinical studies, GEMINI 1 and GEMINI 2, which involved a total of 750 people aged 4055 with presbyopia. Compared to the placebo group, those who took Vuity gained at least three additional lines on a near reading chart without losing more than one line of vision at distance by day 30.

There were no serious adverse events by day 30 in either study. The most common adverse events noted in over 5 percent of the participants who took the eye drop were headaches and eye redness.

Pilocarpine in the ophthalmic setting has long been used to treat acute angle closure glaucoma and previously other forms of glaucoma, although now it is not typically used in long-term management due to side effects.

It is unclear, therefore, how the newly approved Vuity drops would fare if taken long term.

This is something that we anticipate will be well-tolerated long term, but this will be evaluated and studied in a formal capacity, George O. Waring, principal study investigator for GEMINI 1 and GEMINI 2, told CBS News.

He said in a separate statement on Oct. 29 that Vuity offers a novel, safe, well-tolerated and effective alternative to current options for managing age-related blurry near vision for mild to intermediate cases.

Allergan advises people taking the drops to [u]se caution with night driving or with hazardous activities performed in low light conditions, and to not drive or use machinery if vision is not clear because they may have temporary problems in changing focus between near and distance.

Some notable contraindications for pilocarpine include allergy to the drug, uncontrolled asthma, and when constricted pupils are not wanted such as in uveitis or secondary glaucoma.
People stand beside the border of flooded area near the Ebro River, in the small village of Pradilla de Ebro, Aragon province, northern Spain, on Dec. 13, 2021. (Alvaro Barrientos/AP Photo)

Floods in Northern Spain Blamed for 2 Deaths, Lost Crops

MADRIDMore than 50 people were evacuated Monday from areas in northern Spain hit by record flooding following heavy rain and snowfall.

Spanish authorities blamed the flooding of swollen rivers for the deaths of at least two people since Friday, and the regions of Navarra and Aragon remained under severe weather warnings.

In Novillas, a village of 520 near the borders of both regions, local authorities ordered the evacuation of 55 residents as the Ebro River overflowed. The rivers water level had swelled up to 8.5 meters (27 feet) in some areas, breaking a record set during flooding six years ago.

In the Aragon regions capital, Zaragoza, authorities prepared for floodwaters to hit the city of 680,000 on Tuesday. Upstream, in Navarra, an area known for its vegetable crops, residents appraised their flood-related losses.

The combination of a heavy, dayslong storm and thawing snow brought a surge in the Ebro River and its tributaries, Spanish meteorological services said.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Monday announced that the Cabinet would issue a catastrophic zone declaration that frees special emergency funds for the areas affected by the storms.
A protester performs a Nazi salute at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne on Sept. 5, 2020 during an anti-lockdown rally (William West/AFP via Getty Images)

Fringe Politics Threatens More Harm Than Good to Australias Democracy

Commentary

Buffeted by the stormy blasts of COVID-19, Prime Minister Scott Morrisons government rolled and rocked at times like the Manly ferry in a tempest. And now as he prepares to go to the polls in the first half of 2022, Morrison will be hoping that voters will reward him for his efforts by sending him back to the Lodge for another term.

However, there are already indications that Morrisons pandemic leadership will not be enough to earn him that treasured prize. But this is not just a problem facing the Liberals.

Support appears to be drifting away from all the major parties, including Labor. Indeed, every indication is that party allegiance is slipping away, drifting to minor, populist parties and to candidates standing as independents.

This trend towards populism and independence, unsettling for the major parties, was confirmed by a recent RedBridge poll conducted in Victoria which found, for example, that the United Australia Party now enjoyed more support than the Greens and had become Victorias third most popular party. Meanwhile, support for both Labor and the Liberal Party had fallen dramatically.

Membership of the major parties has been falling steadily for a long time as support drifts to grassroots organisations. For example, the left-leaning campaign group, GetUp, declares that it is fighting for a fair, flourishing, and just Australia. Independent activist group, Advance Australia, committing itself to principles rather than parties, now claims to have over three times more members than the Liberal Party.

National Director of GetUp Paul Oosting speaks at a Snap Protest at News Corps Major Advertisers Conference in Sydney, Australia, on March 20, 2019. (AAP Image/Joel Carrett)

The popularity of grassroots groups such as these does put the lie to the notion that Australians have lost interest in politics and dont care about the direction in which the country is heading. Rather, it suggests that many in the community have given up on the major parties because they feel that neither side represents their interests.

Indeed, this is precisely what the supposedly grassroots Voices of  campaign group declare themselves to be about. Their main selling point is that they represent no political party at all and that therefore the candidates they field are truly independent.

Even as they fight off allegations that they are nothing but burnished fronts for Labor and the Greens, the Voices of campaign claims to be committed to fielding independent candidatesin key, largely Liberal, electorates, such as Wentworth in New South Wales and Goldstein in Victoriato tap into alleged dissatisfaction with the vested interests of conventional machine politics.

However, the steady drift of support away from the major parties could well, in time, lead to a significant change to the way in which our Australian parliamentary democracy functions. This is because one of the threats posed to processes of good parliamentary government is the gradual diminishing of the role of political parties.

Minor populist parties, such as Pauline Hansons One Nation and United Australia Party, neither command nor owe great party allegiance. Their elected representatives are often mavericks who invariably claim to be in parliament solely to represent the interests of their constituents and nothing more. They appear to have little interest in the business of contributing to good government in such ways as might benefit all Australians. The same goes for the growing number of supposedly independent MPs.

Our Commonwealth Parliament shares some features with the United States system of government, such as an elected Senate. But it also reflects, to a substantial degree, the model of parliamentary democracy inherited from the United Kingdom characterised by the election of representatives bound by allegiance to the platforms of political parties.

Australias Prime Minister Scott Morrison (L) and Victoria State Premier Daniel Andrews (R) depart after attending a Remembrance Day service at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, on Nov. 11, 2021. (William West/AFP via Getty Images)

Political parties only began to emerge in Britain in the late 18th century, notably during the premiership of the Earl of Rockingham, whose private secretaryand member of the House of Commonswas none other than Edmund Burke. MPs continued to be elected by voters in particular constituencies, but now once in parliament, they began to organise themselves around platforms reflecting their allegiance on particular issues, such as taxation and tariffs.

Australias parliamentary democracy inherited this historic British practice of organising MPs by means of platforms and groupings. Today, in our parliamentary system, political parties exert a discipline upon otherwise maverick MPs, keeping them in line, marshalling them when voting on legislation, and imposing sanctions when party discipline is breached.

Political parties play a central role in the successful functioning of Australias democracy. From the outside it canand often doeslook chaotic. And it can be very frustrating when our elected representatives fail to deliver on the promises on which they campaigned.

But parties are the very institutions that underpin our parliamentary system, allowing political interests to be weighed and competing claims to be evaluated. As such, they need to be preserved and strengthened rather than being allowed to wither away and perish.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Actor Ingo Rademacher arrives at the premiere of Summit Entertainment's "Alex Cross" at the Arclight Theater in Los Angeles, California on Oct. 15, 2012. (Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

General Hospital Actor Ingo Rademacher Sues ABC Over Blatantly Unlawful Vaccine Mandate

General Hospital star Ingo Rademacher is suing ABC over its blatantly unlawful actions after he was fired from the show for failing to get vaccinated against the coronavirus.

In a complaint filed in Los Angeles Superior Court by the law firm of JW Howard Attorneys on Monday, lawyers for Rademacher claim he requested a religious exemption to the vaccine mandate in October but that ABC refused his request just a month later.

General Hospital is filmed in Hollywood, California, and in November, a vaccine mandate went into effect for actors and staff working on Zone A, which comprises of those present on set when the actors arent wearing masks, and the actors themselves, Variety reported.

Rademacher, in an Oct. 11 email to Disneys HR department, claimed that he was entitled to a religious exemption against the mandatory vaccine due to his deeply and sincerely held moral belief that my body is endowed by my creator with natural processes to protect me and that its natural integrity cannot ethically be violated by the administration of artificially created copies of genetic material, foreign to nature and experimental.

According to Rademachers lawyers, after he filed the request for a religious exemption, the network subjected the actor to half an hour of cross-examination about his religious beliefs and then denied his exemption request without explanation.

ABCs actions are blatantly unlawful, the complaint states. ABC does not have the authority to force a medical treatment to its employees against their will. Even if it did, it must offer religious exceptions to the forced treatment to anybody who requests it. These actions constitute religious discrimination and violate Mr. Rademachers rights under state and federal law.

The complaint adds that Rademacher, who played Jasper Jax Jacks on the show, also has the right to information privacy, and claims that this too was violated by the network when the star was made to disclose personal information to continue working on the show.

This should not be a political issue. There is no need for everybody to get the COVID-19 shot, even if the president demands it, lawyers wrote. Furthermore, Mr. Rademacher has a right to privacy and a right to object to compulsory medical treatment based on his sincere religious beliefs. Lawsuits decided a hundred years ago do not change that.

Attorneys for Rademacher claim he has suffered up to $25,000 in damages after his contract with ABC was terminated, and they are seeking compensatory damages for the loss. Rademacher also wants ABCs COVID-19 mandate declared unconstitutional.

The Epoch Times has contacted a spokesperson for ABC for comment.

A 2010 file image of Laura Wright and Ingo Rademacher in a scene of ABCs General Hospital. (Christopher Polk/Getty Images for DATG)

Rademachers lawsuit comes after another General Hospital, star, Steve Burton, claimed in November that he had been fired from the show for failing to get vaccinated.

The actor, who first joined the soap series in 1992, said he had applied for medical and religious exemptions to the vaccine mandate but both had been denied.

In a video posted to Instagram, Burton explained, Unfortunately, General Hospital has let me go because of the vaccine mandate. I did apply for my medical and religious exemptions, and both of those were denied, which, you know, hurts. But this is also about personal freedom to me.

I dont think people should lose their livelihood over this, but with that being said, you know meIll always be grateful for my time at General Hospital. I love it there. I grew up there, I grew up with some of you, so Ill always be grateful, and I believe that when one door closes, multiple doors open. Thats always been my perspective, Burton continued.
The campus of George Washington University is seen as classes were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, in Washington, DC, May 7, 2020. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)

George Washington University Mandates COVID-19 Booster Shots Amid Omicron Concerns

George Washington University now requires a COVID-19 vaccine booster shot for all eligible members of the campus community, citing recently detected cases of Omicron variant in Washington D.C.

All students, faculty, and staff in university-operated facilities have to get a dose of the COVID-19 booster by Feb. 1, 2022, or be subject to weekly testings and a daily symptom monitoring questionnaire, according to the universitys Dec. 13 message. The booster requirement will not apply to those who currently have a medical or religious exemption to the existing vaccination mandate.

The university also warned that students who do not receive the dose by March 15, 2022, will not be eligible to register for summer or fall classes. Faculty and staff who do not receive a booster by the March deadline will receive a warning message and subsequent employment actions may take place.

The booster requirement aligns with the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions (CDC) recommendation and is part of our ongoing efforts to keep the GW community healthy and safe amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the university said.

The university also noted that its public health team has been conducting genetic sequencing over the past several months, and has found a very small number of positive cases of the Omicron variant among the campus community.

Because of privacy concerns, we are not able to discuss these cases specifically other than to share that the individuals did not travel internationally, which means the Omicron variant is now circulating in the region, the message reads.

First identified in South Africa, the Omicron appears to be significantly more transmissible but generally causes milder symptoms compared to other variants. As of Dec. 14, the D.C. health department have reported four Omicron cases that have no known connection to one another.

George Washington University is not the first American university to mandate COVID-19 vaccine boosters. In New York, Syracuse University announced on Dec. 6 that it will require all eligible students, faculty and staff who routinely access any Syracuse campus location or facility to receive a booster shot prior to the start of the spring semester, or as soon as they become eligible.

Although the COVID-19 vaccines continue to perform well in terms of limiting serious illness and hospitalizations, breakthrough cases continue to occur, the announcement read. In addition, the uncertainty associated with the omicron variant requires that the University act proactively to ensure a safe return to campus in January.

Several institutions in Massachusetts, including Boston College, Northwestern University, University of Massachusetts-Amherst, and Emerson College, are asking students to get their booster shots before the spring semester begins. In Connecticut, Wesleyan University also requires boosters for students returning or coming to campus in spring 2022.
Presiding judge G'nther Koehler announces the verdicts in the so-called Cyberbunker trial at the regional court in Trier, Germany, on Dec. 13, 2021. (Harald Tittel/dpa via AP)

Germany: 8 Convicted Over Illegal Data Center in Bunker

BERLINA German court on Monday convicted eight people over their role in a data processing center installed at a former military bunker that hosted sites dealing in drugs and other illegal activities.

The data center at the former bunker in Traben-Trarbach, a picturesque town on the Mosel River in western Germany, was raided and shut down in September 2019. It was set up as what investigators described as a bulletproof hoster, meant to conceal illicit activities from authorities eyes.

The state court in nearby Trier convicted all eight defendants of forming and membership in a criminal organization, the news agency dpa reported. However, they were all acquitted of being accessories to some 250,000 crimes that were allegedly committed via the websites the data center hosted.

The main suspect was sentenced to five years and nine months in prison after a trial that lasted more than a year. The other defendants were handed punishments ranging from four years and three months in prison to a one-year suspended sentence.
US Army helicopters are parked in the port of Alexandroupoli, Northern Greece, on December 3, 2021. (Photo by Sakis MITROLIDIS / AFP)

Global Arms Trade Continues To Prosper Despite Economic Downturn, US And China Top Two

Arms sales continue to grow among the worlds top weapons manufacturers despite the shrunken global economy in 2020, with U.S. companies ranking first and Chinese second.

On Dec. 6, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) released the latest ranking of the worlds top 100 arms-producing and military services companies in terms of total arms sales. In 2020, total arms sales worldwide reached $554.6 billion, an increase of 2.5 percent from 2019.

U.S. arms companies remain the greatest in number on the world ranking list, holding 41 of the top 100 spots. The total arms sales of U.S. companies in 2020 amounted to $285 billion, accounting for 54 percent of the total sales worldwide, an increase of 1.9 percent from the previous year. Since 2019, U.S. companies have held the top five spots on the list.

Amid increased military threats from China and Russia, the United States has been increasing its investment in developing and procuring next-generation weapons systems, prompting a wave of mergers and acquisitions in the U.S. arms industry in recent years. As the trend continues, many U.S. arms companies hope to gain a competitive edge in contract bidding through broadening their product portfolios.

In 2015, SIPRI included Chinese military enterprises in its database for the first time. That same year, the total arms sales of the worlds top 100 weapons manufacturers saw a 14 percent increase. Since then, arms sales have continued to grow. The overall sales in 2020 saw a 17 percent increase over 2015.

Chinese companies make up the second-largest arms sales volume globally, reaching $66.7 billion in 2020, an increase of 4.5 percent from 2019. The sales growth of Chinese military enterprises in 2020 was nearly twice the average growth of all other nations on the list.

According to a 2021 report by the U.S. Department of Defense (pdf), the CCPs national strategy aims to modernize and reform its military weapons and equipment. The plan includes building more military aircraft, aircraft carriers, guided-missile destroyers, various ballistic and cruise missiles, as well as a large amount of land-based equipment such as tanks, armored vehicles, and artilleries.

Chinas GDP grew only 2.3 percent in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the low economic growth and high government debt, the CCP increased its defense budget by 6.8 percent in 2021, reaching nearly $210 billion, and plans to maintain a robust upgrading of its armed forces in the future, according to a report from the Associated Press.

A study published in June by RAND Corporation, a U.S. think tank, suggested that Chinas ambitious military modernization could soon challenge U.S. global leadership; and that the CCPs military expansion in recent years has become a pacing threat to U.S. military operations in Aisa and beyond.

China made most of its technological progress through intellectual property theft and the acquisition and merger of foreign companies with advanced technology.

China has a long history of stealing U.S. technology secrets. It is not a competition between powers as President Joe Biden suggests, but a deliberate and serious violation of U.S. intellectual property rights (IPR) by the CCP. The Chinese intellectual property theft was evident and worsened during the Obama era. Beijing even incorporated such thefts, including the Thousand Talents Program, into its strategies for Chinas economic rise and world dominance.

Since 2015, only five Chinese arms companies have been listed in SIPRIs top 100 yearly rankings. However, SIPRI stated that other Chinese companies might have arms sales high enough to rank among the top 100, but they were not included due to insufficient open-source data, suggesting the actual Chinese arms sales are far greater than the published data.

The five Chinese companies that have entered the SIPRI list are China North Industries Group (Norinco), Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), China Electronics Technology Group (CETC), China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC), and China South Industries Group (CSGC). Most of these companies have seen an increase in arms sales since 2018, with Norinco reaching $17.93 billion in 2020, rising to seventh worldwide.

Although these Chinese companies appear relatively large scale and maintained growth overall, they contribute very little to Chinas overall economy. The arms sales are primarily domestic, and exports are negligible.

For example, even though Norinco holds a major position among the CCPs military enterprises, it does not produce cutting-edge weaponry. Instead, Norinco produces primarily standard land-based military equipment.

Likewise, AVICs yearly sales growth was 0.8 percent and 1.6 percent in 2019 and 2020, respectively, indicating slow growth in its high-end aviation military equipment production. The companies advanced military aircraft production is unlikely to have reached the production scale desired by the Chinese regime.
How Do We Begin Again in California?

Commentary

How Do We Begin Again? after the pandemic. That was the topic of a recent seminar/webinar on the future of California held by Zocalo Public Square at the ASU California Center in Los Angeles. Moderating was Gustavo Arellano, one of the states most astute and humorous commentators, now a columnist with the Los Angeles Times. Before that he was the longtime writer and editor at the now defunct OC Weekly.

Although a major anti-Trumper, he has reported on how many Latinos are among the former presidents biggest supporters, a fact some of my Latino friends could confirm.

The panel included:

Fabian Debora, artist and co-founder/executive director of Homeboy Art Academy;

Bamby Salcedo, TransLatin@ Coalition president and CEO;

Annette L. Stanton, UCLA distinguished professor and psychology department chair.

Proof of vaccination was required to attend the live event, and the panel social distanced on the stage, indicating we may not be quite ready to begin again. Perhaps the actual new beginning will be when there are no more vaccine and mask mandates. On the other hand, just talking about how we must begin again may indicate Americas are ready to move on.

Before the seminar, I mentally listed the states immediate challenges once the pandemic is over: the high cost of housing, rising crime, high taxes, and generally poor schools. Lets see how the panel looked at things.

Arellano asked the panel to reflect on how we begin again.

Debora said he never stopped in his work with gangs during the pandemic, but beginning again means going back to the cultural knowledge to the healing element in his community. Continued investment is necessary for gang members or formerly incarcerated men and women. As someone who comes from that community, using the arts is a way out.

Change has happened, change is happening, and we all can invest in more of it, he said.

Salcedo spoke of institutional and interpersonal violence, in which 2021 was a record number of murders in the trans community, more than 45. Every day is a rebirth  a revolutionary act. There are major challenges with homelessness. Its especially challenging to those who come here as immigrants seeking the American dream, only to have the American nightmare.

Stanton said, We dont begin again until we acknowledge where we are and the losses we might have been through. That kind of acknowledgement is important.

She works with people with cancer. They put all their energy into the treatment, to getting better. Then when its over, its not done, and survivors have to reflect on it.

Beginning again is something we have done throughout our lives, while starting over seems as if we havent done anything. But we really bring things with us, and theres continuity.

Debora said begin again means still using the experiences that can be beneficial, rather than undoing what we have.

Salcedo said its a place to understand the possibilities. There is always this begin again process.

Reorganization?

Arellano said the past two years have created an extraordinary opportunity for all of us to begin again. How have they used the past two years to reorganize their lives?

Stanton said it sometimes seems shes just trying to hang on to get through these past two years, something all of us certainly can identify with.

Having gone through COVID-19 myself personally last month, as I recounted here in The Epoch Times, hanging on still often is all one can do until the worst passes.

She also sees it as an opportunity, because before at UCLA and elsewhere, staff had to be in their offices  and we know thats not true now for many people. Many commuters now work at home. And that works. How can we change systems that fit people better, so we can begin again in a way that issome things will stay in place, but some things will change, and some things will change intentionally.

But, she added, Personal connectionthat is important, too.

Salcedo mentioned the importance of bringing food to people during the worst of the pandemic. Debora talked about creative ways to adapt when Home Boy Industries was shut down. That meant those just leaving prison had no place to go and might head back to a life of crime. The workers had to go to homes to manage case efforts and drop off food at home.

He said they also had a lot of deaths due to gang violence, overdoses, and suicides during the lockdown. We were able to adapt. They also touched peoples hearts, who then gave donations.

Stanton added getting through the pandemic will help people get through tough times in the future. She mentioned how cancer is a wake-up call for whats meaningful in life, for people to do more of what they believe is most meaningful. The connection to the pandemic was obvious.

Debora brought up how those leaving incarceration also have to go through a new beginning.

Q&A

The Q&A began with a question of what message should be given to politicians. Salcedo began by saying to the those aspiring to office, Stop the B.S. They forget they are public servants. Local L.A. officials got $2 billion in pandemic relief, but not enough went to the 1/3 of residents who are immigrants, he said.

When asked about self-care, Debora made the good point of not just doing ones work, but taking care of ones own family, so the cycle of problems isnt self-perpetuated.

Asked about social isolation and the different generations, Stanton said, Its bad for everybody. But young adults and teenagers, have been hit particularly hard because theyre just forming personal connections and networks.

Conclusion

This turned out differently from what I expected. As noted at the top, I listed several issues I thought were important, such as housing and crime. But the panel brought up personal and local concerns based on their own experiences living through the pandemic.

Which makes me think. Like them, the last two years I lost friends and relatives from the disease or other causes, such as old age. A friend who suffered a stroke was stuck alone for a month in the hospital because no visitors were allowed. Likewise another friend whose wife had a babybut without him by her side. And although my COVID-19 case was moderate, a friend ended up in the intensive care unit for a week.

It also was curious Trumps name never came up in the discussions, nor President Bidens. So maybe I have been too political, although that has been my job for 46 years.

Yet the political issues I mentioned at the top still count. The housing issue alone makes everything else more difficult. Who can afford million-dollar homes? Most of the people I know who can are selling theirs and leaving the state.

Who could have predicted the past two years? Despite all the problems, California remains a fascinating place to work and live. The next two years should be really interesting. We need more panels like this.

The link to view the video on YouTube is here, but it begins at about 14:30.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
With the holiday season upon us and Christmas approaching soon, a professional Santa Claus from England shares his experience and tips for parents to make their family visit to Santa this year a truly memorable one.

Henley Santa, Michael Facherty, 70, who resides in Reading, UK, has been a professional Santa for the past 35 years after he initially played the role at his childrens school Christmas fair.

I really liked it, Facherty told The Epoch Times. From then until he retired about 10 years ago from his job as a business analyst, he was an occasional Santa for school fairs and Christmas parties at work for staff members children.

However, after his retirement, Facherty decided to be more of Santa since he enjoyed it.

Its so lovely that people come up and theyre happy to see you, Facherty said. When I retired, I thought I could do this more, and I signed up with a couple of agencies, and then started working in a grotto.

Luckily for Facherty, the beard came naturally. He said that hes had a beard since he was 19. However, with his role as Santa, Facherty has been growing it longer.

Facherty, who usually covers most of Berkshire and some parts of Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire as a Santa, shared that, before the pandemic, he would usually spend 10 hours at a grotto and be visited by hundreds of children. Describing his days in detail, he said he usually waited at the grotto until his elf Jingle Berry brought him a child.

Id chat with the child, get them to remind me what they wanted for Christmas, and check whether they were going to be home or away at Christmas, and then give them a present, Facherty said.

However, in the last two years, he hasnt been at the grotto due to the pandemic and instead spent much more time visiting kids at their doorstep depending on their quarantine situation.

Last year, Facherty recalls he only took zoom calls because doorstep visits were also blocked out. However, this year, on the first Sunday of December, he took six home visits, bringing the holiday excitement to kids who hadnt seen Santa for more than a year.

On his visits, Facherty presents kids with picture books that he himself has written and a nice certificate that details all things they have been good at during the year.

For Facherty, the best part of being Santa over these years is that he gets to make people happy and create memories.

I think its wonderful when you see a childs face light up, and their parents face lighting up at the same time, Facherty said. Its just lovely  people are so happy when theyre seeing Santa.

Sharing some of his good memories as a Santa, Facherty said that in one of his visits to the grotto, he had a family where the children, mothers, grandmother, and great grandmother visited him. The latter was so happy that she even took a picture with Santa and he even gave her a present.

In another visit to the grotto, Facherty recalls that he was told by elf Jingle Berry that the girl visiting him wouldnt make eye contact with him. So even though Facherty tried to interact with her normally during her visit, giving her a lovely Rudolph reindeer soft toy, she refused to take it. However, on her way out the door of the grotto, the little girl turned back and ran to Facherty hugging him, saying, I love you, Santa.

The mom was crying and I was crying. And I think Jingle Berry was crying, Facherty said. What happened was the power of Santa, I guess.

Over the years being Santa, Facherty never tells kids about all the naughty things they have done, since he believes hes not the parents police. However, he always comforts worried kids who think theyre on the naughty list.

Apart from all the amazing memories that Facherty creates for kids, being Santa, he says, comes with some challenges, especially when kids request that they want their father who died or left home to return back for Christmas, as this makes him feel helpless since he cant really do anything about it.

However, some challenges yield wonderful results. One experience that Facherty remembers clearly was when he once visited a school as Santa and a little girl expressed her heartfelt desire to see her sisters child. However, due to a dispute between her sister and her mother, the girl was unable to see the newborn. So Facherty advised the little girl to explain to her mother that her sister loved her and Father Christmas would like the family to be reunited.

Unexpectedly, he received a letter from the teacher in the following January, stating: I dont know what you said. But she spent Christmas with her sister back home visiting.

This Christmas as families visit Santa, Facherty has some tips for parents taking their kids to the grotto:

Dont get into too much formality visiting Santa. Dont pressurize kids to sit on Santa and have a big smile in order to get the perfect picture. Instead, one of the best pictures can be captured when the child and Santa make direct face-to-face contact. Dont pressurize older children who are shy to meet Santa. Lastly, check the reviews of the Santa you hire or the grotto you visit before you take your kids.

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
Then-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows at the White House in Washington, on Oct. 21, 2020. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)

Jan. 6 Panel Recommends House Vote on Mark Meadows Being Held in Contempt of Congress

This is about 'going after' Trump, Meadows says

The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol breach voted 9-0 on Monday to recommend that former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows be held in contempt of Congress, following up on a threat to do so last week over his refusal to cooperate with their probe.

Meadows last week said he would not appear for a deposition at the select committees request. He also sued the committee, arguing it did not have the authority to compel him to talk. The lawsuit, filed in a Washington D.C. federal court, asks a judge to invalidate two subpoenas that he says are overly broad and unduly burdensome.

The Jan. 6 panels Monday vote sends the measure to the full House, which is expected to vote on it as soon as Tuesday on whether to request the Justice Department of the Biden administration prosecute Meadows.

Meadows, a Republican, served as a U.S. House representative for North Carolinas 11th congressional district prior to joining the Trump administration.

If the House passes the measure, Meadows would become the second Trump associate to be charged by the Democrat-majority chamber for defying a subpoena. Steve Bannon was held in contempt of congress in October and pleaded not guilty to the criminal charges after he refused to comply with a subpoena from the Jan. 6 committee.

Before the committee threatened to hold Meadows in contempt, he had planned to appear voluntarily to answer questions about non-privileged matters, his attorney said in a letter.

But Meadows took offense to the panel issuing subpoenas for information from third parties, as well as to how Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), the panels chairman, recently said that one asserting their Fifth Amendment rights was akin to an admission of guilt.

As a result of careful and deliberate consideration of these factors, we now must decline the opportunity to appear voluntarily for a deposition, Meadows attorney, George Terwilliger III, wrote in the letter.

Terwilliger has not responded to a request for comment over the latest Jan. 6 committee vote.

Shortly following the vote, in remarks to Fox News Sean Hannity, Meadows said the push to have him be held in contempt is about going after Trump.

This is not about me, holding me in contempt. Its not even about making the Capitol safer, Meadows said, adding later, This is about Donald Trump and about actually going after him once again.

In a 51-page report (pdf) released over the weekend recommending the contempt charge, the Jan. 6 committee shared the kind of questions they would have asked Meadows if he had appeared for the deposition.

Among multiple items, the report alleged that Meadows on Jan. 2 contacted President Donald Trump and other state and federal officials over a call to discuss overturning certain states electoral college results.

He later sent the former vice presidents staff a memo drafted by a Trump campaign lawyer urging the vice president to delay or decline the counting of votes from certain states, the report alleged.

The report also alleged that Meadows sent an email to an individual about the events on January 6 and said that the National Guard would be present to protect pro Trump people and that many more would be available on standby.

Earlier Monday, Terwilliger issued the committee a letter (pdf) telling it to refrain from voting on the measure to refer Meadows to be prosecuted by the Justice Department.

Such a referral would be contrary to law. The Select Committee and the House should make no such referral, he wrote, adding that a good-faith invocation of executive privilege and testimonial immunity by a former senior executive official is not a crime.

Thompson and Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), the Jan. 6 panels vice chair, previously indicated they want to hear from Meadows regarding records he turned over to the committee and about records he has not that are stored on his phone and email accounts.

They alleged Meadows failed to adhere to the Presidential Records Act by withholding the records.

The Jan. 6 committee has faced increasing criticism from many Republicans. It was formed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) after the Senate GOP blocked a bill that would have approved a commission to probe Jan. 6.

Pelosi refused to seat members picked by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), and chose Cheney and Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.), both known for their fervent opposition to Trump, as the only Republican members.

The panel has struggled at times with its accuracy. Besides the misleading claim about the Fifth Amendment, it sent out a subpoena with misinformation, but still hasnt alerted the public despite acknowledging as much in private.

Zachary Stieber contributed to this report.
The CNN center is seen in downtown Atlanta, Ga., on Oct. 16, 2021. (Daniel Slim/AFP via Getty Images)

Judge Orders CNN Producer Accused of Trying to Entice Young Girls Held Without Bond

A federal judge on Monday ordered a CNN producer arrested for allegedly trying to entice young girls to engage in sexual activity detained.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert Spector issued the order, finding that there was a rebuttable presumption that no condition or combination of conditions would reasonably assure the appearance of John Griffin in court in the future if he were released.

Griffin has not introduced sufficient evidence to rebut the presumption, Spector said in a three-page order obtained by The Epoch Times.

According to charges unsealed over the weekend, the 44-year-old Griffin used messaging applications to communicate with people who said they were parents of minor girls.

Griffin spent time outlining his view that the parents should let him train their minor daughters to be sexually subservient, according to charging papers.

Griffin was allegedly successful in one case. He paid a Nevada woman to fly with her 9-year-old daughter to Boston, authorities say. Griffin, after driving them in his Tesla Model X to a Vermont property he acquired for the training, directed the child to engage in illegal sexual activity, which she did.

The property is located in Ludlow near the Okemo Mountain Resort. Ludlow is located about 25 miles southeast of Rutland, the third-largest city in the state.

Griffin was arrested on Saturday in Connecticut, where his main address is listed.

CNN producer John Griffin is seen in a file photograph. (LinkedIn)

Griffin appeared in federal court in the state shortly after his arrest for 20 minutes.

During the hearing, Spector approved a government motion to detain the defendant, issued his order, and ordered the defendant transported to Vermont, where the charges were filed.

Prosecutors had argued Griffin should be detained because the case involves felonies that involve a minor victim. They also asserted Griffin could not be counted on to appear in court if he were freed pending trial due to the nature of the alleged offenses, a history of alcohol or substance abuse, the evidence against him being strong, and the lengthy period of jail time he faces if convicted.

Griffin faces up to life in prison, and a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison, for each of the three counts with which hes been charged, according to the Department of Justice.

Theres no record of lawyers representing Griffin opposing the motion for detention.

Joseph Martini, one of the attorneys, declined to comment in an email to The Epoch Times.

Griffin and a CNN spokeswoman did not respond to requests for comment.

A spokesperson for CNN told news outlets after the arrest that we take the charges against Mr. Griffin incredibly seriously and that the network has suspended him pending investigation.
Kim Kardashian West of 'The Justice Project' speaks onstage during the 2020 Winter TCA Tour Day 12 at The Langham Huntington, Pasadena, in Pasadena, Calif., on Jan. 18, 2020. (David Livingston/Getty Images)

Kim Kardashians Bid to Become an Attorney One Step Closer as She Passes Baby Bar Exam

Kim Kardashian announced on Monday that she passed Californias baby bar exam, moving the reality television star one step closer to achieving her goal of becoming an attorney.

OMFGGGG I PASSED THE BABY BAR EXAM!!!! the 41-year-old entrepreneur announced on social media on Monday. Looking in the mirror, I am really proud of the woman looking back today in the reflection. For anyone who doesnt know my law school journey, know this wasnt easy or handed to me.

The California baby bar is the states First-Year Law Students Examinationa daylong test required of aspiring lawyers in the state who are not taking the traditional path of attending an accredited law school.

Kardashian, a mother-of-four passed on her fourth attempt. Clearing the hurdle means she can continue her legal studies and will be able to take the full bar exam.

She said on Twitter that she had failed the exam three times in two years. California typically allows people to take the First-Year Law Students Examination just three times but gave anyone who failed the June 2020 exam one extra try due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

But I got back up each time and studied harder and tried again until I did it!!! (I did have COVID on the 3rd try w a 104 fever but Im not making excuses), she wrote.

In California, the way Im studying law you need to take 2 bar exams, this was just the first one but with the harder pass rate. I was told by top lawyers that this was a close to impossible journey and harder than the traditional law school route, she told her 70.7 million followers. But it was my only option and it feels so so sooooo good to be here and on my way to achieving my goals.

Kardashian thanked commentator Van Jones, who pushed her to sign up for law school.

I appreciate u for letting me tag along & ask all of the little questions along the way, she wrote.

She said in 2019 that she was studying to become a lawyer through what is known as the Law Office Study Program, in which would-be attorneys train under the supervision of an experienced lawyer or judge.

California is among the handful of states that has such a program and is the only one with a baby bar.

Pass rate information was not yet available for the Oct. 26 exam that Kardashian took, but only 21 percent of those who took the exam in June passedless than half the rate for the states most recent regular bar exam.

Paying tribute to her late father, she said: My dad would be so proud & he would actually be so shocked to know that this is my path now but he wouldve been my best study partner.

I am told he was notorious for making fun of people who didnt pass on their first attempt like him, but he wouldve been my best cheerleader!

Her father Robert Kardashian was on O.J. Simpsons defense team during his 1995 murder trial. Kardashian has previously said that she wants to become a lawyer to work on criminal justice reform.

Kardashian added, Bottom line is dont ever give up even when you are holding on by a thread, you can do it!!!!! Set your mind to it and get it done because it feels soooooo good once you get to the other side!

. Bottom line is dont ever give up even when you are holding on by a thread, you can do it!!!!! Set your mind to it and get it done because it feels soooooo good once you get to the other side!  pic.twitter.com/bST0Etg04J  Kim Kardashian West (@KimKardashian) December 13, 2021

Reuters contributed to this report.
Telecom Italia's logo for the TIM brand is seen on a building in Rome, Italy, on April 9, 2016. (Alessandro Bianchi/Reuters)

KKR Says No Set Deadline to Start Due Diligence on TIMs Bid

MILANU.S. fund KKR said on Monday it expected to be able to take a decision on its takeover approach for Telecom Italia (TIM) only after a due diligence process but it had set no deadline to start its analysis.

Asked by market regulator Consob to clarify whether it would still proceed with the offer if TIMs board failed to take a stance on it, KKR said the boards assessment would not affect the timing of the bid.

TIM, which lost its fourth chief executive in six years a week after KKR submitted its proposal on Nov. 19, is yet to grant KKR access to its books.

Former TIM CEO Luigi Gubitosi had urged the board to set up a data room for KKR, which he said could be readied in 48 hours, before relinquishing his CEO powers.

KKRs approach is friendly and KKR intends to engage as soon as possible with TIMs board to win its support for the bid, KKR said in a note.

The U.S. fund has made its offer contingent on backing by TIM and Italys government.
Man Allegedly Tried to Hire Cellmate in Indiana to Kill 14

BRAZIL, IND.A man who pleaded guilty to attacking a 13-year-old girl who was attending an Indiana University violin camp has been charged with conspiracy to commit murder for allegedly trying to hire his jail cellmate to kill the victims parents and a dozen other people.

Dongwook Ko, 19, allegedly provided a hit list and a map to the 39-year-old man who was his cellmate at the Clay County Detention Center in Brazil, Indiana, The Herald-Times reported, citing court records filed Friday along with conspiracy to commit murder charge.

Ko, of Bloomington, believed his cellmate was a gang member who would arrange the torture and killings of 14 people connected to his conviction in the 2019 attack on the girl, court records state.

Ko appeared Monday morning in a Clay County court for an initial hearing. A message seeking comment on the allegations was left Monday by The Associated Press for one of Kos attorneys.

The victims parents, defense witnesses, two prosecutors, and a journalist who covered the case were among the targeted individuals on a list the cellmate provided to police, according to a probable cause affidavit.

The cellmate told police Ko offered to pay $20,000 for the torture and killing of the people on the list and that he would arrange to post the mans $2,500 bail so he could get released and carry out the killings with help from the mans uncle.

The cellmate agreed to wear a recording device while talking with Ko about carrying out the plan and investigators allowed the man to use an iPad to call his uncle to arrange the killings, but the person on the other end of the call was actually a sheriffs department detective, the affidavit states.

Ko reportedly told the detective on the call to start with the girls father, whose name was at the top of the list, and then work his way through the others in order. He provided details, indicating that some victims were to be tortured, according to the affidavit.

Ko pleaded guilty this year to criminal confinement while armed with a deadly weapon for attacking the girl with a pocketknife in July 2019 as she was playing her violin alone in a Merrill Hall practice room during IUs Summer String Academy. Authorities said Ko knew the victim from the previous summers violin camp.

A Monroe County judge last month sentenced Ko to eight years of home detention, followed by two years of probation and ordered him to get psychological treatment. But just days later, immigration agents picked up Ko, a South Korean resident, at his mothers Bloomington home and took him into custody.

Because he had been convicted of a felony, Kos temporary U.S. residency visa was revoked and he was ordered deported to South Korea. Ko will remain in Indiana to face the murder conspiracy charge.
Michigan Bill to Allow Bus Drivers, Cafeteria Workers to Substitute Teach to Ease Teacher Shortage

Amid a statewide teacher shortage, Republican lawmakers in Michigan are considering bill that would temporarily allow school staff members such as cafeteria workers, nurses, and bus drivers to substitute teach as long as they have a high school diploma.

Under the current Michigan law, a school district may employ a person who does not have a teaching certificate to serve as a substitute teacher. But that person must have at least 60 semester hours of college credit or an associate degree or have qualifying expertise in a trade or industrial education program.

Michigans House Bill 4294 would relax those criteria for those who are already working as school support staff. If passed as is, the bill would provide that through June 30, 2026, a school district could hire anyone as a substitute teacher as long as the person graduated high school or have equivalency certificates and is employed by or works for the district. Substitute teachers who are not staff members would still have to meet existing requirements.

The bill passed the state House in June in a party-line vote and is being considered in the state Senate. It is unclear whether Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, would sign the measure if it cleared both chambers of the Republican-majority state legislature.

Republican state Rep. Brad Paquette, who proposed the bill, said school support staff can fit well in the role of substitute teachers since they know students well and are already helping them in their school life.

What I think is most important for someone in the classroom is to know the kids name, to know the school, to care about the school, and have a reputation in the community, Paquette, a former public school teacher, testified last week before the state Senates education committee. Staff who are already in the school system have already proven that they care about kids. They want to be around kids, and they have that passion for kids.

The effort comes as Michigans public schools experience a teacher shortage crisis exacerbated by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus pandemic. According to Michigan Education Association, new teachers were already leaving the profession within the first five years in historically high numbers before the pandemic, while colleges of education were reporting enrollment declines of 45 percent. In addition to that, mid-year retirements have increased 40 percent compared to past school years.

Meanwhile, major public school districts continue to push vaccination mandates for employees. Last week, the Detroit Board of Educations policy committee approved a draft of the mandate, which proposes a Feb. 18 deadline for all employees to be fully vaccinated, with religious and medical exemptions. Those who dont comply with the requirements could lose their jobs.
Members of Ohio Task Force 1 are continuing to help search for victims of the tornadoes that swept through Kentucky on Dec. 11 and Dec. 12, 2021. Most of the southwestern portion of the state was heavily damaged, leaving hundreds of people without homes or businesses to return to, especially in Mayfield. As of Tuesday, there have been at least 74 deaths confirmed. (Ohio Task Force 1).

Midwest Rescue Groups Helping Kentucky Tornado Victims

Specially trained task forces from across the U.S. Midwest are assisting with rescue and recovery efforts in Kentucky, which was hit by a series of deadly tornadoes that tore through six states over the weekend.

Among them are more than 40 members of Ohio Task Force 1, who received word on Dec. 12 to report to Kentucky for up to 16 days, an assignment that could keep them from their families during the Christmas holidays.

At least 74 deaths from four tornadoes have been confirmed, and more than 100 people are unaccounted for, with both numbers expected to grow, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, a Democrat, said on Dec. 13.

The tornadoes on Dec. 10 and Dec. 11 hit near Mayfield, Kentucky, and were among the deadliest in the Bluegrass States history, according to reports.

President Joe Biden declared Kentucky a federal disaster area.

Other task forces under the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) were activated to help in the search and recovery efforts, including 90 members from Indiana, 45 from Missouri, and 45 from Tennessee, Phil Sinewe, spokesman for Ohio Task Force 1, told The Epoch Times.

The Ohio team of medical, search and rescue, and logistics staff arrived in Kentucky about 6 a.m. on Dec. 13. Within two hours, it had started work in Graves County in southwestern Kentucky, Sinewe said.

The task force was being led by Jim OConnell of the Columbus Fire Department, Sinewe said.

They are conducting wide-area searches. They are searching a plator grid of propertieslooking for victims.

The task force also is mapping out damage of properties, Sinewe added. They also are there to provide support to people not knowing what to do, or who to talk to. This is devastating, and the people of Kentucky need help.

Indiana Task Force leader Tom Neal briefs FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell (2R) on the ongoing search and rescue efforts in Mayfield, Kentucky, on Dec. 12. Criswell thanked all first responders for their work to save lives. (Indiana USAR Task Force)

Early efforts had focused on the collapse of the Mayfield Consumer Products building, which housed a candle factory where 110 workers were reportedly working when the tornado hit. While dozens were feared buried beneath the rubble, the company said eight people were killed, while the remaining 102 workers who were on duty are alive and have been accounted for.

Chris Heaton, from Vandalia, north of Dayton, Ohio, was enjoying Winterfest at the Kings Island Amusement Park with his wife Mandy and 4-year-old twins, Elias and Kennedy, on Dec. 12 when he was told the team had three hours to report to Dayton International Airport.

We were an hour-plus from home, so everything was a blur for those few hours, Mandy Heaton said. Grabbed bags. Very quick see ya laters, and off he went.

Im very humbled. Those few hours were a whirlwind for us tonight, but my God, the people hes going to help will have years of a whirlwind, devastation, and loss. It makes my heart very heavy for them, and also very proud of my husband.

Chris Heaton is part of a Type III Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) Team that includes a full equipment cache, 45 search specialists, and canine search teams.

The Indiana USAR Task Force was also conducting search and rescue operations.

In Bowling Green, Kentucky, the recently opened Ball Aluminum plant in Trans Park, an industrial area in the central part of the state, sustained heavy damage after its roof caved in.

Rainwater from the heavy storms came rushing in through the roof, said Tom Riffel, a manager who was inside when the tornado struck.

The Crown Cork and Seal plant, which also makes aluminum cans, the TMS Auto plant, and the General Motors Corvette plant also were damaged by the tornadoes, Riffel told The Epoch Times.

There was a lot of damage to our structure and water was just pouring in, Riffel said. Were lucky to still have a plant to go back to.

As he was leaving work on Dec.11, Riffel recorded videos of some of the tornado damage done to the area.

Scott McCarty, a spokesperson for Colorado-based Ball Aluminum, told The Epoch Times on Dec. 13 that some compressors on the roof of the plant had been torn off.

All of our employees and their families are safe, and were most thankful for that, McCarty said.

Were assessing the damage to the plant right now. We probably had less damage than a lot of people, compared to damage at the plant and our tech park. The power to the plant was supposed to be turned back on today, and that will help.

Weve been working with our team out there, and theyve done an outstanding job, McCarty said. The workers had a warning before the tornado hit, and they were able to shelter in place. Now, well all work together on moving forward.

Bowling Green is the home of the National Corvette Museum, a 115,000 square-foot facility close to the General Motors Corvette Plant.

While the museum wasnt affected by the tornado, its outdoor Motorsports Park was heavily damaged and will be closed until further notice, Stephanie Morrill, director of sales and guest operations, told The Epoch Times.

Morrill also said that a lot of homes in Bowling Green were either destroyed or heavily damaged.

This was devastating to our community, but we were blessed that it wasnt worse.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison (R) and Victorian Deputy Premier James Merlino (C) tour The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity in Melbourne, Australia, with Dr Julian Druce, head of the Virus Identification Lab (M) on Dec. 14, 2021 (Andrew Henshaw/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Moderna Inks Deal With Australia, Victoria to Produce 100 Million mRNA Vaccine Doses

The Australian and Victorian state government has inked a $2 billion (US$1.4 billion) deal with U.S. pharmaceutical giant, Moderna, to build a new facility that will be capable of producing 100 million mRNA vaccine doses per year.

The Morrison government announced the deal on Dec. 14, as part of its strategy to shore up the countrys sovereign capabilityagainst global supply chain issuesand for Australia to become a key vaccine supply hub for the region.

The second closest vaccine manufacturing facility of scale is in Singapore.

The new mRNA manufacturing facility in Victoria will produce respiratory vaccines for potential future pandemics and seasonal health issues such as the common flu, protecting lives and livelihoods, the prime minister said in a statement.

The facility is expected to be ready by 2024 and will produce 25 million vaccines per year with the capacity to scale up to 100 million vaccines.

It is expected to create 1,000 new jobs, with 500 during construction and another 500 ongoing roles.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison (R) and Victorian Deputy Premier James Merlino (C) tour The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity in Melbourne, Australia with Dr Julian Druce, head of the Virus Identification Lab (M) on Dec. 14, 2021 (Andrew Henshaw/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Medical manufacturing is at the heart of our Modern Manufacturing Initiative, creating jobs and securing Australias economic recovery, with more than a million Australians back working in manufacturing, the highest level since Labor let it fall in 2009.

Finance Minister Simon Birmingham said the facility was a vital contribution to the countrys research and development landscape.

This investment will mean world-leading clinical trials, a strong local workforce and creating opportunities through supply chain activities, helping to drive Australias economy forward, he said.

The billions of dollars invested into COVID-19 vaccines globally has allowed pharmaceutical firms, like Moderna and Pfizer, to accelerate the development of new vaccine platforms such as mRNA.

Researchers at Melbournes Monash University are hoping to finetune the first mRNA vaccine by early 2022.

Professor Nikolai Petrovsky, director of endocrinology at Flinders Medical Centre, however, say mRNAand viral vectordevelopment was rushed, which may have contributed to issues with adverse reactions.

I think there was early leadership by Oxford University [AstraZeneca] with the adenovirus viral vector being put into human trials very quickly, you saw that similarly with Moderna and its mRNA approach, he told The Epoch Times.

This created a follow the leader-type mentality with (manufacturers) Sputnik and Johnson and Johnson copying the Oxford approach and Pfizer following Moderna with the mRNA approach.

Meanwhile, Dr. Omar Korshid, president of the Australian Medical Association, said the facility would be a major addition to the worlds vaccine stocks.

It is great news, not just for the management of this pandemic, but for the enormous horizons that mRNA technology has in terms of treating other diseases we wouldnt have thought could be treated by vaccines, such as cancers, he told the Nine Network.
Most States Have Exempted School Libraries From Obscenity Laws

As more states open criminal investigations into public school libraries for carrying sexually graphic books, top advocates against child exploitation said the investigations will likely be stymied by little-known exemptions that specifically exclude schools from criminal obscenity laws.

Mary McAlister, an attorney for the Child and Parental Rights Campaign, said the exemptions are allowing school librarians and other staff to expose children to material that would otherwise be criminal.

If I walked across the street and handed these same books to my neighbors children, I would probably be arrested, McAlister told The Epoch Times, but, with the exemption, the schools can peddle whatever they want.

McAlister also is the president of the Reisman Institute. The Reisman Institute was founded by Judith Reisman, who worked as an FBI consultant on child pornography under the Reagan administration. Reisman died unexpectedly in April.

Before her death, Reisman worked alongside several other organizationsincluding Pornography Is Not Educationand lawmakers in several states to pass new anti-obscenity laws for children and repeal what is commonly known as OES (obscenity exemption statute).

States adopted the statutes in the 1960s as part of a drive to create a sex education curriculum based on Dr. Albert Kinseys teachings that children are sexual from birth.

All but seven statesAlaska, Arizona, Colorado, Missouri, Oklahoma, New Jersey, and Rhode Islandadopted an OES that specifically exempted schools and public school libraries from state criminal laws against exposing children to obscene material.

There is pending legislation in Nebraska, Minnesota, Iowa, and Indiana calling for the repeal of obscenity law exemptions for school libraries.

Minnesota, North Carolina, Florida, and Pennsylvania are among many states with pending criminal inquiriesprompted by parental complaints that their school libraries were carrying books containing pornography.

In Texas, Gov. Gregory Abbott and other Republican lawmakers have called for a statewide investigation into the availability of what they call pornographic books.

Iowa state Sen. Brad Zaun, in spearheading repeal measures of the states OES, threatened school officials with jail for having the books in their libraries.

My warning to all the teachers, and the administrators, is youre going to be in jail. Because this is distributing pornography. And I will work my tail end off and it will become law, Zaun said at a November school meeting.

Maine is currently the only state to have successfully repealed the exemption.

Measures introduced in Oregon, Georgia, and Florida were defeated due to opposition led by the ACLU and the American Library Associations (ALA) Office for Intellectual Freedom.

Deborah Caldwell-Stone, director of the ALAs Office for Intellectual Freedom, didnt return repeated requests by The Epoch Times for comment.

The ALA has given special appeal awards for young adultsages 12 through 18to some of the most controversial books, including Gender Queer: A Memoir, Lawn Boy, and All Boys Arent Blue.

Stacy Langton, a parent from the Fairfax County Public School (FCPS) district in Virginia, recently made headlines when she read from the book Gender Queer: A Memoir and Lawn Boy at a school board meeting. Ironically, board members asked her to discontinue reading from the books because they were inappropriate for children who may have been in the audience.

One of the excerpts includes a story about a man who recounts a sexual encounter he had when he was 10 years old with another boy his age.

Many parents and school staff defended the books in the library saying they had read them and they felt they met underserved literary, cultural, and emotional needs of gay students.

Robert Rigby, a high school Latin teacher and co-president of FCPS Pride, has been especially vocal in denouncing the complaints about the book as a backlash against LGBTQ inclusion in the school district that has nothing to do with obscene material.

LGBTQ studentsand their peaceful existence in classes and schoolshave become collateral damage, with uncaring people exploiting their existence for other purposes, Rigby said in November.

Rigby declined to comment about the protection of the books under the states obscenity exemption laws, stating in an email to The Epoch Times he didnt have expertise on the subject.

Julie Quist, chairwoman of the Children Protection League, told The Epoch Times the problem she sees with the obscenity exemptions is that they are being used to turn public schools into Petri dishes for personal agendas.

Quists organization is working with parents in the small rural town of Alden, Minnesota, to get a ninth-grade teacher fired for distributing two sexually explicit poemsand then requiring her students to write essays and have classroom discussions about them.

McAlister said if the schools really believed such content is legal and appropriate, then they shouldnt be objecting to the repeal of obscenity exemption laws.

The reality is many of the people, who are now the librarians and teachers, were educated in the universities where these things were fully indoctrinated for quite a while and now they are the indoctrinators, she said.
Engineers unpack, clean, and prepare the James Webb Space Telescope ahead of its scheduled launch into orbit, upon its arrival at the launch site in Kourou, French Guiana, as seen in this NASA image released on Nov. 2, 2021 and obtained by Reuters on Dec. 13, 2021. (NASA/Chris Gunn/Handout via Reuters)

NASAs Webb Telescope Promises an Amazing Journey for Astronomy

WASHINGTONIt was finished years late at a cost far higher than planned, but NASAs James Webb Space Telescope due for launch next week may usher in a new era in astronomy as it gathers information on the universes past, star formation, and whether planets beyond our solar system may be suitable for life.

The orbiting infrared observatory, designed to be about 100 times more sensitive than its Hubble Space Telescope predecessor, is due to blast off on Dec. 22 on an Ariane 5 rocket from a site in French Guiana on South Americas northeastern coast.

Were about to go on this amazing journey of discovery, said astronomer Klaus Pontoppidan, a Webb project scientist with the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore. We really mean discovery because Webb has the raw power to reveal the unexpected. We can plan what we think were going to see. But at the end of the day we know that nature will surprise us more often than not.

The telescope, boasting four scientific instruments, is an international collaboration led by NASA in partnership with the European and Canadian space agencies. Northrop Grumman Corp. is the primary contractor. The launch vehicle is part of the European contribution.

It was developed at a cost of $8.8 billion, with operational expenses projected to bring its total price tag to about $9.66 billion. The U.S. Government Accountability Office said the price has nearly doubled since NASA established a cost baseline in 2009 after earlier cost overruns. NASA had hoped to launch it in 2011, but the date was repeatedly delayed.

Scientists plan to use the telescope to learn about all phases of the universes history dating back to about 13.8 billion years ago, while also studying exoplanetsplanets beyond our solar systemas well as worlds closer to home such as our planetary neighbor Mars and Saturns moon Titan.

Webb mainly will look at the universe in the infrared, while Hubble has examined it since its 1990 launch primarily at optical and ultraviolet wavelengths. Webb has a much bigger light-collecting area, letting it look at greater distances, thus farther back into time, than Hubble.

Were looking forward to this and were getting very, very close, said Greg Robinson, Webbs program director at the U.S. space agencys Washington headquarters.

The telescope arrived in French Guiana in October after a 16-day sea journey from California through the Panama Canal to Port de Pariacabo on the Kourou River. After launch, it will deploy on a month-long million-mile journey to a more distant orbit than Hubble, beyond the moon.

Its mission goals include searching for galaxies or luminous objects formed at earlier stages and learning how galaxies evolved from their initial birth to the present day.

The goals also include observing the formation of stars and the planets around them. Mather said Webb can peer into the clouds of gas and dust where stars are being born. Until now, the dust in those clouds obscured the view.

Infrared light will go around the dust grains instead of bouncing off, so we can see that with the Webb telescope. And thats one of our top goalsto see how stars grow, with their young planets, Mather said.

An instrument called a spectrometer can study the atmospheres of exoplanets. Mather said finding one with lots of waterthought to be one of the key ingredients for lifewould be really interesting. As he put it: a wet little planet out there that might be a little bit like home.
Its the fall of 1776 and New York City is under attack. The Declaration of Independence had birthed the United States of America barely two months earlier, and there was no turning back for the colonists. General George Washington had freed Boston in March and was slowly turning his army into a genuine fighting force.

All eyes are now on New York City. The British first invaded Staten Island, then defeated the Americans on Long Island, forcing Washingtons retreat to Manhattan. The colonial General is now planning a counterattack to keep from losing all of New York City. As both sides dig in, Washington knows he will lose New York unless he can obtain good intelligence on the troop movements and fortifications of the British.

There is only one way to get that informationGeneral Washington needs a spy! But this is before the days of spies and agents holding a special lore in American culture. In 1776, there is no CIA, no MI6, no Mossad, certainly no loyal American intelligence network at all. In 1776, spies are the lowest of the low, not military heroes. They are hired guns, unsavory and untrustworthy.

Spies are killed upon capture and are respected by none. Washington knows the information he needs cannot be trusted to that type of man. He needs one of his trusted officers for this particular task. But he could not, would not, demand such a dangerous and demeaning mission of just anyonehe wants someone to volunteer.

Late at night, Colonel Tom Knowlton quietly gathers his officers in a tent at a secret location away from prying eyes and ears. But the men in this meeting are no ordinary group of officers. These men are an elite special force group that Washington has recently formedthey are literally the very first American Rangers.

In hushed tones, the Colonel asks for a volunteer to answer the Generals call. His request is met with dead silence. Finally, an older, gruff officer breaks the silence and says, I am willing to be shot in battle, but I am not willing to be hanged like a dog. In other words, there is no honor in this mission.

Knowlton tries further to persuade, but eventually gives up. As he is turning to leave and tell General Washington he has failed, a young man, standing in the doorway of the tent, steps forward, and simply says with a steady voice, I will undertake the mission. He has arrived at the meeting late, ill with a fever, but eager to serve.

The courageous volunteer at the door is none other than Captain Hale is only 21 years of age, well-educated, and by all accounts of the ladies, a handsome fellow to boot. At the top of his Yale graduating class at the age of 18, Hale is a seriously devoted Christian, planning to become a minister of the gospel.

Fresh out of college, Hale was serving as a teacher when the war broke out. A well-accomplished speaker and debater in college, he argued that the higher education of women was being neglected. Therefore, in addition to serving as teacher for the Union Grammar School in New London, Connecticut, he has been teaching a group of ladies from 5 to 7 oclock each morning.

After a year of teaching, the shot heard round the world was fired at Lexington, Massachusetts, on April 19, 1775. Hale, still in his teens but enrolled in the local militia, attended the town meeting in New London and stood to speak. Let us march immediately, he said, and never lay down our arms until we obtain independence!

The word independence had not yet been spoken of publicly in his town, but the courage of this young man shook the community from its slumber of colonial submission. He then shook the hand of each of his students, prayed with them, and left for war.

Now Captain Hale finds himself volunteered for the most dangerous and most degrading mission he could imagine. Standing outside Colonel Knowltons tent, under cover of darkness, Hales good friend from college, Captain William Hull, tries to change his mind. Hull stresses the dangers of the mission, the likelihood of death, and the dishonorable legacy of being a spy. Nathan is unmoved and responds by pointing out that there is honor in a mission so necessary for the causehis General and his nation need him, and he will do what duty demands!

Hale makes his way behind enemy lines and, with his Yale diploma in hand, poses as a teacher looking for a new job. Over the course of several days, he is able to map out the British troop locations and fortifications. With this extremely valuable information hidden in the sole of his shoe, he is captured before he can make his way back across enemy lines.

The evidence is right there on his person. There is no denying what he was there to do. He is sentenced to hang the next morning. Unable to sleep, as he is contemplating his fate, he begins to come to grips with the fact that he has failed. He has failed his mission, his General, and the cause. Hale requests a member of the clergy but is refused. He requests a Bible and is refused. He is finally given paper and pen to write final words to his family. As he calmly pens this final letter, he purposes within his heart to do the only thing he could still do to help the cause for which he is willing to die.

The next morning, as people gather to watch the hanging, he is given a chance for last words. Summoning his best oratory, and quoting heavily from Joseph Addisons 1713 play Cato, Captain Nathan Hale gives a passionate defense of the American cause of freedom. British soldiers begin heckling and mocking him for dying for what they say is a worthless and hopeless cause, but Hale closes with these immortal and inspiring words, I only regret that I have but one life to give for my country.

Hales composure, passion, determination, and oratory change his ignoble fate, and greatly influence the very concept of patriotism. As women in the crowd weep aloud, and even hardened enemy soldiers are moved by his words, the image of a disgraced traitor is transformed into an honorable patriot, sacrificing for a worthy cause.

Nearly two-and-a-half centuries later, we can now see the tremendous success of what Nathan Hale believed was a failed mission. In voluntarily giving his life, he inspired hope for the cause, stirred conviction and belief in what the Americans were fighting for, and accomplished a far greater purpose than producing the recon maps for which he had left camp to serve General Washington.

This article is adapted from Rick Greens Legends of Liberty, Timeless Stories of Courageous Champions.

This article was originally published in American Essence magazine.
A worker is seen inside the P4 laboratory in Wuhan, capital of China's Hubei province, on Feb. 23, 2017. (Johannes Eisele/AFP via Getty Images)

New Book Points to Global Coverup of Pandemic Origins

Lab leak? Bioweapon? Wet market? Two years after a new coronavirus was first reported in Wuhan, China, the world still knows very little about the origins of the virus, named SARS-CoV-2 scientifically. Where it came from, and how it first infected humans, are questions that have still not been answered conclusively.

Viral, a new book from Harper Collins, examines the start of this pandemic, and why so much is still unknown. Scientist Alina Chan of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, and Matt Ridley, a PhD zoologist and science writer, explore three possibilities, including an accidental release of the virus from the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

The authors presented their findings in a recent virtual discussion with John Walters, president of the Hudson Institute, a Washington-based think tank.

What emerges is a damning indictment of global health and science institutions, and a story of two years of failure to properly investigate the virus origins.

Natural Origins?

One of the earliest theories promoted in the news media was that this virus emerged naturally from animals in the Wuhan area. According to Chan, there just isnt much evidence to support this idea. Theyve spent a year and a half searching for an animal source of this virus, said Chan, and they have found nothing.

According to Chan, Chinese authorities spent months analyzing animal tissue, human blood samples, and tracking infections. Despite all that, Chinese authorities have not found the original animal source, said Chan.

Instead of assuming some unproven natural origin, Chan says that scientists should be focused on what happened at the Wuhan lab. Her research has uncovered documents showing quite extensive coronavirus collection and manipulation at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

Id say that the burden is on the natural origin side, said Chan, to somehow show that these activities [at the Wuhan Institute], this collection of tens of thousands of high-risk pathogens from animals and humans  collecting into Wuhan, these experiments where genetic modifications are made to these virusessomehow all that did not lead to the emergence of SARS-CoV-2.

Missing Wuhan Data

To emphasize the possible connection between the Wuhan labs activities and the outbreak of the virus, Chan makes a comical analogy: Lets say that we found in a document from early 2018, where they [the Wuhan lab] proposed putting a horn onto a horse. Then at the end of 2019, somehow a unicorn suddenly appears in that city.

Despite this logical inference, the evidence presented in Viral is mainly sourced from publicly available research papers, media reports, and funding documentsbut none of it comes directly from the Wuhan Institute of Virology. The reason: the Wuhan lab took all its data offline on Sept. 12, 2019three months before the first infections were reported.

In December 2020, Shi Zhengli, the director of the Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases of the Wuhan Institute of Virology, told the BBC that the Wuhan lab database was taken off the internet because of many hacking attacks.

Co-author Ridley explained the significance of this hidden data: There exists in Wuhan a database of 22,000 samples, specimens, and [genetic] sequences. And that database went offline just before the start of the pandemic. It has never been brought back online. So we dont have any idea whats in it. It could tell us a lot about the viruses they were working on in that institution.

This deliberate suppression of scientific data, months before the pandemic began, is one of the strongest pieces of evidence suggesting involvement of the Wuhan lab in the release of SARS-CoV-2, he said.

It is quite extraordinary, said Ridley, to develop a large [virus] database as part of an effort to prevent pandemics and then not release the data when a pandemic comes along.

The CCP Virus

This data suppression is not the first coverup of pandemic information by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Its part of a propaganda campaign that has been covered extensively in the pages of The Epoch Times.

In recognition of the CCPs behavior, including censorship and arrests of doctors who warned of the danger, The Epoch Times adopted CCP virus as its name for the SARS-CoV-2 virus. This name, wrote the editorial board in early 2020, holds the CCP accountable for its wanton disregard of human life and consequent spawning of a pandemic that has put untold numbers  at risk.

As early as March 18, 2020, the editors of The Epoch Times pointed to the Wuhan lab as the possible source of the CCP virus, stating there is understandable concern about the activities of the Wuhan Institute of Virology, Chinas first P4 lab, one meant for working with easily transmitted pathogens that can cause fatal illness. As the official narratives offered for the source of the virus have been disproven, questions have been raised about whether the CCP virus leaked from the institute.

The authors of Viral explored this possibility in detail, and concluded that the Wuhan lab is the most likely origin of the virus.

Failures of the Science Community



Another piece of the puzzle explored by the authors: the startling lack of interest from the world scientific and medical communities into the origin of the virus.

According to Ridley, the worlds health and science organizations have failed in their mission to protect and inform the public. Its fair to say that they have let down the public, he said. The World Health Organization mounted an investigation that took a very long time but was frankly rather superficial and produced rather poor results.

Ridley said the Americans have not done any better. The U.S. government has not been forthcoming with information that it must already havebecause it funded the research in this space.

And the institutions of scientific publishing have not been as transparent as they should beinstead publishing documents which  were prematurely ruling out one hypothesis [laboratory origin] on the basis of what seems now to have been a political preference.

Even the worlds press has failed in its duties to investigate and report. The mainstream media has shown surprisingly little curiosity about the origin of the virus, said Ridley. Social media platforms have even forbidden conversations about one of the more obvious hypotheses. Facebook made it impossible for anybody to discuss laboratory leaks at all. So on all sorts of levels there has been a surprising lack of transparency and lack of accountability.

Into this void of scientific and journalistic inquiry, independent scientists, bloggers, and writers like Chan and Ridley have tried to piece together the story.

The whole story has come to depend heavily on a few extraordinarily brave and persistent individuals, said Ridley. Open-source analysts who looked into sources of information that are hard to find and pieced together information of great value. Its quite an interesting case of citizen science.

Among the scientists researching the origins of the pandemic, Chan has stood out for her persistence in the face of constant attacks from other scientists. Though she has never suggested that the virus was created or released with intention to harm, Chan has faced criticism, ridicule, and even accusations of racism since she began investigating the laboratory leak hypothesis.

This search for the origin was corrupted pretty early on in 2020, she said. It was cast as a racist thing to ask. Even other scientists were calling me anti-scientific, racist, or a race traitor.

This really speaks to the problem of public trust in science, she said, and how that trust can be jeopardized when scientists are found repeatedly to be withholding information or deciding whats best for the public to know.

David Asher, a Hudson Institute senior fellow, commented: The book really reads to me like an indictmentnot just of the government of China, but a global sort of indictment of how we have erased evidence, weve covered up amazing amounts of information from public disclosure. Its almost inexplicable to me.

The pandemic, said Asher, is literally the biggest disaster to befall our country and the world since World War II. Its about 20 percent of GDP [lost due to pandemic restrictions]. Thats more than we lost in the entire Great Depression.

So the question is: what is going on with our national health authorities, and why are they acting like this?
Nigeria: Survivors Recount Hell of Terrorist Attacks in Sokoto

Radicalized bandits in Nigerias far-north state of Sokoto have unleashed a reign of terror on three counties close to the states border with the Republic of Niger. On Dec. 6, at least 50 unarmed civilians were slain, most of them attempting to flee to a safer region.

In recent months, bandits have killed as many as 120 local residents in a single day.

A commercial bus carrying 40 terrified residents from Isa County toward the town of Shinkafi was ambushed by bandits on the evening of Dec. 6 and burst into flames, incinerating 23, and killing six more who have perished from burns since then. Several other residents were killed in bandit attacks in nearby villages, local residents told The Epoch Times.

My 10-month-old baby was burned to death while strapped to my back, as well as my three daughters, said a traumatized Shafaatu Adamu, a 48-year-old mother of four, who died Dec. 10 at a Sokoto hospital.

Nine of my family members were burned to death, Adamu told The Epoch Times. My mother, my niece, my nephew, my immediate younger brother, and my maternal uncle were all burned to death in the bus, she said, speaking with difficulty because of the severe burns she sustained in the attack.

Adamu, a housewife, was traveling to see a hospitalized relative in neighboring Kaduna state when they were attacked 50 miles from Sokoto, the capital of Sokoto state. In an interview with The Epoch Times at the Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital in Sokoto, where she was being treated, Adamu recalled seeing armed men jump in front of them as their vehicle was bogged down at a speed bump near the town of Gidan Bawa.

The farming town borders Sabon Birni and Isa counties, both of which have seen dozens of attacks in recent months.

I was talking to one of my daughters when suddenly gunmen appeared and started shooting at our vehicle. The bus somersaulted, and I just found myself on the ground with burns, she said.

The Sokoto-bound vehicle burst into flames after flipping, said another survivor, Ibrahim Likiyu, who said he crawled out of the flames to escape into nearby bushes.

My trouser was on fire, but I managed to come out, he told The Epoch Times. I ran into the bushes with some children while the bandits shot after us.

Criminal bandit gangs began forming in Zamfara state in 2011, and today have dozens of major criminal networks based in that state alone, according to Dr. Murtala Rufai, a bandit researcher in Sokoto. The bandits in five northwestern states number approximately 10,000, yet there may be as many as 30,000 in all states, according to James Barnett, a research fellow at The Hudson Institute.

The bandits responsible for the bus attack are directed by a 33-year-old criminal warlord named Bello Turji, according to local residents. He is believed to command 2,500 fighters spread out over Sokoto and Zamfara states.

Military authorities recently closed the markets in Sabon Birni that the bandit brigades use for food and supplies. Local residents believe the bloody attacks are intended to punish residents for cooperating with authorities. Turjis bandits are known to terrorize the people in three counties of Sokoto with kidnap-for-ransom, mass rape, massacres, and cattle rustling, Rufai said.

Multiple Attacks in Sokoto State

Accounts vary as to the number of deaths following last weeks attack. Local officials said that a total of 23 people died, while six others suffered minor injuries. But Idris Gobir, a former chairman of Sabon Birni, told The Epoch Times that 30 people were killed at the scene.

Twenty-three people were burned to death, while seven others were shot while trying to escape, Gobir said in a phone call. The bandits went ahead and killed five people in the surrounding villages barely minutes after that attack, and an additional six victims died from their burns, including Adamu.

The bandits killed nine more people over the next three days in separate attacks in Sabon Birni and adjacent villages, even shortly after Gov. Aminu Tambuwals personal visit to the town on Dec. 9. A few hours after the governor offered his condolences to bereaved residents in the town, ransom-seeking gunmen attacked the neighboring Kurawa village, killing one, Gobir said.

In their usual style, they came in the evening, killed one person, and abducted four. Later, they released one and asked him to go and tell the community leaders to mobilize a levy of N4 million [$8,800], that is, N1 million for each of the four kidnapped, including the one they sent to pass the message. And that was what they did before they were released, Gobir said, noting that the military didnt intervene during the attack, which lasted two hours.

Similar accounts were recounted by survivors of another deadly attack in the town of Birjingo in nearby Goronyo County on Dec. 10.

200 Sokoto Towns Controlled by Bandits

The terrorists attack on a daily basis and have occupied close to 200 towns in four counties to the east of Sokoto, according to Gobir. The Epoch Times in November reported that the terrorists were capturing towns and setting up their own governments in Sabon Birni. Gobir said on Dec. 10 that more villages had been lost to the bandits since The Epoch Times report. The bandits have demanded and collected levies on 137 communities in the four counties, according to an investigation by The Daily Star Nigeria.

Even yesterday, five villages in Sabon Birni vacated, and these bandits are definitely going to take over, Gobir said on Dec. 9. Rambadawa, Garin Idi, Nasarawa, Tudun Wada, and Dan Gari [towns] completely evacuated yesterday, apart from almost 200 villages that have been taken over by these people, he said, noting that the bandits convert schools and hospitals in the captured towns into terrorist camps.

For instance, in Gidan Bawa, where they attacked those travelers, the schools and clinics in that village are now their base. In Tashan Bagaruwa, its the same thing. Satiru [town] is like their divisional headquarters. In Dama, where they attacked a military base last two months or so, they are also using schools and clinics, and I have personally written to the military authorities informing them about all these developments, but I am getting fed up because nothing is being done, Gobir said.

President Muhammadu Buhari has condemned the attack of Dec. 6 but hasnt announced any additional military or police interventions.

Sabon Birni leaders appealed to Buhari for reinforcements in a letter on Dec. 7, in which they said they felt scandalised, traumatised and demoralised by the constant butchering of their people by the terrorist groups operating in three local governments in Sokoto East Senatorial districts: Isa, Sabon Birni, and Goronyo as well as the Shinkafi local government in Zamfara.

Your Excellency, we have earlier on written a similar complaint after a gory incident that occurred [on May 22, 2020] at Garki Village, 5 kilometres away from Sabo Birni, where over 80 people were gruesomely murdered in cold blood in a single night, the letter reads.

At that time we were so awestruck that we hardly had time to bury the dead bodies when the murderous terrorists struck again in another village about 10 kilometres away from there, known as Dakwaro, followed in quick succession by Gajit, Lajinge, Tarah, Unguwar Lalle, Kurawa, Gangara, Garin Idi and virtually every village around the axis leaving behind in their trail blood, tears, smoke, ashes and shuttered farmlands.

A similar attack in nearby Goronyo County on Oct. 17 killed 120 people, according to officials. The attack at a popular market in the heavily guarded county seat may have left as many as 200 people dead, according to The Daily Star.
The resort town of Yulara (C) and Connellan Airport (front) lie before the arkose massif of Uluru (Ayers Rock) rising 348 metres above the surrounding desert of central Australia, 17 February 2007(TORSTEN BLACKWOOD/AFP via Getty Images)

Northern Territory Government Responds to Tourism Industry Backlash

Northern Territory Deputy Chief Minister Nicole Manison has said that tour operators concerns over the altered Dec. 20 COVID-19 travel restrictions are being looked at.

At a press conference on Monday, she told reporters that the Government had received responses from both residents and industry groups, and were considering some of the issues that had been raised.

Weve had it from residents through to major industry groups, so we are having a look at making sure that it does work for the circumstances of the Northern Territory, but most importantly whilst also making sure that we have strong measures in place to keep the community safe, particularly the highly vulnerable communities, and communities where we do not have a high enough vaccination rate, she said.

This comes after last weeks announcement that under the strengthened roadmap set to take effect on Dec. 20, vaccinated arrivals to the NT will no longer have to undertake a quarantine period but will be required to remain in a high-vaccination zone for the first 14 days of their visit.

This measure is expected to reduce the risk of spreading COVID-19 to remote and vulnerable communities, but according to Tourism Central Australia CEO Danial Rochford, the policy is tantamount to throwing the industry under a bus.

No one will be coming to the Territory, Rochford told The Epoch Times.

According to Rochford, the new restriction means that visitors to the Territory will have to stay for two weeks in an area with high vaccination rates, Darwin, for example, rather than going directly to a place such as Uluru, Kings Canyon, or Kakadu.

Rochford said that based on the original travel changes set to come in on Dec. 20, there was optimism amongst tour operators. That change would have seen home quarantine lifted for fully vaccinated travellers, meaning they could have entered the Territory and begun their holiday immediately.

But now the rug has been pulled out from under us, Rochford said.

He acknowledged that the Governments intention to protect vulnerable communities is good, but that a balanced approach is needed whereby people are kept safe while the economy is moved forward.

The new directive is clearly not a balanced approach,  he said.

Manisons new announcement on Monday after tour industry backlash hinted at trying to achieve a more balanced approach.

We do talk to industry very often, we do talk to people in remote settings very often, but were also looking at a range of research too, she said.

She added that since making the new announcements last week, multiple concerns have been raised about the need to ensure that the Territory is kept safe whilst also operating the way that it needs to. In addition, people need certainty in order to plan their holidays at Christmas.

So we are taking some of that on board, and having a look at it, and looking at making sure that we can keep Territorians safe while having a system that is practical to implement, she said.

Weve had conversations with Yulara and certainly the tourism precincts there, so those conversations are ongoing, weve had many with different industries in the last few days, but these conversations are ongoing.

Rochford confirmed these comments, telling the Epoch Times on Tuesday that Tourism Central Australia had a meeting with Tourism Minister Natasha Fyles, at which the industrys concerns were raised.

Rochford was happy for the opportunity to present their concerns to the minister at the meeting and said he hopes that government takes on board the views of the industry.

We continue to advocate as a strong voice for our tourism industry, he said.

On Tuesday, Health Minister Natasha Fyles said she believed there would be further updates to the restrictions before December 20.

So what Im saying is, that Im very confident that in the coming days we will make some changes that will help not only bring families together, allow Territorians to travel, but they will also reflect on some of the concerns that the tourism industry has raised with us, she said.
Men wearing protective suits make their way at a bus stop at Narita international airport on the first day of closed borders to prevent the spread of the new Omicron variant amid the pandemic in Narita, east of Tokyo, Japan, on Nov. 30, 2021. (Kim Kyung-hoon/Reuters)

Omicron Unleashes New Wave of Hysteria, With Rule by Decree in Force

Commentary

Just over a year ago, President-elect Joe Biden promised a very dark winter ahead in the face of COVID-19, and told the nation he would spare no effort to turn this pandemic around once were sworn in on Jan. 20. Its time to put aside the partisanship and the rhetoric designed to demonize one another.

Its time to end the politicization of basic, responsible public health steps like mask-wearing and social distancing.

Now here we are, 13 months later, in the run-up to the shortest day of the year and the start of a third season of pandemic panic: Hows that working out for you, America?

After a year of nothing to show for a fruitless battle against a bug that cant be defeated, Biden has rolled out another more-of-the-same plan involving more vaccination mandates on private companies (even though the federal courts are shooting such mandates down on a regular basis), jabbing healthy, crying children, demanding more booster shots of vaccines already proven to not work as initially advertised, and reinstituting travel bans at the drop of a letter of the Greek alphabet. Bonus points: Recent tests indicate that the Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines are nearly useless against the latest new variant, Omicron.

Speaking of whichthanks to an increasingly irresponsible mediaOmicron has now terrified the civilized world, setting off cries for more lockdowns and general harum-scarum, even though the international death toll of this bug is so far a grand total of seven, with all the deaths reported in the United Kingdom.

But that hasnt stopped the hysterical British prime minister, Boris Johnson, from instantly decreeing Plan B, which includes work-from-home orders, face-mask mandates, and proof of vaccination in large public venues. An even more oppressive Plan C is just around the corner. That Johnson is in the middle of his own scandal involving himself and his aides flouting and mocking the very rules theyre imposing on ordinary Britons is entirely coincidental.

COVID hysteria is even worse in places such as Australia, where anyone who runs afoul of the former penal colonys current ruling class gets sent to concentration camps. A recent escape from one of these relics of the good old days of transportation by three Aboriginal youths who didnt even have COVID set of a breathless manhunt for these dangerous criminalsall because they were close contacts of someone with a case.

Hong Kong has just decreed that all travelers from the United Stateswho must be fully vaccinated Hong Kong residents in the first placemust first spend seven days at a quarantine camp followed by two weeks in hotel quarantine. This is all because of the dreaded Omicron.

Meanwhile, hospitals are laying off the sensible staffershailed as heroes just a few months agowho refuse to take part in historys largest unsupervised medical experiment, thus necessitating the presence of soldiers from the National Guard in U.S. hospitals to take up the slack in four states, including Indiana, Maine, New Hampshire, and New York.

The staffing shortages are, of course, a direct result of the mandates; further, in an echo of the supply chain problems currently plaguing U.S. businesses, theyre also slowing down the processing and discharge of patients from hospitals, thus contributing to the hospital bed shortage. A ruling on Dec. 13 by an increasingly erratic Supreme Court that refused to block a New York State requirement that all health care workers be vaccinatedeven if they claim a religious exemptionwill only add to the chaos.

The militarization of the health care system is just the latest example of what has become the nationalization of medicine. Most doctors must now follow political guidelines in dealing with patients and, increasingly, unvaccinated patients are being refused servicea violation of physicians professional oaths. The long struggle over socialized medicine is now essentially over. Going forward, expect the slogan My body, my choice and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act to be relegated to the ash heap of historyall in the name of public safety.

On the education front, many schools are still adamantly refusing to return to normal, making it clear that the teachers unions are more about unions than teaching. With the right-on-time appearance of Omicron, more and more school districts are suddenly reclosing, even though the impact on health has been negligible.

Once again, we see the ripple effect at work.

A recent industry report reads: After a big drop in closures earlier this fall, more schools are now shutting down as colder weather spreads and COVID rates climb in various parts of the country.  COVID is continuing to shut down classrooms, schools and entire districts in northern states that experienced less severe outbreaks of the delta variant  as many of this falls closures have been caused by shortages of teachers, bus drivers, and other staff as have been caused by COVID outbreaks among students.

But the main takeaway is this: Teachers just dont want to teach, but instead view their profession as a state-sponsored sinecure.

On the broad front, rule-by-decreefirst popularized by Barack Obama with his infamous pen and phone comment, has replaced rule-of-law. Nowhere in the Constitution does the president have legislative power (or the Supreme Court, for that matter) but as the turn-of-the-century Tammany Hall fixer George Washington Plunkitt famously said, Whats the Constitution among friends? Far easier to issue executive orders, regardless of their constitutionality, and thats exactly what Biden has been doing since the start of his presidency.

The Democrats constantly mutterand fundraiseabout saving our democracy, by which of course they mean their democracy. This apparently consists of totalitarianism via the smallest possible majorities in Congress, a unified, pliant press corps, and vast infusions of cash from sources as disparate as the Peoples Republic of China and the pharmaceutical industryboth of which have profited politically and financially from the current crisis.

Seventy-two senators and 302 members of the House of Representatives cashed a check from the pharmaceutical industry ahead of the 2020 electionrepresenting more than two-thirds of Congress, according to a new STAT analysis of records for the full election cycle, reads a recent watchdog report. Pfizers political action committee alone contributed to 228 lawmakers. Overall, the sector donated $14 million  it remains routine for the elected officials who regulate the health care industry to accept six-figure sums.

Finally, on the demonization front, things have only gotten worsewith Biden himself leading the charge against the unvaccinated. In September, he divisively charged that unvaccinated people are harming the economic recovery, making people sick and causing others to die.

Weve been patient, but our patience is wearing thin, he said.

Look, were the United States of America, Biden concluded. Or at least we used to be.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Overwhelmingly Vaccinated Cornell University Shuts Down Campus as COVID-19 Cases Spike

Just a few days before the end of the semester, Cornell University is shutting down its campus and moving final exams online because of a recent surge in COVID-19 cases among its overwhelmingly vaccinated student population.

In a message released Tuesday, Cornell President Martha E. Pollack told the campus community that the universitys surveillance testing has continued to identify the rapid spread of COVID-19 among students.

According to the Ivy League schools website, 97 percent of the overall population on the Ithaca, New York campus has been fully vaccinated. That includes 100 percent of professional faculty, 93 percent of other employees, and 99 percent of undergraduate students. As of Dec. 12, there are 469 active student cases, including 214 newly confirmed positives.

While faculty and staff case numbers currently remain low, just last evening our COVID-19 testing lab team identified evidence of the highly contagious Omicron variant in a significant number of Mondays positive student samples, Pollack said, adding that the university now moves to alert level red, which indicates high risk, for the first time since the early days of the pandemic.

Pollack also emphasized that there is only preliminary evidence of Omicrons presence on the Cornell campus, as PCR testing has identified the variants characteristic S-gene dropout in a substantial number of virus samples. That being said, the university is proceeding as if it is while awaiting genome sequencing information that can confirm whether the source is Omicron.

In an effort to curb the spread of what could be Omicron, which appears to be significantly more transmissible but generally causes milder symptoms compared to other variants, Cornell is going to facilitate a number of changes. All university activities involving undergraduates and all university-sponsored events, including the Dec. 18 graduation ceremony, will be canceled. Libraries and gyms will be closed. Students are also advised to get a negative COVID-19 test result before any travel. Visitors and guests are not allowed on campus, except those coming to pick up students for break.

Any student who has not tested negative in the past 48 hours should get a supplemental test as soon as possible, Pollack wrote. Students are encouraged to stay in Ithaca, in their residences, until their test results are received, and severely limit interactions with others during that time.

When it comes to the finals, Pollack said all final exams will move to an online format, and that students should look to their professors as they make changes, as many may need to reschedule in accordance with the changes.

In a previous message sent out on Monday, Pollack said the university has suspended all classes, and that students have until March 29 to move out, except international students who cannot return home. Undergraduate students and professional masters students with research or other projects will not be able to continue them on campus.

Prior to the Monday and Tuesday announcements, Cornell had already imposed some strict measures in hope of limiting the spread of the virus. The university requires everyone to wear a mask indoors at all times, regardless of their vaccination status, unless when eating or drinking or being alone in a private space like an office or a dorm room. Unvaccinated students are also required to maintain a 6-foot physical distance with others whenever possible.

As of Dec. 12, New York Gov. Kathy Hochuls office has reported 38 confirmed Omicron cases across the state, including two in Tompkin County, where Cornell University is seated.
Rocket launcher tubes are seen in a destroyed vehicle vehicle in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Aug. 30, 2021. (Khwaja Tawfiq Sediqi/AP Photo)

Pentagon: No Troops Disciplined Over US Airstrike in Afghanistan

U.S. troops involved in the Aug. 29 airstrike of Afghanistan resulting in civilian casualties will not be facing disciplinary action, according to Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby in a Dec. 13 press briefing.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin approved the recommendations regarding procedural changes made by both U.S. Special Operations Command leader Gen. Richard Clarke and U.S. Central Command head Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, according to Kirby.

The officials have concluded that there will be no punishment for military service members involved in the airstrike.

An independent Pentagon review conducted by Air Force Lt. Gen. Sami Said last month found breakdowns in communication during the process of locating and confirming the target of the bombing.

I found that given the information they had and the analysis that they didI understand they reached the wrong conclusion, but  was it reasonable to conclude what they concluded based on what they had? It was not unreasonable. It just turned out to be incorrect, Said said, according to statements obtained by The Associated Press.

Given that U.S. forces were flooded by information about threats to troops and civilians only days after a deadly suicide bombing at the Kabul airport, Said pointed out that troops genuinely believed that the white Toyota Corolla sedan targeted was an imminent threat to U.S. forces, and that troops were unaware of children in proximity to the strike zone.

The U.S. drone strike blew up a vehicle carrying multiple suicide bombers from the ISIS-K terrorist group on Aug. 29, causing at least 10 civilian casualties including 7 children, according to officials.

US military forces conducted a self-defense unmanned over-the-horizon airstrike today on a vehicle in Kabul, eliminating an imminent ISIS-K threat to Hamad Karzai International airport, Capt. Bill Urban, a U.S. Central Command spokesperson, told reporters in a statement.

In a statement to The Hill, Pentagon Secretary stated that the department takes seriously our obligation to avoid civilian harm in the execution of our operations, and as the secretary made clear, we will not be afraid to make necessary changes to our processes and procedures to that end.

The Aug. 29 airstrike came in retaliation to a bombing at the Kabul airport that killed 13 U.S. military members and numerous other civilians a week prior. ISIS-K claimed responsibility for the blast.
Its Time to Send Chinas Envoys in Canada Packing

Commentary

In 2012, Stephen Harpers Conservative government closed the Iranian embassy and sent its diplomats home. The decision came about due to the government realizing the hopelessness of pursuing any sort of productive relationship with the regime in Tehran. Calling Iran the most significant threat to world peace, the government cited the regimes support for terrorism, its support for the Assad regime in Syria, its horrific antisemitism and threats against Israel, and its dishonesty regarding the pursuit of its nuclear program.

The unfortunate reality is that some regimes present themselves as such bad-faith actors that maintaining diplomatic channels seems futile, as it is clear there is little hope of conducting any worthwhile diplomacy that is mutually beneficial.

This argument, and the wisdom of expelling diplomats, is worth exploring when it comes to communist Chinaparticularly pertaining to its ambassador to Canada, Cong Peiwu, whose utterances in recent years have made it very clear that the last thing the Chinese Communist Party desires is an honest, reciprocal relationship with Canada.

For a while now, the Trudeau government has been teasing its imminent decision on whether Chinese telecom giant Huawei will be allowed participate in Canadas 5G network. Seeing the evidence that has rapidly accumulated of the close connection between Huawei and the CCPs intelligence apparatusalong with the fact that many of our allies have made decisions to either ban or restrict the company from their 5Git is rather clear that our move should be to follow suit.

Knowing this, Cong has resorted to issuing brazen threats against Canada if it decides to shut out Huawei. Last week, he told reporters he hopes Canadas decision will be a positive momentum for the relationship, or they will pay a price for their erroneous deeds and actions.

Given that the CCP has demonstrated its willingness to retaliate when Ottawa does something it disapproves of, ranging from economic penalties to hostage-taking, Congs threat could mean a variety of things; nevertheless, it is an open threat against Canada if it makes a decision based on responsible assessments of its own security interests.

It also comes from a man who is a reliable peddler of the CCP propaganda talking point that any criticism of the regime amounts to interference in Chinas internal affairs. Before the parliamentary vote that eventually yielded a majority agreeing that the CCPs actions towards the Uyghurs amounted to genocide, Cong lashed out against accusations of genocide, calling them unfounded and counter to the facts, insisting that any action the regime has taken has been to stamp out terrorism.

Cong has also been a serial disinformer when it comes to the pressing issue of Taiwan, over which the CCPs militancy might eventually provoke a disastrous conflict. Making another set of subtle threats to inform Ottawas decision-making on this file, Cong claimed erroneously that there can be no compromise on Taiwan as the status quo is one China with Taiwan as an inalienable part. He has distorted history by falsely citing the UN Declarations he said identify Taiwan as such (they dont) and portraying Canadian foreign policy as an endorsement of such a position (former Foreign Affairs Minister Mitchell Sharp established Ottawas position in an address to the House in October 1970 that said Ottawa only took note of the claim).

Aside from Congs antics, theres convincing evidence that Chinas embassies have been used as a vessel for Beijings United Front to conduct its work of stifling opposition to the regime. A number of security experts have alleged that, through the United Front, embassies have connected themselves to student groups on campuses who then help the Front target and keep tabs on those who oppose the regime, such as pro-Hong Kong or Uyghur activists. Responses to these allegations from the embassies have included obfuscation and wildly accusing activists of trying to sabotage prosperity and stability in Hong Kong and Xinjiang.

The reality has long been established that Chinas envoys are not good-faith actors operating within the confines of typical diplomacy and are making it easier for the Beijing regimewhose power has indeed now become the greatest threat to world peaceto threaten our security from within.

As this becomes ever more clear, sending Chinas envoys home might be a prudent measure to have on the table.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Leftist Pedro Castillo celebrates from the headquarters of the "Free Peru" party after the country's electoral authority announced him as the winner of the presidential election, in Lima, Peru, on July 19, 2021. (Sebastian Castaneda/Reuters)

Perus Socialist Government Cancels Christmas Gatherings

SANTA CRUZ, BoliviaThe administration of Pedro Castillo, Perus socialist president, has canceled all social events, including family gatherings, on Christmas Day 2021 and New Years Day 2022.

Using a supreme decree that was approved on Dec. 9 and went into effect the following day, Peruvians are required to stay at home without exception. In the same order, those older than age 18 must now show proof of vaccination against the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus to enter any closed spaces, such as stores, markets, banks, or churches. Those who work face-to-face jobs with more than 10 people must also present proof of vaccination to stay employed in non-remote positions.

Fear over a potential third wave of the CCP virus, particularly the Omicron variant, is the impetus behind the decision.

The decree called the combination of holiday events and the pandemic serious circumstances that affect peoples lives and declared that citizens must follow what the government referred to as the new social coexistence.

The order went into effect three days after the Peruvian Congress voted on Castillos impeachment for permanent moral incapacity. The motion failed to be approved, garnering only 46 of the required 52 votes.

Castillo took office on July 28.

Were not allowed to visit family or have a meal together. How is it the holidays? Lima resident Victoria Calderon told The Epoch Times.

Regarding the ordinance, Calderon thinks its too much to ask of the Peruvian people.

Youre not allowed to set foot outside your home [on Dec. 25 or Jan. 1], even if youre fully vaccinated, she said.

A total of 60 percent of the country has been fully inoculated against the CCP virus, and 71.2 percent have received at least one dose of the vaccine.

It has been two years now we cant celebrate [in groups] or be together with our families on Christmas, Calderon said.

In November, Peru revealed itself as the nation with the highest number of deaths from the CCP virusper population densityin the world. The virus has killed 201,490 people in the country as of Dec. 10, according to World Health Organization data.

At present, Peru hasnt reported a single case of the Omicron variant, which is the newest identified strain of the CCP virus.

Though the decree doesnt outline punitive measures for violations of the order, fines for disregarding state-sanctioned pandemic restrictions have been in place since February 2021. Theyre equivalent to $108 and apply if police catch you outside of your home during a mandatory quarantine.

Driving a car during curfew hours means that police can take away the vehicle and drivers license, as well as issue a financial penalty of $1,590.

Likewise, social, recreational, cultural, or religious activities that draw a crowd will earn participants a $100 fine.

And while some residents are feeling the pinch of restricted access to their families for the holidays, others are more worried about the employment aspect of the ordinance.

Were talking about losing your job if you dont meet the requirement of fully vaccinated, Trujillo, Peru, resident Benjamin Leon told The Epoch Times.

Leon said the order considers a full CCP virus vaccination schedule to be three shotsincluding the booster doseunless you were originally inoculated with the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine, but thats subject to change with little notice.

I could be at work, have my three shots, and then randomly have my boss ask for proof of a fourth dose. If I cant produce it [the proof], Ill be terminated, he said.

Labor attorney Pamela Navarro confirmed that a complete vaccination schedule against the CCP virus, according to the definition itself, includes the vaccine booster dose.

It indicates that if you cannot work in personbecause you do not have the vaccineyou can do remote work to the extent your work is compatible with remote work, Navarro said.

Navarro also said if an employers needs arent compatible with remote work, suspension of employment contracts for unvaccinated employees automatically apply.

Nothing about this holiday feels joyous, Calderon said.
A still image from a social media video shows people on a street after an earthquake in Maumere, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia, on Dec. 14, 2021. (Aris Zigon/via Reuters)

Powerful 7.4 Quake Strikes Indonesia, Residents Flee Buildings

JAKARTAA powerful 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck eastern Indonesia on Tuesday triggering a tsunami early warning alert, the meteorological department said, but there was no immediate word on any casualties or damage.

The quake struck at 0320 GMT in the Flores Sea, about 112 km (70 miles) northwest of the town of Larantuka, in the eastern part of Flores island, at a depth of 12 km.

Everyone ran out into the street, Agustinus Florianus, a resident of Maumere town on Flores, told Reuters. Maumere was badly damaged by a quake of a similar magnitude in 1992.

The tsunami alerts were issued for the areas of Maluku, East Nusa Tenggara, West Nusa Tenggara and Southeast and South Sulawesi. The alerts predicted only small waves of less than half a meter, while early measurements at tidal gauges detected a change of 7 centimeters.

The U.S. Geological Survey later said the quake had a magnitude of 7.3. An aftershock of 5.6 magnitude hit Larantuka after the first quake, the Indonesian agency said.

It felt like a wave, up and down, Zacharias Gentana Keranz, a resident of Larantuka told Reuters.

Alfons Hada Betan, head of East Flores Disaster Mitigation agency in Larantuka said there were no immediate reports of damage and the quake was felt for several minutes as people fled from their homes.

People said on social media the earthquake was also felt strongly in Makassar, South Sulawesi.

A still image from a social media video shows dust disturbances on side of hill after an earthquake in Nagekeo, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia, on Dec. 14, 2021. (Alldo Van Robby/via Reuters)

The U.S-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said that based on preliminary earthquake parameters, there was a possibility for hazardous tsunami waves for coasts located within 1,000 km (621.37 miles) of the earthquakes epicentre.

Muhamad Sadly, an official with the meteorology agency, told Metro TV that people should stay away from beaches adding that the tsunami warning would be lifted at least two hours after it was issued.

Indonesia straddles the Pacific Ring of Fire, an area of high seismic activity that rests atop multiple tectonic plates.

At least 48 people were killed and hundreds injured when the Mount Semeru volcano erupted on Java island on Dec. 4.

The Epoch Times contributed to this report.
Alan Jones speaks to the media during a Wallabies & Barbarians media opportunity at Sydney Cricket Ground, Australia on Oct. 13, 2017. (Matt King/Getty Images)

Premiere of Alan Jones New Show Crashes Before Resuming to Talk About Freedom in Australia

The premiere of Australian broadcaster Alan Jones new show encountered technical difficulties, as the stream crashed on all platforms minutes after it began at 8 p.m. on Dec. 13.

Jones opened the show by saying that Australia was in critical times.

Weve become a nation of one idea, theres no debate youre not allowed to have an alternative viewpoint from that fed to us from the establishment forces, he said. Politicians  are dictating to us and trying to silence anyone who disagrees with them. Well, they wont silence you or me.

However, a couple of minutes later, the stream cut out due to excessive demand, according to the broadcast team.

The show was rescheduled to resume two hours later at 10 p.m., but around 30 minutes later, Jones announced that his tech team fixed the issue much faster than expected and resumed the show without further issues.

The guests on his inaugural show featured New South Wales Premier Dominic Perrottet and Queensland Senator Matt Canavan, with freedom in Australia being the topic of discussion.

Weve lost the quintessential Australian characteristics of optimism, fun  offering ones own opinion without the fear of being cancelled, Jones said.

He also criticised the lockdown restrictions and mask mandates, describing it as a cure that was worse than the disease.

Perrottet said the society today was built on freedom and the sacrifice of previous Australians.

Many people have given their lives for the opportunity and prosperity that we have today, and we shouldnt lose sight of that, Perrottet said. The moment that [happens] well leave our country in a poor state going forward.

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet speaks at his first press conference as the leader in Sydney, Australia, Oct. 5, 2021. (Brook Mitchell/Getty Images)

The premier was shocked that there were still so many commentators, politicians, and members of the public who would still prefer us to be locked down in circumstances where there is no need.

Jones asked Perrottet he thought Australians would be completely free again, to which Perrottet said, Yes we will.

Freedom is the default position. Governments should only be coming in circumstances, where there is a high risk to peoples lives, and make tough decisions, Perrottet said.

Perrottet acknowledged that the government hadnt always got it right, but noted there had been a substantial success in keeping people safe and having a stronger economy.

But we need to have the focus beingits not the governments role to intervene, its the governments role to get out of the way and allow society to flourish, he said.
Parti Quebecois member of the National Assembly Alexandre Cloutier responds to reporters, June 6, 2017 at the legislature in Quebec City. (The Canadian Press/Jacques Boissinot)

Quebec University Classrooms Are Not Safe Spaces, Says Academic Freedom Committee

MONTREALA committee mandated by the Quebec government to investigate academic freedom says university classrooms should not be considered safe spaces.

The committee, headed by former Parti Quebecois cabinet minister Alexandre Cloutier, introduced its report today, following hearings that included testimony from university staff and students.

Cloutier, the vice chancellor at Universite du Quebec a Chicoutimi, is recommending the government adopt a bill that would create a universal definition of academic freedom and would protect that freedom on university campuses across the province.

His report makes several other recommendations, including against universities imposing so-called trigger warningsstatements that warn students about potentially offensive or traumatic classroom material.

The government created the committee following a controversy at University of Ottawa, where a professor was suspended in 2020 for using the N-word during a class lecture.

Cloutier told reporters today that university classrooms should not be safe spaces but should instead be forums where ideas can be debated without censorship.
Queensland Shifts Pandemic Focus with CHO Expecting Mild Illness for Vaccinated

Queenslands Chief Health Officer, John Gerrard, said that going forward in the pandemic health authorities in the Australian state would be looking for any exponential increases in case numbers in the community, and or, in hospitals, with vaccinated cases expected to have mild symptoms.

This marks a shift away from monitoring daily case numbers and comes on the day Queensland reopened its borders to allow vaccinated travellers to enter without quarantine so long as they get a negative PCR test within 72 hours of travel.

Despite screening travellers for COVID-19 prior to travel, it is expected that some travellers will be incubating the virus and bringing it into Queensland.

However, Gerrard cited high rates of vaccination in the state as offering protection to most Queenslanders.

Up until now, because of the high vaccination rates, all weve been seeing are spot fires and for the most part, these spot fires have been brought under control, Gerrard told reporters on Monday, his first day in the job.

But as time goes by it is highly likelyits inevitablethat the case numbers will increase.

The chief health officer said he expects hundreds of extra spot fires in the coming months, with vaccinated people spreading the virus throughout the community.

But Gerrard, who has treated COVID-19 patients since the state of the pandemic, said the illness in vaccinated people was often asymptomatic or like a mild cold.

They dont get very sick at all. They may get no symptoms, or they may get a mild cold. These arent people that will be filling up our hospitals, he said.

This would mean that most of the cases of the coronavirus would be managed from home in the future.

With vaccinated cases being managed from home, the chief health officer expects the vast majority of COVID-19 hospitalisations to be unvaccinated cases, along with a small minority of elderly people or those with immune dysfunction.

Meanwhile, the Lancet, a weekly peer-reviewed medical journal, published in November a warning to high-level government officials in the United States and Germany against using the phrase the pandemic of the unvaccinated given there was increasing evidence that vaccinated individuals continue to have a relevant role in transmission.

Health authorities in Australia dont expect to get a clearer picture of the impact of the Omicron variant for a few months.

But early data suggests that the vaccine is effective (against Omicron) and that particularly with a third dose after the five months  there is a good antibody response and its likely that this will be very effective in preventing Omicron infection, Gerrard said.
An New South Wales ambulance leaves Newmarch House with a patient on May 01, 2020 in Sydney, Australia. (Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

SA: Two COVID-19 Infected Workers Visited Aged Care Centres Prior Diagnosis

Two healthcare workers in South Australia have tested positive for COVID-19 after visiting and delivering care to residents at several aged care centres around the state capital.

Extra infection control measures and testing of residents and staff have commenced at a few Adelaide nursing homes following this announcement.

SA Health stated that: Affected sites are being contacted by SA Health and supported to implement additional infection control measures, while testing of residents and staff is being undertaken.

SA Health is working closely with the Commonwealth Department of Health and the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission to enact protocols to protect aged care residents and staff.

From Dec. 14, the state has confirmed 12 new cases with six of the cases still under investigation for the source.

Four of the new cases are from vaccinated individuals, with three unvaccinated and five unknown.

Of the 70 active cases, 2 are in the hospital in stable condition whilst 28 are home quarantined and 40 are in hotel quarantine.

The news comes as South Australian public health services are reporting they are understaffed.

United Workers Union released a media statement reporting that from Dec. 2, workers from Adelaide hospitalsincluding Flinders Medical Centre and Noarlunga Hospitalwould go on strike from 2 p.m. to express their anger about understaffing and the failure of the Marshall Liberal Government to address concerns about job security.

Understaffing public health facilities leaves patients at risk of lapses in infection control and safety standards.

Since the pandemic started all states have reported understaffed public health workers with many hospitals and doctors calling for more support.

SA is expected to ease COVID-19 restrictions once vaccination rates reached 90 percent for residents aged 12 and over.

The deadline was originally set before Christmas but is currently expected to be reached before the end of the year.

The states transition team is expected to confirm the timeline by the end of the week.

We are working, as a collective, to come up with the optimum date to provide some clarity for people in South Australia on when things will be changing, based on the modelling in relation to when we are likely to hit 90 per cent, Police Commissioner Grant Stevens said.

I was hopeful that it was going to be before, but the indicators are at this stage that it will be after Christmas but before the end of the year.

Currently, 91.2 percent of South Australians 12 and over have had at least one vaccine dose with 84.5 percent fully vaccinated.

AAP contributed to this report.
Saratoga Springs, New York, is a small east coast town famed for its horse racing history and replenishing natural spas. Situated right between Albany (New Yorks capital city) and picturesque Lake George, Saratoga Springs has bountiful offerings for travelers of every age and background.

Below well explore a very brief history of the small New York town before taking you on a journey to three of the most popular attractions the region has to offer. Get ready because this travel guide is full of exciting things to do in Saratoga Springs. Were talking ancient mineral springs, spa resorts, and Americas oldest race track. Lets dive right in!

A brief history of Saratoga Springs, New York

The mineral-rich springs of Saratoga first attracted the interest of travelers in the early 1800s, although the health benefits of the springs were no secret to those before them. By 1831 a railroad was constructed, and a small hub of tourism quickly followed.

Fast forward to 1863, and Americas oldest race track emergedthe Saratoga Race Course. Shortly after came a slew of thoroughbred horse racing events, casinos, hotels, and eventually an entire town. The rest is living history.

Things to-do at Saratoga Springs

This exciting historical and cultural center is minutes from Albany and a short drive from iconic Northeast locations. Most notably, Lake George. Although health resorts and horse racing have long attracted visitors, there is no shortage of other activities to engage with today. From historical museums to boutique shopping and a lively bar and restaurant scene, fun activities in Saratoga abound.

1. Visit the natural mineral springs

As far back as the early 19th century, the natural carbonation contained in Saratoga Springs has attracted travelers. Today, the same natural springs draw an impressive crowd. If you visit Saratoga Springs, be sure to experience one or more of its 21 public natural spring locations. As expected, there is a wide range of spa activities and resorts situated around the springs, so prepare to rejuvenate!

2. Indulge in horseracing

Aside from the mineral springs, horse racing and gambling have always been Saratogas vice, and theres no shortage of historical evidence to prove it. Even today, guests can stop in at the horse tracks for some fun, and many do so. Most remarkable is the Saratoga Race Course dating back to 1863.

3. Visit downtown

Just like any modern-day city, downtown Saratoga Springs, New York, has no shortage of mouthwatering local restaurants and comfortable places to imbibe. Thats another reason why travelers have been stopping off here for over 150 years. Throw in a hefty dose of Victorian architecture, museums, boutique shopping, and a healthy sprinkling of hotels, and we have ourselves a perfect holiday destination.

This article was originally published in American Essence magazine.
Protesters demonstrate outside of the San Diego Unified School District office against a vaccination mandate for students in San Diego, Calif., on Sept. 28, 2021. (Sandy Huffaker/Getty Images)

SCOTUS Considers Blocking San Diego School Vaccination Mandate

The Supreme Court is considering whether it should intervene in the case of a San Diego high school student who claims that the local school districts COVID-19 vaccination mandate imposed on students unconstitutionally discriminates against her by not offering a religious exemption.

Lawyers from the Thomas More Society, a national public interest law firm focusing on religious freedoms, filed an emergency application with the high court on Dec. 10 asking it to block the mandate. The court then ordered the San Diego Unified School District to respond to the application by Dec. 16.

On Dec. 4, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit refused to block enforcement of the mandate, even after granting vaccination exemptions to others. The appeals court held that the district mandate, which allows for medical exemptions but not religious or personal belief exemptions, was doing what was best for students. One court had blocked the mandate on Nov. 28 but the injunction was lifted after the school district modified its policy.

The new Supreme Court application came as the high court refused a Dec. 13 emergency application from 17 doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals who sought to pause New Yorks tough vaccine mandate for health care workers on the ground that the states governor has been waging what they called a veritable religious crusade to force medical professionals to be vaccinated. The Epoch Times reported on the case a month ago.

The justices split 63 on the application in Dr. A v. Hochul, court file 21A145, with Justices Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, and Samuel Alito dissenting from the denial of injunctive relief. Gorsuch wrote a 14-page dissenting opinion stating that the applicants were not anti-vaxxers who object to all vaccines. They say they cant accept the COVID-19 vaccine because their religion teaches them to oppose abortion in any form, and because each of the currently available vaccines has depended upon abortion-derived fetal cell lines in its production or testing.

Paul Jonna, a partner at LiMandri and Jonna LLP and special counsel for the Thomas More Society, discussed the new application with The Epoch Times.

Jonna said he wasnt happy with the Supreme Courts ruling in Dr. A v. Hochul, and that the court got it wrong in May 2020 in refusing to intervene when the San Diego-based South Bay United Pentecostal Church challenged California Gov. Gavin Newsoms emergency public health orders that prohibited churches from holding indoor worship services, imposed limits on how many people could attend services, and prohibited singing during services.

But this new application is on a strong legal footing, the lawyer said.

I dont think its a tough case at all. I think that its a slam dunk of a case. I mean, if the Supreme Court wont get involved with these facts, then Im not sure what vaccine mandate case theyll ever get involved in, Jonna told The Epoch Times.

Its already egregious to mandate vaccination for health care workers without religious exemptions, and even more so to mandate it on little kids, he said, while noting that its a good sign that the Supreme Court has agreed to look at the application.

I dont want to read too much into it, but I do think its a good sign [given that] sometimes these applications are just summarily denied.

The case is dealing with a disease that is less harmful to kids than the regular flu, Jonna said.

Most of the teachers are fully vaccinated, and theres just no justification for a mandate on school children. I think the court has to draw a line.

Its one of the only school districts in the entire country thats forcing this vaccine, enforcing it with no religious exemption on kids. And the science is very overwhelmingly clear. According to our preeminent experts, that theres just no justification medically.

Unlike almost every school district in the country, San Diego Unified School District requires its students to be vaccinated to attend classes in person. Yet it provides secular exemptions for over 85 percent of its students. But it does not allow students any religious exemptions.

San Diego Unified School District officials didnt respond to a request by The Epoch Times for comment by press time.
(L-R) Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) talk with each other as they walk down the steps of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC., on Sept. 13, 2021. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Senate Democrats Vote to Increase Debt Limit

The Senate voted on Tuesday to raise the debt limit by $2.5 trillion until 2023 after months of political wrangling between Democrats and Republicans.

Passed by a party-line vote of 5049, the debt ceiling increase bill is expected to quickly come to President Joe Bidens desk for his signature.

Upset with Democrats out-of-control spending spree, all 50 Republicans refused to help Democrats raise the debt ceiling, a position that they have held to firmly for months.

After Republicans filibustered one effort to raise the debt ceiling through normal legislative means, leaders from both parties reached a deal to temporarily extend the debt ceiling until an agreement could be reached.

Finally, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) struck a deal that changed Senate rules to allow Democrats to pass the measure by a simple majority vote with no Republican support.

The vote came as the Treasury Department was on the verge of default, a circumstance that Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned would be economically catastrophic.

For months, the Treasury Department has been using what Yellen described as extraordinary measures to keep making interest payments on U.S. debt. Yellen and others encouraged the Senate to quickly reach an agreement and raise the debt ceiling, but political division between the two major parties has been a roadblock to that goal for months.

Beginning in August, Republicans insisted that they would not help Democrats to raise the debt ceiling over disagreements with Democrats reckless spending.

In a letter spearheaded by Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) and signed onto by every single Senate Republican, the GOP defended its position. They argued that through the use of the reconciliation process, which allows certain types of bills to bypass normal Senate rules and pass by a simple majority, Democrats had staked out a position of governing alone.

And in fact, Democrats have used the reconciliation process copiously in the limited time that the 117th Congress has been seated.

In the spring, Democrats used the reconciliation process to pass the American Rescue Plan, a $1.9 trillion bill that passed with no Republican support. Democrats are using the measure again to advance their Build Back Better $1.85 trillion social spending bill, which originally had a much larger $3.5 trillion price tag.

Republican critics argued that because Democrats were so open to the procedure for their own political goals, they should have no problem with using reconciliation to raise the debt ceiling.

However, Schumer and other Democrats firmly rejected this approach, calling it too risky because of the complicated rules governing the reconciliation process.

Another consideration may have also been on the forefront of their minds: Even though occasionally raising the debt ceiling has been made necessary by federal spending, polls have shown that raising the debt ceiling is politically unpopular with American citizens.

Some observers have contended that Democrats were hoping that some Republicans would vote with them to give them political cover in the upcoming election season.

For their part, Democrats accused the GOP of turning a historically bipartisan endeavor into a partisan one.

But it is not quite true that raising the debt ceiling has always been done on a bipartisan basis: In 2006, then-Senators Joe Biden and Chuck Schumer voted with their party to almost unanimously oppose raising the debt ceiling, citing disagreements with President George W. Bushs administration.

Democrats at the time, including Biden, insisted that the vote was a symbolic protest vote, and said that they did not want to let the nation default.

In their statements on the debt ceiling, Republicans emphasized the same argument, insisting that they did not want the nation to default; Through using the reconciliation process, they argued, Democrats could have their way in governing alone and avoid a default.

With its passage, the bill will now head to Bidens desk, where it is expected to quickly be signed into law.
Sony Cancels Dr. Oz Show as Mehmet Oz Runs for Senate

U.S. Senate candidate Dr. Mehmet Ozs syndicated Dr. Oz Show will air for the last time next time, Sony Pictures Television said on Monday.

The last episode of the Dr. Oz Show, now in its 13th season, will be on Jan. 14, after more than a decade on the air. The announcement comes as its host, Oz, a cardiothoracic surgeon, runs for the U.S. Senate as a Republican in Pennsylvania.

The show, which launched in 2009, will be replaced with a cooking show called The Good Dish featuring his daughter, Daphne Oz.

Sony in its announcement didnt mention Ozs candidacy. The Good Dish will premier on Jan. 17, and will be a combination talk-cooking show where hosts Daphne Oz, Gail Simmons, and Jamika Pessoa, will serve up a dish of the day, it said.

Producers boasted that the new show would be the most fun you can have in the kitchen without having to do the dishes.

Sony said it has commitments to air The Good Dish in stations representing 90 percent of the nations population.

The Good Dish, which initially grew out of popular weekly segments on The Dr. Oz Show, is an opportunity for viewers to take a seat at the table and enjoy delicious, family-friendly recipes served up by the best of the best who bring professional insight, real-life wisdom and dish on the topics of the day while making delectable dishes, Sony said in a statement.

It comes two weeks after television stations in Philadelphia, New York City and Cleveland that are seen in Pennsylvania said they would take Dr. Oz Show off the air, for fear that the Federal Communications Commissions equal time rules would allow rival candidates to seek similar air time.

Oz, a longtime resident of New Jersey, on Nov. 30 announced he was running as a conservative Republican in Pennsylvania, describing himself as a health care advocate and as a top-notch surgeon.

We are angry at our government and at each other, Oz said in a statement in the Washington Examiner, announcing his candidacy.

We have not managed our crises as effectively as past generations, he wrote. During the pandemic, I learned that when you mix politics and medicine, you get politics instead of solutions. Thats why I am running for the U.S. Senate: to help fix the problems and to help us heal.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
A couple wearing masks to protect against contracting the COVID-19 walk along a street in Seoul, South Korea, on April 3, 2020. (Heo Ran/Reuters)

South Korea to Track COVID-19 Patients, Ensure Mask Compliance With Facial Recognition Cameras

A city in South Korea plans to roll out a system that uses facial recognition technology and data from over 10,000 surveillance cameras to detect COVID-19 cases and ensure mask compliance.

Beginning in January, the nationally funded pilot project will be tested in Bucheon, a city of about 850,000 people located between Incheon and Seoul.

It will use artificial intelligence, facial recognition, and thousands of CCTV cameras to track the movement of individuals infected with COVID-19, anyone they had close contact with, and whether they were wearing a mask, according to a 110-page business plan from the city submitted to the Ministry of Science and Information and Communications Technology (ICT).

Despite concerns about invasion of privacy, governments around the world have turned to new technologies and expanded legal powers to try to stem the tide of COVID-19 infections. China, Russia, India, Poland, and Japan as well as several U.S. states are among the governments to have rolled out or at least experimented with facial recognition systems for tracking COVID-19 patients, according to a March report by Columbia Law School in New York.

A proposal for the system by the city of Bucheon was first approved in February by the federal Ministry of Science and ICT.

Using facial recognition technology will enable that analysis in an instant, said Bucheon Mayor Jang Deog-cheon in bidding for national funding for the pilot project late last year. He said it will save workers from having to spend hours analyzing a single [segment of] CCTV footage.

A city official said the pilot project should reduce the strain on overworked tracing teams in a city with a population of more than 800,000 people, and help use the teams more efficiently and accurately.

The plan also states that the system is designed to overcome the fact that tracing teams have to rely heavily on the testimony of COVID-19 patients, who arent always truthful about their activities and whereabouts.

There arent currently plans to expand the project to the national level, the Ministry of Science and ICT said.

Bucheon received 1.6 billion won ($1.36 million) from the Ministry of Science and ICT and injected 500 million won of the city budget into the project to build the system, a city official said.

Amid privacy concerns, Koreas Disease Control and Prevention Agency has justified the use of facial recognition technology within the realm of the disease control and prevention law.

Amnesty International and more than 170 organizations in June called for a ban on biometric surveillance, saying that it undermines human rights and civil liberties, including the rights to privacy and data protection, the right to freedom of expression, the right to free assembly and association, and the rights to equality and non-discrimination.

Reuters contributed to this report.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken addresses a press conference during a ministerial council meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in Stockholm on Dec. 2, 2021. (Jonathan Nackstrand/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)

State Department: Americans Still Being Evacuated from Afghanistan

The evacuation of American citizens from Afghanistan continues months after the withdrawal of U.S. troops, according to a State Department release Monday.

At the end of 20 years of war in Afghanistan that cost more than 172,000 lives, the U.S. troop withdrawal leading up to Aug. 31 was followed shortly by the collapse of the Afghan government and the takeover of the country by the Taliban.

Months later, the U.S. Government continues efforts to relocate and resettle U.S. citizens, permanent residents, and Afghan allies.

There is no deadline for this work, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Aug. 25.

Since Aug. 31, the United States has assisted 479 American citizens and 450 permanent residents and their families to depart Afghanistan and relocate to the United States.

The State Department says it is in touch with fewer than a dozen Americans who are still in Afghanistan, want to leave, are prepared to depart, and have the necessary travel documents.

On Aug. 30, Blinken said there was believed to be under 200 [U.S. citizens], and likely closer to 100, who remain in Afghanistan and want to leave.

The Biden administration has provided funding to resettle up to 95,000 Afghan nationals in the United States. About 74,000 have been resettled already.

More than 40 percent of the Afghans who come to the United States qualify for Special Immigration Visas for their assistance to the U.S. government.

The State Department has issued more than 8,200 Special Immigrant Visas since January 20 and continues to process SIV applications daily.

The Department of Homeland Security is leading efforts to screen and vet Afghans prior to their arrival in the United States.

Senate Republicans released a memo last month alleging that only a small percentage of Afghanistan evacuees who had come to the United States since the Aug. 31 withdrawal have been vetted in addition to being screened.

The U.N.s Special Envoy to Afghanistan said in November the country is on the brink of a humanitarian catastrophe.
The logo of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) is pictured at its headquarters, in Hsinchu, Taiwan, on Jan. 19, 2021. (Ann Wang/Reuters File Photo)

Taiwan Becomes The Worlds Top Spender In Semiconductor Equipment, Dethroning South Korea and China

Taiwans leading role in chipmaking has come under the spotlight amid a global shortage of semiconductors. On top of being the worlds largest chip producer, Taiwan has also become the worlds top spender on semiconductor equipment, dethroning South Korea and China.

According to the global semiconductor trade association (SEMI), Taiwan was the largest buyer of semiconductor equipment in the third quarter of this year, as domestic firms expanded production capacity and upgraded technologies to improve global competitiveness.

Taiwans Robust Semiconductor Supply Chain

On Dec. 2, Taiwans Central News Agency reported that Taiwan purchased $7.33 billion worth of semiconductor equipment in the July-September period, increasing 45 percent quarterly and 54 percent annually, ranking first globally in equipment spending, citing SEMI data.

SEMI said the spending growth for the third quarter reflected strong demand for tech applications in sectors such as communications, computing, medical care, online services, and automotive electronics.

Taiwan, China, and South Korea are the top three equipment spenders in 2021. After dethroning China and South Korea, Taiwans spending on semiconductor equipment will likely remain on top as it expands its factories domestically and abroad.

A former manager at TSMC, Mr. Li, told The Epoch Times that TSMC is actively expanding its 5nm and 7nm factories in response to the global chip shortage. The expansion aims to develop related supply chains and enhance the technology and quality of Taiwans key equipment, spare parts, and raw material suppliers.

A chip by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) is seen at the 2020 World Semiconductor Conference. (STR / AFP)

Data released by Taiwans Ministry of Finance (MOF) on Dec. 7 showed November exports hit $41.58 billion, setting a new monthly record. Meanwhile, imports reached $35.86 billion, a 33.8 percent increase from 2020, leaving Taiwan with a trade surplus of US$5.71 billion, according to CNA. MOF said December exports are forecasted to grow 21 to 25 percent year-over-year, while growth for the year could be around 30 percent.

In an interview with The Epoch Times, Liu Peizhen, a director at Taiwan Industry Economics Services, said even though the factories are rapidly expanding, they will not have actual production capacity until 2023.

According to Liu, the current supply of semiconductors is far less than the demand, and the market wont ease until 2023 at the very least. Liu added that Taiwans semiconductor output has grown by 25 percent this year, and there is 12 percent more room for growth next year.

TSMCs Expansion in the United States

TSMC, the worlds largest contract chipmaker, announced in May 2020 that it would build a $12 billion factory in Arizona. The 12-inch wafer fabrication plant in Phoenix is expected to start volume production in 2024, according to Reuters.

This year, TSMC reportedly weighed plans to pump tens of billions of dollars more into a second cutting-edge chip factory in Arizona. The more advanced 3-nanometer plant could cost $23 billion to $25 billion. Meanwhile, TSMC founder and former Chairman Morris Chang warned of higher operating costs and a thin talent pool for engineers in the United States.

Morris Chang, chairman of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, (TSMC), speaks during the investors conference in Taipei on Jan. 17, 2013. (Sam Yeh/AFP)

In the United States, the level of professional dedication is no match to that in Taiwan, at least for engineers, Chang said. He warned that short-term subsidy cant make up for long-term operational disadvantage.

Chang pointed out that the cost of TSMC to set up factories in the United States is several times that of Taiwan is partly due to higher personnel costs and lower labor productivity. As a result, TSMC leaders appear to be taking a more cautious approach when investing in the United States despite the billions of subsidies provided by the U.S. government.

TSMCs first Arizona factory will be relatively small, with a projected output of 20,000 wafers12-inch silicon discs that can each contain thousands of chipsper month. By contrast, TSMCs gigafabs in Taiwan can produce 100,000 wafers per month.

The logistics network for transporting and storing raw materials in the United States is still imperfect. Due to the different regulations from Taiwan and Japan, TSMCs existing supply chain cannot be modeled locally in the United States. Many TSMC-affiliated suppliers are also holding back because of the high risks and costs.

U.S. Jobs Rely on Taiwans Security

In June, the White House released a report (pdf) reviewing some of the vulnerabilities in the U.S. supply chain. The review cites a Semiconductor Industry Association report (pdf), which said that a one-year, complete disruption of Taiwanese semiconductors would result in the loss of $42 billion in revenue for Taiwanese companies and up to $500 billion in losses for electronic device manufacturers around the globe.

According to the Taipei Times, the world relies on Taiwan for 92 percent of leading-edge chips. As a result, the United States appears concerned about the geopolitical risks posed by the heavy reliance on Taiwan-made chips. Given the consistent Chinese military threat against Taiwan, the potential of triggering war is now greater than ever.

The Semiconductor Race Between Taiwan, South Korea, and the United States

Leading-edge foundry vendors are gearing up for a new, high-stakes spending and technology race, setting the stage for a possible shakeup across the semiconductor manufacturing landscape.

In March, Intel re-entered the foundry business, positioning itself against Samsung and TSMC at the leading edge and against a multitude of foundries working at older nodes. Today, Samsung and TSMC are the only foundry vendors capable of providing processes at the most advanced logic nodes, namely 7nm and 5nm, with 3nm in R&D, according to Semiconductor Engineering, an independent tech news network.

The chip competition is more than just miniaturization; it is also important to compare the chips yield, performance, and power consumption.

According to AnandTech, an online computer hardware magazine, there are significant differences between TSMC and Samsungs 5nm chips. TSMCs 5nm process is a complete iteration of its 7nm process, while Samsungs 5nm process is just an enhanced version of its 7nm process. In other words, Samsungs 5nm process node would only be catching up with TSMCs 7nm nodes.

Business Korea, a South Korean news portal, disclosed in July that Samsungs V1 plant in Hwaseong, South Korea, is the worlds first dedicated extreme ultraviolet (EUV) line for production of sub-7-nm semiconductors. However, it has faced yield problems as the yield of some 5nm products remained below 50 percent. The report added that yield is the most critical determinant of a semiconductor companys business performance as a semiconductor producers yield has to exceed 95 percent.

In July, Intel announced its process timeline for its next five generations of nodes as its bold plan to reclaim leadership in the semiconductor industry by 2025. Earlier this year, Intel adopted extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUV) for the first time in its chipmaking, a technology that enables TSMC and Samsung to produce 5nm chips. However, even though the new Intel could be a formidable rival again, TSMC will likely still stay ahead, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Joyce Liang contributed to this report.
Taiwan Is Prepared for Any Surprise Attacks by China: Defense Analysts

Taiwanese defense analysts have told The Epoch Times, following the release of a Defence Ministry report on Chinas potential strategy to turn a military drill in the Taiwan Strait into a surprise attack, that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) doesnt have the capacity to unify Taiwan by force before 2025.

However, they warned that Beijing might still try to launch a war, and said that Taiwan and its people should be prepared for the CCPs different tactics.

Lee Cheng-hsiu, a senior assistant research fellow at Taiwans National Policy Foundation, told the Chinese language edition of The Epoch Times on Dec. 13 that there are multiple situations in which Beijing may decide to wage war on Taiwan.

Once Taiwan announces its an independent country, the Chinese regime will use force against Taiwan at all cost.

Another analyst Chie Chung, secretary-general and researcher at the Association of Strategic Foresight, said that with the Chinese economy is shrinking because of the pandemic  once theres social turmoil (perhaps the Chinese people standing up against the regime), the regime will launch the Taiwan War to transfer domestic blame for a poor economy on Taiwan and the cost of war.

He added, Another scenario that Im concerned about is that both sides might launch a war if theres a misfire.

In recent years, the Chinese military has been almost daily sending warplanes into Taiwans air defence identification zone (ADIZ) and performing military exercises close to Taiwan in a campaign of intimidation and wearing down its enemies.

However, Su Tzu-yun, a senior analyst at the Taiwan-based Institute for National Defense and Security Research, told The Epoch Times, [The Taiwanese government] used to talk about controlling the air, controlling the sea, and its anti-landing [capabilities]. Now, the new report has launched a new mode of combatcounter invasionwhich is shooting long-range missiles to target Chinas bases that fired on us.

This is the most striking part of the report, he said of his confidence in Taiwans current defense capabilities.

All three analysts said they believe there may be a silver lining to any act of war by Beijing, as the Chinese regime would lose any chance to control Taiwan once it fails in its attack. Then, Taiwan would have a golden path to being recognized as an independent country on the international stage.

The Chinese regime claims the island as its own, despite Taiwan being a de facto independent country, with its own military, democratically-elected government, and constitution.

Lack of Capacity

The Defence Ministry reported to the legislature that mainlander forces would face significant challenges mounting a full invasion of Taiwan, Taiwanese state-run media Central News Agency (CNA) first reported on Dec. 12.

China faces a lack of transport capacity to transfer enough troops and supplies, extremely high risk landing operations if it is to occupy and use Taiwans port facilities and airport, as well the challenge of defense of its borders from foreign forces joining to help Taiwan.

According to CNA, the Defence Ministry predicts that the Chinese military prefers a surprise attacklikely a military drill. When the time is due, CCP forces will launch ballistic missiles and cruise missiles to attack Taiwans air defense bases, radar stations, and command posts. Meanwhile, the Chinese militarys Strategic Support Force will implement an electromagnetic attack in an attempt to destroy or paralyze Taiwans main combat force and key facilities.

For an island as large as Taiwan, with its population of 2.3 million and 35,873 kilometres square (13,850 sq mi) territory, the analysts said that the only way to occupy the island is through the landing of troops. An air and missile campaign by the Chinese military, as it is currently believed to be armed, wont be enough to win the war for the CCP and can only support a war effort, they explained.

A view of the South China Sea between the city of Xiamen in China, in the far distance, and the islands of Taiwans Kinmen County in the foreground, home to around 140,000 people, on Feb. 2, 2021. (An Rong Xu/Getty Images)

The current estimation is that the Chinese military will have the capability to land 28,000 soldiers to Taiwan [in a relatively short time] once launching a war, [say] in 2025, based on calculations by both the Taiwan Defence Ministry and the U.S. Department of Defense. If the CCP wants to unify Taiwan by force, 28,000 troops is not enough, Chie said. If CCP wants to use air strikes to paralyze Taiwanese army, it wont have this capability in 2025.

Chie said that the Taiwanese army is prepared for a CCP invasion, and that it would give the Chinese military a hard time landing more troops once activated. It could also easily cut off supplies to Chinese troops from across the Taiwan Strait.

The CCP also doesnt dare to allocate all its forces to the Taiwan Strait, Chie said, citing Beijings need to keep a military presense in the territories it is disputing with other countries, such as India, Vietnam, and Cambodia, and across the South China Sea.

Lee also noted that the report mentioned that the United States and Japan are closely monitoring the Taiwan strait, and will stop the CCP once it launches the war against Taiwan, which will change the current situation in the region.

Taiwanese navy soldiers stand in front of a Ta Chiang Corvette during an inauguration ceremony in Yilan, Taiwan, on Sept. 9, 2021. (SAM YEH/AFP via Getty Images)

Weaknesses

The Taiwanese army will also have chances to defend their homeland during three stages needed for China to make a landing, Su said. One is when the enemy is gathering together [on Chinas seashore], the second is sailing, and the third is landing.

Long-range missiles can interfere with the enemys rhythm when its gathering, anti-ship missiles can target the warships, and accurate mid-range and short-range firepower can intercept the enemy once they land, he added.

Four upgraded US-made F-16 V fighters fly during a demonstration at a ceremony at the Chiayi Air Force in southern Taiwan on Nov. 18, 2021. (SAM YEH/AFP via Getty Images)

Lee then mentioned strategies of asymmetric warfare.

Taiwan has the capability to protect our important military bases and key economic facilities, such as power plants, water plants, and supplement stations.  We also increase our capability to severely damage important Chinese cities and key military bases, he said.

Meanwhile, Lee warned the Taipei government of the scenario where the Chinese military quickly seizes control of one of Taiwans smaller islands in the Taiwan Strait, such as the Penghu archipelago, or the Kinmen or Matsu Islands.

Once the Chinese military occupies a small island in a short time, the Taiwanese people will be shocked, which might force the Taipei administrations to sit down with the Chinese regime for a reunification negotiation, he said.

Luo Ya contributed to this report.
Taiwanese Ministers Disappearing Slide at US Democracy Summit Causes a Stir

The temporary cut to a Taiwan ministers video feed during U.S. President Joe Bidens Summit for Democracy last week caused confusion, the U.S. State Department said on Monday. The incident happened after a global map appeared, showing the island of Taiwan in a different color to China.

The color-coded map shared by Taiwans Digital Minister Audrey Tang during a presentation on Dec. 10 was produced by South Africa-based NGO CIVICUS. In the map, the organization colored governments according to their respect of civic rights, like freedom of speech and assembly. Communist China was given the worst closed rating with the color red. Taiwan, which is a self-ruled liberal democratic island, was categorized as open and marked in green.

As the video feed cut, Tangs screen was replaced with the caption Minister Audrey Tang Taiwan, although the audio feed could still be heard. According to Reuters, a disclaimer then appeared: Any opinions expressed by individuals on this panel are those of the individual, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the United States government.

The report, citing unnamed sources, alleged that the White House was concerned that the different colors marking China and Taiwan would be considered by China as at odds with its one-China policy, under which the United States recognizes there is only one China, while maintaining official relations with Beijing and unofficial relations with Taipei.

Washington and Taipei have denied that the incident was related to politics.

The U.S. State Department said confusion over screen-sharing resulted in Tangs video feed being dropped, calling it an honest mistake.

Taiwans foreign ministry said in a Monday statement that the loss of video feed was due to a technical issue, citing an explanation from Washington.

Taiwan and the United States have fully communicated on this technical issue, the ministry said. Our two countries share strong mutual trust and a solid friendship.

While an uninterrupted version of the ministers full presentation has since been added to the summits official website, the Chinese Communist Partys (CCPs) hawkish mouthpiece Global Times mocked the incident. In an editorial on Monday, the tabloid said the United States sought to avoid crossing Beijings red line.

The communist regime in Beijing considers the self-ruled Taiwan as part of its territory, to be taken by force if necessary.

The inclusion of Taiwans representatives in the gathering of leaders from democratic governments last week already angered the CCP. Beijing was infuriated further after seeing it had been left off the guest list.

While the United States has an official relationship with Beijing, it remains Taiwans most important international backer and arms supplier, which is required under a framework set out in the U.S. Congresss Taiwan Relations Act.

Meanwhile, Washington has a decades-long policy towards Taiwan, known as strategic ambiguity. It means that U.S. administrations have been deliberately vague on whether it will defend the island in the event of a Chinese invasion.

Reuters contributed to this report.
Topics Around China Key Feature in Australia-Korea Summit

Tensions with China have been a key feature of the South Korean President Moon Jae-in visits to Australia following that announcement that the two countries have signed a historic $1 billion defence contract, which will see South Korea defence giant Hanwha provide artillery weapons and vehicles to Australia.

Morrison said in a joint press conference, with Moon that South Korea has a critical role to play in quelling tensions with China in the Indo-Pacific.

Korea has a very strong and open dialogue with China, Morrison told press. [The outcome of war] is one that no-one seeks, that no-one hopes transpires, whether by miscalculation or other means, therefore, Australia and Korea have important work to do as liberal democracies.

The Prime Minister said the bilateral relationship between Australia and South Korea, which has been updated to comprehensive strategic partnership during the diplomatic visit, continued to grow amid increasing tensions in the regions.

To ensure peace and stability, you need a strong security environment where the rule of law is upheld. There must be a free and open Indo-Pacific and that is a goal that we share, he said.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison (R) looks on as South Korean President Moon Jae-in signs the official visitors book at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, on Dec. 13, 2021. (Lukas Coch  Pool/Getty Images)

Moons visit comes amid rising tensions in the Indo-Pacific as Beijing shows ambition over Taiwan and Australia signed AUKUS pact with the United States and United Kingdom, which will see Australia securing nuclear-powered submarines.

The Chinese regime made threats over AUKUS, criticizing the agreement as gravely undermining regional peace and stability, a response Australian Defence Minister Peter Dutton labelled as irrational.

Nobody wants conflict, and we would avoid that at every chance, but we need to be realistic also about the posture of China and the Chinese government and the way in which under President Xis leadership, the outlook has changed quite dramatically, Dutton told Sky News on Dec. 12.

The Defence Minister said Australia will not surrender its sovereignty, despite seeking to remain an excellent working relationship with China.

The Chinese ambassador, as you know, has presented a document of 14 issues that he wants resolved before the relationship can be normalized, he said, referring to a 14-point letter of grievances and demands that the embassy in Canberra leaked to press last year.

Essentially thats the surrender of our free speech and democratic values and our sovereignty, that Australia would never contemplate.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in and First Lady Kim Jung-sook pause after laying a wreath at the Australian National Korean War Memorial on December 13, 2021 in Canberra, Australia. (Lukas Coch  Pool/Getty Images)

Moon said he respected Australias decision on AUKUS, while expressing that Korea would avoid tensions with Beijing as it needs Chinas constructive efforts for an official end of war with North Korea.

Korea has another factor to take into account and that has to do with  denuclearization of [North Korea], he said.

Korea is focused on the steadfast alliance with the U.S. and also with China  we want a harmonised relationship.

Moon will meet with Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese, NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet, and NSW Governor Margaret Beazley on Tuesday, following a formal talk with Australian Prime Minister Morrison in Canberra on Monday.

The South Korean president also announced on Dec. 13 that his country would not participate in the diplomatic boycott of the upcoming Beijing Winter Olympics, which was led by United States and joined by Australia, the UK, Canada, Lithuania, and New Zealand, but he respected sovereign countries decision to do so.
The Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth leaves Portsmouth Naval Base in Hampshire for exercises off Scotland before heading to the IndoPacific region on May 1, 2021. (PA)

UK Needs Bigger Navy in Increasingly Hostile World: Lawmakers

Britain must build a bigger and more advanced navy to protect the country in an increasingly hostile and unpredictable international environment, a cross-party group of lawmakers has warned.

On Tuesday, the Defence Committee of the House of Commons published its latest report entitled Were going to need a bigger Navy.

The report finds that the next decade is one of significant risk for the Royal Navys fleet, with the rise of more assertive state adversaries, grey zone warfare, and technological risk.

Over the next decade the UK and the Navy will face an increasingly complex international security environment, the report said, adding, Russia and China will remain the primary adversaries at sea, with the relative importance of the UKs response to each likely to shift and potentially interact through the decade.

In its inquiry into the Royal Navys purpose and procurement, the Defence Committee said, Witnesses have consistently identified Russia and China as the main adversaries in the maritime domain (as well as elsewhere).

While it has been argued the foremost threat is clearly the pacing threat posed by Russia, some witnesses, such as Sidharth Kaushal of the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), warned that in a 10-year timeframe China could overtake Russia to become the primary challenge.

Rob Johnson, director of the Oxford Changing Character of War Centre, predicted that the next decade will be crucial to how the UK responds to the Chinese regime.

Even those witnesses who were sceptical of the effect the UK could have on security in the IndoPacific agreed that the challenge China posed to UK interests was growing, the report said.

Tobias Ellwood, a Conservative MP who chairs the Defence Committee, criticised the government for reducing funding, retiring capability, and asking the navy to rely on increasingly elderly vessels, and said a rapid programme of modernisation and growth is needed.

He said, Overall our navy needs more ships, armed with more lethal weapons and the most up to date technology.

The report warned that in its current state, the navy would not be able to meet the aims of the governments foreign policy shift in the Integrated Review released earlier this year, in which it has a potentially leading role.

Ellwood said: Of all the services, the government is most ambitious for the navy. However, if the government does not deliver the ships and capabilities the navy needs, that ambition will be holed below the waterline.

PA contributed to this report.
Britain's Foreign Secretary Liz Truss speaks at a press conference at the G-7 Foreign Ministers meeting in Liverpool, England, on Dec. 12, 2021. (Jon Super/AP Photo)

UK Says Hong Kongs Freedoms Under Increasing Pressure

Hong Kongs freedoms have come under increasing pressure from the Chinese regime since the National Security Law came into effect, the UK government said in its latest report on the former British colony.

In the Six-monthly report on Hong Kong published on Dec. 14, the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) said: Freedom of speech, freedom of expression, and freedom of the press came under increasing pressure following the imposition of the National Security Law in June 2020.

The erosion of liberty in Hong Kong is an affront to freedom and democracy.  continues to make clear our opposition to the National Security Law & stands for right for people to live free from oppression. Read our six-monthly report on Hong Kong  https://t.co/POVJDXn3x2  Liz Truss (@trussliz) December 14, 2021

In a foreword to the report, UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss confirmed that China now in a state of ongoing non-compliance with its international obligations under the U.N.-registered Sino-British Joint Declaration.

She wrote: The mainland Chinese and Hong Kong authorities have used the law and related institutions against all opposition, free press and civil society in Hong Kong. This curtailing of space for the free expression of alternative views continues to weaken checks and balances on executive power.

Truss said Britains assessment of Hong Kongs judicial independence is increasingly finely balanced. But she said she believes that British judges can continue to play a positive role in supporting this judicial independence, though she pledged to follow developments in this area closely.

She said the UK had taken three clear steps in response to the National Security Law, which include the introduction of a bespoke immigration path for British Nationals (Overseas), the suspension of its extradition treaty with Hong Kong, and the extension of its arms embargo on mainland China to cover Hong Kong.

The foreign secretary said she is proud that the UK government made the historic decision to open a new visa route for Hongkongers with BN(O) status and their eligible family members.

Truss revealed that 88,000 people had applied for visas under this scheme by the end of September. On behalf of the government, I welcome them warmly to the UK, she wrote.

Commenting on the FCDO report, UK lawmakers in the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Hong Kong said it is positive to hear that 88,000 Hongkongers have been able to seek refuge in the UK.

But the lawmakers stressed that our responsibilities do not end at our borders.

What must now follow is sanctions for those officials who are abusing their power to execute a brutal campaign of political repression, they said.
Britain's Health Secretary Sajid Javid leaves after a cabinet meeting in Downing Street in central London on Dec. 14, 2021. (Tolga Akmen /AFP via Getty Images)

UK Scraps COVID-19 Hotel Quarantine for Travelers From 11 African Countries

The UK government announced on Tuesday that hotel quarantine for travellers arriving in England will be abandoned.

Under restrictions introduced to slow the spread of the Omicron COVID-19 variant, all travellers arriving in the UK from the 11 African countries currently on the UKs travel red list have been required to spend 11 nights in a quarantine hotel at a cost of 2,285 ($3,029) for solo travellers.

But Health Secretary Sajid Javid said that the spread of Omicron in the UK and the world means the red list is now less effective in slowing the incursion of Omicron from abroad.

He told the House of Commons, I can announce today that whilst well maintain our temporary testing measures for international travel, we will be removing all 11 countries from the travel red list effective from 4 a.m. tomorrow.

Cabinet minister Steve Barclay later told Parliament those currently in managed quarantine will be released early.

The Health Secretary has urgently considered the issue of releasing people from managed quarantine before they have completed the 10-day isolation, he said.

The governments decision is that we should permit early release of those people who went to managed quarantine before these changes to the red lists.

Regarding the cost of managed quarantine, Barclay said the government will set out further specific guidance for affected individuals imminently.

Tim Alderslade, chief executive of industry body Airlines UK, welcomed the decision to remove the countries from the travel red list, but he said it doesnt go nearly far enough.

Despite the scrapping of the red list, all travellers arriving in England are still required to take a pre-departure CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus test and self-isolate until they receive a negative result from a post-arrival test.

Alderslade said: If the red list isnt necessary given that Omicron is established here at home, then neither are the costly emergency testing and isolation measures imposed on even fully vaccinated travellers, which again put us completely at odds with the rest of Europe. It is testing that is the deterrent to travel, not the relatively limited red list.

He warned that the key Christmas and New Year booking period will be undermined unless testing rules are eased.

This is make or break for UK aviation and if government is unable to row back from these restrictions over the New Year, it will need to step in with further economic support for a sector that again has been singled out, he added.

David Frost, chief executive of South Africa Tourism Services, said: This is welcome news but red-listing southern Africa for just three weeks caused incalculable damage to jobs and livelihoods in the region, with little discernible benefit to health outcomes in the UK.

The UK government must now consign this blunt instrument to history and recognise the devastating impact red lists have to confidence amongst the travelling public.

PA contributed to this report.
Commuters wearing masks walk past a sign outside a bar in the city of London on Dec. 9, 2021. (Chris J Ratcliffe/Getty Images)

UKs Handling of Omicron Verges on Hysteria: South African Medical Association Head

The South African doctor who alerted the world about Omicron said the UK government should stay calm as she described its handling of the new CCP virus variant as verging on hysteria.

It comes as Parliament is due to vote on measures including mask mandate, self-isolation rules, and COVID-19 passes on Tuesday, and amid rumors of a New Year lockdown.

In an article published in the Daily Mail on Monday, Dr. Angelique Coetzee, chair of the South African Medical Association, said the UK governments handling of Omicron infections verges on hysteria.

The veteran general practitioner said the Omicron patients in South Africa typically had mild symptoms such as muscle pain, body aches, a headache, and a bit of fatigue that clear up after about five days.

My first Omicron case, a young man who came into my surgery, initially thought he had been in the sun too long after working outside, Coetzee wrote.

In a separate interview with LBC radio, Coetzee said shes not saying Omicron wont cause illnesses, but people typically recover within about five days, whether youre a child, whether you are 80 years of age, whether youve been vaccinated, whether youve not been vaccinated, whether you have suffered from mild diseases, other comorbidities.

Coetzee wrote that most people who contracted Omicron in South Africa are unvaccinated as the country has a full vaccination rate of 26 percent.

She suggested Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his ministers should stay calm and not overreact, as she argued that we will need all the help we can get from such natural immunity from the generally mild Omicron infections in case the next variant is slower spreading but more severe.

Around 81 percent of the UKs population aged 12 and over has had two doses of CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus vaccines, and 40.3 percent has had a booster dose.

The UK government is putting enormous resources behind jabbing the population with booster doses, arguing its the best way to defend people against the Omicron variant.

According to the UKs Health Security Agency (UKHSA), 10 people aged between 18 and 85 in England have been hospitalised with the Omicron variant, and most of them have had two doses of CCP virus vaccines.

The agency said these individuals were diagnosed with COVID-19 on or before admission. But no information was released on the one patient that died with Omicron.

The new restrictions in England are expected to pass in Parliament with the support from the Labour Party, but Johnson is likely to face the biggest rebellion during his premiership from Conservative backbenchers, many of whom argued the measures are not justified without solid data.

The UKHSA didnt respond to The Epoch Times request for comment.
US Ambassador Warns Solomons Against Misusing Aid Funding to Benefit One Party, One Bank Account

The U.S. ambassador to the Solomon Islands has issued a warning against the misuse of aid funding and has spoken out for the first time on recent riots that saw parts of the capital, Honiara, burned to the ground.

Erin McKee, U.S. ambassador to Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu, said development assistance was an investment in people, from the American people.

It is an investment that lasts a lifetime and endures through generations. We dont build roads; we give governments the power to build a road and build their capacity and self-sufficiency to maintain it on their own without outside help, she said in a statement on Dec. 10.

McKee added that aid gives communities the power to keep children healthy and allows individuals to acquire skills needed to generate wealth and stand on their own two feet.

An aerial view shows burnt-out buildings in Honiaras Chinatown in the Solomon Islands on Nov. 27, 2021 (Jay Liofasi/AFP via Getty Images)

So, I ask you to decide for yourself what type of development and future you want for you and your families. Do you want aid that benefits one person, one party, and one bank account? she said.

Or do you want assistance that empowers entire families, strengthens entire communities, and enriches entire nations? As democratic and independent states, you have a choice of who to partner with. And I believe that the choice is obvious.

The issue of bribery and corruption among Solomon Island members of Parliament has bubbled to the surface after riots in November placed the Pacific nations domestic issues under the international spotlight.

Bradley Tovosia, the minister for mines, energy, and rural electrification, attempted to galvanise support to stamp out corruption by admitting the practice was widespread.

Who is not corruption, tell me and stand up, he told Parliament. When I decided to join politics, these are the elements of politicians whether you like it or not.

Let us stand up and tell the truth, he added. I dont like to hide it. We must change now, and we used people to stand up and defend us or use this kind of activity happening here.

A recent survey by Transparency International of 6,000 individuals (pdf) across ten Pacific nations found 61 percent of respondents believed corruption in government was a fairly big or very big problem.

People clear debris from the streets in Honiaras Chinatown in the Solomon Islands on Nov. 28, 2021. (Charley Piringi/AFP via Getty Images)

When broken down, the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea came out on top with the highest percentage of respondents (97 and 96 percent, respectively) believing government corruption was a major issue.

It is these issues that contributed to a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare on Dec. 6, which he managed to defeat.

Dissatisfaction with Sogavares rule and his decision to switch diplomatic ties from Taiwan to Beijing contributed to the unrest last month, leaving three people dead. Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, and Papua New Guinea responded by sending police and troops to help restore order.

McKee said the loss of life was tragic and should not have happened.

Those who wish to appeal to their government must do so in a peaceful manner. My sympathies go out to everyone who suffered in the Nov. 24 to 26 unrest in the Solomon Islands, she said.

This comes amid increasing competition between the U.S.s democratic allies and Beijing in the South Pacific, with both sides pushing for influence in the region.

For example, in late October, the Australian government and major telecommunications firm, Telstra, pulled the trigger on an AU$2.1 billion (US$1.6 billion) acquisition of mobile business Digicel, which is the main carrier for Papua New Guinea, Nauru, Samoa, Vanuatu, Tonga, and Fiji.

While in July, newly elected Samoan Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mataafa vowed to tear up a $100 million Belt and Road Initiative project to build a port near the nations capital.
Kim Hyong Jun (L), deputy minister of Foreign Affairs, and Ri Yong Gil, col. gen. of the Korean People's Army, before leaving Pyongyang Airport in North Korea for China on May 22, 2013. (AP Photo/Kim Kwang Hyon)

US Bans North Koreas Army Minister Over Human Rights Abuses

The United States on Dec. 10 imposed new sanctions on North Korea under President Joe Bidens administration, targeting North Korean Minister of Peoples Armed Forces Ri Yong Gil and the Central Public Prosecutors Office links to human rights abuses.

In a statement, the U.S. Department of Treasury said the North Korean Central Public Prosecutors Office and court system had used to prosecute and punish persons for political wrongdoing in a legal process involving fundamentally unfair trials.

For some cases, the trials would end in sentencing the person to notorious camps run by the ministries in North Korea, one of which was led by Ri during his tenure when he was the social security minister.

Ri was recently appointed as the Minister of Peoples Armed Forces, a UN-and U.S.-designated entity.

The Treasury claimed that foreigners have also been the victims of the unfair justice system in North Korea, citing the death of American college student Otto Warmbier who died in 2017 shortly after being released from yearlong North Korean detention.

It noted that North Korea would send workers overseas to work and earn foreign currency earnings to support its unlawful weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs.

Foreign firms involved in the employment of DPRK [Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea] labor contribute to the poor treatment workers endure, which can include being subjected to constant surveillance, forced to work long hours, and having a significant portion of their wages confiscated by the regime, it stated.

The Treasury accused the European Institute Justo, a Russian university based in Moscow, of sponsoring hundreds of student visas for DPRK construction workers in Russia and blacklisted the institution over its role in the exportation of workers from North Korea, including its provost, Dmitriy Yuvereich Soin.

The Treasury also designated state-run animation company SEK Studio for allegedly having utilized an assortment of front companies to evade sanctions targeting the DPRK and to deceive international financial institutions.

Lu Hezheng, a senior employee at SEK Studio who also owns shares in the Shanghai Hongman Cartoon and Animation Design Studion, was blacklisted over his role in facilitating wire transfers through front companies that have been receiving millions of dollars from foreign customers.

The Treasury also blacklisted Chinese companies Nings Cartoon Studio and Moxing Cartoon due to their direct or indirect involvement with SEK Studio.

Sanctions will result in the individuals property and assets being frozen in the United States, effectively barring them from conducting business in the country.
US Court Rejects Bid to Block United Airlines COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate

A federal court panel turned down a bid to block United Airlines COVID-19 vaccine mandate, though one judge said he would have blocked the vaccination requirements.

Three judges on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals considered a request by six United workers to halt the enforcement of the mandate, which has the company force workers given a religious or medical exemption to go on unpaid leave.

U.S. Circuit Judges Carl Stewart, a Clinton nominee, and Catharina Haynes, a George W. Bush nominee, chose to deny the request.

The pair didnt offer a new opinion. Instead, they referred to the rationale outlined in previous rulings by U.S. District Judge Mark Pittman, a Trump nominee who previously found plaintiffs did not show they would suffer irreparable harm absent a preliminary injunction. The judges also pointed to the Supreme Court this week turning down a challenge to New York states mandate against health care workers, which includes no religious exemption.

U.S. Circuit Judge James Ho, a Trump nominee, said he would have granted the bid for a preliminary injunction pending appeal.

Ho said Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employers from discriminating on the basis of religion.

Yet United is imposing a vaccine mandate on its employees despite their sincere religious objectionsdespite the companys record admission that there is virtually no chance to transmit COVID-19 on its planes because 99% of its employees are already vaccinated and federal regulations currently require all those on board to wear masksand despite testimony that United currently allows not only unvaccinated passengers but also unvaccinated flight crew from other airlines as well as their own unvaccinated foreign employees on board, he wrote in a dissent.

The choice between getting vaccinated or staying true to ones faith is an irreparable injury, which means relief should be granted, Ho said.

We know that the best way to keep everyone as safe as we can is for everyone to get vaccinated, as nearly all United employees have chosen to do. We have identified non-customer-facing roles where accommodated employees can apply and continue working until it is safe for them to return to their current positions, a United spokesperson told The Epoch Times in an email.

About 2,000 workers were approved for an exemption. Any of those workers who do not apply for a non-customer-facing role will be placed on leave indefinitely.

A lawyer for the plaintiffs indicated they would be seeking an en banc session, or a review of the case by the entire 5th Circuit Court.

Were glad Judge Ho was willing to protect our clients religious liberty, and we look forward to the opportunity to persuade a majority of the court, Gene Schaerr, the lawyer, told The Epoch Times via email.

Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated which president nominated Judge Pittman and inaccurately described Pittmans ruling. The Epoch Times regrets the errors.
Pentagon press secretary John Kirby speaks during a press briefing at the Pentagon in Arlington, Va., on Sept. 3, 2021. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

US Wont Discipline Troops Over Airstrike That Killed Afghan Civilians: Pentagon

U.S. military personnel involved in the August drone strike in Kabul, Afghanistan, that killed 10 civilians will not be disciplined, defense officials said on Monday.

John Kirby, chief Pentagon spokesman, said on Monday that based on the findings of an independent probe released last month, no recommendations were made for discipline.

The review was endorsed by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin last month and conducted by the Inspector General of the Department of the Air Force Lt. Gen. Sami D. Said. It determined that a breakdown in communications was partly to blame for the strike, which killed 10 civilians, including seven children.

It concluded that the bombing was a tragic mistake and was not caused by misconduct or negligence. No war crime was committed in carrying out the attack Said said on Nov. 3.

It was a mistake, Said told reporters.

A relative of Ezmarai Ahmadi, stands next to a vehicle that was damaged on Aug. 29 in a U.S. drone strike that killed Ahmadi, seven children, and two other adults in the Kwaja Burga neighborhood of Kabul, Afghanistan, on Sept. 18, 2021. (Hoshang HashimiAFP via Getty Images)

The Aug. 29 airstrike killed Zemerai Ahmadi and nine family members, including seven children. Ahmadi, 37, was a longtime employee of Nutrition & Education International, an American humanitarian organization.

Under international lawmilitary necessity, distinction, and proportionalitybroadly dictate what is considered legal use of force in armed conflict.

Had I found an individual that failed to perform to the level of criminal misconduct, or criminal negligence, and that was the cause of failure of this whole thing, we wouldve spun that off into an investigation into an individual, said Said.

The lieutenant general added it was execution errors and communication breakdowns that lead to the loss of civilian life, and that the conclusions of the investigation do not prevent the chain of command from performing disciplinary actions against those involved in the strike.

Afghan residents and family members of the victims gather next to a damaged vehicle inside a house, day after a U.S. drone airstrike in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Aug. 30, 2021. (Wakil Kohsar/AFP via Getty Images)

Gen. Frank McKenzie, head of Central Command, and Gen. Richard Clarke, head of Special Operations Command, reviewed Saids findings and told Austin that they did not recommend any discipline.

None of their recommendations dealt specifically with issues of accountability, Kirby said. So I do not anticipate there being issues of personal accountability to be had with respect to the August 29th airstrike.

We know that there will be some who dont like this particular decision, but it wasnt an outcome that we came to without careful thought and consideration, added Kirby, noting that if Austin believed that accountability was warranted and needed, he would certainly support those kinds of efforts.

Austin has however approved recommendations for improvements in strike operations, the Pentagon said.

Steven Kwon, founder of the aid organization Zemari worked for, on Monday called the disciplinary decision shocking.

How can our military wrongly take the lives of ten precious Afghan people, and hold no one accountable in any way? he said. When the Pentagon absolves itself of accountability, it sends a dangerous and misleading message that its actions were somehow justified.

Nick Ciolino and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Virginia Hospital Provides Update After Court Holds It in Contempt

Fauquier Hospital asks for order to be purged, as son says mother received two doses of ivermectin

Update as of 3 p.m. ET Wednesday: A spokesperson for Virginias Fauquier Hospital told The Epoch Times on Wednesday that it would like to correct the misinformation regarding the family who disagreed with the clinical course of treatment recommended by our physicians for their family member.

As outlined in the court documents, a patients family filed a petition seeking to compel our hospital to administer medication prescribed by an outside physician. This physician had no privileges to practice medicine at our hospital, according to the spokesperson.

They continued to say that it is unable to administer medications to our patients without a valid order from a physician on our medical staff and that doing so would violate standard hospital practice and Virginia law.

That said, our team has worked around the clock to cooperate with the patients family and the Court to identify potential viable solutions, including to make a reasonable attempt to transfer the patients care to their preferred physician, which has since happened, the spokesperson said, adding that despite what has been shared online, we believe that we have navigated these complexities as swiftly as possible and have remained in compliance with standard hospital practice, including federal and state regulations, throughout this matter.

Previous update:

After a judge found Virginias Fauquier Hospital in contempt of court in a lawsuit filed on behalf of a COVID-19 patient who was denied being prescribed Ivermectin, the hospital said Tuesday that it is complying with the court order.

Christopher Davies, the son of the patient, Kathleen Davies, told the Fauquier Times that two doses of Ivermectingenerally used to treat parasiteswere given to the woman at 8:45 p.m. on Monday. The Epoch Times has contacted Fauquier Hospital for comment.

It came after Judge James. P. Fisher, of the 20th Judicial Court of Virginia, signed an order Monday finding Fauquier Hospital in contempt of court or needlessly interposing requirements that stand in the way of the patients desired physician administering investigational drugs as part of the Health Care Decisions Act and the federal and state Right to Try Acts.

Furthermore, given the gravity at hand, the hospital has to pay $10,000 per day retroactive to the date of the courts injunction order filing, the judge ordered, meaning that each day the hospital does not prescribe Ivermectin to Davies, they will have to pay the fine until the ordered relief has been accomplished.

Her family had requested the hospital give Davies, who had been on a ventilator since Nov. 3, Ivermectin to treat her COVID-19 as a last resort to save her life. The Davies family doctor had prescribed Ivermectin to the woman, but Fauquier Hospital resisted administering the drug and cited medical, legal, and other concerns, the Fauquier Times reported.

The womans family took legal action on Dec. 6, filing a complaint to compel the hospital to treat her with the drug, according to the Fauquier Times.

Its a matter of life and death, Christopher Davies told the paper. Shes on her death bed. Any kind of negative repercussions [from Ivermectin] are null and void. And because all treatment options havent worked, Davies argued that the family should be able to try the drug.

I get it. The doctors at the hospital are afraid. This has become politically charged. Im not trying to go after the hospital. I just want them to use it in hopes that it will help, he further said, referring to the controversy regarding using Ivermectin to treat COVID-19. They believe its a fight between the rights of the hospital and the rights of citizens. They feel their rights trump her rights, Davies continued.

In a lengthy statement to the Fauquier Times, Fauquier Hospital spokeswoman Sarah Cubbage said that the facility is now complying with the judges order and is seeking to have his contempt order thrown out.

Like all other hospitals, we are bound by rules and regulations that govern how we operate to ensure that we administer care safely to our patients, Cubbage said in the statement. From a legal and regulatory standpoint, we must always follow the appropriate steps to credential and privilege physicians to practice medicine at our facilities  this is to protect patients and ensure the consistent delivery of quality care.

Furthermore, she argued that the hospital cannot compel physicians to administer treatment that is against their clinical judgment and is not within the accepted medical standards of care.

We believe that we have navigated these complexities as swiftly as possible and have remained in compliance with standard hospital practice, including federal and state regulations, throughout this matter, she said.

Regarding its compliance with Fishers order, Cubbage said that the court provided the hospital additional guidance and clarification, which it was then able to meet.

We have reported this to the court and requested that the contempt order be purged, her statement added.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Ivermectin to treat intestinal strongyloidiasis and onchocerciasis, as well as other parasites. The drug hasnt been approved by the agency to treat COVID-19, although some severely ill COVID-19 patients have apparently seen positive results after taking the drug.
Warnings on CCP China Investments Highlights Other Risk in State Pensions

Commentary

Bryan Jung wrote recently in these pages about a Consumers Research warning that investment fund BlackRocks investments in CCP China could have a deleterious effect on investors portfolios.

William Hild, the executive director of Consumers Research, had also sent a letter to 10 of the nations governors warning that their public employee pension funds placed with BlackRock were at greater risk:

Chinese firms are not held to the same transparency standards as their western counterparts, so foreign investors are often hard-pressed to appreciate the true risk profile of what theyre investing inYou could lose your shirt when a Chinese companys performance falls and have no legal recourse.

The Wall Street Journal recently reported that ratings agency Fitch has advised that Evergrande and Kaisa, two major developers in CCP China, defaulted on their overseas corporate dollar bonds (OCDBs). (I warned readers in another venue about the increasing risk of OCDBs as early as January 2018, based on reporting from the South China Morning Post and a warning from Normura Securities.

So why invest in such risky ventures in China (or BlackRock)?

Simple: the governors and their pension fund managers are chasing yield. They need to get returns that are well above the market, and one of the easiest ways to do that is to take on greater risk.

States have assumed absurdly high rates of return, the compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) in their pension fund actuarial computations. That rate, as the name implies, assumes that the return will be earned, year on year, every year, without a losing year.



New York State, for example, just recently reduced its CAGR to 5.9 percent. But it had used a 6.8 percent CAGR until just this past September and 7 percent before that. (New York Citys CAGR remains at an absurdly high 7 percent.) Mike Bloomberg, the former New York City mayor, reportedly said of it in 2012, If somebody offers you a guaranteed 7 percent on your money for the rest of your life, you take it and just make sure the guys name is not Madoff.

Private pension plans, by contrast, are required by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) to use a rate currently in the range of 3 percent, and an even lower rate for those pension plan participants who are closer to retirement.



Thats because ERISA, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, that Congress passed to protect private pensions, created the PBGC to ensure plan participants would not lose their pensions entirely. Like the FDIC for bank accounts, PBGC steps in with insurance to make plan participants at least partially whole when a pension plan fails.



But state and local governments are exempted from ERISA, which gives politicians and their sometimes nefarious instinct for self-interest free rein. Why show a conservative 3 percent CAGR in an actuarial computation when it would show a states plan to be severely underfunded when a bit of actuarial sophistryassuming a much higher ratewould make the pension look fully or even overfunded to an untutored eye?

After all, if the pensions are fully funded at, say, a 7 percent CAGR, that means politicians can skip making pension contributions and instead use the funds for more popularand visiblegoodies, like new school buildings and technology, parks, playgrounds, bike lanes, highways, and libraries. After all, in the mind of many politicians, their first job is to either get re-elected or set the groundwork for higher office.

The inherent risk of the outrageously high CAGRs used in most state pension plans should move pension participants and their representatives in unions and the legislature to demand more realistic actuarial assumptions in the determination of pension funding levels.

The Consumers Research warningand common senseshould dictate disinvestment in any country where the government allows anything other than robust investment transparency in corporate structures and financial reporting.
A computer keyboard lit by a displayed cyber code is seen in this illustration picture taken on March 1, 2017. (Kacper Pempel/Reuters)

Wave of Cyberattacks Target Government Websites in Canada

Government websites in Canada have been hit by a rash of cyberattacks recently, with the latest one prompting several federal and provincial government agencies to shut down their systems.

On Dec. 10, the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security issued an alert about a critical vulnerability in Apache Log4ja widely used logging softwarewhich would allow an unauthorized actor to hack and access an affected device remotely.

The Cyber Centre strongly encourages organizations internally review potentially impacted applications. While non-exhaustive, community sources are assisting in these efforts with the identification of impacted products, the federal cyber security centre said.

Defence Minister Anita Anand issued a statement on Dec. 12 saying the government is aware of the security risk and reiterated the Cyber Centres call for all Canadian organizations to pay attention to this critical internet vulnerability.

Several federal and provincial government agencies heeded the advice and shut down their websites as a precautionary measure.

The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) said in a statement issued on Dec. 10 that it was aware of the security vulnerability and decided to take its systems offline. All digital services were later restored on Dec. 14.

We want to assure you that this precautionary service disruption was done to protect taxpayer information and CRA systems, the agency said in a Dec. 14 update.

There is currently no indication that CRA systems have been compromised, or that there has been unauthorized access to taxpayer information because of this vulnerability.

The Quebec government also shut down roughly 4,000 government websites over the weekend as a preventative measure against a potential cyberattack.

Eric Caire, Quebecs minister of digital transformation, said the government was unsure which website uses the Apache software, and had to shut them all down for inspection.

Ontario NDP MPP Chris Glover, his partys critic for technology development and innovation, said the incident serves as a reminder of the importance of being proactive against cybersecurity threats.

I urge the Ontario government to review our systems & processes to ensure we have the highest level of protection for public data and government administered websites, Glover wrote on social media.

Rideau Hall is another high-level federal institution that was recently targeted by cybercrime.

A representative for Gov. Gen. Mary Simon confirmed in a Dec. 2 statement that there was unauthorized access into its internal computer network. The Office of the Secretary to the Governor General said it was working with the Cyber Centre to both undertake an investigation and to strengthen its network.

NLs Health System Attacked

Newfoundland and Labrador suffered significant disruptions to its health-care system following a cyberattack on Oct. 30, which caused tens of thousands of medical appointments to be cancelled.

N.L. officials confirmed in November that both patient and employee data were stolen in the attack.

The provinces public safety minister, John Hogan, said in a press conference on Dec. 14 that the vast majority of the affected health-care systems are now back online, while most of the provinces health services have been restored. He said N.L. will continue to work with the RCMP and the Cyber Centre to investigate the attack.

These kinds of cyberattacks are becoming more frequent, and we have seen examples across the Canadian health-care sector, which are increasing at an alarming rate, Hogan said.

Representatives from each of N.L.s regional health authorities also spoke at the press conference on the impact of the October system breach, with the most significant damage done to the Eastern Regional Health Authority.

David Diamond, president and CEO of Eastern Health, said 2,514 patients in the region had their social insurance number (SIN) stolenmore than half of which are now deceased.

The process of collecting SIN numbers as part of registration is being reviewed and mitigation plans are being developed as we speak to prevent this from happening again, Diamond said.

Eastern Health will be inviting the patients whose personal information was breached as part of the cyberattack to sign up for five years of credit monitoring through the credit reporting agency, Equifax, which Diamond said is part of the mitigation plan.

Diamond said the breach also accessed personal information from patients whove had specialized bloodwork and specimens collected across N.L.s Regional Health Authorities or in private clinics over the past 11 years, as well as the patients registration information collected across the province as part of COVID-19 testing.

While our systems were breached and the personal information was breached, that does not include test results. So folks can take some comfort in that while the personal information has been impacted, test results have not, he said.
A flag waves outside of a Wells Fargo bank branch in San Francisco, Calif., on Oct. 3, 2008. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Wells Fargo Slashes Everbridge Price Target by 48 Percent

Everbridge Inc stated that IT Central Station, a peer review site for enterprise technology, ranked its Digital Operations Platform as the top IT Alerting and Incident Management solution. The Critical Event Management (CEM) for Digital technology is now fully integrated following the companys recent acquisition of xMatters.

Analyst Rating: Wells Fargo analyst Michael Turnin lowered the firms price target on Everbridge to $65 from $125, implying an 8 percent downside.

The price target reflects management departures and multiple compression across the software space. The analyst keeps an Equal Weight rating on the shares.

Analysts recently slashed their price targets on Everbridge as it disclosed its CEO transition and 2022 outlook.

The enterprise software company recently announced the resignation of CEO David Meredith and offered an initial outlook of 20 percent-23 percent revenue growth in 2022, below Street expectations of 26 percent.

By Anusuya Lahiri

 2021 The Epoch Times. The Epoch Times does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
With China, Russia, and Iran, US Needs to Show Political Will

As Winston Churchill famously said, No war would have been easier to prevent than this one (World War II).

No one seriously anticipates war between the United States and China or Russia, in the sense of a declared war to be conducted until one side surrenders, but the deterioration of relations with those countries could be stopped.

Because of Adolf Hitlers endless acts of bad faith and compulsive aggression, and the barbarous incivility of Japans sneak attack on Pearl Harbor and throughout the Pacific area, a war of total victory, at least on the Allied side, ensued.

It is true that Josef Stalin would have made a separate peace with Hitler, and implausibly resurrected the NaziSoviet pact Hitler had violated by hurling 200 divisions into Russia with no warning and no claimed provocation. But Stalin would only have done so if he had concluded that the Western allies werent serious about opening a second front and ensuring the ultimate defeat of Germany. He wasnt prepared to conduct total war with Germany for the delectation of the Anglo-Americans.

What we have now with China and with Russia are distinctly different cases of countries aggressively seeking greater influence in the world and particularly on their own borders, and steadily flexing their muscles while seeking to avoid arousing the United States and its bedraggled alliances to a confrontational response.

China is a vastly more serious challenge than Russia. It has already accomplished the greatest feat of economic self-elevation of any nation in history. Of course, that accomplishment has been very uneven. Premier Li Keqiang recently said 600 million Chinese live on less than 1,000 yuan ($157) a month. At the same time, enormous wealth is concentrated in the hands of well-placed Communist Party members. Economic growth has been gained at the cost of extreme environmental degradation, and it has been accompanied by extensive human rights violations and the creation of a police state more comprehensive than any heretofore imagined.

Its the only country that at times in its past was one of the worlds greatest nations and then descended into disorganization, weakness, and foreign condescension only to be revived from such a state of vulnerability to become a great power in the world again.

The much-vaunted open door policy of the United States toward China 125 years ago was really just an open door to permit the United States to join Japan and the European powers in the exploitation of a prostrate China.

When Mao Zedong won the Chinese Civil War in 1949 and occupied Beijing, he uttered the famous words China has stood up. So it has, but as Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in an interview last week, its also true that China is not 10 feet tall.

China is not remotely as strong a country as the United States, and the current apparent narrowing or even elimination of superior American power and influence as China seeks to undermine and surpass it is a function of disparity of leadership and governmental cohesion.

Because of the fanatical obsession of the bipartisan political establishment in the United States to defeat and evict Donald Trump and his followers and his policies, a coalition was formed for that purpose that was so broad that it included extremist anti-American elements generally grouped under the rubric of wokeness, and specifically including African American extremists seeking massive transfusions of outright Danegeld to compensate them for what Mr. Lincoln called the bondsmans 250 years of unrequited toil, the legacy of slavery.

These elements have explicitly threatened that there will be riots, there will fire, and there will be bloodshed if they dont get all they want (the recent words of Black Lives Matters New York leader, Hawk Newsome). To the extent that these extremists are denied anything, the response is the reflexive charge of racism.

This anti-Trump coalition suffered from trying to bridge traditional centrist BushMcCainRomney and anti-Trump Republicans all the way out to the large swath of the media, the Academy, Big Sports, and Hollywood, which are overtly anti-American, and from there on out to a significant minority of white-hating African Americans.

The governing coalition is a Tower of Babel that has great difficulty achieving a consensus on anything, a condition aggravated by the apparently declining powers of concentration of President Joe Biden. Biden was only chosen by the Democratic Party elders after faltering in the early primaries, to avoid the apparently unelectable alternative of the outright socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).

Biden has a long history of being pro-Chinese, and thats without factoring in the generous and highly inappropriate payments the Biden family has received from China for unspecified services.

These are entirely temporary circumstances, but they have emboldened the Chinese regime to tear up the treaty it had subscribed over Hong Kong with the United Kingdom, one of the worlds most respected nations. Moreover, the regime hasnt shown any disposition to relax what amounts to a long-term genocide against the Uyghur minority, to end its constant persecution of all religions, or to stop its aggressive military skirmishing in the Himalayas with India. Nor has the regime dropped its absurd claims of territorial waters in the South China Sea, and it threatens to abrogate the 1972 Shanghai agreement with President Richard Nixon. That agreement asserted the principle of a united China including Taiwan, but with the assurance that China wouldnt try to reunify China coercively and that the United States wouldnt encourage the complete separation of Taiwan from China.

The facts remain that China, compared to the United States, is resource-poor, chronically aged (because of its insane one-child policy), has no political institutions that function well and are trusted inside or outside China, and no statement or number published by the Peoples Republic that can be believed. Its well advanced to becoming the most technologically totalitarian regime in history, with the ability to locate every single person in the country within a few minutes.

It remains a corrupt regime with all the long-term instabilities of dictatorships, made more complicated by the fact that it purports to be a communist society while promoting state and monopolistic capitalism.

The importance of Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin stating that the United States wouldnt be intimidated by the relentless bellicosity of the Chinese over Taiwan is encouraging. The United States appears to have fallen behind China and Russia in hypersonic missiles and to have failed to produce adequate defenses for its aircraft carriers, but these deficiencies can be made up quickly and can be substituted for in other areas where the United States remains superior.

As Mr. Churchill said of World War II, all that is required is to convince the Chinese that attempted coercive absorption of Taiwan will lead to unjustifiably costly consequences, not excluding an attack on what would be a very vulnerable invasion force plodding across 130 miles of open water.

Its a much different and simpler problem with Russia, which has a GDP smaller than Canadas and couldnt conduct a general war in Ukraine against serious opposition for very long. As with China and Taiwan, theres some truth to the Russian claim that Ukraine is not really an independent state. It was a part of Russia for about 200 years and its ethnicity is a not fully homogenized melange of foreign influences.

There may be as many as 10 million Ukrainians who would rather be Russians, and if thats the case, it should be addressed by a genuine referendum. As most of the Russians in Ukraine live on the Russian border, the natural solution would be to allow Russian Ukraine to join Russia and the balance of Ukraine to join NATO and the European Union, and then for Ukraine to accept and discharge the consequent obligations to behave like a sophisticated and accountable Western democracy, a level of administration Ukraine has not approached.

Exacting such a compromise will take more agile and purposeful leadership than is now found in Washington, and it will also take some resuscitation of Germany from its current status, in Nixonian terms, as the pitiful helpless giant of all Europe.

All that is required is a little firmness, not a strong point of the palsied Biden regime. This will require increasing the delivery of sophisticated armaments to Ukraine and Taiwan. It may also require, since the talks with Iran appear to have broken down, to stop this insidious Iranian pursuit of nuclear weapons by a conventional military strike that destroys their program. These measures will be enough peace-through-strength to keep a lid on the world until the next American presidential election produces a more purposeful administration.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Woman With Rare Form of Muscular Dystrophy Defies Doctor by Hitting the Gym

Getting out of bed in the morning can be difficult for some people, starting their day with a deep sleep suddenly being disturbed by a blaring alarm coming from a smartphone.

But for Lily Brasch, getting out of bed in the morning presents an entirely different kind of challenge.

Brasch, who turns 22 on Dec. 26, has centronuclear myopathy, a rare form of muscular dystrophy characterized by muscle weakness and atrophy in the skeletal muscles, which are used for movement. The simple act of getting out of bed isnt something she takes for granted, which makes her most recent accomplishment seem miraculous.

This past September, Brasch competed in her first bodybuilding contest, a remarkable achievement and only the beginning of a journey upon which she has embarked in an effort to change the world for those who face seemingly overwhelming obstacles.

While the most obvious challenge for her would seem to be physical, it was the mental and emotional toll that ate away at her spirit.

What I remember most from before my diagnosis, besides the physical pain and the struggles of not knowing if I could get up that morning, I lived a life full of embarrassment and full of hiding, Brasch said.

I did whatever I could to hide my disability. I did and still struggle, and this is a story I like to share with people to help them understand that I can wake up one morning and I cant get the blanket off myself. Ill have to really struggle to get out of bed. But some days Ill be in a gym lifting weights. So it can go from being super weak one day to having a little more strength the next.

Brasch was born in Chicago, and she still spends much of her time there, as well as in Los Angeles with her grandmother. She plans to attend college in Californialikely UCLAand eventually go to law school. For now, however, her mission is clearto show the world that a strong mind can overcome any physical obstacle. However, the journey to get there has been fraught with pain and despair.

Doctors were unable to diagnose her disease for most of her childhood years, despite the best efforts of her parents, Joel and Mary Anne. Finally obtaining a diagnosis was the key to allowing her to find her way to happiness.

I was 16 years old, and I was struggling a lot with my disease, Brasch said. I wanted to act as if it wasnt there, but it was there, and it was progressing a little bit as I went through the normal changes of puberty. I was getting weaker.

After many visits to several doctors, she had a muscle biopsy performed on her thigh, and her disease was diagnosed.

I was sitting there after my diagnosis, and I asked if it was progressive, and I was relieved when they said no, its not progressive and life expectancy is average, Brasch said. So I said Im going to go to the gym. Im going to lift weights. Im going to work out. Im going to eat well. Im going to do whatever I can to get stronger. And my doctor looked at me and said dont do that, out of care and knowledge that she had.

So I didnt. Two, three years passed by and I guess I had enough. I turned to my dad and I told him if Im going to live this life, Ill risk injury to try to strengthen myself, try to improve my life. So even with the risk in mind I started lifting weights, and I set goals for myself.

Lily Brasch, who has centronuclear myopathy, a rare form of muscular dystrophy, lifts weights to gain strength despite her bodys weakness. (Courtesy of Born To Prove)

She decided that she would rather die strong than live weak. It has become her mantra. In 2018, she began lifting weights, and this past September in Lexington, Kentucky, she competed in her first bodybuilding contest.

Finding a contest to compete in wasnt easy for Brasch, whos a practicing Orthodox Jew. Most contests take place on Saturdays, which is the Sabbath, meaning that she wouldnt be able to compete in a contest until an hour after sundown.

But the contest in Lexington took place on a Sunday, allowing her to compete. She didnt win the contest in a traditional sense, but the act of competing at all was worth more than anything.

As far as competing, I had an incredible team, and a lot of encouragement. I was ready, Brasch said. I had gone 20 years doing whatever I could to hide my disability, my differences, and in that moment, I felt I conquered my mind. My greatest strength is my mind. For all of us, our greatest strength is our mind, despite the quality of our body and what our bodies can do. Our minds control our future and our reality.

So being able to walk up the stairs in the way that I do, which looks different, walk across the stage with my muscles showing, and know that I look so much different than everybody else on the stage, but still be able to do it and feel proud, was probably one of the greatest moments of my life so far in terms of my minds strength. It was something Im going to remember forever. Im going to take the lessons Ive learned and try to teach others.

One way to teach others is through the foundation that she has started, Fallacy of Barriers. Information about the foundation can be found on her website borntoprove.com.

The mission is to take the mentality that Ive applied and use every day and help others reach that same mentality inside of themselves, Brasch said. The concept of Fallacy of Barriers is that our barriers are a fallacy. And I interview people with barriers from around the world and bring them together to share their struggles and show others that they can break through barriers, too.

Next up for Brasch is climbing Camelback Mountain in Arizonaa task she refers to as my Everest. She said its not about her, its about the message that it sends to others who feel how she once felt.

Not only was I faced with my own circumstances, but I spent so much time by myself thinking about why I felt certain ways, and I finally conquered that. But I felt the world around me didnt, she said.

So Im here to prove that anythings possible. Im here to show people that, despite your circumstances, you can live the reality that you want. So live weak or die strong is an important and powerful message. My own circumstance is what drives me to continue and to display that message, but its about struggles I see with others, doubting themselves because they dont believe.

I think the world needs this message.  I know the world needs this message. I know I needed it. Anybody who doubts someones capabilities or their own capabilities, its because they havent been opened up to this understanding. I want everyone to understand that anything is possible. I will compete in bodybuilding competitions to prove that, as someone who has a muscle disease. I will climb a mountain. I will do it all.
The site of a roof collapse at an Amazon distribution center a day after a series of tornadoes struck multiple states, in Edwardsville, Ill., on Dec. 11, 2021. (Drone Base/Reuters)

Workers at Candle Factory, Amazon Allegedly Told They Couldnt Leave Before Tornadoes Hit

Workers at two facilities struck by tornadoes over the weekend say they were either told not to leave or threatened with termination if they left as the twisters bore down.

The tornadoes struck an Amazon warehouse in Edwardsville, Illinois, and a candle factory run by Mayfield Consumer Products in Mayfield, Kentucky.

Six Amazon workers were killed, including Larry Virden, 46.

Virdens longtime girlfriend, Cherie Jones, told the New York Post that she received text messages from her partner shortly before the tornado hit.

Hes like, well Amazon wont let me leave until after the storm blows over, Jones said.

The text was sent about 16 minutes before the tornado touched down. The couples residence is about 13 minutes away from the Amazon warehouse.

Jones said she doesnt fault Amazon.

Not really. But its that what-if situation: What if they would have let him leave? He could have made it home, she told the paper.

Asked about the account, an Amazon spokeswoman told The Epoch Times in an email that guidance from the Department of Labors Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) clearly states to take shelter immediately when theres a tornado warning, adding: Our leaders on the ground followed their training and did just that, moving quickly to get people to take shelter immediately. That likely saved many lives from this storm.

Amazon offered condolences to everybody affected by the tornadoes, including those whose loved ones passed away, and said it was providing support to workers and partners in the Edwardsville area.

OSHA opened a probe into the warehouse collapse on Monday. Illinois Governor J. B. Pritzker told reporters in a briefing that possible structural issues are among the issues being investigated.

The facility in Mayfield will also be investigated, by the Kentucky Division of Occupational Safety and Health Compliance.

In this framegrab from an AFP video, Jemaryon Hart, 21, speaks after surviving a tornado that destroyed his workplace, the Mayfield Consumer Producers candle factory, in Mayfield, Ky., on Dec. 13, 2021. (Eleonore Sens/AFPTV/AFP via Getty Images)

Emergency workers search through what is left of the Mayfield Consumer Producers candle factory, in Mayfield, Ky., on Dec. 11, 2021. (John Amis/AFP via Getty Images)

Such probes are common, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear told reporters Tuesday.

So it shouldnt suggest that there was any wrongdoing. But what it should give people confidence in, is that well get to the bottom of what happened, he said.

Multiple workers at the factory said supervisors told them theyd be fired if they left early on Friday as a tornado moved towards the facility.

People had questioned if they could leave or go home. McKayla Emery, 21, told NBC.

She overheard supervisors telling them, If you leave, youre more than likely to be fired.

I asked to leave and they told me Id be fired, added Elijah Johnson, 20.

Mayfield couldnt be reached. A spokesperson told NBC that the allegations were absolutely untrue and that workers have been able to since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic leave whenever they want and return the following day.

OSHA guidance was followed, the spokesperson added.

The tornadoes in Kentucky killed at least 74 people, including eight at the factory. Those dead ranged from 2 months old to 98 years old; 12 were children.

Beshear said that the death toll had not gone up overnight.

Still, search and rescue efforts continue for over 100 missing persons.
VATICAN CITY (AP)  The Vaticans big fraud and embezzlement trial, which opened to great fanfare in July, suffered another delay Tuesday as the tribunal postponed any further decisions until prosecutors finish redoing their investigation of four of the original 10 defendants.

The delay means the trial, which had already been proceeding at a snails pace even by Italian standards, wont get off the ground until mid-February at the earliest. Tribunal president Giuseppe Pignatone said that by then he could finally, hopefully unify the two branches of the trial and start in earnest.

Were in an open construction site, Pignatone said of the current status. The key thing is that the trial needs more time before it can open for real.

After two years of investigation, Vatican prosecutors in July charged 10 people  including a once-powerful cardinal  with a host of financial crimes related to the Holy Sees 350 million-euro investment in a London residential property.

Prosecutors allege some Vatican officials and Italian brokers fleeced the Holy See of millions of euros in fees and commissions, much of it donations from the faithful. They have charged one broker with then extorting the Vatican out of 15 million euros to get full control of the building. The defendants have denied any wrongdoing.

Pope Francis own role in the deal has come under scrutiny since several witnesses have said he approved negotiating an exit deal with the broker accused of extortion.

In October, Pignatone ordered prosecutors to throw out their indictments for four of their suspects and start over because they failed to respect basic procedural steps during the investigation meant to protect the rights of the accused, including summoning them for questioning so they could respond to the accusations.

On Tuesday, assistant prosecutor Gianluca Perone said to date prosecutors had only heard from one person. He said he expected to know by Jan. 20 whether prosecutors would ask for new indictments or for the charges to be dropped.

Pignatone set a procedural hearing for Jan. 25  hopefully the last one  and said he hoped by mid-February to then unify the proceedings against both sets of defendants and open the trial in earnest.

Pignatone has also repeatedly ordered prosecutors to turn over to the defense the videotaped recordings of a key suspect-turned-star witness so the suspects can adequately prepare their defense. The prosecutors initially agreed, then refused, then deposited most of the tapes but with cuts that in some cases amounted to an hour.

On Tuesday, Pignatone announced he had appointed technical experts to provide written transcripts of the main witness, Monsignor Alberto Perlasca, as well as all the other defendants. He didnt rule on defense requests to provide the full, uncut tapes.

In a motion to the court Tuesday, prosecutors doubled down on their refusal to provide the full tapes, saying the cuts concerned information unrelated to the trial that needed to remain secret for investigative reasons. They also pushed back against defense claims that documents were still missing from the nearly 30,000 pages of evidence gathered during the investigation.

The claims of missing evidence by lawyers for one of the defendants, Cecilia Marogona, are surprising, as well as radically unfounded" since the documents are all available for the defense's consultation, prosecutors Alessandro Diddi and Perone wrote, indicating where in the CD files the lawyers could find the material.
WASHINGTON (AP)  The Associated Press sought answers Monday from the Department of Homeland Security on its use of sensitive government databases for tracking international terrorists to investigate as many as 20 American journalists, including an acclaimed AP reporter.

In a letter to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, AP Executive Editor Julie Pace urged the agency to explain why the name of Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter Martha Mendoza was run through the databases and identified as a potential confidential informant during the Trump administration, as detailed in a report by Homeland Security's inspector general.

This is a flagrant example of a federal agency using its power to examine the contacts of journalists, Pace wrote. While the actions detailed in the inspector generals report occurred under a previous administration, the practices were described as routine.

The DHS investigation of U.S. journalists, as well as congressional staff and perhaps members of Congress, which was reported by Yahoo News and AP on Saturday. It represents the latest apparent example of an agency created in the wake of the 9/11 attacks using its vast capabilities to target American citizens.

DHS prompted criticism from Congress and elsewhere in July 2020 w hen it deployed poorly or unidentified agents in military-style uniforms to sweep people off the streets of Portland, Oregon, and hustle them into unmarked cars during protests outside the federal courthouse in the city.

This latest revelation prompted Sen. Ron Wyden to call on DHS to immediately turn over the inspector general report to Congress.

If multiple government agencies were aware of this conduct and took no action to stop it, there needs to be serious consequences for every official involved, and DHS and the Justice Department must explain what actions they are taking to prevent this unacceptable conduct in the future, said Wyden, an Oregon Democrat who has long sought more oversight of government surveillance.

Rep. Bennie Thompson, the Mississippi Democrat who chairs the House Homeland Security Committee, said, If true, this abuse of government surveillance powers to target journalists, elected officials and their staff is deeply disturbing."

CBP said in a statement over the weekend that its vetting and investigative practices are strictly governed and that the agency doesn't investigate without a legitimate and legal basis to do so.

A DHS spokeswoman, Marsha Espinosa, said Monday that Mayorkas is deeply committed to ensuring the protection of First Amendment rights" and has developed policies that reflect this priority, thought she did not provide details.

We do not condone the investigation of reporters in response to the exercise of First Amendment rights, she said. CBP and every component agency and office in the Department will ensure their practices are consistent with our values and our highest standards.

In the AP's letter, Pace called for assurances that these improper practices and apparent abuse of power will not continue going forward.

That would be in line with recent order from Attorney General Merrick Garland prohibiting the seizing of records of journalists in leak investigations. That followed an outcry over revelations that the Justice Department under former President Donald Trump had obtained records belonging to journalists, as well as Democratic members of Congress and their aide s and a former White House counsel, Don McGahn.

During the Obama administration, federal investigators secretly seized phone records for some reporters and editors at the AP. Those seizures involved office and home lines as well as cellphones.

The DHS inspector general report that revealed the most recent disclosure of investigations of journalists also stemmed from a Trump-era leak investigation.

The IG was looking into the actions of Jeffrey Rambo, a Border Patrol agent who was on temporary duty with a Customs and Border Protection unit in the Washington D.C. area in 2017 when he accessed government travel records as part of a leak investigation involving reporter Ali Watkins, who was with Politico at the time and now writes for The New York Times.

The inspector general opened its investigation after media reports exposed Rambo and his investigation of Watkins.

In the course of its investigation, the IG learned from Rambo that he had routinely run checks on journalists and others, including congressional staff, while working at the CBP unit, the Counter Network Division.

Rambo told investigators that he queried its databases about Mendoza before trying to establish a relationship with her because of her expertise in writing about forced labor, an area of concern for CBP because it enforces import restrictions. The AP reporter is a known expert on the subject who won her second Pulitzer Prize in 2016 as part of a team that reported on slave labor in the fishing industry in Southeast Asia.

The AP, in a separate statement from the Pace letter, also sought an explanation for the use of the databases to investigate Mendoza and other journalists.

We are deeply concerned about this apparent abuse of power, the AP said. This appears to be an example of journalists being targeted for simply doing their jobs, which is a violation of the First Amendment.

The inspector general referred its findings to a federal prosecutor for possible charges of misusing government databases and lying to investigators, but the Justice Department declined to prosecute Rambo and two other Homeland Security employees.
WASHINGTON (AP)  Arizona asked the Supreme Court Tuesday to allow enforcement of a ban on abortions performed solely because of Down syndrome and other genetic abnormalities.

The request from the state's Republican attorney general, Mark Brnovich, comes as the high court is weighing rolling back abortion rights nationwide and in the immediate aftermath of a decision keeping in place Texas' ban on abortion after about six weeks, while allowing some challenges to the law to continue.

A federal judge blocked the provision of Arizona law enacted earlier this year that would have let prosecutors bring felony charges against a doctor who knowingly terminates a pregnancy solely because of a genetic abnormality. A federal appeals court also refused to allow its enforcement.

Several Republican-led states have enacted laws prohibiting abortion based on a fetal diagnosis of Down syndrome or other genetic issues, among hundreds of new abortion restrictions put in place in recent years.

The federal appeals court in Cincinnati allowed Ohio's law to take effect and appellate judges in St. Louis are deliberating over a similar law in Missouri.

When the issue last came to the Supreme Court, in 2019, the justices rejected Indiana's appeal over enforcing its law, which also prohibited abortion because of the race or sex of the fetus. Justice Clarence Thomas wrote a lengthy opinion in which he said the Indiana law and other laws like it promote a States compelling interest in preventing abortion from becoming a tool of modern-day eugenics.

Arizona also prohibits abortions over race and sex, but those provisions are not at issue.

Brnovich argued in court papers that the law furthers Arizonas interest in protecting the disability community from discrimination. He also wrote that it's not right to call the law an abortion ban. A woman still could obtain an abortion in such circumstances if she doesn't say why she wants one or makes a decision independent of a fetal abnormality, among other reasons, he wrote.

The case goes first to Justice Elena Kagan, who handles emergency requests from Arizona.
A North Carolina man who came to Washington armed with guns and threatened to shoot House Speaker Nancy Pelosi the day after the Jan. 6 riot was sentenced Tuesday to more than two years and four months in prison. Cleveland Meredith Jr. had planned to attend President Donald Trumps rally in Washington on Jan. 6, but a vehicle breakdown caused him to arrive after the riot had ended. He remained in Washington at a hotel and sent his uncle a text the day after the insurrection using a misogynistic term to describe the House Speaker and saying he was thinking of heading to her speech and putting a bullet in her noggin on Live TV.

The comments concerned his uncle, who contacted Merediths mother. His mother, who was alarmed by her sons extremist social media postings and knew he had been experiencing mental health difficulties, called the FBI.

U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson said the text threatening to shoot Pelosi wasnt the only alarming comment he made and rejected a suggestion that Merediths statements were in jest. They cannot be erased by adding LOL on the end, Jackson said.

Meredith, who has been jailed for the last 11 months, tearfully said he was out of control the day after the riot, expressed embarrassment over his arrest and offered an apology to Pelosi. I know what I did was wrong, said the 53-year-old Meredith, who lives in Hayesville, North Carolina.

Approximately 700 people have been charged with federal crimes related to the riot at the U.S. Capitol. About 150 of them have pleaded guilty. More than 20 defendants have been sentenced to jail or prison terms or to time already served behind bars. Over a dozen others received home confinement sentences.

Meredith brought a handgun and a military style rifle to Washington, bragged in a text about having thousands of rounds of armor-piercing bullets, profanely said Burn DC to the ground when a friend told him the Capitol had been breached and sent a text saying he was going to collect the heads of traitors.

The day after the riot, Meredith used misogynistic language when referring to Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser and said he may go to her office to shoot her. He is accused of head-butting and punching a person who was in a vehicle that was blocking his truck. And he said he thought he was going to run over Pelosi, Jackson said.

Merediths lawyers argued there was no serious intent for Meredith to follow through on the threats, noting he sent the messages to family and friends.

Family members say Meredith was immersed in the QAnon movement, which is centered on the baseless belief that former President Donald Trump was fighting a cabal of Satan-worshipping, child sex trafficking cannibals.

The judge said the mental health problems in Merediths life were present before Joe Biden won office or QAnon emerged. She said Meredith previously had been involved in assaults and a road rage incident.

___

Billeaud reported from Phoenix.
STAMFORD  A New Canaan man facing accused of having inappropriate contact with children in Darien is now also being investigated by the FBI, according to a state prosecutor.

Assistant States Attorney Daniel Cummings said the FBI is conducting its own separate investigation into Quinten Yonkers, a 24-year-old man who police claim possessed sexual abuse imagery of children.

Cummings said the FBI took possession of copies of the digital evidence being used by state prosecutors against Yonkers for their investigation.

It is unclear if Yonkers could face any federal charges yet, according to Cummings.

The states not going to be prepared to make any kind of state offer until we know for certain if theres going to be any federal involvement or not, Cummings said.

Yonkers attorney, Mark Sherman, declined to comment Tuesday.

Yonkers was arrested in August on charges of first-degree possession of child pornography, two counts of risk of injury to a minor, two counts of employing a minor in an obscene performance and fourth-degree sexual assault.

The arrest came after New Canaan police detectives made Darien police aware that Yonkers was possibly in contact with minor children who lived in Darien, police said at the time.

An investigation by Darien police detectives uncovered that Yonkers had been in contact with local children for an extended period of time, according to police.

The investigation also revealed that Yonkers had made inappropriate and unlawful contact with the children and had also taken videos and images of them, police said.

Yonkers is being held on $250,000 bond.

He is next scheduled to appear in court on March 1.
HARTFORD  An Ohio man who posted explicit videos of a New Canaan minor on TikTok last year was sentenced to 10 years in prison, a federal judge ordered Tuesday afternoon.

The sentencing stems from an incident in March 2020 when Brian Grinnell, now 37, met an 11-year-old girl from New Canaan on an online chat website while he claimed to be a 15-year-old girl. He told the victim to send him sexually explicit videos of herself, authorities said.

When the victim started to feel threatened by Grinnell, she unfriended and blocked him on social media. He reached out to her friends, threatening to post the videos if she did not reach out to him. He later posted the sexually explicit videos to TikTok, according to court documents.

Grinnell was arrested Sept. 23, 2020, and has remained in custody. Investigators seized his iPhone and other items and found more than 80 images and videos of child pornography that werent just of the victim. Grinnell was not charged with the images and videos investigators found, Shea said Tuesday.

In April, Grinnell pleaded guilty to distribution of child pornography.

U.S. Judge Michael Shea described the case as a parents worse social media nightmare.

He also called Grinnells conduct despicable and said he tortured a child.

Shea said the case involved cruelty of a type and degree that I have not seen before in nine years on the bench, and clarified he has sentenced cases involving murder and other serious offenses.

Theres nothing in your background that would explain the lack of empathy and the cruelty that your conduct demonstrated in this case, he said.

It is hard to know, candidly, where this behavior came from, Shea added. I dont believe it came from out of the blue.

The judge said he would recommend for Grinnell to be sent to the Elkton Federal Correctional Institution in Lisbon, Ohio.

When Grinnell is released, and as part of his 15 years of supervised release, he will be required to comply with all sex offender registration requirements, participate in mental health treatment and the probation office will monitor all of his devices, Shea ordered.

Shea also ordered Grinnell to pay a $10,000 special assessment.

Grinnell first met the victim online through Omegle, an online website where strangers can chat, in March 2020. The two then started talking through Snapchat where he told her to send him the videos of herself.

When the victim unfriended and blocked Grinnell, he contacted some of her friends through TikTok, stating that unless the victim reached out to him, he would post a naked video of the victim on the social media app.

Grinnell posted the videos, according to federal officials.

In court Tuesday, the victims mother said the young girls friends defended her and were pleading with Grinnell not to post any more videos.

Grinnell told one friend, who was also a minor, that he wanted a video of her begging him not to put them up while topless, authorities said.

The friend also told Grinnell that they would call the police, to which Grinnell responded How are they gonna find me, records show.

Later on, Grinnell shared additional videos of the victim with undercover officers and bragged about how many videos he had, federal officials said.

He also told an undercover officer that him and the victim were going to be a thing and she broke my heart.

After the videos were posted, the victims parents received a call from a parent stating that something horrible was happening.

The victims parents called their daughter downstairs to ask what was happening, and the victim told them I think you need to call the police, the victims mother said in court Tuesday.

In court through Zoom Tuesday, the victims mother called Grinnells actions extremely calculated.

Grinnell victimized an entire group of special needs children, 11 years old themselves, by making them feel responsible for what happened to their friend and later for showing them the child pornography, she said.

The victims mother, her voice shaking during the hearing Tuesday, said that for months she was worried her child would try to take her own life.

She thinks about what happened every single day, the mother said. She walks around with an ever present sense of guilt and shame that has affected her sense of self, and her relationships with friends and adults.

Whether we like it or not, one day in the future, Mr. Grinnell will be released from his prison, but our daughter will have to live in her prison caused by his actions for the rest of her life, the mother continued.

On Tuesday, Grinnell said he was incredibly sorry for what he had done.

What I did was heinous and should never have happened, he said. I wish there was a way to go back and undo that awful action that I did so that all people that have been hurt wouldnt have been. Im disgusted in myself every day that I hurt someone. I hope that you are able to move on and recover from what I have done.

Grinnell had no criminal history at the time of his arrest. His attorney, Matthew Popilowski, said Tuesday that Grinnell had a good upbringing. He also read a letter from Grinnells mother who stated he was always willing to help, hardworking and active in his sons life.

Cases of child exploitation can be reported at www.cybertipline.com.

Those who have suffered from sexual violence can speak to specialists for support, information, advice or a referral by calling the free and confidential National Sexual Assault Hotline at 800-656-HOPE (4673). Those who wish to chat online with trained specialists, which is also free and confidential, can also go to www.RAINN.org/Get-Help. Help is available 24/7.

liz.hardaway@hearst.com
NORWALK  A city man with multiple active warrants from local authorities and in two other states was taken into custody this week in connection with several incidents, police said.

Shane Tomlin, 32, of Soundview Avenue, was taken into custody Monday, Sgt. Sofia Gulino said.

He was charged with second-degree threatening, risk of injury to a child, third-degree assault, disorderly conduct, engaging police in a pursuit, reckless driving, failure to drive in a proper lane, improper turn and fugitive from justice.

Gulino said Tomlin was accused of threatening in a domestic violence-related case on Oct. 25. A warrant was issued for his arrest.

A month later on Nov. 25, Gulino said, Tomlin was accused of assault and other offenses in another domestic violence case. A second warrant was issued for his arrest.

The same day as the November assault, officers spotted Tomlin and he led them on a pursuit, Gulino said. A warrant for that incident was also granted.

Tomlin also had an active warrant in New York in Westchester County in connection with a violation of probation charge stemming from a case where he was accused of third-degree robbery, Gulino said. The warrant there is extraditable.

Tomlin was also wanted by authorities in the Rockingham County Sheriffs Office in Virginia for allegedly having a gun after having been convicted of a felony offense, Gulino said.

Members of the Special Services Division found Tomlin walking on Soundview Avenue on Monday and took him into custody without incident.

He was taken to police headquarters and held on a combined $300,000 bond. Westchester County Department of Public Safety and Rockingham County Sheriffs Office were advised of the arrest.
(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.)

Scott Schieman, University of Toronto

(THE CONVERSATION) A record share of American workers are quitting their jobs, thanks in part to a strong economy and a labor shortage.

Does that mean Americans are unhappy with where they work?

The answer would seem to be yes, according to manyeconomists and otherobservers. Thats the narrative driving the Great Resignation, in which workers are simply fed up with their current jobs and demanding something better.

Survey data Ive been collecting during the pandemic, along with social survey results from previous years, however, suggests this is far from the whole story. Rather than being motivated simply by dissatisfaction, it appears many of them are simply taking advantage of a strong economy to look around, while for others, the pandemic has prompted them to consider their options.

Are you satisfied?

The General Social Survey, a reputable national survey of American adults, has been asking workers questions about how they feel about the quality of their working life since 2002.

There are actually three key types of questions it asks that help us get at this idea: the level of dissatisfaction with current work, turnover intention and confidence in finding a new job.

Lets start with dissatisfaction. The question is: On the whole, how satisfied are you with the work you do  would you say you are very satisfied, moderately satisfied, a little dissatisfied or very dissatisfied?

In 2002, about 12% of respondents said they were very dissatisfied or a little dissatisfied with their work, a figure that barely changed in subsequent surveys through 2018. In 2021, a tad over 16% said they werent satisfied  an increase, but not a big one. And on the flip side, a little over 83% said they were moderately or very satisfied.

This means that by and large the vast majority of Americans  at least according to this survey  express moderate to high satisfaction with their work.

Looking for a change

Turnover intention is another important indicator. The General Social Survey asks:

Taking everything into consideration, how likely is it you will make a genuine effort to find a new job with another employer within the next year  would you say very likely, somewhat likely or not at all likely?

My interpretation of a very likely response to this question is that it signals an immediate interest in leaving their present job. In 2002, about 19% said they were very likely to try to find a new job soon. Over the years, the share who said this rose and fell a little, but has remained very consistent.

Unfortunately, the survey hasnt posed the question since 2018, so I partnered with polling company Angus Reid Global to conduct two large national surveys of American workers in November 2020 and November 2021. One of the questions I asked was the one on turnover intentions, though I extended the period of time in which they expected to look for a new job to two years.

As you might expect given the rising quit rate, the share saying they were very likely to hunt for a new position jumped. It rose to 26% in 2020 and to 29% in November 2021.

While its likely that my number is a bit elevated just because of the extended time horizon  two years instead of one  the increase is consistent with the Great Resignation narrative that workers are keen to find a better workplace.

But these two figures  job satisfaction and turnover  reveal an interesting paradox: A greater share of people say they are contemplating quitting than express dissatisfaction with their current job. There are several possibilities for why a worker might be happy with their job, yet eyeing a move to another company. Perhaps theyre seeking more status or reconsidering their career, or maybe theyre worried about possible layoffs.

Confidence in the job search

An additional theme in the Great Resignation narrative is that workers feel more confident about finding alternative job prospects  and thats one reason they have been quitting in droves.

Fortunately, the General Social Survey asks that very question:

How easy would it be for you to find a job with another employer with approximately the same income and fringe benefits as you now have  not at all easy, somewhat easy or very easy?

Two years before the COVID-19 pandemic, in 2018, about a quarter of respondents said finding another job would be very easy. I asked the same question in my 2021 survey and found that number had actually decreased to around 22%.

This means that worker confidence or optimism about finding a palatable alternative job has not climbed all that much, making it less likely to be a factor in driving the current wave of resignations.

Whats going on here?

While the data doesnt show that Americans overwhelmingly love their jobs or anything like that, they do suggest most people like them enough to hold on to them.

Of course, this isnt the end of the story. The data does show important differences depending on the type of job were talking about. For example, workers in the service sector were more dissatisfied with their jobs and much more likely to express an intent to quit than the average respondent.

But all in all, the survey data doesnt support the common narrative that its a take this job and shove it economy, in which increasingly unhappy workers are finally sticking it to their managers.

Rather, when you dig down into the data, something different appears: A slice of workers are always considering leaving their jobs  and as the labor market looks brighter, the pent-up impulse to quit kicks in. But the shift in worker sentiment  or at least the way it has been portrayed  seems exaggerated.

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This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article here: https://theconversation.com/vast-majority-of-american-workers-like-their-jobs-even-as-a-record-number-quit-them-173564.
ALTON  Clayton Cope is being remembered as a hero.

Cope, 29, was in the Edwardsville Amazon facility when it was struck around 8:35 p.m. Friday by an EF3 tornado. Cope was one of six people killed in the building's collapse.

Information released by Gent Funeral Home in Alton states Cope was helping others find shelter shortly before he died. He had worked at the facility for just over a year as a maintenance mechanic.

On Friday, a visitation with full military honors is planned to start at 4 p.m. at the funeral home located at 2409 State St., Alton. The visitation is planned until 7 p.m. Friday.

He served in the Navy for six years and toured on the USS Eisenhower, reaching the rank of Aviation Electronics Technician Petty Officer 3rd Class. He worked as a calibration specialist on aircraft carriers and received a series of awards and decorations, including the National Defense Service Medal and the Global War of Terrorism Expeditionary Medal.

Friends described Cope as an avid outdoorsman who enjoyed video games, riding motorcycles and his dog, Draco. Born in Alton, Cope was the son of Lynn and Carla Cope. In addition to his parents, he is survived by his sisters, Rachel B. Cope of St. Louis, and Alexandra M. Cope of Aurora, Colorado.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Claytons honor Treehouse Wildlife Center: https://www.treehousewildlifecenter.com/donate.

An online fundraiser to help with the family's expenses also has been established at "Donations for Clay Cope expenses" on Facebook.

Online guestbook and information may be found at www.gentfuneralhome.com,.

Also killed in the storm were Kevin D. Dickey, 62, of Carlyle; Etheria S. Hebb, 34, of St. Louis; Austin J. McEwen, 26, of Edwardsville; Deandre S. Morrow, 28, of St. Louis; and Larry E. Virden, 46, of Collinsville.

On Monday, Amazon officials announced the company plans to rebuild the storm damaged facility.

On Tuesday, President Joe Biden approved an emergency declaration for Illinois following Friday's storms.

The President's action authorizes FEMA to coordinate all disaster relief efforts to alleviate the hardship and suffering caused by the emergency on the local population, and to provide appropriate assistance, to save lives, to protect property, public health and safety and to lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe in Bond, Cass, Coles, Effingham, Fayette, Jersey, Macoupin, Madison, Montgomery, Morgan, Moultrie, Pike and Shelby counties.

Specifically, FEMA is authorized to identify, mobilize and provide at its discretion equipment and resources necessary to alleviate the impacts of the emergency. Emergency protective measures, including direct federal assistance, will be provided at 75% federal funding to the state. Brian F. Schiller has been named the Federal Coordinating Officer for federal recovery operations in the affected areas.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker said he appreciate Bidens "fast response in ensuring Illinois has all available resources on the road to rebuilding.

"As local entities work to secure federal reimbursements and recovery dollars, my administration will assist every step of the way, he said.

The Illinois Emergency Management Agency has been coordinating with county emergency managers throughout the disaster to offer assistance, resources and guidance, said IEMA Director Alicia Tate-Nadeau.

Proper documentation is critical in the federal disaster aid process, and our team will be working with the local jurisdictions to guide them through this process to ensure Illinois can maximize the federal funding available to aid in this disaster, she said.

Under the Public Assistance program, FEMA awards grants to assist state and local governments and certain private nonprofit organizations with the response to and recovery from disasters. Under the guidelines of the PA program, local jurisdictions can be reimbursed for up to 75 percent of eligible costs.

The emergency disaster declaration allows for this program to provide funding for implementation of emergency protective measures
PONTOON BEACH  Amazon officials were on hand Monday morning for a press conference at the Pontoon Beach Police Department to a discuss the partial collapse of an Amazon fulfillment center in Edwardsville Friday night after the building was hit by an EF-3 tornado.

Six people died and one person was severely injured during the incident.

The officials noted that of the 46 people who were in the building when the storm struck, 39 were in the north side of the warehouse, most if not all of them in a designated shelter in place area.

The other seven people, including all six fatalities and the one injury, were all in the south side of the building.

There is a shelter in place area on the north side of the building, where 39 of the people who were in the building at the time of the storm were able to get to, and it had plenty of capacity for the number of people who were there on Friday night, said John Felton, senior vice president of global deliver for Amazon. The shelter in place area survived the storm.

Kelly Nantel, director of national media relations for Amazon, noted that the shelter in place area was an interior location with no windows. She said there was not a similar area in the south side of the building.

Nantel added that the employees had access to emergency weather alerts through their cellphones and that once the tornado sirens sounded, Amazon warehouse supervisors also notified employees of the severe weather through bullhorns, megaphones and radios, requesting them to shelter in place.

We know that the building was constructed according to standard codes and we want to go back and look at every aspect of this, Nantel said.

We want to make sure that our policies and practices are consistent with anything we find through our investigation.

Nantel said that every facility in the Amazon network has at least one shelter in place and sometimes more, depending on the site.

The worst thing you could do is evacuate people out of the building when you have a tornado warning in effect. The best practice is to shelter in place and thats what everybody did, Nantel said.

We will evaluate, based on all the details of this situation, if there needs to be additional shelter in place spaces. You have to keep in mind where the tornado hit the building. It went right the back end of the building.

The Edwardsville warehouse is 1.1 million square feet, and Nantel noted that the size of the building, along with the speed and the severity of the storm, may have made it difficult for some employees to reach the shelter in place area in time.

Every incident is different, and with this tornado, by the time the warnings came through, people had minutes to move very quickly, and this storm was catastrophic, Nantel said.

Of the 46 people who were in the warehouse when the storm hit, only seven were full-time Amazon employees, and the rest were either third-party contract workers or delivery drivers. None of the fatalities were Amazon employees.

Every employee goes through preparedness training and we also drill throughout the year, so they know what the steps are that they are supposed to take, Nantel said. Its new employee training that everybody goes through, including seasonal workers and contract workers.

Governor J.B. Pritzker, who led the press conference, toured the warehouse site on Monday morning.

On Sunday, Pritzker authorized a state disaster proclamation for Madison County as well as all other storm-impacted counties.

On Monday, Madison County Chairman Kurt Prenzler issued a disaster proclamation for the county.

We will also pursue other federal resources and we are working directly with the White House and FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) to ensure access to federal resources, Pritzker said.

IEMA (Illinois Emergency Management Agency) continues to work directly with local officials to actively monitor the storms impact throughout the state, especially in central Illinois.

At this point, Im pleased to report that power is fully restored in Madison County and throughout Illinois in areas that had power outages. For those who experienced home damage, we will pursue all available opportunities to help you recover.

Pritzker said that officials are checking in as to whether there were structural problems with the Amazon warehouse, which opened in 2017.

Were asking a lot of questions to determine if there were any structural issues and what exactly the storms trajectory was and how it affected the building, Pritzker said. An investigation has started through local officials including the incident commander (Edwardsville Fire Chief James Whiteford).

Pritzker added that increasing events of severe weather throughout the nation, as well as the proliferation of mega-warehouses built by Amazon and other companies, warrant a closer look at commercial building codes.

Were launching an investigation to make sure that all of the code was followed, but this tornado was an unexpected severe storm and were seeing more and more of that throughout the state of Illinois, Pritzker said. Ive spoken with legislators about whether we need to change the code based upon the climate changes that were seeing.

The Amazon building does not have a basement, which could have offered employees additional shelter.

As I understand, the challenge here is flooding. You cant dig very far down before you (reach water)," Pritzker said. Thats why they dont allow basements in the industrial area here.

During the press conference, it was noted that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is launching an investigation into Amazon regarding the warehouse collapse.

I was not aware of that, but of course, we welcome it, Nantel said.

Felton said that all employees at the Edwardsville warehouse are getting paid time off and are getting free rental cars if needed.

Were going to rebuild this site for the community and come together, said Felton, who added the warehouse employees will be able to work at other Amazon sites.

Amazon has pledged $1 million to the Edwardsville Community Foundation to aid in recovery efforts.

Already, the Edwardsville Community Foundation and other nonprofits have been the ground in every step of the response this weekend, Pritzker said. The foundation stands ready to help survivors and families and those out of work through the holidays and beyond.

ECF Executive Director Pam Farrar also spoke briefly at the press conference.

On Saturday, we activated our relief fund, and we are accepting gifts to the Edwardsville Community Foundation, Farrar said. We are working swiftly and diligently to have a thoughtful, impactful and equitable response to meet the needs of our community at this tragic time.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP)  The Columbus Zoo and Aquarium says its appeal of the loss of its most important accreditation has been denied.

The zoo said Monday that the board of directors of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums denied the zoo's strong appeal " seeking the restoration of its accreditation or tabling of the issue until next year. As a result, the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium cannot apply for accreditation again before September.

The accreditation denial in October by the association, considered the nations top zoo-accrediting body, was a major blow to the nation's second-largest zoo, an institution once widely admired in its industry and by the general public and associated with celebrity director-turned-ambassador Jack Hanna.

Zoo officials said earlier that the ruling would not affect operations or the experience of visitors, but the lack of accreditation would bar its participation in species survival and breeding programs, which will impact species conservation programs.

New president and chief executive officer Tom Schmid called Monday's decision disappointing but said the zoo was moving forward.

In the last nine months, the zoo team has moved mountains to make transformative changes that continue to make us a better zoo with new team members, new policies, and more oversights that were in place at the time of the AZA inspection in July, sad Schmid, who took over a week ago and participated in the appeal.

The accrediting group had cited concerns about the zoos animal programs department and inappropriate business practices by its former leaders. Investigations and reviews by the Ohio attorney generals office and the Ohio auditor are pending.

The accrediting body also voiced concerns about the zoos acquisition of ambassador animals. A recent documentary, The Conservation Game, raised questions about how celebrity conservationists, including Hanna, acquired exotic animals. The zoo has since cut ties with animal vendors who dont meet certain standards of animal care.

Former president and CEO Dan Ashe told The Associated Press in an interview last month that assuming the zoo had to reapply for accreditation in September 2022, the facility would be inspected in the fall or winter of next year with a decision tied to a hearing in March 2023.

Schmid said Monday that accreditation by a third-party professional association was important, so we are exploring all options to continue fulfilling our mission and to continue our work with endangered and threatened species that need our help.

Without question, the care and welfare of the animals remains our top priority, he said.

___
GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP)  A North Carolina police officer was shot in the leg and wounded on Monday while responding to a domestic dispute, authorities said.

According to a news release from the Greensboro Police Department, officers responded to a call at around 1:55 p.m. from a restaurant on the city's west side regarding a domestic dispute call.
SKOPJE, North Macedonia (AP)  North Macedonias ruling Social Democrats have elected Dimitar Kovachevski as their party's new leader and he is set to take over as prime minister if a coalition agreement remains intact.

Kovachevski takes over as party leader from Prime Minister Zoran Zaev, who relinquished the party post in the wake of a heavy defeat in mayoral and local government elections in late October.

Zaev, who served as party leader since 2013 and prime minister since 2016, has promised to resign as head of the government in the coming weeks. He had to renegotiate a coalition agreement with parties from the countrys ethnic Albanian minority to avoid a snap general election.

Kovachevski, 47, served as a deputy finance minister under Zaev. Party members overwhelmingly voted Sunday to approve him as the new leaders of the Social Democrats.

We must restore unity in the party and build policies based on social democratic values, Kovachevski told supporters. A fair chance must be given to everyone with professional ability. We must open up and seek new staff from both at home and abroad to build a new mentality in the management of the party and (state) institutions.

Opposition leader Hristijan Mickoski was re-elected as head of the conservative VMRO-DPMNE, in an election also held Sunday. The party is pressing for an early parliamentary election.

Zaev secured North Macedonias membership in NATO after ending a decades-old dispute with Greece over the countrys name but has been unable to advance ambitions to join the European Union, largely due to a historical dispute with another EU neighbor, Bulgaria.

Economic growth this year is expected to cancel losses from a pandemic-induced recession in 2020, but unemployment remains high at nearly 16% and North Macedonia has one of the highest rates of death per capita in the world due to COVID-19.

Parliamentary elections are not scheduled until 2024.
EDITORS NOTE: The Intelligencer requests briefs be submitted at least 10 days prior to the desired publication date. Due to the volume of community-submitted briefs, the content may be published within 10 days of submission. Holidays and weather forecasts may impact some events. The Intelligencer cannot guarantee that submission will be published.

Pasta Dinner

4-8 p.m. Dine-in or Carryout at the Edwardsville American Legion Post 199, 58 S. State Rt. Edwardsville. Pasta of the week served with salad. 618-656-9774

Learning About the Bears Ears National Monument

6-7:30 p.m. Sierra Club Piasa Palisades Group (PPG) Virtual Speakers Series. Go to Events on the Group website at https://www.sierraclub.org/illinois/piasa-palisades and then click on December 14 to fill out a registration form.

Second Annual Jingle Jam

7-9:30 p.m. at Old Herald Brewery & Distillery, 113 E. Clay St. in Collinsville. Limited seating available. Tickets are $25 each and can be purchased on Old Heralds Facebook page. The event will also live stream from Old Heralds Facebook page.Text to donate at 44321. Benefits Collinsville Food Pantrys holiday food and toy drive.

Cribbage Club

6 p.m. at Camelot Bowling Alley, 801 Beltline Rd., Collinsville. Beginners welcome, free to attend. Contact Phil (618) 288-7910 or Susan at (618)978-1664 for more information.

American Legion Post 199 Meeting

6:30 p.m. at the American Legion Post 199 at 58 S. State Rt. 157. All legion members are encouraged to attend the meetings. Non-member visitors are welcome.

Thursday, Dec. 16

A (2-Person) Christmas Carol

7 p.m. at the Edwardsville Public Library. Stageplays annual performance is based on the classic tale by Charles Dickens. Children are encouraged to bring their adults and wear pajamas.

Free Gift Wrapping

2-6 p.m. at The Edwardsville Public Library. Visit the library and drop off your gifts to be wrapped. Run errands or browse books while you wait. Provided by The Edwardsville Library Friends. Monetary donations are always appreciated.

Chicken Dinner

4-8 p.m. Dine-in or Carryout at the Edwardsville American Legion Post 199, 58 S. State Rt. 157, Edwardsville. Two or four pieces of chicken and vegetables, mashed potatoes and gravy and a biscuit. 618-656-9774

NAMI Meeting

7-8:30 p.m via Zoom. The National Alliance on Mental Illness Southwestern Illinois (NAMI SWI) family support meetings may also be in person. To receive the link for a Zoom meeting or address for an in-person meeting contact Pat Rudloff, silverlining6@charter.net.

Friday, Dec. 17

Fish Fry Every Friday

11 a.m.-8 p.m. Dine-in or Carryout at the Edwardsville American Legion Post 199, 58 S. State Rt. 157, Edwardsville. Two pieces of cod or one catfish filet and sides. 618-656-9774

Fish Fry

4:30-8 p.m. at the Edwardsville Moose, 7371 Marine Road, Edwardsville. Dine-in and carryout options. 618-656-5051

Stitchin in the Stacks

2-4 p.m. Glen Carbon Library. The Conference Room is available every Friday. Whatever your passion, gather and socialize with others who share your interest, and perhaps pick up a few tips and tricks as you work your own creations. Bring your crafting supplies. This is a self-directed program; there is no instructor. Snacks allowed.

Saturday, Dec. 18

Free Gift Wrapping

12 - 4 p.m. at The Edwardsville Public Library. Visit the library and drop off your gifts to be wrapped. Run errands or browse books while you wait. Provided by The Edwardsville Library Friends. Monetary donations are always appreciated.

Goshen Winter Market

10-noon in the expansion parking lot on St. Louis Street. Outdoors.

Drive Through Grocery Giveaway

10 a.m. at the Collinsville-Troy Church of Christ, 1400 Troy Road, Collinsville. The Collinsville-Troy Church of Christ will provide 200 recipients non-perishable food items, a container of detergent and, for those who need, a package each of baby wipes and disposable diapers.

Monday, Dec. 20

Woodlawn Cemetery Board

7 p.m. in the Woodlawn Chapel. All are invited to attend, whether you are a lot owner or have considered purchasing a lot.

Tuesday, Dec. 21

Pasta Dinner

4-8 p.m. Dine-in or Carryout at the Edwardsville American Legion Post 199, 58 S. State Rt. Edwardsville. Pasta of the week served with salad. 618-656-9774

Free Gift Wrapping

3 p.m. - 7 p.m. at the Edwardsville Public Library. Visit the library and drop off your gifts to be wrapped. Run errands or browse books while you wait. Provided by The Edwardsville Library Friends. Monetary donations are always appreciated.

Cribbage Club

6 p.m. at Camelot Bowling Alley, 801 Beltline Rd., Collinsville. Beginners welcome, free to attend. Contact Phil (618) 288-7910 or Susan at (618)978-1664 for more information.

Wednesday, Dec. 22

Roxana HCE Meeting

12 p.m. at Rox-Arena in Roxana Park. HCE (formally Home Bureau) meeting. Light lunch is served. Open to the public. For more info contact Vi at 618-803-2795.

Thursday, Dec. 23

NAMI Meeting

7-8:30 p.m via Zoom. The National Alliance on Mental Illness Southwestern Illinois (NAMI SWI) family support meetings may also be in person. To receive the link for a Zoom meeting or address for an in-person meeting contact Pat Rudloff, silverlining6@charter.net.

Tuesday, Dec. 28

Pasta Dinner Every Tuesday

4-8 p.m. Dine-in or Carryout at the Edwardsville American Legion Post 199, 58 S. State Rt. Edwardsville. Pasta of the week served with salad. 618-656-9774

Thursday, Dec. 30

Blood Drive

1-7 p.m. at the Edwardsville Moose Lodge 1561, 7371 Marine Road (Rt. 143). Contact 1-800-733-2767 or visit RedCrossBlood.org and choose Moose Lodge 1561 to schedule an appointment.

NAMI Meeting

7-8:30 p.m via Zoom. The National Alliance on Mental Illness Southwestern Illinois (NAMI SWI) family support meetings may also be in person. To receive the link for a Zoom meeting or address for an in-person meeting contact Pat Rudloff, silverlining6@charter.net.

Chicken Dinner Every Thursday

4-8 p.m. Dine-in or Carryout at the Edwardsville American Legion Post 199, 58 S. State Rt. 157, Edwardsville. Two or four pieces of chicken and vegetables, mashed potatoes and gravy and a biscuit. 618-656-9774

Ongoing Events

Al-Anon

For information call 618-463-2429. For more information, visit SIAFG.org and District-18.org.

Donations for Metro East Humane Society

The Edwardsville Library Friends will be taking donations through December for the Metro East Humane Society. Items needed include: pet toys, treats, fleece blankets, 30-55 gallon trash bags, pens, post-its, printer paper, laundry detergent, cat beds and dog leads. Donations are much appreciated, and can be dropped off at the library.

Winter Reading Challenge Begins

Dec. 1 - Jan. 31 at the Edwardsville Public Library. Read books, earn badges and be entered into prize drawings on Beanstack. This challenge is for all ages, 0-109. To register visit www.edwardsvillelibrary.org.
When Tony Elumelu, founder of Tony Elumelu Foundation, while speaking on the topic; Philanthropy and Development; Where are Africas Billionaires?, at one of the high level seminars that characterized the African Development Bank, AfDB, 2013 annual general meeting, held at Marrakech, Morocco, advised African billionaires to invest in developing Africa through what he tagged Africapitalism as the solution to Africas development need which should augment external aid, rather than allowing the continent to solely depend on foreign aids for its development needs, it generated some form of intra and cross arguments among stakeholders, business analyst and policymakers .

To some, it elicited this jigsaw: If it has been said that government has no business in business, what business does the private sector have in helping government to do its business of providing quality governance vis-a-vis infrastructure and employment to the populace. To others, it was viewed as a dangerous fiction aimed at hand twisting the high and mighty. For the rest, Tonys call was but a mere act of playing to the gallery.

However, instead of considering or aligning with these torrents of slanted reactions, the Onitcha-Uku, Aniocha North Local Government Area, Delta state born Tony Elumelu, contrary to expectations , did something theatrical that transformed his declaration in Morocco to action. In 2015, his Foundation established an Entrepreneurship Programme for Africans, an initiative that engineers wealth creation and consolidates economic self reliance among beneficiaries while lifting African youths -the poor, the deprived out of poverty.

In 2021 alone, the programme, going by reports, admitted approximately 5000 beneficiaries from across 54 countries of Africa and each got a 5000 dollar seed capital. This is in addition to rigorous business incubation, management and growth training.

This is not the only way Tony Elumelu has turned Africa as a continent to a political geography where our youth can no longer be caught unprepared when it comes to meeting the challenges of their time. This claim becomes evident when one remembers that organizations such as; United Bank for Africa (UBA), HEIRS holdings amongst other groups where Tony holds vested interest, equally spread their wings across Africa creating tens of thousands of direct employment.

In fact, the global community, especially development organizations/agencies, thinks that the concept of philanthropy has evolved over and what Tony is doing is the best way to solve the youth unemployment problem in Africa. This partly explains the support/endorsement his foundation is receiving from these agencies.

Understandably also, aside from the truth by the global community that the war against unemployment and underdevelopment in Africa must start from within, two particular realities, in my view, stand Tony out as well as work in his favor.

First is his belief that human progress never rolls in on the wheels of inevitability but comes through the tireless effort and the persistence work of dedicated individuals who are willing to be co-workers with God. And without this hard work, time itself becomes an ally of the primitive forces of social stagnation. The second is that as a creative leader, he enjoys intrinsic motivation that comes with personal growth, helping other people develops, taking on social causes and making a difference in the world.

With the above highlighted, the question now is: why is this piece fixated with Tony Elumelus private efforts at this critical time when Africa is going through the pangs of insecurity? To what extent is the insight provided by Elumelus model described above adequate for the socioeconomic rejuvenation of Africa?

This piece will consider these questions by examining some developmental-focused attributes that Tony and his Foundation presently signpost and highlights which must not be allowed to go with the political winds. They need to be identified, critically studied in detail and useful lessons drawn by other African Billionaires, captains of industries, and public office holders among others.

Most fundamental of all is Tonys new awareness that Africa needs to do away with short-term thinking. That we should be investing over-time horizons measured in decades, rather than fiscal quarters. We must stop the practice of extracting wealth without reinvesting for growth. We should be strategically building domestic industries and manufacturing to support our national economies, and growing intra-African trade,

Without doubt, he (Elumelu) may not be wrong looking at the current happenings within the continent. It is true that the continent has overtly shown remarkable improvement in culture and civilization. However, in my view, for the fact that after almost 60 years of independence, African countries continually look up to countries such as China for aid, covertly tells a story of a continent lacking in capacity for taking responsibility for its actions and initiatives for values.

Making it a crisis is the awareness that despite being the second most-populated continent in the world (1.2 billion people), Africa represents only 1.4% of the world Manufacturing Value added in the first quarter of 2020. This is in addition to the fact that Africa as a continent, only South Africa qualified as a member of BRICS, an acronym coined for an association of five major emerging national economies: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

From the above challenge, flows another reason why Tony Elumelus present efforts deserve our praise and commendation.

He has proved beyond reasonable doubt that he is a man that understands Corporate Social Responsibility as a form of corporate self regulation integrated into a business model and functions as built-in self regulating mechanism whereby a business monitors and ensures its active compliance with the spirit, ethical standards, and international norms-and manifested by the act of giving back to the society through adherence to the societal norms and support to the spirit of sustainable development and mutual benefit to the organization and her operational environment.

Very instructive also, is his relentless effort to find a solution to youth unemployment and developing a climate of sustainable future and innovation in Africa.

Talking about youth unemployment in Nigeria, a report recently put it this way: We are in dire straits because unemployment has diverse implications. Security wise, large unemployed youth population is a threat to the security of the few that are employed. Any transformation agenda that does not have job creation at the centre of its programme will take us nowhere Youths challenge as we know cuts across, regions, religion, and tribe, and has led to the proliferation of ethnic militia/youth restiveness across Africa.

Finally, while Elumelu teaches all with his own brand of philanthropy/charity that we are successful for others as the era where winner takes all no longer exists, this piece must as a final note underline that until other rich and well foresighted Africans like Tony start thinking win-win for all Africans as well as recognize that charity entails selfless service where one renders assistance and walks away without waiting for any returns, Africa will continue to be viewed by civilized nations as a dark continent.
The meeting between President Buhari and Sokoto State Governor, Aminu Tambuwal ended with a renewed hope against the vicious, ferocious, ruthless and cold-blooded terrorists. President Buhari handed down the assurance to Governor Aminu Tambuwal, saying that terrorists in Sokoto and other states will soon be booted out.

The president also assured Tambuwal that lives lost during the recent attack on travellers in Sokoto wont be in vain.

Buhari gave Tambuwal his words after they both met at the presidential villa on Monday night.

At the meeting, Tambuwal briefed the president on the security situation in the State.

He told the President to declare a full-scale emergency in terrorists enclaves in the state.

The governor said this will enable the Armed Forces to carry out their operations without hindrance in all enclaves affected by the declaration.

He also appealed that these operations, once conceived and ready for execution, should be carried out simultaneously in the states where the terrorists have strongholds such as Sokoto, Zamfara, Katsina, Kaduna, Niger and Kebbi states; as well as elsewhere, where the criminals have hideouts.

Gov. Tambuwal also called on the President to give a premium to the deployment of more manpower to all troubled areas just as he advocated for the procurement of sophisticated equipment, particularly, modern technology-which use is now centred around the deployment of drones globally.

He also appealed to the President, to consider popular opinions suggesting the recall of retired personnel for engagement in the war against terrorists and the recruitment of more personnel in all the security services.

The Governor suggested that, in view of the security situation in the Sahel, which has escalated tension in the sub-region, the need to ask the Economic Community of West African States, (ECOWAS), to seek extensive cooperation with the United Kingdom, France and the United States of America on security issues becomes imperative.

President Buhari, however, assured Tambuwal of the commitment and support of the Federal Government, towards the full restoration of peace and security.

Speaking further with Tambuwal, he said: I have the full assurance of our security chiefs that these heartless bandits and criminals will be smoked out, wherever they might be, and brought to justice. We will not rest until this is achieved.

May the souls of the victims Rest In Peace. Amen. My vow is that this tragic loss of lives will not be in vain.
Mrs Bature was released on 6 December following a further ransom payment. However, when the church secretary, who has been negotiating with the abductors, called them two days after they claimed to have released Rev Bature, they said he had died a while ago.

Since 2015, thousands have died and tens of thousands have been displaced in a campaign of attacks on predominantly Christian communities in central Nigeria by assailants of Fulani origin, for whom religion is increasingly either a recruitment factor or a governing ethos. Kaduna state has become an epicentre for kidnapping and banditry activity as communities have suffered relentless attacks since 2011, with a significant uptick in 2015 characterised by a steadily rising number of abductions and murders of clergy and church goers.

For example, on 31 October, gunmen attacked the Emmanuel Baptist Church at Kakau Daji in Chikun LGA, killing two people and abducting 66 others. The abductors, who demanded a N99 million ransom, released a video on 6 November in which they stated they were targeting Christians deliberately, and shot five young men selected at random, three of whom died. The remaining captives were freed on 4 December following payment of an undisclosed ransom. In an earlier incident on 12 September, the shot and mutilated body of Reverend Silas Yakubu Ali, senior pastor of ECWA Kibori-Asha Awuce in Zonzon District Church Council (DCC), was found around half a kilometre from his home in southern Kaduna.

The violence has rendered rural communities unsafe and is increasingly affecting the Kaduna state capital. In the early hours of 11 December, an attack on Sabo GRA in the Chikun LGA of Kaduna Metropolis was ultimately repelled. However, a woman and her four children were reportedly abducted by the attackers from Oil Village, which shares a boundary with Sabo GRA. Around 24 hours earlier, a security operative was reportedly abducted along with his wife and baby from the nearby area of Ungwan Bulus. According to figures compiled by the Kaduna state government, 343 people were killed and 830 were abducted between July and September 2021, while a total of 545 people were killed and 1,723 abducted between January to June. Among the latter are three students from Bethel Baptist High School who have been held by their captors since 5 July.

The ongoing violence affecting farming communities in central Nigeria has been insufficiently addressed, and has metastasised, occasioning similar death and displacement in Muslim communities of Hausa ethnicity in north-western states, and a general rise in abductions for ransom across the country by assailants of predominantly Fulani origin.

On 9 December at least 15 worshippers were killed in an armed attack on a mosque in Baare village in Mashegu LGA, Niger state. On 7 December, around 23 people travelling from Sokoto state to Kaduna state in a commercial bus were shot and burnt alive as the vehicle they were travelling in was intercepted on the Sabon Birni-Isa Road by assailants who reportedly stood watching their victims burn to death.

CSWs Founder President Mervyn Thomas said: Our heartfelt prayers and condolences are with Reverend Dauda Batures family and congregation, and with all those who lost loved ones in the violence in recent days. Mrs Batures ordeal is a grim example of the unimaginable grief, hardship and uncertainty inflicted on families in Kaduna state, at the heart of this crisis of lawlessness. We continue to call for a holistic security plan to defeat this threat and to enable civilians to go about their lives in safety. These levels of insecurity constitute a national emergency, and we appeal to the Nigerian government to address every source of violence urgently, in order to arrest the countrys progressive decline into failed statehood.
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has revealed that the number of active COVID-19 cases in Nigeria increased and experienced a surge in the number of active cases from 3,000 to over 6,000 within the last few days.

At the time of this writing, reports showed that only about 3% of Nigeria's population has received a full course of vaccines against Covid - a very low rate even compared with other countries in Africa.

There are so many factors responsible for this low rate. The enthusiasm to take the vaccine remain low, there is hesitancy to take it. Some Nigerians see religious beliefs and prayers as more effective than the vaccine. There are constant rumors and disinformation, spreading throughout social media, which have reduced the demand for COVID-19 vaccines, even though supply issues remain. That the vaccine was a biological weapon from advanced countries to control population growth. Within the Nigeria settings, COVID-19 vaccines is a process endangered by corruption. Corruption risks such as embezzlement is already a matter of concern. The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has commenced an investigation into the use of the N950 million COVID-19 Intervention Fund by the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital and all other health institutions that benefited from the COVID-19 Intervention Fund of the Federal Government.

Due to an apparent violation of the provisions of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000 by the beneficiaries of the Fund.

Even with supplies coming, the main challenge now is how to deliver the vaccines. The system to deliver the vaccine is not adequate. Logistical challenges, such as securing enough syringes remains. Now we have as many or more than 1 million doses of covid-19 vaccines reportedly expired before they could be used in Nigeria.

Apart from supply and demand issues, there is reluctance by many Nigerians to respect and adhere to the three Ws  wearing your mask, washing your hands, and watching your distance.

With the new covid-19 variant, omicron being detected in Nigerians entering other countries, high income nations like the UK, Canada, and UAE have placed travel restrictions on Nigeria.

Now Nigerian government said it plans to put Canada, UAE especially, on Covid-19 red list which would imply a ban on flights.

Nigeria must stop being made a dot in a circle, and no, these foreign policies on COVID-19 restrictions are not racist, inappropriate and discriminatory.

For example, in UK, 21 or more cases of Omicron recorded in England were linked to travelers from Nigeria. Certainly, Nigeria as a nation have the right to reciprocate harm of any type but in this case, given Nigerias poor preparations and other limiting factors to the COVID-19 pandemic, it should stop even thinking about retaliation, not when Nigeria remains a noticeable a dot in a circle, before the eyes of these high economy nations.

Here are some words attributed to the Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika: since they did not want citizens from Nigeria visiting their country, their citizens also have no business visiting Nigeria, and  "As they did to us, if they do not allow our citizens into their countries; who are they coming, as airlines, to pick from our country. They are not needed at all, as they will further dig Nigeria into deeper whole.

Now, see what UAE just did, it has directed foreign airlines not to bring Nigerians to UAE. As such Nigerian passengers are being denied boarding on foreign airlines at international airports in Nigeria,

For example, Ethiopian Airlines, Turkish Air, and other international airlines going to Dubai from their bases have also been directed not to board any passenger with Nigerian passport whose destination is Dubai, UAE.

No, no one should apologize to each other but as Nigeria is a dot in a circle, meaning very susceptible to these rich economies, Nigeria should be smart, or it can be further pushing itself towards self-induced national suicidal. The people must seriously abide by COVID-19 guidelines and restrictions established by health officials, who equally must do the same. Nigeria must start expressing its commitment to rectify the lingering challenges surrounding Covid 19 as that will not only reduce the covid 19 infections, but it will also make the world respect Nigeria more, and through diplomacy a softer foreign policy could expand to Nigeria in respect to the coronavirus and its variants.

John Egbeazien Oshodi who was born in Uromi, Edo State in Nigeria, is an American based Police/Prison Scientist and Forensic/Clinical/Legal Psychologist. A government Consultant on matters of forensic-clinical adult/child psychological services in the USA; Chief Educator and Clinician at the Transatlantic Enrichment and Refresher Institute, an Online Lifelong Center for Personal, Professional and Career Development. A former Interim Associate Dean/Assistant Professor at the Broward College, Florida. The Founder of the Dr. John Egbeazien Oshodi Foundation, Center for Psychological Health and Behavioral Change in African settings. In 2011, he introduced the State-of-the-Art Forensic Psychology into Nigeria through N.U.C and the Nasarawa State University where he served in the Department of Psychology as an Associate Professor. The Development Professor and International Liaison Consultant at the African University of Benin, and a Virtual Faculty at the ISCOM University, Benin of Republic. Founder of the Proposed Transatlantic Egbeazien University (TEU) of Values and Ethics, a digital project of Truth, Ethics, Openness. Author of over 40 academic publications/creations, at least 200 public opinion writeups on African issues, and various books.

John Egbeazien Oshodi wrote in via [email protected]
Phuket Hotels Association welcomes new leadership team

PHUKET: The Phuket Hotels Association, a non-profit organisation with 72 member properties, has embarked on an exciting new era with the appointment of a new senior leadership team.

tourism

By The Phuket News

Tuesday 14 December 2021, 11:45AM

Bjorn Courage and Sumi Soorian.

Bjorn Courage, General Manager of the InterContinental Phuket Resort, who has more than 25 years of experience in the hospitality industry, has been named as the Associations new President of the Phuket Hotels Association, succeeding founding President, Anthony Lark, ex General Manager of Amanpuri, Trisara, and now Executive Director at HMD, Shinta Mani and Bensley Collection hotels.

Sumi Soorian, who has been with the Phuket Hotels Association since its foundation in 2016 and most recently served as Development Director, has also been promoted to Executive Director. A marketing and communications professional who specialises in project management and business development, Sumi graduated in the USA and has worked in multiple countries, including Australia, China and Thailand.

Bjorn moves into the role of President at a time of optimism for Phukets tourism and hospitality industry. The island was one of the first Southeast Asian destinations to safely reopen to international visitors when it launched the innovative Phuket Sandbox programme in July 2021, and its hotels and resorts are now gearing up for a strong recovery in the winter high season and beyond.

There can be few more qualified people to lead this proactive organisation than Bjorn. During the course of a 25-year career, he has worked with many of the industrys most iconic brands, including IHG, Hilton, Waldorf Astoria, Six Senses and Mandarin Oriental. He also successfully completed Cornell Universitys Executive Leadership programme.

During these initial times of recovery from the Covid pandemic, I am proud to serve our member hotels, communities and destination to the best of my ability. I will strive to continue and further evolve the important work done by the association, working groups and member hotels to-date, especially in regard to our associations three key pillars: Marketing, Environment and Education. Thank you to Anthony for his leadership since the inauguration of the Phuket Hotel Association and for continuing to serve the Association as Senior Advisor, Bjorn commented.

Since it was founded in January 2016, the Phuket Hotels Association has grown to represent 72 of the islands top internationally-branded and independent luxury and midscale hotels and resorts, comprising just over 10,400 rooms. Each of these members has made a commitment to the destination and, through the Phuket Hotels Association, are actively investing in a sustainable future through long-term environmental and educational initiatives.

Anthony Lark will continue to serve as a Senior Advisor to the Association, alongside Bill Barnett, a founder of the Phuket Hotels Association and Managing Director of C9 Hotelworks; David Keen, CEO of QUO; David Johnson, CEO of Delivering Asia Communications; Boon Yongsakul, Chairman of Boat Pattana; and Saharat Jivavisitnont, Executive Director at Jee Teng Hospitality Group.






Montreal, CA (H4T1V6)

Today

Light snow this evening will give way to snow showers late. Low -1C. Winds SW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of snow 90%. Snow accumulations less than one inch..

Tonight

Light snow this evening will give way to snow showers late. Low -4C. Winds SW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of snow 90%. Snow accumulations less than one inch.
As the U.S. Supreme Court ponders whether to overturn Roe vs. Wade, all eyes are on Justice Amy Coney Barrett and her religious beliefs.

Recently in The Hill newspaper Vanderbilt University Law Professor Suzanna Sherry said Barrett shouldnt ponder abortion cases because her Catholic faith prevents her from rendering an impartial judgement.

Its one of the dumbest arguments Ive heard from a law professor in a long time.

Judges arent interchangeable cogs in a machine called justice. Each views the law through the lens of their own life experiences, knowledge and philosophy.

Personally, I always admired the late U.S. Sen. Paul Simon approach. The Lutheran minister's son rarely talked publicly about his personal faith, but he lived it.

I remember talking to him years ago when he mentioned having visited former Chicago Alderman Thomas Keane in a federal prison in Kentucky. Keane was there after being convicted of 17 counts of mail fraud and one count of conspiracy in secret land deals.

Newspapers criticized Simon for associating with a convicted felon. But Simon did it because he believed Jesus commanded his followers to visit those in prison.

The senator told me he met so many other former Illinois politicians during that penitentiary visit that it "felt like old home week."

His approach to faith was void of any sanctimony. But it certainly affected how he conducted himself as a senator. You could also see it in his own personal integrity and how he chose to treat others.

I pressed him once about whether those in public office must ever set religious positions aside to govern others. He said they do. He noted that if they didnt, a Catholic judge could never preside over a divorce case. (Catholic dogma does not allow for divorce.)

In the case of Barrett, law professors have pointed to a law journal article she wrote as a young lawyer about Catholic judges and the death penalty.

In the article Barrett noted that judges are obliged by oath, professional commitment, and the demands of citizenship to enforce the death penalty, but they are also obliged to adhere to their churchs teaching on moral matters. They are therefore morally precluded from enforcing the death penalty.

Whats a Catholic judge to do, then? According to Barretts article, the judge must recuse herself. She can neither enforce the death penalty and violate her religious conscience, nor fail to enforce it and violate her oath of office.

What does all this have to do with abortion? Barrett tells us in the same article that in the context of abortion the case for a Catholic judges recusal is even stronger. Unlike the death penalty, the Catholic churchs prohibitions against abortion and euthanasia are absolute.

On the current abortion case before the court, Professor Sherry says Barrett should recuse herself if she has any integrity at all.

The scribes and pharisees would be hard-pressed to produce the level of sanctimony of an outraged American law professor.

Its not particularly surprising that Barretts views on recusal as a 49-year-old Supreme Court justice are different than when she was a young law clerk. Its also worth noting that when an appellate judge chooses not to vote she is still impacting the case by denying her vote to one side or the other. So, in effect, its not really a neutral stand.

In our democracy, there is a constant balancing between the clauses of the Constitution that prohibit the establishment of religion and those that guarantee the free exercise of it.

Some religious conservatives have bought into the false notion that our founding fathers intended for the United States to be a Christian state. Thats a myth. Some of our founders like Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Paine did not identify as Christians. In fact, Paine called Christianity a fable. Thomas Jefferson used his razor to slice passages out of his Bible that he didnt agree with. Thats hardly a conventional approach to scripture.

On the other hand, some secular liberals contend it was the intent of the drafters of the Constitution that matters of faith should in no way inform those governing the nation. This ignores the deep religious beliefs of men like Patrick Henry and Samuel Adams.

So, the tension between the religious and the secular dates back to the beginning of the republic and the Supreme Court itself.

John Jay, our nations first chief justice, was president of the American Bible Society.

What did he say of the role of religion and the judiciary: Real Christians will abstain from violating the rights of others.
Amazon is offering its support to employees and partners affected by the deadly tornado that hit its delivery station in Edwardsville and says it implemented safety plans during the event.

On Friday, a tornado touched down just to the northeast of the I-270/I-255 interchange at 8:28 p.m. The tornado moved northeast and intensified rapidly after crossing I-255, striking an Amazon warehouse, the National Weather Service reported. The west-facing walls of the warehouse collapsed inward, followed by multiple structural failures as the tornado moved through the complex, including the collapse of additional walls and the loss of a large segment of the roof.

The collapse of the warehouse caused the death of six people, including Austin McEwen, 26; Deandre Morrow, 28; Kevin Dickey, 62; Clayton Cope, 29; Etheria Hebb, 24 and Larry Virden, 46.

McEwen was an only child who loved to hunt with his friends and listen to rapper Mac Miller, Reuters reported. Virden was the father of four children, including adopted children, the New York Post reported.

"Were deeply saddened by the news that members of our Amazon family passed away as a result of the storm in Edwardsville, IL," Kelly Nantel, director of national media relations for Amazon, said in a statement. "Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims, their loved ones, and everyone impacted by the tornado. We also want to thank all the first responders for their ongoing efforts on scene. Were continuing to provide support to our employees and partners in the area."

Cherie Jones, Virden's girlfriend of 13 years, told the Post that she received text messages from Virden saying Amazon wouldn't allow him to leave until the storm blew over. Jones also told the Post she doesn't blame Amazon, but wonders what would have happened if they had allowed her boyfriend to leave.

"He could have made it home," she said.

Amazon disagrees with the sentiment that it should have sent employees home, as that's not the safest option and the priority is ensuring its teams are safe, the company said.

When a site is made aware of a tornado warning in the area, all employees are notified and directed to move to a designated and marked shelter in place location, the company wrote in an email. This is the safest approach to ensure that no one is one the road or outside during a tornado, the company said.

In this situation, the onsite team immediately moved to ensure all team members went to the designated shelter in place locations. The tornado touched the ground shortly after.

"Our site management team really jumped into action, began to ask folks to shelter in place, really moving people around very quickly," Nantel told the Belleville News-Democrat.

Nantel said that the amount of people was not due to a shift change, as originally reported by authorities, but that drivers were beginning to wrap up their routes of delivering packages and that there was just "a lot of activity at that point," she told the News-Democrat.

"When the warning came out just after 8, they began to implement our shelter in place procedures, which is part of our emergency response procedures," Nantel told the News-Democrat.

Nantel said that Amazon trains workers within their first days, including training on emergency preparedness and what's expected of them in an event. Amazon also conducts drills periodically throughout the year, she told the News-Democrat.

"It was a tragic, tragic night. Our Amazon family is wounded but we really know that a lot of lives were saved because people followed the process," Nantel said.

Amazon said they were working hard to support the Edwardsville community, including donating $1 million to the Edwardsville Community Foundation and working with local and state officials to understand what's needed most in their recovery efforts. In addition, Amazon was working to provide employees and partners with relief supplies and services with transportation, food and clean water and other immediate-needs support; reaching out to the victims' families to see how Amazon can support them during the challenging time and assisting emergency responders as needs are identified, including providing accommodations and hot meals.

In addition, Amazon said employees and drivers were allowed their cell phones and that the site got tornado warnings through various alerts and the team worked quickly to ensure as many employees and partners could get to the designated shelter in place location.

"We thank them for everything they were able to do," the company wrote in an email.

The site got tornado warnings between 8:06 and 8:16, the company wrote, and site leaders directed people on-site to immediately take shelter. At 8:27, the tornado struck the building.

It appears that the tornado formed in the parking lot, moved through the site, and then disappeared  all happening incredibly fast, Amazon said, and site leaders acted incredibly quickly to get their teams into the tornado shelter area at the site.

The majority of the team took shelter in the primary designated location. There was a small group that took shelter in a part of the building that was then directly impacted by the tornado, and this is where most of the loss of life occurred, the company said.

The building impacted by the storm is a delivery station, opened in July 2020. Delivery stations prepare orders for last-mile delivery to customers by delivery service partners and Amazon Flex drivers, the company said. The facility is approximately 1.1 million square feet and employs approximately 190 employees across multiple shifts.

"People at all levels of the company have been working around the clock across the country to monitor the situation and support the recovery, and we know this will be a long-term effort," Amazon wrote.


Following fatal storms in southern and central Illinois Friday night, Attorney General Kwame Raoul on Tuesday warned residents to be on alert for scammers looking to exploit homeowners and business owners who may be in need of repairs from storm-related damage.

After severe storms and tornadoes resulted in several fatalities in Edwardsville, Ill., and damaged communities throughout the state, Gov. J.B. Pritzker issued a state disaster proclamation for 28 counties and activated the State Emergency Operations Center to provide assistance in affected areas.

Raoul cautioned residents that scammers often move quickly into communities to take advantage of people with damage to their homes or businesses. Raoul noted these "storm chasers" use the opportunity to pressure people into making quick and often expensive decisions about cleanup and construction work. Raoul also warned residents that scam artists may be operating as public adjusters who offer "free" inspections to submit a claim to property owners' insurance companies.

"While communities impacted by the weekends storms take stock and grieve all that was lost, residents should be aware that scammers are already devising ways to profit off the devastation," Raoul said in a statement. "As residents and business owners look toward recovering and rebuilding after this tragedy, I urge them to take steps to protect against fraud by exercising caution before hiring contractors they do not know, particularly those soliciting door to door."

General contractors are not required by state law to be licensed, but municipalities may require permits or have other local requirements. Home and business owners should check with their local governments for more information about permits or other local requirements before hiring anyone. Public adjusters must be licensed by the Illinois Department of Insurance and roofers must be licensed by the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation.

"No one trying to recover and rebuild from a tragedy should also have to worry about falling victim to scammers," Mario Treto, Jr., acting secretary of the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, said in a statement. "We strongly encourage anyone looking to hire a roofing contractor first verify theyre licensed with IDFPR by using the License Lookup tool on the Department's website."

Raoul additionally offered the following tips to help families and businesses avoid dishonest contractors:

 Be wary of contractors who go door to door to offer repair services or "free" inspections. Ask for recommendations from people you know and trust and, whenever possible, use established local contractors.

 Visit the Better Business Bureaus St. Louis, Central Illinois, Quad Cities or Chicago websites to see if a business is a member and whether any complaints have been lodged against it.

 Even if there is a need to act quickly, shop around. Get written estimates from multiple contractors, and dont be rushed into a deal.

 Get all of the terms of a contract in writing, and obtain a copy of the signed contract.

 Never make full payment until all the work has been completed to your satisfaction.

 Never pay in cash.

 Be aware that you have the right to cancel a contract within three business days if you signed it based on the contractors visit to your home.

 In the case of disaster repair, if your insurance carrier denies coverage, you have the right to cancel the contract within five days of your insurance carriers denial.

 Be aware that public adjusters do not work for your insurance company and may charge additional fees. If you submit a claim to your insurance company, your insurance company will likely provide an adjuster to review your claim at no additional cost to you.

 If you contract with a public adjuster, pay particular attention to the amount of fees being charged and whether you are obligated to use a specific contractor for repairs.

 Ask to see required state and local permits and licenses. Insurance adjusters and roofers must be licensed by state agencies. It should raise a red flag if the roofer or adjuster does not have a required license, or if the name on the license does not match the name on the business card or truck. Visit the IDFPRs website to search for roofing licenses. Visit the DOIs website, or call 866-445-5364 to verify that a public adjuster is licensed and in good standing.

Raoul also reminded consumers that the Illinois Home Repair and Remodeling Act requires contractors to provide customers with written contracts for any repair or remodeling work costing more than $1,000. A contract must be signed by both the customer and the contractor. The law also requires contractors to carry at least the minimum amounts of insurance for property damage, bodily injury and improper home repair. Contractors also must provide consumers with an informational pamphlet entitled "Home Repair: Know Your Rights."

Raoul encouraged local residents and business owners to call local law enforcement agencies and his offices Consumer Fraud Hotline (1-800-386-5438 in Chicago, 1-800-243-0618 in Springfield and 1-800-243-0607 in Carbondale) to report any suspicious activity.
DOW  Danny Boirum, retiring president of the QEM Fire Protection District Board of Trustees, was honored at a Dec. 11 retirement dinner.

Boirum was appointed to the QEM Fire Protection District Board of Trustees in 1998. Shortly after his appointment, the b oard started working toward consolidating three fire stations in Dow, Elsah, and Grafton into one new fire station and upgrading its old and obsolete equipment.

The new fire station and burn tower were completed in October 2002. Under Boirum's leadership, the district's $1.2 million mortgage was paid in full in July 2019.

During his 24-year tenure, fire equipment has been continually upgraded. Boirum was responsible for negotiating the boards latest purchase, a 2015 brush truck that had never been used that arrived in showroom condition to replace a 1997 model.

During the last three years, the QEM District has replaced a brush truck and two pumpers and donated a third pumper to the Fieldon Fire Department without incurring any new debt for the taxpayer.

Boirum was prasied for his budgeting and funding of station operations. Major upgrades in the fire station land, building, equipment and protective gear has taken place throughout his tenure. The district now has one outstanding loan for $22,000 and is saving for future needs.

The Illinois Association of Fire Protection Districts has awarded him a certificate for Outstanding Service and presented him with a 24-year service pin. The QEM Fire Protection District also awarded Boirum with a plaque for Distinguished Service and is deeply indebted for his many contributions.

At Saturday's event, Jersey County Board Chairman Don Little expressed his gratitude for all of the volunteers in the fire district and throughout Jersey County.

Submitted by:

Alan F. Hauff
EDWARDSVILLE  Robots helping to improve the environment, like removing pollution from oceans, is scientific work that 14-year-old Kaylee Cooper would like to help conduct when she gets older.

Cooper, a Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Upward Bound Math and Science (UBMS) program student, is excited to learn about environmental science as part of the Youth-Led Citizen Science Network for Community Environmental Assessment (Y-CITYSCI) program presented by UBMS.

The new UBMS offering at Collinsville High School is being made possible with the help of a National Science Foundation (NSF) Innovative Technologies for Students and Teachers (ITEST) grant for middle and high school students awarded to the SIUE Center for STEM Research, Education and Outreach, according Desiree Tyus, UBMS program director.

Our students, who are conscientious and eager to learn, readily grasp new concepts and ideas, said Tyus. Our students average GPA is 3.5 this semester. They continually demonstrate their desire to challenge themselves academically, while voluntarily engaging in authentic STEM learning experiences.

There is the pollution aspect to consider, continued Cooper, a freshman at Collinsville High. You can build robots to do things humans cant, in order to help out the environment. If we pollute the ocean, then we cant use its water. If we pollute the air, we wont be able to breathe.

Cooper joined her UBMS classmates after school on Thursday, Dec. 2 at Collinsville High for the second session of the semester course, which will be an ongoing offering into the spring and summer.

The program is a collaboration between UBMS, the SIUE Center for STEM Research, Education and Outreach, and the SIUE Department of Environmental Sciences.

STEM Center faculty and staff direct, manage and support the YCITYSCI program through the design of educational activities and the coordination of youth research experiences, explained principal investigator (PI) Georgia Bracey, PhD, SIUE STEM Center research assistant professor. Environmental sciences faculty and graduate students support the youth program and mentor the high school students, bringing expertise in science content and the use of a variety of hi-tech sensors and drones to collect and analyze soil, air, noise, and landscape data. Working together, the project team guides the high school students in conducting authentic, relevant environmental research.

We hope that by engaging in authentic science, these students will gain a greater awareness of what doing science is like and what a career in science might be like.

This grant equips our students with opportunities for experiential learning outside of the classroom and permits them to make meaningful connections and apply their learning in the real world, added Tyus. Poverty is a significant hurdle to career development of youth in low-income communities, and ITEST helps eradicate that barrier. The ongoing exposure to a variety of STEM professions cultivates knowledge and promotes the students ability to visualize their future as data specialist, microbiologist, environmental or conservation scientist, hydrologist and more.

During the afterschool session, Harben Branco Filho, UBMS graduate student, presented Data and Citizen Science.

The goal of the presentation was to expose the students to what data is, and why it is important to collect data in science, said Filho.

Science is a way of explaining the natural world, he continued. Data is a collection of measurements and observations, and there is qualitative data, which is non-numerical, and quantitative data, which refers to a number. Citizen science is the participation of the general public in scientific research, often through data collection. Citizen science is useful in conservation efforts, environmental justice, community engagement, research and more.

Students were divided into groups and viewed scistarter.org on iPads, provided by the grant. On the website, the general public has contributed to scientific research, according to Filho.

At the end of next semester, students will do their own projects, offered Filho. But in order for them to do their own projects, they need to understand what is data and what is science. After each session, students will build up their knowledge base. Then in the spring, they will do a group project to benefit the community. All materials to be used will be provided for by the grant.

This is an awesome grant program, said Collinsville High School Principal Daniel Toberman. Anytime we bring in more people with STEM skills to work closely with our students, it is great. The diversity of experiences they are receiving is wonderful. We do have classes here that provide a lot of STEM education, but this program offers enrichment to our curriculum, which is exciting.

My hope is that we empower students to take what they learn about their environment, and share their personal passions or concerns with others in their community, said Candi Johnson, SIUE STEM Center program coordinator and resource manager. It is important for our youth, especially those of groups traditionally underrepresented in STEM fields, to be educated and supported as they learn to form their own opinions about the importance and health of their environment. We are excited to help our students learn ways to effectively express those opinions to find solutions to problems, or ways to support assets, that affect them as well as their neighbors.

The SIUE Upward Bound Math & Science (UBMS) program helps youth prepare for higher education and serves students from Collinsville. Participants receive instruction in advanced mathematics and science during the school day, homework assistance and hands-on STEM workshops twice a week after school, and cultural, career and college preparation on Saturdays. For more information about how you can get involved in our program, please visit us at collinsvilleubms.com.
GODFREY  McGilvrey Fine Portraits in East Alton has been chosen as the December 2021 RiverBend Growth Association Small Business of the Month award recipient.

Photographer George McGilvrey notes that one of the unique offerings from his studio is the prints and albums they provide to customers. We take pride in offering prints and albums, so people have them to enjoy for generations, not just digital images to have on their phone or on a disk in their desk drawer.

In business for 20 years, McGilvrey had operated his photography studio solely in Paris, Ill., and its surrounding region until closing in 2000, when digital photography took over as the preferred choice over film.

It would have been a great expense to make the changeover then, said McGilvrey. When my wife Kimberly and I married and moved to this area, we started the photography studio up again. We still do work for returning and new customers in the Paris area while also continuing to build our presence in the River Bend."

Their East Alton studio opened in 2015.

I do what I do because I like to show people their best side and help them see themselves as others see them. What they see in the mirror isnt always accurate, McGilvrey added. I enjoy the look on peoples faces when they see the finished product. Its extra special when they say, Wow, I look good!

McGilvrey Fine Portraits, as the name suggests, offers fine portraits as part of their photography services as well as professional headshots, senior photos (including black and white sessions), real estate photography and a full array of other photography services that include weddings, engagements, maternity, family, children, event and even school dance coverage. They will also travel to your location to capture the shots that help tell your everyday life stories.

I have done complimentary sessions for many folks as well, said McGilvrey, especially high school seniors that may not be able to have professional portraits otherwise.

As for challenges, the one they face the most comes in convincing people of the need for their services.

Everyone with a camera thinks they are a photographer and so many offer cheap services, said McGilvrey. Its hard to convince people that they want, and need, professional images and physical prints, not just digital files.

McGilvrey consults with potential clients before they are in front of the camera, customizing each session and creating the style of images the clients want. Every session is different and needs to be treated that way.

We also realize that everyone isnt our ideal customer," he said. "Quality portraits are a luxury, and they do not fit in everyones budget."

He said choosing to become a member of the RiverBend Growth Association was a sound business decision.

Our business allows us to meet many good people that we may not have become acquainted with otherwise," he said. "As a member of the RBGA, I am pleased with the way they promote our business, including through social media and as well as through their website, and with their added networking opportunities. I enjoy participating in as many of the RBGA events as I can.

To learn more about McGilvrey Fine Portraits visit mcgilvreyfineportraits.com or call 217-822-3189.

The RBGAs Small Business of the Month Committee recognizes a different member business each month for its outstanding efforts and leadership in the community. Committee members include Jacinda Dunlap, Brenda Eardley, Kristen Ryrie, Leslie Schobernd, Martha Schultz, Amy Smith, and Kathy Weaver. To learn more about membership in the RiverBend Growth Association and the Small Business of the Month recognition, visit the RBGA website or call 618-467-2280.




SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP)  Illinois state Comptroller Susana Mendoza was among eight state financial officers on Monday urging the Treasury Department to reinstate interest-payment waivers on tens of billions of dollars loaned to states for unemployment rolls that exploded upon the debut of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mendoza, a Democrat, was the lead signatory on a letter sent to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen maintaining that the waiver's Sept. 6 expiration has added to the burden states face in determining how to pay back more than $39 billion loaned since the tragic early days of the pandemic, when many states virtually shut down, putting hundreds of thousands of out work.

Taxpayers should not be on the hook for interest just because the pandemic is lasting longer than projected, Mendoza said. States are wrestling with how best to replenish their COVID-depleted unemployment funds and they should not have to do that with the meter running.

Illinois must repay $4.5 billion the federal government has advanced since early 2020 for skyrocketing unemployment benefits. But with the waiver's sunset in September, Illinois has accrued $26.7 million in interest, of which $6.3 million has been paid. Interest must be reimbursed by Sept. 30, 2022, and could end up setting the state back $100 million.

Joining Mendoza in signing the letter were the chief financial officers of Colorado, Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, Minnesota and Pennsylvania. All are run by Democratic governors except for Massachusetts, but a news release from Mendoza indicated she convened leaders of the hardest-hit states representing 75 million residents.

In the letter, the group maintains that the waiver deadline was originally determined under the assumption that the pandemic would likely be over and that the economy and state governments would be in recovery mode.

However, it is quite plain to see that this public health crisis is not over, and the benefit provided by this interest waiver is still necessary.

The main irritant in facing renewed interest is that most states are still trying to determine how to repay billions of dollars in principal. The federal government prohibits repayment from the states' ordinary unemployment trust funds, which are subsidized by an assessment on employers. So they must find other parts of their budgets to squeeze out the debt.

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Follow Political Writer John OConnor at https://twitter.com/apoconnor
picture alliance/dpa/picture alliance via Getty I

On Monday, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced it is investigating the collapse of the Amazon warehouse in Edwardsville. The collapse was caused by a tornado that struck the area and killed six Amazon workers.

On Saturday, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker said six workers were killed, one was injured and 45 people were rescued safely. The storm was one of at least 30 across several states.
PONTOON BEACH  Amazon plans to rebuild its Edwardsville building where six people died during Friday's storm.

On Monday, Amazon officials discussed the Friday night partial collapse of an Amazon fulfillment center after the building was hit by an EF-3 tornado.

Six people died and one person was severely injured during the incident. The deceased included Clayton Lynn Cope, 29, of Alton; Kevin D. Dickey, 62, of Carlyle; Etheria S. Hebb, 34, of St. Louis; Austin J. McEwen, 26, of Edwardsville; Deandre S. Morrow, 28, of St. Louis; and Larry E. Virden, 46, of Collinsville.

The storm damaged building will be replaced, according to John Felton, senior vice president of global delivery services for Amazon.

Were going to rebuild this site for the community and come together, said Felton, who added employees of the warehouse will be able to work at other Amazon sites.

Felton said that all employees at the Edwardsville warehouse are getting paid time off and are getting free rental cars if needed.

Amazon also announced Monday that it has pledged $1 million to the Edwardsville Community Foundation to aid in recovery efforts.

Company officials said 39 of the 46 people who were in the building when the storm struck were in the north side of the warehouse. Most, if not all of them, they said, were in a designated safe area.

There is a shelter-in-place area on the north side of the building, where 39 of the people who were in the building at the time of the storm were able to get to, and it had plenty of capacity for the number of people who were there on Friday night, said Felton. The shelter-in-place area survived the storm.

On Monday, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced it is investigating the building's collapse.

The agency has had compliance officers at the warehouse since Saturday. OSHA has six months to complete its probe, issue citations and propose monetary penalties if violations of workplace safety and or health regulations are found, CNBC reported.

Kelly Nantel, director of national media relations for Amazon, said the company welcomes the investigation, adding the Amazon facility's shelter-in-place area was an interior location with no windows. She said there was not a similar area in the south side of the building.

Nantel said employees had access to emergency weather alerts through their cellphones and that once the tornado sirens sounded, Amazon warehouse supervisors notified employees of the severe weather through bullhorns, megaphones and radios, requesting them to shelter in place.

We know that the building was constructed according to standard codes, and we want to go back and look at every aspect of this, she said. We want to make sure that our policies and practices are consistent with anything we find through our investigation.

We will evaluate, based on all the details of this situation, if there needs to be additional shelter in place spaces," Nantel said. "You have to keep in mind where the tornado hit the building. It went right the back end of the building.

Nantel said every facility in the Amazon network has at least one shelter in place and sometimes more, depending on the site.

The worst thing you could do is evacuate people out of the building when you have a tornado warning in effect," she said. "The best practice is to shelter in place and thats what everybody did.

The Edwardsville warehouse is 1.1 million square feet. Nantel said the size of the building  along with the speed and the severity of the storm  may have made it difficult for some employees to reach the shelter in place area in time.

Every incident is different, and with this tornado, by the time the warnings came through, people had minutes to move very quickly," Nantel said. "And this storm was catastrophic."

Of the 46 people in the warehouse when the storm hit, only seven were full-time Amazon employees, according to the company. The rest were either third-party contract workers or delivery drivers. None of the fatalities were Amazon employees.

Every employee goes through preparedness training, and we also drill throughout the year, so they know what they steps are that they are supposed to take, Nantel said. Its new employee training that everybody goes through, including seasonal workers and contract workers.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker, who was also at the press conference, toured the warehouse site on Monday morning. He had been in Edwardsville Saturday and, on Sunday, authorized a state disaster proclamation for Madison County as well as 27 other counties.

We will also pursue other federal resources and we are working directly with the White House and FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) to ensure access to federal resources, Pritzker said. IEMA (Illinois Emergency Management Agency) continues to work directly with local officials to actively monitor the storms impact throughout the state, especially in central Illinois.

At this point, Im pleased to report that power is fully restored in Madison County and throughout Illinois in areas that had power outages," he said. "For those who experienced home damage, we will pursue all available opportunities to help you recover.

Pritzker said officials are checking if there were structural problems with the Amazon warehouse which opened in 2017.

Were asking a lot of questions to determine if there were any structural issues and what exactly the storms trajectory was and how it affected the building, he said. An investigation has started through local officials including the incident commander (Edwardsville Fire Chief James Whiteford).

Pritzker added that increasing events of severe weather throughout the nation, as well as the proliferation of mega-warehouses built by Amazon and other companies, warrant a closer look at commercial building codes.

Were launching an investigation to make sure that all of the code was followed. But but this tornado was an unexpected severe storm and were seeing more and more of that throughout the state of Illinois, Pritkzer said. Ive spoken with legislators about whether we need to change the code based upon the climate changes that were seeing.

The Amazon building does not have a basement, which could have offered employees additional shelter.

As I understand, the challenge here is flooding," Pritzker said. "You cant dig very far down before you (reach water). Thats why they dont allow basements in the industrial area here.

Pritzker also said the Edwardsville Community Foundation and other nonprofits "have been the ground in every step of the response this weekend.

"The foundation stands ready to help survivors and families and those out of work through the holidays and beyond, he said.

Pam Farrar, executive director of the foundation, also spoke briefly at the press conference.

On Saturday, we activated our relief fund, and we are accepting gifts to the Edwardsville Community Foundation, Farrar said. We are working swiftly and diligently to have a thoughtful, impactful and equitable response to meet the needs of our community at this tragic time.
Sunday, Dec. 19, marks 20 years since Frodo made his debut on the big screen in "The Fellowship of the Ring" released in 2001.

Why does this matter?

The Middle Earth franchise is one of the highest-grossing movie franchises of all time, valued at $5.86 billion, CNBC reports, including a trilogy adapted from "The Lord of the Rings" novels and a trilogy adapted from "The Hobbit."

J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional storyline has engrossed viewers for two decades and appears to still be valuable with Amazon Studios producing a television series to release in 2022.

And, there are plenty of reasons for this high valuation, according to Infobloom:

There were 19,000 costumes created for "The Fellowship of the Ring."

Sean Astin put on a whopping 30 pounds for his role as Sam.

Orlando Bloom performed many of his stunts. He broke a rib at one point during filming.

"The Fellowship of the Ring" was nominated for 152 awards and won 98 of them, including Oscars, Grammy Awards and Golden Globes.

In celebration of the first film's anniversary, Infobloom looked at Google Trends search data for 15 "Lord of the Rings" characters to see which was each state's favorite.

You can see the results below.

Graphic provided/InfoBloom

Frodo took the top spot in Illinois, tying with Gollum for the most popular character in the nation, each winning more than 12 states.

Graphic provided/InfoBloom

Note: Infobloom analyzed data from November 2020 to November 2021.
GODFREY  Retired educator David Elsons one of many Christmas memories go back to a different time.

I cant come up with just one, but the most fun I ever had at Christmastime, when I became a principal at North, in 1979, until I retired, was I always got a Santa suit and went around and visited classrooms and different schools," said Elson, 74, of Godfrey, who also served as superintendent of the Alton School District.

"I would go into Vickie Oberlinks class, a teacher at West, and a very good one, and started my Ho, ho, ho routine," he said. "I sat down on her lap, which I couldnt do that now, and said, Oh Ms. Vickie, I remember when you wanted that Chatty Kathy doll.

And I always went to my own kids classrooms, so I could embarrass the hell out of them, he said. I have a lot of good Christmas memories. Id drive my car from school to school. I got a real kick out of it. Id get looks dressed up in the suit and beard and wave at people. Its a great time of year.

He and his wife, Nancy, a retired nurse, live in a condo at the Pines of DAdrian across the street from a nursing facility.

I tell Nancy well just move across the street someday, he said.

Elson said his name is a family name.

My dads David Charles Elson, he said. He went by Charlie; I go by David, the second, not a junior, and now I have a nephew whos a third.

Elson started his education career in 1969. He joined the Alton School District in 1970, first at East Elementary, then the high school, then as an administrator at Central, an assistant principal at West and finally a principal at North. He then worked for the Litchfield School District for 11 years. When the district built a new school he became superintendent and retired in 2003 for the first time.

Every time I retired, I really wasnt ready to, so I got another job, he said.

From there, he went to Thurgood Marshall Academy in St. Louis, as director of finance, curriculum and construction for the K-8 school of 1,100 students for two years.

He retired from the Alton district as superintendent in 2011 but did superintendent searches, including for the Wood River and Hartford districts, and worked with districts on asbestos issues and with Contegra Construction all over Southern Illinois.

Then he worked at the Regional Office of Education in Edwardsville, as director of school improvement and staff development, including a 6-month stint as regional superintendent when Bob Daiber was in a change position. He retired June 30 from the ROE.

Now Im doing whatever my wife tells me to do, but not always in the same time frame, he said in good humor. I spent 52 years in education. I always enjoyed it, every bit of it, no matter what the state of education at any given time.

He gives his wife credit for all her support, especially at the beginning of his career as a teacher at St. Marys Catholic School in Mount Carmel.

I made $6,000 a year and I was the only man, he recalled. After eating lunch at tables with the kids, I pitched softball, kickball, and taught everything but religion, my dad was a methodist minister.

Every bit of success Ive had professionally, I have to give her the credit. We had three kids in a 22 month period: a boy and twin boys, said Elson, who also later welcomed a daughter and currently is expecting an 11th grandchild. Shes always been my biggest cheerleader. Thats real important to me.

Elson received the Illinois State Board of Educations Those Who Excel Award as the superintendent in Litchfield and recognition from the Illinois Principals Association.

I wasnt looking for awards; I was too busy to do that, he said. "Im honored to be one of the Daves of Christmas."

As Alton superintendent, when the high school on Humbert Road was finished, he worked to get all the schools in good physical shape.

We had a super team, with the ability to think outside the box, and saved teachers, who are so important for instruction," he said. "Class sizes are very, very important. In Alton, we teach everybody, and theyve done a good job.
Westerly, RI (02891)

Today

Mostly cloudy skies this evening will become partly cloudy after midnight. Low near 35F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Mostly cloudy skies this evening will become partly cloudy after midnight. Low near 35F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph.
The UK Government has pledged to protect BT after French telecoms tycoon Patrick Drahi upped his stake in the group to 18 per cent, prompting fresh fears of a full-blown takeover.

Drahi, BT's largest shareholder, said he had no intention to take the business private as he snapped up another 585million shares, having bought his first 12.1 per cent stake worth around 2billion in June.

The Government immediately responded to reports, saying it is monitoring the situation and would not hesitate to act to stop a takeover.

Upping his stake: Patrick Drahi bought his first 12% stake worth around 2bn in June

'The government is committed to levelling up the country through digital infrastructure, and will not hesitate to act if required to protect our critical national telecoms infrastructure,' a spokesperson said.

The UK Government will soon have the power to block any deal that involves a single investor owning more than 25 per cent of a company deemed to be of national significance under the National Security and Investment Bill.

Ministers are concerned that any pressure on BT to cut costs could affect the ongoing broadband rollout.

Drahi's latest purchase comes just as a lockup period in which he has not been able to buy more shares came to an end last Saturday.

According to City rumours, a full-blown move to take over BT could be politically fraught, but is still a distinct possibility.

Another theory is that Drahi could quickly exert his influence through bagging more stock.

Today, Drahi said: 'Over recent months we have engaged constructively with the board and management of BT and look forward to continuing that dialogue.

'We continue to hold them in high regard and remain fully supportive of their strategy, principally to play the pivotal role in delivering the expansion of access to a full fibre broadband network - an investment programme which is so important to both BT and to the UK.'

The 58-year-old, who founded French telecoms group Altice and owns Sotheby's, has already met Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng.

BT shares fell to the bottom of the FTSE 100 on the news, dropping 6 per cent to 164.26p, in the opposite direction to that usually seen when a company becomes a takeover target.

The stock is down almost 70 per cent since its 2015 highs.

Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, believes the share slump may be down to 'some disappointment that a full bid doesnt look to be forthcoming, at least in the short-term'.

Neil Wilson, an analyst at Markets.com, added: 'I cant imagine the government would allow BT to be taken over and I think investors are paying close attention to the immediate and very defensive response from the government.'
Secretary of State Antony Blinken touted on Tuesday a U.S. strategy to deepen its Asian treaty alliances, offering to boost defence and intelligence work with partners in an Indo-Pacific region increasingly concerned over Chinas aggressive actions.

On a visit to Indonesia, Blinken called the Indo-Pacific the worlds most dynamic region, where everyone had a stake in ensuring a status quo that was without coercion and intimidation, making a barely veiled reference to China.

He said the United States, its allies and some South China Sea claimants would push back against any unlawful action.

Well work with our allies and partners to defend the rules-based order that weve built together over decades to ensure the region remains open and accessible, Blinken said in a speech at a university.

Let me be clear: the goal of defending the rules-based order is not to keep any country down. Rather, its to protect the right of all countries to choose their own path, free from coercion and intimidation.

China claims almost the entire South China Sea as its own, despite some overlapping claims with other coastal states and a ruling by an international tribunal that its vast claim had no legal basis.

Beijing has rejected the U.S. stance as interference from an outside power that could threaten Asias stability.

In response to Blinkens remarks, Chinas foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told a daily briefing in the Chinese capital that the United States should promote cooperation in the region, instead of drawing ideological lines.

Blinken is making his first visit to Southeast Asia since President Joe Biden took office in January, a trip aimed at shoring up relations after a period of uncertainty about U.S. commitment to Asia under the administration of Donald Trump.

A BETTER KIND OF INFRASTRUCTURE

Despite tension in the South China Sea, Beijings influence has grown in recent years as it pushes more infrastructure investment and integrated trade ties in the Asia-Pacific, in the perceived absence of a U.S. economic strategy for the region.

Blinken said the United States would strengthen ties with treaty allies such as Japan, South Korea, Thailand and the Philippines and boost defence and intelligence capabilities with Indo-Pacific partners, as well as defending an open and secure internet.

He stressed, however, that it was not a contest between a U.S.-centric or China-centric region.

He also said Washington was committed to pressing the military junta in Myanmar to end violence, free detainees and return to an inclusive democracy.

The United States was also committed to a new comprehensive regional economic framework, which would include more U.S. foreign direct investment and U.S. companies identifying new opportunities in the region, he said, without providing details.

The administration has yet to spell out what exactly Bidens envisaged economic framework will entail. In 2017, the Trump administration walked away from a U.S.-inspired multinational Pacific trade deal.

Blinken, who will also visit Malaysia and Thailand this week, said the United States would work to strengthen supply chains and close the regions infrastructure gaps, from ports and roads to power grids and the internet.

In another swipe at China, he said the United States was hearing increasing concerns in the Indo-Pacific about opaque, corrupt processes of foreign companies that imported their own labour, drained natural resources and polluted the environment.

Countries in the Indo-Pacific want a better kind of infrastructure, he said.

But many feel its too expensive  or they feel pressured to take bad deals on terms set by others, rather than no deals at all.

SOURCE: REUTERS
CANAJOHARIE  Wyverne Flatt brought Ellie to Montgomery County two years ago, hoping to leave old troubles behind. But the man and his pot-bellied pig have encountered a new sort of trouble.

The village of Canajoharie insists Ellie is illegal and therefore must go. Wyverne says he will never get rid of her.

He's had Ellie since she was a piglet, after all, and doted on her as he went through a painful divorce and the death of his mother. Wyverne loves Ellie. To him for a few minutes, and that's obvious.

"I take good care of her," he told me. "She takes good care of me."

Wyverne, 54, moved to Canajoharie from South Carolina. After his divorce, he searched for an affordable property with two apartments and space for a Tex-Mex restaurant. The Mill Street building he now owns fit the bill.

Wyverne hasn't opened the restaurant, but he likes his new hometown. The people, he said, have been warm and welcoming. Village officials ... well, not so much.

His problems started soon after he arrived. When Wyverne applied for a construction permit. a code enforcement officer spotted Ellie and declared her illegal. Farm animals, the officer said, are not allowed in the village.

That's true. Hogs, goats, cows and other livestock are not allowed on properties with fewer than five acres. But Ellie is not a farm animal, Wyverne insists. She's a pet, albeit, at 100 pounds, a relatively big and slow-moving one.

Although she has a pen outside in a secluded backyard that backs up to a creek, Ellie spends much of her time indoors taking naps. She's potty trained. And she gets along well with the dogs and cats Wyverne also keeps in his five-bedroom apartment. (Ellie is a bit smarter than the dogs, truth be told.)

"She likes to snuggle up. She likes to hang out. She likes to play," Wyverne said. "She's part of the family."

To make his case to the village, Wyverne attained a note from a doctor testifying to the pig's importance in his life. He has also had Ellie registered as an emotional support pig with United Support Animals, a Florida-based nonprofit.

"Every pet is an emotional support animal," Wyverne said. "She just happens to be a pig one."

The village is unconvinced, so much so that officials have waged a two-year legal effort to send the pig packing. On Tuesday, when Wyverne stands in Palatine Town Court for his 5 p.m. hearing, it will be his 14th court appearance on the matter. A jury trial is likely to be the next step, Wyverne said.

Canajoharie, in other words, is going through a significant amount of effort (and expense) to get Ellie out of the village. Its reason for doing so is not clear.

"We as a village have bigger fish to fry," said Janet Stanley, a neighbor to Wyverne. "I don't understand why they are putting him through this fiasco."

Stanley owns Lees Shops at Wagner Square, two doors down from Wyverne's building, and is president of the Canajoharie-Palatine Chamber of Commerce. Though Stanley's backyard is about 25 feet from Ellie's pen, she has ever smelled or heard the pig, she said, and she knows of no complaints about the animal.

In fact, Stanley was completely unaware of the controversy until just a few weeks ago, when she spotted protesters out on the street. Some were carrying "Save Ellie" signs.

Stanley subsequently attended a village board meeting during which the town's animal policy was up for debate. Assuming the board sought to clarify that pot-bellied pigs were legal pets, Stanley was stunned to discover that members were attempting the opposite.

Village leaders hope to change the ordinance to make it clear that untraditional pets like Ellie are not allowed  not that they're courageous enough to talk about it.

"There will be no comment from the village whatsoever," Mayor Jeff Baker told me, repeating the message I had heard from the office of town attorney Kirsten Dunn.

I'm reminded of the old saying about how the best way to test character is to give a person a small amount of power. Officials in Canajoharie are failing the test.

What purpose other than cruelty is served by taking away a man's pet, an animal that, so far as anyone can tell, is bothering nobody and doing no harm? Doesn't the village have better things to do, better ways to spend taxpayer money? Why are they being so, well, pigheaded?

Wyverne hopes his case can be an impetus for change in a village ruled by officials who, he says, have accepted stagnation as the price of their own power. He wants to help make Canajoharie a better place.

But mostly, Wyverne just wants to live in peace. With Ellie, of course.

cchurchill@timesunion.com  518-454-5442  @chris_churchill
HUDSON  Columbia County District Attorney Paul Czajka is mulling whether to present the case of Harold Handy to a grand jury a second time after a judge gutted the case of its top charges.

Handy was allegedly assaulted during a July 4, 2020 party at the home of Columbia County Sheriff's Deputy Kelly Rosenstrach. Rosenstrach; Alex, her husband; IRS agent Bryan Haag; and Cory Gaylord, a contractor, were indicted on multiple felonies in October 2020 after the case was heard by a grand jury.

But on Friday, Columbia County Judge Richard Koweek dismissed most of the charges  including gang assault, which all four defendants were facing  leaving the defendants each charged with a single felony count of unlawful imprisonment and various misdemeanors. The dismissal comes after attorneys from both sides agreed to review the grand jury proceedings.

When asked Monday whether he would try to re-present the case to a new grand jury, Czajka said he was looking over Koweek's decision with his assistant district attorneys.

"We're considering our options," he said.

The charges were dismissed by Koweek because the evidence the grand jury used to indict the four was "legally insufficient" for them to do so, according to the decision. Prosecutors must only present enough evidence to suggest a crime may have been committed to get an indictment from a grand jury, a much lower bar than proving guilt during trial.

The most serious charges of gang assault and second-degree assault were dismissed after the defense attorneys successfully argued that prosecutors did not present sufficient evidence to the grand jury that Handy had been seriously injured, according to the decision.

The district attorney's office presented medical records showing two bones in Handy's face were fractured when he was admitted to the intensive care unit at Albany Medical Center on July 5, according to the decision, after which he underwent surgery and was discharged about two-and-a-half days later.

Handy testified to the grand jury he later underwent surgery to have a plate inserted in his face near the fractures, but the DA's office did not present any medical records or details about the alleged operation, according to the decision, leading Koweek to dismiss the gang assault and second-degree assault charges.

Paul DerOhannesian II, Haag's attorney, said the case spoke to the importance of an official review of facts in a courtroom, as opposed to information being considered by the public outside of it.

"I think, unfortunately, sometimes, information may get out without the benefit of this careful review, and sometimes it has an impact," he said.

"My client has very strong feelings about the charges against him, and this is our first opportunity to address some of the questions and concerns we have," DerOhannesian said of the review of the grand jury proceedings.

Deputy Kelly Rosenstrach also had two of the three counts of official misconduct thrown out with Koweek's decision.

The charges stem from allegations Rosenstrach used the Sheriff's computer system to look up confidential legal documents about her and her husband's case. A sheriff's deputy testified he saw Rosenstrach looking at the files  though the deputy admitted he did not know exactly what he was looking at  and reported his observations to a superior.

The charges were dismissed because the prosecution did not present evidence that accessing the files "was administratively unauthorized or forbidden or was otherwise illegal," according to the decision.

Stephen Coffey, representing Gaylord in the case, questioned whether the district attorney would continue to pursue the remaining charges.

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Gaylord's involvement in the alleged narrative "is very weak," Coffey said.

"Gaylord is going to contest all of this," he said of the remaining charges.

Though the trajectory of the case is unknown, the 42-page decision by Koweek sheds new light on the allegations against the four. Some of the details include:

Cory Gaylord and Alex Rosenstrach allegedly fired shots during the party while drunk. Neither was charged with any form of attempted assault or menacing, suggesting the alleged gunplay was not an attempt to injure or intimidate Handy nor his wife, who attended the party and was engaged to him at the time.

Neither was charged with any form of attempted assault or menacing, suggesting the alleged gunplay was not an attempt to injure or intimidate Handy nor his wife, who attended the party and was engaged to him at the time. Handy's wife was allowed to use her phone after the alleged assault  but not to call 911. After Handy was allegedly "restrained and beaten on three occasions," the woman was told not to call 911. She was permitted to use her phone, but it was checked after each call to see who she had dialed. She and Handy were also told not to leave the party after the alleged beating.

After Handy was allegedly "restrained and beaten on three occasions," the woman was told not to call 911. She was permitted to use her phone, but it was checked after each call to see who she had dialed. She and Handy were also told not to leave the party after the alleged beating. Handy was given a sedative in the ambulance. A paramedic from the Valatie Rescue Squad gave Handy a sedative after the victim "became combative and seemed confused," according to Koweek's decision. The sedative was powerful enough that Handy had to be intubated, where a tube was inserted down a patient's throat to allow him to breathe.

A paramedic from the Valatie Rescue Squad gave Handy a sedative after the victim "became combative and seemed confused," according to Koweek's decision. The sedative was powerful enough that Handy had to be intubated, where a tube was inserted down a patient's throat to allow him to breathe. Brian Haag's attorney requested to close all pre-trial hearings to the press and public. DerOhannesian made the request to Koweek under the argument an open court would lead to "undue pre-trial publicity." The request was denied.

The four defendants now each face a single felony count of unlawful imprisonment, as well as a number of misdemeanors.

The Columbia County Sheriff's Office faced deep public scrutiny after the alleged attack. The case was initially handled by the sheriff's office, but arrests were only made after it was taken over by a special investigative unit of the State Police.

William Roberts, who is representing Deputy Rosenstrach, and Mark Portin, representing Alex Rosenstrach, did not return calls for comment.

The next scheduled court date is April 4.
In a school district comprised of almost 30 percent Latinx students, Poughkeepsie City School District offers no bilingual education program to support its Spanish-speaking students, a violation of state regulations.

About 20 to 71 English Language Learners, or ELLs, per grade  roughly 500 Spanish-speaking students out of 4,154 students overall, according to the latest reported school district data  are in English As a New Language (ENL) classes where no Spanish is spoken.

The lack of a bilingual education program directly breaks a New York state education requirement that guarantees parents and guardians of English Language Learners basic rights to education. One of those rights includes the right to have your children in a bilingual education program when there are 20 or more grade-level students that speak the same home/primary language.

The Poughkeepsie City School District qualifies for bilingual education. Superintendent Dr. Eric Jay Rosser, who came to the district in 2019, said they are in the process of creating the necessary program, but like many schools around the country, they are hamstrung by a shortage of Spanish-speaking teachers, a challenge that has worsened with the pandemic.

Benefits of bilingual education

For Spanish-speaking students not yet fluent in English, the Poughkeepsie City School Districts ENL program is designed for students to develop their English skills and competency quickly, and then move onto mainstream classes with the rest of the student body.

But in dropping Spanish instruction for these native Spanish speakers, the district is depriving them of valuable skills that should be honed rather than dismissed, says Peter Gonzalez, president of Latinos Unidos of the Hudson Valley and former Newburgh Enlarged City School District bilingual liaison, where there is a dual language program.

Spanish-speaking students would come in and really benefit from a bilingual education program, said Gonzalez. In society, and just getting a job, it helps your perspective when youre older because you can read and write in both languages.

A bilingual education program can also broaden more than just a Spanish-speaking students opportunities. The National Education Association found that comprehension is enhanced when children from different linguistic and cultural backgrounds interact and learn from each other in the same classroom.

In a one-way dual language program, the teacher provides instruction in both English and Spanish to Spanish-speaking students. If its two-way, the program includes both English- and Spanish-speaking students, and the teacher provides instruction in both languages.

The other option is a transitional bilingual education program, in which students can begin to learn some subjects in English while using their primary language to continue learning in others. Eventually, students transition to a fully English-speaking learning setting under this model, but there will always be some primary language used.

Newburgh Enlarged City School District offers both transitional bilingual and dual language programs, depending on the school. Last year, the district recognized 52 graduates, including seven ELL students who earned a Seal of Biliteracy.

Why throw it out if you can build on it? asked Gonzalez.

Impacts of teacher shortage hit home

Rosser wants to implement a bilingual education, but is facing the realities of schooling today: COVID, a shortage of teachers, and a lack of resources and funds. He joined the district in 2019, after relocating from Buffalo, where he helped establish similar programming.

I saw immediately that there were a number of things the Poughkeepsie City School District was not in compliance with, said Rosser of the bilingual requirement. Developing and reviewing the current infrastructure, we put in a number of different essential positions to be able to give us the ability for all of our students, at the very least, receive English As a New Language services.

He said his first step was to make sure the very basics were checked off.

Once the pandemic hit, he said a lot of plans were quickly changed to accommodate for virtual learning. While in-person instruction has now returned, finding enough teachers presented another barrier to establishing the bilingual program.

The Poughkeepsie City School District is not absent in experiencing our share of staffing shortages, said Rosser, referring to the nationwide shortage of teachers that has caught the eye of Congress and led districts to expand searches to fill vacancies.

In response to teacher shortages across the state, Gov. Kathy Hochul signed two bills that changed admission requirements for graduate-level teacher and educational leader programs: one removed minimum scoring requirements for candidates on the graduate record examination, and another increased the percentages of candidates from any incoming class who can be exempted from the admission requirements.

Bilingual teachers especially hard to find in NY

The shortage is even worse when it comes to bilingual teachers. According to Education Week, 31 states and the District of Columbia have a shortage of teachers who work in bilanguage, dual language immersion, and English As a Second Language (ESL) classrooms. According to the U.S. Department of Education, New York State since 1990 has reported a teacher shortage for certified bilingual teachers. New York is one of only two states that has faced a shortage each year for more than 20 years.

The Poughkeepsie City School Districts website currently lists 20 instructional job openings, including two district-wide ENL teachers and a foreign language teacher, specifically a high school Spanish teacher.

According to Rosser, the plan for the district was to start with a kindergarten bilingual program, which has the highest number of English language learners at 71, and then grow from there.

But right now, the district cannot secure enough bilingual teachers, he said.

The Hudson Valley Regional Bilingual Education Resource Network also posts job openings to help secure bilingual teachers for area school districts.

COVID has made [staffing] more difficult, said Carlos Sanchez, the networks executive director. A lot of people retired or left the field during COVID. Its across the board.

Rosser said the district has gone to area colleges who might have graduates who can fulfill these roles to share with them the job openings. The district has also held four recruitment fairs this past fall, from September to mid-November. Now, the district is utilizing a remote interview process for the first round to attract individuals who may not be within region.

We just have not had the luck in being able to implement this in an environment where there are teacher shortages and staffing challenges across the board, said Rosser. Were trying all different methods to address the staffing shortage.

The district has also approached collective bargaining units to encourage raising salaries to make the positions more attractive for those seeking employment. (In the Poughkeepsie City School District, a teachers starting salary is $50,450, and goes up based upon years of experience and level of education.)

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Spanish instruction and bilingual education are not the only courses that have been cut from the curriculum offerings. Some foreign language courses, including French, in the middle and high school had to be eliminated because the district has not been able to find teachers with the right certifications to deliver the programs.

We cant offer a subject that we cant fully staff, said Rosser.

Addressing language barrier between the school and Spanish-speaking homes

The district needs more resources for Latino families, said Tron Melton, CEO of the Black and Latino Coalition based in Poughkeepsie. They need the extra help that they are not getting currently.

The Black and Latino Coalition works with around 100 different families who have asked for better resources for Spanish-speaking families. The organizations afterschool program focuses on homework completion, which Melton said is especially important when parents who are native Spanish speakers cant understand their childs assignments.

Sometimes the child is the translator because they know English, too, said Melton. It also helps the parents. They cant help them with their work if they dont understand it.

Other local organizations have stepped up to help. Norma Vizcarrondo, President of Esperanza Dutchess County Hispanic Organization, said the organization works with between 100 to 150 families in Poughkeepsie to provide educational assistance, in addition to providing other resources like transportation and more.

We do a lot of individual help with tutoring and peer-to-peer mentoring, said Vizcarrondo. We try to help individuals with their English when its their second language and are advocates for their mothers in terms of meetings with the school district.

The superintendent is also trying to be proactive about outreach. Rosser has held fireside chats with community members, including Spanish-speaking parents, to get a better understanding of their wants and needs to help inform programming planning for the upcoming school year.

The district, in partnership with Esperanza Dutchess County Hispanic Organization, held a meeting at the Poughkeepsie Reformed Church mid-November to discuss the districts partnership with Spanish-speaking families.

There was expression that we could be doing more, particularly for the Spanish-speaking parents who may be new to the country or region, to have a better way of navigating the complexities of the school system, said Rosser.

Another meeting with the superintendent and Spanish-speaking families is scheduled in early 2022.

A lot of things need to be discussed, but because of the language barrier it hasnt happened, said Vizcarrondo. Were working towards that. Having the superintendent come out to the community and meet us has helped a great deal.

Fatimah Carmen Luisa Martinez Santiago was voted onto the school board in the 2021 election, which Vizcarrondo said will allow for even better communication with the Spanish-speaking community. During her campaign, she said she plans to help compose and disseminate program materials that are inclusive of the language and cultural views that the district serves.

The district has translation services in place at every school and recently worked with the City of Poughkeepsie for an intermunicipal agreement to support the salary of a bilingual community liaison, who would share pertinent information to community members. The city is working to approve that role, and then would hire for the position.

Additionally, any communication that is sent out by the district is distributed in both Spanish and English. Information on the district website can also be translated to Spanish and other languages.

Were continuously looking at various ways where we can be more communicative, said Rosser.
The bald eagle was in pretty rough shape, listless and having difficulty breathing, when New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) officers brought the bird to Friends of the Feathered and Furry Wildlife Center in Hunter a few weeks ago. The DEP found the bird near the Cannonsville Reservoir dam in Delaware County. Dave LoVerde did what he could to try and save the iconic American animal.

I tested it for lead levels and the levels were off the chart, says LoVerde, whose animal-rescue organization, founded by his late wife, Missy Runyan, has treated numerous birds of prey for lead poisoning. The center has been on a decade-long crusade to educate hunters about the dangers that lead ammunition can cause to wildlife.

The American Bird Conservancy estimates that 16 million birds a year are poisoned by lead. The spent shot poses a special threat to bald eagles and other birds of prey, who feast on fish, waterfowl or animal carcasses that may contain lead fragments or pellets from hunters bullets and shotgun shells.

In the case of the eagle at LoVerde's wildlife center, he thinks the bird of prey may have fed on lead-peppered entrails left by a hunter after field-dressing an animal, or on a carcass left by state wildlife agents after killing a deer or other wounded animal.

Lead-poisoned birds, he says, can lose their peripheral vision and their ability to fly  or worse.

Two hours after he tested it, the eagle died, recalls LoVerde, and when he X-rayed the bird the next day, you could see the specks of lead in his digestive tract.

His organization has called on hunters  and law enforcement agencies  to stop using lead ammunition in favor of greener alternatives which utilize copper or other metal and metal alloys that dont have the same health impacts on animals.

California phased out the use of lead ammunition in 2019. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has a webpage that links to a Golden State site listing dozens of American companies that sell non-lead ammunition, including some well-known manufacturers such as Sig Sauer and Remington. Missouri regulators have also taken up the issue  as of 2019, that state has banned lead ammunition from dozens of state conservation areas. At the federal level, U.S. Rep. Ted Lieu (D-California) introduced a bill in 2020 that would ban lead ammunition from U.S. Fish & Wildlife lands, which comprise some 95 million acres nationally.

Ammo shortage makes switch to safer bullets harder

The issue has emerged as a flashpoint in a New York State hunting community that saw a legislative effort driven by downstate Democratic Assemblywoman Deborah Glick earlier this year to ban the use of lead ammunition on state lands or any land where lead might make its way into the New York City reservoir system. Her bill fell by the wayside during a legislative session dominated by the sexual harassment scandal that led to the resignation of Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo.

LoVerde, a former hunter himself, says hes focused on the birds, not the politics. All we care about here is the type of bullets hunters are using.

And, says LoVerde, the issue isnt just about hunters but law enforcement agencies in the state that may find it necessary to kill a wounded animal struck by a car.

His organizations emphasis on coaxing some estimated 700,000 New York state residents who hunt to consider copper-based alternatives, he says, is because law enforcement doesnt seem to have a choice about what kind of ammunition they use.

The states largest law enforcement agency hasnt made the switch to greener ammo but says its tuned in to the issues raised by LoVerde.

The use of non-lead ammunition is not something that is being considered at this time, says New York State Police spokesman William Beau Duffy in an email. We are aware of the alternatives, but the firearm industry doesnt offer a non-lead option that would serve law enforcement purposes.

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There's also an ammunition shortage to consider, driven by supply chain issues, says Bill Conners, a Hudson Valley hunter and fisherman, chair of the New York State Fish and Wildlife Management Board, and Legislative Vice President at the Federation of Dutchess County Fish & Game Clubs.

Conners says a lot of the ammunition purchased in the state is manufactured in other countries  and hunters are hard-pressed to find any ammo these days, lead-based or otherwise.

The bottom line for me is  I could support legislation that eventually limits the use of traditional lead ammo, says Conners, who serves as a liaison between the sporting community and the state in his capacity as a hunting and wildlife advisor to the Conservation Fund Advisory Board, which counsels the DEC on fiscal issues.

However, right now, given the supply-line issues, I wouldnt support anything like that, Conners adds. Theres an ammo shortage with hardly any ammo on the shelves. Part of it is exacerbated by hunters and shooters themselves because they are hoarding. The situation is not going to get any better until we sort out where the ammo industry is going to go and what are we going to do about the supply-line issues.

LoVerdes also well aware of the supply issue. COVID screwed it all up, he says, and you cant get any ammunition now. Now hunters who want the choice to use the non-lead ammo find that theres no availability. Its a real Catch-22: Maybe a lot of them want to switch, but cant.

Conners made the switch to copper bullets sold by Remingon decades ago. But he questions the real harm done by what he describes as the occasional bird of prey falling victim to lead poisoning. "I think the whole lead-ban thing is a tempest in a teapot not because of the rationale  to save birds  but because anytime the Legislature gets into anything [it] makes it 10 times more complicated than it needs to be.

LoVerde says hell continue to work on behalf of bald eagles and other birds in the name of his late wife, who founded the wildlife rescue center 10 years ago and who died in October. The organization has been able to save some eagles and other birds over the years using a kelation process that flushes out the lead, he says, adding that the nonprofit has been tracking one eagle for the past two years after it was rehabilitated.

But hes not interested in getting into the political fray around banning lead ammo legislatively and would rather deal with animals than politicians in any event.

We just rescue animals here, he says. I can only speak on what we can prove.
ALBANY - A 19-year-old was charged Monday morning in connection with a November homicide that happened outside a fast food restaurant.

City police charged Ahliek Leonard with murder and criminal possession of a weapon. Police allege Leonard shot and killed Andrew Miller, 36, on Nov. 15 on Delaware Avenue. Sources familiar with the investigation previously told the Times Union that a restaurant employee shot Miller after the two got into an argument over a food order.

Monday morning city police found Leonard inside a home on First Street between Quail Street and North Lake Avenue, according to a news release.

He was arraigned and sent to Albany County jail.

A second man, a 21-year-old, was also found inside the home. Police allege he had a loaded .357 magnum revolver. The man was charged with criminal possession of a weapon, arraigned and released.
DENVER (AP)  A mining company has agreed to pay Colorado $1.6 million to resolve its liability for natural resource damage related to the 2015 Gold King Mine spill that fouled rivers in Colorado, New Mexico and Utah.

The proposed consent decree with Sunnyside Gold Corp. follows Sunnyside settlements with New Mexico and the Navajo Nation earlier this year.

Attorney General Phil Weiser's office said Monday that a Denver federal court will decide whether to approve the decree after a 30-day public comment period.

Sunnyside admits no fault in the agreement.

Sunnyside operated a mine next to Gold King near Silverton that closed in 1991. A federal investigation found that bulkheads to plug that mine led to a buildup of water from Gold King containing heavy metals. A contractor for the Environmental Protection Agency inadvertently triggered the spill while attempting to mitigate the buildup.

The area has since been declared a Superfund site.

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

Sunnyside never owned or operated the Gold King mine and was not at fault for the August 2015 EPA-caused spill, Gina Myers, Sunnysides director of Reclamation Operations, said in an email. We are pleased to resolve this matter and to see funds going toward further efforts to improve water quality rather than protracted potential litigation."

Weiser, Dan Gibbs, executive director of the Colorado Department of Natural Resources, and Jill Hunsaker Ryan, executive director of state health department, will work with local governments and not-for-profit groups to determine how to allocate the money.
Hearst announced on Monday, Dec. 13 that Tom Cross has been named president of Hearst Transportation effective immediately.

The announcement was made by Hearst President and Chief Executive Officer Steven R. Swartz and Richard P. Malloch, executive vice president for Business Media at Hearst.

Cross has served as executive vice president of Hearst Transportation since January 2016, while simultaneously serving as president of Black Book and president of MOTOR Information Systems. He has held a variety of leadership positions across the Hearst Transportation businesses for more than two decades.

Tom is an exceptional person and leader who has been instrumental in developing new products and services, driving innovation and delivering results, Malloch said. I have worked closely with Tom for many years, and he is deeply committed to serving our clients, partners and employees. I am delighted he has been promoted to president of Hearst Transportation.

Prior to joining Hearst in 2000, he had a long career at Ford Motor Company, holding numerous management positions in sales, customer service and marketing. Cross earned an MBA from the University of Chicago and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Wittenberg University. He is an inductee in both the National Independent Automobile Dealers Association Ring of Honor and the National Auto Auction Association Hall of Fame.

As a result of Cross promotion, new leadership has also been announced at the two automotive companies within Hearst Transportation: Jared Kalfus has been promoted to president of Black Book, which provides industry-leading used vehicle valuation and residual value forecast solutions; and Jeff Nosek has been promoted to president of MOTOR Information Systems, the premier supplier of automotive repair data in the U.S. and Canada. Both promotions are also effective immediately.

Kalfus was most recently executive vice president, revenue, at Black Book. He joined the company in 2012 and held licensing and sales leadership positions, including senior vice president of sales. He has spent his 26-year career in the automotive industry at leading companies, including Cox Automotive/Manheim, Enterprise Rent-A-Car and CarsDirect.com. Kalfus holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of South Florida.

Nosek was most recently executive vice president, revenue, at MOTOR Information Systems. He has more than two decades of automotive enterprise software, data and professional services experience. He joined MOTOR in 2016 as senior vice president of sales. Prior to that, Nosek held new business and sales positions at Compuware, ADP Dealer Services and CDK Global. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Central Michigan University.

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

It is my honor to lead the talented Hearst Transportation team, Cross said. I look forward to working with Jared, Jeff and all our colleagues at Black Book, MOTOR, CAMP and Noregon to serve our customers, build new capabilities and take us to the next level of growth.

The Transportation portfolio of aviation and automotive data and software companies includes CAMP Systems International, Black Book, MOTOR Information Systems and Noregon Systems, the leading connected vehicle solution provider to the medium and heavy-duty truck industry.

About Hearst

Hearst is a leading global, diversified media, information and services company with more than 360 businesses. Its major interests include ownership in cable television networks such as A&E, HISTORY, Lifetime and ESPN; global financial services leader Fitch Group; Hearst Health, a group of medical information and services businesses; transportation assets including CAMP Systems International, a major provider of software-as-a-service solutions for managing maintenance of jets and helicopters; 33 television stations such as WCVB-TV in Boston and KCRA-TV in Sacramento, California, which reach a combined 19% of U.S. viewers; newspapers such as the Houston Chronicle, San Francisco Chronicle and Times Union (Albany, New York); and nearly 250 magazines around the world, including Cosmopolitan, ELLE, Men's Health and Car and Driver, and digital services businesses such as iCrossing and KUBRA. Follow us on Twitter @Hearst. To learn more about Hearst, visit hearst.com.

About Hearst Transportation

Hearst Transportation includes aviation and automotive data and software companies CAMP Systems International, Black Book, MOTOR Information Systems and Noregon Systems. The mission of Hearst Transportation is to provide clarity in a complex and rapidly advancing industry through SaaS and DaaS solutions that are embedded in customer workflows and empower industry professionals to make timely business decisions with greater precision and authority.
Seven young people who were detained at Vermont's now-closed juvenile detention center and another facility are suing state officials and staff alleging obscene abuse" at both facilities that they say state officials ignored.

Vermont closed the Woodside Juvenile Rehabilitation Center in Essex last year after a drop in the number of kids housed there and a lawsuit accusing the 30-bed center of housing children with disabilities in dangerous conditions, including the use of restraints, unsupervised seclusion and long-term isolation.

The latest lawsuit was filed Monday in federal court against 22 Vermont Department for Children and Families employees, including the former commissioner and Woodside staff. It alleges the abuse occurred regularly between 2016 and 2020.

On a regular basis, vulnerable children, some of whom had been physically, mentally, and/or sexually abused by caregivers before they were taken into state custody and sent to Woodside, were physically assaulted and sometimes stripped of their clothing by Woodside staff members who demanded compliance with their orders, the lawsuit states. The same children were often confined to isolation cells for days, weeks and sometimes months at a time, it states.

Complaints about misconduct were investigated and state officials were informed that the tactics violated state regulations but the abuse and isolation continued through August of 2019 when a federal court injunction ordered it to stop, the lawsuit states.

A Department for Children and Families spokesperson said the department had no comment Tuesday because of pending litigation.

Steve Howard, executive director of the Vermont State Employees' Association, said earlier Tuesday he hadn't read the documents so could not comment on the allegations.

The members I met from Woodside cared very deeply about the children in their care, in many cases they were the only family those kids had, and they were dedicated to helping them overcome the challenges they faced," Howard said by email.

Asked about the lawsuit during the governor's weekly virus briefing, Human Services Secretary Mike Smith said there was little he could say beyond that the state would answer the allegations during the legal proceedings. But he did say that within a month of his arrival at the agency in late 2019 he made the decision to close Woodside down.

The reason we were going to close that facility down is because it wasnt meeting the needs of the kids that were going (there) and we were going to go in a different direction, and we did go in a different direction, Smith said.

In New Hampshire in the last two years, more than 430 men and women have come forward with accusations against 150 staffers at the Sununu Youth Services Center in Manchester, spanning six decades. Eleven former staffers are facing criminal charges and more than 100 lawsuits have been filed alleging physical or sexual abuse.

In Vermont, the state proposed replacing Woodside with a six-bed secure facility at a former bed and breakfast in Newbury but a town board last month denied the permit, citing a lack of emergency services and conflict with the towns development plan. The state is appealing, WCAX-TV reported.

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

Howard said the lack of an instate secure facility has created an even more dangerous and chaotic situation.

The civil lawsuit seeks unspecified damages and the award of medical expenses related to the treatment of injuries. It was filed on behalf of six people and the caretaker of the estate of a seventh person who died of an accidental drug overdose in October, the lawsuit said.

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AP reporter Wilson Ring contributed to this report from Montpelier, Vermont.

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This story has been corrected to show the name of the state department is the Vermont Department for Children and Families, not the Department of Children and Families.
SCHENECTADY  An alleged member of the Bloods gang, a barber who moonlighted as a disc jockey, and a father of five from Rotterdam who was wearing a Spider-Man costume when police found him slumped over the steering wheel are among the defendants scheduled to stand trial as homicide trials resume early next year in Schenectady County, according to court records and District Attorney Robert M. Carney.

The trial of Marlone Oindo, slated to get underway in late January, will mark the first homicide case Carneys office will present to a jury since the initial outbreak of the coronavirus forced the state court system to go dark in early 2020.

Oindo, a Middletown man, is accused of the May 23, 2020 execution-style killing of Duane Todman, a budding artist, following what authorities have described as a brief verbal exchange at the corner of Craig and Stanley streets in the Hamilton Hill neighborhood.

Oindo, 23, who according to court papers has ties to the Mac Brim Ballers, a subset of the Bloods gang, also faces two counts of criminal possession of a weapon and tampering with physical evidence.

In late February, prosecutors from the DAs office will also begin laying out evidence, including video footage and audio recordings, against Ishwarnand "Kriso" Goberdhan, a Schenectady barber and DJ who police and prosecutors contend used his vehicle to strike Alejandro Melendez several times at a parking lot on State Street before running over the mans body during the early morning hours of Christmas Day 2019.

In opposing bail, prosecutors in court filings said Goberdhan, 36, searched the internet for stories about the fatal crash, auto body shops, and a one-way ticket out of the area.

Goberdhan, who had no criminal history, allegedly fled to Guyana the day after the hit and run. He subsequently returned to Schenectady in January 2020 and was charged with two counts of second-degree murder, first-degree manslaughter, and leaving the scene of an incident without reporting resulting in death.

His lawyer, Justin Dearmas, did not return a call Monday to his office seeking comment.

In March, Oscar Lopez, a father of five children, will stand trial for allegedly driving drunk with a blood-alcohol content of 0.18 percent  more than double the state's DWI threshold of 0.08  and causing the death of another driver along Hamburg Street in Rotterdam shortly before 12:30 a.m. on Nov. 1, 2020.

A judge sided with the prosecution in letting stand statements the defendant made to two Rotterdam police officers at Albany Medical Center Hospital and blood samples that Lopez argued were unlawfully seized for testing for alcohol and drugs in his system.

Lopez, 32, told police officers that he had some drinks at a friends house before driving home. After the crash, Lopez was found allegedly slumped over the driver's wheel of his truck.

Breathing heavily and bleeding from cuts to his face, Lopez was dressed in a Spider-Man costume, police said.

Hes charged with second-degree murder, three counts of aggravated vehicular homicide, aggravated driving while intoxicated, driving while ability impaired by the combined influence of alcohol and drugs, and two counts of aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle.

Carney will handle the Lopez prosecution.

While all three cases are scheduled for trial, many criminal cases end in plea bargains.

Historically, I would say that half of our murder cases resolve by plea, and half go to trial  thats not been the case since the pandemic  nobodys eager to plead guilty to murder, Carney said. I think the actual [impaneling] of a jury is what often changes peoples minds, they cant defer a difficult decision anymore.

He noted that during the pandemic a lot of his veterans prosecutors retired, leaving behind younger assistant district attorneys. Carney expressed confidence in in their ability to try cases.

Its also difficult when the cases age, a defendant has a right to a speedy trial, but in my experience, defendants dont really want to have a speedy trial  they want the right to a speedy trial because it might present the opportunity to get a case dismissed, but its not necessarily in the prosecutions best interest to age a case, so that witnesses are scattered or their memories dim, he said. Were much better off trying cases closer in time to the commission of the crime.

Beyond the three murder trials in the first quarter of 2022, Carney said there are at least eight more to go after those are done, including the shooting death of a Mont Pleasant mother of six, Jennifer Ostrander, which has multiple co-defendants.

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

Carney said months of one trial after another was not unprecedented.

I remember in the late 90s, we tried three murder trials at once  and one them had two co-defendants, he added.

Connection to gang members

Court filings in the Oinda case reveal that after firing a single shot into Todmans neck, Oinda ran, leaving behind a case with his cell phone, drivers license and debit card. The murder weapon has not been recovered.

Those documents and recorded telephone conversations from the Schenectady County jail, where the defendant is being held, also indicate that Oindo has ties to the Mac Brim Ballers, a subset of the Blood gang and that associates of the defendant are suspects in other shootings in Schenectady.

As a result, the DAs office convinced a judge to issue a protective order to ensure civilian witnesses are not harmed, threatened or intimidated.

It is clear from the case and the investigation that has surrounded it that although the defendant is not from this area, he has made contacts with the Schenectady-based Bloods, court papers say.

That means that Oindos defense attorney, Danielle Neroni, is prohibited from copying or sharing with his client  or anyone else  statements from some of the at least seven witnesses who are expected to testify at trial.

On Tuesday, Neroni said her client is ready for trial. She declined further comment.

The details of Todmans last moments, parts of which were captured on street surveillance cameras, are recounted in court papers.

It states that Oindo and two or three friends were walking in the area of Craig and Stanley streets in the Hamilton Hill neighborhood when they passed a woman standing next to two men sitting steps.

The defendant and the woman, who did not know each other, exchanged words, prompting one of Oindos buddies to intervene to try to get Oindo to walk away. Todman then had a verbal exchange with Oindo that caused Oindo to walk back toward the woman.

While pointing the gun at the seated victims head and neck areas, the defendant pulled the trigger shooting him once before continuing to walk off with the people he was with, the report states.
ST. JOHN, Ind. (AP)  A Northwest Indiana police officer jumped into a retention pond and pulled two young children from a partially submerged vehicle that had plunged into its murky waters during a pursuit.

St. John Officer Darrell Shaffer spotted the vehicle around 11:25 p.m. Sunday after Lake County police reported it had fled during a traffic stop, said Roger Patz, a St. John police spokesman.

The driver allegedly fled from Shaffer on local roads into Illinois before returning to Indiana on Interstate 94, Patz said.

The female driver lost control of the vehicle, which went airborne, "plunging into the retention pond, Patz said.

Shaffer jumped into the water and could see the driver was still seated in the vehicle, Patz said. Shaffer then noticed a child seat and felt around underwater until he found one child.

He then felt the leg of a second child and pulled that child above water to safety, Patz said.

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

Both children are under 5 years old, he said.

The driver, who was not identified by police, was ordered out of the vehicle and taken into custody, The Times of Northwest Indiana reported.
MAYFIELD, Ky. (AP)  An employee of the Kentucky candle factory where eight workers were killed by a tornado said Tuesday that a supervisor threatened her with written disciplinary action if she went home early because storms were approaching.

Haley Conder, who worked at the Mayfield Consumer Products factory on and off for 10 years, also questioned why the company did not encourage workers to go home  or at least give them a better understanding of the danger  between a first tornado siren around 6 p.m. Friday and another one around 9 p.m., shortly before the tornado hit.

They (the company) had from 6 oclock to 9 oclock to allow us to go home, to tell us really what was going on and that we needed to prepare ourselves for the worst, Conder told The Associated Press in a phone interview. It was nothing like that. Not one supervisor told us what was really going on.

A spokesman for the company insisted that employees were free to leave anytime.

Conder's comments came on the same day that the state's governor said Kentuckys workplace safety agency would look into the eight deaths, which happened as violent weather spawned tornadoes in five states.

Gov. Andy Beshear told reporters that the Kentucky Division of Occupational Safety and Health Compliance would conduct a review. That kind of investigation is routine whenever workers are killed on the job.

So it shouldnt suggest that there was any wrongdoing. But what it should give people confidence in, is that well get to the bottom of what happened, he said.

Conder, 29, said her supervisor threatened to write her up if she left early, and that accumulated write-ups can lead to firing.

More than 100 people were working on holiday candle orders when the twister leveled the facility. The scale of the damage initially stoked fears that scores of workers could be found dead in the rubble.

The company later said many employees who survived left the site and went to homes with no phone service, adding to the confusion over who was missing.

Since then, all workers have been accounted for, according to state and local officials who have spoken to the company. Louisville Emergency Management Director E.J. Meiman said late Monday that authorities now have a high level of confidence that nobody is left in this building.

The factory supplies candles to retailers, including Bath & Body Works. It is the countys third-largest employer.

Mayfield Consumer Products spokesman Bob Ferguson, who works for an outside communications firm, said the company welcomes a review by the state and will cooperate.

Ferguson denied that employees were stuck at the plant or would face retribution if they left.

Not true. That is absolutely not true. We followed our protocols exactly. Employees, if they decide they want to leave, theyre free to leave, he said.

Due to a tight labor market, the company had relaxed some of its procedures so that employees were not required to give a reason if they had to leave work during a shift, Ferguson said.

NBC News first reported that employees said they were threatened with discipline if they left early.

Mayfield, home to 10,000 residents and the candle factory, suffered some of the worst damage in the country. The tornado outbreak that killed at least 88 people  74 of them in Kentucky  cut a path of devastation from Arkansas, where a nursing home was destroyed, to Illinois, where an Amazon distribution center was heavily damaged.

Six people died in the Illinois warehouse collapse, and the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration has opened an investigation into what happened there. The tornadoes also killed four in Tennessee, two in Arkansas and two in Missouri.

Hundreds of people gathered for a candlelight vigil Tuesday evening on the outskirts of Mayfield.

Prayers went up that the brokenhearted will be wrapped up in Gods love and that people hold on to one another as the storm-stricken city begins its recovery.

Scarlett Sears, an employee at the factory, said at the vigil she had not seen her co-workers since Friday.

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

It's great for the ones that made it but heartbreaking for everything else, Mayfield, MCP, all of it, heartbreaking, she said.

J.R. Ramsey, who has worked at the plant for 18 years, said he was still in shock.

It's good to see the people that made it, he said.

Conder said employees sheltered inside the building after the first siren, but were then told to go back to work about a half-hour later like it was a regular day.

Some of us were just clueless, she added. Unless family called us and let us know ... we had no idea it was coming for us at all.

Employees sheltered again after the 9 p.m. tornado siren. Conder was in a bathroom when the storm hit.

I look up and the ceiling is just giving way, like its the ocean just coming toward me, she said, adding she was trapped in rubble for about an hour.

Mark Saxton was working as a forklift operator. After the first storm siren, he said employees were told to go back to work.

I feel like production was a priority over letting everybody go home, Saxton said Tuesday in a phone interview. He said he wasn't threatened with any disciplinary action.

When the second storm siren sounded, he said he took refuge along with the other workers. It wasnt long before he heard a big boom and everything shook.

He said he dropped to the ground, got in a fetal position and thats when everything started falling  the walls and everything. He was trapped by a slab of a concrete wall but was able to extricate himself.

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Associated Press writers Dylan Lovan and Rebecca Reynolds in Louisville, Kentucky, and photographer Gerald Herbert in Mayfield contributed to this report.
A Kentucky woman who worked her way up from school bus driver to become an administrator and school board member. A grandfather who stole the show when he was around his grandchildren. A 2-month-old whose family tried to protect her by putting her in a car seat. A 94-year-old Korean War veteran from Arkansas.

These were among at least 88 people killed during tornadoes Friday night that ripped through five states in the Midwest and South. The tornado outbreak cut a path of devastation that stretched from Arkansas, where a nursing home was destroyed, to Illinois, where an Amazon distribution center was heavily damaged. In Kentucky, 74 people died, and Gov. Andy Beshear said the death toll could grow.

Here are some of the people who perished during the tornadoes.

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By the time she won election to a vacant school board seat last year, Jenny Bruce had played a role at virtually every level in the small school district in Dawson Springs, Kentucky, where she had graduated from high school decades earlier.

Jenny started out driving a bus and she was a teachers aide, and she gradually worked her way up to finance director, Dawson Springs School Superintendent Leonard Whalen recalled. She was some kind of lady.

During the deadly tornado outbreak late Friday and early Saturday, 65-year-old Bruce was sheltering inside when a tornado obliterated her home, Whalen said. He said neighbors found her amid the wreckage. A county coroner later confirmed her death.

Bruce had worked for the school system for roughly four decades before retiring about two years ago. Whalen helped persuade her to campaign for an empty seat on the five-member school board in 2020, and she ended up running unopposed.

In her years working in the school districts administrative office, Whalen said, Bruce was universally liked  never saying an unkind word about anyone and often bringing cookies and other treats for co-workers to share.

She was a Dawson Springs graduate and she loved our schools, Whalen said. She loved kids.

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Kevin Dickey loved spending time with his family and stole the show and the hearts of his grandchildren anytime he was around, his family said in a statement. He also had a tight bond with his co-workers at Amazon, they said.

Dickey, 62, was among six people killed when an Amazon warehouse in Edwardsville, Illinois, was struck. Authorities say both sides of the warehouse used to prepare orders for delivery collapsed inward and the roof caved. Rescuers had to pull survivors from the rubble.

Dickeys daughter, Kristen Anastasi, told the Marion Republican that a co-worker said Dickey was trying to get people to safety and making sure his drivers were OK. She called his work ethic unmatched and said that's what the family would expect of him.

Dad talked often about his co-workers and their daily stories. He had a great bond with many, the family said.

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Douglas Koon, his wife, Jackie, and their three children huddled in his mother-in-laws bathroom in Dawson Springs, Kentucky, as the storms approached. The tornado hit the house directly, flinging the family around and tossing in the air a bathtub that was shielding two of his sons. The couple put their infant daughter, Oaklynn, in a car seat to protect her, and she appeared to be OK on Saturday.

But by Sunday, the baby was having seizures, and doctors noticed a brain bleed after she was taken to the hospital. They believed she had a stroke, Koon said in a Facebook post.

Its not looking good at this point, he wrote. The machines are keeping her alive.

Early Monday morning, the family posted that the infant had died.

In a text message to The Associated Press on Monday, Koon said he was struggling to process everything that Im going through.

A family member has set up a GoFundMe account for Koons family and his mother-in-law, Sheila Rose, who lost her home.

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Lisa Taylor had worked 14 years as a florist at the same family-owned shop in Memphis, Tennessee, when she left in October to start a new career at the airport with the Transportation Security Administration. Co-workers at Rachels Flowers congratulated her with balloons on a sign that read, Good Luck, Lisa.

Taylor, 54, stayed in touch with her friends at the flower shop, making plans to return part time over the holidays to make some extra money. Then the phone rang Saturday, just as the power came back on at the shop after violent storms passed through overnight. Taylors longtime boyfriend was calling with tragic news. A large tree had fallen through her roof overnight, killing Taylor as she slept in bed.

She had just gotten started on her new adventure and shes just been taken, said Angie Morton, who worked as a florist alongside Taylor for several years.

A single mother of two children now in their 20s, Taylor took her new government job for higher wages and the extra stability that came with health insurance and other benefits, friends said.

But she had a creative spark that made her a natural when it came to working with flowers, Morton said, whether she was helping grieving families design funeral arrangements or using bits and pieces of broken, castoff jewelry to add some custom sparkle to high school girls prom corsages.

She really liked to bling everything up, Morton said. She would take stuff other people would throw in the trash and make beautiful things out of it. If she found an earring in a store that didnt have a matching pair, she would think, I know theres somebody who that would be perfect for her corsage.

Charles Newell, deputy emergency management administrator for Shelby County, Tennessee, said she was the only known storm death in the county that includes Memphis.

Rachel Greer, the flower shops owner, was helping plan floral arrangements for Taylors funeral. She said Taylors daughter had requested a sea of purple flowers such as lavender roses and chrysanthemums to match her mothers favorite color.

Meanwhile customers were dropping by the shop to offer condolences and leaving notes. One of them read: Lisa was a light in a dark world.

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Annistyn Rackley was an outgoing and energetic 9-year-old who loved swimming, dancing and cheerleading, according to her great-aunt Sandra Hooker.

The two had become close over the past four years: Hooker offered the girl support during doctors visits and blood draws required by a rare liver condition that still didnt keep the southeastern Missouri girl from participating in activities.

Annistyn, her parents and her two younger sisters took shelter Friday night in a windowless bathroom in their new home west of Caruthersville, Missouri. To prove theyd gotten to the familys safe space, the girls mom texted Hooker a photo of the three in and next to the bathtub  all of them smiling, 9-year-old Annistyn holding her favorite doll.

Fifteen minutes later, Sandra Hooker said, a tornado splintered the home, carrying the family members dozens of yards through the air into a field where first responders found them in mud. Annistyn died, and the others were injured. The mother, Meghan Rackley, and their middle daughter, 7-year-old Avalinn, remained hospitalized Monday.

Hooker called Annistyn a special angel and said the girl delighted in donning outfits and makeup for cheer competitions and learning new dances from TikTok. She did cartwheels and splits in front of Hooker.

I would just gasp because she could do the splits all the time, and she would just laugh, Hooker said. She loved dancing.

Hooker teaches gifted students at the same elementary school where Meghan Rackley teaches kindergarten in Caruthersville, which is nestled next to the Mississippi River in whats known as Missouris Bootheel region.

Hooker said Annistyns parents learned when she was 2 months old that she had a rare liver disorder in which bile ducts dont develop properly, sometimes making it hard to fight off illness.

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Golden Wes Hembrey, 94, died when a tornado destroyed the nursing home where he lived in Monette, Arkansas.

His nephew Mike Hembrey said the Korean War veteran and retired farmer had been in the nursing home since 2016 because of Alzheimers disease. But he remembered his uncle as engaged with his extended family throughout their younger years.

He was outgoing, his nephew said. Hed be out in the yard playing with us. But dont make him mad. When he was mad, he was mad.

He liked cutting up, telling jokes, said niece Kristie Carmichael.

The Hembreys said Jimmie Hembrey had visited his brother the day before the tornado and found him to be in good health.

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Graves County Deputy Jailer Robert Daniel was supervising inmate workers at a candle factory in Mayfield, Kentucky, when the tornado struck. His boss said Monday that Daniel had been focused on the prisoners in his care when he was killed as the twister wrecked the plant.

Daniel, 47, had worked at the county jail for a few years previously and was rehired a few months ago, said Graves County Jailer George Workman. The seven inmates whom Daniel was overseeing at the factory Friday night were part of a brand-new work program and had just begun their jobs three days earlier.

After the storm hit, the inmates told Workmans deputies that it was Daniel who literally had pushed them all to safety, guiding them through a doorway and against a wall in an interior part of the plant. Workman said the last inmate through the door told deputies that Daniel was behind him one moment, and suddenly he was gone.

He was physically still in the act of trying to get them to safety. And thats when it hit, Workman said. It takes a tremendous person to be able to lay their own life down for somebody else. But he did and he was doing it for the right reasons.

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

All seven of the inmates in Daniels care survived, Workman said, with two of them suffering broken legs.

A cousin, Mark Saxton Sr., said Daniel was a native of the Mayfield area, which was devastated by the storm.

He loved his community, Saxton said. He was a great family man. Everybody who met him just loved him. Hes the type of person you want to be associated with.

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Brian Crick, a judge for two western Kentucky counties, was known for his sound judgment when it came to solving problems, a fellow judge said.

Crick, 43, was a district judge for Muhlenberg and McLean counties who handled criminal misdemeanor cases, traffic court and juvenile cases, said Circuit Judge Brian W. Wiggins. Wiggins said he had known his fellow judge since 2005, when Crick was a public defender. He later was in private practice before taking the bench in 2011.

Many of the defendants who came before him werent represented by attorneys, and Crick was very good about seeing to it that their rights were protected, Wiggins said. He had a very common- sense approach. He was very level-headed about how to handle cases and how to talk to people.

Wiggins was killed when the storm hit his familys home in Muhlenberg County. He is survived by a wife and three children, all of whom made it through the storm without major injuries, Wiggins said. He was just a consummate family man ... very engaged with his children and his wife. They were No. 1 to him.

We are especially heartbroken to get the news, Kentucky Supreme Court Chief Justice John Minton said in a statement. This is a shocking loss to his family, his community and the court system and his family is in our prayers.

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Two of June Penningtons children said the Manila, Arkansas, resident was devoted to her four children and nine grandchildren and had a particular soft spot for animals.

Pennington, 52, was working as an assistant manager at a Dollar General store in nearby Leachville, Arkansas, when it was hit.

She didnt love anything as much in life as her kids and grandkids, said Christie Pennington. She was truly selfless and loved wholeheartedly.

David Benefield, the oldest of June Penningtons four children, said he was born when his mother was only 14.

She was a kid raising a kid. We were just like best friends, he said. Its crazy how close you become.

Her children remember her as someone who would do anything that we asked her to do, Benefield said. Even after her children were grown, they said June Pennington wanted to spend as much time with them as possible.

Christie Pennington said her mother adopted dogs, cats, rabbits, birds, turtles and even a ferret.

If there was ever an animal in need of a home, we took it in, she said.

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Clayton Lynn Cope, 29, had been working at Amazon for more than a year before the storm killed him at a company facility in southwestern Illinois.

Five other workers also died at the facility located outside St. Louis.

Cope, who lived in nearby Alton, Illinois, had joined the Navy after graduating from high school and was an avid outdoorsman who also liked to ride motorcycles and play video games. He had a special place in his heart for his dog, Draco, said his younger sister, Rachel Cope.

He would go out of his way for anyone, Cope said in a written message.

___

Ollie Borgmann, 84, was a sweet and typical grandmother who had lived in her home in Defiance, Missouri, for decades.

A tornado blew through the home she shared with her 84-year-old husband, Vernon, on Friday night, blowing the house off its foundation, as well as that of a neighbors house in the town located about 40 miles (64 kilometers) west of St. Louis.

Her son Mark Borgmann told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that his brother, Keith, was on the phone with their father during the powerful storm when the line went dead. The next thing Vernon Borgmann remembers is waking up in a nearby field surrounded by debris. He suffered scratches and bruises but will be OK, said Mark Borgmann.

When Ollie Borgmann was found by rescuers, she was awake. She died later at a hospital.

___

Lovan reported from Louisville, Kentucky. Bynum reported from Savannah, Georgia. Associated Press writers Sudhin Thanawala in Atlanta; Travis Loller in Nashville, Tennessee; John Hanna in Topeka, Kansas; Terry Wallace in Dallas; Sophie Tareen in Chicago; Josh Funk in Omaha, Nebraska; Mike Schneider in Orlando, Florida; and Jeff Amy in Atlanta contributed to this report.
During the reign of Jim Crow, Southern politicians made their racism clear with declarations that were loud and obnoxious. My parents, Alabama residents, knew exactly how white elected officials viewed the possibility of granting them full citizenship.

Strom Thurmond insisted that theres not enough troops in the Army to force the Southern people to ... admit the nigra race into our theaters, into our swimming pools, into our homes, into our churches. Eugene Talmadge proclaimed that a Black mans place was at the back door with his hat in his hand. George Wallace bellowed, Segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever.

By the time I came of age, though, it seemed that the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther Kings faith in the moral arc of the universe was well placed. The civil rights movement gained momentum, and racists began to retreat. I knew that racism had not been eradicated, but the powerful notion of equal rights had gained the public square. Bigots were forced to at least pretend to believe in the ideal of equality for all.

That did not last. We are now in the era of a full-on backlash  a powerful reaction against the strides that Black and brown Americans have made toward realizing Kings dream. A frank and ugly racism is now celebrated in the ranks of the Republican Party, as Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., has recently demonstrated.

Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., introduced a resolution recently to strip Boebert of her committee assignments for her bigotry and lies about a Muslim congresswoman, Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), but Pressley will find this a difficult task. Prominent GOP House members have already defended Boebert, and even House Speaker Nancy Pelosi seems reluctant to take on another battle with bigots.

Boebert is not alone in abandoning the dog whistle for the bullhorn. The GOP is in thrall to former President Donald Trump, whose presidential campaigns borrowed from the rhetoric that Wallace had used decades earlier. Republicans who wish to excite their base copy Trump and the racists who inspired him.

Boebert has done that by repeatedly suggesting that Omar is a terrorist  to applause and laughter from her conservative audiences. In a September appearance, Boebert called Omar evil and a member of the jihad squad.

In a November speech, Boebert lied, claiming that a Capitol police officer had run toward her as she was getting on an elevator with a staffer. Whats happening? I look to my left and there (Omar) is, and I said, Well, she doesnt have a backpack, we should be fine, Boebert sneered.

Omar says there was never any such incident.

Sign up for The Knick  Get the latest news and some area history with our afternoon newsletter.

This is Islamophobia at its ugliest, but it also reflects an older prejudice. Omar is a brown-skinned immigrant from Africa, a native of Somalia. For Boebert and her Trumpist claque, Omars a two-fer: Muslim and Black.

The right-wing intelligentsia insists on pointing out that the pantheon of post-Reconstruction white supremacists, including Thurmond, Talmadge and Wallace, comprised Democrats. Thats true, but its also beside the point. After President Lyndon Johnson signed legislation supporting civil rights, the Republican Party began pandering to aggrieved whites, and they fled to the GOP. Johnson predicted as much when he signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964; he turned to his press secretary and lamented that Democrats had lost the South for a generation.

Johnson, it turns out, was an optimist. The white South is long lost to Democrats. Worse than that is this: The current Republican Party rejects the Constitution itself because it enforces equality for all.

As the nation has come closer to that promise, the GOP has opted, instead, for a white-centric autocracy. The Grand Old Party has become a repository for unapologetic racists, Trumpist reactionaries, vile xenophobes. And its leaders will do whatever it takes to remain in power.

Its difficult these days to believe that King was right about the moral arc of the universe bending toward justice.

Cynthia Tucker can be reached at cynthia@cynthiatucker.com.
ALBANY  Farm workers are being paid more under a year-old, 60-hour overtime threshold, but farm owners said they are worried that bringing their laborers in line with the rest of the industry by instituting a 40-hour work week would put them out of business, according to a state-commissioned study by Cornell University.

The study's conclusions are being heavily promoted by the agricultural industry while also drawing criticism from advocates for the 40-hour work week, who contend the findings are flawed. The state Department of Agriculture commissioned the study in April  at a cost of up to $100,000  to "understand how these labor laws change the cost of production and competitiveness of New York agricultural industries."

The report sampled 40 farms that the university said it had prior relationships with and the data reflected commercial farms of a certain size that would use Farm Credit East, a group that is also aligned with the agricultural industry. The university declined to provide a copy of blank questionnaires it used to gather inputs from farmers and their employees, asserting that doing so would be a breach of confidentiality and would compromise future research.

"The data about what happened over the first year of implementation seems to me to tell a pretty good story and that's even from a report that seems to be going out of its way to not tell a good story," said David Dyssegaard Kallick, director of the Immigration Research Initiative.

The state Department of Labor's Farm Labor Wage Board, which is studying the issue, is set to look at a year's worth of data on the overtime threshold for farmers to potentially decide a question that has split labor rights groups and the agriculture industry for a century.

The board was directed in February by the state labor commissioner to meet no later than Wednesday, but the Department of Labor declined to provide details on whether that meeting would be subject to the state Open Meetings Law and be posted publicly in advance.

"We will provide an update when we have one," the department said in a statement Monday.

The New York Civil Liberties Union is concerned that a meeting could happen in private and undercut the public's right to access the conversation of lowering the threshold for overtime to kick in once an employee has worked a 40-hour week.

The Cornell study was quickly celebrated by agricultural industry groups that have been pushing a perspective that family farms would crumble under a 40-hour overtime threshold.

"A new independent farm labor report from (Cornell) found major negative impacts for (New York) dairy if overtime threshold drops to 40," the New York Farm Bureau tweeted.

An almost identically styled tweet by Grow NY Farms, an advocacy group representing the agricultural industry, said that workers on visas "would likely not return to (New York) farms if the overtime threshold drops to 40, likely capping their hours."

And a similar tweet by Cornell's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences  shared by Grown NY Farms and the Farm Bureau  promoted the report's takeaway in an infographic: "Approximately two-thirds of dairy farms interviewed indicated they would move out of milk production, direct future dairy investment to other states, invest outside of dairy or exit agriculture entirely if faced with a 40-hour overtime threshold for employees."

The graphic in the college's lone tweet on the report quotes the lead researcher, Chris Wolf, who told the Times Union the report was very narrow in scope and not intended to speak for an entire industry.

The statistics the university shared about the dairy industry reflect 20 dairy farms that are "not a random sample of farms, rather it was a convenience sample based on farms that we could quickly access primarily based on previous relationships," according to the report.

The owners of the farms were given a questionnaire, Wolf said, and then members of the Cornell Cooperative Extension walked through the questions with them to help the farmers understand the intent of the researchers.

Most farmers said they would consider leaving the industry or scaling down under 40-hour overtime rules.

"For natural reasons, they're very prone to exaggerate," said Paul Sonn, state policy program director for the National Employment Law Project.

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

The report also relied on payroll data provided by Farm Credit East of 40 commercial farms  half of them dairy and the others fruit and vegetable farms. Wolf said there was no intentional reason why both the number of farms the researchers interviewed in person and the number of farms they received data from were the same.

It would be highly unlikely the farms were the same, Wolf said, because Farm Credit East  which has heavily critiqued the overtime threshold  compiled the data through a random sample.

"I take the word of the people who we worked with there and I know who was pulling it, the data," Wolf said. "Since it tells a similar story, I think it's just a matter of another set of data that is consistent."

Certain parts of the study also assume that the average farm employee works about 53 hours a week, an assumption Wolf said that the university has long used in its data.

"We could and maybe we should at some point change that," he said.

In 2020, the state instituted a 60-hour overtime threshold, the first time farmers in New York qualified for overtime. Dairy farms made an average of $5.6 million in 2020, about a 3 percent drop off from the year prior, before the overtime threshold. The 20 fruit and vegetable farms reported a 13 percent increase in gross income in 2020, up to $5.6 million.

For both sets of farms, the data substantially skewed toward bigger farms.

Farmers have long been carved out of overtime threshold, including back to the New Deal, when Southern Democrats cut a deal with President Franklin D. Roosevelt and other leaders to ensure a vote in support of creating a baseline minimum wage and 40-hour work week for nearly all other workers.

States like California have recently passed a 40-hour work week for farmers despite backlash from the industry that it will create a competitive imbalance and put small farms out of business.

While the data showed that workers were getting paid more, including under escalating minimum wage standards, most promotion of the study focused on what farmers and their employees said in the survey that was conducted.

Farm employees said they would be likely to leave the state if their hours were cut. Wolf acknowledged that they were not told that minimum wage is expected to continue to increase, which could mean they may not necessarily make less by working fewer hours.
ALBANY  More than a dozen county officials across New York, including in Saratoga County, have said they will not enforce an indoor mask mandate that went into effect on Monday, three days after some county executives said they were told by Gov. Kathy Hochul's administration to avoid diverting resources to crack down on violations of the order.

That direction, according to Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro, came on a weekly regional leadership call with state and Hudson Valley officials.

At a lengthy news conference on Monday, Hochul reinforced her hope that people will follow the directive to wear masks indoors, adding she is seeking to avoid having state workers enforce the new mask policy.

"There's a difference in opinion," Hochul told reporters Monday. "We hope that counties will enforce it."

Theodore T. Kusnierz, Jr., chairman of the Saratoga County Board of Supervisors, said their public health department and law enforcement agencies "will not enforce New York states misguided and unrealistic mask mandate, which passes the buck to counties to enforce what the governor herself said just over a week ago is 'almost impossible' to enforce."

The county also will not enforce a policy prohibiting school children from taking "mask breaks," the county's statement added, noting the "best way to protect the health and safety of Saratoga County residents, families, schools and businesses is to continue to focus public health resources on rapidly providing booster vaccinations to the public, which our public health team continues to do."

The policy comes at a time when rates of COVID-19 have been escalating in some regions, with many upstate hospitals nearing capacity as questions swirl about the potential risks that a newly discovered omicron variant may pose to New Yorkers and the state's economy. Most counties have either said they plan to support the mask policy or have offered no opposition as they try to avoid further issues with the coronavirus and hospital bed capacity.

The new policy was issued on Friday by state Department of Health acting Commissioner Dr. Mary T. Bassett. It was triggered by a state code that went into effect Nov. 24 and is to run through at least Feb. 21. The mask mandate is set to expire on Jan. 15 unless it is renewed.

Hochul's administration has revived hosting weekly conference calls with regional leaders since at least since November, including a Nov. 21 call that featured the governor and Kathryn Garcia, director of state operations, in which state officials solicited feedback on next steps related to COVID-19, according to officials on the call.

The call on Friday with Hudson Valley leaders left some county officials uncertain about Hochul's new policy, which requires people to wear masks indoors if a public space does not require all persons to be vaccinated for entry  a policy that has been in effect in New York City for months.

Capital Region officials had their call with state officials on Friday morning, which led to their knowing about the new policy before it was officially announced. Albany County Executive Dan McCoy released one of the first statements in support of the policy. Some state lawmakers on Friday said they had learned of the return of the mask mandate during Hochul's news conference that day in Manhattan, which was centered around the signing of a bill on housing.

In the Capital Region, officials were simply told that enforcement was being left up to their local health departments, which is how the policy is written. But in the Hudson Valley and on Long Island, officials there were told not to spend resources on enforcement of the mandate, according to Molinaro.

"The state's suggestion to counties on the calls we've had is do not divert resources to enforce this health commissioner's order," Molinaro said Monday. "Why? Because I think they acknowledge it is difficult to enforce."

Former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, who had imposed an order requiring masks indoors, had used state workers, including law enforcement members, to enforce limits on crowds and the wearing of face coverings. At other times, Cuomo had suggested citizens could play a role in enforcing the rule by calling out those who ignore the order.

Molinaro, a Republican who is running for Congress, first learned the details of the policy during his region's weekly call, which he said was about two hours after Hochul's announcement.

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

Assembly Republican Minority Leader Will Barclay on Friday said that the state is "once again being force-fed another statewide mandate announced without notice, with little information, from a podium at a press conference."

In addition to Saratoga County, at least nine other counties have indicated they may not enforce the policy, including Dutchess, Madison, Rockland, Livingston, Niagara, Rensselaer, Genesee, Orleans and Greene counties, while several others have similar plans.

Incoming Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, a Republican who flipped that Long Island seat in last month's election, said he does not plan to enforce it. Onodaga County officials have said they will wait to enforce it until businesses learn the new rules. Oswego County officials indicated they may not locally enforce it. Oneida County officials said they plan to follow their own mask mandate.

On the Nov. 21 call with Hudson Valley officials, Hochul, Garcia, and other state officials joined county executives to inform them about what could be coming, Molinaro said. The governor suggested that new mask policies could go into effect, he said, but no specifics were discussed. The call came just before the announcement of a new emergency order to limit non-essential surgeries at overwhelmed hospitals and the known emergence of the omicron variant.

The limitation on non-essential surgeries was directed by the health department at 32 hospitals in 21 counties, all upstate. Officials in at least four of the counties with hospitals with less than 10 percent staffed bed capacity have said they do not plan to enforce the mask mandate, which is intended to limit the spread of the virus and therefore limit potential severe infections that can lead to increased hospitalizations.

The mask policy cites new state code, which went into effect Nov. 24. The state code says that "due to the emergent nature of COVID-19, small business and local governments were not consulted."

Still, Hochul told reporters Monday that she consulted with county and business leaders, although the timeline of the conversations is unclear.

"I am very concerned about the businesses," Hochul said. "That's why I called many businesses before we did this."
An investigation has found that a high-profile lawyer who falsely insisted that former President Donald Trump actually won the 2020 election did not violate Georgia election laws by moving to another state before voting last year
It should be a full round of midweek Premier League games with all 10 matches broadcast live on BT Sport in the UK but the first game has already been postponed due to Covid cases:

Tuesday 14 December 2021

P - P Brentford v Man Utd

19:45 Norwich City v Aston Villa on BT Sport 2

20:00 Man City v Leeds Utd on BT Sport 1

Wednesday 15 December 2021

19:30 Brighton & Hove Albion v Wolves on BT Sport 2

19:30 Burnley v Watford on BT Sport ESPN

19:30 Crystal Palace v Southampton on BT Sport 3

20:00 Arsenal v West Ham Utd on BT Sport 1

Thursday 16 December 2021

19:30 Leicester City v Tottenham Hotspur on BT Sport 3

19:45 Chelsea v Everton on BT Sport 2

20:00 Liverpool v Newcastle United on BT Sport 1

Note: the following content is not moderated or vetted by the site owners at the time of submission. Comments are the responsibility of the poster. Disclaimer

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Sadly, local plague numbers aren't complete and MSM is reporting a continued threat as our elected leaders continue to slap fight over debate policy, dress codes and courtroom power moves.



For now, we merely share a look at new numbers along with big picture data and a powerful ground level story . . .



On Nov. 1, there were 37 patients who tested positive for COVID-19 at hospitals in the St. Luke's Health System. On Monday, there were 118 patients.



Over the weekend, the University of Kansas Health System had four people die due to COVID-19.



"Its hard to explain it unless youve seen the patients when theyre struggling," Larsen said, "youve seen the fear when they cant breathe."



In Johnson County, Kansas, officials said the COVID-19 positivity rate is about four times where we were a few weeks ago.



"We encourage everyone to get their booster shots," Johnson County Health Director Dr. Sanmi Areola said.

Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com news links from BOTH sides of the ongoing debate . . .

Kansas City area doctors warn of steadily increasing COVID-19 hospitalizations KANSAS CITY, Mo. - COVID-19 hospitalizations have been steadily increasing since November, though the numbers are still below peaks seen earlier this year. It's reached a point that's concerning to Kansas City area doctors, especially with another holiday ahead.

Fauci Says It's 'Tough to Tell' if Covid Boosters Will Be Needed Every Year Are we going to need to keep getting Covid-19 boosters forever? Two weeks after federal health officials expanded their guidance to recommend that all adults receive a Covid-19 vaccine booster dose, President Biden's chief medical advisor, Dr. Anthony Fauci, was asked if yearly boosters are in our future.

Another grim Covid-19 milestone: At least 800,000 Americans have died The United States passed another grim Covid-19 milestone Monday, as more than 800,000 Americans have now died from the virus that's plagued the country for nearly two years. There have been at least 800,156confirmed deaths traced to coronavirus, according to a rolling tally by NBC News.

Britain Reports World's First Confirmed Death From Heavily Mutated Omicron Variant Britain has reported what appears to be the world's first confirmed death from the heavily mutated Omicron variant of COVID-19. There have been initial signs that the new variant causes less severe symptoms than the dominant Delta strain-but, making his announcement of the death Monday morning, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that may not be the case.

New York Times editorial: Too many Americans still 'paralyzed' by coronavirus fears The New York Times editorial board wrote Saturday that it didn't believe the coronavirus pandemic would be going away in the near future, and that Americans "paralyzed" with fear needed to learn to live with the reality of the virus in their lives.

Air Force discharges 27 for refusal to get COVID vaccine | AP News WASHINGTON (AP) - The Air Force has discharged 27 people for refusing to get the COVID-19 vaccine, making them what officials believe are the first service members to be removed for disobeying the mandate to get the shots. The Air Force gave its forces until Nov.

Supreme Court rejects bid to block Covid vaccine mandate for NY health workers The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday denied an emergency bid to block enforcement of New York's coronavirus vaccine mandate for health care workers. The legal challenge was filed by a group of 20 doctors and nurses who argued that the state's vaccine mandate violates the First Amendment to the Constitution because it fails to include a religious exemption.

Booster boom adds to wait times at walk-in clinics FAIRWAY, KS (KCTV) -- The demand for Covid-19 booster shots continues to rise across the country. In the metro, health departments say vaccine appointment spots are filling up ahead of the holidays. The Unified Government of Wyandotte County and KCK said the demand for Covid-19 booster shots has gone up 20 percent.

Health experts break down COVID-19 trends in Jackson County as Christmas approaches JACKSON COUNTY, Mo. - The Jackson County Legislature voted 5-4 to not extend the county's mask mandate, and with the holidays right around the corner, experts say COVID-19 cases are trending in the wrong direction.

You decide . . .
There's a bitter argument about masks for students and the decisions vary from district to district.



Accordingly . . .

Here's a quick roundup of the latest decisions, threats, arguments and re-masking news as COVID numbers spike going into cold & flu season . . .



Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com news links . . .

'You have no legal authority': Lee's Summit School District responds to Missouri AG's letter KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The Lee's Summit R-7 School District has fired back at Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt over cease and desist letters he sent to several districts last week. In the letters, Schmitt demanded the districts repeal any masks or vaccine requirements related to COVID-19.

Missouri AG has no 'legal authority' over masks, school district's attorney says LEE'S SUMMIT, Mo. - The Lee's Summit school board took a page out of Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt's book when it responded to a cease and desist letter. Following a ruling by a Cole County Circuit Court last week, Schmitt, a Republican running for U.S.

2 Olathe high schools switch back to universal masking because of COVID-19 numbers Hide Transcript Show Transcript SHOTS TWO OLATHE SCHOOLS WILL RETURN TO UNIVERSAL MASKING UNTIL WINTER BREAK BEGINS. SO LATHA WEST AND OLATHE NORTHWEST WILL REQUIRE MASKS THROUGH THE END OF THE YEAR.

Blue Springs passes resolution opposing any future mask mandates from Jackson County The Blue Springs City Council adopted a resolution Monday opposing any future mask mandates from the Jackson County Legislature or the Jackson County Health Department. The measure was approved 5-0.The city said in a news release that a special meeting was held after the Jackson County Legislature considered a proposal to reinstate the mask mandate.

Smithville Board of Education votes to make masks optional after winter break KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The Smithville Board of Education voted unanimously on Monday evening to make masks optional when students return from winter break. Students begin winter break on Dec. 17 and return on Jan. 4. Though masks will be optional, the district will still have quarantine protocols in place.

26 Johnson County elected officials sign letter urging county to 'end the mask mandate for all children' A letter signed by 26 elected leaders in Johnson County urges the Board of County Commissioners to end the county's current public health order requiring masks in schools serving younger students. The letter, which bears the title "Locally Elected Working Together Advocating for Johnson County Children and Families," was sent to commissioners last week.

Johnson County sheriff among elected officials calling for end of mask mandate for kids KANSAS CITY, Mo. - More than two dozen elected officials have written a letter to the Johnson County Board of County Commissioners calling for an end to the county's mask requirements for children. The letter, dated Dec. 8, asks county commissioners to consider repealing the county's mandate for kids at its regularly scheduled board meeting on Dec.

Developing . . .


Following a COVID remask defeat and outcry over confusing public health rules, the courthouse is fighting back against a recent Missouri decision that gives municipalities more leeway to make their own public health decisions.



Read the release carefully . . .

Moreover . . .

TKC BREAKING NEWS!!! JACKSON COUNTY LAWSUIT CLAIMS CHAOS AMID COVID AFTER PUBLIC HEALTH PROTOCOL SWITCHEROO!!!

Also . . .

DON'T SLEEP ON THAT "LITIGATION OF TERROR" CLOSING LINE AGAINST THE MISSOURI AG!!!

Here's the word . . .



Jackson County files motion to intervene in Cole County Circuit Court public health case

KANSAS CITY, Mo.  Pursuant to Missouri Supreme Court Rule 52.12, Jackson County has filed a motion today to intervene in the Robinson vs. Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) lawsuit and stay the judgment issued by the Cole County Circuit Court pending resolution on appeal or the courts reconsideration of the judgment. The motion, filed in conjunction with St. Louis County, seeks to preserve the regulations that have enabled local public health authorities to address all matters of public health, not just COVID-19.



The filings specifically state that in a single proceeding, this Court upended the longstanding public health framework in the State of Missouri, failed to consider relevant law and went far beyond the relief requested. Additionally, the filings say the courts November 22, 2021 judgment has created great confusion during a significant public health crisis, which heavily favors both counties request to stay the courts decision.



Jackson County and St. Louis County both argue that chaos now reigns in the state with respect to the administration of public health. Few public health officials, local government leaders and school boards have any idea what they are legally permitted to do or are legally prohibited from doing. As a result, officials from both counties assert that they cannot sit idly by in dereliction of their statutory and regulatory duties to protect the public health by preventing the spread of diseases in their communities.



Despite the desire of DHSS to appeal the courts decision, Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt is abdicating his duty to do so, instead electing to embark on a campaign of litigation terror against local governments and schools throughout the State. The citizens of Missouri deserve better and that is what this motion seeks to do.

#####################



Dox . . .

Memorandum in Support of Motion to Intervene and Stay



Motion to Intervene and Stay

UPDATES AFTER TKC FIRST POSTING . . .

Jackson County joins legal challenge of judge's ruling barring mask mandates Jackson County said it is joining St. Louis County to intervene in a lawsuit where a Missouri judge's ruling barred public mask mandates issued by health departments.Jackson County said it filed a motion Monday to intervene in the Robinson vs.

Jackson, St. Louis counties say 'chaos now reigns' after Missouri judge's health department ruling Saying that "chaos now reigns" in Missouri's public health landscape, Jackson and St. Louis counties want permission to appeal a judge's decision that stopped local health departments from issuing orders aimed at slowing the spread of COVID-19.

Jackson, St. Louis counties challenge ruling that struck down public health officials' powers KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Jackson County and St. Louis County are teaming up to challenge a court ruling that struck down public health officials' abilities to issue health orders. The two Missouri counties filed a motion Monday to intervene in the Robinson vs.

Developing . . .
Despite dire warnings about the uptick in COVID cases, a mask mandate proposal the Courthouse was defeated today amid widespread protest.



Some of our readers suggest the drama was overplayed. However, the close vote suggests that quite a few politicos were more serious about restarting the public health dress code crackdown.



Take a peek . . .



"Jackson County, as well as the surrounding counties, are classified as high transmission areas," Bridgette Shaffer, director of the Jackson County Health Department, told legislators before the vote.



Jackson County Executive Frank White said he also supports the resolution.



"Politics is temporary; health care is forever. So we just have to remember that this is an issue that has become publicized and politicalized," White said.



"I think we have to do everything we possibly can to save lives," Jackson County Legislator Ronald Finley said.



But not everyone agreed with the idea during Monday's meeting.



"There are a number of issues with this legislation that makes it even inappropriate for us to consider a vote on. First of all, it is against state Statute 67.265, which places a 180-day prohibition on expired or terminated health orders," Jackson County Legislator Jeanie Lauer said.

Nevertheless . . .



The vote FAILED and Jackson County won't be forced to mask up any time soon.

Lawsuit threats from the Missouri AG & cities like Lee's Summit and Blue Springs openly discussing moving against any proposed mandate likely influenced the decision.



Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com news links . . .

Vote to reenact mask mandate in Jackson County fails KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The Jackson County Legislature voted against a mask mandate Monday morning. The resolution failed by a vote of 5-4. Supporters of the resolution cited an increase in COVID-19 cases in the county as one of the reasons the mandate was necessary.

Jackson County Legislature votes against reinstating mask mandate KANSAS CITY, Mo. - In the last scheduled meeting of the year for the Jackson County Legislature, the body voted against reinstating a county mask mandate for 30 days. The legislature voted 5-4 against a new 30-day mandate. The mandate would have been in effect until Jan. 12, 2022.

Efforts to reinstate mask mandate in Jackson County fail in 5-4 vote Efforts to reinstate a mask mandate to curb the spread of COVID-19 in Jackson County, Missouri failed in the county commission Monday.The commission defeated resolution 20844 in a 5-4 vote.If approved, that resolution would have required indoor masking for people ages 5 and up in the county.

Developing . . .


As winter approaches Kansas City preps to double down on an expensive strategy to keep often hobos from off the streets that didn't really work last time around.



Accordingly . . .

Today's news about the Kansas City homeless hotel opening its doors soon probably won't solve ongoing crisis on local streets BUT it will, undoubtedly, blight yet another section of town and create a dead end for locals who need help beyond mediocre political theater.

Here's the money line . . .



"The plan will use $400,000 to convert the former Days Inn near Quincy Avenue and Linwood Boulevard into a center complete with social workers, health care, housing assistance, and transitional housing units . . . This is just one of several steps Kansas City is taking to help eradicate homelessness. The city is also working on a plan to convert nearly 3,000 Land Bank properties into affordable housing, developing a plan to create 10,000 new affordable housing units by 2027, and helping with emergency rental assistance payments."

Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com news links . . .

KC hotel to become center to help homeless move into permanent housing by: Heidi Schmidt Posted: / Updated: KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The city council approved a plan to turn a former hotel into a center to help the homeless find permanent places to live. The plan will use $400,000 to convert the former Days Inn near Quincy Avenue and Linwood Boulevard into a center complete with social workers, health care, housing assistance, and transitional housing units.

Kansas City approves funding for Housing Navigation Center to help people get permanent housing KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Lotus Care House now inhabits the former Days Inn motel at 5100 East Linwood Boulevard in Kanas City, Missouri. There, it will soon open a Housing Navigation Center for people experiencing homelessness. Kansas City, Missouri, City Council voted on Dec.

Local group collects over $31,000 worth of feminine hygiene products for area shelters KANSAS CITY, MO (KCTV) -- Domestic violence shelters in the Metro will have help stocking hygiene products thanks to one local organization and those who donated to it. Giving Hope and Help is a nonprofit based in Kansas City that provides support to domestic violence survivors and others in the community.

Hillcrest cuts the ribbon on new transitional housing units for struggling families With the cut of a ribbon, four more families are one step closer to having a home.At 505 SW Mission Road in Lee's Summit, Missouri, several fourplexes offer two-bedroom apartments, with rent and utilities included for families that need them. Hillcrest Transitional Housing provides the service, once the families pass a stringent screening process.

'I just want to be considered': The houseless in Kansas City and the people trying to help KANSAS CITY, Mo. - KSHB 41 News met James, a houseless man, at the corner of Admiral and The Paseo in Kansas City, Missouri, a few weeks ago. Immediately, he described the instability and uncertainty around his current situation. "It makes me feel unwanted, pretty much like a second-class citizen, really," he said.

Developing . . .
A clever Kansas City political turnabout deserves attention because if Mayor Q pulls it off he just might be a political genius.



However . . .

Pro-police arguments from 12th & Oak might strike some locals as disingenuous.

We'll let readers decide . . .



MAYOR Q DEMANDS MORE COPS AND SALARY INCREASES IN HIS LATEST TWEET!!!

Here's the word . . .



"Tomorrow we have our monthly Board of Police Commissioners meeting. Very simply, the Board should finally approve officer pay increases for the first time in three years. With that budget item resolved, we then need to address violent crime challenges that seem to be spiking now"

On the surface, we don't disagree with the policy statement whatsoever.



However, as always, this argument deserves a bit of context . . .

The Mayor has fought bitterly with KCPD for more than a year. He has marched in the street shouting "no justice, no peace" with violent protesters and he recently FAILED to oust the top cop before Christmas. In fact, as we've noted in one of our most popular posts of the year . . . Mayor Q has been defined by his anti-police agenda.

And so we ask . . .

DO YOU TRUST MAYOR Q'S ADVOCACY FOR MORE COPS AND BETTER PAY?!?!

The outcome would be welcomed but we're not sure Mayor Q what to think of Mayor Q attempting to co-opt this longstanding argument.

Maybe it's a turning point for better cooperation betwixt city hall & the police department . . . Maybe Mayor Q has finally decided to support so many locals who think "defund" is a bad idea.

You decide . . .


After a deadly start to this month, local politicos have been inspired to approve more money for cops.



Here's good news regarding a longstanding complaint . . .



"The news comes after the Kansas City Board of Police Commissioners met to approve the pay increases Tuesday morning. Commissioners approved $2.6 million for raises."



"This will touch everybody," said Police Chief Rick Smith.

Thankfully, KMBC provides a bit of context . . .



"The passage of two ordinances by the city council earlier this year that would have reallocated more than $42 million of KCPD's budget for community programs and crime prevention efforts kicked off a back-and-forth legal battle between the police board and the city council."

Remember that the Mayor LOST that court battle and now, thankfully, more help is on the way.



Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com news link . . .

Kansas City BOPC approves pay increase for officers for first time in 3 years For the first time in three years, police officers in Kansas City, Missouri, are getting a pay raise.The news comes after the Kansas City Board of Police Commissioners met to approve the pay increases Tuesday morning. Commissioners approved $2.6 million for raises."This will touch everybody," said Police Chief Rick Smith.

KCPD employees to get a pay raise at the start of the new year KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The Kansas City, Missouri, Board of Police Commissioners approved a motion to raise pay for Kansas City Police Department employees on Tuesday. The pay raise will come into effect in January 2022, according to KSHB 41 News reporter Andres Gutierrez. KCPD has struggled with staffing and facing a significant shortage of officers.

Developing . . .
Last night our blog community broke news about an upcoming Missouri COVID court battle over control of public health rules.



For the midday, our progressive pals and some more MSM news links attempt to explain the legal confrontation . . .



"Missouris attorney general says a ruling from a Cole County judge invalidates mask mandates for both local health authorities and school districts, but a St. Louis University law professor disagrees, saying it depends on who is issuing the order."

Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com news links . . .

What a recent court ruling means for Missouri's mask mandates A ruling by a Cole County judge has called into question who can issue mask mandates inMissouri. Attorney General Eric Schmitt has sent letters to local health authorities and school districts, saying that the ruling invalidates their mandates and that they should no longer be enforced.

More Districts Modify COVID-19 Rules After Schmitt Letter KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - Two Kansas City area districts are dropping mask mandates and modifying quarantine rules in response to Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt's threats to file legal action against districts over the regulations.

Missouri county denied mask mandate despite 150% increase in COVID cases KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The Jackson County Legislature voted Monday morning on a mask mandate. The resolution failed by a vote of 5-4. Supporters of the resolution cited an increase in COVID-19 cases in the county as one of the reasons the mandate was necessary.

Missouri flu cases nearly double in a week ST. LOUIS - Flu cases are rising in Missouri, as the state also deals with an uptick of COVID-19 cases. The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services reported 265 confirmed-positive flu cases for the last week of November. That number jumped to 476 positive cases the first week of December.

Wednesday: Missouri AG's threats against school districts draw pushback This interview will be on "St. Louis on the Air" at noon Wednesday. This story will be updated after the show. You can listen live . An attorney hired by a Lee's Summit school district wasted little time responding to Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt last week after Schmitt threatened legal action against the district.

Developing . . .
December 7, 1941, marks the U.S. government's foray into World War II after a destructive, surprise attack by Japanese forces on the American fleet at Pearl Harbor, an American naval base close to Honolulu, Hawaii.[1] The attack killed more than 2400 American civilians and soldiers and the shocking devastation prompted President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Congress to declare war on Japan the very next day. The 2001 Hollywood movie Pearl Harbor is set against the backdrop of this devastation as its characters maneuver through love, loss and heroism.

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The main characters of the story, Danny, Rafe and Evelyn, are all fictional, though the two reel-story pilots are loosely fashioned around real-life pilots and historical heroes Kenneth Taylor and George Welch[2]. The film is a historical war-romance, centered around childhood friends Danny and Rafe, two Army Air Corp pilots and navy nurse Evelyn. Rafe and Evelyn are romantically involved but this romance is cut short when he announces his intent to join the Eagle Squadron. Subsequently, he is shot down at the British channel and perceived to be dead, leaving behind Evelyn and Danny, who become close due to the shared sense of loss and mourning.

Rafe returns on December 6, the day before the Pearl Harbor attack, and feels betrayed, lurching the three main characters into a love triangle. The film then goes on to display the horrors of the attack by Japanese aircrafts after which Danny and Rafe are promoted to captaincy due to their display of heroism. They then head over to Japan under Major Doolittle with a crew of soldiers with the intention of bombing Tokyo as a form of retaliation for the Pearl Harbor attack. During the ensuing fight, Danny is shot down by Japanese patrols, once again leaving a grieving Evelyn to seek solace in her deceased lovers friend.

Pearl Harbor has been heavily criticized by critics due to its numerous historical inaccuracies, some trivial, others really significant. Carl Boggs, in Pearl Harbor: How Films Conquers History, subjects the films lackluster portrayal of the Pearl Harbor attack to harsh criticism. If the goal of Bruckheimer, Bay, and Wallace [the film creators] was to achieve the utmost realism, giving audiences a view of Pearl Harbor as never seen before, then the film was a complete disaster. It is riddled with distortions and inaccuracies, lacks historical mapping, dwells on peripheral stories and events at the expense of the main narrative, and presents visual images that are hardly compelling, Boggs writes, attacking everything from the films visuals to its heavy reliance on parallel storylines that detract from the reality of war.

Boggs goes on to say that though Bays hunch to combine fiction with nonfiction is warranted from an artistic standpoint, a filmmaker is obliged to adhere to at least minimum standards of authenticity if he wants the picture to be taken as anything more than one person's fantasy. Creative liberty should not come at the expense of accuracy, especially when documenting such a fundamental turn in U.S. history. Boggs also takes issue with pilots and the airforce being the central focus of the film when in reality, the actual Pearl Harbor attack was anchored by the Japanese navy where aerial and ground forces played a limited role. In Boggs own words,

Bay's selection of two army pilots as main protagonists seems bizarre and out of focus, much like dwelling on the role of the Soviet navy in a film depicting the battle of Stalingrad.[3]

One of the most glaring oversights by the films producers is Rafes assignment to the American Eagle Squadron. Though the unit did exist where thousands of Americans volunteered to join the war to fight on the British side in the Royal Air Force before Americas official entry, it was illegal for U.S. soldiers to join foreign armed forces.[4] Rafe would have not been officially ordered to join the RAF, unlike the films portrayal, and doing so would have put him at risk of losing his American citizenship. Also, the RAF Eagle Squadrons consisted of nearly 7000 American volunteers whereas in the movie, Rafe is displayed to be the only American in the unit.

In conclusion, this major plot-pusher in the film that ushers the love triangle between the main protagonists, is not supported by the actual sequence of events in historical reality. Rafe and Dannys military roles also shift during the course of the film. They are portrayed to be fighter pilots in the beginning as they take on the Japanese fleet at Pearl Harbor, but later transition into bomber fighters during Doolittles raid. In reality, fighter and bomber pilots are separate, non-interchangeable roles.

The film also features an inaccurate portrayal of the communication technology during the era, showing it to be far more advanced than it actually was in the 1940s. Pilots during that time communicated via short-range radios that did not permit ground transmittance, unlike the films portrayal. Furthermore, one scene shows a Japanese-American receiving a call from someone in Japan, even though telecommunication technology at that time did not allow for trans-pacific phone calls. [5]

A film review by Nicholas Evan Sarantakes published by the Society for Military History points out another discrepancy in the portrayal of President Roosevelt. Played by Jon Voight, a scene showed Roosevelt kick aside his wheelchair as a display of American pride. Sarantakes says that, In addition to being condescending, this scene is just plain wrong. The real FDR went to great lengths to hide his affliction and never drew attention to it, except when visiting the wounded in hospitals. [6]

Films like Pearl Harbor play an important role in shaping public sentiment about historical events. Though the film has been criticized for its failure to capture the segregation era accurately as it shows Evelyn, a white nurse, tending to a Black soldier, it is not surprising that those parts have been intentionally omitted. That portrayal would have conflicted with the films overarching theme of American bravery and pride.

It also includes various small errors - the Japanese never attacked a hospital like the film portrays but showing this aggression not only acts as a plot device, but also forwards the films patriotic theme. Nevertheless, widely accessible artforms, such as film, have the benefit of being easily accessible and understandable by the general public. Even if theyre not completely accurate, they can spark interest in viewers and prod them to do their own research. Though Boggs discussion of World War II in the context of filmmaking is enlightening and very thorough due to his comparisons between various other films that visualize the war, it is relatively inaccessible for a common person in a non-academic discipline.

The film, in this case, with its romantic melodrama, at least attempts to capture real people who lived through the attack - their lives, loves and emotions. In this manner, the film is more personal and relatable for the public. The mistakes and omissions also tell a story in themselves. By analyzing what the film left behind, we can understand the social and political mindset of the public the film caters to. The film just shows white women because mentioning Hawaiin women and women of colors struggles, and that they did way more than just serve as nurses,[7] would detract from the all-white main characters and the underlying theme of white male heroism.

Bibliography

Pearl Harbor. History.com. A&E Television Networks, October 29, 2009. https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/pearl-harbor

Edwards, Jeff. George Welch - One of the Few Pilots Who Fought Back During Pearl Harbor. War History Online, January 21, 2018.

https://www.warhistoryonline.com/instant-articles/george-welch-one-of-the-few-pilots-that-fought-back-during-pearl-harbor-x.html .

Boggs, Carl. Pearl Harbor: How Film Conquers History. New Political Science 28, no. 4 (2006): 45166.

https://doi.org/10.1080/07393140601005246.

Eagle Squadrons. Royal Airforce Museum. Accessed February 20, 2020. https://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/research/online-exhibitions/americans-in-the-royal-air-force/eagle-squadrons.aspx.

Sarantakes, Nicholas Evan. Review: Pearl Harbor. The Society for Military History. Accessed February 20, 2020. https://www.smh-hq.org/gazette/pearlharbor.html.

Tures, John A. How American Women Helped Win World War II in the Wake of Pearl Harbor. Observer. Observer, December 7, 2017. https://observer.com/2017/12/how-american-women-helped-win-world-war-ii-in-the-wake-of-pearl-harbor/.

[1] Pearl Harbor. History.com. A&E Television Networks. October 29, 2009. https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/pearl-harbor.

[2] Jeff Edwards. George Welch - One of the Few Pilots Who Fought Back During Pearl Harbor. War History Online, January 21, 2018. https://www.warhistoryonline.com/instant-articles/george-welch-one-of-the-few-pilots-that-fought-back-during-pearl-harbor-x.html.

[3] Carl Boggs, Pearl Harbor: How Film Conquers History, New Political Science 28, no. 4 (2006): pp. 451-466

[4] Eagle Squadrons. Royal Airforce Museum. Accessed February 20, 2020. https://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/research/online-exhibitions/americans-in-the-royal-air-force/eagle-squadrons.aspx.

[5] Nicholas Evan Sarantakes, Review: Pearl Harbor, The Society for Military History, accessed February 20, 2020, https://www.smh-hq.org/gazette/pearlharbor.html)

[6] Nicholas Evan Sarantakes, Review: Pearl Harbor, The Society for Military History, accessed February 20, 2020, https://www.smh-hq.org/gazette/pearlharbor.html)

[7] John A. Tures, How American Women Helped Win World War II in the Wake of Pearl Harbor, Observer (Observer, December 7, 2017), https://observer.com/2017/12/how-american-women-helped-win-world-war-ii-in-the-wake-of-pearl-harbor/)
Abstract

In 1794, U.S.-born inventor Eli Whitney designed and invented the cotton gin. The cotton gin was a simple machine that revolutionized the production of cotton by greatly speeding up the process of removing tiny green seeds from soft, white cotton fibers, making cotton more affordable and profitable. By the mid-19th century, cotton had become Americas leading export, and with the help of Whitneys cotton gin, America was growing and exporting a large majority of the world's supply of cotton. Although successful, the gin was not a lucrative invention for Whitney due to patent-infringement issues and others attempting to create their own variation of Whitneys machine. Whitneys gin, inadvertently, led to an increase in the number of slaves and slaveholders in the South. It also gave Southern plantation owners a justification to maintain and expand slavery even as it was becoming less and less popular throughout America.

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How the Cotton Gin Changed America

Eli Whitney, an American inventor, born on December 8, 1765 in Westborough, Massachusetts, unknowingly invented a simple machine that caused a massive expansion of slavery in the U.S that would arguably play a role in what led to the Civil War. In the late 18th century, cash crops and plantations were on the decline due to soil exhaustion from decades of farming and a loss of interest. As a solution, Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin. This simple invention rejuvenated plantation owners interests and they turned to cotton farming as a quick way to get rich. The cotton gin was a huge success and catapulted America towards an economic boom. Unfortunately, these enormous plantations required more slaves than ever, leading to conflict between the North and South. Ultimately, the cotton gin increased tensions between the North and South over the wide use of slavery. Americans were becoming more and more uncomfortable with the use of slaves. This played a large role in the War Between the States.

It is a well-known fact that Eli Whitney invented and patented the first cotton gin that would help begin the Industrial Revolution. For many, the story ends there. However, there is a more interesting yet complicated version of the story that many do not know. Whitney was born in a small farming town of Westborough, Massachusetts where his father learned to be a successful farmer. As a child, Eli learned to make musical instruments and bend metal into nails and knife blades. He also learned to work on his fathers farming equipment. At twenty three years old, he attended Yale College, where he would later graduate with honors (Allott 2014). After graduating from Yale College, Whitney accepted a job to work as a private tutor. While on his way to South Carolina for his new tutoring job, he met Catherine Green, a plantation owner in Savanah, Georgia. He accepted an invitation to stay with her and her husband, Phineas Green where he would learn about cotton production. It was there that he learned how particularly difficult it was to make a living farming cotton.

At the time, cotton was thought to be the best harvest grown for the area. It was disease free and could be stored without spoiling like perishable food crops. The main problem with cotton farming was the removal of the sticky, green seeds found throughout the cotton fibers. On average, a cotton picker could remove the seeds from only about one pound of cotton per day. Whitney would soon build a machine that could remove the troublesome seeds from the cotton fibers. The invention, called the cotton gin, used hooks to pull the cotton fibers across a mesh. The mesh effectively let the seeds through, leaving the soft cotton fiber behind. Smaller versions could be cranked by hand, whereas, larger ones were powered by a horse. As technology improved and the need arose, a much larger version would be powered by a steam engine. Whitneys smaller, hand-cranked machine could remove the seeds from 50 pounds of cotton in a single day, thus, drastically increasing cotton production and catching the appeal of many farmers.

In 1974, Whitney finally received a patent for his invention of the cotton gin. With his new patent, he planned to build cotton gins and install them on plantations throughout the South. Whitney and his new business partner, Phineas Miller, would produce as many gins as possible, and install them on farms throughout the Southeast. They decided the best way to make a profit, was to charge farmers a fee for doing the ginning for them. Their charge was two-fifths of the profit (Schur n.d.). Farmers were excited about the idea of a machine that would drastically increase cotton production. However, these farmers, not wanting to pay what was thought as a tax, had no intention of sharing any of their profits with Whitney or Miller. Instead, the idea and design for the cotton gin was copied, and plantation owners built their own machines. Frustrated, Miller attempted to bring law suits against the owners of these pirated versions, but because of poor wording of the 1793 patent act, they were unable to win any suits until 1800, when the law was changed (Schur n.d.)

Joan Brodsky Schur, a teacher at Village Community School, in New York, NY said, However, like many inventors, Whitney (who died in 1825) could not have foreseen the ways in which his invention would change society for the worse. The most significant of these was the growth of slavery. While it was true that the cotton gin reduced the labor of removing seeds, it did not reduce the need for slaves to grow and pick the cotton. In fact, the opposite occurred. Cotton growing became so profitable for the planters that it greatly increased their demand for both land and slave labor. In 1790 there were six slave states; in 1860 there were 15. From 1790 until Congress banned the importation of slaves from Africa in 1808, Southerners imported 80,000 Africans. By 1860, approximately one in three Southerners was a slave. (n.d.). As large plantations spread into the Southwest, the price of slaves and land led to the growth of cities and industries. In the 1850s, seven out of eight immigrants moved to the U.S. and settled in the North. It was there that they found 72% of the nation's manufacturing jobs.

Eli Whitney is commonly recognized as the inventor of the cotton gin; however, he is not commonly credited for the conception of interchangeable parts. Interchangeability was not his original goal; however, it made for more rapid production and repairs (The Factory, n.d.). These new manufactured parts were now being machined and had fewer flaws. At the time, guns were built by individuals, so that each finished rifle was unique and often, imperfect. Whitney discovered how to monetize this by machining muskets, making the parts identical and interchangeable. This made rifle making much easier and quicker. It also required less man hours, thus lowering the cost. As a manufacturer, Whitney finally became wealthy, mass producing muskets for the United States government.

It is thought that Whitneys ingenious invention of the cotton gin and its production led to large plantations and slavery in the South. It also, however, played a pivotal role in helping create the technology that led to the North winning the Civil War. The mass production of the cotton gin led to tremendous amounts of slave manpower to plant and pick cotton to later be ginned by Whitneys device. This production concept led Whitney to the idea of mass producing the musket. As cotton farming grew in the south and began spreading westward, slave labor increased concurrently. During this time, many Americans were uncomfortable with the practice of slave trading and their use as farm hands on large planation farms. This drove a large wedge between the North and the South. While the South was booming from farming and the cotton industry, the North was experiencing the same boom in the manufacturing and textile industry. When the War Between the States began, all the rifles, munitions, clothing, etc. was mass produced in the North. This made it very difficult for the South to outfit their soldiers with proper clothing and weaponry, thus giving the North an advantage.

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Eli Whitney may have created one of the single greatest inventions of the Industrial Revolution. However, his invention unknowingly had adverse effects. Arguably, Whitneys cotton gin led to an increase in slave labor and ultimately, the Civil War. He is most widely known as the inventor of the cotton gin but more importantly, Whitney is credited as the father in the development of the American system of mass-production used today.

References

Allott, D. (2014, September 9). Eli Whitneys Revolution. Retrieved from http://eds.a.ebscohost.com.libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/eds/detail/detail?vid=6&sid=c23eb6bb-f399-44f3-9146-32dd886ba439%40sdc-v-sessmgr02&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmUmc2NvcGU9c2l0ZQ%3d%3d#AN=98001816&db=bsu

EliWhitney.org. (n.d.). The Factory. Retrieved February 8, 2020, from http://eliwhitney.org/7/museum/about-eli-whitney/factory

Schur, J. B. (n.d.). Eli Whitneys Patent for the Cotton Gin. Retrieved February 3, 2020, from https://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/cotton-gin-patent
The situation around Ukraine's borders remains difficult as Russia continues redeploying troops to maintain tensions in the region.

"The Kremlin continues taking hybrid measures to destabilize the domestic political situation in Ukraine. The Russian Federation regularly demonstrates military force and intentions to use it. The situation around Ukraine's borders remains difficult. The Russian Federation periodically resorts to the practice of redeploying and amassing military units in order to maintain tensions in the region and put pressure on neighboring states," Deputy Defense Minister of Ukraine Hanna Maliar said, the Ministrys press service informs.

According to her, the gradual redeployment of Russian units, weapons and military equipment near the border with Ukraine is being recorded, as well as the realignment of Russian military personnel from the training areas. At the same time, after the exercises are completed, only personnel return to the permanent duty stations, while combat and other military equipment remains near the Ukrainian border.

According to Maliar, such actions pursue a tactical goal  to put pressure on the authorities of Ukraine and the leadership of other countries to impose a dialogue on inconvenient issues that are extremely important for Russia. The strategic goal of such goals is to restore full control over Ukraine, as well as to disrupt Ukraines Euro-Atlantic aspirations.

The official reminded that the Russian Federation continues provocative actions against Ukraine. As of December 13, about 70% of the Azov Sea remains blocked.

At the same time, the deputy minister noted that the Armed Forces of Ukraine are ready for any scenario. The regular units of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are on duty around the clock in the air defense system of Ukraine. It involves more than 1,000 troops and hundreds of units of military equipment, covering bridges, hydroelectric power plants, nuclear power plants and other critical infrastructure.

In addition, taking into account the military-political situation around the state borders of Ukraine, measures have been taken in threatening areas to strengthen the air cover of these facilities.

Maliar noted that the military-political leadership of Ukraine is provided with intelligence data and makes decisions timely, while Ukraines intelligence officers constantly exchange information with the officers of partner countries.

The deputy minister underscored that the Ukrainian army has become much stronger since 2014, gained combat experience, hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians have participated in hostilities, senior positions in the Armed Forces are held by commanders who went through the war, and the Armed Forces are ready for any developments, ready to defend Ukraine.

As reported, on December 5, Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said that the total number of Russian troops near the Ukrainian border could rise to 175,000.

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Ukraine and Estonia are stepping up border protection cooperation.

This was discussed at a meeting between Ukraine's Deputy Interior Minister Meri Akopyan and Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Estonia to Ukraine Kaimo Kuusk, Security Policy Adviser to President of Estonia Liis Mure, and Deputy Head of Mission of the Estonian Embassy Margus Gering.

As the press service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine informs, the parties discussed the migrant crisis on PolandBelarus border and ways of cooperation in case of further escalation. Ukraine's Deputy Interior Minister informed about the measures taken by the Ministry to strengthen the borders.

Akopyan said that the issue of border security is a priority for the Ukrainian authorities.

"We appreciate the political partnership with the Republic of Estonia and hope that the cooperation that has taken place between the two countries over the years will only improve. We are grateful to the Estonian partners for their constant and purposeful support aimed at developing the Ministry of Internal Affairs, reforming and strengthening it," the deputy minister said.

In turn, the Estonian partners offered their support in strengthening the security of Ukraine's borders. The parties also agreed to intensify cooperation between the ministries, especially in the field of cyber security and strategic communications.

According to the deputy minister, it is planned that National Police, National Guard, State Emergency Service, State Border Guard Service together with representatives of local administrations, Security Service of Ukraine and the Armed Forces of Ukraine will take part in intersectoral crisis exercises related to national resilience in information security, crisis and strategic communication. The events will take place in Mariupol, Sumy, Kherson, Mykolayiv, Kharkiv, Dnipro, Odesa, and Zaporizhzhia cities.

In addition, in January 2022 it is planned to sign a Memorandum of Cooperation between the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine and the International Center for Defense and Security of Estonia (ICDS) within the EstoniaUkraine program "Resilient Ukraine".

The meeting participants focused on cooperation in intensifying strategic communications area. In particular, the partners confirmed their readiness to send an expert on strategic communications of the Ministry of the Interior of Estonia to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine for trainings and consultations.

As German newspaper Bild reported, citing its own sources in NATO and the security services, Moscow could try to carry out a new armed invasion of Ukraine in three stages.

Earlier, Chief of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine Kyrylo Budanov said that the Russian invasion could take place in January-February in several directions: through sections of the eastern border (both government-controlled and non-government-controlled), as well as from Crimea and Belarus.

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NATO Heads of State and Government have reaffirmed their support for the territorial integrity of Ukraine, Georgia, and the Republic of Moldova, and called on Russia to withdraw its troops from the occupied territories.

This was said in paragraph 14 of the Brussels Summit Communique, the full text of which was published on the website of the North Atlantic Alliance.

"We reiterate our support for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine, Georgia, and the Republic of Moldova within their internationally recognised borders. In accordance with its international commitments, we call on Russia to withdraw the forces it has stationed in all three countries without their consent," the document reads.

NATO leaders also stated that they strongly condemn and will not recognise Russias illegal and illegitimate annexation of Crimea, and denounce its temporary occupation. They stressed that the human rights abuses and violations against the Crimean Tatars and members of other local communities must end.

"Russias recent massive military build-up and destabilising activities in and around Ukraine have further escalated tensions and undermined security. We call on Russia to reverse its military build-up and stop restricting navigation in parts of the Black Sea. We also call on Russia to stop impeding access to the Sea of Azov and Ukrainian ports, the document says.

At the same time, the Allies commended Ukraines posture of restraint and diplomatic approach in this context. They seek to contribute to de-escalation.

"We are also stepping up our support to Ukraine. We call for the full implementation of the Minsk Agreements by all sides, and support the efforts of the Normandy format and the Trilateral Contact Group. Russia, as a signatory of the Minsk Agreements, bears significant responsibility in this regard. We call on Russia to stop fuelling the conflict by providing financial and military support to the armed formations it backs in eastern Ukraine," NATO leaders said.

They expressed full support for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine, and stressed the importance of ensuring its safety and full and unhindered access throughout the entire territory of Ukraine, including Crimea and the Russia-Ukraine border, in accordance with its mandate.

NATO leaders also called on Russia to reverse its recognition of the Abkhazia and South Ossetia regions of Georgia as independent states; to implement the EU-mediated 2008 ceasefire agreement; to end its militarisation of these regions and attempts to forcibly separate them from the rest of Georgia through the continued construction of border-like obstacles; and to cease the human rights violations, arbitrary detentions, and harassments of Georgian citizens.

In addition, they urged Russia to engage constructively in the Transnistria Settlement Process. "We are committed to supporting the Republic of Moldovas democratic reforms and providing assistance through our Defence and Related Security Capacity Building Initiative," they summed up.

On June 14, the NATO summit was held in Brussels to consider ways to strengthen the transatlantic partnership and develop the Alliance by 2030.

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Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov believes Ukraine is not the ultimate goal in the war that Putin might launch. If he does, the war will spill across Europe, the minister believes.

The suggestion was voiced in Reznikovs interview with Politico, Ukrinform reports.

Reznikov noted that after U.S. President Joe Biden had made a video call with Russian leader Vladimir Putin on December 7, Russia sent even more troops toward the Ukrainian border.

According to him, today about 100,000 Russian troops are concentrated on the line from Crimea to the north-western border of the country with Belarus. These are forces that can attack on several fronts at once with artillery, tanks and aircraft.

Any invasion would be a disaster for both Ukraine and Russia, as it would result in huge casualties and nearly 5 million refugees, the minister said. "It will be Ukrainian blood, it will be Russian blood, and a lot of soldiers from Russia will come to home in coffins (...) It will be a disaster," the minister said.

The Ukrainian government is particularly concerned about the situation at the 15 nuclear power units supplying about half of the country's energy. A war threatens these facilities, the minister said, emphasizing that these NPPs are like a nuclear bomb and recalling the Chornobyl and Fukushima tragedies. "Is it real for Europeans?" Reznikov added.

Russias buildup of troops along hundreds of miles of the Ukrainian border, he said, is a way to spread Kyivs attention and thin out the Ukrainian Armed Forces, which are now forced to prepare for multiple contingencies at once.

Reznikov noted that Ukraine, however, is not Putin's ultimate goal. Ukraine is the "geographical center of Europe", so if a war breaks out, it will "be in Europe, not just in Ukraine". He believes that Putin is interested not so much in Ukraine itself, but in showing Europe what Russia is capable of. "We are just a part of it, a square on a chessboard," the minister concluded.

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On December 13, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba met with U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Karen Donfried, who arrived in Kyiv on a working visit.

"The parties coordinated the positions of Ukraine and the United States ahead of the Assistant Secretary of State's visit to Moscow. The American side agreed with the principle of 'no decisions on Ukraine without Ukraine' underscored by Dmytro Kuleba," the press service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine informs.

As noted, the United States also reaffirmed its unwavering support for Ukraine's territorial integrity and sovereignty and its readiness to further implement, together with Kyiv and its European allies, a comprehensive deterrence package to thwart a new phase of aggression against Ukraine.

During the meeting, Kuleba stressed Ukraine's commitment to political and diplomatic methods of resolving the RussianUkrainian armed conflict and welcomed the active involvement of the United States in diplomatic efforts on de-escalation and peaceful settlement.

He shared with his interlocutor a vision of ways to effectively implement the Minsk Agreements, including Russia's steps in the security and humanitarian spheres, which can reduce tensions and unblock the peace process.

As reported, Dr. Karen Donfried, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, will visit Kyiv and Moscow on December 13-15 to discuss the buildup of Russian troops near the Ukrainian border. On December 15-16, the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State will travel to Brussels to hold consultations with NATO allies and EU partners on efforts to reach a diplomatic solution.

Photo credit: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine

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Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba had his first phone call with Germanys newly appointed Federal Foreign Minister, Annalena Baerbock, during which the two discussed a peaceful settlement in eastern Ukraine and the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project.

Thats according to MFA Ukraines press service, Ukrinform reports.

It is noted that the head of Ukrainian diplomacy briefed the interlocutor on the security situation along the state border and in the temporarily occupied territories. Also, Kuleba reaffirmed Ukraine's commitment to a political and diplomatic settlement of the Russo-Ukrainian armed conflict.

"We appreciate that the coalition agreement within the new German government prioritizes restoring peace in our country. We are constructively committed to moving forward within the peace process, which must begin with security issues. We are convinced that the full implementation of the 'security first' principle will allow us to make further progress in the political part of the Minsk agreements," Kuleba said.

The top diplomat stressed Ukraines active support for the effective work of the Normandy format as an important platform for negotiations. In this regard, the foreign minister thanked Germany, which together with France is working to get Russia back to the negotiating table.

The Minister also welcomed the support expressed by other partners in the context of intensifying the peace process, underlining Kyivs constant position: "No decision on Ukraine can be made without Ukraine."

In turn, Annalena Baerbock assured of unwavering support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Ukrainian state, readiness to work together to achieve progress in the Normandy Four talks.

According to the Foreign Ministry's press service, Kuleba thanked his German counterpart for her clear position on Nord Stream 2.

"The ministers agreed that European energy legislation should be applied to the project. They also discussed steps to strengthen energy security of Ukraine and Europe," the statement said.

It is noted that the foreign ministers of Ukraine and Germany agreed to open a new page in bilateral relations, including intensifying cooperation in developing renewables, producing and shipping hydrogen, expanding trade and investment.

Kuleba also expressed interest in restarting equal dialogue on historical issues.

Wrapping up the call, the foreign minister invited Annalena Baerbock to visit Ukraine next year.

As Ukrinform reported, Germanys top diplomat, Annalena Baerbock, said ahead of the EU foreign ministerial in Brussels that the Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline does not currently comply with European energy legislation.

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The EU Council on Monday, December 13, adopted a list of sanctions against a Russian private military company, Wagner, which shall apply to the Wagner Group itself, as well as to eight individuals and three affiliated entities.

Thats according to the European Councils press service, Ukrinform reports.

The Council today adopted a set of restrictive measures against the Wagner Group, a Russia-based unincorporated private military entity. The measures target the Wagner group itself, and eight individuals and three entities connected to it, the statement said.

The Wagner Group is said to have been recruiting, training and sending private military operatives to conflict zones around the world to fuel violence, loot natural resources and intimidate civilians in violation of international law, including human rights.

The European Council stressed that persons on the EU sanctions list are involved in serious human rights abuses, including torture and extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions and killings, or in destabilising activities in the countries they operate in, including Libya, Syria, Ukraine (Donbas) and the Central African Republic.

This group is also spreading its malign influence, including in the Sahel region, the Council added.

In view of this, the group poses a threat for the people in the countries they operate in, the wider region, and the European Union, the statement said.

The aim of today's decision is to curtail the subversive activities of the Wagner Group. It signals the EUs strong determination to stand up for its interests and values in its neighbourhood and beyond, and to take tangible action against those threatening international peace and security, and breaching international law, the EU Council reported.

The response measures enforced Monday include four sanctions regimes: the EUs Global Sanctions Human Rights Sanctions Regime and sanctions regimes in Libya and Syria, as well as for actions undermining Ukraines territorial integrity.

Sanctions against individuals and institutions on the list include an asset freeze in the EU and a travel ban to the EU. All persons and entities in the European Union will be prohibited from making funds available, either directly or indirectly, to those listed.

The relevant EU legal acts, including the names of the persons and entities in question, have been published in the Official Journal of the EU.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, Russian mercenaries with the notorious Wagner PMC are believed to have committed grave crimes in conflict zones across the world, including war crimes in eastern Ukraine and Crimea, Africa, and the Middle East.

The European Union recently warned the Mali government against inviting the Wagner Group to deploy mercenaries to take part in the ongoing conflict.

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There has been no decrease in the number of Russian troops deployed near the border with Ukraine since the latest talks between the U.S. and Russian presidents.

Thats according to President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine who spoke in an interview with Italy's La Repubblica, translated into Ukrainian and posted by the presidents press service, Ukrinform reports.

"After the American and Russian leaders held talks, there has been no reduction of the military grouping near our borders. Moreover, another space for escalation emerged, which is the Sea of Azov, where Russia has blocked 70% of the water area," said Zelensky.

At the same time, the head of state assured, Ukraine is ready to protect its land and its people from any encroachments, under any circumstances.

"Ukrainians will never give up their freedom. Meanwhile, Moscow may as well open a museum of various accusations. Undoubtedly, were grateful for the support, but collective efforts are not enough to get the Russian side back not only to the predictable policy, which would be based on respect for international law and neighboring countries, but also to meaningful negotiations toward achieving peace in the east of Ukraine," the Ukrainian president emphasized.

He stressed the fact that Ukraine doesnt do saber-rattling, deploy troops near someones borders, or take coercive steps targeting its territories that are now temporarily occupied, while d constantly insisting on intensifying diplomatic work.

"Ukraine is ready to make all necessary efforts to make peace fair and lasting. This interview will turn into a thick book if I start listing all the proposals and efforts to intensify our talks that the Russian side has received from us throughout the war period. But it will only take a small paragraph to convey Russia's responses as they all boil down to their unwillingness to recognize themselves as a party to this war. Their role at the negotiating table is to insist that we talk to separatists in Donbas. But who are these separatists? In the occupied territories, everything is run by Russian officers and Russian government officials," Zelensky stressed.

As reported earlier, on November 9, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and U.S. President Joe Biden spoke over the phone.

Earlier, on December 7, the American leader held a virtual summit with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.

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President Volodymyr Zelensky has assured that its solely for defense purposed that Ukraine needs to buy anti-drone rifles and anti-sniper systems from NATO  the deal Germany is blocking.

The comment came in an interview with Italys La Repubblica, which has been translated into Ukrainian and posted by the presidents press service, Ukrinform reports.

"Germany has recently prevented us from getting along the NATO lines anti-drone rifles and anti-sniper systems, which are exclusively defensive tools. Arent we entitled to have them in the eighth year of war? Obviously, we are. Any democracy that protects itself from aggression should have the right to acquire such defense instruments. In some capitals, however, fear still prevails," Zelensky said.

The president stressed that Ukraine wasnt caught off its guard by the latest developments on its eastern borders, adding that Russia had started the war in 2014 and that since then, Ukraine has been ready for any scenario. However, Zelensky opined that this isnt the case for all European countries.

What are the troops, amassed near our border, being used for? This is blackmail potential, first of all, against the western powers. But if the number of Russian troops increases, blackmail will become even more severe, which could then be seen as preparations for expanding aggression against our country and, possibly, the region as a whole," the head of state stressed.

Earlier, Bild reported that Germany had been applying NATO's mechanism since May 2021 to prevent other Allies from selling defensive weapons to Ukraine.

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Ukraine is in talks with Germany to unblock the purchase by Kyiv of weapons systems to counter Russian aggression through the NATO Support and Procurement Agency.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told this to reporters on Tuesday, December 14, according to an Ukrinform correspondent.

He recalled that Ukraine had previously gained access to NATO's defense procurement system, which means the Ukrainian Defense Ministry can buy weapons or military equipment directly from the Allies.

"We do have some discussions with some Allies about how the whole system will work, but I am convinced that we need to talk about this with them now at the bilateral level as diplomats," he said.

According to Kuleba, this is not an unsolvable task.

"We can solve it in the negotiations and yesterday we discussed this issue with Ms. Annalena Baerbock and agreed that diplomatic negotiations will be enough to find a solution to any situation," the minister said.

Kuleba also added that his German counterpart, Annalena Baerbock, has a clear understanding of the threat from Russia and the risks of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. According to Kuleba, Baerbock also noted that the application of not only the letter but also the spirit of the EU's third energy package to Nord Stream 2 is an absolutely unconditional requirement for this political project.

Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said on December 13 that last month, Berlin through the NATO Support and Procurement Agency vetoed Ukraine's purchase of weapons systems to counter Russian aggression.

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Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Ihor Zhovkva held a working meeting with Security Policy Adviser to the President of Estonia Liis Mure.

Zhovkva briefed the interlocutor on the security situation in Donbas. He noted the importance of a coordinated response of the international community to yet another escalation around the borders of Ukraine and emphasized the need for Ukraine's partners in NATO and EU to coordinate the necessary measures to react to the potential escalation of the security situation, the Presidents Office informs.

Mure reiterated Estonias unwavering support for Ukraines sovereignty and territorial integrity.

The parties discussed in detail the cooperation of countries in the context of implementing Ukraines strategic course towards European and Euro-Atlantic integration.

Particular attention was paid to preparations for the Eastern Partnership Summit, which will take place in Brussels on December 15. Zhovkva thanked Estonia for signing the declaration in support of Ukraines European prospects.

"The relevant work continues. We intend to form a wide range of European Union Member States that support our European integration course," Zhovkva said.

Deputy Head of the Presidents Office informed Liis Mure about the priority tasks in the context of Ukraine's implementation of the Euro-Atlantic integration strategy.

The parties also praised the cooperation between Ukraine and Estonia on international sites, primarily taking into account the non-permanent membership of the Republic of Estonia in the UN Security Council this year.

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The Ukrainian-Israeli Innovation Summit (UIIS) will be held in Kyiv on December 15 with the participation of Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal and Minister for Communities and Territorial Development Oleksiy Chernyshov.

The event will be dedicated to innovative prospects of cooperation between the two countries, Ukrinform reports with reference to the press service of the Ministry of Community and Territorial Development

"We are currently working to create financial, infrastructural, and institutional incentives for the development of industrial parks in Ukraine. The Ukrainian-Israeli Summit is the platform that will help attract international investors. This, in turn, will contribute to strengthening the economic potential of communities, creating new jobs, and thus ensuring sustainable development of our state's economy," said Deputy Minister for Communities and Territorial Development Ivan Lukeria.

The summit will consist of six thematic panels. In particular, the participants will discuss the prospects of Ukrainian-Israeli relations in technology, construction and development of industrial parks, and building successful international diversified businesses.

In addition, for the first time in 30 years of diplomatic friendship between Ukraine and Israel, an award ceremony will be held for TOP 30 Creators of Israeli-Ukrainian Change  prominent Israelis and Ukrainians who have significantly contributed to cooperation and partnership between the two countries.

Earlier, Minister for Communities and Territorial Development Oleksiy Chernyshov stressed that developing industrial parks gives a powerful impetus for economic development.

The Ukrainian-Israeli Innovation Summit (UIIS) is an annual large-scale conference dedicated to the development of business, technological, and diplomatic relations between Israel and Ukraine.

The Global Israeli Initiative (GII) is a non-profit engaged in creating a strong and innovative international ecosystem that promotes productive relations and cooperation between Ukraine and Israels businessmen, investors, governments, innovative companies, and educational institutions.

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News Release  UNHCR

Uganda will virtually participate today and tomorrow in the High-Level Officials Meeting (HLOM), a forum organized by UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency and held every four years to take stock of progress in achieving the objectives of the Global Compact on Refugees.

The meeting will feature discussions on ways of expanding support for refugees and the countries that receive and host them, advancing implementation of the pledges announced at the first Global Refugee Forum (GRF) in 2019, and identifying areas in need of further support.

Participants include international organizations, humanitarian and development actors, international and regional financial institutions, host community members, and refugees among many others.

Uganda's delegation in the discussions will be led by the Minister of State for Relief, Disaster Preparedness and Refugees, Esther Anyakun. The Acting Commissioner for Refugees, Douglas Asiimwe will also participate in the meeting.

We have come a long way in advancing an inclusive and accountable refugee response, despite the recent challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, said Minister Anyakun.

But the journey is not over. As the number and needs of refugees are on the rise, Uganda calls on the international community to rise up to its responsibility by supporting refugees and communities that host them to sustain our progressive refugee model," she added.

With over 1.56 million refugees on its soil, Uganda is the largest refugee-hosting country in Africa and the fifth globally, after Turkey, Colombia, Germany and Pakistan.

In the last three years, Uganda has taken concrete steps to fulfil all of the six pledges made at the GRF, maintaining an open-door refugee policy (pledge 2), including refugees in national development plans and statistics (pledge 2), promoting inclusion of refugee and host communities in the national education system (pledge 3) and health services (pledge 4), fostering sustainable management of natural resources and ecosystems (pledge 5), and ensuring integrity of the asylum system (pledge 6).

Through the new National Development Plan III (2020-2024), Uganda clearly articulated the need to include refugees in national, sectoral and local development plans. Under the leadership of relevant line ministries and with the support from UNHCR, partners and donors, the government launched four sector plans to improve delivery of social services for refugees and local communities in refugee-hosting districts, namely Education, Health, Water and Environment, and Jobs and Livelihoods. A fifth plan on Sustainable Energy is underway.

The HLOM will also review efforts made by donors to mobilize additional resources and help ease pressures on countries hosting large numbers of refugees.

It is estimated that over the past three years more than US $2.5 billion have been invested in Ugandas refugee-hosting districts to improve service delivery and infrastructure such as roads, schools, hospital and water systems.

This includes about US $1billion provided by development partners such as Belgium, Denmark, European Union, Germany, Ireland, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, Republic of Korea, Sweden, United Kingdom, United States of America and the World Bank  as well as about US $170.7 million that governments and the private sector explicitly pledged during the GRF.

In the same period, Government of Uganda and host communities have continued to provide land for settlement of refugees and share with them social services such as health, water, and education.

The operationalization of the Global Compact has been a game changer for the Uganda refugee response, providing practical entry points for additional investments, especially along the humanitarian-development nexus, said Joel Boutroue, UNHCR Representative to Uganda. I wish to thank Uganda and its people for the exemplary show of hospitality and solidarity with refugees, crisis after crisis, and I count on the international community to do its part and share more responsibility with Africas largest refugee-hosting country.

Even with these contributions from the international community and donors, the refugee response in Uganda remains severely underfunded, with only US $350.9 million received so far in 2021 against financial requirements of US $767 million (46 per cent).

In the lead up to the HLOM, the East African country took part in three of five virtual roundtables on the GCR indicator report, Partnerships and Solutions to help inform the global discussions.

Ugandas participation in the High-Level Officials Meeting (HLOM)

Minister of State for Relief, Disaster Preparedness and Refugees, Esther Anyakun will represent the Government of Uganda in two spotlight sessions, along with Acting Commissioner for Refugees, Douglas Asiimwe, as follows:

14 December : The role of the Global Compact on Refugees in climate action and displacement, from 13.30 to 14.45 CET (Kampala time 15.30 to 16:45);

: The role of the Global Compact on Refugees in climate action and displacement, from 13.30 to 14.45 CET (Kampala time 15.30 to 16:45); 15 December: The role of the Global Compact on Refugees in the medium to long-term response to COVID-19: how to make best use of the compact in supporting the pandemic response, from 13.30 to 14.45 CET (Kampala time 15.30 to 16.45).

The livestream of the HLOM will be available on this webpage.

For more information, please contact:

Office of the Prime Minister: Julius Mucunguzi, [email protected], +256 776 210 307

UNHCR: Rocco Nuri, [email protected], +256 775 827 388
The first follow-up to the Global Refugee Forum starts today. The High-Level Officials Meeting, a two-day virtual event, will bring together senior government officials, refugees and various stakeholders, to take stock of progress on how the world responds to refugee situations.

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is co-hosting the meeting together with Switzerland. It will be opened by the President-elect of the Swiss Confederation, Ignazio Cassis and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi.

Two years ago, at the Global Refugee Forum, the world came together in an unprecedented way and vowed to transform the way it responds to global forced displacement. It pledged to give life to the Global Compact on Refugees, which aims to scale-up support to host countries and tangibly improve the lives and prospects for refugees, said the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.

The world has since been afflicted by the debilitating Covid-19 pandemic, new conflicts have erupted, and forced displacement has continued to rise - reaffirming the importance of a more equitable, inclusive and sustainable response.

Nearly 1,400 pledges were made at the Global Refugee Forum, to better support refugees and host communities  including on issues such as employment, education, legal and policy developments to expand protection and inclusion, fiscal support, solutions to displacement, to clean energy and infrastructure, among many others.

Today, the global picture is mixed  the countries with the fewest resources continue to bear the most responsibility, Grandi added, but, importantly, we have seen an expansion of the support base, with states, development actors, the private sector and civil society also stepping up. We need to recognize those contributions and accelerate progress if we are to give greater life to the Compact and improve the lives and prospects of refugees and their hosts.

Recognizing that many endeavors in support of the Compacts objectives and Forum pledges have been impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic, the event will be an opportunity to identify gaps, review where efforts have continued or been adapted, seek solutions, and pledge new commitments for refugees and host communities ahead of the next Global Refugee Forum in 2023.

The event will also spotlight a number of key areas, including the response to the Covid-19 pandemic, climate action and displacement, regional support platforms, and resettlement and complementary pathways.

The meeting commences on UNHCR's 71st anniversary. That date is a poignant reminder of more than seven decades of forced displacement affecting tens of millions of people worldwide.

The full program is available here and for further information on the event please visit: www.unhcr.org/high-level-officials-meeting.html

Notes:

The High-Level Officials Meeting is one of the main vehicles for follow-up and review under the Global Compact on Refugees. Under the Compact, Global Refugee Forums are to be held every four years while the High-Level Officials Meeting are to be held two years later from each Forum.

In accordance with the relevant public health guidelines, and to make it more accessible, the entire High Level Officials Meeting will be webcast on https://www.unhcr.org/high-level-officials-meeting-webcast-streaming, which will go live on 14 December.

Photos and content from the Forum will be made available on Refugees Media.

For more information on this topic, please contact:
Back in her native Democratic Republic of the Congo, 42-year-old Clementine Bugenimana scraped by as a trader selling foodstuffs. Now a refugee in Rwanda, she has learned how to farm through a programme that is putting food on the table and money in her pocket.

This project has really changed my life, she says. I dont have to buy maize anymore. I have savings from the money made from farming, which helps me take care of my children.

At Mugombwa refugee camp, the mother of six works alongside her Rwandan neighbours at the Misizi Marshlands project, an agricultural initiative funded by the IKEA Foundation and supported by the Government of Rwanda.

The programme allocated over 50 hectares of land for some 1,400 refugees and Rwandans to farm together.

Together with her Rwandan friend Mushimiyima Yasinne, she is growing beans and maize in the rich soil, and helping manage the piggeries and poultry farms which are part of the project.

Her new-found success is not accidental. Rwanda hosts over 126,000 refugees and has made notable strides towards improving their lives and that of their host communities as it enacts pledges it made at the Global Refugee Forum in 2019.

This project has really changed my life.

Seeking to empower refugees at a time of record global displacement, participants at the multi-sectoral Forum promised to create job opportunities, school places for refugee children, clean energy, infrastructure and better support for host communities and countries, as well as long term solutions like voluntary repatriation and resettlement.

The Misizi marshland project is just one of several initiatives that was launched in Rwanda to meet these objectives. And two years on, a first High Level Officials Meeting, on 14 and 15 December, will provide a temperature check of progress made by various states and actors in fulfilment of the Forum and the 2018 Global Compact on Refugees (GCR).

Congolese refugee Clementine (left) and her Rwandan best friend Yasinne stand in the fields in the Misizi marshland in Rwanda.  UNHCR/Samuel Otieno

Burundian refugee and English teacher Moise Ntariteka, sits in his classroom in the G.S. Paysannat school in Mahama refugee camp, Rwanda.  UNHCR/Georgina Goodwin

Burundian Aneilla Nizeyimana, carefully weighs soap making ingredients at her shop in Mahama refugee camp, Rwanda.  UNHCR

Kelly Clements, UNHCR's Deputy High Commissioner and Clementine Nkweta-Salami, the Regional Director for Africa's East, Horn, and Great Lakes Region stand in one of the poultry houses run by refugees and Rwandans in Rwanda.  UNHCR/Samuel Otieno

UNHCR Deputy High Commissioner, Kelly Clements (centre) chats with Congolese refugee and trader, Olive Kanyange in Mugombwa refugee camp in Rwanda.  UNHCR/Samuel Otieno

UNHCR Deputy High Commissioner Kelly Clements (centre) chats with Congolese refugee Clementine Bugenimana (in black shirt) at the Misizi marshland project in Mugombwa refugee camp, Rwanda.  UNHCR/Samuel Otieno

Participants will identify progress, challenges and where further engagement is needed to increase support, self-reliance and access to solutions for refugees, taking into consideration the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In Rwanda, strides are not just being made in livelihoods. Around 200 kilometres east of Mugombwa near Rwandas border with Tanzania lies Mahama camp  home to more than 55,000 refugees  where Burundian refugee Ntariteka Moise, 36, is making a difference to young people through education.

Moise found safety in Rwanda six years ago. Back home, he was an English and Literature student at a local university.

I continued with my university studies in Rwanda and graduated with a bachelors degree, he says proudly.

He got a job as a teacher at G.S. Paysannat School near Mahama camp, and less than a year later, the school was upgraded to accommode both refugee and Rwandan students as part of Rwandas efforts to integrate refugees in the national education system.

The school suffered from severe overcrowding, with over 100 students per class. But thanks to a school expansion project funded by UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, over 200 new classrooms were constructed, more than doubling the total and reducing the number of pupils per class to 70.

Cumulatively, UNHCR and partners including the World Bank have supported the construction of over 500 new classrooms in national schools across the country, improving the quality of education  which has boosted attendance rates  and allowing more refugee and Rwandan students to enrol.

When refugee and Rwandan children study together, they learn from each other and this benefits the entire community, adds Moise.

The implementation of the GCR in Rwanda allows refugees like Moise to find work, by helping camp-based refugees out of assistance programmes and increasing their access to job opportunities. Moise adds that nearly two thirds of the teachers in his school are refugees, as are a majority of the pupils.

Living near Moises school is Burundian refugee Aneilla Nizeyimana, a 30-year-old mother of three. She learned soapmaking back in Burundi, but never had the chance to practice it until she fled post-election violence in 2016 and came to Rwanda, where she realised there was high demand for soap among refugees and the host community.

Starting her soap business was not easy as she lacked the necessary capital and commercial skills. Aneilla was one of 90 refugees who won awards through Youth Connekt  an innovative national platform connecting young people with socio-economic opportunities. She and 89 other refugee entrepreneurs learnt basic business skills and were given seed capital for their business ideas.

The prize money helped me very much. I bought raw materials to increase my soap productivity, says Aneilla, who was also able to invest in a smartphone to help promote her business and receive payments using mobile money.

A year later, Youth Connekt injected more capital into Aneillas business, allowing her to increase production and supply soap to refugees and Rwandans in the camp and surrounding areas. She currently employs a staff of eight made up of seven Burundian refugees and a local Rwandan. The sole breadwinner for her family of four, Aneilla soon hopes to be able to invest in machinery to further expand her business.

Rwanda has done an excellent job integrating refugees.

My life is better than it was when I arrived in Rwanda. It was very difficult for me to cater to my family  but when I started the project, thats when I saw some light at the end of the tunnel, Aneilla says.

She hopes to employ more people in the future.

I want to help my neighbours and the entire community, and employ many workers and provide job opportunities to the youth, she adds.

Nayana Bose, UNHCRs Comprehensive Refugee Response Officer based in Kigali says Rwanda has been impressive with the progress it has made towards meeting its GCR objectives.

Rwanda has done an excellent job integrating refugees in the national education system, including urban refugees in the national community-based health insurance plan, providing them with national ID cards and offering them livelihoods opportunities, she explains.

As well as reflecting on the success of such initiatives in Rwanda and other major refugee hosting countries around the world, the High Level Officials Meeting will also identify current gaps, seek alternative solutions, and pledge new commitments for refugees and their hosts ahead of the next Global Refugee Forum in 2023.
Until recently, many unaccompanied asylum-seeking children in Greece ended up homeless or living alone in camps.  UNHCR/Alfredo D'Amato

*Abed was just 11 years old when he left his parents and siblings in Iran and began the long and dangerous journey to Europe.

His family had fled to Iran from Afghanistan, their homeland, but they lacked residence permits and lived in constant fear of deportation. Without documentation, they could not access basic services like education for Abed and his siblings.

Initially, he travelled with an uncle. They walked after nightfall, and at one point were forced to run for their lives to escape gunfire and imprisonment. When they finally arrived in Turkey, they spent months living in cramped conditions at the behest of smugglers.

It took four attempts to successfully cross the Aegean from Turkey to Greece. We had to take a boat from Turkey with 40 people, recalls Abed. It was so scary.

Abed finally arrived on the island of Lesvos in 2019. At this point, his uncle left him to fend for himself and he became one of more than 1,000 unaccompanied asylum-seeking children in Greece at the time who were either homeless or living alone in precarious conditions in camps.

Unregistered and outside of the official system, many picked fruit or sold counterfeit cigarettes to survive. Others suffered from sexual exploitation or other forms of abuse, while many were detained by the authorities.

At the end of 2020, following sustained advocacy by the UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR, the Greek government brought in a new law that ended the detention of unaccompanied children on the sole grounds that they are homeless. This was followed in January of this year by the introduction of an Emergency Response Mechanism that offers support and a safety net for the children. The majority of them are now staying in official shelters.

After around two months on Lesvos, Abed left for the Greek mainland where he ended up living alone and unregistered in a makeshift tent at a camp in northern Greece. After several months, an NGO found him there and referred him to UNHCR which carried out an assessment of his needs at the end of 2020 and recommended him for relocation.

See also: Explainer: Relocation of unaccompanied children from Greece to other EU countries

Voluntary relocation is a tool for helping countries like Greece cope with the arrival of large numbers of asylum seekers by transferring some of them to other states willing to share responsibility. The current programme, established in Spring 2020, is led by the Greek Ministry for Migration and Asylum, and supported with funding from the European Union. Through collaboration between UNHCR, partner NGOs, the European Asylum Support Office (EASO), as well as IOM and UNICEF, it aims to relocate some 5,200 vulnerable asylum seekers and refugees, including up to 1,600 unaccompanied children, as well as children with medical conditions and their family members.

As of the end of November, more than 4,480 people have been relocated from Greece to 14 European countries, including over 1,065 unaccompanied children.

Two unaccompanied Afghan refugee children prepare to board a relocation flight to France at Athens International Airport.  UNHCR/Achilleas Zavallis

Without the relocation programme, all of the other improvements [for unaccompanied children] would not have been feasible, says Irene Agapidaki, Special Secretary for the Protection of Unaccompanied Minors in Greece. It is an integral part of the child protection ecosystem in frontline countries. Before, we had around 5,500 unaccompanied minors and it was a huge challenge.

UNHCR has worked hard to ensure that homeless children are amongst those included in the relocation programme and dozens of them have already been relocated to European countries.

At the end of July, more than two years after leaving his family, Abed, now 13, touched down in Dublin, Ireland.

When they told me Id be moving to Ireland, I didnt believe it. I thought they were lying, it was wonderful, he says.

He was welcomed at the airport by social workers from TUSLA, the Irish State Child and Family Agency. TUSLAs Principal Social Worker, Thomas Dunning, is now working to ensure his smooth transition into his new life in Ireland.

"I go to school every day ... I have my own bedroom!"

Because of Abeds vulnerabilities, we recommended he go initially to a childrens home, where he can receive 24-hour care and attention and the integration support he needs before he is placed with a family, he explains.

I go to school every day, I have good food, I have good social workers, I have my own bedroom! says Abed.

He will soon be joined by two friends  two other unaccompanied children he shared a room with for a short time while in Greece.

While significant progress has been made in Greece towards addressing the plight of unaccompanied refugee children, Theodora Tsovili, a child protection officer with UNHCR, noted that the relocation programme remains an ad-hoc government scheme which depends on the political will of other EU Member States.

UNHCR is advocating with Member States to offer more relocation opportunities through multi-year programmes with regular funding, which will continue to benefit the most vulnerable unaccompanied children, she said.

Once Abed receives his official refugee status in Ireland, he can apply for his family to join him, although family reunification is a lengthy and complicated process. In October, UNHCR called on States to expedite family reunification procedures for Afghan refugees such as Abed due to the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Afghanistan.

For now, he is looking forward to the arrival of his friends.

I dont think about the future too much. It would be really good if my family could comeand I want to play volleyball! he adds.

*Name has been changed for protection reasons




(Photo : Vance Fundora)

The secret to success heavily relies on an entrepreneur's willingness to consistently learn new things and execute those learnings into money-making moves. Vance Fundora is no stranger to success, utilizing everything he has learned and experienced to drive the growth of his companies, earning the title of a self-made millionaire at the age of 24.

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Fundora went on to obtain a Bachelor's degree in Marketing from Texas Tech University. However, during his time as a student, he was never satisfied, he wanted to do more and to be more. Driven to learn without clear direction, he spent months researching and consuming information he found online. In 2015 Vance discovered Tai Lopez on YouTube, which led to the purchase of Tai's 67-steps program. Vance said "That program completely changed my outlook on life at the time. Through Tai I discovered other notable incredibly successful individuals and that's when I finally gained real traction. I went on to buy other online courses and programs from all over the place."

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Learn more about Vance Fundora by visiting his official website and following him on Instagram
Montpellier, France, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 14th Dec, 2021 ) :This week's European Champions Cup match between Montpellier and Leinster is in doubt after the French club announced on Tuesday that a fifth member of its group had tested positive for Covid-19.

"This is the fifth case of contamination detected over a period of seven days in the Montpellier squad, which has a considerable impact on the preparation for the match against Leinster," the Top 14 side said in a press release.

The entire squad has been in isolation after returning four positive cases - two players, two staff - on Monday following their return from Exeter where they were trounced 42-6 in their European opener.

Montpellier has responded by adapting its training, operating in separate groups, and will carry out new tests on Wednesday.

Irish province Leinster had four positive cases of the virus in its ranks last week, including three players and a member of the management.

That did not stop the four-time champions from hammering Bath 45-20 in their opener in Dublin on Saturday.

Leinster pushed back their Monday training session to Tuesday, pending further test results.

If one of the teams is unable to fulfil Friday's fixture, it will forfeit the match in accordance with tournament regulations.

This was the case for Welsh side Scarlets who were unable to field a team against Bristol in the first round of matches, resulting in the English team being awarded a 28-0 win.
Gunmen linked to eastern Libya-based military chief Khalifa Haftar exchanged artillery and small arms fire overnight with forces in the main southern city of Sebha, authorities and Libyan media said Tuesday

Tripoli, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 14th Dec, 2021 ) :Gunmen linked to eastern Libya-based military chief Khalifa Haftar exchanged artillery and small arms fire overnight with forces in the main southern city of Sebha, authorities and Libyan media said Tuesday.

The clashes come a week before the war-torn North African country is due to hold a presidential election that observers fear could trigger a return to conflict after a year-long ceasefire.

"A militia armed with heavy weaponry and armoured vehicles... stole 11 four-wheel-drive vehicles from Sebha in an armed robbery," Sebha's police force said.

It identified the attackers as members of a group commanded by Mabruk Sahban and affiliated with Haftar, who is a candidate in the December 24 polls and whose forces control much of Libya's south.

The stolen vehicles had been sent to Sabha by the interior ministry in Tripoli to help secure the election, the police statement said.

Sahban's forces had attacked a police convoy and forced officers to drive the vehicles to Brak airbase, south of Sebha, it added.

Sebha security forces and pro-Haftar gunmen later clashed in central Sabha, local media reported.

Footage online apparently showed night-time clashes with small arms in the city centre.

There was no immediate report of casualties.

The Sebha police department said the attack aimed to destabilise the country's southern provinces.

Haftar had in 2019 seized much of southern Libya including oil infrastructure, military sites and the southwestern city of Sebha, before launching a blistering assault on capital Tripoli, 650 kilometres (400 miles) to the north.

Western Libyan forces pushed him back to his eastern stronghold a year later, but he retained an armed presence in the south.

A ceasefire formally signed in October 2020 paved the way for a UN-led political process to bring in an interim unity government tasked with leading Libya until the elections -- in which Haftar is a candidate.

Libya has been attempting to extract itself from a decade of conflict since the 2011 revolt that toppled and killed dictator Moamer Kadhafi.
(@imziishan)

Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev held a series of high-level consultations with Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs of Indonesia Mohammad Mahfud in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta, during which both sides explored ways of expanding military and military-technical cooperation between the countries, the Russian Security Council said on Tuesday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 14th December, 2021) Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev held a series of high-level consultations with Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs of Indonesia Mohammad Mahfud in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta, during which both sides explored ways of expanding military and military-technical cooperation between the countries, the Russian Security Council said on Tuesday.

The meeting was also attended by representatives of military departments, special services, financial monitoring services, law enforcement agencies and ministries of justice of the two countries.

"The parties identified ways to expand military and military-technical cooperation, as well as collaboration on legal and regulatory issues and ensuring international information security," the council said in a statement.

The parties considered the prospects for cooperation in combating drug trafficking and organized crime, as well as countering terrorism.

The issues of combating the laundering of the proceeds of crime and terrorism were also discussed.

The officials also exchanged views on the situation in the Asia-Pacific region and other issues of mutual interest.

"The delegations noted their firm commitment to the comprehensive deepening of Russian-Indonesian relations," the council added in the statement.

On Monday, Patrushev also met with Indonesian President Joko Widodo in Jakarta. They discussed issues of Russian-Indonesian bilateral cooperation, as well as interaction in multilateral formats, including the G20 and ASEAN.

Following the high-level consultations, Russia and Indonesia are expected to sign a new strategic partnership declaration in 2022, the parties said in a joint statement.
The UK is to drop 11 African countries including South Africa from its "red list" barring incoming travel, ministers said Tuesday

London, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 14th Dec, 2021 ) :The UK is to drop 11 African countries including South Africa from its "red list" barring incoming travel, ministers said Tuesday.

From 0400 GMT on Wednesday, all will be removed from the list, said Transport Secretary Grant Shapps.

The UK government had responded to the identification of the Omicron variant in South Africa by banning travel from 10 southern African countries and Nigeria.

Currently, only people who are British or Irish citizens or have UK residence rights can fly in from the red-listed countries, and they have to quarantine in hotels on arrival.

"As always, we keep all our travel measures under review and we may impose new restrictions should there be a need to do so to protect public health," Shapps tweeted.

Health Minister Sajid Javid also announced the measure to MPs in parliament as Prime Minister Boris Johnson seeks their backing for his new restrictions to curb the spread of Omicron.

Javid said the travel ban was being lifted because it is "now less effective in slowing the incursion of Omicron from abroad".
As the celebration of the birth of Christ draws near, Catholics in Chinas capital are reaching out to those in need in a sign of Christian love and hope.

By Vatican News staff reporter

The Catholic community in Beijing celebrated the Third Sunday of Advent with a festival of lights in their parishes, finally able to gather together after the latest Covid-19 lockdown.

They lit their flames of hope with great joy as the feast of Christmas drew near.

Among these various parish communities was Our Lady of Mount Carmel, which saw parishioners fill its outdoor courtyard in the early evening holding candles as a sign of the coming light of Christ.

The Teodorico Pedrini parish choir filled the event with song. The choir takes its name from a famed Italian missionary and author of sacred hymns (1671-1746) who founded the parish church and lived there as he ministered during the Qing imperial dynasty.

According to Fides news agency, the candlelight ceremony offered a powerful sign of the joy of the Christian message to all those who live near the parish.

Visiting the elderly

Catholics in China, as elsewhere, have stepped up their charitable works toward those in need during this Advent season.

On the feast of St. Francis Xavier, the patron of the mission in China, members of the Caritas outfit in Aozhen parish, in Ordos City, Inner Mongolia, visited a local retirement home.

The group was led by Fr. Qiqigeli and several religious sisters, and brought gifts to the elderly residents living there. They also brought medical supplies and a listening ear.

At the end of the day, Fr. Qiqigeli blessed the residents and the staff who accompany them.

Offering financial support

Another parish group helping fill their neighbors with Christmas cheer is the Ecclesial Base Community of Yong Nian Parish, in the Diocese of Shanghai.

For 16 years, the group has sought to put the social doctrine of the Church into practice by combining faith and charitable works.

On 4 December, the Base Community celebrated a liturgy under the theme: Along the path of the Beatitudes.

The group has also intensified their charitable efforts by donating blood and visiting the elderly and the sick.

They combine these single works of charity with a long-term effort to financially support the construction of the Bishops House, a diocesan formation center, an orphanage, and the restauration of churches in dioceses across China. (Source: Fides News Agency)
China is the worlds top consumer of meat and grain. The countrys import of grains is swiftly rising. A major reason for this growth is the increase in demand for livestock feed resulting from excessive consumption of meat.

China is not producing enough feed grains to support its large and growing livestock industry. As the demand for meat, eggs, and dairy products increases, the need for animal feed rises accordingly. The country has been forced to rely on imports to meet the changes in the consumption patterns of its populace.

Trade sources recently revealed to Reuters that Chinese buyers have snapped up Ukrainian corn and barley as well as French wheat and barley in large volumes. The Chinese intend to benefit from a break in the surging prices to meet their requirements for feed grains.

While there was no clear picture of the overall quantity purchased, the sources said that at least several hundred thousand tons of grain from France and Ukraine had been acquired by the importers. Some sources also revealed that Chinese buyers made substantial purchases of Australian feed wheat estimated to be at least several hundred thousand tons.

The purchases highlight that Chinas necessity for grain import is substantial and ongoing in spite of the advent of its domestic corn crop and problems in its pig industry. Moreover, it depicts buyers eagerness to make the most of the decrease in global prices.

Driven by worries of heavy rainfall damaging Australian crops and limitations on Russian exports, wheat futures jumped to a nine-year high in the United States and a record high in Europe last month. Since last week, prices have fallen notably.

With regard to French wheat, six traders said that the buyers had lined up between six and 10 vessels, or probably up to 600,000 tons, mostly for shipment between January and March. The sales which have happened lately would bring the aggregate exports of French wheat to China in 2021/22 to a whopping two million tons, exceeding the already huge numbers in the two prior seasons.

French wheat is currently looking attractive in price to the Chinese after falling from its peaks China is also believed to have been making large purchases of wheat from Australia recently with Chinas economic recovery generating demand, a trader from Europe told Reuters.

Sources revealed that Chinese importers were also entering into contracts to purchase harvest barley from Ukraine and France for 2022. Up to 10 consignments of Ukrainian barley and about four French barley ships have been reserved for shipment for July-August next year.

For shipment from January to April, Chinese buyers have also requested cargos from Ukraine for corn. Some project the volume to be 10 or more cargos. A source is seeing overall volumes hitting up to a million tons. China is one of the chief importers of Ukrainian corn and barley. Ukraine is expected to ship up to 5 million tons of corn to China.
Fates Reversed Instantly When Kindness Prevails

Sometimes, one may suddenly and unexpectedly recover from a serious illness, and we think of it as a chance occurrence; but in traditional Chinese culture, nothing happens by chance  there is always a reason behind it. How can people have their fates reversed? In ancient China, people believed that
An Albert Lea bistro owner who was sentenced to three months in prison plus a $1000 fine for violating the Minnesota COVID-19 state mandate will file a federal lawsuit.

Lisa Hanson, 57, defied Governor Tim Waltzs executive order on COVID-19 by keeping her Interchange Wine and Beer Bistro business open, serving alcoholic beverages indoors through November and December 2020 during the state-imposed lockdown  a decision that brought her on a collision course with Chief District Judge Joseph Bueltel.

Hanson, who defended herself in court during her three-day trial from Dec. 8 to 10 at the Freeborn County courthouse, was charged with six criminal misdemeanor counts each of which came with a $1,000 fine and 90 days in prison.

Lisa Hanson is a political prisoner in MN now. The grandma and cafe owner was just sentenced to 90 days for opening her cafe during the unconstitutional lockdowns (after initially following them).https://t.co/qFv8KqhPH2



Hear her story: https://t.co/GcbSk7d6U9  Keri Smith, Unsafe Space (@ksemamajama) December 10, 2021

The restaurant owner while receiving legal aid from the National Taskforce, an independent nonprofit body of legal advisors, mainly invoked her constitutional rights during trial. However, all of her attempts to do so were brushed off by Bueltel, calling her pleas without merit or in violation of law or court procedure.

Defying the COVID mandate

Judge Bueltel, who did little to conceal his personal animosity towards Hanson on at least three occasions, insinuated she only wanted to make money while others had to shut down during the pandemic and that she thereby had jeopardized the health of others.

You dont get to decide youre governor, Bueltel berated Hanson, according to the Star Tribune. You dont have that role. You were a public risk. You kept your business open.  You were making money while suckers down the street closed.

Hanson, in her closing argument, opposed the judge lamenting the abusive exercise of government authority and the overreach of an overzealous government.

It took the jury one hour to unanimously declare Hanson guilty on all six counts and the prosecutor demanded a $500 fine and ten days imprisonment.

Hanson said she was a good person. I dont need a fine, she said. I dont need to go to jail. I need to be with my family.

How the judge sentenced

But for judge Bueltel the prosecutors requests didnt go far enough. You dont want to recognize our law. I want to reinforce that the law does apply to you, he said. I want to send a message to the community that executive orders are law, as he handed down an even stronger sentence of a $1,000 fine and 90 days imprisonment.

When Hanson asked the judge to explain how such sentencing would work in practice, he said, Youre your own counsel, so figure it out.

Keith Haskell, of the National Task Force who assisted Hanson during the process, was furious over the verdict and even more so over judge Bueltels unprofessional behavior in the courtroom.

Filing appeal

Haskell indicated their team would push for the disbarment of Judge Joseph Bueltel and Albert Lea Prosecutor Kelly Martinez while saying the whole show was a blatant sample of prosecutor misconduct, judiciary misconduct, KeyC News reported.

Id even go as far as to say judiciary tyranny,  Haskell said. This was a railroad job and I can prove it on paper, he said, adding, We just decided to fight fire with fire.

READ MORE: California City Declares Itself a Constitutional Republic Defying COVID-19 Mandates

Lisa is actually in good spirits, Haskell said. When she left the courtroom, her last words were freedom and liberty for all, he said, adding that, We talked about possibilities, she said, hey, no matter what, Im going to hold my head high.

Haskell said he was hoping to grant the Hanson family the best Christmas present theyve ever had, hinting at the imminent filing of her case in the Federal Courts in St. Paul.
In June this year, U.S. President, Joe Biden, signed an executive order revoking former President Donald Trumps order that sought to ban TikTok. Trumps order was based on the consideration that TikTok posed a threat to Americas national security. It was found that ByteDance, the company which owns TikTok, might be transferring user data to China.

In a lawsuit back in Aug. 2020, TikTiok insisted that the app has not and has never been offered in China. TikTok has publicly distanced itself from any China ties. ByteDance eventually reorganized its business units in a manner that made a clear distinction between TikTok and its Chinese offerings. However, in a report published by Business Insider on Dec. 10, a group of former and current employees at TikTok reveal that they still take orders from ByteDance headquartered in China.

Discussions on TikTok involve calls with employees at the Chinese headquarters of ByteDance. The final decisions are not made in offices based in the United States or Singapore but in Beijing. In addition to product decisions, tasks like granting a client early access to a new feature and the like are done at the headquarters only.

Its that feeling a little bit in the US where youre sort of helpless to a lot of the decisions that are made out of China, one former staffer said to the media outlet, who wished to remain anonymous so as to avoid damaging professional relationships.

Even our internal ticketing system will reroute questions to HQ, eliciting the response, Oh no, it went to HQ, said a current staffer anonymously to avoid any retribution from the firm.

TikTok employees have to take part in team calls during late hours due to the time difference between the Beijing and American offices. Though the company does not insist on employees participating in such calls, not attending these meetings might mean that youre just not going to get a seat at the table, a former employee said.

In October, Chloe Shih, an employee at TikTok who left her job that month, uploaded a video to YouTube in which she explained the power conflict between Beijing and American teams. The video has garnered over 150,000 views. She recounts how a proposal that was approved by the U.S. and UK teams was rejected by the Beijing office.

TikTok has 3,500 jobs listed on its website, with none of them in China. Its COO and CEO are located in Singapore and Los Angeles respectively. In the United States, the app is said to have 100 million monthly users. In 2020, TikTok generated over $420 million in revenue globally.
The Uyghur Tribunal, run by a prestigious independent court in the UK, has ruled that atrocities against the Uyghur ethnic group and other Muslim minorities in Xinjiang by Chinas communist regime constitute genocide, albeit without hard evidence the minorities are being directly murdered.

The tribunal was held in two hearings in June and September and was chaired by Sir Geoffrey Nice, a prominent British lawyer. He led the Serbian war criminal Slobodan Milosevic at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in The Hague, the Netherlands.

Even though the court could not find any hard evidence of mass killings of the Uyghur population, it did find proof of forced sterilization and birth-control measures and policies that attempted to erase Uyghur culture. These alone have provided sufficient grounds in equating Beijings way of handling its Muslim minorities with genocide.

"Now there is no excuse for the international community to continue its silence on the #UyghurGenocide," WUC President @Dolkun_Isa told @BBCWorld. "It is the legal obligation of all countries who signed the 1948 genocide convention to take legal action."https://t.co/AJ8zU5rd31  World Uyghur Congress (@UyghurCongress) December 10, 2021

Nice said on Thursday, Dec. 9, that he and the panel had arrived at the conclusion that China had carried out a deliberate, systematic and concerted policy to bring about long-term reduction of Uyghur and other ethnic minority populations.

Other atrocities against the Uyghur population

The panel also found evidence of crimes against humanity, torture, and sexual violence against the Xinjiang people.

Nice also contended that senior officials bore primary responsibility for the abuses against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in the region.

On Thursday, a Peoples Republic of China (PRC) spokesman told the BBC the court was just a pseudo tribunal. Furthermore, he said it was a political tool used by a few anti-China elements to deceive and mislead the public.

READ MORE: Thousands of Uyghurs Transferred to Nanjing From Xinjiang by Chinese Firm

Voices of support

The courts committee consisted of counselors and scholars, and its conclusions have no lawful power and are not compulsory on lawmakers. Still, its initiators articulated that from the beginning, they planned to add to the body of proof around the accusations against Beijing and come to an autonomous finding on the matter of genocide.

The British government said the evidence needed to be assessed by a competent court, well it doesnt get more competent than this, Sir Iain Duncan Smith, former Conservative Party leader and co-chair of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, fulminated.

British Conservative Party MPs Nusrat Ghani (C) and Iain Duncan Smith (R) join members of the Uyghur community as they call on parliament to vote to recognize persecution of Uyghurs as genocide and crimes against humanity in London on April 22, 2021. (Image: JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP via Getty Images)

This tribunal was set up to the highest legal standards, and the evidence that that was put forward today shows that there is enough proof beyond reasonable doubt that there was an intent to commit genocide, Conservative MP Nusrat Ghani said according to the broadcaster, calling the judgment groundbreaking.

READ MORE: Thousands of Uyghurs Transferred to Nanjing From Xinjiang by Chinese Firm

One of the testifiers, Uyghur linguist Abduweli Ayup, related the vexation he and his family had to undergo and the ensuing 15-month imprisonment sentence imposed on him for inciting terrorism said the ruling was very encouraging.

I was sentenced by the Chinese government, Ayup said. Now, I hope after this ruling, someone can sentence them. Many Uyghurs have been sent to prison only for being Uyghur. Now it is time their oppressors are also sentenced.

Now there is no excuse for the international community to continue its silence on the Uyghur genocide, Dolkun Isa, president of the World Uyghur Congress, who initiated the tribunal, said. It is the legal obligation of all countries who signed the 1948 genocide convention to take legal action.

In 2019, Nice c.s. under the banner of the China Tribunal came to similar findings regarding the onslaught of Chinas largest persecuted spiritual group, Falun Gong. The court found irrefutable proof of millions of Falun Gong practitioners being persecuted and of grand-scale live organ harvesting on its adherents by state-run medical institutions.

In his final word to the conference on Thursday, Nice said the need for this tribunal came because no other international judicial bodies were willing to take up the gauntlet for the Uyghurs.

According to the International Criminal Court, China is outside its jurisdiction since China is not a member. At the same time, the International Court of Justice only takes cases sanctified by the UN Security Council, which is entirely lame because China holds its veto power.

Had any other body, domestic or international, determined or sought to determine these issues, the tribunal would have been unnecessary, Nice said.
At least two people were killed Tuesday in the central African country of Chad during protests demanding the countrys transitional military government transfer power to civilians.



The countrys military council was led by President Idriss Deby Itno, who was killed on April 19 while visiting troops fighting rebels north of the capital, N'Djamena.



Local media reported a man was fatally shot in the southern city of Moundou and another was killed in N'Djamena.



Tensions escalated in the impoverished desert country after the sudden death of Deby, who ruled the country for three decades. A coalition opposed to the military government called for protests, despite a government ban on them.



Authorities arrested several protesters and journalists, as protesters vandalized a gas station and burned tires throughout N'Djamena. Police fired tear gas on protesters in the capital, while other demonstrations were underway in other parts of the country.



After meeting in Paris Tuesday, French President Emmanuel Macron and Democratic Republic of the Congo President Felix Tshisekedi condemned the crackdown on protests in a joint statement that also called for an end to the violence.



The two leaders voiced support for a transition process that is open to all Chadian political forces, led by a civilian government, with the intent to organize elections within 18 months.



The military announced Debys death on April 20, just hours after he was confirmed the winner of the presidential election held earlier in the month.



After Debys death, the military created a council to organize elections within 18 months. The military appointed Deby's 37-year-old son, Mahamat Idriss Deby, as head of the council, drawing immediate criticism from political opponents and rebel forces accused of assassinating his father.
The Biden administrations first sanctions designations on North Korea are a largely symbolic move that will have little impact on the regimes human rights practices or its nuclear weapons and missile programs, experts say.

Joshua Stanton, a Washington attorney who helped draft the North Korea Sanctions Enforcement and Policy Enforcement Act in 2016, said, Its a combination of modest and mostly symbolic actions that are tied to (the) worlds human rights.

This was the Treasury Departments way of saying that North Korea actually is of some significance to U.S. efforts to highlight its human rights violations, Stanton continued.

North Korea is known for its repressive human rights practices, including forced labor and torture, particularly inside its notorious political prison camps.

Last Friday, the U.S. Department of Treasurys Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated North Korea-related entities and individuals connected to human rights abuses, including the countrys Central Public Prosecutors Office for holding unfair trials, and Ri Yong Gil, current minister of the Peoples Armed Forces and former minister of Social Security, which operates prison camps.

Anthony Ruggiero, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said the Biden administration probably felt it had no other choice but to include North Korea under its sanctions designations on Human Rights Day.

The Biden administration must increase the pressure on the Kim regime by issuing sanctions on the DPRKs proliferation activities to provide leverage for denuclearization negotiations, Ruggiero said.

Also designated are European Institute Justo, a Moscow-based university, and its provost Demitriy Yurevich Soin for sponsoring student visas for North Korean workers whose income OFAC said could have been used to support Pyongyangs weapons of mass destruction programs.

North Koreas animation studio SEK Studio and related individuals and entities that facilitated payments for the regime are also blacklisted.

The Treasury Department also listed entities and individuals connected to human rights violations in China, Myanmar and Bangladesh.

The designations coincided with International Human Rights Day and the second day of the Summit for Democracy that President Joe Biden hosted to renew democratic values, including human rights, with more than 100 countries.

The Biden administration has prioritized human rights since taking office. Secretary of State Antony Blinken reiterated on Friday what he said about the administrations emphasis on human rights in February.

The U.S. is determined to put human rights at the center of our foreign policy, Blinken said, as the State Department issued its own designations and travel bans on individuals connected with human rights violations.

Soo Kim, a former CIA analyst who is now with the RAND Corporation, said the sanctions will not have much impact on North Korean leader Kim Jong Uns intention of developing nuclear weapons and missiles.

This wont deter Kim, Soo Kim said. Pyongyangs nuclear weapons program is a permanent fixture that guarantees Kims survival. The regime will also find loopholes to evade sanctions. As such, for sanctions to really stick, well need to target not only the North Koreans but its complicit aiders and abettors  third-party countries such as China, Russia, etc.

China and Russia have often been accused of helping North Korea evade sanctions. They also have been pushing for sanctions relief for North Korea.

Ken Gause, director of Adversary Analytics at CNA, thinks imposing sanctions on North Korea will push the regime to rely more on China for its economic support and make it less inclined to give up its nuclear weapons and missile programs or to engage in nuclear talks.

Theres really no more pressure you can put on them, because Chinas sitting there and would blunt any pressure, Gause said. I dont think theres anything in the negative category or the pressure category that you can do. The only thing where there is potential is in the positive category, which is sanctions relief or some sort of incentives.

Hours after the U.S. announced the designations, the Chinese embassy in Washington told VOAs Korean Service that Beijing opposes and strongly condemns the U.S. move.

The U.S. practice constitutes serious interference in Chinas internal affairs, severe violations of basic norms governing international relations, and grave harm to China-U.S. relations, embassy spokesperson Liu Pengyu said.

We urge the U.S. to immediately rescind its wrong decision and stop making any remarks or moves that interfere in Chinas internal affairs and undermine Chinas interests, he added.

VOAs Korean Service requested comments from North Koreas mission to the United Nations in New York but did not receive a reply.

Talks between the U.S. and North Korea have been stalled since October 2019.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday the United States would work with allies to defend and promote a free and open Indo-Pacific region.

Speaking during a visit to Indonesia, Blinken said the greatest strength against evolving threats is working with other nations, and that the U.S. wants to ensure people and countries have the freedom to decide on their own futures and partners.

Well adopt a strategy that more closely weaves together all our instruments of national power  diplomacy, military, intelligence  with those of our allies and partners," he said.

Blinken reiterated U.S. commitment to freedom of navigation in the South China Sea, an area where he said Chinas actions threaten the movement of $3 trillion in goods annually.

That's why there's so much concern from Northeast Asia to Southeast Asia and from the Mekong River to the Pacific Islands about Beijing's aggressive actions claiming open seas as their own, distorting open markets through subsidies to its state-run companies, denying the exports or revoking deals for countries whose policies it does not agree with, Blinken said. Engaging in illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing activities. Countries across the region want this behavior to change. We do, too.

China competes with Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam for sovereignty over parts of the resource-rich sea, which stretches from Hong Kong to Borneo.

Last month, China pledged to avoid dominance in the South China Sea, but experts said the pledge comes too late to convince smaller Southeast Asian claimants to the strategic waterway after years of Chinese expansion.

Blinken said defending the rules-based order is not to keep any country down, and that the United States does not seek conflict in the region.

He also discussed efforts to promote fair trade in the Indo-Pacific, to address infrastructure shortcomings that challenge inclusive growth, the need to build resilience to tackle challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic and addressing climate change by investing in new types of jobs.

Some information for this report came from the Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
Britain and Pakistan Tuesday advocated a collective international response to scaling up humanitarian aid to Afghanistan, which is facing mass starvation and economic collapse after the Taliban takeover of the country.

A stable inclusive Afghanistan is our shared goal, Christian Turner, the British high commissioner in Islamabad, told an international seminar in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad.

I want to emphasize the U.K. is taking a pragmatic approach. We are talking to the Taliban, he said.

The British diplomat, however, stressed that issues related to counterterrorism, the rights of minorities, rights of women and school education for girls remain at the center of the dialogue with the Taliban.

Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi told the seminar the Taliban government has assured all neighbors of Afghanistan and extra-regional powers that they will not allow Afghan soil to be used for terrorism.

We have advocated and worked for the establishment of an inclusive polity in Afghanistan, respecting the rights of all ethnic and religious minorities as well as of women, Qureshi said.

Qureshi said that Pakistan will host foreign ministers of Islamic countries later this week to mobilize support for providing food, medicine and housing to millions of people in Afghanistan. The Taliban and representatives from the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France, the United Nations and European Union have also been invited to Sundays extraordinary session of the 57-nation Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).

The Islamist Taliban seized power from the Western-backed government in August following the withdrawal of the United States and allied nations from the war-ravaged country.

Washington and its allies responded by suspending financial aid and freezing Afghan monetary assets, largely held in the U.S. Federal Reserve, so they do not help the Taliban to reintroduce their hardline repressive rule of the 1990s.

The abrupt disruption of the assistance has left the Afghan economy, which heavily depended on external aid over the past 20 years, on the brink of collapse. The sanctions have led to the breakdown in most basic services, including electricity, health services and education, with prices for food, fuel and other basic staples rising rapidly and out of reach for ordinary Afghans.

The Afghan banking system is only partially functional and cut off from the rest of the world due international sanctions. No country has granted diplomatic recognition to the new Taliban government over human rights concerns and lack of inclusivity.

Former American diplomat Robin Raphel told the Islamabad seminar the U.S. and other Western governments remain focused mostly on evacuating vulnerable Afghans and avoiding any hint of recognition of the Taliban government. But saving lives of millions of Afghans should also be the priority, she said.

The European Union and some European governments are now actively considering opening offices in Kabul to engage directly with Taliban leaders who are not on the terrorism list. The U.S. would do well to consider doing the same thing in my view, Raphel said.

The U.S. Treasury decided last week to allow personal and non-personal remittances to be made to Afghans while donors agreed to transfer $280 million from the World Bank-administered Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund (ARTF).

The U.N. childrens fund, UNICEF, will receive $100 million for health services, while the rest of the money will go to the World Food Program to assist 2.7 million people with food aid.

The WFP estimates that the number of severely food insecure Afghans is a staggering 22.8 million, more than 50 percent of the population.

An estimated 8.7 million people are one step away from famine-like conditions and around 95 percent of households are unable to feed themselves sufficiently on a daily basis, Mary-Ellen McGroarty, the WFP director in Afghanistan, told reporters in Kabul earlier this week.

The impacts of the worst drought in 30 years and the economic implosion, crippling the country, the destructive legacy of the conflict, are all coming together. They are merging, they are layering and they are morphing into a tsunami of hunger and destitution across the country, she warned. McGroarty said 3.1 million Afghan children have been diagnosed as malnourished in 2021.
Derek Chauvin, a former Minneapolis police officer convicted in the murder of George Floyd, appears to be on the verge of pleading guilty to violating Floyd's civil rights, a move that would remove him from a federal trial but could significantly increase the amount of time he'll spend behind bars.

A notice sent out Monday by the court's electronic filing system shows a hearing is scheduled for Wednesday for Chauvin to change his not guilty plea. These types of notices typically indicate a defendant is planning to plead guilty, though nothing will be official until it happens in court.

Chauvin has already been convicted of state murder and manslaughter charges for pinning his knee against Floyd's neck as the Black man said he couldn't breathe during a May 25, 2020, arrest. He was sentenced to 22 years in that case.

A message left with Chauvin's attorney, Eric Nelson, was not immediately returned. The U.S. Attorney's Office had no comment.

Possible effects on co-defendants' cases

Chauvin and three other former officers  Thomas Lane, J. Kueng and Tou Thao  were indicted earlier this year on federal charges alleging they willfully violated Floyd's rights. They were set to go to trial in late January.

Chauvin's plea could be a positive for the other three. They had asked the court to separate their trials from Chauvin's, arguing that his presence would hurt them before a jury, but that request was denied. Mike Brandt, a local defense attorney not connected to the case, said a trial without Chauvin could reduce some of the inflammatory evidence jurors would see.

Brandt has also said that if Chauvin pleads guilty, he can be compelled to testify  which could benefit the others if he says he was the veteran officer who made the decision to do what he did.

The information sent out Monday gives no indication that the other former officers intend to plead guilty. Messages left for their attorneys were not immediately returned.

Mark Osler, a professor at the University of St. Thomas School of Law, said any potential prison time that Chauvin would face in the federal case would likely be served at the same time as his state sentence  but the federal term has the potential to be much longer, up to life in prison.

By claiming responsibility, Chauvin can reduce his federal sentence. Though rare, Osler said, Chauvin could also arrange to serve his sentence in the federal system, which could benefit him since he has been in solitary confinement in Minnesota. Brandt added that Chauvin would still have notoriety in the federal system and might still need to be segregated.

"I'm guessing he actually negotiated something that would allow him to see the light of day before he leaves the Earth," Brandt said.

Federal sentence could be longer

But the federal system has no parole, so even with a reduced federal sentence, Chauvin could spend more time behind bars.

In Minnesota, defendants with good behavior serve two-thirds of their sentence in prison and the remaining one-third on supervised release, also known as parole. Under that formula, he's expected to serve 15 years in prison on the state charges and 7 years on parole.

Under sentencing guidelines, Chauvin could get a federal penalty ranging from 27 years to more than 33 years in prison, with credit for taking responsibility, Osler said. But the guidelines are not mandatory, and Osler estimated Chauvin would be sentenced toward the lower end of the range.

According to evidence in the state case against Chauvin, Kueng and Lane helped restrain the 46-year-old Floyd as he was on the ground  Kueng knelt on Floyd's back and Lane held down Floyd's legs. Thao held back bystanders and kept them from intervening during the 9 -minute restraint.

Floyd's arrest and death, which a bystander captured on cellphone video, sparked mass protests nationwide that called for an end to racial inequality and police mistreatment of Black people.

All four former officers were charged broadly in federal court with depriving Floyd of his rights while acting under government authority, but the federal indictment broke down the counts even further. A count against Chauvin alleged he violated Floyd's right to be free from unreasonable seizure and from unreasonable force by a police officer.

Thao and Kueng are charged with violating Floyd's right to be free from unreasonable seizure by not intervening to stop Chauvin as he knelt on Floyd's neck. All four officers are charged for their failure to provide Floyd with medical care.

It was not immediately clear if Chauvin plans to plead guilty to all or some of the federal charges against him in Floyd's death.

Osler said he's not surprised the other three former officers don't seem to be involved in this plea deal because they would likely face much lesser sentences than Chauvin if convicted.

If they were to plead guilty, Osler said, the other three would likely want "a plea deal that would wrap up both the state and federal charges."

The other three men were also charged in state court with aiding and abetting murder and manslaughter. They are scheduled to go to trial in that case in March.

Chauvin is also charged in a second indictment, stemming from the use of force and neck restraint on a 14-year-old boy in 2017.

That indictment alleges Chauvin deprived the boy, who is Black, of his right to be free of unreasonable force when he held him by the throat, hit him in the head with a flashlight, and held his knee on the boy's neck and upper back while he was prone, handcuffed and not resisting. Information from the court gave no indication that Chauvin would be changing his plea in that case.


China is reporting its first case of the omicron variant of the coronavirus on its mainland.

Health authorities say a person in the northern port city of Tianjin tested positive for the new variant after arriving from overseas on December 9. The individual, who was shown to be asymptomatic, is now quarantined and undergoing treatment in a hospital.

The first reported case of omicron on the Chinese mainland comes two years after COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, was first detected in the central city of Wuhan. China has since imposed a zero-tolerance strategy, including mass testing, snap lockdowns and extensive quarantines, as a means to prevent any further outbreaks.

Health authorities around the world are warning that omicron, which has been detected in more than 60 countries since it was first discovered in South Africa in November, could soon surpass delta as the most dominant variant of the coronavirus.

Denmark says omicron will trigger 10,000 new infections by the end of the week, compared to the current rate of 6,000 cases driven entirely by delta. The Norwegian Institute of Public Health also warned Monday that omicron will soon dominate, with new infections rising from 4,700 daily cases to a record 90,000 to 300,000 daily cases.

The new warnings come just days after the World Health Organization warned that omicron poses a very high global risk because its mutations may lead to higher transmission. The U.N. health agency said while the current vaccines are less effective against omicron, early data shows it causes less severe symptoms than other variants.

In a related development, Reuters news agency is reporting that a real-world study in South Africa shows that Pfizers two-dose COVID-19 vaccine provides 70% protection against hospitalization against severe illness. The study, conducted by Discovery Health, the countrys largest private health insurance administrator, was based on more than 211,000 positive COVID-19 test results between November 15 to December 7, with about 78,000 believed to be caused by omicron.

The study concluded that while there was a higher risk of reinfection during the current fourth wave of new cases than the first, the risk of hospitalization among adults was 29% lower than during the first wave.

Some information for this report came from Reuters and Agence France-Presse.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in is in Australia for talks with Prime Minister Scott Morrison. Analysts have said that enhancing defense ties is a priority of the four-day visit, along with China's growing regional influence.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in is the first world leader to arrive since Australia closed its borders to most foreign travelers in March 2020.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison welcomed Moon and South Koreas first lady Kim Jung-sook to Canberra on Monday.

I am so pleased we could join together as we have been threatening to do for many years now through COVID, and we can now come together in this way, and I am so pleased to be able to host you and to formally elevate our relationship to a comprehensive strategic partnership, Morrison said.

The leaders have agreed on several new joint initiatives around clean energy technology, the supply of critical minerals, and defense. Under a new deal worth 771 million U.S. dollars, the South Korean company Hanwha will provide 30 howitzers, ammunition supply vehicles, and radars to detect enemy artillery. It is the largest military contract between Australia and an Asian nation. Analysts have said South Korea is also well-placed to win a contract with Australia worth 21.3 billion U.S. dollars for new infantry attack vehicles.

Speaking through an interpreter, Moon said the two countries were committed to an open, inclusive and prosperous Indo-Pacific region.

Korea and Australia uphold the same values, and in terms of the geopolitical situation, they are like-minded, Moon said. Korea therefore is focused on a steadfast alliance with the U.S. and wants a harmonized relationship with China, he said.

Moon is the first South Korean president to come to Australia in more than a decade.

Hayley Channer, a senior policy fellow with the Perth USAsia Centre, says Moon's visit is significant.

Australia has often looked across the table and seen South Korea and seen that it is preoccupied with developments on the Korean Peninsula, but Australia and South Korea have so many different things in common. So, having this bilateral visit is extremely important to progress the relationship forward, Channer said.

This year, the two nations will mark 60 years of diplomatic relations.

South Korea is Australias fourth-largest trading partner. A free-trade deal has been in place since December 2014.
The Ghana Airports Company Limited said in a statement that beginning Tuesday, all arriving passengers 18 years and older must provide evidence of being fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

It said airlines will be fined $3,500 for every passenger who arrives without proof of vaccination, a negative COVID test result, or who tests positive on arrival.

It added that any non-Ghanaians breaking the new rules may also be refused entry.

The statement said Ghanaians will be allowed entry but subject to 14 days of mandatory quarantine at a designated facility.

Ghanas health ministry ordered the strict measures on Monday as African countries are facing the challenge of the omicron variant and getting people vaccinated.

Ghana Health Service Director General Dr Patrick Kuma-Aboagye told a local radio station the measures were needed.

He said about 75% of all the people who test positive for the virus at the airport were unvaccinated.
Billionaire media mogul and pro-democracy activist Jimmy Lai was given another jail term on Monday after a Hong Kong judge found him guilty of taking part in an unauthorized assembly 18 months ago.

Lai was sentenced to 13 months in jail for incitement to knowingly take part in an unauthorised assembly during Hong Kongs annual Tiananmen Square candlelight vigil in June 2020.

Chow Hang-tung, a human rights lawyer and Gwyneth Ho, a former journalist, were also jailed for 12-months and six months respectively for their roles at the event.

The Tiananmen Square massacre took place on June 4 1989, in Beijing, as Chinas Peoples Liberation Army violently cracked down on pro-democracy protesters, leaving unknown numbers killed.

Hong Kong residents have since commemorated the event, but authorities have prohibited the rally in the last two years because of the COVID19 pandemic.

Thousands of peaceful protesters defied the ban in 2020, lit candles and sang peacefully at Hong Kongs Victoria Park as the evening finished without any major incidents.

Dozens of pro-democracy activists were eventually charged for their involvement at the demonstration, with eight given jail terms on Monday at Hong Kong's District Court for organizing, participating or inciting others to attend the rally.

Veteran pro-democracy activist Lee Cheuk-Yan, who is already serving jail time for similar convictions, received a 14-month jail sentence. Lee was the Chairman of the now-defunct Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China group and the organizer of the vigil. Three former Alliance members, Richard Tsoi, Leung Yiu-chung and Simon Leung Kam-wai were also jailed for their roles in the assembly, ranging between nine and 12 months. Former lawmaker Wu Chi-wai, was given an additional four months and two weeks to the current jail term he is serving. All defendants will serve their sentences concurrently.

Judge Amanda Woodcock said the rally risked another public threat amid the ongoing pandemic, and that deterrent sentences were needed, local media reported.

But Eric Yan-ho Lai, a law analyst and fellow at the Georgetown University Law School in Washington D.C., told VOA the sentencing was "harsh."

"It reflects the court continues to disproportionately punish peaceful activists. The sentencing also reflects that the court undermines the importance of balancing right exercising and public health, and ignores the UN Special Rapporteur's call for respecting free assemblies during COVID," Lai said.

The analyst added how the sentencing indicates the annual vigil is now a crime in Hong Kong and future commemorations are "highly unlikely."

"Free anti-government speeches and assemblies are in no way legal and tolerable by the authorities now, he added.

For his mitigation, Lai hand-wrote his own, which was read by his defence counsel. He denied he had joined the vigil and had only lit a candle.

If commemorating those who died because of injustice is a crime, then inflict on me that crime and let me suffer the punishment of this crime, so I may share the burden and glory of those young men and women who shed blood on June 4 to proclaim truth, justice and goodness, part of his mitigation read.

The 74-year-old has been in jail since December last year and is now serving a 20-month term for taking part in several unauthorized rallies in 2019. He is also facing two charges under the national security law and faces life in prison.

Mark Simon, Lais former top aide and former group director for Apple Dailys parent company Next Digital, told VOA the judgments are targeting individuals rather than violations of the law.

These harsh sentences are reflective not of a justice system, but of a coordinated effort of repression.

Chow, a barrister in Hong Kong since 2016 and the former vice-chair of the Hong Kong Alliance, delivered her own mitigation on Monday.

Let us not delude ourselves that this is all about COVID-19 and that the criminalization of the vigil is only an exceptional measure at an exceptional time. What happened here is instead one step in the systemic erasure of history, both of the Tiananmen Massacre and Hong Kongs own history of civic resistance.

Chow, who also is facing an outstanding charge under the security law, told VOA in July, "The absurdity of all is crazy. We have done nothing wrong, so we shouldnt feel down for what weve done.

Hong Kong political activist Glacier Chung Ching Kwong said the sentencing is significant and bemoaned the loss of a bright and warm-hearted human rights lawyer.

Since Beijing imposed a strict national security law upon Hong Kong last June following the widespread pro-democracy protests in 2019, a crackdown has ensued within the semi-autonomous city. The law prohibits secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces, and its details can be widely interpreted by authorities.

At least 150 people have since been arrested under the security law, Bloomberg has reported. Apple Daily, the Hong Kong pro-democracy newspaper Jimmy Lai founded in 1995, was forced to cease operations earlier this year as Lai and his executives were charged for violating the legislation. And the Hong Kong Alliance organization is also one of the dozens of civil society groups to have also folded because of the law.

Political analyst Joseph Cheng, formerly of Hong Kong but now residing in New Zealand, also believes Mondays sentencing indicates how Hong Kong has lost its unique autonomy.

The Hong Kong Alliance and its annual June 4 candlelight vigil are symbols of the one country, two systems model; theyre the canary in the mine pit. The canary is now gone; and many Hong Kong people now believe that the one country, two systems model is dead too, he told VOA.

In the foreseeable future, I dont think anyone or any organizations can organize the June 4 memorial activities. Unlawful assemblies which are peaceful used to attract warningsnow the guilty parties are usually given prison terms of a few months. Naturally, such sentences are unnecessarily harsh, he added.
The United Nations top refugee official is urging nations to strengthen their support for people fleeing conflict, persecution, and violence and to keep their borders open to people in need of international protection.

In a video, the U.N. high commissioner for refugees, Filippo Grandi, sets the scene for this two-day virtual event: for centuries, experiences of exile and traditions of refuge have formed part of our collective heritage, Grandi notes on the video clip. The meeting is the first follow-up to the Global Refugee Forum held two years ago. Nearly 1,400 pledges were made then to better support refugees and host communities.

Senior government officials, refugees and various partners are here to take stock of how many pledges have been kept. High Commissioner Grandi gives the global picture a mixed review.

He says countries are doing better at including refugees in national COVID-19 and health care responses, and in providing protection and greater livelihood opportunities. He says progress has been made toward eradicating statelessness and in the field of education.

He warns, however, that too many countries are turning their backs on people in need of safety and protection.

To this end, I must repeat my grave concerns regarding certain trends in some of the worlds industrialized countries, including closed borders, sometimes very violent pushbacks, the construction of walls and barriers, the outsourcing of international legal and moral obligations concerning peoples right to seek asylum, he expressed.

The UNHCR reports at least 83.4 million people have been forcibly displaced around the world, and of that number, 26.4 million are refugees. Developing countries host about 85 percent of the worlds refugees.

Grandi is calling on wealthier countries to assume a greater share of this responsibility. He also is appealing for more third country solutions to intractable refugee problems.

Resettlement is of course a key avenue, and I am grateful to all those states that have continued to maintain or increase their resettlement quotas over the past years, as well as to the United States of America for reinvigorating its resettlement program, he pointed out.

Officials attending the event will spotlight several key areas, including the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, climate action, and displacement.
A new study out of South Africa shows that Pfizers two-dose COVID-19 vaccine provides a high degree of protection against hospitalization from the fast-spreading omicron variant.

The real-world study, conducted by the South African Medical Research Council and Discovery Health, the countrys largest private health insurance administrator, was based on more than 211,000 positive COVID-19 test results between November 15 to December 7, with about 78,000 believed to be caused by omicron.

The study concluded that while the vaccine offered only a 33% rate of protection against an overall infection, it provided 70% protection against hospitalization. It also concludes that while there was a higher risk of reinfection during this current surge, the risk of hospitalization among adults was 29% lower than during the initial wave. Pfizer developed the vaccine in collaboration with German-based BioNTech.

South Africa is experiencing a dramatic surge in new daily COVID-19 cases driven by omicron, which was first announced by the country in November.

In a related development, Pfizer announced Tuesday that a new study of its experimental COVID-19 antiviral pill confirms it is highly effective in preventing severe disease among high-risk adults that could lead to hospitalizations and deaths, even against the omicron variant.

The company says it found that the drug, dubbed Paxlovid, reduced the risk of hospitalization and death by 89% if given within three days of the onset of COVID-19 symptoms, and as much 88% if administered within five days.

Pfizer has asked the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to authorize use of Paxlovid based on results from a preliminary study.

The FDA is expected to announce soon whether to grant permission for doctors to use Paxlovid and a competing drug, molnupiravir, developed by Merck. Merck said last month a clinical trial revealed molnupiravir reduced hospitalizations and deaths by only 30% among high-risk adults.

The new developments come as health authorities around the world are warning that omicron could soon surpass delta as the most dominant variant of the coronavirus.

Denmark says omicron will trigger 10,000 new infections by the end of the week, compared to the current rate of 6,000 cases driven entirely by delta. The Norwegian Institute of Public Health also warned Monday that omicron will soon dominate, with new infections rising from 4,700 daily cases to a record 90,000 to 300,000 daily cases.

The new warnings come just days after the World Health Organization warned that omicron poses a very high global risk because its mutations may lead to higher transmission. The U.N. health agency said while the current vaccines are less effective against omicron, early data shows it causes less severe symptoms than other variants.

Meanwhile, China is reporting its second case of omicron infection on its mainland. A 67-year-old man tested positive Monday, two weeks after arriving in Shanghai from overseas. Authorities say the man repeatedly tested negative during his mandatory two-week hotel quarantine before flying to the southern city of Guangzhou, where he was spending another week in self-isolation at his residence. He tested positive for the new variant after researchers conducted genome sequencing.

The first case of omicron on mainland China was a person in the northern port city of Tianjin who tested positive for the new variant after arriving from overseas on December 9. The individual, who was shown to be asymptomatic, is now quarantined and undergoing treatment in a hospital.

The first cases of omicron on mainland China come two years after COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, was first detected in the central city of Wuhan. China has since imposed a zero-tolerance strategy, including mass testing, snap lockdowns and extensive quarantines, as a means to prevent any further outbreaks.

Some information for this report came from the Associated Press and Reuters.
A top Russian diplomat has warned that Moscow will respond militarily and deploy tactical nuclear weapons, if NATO does not guarantee an end to its eastward expansion.

His remarks raise the stakes even higher in the confrontation between Russia and Western powers just days after U.S. President Joe Biden and Russias Vladimir Putin held a two-hour video conference aimed at defusing a burgeoning crisis over Russian military movements near Ukraine's borders, where the Kremlin is estimated to have amassed around 100,000 troops.

Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkovs threat comes amid rising fears that Putin is considering a further military incursion into Ukraine in a rehash of Russias 2014 annexation of the Crimean Peninsula and its seizure of a large part of the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine, bordering Russia.

In a phone call Monday, Britains Boris Johnson repeated to the Russian leader warnings that any repeat of 2014 would have significant consequences and any destabilizing action by Russia would be met with a united response by Western countries.

Following the call between Johnson and Putin, Ryabkov told the state-run RIA Novosti news agency Russias response will be military, if NATO continues to arm Ukraine. A lack of progress towards a political-diplomatic solution would mean that our response will be military and military-technical, Ryabkov said.

There will be confrontation, he added, saying Russia would deploy weapons previously banned under the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, an arms control deal struck in 1987 by then US President Ronald Reagan and Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev.

The treaty expired in 2019 but both Washington and Moscow have not moved to deploy the previously banned nuclear weapons.

According to British officials, Johnson stressed to Putin the importance of having a dialogue on international and regional security and that all sides needed to observe the Minsk agreements signed by Russia and Ukraine in 2015 which aimed to bring an end to fighting in Ukraines Donbas. Russia and Ukraine accuse each other of failing to comply with the Minsk agreements.

Russian maneuvers.

Last week, President Biden outlined in his call with Putin the economic sanctions the West would impose if Russian forces invaded Ukraine. A buildup of Russian troops along the border with Ukraine, and on the Crimean Peninsula, has prompted growing alarm in Western capitals and triggered an intense debate among Western policymakers over Putins intentions. Russian motorized infantry, artillery and armored units along the border Tuesday appeared to be carrying out drills practicing combat alerts and deploying to assembly points, according to Ukrainian officials.

Kremlin officials maintain Russia is not preparing to invade Ukraine and accuse the Ukrainians of mobilizing military units along their shared border. They say NATO is helping Kyiv to build up its forces and is being supplied with a significant number of weapons, including modern high-tech weapons.

In Kyiv on Tuesday, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian affairs Karen Donfried reassured Ukrainian officials of Washingtons continued commitment to Ukraines independence and territorial integrity. Donfried is due to meet Ryabkov in Moscow later this week.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who is pressing NATO to admit his country as a member, told reporters Tuesday, Ukraine gave up its nuclear arsenal in exchange of security guarantees from Russia. They were never respected. How can we trust any Russian promises?

Putin has demanded Western powers guarantee in writing that Ukraine would not be a staging ground for NATO. Last week, Russias Foreign Ministry demanded Washington formally close the door on NATO membership for both Ukraine and Georgia. The Foreign Ministry also demanded that the Western alliance guarantee the non-deployment of weapons threatening Russias security on its western borders.

Ukraines foreign minister on Tuesday accused Putin of trying to return Europe to the Soviet era. The fact Putin is searching for a new ideological justification concerning Ukraine suggests hes on the verge of something big: an attempt to fundamentally rewrite the security order in Europe, to divide the continent into new spheres of influence," Dmytro Kuleba said at a press conference, after his meeting with Donfried.

Western policymakers are split over why Putin has been amassing troops. They are also wrestling with their options for deterring him from making any dramatic military moves on Ukraine. Some former U.S. diplomats and officials believe Washington and its European allies should supply Ukraine with more high-tech weaponry, and sooner rather than later. They see the Kremlin's anxiety over supplies of Western high-tech weapons as the best policy option to deter Russian adventurism.

The question U.S. and European policymakers must answer is whether they are going to help Ukraine with the weapons and the training it needs to defend itself, said Daniel Fried, a former American diplomat who served as assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs and was the U.S. ambassador to Poland from 1997 to 2000. The U.S. has increased its military supplies to Ukraine but Fried would like to see more.

Ukrainians know how to use them. And I think the equipment needs to be delivered either now to deter the Russians or in the pipelines so the Russians know it can arrive very quickly, he told VOA recently.

In Moscow, Kremlin officials say Putin planned to discuss the crisis in a call Wednesday with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The Washington, D.C. city prosecutor filed suit Tuesday against two right-wing, anti-government groups, the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, alleging they helped carry out the violent January 6 storming of the U.S. Capitol as lawmakers were certifying that Democrat Joe Biden had defeated Republican President Donald Trump in the 2020 election.

City Attorney General Karl Racine accused the two groups in a civil suit of causing extensive damage in the U.S. capital city and injuring city police officers during the protest.

Were holding these insurrectionists accountable for conspiring to terrorize the city by planning, promoting, and participating in the deadly attack on the Capitol, Racine said. Im seeking damages in this case and will keep working to ensure such an assault never happens again.

At a rally shortly before the demonstrators entered the Capitol, Trump urged his supporters to fight like hell to keep him in office for another four-year term.

More than 600 rioters who rampaged into the Capitol have been charged with an array of criminal offenses, with about 50 already convicted and sentenced. Some, facing minor trespassing charges, have been handed probation terms and no jail time, while others who assaulted police, have been sentenced to more than four years in prison.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights warns Afghanistan is facing a profound human right crisis and failure by the Taliban rulers to uphold the rights of their people will lead to further turmoil and hinder the countrys development. The High Commissioners report has been presented at a special session of the U.N. Human Rights Council.

This unrelentingly bleak report describes a society where millions of people are unable to meet their basic needs because of the near collapse of the Afghan economy. It says people suffering poverty and hunger are forced to take desperate measures to survive, including child labor, child marriage, and even the sale of children.

Before the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in August, the United Nations recorded the highest number of civilian casualties on record, with women and children among the main victims. While casualty numbers have dropped, the report says civilians continue to be killed in attacks by various armed groups.



U.N. deputy high commissioner for human rights, Nada Al-Nashif, tells the Council extrajudicial killings are increasing across the country. She expresses concern at the continued recruitment of children by an extremist jihadist militant group and Taliban authorities.

"While the Taliban takeover has brought an uneasy end to fighting against governmental forces in the country, the current situation leaves the population with little protection in terms of human rights," Al Nashif said. "Women and girls in particular face great uncertainty with respect to the rights to education, to livelihoods and to participation, in which they had made important gains over the past

Al Nashif says Afghan society will pay a high price if the Taliban continue to marginalize women by depriving them of an education, prohibiting them from working, and keeping them under the control a male relative.

"The continued participation of women in all aspects of life will be fundamental to Afghanistans future," Al Nashif said. "The UN partners have estimated that restricting women from working could contribute an immediate loss of up to one billion dollarsor up to five percent of the countrys GDP. As more and more girls are held back and pushed further behind, that economic and social damage will accumulate for future generations.

The U.N. Credentials Committee has decided to not allow the Taliban to represent Afghanistan at the United Nations. So, Nasir Andisha, Ambassador to the UN in Geneva under ex-President Afghan Ghanis regime remains the person who the UN recognizes as the legitimate representative of Afghanistan.

In taking the floor at the council, the ambassador thanked the High Commissioner for her report. He called on the international community to side with the people of Afghanistan and to not allow the Taliban to deprive them of their fundamental rights and freedoms.
The U.S. House of Representatives is set to vote Tuesday on whether to refer contempt of Congress charges against Mark Meadows, former President Donald Trumps White House chief of staff, to the Justice Department for possible prosecution after Meadows refused to testify about his role in trying to overturn Trumps 2020 presidential election loss.

A congressional committee investigating the January 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, when hundreds of Trump supporters stormed the building in a futile attempt to keep lawmakers from certifying that Democrat Joe Biden had defeated Trump, voted unanimously Monday to recommend that Meadows face criminal charges.

Meadows said in an interview on the Fox News cable network late Monday the committees decision was "disappointing, but not surprising."

"This is about Donald Trump and about actually going after him once again," Meadows said.

Ahead of the committee vote, Republican Congresswoman Liz Cheney detailed text messages sent to Meadows as the riot unfolded, with prominent conservative media figures and one of Trumps sons urging Meadows to encourage Trump to do more to halt the actions of his supporters.

At a rally earlier that day, Trump had urged his supporters to fight like hell to keep him in office for a second four-year term. More than 600 rioters, some of whom smashed windows, ransacked congressional offices and attacked police, have been charged with criminal offenses.

On air, three Fox News hosts, all ardent Trump supporters, downplayed the violence, suggesting that anti-Trump infiltrators had fomented the violence, or saying that most of the people who entered the Capitol were peaceful.

But one of the hosts, Laura Ingraham, had earlier texted Meadows, "Mark, the president needs to tell people in the Capitol to go home. This is hurting all of us. He is destroying his legacy."

Two other Fox commentators, Brian Kilmeade and Sean Hannity, also urged Meadows to implore Trump to make a statement urging his supporters to leave the Capitol. Trumps eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., also texted Meadows to get the former president to make a statement.

Cheney said the messages show Trumps supreme dereliction and raised questions about whether through his inaction he sought to interrupt the congressional task of certifying the presidential election result showing that he lost.

"These texts leave no doubt," Cheney said. "The White House knew exactly what was happening at the Capitol."

Late in the afternoon, hours after the violence erupted at the Capitol, President Trump urged his supporters to "go home now," while continuing to claim falsely that his re-election was stolen from him.

"I know your pain, I know youre hurt," Trump said. "But you have to go home now, we have to have peace. We have to have law and order, we have to respect our great people in law and order."

In a later tweet that day, Trump appeared to justify the mobs actions.

"These are the things and events that happen when a sacred landslide election victory is so unceremoniously & viciously stripped away from great patriots who have been badly & unfairly treated for so long," he wrote. "Go home with love & in peace. Remember this day forever!"

Congressman Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, chairman of the January 6 investigating panel, said, Whatever legacy [Meadows] thought he left in the House, this is his legacy now. Meadows is a former Republican representative from North Carolina.

Meadows handed over 6,600 pages of records taken from personal email accounts and about 2,000 text messages to the nine-member House investigating committee, seven Democrats and two Republican Trump critics.

Meadows initially agreed to testify about his role before January 6 in trying to help Trump claim a second four-year term in the White House and his actions that day. But last week, Meadows changed his mind about testifying, citing Trumps assertion of executive privilege to keep documents secret.

The House committee has already held another former Trump aide, Steve Bannon, in contempt of Congress for his refusal to comply with a subpoena to testify. Bannon was later indicted and, if convicted, could face up to a year in prison.

The investigative panel late Sunday issued a 51-page report that showed Meadows was deeply involved in trying to keep Trump in office even though the former president had lost five dozen court challenges in various states contesting his election loss and numerous vote recounts in individual political battleground states all upheld Bidens victories.

State election officials often said there was no appreciable voter fraud, as Trump has alleged to this day, that would have changed the outcome in his favor.

If Meadows had appeared for a deposition, the committee said it would have questioned him about numerous documents he provided.

On Monday, Meadows said through his attorney that the committee's referral was unwise, unfair and contrary to law, according to The Associated Press.

In a November 7, 2020 email, the committee said that just days after Trump lost the election, Meadows discussed an effort to have state legislators in states Trump lost appoint electors supporting Trump rather than the pro-Biden electors a majority of voters had chosen.

In text messages with an unidentified senator, Meadows discussed Trumps erroneous view that then-Vice President Mike Pence had the power to overturn the Electoral College vote count as lawmakers officially certified the state-by-state tally on January 6. Pence drew Trumps ire as he refused to upend the Electoral College vote, which Biden won by a 306-232 margin, the same count Trump won by in 2016.

A day before the riot occurred, Meadows said National Guard troops would be at the Capitol to protect pro-Trump people. Other emails touched on the rioting at the Capitol as it unfolded, with pro-Trump supporters shutting down the Electoral College vote count for hours before Biden was finally declared the winner in the early hours of January 7.

The committee also said it wanted to ask Meadows about claims he made in his new book, The Chiefs Chief, about his time in the White House with Trump.

Mr. Meadows has shown his willingness to talk about issues related to the Select Committees investigation across a variety of media platforms  anywhere, it seems, except to the Select Committee, the panel wrote.

In turn, Meadows has sued the committee, asking a court to invalidate two subpoenas that he says are "overly broad and unduly burdensome."

The panel has interviewed nearly 300 witnesses and lawmakers linked in some way to the rioting or contesting of the election results. The committee says it is planning a series of hearings early next year to make public many of its findings.

Some information in this report came from The Associated Press and Reuters.
At least 57 journalists were detained across the U.S. in 2021, with nearly all those cases taking place in just two cities where media were covering protests.

While the number of those detained is less than the record 142 media arrests in 2020, the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, which documents violations against media, says it is proving to be an ongoing issue.

We came off of such a significant year for press freedom violations, but it doesn't mean that it went down. What it means is that it is systemic and that it's continuing; they dont just stop on January 1, Kirstin McCudden, the Trackers managing editor, told VOA.

In most cases, reporters are released quickly from police custody. Often journalists are impeded when police use a tactic known as kettling, where officers surround a group on all sides to confine them.

But McCudden says that even temporary detainment can affect reporting.

When journalists are kept from doing their job  the ability to report  because they've either been moved away from the scene, or kept away somehow in the detainment, or captured in a kettle and not allowed to keep recording, it affects their ability to tell the story, to do what they have a right to do, which is both be there and be there to disseminate news, McCudden said.

The majority of cases took place in two cities during 2021: Los Angeles in California, where the Tracker recorded 22 cases of media being detained, and Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, with 21.

Most detentions in LA occurred in March during the Echo Park protests, when police closed a homeless encampment where about 200 people were living.

In Brooklyn Center, 21 journalists were detained over three days in April while covering protests over the death of Daunte Wright, a Black man shot by police during a traffic stop. Wright died about ten miles from where George Floyd was killed by a police officer in Minneapolis in 2020.

Minnesota State Patrol released a statement saying state police had not targeted the media and that it respects the rights of the media to cover protest activity.

It added that following feedback and a temporary court order, officers were prohibited from enforcing general dispersal orders against the press.

Neither the Los Angeles Police Department nor the Brooklyn Center Police Department responded to VOAs requests for comment.

With the rise in arrests, some media organizations and state officials are looking for ways to improve relations.

Training course

This year, the Society of Professional Journalists Georgia Chapter partnered with the Georgia Public Training Center to develop an online training course.

The course offers guidance for officers on how to de-escalate interactions with the press during events such as protests and also seeks to educate journalists about maintaining appropriate boundaries while exercising their rights as members of the press.

Julie Moos, executive director of the National Press Club Journalism Institute, says that although journalists undergo training for how to safely cover protests, following the protocols doesnt always prevent them from being detained or harassed.

Journalists, as we've seen, too often can do everything right and still be detained, arrested, mistreated by law enforcement or by others in the course of doing their jobs, Moos told VOA.

We often don't know what law enforcement knows, we can't see through their eyes, we can't always understand intent, Moos said. But, she added, there are cases where media were showing press passes, or had vests or equipment clearly labeled and nonetheless they were detained or arrested while simply doing their jobs.

Legal action

For some journalists, the arrest results in legal action.

At least eight journalists in the U.S. are facing criminal charges from earlier arrests, including radio reporter April Ehrlich, who was named one of the One Free Press Coalitions 10 most urgent press freedom cases.

Ehrlich, whose legal name is Fonseca, was arrested in September 2020 while covering evictions of dozens of unhoused people camping in a Medford, Oregon park.

She has been charged with criminal trespassing, interfering with an officer and resisting arrest, charges that could lead to more than a year in prison and up to $7,500 in fines.

The journalists lawyer has previously told reporters that Ehrlich intends to plead not guilty and to contest the charge.

The trial is scheduled for March 2022, according to the Tracker.

The risk of arrest or assault while covering protests is a global problem for the media, according to UNESCO. Data from 65 countries over a five-year period, from 2015 to 2020, found journalists faced some level of risk while covering demonstrations and rallies.

Unfortunately, we see press freedom under threat all over the world and increasingly in this country [the U.S.], Moos said. It has a very chilling effect on journalist decision-making and it has very challenging consequences for newsrooms that are trying to make decisions about how to keep their team safe while still covering the community.
The U.S. military will not punish any of the military personnel involved in an errant drone strike in Kabul, Afghanistan, that killed 10 civilians, after Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin approved recommendations from two top commanders.

The secretary's not approving or calling for additional accountability measures, Pentagon press secretary John Kirby told reporters Monday at the Pentagon in response to a question from VOA.

Pentagon officials had previously acknowledged that the strike on August 29 was a tragic mistake. An independent investigation led by the Air Force inspector general said the strike did not violate laws of war and was a result of confirmation bias rather than criminal negligence.

The strike killed at least 10 civilians, including seven children, and was carried out days after a suicide bomber outside Hamid Karzai International Airport killed at least 170 Afghans and 13 U.S. service members.

The U.S. military had initially said the strike was preventing another Islamic State-Khorasan attack on troops before admitting its mistake.

Evidence later showed that what the military had believed were suspected explosives inside a vehicle turned out to be water tanks for an aid workers family.

U.S.-based Nutrition and Education International founder and President Steve Kwon criticized the Pentagon on Monday, calling its decision shocking.

The airstrike killed NEI employee Zemari Ahmadi and nine of his family members.

How can our military wrongly take the lives of ten precious Afghan people, and hold no one accountable in any way? Kwon said in a statement released Monday, according to CNBC news. What message is it sending to family members who lost their loved ones, and my employees who lost a beloved colleague?

The Pentagon promised to pay compensation and also to help relocate abroad family members and Afghans working for NEI, but that remains stuck on determining just who is qualified, according to officials.

Earlier Monday VOA had confirmed that the recommendation to Austin from Gen. Frank McKenzie, head of U.S. Central Command who oversaw the withdrawal, did not include punishments for service members involved in the botched strike because McKenzie had found no grounds to do so.

Gen. Richard Clarke, head of Special Operations Command, also declined to recommend punishment of service members to Austin, according to Kirby.

In the past two decades, the U.S. military has killed at least hundreds of civilians by accident in war zones in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and Somalia.

Specific individuals are held accountable on rare occasions, such as when the Pentagon disciplined several military personnel for their roles in an October 2015 airstrike on a Doctors Without Borders hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan, that killed 42 people.

The U.S. makes horrible mistakes, of course, and has to own up to it, Thomas Joscelyn, the senior editor of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies Long War Journal told VOA, while adding that despite errant U.S. drone strikes and civilian casualties committed by Afghan forces, the No. 1 killer of civilians throughout that war was the Taliban.
The legal wrangling between USA Gymnastics and the hundreds of victims of sexual abuse by former national team doctor Larry Nassar, among others, is over after a $380 million settlement was reached.

The fight for substantive change within the sport's national governing body is just beginning.

A federal bankruptcy court in Indianapolis on Monday approved the agreement between USA Gymnastics and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee and the more than 500 victims, ending one aspect of the fallout of the largest sexual abuse scandal in the history of the U.S. Olympic movement.

Over 90% of the victims voted in favor of the tentative settlement reached in September. That agreement called for $425 million in damages, but a modified settlement of $380 million was conditionally approved by the court. More than 300 victims were abused by Nassar, with the remaining victims abused by individuals affiliated with USA Gymnastics in some capacity.

The financial reckoning is just one part of the equation. A series of nonmonetary provisions will make the victims stakeholders at USA Gymnastics going forward. The provisions include a dedicated seat on the organization's Safe Sport Committee, Athlete Health and Wellness Council and board of directors, as well as a thorough look at the culture and practices within USA Gymnastics that allowed abusers like Nassar to run unchecked for years.

"Individually and collectively, survivors have stepped forward with bravery to advocate for enduring change in this sport," USA Gymnastics President Li Li Leung said in a statement after the settlement was approved. "We are committed to working with them, and with the entire gymnastics community, to ensure that we continue to prioritize the safety, health and wellness of our athletes and community above all else."

Hundreds of girls and women have said Nassar sexually abused them under the guise of medical treatment when he worked for Michigan State University, USA Gymnastics, which trains Olympians, and a Michigan gym that's a USA Gymnastics member.

He pleaded guilty in federal court to child pornography crimes before pleading guilty in state court to sexually assaulting female gymnasts. He was sentenced in 2018 to 40 to 175 years in prison.

Rachael Denhollander, who in the fall of 2016 was the first woman to come forward to detail sexual abuse at the hands of Nassar, said the provisions were a pivotal part of the mediation process.

"It's not about money, it's about change," Denhollander told The Associated Press in a phone interview. "It's about an accurate assessment of what went wrong so that it is safer for the next generation."

Denhollander has been one of the most outspoken Nassar victims from the outset of the scandal. She said it was important to move past the legal proceedings so women can move forward with their lives and get the help they need.

"The frank reality is the longer this goes on, the more difficult it is for survivors," she said. "So many of these women, they can't access medical care without a settlement. We had to balance that reality with the length of time it was taking. We felt it was in the best interest of everyone to accept this settlement ... so that survivors would receive some semblance of justice."

Denhollander pointed out some of the medical care required is not covered by certain types of insurance. The settlement will ease part of the financial burden.

The settlement comes nearly four years after an emotional sentencing hearing in Michigan in which hundreds of women detailed their experiences with Nassar and the toll it took on their lives.

USOPC CEO Sarah Hirshland said the organization  which is paying $34 million of its own money and $73 million more from insurers toward the settlement  recognizes its role in "failing to protect these athletes, and we are sorry for the profound hurt they have endured."

Denhollander described the five-plus years from when she first approached reporters at The Indianapolis Star to Monday as "hellish."

"It's been hellish for all of us," she said. "To have to push for so long for the right things to take place, to have to push for so long to have justice happen ... it should have never taken five years."

USA Gymnastics filed for bankruptcy in December 2018 in an effort to consolidate the various lawsuits filed against it. The move also forced the USOPC to halt the decertification process it began against USA Gymnastics.

The organization has undergone a massive leadership overhaul in the interim and revamped its health and safety policies. The settlement will allow it to continue as the sport's national governing body, though Denhollander stressed that USA Gymnastics has not gone far enough, which is why the involvement of the victims going forward is so significant.

"We need to see for ourselves what reform is taking place," she said. "The ability to do that provides a level of accountability that hasn't been in place up until now."
Vietnam on Tuesday sentenced a journalist to nine years in prison for spreading anti-state propaganda.

Pham Doan Trang regularly published information alleging human rights violations and police brutality. She was arrested in October 2020.

Her lawyer, Nguyen Van Mieng, said the sentence was close to the maximum for such alleged crimes. Mieng said they would discuss an appeal.

The judge in the case, Chu Phuong Ngoc, called Trangs actions dangerous for society, adding that she should be severely punished.

In a statement, the U.S. State Department said Trang did nothing more than peacefully express her opinions, and it called for her release.

Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch, called the sentence a searing indictment of everything that is wrong with authoritarian Vietnam today.

"In a democratic society, Trang's prolific ideas and writings would be admired and extolled rather than criminalized, he added.

This is not Trangs first brush with Vietnamese authorities.

In 2016, she was asked by former President Barack Obama to participate in a forum for activists, but Vietnamese authorities prevented her from attending. In 2018, she was detained after she met with a delegation from the European Union to discuss human rights.

Some information in this report came from Reuters.
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris announced $1.2 billion in private-sector investments in Central America as part of a program aimed at reducing migration from the region.

"The United States has an important role to play in addressing the root causes of migration," Harris said Monday at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, next door to the White House, before hosting a meeting with leaders from 10 companies to discuss investment initiatives in Central America.

"At the same time, our government cannot do its work alone," she said.

The White House said the investments in Central America came from such companies as PepsiCo, Mastercard and Cargill.

Harris is heading the Biden administration's efforts to stem migration from Central America to the U.S. border, with a focus on addressing the reasons people feel compelled to leave their home countries, including lack of economic opportunity.

She said the U.S. initiative was not about the U.S. government "coming in and telling anyone what they should do."

Rather, she said, it was "about being partners and assisting and helping to facilitate the natural desire of the people in these nations."

The U.S. Border Patrol reported more than 1.6 million encounters with migrants along the U.S.-Mexico border from the fiscal year beginning September 2020 throughout September 2021, the highest annual total on record.

U.S. President Joe Biden came to office promising to reverse many immigration policies implemented by his predecessor, Donald Trump, but has had to backtrack from some planned changes because of the uptick in migration as well as legal challenges.

The investment plans include a $150 million effort by Cargill to expand support for farmers in Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador, the White House said. In addition, PepsiCo pledged to invest at least $190 million in northern Central America, which would include money toward improving manufacturing plants and expanding distribution routes.

Harris said Nespresso, Microsoft and Mastercard all pledged in May to invest in Central America and had announced further investment plans on Monday.

Other companies investing in the region include Parkdale Mills, which plans to build a new yarn spinning facility in Honduras that will support 500 employees, and JDE Peet, which will boost its support for farmers in Central America, including helping them adapt to the effects of climate change, diversify income sources and gain better access to markets.

CARE International, a humanitarian aid organization, will put $50 million toward a Center for Gender Equity in Central America focused on economic empowerment for women, financial inclusion and reducing gender-based violence, according to the White House.

Earlier this month, the Biden administration announced it was restarting a Trump-era program that makes asylum-seekers wait in Mexico for U.S. immigration hearings, after a federal court ruled the administration had improperly revoked it. The Biden administration says it continues to work to undo the program in a way that will hold up in court.

Republicans have criticized Biden's immigration stances, arguing that his plans to reverse Trump's policies are driving more immigrants to the U.S. border.

The president has also faced criticism on immigration from liberals within his own party who say he still relying too much on Trump-era policies.

A September survey by Reuters/Ipsos found that only 38% of U.S. adults approved of Biden's handling of immigration.

Some information in this report came from The Associated Press.


Thokozani Khupe, vice president of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC-T) led by Douglas Mwonzora, has filed an urgent court application seeking an order to block the party from recalling her from parliament following claims that she is sympathetic to Zanu PF and Nelson Chamisas MDC Alliance.

Court documents filed by Khupes lawyers in Bulawayo also indicate that two of her colleagues  councilors Josia Makombe and Lovemore Maiko are also seeking an order to stop Mwonzoras party from recalling them from their local government seats.

Khupes application is based on proceedings and outcomes of the MDC-Ts National Council meeting held on November 26 where the party allegedly resolved to recall those identified party members who were suspected to be sympathetic of a political outfit going by the name and style of Movement For Democratic Change Alliance (MDCA), or were perceivably aligned to the 1st Applicant and were members of the National House of Assembly, the Senate, Provincial Councils or local government councilors in rural or urban councils.

Allegations of politically consorting with an opponent political formation were raised at the said National Council meeting willy  nilly in the presence of some 'accused persons', and in the absence of others so accused, and those that stood accused were not afforded the opportunity to be heard.Decisions adverse to person were made against the beneficial interests of certain members or officials of the party without they being notified or afforded a response.

Mwonzora and party information secretary, Witness Dube were unavailable for comment as they were not responding to calls on their mobile phones.

Dube told VOA Zimbabwe Service that recalling Members of Parliament and councilors is a constitutional matter and they will follow the law in recalling Khupe or any other member of the party from parliament and councils.\

"We have a right to recall anyone deemed to be working against our party's ideals and principles. We are following some provisions of the Zimbabwe constitution. This is a legal matter which I don't wish to say a lot about since it is now in the courts."
Nigerian health officials say some one million doses of COVID-19 vaccines that expired before they could be used will be destroyed. Authorities have blamed the waste on donors who supplied doses that had only a brief shelf life. But Nigeria has also struggled to get people inoculated.

The executive director of Nigeria's National Primary Health Care Development Agency, (NPHCDA), Faisal Shuaib, made the announcement at a weekly COVID-19 briefing in Abuja on Monday.

He said about one million expired doses had been withdrawn from the countrys vaccine supply.

Shuaib added that authorities are working with the national drug control agency and the ministry of environment to ensure the vaccines are destroyed according to health, safety and environmental protocols.

"We're working with NAFDAC (National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control) to schedule a date for when this destruction will take place," said Shuaib. "There are protocols that NAFDAC and Abuja environmental protection agency will have to go through."

According to reports, the expired doses are donations from Europe, given to Nigeria through the international COVAX vaccine sharing program, and constitute the biggest number of vaccines to expire in any country.

Nigerian authorities last week attributed the expiration to the short shelf lives of the vaccines before they arrived.

Authorities also acknowledged that logistics and bottlenecks involved in clearing the vaccines also led to loss of valuable time.

Experts say the issue exposes a much wider problem facing many African nations trying to manage vaccines with close expiration dates.

Shuaib in Abuja stated that authorities will no longer be accepting such vaccines.

"The presidential steering committee has also stated that Nigeria will no longer accept vaccines with short shelf lives as they not only exert undue pressure on the health system but also on the people," said Shuaib.

Only about 3.6 percent of Nigeria's adult population have been fully vaccinated, avccording to health officials. The figure represents less than one-tenth of the 40 percent mark authorities had aimed for this year.

Nigerian authorities, like many of their African counterparts, have been struggling to get more people inoculated.

Authorities blame slow uptake on a low turnout of eligible citizens for vaccination. They say that is the reason Nigeria is currently recording an increase in cases of the coronavirus.
The U.S. House of Representatives is expected to vote Tuesday on whether to refer charges of contempt of Congress against Mark Meadows, former President Donald Trumps White House chief of staff, to the Justice Department for his refusal to testify about his role in trying to overturn Trumps loss in the 2020 presidential election.

A congressional committee made up of seven Democrats and two Republicans voted unanimously Monday to recommend that Meadows face criminal charges.

Meadows said in an interview on the Fox News cable network late Monday the committees decision was disappointing, but not surprising.

"This is about Donald Trump and about actually going after him once again," Meadows said.

Ahead of the committee vote Monday, Republican Congresswoman Liz Cheney detailed text messages sent to Meadows as the January 6 attack on the Capitol unfolded with prominent conservative media figures and one of Trumps sons urging Meadows to encourage Trump to do more to halt the actions of his supporters.

Cheney said the messages show Trumps supreme dereliction and raised questions about whether through his inaction he sought to interrupt the congressional task of certifying the presidential election result showing that he lost.

These texts leave no doubt, Cheney said. The White House knew exactly what was happening at the Capitol.

Bennie Thompson, chairman of the House Select Committee and a Democrat from Mississippi, said in his opening remarks, Whatever legacy [Meadows] thought he left in the House, this is his legacy now. Meadows is a former Republican representative from North Carolina.

Meadows handed over 6,600 pages of records taken from personal email accounts and about 2,000 text messages to the nine-member House of Representatives committee investigating the violence by hundreds of Trump supporters at the Capitol 11 months ago. The trouble happened as lawmakers were certifying that Democrat Joe Biden had defeated Trump in his reelection bid.

Meadows initially agreed to testify about his role before January 6 in trying to help Trump claim a second four-year term in the White House and his actions that day. Protesters, urged by Trump to fight like hell to keep him in office, stormed the Capitol, smashed windows and scuffled with police. Last week, Meadows changed his mind about testifying, citing Trumps assertion of executive privilege to keep documents secret to inhibit the investigation.

The House committee has already held another former Trump aide, Steve Bannon, in contempt of Congress for his refusal to comply with a subpoena to testify. Bannon was later indicted and, if convicted, could face up to a year in prison.

The investigative panel late Sunday issued a 51-page report that showed Meadows was deeply involved in trying to keep Trump in office even though the former president had lost five dozen court challenges in various states contesting his election loss and numerous vote recounts in individual political battleground states all upheld Bidens victories.

State election officials often said there was no appreciable voter fraud, as Trump has alleged to this day, that would have changed the outcome in his favor.

If Meadows had appeared for a deposition, the committee said it would have questioned him about numerous documents he provided.

On Monday, Meadows said through his attorney that the committee's referral was unwise, unfair and contrary to law, according to The Associated Press.

In a November 7, 2020, email, the committee said that just days after Trump lost the election, Meadows discussed an effort to have state legislators in states Trump lost appoint electors supporting Trump rather than the pro-Biden electors a majority of voters had chosen.

In text messages with an unidentified senator, Meadows discussed Trumps erroneous view that then-Vice President Mike Pence had the power to overturn the Electoral College vote count as lawmakers officially certified the state-by-state tally on January 6. Pence drew Trumps ire as he refused to upend the Electoral College vote, which Biden won by a 306-232 margin, the same count Trump won by in 2016.

A day before the riot occurred, Meadows said National Guard troops would be at the Capitol to protect pro-Trump people. Other emails touched on the rioting at the Capitol as it unfolded, with pro-Trump supporters shutting down the Electoral College vote count for hours before Biden was finally declared the winner in the early hours of January 7.

The committee also said it wants to ask Meadows about claims he made in his new book, The Chiefs Chief, about his time in the White House with Trump.

Mr. Meadows has shown his willingness to talk about issues related to the Select Committees investigation across a variety of media platforms  anywhere, it seems, except to the Select Committee, the panel wrote.

In turn, Meadows has sued the committee, asking a court to invalidate two subpoenas that he says are "overly broad and unduly burdensome."

The panel has interviewed nearly 300 witnesses and lawmakers linked in some way to the rioting or contesting of the election results. The committee says it is planning a series of hearings early next year to make public many of its findings.

Some of the more than 600 people charged in the rioting, often identified by boasts on social media accounts of being inside the Capitol, have been sentenced to prison terms of a few months or, in more serious cases, to more than four years. But most of the criminal charges have yet to be adjudicated.

Some information in this report came from The Associated Press and Reuters.
The President of the United States, Joe Biden, has organised a virtual summit for democracy on December 9 and 10, 2021 [1]. It is clear that his objective was not only to improve democracies, but also and above all to divide the world into two: on the one hand, "democracies" that must be supported, and on the other, "authoritarian regimes" that must be fought. Russia and China were the first to be targeted, and they immediately challenged Washingtons hypocrisy and explained their philosophy of democracy [2].

We would like to examine the credibility of the US claim to be the "beacon of democracy", or in biblical terms, the "light that shines on the hill", from a Western perspective, rather than summarising the Russian and Chinese criticism. The Russian conception of democracy is exactly the same as that of other continental European states. Chinas is very different. We will not deal with it here.

Our point is to show that, despite Nato propaganda, there are no "common values" between the US and continental Europe. They are two fundamentally different cultures, even if the EU elites are no longer culturally European, but largely Americanised.

Remarks on form

First of all, if the purpose of the summit was to "improve current democracies", it would not have been chaired from the White House, but from the United Nations. All nations could have participated, including those that are clearly not democracies, but are trying to become one.

Secondly, if the United States were the "beacon of democracy", it would not be presiding over this summit and handing out good and bad points, but would be participating on an equal footing with the other guests.

Instead, in its very form, this summit manifests American exceptionalism [3], i.e. the religious belief that the US is a power apart, like no other, blessed by God to enlighten the world.

Huge misconceptions

At the outset of the summit, President Biden acknowledged that no country is truly democratic; that it is an ideal towards which everyone strives. He said that in practice everyone could see setbacks (such as the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021) that were probably due to the arrival of a new generation. And that it was therefore necessary to put our hearts back into the work and to resolve these democratic setbacks. However, this fine speech permits above all to give the impression of a consensus and to avoid clarifying the debate.

Everyone agrees that an excellent definition of democracy was given by President Abraham Lincoln: "Government of the people, by the people and for the people". But Lincoln never wanted to recognise popular sovereignty. This ideal has never been attempted in the United States. Lincolns political action consisted first of promoting the privilege of the sole federal president to set tariffs (which was the cause of the Civil War), and then of abolishing slavery (which was the means to win that war). This is why, in American culture today, the word "democracy" is understood to mean only "political equality".

Similarly, the term civil rights does not refer to citizens rights at all, but to the absence of racial discrimination in accessing these rights. By extension, today the term is applied to discrimination against all minorities.

This misunderstanding has a long history. The journalist Thomas Paine, whose pamphlet Common Sense (1776) sparked the American Revolutionary War, was enthusiastic about the French Revolution. He wrote a violent pamphlet to explain the difference between the irreconcilable views of the United States, the United Kingdom and France on the Rights of Man (1792). It was the most widely read work in France during the Revolution. It earned him honorary French citizenship and election to the Convention. The Anglo-Saxons mean by the expression "human rights" the right of people not to suffer from the Reason of State and by extension from any form of state violence. On the contrary, France adopted the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen; a programme that makes every citizen an actor in national political life and therefore protects him or her from the abuse of power.

Not only are we not all talking about the same thing when we talk about democracy, but also when we talk about human rights.

The United States has, admittedly, a superiority in its definition of freedom of expression. For them, this freedom must be total, so that all ideas can be expressed and the debate can choose the best one. In contrast, Latin countries do not recognise this freedom for the ideas of the defeated. Thus they criminalise the expression of Nazi racialism. By extension, since 1990, they have also banned the expression of all Nazi ideas that led to convictions at the Nuremberg trials. One thing leading to another, they now prohibit the mass murder of enemies using gas chambers like the SS Einsatzgruppen, as well as disputing that this procedure was also used in some concentration camps.

Freedom of religion is also a contentious issue. The United States sees it as an absolute, not recognising the right to refuse any religion. In contrast, Europeans speak of freedom of conscience, which includes all other forms of spirituality, including atheism. This difference has enormous practical consequences, with some non-continental European countries granting individual rights only through membership of a faith community. The United States, founded by a Puritan sect, has become a sectarian paradise. In fact, it is not possible for a follower to turn against his or her church if it abuses or manipulates him or her, whereas in Europe it is a legal means to fight against abuses of authority committed in a religious context.

Note that there is a corollary to the difference in human rights thinking. In the United States, given the experience of the British dictatorship of King George III and the US Constitution which organises a monarchy without a king or nobility, the People must maintain an armed force to protect themselves from possible abuses of power. This is why the trade in weapons of war is free in the country, while it is seditious in continental Europe.

A note on substance

Let us come to the heart of the matter. While admitting to being imperfect, the United States claims to be the "beacon of democracy". But is it a democracy?

If we take this word in its American sense of political equality, we have to admit that this is not the case at all. There are huge political disparities, especially between whites and blacks, which are constantly reported in the press. President Biden has a huge task ahead of him. We have already explained that his approach to this issue, far from solving it, is actually making it worse [4].

If we take democracy to mean popular sovereignty everywhere else, then we must recognise that the US Constitution is not democratic at all; that the US has never been a democracy. The Constitution grants sovereignty to state governors and to them alone. Elections by universal suffrage may exist at the state level, but are optional at the federal level. Everyone remembers the election of President George W. Bush in 2000 when the US Supreme Court refused to recount the ballots in Florida on the grounds that it did not care about ascertaining the will of the Florida voters because the governor of that state (the brother of the alleged winner) had decided.

Let us remember equally that political parties in the United States are not citizens associations as in Russia, but are institutions of the federated states as was the single party in the Soviet Union. Thus the primary elections, which allow the selection of a partys candidate, are not organised by the political parties themselves, but by the federal states that finance them.

Given that the United States is not a democracy in the common sense, but an oligarchy, that it fights only for civil rights, it is natural that abroad it fights against popular sovereignty through coups detat, coloured revolutions and wars. In doing so, their values are diametrically opposed to those of continental Europeans, including Russia.

However, American thinking has a positive consequence. Fighting for civil rights means fighting against certain forms of corruption. Washington considers it perfectly normal to secretly pay salaries to foreign politicians and finance their election campaigns. The State Department draws up lists of personalities to support with a good conscience and does not understand that these leaders are considered corrupt in their countries. In contrast, the United States fights kleptocracy, i.e. the theft of public assets by foreign leaders (not by US leaders who are exempt from their crimes by virtue of American exceptionalism). In doing so, they sometimes help "democracy" in the continental European sense.
The New Zealand Labor-Green government of Jacinda Ardern (pictured) has decided to gradually ban the use of tobacco. It is already forbidden to minors under the age of 18: the age limit will increase each year until a total ban is achieved.

The extremely popular Jacinda Ardern is the first female Prime Minister (after Benhazir Bhutto) to give birth during her tenure.

The smoking ban primarily affects the indigenous Maori population, who consume far more tobacco than the descendants of British immigrants.

Prohibition, which flourished in the thirties and forties with the ban on alcohol in the United States and tobacco in Germany, followed in the sixties by the ban on hallucinogens worldwide, was a failure resulting in the proliferation of vast mafia organizations.
Photo: Nisha Sondhe/Duke University Press

The last dispatch from the alien/agent provocateur known as Greg Tate beamed out from perhaps his most inconspicuous dwelling. No #tbt dedicated to the Burnt Orange Arkestra, the freaky jazz-funk crew he founded and conducted, bringing their pyromaniac improvisations to stage; no perspicacious pull quote on Facebook via The Guardian, his digital paper of choice; no brief, breezy boost of Black art brio across the diaspora. This time, in a December 2 post shared on both his Facebook and Instagram, the 64-year-old critic curioso sat in a rather austere office, foregrounding a bookshelf pouring over with tomes, some of them his own  his 1986 epic collection of essays turned Black cultural bible, Flyboy in the Buttermilk, peeks over his shoulder  and others, like Glow: The Autobiography of Rick James and Simon Sebag Montefiores Young Stalin, hipping skinfolk to the literary range of a graceful madman, to use his own word.

Tates eyes are downcast behind orange-tinted glasses underneath a matching knit cap, focused on the kalimba he uses to thumb along to Incognitos rare 1999 groove Nights Over Egypt. Playing eighths in-sync with the lavish disco beat, every so often the longtime Village Voice columnist goes off-kilter, throwing in a counter note that shouldnt work and yet somehow adds to the playful gravitas of Jean-Paul Maunicks original work. The tinkerers heart-shaped lips twitch, and his fingers attempt to catch up to his mind; Tates cheeks, now a little less full than usual, lightly quiver as he hits his improvisational flow. Watching the video more than a week after it was posted, in the wake of Tates sudden passing last Tuesday, I see so much of his character is preserved in it: a perpetually competent coolness, an unwavering signature style, and craftsmanship  a quiet lesson in subtle savoir-faire and as ominous a sayonara as ever.

Tates abrupt loss is a seismic blow to the worlds of cultural criticism, music, and visual art. Im grieving indefinitely, but in rewatching this video, his last nonverbal message, I also cant stop thinking, Nah, this right here still the slickest muhfucka to enter the vast beyond.

This was the Tate I came to know, perhaps oddly for him, in an office space. He arrived at Williams College my senior year, in 2015, as a visiting lecturer in Africana studies; my adviser, Professor James Manigault-Bryant, who took up the department-chair gig at the time, introduced us. I was skittish, wondering how this dude ended up in bumfuck Massachusetts  a question my Houstonian ass couldve equally posed inward. Id read his work in the Voice and had seen his byline in a number of hip-hop publications; it was clear he was in a completely different league, and possibly planet, than his colleagues. I didnt know what to make of him at first. I appreciated the cool-uncle vibes of his flamboyant fabrics  in particular, a spectacular array of kaleidoscopic scarves and hats  but didnt understand them as sartorial id. The man I met was kind and uninterested in the whole sizing up thing that many influential men do. He was a visiting professor and wasnt anti-Establishment to be quirky. This was just him.

Almost instantly, I found his pedagogy to be just as fluid as his writing, collapsing the institutional demand for in-class hierarchies and helping his students get into the funk of this here Black life. Sitting with us at eye level, Tate didnt feel so much like an instructor as another student who might learn as much from us as we, him. Hed mix Socratic chop-up sessions with wide-ranging ambles on the making and remaking of Black Harlem; Ron Isleys rhythm and woozy tutelage  and lowballing  of Jimi Hendrix; or the Pan-Africanist lineages of Black Americanmade crystal in Amiri Barakas Blues People. He introduced us to the work of his friend and co-conspirator Arthur Jafa through his 2013 documentary Dreams Are Colder Than Death, in which radical thinkers like Kathleen Cleaver and Saidiya Hartman excavate the machinations of global racial and sexual violence against Black people and consider how to actively resist it.

Tates guidance through the diaspora reignited my sense of curiosity. Prior to his teachings, I had a pretty good handle on Black culture through an American lens; I could make cross-cultural connections and engage with what I believed to be a Black radical politic at the time. But Tate was adamant about finding its intellectual center, about situating Black cultural production as not just an offshoot of Africa but as African property and invention. Tate presented Black art as a continuance of African world-making, even as were splintered across the world; whereas the dominant ideology would have African American genius  or struggle  seen as peculiar, he sought to make the connections between what Black people created and performed in Africa and elsewhere as salient as could be. And I just couldnt get enough of that new worldview; his course was a Sahara sandstorm sashaying its way through the Berkshire Valley. It felt immersive, like a crash course in critical theory that was subconsciously in motion.

Tate, who was born in 1957 in Dayton, Ohio, had turned himself into an East Coast staple, studying journalism at Howard University and then moving to New York shortly after graduating in 1981 just as punk, hip-hop, and various derivations of blues, jazz, and dance flooded the nightlife scene. Tate incorporated academic scholarship in all this work, from his cultural critique to speaking engagements  as likely to reference Hortense Spillers as he was Sly Stone  but, crucially, never produced his work for heady institution types even if they looked to him as an authority on Black culture. (In fact, it appears 2015 was the rare time he flirted with entering that space, as Imani Perry recounted on Twitter following news of his death: I remember Greg Tate once talking about considering whether he should get a Ph.D. and saying to him, So you can read a bunch of people citing you? Maybe he was playing with the possibility, propping that door open just so.)

After each class, Id walk with him to his office, where wed chat about the latest film or album; or about how wild Jimi Hendrix had to be to jump out of planes for the fucking Air Force; or where Kendrick Lamar draws his musical foundations (Everythings pretty much 70s and 80s right now, he quipped); or the moment he knew hip-hop had been sold down the river (when Diddy went platinum it signified, the godfather of hip-hop criticism wrote in his prologue to Flyboy 2, that Black Mediocrity was now as commercially viable as Black Genius). I was trying to grasp everything. Speaking to Greg about art  that is, speaking to someone who is most principally interested in what Jafa would call Black cognition  begs one to become a seeker. He answered the critics charge to use tools developed within a rich practice of study to invite, entertain, and investigate his fundamentally Black world. I didnt know what a Black critic meant until our meeting, nor that I could actually be one.

Tates criticism could be scathingly pointed (like that Diddy jab). He had no problem going after Wynton Marsaliss corny, false doubts about raps staying power, or, in 1990, frustratingly suggesting to Ice Cube that he acknowledge the ways rap is hostile toward women. But Tate really became a writing-ass writer when he was truly jazzed; the Flyboy was no less colorful and out there in his criticism and musical work. His books and columns ciphered essential realms  the linguistic, the artistic, the sexed, the raced, the aesthetic, the musical, the intellectual  with sentences that took us from the blacktop to the Greek pantheon, from the moon to the bedroom sheets, with rhythmic flourish. (A more recent beloved example came in a 2012 Spin review, when questioning where Azealia Banks would carve out her territory of the Afro-future. Tate dallies in the phantasmagoria of Bankss own making on her mixtape Fantasea: The coolheaded Banks supplies the hyperkinetic answer: plunge her slice of the Afro-futuristic pie like a dagger into a motor-booty affair, a place where youll dance under extreme pressure and struggle in vain not to get wet-up or spat upon three times fast. Like, are you fucking kidding me?)

Tates ethic of linking the intellectual, practical, and transgressive dimensions of Black cultures came alive in verbose bouts of playfulness that came straight from his participation in Black communal spaces. In founding the Black Rock Coalition in 1985, he played and worked alongside artists like Meshell Ndegeocello, who, he wrote in a piece exploring the pleasure-taking musical body of Ndegeocello, Betty Davis, Chaka Khan, and Grace Jones, made him privy to what it means to take possession of their bodies in performance like those sisters in Tranes old church took possession of their heavenly voices. The Black Rock Coalition, co-founded by a group of pigeonholed Black musicians  Vernon Reid, D.K. Dyson, Konda Mason  pushed against an idea shared by record labels at the time: that there was no audience for Black rock music.

Ndegeocellos eventual refusal to sign with Dr. Dre or Diddy in creating her now-classic 1999 record, Bitter, geeked Tate up. Having seen her work for years, Tate could dispute the lie label bosses told that she had no sex appeal by dint of her boyish butch profile by calling attention to her performances where sisters who came to the show on their boyfriends arms left the club caught up in same-sex rapture with their formerly straight BFFs. He then used that anecdote as a setup for Ndegeocello to explain why she didnt put go-go in her music: She said because go-go wasnt a style, go-go was church, a religious service. And I had to concur because the spirits go-go set loose were more interested in freeing their own libidos than following the Lord. Long before anybody down D.C. way had seen the inside of a reggae dancehall, a krunk strip club or a girls gone wild video, a go-go audience could be found any given Saturday obliterating whatever difference you imagined between dance as African ritual and sex as a form of African dance. He was, in many respects, crucial to bringing forth a Pan-Africanist purview to Black art, one that did away with reductive visions of queerness and gender stereotyping. Tate queered the way.

I held Tates work to my chest in the darkest moments of my life. In 2016, just a year after meeting him, I had a nervous breakdown at my home in Houston, on the same lawn I used to mow as a teenager. After a while, my parents had me admitted into a psychiatric hospital. I was so angry with them at the time  to be institutionalized in a white space that ostensibly calls itself caring about this Black boys mental health? Okay, sure  and surrounded by struggling strangers and bleary-eyed workers. We were all so isolated. This was a community, of sorts, but one built on mental solitude, as if we could only heal when were alone. Luckily, patients could accept books and other writing materials from their loved ones after being vetted, quite like a prison. Perhaps owed to an innate desire to find some part of myself that I liked, something I could connect with and find pride in, I put Flyboy 2 on my list. I was drowning in uncertainty, but Blackness felt stable. When the book came, I grasped it like a lifeline. I reveled in its play, wrote down all the intriguing African names that I wanted to look up after I was released: journalist Itabari Njeri, Afrofuturist visual artist Wangechi Mutu, father-son musicians Marion and Djinji Brown. That small notebook of Black worlds, old and new, gave me something to anticipate; I wanted to survive to learn more about us. Greg will never know it, but even then, I reached for him. And in reaching for him, I rekindled my curiosity and love for African people, and for the parts of myself I had yet to uncover.

Its easy to latch onto the way Tate spoke, wrote, and worked. Scrolling through the many tributes to him by writers of all kinds, theres a commonality: As young writers, we all tried to sound like Greg Tate. And after a while, in our continued failure, we stumble upon ourselves  our own voices, our own ways of meaning-making. Greg Tate has created so many critics and held open such essential realms. Its easy to reach for him, to want to be like him. Theres further learning in that impulse to do as he taught: Tate always pointed the brilliance back to the Black subject, the Black communal, and the wealth of Black knowledge that kept him in pursuit. He didnt create worlds; he invited us into them with a sincere wit and infectious cool. Those worlds are still standing, even if, now, theres one less seeker.
The kidnapping and murder of Italy's former Prime Minister Aldo Moro by the terrorist group Brigate Rosse.

On 16 March 1978, Aldo Moro, former Italian Prime Minister and president of the Christian Democracy, was kidnapped. The kidnapping occurred in Via Mario Fani in Rome, by far-left terrorist organization the Red Brigades.

The attackers gunned down Moro's five personal bodyguards before taking him hostage. Then, on 9 May 1978, after 55 days of disputes, extensive searches, and proposed compromises, Moro was killed. His body was found in the back of a red Renault 4 in Via Michelangelo Caetani in the historic center of Rome, very close to both the Christian Democrat and Italian Communist Party headquarters.

Over forty years later, many of the details of Moro's kidnapping are still heavily disputed and there is much that remains unknown. The event remains one of the seminal moments in the history of Italian politics and the infamous Anni di piombo (years of lead).

To fully grasp the significance of this event it is important to understand who Aldo Moro was and why a far-left terrorist organization such as the Red Brigade would target him in particular. It is also necessary to dive into the still hazy details to gain an understanding as to how the kidnappers managed to elude some of the world's top intelligence agencies for 55 days, and so well, that many of the details remain unknown even today.

Moro, the Historic Compromise, and the situation in Italy

Aldo Moro was Italy's 38th Prime Minister, holding office from December 1963 to June 1968 and again from November 1974 to July 1976. He is one of Italy's longest-serving post-war Prime Ministers and is widely considered to be one of the greatest and most popular leaders in the history of the Italian Republic. In addition, Moro also served as Minister of Justice and Public Education during the 1950s as well as Minister of Foreign Affairs. He is considered one of the fathers of Italy's center-left political movement. Known as an intellectual and patient mediator, Moro implemented several social and economic reforms that helped modernize the country.

In March 1959, he became secretary of the Christian Democracy (DC), a position he would hold until 1964. Founded in 1943 in Nazi-occupied Italy, the DC was the successor of the Italian People's Party. The centrist, catch-all, Catholic-inspired party featured both left and right-leaning political groups and would remain one of Italy's dominant political parties until its demise in 1994. The Italian Communist Party (PCI) was one of the largest opposition parties to the DC.

In the 1970s, after watching the Marxist Allende Government get overthrown in Chile, PCI General Secretary Enrico Berlinguer was convinced that far-left governments could only survive in democratic countries if they made alliances with more moderate parties. This lead to Berlinguer proposing a political alliance between the DC and PCI in 1973. The proposal was launched in communist magazine Rinascita and was embraced by Moro. Berlinguer wanted to distance the PCI from the USSR and create Eurocommunism.

Although the proposal was embraced by Moro, other center-left groups like the Italian Republican Party (PRI) and the Italian Socialist Party (PSI), strongly opposed the alliance. Some saw the "Historic Compromise" as nothing more than a way for two of the most widely supported parties to maintain a firm grip on power in the country.

Several members of the DC left the party as a result of the compromise. The PCI also saw several radical communists boycott the government in protest. Following the compromise, there was an increase in far-left terrorism, mostly by the Red Brigades (BR).

It is also important to remember that this was at the height of the Cold War. While most other Western Democratic countries had landed on the capitalist side of the divide, Italy remained on the fringe. The widespread support for the PCI worried many western countries and the fact that they would now hold a legitimate government seat in one of Europe's most powerful countries only intensified the situation.

The Italian government's lack of acknowledgment of the threat of far-left terrorist organizations was another worrying prospect. In the decade leading up to the Moro case, Italy had seen a drastic rise in domestic terrorism, but the government and country as a whole had adopted a feeling of resignation towards it. Some far-left terrorist organizations were not even regarded as such.

Terrorist group Prima Linea, for example, was not considered an armed gang, but simply a subversive association. The BR was also not considered a threat in the country, many even believed that the group had more or less ceased to exist in 1976 as a result of police intervention and counter-terrorist measures. However, this was a drastic undersight to the true threat the country faced. This was made clear on 16 March 1978, when the BR kidnapped Aldo Moro.

The Assault

Moro left his house just before 9:00 am on the 16th. He was in a blue Fiat 130 and accompanied by his usual group of five bodyguards, two Carabinieri, and three police officers. The two Carabinieri, Domenico Ricci and Oreste Leonardi, were in the car with Moro. Ricci drove and Leonardi, the head of the bodyguard team, was in the passenger seat. The three police officers, Francesco Zizzi, Giulio Rivera, and Raffaele Iozzino followed in a white Alfetta.

The Red Brigade members had set a trap in Via Michelangelo Fani, a downhill street in a northern quarter of Rome. Mario Moretti sat in a Fiat 128 with a fake diplomatic license plate, while Alvaro Lojacono and Alessio Casimirri were a few meters ahead of him in another Fiat 128. On the opposite side was Barbara Balzerani in another Fiat 128, and a fourth car, a Fiat 132 occupied by Bruno Seghetti, was positioned at the crossroads where the street ended.

When Moro's convoy entered via Fani, Rita Algranati alerted the terrorists by waving a bunch of flowers and then rode away on a moped. With the signal that their target had arrived, the Red Brigade members sprung into action. Moretti cut off the road in front with his car, then Ricci's attempt at an escape maneuver was thwarted by a Mini Minor parked in the way. At this point, four gunmen identified as Valerio Morucci, Raffaele Fiore, Prospero Gallinari, and Franco Bonisoli jumped out of the bushes armed with machine pistols. All four of the gunmen were wearing Alitalia airline crew uniforms to avoid friendly fire since not all of them had worked together before. Within minutes, all five bodyguards were killed with only Iozzino being able to react by firing two shots before he was killed. Almost as soon as the assault started, Moro was forced into a Fiat 132 next to his car before being taken away.

The Days of Imprisonment

Shortly after the assault, the BR claimed responsibility for the kidnapping in a phone call to the(ANSA). The significance of the timing and date chosen by the BR to carry out the kidnapping should not be ignored. At ten oclock that same day, Moro was scheduled to go to the Chamber of Deputies where a new government, led by Giulio Andreotti, was to announce its policies. The Fourth Andreotti cabinet was the first Christian Democratic Government to have the support of the Italian Communist Party, thanks to Moros Historic Compromise. It would be the first time that the Communist Party had a position in government since 1947.

At ten o'clock, the president of the Italian Chamber of Deputies, Pietro Ingrao, stopped the session to announce the kidnapping. The emergency created by the situation meant that the PCI would no longer hold a position in government. Instead, another right-center cabinet under the firm control of the DC would be installed. Later that day, one of the cars used by the terrorists was found in via Lucinio Calvo, about a hundred meters from via Fani.

The next day, the police arrested a young clerk who they suspected was involved in the kidnapping, only to release him two days later. It is worth noting that this was a blunder made by the police for not thoroughly investigating and shadowing the suspect in question before arresting him. It was not the last mistake made by the police during the hunt for Moro.

That same day, another car used by the terrorists in the assault was found in via Lucinio Calvo. This raised questions about whether the car was there before, or if the BR planted it there. At this point, the area around where the assault took place was highly guarded and was under twenty-four-hour police surveillance, making it hard to imagine the car could have been planted there. However, it is also equally hard to imagine that the car could have evaded police detection for this long.

Throughout Moro's imprisonment, he would write 86 letters, of which between 50 to 60 were delivered to their intended destination. The letters were addressed to the main members of the Christian Democracy, his family, and Pope Paul VI. The BR would also put out nine "communications" in which they revealed their motivation for kidnapping Moro, as well as inform the public of how Moro's trial in the "Peoples Court of Justice" was transpiring.

On the 18th of March, the first communication from the BR was received. In it, they claimed full responsibility for Moro's abduction and murder of his escort. They also explained their intentions for putting him on trial in the ". According to many, the BR aimed to strike at the whole DC who, they said in their first communication, had been suppressing the Italian people for years. Also enclosed in the first communication was a picture of Moro in the Peoples Prison.

On 25 March, the Red Brigades' second communication was received and detailed the list of charges against Moro. Four days later, on the 29th, the third communication was received by Cossiga along with a letter from Moro. In the communication, the BR claimed that the trial "is proceeding with the prisoner's total collaboration." In the letter, Moro informs his colleagues of his condition, but also remained strictly professional, instructing them to "think fully, before you create an emotional or irrational situation."

Moro's plead

While he does not state it directly in the letter, it is unmistakable that Moro is pleading with Italian authorities to bargain with the BR for his release. In the letter, Moro argued, "the doctrine according to which advantage must not accrue to kidnapping does not apply to political circumstances where a sure and incalculable damage is done not only to the person but to the state itself.

It is worth noting that at this point the BR had not given any detail or presented any terms for Moro's release. It should also be assumed that while the letter bore his signature and his style of writing was recognizable, he did not enjoy full freedom to write. Whether or not his captors instructed him to suggest negotiating for his release at this point is anyone's best guess. At the time, however, fifteen members of the BR were on trial in Turin. Though the trial had been halted due to the initial shock of the kidnapping, by now it had resumed and was proceeding as scheduled.

Moro also implicitly stated that the Church could be used as an intermediary in any potential negotiations, as they had done in other terrorist cases in the past. The Holy See would, on several occasions, send pleads to the BR to release Moro. In addition to his plea for authorities to bargain for his life, Moro also warned of the damage that could come to the state should he be forced to disclose secrets. "There is the risk that I will be induced to talk in a manner that could be dangerous" However, despite Moro's and the terrorists' best efforts to negotiate for his freedom, Italian authorities, after much deliberation, decided that they would not meet the terrorist demands.

The Red Brigades' fourth communication was received on the 4th of April along with a letter from Moro to Zaccagnini. In the communication, the BR states that the idea that Moro's previous letter to Cossiga was written under their dictation "are as treacherous as they are stupid" as it included a belief that the BR does not hold.

In the letter, Moro once again pleaded with Italian authorities to seek a compromise and negotiate for his freedom. At the time when it was written, Moro had been imprisoned for fifteen days and was beginning to become anxious by the inaction of those in a position to negotiate. This was made clear when he states "Time runs fast and unfortunately there is not enough. Any moment may be too late."

He is also aware of the consequences that not only he, but the DC and state as a whole will face should they fail to come to a peaceful resolution stating "another more terrible and equally dead-end cycle will begin." Towards the end of the letter, Moro writes "in truth, I also feel a little abandoned by you." However, while in this letter Moro clearly states his desire to negotiate for his freedom, the state continued to stand against coming to any kind of compromise. If it is to be assumed that this letter was written under the dictation of the BR, we now have reason to believe they were willing to negotiate.

On the 6th of April, the BR's fifth communication was received along with an autographed attack by Moro on Taviani, Cossiga, Zaccagnini, as well as the whole of his party. In the letter, Moro writes "Of course, I cannot prevent myself from underlining the wickedness of all the Christian Democrats who did not agree with my position And Zaccagnini? How can he stay tranquil in his position? And Cossiga could not devise any possible defense? My blood will fall over them." Moro had at this point run out of patience, and his and the BR's attempts to coax the state into negotiations had failed. Thus, they decided to try a different tactic.

On the 15th of April, the BR released their sixth communication in which they stated Aldo Moro has been found guilty and has been condemned to death. Despite this frightening revelation from the BR, Italian authorities refused to budge, believing it to be just another ploy by the terrorists to coax them into action.

The Brigate Rosse's apartment

The 18th of April was perhaps the most important day during this saga since Moro was kidnapped just over a month prior. Two key events would come to define this day. The first was the release of what was supposedly the BR's seventh communication. It announced they had gone ahead with Moro's execution and that his body had been thrown into thea small mountain lake to the northeast of Rome. Authorities searched the icy waters, but no sign of Moros body was found. It turned out that this message had been forged.

The second pivotal event was the discovery of a BR base in an apartment in via Gradoli in Rome. It was the private residence of BR national leader Mario Moretti and was discovered after firemen responded to a water leak by the tenant below the apartment. The cause of the water leak was mysterious and authorities found around one-thousand pieces of incriminating evidence inside the apartment. (More on both of these events later)

Moro is still alive

After five days of uncertainty as to Moro's condition, an ultimatum was presented on the 20th of April when the BR released its seventh communication. In it, they declare that Moro is alive and they are prepared to release him in exchange for "Communist prisoners." They set the deadline for the 22nd at 3 p.m. and delivered a photograph of Moro holding the previous days'to the above paper. This is the first time that the BR openly states that they are willing to negotiate for Moros freedom and offer their terms.

The Italian authorities, once again, did not respond to the demands of the BR. Then on the 24th of April, the BR released their eighth communication in which they name all thirteen Communist prisoners that they want to be released in exchange for Moro. All thirteen prisoners were currently on trial in Turin. The BR and other far-left terrorist groups had been carrying out numerous terrorist attacks in Turin as well as other cities in the north such as Genoa and Milan since the start of the trial and the Moro saga. The attacks which were targeted at politicians, prison wardens, and police officers were intended to coax authorities into negotiating.

Andreotti's message

Andreotti, one of Italy's former Prime Ministers, delivered a message on television on the 28th of April. "How would the Carabinieri, the police, and the prison guards respond to the Government's negotiating - behind their backs and in violation of the law - with those who have made havoc of that law? And what would the wives, orphans, and mothers of those who have fallen while accomplishing their duty have to say?" This sent a clear message that Andreotti and the Italian government had no intention of negotiating with the BR for Moro. He would later confirm the government's refusal to negotiate on the 3rd of May.

The Red Brigades would send their ninth and final communication on 5 May. The cryptic message from them read We conclude the battle started on 16 March with the executing of the sentence to which Moro was condemned. Interpretations of this message were mixed.

Aldo Moro's dead body

Then, on 9 May, Aldo Moro's body was discovered in the trunk of a red Renault 4 in via Michelangelo Caetani in the city center of Rome. According to accounts from the subsequent trials of BR members, a night meeting had been held in Milan a few days before. There, high-ranking members of the BR held a final vote to decide Moro's fate. Several members including Adriana Faranda, Valerio Marucci, and Franco Bonisoli voted against killing Moro. However, the vote passed and on the morning of May the 9th, Moro was shot by the BR's national leader Mario Moretti after being placed in a wicker basket and having allegedly been told he was to be pardoned.

The next day, a private funeral was held in Torrita Tiberina, a small town north of Rome where Moro owned a small residence. He was buried in the local cemetery. On the 13th, a funeral ceremony presided by Pope Paul VI was held at the Basilica of San Giovani in Laterano with members of the Government present. The Pope said: Oh Lord, You have not answered our prayers.

Subsequent hypotheses, aftermath, trials, theories, and further findings and information.

In the aftermath of the event, the country yearned for answers. Though Moros fate was now sealed, there was no feeling of closure as so much remained unknown. Italian authorities would name ten members of the BR who they sought to capture and put on trial for the abduction and murder. Of the ten, only two managed to evade capture, Alvaro Lojacono who fled to Switzerland, and Alessio Casimirri who fled to Nicaragua.

The others, Corrado Alunni and Marina Zoni were arrested in 1978, Valerio Morucci, Adriana Faranda, and Prospero Gallinari in 1979, Mario Moretti in 1981, and Barbara Balzerani in 1985. Rita Algranati was the last to be arrested when she was captured in Cairo in 2004. Algranati remains the only one still living who is behind bars. The others were all subsequently released on parole, or due to disassociation and collaboration. Even Mario Moretti, former national leader of the BR who later admitted to killing Moro was semi-freed in 1997 and is still alive today.

The trials that followed provided some answers to the Moro case, however, we are still left with more questions than answers. One important piece of information that has never been revealed is the location of Moro's prison. Another commonly held assumption is that the BR didn't act alone in kidnapping Moro. While they certainly could have had help from other domestic far-left terrorist organizations, there is reason to suspect that much larger and more powerful forces and organizations had a hand in it. Although there are no conclusive answers to either of these questions, there has been no shortage of theories.

Crisis Committees

On the same day Moro was kidnapped, Francesco Cossiga formed two Crisis Committees. The first, chaired by Cossiga himself, was a technical-operational-political committee. It included members of Italys military and intelligence services (SISMI and SISDE) as well as secret information agency CESIS, UCIGOS, the police prefect of Rome, and top commanders from the Italian Police Forces, Carabinieri, andThe second group was an information committee, which included members from CESIS, SISDE, SISMI, and SIOS.

These new committees, while good in principle, were ineffective in fighting Italys modern terrorist threat. Even with the alarming growth of terrorism in the country over the last decade, the committees were operating according to old standards dating back to the 1950s. This was largely due to the countrys resignation towards left-wing terrorism, with many groups not even being labeled accordingly.

Theories of the Assault

The assault itself has been the subject of much speculation and debate. Official reconstructions of the trials indicate that eleven people took part in the assault, however, this number, as well as the identities of those involved, are widely disputed. The coordination and precision with which the assault was carried out have cast further doubt on the accounts given by the terrorists during their subsequent trials.

The knowledge of where and when Moro would be that morning is another messy detail. Moretti claimed that he had been studying Moro's daily moves since 1976. However, Moro's escort changed the route daily. Whether or not they followed a pattern for changing their route is unknown. The terrorists involved in the assault also took several precautions beforehand, such as slashing the tires of a florist to remove a key witness. This does however show that they did know the exact route Moro would take, how they managed to acquire that knowledge has raised many questions.

The identities and number of terrorists involved as well as the precision with which the assault was conducted raise even more suspicions. Investigators recovered 93 bullets at the scene of the assault, 49 of which had hit their targets. The bullets recovered indicated that the gunmen were armed with two different submachine guns, an FNAB-43, and a Beretta M12. However, one question that remains is how Moro was almost completely unharmed, only suffering a small wound in his thigh. This is what many holds as clear evidence of the presence of a marksman at the assault. Further evidence that strengthens this theory comes when several members of the BR, including Valerio Morucci, claimed that they had practiced only rough shooting training before the attack.

Several sources identify Giustino De Vuono, an Italian intelligence member and former marksman for the French Foreign Legion, as being present during the assault. De Vuono was also affiliated with the Calabrian mafia organization 'Ndrangheta, several BR members claimed that the weapons used were acquired through them. Of the 93 bullets fired during the assault, 45 of them came from one weapon. In a reconstruction of the assault done by Italian magazine lespresso these bullets, which include the majority found in the bodyguards, were fired by De Vuono.

Another theory of the identity of the alleged marksman is that he was a German who was affiliated with the far-left terrorist group RAF. One witness from via Fani reported that about thirty minutes before the assault a man with a German accent told him to leave the area. How the assault was carried out was also similar to one conducted by the RAF.

The number of terrorists present for the assault is also disputed. Originally, during the subsequent trials, BR terrorists said nine people took part in the assault, but later changed that number to eleven. Alberto Franceschini, co-founder of the BR believes both of these numbers to be too low to kidnap such a high-profile figure.

Along with the theories of a marksman, there are also multiple theories about foreign powers aiding, or having a hand in Moro's kidnapping, the most notable of them being the U.S. This of course took place during the height of the Cold War, and the US was not particularly fond of Moro because of his hand in helping the PCI secure a seat in the government of a democratic country. One theory surrounding the assault is the presence of what some believe to be two CIA agents. Witness reports recall the presence of two unidentified men on scooters who watched the assault take place. At the time several American Secret Service agents were living in the city, not particularly surprising considering Rome is the capital of a major European country. However, these two men have never been identified, and so their presence remains a mystery.

Location of Moros Prison

The exact location of Aldo Moro's prison is unknown and has been the subject of much dispute. There are two likely locations where many believe he was held. The first is an apartment in Via Camillo Montalcini 8 in Rome. This is the location where Moro was eventually killed, in the parking garage of the building. The apartment in question had been owned by the BR for years and was subsequently abandoned after it was put under investigation.

The second likely location is considered to be on the seaside, though, no exact location has ever been mentioned. When Moro's body was discovered, traces of sand and vegetable remains were found in the car. Terrorists later claimed that this was planted on his body to mislead investigators as to the true location of his prison. However, investigators doubt that the BR would know that they would investigate such minor details. Subsequent geologist investigations of the sand found it must have come from an artificial river rather than a natural body of water. This has led many to believe that Moro was kept somewhere along the Tiber.

April 18th: A seance, False Communication #7, and the base at via Gradoli

Several strange and controversial events occurred on April 18th. The first was the supposed announcement of Moro's death in the BR's seventh communication. According to the communication, Moro's body had been dumped in, a very small mountain lake northeast of Rome in the province of Rieti.

However, the Italian police found no trace of Moro's body under the lake's icey surface. One of the authors of this false communication was notorious forger Antonio Chichiarelli who was connected to the Banda della Magliana gang in Rome. Chichiarelli would go on to release more false communications from the BR before being killed in September of 1984 in mysterious circumstances. His death came before the truth about the false communications was fully disclosed.

The second event occurred that same day when the police discovered an apartment on via Gradoli that the BR had been using as a base. Allegedly, the discovery was made when a neighbor had called the firemen because of a water leak. Inside the apartment, police found a flexible shower nozzle that had been placed on a toilet brush stand, with water being directed at a crack in the wall, along with over 1,000 pieces of incriminating evidence. These pieces of evidence included the Alitalia flight crew uniforms that the attackers had worn on the day of the assault. The apartment, number 11 at via Gradoli 96, was the residence of Mario Moretti, considered the top leader of the Red Brigades. Moretti interrogated Moro almost daily and could have been tailed to find the location of his prison.

The seance

What makes this discovery particularly strange, however, is that authorities had reason to suspect this apartment weeks, and even years before the discovery was made. Moretti's apartment had been under observation for several years as it was also frequented by members of other far-left organizations. Then, on April 2nd, twelve people, including future Prime Minister Romano Prodi, allegedly took part in a seance in the city of Bologna. Using a Ouija board, the group tried to contact the spirit world to gain information about the location where Moro was being held. The details of the alleged seance are widely disputed and there is reason to believe that it never did take place. Those who participated reported it was raining in Bologna on the day of the session, however, several accounts recall that there was no rain in the city that day. The session did however produce one interesting name, Gradoli.

Cossiga was made aware of the details of the seance by Prodi and investigators turned their attention towards the town of Gradoli north of Rome. Cossiga ordered 450 military personnel to conduct a thorough search of the town, but no evidence of any Red Brigade presence was ever found. The details of the search were also disputed by many witnesses who stated that the military personnel conducted a very brief search of the town. With the search yielding no results, officials discounted any credibility of the seance. However, Moro's wife Eleonora suggested that perhaps the name Gradoli was actually in reference to the street in Rome, but Cossiga insisted that no such street existed.

But of course, via Gradoli did exist, in a quiet neighborhood in the north of Rome, not far from where Moro was abducted. The neighborhood was home to many domestic and foreign secret service agents who used some apartments as safe houses. What makes the case even stranger is that authorities had reason to suspect via Gradoli because of suspicious activities being reported there as far back as March 18th. One witness reported to the police of three suspicious-looking men lingering outside of via Gradoli 96 as if checking who came in and who came out. Another neighbor reported hearing strange noises coming from apartment 11 that sounded like the tapping of morse code, the police report on this is nowhere to be found. Eventually, authorities could no longer deny the existence of via Gradoli 96, and police were instructed to conduct a thorough search of the building. Police searched every apartment except number 11 because no one answered the door and neighbors all vouched for the inhabitant, a claim that some of them deny.

Years later it was revealed that DC parliament member Benito Cazora had been tipped off to via Gradoli thanks to contact with the Ndrangheta Calabrian mafia organization while trying to find information on Moros location. Cazora was told that via Gradoli was a hot zone and reported this information to the police. Why the Italian authorities failed to act when they had plenty of reason to suspect via Gradoli remains unknown.

P2, Gladio, Italian Intelligence Services, and the involvement of Foreign Powers

(P2) was a mysterious masonic lodge that was involved in several political and financial scandals during the 70s and 80s. P2 had a diverse group of members which included entrepreneurs, journalists, high-ranking members of right-wing political parties, and Italian police and military forces. Many have suggested that P2 had a hand in Moro's kidnapping and played a role in keeping the location of his prison secret.

This largely stems from the discovery of a list of lodge members on 17 March 1981. The list revealed just how great and diverse a presence the lodge had, as many of their members occupied powerful positions. These include: Giuseppe Santovito, director of SISMI; prefect Walter Pelosi, director of CESIS; general Giulio Grassini of SISDE; admiral Antonino Geraci, commander of SIOS; Federico Umberto DAmato, director of the Office of Reserved Affairs of the Ministry of the Interiors; generale Raffaele Giudice and Donato Lo Prete, respectively commander and chief-of-staff of the Guardia di Finanza; and Carabinieri general Giuseppe Siracusano. Carabinieri general Siracusano was the one responsible for all the roadblocks around the city during the time Moro was imprisoned.

Considering the BR likely planted the cars used in the assault over the course of three days right after it had taken place is strange, to say the least. Especially considering they did so in such a heavily guarded section of the city, and police never picked up on it. This could be an indication that Siracusano and P2 had a hand in the whole affair. On the day of Moro's kidnapping, some of the most powerful members of P2 met at the Hotel Excelsior in Rome. Upon leaving the meeting, Gelli proclaimed "the most difficult part is done" supposedly in reference to Moro's kidnapping.

Members of P2 were also present during the discovery of the base at via Gradoli. Weeks before the base was discovered, an informer for the SISDE and neighbor of Moretti Lucia Mokbel claimed she was hearing a ticking noise that resembled MORSE messages coming from Moretti's apartment. She informed police commissioner and P2 member Elio Coppa, however, when no one answered the door of the apartment, Coppa did not attempt to enter and investigate. It was later deduced that the noises coming from the apartment were likely from an eclectic typewriter, which many suspect Moretti was using to write the BR's demands and communications.

Another commonly held theory is that the BR had been infiltrated by several different foreign and domestic intelligence agencies. The most prominent organizations being the CIA, Israeli intelligence agents, and Organizzazione Gladio, a NATO-headed paramilitary group tasked with opposing Soviet influence in western Europe.

In 1990 it was disclosed that Camillo Guglielmi, a colonel of SISMIs 7th division which controlled Operation Gladio, was present in via Stresa, near the location of the ambush when it took place. He admitted to being in via Stresa at the time of the ambush but stated he had been invited for lunch. This was later debunked as his colleague said he arrived uninvited and considering the ambush took place at 9:00am it was far too early to be arriving for lunch.

It also comes as no surprise that United States Republicans were not fond of Moro thanks to his involvement in the Historic Compromise. During the 1983 trial against the BR, Moro's widow Eleonora Chiavarelli stated that her husband was unpopular in the United States for this very reason. She alleged that Moro had been repeatedly warned by American politicians to stop disrupting the political situation established in the Yalta Conference and that he would be "badly punished" if he did not.

In 2005, former national vice-secretary of the DC Giovanni Galloni said that during a discussion with Moro about the difficulty of finding BR bases, Moro informed him that he knew of U.S. and Israeli intelligence agents who had infiltrated the BR. This allegation was echoed by none other than Alberto Franceschini, one of the founders of the BR. Franceschini stated that the BR had been infiltrated by Israeli agents as early as 1974, and also reported that BR co-founder Renato Curcio informed him that Mario Moretti would be an infiltrated agent. Franceschini and Curcio were both arrested in the mid-70s, after which Moretti took control and introduced a far more militarized approach to operations.

Role of Steve Pieczenik

At the request of Cossiga, the US State Department sent American negotiator and expert on terrorism Steve Pieczenik to Italy to assist in the hunt for Moro. Pieczenik would remain in Italy for the first three weeks of Moro's imprisonment. He initially wanted to show the will to negotiate for Moro's release in the hope that it would buy time and that the terrorists would make some error that they could detect.

However, Pieczenik quickly discovered how difficult the task would be. Many discussions he had with leading politicians and intelligence members were leaked, making it almost impossible for them to gain any ground in the hunt for Moro. After returning to the US, Pieczenik said he met an Argentinian agent who knew of the leaks thanks to numerous members of the P2 lodge. In a later interview, Pieczenik discussed the difficulty of the situation in Italy: "I found myself in a room with numerous generals and politicians, all people who knew [Moro] well, and... Well, I felt that not one of them liked Moro or appreciated him as a person, including Cossiga.

Pieczenik also spoke about the political game that was being played amongst those that were searching for Moro. He said that those on the right "wanted the death of Moro, the Red Brigades wanted him alive, while the Communist Party, due to its hardline political position, was not going to negotiate." Cossiga's position in all of this was difficult. He wanted Moro alive but he was dealing with forces far outside his control. Pieczenik was also stunned by the number of fascists in the Italian intelligence service. He also declared that he was involved in the decision to issue the false "Communication #7" to push the BR to kill Moro. He did so once it became clear that Italian politicians were not interested in negotiating for Moro's liberation and hoped that killing Moro would delegitimize the BR.

Role of Carmine Pecorelli

Carmine Pecorelli was a notorious Italian journalist who wrote about the kidnapping of Moro in his magazine(OP). Pecorelli allegedly had numerous contacts in the Italian secret services. The day before Moro was abducted, OP published an article that cited the anniversary of the assassination of Julius Caesar and mentioned the possibility that a new Brutus would appear in reference to the new Andreotti cabinet that was set to take power the next day. Some articles written during Moro's imprisonment suggest that Pecorelli knew of some of the unpublished letters. Pecorelli also suggested that there were two different factions within the BR, one intent on killing Moro, and one that wanted to negotiate for his release.

Pecorelli would later be murdered in front of his house on the 20th of March 1979, just over one year after Moro was abducted. Mafia informant Tommaso Buscetta stated in 1992 that Pecorelli had been killed as "a favor to Andreotti." It was alleged that Pecorelli had some sensitive information about Moro, including a letter from Moro.

The day of his murder, Pecorelli had written an article in which he hinted at the role of opera composer Igor Markevitch in Moro's kidnapping. Markevitch had housed several BR terrorists in his estate in Florence. His residence in Rome was on via Caetani, where Moro's body was discovered. In the article written on the day he was killed, Pecorelli wrote about "the people's prison" in which Moro was held. In it, he mentioned a palace in the center of Rome with lions. Markevitch's palace in Rome had a bas-relief of two lions biting two horses.

Theories of Alternate Kidnapping

One last strange theory suggests that Moro was not present for the assault in via Fani. Journalist Rita di Giovacchino suggested that he had been taken prisoner by another organization and that the BR had only acted as a distraction. According to Giovacchino, this theory would explain the remark made by the first secretary of Moro, Sereno Freato, after Carmine Pecorelli was also found dead: "Investigate on the investigators of Pecorelli's murder, and would find the instigators of Moro's murder." The BR also used printing machines once owned by Italian intelligence, who Giovacchino considered the likely instigators of the kidnapping. However, this theory, like so many details of this case, remains shrouded in mystery.
The company sold its drug-delivery systems business (another sub-segment of the health-care division) last year for $650 million and parted with a gas and flame detection unit in 2019 for $230 million. Dozens of smaller assets like that within 3M could wind up on the chopping block, but there are also some chunkier deal possibilities similar to the food safety divestiture. 3M previously weighed a sale of its software-oriented health information systems operations before doubling down on the business instead with the $1 billion acquisition of M*Modal in 2019. That is another part of the company that seems to have less overlap with the rest. The consumer unit  which sells everything from Scotch tape to laminators  also stands out because most of 3Ms industrial peers have chosen to focus on selling to other manufacturers. Another option is to think outside the lines of 3Ms organizational chart and consider divesting entire material science categories  for example, all adhesives from automotive tape to medical tape.
There are other things being considered, of course. Eyewear and insurance will be increasingly interconnected as European demographics skew older. Generali also holds a vast real estate portfolio. The potential spinoff of those assets into a Del Vecchio or Caltagirone or combined property group is making other bankers salivate. A flash point will come on Dec. 15, when Generali presents a new investor plan. Then in April 2022, Generalis shareholders will vote on the composition of their new board. Del Vecchio and Caltagirone are expected to reject the reappointment of Donnet. That would be a blow not only to the Frenchman but to the influence and authority of his ally Nagel. Complicating Nagels position, Del Vecchio has also built a 20% stake in Mediobanca. Parsing the brutal parlor games in Italys financial capital is never easy. Tribal fiefdoms are fiercely defended and personal antipathies have long histories. But this feud is a lose-lose for Italy from an investment perspective. Bloodletting at core financial institutions will weaken its attractiveness to minority investors and to foreign investors in particular. Theres a reason Italys big corporate names mostly chose to list elsewhere. In an instructive coincidence, fashion company Ermenegildo Zegna has just chosen to merge with a special-purpose acquisition company in New York.
While Nord Stream 2 must clear political hurdles before it starts operating, it is also entangled in bureaucracy. The link to Germany under the Baltic Sea, one of the worlds most contentious, was completed Sept. 10, but the start of actual flows into Europes grid will depend on the German regulator. Initially expected to come online in 2019, the project was delayed first by U.S. sanctions and more recently by the requirements of German energy watchdog BNetzA and EU law, which are forcing Gazproms Swiss-based project operator to set up a German unit. Once thats done, the German regulator still has some two months to reach a preliminary conclusion and the EU, which has a more advisory role, can take another two to four months to express its opinion. BNetzA then has two more months to make a final decision.
Much of the activism against CRT has centered on elementary and secondary schools. In a survey of 1,100 teachers by the American Association of Educators in mid-2021, 96% of them said their schools didnt teach it; 45% said they were allowed to use CRT concepts in lesson plans if they wanted. As of early November, a dozen states had restricted schools from asking students to engage with race or sex in the classroom, all in the name of removing critical race theory from education. A handful of states were considering such measures, which had stalled or failed in several others. Randi Weingarten, the head of the American Federation of Teachers, said that culture warriors are bullying teachers and trying to stop us from teaching students accurate history. Nine states, by contrast, had adopted policies that mandate teaching on racism or the history of Black Americans or other people of color.
Five other justices, however, held that there was no way to enjoin the Texas attorney general against enforcing the law. Four of them did allow the lawsuit to go forward with respect to a portion of the law that empowers state health-licensing officials to proceed against physicians who violate the Texas law. The abortion providers will therefore ask the federal district court in Texas to freeze the law because this part of the lawsuit remains alive. But its uncertain what the lower court will do, or what the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit or the Supreme Court will do once its judgment is appealed. The Texas legislature might even retract that part of the law in order to kill the suit.
Ghosh: I was living in London when the vaccines were first rolled out. And as you say, it went remarkably well. There was enthusiasm from the general public to get themselves vaccinated. What explains the tailing off of that enthusiasm? Why is there not the same kind of enthusiasm with boosters, especially since there is alarm over omicron? Is it because people just feel, Weve already been vaccinated and will be okay. Is it because the perception around omicron is that it is virulent but not as fatal as previous variants?
So even though this was a prank  a somewhat well-trodden one at that  there is a serious side to it. It should be of grave concern that one of the most powerful outlets in the world was once again breached, allowing unauthorized access to the media equivalent of the nuclear codes. Musk, the chief executive officer of Tesla Inc., has made cryptocurrency and equity markets swing by billions of dollars with a few choice words.
Star Wars Episode VI  Return of the Jedi earned the most public votes, according to the Library of Congress, which took note of the 1983 films reputation among fans as perhaps not quite up to the lofty standards of its two predecessors but still ranking as an unquestioned masterpiece of fantasy, adventure and wonder. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring  celebrating its 20th anniversary this year  shares honors with the landmark 1984 slasher A Nightmare on Elm Street, which spawned a sprawling cinematic universe. Elm Street is noteworthy not only for its enduring legacy but for establishing the production company New Line Cinema as a major Hollywood player.
Blinken is using his three-country swing through Southeast Asia, which will include stops in Malaysia and Thailand, as a means for spelling out the Biden administrations Indo-Pacific strategy. Beijing has drawn criticism in the region for laying claim to much of the South China Sea, which is disputed by smaller countries in the region such as Vietnam, the Philippines and Malaysia. China has also moved military hardware into the waters and dismissed a 2016 international tribunal decision that refuted its historical claim there.
The lawsuit filed in federal court in Washington cites the modern version of an 1871 law known as the Ku Klux Klan Act, which was enacted after the Civil War to safeguard government officials carrying out their duties and protect civil rights. Two similar suits have been filed already this year related to Jan. 6  one by Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (D-Miss.), chair of the House Homeland Security Committee, and another by a number of police officers who fought the rioters that day.
Tobin and others familiar with the proposals said Biden officials can also draw upon lessons learned from the U.S. effort to resettle more than 70,000 Afghan evacuees through Operation Allies Welcome. While the use of military bases is not likely to be an option for housing asylum seekers, the co-location of federal agencies at a single site and the nondetained status of the Afghans are similar in concept to the reception center model.
They returned hours later to find their house destroyed and their neighbors dead. One had been sucked from his home, his body flung into a cornfield. A few lots away, the house was shattered and the couple who lived there were both in the front yard, lifeless. Within a short drive, an additional nine people had been killed, bringing the local toll to 12  an astonishing number in a community of just 300.
Murphy said he had privately urged Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) to hold off on expansive background-check legislation passed by the House earlier this year that had little to no chance surviving in the evenly split Senate. Schumer had promised a vote on the House bill earlier this year, to put every senator on record on the issue of guns, but Murphy had persuaded the majority leader to give him some breathing room for the GOP talks.
That proof is unlikely to come from an email. Trump has never used email, either as a businessman or as a politician, employees have said. Instead, legal experts said, any evidence of Trumps intent would have to come from someone close to him who could report what he said about his finances, and why.
Racism, bigotry of any form  including Islamophobia  must always be called out and condemned in any place it is found, Pelosi said. This is particularly true in the halls of Congress, which are the very heart of our democracy and where we have a responsibility under the rules of the House to behave in a way that brings dignity to this body.
Last week, Meadows backed away from cooperating with the panel just days after saying he would. He argued that the panel was pressuring him to discuss issues that the former president said are protected by executive privilege. However, Meadows had already produced thousands of documents for the panel, including text messages and emails related to the events of the day.
The Amtrak Crescent train traveling from New Orleans to New York on Tuesday is stopped in Lynchburg, Va. (AP)

A winter storm continued to delay train travel for many passengers along the East Coast on Wednesday.
Part of the indictment focused on a report Trang released with Green Trees in 2016 about the mass deaths of marine life in Vietnam, as well as a report the following year on religious freedom. The authorities also accused her of speaking with foreign media organizations, including the BBC, to defame the Vietnamese government.
Three weeks later, while an investigation was ongoing, she and her family left Britain to return to the United States. The U.S. government asserted diplomatic immunity on her behalf as the wife of a diplomat. Her lawyer has also said that she had been working as a U.S. intelligence officer.
Fly said Losik had been under severe physical and psychological pressure in jail and had been allowed to see his wife only once, and had been denied visits from his daughter and his parents. He has mounted two hunger strikes.
In contrast, American Jews typically vote for Democrats, and a majority cast their vote for Biden in 2020. Most American Jews had a negative view of Trumps policies toward Israel, according to a 2020 Pew poll, though a majority of Orthodox Jews, the smallest and most observant of the United States Jewish denominations, gave Trump the highest ratings. Trumps denunciation of Netanyahu came as a surprise in Israel, where the former prime minister had touted his relationship with Trump as one of his key political and diplomatic assets.
It is not less so than a union which over affiliates its numbers to gain unwarranted power and influence. You can rest assured that the ALP is not about to do an audit on actual union membership. I joined the ALP in 1964, just a few days after turning 16, and have been a member ever since. With the exception of the ALPs administrative committee , I have never sought any elected position at state or federal level. I have always been content to be a rank-and-file member with its responsibilities and benefits. The responsibility is to vote for the Party, to hand out how to vote cards, to letter box and subscribe some financial support for the election. They are not onerous requirements. The benefits are few but not unimportant. To vote in preselections, if elected to attend conferences as a delegate, to contribute ideas and to attend ALP conferences, even as a visitor. The National Disability Insurance Scheme was introduced under Labor.

The reasons I have been a member is that I believe that the ALP can contribute to making a different and better society. For my entire life as a member, that illusion has not been shattered. It is true that my belief has been shaken by the partys tepid response to Tampa, the Rudd/Gillard governments failure to appreciate the importance of unions, and the inability to be seen as the great protector of working people and their communities. Impacted by climate change and the ineptitude of Labor governments in building homes for the poor. My optimism has been shaken but not shattered. The ALP is still the party of the great Whitlam reforms, and together with the trade unions, the party of Medicare, National Superannuation and pensions, investment in educational opportunities, the highest minimum wages in the world, and the National Disability Insurance Scheme. These are the safety nets that ensure that people are not left behind or fall over the edge. I am not against factions. James Madison, one of the founding fathers of the US Constitution, writing in the Federalist Paper No 10 in 1787 ??? [yes] made out the case for the inevitability of the faction: The latent causes of faction are thus sown in the nature of man;.. A zeal for different opinions concerning religion, concerning government, and many other points, as well of speculation as of practice; an attachment to different leaders ambitiously contending for pre-eminence and power; ...

People will combine into groups of like mindedness, convenience, geography and for tactical advantage. Without factions, there is no politics. As Madison argued, the cause of factionalism cannot be removed. The question is controlling its effect. Loading The impact of factionalism in the ALP is now severe, but not destructive. After all, the ALP powerhouse is in Victoria. However, the lack of membership, the paucity of involvement, and the domination of the MPs offices as the recruiting ground, does not augur well for the party over the long term.

These impacts are already being shown in the national vote. The latest federal opinion polls have the ALP primary vote at 32 per cent. It is not that it can win the election only on the preferences of other parties, but that it is now so dependent that it requires a further 18-20 per cent. It is almost an impossible task with such a low primary vote. When I joined the ALP, it was a party of opposition. It was controlled by one group and had not long before splintered. It was a party that seemed to glow in the purity of opposition. First, the members started to revolt, led by people like Barney Williams; second, the participants led change from a myriad of legal offices; third, the unions, like the Storemen & Packers and Electrical Trades, joined in the call for reform. It was not to destroy the controlling faction, but to put down silly policies and to provide for a more democratic sharing of power. That sharing of power included the ALP membership. There are two important checks on factionalism. The first is the electorate. When the electorate sees faceless men and women of political parties choose the candidates and determine the policy they will be repulsed. The second is the membership of the party. Without both of these pressures, Bob Hawke would have probably lost preselection to Gerry Hand for the seat of Wills. Simon Crean would have lost Hotham. Jennie George would not have been elected. Barry Jones would never have won a seat, and John Cain would not have been Premier.

The party can remove the influence of its membership, but it cannot escape the scrutiny of the electorate. The sharing of power is important, but not at any price. As Madison observed so long ago, there is a need to guard against the cabals of the few. I am a great believer in Daniel Andrews. He stands on the cusp of being one of the great Labor premiers. Like everyone in the ALP, I am barracking for an Albanese Government, but this process will not be helpful for either of them. Loading A group of unnamed and invisible persons sat down and divided the winnings. In doing so, they did not give members the opportunity to ask a single question to any candidates. They tramped upon innocents and guilty alike. They thwarted hope and the right of aspiration and experience or even the right to compete.
Passengers on a light plane which was forced to complete an emergency landing at Perth Airport on Tuesday have spoken highly of the pilot who managed to touch down with no major incidents.

The Star Aviation twin turbo propeller aircraft carrying 11 passengers had reported a landing indicator problem when the landing gear collapsed as the plane touched down.

The plane flew in around 10.40am from Rothsay gold mine site in the Mid West region, carrying fly-in-fly-out workers. Flight tracking showed the plane looped around Perth before eventually landing.

St John Ambulance were called to the scene, reporting four minor injuries as a result of the crash, but passengers on board said the most they suffered was nausea. Other emergency crews were also in attendance.
That submission came two months after the council says it received correspondence from the Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage about how Tattarang had lodged a pre-lodgement request to put the development through the special State Development Assessment Unit. The SDAU was set-up in July last year as a COVID-19 stimulus measure and is a fast-track assessment vehicle, which is made up of department bureaucrats making recommendations to the WA Planning Commission on whether developments should go ahead. So far $1.589 billion worth of projects have been approved through the SDAU process, with no proposals rejected. The unit is set to wrap-up next year and only projects submitted by January 6 will be assessed. But to go to the SDAU, Tattarang needs the blessing of the council.

Council seeks more time to consider the proposal The push to move forward with the development came to a head on Tuesday night at the last Cottesloe council meeting of the year, when elected members considered a request by Tattarang to endorse the proposal to develop Indiana and move the existing boat shed from the facility further up the beach. Cottesloe chief executive Matthew Scott outlined to the council in the agenda how they had three options with the proposal. They could either accept it, reject it or seek more information. Indiana redevelopment timeline March 26, 2019  The lease for the Tea House is transferred to Perth Venues Pty Ltd, an entity controlled by the Forrests, from Melbourne-based Red Rock Group. March 27, 2019  The Forrests announce a design competition to redevelop the site of the Tea House. February 7, 2020  The redesign goes back to the drawing board after a public survey results in 37 per cent of respondents wanting the existing Tea House to remain, 10 per cent favouring a design picked by architectural experts and 53 per cent wanting a different design. Mid-2020  Conceptual drawings are presented to a confidential Cottesloe council briefing. April 27, 2021  A conservation management plan prepared by the proponent for the site is approved by the council. June 14, 2021  The Cottesloe beach precinct, which includes the Tea House, is added to the State Heritage List. July, 2021  General design principles are informally presented to the council. The Cottesloe chief executive tells the proponent it would be preferable for the council to have a more detailed proposal. September 2021  The Town received correspondence from the Department of PlanningLands and Heritage advising they had received a request to provide landowner consent to a pre-lodgement advice request application for the redevelopment of the Tea House and the relocation of the Boat Shed. The Town was asked to confirm whether approval was provided to the proponent. November 26, 2021  The local government receives the development proposal with the proponent seeking in-principle approval. December 5, 2021  Tattarang publicly releases the new design for the Tea House. December 14, 2021  Cottesloe council votes to seek independent advice about the proposal before making a decision on undertaking public consultation and whether to approve the design.

Mr Scott recommended the town seek advice from environment and heritage experts, the Cottesloe Surf Life Saving Club, the councils foreshore committee and its design review panel by January 31, with the findings to be presented to Tattarang for response. The proposal has been developed not to impact on the existing Norfolk Island Pines in and around the existing Indiana building, the agenda report said. The proponent claims the redevelopment meets the current conservation management plan for the precinct. The town does not have the internal resources to verify these claims, and therefore an external expert would be required to provide confidence that there are no detrimental environmental or heritage impacts. Mr Scott also suggested he seek legal advice and the council defer a decision on the proposal until February. Mayor Lorraine Young successfully moved an alternative motion which sought Tattarang pay for the cost of the expert advice and put off a council decision until it could assess the findings, with no set date.

She said her motion would loosen up the timeframes and provide further information that could help future public consultation, so the council was not operating in a vacuum. Mayor Young said it was reasonable for the local government and the council to have sufficient time to consider the proposal, which would vary significantly from current lease arrangements. There is no certainty the project will proceed. It could be withdrawn, one would hope something does come of this, she said. The fact remains it could be withdrawn and the costs incurred by the town could be costs thrown away which would have to be borne by Cottesloe ratepayers. The council agenda also noted if the proposal was ultimately considered by the WAPC that the planning authority would refer an application like the Teahouse redevelopment to the Heritage Council of WA and the Department of Environment.

A spokesman for Tattarangs property arm, Fiveight, told WAtoday it respected the council decision but had welcomed the Cottesloe chief executives recommendation for a clear timeline so the community could have certainty over the next steps for the project by the end of January. Councils resolution to overturn this recommendation removes any certainty on when council may reach a formal decision which is required to progress the development proposal, he said. This lack of clarity would appear at odds with expectations in Cottesloe, and the wider Perth community, to see this important project move forward. Fiveight remains fully mobilised and committed to accelerate the delivery of this transformational project that will benefit all Cottesloe beach visitors. The prospect of ministerial intervention

Tuesdays council agenda claimed Tattarang had told the town if consent was not provided for the proposal it would approach the Minister for Lands, who had the authority over Crown Land. But Minister for Lands Tony Buti said it was up to the company to obtain consent from the council to redevelop the site. The Indiana Tea House redevelopment proposal is still in its very early stages, he said. The state government hopes the Town of Cottesloe and proponent can work constructively to achieve a great outcome for one of the states top beaches. If agreement is reached, the state government will work with the town and proponent to determine the appropriate tenure to support the proposed commercial uses.
With so many independents running, theres a suggestion that Australia is on the precipice of a tectonic shift in politics. If only. These aspiring independents are launching their campaigns replete with catchy slogans, brightly coloured posters and t-shirts, and all the razzamatazz of politics-as-usual. Theyre not calling them parties at the moment, but thats not far away, says Lachlan Harris, former comms director to Kevin Rudd. Successful independent senators Nick Xenophon, Pauline Hanson and Jacqui Lambie have shown how independents seek to capitalise on their cache by building their brand, and political power.

A remarkable number of independents are challenging incumbents for the next election. Credit:Nick Moir, Jessica Hromas, Simon Schluter, Alex Ellinghausen

Admittedly, more independents are probably running now than in living memory. Whats lifting this current crop? Is it climate inaction, the stalling of a federal integrity commission or the general disillusionment with politics? One things for sure, in this internet age, the voices for are much more readily connecting with their respective constituencies, and offering a new look and a fresh message that says: Im not one of the tired old faces with tired old policies youve seen so far.

The challenge to the major parties stranglehold seemed unassailable a decade or two ago. Having said that, Labor and Liberal are still the primary political forces in Australia, each so entrenched that its hard to picture politics without them. Rarely has the national government been made up of a coalition of minor parties and/or independents. The first federal government was a coalition of the Protectionist Party and Labor, but that ended when Labor won a majority in 1910. The second period followed the 1940 election, when Robert Menzies won his first term as Prime Minister, supported by two independents. The most recent experience is when Rob Oakeshott and Tony Windsor shored up Julia Gillards government.

The two major parties not only have the benefit of their long and glorious (ahem) history, but also, with one party in opposition, its the government-in-waiting. Independents can never replicate that. Instead, an independent relies on a fragile government to be relevant  to be the king or queen-maker. As much as they like to vaunt their significance, being a potential power broker is hardly a new kind of politician?
Kabul: Afghanistans new Taliban rulers are committed in principle to education and jobs for girls and women, a marked departure from their previous time in power, and they seek the worlds mercy and compassion to help millions of Afghans in desperate need, a top Taliban leader said in a rare interview.

Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi also said the Taliban government wanted good relations with all countries and had no issue with the United States. He urged Washington and other nations to release upwards of $US10 billion ($14 billion) in funds that were frozen when the Taliban took power on August 15, following a rapid military sweep across the country and the sudden, secret flight of US-backed president Ashraf Ghani.

Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi was education minister when the US deposed the Taliban in 2001. Credit:AP

Sanctions against Afghanistan would ... not have any benefit, Muttaqi said on Sunday, speaking in his native Pashto during an interview in the sprawling pale brick Foreign Ministry building in the heart of the capital, Kabul.

Making Afghanistan unstable or having a weak Afghan government is not in the interest of anyone, said Muttaqi, whose aides include employees of the previous government as well as those recruited from the ranks of the Taliban.
The chief cyber warrior for the US government was able to speak more freely once hed retired from his twin posts as head of the US National Security Agency and concurrently head of US Cyber Command.

So when I interviewed Mike Rogers in 2018, I wanted to know how deeply Russia and China had penetrated Americas critical infrastructure systems? How much malware had they planted? Which systems could Moscow or Beijing shut down in a crisis?

The US is a blind giant, vulnerable to unseen cyberbombs. Credit:ANP

We dont know, the retired admiral told me. Well only know when it happens. Id heard other top American officials vent privately their frustrations in trying to protect US systems from Chinese and Russian intrusions, but I was struck by the bluntness of Rogers admission.

Three striking implications followed. One, the US was a blind giant. It was vulnerable to unseen cyberbombs, planted in advance and silently lurking in its central nervous system until activated from afar.
Caracas: Venezuelas newest superhero is tall and muscular, flies over Caracas in red tights and a blue cape, and destroys enemies with an iron fist.

He also bears an uncanny resemblance to authoritarian leader Nicolas Maduro.

President Nicolas Maduro and Super Bigote to the rescue of the Venezuelan people. Credit:Age

The first episode of Super Bigote, which aired this month on Venezuelas state-run television, opens in the Oval Office, where a rotund leader with a shock of blond hair  he appears to be a cross between The Incredibles villain Syndrome and former president Donald Trump  plots an attack.

Pressing a red button, he launches a drone that attacks the Venezuelan electrical grid, causing a nationwide blackout. A woman cries for help. A patient wakes up in the middle of surgery screaming. Characters resembling Venezuelan opposition leaders Henry Ramos Allup and Julio Borges, dressed as chickens, laugh and celebrate.
WSU Celebrates 50 Years of the Stewart Bell Tower

December 14, 2021

OGDEN, Utah  For the last 50 years, Stewart Bell Tower has stood proudly at the heart of Weber States Ogden campus. The university marked the 50th anniversary of the iconic gathering place by featuring it in the presidents annual holiday ecard shared with the campus community on Dec. 14, 2021.

The concept and location of the structure were inspired by a Christmas Eve experience Weber State's first full-time executive director of Alumni Relations and College Development, Dean W. Hurst, had as a young soldier traveling on leave to his home in Ogden during WWII.

Hurst approached two long-time Weber State advocates about funding the structure. Donnell B. Stewart, served as student body president during the 1925-26 academic year and his wife Elizabeth Dee Shaw Stewart, a granddaughter of Ogden pioneer industrialist Thomas D. Dee. Elizabeth attended high school at Weber Normal College and stayed when the school became a junior college in 1922, eventually holding various positions at the college.

I made a rough sketch of what I thought a bell tower might look like and arbitrarily attached a $50,000 price tag, Hurst said.

Well-known Ogden architect John L. Piers, a Weber College alum, designed the 100-foot-tall tower. With limited space on campus, planners chose to install a Schulmerich electro-mechanical carillon with 183 miniature, precision-tuned, bell-metal tone generators, which, when struck by metal hammers and amplified through Stentor speakers positioned atop the tower, produced bell tones indistinguishable from a carillon of full-sized bells, but at a fraction of the cost and weight. The instrument was played manually from a dual keyboard console located in a performance room at the base of the tower. The carillon could also be pre-programmed to play melodies automatically at certain times.

Elizabeth & Donnell Stewart examine

the bell tower model with Dean Hurst

In addition to the electronic carillon, the Stewarts commissioned four, full-sized carillon bells, cast in Asten, Netherlands, by the Royal Eijsbouts bell foundry, and four stone clock faces supported by a quartet of golden buff brick-face pylons that matched the color of other buildings on campus. To promote the area as a peaceful gathering place for campus and community, Piers added a landscaped terrace and reflecting pool, bumping the total cost of the project to $220,000.

Construction began in spring 1971, with the final steel beams installed in July, and the clock faces placed that November.

Stewart Bell Tower was dedicated on Dec. 14, 1971, while it was still under construction. Originally, the dedication was set to take place adjacent to the bell tower, but the morning of the dedication saw a fierce snowstorm and below-zero weather. A last-minute decision moved the dedication inside to the Union Building with then WSU President, William P. Miller conducting the ceremony.

When it was dedicated, the Stewart Bell Tower became the first structure on campus to bear the donors name and has since led to many other philanthropic gifts that have benefited Weber State and its students.

Thirty-seven years after the dedication, water had started leaking under the structure and bricks began falling off of the pylons. In 2008, the Bell Tower and surrounding plaza received an extensive upgrade. Renovation crews stripped the pylons and installed new bricks; they built a large drainage system to remove excess groundwater. They also replaced the four gigantic clock faces and backlit the hands and tick marks with LED lighting so the time could be viewed at night.

To emulate the beauty of the hillside above, the cement plaza was replaced with approximately 15,000 square feet of natural landscaping. More than 140 trees and 5,300 plants were installed on the plaza and two cascading water features were added.

The four large bronze bells are still up in the tower; they still play the Westminster melody and chime the hours, said Patrick Malone, an electronic systems technician and bell tower caretaker for more than 32 years. The carillon and keyboard are over at Shepherd Union in the Stewart Bell Tower Lounge. They can still be activated to play different melodies that are amplified through the speakers, he added.

Today, Stewart Bell Tower remains an integral piece of Weber State University history. The bell tower serves as a hub for student connection and the setting for one of WSUs most popular Homecoming traditions, sharing a midnight kiss under the bell tower to become a True Wildcat. Stewart Bell Tower has been a backdrop for holiday concerts, election speeches, dances, firework displays, purple-pancake breakfasts, fashion shows and Webers Juneteenth celebration.

In times of tragedy, such as the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, Wildcats have gathered at Stewart Bell Tower to comfort each other and grieve as a community.

During the 2008 rededication, Hurst, told a reporter for the student newspaper, The Signpost, The Bell Tower has served as an icon that has weathered the weather well.

For photos, visit the following links.

cdm.weber.edu/digital/collection/WBTH/search

wsuucomm.smugmug.com/Press-Release-Photos/2021-Photos/Stewart-Bell-Tower-50th

Visit weber.edu/wsutoday for more news about Weber State University.
Allentown, PA (18103)

Today

Becoming partly cloudy. There might be a rain or snow shower well north and west, mainly early..

Tonight

Becoming partly cloudy. There might be a rain or snow shower well north and west, mainly early.
Reading, PA (19601)

Today

Becoming partly cloudy. There might be a rain or snow shower well north and west, mainly early..

Tonight

Becoming partly cloudy. There might be a rain or snow shower well north and west, mainly early.
Security Guard/Security Team Leader, Chisinau, Moldova

Organization: UNDP - United Nations Development Programme

Country: Moldova

City: Chisinau

Office: UNDP Moldova

Closing date: Thursday, 23 December 2021

Job Identification : 1739

Locations : Chisinau, Moldova

Posting Date : 12/08/2021, 07:47 AM

Apply Before : 12/23/2021, 04:59 AM

Degree Level : Secondary School Leaving Certificate

Job Schedule : Full time

Agency : UNDP

Grade : NB2

Vacancy Type : National Personnel Service Agreement

Practice Area : Crisis management / Country Management Support

Bureau : Regional Bureau for Europe and the CIS

Contract Duration : 1 Year with Possibility for extension

Education & Work Experience : High School certificate

Other Criteria : 4 years of experience in providing security services

Required Languages : Fluency in Romanian and Russian, intermediary level of English

Desired Languages : Russian, Bulgarian, Gagauzian, Romani, Ukrainian

Job Description

Background

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence.

UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

This position is part of the Security Team within UN House Administrative Unit. UN House Security Team consists of 8 (eight) Security Guards. Security Guard duties are performed in eight (8) or twelve (12) hour rotating shifts which ensure coverage of security posts on 24/7 basis.

Under the guidance and supervision of the UNDP Head of Operations, the Security Guard/Security Team Leader coordinates the activity of the Security Team and provides reliable security services ensuring protection of UN House personnel and premises. The Security Guard/Security Team Leader demonstrates a client-oriented approach, high sense of responsibility, courtesy, tact and the ability to work with people of different national and cultural backgrounds, surveillance skills on video cameras, efficient response to incidents.

Duties and Responsibilities

Supervision of Security Team

Access Control

Control Center

Emergency Response

Overall support to coordination of UN security activities

1. Supervision of Security Team

Develop monthly shifts schedules for the Security Team.

Daily supervision and overall coordination of UN House Security Team members. Performance evaluation for the UN House Security Guards and coordination of performance appraisal with UNHMC.

Maintain evidence of work attendance for Security Guards, including replacements and ensure Leave Monitoring.

Prepare and submit the documents for timely payment of the Security Guards replacements.

Monthly report to the UN House Management Committee about incidents, security gaps and needs.

Review and adjust the UN House building emergency evacuation plans, directory of building door keys, and maps of the city.

Draft and update the UN House security SOPs and any other security related documents.

Draft and monitor the annual leaves schedule of the Security Team. Organize and conduct training sessions for UN House Security Guards on security measures.

Maintain all logbooks with respect to established procedures.

Updates the security lists for security database.

2. Access Control

Perform the pedestrian access control to the UN House facilities ensuring that all personnel and visitors desiring access are properly identified, screened and directed:

Control admissions of authorized personnel and movements of United Nations property into and out of the premises;

Control entry of employees, requesting identification from those not known or recognized;

Receive and control visitors; Enter their names in the Visitors Log and inform by telephone the office or person to be seen; Visitor is either escorted or, in some cases, instructed how to reach the appropriate office;

Receive notification calls when visitors leave offices and register time of their departure from the building; Ensure that all visitors depart in timely manner, after notification of visit termination.

When assigned at the UN House pedestrian entrance (LGF Post 1), the Security Guard controls the entry of UN House employees, day laborers, and visitors, ensuring no contraband or unauthorized items are brought into the UN House compound. The incumbent maintains a log of visitors and monitors closed-circuit video cameras (CCTV) for potential problems. Incumbent also issues and keeps track of visitor badges and keys to the UN House unrestricted areas, ensuring both are returned in a timely manner. After working hours, the incumbent will occasionally transfer calls to appropriate mission personnel. This post operates 24 hours a day. The Security Guard identify the suspect persons and objects and timely report about the incidents to supervisor. Take in immediate security measures in ad hoc incidents.

Perform the vehicular access control to the UN House facilities ensuring that official, staff and visitor vehicles desiring access are properly identified, inspected and directed. This post operates 24 hours a day:

When assigned to the vehicle screening area, the guard will thoroughly inspect each incoming vehicle, opening the gate only for vehicles authorized compound access;

Security Guard will randomly conduct explosives tests of vehicles;

In bomb alert incidents in the town, the incumbent will increase control of checking entering car in the compound with the special mirror.

Ensure that no unauthorized personnel gain access to UN House facilities.

Ensure that all persons entering or removing equipment from UN House premises present the equipment and valid document in which this action is duly authorized.

Ensure that all packages and briefcases of all visitors are opened and inspected on entry.

Conduct patrolling of entire UN House and its inner, outer perimeter and parking area in front of the compound, including overnight guard duties, and reports any irregularities.

Conduct physical security checks of compound and offices ensuring that they are properly secured. Check that all office equipment, air conditioners, lights, etc. are turned off after the working hours.

Use of technical screening equipment to prevent prohibited items from entering the facility.

Use of variety access control technical equipment.

Maintain control of the emergency key system and its log sheet.

Implement all related and prescribed technical and nontechnical measures.

3. Control Center

Maintaining operation of the security control center.

Drafting and elaboration of Access Cards, maintenance of records of issued, lost and transmitted to personnel access cards.

Monitor and control following: c1C044h Dh7qKS

UN House Emergency Line and Panic Button;

UN House Emergency Line and Panic Button;

Video Surveillance System;

Fire Safety and Suppression System;

Electronic door locking/access control system;

VHF working channel for d/s Area;

Be familiar with existing procedures and comply with them.

4. Emergency Response

Act as a support response during any emergency or incident and promptly report to the Supervisors.

Be familiar with emergency procedures and all issued Security Standard Operating Procedures and Contingency plans.

Implement UN House emergency procedures and measures in case of such event.

Know how to properly employ firefighting equipment should a fire be discovered on premises.

Respond to emergencies affecting the safety and security of UN House personnel, visitors, assets and facilities by following the authorized emergency procedures and notifying the Supervisors.

5. Overall support to coordination of UN security activities

Provide support to UNDP Head of Operations on implementation of Warden System, including elaboration of maps, security routes and other relevant documents.

Provide security trainings to UN staff in coordination with UNDSS Field Security Associate.

Coordinate involvement of Security Guards in provision of security support to UN Agencies during the mass protests, patrolling, and/or for UN events organized inside the UN House and in other locations.

Monitor the media and report to about any potential protests and incidents in the town.

Provide support to Common Services Account project on the security-related activities in the UN House, by proposing the activities that will improve building security.

Institutional Arrangement

Under the guidance and supervision of the UNDP Head of Operations, the Security Guard/Security Team Leader coordinates the activity of the Security Team and provides reliable security services ensuring protection of UN House personnel and premises.

Competencies (Level I)

Corporate Competencies:

Demonstrates commitment to organizations mission, vision and values.

Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability.

Ability to work in a calm, competent and committed manner; Is conscientious and efficient in meeting commitments, observing deadlines and achieving results.

Functional Competencies: Development and Operational Effectiveness

Demonstrates excellent knowledge of the Standard Operational Procedures of the UN House.

Demonstrates excellent knowledge of security rules, regulations, procedures and protocol.

Demonstrate ability to report in time and in written form on computer.

Demonstrates abilities to operate security equipment.

Demonstrated ability to work with minimum supervision and act promptly in exceptional circumstances.

Excellent interpersonal skills are essential part of the job. Ability to communicate effectively and be efficient.

Leadership and Self-Management

Focuses on result for the client.

Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude.

Remains calm, in control and good humored even under pressure.

Responds positively to critical feedback and differing points of views.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Secondary education.

Police or military background is preferred.

University Degree in related field would be an asset.

Experience:

4 years of experience in providing security services, including experience in a police, military or other governmental, private or international organization in providing security service.

Proven work experience as a Security Guard with an international organization or Embassy is an asset.

Knowledge of Windows, Corel Draw and MS Office applications.

Previous experience with: Video Surveillance equipment, Technical protection equipment, Radio and other Telecommunication Equipment.

Required Languages

Fluency in Romanian and Russian, intermediary level of English is required.

Working knowledge of one or more additional languages relevant for Moldova, including Russian, Bulgarian, Gagauzian, Romani, Ukrainian or sign language would be an asset.

Disclaimer

Important information for US Permanent Residents (Green Card holders)

Under US immigration law, acceptance of a staff position with UNDP, an international organization, may have significant implications for US Permanent Residents. UNDP advises applicants for all professional level posts that they must relinquish their US Permanent Resident status and accept a G-4 visa, or have submitted a valid application for US citizenship prior to commencement of employment.

UNDP is not in a position to provide advice or assistance on applying for US citizenship and therefore applicants are advised to seek the advice of competent immigration lawyers regarding any applications.

Applicant information about UNDP rosters

Note: UNDP reserves the right to select one or more candidates from this vacancy announcement. We may also retain applications and consider candidates applying to this post for other similar positions with UNDP at the same grade level and with similar job description, experience and educational requirements.

Scam warning

The United Nations does not charge any application, processing, training, interviewing, testing or other fee in connection with the application or recruitment process. Should you receive a solicitation for the payment of a fee, please disregard it. Furthermore, please note that emblems, logos, names and addresses are easily copied and reproduced. Therefore, you are advised to apply particular care when submitting personal information on the web.

Link to the organizations job offer: https://unjobs.org/vacancies/1639003800945
Director (Division of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology), Vienna, Austria

Organization: IAEA - International Atomic Energy Agency

Country: Austria

City: Vienna

Office: IAEA Vienna, Austria

Grade: D-1

Closing date: Friday, 21 January 2022

Director (Division of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology)(D1)

( 2021/0621 (014612) )

Organization: NEFW-Division of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology

Primary Location: Austria-Vienna-Vienna-IAEA Headquarters

Job Posting: 2021-12-10, 6:14:56 PM

Contract Type : Fixed Term

Regular

Probation Period : 1 Year

Organizational Setting

The objective of the Department of Nuclear Energy (NE) is to foster the efficient and safe use of nuclear power by supporting interested Member States in: improving the performance of nuclear power plants, the nuclear fuel cycle, and the management of nuclear wastes; catalysing innovation in nuclear power and fuel cycle technologies; developing indigenous capabilities around the world for national energy planning; deploying new nuclear power plants; preserving and disseminating nuclear information and knowledge; and advancing science and industry through improved operation of research reactors.

The department has a dynamic, participative and interactive operating environment with inputs received from the Board of Governors, the General Conference, policy and decision-makers, and technical counterparts in Member States and the international development community.

The Division of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology (NEFW) comprises the Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Materials Section, the Waste Technology Section, the Decommissioning & Environmental Remediation Section and the Research Reactor Section. The Division seeks to support Member States in building their capacity to access technologies, to share good practices and to develop safe and effective approaches across all aspects of research reactors, nuclear fuel cycle, decommissioning, radioactive waste management and environmental remediation.

Main Purpose

Reporting to the Deputy Director General, Head of the Department of Nuclear Energy, the Director ensures that the Division of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology provides results based programmatic responses to Member States priorities in the programmatic areas outlined above.

Role

The Director is: (1) a leader, providing strategic direction towards development and implementation in the corresponding programme area in line with a results based approach, as well as promoting good performance and teamwork, and creating an environment where staff can develop their skills and share knowledge and experience; (2) an adviser and coordinator to the Deputy Director General on such issues as strategy and policy, as well as trends impacting the areas of nuclear fuel cycle for power, research reactors and the management of spent fuel and radioactive waste; (3) a principal adviser to the Deputy Director General on positioning the programme to deliver in response to the needs of Member States; (4) a manager of the human and financial resources assigned to the Division, responsible for the efficient and effective development and implementation of the nuclear fuel cycle for power, research reactors and the management of spent fuel and radioactive waste in line with the results based approach.

Functions / Key Results Expected

Lead the Division of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology, by providing direction and guidance to staff, and establishing and monitoring standards of excellence in performance.

Direct the development of and coordinate the assistance provided for programmes on the nuclear fuel cycle, research reactors and the management of radioactive waste in line with the expressed needs of Member States and the results-based approach.

Foster international and regional cooperation, networking and sharing of practical experience and the effective use of nuclear technology between Member States. c1TJzND Dh7qKS

Coordinate and guide programme monitoring and assessment, ensuring that outcomes are fully in line with stated programme objectives.

Conduct and coordinate missions and cross-cutting activities for technical support to Member States on implementation of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology Programmes.

Represent the IAEAs scientific standing at international conferences and forums and liaise with senior level representatives in scientific institutions and other international organizations to gain awareness of emerging trends.

Strengthen IAEA cooperation with other international organizations through synergetic activities.

Build and maintain strategic institutional partnerships and alliances with a wide range of stakeholders in Member States.

Competencies and Expertise

Core Competencies

Name Definition

Planning and Organizing

Sets clearly defined objectives for the Department/Division in line with the priorities of the Agency. Works toward Agency-wide efficiencies with a view to strengthening and harmonizing planning systems and capacities at the Departmental/Divisional level.

Communication

Promotes an environment of open communication within and outside of the Agency, ensuring that sensitive information is protected. Inspires staff at all levels through his/her communication.

Achieving Results

Sets the overall direction for the Departmental/Divisional goals, and promotes a results based management culture that focuses on the achievement of programme results in an effective and efficient manner.

Teamwork

Motivates and empowers staff, and fosters a collaborative approach across the Department/Division and the Agency as a whole. Acts as a role model when handling disagreements.

Functional Competencies

Name Definition

Judgement/decision making

Ensures that the judgements and decisions that are taken promote the Agencys strategic goals, the one-house approach, and are in full compliance with the Agencys regulations and rules.

Leading and supervising

Serves as a role model to managers as well as to staff members in general. Demonstrates leadership, inspires others and provides clear direction to achieve the Agencys mandate and priorities. Motivates and empowers staff, and recognizes individual and team contributions to the Agencys success.

Partnership building

Develops strategic partnerships and alliances. Leverages combined network resources to support the Agencys programmes and priorities in achieving Agency-wide results.

Technical/scientific credibility

Demonstrates vision, expertise and resourcefulness in developing strategies, seizing good opportunities, mastering challenges and risks, and addressing issues relevant to the programme goals.

Required Expertise

Function Name Expertise Description

Nuclear Engineering

Fuel Cycle and Waste Management

Advising and coordinating on strategy and policy making, nuclear fuel cycle, and the management of spent fuel.

Nuclear Engineering

Nuclear Fuel Cycle Facilities

Comprehensive understanding of stages and processes of the nuclear fuel cycle and related facilities.

Human Resources

Performance Management

Expertise in establishing and monitoring standards of excellence in performance.

Management and Programme Analysis

Programme Management

Monitoring, assessing and coordinating programmes on the nuclear fuel cycle, research reactors and the management of radioactive waste.

Nuclear Engineering

Radioactive Waste Management Technology and Infrastructure

Expertise in the area of waste technology and waste management information systems.

Nuclear Engineering

Research Reactors

Expertise in all aspects of research reactor utilization, operation optimization, and fuel cycle.

Qualifications, Experience and Language skills

Masters Degree

Advanced University degree in nuclear, chemical engineering or a related engineering science. A first level university degree with additional five years of relevant experience may be considered in lieu of advanced university degree. Doctorate Degree

PhD in nuclear, chemical engineering, or a related engineering science is an asset.

Minimum fifteen years of progressively responsible experience in nuclear research and development or deployment. At least five of these years should have been at the senior management or executive level management experience associated with nuclear fuel cycle, spent fuel and/or nuclear waste management technologies at the national/international level.

Proven track record of excellent leadership and experience in managing staff and financial resources.

Excellent oral and written command of English.

Remuneration

The IAEA offers an attractive remuneration package including a tax-free annual net base salary starting at US $102715 (subject to mandatory deductions for pension contributions and health insurance), a variable post adjustment which currently amounts to US $ 45605*, dependency benefits, rental subsidy, education grant, relocation and repatriation expenses; 6 weeks annual vacation, home leave, pension plan and health insurance

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Applications from qualified women and candidates from developing countries are encouraged

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OTTAWA - The federal government has planted less than half a per cent of the two billion trees it pledged to put in the ground across Canada by 2030, The Canadian Press has learned.

The clouds move among the old growth forest in the Fairy Creek logging area near Port Renfrew, B.C. Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2021. The government, which pledged in 2019 to plant 2 billion trees by 2030, has only planted 8.5 million trees so far, an access to information request by the Canadian Press shows. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

OTTAWA - The federal government has planted less than half a per cent of the two billion trees it pledged to put in the ground across Canada by 2030, The Canadian Press has learned.

Figures obtained through an access to information request show 8.5 million trees had been planted as of mid-November, representing just over 0.4 per cent of what the Liberals have repeatedly promised.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made the pledge during the 2019 election campaign, and the goal was repeated during the government's 2020 throne speech setting out policy objectives.

It asserts the two billion trees would help Canada meet its climate-change targets while creating roughly 4,300 new jobs.

Despite the sluggish start to the tree-planting effort, the Natural Resources Department said the program isn't falling behind.

"There will be about 30 million trees planted by the end of this year. Tree planting as part of this program will continue to ramp up," said Joanna Sivasankaran of Natural Resources Canada.

Partners have pledged to grow those 30 million trees, according to the department, which has not yet received or validated all the figures.

Green MP Mike Morrice said the disclosure that only 8.5 million trees have so far been planted was "incredibly disappointing but not a complete surprise."

Weve seen a pattern from this government of making grandiose promises around elections, but not following through, this being the most recent example," Morrice said. "Planting trees is one of the cheapest forms of climate action, while regenerating forests can also reduce erosion.

The government said it's planning a big tree-planting push by the end of December, with a call to register new partners to plant an extra 250 to 350 million trees annually.

It blamed the slow start on sourcing seedlings, which can take between two and three years to grow. Tree planting is a seasonal activity that cannot take place all year round.

In its reply to the access to information request, Natural Resources said it had received 120 expressions of interest from organizations to plant trees in February 2021 and is finalizing agreements to support the planting of over 30 million trees across the country, in both urban and rural areas."

According to government data, 7.6 million of the 8.5 million trees planted since the prime minister made his pledge were in British Columbia. In Ontario, 89,000 extra trees have been planted, with 60,400 in Saskatchewan, 238,000 in Alberta, almost 350,000 in Quebec and 235,000 in New Brunswick.

A wide variety of trees have been planted including millions of conifers, according to the government's data. In B.C., 2.8 million spruce and 3.9 million lodgepole pines have taken root. In Ontario, 18,500 oak trees, including white oak, have been planted alongside maple, hickory and black walnut trees.

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Once planted, the young trees will be monitored annually to make sure they are surviving, until they are seven years old, Natural Resources Canada said.

Natural Resources said the figures obtained through the access to information request represent "the most recent compilation of 2021 planting data" up to mid-November. It said it would have final figures for trees planted this year by next spring and is expecting more to be added to the final tally from other planting sites.

The pledge to plant an extra two billion trees by 2030 means that an additional 200 million should be added every year, over and above the usual 500 million seedlings planted annually, including by the forestry industry.

The NDP's natural resources spokesman, Charlie Angus, said Trudeau has "no credibility" on tackling climate change.

"Justin Trudeaus failure to keep his promise to plant trees is an example of the utter ridiculousness of making promises without delivering on the climate crisis," he said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 13, 2021.
JOHANNESBURG (AP)  The omicron variant is offering more hints about what it may have in store as it spreads around the globe: A highly transmissible virus that may cause less severe disease, and one that can be slowed  but not stopped  by todays vaccines.

A man gets vaccinated against COVID-19 at a site near Johannesburg, Monday, Dec. 13, 2021 a day after South African President Cyril Ramaphosa tested positive receiving for mild COVID-19 symptoms after testing positive for the disease. Ramaphosa started feeling unwell Sunday and a test confirmed COVID-19. A statement said he has mild symptoms, is self-isolating in Cape Town and is being monitored by the South African Military Health Service. (AP Photo/Denis Farrell)

JOHANNESBURG (AP)  The omicron variant is offering more hints about what it may have in store as it spreads around the globe: A highly transmissible virus that may cause less severe disease, and one that can be slowed  but not stopped  by todays vaccines.

An analysis Tuesday of data from South Africa, where the new variant is driving a surge in infections, suggests the Pfizer vaccine offers less defense against infection from omicron and reduced, but still good, protection from hospitalization.

The findings are preliminary and have not been peer-reviewed  the gold standard in scientific research  but they line up with other early data about omicron's behavior, including that it seems to be more easily spread from person to person.

The spread can be seen in Britain, the United States and Denmark, where confirmed omicron cases are increasing at a worrisome pace, said Dr. Jacob Lemieux, who monitors variants for a research collaboration led by Harvard Medical School.

Omicron is moving extraordinarily fast, faster even than the most pessimistic among us thought it was going to move, Lemieux said.

People wait for COVID-19 vaccination at Soweto's Baragwanath hospital Monday Dec. 13, 2021. South Africa's 7-day rolling average of daily new COVID-19 cases has risen over the past two weeks from 7.60 new cases per 100,000 people on Nov. 28 to 32.71 new cases per 100,000 people on Dec. 12, according to Johns Hopkins University. In general, the new omicron cases have resulted in milder cases, with fewer hospitalizations and less severe cases requiring oxygen or intensive care. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)

During past waves of the pandemic, the U.S. could look to Europe and Britain for an early signal of what was coming, Lemieux said. With omicron, it seems to be happening everywhere all at once with extremely rapid kinetics.

It's unclear whether omicron's rapid spread will overwhelm hospitals. In South Africa, although case numbers are rising, hospital admissions for adults diagnosed with COVID-19 are 29% lower compared to the wave the country experienced in mid-2020, after adjusting for vaccination status, according to the new analysis.

Still, some experts cautioned that it's too soon to draw conclusions since the variant is quite new and hospitalizations can lag weeks behind infections.

When omicron reaches broader populations more useful information will emerge, said Dr. David Dowdy, an infectious disease epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

To date, omicron has disproportionately infected young adults  people who probably have more social contacts and are more likely to attend large gatherings, Dowdy said. Young adults may be more likely to be sick without knowing it, have more intense exposures and experience milder disease, he said.

Our society needs to learn how to wait, rather than either panicking or dismissing early findings, Dowdy said.

A nurse fills a syringe with COVID-19 vaccine at Soweto's Baragwanath hospital, South Africa, Monday Dec. 13, 2021. South Africa's 7-day rolling average of daily new COVID-19 cases has risen over the past two weeks from 7.60 new cases per 100,000 people on Nov. 28 to 32.71 new cases per 100,000 people on Dec. 12, according to Johns Hopkins University. In general, the new omicron cases have resulted in milder cases, with fewer hospitalizations and less severe cases requiring oxygen or intensive care. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)

U.S. health officials estimate that a small, but growing proportion of new COVID-19 infections are due to omicron, and that the rise is particularly dramatic in some places.

Two weeks ago, omicron accounted for less than 0.5% of the coronaviruses that were genetically sequenced in the U.S. That rose to about 3% last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Tuesday.

But it varies from place to place, and is as high as 13% in the New York/New Jersey area, according to the agency.

The CDC is tracking how fast the percentage doubles, and as more cases come in, it may be better able to predict whether  or when  the omicron variant becomes the dominant version of the coronavirus in the U.S, health officials say.

In Britain, omicron cases are doubling every two to three days. Health officials say the variant will replace delta as the dominant coronavirus strain within days.

In the new South Africa findings, people who received two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine appeared to have just 33% protection against infection, compared to those who were unvaccinated, during the country's current omicron-fueled surge, but 70% protection against hospitalization. The analysis was conducted by Discovery Health, South Africas largest private health insurer, and the South African Medical Research Council.

People living at the Soweto Home For The Aged practice social distancing during breakfast in Johannesburg, Tuesday, Dec. 14, 2021. An analysis of data from South Africa shows the omicron variant appears to cause less severe disease than previous versions of the coronavirus, and the Pfizer vaccine seems to offer less defense against infection from it but still good protection against hospitalization. (AP Photo/Denis Farrell)

The study did not look at booster shots, which are not yet prevalent in South Africa but which data from elsewhere has indicated improves protection.

The Pfizer vaccine's 70% protection against hospital admission during the omicron surge compares to a 93% protection level seen in South Africas delta-driven wave, according to the new analysis.

That's a big drop in vaccine protection from severe illness requiring hospitalization, said Dr. Eric Topol, head of the Scripps Research Translational Institute.

What we dont know yet is whether the booster will restore that back to greater than 90% and for how long, Topol said.

The analysis in South Africa was based on examining more than 211,000 COVID-19 test results that date from Sept. 1 to Dec. 7  41% of which were for adults who had received two doses of the Pfizer vaccine, which is the most commonly used one in South Africa.

Experts now say that omicron accounts for more than 90% of all new infections in South Africa, according to Discovery Health chief executive Dr. Ryan Noach.

Researchers around the world are rushing to figure out what the variant will mean for the coronavirus pandemic, now well into its second year. More information came Tuesday from Pfizer, which announced that its experimental pill to treat COVID-19  separate from its vaccine  appears effective against omicron.

In the weeks since the variant was detected, South Africa has experienced rapid spread of the virus. The seven-day rolling average of daily new cases in the country rose over the past two weeks from 8.07 new cases per 100,000 people on Nov. 29 to 34.37 new cases per 100,000 people on Dec. 13, according to Johns Hopkins University. The death rate hasn't increased during that same period.

Some say theres still not enough data to draw broad conclusions about hospitalizations and the severity of disease caused by omicron.

Is omicron milder, or more severe than delta? said Dr. Michael Head, Senior Research Fellow in Global Health, University of Southampton, wrote of the study. Time will tell. The worlds finest scientists, including many in the global south such as in South Africa, will find out. For now, national-level decision-makers have to consider that discretion is the better part of valor.

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This story has been updated to correct the time period that the samples were from. They dated from Sept. 1 to Dec. 7, not Nov. 15 to Dec. 7. It also corrects that not all of the samples were positive, as a news release from Discovery initially said.

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Associated Press writers Mike Corder, Mike Stobbe and Carla K. Johnson contributed.

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Follow APs pandemic coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic
WINNIPEG - Manitoba Premier Heather Stefanson says all her Progressive Conservative caucus members have complied with a requirement to get COVID-19 vaccines.

Manitoba Infrastructure Minister Ron Schuler speaks to media in Winnipeg on Thursday, July 26, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Steve Lambert

WINNIPEG - Manitoba Premier Heather Stefanson says all her Progressive Conservative caucus members have complied with a requirement to get COVID-19 vaccines.

Earlier this month, Stefanson said any Tory not fully immunized by Dec. 15  when new vaccine requirements take effect at the legislature  would be removed from caucus.

Her statement at the time mentioned Infrastructure Minister Ron Schuler, who has been the only Tory to refuse to reveal his vaccination status. Schuler has been noticeably absent at some events where vaccines were required, such as the party's recent leadership convention. He has taken part in legislature debates remotely.

Schuler has rejected interview requests on the topic and has issued prepared statements that say his personal health information is private. He did so again Tuesday.

"As stated in the house, no one in caucus is opposed to vaccinations; however, my personal health information is a private matter and I do not discuss my personal health information publicly," the one-sentence statement read.

Stefanson said Tuesday all caucus members are in compliance with the vaccine requirement, although she wouldn't discuss details of individuals.

"I have been assured that they have the ability to enter the building and those are the rules that are there to enter the building for our elected officials," she said.

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Starting Wednesday, all elected members of the legislature, their constituency assistants, public servants who work elsewhere, and visiting members of the public will be required to show proof of COVID-19 vaccination.

Public servants who work in the building and members of the media will have the option of showing a negative COVID-19 test result from within the previous 48 hours.

The Opposition New Democrats, who have said all their caucus members are fully vaccinated, said the Tories took a long time to get on board.

"The rest of Manitoba was lining up ... to get the vaccine," NDP Leader Wab Kinew said.

"The PC government apparently can't be bothered until well over a year after the vaccines were available."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 14, 2021.
VATICAN CITY (AP)  The Vaticans big fraud and embezzlement trial, which opened to great fanfare in July, suffered another delay Tuesday as the tribunal postponed any further decisions until prosecutors finish redoing their investigation of four of the original 10 defendants.

FILE - Faithful gather to listen to Pope Francis' Angelus noon prayer in St. Peter's Square, at the Vatican, Sunday, Nov. 14, 2021. The Vaticans big fraud and embezzlement trial, which opened to great fanfare in July, suffered another delay Tuesday, Dec. 14, 2021 as the tribunal postponed any further decisions until prosecutors finish redoing their investigation for four of the original 10 defendants. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia, File)

VATICAN CITY (AP)  The Vaticans big fraud and embezzlement trial, which opened to great fanfare in July, suffered another delay Tuesday as the tribunal postponed any further decisions until prosecutors finish redoing their investigation of four of the original 10 defendants.

The delay means the trial, which had already been proceeding at a snails pace even by Italian standards, wont get off the ground until mid-February at the earliest. Tribunal president Giuseppe Pignatone said that by then he could finally, hopefully unify the two branches of the trial and start in earnest.

Were in an open construction site, Pignatone said of the current status. The key thing is that the trial needs more time before it can open for real.

After two years of investigation, Vatican prosecutors in July charged 10 people  including a once-powerful cardinal  with a host of financial crimes related to the Holy Sees 350 million-euro investment in a London residential property.

Prosecutors allege some Vatican officials and Italian brokers fleeced the Holy See of millions of euros in fees and commissions, much of it donations from the faithful. They have charged one broker with then extorting the Vatican out of 15 million euros to get full control of the building. The defendants have denied any wrongdoing.

Pope Francis own role in the deal has come under scrutiny since several witnesses have said he approved negotiating an exit deal with the broker accused of extortion.

In October, Pignatone ordered prosecutors to throw out their indictments for four of their suspects and start over because they failed to respect basic procedural steps during the investigation meant to protect the rights of the accused, including summoning them for questioning so they could respond to the accusations.

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On Tuesday, assistant prosecutor Gianluca Perone said to date prosecutors had only heard from one person. He said he expected to know by Jan. 20 whether prosecutors would ask for new indictments or for the charges to be dropped.

Pignatone set a procedural hearing for Jan. 25  hopefully the last one  and said he hoped by mid-February to then unify the proceedings against both sets of defendants and open the trial in earnest.

Pignatone has also repeatedly ordered prosecutors to turn over to the defense the videotaped recordings of a key suspect-turned-star witness so the suspects can adequately prepare their defense. The prosecutors initially agreed, then refused, then deposited most of the tapes but with cuts that in some cases amounted to an hour.

On Tuesday, Pignatone announced he had appointed technical experts to provide written transcripts of the main witness, Monsignor Alberto Perlasca, as well as all the other defendants. He didnt rule on defense requests to provide the full, uncut tapes.

In a motion to the court Tuesday, prosecutors doubled down on their refusal to provide the full tapes, saying the cuts concerned information unrelated to the trial that needed to remain secret for investigative reasons. They also pushed back against defense claims that documents were still missing from the nearly 30,000 pages of evidence gathered during the investigation.

The claims of missing evidence by lawyers for one of the defendants, Cecilia Marogona, are surprising, as well as radically unfounded" since the documents are all available for the defense's consultation, prosecutors Alessandro Diddi and Perone wrote, indicating where in the CD files the lawyers could find the material.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP)  California is bringing back a rule requiring people to wear masks indoors, a move aimed at containing a new type of the coronavirus as people gather with family and friends during the holidays.

FILE - Dr. Mark Ghaly, Secretary of the California Health and Human Service, wears a Covered California facemark as he greets health practitioners working to vaccinate students at the Esteban E. Torres High School in Los Angeles, May 27, 2021. California is bringing back a statewide indoor mask mandate. Gov. Gavin Newsom's administration announced the new mandate will start Wednesday, Dec. 15, 2021, and last until Jan. 15, 2022. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP)  California is bringing back a rule requiring people to wear masks indoors, a move aimed at containing a new type of the coronavirus as people gather with family and friends during the holidays.

Gov. Gavin Newsoms administration announced the new mandate will start Wednesday and last until Jan. 15. The order comes as the per capita rate of new coronavirus cases in California has jumped 47% in the past two weeks.

We know people are tired and hungry for normalcy. Frankly, I am too, California Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly said Monday. That said, this is a critical time where we have a tool that we know has worked and can work."

California lifted its statewide mask mandate on June 15 for people who were vaccinated, a date Newsom heralded as the state's grand reopening. But since then, county governments covering about half of the state's population have imposed their own indoor mask mandates as case rates surged with new variants.

FILE - Bartender Guy Klender, right, shares a light moment with customers while celebrating Star Wars Day at Scum and Villainy Cantina, a bar located on Hollywood Blvd, in Los Angeles, Tuesday, May 4, 2021. California is bringing back a statewide indoor mask mandate. Gov. Gavin Newsom's administration announced the new mandate will start Wednesday, Dec. 15 and last until Jan. 15, 2022. The order comes as the per capita rate of new coronavirus cases in California has jumped 47% in the past two weeks. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)

The new mask mandate will cover everyone else, but state officials on Monday were unclear about how it would be enforced. Ghaly said enforcement would likely be stronger in some places than others, but he urged Californians to heed the warnings and wear masks.

We know that there's going to be people who don't necessarily agree with this, who are tired, who aren't going to mask, Ghaly said. We hope that those are few and far between, that most people see the purpose of doing this over the next month as something to protect them and their communities during a very tough time.

Newsom has issued lots of other coronavirus mandates, including requiring state employees, health care workers and, soon, public school students and teachers to be vaccinated. The governor can do this because California is still operating under an emergency declaration Newsom issued at the beginning of the pandemic. That emergency declaration will remain in place until either Newsom lifts it or the state Legislature votes to end it.

Republican Assemblyman Kevin Kiley, who ran against Newsom for governor during a an unsuccessful recall election earlier this year, has routinely tried and failed to get the Democratic-dominated Legislature to end the states emergency declaration.

I think that people are incredibly frustrated with this notion that these choices should be made by one person rather than in the way that our country and state are supposed to work which is all of us together having a say and having the freedom to make choices for ourselves, Kiley said. Gavin Newsom is taking actions that go far beyond what any other governor or any other state has done.

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California joins other states with similar indoor mask mandates, including Washington, Oregon, Illinois, New Mexico, Nevada, Hawaii and New York. But other Democratic governors have resisted new restrictions, including Gov. Jared Polis of Colorado who told Colorado Public Radio last week that The emergency is over and public health (officials) dont get to tell people what to wear.

State officials are afraid of a repeat of last winter, when the state averaged more than 100 cases per 100,000 people during a monster winter surge of the virus when nearly 20,000 people died during an eight-week period.

But that surge was before vaccines were available. Today, more than 70% of California's residents who are eligible have been fully vaccinated against the coronavirus. Even with the recent increase in cases, the state is averaging a little more than 14 cases per day per 100,000 people.

Even so, Ghaly said hospitals in several counties with low vaccination rates are still struggling with lots of patients, including parts of Southern California in Riverside, San Bernardino, Mono and Inyo counties. Ghaly warned coronavirus hospitalizations often increase in the weeks following a jump in new cases.

We are proactively putting this tool of universal indoor masking in public settings in place to ensure we get through a time of joy and hope without a darker cloud of concern and despair. Ghaly said. Californians have done this before, and we of course believe we can do it again.

California also is tightening existing testing requirements by ordering unvaccinated people attending indoor events of 1,000 people or more to have a negative test within one or two days, depending on the type of test. The state also is recommending travelers who visit or return to California to get tested within five days of their arrival.
Hexo Corp. says it lost $116.9 million in its first quarter as the cannabis company announced a new strategic plan meant to reduce costs, streamline its business and improve growth.

A flowering cannabis plant is seen during a tour of the Hexo Corp. facility, Thursday, October 11, 2018 in Masson Angers, Que. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

Hexo Corp. says it lost $116.9 million in its first quarter as the cannabis company announced a new strategic plan meant to reduce costs, streamline its business and improve growth.

The Gatineau, Que. company's loss amounted to 46 cents per diluted share for the quarter ended Oct. 31, compared with a loss of $4.2 million or four cents per share in the same period a year earlier.

It came as the company is overhauling its operations and leadership after Hexo co-founder and chief executive Sebastien St-Louis and chief operating officer Donald Courtney departed the company in October.

Days later, St-Louis was replaced with Scott Cooper, who ran Truss Beverage Co., a joint venture between Molson-Coors Canada and Hexo that produces the Little Victory, Mollo and Veryvell beverages.

Cooper was immediately tasked with quelling recurring losses and addressing a recent review of Hexo conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.

The review found Hexo "did not maintain, in all material respects, effective internal control over financial reporting" and several factors "raise substantial doubt about its ability to continue as a going concern."

Cooper revealed his answer to these concerns Tuesday, when he unveiled a plan called "The Path Forward.

"The days of unprofitable cannabis companies are numbered," Cooper said on a call with analysts, where he discussed the plan.

The Path Forward contains five goals: reducing production costs, streamlining the company's organizational structure, realizing cost synergies from acquisitions and plant closures, focusing on revenue management through disciplined pricing and accelerating growth through market share gains.

As part of the plan, the company will refocus on medical cannabis and integrate its recent acquisitions of Zenabis Global Inc., Redecan and 48North.

Hexo now expects to find $50 million in synergies from those purchases, up from the $35 million it recently announced.

Hexo hopes these moves will help better align supply and demand  a task cannabis companies like Aurora Cannabis Inc. and Tilray Inc. spent the last year working on in hopes of it leading them to profitability.

However, aligning supply and demand has not been easy because pot companies have had to contend with new shopping habits from cannabis consumers during the pandemic.

Those habits arose as pot companies continued their push to squeeze the illicit market by dropping prices, which has put pressure on their margins but improved their revenues.

Hexo, for example, had a first quarter net revenue of $50.2 million, up from $29.5 million in the same quarter last year.

"We think that the value add we provide with our high-quality products means more to consumers than a race to the bottom in price," Cooper said.

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"Successful companies in the future will be those that can successfully run their businesses, and not just by unprofitable market share."

He also announced a series of executive changes, including the forthcoming March 11 departure of chief financial officer Trent MacDonald.

Michael Munzar, chair of the company's board of directors, will step down and be replaced by John Bell, a former member of rival Canopy Growth Corp.'s board.

Jackie Fletcher was named vice-president of science and technology.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 14, 2021.

Companies in this story: (TSX:HEXO)
McMINNVILLE, Ore. (AP)  The opioid epidemic blew into this picturesque Oregon town like a toxic wind, leaving overdoses, addiction, homelessness and wrecked families in its wake.

Anne Muilenburg, right, and Debra Cross speak during an interview Thursday, Dec. 9, 2021, in Muilenburg's office in Provoking Hope, a recovery center in McMinnville, Ore., for people addicted to drugs. Muilenburg is the office manager of Provoking Hope and Cross is its director of operations. McMinnville and thousands of other towns across the United States that were wracked by the opioid crisis are on the precipice of receiving billions of dollars in the second-biggest legal settlement in U.S. history. (AP Photo/Andrew Selsky)

McMINNVILLE, Ore. (AP)  The opioid epidemic blew into this picturesque Oregon town like a toxic wind, leaving overdoses, addiction, homelessness and wrecked families in its wake.

In a humble, single-story brick building, three blocks from downtown McMinnville's wine-tasting rooms and cafes, staffers and volunteers of a recovery center called Provoking Hope help the casualties. The workers, who themselves are recovering from drug addiction, offer counseling, coffee and, for some, clean syringes.

McMinnville and thousands of other towns across the United States are on the precipice of receiving billions of dollars in the second-biggest legal settlement in U.S. history. The $26 billion from three drug distributors and a pharmaceutical manufacturer would address damage wrought by opioids, which the federal government declared in 2017 was a public health emergency.

States, counties and cities face a deadline in three weeks to sign onto the deal, and most states have agreed to do so. But a few holdouts remain, including Oregon, where disagreements have emerged between state and local government officials.

The money is needed. In Yamhill County, where McMinnville is the county seat, it would expand counseling and treatment, including in jails, expand residential treatment and recovery facilities and fund other programs, said County Commissioner Casey Kulla.

As Provoking Hopes office manager, Anne Muilenburg has seen the devastating effects of drug addiction and also experienced it first-hand. She says her addiction started as many in America did, after her physician prescribed opioids. They were for a painful spinal bone spur. Ten years later, using her prescription and buying two other people's prescriptions, she was taking 35 pills per day, far exceeding the maximum dosage.

Anne Muilenburg, the office manager of Provoking Hope, an addiction recovery center in McMinnville, Ore., points to her handprint on the facility's parking lot wall on Thursday, Dec. 9, 2021. The wall has handprints of recovering addicts and the dates they became "clean." McMinnville and thousands of other towns across the United States that were wracked by the opioid crisis are on the precipice of receiving billions of dollars in the second-biggest legal settlement in U.S. history. (AP Photo/Andrew Selsky)

It wasnt even enough to make me feel high. It was just enough to not make me sick, Muilenburg said. She described opiate withdrawal  experienced when she would run out of pills  as the worst feeling ever.

It makes you feel like somebody's peeling your skin off, she recalled in her small office, decorated with posters with sayings like be kind and stay humble.

Muilenburg finally got treatment but then drug jumped to alcohol and methamphetamine. She wound up losing her job at a car dealership and splitting with her husband, though they have since reunited. She was in and out of jail and found herself living on the street.

My being homeless was one of the things that led me to wanting to change my life, Muilenburg said.

She has been free of drugs for 4 1/2 years. Muilenburg said funds from the settlement are needed to address the community's drug dependency.

We need more treatment centers. Every place needs more treatment centers," she said. Its ridiculous that somebody wants to go to treatment and they have to wait eight to 10 weeks for a bed.

In the U.S., more than 500,000 deaths over the last two decades have been linked to opioids, both prescription drugs and illegal ones.

Some of the handprints of people recovering from drug addiction are seen on Dec. 9, 2021, on a wall in the parking lot of Provoking Hope, an addiction recovery center in McMinnville, Ore. Along with the handprints are the dates when they became "clean." McMinnville and thousands of other towns across the United States that were wracked by the opioid crisis are on the precipice of receiving billions of dollars in the second-biggest legal settlement in U.S. history. (AP Photo/Andrew Selsky)

The clock is ticking on the settlement, with a payout second only to the $200 billion-plus tobacco settlement, in 1998, with the nations four largest tobacco companies.

The three drug distributors  AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health and McKesson  and drugmaker Johnson & Johnson agreed in July to pay the combined $26 billion to resolve thousands of state and local government lawsuits. But if the defendants feel theres a lack of participation by states and local jurisdictions, it could cause them to back away from the landmark agreement or eventually reduce the settlement amount.

"The defendants have the last bite at the apple to say, Do we have a critical mass to justify going forward? said Joe Rice, an attorney for the plaintiffs.

In exchange for the payout, participating states, counties and cities would have to drop any lawsuits against the defendants and agree not to sue them in the future for the opioid epidemic.

There are complex tradeoffs at stake here, said Caleb Alexander, a drug safety expert at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. On the one hand, the settlement would offer sorely needed funding to scale up treatment and otherwise address the opioid epidemic. On the other, many parties believe the settlement is not enough.

At least 45 states have signed on or signaled their intent to do so, and at least 4,012 counties and cities have also confirmed participation, plaintiffs' attorneys said Friday.

Washington state has already ruled out participating, with Attorney General Bob Ferguson calling the settlement woefully insufficient. Hes suing the nations three biggest drug distributors  the same ones in the national settlement  for $38 billion in a trial that began in November.

A man and a girl eat ice cream cones while window shopping in the picturesque town of McMinnville, Ore., on Thursday, Dec. 9, 2021. Like many other towns in the U.S., McMinnville was hit by the opioid epidemic, leaving overdoses, addiction, homelessness and wrecked families in its wake. States, counties and cities are on the precipice of receiving billions of dollars in the second-biggest legal settlement in U.S. history. (AP Photo/Andrew Selsky)

In Pennsylvania, the district attorneys for Philadelphia and Allegheny County, which includes Pittsburgh, have sued the state attorney general to ensure their lawsuits against the drug industry could continue, saying their communities shares from the settlement would cover only a fraction of the epidemic's financial toll.

We are not going to accept a settlement that is a sellout, Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner said.

Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro says receiving payouts from the settlement is a sure thing, unlike continuing to pursue lawsuits against the companies. Local governments can opt out and keep suing, he said, but the more that do, the less the state would receive.

New Mexico is still working out details, "and were anticipating that counties and local governments will be responding soon, said Jerri Mares of the state attorney general's office.

In Oregon, lawyers for local governments and the state recently resolved an impasse over how the settlement would be disbursed, according to The Lund Report, a health care news site.

The state of Oregon had wanted local governments to apply to it for grants. The local governments instead wanted a larger share of the funds in direct payments. There's now disagreement on how much of the settlement should go to attorneys who sued on behalf of several Oregon counties.

Kulla, the Yamhill County commissioner, supports the opioid settlement but doesnt want the state taking excessive control of it.

We at the counties are the ones working with those addicted and their families, and we incur the societal costs of those addictions, he said.

Under the settlement, the payments would be made over 18 years. The tobacco settlement was controlled by state governments, and most of the money has not gone to pay for the toll of tobacco. By contrast, the opioid settlements are structured so most of the money is intended to fight the crisis.

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Kulla recognizes there won't be a quick fix.

Its going to be long-term, Kulla said. Its going to take generations, really, to dig ourselves out of this.

___

Associated Press writers Geoff Mulvihill in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, and Cedar Attanasio in Santa Fe, New Mexico, contributed to this report.

___

Follow Andrew Selsky on Twitter at https://twitter.com/andrewselsky
PORTLAND, Maine (AP)  Fishing industry managers are recommending the already-diminished U.S. cod fishery face another reduction in catch limits.

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PORTLAND, Maine (AP)  Fishing industry managers are recommending the already-diminished U.S. cod fishery face another reduction in catch limits.

Cod fishing was once a huge industry in New England, but it collapsed due to overfishing and environmental challenges.

The regulatory New England Fishery Management Council said on Dec. 10 it has called for a reduction of the commercial Georges Bank cod catch from about 2.4 million pounds (1.1 million kilograms) to about 540,000 pounds (245,000 kilograms) next year. Georges Bank is one of two key areas where fishermen catch cod. The other is the Gulf of Maine, which would remain at about 590,000 pounds (268,000 kilograms) next year under the council's recommendation.

The council said the Georges Bank and Gulf of Maine cod stocks remain overfished. The Gulf of Maine stock shows "few older fish in the population and few incoming recruits," the council said in a statement.

U.S. fishermen caught more than 100 million pounds (45 million kilograms) of cod per year in the 1980s. The catch was less than 2 million pounds (900,000 kilograms) in total last year.

The fish are often used in fish and chips. The U.S. seafood market has turned to foreign sources, from countries such as Iceland and Russia, to meet demand.
WASHINGTON (AP)  President Joe Bidens pick to lead the Food and Drug Administration parried questions on crises ranging from the COVID-19 pandemic to the opioid epidemic, during a Senate hearing Tuesday that seemed to bode well for his confirmation.

Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pension member Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., questions Robert Califf during a hearing on the nomination of Califf to be Commissioner of Food and Drug Administration on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Dec. 14, 2021. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

WASHINGTON (AP)  President Joe Bidens pick to lead the Food and Drug Administration parried questions on crises ranging from the COVID-19 pandemic to the opioid epidemic, during a Senate hearing Tuesday that seemed to bode well for his confirmation.

After the hearing was over, Vermont Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders announced he would oppose Dr. Robert Califf's nomination. But Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Chair Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., and ranking GOP Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina both have said they would support him.

Califf, who served briefly as FDA commissioner toward the end of the Obama administration, promised that if confirmed he would use data to streamline the approval of COVID treatments and tests, conduct a full review of the agency's controversial handling of opioid painkillers, maintain focus on tobacco regulation, work to make prescription drugs more affordable, and confront medical misinformation on social media.

A cardiologist with strong connections to the pharmaceutical industry and academic research centers, Califf insisted that public service is his motivation for returning to the FDA. In a self-deprecating aside, he referred to himself as a 70-year-old person with nothing to gain."

His most pointed questioning came from Sanders, who underscored Califf's connections to drug companies and his multimillion-dollar investments in pharma stocks. What kind of comfort can you give to the American people when you have been so closely tied to the pharmaceutical industry yourself? demanded Sanders.

Responded Califf: I'm totally with you. The price of pharmaceuticals is way too high in this country."

New Hampshire Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan pressed Califf on the need to change FDA prescribing information for opioids, to better reflect the risk of addiction.

Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana told the nominee, I thank you for your vision.

The FDA has been straining for months under a massive pandemic workload even as a series of scientific disputes  including the approval of a controversial Alzheimers drug  have marred its public reputation. Califfs nomination by Biden last month was seen as a safe, steady choice to guide the agency, which hasn't had a permanent leader since last January.

The FDA regulates the vaccines, drugs and tests used to combat COVID-19. Thats on top of its normal duties regulating a swath of consumer goods and medicines, including prescription drugs, medical devices, tobacco and vaping products.

More than a year after authorizing the first COVID-19 vaccines, the FDA still faces a string of key decisions, including whether to expand booster shots to younger teens and children. Additionally, as researchers learn more about the omicron variant, the FDA will play a deciding role in whether the shots should be updated to target the strain.

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FDA commissioners aren't typically involved in day-to-day scientific reviews, but they serve as the go-between the agencys scientists and political decisionmakers in the White House.

That relationship came to a head this fall when the FDA's two top vaccine reviewers publicly opposed the Biden administrations plan to offer boosters to all American adults. Both have since retired from the agency after decades-long careers, giving Califf an opportunity to choose key replacements. Last month, the FDA ultimately signed off on boosters for all adults as COVID-19 cases surged again.

Califf will also help choose a new chief for the FDA's tobacco center, which is weighing whether to ban e-cigarettes from Juul and other vaping companies due to their risks to teens.

Califf's first stint as FDA commissioner came after more than 35 years at Duke University, where he founded a contract research organization that conducts studies for many of the worlds largest drugmakers.

Since leaving government he has worked as a health policy adviser for Google and served as a board director or adviser to more than a half-dozen drug and biotech companies. If confirmed, Califf would resign from all of those positions, according to a recent federal disclosures form.

Under Califf in 2016, the FDA added bolstered warnings to prescription opioids and began publicly scrutinizing all new opioid drug applications. But the agency has yet to implement many other steps recommended by experts, including an overall review of whether the opioid painkillers pose more risks than benefits for society at large.
OTTAWA - Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland released a fall economic statement today that outlined a better-than-expected economic rebound, but also billions more in spending, including on the response to the Omicron variant of COVID-19.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Chrystia Freeland speaks virtually at a press conference about the 2021 Economic and Fiscal Update as a copy of the update sits on a table during a lockup session in Ottawa on Tuesday, December 14, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/ Patrick Doyle

OTTAWA - Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland released a fall economic statement today that outlined a better-than-expected economic rebound, but also billions more in spending, including on the response to the Omicron variant of COVID-19.

Here are some other measures outlined in the fiscal update.

Immigration backlogs

The federal government plans to put $85 million into plowing through massive backlogs in processing immigration applications starting in fiscal 2022-23.

The government acknowledged the pandemic dramatically slowed down the pace of processing immigration applications, and many resources were redirected to focus on bringing Afghans in crisis to Canada after the country fell to the Taliban.

Though Canada is set to meet its immigration target of 401,000 permanent residents this year, opposition parties have criticized the government for allowing the backlog to grow to 1.8 million applications.

The government said immigration is picking up, with the monthly average number of new permanent residents catching up to pre-pandemic levels.

Resetting refugees from Afghanistan

The cost of resettling Afghan refugees in Canada is expected to be $1.3 billion over six years, starting in the current fiscal year, and $66.6 million in future years.

Last week, Immigration Minister Sean Fraser said he expects it will take two years to fulfil the government's promise to bring 40,000 Afghan refugees to Canada.

Many of those people will be women, children, religious and ethnic minorities fleeing the Taliban and people who supported Canada and its allies during their mission in Afghanistan.

The government has faced staunch criticism for being slow to get people out of the country. As of Dec. 8, only 5,485 Afghans have made it to Canada.

Parliamentarians voted last week to establish as special committee to look at efforts to evacuate people from the country.

Natural disasters in British Columbia

The heavy rain that washed away major infrastructure in British Columbia earlier this year is also expected to put pressure on the governments fiscal outlook. The province was hit with flooding, mudslides, landslides, and rock slides.

Early estimates for the federal share of the provinces recovery sits at $5 billion. Those costs fall under the Disaster Financial Assistance Arrangements, in addition to other costs related to the slew of natural disasters that have ravaged the West Coast this year.

The disasters have also hindered Canadas supply chains, particularly through the Port of Vancouver, and are expected to have major economic impacts.

The government says the total economic cost of the floods will depend on how quickly trade links reopen, which supply chains can adapt, and whether the flow of goods can be rerouted. Provincial and federal officials are working on Canadas first National Adaptation Strategy, but it is unlikely to be completed before the end of next year.

Help for live performances

The government has pledged new supports for the live performance industry. The government-imposed gathering limits were a major blow to an industry that relies entirely on crowds. The fund is expected to help the tens of thousands of workers who rely on live performances.

The industrys recovery has lagged in part because of the time it takes to finance, develop and rehearse live performances, which is at odds with the ebbs and flows of public health restrictions over the last two years.

In response, the government has pitched a temporary $60 million fund would roll out in the 2022 fiscal year to temporary fund sector-led proposals that would improve the economic, career and personal circumstances of workers in the performance sector.

Canadian Heritage will also get an extra $2.3 million to administer the fund.

Carbon-price rebates for small- and medium-sized businesses

The government announced a new program to return a portion of the proceeds from the carbon price to small- and medium-sized businesses to backstop provinces without its own carbon price program.

Currently rebates are sent to individual families in the provinces that pay the federal carbon price, while small businesses can apply to get some funding to help reduce their emissions.

The government expects to announce details early next year but has already earmarked $200 million for the program, which would benefit businesses in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Ontario.

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Tax credit for teachers

Teachers will soon be able to claim school supplies for at-home learning on their taxes and get an even bigger return this tax year. The government has proposed to increase its refundable tax credit for teachers from 15 per cent to 25 per cent, up to $1,000.

The change would also make sure that teachers can claim the supplies, whether they are used in the classroom or for remote learning.

The eligible list of supplies will now include electronic devices like graphing calculators, digital timers, and remote learning tools.

The expanded tax refund is expected to cost the government about $4 million in the 2021-2022 fiscal year, and $5 million every year thereafter.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 14, 2021.
TOKYO (AP)  Japanese automaker Toyota is beefing up its electric vehicle lineup, offering 30 new fully electric models by 2030, its president, Akio Toyoda, said Tuesday.

Toyota Motor Corp. President Akio Toyoda gestures for photographers during a press conference regarding battery EV strategies Tuesday, Dec. 14, 2021, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

TOKYO (AP)  Japanese automaker Toyota is beefing up its electric vehicle lineup, offering 30 new fully electric models by 2030, its president, Akio Toyoda, said Tuesday.

Toyota Motor Corp. plans to sell 3.5 million electric vehicles globally in 2030, he said, up from its earlier plan to sell 2 million zero emission hydrogen and battery electric vehicles a year worldwide by 2030. Toyota now sells about 10 million vehicles globally a year.

Toyoda promised a full lineup of electric models called the bz series, short for beyond zero, coming in the years ahead, including sport-utility vehicles of all sizes, pickup trucks and sportscars.

We can leave a beautiful planet and bring about many smiles for the future generation, Toyoda told reporters at a Tokyo showroom, standing on stage with more than a dozen EV models promised for the future.

His comments underscore the company's determination to reverse its reputation as a laggard in the industrys shift toward electric vehicles.

Toyota prides itself on its role as a pioneer in hybrid technology and more recently in hydrogen fuel cells for vehicles.

The maker of the Prius hybrid, Lexus luxury models and Mirai fuel cell car wants to offer various options, Toyoda said.

He stressed Toyota must respond to global fears about climate change and carbon emissions.

The companys Lexus luxury brand will become fully electric by 2035 globally, Toyoda said. It aims to achieve that by 2030 for the U.S., European and Chinese markets.

Also Tuesday, the company raised to 2 trillion yen ($17.6 billion) its investment in battery research and development from the 1.5 trillion yen ($13.2 billion) announced earlier this year.

When including other green technologies, like hybrids, Toyota is investing 8 trillion yen ($70 billion) by 2030, the company said.

Earlier this month, Toyota announced plans to build a $1.3 billion electric vehicle battery plant near Greensboro, North Carolina, that will employ at least 1,750 people and start production in 2025.

Toyotas fully electric sport utility vehicle called bZ4X is set to go on sale next year globally.

Toyota is building a futuristic city near Mount Fuji, designed to try out and showcase automated driving, sustainable energy and robotics for housing.

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David Leggett, automotive editor at GlobalData, said Toyota was trying to prepare for the dramatic technological and societal changes that are coming.

Businesses have to think about how demand will look in 10, 20, 30 years time, and the pathways that come back to their business plans over a foreseeable time horizon, Leggett told The Associated Press.

Toyoda, an avid racing driver and the grandson of the companys founder, acknowledged he had not been that interested in EVs in the past, viewing them as commodities." But he said he's excited about the vehicles Toyota is developing.

They are safer, faster and more fun to drive. I can say that as a driver, he said.

___

Yuri Kageyama is on Twitter https://twitter.com/yurikageyama
MADRID (AP)  A volcano that has been spewing lava in Spains Canary Islands for almost three months fell quiet Tuesday, though scientists warned the lull didn't necessarily mean the eruption is over.

FILE - A fissure is seen next to a house covered with ash on the Canary island of La Palma, Spain, Dec. 1 2021. A volcanic eruption in Spains Canary Islands shows no sign of ending after 85 days. It became the island of La Palmas longest eruption on record on Sunday, Dec. 12. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti, file)

MADRID (AP)  A volcano that has been spewing lava in Spains Canary Islands for almost three months fell quiet Tuesday, though scientists warned the lull didn't necessarily mean the eruption is over.

Scientists recorded no seismic activity from the Cumbre Vieja volcano on La Palma island since late Monday, the Canary Islands volcanology institute, Involcan, said in a tweet.

That does not mean the eruption has finished, because in the past this has been followed by a new surge in activity, Involcan said.

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But it added: This is the longest length of time with no earthquakes since the eruption began.

Ruben Lopez, a volcanologist with Involcan, said there was minimal activity at the volcano that first erupted Sept. 19.

Hopefully it will stay that way and we can start thinking about the end of this, he told Spanish public broadcaster RTVE.

La Palmas longest eruption on record has destroyed about 3,000 local buildings, entombed large areas of farmland in lava and forced several thousand people to abandon their homes. No injuries or deaths have been directly linked to the eruption on the island of around 80,000 people.

Life has continued largely as normal on most of La Palma, where a section of the southwestern side is hardest hit.

The volcanic Canary Islands are a popular European vacation destination off Africas northwest coast.
Trans Mountain's chief operating officer says the pipeline will likely return to full capacity in late January at "the earliest" as work continues after flood fallout that will cost tens of millions of dollars.

Construction of the Trans Mountain Pipeline is pictured near Hope, B.C., Monday, Oct. 18, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

Trans Mountain's chief operating officer says the pipeline will likely return to full capacity in late January at "the earliest" as work continues after flood fallout that will cost tens of millions of dollars.

The January estimate falls more than a month after the company previously said it would resume normal supply.

The critical pipeline shut down on Nov. 14 as a precaution following floods in the area of Hope, B.C., and came back online last week, allowing gas rationing in southern British Columbia to end Tuesday.

The 21-day shutdown marked the longest in the pipeline's 68-year history, said Michael Davies, head of operations at the federally owned company.

"The pipe is still running at a lower pressure. We're armouring riverbanks and re-bedding pipe where it was scoured out," Davies said in a phone interview. "We may still have some further pipe repairs to do, more permanent repairs.

"It's easily in the tens of millions, many tens of millions of dollars," he added.

The ongoing work means full capacity is likely to be nearly two months away.

"The earliest that we could be back  late January is probably the time frame that we're talking about, but it's still uncertain at this time," Davies said.

Trans Mountain said in an email Tuesday it expects to deliver more than 75 per cent of "normal volumes" to its customers over the month of December, with capacity varying from day to day.

In a Dec. 6 release about the pipeline's return to service, it had said supply levels would "return to normal levels within a week."

The company, which runs Canada's only pipeline system carrying oil from Alberta to the West Coast, typically pumps about 300,000 barrels of oil per day between Edmonton and Burnaby, B.C.

That flow came to a standstill in mid-November as sections of highway were washed out or swept away by landslides amid multiple atmospheric rivers.

About 400 crew members remain in the field, largely to assess weak points and strengthen infrastructure rather than repair the pipes themselves, Davies said.

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With vital supply links cut  the Coquihalla Highway remains closed  Trans Mountain deployed seven helicopters including a logging chopper to haul downed trees. It also built a bridge over the Coldwater River, he said.

"The biggest challenge was access. There was only one location where we actually had repairs that we had to do physically to the pipe."

Some of the contractors were reassigned from the $12.6-billion Trans Mountain expansion project.

Torrential rains impeded progress on parts of that twinned pipeline, which Davies said is now more than 40 per cent complete. But overall the expansion has continued "without much disruption," he said, adding that it's too early to tell whether the impact will push it past the completion goal of late 2022.

The company spends millions of dollars annually on a geohazard program that monitors river crossings and landslide-susceptible soils, he said. It also runs emergency preparedness exercises throughout the year.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 14, 2021.
VICTORIA - The discovery of unmarked graves at a former residential school in the B.C. Interior and the countrywide awakening it set off have been chosen as Canadas news story of the year by editors in newsrooms across the country.

A child's dress hung on a cross blows in the wind near the former Kamloops Indian Residential School to honour the 215 children whose remains are believed to have been discovered buried near the facility in Kamloops, B.C., on Friday, June 4, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

VICTORIA - The discovery of unmarked graves at a former residential school in the B.C. Interior and the countrywide awakening it set off have been chosen as Canadas news story of the year by editors in newsrooms across the country.

There were 38 editors in the annual Canadian Press survey who picked the grim discovery at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School as the most compelling and deeply revealing story of 2021. That compared with 31 votes for Canadas COVID-19 vaccine rollout and 13 for climate change and B.C. weather that saw massive fires in the summer and floods in the fall.

"The announcement of unmarked childrens graves shook most Canadians to their core, even if this information was not new to many First Nations people," said Christina Spencer, Ottawa Citizen editorial pages editor.

"Non-Indigenous Canadians now want to know more about the hidden history of this country and that can only be a good thing."

The story broke last May when the Tkemlups te Secwepemc Nation in Kamloops said a section of land was searched at the former school with ground-penetrating radar and found what were believed to be the remains of up to 215 children. Tkemlups te Secwepemc Chief Rosanne Casimir said then that they had "a knowing" in their community that the missing children were undocumented deaths.

"Some were as young as three years old," said Casimir in a statement. "We sought out a way to confirm that knowing out of deepest respect and love for those lost children and their families, understanding that Tkemlups te Secwepemc is the final resting place of these children."

The Kamloops Indian Residential School operated between 1890 and 1969, when the federal government took over its operations from the Catholic Church and ran it as a day school until it closed in 1978.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commissions 4,000-page report detailed mistreatment at Canadas residential schools, including emotional, physical and sexual abuse of children, and at least 4,100 deaths at the institutions. Canada had more than 130 residential schools, with the last one closing in 1996.

Even with that commission finding of thousands of deaths at the schools, many editors who participated in the survey said the discovery of the unmarked graves served as a chilling, consciousness-raising event about Indigenous struggles in Canada.

"The initial discovery of 215 unmarked graves at a former residential school in Kamloops seemed to shake the Canadianness out of Canada," said Dawn Walton, managing editor at CTV Calgary.

"Despite all the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, it was this revelation, and subsequent discoveries of other unmarked graves, that really made Canadians stop and recognize there is more yet to be done."

The story made headlines around the world. Across the country, other First Nations began looking for lost children using the same technology.

Chief Cadmus Delorme of Saskatchewans Cowessess First Nation said ground-penetrating radar used near the Marieval Indian Residential School discovered 751 unmarked graves, of which 300 have now been identified.

Searches with ground-penetrating radar are also underway in Brantford, Ont., at the former Mohawk Institute Residential School, and in Williams Lake, B.C., at the former St. Josephs Mission Residential School.

Flags were lowered for months across Canada in memory of the lost children and the residential school survivors.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau faced harsh criticism for travelling to Tofino, B.C., for a family vacation on the first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation in September despite receiving an invitation from Casimir to visit the former Kamloops residential school site.

Trudeau then visited in October, where he apologized, saying his vacation decision was a mistake he regretted.

Casimir described the reaction of Canadians to the discovery of unmarked graves as one of immense importance to the school survivors who feel the darkness of their past can no longer be hidden or denied.

"It has been fully overwhelming," said the chief last June in a field near the residential school. "That said, on behalf of Tkemlups te Secwepemc, I want to express my deepest gratitude for the outpouring of support."

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Garry Gottfriedson, a former Kamloops residential school student, said the discovery of the unmarked graves is bringing to the surface long-buried truths about the treatment of Indigenous Peoples that Canadians now want to explore.

"That shows the spirit of true Canadians that they really want to learn," said Gottfriedson, whose poems, songs and books explore Indigenous identity. "They really dont want to hide anything anymore."

Canadas editors described the discovery of the unmarked graves as a moment of change in the country, much bigger than just a news story.

"The children who didnt return home forced Canada to face its history," said Sara Hyde, executive producer at CKNW Vancouver.

"It has not only changed the way we think about our history, but it is changing how we think about our reality and will shape political decisions going forward."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 14, 2021.
The case of a 15-year-old boy arrested following a Canada Day shooting spree that left a 27-year-old woman dead and three people wounded is now in the hands of a judge.

The case of a 15-year-old boy arrested following a Canada Day shooting spree that left a 27-year-old woman dead and three people wounded is now in the hands of a judge.

Queens Bench Justice Chris Martin is set to deliver his verdict in the case Dec. 17.

The accused, 14-years-old at the time of the July 1-2, 2020, shootings has pleaded not guilty to one count of first-degree murder, two counts of attempted murder and one firearm offence.

A now-16-year-old co-accused pleaded guilty in October to second-degree murder, discharging a firearm with intent, and robbery with a firearm.

Both teens hit the streets of inner-city Winnipeg in the early morning hours of July 1 with the "shared intention" of shooting somebody, Crown attorney Mike Desautels told Martin in a closing argument, quoting a witness who overhead one say they were "going to catch a body."

The pairs first alleged victim was walking on Isabel Street with an unidentified man when the accused walked up to them and pointed a gun at their heads. The woman grabbed the barrel of the sawed-off rifle and during a struggle for control of the weapon was shot in the leg.

Desautels rejected an argument by defence lawyer David Ireland the rifle was fired accidentally.

"(The accused) intentionally discharged that firearm when (the victim) had it pointed down at her thigh," said. "To secure that firearm, he had to intentionally discharge that gun at her.

"If the (rifle) was just to intimidate, if it was just for kicks to scare the girl, just to rob them, why does it have to be loaded?" Desautels said. "Because the intention was to use it."

A short time later, Danielle Cote and her cousin Keanu Ducharme were walking along Flora Avenue when, according to Ducharme, they were confronted at gunpoint by two males demanding he "give us your s-."

When Ducharme didnt respond, he was quickly shot in the face, he testified at trial. Ducharme said he heard one of the males say: "We got to kill her, too." Cote was shot from behind and died instantly.

Desautels alleged it was the younger accused who shot both Ducharme and Cote as well.

The Crown said the swiftness with which the two accused resorted to deadly force suggested it wasnt their intention to just rob the victims.

"Did they go there to rob or did they go there to kill?" Desautels said. "Did they go there to catch a body, or to rob?"

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Ireland, who argued his clients actions were clouded by alcohol, said it was the older accused who wielded the rifle and his client should be convicted only of manslaughter as a party in Cotes death and aggravated assault, not attempted murder for Ducharmes shooting.

"There is no proof beyond a reasonable doubt of (an intention to kill)," Ireland said. "This is a robbery."

Gordon McGinty was sitting near the outdoor stage at The Forks when, Desautels alleged, the older teen tapped the barrel of the rifle against McGintys head. The accused said: "Shoot him already," before the older teen shot McGinty through the left ear.

"The Forks shooting was completely brazen. It was packed there," Desautels said. "Thats as close to a public execution as you will ever get."

Ireland said his client should be acquitted in McGintys shooting, saying no witness could place him directly at the scene.

dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca
OTTAWA  Tuesdays federal fiscal update revealed five items that will have an outsized impact on Manitoba:

OTTAWA  Tuesdays federal fiscal update revealed five items that will have an outsized impact on Manitoba:

1) Baby bonus to drop

Ottawa projecting a seven per cent drop in Canada Child Benefit payments between the 2021 and 2023 fiscal years, due to income growth and the conclusion of a COVID-19 bump-up.

This year, the $1-billion drop from last year amounts to 3.6 per cent less, despite the November throne speech pledging the benefit would "continue increasing to keep up with the cost of living."

The baby bonus program has an outsized impact in Manitoba, which for years has had the worst child poverty rates among the provinces. The Liberals have opted against rectifying a drop in payments this year for low-income families who received pandemic benefits last year.

2) Carbon-tax cash for businesses

Tuesdays fiscal update follows through on a spring pledge to remit money from the carbon tax on agricultural fuels to farmers, which caused a months-long standoff between Ottawa and the Prairie provinces.

The rebate starts in March 2022, and would amount to a combined $100 million for the first year for the four provinces subject to the federal backstop: Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta.

Ottawa has also announced plans to rejig its formula for remitting carbon levy revenue to those provinces, which currently sends 90 per cent of revenues to people in cheques, and 10 per cent on green retrofits. Starting in March 2022, part of the money will go to small businesses, with details to come in the new year.

3) Push to clear immigration backlogs

Ottawa has earmarked $85 million clear a backlog in processing immigration applications, to be spent by March 2023.

The funding will target permanent and temporary resident applications, but clearing that gap will likely make it easier for Ottawa to meet Manitoba Premier Heather Stefansons request for an increase in provincial nominee quota.

4) First Nations set for massive foster-care package

The Liberals had scant details on their plan to allocate $40 billion for compensating First Nations and reforming foster care, but Tuesdays fiscal update shows plans for an infusion of $20 billion by March, and around $4 billion in subsequent years.

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The funding would come as part of ongoing negotiations surrounding Ottawa being ordered to pay First Nations families whose children were disproportionately placed into child welfare due to federal underfunding.

For years, Manitoba has had one of the highest child apprehension rates in Canada, and this payment would likely have an outsized impact in the province, particularly for large families living on reserves.

5) No rise in health-care transfers

Ottawa raised its health-care spending last year to make up for the COVID-19 pandemic, but tabled figures that would put its payments to provinces back to the pre-pandemic trend.

That means a drop from last years $45.9 billion to $43.1 billion this fiscal year and $45.2 billion in the next. Those are all higher than the transfers 2019 spending of $40.4 billion, but does not keep up with rising costs.

Premiers have asked Ottawa for years to restructure the health-care transfer, and Stefanson said it is her top federal priority. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said hed consider that after the COVID-19 pandemic abates.

dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.ca
ROSEAU RIVER ANISHINABE FIRST NATION  Orange Santa wants to spread the message: every child deserves to feel special at Christmas.

ROSEAU RIVER ANISHINABE FIRST NATION  Orange Santa wants to spread the message: every child deserves to feel special at Christmas.

As such, the new Southern Chiefs Organization holiday campaign will deliver nearly 3,000 gifts to children across 10 Manitoba First Nations.

"I had to wipe off a few tears," Glenn Courchane, his eyes glistening behind a plastic face shield, said Monday. "It just feels incredible. Sometimes, I need time to debrief afterward."

Courchane, clad in an orange satin overcoat with rabbit fur trim, will act as Santa for thousands of children before the campaign is over. He plays the role well, boasting a full head of long white hair, a matching beard, and a hearty chuckle.

"The kids come up and pull on my beard to make sure Im the real Santa," he said.

Courchane and a small team of SCO staff were visiting Ginew School at Roseau River to deliver treats and gifts to 150 students Monday.

The children, who ranged from pre-schoolers to Grade 8 students, gathered in cohorts for their turn to meet Santa.

"Do you know why Santa is wearing orange this year?" Courchane asked each group. "Because every child matters. You all matter."

He was greeted with smiles and laughter; children extending their hands for a fist-bump from Santa before ripping into their gifts.

TYLER SEARLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Ginew School Grade one student Suraya S., asks Santa to lean in close so she can whisper her Christmas request in his ear. She asked him to bring her dog back to life.

Each present featured an assortment of goods (among them Hot Wheels toys, Frisbees and plushies). The treats consisted of oranges and chocolates.

Courchane asked the kids to leave out warm cookies, milk, and bannock for Santa in return.

The goal of the Orange Santa campaign is to ensure every child knows they are special and loved, said Cailin Hodder, political advisor to SCO Grand Chief Jerry Daniels.

Daniels conceived the idea earlier this year after the discovery of more than 200 potential unmarked gravesites on the grounds of a former residential school in Kamloops, B.C. The legacy of the residential school system has weighed heavily on SCO staffers, and the team wanted to do its part to spread Christmas cheer, Hodder said.

"The holidays are a great time for family, friends and community to come together in a good way, showing love and sharing happiness," Daniels wrote in a news release announcing the campaign.

Hodder and the SCO team had the orange Santa costume tailor-made and also donated orange ribbon skirts to all of the chiefs from SCOs 34 member First Nations, Hodder said.

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The grand chief planned to deliver the gifts alongside Courchane and the SCO team but felt ill and decided to stay home out of caution, she said.

The SCO is funding the campaign with help from a few sponsorship partners, including Vickar Automotive Group, Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs, and Teekcas Boutique.

Roseau River (some 90 kilometres south of Winnipeg) was the second stop on the Orange Santa tour (the team visited Skownan First Nation last week); the campaign ends Dec. 22.

Next up, Courchane and Hodder will take a chartered flight to Poplar River and Bloodvein First Nations, while another SCO team heads to Ebb and Flow First Nation.

SCO hopes this year marks the beginning of an annual tradition, Hodder said.

fpcity@freepress.mb.ca
OTTAWA  Days after promising an onslaught of COVID-19 rapid test kits for provinces, the federal Liberals still havent given Manitoba a date or amount to plan for.

OTTAWA  Days after promising an onslaught of COVID-19 rapid test kits for provinces, the federal Liberals still havent given Manitoba a date or amount to plan for.

We are currently waiting on information from the federal government on timelines and quantity of tests to be received, a Central Services spokeswoman wrote Monday.

On Dec. 8, federal Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos said provinces had substantially increased their requests for rapid tests, and Ottawa would be responding.

We are very soon going to deliver to provinces and territories a very large amount of rapid tests  much larger than what weve seen over the last few months, he told reporters, adding Dec. 10 this would be around 35 million tests.

Yet, the province said Monday it had no clue how many are actually coming; the Public Health Agency of Canada said it did not have an immediate response.

Last week, epidemiologist Dr. Souradet Shaw suggested Manitoba come up with a strategy for how to get these tests into public hands, after a rollout that has almost exclusively focused on employers trying to cut down on the risk of a workplace outbreak, and routine testing for people exempted from vaccination mandates.

In Saskatchewan, kits of five rapid tests are available free to the public at libraries and community centres, with that province encouraging people to test asymptomatic family members once or twice a week.

Canadas chief public health officer said Monday shed like to see provinces use these tests, and her team is providing guidance on how best to do so.

We need to use everything we have available to add those layers of protection, of which a rapid test is one,Dr. Theresa Tam said, in response to questions from the Free Press.

Were hoping that communities all get access to the tools that they need.

Ottawa provides tests and technical guidance, but doesnt set pandemic responses, Tam noted. So she instead tries to share best practices between the provinces top doctors in regular calls.

Tam says thats primarily in high-risk settings (such as for health-care workers and homeless shelters) or helping remote communities that have to fly out samples for laboratory testing.

She also cited routine testing in schools and some workplaces.

Manitoba said last week its own data suggest rapid tests only have 30 per cent sensitivity for detecting asymptomatic cases of COVID-19, versus 70 per cent sensitivity for symptomatic ones, and an existing program of screening non-COVID hospital patients shows just one case per 500 asymptomatic people screened.

Tam struck a similar tone Monday.

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Under circumstances of low prevalence or low case loads, you actually have to test a lot of people to find a single positive. And so that means we do still have to be prudent, in using these rapid tests in the most appropriate way, at the right time, for the right populations, she said.

But Tam added the tests could be more helpful as a variant like omicron takes hold in a region or workplace.

You can use those rapid tests quickly, to gain a sense of what are the edges of this outbreak; how many people might be involved, but also as a preventive measure to essentially manage that outbreak.

While lab tests are much more accurate, 15-minute rapid tests can detect people who have high loads of coronavirus, similar to how a pregnancy test doesnt always detect someone whos only recently started expecting.

Experts have thus characterized rapid tests are an extra layer of protection  a screening tool but not a surefire test, and one that must come alongside vaccination, masking and ventilation.

dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.ca
Push has now come to shove in Quebec Premier Francois Legaults effort to stamp out ethnic diversity in his provinces public institutions. Parents of Grade 3 school children at Chelsea, in the Ottawa region, are up in arms over the removal of Fatemeh Anvari, their childrens teacher, who was wearing a head-scarf while teaching.

Push has now come to shove in Quebec Premier Francois Legaults effort to stamp out ethnic diversity in his provinces public institutions. Parents of Grade 3 school children at Chelsea, in the Ottawa region, are up in arms over the removal of Fatemeh Anvari, their childrens teacher, who was wearing a head-scarf while teaching.

Under Mr. Legaults two-year-old law on secularism of the state, commonly known as Bill 21, government employees in positions of authority, including school teachers, cannot wear religious symbols at work. This was enacted in order to ensure the religious neutrality of public services in Quebec.

THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jacques Boissinot Under Quebec Premier Francois Legault's two-year-old law on secularism of the state, commonly known as Bill 21, government employees in positions of authority, including school teachers, cannot wear religious symbols at work.

In practice, this has meant members of ethnic minorities in Quebec have to disguise themselves as mainstream Quebecers if they want to work in public services. No head-scarves. No skull-caps. No turbans.

Challenges to the secularism law, filed by civil liberties groups, are wending their slow way through the courts of Quebec. The Quebec public broadly supports the law, and opposition parties have offered only timid criticism. The leading parties in Parliament, fearful of offending Quebec voters, have steered clear of criticizing the secularism law.

The Western Quebec School Board recently informed parents in Chelsea that Ms. Anvari would no longer be their childrens classroom teacher. She had been re-assigned to a literacy project that would target inclusion and awareness of diversity. This would spare the children from encountering a teacher wearing a head-scarf in defiance of Mr. Legaults dress code.

The parents started a letter-writing campaign to re-instate Ms. Anvari. They want her back because she is a particularly gifted teacher.

This reasoning cut no ice with Mr. Legault. The whole thing was not his fault, he told a press conference last Friday. It was the fault of the school board because they should never have hired Ms. Anvari, a known head-scarf-wearer, in the first place.

Quebec needs to be more tolerant of ethnic minorities. This would be accomplished by keeping Ms. Anvari in her post as a classroom teacher in Chelsea. It would not be accomplished by blocking her from applying for such a position in the first place, as Mr. Legault prefers.

Employment of a teacher with a head-scarf does not offend the religious neutrality of the state. Religious neutrality of the state is found in the content of what the state does, not in the fashion choices of individual public employees.

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Religious neutrality of the state is found in the content of what the state does, not in the fashion choices of individual public employees.

Until now, the debate within Quebec about that provinces secularism law has been mainly about such abstractions as non-discrimination and religious neutrality, which are of great interest to lawyers and academics but are generally less compelling to others. Now, suddenly, it is about a particular teacher and the children and parents who appreciate her work and her enthusiasm.

Mr. Legault liked it better before when there were no flesh-and-blood implications. Its harder for him to win the argument when it turns out his intolerant policy has real human consequences.

The Quebec public has no wish to be unkind to a class of Grade 3 children and to their parents. They could support Mr. Legaults law until now because it seemed fair to everyone and no one was being hurt.

Now, however, someone is being hurt. The former abstractions have taken human form.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Opposition Leader Erin OToole, who have both been steering a wide berth around the secularism debate, should seize this opportunity, speak up for tolerance and implore Mr. Legault to soften his intolerant law.
Manitoba is asking the federal government to immediately send intensive-care unit nurses as the provinces health-care system continues to crumble under the fourth wave of COVID-19.

Manitoba is asking the federal government to immediately send intensive-care unit nurses as the provinces health-care system continues to crumble under the fourth wave of COVID-19.

In a statement issued late Monday, Health Minister Audrey Gordon said the request for 15 to 30 ICU nurses was made on the weekend "due to the continued pressure of the fourth wave and continuing pressures in our major acute care facilities and ICUs."

News of the request came after an open letter from front-line critical care doctors and other Winnipeg physicians urged the province to ask the military to send ICU nurses to help Manitoba.

The province said it has sent a request to Minister of Emergency Preparedness Bill Blair requesting ICU nurses help for six weeks and was waiting Monday for a response. The federal government said in an email its operations centre is looking at the request and will respond "in short order."

DANIEL CRUMP / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Health and Seniors Care Minister Audrey Gordon issued a statement late Monday that a request for 15 to 30 ICU nurses was made on the weekend.

"Assistance from the federal government would increase ICU capacity to address continued pressure in major acute care facilities due to the effects of COVID-19 while allowing our surgical slates to remain open," read the statement issued on behalf of Gordon and Ron Schuler, the minister responsible for the Emergency Measures Organization.

More Manitobans will die from untreated illnesses than COVID-19, say the doctors whose letter warned of dire consequences if the province doesnt get help from military ICU nurses and enforce tougher pandemic measures.

"The message of the letter is essentially this  when your house is on fire, turn off the gas and call the fire department," said critical-care physician Dr. Dan Roberts.

"Turning off the gas means addressing the rate of infection and trying to get it down, particularly in low vax-penetrated communities. That means enforcement of the public health orders that are already in existence, fines and closures if businesses dont operate the way they should be, insisting on people masking, social distancing, restaurants insisting that you have proof of vaccination  like restaurants all over the city are supposed to be doing right now."

Assistance from the federal government would increase ICU capacity to address continued pressure in major acute care facilities due to the effects of COVID-19 while allowing our surgical slates to remain open."  Statement from Manitoba Health Minister Audrey Gordon and Ron Schuler, the minister responsible for the Emergency Measures Organization

The province should insist that children who are accessing in-person learning must be vaccinated, Roberts said.

"Were not mandating vaccinations for children, were just saying if you decide your kid is not going to get vaccinated then keep them at home," he said. "We have to make people understand that there are consequences to their decisions and they have to accept the restrictions that follow from those decisions."

Calling the fire department means asking the military to send ICU nurses, Roberts said, after receiving reports that the situation in Manitobas critical-care units is "dire."

There were 102 patients in Manitoba ICUs Monday morning, up nearly 17 per cent from one week ago and 42 per cent above normal, pre-COVID baseline capacity, a Shared Health spokesman said late Monday. That includes 35 patients with COVID-19, 34 of whom were not fully vaccinated. In the past week, 22 patients have been admitted to ICUs in Manitoba for treatment of COVID-19, including two Sunday.

Were not mandating vaccinations for children, were just saying if you decide your kid is not going to get vaccinated then keep them at home. We have to make people understand that there are consequences to their decisions and they have to accept the restrictions that follow from those decisions.  Critical-care physician Dr. Dan Roberts

The number of ICU patients fluctuated over the weekend, reaching a high of 106 at one point. In the past 48 hours, a number of short-term staffing moves were made to temporarily increase ICU capacity to 110 beds.

Once again, a call for help inside the province has been made for staff with critical-care training, including rural and recently retired nurses with necessary training or experience.

More inter-regional patient transfers will occur in the weeks to come, Shared Health warned, with stable patients who can be cared for at another facility being moved to places with capacity. In just over two months, 79 stable patients have been moved from Winnipeg and the Interlake-Eastern Regional Health Authority to sites in Prairie Mountain Health, Southern Health and Northern Health regions.

Roberts said the doctors penned the letter to spur the province to act and to make the public aware of the crisis "on several fronts."

More people will die from pandemic-delayed tests and procedures than from COVID-19, he said, citing a recent Canadian Medical Association report.

We have to quickly do everything that we can to decrease transmission and, at the same time, we need to allow the nurses who have been redeployed to the intensive-care units back to do their work."  Dr. Pam Orr, an infectious-disease specialist at Health Sciences Centre

Manitobans need to know how dire the situation is, said Dr. Pam Orr, an infectious-disease specialist at Health Sciences Centre who signed the letter.

"We have to quickly do everything that we can to decrease transmission and, at the same time, we need to allow the nurses who have been redeployed to the intensive-care units back to do their work," she said.

"We need military nurses who could go into the (ICU) and allow nurses of other expertise to go out and look after people who are quietly suffering and dying in their homes, including nursing homes.

"These are people with crumbling spines who need surgery to prevent them from becoming paralyzed imminently. Im talking about people who have a problem suggestive of cancer, but who cannot get an appropriate test."

The government hasnt rigorously enforced public-health orders in unvaccinated parts of the province, mainly Progressive Conservative strongholds in southern Manitoba. News reports about clandestine church services breaching gathering limits and members of the public openly violating masking and vaccination requirements without consequence havent prompted a crackdown.

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The "feeble, ineffectual and negligent" enforcement of public-health regulations, "despite the enormously high stakes" is contributing to "corrosive cynicism," ethicist Arthur Schafer said.

Protecting the lives of Manitobans is a justifiable rationale for the government imposing coercive regulations that limit some freedoms, said Schafer, director of the Centre for Professional and Applied Ethics at the University of Manitoba.

"The question is, why is the government sabotaging its own public-health regulations by refusing properly to enforce them?" Schafer asked. "The obvious speculation is that were talking not about public health, but about politics. A government that would put its own political self-interest  if that is indeed whats happening  ahead of the health and safety of Manitobans is not worthy of being in office."

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca
WINNIPEG - Manitoba is looking at making rapid COVID-19 tests widely available to the general public, perhaps for free, Premier Heather Stefanson said Tuesday.

Manitoba Premier Heather Stefanson speaks to media prior to the reading of the Speech from the Throne at the Manitoba Legislature in Winnipeg on Nov. 23, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/John Woods

WINNIPEG - Manitoba is looking at making rapid COVID-19 tests widely available to the general public, perhaps for free, Premier Heather Stefanson said Tuesday.

Stefanson said she has talked with Dr. Brent Roussin, the province's chief public health officer, about easing current rules, which focus on rapid antigen test distribution mainly to businesses and other employers. Some pharmacy chains offer in-store rapid testing, which can cost $40 or more.

"I've asked Dr. Roussin and others to look into this, to see how we can ... ensure that those rapid tests are more readily available," she said.

"I think it's very important, if we can get those rapid tests and know and understand that people are infected with COVID, that they can begin their isolation or whatever public health says they should be taking in terms of action."

In Nova Scotia, residents are able to get free rapid tests from pop-up locations across the province for at-home testing. Saskatchewan also offers free rapid tests that people can take home. In British Columbia, the tests are free for certain groups including residents of long-term care homes.

When asked whether Manitoba may follow suit on offering tests for free, Stefanson said the government is considering it.

Rapid antigen tests detect specific proteins of the virus that cause COVID-19, can be done at home and can often provide results within 20 minutes. Health Canada says anyone who tests positive should get confirmation with a PCR test, which is more accurate.

Stefanson's comments came as there were more signs that Manitoba's intensive care system was straining to keep up with rising COVID-19 numbers.

A provincial web page that tracks bed usage said there were four available critical care beds and two patients awaiting admission Tuesday afternoon. On the weekend, the province issued an urgent appeal to the federal government for up to 30 intensive care nurses to boost staffing.

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Stefanson said she hopes Manitoba can avoid a situation like last spring when dozen of intensive care patients were flown to other provinces in a bid to free up beds.

"We will always do whatever it takes to ensure that patient safety comes first, and so I will never say that patients may not have to go out of province again ... but these are the tools that we have in our tool box."

The Opposition New Democrats said the Progressive Conservative government has failed to boost ICU capacity and should call in military help to increase hospital staffing levels.

"We know nurses are super important to addressing the staffing crisis right now, but we also need respiratory therapists," NDP Leader Wab Kinew said.

"We need more health-care professionals. We need other people to help bolster our health-care capacity."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 14, 2021.
At its meeting Monday night, Beaver Dam School Board lifted the requirement that elementary school students wear masks in school.

Board member John Kraus Jr. brought the motion to the board and said he was not comfortable with requiring others to wear masks. He said there were no other mandates in the area.

I move to lift the mask mandate, but say that they are highly recommended optional, Kraus said. I think this is here to stay and we have to move forward with things.

Board member Marge Jorgensen asked for the mandate to stay in place until after the students return from winter break in order to give parents a chance to prepare for the change. The students have eight more days until the break.

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Kraus did not change his motion for additional time. Board members Jorgensen and Lisa Panzer voted against removing the mandate.

Beaver Dam Unified School District sent paperwork parents last summer saying masks would be optional in schools. However the school board changed course prior to the start of the school year and school started with masks required for all students and staff at all levels.
The Republican chair of the Senate elections committee called on former state Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman Monday to wrap up the GOPs probe into Wisconsins 2020 election sooner rather than later, saying the repeated questioning of the elections results only serves to sow doubt in democracy and has led to threats against state and local election officials.

Sen. Kathy Bernier, chair of the Senate Committee on Elections, Election Process Reform and Ethics and a former county elections clerk, said the widely criticized investigation initiated by Assembly Speaker Robin Vos also threatens to undermine their own party.

Mr. Gableman is coming to my county and I will attend that meeting along with my concealed carry permit to be perfectly honest because it keeps jazzing up the people who think they know what theyre talking about, and they dont, Bernier, R-Chippewa Falls, said during a panel discussion at the Capitol assailing efforts to delegitimize the election and the civil servants who carried it out.

I think my advice would be to have Mr. Gableman wrap up sooner rather than later, because the longer we keep this up ... the more harm were going to do for Republicans, Bernier added.
Omicron data: more transmissible but less severe

Early data show that Omicron is dominating new COVID-19 cases in Gauteng province.

Gauteng is the smallest of South Africas nine provinces but home to a quarter of the countrys population. It is also the countrys economic power house. These factors have contributed to it becoming the epicentre of the COVID-19 epidemic. Gautengs COVID-19 surveillance aims to provide an understanding of the provinces experience. This also serves as an early warning system for other parts of the country. Public health medicine specialist Harsha Somaroo is part of the team analysing data for the Gauteng Department of Health and told The Conversation Africa what its showing so far.

Whats your data showing about COVID-19 in Gauteng?

In the four epidemiological weeks (13 November to 4 December, 2021), there was an exponential rise in new COVID-19 cases. The province officially entered its fourth COVID-19 wave on 1 December.

During this period South African scientists announced they had identified a new variant of SARS-CoV-2, which the World Health Organisation went on label a variant of concern and named it Omicron. Current data show that the Omicron variant is dominating new COVID-19 cases in the province.

The rate of increase in new cases in Gauteng has been significantly higher compared to any other period in the epidemic in the province. The weekly rates of increase in new infections, when compared to the previous week, were 71%, 341%, 379% and 272%.

Thats reflected by the steep incline in the curve for COVID-19 cases (Figure one).

The COVID-19 test positivity rate (the number of tests done that have a positive result) for the past four weeks, were 1.4%, 5.0%, 19.0%, and 33.9%. This reveals a rapid rise, and now widespread community transmission, of SARS-CoV-2 in Gauteng.

What does your data tell us about Omicron?

The recent exponential rise in new COVID-19 cases, associated with the detection and domination of the Omicron variant in the province, suggests that this SARS-CoV-2 variant of concern is highly transmissible.

It is also possible to understand the severity of illness better by monitoring trends and outcomes among hospitalised patients. There are two sets of data that provide insights  hospitalisations and excess deaths. Excess deaths are deaths above the number expected in a region for that point in time, and give an indication of the COVID-19 related deaths in a region.

Compared with previous periods during which the numbers have spiked the latest numbers show that new daily COVID-19 hospitalisations and excess deaths have been lower than the rate of increase in new COVID-19 cases, suggesting that the variant may cause less severe illness.

The weekly rates of new hospitalisations have been significantly high for the past three weeks (120%; 166%; and 125%). But this was still lower compared to previous periods in which infection numbers rose. Also, the current increase came off a very low base as admission numbers had fallen after the last COVID-19 waves in Gauteng (Figure two).

Another caveat, is that some patients have been admitted for other conditions, and were diagnosed with COVID-19 due to routine testing protocols in hospital, and not because they showed symptoms. Due to the number of patients for which this information is available, this proportion could lie between 7.4% and 52.1% of new COVID-19 admissions.

Another difference the data are showing is that theres a change in the age profile of admissions. Younger age categories of patients (0-9, 10-19, and 30-39) accounted for higher proportions of hospital admissions during the past month than previously.

A significant proportion of these admissions might be due to asymptomatic COVID-19 infections which were incidental diagnoses due to routine testing for COVID-19 on admission to hospital (between 7% and 46%).

The average length of stay in hospital, for all age categories of patients, was lower in the past month compared to overall. Additionally, fewer patients were admitted into Intensive Care Units (5.6% versus 9%), and a lower proportion of patients required supplemental oxygen therapy (19.4% versus 43.1%) or ventilation (1.4% versus 8.2%) in the past four weeks compared to cumulatively (Table one).

In-hospital mortality rates were also lower in the past four weeks compared to cumulatively (2.6% compared to 22%). However, there was still higher mortality among those over 50 years old.

The early findings suggest less severe COVID-19 infections, though they should be correlated with clinical pictures and monitored closely over the next few weeks to better understand the clinical manifestations and outcomes related to the Omicron variant.

What do people need to do in the light of this information?

These early surveillance findings give us some idea of the transmission dynamics and virulence of the Omicron variant in Gauteng. Trends will need to be monitored closely over the next few weeks to fully understand the impact of this new variant.

The recent high rates of COVID-19 transmission, and continued higher death rates among older patients hospitalised with COVID-19, have important implications for public health measures. The following are critical to decrease the number of new COVID-19 cases:

physical distancing

avoidance of gatherings and poorly ventilated spaces

wearing of masks at all times when around other people

ensuring good hand and respiratory hygiene.

All eligible people, especially those aged over 50, should be fully vaccinated against COVID-19, to protect themselves against severe illness and death. They should also avail themselves for booster shots where indicated.

Harsha Somaroo, Public Health Medicine Specialist, University of the Witwatersrand. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
It's for the common good

There should no longer be a debate between the goals of corporate profit and higher educations knowledge for its own sake.

South Africa, reflecting Africa, is a youthful nation with about 37% of the population under 35. And yet, more than half of them (9.1-million, according to StatsSas most recent information) are not in education, employment or training.

An alarming number of these are simply despondent in a futile search, with three out of four unemployed young people having been without a job for a year or longer.

In global terms, this is inordinately high and poses one of this countrys most pressing challenges. Youth unemployment is a complex issue, but one contributing factor is the mismatch between skills and workplace needs.

South Africa has long recognised the importance of experiential learning and work-integrated learning (as far back as the 90s), but this hasnt translated into a more acceptable employment rate. More than ever, there must be meaningful partnerships between industry, civil society and academia so that higher education research and innovation translates into new products and services to drive economic growth and address a range of social ills.

The debate is no longer split between the goals of corporate profit and higher educations knowledge for its own sake. Business and higher education must share notions of the "common good", and find ways to achieve a better society for all.

Important insight from the Harvard Business Review reveals that in the US, business and higher education have moved closer together because of their evolving missions.

A philanthropic gesture on the part of companies in sponsoring a few postgraduate students each year is ineffective. A student with a wealth of knowledge, but few skills required to succeed in the workplace and indeed in this era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution is set up to fail.

Companies and universities in Silicon Valley, for example, are interdependent and form an ecosystem supporting the advancement of technology, data science and quantum computing globally. These Silicon Valley businesses realise that without skilled and work-ready talent theyre not going to be able to crack the next code.

Meanwhile, universities are forced to be relevant in a world where jobs evolve and new ones are created, and where seemingly intractable problems like poverty and inequality need solutions, and quickly. In addition, funding shortages at tertiary education institutions require a third stream of income separate from the government and students. Big corporates are this third stream of much-needed capital investment.

As the HBR article says, Both industry and academia stand to benefit from long-term cooperation. Companies will gain greater access to cutting-edge research and scientific talent at a time when corporate R&D budgets are increasingly under pressure.

In South Africa, the Wits Reproductive and Health Institute (WRHI) reveals the power of a meaningful partnership with big corporates, civil society, policy makers and other universities across the world. The WRHI has been Africas leader and a prolific global player in vaccine research and development. In particular, the WRHI aims to strengthen the rollout of vaccine initiatives to poorer and harder-to-reach communities. The institute aims to build the capacity of African scientists and institutions in particular  a critical factor in ensuring that human capital remains on the continent and that research responds to context-specific issues.

A new South African start-up, Quattro-Canna Holdings, signed a memorandum of understanding with Walter Sisulu University in the Eastern Cape in March 2021 to create a mutually-beneficial research and design partnership. The universitys anthropology, economics and natural science departments are specifically part of this agreement. Quattro-Canna Holdings aims to process hemp straw-bales (the raw material is being grown in Pondoland) to manufacture bast fibre, hurd and green microfibre for a range of South African industries, including construction.

CEO of the company, Sizwe Nkukwana, has a vision of creating a specialist hemp manufacturing hub in the rural town of Pondoland. Nkukwana likens this proposed hub to Singapore which is Asias business epicentre. Foreign investment is high, and that country is a prime investment choice. It is in Pondoland that Nkukwana hopes the companies (both local and international) involved in the hemp value chain will set up shop. Walter Sisulu would provide the necessary research insights as well as human capital and skills to local companies.

The question is: How do universities deliver value to both their students and the workplace and how do companies partner with them to do this?

The "US Companies in Africa Awards", launching on Thursday 18 November, which will be livestreamed, is a 9-month process involving recognising and celebrating US companies in Africa that have demonstrated good corporate citizenship on the continent.

Notably, this academia-industry-public-sector partnership aims to increase awareness of the impact of American companies in Africa. This will ultimately build a body of knowledge and research insights to inform academic programmes and to tailor work-integrated learning initiatives.

Solid partnerships between universities, companies and the government are necessities. A vibrant community of practice across industry sectors will focus and galvanise efforts to solve the pressing challenges of our time.

Dr Bob Wekeza is the Acting Director of the African Centre for the Study of the United States. This article was published in News24.
ROME, N.Y.  A 13-year-old boy from Rome was charged after police say he posted a threat to Facebook along with a photo of Strough Middle School.

Police began investigating Monday after receiving several complaints about the post.

The RPD Juvenile Aid Unit worked with Rome City School District to identify and locate the boy, who was charged with making a terroristic threat. He was issued an appearance ticket to return to Oneida County Family Court at a later date.

Police say the teen is not a student at Strough, and there was no evidence to support a true threat to the school.

Anyone with information about this case can call the Rome police tip line at 315-339-7744.

Rome police investigated a separate social media threat to Strough school last week, which Superintendent Peter Blake said was deemed not credible.
Gov. Kathy Hochul says its up to counties to enforce New Yorks new mask mandate, which went into effect Monday at 7 a.m.

The governor says its also up to businesses to do the right thing.

AP Photo AP Photo

We hope that counties will enforce it. We expect that they will, we hope that they will  its in the best interest of public health, said Hochul. It also comes down to individual businesses doing the right thing as well. So...were asking businesses to protect their customers and to protect their employees.

According to state data, COVID-19 cases have increased by nearly half since Thanksgiving, and hospitals are struggling with an influx of sick patients.

I just arrived back from surveying storm damage in Western New York, we had to literally send in the National Guard and nurses from downstate to help relieve the pressure in hospitals that are desperately in trouble, said Hochul. That is all because of unvaccinated individuals occupying beds, because theyve been diagnosed with COVID and the symptoms became worse so they had to have medical attention in a hospital. And to me, that is a shame because its keeping someone out and or creating more stress on a hospital system that should not have that stress after what theyve been through for the last two years.

Hochul says the mandate is only temporary through Jan. 15 and will be reassessed at that time.

And I said very strongly, this is all about two things: protecting the health of New Yorkers and the health of the economy. And I believe weve accomplished that, she said. So, I do hope that the businesses will enforce this and that individuals will understand how important it is. Its a temporary measure as long as people follow it.

Oneida County Executive Anthony Picente put a mask order in place the day before Hochul made the announcement about the new mandate.

"It is a public health order which like other public health orders, has enforcements and other pieces behind it. If we're notified we will act accordingly," said Picente.

Some county executives say they dont plan to enforce the mandate, including Madison County Board of Trustees Chairman John Becker. In a statement released on Friday, Becker said This new mandate is another example of the disconnect that exists between Albany and our Upstate counties. We will continue to recommend that residents get vaccinated and wear masks in public places to help protect himself or herself from the virus, but in no way believe it should be mandated. The choice to vaccinate and protect oneself belongs to the individual.

Hochul believes the majority of county executives are understanding of the need to take this temporary measure ahead of the holiday season, and urges the few reluctant counties to reconsider, saying I encourage the county leaders, especially those who are asking me for help, to help alleviate the crisis they have in their health care system, to look at their own actions and to see what else they can be doing to be a better partner to help reduce those cases by enforcing this.

Picente agrees that the mask requirement is necessary for now.

"I know that this has been controversial, not when just I put it out, but the governor putting it out across the state," said Picente. "You know we're dealing with numbers that are terrible and dealing with the hospital systems across the state that are overwhelmed. So, the fact that people just don't want to wear a mask tells me that they don't really care about anyone else which is pretty ridiculous."

Picente's public health order issued Friday says establishments can face fines of up to $2,000 if they do not comply with the mandate.
MARCY, N.Y.  New York State Police are searching for a suspect who was caught on security footage stealing several packages from a home in Marcy.

The incident happened on Friday, Dec. 10, on Morris Road.

Police say the male suspect took the packages from the victims front door and then got into an orange Chevy Cavalier with a grey front passenger side fender and black rims.

Anyone who can help identify the suspect or the vehicle owner is asked to call state police at 315-366-6000.
LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI)  Duke Energy has pledged $255,000 to address mental health needs across Indiana communities. In Tippecanoe County, the company is giving the United Way of Greater Lafayette $35,000. The organization's main goal with the funds will be to combat substance abuse and addiction.

United Way plans to use this money to provide resources for prevention and incentives for mental healthcare professionals willing to relocate to the Greater Lafayette area.

"People need to know that it's okay to not be okay," said CEO of United Way of Greater Lafayette, Michael Budd. "And they need to reach out for help. And we as a community have a number of ways for them to connect."

The Tippecanoe Resilience and Recovery Network will disperse funds accordingly between their new initiatives for this pertinent issue.
TIPPECANOE COUNTY, Ind. (WLFI)  Friends and former employees on Tuesday detailed the cross-country travel of Wabash Township Trustee Jennifer Teising to Anderson, Indiana, Colorado and Florida, among other places.

The testimony was part of the second day of the bench trial against Teising on 21 felony theft charges.

At the center of the trial is whether or not Teising was living or simply vacationing out of a truck and travel trailer she bought after selling her West Lafayette home in June 2020.

Prosecutors say Teising lived outside the township, forfeiting her position as trustee, but continued to collect a township paycheck.

Her defense attorney characterizes her as a "snowbird"  one who travels out-of-state during the winter with plans to return for warm weather.

Former and prospective employees called to testify Tuesday described Teising's plans as early as March 2020 to move to Florida.

Former office manager Amie Mullikin said Teising was "intent at that time to move to Florida ... her life was taking a different direction and she wanted to pursue other things."

Tricia Fultz, the office manager who replaced Mullikin, said Teising was rarely in the office. She struggled to answer what work Teising accomplished in addition to her own responsibilities.

"I really don't know what she was doing," she said.

Fultz said Teising booked a lot at a campground in Panama City Beach, Florida, around October 2020 and with plans to return in March.

Fultz's mother and a prospective township employee, Julie Gregory, interviewed via Zoom in November 2020 for a fill-in office position.

"She told me she was living in Florida," Gregory said.

Teising's defense attorney, Karen Celestino-Horseman, noted Teising never expressed long-term plans to stay in Florida and always planned to return to Indiana.

Greg Michalski, an ex-boyfriend of Teising, echoed those sentiments. He said Teising has lived at his home on Knox Drive in West Lafayette ever since selling her home.

"To keep her residence in the township ... because that's the law," he said.

Michalski made a backdated lease agreement when police started investigating Teising's residency. But he terminated the lease when the city warned him the arrangement was illegal under city code.

Before her trip to Florida, Teising also stayed at length in her travel trailer outside a home in Anderson, according to testimony from the homeowners and long-time friends of Teising, Andrew and Amber Jones.

She was there "the majority of the time during that period," Andrew Jones said, referring to a time frame from June through September 2020.

"More often that not she was there," Amber Jones said of Teising visiting her home, "but she would go to Lafayette from tiem to time."

The trial is expected will continue into Wednesday.
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (WLFI)-Governor Eric Holcomb is preparing for the upcoming legislative session, which starts in January.

While he didn't announce his legislative priorities, he did comment on those of the Democratic Party, including the legalization of Marijuana.

The Indiana Democratic Party has said legalizing recreational Marijuana is one of its top priorities. However, that is not something the Governor supports at this time.

"The law that needs to change is the federal law," said Governor Holcomb. "It is illegal right now for recreational use for medicinal use. There are states that have ignored that law I will not ignore any law whether I agree with it or disagree with it or disagree with it so that's the law that needs to change."

Indiana Democrats feel legalizing Marijuana would create a steady stream of tax revenue for the state, but Holcomb says that isn't a motivation for him either.

"Tax revenue doesn't motivate me one bit," said Governor Holcomb. "If revenue motivated me solely I would focus that in areas that are booming right now in that state of Indiana. Our manufacturing base or life sciences our tech sector etcetera."

He says he feels that the FDA also needs to weigh in on the efficacy of marijuana use in a medical form and regulate it.

"I would love to know for medicinal use what the positive effects could be if it was truly regulated like every other prescription drug on the market that helps people," said Governor Holcomb.

Governor Holcomb also discussed economic development in Greater Lafayette, specifically the potential of commercial flights coming to the Purdue University Airport. It's something Holcomb says would connect the crossroads of America to the world.

"We have to make sure we are connected in every which way to capitalize on that central location which can now be central in the world," said Governor Eric Holcomb. "Air traffic is critically important to that."

Creating a regional airport at Purdue is something he feels would also benefit the community of Greater Lafayette as it continues to grow.

"Having Purdue University a world-class university connected to an airport, it connects it to the world," said Governor Holcomb. Getting that type of global talent easy in easy out back around the world into different industries and sectors.. couldn't be more thrilled to see that project."

Greater Lafayette and surrounding counties hope to receive funding from the READI grant to bring passenger air local.

The announcement on how the 50 million dollar grant will be awarded will take place tomorrow in Indianapolis.
TIPPECANOE COUNTY, Ind. (WLFI)Last Friday night a tornado ripped through six states across the mid-west and south with Mayfield, Kentucky being the hardest hit. Many buildings including a candle factory in the city have been reduced to rubble.

According to Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, the tornado stretched more than 200 miles. More than 100 people were working that night inside the candle factory.

Since the storm 40 people have been rescued, 8 have died, and much more unaccounted for. Two Indiana Task Force #1 members from Lafayette are on the site of the destroyed candle factory.

"All of the individuals that are Indiana Task Force #1 came to the organization highly trained," said Lafayette Fire Chief Richard Doyle.

Lafayette Fire Captain Toby Frost is one of those members on the ground assisting in search and rescue efforts. Frost was also on the ground after a Florida condo building collapsed in June.

"Captain Frost is a hazmat specialist that's kind of his main job for them but they are also cross-trained in the other disciplines so that when this group gets there, they are all cross-trained so they can do about anything they need down there," said Chief Doyle.

Indiana's American Red Cross also has more than a dozen volunteers spread out across the six states affected including Mayfield.

"We are going into the holidays where nobody wants to have to be thinking about where they are going to live and stuff like that so we are really relying on the American people to kind of step up and help their fellow neighbors," said Indiana's American Red Cross Executive Director, Brice Johnson.

News 18 has been in contact with Captain Toby Frost. He is didn't have time to speak Monday. Governor Andy Beshear said the death toll now sits at 74 and could rise in the State of Kentucky.
COVA: W&M undergrad researchers mix with postdocs and grad students  and bring back two wins

Big wins: Undergraduate cancer researchers Wendy Stewart (left) and Willough Sloan celebrate at the Commonwealth of Virginia Cancer Research conference after hearing they each had won a best presentation honor. Courtesy photo Photo - of - Hide Caption

The annual Commonwealth of Virginia Cancer Research (COVA) Conference is geared for cancer research trainees, specifically graduate students, postdoctoral researchers and clinical fellows.

But in November, a group of William & Mary undergraduates attended COVA, and two members of the class of 2023 came back to Williamsburg bearing best presentation honors.

Wendy Stewart, from Oliver Kerschers biology lab, won her best for her talk in Session 4C: Critical Events in Tumorigenesis. Willough Sloan, a student in Dana Lashleys chemistry lab, was similarly recognized for her talk in Session 1E: Novel Approaches for Cancer Detection and Treatment I.

Kerscher, an associate professor in William & Marys Department of Biology, is the universitys liaison for the COVA conference. A couple years back, he perceived that some of William & Marys high-performing undergrad researchers would benefit from COVA.

The neat thing about this conference is that its all about trainees, Kerscher said. Its about postdocs, its about graduate students. And we have postdocs and graduate students at William & Mary  but we also have some really awesome undergraduate students.

He said the COVA organizers were happy to have undergrad attendees  and they were welcome to submit abstracts if the students were interested in presenting. This year eight students and two W&M faculty mentors attended COVA and three students presented. Kushali Patel 21, a student in Margaret Sahas biology lab, joined Stewart and Sloan in making oral presentations.

Stewart gave her report on a collaboration between Kerschers lab and that of William & Mary biologist Matthew Wawersik. The focus on a protein called Chinmo, found in fly testes.

Chinmo has a lot to do with fly testes developing properly, Kerscher explained. It turns out that testes can forget that theyre actually male, and they can turn into a female state  or a mixed bag of female and male cells.

He said the lab worked with the expression of Chinmo in yeast cells, and found a second related protein, Chigno  also a fly protein. The collaborators further found that if either Chinmo or Chigno were broken, the flies would get germ cell tumors.

That means the flies get testicular tumors, Kerscher said. Its a really scary thing, you know  but this could be a model for studying testicular cancers.

The William & Mary Chinmo-Chigno collaboration just submitted a paper on their work (with Stewart as a co-author) to a peer-reviewed journal.

Sloan spoke about a set of projects that are interdisciplinary collaborations between the Lashley and Kerscher labs. The collaboration itself was generated by a William & Mary news story on Lashleys work.

Oli [Kerscher] read that story and then he reached out to me. He said, Hey, wait a minute! You're making these cool compounds with potential anti-cancer applications? Would you be interested in doing in vivo testing on my yeast? Lashley recalled.

And so began what she calls an in-house pipeline: We synthesize the molecules, and then Oli tests them on his yeast in vivo. So that's pretty cool.

Lashley, a senior lecturer in the Department of Chemistry, said that Sloan joined her lab in spring of 2021. It was a particularly difficult time for an undergraduate to begin doing research, she said.

Because these are students coming in from the pandemic, they all had completely virtual Organic I and Organic II labs for the most part, Lashley explained. These are people who've never touched a piece of equipment. They haven't handled live chemicals for the most part. So it was challenging, but Willough was very adamant about it.

The Lashley lab has been working on ways to synthesize compounds that have promise as anti-cancer agents. Sloans COVA presentation detailed progress on the work from a collaboration that includes Kerscher and some other William & Mary researchers, plus a cohort of German scientists.

Willough did research this summer. She synthesized a bunch of compounds, some of which were tested in Oli's lab in vivo, some of which were shipped to Germany to be tested in vitro, Lashley said. So there are two different types of tests happening. And so what we did is, I had Willough present on some results from last year, plus some new things that we have done since.

When the time came for Sloan to speak at COVA, she was prepared. Lashley said that she had set up several practice sessions for Sloan, assembling an audience of research students to hear the presentation and ask questions.

And she is just a natural at presentation. Who would have known? I didn't know that! And I think what should really be mentioned is that everyone else that was presenting in that session, they were postdoctoral students or doctoral students! Lashley said. Willough was the only undergrad  and she went last.

Lashley added that the audience didnt cut Sloan any slack, but asked a number of tough, detailed questions following the presentation.

I was like  Holy cow! Dont these people know shes an undergrad? Lashley said. Why do they ask these aggressive questions? But Willough handled it with elegance and coolness. I was just blown away. And she got a really loud round of applause.
GRI's post-doc fellows for academic diversity take multidisciplinary approach on global issues

As the world continues to combat the COVID-19 pandemic and emerging variants like omicron, Julius Nyerere Odhiambo is working with William & Mary faculty and students to study urgent inequities in healthcare allocation.

While at William & Mary's Global Research Institute, Odhiambo will advance two of Ignites ongoing projects: one on how to effectively target COVID vaccine sites in Africa, and another on evaluating methods, data sources and approaches that scientists have used to model COVID in space and time.

When we inform all stakeholders and engage different perspectives, it helps us to understand the problem more intimately, Odhiambo said. If you have an economist, if you have a social scientist, if you have an epidemiologist, they will be viewing the data in different dimensions. All of this brought together can help to steer policy in a way that works for everyone.

Odhiambo is one of the recipients of the Global Research Institutes Post-Doctoral Fellowship for Academic Diversity. Launched in 2020, GRI created the fellowship to help respond to real-world policy changes and develop the next generation of leaders through a multidisciplinary approach  engaging researchers from different academic fields, perspectives and backgrounds in collaborative projects across 10 research labs.

The fellowship brings scholars with diverse backgrounds and expertise to William & Mary to tackle pressing issues in the world and to provide mentored research experiences to underrepresented students. Recipients come to the university for two or more years. During their terms, they lead student research teams, teach new courses and advance multidisciplinary solutions to real-world challenges.

The fellowship was made possible by support from the Office of the Provost and private donations from W&M alumni.

Current Fellow Tanu Kumar  who works at GRIs Africa Research Center and AidData, as well as directs the Global Cities and Digital Democracies Lab  said she knew when interviewing that this post-doc would expose her to a unique breadth of possibilities.

I was excited about the opportunity to work with both political scientists and economists, Kumar said. At the end of your Ph.D., youre really in sort of a tunnel with your own work, and I was looking forward to the opportunity to learn from other people, start new projects, and work on slightly different things.

At GRI, Kumar works with ARC Director Philip Roessler and AidDatas Chief Economist Ariel BenYishay to fill gaps in development and economic research  through examining smaller cities and urban populations that do not often earn coverage, comparing how cell phones and cash affect well-being in Malawi, and developing systems to increase government responsiveness.

Odhiambo works at Ignite, an interdisciplinary global health research lab, alongside Director Carrie Dolan. Currently based in Kenya but with plans to move to Williamsburg early next year, Odhiambo said he has already learned a lot from members of Ignites student research team  whom he calls his peers.

When someone makes you feel like an equal party  in any engagement  it makes you feel comfortable and makes you more relaxed even as youre doing your research, Odhiambo said. With students, I hope we can expand this so that even as we look at research, they are free to express themselves and their ideas. I want students to be able to work on what matters to them.

Student experience

Trusting students to take ownership of projects allows Kumar to train versatile researchers, who feel comfortable grappling with a range of subjects and testing novel approaches.

The freedom and the input that I've had into the process is really unrivaled by other research I've done, said Research Assistant Andrew Tanner 22. The way that I can influence the methodology, the way that I can influence some of the very fundamental aspects of the data collection  makes me feel like Im not just working under her, but that were really collaborating.

Odhiambo knows that a variety of perspectives across disciplines is vital.

Were all in this together, so if we use a prism through which everyone can make a contribution, I think the ultimate result will be sustainable for every facet of knowledge, he said. I think thats the way to do science in the modern world  where every piece of information is tied together to bring about a refined product.

Creating an inclusive and uplifting environment for students begins in the hiring process, Kumar said. When selecting students to track government responsiveness to water complaints in the Municipal Corporation of Mumbai, Kumar sought out applicants with demonstrated interest, rather than expertise.

Rahul (Truter)and Isabel (Arnade) were graduate students really focusing on learning (statistical computing language) R and data science, and Anna [Glass] 24 was totally new to R, she said. One of the reasons I thought Anna was a great person to have on the team was because she has a lot of attention to detail and is also really interested in the subject matter.

Cultivating a data science skill set has proven useful in both personal and professional development, Glass said.

The most valuable part of working in [Kumars] lab was learning how to do things wrong, Glass said. During meetings, we would discuss which factors and confounding variables and methods were strengthening our predictions. She created an environment in which we could delight in the challenges that we encountered because it meant we were one step closer to making progress.

Offering paid opportunities allows Kumar to hire students from low-income families and other underrepresented backgrounds, who may not be able to work unpaid jobs or accept class credit as compensation.

Similarly, Odhiambo hopes to mentor students with a passion for scientific discovery  regardless of their levels of experience, class years, majors or backgrounds.

I try my best so that [students] may see the value of well-done science, so they can aspire one day to involve themselves in projects that also impact a lot of people and change lives, he said.
[Xinhua]

Opened on Dec 11, the Exhibition of Cultural Relics from Chang'an City of the Tang Dynasty greets audience with a variety of 116 cultural relics, showcasing the basic aspects of life in the Tang Dynasty (618-907), including clothing, cuisine, housing and transportation.

The exhibition is supported by Shaanxi Provincial Bureau of Cultural Heritage, the Shaanxi History Museum, the Xi'an Museum, the Qianling Museum, the Xi'an Chang'an Museum, the Baoji Fengxiang District Museum, the Zhaoling Museum and other six museums.

The exhibition will run from Dec 11 to March 11.

[Xinhua]

[Xinhua]

[Xinhua]

[Xinhua]

(Source: chinadaily.com.cn)
China holds its eighth national memorial ceremony for the Nanjing Massacre victims at the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders in Nanjing, capital of east China's Jiangsu Province, Dec. 13, 2021. [Xinhua/Ji Chunpen]

BEIJING, Dec. 13 (Xinhua)  The day of Dec. 13 marks China's National Memorial Day for Nanjing Massacre Victims, an occasion to remember those killed by Japanese invaders, to expose the atrocities committed by the Japanese military, and to cherish peace that is so dear to a country once ravaged by wars.

President Xi Jinping's two meetings with Xia Shuqin, a survivor of the Nanjing Massacre, shed light on how he thinks about peace as the leader of the country.

Xi first met Xia, then 85, in Nanjing on Dec. 13, 2014, during the state ceremony for the first National Memorial Day for Nanjing Massacre Victims. Xia was invited to the ceremony to unveil a monument to the massacre victims.

At the ceremony, Xi and Xia, together with a teenager who is the offspring of massacre victims, unveiled a memorial "ding," a type of ancient Chinese-style cauldron. The ding was engraved with 160 Chinese characters that recount the brutal history of the Nanjing Massacre as well as the inception of the memorial day. The practice of engraving historical events on bronzeware goes back thousands of years in China.

"I have never been so thrilled in my life," Xia said at the ceremony.

Survivor of the Nanjing Massacre Xia Shuqin (front) attends the national memorial ceremony for the Nanjing Massacre victims at the Memorial Hall of the Victims of the Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders in Nanjing, capital of east China's Jiangsu Province, Dec. 13, 2020. [Xinhua/Li Xiang]

On Dec. 13, 1937, Japanese troops captured Nanjing, then the Chinese capital. Over a period of six weeks, the invaders killed more than 300,000 civilians and unarmed soldiers. The city was looted, women and even young girls were raped, and untold number of citizens were injured.

Xia, then 8, was stabbed three times on her back by a troop of Japanese soldiers who broke into her home, and fell into a coma. She was later awakened by the crying of her 4-year-old sister, only to find the other seven family members were all dead.

Xi and Xia would meet again on the same day three years later, on the 80th anniversary of the Nanjing Massacre. After learning at an exhibition that there were no more than 100 massacre survivors still alive, Xi said all the survivors must be taken good care of.

After touring the exhibition, Xi noticed Xia and went up to clasp her hands, wishing her good health and long life.

"Xi is very attentive to those who fought and died in the war against Japanese invaders, the Nanjing Massacre survivors, and foreign friends who helped Chinese during the massacre, as well as their relatives," said Zhang Jianjun, the curator of the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders, when talking about Xi's visit to the museum in 2017.

Xi Jinping straightens the ribbons on a flower basket at the Museum of the War of Chinese People's Resistance Against Japanese Aggression in Beijing, capital of China, Sept. 3, 2020. [Xinhua/Xie Huanchi]

As of October 2021, 61 survivors of the Nanjing Massacre on the record remained alive, with an average age of 91 years.

"The purpose of the annual memorial for the victims of the Nanjing Massacre is to evoke every good-hearted person's yearning of and commitment to peace, but not to prolong hatred," Xi said when addressing the memorial ceremony in 2014.

"Only if everyone cherishes and safeguards peace, and only if everyone remembers the bitter lessons of war can there be hope for peace," Xi said.

(Source: Xinhua)
Weather Alert

...The National Weather Service in Paducah KY has issued a Flood Warning for the following river in Kentucky...Illinois... Ohio River at Paducah affecting McCracken, Livingston, Pope and Massac Counties. .Rainfall last weekend has caused rises in water levels along the Lower Ohio River Basin this week. This will cause minor flooding near Paducah early next week. For the Ohio River...including Paducah, Olmsted Lock and Dam, Cairo...Minor flooding is forecast. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... Motorists should not attempt to drive around barricades or drive cars through flooded areas. Caution is urged when walking near riverbanks. Turn around, don't drown when encountering flooded roads. Most flood deaths occur in vehicles. Additional information is available at www.weather.gov. && ...FLOOD WARNING IN EFFECT FROM MONDAY EVENING THROUGH TUESDAY EVENING... * WHAT...Minor flooding is forecast. * WHERE...Ohio River at Paducah. * WHEN...From Monday evening to early Wednesday morning. * IMPACTS...At 39.0 feet, Minor flooding occurs affecting mainly bottomland and surrounding low lying areas. * ADDITIONAL DETAILS... - At 11:00 AM CST Wednesday the stage was 33.6 feet. - Forecast...The river is expected to rise above flood stage Monday evening to a crest of 39.0 feet Monday evening. It will then fall below flood stage Tuesday evening. - Flood stage is 39.0 feet. - http://www.weather.gov/safety/flood &&

...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 6 AM TO 4 PM CST THURSDAY... * WHAT...Snow expected. Total snow accumulations 1 to 2 inches. Locally 3 inches possible parts of west Kentucky. * WHERE...Portions of southwest Indiana, southeast Missouri, western Kentucky and southern Illinois. * WHEN...From 6 AM to 4 PM CST Thursday. * IMPACTS...Plan on slippery road conditions. The hazardous conditions could impact the morning commute. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... Slow down and use caution while traveling. &&
Minister: Increasing booster roll out is now the number one priority for the NHS

The Minister for Health, Eluned Morgan, and Dr Gillian Richardson, Deputy Chief Medical Officer (Vaccines), held a briefing this lunchtime to give an update on the Covid-19 Vaccine Booster Roll-out.

The Minister said, Increasing the rollout of our booster program to maximise protection is now the number one priority for the NHS. Weve been working with health boards since the weekend to make changes to the vaccination program to go further and to go faster. And this will mean the focus of the NHS will need to shift towards vaccinating people for a short time.

The NHS will continue to provide essential services emergency and urgent care, but we will be redeploying all available clinical staff to vaccination centers. Well be asking them to work in existing mass vaccination centers, which will be expanded to their maximum capacity and also in new centers. Many of the centers will be expanded to have dedicated walk-in lanes and well be targeting these walk in slots of particular groups of people.

Well be looking at expanding existing opening hours. Centers are already open from 9am to 8pm. This will mean asking NHS staff to vaccinate from early in the morning to late into the night to make sure as many people as possible have the extra protection, the booster dose offers.

Expanding the booster program is a massive undertaking. Well need to more than double the speed of the program if were going to be successful. Were asking a huge amount of the NHS, were asking staff to cancel leave and to work in clinic day and night and through Christmas to vaccinate hundreds of thousands of people in a matter of weeks.

Talking about the impact on planned health services due to the shift in focus, the Minister added, We need to make it absolutely clear. What were talking about here is a three week burst of activity, and then hopefully we will be able to get back to some kind of normality.

Speaking aside from booster, the Minister said,  I want to be clear, however that while vaccination is our best defence against Coronavirus, we will need multiple layers of protections and measures in place to keep Wales safe from a large Omicron wave thats heading our way. We have already taken steps to increase protection in Wales but were likely to need more as the variant becomes embedded in our communities.

On Christmas she added, The last thing we want to do is to cancel Christmas it is important we make that absolutely clear. But we are not currently taking anything off the table either.

The best thing for people to do in order to see if we can remain in a situation where were all able to see each other over Christmas is to actually take precautions now. So we dont see the kind of increase in rates that we are expecting.

A lot of this is in our hands as individuals and as a community, so clearly the more you mix now, the more likely you are to contract COVID and this particular form of COVID. So certainly at the very minimum, we will be asking people to take lateral flow tests before they mix at Christmas, but that is something that they should be undertaking already in particular, if theyre meeting with older vulnerable people.

On what the future may hold the Minister explained, We are trying to respond in real time to the situation. If we were in a situation where we still had 30 Omicron cases in Wales at Christmas, then they wouldnt be a problem.

I really doubt that that will be the situation and thats why to an extent some of this isnt in in the hands of people of Wales but obviously we can all do our bit to try and control this.

We will try and keep our communities and our societies open because we think theres a responsibility to do that. It is not just about a COVID being a harm. There are others, economic harms, social harms, mental health harms that we need to consider alongside that so its not just a medical issue that we need to assess in terms of the NHS, we need to assess other issues alongside this.

Im afraid I cant be more definitive in terms of what Christmas will look like when were in such a fast moving situation.

The Minister also gave an update on Lateral Flow Test supply in Wales, Wales has about 21,300,000+ lateral flow tests available in our warehouses, in terms of demand there is around 900,000 per week. We know that the UK Government has requested a 200 million additional lateral flow tests and well be getting our percentage share of that.

So we are fairly confident in terms of the number of lateral flow casts that are available to us. There may have been an issue yesterday in terms of people seeing a sudden surge, but we would ask people to use up the lateral flow test that they already have in their homes before going out to fetch some more.

You can access these lateral flow test from your local pharmacies. 97% of pharmacies and West have signed up to distribute these lateral flow tests.

The URL to check the closest pick up for LFTs is https://maps.test-and-trace.nhs.uk/

You can watch the briefing on the video below:
Backed by a wall-to-wall media barrage exhorting people to travel and celebrate the festive season, Australian governments are letting loose the highly-transmissible Omicron variant across the country, exposing millions to the danger of serious COVID-19 infection.

Labor and Liberal-National Coalition alike, the federal, state and territory governments are lifting most of the remaining limited safety restrictions and opening international and domestic borders, creating the conditions for a catastrophe.

That is despite the reopening drive already causing surges of both the Delta and Omicron mutants, and warnings by health experts and government health officials that huge numbers of cases are inevitable as a result.

Such is the political criminality that governments are insisting that Omicron is mild and good news, regardless of the exponential spread of the variant in the UK, South Africa and Denmark, and scientific studies showing that two doses of the existing vaccines offer zero or little protection against Omicron.

Front page of the Courier Mail, Tuesday December 14, 2021

There are banner tabloid newspaper headlines such as We are one and free, Shoppers to ditch masks and even Get COVID, no worries. These are part of a saturation misinformation campaign that will send the effectively unvaccinated population into peril.

The lies told by governments over the past two yearsfrom Prime Minister Scott Morrisons advice to go to the footy to its not a race to vaccinate, and children dont get infectedare being taken to a new level of mendacity.

Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt yesterday defied the scientific evidence to declare that all of our vaccines provide strong, clear protection against serious illness, hospitalisation and loss of life and Omicron could be a quiet positive development for the world.

The already unsafe reopening roadmap set months ago by the bipartisan National Cabinet of government leaders is being accelerated, even though the term fully vaccinated has been rendered meaningless.

According to the medical evidence, even three doses of the current vaccines will provide only about 75 percent protection from Omicron. But less than 3 percent of the population has received three jabs. And the federal government is delaying the boosters until five months after people received their second doses. That means millions will be unprotected throughout the holiday season.

Morrisons Liberal-National Coalition government will tomorrow also end a two-week pause on an influx of overseas workers and international students, and open travel bubbles with Singapore and South Korea. For all Morrisons false assurances that Omicron is no longer a concern, this decision is driven by the ruthless demands of big business for access to cheap labour and for full profit-making.

Business Council of Australia chief executive Jennifer Westacott welcomed the move, speaking on behalf on the largest companies operating in the country. She said it was a critical step to tearing down the fortress Australia mentality that kept us safe during the pandemic but puts a handbrake on our recovery

Crucially, this will help fill the shortfall of over half a million workers that has seen some businesses struggling to keep their doors open and makes it hard to get new projects started. She insisted: To build on our momentum, every state and territory should now be acting to restore peoples freedoms, reopen safely and get on with the recovery.

Every government is rushing to heed this message, which nakedly prioritises profits over health and lives. Not least, the Labor Party governments in Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory have all reopened or set dates to do so.

Leading the pack for now, the Coalition government in New South Wales (NSW), the most populous state, will axe practically all safety precautions tomorrow, even for totally unvaccinated people, allowing everyone to return to non-essential retail businesses, hospitality venues and gyms.

Venue capacity limits will be abolished entirely. QR check-ins will be mandatory only in select spaces, such as hospitals, gyms, pubs and clubs and places of worship. Face masks will no longer be required in many settings.

Some idea of the impending disaster is given by todays statistics. NSW Health reported 804 new cases. That is six times the 135 daily infections announced on November 1, when the impact of the live with the virus measures first began to be felt. The hospitalisation rate has begun to rise also, including one confirmed Omicron case.

There are now 85 Omicron cases officially recorded in NSWup by 21 in a day. NSW Health expects further Omicron cases to be identified in the coming days as genomic testing results are confirmed.

NSW authorities revealed that more than 1.9 million coronavirus case alerts, asking people to test and isolate, had been issued via the Service NSW app over the previous fortnight. That is the result of super-spreader social events, as well as school and workplace infections.

How quickly clusters can explode was shown on Monday, when the number of cases linked to an outbreak at the Argyle House nightclub in Newcastle, 160 kilometres north of Sydney, spiked from 24 to 84 overnight, then rose to 150 today. A number of these cases are likely to be the Omicron variant, NSW Health said.

Four people who partied at the club last Wednesday had infections stemming from a Sydney harbour cruise of 140 people on December 3, which has set off a string of infections at other venues across Sydney and Newcastle.

Wider spread is certain. All 680 people who checked into the Argyle House venue using a QR code, from 9pm on December 8 to 3am on December 9 have been assessed as close contacts.

This is just the tip of the iceberg, with infections in working class areas, especially in schools and workplaces, largely being buried by the media.

University of South Australia biostatistics professor Adrian Esterman yesterday warned that the reproduction rate of the virus in NSW was at its highest in four months: 1.43, meaning every 100 new cases infect about 143 others.

While desperately trying to blindfold the public, Governments are defying clearly growing opposition, including among parents who have been told to keep their children at schools even though most have not been vaccinated at all.

One indication of this came when Sydney Catholic Schools confirmed that about half of its 150 schools moved to remote learning last Wednesday. Principals, teachers and parents decided to stop exposing children to the heightened risk of infection on the eve of school holidays.

The reprehensible character of the ruling class response is underscored by events such as students from an entire school in Willunga, south of Adelaide, having to isolate after being exposed to infection at a school assembly, and an outbreak spreading in the Northern Territory town of Katherine and nearby remote indigenous communities.

Another stark indictment is the continuing COVID outbreak in Victoria, where the state Labor Premier Daniel Andrews a week ago rejected a zero-Omicron strategy. Today, Victoria recorded yet another day of more than 1,000 new infections. It had 1,189 new COVID-19 cases and six deaths, with 360 infected patients in hospitals and the seven-day average for hospitalisations continuing to climb.

There are now 11,051 active cases of the virus in Victoria, and 605 people have died during the current outbreak. Yet the Labor government yesterday underscored its total commitment to the corporate agenda by insisting that schools must remain open despite infections and dropping 14-day hotel quarantine requirements for double-vaccinated travellers from Omicron-plagued southern Africa, who will be allowed to self-quarantine for 72 hours.

Another Labor government, in Queensland, opened its borders to NSW and Victoria, despite its own Chief Health Officer, John Gerrard, saying it was inevitable that COVID-19 cases would surge in the state within weeks as a result, possibly to more than hundreds.

At the behest of the corporate elite, all these governments are imposing policies that they know, only too well, will cause mass infections, hospitalisations and deaths. That underscores the necessity for the Global Workers Inquest into the COVID-19 Pandemic and the fight to mobilise the working class on a socialist program that places public health, safety and social needs above the private profit interests of the super-rich.
The Committee for Public Education (CFPE) held a successful online meeting on Saturday, December 11 attended by educators, parents and students across Australia and internationally, including from New Zealand, the Philippines and the US. The meeting was titled, COVID -19 spreads through Australian schools: Put lives before profit! Stop the Pandemic!

This is the second CFPE online meeting in the past month organised against the dangerous re-opening of schools that has led to an upsurge of COVID-19 infections and clusters in schools in Victoria and New South Wales.

The meeting was addressed by Evan Blake, a member of the Socialist Equality Party from the United States, and a leading writer for the World Socialist Web site. Blake presented a comprehensive report outlining the spread of the Omicron variant internationally, the new dangers it presents to the working class, and the significance of the Global Workers inquest initiated by the World Socialist Web Site.

We are publishing Blakes video report including the Q&A session that followed.

In the course of the meeting two resolutions were passed. The first endorsed the Global Workers Inquest and the second opposed the legal threats against UK parent, Lisa Diaz who has refused to send her children to school while COVID is spreading.

A full report of the meeting will follow in the next few days.
A new report recommending former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows be held in criminal contempt of Congress for his refusal to comply with a subpoena provides new evidence that the White House was directing the stand-down of the military during the January 6 attack on the Capitol.

Trump supporters storm the Capitol, Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-MS) revealed that prior to the attack on the Capitol Meadows reassured an unidentified individual the National Guard would be deployed to protect pro-Trump people.

The report, which the committee approved by a 9-0 vote Monday night, cites evidence turned over by Trumps former chief documenting the multifaceted effort by Trump, the Republican Party, and sections of the capitalist state to overturn the election of Joe Biden and keep Trump in the White House as a president-dictator.

The stunning revelation that Trumps chief of staff was intimately involved in directing the response of the National Guard prior to the attack on the Capitol was one of many important details Thompson enumerated. He also listed a wide range of questions the select committee would have asked Trumps co-conspirator had he appeared for his rescheduled deposition last week.

Thompson wrote: We would have asked Mr. Meadows about emails regarding the deployment of the National Guard on January 6th, including a January 5th email from Mr. Meadows in which he indicates that the Guard would be present at the Capitol to, quote, protect pro-Trump people, end quote.

The emails existence shovels another pile of dirt on the Department of Defense Inspector General report which claimed that the 199 minutes it took for D.C. National Guard soldiers, under the command of General William Walker, to deploy was reasonable and that DoD officials did not delay or obstruct the DoDs response ... on January 6, 2021.

Walker and his aides have denounced the refusal of top Pentagon commanders to authorize deployment of his troops, which put hundreds of congressmen in danger of violent assault, kidnapping, or both, if the attackers had been able to find them inside the Capitol.

Acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller played a key role in delaying the deployment of the D.C. National Guard to the Capitol. In the only public hearing where Miller testified following the coup attempt, he revealed that he and Trump discussed deploying the Guard to protect the demonstrators that were executing their constitutionally protected rights.

The failure of the National Guard to respond to the Capitol has never been explained by the Pentagon, and is continuously downplayed in the corporate press. However, nearly a year after Trumps failed coup, and 10 months after the would-be dictator escaped impeachment for his crimes, a fuller picture of senior Pentagon officials role in delaying support is beginning to emerge.

Another significant detail revealed in Thompsons report is that Mark Meadows was in nonstop communication with Kashyap Kash Patel, Millers chief of staff on January 6.

Thompson added: Mr. Meadows apparently knows if and when Mr. Trump was engaged in discussions regarding the National Guards response to the Capitol riot, a point that is contested but about which Mr. Meadows provided documents to the Select Committee and spoke publicly on national television after President Trump left office.

In the recently released Betrayal: The Final Act of the Trump Show, author Jonathan Karl reported that on January 6, Patel did not see a role for the Department of Defense in protecting Congress as it was under attack.

Describing an interaction between Robert Karem , an aide for Senator Mitch McConnell , and Patel, Karl wrote that Karem, called the Pentagon desperate for help. Reaching Patel by phone, Karem explained that the Capitol was under attack and that the police were overwhelmed.

Despite Karem pleading with Patel to send help, two sources familiar with the conversation told Karl, Patel brushed him off, suggesting the situation at the Capitol was not his responsibility.

Unlike Meadows, Patel is cooperating with the committee, appearing for a closed-door deposition last week. In a statement following his appearance, Patel claimed that he has always been willing and able to share with the Committee, and the American people, the truth about the events of January 6.

Pointing to the key role the Democratic Party and the Biden administration have played in covering up Trumps accomplices within the capitalist state, Patel added, The DoD Inspector General, under the Biden Administration, found no wrongdoing in its report on Jan. 6, as I shared with the Committee.

That Meadows was in constant contact with Millers chief of staff as lawmakers, soldiers and police were begging the Pentagon for support, only to be rebuffed, has no innocent explanation.

The claim that Trumps coup was unforeseen , and the subsequent security stand-down was simply a lack of imagination on behalf of the multi-trillion-dollar US military-intelligence apparatus, suffered a further blow on Monday night.

In comments made prior to voting to hold Meadows in contempt, ranking Republican member on the select committee Liz Cheney (R-WY) revealed a series of text messages in which Meadows received advice from Fox News personalities, urging him to convince Trump to call off the coup, thus implicitly acknowledging Trumps leading role. The messages were part of about 6,600 pages of records and about 2,000 text messages Meadows turned over to the committee, prior to ceasing his cooperation.

The arch-conservative war hawk Cheney has been far more critical of the role of Trump and the Republicans on January 6 than any of the Democrats on the committee. In introducing the texts, she said the numerous messages received by Meadows during the attack leave no doubt, the White House knew exactly what was happening here at the Capitol.

Mark, the president needs to tell people in the Capitol to go home. This is hurting all of us, he is destroying his legacy, Fox host Laura Ingraham, texted Meadows, according to Cheney.

Mimicking Bidens demand that Trump go on television in the middle of his coup, Fox spokesman, Brian Kilmeade asked Meadows to Please get him on tv, destroying everything youve accomplished.

Foxs Sean Hannity wrote to Meadows, Can he make a statement, ask people to leave the Capitol?

All these reactionaries have now changed their tune, glorifying Trump and claiming that the investigation into January 6 is a politically motivated witch-hunt by the Democrats. In reality, the Democrats are doing as little as possible, while President Biden and the congressional leadership appeal endlessly for their Republican colleagues to join them in bipartisan dealmaking.

These revelations serve as a serious warning to the working class. There is no faction of the ruling class, or any of their institutions, committed to the defense of democratic rights. While the increasingly fascistic Republicans conspire with and protect the former president, the Democrats bend over backwards to shield these elements in the name of preserving a strong Republican Party.
The World Socialist Web Site published yesterday a detailed analysis of Chinas Zero COVID policy that demands careful study by anyone who wants to understand what must be done to end the pandemic. The meticulous review of the measures taken successfully by China to rapidly bring the spread of SARS-CoV-2 under control is, by implication, a devastating exposure of the disastrous policies pursued by the US and European governments.

A worker administers a COVID-19 test while standing inside a mobile coronavirus testing facility at an office complex in Beijing, Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2021. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

By implementing its Zero COVID policy, China, with 1.4 billion people, has kept total cases below 100,000 and total deaths below 5,000 (including just over 10,000 cases and only 3 deaths since April 2020). By comparison, the United States, with less than a quarter of the population of China, has had more than 50 million cases and 800,000 deaths. To put it another way, if the US had succeeded in containing the virus with the same efficiency as China has, the death toll would be less than 1,000.

Chinas rigorous controls on international travelmade necessary by the massive spread of the virus globallyhave been combined with aggressive public health measures within the country to contain outbreaks, including targeted lockdowns, the isolation of infected individuals, mass testing and contact tracing.

The policy has not only saved millions of lives, but it has, remarkably, allowed the population to move about and interact freely for most of the past two years. The article submitted by a scientist explains that life inside China, including its major urban centers, has been relatively normal since the end of the first wave in the spring of 2020. Businesses, such as restaurants, bars and movie theaters have been open throughout China. For the most part, the population of China has not lived under the constant fear of being infected or infecting others.

One section of the essay, Controlling an outbreak in 15 days, deserves particularly careful study. Citing the case of an outbreak in the major metropolis of Chongqing (population 20 million), it explains how a policy of elimination (Zero COVID) was implemented in practice.

After experiencing no new infections for more than a year following the initial outbreak in the early months of 2020, the city responded rapidly when a 32-year-old man tested positive on November 1, 2021. The submission explains:

Within a day of first detection, the city of Chongqing closed off the headquarters of the energy company and other buildings which had been visited by the infected people. The districts of the city in which the infected individuals lived announced mass testing campaigns and gathered samples from 125,000 people within 24 hours. The patients apartment complexes were strictly locked down, with food and other vital supplies delivered regularly by city health workers.  Various areas of the city were labeled high risk zones, with entry and exit strictly controlled. Throughout the city, mahjong parlors, movie theaters, libraries, museums and other public places where large numbers of people come together were temporarily closed.

Authorities initiated a campaign of contact tracing (identifying who infected individuals might have interacted with, including through the use of smartphone-based apps). Those at risk of having been infected went into isolation, with safe housing provided by the state and food delivered on a regular basis. The total number of people in quarantine peaked at 1,300 one week after the initial cluster of infections was identified.

Because of the magnitude of the response, only a handful of people ever tested positive, all of whom had been quarantined on the first day. On November 17, with no new infections having been detected outside of quarantine for more than two weeks, the city announced that the outbreak had been controlled. Chongqing was officially declared a low-risk zone. Restrictions were relaxed, and life went back to normal. It took 15 days to go from the first detected case until the official end of the outbreak.

This 15-day period was the only time that the 20 million residents of Chongqing had significant restrictions on their lives after the initial outbreak in early 2020.

The success of this strategy has depended on and received broad popular support and participation, along with a significant investment in social infrastructure and public health systems at the local and national levels. The author notes, for example, that cities with populations under five million are required to have the capacity to test the entire population in just two days, while cities with populations above five million must be able to test everyone in five days.

The dynamic zero policy of China is a confirmation in practice of the viability of a policy aimed at eliminating SARS-CoV-2. As the article explains, in the summer of 2020, the China Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (China CDC) published an article in The Lancet medical journal, that laid out two basic strategies: containment and suppression (dynamic zero, or a policy of elimination) and mitigation, which in different forms is the policy pursued by all the major capitalist governments.

Mitigation might allow development of herd immunity over a long time, the China CDC wrote, but at a great cost in terms of number of cases, morbidity, and mortality.

As scientists have explained and the World Socialist Web Site has extensively documented, a mitigation strategy, which has over the past year focused on vaccination, is not by itself able to stop the pandemic. Indeed, the case of China demonstrates that public health measureslockdowns, isolation, contact tracing and mass testingare even more critical than vaccination, as China was able to eliminate the virus, outside of isolated outbreaks, before any vaccine was available.

There is no question that the vast social experience of collective revolutionary struggle in China has left a profound imprint on the consciousness of masses of people, which has persisted despite the restoration of capitalism. There is enormous popular support for the Zero COVID policy, which expresses a level of social solidarity and consciousness that does not yet exist in the United States and Europe.

The Beijing regime simply could not ignore the expectation that appropriate measures would be taken to stop the pandemic. These measures are of a highly progressive character, but they are not specifically socialist. The measures that China has implemented are, in fact, based on long established principles and procedures of public health developed in the course of the late 19th and 20th centuries, albeit aided by the far more advanced technology made possible by the communication revolution.

Moreover, an elimination strategy, on a smaller scale, had been implemented in a handful of other countries in the Asia-Pacific region, including New Zealand, Singapore, Taiwan and Vietnam. Under intense pressure, above all, from Washington, these countries have largely reversed course, and China remains the last Zero COVID holdout. In the US, in an earlier period, aggressive public health measures contained infectious disease, as in the case of the 1947 outbreak of smallpox in New York City, which was stopped through mass contact tracing and vaccination.

The question that needs to be answered is not why such policies, clearly effective, were implemented in China, but why, despite the staggering toll in human lives, they have been rejected in the United States and Europe.

The explanation must come from the analysis of class interests. Measures to stop the pandemic and save lives have been rejected not because they were and are ineffective but because they conflict with the interests of the ruling elite. From the beginning, a conscious decision was made to prioritize the performance of the financial markets and corporate profits over saving lives.

The passage in the US of the CARES Act in late March 2020, on a nearly unanimous bipartisan basis, sanctioned the handout of trillions of dollars to Wall Street, a policy emulated in the other major capitalist countries. Once this was done, the ruling class turned to reopening everything, allowing the virus to spread without restraint.

What is more, one cannot ignore the fact that in the years leading up to the pandemic, the problem of high life expectancy and health care costs for the elderly was a topic of intense discussion within the ruling class.

The New York Times reported yesterday that 1 out of every 100 elderly Americans over the age of 65 has died from COVID-19. This is a staggering figureone in 100, or 600,000 Americans over the age of 65. This means that millions of people have lost a parent, grandparent or spouse to the pandemic.

And this colossal social crime continues. The Omicron variant of COVID-19 is spreading rapidly throughout the world, yet the ruling class has made clear that no serious measures will be taken to stop it. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson acknowledged on Sunday that a tidal wave of Omicron is coming but proposed that nothing be done other than get boosted now. All businesses and schools are to remain open.

In the United States, which is currently in the midst of a surge of the Delta variant, President Biden has insisted that there will be no lockdowns in response to Omicron. More than 1,100 people are dying every day in the United States, and more people are killed each week than throughout the entire course of the pandemic in China.

More than 5.3 million people have died from COVID-19, according to official figures, while the real toll (excess deaths) is around 15 million. In the United States alone, the real death toll from the pandemic is over 1 million. If these deaths were preventableand China demonstrates that they werethen one is speaking about a social crime of monumental proportions, indeed one of the greatest social crimes in modern history.

The experience of the past two years shows that there is no limit to the number of deaths that governments in the US, Europe and other major capitalist countries are willing to accept. The limit will be set not by the governments of the ruling class but by the independent organization and intervention of the working class.

The dilemma that China itself confronts is that the effort to maintain a Zero COVID policy in one country is, in the long term, unsustainable. Enormous pressure is being brought to bear by the major imperialist powers for China to abandon this policy. There are two motives behind this drive. First, Chinas restrictions are seen as disruptive to US and European profit interests, inasmuch as China is a major center of production for the global capitalist market.

Even more important, however, are domestic political considerations. A common reaction that the WSWS has received from the submission by the scientist is surprise at both the success of Chinas Zero COVID policy and its broad popular support. The ruling class is fearful that Chinas ability to eliminate the virus within its borders will encourage the growth of resistance in the international working class to the homicidal course upon which the financial oligarchy has embarked.

It is this that accounts for the increasingly hysterical tone of anti-Chinese propaganda in which accusations of genocide are being leveled against China, which has demonstrated a far greater concern for the health and lives of its citizens, including the Uighurs, than the US or European powers. This has supplemented the Wuhan Lab lie that China is itself responsible for the pandemic.

The whole point is to poison public opinion with lies and to discredit and block a real public discussion on the alternatives to the policy pursued in the major capitalist countries. This campaign will in turn intensify the pressure from business elites within China for a shift toward opening up the country to the virus, while any retreat from the Zero COVID policy will encounter enormous resistance in the Chinese working class.

The example of China demonstrates that the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic is first and foremost a political question. The implementation of a strategy of global elimination requires a mass social movement of the working class, based on a repudiation of the economic interests that have been prioritized throughout the pandemic. This means, inescapably, a revolutionary struggle against the entire capitalist system.

Developing within the working class an understanding of what has happened, who is responsible and what must be done is critical. This is the aim of the Global Workers Inquest into the COVID-19 Pandemic, initiated by the World Socialist Web Site.
A barely veiled conspiracy is afoot in Chile. Against the working class and youth, the venal, authoritarian and rabidly anti-Communist Chilean ruling class is amassing the forces of the counterrevolution. This is the significance of fascistic presidential candidate Jose Antonio Kast traveling to United States at the beginning of December. There he met with American businessmen, Trump supporter Senator Marco Rubio, the Council of the Americas, the Organization of American States (OAS) and the Inter-American Dialogue at which representatives from international organizations and companies were present.

Jose Antonio Kast giving press conference (source: Mediabanco Agencia)

Very little has been revealed as to the content of the discussions. The spin is that the visits purpose was to evince a more centrist agenda, as Chiles business paper Diario Financiero put it. It can be safely surmised that Kasts trip was to receive the blessing of his imperialist masters. Two of the dozens of business executives Kast met with are United Health Group, a health insurance company with a large stake in Latin America, and PepsiCo.

In an observant article in the liberal El Mostrador, Gonzalo Neira commented that the presence of PepsiCo brought to mind the infamous collaboration of Donald Mcintosh Kendall, former Pepsi Cola CEO in the 1970s, who held several meetings with the late businessman Agustin Edwards Eastman (owner of El Mercurio), as part of the plot to overthrow the government of Salvador Allende.

The American trip is one of a series of gatherings that Kast, long-time admirer of military dictator Gen. Augusto Pinochet, has held in the last period with renowned putschists.

This past week, Leopoldo Lopez of the extreme right-wing CIA-funded Venezuelan party, Popular Will, visited Chile to hold discussions with the candidate, the Independent Democratic Union (UDI), a party created Pinochets civilian aides, Evopoli, National Renewal and other rightist parties.

Lopez is a scion of one of Venezuelas most aristocratic families, with close connections with right-wing regimes in South America and the US State Department. A fugitive from Venezuelan justice for spearheading destabilization missions and coup and assassination attempts against the bourgeois nationalist regime of President Nicolas Maduro, Lopez was granted unconditional refuge in Spain last year by the Podemos-PSOE government. Traveling from there, he has met with Colombias right-wing president Ivan Duque, Ecuadorian right-wing president Guillermo Lasso, Peruvian ex-presidential candidate Keiko Fujimori, the daughter of imprisoned Peruvian dictator Alberto Fujimori, and Florida Republican senator and Trump sycophant, Rick Scott.

Kast has also been in close discussions with Brazils fascistic president, Jair Bolsonaro. Following the first-round vote, Bolsonaros son Eduardo congratulated Kast on making it to the second ballot. Kast is a patriot, well connected internationally and a stone in the shoe of the Sao Paulo Forum, Bolsonaro Jr. tweeted, referring to the organization that brings together Latin American bourgeois nationalists, national reformists and the pseudo-left.

Eduardo Bolsonaro, a congressman working towards mobilizing Brazils corrupt and murderous police as shock troops, partook in the unprecedented US coup attempt of January 6 as an observer for Brazilian fascists. He is a critical link between a band of Brazilian putschists and Trump and his American and international far right acolytes. Like father like son, Eduardo glorifies the bloody military dictatorship that ruled Brazil for 21 years.

Another of Kasts collaborators is Santiago Abascal, leader of the Spanish Vox. Abascal also tweeted Congratulations and forward! following Kasts victory. Voxs Jorge Buxade said that Kasts vote represented the defence of the homeland, the family, the law and freedom claiming that Chile was seriously threatened by crime, drug trafficking and communism.

Vox is an openly fascist party with links to retired and active Francoists in the Spanish officer corps and retired generals who threatened last year to start shooting 26 million sons of bitches, i.e., the electorate that voted for the pseudo-left Podemos-PSOE government. Abascal has travelled to the US and Latin America to erect an international anti-communist alliance known as the Madrid Forum.

This rabble forms part of an international cabal of right-wing extremists preparing the counterrevolution against the coming mass struggles of the international working class. Part of the anti-communist alliances gambit is to lie on a big scale, attributing to the struggle for socialism all the methods employed historically by the putschist and conspiratorial right.

In line with this, Kast proposes to create an International Anti-Radical Left Coordination that aims to work with other Latin American governments to identify, arrest and judge radicalized agitators. The continuity with Operation Condor, the vast intelligence operation hatched by US-backed military regimes in Latin America in the 1970s to hunt down and murder political opponents, is unmistakable.

The World Socialist Web Site is alone in warning of the growing threat of dictatorship that is emerging internationally, and for a second time in half a century in Chile. And it is alone in exposing the criminal role of the Chilean left, which is making every effort to deceive the masses on how to defeat the authoritarian threat.

The political descendants of the forces that bore responsibility for straitjacketing the working class ahead of the September 11, 1973 coup detatSalvador Allende, Carlos Altamirano and the Socialist Party, Luis Corvalan and the Stalinist Communist Party, Miguel Enriquez and the Revolutionary Left Movement and the Pabloite revisionists, most notably Luis Vitale and Humberto Valenzuelaare today playing the same role. The deeply discredited parliamentary center-left, the Stalinist Communist Party, the pseudo-left Frente Amplio, the corporatist trade unions and the Pabloites have in chorus recycled time-worn national-exceptionalist platitudes encouraging illusions in the Chilean democratic process that are at odds with lived experience.

To stop the right, they insist, Gabriel Boric, presidential candidate of the pseudo-left-Stalinist coalition, must be elected to power. Only this will guarantee safeguarding the Constitutional Convention, which purportedly will further reinforce democracy once Pinochets authoritarian charter is repealed. Theyve been able to convince musicians, celebrities, academics and a spate of other middle class figures to sign on to this pernicious and deceptive campaign.

The current situation is all the more dangerous two years after colossal anti-capitalist demonstrations shook the foundations of the country. Despite extreme social polarization and political instability, the working class lacks an independent political leadership that is able to provide it a thought-out perspective and strategy, while the bourgeoisie is well advanced in mapping out its own solution to its crisis of rule.

Since millions took to the streets at the end of 2019 against Pineras state of emergency and his deployment of the murderous Chilean military and special forces, the ruling class has been preparing to deal with the increasingly militant and rebellious workers and youth. It has had at its disposal the old bureaucratic apparatuses and the pseudo-left agencies to divert and suppress the struggles of Chilean workers while it builds up the repressive forces of the state and poisons public opinion with anti-immigrant xenophobia and by vilifying all social protest as delinquency, vandalism and terrorism. Meanwhile fascists, paramilitary organizations and other criminal mafias with links to the police and the military are being emboldened by the political impasse.

A police-state framework already exists in Chile. Over the last three years, the National Intelligence Agency has been revamped to combine military, security and public order divisions, permitting vast intelligence-gathering operations. Military forces have been deployed to the indigenous zones in the south to conduct policing operations as a precursor for their use nationally; and the northern perimeters of the country bordering Bolivia, Argentina and Peru are under heavy military and police patrol and surveillance.

Kasts #Dare program

The Kast family is not unknown in Chile. Jose Antonio is the son of Michael Kast, a Nazi officer who participated in Operation Barbarossa, Hitlers genocidal war against the Soviet Union. He somehow miraculously survived that campaign fleeing via Italy to Argentina and finally settling in southern Chile to establish a restaurant chain. Jose Antonio and a number of other siblings are equally committed to their fathers world view.

According to a report by the news site Resumen this month, Christian Kast participated in interrogations in Paine after the military coup of 1973. Miguel, in addition to his positions as Secretary of State and at the Central Bank, worked as an advisor to the DINA (secret police)... and several testimonies indicate that the imprisoned peasant leaders were transported in trucks of Baviera, a company founded by the Kast family in Paine, to (Pinochets) extermination camps.

Jose Antonio (55) won a seat in the lower house in 2001 as a candidate of the UDI but resigned from that party claiming it was too centrist. He ran as an independent candidate in the 2017 presidential elections on a law and order and anti-immigrant platform, obtaining 7.9 percent of votes. In the following year he founded his own political party, Republican Action, changing the name to Republican Party in 2019 as an homage to Donald J. Trump.

Kasts presidential campaign and his #Dare program are a clarion call to the most reactionary milieu, retired and active generals and officer corps, sections of the clergy and Christian fundamentalists, Pinochetista diehards, xenophobes, anti-egalitarians, authoritarians, ultra-nationalists, neoliberals and neoconservatives to coalesce around the Christian Social Front as a bulwark against communism.

Kasts program appeals to layers of the ruined lower middle classes, particularly in the enormous so-called informal sector. This includes shopkeepers and owners of small and medium-size family businesses who have had to eat into their pension savings to survive during COVID-19 and are clamoring for a return to a pre-pandemic normal.

Feeding on their already existing anxieties, he directs the middle classes against the struggle for social equality by criminalizing the demands of workers and youth as the product of foreign interference by imagined narco-terrorist organizations that want to destroy social peace.

In the face of this supposed social chaos, Kast promises to personally save Chile with law and order and an iron hand:

What I am going to do is to dedicate myself, body and soul, to fight crime, drug trafficking and terrorism and to use all available resources and all the strengths of our police forces to prosecute, judge and punish these crimes and make Chile a calm, peaceful and free place again... When we say everything, we mean everything... We say it with pride. We are not afraid of the military and nobody should be; on the contrary: I am proud of the Armed Forces and I am sure that together with them we will recover Araucania and if necessary, we will recover all the places in Chile that need more authority and order to fight crime and organized drug trafficking.

What follows in his #Dare program is a commitment to destroy whatever controls exist over the repressive arm of the state. The first main plank in his crusade against communism is to do away with international and national human rights bodies having any oversight on policing, beginning with the UN Human Rights Council and the International Labor Organization among others.

Kast proposes to disband the current National Human Rights Institute (INDH) and to put in its place another body to uphold the rights of state agents, assuring their impunity in use of force against the population. The INDH will be transformed into an adjunct of the state apparatus working as an informant on citizens who commit aggressions against police and vandalism.

Point 46 of the program proposes to extend the powers of the State of Emergency in which the president is granted the power, along with restricting freedom of movement and assembly, to intercept, open or search documents, and all kinds of communications and arrest people in their own homes or in places that are not prisons or intended for detention. Point 19 states that Carabineros, the PDI [Investigations Police of Chile] and members of the Armed Forces should be empowered to use the necessary force to re-establish Public Order and the Rule of Law. Regulations and protocols must be established so state agents are not judged for having made an excessive use of (force) judicially or administratively.

Against the indigenous populations in the south, Kast proposes to enhance the powers of the infamous Anti-Terrorism Law allowing undisclosed special investigation techniques, the use of undercover agents, controlled deliveries and protected witnesses.

Kast also proposes to create a new police unit modelled on the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) unit to be unleashed against immigrants and refugees. Legal protections of the right to asylum will be rescinded allowing for unrestricted expulsions. Any social or civil groups that offer assistance, guidance or refuge to illegal immigrants will face sanctions and prosecution.

The program aims to further expand an already vast intelligence network. Kast proposes to establish a permanent National Security Committee to meet weekly in La Moneda Palace dedicated solely to the fight against Terrorism, Drug Trafficking and Crime. It would receive reports from a Superior Intelligence Council that would oversee the work of the National Intelligence Agency that brings together intelligence bodies from the three branches of the Armed Forces, Carabineros and the PDI. Kast also proposes to create a new Police Intelligence Agency to systematize information and create a common database with the use of technologies such as Big Data and biometric recognition.

Through the ballot box, Kast proposes a police state and authoritarian regime.
The University of California, Santa Barbara, has unveiled plans for Munger Hall, a dormitory for more than 4,500 students, designed by Charles T. Munger, a billionaire and executive at Berkshire Hathaway. The design has been denounced by architect Dennis McFadden, who served as a consultant on the universitys design review committee. McFadden resigned in protest of the building.

UCSB students gathered outside of the library last month to protest the building of Munger Hall, and the December eviction of students. (Source: Twitter/@Atmikalyer)

In his letter from October 24, McFadden wrote to the chairwomen of the committee that the building design constituted a social and psychological experiment. He continued, In the nearly 15 years I served as a consulting architect to the DRC, no project was brought before the committee that is larger, more transformational and potentially more destructive to the campus as a place than Munger Hall.

The basic concept of Munger Hall, he wrote, as a place for students to live is unsupportable from my perspective as an architect, a parent and a human being.

McFadden also wrote how he was disturbed by Mungers design to house the students into a 1.7 million-square-foot, 11-story building with the vast majority living in small, windowless rooms, wholly dependent on artificial light and mechanical ventilation.

University administrators have since said that the design and the project are moving forward as planned.

Projected to cost $1.5 billion and scheduled to open in 2025, Munger Hall will be the worlds densest dormitory and the eighth densest neighborhood in the world, behind a district in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Although the dorm will be located next to the Santa Barbara coast, the vast majority of its residents will be unable to see it.

Munger, the 97-year-old vice chairman of the investment fund Berkshire Hathaway, has been described as Warren Buffetts righthand man. He endowed $200 million to the UC campus on the condition that he designed the housing plan himself, despite having no formal architectural qualifications.

In an interview with the New York Times, Munger said, Im not a bit surprised that someone looked at it and said, What the hell is going on here? Whats going on here is that its going to work better than any other practical alternative.

As for the windowless dorms, Munger said that they would have virtual windows that use LED lights to replicate natural light. Without a shred of irony he said, If you want it romantic and dim, you can make it romantic and dim  When in your life have you been able to change the sun? In this dorm, you can.

Its a pretty cheerful place, he added, these little bedrooms.

McFadden wrote in his letter that a buildings access to natural light and nature were essential to improving a persons physical and mental health. The Munger Hall ignores this evidence and seems to take the position that it doesnt matter.

He also noted that the university was hell-bent on approving the project to satisfy its billionaire donor: It was clear the (design review committee) was a mere formality  The design was 100 percent complete, approval was not requested, no vote was taken and no further submittals are intended or required.

Many students have spoken out against the plan, with one comparing the bedrooms to solitary confinement. Another wrote, You are asking for students to get depression and commit self-harm, adding, Strongly reconsider this entire plan.

Paul Golderberger, architecture critic for The New Yorker, wrote on Twitter, This design is a grotesque, sick jokea jail masquerading as dormitory, adding, No, design isnt up to billionaire donors.

Other online commenters called the dorm plans barbaric and an incubator for COVID-19, with some even comparing it to the panopticon, the 18th-century concept for a prison where the inmates guarded themselves after being under constant surveillance from a central tower.

Mungers plans will have two single-occupancy bathrooms, meaning one toilet and shower, for every eight bedrooms. While Munger acknowledged that he may die before the project is completed he was confident that it will be widely regarded as the best in the world.

Munger Hall has had other precedents, including the Munger graduate housing, a 630-student dorm at the University of Michigan that opened in 2015.

An online forum of students there noted, It was terrible  too many roommates (meant) no cohesion or standards. The lack of windows was depressing. Munger is about as out of touch as billionaires come.

Another student wrote that lack of windows messed up one of my roommates really badly with school and mental health and well-being. There was no sense of time if youre just in your room with no natural light. Another wrote, unfortunately the floor plans at UCSB look far worse than what we have here.

Thousands of people have already signed a petition to cancel the UCSB project and it could be the spark for renewed student protests at the school. All across the country, the lack of decent, affordable housing has seen many students and their supporters demanding change.

At Virginia Commonwealth University, 400 students at a dormitory in Johnson Hall were told to move after dangerous levels of mold were discovered. Some students had already begun feeling ill in October but have only now been told it was unsafe to live there. Many students were left with no alternative source of housing.
On December 7, the Philippine Supreme Court ruled that the majority of President Rodrigo Dutertes Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 was constitutional, rejecting 37 petitions against it. The ruling, which greenlights the full implementation of the draconian law, is a significant step toward authoritarian rule in the country.

President Duterte with Philippine Army troops [Credit: Presidential Communications Operations Office]

The Anti-Terrorism Law grants sweeping powers of surveillance and arrest to the unelected Anti-Terrorism Council, a government body, composed of military, police and administration personnel, which was created by the law.

The Supreme Court has not yet released the full text of its ruling, but issued an exceptionally brief media release, in which the court declared that it found the challenged provisions of the Republic Act 11479 are not unconstitutional with the exception of two clauses.

By a vote of 12-3, the Supreme Court removed a qualifier in the last paragraph of Section 4 that declared advocacy, protest, dissent, stoppage of work, industrial mass action, and other similar exercises of civil and political right were terrorist acts if there was intent to cause death or serious physical harm to a person, to endanger a persons life, or to create a serious risk to public safety.

The qualifier was declared unconstitutional for being overbroad and violative of freedom of expression. The proviso would have allowed the police and military to declare a protest terrorist on the basis of what they claimed to be its intent.

Voting 9-6, the Supreme Court ruled a second clause unconstitutional which allowed the ATC to designate a person or organization as a terrorist on the basis of a request from other jurisdictions or supranational jurisdictions.

Beyond these two modifications, the law has been upheld in its entirety. It is a sweeping attack on democratic rights.

The Anti-Terrorism Law was approved in July 2020 by an overwhelming majority in Congressin the Senate, by a vote of 19-2 and in the House by 173 to 31 with 29 abstentions. It was quickly signed into law by Duterte.

The ruling class in the Philippines is in a headlong rush toward authoritarian forms of rule. This drive is fuelled by its growing fear of an explosion of social anger from the working class and the impoverished masses who are deprived of jobs, livelihood, health, and very lives in the midst of the pandemic.

The Anti-Terrorism law replaced the Human Security Act of 2007 of then President Gloria Arroyo. The new law provides judicial powers to the Anti-Terrorism Council, authorizing it to designate individuals and organizations as terrorist based on secret deliberations and to order warrantless arrests of these individuals, detaining for them for up to 24 days without bringing them before any judicial authority.

Among the bodies operating under the authority of the ATC is the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC). NTF-ELCAC has the power to label anyone as Communist which under the terms of the law falls under the definition of Terrorist. The red-tagging of the NTF-ELCAC has led to hundreds of activists being arrested and scores killed in police raids.

The new law gives the military police powers and, under the direction of the ATC, authorizing it to arrest and detain, conduct their own investigations and surveillance of individuals and organizations designated as terrorists.

The decision of the Supreme Court was not a surprise. It had already set a precedent in its ruling on the Human Security Act, when it dismissed all constitutional challenges, dispensing with constitutionally enshrined democratic rights in the name of public safety.

Twelve out of the 15 sitting judges in last weeks ruling were appointed to the Supreme Court by Duterte. The 37 petitions for a declaration of unconstitutionality were submitted by two major lawyers organizations, the retired Supreme Court Chief Justice Antonio Carpio, deans of several law schools, and religious and journalist associations.

The Supreme Court Justices delayed the court proceedings for months and, during oral arguments displayed open contempt for the concerns that the constitution was being blatantly violated. The government lawyers defending the law were manifestly incompetent. None of this mattered. The court handed down a political decision that had the backing of the overwhelming majority of the ruling class.

The Maoist Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), and the various organizations that follow its nationalist political line such as Makabayan, called on the working class to have faith in the court and in the democratic sensibilities of sections of the bourgeoisie. In keeping with this outlook, they have attempted to present the ruling as a partial victory, focusing attention on the clause that was struck down rather than the law that was upheld.

In an interview with the news organization Rappler following the announcement of the Supreme Court decision, Neli Colmenares, senatorial candidate of Makabayan, declared that the Supreme Court decision was a big deal because activists and Filipinos alike would now feel more free to express dissent to the government.

Colmenares, who is himself an attorney and knows better, told the media, Many feared the anti-terrorism law, they did not want to speak, they did not want to join in the exercise of their constitutional rights for fear of being called a terrorist, but now they have an assurance from the Supreme Court.

Colmenares campaigned for Duterte in 2016, with Makabayan and the CPP working in alliance with him. Now he heads Makabayans campaign to support bourgeois opposition candidate, Leni Robredo. Robredo declared two weeks ago that she supported the mandate of NTF-ELCAC. While Colmenares and his associates expressed dismay at this statement, they have continued to support Robredo.

Makabayan, and the various organizations associated with it, is attempting to chloroform the Filipino working class. Looking to form an alliance with a section of the capitalist class, all of whom support the authoritarian measures of the Anti-Terrorism Law, it is downplaying the open assault on democratic rights.

The Supreme Courts decision will undoubtedly accelerate the already vicious campaign of the state against activists, human rights campaigners, unionists and peasant organizations. According to KARAPATAN, a human rights organization, between 2001 and 2020, 1,967 activists were extrajudicially killed and 247 disappeared.

At least 1,126 individuals affiliated with various cause-oriented groups have been arrested and detained under the Duterte administration, as of June 2021. During the same period, at least 2,725 were arrested but not detained.

The rapid shift to authoritarian rule being undertaken in the Philippines is mirrored around the world and is driven by the same global capitalist crisis. Similar anti-terrorism laws have been legislated and implemented in Indonesia, India, Pakistan, Australia, Ethiopia, Turkey, and Egypt. In India and Egypt, some of the most brutal examples of the anti-terrorism laws have been used to suppress any resistance to military and right-wing rule.
As Quebec faces a sharp rise in COVID-19 infections, with over 2,000 cases reported last Fridaythe highest daily count since the peak of the pandemics second wave in January 2021newly published information has exposed the indifference to human life shown by the right-wing government of multi-millionaire and former Air Transat CEO Francois Legault.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, Legaults Coalition Avenir Quebec (CAQ) government has pursued a profits-before-lives policy that has led to the infection of nearly 450,000 people and over 11,500 deaths. In public CHSLDs (long-term care homes) and private institutions for the elderly, approximately 4,000 residents died during the first months of the pandemic between March and June 2020, when Quebec recorded one of the highest per capita mortality rates in the world.

A member of the Canadian Armed Forces working at a Quebec CHSLD during the first wave in the spring of 2020 (Canadian Department of Defense)

A special report by Quebecs Ombudsman published on November 23 under the title COVID-19 in CHSLDs during the first wave of the pandemic highlighted the structural fragility of the health care network and a level of complacency on the part of government authorities that borders on criminality.

The report identifies significant pre-existing and long-known systemic deficiencies as one of the main causes of the tragedy that occurred in Quebecs CHSLDs. Although not explicitly stated in the report, these well-known deficiencies are the result of the drastic cuts imposed by successive Parti Quebecois (PQ), Quebec Liberal (PLQ) and CAQ governments to health and social services.

The report paints a devastating picture of a system undermined by decades of capitalist austerity: an outdated computer and communication system incapable of providing real-time epidemiological data; a glaring lack of expertise and resources in the area of infection prevention and control; a total absence of reserve supplies of personal protective equipment (PPE); and a chronic shortage of personnel.

It notes that at the dawn of the pandemic, CHSLDs had no room for maneuver in terms of human resources and that the shortage of personnel in the health and social services system was an acute problem that was the subject of numerous warnings.

In addition to detailing the deplorable state of the health care system, Quebecs Ombudsman confirms that government authorities wasted the first few weeks of the pandemic. They failed to take any concrete measures in January and February 2020 to seriously prepare for the inevitable arrival of the new coronavirus. On the contrary, the report suggests that the Legault governments public statements downplaying the danger the virus represented, in order to protect big business profits and avoid a crash of financial markets, caused health care officials to not take the threat seriously.

The report also confirms the World Socialist Web Sites analysis of testimony heard at Coroner Gehane Kamels public inquiry into the national pandemic management component in CHSLDs. The testimony revealed that the Quebec government left seniors residences unprotected at the start of the pandemic.

The report concludes, among other things, that CHSLDs were not taken into account in any planning scenario, that no concrete action was taken until mid-March 2020, and that it was only in the second week of April that the provinces Health Ministry presented strengthened measures for CHSLDs and set up an advisory committee of experts. This response was deemed late and insufficient by Quebecs Ombudsman.

The report also examines the governments decision in early March to transfer patients from Quebec hospitals to CHSLDs in order to free up beds for an anticipated influx of COVID-19 patients. This policy forced the transfer of 865 vulnerable people to environments that were already overcapacity and lacked staff, PPE and space to create containment areas. It was not until April 11, when the situation was completely out of control in the CHSLDs, that these transfers stopped. At the same time, the government also prohibited COVID-stricken residents from being transferred to hospitals for treatment, leaving them facing death without adequate care.

Testimony taken by investigators for the Office of the Quebec Ombudsman summed up the drama that took place in the CHSLDs in poignant terms: [We practiced] war medicine...we no longer knew where to put the bodies. Patients were dying alone, in distress and suffering.

An exchange of emails between managers of seniors residences and the Health Ministry during the critical period of early March 2020 was recently made public. The timeline reveals not only the ministrys crass indifference to the most vulnerable seniors, but also how the government systematically lied to the public.

On March 16, 2020, the director of the Association des etablissements prives conventionnes (Association of private regulated nursing homes), Annick Lavoie, complained that the government had not yet provided seniors residences with promised personal protective equipment (PPE) such as masks, gloves, and gowns. In another e-mail sent on March 19, with a copy to the Ministry for Seniors, Lavoie deplored the fact that some health care centers that we contacted refuse to provide us with supplies even though we are part of the health network.

The assistant deputy minister in charge of logistics, Luc Desbiens, replied on March 20 to Lavoie that it was a crisis, the Health Ministry has no inventory and the majority of institutions are short of PPEs. The same day, Quebec Premier Legault declared on live television that we have enough equipment in the short term and there is no declared need. This provoked Lavoies caustic reply to the assistant deputy minister: I am extremely surprised by your comments, which seem to contradict the information that Premier Legault and [Health] Minister McCann are providing during their daily press briefings.

The seriousness of these revelations has forced the opposition partiesthe PLQ, PQ and the pseudo-left Quebec Solidaire (QS)to criticize the Legault government. Coming from political parties that have collaborated behind the backs of the population to implement the CAQs murderous policies, such criticism is entirely hypocritical.

In a special report published in the Montreal daily La Presse in March 2021, the opposition leaders at the time, Manon Masse (QS), Pierre Arcand (PLQ) and Pascal Berube (PQ), boasted that the only request they had made of the government at the beginning of the pandemic was to have a direct link, on a regular basis with Legault in order to know in advance the content of his press briefings. To justify their total lack of criticism of the governments policies, the opposition leaders referred to an unprecedented episode of collaboration between the four parties, which were all members of the same team. Masse even boasted about working with Legault behind closed doors.

The common front of all political parties in the National Assembly, the complacent coverage of the mainstream media and the full collaboration of the trade unions have allowed Legault to implement the policies demanded by the financial elite and big business without real opposition, despite the thousands of deaths for which he is responsible.

Unwilling to openly condemn the policies they helped implement, the opposition parties have limited their criticism to the contradictions and lies of some of the witnesses heard by Coroner Kamel and to the possible destruction or alteration of CHSLD inspection reports during the pandemic.

Their only demand is for a futile independent public inquiry. Like that conducted by the Quebec Ombudsman (whose report is forward-looking and does not seek to assign blame) and that of Coroner Kamel (who is prohibited by law from pronouncing on a persons civil or criminal liability), the public inquiry requested by the opposition parties would be limited to preventive recommendations that the government would have no legal obligation to implement.

Workers in Quebec and the rest of Canada should not expect anything from inquiries commissioned and directed by the capitalist class to absolve itself of any responsibility.

If workers wants to know the truth about the disastrous response of pro-business governments, corporate Canada, and the capitalist mass media to the COVID-19 pandemic, and light to be shed on the political and economic interests responsible for the uncontrolled transmission of a virus that has killed millions of people around the world, they should support and participate in the World Socialist Web Sites global workers inquest launched November 21.
The current surge of COVID-19 is exposing the French website Revolution Permanente (RP), affiliated to Argentinas Morenoite Socialist Workers Party (PTS). While they criticize the widely-decried inadequacy of French health spending, they align themselves with President Emmanuel Macrons refusal to implement scientific public health measures necessary to stop mass deaths.

A school in Strasbourg, eastern France, on September 2, 2021. (AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias)

Each week sees over 2 million new cases of COVID-19 and nearly 30,000 deaths across Europe. The seven-day average for infections in France is 48,775. Over the last two weeks, the number of critical patients has risen 56 percent to 2,539 while deaths rose 38 percent to 877. While this upsurge is driven by the Delta variant, the highly infectious and more vaccine-resistant Omicron variant is spreading rapidly, threatening an even deadlier wave. In response, RP writes:

While the government still turns a blind eye and follows the policy of the MEDEF [business federation], refusing to go back on its ending of free testing, it is more than ever essential to fight for a health plan that is equal to the situation. A plan that responds to the imperative need to break the chains of contamination by imposing free testing, an essential measure to curb the surge in cases, but more broadly by injecting resources into public hospitals, massive hiring and increasing the salaries of caregivers, in the front line since the beginning of the crisis.

RP repeatedly claims that testing for COVID-19 will stop the contagion, but this is scientifically false. Tests track the spread of the virus but do not stop it. Tracing contacts of infected individuals, testing them and isolating positive cases from the population, can indeed eliminate transmission of the virus and end the pandemic. However, as Chinas containment of multiple COVID-19 outbreaks has shown, contact-tracing campaigns require there to be a fairly small number of infected individuals.

At this point, reducing new cases to a number where contact-tracing can be carried out requires a large-scale lockdown to drastically cut daily infections. A strict lockdown at the beginning of the pandemic, in March to May 2020, indeed cut infections to a few hundred per day in France. However, RP staunchly opposes strict lockdowns.

After Austria implemented a partial lockdown last month, RP denounced it. Though it was a partial, and therefore ineffective lockdown, that did not require distance learning in schools and the ending of nonessential production, RP attacked it as a dictatorial infringement on individual liberties. It wrote: After the Netherlands, which implemented a curfew, and Germany, which introduced a health pass, Austria therefore becomes the new country to impose authoritarian measures on its population, in the absence of a health strategy.

This reckless and false denunciation of public health measures necessary to save millions of lives as authoritarian underlies all RPs articles. Referring to the surge of cases in France in an article titled One patient in ICUs every ten minutes, it writes:

Again, in the face of an emergency which could become critical, we must propose a plan that goes against Macrons health authoritarianism. Breaking chains of contamination to prevent an acceleration of the epidemics exponential dynamic is indispensable. We must demand that testing be free. No one should ever have been required to pay for them. As the epidemic surges, massive testing is fundamental. This demand must go hand-in-hand with a broader prevention program, investing in air purifiers and aeration systems in schools and public places, and also massively investing in the health system, which has been hard hit by the crisis and weakened by the scarcity of health workers driven by poor working conditions.

The indifference to human life underlying RPs pandemic policy is reflected in its claim that, after 1.5 million deaths in Europe, the situation could become critical.

As the WSWS has explained, there are three basic approaches to the COVID-19 pandemic: herd immunity, mitigation, and elimination of the virus. The first is the false claim that the spread of the virus will give the population immunity from the virus, and so should be encouraged. The second is the conception that vaccination, combined with asking governments to enact a hodge-podge of measures like air purifiers in schools, will bring the pandemic under control.

Mitigation, advocated both by RP and the Macron government, has led to 120,000 deaths in France. Its problem is not only that governments in France and across Europe refuse to spend the money necessary to fund the various half-measures they advocate. Even if a few more air purifiers were made available in schools and factories, however, it would not be enough to stop the transmission of the viruswhich is airborne can travel large distancesand avert mass death.

The third approach, the elimination of the virus, involves reorienting society and all its resources via the collective mobilization of the working class to destroy the virus and end the pandemic once and for all, on a global scale.

RPs mitigation policy and its denunciations of lockdowns is already leading to a disastrous winter driven by mass circulation of the Delta variant, against which existing vaccines only give partial protection. But the arrival of the new, vaccine-resistant Omicron variant has blown this strategy out of the water. The current policy leads not only to an endless cycle of newer, more dangerous variants, but to mounting deaths, as newer variants evade old vaccines.

Like the Macron government, RP ignores these epidemiological realities. Earlier this month, French Health Minister Olivier Veran told Sud Ouest: Despite the Omicron variant, our current strategy remains unchanged  vaccination, both initial and booster, social distancing and wearing masks.

Similarly, referring to the Omicron variant, RP wrote: To prevent the birth of variants and their spread as well as to limit the epidemic rebound and support vaccine measures that protect the population against serious forms, it is essential to demand free tests. However, a policy of free testing and vaccination was already employed and led to tens of millions of cases and millions of deaths, even before the Omicron variant emerged.

When it does have differences with Macrons policy, these come from the right. Earlier this year, RP called on the trade unions to join far-right protests against Macrons health pass and demanded the early reopening of universities. It utilizes libertarian anti-vaccination arguments, implying that individuals have a right to refuse vaccines even if they thus endanger others. This signifies that on essential questions, RP is united with the French ruling class: No lockdowns and no eradication of the virus.

This position reflects the Morenoites orientation toward middle-class layers and union bureaucrats. This social layer is far more concerned about the damage public health measures would deal to their stock market portfolios and to the corporate profits that pay the budgets of the trade union bureaucracies than about saving human lives.

While RP denounced lockdowns as authoritarian, the real authoritarianism is that of corporations and governments forcing workers into factories and their children into schools while a deadly and highly infectious virus spreads freely.

In opposition to this, the Parti de legalite socialiste (PES), the French section of the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI) in France, fights for a working class policy of elimination of the virus. The way forward is a fight to end mass death. This requires a conscious break with the reactionary politics of the pseudo-left, and the building of rank-and-file committees in every workplace and school to fight the Macron government and its political satellites for a scientific health policy.
A government crisis in Sweden that began earlier this year with the temporary resignation of then Prime Minister Stefan Lofven has gained intensity over recent weeks.

Behind parliamentary horse-trading and posturing, which has led to new Social Democrat leader Magdelena Andersson being elected twice as the new Prime Minister within a week, the crisis has produced a sharp shift to the right within official politics. This development is a product of the Swedish ruling elites homicidal herd immunity pandemic policy, which served as the model for the most viciously anti-worker governments around the world to let the deadly virus run rampant.

The latest stage of the crisis began when Lofven announced his departure as prime minister and Social Democrat leader, claiming that he wanted to give his successor time to build up their authority ahead of next Septembers parliamentary elections. Andersson, who served as finance minister under Lofven, was chosen in early November to lead the Social Democrats. The party has headed Swedens government since 2014 in coalition with the Green Party.

Sweden's Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson, left, is welcomed by European Commission President Ursula van der Leyen at the European Commission in Brussels, Belgium, Friday, Dec. 10, 2021. (Johanna Geron/Pool Photo via AP)

When Andersson secured the support of parliament to become prime minister on November 24, she was backed only by the Social Democrats and Greens, giving her just 117 votes in the 349-seat parliament. The Centre and Left parties, which have helped the Social Democrat/Green coalition secure a majority over recent years, abstained. The remaining partiesthe Liberals, Moderates, Christian Democrats, and Sweden Democratsvoted against Andersson.

Parliamentary tradition has it that a prime minister does not require a majority to be elected. They only need to ensure that a majority of deputies do not vote against them. The four right-wing parties votes amounted to 174, one seat shy of the majority necessary to block Anderssons election.

Later that day, parliament debated two budget proposals for 2022, one drafted by the Social Democrats and another by the right-wing Moderates and Christian Democrats, and far-right Sweden Democrats. Anderssons budget, backed by the Social Democrats, Greens, and Left Party, was defeated before parliament accepted the Moderate-led proposal after the Centre party voted with the other right-wing parties. This marked the first time ever that a budget put together with the involvement of the Sweden Democrats was adopted. The Greens, claiming to be opposed to implementing a budget partly drafted by the fascistic party, withdrew from the government, forcing Andersson to resign just hours after being elected prime minister.

Andersson insisted that she would stand for re-election as prime minister at the head of a minority government composed of the Social Democrats alone. She vowed to impose the 2022 budget drafted by the Moderates, Christian Democrats, and Sweden Democrats. On this basis, she secured re-election on November 29, with the Greens, Centre, and Left parties abstaining to prevent a parliamentary majority against Andersson from emerging.

The interminable manoeuvring is merely the latest expression of the steady march of official politics to the right. The process has been dramatically accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic and the ruling classs criminal response, but it has been ongoing for decades thanks above all to the combined efforts of the Social Democrats, Left Party and trade unions to block the working class from intervening independently into political affairs.

Primary political responsibility lies with the ex-Stalinist Left Party, which has invoked the threat of the far-right to justify extending support to right-wing Social Democrat-led governments. It has played a critical role in propping up every Social Democrat government over the past three decades, helping to dismantle the social model and turn Sweden into a paradise for private investors, the World Socialist Web Site wrote of the Left Party in June. It backed the Social Democrats as they carried out sweeping privatisations, business deregulation, the gutting of workers rights, and attacks on social programmes. This is the product of the Left Partys acceptance of Swedens official political setup, identifying the establishment parties as two opposed blocs: the left, which includes the Social Democrats, Greens, and Left Party; and the right-wing Alliance, composed of the Moderates, Centre, Liberal, and Christian Democrat parties.

Since the Social Democrats returned to power in 2014 following eight years of Moderate-led rule, they and their left partners have facilitated the steady growth in the Sweden Democrats political influence.

In the name of stopping the Sweden Democrats coming to power, the Social Democrat/Green minority coalition struck a deal with the Alliance parties in 2014 to ensure Lofven could govern for a full parliamentary term so long as he accepted the Alliances budgetary framework. After the Sweden Democrats gained further ground at the 2018 election, the Social Democrats shifted even further right, reaching a formal agreement with the Centre and Liberal parties to keep Lofven in power. The Left Party continued to back the Social Democrat government throughout.

Even now, when it is clear to everyone that the left parties claim to be blocking the rise of the far-right has produced the opposite effect, the Left Party continues to insist on backing the Social Democrats. With its decision to abstain in the vote on Anderssons re-election, it has allowed a Social Democrat government to come to power pledged to implementing a budget backed by the Sweden Democrats.

The Social Democrats, Greens, and Left Party are paving the way for the fascists to enter government after the September 2022 election. The budget just adopted lays out a series of anti-immigrant and law-and-order measures they intend to accomplish. These include salary increases for police officers, additional funds for surveillance technology, a commitment to carry out more deportations and asylum rejections, and a pledge to combat illegal immigration as well as those who live in Sweden illegally.

More than any other country, Sweden was associated in the pandemics early stages with a herd immunity policy, i.e., the refusal by the government to adopt any serious public health measures as the virus ran rampant. State epidemiologist Anders Tegnell became the poster boy for far-right figures around the world, including Donald Trump in the United States and Boris Johnson in Britain, who wished to emulate Swedens brutal profits before life agenda. Tegnell provided advice to Johnson just weeks before the British prime minister made his infamous No more f***ing lockdowns! Let the bodies pile high in their thousands! declaration.

Swedens policy included ordering care homes not to send people aged over 80 to hospital, leaving them to die if they got infected. COVID-19 infection and death rates were much higher in immigrant and other low-income communities. To date, with a population of just over 10 million, Sweden has registered more than 1.2 million infections and 15,100 deaths.

The enforcement of such a ruthless policy necessitates the encouragement of the most reactionary political forces. When governments around the world adopted in all essentials Swedens herd immunity strategy by reopening their economies after temporary lockdowns in early 2020, their ruling classes relied on far-right protesters to spearhead the dismantling of public health restrictions. In the United States, Trump and his fascistic followers mobilized violent anti-lockdown demonstrations and threatened to assassinate politicians associated with COVID-19 measures, like Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer. In Germany, the political establishment and media built up the Lateral Thinkers protests led by right-wing extremists and outright fascists. In August 2020, protesters mounted the steps of the Reichstag building to wave the old flag of the German Empire.

The threat of a Swedish government coming to power with the support of a right-wing extremist party comes as bourgeois democracy across Europe enters ever deeper crisis. In France, Germany, and Spain, the army, security forces, and police are riddled with fascist terror networks that are plotting coups and the assassinations of political opponents. Two far-right candidates, National Rallys Marine Le Pen and Eric Zemmour, are being boosted in the media as the main challengers in next springs French presidential election to the hated Emmanuel Macron. Austrias government collapsed last month amid allegations of corruption and criminality on the part of former Chancellor Sebastian Kurz and his allies.

These developments underscore the urgency of workers in Sweden joining with their class brothers and sisters across Europe and internationally in struggle against the capitalist profit system. This task requires the building of a section of the International Committee of the Fourth International.
The New York Times published an article last week under the headline, Schools are closing classrooms on Fridays. Parents are furious. The December 8 article, datelined from Detroit, claims that there is a groundswell of opposition from working-class parents to any rollback of in-person schooling even as COVID-19 cases in the city and state spread out of control.

December 8 New York Times article

It is well known the parent organizations leading the charge against temporary school closures are dominated by right-wing groups, largely made up of more affluent middle-class people who also oppose mask and vaccine mandates. The Times article conceals this fact and tries to paint a picture of working mothers up in arms over the difficulties of making last-minute child care arrangements to protect their jobs. The implication is working parents and their children would be fine if school officials only stopped coddling up to teachers and their supposedly unfounded concerns over COVID-19 outbreaks and staffing shortages.

To spin this tale, the Times assigned Giulia Heyward, a former intern for CNN and Politico and freelancer for left-liberal publications like the Atlantic, Huffington Post and the New Republic. Heyward is currently part of the selective Times fellowship program for up and coming journalists.

She begins her article:

Caitlin Reynolds, a single mother, was happy that her son, L.J., was finally settled into fourth grade after a rocky experience last year with remote learning. Then, on Wednesday, Nov. 17, an announcement: Detroit public schools would close their classrooms every Friday in December. There would be virtual school only. On Friday, a follow-up announcement: School was also canceled starting that Monday, for the entire week of Thanksgiving. This time, there would be no online option. You need to take the kids back out again? Ms. Reynolds said. How is that not going to be harmful to these students?

It must be stated that Detroits virtual Fridays are the exception to the rule. New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago and other large urban school districts, along with the vast majority of smaller ones continue to run fully in-person classes, despite rising school and community infections. This criminal policy is enforced by the Biden administration, Democrats and Republicans on the state and local levels, with the full and active support of both teacher unions, the National Education Association (NEA) and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT).

The Times reporter searches far and wide for any other examples of temporary school closures, no matter what the cause. Six other Michigan districts extended the Thanksgiving break, she says, and three districts in Washington, including in Seattle, unexpectedly closed on November 12, the day after Veterans Day. The Brevard school district in Florida used leftover hurricane days to close the entire week of Thanksgiving, she says. Finally, In Utah, the Canyons School District announced that all of its schools would go remote one Friday a month from November until March, equivalent to more than a week of school.

The closures, Heyward says, have sent parents scrambling for child care and forced school districts to summon the wherewithal to supervise remote learning. Beyond that, she says, many parents are worried that with additional lost days of in-person school, their children will fall further behind.

The words COVID-19 or pandemic are hardly mentioned in the Times article. One would not know that daily new cases in Michigan have doubled since October, spiking from a weekly average of about 4,000 per day to more than 8,000 a day. Deaths have followed suit, rising from an average of 51 a day to more than 100. According to the Michigan Health & Hospital Association, COVID-19 hospitalizations jumped 88 percent during that same period.

As of December 9, nearly 7.2 million children have tested positive for COVID-19 since the onset of the pandemic, including 2.1 million since the opening of most large school districts in the first week of September, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. COVID-19 cases among children are extremely high: Over 164,000 child cases were added during the week ending December 9, an increase of nearly 24 percent since the prior week. For the 18th week in a row child COVID-19 cases are above 100,000. Children made up 23.6 percent of reported weekly COVID-19 cases.

None of this is of any concern to the New York Times. According to Heyward, School districts cited various reasons for the temporary closings, from a rise in Covid-19 cases to a need to thoroughly sanitize classrooms. But for many schools, the remote learning daysan option that did not exist before the pandemicare a last-ditch effort to keep teachers from resigning. They are burned out, educators said, after a year of trying to help students through learning loss, and working overtime to make up for labor shortages.

To further downplay the danger of COVID-19 in classrooms, Heyward spoke with AFT President Randi Weingarten. The Times reporter says Weingarten attributes teacher shortages to the toll that battles in the classroomover mask mandates and critical race theoryfailing to mention that 2,084 teachers and other school employees have lost their lives since the beginning of the pandemic, according to the Twitter account @LostToCovid. What you hear from teachers is that its been too much, Weingarten told the Times reporter. And theyre trying the best that they can.

In fact, Weingarten has been Bidens chief enforcer and has aligned herself with the right-wing parent group Open Schools USA to beat back the resistance of educators to the homicidal herd immunity policy.

According to Heyward, These temporary closures, though, may only hamper relationships with parents at a moment when tensions in many districts are already high.

The entire purpose of the Times article is to drive a wedge between educators, parents and students. This occurs precisely at the point when there is growing sentiment to implement virtual-only teaching to stop community spread and save lives.

December 1 article commissioned by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, a right-wing think tank and promoter of school privatization

The line of the liberal Times is nearly identical to the December 1 article, Parents, students take a back seat as school districts announce last-minute closures, published by the Michigan Capitol Confidential, a free market news source run by the DeVos and Koch family-funded Mackinac Center for Public Policy. The article castigates school officials for using COVID-19 and teacher shortages as excuses to close schools and skirt Republican efforts to punish districts for implementing virtual learning by stripping them of state funding.

It appears Heyward, using this article as the basis for her hit piece, set out on a fishing expedition to find parents to back up her concocted story. On December 6, the Times reporter posted a request on the Detroit Public Schools Community District Facebook page for comments from parents of DPSCD high schoolers about the remote Fridays. But the responses were not what the reporter expected or wanted.

One parent, Shawnte Simmons, wrote: Yes! They need to make Fridays permanently virtual. These numbers are getting higher and higher. All schools should be virtual actually every day.

Another, Rosalie Lawrence, added, I think its a great idea, 2 days is enough for face to face right now during this pandemic. I like that it allows a balance between virtual and face to face teaching.

Taylor Vernise posted: My daughter is in the virtual school and she said to me that she is glad she is not face to face. She hears from her friends how bad it is in the building with no social distancing and mask are not staying on.

The Times reporter deliberately excluded these comments.

After the article appeared, Detroit parents and educators responded with disgust. Kathleen Wright wrote on the DPSCD page, Ugh this makes me so angry. My middle school drama majors had a workshop fri with Broadway and film actors from NYC whom theyve been able to work with a few times throughout virtual schoola perk to virtual learning! It can be done well!

While Heyward excluded any voices of teachers from her article, educators quickly expressed their opinion on the DPSCD page. This is BS. Schools close for the safety of children. Teachers are freaking exhausted. Some are now long haul covid patients. ... some lost family and are still grieving. We are so tired. I just got over covid. Which I caught at school, and I came back ASAP but I am drained.

Detroit teachers sickout protest in 2016 (WSWS Media)

Another summed up the real motives behind keeping the schools open, writing politicians and employers see schools as warehouses for children.  Get kids into schools so we can get our worker bees back in the workforce making big guys trillionaires.

On the Times own site, teachers denounced the hack job. One educator from New Jersey wrote, This article is shameful and poorly reported. It pits teachers against parents, which is dangerous and unproductive. Another denounced anti-teacher articles from the NYT that encourage infighting of progressive parties (teachers and parents)

The decision by Detroit school officials on November 17 to introduce virtual Fridays in December was done reluctantly. Earlier that day, hundreds of students and teachers walked out of Martin Luther King High School after at least seven teachers and many more students were infected. Protesters said the number of COVID-19 cases was being underreported, social distancing had failed and there was no deep cleaning at the school.

After consulting with the Detroit Federation of Teachers (DFT) union over how to prevent further protests and job actions by educators, Detroit Schools Superintendent Nikolai Vitti issued a message to school personnel, declaring, After listening and reflection on the concern of school-based leaders, teachers, support staff, student and families, regarding the need for mental health relief, rising Covid cases and time to more thoroughly clean schools; and reviewing strategy to address these concerns with the school board, I have decided to shift district wide instruction on December 3, 10, and 17 (all Fridays) to online learning.

The wholly inadequate measurewhich allowed the contagion to spread in classrooms, halls, cafeterias throughout the rest of the school weekfailed to quell growing demands to convert back to virtual learning as cases spiked. Two days later, on November 19, Vitti announced schools would be closed November 22 and 23, effectively shutting the schools for the entire week of the Thanksgiving holiday.

The concerns of school officials and DFT bureaucrats were not unfounded. Within days of schools resuming after the Thanksgiving break, educators in Detroit began a sickout demanding improved security measures after the November 30 school shooting at Oxford High School and virtual-only classes to protect themselves and their students against the surge of the pandemic, including the more infectious Omicron variant.

The School at Marygrove educators took the action independently, but DFT officials, who had repeatedly ignored these safety concerns, moved in rapidly to try to quell the rebellion. They sent in high level union and administration officials to feign concern over the long disregarded grievances.

The New York Timesthe mouthpiece of the Democratic Party political establishment and the Wall Street financial aristocracy, which it servescannot permit even the most limited school closures to save lives. Their motto is: Give them an inch, and theyll take a mile. If officials retreat in the slightest to the safety concerns of educators, parents and student, this contagion of resistance, which they deem more dangerous to their interests than COVID-19, will spread to New York City, Los Angeles and Chicago. If working-class parents are home helping their children learn from the safety of their own homes, the labor shortage will be worsened, wages will go up and the entire house of cards on the New York Stock Exchange could come tumbling down.

This sordid affair reveals the real role of the Times and other corporate media. From the beginning of the pandemic, they have sought to pollute public opinion, justify the murderous back-to-school and back-to-work policy and protect profits, not lives.

For the truth, educators, caregivers and other workers must look to the World Socialist Web Site, which is organizing a Global Workers Inquest into the COVID-19 Pandemic to expose the political and economic forces behind the policies which have allowed the uncontrolled transmission of the virus that has killed millions worldwide.

To save lives, educators must appeal not to the corporate media, the big business politicians and bought-and-paid-for union bureaucrats but to their fellow workers in the factories and other workplaces, which are also being hit by outbreaks of the deadly disease.

We urge educators in Detroit and Michigan to join the Michigan Educators Rank-and-File Safety Committee. Register to participate in this Fridays meeting at 4:30 p.m. EST (3:30 p.m. CST) to organize educators and workers throughout the Midwest to demand the closing of schools and nonessential businesses, the necessary resources for high-quality virtual learning, and the public health measures to finally eliminate COVID-19.
Endemic doesnt mean its a cold. Endemic things can kill you, like malaria or smallpox (till eradication). The goal is NOT endemicity. It should be an elimination strategy like for measles. Squashing transmissions with active efforts, to lowest possible levels.

Dr. Irene Tosetti, anesthesiologist and a candidate for the Master of Public Health at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

Connecticut National Guard members wait to check-in vehicles for Connecticut's largest COVID-19 Vaccination Drive-Through Clinic, Monday, Jan. 18, 2021, in East Hartford, Conn. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)

Saturday, December 11, 2021, marked one year since the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted Pfizer/BioNTech emergency use authorization for its COVID-19 vaccine. On that day, the cumulative case count of COVID-19 infections in the US reached nearly 16.5 million. The death toll exceeded 314,000.

Today, despite the vaccinethe first of three to win approval in the US, all of which have proven enormously effectiveCOVID-19 infections top 50 million, and the death toll has reached 800,000. It is not the vaccines, but American capitalist society, which has failed to meet the test of the pandemic.

The COVID vaccines were presented as the ultimate weapon against SARS-CoV-2 that would end the pandemic once and for all and allow the world to return to normal. However, any illusions that somehow the vaccines would bring the pandemic to heel have since been shattered.

Since inoculating the first American to receive a dose of the Pfizer vaccine on December 15, 2020, ICU nurse Sandra Lindsay, director of patient services in the Long Island Jewish Medical Center, the US has fully vaccinated a little more than 200 million people (60.7 percent). Additionally, more than 50 million booster doses have been administered.

And over that same year filled with false promises by both Republicans and Democrats that the pandemic would see its end, another 34.2 million people have been infected with COVID-19. In that same year, more than one-half million more people died. As of this week, the current cumulative death toll stands at close to 818,000 with no end in sight in these gruesome tallies.

Perhaps the most severely impacted by this pandemic have been the elderly. Seventy-five percent, about 600,000, of those that perished have been 65 years or older. This death toll means that one in 100 older Americans have died. From the standpoint of Wall Street, this is a positive feature of COVID: it has culled the most vulnerable in the population, the elderly, frail and sick whom the financial aristocracy despises as unproductive.

Working class adults, especially men, also represent a significant proportion of the death toll. According to a recent study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, from March 2020 to March 2021, 6.62 million quality-adjusted life years were lost, of which 54 percent were lost by adults aged 25 to 64. In raw numbers, more than 70,000 working-age adults died in 2020, but a further 103,000 have perished in the last ten months.

As the Delta variant continues to rage across the country, the seven-day average has continued to rise with over 120,000 daily infections and 1,300 deaths each day. Hospitalizations have been climbing steadily. Presently COVID admissions to health systems exceed 65,000.

And by all indications the baton is being handed to the Omicron variant. In the short time since the World Health Organization (WHO) declared B.1.1.529 a variant of concern in late November, more than 76 countries and at least 31 states in the US have confirmed its presence.

Alone, these figures and statistics are staggering and remain an indictment of the ruling elites criminal policies. In the course of 2021, while more than 400,000 people have died in the US, only two have reportedly died in China. This is due to Beijings strict adherence to a dynamic ZeroCOVID policy that has both saved lives and allowed the population a modicum of normalcy in everyday life for extended periods of time, as documented in detail yesterday on the WSWS.

Europe and the US, instead of acknowledging their failed policies and addressing the threat posed by the new variant, are making every effort to deflect any real discussion on protecting lives through broad-based implementation of effective public health measures to stem the repeated tides of infection. Instead, the rulers of the wealthiest and most powerful capitalist countries insist that elimination of the virus is impossible. They demand that the financial markets be protected from such measures at whatever cost in human lives.

To continue the pursuit of the herd immunity policy and quell growing unrest, the ruling elites have quickly turned to the buzzword mild to characterize the rapid spread of Omicron. The term was first used by South Africas health minister to describe the initial health status of patients admitted to hospitals in Gauteng province infected with Omicron. Hardly a scientific assessment, it was a politically motivated statement intended to calm national markets reliant on global investment flows.

In every surge of the coronavirus, hospitalizations for severe disease have lagged mild cases. And in South Africa, hospitalizations, especially among the youngest, continue to climb. The surge has been of such ferocity that health authorities have been unable to keep pace with testing and tracking, let alone reporting cases of severe disease and death. Yesterday, South Africa reported a one-day high of nearly 38,000 new infections.

Turning to more reliable data displayed on The Economist s excess deaths dashboard, on November 22, 2021, as scientists were recognizing they were dealing with a highly mutated variant of SARS-CoV-2, the number of COVID deaths in South Africa numbered only 13. Excess deaths were 85. By December 11, 2021, though official COVID deaths remained low at 22, excess deaths had risen sharply to 470, a 5.5-fold jump in the course of less than three weeks. The only factor that has changed in this short interval has been the surge in COVID-19 cases.

The term mild also serves a political purpose in the US, which is to inculcate in the population the idea of accepting the coronavirus as a permanent fixture: seasonal respiratory infections that will repeatedly afflict the population. With Omicrons stupendous speed, the ruling elites hope that allowing it to sweep throughout the country will magically bring a quick end to the pandemic by creating 100 percent herd immunity, either by infection or vaccine, or both.

The editorial board of the New York Times has wasted no time doing their part in supporting these policies. They wrote on December 11, 2021, the anniversary of the FDA EUA for Pfizers COVID vaccine, Nearly two years into the pandemic, it is clear the coronavirus is not going to disappear anytime soon. Surges will happen, variants of concern will pop up and mitigation strategies will need to evolve. Yet, too many Americans are still paralyzed with doubt and fear over each new uncertainty, as trust in government and other institutions to manage the virus ranges from shaky to nonexistent. Then they pose the question whether it is worth living in such a permanent state of anxiety?

The editors then assert that the population should take solace knowing the vaccines will protect them from severe disease. They then ask that the federal government make access to rapid tests fast, easy and inexpensive, which is meaningless if these tests are not incorporated into a broad public health measure that aims to actually implement measures to reduce transmission. Testing is to be an anti-anxiety medication, allowing the public to feel no danger as they proceed through everyday life taking no precautions against a deadly infection.

The Times then gets into the real business at hand by demanding that the government aim to make the 2021-2022 school year the last dominated by COVID. They declare that the quarantine restrictions on those testing positive are far too strict, and students should be able to test out of staying home. They also emphatically state that the prolonged wearing of masks is too burdensome and a happy medium must be struck. In short, the editorial can be summed up, to paraphrase director Stanley Kubricks message in Dr. Strangelove, stop worrying and learn to love COVID.

Even more crass, an op-ed column appears in the same issue of the Times co-authored by Dr. Monica Gandhi, an infectious disease doctor and director of the Centers for AIDS Research at the University of California, who has been vocal in downplaying the threats posed by the pandemic. She tries to make the case that the pandemic landscape in the United States has shifted considerably due to vaccines, diagnostics, and treatments, and, therefore, the country will need a new framework for thinking about what comes next.

The problem she notes is that America is in the slow process of accepting that COVID-19 will become endemic suggesting that learning to live with the virus long-term will require changes in both mind-set and policy.

Rather than tracking infections, reporting deaths, and attempting to contact trace and quarantine, she baldly asserts that the number of COVID-19 hospitalizations (a lagging metric that offers no reliable measure to guide public health policy) is the most important metric to track closely [to] provide the most reliable picture of how an area is faring with the virus.

This is absurd on its face and means the country will be flying blind through the pandemic. Waiting for hospital administrators to push the red-alarm button when cases reach a specified threshold is a recipe for disaster, as evident from recent crises in health care sectors in Texas, Florida, Colorado, and Idaho. When hospital cases are rising, it implies that a larger wave of community transmission is already far advanced that will make landfall like a tsunami wave. In such instances, death rates, the final lagging measure of infection, will also rise horrifically.

When Dr. Gandhi uses the term slow, she is adopting a definite political position that aligns with the policy of let it rip. Not even former President Donald Trump would have objected to these formulations, which attempts to banish the populations concerns about the pandemic.

In fact, both pieces in the Times are intended to inject anesthetics and paralytics into social thought and action that would infringe on Wall Streets insatiable appetite for accumulation of profits. The effort will fail. The dangers posed by the new variant and the inability of the capitalist ruling elites to respond in a way that protects lives and livelihoods will only ensure that the class struggle will erupt even more explosively.

Presently the virus is transmitting and mutating at a rate impossible for the vaccines to keep pace. The two shots of Pfizers COVID vaccine provides only 22.5 percent efficacy against symptomatic infection by Omicron. The original WHO criteria for COVID vaccines set the bar at 50 percent. Under an assured Omicron-dominant pandemic, only four percent of the globe has received three shots, the new defining criteria for fully vaccinated.

A recent modeling study from England and South Africa offers a preliminary scenario of what an Omicron-dominant pandemic might look like for the United Kingdom. There are tremendous parallels to the United States and any nation that doesnt heed the warnings being made by principled scientists to end the pandemic through an elimination strategy.

The authors note that what makes Omicron particularly terrifying is that on two levelsimmune escape and transmissibilityit appears to outstrip the Delta variant. According to the recent collaborative modeling study released in preprint from the centers for infectious disease modelling at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and center of excellence in Epidemiological Modelling and Analysis at Stellenbosch University, South Africa , Omicron had a 5.1 to 12.8-fold reduction in neutralization relative to Delta and exhibited a 30 to 35 percent higher transmission. This corresponds to a doubling time of only 2.4 days in the initial surge in England.

Under the assumption that aside from continuing vaccinating and offering boosters to the eligible population, only a mask-wearing policy in shops and public transportation would be enforced, they assessed SARS-CoV-2 transmission in the country from December 2021 to the end of July 2022. Under this scenario and employing variable immune escape and booster effectiveness, they projected that by the end of April there could be between 175,000 and 492,000 hospitalizations and between 24,700 and 74,800 deaths. This is on top of the current total of close to 150,000 COVID deaths in the UK.

The authors concluded, These results suggest that the introduction of the Omicron B.1.1529 variant in England will lead to a substantial increase in SARS-CoV-2 transmission, which, in the absence of strict control measures, has the potential for substantially higher case rates than those recorded during the Alpha B.1.1.7 winter wave 2020-2021. Under their pessimistic scenario, the stringent control measures employed against Alpha just one year ago would be required to prevent health systems be completely overrun.

The only mechanism that can stop every variant of the coronavirus is a policy that places elimination at the forefront of its approach in responding to the threat posed by the virus. In a manner of speaking, SARS-CoV-2 requires room to breathe. Human communities are the lungs of this pathogen. To suffocate the virus, a temporary but rigorous Zero COVID initiative is required. This means implementing lockdowns, closure of schools and non-essential businesses, while infrastructure for buildings is upgraded and a cadre of broad-based community-level but centralized public health services is organized. Workers who remain at home must be provided their salaries and free access to quality health care.
Details continue to emerge following a series of deadly late-season tornadoes that touched down during the evening on Friday, December 10 in several areas across the US Midwest and the South. The tornadic supercell traveled through six states, leaving wide swathes of destruction and devastating the lives of thousands.

Traffic slowly moves down streets lined with debris Sunday, Dec. 12, 2021, in Mayfield, Ky. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

While the total number of deaths remains unclear, it is estimated that over 100 people have perished, and many remain missing. According to Kentucky governor Andy Beshear, more than 1,000 homes were destroyed across the state. When this tornado hit, it didnt just take a roof off, which is what weve seen in the past, Beshear said at a press conference Monday. It exploded the whole house. People, animals, the restjust gone.

Tens of thousands of those who did not lose their homes to high winds remain without power as power lines were downed across the region.

The majority of fatalities that have been recorded so far occurred in Kentucky, with a reported 74 deaths, although this figure is expected to climb as 105 people have yet to be located. Eight of the deaths were among those killed at the Mayfield Consumer Products candle factory in Mayfield, Kentucky.

At least ten workers there remain unaccounted for. The factory, whose customers include Bed, Bath & Beyond, had employees working around the clock under sweatshop conditions in order to meet the demands of the holiday shopping season. Workers were told to shelter in place just minutes before the tornado decimated the factory.

In anticipation of the coming storms, workers began pleading with management as early as 5:30 p.m.hours before the tornado struckto allow them to leave the facility. Management responded by threatening to fire any workers who left.

People had questioned if they could leave or go home, McKayla Emery, a 21-year-old worker at the plant told NBC News in a an interview from a hospital bed where she is recovering from injuries.

I asked to leave and they told me Id be fired, Elijah Johnson, 20, explained to NBC News. Even with weather like this, youre still going to fire me? Johnson asked. The reply from the manager was Yes.

Initially, workers took shelter in hallways and bathrooms. However, once supervisors assumed that the threat had ended, workers were sent back on the production floor.

The Quad-State tornado touched down in northeastern Arkansas, entering the southeastern tip of Missouri before crossing briefly into Tennessee, and then traveling some 200 miles through Kentucky. Preliminary assessments have indicated that the tornado was likely an EF4, although this could be revised to EF5, the highest rating on the Enhanced Fujita (EF) scale.

The National Weather Service states that an EF5 is characterized by Strong frame houses lifted off foundations, carried considerable distances, and disintegrated; auto-sized missiles airborne for several hundred feet or more; trees debarked, and with three-second gusts of over 200 miles per hour. In Mayfield, debris was launched as high as 37,000 feet, and many homes were ripped from their foundations, leaving only concrete slabs.

Chris Smiley, the mayor of Dawson Springs, Kentucky, which is located roughly one hour northwest of Mayfield, reported that about 75 percent of the community was wiped out. According to the US Census Bureau, Dawson Springs has a population of 2,452 as of 2019, and a median household income of $25,221.

Yesterday it was reported that 2-year-old Oaklynn Koon of Dawson Springs succumbed to injuries she sustained in the storm, making her the states youngest reported victim. According to press reports, the family was taking shelter in their bathroom when they were suddenly launched from their home.

Governor Beshear has mobilized 300 Kentucky National Guard troops across nine counties to assist in the recovery efforts. In a press conference held on Sunday, Beshear stated that there were about 36-50 thousand Kentuckians without power. While official estimates have yet to be made, it is likely that damages will be in the billions of dollars.

In addition to the National Guard, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is also conducting operations. Speaking to CNN, Michael Dossett, director of Kentucky Emergency Management, said, The devastation is quite frankly something that you would see in a war zone. This is an event where we had commercial and residence properties literally stripped clean from the earth.

In Edwardsville, Illinois, a tornado ripped through an Amazon distribution warehouse, leaving six workers dead. Satellite before-and-after photos show that virtually half the warehouse was destroyed. It is unclear how many were present at the warehouse when it was struck, but the facility employs roughly 190 across multiple shifts. Amazon typically employs the most workers during the Christmas holiday season, the majority as contractors through over 3,000 contracting firms.

The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has opened an investigation into the collapse of the Amazon fulfillment center. The investigation could take up to six months and could result in a nominal, wrist-slap citation and fines for the trillion-dollar company.

Since the 1950s there have been at least 21 late-season December tornado outbreaks, coming an average of once every three years or so. F5/EF5 tornados remain rare, with just 59 recorded in the US since 1950. The deadliest tornado since 1947, rated an EF5, ripped through Joplin, Missouri in 2011, killing 158 people.

Scientists have long pointed to the connections between human-induced climate change and the increasing phenomena of extreme weather events. However, scientists have so far been unable to determine a direct link between tornado activity and climate change. A report published by Carbon Brief states that there is no observable increase in the number of strong tornadoes in the US over the past few decades, while at the same time tornadoes have become more clustered and intense.
BBC Studios has taken full control of Tessa Ross and Juliette Howells prolific Sherwood and Brexit: The Uncivil War producer House Productions.

The BBCs commercial arm has upped its stake in the London indie from 25% to full control, similar to the relationship that it has with Gentleman Jack producer Lookout Point, Steve Coogans Baby Cow and End Of The F***ing Worlds Clerkenwell Films.

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Ross and Howell, the former heads of Film4 and Working Title TV respectively, launched House in 2016 and the outfit has won a wealth of commissions in the past 18 months following the success of Channel 4s Benedict Cumberbatch-starring single Brexit from Quiz creator James Graham.

Graham is also behind the indies upcoming BBC1 mini-series Sherwood, while it is also producing Netflixs The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle and Stephen Butchards The Good Mothers for Disney+ vertical Star.

Meanwhile on the film side, House is producing Florence Pugh-starring Netflix psychological thriller The Wonder with Normal People producer Element Pictures, while two TV dramas and several film projects are yet to be announced.

The indie exemplifies bold, British, creativity, according to BBC Studios Chief Creative Officer Mark Linsey, who oversees producer partnerships.

Ross and Howell added: We know how lucky we are to have partners in BBC Studios who share not just our ambition for growth and scale, but also for the way in which we achieve that growth, for the people we work with and the stories we tell.

The deal was negotiated by Laura Franses on behalf of House Productions (advised by Tom Manwaring of Helion Partners) and Matt Garside, Managing Director of Content Partnerships for BBC Studios.

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UK TV trade Broadcast first reported news of the deal in November.

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Dustin Stockton, Jennifer Lynn Lawrence

Twitter

A pair of conservative activists involved in planning and promoting pro-Trump events in Washington on Jan. 6 are coming forward to share their story ahead of scheduled testimony before the House committee investigating the attack on the Capitol next week.

Dustin Stockton and Jennifer Lynn Lawrence, who were both subpoenaed by lawmakers in November, have now been identified as sources quoted anonymously in reports about working alongside members of Congress and with the former president's team to plan the rally where Trump spoke and encouraged his followers to "fight much harder" and to "stop the steal."

The couple, who met on Herman Cain's 2012 presidential campaign and have spent years engaged in rightwing political activity, told Rolling Stone in October they had conversations with Reps. Majorie Taylor Greene, Paul Gosar, Lauren Boebert, Mo Brooks, Madison Cawthorn, Andy Biggs and Louie Gohmert or members of their staffs about planning events in support of overturning the results of the 2020 election, which Joe Biden won.

"We would talk to Boebert's team, Cawthorn's team, Gosar's team like back to back to back to back," one of the two said without being named.

RELATED: Former White House Official Allegedly Said National Guard Would 'Protect Pro Trump People' on Jan. 6

Now, Stockton and Lawrence had dropped their requests for anonymity and are speaking out about their role in the Jan. 6 events and their disgust at the violence that occurred.

"We're turning it all over and we'll let the cards fall where they may," Stockton tells Rolling Stone in a new story published Tuesday.

"The people and the history books deserve a real account of what happened," he adds.

"Violent s--- happened," Lawrence says. "We want to get to the bottom of that."

Capitol building coup

Samuel Corum/Getty Pro-Trump supporters storm the U.S. Capitol following a rally with President Donald Trump on Wednesday, Jan. 6

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The House Select committee would also like to get to the bottom of that, according to letters sent to Stockton and to Lawrence notifying them of subpoenas which compel them to produce documents and testify this week.

The couple say they intend to cooperate. "We've seen what's happened with Bannon, and we don't have the resources that a Steve Bannon has," Stockton says, referring to a federal indictment for a former top aide of Trump's. "Our options are, in a lot of ways, limited."

Stockton and Lawrence also say they've been living in fear since an August 2020 raid by federal agents on their RV in Mesquite, Nevada, in connection with an investigation into the use of funds raised for the We Build the Wall group, CNN reported at the time.

RELATED: Steve Bannon Indicted by Federal Grand Jury for Contempt of Congress in Refusing to Comply with Jan. 6 Inquiry

Bannon and others were arrested and indicted by New York prosecutors for allegedly using some of the reported $25 million raised for personal expenses. Neither Stockton nor Lawrence were charged with any crimes and Trump later pardoned Bannon in one of his final acts as president.

"It's still hanging over our heads," Stockton said of the brush with law enforcement. "We definitely didn't want to face another violent raid and we also wanted to avoid racking up even more legal fees and trouble."

Dustin Stockton, Jennifer Lynn Lawrence

Twitter

The couple, who were dubbed "The Bonnie and Clyde of MAGA World" in a recent Politico profile, have a long history of right-wing activism, fundraising, consulting and staging media stunts that pre-dates Trump's political ascension. But the former president's populist-flavored policies and constant bluster appealed to Stockton and Lawrence, who became regulars on the red-hat circuit.

They also ardently believed in Trump's false claims of election fraud and crisscrossed the country holding and participating in events to support the lie.

But even before Jan. 6., the couple felt "let down by what they saw as a lack of gratitude from the Trump administration," Politico reported in November. "Their hoped-for administration jobs, possibly an overseas posting, never arrived  They wanted Fox News appearances, and social media clout, but had trouble locking down both."

RELATED: Several Republicans Who Attended Jan. 6 'Stop the Steal' Rally Just Won Elections  Here's More About Them

"If you go work for Trump," Stockton said in the profile, "you eventually become the focus of the attack, and when you do, they just dump you."

The pair say they were in a hotel room at the Willard InterContinental when Trump supporters breached barricades outside the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 and have expressed anger over what followed.

"As this was unfolding on the television, I was asking, 'Where is Trump? Why hasn't he come out and made a statement?' It was way too long before he came out and made a statement," Lawrence says in Tuesday's Rolling Stone report. "Like, why are we waiting? This is so opposite of what we represent. You should want to denounce this immediately."

Trump Supporters Hold "Stop The Steal" Rally In DC Amid Ratification Of Presidential Election

Samuel Corum/Getty The attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021

They also said they were not surprised that the day turned violent and had warned officials, including former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows. "We had been like, since November  trying to raise the red flag that, hey, like not everybody on our side has the same outlook of, like, what this should look like," Lawrence also says.

In the wake of the attack, Stockton said he wanted to forcefully condemn it.

"I wanted to go nuclear. Like, I wanted to go full court press with it," Stockton tells Rolling Stone. "We were pushing hard and put a plan together to hold a press conference  to fully denounce and take all questions from everybody."

They say their cooperation with the House investigation  as well as their coming out in the pages of Rolling Stone  is about setting the record straight.

Dustin Stockton, Jennifer Lynn Lawrence

Dustin Stockton/Instagram

"It's important to us that, not even just the committee, that the political actors on both sides  that includes Trump  that they don't get to whitewash and cherry pick what parts of the story are told," Stockton says.

"We need to get to the bottom of it," Lawrence adds, "so that it doesn't happen again."

RELATED: Donald Trump Says Threats to 'Hang Mike Pence' on Jan. 6 Were 'Common Sense' Because 'People Were Angry'

Their motivations for "turning it all over" and letting the "cards fall where they may" could also stem from sour feelings towards Trump and what they say is his lack of loyalty for those arrested and facing consequences for actions to support him on Jan. 6.

"This guy's sitting on giant gold buildings all over the world with his name on it and we've done more to help those people than he has," Stockton tells Rolling Stone of the former president. "It's f---ing disgusting."

"Other people had warned us," Stockton also says. "It's not like we didn't see him cast people aside before selfishly, but we always kind of just said, 'Oh, that's just disgruntled former employees, right?' You know, we bought the bulls---."
Ever since debuting in 2015, Four Seasons has set the standard for ultra-luxurious private jet trips. It recently announced its lineup for 2023, which features several wanderlust-inducing trips that will take 48 lucky guests on the trip of a lifetime. If the success of Four Seasons' 2022 journeys is anything to go by  three are sold out and one has only a few seats left  interested travelers should book quickly.

Interior of the Four Seasons Private Jet

Courtesy of Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts

The brand's 2023 African Wonders trip removes all of the travel hassles that you'll find even with top-notch safari outfitters, taking guests to see the absolute best nature and wildlife aboard the private jet. The trip begins in Athens, then heads to the Pyramids of Giza for a day trip before flying down to Africa. The safari starts with a torch-lit dinner under the stars in the Serengeti. After visiting Serengeti National Park, you'll head to Mauritius to explore the pristine waters and coral reefs. Next comes a trip to Rwanda for a life-changing hike with the gorillas alongside the scientists who care for them. Finally, there's a day trip to the thundering Victoria Falls in Zambia en route to Johannesburg, South Africa for departures. This trip is perfect for families and takes place during summer break from Aug. 1-13, 2023.

Part of The Iguazu Falls seen from the Argentinian National Park

Courtesy of Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts

Four Seasons is also bringing back its longest-running trip, Timeless Encounters, which whisks guests around the world in 24 days. The trip begins in Hawaii and ends in England, making stops in fabulous cities and remote destinations as the jet traverses the globe. You'll do the hula in Hawaii, snorkel along the reefs and atolls of Bora Bora, and see Sydney's majestic Opera House before flying to Bali, Indonesia and Chiang Mai, Thailand to explore ancient cultures and history. On your way from East to West, there's a day trip to the Taj Mahal to see the enduring symbol of eternal love before stopping in Dubai. The trip ends in Europe with visits to three cultural capitals: Florence, Italy, and London. Timeless Encounters runs from Apr. 17 - May 10, 2023.

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The Four Seasons Private Jet inflight

Courtesy of Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts

Culture-seeking travelers will want to book a seat on the International Intrigue journey, which focuses on immersive experiences in each destination. The trip begins in Seattle, then heads to Kyoto, Japan, and Hoi An, Vietnam, where guests can learn the history of the samurai and visit ancient sites. Rest up in the Maldives and see incredible marine life before heading to the Serengeti and Marrakesh. The trip heads up to Budapest and St. Petersburg, Russia before finishing in Paris. International Intrigue departs on Mar. 3 and concludes on Mar. 23, 2023.

Pulled out bed onboard the Four Seasons Private Jet

Courtesy of Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts

The bar onboard the Four Seasons Private Jet

Courtesy of Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts

In 2022, Four Seasons will debut a new, custom Airbus A321LRneo jet, which is created in response to customer feedback from its previous journeys. It features 48 seats, each crafted by hand using buttery-soft Italian leather. They expand to fully lie-flat if you want to rest, and each seat has a plush ottoman opposite it. In the back, there's a lounge where you can enjoy delightful treats created by the onboard chef, have a drink, or simply stretch your legs. Four Seasons will also bring craftspeople on board for workshops and educational demonstrations, which will make your time in the air fly by all too quickly.

For inquiries and to book your journey, email fourseasonsjet@fourseasons.com
Obit Max Linn - Credit: Joe Phelan/The Kennebec Journal/AP

Max Linn, who ran for one of Maines U.S. senate seats in 2020, died on Saturday of an apparent heart attack while in a hot tub, Bangor Daily News reports. He was 62.

Linn was vehemently opposed to public health protocols meant to contain the spread of Covid-19, despite him possibly being among the first in Maine to have had Covid-19, as Sun Journal reports. During his 2020 senate run, he made headlines when he cut up a mask during a televised debate and he refused to answer questions by repeating request denied. He lost by a wide margin (garnering 1.6 percent of the vote in a four-way tie) to incumbent Republican candidate Susan Collins.

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His party allegiance changed through the years as he chased his political aspirations. While he lived in Florida where he was a businessman, he made unsuccessful bids as a Democratic candidate for Senate and for governor in the Reform Party. He also supported Barack Obamas first presidential run. Once he moved to Maine, he tried to run for U.S. Senate as a Republican in 2018, but he failed to qualify for the primary ballot after the Secretary of State ruled a number of the petition signatures required were invalid.

Undeterred, Linn entered the 2020 Maine senate race as an Independent, despite being a vocal supporter of Donald Trump. After losing, he continued to support Trump; Linn was among the crowd in Washington D.C. on Jan. 6.

While Linn was never diagnosed with Covid-19, he told a reporter that he may have gotten the disease while on a visit to China, which included a stop in Wuhan, in December 2019. He was so sick that he said he thought he might not survive. Yet, during his senate run the following year he called Dr. Nirav Shah, director of Maine Center of Disease Control and Prevention, the very doctor of death and then Gov. Janet Mills a psychopath for their policies intended to control the spread of Covid-19, which Linn viewed as impeding freedoms.

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In October, former aide Matt McDonald alleged that Linn pulled a gun on him over a cryptocurrency dispute. McDonald sought a protection order against Linn and the case was supposed to go to court in November, but it was postponed. Earlier this month, McDonald withdrew the protection order.

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Still searching for holiday gifts, while wondering whether your loved ones really need more talking gadgets and hit-or-miss fashion statements? What if the gift you gave was knowing theyd kept people in developing countries hydrated for a year? Or that they'd wiped out thousands of dollars in unaffordable medical debt, or helped sick sea turtles stranded in New Jersey recover?

Donations to nonprofits in honor of loved ones are great alternatives for community-minded family members and friends, and for those who say they don't need more stuff. They also make for easy-to-purchase, last-minute gifts.

Experts say tribute gifts appear to be on the rise.

"Over the last couple years, we've seen an increase in the number of dedications on behalf of others from people who complete transactions on our site," says Michael Thatcher, CEO of Charity Navigator, an online resource that rates and provides information about roughly 200,000 nonprofits. "We've also seen more people saying, 'In lieu of gifts, please give to these charities.' "

This may be due to the habits of millennials, the generation born between 1980 and 1995. Laura MacDonald, chair of Giving USA Foundation, says, "We often cite the Millennial Impact Report, which shows how this group believes in the power of activism, and tends to give across a range of industries, influenced primarily by their peers."

Gifts that improve life on earth have longer lasting effects and are more memorable than most items sold in stores.

While this cohort grew up researching and rating everything from which movies to see to where to find the best fries, nearly anyone can marshal the resources of the web to research and donate.

Donating in honor of a loved one is easy to do, says Joyce P. Hendricks, president and chief development officer of Hackensack Meridian Health Foundation. "Many organizations have an 'In honor of' or notification option or box when a donor makes a gift," she says. "Donors can select that and have a notecard sent to their loved ones so they know the gift was made in their honor."

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A lot of gift recipients, Hendricks adds, "feel that it is a better use of a loved one's money than receiving another sweater or scarf."

Before clicking the donate button, its a good idea to check in with loved ones to see whether they'd want to receive this type of present. To help get the conversation started, heres a sampling of nonprofits and potential gift options.

Environmental charities

One Tree Planted: For $20, you can plant a tree on behalf of a loved one that will benefit the land, people and wildlife in Guatemala, Bhutan and Montana for many years to come. The recipient gets a personalized tree certificate and an optional ecard from you. They also receive updates on how their trees are affecting the community and environment.

World Wildlife Fund: WWF offers "adoption kits" on behalf of donors who help save wild animals. A gift of $60 to support an African elephant, panda, snow leopard, blue whale or blue-footed booby gets the recipient a 12-inch plush toy, photo, "adoption certificate" and species card. For a minimum donation of at least $12 per month, your loved one can adopt a polar bear.

Sea Turtle Recovery: An increased number of sea turtles are stranded in the Northeast annually. This nonprofit, located inside The Turtleback Zoo in West Orange, heals, feeds, diagnoses and operates on them. A $30 gift to adopt a turtle helps defray STR's expenses, and the recipient receives an adoption certificate, a photo magnet and, if applicable, a picture of the adopted turtle after it is released.

Food charities

Charity: Water: About 785 million people worldwide lack basic access to clean and safe drinking water. A gift of $240 brings water to a single family; for $20 per month, you can make sure that six people receive sufficient water all year.

World Vision: Sponsoring gifts of goats and chickens to families in developing nations provides them with a steady supply of eggs, milk and other proteins. A healthy dairy goat can give up to 16 cups of milk a day; like goats, chickens are simple to raise and easily multiply. Typical donations include $30 for a duck, $110 for a goat and two chickens, or $215 for one duck, two goats, three rabbits and four chickens.

City Meals on Wheels: For four decades, this nonprofit has been bringing weekend, emergency and holiday meals to elderly, homebound New Yorkers. A one-time gift of $144 provides nine weeks of Saturday and Sunday meals; $88 brings two emergency food packages.

Social justice charities

Medical Debt Resolution Inc.: About two-thirds of all U.S. bankruptcies are tied to medical debt issues. Every dollar given to this organization wipes out a family's medical debt by a factor of 100  $50 erases $5,000 in unpayable medical debit, $100 pays for $10,000, etc.

Hector Guadalupe, founder of A Second U Foundation, a nonprofit that trains former inmates to fight recidivism.

A Second U Foundation: After 10 years in federal prison, Hector Guadalupe founded this nonprofit to teach former inmates to be personal trainers. Guadalupe has been hailed as a 2021 CNN Hero, and 93% of participants have maintained employment since attending the program. A $50 donation buys interview clothes for prospective trainers; $100 helps them attain their national certifications.

Social Justice Collaborative: This nonprofit aids undocumented immigrants by providing legal services to minors, survivors of violence and refugees. A $50 donation sponsors toys and coloring books kids can use during legal consultations; $200 helps parents get work authorization to support their families.

More: In a giving mood for the holidays? These North Jersey shelters, nonprofits could use help

More: PHOTOS: Montclair man feeding multitudes, sustainably, with urban gardens

More: NJ mom launches charity to tackle addiction, mental health after son's suicide

Education charities

Donors Choose: On this website, teachers post the supplies and resources they need for classroom learning, field trips and other projects, and donors underwrite them. Requests might list crayons, chick incubators, language-learning software or a trip to China. Gift-givers can sort by subject, grade level, amount needed and other factors. They also can contribute to several projects at once.

The nonprofit Donors Choose allows gift-givers to contribute to one or more requests from school teachers.

Room to Read: Founded 20 years ago, this nonprofit helps children in low-income communities develop literacy skills and a habit of reading. It also supports girls as they build skills to succeed in secondary school and beyond. A gift of $50 provides one year of reading instruction for a child; $500 underwrites a year of professional training for a future library manager.

Choosing the best charity for your gift

Follow these tips so your gift dollars will have the greatest impact.

Search Guidestar.org and Charitynavigator.org , two exhaustive philanthropic research databases. Guide Star rates nonprofits Platinum to Bronze and provides details including goals and strategies, percent of total budget spent on programs, and revenue and expenses. Charity Navigator has a zero-to-four-star rating system as well as an Encompass Rating that gives organizations a 0-100 score based on their finances and accountability, leadership and adaptability, and other measures of success.

Charity Navigators CEO, Michael Thatcher, says hes seen increased interest in donating to smaller local charities that are run and led within donors communities.  Almost every community has a local community foundation , says Giving USAs Laura MacDonald. Their mission is to advocate for informed philanthropy in their communities, and they list nonprofits theyve vetted and given grants to. Northern New Jersey Community Foundation provides this service; so does Community Foundation of South Jersey.

If youd rather buy a gift you can hold in your hands, consider checking out products from companies with B Corp Certifications. Companies such as Patagonia, Ben & Jerrys and Allbirds are legally required to consider the impact of their business decisions on their workers, customers, suppliers and community, and the environment.

Cindy Schweich Handler is the editor of Montclair and Wayne Magazines, and a writer for The Record and Northjersey.com who frequently covers health issues.

Email: Handler@northjersey.com; Twitter: @CindyHandler

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Charities to donate to and honor loved ones this holiday season
This photo combo shows, from left, Travis McMichael, William Roddie Bryan, and Gregory McMichael during their trial at at the Glynn County Courthouse in Brunswick, Ga. Jurors on Wednesday, Nov. 24, 2021 convicted the three white men charged in the death of Ahmaud Arbery, the Black man who was chased and fatally shot while running through their neighborhood in an attack that became part of the larger national reckoning on racial injustice.

Its a done deal that the men who murdered Amaud Arbery are headed to prison for life, but a judge will finally make it official in a Georgia courtroom next month.



CNN reports that Travis and Gregory McMichael and William Roddie Bryan are set to be sentenced on Jan. 7, 2022, for chasing down Arbery, trapping him with a pickup truck and killing him with a shotgun. Sounds like a great way to bring in the new year.

Read more

The killing last February was another in the excruciatingly long list of unarmed Black men being killed by law enforcement, or people with ties to it, that was captured on video.

Their convictions last month on charges including malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault and false imprisonment, carry maximum penalties of life behind bars without parole, which prosecutors have asked the judge to impose.

One more time, heres why theyll never see the light of day again.



From CNN.com The men said they believed 25-year-old Arbery, who was Black, had committed a crime. Evidence introduced in the trial showed the men chased Arbery through the streets as he repeatedly tried to elude them. The McMichaels, who were armed, were in one vehicle, while Bryan, who joined while the chase was underway, followed in his own truck, assisting in and recording the chase. Arbery was unarmed and on foot. Video of the killing showed Travis McMichael exit his truck and confront Arbery before fatally shooting him as the two tussled. McMichaels father watched from the bed of the truck. The men pleaded not guilty, with the McMichaels claiming they were conducting a citizens arrest and acting in self-defense, and Bryan saying he took no part in the killing.

All three men still face federal civil rights charges in the case and have pleaded not guiltynot that it matters because its impossible for them to serve longer sentences than theyre already facing.

With that cleared up, its a good time to give some attention to Jackie Johnson, the former Georgia prosecutor who tried her best to let Arberys killers get away without facing accountability. She was indicted last month for her role in trying to protect the McMichaels and Bryan. No trial date is set for her yet.


Europe is already known for its world-class rail system, but for an experience that's about more than just transportation, no train ride is more iconic than the Orient Express. After shutting down operations in 1977, this historic, luxury rail experience is making its way back to Italy with new trains and itineraries going beyond the famed Paris-to-Istanbul route that started it all.

Rendering of the Lounge on the Orient Express La Dolce Vita

Courtesy of Dimorestudio

In 2023, the new Orient Express La Dolce Vita will welcome passengers on six trains offering six itineraries that explore Italy from north to south, along with international routes visiting Paris, Istanbul, and Split, Croatia. Guests can spend anywhere from one to three nights aboard the new trains, with plenty of time at each stop to enjoy the destination. No matter which of the six routes guests choose, a stopover in Rome will be at the heart of every journey, allowing travelers to experience a stay at Minerva, the first Orient Express hotel, which is scheduled to open in 2024.

Rendering Orient Express La Dolce Vita

Courtesy of Dimorestudio6

Not to be confused with Belmond's Venice Simplon-Orient-Express, this luxury railroad venture is partially owned by Accor Group. While the original Orient Express transported guests to the 1920s, the new Orient Express La Dolce Vita is all about celebrating the 1960s and '70s, a historic period in Italy known as "La Dolce Vita."

Interior of a vintage Orient Express

Courtesy Fonds de dotation Orient Express Heritage

That time was all about glamor, art, and a joie de vivre, which is incorporated in the style and decor of the new Orient Express La Dolce Vita. This 1960s and '70s feel is complemented by more contemporary design throughout the trains' 12 deluxe cabins, 18 suites, and one 'Honour Suite' (the British spelling is part of its charm), as well as the onboard restaurant. The train is designed by Dimorestudio.

Rendering of the Suite Deluxe onboard the Orient Express La Dolce Vita

Courtesy of Dimorestudio

"At Accor, we consider it an immense privilege to re-launch the historic Orient Express brand for passionate and discerning travelers. These trains offer a new vision of luxury travel that is beyond our imagination," said Sebastien Bazin, chairman and CEO of Accor, in a press release. "Our association with Arsenale Group has opened up new horizons in perfect harmony with the heritage and philosophy of Orient Express, and marks our constant desire to keep moving forward."

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Rendering of the Restaurant on board the Orient Express La Dolce Vita

Courtesy of Dimorestudio

Details on the exact itineraries for the new Orient Express La Dolce Vita will be released next year.

Jessica Poitevien is a Travel + Leisure contributor currently based in South Florida, but always on the lookout for the next adventure. Besides traveling, she loves baking, talking to strangers, and taking long walks on the beach. Follow her adventures on Instagram.
Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey has remained silent in word and action on COVID-19, despite full hospitals and a high death toll.

Do you think Gov. Doug Ducey would have anything to say, publicly, if the entire population of, say, Fountain Hills died within a year?

Every single citizen.

What if over the course of 12 months or so the town of Douglas was completely wiped out?

All dead.

What if everyone in Nogales  everyone  was lost in a year?

How about everyone in Payson?

We could go on.

Arizona has lost a city's worth to COVID-19

As of this week Arizona has lost more than 23,000 of our brothers and sisters to COVID-19. A deceased population greater than any one of those communities.

And its not close to being over. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that Arizonas seven-day death rate per 100,000 ranked second among states and territories.

And what has Gov. Ducey had to say about that?

Nothing.

Is there such a thing as the weak, silent type?

Ducey won't act. But he could say something

Actions speak louder than words, of course. But we have long since learned that Ducey has no interest in taking any action that could diminish the ravages of the virus among Arizonas citizens.

About a year ago, commenting on the disaster that was the governors reaction to the pandemic, the Arizona Public Health Associations Will Humble said, This is not fate. Policy interventions could have played a much bigger role in preventing what were seeing today and what well continue to see in the coming weeks.

It continued. And now, even as hospitals are again near capacity, and there is a new COVID-19 variant, Ducey wont act.

But he could at least speak.

He could say something.

He could, for example, institute a major public information program urging unvaccinated citizens to get their shots and reminding those who havent yet gotten a booster to get that as well.

Studies show the booster is effective against the omicron variant.

Is Ducey so fearful of former President Donald Trump and the anti-vaccine conspiracy-driven element of his party that hed rather just let people die?

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He could mimick other GOP governors

Last summer the Republican governors of Arkansas, West Virginia and Utah all made strong public appeals, urging their citizens to get vaccinated.

The Republican governor of Vermont did the same thing, staging a press conference to get his booster shot and urging his residents to get vaccinated.

Other governors have done that and more.

But not here. It's all quiet on the Ducey front

Arizona is now in the top five states for COVID-19 fatality rates.

And our governor remains silent as a grave.

Twenty-three thousand graves, actually.

And counting.

Reach Montini at ed.montini@arizonarepublic.com.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Gov. Doug Ducey has been deadly silent on Arizona COVID-19 deaths
PERRY TWP.  Students heading to class in Perry Local Schools will see a greater police presence today after a 13-year-old was accused of threatening a shooting at Edison Middle School on social media.

Perry Township Police Chief Mike Pomesky said his department received several calls reporting the threat just after 4:30 p.m.

More: Central Catholic student removed from school for social media post

The student allegedly posted the shooting threat on Snapchat. Pomesky said the post indicated two other people being involved, but the investigation found the students did not have any knowledge of the post or the threat.

"There was only one person involved in creating the panic inside the district," Pomesky said. "We talked to the two additional people in the communication and to multiple others who brought forward information."

The 13-year-old student was charged with a felony count of inducing panic. He was booked into the Stark Multi-County Juvenile Attention Center.

"A lot went right in this from the start," Pomesky said. "Our students immediately started interacting with parents, parents got involved, the school involved and got us information. A lot went right."

Law enforcement spent an extensive amount of time weeding through communications. The amount of misinformation that was spread throughout the community made it difficult, he added.

Through the investigation, police found the student did not have access to weapons.

"You can't just eliminate a single avenue," Pomesky said. "We have to look at everything  the bigger picture  with these scenarios."

Perry Superintendent Scott Beatty said some students stayed home today. Support services are available to any student who has concerns about the incident, he added.

He is grateful to the students and parents who took action and contacted the school and police regarding the threat.

"I think people understand and see what is going on in society," he said. "In general, they understand it's the right thing to do. Its right to go to authorities."

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He added that having parents contact the Perry police expedited the process of finding the person responsible for the threat and thwarting any misconduct.

Those who took to social media and spread untruths created an additional level of hysteria, he added.

The incident is reflective to how impulsive kids can be and the things they say and do, Beatty said.

"When things like Michigan occur, I see kids being more impulsive and go right to making threats or referring to something that has occurred as solution whether they intend to do it or not," he said.

While the shooting incident at a Michigan school last month is on the minds of school officials, Beatty said he entered this school year with additional concerns from seeing how people are acting and treating each other.

"There is so much hostility toward each other," the superintendent said. "I entered this (school) year a little more alert. Those things at Michigan just reinforced my concerns that these things exist."

It is the second time in two weeks that Perry police have investigated a social media post. A Central Catholic High School student was removed from the school last week after he was accused of making an inappropriate post that could have been interpreted as violent, police have said.

Also on Monday, a Washington High School student was arrested after being accused of posting a weapons-related threat on social media. The juvenile was charged with a misdemeanor count of inducing panic, Massillon Police Lt. Mike Maier said. The youth was later released to his parents.

Reach Amy at 330-775-1135 or amy.knapp@indeonline.com

On Twitter: @aknappINDE

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Perry Township police charge 13-year-old after social media post
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - December 13, 2021) - Dynasty Gold Corp. (TSXV: DYG) (FSE: D5G1) (OTC Pink: DGDCF) ("Dynasty" or the "Company") is pleased to report that it has received final assay results from the summer field program at its 100% owned Thundercloud gold project ("Thundercloud" or the "Property") located approximately 47 km southwest of Dryden, Ontario.

The work consisted of grab and channel sampling in and around two trenches excavated based on soil geochemical anomalies related to the West Contact Zone mineralized area at Thundercloud. The Contact Zone has only been partially explored in the past. The majority of work on the Property has been done on the Pelham Zone to the north, on which a NI 43-101 compliant resource calculation is completed and the report will be available before the year end.

WORK PROGRAM

The program focused on trenching in the West Contact Zone and approximately 100 lineal meters of trenching was completed in two target areas. Chip samples were taken along 1 meter intervals in a strongly altered and mineralized conglomeratic sedimentary unit in contact with a younger Thundercloud quartz-feldspar porphyry.

Trench-1 expanded upon a trench completed by Teck Resources Limited in 2007, exposing "Timiskaming-like" Archean metasediments composed of pebble to cobble conglomerate and siltstone beds. The metasediments were intruded by porphyry dykes of the Thundercloud quartz-feldspar porphyry stock and are pervasively altered to strong biotite and weak chlorite-bearing mineral assemblages. The altered sediments are host to 1-3% fine disseminated pyrite with elevated gold values encountered where pyrite becomes coarser-grained and coalesces into blebs and discontinuous hairline stringers. Trench-1 is approximately 80 meters long and it is the longer of the two trenches. Channel samples in one continuous zone of 7 meters averaged 2.0 grams per tonne gold in conglomerate, with one meter samples in this 7 meter interval carrying between 0.82 and 3.9 grams per tonne gold. Elsewhere in the trench, individual chip samples of note carried from 0.37 up to 1.75 grams per tonne gold. A grab sample of highly altered pebble conglomerate taken adjacent to the contact with a quartz-feldspar porphyry dyke returned 7.04 grams per tonne gold. This sample contains 2-3% fine-grained disseminated pyrite and several percent secondary biotite which is the most common alteration mineral at Thundercloud.

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Trench-2, located four hundred meters south of Trench-1, was designed to test the southern strike continuity of the West Contact mineralization. Excessive overburden depth precluded determining the nature of the bedrock at this location.

Samples were delivered to the ALS laboratory in Thunder Bay, Ontario, were prepared using a 4-acid dissolution technique and assayed for 48 elements using the MEMS 61 package. The technical content of this news release has been reviewed and approved by Mr. Andrew Tims, P.Geo., a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101").

DISCUSSION

The new assay results confirm that other areas within the West Contact Zone host significant gold values and form the basis for new exploration work. The new assay results indicate that the West Contact Zone now merits a thorough evaluation going forward.

Gold analyses, locally reaching multi-gram values in altered sediments in close proximity to the cross-cutting Thundercloud Porphyry Intrusives, provide guidelines for prioritizing additional surface sampling and geophysical surveys. There are several other highly anomalous soil geochemical results requiring trenching in the future. The West Contact mineralization is clearly structurally and mineralogically separate from the Pelham Zone to the north and merits significant additional work. Due to the Ontario wildfire emergency work ban in the summer and longer than expected laboratory time, work required to follow up the initial trenching results was not possible prior to the onset of winter conditions in 2021, the work will be deferred to next season.

GOING FORWARD

An expanded high-resolution drone supported airborne magnetic survey is planned for completion in the winter of 2021/2022. This survey will cover a larger area to include the northeast portion of the Thundercloud Porphyry Intrusive where the gabbro hosted mineralization in the Pelham Zone was discovered. The survey data is expected to assist in interpreting the structural relationship between the Pelham Zone and West Contact Zone mineralization.

The initial trenching assay data has provided a greater understanding of the structure and mineralization in the West Contact Zone. This knowledge will be applied to plan the next season's exploration program.

Planning to drill the Pelham Gold Zone is underway. The drill program is expected to test for down plunge mineralization to increase tonnage and grade. Drill targets may be refined when recommendations in the NI 43-101 report are reviewed.

YEAR IN REVIEW

2021 has been a momentous year for the Company. We have achieved a number of key milestones despite some trying times. The Company received an exploration permit at the end of March that enabled drilling and trenching on Thundercloud, after a delay of more than two years, mainly due to the Pandemic. An exploration program that initially focused on trenching was started in June. However, the wildfire emergency in Ontario from mid July disrupted our summer field work for almost two months. Fortunately, the trenching effort was completed as planned.

A transaction with Teck Resources Limited ("Teck") at the end of September has provided Dynasty with a 100% ownership of the Thundercloud gold project which is in one of the most well known emerging mining camps in Canada. This Property hosts a historic gold resource. The resource will be brought up to NI 43-101 compliant resource calculation standards and is expected to be available by the end of the year.

As the year comes to a close, the Company would like to thank its loyal shareholders for their continued support and look forward to the future to develop the Thundercloud gold property as well as to unlock the value of other assets in its portfolio. It will also continue its effort to pursue a fair compensation for its 70% owned Hatu gold mine in the Xinjiang Province of China.

About the Thundercloud Property

The Thundercloud property is in the Archean Manitou-Stormy Lakes Greenstone belt in Ontario, 47 kilometers southwest of Dryden. The geological setting is comparable to the Abitibi belt in Eastern Ontario but is much less explored. The belt contains numerous gold showings; several high-grade mines discovered in the area include the Big Master Mine (1902-1943) and the Laurentian Mine (1906-1909). In recent years, close to 30 M oz of gold have been mined and discovered, such as New Gold's Rainy River Mine (6.4 million oz gold and 18.7 million oz silver), and Agnico Eagle's Hammond Reef deposit (5.8 million oz gold).

To date, more than $10M has been spent at Thundercloud on drilling and surface exploration work. The majority of the 12,000 meters past drilling was focused on a very small area of the property. The excellent database built by Teck will provide a guide for future targeting. Potential discoveries for Thundercloud include bulk-tonnage orogenic gold mineralization or high-grade gold deposits.

About Dynasty Gold Corp.

Dynasty Gold Corp. is a Canadian exploration company currently focused on gold exploration in North America with projects located in a greenstone belt in Ontario and the Midas gold camp in Nevada. In addition currently, the 70% owned Hatu Qi2 gold mine in the Tien Shan Gold belt, Xinjiang, China, is in legal dispute with Xinjiang Non-Ferrous Industrial Metals Group and its subsidiary Western Region Gold Co. Ltd.. For more information, please visit the Company's website www.dynastygoldcorp.com.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DYNASTY GOLD CORP.

"Ivy Chong"

_________________________________

Ivy Chong, President & CEO

For additional information please contact:

Vancouver Office:

Ivy Chong

Phone: 604.633.2100. Email: ichong@dynastygoldcorp.com

This press release contains certain "forward-looking statements" that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. The TSX Venture Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept 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/107544
Texts show Republican leaders asked Mark Meadows to urge then-President Donald Trump to condemn the riot Jan. 6. A pill shows positive signs in the fight against COVID-19. And 12 children were among the dozens killed after the devastating tornado in Kentucky.

 It's Abbey and Julius, here with Tuesday's news.

But first, Arctic Siberia is feeling the heat. The remote Russian region reached 100.4 degrees last year  the hottest on record.

The Short List is a snappy USA TODAY news roundup. Subscribe to the newsletter here or text messages here.

Mark Meadows' texts during Jan. 6 riot revealed in hearing

It has gone too far and gotten out of hand. Donald Trump Jr. texted to his fathers chief of staff, Mark Meadows, urging him to tell President Donald Trump to condemn the riot Jan. 6. Trump Jr., a number of Republicans in Congress and Fox News program hosts were among those who implored Meadows to help stop the riot, according to the committee investigating the attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election. The committee voted unanimously Monday to recommend the House cite Meadows for contempt and urge the Justice Department to prosecute him criminally. The full House vote could come within days and a Justice Department decision within weeks.

What's next for Meadows? When the House could vote to hold the ex-chief of staff in contempt and more.

Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows could face criminal charges.

A pill could help reduce COVID-19-related hospitalizations and deaths

Pfizers antiviral drug could be the next key in fighting COVID-19. A five-day course of Paxlovid pills reduced hospitalization or death among high-risk people by 89%, according to a final analysis of a previously released study conducted by the drugmaker. The drug was tested on people who were not vaccinated but is expected to protect people who have so-called breakthrough infections after vaccination. An FDA advisory committee recommended a different COVID-19 antiviral from Merck, but unlike that drug, Paxlovid will not cause the kind of genetic mutations in the virus that worried some on the committee.

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More than 40% of people with COVID-19 never show symptoms, study finds.

Pfizer's COVID-19 antiviral pills are manufactured inside a laboratory in Freiburg, Germany. The pharmaceutical giant asked the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in November for emergency use authorization for its Paxlovid pill which studies have shown to cut hospitalization or death among newly infected high-risk patients.

What everyone's talking about

The Short List is free, but several stories we link to are subscriber-only. Consider supporting our journalism and become a USA TODAY digital subscriber today.

12 children among 74 killed in Kentucky tornado

Kentuckians as young as 2 months and as old as 98 were among the dead in the devastating tornadoes that ripped through the state over the weekend and leveled communities. Gov. Andy Beshear announced the death toll did not rise Tuesday, but he does expect it to rise in the coming days since more than 100 people are missing. Across five states, at least 88 were killed as a series of tornadoes tore a path of destruction from Arkansas to Illinois. Beshear said the extreme weather will "probably be one of the most devastating tornado events in U.S. history."

A safety drill saved lives: Friday, Mayfield Health and Rehabilitation nursing home residents participated in a tornado practice drill. Little did they know that about five hours later, the practice would save their lives. In what employees call a miracle, all 74 residents inside the nursing home survived.

Kentucky candle factory survivor thanks unknown 'savior': Autumn Kirks and her boyfriend, Lannis Ward, were working the night shift at the Mayfield candle factory when a tornado tore through the building, killing Ward and several others. Kirks said she and three other women were stuck under a concrete wall when an unknown man lifted the concrete off the women and led them out.

Were you impacted by the tornadoes? We'd like to share your story. Email us at TheShortList@usatoday.com.

A candle factory in Mayfield, Ky., was leveled by a tornado that tore through the night of Dec. 10.

Real quick

In first, US service members discharged for refusing to get COVID-19 vaccine

The Air Force discharged 27 people for refusing to get a COVID-19 vaccine, making them what officials said are the first service members to be removed for disobeying the mandate to get the shots. The Pentagon required all members of the military to be vaccinated and allowed each of the services to set their own deadlines and procedures. The Air Force gave its forces until Nov. 2 to get vaccinated, and thousands either refused or sought an exemption. None of the 27 airmen sought a medical, administrative or religious exemption, Air Force spokeswoman Ann Stefanek said.

ABC's vaccine mandate: General Hospital's Ingo Rademacher sues the network over COVID-19 shot mandate.

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin says vaccines are critical to the health of the military.

A break from the news

 Let's play! USA TODAY launched something really fun. It's a new and improved Crossword App! Check it out!

This is a compilation of stories from across the USA TODAY Network. Want this news roundup in your inbox every night? Sign up for The Short List newsletter here.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Kentucky tornado victims, Mark Meadows, COVID-19 pill. It's Tuesday's news.
YouTube

A referee stabbed in the head multiple times by a pro wrestler during a choreographed stunt gone haywire says hes a disabled combat veteran whose PTSD was triggered by the shocking episode.

Lando Deltoro, who served in the Navy as a hospital corpsman, told The Daily Beast on Tuesday that he went into hypovolemic shock in the ringextreme blood loss that can cause the bodys organs to suddenly shut downwhich a still-woozy Deltoro said set off a panic attack as he was rushed to a Dallas emergency room.

I havent seen that much blood since Fallujah, said Deltoro, who served in the Persian Gulf War and the Iraq War before retiring from the service. It was scary.

Deltoros injuries, which came at the hands of 39-year-old Devon Nicholsonknown professionally as the Blood Hunter and Hannibalrequired seven staples and emergency surgery to repair a severed artery in his skull. Deltoro said he was told he lost close to three pints of blood.

The gruesome assault occurred in the aftermath of a match in the Christmas Star Wars series, an event annually hosted by indie promotion World Class Pro Wrestling.

Deltoro, who is going on 50, said he grew up attending Christmas Star Wars in the 1980s with his uncle and parents. But after his wife died in July, he decided to take a break from the wrestling scene. However, when World Class Pro Wrestling asked him to ref the bout last Saturday, he reluctantly said yes.

Recovering at home, still a big fuzzy and pain, yes lots of pain. But Ill live. Thanks you all for out pouring of love and support .

I am a firm believer that if you put good out into the world, good will return to you #downbutnotout pic.twitter.com/0bE71rWbtP  Lando Deltoro Gods perfect idiot (@Elcucuyfeo) December 13, 2021

Because it was an actual paid gig, with Christmas coming up, I needed money for Christmas, Deltoro explained. So thats why I decided to do it. Because mentally, I dont think I was ready. Emotionally, I dont think I was ready. But you know, you buck up and you do the job, adding, It was kind of full circle for me.

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He said he was paid $75 for the night, but asked for an additional $125 after his hospitalization.

The agreement Deltoro worked out before the match was that Nicholson was going to hit me with a spike. Deltoro would then surreptitiously blade himself with a razor, a time-honored pro wrestling move also known as also known as juicing, gigging, and getting color.

A proper blading requires three things, according to Deltoro: Aspirin, preferably a shot of whiskeyto thin your bloodand you also need sweat, to mix in with the blood, to make it look like youre bleeding profusely. Well, I hadnt worked [yet] at all that night, so I wasnt sweating.

Deltoro said the plan was for him to go down, blade, and then roll out and just wobble off. I guess I didnt blade hard enough to his liking.

However, Deltoro claimed he couldnt find Nicholson before showtime.

He was not around, and normally, as a ref, I like to talk to the people Im working with to get an idea what they want, exactly where they want me, and how we're going to do this, Deltoro said.

In video footage taken on Saturday night, horrified audience members can be seen screaming at the 280-pound Nicholson to stop as blood flows down Deltoros head and face.

Blaze, Nicholsons girlfriend who also works as a manager for Great North Wrestlinga Canadian promotion company owned by Nicholsonclimbed into the ring and attempted, unsuccessfully, to pull Nicholson away from Deltoro.

Another match official, Colby Cowperthwaite, finally grabbed Deltoros legs and pulled him to safety. Paramedics were called, and Deltoro was taken to Parkland Hospital.

Cowperthwaite took to Reddit after the event to allege that something was off with Nicholson that night.

Bloodhunter went totally off the hinges and refused to listen to me, he wrote. He tore the other referee up, then hid the weapon he used to do it.

Cowperthwaite said that Nicholson had stumbled and meandered on his way into the ring. The wrestler allegedly fought to keep his balance as he climbed up on the turnbuckles to taunt the crowd.

The Tragic End to Wrestlings First Great Madman

A day after the incident, World Class Pro Wrestling CEO Jerry Bostic said Nicholson had been banned from the promotion.

World Class, moving forward, will not be associated with Devon Nicholson in any way, shape, form, or fashion, he said in a video statement. I cannot, will not, condone what happened last night. I didnt see the actual incident. I didnt see anything until I came out and Lando was laying on the ground and it was one of the most horrifying things Ive ever seen.

On Monday, Nicholson uploaded a video to YouTube, insisting hed been the one to end his relationship with World Class Pro Wrestling, not the other way around.

After he sent an email to Bostic saying that it would be best for him to focus on running my own company in Canada for now, he said Bostic put out a video two or three hours later claiming they were the one ending it.

It was actually me, he repeated, adding later that he thought the World Class Pro Wrestling team were scumbags for trying to say they fired me, when I clearly quit.

Nicholson said Deltoro had been hired because he was a bleeder, and that Deltoro had not worked any other matches on the card that night. His sole purpose of why he was hired was to bleed, Nicholson said.

Nicholson said hed never seen or handled the spike prop before it was handed to him by someone in the ring.

Apparently it was the actual spike that was used with Dusty Rhodes and Kevin Sullivan in the 80s, he said.

Nicholson claimed he thought the bottom of his hand had been covering the spike. Deltoro gave zero indication to me in the ring that he wasnt just selling, and [was] legitimately hurt. He never said, Stop. He never said, No.

However, Deltoro took issue with Nicholsons assertion that he could have stopped the attack at any time.

Its kind of hard to say stop or talk when there is the knee of a 300-pound man on your back, jabbing you in the head with a spike and then at the same time he turns around and chokes you and is jabbing you, he told The Daily Beast. So as far as me giving no indication that he was hurting me, I couldnt because I was starting to pass out.

Nicholson called Deltoro after he got out of surgery to apologize, according to Deltoro.

He asked for forgiveness, said Deltoro, who described himself as a devout Christian. I forgave him I dont want anything bad to happen to the guy. If the man has demons, if the man has problems, I want him to get help. I want him to be more safe in the ring.

Deltoro said his pillow was still covered in pus and blood when he woke up on Tuesday. No charges will be filed, said Deltoro, explaining that the police took a report but have already closed the case.

In a months time, Deltoro will be tested for Hepatitis C, as Nicholson infamously contracted the viral infection during a bloody bout in 2007 with Larry Shreve, or Abdullah the Butcher, a WWE Hall of Famer ironically known for his excessive use of blading.

I am 90 percent sure I dont have it, Deltoro said. Because [Nicholson] wasnt bleeding when I was in the ring with him But at the same time, you know, theres that 10 percent. You want to be absolutely sure.

A GoFundMe campaign to help Deltoro with his medical bills has raised a little more than $4,700 as of Tuesday afternoon.

I was hired to do a job and it went off-script, Deltoro said. It went way off-script.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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In the year since hundreds of rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol causing over a million dollars' worth of damage, nine people with Indiana ties have been arrested and charged in the Jan. 6, 2021 attack.

Two of them have made history in the ongoing prosecution. A Bloomington woman became the first person sentenced for her role in the insurrection and a guitarist from Columbus was the first person charged in the attack to enter a plea.

The nine Hoosiers are in various stages in their court cases. Here are the statuses for all of them:

Dona Sue Bissey

From: Bloomfield

Status of case: U.S. Judge Tanya S. Chutkan sentenced Bissey on Oct. 12 to two weeks incarceration, 60 hours of community service and a $500 fine after Bissey pleaded guilty to parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building.

Bisseys Facebook posts led to her arrest and criminal charges alleging her involvement in the Capitol attack, records show.

Agents arrested Bissey late February after witnesses submitted tips to law enforcement showing her posts and photos inside the Capitol on Facebook.

Bissey told Facebook friends she had to pick glass out of her purse after entering the building, court records show. She called Jan. 6 the "Best (expletive) day ever!!"

Another witness told investigators that Bissey often talked about her support for QAnon conspiracy theories at her now-shuttered hair salon in Indianapolis.

She faced federal charges of entering and remaining in a restricted building, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building, violent entry and disorderly conduct in a Capitol building, parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building.

Bissey on July 19 said in federal court that she will agree to plead guilty to one charge of parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building. Judge Chutkan bucked the recommended sentence of probation and ordered Bissey to 14 days of incarceration. Bissey was told she could turn herself in after Jan. 1, 2022.

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Related: FBI arrests two Indiana women in connection with Capitol riot

Kash Lee Kelly

From: Hammond

Status of case: Hearings in this case continue to be delayed. The next one is scheduled for Jan. 21, 2022.

Kelly was already in legal trouble before federal prosecutors alleged his participation in the Capitol insurrection.

The Hammond man faced a drug charge that predated the Capitol riot and related to his time as a Latin King gang member, the Chicago Tribune reported. Authorities later became aware of his federal charges of knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority; violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.

Court records show Kelly posted photos of himself climbing a wall at the Capitol with a US flag. In one caption, he wrote, the day we let the Traitors who constantly push the divide in OUR country know that we are done playing their games.

The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana judge presiding over Kelly's narcotics case sentenced Kelly in February to four years in prison for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine and marijuana, while noting his displeasure with Kellys Capitol charges.

Mark Mazza

From: Shelbyville

Status of case: Mazza's first appearance in court was Nov. 18. Federal agents arrested him in his Shelbyville home. He's been charged with illegal possession of a firearm on Capitol grounds, civil disorder and assaulting, resisting or impeding certain officers with a dangerous weapon in connection with the Jan. 6 riot.

Agents in court documents said police retrieved Mazza's gun on Capitol grounds that day, which they traced and linked to him. Video footage also showed him among the crowd trying to break into the West Front Terrace, holding the door open for rioters and swinging a baton at police.

Mazza reported the gun stolen to Shelbyville police two days after the Capitol breach, claiming it was taken from his car at a Hard Rock casino in Ohio.

'The charges are extremely serious': Latest Hoosier Capitol rioter's case shocks judge

Anna Morgan-Lloyd

From: Bloomington

Status of case: Sentenced to probation

Morgan-Lloyd traveled to D.C. with Bissey on Jan. 6 to attend Trumps rally, federal prosecutors said.

The FBI arrested Morgan-Lloyd after a Greene County Sheriffs Office employee notified the authorities when she attempted to obtain a gun permit weeks after the attack and recognized her from Facebook posts showing her involvement that day.

Morgan-Lloyd agreed to plead guilty to parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building, a federal misdemeanor.

In her plea, Morgan-Lloyd wrote she felt ashamed the rally for Trump that day turned violent, and realized her participation likely fueled the ones who were violent to continue rioting.

For that I am sorry and take responsibility, she wrote. It was never my intent to help empower people to act violently.

Morgan-Lloyd said shes since learned by watching movies and reading books recommended by her attorney, such as Schindlers List and Just Mercy.

U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth on June 23 accepted the plea and sentenced her to three years of probation, a $500 fine and 40 hours of community service.

Related: Indiana woman to plead guilty in Capitol riot wrote reports on 'Schindler's List,' more

Jonathan Ace Sanders Sr.

From: Vincennes

Status of case: Sentenced to three years of probation Nov. 4 after pleading guilty to parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building.

It wasn't social media posts or photos that turned law enforcement on to Jonathan Ace Sanders for entering the Capitol building Jan. 6. His criminal investigation started at a bakery in Vincennes, Indiana.

Six days after the Capitol riot, the FBI received a tip from someone they believe was Sanders' coworker at Lewis Bakery. The person said Sanders bragged to them about being just 70 feet away from where Ashli Babbitt was fatally shot by Capitol police inside the federal building.

On Jan. 14, law enforcement visited Lewis Bakery and interviewed Sanders. He admitted to traveling to Washington, D.C. on Jan. 5 with two friends to attend the "Stop the Steal" rally. He also admitted to entering the Capitol building and documenting the rotunda area with photo and video.

When shown a still image from surveillance footage taken inside the Capitol building, a witness who attended the rally with Sanders told law enforcement that he believed he saw Sanders among the mass of people in the still image. "It looked like Ace," the witness said, using Sanders' middle name.

Sanders was arrested in Vincennes on May 25. He was charged in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia with entering and remaining in a restricted building, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building, violent entry and disorderly conduct in a Capitol building and parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building.

In November, he was sentenced to three years of probation.

More: Vincennes man gets 3 years probation for trespassing at Capitol on Jan. 6

Jon Ryan Schaffer

From: Columbus

Status of case: Pleaded guilty to two charges, both felonies. Sentencing hearing has not yet been scheduled.

Jon Ryan Schaffer turned himself in to the FBI over 10 days after the riot. The Columbus native and former heavy metal guitarist of the band Iced Earth was photographed inside the Capitol arguing with police and holding a can of bear spray, a pepper-based irritant.

Schaffer initially faced six charges, including engaging in an act of physical violence in a Capitol building, knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority, disrupting the orderly conduct of government business, violent entry and disorderly conduct in a Capitol building, engaging in an act of physical violence in a Capitol building, and demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building.

Schaffer pleaded guilty to two of the charges against him, both felonies, that carry up to 30 years in prison. He became the first U.S. Capitol defendant to enter a plea.

In his plea, Schaffer admitted to being one of the founders of the Oath Keepers, a right-wing militia group that describes itself as a non-partisan association of current and formerly serving military, police and first responders.

Federal prosecutors are pursuing conspiracy cases involving members of the Oath Keepers connected with the Jan. 6 attack, believing the group pre-planned the riot to disrupt Congress certification of election votes.

Schaffer is not charged in the Justice Departments conspiracy case against the organization. The court sealed records of his arraignment and plea hearing on April 16 to allot his attorney and federal prosecutors 90 days to redact any part of his transcript before it became public.

A sentencing hearing for Schaffer has not yet been scheduled.

Related: Indiana native, Iced Earth guitarist Jon Schaffer, who stormed U.S. Capitol pleads guilty

Israel Tutrow

From: Greenfield

Status of case: Sentenced on Dec. 21 to three years of probation after pleading guilty to one charge of parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building.

FBI agents arrested Tutrow the day after Wagner turned himself in to federal authorities.

Photos of Tutrow began circulating after the insurrection, showing him wearing a black beanie hat with TRUMP lettering. Court records allege the Greenfield man could be seen moving from inside to outside the U.S. Capitol.

A witness told investigators that Tutrow said he felt sick with anxiety following the riot.

He originally pleaded not guilty on May 3 to all four charges: knowingly entering a restricted building, disorderly conduct that impedes the conduct of government business, disruptive conduct in a Capitol building and parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building.

He later entered a plea agreement for the last charge.

On Dec. 21 U.S. Judge Amy Jackson ordered Tutrow to three years of probation and a $500 fine toward rebuilding the Capitol.

Related: Two Central Indiana men plead not guilty to federal charges in Capitol insurrection

Antony Vo

From: Bloomington

Status of case: Pleaded not guilty to four counts. Status hearing scheduled for March 2.

As chaos unfurled inside the U.S. Capitol building on Jan. 6, former Indiana University student Antony Vo looked at peace  happy, even  as he stood alongside a woman law enforcement believe is his mother and posed for a photo that was later circulated by members of his college fraternity.

"My mom and I helped stop the vote count for a bit," Vo wrote to a friend through social media.

A Donald Trump supporter who witnesses say leans libertarian and engages in conspiracy theories, Vo allegedly entered the U.S. Capitol building illegally Jan. 6 after attending the pro-Trump "Stop the Steal" rally that took place the same day in Washington, D.C., according to court documents.

He was arrested on July 21 in Bloomington.

On Aug. 10 he pleaded not guilty to four federal charges in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia: entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly conduct in a Capitol building and parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building.

Vo is out on personal recognizance. His next court appearance is scheduled March 2.

'I helped stop the vote': Bloomington man charged in Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol riot

Joshua Wagner

From: Indianapolis

Status of case: Wagner pleaded guilty in November to parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol Building. Scheduled to be sentenced in February.

Joshua Wagner, of Indianapolis, turned himself in to law enforcement after witnesses said he became very scared and worried once the FBI published his photo on a wanted poster, becoming the second Hoosier taken into custody for storming the Capitol.

Investigators in court records said witnesses told them Wagner picked up Israel Tutrow, another defendant, around 2 a.m. Jan. 6 to drive to Washington for what initially began as a rally for then-President Donald Trump.

Photographs showing both Wagner and Tutrow inside the Capitol emerged the following days. Wagner is shown wearing a red beanie hat with TRUMP stitched in white lettering.

Wagner pleaded not guilty May 3 to charges of knowingly entering a restricted building, disorderly conduct that impedes the conduct of government business, disruptive conduct in the Capitol buildings and parading, demonstrating, or picketing in the Capitol buildings.

Wagner is out on personal recognizance.

Related: Two Central Indiana men plead not guilty to federal charges in Capitol insurrection

IndyStar reporter Lawrence Andrea contributed to this report.

Contact Sarah Nelson at sarah.nelson@indystar.com or 317-503-7514.

Call IndyStar courts reporter Johnny Magdaleno at 317-273-3188 or email him at jmagdaleno@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @IndyStarJohnny

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Capitol riot: See status of Indiana residents who faced charges
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Three children from an Amish community have been orphaned by the tornado that ravaged Mayfield, Kentucky, over the weekend, their mother found dead not far from where her surviving infant was found crying in shock.

Neighbors of Jacob and Emma Gingerich described making the harrowing discovery in interviews with The Washington Post.

Chris Crawford said hed ventured out to check on the Gingerichs shortly after the roaring winds had died down Friday night, when he heard the sound of a baby crying.

The spot where their double-wide trailer had been was now empty, he said, with one neighbor later saying it had just literally exploded.

Their 8-year-old son, Ammon, was found standing where the home used to be with no shoes on, crying, while his 3-year-old sister was caught under some debris nearby, but alive.

Crawford said he then followed the sound of the baby screaming to find the couples infant son, Ben, clad only in a diaper and laying not far from the wreckage.

The kids were said to be bruised up some but otherwise fine, according to Jacobs father, Abe Gingerich.

Searchers would find the bodies of Jacob and Emma Gingerich a few hours later, along with a red blanket that authorities believe Emma had been using to hold her baby when the tornado struck.

She was discovered a short distance from where the baby was found laying on the ground, crying. Jacob Gingerich was found about 20 yards from where the home had been, caught underneath the frame of the trailer.

The 7-year-old daughter, Marilyn, was also found deceased at the scene, along with 4-year-old Daniel.

With Kentuckys death toll at 74 as authorities continue recovery efforts, the Gingerich family was not the only one hit by the massive twister. More than a dozen children have been named among the tornados victims, devastating entire families from Kentucky to Missouri to Tennessee.

In Dawson Springs, about 70 miles from Mayfield, a 2-month-old girl appears to have become the states youngest victim of the tornado.

Story continues

Oaklynn Charleigh Koon was hospitalized after the tornado blew through her home late Friday, with her family crediting the fact that she had been in her car seat for her survival. But she later succumbed to her injuries, her family announced Monday on Facebook.

At least I know who will be watching over you up there for me. My dad. God this doesnt seem real, Douglas Koon wrote, alongside a photo of the 2-month-olds tiny hand.

In Bowling Green, 11 of the 15 people killed were from the same two familiesand seven of them were kids.

Our community took a hard hit, Warren County Coroner Kevin Kirby said while identifying the victims Monday.

The dead were identified as 36-year-old Rachel Brown; 35-year-old Steven Brown; 16-year-old Nariah Cayshelle Brown; 4-year-old Nyles Brown; and Nolynn Brown, who was described as a child but whose age was not specified.

The Browns lived on the same street as a Bosnian family who lost several members in the storm. Alisa Besic was killed along with Selmir Besic and Elma Besic, both described as children. Samantha and Alma Besic, both infants, were also named among the dead.

The outbreak of tornadoes also claimed lives in Illinois, where six people died when an Amazon distribution center took a direct hit, and Missouri, where a 9-year-old girl was among the victims. Annistyn Rackley took shelter in a bathtub along with her two sisters and parents, but the family was carried through the air by the tornado, and the third-grader did not survive, the AP reports.

There were also fatalities in Arkansas and Tennessee, where a father and his 12-year-old son were among the victims. Steve and Grayson Gunn were killed while on a hunting trip in Tiptonville; Steves brother-in-law, Jamie, remains missing.

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Commentators seek strategic reasons behind the decision of the President of France to pay a visit to Hungary.

Mr Macron is on a tour of the countries of the region, and apart from meeting Prime Minister Viktor Orban, and the other three Prime Ministers at the Visegrad summit, his schedule also included a meeting with the leaders of the opposition.



On Mandiner, Levente Laszlo Greczula remarks that despite the obvious differences of opinion between Prime Minister Orban and President Macron, the two leaders have points in common, including their positive stance on nuclear energy.



The same applies to the Visegrad group as a whole, he adds. Commenting on Emmanuel Macrons meetings with opposition politicians, Greczula has no doubts about whom the French leader would prefer to come out victorious from next Aprils elections in Hungary.



On 24.hu, Eszter Petronella Sos points out that both leaders will face elections in four months time, and believes that both consider their meeting in Budapest as important for their campaigns. For the Hungarian Prime Minister, the visit by the President of France disproves the opposition argument that the Hungarian government has become unpresentable in the eyes of European leaders.



For Mr Macron, on the other hand, active diplomacy is vital to a plan to frame himself as the number one leader of Europe after Angela Merkel went into retirement.



This opinion does not necessarily represent the views of XpatLoop.com or the publisher.

Your opinions are welcome too - for editorial review before possible publication online.

Click here to Share Your Story





MTI / PM's press office photo: Zoltan Fischer
Jammu: Five people, including four women, were killed and three others injured on Tuesday when a private passenger vehicle veered off the road and plunged into a deep gorge in Ramban district of Jammu and Kashmir, officials said.

The vehicle was carrying mourners who were returning after attending the last rites of Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) of J-K Police Ghulam Hassan who along with two junior colleagues was killed in a terrorist attack on the outskirts of Srinagar on Monday evening.

The accident took place on a link road near Chuchaiter village, connecting Rajgarh with Ramban district headquarters on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway, Deputy Commissioner, Ramban, Masrat-ul-Islam told PTI.

He said the driver lost control as a result of which the vehicle rolled down several hundred feet into Chimotri nallah, resulting in the on-the-spot death of five persons and injuries to three others.

One of the injured was shifted to district hospital Ramban, while two others are undergoing treatment at a nearby health facility, Islam said.

He said the deceased were relatives of ASI Ghulam Hassan and were returning to their Topneel village of Doda district after attending his last rites which were performed with state honours at his Chillai-Bartund village.

The deputy commissioner himself had attended the funeral and rushed to the scene of the accident to monitor the rescue operation, officials said.

They said four of the deceased are women and the identity of the deceased was awaited.

ASI Hassan, constables Shafeeq Ali and Rameez Ahmad of 9th Battalion, Jammu and Kashmir Armed Police, were killed when terrorists attacked their bus in the Zewan area of Panthachowk on the outskirts of Srinagar.

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Bhopal: Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) Gen Bipin Rawat's brother-in-law Yash Vardhan Singh on Tuesday alleged that on the day when the last rites of the top military officer were performed, some samadhis and trees located in the premises of his in-law's residence were destroyed for the national highway construction work in Shahdol in Madhya Pradesh on the orders of the Government of India.

The family of General Rawat's wife Madhulika Rawat, who was also killed in the chopper crash along with her husband and 11 others, all from the armed forces, in Tamil Nadu on December 8, hails from Sohagpur town in the Shahdol district, some 490 km away from the Madhya Pradesh capital.

After Yash Vardhan Singh raised this allegation in a Facebook post, Shahdol district collector Vandana Vaidya said the road construction work had been stopped till the family's return from New Delhi. She said the family was already paid the compensation for the acquired land.

In his Facebook post, Yash Vardhan Singh wrote, "Taking advantage of the situation on the day when last rites of my brother-in-law General Bipin Rawat and sister Madhulika Rawat were being performed, the Samadhis and trees in the premises of our personal residence were destroyed for the construction of national highway in Shahdol on the orders of Government of India."

Seeking justice, Yash Wardhan Singh also claimed that the local police were told to register a case in the event of the family's interference in this work.

In a statement, the district collector said 0.838 hectares of land owned by (Yash Vardhan) Singh was acquired for the construction of the national highway (No 43) in Sohagpur in 2015 and he was paid Rs 2.14 crore as compensation.

The notification for the acquisition of .056 hectares of land for the slip road of this national highway has been issued, she said.

"I talked to Yash Vardhan Singh and got the spot inspected by officials. Samadhi was displaced somewhere else earlier and at that place, the construction of the road is in an advanced stage," she said.

Vaidya said that Yash Vardhan Singh was saying that he didn't get the compensation for the trees and represented the case in SDM court through his lawyer.

"We have stopped the road construction work in that part. I have told him that we will hear their case after return from Delhi and sort it out," she said.

READ | Derogatory comments about Gen Bipin Rawat lead to arrests in MP, Gujarat

India's first chief of defence staff and his wife Madhulika were cremated with full military honours at the Brar Square crematorium in Delhi Cantonment on December 10.

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New Delhi: Parliament has passed a bill to extend the tenure of the director of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to a maximum of five years from the present two years.

Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh moved 'The Delhi Special Police Establishment (Amendment) Bill, 2021' for consideration in Rajya Sabha on Tuesday amidst a walkout by the opposition over the suspension of their 12 members.

The bill was later passed in the Upper House by a voice vote.

Lok Sabha had already cleared the bill on December 3, 2021.

While moving the Bill, Singh said the government is working to check corruption and to ensure and enhance transparency.

In recent years, he said, the nation is faced with the triple menace of corruption, black money and international crime that is linked to drug trafficking, terrorism and criminal offences and all these are a threat to the security and financial structure of the country.

The methodology of crime has changed and is highly sophisticated and structured which makes crime investigation a far more difficult task, he said, stressing that the bill will help maintain the pace of probe.

"These amendments have been brought in also because the financial action task force, which India is a member country, also expects us to improve the resources for financial crime investigation and the international crime," he said.

In India, the tenure of the director CBI was fixed for two years.

"I think, contrary to the popular impression that has gone to certain quarters, the amendment does not seek to increase the tenure rather it seeks to put an embargo on the tenure of five years. The existing law under the DSP Act provides for tenure not more than two years," Singh said.

The government is suggesting a tenure of not more than five years, making it more institutionalised and streamlined and democratised, Singh added.

The minister underscored that each one-year extension of tenure will have a reason put on record and "we will go through the same selection process''.

During his speech, Singh was interrupted by the opposition members, who were protesting against the suspension of 12 members.

Earlier, the Minister of State of Parliamentary Affairs V Muraleedharan proposed for a joint debate on The Delhi Special Police Establishment (Amendment) Bill, 2021 and The Central Vigilance Commission (Amendment) Bill, 2021.

"We may combine the two and have a discussion together," Muraleedharan.

However, it was opposed by several members following which Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh Narayan Singh decided to take them separately.

Days before the winter session of Parliament, the government had last month issued two ordinances extending the tenures of the chief of the CBI and ED and has now brought bills to replace them.

Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge (Cong) asked the Chair to revoke the suspension and allow the 12 suspended members to participate in the debate. He was also supported by other opposition leaders including DMK's Tiruchi Siva.

However, it was not allowed following which most of the opposition members walked out of the upper house.

Initiating the debate, D P Vats of the BJP praised the government's performance in tackling corruption and said India's world ranking has also improved in this regard.

He said that the government's proposal for extension of tenure is for stability and proper regulation. Across the world, the tenures of chiefs of such agencies are also quite long, he contended.

Amar Patnaik of BJD, M Thambidurai of AIADMK and Ram Nath Thakur of JD(U) also spoke.

"The relevance of head of the crime or investigation agency is that many-a-times quite a lot of information is privy only to him in person. So if in the middle of an important case if you change the head of the agency, others may not be able to carry it forward in the same tone ...," Singh said in his reply to the discussion.

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New Delhi: Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain on Tuesday (December 14, 2021) informed that four new cases of Omicron have been reported in the national capital.

All the four people have a travel history to foreign countries.

The Omicron variant of the coronavirus has not spread in the community so far and the situation is under control, Jain said.

With this, the total number of cases of the new COVID-19 variant in Delhi has increased to six.

Jain added that currently, 35 COVID-19 positive patients and three suspected cases of Omicron are admitted to the Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan (LNJP) Hospital.

Earlier in the day, officials said that Delhi's first patient of the Omicron variant, a 37-year-old man, was discharged from the LNJP Hospital.

The man, a resident of Ranchi, had travelled from Tanzania to Doha and from there, to Delhi on a Qatar Airways flight on December 2. He stayed in Johannesburg in South Africa for a week and had mild symptoms.

The LNJP hospital, notably, has been designated for treating patients infected with the new Omicron variant of COVID-19.

A 35-year-old man with a travel history to Zimbabwe and South Africa had also tested positive for Omicron, becoming the second patient in the national capital to get infected with the new variant.

Live TV
The omicron variant appears to cause less severe disease than previous versions of the coronavirus, and the Pfizer vaccine seems to offer less defense against infection from it but still good protection from hospitalisation, according to an analysis of data from South Africa, where the new variant is driving a surge in infections. The findings released Tuesday are preliminary and have not been peer-reviewed 'the gold standard in scientific research' but they line up with other early data about omicron's behaviour, including that it seems to be more easily transmitted.

Still, some experts cautioned that it's too soon to draw conclusions about the outcomes from omicron since the variant is still quite new and hospitalisations can lag weeks behind infections.

People who received two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine appeared to have just 33% protection against infection, compared to those who were unvaccinated, during South Africa's current omicron-fuelled wave, but 70% protection against hospitalisation, according to an analysis conducted by Discovery Health, South Africa's largest private health insurer, and the South African Medical Research Council.

The study did not look at booster shots, which are not yet prevalent in South Africa but which data from elsewhere has indicated improves protection.

The analysis in South Africa was based on examining more than 211,000 COVID-19 test results that date from Sept 1 to Dec 7, 41% of which were for adults who had received two doses of the Pfizer vaccine, which is the most commonly used one in South Africa.

The study split the samples up into two periods: those taken before Oct 31, when omicron was likely not very prevalent in South Africa, and those from after Nov 15 when it was gaining ground. The latter group was used as a proxy for measuring the effects of the omicron variant.

Experts now say that omicron accounts for more than 90% of all new infections in South Africa, according to Discovery Health chief executive Dr Ryan Noach, and it is also picking up steam in other countries.

Researchers around the world are rushing to figure out what the variant will mean for the coronavirus pandemic now well into its second year. More information came Tuesday from Pfizer, which announced that its experimental pill to treat COVID-19 'separate from it its vaccine' appears effective against omicron.

In the weeks since the variant was detected, South Africa has experienced rapid spread of the virus concentrated in its most populous province, Gauteng. The seven-day rolling average of daily new cases in the country rose over the past two weeks from 8.07 new cases per 100,000 people on Nov 29 to 34.37 new cases per 100,000 people on Dec 13, according to Johns Hopkins University. The death rate hasn't increased during that same period.

Many are now looking to South Africa for clues about what the world could be in for.

"The omicron-driven fourth wave has a significantly steeper trajectory of new infections relative to prior waves. National data show an exponential increase in both new infections and test positivity rates during the first three weeks of this wave, indicating a highly transmissible variant with rapid community spread of infection," Noach said.

Although case numbers are rising, hospital admissions for adults diagnosed with COVID-19 are 29% lower compared to the wave that South Africa experienced in mid-2020, after adjusting for vaccination status, according to the analysis.

It shows that people who received two doses of the Pfizer vaccine had 33% protection against infection in the first weeks of South Africa's current omicron-driven wave. That's a significant drop from the 80% protection against infection afforded during earlier periods.

In addition, the study showed that people fully vaccinated with Pfizer had 70% protection against hospital admission during the omicron surge. That's a drop from the 93% protection seen in South Africa's delta-driven wave.

The study indicated significant protection against hospital admission even among older age groups, with 67% in people aged 60 to 69 and 60% for people aged 70 to 79.

But some say there's still not enough data to draw broad conclusions about hospitalizations and the severity of disease caused by omicron.

"Their analyses covers just three weeks of data. Thus, it is important to avoid inferring too much right now," Dr Michael Head, Senior Research Fellow in Global Health, University of Southampton, wrote of the study.

Although South Africa's findings indicate that omicron may cause milder disease, reports from Denmark show the opposite, he wrote. There are many variables that can affect the findings, including any previous infection, potentially waning immunity and the age range of people infected so far.

"Is omicron milder, or more severe than delta," asked Head. "Time will tell. The world's finest scientists, including many in the global south such as in South Africa, will find out. For now, national-level decision-makers have to consider that discretion is the better part of valour."

READ | Omicron threat gets bigger, WHO worried about death numbers

The South African analysis supports an earlier assessment by UK authorities.

The UK Health Security Agency said Friday that new data from the UK confirm that omicron is more easily transmissible than other variants. Other studies suggest that both the AstraZeneca and Pfizer vaccines are less effective in preventing symptomatic infections in people exposed to omicron, though preliminary data show that effectiveness appears to rise to between 70% and 75% after a third booster dose.

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New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi spent two days in Varanasi. During this time, the country saw him bathing in Ganga wearing saffron clothes, heard him chant Har Har Mahadev in the temple, and saw him participate in the Ganga Aarti. He did not hesitate to tell the world that he is a Hindu and a follower of Hindutva.

Zee News Editor-in-Chief Sudhir Chaudhary discussed how PM Modi owned saffron pride in Kashi Vishwanath during his two-day visit.

PM Modi donned a saffron outfit as he bathed in Ganga in Varanasi. UP CM Yogi Adityanath was also, as usual, wearing saffron. The two leaders sent a clear message that there is no shame in wearing saffron clothes. They showed that one can be a good PM or CM whilst wearing saffron clothes.

PM Modi did it to show that one should be proud of their heritage and to stress the importance of preserving the cultural heritage. Earlier, no Prime Minister used to openly boast that he is a Hindu. They were hesitant to talk about their religion.

In the US, this was never an issue. When Joe Biden became the President of America this year, he took the oath by placing his hand on a 128-year-old Bible. This, despite the constitution of America does not ask one to take oath by placing hands on the Bible. This is a kind of political tradition which was started in the year 1789 by the first President of America, George Washington.

Imagine if in India, a prime minister takes oath of office and secrecy by placing his hand on Ramcharit Manas instead of the constitution. Such an act would be considered against the fundamentals of the Constitution and it would be termed as a communal act. However, when the same thing happens in America, no one has any objection to it.

Many of the leaders of our country, who call themselves Hindus, are in fact reluctant Hindus. These leaders never openly talked about their religion. There is a political reason behind it. They believe that doing so would hurt them politically.

Narendra Modi is the first Prime Minister of the country, who has shown that one does not need to be defensive about their religion. Modi doesnt hesitate in stating his religion. He feels proud to call himself Hindu and a Hindutvawadi.

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Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir National Conference Vice President Omar Abdullah on Tuesday (December 14) said that peace in Kashmir remains as elusive as ever with the footprints of security personnel increasing and new security bunkers being constructed across Srinagar.

While addressing a workers convention at the district headquarters of the party in central Kashmir's Ganderbal district he said, Post abrogation of Article 370, we were told that peace will return to J&K. However, the situation on the ground completely belies that claim. In the last 24 hours, we witnessed an encounter in Rangreth, an ambush on J&K police personnel which resulted in the unfortunate killing of three policemen and injuries to scores.

He said that the incumbent administration has failed to give a sense of security to the people. "Let alone pulling up the projected dawn of development, employment extravaganza and investment, the GoI has failed to give a sense of security to our people," he said.

Praising party President Farooq Abdullah for uniting the mainstream political parties in Jammu and Kashmir, Omar said that NC is not running after power and that the PAGD alliance has been formed to keep those parties and individuals who are playing into the hands of BJP and RSS at bay.

"The Centre has always tried to weaken the voices from Jammu and Kashmir. These people from Delhi never spared any tactics to weaken us. Mushrooming of some individual-based parties from every street of Kashmir is only aimed to divide our voice. The Centre has, time and again, tried to weaken our voice. We were divided and they succeeded in fulfilling their plot. Our voice weakened and they snatched from us our identity, he said.

He added, "Not even a brick has been moved. There has been no headway in developing more travel destinations, augmenting infrastructure and perking up public utility services. Every single project, be it a major or minor one, has been put into deep cold storage.
Surat: A 42-year-old man from Surat who recently returned from South Africa tested positive for the Omicron variant of coronavirus on Monday, making him the first such case from Surat and fourth in Gujarat, a health department official said.

Earlier, three cases of the Omicron variant infection were reported from Jamnagar in Gujarat, including a 72-year-old NRI man who had returned from Zimbabwe, his wife and brother-in-law.

The 42-year-old patient found infected with the Omicron strain is a businessman based in Surat.

"He had arrived at Delhi airport from South Africa via Kenya and Abu Dhabi on December 3. He had tested negative for coronavirus," deputy Municipal Commissioner, Health, Ashish Naik said.

He again tested negative on December 4.

"After he was hospitalised briefly for isolation here, he tested positive for coronavirus on December 8, following which we sent his sample for genome sequencing. He was detected with the Omicron variant on Monday," Naik said.

The patient is under treatment in home isolation, the official said, adding that all his relatives and all the four co-passengers have tested negative for coronavirus.

Live TV
New Delhi: India on Monday voted against a largely western attempt to rush climate change issue at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), questioning the need for the resolution when the issue is already being dealt with under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

The UNFCC, notably, is a larger platform to discuss the climate issue and has 197 countries as parties to it as compared to 15 at the council.

The resolution which was eventually not adopted was jointly presented by Niger, which is the president of the body for this month and Ireland and backed by the United States, United Kingdom and the European Union.

In the explanation voted by Indian envoy to United Nations, TS Tirumurti said, "India is second to none when it comes to climate action and climate justice. But the UN Security Council is not the place to discuss either issue. In fact, the attempt to do so appears to be motivated by a desire to evade responsibility in the appropriate forum and divert the worlds attention from an unwillingness to deliver where it counts."

The resolution was seen amid a western attempt to evade its responsibility on climate finance responsibility, which has been dominating the climate debate, especially at the recently concluded Glasgow climate summit.

The Indian envoy highlighted, "Developed countries must provide climate finance of $1 trillion at the earliest. It is necessary that climate finance be tracked with the same diligence as climate mitigation. And the reality, Mr President, is that the developed countries have fallen well short of their promises. This is particularly important to recognise because todays attempt to link climate with security really seeks to obfuscate lack of progress on critical issues under the UNFCCC process."

Delighted to be a part of annual family picture of @UN Security Council members with UN Secretary General @antonioguterres We also bid goodbye to our dear friends & colleagues from Niger, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Vietnam & Estonia, who are leaving Council this year end pic.twitter.com/HQBKhqlpkv  PR/Amb T S Tirumurti (@ambtstirumurti) December 14, 2021

At the high table, out of the 15 countries, 12 supported it, two including India and Russia voted against it and China abstained from voting.

Russian veto led to the resolution not being adopted.

Interestingly, this was the first usage of a veto by any permanent member of the council this year and despite 12 voting in support, all was not picture perfect. Three countries of the council including France (a permanent UNSC member), Kenya and Vietnam did not co-sponsor it.

Essentially three Asian members of the council had no enthusiasm for it as India voted against it, China abstained and Vietnam did not co-sponsor.

Envoy Tirumurti pointed to the "manner in which this issue has been brought before the Council" and highlighted, "Honest answer is that there is no real requirement for this resolution, except for the purpose of bringing climate change under the ambit of the Security Council. And the reason for that is now decisions can then be taken without the involvement of most developing countries and without recognizing consensus. And all this can be done in the name of preserving international peace and security."

He added, "Many of the UNSC members are the main contributors of climate change due to historical emissions. If the Security Council indeed takes over the responsibility on this issue, a few states will then have a free hand in deciding on all climate-related issues. This is clearly neither desirable nor acceptable."

#IndiainUNSC Today, India voted against a #UNSC draft resolution that attempted to securitize climate action and undermine the hard-won consensual agreements in Glasgow. Watch Explanation of Vote by Permanent Representative @ambtstirumurti pic.twitter.com/jXMLA7lHnM  India at UN, NY (@IndiaUNNewYork) December 13, 2021

The US and China, both permanent members of the UNSC, are the top two emitters globally.

Before the resolution was taken up, attempts were made to defuse the situation. Russia, India and China had suggested a presidential statement on Sahel and climate change. The Sahel is referred to as a large region in northern Africa having a semi-arid climate, and Niger is part of that region.

Brazil, which will become a non-permanent member of the UNSC from January 1, had also written a letter.

This is not the first time Russia, India, China and Brazil have taken a similar approach on the issue. A decade ago in 2011 when Germany had raised the issue at the council, the BRICS had taken a similar position. All members of the grouping were members of the council that year.

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New Delhi: The Indian importers of Afghanistan dry fruits are worried over denial by the Indian government to import dry fruits from Afghanistan fumigated with aluminium phosphide. The denial has resulted in stalling of trade for over a month, they said. They opined that this will hit the Indo-Afghan trade via Attari-Wagah land route.

The importers have demanded from the ministry of agriculture to give them permanent permission to import duty fruits fumigated by aluminium phosphide from Afghanistan.

While talking to Zee News, President of Indo Foreign Chamber of Commerce, B K Bajaj informed on Tuesday that the dry fruit cargo arriving from Afghanistan was fumigated by aluminium phosphide which was objected by Indian authorities.

The ministry of agriculture wants the dry fruit cargo to be treated with methyl bromide but that facility is not available in Afghanistan, said Bajaj.

He added it was strange that the ministry had already given this facility to countries like the USA.

Bajaj said that the ministry gives them permission on a quarterly basis and at the end of every quarter, the Integrated Check Post (ICP,) Attari is shut down for a period of 15 to 30 days.

"Even now the import of dry fruits from Afghanistan is stalling for over one month," said Bajaj.

He said the Chamber had requested the ministry to give them permanent permission for the smooth running of the Afghan trade. He informed that the Chamber had also taken up the issue of the defunct Full Body Truck Scanner (FBTS) which was installed at ICP, Attari about two years ago.

The FBTS has forfeited its very purpose of detecting arms, ammunition, drugs, and other illegal substances finding its way into India via Indo-Pak international border, said Bajaj.

Notably, Attari-Wagah land route is the fastest trade route between India and Afghanistan. However, Pakistan has given a one-way transit route for Afghanistan to send goods to India whereas it has denied India from sending goods to Afghanistan.

Rajdeep Singh Uppal, President of International Chambers of Commerce, Amritsar, said, For the last many years we have been raising this issue on all the relevant platforms but no breakthrough has made, Even Indian government have taken up this issue with Pakistan many times.

It was in March 2018 that the Land Port Authority of India (LPAI) had begun civil work for the installation of FBTS at ICP. Earlier In March 2017, the then minister of state for home Kiren Rijiju had stated that the government was in process of procuring five FBTS which would be installed at Attari, Petrapole (Indo-Bangladesh border), Poonch-Chakandabagh, Uri Salambad, (both along Indo-Pak border in Jammu and Kashmir) and Raxaul (Indo-Nepal border).

Unfortunately, the FBTS couldnt even complete its trial runs successfully and failed to detect the objectionable items concealed in the consignments.
Srinagar: Islamic scholars in Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday called upon Saudi Arabia to reconsider its decision to ban the Tablighi Jamaat. Muttahida Majlis-e-Ulema (MMU) Jammu and Kashmir, an organisation of Islamic scholars, at a meeting held here passed a resolution in which the west Asian kingdom was asked to reconsider its decision.

Saudi Arabia on December 6 banned the Tablighi Jamaat by calling it a "danger to society and one of the gates of terrorism".

"As per the resolution presented at the meeting, serious concern was expressed over the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's ban on a purely religious and Da'wah organisation Tableeghi Jamaat; and the government of Saudi Arabia was called upon to reconsider its decision," tha MMU said in a statement.

The MMU also expressed strong concern and resentment over the blasphemous content published by a Delhi-based publisher 'Jay Cee Publications' for the pictorial representation of the Prophet of Islam and the Archangel Jibra'eel in the history and civics books of Class 7.

READ | Saudi Arabia bans Tablighi Jamaat, calls it 'danger to society'

"From time to time conspiracies have been hatched against the religion of Islam, the Prophet of Islam (PBUH) and the Holy Qur'an. However from time to time, Islamic scholars and the Muslims have registered their strong protest against it," the MMU said.

The scholars asked publishers to consult Muslim scholars on Islamic issues before printing any material. It was also decided to form a sub-committee that will be in touch with the Director School Education for the same.

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New Delhi: The attack on a bus of armed forces personnel at Srinagar's Zeewan was carried out by three Kashmir Tigers terrorists, an offshoot of the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terror outfit, police officials said on Monday (December 13, 2021).

In a press statement, police said that the preliminary investigation has revealed that three terrorists had fired indiscriminately upon a police vehicle carrying police personnel of the 9th Battalion near Zewan Pantha Chowk area of Srinagar.

"Although the fire was retaliated, however, taking advantage of darkness, terrorists managed to escape from the spot," the police added.

In the incident, 14 police personnel were injured and were shifted to the hospital for treatment. Among the injured personnel, ASI Ghulam Hassan and SgCT Safique Ali succumbed to their injuries, whereas the condition of other injured personnel is stated to be stable.

#SrinagarTerrorAttack: Among the injured police personnel, 01 ASI & a Selection Grade Constable #succumbed to their injuries & attained #martyrdom. Further details shall follow. @JmuKmrPolice https://t.co/VPe0Pwoyfy  Kashmir Zone Police (@KashmirPolice) December 13, 2021

IGP Kashmir Vijay Kumar paid rich tributes to two policemen killed.

"Credible sources revealed that the attack was carried by Kashmir Tigers, an offshoot of JeM," he informed.

In the retaliatory firing, one of the terrorists also sustained injuries.

"The Police have now registered a case under relevant sections of law and officers continue to work to establish the circumstances which lead to this incident," he said.

"Area has been cordoned off and search in the area is going on," Kumar added.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has expressed condolences to the bereaved families of the personnel killed in action and has sought details on the terror attack.

"PM Narendra Modi has sought details on the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir. He has also expressed condolences to the families of those security personnel who have been martyred in the attack," his office tweeted.

PM @narendramodi has sought details on the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir. He has also expressed condolences to the families of those security personnel who have been martyred in the attack.  PMO India (@PMOIndia) December 13, 2021

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All schools in Mumbai will reopen for standard 1 to 7 from Wednesday, according to BMC. Following the decision of the BMC, the Pune Municipal Corporation has decided to reopen the schools for standard 1 to 7 in Pune from Thursday.

Mayor of Pune, Murlidhar Mohol said, "We have decided to start classes I to VII in Pune Municipal Corporation from Thursday (December 16, 2021) parents should take note of this."

On November 30, the reopening of schools for Standard 1 to 7 was postponed till December 15 in view of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 spread in parts of the world, according to the Pune Municipal Corporation.

Earlier the state government had announced to reopen the schools from December 1, however, after Mumbai now Pune becomes the second municipal corporation in the state to postpone the reopening of schools.

READ | Hidden CCTV cameras found in school washrooms in Pakistans Karachi

The Omicron variant (B.1.1.529), a new variant of the coronavirus, was first reported in Botswana on November 11, 2021, and appeared on November 14 in South Africa. It has been declared a variant of concern by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

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Geneva: The World Health Organization (WHO) has said that it expects an increase in the number of hospitalisations and fatalities related to the new Omicron coronavirus strain, reported Sputnik. "As case numbers linked to a variant of concern increase globally, we expect the number of hospitalized cases and even deaths to be reported," the WHO said in a statement.

The UN health agency also said that more information is needed to fully understand the clinical picture of those infected with Omicron and WHO encourages countries to contribute to the collection and sharing of hospitalized patient data through the WHO COVID-19 Clinical Data Platform, according to Sputnik.

It comes as the WHO last week had shed light on features of the new COVID-19 variant Omicron, including the extent to which it will spread, and the number of mutations in the newfound strain.

The UN-health agency had suggested that a new variant could have a major impact on the course of the pandemic, but it`s still too early to say for sure.

Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, last week had said that highlighted "a consistent picture of the rapid increase in transmission" but he added that the exact rate of increase relative to other variants remains difficult to quantify.

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New Delhi: Amid a surge in cases of Omicron variant in the country, the Ministry of Civil Aviation on Tuesday (December 14) issued new guidelines for international travellers from `at-risk` countries arriving at six major airports to mandatorily prebook an RT-PCR test starting December 20.

As per the notification issued by the ministry, all international travellers arriving at airports in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad will have to compulsorily prebook an on-arrival RT-PCR test. The government has also asked the aviation watchdog, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to issue an advisory to all airlines to check before boarding whether international passengers from all `at-risk` nations headed to these six airports have pre-booked their test.

"It would be the responsibility of the airlines to identify and accompany such passengers to the registration counter at the airport for testing," the notification read.

States including Delhi, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Gujarat have reported cases of the new COVID-19 variant. On November 26, the WHO named the new COVID-19 variant B.1.1.529, which has been detected in South Africa, as `Omicron`.

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New Delhi: The High Commission for Pakistan in India issued 112 visas to Indian Hindu pilgrims for their visit to Pakistan to celebrate the Margashirsha Purnima at Katasraj in the Chakwal district of Punjab, Pakistan. The Jatha will also visit a prominent Hindu Temple in Punjab, Pakistan.

The Indian pilgrims would be visiting Shree Katas Raj Temples, also known as Qila Katas or complex of Katas Temples in Chakwal district of Punjab from 17-23 December 2021. Katas Raj Temples surround a pond that is considered sacred by Hindus. The visit is covered under the Pakistan-India Protocol on Visits to Religious Shrines, 1974.

According to the release of by Pakistan High Commission claims, In addition to visas for Hindu religious places covered under the framework of the bilateral protocol, a large number of Indian Hindus are issued visas by Pakistan High Commission, New Delhi on regular basis for visits to their families and friends in Pakistan.

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Varanasi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi witnessed the spectacular Ganga 'aarti' on Monday evening while onboard a river cruise with chief ministers of Uttar Pradesh and other BJP-ruled states.

This was the Prime Minister's third engagement in the holy city after visiting the Kal Bhairav temple and inaugurating the Kashi Vishwanath Dham earlier in the day. PM Modi boarded the Swami Vivekananda cruise at Sant Ravidas Ghat to witness the evening 'aarti' on the banks of river Ganga that was illuminated by thousands of diyas.

In a tweet in Hindi, PM Modi said, "Ganga 'aarti' of Kashi always fills the inner soul with new energy. Today, after fulfilling the big dream of Kashi, (I) attended the Ganga 'aarti' at Dashashwamedh Ghat and bowed before Mother Ganga for her grace."

                                             pic.twitter.com/pPnkjmgzxa  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) December 13, 2021

He also shared a short video showing the ghats of Ganga bathed in multi-colour lights. BJP president J P Nadda, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar were among those who accompanied Modi on the cruise.

Just concluded an extensive meeting in Kashi with @BJP4India Chief Ministers and Deputy Chief Ministers. pic.twitter.com/UCUsMndhwW  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) December 13, 2021

Besides 12 chief ministers, three deputy chief ministers of BJP-ruled states and their family members were onboard the cruise. M V Vivekananda took the special guests on a memorable journey as it cruised along the illuminated ghats, offering spectacular views of the holy city.

Thousands of people gathered at various ghats to catch a glimpse of the 'aarti' and the prime minister. People cheered and chanted 'Har Har Mahadev' when the cruise halted at the Dashashwamedh Ghat, famous for its daily 'aarti'.

Priests chanted hymns, bells clanged and the sound of conch added to the divine ambience. PM Modi later watched a light and sound show as part of the 'aarti' during the nearly hour-long cruise ride. Earlier, Adityanath gifted a replica of the Kashi Vishwanath temple to PM Modi.

The Prime Minister also conducted a midnight inspection of key development works in Varanasi and said it is the government`s endeavour to create the best possible infrastructure for the sacred city.

"Inspecting key development works in Kashi. It is our endeavour to create best possible infrastructure for this sacred city," tweeted PM Modi on 12:52 AM Tuesday.

Inspecting key development works in Kashi. It is our endeavour to create best possible infrastructure for this sacred city. pic.twitter.com/Nw3JLnum3m  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) December 13, 2021

PM Modi was accompanied by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath during the inspection after midnight.PM Modi was seen interacting with locals and waving at people who had turned up to greet him.

Next stopBanaras station. We are working to enhance rail connectivity as well as ensure clean, modern and passenger friendly railway stations. pic.twitter.com/tE5I6UPdhQ  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) December 13, 2021

PM Modi is currently on a two-day visit to his parliamentary constituency Varanasi where he inaugurated phase 1 of the newly-constructed Kashi Vishwanath Dham at a cost of around Rs 339 crores on Monday.

On December 14, at around 3:30 pm, PM Modi will attend the 98th-anniversary celebrations of Sadguru Sadafaldeo Vihangam Yog Sansthan at Swarved Mahamandir.

The Prime Minister will also participate in a conclave of Chief Ministers of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, along with Deputy CMs from Bihar and Nagaland.

The conclave will provide an opportunity to share governance-related best practices and is in line with the Prime Minister`s vision of furthering team India spirit.

Chief Ministers of all BJP-ruled states will give a presentation on good governance, before PM Modi on Tuesday morning. The Chief Ministers and Deputy Chief Ministers will visit Kashi Vishwanath Temple on Tuesday. Chief Ministers of BJP-ruled states are scheduled to visit Ayodhya on December 15 for the darshan of Ram Lalla.
Lucknow: BSP chief Mayawati has expressed hope that the alliance of Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) will come to power in Punjab with the full majority in the next Assembly elections.

Mayawati also extended wishes to the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on their 100th anniversary and said, "There are only a few parties who have served the nation this long. This is the oldest regional party and has served the people of its state."

Talking about the Punjab election, the BSP chief said, "I hope that the alliance of Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) will come to power in Punjab with the full majority in the next Assembly elections, under the leadership of Sukhbir Singh Badal."

Ahead of the Punjab Assembly election in 2022, Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal recently announced that if his party comes to power then the deputy chief minister will be from SAD`s alliance partner Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).

"A deputy CM will be from Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) if SAD-BSP alliance comes to power in the next Assembly elections in Punjab," Badal said.

Mocking at the BJP, the BSP chief said that the back-to-back announcements, foundation stone laying of new projects and inaugurations of half-finished projects by Central and state Govts just before the announcement of the Assembly elections will not help it.

Addressing a press conference, the BSP chief said, "The back-to-back announcements, foundation stone laying of new projects and inaugurations of half-finished projects by Central and State governments just before the announcement of the Assembly elections are not going to help the BJP expand its voter base."

Mayawati's statement came a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Kashi Vishwanath Dham project in Varanasi. PM Modi is currently on a two-day visit to his parliamentary constituency Varanasi where he inaugurated phase 1 of the newly-constructed Kashi Vishwanath Dham at a cost of around Rs 339 crores on Monday.

She also attacked the Samajwadi Party, and said, "No political party is going to benefit by inducting expelled, inactive, and selfish members of other parties, right before the UP Assembly Elections," adding that "the public does not view such parties and members in a good way".

Notably, BJP MLA Digvijay Narayan Chaubey, expelled BSP MLA Vinay Shanker Tiwari and former MP Kushal Tiwari had joined the Samajwadi Party on Sunday.

(With Agency Inputs)

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New Delhi: Alleged conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar made a "spoofed" call replicating the office number of Union Home Minister Amit Shah to befriend actor Jacqueline Fernandez, the ED has said in a chargesheet filed under the anti-money laundering law.

Chandrashekhar also claimed that he hailed from late Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa's "political family".

The agency recorded the statement of 36-year-old Fernandez twice this year where she said that Chandrasekhar introduced himself to her as "Shekhaar Ratna Vela".

The chargesheet was filed by the agency early this month before a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court here and the Enforcement Directorate named Chandrashekhar, his wife Leena Maria Paul and six others in it.

"He (Chandrashekhar) was trying to get in touch with her (Fernandez) over many weeks in December (2020) and January 2021 but she did not respond to him as she got many calls as such and was not sure about who the person was.

"Her makeup artist Shaan Muthathil was then contacted by a government office and was told that Jacqueline Fernandez must get in touch with Mr Shekhaar as he is an important person and would like to speak to her," the agency said.

It said that Fernandez, a Sri Lankan national who has starred in a number of Hindi movies, later contacted the alleged conman and "he introduced himself as the owner of Sun TV along with his family".

"He (Chandrashekhar) also said he was from the political family of Jayalalithaa and they are from Chennai.

ALSO READ | Jacqueline Fernandez's selfie with conman Sukesh Chandrasekhar sparks controversy

Chandrashekhar said that he was a big fan of the actor and that she should do films in the southern film industry and "as Sun TV they have many projects lined up", it said.

The agency said her makeup artist "got a call from the office of Home Minister Amit Shah whereby he was asked to get in touch with Mr Shekhaar alias Sukesh Chandrashekhar as he was a very important person in government".

"The said call was made from the office of Home Minister Amit Shah which was a spoofed call as per investigation and made by the accused Sukesh Chandrashekhar," the agency said.

Subsequently, it said that her makeup artist shared Chandrashekhar's mobile number with Fernandez after which they got in touch.

Jacqueline Fernandez received expensive designer bags, shoes, bracelets

The actor told the ED, during her statement recorded in August and October, that she "received" gifts like three designer bags from Gucci and Chanel, two Gucci gym wear outfits, a pair of Louis Vuitton shoes, two pairs of diamond earrings and a bracelet of multi-coloured stones and two Hermes bracelets.

Jacqueline Fernandez was also gifted a Mini Cooper car

She told the federal anti-money laundering agency that she returned a Mini Cooper car which she had similarly received. The agency found in its probe that Chandrashekhar was in "regular contact" with Fernandez since February till he got arrested on August 7 this year (by the Delhi Police).

The ED is probing the money trail of the proceeds of crime in this case.

Chandrashekhar and his wife are being probed by the Delhi Police as well as the ED for allegedly cheating some rich people, including individuals like former Fortis Healthcare promoter Shivinder Mohan Singh's wife Aditi Singh.

Chandrashekhar ran extortion racket using phone spoofing technology from jail

Investigation by the agencies found that Chandrashekhar, while he was lodged in the Rohini jail here, allegedly ran an extortion racket using phone spoofing technology.

The ED had arrested the couple and two co-accused, Pradeep Ramnani and Deepak Ramnani and recently Chandrashekhar's associate Pinky Irani, in this case.

In August, the agency raided some of Chandrashekhar's premises and seized a sea-facing bungalow in Chennai, Rs 82.5 lakh in cash and over a dozen luxury cars.

ALSO READ | Did Nora Fatehi receive expensive gifts from conman Sukesh Chandrasekhar?

It had claimed, in a statement, that Chandrashekhar is a "known conman" and is being probed by the Delhi Police in a case of alleged criminal conspiracy, cheating and extortion to the tune of about Rs 200 crore.

"Chandrasekhar is the mastermind of this fraud. He has been part of the crime world since the age of 17. He has multiple FIRs against him...," the ED had said.

Despite being in jail, it said, Chandrashekhar "did not stop conning" people.

"He (using a cellphone procured illegally in prison) with the help of technology made spoofed calls to dupe people as the numbers displayed on the called party's phone number belonged to senior government officers.

"While speaking (from prison) to these persons, he claimed to be a government officer offering to help people for a price," the ED had claimed.

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New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed double lane widening of roads for the Chardham project in view of security concerns.

A bench headed by Justice D Y Chandrachud also set up an oversight committee headed by former Justice A K Sikri to report to it directly on the project.

The oversight committee shall receive all support from the Defence Ministry, Ministry of Road Transport, Uttarakhand Government and all district magistrates.

The strategic 900-km-long Chardham project worth Rs 12,000 crore aims to provide all-weather connectivity to four holy towns -- Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath, and Badrinath -- in Uttarakhand.

The court was hearing the Centre's plea seeking modification of the September 8, 2020 order, which had asked the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) to follow the 2018 circular stipulating carriageway width of 5.5 metre on the ambitious Chardham highway project, which goes up to the border with China.

In its application, the MoD had said it seeks modification of the order and directions that the national highways from Rishikesh to Mana, from Rishikesh to Gangotri, and from Tanakpur to Pithoragarh may be developed to two-lane configuration.
New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday termed the suspension of 12 Rajya Sabha MPs as the "symbol of the crushing of the voice of people of India" and said that the Opposition is not allowed to raise any issue of national importance in the Parliament.

Speaking to the media at the Vijay Chowk, the Wayanad MP said, "Suspension of 12 MPs is a symbol of the crushing of the voice of people of India. Their voices have been crushed. They have done nothing wrong. We are not allowed to discuss important issues in Parliament."

"Bill after Bill is being passed in Parliament in the din. This is not the way to run the Parliament. The Prime Minister doesn`t come to House. We are not allowed to raise any issue of national importance. It is the unfortunate killing of democracy," he said.

The Congress leader further called Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Rajya Sabha Chairman "just implementors" of a power that wants to steal farmers` income.

"A minister killed farmers. The Prime Minister is aware of it. Truth is that 2-3 capitalists are against farmers... These MPs were not suspended by the Rajya Sabha chairman or the Prime Minister but by the power that wants to steal farmers` income. The Prime Minister and the chairman are just implementors," he added.

The Opposition leaders in both the Houses held a march from Parliament to Vijay Chowk demanding to revoke the suspension of 12 Rajya Sabha MPs.

Meanwhile, The Rajya Sabha has been adjourned till 2 pm on Tuesday as the Opposition parties disrupted proceedings of the House seeking revocation of suspension of 12 MPs from the House. The Upper House has witnessed continuous adjournment since the first day of the ongoing Winter Session over the suspension of the 12 members.

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Chennai: The top Indian Army official representing the five Southern States visited Tamil Nadus Nilgiri district on Monday (December 13) to personally thank and felicitate the first responders, Government machinery, and locals who risked life and limb to conduct search and rescue at the Mi-17 V5 chopper crash site.

The chopper carrying Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat, his wife and 12 others had crashed into a hillside in the Nilgiris district on December 8.

13 lives were lost in the crash, while the lone survivor Group Captain Varun Singh continues to remain in critical care.

Touring the Nilgiris, Lt Gen A Arun, General-Officer-Commanding, Dakshin Bharat Area, led the felicitation events and interacted with the first responders and authorities.

ALSO READ | CDS Gen Bipin Rawat's chopper crash: Mobile phone of eyewitness sent for forensic analysis

Madras Regimental Center (MRC), Defence Services Staff College (DSSC), Army Hospital and the Nanjappan Chatram village were among the locations that he visited to formally thank and recognize the selfless service of the common public and authorities.

Speaking at the MRC, home to the Indian Armys Oldest Regiment, Lt Gen Arun expressed his heartfelt thanks and gratitude to the entire Tamil Nadu government machinery. He emphasized the most brutal challenges and circumstances (terrain, weather, flaming chopper), under which the search and rescue were carried out.

Being a hillside that is not directly accessible by a motorable road, the victims of the crash and their mortal remains had to be carried to the ambulances that were waiting at the nearest accessible roads. Amid the blaze and heat of the explosion, the local residents and authorities had managed to conduct search and rescue. As first responders, local residents not only reached the crash site but had also alerted the authorities instantly.

ALSO READ | 'Veera Vanakkam': Locals shower flowers on vehicle carrying CDS Bipin Rawat's mortal remains

It would have been impossible to recover the 14 victims from the crashed chopper in time, if not for brave people like you In any accident, those who step up and help are equal to God.. For the 14 crash victims and their families, you are the living Gods, Lt Gen Arun expressed in Tamil, in his address to the villagers of Nanjappan Chatram.

It was at Nanjappan Chatram, a small settlement of estate workers, near the Coonoor town of the Nilgiris district, that the tragic chopper crash had occurred, as India's top military leader was headed for the nearby Defence Services Staff College.

Pointing out how the villagers had used everything at their disposal to aid search and rescue, Lt Gen Arun thanked them for having used blankets, bedsheets, medicines, buckets of water to extricate the passengers and material.

Good samaritans like you cant be found anywhere easily. Citizens like you inspire us (Defence personnel) to fight for the motherland.. Ordinary people cant do what you did, he extolled the people of the Nanjappan Chatram village.

"@tnpoliceoffl health, revenue, EB, forest dept everyone helped at crash site. All men in uniform told me that d rescue was impossible without you villagers of Nanjappan Chatram. Pilot Grp capt Varun Singh is alive, fightng bcoz of you, you wer living Gods for the 14 ppl" he says pic.twitter.com/hbvFnMljj5  Sidharth.M.P (@sdhrthmp) December 14, 2021

While serving officials of various departments were appreciated with letters of recognition, medals, medallions and by presenting shawls, the villagers were provided with essential winter supplies, such as rations, winter clothing, blankets emergency lights etc.

@adgpi provided letters of recognition, medals, shawls to all officials involved in rescue &relief. Whereas, first responders from d village (tea estate workers) were provided rations, winter clothes, blankets, emergency lamps. Unparalleled support from locals, Lt Gen Arun says pic.twitter.com/IXLDcsHs5a  Sidharth.M.P (@sdhrthmp) December 14, 2021

Among those felicitated and recognized were officials from Police, Fire Services, Forest Department, Health, Ambulance Services, Revenue, Electricity board, first respondents, Coonoor Shopkeepers association, etc.

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BSF Recruitment 2021: The Directorate General, Border Security Force (BSF) has invited applications from interested candidates to fill up numerous vacancies in Group-C combatised (Non Gazetted-Non Ministerial) posts.

According to the advertisement released on BSF's official website at http://rectt.bsf.gov.in, the recruitment will be done for positions in the Border Security Force, Engineering Set up.

To apply, interested Indian candidates need to fill an ONLINE application.

BSF Recruitment 2021: Vacancies

ASI - 01 Post

01 Post HC (Carpenter, Sewerman) - 06 Posts

06 Posts Constable (Generator Operator, Generator Mechanic, Linemen) - 65 Posts

BSF Recruitment 2021: How to apply

Candidates can apply ONLINE. They need to visit BSF's website at https://rectt.bsf.gov.in to apply. No other mode for submission of application is accepted.

BSF Recruitment 2021: Age limit

As on December 29, 2021, a candidate needs to be between 18 to 25 years of age.

BSF Recruitment 2021: Last date

Candidates can apply till December 29, 2021 (11:59 PM).

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UPSC CISF Recruitment 2021: The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) is going to hold a Limited Departmental Competitive Examination, 2022 for filling the vacancies of Assistant Commandants (Executive) in the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF).

According to the official notification released on the official website of UPSC at https://upsconline.nic.in, the exam is restricted to only certain categories of departmental candidates of CISF.

The Commission also said that the examination will be held in New Delhi on March 13, 2022.

UPSC CISF Recruitment 2021: Number of vacancies?

The tentative number of vacancies to be filled on the basis of the examination will be 19 (General-14, SC-03, ST-02).

UPSC CISF Recruitment 2021: Eligibility criteria?

The interested applicant should have completed four years of regular service as on January 1, 2022, in the rank of Sub Inspector (GD)/Inspector (GD) including the period of basic training.



The candidate should also have a clean record of service till the issue of the offer of appointment.

UPSC CISF Recruitment 2021: How to apply?

The applicants are needed to fill an application form ONLINE on the UPSC's website at www.upsc.gov.in.



The applicants are also required to send a hard copy of the online-submitted application to the CISF authorities at the following address: Director General, Central Industrial Security Force, 13, CGO Complex, Lodi Road, New Delhi 110003.

UPSC CISF Recruitment 2021: Last date?

The interested applicant needs to apply by December 21, 2021.

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Stating that India has the capacity to come up with its own design of hyperloop technology for ultra-high-speed travel, Niti Aayog Member VK Saraswat on Sunday said since it is going to take time, the country should permit foreign companies to set up a line to demonstrate the technology. Saraswat, who is heading a committee to explore the technological and commercial viability of the Virgin hyperloop technology, further said India should also constitute a regulatory mechanism because safety is a major issue in hyperloop technology.

"Hyperloop is a high-speed train, running in vacuum in a tube. We (expert committee members) have found that there are two ways of doing it," he told PTI in an interview. "One is, allowing foreign companies to show demonstrations. Another way is, in parallel, do serious R&D in this particular area, and our studies show that we have a capacity to do R&D and come up with our own designs," Saraswat, former chief of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), noted.

The Niti Aayog member, however, said: "But since it is going to take time, in parallel, if the foreign companies are coming who want to set up a demonstration line in say Maharashtra or Karnataka, we should permit them".

Also read: BMW iX SUV scores 5-star safety rating at Euro NCAP crash test

Saraswat also noted that safety and regulatory mechanisms should be put in place as safety is a major issue in hyperloop technology. He, however, added that the expert committee has not taken any final decision.

The Virgin Hyperloop test run was conducted on November 9, 2020, on a 500-metre track in Las Vegas in the US with a pod, as the hyperloop vehicles are called, travelling with passengers, including an Indian, inside an enclosed tube at more than 100 mph or 161 kmph.

The Virgin Hyperloop is among a handful of companies, which are currently trying to build such a system for passenger travel. Maharashtra has deemed hyperloop a public infrastructure exercise and approved the Virgin Hyperloop-DP World Consortium as the original project proponent for the Mumbai-Pune hyperloop project.

Replying to a question on shortage of semiconductors leading to production hassles, Saraswat said the government is seriously planning to set up indigenous semiconductor foundries in the country.

"As far as semiconductors are concerned, the government is very seriously thinking of setting up a very strong ecosystem for self-reliance in the area of semiconductors because we have noticed during the pandemic there has been serious disruption of the semiconductor supply chain, which has affected our automobile industry and other electronics industry and so on," he said.

On recent coal and power shortages in India, Saraswat noted that the disruption took place because of the various problems of logistics, which happened both from the point of view of mining activities and transportation activities.

"Now, the mining activities have been completely revamped. All the mines are working full time. Indian railways has also got additional trains," he said, adding that there is no power plant in the country suffering from coal shortage now.

The country's several thermal power plants were facing a crisis in the wake of low coal stock positions at their end. Coal Minister Pralhad Joshi had said the closure of some mines and inundation of a few others due to monsoon led to the crisis.

On the rise in import of copper in recent times, Saraswat said the government is working to keep primary copper production competitive. "There are certain anomalies today with respect to the taxation and things like that...We are trying to look at so that it (copper production in India) becomes more cost-effective," he said.

India was a net exporter of copper for close to two decades before the closure of the Sterlite Copper plant at Tuticorin, Tamil Nadu, in May 2018.

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#mute
Kohima: Naga civil society organisations have continued to impose "total restrictions" on the movement of the army and para-military in the Konyak tribal-dominated areas of Nagaland, tribal leaders said on Tuesday (December 14).

Konyaks are one of the prominent among the 16 tribes in Nagaland, where over 86 per cent of the two million population is from the tribal community.

Konyak Union President S. Howing Konyak and other tribal leaders said that according to a resolution adopted during the KU advisory board meeting on Sunday, the civil society organisations (CSO) under the banner of the KU`s "Non Cooperation" move against the Indian military and para-military forces would continue until the guilty were punished.

"Total restrictions on Indian military force convoys and patrolling within Konyak`s soil continue until justice is delivered against the killing of 14 innocent Konyak youths on December 4," he told the media in Kohima.

The KU President said that no military recruitment rally within Mon district would be allowed and no Konyak youth would participate in any recruitment rally.

The KU, in a statement, said that the CSO would continue their agitation in various forms in support of the four point demands including repeal of the Armed Forces (Special Power) Act, 1958.

It said that the first phase of agitation against the "tyranny" of the Indian armed force shall begin on December 16 with a public rally in Mon district.

"... as a sign of resentment, hoisting of black flags on every vehicle, black badges to be worn by all and flags at half mast in offices shall be continued until justice is delivered," the statement said.

Since December 4, the CSOs have been organising various commemorative and protest events across Nagaland, including in capital city Kohima.

Konyak civil society organisations here on Monday said that no ex-gratia or compensation from the government would be accepted until justice was delivered to all the 14 victims, including the survivors and family members of the December 4 incident.

The Central government and the state government had earlier announced a total ex-gratia of Rs 16 lakh and Rs 1.5 lakh to the kin of the slain and injured civilians, respectively, after the December 4 firing by the security forces that left 14 civilians killed and 30 others injured in Mon district of northern Nagaland.

Meanwhile, the Special Investigation Team (SIT), constituted by the state government to probe the December 4 incident, continued their investigation.

The 5-member SIT continued its investigation under the overall supervision of Additional Director General of Police, Law and Order, Sandeep M. Tamgadge and submit its report within January 4.

The Nagaland government last week has decided to hold a special session of the Assembly on December 20 to discuss and pass a resolution for repealing the AFSPA.



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New Delhi: Kareena Kapoor Khan and Amrita Arora tested positive for COVID-19 a few days ago and both of them are quarantined at their home. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has sealed the entire building where Bollywood actor Kareena Kapoor Khan lives with her husband Saif Ali Khan and sons - Taimur and Jeh.

However, as per ANI, Kareena's family is not cooperating with the BMC. ANI quoted BMC officials as saying that "she has not given proper information yet but our officers are trying to find out that how many people did come in contact with her."

As per India Today, when BMC asked the family about Saif Ali Khan, they did not get a clear answer. After reportedly asking them repeatedly, Kareena's family members told BMC that Saif has not been in Mumbai for the last one week. However, they did not reveal when would Saif be back in the city.

Kareena tested positive for COVID-19 days after she attended a party at filmmaker Karan Johar's residence to celebrate the 20 years of their iconic film 'Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham'. KJo had also invited 'Fabulous Lives Of Bollywood Wives' stars Maheep Kapoor and Seema Khan to the dinner.

The BMC told ANI that it was Seema who first got COVID-19 and that she had minor symptoms. On December 11, the COVID-19 report of Seema came positive. The same day Kareena and Amrita too got themselves tested and their reports also came positive on Monday.

As of now, BMC has made different teams on ward levels for contact tracing. They are getting details from the people who attended the party, based on which more testing can be done. Over 15 close contacts have been traced by BMC and more contact tracing is being done by them.

BMC, who sealed Kareena's residence earlier today, had also instructed those who came in contact with either Kareena or Amrita to undergo an RT-PCR test.

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Mumbai: Actress Kareena Kapoor Khan's house has been sealed by Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) after she and her best friend Amrita Arora tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday (December 13). The BMC fears that Kareena can be a super-spreader as she had violated COVID norms and attended several parties in the recent past.

BMC in a statement said Kareena "has not given proper information yet but our officers are trying to find out how many people did come in contact with." Kareena and Amrita had earlier put out statements on their Instagram confirming that they have COVID-19 and that they are following all the medical guidelines.

#UPDATE | The residence of Kareena Kapoor Khan has been sealed. She has not given proper information yet but our officers are trying to find out that how many people did come in contact with her: BMC (Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation) pic.twitter.com/2xlgOHz0YT  ANI (@ANI) December 13, 2021

Kareena took to her Instagram handle and shared a story in which she wrote, "I have tested positive for COVID. I immediately isolated myself while following all medical protocols. I request anyone who has come in contact with me to please get tested."

Actors Kareena Kapoor Khan & Amrita Arora tested positive for #COVID19. Both of them had violated COVID norms & attended several parties. BMC has ordered people, who came in contact with the two actors, to undergo RT-PCR test: BMC (Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation) (File pic) pic.twitter.com/wKqoqgFM4x  ANI (@ANI) December 13, 2021

She further continued, "My family and staff are also double vaccinated. They are currently not showing any symptoms. Thankfully, I am feeling ok and hope to be up and about soon."

Amrita too shared her statement on Instagram stories where she stressed she is following all BMC guidelines. "I have tested positive for COVID. I am following all the medical guidelines and BMC rules. Anyone who has been in contact with me, please get tested. My family and staff are all fully vaccinated and have all tested negative. Stay safe, stay Responsible," read her statement.

It was reported earlier today that the duo had been attending several parties recently and hence might be super-spreaders of the deadly virus.

BMC had also instructed the people who came in contact with either Kareena or Amrita, to undergo an RT-PCR test.

Earlier in the day, Kareena`s official spokesperson in a statement had told that both Kareena and Amrita had contracted COVID-19 at an "intimate dinner where a few friends had gathered to catch up."

Almost a week ago, Kareena and Amrita had attended a fun get-together hosted at the Mumbai residence of Anil Kapoor`s daughter Rhea Kapoor.

(With inputs from ANI)
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday congratulated Harnaaz Sandhu for winning the Miss Universe 2021 beauty pageant.The PM took to his Twitter handle and shared, "Congratulations to Harnaaz Sandhu on being crowned Miss Universe. Best wishes to her for her future endeavours."

Congratulations to Harnaaz Sandhu on being crowned Miss Universe. Best wishes to her for her future endeavours.  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) December 13, 2021

Earlier today, former Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh had also congratulated Harnaaz on her win and said "she makes the nation proud."

"Congratulations to Harnaaz Sandhu on being crowned as Miss Universe 2021. Once again a daughter of India makes the nation proud. Best wishes for all your future endeavours beta!" he wrote on Twitter.



Congratulations to Harnaaz Sandhu on being crowned as #MissUniverse2021. Once again a daughter of India makes the nation proud. Best wishes for all your future endeavours beta! pic.twitter.com/RH8CWNKbdT  Capt.Amarinder Singh (@capt_amarinder) December 13, 2021

The last Indian to win this title was Lara Dutta who brought home the crown in the year 2000.

Harnaaz, 21, defeated contestants from 79 countries to bring home the title. The 70th Miss Universe 21 was held in Eilat, Israel.

Harnaaz, who belongs to Chandigarh, Punjab, has previously bagged numerous pageant titles including LIVA Miss Diva Universe 2021 and Femina Miss India Punjab 2019.She will also star in Punjabi films like `Yaara Diyan Poo Baran` and `Bai Ji Kuttange`.
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modis GatiShakti Master Plan is a scheme that focuses on multi-modal connectivity amongst infrastructure projects in India with a funding of around 100 lakh crore.

This integrated nature of various projects makes it easier for users to access all facilities quickly with the Indian Real Estate experts believing that GatiShakti Plan will improve infrastructural connection and minimize people's commute time.

Founder and Managing Director of Sahiti Group, Dr Boodati Lakshmi Narayana, in an exclusive chat with Reema Sharma of Zee Media said, while the consumers and developers are waiting for the GatiShakti Master Plan for more than a year now, it is a relief that the project will finally be implemented in full means.

The GatiShakti Plan will address the following concerns focussing on buyer specificity and infrastructure industry:

- Accessibility of departments

Due to the presence of various departmental stores, items, facilities at different locations, it becomes difficult for individuals to access them all at once and at ease. People, commodities, and services will be capable of moving more easily and efficiently because of multidimensional interconnectivity.

Employment Avenues

PM GatiShakti initiative wants to create a lot more jobs, lower logistical costs, strengthen distribution networks, and make domestic products more global. In a nutshell, the GatiShakti Master Plan is a technology marketplace that would bring together 16 departments, including railways and roads, for unified planning and implementation of infrastructural connectivity projects.

Dr Boodati Lakshmi Narayana believes that GatiShakti may also help our economy build a firm foundation by raising the worldwide profile of local producers and assisting them in establishing themselves on a broader scale.

- Cost Optimization

The implementation of PM GatiShakti would assist in determining the best cost-effective and time-efficient path. The interconnection of Railways and Roadways along with other departments makes the process less cumbersome and cost-efficient.

- Future of Economy and its growth

As per Dr Boodati Lakshmi Narayana, GatiShakti will regulate every policy arena relevant to India's economic growth over the next several years, necessitating wide-ranging reforms in the planning and implementation of government initiatives up to the state level. This would also enforce greater engagement at the Centres. States will be able to use the same geospatial tools to link their development strategies with the comprehensive program and propose new projects under Gati Shakti.

Reduction of technical costs involved

PM GatiShakti's master plan aims to reduce logistics costs to 8% of GDP, down from 14% when the Modi administration took power. Piyush Goyal, the Commerce and Industry Minister, stated that it will result in savings of roughly Rs. 20 lakh crore for a $5 trillion economy. The cost of transportation and logistics will be lowered, lowering the cost of the merchandise. In rural locations, more micro, small, and medium Enterprises (MSME) will emerge, providing economic growth and jobs. Any project that impacts the economy positively is beneficial for the government and the citizens on multiple levels.

Apart from the issues it solves, it aims to achieve certain goals which will change the dynamic of the countrys infrastructure plans majorly.

Dr Boodati Lakshmi Narayana says that GatiShakti will leave a great impact on the nation. By 2024-25, the plan calls for 11 industrial corridors, expecting a return revenue of Rs 1.7 lakh crore in the military sector, and 38 technology production clusters, and 109 pharmaceutical clusters. The goal of the Road, Transport, and Highways Ministry is to build 2 lakh km of expressways, complete 5,590 km of four or six-lane national highways along with coastal areas, and connect all capital cities in the northeastern region of the nation with four-lane national highways or two two-lane national highways, he adds.

Dr Boodati Lakshmi Narayana further mentions that GatiShakti's digital service currently includes infrastructure projects from 16 ministries, with multi-thematic layers that will aid the government in mapping, budgeting, administrative approvals, prioritizing, monitoring, tracking, data management, and strategic planning.

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New Delhi: Fans of Tollywood actor Allu Arjun protested against the cancellation of the actor's photo session with them at an event and created a ruckus following which Arjun apologised to them.

Things escalated as Allu Arjun's fans started to create ruckus after the show organisers stopped them from meeting Allu Arjun.

Allu Arjun, who came to know about the incident, took to his social media handles to apologise to his fans.

He acknowledged the unfortunate incident which took place after the pre-release event of 'Pushpa', assuring his fans that he would be careful hereafter.

"I got to know about the unfortunate incident of my fans getting injured at a fan meet event today. My team is personally monitoring the situation and keeping me updated."

"Henceforth, I will take a lot of care to ensure that such incidents don't happen again. Your love and admiration is my biggest asset and I am never going to take them for granted," the 'Pushpa' actor's note reads.

Organisers claimed to have taken permission for 200 people, but admitted around 2,000. They had also told the fans that they would get to participate in a photo session.

Due to unexpected circumstances, the photo session was cancelled, which triggered the incident.

Irked by the organisers' negligence, fans raised slogans and tried to barge into the venue, which caused some damage to the convention centre here.

A case has been filed against the event organisers, while the police took over the situation.
New Delhi: Rashmika Mandanna has spoken about her upcoming movie 'Pushpa' and her leading man Allu Arjun's dedication for each shot of the film.

As 'Pushpa' is all set for its release in a couple of days, she Rashmika has been busy promoting Sukumar's directorial.

In a conversation with IANS, Rashmika shared her experience.

Starring beside Allu Arjun in 'Pushpa', Rashmika thinks Sukumar is one of the most talented directors she has worked with. "'Pushpa' is a raw, rustic movie, which requires detailing minute things, which Sukumar is famous for. I was amused when I got this offer," she said.

Talking about how she was roped in for the movie, Rashmika said, "The makers of 'Pushpa' wanted an actress who would also be familiar with the Chittoor accent. So, I had given three look tests before we shook hands for the movie."

As Rashmika spoke about her experience as an actress, Rashmika stated that she had to unlearn many things for this role, as director Sukumar wanted to bring an organic appeal to it.

"We actors never got to learn our dialogues beforehand, as we had to go unprepared. Under Sukku sir's direction, he keeps everything organic. We walked into the sets, where we are given our dialogues. We had to pick up the scenario on the spot," explained the 'Dear Comrade' actress.

The actress mentioned that it was quite difficult for her to shoot for the 'Saami Saami' song. "We shot it in a remote area and we worked really hard on it. Allu Arjun would monitor each shot after it was done, and he gives the best suggestions," she said.

The songs, trailer, and posters for 'Pushpa' have been received well as she said, "I love the way people have responded to them."

Rashmika said that despite living out of a suitcase, she has been enjoying her life.
New Delhi: A message is being sent to a small number of WhatsApp users in India, claiming a cash prize of Rs 25 lakh from the popular quiz show Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC). The registered number has been chosen in the "KBC Sim Card Lucky Draw Compitation 2021," according to the WhatsApp message. Users must click on a link that directs them to the "KBC Office" in order to receive the cash reward. A similar statement that went viral earlier this year was declared "false" by the administration. Similarly, the Cyber Crime Unit of the Delhi Police issued a detailed blog post outlining what to look for and how to file a report.

The latest WhatsApp message differs slightly from the one that went popular in September and November of 2021. A picture file of KBC host and actor Amitabh Bachchan and Reliance chairman Mukesh Ambani was included in the previous rendition. The so-called "KBC Office" contact information in the two mails is likewise different. The complete message that WhatsApp users may receive is as follows:

HELLO

Namashkar!

I am vijay Kumar from KBC Koun Banega Carorepati mumbai!

Congratulation,

Your wahtsapp Number Selected in KBC Sim Card Lucky Draw Compitation 2021!

You have won 25,00,000 Lacs KBC Cash Prize.

Apka WAHTSAPP Number KBC All india Sim Card Lucky Draw Compitation Main Winner Bangaya hai!

25,000,00 Lacs KBC Cash Prize Ka!

Please Contact Now KBC Office WhatsApp No: https://api.whatsapp.com/send?phone=917011789860

KBC Manger:Mr rana prtabh singh

is Online And get your KBC Prize Money information!

Your Lottery No.0099

Your KBC File No:BT12

Dear winner please only call to WhatsApp!

Ap abi apne WhatsApp Number se KBC Office Me Whatsapp Call karein! https://api.whatsapp.com/send?phone=917011789860

Thank"

According to the Delhi Police's Cyber Cell, in such cyber instances, fraudsters send WhatsApp messages to naive victims from unknown numbers (the majority of which start with +92, Pakistan's ISD Code). The message we received, however, came from a phone number in India with the ISD code (+91).

"Once the victim deposits that money," the Cyber cell continues, "they begin asking for more money under various pretexts." The con artists insist on interacting exclusively over WhatsApp. They get the victim to deposit money in multiple bank accounts, and the scam continues for weeks or even months, depending on how long they can persuade the victim to contribute money. After a while, they begin informing the victim that the lottery prize has been increased to Rs. 45 lakhs, then Rs. 75 lakhs, and so on, in order to keep the victim engaged and interested. Finally, when the victim becomes adamant about receiving the money or refuses to pay more, they stop phoning him/her and delete the WhatsApp numbers used in the fraud."

The police agency asserts unequivocally that messages touting financial awards are mostly false and feature several grammatical faults. "There is something fishy about the whole thing," she says if a caller insists on sharing personal information. If users receive this message, they must snap a screenshot and share it with police officials in their area.

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Ottawa (Ontario): Canadian political and military leaders delivered an apology to victims of military sexual misconduct on Monday. Streamed online from National Defence Headquarters, the apology followed the federal government's $600-million Canadian ($468 million) settlement with tens of thousands of current and former Armed Forces members who experienced such behaviour while serving.

It also came as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government and military leadership face questions and criticism over their perceived failure to address allegations of inappropriate 'and criminal' sexual misconduct among some of the military's top leaders.

Defence Minister Anita Anand led the 40-minute apology, which at one point was being watched by about 8,000 people, acknowledging successive governments failed to protect those who willingly signed up to protect Canada.

"I apologize to the thousands of Canadians who were harmed because your government did not protect you, nor did we ensure that the right systems were in place to ensure justice and accountability," she said.

"For far too long, your government failed to dedicate enough time, money, personnel and effort to deal with sexual harassment, sexual assault and discrimination based on sex, gender identity and sexual orientation in the military and the department."

Anand, who took over as defence minister in October from Harjit Sajjan who was criticized for not doing more to address such behaviour among top military officials, promised real action, saying: "Things can change, they must change, and they will change."

While the minister went on to praise the dedication of Canada's current military and Defence Department leadership, she stopped short of providing any specific details on how real change will come.

Reservist Sam Samplonius, a survivor of military sexual assault who is co-chairperson of It's Not Just 700, a support and advocacy group for victims of military sexual assault and trauma, welcomed Monday's apology.

"I was hoping that they would maybe broaden onto what things that they're doing," she said. "However, I also can understand how they really wanted to concentrate on the apology, part of that."

Samplonius said she and others are hoping the government and military leadership will provide an update, after many broken promises and missed opportunities in the past.

Trudeau underscored the importance of the moment while facing questions about why he wasn't delivering it himself.

"There have been many discussions around the right way to move forward, and I'm very pleased that the chief of defence staff and the minister are the ones making this apology," Trudeau said.

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Washington: Pentagon has said that it will not punish any troops over an errant drone strike in Kabul that killed 10 civilians on August 29. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has accepted recommendations that no US military personnel be disciplined for an errant drone strike in Kabul that killed 10 civilians, including an Afghan employee of an American aid organization and seven children, said The Washington Post report citing Pentagon.

Military officials had said previously that the attack on August 29 was not the result of criminal negligence.

In November, the Air Force inspector general who led an independent investigation of the incident said that while the strike did not violate laws of war, the evidence suggested that mistakes were made as a result of what he called confirmation bias on the part of the analysts and commanders involved, said the report.

That review did not recommend any disciplinary action either, despite Pentagon leaders` admission that the strike was a "tragic mistake."

A spokesman for US Central Command, which oversaw the operation, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The botched drone strike was carried out just days after a suicide bomber struck outside Hamid Karzai International Airport, killing 13 US service members and at least 170 Afghans, while coalition forces raced to evacuate people.

The military officials who approved the strike -- they have not been identified publicly -- believed they were targeting an operative of Islamic State-Khorasan, the terrorist group`s arm in Afghanistan and Pakistan. But as evidence later showed, the suspected explosives they believed to be inside a white Toyota Corolla proved to be water tanks for the aid worker`s family.

Top US military leaders initially defended the operation as a "righteous strike." But as more details emerged revealing the extent of the error, the Pentagon promised to make "condolence payments" to the victims` family, reported The Washington Post.

Those payments have not yet been issued, though Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told reporters during a briefing said that while "we want to effect this as soon as possible," officials want to make sure that the money is paid "in the safest and responsible way so that we know it`s getting to the right people and only the right people."

Kirby also said that the Pentagon is still trying to obtain "the identifying information that we need to move family members out of Afghanistan as expeditiously as we can."

Afghanistan International Bank receives 3rd batch of World Bank's cash aid

Kabul: Afghanistan International Bank on Sunday received the third batch of World Bank`s USD 19.2 million cash assistance.The information was given by Afghanistan`s Central Bank - Da Afghanistan Bank.

Central Bank in a statement said that the money is part of the World Bank`s humanitarian pledges to Afghanistan, reported Khaama Press. The cash was taken from Kabul International Airport to Afghanistan International Bank by the Taliban.

The cash is a blessing in disguise as the local currency (Afghani) is in its unprecedentedly lowest value- one dollar for 114 Afghani on Sunday, reported Khaama Press.

It is believed that the fresh batch of dollars will help the value of local currency stabilize. Common people are the real victims of the ongoing unpleasant economic situation in Afghanistan as the prices of everything in the country have been doubled, reported Khaama Press.

As per the UN estimation, Afghanistan`s ongoing humanitarian situation is the world`s worst humanitarian disaster on earth and needs urgent global action to prevent the country`s collapse.

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Karachi: A Pakistani transgender person, who is an active organiser of a movement aimed at seeking an end to the demolition of Karachi's working-class settlements and markets, has been allegedly tortured and sexually assaulted one day before a climate march held here. The organisers of the 'People's Climate March' that took place under the banner of the Karachi Bachao Tehreek (KBT) in the city on Sunday said in a statement that one of their organisers, a transgender person, was tortured and sexually assaulted on Saturday by some persons who were looking to "extract" information about the march.

The incident took place when the transgender activist was returning home in Nazimabad after attending an organisational meeting and was picked up and held hostage for three hours. The victim was tortured and assaulted before being released. "We organised a People's Climate March in Karachi. The night before our protest, we held an organising meeting. One of our organisers, a trans woman, was abducted on her way home. She was tortured and raped," the KBT said in a tweet.

The KBT suggested that police were involved in the violence against the transgender person.

Shahzadi Rai, the Gender Interactive Alliance's (GIA) 'violence case manager', told the media that the KBT activist was "terrified and appeared reluctant to lodge a case".

Shahzadi, who deals with cases of torture against the transgender community, said the suspects asked the activist in captivity about the details of the march programme and speakers.

Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah took notice of the incident and ordered the inspector general of police to conduct an inquiry into the case and submit a report to him, according to a tweet from his office.

READ | Most wanted Pakistani terrorist Abu Zarar killed in Kashmir's Poonch

The Ministry of Human Rights also took notice of the incident, saying its transgender rights expert was in contact with the victim's guardian. "Our Transgender Rights Expert, Reem, has been in touch with the relevant people including the victim's guardian and our ministry will be contacting the Sindh government to ensure her protection," it said in a tweet.

According to the Dawn newspaper, dozens of participants of the People's Climate March had taken out a rally near Karachi's Boat Basin on Sunday evening to draw the authorities' attention towards the adverse impacts of climate change, particularly the perceived environmental disaster unfolding in Malir and adjoining areas allegedly because of trees being felled and agricultural land being destroyed to pave the way for mega housing projects.

Activists belonging to around 10 political parties and civil society organisations had arrived near Clifton beach and tried to march towards Bilawal House but police officials prevented them from moving further, according to organisers and witnesses, it said.

The marchers including men, women and children chanted slogans against Bahria Town Karachi, DHA Karachi, the occupation of locals' lands, construction of the Malir Expressway, destruction of agricultural land in Malir and Gadap, demolition of homes located on Gujjar and Orangi Nullahs, and other issues, the report said.

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